Jake Giles NetterHalestorm, Korn and Five Finger Death Punch will head to the Mile-High City this fall to play the High Elevation Rock Festival, held September 22-23 in Denver, Colorado. The lineup also includes Stone Sour, A Day to Remember, In This Moment, Black Veil Brides, Asking Alexandria, Starset, P.O.D., All That Remains and Beartooth, among others. For the full lineup and ticket info, visit HighElevationFestival.com. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Delhi High Court has restrained two driver unions from disrupting services of cabs run by Ola and Uber in the city. By Mail Today Bureau: Commuters in Delhi-NCR may face hardship in hiring taxis today as the drivers of two app-based cab aggregators Ola and Uber have threatened to go off roads for a day against low fares. They had gone on a major strike in February, which had lasted for 13 days, causing inconvenience to commuters. However, the Delhi High Court on Monday restrained two taxi-driver unions from disrupting services of cabs run by Ola and Uber in the NCR. Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw passed a decree "permanently injuncting" the two unions and anyone associated with them from blocking cabs of Ola and Uber. advertisement According to the agitating Sarvodaya Drivers' Association, the strike might hit private transport service in Delhi and other neighbouring cities as some groups of tourist taxi providers, autorickshaw union have extended their support to it. The association, which claims to represent around 1.25 lakh app-based taxis in the the Delhi-NCR, demands that fares be increased from existing Rs 6 per km to around Rs 20 per km. It also demands abolition of 25 per cent commission the drivers are charged by companies. SARVODAYA DRIVERS' ASSOCIATION TO TAKE OUT PROTEST MARCH Ravi Rathore, vice-president of the Sarvodaya Drivers' Association, said drivers will take out a protest march against the Delhi government which, he alleged, is not intervening to resolve the issue. "The protest march will be taken out from Majnu-ka-Tila to the CM's residence in North Delhi's Civil Lines area. "There is grievance among drivers that government is not intervening in raising their issues with Ola and Uber," Rathore said. He said the association has called for the one-day strike in favour of the demands and if companies and government do not pay heed, they will go on an indefinite strike. According to the association, app-based cab companies made tall promises to drivers - like they would earn as much as Rs 1.5 lakh every month. "But the situation is different. They are making us run taxis at Rs 6 per km while they charge 25 per cent from us," Rathore also said. Contrary to the association's claim that most autorickshaw and tourists associations have decided to lend their support to the strike, Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union (yellow-black taxis) said they will not participate in it. Also Read: Bengaluru: 20 Ola, Uber drivers begin indefinite fast making charter of demands Chandigarh: Commuters hit as auto-rickshaw drivers launch indefinite strike against Uber, Ola Gurgaon: Auto unions on strike force city to a standstill Ola cab's Twitter account hacked, funny tweets flow --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Khristian Ibarrola (Inquirer.net/Asia News Network) Tue, April 18, 2017 17:34 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9aaf35 2 Science & Tech Snapchat,India,Evan-Spiegel Free Snapchat has taken the world by storm since its initial release in 2011. However, the famed image messaging app may slowly lose its following in India, after allegedly insensitive comments made by Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel way back in 2015. This app is only for rich people, Spiegel reportedly said two years back during discussions about Snapchats overseas growth. I dont want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain, he added, according to Mashable. The allegedly insensitive remarks were divulged by the former employee Anthony Pompliano, who recently filed a lawsuit against the company for supposedly falsifying its user metrics. Indian Snapchat users fumed over the statement and expressed their disdain by claiming theyd be deleting the app.(Twitter via Inquirer.net/File) Read also: Galaxy S8 under fire for reddish display panel Although it was not the focal point of the suit, the disgruntled Pompliano detailed how Spiegel dismissed poor countriesmainly Indiaduring these meetings. As expected, Indian Snapchat users fumed over the statement and expressed their disdain by claiming theyd be deleting the app. Meanwhile, the #UninstallSnapChat trend is utterly similar to the #DeleteUber fad back in January, during which users chastised the ride-hailing app for allegedly jacking up prices. Snapchat, on the other hand, has denied claims of faking their metrics, but has yet to address Spiegels supposed comments on India. Topics : This article appeared on the Philippine Daily Inquirer newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 11:00 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde991ec6 1 City runoff,2017JakartaElection,#2017JakartaElection,#JakartaGubernatorialElection,TNI,Indonesian-Military Free As many as 2,400 Indonesian Military personnel from the Jakarta Military District Command (Kodam Jaya) and the West Java and Banten Military District Command (Kodam Siliwangi) arrived in West Jakarta on Monday afternoon to help secure the April 19 runoff election. The soldiers are being prepared as a last resort and will only be deployed if an emergency situation develops as residents cast their votes in the Jakarta gubernatorial election. The military personnel gathered at Cendrawasih Stadium in Cengkareng, West Jakarta, to receive directives from West Jakarta Military District Command (Kodim) commander Lt.Col. Wahyu Yudhayana. This [deployment] shows that the state is present and able to guarantee the security of its citizens, Wahyu said as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com during his speech to welcome the personnel. (Read also: Muslim leaders join call for peaceful poll) He further said during election day, half the personnel would be stationed in Kalideres, West Jakarta, while the rest would remain at Cendrawasih Stadium.The TNI personnel will work in accordance with the security level and on the polices request, he said. Wahyu asserted that the militarys presence was not intended to scare the citizens but to make them feel safe instead. (dea/ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 15:49 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9a12c0 1 City ahok,#2017JakartaElection Free The campaign team of Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama and Djarot Saiful Hidayat has urged supporters who have not yet received a voting invitation, or C6 form, for tomorrows runoff election, to meet with polling station officers (KPPS) today to ask for it. The campaign team spokesman, I Putu Artha, said at a press conference on Tuesday that around 1,872 people had reported to the team that they had faced difficulties obtaining the C6 form. Some, who had received the voting invitation, also reported that the Identification Card Number (NIK) written on the form did not match with their original ID. Weve asked the voters to come together to the KPPS if they have not received the C6 form. If there are irregularities in the form, they should urge the KPPS to revise the form today, Putu said in Jakarta. (Read also: KPU Jakarta to engage campaign teams in distributing C6 forms) Putu said the team was disappointed that the C6 form had not been distributed correctly in several areas, such as apartments and residential complexes, which have become part of their supporter base. Hundreds of residents in Cakung Barat Apartment, Parkview Sunter Apartment, Taman Modern Cakung Complex, Green Lake City residential, Cengkareng, and Puri Mansion residential, Kembangan, West Jakarta, have not received the C6 form. In Jatinegara apartment, East Jakarta, 50 people who had exercised their voting rights in the first round of the election on Feb. 15, were not included in Final Voter List (DPT), Putu said. Many residents also reported receiving a false NIK in the C6 form, which suggests these errors may be intentional and not simply human error. The team worried the KPPS would complicate the voting process for voters due to the incorrect data, Putu said. Even though voters can vote without the C6 form, the team suggests voters obtain the form, as it can be misused by others to cast illegal votes. Putu said that such fraud occurred in the first round when the forms were used by some people to vote on another persons behalf. This fraud led to re-voting in polling stations in Kalibata, South Jakarta and Kemayoran, Central Jakarta. (dan) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yoriko Yasukawa and Annette Sachs Robertson (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18 2017 As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) approaches its 50th anniversary this year, a momentous milestone, the region is at a crossroads more than ever on several fronts, including the rights, health and wellbeing of millions of women and girls. Policies and decisions taken now by individual countries and ASEAN as a whole can propel Southeast Asia toward greater prosperity grounded in human rights and genuine gender equality helping fulfill the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) whose collective pledge is to leave no one behind. Or, amid the growing tendency toward conservatism, and in some cases violent extremism, gains made in improving the health and fulfilling the rights of women and young people especially girls could be eroded. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Over the past few years, the government has firmly vowed to curb spending as the budget deficit widens amid falling revenues from tax and export earnings. However, the latest audit by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) shows that despite such avowed fiscal rectitude in the state budget, irregularities across dozens of government institutions, regional administrations, state-owned as well as provincial-owned enterprises have cost the country trillions of rupiah. In its 2016 second-half report, the agency reported that 5,810 irregularities, mostly comprising violations of prevaling laws and regulations, caused potential losses of Rp 12.59 trillion (US$949 million), up 27.5 percent from the Rp 9.87 trillion recorded in the July-December period a year earlier. As we did with the House of Representatives and the Regional Representatives Council [previously], we have asked the President as the head of the government to follow up on our recommendations. If the recommendations are not followed through, there will continue to be state losses or potential state losses, BPK chairman Harry Azhar Azis told reporters after meeting President Joko Jokowi Widodo at the State Palace. Harry pointed out three key issues the agency was most concerned about, namely the national health insurance (JKN) program, a lack of coordination between the central and regional administrations in the education sector, and the monitoring of taxpayers. The healthcare services at Puskesmas [community health centers] and general hospitals are not supported by a large number of qualified human resources. Furthermore, there are around 155 regional health insurance programs that have not been integrated with JKN, Harry said. The education-related irregularities were attributed to a lack of regulations that managed coordination between the central government and regional administrations. Another concern the BPK raised was related to unpaid value-added tax (VAT) worth Rp 910.06 billion from four tax offices, with potential administrative sanctions of Rp 538.13 billion. Following the meeting at the palace, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said Jokowi had vowed to address the concerns expressed by the BPK in order to improve his administrations transparency and credibility. Despite several improvements in the rating of financial reports by regional administrations in 2015 as revealed by the report, Jokowi was not satisfied and called on his government to continue amending the financial information, he added. As much as 58 percent of financial reports earned an unqualified opinion, the highest mark the agency offers, last year, higher than the 47 percent in 2015. The report also showed that the percentage of regional administration financial reports earning that status had risen exponentially from just 13 percent in 2011. However, the government still hopes that this can continue to increase, Pramono said. House Commission XI overseeing the fiscal and financial sector plans to review the BPKs report to evaluate whether any problems should be treated as crimes. We need to discuss the issues first at Commission XI. So far, there has yet to be any discussion [of the summary], Johnny G. Plate of the NasDem Party told The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 11:33 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde99392c 1 Business bumi-resources,limited-public-offering,debt-restructuring Free Indonesia's largest thermal coal mining company, PT Bumi Resources, has announced that its planned rights issue will take place from May 26 to June 8. The move is part of the companys efforts to restructure commercial debt amounting to US$4.2 billion. Bumi will issue 28.75 billion pre-emptive rights to subscribe securities (HMETD), each with a nominal value of Rp 100 (1 US cent). Those pre-emptive rights are expected to be listed in the bourse on June 12. The politically-wired Bakrie family's company will also issue 9.13 billion mandatory convertible bonds (MCB) with an annual coupon rate of 6 percent and a maturity period of seven years. (Read also: Bumi Resources expects higher coal sales in 2017) The reference price for equity and MCB is reconfirmed at Rp 926.16 per share, Bumi director and corporate secretary Dileep Srivastava told The Jakarta Post on Monday. With that reference price, Bumi expects to collect a total of Rp 26.6 trillion from the rights issue and Rp 8.45 trillion from the MCB. In addition to the rights issue, Bumi also plans to issue tradable contingent value rights (CVR) worth $100 million for creditors of its new senior secured bond. The CVR will be due in five years. The company aims to replace its debts from China Development Bank (CDB) with a new senior secured bond or a tranche C facility. If the restructuring goes as expected, Bumi will be able to reduce its commercial debt to $1.6 billion. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post) Semarang, Central Java Tue, April 18, 2017 21:03 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9b4a44 1 National marijuana,drug-dealer,extracted-marijuana,Facebook,Yayasan-Sahabat-Herbal,#marijuana,#drugs,drugs,drugs-distribution Free Central Java Police have detained the creator of Facebook account Sahabat Herbal (Herbal Friends) Foundation for allegedly attempting to sell marijuana as an effective cure for cancer. It was announced on Monday that officers arrested Septiandi Wibisono at his home in Bergas District, Semarang regency, Central Java, on April 12. He has been named a suspect for allegedly distributing drugs, said Central Java Police Narcotics Directorate head Sr.Comr. Krisno H.Siregar. He did not sell dried marijuana leaves, but processed the leaves into extracts by mixing and boiling them with 96 percent ethanol. [Septiandi] sold the marijuana extracts for Rp 750,000 [US$56.39] per 300 milliliters. During the raid, police confiscated 444 grams of marijuana packaged in labeled plastic bags that read Ganjalah Kesehatan, (Marijuana is Health), a play on the slogan Jagalah Kesehatan (take care of your health). He bought the marijuana from Jakarta using a courier service. We are pursuing RN, his colleague, said Central Java Police spokesperson Djarod Padakova. Under investigation: Central Java Police spokesperson Djarod Padakova (right) holds up a weapon confiscated from an alleged drug dealer in Semarang, Central Java, during a press conference on April 17.(JP/Suherdjoko) Septiandi claimed he bought the marijuana at Rp 2 million per 800 grams. He said he joined Facebook communities to advertise his product, which went on smoothly for two years. He learned the techniques to make marijuana extracts from the internet, he added. You can drop it directly onto your tongue or drink it with tea, he explained. Djarod said that police had also confiscated two firearms during Septiandis arrest: one military-issued weapon and one handmade weapon. The suspect said his friend entrusted those weapons to him, [but] we dont believe him. Moreover, we found 100 active bullets of various calibers. We will investigate this case further. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Apriadi Gunawan (The Jakarta Post) Medan Tue, April 18 2017 The alleged mastermind behind the killing of a family in Medan, North Sumatra, claimed to have committed the crime because one of the victims owed him money. The North Sumatra Police have said that based on Andi Lalas statements, Riyanto, one of the victims, bought methamphetamine worth Rp 5 million (US$376) from Andi but failed to make the payment. This is what the suspect claimed. We will examine it further, North Sumatra Police Insp. Gen. Rycko Amelza Dahniel said on Monday. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 20:19 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9b3614 4 National KPK,novel-baswedan,anti-corruption Free Ten people wearing costumes depicting Dead Pool, Batman, Power Rangers, Kamen Rider Black and six other superheroes descended on the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) headquarters on Monday with the mission of assuring the commission of its public support. The cosplayers acted as guardians of the KPK, which has received a wave of public sympathy following an acid attack on one of the commissions most senior investigators, handling major cases implicating politicians and entrepreneurs, Novel Baswedan, last week. They carried placards with messages of support like Dont Be Afraid, KPK, Beat Back Public Fund Stealers and We are ready to Safeguard the KPK. Behind the scenes, Indonesia Corruption Watchs (ICW) Tibiko Zabar, an ICW researcher, said the theatrical demonstration was held to show popular support for the KPK and especially Baswedan who was attacked by unknown assailants as he returned from a mosque in his neighborhood last Tuesday. Today, we, the guardians of KPK, came here to assure everyone that people are ready to defend KPK, Tibiko said as quoted by tribunnews.com. Baswedan has been undergoing medical treatment in a hospital in Singapore. The attack on him has been seen as an act of terror against the KPK, which is handling a host of high profile cases. (hol) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 21:33 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9b54cf 1 National Philippines,exclusive-economic-zone,maritime-border,maritime-security Free The government and the House of Representatives are set to ratify a historic maritime agreement pertaining to an exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Indonesia and the Philippines to safeguard the two countries maritime security from threats such as the Abu Sayyaf group. The maritime deal, signed in 2014 after 20 years of negotiations, draws a boundary between Indonesia and the Philippines overlapping EEZ in Mindanao Sea and Celebes Sea. In a hearing with representatives of the Coordinating Legal, Political and Security Affairs Ministry, Law and Human Rights Ministry, Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Indonesian Navy on Tuesday, lawmakers of the House of Representatives Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs agreed to ratify the maritime deal. "If this [agreement] benefits Indonesia and its people, there is no reason for the House not to ratify it," Commission I deputy chairman and Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker TB Hasanuddin, who presided over the hearing, said. NasDem Party lawmaker Supiadin Aries Saputra said he expected the government to follow up the ratification with concrete programs that would enhance maritime defense and boost Indonesia's economy, including eradicating illegal fishing, empowering local fishermen and addressing threats from the Philippine-based Abu Sayyaf group. "If the ratification is not followed up by concrete programs, the EEZ boundary will just serve as a concept," Supiadin said. Commission I is set to summon related ministers on April 25 to ratify the agreement. (rin) By Press Trust of India: From Sajjad Hussain Islamabad, Apr 18 (PTI) Pakistans National Assembly has passed an unanimous resolution to condemn the "barbaric and cold-blooded murder" of a 23-year-old university student who was lynched by a violent mob over alleged blasphemy. Mashal Khan, a journalism student, in Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan was killed by an enraged mob last week, blaming him of passing anti-Islam remarks. advertisement The tragedy has sparked an outrage and demands to reform the laws dealing with blasphemy. Meanwhile, Pakistans Senate or upper house of parliament has sought changes in the blasphemy laws to avert its misuse after the lynching. Dawn reported that the Senators in yesterdays session called for amending the blasphemy law to punish those who concoct blasphemy accusations against others and demanded a campaign against those taking the law into their own hands. Pakistan Peoples Party senator Farhatullah Babar said a religious scholar had proposed that those who levelled false accusations should suffer the same sentence as provided for a blasphemer. He recalled how a federal Shariat Court decision had prompted the maximum punishment for blasphemy to be increased from life imprisonment to death, reminding the house that Raja Zafarul Haq ? the current leader of the House ? was the chairman of law and justice committee at the time. He said the committee had made some suggestions while approving the bill and called for that report to be made the basis of any further action. "The assassination of Mashal Khan should make us think about concrete measures to prevent the misuse of the blasphemy law; we need to revisit this law," he remarked. Retired Gen Abdul Qayyum of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also called for flaws in the blasphemy law to be addressed. He stressed that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance and prohibits any excesses, even against animals. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Siraj-ul-Haq said that the rule of law was what defined a civilised society and that even if someone was guilty of a crime, no individual or organisation had the right to punish that individual unilaterally. "This shows an imbalance and lack of tolerance in society," he remarked. Winding up the discussion, Minister of State for Interior Baleeghur Rahman said there was clarity on the issue at a political level as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the heads of political parties had condemned the incident. However, he admitted that there was a need to check intolerance and revealed that work on a new curriculum was under way. advertisement The controversial blasphemy laws were enacted in 1980s when military dictator Ziaul Haq was in power. There are reports that the laws are misused to settle personal issues. An allegation of blasphemy makes the people vulnerable to violence by extremists who have so far thwarted efforts to reform these laws. PTI SH UZM AKJ UZM --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Mataram Tue, April 18 2017 More than 500 people staged a rally in Mataram on Monday, demanding the police investigate an Indonesian man for allegedly insulting West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Governor Muhammad Zainul Majdi when the two were queueing in front of a check-in counter at Changi Airport in Singapore on April 9. Grouped under the NTB Sovereign Indigenous People Movement (GRPB), they gathered in front of the NTB police headquarters carrying banners and pamphlets protesting an alleged insult reportedly committed by a private Indonesian citizen named Steven Hadisurya Sulistyo. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 09:00 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde98d8a4 1 City #JakartaElection2017,Al-Maidah,mobilization Free The Jakarta General Elections Commission (KPU Jakarta) has denies claims that it allowed a pressure group against Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama to observe the upcoming gubernatorial election runoff. The organizer of the Tamasya Al Maidah (Al Maidah Tour), which is being facilitated through an Android application that encourages Indonesians to guard 13,032 polling stations in the capital, said KPU Jakarta head Sumarno had given the group permission. Sumarno gave us permission during a meeting last Wednesday, said Eggi Sudjana, the organizers advocate, during a press conference on Monday. Eggi added that M. Sidik Sabri, a commissioner with the KPU Jakarta, had also been present during the meeting. Al Maidah is named after a verse in the Quran that is often used by conservative Muslim political groups to urge Muslims not to vote for political leaders of other faith. Sidik confirmed that a meeting between the commission and the pressure group had occurred last Wednesday. However, he said the organizer had only asked about the requirements that had to be fulfilled to become an observer of the runoff. We didnt give any permission, Sidik told The Jakarta Post. Sidik said he had yet to learn whether the organizer of Al Maidah Tour had submitted all the required documents. (kuk) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Theresia Sufa (The Jakarta Post) Bogor, West Java Tue, April 18, 2017 09:15 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde98d8b3 1 National #enterostomal-therapy,enterostomal-therapists,enterostomal-therapy,enterostomal-therapy-nurses,bogor,APETNA Free The unbalanced distribution of nurses experienced in handling wounds, stoma and incontinence in Indonesia hampers the treatment of people with those medical problems, experts have said. Asia Pacific Enterostomal Therapy Nurse Association (APETNA) president Widasari Sri Gitarja said Indonesia had around 8,000 wound, ostomy and continence (WOC) nurses. However, she added, they were not evenly distributed across the country, while in fact each hospital must have at least two or three nurses with those skills. Geographical challenges have hampered the distribution of WOC nurses, whereas wound treatment has become a priority in the national health program, said Widasari during a two-day APETNA conference at Botani Square in Bogor, West Java, which ended on Saturday. WOC nurses are those who have an Enterostomal Therapy Nurse (ETN) certificate. People needing enterostomal care include patients who suffer from diabetes mellitus with chronic wounds and clients who have a wet, irritated and painful stoma. Patients with bladder control problems and clients who seek foot and skin treatment also need enterostomal therapy. Sharing experience: Carmen George (left), an enterostomal therapy expert from Australia, Asia Pacific Enterostomal Therapy Nurse Association (APETNA) president Widasari Sri Gitarja (center) and Indonesia Cancer Foundation (YKI) chairman Aru Sudoyo (right) speak in a press conference during the APETNA conference in Bogor, West Java.(JP/Theresia Sufa) Under the stop amputations slogan, enterostomal therapists from Asia Pacific countries highlighted the importance of early wound treatment to prevent amputations and the need for closer cooperation with other health workers. As many as 658 WOC nurses from 16 countries attended the conference. They included Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines and the US. We still need extra health workers to fulfill our need for wound, ostomy and continence nurses. We have developed a network to meet the demand, said Asrizal from the APETNA Conference organizing committee. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 16:28 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9a3260 1 Business foreign-workers,VITAS-limited-stay-permit,IMTA-expatriate-employment-permit Free Many foreign workers who have obtained limited stay permits (VITAS) are still working in Indonesia without an expatriate employment permit (IMTA), a Manpower Ministry official has said. With the change in the foreign employment regulation in 2015, VITAS holders can no longer work without a permit, director of foreign employment supervision at the Manpower Ministry Wisnu Pramono said in Jakarta on Monday. Under the new foreign employment regulation, foreign workers can obtain VITAS only if they have already received an IMTA. (Read also: Seven foreign workers deported from Bali) He said nearly 800 of the 74,000 foreign workers in Indonesia had worked without IMTAs. There could be more because, with the limited number of our inspectors, we are unable to oversee all of the workers, Wisnu said. Wisnu further said that his office had reported the illegal workers to the immigration office and asked them to deport the expatriates. To be able work in Indonesia, foreign citizens must have a work permit (IMTA), which is issued by the Manpower Ministry based on a request from their employers. Only after obtaining an IMTA can they apply for a limited stay permit (VITAS) and limited stay permit card (KITAS) from the immigration office. (dra/bbn) With sectarian tension running high in the run-up to the Jakarta gubernatorial runoff election, President Joko Jokowi Widodo gathered on Monday top security and intelligence officials for a meeting to discuss an extensive security measure that would include the deployment of more than 60,000 security personnel in the capital. In another move to ease political tension, Jokowi held a meeting on Monday with Islamic leaders and senior Muslim clerics, urging them to promote unity ahead of election day on Wednesday, when Jakarta voters will choose between incumbent pair Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama and Deputy Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat and rivals Anies Baswedan and Sandiaga Uno. In an apparent gesture to show that his government would handle the election-related security problems seriously, Jokowi made a choreographed appearance on the veranda of the State Palace together with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Wiranto, State Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Gen. Budi Gunawan, National Police chief Gen. Tito Karnavian and Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gatot Nurmantyo. Jokowi said when voters exercised their political rights on Wednesday they should be able to do so without facing intimidation from any parties. All residents of Jakarta have to be able to vote freely without any intimidation. I have instructed the TNI and National Police to ensure safety on voting day, Jokowi told reporters on Monday. The President said the TNI and police personnel would guard all polling stations on Wednesday and would crack down on any efforts to intimidate voters. Speaking after Jokowi, Wiranto urged voters to exercise their rights independently and not be swayed by the results of public opinion polls, saying that pollsters could be biased. We encourage people to not be influenced by survey results that claim to present the truth, Wiranto said. Four out of five surveys released last week showed Anies in the lead, albeit with small margins, with a recent survey by Indikator Politik Indonesia showing the margin to be a razor thin 0.8 percent. Following his meeting with the top security officials, Jokowi held a meeting with a number of Muslim clerics at the State Palace, during which the President asked for their help to ease tension ahead of election day. Among the Muslim clerics at the meeting were Indonesian Ulema Council (MUI) chairman Maruf Amin, former Constitutional Court chief Jimly Asshiddiqie, former court justices Hamdan Zoelva and Mahfud MD and popular Muslim preachers Arifin Ilham and Yusuf Mansur. Speaking after the meeting, Maruf said the Muslim clerics had agreed to help reduce tension ahead of voting day by urging supporters of both candidates to not gather around polling stations, as such a move could be seen as an effort to intimidate voters. The President asked us to help keep the situation peaceful in Jakarta so that the country could remain united. There shouldnt be any efforts to mobilize people to Jakarta, Maruf said. A number of Islamic groups were reportedly planning to conduct the Tamasya Al-Maidah (AlMaidah Tour), a movement that encouraged large numbers of people, including those from outside Jakarta, to flood the capital and guard polling stations. Police have said they would crack down on any efforts to mobilize people on election day. Separately, leaders from interfaith groups also called for a peaceful election. Joining the call were leaders from the countrys largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), the Indonesia Bishops Conference (KWI), the Indonesian Communion of Churches (PGI), the Nichiren Shoshu Indonesia (NSI), the Indonesian Parisada Hindu Council (PHDI) and the Confucian Supreme Council of Indonesia (Matakin). During the interfaith meeting, leaders from the organizations called for calm and urged candidates and their supporters to accept the outcome of the election. We need to remain calm, resolute and clearheaded in dealing with the situation. We must support the governments efforts in handling the runoff election. We must also safeguard the unity of the nation, representatives of each organization said in a joint statement made at the NU headquarters in Central Jakarta. NU chairman Said Aqil Siradj said he denounced the Al-Maidah Tour. That is unnecessary. We already have election bodies that organize and supervise the elections. We also have witnesses dispatched by both candidates. Lets just trust them, he said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 19:25 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9b2413 1 National police,BoyRafliAmar,Boy-Rafli-Amar,National-Police,Papua,Papua-Police Free National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar will soon step down to assume a new position as Papua Police chief, as part of a wider reshuffle that will see 127 officers moved or be promoted to new positions. Boy will replace current Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Paulus Waterpauw, according to an internal National Police telegram issued on Tuesday. Paulus is set to replace Insp. Gen Setyo Wasisto as deputy chief of the National Polices Intelligence and Security Agency, while Setyo will take Boys post as spokesman. Before becoming National Police spokesman in 2016, Boy served as Banten Police chief from 2014. He also held the position of Jakarta Police spokesman and Padang Police chief in West Sumatra. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 18:45 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9b15ad 1 National AMSI,hoax,fake-news,Indonesian-Cyber-Media-Association,digital-media,#FakeNews Free The Indonesian Cyber Media Association (AMSI) declared a commitment on Tuesday to combat the spread of fake news. The commitment, entitled Media Professionalism to Combat Hoax News was declared following concerns over the impact fake news. AMSI presidium chairman Wenseslaus Manggut said the association had invited all relevant parties to band together to combat fake news, especially on social media. This declaration aims to restore the digital media ecosystem so it is more positive for public consumption, with the hope that the media can gain more trust from the public," Wenseslaus said during the declaration, which was held at the Indonesian Press Council in Central Jakarta on Tuesday. (Read also: Each regency to have broadband connection by 2019: Minister) He further explained the declaration was the first phase of the establishment of AMSI and it was expected that local officials could be recruited from across Indonesia. AMSI will hold its first congress within three months of the establishment of its leadership. Wenseslaus said as of April 17, 170 online media companies had registered to become a member of AMSI. To be a member, a media company must be a legal press institution and comply with the press code of conduct, he said. The AMSI declaration event was also attended by Communications and Information Minister Rudiantara, Indonesian Press Council chairman Yosep Adi Prasetyo, the National Polices cybercrime director, Brig. Fadli Imran, and Twitter Indonesia lead public policy director Agung Yudha. The event was moderated by tirto.id editor-in-chief A. Sapto Anggoro. (dis/ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Edith M. Lederer (Associated Press) United Nations Tue, April 18, 2017 07:45 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9871cd 2 World North-Korea,Nuclear,NuclearTest,#NorthKorea,#NorthKoreaNuclear,US,UN,missile,missile-launch,missile-test Free North Korea's deputy UN ambassador accused the United States on Monday of turning the Korean Peninsula into "the world's biggest hotspot" and creating "a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment." Kim In Ryong told a news conference that "if the US dares opt for a military action," North Korea "is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US." He said the Trump administration's deployment of the Carl Vinson nuclear carrier task group to waters off the Korean Peninsula again "proves the US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase of its scenario." Kim stressed that US-South Korean military exercises being staged now are the largest-ever "aggressive war drill" aimed at his country, formally the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The prevailing grave situation proves once again that the DPRK was entirely just when it increased in every way its military capabilities for self-defense and pre-emptive attack with a nuclear force as a pivot," he said. Tensions have escalated over North Korean moves to accelerate its weapons development. The North conducted two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile tests last year, defying six Security Council sanctions resolutions banning any testing, and it has conducted additional missile tests this year including one this past weekend that failed. Kim spoke on a day that US Vice President Mike Pence traveled to the tense zone dividing North and South Korea and warned Pyongyang that after years of testing the US and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, "the era of strategic patience is over." After 25 years of trying to deal patiently with North Korea over its nuclear program, Pence said, "all options are on the table" to deal with threat. And he warned that any use of nuclear weapons by Pyongyang would be met with "an overwhelming and effective response." Kim said the Trump administration is "trumpeting about 'peace by strength'" by deploying "one strategic striking means after another in South Korea." But he said the "the DPRK remains unfazed." Kim said the DPRK's policy is shaped by the Trump administration's push for "high intensity sanctions" against the country, deploying tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea and launching military action aimed at "beheading" the North's leadership headed by Kim Jong Un. He said rolling back the hostile US policy toward the DPRK "is the precondition to solving all the problems in the Korean Peninsula." Kim called the press conference to "categorically reject" the US decision to hold an open meeting of the Security Council on April 28 on North Korea's nuclear program which is scheduled to be chaired by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. He called it "another abuse of authority" by the United States, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, and a violation of the DPRK's sovereignty. Kim ignored questions about the DPRK's relationship with China and reports that the government didn't respond to requests from Chinese officials for a meeting. Instead he reiterated two Chinese proposals that the US rejected. One called for "dual-track" talks on denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula the top priority of the United States and replacing the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War with a formal peace treaty, a key demand of Pyongyang. The other called for a freeze on U.S.-South Korean military exercises and a freeze on DPRK missile and nuclear tests. (**) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Agus Maryono (The Jakarta Post) Kebumen, Central Java Tue, April 18, 2017 08:55 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde98d41c 1 National NU,Nahdlatul-ulama,NahdlatulUlama,Jokowi,Jokowi-administration,NKRI,#NahdlatulUlama Free A representative of Indonesias largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), has deplored President Joko Jokowi Widodos administrations stance against radical groups in Indonesia, suggesting it is too soft to deal with groups that pose a direct threat to the government. NU central executive board member Asad Ali said anti-government attacks had been clearly stated in the ideological movements of radical groups, although they had not yet been realized through physical action. This is the problem: Our government does not dare to take tough measures against groups that have called for the establishment of an Islamic caliphate or those that oppose the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), stating that all of those calls are just ideas, said Asad Ali in front of around 16,000 NU cadres at an event in Petanahan Beach, Kebumen, on Sunday. He said the government had repeatedly stated it could not take legal action against anti-government groups, because so far they had not been proven to commit an attack against the government. There was no law allowing the government to launch pre-emptive strikes, he added. In the absence of tough government measures, radical groups have continued to expand their movement and spread their anti-government propaganda. This is dangerous for the solidity of the NKRI, said the NU board member, who is also the former deputy chairman of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN). Therefore, Asad Ali said, there should be clearer and tougher laws on assaults against the government. Dont let the state make a move only after bloody conflicts occur in this country, he said. (ebf) Against radicalism: Thousands of cadres of Indonesia's largest Islamic organization, Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), from areas across Central Java call on the government to take tougher measures against radical groups at a mass gathering in Kebumen on Sunday.(JP/Agus Maryono) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Surabaya Tue, April 18, 2017 12:13 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde995a24 1 Business palm-oil,talks,European-Parliament,Palm-oil-producing-countries Free Ministers from member nations of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) are scheduled to meet European Union officials in May to discuss objections to the EU parliaments recent resolution that the CPOPC fears will disadvantage the palm oil trade. The CPOPC will send a ministerial mission to the EU in May to report that local palm oil is produced according to ISPO [Indonesia Sustainable Palm Oil] and [market-driven, multiple-stakeholder] RSPO [Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil] standards, said Panggah Susanto, the Industry Ministrys agro industry director general at a media workshop on Monday. The countries, including Indonesia and Malaysia the worlds largest and second largest palm oil producers have repeatedly stated their objections to the non-binding resolution that calls on EU nations to only import sustainable palm oil after 2020 and adopt a single set of international sustainability standards. (Read also: Toward constructive approach on palm oil) The mission to the EU was decided on latest CPOPC meeting on Apr. 11 attended by Indonesia Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution and Malaysia Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong. Businesspeople under the Indonesian National Palm Oil Board (DMSI) have urged Indonesian leaders and President Joko Jokowi Widodo to approach the EU commission directly to address the matter. Exports of palm oil, the nations biggest contributor to non-oil-and-gas exports, reached almost US$18.23 billion last year, 13.8 percent of the years total export value of $131.3 billion, Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data shows. (bbn) The decision was made in view of the Prime Minister's call during his recent 'Mann ki baat' programme to conserve oil to save the environment. By India Today Web Desk: Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call to conserve oil, fuel outlets in eight states, beginning May 14, will be shut every Sunday, a fuel pump owners' body said today. "We had planned to shut our outlets on Sundays a few years back. But oil marketing companies had then requested us to reconsider our decision. Now we have decided to shut the outlets on Sundays," said Suresh Kumar, an executive committee member of the consortium of Indian petroleum dealers. advertisement He said the association's decision was made in view of the Prime Minister's call during his recent 'Mann ki baat' programme to conserve oil to save the environment. Kumar, also the vice-president of Tamil Nadu Petroleum Dealers Association, said nearly 20,000 outlets in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Haryana would be shut for 24 hours on Sundays, starting May 14. "In Tamil Nadu, we expect a business loss of Rs 150 crore if we do not operate on a Sunday. But we have been seeing a decline in sales on Sundays by upto 40 per cent," he said. Asked if the association's decision was supported by the OMCs, he said, "We will communicate our decision to them shortly." Kumar said the fuel outlets which normally have about 15 staff each would have one staff member on the holidays to provide fuel if there was an emergency situation. On the issue of OMCs hiking the margins to petroleum outlets, he said the association was discussing it and would soon make an announcement in this regard. "That struggle is going on. We are meeting our association members shortly. We will announce our decision soon," he said. ALSO READ:Changing petrol, diesel prices daily is a gamble, say petrol pump associations Beginning May 1, petrol, diesel prices to change every day in 5 cities --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Stefani Ribka (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18 2017 The government is drafting a presidential regulation that will serve as a legal basis to improve the Indonesian Sustainability Palm Oil (ISPO) scheme, to accelerate the certification process and enable it to be accepted worldwide. First introduced in 2011, the certification scheme was made mandatory for oil palm plantations in 2015. Since then, however, only 264 oil palm plantation firms out of an estimated 1,600 have been certified, while more than 300 are still in the process. In addition, two farmers groups have also been certified despite not being obliged to do so. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18 2017 The Jakarta gubernatorial election runoff is shaping to be one of the most intense and tightly guarded race in the capital, as the National Police announced that they will dramatically increase security for polling day on April 19. National Police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said on Monday that more than 60,000 personnel from the National Police and the Army would secure election day, more than double the 29,000 deployed for the first round of the election in February. He said the police would implement more extensive security measures. We will secure Jakarta in layers. More police patrols will be mobilized to monitor activities outside polling stations. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura, Papua Tue, April 18, 2017 16:23 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9a253e 1 National bootleg-liquor,alcohol,death,Papua Free Six men from Kamu, Dogiyai regency, in Papua died after allegedly consuming bootleg liquor on Friday. The six men were identified as Yosep Yobee Ekari (40), Marthinus Goo Ekari (20), Yulianus Anouw (22), Anthon Kegakoto (21), Bertus Yobee (22) and Mesak Pekei (20). They allegedly drank the concoction together on Friday before returning to their respective houses, Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. AM Kamal said. When they returned to their homes, [their respective] families reported to Dogiyai Police that the men had died. Some died on Friday evening and others on Saturday morning, Kamal said on Monday. Their families admitted them to Kamu local health clinic, however they passed away before health officers had taken measures to save their patients. The local police questioned three witnesses related to the case, Kamal said, adding that the police were looking for the seller of the moonshine concoction. We are conducting investigations to find who sold the liquor to them. Kamu Police has also stepped up security to prevent disturbances to public order, he said adding that the police laboratory also probed the ingredients in the concoction, Chairman of Dogiyai Indigenous People Group (LMA) Aleks Koga lambasted the weak monitoring from security officers, which allowed the bootleg liquor to enter the regency. The security officers should increase control and checks of goods entering Dogiyai, he said. (rin) The government has begun to have second thoughts about its free-visa policy, saying it has not been working as expected to boost the number of foreign tourists visiting the country. The Tourism Ministry, the Law and Human Rights Ministry and the Foreign Ministry have therefore decided to reduce the number of countries that enjoy the privilege, which had been granted to 169. Each ministry claimed to have listed countries that were under consideration to be removed from the list. The Tourism Ministry, for instance, has said that 49 of the 169 countries would likely be excluded from the free-visa list as fewer than 100 tourists came from them in about the first six months after the policy was launched for each. Some even contributed zero arrivals throughout 2016, including Puerto Rico. Other countries on the list include Algeria, the Marshall Islands, Cuba, the Bahamas, Kiribati, Jamaica, Namibia and Vanuatu. According to our evaluation, we should shortlist which countries deserve the free visa and the ones to be given visas-on-arrival instead, the ministrys deputy minister for international marketing, I Gde Pitana, said on the sidelines of a hearing with members of the House of Representatives on Monday. He quickly added that the free visa policy was not completely useless as it had helped increase the total number of foreign visitors by 19.43 percent from 2015 to 2016. Egyptians represented the highest increase with 53.35 percent, followed by Bahrainians with 41.63 percent, Indians with 28.78 percent, British people with 27.56 percent and Saudi Arabians with 26.91 percent. The Law and Human Rights Ministry went further by proposing to remove 82 countries from the list as they contributed less than 1 percent, less than 1,000 tourist arrivals, to the total of 9,9 million arrivals in 2016. Most of those countries are in Latin America and Africa. These countries are worth being considered to be excluded for our list of free-visa receivers, immigration authoritys director for immigration traffic, Maryoto Sumadi, told the hearing. Law and Human Rights Minister Yasonna Laoly admitted that the government should have been more selective in deciding which countries should have been given a waiver of visa fees. When their people never come to Indonesia, why should they keep enjoying the free visa? Yasonna said. The Foreign Ministry has also pushed for a review of the policy, but for a different reason. Some countries should be removed from the list not only because they have made only a small contribution to Indonesias tourist industry but also because they had not made reciprocal gestures. A free visa is not the only instrument to attract tourists, the ministrys director general for protocol and consular affairs, Andri Hadi, told lawmakers. The government started to implement the free-visa policy in 2015 as an attempt to attract up to 20 million foreign tourists to the countrys vacation destinations by 2019. The citizens of about 15 countries, including ASEAN countries, have actually enjoyed free visas since 2003, but the government decided to open the door for 30 more countries in June 2015, welcoming people from China, Russia, South Korea, Japan and the United States without charging them for visas. Three months later, the government waived the visa fees for the citizens of 45 more countries, mostly people from Europe and the Middle East. In March 2016, tourists from 79 more countries, including many African nations, also started to enjoy the privilege. Consequently, the country lost about Rp 1.2 trillion in non-tax revenues last year. Critics, meanwhile, have claimed that many foreigners have misused the policy and contributed to the rise of transnational crimes. Lawmakers have supported the governments plan to take some countries off the list, arguing that the policy had brought no significant benefits to the country. This policy definitely needs an evaluation, Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Evita Nursanty said. (dra) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Tue, April 18 2017 Very recently, a 13-year-old unmarried girl in the small West Java town of Majalaya became pregnant. The news spread rapidly by word of mouth, but hardly surprised Entoy, a 57-year-old midwife who has helped countless women in such a predicament. They say her pregnancy is entering the seventh month, Entoy said while taking care of another patient at the Ebah Hospital. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 12:33 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde997374 1 National KPK,novel-baswedan,house-of-representatives,acid-attack,#novel,graft,corruption,#acid-attack Free Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) deputy chairman Laode Muhammad Syarif has said the extending of medical treatment funds from the state for KPK investigator Novel Baswedan aimed to protect the antigraft body from any potential financial irregularities as health coverage provided for the bodys commissioners and staff members does not cover specific treatments, such as the one Novel must undergo. When we're sick and need to go abroad for medical treatment, our insurance doesnt cover that. So, we asked for help from the state, Laode said late Monday, during a hearing at the House of Representatives' Commission III, which oversees human rights, security and legal affairs. Medical treatment abroad is not included in the KPKs health coverage, so if we keep using our budget, we're afraid that it will lead to findings of irregularities by the BPK [Supreme Audit Agency], he added. (Read also: Novel in good condition despite injuries: Presidential spokesperson) As earlier reported, the KPK asked the government to cover the medical treatment costs for Novel, who suffered severe burns and eye injuries in an acid attack last week and has gone to Singapore to receive treatment. President Joko Jokowi Widodo approved the request, which has led to suspicion among House members, who are curious about why the KPK asked Jokowi for financial assistance. Why did they ask Jokowi for money? We give you a large budgetary allocation every year. You can come to us if you need more," Commission III chairman Bambang Soesatyo of the Golkar Party said. "The KPK shouldnt beg for sympathy like this, said Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker Masinton Pasaribu. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ken Thomas and Jill Colvin (Associated Press) Panmunjom, South Korea Tue, April 18, 2017 08:00 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9880d6 2 World Mike-Pence,DonaldTrump,Donald-Trump,North-Korea,#NorthKorea,#NorthKoreaNuclear,kim-jong-un,US,White-House Free The White House displayed a tough and unyielding approach to North Korea and its nuclear ambitions Monday, with President Donald Trump warning that Kim Jong Un has "gotta behave" and Vice President Mike Pence sternly advising Kim not to test America's resolve and military power. Trump, in Washington, and Pence at the tense Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, signaled a forceful US stance on North Korea's recent actions and threats. But no one was predicting what might come next. Behind the heated rhetoric, in fact, Trump's strategy in the region looks somewhat similar to predecessor Barack Obama's albeit with the added unpredictability of a new president who has shown he's willing to use force. Pence, inspecting the DMZ, warned Pyongyang that after years of testing the US and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, "the era of strategic patience is over." Appearing later with South Korea's acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, the vice president pointed to Trump's recent military actions in Syria and Afghanistan as signs that the new administration would not shrink from acting against the North. "North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region," Pence said at the start of a 10-day trip to Asia. Pence's remarks also came with hope for a diplomatic path. Washington, he said, was looking for security "through peaceable means, through negotiations." In the meantime, North Korea's deputy UN ambassador accused the United States of turning the Korean peninsula into "the world's biggest hotspot" and creating "a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment." Kim In Ryong told a news conference Monday that US-South Korean military exercises being staged now are the largest-ever "aggressive war drill." He said North Korea's measures to bolster its nuclear forces are self-defensive "to cope with the US vicious nuclear threat and blackmail," and he said his country "is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US." America's implied threat of force isn't new, nor is hope for engagement. Previous presidents have repeatedly left all options on the table while trying to enlist China's help to pressure North Korea to pursue diplomatic solutions. The Trump administration has labeled this policy "maximum pressure and engagement," although officials acknowledge there is no current engagement with Pyongyang. Until recently, it has been Trump's confrontational tone that has drawn attention rather than his action. But then he ordered the unilateral missile strike against Syria, even after dismissing talk of deeper US involvement in that nation's civil war. "There is both greater unpredictability and decisiveness from President Trump," said Victor Cha, the director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University and a former adviser to President George W. Bush. Cha noted Pence's reference to "strategic patience," an Obama administration strategy in which diplomatic and economic pressure from sanctions were given time to change the North's behavior. "Strategic patience signaled indecision and predictability not a good combination in Trump's eyes," Cha said. The White House did not offer a sense of when Trump's patience might run out. "I don't think that you're going to see the president drawing red lines in the sand, but I think that the action that he took in Syria shows that, when appropriate, this president will take decisive action," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. North Korea's latest missile test fizzled over the weekend, but its weapons development has appeared to make steady progress in recent years. The North conducted two nuclear test explosions and 24 ballistic missile tests in 2016, and experts predict it could have a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the US mainland within a few years. Pence said after meeting with South Korea's acting president that the US and its allies have attempted to "peacefully dismantle North Korea's nuclear program" for more than two decades. "But at every step of the way, North Korea answered our overtures with willful deception, broken promises and nuclear and missile tests." Former President Obama, too, tried to persuade China to use its influence over Pyongyang. It remains unclear the extent to which China might step up. Trump and his advisers have pointed to Beijing's move to restrict coal imports from North Korea as a sign Beijing is listening, and the US says China has turned back some shipments in recent days. But some of those restrictions merely put in place UN sanctions passed last year with China's support before Trump took office. In a phone call with reporters Monday, Susan Thornton, the acting assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, said the president has "made clear to the Chinese that they should view North Korea as a liability, not as an asset, and that this is an urgent global threat that must be addressed by all peace-loving nations, but especially by China, when they have so much leverage." "We've seen some tangible indications that they're working toward this end, but it's still quite early," she said. Trump himself appeared to reinforce the stern US message at the White House, replying "Gotta behave" when a CNN reporter asked what message he had for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. China also made a plea for a return to negotiations, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang saying Beijing wants to resume the talks that ended in stalemate in 2009. He suggested that US plans to deploy a missile defense system in South Korea were damaging its relations with China. ___ Colvin reported from Washington. Edith Lederer, Matthew Lee, Josh Lederman and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. Follow Ken Thomas on Twitter at https://twitter.com/KThomasDC (**) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Sebastian Partogi (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18 2017 A new film by new director Wicaksono Wisnu Legowo brings us an intimate, immersive portrait of the lives of the poor. Structural violence refers to a form of violence inflicted by social structures or institutions by preventing people from receiving their basic needs. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 18:40 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9b07ef 1 City undocumented-worker Free A new method of transporting undocumented Indonesian workers abroad, using a private jet, has been foiled, an official has said. South Jakarta Immigration Office head Cucu Koswala said a Malaysian palm oil businessman allegedly attempted to use the private jet to fly 13 undocumented Indonesian workers to work in Malaysia. According to statements from two Malaysians [who were assigned to pick the Indonesian workers], the jet belongs to the businessman, Cucu said on Monday as quoted by kompas.com. Cucu added that the planes use was a new method uncovered by his office and he would carry out further investigations before taking appropriate action. The workers, 12 male and one female, had planned to depart on Sunday from Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport, but were intercepted by officials because they had not undergone proper documentation procedures, Cucu said. (fac) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Ganug Nugroho Adi (The Jakarta Post) Karanganyar, Central Java Tue, April 18, 2017 22:24 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9b608a 1 National Karanganyar,Central-Java,2017JakartaElection,#2017JakartaElection,#JakartaGubernatorialElection,mass-mobilization Free The Karanganyar Police in Central Java staged on Tuesday the unannounced examination of vehicles bound for Jakarta to prevent any mass mobilization during Wednesdays gubernatorial runoff election in the countrys capital. The search was conducted for one hour in the morning, at noon and in the afternoon in several locations along the Karanganyar-Solo highway. Police personnel stopped and examined all public transportation, private cars and trucks during the raid. They examined not only driving licenses but also the identities of passengers and their belongings. The police also asked their travel destinations and purposes. In the raid, the police informed the travelers about the National Police chiefs directive, which bans any parties staging a mass mobilization during Jakartas election day. Fifteen minibuses, 10 private cars and three buses were ordered to turn back. A directive issued by the Elections Supervisory Agency [Bawaslu], the Jakarta General Elections Commission [KPU], and the Jakarta Police has stated the gubernatorial election is the concern of Jakarta voters only. Hence, with regard to any mass mobilization, we will order them to return home. Moreover, the National Police chief [Gen.Tito Karnavian] himself has issued such an order, said Karanganyar Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ade Safri Simanjuntak. During the operation, the police randomly examined goods carried by trucks. Ade said the search was aimed at preventing the delivery of dangerous materials, which might affect security. Theres no need for people from other areas to directly witness the election. Mass mobilization will only create an unconducive situation, said Ade. (ebf) Here's how Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna is helping the needy take charge and become entrepreneurs. By India Today Web Desk: Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna (PMMY), a scheme to provide loans to the unfunded, successfully disbursed loans worth Rs 1.8 crore in 2016-2017, a tweet from the official handle of the Bharatiya Janata Party said. Funding the unfunded : Loans worth Rs. 1.8 lakh crore disbursed in 2016-17 under #PMMY, 70% beneficiaries are women. pic.twitter.com/KBCA4J2M5N- BJP (@BJP4India) April 18, 2017 advertisement Through the scheme, the government was able to disburse money to the underprivileged and claimed that 70 per cent of the beneficiaries were women. With the help of banks and PMMY scheme launched in 2015, people who earlier used to struggle in getting loans can now easily opt for loans. Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna is said to have helped 58 million small business owners in our nation. Also read: Women need not change their names in passport after marriage, says PM Narendra Modi How PMMY is helping women and the underprivileged: A majority of the small scale businesses aren't supported by banks as they remain outside the ambit of bank credits. Unorganised management of credit facility never reached small business owners. PMMY helped in fulfillment of small entrepreneurs' needs. The scheme provided transparency to both financial institutions and entrepreneurs for solving issues related to repayment by creating a single platform for both. The scheme has three options for the beneficiaries: Shishu (loans up to Rs 50,000) Kishore (loans up to Rs 50,000-5 lakh) Tarun (loans up to Rs 10 lakh) This means the scheme can benefit a wide range of people, from women who want to start business at home to businesses that would require an investment of up to Rs 10 lakh. Localisation: Mudra Bank partners with local coordinators and provides finance to small businesses who faced issues earlier due to limited branch presence. Does Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna only benefit SC/ST/OBC? In the last year, Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna has loaned money worth Rs 1.8 crore to small businesses out which 35 per cent of the recipients belonged to OBC, 20 per cent belonged to SC and 5 per cent fell in the category of ST. While many appreciated the success of the scheme that claims to cater to the needy, some argued that it can be provided to those who fall under the General category as well. There are arguments that people who belong to the General class have ideas and passion for ventures but are denied bank loans. Funding the unfunded : Loans worth Rs. 1.8 lakh crore disbursed in 2016-17 under #PMMY, 70% beneficiaries are women. pic.twitter.com/KBCA4J2M5N- BJP (@BJP4India) April 18, 2017 The BJP's tweet announcing the success of PMMY received immense support from people but there were some who believed that belonging to reserved classes is a privilege in India. advertisement This is how a few people reacted: --- ENDS --- Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 17:49 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9ac50e 1 National Yogyakarta,Central-Java,Ganjar-Pranowo,semen-indonesia,Semen-Rembang,Kendeng-farmers,UGM,Gadjah-Mada-University,#Kendeng Free Around 25 activists from the rights movement, Jogja Solidarity Against Cement Factory, staged a rally on Tuesday to protest the visit of Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo to the University of Gadjah Mada (UGM) campus in Yogyakarta. Learning from the fighting spirit of the mother of Kendeng, Yu Padmi, who died in her struggle against the construction of the cement factory in Kendeng, we are here reject the visit of Ganjar, the cement governor, rally coordinator Ahmad Haedar said on Tuesday. Padmi passed away on March 21 after a week-long rally against the construction of the Rembang cement factory in front of the State Palace in Jakarta. At the rally, Padmi and several other female farmers from Kendeng, buried their feet in concrete blocks to show their resistance to the project. Pitra Hutomo, a female activist, asked Ganjar to cease mining activities on Kendeng Mountain, which could deplete water reserves in the area. If the water resources here are depleted, can we drink cement? she said. The activists showed posters emblazoned with various messages against the cement factory, such as Stop the Confiscation of Peoples Land, Reject Ganjar and Kendeng Lestari (Everlasting Kendeng). The protesters later marched to the Wisma Kagama meeting hall and asked Ganjar, who was attending a seminar there, to meet with them. Disappointed by Ganjars refusal, the protesters later blocked the governors way as he left the building. Haedar told Ganjar that by permitting the construction of the cement factory, the government would kill Kendeng residents because of the projects impact on water resources and agricultural activities in the area. (ebf) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Marguerite Afra Sapiie and Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, April 19 2017 Nearly three years after being inked by Indonesia and the Philippines, a historic agreement to settle the two nations overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZ) will be ratified by the House of Representatives next week. The border delineation agreement, signed in 2014 after 20 years of negotiations, draws a line across the overlapping EEZs of the Philippines Mindanao Sea and Indonesias Sulawesi Sea, and is regarded as an important milestone in the two partners relations. During a hearing at House Commission I overseeing defense and foreign affairs on Tuesday, officials and lawmakers agreed to ratify the agreement to provide stronger law enforcement and maritime security; and better protection of natural and mineral resources. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Wed, April 19 2017 The plan to withdraw the free-visa facility for citizens of dozens of countries is the latest display of not only inconsistency but also lack of prior study on the governments part when it comes to policy-making. Consider this. In a bid to meet its target of 20 million tourist arrivals by 2019 the government generously offered in 2015 the free-visa privilege to many countries without taking into account reciprocity. Lesser-known countries were granted the same privilege awarded to countries that have consistently contributed greatly to tourist arrivals. The more countries, the bigger the revenue Indonesia would earn from foreign tourists spending during their stay in our tourist destinations, ran the theory. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Tue, April 18, 2017 17:24 2030 a291276806121264c0bd211cde9aa766 1 News labuan-bajo,travel,Tourism-Ministry,Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Komodo-Island,East-Nusa-Tenggara,tourism,#tourism Free In addition to advertising and social media campaigns, the Tourism Ministry is also promoting domestic tourist destinations by reaching out to diplomats. The Foreign Ministry is conducting a training visit to East Nusa Tenggara from last Sunday until Saturday, with participants including senior Indonesian diplomats as well as diplomats from Australia, China, Myanmar, Fiji, Laos, Cambodia and Papua New Guinea. The places that will be visited during this event are Padar, Komodo, Manta Point, Heritage Walk Kampung Ujung, pearls cultivation and education at Pungu Island, the Papagarang fishing village, Kanawa island, Sunset Kalong Rinca, Liang Ndara and Amelia Sea View, said Shana Fatina from the Tourism Ministry's prioritized tourist destinations team. The diplomats are also invited to join activities like a beach clean-up, youth forum, womens forum and culture forum. Read also: Five must-visit places in Komodo National Park Participants are required to upload their activities throughout this event on social media, added Fatina. In Labuan Bajo, the government unveiled plans to build a tourism community academy in West Manggarai regency, which has been approved by the Research, Technology and Higher Education Ministry. The Komodo airport is also undergoing a management shift, with state-owned airport operator PT. Angkasa Pura I to take full control of future development. Airlines have also been encouraged to open new flight routes to Labuan Bajo. Read also: Komodo National Park expects to welcome more cruise ships The Tourism Ministry also plans to highlight Labuan Bajo tourism at the upcoming Malaysia International Dive Expo (MIDE) slated for May 12-14 at the PWTC Kuala Lumpur. The expo is a hub for diving equipment, courses and diving destinations. Singapore and Malaysia are the top two countries of origin of overseas divers, said Fatina. (kes) Char siu, the Cantonese technique of roasting meats over fire, is the inspiration behind a new restaurant that just opened at 119 Essex St. The chef is Matt Rojas, who won praise at Rouge et Blanc in Soho and worked in the kitchens at Eleven Madison Park and Degustation. According to a press release we received today, the menu is influenced by the flavors of Vietnamese, Thai, Japanese, Chinese and Thai cuisine. Rojas comes from a Mexican American family in Arizona, but his mom made Chinese dishes when he was a kid, and Rojas has had a passion for Asian cooking ever since. Menu items include roast duck rubbed with Sichuan spices, five spice duck wings, curried lamb neck and mapo pork belly. Prices range from $7-$17. Theres a beer and wine menu. Craft beers include selections from Kent Falls Brewery, Equilibrium Brewery and Half Acre Beer Company. You can see the full menu here. Char Sue is open for dinner Wednesday-Sunday. The Punjab government tried to fulfill two promises - one by removing the red beacons from the official vehicles and other by launching a crackdown against drug mafia in Punjab. By Manjeet Sehgal: Captain Amarinder Singh's government has completed its first month in office. The first month of the Congress-led government was completed by forming various panels to fulfill the promises made in the election manifesto. The first month has been full of controversies, flip-flops and instances in which party MLAs and ministers openly threatened officials and Opposition party leaders. The government tried to fulfill two promises - one by removing the red beacons from the official vehicles and other by launching a crackdown against drug mafia in Punjab. However, both the initiatives backfired as removing the red beacons from the cars did not end the VIP culture. While party MLA Ramanjit Singh Sikkii openly threatened a DSP over a loudspeaker issue so as not to annoy his men failing which he will face the consequences, Forest and SCST Welfare Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot publically scolded a school principal after he noticed that his name figured at number three on an inauguration plate. These examples clearly show that just removing red beacons will not end arrogance of politicians, sdspite the chief minister having issued orders that names of ministers will not be mentioned on the inauguration or foundation stone plaques. advertisement Although registration of FIRs against drug smugglers and 1468 arrests could be termed a good start but the so called 'big fish' are still beyond the reach of the police. Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal, who refused to take an official vehicle and even stopped serving tea to visitors, flew in a helicopter on Baisakhi to Talwandi Sabo. National president of youth Congress and Gidarbaha MLA Amarinder Singh Raja Warring's aides indulged in violence after the government came to power. OPPOSITION SLAMS GOVERNMENT Opposition Akali Dal and the BJP has termed one month of Captain Amarinder's government in office as new era of Congress' hooliganism, oppression and misgovernance. "Suicide by fifteen farmers, desecration of Guru Granth Sahib at six places, forcible occupation of truck unions at seven places, gang wars inside Kapurthala Jail and outside SSP Batala's residence, unabated illegal mining all over Punjab, jailbreak attempt in Gurdaspur, U-turns by ministers, pan Punjab protest by parents against private schools, auctioning of farmers' land and physical assault on Akali-BJP workers - all these incidents have marred the first month of Captain Amarinder Singh's chief ministership," BJP Secretary, Vineet Joshi told India Today. However, the Punjab government's ministers termed the allegations as baseless and claimed that the government was moving in the right direction to fulfill the election promises. "The government is moving in the right direction. We have started a massive crackdown against the people involved in drug smuggling. The operation continues and the STF will soon nab the big fish. The backbone of the supply chain has been broken. The addicts are not able to get the drugs and have knocked at the doors of rehab centres. The government will fulfill all the promises made during the elections," Punjab Technical Education Minister, Charanjit Singh Channi said. Also read: Punjab: Amarinder government's biggest crackdown on drug mafias, 1468 people arrested in a month Also read: Fight against 'VIP culture': Punjab govt bans names of ministers, MLAs' on foundation stones --- ENDS --- When a 17-year-old Muslim was told by a friend of a friend that her dad would beat her if she took her headscarf off, she wanted to prove him wrong. After Lamyaa, who was born in Saudi Arabia but moved to the United States when she was seven, received the abuse in a group chat, she messaged her father telling him she wanted to take off her hijab. (@lxmyaa/Twitter) (@lxmyaa/Twitter) And when he responded in a loving and supporting way, Lamyaa decided to share his reaction on Twitter to show that oppression isnt what the hijab symbolises to her and its had thousands of retweets. Since this is a mentality a lot of you seem to have pic.twitter.com/CQn5L8zibS l a m y a a (@lxmyaa) April 15, 2017 The message I had received was in a group chat that someone had made, said Lamyaa, when explaining the abuse directed at her. One of my friends added a bunch of people and I was one of them. We were having a discussion about several things, then the conversation was shifted to shed light on the presidency and the current tension. I, personally, had very strong views considering the presidency did impact me because I am an Arab, Muslim woman. I brought up the fact that I was Muslim and that guy didnt feel comfortable so he said what he said. Lamyaa, who lives in Pennsylvania, said over the years she has experienced a lot of backlash for wearing a headscarf, which she said only made her grow as a person, and more importantly as a Muslim woman, Arab woman. However, I did feel the need to prove him wrong, she explained. And thats where messaging my dad came in. I didnt consider taking off my scarf, I just wanted to have a response from my dad to prove that what he said is false. (@lxmyaa/Twitter) She added: I did not expect my dad to respond in such a loving way. I expected him to be supportive but not concerned. It felt great to know that I had him and his love and support. The tweet has since gained a lot of attention, and Lamyaa has found herself having to explain that she wasnt saying that no women are forced to wear the hijab. Yes, a lot of women are forced to wear the hijab, she wrote in a note shared in a separate tweet. That oppression however isnt what the hijab symbolises, its not why women wear it. I personally chose to wear the hijab, for myself and for god. And Lamyaa says when it comes to people who have misconceptions about Islam, she wants them to speak to a Muslim and have a conversation with them. She said: Many of us are willing to answer any questions and clear up any misconceptions. (Joe Giddens/PA) Muslims are not some separate group, we are a part of America. We are people. Your doctors, lawyers, teachers, bus drivers, neighbours, etc. This country has freedom, and that doesnt stop at religion. Just because someone believes in a different religion or dresses differently it does not mean that they are deserving of hate. At the end of the day, we are all people and all we want to do is live in peace. One of Donald Trumps most controversial moves since becoming president was his so-called travel ban, which has also been described by some as a Muslim ban. The executive orders put a temporary ban on people from a number of Muslim-majority entering the US but have been repeatedly challenged by judges. A faction of the sevaits at Puri's Jagannath Temple feel that Mamata has stood by those who eat meet and hence they are protesting against her being allowed inside the shrine. By Manogya Loiwal : Ahead of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's visit to Puri later this week, some sevaits of the Jagannath temple in the city are protesting against her coming here for reportedly standing by with non-vegetarians. A faction of the sevaits at Puri's Jagannath Temple feel that Mamata has stood by those who eat meet and hence they are raising questions on her being allowed inside the temple. advertisement Mamata will be on a three-day visit to Odisha starting today evening. During her three-day visit, Mamata will offer prayers at the Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri. ONE SEVAIT DETAINED FOR PROTEST The police under whose jurisdiction the Jagannath Temple falls have also detained a sevait named Somanath Khuntia for protesting against her visit. Jagannath Temple sevait Somanath Khuntia detained in Puri. Photo: Sourabha Harichandran. Jagannath Temple sevait Somanath Khuntia detained in Puri. Photo: Sourabha Harichandran. According to Khuntia, Mamata has offended the feelings of several Hindus by allowing eating of cow and buffalo meat. As Puri temple is a Hindu Sanatan Temple, he said if Mamata entered its premises, the sevaits might go on a large-scale protest too. On the other hand, there are other sevaits who are all set to welcome her. Daitapati Sevak of Jagannath Temple Swain Mohapatra said, "Mamata Banerjee will arrive at Puri temple. I will welcome her by giving Khandua. Mamata will stay at the temple for around an hour. Those who are protesting against her visit are not projecting the shrine in the correct light." Meanwhile, the district administration and police have tightened security ahead of her visit. (WITH SOURABHA HARICHANDRAN IN PURI) Also read | West Bengal: Saffron burst on Bengal map puts Mamata in a spot Also read | Odisha is new laboratory of Narendra Modi's pro-poor schemes, says Dharmendra Pradhan --- ENDS --- On the 13th of April, the website of the Chechen government announced that Ramzan Kadyrov, the political leader of Chechnya, had received a horse as a gift from the Crown Prince of Dubai. Of course, the website contains no mention of the rounding up and torturing of gay and bisexual men in concentration camps being conducted by the Dear Leaders forces. But at least Mr Kadyrov has a nice new pet whose name, as it happens, is Leonardo (historys most noteworthy Leonardo, da Vinci, would be on the receiving end of electric shocks were he a 21st Century citizen of Chechnya). Mr Kadyrov, who resembles a Mountain Dew drinking, basement dwelling teenager who has nothing better to do than play Call of Duty all day, is a deeply unpleasant little man. He has been implicated in the murder of people who have spoken against his barbarous regime and shows all the signs of the cliched dictator: he is quick to anger, inspires fear in those who work for him, keeps exotic pets, presents himself as a big strong man and Chechen television seems to be Kadyrov TV, according a 2007 profile of him by the Independent (well worth a read to be informed on the perversities of our dear Ramzan). Of course, there is a rather complicated backstory to our heroic megalomaniac. He fought against Russia in the cause of Chechen independence, and then jumped sides, and now is the political leader of a Chechen republic within Russia. He has a cosy relationship with another demented homophobic authoritarian who goes by the name of Vladimir Putin (you may have heard of him). In short, Mr Kadyrov is another of historys pathetic strongmen. The Chechen people seem oddly in favour of him (but then, is this surprising, given what happens to those who openly speak against him?) yet he is a burden on them. Most of all, he has become a burden on his countrys gay population. This is to understate the situation. There are now, once more, concentration camps in Europe. This is not something that should be accepted or taken lightly. Hundreds of gay men are being held and tortured, at least three have died, and those who are released face immense danger in returning to their families in a country where homosexuality is detested in the extreme. The government has denied that this is even happening - a spokesman for Kadyrov seemed to suggest that it could not happen, because gays would be taken care of (i.e. murdered) by their families before state-sponsored persecution could even occur. Wonderful logic, and a sufficient demonstration of the status gay people hold in Chechnya. Now, I will venture a guess as to why these awful events are happening. Russia, Putin, Chechnya, Kadyrov - what do these have in common? They are led by ultra-conservative leaders and have highly religious populations. Both Putin and Kadyrov are close to the conservative religious forces in their country. Putin is close to the Russian Orthodox Church (as was, ahem, Stalin) and Kadyrovs father was an imam (Chechnya is mostly Muslim). Kadyrov protested the publishing of the Charlie Hebdo cartoons after the Paris attacks in 2015. Both Russia and Chechnya are falling under a tide of homophobia, and LGBT rights in both countries are in a sorry state (though Russia is slightly better - at least they dont have the death penalty for homosexuality, unlike in Chechnya, even if it is suspended there). Of course, Kadyrov has been implicated in numerous scandals, and is deeply materialistic and most likely a hypocrite (a video was released by his enemies in 2006 allegedly showing him with prostitutes in a sauna). He supports honour killings for women who are, of course, property of their husbands. The list could go on. In short, in Chechnya and the wider region, we are faced with entrenched ultra-conservative attitudes towards homosexuality, inspired and enforced by deranged leaders and hard line religious beliefs. The state is sponsoring these killings. What is required is the intervention of the international community to put pressure on Russia and Chechnya, as Kyle Knight has stated in the Guardian. If I was in Chechnya I would possibly be under detention and torture right now for nothing more than being gay. This is no way to treat human beings, and it must be opposed. However, short-term solutions will only go so far. What is needed is a complete overhaul in attitudes, politics and morals in the region - until the ultra-conservative attitudes so prevalent there have been overcome, there will always be a risk to those who do not fit in, to minorities and people who do not wish to be ruled by pathetic dictators with too much time on their hands and too few ideas in their minds. I do not know Mark Regev personally, mores the pity. He has always struck me as a canny and capable media performer and an intelligent and erudite spokesman. SOAS He is undoubtedly used to cold receptions and unpleasant interrogations. Still, one is inclined to wonder at his boldness. Having last year ceased to be Netanyahus spokesman in order to become Israels ambassador to the UK, he would have been forgiven for enjoying the relative peace and quiet afforded by his new, (ostensibly) less public role. You would not, perhaps, have expected him to take up an invitation to speak at SOAS, the University of Londons unofficial madrassa and School of Protest. Mr. Regev has been to SOAS before, and witnessed the violent reaction provoked by the mere fact of his presence. So he will have been expecting the torrent of vile abuse, the announced protests, the petitions, and the angry demonstrations that began almost as soon as some fool deigned to inform the SOAS community of the planned visit. Given the violence which resulted from similar protests at UCL late last year, and the threats issued at the last round of protests at SOAS (the trans and gender-identity officer from SOAS SU tweeted that err xbrey would be around later on to fuck shit up) we find ourselves in the absurd situation where an ambassador from an allied nation speaking at an English university must be praised for his bravery. I should declare an interest before wading further into the mire. I consider myself a friend to Israel. It is a modern state, more progressive and tolerant than it is fashionable to admit (and certainly more so than any of its neighbours). A large part of its population is sane and generous and secular; it is this faction which has raised wealth from barren and oil-less deserts, creating and maintaining and improving the only democratic state between Cyprus and India, and doing much to fight against reactionary overreach by their own nation even whilst Islamist crypto-fascists fire rockets at them. They deserve our thanks. Instead, they are subjected to boycotts, divestment and sanctions; a BS movement (or was that BDS?), led by our own supposedly tolerant, progressive and enlightened students, which could not tell and does not care about the difference between Yesh Atid and the Hasidic lobby, and which would rather side with the racist, fanatical and rejectionist Hamas than the Muslim democratic reformers in The Joint List. The SOAS set claims to protest apartheid. It is curious, then, that they should ally themselves with a faction which states in its founding charter that its territory, and indeed the world, must be judenrein. It is because I support the state of Israel that I strive to be a stern critic of the Likud-UTJ-Jewish Home coalition government. The constant and undignified obeisance paid to the ultra-Orthodox right undermines Israels great potential, and is almost the sole reason that Israels secular population lacks the support of a written constitution. And no sane person can claim that Israels handling of the Palestinian question is beyond reproach. The SOAS community has helpfully published a whole litany of objections to Mr. Regevs presence in the form of a mini-manifesto, signed by everyone from the Decolonising Our Minds society to the SOAS Herb Society. Mr. Regev, if he is allowed to speak at all, will almost certainly be too polite and measured to address them specifically. I, on the other hand, am not a diplomat, and I have one or two questions for the SOAS community that I thought I would share with you. First, its statement boasts of a landslide 73% vote in favour of an academic boycott of Israel. I should like to know the turnout of this vote. Given that the SOAS SU claims to stand for truth and integrity, I am sure it would not countenance misrepresenting the views of the whole SOAS community. Let it, then, be proved that no such misrepresentation has been propagated. Second, if the turnout is high and the support as unanimous as the community claims, does it not rather undermine the argument that allowing Mr. Regev to speak amounts to an act of oppression against a marginalised group? Either Palestinians at SOAS are an embattled minority or they are not. Third, in what conceivable sense does an unpopular speaker threaten academic freedom, as the community claims? Surely the opportunity to hear and to question an opponent, especially one as important as Mr. Regev, shows that SOAS has a healthy respect for academic freedom. Surely shutting down the event, which is the communitys aim, is a blow against academic freedom and freedom of speech, both of which the community claims (ludicrously) to uphold? Fourth, does not the landslide vote and alleged popular support for the communitys position disprove the assertion that Mr. Regevs presence is a threat to Palestinian students? The fact that the event will be policed by the Israeli embassys own security team is a legitimate point of concern, but has anyone in the community paused to ask why such measures are deemed necessary? Might it not have something to do with the fact that supposedly pro-Palestinian demonstrations at analogous events have in fact been violently anti-Israel? Were it not the case that the sort of majority opinion claimed by the community has so often been aggressive and tyrannous in nature, I suggest that the Israeli ambassador would not feel so threatened as to require the presence of an armed detail. In other words, arent the community responsible for the very measures against which they now protest? And if the community is as committed to upholding the rights of minorities as it claims to be, should it not wholeheartedly support the presence on campus of a man speaking in defence of Israel? Fifth, the statement says that SOAS management cannot guarantee that this event will take place within the acceptable boundaries of academic freedom and free speech, free from intimidation of all participants. Now, that sounds to me like a threat. So, see fourth; the fact that such stringent and drastic and alarming security measures are in place is testimony to the vile and violent nature of the protesters whom the community supports. Finally, to claim, as the community does, that Mr. Regevs presence means that SOAS management has ignored the concerns of students is evidence of nothing but entitlement. Shocking though this may be to students of a certain nature, it is possible to listen to an argument and disagree with its conclusion. I, for example, have read carefully the statement issued by the community; it is because I have read it carefully that I can be confident in essaying my opposition to it. The attitude and tacit assumptions of the community, which presumes that no one who reads its prospectus could possibly disagree with its conclusions, is evidence of the very privilege which I dont doubt it abhors in other people. So no, I cannot see the force of their claims. The SOAS communitys opposition to Mark Regev is deeply suspect; evidence, I suggest, of a suspicious and unedifying animus against Israel. Contra what they would have you believe, it is possible to disagree with Israeli policy whilst supporting the Israels right to exist; further, it is possible to object to Israeli policy and yet welcome the opportunity to hear, and to confront, a man whose job it is to defend said policy. Mark Regevs visit is an opportunity to engage an emissary of the Netanyahu regime in dialogue and argument. It is something to be welcomed, not opposed. I sincerely hope that the visit will go ahead, and that sensible students will take the opportunity to find value in it. In other words, I sincerely hope that SOAS belies the image its own union sets before the world. 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Namun jangan khawatir, disini sebagai situs slot gacor MGS88 kami akan memberikan penjelasan lengkap mengenai tentang istilah yang ada di RTP SLOT dibawah ini. By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today called on Nepals President Bidya Devi Bhandari and discussed various issues concerning India-Nepal bilateral relations. "Had a fruitful meeting with President of Nepal Ms Bidya Devi Bhandari. We discussed a range of issues pertaining to India-Nepal relations (sic)," he tweeted. Bhandari, who arrived here yesterday on a five-day visit and was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, is slated to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other Indian leaders. advertisement During her stay in India, she is also expected to travel to Gujarat and Odisha. PTI ACB KUN --- ENDS --- Talking to reporters in Chennai, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam made it clear that he would settle for nothing less than removal of both Sasikala and TTV Dinakaran from the party if AIADMK's factions have to unite. By Pramod Madhav: Amid talks of merger between the two warring factions of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's (AIADMK), former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam has made it clear that he would settle for nothing less than ouster of VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran from the party. Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Panneerselvam played the 'Amma' card and said it was important that members of the Mannargudi family be evicted if the AIADMK has to survive. advertisement Panneerselvam reiterated his demand for a probe into J Jayalalithaa's death and said details regarding her treatment should be made public. "Sasikala has betrayed Amma. The treatment and medicines given to Amma should be made public. A thorough investigation must be done into Jayalalithaa's death," Panneerselvam said. "We have to follow the path which Amma (Jayalalithaa) laid out for us. The way Sasikala brought back Dinakaran into the party and her own elevation as AIADMK general secretary...everything was unconstitutional," Panneerselvam, who revolted against Sasikala in February after stepping down from the CM's chair, said. "That family (Mannargudi family) was not supposed to be in the party. Amma never wanted them in the party, they have betrayed her. Betrayers will have to go," Panneerselvam added. REVOLT IN EPS CAMP On the other hand, the revolt inside the EPS (CM Edappadi Palaniswami) camp has spiralled out of control with senior ministers seeking deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran and interim general secretary Sasikala Natarajan's removal. Sources said Dinakaran has also lost support of influential party leaders Jayakumar, SP Velumani, Thangamani and Vaithyalingam - who helped him enter AIADMK again after Jayalalithaa's death. The four leaders are apprehensive of their names being associated with health minister Vijaybhaskar who was raided by the Income Tax department earlier this month. "They've completely surrendered to the Center as they are trapped now. If TTV quits his position within the party, they are likely to be saved," claimed a party leader. PANNEERSELVAM AS CM, EPS AS DEPUTY CM? As per negotiations tabled, Cabinet is ready to accept Panneerselvam as chief minister if Palaniswami is made his deputy. Palaniswami had reportedly asked for the role of general secretary as well. Madhusudhanan will remain as the presidium chairman. Surprisingly, a plan has also been formulated to bring Sasikala out of prison in 4 months if ahe quits the general secretary post Dinakaran is to not involve himself into party decisions but can be a party worker. advertisement Members of EPS camp led by education minister Sengottaiyan is likely to meet Panneerselvam tonight and will try and barter the deal. Dinakarana having lost the support of his close aides is ready to resort to any move to save himself. WATCH: Exclusive: No split within AIADMK, only difference of opinion, says Thambidurai ALSO READ: Tamil Nadu: AIADMK factions meet for merger talks. Sasikala, nephew Dinakaran to be kicked out? Have Panneerselvam and Sasikala patched up? Decision on merger of AIADMK factions likely today AIADMK's TTV Dinakaran charged with offering Rs 50 crore to middleman to buy party's 'two leaves' symbol Sasikala in jail but 'mafia from Mannargudi' is here to stay. Who are they? Sasikala's nephew Dinakaran takes charge as new deputy general secretary, opens the door for OPS --- ENDS --- By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) It is "unfortunate" that someone has to knock the doors of the court for ensuring respect to the national flag and national anthem, government told the Supreme Court today, asserting that respect for them was "non-negotiable". As the governnment stated its position on the issue, an apex court bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra, A M Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar, modified its earlier order to exempt those with disability from standing up at cinema halls when the national anthem is being played. advertisement "We are inclined to modify the orders and direct that the persons who are wheel-chair users, those with autism, persons suffering from cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities, parkinsons, multiple sclerosis, leprosy cured, muscular dystrophy and deaf and blind be treated not to be within the ambit of the orders passed by this Court," the bench said. At the outset, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench "it is unfortunate that someone has to approach this court for ensuring due respect to national flag and national anthem but what is most unfortunate that some section is opposing it. "Respect for national anthem and national flag is non- negotiable and every citizen is bound to show due respect to the symbols of national pride." The apex court had in its December 9 order clarified that a physically-challenged person, who goes to the cinema hall to watch a film, need not stand up if he is incapable of standing but must show such conduct which is commensurate with respect for the national anthem. The apex court also sought a response from the Centre in four weeks on a plea seeking framing of a policy to promote the national anthem and the national song. The petition, filed by Delhi BJP spokesperson and advocate Ashwini Upadhaya, also sought to direction for mandatory singing of national anthem and the national song in Parliament, assemblies, courts, schools and colleges on working days. The courts order had come on a PIL filed by one Shyam Narayan Chouksey seeking directions that the national anthem should be played in cinema halls across the country before a film begins and proper norms and protocol be fixed regarding its playing and singing at official functions and programmes where those holding constitutional posts are present. During the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi appearing for Chouksey, said a direction should be issued to the government to amend the law as there were penal provisions for those who disrespect the national flag, but there are no such provisions for those who show disrespect to the anthem. Senior advocate C U Singh, appearing for Kerala Film Society, sought recall of the earlier order making playing of the national song in cinema halls mandatory before screening of films saying that courts should not venture into the field of the legislature. advertisement "We show utmost respect to the national flag and national anthem. But it should not be considered anti-national to argue against this petition or seeking recall of the order," Singh said. Mehta intervened and said that he never used the word anti-national but citizens should show due respect to national flag and national anthem. To this, the bench asked "is showing respect to national flag and national anthem not inherent in our Constitution?" Singh said they were not against showing respect to the flag but it does not mean that the courts order was beyond the scope of challenge. He said the petition is not maintainable as it was Parliaments or the governments job to ensure that cinema halls play the anthem before the screening of a film. "There are separation of power. This is executive domain and by PIL court cannot assume power of legislation," the senior advocate said adding that court cannot compel anyone to play the national anthem at a particular time. The bench asked petitioner to file an amended petition with additional grounds within two weeks and allowed intervention application of Maharashtra and Rajasthan. advertisement It clarified that the plea of Kerala film society seeking recall of earlier order will be heard along with the main petition and posted the matter for August 23. On February 17, the apex court had refused to go into the debate for making singing of the national song mandatory in schools and clarified that it has "kept alive" such a plea only for the national anthem without expressing any views. The apex court had on November 30 last year ordered cinema halls across the nation to mandatorily play the national anthem before screening of a movie when the audience must stand and show respect. The apex court, while passing a slew of directions, had also observed that "time has come when citizens must realise they live in a nation and are duty-bound to show respect to the national anthem which is a symbol of constitutional patriotism and inherent national quality". PTI MNL ABA SJK ARC --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: The world is full of wonders and we all love to explore them. While we would want our journeys to be full of thrill and adventure, we would simultaneously want to be safe while travelling. And now that this beautiful country has been declared the safest destination in the world, why don't you put on your shoes and head to this destination? advertisement The World Economic Forum recently released a comprehensive list of the safest destinations in the world, as part of 2017 Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report. And Finland has been named the safest destination in the world. In Pics: Finland: Designed to perfection This is one of the most prestigious accolades for any destination to win. United Arab Emirates and Iceland bagged the second and third position respectively. The other destinations that featured in the top 10 were Oman, Hong Kong SAR, Singapore, Norway, Switzerland, Rwanda and Qatar. India, unfortunately, ranked 114 among a total of 136 countries. Known for the Northern lights, Finland offers you a panoramic variety of topographical features, including clear waters, Baltic sea islands and a canopy of forests. Rich in flora and fauna, the country boasts of more than 30 national parks. Besides, the lush greenery and the peaceful, fresh ambience of the countryside can be your ultimate escape from a bustling city life. This year, Finland is celebrating its hundredth year of independence and are offering tourists diverse experiences to indulge in. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) The Supreme Court today asked the government whether a Special Investigation Team (SIT) should be constituted to probe the offshore accounts of Indians revealed in the Panama paper leaks. A bench, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, asked Additional Solicitor General (ASG) P S Narasimha to seek instruction on whether a separate SIT can be tasked to probe the Panama Papers leak, besides Multi-Agency Group (MAG) set up by the government to probe into the black money cases. advertisement The court asked Narasimha to file the seventh report of MAG within three days and took on record six reports filed in sealed cover with regard to the investigation in the black money cases. The bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and Justice M M Shantanagoudar, asked the ASG to inform about the decision and posted the matter for hearing in July. At the outset, the ASG said that investigation into the names leaked by a website was not simple and multiple agencies were probing and trying to ascertain the details. "The investigations into such names is still going on and all cases will be thoroughly investigated," he said, adding that the MAGs report had a complete chapter on the Panama paper leaks. Narasimha, while opposing separate investigation, said the probe into these cases were not like normal crime incidents as it involved various aspects, like treaties with foreign countries, agreement for disclosures etc. He said each of the transactions spanned different jurisdictions and may involve multiple entities and individuals for which the probe by MAG was needed. The bench, told advocate M L Sharma who has sought independent probe into the Indian offshore account holders named in Panama paper leaks, "they (multi-agencies) are investigating into the matter and we will see in due course what is the outcome of their investigation". The Centre had constituted MAG consisting of officers of the Central Board of Direct Taxes(CBDT), Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Enforcement Directorate and Financial Intelligence Unit to investigate black money cases and is also probing the Panama Paper leaks. The apex court had on March 7 asked the Centre to place before it in a sealed cover all the six reports of MAG after it was informed that sixth report has been completed and the government was prepared to place all reports before the court. The Centre had sought dismissal of the PIL, saying MAG has already been set up to ensure "speedy and coordinated" probe against Indians whose names have figured in the Panama papers. The reports have already been submitted by MAG to the apex court-appointed Special Investigation Team on black money, led by Justice (Retd) M B Shah, and to a Supreme Court bench hearing the case. advertisement The Centre had on October 3, 2016 informed the court that Rs 8,186 crore, illegally kept in offshore banks by Indians, has been brought under tax ambit despite constraints like non-sharing of information by Swiss authorities. Seeking dismissal of the PIL, it had said the SIT on black money has been kept informed on regular basis about the development made in the probe. Sharma in his PIL had sought a court-monitored independent probe into the Panama papers leak which contained an unprecedented amount of information, including more than 11 million documents covering 2,10,000 companies in 21 offshore jurisdictions. The petition had alleged that Panama papers included the names of nearly 500 Indians, including celebrities and industrialists, who have allegedly parked funds in offshore accounts in transactions brokered by the law firm. PTI MNL ABA SJK ARC --- ENDS --- Woman dies in two-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 12 west of Milbank One person is dead and two more are injured after a two-vehicle crash Monday morning near Milbank. By Press Trust of India: Ahmedabad, Apr 18 (PTI) The police today seized scrapped currency notes with face value worth Rs 2.37 crore from three vehicles here and detained seven persons in this connection. On a tip off that some people were to visit Thaltej circle to meet a person to exchange their demonetised currency notes for a commission of 15 per cent, police kept a watch and caught them when they arrived on three separate vehicles, the police said. advertisement A Vastrapur police station official said 13,700 notes of Rs 500 and 16,900 notes of Rs 1,000 were seized from these vehicles at around 1.30 am. "They had come from Vadodara and Himmatnagar and were looking to exchange demonetised currency notes with new notes for a commission of 15 per cent," he said. Seven persons were detained and the Income Tax Department was informed about the seizure, he said. PTI KA PD NRB RAX --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: Like every 16-year-old, Shah Rukh Khan's daughter Suhana takes a break from everything else once in a while and just lets her hair down with her friends. A photo of Suhana surfaced on social media where she can be seen chilling with her squad. Photo: Instagram Photo: Instagram Photo: Instagram It is no secret that Suhana is interested in pursuing a career in acting. However, in an exclusive interview with India Today's Koel Purie, Shah Rukh Khan said that her Bollywood plans would have to wait a few years. "You need to be minimal qualification of a graduate before you even think of coming and learning any way. Go out, do some theatre, finish your schooling, finish your college, then study for a couple of years about acting. (sic)," he said. advertisement "If she gets into the field that I already am in, somewhere, even without wanting, even though I would like to avoid it, the life lessons will permeate on to her through me. And I've already done it. Why would you want to learn from something that has been seen, I've been there, done that; find something new, go beyond. I'm not saying go beyond me and learn and come back and all only, I don't think she needs this kind of a shadow over her. So go out. (sic)" Shah Rukh added. ALSO WATCH: SRK's daughter Suhana turns Cinderella for a school play, video goes viral Watch the exclusive interview of Shah Rukh Khan here: --- ENDS --- The vast flowing Slims River in Canada vanished in just four days due to climate change. The vast flowing Slims River in Canada vanished in just four days due to climate change. (Image via Wikipedia Commons) By Vishakha Saxena: A vast river flowing from one Canada's largest glaciers vanished in just four days last year, due to the glacier's meltdown propelled by climate change. Canada's Slims river which, according to a Guardian report, spanned up to 150 metres at its widest points had been flowing for hundreds of years, carrying water from the massive Kaskawulsh glacier. Between 26 to 29 May 2016, spurred by a massive heat wave, the glacier began melting at a much faster pace. The severe meltdown ended up changing the flow of its water, which now started heading to the Gulf of Alaska -- thousands of miles to the opposite of Slims river. How a sudden intense meltdown of Kaskawulsh glacier changed the fate of Slims River. (Image via Nature Geoscience) advertisement This dramatic effect of global warming was documented by team of experts who had been following the glacier and its steady retreat. There observations were published in the journal Nature on Monday. "We went to the area intending to continue our measurements in the Slims river, but found the riverbed more or less dry. The delta top that we'd been sailing over in a small boat was now a dust storm. In terms of landscape change it was incredibly dramatic," James Best, a geologist at the University of Illinois, told Guardian. These scientists are now calling this phenomenon a case of 'river piracy' -- wherein the flow of one river is suddenly diverted into another. According to the report, "river piracy can dramatically change the routing of water and sediment, with a profound effect on landscape evolution." Experts also observed that though stream piracy has been investigated in glacial environments in the past, it has usually occurred over longer timescales. In this case, however, Slims River was reduced to a thin stream in mere four day, while the south-flowing Alsek river (where water from Kaskawulsh glacier is now heading) became 60 to 70 times larger than the Slims. Both rivers had earlier been comparable in size. The report also noted how the effect of river piracy is not limited to the immediately affected lake. In the case of Slims River, for example, two other rivers that Slims flowed into -- the Kluane river and the Yukon river -- have also been affected. The biological effects of these rivers drying can be quite profound for neighbouring ecosystems. Scientists have already recorded massive sediment erosion in these areas, and are now worried about the long term implications on surrounding human and biological communities. --- ENDS --- It's our annual Labour Weekend tradition ...The Sound 'Hall Of Fame' Countdown... Where we honor the greatest 500 songs of all time as voted by you. By Press Trust of India: Guwahati, Apr 18 (PTI) Stating that the Smart City project implementation in Guwahati is "not satisfactory", Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu today said the North East states have to improve implementation of central government schemes to catch up with the rest of the country in development. "The North Eastern states have to catch up with the rest of the country. The region needs to improve implementation in all schemes," the Union Minister for Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation said addressing a press conference here. advertisement Pointing out that eight cities have been initially shortlisted for the 100 Smart Cities programme, the Minister said the states and selected cities need to expedite the pace of putting in place institutional arrangements and project preparation. He expressed dissatisfaction at the progress made in the Smart City project in Guwahati, which was selected in the first round on January 28, 2016. Naidu today reviewed the progress of schemes in all eight North East states at a secretary-level meeting yesterday and a ministerial-level meeting here today. He said the Centre has launched four major missions - AMRUT, SBM, Smart Cities and PMAY during 2014-15, and there are special schemes for the North East region that include ten per cent lump sum scheme for all urban local bodies (ULBs) of the NE and Asian Development Bank (ADB) assisted programme for five NE state capitals. On Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) implementation in the NE region, Naidu said there is a potential to vastly improve coverage of piped water supply and provide 24x7 drinking water. The Minister stated that in the missions, the Centre has provided greater flexibility to states and no individual project are examined, and said "All decision making, including final projects approvals, is in the hand of the state government. Provisions of capacity building is at the state and city levels in all missions to strengthen planning and implementation." On Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Naidu expressed satisfaction that Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh have been able to show good progress in toilet construction programmes, achieving 60 per cent of their targets. PTI ESB DKB --- ENDS --- Its been 58 years since the migration of Tibetans to India in 1959 after China started campaign for taking control of Tibet. To commemorate the long journey, former ministers in Tibetan government-in-exile has released a journal to relive the history. Former minister Tenzin Geche Tethong (Kasur) and Gen Lobsang Tenzin la, who served the first Tibetan Nursery (later TCV) since 1960s launched the 155 paged journal titled Exile and it is categorised into five sections, Arrival, Democracy, Survival, Education, and Religion and Culture. The journal, through images documents the survival story of Tibetans in exile through pictures from the total occupation of Tibet in 1959 to 1989, the year His Holiness the Dalai Lama received the Nobel Prize for Peace. The pictures that have been included in the journal has been captured by various photographers, many of them are unknown. The Editor of the journal, Lobsang Gyatso Sither said the book showcases the sacrifices and hard work of the first generation of Tibetan refugees under the guidance of spiritual leader Dalai Lama and with help from the Government of India in those difficult times. Gyatso says the photo journal, which was prepared in two years, will help the younger generation of Tibetans to understand and appreciate the history and origins of the Tibetan community, living in exile. The journal includes certain uniqueness in it as it is based on historical pictures and pictures express more about difficult periods for they help people to visualize the challenges faced by the first generation of Tibetans in exile. The book also serves not just as a reminder of the difficult past, but also as a reminder of how the Tibetans survived and remained ever true to their beliefs in the most difficult of times, he said. The journal focuses on the evolution of the exile history from its first educational institute to the first settlement and others, the book comprises of 262 photos out of over 40,000 photos received from various institutions and individuals. The journal has been funded by Geographic Legacy Fund at National Geographic Society and the Committee of 100 for Tibet for Fiscal sponsorship which had archived and digitised all photographs and can be viewed through their website tibetansinexile.org. As the merger of the largest public sector bank, State Bank of India, with its subsidiaries gets completed, the Centre is now exploring the possibility of merging three general insurance public sector units before hitting the capital markets. The Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (Dipam) has initiated consultations on a possible merger of Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and United India Insurance and the combined entity would be then taken to the market for listing. It is estimated the combined entity will have around 35 per cent share of the domestic general insurance market while underwriting total direct premium of over Rs.30,000 crore. Senior officials in the disinvestment department of the Finance Ministry said, "It is not possible for the general insurance companies to hit the capital markets at the moment since the solvency ratio of these companies are below the IRDA mandate. Hence, we are considering a proposal to merge them and make a larger entity and then hit the capital markets." The government is also actively looking at companies for consolidation with the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) keen on having one or two larger entities rather than several smaller ones. According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) annual report 2015-16, the market share of Oriental Insurance declined to 8.63 per cent in 2015-16 from 8.75 per cent in 2014-15 period and that of National Insurance also fell to 12.43 per cent from 13.27 per cent in 2014-15. While the solvency ratio of National Insurance (1.26 per cent) and Oriental Insurance (1.1 per cent) is less than the threshold of 1.5 per cent mandated by IRDAI, United India Insurance has suffered huge losses (Rs.429 crore) in the first half of the current fiscal. Both Oriental and National Insurance have also lost market share in the last financial year. The governments assessment is that these entities are unlikely to get good valuation if listed separately. The Union Cabinet in January approved listing of five state-owned general insurance firms on the stock exchanges. The government plans to bring down its stake in these companies to 75 per cent in tranches through a combination of issuance of fresh equity shares and offer for sale, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said in the briefing after the Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its approval for listing five state-owned General Insurance Companies ~ New India Assurance Company, United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance Company, National Insurance Company and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC). Senior ministry official said, "We are considering the merger for these three entities and the other two re-insurance entities GIC and New India Assurance will be hitting the capital markets once the details and timings are finalised." The most recent consolidation exercise has been in the process of completion of merger of State Bank of India with its five associate banks ~ State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur, State Bank of Hyderabad, State Bank of Mysore, State Bank of Patiala and the State Bank of Travancore. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday cautioned about loans given to companies in sectors in difficulty such as telecom and may witness rising bad loans. Banks were asked to put in place a board-approved policy for making provisions for standard assets at rates higher than the regulatory minimum, based on evaluation of risk and stress in various sectors. "The telecom sector is reporting stressed financial conditions, and presently interest coverage ratio for the sector is less than one," an RBI notification said. "Board of directors of the banks may review the telecom sector latest by June 30, 2017, and consider making provisions for standard assets in this sector at higher rates so that necessary resilience is built in the balance sheets should the stress reflect on the quality of exposure to the sector at a future date," it said. "Besides, banks should also subject the exposure to the sector to closer monitoring," it added. According to RBI, its standard rules for monitoring of loans include periodic reviews of its assets which combine quantitative and qualitative aspects of the loans. These include debt-equity ratio, interest coverage ratio, profit margins of each of the company. In a sudden turn of events, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister D. Jayakumar on Tuesday announced that ministers have decided to keep out jailed AIADMK leader V.K. Sasikala, her nephew T.T.V. Dinakaran and his family out of the party. Jayakumar also said a committee will be formed to run the party when queried about the General Secretary's position. Sasikala was elected as AIADMK's General Secretary last December. Jayakumar, who made the announcement after meeting Chief Minister K. Palaniswami, told reporters that the AIADMK was bowing to the wishes of party cadres, people, lawmakers, ministers and others to keep Dinakaran, the Deputy General Secretary, and his family members out of the party. "We will run the party and the government," he said. "We want to save the party and the government from the clutches of one family." Reacting to the announcement, Sasikala faction legislator Vetrivel told a television channel that Jayakumar did not have the power to make such an announcement. The AIADMK split into two after former Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa's death. One faction is led by Sasikala and the other by former Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam. The BJP West Bengal state executive is scheduled to hold a two-day brainstorming session in Burdhaman on 1-2 May to work out the partys game plan for next years Panchayat elections in the state. Sources told The Statesman that the party central leadership in tandem with the state unit would leave no stone unturned to cash in on the gains made in West Bengal in recent months, especially in the wake of the partys impressive showing in the Kanthi Dakshin (Contai South) Assembly seat, where it came second, capturing 31 per cent vote share and relegating the Left to the third spot. Ahead of the state executive meeting, BJP president Amit Shah is slated to camp in Siliguri in north Bengal for three days beginning 25 April. He is expected to engage with the state and local leadership with the aim of mobilising grassroots support for the party ahead of the Panchayat polls. The BJP, which has never been a political force of any consequence in West Bengal, has been planning to take on Trinamul Congress led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Left Front on their home turf. But that will be easier said than done, given the partys minimal presence in the state. The BJP was in the eye of a political storm early this year when its general secretary Jalpaiguri Mahila Morcha Juhi Chowdhury was accused of hobnobbing with child traffickers. The Central leadership has since blamed the incident on poor screening of persons and instructed its state unit to thoroughly screen persons before they are taken on board. Unfazed by the incident, the BJP is set to embark on a mass mobilisation movement across the state in order to garner support for the party. The party has planned a door-to-door campaign. It is also working out a UP-like strategy aimed at booth-level penetration. The party is also likely to join the chorus for a separate Gorkhaland, a demand of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), a BJP ally. Unlike the Trinamool Congress and Left Front, the BJP is at a disadvantage owing to the absence of grassroots level network across the state. The party is hoping to fan out to various constituencies. The coming state executive is likely to work out a plan towards that goal. The central leadership is also keen to maintain the momentum in a build-up to the Panchayat polls. After the 25 April visit to the state, Amit Shah is slated to tour West Bengal on two more occasions in the span of the next three months. In the next couple of years, Delhi, considered among the most polluted cities, is expected to get green power from Madhya Pradesh to run its Metro trains. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) would start getting not only green but cheap electricity at almost half the current rate. This becomes possible as a result of the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), signed in Bhopal on Monday between the DMRC and parties concerned to buy green energy from the upcoming 750-MW Rewa Ultra Mega Solar (RUMS) project in Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh. According to officials, the project is possibly the largest ultra-mega solar power project in the world. It would have three phases with the first phase being completed already with the remaining two phases to be completed in the next 18 months. As per official reports, the cost of the project covering an area over 1,500 hectares at Bandwar region in Gudh tehsil of Rewa district would be around `4500 crore. Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal, Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu, MP CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan and other dignitaries were present during the signing of the PPA at a function held at Hotel Marriot in Bhopal. Naidu said he was delighted that the DMRC, which comes under his ministry, will get green energy for around `3.30 (levelised tariff) per unit from RUMS. The current rate is `6 per unit. Piyush Goyal said that Indias solar power generation capacity has galloped to 12,200 MW and hoped that it will climb to one lakh MW by year 2022. MP CM Chouhan said that clean and green energy was a priority of the state adding that his government is promoting sustainable development keeping in mind the environment. We dont want our future generations to face hardship due to pollution, he added. According to MPs New and Renewable Energy Department (NRED) Principal Secretary Manu Shrivastava, the RUMS project is a joint venture of Solar Energy Corporation of India and MP Urja Vikas Nigam (MPUVN), wherein both parties have 50 per cent stake. At present, the worlds largest solar power project Ivanpah Solar Power Facility of 392 MW, is at Mojave deserts in California, US. India and Canada on Tuesday sought to strengthen security ties as Defence Minister Arun Jaitley held detailed discussions on the issue with his Canadian counterpart Harjit Singh Sajjan. Sajjan, who is on a week-long visit to India, was also given a Guard of Honour at South Block, which houses the Defence Ministry. He laid a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate, which is a memorial dedicated to unnamed soldiers. His formal welcome came after some confusion over the Guard of Honour, a ceremonial practice to honour domestic or foreign dignitaries, being cancelled after an advisory from the Defence Ministry. It was later clarified by sources that the communique announcing cancellation of the Guard of Honour was a mistake. Sajjan arrived here yesterday on a seven-day India visit, his first after assuming charge as Canada's Minister of National Defence. A Sikh, he will also travel to Amritsar, Chandigarh and Mumbai. On allegations that he was a Khalistan supporter, Sajjan refused to comment saying that he was proud to have been born in India. "I have been given many labels through my life," Sajjan said. "I don't want to be sucked into the internal politics of a province of a nation. My goal is to build relationships. I am proud of the fact that I was born here," he said. Sajjan was dubbed a Khalistan sympathiser by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who has said he would not meet the Canadian minister. In what is seen as having long-term implications for conservation of forests, the Union Environment Ministry has decided to review the status of pending forest clearance and expedite the process. Forest clearance is a key component of environment clearance required for several projects in key sectors. Because of this, projects, particularly in sensitive zones such as wildlife sanctuaries, have been held up. Following a meeting held by the Union Environment Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha last week, a decision has been taken to review the status of pending forest clearance and expedite the process, an official communique said here today. Special Secretary in the Environment Ministry R R Rashmi will hold a meeting, in which all officers concerned from the ministry, nodal officer, regional officer and project proponents will be invited. The meeting will review the cases where the projects have been apprised by the Expert Appraisal Committees (EAC) and recommended the grant of environmental clearance, but are being held up because of Forest Clearance-Stage I. The ministry has also decided that all EACs will hold at least two meetings in April and May for the appraisal of projects, with special emphasis on those pertaining to different ministries, the communique said. Forest clearance has been a sticky issue with environment activists and local communities often opposing it. Development project proponents have, on the other hand, been pressing for early clearance quoting huge delays on this account. The Centre for Science and Environment had in an analysis of two years of the Union government, indicated that the average rate of forestland diversion has reduced when compared to UPA-II tenure. However, the rejection rate of projects continues to be very low ~ rejection of projects coming up in wildlife sanctuaries and national parks has reduced under this government. The mining and infrastructure sector remains a focus of green clearances, the CSE report said. More than 300 projects (new and expansion) combining coal and non-coal mining have been given ECs by the present government in its two years in power. Among these are 68 coal mining projects. Similarly for forest clearances, the highest share of total forestland diversion is for mining projects ~ of about 47,473 hectares of land diverted (combining in-principle and final approvals), 29 per cent is for mining. Similarly, the Compensatory Afforestation Fund that was passed by Parliament last year will make available more than Rs 6,000 crore per annum for forest and wildlife resources of the country. Many environmentalists have also termed this as a "fig leaf" to cover up the increasing diversion of forests in the name of development. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that those who had looted the poor and the middle classes in the past will have to return what they had looted. "Indeed. There is no place for corruption in India. Those who looted the poor and middle classes will have to return what they have looted," Modi said on Twitter in response to a tweet by a follower. Modi's remarks came on a day liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in India for defaulting on over Rs 8,000 crore in bank loans, was arrested in London but later granted bail by a court. Modi's Twitter follower had written that "corruption not only robs us of hard-earned money but also of our dignity". Mallya, 61, was arrested following an extradition warrant from India. "Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud," a Metropolitan Police statement said. Gigi Hadid is all set to come to India on April 27, and while she's here, Sonam Kapoor will be chilling with her. So why shouldn't the two fashionable ladies get a whiff of India's wonderful street markets? By India Today Web Desk: For those who don't know, currently one of world's most renowned supermodels, Gigi Hadid, is coming to India end of this month. What brings her to India, you ask? Well, Hadid's collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger,TommyXGigi spring 2017, is making all the right kind of noise across the globe, so why should India not join the celebration, right? advertisement And any guesses who Hadid will be chilling with while in Mumbai? Who else but India's very own fashionista, Sonam Kapoor! Hadid and Kapoor will reportedly, greet their fans at Mumbai's Palladium Mall post which, they'll address a press conference at the St Regis Hotel on April 27. While it's rather wishful and laughable to think Hadid will actually find time to venture out and discover India, one can always give her the option, (and write a piece of fiction in the bargain) right? Also Read: 8 things you must know about Justin Bieber's India visit next month yesterday / @tommyhilfiger meetings !! more @tommyxgigi on its way for you guys :) :) x A post shared by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) on Apr 12, 2017 at 3:04pm PDT Of course Sonam and Gigi are known for their high-end fashion choices but those who've explored the street markets in India know mighty well how big a treasure trove they are. So here's a list of India's most affordable and eclectic street markets Hadid (and you) should probably get a whiff off: 1. Colaba Causeway: Colaba Causeway is one big party. From brass jewellery and clothes to shoes and other accessories--Colaba houses it all. Stroll around, get your hands on the latest fashion and basically be content with life. 2. Sarojini Nagar: Dirt cheap fashion that seems anything but that. With merely Rs 2000 in your pocket, be assured you're going to come home with more than a few packets of clothes and other things. Latest fashion trends take a new shape in Delhi's Sarojini Nagar and allow you to embrace all things stylish without costing you a bomb. Sarojini haul... #neverstopexploring#urbanphotography#streetphotography#streetexploration#streetmagazine#instamagazine#nikond3300#nikon#delhi#delhistreethunt#exploredelhi#traveldairies#traveller#flashesofdelight#theoutbound#my_365#peoplescreatives#justgoshoot#instalike#instadaily#instagoodmyphoto#photography#photographer#like#jootis#exploretocreate#colours#delhidairies#sarojininagar A post shared by Sharmita Sawant (@simply_being_awesome) on Apr 18, 2017 at 4:16am PDT 3. Linking Road: This particular market in Mumbai houses fashion for all pocket sizes. From high-end boutiques to duplicate-yet-realistic versions of those oufits your favourite movie star wore, Linking Road is your saviour. advertisement 4. Lajpat Nagar: A heaven for textile lovers, Lajpat Nagar might be a strenuous experience but is totally worth it. Not just material of every shape and colour, Lajpat is also ideal for those willing to furnish their house from the scratch. 5. Hill Road: Scarves, nightwear, blingy outfits, Indianwear--what doesn't Mumbai's Hill Road have? Wait, don't answer that for it has everything your shopping-craved hearts have been dreaming off. 6. Janpath: It might just be one long stretch of crammped up stalls, but Janpath is a hit among students in Delhi who dig affordable fashion and accessories besides also being fond of quaint lamps, lanterns, mirror among other things. And if you happen to get tired with all the venturing around turn to DePauls and have that sinful cold coffee. India you colourful beauty... #amazingindia #indianadventures #colourburst #authentic #janpathmarket A post shared by Chane Cardoso (@chanecardoso) on Apr 5, 2017 at 1:28am PDT Of course there are many more street markets that are waiting for Gigi, Sonam and your exploits but then, let's just make do with these. --- ENDS --- The arrest of the Indian liquor baron Vijay Mallya in London by Scotland Yard on Tuesday made waves in top government and political circles here, with the Narendra Modi government highlighting that the fugitive tycoon was arrested on India's request to the UK authorities for his extradition on fraud charges. A proclaimed offender, Mallya was released on bail a few hours after his arrest. "Legal process in this regard is under way in the UK. The two governments are in touch in this context," the MEA spokesperson said in response to a query on the issue. India had given a formal request to the UK for Mallya's extradition through a note verbale on 8 February in accordance with the Extradition Treaty between the countries. Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes over Rs 9,000 crore loans to a slew of banks, fled India on 2 March 2016. The Indian Government has since revoked his Indian passport. He, however, has rejected all allegations against him. In January this year, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. Earlier that month, the Debt Recovery Tribunal in Bengaluru had passed orders in favour of a SBI-led consrotium of banks to recover over Rs 9,000 loans from the Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya's arrest came weeks after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley took up the matter of his extradition with the UK Chancellor Philip Hammond during his recent visit to London. The Modi government is now "assessing" how to bring Mallya back to India and start judicial proceedings against him, Union Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar reportedly said. He said the government would leave no stone unturned to bring to justice anyone involved in financial irregularities. A top government source said Mallya's arrest was in connection with his IDBI loan default case, asserting that the extradition process against him has now begun. "India needs to set precendents, the myth of crossing the boundaries and being out of bounds should be shattered. In Mallya's case, the overwhelming public opinion is that such people should be taught a lesson," the source said, adding "tax havens around the world are increasingly becoming less safe for wrong-doers". The principal Opposition Congress, however, accused the Modi government of "hoodwinking" the people of India over Mallya's arrest, asking it to spell out a timeline for recovering his loans and for bringing him back to face the Indian courts. The Congress asked why the Modi government sought Mallya's extradition and not deportation which, it claimed, would have ensured his immediate custody for India. Claiming that the Congress's "relentless campaign" led to Mallya's temporary detention, the party's chief spkesman Randeep Surjewala questioned how could he be released simultaneously. Accusing the Modi dispensation of allegedly letting Mallya escape from India, Mr Surjewala asked PM Modi and FM Jaitley to tell the people of the country when Mallya and another fugitive based in London, Lalit Modi, could be brought to face justice in India. HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday said states have been told that they can detain students in Classes V and VIII and that 25 states have agreed to withdraw the no-detention policy. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of National Conference on Innovations in School Education (Navonmesh) organised by the NCERT, Javadekar said the no-detention policy has led to deterioration of quality of education. Javadekar said the students will get two chances to clear the Class V and VIII exams. "There will be an annual examination. If the student fails, he will be given another chance by the school after giving the student remedial classes. But the school will have the liberty to detain the students if he fails in this additional exam also." The RTE Act makes it mandatory for schools to pass students till Class IX and taking Class X board exams was also optional. An amendment has to be made in the RTE Act so that the schools can lawfully detain students. "A Bill has been prepared and it will soon go to the Cabinet," said Javadekar. To improve the quality of school education, the HRD Ministry is also going to notify learning outcomes in the RTE Act. A handbook has been prepared by the NCERT which will be circulated among the teachers. The handbooks have been printed in regional languages also. Pamphlets of learning outcomes will be distributed among the parents. "Learning outcomes were already a part of RTE Act. But, they were not notified till now," said Javadekar, adding that they will be put up on the walls of all schools. Notifying learning outcomes is essential as this will make the teachers accountable and responsible. In addition, the parents should also know about the level of learning that a child must achieve in each class. Javadekar emphasised that the parents should become part of the School Management Committees to ensure proper grooming of the child. The HRD minister expressed his concern over the falling standards of education. "In a survey it has been found that students of Class VI are not comfortable with lessons of Class III and a Class VII student were not comfortable with Class IV lessons," said Javadekar. With an effort to enhance the bilateral ties, US National Security Adviser (NSA) HR McMaster on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi. McMaster also held talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. Apart from this, he is expected to meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj later in the day. According to informed sources, the two sides are expected to discuss bilateral issues as well as the developments in the region against the backdrop of the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan and Pakistans continued support to terrorists operating against India and Afghanistan. On whether the Kashmir issue could also come up, sources said Indias position on it was very clear that it was a bilateral matter between India and Pakistan and there was no room for mediation by a third party. This is General Mcmasters first high-level visit from the US to India under the Donald Trump administration. Earlier in January this year, in a phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald Trump had said that the US considers India a true friend and partner in addressing challenges around the world. McMaster on Monday held talks with Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Prime Ministers Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Pakistan NSA Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Janjua and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi. A day after doing some plain-speaking with Pakistan on the issue of terrorism, US National Security Advisor Lt Gen H R McMaster on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed the situation in the region as well as Indo-US relations. Describing the meeting, at which NSA Ajit Doval was also present, as productive, informed sources said they discussed security issues concerning South Asia and how the two sides could cooperate in countering the threat from the Taliban and ISIS to the unity of Afghanistan. Gen Mcmaster reaffirmed India's designation as a 'Major Defence Partner' of his country. He had a separate detailed meeting with Mr Doval later. Gen McMaster is the first top US official to visit India after the inauguration of President Donald Trump in January. His visit to the region comes at a time when the security situation in Afghanistan has further worsened and relations between India and Pakistan are at an all-time low in the wake of a Pakistan military court awarding death sentence by dubbing former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav as a RAW agent. The visit is also important in the context of a proposed visit by Mr Modi to the US later this year at the invitation of President Trump. However, there was no word available on whether Gen McMaster had extended an invitation to Mr Modi on behalf of his President. Gen McMaster, who was in Pakistan yesterday on an unannounced visit, had firmly told Islamabad to give up its policy of selective action against terror groups. He had earlier visited Afghanistan to review the security situation in the embattled nation. A PMO release said Mr Modi recalled his positive telephonic conversations with President Trump that reaffirmed the importance attached by both sides to the strategic partnership and to stepping up India-US engagement across the board. The NSA shared his perspective with the PM on the security situation in the extended region, including in Afghanistan, West Asia and North Korea. During the conversation, they exchanged views on how both countries could work together to effectively address the challenge of terrorism and to advance regional peace, security and stability, the release added. A statement issued by the US Embassy said Gen McMaster departed India after productive meetings with the PM, Mr Doval, and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. He emphasised the importance of the US-India strategic relationship. The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counter-terrorism cooperation. China has an obligation to use its "enormous leverage" to bring nuclear-armed North Korea back from the brink, Australia's prime minister said on Tuesday, toughening Canberra's position on the escalating crisis. Malcolm Turnbull's remarks came after the North's latest failed missile test and ahead of a visit to Australia by US Vice President Mike Pence, who is in Asia to signal Washington's commitment to regional security. "The North Korea regime is a reckless and dangerous threat to peace and stability in our region and, indeed, in the world," Turnbull told reporters in Canberra. "The real obligation the heaviest obligation is on China." Beijing has "enormous leverage over North Korea" and "the ability to bring, to pull North Korea back into at least the position where it is not threatening to rain down devastation on its neighbours," Turnbull said. "So what we're now looking forward to is action from China." A close US ally, Australia nonetheless enjoys a good relationship with China, its biggest trading partner. Beijing is under intense pressure, particularly from the US, to do more to rein in Pyongyang, which has defied international pressure over its quest to develop a nuclear- tipped ballistic missile capable of reaching the US mainland. But China has long opposed dramatic action against the North, fearing the regime's collapse would send a flood of refugees across its border and leave the US military on its doorstep. Yet US threats to take unilateral action have rattled Chinese leaders, pushing them to pursue a tougher line against their neighbour, including suspending coal imports from the country for the remainder of the year. Pence is due to meet Turnbull in Sydney on Saturday. Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan vowed on Tuesday not to negotiate with hundreds of Palestinian detainees on the second day of a hunger strike led by popular leader Marwan Barghouti. More than 1,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons launched the hunger strike on Monday, issuing a list of demands ranging from better medical services to access to telephones. Issa Qaraqe, head of prisoner affairs for the Palestinian Authority, said on Monday that around 1,300 prisoners were on hunger strike and the number could rise. The Palestinian Prisoners' Club had put the number at 1,500. A spokesman for the Israel Prisons Service said around 1,100 prisoners started the hunger strike and roughly the same number were believed to be continuing on Tuesday. Erdan vowed that Israeli authorities would not negotiate with the prisoners and said Barghouti had been moved to another prison and placed in solitary confinement. "They are terrorists and incarcerated murderers who are getting what they deserve and we have no reason to negotiate with them," Erdan told army radio. He said Barghouti had been placed in solitary confinement because calling for the hunger strike was against prison rules. Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel for a range of offences and alleged crimes. Of those, 62 are women and 300 are minors. Some 500 are held under administrative detention, which allows for imprisonment without charge. Palestinian prisoners have mounted repeated hunger strikes, but rarely on such a large scale. Barghouti's call for the strike has given it added credibility, with the 57-year-old serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada or uprising. He was convicted of attacks that killed five people. He is popular among Palestinians, with polls suggesting he could win the Palestinian presidency. "Decades of experience have proved that Israel's inhumane system of colonial and military occupation aims to break the spirit of prisoners and the nation to which they belong, by inflicting suffering on their bodies, separating them from their families and communities, using humiliating measures to compel subjugation," Barghouti wrote in a New York Times opinion piece. "In spite of such treatment, we will not surrender to it."(AFP) Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that the US government will review the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in 2012 with South Korea, a media report said. The review would be aimed at looking for ways to improve the trade deficit between the two countries, Efe news reported. Pence made the remark during a meeting with representatives of the US Chamber of Commerce here before leaving for Japan, the second stopover in his 10-day Asia-Pacific tour. The Vice President praised the good economic relations between the two countries but stressed the need to "be honest about where our trade relationship is falling short". The remark was referring to the growing US trade deficit derived from excessive barriers for US businesses in the South Korean market. "Our businesses continue to face too many barriers of entry which tilted the playing field against the American workers and American growth," Pence said. The Vice President also pointed out that it was necessary to "level that playing field between our two countries" and assured that the US will work together with South Korea to reform the agreement. The US trade deficit with South Korea in 2016 amounted to $27.6 billion. The 2016 figure was twice that of 2011, a year before the FTA was signed. Since taking office in January, the new US administration has called for a turnaround in the US trade policies to be in line with Trump's policy of "America first". In addition to abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the world's largest FTA, Washington has criticised a number of Asian trading partners, such as China, Japan or South Korea, saying they have worked together to devalue their currencies to gain competitive advantages over the US. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday exempted the categories of disabled persons from standing during national anthem before screening of a film. By Praveen Shekhar: The Supreme Court today exempted disabled persons from standing during playing of the national anthem before screening of a film. The disabled category includes people suffering from cerebral palsy, Parkinson disease, muscular dystrophy and other categories of disability. "Having heard learned counsel for the parties, we are inclined to modify the orders and direct that the persons who are wheel chair users, those with autism, persons suffering from cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, leprosy cured, muscular dystrophy and deaf and blind be treated not to be within the ambit of the orders passed by this Court. As far as the other categories, which we have not referred to mentioned in the application, are concerned, the same may be considered by the Union of India", said the Bench. advertisement The Centre had earlier submitted before the court that the home ministry on the directions of the court has issued guidelines on how people with disabilities can show respect when the national anthem is being played in movie halls or public functions, saying they should not move and position themselves "maintaining the maximum possible alertness physically". In November the apex court had made it mandatory to play national anthem in movie halls before every screening with the image of the national flag displayed on the screen. Delivering the order, the SC had observed that standing up for the national anthem in movie halls will "instill a sense of committed patriotism and nationalism" in people's minds. It had later clarified people need not stand up if the national anthem was played as part of the film. The verdict had however resulted in cases of disabled people being attacked by fellow moviegoers for not standing up for the national anthem. In a number of cases, people with disabilities and those with small children and elderly people also faced the wrath of the people trying to enforce patriotism. Meanwhile, the SC also issued a notice to the Centre on Tuesday over a plea that sought to make the singing of 'Vande Mataram' essential in all educational institutions. The court has asked the Central government to respond to the plea within four weeks. ALSO READ: No need to stand up for national anthem if it is part of a film: Supreme Court Exempt us from following national anthem guidelines, say differently-abled in response to MHA advisory --- ENDS --- No more Monday to Friday, nine to five? Why these N.L. businesses are choosing a four-day-a-week work model When it comes to those who work nine-to-five jobs, most will tell you the same thing: the weekends are never long enough. In recent years, especially since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been more talks of hybrid workweek models. By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today discussed bilateral ties with visiting Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. "Shaping our shared historical and cultural linkages. EAM @SushmaSwaraj calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari at @RashtrapatiBhavan," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. Bhandari, who arrived here yesterday on a five-day visit and was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, is slated to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other Indian leaders. advertisement This is Bhandaris first visit abroad after assuming office in 2015. She was scheduled to have visited India last May, but the trip was cancelled after the then cabinet in Nepal said it was not adequately prepared for it. During her stay in India, she is also expected to travel to Gujarat and Odisha. PTI PYK BDS --- ENDS --- Coalition spokesman US Air Force Colonel John Dorrian said the coalition tried to avoid civilian deaths in its bombing campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria and neighbouring Iraq. By Reuters: Air strikes, thought to be by planes from a US-led military coalition, killed at least 30 people in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor on Monday, including women and children, residents and activists said. Coalition spokesman US Air Force Colonel John Dorrian confirmed that the US-led coalition had conducted strikes in the vicinity of the town of al-Bukamal, but said he could not "confirm the veracity of allegations of civilian casualties". advertisement He told Reuters the coalition tried to avoid civilian deaths in its bombing campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria and neighbouring Iraq. The border town has been a haven in recent years for thousands of displaced Syrians from Aleppo and from other areas, including Iraq, where its residents have strong tribal ties across the border. CIVILIANS HIT, AGAIN An activist in touch with relatives in al-Bukamal said at least three homes had been flattened in the residential Hay al Masriya district of the town and at least 30 people, mostly women and children from six families, had been killed. A second former resident of the town gave a similar figure and said it was likely to rise, with several critical cases among the scores of people injured. Amaq news agency, which is affiliated to the militants, released a video that it said showed extensive damage to a whole string of houses inside the city with rescuers treating children. There were other casualties in raids on several villages near al-Bukamal. The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said the strike of Boukamal killed six people and wounded 15 - all of them women and children. It did not say whether any IS fighters were also killed. 3 MILITANTS KILLED BUT 13 CIVILIANS DEAD TOO Earlier the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that jets "believed to belong to the international coalition" had struck al-Bukamal on Monday, killing three militants and 13 civilians including children. The monitor said strikes also killed seven civilians in the town of al-Husainiyah further north along the Euphrates river. Islamic State militants control most of Deir al-Zor province, which links territory they hold in Syria and Iraq, and parts of the provincial capital, which has the same name. The Syrian government still controls some parts of Deir al-Zor city, including a nearby military air base, where Islamic State has besieged about 200,000 people lacking food and medicine for around two years. Syrian government forces and their allies, backed by Russian air power, have been fighting back against Islamic State assaults in the area. The US-led coalition has in recent months stepped up targeted raids on the province to rupture the militants' supply lines across Iraq and Syria. advertisement Also read: Toilet paper thieves rob 1,500 rolls from China park Also read: America to Pakistan: Confront terrorism in all forms Also read: Turks vote in historic referendum on expanding President Erdogan's power --- ENDS --- Why an acceptable leadership issue would present a lasting solution than just merger of Sasikala, OPS factions. By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: The last word is far from being said in the ongoing AIADMK faction war in Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK Amma faction leader VK Sasikala, who, at one point in time, was on the threshold of getting sworn in as the Tamil Nadu chief minister, is now on the brink of getting thrown away from the party itself. advertisement The Sasikala and the rival O Panneerselvam factions of AIADMK are reportedly holding talks for their merger and retrieving the frozen "two leaves" election symbol. The chance of merger got brighter when former chief minister Panneerselvam himself talked about such a possibility. However, more than the merger, an acceptable leadership would present a solution to AIADMK's travails. The two factions would have to iron out several issues related to leadership for a long-standing merger to take place between Sasikala-led AIADMK Amma and Panneerselvam-led AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma factions. OUSTER OF SASIKALA AND DINAKARAN FROM AIADMK As the first step towards merger, OPS (O Panneerselvam) has put the condition of ouster of Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran who was recently elevated to the post of AIADMK general secretary. OPS has said that AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran (MGR) and Jayalalithaa were always against family rule. Hence, his faction would not rest until the Sasikala's family is thrown out of the AIADMK. They are vehemently against Sasikala and Dinakaran having a grip over the party. The revolt inside the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami (EPS) camp is spiralling out of control. Even senior ministers are the removal of Dinakaran and Sasikala. Dinakaran has lost support of influential party leaders such as Jayakumar, SP Velumani, Thangamani and Vaithyalingam. They had helped him enter AIADMK again after Jayalalithaa's death. The four leaders are apprehensive of their names being associated with health minister Vijaybhaskar who was raided by the Income Tax department earlier this month. Also, the elevation of Dinakaran as party general secretary has only heightened the feeling among the party leaders and cadres that AIADMK would stand to lose in the long run under the Mannargudi family. There is a growing feeling in the EPS camp that they are trapped now. They are likely to be saved if Sasikala and Dinkaran quit their positions within the party. CBI PROBE INTO JAYALALITHAA'S DEATH Panneerselvam's another core demand is instituting an inquiry by the CBI into the "mysterious" death of former chief minister Jayalalithaa. OPS faction seeks to keep the issue of Amma's mysterious death burning in order to put Sasikala on the back foot. The two issues of the ouster of Sasikala and Dinakaran and instituting a probe into Amma's death may not be too difficult to be agreed upon. There is a growing dissidence in the Sasikala faction, particularly after the Delhi Police booked Dinakaran for trying to bribe the Election Commission to get the 'two leaves' election symbol. advertisement WRANGLING OVER ACCEPTABLE LEADERSHIP The main differences which would take time to be ironed out are over the holding of posts in the government and the party. For a merger of the two factions to take place, the senior leaders would have decide mainly over the posts of the chief minister and AIADMK general secretary. There is one possibility of Panneerselvam being made the chief minister and Palaniswami his deputy. However, it would materialise only if Palaniswami would be ready to get demoted. Alternatively, while OPS can become the CM, EPS may be asked to accept the role of AIADMK general secretary. Madhusudhanan will remain as the AIADMK presidium chairman. A plan is also being formulated to bring Sasikala out of prison in four months if she and Dinakaran quit the party posts and agree not to involve themselves in party decisions but can be party workers. The two camps are holding hectic parleys to find an amicable solution to the vexed leadership issue. advertisement Members of the EPS camp led by education minister Sengottaiyan is likely to meet Panneerselvam tonight and will try and barter the deal.ALSO READ|Remove Amma betrayers Sasikala, Dinakaran from AIADMK: O Panneerselvam steps up attack ALSO READ | Tamil Nadu: AIADMK factions meet for merger talks. Sasikala, nephew Dinakaran to be kicked out? ALSO WATCH | AIADMK: After I-T raids, EPS camp discusses OPS' merger offer --- ENDS --- Organization: Marie Stopes International Duty Station: Kampala, Uganda Reports to: Chief of Party About US: Marie Stopes International exists to bring quality family planning and reproductive healthcare to the worlds poorest and most vulnerable people. Weve been delivering family planning, safe abortion, and maternal health services for over 35 years. Millions of women worldwide turn to us for help each year, whether in limiting the size of their families, or avoiding dangerous complications in pregnancy or unsafe abortion. Job Summary: The Head Public Sector Support will provide strategic leadership and oversight of the work of 75 Dedicated Providers stationed in HC4 centres and hospitals. Dedicated Providers are central to our strategy to support the Government of Ugandas vision of increased family planning prevalence. The Head of Public Sector Support will use his or her excellent understanding of public health services in general and family planning services in particular as they serve community needs to develop and execute clear strategies that increase access to family planning in Ugandas underserved communities. The jobholder will also work in collaboration with Marie Stopes channel leaders supported by Quality Assurance, Finance and Procurement teams. The post holder is responsible for ensuring that a high-performing team of Dedicated Providers are providing services, supporting the public sectors training needs and creating a sustainable network of providers across Uganda able to meet and exceed MSI global minimum standards for quality and fully comply with all MSI Uganda policies and procedures. Responsibilities: Key Duties andResponsibilities: & 75 Dedicated Providers delivering results through; Oversight, guidance and supervision of a team of 1 Operations Officer& 75 Dedicated Providers delivering results through; Weekly tracking of MarieTXT reporting (with remedial actions). Monthly tracking of DP monthly reports (with remedial actions). Weekly planning with the Operations Officer for issues that need attention. Carrying out regular field visits. Contributing to the quarterly performance review meetings & quarterly donor reports. training modules Development & consolidation of the mentorship program with coretraining modules Ensuring the mentorship tracker is updated every month & analyzed every quarter (with remedial actions). Work in liaison with the Chief of Party to implement competency assessments & certification of PHWs who have completed mentorship. Implementing a supportive supervision work plan (including preparing DPs for the external QTA). Creating a supportive and enabling environment for FP. Working with the Chief of Party & the Head of RME to support the execution of the Evaluation of the DP model. Working with the DPs to maintain good relations with the districts (being responsive to their needs). Working with the COP to participate in MOH technical working groups and maintain strong relations with the MOH Reproductive Health Division. evidenced by the programme. Advocacy on task shifting and public health strengthening needs asevidenced by the programme. Participate in key fora discussing task shifting as requested Tasked with the collation and presentation of evidence in support of task shifting Relationship building with key allies Responsible for the development of relevant messages in relation to changes needed Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience: The ideal candidate should preferably hold a Bachelors Degree in medicine, nursing or midwifery preferred, Possession of a Masters degree in Public health is a MUST Project cycle Management training desirable At least five years experience which includes at least 3 years of relevant medical experience; 1 year project management experience and 2 years at management level. Prior NGO experience is a great advantage. Personal experience and knowledge of Ugandan public health sector from working in it Experience managing large teams operating at a distance Demonstrated ability to identify and set performance deliverables Good budget management skills Excellent understanding of donor deliverables and contract requirements Demonstrated ability in facilitating capacity development in more junior staff Excellent communicator to others on key strategic issues Patience in dealing in a matrix situation across the health Sector Ability to demonstrate a can-do attitude, and be able to handle conflicting priorities. Ability to work under pressure. Computer literacy skills i.e. proficiency in Ms. Word. Excel and office 365. Knowledge of clinical procedure and minimum standards essential. Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills. In all his/her dealings with clients and staff, the post-holder demonstrates MSUs core values of Accountability of all staff to each other and our clients and stakeholders. Equality of opportunity and access. Value for money in the management of our resources How to Apply: All candidates who wish to join Marie Stopes are strongly encouraged to send an updated CV, cover letter, certified copies of academic documents to the Senior Manager Human Resource via email to: vacancies@msiu.or.ug quoting the position reference number. NB: Please do not attach transcripts st April 2017 by 12:00 Noon Deadline: Friday, 21April 2017 by 12:00 Noon 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 ... But the tribe has a long way to go The United States National Security Advisor Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster is in Delhi to hold talks with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. He is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. McMaster met Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif yesterday and discussed bilateral ties, Afghan situation and rising tensions between India, Pakistan. He also met Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad. Aziz briefed McMaster on the policies being pursued by the Pakistan government that have resulted in improved security environment and economic turnaround in the country. Pakistan media quoted Aziz as saying that Pakistan remains determined to continue its fight as part of the National Action Plan until terrorism is completely eliminated from the country. Expressing Pakistan's concerns over the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, Aziz reaffirmed Islamabad's commitment to working with the international community to support peace efforts in Afghanistan. He also stressed on the importance of effective border management to achieve sustainable peace in the region. McMaster thanked Aziz and acknowledged Pakistan's sacrifices in combating extremism and terrorism. He renewed the commitment of the new administration to work closely with Pakistan in strengthening mutually beneficial relations and towards the shared objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region. In an alleged act of vengeance, Chief Information Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad and his wife Shivaganga Gaikwad were attacked by supporters of Dr B.R. Ambedkar's grandson Prakash Ambedkar in Aurangabad on Monday. Gaikwad, also the former chief secretary of Maharashtra, was on an official tour to the city and was staying at the Subhedari guest house along with his wife when they were attacked. Gaikwad, who had just returned to the guest house from his visit to Kokanwadi information office in Aurangabad on Monday, was first thrown a slipper at by Bhartiya Republican Party District President Amit Bhuinal. Other party workers, who were hiding at the guest house, soon joined in and surrounded the CIC and started beating him up. Meanwhile, Shantabai Dhule and Rekha Ujgare, women party workers of Bhartiya Republican Party, assaulted Shivaganga Gaikwad. The attack continued until policemen stationed at the guest house reached to the couple's rescue. They were immediately taken to the Aurangabad airport by the police. Apparently, the attack was to avenge Ratnakar Gaikwad's decision to demolish offices of Prakash Ambedkar, Anandraj Ambedkar and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, which were situated at the historic Ambedkar Bhavan in Mumbai. Gaikwad had demolished these offices in June 2016 with the help of 300 bouncers. The officer has filed a formal police complaint with the airport police in Mumbai. We will transfer the complaint to Aurangabad police, said DCP Vasant Pardeshi. Begumpura police station in Aurangabad have registered the crime under section 307 (attempt to murder) and Sec 147, 148 and 149 of the IPC against Amit Bhuinal, Dinesh Salve, Shrirang Sasane, Gautam Gavli, Shantabai Dhule, Rekha Ujgare, Sandip Waghmare and Pradip Ingale. However, the party justified its stance and backed the attackers. This was ought to happen as the Ambedkarites in the state were extremely angry over the demolition of the historic building built by Dr Ambdekar himself. The heritage printing machine, offices, etc, were destroyed in the demolition. Ratnakar Gaikwad himself is responsible for this attack on him, said Adv B.H. Gaikwad, senior leader of Bhartiya Republican Party. The state government and the Bombay Municipal Corporation had categorically denied giving any such order to demolish the structure. Ratnakar Gaikwad not only demolished the historic structure but also ridiculed Ambedkar family in a shameless manner during his press conference. This was not tolerable at all, alleged Prof Avinash Dolas of Bhartiya Republican Party. Ratnakar Gaikwad and Prakash Ambedkar could not be reached for their comments. The Indian government, looking to gain access to Kulbhushan Jadhav arrested in Pakistan, will tone down the rhetoric and get down to some tangible action. National Security Advisor Ajit Doval is learnt to be in touch with his Pakistani counterpart Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Khan Janjua. Senior government sources disclosed that some behind-the-scene talk is essential at this stage to know the whereabouts of Jadhav and ensure his well-being. Doval will try to arrive at an understanding so that Jadhav's case can be dealt with "softly". At the same time, the Indian government is preparing to file an appeal against his death sentence ordered by a military court in Pakistan. Jadhav's death sentence had sparked outrage in India. Backed by hawkish retired Pakistani army officials, Pakistan called Jadhav a ''terrorist''. In New Delhi, there was a growing chorus for his immediate release, with candle light marches and circulated petitions. Sources in government said that, while the clamour against Pakistan drew much-needed attention to the issue, it was now in the interest of New Delhi to tone down the rhetoric and ensure a quiet dialogue with the Pakistani establishment. Speaking to THE WEEK, former Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) chief A.S.Dulat said that it was a good development if both NSAs talked at this juncture. "I think sanity should prevail. No country will benefit with such an action. Both the NSAs should maintain an open communication channel. After External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj warned of dire consequences if it carried out the death sentence, we must ask ourselves. What next? Ultimately, both countries will need to talk and resolve the issue," Dulat said. Top sources in the government said that Doval has not achieved success in reaching an understanding, but efforts are on to break the ice. Efforts are on to get a copy of the chargesheet and the judgement of the Pakistani military court, demand consular access (for the 15th time) and file an appeal. A mercy plea can be filed in the court either by Jadhav or his family members or by the Indian government . Meanwhile, as Islamabad continues to deny consular access or any information about Jadhav's condition, saying his was a case of espionage, New Delhi has acted tough and deferred the bilateral talks between the coast guards of India and Pakistan, scheduled for Monday. Beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in India for defaulting loans worth Rs 9,000 crore, was arrested in London by the Scotland Yard. A statement issued by the London Metropolitan Police said he would be produced before the Westminster Magistrate Court. Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit have this morning, Tuesday 18 April, arrested a man on an extradition warrant. Vijay Mallya, 61, was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud, the statement said. Mallya was declared a wilful defaulter in India. After he fled to to Britain in March 2016, Indian government made a formal extradition request to the UK. Despite several warrants from courts, Mallya refused to return to India. In January 2017, the CBI filed a chargesheet against him, alleging that part of a Rs 900 crore loan given by IDBI Bank in 2009-10 was diverted outside the country. In all, Mallya has been wanted in India for defaulting on loans worth Rs 9,000 crore owed by his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The airline has been grounded since the Directorate General of Civil Aviation suspended its license in 2012. It owes Rs 9,091 crore to 17 public sector banks. Amid mounting debts, Mallya sold majority stake in his flagship liquor company United Spirits (USL) to Diageo Plc of London. Diageo completed the takeover of USL in 2013. In February this year, he was asked to step down from the board of United Breweries, which is part-owned by global beer giant Heineken NV. A consortium of lenders led by State Bank of India have been trying to liquidate some of his assets to recover some of the money, with little success. After three failed attempts, Mallya's Kingfisher Villa in Goa was sold to actor-producer Sachin Joshi for Rs 73 crore. The amount was lower than the reserve price of around Rs 90 crore. The lenders, though, haven't been able to sell-off the Kingfisher House, the airline's corporate office in Mumbai. In its budget for 2017-18, passed in February, the East Delhi Municipal Corporation announced that it will set up an English medium school in each ward, science clubs in primary schools, and centres where illiterate parents of students will be taught. The budget also provided for a web based app to track student info, recruitment of yoga teachers, life insurance of Rs 1 lakh per studentup from Rs 50,000, a crane to lift and clear abandoned cars, open air gyms in municipal parks, over a lakh of LED street lights, and digital process for issuing general and factory trade licences. Also mentioned were two diagnostic centres with collection facilities in every dispensary. There were other things alsotoilet blocks for women, mobile toilets, and CCTVs. The budget slashed conversion charges for residential properties under 41.81 square metre from Rs 192 per sq metre to Rs 100. All this, when the EDMC has no funds, not even to pay salaries. It was a Rs 2,000 crore deficit budget. The idea, clearly, was to woo voters in an election that is turning out to be campaigned hot and contested keenly. And in keeping with that, the value of promises made was way more than what the Delhi government had provided for development works, to all the 3 corporations put together. Ironically, the garbage dumping all over the place and the strike by sanitation workers who did not receive their salaries, were not seen worth addressing and as something that would actually make a difference to the people. The EDMC standing committee chairman Jitendra Chaudhary was an angry man then. He charged the Delhi government with not cooperating with the civic bodies. The government owes the EDMC about Rs 5000 crores as recommended by the Delhi Finance Commission, he said. But Manish Sisodia, the finance minister of Delhi government asserted they are committed to support the municipal corporations. We have been in touch with them constantly, telling them to increase their resources and rationalise their expenditure. We said so in the assembly, while presenting the budget as well says Sisodia. The AAP government, in its budget 2017-18, allocated Rs 7571 crores 15.8 % of the total budgetto the local bodies. This was also about 15 % higher than the previous financial year. And, in view of the poor financial position of North and East Municipal Corporations, the government did not deduct the principal and interest of the outstanding loans of 2015-16 and 2016-17, from these grants. The three corporations that come under the MCDNorth Delhi MC, South Delhi MC and East Delhi MChave similar complaints. They were created when the MCD was trifurcated, for better delivery of civic services and to give more people representation, in 2012. Like the EDMC, the others too are facing financial crunch. While the South Delhi MC, catering to affluent people who pay higher taxes, the other two municipal corporations are the poor cousins. The municipal corporation of north includes localities in West Delhi, and so is the biggest, according to the Election Commission. The one in charge of civic amenities in East Delhi, which includes most of the unauthorised colonies of the capital, has to constantly battle with more civic work and less funds. Talking of why the Congress cannot have a president from outside of the Nehru-Gandhi family, a few days ago, one senior member of the grand old party observed that the Congress was, unlike the BJP, a huge mass of people from all corners of the country, come together on their ownunlike the enrollment by the BJP or its parent organisation, the RSSbased on an affection for independent India's first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru, then his daughter Indira Gandhi, her son Rajiv Gandhi, and his widow Sonia Gandhi. He was not quite sure how the party will be without one of them leading these people. But he was sure that these people will stay loyal to the party and its vice president Rahul Gandhi, and would like him to "lead the party as soon as possible". Another leader had rubbished the claims that there was disenchantment or frustration with Rahul's style of leadership worth noticing in the party. "It is not there. If anyone says, not Rahul Gandhi, then, let them tell us, who then? Is there anyone?". In fact, nobody in the Congress really cares when Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that to lead the Congress one has to be born in the Gandhi family, while "an ordinary chaiwala like me" can become the prime minister, thanks to the democratic nature of the BJP. The Congress is not bereft of leadership, but it goes without saying, the party's senior members to grass roots level workers are waiting for Rahul Gandhi to come out of his mother Sonia Gandhi's shadow, and take over as president of the party. Many of them fear Rahul will not be like his mother. Sonia Gandhi's open style of decision makingconsulting many and deciding by consensushad endeared her to many. Yet, as one leader put it, "She had to learn everything, step by step, considering she was a foreigner for a start, and a reluctant politician next". Rahul, who has been waiting in the wings for the top job in the party, may finally get it, come October. It will be in good time, as elections to the state legislatures of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are scheduled to be held in December. While there are many in the party who would like Sonia Gandhi to continue as their president, party sources indicated that she may have already begged off on health grounds. For over two years now, voices in the party have favoured the elevation of a youthful Rahul Gandhi to take on Modi. Point by point, he may not measure up to Modi. But as one source said, "It is not about one individual here, it is about the party that Rahul is leading". Rahul's Congress may not be vastly different from that of Sonia, though there will be a perception of that, particularly from senior and very senior party leaders. "This is a party with a history and practices," said party leader Janardhan Dwivedi. What he did not say was the fact that Rahul Gandhi may not even want much change in the party, which has "modernised constantly and remained contemporary all the time" Though he has been treated as a "baba" by many, Rahul Gandhi has made all the right political interventions and has been at the hot spots to show the people that his party is with them. He has taken on the government in Parliament and stood with the people outside. The recent victory in Punjab, the good showing in Manipur and Goa, as well as the wins in the byelections in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh can be attributed to him if the losses elsewhere are. The Congress Working Committee is expected to meet early May to take up the matter of organisational elections, said party sources. The high command has directed all the Pradesh Congress Committees to complete their membership drive by mid-May, in view of the elections to the crucial post of party president between mid-September and mid-October. The Election Commission of India had directed the party to complete its organisational elections by December. According to sources in the party, "Though Sonia Gandhi is back to lead us, the time is right for Rahulji to take charge." These sources ruled out the possibility of a surprise in the form of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra . By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Apr 18 (PTI) Tata Housing today announced plans to expand to the African property market and will invest Rs 1,000 crore to develop two projects in Kenya and Tanzania. The real estate arm of the Tata group plans to raise USD 200 million through private equity to fund the overseas operations. It recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Housing Bank and a private real estate firm to develop more than 4.5 million sq ft of mixed used townships in Kenya and Tanzania. advertisement The two mixed use development projects are expected to be launched by January 2018 in a price range of USD 75,000 ? 1,00,000 per unit catering to the mid-income segment. "The investment in both projects is expected to be more than Rs 1,000 crores across both the phases over the next 3-4 years," the company said in a statement. Tata Housing MD & CEO Brotin Banerjee said, "Our early success in Sri Lanka and the Maldives gave us the impetus to further expand our international footprint. Starting with Kenya and Tanzania, we will cater to the mid-income segments and fulfil their demand for superior quality housing." With 60 per cent of urban population living in informal housing, there is consistent growth in demand for housing across both Kenya and Tanzania. Tata Housing has recently handed over the government housing project to the Government of Maldives and launched two high-end project at Odeon and Nadhee in the capital city - Male. PTI MJH SA --- ENDS --- A defiant Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan denounced the West's "crusader mentality" on Monday after European monitors criticised a referendum in which he won sweeping new powers. Erdogan, whose narrow victory laid bare the nation's divisions, told flag-waving supporters that foreign election observers should "know their place" and Turkey did not "see, hear or acknowledge" criticism that the vote did not live up to international standards. Sunday's vote ended all debate on forging a stronger presidency, said Erdogan, who argues that concentration of power is needed to prevent instability. Opponents accuse him of leading a drive towards one-man rule in Turkey, a NATO member that borders Iran, Iraq and Syria and whose stability is of vital importance to the United States and the European Union. The main opposition party rejected the result and called for the vote to be annulled. Thousands of people marched through at least three neighbourhoods of Istanbul, some chanting "Thief, Erdogan," "no to the presidency" and "this is just the beginning" after calls on social media for protests in several cities. Late on Monday, the cabinet extended a state of emergency by three months, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters. It was the third such extension since a failed coup attempt last July. Election authorities said preliminary results showed 51.4 percent of voters had backed the biggest overhaul of Turkish politics since the founding of the modern republic. US President Donald Trump called Erdogan to congratulate him on his referendum victory and to thank him for supporting a US missile attack on Syria in response to a chemical attack by Syrian government forces on April 4, the White House said in a statement. Trump and Erdogan also agreed on the importance of holding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable for the chemical attack and discussed the campaign against the Islamic State, the statement said. But the narrowness of his victory could add to volatility in a country that has lately survived an attempted coup, attacks by Islamists, a Kurdish insurgency, civil unrest and war across its Syrian border. The result laid bare the deep divide between the urban middle classes who see their future as part of a European mainstream and the pious rural poor who favour Erdogan's strong hand. Erdogan reiterated his readiness to restore the death penalty at several appearances on Monday, which would effectively end Turkey's decades-long quest to join the EU. He said it was not important if the EU suspended Turkish accession talks. "The crusader mentality in the West and its servants at home have attacked us," Erdogan told a crowd as he arrived at Ankara airport, referring to the foreign monitors' assessment. "We neither see, hear, nor acknowledge the political reports you'll prepare," he said later at the palace. "We'll continue on our path. Talk to the hand. This country has carried out the most democratic elections, not seen anywhere in the West." The mission of observers from the 47-member Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body, said the referendum was an uneven contest. Support for "Yes" dominated campaign coverage, and the arrests of journalists and closure of media outlets silenced other views, the monitors said. "In general, the referendum did not live up to Council of Europe standards. The legal framework was inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic process," said Cezar Florin Preda, head of the delegation. While the monitors had no information of actual fraud, a last-minute decision by electoral authorities to allow unstamped ballots to be counted undermined an important safeguard and contradicted electoral law, they said. Turkey's foreign ministry dismissed the observers' criticism as lacking objectivity and impartiality. The US State Department said it had taken note of the European monitors' concerns and looked forward to a final report, urging the Turkish government to protect the rights and freedoms of all citizens, however they voted. Erdogan, a populist with a background in once-banned Islamist parties, has ruled since 2003 with no real rival, while his country emerged as one of the fastest-growing industrial powers in both Europe and the Middle East. He has also been at the centre of global affairs, commanding NATO's second-biggest military on the border of Middle East war zones, taking in millions of Syrian refugees and controlling their further flow into Europe. He vowed Turkey's recent incursion into northern Syria would not be its last such venture in the region, saying it would carry out as many military operations as necessary, wherever necessary, in its fight against terrorism. The two largest opposition parties both challenged the referendum, saying it was deeply flawed. The pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party said it presented complaints about unstamped ballots affecting 3 million voters, more than twice the margin of Erdogan's victory. The main secularist opposition People's Republican Party said it was still unclear how many votes were affected. "This is why the only decision that will end debate about the legitimacy (of the vote) and ease the people's legal concerns is the annulment of this election," deputy party chairman Bulent Tezcan said. The president survived a coup attempt last year and responded with a crackdown, jailing 47,000 people and sacking or suspending more than 120,000 from government jobs such as teachers, soldiers, police, judges or other professionals. The changes could keep him in power until 2029 or beyond, making him easily the most important figure in Turkish history since state founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk built a modern nation from the ashes of the Ottoman empire after World War One. Germany, home to several million Turks, said it was up to Erdogan himself to heal the rifts that the vote had exposed. "The tight referendum result shows how deeply divided Turkish society is, and that means a big responsibility for the Turkish leadership and for President Erdogan personally," said Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in a joint statement. Relations with Europe were strained during the referendum campaign when Germany and the Netherlands barred Turkish ministers from holding rallies. Erdogan provoked a stern German response by comparing those limits to the actions of the Nazis. Under the changes, most of which will only come into effect after the next elections, due in 2019, the president will appoint the cabinet and an undefined number of vice-presidents, and will be able to select and remove senior civil servants without parliamentary approval. North Korea will continue to regularly test missiles and any military action against it by the US would prompt "all out war", a senior North Korean official told the media on Monday. North Korea has conducted several missile and nuclear tests in defiance of UN sanctions and has said it has developed a missile that can strike the US mainland. Its latest missile test on Sunday failed a few seconds after launch. "We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis," media quoted Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol as saying in an interview. "If the US is reckless enough to use military means it would mean from that very day, an all out war." US Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea on Monday that recent US strikes in Syria, one of Pyongyang's few close allies, and Afghanistan showed that the resolve of President Donald Trump should not be tested. North Korean state media last week warned of a nuclear attack on the US at any sign of American aggression, but the White House said there was no evidence it possessed that capability. Media also reported that Han also said North Korea believed its nuclear weapons protect it from the threat of military action by the US. As soon as the mother of the newly-born learnt about his missing son she raised an alarm and informed the hospital authorities. By Ashish Pandey: In a shocking case, a five-day-old infant boy was kidnapped by an unknown woman aged about 35 years from the maternity ward of Chalmeda Hospital in Karimnagar district of Telangana on Tuesday morning. As soon as the mother of the newly-born learnt about his missing son she raised an alarm and informed the hospital authorities. Further a police complaint was lodged and investigation revealed that the little kid was kidnapped by a lady in connivance with a man. advertisement CCTV cameras installed in the vicinity also revealed that the kidnappers used a black-coloured car to escape. Karimnagar rural police has registered a case and has requested common public to share the information with police. --- ENDS --- President Donald Trump asserted on Sunday that China was working with the United States on the North Korea problem, and his vice president told American and South Korea service members that the Norths latest provocation, a failed missile launch shortly before his arrival in Seoul, laid bare the risks they face. While the North did not conduct a nuclear test, the specter of a potential escalated U.S. response trailed Pence as he began a 10-day trip to Asia amid increasing tensions and heated rhetoric. Trumps national security adviser cited Trumps recent decision to order missile strikes in Syria after a chemical attack blamed on the Assad government as a sign that the president is clearly comfortable making tough decisions. But at the same time, H.R. McMaster said, its time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully. In a broadcast interview that aired on Sunday, McMaster said the U.S. would rely on its allies as well as on Chinese leadership to resolve the issues with North Korea. I mean, North Korea is very vulnerable to pressure from the Chinese, McMaster said on ABCs This Week. The bottom line, McMaster said, is to stop the Norths weapons development and make the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free: Its clear that the president is determined not to allow this kind of capability to threaten the United States. And our president will take action that is in the best interest of the American people. After a two-month policy review, officials settled on a policy dubbed maximum pressure and engagement, U.S. officials said Friday. The administrations immediate emphasis, the officials said, will be on increasing pressure on Pyongyang with the help of Beijing. The officials werent authorized to speak publicly on the results of the policy review and requested anonymity. Pence will be tasked with explaining the policy in meetings with leaders in South Korea and Japan at the start of his trip, which will also include stops in Indonesia and Australia. He will also aim to reassure allies in South Korea and Japan that the U.S. will take appropriate steps to defend them against North Korean aggression. Pence was aboard Air Force Two flying over the Bering Sea when a North Korean missile exploded during launch on Sunday, U.S. and South Korean officials said. The high-profile failure came as the North tried to showcase its nuclear and missile capabilities around the birth anniversary of the Norths late founder and as a U.S. aircraft carrier neared the Korean Peninsula. A White House foreign policy adviser traveling with Pence said no U.S. response to the missile launch was expected because there was no need for the U.S. to reinforce the failure. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administrations initial understanding of the launch. Trump, spending the Easter weekend at his Florida resort, reinforced his commitment to the armed forces under his control. Our military is building and is rapidly becoming stronger than ever before, he tweeted. More directly on North Korea, the president returned to a theme of placing much onus on China for reining in the North. Last week, he said he would not declare China a currency manipulator, pulling back from a campaign promise, as he looks for help from Beijing, which is the Norths dominant trade partner. Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem? We will see what happens! Trump tweeted on Sunday. Deputy national adviser K.T. McFarland briefed the president on the failed missile launch. She advised patience with China on the issue. North Korea is a liability to everybody and its a threat not just to the United States, not just to South Korea, not just to Japan, not just to Russia, but its actually a threat to China as well, McFarland said Sunday on Fox News Sunday. Into this tense environment, Pence made his first trip to the region since taking office in January. After arriving in the South Korean capital, he placed a wreath at Seoul National Cemetery and then worshipped with military personnel at an Easter church service at the U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan. During a fellowship meal after the services, he said the tensions on the Korean peninsula had put into sharp focus the importance of the joint U.S.-South Korean mission. This mornings provocation from the North is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face every day in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world, said Pence. Your willingness to step forward, to serve, to stand firm without fear, inspires the nation and inspires the world. Along with the deployment of the U.S. aircraft carrier and other vessels into waters off the Korean Peninsula, thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops, tanks and other weaponry were deployed last month in their biggest joint military exercises. That led North Korea to issue routine threats of attacks on its rivals if they show signs of aggression. The White House foreign policy adviser traveling with Pence told reporters that the type of missile that North Korea tried to fire on Sunday was medium-range, and that it exploded about 4 to 5 seconds after it was launched. The North regularly launches short-range missiles, but is also developing mid-range and long-range missiles meant to target U.S. troops in Asia and, eventually, the U.S. mainland. The failed launch will sting in Pyongyang because it came a day after one of the biggest North Korean propaganda events of the year celebrations of the 105th birthday of late North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, the current leaders grandfather. According to the White House adviser, the test had been expected and the U.S. had good intelligence both before and after the launch. The official said, without elaborating, that had it been a nuclear test, other actions would have been taken by the U.S. North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, including two last year. Recent satellite imagery suggests the country could conduct another underground nuclear test at any time. (AP) Israel Police spokespersons report that in a predawn wave of arrests in a number of cities around the country; 28 leaders and activists of the Peleg Yerushalmi faction have been arrested. The raid took place on isru chag in Eretz Yisrael Pesach, as police, Yassam commandos, border police and detectives armed with arrest and search warrants arrived at homes and offices of the suspects. In some cases, documents and computers were confiscated. The streets of chareidi areas of Yerushalayim were abuzz with people during the predawn hours as police vehicles arrived in Meah Shearim, Nvei Yaakov and other communities. Targeted in the arrests were senior Peleg Newspaper officials as well as faction leaders. Some of the charges include incitement (referring to factions Peleg affiliated newspaper) while others will face charges related to the many illegal protests nationwide in recent weeks as well as assault against chareidi soldiers as well as police during the recent protests. There are also charges of threatening and attempting to extort senior officials in large Israeli companies by newspaper officials in an effort to get them to advertise. Also in custody are operators of the Kav HaMaavak (the factions hotline phone) as well as faction leaders and organizers. About 250 police were involved in the operation and arrests were made in Yerushalayim, Bnei Brak, Beit Shemesh, Modiin Illit, Ashdod, Rechasim, and Hadera. Some of the suspects are being questioned by officers in the 433 Unit, Israels equivalent of the FBI. Among those taken into custody are; HaPeles Editor Nati Grossman, Assistant Editor Yeshayahu Wein, Shmuel Yavrov, Shraga Yavrov, Shmuel Elyashiv, Moshe Viner, Yisrael Tropper, Mordechai Krauss, and Shabtai Fein. Menachem Carmel was injured. A protest followed the arrests made in Bnei Brak. Stormy protests are expected during the day in response to the widespread police action. Published on isru chag in Eretz Yisrael. (YWN Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photos: Media Resource Group) By Press Trust of India: Sumir Kaul Srinagar, Apr 18 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir police has begun an operation to identify moles within, who are suspected to be leaking vital operational information to terror outfits as their families are being threatened by the militants. While the J and K Police top brass is silent on the issue, sources in the security establishement say some policemen have been earmarked for carrying out a thorough probe into the cases where militants, mainly belonging to the banned Hizbul Mujahideen, have threatened the families of policemen engaged in counter-insurgency operations. advertisement A recent incident in which militants barged into the house of a policeman at Shopian, who is posted as the personal assistant to an officer in Pulwama, raised eyebrows within the security establishment in the Valley. The militants, while firing warning shots and threatening the family members with dire consequences, told them that the policeman (identity not disclosed) was responsible for the death of their fellow terrorists as he had tipped off the establishment about their whereabouts. The incident sounded an alarm bell as the matter about the alleged tip-off was highly classified, the sources said. They said the terror groups have been increasingly targeting the policemen, their families and political workers in the recent past. While the families of policemen have been receiving threats since March this year, such incidents have reached an alarming level last weekend when as many as 14 families of cops engaged in counter-insurgency operations were targeted in Shopian and Kulgam areas of South Kashmir, they said. The sudden spurt in such incidents has prompted the police headquarters to issue an advisory whereby the policemen were asked not to visit their homes for a few months. "In view of these unfortunate incidents, police personnel, particularly from South Kashmir, are advised to exercise extreme caution while visiting their homes. They should preferably avoid visiting their homes for the next few months as their personal security is of paramount importance," the advisory issued on Sunday said. On Friday and Saturday last week, as many as 14 families of police personnel were threatened in the Kulgam and Shopian belt, sending a shockwave among officers and men involved in counter-insurgency operations for over two decades, the sources in the security establishment said. Two constables, including one posted with the Special Security Group guarding Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, were beaten up in Shopian. One of the constables, currently posted in a battalion, was dragged publicly to a local mosque and forced to make an announcement of his resignation on a loudspeaker in Shopian, the sources said. The family of a station house officer, now posted in Srinagar, was also attacked a couple of weeks ago after he had stopped an ambulance, following an intelligence tip-off that militants could use such vehicles to sneak into the city, they said. advertisement The house of an Additional Superintendent of Police, who is currently posted in North Kashmir, was also ransacked at Khudwani in earlier this month, they said. Some posters and messages in social media have appeared showing militants asking policemen to announce their resignations on the social media or through local newspapers. This act is a reminiscent of 1990s when many of the Valleys political workers had announced their resignations through the local newspapers. PTI SKL ARC --- ENDS --- Vodafone has confirmed it will ditch roaming charges for using your mobile abroad in 40 countries from 15 June - with the launch of a Brexit-friendly deal. But there's one major catch, the perk is only offered to new customers, or those upgrading an existing pay monthly contract. The Roam Free deal from Vodafone launches just as new rules from the EU mean mobile users wont have to hand over extra to their network for calls, texts and data use within Europe. But when Britain leaves the EU, those rules will no longer apply and customers fear bills for using phones in Europe will rocket back up. Use your mobile abroad for free: Vodafone won't charge you extra in 40 holiday destinations The Vodafone offer indicates protection against that, but rather than rewarding loyalty it is using it to tempt in new customers or get existing ones to upgrade. Vodafone has extended its list of free-use regions to include non-EU holiday hotspots such as the Channel Islands, Switzerland and Turkey. You can view a full map of free use destinations here. Those heading further afield can pay 5 a day for unlimited use of their mobiles if travelling in one of the 60 additional destinations on Vodafones list, including far-away locations such as South Africa, Indonesia and New Zealand. Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch, said: 'With EU roaming charges due to be abolished for UK customers as of 15 June and with uncertainty over what Brexit will mean for roaming charges in the longer term, Vodafone is firing the starting gun ahead of time, keen to steal a march on its rivals and put their current customers at ease. 'Its also an interesting echo of when networks under public, regulatory and price pressure abandoned charging for texts which were a significant expense when mobile phones first shot to popularity in the late 1990s. 'This will also affect the new VAT charge added to non-EU roaming as Vodafone is effectively cancelling the tax for its customers using data in countries such as Turkey, Switzerland and the Channel Islands. An impressive move and one that raises the bar for other providers.' 40 VODAFONE FREE-ROAM DESTINATIONS Albania (4G) Estonia (4G) Italy (inc Vatican City) (4G) Portugal (incl. Madeira) (4G) Austria (4G) Finland (4G) Latvia (4G) Republic of Ireland (4G) Belgium (4G) France (4G) Liechtenstein (4G) Romania (4G) Bosnia French West Indies Lithuania (4G) San Marino (4G) Bulgaria (4G) Germany (4G) Luxembourg (4G) Slovakia (4G) Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey) (4G) Gibraltar Malta Slovenia (4G) Croatia (4G) Greece (4G) Monaco (4G) Spain (incl. Canary Islands) (4G) Cyprus (4G) Hungary (4G) Netherlands (4G) Sweden (4G) Czech Republic (4G) Iceland (4G) Norway (4G) Switzerland (4G) Denmark (inc Faroe Islands) (4G) Isle of Man (4G) Poland (4G) Turkey (4G) Surf the web: Until 15 June it will still cost up to 4p per MB within Europe Is it worth switching? Data from comparison site uSwitch suggests that around a quarter of bill payers have been met by a nasty surprise when they check their bill after returning home, handing over an average 52 extra to pay for roaming charges. Network coverage, contract prices and calls, texts and data allowances should be your top consideration when hunting for a new mobile deal. However, frequent travellers might want to consider a provider with an attractive overseas option. But remember, holidaymakers won't pay any extra cash on top of their contract charges to use their mobile within Europe after June 15. If you are heading abroad before then you will pay extra. Currently it costs up to 4p on top of your contract costs to make a call within Europe, an extra 1p to receive calls, 2p per text and 4p per MB of data you download. To put that into perspective a MB of data would be enough to browse the web for just four minutes. Free Roam is only available on Vodafone's new range of contracts. This means existing customers will have to upgrade and therefore pay an early upgrade fee (typically the cost of the rest of the contract) unless you are on one of its Red or Red Value deals which allows you to switch 60 days early. Standard Bundle customers are allowed to upgrade 30 days before the end of their contract. There are however some networks which extend their fee-free areas further afield too (see below). Vodafone isn't the only network to have scrapped roaming fees Three Mobile offers a similar feature called Feel at Home which wont charge you extra to use your mobile in 42 countries. It offers the feature to anyone on a pay-as-you-go or pay monthly contract, unless you are signed up to its Essential Plans where Feel At Home is not available. These include places like the US, Australia and Hong Kong. You could also consider iD, owned by the Carphone Warehouse, which piggy-backs off the Three Mobile network. It offers a Takeaway plan which covers 29 countries including Australia, USA on top of popular European destinations. Check the list here. Most other networks offer bolt-on deals you can activate while abroad which offer limited amounts of data, calls and texts for a flat-rate fee. Investors should prepare for increased volatility on UK markets before the election on June 8, but snap mid-term polls haven't derailed stocks in the past, say City pundits. Hold fast to your long-term savings goals, set aside some cash to act if you see opportunities, and don't lose sight of wider world markets because of parochial politics, investors are being told today. Prime Minister Theresa May's announcement of a snap election knocked UK stocks, but the pound rose against both the US dollar and the euro - and one currency expert reckons sterling could be back up at $1.30 over the next couple of months.Read more here about the immediate reaction on financial markets. Trading trends: News of a snap election knocked UK stocks today, but the pound rose against both the US dollar and the euro From a historical perspective, previous mid-term elections - albeit back in 1966 and 1974 - didn't cause any damage to UK markets. The FTSE All-Share also tends to fare better under the Tories, the anticipated winners of the pending poll, according to historical market analysis. We round up the views of investing experts below. Expect volatility, and hold back some cash to exploit opportunities 'Politically the timing might not get any better for the Conservative Party to win a general election and increase their majority,' says Adrian Lowcock, investment director at Architas. 'The UK economy has remained strong following the EU referendum and stock markets have rallied to new highs. At the same time the opposition parties are lagging behind in the polls. 'General elections create uncertainty and markets do not like uncertainty. The market has begun to price this in and there is likely to be an "uncertainty discount" on the UK stock market until the election result is known. 'Given that the FTSE 100 is trading close to all-time highs and we are seeing an increase in geo-political uncertainty investors should prepare for increased volatility over the coming weeks and hold a diversified portfolio of equities and bonds as well as property and gold. 'Having some cash set aside at times of uncertainty will give investors the flexibility to act as more information becomes known.' Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: 'Markets can get a case of the jitters in the run up to elections, but this one may be different seeing as it comes in the wake of the Brexit vote, and the polls suggest the incumbent government is likely to remain in power and gain more seats. 'Nonetheless a snap election does potentially open the door to some market volatility in the coming months, though investors shouldnt let their investment decisions be dictated by swaying polls. 'The household saving ratio is currently at its lowest level since the 1960s, and the big risk investors face from an election is that they let it disrupt their financial plans. 'In the short term market sentiment can be driven by political events, but investors should look beyond any noise as politicians hit the campaign trail, and keep focused on their own long term savings goals.' Looking ahead: FTSE All-Share tends to fare better under Tory Prime Ministers, and Theresa May is the anticipated winner of the pending poll Keep sights fixed on wider world, not parochial politics 'Just as the world of politics around the world appears to have lost the plot, up pops Theresa May and says "politics is not a game", says Brian Dennehy, managing director of FundExpert.co.uk. 'Before the parochial UK media loses sight of the wider world for the next two months, lets focus on the much bigger, global, concerns. You cant make this up. A gameshow host becomes US President, and a man nick-named "Mad Dog" is put in charge of US defence. 'Of course, "defence" is a bit of a misnomer as "Mad Dog" (AKA General James Mattis) was at the helm when around $50million worth of missiles were launched against a Syrian airfield, the Mother Of All Bombs was dropped in Afghanistan, and North Korea was put on notice of a pre-emptive strike by American forces. 'Meantime Europe remains on a knife-edge. The immediate focus is the French election, the first round of which is this weekend. The polls are extraordinarily tight, and the two winners who will proceed to the second round are a toss of a coin right now. 'Now for some perspective. None of this means the end of the world is nigh, but it is a world going through fundamental adjustments which will take years more to unfold and have already been years in the making (preceding the 2008/9 crisis on which so many talking heads focus).' Dennehy goes on: 'There are intractable problems for the ageing, indebted, developed world and a UK general election is not one of them. But the world will not stop spinning, people will still go to work, companies will trade, bright people will research and innovate, and there will continue to be a world of opportunities. 'There are some markets and sectors which hold out great potential right now you just need to hold steady in the face of a barrage of scary headlines (and perhaps one or two genuinely scary events yet to unfold).' His firm's stance is to avoid the expensive US, stick to value funds in the UK, and look to attractive opportunities in Asia over politically risky Europe. Dennehy notes that China looks cheap, and his two 'Trades for the Decade' are Japanese small caps and India. Snap elections: Previous mid-term polls didn't damage markets (Source: AJ Bell) Mid-term elections of 1966 and 1974 failed to derail stocks Stock markets are unlikely to be rattled for long by the snap election, assuming opinion polls and history prove a reliable guide, says AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould. 'Analysis of general election results since the inception of the FTSE All-Share in 1962 shows that the index has tended to do better, on average, under Conservative Prime Ministers. 'This may offer some comfort to investors who are nervous, especially as Mrs May has a big lead in the polls. In addition, the historic data also show how the mid-term elections of 1966 and 1974 failed to derail stocks.' See the charts below. 'In this case the UK stock market seemed unconcerned by either the party affiliation of the person in charge or the size of their majority so while Mrs May will want to add to her partys haul of seats in Westminster this may be less of a concern for investors, relative to the overall result. Previous Prime Ministers: FTSE All-Share index has tended to do better, on average, under Tory leaders (Source: AJ Bell) 'History also suggests that the market prefers a win for the incumbent Prime Minister, again irrespective of their political leanings, perhaps as this means they are dealing with a known quantity, although the performance differential over a full term is in this case relatively minor. 'However, the opinion polls recent sketchy record and the dangers of using historical performance as a guide to the future mean stock market investors are unlikely to take too much on trust and may remain edgy until the result becomes known on 9 June, given that policy on such huge issues as Brexit and Scottish independence, as well as the state of the nations finances and economy, are set to be a source of fierce debate once more.' Pound could be back up at $1.30 by the time of election 'It was sell the rumour and buy the fact for the pound after the "shock" announcement that Theresa May will call a snap general election on June 8,' says Kathleen Brooks, research director at City Index Direct. 'This was always a possibility after she triggered Article 50, although she had denied she would call one. The latest YouGov poll on UK voting intentions gives the Conservatives the widest margin over Labour for 34 years, with the Conservatives polling 44 per cent of the vote, in contrast to 23 per cent for Labour. Who can blame Theresa May for calling an election that appears to be hers to lose? 'The initial sell off in the pound was likely a bit of nervousness that Theresa May could be about to resign, once that fear was put to bed we have seen the pound surge to fresh highs above $1.26, the highest level since early February. 'The market may also have changed its view on Brexit, after the massive pound sell off on the back of the referendum last year, today the market seems to be welcoming Theresa Mays decision to try and solidify her leadership at the helm of the UKs Brexit mission. If the market is taking the view that it is better the devil you know, and with the odds massively in Theresa Mays favour that she will win this election, we could see the pound catch a bid as we lead up to June 8, and our $1.30 forecast for GBP/USD [pound versus the US dollar] doesnt seem that outlandish. 'The pound may also be rising on the back of expectations that Labour will be obliterated by this election, which could drag the party away from the far left. 'At this juncture, one of the only risks to Mays leadership is if the Labour Party join forces with the Lib Dems as some anti-Brexit alliance, however, with less than two months to go before the election it is hard to see how any opposition to May can organise themselves to stand as a true challenge to the Prime Minister. Thus, this could be a fairly easy ride for Theresa May, and maybe for the pound too.' American predator PPG has launched a fresh attack to take over Dulux owner Akzo Nobel American predator PPG has launched a fresh attack on the maker of Dulux. The boss of PPG, which has been relentless in its bid to take over Akzo Nobel, published an open letter yesterday urging shareholders to back his proposal. Slough-based Akzo bought the paints and coatings division of British chemicals giant ICI in 2008, which included Dulux, and has staff spread across the North East, Glasgow, Suffolk and the Midlands. It dismissed a 19billion bid from PPG last month, claiming it would lead to job losses. But Michael McGarry, chief executive of the US rival, claimed yesterday that the companies would be 'stronger together' and PPG would be willing to make commitments to address concerns about employee overlap. His comments come as Akzo's chief executive, Ton Buchner, prepares to unveil a 'strategy update' alongside its first-quarter results on Wednesday and is believed to be spinning off its chemicals business. But McGarry wrote: 'Only after rejecting our offer did Akzo Nobel change its strategic course... which we believe will be more risky.' London stocks took a heavy hit this session after Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap General Election for June 8. Records were smashed on the markets as the FTSE 100 lost 180 points , or 2.46 per cent, at 7,147.5 - its worst performance since the Brexit vote last year. But the pound soared, up 1.5 per cent higher at $1.28 against the dollar - its highest point for four months. Volatile: The pound has spiked but shares have tanked this session after May's announcement Joshua Mahony, analyst at IG, said: 'The decision from Theresa May to call a general election in June came from left-field, given her previous desire to reject any suggestions to do so. 'On the face of it this is about strengthening her negotiating hand ahead of the Brexit discussions. Certainly this general election is expected to be fought on Brexit grounds, with the Hard-Brexit (Tories), Soft-Brexit (Labour) and anti-Brexit (Lib Dems) all likely to be offered.' May stated that an early election was the only way to guarantee political stability for years ahead as the UK negotiates its way out of the European Union. She said: 'I have just chaired a meeting of the cabinet where we agreed that the government should call a General Election to be held on the 8th of June.' 'It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond.' May added that she would introduce legislation tomorrow to pave the way for the early election. Under current legislation, the next election was not scheduled to take place until 2020. May said this was a one-off chance to get an election done while the EU was agreeing on its negotiating position. She said the government had the right plan to negotiate Brexit, and there would be no change of course. Click here to view if you are using a This is Money phone app. Hush money: Former Fox News talent booker Laurie Luhn Rupert Murdoch's 11.7billion bid to take over Sky may be derailed by a sexual harassment scandal brewing in America. The claims have engulfed US television station Fox News, which is owned by Murdoch, sparking concerns the fallout could thwart his bid to snap up the 61pc of Sky he does not already own. Prosecutors are understood to be investigating whether payments made to alleged victims broke securities laws as they were not declared in annual reports or to investors in 21st Century Fox, the network's parent company. Roger Ailes, the founder and former chairman of Fox News, was fired last summer following allegations he harassed former colleagues, including former star presenter Megyn Kelly. Prosecutors are focusing on a payment made to Laurie Luhn, a former Fox News talent booker, who was given 2.5million by the channel in 2011 in exchange for her silence. Particular attention is also being paid to allegations against Fox News pundit Bill O'Reilly. Five women received payouts totalling about 10million in exchange for agreeing to not pursue litigation or speak about their accusations. It is the latest scandal to hit the Murdoch family, which was forced to abandon its bid to take back full control of Sky in 2011 amid allegations of phone hacking at its Sunday paper, the News Of The World. James Murdoch, the youngest son of Rupert Murdoch, was ultimately forced to oversee the closure of the paper as well as the withdrawal of the then 7.8billion bid. Former chairman of Fox News Roger Ailes (left), was fired last summer following allegations he harassed former colleagues including former star presenter Megyn Kelly (right) The 44-year-old resigned as chairman of Sky in 2012 after Ofcom said that he 'repeatedly fell short' of the conduct expected of him. Reports of a federal probe at Fox comes as the British regulator decides whether 21st Century Fox would be a 'fit and proper' owner for Sky. European regulators have already given their approval to the deal, saying it 'raised no competition concerns'. Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch, is at the centre of a sexual harassment scandal But last month, Culture Secretary Karen Bradley confirmed she was referring the takeover to Britain's communications regulator Ofcom amid concerns the company would control too much of Britain's media. As well as owning 39 per cent of Sky, Murdoch owns The Times and The Sun newspapers through his News Corp business. Ofcom is carrying out a public interest test on the deal. If it has concerns by the deadline of May 16, Bradley will ask 21st Century Fox to address any issues and decide whether to accept what it suggests. She could then send the bid to the Competition and Markets Authority for a full review, which could take up to six months. A 21st Century Fox spokesman said: 'We take our regulatory and compliance obligations very seriously. We have a strong record of compliance in all our markets. 'We are confident that our proposed transaction to acquire the shares of Sky we don't already own will be approved following a thorough review by regulators.' The pound shot higher as Theresa May called for a snap General Election on 8 June, but London's stock market plunged into the red today. Sterling had dropped 0.3 per cent this morning on news of a surprise announcement by the Prime Minister, falling to $1.251, but as she gave her speech it recovered and then shot up to trade higher at $1.276. In contrast with the pound, the FTSE 100 stock market index, which was already trading down this morning, did not bounce back. At the close it was down 181 points, or 2.5 per cent, at 7,147.5. After Theresa May made her speech, the pound regained the ground it lost against the US dollar this morning and then rocketed higher The pound's rise is being regarded as a show of strength for the Prime Minister, but it spelt bad news for investors who have seen London's FTSE 100 stock market index move in the opposite direction to sterling since the Brexit vote. Traders are expecting a volatile seven weeks before voters go to the polls with the Tories expected to win a majority in the election, but there is also the outside possibility that they could lose ground and Brexit be stalled. The pound rose off the back of an expected result of a stronger Tory government with an increased majority for the Prime Minister. This is something seen as meaning Brexit negotiations would move forward more smoothly, with May better insulated from both the heavily euro-sceptic and europhile elements of her party. But shares fell further after the announcement. London's biggest listed companies are dominated by international firms, which have seen profit figures boosted by sterling's decline since the Brexit vote, as overseas earnings translate back into a larger amount in pounds. May will introduce legislation in parliament tomorrow to pave the way for the early election. Under current legislation, the next election was not scheduled to take place until 2020. Justin Urquhart Stewart, co-founder of Seven Investment Management said the snap election highlighted why investors need to ensure all their eggs arent in one basket, because until now the broad expectation had been for a weak pound and rising stock market. For investors, the course of this election will only underline the need for broad diversification across asset classes and currencies, he said.Good investment is about managing the risks of the unexpected, and here is a great example. The consensus view has been for a weaker pound, which would benefit the overseas heavy FTSE 100 as we headed towards a harder and harsher Brexit. However, just when everyone is facing one way (the consensus way), then it is usually the time to look the other way and manage the risks of exactly the opposite. This scenario could be a higher pound and a falling FTSE 100 - it seemed so unlikely, but so did the UK referendum and US Presidential election results last year. But how many investment managers have learnt from it? The pound also regained the ground it had lost earlier this morning against the euro and rocketed higher against the common currency too Analysts said that the movements in the pound indicate that markets believe May will beat Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and the Liberal Democrat's Tim Farron in a General Election. Peter Ashton, managing director of Eiger FX, said: 'The markets were quick to price in greater economic and policy stability under what they expect will be a significant majority given the weakness of the opposition. 'There is still huge uncertainty surrounding the implementation of Brexit but a strong majority party will help to provide a degree of stability while we negotiate the choppy waters ahead.' Most recent polls suggest Mrs May could get a sizeable Commons majority of 100 or more from a General Election. Naeem Aslam, analyst at Think Markets, added: 'A snap election means Theresa May has all the confidence that she is going to win. She has been under immense pressure from backbenchers. 'She wants to create unity and gain more power. She wants to show that she has the ultimate power on this and she would like to sail the Brexit ship in a way that she likes to do. The process of general election would strengthen her hand.' Downing Street had previously denied Theresa May would call a vote before the next scheduled poll in 2020. But in a shock announcement on the steps of number 10, May said an early election was the only way to guarantee political stability for years ahead as the UK negotiates its way out of the European Union. The Prime Minister stated this was a one-off chance for an election while the EU was agreeing on its negotiating position. She remained adamant that government had the right plan to negotiate Brexit, and there would be no change of course. May said: 'I have just chaired a meeting of the cabinet where we agreed that the government should call a General Election to be held on the 8th of June.' 'It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond.' While the pound leapt today on the news of a fresh election it remains down substantially on where it was a year ago, before the Brexit vote While the pound leapt today on the news of a fresh election it remains down substantially on where it was a year ago, before the Brexit vote. Before the EU referendum the pound was trading at about $1.45 - it is currently down 12.4 per cent on that level. Adrian Lowcock, investment director at Architas, said: 'The UK economy has remained strong following the EU referendum and stock markets have rallied to new highs. At the same time the opposition parties are lagging behind in the polls. General elections create uncertainty and markets do not like uncertainty. The market has begun to price this in and there is likely to be an uncertainty discount on the UK stock market until the election result is known. Given that the FTSE 100 is trading close to all-time highs and we are seeing an increase in geo-political uncertainty investors should prepare for increased volatility over the coming weeks and hold a diversified portfolio of equities and bonds as well as property and gold. 'Having some cash set aside at times of uncertainty will give investors the flexibility to act as more information becomes known. Gay romance finally comes out of the closet in Ekta Kapoor's web series Romil and Jugal, and we can't be happier. By Parmita Uniyal: Boy meets boy, they fall in love and live happily ever after. Romil and Jugal--a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare's classic Romeo & Juliet--has been brought to you by none other than the mother of all things sanskari on Indian Television Ekta Kapoor and you can't help but thank her to finally give us the first heartfelt gay romance from her stable, albeit on web, directed by Nupur Asthana of Hip Hip Hurray and Mahi Way fame. advertisement There have been episodics like MTV The Big F, MTV Webbed on TV and Untagged on web in the past that portrayed homosexual love, but didn't do complete justice to it. You have a lesbian character here, and a gay character there, but not a love story completely centred on them that goes through the ups and downs and the trials and tribulations of a regular love story. Also read: Are you ready for a gay Romeo and Juliet? The lead characters in Romil and Jugal are not ashamed of their sexuality, though at times they have to wear a mask for the society. Jugal is not in denial of his sexual orientation, but thanks to peer pressure of proving his 'mardangi', he flirts with a girl; the date ends with a slap on his face after he refuses to get cosy with the girl. But that's it. He learns from his mistakes and resolves to look for the right person. Soon, his 'Romeo' enters his life and he falls head-over-heels in love with him. But there is a third angle to this love story. Jugal's sister too falls for Romil. And then begins the wooing game. Also read: Bra, booze, and expletives: Dev DD's heroine tries hard to be a rebel with a cause, but fails The good thing about the web series is that it normalises gay love in the sense that it is also about the feelings and emotions of the people in love and not just physical intimacy. You must watch Romil and Jugal, it's a cute and hatke love story that will make you smile. --- ENDS --- The ATS team is also tightening the noose around such unlicensed internet service provider as they are potential security threat. By Shashank Shekhar: The chances are high that the high speed internet service at a low cost in your locality may be 'illegal' and posses a major 'security threat.' Teams of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) are raiding across Noida to crack down on unlicensed broadband service provider causing huge revenue loss to the government. advertisement A senior official said many unlicensed broadband companies have mushroomed in Delhi and NCR and majority of it are in Noida, which are further distributing internet network to household but without getting recognition from the government. These small companies buy bandwidth from major telecom giants to set-up internet service in a small community but fraudulently start selling to household and corporate. HOW DO THEY OPERATE According to an estimate, such fake service providers have around 15,000 user base in Noida itself which neither maintain the weblog of their customers nor did they have any regulatory and monitoring facility available with them. The incident came to light after monitoring wing of TRAI, Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) found fraudulent usage of internet in large number. As these illegal connections also possessed a national security threat, they roped in ATS in a joint operation. On Monday, raids were conducted on six premises where six people were arrested who were operating like broadband service provider but were not registered with any government body. "To become an internet service provider each player needs to get licence from the government. These shady companies were buying bandwidth from telecom giants but were evading paying a licence fee. As they were not registered, so they were also not paying eight-10 per cent tax on the revenue made," said a senior ATS officer. Earlier, a licence fee for a small player was around Rs 20 lakh but it was slashed to around Rs 10-12 lakh to boost internet penetration in the country. There is a renewal fee which needs to be paid each year which these companies were evading. "They must have caused loss of several crore to the government by not paying fee and taxes. We are yet scanning their user base which stand around 15,000 connections and checking the bank accounts," said the officer. The ATS team is also tightening the noose around such unlicensed internet service provider as they are potential security threat. "These players are not recognised so they violated all the checks and measures which are part for mandatory guideline for all the service providers. They have no log of searches made by their users. They were not maintaining any monitoring facility, making it easy for any antinational element to misuse the internet, without coming under scanner," added the officer. Police have seized several documents and equipment from them which will be further scanned. Experts claimed this is just a tip of iceberg as large numbers of internet connection are illegal and unmonitored. Delhi NCR alone has dozens of illegal service providers. There are three kind of licences available depending up the area they cover. advertisement Also read: Internet users in India to reach 730 million by 2020: Govt Also read: Supreme Court to issue order to block Sardar jokes on internet Watch the video: Jio Summer Surprise offer withdrawn, but free Jio is still available --- ENDS --- LOBAMBA Swaziland will overcome low job creation, alleviate poverty and have generally happier families in 2017. The King prophesied that strife was over in the country before christening 2017, a season of prosperity. This was during his 40-minute electrifying sermon at the Somhlolo National Stadium. The King had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he encouraged discipline, dedication and loyalty. He made this prophesy by referring to the Bible where he noted that the digit seven represented success. The year 2017 is a year of blessings. Every unemployed person, starving families, those engulfed in problems shall be freed from all troubles. He also referred to the Bible during the times of Noah, where there were floods for over 150 days. The Monarch said during these times, God revealed how the digit seven was essential through the promise he made with the rainbow. The sevenfold colours of the rainbow are: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. During the days of Noah, on the 17th day of the seventh month, the water levels descended. Following this, Noah sent a dove to check on the water levels and the dove brought back a tree branch. From then, he sent it every seven days, the King preached. He noted that according to the scripture, on the last incident, Noah sent the dove and it never returned and it dawned on him that the water levels had subsided. This, the King noted, meant that the number seven represented success. Furthermore, the King quoted the story of Abednigo, Meshack and Shadrack during the times of King Nebuchadnezzar. He asserted that King Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible was quoted to have passed laws that banned Christianity. The Monarch said these laws did not deter the trio from their faith. With this, the King, noted that it was essential for one to take a decision and follow it through as these men did. The Monarch said the resolve of the trio to worship God was strong such that when they were thrown into an inferno, they rejoiced and praised the Lord. They did not burn but instead a fourth man was seen in their midst. Instead, those who were affected by the fire were those sent to start it. By Press Trust of India: New York, Apr 18 (PTI) In a first, scientists have identified HIV reservoir cells where the virus can persist despite treatment, a finding that may pave the way for new therapies to effectively treat the disease. HIV cure research to date has focused on clearing the virus from T cells, a type of white blood cell that is an essential part of the immune system, researchers said. advertisement They found the virus persists in HIV-infected macrophages - large white blood cells found in tissues throughout the body including the liver, lung, bone marrow and brain. "These results are paradigm changing because they demonstrate that cells other than T cells can serve as a reservoir for HIV," said Jenna Honeycutt of University of North Carolina in the US. Researchers demonstrated the ability of tissue macrophages to support HIV replication in vivo in the total absence of human T cells. However, how macrophages would respond to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and whether macrophages represented a reservoir for HIV after treatment were unknown. Using a humanised myeloid-only mouse (MoM) model devoid of T cells, researchers showed that ART strongly suppresses HIV replication in tissue macrophages. Yet when HIV treatment was interrupted, viral rebound was observed in one third of the animals. This is consistent with the establishment of persistent infection in tissue macrophages, researchers said. "The fact that HIV-infected macrophages can persist means that any possible therapeutic intervention to eradicate HIV might have to target two very different types of cells," Honeycutt said. "This is the first report demonstrating that tissue macrophages can be infected and that they respond to antiretroviral therapy," Honeycutt said. "In addition, we show that productively infected macrophages can persist despite ART; and most importantly, that they can reinitiate and sustain infection upon therapy interruption even in the absence of T cells - the major target of HIV infection," she said. The study was published in the journal Nature Medicine. PTI APA MHN MHN --- ENDS --- Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Patrick Donachie The best way to confront the fear and apprehension in New Yorks immigrant communities is to ensure that information on their rights is readily available and accurate, representatives of state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said during a forum on immigrant rights last week in Richmond Hill. The most important thing is to have a plan, ReNika Moore, the attorney generals Labor Bureau chief, said regarding the question of what to do if officials from the Immigration and Custom Enforcement Agency approach immigrants with a warrant. The forum, held at the Boys and Girls Club at 110-04 Atlantic Ave. on April 7, was attended by state Sen. Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans), as well as representatives of numerous other elected officials and assorted community leaders. Comrie said the forum was a substantial step towards ensuring better communication between Schneidermans office and Queens communities like Richmond Hill and South Ozone Park, which have substantial immigrant populations. Moore was joined by Nancy Trasande, an assistant attorney general in Schneidermans Civil Rights Bureau, and Najah Farley, an assistant attorney general in the departments Labor Bureau. The panelists detailed the bureaus approach to investigations and prosecutions of unfair labor practices. The attorneys said they often seek out patterns of questionable practices that, if alleviated, could lead to the greatest potential impact for workers around the state. Moore stressed that it was vital for community members, like those who attended, to be the bureaus eyes, ears and advertisers. We know were not going to reach every worker and often the most marginalized workers will never walk into our offices, Moore told attendees. We are trying to make sure we reach the people who can reach the people, and make sure the information is accurate. The panelists also supplied copies of the attorney generals guidance about how local authorities must participate in federal immigration enforcement actions. The panelists stressed that police officers would not question someones immigration status, and that people who were questioned or approached by ICE officials only had to submit to a warrant if it was a judicial warrant signed by a judge, as opposed to an administrative warrant. One attendee suggested that Schneidermans office could make more inroads with community and ethnic media, as well as faith-based organizations in the area, in order to better reach immigrant populations. Dr. Neeta Jain, the Democratic district leader in the 25th Assembly District, expressed her concern that the fear enveloping immigrant communities was already having severe emotional and economic implications. They dont want to come from Queens to Manhattan, so its affecting their mental health, Jain said regarding immigrants anxious about rumors of ICE officials apprehending people. They are frightened. British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for an early election on June 8, saying she needed to strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the European Union by bolstering support for her Brexit plan. Standing outside her Downing Street office, May said she had been reluctant to ask parliament to back her move to bring forward the poll from 2020. But, after thinking "long and hard" during a walking holiday, she decided it was necessary to try to stop the opposition "jeopardizing" her work on Brexit. Some were surprised by May\s move the Conservative prime minister has repeatedly said she does not want to be distracted by campaigning but opinion polls give her a strong lead and the British economy has so far defied predictions of a slowdown. Growth is faster than expected, consumer confidence is high and unemployment low, but the economy may be poised to pass its peak as consumers start to feel the strain from rising prices. Sterling rose to a four-month high against the U.S. dollar after the market bet that May would strengthen her parliamentary majority, which Deutsche Bank said would be a "game-changer" for the pound. But the stronger pound helped push Britain\s main share index to close down 2.3 percent, its biggest one-day loss since June 27, days after Britain voted to leave the EU. "It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond," May said. "Before Easter I spent a few days walking in Wales with my husband, thought about this long and hard, and came to the decision that to provide that stability and certainty for the future that this was the way to do it, to have an election," she told ITV news. May called U.S. President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other European leaders after the announcement, a spokesman said, without giving details of the conversations. Britain joins a list of western European countries scheduled to hold elections this year. Votes in France in April and May, and in Germany in September, have the potential to reshape the political landscape around the two years of Brexit talks with the EU expected to start in earnest in June. May is capitalizing on her runaway lead in the opinion polls and she could win around 100 additional seats in parliament. A survey conducted after May\s announcement put her Conservative Party 21 points ahead of the main opposition Labour Party. The ICM/Guardian poll of 1,000 people showed Conservative support at 46 percent, with Labour on 25 percent and the Liberal Democrats on 11 percent. May\s personal ratings also dwarf those of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with 50 percent of those asked by pollster YouGov saying she would make the best prime minister. Corbyn wins only 14 percent. May, a former interior minister, was appointed prime minister after Britain\s vote to leave the European Union forced the resignation of her predecessor David Cameron. The election will be a vote on her performance so far. She is counting on winning the support of British voters, who backed Brexit by 52-48 percent. Some Britons questioned on social media whether they wanted to cast yet another ballot less than a year after the June referendum and two years after they voted in the last parliamentary poll. However, the ICM/Guardian poll found that around three in five respondents said May was right to call an election. Her spokesman said she had the backing of her top team of ministers and had informed Queen Elizabeth of her plans on Monday. Business groups largely welcomed the move, while expressing concern that the government\s focus may stray away from the economy, which May said had defied "predictions of immediate financial and economic danger". Underlining divisions the vote is unlikely to mend, however, Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of the Scottish government, described the decision as a "huge political miscalculation" that could help her efforts to hold a new independence referendum. The government of the Irish Republic also expressed concern that the early election could damage the chances of resolving a political crisis in the British province of Northern Ireland. Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny was among the leaders called by May, along with European Council President Donald Tusk. Tusk, who is running the negotiations with Britain, said in Brussels that the election was a Brexit plot twist worthy of Alfred Hitchcock the late film director known as the master of suspense. Before holding the early election, May must win the support of two-thirds of the parliament in a vote on Wednesday, which looked certain after Labour and the Liberal Democrats said they would vote in favor. Labour\s Corbyn welcomed the election plan, but some of his lawmakers doubted whether it was a good move, fearing they could lose their seats. At least two said they would not run. If the opinion polls are right, May will win a new mandate for a series of reforms she wants to make and also a vote of confidence in a vision for Brexit which sees the country outside the EU\s single market. "The decision facing the country will be all about leadership," May said. "What they are doing jeopardizes the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home, and it weakens the government\s negotiating position in Europe." SOURCE: REUTERS Ibraheem was married to Mudassir Ahmed Khan in February 2016 and she received a divorce message through Whatsapp in September 2016. By Ashish Pandey: While a debate on triple talaq is on, one more case of divorce through Whatsapp has come in to light in Hyderabad. Badar Ibraheem, an MBA graduate was divorced by her husband through Whatsapp. Ibraheem was married to Mudassir Ahmed Khan, a resident of Tolichowki in 2016. Khan works in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in an investment bank as a software analyst. advertisement The couple got married on February 7, 2016 and Khan stayed in Hyderabad for 20 days with his wife. He left for Riyadh and everything between the couple was fine for 6 months. He regularly used to talk with his wife on phone. Suddenly in September 2016, Khan sent a message of talaq to Ibraheem on Whatsapp. Seeing the message, she went to her in-laws house where her her father-in-law stopped her from entering the house. He told her that his son has given her talaaq and that the marriage was an accident. Even when Ibraheem insisted on knowing the reason of divorce, the in-laws or her husband did not respond. But after few days, she received a talaaq nama issued along with a notice from the lawyer. Ibraheem said they complained against her husband and in-laws but till now police did not take any action. She is now demanding that government of India should bring a strict law against these type of people who are misusing triple talaaq. "This type of people should be jailed and court should not release them on bail," she added. Also read: Don't interfere please: Over 5 crore Muslim men and women sign declaration supporting triple talaq Also read: Yogi Adityanath compares triple talaq to Draupadi's cheer-haran, calls for common civil code --- ENDS --- Heres what to know in Beaver County this Election Day If youre a registered voter in Beaver County planning to vote in person today, heres what you need to know. By Mail Today Bureau: At a time when the debate on validity of triple talaq has hotted up, the All India Muslim Personal Board (AIMPLB) wants to submit to the Law Commission two truckloads of declarations -nearly five crores- signed by men and women belonging to the community supporting the controversial practice and urging the panel not to interfere with their personal law by proposing a uniform civil code. Maulana Mohammad Wali Rahmani, General Secretary of the AIMPLB told Mail Today that a total of 4 crore 83 lakhs 47 thousand 596 of signatures were received from across various states. advertisement The Law panel has embarked on a gigantic exercise of inviting public opinion on the contentious UCC though a detailed questionnaire and has already received more than 40,000 responses During a recent meeting with Law Commission Chairman Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan, a AIMPLB delegation headed by Rahmani handed over a hard disk containing the scanned copies of all the signed survey forms with details of all signatories. Rahmani offered to submit the originals of all declarations by transporting them in two trucks. Also read: Triple talaq: Muslim law board assures end of practice within 18 month, asks government not to intervene Also read: Those silent on triple talaq are as guilty as those practising: Yogi Adityanath Watch video: Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath compares triple talaq to 'cheer haran' of Draupadi --- ENDS --- Kenosha, Wis. President Donald Trump on Tuesday added his comments to an ongoing dispute over milk exports to Canada that could imperil New York dairy farmers, then threatened to get rid of the trade agreement at the center of the two countries' spat. The issue, which was exacerbated last week after a Wisconsin-based dairy processor that supplies Canadian customers said it'd stop buying milk from more than 70 U.S. farms, revolves around what's called "ultra-filtered milk" that companies use in cheese and other dairy products. In February - and after months of warnings from New York and federal lawmakers - Canada moved forward with a policy that makes it more difficult for U.S. dairy producers to sell their products across the border. Dairy farmers have already been crippled by years of stagnating milk prices, and one Central New York milk producer Cayuga Milk Ingredients has said it could lose 25 percent of its sales after investing more than $100 million in an ultra-filtered milk processing plant. "We are going to stand up for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin... that demands really, immediately fair trade with all our trading partners, and that includes Canada," Trump said during an appearance in Wisconsin, which along with New York could lose hundreds of millions of dollars if the dispute is not resolved. "Because in Canada, some very unfair things have happened to our dairy farmers. And we're going to start working on that." "We're going to call Canada and we're going to say 'What happened?' We're going to get the solution," he said before turning his attention to the North American Free Trade Agreement that's the source of at least some of the U.S.-Canada dispute. "NAFTA has been very, very bad," Trump said."The fact is that NAFTA has been a disaster for the United States and a complete and total disaster." "We're going to make some very big changes or we're going to get rid of NAFTA once and for all," he said. Trump's address follows days in which lawmakers and farm leaders have increased their demands for his intervention into the matter. In a joint letter with Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday urged Trump to "address Canada's protectionist dairy trade policies so that they honor their international commitments under NAFTA and other trade agreements." Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. "Wisconsin and New York dairy farmers are only the first victims of Canada's illicit dairy trade restrictions," the two governors wrote. "Nearly one year ago, we, along with other state and U.S. dairy officials, warned our federal partners - and Canadian industry and government representatives at all levels - that protectionist regulations would harm U.S. dairy producers." New York Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin offered similar pleas to Trump last week. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany Thousands of upstate retired Teamsters have dodged a potential pension cut at least for now thanks to a recent decision by the federal government. And the retirees may face smaller cuts than the original plan's call for a reduction in benefits of almost a third. Still, the respite could be short-lived as the timetable for possible cuts has been pushed from July 1 to Oct. 1. "We need to file another application to the Treasury Department," said Tom Baum, volunteer retiree representative for the Teamsters' Local 294. Also known as the Upstate Teamsters, Local 294 represents about 16,500 retirees and another 18,500 who are currently employed. Many are or were truck drivers or other employees of UPS, as well as drivers who worked for car haulers transporting new vehicles from train depots to auto dealerships across the region. Most are in upstate New York, though a few reside in New Jersey. Like a number of private sector unions, the Teamsters over the years have seen their membership dwindle due in part to federal deregulation of the trucking industry. With fewer members to support retirees, the pension fund hit rocky financial waters following the 2008 economic crash. Fund administrators say if cuts aren't made, the system could become insolvent by 2025. Any cuts, though, must be approved by the federal Treasury Department. Earlier in April, the agency sent back the Upstate Teamster's blueprint to regain solvency. The agency offered several suggestions, including an updating of the fund's actuarial mortality tables. Federal officials also wanted the fund operators to make a more optimistic assumption about their annual rate of return, which was pegged at 6.75 percent for the next decade. "The Fund's investment earnings during the last few months have been better than expected, which could help make deeper cuts unnecessary," according to a website, http://nysteamstersfundretireerep.com, set up by Baum. "It's still possible, however, that the new proposed cuts will be deeper than 31 percent." In the meantime, UPS has offered a plan of its own which would enact across-the-board cuts of 20 percent rather than the deeper cuts contemplated in the recently rejected proposal. Under the current plan, cuts would vary based on a worker's length of service and age, as well as disabilities. The UPS plan, though, would give no preference to disabled retirees. It would also enact a $10 monthly employee fee. The fix would also seek low-interest loans from the government in order to shore up pension fund finances. UPS spokesman Steve Gaut said that was just one of several options the company was exploring in efforts to help deal with the problem. "The company is working with stakeholders to explore legislative solutions which could help minimize the impact of required restructuring of multi-employer plans facing critical funding problems," he said in a statement. "However, there is no single proposal or agreed solution to comment on at this time." A number of other union pension plans have run into financial problems in recent years. They can seek to lower payouts, but if the Treasury Department says no, then the plans can be placed at risk of folding. That means that many of the most endangered plans need to eventually devise a proposal for benefit cuts that the Treasury Department agrees with. At least one Teamsters fund has already become insolvent: the New York City-based Teamsters Local 707 system. The federal Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. stepped in to offer assistance, but it is only paying $570 per month, which was less than half of most pensions. The cuts were enabled by Congress in 2014 as part of that year's budget resolution to fund the federal government. The pensions in question are "multi-employer" plans that cover employees such as union truck drivers who may have worked for a variety of employers over the years. "A lot of retirees are very nervous about this," said Joellen Leavelle, communications and outreach director at the Pension Rights Center, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for pensioners. Leavelle said U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont has proposed cutting tax loopholes to help shore up pension funds. She said that proposal is expected to be offered again in May. Its prospects are dubious with Republicans controlling the levers of power at the federal level. rkarlin@timesunion.com 518-454-5758 @RickKarlinTU The first three of 20 citywide ferries arrived at the New York Harbor on Monday to much fanfare and some jeers. As Mayor Bill de Blasio and his entourage of city officials arrived at the Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pier 1 aboard the Lunchbox on Monday morning, he was greeted by taunts from a New York Water Taxi floating nearby, honking its horn as the press awaited the mayor's announcement. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Schenectady-based Price Chopper has agreed to settle an overtime pay dispute that involved workers and former employees at its stores in New York, Pennsylvania and New England. Attorneys involved in a federal lawsuit brought against Price Chopper back in 2014 in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mass., informed the judge overseeing the case on Monday that an agreement has been reached. "The parties have reached an agreement in principal to resolve this matter," William Anthony, an Albany-based attorney for Price Chopper, wrote to U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. "The parties were able to reach a mutually acceptable resolution of this matter, and Price Chopper denies any wrongdoing," Price Chopper spokeswoman Mona Golub said. Price Chopper and its next-generation brand,. Market 32, are part of Schenectady-based Golub Corp., which operates more than 130 stores in New York, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. Industry estimates are that Golub Corp. has roughly $3.5 billion in annual revenue, making it the largest company headquartered in the Capital Region. The suit had been initiated by Shelly Davine, who worked at Price Chopper's now-closed North Adams, Mass., location from 1983 to 2014. Davine claimed she and others were classified as "team leaders" and "department managers" to evade government regulations that protect non-management workers from working more than 40 hours a week without overtime pay. Davine's lawsuit, which was joined by other workers, claimed that she and hundreds of others like herself would work 45 to 50 hours a week while only being paid for 40 hours and no overtime - from 2011 to 2014. The North Adams, Mass., store where she worked has since been closed. Davine could not be reached for comment. Her attorney, Justin Swartz of Outten & Golden of New York City, declined to comment as well. Royal Meadery of Schoharie County is moving its operation to Delmar's Four Corners, next to The Real McCoy Beer Co. Royal Meadery, which makes fermented honey beverages, was launched in 2015 in by Gregory Wilhelm, a SUNY Cobleskill graduate who originally put his operation in Richmondville under the state's Start-Up New York program. The state Commission on Judicial Nomination has begun the formal process of filling the seat on the state Court of Appeals left empty by the death of Judge Sheila Abdus-Salaam, whose body was retrieved from the Hudson River west of her home in Harlem last Wednesday. In a Monday release, the commission said it received formal notification of Abdus-Salaam's "untimely passing" on Friday. Investigators have not determined what led to her death, though suicide has not been ruled out. "Judge Abdus-Salaam was a remarkable human being who exhibited singular warmth to all who knew her, and was a distinguished jurist who epitomized the scholarship and collegiality that are hallmarks of the Court of Appeals," the release states. The commission is tasked by the state Constitution with evaluating candidates for the Court of Appeals, and then providing the governor with a list of three to seven possible nominees for him to choose from. To be considered, a candidate must have practiced law in New York state for at least 10 years. Candidates can download an application from the commission's website or contact Henry M. Greenberg of the Albany-based firm Greenberg Traurig, who serves as the commission's counsel. The deadline to submit applications is May 19. Filling Abdus-Salaam's seat will almost certainly require the state Senate to return after the scheduled June 21 end of the 2017 session to vote on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's nominee if, that is, he and the legislative chamber wish to stick to the statutory deadline, something that they have not done uniformly in recent years. The commission has until Aug. 15 to submit its list to Cuomo, after which he is required to name his pick within 15 to 30 days. The Senate then has 30 days to accept or reject his nominee. State judiciary law sets different timelines for planned vacancies, such as in the case of an expected departure that occurs in years in which the governor or the Senate (or both) are up for election. The time frame to fill unplanned vacancies is shorter. Abdus-Salaam arrived on the high court after just such an unplanned vacancy: the loss of Judge Theodore Jones, who died after suffering a heart attack in November 2012. Cuomo has named all of the current members of the Court of Appeals. cseiler@timesunion.com 518-454-5619 Albany President Donald Trump is expected to take aim Tuesday at the so-called H-1B visa program that is relied upon by GlobalFoundries and other Capital Region companies to fill engineering and IT jobs. Trump is supposed to travel to Snap-on Tools in Kenosha, Wisc. to announce a new executive order that would likely make it harder for companies to use the H-1B program to displace U.S. workers with cheaper labor. There are hundreds of foreign workers in the Capital Region on H-1B visas, ranging from software programmers that do coding for state agency contracts, to engineers working at GlobalFoundries' Fab 8 computer chip factory in Saratoga County. More than 1,800 H-1B visas were approved in the region 2014, and, more than 93,000 workers were approved in New York last year, according to the Office of Foreign Labor, with an average salary exceeding $81,000. Many of the workers are Indians in the software development sector, but universities have come to rely on the H1-B program to attract top professors as well. "We like to think about the classic Indian programmer," but many of those visas are used to attract faculty to Capital Region universities, Rey Koslowski, a University at Albany professor who studies immigration, said in March. "When we search for political scientists or professors, it's worldwide." The federal government has an annual 85,000 cap on H1-B issuances, but colleges and universities are not counted in that total. It's still unclear if or how Trump's forthcoming policy change will affect the non-profit and academic sectors. Nor is it clear if the changes will survive legal challenges. Opponents of the program, including Trump, say it undercuts American labor with foreign workers who, because they have to be employed to stay in the country, have very little bargaining power but are still paid the regional prevailing wage. That's true to a degree, but the positive economic impacts may outweigh the negatives: Conservative estimates show every issued H-1B worker creates up to three additional American jobs, though most studies are based on differing assumptions about worker productivity and talent, or whether companies would simply outsource labor if they lose access to H1-B workers. Conversely, when the visa supply is slowed, cities are hurt. The 375 H-1B visas denied to tech workers in the Albany-Schenectady-Troy area in 2007 cost the region an additional 545 jobs and $5.3 million in wage growth, according to the Partnership for a New American Economy, a group spearheaded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Over the same period, New York City missed out on 28,000 jobs worth $470 million in wages. Here's our previous coverage of the ongoing changes to the American immigration system: -Colleges, hotels, farms wait in limbo amid immigration reforms -State farmers fear ICE raids could have chilling effect on crucial supply of workers -Trump's stance on trade, workers could harm high tech sector -Some state contracts going to overseas workers -GlobalFoundries' hiring of skilled foreign workers boosts H-1B requests This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Albany A revamped stretch of downtown Albany is set for a splash of local history. The new owner of the Fort Orange General Store announced Monday he'd relocate the storefront to the first floor of the Argus Building on Broadway, where a spate of renovation and construction projects has turned the corridor into a retail hot spot. "We're bringing (the store) downtown because with the growth in the residential population that's growing there ... and the investments made at the Capital Convention Center, it's really important to involve a retail location," said Schuyler Bull, who bought the popular retailer last year and, with supporting grants from the Capitalize Albany Corp., is relocating from the original Delaware Avenue location. "The central location (in Albany) is downtown, and I wanted the new store to really fit that bigger picture," said Bull, who also works as the assistant director of the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District. The location, which is a 5-minute walk from the original Fort Orange, built by the Dutch West India Company in 1624, will help customers "connect with the history of the city of Albany" and its once-vibrant downtown retail sector, he said. The Argus Building itself is no stranger to renovation, with 40 apartments added there since 2014. The move comes amid a growing focus on downtown by local development officials, who have staked out the area near Times Union Center as the epicenter of redevelopment plans. The stretch had over time become dotted with dilapidated and vacant buildings but has in recent years had new life breathed into it by private and public ventures. Sign up for The Knick Get the latest news and features with our afternoon newsletter. The store serves as a "destination in Albany's newest neighborhood ... providing high quality goods that today's downtown residents and conventiongoers desire," Georgette Steffens, executive director of the Downtown Albany Business Improvement District, said in a news release announcing the store's new location. "Investment like this is a proven economic driver." Bull said he'll still sell the local accessories and home decor products from the old Fort Orange store, and has plans to host events and workshops in the new space. rdownen@timesunion.com 518-454-5018 @RobertDownenTU TVF CEO Arunabh Kumar in his statement to the Mumbai Police has rubbished the allegations of sexual harassment made against him. By Saurabh Vaktania: A day after being granted anticipatory bail by Dindoshi Sessions Court, The Viral Fever's (TVF) CEO Arunabh Kumar's has claimed that he was being victimised in the case. In his statement to the Mumbai Police, Arunabh Kumar rubbished the sexual harassment charges levelled against him by a woman who had worked with him. After a month-long absence, Arunabh surfaced on Monday to appear before the court for the hearing on his anticipatory bail. advertisement Sources from the police said that Arunabh had been to the MIDC police station for about eight times after the allegations were made against him. Police said that apart from Arunabh, they also took statements of about six other people. Arunabh also submitted two pictures of him with the victim, which he claimed were clicked on June 8, 2016. It was almost a fortnight ago, when two cases related sexual harassment were filed against him. While the first case was filed on March 29, another complaint was lodged on the following day. He was booked under IPC sections 354 A (causing sexual harassment) and 509 (intending to outrage a woman's modesty by indecent words, gesture or acts) in both the complaints. HERE ARE SOME EXCERPTS FROM ARUNABH'S STATEMENT: "I met her (the victim) on May 26, 2016. She is a director and had come for a shoot of a promo that was meant for programme where people who became successful in a short time were interviewed. For this shoot the contract was given to another company where the victim used to work." "We were to shoot in my office at three different spots. For the first shot she had selected the ground floor, for second the first floor and for the third she chose our office terrace area. She asked me to change clothes for every shot. Since I am a busy person, with regular meetings with several officials and other concerned persons, so I asked her to get the shoot done fast as I was getting late." "She gave me three clothes - two t-shirts and a kurta and I was asked to wear each of them for the three shoots. As soon as own shoot was over, I changed my clothes at the spot and she was not alone as there were other crew members present. I have never stripped in front of her nod did I pose any wrong gestures. I changed the clothes because I was getting late, I have no wrong intention. I neither massaged her not communicated with her through any electronic medium, " read the statement. "When our shoot got over we held a small party on June 8, 2016. The party was organised at the spot that she chose. After the shoot, they started partying as decided and I clicked a selfie with her, but at that time she never reacted nor did she say that anything wrong was done." Also read: TVF molestation case: Arunabh Kumar gets anticipatory bail Another case against TVF's Arunabh Kumar? 'Indian Fowler' says she has lodged formal complaint After TVF's Arunabh Kumar, ScoopWhoop co-founder Suparn Pandey accused of sexual harassment WATCH | The Viral Fever CEO Arunabh Kumar gets anticipatory bail --- ENDS --- Election day information: voting times, polling centers and races Residents will have their final chance to cast votes in local races on Nov. 8, including seats on both the NLCS and MCS boards and Sheriff. A three-month-old baby was interrogated for being a terrorist after toddler's grandfather marked him as one on his visa form. By India Today Web Desk: Sabotaging nothing more than his diapers, a three-month-old was summoned by the US Embassy in London. Yes, they did. According to a report in The Guardian, a three-month-old baby -- Harvey -- who can barely speak (for obvious reasons) was summoned by the US Embassy in London for an interrogation. The infant was summoned after his grandfather marked him as the terrorist by mistake in Harvey's visa application form. advertisement Kids can terrorize in their own innocent ways but marking them as terrorists is a bit too much. No? Harvey's 62-year-old grandpa Paul Kenyon marked 'yes', by mistake, on the form which asked, "Do you seek to engage in or have you ever engaged in terrorist activities, espionage, sabotage, or genocide?" After the kid's family was questioned by the officials, the baby was given a clean chit and the visa. Harvey's family had to wait for 10 hours to board a flight and it cost them 3,000 pounds (Rs 2.5 lakh approximately) extra. "I couldn't believe that they couldn't see it was a genuine mistake and that a three-month-old baby would be no harm to anyone," the 62-year-old told The Guardian. "Baby Harvey was good as gold for the interview and never cried once. I thought about taking him along in an orange jumpsuit, but thought better of it. They didn't appear to have a sense of humor over it at all and couldn't see the funny side," he said. And if we put on our thinking caps, why would someone, who is a terrorist, or plans to be one, admit it on a visa form anyway? --- ENDS --- By Manjeet Negi: US National Security Adviser HR McMaster and Indian NSA held a two-hour long meeting in New Delhi today. According to sources from the government - the issue of terrorism and Indo-US Cooperation was prominently discussed. India and US agreed to increase military cooperation and more active information exchange on counter terror operations. McMaster also discussed regional security issues with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval. advertisement Indian side emphasized that the terrorism emanating from Pakistan is posing serious threat to regional stability and security. India and US have very good cooperation. McMaster also to met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Lok Kalyan Marg. He may also meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. McMaster arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan on Monday, barely a day after the United States reinstated its tough stance on Pakistan. Incidentally, this was the first visit by a top member from the Donald Trump administration. McMaster arrived in Pakistan after a brief stop in Afghanistan. Following the meet in Pakistan, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's office issued a statement saying that McMaster had assured the PM that the Trump administration was dedicated to strengthening bilateral relations and working with Pakistan. With HR McMaster in Delhi, India hopes to get a clarity on US President Donald Trump's stand on the police for South Asia. New Delhi hopes discussions with Herbert Raymond McMaster will provide clarity on US President Donald Trump's policy for South Asia. Also read: America tells Pakistan to confront terrorism in all forms but praises democratic, economic development US Secretary of State Tillerson stops short of accusing Russia for plotting Syrian poison gas attack Watch: US NSA HR McMaster holds talks with PM Modi --- ENDS --- 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. Swipe to scroll horizontally 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. A woman was chased, shot dead by a mob just outside a police station in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh. Cops inside the police station turned spectators as the woman was attacked. A mob chased a woman and shot her dead outside a police station in Mainpuri. (Photo/ANI) By India Today Web Desk: One of the first things that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath promised after assuming charge on March 19 was to improve law and order scenario of the state. Little seems to have changed since which is evident from the incident where a woman was chased and shot dead inside a police station in Mainpuri on Monday (April 17) night over a land dispute. advertisement The accused who shot the woman was caught by locals and beaten up before being arrested by the police along with 11 others. HERE'S HOW THE CRIME UNFOLDED: The victim Fatima was involved in a land dispute with one Haji Khan. The disputed plot, which is said to be worth crores, is situated right infront of the Agra Gate police station. A fight erupted between the two families on Monday night. Several people from both sides joined in worsening the situation. As the fight escalated, Fatima ran towards the police station which is just a few yards away. A mob involving people from the rival family chased and fired at her right outside the police station. Fatima was rushed to a local hospital but couldn't survive. The policemen were outnumbered by the mob. The attacker and 11 others were arrested later. Mainpuri, which has been a pocket borough of the Samajwadi Party, is around 250km from state capital Lucknow. Immediately after taking oath, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had asked police officials to change the way they work to instill a sense of safety among the public and fear among criminals. "The police must establish a direct communication with people and must take cognizance of even the most minor incident," Adityanath had said after a review meeting in Lucknow. ALSO READ: This man took a train from UP town to Delhi daily to rape schoolgirls 28-year-old mother-of-two gangraped by 5, accused say they brought her home for paid sex Uttar Pradesh: Goons chop off girl's ears for resisting rape --- ENDS --- Here's a test: Click on "https://xn--80ak6aa92e.com". (Don't worry, it's safe.) Now look in the browser address bar. What is the URL now? (Image credit: Tom's Guide) If you're on Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, it will probably look very much like "https://www.apple.com". But those letters in "apple" are in fact Cyrillic characters reading "arrIe" with an uppercase "i", and the website, as you can see, has nothing to do with Apple. Your browser has been fooled by a "homograph" attack, in which letters in a URL are replaced with similar-looking letters, often from non-Latin writing systems. Criminals and pranksters have been trying to trick web users with this for years, and web browsers have fought back, but Chrome and Firefox still are vulnerable in certain cases. A malicious attacker could very easily have used the look-alike Apple URL to create a very convincing replica of the Apple login page as part of a phishing scam, and used it to steal thousands of Apple IDs and passwords. That could in turn have led to iPhones hijacked and held for ransom, private photos being released online, and other mayhem. (Image credit: Tommaso Lizzul/Shutterstock) So we have to thank Xudong Zheng, a New York-based software developer and college student, for registering the fake Apple domain and bringing this issue to the attention of Google and Mozilla. Mark Maunder, CEO of the WordPress security firm Wordfence, also explained the problem on his company blog. MORE: Best Antivirus Software and Apps Because the internet was developed largely by Americans, it uses the Latin alphabet for web addresses. That's not much help to the billions of people who use other writing systems, so workarounds exist to display certain addresses in Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, and so on. Such addresses look like gibberish in the Latin alphabet. But Firefox and Chrome will display them in those languages in which they make sense as long as the characters in a URL all belong to the same writing system. Internet Explorer and Safari won't do this, and may not even open the pages. As a result, you get look-alike URLs such as the one above. (Here's another: "https://www.xn--e1awd7f.com/".) Apple Safari, Microsoft Edge and Microsoft Internet Explorer are immune to this, and the problem will be fixed in the next version of Chrome, due out by the end of April. But it's not clear when Firefox will fix this problem. For now, you can tweak your Firefox settings to display the true "Latin" URL by doing this: 1. Type "about:config" into the address bar and hit Enter or Return. 2. Click the button marked "I accept the risk!" 3. Type "punycode" into the search bar at the top of the resulting page, and hit Enter or Return. 4. Double-clock the resulting line, which should be named "network.IDN_show_punycode". The Value column should change from "false" to "true". After this, your Firefox browser should render the fake Apple URL as the original https://xn--80ak6aa92e.com. Google added support for Oculus Touch controllers to the popular Google Earth VR application. The company also added a search function so you don't need to be a geography whiz to find your favorite vacation spot on the map. Google Earth VR debuted in November 2016, and it quickly became one of the most beloved things to do in VR. But sadly, you had to own an HTC Vive to enjoy the experience. The initial release didnt support the Oculus Rift because it required motion controllers and, at that point, Touch wasnt available yet. Google took an extra half-year to add support for the Touch controllers, but the day is finally here. In addition to including Rift and Touch support, Google added a search feature to Google Earth VR. The first iteration of Google Earth VR didnt include a way to search for specific locations. Google set the app up to make it simple to find new places that you didnt know exist, but short of a manual search of the globe, you couldnt pinpoint a specific location. If you wanted to find a spot you visited on vacation in the past, you had to hope you knew where it was located on the map. Now, you can simply type in the name of where you want to go, and Google Earth VR will take you to that destination. Of course, you can still explore unknown locations by pointing at a spot on the globe and zooming in, if you want. The new version of Google Earth VR also includes an updated caching system, which lets you select a customized region to keep pre-loaded so you can explore it without having to wait for images to load. The original version had predetermined locations and sizes; the new version lets you define both parameters. Google said it improved caching performance, too. The company also took the time to highlight 27 locations to help you discover the worlds most incredible places and create a new introductory tour. Googles featured locations include the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina, the top of Table Mountain in South Africa, and the German castle that inspired the castle in Disneys Sleeping Beauty. Google Earth VR is a free application which you can download from Steam. With the added support for Oculus Touch, Google also released the app on the Oculus Store. (opens in new tab) AMD's Radeon RX 580 uses the same Ellesmere GPU as its predecessor at higher clock rates. The new cards should start around $230 and compete against Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1060 6GB. We like the extra performance, but could do without AMD's proclivity for re-branding existing products. Why you can trust Tom's Hardware 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 . That's right: the Radeon RX 580 8GB isn't new by any meaningful measure. It's an updated version of last year's Radeon RX 480, based on the same Ellesmere GPU under AMD's Polaris umbrella. If your memory of last June's launch is a little hazy, our AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB Review covers the architecture in detail. It predates Nvidia's response, though, so let's get caught up with the state of mainstream gaming in 2017. Editor's Note: While still widely sold and a reasonable buy, the RX 580 is a little long in the tooth. Check out our up-to-date list of the best graphics cards for more recent picks. A couple of weeks after AMD debuted its RX 480, Nvidia followed up with GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, which outperformed Polaris in most of our benchmark suite. But it was also more expensive. And as time went on, a wider selection of DirectX 12 games showed that Nvidia's advantage really only applied to DirectX 11. These days, Radeon RX 480 8GB and GeForce GTX 1060 6GB are priced fairly competitively to reflect the fact that they trade blows, depending on what you play. AMD wants something a little more decisive, though. So it's turning up the core clock on Ellesmere, dialing its starting price to $230, and slapping a new name on the tweaked configuration: Radeon RX 580. This is a familiar move from AMD's playbook. Old favorites like the 2012-era Pitcairn GPU span as many as four generations of Radeon products, after all. Swipe to scroll horizontally Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 Founder's Edition AMD Radeon RX 480 (Reference) Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580 LE Sapphire Nitro+ RX 580 GPU (Codename) GM204 (Maxwell) GP106 (Pascal) Ellesmere XT (Polaris 10) Ellesmere XT (Polaris 10) Ellesmere XT (Polaris 10) Shader Units 1664 1280 2304 2304 2304 Base & Boost Clocks 1050 MHz / 1178 MHz 1506 MHz / 1709 MHz 1120 MHz / 1266 MHz 1450 MHz/1411 MHz 1411 MHz/1340 MHz Memory Size & Type 4GB GDDR5 6GB GDDR5 8GB GDDR5 8GB GDDR5 8GB GDDR5 Memory Clock 1750 MHz 2027 MHz 2000 MHz 2000 MHz 2000 MHz Memory Bandwidth 224 GB/s 192.2 GB/s 256 GB/s 256 GB/s 256 GB/s Fans Radial Radial Radial (2) 95mm Axial (2) 95mm Axial Ports (3) DP, (1) DVI-I, (1) HDMI 2.0 (3) DP, (1) DVI-D, (1) HDMI 2.0 (3) DP, (1) HDMI 2.0 (2) DP, (1) DVI-D, (2) HDMI 2.0 (2) DP, (1) DVI-D, (2) HDMI 2.0 Power Connectors (2) 6-pin (1) 6-pin (1) 6-pin (1) 8-pin, (1) 6-pin (1) 8-pin, (1) 6-pin Dimensions (LxHxD) 26.7 x 11.1 x 3.5cm 25.4 x 10.7 x 3.5cm 24.2 x 10.5 x 3.5cm 26.2 x 13.2 x 3.5cm 26.2 x 13.2 x 3.5cm Weight ?? 845g 685g 974g 974g Warranty 3 Years 3 Years N/A 2 Years 2 Years The question now is whether Radeon RX 580 changes the narrative in any way. Does the performance, pricing, and power of "Polaris, Enhanced" strike hard at Nvidia's GP106 processor, or does it only serve to obfuscate the mainstream market with a new name on something old? AMD didn't bother with a new reference design this time around, and the old one wasn't suitable for RX 580 due to issues we exposed in our Radeon RX 480 launch story and follow-up coverage. Instead, AMD's partners were tasked with designing their own Radeon RX 580s and sending out overclocked versions for sampling ahead of launch. In response, we set aside our reference boards and sought out factory-overclocked models of competing products to compare. Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 580 Limited Edition The Tom's Hardware U.S. and German labs received Sapphire's Nitro+ Radeon RX 580 Limited Edition card. It boasts two BIOSes with different clock rates: one sets an ambitious 1450 MHz boost clock and 1411 MHz silent mode, while the other employs a 1411 MHz boost frequency and 1340 MHz silent mode. All of our performance, power, temperature, and acoustic measurements are taken at the 1450 MHz setting, though that latter configuration is in line with what you'll see from most other partner boards. Consequently, our launch coverage of Radeon RX 580 is more a review of Sapphire's specific implementation than an evaluation of Ellesmere, revamped. But it should still address what AMD's "new" cards are capable of. Don't expect to find this board anywhere near AMD's $230 starting price. Rather, we're told the aggressively-overclocked model will sell for $275, making it the priciest RX 580 at launch time. The diagram below illustrates Sapphire's design. It's quite a bit different than the Nitro+ Radeon RX 480 that precedes it. From the outside, this card's understated appearance is neither gaudy nor cheap-looking. It's classy, but not plain. The plastic fan shroud resembles polished metal. Once you touch it, though, the cover's composition is immediately apparent. On the other hand, Sapphire's sturdy backplate is made of metal. It's also quite a bit flashier with a clean mix of black, grey, and aluminum. Image 1 of 2 The Nitro+'s length, from the outer edge of its slot bracket to the end of the cooler, is 26.2cm. Its height, from the motherboard slot's top edge to the cooler's protruding heat pipes, is 13.2cm. A depth of 3.5cm makes this a medium-size dual-slot card. Roughly 0.5cm of the depth measurement is attributable to that backplate though, which could affect compatibility with large CPU coolers or mini-ITX-based form factors. Two 8mm heat pipes made of nickel-plated composite material, an illuminated Sapphire logo, and two power connectors (one eight- and one six-pin) are visible from above the card. Underneath, you get a good look at Sapphire's heat sink and the thermal solution's two 6mm heat pipes. We also catch a glimpse of the sink responsible for drawing heat away from the MOSFETs. The coolers fins are arranged horizontally, and the end of the card is open to promote air flow. There should be some ventilation possible through the slot bracket as well. Unfortunately, only one small area allows air to escape. The rest of the bracket is monopolized by display outputs, including a big DVI-D port that's slowly going out of vogue. Image 1 of 2 Interestingly, Sapphire deploys two HDMI 2.0 connectors, likely a nod to enthusiasts with VR headsets, and a pair of DisplayPort 1.4-ready outputs. Specifications Test System and Methodology We introduced our new test system and methodology in How We Test Graphics Cards. If you'd like more detail about our general approach, check that piece out. Specifically, for this review, we split testing between our U.S. (performance) and German (power, acoustics, thermal) labs. As mentioned, we set aside our reference-class boards in favor of factory-overclocked models that better represent today's selection of available products. After experimenting with the Windows 10 Creators Update, we were forced to uninstall it after discovering compatibility issues between several games and our measurement software. We're working to address this. However, all results are generated using the latest drivers, including AMD's Crimson ReLive Edition 17.4.2 package, the 500-series press driver, and Nvidia's 381.65 Game-Ready driver. Special thanks goes to AMD for ensuring our two labs received the same hardware for evaluation, Gigabyte for replacing our Founders Edition card with its GeForce GTX 1060 G1 Gaming 6G, and MSI for replacing our AMD Radeon RX 480 8GB with its own Radeon RX 480 Armor 8G OC. The full list of contenders includes: Asus ROG Strix Radeon RX 570 4GB The hardware used in our German lab includes: Swipe to scroll horizontally Test Equipment and Environment System - Intel Core i7-7700K- MSI Z270 Gaming M7- Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3200 @ 2400 MT/s- 1x 1TB Toshiba OCZ RD400 (M.2, System SSD)- 2x 960GB Toshiba OCZ TR150 (Storage, Images)- Be Quiet Dark Power Pro 11, 850W PSU- Windows 10 Pro (All Updates) Cooling - Alphacool Eispumpe VPP755- Alphacool NexXxoS UT60 Full Copper 360mm- Alphacool Cape Corp Coolplex Pro 10 LT- 5x Be Quiet! Silent Wings 3 PWM- Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut (Used when Switching Coolers) PC Case - Lian Li PC-T70 with Extension Kit and Mods- Configurations: Open Benchtable, Closed Case Power Consumption Measurement - Contact-free DC Measurement at PCIe Slot (Using a Riser Card) - Contact-free DC Measurement at External Auxiliary Power Supply Cable - Direct Voltage Measurement at Power Supply- 2 x Rohde & Schwarz HMO 3054, 500MHz Digital Multi-Channel Oscilloscope with Storage Function - 4 x Rohde & Schwarz HZO50 Current Probe (1mA - 30A, 100kHz, DC) - 4 x Rohde & Schwarz HZ355 (10:1 Probes, 500MHz) - 1 x Rohde & Schwarz HMC 8012 Digital Multimeter with Storage Function Thermal Measurement - 1 x Optris PI640 80Hz Infrared Camera + PI Connect- Real-Time Infrared Monitoring and Recording Noise Measurement - NTI Audio M2211 (with Calibration File, Low Cut at 50Hz)- Steinberg UR12 (with Phantom Power for Microphones)- Creative X7, Smaart v.7- Custom-Made Proprietary Measurement Chamber, 3.5 x 1.8 x 2.2m (L x D x H)- Perpendicular to Center of Noise Source(s), Measurement Distance of 50cm- Noise Level in dB(A) (Slow), Real-time Frequency Analyzer (RTA) - Graphical Frequency Spectrum of Noise MORE: Best Graphics Cards MORE: Desktop GPU Performance Hierarchy Table MORE: PresentMon: Performance In DirectX, OpenGL, And Vulkan MORE: All Graphics Content Throughout the history of music, there have been been some pretty amazing musical parings; Simon & Garfunkel, Lennon & McCartney, Captain & Tennille, the list goes on. But some of the greatest pairings have come from the coming together of vocalists of different genders in a way that they complement each other brilliantly and maintain some gorgeous harmonies that would otherwise be unheard. There have been plenty of acts that have utilised this male and female dynamic, creating some brilliant tunes in the process. Of course, Australia isnt excluded from this either, with plenty of these groups coming from our fine country. Acts such as The Seekers, Angus & Julia Stone, and San Cisco are all notable Aussie examples of this. So weve decided to take a look back at some of the greatest bands that employ a healthy mix between female and male vocalists. San Cisco Fremantles San Cisco broke onto the Aussie music scene in 2011 thanks to their infectious hit Awkward. Fresh from capturing the hearts and minds of music fans around the country, the group kept in the public eye by releasing their debut, self-titled record in 2012, and their follow-up, Gracetown, in 2015. Featuring Scarlett Stevens and Jordi Davieson tackling vocal duties, San Cisco have managed to make a name for themselves not only in Australia, but internationally as well, after their famous cover of Daft Punks Get Lucky went viral. With their third record, The Water, in the pipeline, the Western Australian quartet are set to dominate the airwaves yet again as they continue to do what we love to see them doing. Sonic Youth Undoubtedly one of the most famous alternative rock groups of all time, Sonic Youth formed in 1981, and throughout their 30 year career, managed to become one of the most influential and well-known groups of the last few decades. With a penchant for experimenting with odd time signatures, varied guitar tunings, and heavily experimental rhythmic structures, the group also pushed the boundaries of what was expected of a rock group by having two vocalists. Often seen as being fronted by Thurston Moore, Kim Gordon frequently took on vocal duties throughout the history of the group, appearing as the lead vocalist in some of the groups biggest hits, such as Kool Thing, and Bull In The Heather. Sadly, the group split up in 2011 at the same time as Moore and Gordons marriage, but who knows if theyll reconcile and if well see another Sonic Youth tour. Love Indie? Get the latest Indie news, features, updates and giveaways straight to your inbox Learn more JOIN The Dead Weather The Dead Weather are known to a casual music listener as one of Jack Whites bands, but to the discerning music fan, theres more to it than just that. The Dead Weather are a supergroup consisting of Jack White (The White Stripes, The Raconteurs), Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Dean Fertita (Queens Of The Stone Age), and Jack Lawrence (The Raconteurs, City And Colour). Formed in 2009 after White lost his voice before a Raconteurs show, the group is fronted equally by White and Mosshart, featuring vocal contributions from both musicians. One of the most charismatic performers alive, Alison Mosshart frequently overshadows Jack Whites performances, adding an extra level of intensity to her live shows, and blowing away concert crowds in the process. Angus & Julia Stone Angus & Julia Stone are a brother and sister duo who started making music in 2006, much to the future delight of legions of fans around the worldwide. The group saw success almost immediately thanks to the intoxicating voice of Julia, and the chilled out voice of Angus. The duos success kept on growing, culminating in them reaching the top spot in the triple j Hottest 100 for 2010 with Big Jet Plane. Both Angus and Julia have embarked on solo journeys, with Angus solo career taking on three different names, once as Lady Of The Sunshine, once as Angus Stone, and most recently as Dope Lemon. Meanwhile, Julia has seen her fair share of success, and has recently been a featured vocalist on many songs by artists such as Golden Features and Jarryd James. Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are one of the most successful rock groups of all time, with their magnum opus, 1977s Rumours, having gone on to sell more than 45 million copies. Originally having formed in 1967 by drummer Mick Fleetwood, the group added Christine McVie in 1970, and Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks in 1974. With a well established lineup, the group began to record a number of hits before they hit gold with Rumours. The vocal interplay between Buckingham and Nicks was one of the key factors in the albums success, with the emotion and variety apparent between the two vocalists being very apparent. Arguably, Fleetwood Macs status as a group that employs both female and male vocals appears to be one of main reasons that the group became as famous as they did, especially considering the lukewarm critical reception their earlier record garnered. Chymes Indie pop duo Chymes are the perfect example of a male and female vocal dynamic that works so perfectly, it almost seems like two halves of a single voice. Having met working on an earlier project, the Central Coast duo of lead vocalist Kierstan Nyman and vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Cameron Taylor discovered that their writing styles meshed, allowing them to develop dark and intimate lyrical themes, and deliver them as one. The pair have impressed with last years Grow EP, and their delicate new single Bloom shows us the songwriting partnership has plenty left in the tank. The B-52s The B-52s have long been considered as one of the most well-known new wave bands that emerged during the 1970s. Formed in Athens, Georgia in 1977, the groups debut single Rock Lobster was released the following year and took music fans by surprise due to its kooky nature. The song features a typically new wave approach to songwriting, but with Fred Schneiders unconventional vocals, backed by the equally adventurous vocals of Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson, music fans were cautiously fanatical about the group. Sadly, original guitarist and older brother of Cindy, Ricky Wilson passed away in 1985, with the group continuing as a four piece. The infectious vocal styles of Schneider, Wilson, and Pierson still remain, becoming one of the most well-known and beloved aspects of the group. Arcade Fire Forming in Montreal, Canada in the early 00s, Arcade Fire quickly rose to prominence as one of the most beloved indie-rock collectives of recent years. With the success of their debut record Funeral, in 2004, the group toured internationally, receiving awards and acclaim for their work, before eventually settling down to work on their follow-up, Neon Bible, in 2007. Their 2010 record, The Suburbs, won the Grammy award for album of the year, leading many fans to seriously question Who the fuck are The Suburbs? But the heart and soul of the band can be traced back to its members, most notably its dual lead vocalists, the husband and wife team of Win Butler and Regine Chassagne. The duos vocals complement each other in such a way that while one sings lead, the other is able to perfectly accompany the other in such as way that their vocals sound almost like another instrument in the mix, rather than another vocalist. Dave Helling: United Airlines, Schlitterbahn are reminders that regulations aren't all bad Travelers of a certain advanced age may remember something called the Civil Aeronautics Board. The CAB, as it was known, regulated air travel in the U.S. - air routes, fares, access to airports, even passenger rights. Here's a newspaper attempt to normalize one of the horrific tragedies in Kansas Cityarea history with a comparison to a national social media kerfuffle that really isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. Take a look: "The FBI has set up a hotline for anyone to use if they believe they know a victim or have any information that may help investigators in this case. If you have information about this ongoing investigation or believe you or someone you know may have been a victim, you are asked to call the FBI at 816-805-5138. The hotline will be staffed by members of the child exploitation task force." INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- The Independence Police Department says they are still looking for a man wanted in connection to a December murder case. A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Maurice T. Jones, known as "Mo," for second-degree murder and armed criminal action in the death Sharrieff Omar Muhammad, a 37-year-old male, from Independence, Mo. Federal judge: Ferguson-inspired painting won't be reinstalled in US Capitol Updated at 2:30 p.m. April 18 with judge rejecting reinstallation efforts - A federal judge rejected efforts Tuesday to reinstall in the U.S. Capitol a painting some lawmakers and police groups found offensive. David Pulphus, a student artist from Missouri, and Rep. A controversial bit of self-expression was dismantled amid Jeff City controversy and it won't be coming back . . . Ever. Read more: Former Missouri Governor Details Time in Office in Booklet Former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has released a nearly 90-page booklet detailing his time in office in his official last act as leader of the state. The News Tribune reports that Missouri law requires the governor to give the Legislature a report at the end of each session and at the close of his term of office. Actually . . . This could be one of the best books in Missouri since Mark Twain if it offers any insight at all into how Ferguson racial rioting destroyed an otherwise promising political career . . . THE KANSAS CITY TOY TRAIN STREETCAR CLAIMS TWO MILLION RIDERS DESPITE STATS THAT DON'T MATCH BIGGER, BETTER CITIES!!! KC Streetcar = 6,800 daily riders Seattle = 2,419 daily riders Washington DC = 2,285 daily riders Dallas = 300 daily riders Atlanta = 1,000 daily riders Salt Lake City = 1,000 daily riders Cincinnati = 1,664 daily riders "2nd highest #kcstreetcar ridership day so far...14,965 on Sat, 4/15/17. Thank you, Kansas City!" OUR TKC BLOG COMMUNITY HAS PERFORMED A RIDERSHIP COMPARISON WITH SIX DIFFERENT CITIES AND FOUND KANSAS CITY NUMBERS SUSPECT!!! MEANWHILE, STREETCAR CHEERLEADERS DEMAND PUBLIC TRUST BASED ONLY ON TWEETS!!! Juxtaposition: Kansas City still touts a 24 million annual tourist count that defies reality. Kansas City has a counting problem and a lack of transparency and oversight is making things worse as social media cheerleading substitutes for real local governance.To wit . . .Here's afor locals who aren't on the streetcar payroll and want to garner a bit of perspective:Meanwhile, locals are supposed to believe that MMA fighting on Easter weekend inspired toy train winning:Never mind that local small Downtown biz receipts don't seem to reflect this uptick in Downtown tourism given by the meager increases in local job growth numbers.Forget that most of the development along the streetcar line is also taxpayer subsidized.And we'll pretend not to notice all of the empty storefronts along Main St. along with continued small biz controversy over parking slap fights with horrible tourists . . .But here's the fact that stings even worse than. . .And once again, an army of supporters on the payroll propagates this myth while taxpayers across KCMO are expected to pick up the tab for a tourist adventure mostly built around hype.You decide . . . India had signed extradition treaty with Britain way back in 1992 and it came into force in 1993 but Britain had not extradited or deported anyone before Samirbhai Patel. By Santosh Chaubey: It had taken Britain 23 long years to extradite someone wanted in India when it had extradited a Gujarat riots accused, Samirbhai Vinubhai Patel, on October 18, 2016 to face trial in India after a Red Corner Notice was issued against him. He is currently in a jail in the Anand district of Gujarat and is facing trial in the case of riots in Ode village where on March 1, 2002, 23 people of a community were burnt alive. advertisement India had signed extradition treaty with Britain way back in 1992 and it came into force in 1993 but in spite of India's repeated demands, Red Corner notices and warrants, Britain had not extradited or deported anyone before Samirbhai Patel. And he is still the only one. Be it musician Nadeem, who is wanted in Gulshan Kumar's murder case, or Tiger Hanif, who is wanted in a 1993 Gujarat blast case, or naval war room leak case accused Ravi Shankaran or former IPL Czar Lalit Modi, who is wanted for committing financial crimes, arguments of the Indian authorities could not convince the British government or its courts to rule in favour of the Indian government. So when Samirbhai Patel's extradition was finally approved from Britain, Indian agencies felt a sense of achievement, in spite of the fact that Patel had not opposed his extradition and, in fact, his consent had helped the British authorities to take a decision in the matter. While everyone else on India's most wanted list has fought tooth and nail to oppose his extradition from Britain, be it Nadeem or Tiger Hanif or Lalit Modi or Vijay Mallya, who was arrested today and granted bail within an hour, as a part of his routine extradition case hearing. OPTIONS WITH MALLYA And going by the historical precedent as well as the legal technicalities of the extradition process that the UK follows, it may take years before Mallya exhausts his legal options. If the district court, where the case hearing began today, rules against him, Mallya has options to move to the British High Court and place an appeal before the UK Home Secretary. In case of a negative ruling, Mallya will then move to the UK Supreme Court. And no one can say how much time this whole process will take. Then the Indian agencies will also have to ensure the sanctity of criminal charges against Mallya assuring the British authorities that there is no political vendetta involved and there will be no compromise with Mallya's human rights. Dawood Ibrahim's aide Tiger Hanif is a classic example of this labyrinthine process. A UK district court had allowed his extradition in May 2012. advertisement The UK High Court upheld the district court ruling in April 2013. He then appealed to the then UK Home Secretary Theresa May, who is now the prime minister, against the district court ruling. His application is still stuck at that level, waiting for May's Home Secretary Amber Rudd's approval or disapproval. If Rudd rules against him, he will certainly appeal against it in the UK Supreme Court. Mallya knows it very well. That is why he keeps on challenging and daring Indian agencies that there are no cases against him and that he is a victim of witch hunting. Mallya after today's court hearing tweeted that he is not worried and is "thanking God for an impartial and robust justice system in the UK". @andrewbensonf1 Thank God for an impartial and robust justice system in the UK Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) April 18, 2017 @F1Racing_mag No worries...I am continuing to lead my team and passionately Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) April 18, 2017 Also, when India has not been able to convince the British authorities to extradite people charged with serious criminal offences like terrorism, murder and espionage, what chance do the the financial crimes have. ALSO READ: On Vijay Mallya, government says need to set precedent, London can't become new haven for offenders Vijay Mallya arrested in London, gets bail; usual Indian media hype, he says --- ENDS --- advertisement - Residents are concerned that so many School Board members have been appointed rather than elected. - Declining enrollment and lower capacity threaten the future of the district. - Political pressure and special interest advocacy now dominate the focus of leadership and far outweigh concerns over student performance. "Townsend got up at the school board meeting and walked out and quit on Thursday." Faster than local mainstream media can keep up with it . . . Special thanks to our blog community forfollowup on the dismal education prospects in South Kansas City.Remember that longtime school board member Darrell Curls was recently named the new board president. Now, less than six months later,There are so many problems with public education in Hickman Mills that we're just going to have to do a quick summary . . .The list goes on but this trio of topics for Tuesday offer a peek and guide as our blog community leads the discussion in yet another embattled public education institution.Update fun fact . . .Developing . . . Tamkeen, Bahrains labour fund, announced that 60 teams, out of 110 teams, have been qualified to continue on to the Business Planning phase of a youth business plan competition after completion of the Orientation Training Programme. Mashroo3i is a national platform for Bahraini youth aimed at promoting entrepreneurial values and supporting them in transforming their business ideas and dreams into feasible business plans. The competition targets youth aged between 18 to 30 years old who are passionate about entrepreneurship in order to cultivate and inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs and support the overall growth of the Kingdoms economy. Mashroo3i aims to prepare the next generation and help them become successful entrepreneurs. We are proud of the calibre of teams involved in this years edition and are closely monitoring their progress as they creatively convert their ideas into businesses, said Mohammed Ahmadi, manager of Youth Schemes at Tamkeen. This is the fourth edition of the competition and we are happy with the response received so far from the teams. All participating teams, which total up to 110 teams, have successfully completed the Orientation Training phase; out of which 60 teams were shortlisted to continue on to the Business Planning Phase of the competition. The teams were shortlisted based on set guidelines including evaluation of business ideas and individuals characteristics, he added. During this stage of the competition, the teams will be working very closely with the mentors for the duration of two months in order to develop their business plans. Thirty teams will make it to the next stage which is the Prototype Phase. The prototypes will then be exhibited during an event held in one of the shopping malls in July. TradeArabia News Service Gulf Bank sponsored Injaz Kuwaits recent Entrepreneurship Masterclass Competition for high school students in government schools. The two-day competition at the Community Development Centre in Bayan named the top entrepreneurial teams in the boys and girls categories. The Entrepreneurship Masterclass Competition is a one-day event organized by Injaz Kuwait and delivered by 30 volunteers including several Gulf Bank employees. The competition follows a series of workshops which introduced the high school students to the concept of self-employment and entrepreneurship and afforded them the opportunity to meet volunteers who are pioneers in the business community. The interactive workshops also enabled students to engage in thought-stimulating activities to help them expand their horizons, while also considering their future professional careers. These series of workshops were followed by multiple competitions between teams of students during the academic year of 2016-2017, leading to the selection of different teams to participate in the final competition. As a result, Entrepreneurship Masterclass Competitions for boys and girls were held to select top winners. The two-day competitions convened 19 teams of 250 students and showcased their business projects. A panel of judges, which included five managers from Gulf Bank, selected the winners. The criteria for winning was based on creativity and feasibility of the students projects. In the boys category, Jaafar bin Abi Talib was selected as the winning school for their project entitled Eventkom, which is an event planning application designed to assist with party planning. As for the girls competition, Asmas Bnt Abi Bakr was selected as the winning school for their project entitled Global Aid which is a mobile application that arranges wheelchair services for clients across airports, hotels, malls, and other locations. Salma Al-Hajjaj, general manager of Human Resources at Gulf Bank said: Gulf Bank is delighted to have sponsored the exciting two-day competition for governmental high school students. The Bank is proud of its longstanding partnership and support of Injaz Kuwait who is dedicated to training the youth of Kuwait to help them build successful careers. Last year our employees participated in over 50 Injaz programs and impacted over 1,500 students. We also the Financial Literacy Champions leading 14 personal finance courses for hundreds of students in public and private schools across Kuwait. We are committed to continuing to support these vital programs and work of Injaz Kuwait. Injaz Kuwait has contributed to the education of 9,000 students for the academic year 2015-2016. This was made possible with the contributions over 800 volunteers from the Kuwait private sector, where 413 students in schools and universities have successfully completed the Company Program in 2015-2016. TradeArabia News Service Russia and Saudi Arabia will launch joint projects worth $3 billion by the end of the year, speaker of Russias Federation Council said on Monday, according to a media report. Valentina Matviyenko was speaking at a meeting with members of the Russian-Saudi Business Council, the official Russian news agency TASS reported. "Although Saudi Arabia ranks second among the Arab states in terms of trade with Russia, the volume of mutual trade turnover in the past year has significantly decreased, Matviyenko was quoted as saying in the report, which cited the press service of the Federation Council. "This does not correspond to the potential that our countries have, we are interested in expanding economic ties," the speaker highlighted. According to Matviyenko, the most promising areas of cooperation are energy, geological exploration, mining, petrochemicals, tanker construction, investment cooperation, and the training of personnel. She reiterated that Russia offers its partners great opportunities for business development and investment. "The parliament adopted the laws improving the investment and business climate," she said. Matviyenko noted that "the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the Sovereign Fund of Saudi Arabia successfully cooperate." "Thanks to them, projects totalling about $600 million have been implemented and projects worth $3 billion should be launched by the end of this year," she said. The US State Department has approved a possible foreign military sale worth $1.06 billion to Iraq for pilot and maintenance training, contractor logistical support (CLS) for trainer aircraft, and base support, said a report. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) delivered the required certification notifying Congress of this possible sale on April 11, added the Iraq Business News report. The principal contractor is Spartan College, Tulsa, Oklahoma. At this time, there are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale, it said. The Government of Iraq has requested a possible sale of pilot training; maintenance training; and contractor logistical services support for C-172, C-208, and T-6 aircraft for up to five years to include contractor aircraft modification; repair and spare parts; publications; aircraft ferry; and miscellaneous parts, along with training base operation support, base life support, security, construction, and other related elements of programme support. The proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the US by helping to provide for a stable, sovereign, and democratic Iraq, capable of combating terrorism and protecting its people and sovereignty, the state department said. Iraq currently owns 12 C-172, five C-208, and 15 T-6 training aircraft. The training pipeline will allow the Iraqi Air Force to tailor pilot training for several US-origin operational aircraft. The C-172s and T-6s are Iraqs training platforms for their mobility and fighter attack fleets. The C-208s are Iraqs platform of choice for training its Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) pilots. The proposed sale of training and support services will improve the Iraqs ability to train its pilots and maintenance technicians. By training its own pilots and maintenance technicians in-country, Iraq will decrease its overseas training requirements, significantly reduce its training costs, and will enhance its ability to take over the sustainment of its aircraft. Iraq will have no difficulty absorbing this support. In addition to its primary mission pilot and maintenance training for Iraqi Air Force personnel this proposed sale includes Contractor Logistical Support costs for the trainer aircraft, as well as possible future construction and base operation support costs. The proposed sale of this training and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region. Bahraini companies of all sizes have learned of the unique opportunities to grow their business in the lead-up to, during and after Expo 2020 Dubai, the first World Expo to be staged in the Arab World and Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region. Building on the UAEs close ties with Bahrain, a team from Expo 2020 Dubai visited the country as part of its wider GCC Roadshow designed to encourage business engagement and growth across the region and highlight the lasting benefits of working with Expo 2020 to outline the opportunities available to Bahrains business community, said a statement. The visit, which took place from April 17 and 18, saw the Expo 2020 Dubai team meet key entities including Bahrains Authority for Culture and Antiquities, the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, and Tourism, Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bahrain Economic Development Board and Tamkeen, as well as engaging in dialogue with key industry figures and the wider business community, it said. The Expo 2020 Dubai team also presented to members of Bahrains business community at an event hosted by the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities on April 17 including representatives from the industrial, manufacturing, retail, financial services, media, government, and real estate sectors highlighting specific opportunities for integration into the Expo 2020 supply chain. They also spoke to the wider business community, including small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), at a workshop organised by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry the following day to outline expos transparent and inclusive procurement process. SMEs are a key driver of Bahrains economy, contributing approximately 30 per cent of the countrys gross domestic product (GDP) in 2015. Expo 2020 Dubai is committed to integrating SMEs and tapping into their innovation and agility, with 20 per cent of Expos budget equating to more than Dh5 billion ($1.36 billion) to be spent with SMEs, said a statement. Expo runs from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021 and will attract millions of visitors from around the world. A large proportion of visitors are expected to come from the GCC, which is the UAEs largest source market for tourism - with 3.4 million visitors to Dubai alone from the Gulf in 2016. Shaikha Mai bint Mohammed Al Khalifa, president of the Bahrain Authority for Culture and Antiquities and commissioner general of the Bahrain Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai, said: These meetings are instrumental in raising awareness among the various sectors about the commercial, economic and cultural opportunities of this international celebration. I commend the organisers of Expo 2020 Dubai for their high level of preparations to ensure the success of this international congregation in the GCC region. I also note the role of the GCC nations and the UAE in particular in promoting the Arab and Gulf culture and the values of openness, coexistence and respect for the differences that distinguish our countries, she added. Zayed Bin Rashid Alzayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism, Bahrain, said: The kingdom is proud of its strong presence in various international events and expos, and has a clear footprint in most of them thanks to the governments leadership and continuous support to promote the country as a preferred destination for global investments and projects. Expo 2020 Dubai is an exceptional event in an exceptional country. In Bahrain, we always seek to share with our GCC brothers the cultural and future image of our country, which our government looks to draw through the Bahrain Vision 2030. Participation in the expo is a qualitative leap and an experience which the Bahraini business community should take advantage of, he added. Manal AlBayat, senior vice president, business development and integration, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: Bahrains thriving business community has an important role to play in supporting Expo 2020 Dubai, and we want to ensure that companies are aware of the opportunities that exist and the mechanism of how they can be involved in helping us deliver a remarkable World Expo, which leaves a meaningful legacy for generations. For businesses, both large and small, Expo 2020 Dubai is a chance to showcase their capabilities on a global stage and benefit from an environment that will encourage the fostering of partnerships and offer greater access to new markets, he added. Expo 2020 Dubai will also offer GCC countries with a platform to showcase their national branding and culture as well as their achievements and future vision to the millions attending Expo. This year alone, Expo 2020 Dubai will award more than 140 contracts, worth over Dh11 billion ($2.99 billion). Many of these contracts are for goods and services of particular relevance to firms across the GCC, such as the 5,000 unique products that will be sold as part of Expo 2020s licensing programme, it said. Through its GCC Roadshow, which successfully launched in Oman in March, Expo 2020 Dubai is visiting countries across the region, including Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the coming months, it stated. TradeArabia News Service A Black Hawk helicopter of the Saudi Armed Forces crashed on Tuesday morning while on a mission in Marib, Yemen, resulting in the martyrdom of four officers and eight rank officers, reported state news agency Wam, citing the Coalition Forces Command in Support of Yemen Legitimate Government. Investigations are on to determine the cause of the accident, the report added. ON THE MOVE: DB, JPM, Triad Land Senior Execs Deutsche Bank has reversed the exodus of staff that have departed the bank over the last several weeks with two new senior new hires in its Global Markets Americas business. Lori Arndt onboarded as Global Head of Client Strategy in Equities, where she will run equities client strategy, resource allocation, management reporting, reference data and monitoring tools across all equities product lines. Arndt previously worked at Surveyor Capital, a unit of Citadel, and also worked at Goldman Sachs and Nomura. Also, Chris McCarthy was hired as a Director in Global Credit Trading, and Ronnie Shah, as a Director in Research, specializing in Quantitative Equity Strategy. Shah joins the bank from Gerstein Fisher Funds and previously served in senior quantitative research roles at BlackRock and Dimensional Fund Advisors. If you have a new job or promotion to report, let me know at jdantona@marketsmedia.com Matt Mallgrave, head of US equity flow trading at Credit Suisse, resigned, according to people familiar with the matter. Mallgrave, according to reports, is said tobe joining rival JPMorgan. Also at JPM, Marco Dion, head of the central risk book trading desk in Europe for equities, is departing after almost a decade at the US bank. He reported to Tim Johnston, head of equities cash trading in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Axioma, a provider of enterprise market risk and portfolio analytics solutions, has hired ex-BlackRock strategist Christopher Woida as Managing Director and head of its Index Business. He is responsible for strategy, development and sales in Axiomas indexing initiative. Woida, who was with BlackRock for the last seven years, was one of the managers investment strategists and a founding member of the Factor-Based Strategies Group. While there he helped to build the companys smart beta and factor-based platforms. He contributed to the design of the companys first fixed income smart beta ETF, and its quantitative fixed income liquid alternatives mutual fund. More recently, he was the lead investment strategist for BlackRocks flagship style factor hedge fund. Prior to that he was with Deutsche Bank Securities for two years, specializing in fixed income structured sales. He began his career at Intel Corporation, where he was a Senior R&D Engineer. 1 2 3 next For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: A new kind of travel app introduced to the market just might overhaul the way tourist companies serve as tour agents. With Zeeno, travelers of all types can now book a local guide who speaks the language they want and offers the type of tours they wantall these with just a click of the fingers. Real travelers know that there's so much more to traveling than just sightseeing and the convenience of getting to such tourist destinations. Traveling should not just be about the sights and trivia that one can easily look up to on the internet. It should also be about connecting with the locals, mixing with people of different backgrounds and sharing experiences together that all constitutes to building memories worth keeping for a lifetime - exactly what Zeeno, the new travel app, aims to achieve. This mobile travel app gives the power of flexibility and control back to travelers. Once again, travelers can choose the schedule, place, and the type of activities they'd rather do, even the local guide who speaks their preferred language. Zeeno's reminding the traveling community there's no more need to book a tour in advance, stick to a predetermined schedule or put up with the overplayed transactional tours set up by tour companies. Just like most of this year's best travel apps listed by Forbes, Zeeno can be downloaded via Apple Store and Google Play for free. It's also easy to use. Once you've had it downloaded, you just need to choose your preferred type of local tour and then book a local guide based on user reviews, the guide's biography and customized tours. You can then give instructions on where the guide should pick you up and make payments through the app. While different online tools serve to enhance the traveling experience, Zeeno redefines how traveling should be done. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 Vijay Mallya insisted that he is innocent and all the buzz about the extradition case is just the usual media hype. By Devina Gupta: Its beginning of the end of his good times, as Vijay Mallya is arrested by Scotland yard in London on charges of fraud. Indian government which has been working the diplomatic channel pressing the Indo-UK extradition treaty, has said its a 'big win'. "We are working continuously to ensure that guilty are punished and are not let off", said Santosh Gangwar, Mos Finance to India Today. advertisement The absconder businessman who escaped to London last year when faced with pressure to repay his debt of Rs 9000 crore to public banks, Vijay Mallya has refused to co-operate with the Indian investigation agencies so far. He has ignored repeated summons from Enforcement Directorate (ED) and CBI, even cried 'witch-hunt' blaming the media for maligning him but now he faces the long awaited legal proceedings. ED has tried to raise red corner interpol notice against him and the Centre sought his deportation from London, but both were rejected. That's when Indian government took the Mutual legal assistance treaty route last may, flagging off concerns of the financial fraud of Vijay Mallya. It was the key meeting in London between the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and UK premier Theresa May in March this year that pushed the case. Infact at an event at London School of Economics, Arun Jaitley had even commented that "democracy is liberal enough to permit defaulters to stay". Scotland Yard confirmed in a statement that "Metropolitan Police's extradition Unit arrested Vijay Mallya on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud" The centre is already mulling the next step which is to extradite Vijay Mallya, but it is easier said than done. The first step has been taken after UK ratified India's request on February 21 for Mallya's extradition and Westminster Magistrates Court has issued a warrant for his arrest. Although he got bail today, the Indian authorities will now have to help the prosecution to present water tight evidence against Mallya. "Government is following all legal procedures to ensure that he is brought back, we will not spare him", said Santosh Gangwar, MoS Finance exclusively to India Today. For now Vijay Mallya has claimed that he is innocent and tweeted "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected" ALSO READ: Vijay Mallya arrested in London, gets bail; usual Indian media hype, he says The flight and fall of Mallya --- ENDS --- Honeymoons come in different forms. For some, it's a safari trip or a beach vacation, but for others, it's just spending a nice relaxing time getting pampered at a luxurious hotel or resort. Whatever you fancy, here are some of the best hotels in the world that would offer you the perfect honeymoon experience. The Resort At Pedregal (Cabo San Lucas, Mexico). According to The Resort At Pedregal website, this gorgeous place is carved into a cliff at the base of towering mountains and is surrounded by pristine beaches. Located in Mexico's Baja Peninsula, the resort has 118 rooms that come with a private terrace and a hot tub overlooking the ocean. It's really a dreamy place for couples to spend quality time with each other. Four Seasons Resort Maldives At Landaa Giraavaru. Four seasons has a couple of resorts in Maldives, but the one in Landaa Giraavaru is the perfect spot for honeymooners. The place offers private romantic candlelight dinners on a sandbank, couple massages and sunset cruises that would take you to the Biosphere Reserve. Amangiri (Utah, USA). If you prefer a little bit of adventure, head out to the vast deserts of Utah and spend your honeymoon at Amangiri. Its 34 suites, private courtyards, and stunning views of the dessert will give that perfect honeymoon ambiance for newlyweds. Helena Bay Lodge (New Zealand). According to CNN, the Helena Bay Lodge in New Zealand offers the most intimate and romantic experience for honeymooners. The place only accommodates 10 guests at maximum so couples are assured that they would have privacy as much as possible. It has five villas with terraces that have breathtaking views of Helena Bay. Four Seasons Resort Serengeti (Tanzania). For couples who love wildlife, head out to the Four Seasons resort in Serengeti and get lost in the wilderness with your significant other. It has 77 luxurious rooms that blend in with the vast wilderness of the surrounding environment. It also offers couples spa treatments that use local herbal plants and minerals. Whether it's a honeymoon, anniversary or just a romantic time with your partner, these hotels are the perfect holiday destinations. It will really be a memorable trip of a lifetime going to these places. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 It seems that United Airlines is never short on controversies. The "passenger dragging" issue is still blowing up on social media, but yet another issue is being faced by United. This time, a bride and groom who they were kicked off their flight. Michael Hohl and Amber Maxwell were flying from Houston to Liberia, Costa Rica, on a connecting flight. They had a layover at George Bush International Airport, and when they boarded their plane, they found a man sleeping in their designated seats, according to NBC News. Rather than waking the man, they decided to sit in Row 21, since they saw that nobody's sitting on them. The couple said they did not think it was a big deal since their flight was only half-full and had a couple of empty rows. But when Michael and Amber sat in their seats, a flight attendant asked them if they are sitting in their designated seats, and when they told her no, she asked them to return to their ticketed seats. Michael and Amber did not know that Row 21 are composed of "economy plus" seats, and when they asked for an upgrade, the flight attendant didn't agree. They immediately proceeded to go back to their ticketed seats but a US Marshal boarded the flight and told the couple to get off. According to Fox News, the couple was afraid they are going to be treated the same way as the passenger involved in the United Airlines scandal, so they immediately got off the flight. "They said that we were being disorderly and a hazard to the rest of the flight, to the safety of the other customers," Michael said. "I think customer service and the airlines has gone real downhill. The way United Airlines handled this was really absurd." But according to United, the couple's story is not true as there were no federal marshals involved in the incident. The couple was asked to deplane because they wouldn't follow the crew's instructions and kept on sitting the upgraded seats they did not purchase. As a compensation, United Airlines rebooked the couple the following day, but according to Michael and Amber, it's likely they wouldn't choose to fly with United ever again. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 To be able to keep up with the demands of the growing tourism industry, Santo Domingo, the oldest colonial city in Latin America, is currently under an extensive renovation project. The project involves millions of dollars' worth of reparations and innovations, a plan to make this historic city more appealing to tourists. NBC News reported that the funding involved in the restoration project was due to a $120 million loan courtesy of Inter-American Development Bank, something that would still have to be approved by the Dominican Republic's Congress 100 percent. When done, Santo Domingo would be a bustling city restored to its former splendor, for the benefit of the tourists as well the local residents. Although this project is great news for business owners, it is not wholeheartedly supported by the city's residents. Some of them were afraid that they are going to be priced out with the new businesses coming into the area, and that more tourists coming into their old city are going to be traumatic for them. A large part of the funding goes to the installation of new streetlights, repairing old streets, and restoring centuries-old buildings. The Dominican Republic welcomes 5 million tourists each year, and part of the restoration project is to entice the visitors to spend time in the capital's historic center as well instead of just spending time on the beach. Official figures showed that new investments and business are slowly pouring in Santo Domingo over the past five years. More than 300 new condominiums, cafes, and restaurants are opening left and right in the colonial center. The government reassures its residents that the restoration is not purely for economic development but also for the betterment of their lives. Despite all this, most residents aren't reassured. Santo Domingo is the capital of Dominican Republic and is the first European City of the New World, according to Wiki Travel. Bartolome Columbus, Christopher Columbus's brother, founded the city in 1496. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 The force was strong in Orlando, Florida, over the weekend as 50,000 fans of all ages from all over the world gathered for the 2017 Star Wars Celebration. Those present at the four-day annual convention were also the first to see the trailer for the upcoming film "Star Wars: The Last Jedi." The annual gathering in Orlando that ran from Thursday to Sunday saw a convergence of fans in costumes appearing as Jedi, Rebels, droids, Ewoks and galactic beings. What creator George Lucas intended to be "a film for 12-year-olds" spawned the pop-culture phenomenon and became a favorite cosplay costume, a lucrative merchandise and even inspired real-world robotics. The fun-filled event also offered fans with plenty of exclusive treats that's all things "Star Wars." One of those treats is seeing together the stars of the film such as Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson and Samuel L. Jackson trading banters with Lucas during Thursday's Star Wars Celebration Day 1. The moment when the fans together with the cast and crew stood at attention while listening to John Williams and the Orlando Philharmonic play the film's celebrated theme song made the opening ceremony as touching as it could get, according to Chicago Tribune. Billie Lourd's also made an appearance Thursday, adding a nostalgic mood as Carrie Fisher, her mother and the actress who played Princess Leia, passed away last year. It's been 40 years since the release of the "Star Wars" film that started it all but the force still continues to remain strong across generations of fans. Lucas' brainchild about "a galaxy far, far away" became one of the most successful film franchises with a total of seven released films to date. "It connects people, it binds people, it brings the Force together, that's what makes 'Star Wars' fans, 'Star Wars' fans," abc7 quoted a fan who attended the celebration in Orlando as saying. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 The month of April does not only mark spring break. It is also the time of the year when the United States of America celebrates the National Park Week. To give you a quick guide on this celebration, here are some of the national parks in the US that you can visit for free. Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve. Located in the southeastern part of Alaska, the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve stores some of the world's most incredible sceneries, snow-capped mountains and forests. This national park is also considered as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations. Aside from the thick glaciers coming from the mountains, the Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is also a perfect place to those who love to discover an amazing terrestrial and marine life. Lassen Volcanic National Park. This national park in Mineral, California, is abundant with resources and activities that enable the visitors to enjoy the positive effects of several eruptions of the volcanoes housed within its premises. Whether it is summertime or winter, the Lassen Volcanic National Park has a lot of adventures and outdoor activities stored for guests. You can also bring your kids and let them join a Volcano Club where they will be able to learn everything about the Lassen Volcanic, Ecophiles says. Virgin Islands National Park. If you want to be stunned by beautiful beaches, hills and valleys, the Virgin Islands National Park is the perfect match for you. This paradise covers approximately 60 percent of Saint John's island in the US Virgin Islands. According to the National Park Service, a trip to the Virgin Islands National Park will take you back to the history of the island where both slaves and freemen lived. This culturally and historically rich place has many activities for guests of all ages. You can take a short hike, go snorkeling, or discover its wildlife and marine life. Yellowstone National Park. The Yellowstone National Park is the world's very first national park. It covers Wyoming as well as other parts of Idaho and Montana. Here you can find the breathtaking view of the Upper Geyser Basin and the Lamar Valley where you can actually witness an amazing wildlife with bison, elks, antelopes, bears and wolves. But the most popular catch in the Yellowstone National Park is the eruption of the Old Faithful Geyser. It was the first geyser in the Yellowstone National Park to receive a name and is also known for its eruption which happens every 44 to 125 minutes. Yosemite National Park. Situated in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California, Yosemite National Park is popularly known for its ancient and huge sequoia trees and waterfalls, more particularly the Yosemite Fall. You can take the Mist Trail or the Tioga Road for a totally rewarding experience once you have reached the summit. Guests are also allowed to hiking in the High Sierra Camps for a day or even more. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 "Game of Thrones" fanatics should be able to identify some of Iceland's most spectacular locations. The views don't just look breathtaking, they will also remind fans of the land beyond The Wall where Jon Snow used to serve as a member of the Night's Watch. Dmitry Bubonets, a Russian photographer and videographer, captured a drone footage that revealed the heart-stopping "Game of Thrones" locations in Iceland. Bubonets said of the Nordic island nation that the "landscape is not totally from this Earth," citing how it holds even more volcanoes than its total population. "And that moss is so green compared to the gloomy cloudy weather outside that you may think that everything is photoshopped," the 26-year-old told Lonely Planet. The hit HBO series certainly pumped tourism in Iceland and boosted its number of annual tourists from 566,000 in 2011, when "Game of Thrones" first aired, to over a million in 2015. Jon Thor Benediktsson, a local guide for The Travelling Viking, told The Telegraph that the "Game of Thrones effect" raised their once-tiny company "to new heights" and that most tours navigate around the series' filming locations. He added that most of the tourists "come dressed for the occasion, in fake animal skins and furs - so they look like Jon Snow." Benediktsson starts off his tours in Iceland's northern coast town of Akureyri and around Lake Myvatn, also known by "Game of Thrones" buffs as the land beyond The Wall. The itinerary features filming locations such as the frozen lava fields of Dimmuborgir, the Hverastrond Sulphur Springs and the Grjotagja cave where tourists most eagerly want to see because it's supposed to be where Jon Snow and Ygritte made love. Iceland's "Game of Thrones" filming locations also include the Svinafellsjokull glacier for shots of scenes beyond The Wall and the Hofabrekkuheii as part of northern Westeros. Vatnajokull, the largest ice cap in Europe, featured in season two while the Thingvellir National Park witnessed the battle between Brienne and the Hound in season four. See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018 China had hoped for at least some senior Western leaders to attend the summit, including British Prime Minister Theresa May, to burnish the plan's international credentials and make it less China-centric. By Reuters: Only one leader of a big Western country is attending China's most important diplomatic event of the year, a summit next month on President Xi Jinping's New Silk Road strategy, as China's foreign minister denied it had been snubbed. Xi has championed what China formally calls the "One Belt, One Road" or OBOR initiative to build a new Silk Road linking Asia, Africa and Europe, a landmark programme to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects including railways, ports and power grids. advertisement China has dedicated $40 billion to a Silk Road Fund and the idea was the driving force behind the establishment of the $50 billion China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). Diplomatic sources in Beijing said China had hoped for at least some senior Western leaders to attend the summit, including British Prime Minister Theresa May, to burnish the plan's international credentials and make it less China-centric. But a list of attendees announced by Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday included only one leader from the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations, Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, who took over in December after his predecessor quit following a crushing defeat in a reform referendum. 28 LEADERS TO ATTEND THE SUMMIT Wang confirmed the presence of the presidents of Russia and the Philippines as among 28 leaders coming, along with the Spanish, Greek, Hungarian, Serb and Polish prime ministers and Swiss and Czech presidents. "This is a positive, cooperative agreement, and we don't want to politicise it," Wang told reporters when asked if China was upset at the absence of most major Western leaders. "This is an economic cooperation forum, an international cooperation platform that everyone is paying attention to, supports and hopes to participate in," he said, adding representatives of 110 countries would come. British finance minister Philip Hammond will come as May's representative, while Germany and France are having elections at the time and will send high-level representatives, Wang said. "They have explained to us many times, France has elections in May, as does Germany about then, so their leaders originally were really willing to attend. This is not a platitude, it's the real information we got." China is sensitive to any suggestion that what it sees as its benign intentions do not have a receptive global audience, especially in Western capitals. China was privately upset in 2015 after most Western leaders rebuffed invitations to attend a big military parade through Beijing marking 70 years since the end of World War Two. Western leaders were unhappy that the guest list that included Russian President Vladimir Putin and wary of the message China would send with the show of strength. advertisement GLOBAL FRIEND While China has portrayed the New Silk Road as a genuine effort to share the bounty of China's economic development and to fund infrastructure gaps, many Western countries are concerned about a lack of detail and transparency in the project and are suspicious about China's broader political intents. Diplomatic sources said the presence of Putin and other leaders from countries with dubious human rights records, like the Philippines and Central Asian states, had contributed to a reluctance among Western leaders to attend. "What Western leader wants to sit on the same stage as Putin?" said one senior Beijing-based Western diplomat who is familiar with the planning for the summit, speaking on condition of anonymity. Still, at a time of uncertainty about the US place in the world following President Donald Trump's pledges to put America first, China sees an opportunity to become more of a global leader and has found a receptive audience for its New Silk Road. Leaders from countries that would appear to have little, if any, connection to the plan are coming to the summit, including Chile and Argentina. "Everyone wants to be China's friend now with Trump in office," said a senior Asian diplomat in Beijing. advertisement While China says the New Silk Road is not political, it has run into opposition from India due to a section of it in Pakistan, known as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, where some projects run through the disputed Kashmir region. Wang dismissed those concerns, saying the Pakistan project had nothing to do with the dispute and India was welcome to participate in the New Silk Road. A senior Indonesian government official said China was aiming for a "spectacular" summit."The Chinese are gunning for ... global leadership so I think this OBOR summit is going to be huge," the official said. ALSO READ: China says India to attend Silk Road summit, but no change in its stand on PoK China accuses India of violating Tibet commitments, warns of actions --- ENDS --- Azores Airlines is launching new flights for summer 2017, with service from the Bay Area to Portugal. And there is a deal: Oakland to the Azores (from $449) and from Oakland to Lisbon (from $549) this summer. (TRAVPR.COM) USA - April 17th, 2017 - Oakland, CA -- Azores Airlines is launching new flights for summer 2017, with service from the Bay Area to Portugal. And there is a deal: Oakland to the Azores (from $449) and from Oakland to Lisbon (from $549) this summer. The campaign is valid until April 30 for flights on August 9, 16, 23 and September 6. Azores Airlines considers August the perfect time to both visit family and/or explore Terceira Island or Lisbon. CNN named Lisbon the coolest city in Europe due to its nightlife, experimental cuisine, beaches and castles, design, art and streets. Now combine all this with cheap prices, nice people, good weather and good hotels. August is the best month for tourists because everyone who lives in Lisbon is on vacation which gives the feeling that they have the all city for themselves, to explore as they please. Theres less traffic and a feeling of calmness in the air. The warm temperatures allow people to enjoy the white sand at Portinho da Arrabida in Setubal or go for a walk in Sintra. And since August is also known for its warm nights, its the perfect time to have dinner at a tasca and try the famous bitoque and then go to Cais do Sodre and dance the night away. Terceira is the culture capital of Azores and is known for the traditional equestrian bullfight (in the ring) and the popular bull running on a rope (touradas a corda) that happen on the streets and sometimes on the beach. You can also go inside a lava tube, its called Algar do Carvao (coal pit) and its one of the few volcanoes in the world you can visit and the only one in which visitors can explore a volcanic chimney and secondary magma chambers. The capital is Angra do Heroismo and its historic center was declared World Heritage Site due to its importance in the maritime explorations of the 15th and 16th centuries, representing a link between the New World and Europe. For some wine go to Biscoitos. This little town is covered with green pastures and small vineyards protected by black basalt walls. The coast is marked by many deep breaches and coves, often creating beautiful natural swimming pools and there are platforms and steps for those who feel tempted to swim in the clear waters. Theres also a small wine museum with the Verdelho grape history. This campaign has a limited number of seats and its not combinable with any other offer, discount or promotion. The prices are one way. Azores Airlines, part of the SATA Group, has connected New England with the Azores and mainland Portugal for more than 35 years and now is also connecting the Bay Area. For more information about booking flights visit http://www.azoresairlines.pt or call 800-762-9995. ### Vietnam is a beautiful country of rice paddies, cyclos, water buffaloes and tasty food. When people first travel to the country, they know very little about it all but in a couple of days in Vietnam, people will learn quickly. However, there are few things if you know about before packing your bag to travel to Vietnam will make your trip so smooth and trouble-free. (TRAVPR.COM) HANOI - April 18th, 2017 - A motorbikes paradise There are millions of motorbike in Vietnam, some even says If you dont have a motorbike here, you are nobody. So the traffic in Vietnam is extremely dense and complicated. Parking space for motorbikes in Vietnam is at a premium and some pavements have become parking lots. Sometimes this mean that pedestrians have no option but to share the road with traffic. In that case, be on high alert. Vietnamese can carry almost everything on their motorbikes. If there were a competition for how much things can be carried on a motorbike, I bet Vietnamese would be the first to win. In fact, the one thing that makes Moreover, you will also have to accept the honking in Vietnam. Youll hear a lot of car, truck and motorbike honking in Vietnam. Not kidding at all. That is the habit of Vietnamese drivers. Are you a light sleeper and booked a street view room from your hotel? Think again. Walk slowly when crossing the street Watch your belongings Violent crime is rare, but like any large city, both have their fair share of pickpockets, be very aware in Hanois Old Quarter and Saigons Pham Ngu Lao. Keep your phone and wallet out of sight, use your bag or camera strap. A loose strap is like a moth to a flame for motorbike thieves. So make sure to put your bag or camera across your chest over your shoulder to make it a less obvious target. There is no need to be overly cautious, simply be aware of your belongings and surroundings. Dont trust the taxi meter Ripping off unsuspecting passengers is an art form of dishonest taxi drivers. Not all taxi drivers are dishonest but to be safe, stick with reliable companies such as Hanoi Taxi, Mai Linh and Vinasun. Always remember to take your hotels business card to make your return to the hotel much easier by handing it to your taxi, motorbike taxi (xe om) or cyclo driver. If possible, you can ask someone (receptionist, bellboy, local people) for the idea of how far your hotel is or how much it should cost to avoid trouble of being overcharged. Take a break in the afternoon Dont forget Vietnam is a tropical country, it can be very hot and humid sometimes with temperature around 38 40 degree Celsius and above 80% humidity. Break up your sightseeing and go early in the morning and the late afternoon. It can get quite hot visiting the attractions so taking a nice long break in the middle of the day can keep you refreshed for the afternoon activities. However, it gets cold in Cover up When visiting temples and pagodas, make sure to pack a shawl or extra shirt to cover your shoulders. Remember that you are visiting a piece of history so show it some respect and cover up those shoulders. If you are unsure before entering an attraction, just follow what the locals do. Be a sensitive snapper Most people in Vietnam love having their photo taken and will ask to have one with you, but do ask wisely before you take your photo. There are some places like Bargain Remember that negotiating is not rude but expected, even if a fixed price is advertised. Haggle for the best price or risk paying well over the actual price of an item. Try the walking away to get a better price. If that doesnt work, you can always go back to the vendor later. Many things in Vietnam are also handmade, so if you like an item and you can afford it, just buy it! Because you may not see the same thing again. Eat everything Vietnamese food is so delicious and you will want to try it all. Go ahead and buy a kilo of that strange looking purple fruit or sit down and eat that bowl of whatever noodle, but be aware of hygiene when you are eating street food. To be cautious, opt for vendors who already have customers. Food Safety Tips: Always eat from stalls where the food is prepared on the spot and cooked hot. Never eat raw, uncooked meats or cut/peeled fruits. Avoid salads, as you dont know if its been washed with tap water. Pho is a good dish to try at a stall, if its made hot. Always go to stalls that you see many Vietnamese at. Observe how they clean their utensils. For tips on water, remember to drink bottled water only, stay away from tap water even though you are staying in a 5 star hotel. Finally, remember that you are on holiday There is so much to do and see, but dont forget to stop every once in a while to pull up a small plastic chair, order a cup of traditional Vietnam cafe, and take it all in. While sights and activities hold interest, sometimes you can throw away your guide-book or forget the fixed itinerary, you will learn more about the culture by adjusting to the local pace. By: Nadova Tours ### Visit.org, the worlds leading platform for social impact travel experiences, has partnered with Photographers Without Borders, world leaders in photography and documentary services with social impact, to benefit both Companies partners. (TRAVPR.COM) USA - April 18th, 2017 - NEW YORK,NY., April 18, 2017 -- Visit.org, the worlds leading platform for social impact travel experiences, has partnered with Photographers Without Borders, world leaders in photography and documentary services with social impact, to benefit both Companies partners. PWBxVisit.org is a result of the necessity to provide social ventures (nonprofits and other community-based enterprises) the means to have a substantial presence in the digital age. Quality still imagery and video will enhance social ventures digital presence while mainstream tourism products will financially support their missions. This groundbreaking collaboration will launch with 65 social ventures and is monumental for both parties. Photographers Without Borders will be able to vastly expand their network of nonprofit partners while Visit.org will be able to provide their established partners with professional photographers to capture their missions. The joint effort is a natural extension of both Companies missions to generate awareness for do-good organizations around the world. Both parties promote and support sustainable experiences that focus on local communities all over the world. The joint effort supports a shared common goal of increasing positive travel to local communities all over the world. Founded in 2015 by social entrepreneur Michal Alter, Visit.org is changing global access to impactful travel by offering over 500 tours in 64 countries. Visit.org is the debut marketplace for social impact travel experiences hosted by social ventures around the world. The platform offers users authentic activities that are unique to the partner organizations cause and can be added to any trip itinerary. 100% of hosts revenue is invested back into the local community. Photographers Without Borders is a perfect pairing for the Visit.org platform as they have a network of over 500 incredible photographers who are passionate about social issues and are eager to donate their time and talents to benefit our partner organizations. Our partners are creating paradigm shifts in their local communities and now Photographers Without Borders will be there to help capture their efforts, Michal Alter, Visit.org CEO. Photographers Without Borders was established nearly a decade ago by Founder Danielle Da Silva. Visual materials are an important tool for sharing, exchanging, and connecting communities around the globe. Providing this service pro-bono has had a massive impact for grassroots NGOs that could not otherwise afford quality multimedia. The nonprofit operates with a strict code of ethics to ensure professionalism. Images captured on Photographers Without Borders projects have been shared by the United Nations and have been published in National Geographic and Asian Geo. Through the PWBxVisit.org partnership Photographers Without Borders will select talented artists based on their skills, personality and dedication to the relevant humanitarian cause. The selected photographers will spend 10-14 days on the ground with the specific organization. This time period will allow the talent to understand the mission of the project and how the group is working to alleviate their chosen issue. They will constantly be capturing footage and will edit and package everything within two weeks to send back to the host organization. The photos and video will be used as storytelling tools to help the selected missions garner awareness and support. Photographers Without Borders CEO, Danielle Da Silva said, there is strong synergy between PWB and Visit.org. I spend the majority of my time visiting NGOs and documenting their work. I know how meaningful and enriching impactful experiences can be for travelers which is what initially grabbed my attention about Visit.org. We are fortunate to have Visit.org supporting our goals by connecting us with more charitable partners around the globe. About Photographers Without Borders: Photographers Without Borders (PWB) is a registered, volunteer-run not-for-profit organization based in Toronto, Canada and a registered charity in the United States with 501(c)(3) status. PWB Canada was founded by Danielle Da Silva in 2009 while PWB USA was founded by Phil Spitze in 2006. The organization now operates as one entity with Danielle Da Silva as the CEO. We are over 500 photographers strong, have worked in over 30 countries and have completed over 100 projects to date. Our images are published in places such as United Nations Handbooks and National Geographic. 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 545 immersive and impactful travel experiences in 65 countries. Visit.org won Columbia Business Schools 2015 fund for Social Entrepreneurship, the Inc. Magazine and Salesforce Small Business Big Impact competition 2016 and the Accenture ConsumerTech Award 2017. 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. ### American fans of Irelands famous dark stout may soon be able to visit the site where the delectable brew is made without having to book a trip to Dublin. This fall, Guinness plans to open a brewery in Baltimore County, Md., the first of its kind in the United States. Construction is already underway on the brewery/taproom in the Maryland town of Relay, approximately nine miles southwest of the city of Baltimore. Although the brewery will use similar brewing methods to those employed at St. Jamess Gate in Dublin, the Maryland location will not brew the dark brown stout on site, but instead will develop its own Americanized beer in the form of a lager. Visitors who crave the traditional stout will still be able to consume it at the U.S. location, but it will be shipped from Ireland, just like every other Guinness pint in the world. Thats how much value the Guinness brand places in authenticity and the perfect pour. Brewers will continuously experiment with ingredients and methods to develop other signature brews catered to the American consumer, all of which will be on tap at the brewery. Scheduled to open on the 200th anniversary of Guinnesss arrival in America, this will also be the first brewery to open in the state of Maryland since before Prohibition. When you visit the site, Dotdash Meredith and its partners may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your devices and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. A culture festival centralized on Mongolian ethnic customs was held in Berlin from April 16 to 17, with the purpose of promoting Inner Mongolian traditions and increasing art exchanges between China and Germany. A performer from Inner Mongolia plays the horsehead fiddle (a special musical instrument unique to Inner Mongolia) in Berlin, Germany on April 16. [Photo/CRI] Yash Goyal Jaipur, April 18 Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) today said it would set up a refinery-cum-petrochemical complex of 9 million metric tonne per annum (MMTPA) capacity at a cost of Rs 43,129 crore at Pachpadra in Barmer district in a joint venture with the Rajasthan Government in the next 4-5 years. An MoU in this regard was signed by Aparna Arora, Senior Secretary, Rajasthan Government, and Vinod S of HPCL at a function attended by Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje. Mukesh Kumar Surana, CMD, HPCL, said the complex would have a state-of-the-art technology with best combination of process units for maximising the value and refinery will produce petrol and diesel meeting BS-VI specifications and petrochemicals such as polypropylene, polyethylene and other products. The refinery will have flexibility to process a mix of locally available Rajasthan crude and other types of local and imported crudes, he said. The project is expected to be completed within four years from the last date of receipt of all statutory approvals. The state has allotted 4,800 acres at Pachpadra for this project. Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the project would be set up by a joint-venture company named "HPCL Rajasthan Refinery" in which HPCL will hold 74% equity and Rajasthan Government 26%. The Rajasthan Government will provide viability gap funding of Rs 1,123 crore per year for 15 years starting from the year of commercial production in the form of interest-free loan which shall be refunded by the JV company to the state government in the next 15years, the minister said. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said the project would offer a huge potential for developing downstream industries and other service sectors in and around the region and provide opportunities for direct and indirect employment. Project likely to complete in four years HPCL will hold 74% equity and the Rajasthan Government 26% in the project The state government will provide viability gap funding of Rs 1,123 crore per year for 15 years starting from the year of commercial production in the form of interest-free loan It will produce petrol and diesel meeting BS-VI specifications and petrochemicals such as polypropylene, polyethylene and other products The refinery will have flexibility to process a mix of locally available Rajasthan crude and other types of imported crude The project is expected to be completed within four years from the last date of receipt of all statutory approvals Cairn to invest Rs 27,000 crore in Rajasthan Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 18 Air India will not take off in a new direction, at least for the time being. The much-awaited flight to Bangkok is likely to get delayed as a slot for the same is not available, the Punjab and Haryana High Court was informed this afternoon. The Bench was told that the only slot it was getting was late night. It was added that the matter was being taken up with the authorities concerned. In February, Air India had made it clear that it would start its Chandigarh to Bangkok flight in May. As the case hovering around making the Chandigarh international airport fully functional came up for resumed hearing before the High Court, the airlines informed the Bench of its decision. Air India was to initially launch the flight in April, but a delay in the delivery of two new aircraft resulted in deferring the launch till May. The developments took place during the hearing of a petition filed by the Mohali Industries Association against the non-operation of the Chandigarh international airport. The Bench, on a previous date of hearing, was told that the Centre was going to hold a meeting with the Dubai authorities on a bilateral agreement regarding air operations. The authorities were hopeful that an agreement would be reached on the allotment of the Chandigarh-Dubai slot. FlyDubai was willing to launch Chandigarh-Dubai flights, but the Centre had refused to give permission because of non-availability of slots on this route in view of the bilateral agreement between the two countries. FlyDubai was, rather, willing to launch the Chandigarh-Dubai flight twice a day within three weeks of getting the necessary approvals. However, its application seeking approval for launching operations from the Chandigarh airport is pending before the Centre since June 14 last year. Information to this effect was furnished by senior advocate Manmohan Lal Sarin on a previous date of hearing. Sandeep Rana Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 18 In what raises doubts over the investigation of the UT police, three women arrested last year in a case of theft of heritage furniture from Le Corbusier Centre, Sector 19, in which a security guard committed suicide and his family alleged police harassment, were today acquitted by the court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Jagmeet Singh. Rekha (35), Seema (40) and Hasheena (30), all residents of a colony in Sector 25, walked free. Deepika Gandhi, Director, Le Corbusier Centre, Sector 19, had complained that eight V-shaped cushion chairs and two tables were stolen from the centre late on September 23 night in 2015. Sukhchain Singh Gill, the then UT SSP, had claimed that after the accused in the theft of heritage furniture from the storeroom of the Government College of Art, Sector 10, were arrested, the police got a tip-off regarding three women involved in thefts in Sectors 18 and 19, and nearby areas. Based on the tip-off, the three accused were arrested. The furniture was recovered from their houses. According to the police theory, the women entered the campus of Le Corbusier Centre around 3.30 am and went to the place where the furniture was kept to commit the theft. They brought the furniture from the centre to the road and hired a vehicle to transport it. Delay in arrest: Defence Defence counsel Randeep S Rana contended that there was a delay of four and a half months in the arrest and "there was no name of the accused in the case". A "missing case" was registered and there was no theft case. The police stated that they arrested them on the basis of the interrogation of Sunil and Fakir Chand, accused in a similar theft case. However, the two were later let off by the police, then how come their co-accused were found to be involved, said Rana. It was stated that it was a false recovery imposed on them and the recovered furniture was not produced in the court; so there was no clarity that it was actually the heritage furniture stolen that day. Citys heritage auctioned abroad Heritage furniture from Chandigarh went under the hammer at an auction held in February this year in Paris and was sold for Rs 60 lakh. There have been several auctions of heritage furniture from the UT at foreign auction houses since 2007. The UT Administration has failed to stall these auctions. The authorities there told the Administration that they purchased these items from dealers and had the receipts. Ironically, most of these items were sold as scrap in Chandigarh for a few thousand bucks. Chandigarh, April 18 Two snatching incidents were reported from the city on Monday night. Pankaj, a resident of Deep Complex, Hallo Majra, complained that four unidentified boys, all pedestrians, snatched his mobile phone and purse from near a temple at Hallo Majra. The accused then fled from the spot. The police were informed, who visited the spot. A case has been registered at the Sector 31 police station. In the other incident, Ram Kishore, a resident of Sector 47, reported that six unknown boys riding two motorcycles stopped him and snatched Rs 500 from him near the Sector 46/47 small chowk. TNS Snatcher arrested A day after a pedestrian snatched a gold chain from a 78-year-old woman at Sector 41, the police managed to arrest the accused and recover the chain. Victim Narinder Kaur, a resident of Badheri village, had gone to a park near her house for a walk when the accused snatched her gold chain. Sources said while fleeing from the spot, the accused dropped his mobile phone that was recovered by the police, leading to his arrest. The accused was identified as Dharm Chand, alias Dharma, a resident of Attawa village. Police sources said the accused was earlier also arrested in a case of snatching. Hasan Suroor LAST week, the gaffe-prone White House spokesman Sean Spicer was forced to apologise following widespread outrage over his remark that Hitler never used chemical gas. Around the same time, at the European end of the pond, French politician Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Front and a front-runner in next weeks presidential election, was facing accusations of rewriting history after she claimed that France was not responsible for the 1942 roundup of thousands of Jews and their deportation to Hitlers gas chambers during the pro-Nazi Vichy regime. Her remarks, which she has refused to withdraw despite a continent-wide row, fed into memories of her father and NF founder Jean-Marie Le Pens history of anti-semitic rants at a time when she is trying hard to distance herself from him as part of an image makeover. Marine Le Pen, it must be noted, is a big admirer of Donald Trump who himself has been guilty of casual anti-semitism. Her gushing praise for his policies has earned her the sobriquet Trump in skirts. She feels an ideological affinity with the Trump camp that goes beyond their coincidental Nazi gaffes. Her presidential election campaign is straight from the Trump playbook anti-immigrant, anti-EU, anti-Muslim, isolationist, France first. As the election approaches, the debate inevitably has turned on the question: what, if a la her American hero she wins the presidency? Liberal France is passing through the same anxious period that liberal America did six months ago. A group of alarmed writers, academics, and actors warned in a joint op-ed in the Left-wing Liberation that she was on the threshold of power, and called on saner voices to come together in the name of freedom of thought and creativity. Commentators have described her as a genuine peril a threat to the French ideals of liberte, egalite, and fraternite. One newspaper even published an imaginary black scenario of the first 100 days of her hypothetical presidency. And high-profile people are talking about going into exile if she wins. French ambassador to Japan, Thierry Dana, was slapped down by his bosses after he threatened to shelve all diplomatic duties if Le Pen won because he cannot loyally defend her positions. Anxiety is mounting as polls show that she is set to win the first round on April 23 being comfortably ahead of her two main rivals the charismatic Emmanuel Macron, who quit the Hollande government to launch his own centrist party, En Marche; and Francois Fillon of Nicholas Sarkozys centre-right Republican Party which has effectively disowned him since he was dragged into a criminal investigation into corruption allegations. Le Pen is said to be unstoppable despite facing allegations of misappropriation of EU funds, and the threat of prosecution over a controversial tweet linked to images of ISIS violence. These are not setbacks...in electoral terms. Le Pens followers see them as attempts by the system to cheat their leader out of office, wrote British writer Jeremy Harding in the London Review of Books amid breathless media reports of her rallies drawing large and enthusiastic crowds, especially in the poorer regions. Optimists, however, are hoping that pundits and pollsters, predicting her win, will prove as wrong as they did over Brexit and Trump. But what if they dont? What if they do prove right and she does go into the final round on May 7? Well, theres one last hope: that she could meet the fate that her father met in 2002, when after winning the first round, he lost the final run-off as rivals got together to see him off with their supporters transferring their votes to Jacques Chirac to save France from falling into the hands of a racist demagogue. The conventional wisdom is that history will most likely repeat itself. The argument is that as the full implications of her victory sink in, voters are likely to desert her. Its said about the two-round French election process that it allows people to vote with their heart in the first round, and with their head in the second. According to this scenario, many guided by their heart will vote for Le Pen in the first round, but in the second goaded by their hard-headed common sense they will plump for Macron. As they did for Chirac against her dad in 2002. But 2017 is not 2002. For one thing, National Front under Le Pen has sought to shed some of its rougher edges to make it acceptable to a wider constituency, and she seems to have had some success in marketing its new softer image. Secondly, the national mood today is very different with the country facing a strong anti-establishment backlash, especially among the growing army of unemployed youth and the struggling working class. So, dont be surprised if France wakes up on May 8 with Le Pen in the Elysee Palace. But lets not get ahead of ourselves. At its heart, Europe is still mainly liberal (I dare say, more liberal than America); and some solace can be had from the outcome of recent elections in Austria and the Netherlands. In both countries, voters decisively rejected far-right candidates despite poll predictions to the contrary. The defeat of Geert Wilders (known as the Dutch Le Pen) after a huge build-up was particularly surprising. Notably, in Germany where elections are due later this year, the front-runner against Angela Merkel is a Leftist: Martin Schulz of the Socialist Democratic Party, former president of the European Parliament. For all this, however, mainstream liberal politics is in crisis. Otherwise, a divisive and polarising figure like Le Pen wouldnt be so close to becoming President of France. It is a measure of the extent to which the post-war liberal order has been eroded that she is even in the reckoning. Yet, barely five years ago, the same France elected a Socialist President amid scenes of euphoria. The Socialists victory after a gap of 20 years was credited with turning the tide on a rightwards and xenophobic lurch in European politics, as The Guardian wrote describing Hollandes win as a boost to the left in a continent that has gradually swung rightwards. Five years later, Socialist candidate Benoit Hamon is so far behind in the race that he barely counts. It must have required an extraordinary feat of incompetence to squander away such a big mandate in such a short period. What we are witnessing is a battle for the soul of the French Republic and, for now at least, the Devil, it seems, has all the right tunes. The writer is a London-based commentator Arun Joshi THE Kashmir situation is going from bad to worse. In the current situation, almost every household has become a grooming centre for the would-be warriors, where children sing the songs calling for martyrdom to boost their morale These are uploaded on social media and get the intended response. A message of hatred against India is spread and that translates into anger on the streets. Homes, schools and streets peddle this narrative of Islam and liberation. The tales that parents, teachers and the youngsters bring about the real or imagined or exaggerated versions of the atrocities of the security forces reinforces the thinking that they are living in a besieged land. The talk of the village corners has shifted from devastating militancy of the 1990s to state terrorism. It is something that separatists had been saying for long, now the mainstream leaders, too, have joined the chorus. They are unanimous in demanding restraint from the security forces but are shy of telling the misguided youth to go to schools instead of stoning the security personnel. That has made this narrative of state terrorism more pronounced. A recent video showing the Army using a youth as a human shield has further given credence to this version to the youth. Conditioned minds They are conditioned by the mindset of resistance not only for the liberation of Kashmir but also as their religious obligation. Kashmiri nationalism is just a cover, as always. The militancy was guided by the goal of setting up an Islamic Republic in Kashmir. The situation is dreadful the fear of the Army is over; crowds gather in a matter of seconds and start throwing stones, political workers are either being killed or threatened to declare their disassociation with the political groups that they belong to. The disclaimers broadcast on social media, combined with real-time blood spilling, has infused the atmosphere with extreme fear for commoners. The police department's advisory to its personnel that they should not visit their homes for the next few months is seen an admission of the deteriorating situation where policemen have been told to be extremely cautious. That means that the threat to them is real. Alongside, there are youth drawn from villages, schools and colleges who are manifesting their anger on the streets using stones, each stone cast with a message that they were ready to face bullets. And, once the bullets are fired, the cycle of funerals, burials, new vows and martyrdom move at an unimagined pace. This cements the feelings that a final battle has to be fought. A striking factor was that there was a deep element of fear of the search-and-cordon operations. People would sit for hours during search operations. There was an awe. Now such operations are near-impossible. There is no forbidden zone for the stone-throwers or gunmen. Deadly trio A new deadly trio has emerged of gunmen, stone-throwers and the crowds offering moral support to them. In 1990, it was hoped that Army would reverse the situation and that it did, making it possible for the politicians to contest elections and form the governments. Then the vested interests in Delhi started playing games a fair assessment of the situation was dumped as a bad idea because the threats from across the border had not vanished and militancy was not over as yet. The breathing space was scotched. Nowadays, public anger and hate against India is too pronounced to be ignored. The politicians, who are now calling for restraint by the security forces, were the ones who never bothered to deliver on governance. The basic needs of the people were ignored with contempt. They ruled with the backing of Delhi, and the Centre never held them accountable for their waywardness. They started hiding their failures by claiming that they were working for the larger goal of a political solution to the Kashmir crisis. The new generation did not trust these politicians, who promised sadak, bijli, paani during the election campaign but shifted their narrative to the honourable and dignified solution of the Kashmir crisis. Their flip-flop and mishandling of small incidents snowballed into a bigger crisis of confidence. The political class is seen as opportunistic, collaborators, exploiters and corrupt to core. Religious identity Now they suspect that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed BJP is trying to undermine their religious identity. Religion is a very sensitive issue in the exclusively Muslim Kashmir. This is the most uniting factor as the pro-freedom leadership started its campaign by driving Kashmiri Pandits out of the Valley. That was in 1990. The 2017 visual realities of the Muslim world clashing with the West and their own youth heckling, slapping, kicking the CRPF jawans has given them the power of aggression. They are sensing a new revolution that would make India retreat. That is where the situation is not only uncontrollable but also defining new dangers of disintegration of the state that can have a ripple effect on the rest of the places as well. This mindset of resistance is the real challenge for the country now. ajoshi57@gmail.com President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has managed to register a narrow victory in Turkeys referendum to transform the country as a presidential system. President Erdogans critics in and out of Turkey suspect him of staging the referendum for the sole purpose of aggrandising for himself more and more executive powers. The election itself was held in far from ideal conditions; the country is under an emergency regime and the media and the opposition parties found themselves under considerable restraint. This was an election our Nirvachan Sadan would not have conducted. The Turkish voters were given a simple yes or no choice, and only 51.4 per cent of votes were yes, giving President Erdogan a technical win but not the kind of comprehensive victory that brings with it legitimacy and respectability. It has been noted that Turkeys two largest cities Istanbul and Ankara, otherwise invariably supportive of the President voted no. In a way President Erdogan should feel somewhat frustrated that he has been denied a clean political endorsement in his desire to become the new Sultan of Turkey. And though President Donald Trump has complimented the Turkish leader on his victory, the European leadership is clearly uncertain about the nature of the referendum verdict. The European leaders take the view that the referendum has shown Turkey to be a much more divided a country than believed so far, and they have accordingly urged President Erdogan to seek respectful dialogue with all political and societal powers to find a way forward. In any case, the future of Turkeys relationship with the European Union remains as problematic, if not more, as it was before the referendum vote. Yet it needs to be acknowledged that President Erdogan is an artful politician who has mastered the current global nationalist game and has wrapped himself in the colours of Turkish nationalism. He would feel entitled to proceed ahead with his Islamisation time-table, as also restore capital punishment, a move that would make it hugely difficult for the European Union to admit Turkey as a full member. None of this will ease the already entangled geo-politics of the region. A US immigration visa that allows American companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers, in case US workers are not available for specialised jobs, is now being tweaked. President Donald Trump has acted on his electoral promises to target the H-1B visas, which have been widely used by Indian technical workers to work in the US. It will not be an exaggeration to say that this visa has been the backbone of the IT influx from India to the US. The programme also found support from various corporations and Silicon Valley companies that used it extensively. Along the way, inevitably, came some abuses, and often it became a tool that allowed US companies to hire foreigners ready to work for less. This, combined with a general rise in unemployment, has led to a populist backlash that fuelled the Trump campaign rhetoric. The H-1B visa system, however, has been especially beneficial for the US IT industry, and even the outsourcing aspects that rile some voters find votaries in the business community. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services recently issued advisories that ratchet up the requirements for issuing these visas. Thus workers at the bottom end of the pool, basically computer programmers, are now not considered eligible. It has also undertaken a slew of measures, including workplace inspections, which would keep a check on such workers. Presidential fiats have a limited validity. Other than optics and buzz, it is not clear how much Mr Trump will achieve or, wants to achieve. The processing of this years visa applications is already under way, and there are bound to be various challenges in implementation. Real reforms, if any, will have to be routed through the Congress. The Indian IT industry, will, no doubt, have to relook at the changes that take place in the US and adapt accordingly. On the whole, there is little doubt about its ability to be able to do so. Even though the process could be painful, it would force Indian companies to move up the food chain, away from the low-hanging fruit. Pratibha Chauhan Tribune News Service Shimla, April 18 The meritorious candidates, who are competing for Class III and Class IV government jobs and have no recommendations from a higher-up, can now heave a sigh of relief as there will be no interviews for Class-III and IV posts in all departments after May 31. The Department of Personnel issued a notification today in which it has been pointed that if the ongoing recruitment process, including written test and interview, is not complete by May 31, then there will be no interviews. The Cabinet had, at its last meeting, given the approval for doing away with interviews for Class III and IV posts. As per the notification, the written examination in case of Class III posts will be of 85 marks. In case of Class IV posts, the percentage of marks obtained in the qualifying exams to be calculated out of 85 marks. It is after the recommendations of the Central Government that the Himachal Government has finally done away with this procedure where very often those having political links would manage to get full marks in interviews despite scoring very low in written test. One mark each will be given for Class III posts to those belonging to the backward area or notified panchayat, landless family having less than one hectare land and certified by the revenue authority, non-employment certificate where no family members in government job, differently-abled persons with more than 40 per cent disability, NSS (one year)/NCC (certificate holders)/Bharat Scouts or national player, single daughter or orphan, widow/divorced/destitute or single woman and training of six months related to the job applied for. All these add up to eight marks. The maximum of 2.5 marks will be given for experience, up to a maximum of five years in government or semi-government organisation, relating to the post applied for. Similarly, 2.5 marks will be given for the minimum educational qualification as per Recruitment and Promotion Rules. Two marks weightage will be given to those belonging to a BPL family with less than Rs 40,000 annual income. In case of Class IV posts, the maximum of 2.5 marks each will be given to those who belong to the BPL category, have nobody from their families in government job or have experience up to a maximum of five years in government or semi-government organisation, relating to the post applied for. Those who are from landless families will get two marks and those who are widow/divorcee/destitute or single woman will get 1.5 marks. Ishfaq Tantry Tribune News Service Srinagar, April 18 Three days before violence erupted in Pulwama Degree College on Saturday, triggering Valley-wide protests on Monday, it is learnt that an Army vehicle came under attack on the campus last Wednesday. There was intense stone-throwing by students on an Army vehicle on April 12, when an Army officer of the Rashtriya Rifles arrived in the college to discuss a proposal with the principal for conducting a seminar on the campus. At that time, the Army showed exceptional restraint and moved out their Casspir vehicle within 10 minutes of arriving in the college, Pulwama Degree College principal Abdul Hameed told The Tribune. Earlier, the Army officer concerned had called me on phone to seek permission for conducting a seminar in the college. I told him that I would get back after discussing the proposal with the senior staff of the college, Hameed said while refusing to identify the officer. As the principal was discussing the proposal with the staff after the phone call, he heard some noise outside. As I came out of my office, I saw an Army Casspir vehicle entering the college premises and students resorting to intense stone-throwing as they mistook it as a raid on the college, the principal said while narrating the incident on April 12, which he said became the precursor to the police action later on Saturday. Exhibiting immense restraint, the Army vehicle retreated and calm was restored in the college within half an hour. The students even resumed their classes afterwards, the principal said, adding that for the next two days, that is April 13 and 14, the college was closed on account of gazetted holidays. As soon as the college reopened on April 15, I saw two police vehicles entering the college premises around 11.30 am. This provoked the students, who resorted to stone-throwing. The police retaliated by resorting to intense shelling inside the college with nearly 5,000 students, the principal said, alleging that the police entered the college premises without seeking permission or intimating about their arrival. The principal, who rang up the local Superintendent of Police and Inspector General of Police as the commotion broke out in the college, said he pleaded with the police personnel accompanied by the local SHO and a DSP-rank official to leave the college as the situation was getting out of control. They yelled at me and started firing tear-gas shells, he said. In the clashes between the police and the students, who were later joined in by outsiders, over 50 pupils of the college were injured. The police, however, maintained that the clashes erupted when a normal naka was established around 200 metres away from the college and some miscreants started throwing stones at the personnel manning the checkpost. In principals words... Tribune News Service Jammu, April 18 The National Secular Forum continued its protest against the J&K Public Service Commission (JKPSC) demanding a separate body for the Jammu division. National Secular Forum state president Vikas Sharma said statehood for Jammu was the only way out to end the 67-year- long discrimination with the people of the Jammu region. The forum flayed the PDP-BJP coalition government for meting out step-motherly treatment to the people of Jammu. He particularly took to task BJP MLAs for maintaining silence on the issue and reiterated the demand for statehood to Jammu. He alleged that people of Jammu were facing worst kind of discrimination at the hands of Kashmiri rulers and asked them to get united to launch a comprehensible struggle to get rid of all the ills. Sharma informed that of the total 59 posts of 10+2 chemistry lecturer, 41 candidates have been selected from Kashmir and 18 have been selected from Jammu. In the RBA category, of the total 21 posts, 16 candidates are from Kashmir province while five are from Jammu. Also, of the total 34 posts of 10+2 Urdu lecturer, 30 candidates have been selected from Kashmir and four candidates have been selected from Jammu. In the RBA category, of the total 11 posts, seven candidates are from Kashmir province while four are from Jammu. Of the total 29 posts of 10+2 English lecturer, 25 candidates have been selected from Kashmir and four from Jammu. In the RBA category, of the total 10 posts, seven candidates are from Kashmir province while three are from Jammu. Pertinently, earlier the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission had announced the results of Urdu, history, commerce, geography, zoology, BBA, mathematics, physics, sericulture and English, in which most of the selected candidates were from Kashmir province, he said. Tribune News Service Srinagar, April 18 The J&K Youth National Conference (JKYNC) today staged an anti-government protest against yesterdays police action against students. The opposition party members were led by NCs youth wingprovincialpresident Salman Sagar. They marched from the party headquarters to Press Colony in the city here. The demonstrators wore black suits to mark their protest against the recent civilian killings and the police action against students yesterday in which more then a dozen persons were injured. Being a political party, it is our duty to express solidarity with students. Today, we held a symbolic protest and will continue to do so if the government keeps this attitude towards students, Sagar said. The youth wing took to streets a day after students across all colleges and universities of the Kashmir valley held protests and clashed with the police against last weeks incident of police action against students of Government Degree College,Pulwama, in which nearly 50 students were injured. Sagar said the youth wings demonstration was against the state government and against the indiscriminate use of force. Yesterday, we saw students being beaten up. Even girls were not spared, he said. We want to tell the government that it should not take our protest lightly. Before the situation gets out of hand, the government should wake up from its deep slumber, the youth wing leader of the National Conference said. Rifat Mohidin Tribune News Service Srinagar, April 17 There were demonstrations in colleges and universities across the Kashmir valley today with students clashing with the police in Srinagar, Bandipora, Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama, Kupwara, Kulgam and Shopian districts. At least 60 students and several security personnel were injured in the clashes that began early morning and continued through the day. The students were protesting against a police raid on a college in South Kashmirs Pulwama district last week following clashes with security forces over the setting up of a checkpoint near Government Degree College (Boys), in which 50 students were injured. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Angered over the incident, the students today gathered outside their colleges. Their attempts to hold protests were foiled by the police, leading to clashes. In Srinagar, the police fired tear gas shells as students from two colleges, including a girls college, tried to march towards Lal Chowk, the citys commercial hub. The state government has ordered that all universities, colleges and higher secondary schools in the Valley will remain closed tomorrow (Tuesday). We condemn all kind of violence. Students have the right to protest peacefully within the college premises, said Altaf Bukhari, Education Minister. He said he had held a meeting on the Pulwama incident and the college principal had filed an FIR for trespass. The forces are not allowed to go inside educational institutions. We have told the principals to talk to the students and the police to exercise utmost restraint, the minister said. The police today reportedly barged into colleges in South Kashmirs Kulgam and Shopian districts as well as Srinagars SP College, where the protests first began. Students of SP College blocked the Maulana Azad road. The police used tear gas shells to disperse them. The students resorted to stone-pelting, resulting in injuries to the Station House Officer of the Kothibagh police station and his two guards. The students kept regrouping to engage the police on the streets. Girls from a womens college in Srinagar also joined the protests as the police battled to tackle the situation. The University of Kashmir has postponed all exams scheduled for tomorrow. With videos and pictures of protests on the social media stoking public outrage, the Mehbooba Mufti government has ordered that Internet services in the Valley be suspended. Srinagar, April 18 Jammu and Kashmir Police have begun an operation to identify moles within, who are suspected to be leaking vital operational information to terror outfits as their families are being threatened by the militants. While the J and K Police top brass is silent on the issue, sources in the security establishement say some policemen have been earmarked for carrying out a thorough probe into the cases where militants, mainly belonging to the banned Hizbul Mujahideen, have threatened the families of policemen engaged in counter-insurgency operations. A recent incident in which militants barged into the house of a policeman at Shopian, who is posted as the personal assistant to an officer in Pulwama, raised eyebrows within the security establishment in the Valley. The militants, while firing warning shots and threatening the family members with dire consequences, told them that the policeman (identity not disclosed) was responsible for the death of their fellow terrorists as he had tipped off the establishment about their whereabouts. The incident sounded an alarm bell as the matter about the alleged tip-off was highly classified, sources said. They said the terror groups had been increasingly targeting the policemen, their families and political workers in the recent past. While the families of policemen had been receiving threats since March this year, such incidents had reached an alarming level last weekend when as many as 14 families of cops engaged in counter-insurgency operations were targeted in Shopian and Kulgam areas of South Kashmir, they said. The sudden spurt in such incidents has prompted the police headquarters to issue an advisory whereby the policemen were asked not to visit their homes for a few months. In view of these unfortunate incidents, police personnel, particularly from South Kashmir, are advised to exercise extreme caution while visiting their homes. They should preferably avoid visiting their homes for the next few months as their personal security is of paramount importance, the advisory issued on Sunday said. On Friday and Saturday last week, 14 families of police personnel were threatened in the Kulgam and Shopian belt, sending a shockwave among officers and men involved in counter-insurgency operations for over two decades, sources in the security establishment said. Two constables, including one posted with the Special Security Group guarding Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, were beaten up in Shopian. One of the constables, currently posted in a battalion, was dragged publicly to a local mosque and forced to make an announcement of his resignation on a loudspeaker in Shopian, sources said. The family of a station house officer, now posted in Srinagar, was also attacked a couple of weeks ago after he had stopped an ambulance, following an intelligence tip-off that militants could use such vehicles to sneak into the city, they said. The house of an Additional Superintendent of Police, who is currently posted in North Kashmir, was also ransacked at Khudwani in earlier this month, they said. Some posters and messages in social media have appeared showing militants asking policemen to announce their resignations on the social media or through local newspapers. This act is reminiscent of 1990s when many of the Valleys political workers had announced their resignations through the local newspapers. PTI Majid Jahangir Tribune News Service Srinagar, April 18 Fearing more protests, the government today extended the closure of colleges across Kashmir by one more day even as the University of Kashmir witnessed protests by girl students over police action at Government Degree College, Pulwama, on Saturday. All colleges and SP Higher Secondary School (in Srinagar) will remain shut on Wednesday, said Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, Baseer Khan. All schools will, however, reopen tomorrow, he said. After widespread protests by students on Monday, which left nearly 60 of them injured across the Valley, the government had decided to shut universities, colleges and higher secondary schools in the region as a precautionary measure to prevent further protests. While the educational institutions remained closed today, a protest was held by girls students at the University of Kashmir over the forces action against students of the Pulwama college. The students putting up at the varsitys girls hostel staged a peaceful demonstration for many hours. The protesters were not allowed to move out of the hostel campus. The students later dispersed off peacefully. On Monday, boarders of the universitys boys hostel took out a candlelight march against the police action on Pulwama college students. PROof the University of Kashmir said all campuses of the varsity shall remain closed on April 19, but all examinations would be held as per schedule. The latest series of student protests in Kashmir erupted after over 50 students of Government Degree College, Pulwama, were injured in forces action while objecting to setting up of a checkpost near the college. Meanwhile, dozens of protesters blocked the Srinagar-Jammu national highway in Banihal town over the alleged harassment and thrashing of students by security personnel. Sources said a group of students were allegedly thrashed by CRPF men near Banihal town when a CRPF convoy was travelling from Kashmir to Jammu. The students later marched to Banihal town and blocked the highway. The police used force to disperse them. However, this aggravated the situation and students and locals staged a protest and blocked the national highway for at least six hours. After the authorities assured the protesters of a probe into the incident, they dispersed off peacefully. Deputy Commissioner, Ramban, Mohammad Aijaz said he had already ordered a probe into the issue. The Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Banihal, will hold an inquiry into the whole issue, the Ramban Deputy Commissioner said. Meanwhile, the District Magistrate, Shopian, said all higher secondary schools of the district and Degree College, Shopian, shall remain closed on April 19 in order to maintain law and order situation. New Delhi, April 18 Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan was on Tuesday accorded a tri-service guard of honour outside South Block lawns in Raisina Hills. There was confusion yesterday over whether a guard of honour will be given to the Canadian Defence Minister today. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Late in the night, MoD spokesperson Nitin Wakankar clarified that the advisory on cancellation of the guard of honour was issued erroneously. Sajjan arrived in New Delhi today and shall be going to India Gate tomorrow. When contacted, the Canadian High Commission refused to comment. Earlier in the day, an official invitation was sent to the electronic media for coverage of the event. Sajjan also held wide-ranging talks with Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on a host of bilateral issues, particularly on ramping up defence and security ties. A guard of honour is a ceremonial welcome for dignitaries when troops in full uniform and regalia lower their weapons and the visiting dignitary inspects the guard. It ends in a salute. In Chandigarh, meanwhile, carrying forward the tough stance against Sajjan, the Capt Amarinder Singh government has decided that no minister would accompany the dignitary during his visit to various places in the state. Sources said only the DC and SSP concerned of the district would facilitate Sajjans visits. The Canadian Defence Minister is scheduled to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple on April 20. He is also expected to visit his native village near Hoshiarpur. TNS On Agenda Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 18 Responding to Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh's allegations on his being a Khalistani sympathiser, visiting Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan on Tuesday said, I don't promote the breaking up of any country. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Speaking at a function organised by think-tank Observer Research Organisation in New Delhi, he said, I don't want to get sucked into internal politics of any province or nation. My job is to build relationship with India, he said. The Punjab CM has said Sajjan was a sympathiser of the Khalistan movement which talked about a separate Sikh state carved out of India. Read: Sajjan was asked about India's concerns over Khalistanis to which he had responded and also said over the years he has been given many labels. I have been involved in uniform either police or military uniform. India and Canada have great opportunity to build a defence relationship. We want to move things forward. India has tremendous experience in conflict resolution, Sajjan said. On Taliban, the Canadian defence minister said it needs to be studied how it grew. During his days in the Canadian Military Sajjan has served in Afghanistan. Speaking about the ISIS, he said the bigger concern is not just Iraq but to prevent them from building up further. Simran Sodhi Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 18 The government today scored a victory over many naysayers when the police in London arrested on an extradition warrant the embattled tycoon Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender in India over unpaid loans. India had on February 8 sent a formal extradition request as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK and todays arrest follows from that. A few hours later, 61-year-old Mallya was granted conditional bail for 6.5 lakh (Rs 5.3 crore) after he appeared before the Westminster Magistrates Court in London. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Sources in the government said while they expected Mallya to be extradited to India eventually, a legal battle in the British courts would play out first. Todays arrest was the first step in ensuring his eventual extradition. A Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson said Mallyas arrest was in connection with the request by the government to the UK authorities, and that the legal process in this regard is under way in the UK. The two governments are in touch in this context. Mallyas passport has already been cancelled and even though he does have British residency, the arrest will limit his ability to travel outside the UK. The flamboyant businessman, however, couldnt stop himself from taking a dig at the media and soon after getting bail tweeted, Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected. Mallyas companies owe Rs 9,000 crore to various Indian banks. In January, an Indian court ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans from Mallya, who had fled India in March last year. A CBI court had also issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. The MEA, while giving the formal extradition request to the UK, had stressed that India had a legitimate case against Mallya and the UKs honouring of Indias requests would show British sensitivity towards Indias concerns. New Delhi, April 18 It would not be easy to extradite controversial industrialist Vijay Mallya, who went to the UK a year ago and did not return despite summons to him by the courts here for defaulting on loans, legal experts on Tuesday said. Senior advocates K T S Tulsi and Dushyant Dave were of the view that the courts in the UK are very independent and do not grant extradition easily. Tulsi said though the Indian government has sent the evidence against Mallya to the UK courts while requesting his extradition, the courts there will "evaluate it independently to see if the evidence is sufficient" to send him back here. He also said Mallya's arrest today by Scotland Yard and his subsequent release on bail the same day shows it may not be easy to get him back here. Tulsi said when there is a request for extradition then normally bail is granted only after 60 days, but Mallya was given the relief on the same day. He also said in the past 50 requests for extradition sent to the UK, the courts there have granted only one. Dave was also of a similar view as he said courts there are independent and "do not grant extradition so easily". He, however, refused to comment further on it saying he was not fully versed with the procedure followed by the courts there. This reason was cited by several other senior lawyers who wished not to be named. India will make strong case for Mallya's extradition: Source A top government source, meanwhile, said India will make a strong case for extradition of Vijay Mallya from the UK as he "squandered" public money, did not pay employees and defaulted on bank loans. The government, he said, wants to break the myth that a law breaker is out of bound once he is out of country. "Squandering public money, you don't pay employees, you don't pay banks and you maintain a lavish lifestyle and give the system a damn. I think there's a hunger in Indian public opinion to see such people in prison," the source said. The arrest, the source said, was in connection with default on an IDBI loan. The time taken by the UK court to decide on the extradition request will be less than Indian courts, the source said adding New Delhi will have to present strong proof as extradition request involves offence committed only in one country. Anyone facing extradition can resist the process on grounds that he may not get a fair trial in India or that the judicial system is biased against him or is politically motivated. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had made a case for extradition of Mallya when British Prime Minister Theresa May dropped in on a meeting between him and his UK counterpart in London last month. The source said Indian authorities will have to present a case for extradition of Mallya. "Extradition process now starts," he said. "There is a myth that I will cross the geographical boundaries and take refuge and be out of bounds. India needs to set this precedent". Earlier, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar said the government was "assessing the facts (as to) how we can bring him back into the country and start judicial proceedings against him." The government, he said, will leave no stone unturned to bring to justice anyone indulging in financial irregularities. "During Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had talked about bringing black money back... and of strong steps against economic offenders," he said. He said the loan extended to Mallya were under previous UPA regime and the present government has taken steps to recover the loans and "what happened today is part of that move". "We are taking stringent steps and will not protect any offender," he emphasised. Asked about bringing other offenders to India, he said it is in process. "The Modi government will leave no stone unturned if anyone is indulging in misappropriation of funds. We are entering into treaties with other countries so that offenders cannot flee. We are on a path to bring the matter within the judicial purview and will assess it further," he said. Explaining the process, the source said deportation is not a preferred route in case of Mallya as the UK takes such action only in cases when someone lands without a valid travel document. Once an extradition request is made, the British government considers merit and India has crossed that hurdle in Mallya's case, the source said. "If they think it is a request worth considering, then they refer it to the court and then the UK government steps out. So this step has been crossed now and the court issues a warrant. "After the warrant is issued, depending on the nature of the case, the court decides whether to give him bail or not. Since it is a monetary offence, they have given bail. Maybe if it was a murder case, they wouldn't have given a bail but the bail has some conditions," he said. Now, in the court, the Indian authorities will have to present a case for extradition. "And in extradition, you have to present the facts that he is liable to be tried in India." PTI Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 18 India and the US today exchanged views on how both countries could work together to effectively address the challenge of terrorism and advance regional peace, security and stability. Conversation on the issues figured when US National Security Adviser Lt Gen HR McMaster called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. The US NSA, who arrived here from quick tour to Kabul and Islamabad, shared his perspective with the PM on the security situation in the extended region, including in Afghanistan, West Asia and North Korea. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The US said the two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counter-terrorism cooperation. The visit was part of regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad. He emphasised the importance of the India-US strategic relationship and reaffirmed Indias designation as a major defence partner. The outgoing Obama administration had declared India a major defence partner that took forward the growing engagement in the field of defence, including ambitious partnership in defence manufacturing and co-development. The US National Security Adviser conveyed the greetings of President Donald Trump to the Prime Minister, who recalled the positive telephonic conversations with the US President that reaffirmed the importance attached by both sides to the strategic partnership and to stepping up India-US engagement across the board. Gen McMaster left India after meetings with the PM, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. His visit was the first by a senior official of the Trump administration. In Islamabad, the relations between India and Pakistan figured in McMasters discussions with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Indias major defence partner status reaffirmed US National Security Adviser Lt Gen HR McMaster emphasised the importance of the India-US strategic relationship and reaffirmed Indias designation as a major defence partner The Obama administration had declared India a major defence partner that took forward the growing engagement in the field of defence, including ambitious partnership in defence manufacturing and co-development Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 18 India on Tuesday told Canada that a resolution passed in the Ontario provincial assembly terming the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as genocide was unreal and exaggerated. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Earlier this month, the Ontario assembly in Canada passed a resolution terming the anti-Sikh riots in India as genocide. The riots had broken out in the aftermath of assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 across several north Indian cities and more than 3,500 Sikhs lost their lives. Today, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley at his official meeting with his Canadian counterpart, Harjit Singh Sajjan, raised the matter saying there was disquiet in India over the resolution and it was unreal and exaggerated in it words, sources in the Indian Defence Ministry said. The Ministry of External Affairs had protested to Canada on terming the riots as genocide and today the matter was taken up at the political level. Sajjan reportedly told Jaitley that the Canadian government disassociates itself from the resolution passed in the provincial assembly, saying it does not reflect the view of the Canadian government. Jaitley emphasised that as liberal democracies the resolution was not good for India and Canada, sources said, adding that there was no heated debate over the matter and its not as if that was only thing discussed. A private members motion was moved by Harinder Malhi, the Member of provincial Parliament (equal to an MLA in India), terming the riots as genocide. She belongs to the same Liberal Party of Canada that is led by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Jaitley and Sajjan held delegation-level talks where it was discussed how the Canadian defence policy review was coming up and both sides agreed that defence should become a more important part of the relationship. Canada produces parts and sub-systems of several weapons and military equipment manufactured in the US and Europe. Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 18 Ever heard of the Supreme Court setting aside a high court verdict for its sheer inability to comprehend it due to poor quality of language? Well, the Supreme Court has done it with a judgment of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in a tenant-landlord dispute after the judges could not understand it because of its incomprehensible language. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Such was the quality of the English language used in the verdict that even the lawyers representing both the parties could not understand or assist the judges understand it. Heres a portion of the high courts verdict in question: (The)...tenant in the demised premises stands aggrieved by the pronouncement made by the learned Executing Court upon his objections constituted therebefore...wherewithin the apposite unfoldments qua his resistance to the execution of the decree stood discountenanced by the learned Executing Court. Sample more: However, the learned counsel...cannot derive the fullest succour from the aforesaid acquiesence... given its sinew suffering partial dissipation from an imminent display occurring in the impunged pronouncement hereat wherewithin unravelments are held qua the rendition recorded by the learned Rent Controller... Having failed to understand it despite its best of efforts, a bench of justices MB Lokur and Deepak Gupta set the verdict aside. We will have to set it aside because one cannot understand this, the bench commented, though it did not record it in the written order remanding it back to the high court judge for re-drafting. The dispute started in November 1999 when the landlord filed an eviction suit against his tenant on the ground of non-payment of rent. After 12 years, the landlord got a warrant of possession in 2011. However, it could only be partly executed and the tenant was evicted only from the portion of the rented property where he ran a shop. But the High Court stayed the subordinate courts order and the tenant continued with the possession of the residential premises. In December 2016, the High Court set aside the eviction order holding that the rent amount was received by the landlord who then moved the Supreme Court. Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 18 India today told Canada that a recent resolution passed in the Ontario provincial assembly terming the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as genocide was unreal and exaggerated. Riots had broken out in the aftermath of the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984 across several North Indian cities, particularly Delhi, and more than 3,500 Sikhs had lost their lives. Today, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley during his meeting with Canadian counterpart Harjit Singh Sajjan raised the matter, saying there was disquiet in India over the resolution and it was unreal and exaggerated in its words, sources said. The Ministry of External Affairs had protested to Canada on the genocide terminology and today the matter was taken up at the political level. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Sajjan reportedly told Jaitley that the Canadian government disassociates itself from the resolution passed in the provincial assembly, saying it does not reflect the view of the Canadian government. Jaitley emphasised that as liberal democracies, the resolution was not good for India and Canada, said the sources, adding that there was no heated debate on the matter and its not as if that was the only thing discussed. Jaitley and Sajjan held delegation-level talks where it was discussed how the Canadian defence policy review was coming up and both sides agreed that defence should become a more important part of the relationship. Canada produces parts and sub-systems of several weapons and military equipment manufactured in the US and Europe. New Delhi, April 18 Canadas Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan today emphasised he would not get dragged into local politics, reiterating the visit is aimed at strengthening the bilateral ties with India. I have to be respectful as I represent my government, the visiting minister said, adding that if the Chief Minister (Capt Amarinder Singh) chooses not to meet him, it is his choice. Yet, he said, that would not prevent him from coming to the assistance of the Punjab Government if any work is needed from me. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Stating that he is looking forward to visiting his village in Hoshiarpur and the house in which he was born, the minister said he cherished his childhood memories and Indian roots but remained a proud Canadian. Sajjan, who will travel to Amritsar and Chandigarh during this week, said the relationship between Canada and Punjab was based on people. No one can take away my village from me, he said and preferred not to respond to questions about the Punjab Chief Minister describing him as a Khalistani supporter. The minister said over the years he had been given different labels when he donned the uniform that of a police officer who went after organised crime or as an army officer doing combat duty in Afghanistan. Besides holding talks with Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, the visiting dignitary today delivered a talk on Conflict prevention and peacekeeping in a changing world at the Observer Research Foundation event. TNS New Delhi, April 18 External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday discussed bilateral ties with visiting Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. Shaping our shared historical and cultural linkages. EAM @SushmaSwaraj calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari at @RashtrapatiBhavan, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. Bhandari, who arrived here on Monday on a five-day visit and was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, is slated to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other Indian leaders. This is Bhandaris first visit abroad after assuming office in 2015. She was scheduled to have visited India last May, but the trip was cancelled after the then cabinet in Nepal said it was not adequately prepared for it. During her stay in India, she is also expected to travel to Gujarat and Odisha. PTI New Delhi, April 18 The US on Tuesday reaffirmed Indias designation as a Major Defence Partner and emphasised the importance of its strategic relationship as its National Security Adviser HR McMaster met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held talks with his counterpart Ajit Doval. The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counter-terrorism cooperation, the US embassy said in a press statement after the meetings here. NSA McMaster emphasised the importance of the US-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed Indias designation as a Major Defence Partner, it said and noted that the meetings were productive. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) McMaster, whose trip here marks the first visit by a top official of the Trump Administration, also met Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. The visit was a part of the regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad, the statement said. During the US officials meeting with the Prime Minister, the two sides discussed key bilateral and regional issues, including defence and counter-terrorism cooperation. Doval, Jaishankar and several key officials were present in the meeting that took place at the Prime Ministers residence. Earlier, McMaster and Doval held detailed discussions on Indo-US relations, especially the security aspect of the ties, sources said. The US NSA arrived here on Monday evening from Pakistan where he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and some top officials. In Islamabad, the relations between India and Pakistan figured in McMasters discussions with Sharif. PTI Vibha Sharma Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 18 As AIADMK inner party politics plays out in Tamil Nadu, two non-players in the arena--Congress and BJPare engaged in their own individual battle on the sidelines. While the Congress has accused the Central leadership of the BJP of having a hand in the high drama in Chennai, the saffron party leadership has dismissed the charge, calling it a figment of its imagination. However, there is no confusion in the BJP over whom to support in the two camps that emerged in the AIADMK, post J Jayalalithaa. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) As the two factions--EPS and OPS camps--work out a peace formula, perhaps at the cost of Sasikala, sources talk of tacit support by the BJP for the OPS camp. Trying to spread wings in Tamil Nadu, for the BJP the four-time Chief Minister O Paneerselvam, who also had the blessings of late J Jayalalithaa, is a better option to support than the current CM K Palaniswami, anointed by the current AIADMK general secretary Sasikala. The Mannargudi mafia, as Sasikala and her extended family are referred to, is not acceptable to the BJP, sources say even as party leader Subramanian Swamy claims there is no case against Sasikalas nephew TTV Dinakaran. Dinakaran was appointed AIADMK deputy general secretary by Sasikala hours before she was jailed and is facing several charges. For the BJP, a united AIADMK minus the Manargudi clan, is a better option, say the sources, adding that even the central leadership also is supporting the uniting of two factions and a stable government in Tamil Nadu. Ajay Banerjee Tribune News Service New Delhi, April 18 The Canadian National Minister of Defence Harjit Singh Sajjan is looking forward to visit his ancestral village in Hoshiarpur. "I cherish my memories as a child and my Indian roots but I am also proud Canadian, he said on Tuesday afternoon while speaking at function organised by the think-tank Observer Research Organisation in New Delhi. Before he delved into his topic is 'Conflict prevention and peacekeeping in a changing world', Sajjan spoke about his childhood and how his grandfather had told him that he would be going to Canada. Sajjan was four years of age when his father, then serving with the Punjab Police, opted to move to Canada. Sajjan, is an India born Sikh, who has served in the Canadian armed forces. He was elected from Vancouver South constituency and appointed as Defence Minister. Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi Hoshiarpur, April 18 Union Minister of State Vijay Sampla has written to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) about the case of an Indian, who was allegedly sodomised by four Pakistani nationals in Saudi Arabia. The victims family from Garhshankar has met Sampla in this connection. His family said he (the victim) had lent 1,000 Saudi Riyals to some Pakistanis there. When he asked for his money, they asked him to come to their house and take back the money. When he went there, the accused (4 Pakistani nationals) gave him something to drink that made him unconscious. They sodomised him later, the family alleged. The Saudi police had arrested the accused, but there were released on bail. After being released, they threatened the victim. He fears for his life. We want that him back home, the family said. Hoshiarpur MP Sampla told The Tribune over phone, I have raised the matter with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, seeking help for the victim. I also requested her to help the family bring him home. The minister has assured me that the matter will be raised with the Saudi Arabia Government and justice will be done. Archit Watts Tribune News Service Muktsar, April 18 Punjab Police have booked a Congress worker, his son and three others for allegedly looting, damaging property and criminal intimidation on the complaint of a 28-year-old vegetable vendor who attempted self-immolation in Gidderbaha on Monday evening. The victim, a Dalit, along with a large number of vegetable sellers had on Monday visited the Gidderbaha police station to lodge a complaint, seeking action against the accused. When the cops allegedly did not act on his complaint till about 8 pm, he tried to immolate himself in full public view. While setting himself on fire, Manish had accused some Congress activists, including Rajesh Kumar Bittu Gandhi (husband of a municipal councillor), Radheshyam Chhabra (owner of a shop along his kiosk), Jaspreet Singh (personal assistant of MLA Raja Warring), Binta Arora and Neeta of threatening him. He had been running the kiosk for about a decade. He was taken to Civil Hospital, Gidderbaha, where the doctors declared that he had 40 per cent burns. After first aid, he was referred to Civil Hospital, Bathinda, where Sumeet Jarangal, Deputy Commissioner, Muktsar, and Lakhmir Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Muktsar, visited the place to record his statement. Deepak Kumar, a cousin of Manish, alleged: Our kiosk was situated at the rear of a shop owned by the Municipal Council, but Radheshyam Chhabra forcibly opened a gate of the shop that side a few days ago. Since then, he along with other Congressmen was threatening us to remove the kiosk. When contacted, Rajpal Singh, DSP, Gidderbaha, said: A case has been registered against the father-son duo and three other unidentified people for allegedly vandalising and looting money from the vegetable kiosk. We are trying to nab them. Besides, we are waiting for the directions from the magistrate probing Mondays incident of self-immolation bid to take further action. Raja Warring has refuted the allegations, saying: Neither the victim spoke to me, nor did he complain against any Congress worker of harassing or threatening him. I demand a fair probe into the incident. If someone is found guilty, I will recommend strict action against him. Even Bittu Gandhi has termed it a politically motivated case and denied having any role in it. Deepkamal Kaur Tribune News Service Jalandhar, April 18 Dubbed a Khalistani sympathiser by Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan has refused an invite by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Leader of the Opposition HS Phoolka had invited Sajjan for coffee with the party MLAs at Chandigarh during his visit to the state capital on April 21. Phoolka said, My office had sent an invitation to him via the Canadian High Commission. We have been told that his schedule is already very hectic and such a meet will not be possible. Party insiders said the refusal indicated that Sajjan didnt want to be drawn into a controversy, considering some AAP leaders alleged links with Sikh hardliners. Meanwhile, AAP Chief Whip Sukhpal Singh Khaira said here today that Capt Amarinder had snubbed Sajjan in order to appease his bosses in Delhi following the Ontario Assemblys motion declaring the 1984 riots as genocide. Addressing mediapersons, Khaira said the Ontario motion seemed unacceptable to the Congress high command. I urge the CM to reconsider his unjustified statement borne out of petty considerations and welcome Sajjan to Punjab as a state guest, he added. Aman Sood Tribune News Service Patiala, April 18 Devendra Kumar Sharma, Managing Director of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited, will be the new chairman of Bkakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). The appointment committee of the cabinet has approved the proposal and the Ministry of Power is likely to issue a formal order on Tuesday. The appointment is for a period of three years on deputation basis from the date of assuming charge. Sharma has over 30 years of association with the power sector, viz Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board, and was instrumental in implementing and commissioning of Tata Hydro Power Station in Bhutan which also opened the Indo-Bhutan association in the hydro power sector. Sharma was also associated with the industrial giant Larsen & Toubro for long in its infrastructure development projects. He is recognised for his acumen in implementing power stations in the country. Archit Watts Tribune News Service Muktsar, April 18 The Gidderbaha police have booked a Congress worker, his son and three unidentified persons after a vegetable vendor, Manish Kumar (28), set himself ablaze last evening. The latter, who suffered 40 per cent burns, had accused certain aides of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) chief and Gidderbaha MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring of threatening him and looting his kiosk on Sunday night. As per the FIR, Radheshyam Chhabra, his son Manu, and three others have been booked under Sections 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs 50), 379 (theft), 506 (criminal intimidation), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon) and 149 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object) of the IPC. They are on the run. The police, however, are yet to add Section 306 (abetment of suicide) to the FIR. The Dalit victim and other vegetable sellers had visited Gidderbaha police station yesterday to lodge a complaint, seeking action against the accused. When the cops allegedly did not act on his complaint till about 8 pm, he tried to immolate himself in public. Meanwhile, Sub-Inspector Periwinkle Grewal, SHO, Gidderbaha police station, has been transferred to the Police Lines and replaced by Inspector Baljit Singh. While setting himself afire, Manish had accused some Congress workers, including Rajesh Kumar Bittu Gandhi (husband of a councillor), Radheshyam Chhabra (owner of a shop beside his kiosk), Jaspreet Singh (Raja Warrings personal assistant), Binta Arora (councillor) and Neeta (PPCC secretary) of threatening him. He had been running the kiosk for about a decade. He has named these persons in the statement given to Muktsar ADC Lakhmir Singh, who is probing the case. A Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) from Bathinda, too, had recorded the victims statement last night. Gidderbaha DSP Rajpal Singh said: We are trying to nab the accused. We are also awaiting directions from the magistrate probing the self-immolation bid. Lakhmir Singh said, Tomorrow, I will record the statements of those named by the victim in his complaint and thereafter submit my report to the Deputy Commissioner. Raja Warring and those accused by Manish have already refuted the allegations. Meanwhile, Hardeep Singh Dimpy Dhillon, SADs former halqa incharge from Gidderbaha, announced to lodge a protest at Bharu Chowk in Gidderbaha, seeking action against the Congress workers. We demand immediate arrest of the accused who vandalised and looted Manishs kiosk and drove him to attempt immolation. The new SHO should be transferred as he had lodged a number of fake cases against our workers when he was the SHO at Kotbhai, Dimpy added. Varinder Singh Tribune News Service Toronto, April 18 Canada is no longer a safe haven for the Sikh radicals. India is making all-out efforts to wean away GenX from the ebbing Khalistan movement. While on the one hand, the control of many gurdwaras has passed into the hands of moderates, on the other hand the Indian government was busy striving to bury the hatchet by adopting Confidence Building Measures (CBMs), including, its Community Outreach Programme. These initiatives got a jolt in wake of the official recognition of 1984 events as Genocide by Ontarios Provincial Parliament. Amidst this ongoing battle of wits, Indias Consul General Dinesh Bhatia has emerged as the Architect of the building of the bridges between the new generation of Candaian Sikhs, aging radical elements and the Indian government through his bold personal initiatives. Bhatia was perhaps, the first Indian diplomat who made a series of whirlwind trips to Khalistani controlled gurdwaras -known to have been Out of bounds for Indian diplomats for years. Some of these were based in Greater Toronto Area (GTA), including the one in DixieOntario Sikh Durbar, Mississauga- considered for long as the epicentre of the Khalistan movement in North America. Though, a section of radicals were labelling Bhatias efforts as Indian interference in Sikh affairs, he had also been frequenting other Sikh temples in Brampton, Rexdale, Malton and Scarborough attending one or the other community events amidst opposition by the radical Sikh organisations like the Sikhs for Justice (SFJ). The SFJ had dubbed Bhatias acts as aneffort to intimidate Canadian Sikhs. Such tours by any Indian diplomats could not have been conceived five years ago when these shrines prominently displayed photographs of Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, the Legal advisor of the SFJ had even lodged a complaint against Bhatia with the Canadian Foreign Minister. The recent phenomenon was also indicative of softening of stance of a section of the new generation of Canadian Sikhs who hardly objected to their entry to these Khalistani citadels. What had invoked the ire of the Sikh radicals, including the SFJ, was the recent Indian gesture of issuing 10- year visas to Sikhs who landed in Canada as refugees with their dependents. This move was aimed at improving ties with the powerful Canada-based Sikh community ahead of PM Justin Trudeaus proposed visit to India in January. Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, April 18 A 65-year old farmer was charred to death while trying to extinguish a fire in wheat fields at Kahan Singh Wala village in the district this evening. Standing wheat crop and straw (dry fodder for cattle) on at least 400 acres was burnt at Mahesari, Kahan Singh Wala, Jogewala and its adjoining villages. SDM Charandip Singh said the deceased had been identified as Harbans Singh, nambardar of Kahan Singh Wala village. Driving a tractor, he was dousing the fire by ploughing the fields when the vehicle caught fire. He jumped off, but was burnt to death on the spot. He said, I have sent a report of the incident to the state government through the district magistrate, recommending grant of immediate monetary relief to the kin of the deceased as per rules. Farmers kept the body on the spot and raised slogans against the government, alleging that fire tenders reached the spot more than two hours late despite repeated calls to the fire brigade. They asked the SDM to take legal action against the authorities concerned. Harbans life could have been saved, had the fire tenders reached on time, alleged Ranjit Singh, a local farmer. Inquiries revealed that the fire broke out at 3 pm due to sparking in a thresher, which was being used by farmers to prepare dry fodder and separate grain at Mahesari village. Meanwhile, wheat straw on at least 30 acres at Samalsar village on the Mallke village road and 40 acres at Sekha Kalan village in Baghapurana subdivision was gutted today. At least 6 acres of standing wheat crop was destroyed in a fire due to sparking in the power lines passing above the fields at Dhurkot Ransinh village in Nihalsinghwala subdivision today. Muktsar: Nearly 150 acres of the standing wheat crop and wheat stubble on 200 acres were gutted in various fire incidents in Muktsar district today. At Bhitiwala village, the fire also caused injuries to a farmer Jagmohan Singh, when he was bringing his produce out from the fields on a tractor-trailer. Sources said some sparking from the tractor had triggered the fire. Chandigarh, April 18 Two people suspected to belong to a Europe-based terrorist organisation have been arrested, Punjab Police claimed on Tuesday. Punjab polices Counter Intelligence Unit arrested Palwinder Singh alias Ghodu and Sandeep Kumar alias Kaalu alias Shinda both from Batala, a spokesperson said. Investigations have so far shown that the two were asked to fan communal tensions in the state to create political instability. Police found one 9 mm pistol, along with 2 magazines and 13 live rounds, two 32 bore pistols, along with 4 magazines and 33 live rounds and one 12 bore countrymade gun among ammunition taken from the suspects. Investigators claim that the organisation was controlled by Shaminder Singh alias Sherry, who operated in Germany. Militants from various parts of Europe such as Jagdish Singh Bhoora, originally from village Mohi in Ludhiana, in Belguim were part of the organisation. Several militants are suspected to be facing terrorism charges in Punjab. Police claim they have arrested Sharminder Singhs mother, Jaswinder Kaur, who was found holding two weapons that police claim were to be delivered according to Singhs instructions Kaur claimed that her son frequently returned to India, the last time being in January. Investigations found that Sandeep Kumar had served a sentence in Gurdaspur Jail between 2008 and 2009. It was during this time that he was introduced to Sherry, the spokesperson said. Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi Hoshiarpur, April 18 Although the district administration maintains that it has received no official communication regarding Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjans visit to his village, Bambeli, in the district, local residents are gearing up to welcome the dignitary. Village sarpanch Paramjit Singh said, We are so happy that someone born and brought up in our village is the Defence Minister of Canada. He said the village was ready to honour Sajjan. The latters father, Kundan Singh Sajjan, was in touch with them and other people were also being consulted on the preparations for his welcome and how he should be greeted when he visits his village, Paramjit said. Sajjan, the Liberal Party MP from Vancouver South, is expected to come here on April 20 around noon, but there could be a change in the programme, the sarpanch added. The Defence Ministers sister, Manjeet Kaur, has also reached the village from Canada. On the other hand, the district administration has not received any intimation regarding Harjit Sajjans visit to Hoshiarpur and his village. Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujjwal said, We have no information regarding his visit. The only communication we have received from Jalandhar regarding his visit is that he has no programme in Hoshiarpur. The district is not even mentioned in his tour programme. THE next meeting of the Punjab Legislative Council will be held in the Council Chamber of the Government House, Lahore, on the 24th April, at 10:30 A.M. The business consists of questions, a resolution and discussion and observations on the Budget 1917-18, and if not finished on that day will continue to the next day, the 25th. The resolution which will be moved by the Honble Rai Bahadur Bakshi Sohan Lal recommends to His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor that he may be pleased to order that 30 years shall be the ordinary term for a Land Revenue settlement now in progress or hereafter to be commented in any district of the Punjab. The proposal contained in the resolution does not represent any excessive or extravagant demand. Tribune News Service Dehradun, April 18 Swami Rama Himalayan University (SRHU) celebrated its 4th Foundation Day at Jollygrant near here today. The three-day festival was inaugurated by Uttarakhand Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prakash Pant, who was the chief guest on the occasion. Addressing staff and students, Pant said Swami Rama Himalayan University, which has pioneered in providing health services, had started all education programmes under one roof. Further, he said SRHU was the states only university, where the medical, nursing, para-medical, management, polytechnic and engineering courses were being run under one roof. On this occasion, 146 meritorious students of SRHU were given academic awards by chief guest Prakash Pant. Students of the university performed a colourful cultural programme on the occasion. Dr Vijay Dhasmana, Vice-Chancellor, said the university had been focusing on job-related courses. Yangon, April 18 A total of 285 people were killed and 1,073 others injured across Myanmar during a four-day water festival, media reports said. The deaths were 13 more than that of last year's event. Meanwhile, a total of 1,200 criminal cases were also registered during the water festival, Xinhua news agency reported. Among the deaths, 10 were in Nay Pyi Taw, 44 in Yangon, 36 in Mandalay, 26 in Sagaing region, 11 in Tanintharyi region, 37 in Bago region, 11 in Magway region, 20 in Mon state, 17 in Rakhine, 29 in Shan state and 28 in Ayeyawaddy region. The criminal cases were related to murder, car accident, drug-use, theft, arm possession and group violence respectively. This year's traditional Thingyan water festival ran from Thursday to Sunday. During last year's water festival, a total of 272 people were killed and 1,086 others injured. IANS Guatemala City, April 17 A former Mexican state governor on the run from police for more than five months who has come to symbolise corruption within the countrys ruling party was arrested on Saturday night in Guatemala and now awaits extradition. Javier Duarte, wanted on charges of graft and organized crime, was detained in a hotel lobby in the picturesque lakeside town of Panajachel, 80 miles (130 km) west of Guatemalas capital, the national police said in a statement. Local television footage showed a calm Duarte, formerly governor of Veracruz state, being led by police outside the hotel on Saturday night, his hands cuffed behind his back. Duarte, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, was at the hotel for a couple of days using an assumed identity along with his wife; she has not been charged with any crimes. He wanted to pass as a Mexican tourist, said Stu Velasco, deputy director of Guatemalas national police. Duarte likely entered Guatemala by land sometime in early November, and used private planes within Guatemala while on the run, said Omar Garcia, chief of criminal investigations within Mexicos attorney generals office, at a Sunday news conference at the Mexican embassy in Guatemala. He declined to detail Duartes travels in the Central American country, or who was helping him, but said he had kept a low profile in Panajachel. He didnt leave his hotel room, said Garcia. Duarte, 43, was transferred early on Sunday to the Matamoros prison in downtown Guatemala City, a facility known for holding drug traffickers and former Guatemalan government officials charged with corruption. Rodrigo Sandoval, a Guatemalan lawyer representing Duarte, visited him at the prison later on Sunday morning. I had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Duarte, and he says hes waiting for his extradition and for his lawyers in Mexico. My understanding is that he will accept extradition, said Sandoval. Agriculture and oil-rich Veracruz, on Mexicos Gulf coast, is one of Mexicos largest states, and it has historically been a stronghold of President Enrique Pena Nietos Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI. Elected governor in 2010, Duarte presided over a sharp deterioration in security in the state punctuated by the discovery of mass graves and a spate of killings of journalists during his watch. He has been accused of carrying out massive personal enrichment schemes with illicit resources, potentially totaling in the hundreds of millions of dollars and involving assets in Mexico and abroad. Duarte is charged with using ghost companies to transfer and hide public funds. Once seen as a rising young star within the PRI, Duarte was expelled from its ranks in October as accusations of graft mounted. He resigned as governor that same month, a few weeks before his six-year term was due to end. In June, Miguel Angel Yunes of the opposition National Action Party won a hotly contested race to succeed Duarte in a stinging defeat for the PRI, long the political party of the states governors. He plundered our state, and left us in a financial disaster, said Yunes at a news conference in Boca del Rio near Veracruz city, celebrating the arrest. Yunes said 1.2 billion pesos ($65 million) had been recovered from Duartes illicit diversion of public funds and added that billions of pesos still remain in the possession of Duarte family members, former officials and criminals who posed as businessmen. Several of Duartes top cabinet officials have been arrested on corruption charges, while others are being investigated. Reuters United Nations, April 18 North Korea is preparing for "any mode of war" triggered by US military action, Pyongyang's envoy to the United Nations warned on Monday, saying his country would respond to a missile or nuclear strike "in kind." The statement from North Korean Deputy Ambassador Kim In Ryong followed warnings from US Vice-President Mike Pence to Pyongyang not to test US resolve following another missile test. "If the United States dares opt for a military action (...) the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the Americans," Kim told a news conference. "We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs," said Kim. North Korea has taken "self-defensive" measures in response to US threats of military action and these reflect Pyongyang's determination to "counter nukes and ICBM in kind," he said, referring to intercontinental ballistic missiles. Pence told a news conference in South Korea that "the era of strategic patience is over" after North Korea test-fired another missile as fears mounted that it may be preparing a sixth nuclear test. Pyongyang is seeking to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five nuclear tests, two of them last year. US President Donald Trump's decision at the weekend to send the Carl Vinson carrier-led navy strike group to the Korean peninsula shows that the "US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase," said Kim. The North Korean deputy envoy asserted that Pyongyang would hold the United States "wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions." US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will next week chair a special meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea. AFP Beirut, April 18 Air strikes by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group killed 20 civilians in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor province, a monitor said on Tuesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths came in two separate incidents on Monday. It also reported 10 civilians, among them nine children, were killed in a suspected Russian air strike today on a town in the rebel-controlled province of Idlib. The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used. The Britain-based monitor said a US strike on Monday night on the Deir Ezzor town of Albu Kamal had killed 13 civilians, among them five children. The strike also killed three members of Islamic State, which controls the town by the Syria-Iraq border, the monitor said. Earlier on Monday, a US-led coalition strike killed seven civilians, including a child, in the village of Husseinyeh, the monitor said. The US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes against Islamic State in Syria since 2014 and is providing air support for a Kurdish-Arab alliance advancing on the jihadist bastion of Raqa. Last month, the coalition said its campaign against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq had unintentionally killed at least 220 civilians, but monitors say the real number is far higher. Most of the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor, in Syria's east, is held by the Islamic State, including parts of the provincial capital, Deir Ezzor city. The jihadists have besieged the remaining government-held parts of Deir Ezzor city, trapping civilians inside with limited access to supplies. More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. AFP Tokyo, April 18 The US will not relent until it achieves its objective of ensuring the Korean Peninsula is free of nuclear weapons, Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday while visiting Japan. After meetings with PM Shinzo Abe and other leaders, Pence said President Donald Trump was confident that economic and diplomatic pressure has a chance of compelling North Korea to cooperate. It is our belief by bringing together the family of nations with diplomatic and economic pressure we have a chance of achieving a freeze on the Korean Peninsula, Pence said. We will not rest and will not relent until we obtain the objective of a denuclearised Korean Peninsula, he said. Pence struck a stern tone after arriving at a US naval base from South Korea. We appreciate the challenging times in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocations from across the Sea of Japan, he said. We are with you 100 per cent. The US and Japan also launched economic talks that Pence said could result in a bilateral trade deal. Agencies What looks like a Chinese civilian-design tractor-trailer carries a North Korean missile meant for submarine launching. Note the sailors sitting stiffly at attention on the platform behind the cab. Photos: KCNA and wstech.com As a long-ago soldier, I'm intently watching news stories about North Koreas missiles, some of them launched and some paraded through the streets of the countrys capital. And as a truck guy, I'm wondering where the nasty Commies got the trucks and trailers that carry the fearsome weapons, and just what kind of vehicles they are. Turns out Im not the only one. On the internet there are reports that the trucks and tractor-trailers were made by friendly Commies, in China, with yikes! American and German powertrain components in at least one of them. And the trucks themselves are sparking discussions about breaches of non-proliferation treaties among Communist and western nations. The camouflage-blue rig is carrying a modest-sized missile reportedly designed for launching from submarines. On a platform behind the cab are white-uniformed sailors sitting stiffly at attention with rifles at arms length a seated parade rest posture, Id call it. I could find no information on the vehicles specifications, but the tractor looks like a Chinese civilian-type based on European designs. The huge eight-axle trucks supposedly carrying new intercontinental ballistic missiles (several sources think the big canisters were empty) are definitely Chinese, according to several articles I found. The Wanshan WS51200 chassis are 16x12s (eight axles, six of them driven), resembling (but not related to) Oshkosh heavy equipment transporters used by the American military. Wanshan sold the trucks to North Korea for hauling timber, and the North Koreans illegally converted them to military use, Reuters reports. North Koreans converted Wanshan 16x12 trucks to missile erector-launchers, reports say. Powertrains include Cummins KTTA-700 and ZF automatic transmissions. Wanshan is a specialist in off-road military vehicles, according to the Wikipedia page. The builder has looked for civilian uses for its military trucks, and this photo shows a chassis painted in un-military red. Civilian version of Wanshan's WS51200 is meant for off-road hauling of timber, ore and fuel. But paint it olive-drab and outfit it with an erector-launch body, and the rough-terrain truck becomes a military threat. To expand a bit on componentry: The WS51200's engine is a 700-hp Cummins KTTA-19, twin turbocharged and aftercooled with a 19-liter (1,161-cubic-inch) displacement. Its based on the KT-450 and KTA-600, which Cummins sold here as Big Power truck engines in the 1970s (I attended the KTs introduction in Columbus, Indiana, in 1973). Like other American and European companies, Cummins has joint ventures in China. Several years ago it introduced an ISG diesel thats since been produced there. The ISG forms the basis for the new 11.9L X12 diesel destined for North America and to be built in Jamestown, New York. The big truck's WSK440+16S251 automatic transmission is from Germany-based ZF, which also does business in China (and makes and sells automotive components in the U.S.). The Chinese market is huge and any world-class company worth its mettle (and metal) needs to be there to survive in the global marketplace. China may be a potential enemy to us, but it is also a huge trading partner. To paraphrase an old saying, where goods cross borders, soldiers do not and President Trump is asking the Chinese to lean on the North Koreans to back off from their belligerency. Now, lets lighten up. We know that on Easter Sunday, the day after their big parade, the North Koreans tried to test a missile but it exploded on launch. But, who knew that a missile fell off a trailer not long before that, sending their Dear Leader into a rage? The Daily Cardinal, the University of Wisconsins student-run newspaper, did. Ha ha, the Cardinal has a writer who's a real spoofmeister. Deborah Lockridge The Mid-America Trucking Show. For decades, a sign of spring as sure as flowering trees and late-season cold snaps. Its undergone some changes the last couple of years but still draws tens of thousands of drivers, owner-operators, small fleet owners and trucking fans to the Kentucky Fair and Expo Center in Louisville. Hundreds of makers and purveyors of everything from belt buckles to trucks and trailers are there, too, enticing visitors into booths with branded swag, games of all types, and attractive women dressed in everything from short shorts to long formal gowns. Truckers, often with kids and dogs in tow, check out the latest trucks, trailers, and electronics, buy tires or radios or trailer tie-downs, attend seminars and concerts, and get autographs signed by race car drivers, trucking radio show hosts, and TV reality show stars. Last year, no truck makers exhibited, preferring to move to an every-other-year schedule on opposing years to the big biennial IAA international commercial vehicle show in Hannover, Germany, in September. Some came back to MATS this year; others are waiting for the new biennial North American Commercial Vehicle Show in Atlanta this September. That very dynamic points to two things that struck me about the show this year. On one hand is the dichotomy between the increasingly global nature of many of the businesses that supply trucking and on the other, the very evidently patriotic, made-in-America imaging at the Louisville show. Its an increasingly global world, but made in America is still a big selling point. Kenworth highlighted a T680 branded as The Drivers Truck, with red white and blue and Made in the USA graphics. Mack emphasized that it is the only heavy-duty truck maker that can say that every truck we build and sell and service is still built here in the U.S. At the same time, however, on the show floor, we saw non-U.S. purveyors of everything from replacement parts and tires to reefer units and trailers. And a second dynamic that stood out to me was that here, the driver is king, whereas the NACV show will be aimed squarely at medium to large fleets. In Louisville, Kenworth and Peterbilt were at the show with booths just as large as in the past. Kenworth explained that while in recent years it has increased its business with larger fleets, this show speaks to their core base of the owner-operator and small fleet owner. Daimler Trucks North America was not there as a corporate brand, but Freightliners Team Run Smart was there, with two of its business-savvy owner-operators who could share real-world advice on owning and operating the newest Freightliner trucks. And Western Star and Mack, both popular brands with a certain breed of owner-operator and vocational hauler, were there as well. We noticed quite a few inexpensive electronic logging devices aimed at drivers and owner-operators, in advance of the mandated deadline this December. One company, One20, has dubbed its ELD the F-ELD. They say the F stands for fully compliant and free, but their advertising emphasized the basic message that The mandate may suck, but your ELD doesnt have to. The driver-centric message was there in discussions about autonomous vehicle technology as well. Despite the visions of some startup companies that are coming at the technology without a trucking background, representatives from Bendix and Kenworth emphasized that a true driverless truck is not a near-future reality. Bendixs future tech wizard Fred Andersky thinks that for the immediate future, faster communication between various electronic systems on trucks and the advent of more powerful and more integrated safety systems will develop into a series of automated steps that drivers and fleets alike will approve of on the path to more autonomous technologies. The driver is still key in all of these systems, he stressed. And that will be a reality for a long time to come. Or, as Kenworth Chief Engineer Patrick Dean put it, Kenworth sees a place for the driver in trucks, full stop. Thank you! You've reported this item as a violation of our terms of use. This content was contributed by a user of the site. If you believe this content may be in violation of the terms of use, you may report it. Trumpler hosts second training course in China China Specialty leather chemicals manufacturer Trumpler recently hosted its second leather training course in China in collaboration with the Sichuan University. Held in Chengdu, five universities participated in the event, which was designed to teach and motivate the countrys leather technicians. This is the second time Trumpler has organised the training course; as previously reported by ILM, in March 2016 around 20 leather technology students from three different universities took part in the training course held at Jiaxing University. This time, the training course brought together 26 students who are specialising in leather technology. In addition to Sichuan University, the students hailed from Jiaxing University, Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, Qilu University of Technology and Qiqihar University. Some students undertook a 60-hour train journey to attend the course. Held over six days, the course covered various aspects of leather manufacture from raw hides and skins to finished leather. Bovine and ovine raw materials and recipes were provided by Trumpler for processing from the raw, wet-blue and crust state. Around 12 Trumpler technicians and scientists were present throughout the week, including from Germany and Spain, to assist with the recipes, products and explanations. Trumpler China is so pleased to host such a distinctive event and to inspire the next generation of leather technologists and scientists. We look forward to welcoming many of the students into the leather community in the future and to more information sharing and support events, said Trumpler adding that a number of the Universities have already requested to host the event in 2018 and discussions will commence in due course. Chances for severe weather, including half-dollar sized hail, rain, heavy winds and lightning, are predicted to precede a cold front moving through the area Wednesday. The National Weather Service predicts the severe weather chances will start after midnight Wednesday. Winds are expected to reach up to 60 miles per hour and a quarter inch of rainfall is predicted. The marginal risk for severe storms is predicted to effect northern Oklahoma, northwest of Interstate 44, according to the weather service. The severe weather potential will persist throughout Wednesday and Thursday. Severe weather potential will subside Friday as drier air arrives Saturday. Risk of flooding will follow the severe weather. A flood warning persists Tuesday into the evening for part of Osage County. Bird Creek in Osage County flooded Monday and persists into Tuesday. The Bird Creek flooding shut down parts of Oklahoma 20 in Osage and Tulsa counties overnight Tuesday after heavy rainfall throughout Sunday and Monday. The flooded portions of the road have since reopened, according to the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. Bird Creek near Sperry, Oklahoma is expected to rise above the flood stage, 21 feet, Tuesday morning and fall below that by Tuesday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service flood warning. The weather service advises that the same creek in the area of Owasso may reach near the flood stage Tuesday. The flood advisory for that area is in effect until Wednesday afternoon. GS Media and the evolving linking regime Did we just wreck the Internet? On 8 September 2016 the Court of Justice of the European Union gave its long-anticipated decision in the case GS Media BV v Sanoma Media Netherlands BV and Others (the GS Media case), the latest episode in the line of hyperlinking cases, a subset of the convoluted CJEU case law concerning communication to the public under the InfoSoc Directive. Introducing a new test for linker liability, and applying this test in the case, the court's finding was that GS Media had effected a communication to the public. As explained by the court, we now know that hyperlinking to protected freely available works can, indeed, constitute copyright infringement if certain conditions are met. What were the circumstances that led to the court case? Has the risk of copyright infringement by content creators, internet users and publishers increased as consequence of the decision? And is the law concerning hyperlinking now finally settled? These are some of the topics that will be discussed in the guest lecture by Antti Harmanmaa, head of IPR at Sanoma on the 24th of April at the University of Southampton School of Law. Those who are not members of the University of Southampton will need to email Kat Eleonora Rosati at e.rosati@soton.ac.uk . Youth participation Easter (holiday...) Kat. Each year young people (18-30 years old) residing in all European countries are encouraged to proactively represent the European youth throughout the EuroDIG process. There are funds available for travel and hotel costs for a limited number of applicants. This year there will be two separate programmes: YOUthDIG - is the Youth Dialogue on Internet Governance focusing on the EuroDIG agenda and prepare young people for their participation at EuroDIG; and Copyfighters is organised by Young Pirates of Europe focusing on a modern copyright reform. S ee more information here . Join OxFirst or a free webinar on April 20, 2017 - 15.00 BST -- The approach of the European Patent Office to digitalization and the Internet of Things. With the Internet of Things promising significant job creation and growth rates, the question arises what patent offices can do to promote competitiveness in the digital space. In this talk Prof. Yann Meniere, Chief Economist of the EPO, discusses the EPO's major steps in ensuring high patent quality and fostering transparency in this field. Registration can be done here Attention! Only registrations undertaken with professional email addresses will be accepted (i.e. registrations from yahoo, gmail or similar private accounts will not be accepted). The EPO offers grants for academic research The 10th of April marks the launch of the new EPO Academic Research Programme offering financial support for academic research on patent-related matters. The programme will award grants of up to EUR 100 000 to winning proposals. This initiative will complement the EPO's long-standing commitment to support research on patent data through its Worldwide Patent Statistical Database (PATSTAT). The deadline for proposals is 15 June 2017. See more details here Edmond state Rep. Ryan Martinez asked police officers if he should call the governor when they arrested him last week for suspension of driving under the influence, his second such offense since 2014. he pregnant, homeless 16-year-old sat in the dark on a curb in a north Tulsa park with a phone in hand and a choice to make. She could call 911 for her early contractions, emergency mental health workers for her suicidal thoughts or a dating service to prostitute for a room. It's not the first time Magenia Parish has faced that decision. "I'm more suicidal right now than in pain," she sobs to her 30-year-old fiance. "Watch it," he says. "Please don't say you're suicidal. Not in front of me." Moments earlier Parish was having a breakdown. She has no shelter, no money, no bus pass, only Pringles and canned chili to eat and a delicate pregnancy. At 21 weeks into her pregnancy, Parish has called for an ambulance and visited an emergency room at least 20 times. "I can't say my life's worth living right now," she said. "I'm throwing up my hands. Nobody knows I'm a kid until I tell them. I believe in God and pray and ask for help, but he doesn't seem to listen." Parish has been on the Tulsa streets for nearly three years. She is one of more than about 1,500 homeless teens in the city, according to Youth Services Executive Director Jim Walker. Walker said this population is so invisible that most residents have a hard time believing it's a serious issue. Of the homeless youths, about 30 percent have aged out of foster care, another 30 percent have been kicked out of their homes because of sexual orientation and the rest are a combination of factors, Walker said. Some parents are fed up helping the teens through mental health needs or ask them to leave at age 18 because they can't afford to take care of them, Walker said. In Tulsa, the number of homeless youths grew during the recession by up to 20 percent, he said. Sixteen year old Magenia Parish, pregnant and homeless, finally gets drinking water at a gas station. "In my day as teenagers, we were still considered kids," Walker said. By The Numbers: Tulsa Youth Homeless 1,500 - Number of homeless youths living on Tulsa's streets, as estimated by Youth Services of Tulsa 81 - Number of homeless 18- to 24-year-olds counted by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development on Jan. 30 16 - Number of homeless 13- to 17-year-olds counted on Jan. 30 28 - Number of 13- to 17-year-olds in transitional living, according to HUD 462 - Number of 13- to 17-year-olds in emergency shelters, according to HUD Youth Services drop-in center Located across from the Youth Services of Tulsa headquarters at 311 S. Madison Ave. Open noon to 5 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesday and Fridays Serves youths ages 16 to 24. Offers basic services such as access to laundry, online access, clothes closet, lockers, showers and a hot meal. For fiscal year 2012 329: Youths served 43: Percent female 57: Percent male 64: Percent white 24: Percent black 6: Percent American Indian 5: Percent Hispanic 20: Average age 272: Youths served to date for fiscal year 2013 "Today, they are almost thought of as dangerous adults. Most people believe they need to protect themselves from them rather than seeing them as kids who need protecting." Homeless youths are created by a convergence of societal factors that are out of a child's control. There is trauma early in life, limited access to health and mental health care, a lack of education opportunities or achievement and serious disruptions in their family lives, said Community Service Council Associate Director Jim Lyall said. "As social, health and economic conditions decline for many Oklahomans, it should not be surprising to see an upward trend in the number of homeless youth and young adults," Lyall said. "These conditions may also be indicators for continued growth in future adult homelessness." Mosquitos, poison ivy The meltdown started when a man Parish met through that dating service dropped the couple off in the woods near Yale Avenue and Pine Street with a $31 tent, machete, three bottles of water and some snacks. Hacking through the brush, they find a space to camp but aren't sure how to put up the tent. Mosquitos are biting, a deafening train rolls nearby and the heat is making Parish sick. She missed the free meals at the shelter and has eaten only chips and water. She has her antidepressants but lost her vitamins. Magenia Parish, a homeless 16 year old, collapses in her tent after preparing a campsite near East Pine Street and North Yale Ave. "If I had prenatal vitamins, my baby would be eating healthier than me," she said. Getting frustrated by the tent and finding themselves surrounded by poison ivy, Parish wants to leave. "To where?" said her fiance. "To bloody where? I don't even know where we're at." They end up walking about a mile to a convenience store for water, where a woman lets them have a cup for free. Trekking back in the middle of Pine Street, Parish decides she cannot go any farther. "I'm hurting," she says. "I shouldn't be hurting like this. I feel like everything is cramping up." Parish waits in the park while her fiance goes to retrieve items from the camp. That's when she hits her wall. "We're both fighting to survive," she said while crying. "I want this to end. But, (her fiance) is the only one telling me I'm pretty, telling me I'm smart, telling me it is going to be OK. My hope is we can get through it. I'm going to just keep going." She doesn't want to attract the attention of law enforcement. "All Tulsa police want to do is put me in the back of car and take me to the youth shelter and put him in handcuffs," she said. Parish decides to call EMSA, hoping for an overnight stay at a hospital. At 21 weeks into her pregnancy, it is at least the 20th time she has called for an ambulance and visited an emergency room. Sometimes, she gets her wish and doctors have her stay overnight. This time, she was released to the streets at 4 a.m. "This the hardest night we've had," she said. "My mom tells me I could go to schools and tell them not to do drugs or giving up. I can't even say that about myself. How could I tell other teens not to do drugs or give up when I can't do that?" Two days later, she was back at the emergency room with contractions and expressions of suicidal and homicidal thoughts, leading to a two-night stay under a psychiatric watch. Medicaid covers the costs. Raped at 13 Parish spent her childhood in Missouri not knowing her father. She was drinking alcohol young and was raped at age 13 while intoxicated. It is one of four rapes in her life, she says. That's when she began cutting herself, had seizures and was put on a suicide watch in a mental health clinic. That year, her mother drove her from Kansas City and dropped her off in Tulsa with her father, who is occasionally homeless, living in camps or cheap motels. Parish was never enrolled in Tulsa schools and ran away almost immediately. On the streets, she has done methamphetamine and smoked marijuana. She said the Oklahoma Department of Human Services has made at least three contacts with her father on child neglect complaints. Sixteen year old Magenia Parish, pregnant and homeless, walks to look for drinking water. "My dad puts me down and doesn't care how I feel," she said. "He tends to disrespect my fiance and that upsets me." Her mother remarried, has three other children and lives with her grandparents in Missouri. Parish said her mother knows about the homelessness but not the prostitution. She said her grandparents have "disowned" her because of the pregnancy. "It's killing my mom, but she can't do anything to help me," Parish said. "My mom loves me and was hoping I didn't live like my dad. "Since I was little, I've raised myself. It wasn't until I got out on my own that I felt safe enough to act like a kid." 'A way to live' Parish carries two notebooks. One is a journal, filled with curly-cue handwriting of her thoughts and dreams with hearts around the names of her fiance and baby. It has poems and a letter to her unborn baby, stating repeatedly, "You are loved." The other has appointments, addresses and the first names and numbers of the men who have called her dating service. Parish's dating service message details her body and ends with "call if you want to play." When she returns a call, it's a negotiation, so they know it's more than a date. Her growing pregnant belly doesn't stop the men, and none know her real age. Magenia Parish gets on a bus that will take her to the Drop In Center to do laundry. "Prostitution is always the last resort," she said. "It gets frustrating to have to do it, and I get depressed. But we see it as a way to live right now." Most of the time, sex is in exchange for a motel room. "I never ask them to pay money, but we get a room and he leaves afterward. Then, we have a room for the night," she said. "Some guys get paranoid about getting a room so they'll take me to their house and pay me." The rate is between $60 and $75 and she gets about 20 calls a month. This didn't happen overnight. One day a 45-year-old truck driver offered to take Parish with him to Texas in exchange for sex. She didn't think of it as prostitution, and he didn't know she was barely 15. "He was respectful of me, and I wanted the adventure," she said. "He bought me clothes and food and brought me back to Oklahoma." When she returned, her dates evolved into prostitution. It's dangerous. "I've taught myself to think of it as being with (her fiance)," she said. "He isn't aggressive. I close my eyes and just let it happen. When a guy is too rough, I seize. My fiance deals with my seizing afterward." She said her fiance stays close in case the dates get too rough. "I'm about to lose him because of it," she said. "He said he doesn't like me doing it, but he won't leave me over something so small. It's very stressful." DHS may take baby The baby is her source of hope right now. She said the father is her fiance, whom she met through Facebook and was pregnant after two months of dating. Her fiance, who asked not to be named, was deemed incapacitated/disabled by a Missouri court in 2007. He receives a monthly Supplemental Security Income allowance from Social Security through a state-appointed guardian and has been diagnosed with the mental capacity of a 16-year-old. "That upsets me because he's not like that," Parish said "He is the only adult who gives a s--- about me." This is his second child. He has given her a simple silver band as an engagement ring. He wants to contest the Missouri court order on his disability to retain control of his finances to support Parish and the baby. "She's a risk I'm willing to take," he said. "If you love somebody so much, it's worth it." Social workers have warned her of the possibility that DHS may be called when she gives birth. Parish said she has made every prenatal appointment and stopped taking drugs or drinking alcohol after finding out she was pregnant. She is confident the baby will lead to a better life. "Hopefully, by the time I have the baby, my fiance will have his SSI and a place to go and call home." $40 motel room The two spend a lot of time walking. They spend time near the 31st Street and Memorial Drive intersections, taking the bus downtown for food and medical services. While Parish does laundry at the Youth Services drop-in center, her fiance might be at the downtown library or adult shelter. Her fiance sells his plasma for money, which brings $50 for the first four visits then drops down to $25. A motel room costs $40 a night near Admiral Boulevard and Memorial Drive. The couple say shelters won't take them because of their age difference, with her fiance being too old for the youth shelter and Parish being too young for adult shelters. But social workers say they have been offered shelter but haven't accepted it. Parish said life on Tulsa's streets is "extremely dangerous." Magenia Parish feels the hair of her friend Laura Brown while waiting for a bus at the Denver Avenue bus station downtown. "It's more dangerous for younger people, who tend to be taken advantage of," she said. "A lot of youngsters like myself need help, a place to stay. We put up with a lot of abuse for a place to stay." The couple sometimes panhandles for cash. "Being pregnant actually helps with that," she said. Parish had an appointment at a program that would have helped with obtaining a GED and job training. She skipped it. "Everything is day by day," she said. "Every time I plan ahead, it tends to collapse." One very effective way of curbing Syria is to disrupt the Islamic Republics airlifts to the country, and this can easily be achieved with sanctions on the civil aviation sector. Despite the Iran nuclear deal signed in 2015, the US still has the possibility of using sanctions against Iran regarding its support for terrorism. So far though, this method has not been used as much as it should have been. The Iranian regime is carrying out a large number of airlifts not just to Syria, but also to its militias in the region, e.g. Hezbollah. The Iran nuclear deal actually simplified the regimes support of Assad in Syria because it allowed Iran to purchase aircraft. Experts believe that this should be re-sanctioned with immediate effect not least so that the countrys commercial airliners are not used to fuel the civil war in Syria. A handful of Syrian and Iranian commercial airlines do regular military airlifts to Syria. This has been happening since 2011. Records show that from the day the nuclear deal was implemented in January 2016 until the end of last month there have been almost 700 flights to Syria from Iran, and only 6 of them were by Irans air force. Six years ago Mahan Air and Iran Air were blacklisted by the Department of the Treasury for cooperating with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) by carrying out these airlifts. Mahan Air, because of its ongoing support for terrorism, is still under US sanctions, but Iran Air has had its sanctions lifted despite its support for the IRGC. Iran Air was delisted for political reasons including the nuclear deal, but there is no evidence to suggest that the company has cleaned up its practices. Iran Air has commercial flights to Damascus on a regular basis. There are two flights a week despite the country being in the midst of a war. This is one indication that it is still involved in terrorist activities. Furthermore, the flights between Iran and Damascus cannot be purchased online and Damascus is not listed as a destination on its website. Tellingly, the flights sometimes go via Abadan which is a major logistical hub for the IRGC. There is more than enough evidence that would justify sanctioning Iran Air again and the United States should stop the sale of more aircraft to Tehran. Details about the Boeing and Airbus deals are very vague, so Congress should demand transparency. As it has been proven previously that Iran responds well to sanctions, now is the time to impose more to curb the terrorist transfers of military forces and weapons. Tulsa World Multimedia Producer Mike Simons Mike Simons graduated from Union High School and went on to attend the University of Central Oklahoma receiving a bachelors degree in journalism/photographic arts in 1995. He worked at the Tulsa World from 1995-2000. During that time he was named Photographer of the Year by the Oklahoma Press Association in 1996, and received the Sweepstakes Award for photography by the Associated Press in 1996 and 2000. In 2000, he became a freelance photojournalist based out of Cincinnati. He worked for many national and international publications, but in 2006 -- after fighting homesickness for more than 5 years he was able to return to Oklahoma and the Tulsa World. His passion is storytelling, and new advances in video cameras and online delivery have made it possible to tell peoples stories in a more comprehensive way than ever before. Contact: mike.simons@tulsaworld.com, 918-699-8814 @mikesimonsphoto The Tulsa World Magazine is published six times annually. Subscribers will receive the magazine in a Saturday Tulsa World six times a year. Order it online at our online store. Purchase it in person at these locations: Ida Red, 3336 S. Peoria Ave. 7114 S. Sheridan Road 11005 E. 41st St. Tulsa World downtown office, 315 S. Boulder Ave. The following Reasor's locations: 1100 E. Kenosha St . 4909 E. 41st St. 3328 E. 51st S Mecca Coffee Co, 1330 E. 41st St Boomtown Tees, 114 S. Elgin Ave. 1885 S. Yale Ave. 2429 E. 15th St. 446 S. Elm St., Jenks Follow us : Subscribe to the Tulsa World Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device. SBS screens Australian documentary The Surgeon and the Soldier which follows the friendship between Iraqi refugee doctor Munjed Al Muderis who helps ex-soldier Michael Swain to walk again. Directed by award-winning director, screenwriter and producer David Roach (Red Obsession, Beneath Hill 60), The Surgeon and the Soldier is an inspirational new Australian documentary following Iraq-born Australian refugee and pioneering surgeon Dr Munjed Al Muderis as he fights to help ex-British soldier Michael Swain walk again. In 2009, at just 20 years old, Swain lost both his legs in a horrific landmine explosion while serving his country in Afghanistan. Swain faced the rest of his life confined to a wheelchair. Dr Al Muderis has also seen the horrors of war. Born in Iraq, the surgeon fled his home in 1999 after refusing to oblige to Saddam Husseins brutal orders to maim rebel soldiers. A decade to the day before Swains tragedy, Munjed landed on Christmas Island after a perilous journey seeking asylum, before being granted an Australian visa. He is now an internationally well-respected pioneering surgeon and humanitarian, who has helped many amputees regain their mobility. Now the two are joined for a battle to push the boundaries of science. The pair form a unique bond as Al Muderis works to develop never-before used bionic legs facing controversy in the medical fraternity and meeting scientific challenges along the way. The Surgeon and the Soldier is a story about overcoming the odds, the incredible work done by refugees in Australia, and the countrys position at the forefront of medical science. I belong to Australia, Dr Al Muderis says. Australia is home and because of Australia, I do what Im doing. The Surgeon and the Soldier is a dramatic at times confronting document of this remarkable journey, following two remarkable people who form a special alliance to bring mobility to those who thought they would never walk again. 8.30pm Monday, 24 April on SBS. This might be a bit of fun. After watching tonights episode of Wentworth, in which Liz (Celia Ireland) heads to court, I got a surprise when the credits rolled. I hadnt recognised this actor playing the judge. Thought I might see if anybody else can pick it? Youll need to know your nostalgia well. 8:30pm tonight on Showcase. Former Weekend Sunrise news presenter Talitha Cummins will be a guest on Studio 10 today, less than 2 weeks after settling an unfair dismissal case against Seven. She joins Sarah Harris, Joe Hildebrand, Jo Casamento and Susie Elelman today. Executive producer Rob McKnight told News Corp, Talitha and Sarah are old mates and we all think shes great talent. Shes a perfect fit for Studio 10 as shes not afraid to open up about her personal life and has strong opinions on hot topics. Cummins claimed Seven ended her regular gig with them during maternity leave, although the network claimed she was a casual employee, and not entitled to a return-to-work guarantee. The case was settled out of court. Studio 10 airs 8:30am weekdays on TEN. Netflix has grown slower than it expected in the first three months of the year, adding 4.95 million new subscribers in the quarter, fewer than the 5.2 million it had forecast. In the US, the firm added a third fewer new members than the same period a year ago, while overseas members fell 22%. Netflix blamed the drop partly on shifting some of its popular shows to the second quarter of the year. The firm said its House of Cards series, which last year debuted in the first quarter but for this year has been pushed into the second quarter, was the main reason for the lower-than-expected subscriber growth. Netflix said it still expected to add 8.15 million new members in total for the first half of the year, just below the 8.42 it added in the first half of last year. Source: BBC Many in the West are wondering which choice would be the lesser of two evils and what the consequences would be on society, the rest of the Middle East and the rest of the world. During Rouhanis time in office, the Iran nuclear deal was negotiated in 2015 with the United States and other world powers. Despite this, a large number of fundamentalist activities were carried out in the Islamic Republic. In fact, probably some of the worst behaviour in three decades was displayed. For example, almost 3,000 people have been executed in the country under the rule of Rouhani. This is more than any other time in recent history in Iran and they were often a punishment for crimes such as insulting religion. During Rouhanis tenure, Iran has tangled itself up in three wars in the region in Yemen, Iraq and Syria. The state media has also reported that his government has advanced strategic weapons development more in the past few years that has been done in the past ten years. And this is the president that the West refers to as moderate. Raisi too has made a career out of supressing the Iranian people. For decades he has been involved in presuming the policies of the Iranian regime and being a faithful follower of the Supreme Leaders interpretation of Islam. No matter which of these men win the 19th May elections, the situation in Iran will still be the same the regimes support of terrorism will continue and the people will still be supressed. The pursuit of nuclear weapons will still be a priority for the Iranian regime and human rights violations will still be central to its policies. What will make a difference is the reaction and treatment of the United States and the wider West. If policies are adopted to end Irans meddling the regime could face a disastrous blow that would end the theocratic regime. The missile strike on the Syrian regimes airbase earlier in the month was a good start. When he first arrived in Melbourne there were spook similarities for actor Justin Theroux with the Australian experiences for his Leftovers character Kevin Garvey. Wrapping the third and final season of the drama about the disappearance of 2% of the worlds population in Melbourne, Theroux found the experience slightly unsettling. But he declined to detail the similarities for fear of revealing spoilers. They literally happened to me in my hotel suite in Melbourne. There were all these weird parallels. I cant really say what they are but (when I looked at the script) I said That happened to me on my first day in Melbourne! he explains. Some very specific things that went wrong for Kevin Garvey when he arrived, went wrong for me. Nobody has wanted a Selfie yet! Theroux and The Leftovers cast shot from July September 2016, relocating the HBO drama after previous seasons in New York and Austin, Texas. Producer Damon Lindelof and Mimi Leder were heavily influenced by Australian new wave films, Walkabout, Wake in Fright, Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave. The Leftovers based its third season -both on and off-screen- in Australia for reasons which will become evident as the story unfolds. After S1 and S2 I learned to trust Damon and Mimi, says Theroux. They were both saying This is where we should go, so I tried not to be a stick in the mud! The experience of the previous two locations had been so rewarding, so there was no reason to see that it wouldnt be the same. When we spoke early in his shoot, Theroux was missing the US summer but enjoying a shift from fan attention that follows him in the US. Aussies were far more relaxed about his celebrity. They say something very sweet or nice and then shuffle along. As opposed to the US where they just point a camera at you. (But here) nobody has wanted a Selfie yet! he laughs. Season 3 takes place four years after the events in Season 2 and nearly seven years since The Departure. Both the Garvey and Murphy families are desperately grasping for systems of belief to help better explain that which defies explanation. But something big is about to happen as the series barrels headlong towards its climax. Kevin Garvey has also settled since the events of previous seasons. Theroux had to question some of the shows heightened scenes in order to play them truthfully. Am I seeing things? Am I suffering a schizophrenic breakdown? he asks. But Damon always said, No, this is actually happening. I think in his mind the worst has already happened to him. Its like surviving a crash you either become more frightened by it or you settle and say Life is good. I think thats where we pick him up. What I love about the show. is that it mimics your life more than you think, with its spiritual elements. Its completely universal in that everyone has to grapple with How long are we here for? Whats the point? Whats the purpose of grinding on? Damons just chosen to shine this light on it, in an uncomfortable way, at times. A lot of people just hum along going through life not examining anything beneath the surface. But eventually we all have an existential element either early on, mid-life or late in life. The stuff that Damon writes is so vastly different to the things I write. Theroux is a writer himself, having penned screenplays Zoolander 2, Rock of Ages, Iron Man 2 and Tropic Thunder. But on The Leftovers, he lets Damon Lindelof take the reins as showrunner on a drama based on a Tom Perrotta novel. The stuff that Damon writes is so vastly different to the things I write. These scripts come in so perfect, that you really just want to service them as an actor. I might ask to change a word or drop a line .but nothing thematically, he continues. We never have that argument. He knows my character as well as I know my character. Sometimes better, obviously. Its that wonderful thing where you get scripts and you start to feel like youre being pushed in the direction where you wouldnt have anticipated you would go, but it makes total sense. Or he puts you in an uncomfortable or compromising position where you think it will be really hard. I see it as a challenge, and its more fun. If you try and bring scripts to your comfort zone its death to the show, and death to the actor. The Leftovers returns 8:30pm Thursday on Showcase. Guide for Returning to Campus In the current environment, the health and safety of students, faculty, and staff remain our top priority. To that end, we have taken several important steps that are consistent with the requests of government leaders and health officials. Conor Healy, back when he was just a freshman at Harvard University, enrolled in a seminar class on free speech. Healy was from Toronto and he chose the said program because it seemed popular in the United States. Healy recently told USA Today that he did learn a lot from his free speech class. Apparently, the students in the course tackled issues like the First Amendment, Holocaust, gender equality, and denialism. Now, Healy met Francisco Trujillo and created the first club dedicated to the freedom of speech at Harvard. The group is called the "Open Campus Initiative". For the record, Healy became the president while Trujillo took the vice president position. The Open Campus Initiative actually had its first meeting last January. The club then grew with 35 members and six officers. Unfortunately, not everyone became a fan. As a matter of fact, the club has been targeted by various protesters. Well, one of the reasons for the rallies is the move to invite controversial speakers like University of Toronto Psychology professor Jordan B. Peterson. Peterson is famous for refusing gender-neutral pronouns. Per the same source, demonstrators swarmed Peterson's lecture holding signs that read "Fight Transphobia". Nevertheless, no one was harmed and the class finished peacefully. While freedom of speech is a good advocacy, Healy and his team recognize the fact that a lot of people would see them as people breaking the status quo. However, people need to feel more comfortable in challenging ideas and speaking up. With that being said, the Open Campus Initiative will push through despite the protests. Healy added that it is time for students to not fear open conversations on campus. Next semester, the club plans to invite more speakers like the provocative author Charles Murray. Unfortunately, the protests are not limited to Harvard students alone. As a matter of fact, according to Irish Times, Israeli ambassador Ze'ev Boker was scheduled for a talk in the Trinity University Dublin last February. It was later canceled when demonstrators blocked the door. Lastly, the talk of polemicist Milo Yiannopoulos in Berkeley ended in violent riots. Rolling Stone magazine has settled a lawsuit filed by a former administrator of the University of Virginia. This was about a story published by the magazine about a rape on campus. It was previously reported that Rolling Stone magazine published an article claiming that several members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at the school had raped a woman named Jackie. The act was said to have happened during a chapter house party as part of an initiation rite. There were major discrepancies and led to Rolling Stone issuing multiple apologies for the story. The now-retracted article, which was published on Nov. 19, 2014, was written by Sabrina Erdely. The retraction of the University of Virginia sexual assault story was recently debated in federal court. UVa dean Nicole Eramo sued Rolling Stone for libel. Eramo argued in court that the article was factually wrong and was based on assumptions that administrators like her are not helpful to rape victims. The dean asked for $7.5 million for damages. According to the Associated Press, via USA Today College, attorneys representing the publication and the administrator announced this week that they have reached a confidential settlement over the case. It was described by Rolling Stone as an "amicable resolution." This is not the end of the battle for the publication, though. It still faces a lawsuit of over $25 million filed by the UVa chapter of the fraternity where Jackie was allegedly raped. The trial is scheduled for October. The settlement came after Rolling Stone challenged a jury's verdict back in November awarding Eramo with $3 million. Back in December, the magazine asked the judge to overturn the jury's decision, claiming that there is no evidence that reporter Sabrina Erdely acted with actual malice. Media organizations urged the judge to overrule the finding that Rolling Stone "republished" the false claims when it attached an editor's note highlighting the problems with the story to its online platform. They argued that punishing the magazine for trying to alert the public to problems with the story could discourage publications from correcting errors. Having a master's degree has a lot of benefits, one of which is the opportunity of a higher income. However, those who want to further their education sometimes find themselves not having time enough to go back to school. Fortunately, top universities have collaborated with Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms to offer some of these programs online. Here is 6 legitimate online master's degree students can choose from. Master of Computer Science in Data Science (University of Illinois) The online Master's Degree of Computer Science in Data Science (MCS-DS) offered by the University of Illinois, costs less than $20K and touches four core areas of computer science. This includes machine learning, data mining, data visualization, and cloud computing. Students will also learn skill sets in information science and statistics. More details about the course can be accessed on Coursera. Master of Science in Analytics (Georgia Tech) Georgia Tech has one of the most successful online master's degree programs in computer science and with that, they are offering another program - the Master of Science in Analytics on edX. The program costs $825 per three credit hours and is limited to 250 students only. It also includes three free courses that focus on analytics. Master of Science in Accounting (University of Illinois) For those who have an accounting degree and want to proceed to a master's program, the University of Illinois is teaming up with Coursera once again to offer the Master of Science in Accounting. According to the U.S. News & World Report, the university's accounting program is one of the top three in the nation. The whole program is estimated to cost around $27K. Master of Business Administration (University of Illinois) The Master of Business Administration was first offered by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2015. According to the course description on Coursera, the program includes personal meet-ups with professors, team projects, and live global classrooms. Master's in Innovation and Entrepreneurship (HEC Paris) HEC Paris is one of the highest ranked business schools in Europe. The Master's in Innovation and Enterprise has just been opened this year and costs 20,000. Cyber Security (Deakin University) Deakin University in Australia is offering a master's degree program in Cyber Security with the UK-based MOOC provider, FutureLearn. Students will learn digital forensics, analytics, and system security among others when they take the course. Job interviews have become one of the essential steps in the job application process. This step can either make or break the applicant's chance of bagging the job or not. For those who dread job interviews, they have an ally in a Yale professor who said job interviews are useless. Jason Dana, an assistant professor of management and marketing at the Yale School of Management, wrote in an article on The New York Times said job interviews are useless because interviewers reveal more about themselves than the person they interview. His observation was not just taken out-of-the-blue but has been backed by a lot of scientific evidence over the years. One example was a study made in 1979 regarding the 50 rejected students at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston. That time the Texas Legislature required the school to add 50 more students but after the interview phase, the 50 candidates were rejected. When a team of researchers looked into the data of the students and the ones who were accepted, they found out that all of them have the same abilities in the same areas. That means the interviewers had not clearly made any relevance to the application process. Dana and his colleagues also made a research to see if they would get the same or different results than previous studies. The process involved students interviewing another group of students and predict what their future performance are in school. One group only based their predictions on the interview while the other group based it on the previous GPA scores of the students. It turned out the GPA scores are more accurate indicators compared to the ones based only on the interview. Since interviews are unreliable, Dana suggested that interviews should be structured where all the applicants receive the same questions and ask about job-related skills rather than personal questions which are considered counter-productive. There is an entire crew that gets an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet mission-ready and in the air outside of just the pilot in the cockpit. One of the key members are the weapons loaders who load the munitions, install and remove alternate mission equipment, and perform end-of-runway procedures to assist the jet in takeoff. Senior Airman Sydney Byrd currently serves in this position with the South Carolina Air National Guard, 169th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. November 22, 2016 - U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Sydney Byrd, 169th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron weapons loader, assists in affixing a bomb onto the wing of an F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jet on the taxiway at McEntire Joint National Guard Base, South Carolina. The South Carolina Air National Guards 169th Fighter Wing is the only fighter wing in the Air National Guard that is assigned to a stand-alone base, allowing for the capability to store, build, load, and drop live tactical assets from home station. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Megan Floyd) Being a weapons troop, we lift missiles and load bombs, she said. Basically, we get our hands dirty. Typically, more physically demanding career fields are dominated by males, due to the nature of the work. However, with all jobs being opened to females as of January 2016, it is becoming more common for females to serve in these labor intensive positions. And Byrd doesnt let any stereotypes hold her back. Maybe as a female you might have to hit the gym a little bit harder, said Byrd. I make sure when it comes to work on the flight line, no one has to hold my hand. I am a crew member, just like anyone else. With nearly 4 years of service with the South Carolina Air National Guard Byrd has made an impact on her peers and supervisors with her work ethic and positive attitude. Her ability to take on projects to completion and problem solve with little input from others makes her a valuable asset to the weapons shop, said Senior Master Sgt. Michael Puck, 169th Maintenance Group supervisor. Puck added, Byrds competence, ambition and desire to learn set her apart when she applied for a fulltime position with the maintenance shop. Byrd continues to showcase her ambition by earning a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from Clemson University and by pursuing her commission as a maintenance officer. Additionally, outside of being a weapons loader during the week, Byrd also assists the command chief with the base awards and recognition program during drill weekends. Throughout her time serving in the South Carolina Air National Guard, Byrd said her favorite part of the job has been the camaraderie of the shop and how her guard unit has become a second family to her. This came naturally, as her brother also previously served in the weapons shop, giving her an opportunity to meet and know the personnel before joining the unit. For others looking to serve, Byrd has some advice to share from her experiences. The Guard taught me service before self and, most importantly, improved my self-confidence, said Byrd. The Guard is 100% what you make of itSoak up all the knowledge from your leadership and ask questions and have pride while you wear the uniform. By Capt. Jessica Donnelly, South Carolina National Guard Provided through DVIDS Copyright 2017 Comment on this article Published: April 17, 2017 UT Hosting Sixth Annual Human Rights Day Conference April 22 The University of Tampa will host its sixth annual Human Rights Day Conference on Saturday, April 22. Attendees will explore the theme Migration, Immigration and Refugee Rights through panels, presentations and creative works from UT faculty and students as well as outside speakers. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the ninth floor of the Vaughn Center and is free and open to the public. The conference will kick off with a screening of Drawing the Tiger. Filmed over seven years, the documentary follows a rural Nepalese family as they try to escape the cyclical debt and poverty of subsistence farming. After the screening, co-directors Amy Benson and Scott Squire will deliver a keynote address on their behind-the-scenes journey of making the film. In the afternoon, attendees can choose from several concurrent sessions. Room one sessions include: Contested Borders, Refugees and Human Security: A Case Study of Kashmir , Aurobinda Mahapatra, Fellow at the Center for Peace, Development and Democracy, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2 p.m. , Aurobinda Mahapatra, Fellow at the Center for Peace, Development and Democracy, University of Massachusetts Boston, 2 p.m. Social Justice Communication and Actuality Media , Christopher Boulton, UT students and a representative from Actuality Media, 3 p.m. , Christopher Boulton, UT students and a representative from Actuality Media, 3 p.m. Migrant Rights Panel, Scott Solomon, associate professor of government and international affairs at the University of South Florida; Mary Meyer, professor of political science at Eckerd College; and Tara Deubel, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of South Florida, 4 p.m. Room two sessions include: Central American Migrants: Social and Economic Causes of Emigration , Harry E. Vanden, professor of government and international affairs at the University of South Florida, 2 p.m. , Harry E. Vanden, professor of government and international affairs at the University of South Florida, 2 p.m. Florida Institute for Community Studies (FICS) , Alayne Unterberger, FICS founder and research director, 3 p.m. , Alayne Unterberger, FICS founder and research director, 3 p.m. Fair Food and Human Rights: How the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Consumer Allies Have Transformed the Agricultural Industry, Coalition of Immokalee Workers representatives, 4 p.m. The conference will end with a discussion of the CARIBE Refugee Program with coordinator Ronald Alan Cruz at 5 p.m. The conference is organized by Bruce Friesen and Marcus Arvan of the Human Rights Think Tank, and is sponsored by the UT College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education, the UT Department of Philosophy and Religion, the UT Honors Program and UNA-USA Tampa Bay. For more information, go to www.ut.edu/humanrightsday or contact Friesen at bfriesen@ut.edu or (813) 257-3464, or Arvan at marvan@ut.edu or (813) 257-3674. Ellbogen $30K Entrepreneurship Competition, Business Summit Thursday at UW Ten student-led finalists will compete for the chance to earn money for their startup business plans during the annual John P. Ellbogen $30K Entrepreneurship Competition at the University of Wyoming Thursday, April 20. The entrepreneurial competition awards cash prizes to outstanding teams of student entrepreneurs who submit their business plans for new ventures showing significant business potential. The competition will be held at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center, beginning with opening remarks from UW President Laurie Nichols. Student projects will be presented starting at 9 a.m. and will continue throughout the day. The entrepreneurship competition is part of a daylong UW Entrepreneurship Summit. The UW College of Business hosts both the competition and summit. To view the schedule, click here. The 10 John P. Ellbogen $30K Entrepreneurship Competition finalists, their projects, team members, majors and hometowns are: -- Spifty, Neil Neuberger and Paul Bonifas, both dual MBA and petroleum engineering majors, from Casper. The founders have entered the peer-to-peer market with their Wyoming-based labor solutions company, which connects clients who want a job completed, with workers who would like to make extra income. The jobs completed can be anything ranging from house cleaning, to dog walking, to lawn care services. Spifty also offers an option in which workers, in lieu of being paid, can conveniently donate their earnings to a charity or nonprofit of their choice. Spifty is the only company that seamlessly translates excess volunteer labor into charitable donations. Bonifas says. -- Levsonic, Levente Pap, chemistry doctoral candidate, from Budapest, Hungary. The companys product is a hardware and software platform that provides a solution for the tedious daily written documentation by a small mobile device that would directly convert speech to digital text via speech recognition. The product also is equipped with safety features such as a gas sensor, is and suitable to improve a safe working environment, save time for employees, improve managers efficiency and develop a companys competitiveness. -- Microflight, Shane Cornell, from Casper; Travis Dooley, from Powell; Chris Marcum, from Cheyenne; and Brian Potter, from Liberty Hill, Texas. All team members are mechanical engineering majors. Microgravity testing is a common exercise when preparing products for space travel, and companies tend to launch many expensive tests. The MicroFlight team has been developing a new method for microgravity testing that is unique to anywhere in the country, developing a product that provides the closest to space-like testing. -- Photohound, Keegan Haukaas, MBA, from Evanston; and Jordan Bates, Cheyenne, Jack Murdock, Laramie, and Samuel Robertson, from Wheatland, all computer science majors. The company provides a platform in which users can post photographs called PhotoCaches and challenge other users to find these PhotoCaches and take an equivalent photo. The user is then rewarded in various ways, including discount codes, interesting factoids or a follow-up PhotoCache. The goal is to motivate people to get outside and explore the world around them through the discovery and creation of PhotoCaches. We are very excited about our app because we see its game and social aspects motivating people to get up, get outside and get moving, unlike todays social media platforms. Users will also be able to more easily find the hidden gems in a new town or a vacation spot, Haukaas says. We envision our app having impact on the way that businesses advertise. In the future, we hope to create jobs in Wyoming and help foster more entrepreneurship through business partnerships with our company. -- Wyoming Wheels, Nicholas Reh, a dual engineering/MBA student from Aurora, Colo.; James Francis and Scott Ratliff, both from Gillette; Megan Richter, from Sheridan; and Tyler Kissell, from Palisade, Colo. All are mechanical engineering majors. The companys plan will improve the mobility of wheelchair-bound individuals through a new wheel assembly for manual wheelchairs. The modified wheelchair assembly will reduce the likelihood of shoulder and wrist injuries that tend to occur with long-term wheelchair use. Wyoming Wheels was founded with a purpose: to provide people with life-improving innovations at an attainable price, while growing to positively impact the lives of all, Reh says. -- Valued Energy Platform, John Lee, energy management MBA, from Dubois, and Greyson Buckingham, dual energy management MBA and law student, from Jackson. The business plan seeks to deliver greater efficiencies in the oil and gas supply chain. The plan is to create an e-marketplace where operators submit RFPs (request for proposals) online and, then, power generation companies, in turn, submit bids. As a result, this open forum will transform the information provided from relevant stakeholders into a valuable asset and a currency for business. After working power generation sales throughout UW, it became clear to me that common sales methods for power generation providers -- making cold calls or relying on existing relationships -- was extremely antiquated and lacked transparency, Buckingham says. Additionally, it was obvious operators werent maximizing opportunities or recognizing cross-basin purchasing power. -- Calendar Connect, also a company headed by Buckingham and Lee. The concept seeks to maximize network connectability through an app that leverages location data and syncs with the calendar app on IOS devices to allow for networking and connections between contacts. The app will take user data inputted into the calendar app and sync through blockchain technology to connect peers when they enter the same area. -- Atmosphere Marketing LLC, Dallin Cooper, business management, from Riverton, and Madison Cooley, dual art and computer science major, from Cheyenne. The company provides a wide variety of digital marketing services to all sizes of businesses, providing websites that fit within any budget. For businesses with low budgets, the company provides customization of premade template-based sites. For higher budget projects, all websites are custom-made and can be fitted with extensive functionalities to fit various industries. -- AquaLux, Kyle Struna, from Cheyenne; Diego Fronza, from Big Piney; and Justin Oborny, from Oshkosh, Neb., energy systems engineering majors; and Jaimie Wages, from Omaha, Neb., dual energy systems engineering and mechanical engineering major. The team is developing a device that will revolutionize the water purification market. The portable purification system incorporates a dual purification system combining the proven reliability of carbon filtration and the enhanced disinfecting power of UVC light. -- Harms Way Boarding Company, Tanner Harms, mechanical engineering, and Mason Harms, business management, both from Englewood, Colo.; and Laramies Jonah Henry and Eric Gunderson, both chemical engineering majors. The business is dedicated to creating high-quality, custom longboards (skateboards) from composite materials at an affordable price. The team has developed a vision to build premium quality longboards to distribute to Laramie and the surrounding communities, with three primary models to be designed and prepared for mass fabrication. For more information about the student competition and the business summit, call Steve Russell, College of Business marketing and external relations director, at (307) 766-4112 or email srusse18@uwyo.edu. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. Almost 45 years after she climbed into the seat of a North Vietnamese anti-aircraft gun vehicle and smiled for photographers, Jane Fonda, still finds herself targeted by U.S. military veterans.The actress and activist already was one of Hollywood's most outspoken opponents of the Vietnam War when, at 34, she made a two-week trip to Hanoi in July 1972. By then, more than 60,000 U.S. soldiers had lost their lives in the conflict; Vietnamese casualties were close to 1 million.In 2011, Fonda wrote on her website that the photo op which earned her the nickname "Hanoi Jane" and incensed millions of Americans came about after Vietnamese soldiers serenaded her with a Communist folk song. "I heard these words: 'All men are created equal; they are given certain rights; among these are life, liberty and happiness,' " she recalled. Then someone led her to a weapon that had shot down countless American aircraft, and flashbulbs went off. "It is possible it was a setup. I will never know."Fonda toldin 2005 that the trip, where she met with peasants, artists and intellectuals, was worthwhile but the photo was a mistake. "The image of Jane Fonda, Barbarella, Henry Fonda's daughter, sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal," she said, "the largest lapse of judgment I can imagine." A man prepares food at a street stall in the Phrakanong district of Bangkok. (Photo: AFP/LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA) For months city officials have hemmed in hawkers of all kinds across the metropolis, where hitting the pavement for everything from late-night noodles to fried insects is the closest Thailand has to a national pastime. "All types of stalls including clothes, counterfeit goods and food stalls will be banned from main city roads," Wanlop Suwandee, a chief advisor to Bangkok's governor, told AFP. "They will not be allowed for order and hygiene reasons," he added. Officials insist the city's street vendors clog the foot paths, leaving little space for pedestrians and littering the streets. But many Bangkokians say this chaos is part of the capital's charm and an affordable option for all with a stick of grilled pork going for 10 baht (US$0.30) while a bowl of chicken noodles costing as little as 35 baht. "If you want to clean out all the vendors it's like you are cleaning out our culture itself," said Chiwan Suwannapak, who works for a Bangkok tour agency. Street dining is also a social leveller in a city cut by inequality, with everyone from business execs to motorcycle taxi drivers pulling up plastic chairs to slurp down spicy soups or dig into fried chicken at the roadside restaurants as cars whiz by. The rich variety of foods ladled out from push carts are also a top draw for tourists, who power the kingdom's economy. "If they go against the vendors, that will that affect business and it will affect the charm of Khaosan," said Sanga Ruangwattanaku, the president of a business association on Khaosan Road -- a buzzing backpacker hotspot in Bangkok's old town. Since seizing power in 2014 Thailand's junta has embarked on a sweeping morality and orderliness campaign. Critics say an attempt is underway to remodel Bangkok into a Singapore-lite, enforcing regulations that have long been abandoned or skirted around by a rampant culture of bribery and a laid back public used to picking its way through the city's messy pavements. Head of Binh Dinh People's Procuracy Tran Van Sang said local authorities have decided to bring violators to the court. Based on the Prime Ministers Decision No. 48/2010/QD-TTg on supporting off-shore fishing and aquaculture activities, many fishermen in Binh Dinh Province faked their papers to receive hundreds of millions from the state budget in the form of fuel subsidies. The fake papers are about the specific times for their fishing activities like when they leave and when they return. For instance, fishermen N.V.T in Quy Nhon City is accused of forging papers for fishing from March 23 to April 7 in 2015 to receive a VND55-million (USD2,500) subsidy for fuel. Meanwhile, another local resident named T.V.C also did the same to receive VND75-million (USD3,570) at that time. A police investigation into the claims revealed the boats of the two fishermen faced some technical problems so they hadnt joined the off-shore fishing activities at the times they had claimed for. Head of Binh Dinh Province People's Procuracy Tran Van Sang said the accused were fishermen in Hoai Nhon District and Quy Nhon City. The solar power factory in Con ao Island in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province.-VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Ha Under Decision 11/2017/Q-TTg, which takes effective from June 1, 2017, all output produced by solar power projects will be purchased for VN2,086 (US 9.3 cent)/kWh (excluding VAT) - a profitable rate for investors. The price will be adjusted in line with the VN/USD exchange rate, and only applied to power grid-connected projects with the cell efficiency above 16 per cent or productivity module over 15 per cent. Investors involved in solar power projects in Viet Nam will be eligible for various incentives, especially support related to land, investment capital and import and corporate income tax. The decision aims to draw finances to the field, with many investors interested in the industry. In March, the Central Highlands province of ak Lak granted investment certificates and signed agreements with partners to develop a series of solar power projects with total investment of $3.3 billion. The US power group AES signed a memorandum of understanding with provincial authorities to construct a $750-million-solar power plant with combined capacity of 300-500 MW. Also, Xuan Thien ak Lak Ltd, Solar Park Global of the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Long Thanh Infrastructure Investment received approval to implement projects with respective worth of $2.2 billion, $45 million and $308 million. Meanwhile, the RoKs electricity developer Solkiss signed an agreement with the northern province of Yen Bai to build a 500MW-solar electricity project worth more than $1 billion in Thac Ba Lake. Many more domestic and foreign investors have been pouring their money into solar energy projects in the central provinces of Binh inh, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Thua Thien Hue, Ha Tinh, Quang Ngai, and the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang. However, the number and value of projects invested by foreign firms in the field remains limited. The Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that only 16 foreign-invested green energy projects were operating in Viet Nam as of the end of 2016, with total registered capital of $778 million and only 18 per cent of them invest in solar power. The decision is expected to pave the way for investors, especially foreign investors, to expand their operation in the power industry. PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc receives KDB CEO and Chairman Lee Dong-geol, April 17, Ha Noi, 2017 Addressing his reception for KDB CEO and Chairman Lee Dong-geol in Ha Noi on April 17, PM Phuc spoke highly of the KDBs effective operation in Viet Nam as well as the banks cooperation with the Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BIDV). Viet Nam and the RoK have developed a strategic partnership, with the RoK currently being the largest foreign investor in Viet Nam, the government leader said. He stressed the extreme need for businesses of both sides to strengthen their cooperation and exchange activities, hailing the crucial role played by the banking service in facilitating business relations between the two nations. The KDBs presence in Viet Nam has contributed significantly to encouraging more RoK companies to do business in Viet Nam, PM Phuc said, expressing his wish to welcome more RoK firms in the future. For his part, KDB CEO and Chairman Lee Dong-geol noted that about 5,000 RoK businesses are currently investing in Viet Nam. The KDB alone has poured approximately US$8 billion in Viet Nam so far, he said, adding that the bank is planning to embark on a number of important investment projects the Southeast Asian country. Lee appreciated Viet Nams economic development prospects, noting that the KDB will exert continued efforts to expand investment ties with Viet Nam, including the BIDV. He asked the Vietnamese government and PM Phuc to continue creating favorable conditions for the KDB in particular and RoK firms as a whole to do successful business in Viet Nam. The PM assigned the provincial Peoples Committee to work with relevant agencies to devise and submit for approval the adjustment task and blueprint for the Thanh Hoa city master plan in line with legal regulations on construction planning. The Ministry of Construction is responsible for verifying the adjustment task and blueprint for the Thanh Hoa city master plan until 2025, with a vision to 2035, in accordance with legal regulations on construction planning. According to the boundary of the adjusted Thanh Hoa city master plan until 2025, with a vision to 2035, approved by the PM in his Decision No. 84/QD-TTg dated January 16, 2009, Thanh Hoa city will cover 15,500 hectares, bordering Hoang Hoa district to the north, Dong Son and Quang Xuong district to the south, Hoang Hoa and Quang Xuong district to the east, and Dong Son and Thieu Hoa districts to the west. The citys population scale is projected to reach roughly 500,000 people by 2025. The Vietnam Railway Corporation (VNR) will ink a deal with the Saigon Newport Corporation this April to build two inland container depots (ICDs) in Binh Duong Province and Ha Noi.-VNA Photo New VNR chairman Vu Anh Minh said the two ICDs will be constructed in the Song Than Industrial Park in the southern province of Binh Duong and in Ha Nois Dong Anh District. Saigon Newport accounts for half of the countrys market share of container shipping services, he noted, adding that it has also gained a large percentage of the container market share - 90 per cent and 70 per cent - in HCM City and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, respectively. VNR will also sign an agreement with the Vietnam Tourism Association and the Nha Trang business association in Khanh Hoa to increase the number of rail passengers. Chap Kungs diplomatic career ended 42 years ago this week with a U.S. Marine airlift out of Cambodia as the Lon Nol regime fell to the Khmer Rouge. Starting from scratch in a new land, Kungs family began their life as refugees along with their fellow officials from the defeated U.S.-backed administration. We were all trained to do basic things, cleaning toilets and washing dishes, recalled Kung in an interview with VOA Khmer. There was no diplomats or generals. We were all refugees in a new country. But more than four decades later Kungs eldest son, Chap Sokunthea has been promoted to the rank of commander in the U.S. Navy Reserves Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in Hawaii, bringing pride to the family, says Kung. The whole family is very excited, said Kung. Ive never imagined that my son would rise up this high. Kung was a diplomat in charge of cultural affairs at the Cambodian Embassy in India from 1973 until the Khmer Rouge takeover in April 1975. When the family was resettled in the U.S., Sokunthea was only 12 years old. He joined the navy in 1984 and completed his training in 1985. He was assigned to a helicopter squadron in San Diego, California, where he served as an anti-submarine warfare operator. Sokunthea graduated from the National University with a Masters of Science in 1997 and served on numerous assignments. I came here as a young boy but I knew Im still Khmer, therefore, I had to try my best to promote our Khmer reputation, he said. This made me happy, thats why I tried my best. Here there are more Vietnamese than Khmer and the Vietnamese hold high positions. I have to compete to make sure that Khmers become better, too. Sokunthea said that support from the family and workplace was crucial to his success. We have to work hard in this country, he said. Secondly, like in any country, we have to have someone whom we can turn to for support. After you work hard and then you have someone to back you up, you have the opportunity to go higher. Sokunthea currently lives in San Diego and has two children of his own, a daughter, Vanessa, who is 23 years old, and a son, Beau, 15 years old. Sokuntheas decorations include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and various unit commendation awards. A U.S. Court has dismissed a civil case against Prime Minister Hun Sens eldest son, General Hun Manet. The plaintiffs have vowed to pursue the case at the federal level. The ruling on Monday, a copy of which was obtained by VOA on Tuesday, granted the defendant Manets motion to dismiss and dismiss Manet from this action. A review has been scheduled for May 1. The court on Thursday heard testimonies from two key witnesses and a police detective who were present at the La Lune restaurant on April 9 last year where a representative of the plaintiffs attempted to serve Manet the subpoena, but was attacked and thrown to the ground. The witnesses were identified as San Kimhong and Nuon Khavy of California. We asked them a lot of questions, especially San Kimhong, said Bo Uce, lawyer for plaintiffs. We wanted to know his link to the bodyguard team and who attacked Paul Hayes. Its normal that they denied [involvement] because a detective was in the room, too. Uce added that detective David Turnullo of Long Beach Police Department testified that a criminal case is still under investigation for the attack on Hayes, the process server. The plaintiffs, Meach Sovannara and his wife, Jamie Meach, filed a complaint against Manet and the Cambodian government on April 8 last year, accusing them of torture, terrorism, and false imprisonment. We will continue our case in Washington DC. I regret to hear the ruling, said Jamie Meach. Opposition lawmaker Nhay Chamroeun, who joined the case as a plaintiff early this year, said the process serving against Manet will be attempted when the general makes his next visit to the US. Whenever General Hun Manet sets his foot on US soil, we will serve him a court subpoena, said Chamroeun. Chamroeun and another fellow member of parliament were beaten by a group of pro-ruling party protesters, including some members of Prime Minister Hun Sens bodyguard unit, in October 2015. Both witnesses could not be reached for comment. But Khavy told VOA in an interview before Thursdays hearing that he had no knowledge of the altercation and that he was far from the incident when it took place. Saying it is the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead, British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday called for early elections June 8, in a move she hopes will give her a stronger position as she negotiates Brexit, Britains departure from the European Union. WATCH: May on new elections The weeks since Britain invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty on the European Union and triggered the two-year Brexit process have been marked by protests by Brexit opponents led by the Labor Party and Scottish executive Nicola Sturgeon. Analysts said Mays shock decision to call elections long before their next due date in 2020 was a means to consolidate the Conservatives power and put the bickering behind. Labor Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has threatened to work to derail Mays plan for negotiating post-Brexit trade deals, and criticized the British leaders calls for reducing taxes and regulations to attract investment after Britain leaves the EU. At the same time, the Scottish National Party has threatened to vote against a bill to formally repeal Britains EU membership. The opposition threatens to muddy Mays work at a critical time when trade deals are to be negotiated. Britain is leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back, May said in announcing her call for an early election outside No. 10 Downing Street on Tuesday. We will regain control of our own money, our own laws and our own borders and we will be free to strike trade deals with old friends and new partners all around the world. This is the right approach, and it is in the national interest. But the other political parties oppose it, she said. At this moment of enormous national significance, there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division." The British leader challenged opposition parties to band together on June 8, a move analysts say is a risky but calculated move for May, given the Labor Partys worst popularity slump in a century. This is your moment to show you mean it, to show you are not opposing the government for the sake of it, to show that you do not treat politics as a game, May said. With a 72 percent turnout in a referendum last year, British voters decided on the question: Should the United Kingdom remain a member of the European Union or leave the European Union? Fifty-two percent voted to leave, while 48 percent voted to remain. Assuming Mays call for early elections gets parliamentary approval when it comes up for a vote on Wednesday, the prime minister hopes June 8 will settle remaining questions. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights says he is alarmed by a growing, widespread campaign of terror in Burundi being waged by government-backed militia against opponents of President Pierre Nkurunzizas party. The U.N. human rights office says a chilling video circulating on social media has laid bare the horrifying and alarming nature of the campaign of terror. Rupert Colville, spokesman for High Commissioner Zeid Ra-ad al-Hussein, says the video shows more than 100 members of the Imbonerakure, the governments youth wing, inciting violence. He says the young men are heard calling for opponents to be impregnated so they can give birth to Imbonerakure or for them to be killed. These grotesque rape chants by the young men of the Imbonerakure across several provinces across Burundi are deeply alarming particularly because they confirm what we have been hearing from those who have fled Burundi about a campaign of fear and terror by this organized militia, he said. When the video surfaced, the ruling CNDD-FDD party initially said it was fake and had been filmed outside Burundi. After admitting the footage was real, the party said youths at one rally sang a song that "does not conform to the morals or ideology" of the party. However, Colville says the video of this rally, which was released on April 5, is not an isolated incident, but rather the tip of the iceberg. He says his office has documented eight large rallies organized across Burundi where similar slogans inciting rape and violence against opponents have been chanted. Colville says senior government officials reportedly have been present at some of these rallies. While the terror campaigns are ongoing, Colville tells VOA rapes, torture and other serious human rights violations are continuing. Some of the reports of torture are pretty horrendous people being burnt with hot knives, acid being poured over parts of their body, teeth broken with rifle butts, attacks on sexual organs, etc. So, very grizzly stuff, he said. Colville says security forces reportedly have participated in the systematic use of torture. High Commissioner Zeid is calling on the authorities in Burundi to prevent the abhorrent practice and to swiftly condemn the incitement to hatred and violence. China's President Xi Jinping recently unveiled an ambitious plan to turn a massive underdeveloped area southwest of the capital into a technologically advanced economic zone. The landlocked Xiongan New Area will be three times the size of New York City and is expected to become the next Shenzhen, China's modern southern high-tech hub that is a bridge between Hong Kong and the mainland. Together with Tongzhou, another new city just east of Beijing, Xi says the two will become the wings of the capital and create new growth engines for the entire area of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei. China's North has long lagged behind the south as an economic driver and innovator in many sectors. And authorities efforts to reshape the capital are aiming to create new models of growth. Critics, however, argue a state-led, top down approach, instead of allowing market forces full sway, is doomed to fail. Just as quickly as a plan was announced and starting to take off, it is already hitting some turbulence. Demolition fears Locally related construction and other stocks initially soared following news of the plans for the new area. But after trading was halted for those shares for several days last week, many plunged on Monday when trading resumed. News of the plan triggered a spike in housing prices after it was officially unveiled earlier this month. And in response, authorities have completely shut down the housing market and halted all development projects, including home remodeling. State media say the central government has begun to map out a "high-quality master plan" for the new area. For local residents, real estate companies, potential investors and homeowners, the situation is nothing but chaotic. And while news of the plan has only surfaced recently, the uncertainty has been going on for months, local residents say. "Last year, the rumors were already starting to fly," one farmer tells VOA. "We don't know what's going on? At first you couldn't plant crops and now you can't build? This is not normal." Another resident who drives a small electric tuk tuk for a living says that while his home was recently finished, he has been barred from moving in. "Authorities haven't said anything yet, but they will definitely demolish it," he says. He also doubts the compensation authorities will offer will be enough. Online the speculation is that authorities have stepped in to control housing prices to minimize what the government will have to pay for demolitions. How long the restrictions on the real estate sector will last is unclear. Li Jie, managing director of North China, global real estate company Colliers International, says "it seems that the government is extraordinarily determined to apply the ban permanently." Li adds that Colliers believes that the central government has put the real estate industry on a negative list. "In Xiongan there will be no residential development by private companies and no residential units," Li says. In Colliers view, the Xiongan New Area will be different "from the rest of the country, where the real estate industry plays a vital role in economic growth." In recent comments about the new area, Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli says large scale property development will be prohibited in Xiongan. What authorities will do with already finished or projects under construction is unclear. WATCH: Bill Ide's related video report Closed for business At one development project not far from the area's key natural attraction, Baiyan Lake, several white strips of paper with the Chinese characters "sequestered" on them, crisscross the door of a sales office for a big development project called Lugang New City. All of the other offices VOA visited had similar sequestration strips and warnings about the halt of property sales. Lugang New City's office was deserted. On the wall, a large map of the area that shows a high-speed rail train leading to the city's second airport, which is just south of the capital, and on to Beijing and Tiananmen Square. Eventually, with such links, travel to the zone would be much more convenient. Currently, however, it takes about two hours to drive to Xiongan from Beijing. When rail links are complete, it is expected that residents will be able to travel to both Beijing and Tianjin in about 30 minutes. A red banner that hangs above the entrance to Lugang New City's closed office reads "Maintain financial stability, together create a harmonious society." Across the street, banners call for a crackdown on real estate speculation and the need for complete control of the housing market. Market or state? Local residents feel like they are caught in the middle. The surge of real estate prices will mean that it is even more difficult to buy a home. Some say they may have no choice but to move elsewhere. "All I wanted to do is cry," says one woman, when asked what her reaction was to the news of the new zone. "I haven't been able to sleep or eat for days. I've worked half a lifetime and now I have to throw it all away." Before she could say more, her friends, quickly pulled her away and another man added. "It's inevitable that some will get emotional." Online, criticism of the project is becoming heated. A lengthy post by well-known businessman and blogger Ren Zhiqiang that was taken down from China's Wechat social media app, argues that it is the market that drives the creation of cities, not grand state-led plans like the one that Xiongan is a part of, the merger of Tianjin, Hebei and Beijing. "An unwillingness to accept these differences and competition, and instead use administrative power to force the creation of a unified city will inevitably fail," Ren says. The central government has characterized Xiongan as an auxiliary capital and there is talk that schools, universities and non-essential government departments will be relocated there. There are also rumors that state-owned enterprises will be forced to move there as well. But many argue that is highly unlikely. An opinion piece on the influential Hong Kong based Website Inintium argued that the new zone was crucial for Xi Jinping's legacy and efforts to promote his "Chinese Dream." The crowd of diehard supporters of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan cheered at a referendum-eve rally in the Umraniye district of Istanbul when Turkey's Islamist leader called on them to drive the West, as well as terrorists, mad by voting "yes" in the next day's plebiscite. "Let's pass such a reform that the West goes crazy," he said. Western officials may not be going crazy, but they are alarmed by Sunday's vote. The slim majority that backed Erdogan's bid to dramatically expand his executive power has set Ankara and the European Union on a collision course, European officials fear. On Monday, Erdogan challenged Brussels with a renewed demand that Turks be allowed visa-free travel across Europe and a threat to restore the death penalty. Greek officials have drafted emergency plans to cope with a new migrant crisis. They predict Erdogan won't be cautious about how he governs in the wake of the referendum, and will opt to pick fights with the EU in a bid to rally his divided country. Sunday's "yes" vote for constitutional change marks the biggest shift in the country's governance since the founding of modern Turkey in 1923. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has warned that restoring the death penalty is a "red line" for the EU. He and other senior European officials say reinstating capital punishment would end Turkey's long-standing bid to join the EU. On Monday, Erdogan shrugged off EU objections, while slamming a European monitoring group's criticism of Sunday's plebiscite. On Turkey's EU candidacy, Erdogan told a crowd of loyalists: "It is also not very important for us either. They have made us wait at the gates of the EU for 54 years. So, we will sit and talk and hold a referendum on that, too." EU concerns growing Most European leaders have been keen to avoid stoking Erdogan's wrath and have been circumspect in reacting to Sunday's vote, hoping that Turkey's deputy prime minister, Mehmet Simsek, was right when he predicted Monday the "noise" between Ankara and Europe would die down soon. Speaking Monday to Reuters, Simsek said the focus would be on areas of shared interest between Europe and Turkey. The British Foreign Office said it was concerned by the conduct of the vote, but that it would remain an ally of Turkey provided Ankara "enacts these constitutional changes in a way that sustains democracy." Behind the scenes in EU capitals, the mood is gloomy. Gianni Pittella, the Italian leader of the socialist bloc in the European parliament, said his lawmakers will discuss whether to veto next week a proposal for visa-free travel for Turks. "We've always been very reluctant to ensure a visa-free regime to Turkey as Ankara does not match the democratic criteria," he said in a statement. "Now after the referendum, our concerns are even bigger." Pittella said the referendum amounted to "yet another decisive step away from Europe." He called for the termination of Turkey's EU accession talks, because "with such a constitution, Turkey cannot join the EU." Erdogan, he warned, "is increasingly turning Turkey into a personal authoritarian regime." Last Friday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu warned Ankara would tear up the migration deal formed with the EU last year if visa-free travel for Turks is not granted. With the 2016 migration agreement, the Turkish government promised to help curb the flood of migrants into Europe from its territory in return for visa-free travel for Turks to Europe. Turkey also received enhanced EU aid to cope with Syrian and Iraqi refugees. "If we get a negative response from the EU, we have the right to re-evaluate and suspend all of these agreements," Cavusoglu told a local broadcaster. Visa-free travel isn't the only issue on which Turkey and the EU are at loggerheads. Brussels has demanded modifications to the country's anti-terrorism law, which it deems as overarching. The Turkish government has used the law against Erdogan's domestic critics, including journalists. Predictions of restraint Relations between Turkey and the EU deteriorated sharply in the run-up to Sunday's referendum. There were rhetorical clashes over Turkey's spying activities against Turkish dissidents in Europe. Separately, European officials objected to referendum campaigning across the continent by Turkish ministers seeking expatriate votes. Erdogan repeatedly accused the German and Dutch governments of acting like Nazis after they banned referendum campaign rallies by Turkish officials on security grounds. "It's high time we disarmed verbally. The Nazi insults are unbearable," German Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Roth told Welt am Sonntag newspaper. Senior Greek officials say they have drawn up detailed emergency plans to cope with a new refugee crisis. They say their cash-strapped country would find it hard to contain the financial fallout from a renewed flood of asylum-seekers, and would be plunged deeper into debt by an influx. That scenario, in turn, would put pressure on Brussels to assist with funding. Some analysts believe that Erdogan, for all his threats, will be forced to show restraint both domestically and in relations with Europe. "This large an opposition is hard for Erdogan to ignore," wrote analysts Aykan Erdemir, a former member of the Turkish parliament, and Merve Tahiroglu, both with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based research institution. "He may claim to have won a slight majority, but he lost in five of Turkey's six largest cities, including its economic center Istanbul, where he has never lost an election since becoming mayor in 1994," they wrote. "He also lost in Turkey's other economic powerhouses including the capital Ankara and Izmir suggesting the country's poor economic performance could become his weak spot in the days and weeks to come." CHARLESTON -- City Council members will be asked tonight to make a decision on a set of business incentives the city hopes to use as a tool to be a more competitive community for businesses' attention. The council is set to vote on a list of four incentives the city could use to attract more businesses to Charleston at its meeting at 6:30 p.m. today in the Council Chambers of City Hall at 520 Jackson Ave. These incentives include two-year abatements of various city taxes for new and expanding businesses coming to Charleston, excluding those in TIF (tax increment financing) districts that already receive city benefits. Steve Pamperin, city planner, said it became clear that most communities are offering incentives to these businesses and that Charleston should do so as well to remain competitive. The city on certain occasions has lost a business that might have come to Charleston to another community that incentivized the business, said Deborah Muller, city clerk. On the list of incentives the city could offer, one covers sales taxes. Pamperin said sales taxes collected from the business that go specifically to the city could be reimbursed to the business for a two-year period. The city's share of the sales tax amounts to 1 percent of the normally 6.75 percent tax on most items. Another incentive offers an abatement of sales taxes on construction materials used to improve an existing structure for a new business or expanding a business. These materials would include concrete, lumber, floor coverings, wall coverings and paint, according to a measure that would implement these incentives. For those looking to build on vacant lots that have been empty for more than two continuous years, the incentive program would offer an abatement of property taxes to the city on a pro-rated scale based on construction costs for two years. For example, if the cost of construction on the vacant property is between $1 million and $2.5 million, the business may abate or remove up to 90 percent of the property taxes due to the city from the property for two tax years. The last incentive on the list would discount permit fees, based on a prorated scale. Pamperin said this would be a guideline of sorts detailing some incentives the city can offer to businesses interested in making Charleston their home. According to the proposed measure, the guidelines in "no way limits the ability of the city council to offer incentives over and above those outlined in this ordinance if the economic development project is of such size or importance to deserve greater incentives." Also scheduled for a vote tonight, the council is set to make a decision on a measure the city hopes will level the playing field for local taxi services. Muller said businesses like Uber, a mobile taxi service that does not require city licensing, are practically impossible to monitor, so the city is offering to remove the need for local services to license with the city. Currently, there is only one local service licensed as a taxicab service in the city, Coles County Shuttle Service. The taxicab services still have to license with the state. Also up for a vote today after being placed on public inspection at past meetings: Approval of the Charleston city budget, which will have an informational public presentation 10 minutes before the meeting. Approval of measure implementing no knock list for solicitations Several other items were on the agenda for today's meeting. The agenda can be found on the city website. A nationwide manhunt in the U.S. came to an end Tuesday when a man accused of posting a murder video on Facebook shot himself after a short police chase, authorities said. Steve Stephens allegedly shot and killed seventy-four year-old Robert Godwin in Cleveland, Ohio, on Easter Sunday, before uploading a video of the murder on Facebook and going on the run from police. Pennsylvania State Police said on Twitter officers had spotted Stephens in Erie County Tuesday morning. After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself," police said. Stephens was placed on the FBIs most wanted list and attracted a $50,000 bounty for information leading to his arrest. Stephens allegedly filmed himself committing the murder and published the video on Facebook along with another video in which he claims to have previously murdered an additional 13 people. Police investigating Stephens, though, say they have found no evidence indicating he actually killed the 13 other people. In an interview with CNN, Stephens mother said he told her he shot the man because he was mad with his girlfriend. Police said the victim was a former foundry worker and had 10 children. He was picking up aluminum cans on the side of the road when Stephens allegedly drove up and shot him. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Tuesday the company would do all it can to "prevent tragedies like this from happening again." Speaking at an annual Facebook software conference, Zuckerberg also expressed condolences for Godwins family and friends. China announced Tuesday that 28 countries will send their heads of government to an international conference on the One Belt, One Road (or OBOR) program to be held next month in Beijing. However, only six G-20 countries are on the list, and government heads in most of the developed world will not attend. Italy is the only major western country sending its head of government to the conference on the development plan, despite China's effort to give it an international flavor. Four influential personalities will attend the event at the highest level. Those are Russian President Vladimir Putin; Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni; Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund; and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will inaugurate the conference. "This is an economic initiative and it deals with economic cooperation, so we do not want it to be politicized," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in reply to a question about whether the Western world was not showing much interest because it had doubts about China's motives. France and Germany have major elections around the time of the Belt and Road Forum, to be held May 14-15. However, they have agreed to send senior officials. "This is an economic cooperation forum, an international cooperation platform that everyone is paying attention to, supports and hopes to participate in," Wang said. He said representatives of 110 countries, which include those that are not on the OBOR route, would attend. A problem of plenty? China has also signed documents with 56 countries to enlarge support for the program. It has allocated an initial amount of $40 billion for a Silk Road Fund to implement OBOR. "The contours of OBOR are vast, and its ever-expanding nature has created plenty of discrepancies," Jonathan Hillman, director of the Reconnecting Asia project at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told VOA. "For example, some infrastructure projects announced years earlier are now covered under the OBOR banner." British Prime Minister Theresa May was widely expected to attend as part of her efforts to strengthen Britain's business and diplomatic links with China in the post-Brexit era. Instead, she is sending British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond in her place. For China, OBOR is an important model to expand political influence while enhancing its infrastructure construction business and exporting its industrial overcapacity. Beijing is also projecting the program as a "win-win solution" to the problem of inadequate infrastructure in developing countries, and economic slowdown in the developed ones. Guest list Most of the presidents and prime ministers attending the forum are from countries that have received or expect to obtain financial support from China. They include Greece, Belarus, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Ethiopia. Russia depends heavily on business deals, including a 30-year gas supply contract that it has entered with China. China has done well in persuading most of the countries linked to the South China Sea dispute, including Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines, to send their leaders. Seven of the 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations are sending the heads of their governments. China did not distinguish between developed and developing countries, and regarded all as equal members of the international community, Wang said, as one of the goals of the Belt and Road program was to promote equitable development between rich and poor nations. Recoining a name Wang dropped the word "one" from the original name of the program, One Belt, One Road. Observers said China is trying to avoid the impression that it wants to control the increasingly international program, and make it a consultative process. On the other hand, several countries in China's neighborhood including Japan, South Korea, India and Singapore have not yet agreed to send their heads of government. Three of China's colleagues on BRICS Brazil, India and South Africa are not sending their heads of governments, according to the list released by the Chinese foreign minister. The other two members of BRICS are Russia and China. "Unsustainable debt is a real concern for certain countries," Hillman said, referring to concerns that expensive infrastructure projects under OBOR can push economically weak countries deeper into debt. When Bertrand Michauxs father directed one of the largest steel mills in eastern France, his town, Hayange, tucked in the hills of eastern region of Lorraine, was known as a little Texas for its wealth owed to a mining industry that dated back to Roman times. This month, Michaux walked with a reporter through the rusted ruins of the shuttered old plant and a town whose collapsed economy triggered discontent that has made it one of Marine Le Pens biggest strongholds. There were small businesses. People were rich because everyone had a job. Everyone worked here. The big change came in 2013 when its owner, the Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, closed the plant despite promises by Socialist President Francois Hollande to defend it. The plant had been functioning for centuries and was the last of the big employers in town. As business came to a grinding halt, charities like the one run by the group Secours Populaire, on the edge of town, became busy. It came much faster than they thought. There are people who come here who had very good situations, and a result of the state of things, they lost their jobs, said Anne Duflot-Allievi, the centers director. Psychological misery The centers warehouse is piled with donated clothing, boxes of food, and furniture. Those who came for help declined interviews. There is total psychological misery. People are truly, completely lost. Some really need counseling. It is not easy for them to come to the point of suddenly saying, I am poor. People are sometimes ashamed, said Duflot-Allievi. The feelings of defeat and despair have made many vulnerable, she said. They watch TV, they keep up with politics, and they will believe in hope, and they will believe the first one who comes and tells them that tomorrow they will have a job and will get rid of all the foreigners. Le Pens nationalist, anti-immigration National Front has succeeded in winning over diehard leftists in Hayange. Once a bastion of left-wing unionists, the town changed politically. The towns mayor, Fabien Engelmann, is a former animal rights activist and communist but is now a National Front member and vocal supporter of Le Pen. Our country is the victim of deindustrialization, mass unemployment, said Engelmann, during a meeting with a reporter outside Hayanges city hall, a hulking, square building reminiscent of socialist architecture with the words Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite emblazoned over the main entrance. Like much of Hayange, the building has seen better days. Its paint is worn and weeds grow through the cracks of its steps. A problem of massive immigration, Engelmann said, is bringing Islamization of our country and increasing the problem of insecurity. Growing racism A few meters away, on the town square, Husein Sinancevic, a Muslim immigrant from Montenegro, draws glares from passing towns people when they see him telling a reporter the story of his familys flight from the former Yugoslavia during the Balkan wars. I fled fear, he said. When, in 1998, I came to France I said there is no better place in the world than France. Today, it is not France like before. Today, France is seriously racist. I say to anyone my name is and they hear a Muslim name, and they say, Wait, come back later, and they smile like that, Husein said, faking a grin. At Hayanges unemployment office, there are few choices for job seekers. In one corner of the waiting area, a rack with pamphlets offers guidance for French citizens who seek jobs in Luxembourg, 30 minutes away. Laurent Duval, in his 40s, has been unemployed for months. He said he sees little hope in any of the mainstream, centrist candidates. Just have a look at [politician Emmanuel] Macron, who is powered by the system. So that leaves us with what, exactly? he asks. Duval, like many Hayange residents, does not declare support for the National Front, but said he understands those who support Le Pen and her anti-European Union, anti-immigration stance. People dont want globalism anymore. Thats why when youve got some politician who promotes values of we stand for what we are, its really appealing to a lot of people, Duval said. Prosperity as distant memory At a rally this month in the village of Monswiller in the nearby region of Alsace, more than 1,000 supporters packed an auditorium where Le Pen repeated calls for an end to massive immigration. Her supporters say the message is driven by honesty, not racism. I dont think she is racist. Shes just a woman who is clear, who says things clearly, said Marie-Bernarde Warnecke. There are many people who support her who are not exactly of French origin, so to say she is racist, I do not think so, said Warnecke, a second-generation French citizen whose parents immigrated to France from Cameroon. Warnecke said she had always voted for Socialists until now. She cited security as her main concern in these elections. In Hayange, Bertrand Michaux points to a balcony of what was once his fathers office in a decaying ornate 19th century building that was the steel mills headquarters. Part of the facility is now a museum. A stone tower in the complex bears an inscription of the year 1767. Prosperity is a distant memory. Michaux made a living not at the plant, but as a dentist. His sons have moved on to careers elsewhere in France and Hong Kong. It will never become Texas again, he said. Texas was the steel mills. It was the mines. All that is obsolete. Hayange has been, I will say, sold. Shut for years, the plant is now so decayed that experts say it would have to be demolished before it could ever be fired up again. Michaux believes that will never happen. Marine Le Pens campaign posters promise she will put France back in order. For some, amid the ruins of the French rust belt, that promise is the only hope. Police in France on Tuesday arrested two radicalized Frenchmen, thwarting what authorities called an imminent attack just days before a presidential election. French Interior Minister, Matthias Fekl, speaking at a brief news conference, said police confiscated guns and bomb-making materials from the men. He provided no other details about their potential targets or motives, but said he suspected the attack was planned for the eve of the French presidential election. "These two men, radicalized, born respectively in 1987 and 1993, and of French nationality, intended to commit an attack on the French soil in the very short term, which is to say in coming days, he said. Fekl said the two men were arrested in the southern city of Marseille by French domestic security agents. He said investigations are currently taking place, and, already, police have found elements that substantiate the terror attack project. French right-wing presidential candidate Marine Le Pen told the AFP news agency police warned her about the two men last week and her security team received photographs of the two men on Thursday. President Francois Hollande called the arrests remarkable and praised police for stopping the planned terror attack. All I can say is that our police services have worked remarkably well to stop two people who will now be put in front of the judges and police officers so that we know exactly what their intentions are, he said while speaking in the central city of Le Creusot. France has been on a high alert for terrorism since January 2015, when an Islamist gunmen stormed a magazine office and began killing people. Since then, more than 230 people have been killed by terrorists in France. A flamboyant Indian business tycoon, wanted in India on charges of fraud and defaulting on loans worth over one billion dollars, was arrested Tuesday in Britain on behalf of Indian authorities. Vijay Mallya was released on bail by a London court a few hours later. His arrest came a year after he quietly left the country and went to live in London after state-owned banks sued him to recover loans amounting to $1.4 billion. In New Delhi, the government hailed the arrest of the one-time liquor and aviation baron, saying they will pursue his extradition back to India. Junior Finance Minister Santosh Gangwar told reporters that Mallya will be brought back to India and the due process of the law will be followed. Mallya's case is being seen as a litmus test of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's pledge to crack down on corruption. The flashy businessman has become a poster boy for defaults on massive loans piled up by corporate tycoons and for a cozy nexus that many say has existed in India between businessmen and politicians. After Mallya went to live in London, the government faced huge criticism from the public and from opposition lawmakers for not preventing him from leaving the country and bringing him to trial. He had refused to return to India to appear in court. Mallya, who owned a liquor business, ran into trouble when a premium airline he launched in 2005 went bankrupt. Despite the massive loans he had accumulated, the man who called himself "the king of good times" continued to lead a lavish lifestyle and was as much in the news for his flashy parties as his debts, prompting huge public anger. His arrest follows considerable diplomatic lobbying by New Delhi. Britain had turned down the initial request for his deportation last year, saying he entered the country on a valid passport. In its latest extradition request, India had said that if the request is honored, it would show "British sensitivity toward our concerns." Soon after his arrest, Mallya tweeted "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected." The businessman has repeatedly denied charges of wrongdoing, and calls the collapse of his airline a genuine commercial failure. He has also accused government agencies of pursuing a "heavily biased investigation" and holding him guilty without trial. However, extraditing Mallya from London to India may not be easy. Indian authorities will have to prove that they have enough evidence to prosecute him, while Mallya is likely to maintain that he will not get a fair trial in India. A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced an Islamic State sympathizer to life in prison for plotting to bury a remote-controlled bomb on a beach on Key West, Florida. Harlem Suarez was arrested in 2015 for buying a dummy bomb from FBI agents posing as IS members. Judge Jose Martinez declared Suarez to be "inept" and "nutty." Federal prosecutors said Suarez posted "a ton" of pro-Islamic State propaganda, including graphic videos, on the internet. They said he planned to bury the nail-filled bomb on the beach and set it off with a cellphone. "When told the shrapnel would rip through people faster than bullets, he smiled and said, 'Great, great.' This defendant has shown no remorse, he has demonstrated no sense of responsibility," U.S. Attorney Marc Anton said. On April 6, Ivanka Trump's company won provisional approval from the Chinese government for three new trademarks, giving it monopoly rights to sell Ivanka brand jewelry, bags and spa services in the world's second-largest economy. That night, the first daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, sat next to the president of China and his wife for a steak and Dover sole dinner at Mar-a-Lago. The scenario underscores how difficult it is for Trump, who has tried to distance herself from the brand that bears her name, to separate business from politics in her new position at the White House. As the first daughter crafts a political career from her West Wing office, her brand is flourishing, despite boycotts and several stores limiting her merchandise. U.S. imports, almost all of them from China, shot up an estimated 166 percent last year, while sales hit record levels in 2017. The brand, which Trump still owns, says distribution is growing. It has launched new activewear and affordable jewelry lines and is working to expand its global intellectual property footprint. In addition to winning the approvals from China, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC applied for at least nine new trademarks in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canada and the U.S. after the election. 'Put business on hold,' some say The commercial currents of the Trump White House are unprecedented in modern American politics, ethics lawyers say. They have created an unfamiliar landscape riven with ethical pitfalls, and forced consumers and retailers to wrestle with the unlikely passions now inspired by Ivanka Trump's mid-market collection of ruffled blouses, shifts and wedges. Using the prestige of government service to build a brand is not illegal. But criminal conflict of interest law prohibits federal officials, like Trump and her husband, from participating in government matters that could impact their own financial interest or that of their spouse. Some argue that the more her business broadens its scope, the more it threatens to encroach on the ability of two trusted advisers to deliver credible counsel to the president on core issues like trade, intellectual property, and the value of the Chinese currency. "Put the business on hold and stop trying to get trademarks while you're in government," advised Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush. To address ethical concerns, Trump has shifted the brand's assets to a family-run trust valued at more than $50 million and pledged to recuse herself from issues that present conflicts. "Ivanka will not weigh in on business strategy, marketing issues, or the commercial terms of agreements," her attorney, Jamie Gorelick, said in a statement. "She has retained authority to direct the trustees to terminate agreements that she determines create a conflict of interest or the appearance of one." In a recent interview with CBS News, Trump argued that her business would be doing even better if she hadn't moved to Washington and placed restrictions on her team to ensure that "any growth is done with extreme caution." China ties China, however, remains a nagging concern. "Ivanka has so many China ties and conflicts, yet she and Jared appear deeply involved in China contacts and policy. I would never have allowed it," said Norman Eisen, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under Barack Obama. "For their own sake, and the country's, Ivanka and Jared should consider stepping away from China matters." Instead, the first daughter and her husband have emerged as prominent interlocutors with China, where they have both had significant business ties. Last year, Kushner pursued hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate investments from Anbang Insurance Group, a financial conglomerate with close ties to the Chinese state. After media reports about the deal, talks were called off. Publicly, Ivanka Trump has taken a gracious, charming approach toward Beijing. During the Mar-a-Lago meetings, her daughter, 5-year-old Arabella, stood in a gilded room and sang a traditional Chinese song, in Mandarin, for China's president, Xi Jinping. The video, which was lavishly praised by Chinese state media, played over 2.2 million times on China's popular news portal qq.com. The week of the summit, 3.4 tons of Ivanka Trump handbags, wallets and blouses arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong and Shanghai. U.S. imports of her merchandise grew an estimated 40 percent in the first quarter of this year, according to Panjiva Inc., which maintains and analyzes global shipping records. Painter, the former Bush administration lawyer, recommended full recusal from issues related to trade with China. That is likely to be difficult because trade is so deeply embedded in the U.S.-China relationship and has been linked with other matters, like North Korea. "The danger is that with any discussion with the Chinese, one party or the other may try to bring up trade," he said. "That's a slippery slope that may require her or Jared to step out of the room." Gorelick, Ivanka Trump's attorney, said that Trump and her husband would steer clear of specific areas that could impact her business, or be seen as conflicts of interest, but are under no legal obligation to step back from huge swaths of policy, like trade with China. Under the rules, Trump would recuse herself from conversations about duties on clothing imported from China, Gorelick said, but not broad foreign policy. "In between, you have to assess it case-by-case," she said. Trademark questions Trademarks can be signs of corporate ambition, though many countries such as China, where trademark squatting is rampant also allow for defensive filings to prevent copycats from using a brand. Trademarks pose ethical, and possibly legal, implications for government employees because they are granted by foreign states and confer the monopoly right to sell branded product in a particular country an entitlement that can be enormously valuable. Intellectual property lawyers say trademarks are also a crucial prerequisite for cutting licensing deals, which form the basis of both Ivanka Trump's and Donald Trump's global business strategy. Today, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC has 16 registered trademarks in China and 32 pending applications, along with a total of four marks granted preliminary approval since the inauguration, according to China's Trademark Office. Altogether, they cover a wide range of goods and services, including cosmetics, jewelry, leather handbags, luggage, clothes, shoes, retail, spa and beauty services. There is no sign the recent approvals were particularly swift. China's Trademark Office did not respond to a request for comment. Globally, the company has more than 180 pending and registered trademarks in countries including Canada, India, Japan, Israel, Mexico, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.S. and Europe, public records show. In December, the company applied for five trademarks, covering handbags and wallets in Puerto Rico, and lingerie and other clothes in the U.S. After the inauguration, the company filed four more applications, for branded clothing and shoes in the Philippines, and perfume and other items in Canada. Trump did not sign off on the new trademark applications, her brand said in a statement, adding that they are "not necessarily an indication that the brand is planning to launch a category or a store in a specific territory." Growing sales Whatever the future plans, right now sales are growing helped, some argue, by the glow of Ivanka Trump's political rise. The G-III Apparel Group Ltd., which makes Ivanka Trump clothes, said net sales for the collection increased by $17.9 million during the year that ended Jan. 31. The brand itself claims revenues rose 21 percent last year, with early February seeing some of the "best performance ever," according to a statement by Abigail Klem, president of the Ivanka Trump brand. Because it is privately held, the brand does not have to declare its earnings or where revenues come from. The actual corporate structure of Trump's retail business remains opaque. Kushner's financial disclosure form lists two dozen corporate entities that appear directly related to his wife's brand. Trump herself has yet to file a disclosure. Data from Lyst, a massive fashion e-commerce platform, indicates some of this growth coincided with specific political events. The number of Ivanka Trump items sold through Lyst was 46 percent higher the month her father was elected president than in November 2015. Sales spiked 771 percent in February over the same month last year, after White House counselor Kellyanne Conway exhorted Fox viewers to "Go buy Ivanka's stuff." Conway was later reprimanded. The bounce appears somewhat sustained. March sales on Lyst were up 262 percent over the same period last year. "You can't separate Ivanka from her role in life and from her business," said Allen Adamson, founder of Brand Simple Consulting. "Her celebrity status is now not only being fueled by her wealth and her family connection, but by her huge role in the White House. All that buzz is hardwired to her products." That, he added, is a competitive advantage other brands just can't match though it does come with risk. Things could easily cut the other way for the first daughter. Ashley King, 28 of Calabasas, California, bought Ivanka Trump black flats and a cardigan several years ago. But King, who voted for Hillary Clinton, said she believes Trump's role in the White House represents a conflict of interest. "This is bothering me more and more," she said. As for the Ivanka Trump items in her closet, she said, "I will be donating them." A federal judge in Detroit has ordered a doctor to stay in jail pending trial for alleged female genital mutilation of two 7-year-old girls. The judge ruled Monday that Dr. Jumana Nagarwala is a danger and a flight risk. Authorities arrested Nagarwala last week on charges of carrying out the illegal procedure on two young girls whose families brought them to Detroit after allegedly failing to find anyone in Minnesota to do it. Nagarwala denies cutting the girls. She says all she did was remove mucus membranes from their genitals in a religious ceremony for a ritualistic burial. Nagarwala belongs to an exclusive Muslim sect called Dawoodi Bohra, which is primarily concentrated in India. Female genital mutilation involves cutting some of the most sensitive parts of a young girl's private parts to initiate them into adulthood, control their sexual desire, and the belief it will make them more desirable as marriage partners. The World Health Organization says the practice is primarily carried out in about 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. It has no benefits and can cause severe short- and long-term health problems. Contrary to what many people believe, female circumcision is not exclusive to Muslims, and many followers of Islam condemn it. In general, this is simply something that is not done and is found to be extremely repugnant, the Michigan head of the Council of American-Islamic Relations Dawud Walid said. "This is something that is overwhelmingly not acceptable amongst the mainstream Muslim community in America." U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is in Saudi Arabia, his first stop on a sweeping tour across the Middle East and the Horn of Africa to discuss Americas role in regional security. Speaking to reporters while on route to Riyadh, Mattis called for the crisis in Saudi Arabias neighbor, Yemen, to go before a United Nations-brokered negotiating team in order to politically resolve the countrys raging civil war. The conflict in Yemen is often viewed as a proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. U.S. officials have signaled that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to further strengthen strategic relations with the Saudis, who have been supporting the fight against Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. Mattis said the United States has seen Iranian supplied missiles being fired by the Houthis into Saudi Arabia. He vowed to work with U.S. allies to help the conflict, which has killed thousands of Yemenis, come to an end. After meeting with Saudi Arabias King Salman and other officials, Mattis will visit top political and military leaders in Egypt, Israel and Qatar this week. Experts say those leaders are eager to size up the new American administrations take on their regional rival, Iran. In fact, when I was in Saudi Arabia in February, their top leaders said that they were relieved that the Obama administration was no longer in power, in part because they felt like President [Barack] Obama was too soft on Iran, Brian Katulis of the Washington-based Center for American Progress, told VOA. Officials say Mattis will also discuss how regional allies can help stabilize war-torn Iraq and Syria, where local forces backed by the U.S.-led coalition are battling Islamic State militants. Only US military base in Africa The defense secretary will then travel to Djibouti, home to Camp Lemonnier--the United States only military base in Africa and where China is also constructing its first overseas military base. Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Rudy DeLeon told VOA the Chinese base is a bid to increase Beijing's heavy presence in the Horn of Africa. Its not traditional Western soft power, where it is a humanitarian mission, because Chinas got a clear interest in the resources that are there, DeLeon said. While many of the people in the region are poor, the lands and coastal floors are rich with petroleum, gold and natural gas. DeLeon said Chinese interest in developing some of the poorest areas in the region could be constructive, especially as areas in the region are battling a destructive drought. Archeologists in Egypt have made a major discovery of statues, coffins and several mummies in a 3,500-year-old tomb. According to the Antiquities Ministry, the tomb, which is on the west bank of the Nile near Luxor, was believed to have been built between 1,500 and 1,000 B.C., likely for a judge. The tomb, which is located in the Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis not far from the Valley of the Kings, is made up of a courtyard that leads to two halls. One hallway had four colorful coffins, while the other had six. The Associated Press reports that the head of the dig, Mostafa el-Waziri, said another area contains statues depicting royalty from previous ruling dynasties. "It was a surprise how much was being displayed inside" the tomb, Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany told reporters outside the tomb, according to Al Jazeera."We found a large number of Ushabti (small carved figurines), more than 1,000 of them. This is an important discovery." More discoveries, including more mummies, are expected. EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the third of six stories in the JG-TC's "State of the University" series focusing on Eastern Illinois University's recent years of declining enrollment, and financial challenges related to the Illinois state budget impasse. This installment looks at the internal effects on the university of the budget struggle and dip in student numbers. CHARLESTON -- With a smaller pool of faculty available, the deans of Eastern Illinois University's academic colleges have needed to pay careful attention to scheduling classes in recent years. Blair Lord, provost and vice president for academic affairs, said these scheduling efforts have included offering more courses on a rotating basis and offering some electives less frequently. He said the goal is to maximize available faculty while ensuring that the courses needed by students are available. "They have done a really good job of managing their faculty resources wisely," Lord said of the deans. He added that faculty and staff members in all areas of the university have been stepping up to meet the challenges created by the state budget impasse and Eastern's lower enrollment. Eastern has made many budget cuts in recent years, including workforce reductions via layoffs, early retirements, and leaving vacant positions unfilled. The university also has been streamlining its operations to save money and offering new courses with the aim of increasing enrollment. "We have cut to levels that have hurt, but we have done all we can to minimize faculty reductions that affect the academic programs," Lord said. "We are doing all the things we can do in this difficult environment." Paul McCann, interim vice president for business affairs/treasurer, said Eastern's head count of employees is down by almost 400, approximately 20 percent. Consequently, McCann said departments have been sharing some administrative assistants and other staff members. He said this sharing is not completely efficient, but has helped the departments continue to provide services for students while reducing overall costs. Eastern's information technology staff levels, in particular, are smaller than in past years. McCann said the IT department has saved time by automating processes, including the electronic storing of documents, but there is still a large demand from students for IT support services. "We have good people over there," McCann said of the IT department. "They are working hard and they are attempting to get things done as quickly as they possibly can." Regarding facilities, McCann said Eastern has plans in place for various campus improvement projects but is limited by the lack of state funding. Still, McCann said Eastern has completed the renovation of the Coleman Hall restrooms and will make a series of classroom updates and sidewalk improvements. He also said they have been able to bring back groundskeepers for mowing and landscaping work needed to keep the campus looking good. "We are trying to work within our means," McCann said. "Right now we are doing whatever we can to improve the campus and keep it updated." While Carman Hall remains closed due to the lower enrollment, McCann said Eastern is continuing to look into other options for using this student residence hall. McCann said a lot of the challenges that Eastern is facing would be resolved by recruiting more students to the university. He said the ongoing Vitalization Project includes proposals for offering new courses that meet the demands of modern students. For example, Lord said courses for a new bachelor's in criminology and criminal justice will be offered starting this fall. He said EIU has taken an existing minor in criminal justice and expanded it into a program that will serve many prospective students, including transfer students from Lake Land College. "This is something that students have said they have been interested in for a while," Lord said. Some of the other new degrees and options are a bachelor's in computer and information technology that includes courses on website and video game designing, a health communication interdisciplinary bachelor's that combines science and business courses, and a master's in cyber security with mostly online classes. McCann said Eastern is also looking into expanding its nursing program to meet the growing demand for nurses with higher level degrees. "We are trying to make sure we can be part of that solution for the healthcare industry," McCann said. A North Korean diplomat at the United Nations said Monday his country would respond with the toughest measures, including ballistic and nuclear missiles, if it is attacked by the United States. Earlier, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told reporters in South Korea that "the era of strategic patience is over," after North Korea on Sunday test fired another missile. A 22-year-old Ohio man accused of selling heroin laced with an elephant tranquilizer that led to 28 overdoses in West Virginia on a single day has been sentenced to more than 18 years in federal prison. "Heroin is like driving intoxicated,'' U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers said. "You may not mean harm to anybody, but you have to serve a sentence commensurate with the harm you did.'' Bruce Lamar Griggs of Akron faced up to 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine at his sentencing Monday. Laboratory tests of the victims' blood and urine showed heroin mixed with fentanyl and carfentanil considered cheaper synthetic opioid alternatives that heroin dealers use to stretch their supplies. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a warning in March 2015 that fentanyl, a powerful prescription painkiller, was a threat to public health and safety. And last September, the DEA warned the public and law enforcement nationwide about the health and safety risks of handling carfentanil, which is considered 10,000 times stronger than morphine. It is used as an elephant tranquilizer and is not approved for human consumption, according to the DEA. Chambers said no deaths were caused by Griggs' sales. "You're lucky. If that happened, you'd be facing far worse'' penalties, he said. West Virginia has the nation's highest drug overdose death rate by far, with 41.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2015, the latest year available, compared with a national average of 16.3. Pakistans military has rejected allegations that it harbors militant groups engaged in violence against neighboring Afghanistan and India. The rebuttal was part of a statement the army released Tuesday giving details of a meeting its chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, held a day earlier with visiting U.S. National Security Adviser H.R McMaster. While Pakistan itself is a victim of state sponsored terrorism it strongly rejects allegations of employing proxies from its soil, Bajwa was quoted as telling McMaster. The army chief also emphasized that emphasized again that Pakistan's counterterrorism effort is focused against terrorists of all hue and color. India and Afghanistan have long accused Islamabad of tolerating or supporting militant groups that have carried out attacks across their shared borders. The United States has also pressed Islamabad to do more to crack down on such groups. The Pakistani military statement said that McMaster acknowledged Pakistan army's efforts in eliminating terrorists and their infrastructure, assuring U.S. support to bring peace and stability in the region and globe. U.S. officials said that in talks with Pakistani leaders during Mondays visit, McMaster stressed the need to confront terrorism in all its forms. Though they did not elaborate. But speaking to Afghan media during his Sundays trip to Kabul, the American advisor called on Pakistani leaders to go after militant groups on their soil less selectively than they have in the past. McMaster said that the best way to pursue their (Pakistans) interests in Afghanistan and elsewhere is through diplomacy not through the use of proxies that engage in violence. McMaster undertook his first trip to the region this week since taking charge as President Donald Trumps national security advisor. McMaster has been reviewing counter-Taliban operations in Afghanistan and the broader international mission to support the Afghan government in its struggle against militant groups. Ghafoor, however, noted the do more rhetoric" is subsiding by the day because the wise international community acknowledged Pakistans unprecedented contributions in eliminating terrorism and in conducting operations in volatile border areas in support of Afghan security forcess to help them stabilize Afghanistan. He also cited increased security and reduction in militancy in Pakistan because of a sustained military-led counterterrorism campaign. Pakistani officials appeared upbeat about McMasters just concluded visit. They see it as a demonstration that Pakistan enjoys an important place in the regional context and that the U.S. attaches importance to its relations with Pakistan. On Tuesday, the prime ministers key foreign policy aide, Tariq Fatemi, noted that McMasters visit provided a good opportunity for both sides to engage in meaningful conversation on exploring ways and means to promote regional peace and stability. He made the remarks in a meeting with visiting U.S. acting Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Laurel Miller, according to a foreign ministry statement. Fatemi conveyed Pakistans readiness to work with the U.S. to support efforts for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, it added. Despite Pakistani assertions with regard to fighting terrorism, critics say Islamabad maintains covert ties to the Taliban because of fears of growing Indian influence in Afghanistan and Kabuls increasing closeness with New Delhi. We could spend hours on this aspect of the [Afghan] conflict but suffice to say that despite heavy U.S. pressure, and significant blandishments, Pakistan has never abandoned the policy of countenancing the Talibans use of its territory against its western neighbor, said former U.S. diplomat Richard Olson while delivering a public talk in Washington earlier this month. Olson served as Washingtons ambassador to Kabul and Islamabad respectively before being appointed as special envoy for the two countries by the previous U.S. administration. He cautioned the Trump administration against using old U.S. pressure tactics to force Pakistan to abandon support for the Taliban. I think convincing Pakistan to effect a strategic shift is wishful thinking. And please remember that Pakistan controls our air lines of communication [to the Pakistani airspace that the U.S. uses for transporting supplies] into Afghanistan, so ultimately, military leverage flows to their advantage, Olson cautioned For the Pakistani military, Olson observed, the Afghan policy is about geo-strategic maneuvering against India. And since the [Pakistan military] establishment views India as the existential threat, all measures against the eastern neighbor are acceptable, noted the former U.S. diplomat. While the Trump administration is currently conducting a review of U.S. policy towards Afghanistan, Olson emphasized the need to pursue a political settlement of the conflict by involving regional stakeholders, particularly Pakistan. But he sounded skeptical about whether Islamabad still can effectively use of its traditional influence with the Taliban to push them to the negotiating table. Pakistani officials, have long campaigned for seeking a resolution to the Afghan conflict through peace talks between the Kabul government and the Taliban. They maintain that continued hostilities in Afghanistan add to security challenges to neighboring countries and undermine U.S. interests as well. Paraguay's President Horacio Cartes says he will not run for a second term next year, after signs that he would try to hang onto power sparked deadly riots. Cartes made his intentions known in a letter Monday to the Archbishop of Asuncion, saying he always puts Paraguay first. Pope Francis earlier this month urged all parties in Paraguay to seek a peaceful settlement to their political differences. Paraguayan presidents have been limited to a single five-year term since 1992, following the brutal 30-year military rule of dictator Alfredo Stroessner. With little fanfare, the senate passed a bill last month to change the constitution to allow Cartes to run again. Opposition activists stormed the congress, setting fires and wrecking lawmakers' offices. One protester was killed. The lower house has yet to pass the bill. But the Stroessner dictatorship left a bad taste in the mouths of many Paraguayans for anyone who desires to remain in power. During his visit to South Korea this week U.S. Vice President Mike Pence described the security alliance between the two countries as unwavering, unshakable and ironclad, but in an address to business leaders in Seoul Tuesday, he said the bilateral economic relationship is in trouble. Despite the strong economic ties between the United States and South Korea, we have to be honest about where our trade relationship is falling short, Pence said. Deficit doubled The South Korea/U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) that took effect in 2012 was the largest trade deal implemented during the administration of former President Barack Obama. Since it was implemented the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea has more than doubled. U.S. exports to South Korea fell by $1.2 billion, while U.S. imports from South Korea grew by more than $13 billion. In 2016, the surplus measured at $23.2 billion, according to U.S. official data. A recent United States Trade Representative (USTR) Trade Policy Agenda report criticized the U.S. trade deficit with South Korea saying, "This is not the outcome the American people expected from that agreement." The vice president reiterated concerns voiced by the American business community that South Korea has used non-tariff related environmental and inspection regulations to undermine the FTA. That's the hard truth of it. And our businesses continue to face too many barriers to entry, which tilts the playing field against American workers and Americans growth, he said. America First Pence said the U.S. will seek to renegotiate some terms of the trade agreement with South Korea to give American companies increased and equitable market access. We will pursue trade that is both free and fair. And that will be true in all of our trade relationships, including KORUS. We are reviewing all of our trade agreements across the world to insure that they benefit our economy as much as our trading partners, Pence said. U.S. President Donald Trump campaigned on a platform of economic nationalism that he called America First. He promised to overhaul trade agreements that he said hurt U.S. jobs. After taking office he immediately withdrew from the multi-lateral Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal that was to include the U.S., Japan and ten other Pacific Rim countries, that together accounted for 40 percent of the world economy. The Trump administration has also indicated it intends to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico, and a U.S. trade agreement with Central American countries as well. KORUS support While business leaders in Seoul have been critical of the South Korean practice of imposing non-tariff related trade barriers, especially in the auto industry that accounts for 80 percent of the U.S. trade deficit, they are overall supportive of the KORUS FTA. American Chamber of Commerce leaders have voiced concern that the Trump administration is being overly critical of the trade agreement by putting too much emphasis on a trade deficit that is just one aspect of a complex and evolving economic relationship. For example, Korean investment in the United States, from companies like Samsung and Hyundai, have created more than 45,000 American jobs. Direct investments Korean companies have made in the United States since KORUS have exceeded trade deficits with Korea, said James Kim, chairman of both GM Korea and the American Chamber of Commerce Korea, in a recent Korea Times interview. South Korea had much higher tariffs than the U.S. prior to the bilateral free trade deal and Kim Jong-hoon, the former director of the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, says the agreement yielded major concessions and cuts from his country. Former American Chamber of Commerce Korea Chairman Jeffery Jones also argues the KORUS FTA may have prevented an even bigger drop off of U.S. imports into Korea. He notes that that all foreign imports into South Korea have been in decline in recent years, but U.S. imports dropped by only 2.8 percent, while Japanese imports were down 15 percent, Australian imports were down by 20 percent, and imports from the EU were down almost 10 percent. On to Japan After his meeting with business leaders in Seoul Tuesday, Vice President Pence traveled to Tokyo for meetings with Japan's Finance Minister Taro Aso on bilateral trade options in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from TPP. Last year, Japan had a $69 billion trade surplus with the United States, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. Trump has in the past complained that Japan keeps its currency artificially low, though a Treasury Department report last week did not label Japan a currency manipulator. Tokyo is the second stop on Pence's 10-day tour of Asia, a trip aimed at emphasizing that U.S. President Donald Trump still intends to boost U.S. trade in the region despite his opposition to TPP. Youmi Kim contributed to this report. Turkey's status as a bridge between East and West was clear and shaky after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan carved out a narrow victory in a referendum that raises questions about democracy's future in the country. Erdogans steady path toward authoritarian rule was bolstered by the Sunday election that drew 80 percent of eligible voters. It was decided by support from the rural countryside and Turks living abroad, while the countrys three largest cities voted against the package that will reduce the role of parliament and give most of its powers to the presidency. The result left Turkey embraced by the Arab world and increasingly estranged from Europe, where leaders walked a fine line between diplomacy and criticism. The key question now is whether Erdogan, who has moved decisively since an attempted military coup last July to jail and otherwise marginalize his opponents, will make any moves toward reconciliation or will continue to foster animosity among the Kurdish community and other minorities. Analysts raised the possibility of a further crackdown and a possible backlash. "The Turkish public seems to have given Erdogan and the (ruling) AKP license to reorganize the Turkish state, and in the process raze the values on which it was built," Steven Cook of the Council on Foreign Relations wrote in Foreign Policy. Even if they are demoralized in their defeat, Erdogan's project will arouse significant resistance among the various No camps. The predictable result will be the continuation of the purge that has been going on since even more last July's failed coup, including more arrests and the additional delegitimization of Erdogan's parliamentary opposition. Legal challenge Erdogan already faces a legal challenge on the election itself, which European monitors said took place on an uneven playing field amid a crackdown on the media and opponents being labeled as terrorists. The referendum also was criticized for boiling down 18 complex issues into a single yes or no ballot. The result was 51.4 percent in favor of the changes and 48.6 percent opposed, far from the 60 percent clear mandate that Erdogan had hoped for. While the parliament is required to have two-thirds majority to amend the constitution, (it is strange) to have absolute majority of the people to change the governing style of the Republic of Turkey, one Ankara resident told VOA. But it is now in the past. If the people approved it that way, everyone has to respect it. Let's wish for the best. European leaders said they respected the decision of the Turkish people, while hoping that Erdogan will pause before starting to implement the changes. The (German) government expects that the Turkish government will now seek respectful dialogue with all political and social forces in the country, after this tough election campaign, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel. The tight referendum result shows how deeply divided Turkish society is, and that means a big responsibility for the Turkish leadership and for President Erdogan personally. Strange to see democracy restrict democracy, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen added on Twitter. Defiant to Europe But Erdogan remained defiant of Europe, which he had accused of meddling in the vote. The crusader mentality on the West and its servants at home have attacked us, he said. We have put up a fight against the powerful nations of the world. We did not succumb. As a nation we stood strong. And he appeared ready to put the final nail in the coffin of the country's pursuit of European Union membership by again suggesting legalization of the death penalty a chilling prospect given that about 40,000 people have been jailed since the coup attempt, including the co-leaders and nine other legislators from the second largest opposition party in parliament on allegation of links with Kurdish terrorists. The president of the European Parliament, Antonio Tajani, said a death penalty referendum would be a red line for the European Union. 'New partnership Instead, European officials were talking about cobbling together some kind of new partnership with Turkey and offering whatever support they can provide in the country's ongoing transition. Several countries in the Arab world, including Pakistan, welcomed Erdogan's victory as a successful democratic experience, reflecting his shift away from the country's history as a secular state. The result also seemed to reflect a recent global move toward strong leaders after the elections of President Donald Trump, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and others, with France's election looming Sunday and Germany's scheduled for September. The United States' murder rate has risen over the past two years, driven mostly by violence in a few large cities, a study released Tuesday said. The report from the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law showed the national murder rate rose 10 percent in 2015 and an estimated 7.8 percent in 2016. Baltimore, Chicago and Houston accounted for almost half of the increase in murders, the study said. In 2014-16, killings in Chicago accounted for 29 percent of the national murder rate spike, while killings in Baltimore and Houston each made up 10 percent of the rise. The authors based the 2016 numbers on preliminary FBI data from the first half the year. They used this midyear data to predict what crime rates would look like for the second half of the year. Even with the recent spike in murders, America's murder rate still remains near the bottom of a 25-year decrease, and the study authors note: "Today's inner cities' are safer than at almost any point in the past." "In 2016, killings in Chicago accounted for nearly half (43.7 percent) of the increase," the authors write, referring to urban totals. "This is indicative of localized problems in some cities, but not evidence of a national crime." Despite the increase in murders in several American cities, America's overall violent crime rate is about 49 percent lower than it was in 1991, and the violent crime rate in the nation's 30 largest cities has declined by about 63 percent during that same period. "These spikes in urban violence are a serious cause for concern," the authors write. "But history shows these trends do not necessarily signal the start of a new nationwide crime wave, and even with these increases, crime and murder rates remain near historic lows." For nuclear physics graduate student Chelsea Bartram, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway's "alternative facts" were the last straw. President Donald Trump had disputed photographic evidence of the size of his inauguration crowd. Reporters challenged him. Conway's response that the administration gave "alternative facts" has become a widely used hashtag for anything demonstrably untrue. "A lot of us do care about this notion of an objective reality,"said Bartram, who is pursuing a doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "Many scientists I know, myself included, spend so many hours in the lab sacrificing enormous amounts of their life for this abstract idea" that understanding reality can benefit human civilization, she said. "And then to have someone say, 'Well, that's not important anymore,' it's so devastating." So on Saturday, Bartram plans to join the March for Science, a protest in Washington and more than 500 other cities around the world supporting science's role in government decisions on health, safety, the economy and more. The march has more than 200 co-sponsors, including many major scientific and professional societies, zoos, aquaria and advocacy groups. Organizers have not released crowd size estimates. "This is pretty remarkable and unprecedented," said geochemist Eric Davidson, president of the 60,000-member American Geophysical Union, one of the march co-sponsors. Many of the group's members did the climate research that the Trump administration disavows. "I can't think of another example where scientists have organized themselves in as many cities with an event as big as this," he said. Tipping point The dispute over crowd sizes was just one small example of what scientists see as a larger pattern. During the campaign, Trump dismissed the scientific consensus about the dangers of human-induced climate change. His appointee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, also does not accept climate science. He has repeatedly clashed with the agency he now heads. But scientists say their frustration has been building for decades. "We might have reached a tipping point now, but acting as though this is a new thing is giving too much credit to the current administration," said march co-organizer and public health expert Caroline Weinberg. "It's letting people who have been there for a very long time off the hook." And it goes far beyond climate change, Weinberg added. "It's about not paying attention to the best research on things like food stamps. It's about cutting things like Head Start and after-school programs," to name a few. "And that all affects health, because that's a time to set kids on the right path." Critics say a public protest risks further politicizing science, turning scientists into just another interest group. Bartram sums up a widespread response: on hot-button issues like climate change, opponents have already done it. "I don't think anything we do is going to further politicize it," she said. Disconnect But if the goal is to get policymakers to listen, "a march isn't going to change anything. That's the problem," said Rob Young, head of coastal research at Western Carolina University. Young said much of the problem stems from the growing disconnect between scientists and voters, especially the rural and working-class people who voted for Trump. He said most probably have never met a scientist. "It's easy to demonize us if those folks don't know who we are," he added. Scientists need to get out of the lab more, he said, and explain how their work affects people's health and livelihoods. "I hope that when they're done marching in Washington, that they will come home and that they will march into their local planning board or local town council," he concluded. That's what march organizers hope, too. Many scientists accept much of the blame for the disconnect with voters. The American Geophysical Union's Davidson said a major post-march goal is more public engagement. "I think the day is gone when scientists can stay in their ivory towers and assume that everyone is going to recognize their value," he added. "Houston, we've had a problem here." The famed, understated words were uttered in April 1970 at least in the Hollywood version by astronaut John L. Swigert upon hearing the explosion of oxygen tank No. 2 on the spacecraft. An investigation showed that the normal supply of oxygen, electricity, light, and water had been disrupted. A scheduled moon landing was aborted, and the astronauts and controllers on Earth scrambled to come up with emergency procedures. The real threat was the loss of power. The crippled spacecraft continued to the moon, circled it, and began a long, cold journey back to Earth. Along the way, NASA gave its first press conference: The astronauts and mission control were faced with enormous logistical problems in stabilizing the spacecraft and its air supply, as well as providing enough energy to the damaged fuel cells to allow successful reentry into Earths atmosphere. Navigation was another problem, and Apollo 13s course was repeatedly corrected with dramatic and untested maneuvers. Finally, the astronauts figured out that they had to fire the lunar modules big landing engine several times to get back on the right trajectory. On April 17, the potential tragedy turned to triumph as the Apollo 13 astronauts touched down safely in the Pacific Ocean. Watch the re-entry as broadcast live on television: The astronauts became instant heroes. A Hollywood movie was made in 1995, starring Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, and Ed Harris. Residents of a Tibetan town have been summoned to meetings by Chinese authorities after the latest incident of self-immolation, according to a former resident of the area now living in India. The victim, identified as 30-year-old Wangchuk Tseten, set himself on fire Saturday on a busy street in a central area of Kardze, the capital of Kardze Prefecture. Witnesses told their contacts in India that Chinese police put out the fire within two minutes and carried the man away. There has been no official indication whether he died or survived. One person I spoke with was surprised that the news had already reached outside Tibet, but he didnt want to talk about it, the exiled Tibetan, who asked not to be identified, said Tuesday. He said other residents also were reluctant to discuss the incident. A video circulated through Tibetan social media on Saturday shows Chinese security officers spraying fire extinguishers over a person on ground and keeping a crowd away. A body can be seen under a dusty cloud produced by fire extinguishers and, barely distinguishable, his feet can be seen to make a small movement. The exiled Tibetan, who maintains close contact with residents of the area, said Tseten is a father of three children and lives in Zhido Township (also known as Asey Gyechak), in Nyagrong County, also in Kardze Prefecture. The former resident told VOA the victim self-immolated in the same location that 24-year old Pema Gyaltsen - also from Nyagrong County - set himself afire last month. Authorities have since imposed tough restrictions on Nyagrong residents seeking to travel to Kardze, the man said. They need three different permits, one from village leader, one from township and one from county, in order to travel to Kardze, he said. On Monday, the political leader of the Tibetan government-in-exile condemned the Chinese government for failing to address the grievances that have prompted a wave of Tibetan self-immolations beginning in 2009. It is time the Chinese government heed to the calls of Tibetans in Tibet who long for freedom in Tibet and the return of His Holiness the Dalai Lama back to Tibet, said Lobsang Sangay, according to the website of the government in exile, based in Dharamsala, India. EDITOR'S NOTE: This is the second of six stories in the JG-TC's "State of the University" series focusing on Eastern Illinois University's recent years of declining enrollment, and financial challenges related to the Illinois state budget impasse. This installment looks at the university's efforts to increase its student numbers. CHARLESTON -- Last month, incoming Eastern Illinois University students and their families filled the concourse at the Doudna Fine Arts Center as they prepared for a day of tours and presentations on campus. Josh Norman, associate vice president for enrollment management, said this Admitted Student Day on March 4 was part of Eastern's newly expanded schedule of special events in 2016-17 for various categories of students. Norman said the university also has held open houses for transfer students, undecided students, those bound for specific academic areas, and other groups as part of its ongoing efforts to build stronger connections with students. "We have some really specialized events designed for those students so they can learn more about those academic interests here," Norman said, adding that the events also help connect students to their extracurricular interests. "It is that personal connection we are really trying to drive home." These special events are part of stepped up marketing campaigns, social media outreach and other efforts by Eastern to recruit and retain students to reverse a trend of declining enrollment in recent years. Figures provided by Eastern last year showed that total enrollment declined from 8,520 in fall 2015 to 7,415 in fall 2016. Figures provided by EIU this year showed that total enrollment decreased from 7,876 students in spring 2016 to 6,673 this spring. Enrollment numbers each spring typically drop compared to the fall due to December graduations. Norman said Eastern is facing statewide economic and political issues that have resulted in Illinois being the second biggest exporter of students among the 50 states. He said EIU also is vying with universities in Illinois and beyond for students, particularly among the shrinking population downstate. "You are dealing with an increasingly competitive environment when it comes to recruiting college-bound students," Norman said. Eastern's efforts to be more competitive include offering new courses to meet student demand as well. For example, Norman said, the university will expand its criminology minor into a new criminology/criminal justice major this fall to serve students who plan to work in law enforcement. He said this major will be particularly popular with transfer students from Lake Land College in Mattoon. As another example, EIU spokeswoman Vicki Shaw Woodard said the psychology department began offering more online courses this spring to help undergraduate students fulfill the psychology major requirements. Woodard said the convenience of taking these courses online will help bring back former students who had halted their education after "life got in the way." "It really opens new opportunities for them to continue their education," Woodard said. "They are traditionally the courses that fill up the fastest because the students don't have to fit them into their schedule." Figures provided by Eastern show that the number of students who take some distance education courses -- any class that is online and/or technologically delivered -- increased from 1,119 in fall 2015 to 1,427 in fall 2016. The number of those who exclusively take these courses increased from 576 to 599. Norman said EIU also has been successful in increasing enrollment of graduate and international students. Figures provided by EIU show that the number of graduate students increased from 1,318 in fall 2015 to 1,458 in 2016 and the number of international students increased from 291 to 433. An increased variety of courses in technology related fields has helped boost enrollment in these areas, Norman said. These courses include a new bachelor's in computer information systems and a new master's in cyber security program that will both start this fall, he said. "It continues to grow and grow, and we continue to add courses to meet demand," Norman said of the technology courses. Eastern also has stepped up its student recruitment efforts through its myeiu portal. Prospective students can use this as their personal portal into EIU to learn about academic programs and extracurricular activities available on campus, plus professional opportunities available to graduates. Norman said Eastern uses myeiu to funnel information directly to prospective students that lines up with their academic and personal interests. In addition, Norman said Eastern's staff has increased its outreach to students via calls, texts, and emails. He said university leaders also are sending more representatives to high school sporting events, summer camps, scholastic bowl meets and other events on and off campus. "We are just trying to engage high school students wherever they are," Norman said. In the science fiction series Star Trek, a doctor can use a handheld device called a "tricorder" to check a person's vital signs and diagnose illness. What once was imagined is now a reality. The Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE challenged scientists to develop a "tricorder-like" device to improve health care globally. The winners were recently announced in Los Angeles. President Donald Trump signed an order Tuesday requiring tougher enforcement of rules governing the hiring of foreign workers in the United States and a tightening of the requirement that U.S. government agencies use American-made products. While visiting a tool manufacturer in the Midwestern state of Wisconsin, Trump said: "We don't have a level field for [American] workers. We're going to send a message to the world that we are going to defend our workers, protect our jobs. America first, you better believe it." Senior administration officials said lax enforcement and many legal loopholes mean American workers and companies lose jobs and business to foreign competition, which hurts the U.S. economy. Trump signed the order related to government agencies even though he built a global business empire before running for the White House in which he regularly outsourced the manufacture of dozens of consumer products to overseas locations. Trump-branded products, including ties, suits, dress shirts, furniture, bedding, vodka, home goods and accessories for his luxury hotels, have all been manufactured outside the United States. Some of Trump's products are made in the U.S., but overall, his goods are made in 12 countries, including China, Mexico, India and Germany. Business holdings retained As president, Trump has held on to ownership of his vast real estate and business holdings despite complaints from ethics experts, who say he should divest himself of those financial interests to avoid potential conflicts of interest. Trump has turned over management of his business empire to his two adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, and says he will have no contact with them about their business decisions. Under Trump's order, part of a "Buy American/Hire American" plan, government agencies are being directed to review their procurement practices and require that exceptions to the "buy American" rules be approved by the heads of those agencies. Officials also said government procurement portions of existing trade agreements would be reviewed to see whether U.S. companies get the same chance to sell products to the governments of U.S. trading partners that foreign firms get in Washington. Another review is aimed at rules governing visas issued to foreigners with certain skills that are in demand (H-1-B visas). The program is supposed to help employers attract foreign workers with skills that are scarce in the United States. Trump administration officials say they are concerned that companies are hiring foreigners who do the same work as Americans at lower wages. "This will stop," Trump vowed. Government agencies are being directed to conduct "top to bottom" reviews of these rules and laws, and report problems and recommendations that could bring about changes. U.S. political figures, including President Donald Trump, are watching for the outcome Tuesday of a special congressional election in the southern state of Georgia, to see whether there is any groundswell of sentiment emerging against his three-month tenure in the White House. Trump has not campaigned for any of the 11 Republicans running in the election, being contested in a relatively affluent and conservative district in the suburbs of a major city, Atlanta. It is a seat Republicans have held in the House of Representatives since 1978. But Trump joined the fray on Twitter as voting started, attacking the leading contender in the 18-candidate field, Democratic political newcomer Jon Ossoff, a documentary filmmaker and former congressional aide. Trump said it "will be a win" for Republicans if Ossoff is forced into a June 20 runoff if he doesn't garner the necessary 50 percent of the vote in Tuesday's balloting to claim the seat. If he finishes first, but with less than a majority vote, Ossoff would face the second-place finisher in two months, likely a Republican. "Force runoff and easy win!" Trump declared. The seat is vacant with the resignation of its long-time Republican congressman, Tom Price, who left Congress when Trump named him as his health and human services chief. Special elections like the one Tuesday often draw far fewer voters than is normal when there are other contests on the ballot, such as for president or a statewide vote for a Senate seat. But the large field of candidates and the contentious start of Trump's four-year presidency has boosted interest in the outcome 19 months ahead of congressional contests across the U.S. More than $14 million has been spent on advertising in the race. Trump's approval ratings in national polls are among the lowest ever recorded for U.S. presidents for their first months in office, giving Democrats renewed hope they could capture a congressional seat with Ossoff and embarrass the new president. Ossoff made one appeal for campaign financing to "Make Trump Furious," but since then, in an appeal to local voters, has declared that the race is more about local economic issues "before it is about the national political circus." U.S. President Donald Trump has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his "referendum victory," in a narrow vote that would create a powerful executive presidency from the current parliamentary system. The White House said in a statement the two leaders spoke by phone, with their conversation also including the need to hold Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable for a recent chemical attack, the ongoing fight against Islamic State and "the need to cooperate against all groups that use terrorism to achieve their ends." Erdogan's opponents are seeking a revote of Sunday's referendum, and international monitors have questioned the fairness of the vote, saying it was contested on an uneven playing field. At a news conference Monday in Ankara, monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said the "No" campaign faced numerous obstacles including a lack of freedom of expression, intimidation and access to the media. The OSCE also alleged misuse of administrative resources by Erdogan. The controversial decision to allow the use of ballots that did not have an official stamp was also criticized. The Supreme Election Board issued instructions late in the day, that significantly changed, the validity criteria, undermining an important safeguard and contradicting the law, observed Cezar Florin Preda of the monitoring group at the Ankara press conference Turkey's Foreign Ministry released a statement saying it was "saddened" by the OSCE's finding that the referendum fell short of international standards. The ministry called it "unacceptable" and accused the OSCE of political bias. Under Turkeys 2010 electoral law, all ballots require an official stamp as a measure aimed at preventing vote stuffing. The main opposition CHP alleges that as many as one-and-a-half million unstamped ballots could have been used, more than the winning margin in the referendum. The CHP is now demanding the referendum be held again. The only decision that will end debate about the legitimacy, and ease the peoples legal concerns is the annulment of this election, declared Bulent Tezcan CHP deputy head, speaking at a press conference Monday. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim rejected opposition complaints in remarks to a group of legislators Tuesday. He said the opposition "should not speak after the people have spoken." Protests were held in several locations across Istanbul and in the capital, Ankara, over the handling of the vote; similar demonstrations were reported in other cities. The only legal redress the CHP has to overturn the vote is with Supreme Election Board, which made the decision to use the unstamped ballots. The head of the board, Sadi Guven, strongly defended his decision to allow the controversial ballots, citing high demand for ballots and saying similar procedures had been followed in the past. This is not some move we've done for the first time, said Guven, speaking to reporters Monday in Ankara. Before our administration took over, there had been many decisions approving the validity of unstamped ballots. Critics point out the previous use of unstamped ballots was before the introduction of the electoral law banning the practice. Guven said he did not know how many of the ballots were used, and admitted he made the decision after consulting with the ruling AK Party. Many of the ballots are suspected of being used in the predominantly Kurdish southeast where strict security measures are in force due to an ongoing fight against Kurdish insurgent group the PKK. "No" campaigners in the region, said its observers, were prevented from monitoring many ballot stations. The OSCE also said its monitors too faced restrictions. While the OSCE refused to be drawn in on whether the shortcomings and difficulties it highlighted were enough to ultimately affect the outcome of the vote, its assessment will likely embolden the opposition and add to growing international concern. The European politician will refer to the OSCE; even Americans have said it was going to wait for the OSCE report [before commenting on the referendum result], warns political columnist Semih Idiz of Al Monitor website. It's a complication for Erdogan but he will try and turn it to his advantage, by saying the West is up to its old tricks again. Throughout the campaign, Erdogan played the nationalist card, accusing Western countries of conspiring against him and Turkey. Erdogan described the referendum as a victory against the crusaders. Europe has so far avoided directly addressing the controversy, choosing to look beyond the result with calls on Erdogan to reach out to his opponents to ease the political polarization. The U.S. State Department called on Turkey to protect basic rights and freedoms as authorities work to resolve the contested results. U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at making it harder for companies to hire temporary foreign workers. The order, called "Buy American Hire American," will take initial steps to reform the H1-B visa program. H1-Bs allow employers mostly high-tech firms to hire skilled foreign workers to work in the U.S. for three years. There are 85,000 slots available each year, 65,000 for applicants with bachelor's degrees and 20,000 for those with master's degrees or higher. "We are going to use a tool you all know very well. It's called the sledgehammer," Trump said Tuesday during a speech at Snap-on Tools, a company in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The administration will require companies to demonstrate that the visas are going only to the most highly skilled workers in their fields. "They [H1-Bs] should be given to the most skilled and highest-paid applicants and not be used to replace Americans," Trump said. WATCH: H1-B Visas Let US Firms Hire Foreigners for Specialized Jobs Open to abuse The administration says the visas, which can be renewed once, have contributed to a slide in American wages; 80 percent of H1-B visa holders are paid less than the median wage in their fields. Howard University political science professor Ron Hira said the Trump administration is right: "The laws are loose, and so what happens is it's become a way for employers to bring in cheaper, indentured workers as opposed to filling those skills gaps. As a result, the program is oversubscribed, and it's actually undercutting Americans." When the application season opened for H1-Bs this month, federal offices were quickly flooded. As in recent years, there were so many applications that the U.S. government stopped accepting them within a week. Visa winners will be chosen by a computer-generated lottery. Hira also said the intent of the program is good in serving as a guest worker program for when there are shortages of American workers. What got in the way? Politics. Companies are making so much money, he said, that they are able to influence Congress to prevent changes in the H1-B program. And it's all legal. Fixing H1-Bs Hira said that if the sledgehammer seemed to be velvet-coated, that's because the executive order is not really intended to change policy so much as to guide policy changes. Federal agencies will have to implement it. "The idea behind the executive order is to make it merit-based, that the really highly skilled people get preference over the cheap labor that goes on," Hira said. Overwhelmingly, India has been the biggest recipient of H1-B visas. The Department of Homeland Security reports that 71 percent of H1-Bs went to Indians in 2015. China was a distant second with 10 percent of the visas. India's success is attributed to its huge outsourcing firms that submit thousands of applications every year, increasing their chances of winning the visa lottery. Outsourcing firms, which supply services to other companies, are controversial because they are not subject to a federal requirement that they not displace American workers if they pay the H1-Bs at least $60,000 a year. Hira said the new policy might help high-tech American companies at the expense of the outsourcing firms that abuse the system. But "expect the Indian government to lobby against the changes," he predicted. The executive order also called on all federal agencies to buy American. It established a 220-day review on waivers and exemptions to government "Buy American" rules. VOA's Mil Arcega contributed to this report. Donald Trump is fast closing in on his first 100 days in office, and his public approval rating continues to hover at around 40 percent, still a low mark for a new U.S. president. Trump's rating on foreign policy has improved slightly in the wake of recent U.S. military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan, but his domestic agenda seems stuck in neutral. The latest Gallup Daily Tracking Poll has the president's approval rating at 41 percent, with 53 percent disapproval. That is an improvement from about three weeks ago when the approval level had dropped to 35 percent. The latest Marist College survey found Trump's approval at 39 percent, little changed from before the U.S. strike on Syria. Trump is facing a critical test as commander-in-chief, according to Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. Americans are still looking for President Trump to provide leadership, Miringoff said in a statement that accompanied the latest survey. Watch: A tough 100 days for President Trump Growing international focus After a rough few months on the domestic front, President Trump has increasingly turned his attention to foreign policy concerns including North Korea's missile program and the recent military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan. Right now, the world is a mess, Trump told reporters at a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg last week. But I think by the time we finish, I think it is going to be a lot better place to live, and I can tell you that speaking for myself, by the time I'm finished it is going to be a lot better place to live in because right now it is nasty. The flexing of U.S. military muscle against the Assad regime in Syria was welcomed by Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who called the missile strikes "an interesting message to a lot of our adversaries around the world and our allies around the world that this administration is going to be more assertive than the previous one." An uncertain domestic agenda Trump's standing at home remains complicated. Protesters were out in force in recent days demanding that the president release his tax returns, including a violent clash in California between anti-Trump and pro-Trump demonstrators. Congress returns to work next week, but the president's efforts on health care and other domestic priorities remain stalled, frozen by polarized politics in the view of Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. He'll have trouble constantly unless he moves to the middle. We are waiting for him to do it. At a recent political round table discussion hosted by Marist College, NBC News senior political editor Mark Murray said presidents have the most political leverage at the beginning of their term. If you don't do health care now, you are not going to get it done over four years. If you don't end up getting tax reform (now), it is never going to happen. Catering to his base Another panelist, liberal Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne, said Trump appears to have trouble looking beyond his core supporters. And you can't just govern with your base. No one can. And I think his base has been his obsession and that just doesn't work in the long run. From the beginning of his presidency, Trump has struggled to broaden his base of support, said Brookings Institution analyst Sarah Binder. Starting with historically low approval ratings, and even those approval ratings remain reasonably high with Republicans but even those numbers have come down a bit. So it is very hard going forward to build big coalitions in American politics from a very narrow base. Historical partisan divide To be fair, Trump is also the inheritor of decades of growing political polarization, according to American Enterprise Institute scholar Michael Barone. And we have had a period of about the last 20 years in which we have had very durable, static party divisions, with each party getting approximately equal numbers of votes and many voters just not changing their party. Trump's best hope for progress on domestic issues may be to enlist support from Democrats, even if it risks angering Republicans, predicted Brookings analyst William Galston. If the administration really wants to move in that direction, they ought to initiate discussions with Democrats on issues such as tax reform and infrastructure (improvement) right away, in my judgment. Others believe Trump has the capacity to change. Every president learns on the job, said Council on Foreign Relations president Richard Haass in an interview for VOA's Press Conference USA. No president emerges the same after his first crisis. Haass, who has worked for four presidents, said he believes Trump is likely already a different person from the one who walked into the Oval Office just a few months ago. I don't know exactly what he'll learnbut the potential is there for change. Fewer than 100 days into his presidency, Trump is now trying to balance the pressing needs of his domestic agenda amid the backdrop of an uncertain and ever-changing world. In order to move his domestic agenda forward, however, he may have to enlist help from Democrats, a politically risky move that could turn off the very core supporters who continue to stand by him today. Turkey's president has rejected international monitors' criticism of the referendum that approved expanded presidential powers Sunday, saying the vote was the most democratic election seen in any Western country. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told supporters Monday outside his palace in Ankara that international election monitors should know their place. He said Turkey will ignore findings by monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, calling the reports politically motivated. Fairness questioned The monitors have questioned the fairness of Sunday's referendum, saying it was contested on an uneven playing field. At a news conference in Ankara, monitors from the OSCE said the No campaign faced numerous obstacles, including a lack of freedom of expression, intimidation and access to the media. They also questioned the controversial decision by Turkey's Supreme Court to allow the use of ballots that did not have an official stamp on them. The main opposition CHP alleges that as many as one-and-a-half million unstamped ballots could have been used, more than the winning margin in the referendum. Opposition calls for new vote Bulent Tezcan, deputy head of the CHP demanded the referendum be reheld, saying that would be the only decision that will end the debate about the legitimacy and ease people's concerns. Unofficial election results from Turkey's electoral board said the yes vote took more than 51 percent while the no vote took just under 49 percent. Official tallies were expected to be released within 12 days of the vote. The approval means the Turkish parliament will be largely sidelined, the prime minister and Cabinet posts will be abolished, and ministers will be directly appointed by the president and accountable to him. The president also will set the budget. The constitutional amendments also end the official neutrality of the president, allowing him to lead a political party. The president will have the power to dissolve parliament and declare a state of emergency, while enjoying enhanced powers to appoint judges to the high court and constitutional court. A divided nation The referendum has divided the nation, with both supporters and opponents arguing that the future of the country is at stake. Erdogan insists the reforms will create a fast and efficient system of governance that will allow Turkey to face the challenges of fighting terror and the slowing economy. Critics argue the constitutional reforms will usher in an elected dictatorship. Erdogan spoke by telephone Monday with U.S. President Donald Trump, who according to a White House statement congratulated the Turkish leader on the referendum win. The statement further said the two men talked about the situation in Syria, both the fight against Islamic State and holding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable for a chemical attack earlier this month. Star Trek, the iconic science fiction television and film series, feature a medical device called a "tricorder." In the show, a doctor can use this handheld device to check a person's vital signs and diagnose illness. What was once imagined is now a reality. The Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE challenged scientists to develop a tricorder-like mobile device to improve health care globally. Out of 300 entries from countries around the world, a team called Final Frontier Medical Devices won first place and $2.6 million. Im still in shock, still don't believe it, said emergency room doctor Basil Harris, leader of the winning team. It's really been a wild family reunion every weekend, nights and weekends of putting this together over the last five years. Friends and family approach Harris and his team of family members range in expertise from computer science and medicine, to engineering and health policy. Harris, his siblings and some friends developed the device they named DxtER. When I got involved in the competition, it's a crazy idea build a 'tricorder' so who's going to listen to you but your own family? said Harris. DxtER includes a collection of non-invasive sensors that collect data about a person's vital signs, body chemistry and biological functions, and is able to diagnose numerous illnesses such as anemia, diabetes and pneumonia as a part of the competition's criteria. Taiwan group places 2nd Taiwan-based Dynamical Biomarkers Group won 2nd place for developing a mobile diagnostic device for consumers. With members from Taiwan, China and the U.S., and in partnership with HTC, the team received $1 million for developing a device called DeepQ. Inspired by the traditional Chinese medicine's method of observe, listen, inquire and feel, this device includes the ability to monitor a person's vital signs, has a blood urine test kit, and two camera lenses to allow the device to see, along with a smart phone and application. There's a mission we want to achieve. That mission is to bring quality health care to everyone, to people maybe in China in rural villages," said Dynamical Biomarkers Group team leader and Harvard Medical School Associate Professor Chung-Kang Peng. "They don't have the resource, so we need money to further develop our system to make it better. We plan to make the system at least five times better than this one. Hospital respects the need Dynamical Biomarkers Group would like to work with the Chinese government to bring DeepQ to selected villages in one to two years. The General Hospital of Maputo in Mozambique, Africa, has committed to having this type of device for its doctors, nurses and patients. I think the fundamental problem that exists that we wanted to address is that there are hundreds of millions of people around the world who have no access to modern health care, and these people exist in remote places of the world," said Grant Campany, executive director of Health and Wellness at XPRIZE. "They exist right here in the United States in the rural areas." Answer to doctor shortage With a lack of doctors, nurses and infrastructure in many parts of the world, Campany said technology provides one solution to the shortage. This is the type of device that can help level the playing field across the board," said Harris. "From remote villages to urban centers to refugee camps, this stuff can be deployed and really, really make a difference." Campany said developing a real working medical device out of science fiction is possible because it is a unique time in technological history. Technologies that existed that were extremely expensive just five or 10 years ago are now being produced at scale that makes them so inexpensive, and it's that fact that provides a lot of these technologies to be accessible to more people and easier to actually incorporate into new devices," said Campany. Partnering with FDA In the U.S., the devices need to go through a rigorous approval process with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. We're talking about devices that are so complex they've never been designed before, and so we're entering new territory here, and that's why we've partnered with the FDA so that we can work together, so that we can understand what it is the FDA's going to be looking at as far as providing the teams with guidance, Campany said. It is a process Harris said could take five to seven years, before consumers on a wide scale can purchase a tricorder-like device for around $200. The German government says the leaders of Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France have renewed their commitment to implementing a faltering peace deal for eastern Ukraine. Chancellor Angela Merkel's office said the German leader spoke by phone Monday night with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and French President Francois Hollande. A 2015 peace deal brokered by France and Germany has helped reduce the scale of fighting, but violence has continued and attempts at a political settlement have failed. The German statement early Tuesday said the four leaders stressed their commitment to implementing the security and political aspects of the deal, underlined the importance of respecting a cease-fire and urged progress on the exchange of prisoners. They voiced hope that the four-country format will continue under France's next president. U.S. Marines began arriving in Australia's tropical north on Tuesday for a six-month deployment during which they will conduct exercises with Australian and visiting Chinese forces. The 25-year annual deployment program started by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2011 is part of the U.S. pivot to Asia at a time of increased assertiveness by China. I think that the commitment that we've taken to put a task force here with a conversation to get larger over the years says that we do think this is an important region," said Marines' commander Lieutenant Colonel Brian Middleton after the first troops arrived in Darwin in the Northern Territory. Being close to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, the Indo Pacific position has always been important. Middleton said the marines would conduct an "important exercise alongside our Chinese partners" and Australia. The strength of this year's deployment at 1,250 troops lags well behind the initial plan for the deployment to reach 2,500 Marines this year, but it will see the largest U.S. aircraft contingent to Australia in peacetime history. 13 aircraft show commitment Middleton said the 13 aircraft, including tilt-rotor Ospreys, Super Cobra helicopters and Huey helicopters, triple the four aircraft in past deployments, was a tangible kind of sign of our commitment to the region and to this partnership. He said the decision to send the aircraft pre-dated the recent escalation in tensions over North Korea. Regardless, I think it is just a good move any time we can strengthen the long standing partnership and alliance between our two countries. We stand ready to fight and win the night always. U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to sail to near the Korean peninsula as a show of force aimed at deterring North Korea from conducting more missiles tests. Pyongyang launched a failed missile test on Sunday and has warned Washington against taking military action against North Korea. Australia caught in middle The Australia-US-China military exercises are also aimed at Australia charting a course between its most important security ally the United States and its biggest trading partner China. Australia has drawn rebukes from both superpowers as it tries to strike a balanced stance on the disputed South China Sea, with China criticizing Australian freedom-of-navigation flights in the area and a senior U.S. soldier calling on Australia to do more there. President Donald Trump's national security adviser has discussed the situation in Afghanistan with India's prime minister, nearly a week after the U.S. military dropped a massive non-nuclear bomb in the country that it said killed 94 militants. H.R. McMaster's meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the first visit by a Trump administration official to India, a key ally in Asia. The U.S. Embassy says the two also discussed ways to increase defense and counter-terrorism cooperation, and McMaster assured Modi of India's status as a major defense partner in the global fight against terrorism. Indian TV stations broadcast images of McMaster and Modi, each flanked by officials, sitting together at Modi's home in the Indian capital. McMaster's visit followed stops in Kabul and Islamabad. As Venezuelas center-right opposition prepares to stage "the mother of all marches" Wednesday to protest President Nicolas Maduros efforts to consolidate power, the besieged leader has called for a countermarch and declared plans to expand the countrys civilian militias. Maduro, speaking to thousands of uniformed militia members assembled Monday at the presidential palace in Caracas, said they must determine whether they are "with the homeland or with the betrayal of the homeland." The president announced a goal to ramp up their ranks to half a million, from the current 100,000, and to arm each with a gun. On Sunday, hed ordered military troops to fan out nationwide. "We are going to mobilize, to fight, to continue fighting to prevent any intention of the right to subvert the constitutional order," added Diosdado Cabella, vice president of the ruling United Socialist Party. The Maduro supporter, a lawmaker in the National Assembly, said he expected about 60,000 motorcyclists to ride in support of the government Wednesday. Recent violence At least five people have been killed in two weeks of protests, with security forces firing rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons. The turbulence erupted after the Venezuelan Supreme Courts March 30 announcement that it would strip the opposition-controlled National Assembly of its legislative powers. The court stacked with appointees of Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez reversed its position in the wake of domestic and international outcries about an attempted power grab. Thousands of Maduros opponents are expected to turn out in the capital Wednesday at 10 a.m. local time to pressure his administration to respect the assemblys autonomy, schedule long-delayed elections, free political prisoners and restore other democratic norms. While the main march is planned for Caracas, Unidad Venezuela, a coalition of opposition parties, also is organizing marches in each of the countrys 24 states, according to the groups Twitter account. Demonstrations also are planned at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington starting at noon local time. Conflicting messages On Monday, Maduro called on his followers to defend the country against alleged plans to overthrow him. Do not hesitate for a second, he warned. Venezuelas defense minister, Vladimir Padrino Lopez, assured Maduro of professional soldiers loyalty. And the countrys foreign minister, Delcy Rodriguez, also expressed solidarity with her boss and against outside forces such as the imperialist United States. "We will continue defeating them in the international field," Rodriguez tweeted late Monday. "There will be no imperial force on Earth that crushes the spirit of the sovereign people of Venezuela." But the leftist governments opponents also are appealing to military and civilian troops to back their cause. "We know that behind those shields are Venezuelans who accompany us in this struggle for a change," the National Assemblys president, Julio Borges, said in a tweet Tuesday. The National Socialist Party has ruled Venezuela for 17 years. Economic pressures have mounted in recent years, especially since the price of oil Venezuelas chief export began falling in 2014. Venezuelans face chronic, severe shortages of food, medicine and other basics in what once was Latin Americas wealthiest country. Wednesdays mass protest falls on a significant date for Venezuelans: On April 19, 1810, Venezuelans began their quest for independence from Spain. Concern over bloodshed Maduro faces intensifying pressure, from internal political foes and from international bodies such as the Organization of American States, to back off from violence. On Monday, Latin American leaders counseled against further bloodshed. "We view with serious concern the militarization of Venezuelan society. We call for good sense," Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said in a tweet Tuesday, according to the AFP news service. Colombia is among 11 Latin American countries including Brazil, Argentina and Mexico urging peaceful demonstrations Wednesday. They called upon Venezuelas government to respect the constitutional right to peaceful protest. On Tuesday, the Venezuelan Penal Forum, an NGO, said security forces in the country have carried out 538 arrests since early April. It said that as of Monday, 241 people were being detained. It also reported multiple instances of torture and cruelty to detainees. VOA's Carol Guensburg and VOA Spanish service intern Goldy Fogel contributed to this report from Washington. The World Food Program is sounding the alarm over a severe funding shortfall in Nigeria that could endanger the lives of 4.7 million people affected by hunger in the nation's volatile northeast. The U.N. agency has received just under 15 percent of the $416 million it needs for its operations in Nigeria this year. In the next five or six months, says WFP Acting Regional Communications Officer Elizabeth Bryant, the U.N. agency needs $200 million to keep feeding Nigeria's hunger-stricken population. Experts predict that the annual lean season usually, the waiting period before the next harvest could come as early as May, after two years of failed harvests in the agricultural northeast, Bryant told VOA, adding that funding needs are urgent. "We need it now, " she said from Dakar, "so that we have food lined up, that we're prepared. And in fact, the food is there, we just need to have the money to be able to buy it and distribute it to people in need." The agency has contingency plans which include reducing rations, Bryant says, but officials are appealing to donors to act now to prevent the situation from becoming a famine. "At that point, a lot of lives have already been lost," she said, "and the other thing is it costs a lot more, financially, to react to a famine, than to try to avoid one." Nigeria is one of four nations on the brink of famine. Yemen, South Sudan and Somalia are also facing dire hunger, in what U.N. officials say is the largest humanitarian crisis since the international body's creation. The insecurity and mass displacement caused by the now seven-year Boko Haram conflict in northeastern Nigeria has brought farming to a near halt. Some parts of Borno state have been off-limits to aid workers due to fighting. The Nigerian government's chief humanitarian coordinator, Dr. Ayoade Alakija, told VOA that this is not just a threat to Africa's most populous nation. It is also a threat to millions of families in Chad, Niger and Cameroon who rely on Nigerian agriculture. "Because these people would farm, and they would farm their millet and their maize and their beans and it would be exported to those other countries and that was how they got their livelihoods. But also, that is how those countries got their food," Alakija said. In an op-ed published Friday in the French newspaper Le Monde, the U.N. deputy humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria warned that a suspension of relief efforts in northeastern Nigeria could render the area more vulnerable to the spread of extremism. It goes by the name, Liberty Passion. It is an enormous, state-of-the art, US ship of the Ro/Ro type (designed to transport vehicles and cargo on wheels): 200 metres long, it has 12 decks with a total area exceeding 50,000 m2, sufficient to transport cargo equal to 6,500 automobiles. The ship is owned by the US company Liberty Global Logistics and it was on 24 March that the ship made its first stopover at the port of Livorno. Thus is established an official, regular connection between Livorno and the harbours in Jordan and Gedda in Saudi Arabia and the voyage is carried out every month by Liberty Passion and its sister ships Liberty Pride and Liberty Promise. The launch of such a service was celebrated like a festival at the port of Livorno. However, not a soul states why the US company has specifically chosen Livorno in Tuscany as the stopover. A US Maritime Administration communication [1] fills the gap with the following explanation: Liberty Passion and two other ships, linking up Livorno and Aqaba and Gedda, form part of the Programme for Maritime Security, that through a public-private partnership, provides the Department of Defense with a powerful, mobile private fleet which flies the US flag and is equipped with a US crew. Each of the three ships has the capacity to transport about one hundred vehicles for combat and support. These include tankers, vehicles to transport troops, helicopters and equipment for military units. And so it becomes clear why the US company has chosen Port Livorno to make the connection with the two southern ports. Port Livorno is linked to Camp Darby, the US armys logistical base, situated at the border of Livorno. Camp Darby in turn supplies US air and land forces in the following zones: the Mediterranean zone, the Southern zone, the African zone and others. It is the only site for the US army where pre-arranged material (tankers, etc.) is placed together with the supplies: its 125 bunkers store all the equipment for two armoured battalions and two mechanized infantry. Also stocked: huge quantities of bombs and missiles for airplanes, together with assembly kits to quickly build airports in the war zone. Two routes can be used so that these and other military materials can be promptly sent to the zone of operation: the first is via Port Livorno, connected to the base of Canale dei Navicelli which has recently been enlarged; and the second, is via Pisas military airport. From here, departed the bombs used in the wars waged against Iraq, Yugoslavia and Libya. Documentary sources (AsiaNews [2] and others) report that on its inaugural trip, Liberty Passion transported 250 military vehicles from Livorno to Aqaba (the Jordanian port). The ship arrived at Aqaba on 7 April, making its way there via the Suez Canal. Two days before, in Washington, President Trump received King Abdullah for the second time since February thus confirming US support to Jordan against the terrorist threat coming from Syria. However, it is precisely in Jordan, that for year, US, British and French instructors have been training militants belonging to the Free Syria Army for terrorist attacks in Syria. Various reports indicate that an increasing number of US troops, fitted out with tankers and armoured vehicles, are moving to the Jordan-Syrian border. The objective? To take possession, using even Jordanian troops, of the southern band of the Syrian territory, where special US and British forces are operating in support of the Free Syria Army which is fighting with Isis. As early as February, President Trump had discussed with King Abdullah, the possibility of establishing safe zones in Syria. Safe zones is code for balkanizing Syria, now an option, given that, following Russian intervention, it is no longer possible to control the entire territory. US arms are used for this and other military operations, which include the Saudi war which causes massacres in Yemen. These arms leave from Livorno, a city which, Pope Francis, on the invitation of Mayor Nogarin (Movimento 5 Stelle), will probably visit. Yesterday, once again, Pope Francis denounced the trafficking of arms which allows money to be made from men and women shedding blood. Meanwhile several residents of Livorno celebrate the fact that their Tuscan port has been chosen as the stopover for Liberty Global Logistics, for this creates huge prospects for development. As long as the war continues, so does hope [3]. President Trumps radical change in rhetoric concerning his foreign policy was accompanied by the bombing of an air base in Cheyrat, and that of an Afghan mountain. The world trembled before the deployment of such force - 59 Tomahawk missiles in Syria and one GBU-4/B3 mega-bomb in Afghanistan. Yet the base in Cheyrat was already operational again the following morning, while the Mother Of All Bombs certainly caused the collapse of three exits of a natural tunnel, but did not destroy the kilometres of underground passages created over time by the rivers within the mountain. In short, much ado about nothing. These two operations were clearly intended to convince the US deep state that the White House was once again supporting its imperial politics. They had the desired affect on Germany and France. Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande applauded their lord and master, and called for an end to the Syrian situation. The surprise arrived from elsewhere. The United Kingdom did not only follow the movement. Their Minister for Foreign Affairs, Boris Johnson, proposed to levy sanctions against Russia, according to him an accomplice in the Syrian crimes , and responsible in one way or another for the Afghan resistance and a plethora of other evils. During the meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs at the G7, Johnson announced the cancellation of his trip to Moscow, and invited all his partners to break off their political and commercial relations with Russia. However, though approving the British initiative, these partners prudently stayed in the background. Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, incontrovertibly dismissed this insane proposition and maintained his trip to Moscow. Brazenly, Johnson then declared that the Europeans had appointed Tillerson to go and talk some sense into the Russians. Although international protocol states that Ministers are to be received by their opposite numbers, and not by the Head of State, the Atlantist Press presented Tillersons welcome by Lavrov as a cooling of Russo-US relations. Before he had the time to salute his guest, Sergey Lavrov was interrupted by a Washington journalist who took him to task. Reminding him of the conventions of basic politeness, the Russian Minister refused to answer him and cut the presentations short.. The meeting, behind closed doors, lasted for more than 4 hours, which seems fairly long for people who have nothing to say to one another. Finally, the two men requested an audience with President Putin, who recieved them for 2 extra hours. After these meetings, the Ministers gave a Press conference. They declared without irony that they had done little more than take note of their divergences. Sergey Lavrov warned the journalists of the danger that this rupture represented for the world. However, the next day, the same Lavrov, addressing the Russian Press, indicated that he had concluded an agreement with his guest. Washington had agreed not to continue their attacks on the Syrian Arab Army, and the military coordination between the Pentagon and the Russian army for circulation in Syrian airspace had been re-established. In appearance, the Trump administration is roaring its power and throwing bombs around, but in reality, it is taking great care not to cause any irreparable damage. The worst and the best are therefore possible. The political-media spotlight beams in on the nuclear escalation in the Korean peninsula, and lets slip, unnoticed in the shadows, a similar escalation in on the Italian peninsula. On 13 April [2017], The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center communicates that, in the polygon of Nellis in Nevada: An Air Force F-16 aircraft released an inert B61 nuclear bomb in a test recently, demonstrating the aircrafts capability to deliver the weapon and testing the functioning of the weapons non-nuclear components, including the arming and fire control system, radar altimeter, spin rocket motors and weapons control computer. What is the significance of this? It indicates that the B61-12, the new US nuclear bomb, meant to replace the B-61 bomb which has been stored in Italy and other European countries, is now in the engineering phase in preparation for mass production. The many components of the B61-12 are planned and tested in the national laboratories of Los Alamos and Albuquerque (New Mexico), Livermore (California), and produced in a series of plants in Missouri, Texas, South Carolina and Tennessee. On top of these is the tail section, manufactured by Boeing, for precision guidance. The B61-12 is not the B-61 with a few cosmetic updates. Nay, it is far more than that. It is a weapon sui generis with: a nuclear head with four power options to choose from, depending on the object you wish to strike; a guidance system that permits it to launch not directly above its target, but some distance from it; and the capacity to penetrate into the ground to destroy command centre bunkers in a nuclear first strike. The test confirms that the new nuclear bomb can be launched by the F-16 fighter bomber (model C/D) of the 31st Fighter Wing, the squadron of US fighter bombers stationed at Aviano (Pordenone) which is now ready for attack with 50 (the number estimated by the FAS, the Federation of American Scientists) B 61 bombs. The communique specifies that the B61-12 can be also be launched from Tornado PA-200 bomber fighters, such as those of the 6 Formation of the Italian Air Force stored at Ghedi (Brescia), currently ready for nuclear attack with 20 B61 bombs. While waiting for the F-35 fighter bombers to be delivered to the Italian Air Force, the U.S. Air Force announces that, the B61-12 will be integrated into the F-35. That the Italian pilots are being trained for nuclear attack under US command reports the FAS [1] is demonstrated by the presence of the 704th Munitions Support Squadron at Ghedi. This is one of the U.S. Air Forces four units stationed in European bases (in Italy as well as Germany, Belgium and Holland) where US nuclear weapons are meant to launch from airplanes of the host state. Pilots from these four European countries and Turkey are being trained to use the B-61, and now the B61-12, in Steadfast Noon. This is Natos annual drill for nuclear war. In 2013, this drill took place at Aviano, and in 2014 at Ghedi. According to the programme, the B61-12, the cost of which is forecast to be in the range of 8 10 billion dollars for 480 bombs, will begin to be mass manufactured in 2020. Thereafter, they will substitute the B-61 in Italy and in the other European countries. Satellite photos that the FAS released, show that in the bases at Aviano and Ghedi, and in other bases both in Europe and Turkey, changes have already been made to achieve this purpose. We still do not know how many B61-12 have been earmarked for Italy; however, we cannot rule out that, in light of the growing sense of unease with Russia, that their number will exceed the number of B61 bombs that are currently stored. Neither is it ruled out that they will be stored, as well as in Aviano and Ghedi, in other bases for example - Camp Darby where the U.S. Air Forces bombs are stored. It is a fact that, in an unprecedented move in 2014, Polish pilots with F-16 C/D fighter bombers took part in the Nato drill for nuclear war carried out at Ghedi. This indicates that in all likelihood, the B61-12 will also be stored in Poland and other countries of the former Eastern bloc. The F-16 fighter bomber and other Nato planes at double capacity, nuclear and conventional, are stationed, in rotation, in the Baltic republics, going right up to the border with Russia. The B61-12 is defined by the Pentagon as the fundamental element of the US nuclear triad (land, sea and air). Come 2020, and the lining up of the B61-12 in Europe (though it is not ruled out that it could well be prior to this date), Italy, which is officially a non-nuclear country, will be transformed into the firing line for an increasingly dangerous nuclear confrontation between the US/Nato on the one hand and Russia on the other. It is in fact General James Cartwright, the former US Strategic Command, who warns that nuclear weapons such as the B61-12 which are less weighty (from 0.3 to 50 kiloton) yet more precise, increase the temptation to use them, which could even be for a pre-emptive nuclear strike rather than in an act of reprisal. In such a case, it is beyond doubt that Italy would be the first target for an inevitable nuclear reprisal. Its hard to say what motivates Chuck. What would drive a successful man in his advanced years to be so vindictive and petty? Hed have to be a sociopath. In this case, hes a bitter attorney and divorcee with extraordinary psychosomatic sickness stemming from thoroughly underappreciated big-sibling issues. No wonder Rebecca left you, Jimmy snarls, moments before prying open a desk drawer in Chucks study with a fireplace poker and destroying the tape of his confession. That unspooling polyester reel represented the last straw for Jimmy, and in turn his harsh words cemented Chucks grudge. Unfortunately for Jimmy, Howard and Chucks wannabe cardsharp private investigator heard them too. Even worse, they were lying in wait until Jimmy thoroughly compromised himself before all but saying, Gotcha! It was a Candid Camera scene gone wrong, and it virtually delineates Jimmys transformation into the jaded criminal-defense performance artist known as Saul Goodman. Everyones a little crooked in Better Call Saul, so its hard to blame Jimmy who may never have been tough enough to compete with the alphas on their terms for eventually breaking bad. Even the initialized wallpaper decal in the waiting area of Kim and Jimmys office is, as new receptionist Francesca notes, a bit askew. (And it was in a zigzag pattern to begin with.) Francesca is this episodes breath of fresh air, taking some of the comic-relief burden off of Jimmy just in time for him to channel some serious rage. At Jimmys behest, the former New Mexico MVD (dont you dare call it the DMV) toiler all but assaults elderly callers with banter about Cracker Barrels biscuits and balmy weather. Mike, on the other hand, isnt exactly armed with a charm offensive. After surviving first-day Francescas folksy screening (this one really doesnt want to talk about Cracker Barrel, she cautions), Mike calls on Jimmy for a favor, explaining with characteristic heaviness the job at hand: Park at Los Pollos Hermanos at about 7:30 a.m., watch for a green Chevy Blazer to arrive, keep your eyes on the driver and crucially his mysterious knapsack. Whoevers on the receiving end of whatevers inside that bag has numerous sets of eyes on Mike, and he needs an inside man to even the odds. And it aint as if Caldera the creepy vet is up for any more odd-hour house calls. At the end of Jimmys mission, which revealed little more than their perps breakfast preferences (he went bold with the extra salsa), he whines to Mike about wanting in on any ensuing reconnaissance. He cleared his morning, after all a fact that no doubt thrills Kim back at the office. But hes as yet demonstrably inept at staking out bad guys. In a prolonged and painfully funny sequence, Jimmy fumbles with sugar packets, conspicuously moves from table to table, and does a veritable dumpster dive inside the restaurant garbage can to retrieve any useful evidence. His bumbling Inspector Clouseau routine only serves to arouse a certain hovering managers hunch that this hapless customer came for more than a Pollos Classic and black coffee. (Is anyone really stopping in for the $24.99 per dozen breakfast-burrito special?) Its just as likely that Mike sent Jimmy on a fools errand as part of an elaborate cat and mouse with this cagey criminal hell soon get to know as cartel rival Gustavo Fring. That would make Jimmy no less a pawn in Mikes stakeout than Ernesto was in Chucks plans to ensnare his brother. So far, that ruse is rounding out exactly as manipulated. Ernie, as Kim calls him, isnt ready to jeopardize his budding legal career and all the sweet perks that come with it. Admittedly, that blue Mitsubishi with a spoiler does outclass Jimmys two-tone Suzuki Esteem (not to mention makes for a stealthier product placement). Ernie tries to spit out what he heard on the cassette recorder at Chucks house, but hes even more flustered than Jimmy was while playing detective. Also, Kim is arguably shorter on patience than Mike. (Those two would definitely share mutual respect.) Fortunately, Kim is naturally levelheaded. She calls up an old professor and concludes, similarly to Howard, that theres little in the way of conventional courtroom recourse to substantiate the tape as proof of Jimmys wrongdoing. So long as Jimmy keeps cool and doesnt trip on Chucks wires, this should blow over and up in his brothers face. Jimmy assures Kim hes collected, and carries on seeing Mr. Tiller and Mr. Witchell, indulging the formers yarns about bottle caps and presumably trying not to stare in judgment at the latters ponytail. As the workday winds down, he carries on affixing that initialized wall decal, rolling it off with opposing thumbs, exactly as Chuck would have instructed. Catching himself in that ultimate act of obedience, he finally snaps, barging into Chucks home not quite on cue, but tragically at precisely the wrong instant. Next we see Jimmy, hell probably be standing before a judge in his worst prison orange. As for Mike, whos been left momentarily bested in what amounted to a crazy-making goose chase, his next steps may set all our characters on a path thats far from all good, man. Apart From All That Pretty incredible suspense-release roller-coaster we were taken on with Gus. Welcome back, Jeremiah Bitsui, a.k.a. Victor! LWYRUP, indeed. Hard to gauge how, or whether, romantically involved Kim and Jimmy still are. Personally, I prefer a vintage bentwood rocking chair. Nice bit of physical comedy for Patrick Fabian, a.k.a. Howard. Etude blue over daydream harvest probably beats the artwork in his Davis & Main digs. FWIW, U.S. v. McKeever. Boseman, Chadwick Boseman. Photo: Marvel Entertainment Louis DEsposito, the co-president of Marvel Studios, grinned as a group of journalists sat down in a Disney screening room Monday night. The first thing youll be seeing, he told us, is Lupita taking out some bad guys. The executives at Marvel Studios are known for playing their cards close to the vest, but every so often, when you know youre sitting on a winning hand, you cant help but show off. Thats why the studio summoned reporters to the Disney lot in Burbank to tease several of the movies coming from Marvels wildly successful cinematic universe, including Thor: Ragnarok, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Captain Marvel. Aside from a full screening of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, by far the biggest sneak peek the studio offered was an extensive look at Black Panther, which wraps filming in Atlanta tomorrow and is due out February 16, 2018. As we watched dailies of Oscar winner Lupita Nyongo ably somersaulting through a Black Panther action sequence, DEsposito beamed. While the fight choreography was straight out of the Marvel playbook you could imagine Scarlett Johanssons Black Widow going through many of the same motions as Nyongo flung herself into the scene with steely commitment on her face and a vivid green shroud wrapped around her body, the footage carried with it an undeniable X factor. Thats exactly the sweet spot the studio hopes to hit with Black Panther: The film has to be familiar enough to fit into Marvels ever-expanding cinematic universe while also offering enough spark to jump-start its own singular franchise. A tricky task, but to judge from some of the stunning things that DEsposito and his colleagues showed off last night, it looks like Marvel is on the right track. Directed by Ryan Coogler (Creed, Fruitvale Station), Black Panther picks up the story of TChalla (Chadwick Boseman) after his well-received introduction in Captain America: Civil War. As he comes to grips with the death of his father, the former king of their African nation Wakanda, TChalla must return home and succeed him. Despite the presence of several strong allies in TChallas corner including Angela Bassett as his mother, Queen Ramonda, and an all-female group of elite bodyguards known as the Dora Milaje he soon finds that its not easy to be a head of state and a superhero at the same time, especially when the nation is threatened by several villains including the dangerous Erik Killmonger (Michael B. Jordan). Coogler was wooed for months by Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige before he accepted the Black Panther directing gig; in part, Ive heard, because Coogler wanted to be sure he could put his own personal stamp on the film. Many of the Marvel movies are shot, composed, and edited by the same in-house people, but Coogler wanted to bring over several of his own trusted collaborators, including co-writer Joe Robert Cole, composer Ludwig Goransson, and cinematographer Rachel Morrison. (Indeed, with Black Panther, Morrison becomes the first woman to shoot a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.) That unique sensibility appears to have paid off. Black Panther doesnt look like any of the other Marvel movies, and it shouldnt if it wants to pay proper tribute to the impact of the first black superhero in mainstream American comics. Lets start with the costumes by Oscar nominee Ruth E. Carter, making her Marvel Studios debut. Whether TChalla is spending his downtime in a dashiki or the Dora Milaje are marching in warrior suits of rich brown and gold, Carter has found a remarkable way to merge centuries of African culture with the particulars of superhero pop. I died and came back to life when I saw the first footage of Angela Bassett as Ramonda, the actress resplendent in a shimmering honey robe with an enormous headpiece that would send every Sunday church lady home to start over. Lets be honest: If Angela Bassett is your mother, youre beginning the superhero sweepstakes on third base, but TChalla will still have his work cut out for him to earn any attention next to Bassetts queen at her most fierce. Then theres the fictional setting of Wakanda, which trades the prosaic metropolitan cities of most Marvel movies for something exciting and new. TChallas wealthy nation strikes a balance between high-tech futurism and verdant nature, suggesting an African grassland where technology can enhance what the earth gives us instead of plundering it. We saw dailies and concept art of an African tech castle with a driveway filled by sleek airships, a glowing Vibranium waterfall, a futuristic Wakanda Design Center where TChalla goes to visit his sister Shuri, and a shot so striking TChalla, deep in the forest, regarding an old tree draped with a dozen panthers that its been painted as a mural in one of the studios most highly trafficked hallways. Still, the most exciting thing about the way Black Panther looks is who it presents as powerful. At a time where too many superhero movies are led by blandly handsome white men named Chris, Black Panther celebrates a cast made up almost exclusively of dark-skinned black actors, most of whom rarely get to headline a live-action movie of this size despite their more-than-evident talent. If the movie succeeds on the worldwide scale of most Marvel entries, it will refute the notion espoused by many Hollywood executives that black films dont travel; more importantly, if its a creative breakthrough that launches a new mythology and coaxes underrepresented audiences to dream bigger, it could become a black Star Wars. Also, the characters fight giant rhino-mechs, Lupita battles with killer discs, and Im pretty sure I caught Danai Guriras character flirting with another member of the Dora Milaje. If this is what the future of superhero movies looks like, deal me in. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images Steve Harvey, currently the host of The Steve Harvey Morning Show radio program, Steve Harvey the daytime talk show, Family Feud, Little Big Shots, and, occasionally, the Miss Universe pageant, has somehow learned how to slip between the fabric of space and time, freeing up some room in his schedule to host Foxs new weekly Showtime at the Apollo series. Encouraged by viewer reception to two Apollo specials that aired this winter, the networks new show will feature elements of the historic Harlem theaters famous Amateur Night talent competition. In the absence of the late, great American Idol franchise, it sounds like Fox is hoping to fill their reality-competition void with the updated Apollo. We all had such a blast on the two specials that aired earlier this season that we thought it really deserved being a weekly event, Harvey, who first broke into television hosting Showtime at the Apollo from 1993 to 2000, said in a statement. But our mission is a little different this time around: Instead of just putting on a great show, were going to do that and find the next great comic and the next big music star. Thats what the Apollo is all about. Maybe Steve Harvey can use this as an opportunity to discover the next Steve Harvey, then get him or her to take on some of his hosting gigs, because the man has to be exhausted. Kevin Spacey. Photo: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images After an unusually long search for a host, one plagued by refusals and scheduling conflicts, the 71st Annual Tony Awards have announced that Kevin Spacey will be hosting this years ceremony. The awards will be held on June 11 and will be returning to New York Citys famed Radio City Music Hall, with Spacey as a first-time host. I was their second choice for Usual Suspects, fourth choice for American Beauty, and 15th choice to host this years Tony Awards. I think my career is definitely going in the right direction, said Spacey. Maybe I can get shortlisted to host the Oscars if everyone else turns it down. What a guy! West Family Easter photo. Photo: Kim Kardashian West, Twitter Before we as a society can prepare for our next three-day weekend and excuse to be drunk on our cousins porch (Memorial Day is only 41 days away!), Kim Kardashian West has some revealing Easter photos to share. Among the pictures dropped on social media of the beautiful West family celebrating the high holy day in style with relatives, barnyard animals, and Chrissy Teigen, there was a shot of the children with the Easter Bunny with the caption Dadye. Does this mean that Kanye is not only a highly successful rapper and father, but also a mythological deliverer of candies? Probably! And really it all makes sense: Weve never seen the Easter Bunny and Yeezy in the same place. So its all adding up. Hope Sean Spicer doesnt mind giving up the gig. Quantico has done a lot of self-discovery this year. Thinking back on season one, when Alex Parrish was still a wannabe FBI agent with a troubled past facing terrorist accusations, the show feels like it has shredded through six seasons worth of plots in a mere season and a half. Like a teenager returning from summer break with a new haircut, two inches of height, and a sense of style, Quantico has finally figured out what it wants to be. But it is unclear whether that will be enough to save it. Kumonk continues a string of episodes all pieced together to close out the second season. Our team, as they have been for weeks, continues in a bunker on a top-secret, presidentially endorsed mission to find and reveal the collaborators of a terrorist organization thats trying to topple American democracy, by tracing the pings on a stolen piece of hardware. Got all that? Its a lot. Usually, the team gets one ping and they investigate what (or who) it could be for. But this week, the lead is less clear. There are five different paths pointing in all different directions: Cleveland, Albany, El Paso, Fargo, and Detroit. The collaborators are planning a riot, but the team isnt sure where it will happen. Quantico, like many other ABC prime-time staples (Greys Anatomy, Scandal, etc.), has started adopting morals for its episodes. This week, the focus is a simple edict: Trust your instincts. Its obvious from the opening scene, where Alex Parrish pushes her former teacher Owen into a pool with his hands zip-tied behind his back, and tells him to tread water for 20 minutes. The CIA values mind over body, she reminds him, but the FBI knows a strong body creates a strong mind. By the time the collaborators are called to the bunker, Clayton has already given up hope. In a very outdated scene, Clayton wads up pieces of paper in his office, an old version of a creative process that doesnt really hold up in the digital era. Its purpose is to show that Clayton thinks hes exhausted every option already. This is a confusing character flaw that the show keeps exploiting. Clayton is a smart politician (and the Harvard-trained son of a president), but hes not a federal agent. He may think hes explored every option, but he doesnt actually know anything about that kind of investigation. Rightfully, Alex checks him and says that shell give it a go on her own. As a team, they think of reasons a city could erupt into riots. Detroit is on edge because of a Black Lives Matter case. Fargo could reach a tipping point because of the Standing Rock protesters. But after following their instincts, the team decides Cleveland is the city thats truly in the pressure cooker. In Cleveland, a jury is deliberating a case. A homeless man broke into a house and sexually assaulted the woman who lived there. When her husband came home, the intruder shot him. But the gun he used is unregistered, and under some law that President Haas has endorsed, he can be convicted on criminal charges. The team believes that the collaborators are trying to pressure the jury to convict this man, so that riots will break out among pro-gun activists in the city. So Shelby, Alex, and Reina (pretending to be Nimah) head to Cleveland to investigate only to come face to face with Miranda, who is none too happy to see them there. They interview jurors, get nowhere, and eventually settle on the judge as the one who has been corrupted. As a team, they convince Miranda to give them a chance, and they interrogate the judge. He admits to being corrupted, to accepting a wire transfer of a large sum of money, and to being blackmailed. But they are too late. The jury has already made a decision: The man is guilty, just as the collaborators had hoped. Meanwhile, Clayton is at the White House, talking to his mother about maybe shutting down this group, when Caleb appears wearing a sombrero. They have some good old-fashioned sibling rivalry that results in a few punches, and Clayton heading to the Hill to call in an old friend and get a meeting with the Speaker of the House, who tells him that America is a deeply divided country, and he believes this has happened because of the two-party system. Despite being a Republican, he espouses some pretty liberal ideas. We have the same issues, we just call them different names now, he says. We had slavery, now we have mass incarceration. We had robber barons. Now we have the one percent. And then the Speaker reaches the pinnacle of his monologue. He doesnt believe the people should have a say in everything, but that they should trust their elected officials to make decisions for them. He is nothing but a man in the second-highest seat of power trying to get a little bit more power for himself. In the episodes biggest twist, Clayton uses this information to scoop the Speakers plan, and gets his mother to Cleveland to give a unifying speech before the riots begin. Its pretty unrealistic to believe that a president giving a speech could stop a riot, but well let this slide. Kumonk has two other fairly important side plots working behind the scenes. The first is Sebastians return. He breaks into Claytons office in a black burka and is fought by Owen, who eventually wins, reveals his identity, and demands answers. Turns out, Sebastian is also working on the same case but on his own because of his ex-wife. More importantly, he has the names of the rest of the collaborators that the team needs. How exactly did one man track down the same amount of collaborators as a team of six did in the same amount of time? I dont know. The show ignores it. Sebastians work is at least a little believable. Whats not believable is Ryans new sex-buddy source, the life and arts reporter Sasha, who behaves like she also has years of spy experience. She plants a bug on Ryan. She is investigating his case on her own, as if a party reporter with such a dynamite lead wouldnt immediately be given help or reassigned. At one point, she calls a known collaborator moonlighting as a fact-checker, and asks him some fishing questions. He catches on, of course. The episode ends with her getting into her car and it going up in flames. Despite being kind of sad it was cute to watch Ryan with a new girl, after all this seems like the only believable portion of Sashas plot. With Sasha gone and the collaborators all identified, it seems like Quantico may be preparing for a wrap up. There are still several episodes left, but ABC hasnt announced whether the show will be returning for a third season, yet. Early in this second season, I would have understood the delay to pull the trigger, but lately, the show has noticeably improved. It is still messy? Sure, but its riveting, nonetheless. Richard Gere. Photo: VALERIE MACON/AFP/Getty Images Theres a reason Richard Gere is sticking to indie fare these days: He has to. After spending years as one of Hollywoods most famous leading men, hes been sidelined from bigger studio projects, and he says its because of his stance on Tibet. There are definitely movies that I cant be in because the Chinese will say, Not with him, Gere told The Hollywood Reporter. I recently had an episode where someone said they could not finance a film with me because it would upset the Chinese. China is a power player in Hollywood You Cant Make Movies Without China, The Wall Street Journal declared this week with the countrys $6.6 billion box-office total last year second only to the United States. With Chinas tight hold on big studios purse strings, Gere is now busy with two small budget features: Sony Pictures Classics Norman and the Orchards The Dinner. The Pretty Woman star says hes not itching for big blockbusters anyway first of all he has enough money (Page Six reported hes worth an estimated $45 million), and second of all, in his words, Im not interested in playing the wizened Jedi in your tentpole. So there you have it. After his on-set injury on the set of Death Cure, Dylan OBrien is back at it (it being straight-up killing people in movies). In American Assassin, OBrien plays Mitch Rapp, a CIA black-ops recruit who works with Michael Keaton and Sanaa Lathan to stop terror attacks. Taylor Kitsch is also there. Apparently, terrorists once killed Mitchs fiancee, because what better character motivation is there than the love of a dead woman? American Assassin premieres this September. Arizona-based Empereon Marketing has struck a deal to lease a call center in Lacy Lakeview that General Dynamics Information Technology is leaving May 31, eliminating 840 jobs. The company, which would hire a minimum of 750 people over the next two years, continues to negotiate with the cities of Lacy Lakeview and Waco over the incentives it may receive. We have finally come to an agreement today with the landlord, though we are awaiting incentive approvals from the cities involved, said Toby Parrish, senior vice president of inbound operations, speaking by phone Monday. He said employees of General Dynamics are welcome to apply for positions with Empereon, adding, We hope to move forward with staffing the center as quickly as possible, so there will be little or no disruption in receiving paychecks. Local real estate agent Brad Davis, who is representing Empereon, confirmed that a deal is in place. He referred additional comment to Parrish, with whom he has worked for four or five months. Kris Collins, senior vice president for economic development at the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, said she could not comment on Empereons entry into the Greater Waco market because of continuing talks relating to incentives. She said Empereon may qualify for an allocation from the Waco-McLennan County Economic Development Corp., to which the city of Waco and McLennan County contribute. Money from that fund is made available to prospects only with approval from Waco City Council and McLennan County Commissioners Court. Parrish said Empereon hopes to serve at least two Fortune 500 clients at the call center, which will take inbound calls relating to everything from customer service to technical support. I feel pretty confident in saying the pay will average more than $12 an hour, including incentives, Parrish said. These are all full-time jobs, no part-time, and we provide health insurance and a retirement plan. I was told the previous company had part-time and seasonal employees. We will be a departure from that. General Dynamics Information Technology will leave the building by May 31, and Empereon will occupy the facility by July. We have been in business 20 years, and this is our second location in Texas, the other being in the Houston suburb of Alvin, Parrish said. We love the work ethic and talent the state offers, and our arrival in Greater Waco is part of our Texas initiative. He said the center will need very little work to accommodate the arrival of Empereon outside of a few cosmetic touches. Our goal is to have a facility where we can do little more than flip a switch and begin operations, he said. I have a pretty strong feeling that a lot of the folks at the center now would provide a pretty good fit. We would like to try to keep their income stable. They are under enough stress as it is without our adding to it. He said Empereon has gained a reputation for promoting from within and offering opportunities for career advancement. Ninety-five percent of our leaders came from the phones, said Parrish, noting that call takers can move up the ranks. Meanwhile across town, Suzette Mansfield, who manages the C3 Customer Contact Channels call center in McGregor, said the facility soon will ramp up hiring, and she encouraged General Dynamics staffers to apply. General Dynamics sent a warning notice to the Texas Workforce Commission, informing the agency of its plans to shutter operations that have been ongoing since 2013. The center assists those seeking health insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act and has seen employment grow from 440 to more than 800. It released a statement April 10, saying, As of May 31, we will cease contact center operations performed in support of our customers in Waco, Texas. We regret that the closure of this facility will impact employees, their families and the community at large. At that time, Karr Ingham, an Amarillo-based economist who prepares a monthly snapshot of local trends, said losing 800 jobs at one time certainly is not good news for the community. But it should not be an economy killer, Ingham added. Waco has created 2,000 to 3,000 jobs over the past year. This may slow down that number a little bit, but if this had to happen, you would want it to happen in a place that is economically dynamic, growing and adding jobs, which Waco is doing. Arriving in 2013, General Dynamics Information Technology signed a 31/2-year agreement to have a subsidiary, Vangent Inc., manage the facility under a $28 million government contract. Blue Cross & Blue Shield invested more than $10 million in the site, converting a former Kmart building at North Loop 340 and Interstate 35 into a call center in 2002. Its lease expired in early 2013, and it chose to let nearly 300 employees work at home with computers. AUSTIN In the aftermath of one troubled study on the economic impact of a bathroom bill in Texas, San Antonio tourism officials are returning to the legislative debate with another dire financial outlook. Legislation viewed by many as discriminatory toward LGBT Texans including proposals to regulate which bathrooms transgender individuals may use could cost the state $3.3 billion in annual tourism and more than 35,600 full-time jobs associated with leisure travel and conventions, according to a study by the Waco-based Perryman Group. The study was commissioned by Visit San Antonio and the San Antonio Area Tourism Council. In other words, what we have been saying all along is absolutely undeniable, Casandra Matej, president and CEO of Visit San Antonio, said in a statement. These numbers tell us there will be a significant and long-standing adverse impact on San Antonio and the state. We urge our legislators to consider these effects in making their decisions. The new numbers land amid an intense debate over proposed bathroom regulations in Texas, one in which LGBT advocates and the Texas business community have joined forces to oppose legislation they argue is discriminatory and bad for business. The study comes two months after a PolitiFact Texas article identified flaws in some of the numbers used by the Texas Association of Business to produce the states original economic impact report on the bathroom measure. Citing security and privacy concerns, some Texas Republicans argue such legislation is necessary. The most prominent proposal is Senate Bill 6, a legislative priority of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick that would regulate bathroom use in government buildings based on a persons biological sex. That would keep most transgender people from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity. The proposal also would pre-empt local nondiscrimination ordinances that allow transgender Texans to use public bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity. The Texas House, which has been largely disinterested in the Senate bill, will wade into the debate itself this week; a panel of lawmakers will consider legislation to ban municipalities and school districts from enacting or enforcing local policies that regulate bathroom use. On Tuesday, Patrick criticized the idea that the passage of legislation that regulates bathroom use could negatively impact Texas economy, claiming that North Carolina last year set an all-time record for hotel occupancy and tourism. This is the latest bogus study predicting economic doom if Texas passes a law protecting personal privacy, Patrick said in a statement. Patrick also reiterated his belief that men will use trans-inclusive policies to enter the womens restroom for nefarious reasons. The question that must be asked to the tourism council who put out this report is why they believe tourists will want to visit a place where any man can lurk and loiter in the ladies room? he said. Earlier this year, Patrick shot back at claims of economic fallout, saying there was no evidence whatsoever that the passage of SB 6 would have any economic impact in Texas. Other proponents of bathroom regulations have claimed that any economic impact would make up a tiny percent of the states economy. San Antonios study found those claims to be accurate but asserted that it still would amount to millions of dollars for local economies. While its impossible to know with certainty the magnitude of the net effects of the proposed bathroom access policy on travel and tourism in Texas, the report estimates that the initial impact on business activity could cost the San Antonio-New Braunfels area $411.8 million annually. If the Texas Legislature passes a law viewed as discriminatory against LGBT persons, it is likely that some meetings and events would be canceled and that some leisure travelers will also avoid the state, the study says. The findings based on losses experienced in other states and on data from a survey by a national travel association will likely help boost opposition to the legislation from business and tourism groups. Those groups have already pointed to millions of dollars lost in North Carolina following the passage of that states original bathroom law, which was recently rewritten amid mounting public and economic backlash. A Dallas attorney representing a biker arrested in the Twin Peaks shootout fired off a series of motions Tuesday, including one to quash the indictment that includes an illustration of a ham sandwich. Clint Broden, who represents former Scimitar member Matthew Clendennen, is asking 54th State District Judge Matt Johnson to order District Attorney Abel Reyna to identify specific evidence his office intends to use against Clendennen contained in what Broden describes as a three-terabyte document dump of materials collected against 155 bikers indicted. Broden contends the sheer volume of materials released by prosecutors to defense attorneys, almost all of which appears to have absolutely no relation to Mr. Clendennen, amounts to searching for a needle in a haystack. While the state cannot be faulted for complying with the Morton Act, due process requires it to go further, Broden wrote. Indeed, this court should not endorse a method of document production that merely gives the requesting party access to a document dump, with an instruction to the party to go fish. The Michael Morton Act requires prosecutors to provide defense attorneys with evidence in the case. Reyna did not return calls Tuesday. Broden claims it is not possible for defense attorneys to review all the information provided in a timely and efficient manner. Clendennen, of Hewitt, is set for trial Oct. 9. In another motion, Broden says that despite the massive document dump by prosecutors, they did not provide the discovery in Clendennens case as soon as practical. Brodens motion quotes a transcript from the hearing in which Reyna says he instructed Chavez in detail to carefully read over the warrant affidavit and to make sure he could swear that every element was true and correct. Chavez obtained the arrest warrants for the 177 bikers. Chavez testified he never spoke to Reyna that night. Manuel Chavez offered plainly contradictory testimony to the extent that, if Mr. Reynas testimony is truthful, Mr. Chavezs testimony must be perjurious, Brodens motion states. In a related motion, Broden seeks to suppress what he calls the fruit of the unconstitutional arrest. Broden alleges that Chavez did not have personal knowledge of facts included in the identical arrest warrant affidavits used to arrest the bikers. Finally, Broden seeks to quash the indictment against Clendennen, punctuating his request with an illustration of a ham sandwich and a citation from a New York case in which a judge is quoted as saying a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich. The grand jury gave little consideration to each of the bikers cases it indicted, Broden claims, and returned indictments that alleged 10 bikers, not nine, were killed at Twin Peaks. The grand jury actually indicted Mr. Clendennen, and many of the other motorcyclists indicted on Nov. 10, 2015, for causing the death of William Anderson despite the fact that Mr. Anderson was not killed at Twin Peaks. Mr. Anderson actually died in a motorcycle accident in the state of Nebraska several months after the Twin Peaks incident, Brodens motion says. In short, there was no more evidence that Mr. Clendennen was involved in the death of William Anderson that there was evidence that he was involved in the death of John Fitzgerald Kennedy, according to the motion. After a lengthy debate Tuesday, McLennan County commissioners voted 3-2 to move forward with hiring a consultant to determine the best system to manage roads. Precinct 1 Commissioner Kelly Snell and Precinct 2 Commissioner Lester Gibson attempted to hold off a vote on issuing a request for proposal for consultants but found themselves in the minority. The duo cited a need for more deliberation, while Snell emphasized that hiring a consultant would waste money when the county could do its own research. A consultant would review the types of road systems a county can have, compare with counties of similar population, road mileage and budget and propose a system for McLennan County. The county now uses a precinct-based system, in which each commissioner manages the roads and bridges in the area that elected him. State law also allows for superintendent systems and unit road systems. In both cases, one person oversees road work countywide instead of commissioners. However, a unit road system requires a petition signed by voters to be filed with the court to prompt an election. Commissioners want a consultant to study the fiscal impact of any recommended changes before they adopt a fiscal year 2017 budget, which starts Oct. 1. The court starts budget discussions in June. County Judge Scott Felton in November first started discussing a move toward the unified road-and-bridge department in an effort to save money and take politics out of road work. Felton is the sole member of the court who does not oversee an individual road and bridge department. Snell said any move away from a precinct-based road system puts voters at a disadvantage because they dont have a voice on who is hired or fired through an election if they are unhappy with work done in the precinct. Snell said Tuesday that at the Feb. 21 meeting, a resolution was placed on the courts agenda with no prior discussion that would change the way the county operates. Then, it was almost 3 p.m. the day before the last meeting when commissioners received the 10-page consultant RFP for the first time, Snell said. I couldnt find in court records where we talked about the proposal or given (Purchasing Director Ken Bass) office approval to work on said proposal, Snell said. Thats what were doing right now, Felton responded. Snell asked how Bass knew how to phrase the proposal with no input from commissioners. Thats his job, is to know how to write proposals, Felton said. Felton told Snell if he wanted to change the proposal or vote against it, he was welcome to. Snell reiterated his concern in hiring a consultant to review data. He said county staff could evaluate the different road systems and compare data to similar-sized counties. Gibson then added he would like more time to review options. Felton said the point of the RFP is to allow a third-party expert to present unbiased information to allow the court to determine the best course of action. We dont deliberate enough, Gibson said. I dont agree with that, Felton replied. I dont agree with you, Gibson said. Snell asked why the county would spend time putting together an RFP and spend money to hire a consultant when those funds could be put to better use. Are you an engineer, commissioner? Precinct 3 Commissioner Will Jones said. No, but I can do research, Snell said. Snell then gave a seven-slide presentation comparing other counties road systems to McLennan Countys system. Snell said 155 counties in Texas use the same system as McLennan County, and 68 use the unit road system. Felton reminded commissioners that at the last meeting, two weeks ago, he asked any commissioner with questions or concerns to present those before Tuesdays meeting but had not heard from anyone. Precinct 4 Commissioner Ben Perry said since he took office, residents have asked why the county has not moved to a unit road system. The topic comes up every year, and the county needs to make a decision and then let it be, Perry said. Felton said in the five years he has served on the court, he has heard commissioners say, Im not interested in doing a lot (of road work) in that area because I didnt get a lot of votes there. Thats the biggest thing against doing it the way were doing it right now, Felton said. The cost of that RFP could be nothing compared to the savings we could potentially have over a long period of time. In December, commissioners updated the job description for county engineer. They are looking to fill the vacancy left by County Engineer Steve Hendrick, who retired at the end of the year. The new job description asks for candidates who have experience with a unit road system. As we now carry forward in our daily lives Sundays message of Easter, lets keep in mind to not only celebrate our faith but also honor our sisters and brothers who risk so much to stand for that faith in many nations around this very perilous world. Only a week ago, many of us read about Christian churches being attacked in Egypt. Twin bombings killed at least 47 people and injured more than 100. And amidst the confusion, I had to ask myself: Would I have attended a church service this Easter if doing so might cost me my life or the life of one of my children? This is no theoretical question in many places . For four years after graduate school our family served as volunteers for a Dutch ministry called Open Doors that focused on helping persecuted Christians worldwide. These years included many opportunities to directly meet Christians in the firing line for their faith. These encounters taught me volumes. I remember one encounter in Vietnam where we were attending a church service and were about to meet the pastor when a caution came that we should be more careful about a certain pastor. Why? Because that pastor has never been to prison came the answer. At Baylor University, where I spend much of my time, people focus on credentials such as who has a doctorate or what book a person has written. In most churches in North America a focus on the pastors credentials would probably refer to where a person attended seminary. But in some parts of the world, a credential for faithfulness to the Easter message can mean whether or not you have gone to prison for your faith. If youre a Christian in North Korea, you risk facing the fate of those who have been literally thrown under rolling bulldozers. If youre a Christian in Eritrea, you may be thrown in prison for your faith (and, for one Eritrean Christian, prison meant a rough shipping container for many months). If youre a Christian in Northern Nigeria or Egypt or Syria or many other nations , you face tremendous uncertainty about the safety of your family every time you leave your home. Some of you might meet someone of another faith and feel comfortable in sharing a testimony of how God has helped you, but Christians in some Muslim-majority nations might risk imprisonment for such conversations. In contexts of abundance and privilege, its hard to understand daily experiences of Christians who face great persecution. Perhaps the least we can do for them is pray. The Scriptures remind us that to whom much is given much is required and this might mean that part of our busy lives can include time to pray and remember those who are in prison as if they were our very own family members because in one divine sense they are. We can also learn from the examples of others. If you are like me, your home may have more than one Bible. Sometimes when I feel that I am too busy to read the Bible I stop and remember a story I heard once from the founder of Open Doors, Andrew van der Bijl. When visiting China in the 1980s, Brother Andrew gave a Bible to a pastor who had never owned one. When the pastor took Gods Word he immediately turned to a page in the book of Ephesians. When Andrew asked why, he simply explained: Throughout my life as a Christian I have only owned one page of the Bible and it was a page from the book of Ephesians. I always wondered what was on the next page. Vice President Mike Pence could not have known when he took off from Joint Base Andrews on Saturday that by the time he landed in South Korea, the North Korean regime would have fired off yet another missile, raising tensions on the peninsula to almost unprecedented levels. But his response to the incident was on par with his rising role as the Trump administrations unofficial secretary of reassurance. On the plane ride over, Pence was informed that the Pyongyang regime had fired off what appeared to be a medium-range missile that exploded only seconds after leaving the launch pad. A White House foreign policy adviser came to the back of the plane to brief reporters on the planned response; since the test was a failure, no response was needed. For this particular case if they took the time and energy to launch a missile that failed we dont need to expend any resources against that, the adviser said, adding that if the test had been successful or if it had been a nuclear detonation, the U.S. government had a robust response plan at the ready. Sure enough, the Trump administration issued a short official statement in the name of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, calling Pyongyangs action another failed test and stating that the U.S. government would have no further comment. That strategy, designed not to reward Kim Jong Un for his provocations by giving him the satisfaction of an angry U.S. government reaction, makes sense as far as it goes. But for the South Koreans and for the thousands of U.S. troops stationed there, each North Korean missile launch is a serious matter that warrants a serious acknowledgment. For them, ignoring Pyongyangs dangerous escalations is simply not an option. Pence addressed that head-on at the U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan only hours later while speaking to U.S. soldiers as they sat down for their Easter dinner. This mornings provocation from the north is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face every day in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world, he said. Let me assure you, under President Trumps leadership, our resolve has never been stronger. Our commitment to this historic alliance with the courageous people of South Korea has never been stronger. And with your help and with Gods help, freedom will ever prevail on this peninsula. The vice president told of his father, 2nd Lt. Edward Pence, who fought in combat in the Korean War with the 45th Infantry Division. He was awarded the Bronze Star in 1953 and that commendation is on display in Pences West Wing office. Pence used the anecdote to reinforce his message: The United States and South Korea are bound by history, shared sacrifice and common values. And so on this day I think of my dad, gone 29 years now, but still enshrined in the hearts of everyone in our family, he said. And I think of what Dad would be thinking about and I believe is thinking about as he looks down to see his third son return to that place that he left so many years ago, and to see that the sacrifices that were made here, and the commitment that endures here has resulted in a free and prosperous South Korea. Pences four-nation tour of Asia could be called a reassurance tour, meant to both remind Americas Pacific allies where weve come from and let them know that the United States under Trump has a clear sense and firm commitment to where we are going. Theres no doubt that reassurance is both badly needed and welcomed, given the confusion foreign partners have about the Trump administration. Trump campaigned on accusing Asian allies of not paying their fair share for common defense and U.S. support. He continues to tweet cryptic and often provocative messages about his plans to deal with the North Korean crisis. Mattis has done his own reassurance tour of Asia, but Pences trip brings a higher level of engagement and carries more weight. Its a role Pence played in Europe in February: letting allies and partners know that the basic tenets of U.S. foreign policy remain intact, even inside the White House. None of this solves the deep challenges the United States and its allies face in the region. But Pences foreign-policy reassurance efforts are a good start. Ups and downs Apparently folks at the appraisal district have decided all of the Greater Waco area is part of some silo district overlay. There is no other sane reason why, two years in a row, they would increase values in amounts like they have. Yes, Chip and Joanna Gaines have helped Waco, and many thanks for this. They are great people. Yes, values have gone up some because of this. The main area enjoying this boom is the downtown retail area. But even then, I know that most of the increases noted in the notices of appraised value (NOAV) come from some folks punching numbers in and extrapolating the results to all of the Waco area. Even homes for which I have previously received downward adjustments based on failed foundations which were not repairable or other functional and incurable obsolescence are going right back where they were last year and then getting the new increases. I am talking about increases of 20-plus percent in value this year alone! I have an attorney to help me. How about homeowners who cant afford an attorney, much less the increases coming at them like a freight train? Some attorneys will take these cases on a contingency basis, so you need to check, folks. All this occurs while MCAD receives its income from the very entities it appraises for. I know the response to this letter will be something like: Oh, Mr. Cash isnt telling you that tax rates might actually go down when they are set in October. Perhaps so, but rates will never go down as much as your values are going up now. The Realtors Association had a push on this recently and called this the hidden tax Well put. Finally, we all know who will pay the cost of these new taxes. Its those who really dont deserve it. Yes, rents are going up. Again. Steven Cash, Waco Dueling standards During the 2016 presidential campaign, candidate Donald Trump repeatedly called for the return of jobs to America. He said China had unfair trade practices: We cant continue to allow China to rape our country. There are no jobs because China has our jobs. Job seekers who helped spur the Make America Great Again campaign must now pause and ask why Trumps daughter is still doing a lot of business in China. Election Day was Nov. 8. Since then there have been 56 imported shipments of the Ivanka Line from China and Singapore. Since January 2016, the Ivanka clothing line has imported 215 shipments from Asia. Does the Made in America mantra we are all supposed to respect actually mean everyone except President Trump and his family? It appears we have two policies. One for Ivanka and the Trump family, one for everyone else. How are we supposed to reconcile this obvious disparity? After all, what we hear from Trump supporters is: He means what he says. Really? Raymond Arsenault, Belton Division: Global Conservation Program, Asia Program, Greater Mekong Region Reports to: Regional Director, Greater Mekong Location: Bangkok, Thailand; or another WCS Country Office in the Region The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is an international conservation NGO headquartered at the Bronx Zoo in New York City working to save wildlife and wild lands and to meet global conservation challenges in over 60 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. WCS has recently re-organised into a set of regional programs, which includes the Greater Mekong Region, covering the Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam programs, in addition to region-wide engagement on a variety of conservation matters. To support this regional program, WCS seeks a dynamic, well-organized, hard-working, and committed team player to oversee the budget and finances of the region, and to provide direct support to the Regional Director in managing the operations of the Regional Program. The Regional Business Manager will continually assess and document the financial health of the Regional Program and develop both short and long term financial plans for the Region. S/he regularly provides reports for management in the region and headquarters. This position reports to the Regional Director of Greater Mekong. This position will involve regular travel to WCS Country Offices within the region (Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam) approximately 25% of the time. It is preferred that the position is based out of Bangkok, or another WCS Country Office in the Region. PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: Financial Management and Planning: Ensure Regional Director has the financial information they require to manage and fundraise for the Region; Provide monthly key performance indicators for each country and all multi-country grants; Work with Regional Controller to resolve any issues with finances in the Region; Annual presentation of short and long term financial plans for each country with detailed variance analysis on prior plans; Report regularly to headquarters about the financial state of the Region. Budget Leadership: Manage and maintain the Regional Program budget; Lead the annual WCS budgeting process for all countries in the Region; Responsible for working with Country Finance teams to understand and report on full program costs; Responsible to manage the regions Unrestricted allocations; Serve as the budget lead for regional grants; Review country budget adjustments, budget to actual reports, and ensure regular and timely budget updates. Proposal Review: Working in coordination with NY grant departments, approve all proposal budgets from the Region ensure budgets are covering costs and are contributing to strengthening the Regional Program; ensure budgets are in line with long-term financial plan for the Region; ensure budgets are developed in compliance with WCS policies and undergo appropriate reviews. Grant Management: Ensure regional grant administration is on track; Coordinate preparation of financial reports for regional grants; Review and approve grant financial reports prepared by Country Programs; Support Country Programs in understanding WCS grant management processes, systems, tools and donor compliance requirements. People Management: Work with Regional Director to manage regional staffing; Oversee HR issues in the Region; Support the recruitment and training of grant/finance/administration staff as needed. The lone remaining veteran of the famed Doolittle Raiders mission of April 1942 and at least 16 B-25 bombers will be part of the raids 75th anniversary commemoration and air show activities at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2017 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The 65th annual Experimental Aircraft Association fly-in convention, the Worlds Greatest Aviation Celebration, will be held July 24-30. The 75th anniversary activities will honor those involved in the daring mission that involved 16 B-25 bombers that departed from the aircraft carrier USS Hornet on April 18, 1942, and bombed military sites in Japan. The Doolittle Raiders, led by legendary pilot Jimmy Doolittle, then faced hardships after their airplanes made forced landings in China and other areas. The Doolittle Raid 75 years ago was important, not as much for its military gains as it was a morale lift to an American military and public that had been buffeted by bad news in the months immediately following the attack on Pearl Harbor, said Rick Larsen, EAAs vice president of communities and member benefits who coordinates AirVenture features and attractions. Our activities at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this year will connect our attendees with the importance of this mission, as well as the people and aircraft involved. Among the highlights of the 75th anniversary commemoration will be a July 26 evening program with 101-year-old Dick Cole, the only remaining member of the 80 original Doolittle Raiders, as well as Jimmy Doolittles grandchildren, Jimmy Doolittle III and Jonna Doolittle Hoppes. I want to thank EAA for honoring the Raiders at their 75th anniversary, said Cole, who was co-pilot for Doolittle in the lead aircraft. Thank you for paying tribute to us even though we never felt like heroes. We were just doing our job. We can also never forget the men who fought at Wake, Midway, and all across the Pacific. See you at Oshkosh. Other highlights include: Arrival of at least 16 B-25 bombers at AirVenture by Tuesday, July 25, with the aircraft parked in AirVentures warbird area. Notable aircraft already confirmed include Panchito (Delaware Aviation Museum); Briefing Time (Mid-Atlantic Air Museum); Yankee Warrior (Yankee Air Museum); Miss Hap (American Airpower Museum); Barbie III (Cavanaugh Flight Museum); Devil Dog (Commemorative Air Force); and Miss Mitchell (Commemorative Air Force Minnesota Wing). Several programs at the popular Warbirds of America Warbirds in Review speaker series. Sixteen B-25s flying in the warbirds air show on Tuesday, July 25, and re-enacting the 1942 Doolittle Raid to start the night air show on Wednesday, July 26. Other highlights will be announced as they are finalized. About EAA AirVenture Oshkosh EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is the Worlds Greatest Aviation Celebration and EAAs yearly membership convention. Additional EAA AirVenture information, including advance ticket and camping purchase, is available online at www.eaa.org/airventure. EAA members receive lowest prices on admission rates. For more information on EAA and its programs, call 1-800-JOIN-EAA (1-800-564-6322) or visit www.eaa.org. Immediate news is available at www.twitter.com/EAA. Things off the field keep stacking up against Fremantle, with a new setback to comeback plans for top young defender Alex Pearce. As Dockers management and players come to terms over the latest controversy with troubled recruit Harley Bennell, it has emerged Pearce is headed for a longer recovery from a broken leg than expected. Further surgery to his broken bone has not been ruled out after scans last week revealed the emerging defender's wound had not healed well. Another alarming complication for Pearce is a nasty infection in his leg from screws in a plate along the bone intended to assist recovery. Politics dominates markets and we now have a UK election on 8 June to contend with, while local shares are set to open lower on the back of falls overseas. 1. Currencies: What it does give traders though is some increased volatility in GBP denominated assets, and that has already emerged, with good buying in UK gilts and GBP. In fact, GBP has flown against all G10 currencies and notably against the CAD and AUD, although much of this would be down to a record level of GBP short positions (held by speculative accounts) buying back to close. 2. The gamble: We should see parliament approve the election later today and from here we should see Theresa May's calculated gamble put into action. The market is saying that Theresa May is going to have a strong mandate by which to govern and clearly solidify her position and if the polls are correct then the Tories current majority could increase by six fold to over Labour to 112 seats. There are even suggestions this could be as high as 206 seats if the Labour party well and truly disintegrates.This majority will allow swifter, potentially easier passage for legislative changes over the next two years and Theresa May will have to rely less on outlier groups in her party, or even Labour for support. Recall, the timeline to achieving a deal with the European Union is incredibly aggressive, but this election may give her a stronger hand and a reduced chance of negotiation failure. This is a positive for the UK in some manors of thinking, although there are still huge risks for the UK and this should keep a lid of GBP buying on an ongoing basis.The question then is how hard the Liberal Democrats are going to push to be the party of all things anti-Brexit, which is what we saw working quite successfully in the Richmond by-election back in December. Recall they have a lowly nine MP's in the Commons (out of some 650), so they are not a force for the election, but they offer the UK public something different. For some this election will simply be a re-run of the UK referendum and the Lib Dem's give them an alternative. We are still keen anticipating whether Nigel Farage will run in the election as the leader of UKIP. 3. ASX: It promises to be a fairly lively session in Australia too if we aggregate all the information that has unfolded overnight. Importantly, SPI futures are lower by 37 points and we are calling the ASX 200 cash to test the 5800 level on open. Technically, the top of the former January to late March trading range at 5830, which has been acting as strong support throughout April, has given way and this opens up a move into 5770. I would be using any strength in the market as an opportunity to initiate new short positions. 1. Comments must not be racist, misogynistic, homophobic, or otherwise bigoted. 2. Comments must not involve little more than name-calling and insulting remarks. 3. Comments must not be made by "anonymous" or "unknown". 4. Comments must not try to sneak in some free advertising for themselves (like spam). I invite anyone who wishes to comment on this blog to do so. I enjoy the comments, whether you agree with what I have said or not. But some people want to abuse the right to comment, and since this is my blog, I have decided to lay down the following rules. If your comment violates these rules, it will not be published. Trade unions have warned the 457 temporary work visa program will simply be rebadged with a different name and fail to put Australian jobs first. The federal government will introduce a Temporary Skill Shortage Visa of two to four years to replace the 457 temporary visa for skilled workers. The Australian Council of Trade Unions said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's announcement was "more spin than substance". "On the face of it, it looks like a cynical attempt to rebrand a wildly unpopular policy," ACTU president Ged Kearney said. Soldier On chief executive and co-founder John Bale. Credit:Daniel Munoz "This loss was felt by a large number of the police family who knew the officer as she was an extremely popular member. "I fear that unless we all address this issue openly in the public space, we could see more. "I understand there has been a reluctance to talk about suicide, but we need to discuss it openly and honestly so we can identify the members that need help and support." Mr Tilbury said the issue was not helped by the fact there was a "lack of quality data and statistics about police suicides." He said "without a doubt" calls received for welfare assistance were increasing and it was one of the "biggest growth areas" for the union. Two weeks ago during a Police Federation of Australia Executive meeting, Mr Tilbury flagged the need for a national inquiry into police suicides. "I strongly believe the issue of police suicide is peaking and a national inquiry is needed because these tragedies are occurring right across Australia," he said. "We need to know what is happening around the country so we can act now and prevent more officers from taking their own lives." Blue Hope, a not for profit group whose aim is to highlight police officers' mental health issues, was in Perth recently to launch a new 24 hour helpline for WA officers. Within the space of a fortnight, the helpline had already been called 77 times. The 77 phone calls resulted in 53 "engagements" such as physical meetings taking place and assistance provided. "I would suggest that we have been at a critical point for some time now," a Blue Hope spokesman said. "The concept of putting your hand up for help regarding mental health issues has always been frowned upon. "Part of the problem is that the veteran officers around today, who have waded through blood, body parts and their fair share of tears for the past 25 years, are paying the price for not speaking about the unspeakable." In answers to questions from WAtoday, WA Police acknowledged the mental health of its officers was important to the force. "The psychological health and wellbeing of all WA Police personnel is a significant issue," a spokesman for the force said. "It is acknowledged that a police officer will inevitably face traumatic events in the course of their career which may cause them to experience psychological challenges. "WA Police has a number of strategies to help officers prepare for such experiences as well as providing professional support when officers need it most." The WA Police spokesman said the force "continued to raise awareness of mental health among its staff as well as reduce stigma around psychological challenges." "This is achieved through integrating targeted training into management courses," the spokesman said. "WA Police also acknowledges the potential impact on officers' families and is seeking to better understand their knowledge of the support services available to officers." An online petition was recently launched by a serving Australian police officer on change.org who says "for too long, management of Australian police forces have silently accepted horrifically high suicide rates among officers." "We demand a national coronial inquiry, seeking answers in a state by state basis," the petition reads. "I am starting this petition on behalf of myself and colleagues who are seeking an inquiry into the cause of suicides by police in each Australian state. "We need to learn what the primary stressors are among our police to then decide how to minimise more tragic deaths from happening." The petition, which will be sent to various federal and state ministers, has been signed by more than 4700 people. Meanwhile, anecdotal reports have also surfaced in recent weeks of several defence force veterans taking their own lives in the space of one week, in early March. Soldier On, established in 2012 to assist veterans with their mental health, say they are aware of at least four recent cases. "Close friends and associates are saying it was suicide," Soldier On chief executive and co-founder John Bale told WAtoday. "All indications from the community are that this is the case and that is what we are hearing. "From our perspective...it indicates the broader trend that we are seeing. "Now is the time for action. "Its not just a government responsibility, its absolutely a community responsibility. "We are not in anyway shape or form trying to point fingers, but there are ways that we can all do better in this space." Soldier On released this statement in mid March. Credit:Phil Hickey An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study released late last year found between 2001-2014 there 292 deaths by suicide among people with at least one day of ADF service. Most were men. A Senate inquiry was launched last year into the rate of suicides of ex-defence force personnel. The inquiry committee, which will hand down its findings in June, received more than 400 submissions. In its submission to the inquiry, Soldier On said anecdotal evidence suggested approximately one veteran was taking their own life per week. "We collectively need to do more to ensure veterans stop taking their lives," the submission said. "While Soldier On does believe significant improvements can be made to the compensation and entitlement regulatory frameworks, systems and processes, we do not believe that this will solve the issue." A Department of Veterans Affairs spokesperson said "action to provide mental health support for current and former defence members was being taken." This included a Federal Government announcement that the National Mental Health Commission (NMHC) would review suicide and self-harm prevention services available to veterans and ADF members. British Prime Minister Theresa May has announced a snap election, to win a mandate for her vision of a "hard" Brexit. The election will take place on June 8, assuming she wins a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday. "It is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond," the Prime Minister said, in an unusual statement on the steps of 10 Downing Street. The silver mining industry isn't a welcoming place for income investors. That's because mines cost vast sums of money to develop, which often leads miners to divert all their cash flow toward capital expenditures, especially when metal prices are lower. As a result, many of these companies don't even bother paying a dividend, while most that do often only offer a paltry payout to investors. WSU Commencement Celebrates Class of 2017 April 18, 2017 OGDEN, Utah Weber State University officials expect the class of 2016-17 to total 5,557 graduates the largest class on record. So far, 3,196 candidates have applied for spring graduation and will be honored on April 28 during WSUs 149th commencement. Others received their diplomas during winter commencement ceremonies. This academic year, WSU expects to award a record number of degrees and certificates to graduates who are eager to pursue new dreams, said WSU President Charles A. Wight. Thats something to really celebrate on April 28! Graduates attending commencement in the Dee Events Center will receive a commemorative medallion to mark the occasion. The ceremonys academic processional begins at 8 a.m., followed by the formal program and keynote address. Karla K. Bergeson, an accomplished corporate legal executive, will deliver the keynote address and receive an honorary degree. Bergeson is an Ogden native and BYU Law School graduate. She is the former executive vice president and deputy general counsel for Citigroups credit card business in the U.S., where she worked for 23 years before retiring. Throughout her career, Bergeson worked to support higher education in Northern Utah. At Weber State University, she and her cousins created a scholarship in her mother and aunts names to support students studying to become teachers. She later turned that scholarship into an endowment within the Jerry & Vickie Moyes College of Education. Bergeson also has served on WSUs National Advisory Council since 2014 and was recognized with the universitys Lewis W. Shurtliff Award for Contributions to Education in 2015. The 2017 Brady Presidential Distinguished Professors also will be honored during the ceremony. This years recipients are Stacy Palen, physics professor and director of the Ott Planetarium, and Michael Stevens, chair of the Department of Business Administration. Thais Stewart will be the student speaker. She will graduate with bachelors degrees in public relations and political science. During her time at WSU, she served as chapter president of WSUs Public Relations Student Society of America and completed an internship at the Utah State Capitol. Beginning at 10 a.m., each of WSUs academic colleges will hold individual convocations at various locations, where graduates will walk across the stage to receive their diplomas. Lunch will be served in the Shepherd Union Atrium from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Each graduate received two complimentary tickets to the lunch at the time they picked up their caps and gowns. Additional tickets may be purchased for $11 at the Shepherd Union Information Desk. Putting Students Through, a short program where graduates honor parents, spouses and friends who supported them, will be held on April 27 in the Shepherd Union Ballroom at 4 p.m. To watch commencement live, visit weber.edu/commencement. By May 5, the commencement ceremony can be streamed on WSUs YouTube channel at youtube.com/weberstateu. Parking will be free throughout the day on April 28. Campus shuttle buses will run every five minutes from 7 a.m.-5:30 p.m. with stops on the east and west side of the Dee Events Center, Val A. Browning Center, Stewart Library and McKay Education Building. American Sign Language services will be available at the Dee Events Center in Section S at the base of Portal 17. Graduates with special needs should contact the director of Services for Students with Disabilities, Don Guthrie at 801-626-6856. Visit weber.edu/commencement for more information on WSUs commencement activities. Visit weber.edu/wsutoday for more news about Weber State University. WSU Names 2017 Brady Presidential Distinguished Professors April 18, 2017 OGDEN, Utah Two Weber State University professors, acclaimed for contributions to their disciplines of physics and business, have been named Weber State Universitys 2017 Presidential Distinguished Professors. Stacy Palen, physics professor and director of the Ott Planetarium, and Michael Stevens, chair of business administration, will be recognized officially during commencement April 28 at 8 a.m. in the Dee Events Center. Professors who earn this distinction have contributed to their profession, the university, the community and most importantly to their students, said WSU President Charles A. Wight. Our Brady professors set a great example for their fellow faculty members. The honor was established in 2006 as a way to recognize WSU faculty members who have demonstrated the highest quality teaching, scholarship, research and community service. A generous gift from Rodney and Carolyn Mitzi Brady made funding for the recognition possible. The late Rodney Brady served as WSU president from 1978-85. Stacy Palen Director of the Ott Planetarium and physics professor Stacy Palen has enabled countless others to reach for the stars. Through her guidance, the Ott Planetarium has instilled inspiration in thousands of school children and other audiences. In addition, she has written several grants and secured support, including $1 million in NASA funds, to upgrade planetarium facilities and other resources, while creating new outreach opportunities. Palen has also led Science Saturdays in partnership with Weber County RAMP and supported WSUs annual Physics Open House. Her interactions with the community are not limited to those, however. She has presented Natures Creation Story, at both the Weber State University Storytelling Festival and the universitys TEDx event. Palen is revered for her ability to make an impact on students from within the College of Science or elsewhere on campus. It is commonplace for her to work with students on various astronomy projects, one of which is to develop the infrastructure and program for two observatories on top of the Tracy Hall Science Center. Her dedication to students was made evident in 2006, when she won the Crystal Crest Master Teacher Award, the highest teaching distinction at the university. Palen is known for her collaborative spirit, often hosting workshops for other astronomy educators. She co-led trips for educators to visit scientific sites such as observatories, old uranium mines and the rim of the Grand Canyon. She hosts a Women in Physics dinner and seeks to support those who are underrepresented in science. Palen was instrumental in working with other WSU faculty and community members to obtain International Dark Sky Accreditation for Ogden Valleys North Fork Park and she served on WSUs Environmental Issues Committee. In addition, she has published two editions of two introductory astronomy textbooks through W.W. Norton and a workbook for hands-on learning activities. Her newest text has been adopted by more than 100 university programs. Palen has been at Weber State University for nearly 15 years. Michael Stevens Michael J. Stevens has distinguished himself as an engaged teacher, prolific scholar and dedicated colleague. Students have credited Stevens, chair of WSUs Department of Business Administration, with broadening their understanding of what makes a good leader and changing their lives for the better. When hes not nudging students forward, hes equipping the world with increased knowledge. He has produced more than 90 publications, including peer-reviewed articles, monographs, books, book chapters and presentations. Other scholars have cited Stevens articles nearly 800 times. In addition, he has co-developed widely used tools such as the Teamwork-KSA Test, Global Competencies Inventory and Intercultural Effectiveness Scale. More than 100,000 individuals in 170 countries have used these assessments. For his scholarly efforts, WSUs John B. Goddard School of Business & Economics named Stevens a Smith Fellow from 2008-2015 and then a Buehler Fellow. He was also the 2015 winner of the Outstanding Author Contribution of the Emerald Literati Network Award for Excellence, the 2014 winner of the Outstanding Leadership Award for Scholarly Rigor and Critical Thinking, among other recognitions. At WSU, he has collaborated with the Womens Studies Executive Committee to aid women in navigating particular challenges in business. He also offers his Leadership Through People Skills course free to WSU faculty and staff. In the community, Stevens has served with the Sunstone Education Foundation, Howard Park Early Childhood Center, and EnTeam Institute, a nonprofit educational foundation with the goal of building communication through cooperative games and activities. Stevens has been with Weber State University for nine years. Jeff Korbelik Features editor Jeff Korbelik is the features editor and covers dining, performing arts, TV and local media. Follow him at @LJSjeffkorbelik. Follow Jeff Korbelik 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 There are people who act and people who try to act. George Hansen was the former, a local Equity artist who just seemed to masterfully inhabit any role he took on, from the tormented title character in Macbeth to an addled Canadian farmer in Michael Healeys Drawer Boy. I wasnt alone in my admiration for his stage work. When news broke last week that Hansen had passed away at the age of 68 on April 10 in Lincoln, stories and tributes spilled onto Facebook pages: * There was a time, not long ago in Lincoln, where if George Hansen was on a local stage, you knew you were in for a spectacular time at the theatre, wrote Becky Boesen, new Flatwater Shakespeare Company artistic director. There was no question. You simply delighted in attending. * Not many actors can walk onstage and be completely undeniable, wrote Melissa Lewis, who acted opposite of Hansen in The Taming of the Shrew (Flatwater Shakespeare, 2008), Private Lives (Haymarket Theatre, 2007) and Macbeth (Flatwater Shakespeare, 2006). George Hansen was undeniable. He was SO complete and available as an artist that those around him felt empowered to be every ounce of who they were onstage, as well. * Those of us who watched his talent deepen over the years saw in his character roles a vulnerability and sensitivity that moved us immeasurably, said David Landis, a former state senator and longtime Lincoln actor. * I dont think Flatwater Shakespeare would have gotten through its first decade without George, who made the greatest of Shakespearean roles magnificently his own, said Bob Hall, Flatwater co-founder and former artistic director. He could and did play anything: Petruchio, Dogberry, Sir Toby Belch, Gloucester and so many others. His Macbeth was unforgettable. The first time I enjoyed Hansen onstage was in 1999 in the Nebraska Repertory Theatre production of Ira Levins Deathtrap. Co-starring local actors Peg Sheldrick, Leta Powell Drake and Richard Nielsen and New York actor Gerrit Vooren, the thriller featured Hansen as a down-on-his-luck playwright. And, boy, was he spectacular, with his performance ranking among my top five of his. Heres my countdown of the others: 4. The Taming of the Shrew -- Ive never seen two actors -- Hansen and Lewis -- who had so much fun playing off of each other. By the end, I wasnt sure who had tamed whom. 3. Drawer Boy -- Hansen's performance ranked as my favorite in 2009, with local director Bobby Bonaventura coaxing a graceful turn from him. 2. Macbeth -- Hall mounted some amazing shows during his tenure with Flatwater Shakespeare. This one was among the best thanks to memorable portrayals from Hansen and Lewis. 1. Much Ado About Nothing (Flatwater Shakespeare, 2002) -- Hansen stole the show in a supporting role as the bumbling, stumbling Dogberry. Thats saying something, because the cast also included the likes of Jeremy and Laura Kendall, the late Joel Story, Brad Boesen and Fred Stuart. In 2007, I talked acting with Hansen and his longtime friend Stephen Gaines over coffee as a preview to Flatwaters staging of King Lear. Director Hall had cast Gaines as the title character and Hansen as the Earl of Gloucester. Hansen told me during the conversation that his first production in Lincoln was in 1971 as a bit player in The Balcony, directed by the late William Morgan at the University of Nebraska. Hansen was hooked. He just couldn't stay off the stage. When someone asks me to do a show, I always say Im not going to do any more shows," he admitted during the conversation. "Then, I get kind of bored. And then someone will ask me to do something, and Ill think about it, like (King Lear). I do get my eyes poked out in this one, and I thought that would be kind of fun (laughs). So here I am again. And there he was -- again and again. And for that, George, we thank you. A remembrance for Hansen will run from 2-4 p.m. April 26 at the Swan Theatre in Wyuka Cemetery, 3600 O St. Advertisement By Adam Morton Apr. 18, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY By Adam Morton Apr. 18, 2017 | 04:04 PM | PADUCAH, KY U.S. Senator and ophthalmologist Dr. Rand Paul was in Paducah on Tuesday to talk about healthcare with local professionals and perform pro-bono eye surgeries. Paul held a town hall at Baptist Health Tuesday afternoon with area physicians and other medical professionals. He gave a presentation regarding his thoughts on the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare. The center of Paul's message was how to lower the cost of insurance. The senator proposed creating insurance group plans for the individual and small business owner. Paul said, "I would legalize the ability for them to join a coop or a buying group. Imagine if you belonged to AARP, and there are 30 million people in AARP, Imagine if they hired one person to negotiate for them. Talk about leverage." Paul added that the added buying power of having one person negotiate for a large group would bring down the price of health coverage dramatically. Independent physician and small business owner Dr. Kyle Turnbo attended the town hall, and said the senator's thoughts were outstanding on trying to lower the cost of health care, which Turnbo said is too high. "It got out of hand along time ago," Turnbo said. "There's no reason, as providers, that we can't provide the same healthcare or better at a more reasonable cost, but there's so many nuances to rules and regulations that increase the overhead," Turnbo also said it's time to take out some of the hurdles between the patients and doctors. Prior to the town hall discussion Paul performed cataract surgery free of charge for some area patients. Paul has come to Paducah to perform surgery with Dr. Barbara Bowers several times over the last few years. Email To : Multiple e-mail addresses must be separated with a comma character(maximum 200 characters) Email To is required. Your Full Name: (optional) Your Email Address: Your Email Address is required. Fatal semi crash on I-57 backed up traffic onto I-24 By West Kentucky Star Staff Apr. 18, 2017 | 06:30 AM | DRAFFENVILLE, KY A Graves County woman faces multiple charges after her weekend arrest in Marshall County. According to the Marshall County Sheriff's Department, deputies were dispatched on Saturday to McDonald's in Draffenville in reference to a possibly intoxicated driver. Deputies found the vehicle and conducted an investigation. Police say the driver, 33-year-old Crystal Gail Gregory of Mayfield, was arrested and charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, disorderly conduct, receiving stolen property and carrying a concealed deadly weapon. Deputies reportedly found a weapon in Gregory's purse that had been reported stolen in Paducah. Gregory was lodged in the Marshall County Detention Center. By The Associated Press By The Associated Press Apr. 18, 2017 | 10:57 AM | ERIE, PA Pennsylvania State Police say the suspect in the random killing of a Cleveland retiree posted on Facebook has shot and killed himself after a brief pursuit. State police say Steve Stephens was spotted Tuesday morning by state police in Erie County, in the state's northwest corner. Authorities say police tried to pull Stephens over and, after a brief pursuit, he shot and killed himself. Stephens was wanted on an aggravated murder charge in the shooting death of a 74-year-old retired man in Cleveland on Sunday. He posted video of that shooting on Facebook. A rural-led push to tweak Nebraska's method of funding local school districts is probably dead for the year, barring significant changes. Sens. Mike Groene of North Platte and Curt Friesen of Henderson acknowledged Tuesday after three hours of debate at the Capitol that they lacked the votes to end a filibuster of the proposal. Groene is the bill's sponsor. Friesen made it his personal priority this year. Speaker Jim Scheer has said he will not allow filibusters to continue beyond three hours this year unless a measure's supporters can show they have the 33 votes necessary to end debate and trigger a final vote. Groene's bill would boost state aid for almost every school district in Nebraska, but he said some districts oppose it because they prefer getting their money from property taxes, over which they have more control. "They know they have property taxpayers by the neck," Groene said. Most urban senators oppose the bill because people in many cities, including Lincoln and Omaha, would see their overall property tax bills increase if it passed. The proposal would use all $224 million each year from the state's property tax credit fund to provide additional aid to schools. Most rural school districts would get a greater portion of the money from the property tax credit fund than taxpayers in those districts currently receive. Much of that money currently goes to homeowners and businesses in the cities, and their school districts wouldn't receive enough to offset the loss. Farm and education groups who oppose the bill said a better option would be to increase the pool of aid money for property owners by raising sales taxes or taxing more services. "It's time we do something significant for our property taxpayers, and that means finding new revenue," said Sen. Tom Briese of Albion. Others dismissed that suggestion, arguing the state shouldn't lower one kind of tax by raising another. "They're both too high, and we have to get them down or the crisis will continue," said Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn. The property tax credit fund is a pool of money essentially from income and sales taxes which the state uses to subsidize the tax bills of every property owner in Nebraska. The aid appears as a line item on people's property tax bills. Groene said his bill would put that money to a more meaningful use. "For once, the property tax credit fund will have a purpose," he said. "It will not just be a coupon on the bottom of your statement." VIDEO That's fowl play! Guard goose attacks police officer who tries to fight it off with his bag but trips over before running awayThis police officer was attacked by an angry Canada goose while on his way back to the station and forced to run.The detective, from Clarksville, Indiana, lashed out at the bird with his bag but tripped over before making a swift exit.But that was only after several seconds of being beaten by the goose's wings. Landscapers working in the local area were also attacked by territorial geese wanting to defend their nests.He wrote online: 'Detective Hall forgot his keys. He then attempts to enter the building and is challenged by our local geese. Bad decision.'Canada geese are protected from hunting and capture outside of designated hunting seasons in the United States by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and in Canada under the Migratory Birds Convention Act. In both countries, commercial transactions such as buying or trading are mostly prohibited and the possession, hunting, and interfering with the activity of the animals are subject to restrictions.Geese have a tendency to attack humans when they feel themselves or their goslings to be threatened. First, the geese stand erect, spread their wings, and produce a hissing sound. Next, the geese charge. They may then bite or attack with their wings. The legislation recognizes and honors Alaska Native people and culture. The Alaska Federation of Natives applauded the bipartisan support that allowed it to pass Sunday.AFN is greatly heartened by the outpouring of support from Alaskans in making Indigenous Peoples Day permanent.We hope the inclusiveness that this bipartisan legislation represents will be carried forward into the efforts by our lawmakers to craft a comprehensive and fair solution to the states fiscal challenges, said AFN President Julie Kitka.For the previous two years a proclamation from Governor Bill Walker and city mayors established the day on the second Monday of October, but only a change to statute would make it permanent and effective statewide. Indigenous Peoples Day falls on the same day as Columbus Day, a federal holiday.Celebrating Columbus Day is a real challenging thing for Native people in the United States. It doesnt recognize and we dont speak about the impact that contact had on the indigenous people of our nation, Said Darlene Trigg with the Social Justice Task Force in Nome.Gov. Bill Walker has proclaimed Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day for the past two years, and states including South Dakota and Vermont have passed laws similar to the one under consideration by the Legislature.Seven Politicians voted against the bill: David Eastman, Wasilla; DeLena Johnson, Palmer; Mark Neuman, R-Big Lake; George Rauscher, R-Sutton; Lora Reinbold, R-Eagle River; Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla; Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole. Two Representatives were absent: Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks and Steve Thompson, R-Fairbanks.Its a great day to be indigenous, said Alaska Political scientists are often asked to predict the outcome of upcoming elections. Its important to note that I am at the mercy of the polls which are guesses themselves. Pollsters have the unenviable task of anticipating how people will vote and how that will impact the districts electorate. This has Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/04/2017 (2030 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A more stringent mortgage stress test is being blamed for a slight decline in house prices in the first three months of 2017. In its latest quarterly house prices survey released on Tuesday, real estate company Royal LePage said the aggregate price of a home in Winnipeg declined by 0.9 per cent to $274,844 in the first quarter of the year. Michael Froese, managing partner of Royal LePage Prime Realty in Winnipeg, said new mortgage rules the federal government introduced last October in a bid to cool down some of the countrys overheated housing markets were a major contributor to the price decline in Winnipeg. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The aggregate price of a home in Winnipeg declined by 0.9 per cent to $274,844 in the first quarter of the year. The impact of the new mortgage stress test is impossible to ignore. It has effectively caused a knee-jerk reaction in the market, impacting activity and contributing to declining house prices, Froese said. However, given that our region is home to a very stable, diverse economy, which has helped insulate the housing market from significant downward price adjustments over the long term, we expect to see market factors bounce back as the year progresses. Frose said Winnipeg remains the most affordable major city centre in Canada, offering prospective homeowners particularly first-time buyers a great deal of value for their dollar. He also noted Winnipegs resale-homes market is coming off its best year on record for unit sales. Although home values dipped slightly in January and February, March saw a surge of activity, helping to buoy prices in Winnipeg, he added. Sales in the first quarter of 2017 also remain consistent with the same time last year, and are above the 10-year average for the quarter. Aggregate prices are calculated using a weighted average of the median values of homes in the three main property categories: bungalows, two-storey homes, and condominiums. The Royal LePage survey found while the median price of a two-storey home was down from a year earlier, the median price for a bungalow and a condo both increased. It said the price of a two-storey home dropped 4.9 per cent to $278,866, while the price of a bungalow increased 3.3 per cent to $277,377 and the price of a condo inched upwards by 1.9 per cent to $241,126. Nationally, Canadas residential real estate market saw substantial price growth in the first quarter of 2017, increasing 12.6 per cent year-over-year to $574,103. The price of a two-storey home rose 13.9 per cent year-over-year to $681,728, and the price of a bungalow increased 11 per cent to $490,018. During the same period, the price of a condominium increased 8.9 per cent to $372,638. Royal LePage said while the majority of housing markets in Canada posted modest gains in Q1, price appreciation across much of Ontario significantly outpaced the rest of the country. However, the pace of year-over-year home price appreciation in greater Vancouver was noticeably lower than the historic highs witnessed in 2016, it added. murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/04/2017 (2030 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Speedpro Canada may not be the most widely known Winnipeg-based national business, but within the franchising industry its developing a growing reputation as a top-drawer operation. For the fifth year in a row, the large-format speciality printer franchise company has received the Franchisees Choice award from the Canadian Franchise Association. The honour is determined by a survey of 60 different franchise platforms where franchisees are asked to assess their franchisor in a number of key areas, including the relationship between the franchisor and franchisee. PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Speedpro franchise owners (from left to right) Quentin MacCharles and Rick Henry are pictured with CEO Stuart Burns. For a fifth consecutive year, Speedpro has received a Franchisees' Choice award from the Canadian Franchise Association. Speedpro boasts a leading market share in the sector that includes a growing demand for printed vinyl vehicle wraps that advertise every conceivable type of business, with increasingly complex and detailed graphics featuring stunning colours and customized fit. Speedpro has been around since 1991, but it was acquired in 2005 by Stuart Burns and the head office was moved to Winnipeg. A few years after he acquired it, Burns, a former partner in the Winnipeg Dodge dealership, realized that in order to create some separation from the competition, something would have to be done. We made the change very deliberately about eight years ago at an industry convention, Burns said. It seemed like we were competing with everyone as a commodity, on price. We were fighting it out promising discounts and such. Thats a dirty place to be. I said, lets clean up and put on some good clothes rather than fighting clothes. Lets provide the best service anywhere. It may still be a commodity it so happens that there are many operations that can print and install vehicle wraps now but the attention to customer service allows Speedpro to get out of the cut-rate pricing game as well as to attract the best franchisees. There were 28 franchises when Burns bought the business and there are now 50, with his modest head office staff looking to add three new franchises per year. We turn down far more requests for franchises than we award, Burns said. Ive been doing this for too long to just run off to the bank with somebodys cheque. My tag line is We are assembling a network of elite performers. Rick Henry and his sister have owned a Winnipeg Speedpro franchise for 17 years thats now located on Scurfield Boulevard. He said the technology has changed so much over the years large-format colour printers that cost about $500,000 10 years ago now start at $30,000 and do much higher-quality work but he has remained competitive for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that they get great support from the Speedpro head office. Stuart and his team do a great job, he said. And like anything else our whole thing is service and quality. We need to warranty the work and service the customer. That is really important in this business because there are so many choices. Lorraine McLachlan, CEO of the Canadian Franchise Association, said, The true strength of a franchise system lies in the mutually rewarding relationship between a franchisor and its franchisees. Being a Franchisees Choice designee is an honour and a vote of confidence because the high rankings in franchisee satisfaction come directly from the franchisees themselves. For Speedpro, its meant being able to grab a leading market share and hold onto it. It also means being able to get its franchisees a preferred lending rate from the big banks in Canada, partially because there has not been a Speedpro insolvency since a six-month-old franchise succumbed to the 2008 recession. We built the brand based on exceptional service, Burns said. And its worked. Our competitors never really followed us. We made the move eight years ago and it has been the best thing for us. martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/04/2017 (2030 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. A Winnipeg man caught up in an international child pornography sweep claims a desire to seek out dark fantasies was behind his behaviour. Andrew Harrison, 37, pleaded guilty last week and was given a one-year jail sentence and three years of supervised probation as part of a joint-recommendation from Crown and defence lawyers. Harrison spent years working in the citys film industry prior to his March 2016 arrest, court was told. Police in Switzerland were conducting an online sting when they began chatting with a man offering up photos and videos of young children being sexually abused. Investigators eventually tracked the IP address to a residence in River Heights. A warrant was obtained, and police ultimately seized 13 videos and 113 images involving unknown children. Harrison did not produce any of the material but had obtained it online and was then sharing it with others. He has admitted to a charge of distributing child pornography. Members of the internet child exploitation unit also charged Harrison with bestiality after finding two videos of him involved in a sexual act with his dog, court was told. However that charge was stayed last week because it doesnt meet the new definition of bestiality requiring penetration as set out by a recent Supreme Court decision, according to the Crown. Harrison has no prior criminal record and has spent the past 13 months out on bail. A court-ordered pre-sentence report paints him as a medium risk to re-offend. Harrison told probation officials he wasnt viewing the content for sexual reasons, nor was there ever a desire to actually have any sexual contact with children. This was a progression of secret dark fantasies for the purpose of having something all his own, defence lawyer Brett Gladstone told court. Harrison began searching for more and more taboo content online but would quickly delete it once he found it, he said. He decided the subject matter wasnt for him and deleted it. It shows on his own accord a desire not to become re-involved in this type of behaviour, Gladstone said. This year has been an extremely trying and eye-opening experience. He can finally become a truer version of himself. Harrison still enjoys strong support from family and friends, including many who were in the courtroom for his sentencing hearing and provided glowing letters of reference. The best way to ensure the success of Mr. Harrison, and the ongoing safety of society in general, is to focus on his rehabilitation, Gladstone said. Mr. Harrisons ability to succeed is beyond question. As part of his sentence, Harrison is not to be alone with any children under the age of 16. He must submit a DNA sample for the national databank, and his name will be placed on the federal sex offender registry. mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/04/2017 (2030 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Winnipeg police have a device that can track and listen in on cellphones, but they wont say how theyre using it. In a statement, the Winnipeg Police Service said it can confirm that it possesses a cell site simulator (CSS). It is only deployed under judicial authorization, or in exigent circumstances. We are concerned that providing too much information about investigative techniques could jeopardize active investigations and threaten public and officer safety. As such, we will not be providing the number of CSS technicians employed by the WPS, nor the number of investigations conducted using this device in 2015 and 2016. The StingRay II is a cell site simulator used for surveillance. Winnipeg police confirmed it possesses the technology. (U.S. Patent and Trademark Office / The Associated Press files) CSS, also popularly known as Stingrays or IMSI catchers, are devices that act as pseudo-cellphone towers. When the device is used in the community, it sends out signals which cause cellphones, which are searching for the nearest cellphone tower, to instead connect with the CSS, giving police the ability to listen in and know where the phone and therefore the suspect is. But the CSS also collects the same information from other phones of people in the area. A police spokeswoman admitted one of the main criticisms of CSS devices is about loss of privacy to third-party individuals. The Winnipeg Police Service respects the privacy of innocent bystanders. The collected data does not include phone numbers or any other personal identifying information or data. The collected data relating to third parties is preserved and not accessed by anyone other than the CSS technicians, until ordered otherwise by an appropriate court, she said. But lawyer Scott Newman, a spokesman for the Criminal Defence Lawyers Association, said hes still concerned about the use of the technology by police. Whether the technology is used appropriately, whether theres any civilian oversight of the guidelines they follow, and what steps are being taken about concerns of privacy, he said. Its all well and good for police to say trust us, we are protecting your privacy, but without having seen the guidelines, we dont know if the technology is being used appropriately. It is important for the public to know what the guidelines for CSS use are and that police are following them, Newman said, noting the use of CSS is similar to when police request approval from judges to wiretap someones phones in the sense that defence lawyers arent at those hearings. We all know they wont tell us before they use it, but with wiretaps, we find out after, he said. Under the criminal code, when the order ends, you have to divulge to the person. Do they have the same safeguards here? Its all well and good for police to say trust us, we are protecting your privacy, but without having seen the guidelines, we dont know if the technology is being used appropriately.-Lawyer Scott Newman A spokesperson for the B.C. Civil Liberties Association has been quoted in media reports as being concerned that there isnt warrant process specific to CSS, so there arent strict limits on how the technology is being used. Its nothing but a policy choice for some law enforcement not to use the content interception capabilities, Michael Vonn, the associations policy director, told CBC. Michelle Falk, executive director of the Manitoba Association for Rights and Liberties, said they share the concerns of their B.C. counterparts. We think (CSS use) is totally fair as long as police have the proper warrants, she said. My concern is also about privacy, but if they are taking that into consideration, thats satisfactory. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca LA CROSSE A murder case that spanned a 15-month investigation, seven days of testimony and nine hours of deliberations was over in seconds. Winonas City Council put a bit of pressure on a downtown business owner to rehabilitate the former Mason Jar building with a threat of having it torn down. According to the citys inspections department, the building, which has been empty and gutted since a fire in February 2015, is becoming rapidly a public health issue as it deteriorates. The building at 151 E. Third St. is owned by Chase Hoffman and is part of the downtown historic district. City inspector Greg Karow documented shifts in the structure, moving bricks and fire damage that continues to degrade as the roofless and windowless building is exposed to weather. Karow said the condition has resulted in ongoing blocked sidewalks and obstructed intersection sightlines, with the potential for bricks to come loose and fall. It is not only a potential hazard but theres also impact to neighbors, Karow said. If Mr. Hoffman cant come through in the next 30 to 45 days we think its appropriate to raze that building. There are currently plans to reconstruct the inside and retain the historic facade of the building. Hoffman was granted a conditional-use permit in March allowing residential apartments in the rear half of the building and the plans include apartments in the basement, as well as the first, second and third floors, with 21 units total. The building is already subject to a variance from August 2015 regarding parking, so it is not subject to the 100 foot setback from public parking areas. Hoffman said at the meeting that the building has been subject to work. Conducting a reconstruction with such extensive damage to the building, he said, has been a new experience to both him and the local contractors. Theres been a lot of design work and a lot of demolition, Hoffman said. An approved schedule for the reconstruction will require that Hoffman submit structural documentation and other information regarding securing exterior walls to the city by May 8 and begin construction by June 19. The timeline would require the removal of debris in basement and complete removal of existing floor remnants by June 2. The council voted unanimously to support imposing the conditions on the building project. Mayor Mark Peterson said that while they wanted it to become a whole building again, the waiting period had been too long. We all understand this is a key building in our downtown, Peterson said. I really hope you can stick to this schedule, and we dont have to resort to tearing this building down. Other council member echoed that sentiment. Council member George Borzyskowski said he thought the timeline was fair and two months was enough time to get things initiated. I think thats good leeway, Borzyskowski said. Then well go from there. The city also moved one step closer to starting construction on the Levee Park Main Street Gateway project. The council approved the bids for the construction at $2,912,048 with Wapasha Construction Co. The majority of the costs $2.4 million of the construction was paid by the citys recreation bonding, and the funding also included several other sources. The city approved $550,000 from the utilities fund to complete the utility work associated with the project, $15,000 from the public transportation fund to complete transit items primarily a bus shelter and $54,272 from the facilities fund for general costs. The costs were approved unanimously. Construction was estimated to begin in May and continue into the fall. The completed project will include a gateway at Second Street and Main Street, featuring a pedestrian plaza and a new crossing over the railroad tracks to Levee Park, a trail connecting Levee Park to the riverfront trail and improvements to the Levee Park patio, including a water feature, shading and a landscaped lawn. Chad Ubl, community services director for parks and recreation, didnt anticipate any issues after they finish, if development starts at the vacant area at 60 Main St., currently an open parking lot between Levee Park and the Winona 7 movie theater. Its certainly the intention not to dismantle or tear up anything we do, Ubl said. He did note that the work would go slightly into the lots area, so there could be potential for adjustments if work begins there. A great place for too many geese. It doesnt sound like the slogan youd want for a park, but thats how Healthy Lake Winona member Eric Nelson described Lake Park. Nelson spoke with city council members and city staff to ask for more help enforcing a prohibition feeding the geese in the park, and for the city to consider further measures for discouraging the goose population from continuing to grow. Nelson said that so far the signs put up in 2015 after the adoption of an ordinance banning the feeding havent been having the desired effect, and large numbers of people still feed the birds. Our observations are we havent really seen that to be very successful, Nelson said. They have designed potential new signage to explain why the bird feces can be a harmful nuisance, with illustrations of the effect on the lake and park. Waterfowl droppings contribute to elevated phosphorus, which leads to reduced water transparency and overabundant aquatic plant growth in the lake. The birds excrement can also contain harmful bacteria and parasites that can cause swimmers itch. Additionally, feeding them can be bad for the geese themselves, causing malnutrition that can lead to health problems. Other solutions down the road could include putting up deterrents like dog and coyote silhouettes, fencing or increasing the vegetative buffer around the lake. Near the airport the city uses noise cannons to scare the birds off. Other more active steps include rounding the geese up and carting them off, or treating the eggs with oil so that they cannot hatch. There wasnt discussion of if there would be actual penalties, but agreement to look at creating a further policy. Immediately, Nelson said reminding people of the rules regarding the geese would be a good first step. Were just looking at the encouragement of the no feeding, Nelson said. That would be a great thing to get going. School talks City Council members also started a discussion with the school district about the next steps for the schools. The Winona Area Public Schools board has been considering several different options regarding the elementary schools, and are looking into options for retaining an east end school in the city. Interim superintendent Kelly Halvorsen said they were looking at keeping Goodview and either Jefferson or Washington-Kosciusko elementary school. With the possibility of keeping the W-K building, the school district said they would expand the school to around 580 students and expand. The schools ideal plan for keeping it open, if they vote for the plan, would likely involve closing Seventh Street in the area, changing High Forest Street to a one-way between Seventh and Eighth streets of student drop off and pick up, and also acquire several properties across Seventh Street for expansion. The school board will be discussing the options at working sessions April 18 and 25 with plans to finalize their long-range facilities at the May 4 board meeting. Halvorsen said eminent domain has never been considered in the process or when talking to property owners, and they also didnt have plans to abut buildings directly to adjacent properties. Anything we would acquire would become green space and playgrounds space for students, Halvorsen. At this point we dont have any plans to expand the building to the north. Mayor Mark Peterson said that despite not wanting to see schools closed, he supported the discussion. Im certainly willing to consider your proposal with the school board if this is the direction you decide to go, Peterson said. A city ordinance banning feeding the geese hasnt had the desired effect. Members of the public will have a chance to weigh in Tuesday on a Georgia timber companys plans to fill more than 16 acres of wetlands in order to build a $65 million frac sand facility in Monroe and Jackson counties. Meteor Timber, one of the largest private landowners in Wisconsin, wants to build a processing and loading facility along Interstate 94 near the town of Millston to dry and ship frac sand the company will mine from a nearby site it acquired in a 2014 purchase of nearly 50,000 acres. The company expects to ship about 1.5 million tons of processed sand each year using the adjacent Union Pacific rail line. Meteor applied last year to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for permission to fill the wetlands, including about 13 acres of pristine hardwood swamp. The DNR, which has made a tentative decision to approve the permit, will hold a public hearing Tuesday in Tomah. The scope of the plans are massive in comparison to the total of 26 acres of wetlands the DNR has allowed frac sand mining companies to fill since 2008, according to Midwest Environmental Advocates, which says the wetlands in question are a critical ecosystem and habitat for a threatened and endangered species including the Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake. Since the proposal first received media attention, Meteor has proposed to restore and preserve more than 640 acres of other land including what it calls high quality wetlands which is roughly 40 times the amount of wetlands the project would destroy. Thats not an acceptable trade-off for the people of Wisconsin, according to the nonprofit environmental advocacy group, which contends Meteor has not satisfied requirements for exploring alternatives with less impact. To us it seems like theyre trying to skew the normal regulatory framework and kind of the established guidelines for DNR decision making, said MEA staff attorney Sara Geers. Wetlands are a key component of the ecosystem, acting as natural water filters and supporting a wide range of wildlife, including a disproportionate number of rare and endangered species. According to the DNR, Wisconsin has only about half the amount of wetlands it did when the first European settlers arrived. Most of those remaining 5.3 million acres are in the northern third of the state. Both the DNR and Army Corps of Engineers have questioned the projects economic viability, given the precipitous drop in demand for sand since domestic fracking peaked in 2014. In spite of a recent industry slump, Meteor is in a unique position to have a profitable mining operation, according to an economic analysis prepared by a Pennsylvania consulting firm. Thats because the group owns land with large reserves of fine sands that are now in demand and if allowed to move forward would be able to load entire trains and put them onto the Union Pacific system, which would provide a direct link to Texas oil fields. Meteor has said it cannot find another location to accommodate such a large plant along the UP rail line. The company has also said permitting its project is the only way to prevent much of the 752-acre site from being clearcut. About three quarters of the land is owned by the A&K Alexander Cranberry Co., which was cited in 2013 by the Environmental Protection Agency for illegally filling 5.6 acres of wetlands. As part of the penalty, the EPA required A&K to restore 2.2 acres of the filled wetlands and to get an after-the-fact permit for another 3.63 acres. According to documents filed in support of the application, A&K managing partner Marty Alexander took out a one-year loan in August for $321,470 to settle the case. In a letter to Meteor, Alexander said if the sale does not go through logging would be his only way to avoid foreclosure. The company has also said permitting its project is the only way to prevent much of the 752-acre site from being clearcut. Winona Senior High School officials say there was no substance behind a gun threat made by one of its students last week over social media. A male sophomore Wednesday morning used SnapChat, an online messaging service, to send his friends a photo of a firearm with a caption telling them not to go to school the next day. Principal Mark Anderson said he and others met with the student and his family before school Wednesday, and that the student described the message as a joke among friends. After the meeting, Anderson sent out his own message to staff and students, explaining the situation. Staff will continue to work with the student, he said, but the matter is otherwise resolved. The Winona Police Department was not asked by school officials to respond to the threat. Police Chief Paul Bostrack said that, to his understanding, the school had things well under control. Anderson said he or someone else at the school would have contacted law enforcement had they felt the building was unsafe. We try to move as fast as we can to get the information we need, he said. This was just a student thinking he was being funny. It was not. We made sure that was clear. This was just a student thinking he was being funny. It was not. We made sure that was clear. Mark Anderson, WSHS principal Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy President Donald Trump, eager to stop rapid advances in North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, is signaling a break with decades of US policy as he looks to coax China into ramping up the pressure on North Korea. A Baraboo man resolved five criminal cases including multiple drug charges as part of a plea deal with prosecutors Monday. I dont know how deep a hole this young man is willing to dig for himself, Sauk County Assistant District Attorney Dennis Ryan told a judge during a sentencing hearing. At some point, hes going to hit rock. Hes pretty close. Johnathan R. Jackson, 22, formerly of Baraboo, sat in an orange jumpsuit next to his attorney as he pleaded no contest to six charges. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to dismiss 12 others. Jackson was sentenced to 190 days in jail with work release privileges, and credited with 86 days of time already served since his arrest. He also must serve three years on probation upon his release, undergo treatment, provide a DNA sample, and pay more than $3,000 in fines. Jackson has amassed multiple felony convictions since 2015, which his attorney, David Susens of Baraboo, said were mainly the result of serious substance abuse issues. This is in all likelihood his last opportunity to take advantage of the ladder at the bottom of the hole that Mr. Ryan has referenced, Susens said in court Monday. He described Jackson as intelligent, charismatic, and friendly, and said he is interested in music production and graphic design. Jackson is preparing to work toward being a contributing member of society, his attorney said. As part of the deal, prosecutors dismissed 11 bail jumping charges and one count of resisting an officer. Jackson pleaded no contest to felony meth possession, felony marijuana possession, misdemeanor operating a vehicle without a license, resisting an officer, and theft. As he addressed the court, Jackson said he learned only recently that he is a father, and has found new motivation to get his life in order. He wants to get treatment and stay out of trouble, he said. Since finding out I have a daughter, I have been taking steps to change everything about myself so that I can at least get partial custody and be in her life in some way, Jackson said. Sauk County Circuit Court Judge Guy Reynolds told Jackson that children with two parents involved in their lives have a better chance at doing well in life, statistically speaking. He said Jackson will have to work hard to conquer his addictions. With a prison sentence looming if he fails to uphold his end of the plea deal, Reynolds said Jackson has a chance to turn his life around if he chooses a more responsible path. People can and do succeed, no matter how deep the hole is that theyve dug for themselves, Reynolds said. JUNEAU Jared Spencer was a 17-year-old high school student when he shot an assistant manager at Mills Fleet Farm, 1815 N. Spring St., Beaver Dam, on July 15, 2015. He is now a convicted felon after being found guilty Tuesday of committing the crime by Dodge County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Sciasia. A sentencing hearing is set for July 21. Spencer, 19, entered a no contest plea to a charge of attempted first degree intentional homicide. Several other counts, including reckless injury and endangerment were dismissed but were read into the court record. Spencer had pleaded not guilty twice, once by reason of mental disease or defect. Spencer was committed for psychiatric treatment Feb. 2., 2016, and was determined to be competent to stand trial six months later. According to the criminal complaint, police were called to Fleet Farm, July 15, 2015, after an assistant manager had been shot while standing in the parking lot and the suspect fled in a vehicle. The assistant manager, a member of loss prevention, and an off-duty DeForest police officer were nearby at the time of the shooting. Andrew J. Kruse, 31, was shot in the shoulder area and the right wrist after he and other staff spoke to Spencer about the ammunition that was in his pocket. They asked Spencer to go back into the store, but it was clear Spencer was not going to stop so Kruse started to call 911. Spencer got into his car and was told by the off-duty police officer not to leave before he fired a gun at Kruse. The police officer helped Kruse as Spencer left the scene. Columbus Police stopped the vehicle Spencer was driving a short time later and found the ammunition in his pocket and the handgun in the vehicle. Spencer acknowledged that he was at Fleet Farm and shoplifted some ammunition while there. Spencer requested an attorney when asked about the shooting. A sentencing hearing is scheduled on July 21. Vandalism Friday at 7:15 a.m., someone reported seeing graffiti under an overpass on Prospect Avenue. Accident Friday at 9:31 a.m., two vehicles collided in the Walkers parking lot, 809 Park Ave. Accident Friday at 10:33 a.m., one vehicle was backed into another in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot, 810 Park Ave. Disorderly conduct Friday at 11:35 a.m., someone told police that a 26-year-old man was being disorderly in the 200 block of Seippel Boulevard. The man was later taken to jail. Intoxicated person Friday at 3:41 p.m., a man reported seeing a man holding a Twisted Tea while driving near the intersection of Highway 151 and Highway 33. The 21-year-old man was later located and admitted to drinking. The driver was sober and was warned not to do it again. Accident Friday at 5:41 p.m., a 32-year-old man and a 37-year-old woman were involved in a vehicle accident near the South University Avenue and Park Avenue intersection. Theft Friday at 7:23 p.m., a man reported the theft of headphones at Wal-Mart Supercenter, 120 Frances Lane. Traffic Friday at 8:39 p.m., a man requested extra patrol in the 100 block of Myrtle Road because vehicles have been doing burnouts in the area. Fight Friday at 9:58 p.m., a man told police that two men were fighting in the 100 block of West Third Street. Suspicious Friday at 10:44 p.m., a woman reported that a man approached her daughter and friends on Franklin Street. Intoxicated person Saturday at 2:18 a.m., a traffic stop near the East Maple Avenue and Lincoln Avenue resulted in police citing a 26-year-old woman with operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Disorderly conduct Saturday at 3:01 a.m., a woman texted police about a 45-year-old man that wouldnt leave a residence in the 1000 block of North Spring Street. The man was cited with domestic disorderly conduct. Accident Saturday at 12:29 p.m., a man reported that a vehicle was backed into his vehicle in the 1600 block of Seippel Boulevard. Disorderly conduct Saturday at 1:32 p.m., a Wal-Mart Supercenter, 120 Frances Lane, employee told police that there were two vehicles doing burnouts in the parking lot. A man was cited with disorderly conduct with a motor vehicle. Accident Saturday at 2:24 p.m., a man reported that he was involved in a vehicle accident in the 100 block of Gilmore Avenue. Animal Saturday at 2:29 p.m., a woman told police a dog in the 100 block of Lakecrest Drive bit her. Theft Saturday at 5:21 p.m., a man reported that he placed a box on a porch in the 400 block of Madison Street. He later found out that Fed-Ex never got the box and it was gone. Drugs Saturday at 6:09 p.m., a man in the 200 block of North Center Street told police that two suspicious men were talking possibly about drugs. Disorderly conduct Saturday at 8:42 p.m., someone reported that a neighbor was trespassing with a radio-controlled car and causing a disturbance. Disorderly conduct Saturday at 9:19 p.m., someone in the 900 block of Prospect Avenue told police that two men and a woman were in a vehicle in a ditch. Disorderly conduct Saturday at 11:26 p.m., a woman in the 100 block of Gould Street reported a fight with a man. The man was cited with domestic disorderly conduct. Hit and run Sunday at 11:54 a.m., a man said he left his vehicle in the Wal-Mart Supercenter parking lot, 120 Frances Lane, and told police his vehicle was struck while he was gone. It appeared that a shopping cart did the damage. Hit and run Sunday at 12:26 p.m., someone told police that a hit and run occurred near the Industrial Drive and Highway 151 intersection. Disorderly conduct Sunday at 4:37 p.m., a 30-year-old woman was in the Walgreens drive-through, 607 Park Ave., yelling at pharmacists. Accident Sunday at 5:06 p.m., a 36-year-old man and a 28-year-old man were involved in a vehicle accident near the intersection of Park Avenue and North Vita Avenue. Accident Monday at 1:17 a.m., someone told police that a vehicle ran over a man in a driveway in the 300 block of North University Avenue. The man was transported to jail for bail jumping. Disorderly conduct Monday at 2:28 a.m., a woman reported that a 19-year-old man was in her residence in the 100 block of West Davis Street and he would not leave. The man was later cited with possession of marijuana and disorderly conduct. Eunice W. Caldwell, 98, beloved mother, sister, grandmother and friend, passed away at the home of her son Stephen, Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017, surrounded by her family. Eunice was born Jan. 1, 1919, in Juneau, the daughter of John and Adela Witte. Upon her graduation from high school in 1936, she was recruited to work as a secretary in the Juneau office of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), later moving to Madison to work in the WPA office there. In Madison, Eunice went on to work for Commonwealth Telephone, and later for the law firm Porter, Jasper. On March 16, 1944, Eunice married W.J. (Bill) Caldwell and moved to Florida, where her husband was stationed at Eglin Field, a World War II Army Air Corps base near Pensacola, where she was also employed. At Christmastime 1945, they returned to Wisconsin, living first in Juneau, then Baraboo, and finally settling in Beaver Dam. In 1964 Eunice reentered the work force as the secretary at Wilson Elementary School, moving several years later to the position of administrative secretary for the Beaver Dam Unified School District at the Educational Service Center, where she remained until her retirement at the age of 70. Eunice is survived by her son Stephen (Judi Werner) of Madison; daughter Susan Caldwell Nelson and grandson Alexander Nelson of Westfield, New Jersey; brother Bud Witte of DePere; and niece Ann Lucas of Newport Beach, California. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; and her sister-in-law Elisabeth Witte. A funeral service will be held at St. Stephen Evangelical Lutheran Church, 300 West St., Beaver Dam, at 11 a.m. Monday, April 24. Visitation will be at the church from 10 a.m. until the time of the service. Burial will take place at Oakwood Cemetery in Beaver Dam. Memorials may be made to the Window Restoration Fund or General Memorial Fund at St. Stephens or to a charity of your choice. If you wish to send a card, please direct mail to the Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home, N7199 N. Crystal Lake Road, Beaver Dam, WI 53916. Eunice was a longtime member of St. Stephen Lutheran Church and served over the years in many of their organizations. She was very active for many years with community concerts and the Beaver Dam Womens Club. She enjoyed close friendships with people of all generations and her loss will be felt deeply by many who will remember her kindness and sympathetic ear. Remarkably, until a bad fall several months ago, she was able to remain in her home due to the assistance of Gale and Pam Prinsen, to whom her family can never express enough gratitude. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Matthew 28:20 Koepsell-Murray Funeral Home in Beaver Dam is serving the family. For more information or to make an online condolence, visit KoepsellFH.com. Wisconsins business lobby spoke out publicly Tuesday against a bipartisan legislative proposal to replace thousands of underground pipes that leach toxic lead into drinking water. Businesses arent against removing lead water lines that can cause permanent brain damage in children, but the current proposal should be changed to make cities not water utilities cover costs that will run in the millions of dollars, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce told a state Assembly committee. Backers of the bill countered that if cities were responsible there would likely be years of additional delays because state limits on local tax revenue have left most straining to pay for basic municipal services. They just dont have the tools, said Sen. Rob Cowles, a Green Bay Republican who co-authored the bill. What are you going to do? Get rid of the police department? Water utilities arent dependent on taxes. The state Public Service Commission sets water rates based on each systems needs, which include responding to public health threats. The presence of lead in drinking water has been known for decades, but awareness increased across the country after news emerged in 2015 about how mismanagement of the drinking water system in Flint, Michigan, caused a public health crisis. At least 176,000 Wisconsin water customers have lead service lines, with about half in Milwaukee County. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says there is no safe blood lead level in children. Tiny lead particles that flake off into running water can accumulate in the body to cause irreversible brain damage to young children. Lead can also slow growth and, in rare cases, cause death. Analysis of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency records last year found 64 Wisconsin water systems exceeded limits at least once since Jan. 1, 2013, including those in Lake Mills, Stoughton, Neenah and Racine, as well as several schools. An obstacle to removing the pipes is that state law allows water utilities to replace lead pipe only from the street to a homeowners property line. Property owners must cover costs on private property from the curb to the house. Many homeowners especially those with limited income are unwilling or unable to pay the average $3,600 it costs. Experts strongly advise against removing only the public section of the pipe, because that can knock loose more lead from the remaining line. Assembly Bill 78 and Senate Bill 48 would allow water utilities to help water customers remove lead water pipes. The assistance could come in the form of grants and low-interest or no-interest loans that target low-income homeowners. Cowles said Tuesday that he planned to work with opponents to find a solution because the public health consequences of inaction are too great. In an effort to win quick passage of the legislation, Cowles had gathered nearly 50 co-sponsors from both parties in the Assembly and Senate by the time a Senate committee held a public hearing on the bill March 8. WMC didnt speak or even register against the bill during that hearing. But on March 21 the business group filed as an opponent of the legislation with the state ethics commission. The Senate committee approved the bill unanimously March 29, but Senate leaders didnt bring it to a vote during the Senate floor session April 4. On Tuesday, WMC environmental policy director Lucas Vebber told the Assembly committee that cities have ample money to replace lead pipes, and he pointed to the city of Madison as an example. But Madisons $15.5 million project took years to get off the ground as a bruising political battle took place over how to pay for work on private property. The city began its project before the state placed limits on local property taxes in 2006 and long before the limits were tightened in 2011, said Curt Witynski, assistant director of the League of Wisconsin Municipalities. Cost is the reason no other Wisconsin city and few in the nation have tried to remove all their lead pipes, Witynski said. Milwaukee has estimated it will take 50 years to do the job there. High levels of lead were first detected in Madison water in the early 1990s, but the city didnt start replacing pipes until 2001. It offered up to $1,000 per homeowner to help with costs. The effort was completed in 2007. JUNEAU Both of the new University of Wisconsin-Extension assistant deans fielded questions from officials of multiple counties in Juneau on Monday. Some questions they could answer; for others, the answers are still being worked out. Officials from the six member counties of the Intercounty Coordinating Committee Columbia, Dodge, Green Lake, Jefferson, Marquette and Sauk asked Matt Hanson, assistant dean for the states southern area, and David Berard, assistant dean for the northern area, for more details on the transition that county Extension offices will experience as a $3.6 million statewide budget cut takes effect. Alan Anderson of Baraboo, citizen member of Sauk Countys UW Extension, Arts and Culture Committee, was one of many ICC attendees who asked whether adding a new layer of management the 22 area directors that will soon be hired truly saves money. It feels like tell me if Im wrong that youre spending more money on administration, he said. Were going to increase our expenses for administration, and face a bigger cut on the program side. Thats not the intent, Berard said. The two assistant deans, he said, will replace four regional Extension directors. Extension officials are now taking applications for area directors to oversee the 22 regions that are being organized for administrative purposes. The area directors will take the place of 97 people who have bits and pieces of administrative responsibility at the local level. The goal, Berard said, is for the area directors to take on the administrative tasks that typically fall now to educators at the county level, thus freeing local Extension staff to work more on programming. Among the 22 areas, four are composed of a single, populous county Brown, Dane, Milwaukee and Waukesha. The remaining counties will be organized into multi-county regions. Columbia, Dodge and Sauk counties comprise Area 16. Green Lake and Marquette counties are in Area 14 with Waushara, Adams and Juneau counties. Jefferson County is part of Area 19, as are Rock and Walworth counties. All the ICC counties are in the southern area, where Hanson will be assistant dean. Berard said the assistant deans and area directors will work together to ensure, to the extent possible, that each county Extension office has the services and programs that local residents and officials want most. Our primary goal, Berard said, is to ensure that the programming is delivered at the local level, within the financial constraints that affect us all. Columbia County Board Supervisor Andy Ross of Poynette said he was concerned about the future of successful county-specific Extension programs, such as Columbia Countys Future Leaders Active in Government program for high school students. I just hope were not at a point where were arranging deck chairs, and nobody knows where the boat is going, Ross said. Both Hanson and Berard suggested that, when the area directors are in place, perhaps other counties that want to adopt a program similar to FLAG could learn from Columbia Countys experience. Pattie Carroll, family living educator for UW-Extension Dodge County, said the Extension reorganization presents an opportunity for flexibility. For example, she noted, the family living educators in Columbia and Sauk counties (Patti Herman and Laurie Boyce, respectively) have both recently retired. The reorganization might make it possible for one family living educator to handle the programming for all three counties, if that is what Extension and county officials determine is the right option to meet all three counties needs. The area director will hear your needs, and will know your county well, she said. There will be flexibility in the new model. Other county officials asked about day-to-day office routines for Extension support staff, if the area directors are not going to be in each countys office every day. Others asked about technology, including whether the state would make specific software available to counties that dont yet have it, to allow them to communicate with Extension regionally and statewide. Some, including Marquette County Board Chairman Bob Miller of Dalton, asked about when, or whether, counties with vacant Extension positions should fill those posts. Jon Hochkammer, outreach manager for the Wisconsin Counties Association, said he is hearing, from county officials throughout the state, that they are, by and large, optimistic about the upcoming changes in Extension. However, he said, The counties want to make sure that their voices are heard in the process. Patricia M. Smith Patricia Marie (Wendt) Smith, age 62 years, 1 month, 4 days, passed away April 14, 2017, as a result of recurrent lung cancer. She released her beautiful soul late in the evening, as Good Friday was ending. Pat was born March 10, 1955, in Portage, to Rodney and Mary Kay (Lennon) Wendt. Pat lived in Pardeeville her entire life except for a period of time that her family was in Fort Lewis, Washington. Pat attended school in Pardeeville, graduating in 1973; a member of a class that kept close ties through the years. She held several jobs in the area, including working at the canning factory. It was there that she met her husband Jack. They were married Feb. 14, 1975, and they had 42 years together. She accepted Jacks son as her own and they went on to have three sons together. As time passed, they were blessed with five beautiful grandchildren. She worked at home, raising their children until they were in middle school. Pat started working outside the home again, finding her way into child care. She started her own business Once Upon A Time Daycare. There she spent nearly two decades giving loving care to scores of children, feeding, nurturing, and guiding them as if they were her own. She retired at the end of school in 2015. Pat enjoyed her grandchildren tremendously, and loved having her family together nearly every Sunday for dinner and fellowship. She also enjoyed tending her plants, being with friends and relatives, dancing, and going for rides on the motorcycle. Her warm, easy smile and loving nature will be missed forever. She is survived by her husband, Jack; sons, Aaron Smith, Brandon (Shanna) Smith, Benjamin (Megan) Smith, all local; stepson, Christopher Smith (Rachel OReilly) of Mooresville, North Carolina; grandchildren, Nick, Kelli, and Noelle Smith, Sadie Knak and Elizabeth Smith. She is further survived by her sisters, Linda (Mike) Fonger, and Laurie (Russel) Brenneman; brother, Kory (Theresa) Wendt; aunts, Dorothy Lennon and June Wendt;, uncles, Lawrence Wendt and Junior (Edith) Wendt; Jennifer Wickert; and several nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents; grandparents; mother-in-law; three sisters-in-law; and several aunts and uncles. Memorial services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, April 21, at United Methodist Church in Pardeeville, with the Rev. Kerry Wilson officiating. Inurnment will follow at Pardeeville Cemetery. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 20, at Grasse Funeral Home in Pardeeville, and again from 10 a.m. until the time of services Friday at the church. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in her name to the Pardeeville EMS, Pardeeville Area Fire, Pardeeville United Methodist Church Camp Scholarship Fund or the Carbone Cancer Center. We wish to offer our thanks to the Pardeeville EMS, Divine Savior Healthcare, UW Hospital B6/6 and support teams, Agrace Hospice and the staff at Columbia Health Care Center, with special thanks to Nurse Linda, and to all the other caring people who offered support through this time. Grasse Funeral Service of Pardeeville (www.grassefs.com) is serving the family. ANC military veterans and the threat to South Africas democracy We may look back and say that it was this moment when it became manifest that Zumas faction of the ANC would be prepared to resort to violence. We may look back on the days in April 2017 when tens of thousands of South Africans marched demanding that President Jacob Zuma should fall as the beginning of something bigger. Theres been a wistful glint in the eyes of ageing activists as they gear up for action again, predicting a return to the 1980s. Many have embraced the idea of the reconstitution of a United Democratic Front-style multi-class, non-racial and popular anti-apartheid alliance of NGOs, community movements and religious groups to Save South Africa from the capriciousness and corruption of the Zuma government. We are told that Friday April 7, the day of the nationwide marches against Zuma, was the day when ordinary people stood up and said to the ANC: Enough is Enough! It was followed by another large demonstration of opposition political parties marching on the governments seat of power in Pretoria, the Union Buildings, on April 12, which was also the presidents 75th birthday. Yet, while we should in no way underestimate this democratic stirring, we may look back and say that its greater significance was that it was this moment when it became manifest that Zumas faction of the ANC would be prepared to resort to violence to entrench its domination. Signs of intolerance of dissent Once the first marchers had marched, the ANC government sought to save face by proclaiming the day a triumph for democracy which, of course, it was. Yet during the build-up to the march, the ANC had filled the air with threats of violence. The most explicit warning was delivered by the newly installed Minister of Police, Fikile Mbalula. He did not want another Marikana, he said, but implied the repeat of such an event, when police killed 34 striking miners, if protesters damaged property. Other ANC officials, notably eThekwini mayor Zondile Gumede, issued not-so-veiled threats against those marching. Others sought to tie up the marchers right to march by denying permission; others referred to marchers as counter-revolutionary. The most chilling threat was represented by the MK Veterans Association (MKMVA), supposedly former members of the ANCs armed wing uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK). Its press briefing before the marches took place stated that it was mobilising its members, who would be combat ready to defend Luthuli House, the headquarters of the ANC. It was backed up by statements by the ANC Youth League that it was ready to defend the premises with all the weapons at its disposal. Given that the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) had changed its initial plans to march upon Luthuli House, there was little or no need to defend the ANCs headquarters from anyone. Even so, on the day, some 700 MK veterans assembled outside Luthuli House. Threat to democracy Dressed in military fatigues, the MK veterans explicitly presented themselves as the ANCs armed wing ready to go into battle to counter the partys enemies. In the event, they toyi-toyied and demonstrated and were fortunately denied the opportunity by the police to prove their metal in clashes with the DA or anyone else. Yet the threat of violence was immanent. The real issue is how MK, as its presently constituted, views itself and is viewed by key elements amongst the ANCs leadership as a militia ready to be deployed against its political opponents internal as well as external. How many of those who presented themselves outside Luthuli House were genuinely former MK veterans we do not know. But, we can be pretty sure that many if not most - too young to have fought against apartheid have been more recent recruits, with no genuine claim to membership. We also know that under the national leadership of Kebby Maphatsoe, the deputy defence minister, the Veterans Association has been deeply corrupted. Major questions posed about its internal finances are the subject of a court case. Its been used to intervene violently in party factional battles on behalf of Zuma. Yet it has reserved its main animus for parties of opposition, regularly referred to by Maphatsoe as the enemy, agents provocateurs, and counter-revolutionaries. It would be a mistake to dismiss all this as harmless political theatre. Rather, it constitutes a very real and present danger. Its worth recalling that Siphiwe Nyanda, a former leading member of MK who became chief of the South African National Defence Force, has already referred to the veterans under Maphatsoe as a private army. If hes worried, then so should we be. Armed militias aligned to a political party, or a faction within it, have no place in a constitutional democracy. Shades of Zimbabwe We have no need to look further than Zimbabwe to recognise the threats to democracy posed by armed militias. Formed in 2000, the National Youth Service was subsequently responsible for the military style training of some 80 000 youths. Many of them went on to join the ruling Zanu-PFs affiliated militias the Green Bomberswhich wreaked havoc upon supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change in the 2008 general election. Subsequently, many were to be incorporated into security structures such as the military, police and prison service. They remain a major reservoir of violent support for Zanu-PF, which doesnt hesitate to use to intimidate and liquidate its opponents. As we know, Zimbabwean elections have now become a farce. Following the ousting of Pravin Gordhan as South Africas finance minister in the recent cabinet reshuffle , and the downgrade by ratings agencies, fears that South Africa under Zuma has embarked down a road which leads to Zimbabwe-style authoritarian kleptocracy have gained considerable ground. For the moment at least, such fears are probably exaggerated. Although Zuma may be dominant within ANC structures for now, and although he will probably survive the forthcoming vote of no-confidence in the House of Assembly, his reshuffle has alienated many within the party. It has threatened his ability to secure the party presidency for his former wife, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, at the partys elective conference in December. Furthermore, the recent marches may have given backbone to some ANC MPs who fear the electoral consequences of the party continuing to cling to Zumas coattails. Yet the more desperate Zuma and his supporters become, the more the risk that they will turn to the MK Vets to help them. If, in turn, the Zuma faction was to prove triumphant in the leadership battle, its unlikely to hesitate to deploy MK vets (alongside its Youth League) against opponents during the lead up to the 2019 election. Although the DA would go running to the courts, the militant Economic Freedom Fighters would be likely to respond to violence in kind, rendering the 2019 election campaign the most violent we will have seen since 1994. We are not there yet, and hopefully we never will be. But, an economy which is about to hit the skids and which offers a massive pool of unemployed youths available for political recruitment, is highly combustible. In such a context, were MKMVA to receive the covert (or not-so-covert) backing of the ANC, the prospect of a Zimbabwean scenario would loom ever larger. If the white right wing was to reconstitute and parade in public in military uniforms, the ANC and all democrats would be rightly outraged. Equally, there should be no place in our democracy for MKMVA to play the role of soldier: that should be left to the South African National Defence Force. Roger Southall, Professor of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company offers investment servicing products and services, including custody; product accounting; daily pricing and administration; master trust and master custody; depotbank services; record-keeping; cash management; foreign exchange, brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loans and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors. It also engages in the provision of portfolio management and risk analytics, as well as trading and post-trade settlement services with integrated compliance and managed data. In addition, the company offers investment management strategies and products, such as core and enhanced indexing, multi-asset strategies, active quantitative and fundamental active capabilities, and alternative investment strategies. Further, it provides services and solutions, including environmental, social, and governance investing; defined benefit and defined contribution; and global fiduciary solutions, as well as exchange-traded fund under the SPDR ETF brand. The company provides its products and services to mutual funds, collective investment funds and other investment pools, corporate and public retirement plans, insurance companies, foundations, endowments, and investment managers. State Street Corporation was founded in 1792 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. The state commission reviewing the proposed route of the contentious Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska has set a hearing to get public input. The Nebraska Public Service Commission, an elected five-person board, has set the meeting from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 3 at the Holthus Convention Center in York. The commission is tasked with reviewing and approving the Nebraska portion of the route TransCanada has proposed for its $8 billion pipeline project. Public comment will be taken on a first-come, first-serve basis with each person getting 3-5 minutes to speak. The input will be made part of the public record. The commission will meet Aug. 7-11 in Lincoln to hear arguments and evidence on the state pipeline application. Spokeswoman Deb Collins said in a news release on Tuesday that no decision has been made on whether there would be additional public meetings. The underground pipeline would move oil from Alberta, Canada, across Montana and South Dakota to Steele City at Nebraska's southern border, where it would connect with existing pipelines that feed Texas Gulf Coast refineries. The project is facing opposition from environmental groups, some landowners and native tribes. Supporters say it's an infrastructure project that will buoy the economic strength and energy security of the United States. AstraZeneca PLC, a biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercialization of prescription medicines. Its marketed products include Calquence, Enhertu, Faslodex, Imfinzi, Iressa, Koselugo, Lumoxiti, Lynparza, Orpathys, Tagrisso, and Zoladex for oncology; Brilinta/Brilique, Bydureon/Byetta, BCise, Byetta, Crestor, Evrenzo, Farxiga/Forxiga, Komboglyze/Kombiglyze XR, Lokelma, Onglyza, Qtern, and Xigduo/Xigduo XR for cardiovascular, renal, and metabolism diseases; Bevespi Aerosphere, Breztri Aerosphere, Daliresp/Daxas, Duaklir Genuair, Fasenra, Pulmicort, Saphnelo, Symbicort, and Tudorza/Eklira/Bretaris for respiratory and immunology; and Andexxa/Ondexxya, Kanuma, Soliris, Strensiq, and Ultomiris for rare diseases. The company's marketed products also comprise Synagis for respiratory syncytial virus; Fluenz Tetra/FluMist Quadrivalent for Influenza; Seroquel IR/Seroquel XR for schizophrenia bipolar disease; Nexium, and Losec/Prilosec for gastroenterology; and Vaxzevria and Evusheld for covid-19. The company serves primary care and specialty care physicians through distributors and local representative offices in the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa, and Australasia. It has a collaboration agreement with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to research, develop, and commercialize small molecule medicines for obesity; Neurimmune AG to develop and commercialize NI006; Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to develop eplontersen, a liver-targeted antisense therapy in Phase III development for the treatment of transthyretin amyloidosis; Proteros Biostructures GmbH to jointly discover novel small molecules for the treatment of hematological cancers; Sierra Oncology, Inc. to develop and commercialize AZD5153. The company was formerly known as Zeneca Group PLC and changed its name to AstraZeneca PLC in April 1999. AstraZeneca PLC was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Cambridge, the United Kingdom. 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. GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare. The company offers pharmaceutical products comprising medicines in the therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, HIV, immuno-inflammation, oncology, anti-viral, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterial, and dermatology. It also provides consumer healthcare products in wellness, oral health, nutrition, and skin health categories. The company offers its consumer healthcare products in the form of nasal sprays, tablets, syrups, lozenges, gum and trans-dermal patches, caplets, infant syrup drops, liquid filled suspension, wipes, gels, effervescents, toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, denture adhesives and cleansers, topical creams and non-medicated patches, lip balm, gummies, and soft chews. It has collaboration agreements with 23andMe; Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.; Novartis; Sanofi SA; Surface Oncology; Progentec Diagnostics, Inc.; Alector, Inc.; and CureVac AG., as well as strategic partnership with IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. The company was formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline plc and changed its name to GSK plc in May 2022. GSK plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Brentford, the United Kingdom. SCHUYLER A man with a history of drunken driving has been charged with manslaughter and drunken driving in the crash death of a 15-year-old girl in Schuyler. Angel Lopez, 23, is accused of driving drunk during a brief police chase June 15 and then ramming into a tree in Schuyler, fatally injuring Isabella Brandt. Online jail records say Lopez remained in custody Tuesday, pending $500,000 bail. His next court appearance is set for April 25. Court records said Lopez was convicted of driving under the influence three months ago in Platte County and convicted of reckless driving in 2014. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page $1.5 billion estimate to complete Summer 18 April 2017 Share Westinghouse Electric Company has informed South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCE&G) that it estimates the additional cost of completing the two VC Summer AP1000 reactors to be about $1.5 billion. The construction site of Summer units 2 and 3, photographed in January 2017 (Image: SCE&G) SCE&G parent Scana Corporation told the Public Service Commission (PSC) of South Carolina at an ex parte briefing held on 12 April that Westinghouse had publicly stated the additional costs associated with completing AP1000 projects at Summer and Vogtle, above what it could contractually require the project owners to pay, is about $4 billion. The amount is largely associated with the fixed and firm price option negotiated for the project to build the two AP1000 reactors. Jimmy Addison, Scana chief financial officer, said Westinghouse had "recently informed" SCE&G that Summer's share of that $4 billion is about $1.5 billion. SCE&G's share, as 55% owner of the plant, would be about $825 million. Those amounts have yet to be validated, he said. SCE&G had requested the ex parte hearing to inform the PSC of progress at the construction project in Fairfield County, and also to brief the commission on the "status" of Westinghouse, the project's contractor. Westinghouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on 29 March. Scana and SCE&G chairman and CEO Kevin Marsh told the PSC that Westinghouse's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing was a reorganisation filing aiming to isolate Westinghouse's nuclear construction business from its nuclear fuel, components, and services businesses which it intended to continue. He said Scana anticipated any plan to complete the units would include Westinghouse in some capacity, but not in a "leader role" as construction manager. He said the company was in discussions with Fluor - the project's construction manager - and "other potential resources" that could be part of a restructured project to complete the units. Under an interim agreement reached alongside Westinghouse's bankruptcy filing, SCE&G, together with partner Santee Cooper, are funding continued work on the units during a 30-day period while it evaluates its options. "We may request an extension, if needed, which Westinghouse may agree to grant, or not," Marsh said. The options being considered are: continuing with the construction of both units; focusing on the construction of one unit, and delaying the construction of the other; continuing with the construction of one and abandoning the other; and abandoning both units. Marsh said "all other things being equal", the company's preferred option would be to complete the units. However, all the options were being given "full and equal consideration on their merits", and no option was being prejudged, he said. Marsh said Westinghouse had provided access to information concerning the estimated cost to complete the units and its commercial arrangements with Fluor, other contractors, and vendors. The interim agreement had also given Scana direct access to Fluor and other contractors and vendors to discuss commercial and other issues with them. SCE&G in 2016 chose a fixed price option for the completion of the Summer units under a 2015 amendment to the plant's engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract. Addison told the commission that bankruptcy gives Westinghouse the ability to reject or walk away from its fixed price obligations. Should Westinghouse do that, he said, SCE&G and Summer co-owner Santee Cooper would have the right to claim damages from the value of Westinghouse's business and assets. In addition, Westinghouse parent company Toshiba has given SCE&G and Santee Cooper a parental guarantee for Westinghouse's payment obligations under the EPC contract, he said. "In general, the damages we can collect from Westinghouse and, therefore, Toshiba, are capped at 25% of the payments we have made to Westinghouse at the time it breaches the EPC contract. Given the payments made to date, if the breach occurred today, we would expect the amount of the cap to be approximately $1.7 billion for the total project, or approximately $940 million for SCE&G's 55% share," Addison said. SCE&G chief operating officer Stephen Byrne said the company was now in the process of determining the feasibility of completing the units, including validating Westinghouse's estimates of additional costs needed to do that. It must also evaluate the costs and activities that would be required to cancel the project, he said. Since the bankruptcy, Westinghouse had been "generally cooperative and responsive" to SCE&G's requests for information, he said. "We believe that it is in Westinghouse's corporate interests for this project to proceed to a successful conclusion and for Westinghouse to be perceived as fully cooperative in the transition. For that reason, we expect this cooperation to continue as long as these interests are in play," he said. "However, 30 days is an extremely short period of time to conduct our evaluations. An extension of the assessment and evaluation period may be in the project's best interest, and we would hope that it would be possible to obtain such an extension if needed." Byrne said that under the amended EPC contract, SCE&G has required Westinghouse to escrow intellectual property in the form of software and design information necessary to build and operate the units. "Westinghouse has reported that substantially all of the required intellectual property has now been escrowed," he said. Byrne also used the ex parte briefing to update the PSC on current activities at the construction site. He said that about 90% of major components - and 85% of all components - were now on site. According to figures supplied by the contractor, the overall project was 63.4% complete as of February 2017. As well as the Summer units, Westinghouse is building two AP1000s at Vogtle for Southern Company's Georgia Power. Four AP1000 units under construction in China - two each at Sanmen and Haiyang - are not expected to be affected by the bankruptcy filing which only applies to Westinghouse's US operations. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Fusion energy and the UK's industrial strategy 18 April 2017 Share Tokamak Energy has highlighted the contribution fusion energy can make to the UK's new industrial strategy and how government policy can support its rapid development and large-scale commercial deployment. In an 'open letter' sent to World Nuclear News, Tokamak Energy's chief executive, David Kingham, outlined his response to the government's Building our Industrial Strategy: Green Paper that sets out how it proposes to build a modern, research and development-led economy for a 'global Britain'. Tokamak Energy is an Oxfordshire, England-based private company accelerating the development of fusion energy by combining two emerging technologies - spherical tokamaks and high-temperature superconductors. "At Tokamak Energy, we treat this pursuit of fusion energy as an engineering challenge and a business opportunity. Our business model is based on agility and 'open innovation' - working collaboratively with universities, research laboratories and other businesses whilst ensuring that we retain the ownership of crucial intellectual property," Kingham said. "This is made possible by our place within a cluster of fusion expertise based around the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy. We have learnt from pioneering research at Culham, using compact spherical tokamaks and have now progressed our research to the stage where we are aiming to generate sustainable fusion energy for commercial deployment by 2030. We are now working closely with colleagues at Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, despite government policy not yet fully recognising the contribution that fusion energy research in the private sector can make in developing a commercially viable source of abundant clean energy." Such "clusters" of like-minded businesses and research institutes should be a key component of the UK's future industrial strategy, Kingham said, "as they can create positive benefits, especially in the burgeoning fusion industry". Tokamak Energy has welcomed the comment of Greg Clark, secretary of state for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), that the industrial strategy must be about creating the right conditions for new and growing enterprises to thrive, not protecting the position of incumbents, Kingham said. Through the sharing of facilities, business clusters can attract and develop appropriate skills and build up the critical mass of capabilities necessary to solve big challenges, he added. The Culham fusion cluster provides an excellent example of how to do this, he said, helping to grow a new industry and create positive benefits for the UK's economy post-Brexit. "I believe that such a model should be taken and used across many different industries to achieve success and growth in the high-tech industries, where the UK government envisages our future industrial success lies. "Yet this is quite difficult for the government to achieve as it does require an early commitment to promising new areas. To overcome this difficulty, the government should favour sectors, such as fusion, that are strongly supported by publicly funded science and then add extra support to those ventures that are able attract private investment," Kingham said. This is being done "to some degree", he said, with the funding of the first wave of challenges from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. "This is a welcome move, but there is a need to ensure that the ISCF does not focus on backing only technologies that are already well advanced in their development." The ISCF was announced by Prime Minister Theresa May at the 2016 CBI Annual Conference. Innovate UK and Research Councils are now gathering input from industry and the UK research base on how this cross-disciplinary fund can best support UK industries and the country's science base. Kingham said another effective policy intervention to support the UK's most ground-breaking and innovative clusters would be to allocate additional funding to existing funds that effectively support the priorities of the proposed industrial strategy. For example, the government could build on the success of the Rainbow Seed Fund - an early-stage venture capital fund focused on promising technologies developed at the UK's publicly-funded research establishments, he said. The Rainbow Seed Fund is backed by BEIS and the fund's partners are eight publicly funded research bodies, including the Science and Technology Facilities Council, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Natural Environment Research Council and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. The fund is independently managed by venture capital company Midven. The government should also consider enhancements to R&D tax credits for companies with up to 500 employees and should "do away with the arbitrary limits" on the Enterprise Investment Scheme for R&D intensive businesses, Kingham said. For example, R&D intensive businesses are currently allowed to raise only 5.0 million ($6.3 million) per year under the Enterprise Investment Scheme and the "lifetime" total they can receive is limited to 20 million. This unnecessarily limits the growth of some of the UK's most promising companies, he added. "With government support via these policies, innovative companies and sectors that are still working in the experimental development stage can encourage private investment and improve their ability to raise the capital needed for growth," he said. "With such growth, clusters of expertise can form across the country, forming the foundations of the UK's future R&D-led economy." Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics ASN sets conditions for Creusot Forge restart 18 April 2017 Share France's nuclear regulator, the Autorite de Surete Nucleaire (ASN), has defined the preconditions for the resumption of forging operations at Areva's Le Creusot forge. The facility has been out of operation since December 2015 following the discovery of quality assurance issues. ASN announced in April 2015 the discovery of an anomaly in the composition of the steel in certain zones of the vessel closure head and the vessel bottom head of the Flamanville EPR reactor. The detection of this anomaly led ASN to ask Areva NP and EDF to "learn all possible lessons from this event". In May 2016, the French nuclear safety regulator said an ongoing quality audit at Areva's Le Creusot forge - which Areva bought in 2006 - had identified "irregularities" in paperwork on some 400 plant components produced there since 1965. The issues "comprise inconsistencies, modifications or omissions in the production files, concerning manufacturing parameters and test results", it said. There are three processes currently under way, ASN said. Firstly, the search for technical anomalies on other EDF reactor components similar to those detected on the Flamanville EPR vessel, which has enabled EDF to identify similar anomalies on the channel heads of certain steam generators. Secondly, manufacturing quality reviews on parts at Areva NP manufacturing plants, which enabled Areva NP to detect irregularities in the manufacturing files from Creusot Forge. Thirdly, initiation of a review of basic nuclear installation licensee monitoring of their contractors and subcontractors, of ASN oversight and of alert mechanisms. Areva submitted an action plan to ASN on 1 August 2016 aimed at guaranteeing the quality of future production at the Le Creusot facility. The company has informed ASN of its intention to resume forging operations there. ASN has conducted several inspections of the forging facility, including a multinational inspection carried out in accordance with the inspection protocol of the Multinational Design Evaluation Program (MDEP). The aim of this inspection - carried out from 28 November to 2 December 2016 - was to examine the review method for the component files already assessed and those currently undergoing assessment. It examined the organisational and technical changes, as well as the changes in terms of quality and nuclear safety culture implemented within the Creusot Forge plant. In a 31 January letter to Areva, ASN said the inspectors noted Areva's action plan is "in the process of being implemented". The inspectors considered a certain number of subjects needed to be adapted and supplemented, such as management of change, human resources, exhaustiveness of root cause analyses, detection of irregular practices, reviews of manufactured component files, management of current manufacturing processes, internal monitoring by Creusot Forge and the quality and nuclear safety culture. ASN has now written to both Areva and EDF informing them of the preconditions required for resumption of forging of components for use in French nuclear power plants. "Prior to the restart of manufacturing, ASN will check that the action plan is complete and that the actions already taken have proved to be effective," ASN said. "Subsequently, ASN will maintain increased oversight and monitoring of Areva's Creusot Forge plant." Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics The Wildlife Of Vietnam Vietnam, located in Southeast Asia, is rich in biodiversity, including endemic plant and animal species. Its coastal waters contain around 2,000 marine fish species and its freshwater rivers are home to approximately 700 freshwater fish species. On land and in the air, Vietnam is home to 889 bird species, 310 mammal species, 296 reptile species, and 162 amphibian species. Providing shelter, food, and clean air are an estimated 11,400 vascular plant species. This country has such remote habitats that some of these plant and animal species were only discovered as recently as the 1990s. The Threats To Vietnam's Wildlife Unfortunately, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has determined that approximately 10% of the biodiversity in this country is at risk of extinction. This number gives Vietnam a ranking of 16 out of 152 in terms of countries with the largest percentage of wildlife at danger. One of the biggest threats facing the wildlife here is habitat degradation. The biggest factors contributing to habitat loss in this country have been the Vietnam War and widespread deforestation. In addition, Vietnam has a significant problem with illegal poaching and illegal trade of wildlife with a demand both on a national and international level. These traded wildlife species are used for several purposes, including as medicine, pets, and food. Many of these illegally traded plants and animals are also considered endangered. The Need To Protect: Establishment Of National Parks In Vietnam In response to the pressing threat faced by Vietnams wildlife, the government has moved toward increasing the number of protected land throughout the country. This first began in 1986, when the Cat Ba National Park was established, protecting an area of 102 square miles in the Red River Delta. Since then, the government of Vietnam has established a total of 30 national parks. The most recent of these were founded in 2006: the Phuoc Binh and the U Minh Ha. The national parks protect several ecosystems, including: land, river basins, and coastal and marine areas. These parks can be found in the following regions: Mekong Delta (5 national parks), Red River Delta (4 national parks), Central Highlands (5 national parks), North Central Coastal area (5 national parks), South Central Coastal area (2 national parks), northeastern region (4 national parks), northwestern region (1national park), and southeastern region (4 national parks). The Current Role Played By Vietnam's National Parks The national parks of Vietnam play an important role in the countrys wildlife conservation and sustainable tourism industry. These protected areas allow the government to focus its financial and law enforcement resources in specific areas to ensure effective protection efforts concerning natural resources. The government of Vietnam has increased its fight against the illegal logging industry, hunting and poaching, and harvesting endangered plants for medicinal purposes. Additionally, the government has increased reintroduction programs for endangered species by releasing and replanting certain species. Because many of these parks contain Ramsar designated wetlands and BirdLife International bird areas, the majority of these reintroduction efforts have been successful. Due to these reintroduction efforts, wildlife populations have been strengthened in many forest habitats, mangrove forest areas have increased in size, bird sightings occur more frequently, fish and marine life numbers have increased, and the Siamese crocodile population has returned to previous numbers. The US and UK governments are stopping passengers from putting electronic devices that are bigger than a smartphone or cell phone in their cabin luggage on flights from certain destinations. The new ban applies to electronics which are larger than 3.7 inches wide, 6.3 inches long and 0.6 inches deep. Such devices include e-readers, tablets, laptops, portable DVD players, cameras, travel printers, Kindles and electronic game units that are larger than a smartphone. The ban represents some of the most strict travel restraints to be implemented since 9/11. Which Countries Are Affected by the Travel Ban on Electronics? Reasons Behind the Ban Citing unspecified threats, the US government officials who had been considering the ban for several weeks before revealing that the decision was made following "evaluated intelligence" concerning ongoing potential threats to airlines bound for the US. The US government is worried that terror groups have implemented new ways of developing bombs that are hard to detect and hiding them inside electronic devices. There are also concerns about explosive devices that are made from materials that are not metallic because most airports in the world lack high-tech screening machines that have the ability to detect such bombs. It is believed that the insurgent groups like the al-Shabaab smuggled an explosive device built in a laptop on a plane out of Mogadishu, Somalia which blew a hole inside of the plane sometime in 2016. Who is Affected? The UK ban affects six countries whereas the US ban affects 10 airports in eight countries across the Middle East and North Africa. Specifically, the new ban affects passengers on flights from Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Turkey, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Tunisia. In the UK a total of 14 airlines are affected including British Airways, Monarch, Jet 2, Thompson, EasyJet, and Thompson Cook. Other affected carriers include Egyptair, Royal Jordanian, Saudia Airlines, Pegasus Airways, Turkish Airlines, Middle East Airlines, Tunis Air and Atlas Global Airlines. Airports affected by the US ban on large electronics include Dubai International in the UAE, King Khalid International in Riyadh Saudi Arabia, Hamid International in Doha, Qatar, Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, Abu Dhabi International in the UAE, Mohammed V International in Casablanca Morocco, King Abdulaziz International airport in Saudi Arabia, Cairo International Airport in Egypt, Kuwait International Airport, and Queen Alia International in Amman, Jordan. Implications Critics of the newly implemented ban argue that it will decrease passenger comfort which will ultimately reduce the number of passenger flying with the affected airlines. Most people who work on their laptops while on the flight will not be able to have that opportunity which is a significant disadvantage. Many activists and journalism worry that they would have to part ways with not only their personal but most likely sensitive data stored on their devices thus putting such information into unknown hands. Issues such as theft of such devices remain a concern to many passengers. Many of the affected airports are among the world's busiest. Limitations to the ban The ban aims to maintain security measures without making it impossible to fly, but there are a few limitations. One of the issues raised was what makes it safer for the devices to be stored in the cargo area of the plane while a perpetrator can use a phone to detonate the device. Passengers can also take connecting flights from other unaffected areas before boarding a plane bound for either the US or the UK thus complicating the logistics behind the ban. Michael Hohl and Amber Maxwell By: Mason White WorldWideWeirdNews.com (Scroll down for video) A bride and groom who were heading from Texas to Costa Rica, for their wedding, were kicked off their flight because they sat down in empty seats that were not assigned to them. Michael Hohl and his fiancee Amber Maxwell, both of Salt Lake City, Utah, were scheduled to fly on United Airlines Flight 1737, from Houston to Liberia. When they walked over to their assigned seats, they noticed a man sleeping there. The couple then found unoccupied seats and decided to sit there because they did not want to wake the sleeping man. After a few minutes, a flight attendant asked them to return to their assigned seats as the ones they were occupying, were not the same price as they lower class ticket the couple paid for. Hohl and his fiancee complied and went to sit in their assigned seats. Suddenly, a U.S. Marshall boarded the plane and ordered the couple to leave. The soon to be married couple was shocked, but complied with the order. Hohl vowed never to fly United, and slammed the poor customer service of the airline. He and his fiancee caught another flight to Costa Rica, just in time to celebrate their wedding. According to Hohl, a spokesperson for United Airlines claimed that the couple was repeatedly told to go back to their assigned seats, and only after repeated requests, did the police remove the couple from the aircraft. aSince they wouldnt follow crew instructions, the two were being disorderly and a hazard to the rest of the flight and to the safety of the other customers, according to Hohl. Hohl called the situation aquite strange.a Dear Doctor: My daughter's school recently sent home a flier about potential exposure to hand-foot-and-mouth disease. How worried should I be? Dear Reader: Hand-foot-and-mouth disease (HFMD) is very common. It occurs most often in infants and children younger than 7 years of age and is caused by one of 16 types of enterovirus. Outbreaks are more likely in the late summer and early fall, when children are starting a new year of school or preschool. Because the viruses that lead to HFMD are largely intestinal, they're usually passed via stool. Small amounts of the virus then make it onto the hands of the child or someone changing the child's diaper. The virus passes from one individual to another when it ends up on food, the fingers or the pacifier of another child, ending up in the mouth. The fecal-oral transmission is the most common way the virus infects others, but it can also be passed through oral secretions, through coughing, and through the fluid from the blisters seen in hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Regardless, the virus makes its way down to the lower intestine, spreading to the lymph nodes and from there to the rest of the body. The typical time that it takes for the enterovirus to be ingested and for the first symptoms to appear is three to five days. Symptoms of the disease begin with mouth or throat pain or the refusal to eat. The most striking symptom of hand-foot-and-mouth disease is the blisterlike rash that occurs both within the mouth and on the hands and feet; such blisters can also appear on the legs, arms and buttocks. The lesions are normally not painful and resolve in three or four days. Some species of enterovirus also cause fever, nausea and vomiting. Rarely, enteroviruses can lead to dehydration, viral meningitis or heart inflammation. I can understand the worry that your school -- and you -- have regarding this infection. As I noted, the incubation period is typically three to five days, but one study of an outbreak at a day care showed that children were infectious up to seven days. And, not to make you overly worried, but some enteroviruses can be passed in the stool up to 10 weeks after infection. I would ask school officials at which date the infected child began having symptoms of HFMD. If it was more than five days ago, I would be less concerned about your child now developing the disease. However, because the virus can be shed long after disease, I would stress the importance of hand-washing. If your daughter does get hand-foot-and-mouth disease, the symptoms likely will not last long, and any discomfort can be treated with acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Watch for warning signs of potential complications, such as listlessness, severe headache or neck stiffness. Consult your pediatrician if your child has these symptoms. Also, if your daughter does become infected, make sure to practice good hygiene at home, so the virus does not pass to you or other family members. The Pentagon announced the deployment of dozens of US troops to Somalia last week, the first deployment of regular infantry since 1994, to assist the Somali military in the fight against Al Shabaab militants. Coincident with the announcement of the US deployment, a combat contingent from Uganda arrived in Somalias capital city Mogadishu on the weekend. The Ugandan military contingent, which is one part of a multi-country cooperative offensive, replaces a group of Ugandan forces after that groups one-year tour of duty ended. The Ugandan troops are to augment the US-backed African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) against the Islamist militants. The Ugandan troops are culled from the Ugandan Peoples Defense Forces (UPDF), that countrys military, and are largely funded by Washington, which has funneled billions of dollars to regional governments in its imperialist effort to secure the installation of a puppet government in Mogadishu. Uganda, along with several East African countries including Ethiopia and Kenya, are key allies in Washingtons efforts. AMISOM, the multi-country military force operating in Somalia and administered by the African Union with the full backing of the United Nations, is made up of combat forces from Kenya, Burundi, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Djibouti, Nigeria, Zambia, and Sierra Leone. The bulk of its troops come from Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti and Sierra Leone. More than 22,000 combat forces are currently deployed to the war-torn Horn of Africa nation. Additionally, the US already has a contingent of Special Forces personnel operating within Somalia. The increased military offensive in Somalia is being carried out with the aim of supporting the government of Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and its Transitional Federal Government, and neutralizing Al Shabaab, the Somali Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist militia. The US eyes the Horn of Africa as a geopolitical prize due to its strategic importance fronting the waterway for the worlds oil traffic through the Gulf of Aden from the Red Sea in the Middle East. Al Shabaab, perceived by Washington as a roadblock for its imperialist objectives in dominating Somalia, has vowed to double its response to the increased US military offensive in a statement by the militant organizations news agency Shahada. On April 9, Somalias military chief General Mohamed Ahmed Jimale survived a car bomb attack, for which Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility. The attack came after the newly sworn-in military chiefs recent declaration he would launch a new offensive in cooperation with Washington targeting the militia. Fifteen people were killed in the attack, including several civilian passengers on a minibus in the vicinity. A day later, the militant group bombed a military academy in Mogadishu, killing five Somali soldiers. The increased US offensive follows a sordid and bloody history of Washingtons involvement in the severely impoverished nation, most notably the infamous 1993 US operation on Mogadishu to neutralize Islamist militants which resulted in a debacle for the Clinton administration and culminated in the shooting down of two US helicopters in Mogadishu. Eighteen US Special Forces personnel and hundreds of Somalis were killed in the 15-hour offensive. Since its rout in 1993, Washington has largely relied on drone and missile attacks on the country, resulting in scores of deaths of civilians, including women and children. The humiliating 1993 defeat came in the aftermath of the violent US-backed overthrow of the Mohammed Siad Barre government in 1991, which was aligned with the former Soviet Union. Consequently, Somalia fell into complete disarray, with no central government, and the country fractured into various tribal factions. Washington was irked by the formation of the Islamic Courts Union in 1999, set up in the chaotic aftermath of Siad Barres overthrow as a rival to the US-backed Transitional National Government. The Islamic Courts Union controlled much of Southern Somalia and Mogadishu until 2006, with its defeat following years of bloody conflict with tribal warlords and US-backed forces supporting the Transitional Federal Government which replaced the Transitional National Government. Al Shabaab grew out of this chaotic stew. The Transitional Federal Government formed in 2004 and based in Mogadishu is packed with US-backed technocrats and protected by a coterie of East African US-allied military forces. It has never had any popular support in the country. Since the fall of the Siad Barre government in 1991, the social conditions in the country have deteriorated dramatically, Somalia is today one of the most impoverished nations in the world. In a country which 70 percent of the population is aged 30 and under, youth unemployment is at 67 percent, according to UN figures. The poverty rate for the Somalian masses is at a shocking 73 percent, and life expectancy is 55 years. More than half the population does not have access to clean water sources, resulting in elevated levels of disease. Decades of war and conflict stoked by US imperialism have taken its toll on the Somalian masses, with thousands left maimed. Escalating military operations in Somalia also come amidst a devastating famine currently sweeping across Somalia and East Africa, which is expected to afflict tens of millions. The US-backed imperialist violence will only exacerbate the intolerable social crisis afflicted on the Somalian masses and the surrounding region. The US troop deployment to Somalia is part of Washingtons increasing turn to the use of its massive military power to solve the crisis of the capitalist system, not only in Africa, but across the globe. From the standpoint of the ruling class, they will be satisfied with nothing less than the complete subjugation of the African continents economies under the hegemonic control of US corporate and banking interests. With the election of a nationalist figure in Donald Trump to the White House, the US ruling class is turning to ever more aggressive and reckless means to hold onto the massive amounts of wealth it has accumulated at the expense of the worlds working class. Rivals to US domination across the globe such as China and Russia, and increasingly, France and Germany, constitute the ultimate targets in Washingtons drive for global domination of economic resources and markets in order to rid itself of the crisis of capitalism. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) -- Those living in Tallahassee's Frenchtown neighborhood have been pushing back against a proposed $50 million student housing project for weeks. After a series of meetings, neighbors tell us the developer, Landmark Properties, is willing to make some concessions. However, people in the community say the fight against this project isn't over. This entire block was originally supposed to be turned into a 900 bed, five story student housing community. The community was outraged when they heard about this project, because they feel it destroys so much of the historical significance of this neighborhood. "Much of the historical integrity has been lost over the past 40 years," said community activist Delaitre Hollinger. "So many homes and businesses have been torn down, so we want to hold on to what's left. What our request to the commission would be is to approve an overlay of the area that would preserve what's left." The developer has also reportedly agreed to scale back the height of the building only on the Macomb Street side, so it matches the height of the Renaissance Community Center. Neighbors say the developer has even agreed to put money toward building a historic display on the site. However, that still doesn't seem to be enough. "I'm worried there will be people living here but it won't keep the same sense of community. It won't be Frenchtown anymore," said Frenchtown resident Mercy Miranda. Although it's not set in stone yet, some community leaders are calling this project a "done deal," which has neighborhood activists looking to the future. "What I'm hoping is that we move forward in stopping this type of thing," said Mutaqee Akbar, a local Attorney & business owner. "Change the zoning, do an overlay of the Frenchtown area to say what we want it to look like. Whether that's retail or residential, whatever it is, if we do that overlay, then everybody would have to abide by that." WTXL reached out to Landmark Properties for comment but did not get a response. The city commission will vote on the details of the updated proposal at their April 26th meeting. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL)--A Tallahassee Community College political science professor discusses North Korea's failed missile launch. Edward Duggan sat down with us to explain the launch and what happens moving forward. MOUNT PLEASANT A 15-year-old Racine has been charged after he allegedly shot himself in the stomach last month. According to the criminal complaint: Desmond A. Lindsey, 15, of the 2200 block of Layard Avenue, has been charged with felony possession of a firearm by an adjudicated delinquent. He was waived into adult court. At about midnight on March 25, a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed in Mount Pleasant was pulled over in the area of the Walmart Neighborhood Market, 5625 Washington Ave. Police located a teen in the backseat of the vehicle with a gunshot wound. Police had originally been told that Lindsey had shown up at the drivers residence with the gunshot wound, but as witnesses were interviewed separately, different stories reportedly began to emerge. At about 1:32 a.m., one witness said that Lindsey reportedly shot himself while playing with a gun in a spare room. The witness stated that they didnt tell the truth at first because they were reportedly afraid of Lindsey and his family; knew Lindsey was a felon; shouldnt have a gun and could get into a lot of trouble. When police asked where the gun was, the witness stated it could still be in the apartment or the car. According to the criminal complaint, in a later story, the same witness said there was a fight going on and Lindsey reportedly went to a back room to get a gun. That was when he reportedly shot himself. According to his criminal complaint, Lindsey was previously convicted of felony substantial battery, party to the crime, in a case in Milwaukee County. John B. Reed, 53, right, was captured in Mexico where he allegedly fled after killing two people in Snohomish County. Tony Reed, left, pleaded guilty to helping his brother hide the bodies. (Snohomish County Sheriff Office) METHOW A truck driver who was killed in a double-fatality crash on Highway 153 near Methow on July 6 worked for the same company as the truc Submit An Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Go to form RACINE Its not unusual for Vera Scekic and Robert Osborne to give their teenage children articles to read before dinner. There will be an op-ed piece in The New York Times and Ill just tell them Before dinner I want you girls to read this and well talk a little about it, Vera Scekic said. Im not sure they appreciate it, but they will sometime in their lives. Self-described newspaper junkies, the family often talks about politics and current events in the house, and it seems like 16-year-old Sofia Osborne Scekic has been bitten by the political bug. A junior at Walden High School, Sofia said she has an interest in government, especially after the 2016 presidential election. She was recently named a Wisconsin State Senate Scholar, an award thats only given to 33 students in the state. Sofia and her mother say they learned about the program while reading different newspapers. It sounded interesting and I looked up more about it, Sofia said. I decided to apply because I (thought) it was something that would help me understand how the state legislature works. To apply for the program, Sofia had to submit a resume, two letters of recommendation, and answer about 30 questions on Wisconsin history and culture. She also received the endorsement of her state senator, Bob Wirch, D-Somers. The bulk of this got done over (winter) break, Vera Scekic said. The poor child instead of having time off she (was) wrestling with this application. A learning experience From March 27-31, Sofia was in Madison, where she was immersed in state politics, starting with breakfast in the capital building at 8 a.m. and often finishing around 6:30 or 7 p.m. I learned a lot about how the government works and all the different jobs people take in government, Sofia said. As the Wisconsin Joint Finance Committee debated the upcoming budget, Sofia and the other students in the program watched it happen in person. It was interesting to hear them discussing the budget, Sofia said. Just listening to them talk and debate about what some people thought more money should go towards and other people saying where they think money should go. Passing a bill As part of the program, Sofia and the other students participated in their own mock process of passing a bill that would lower the age allowed to give blood to 14. We had fake letters from constituents, Sofia said. We had to come up with our own reasons on why we should lower it or why we shouldnt. The mock bill passed, Sofia said, and the process had an impact on her. It was more difficult than I thought, Sofia said. Not everyone agreed with everything. Robert Osborne said Sofia saw how people with opposing viewpoints managed to get together to discuss issues and move forward. In todays environment that seems to be (happening) less and less, Robert said. Sofia said the students met with different state agencies, lobbyists, news media and people who work directly with Gov. Scott Walker. I was surprised as to how many people work for the state, Sofia said. We had a meeting with the legislative council and they introduced to us how bills were drafted. Making an impact Sen. Wirch said he spoke with Sofia briefly and was impressed with her interest in state government. You could see the twinkle in that she loved the exposure to state government and looked like she learned a lot, Wirch said. She got to see what goes on behind the scenes to prepare legislation and to look at budget items. Vera said it was good for Sofia to understand how local policy decisions impact them at home. The decisions that are made locally at the state level can impact you even more than the ones that get made at the federal level, Vera said. This is the tier of government that people dont pay enough attention to. Vera said other students in the Racine Unified School District with an interest in politics should seriously consider becoming a Wisconsin State Scholar. I hope more Unified students apply to this program, Vera said. I think this is a fantastic opportunity. Theres so many kids that could qualify for this program a lot of people dont know that this program exists. Brotzeit as the best restaurant-bought spaetzle I have tried by far. Recently, I found myself in the company of some of my Manila food blogger friends once again at Brotzeit, enjoying their spaetzle, and then some. On the previous blog post wherein I share an easy recipe for spaetzle made from scratch, I mentioned how I consider the cheese spaetzle atas the best restaurant-bought spaetzle I have tried by far. Recently, I found myself in the company of some of my Manila food blogger friends once again at, enjoying their spaetzle, and then some. Brotzeit has just launched their new lunch and kiddie menu offerings. Which I believe is a good reason to visit them even outside the happy hour. If you are one of those who is under thee impression that Brotzeit is only good for those who loves to drink beer and eat sausages (I know some people who do, it's shocking and sad), you gotta believe me that they are so much more than that. Brotzeit aside from being an awesome place for drinking spree is also a great place to go to to satisfy your hunger. Especially during lunch hours when their meal offerings of great German dishes were tagged with a price that wouldn't put a dent in your pocket. And yes, they got kiddie meal too so you can tag along that kiddie companion of yours. Awesome Brotzeit, as per usual. There are quite a handful of lunch offerings on the new menu and we tried few of them. First one was one of my favorite at Brotzeit, the spaetzle. This Baked Spaetzle (Php350) boast of plump cheese spaetzle pasta dumpling made all the more palatable by an addition of generous feta cheese and spinach. It's a German version of Mac and Cheese so it is impossible not to love this dish. Next we tried Jaeger Schnitzel (Php350) which at first bite stole my heart from the get go. Crisp and tender pork cutlet with generous mushroom sauce, just the mere thought of this dish makes me salivate as I write this. I have tried Brotzeit's Schnitzel before and I knew then that it was good but I don't know what they are up to these days because it feels like it has improved a lot. I cannot explain, I just want to eat it again and again and again. Truth be told, I was a bit deceived by the simplicity of Brathandl (Php265), a roast chicken dish served with green peas rice pilaf. Little did I know, it possess such intricate flavors that may made one think that it isn't just your ordinary roasted chicken. It has a depth in flavor. And while diners can opt for pommes instead of rice pilaf, I still highly recommend having it with rice. Reisfleisch (Php295) is a stewed pork tenderloin with roasted vegetables and rice. I love it not just because it's downright flavorful but because the generous serving portion fits a hefty eater like myself. Meaty patty with bacon and caramelized onions on a brezn bun, Brotzeit Burger (Php265) is one good burger dish not to miss when you are one of those who are crazy over burger. The serving size is a tad too small for my liking but that's just because I am a big eater. Nonetheless, the meaty flavor was spot-on and that buns, man it was good. Another one of my favorites was the Pork Belly Sandwich (Php265). The green apple salad thrown in the mix was a revelation for me. It's a sandwich packed with flavor with teasing interplay of texture brought about by the sourdough bread and everything in between. Geschnetzeltes (Php350) is pork cutlets with mushroom sauce served with spaetzle, rice with green peas, or mashed potato. I wasn't able to try this one but judging how fellow diners finished the dish in one go, it seems like a really good dish to try on my next visit. The All-Day Breakfast (Php320) comprised of garlic sausage, egg, bacon, roasted potatoes and Bavarian beans. Seriously, I do not possess the power to say no to an all-day breakfast goodies and this one is not an exemption. That garlic sausage was freaking amazing I tell yah. Pan Seared Chicken Breast (Php350) the menu says that the chicken breast was stuffed with bacon and onions and it is served with German flat noodles and mushroom sauce. I don't know what happen to me that I missed trying out this dish. But it sounds promising, I must say. Aside from the affordable lunch meals, the new lunch menu also features side dishes add-ons that go perfectly well with the main. Some of these side dishes include soup, onion rings, and salad. Prices ranges from Php80 to Php110. The lunch menu selections we tried were good and highly recommend it to those who wants something good and affordable for their lunch. But then, when at Brotzeit, it is highly recommended not to miss the platter. The Brotzeitplatte (Php2,500) is good for 4 to 5 hefty eaters as it comprised of one Schweinshaxn (Pork Knuckles), Pork or Chicken Schnitzel, Signature Sausages, and your choice of two side dishes. Of course, also not to be missed are German beers. Go for 1 liter because you deserve it, hey. Now if you, sadly cannot have beer because let's say you're just on lunch break and would still need to go back to your office, there are other good options. There's Eiskaffe (Php180) a Bavarian-style espresso based iced coffee topped with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and shaved almonds. Best. Iced. Coffee. Ever! Then, there is also the richest hot chocolate drink you can get your hands on, the Heisse Schokolade. Now about the kiddie menu. I don't have kids but I am guessing that parents who loves Brotzeit would be very happy that they can now tag along their kids at Brotzeit and not worry about the food choices for their kiddies. Each meal already comes with iced tea and a Kinder Joy treat. And because me and my food blogger friends are kids-at-heart, we also got to try some items on the Kinder Menu. First one was the Kinder Fladen (Php350) a flatbread topped with cheese and smoked ham. If your kids love pizza, this can be a good choice. There are also Pancakes (Php350) fluffy pancakes with cream cheese glaze and sprinkles and Chicken Nuggets (Php350) crispy fried chicken fillet served with pommes. One kiddie dish that we adults went crazy over for was the Corndog (Php350). Reminds us of the good old days. Now for the Month of May, Brotzeit Philippines has an exciting fun-filled activities for the kids called Brotzeit Junior Chef at Work. This activity will allow your kids to be a junior chef and personally make their very own delicious Brotzeit dishes. Workshop price is Php1,500 per kid. Brotzeit branches are located at Shangri-La Mall, Glorietta 4 Makati, and Shangri-La at The Fort. For more information about Brotzeit's new lunch and kiddie menu, you may check out their Facebook page (@brotzeitph). Two bodies were found in the Kinneret Monday on the sixth day of searches for three young men who went missing amid treacherous currents last week. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The two bodies were identified as Nachman Itach, 21, and Liron Karadi, 17. Searches are still ongoing for Itamar Ohana, 19. Bodies of two of the three missing young men (Photo: Efi Schrer) The bodies were discovered after a fishing vessel fitted with a sonar device from the Israeli Navy identified two human-like objects in the water. Divers discovered the remains at a depth of 20-30 meters roughly 600 meters from the coast. Photo: Avihu Shapira Given information about their disappearance last week, the two young men drifted roughly 300 meters from their origin before drowning. The bodies were transferred to a police post at Kibbutz Degania where commander of the northern district and Deputy Commissioner Alon Asur updated the families. Nachman Itach and Liron Karadi The three young men arrived independently of one another during Passover break for vacation. Severe weather swept the three young men, who were on sea-mattresses, into the heart of the Kinneret where they went missing. The same day the three went missing, police rescued some 80 people who had gone adrift. (Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg) TOKYO -- In a trip dominated by concerns about North Korea's nuclear intentions, Vice President Mike Pence assured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday that the United States is ready to work closely with its Asian allies in the region to achieve "a peaceable resolution and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." "We appreciate the challenging times in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocations from across the Sea of Japan," Pence said after arriving from Seoul for talks with Abe. "We are with you 100 percent," the visiting vice president said. President Donald Trump earlier warned that North Korean President Jong Un has "gotta behave." BEIRUT -- Syrian opposition activists say an airstrike has killed at least eight people in an eastern town that borders Iraq. The activists say the airstrike late Monday in Boukamal was most likely carried out by the U.S.-led coalition that has been targeting the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq. The New York Times added an editor's note acknowledging past murder and terrorism convictions of Marwan Barghouti on Monday, who recently wrote an Op-ed explaining the reason for his incarceration and why he had chosen to lead a hunger strike by more than 1,100 Palestinian security prisoners. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The paper's amendment comes amid heavy criticism for failing to acknowledge his past crimes in the original version. The initial text of the op-ed referred to Barghouti as a "Palestinian leader and parliamentarian," attracting fierce criticism for the crucial key omissions of Barghoutis past record by many who interpreted the decision as the paper's exercise in intentional deception. Yesh Atid chairman MK Yair Lapid wrote contemptuously of the article. Barghouti was involved in dozens of terror attacks that made people lose family (members), that maimed innocents, that ruined peoples lives. The New York Times forgot to tell its readers that, Lapid wrote. Marwan Barghouti (Photo: Reuters) "This article explained the writers prison sentence but neglected to provide sufficient context by stating the offenses of which he was convicted," the note read. "They were five counts of murder and membership in a terrorist organization. Mr. Barghouti declined to offer a defense at his trial and refused to recognize the Israeli courts jurisdiction and legitimacy." 1,187 Palestinian security prisonersout of a total of 6,200 currently held in Israeli prisons began a hunger strike Monday morning The Israel Prison Services (IPS) is making efforts to prevent incitement by moving prisoners who they consider to be leading the strike, among them Barghouti, to other prisons in an attempt to prevent them from becoming organized. Palestinians rioting in support of the hunger strike (Credit: Reuters) X The IPS is also checking if the Op-ed was transferred from Barghouti by letter to his lawyer or written by Barghoutis wife. They will then decide whether to take disciplinary measures against Barghouti. On Monday thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in support of the hunger strike. Even though concerns were raised by the defense establishment over possible clashes between protestors and security forces, no such incident occurred aside from one near Bethlehem where two protestors were injured after confronting the police. (Translated & edited by Lior Mor) 28 suspects were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of being involved in a harassment and extortion scheme against executives of large companies in an attempt to force them to advertise in the ultra-Orthodox newspaper Hapeles. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The newspaper is affiliated with Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach, whose Jerusalem faction leads demonstrations against Haredi conscription into the IDF. Protestors during arrests ( ) X Companies targeted by the scheme include Coca Cola, Shufersal, Materna, Tara, Strauss, Tnuva and Optica Halperin. In the last six months, police conducted an undercover investigation against the extensive operation that concluded last night with a wave of arrests throughout the country. Police also visited the headquarters of Hapeles in Jerusalem and confiscated computers and other multimedia devices. Overturned dumpsters in Mea Shearim Some 250 police officers participated in the arrest operation that took place in the early morning hours of Tuesday. Suspects were detained in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Modi'in Illit, Ashdod, Rekhasim and Hadera. Several of the suspects are expected to be arraigned later Tuesday in the Rishon LeZion Magistrate's Court. During the arrests, police were attacked in several locations by crowds of residents who threw objects and shouted abuse at officers. In the Mea Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem, protestors blocked roads with dumpsters. The investigation began after police received dozens of complaints from company executives who alleged that they were receiving constant harassment by phone, email and fax. According to police, suspects presented themselves as those representing a large section of the public that "felt deprived" that the companies were not advertising in a newspaper that represents them, such as Hapeles. At this point, suspects would begin a ceaseless campaign of calls, faxes and email to the same company executives and their families leading to severe disruption, not only in the company's normal activities, but also those of executives' families. In some cases, hundreds and thousands of calls, emails and faxes would be received every day, with the goal being to coerce the companies to advertise. Ultra-Orthodox agitators protesting arrests According to police, the operation was so extensive that suspects operated a special call line in which dozens of workers would clandestinely receive instructions and details related to the people they were supposed to harass. Shufersal CEO Itzhak Aberkohen said, "It was the same group of people who would harass every day for weeks from the early hours of the morning until the late hours of the night. It got to the point where we had to turn off the phones or put them on silent. It interfered greatly with our personal and family relationships." According to another executive, "When I was answering and trying to have a conversation, some of the people were polite and some really threatened me. From the other side of the line were children and adults who cursed, screamed and screamed." Another executive said that apart from threatening the workers, they would also call their parents at unusual hours. "My mother told me that one morning they called her and said to her, 'Your son is taking a side and you will pay the price for it, the company will also pay a personal price,'" said the executive. (Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg) We used to be friends. For me, Marwan Barghouti represented the new generation of realistic Palestinians. Those days, in the 1990s, he genuinely supported the peace process. He meant what he said. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter He didnt say one thing to Israelis and the opposite thing to an Arab audience. When he spoke to Israelis, he issued warnings. When he spoke to Arabs and Palestinians, he praised peace. We were once in a Spanish city together, and the local Arab community wanted to hold a reception exclusively for Palestinians. Barghouti invited me to a meeting with the communitys representatives. Fatah officials Fares Qadura and Sufian Abu Zaida were there too. At a certain point, he spoke like a leader. Look at us, he said. Together, we have been in prison for more than 100 years. We paid a price and we have come here with Israelis to present a spirit of peace. We dont need you to throw us back into the conflict. He said what he had to say and walked out of the room. Marwan Barghouti. Would the New York Times publish a similar op-ed by a Taliban terrorist who murdered American civilians? (Photo: Gil Yohanan) That was Barghouti of the mid-1990s. Later, things changed. He complained to me that Israel was not upholding its part of the agreement, mainly the part about building more settlements. Nothing, however, justifies his deterioration to terrorism and acts of murder. Several days ago, the New York Times published an opinion piece written by Barghouti, in which he complained about the Israeli occupation and about the ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners. The op-ed and the stage he was given raise three problems: First of all, both Barghouti and the newspaper know that in 1999 Israel offered the Palestinians both a state and a divided Jerusalem. Nevertheless, they responded with terrorand Barghouti was one of the leaders of this response. Barghouti is not in prison because he fought against the occupation or for freedom and liberation. Barghouti turned to terror to fight Israels actual existence as the Jewish peoples national home. Second, Barghouti is deliberately lyingand so is this important and established paper, which is knowingly publishing a lie: I doubt there are any other terrorists in the world, in France or in the United States, with such amazing conditions as those received by the terrorists jailed in Israels prisons. The Guantanamo Bay detainees dont even dream of such conditions, and neither do terrorists jailed in Frances prisons. The third problem is the New York Times. This isnt the first time that the American newspaper has knowingly published blatant lies in the form of an opinion articles. In recent years, it has repeatedly published articles about Israels apartheid laws. When you click the link, you reach the list of laws published by the Adalah organization. There is not a single apartheid law there, but adding a link always creates a serious impression. We are in the fake news era, and the New York Times is taking part in it. To add insult to injury, the newspaper failed to mention that Barghouti is a terrorist who was convicted of a series of acts of murder by an Israeli civil court. Would the glorious newspaper publish a similar op-ed by a Taliban terrorist who murdered American civilians? Or perhaps an op-ed by a Guantanamo Bay detainee? I think we know the answer. Its possible that, one day, Barghouti will go back to being the man he used to be. I wish. Inshallah. That doesnt justify publishing a terrorists op-ed. That doesnt justify publishing lies to justify a hunger strike of murderers. That doesnt justify the leading newspapers double standards. This is not the way to advance peacethis is the way to support terror and lies. LONDON -- North Korea will continue to test missiles regularly and any military action against it by the United States would prompt "all out war", a senior North Korean official has told the BBC. "We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis," Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol said in an interview with the BBC released late on Monday. "If the U.S. is reckless enough to use military means it would mean from that very day, an all out war." With the hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners entering a second day, Ashraf al-Ajrami, former PA Minister of Prisoners Affairs, warned in an interview with Ynet that the strike could lead to violence on the ground. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "It can happen, because ultimately, we are talking about Fatah, which is the largest (movement) in the West Bank. When people identify with the prisoners it can cause more public sympathy which can lead to demonstrations and confrontations," said al-Ajrami. Photo: AFP Roughly 1,200 out of 6,500 Palestinian prisoners are taking part in the strike over the Israel Prison Service's (IPS) refusal to grant a series of demands made by the prisoners. Dozens of striking prisoners have been transferred between wings and prisons in order to maintain order. Barghouti himself was moved from Hadarim Detention Center to the Kishon Detention Center. Ashraf al-Ajrami (Photo: Yaron Berner) According to al-Ajrami, "This strike is intended to improve living conditions of security prisoners, whether it is regarding a family visit, medical treatment, getting access to public phones, access to university studies and getting food as requested by maintaining a kitchen so that they make cook themselves. There are a lot of things they want to improve on their own terms." Marwan Barghouti in court (Photo: Reuters) On the question of whether the strike is a political move for Barghouti, al-Ajrami said, "Barghouti isn't the only one in public opinion polls in Palestinian society. All the prisoner organizations agreed to a strike before elections in Fatah. It was agreed upon in August of last year and I don't think it is related to that." According to policy set down by Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, there will be no negotiations with prisoners. Furthermore, two years ago, a law allowing for force feeding of prisoners was approveda possibility the IPS is prepared for. Protests during Prisoners' Day (Photo: Reuters) However, according to al-Ajrami, the strike is liable to spell violence for Palestinian society. "When these demonstrations erupt into clashes with the IDF, I think that in the end Israel's security apparatuses will not be interested in getting into this situation. Now they will sit with the prisoners and negotiate and meet their demands. Photo: AFP "No one can rule out developments, even the most difficult ones on the ground," al-Ajrami continued. "It is the responsibility of the Israeli authorities to negotiate now with the prisoners and improve their conditions." Israeli officials from across the political spectrum are weighing in on the strike and Marwan Barghouti himself. Former Chief Commissioner of the IPS, Orit Adato, is of the opinion that Barghouti is attempting to use the strike as a political opportunity. "The background is all clear to us and this is a political aspect of Barghouti's attempt to return to the forefront of his movement," said Adato. Photo: Gil Yohanan Similarly, Yaron Blum, a former senior Shin Bet official, believes that Barghouti is attempting to acquire political capital for himself. "In recent days, he has been in conflict with Abbas and has called for the termination of intelligence cooperation and any other ties with Israel," Blum said. "He has built a reputation of being far more extreme than Abbas and he is continuing his efforts to acquire political capital that may, in his dreams, lead to his release." Even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined the fray, wryly mocking Barghouti's characterization in the New York Times as a "Palestinian leader and parliamentarian," saying, "It's like calling Assad a pediatrician (sic)." "These are murderers and terrorists and we will never lose our clarity because we are on the side of justice and morality. This moral clarity and the willingness to fight those who come to destroy us are our great strength," said Netanyahu. (Translated and edited by Fred Goldberg) BERLIN -- The UN's top human rights official says he's alarmed by what appears to be a "widespread pattern" of rallies in Burundi in which members of a pro-government youth militia sing about impregnating opponents. The UN human rights office on Tuesday cited reports of several similar incidents. The high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, said "the grotesque rape chants by the young men of the Imbonerakure across several provinces in various parts of Burundi are deeply alarming." Zeid welcomed the governing party's condemnation but said reports senior officials were present at other rallies are "very disturbing" and called for an acknowledgement that the rally caught on camera "was not an isolated incident." RACINE It wasn't the traffic study she requested, but 15th District Alderman Melissa Lemke got representatives from the Department of Public Works and Racine Police Department to turn their attention to a problematic intersection in her district Monday night. Lemke brought forth the idea of a study of the intersection of Erie Street and Lombard Avenue, and speeding on Erie in general, before the Traffic Commission on Monday after residents complained to her during a recent canvassing session. Resident Gregg Nelsen reported that two vehicles had crashed onto his property, 601 Lombard St., in the past five years. City Engineer John Rooney presented several recent studies conducted by DPW staff and police at various intersections near Erie and Lombard that did not show speeding as a major issue for the area. Most of the studies revealed that, on average, drivers follow the speed limit in the area and even speeds recorded above the posted limit were only a few mph above at most. However, Public Works Commissioner Mark Yehlen spoke to the validity of Nelsen's complaints. "I walk my dog by that intersection five or six times a week and there are tire tracks in their front yard," Yehlen said. Charles French, a member of the commission, didn't suggest a study, but asked the Police Department to look into the intersection's history. "What I would like to see is some police reports from the last two years," French said. "I would think there might have been some impaired driving." French added a new study wouldn't be justified because the recent analysis mentioned by Rooney took place within the last three to four years. Rooney said Erie and Lombard wouldn't meet the criteria for stoplights or four-way stop signs because other nearby intersections had not. "This will never meet the warrants for signalization," Rooney said. "It probably will never meet the warrants for a four-way stop if South Street didn't make the warrants for a four-way stop." Review and monitoring Rooney added that the city would examine the crash history around the intersection in the past two years in a "cursory review." Racine Police Lt. Dave Wohlgemuth added that police would monitor speed in the area. Lemke said the decision "seemed reasonable." "I think that's a great place to start and, depending on what the data shows from the crash history, we'll decide if we need to follow up from there," she said. ERBIL -- The fighting in the Islamic State-held Old City of Mosul, where hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are trapped, could turn into the worst humanitarian "catastrophe" in the war against the militants, the United Nations warned on Tuesday. "If there is a siege and hundreds of thousands of people donat have water and donat have food, they will be at enormous risk," UN humanitarian coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande told Reuters in a telephone interview. "We could be facing a humanitarian catastrophe, perhaps the worst in the entire conflict," she added. The 57-year-old murderer of British exchange student Hannah Bladon was described as violent and aggressive in an expert opinion provided by the Kfar Shaul Mental Health Center in Jerusalem. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Before Jamil Tamimi committed his deadly stabbing attack Friday on Jerusalems light rail, he had been hospitalized in Kfar Shaul. During that time, he engaged in violent behavior, a fact that was noted in the written opinion. Jamil Tamimi in court (Photo: Liran Levi) Despite this assessment, Tamimi was discharged from the hospital after a month without any restrictive terms. He was transferred into supportive housing in northern Israel. It was from there that he set out on Friday morning for Jerusalem to carry out the stabbing. He received permission for the trip from supportive housings administrator. Police are set to look into the conduct of the employees in the mental health institutions to ascertain why Tamimi was left at large without any supervision, despite his violent behavior. The institutions are overseen by the Ministry of Health. Tamimi has a criminal record, which involves a conviction in 2011 for sexually assaulting daughter in. He also has disturbing episodes in his psychiatric past that include attempted suicide by swallowing a razor blade. The Ministry of Health has yet to provide a comment on the matter. Following a psychological evaluation, Tamimi was found on Tuesday to be fit to stand trial. On Friday morning, the supportive housing residence in the north notified Tamimis family that he had left the premises, to which one of the family members responded that they wanted nothing to do with him. A senior Hamas official said threats by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cannot force the militant group to cede control in the Gaza Strip. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Khalil al-Hayya told reporters on Tuesday that Abbas' threat to take "unprecedented steps" to restore political unity to the Palestinian territory will not succeed. Al-Hayya said "Gaza can't be threatened or terrified and Hamas doesn't accept threats." The Islamic terrorist group seized Gaza from Abbas' Palestinian Authority in 2007, leaving the Palestinians divided between rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Repeated attempts at reconciliation have failed. Seeking to put pressure on Hamas, Abbas has slashed the salaries of thousands of former civil servants in Gaza and imposed a tax on fuel shipments to Hamas-ruled Gaza. Al-Hayya called on Abbas to reverse the measures. Two Palestinian youths, who threw a Molotov cocktail at a Border Police jeep in the area of the Tunnels Road in Jerusalem, were arrested. The bottle had not flared up. Following the incident, the soldiers located the two Palestinian suspects. In a search carried out by the soldiers, several additional Molotov cocktails were found in one of the suspects' backpack. CAIROAn attack on security forces near Egypt's Saint Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai has killed at least one, and injured four, state television reported on Tuesday. The attack comes just a week after two bombings on churches claimed by Islamic State killed 45 people. One of my top priorities as Governor is to reduce the tax burden on all Nebraskans to grow our state. The Tax Foundation ranks Nebraska 14th highest for income tax collections per capita and USA Today rates us 5th highest for property taxes. We can, and must, do better. As I travel Nebraska, people share with me their personal stories about how taxes are hurting their families and businesses. Roxie and her husband run a small restaurant and family farm near Fremont. Last year they took out a second mortgage on their house to pay their property and income tax bill. For Roxie, tax reform is the difference between keeping the business and farm, or shuttering their operation. This is not an isolated situation. I hear these stories from Nebraskans in every corner of our state. Each story deepens my resolve to deliver better tax policy to Nebraskans. I have been working closely with Revenue Committee Chair Jim Smith and Agriculture Committee Chair Lydia Brasch to put together a tax reform package that will provide meaningful tax relief to families and small business owners now. Nebraskans in every county want to see a change in how property taxes are assessed, and families want to keep more of the money they earn. This is why this tax reform package reforms both ag land valuations and reduces income taxes. Property tax reform must be delivered for our farm and ranch families. Income taxes must be reduced to help our hardworking families, grow small business opportunities, and create new and good-paying jobs. To get either one of these goals accomplished, we are going to have to work together and do both. Last week, the Revenue Committee advanced a comprehensive tax reform package in LB461 that includes both the property and income tax reforms I announced at the beginning of this session. The package will go to the full Legislature very soon. Here are the top five things you should know about the tax plan: Property Tax Reform First: The plan changes the way ag land is valued for taxation purposes beginning in 2018, moving from a comparable market sales approach to valuing land based on its income potential. Functionally, this plan would have reduced ag land property valuations by $12 billion if it had been in place in 2017. This would have been an average reduction of 12 percent statewide. With flat levies, this would have reduced property tax on ag land by about $147 million in 2017. This plan also protects our K-12 schools with a projected investment of over $30 million each year in the state aid formula. Incremental Income Tax Relief: Starting in 2020, reduces the top income tax rate incrementally from 6.84 percent to 5.99 percent, but only if state revenues are expected to grow by 3.5 percent or more. Tax Credits for Low-Income Families: Starting in 2019, the plan provides tax credits for low-income families, increases the personal exemption credit, and expands the existing Earned Income Tax Credit. The plan contains approximately $7 million of new tax credits a year for low-income Nebraska families. Corporate Tax Relief to Create Jobs: The plan incrementally reduces the top corporate income tax rate from 7.81 percent to 5.99 percent to help make Nebraska more attractive to new companies or companies looking to expand. After an initial reduction to 7.59 percent, the plan makes continued incremental reductions only if state revenues are projected to grow by 4 percent or more starting in 2020. Tax Relief for All Nebraskans: Nebraskans of all income levels will see tax relief on their income under this plan. Middle and low-income Nebraskans will see the biggest percentage reduction in income taxes. This is responsible tax reform that delivers relief to the Nebraskans who need it most, and is sustainable even as we work to restrain our growth in spending. Tax reform will grow Nebraska unleashing long-term growth on Main Street and in agriculture by allowing working Nebraskans to keep more of the money they earn. You might wonder how we can pass tax reform at the same time we are working to balance the budget. None of the proposed reforms would adversely impact the budget, or require cuts to the upcoming two-year budget. This tax reform plan is designed to protect state budget needs and investments in education and public safety. I urge you to contact your senator immediately and encourage them to control the growth in government and support tax reform this year. Special interests in the State Capitol do not want to see any relief pass this year, because they want to see more government spending. Visit www.NebraskaLegislature.gov for information on how to contact your senator. If you have additional thoughts on tax reform that youd like to share with me, please contact my office at pete.ricketts@nebraska.gov or 402-471-2244. YORK Jacob C. Johnson, 26, of York, has pleaded not guilty in a case where he is accused of operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest. His arraignment was held in York County District Court. According to court documents, the case started on Feb. 16, when the York Police Department received a call from a woman who said her ex-boyfriend was at her place of employment. She said he was tearing the store apart and yelling at her. When a police officer arrived, he allegedly encountered Johnson in the parking lot of the business. According to the affidavit filed by the police officer, he came toward me in the parking lot, in an aggressive manner and screaming, Just tase me, over and over. As he continued to come toward me, I was able to push him back. I yelled for him to get on the ground, he did not. As he was getting closer to the witnesses (standing) outside, I attempted to get in front of him. He then ran back to his vehicle, got in and locked the doors. I ordered him to exit the vehicle, he refused. He then began to back out of the stall, narrowly missing the police cruiser and took off at a high rate of speed. Other officers and I began to follow him with our emergency lights initiated. He did not yield. The affidavit said that the York County Sheriffs Department was informed of the situation, as was the Polk County Sheriffs Department (because he was headed north). He was later located on Highway 81, traveling south back towards York, the officer said in his report. The York County Sheriffs Department attempted to stop him by the Polk/York county line, but he allegedly refused to stop for deputies for several miles. Eventually, according to court documents, he stopped at Benedict and was arrested. A jury trial has been set for later this year. If convicted, Johnson could be facing a possible maximum of two years in prison, as this is a Class 4 felony. GRAND ISLAND The Nebraska State Fair took a big step Friday to greatly improve its ability to provide security and internet connectivity for visitors and vendors during the fair, which this year is Aug. 25 to Sept. 4. At its April meeting, the State Fair board approved $265,000 in funding for Pierson Wireless to improve and expand the fairs internet connectivity, along with updating its wireless infrastructure with the latest generation of wireless technology. Joseph McDermott, State Fair executive director, said the funding will be spent during a three-year period, with the bulk of it in 2017. The money will go for an improved wireless network across the grounds using the latest technology, McDermott said. Included in that funding, he said, will be security cameras that will record video to a hard drive. The Nebraska State Patrol and the Nebraska State Fair are looking to increase the level of safety and security for our fairgoers, McDermott said. That is why we are spending that money. Over the course of the next three-plus years, Im sure that we will be adding cameras that the State Patrol and our own internal security staff can better monitor whos entering the grounds and the activities that are taking place on the grounds. He said the whole system is designed to make our fairgoers feel safer. As more and more people are connected with their smartphones and other devices, the fair board felt that increasing the ability of fairgoers and vendors to connect to the internet is vital to provide a better fair experience. The new system will better reach all areas of Fonner Park during the State Fair and make it easier to get access through the State Fair wi-fi system with a faster signal and wider coverage, especially as the fair expands to the east area of Fonner Park and adds more new attractions and events. We like to think that we are the most technologically advanced fair in the country, McDermott said. There are fiber optics laid in most areas of the grounds, but the older part of the grounds does not have fiber. What we are looking to do is to improve the wireless signal groundswide, which includes the older part, so as fairgoers are on the grounds, they can connect to the network, post to social media and that type of thing. He said they want everyone to have a better experience here at the fair. Of course, the technology is aimed at all fairgoers, but certainly the younger clientele dont go anywhere unless they are connected, he said. McDermott said this investment will allow the fair to do other things that improve the operations of the event as well. He said the improved wireless network and the security cameras inside facility buildings and out on the grounds will be installed prior to the 2017 fair. In other State Fair board developments, Kathleen Lodl, who represents the 4-H program on the board, provided an update about Raising Nebraska and what will be new for the 2017 State Fair and its year-round presence. Last year, the interactive display on all aspects of Nebraska agriculture that is located in the Nebraska Building had contact with 560,000 people. A total of 1,385 participants received 190 hours of instructional teaching during Raising Nebraskas 44 programs for schools, youth organizations and daycares. Lodl said that plans are being developed to increase the activities and attractions in the outdoor part of Raising Nebraska during the fair, along with expanding some of the exhibits located inside. Another goal is increasing the education component of Raising Nebraska during the fair by bringing nationally recognized speakers, such as personalities from the Food Network to give cooking demonstrations. Kim Pederson, volunteer and program coordinator for the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, also updated fair board members about the volunteer program during the fair. The chamber coordinates the volunteer program and Pederson said they have a goal of recruiting 800 volunteers for the fair this year. She told the board that she is updating the various volunteer job descriptions and working with area businesses on a program that will allow some of their employees to work as volunteers during the State Fair. Also, Pederson said the third annual Nebraska State Fair Volunteer Appreciation Kickoff will be held May 8 at the Pinnacle Bank Arena at Fonner Park. To learn more about the State Fair volunteer program or to volunteer, visit www.statefair.org/p/getinvolved/190 RACINE COUNTY As the state Legislature faces a number of key state budget decisions, Assembly Speaker Robin Vos and state Sen. Van Wanggaard spent Monday afternoon and evening staking their positions and getting feedback from residents. Vos, R-Rochester, and Wanggaard, R-Racine, held listening sessions on the budget in Burlington, Union Grove and Mount Pleasant as the state budget committee prepares for votes this spring. Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican-controlled Legislature have already differed on a number of issues, including University of Wisconsin System funding and roads. This is where the difficulty comes in, in prioritizing where we need to trim dollars or add dollars, said Wanggaard, R-Racine. Burlington At the Burlington session, held at Veterans Terrace, 589 Milwaukee Ave., comments from about 40 residents in attendance ranged from weighty issues such as voucher schools to the future of the state Department of Natural Resources magazine, which drew attention when Walker proposed to stop printing it. Resident Jerry Johnson said the cost savings from killing the magazine would be minimal compared to the benefits of promoting the state and educating readers. What (Walkers) done with the DNR is just sad and shameful, Johnson said. Vos said he does not want the state to subsidize the publications writers, but favors selling the magazines membership list so a private entity could pick up where the magazine left off. The DNR needs to prioritize environmental protection and not propagating their own philosophy through the DNR magazine, he said. Vos also said he favors a bill in the Legislature that would ease regulations on high-capacity wells, saying it would allow already-permitted wells on agricultural properties to be part of any sale of those properties, which he said is reasonable. Some residents, though, had concerns about the impact on groundwater and whether large farms are using too much of it. What it takes is a politician, a statesman, of courage and honor to recognize there is a problem ... and we have to start to come to grips with it, said resident Irene Bialas. Vos also expressed more support for school choice, adding the funding system could be improved, particularly related to dollars following children to the school they attend. Mount Pleasant Later Monday, the legislators led a discussion on similar topics at the Mount Pleasant Village Hall, 8811 Campus Drive. Mount Pleasant residents Dennis and Karen Martin wanted to learn more about how the state plans to fund the transportation system. They need to finish I-94 in Racine. But how do you do that when Scott Walker doesnt want to raise any gas taxes? Dennis Martin asked. The Martins favor toll booths on Interstate 94 near the Illinois border. There needs to be a creative way to fund it, Karen Martin said. Let the nonresidents help pay for our roads. Vos said economic development is at risk with the transportation woes. Especially when Haribo of America Inc., citing I-94, which has been widened up to Racine, as a reason why the company chose to build its first North American manufacturing facility in Pleasant Prairie. Transportation is in the governors blind spot, Vos said. Wanggaard said hes embarrassed and wants to know when I-94 through Racine County will be finished. I believe its important, Wanggaard said. This should have been started and should have been done by now. So we need to get a commitment on when its going to be done, not dig a hole somewhere else and start another project. Vos said the state needs to get away from politicizing projects and get back to using the Transportation Projects Commission to set priorities for project dollars. We have to be smarter how we build our roads, Vos said. Vos said if toll roads were used in Wisconsin, 20 percent to 25 percent of funds raised would be from nonresidents, and tolls would raise enough money to meet the transportation needs of the Interstate system in Wisconsin. It requires us to have some foresight and courage, Vos said. The proposed budget is going through the public hearing process throughout the state, with votes on the budget expected to begin in early May. This has been a long time in the making, but in our continuing pursuit to bring only the best of firearms, 2nd Amendment and defence related news to our readers, we are very excited to announce the next step in our evolution as a company. As of 2020, Minuteman Review is now the proud owner and operator of Your Defence News, a website with a long history of breaking huge news stories and investigative journalism. We hope you are equally as excited as us. This means that now the teams of Minuteman can combine with the firepower of Your Defence News to stay at the absolute forefront for our readers. Keep an eye. Big things are coming soon. We couldn't be more excited. In the meanwhile, here are some of our most popular posts and categories to keep you busy. Happy shootin' my friends! Buying Guides: Firearms Firearm Accessories Ammunition Gun Safes Scopes & Optics Hunting Air Rifles Best AR-15 Best AR 15 Scope Best Hunting Rifle Best Gun Safe Best AK 47 Best AR 10 Best Glock Triggers Best Glock Best Home Defense Shotgun VILLANOVA, Pa. Villanova University celebrates Earth Day all week with a series of events from Tuesday, April 18 through Sunday, April 23. Festivities will include a sustainability fair and farmers market, Kilometers for Climate 5K run/3K walk, Day of Action with federal and state legislators and a keynote lecture from Dominic Frongillo, who was a delegate to UN climate talks on how young people around the world are leading social change through public service, social-responsible enterprises, and community action. The celebration will also include the March for Science on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22 in Philadelphia and the Earth Day of Service on Sunday, April 23, where faculty, staff and students will travel to Sweet Fields in Norristown to plant trees and shrubs. Our Earth Day celebrations wouldnt happen without the tremendous support of the University community, who dedicate so much time and effort to make this possible, said Liesel Schwarz, Villanovas Sustainability Manager. We are very excited about the additions to this years schedule and expect a great turnout from Villanovans to support our environment. A full listing of events can be found here. Following the Earth Day commemorations, students and other members of the Villanova community will also be participating in the Peoples Climate Movement in Washington D.C. on Saturday, April 29. In 2007, Villanova University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Further advancing the Universitys pledge to sustainability, he established the Presidents Environmental Sustainability Committee on Villanovas campus. This committeecomprised of faculty, staff, and students from across the Universityis charged with taking action on all aspects of campus sustainability and in implementing the Presidents Climate Commitment on behalf of the University. In October 2016, College of Engineering Dean Gary Gabriele signed The White Houses Educators Commitment on Resilient Design pledge to train and educate future leaders about the impacts and preparations needed to address extreme weather events and climate change. Villanova has expanded its sustainability efforts, including the launch of new masters degree programs in Environmental Science and Sustainable Engineeringadding academic programs with an emphasis on the environment and sustainability. In addition, the University has five LEED certified buildings on campus and has committed to LEED certification for all new construction and major renovation projects. In April 2014, Father Donohue signed the St. Francis Pledge, committing the University to protect God's Creation and advocate on behalf of people in poverty who face the hardest impacts of global climate change. Villanova continues to be recognized as one of the nations greenest colleges, having received national recognition for its commitment to sustainability by a number of organizations including the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). Villanova recycles and composts up to 48% percent of its waste, sending all of its trash to Covanta, an energy-from-waste facility that burns the trash for electricity. The University has installed over 30 hydration stations on campus to make it more convenient to fill up reusable water bottles. The initiative has already saved the equivalent of more than a million water bottles. In 2016, Villanova received a Tree Campus USA recognition from the Arbor Day Foundation for its commitment to promote healthy trees and engaging students and staff in the spirit of conservation. Villanova also incorporates its commitment to the environment into its community service initiatives. To learn more about Villanovas commitment to environmental sustainability, click here. Ahmedabad/New Delhi: Ahmedabad-based Jagat Kinkhabwala, better known as 'Chakliwala' for his passion for saving sparrows and bringing the humble bird back to the cityscape, did not expect any response when he sent his book to many in Delhi, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, he was stunningly surprised when the PM sent a letter in response to the book 'Save the Sparrows'. Talking to DeshGujarat, Kinkhabwala, also known as 'sparrow man', said that in the letter, dated April 12, the PM did not only congratulate him but also displayed his sensitivity towards the issue. Agreeing that the issue needed greater awareness, the PM mentioned in the letter that in our culture, we are taught to live in harmony with birds, plants, and animals. Here's the copy of the letter: Islamabad: Pakistan's National Assembly has passed an unanimous resolution to condemn the "barbaric and cold-blooded murder" of a 23-year-old university student who was lynched by a violent mob over alleged blasphemy. Mashal Khan, a journalism student, in Abdul Wali Khan University in Mardan was killed by an enraged mob last week, blaming him of passing anti-Islam remarks. The tragedy has sparked an outrage and demands to reform the laws dealing with blasphemy. Meanwhile, Pakistan's Senate or upper house of parliament has sought changes in the blasphemy laws to avert its misuse after the lynching. Dawn reported that the Senators in yesterday's session called for amending the blasphemy law to punish those who concoct blasphemy accusations against others and demanded a campaign against those taking the law into their own hands. Pakistan Peoples Party senator Farhatullah Babar said a religious scholar had proposed that those who levelled false accusations should suffer the same sentence as provided for a blasphemer. He recalled how a federal Shariat Court decision had prompted the maximum punishment for blasphemy to be increased from life imprisonment to death, reminding the house that Raja Zafarul Haq the current leader of the House was the chairman of law and justice committee at the time. He said the committee had made some suggestions while approving the bill and called for that report to be made the basis of any further action. "The assassination of Mashal Khan should make us think about concrete measures to prevent the misuse of the blasphemy law; we need to revisit this law," he remarked. Retired Gen Abdul Qayyum of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also called for flaws in the blasphemy law to be addressed. He stressed that Islam is a religion of peace and tolerance and prohibits any excesses, even against animals. Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Siraj-ul-Haq said that the rule of law was what defined a civilised society and that even if someone was guilty of a crime, no individual or organisation had the right to punish that individual unilaterally. "This shows an imbalance and lack of tolerance in society," he remarked. Winding up the discussion, Minister of State for Interior Baleeghur Rahman said there was clarity on the issue at a political level as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the heads of political parties had condemned the incident. However, he admitted that there was a need to check intolerance and revealed that work on a new curriculum was under way. The controversial blasphemy laws were enacted in 1980s when military dictator Ziaul Haq was in power. There are reports that the laws are misused to settle personal issues. An allegation of blasphemy makes the people vulnerable to violence by extremists who have so far thwarted efforts to reform these laws. Patna: BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi on Tuesday demanded confiscation of the alleged "benami properties" of RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his family, amassed through their shell business firms and sought legal actions against them. Former Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Modi asked the Nitish Kumar government to impound the "benami properties" of Prasad and his family members and initiate legal proceedings against them under the Bihar Special Courts Act 2010. "I have produced documents to substantiate my charges levelled against Prasad and his family and hence Nitish Kumar, who swears by Mahatma Gandhi's principles, should muster the courage and take action against his two ministers - Tej Pratap Yadav (Bihar health minister) and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav (deputy chief minister) on the basis of documentary proof," he said. Stating that he would not let the matter "die down," the BJP leader, who is also the leader of opposition in the state legislative council, said "I will take the matter to its logical conclusion. "Apart from the chief minister, I will also write to the agencies like the CBI, the ED and the IT which must have also been keeping a tab on the allegations being levelled against Prasad's family," he said. For the last few days, the senior BJP leader had been releasing various documents purportedly showing how Prasad's family got the land and shares of AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd, set up in September 2006 by OP Katyal and Amit Katyal. The Katyals allegedly had also set up a liquor factory at Bihta near Patna in 2003-04 when Rabri Devi was the state chief minister. The Katyals had handed over the firm's entire shares and its directorship to Prasad's family in 2014 for helping them in setting up the liquor factory, Sushil Modi alleged. He said AK Infosystems Pvt Ltd had bought 28.57 decimal (also known as 'dismil' with one dismil being equal to nearly 436 square feet) land at Panapur and 43 decimal of land at Chitkohra in Patna in March 2007. It purchased another plot of 'two kattha one dhur' (one kattha being equal to 1.65 decimal or 720 square ft and 20 dhur being equal to one kattha) with a two-storey building on it at Salempur Dumra at a cost of Rs 70 lakh from Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav in 2010, he said. The same piece of land worth Rs 14 lakh was gifted to the Yadav brothers by their maternal uncle Prabhunath Yadav in July 2006, Sushil Modi said. He sought to know as to why would AK Infosystems buy land worth crores of rupees to hand it over to Prasad's family and why would the company's owners give Rs 1.05 crore loan to it to buy the land. Seeking to know as to how a landless Prabhunath Yadav would gift the land to Tej Pratap and Tejashwi, Modi demanded a probe into the transactions involving the alleged "benami assets." Sushil Modi had also questioned as to how Prasad's family acquired the ownership of the Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd, which owns prime lands, including two acres at Saguna Mor in Patna where the state's biggest mall is being built. Delight Marketing Company Pvt Ltd was re-christened as 'LARA Projects Pvt Ltd' in which Rabri Devi, Tejashwi and Tej Pratap were allegedly made the sole directors in 2014. Tej Pratap Yadav had also concealed in his election affidavit and in his annual assets declaration form that he had bought 45.24 decimal land worth Rs 53.34 lakh in 2010 in Aurangabad district, the BJP leader had said last week adding that the Aurangabad land is presently worth over Rs 15 crore. Amulya Ganguli/IANS Having failed to delineate a cogent and credible line on secularism, the Congress will have to articulate a new position to find its way back into political reckoning. For a start, the party will have to realise that its efforts to delink religion from politics, or the church from the state -- the essence of secularism -- went off track because it identified the "church" too closely with Hinduism and did not pay enough attention to keep Islam also at a distance from the state. Because of this tactical error, the Congress played into the hands of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which made no secret of its closeness to Hinduism and accused the Congress of being partial to Islam for the sake of Muslim votes. This is a factor which A.K. Antony, among others in the Congress, acknowledged in a report on the party`s defeat in the last general election. However, the report banked on run-of-the-mill explanations for the party`s setback such as infighting, demoralisation among the workers, the absence of pre-poll alliances, the party`s corrupt image and communal polarisation orchestrated by the BJP. While much of this may be true, the report did not spell out how the Congress could recover its earlier prime position. A suggestion which has been floated in recent weeks is that the Congress can try "soft" Hindutva as a means of wooing voters. This is a line which has long been prevalent in the Congress with V.N. Gadgil (1930-2001) being one of the early proponents. For Congress M.P. Shashi Tharoor, however, "for Congress, peddling `BJP lite` is like Coke Zero. It will get us zero". Instead, the former Minister of State for External Affairs wants his party to be demonstratively uncompromising on secularism. Apart from the pursuit of secularism in its pristine form which keeps religion, in all its manifestations, at a far distance from governance, what the Congress can do is to reboot itself as a party of the 21st century which rejects the superstitious medievalism of the saffron brotherhood with its propagation of a milk-drinking Hindu deity -- Ganeshji doodh pi rahein hain -- or the conjuration of a patently fictitious past when Indians were said to have invented everything from stem cell research to cars to planes to television, or astounding claims about cows exhaling oxygen and cow dung providing protection against nuclear radiation. To rescue the country from such outrageous, antediluvian ideas, the Congress has to present itself as the exact opposite -- a forward-looking, progressive party committed to the development of a rational, scientific temperament so that the common man will not be prone to sectarianism based on hate and prejudice. To achieve this objective, the Congress itself will have to shed some of its present inhibitions such as a disinclination to take a forthright stand on the crucial issues of the day. These include the country`s economic direction to which the merit versus quotas debate is related and the question of bans. To start with the last, the Congress will have to set its face against bans of all kinds -- on books, thereby acknowledging that it made a mistake in banning Salman Rushdie`s "The Satanic Verses" in 1988 (P. Chidambaram has done so, though only in 2015); on films; on liquor and on beef. It has to be remembered that the Congress was the first to ban beef in Madhya Pradesh in 1955 when it was in power and the BJP was not even formed. Moreover, even today it is in favour of a nationwide ban on beef, as its senior general secretary Digvijay Singh has said, in line with Rashtriya Swayamsevek Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat`s views. Yet, this pandering to the Hindu cause has led it nowhere, just as its propagation of "socialism" -- subsided food under the Food Security Act, doles for the rural unemployed under MNREGA -- has been of little help to the party. The reason is the inherent insincerity in these gimmicks which are seen as populist, vote-catching manoeuvres by an outfit clutching at straws to hold on to power. In contrast, the steps by the BJP against books such as Wendy Doniger`s tract on Hinduism or on beef are seen as driven by convictions even if they are ill-conceived in the eyes of the liberals. The latter cannot but be disappointed by the palpable cynicism of Jawaharlal Nehru`s party. What is worse for the Congress is that these duplicitous ploys do not deceive anyone. Even if the Congress calls for a nationwide ban on beef, the political advantage will still be the BJP`s just as Rajiv Gandhi`s shilanyas (foundation) for the Ram temple did not fetch the Congress any votes in the 1989 election that it lost. Instead of indulging in such deceit, the Congress will have to underline its adherence to the principles of liberalism which believe in a free, open society where there are no constraints on what a person reads or eats, or who he or she chooses as a life partner. Jaag Machindra Gorakh Aya, Gorakh Aya have been fabled lines oft-repeated when telling and retelling the fascinating stories related with sage Gorakhnath. Originally known as Guru Gorakshanath, the mystery behind the mystic is as timeless as the man himself. Believed to have lived in 11th century, he is said to have been sighted in different centuries and states and known to have met different saints belonging to varied time periods. A worker of miracles and a representative of Saivite faith, he could raise people from the dead and assume bodies of his choice. He has been made immemorable in folklore through stories whether it is the love story of Hir and Ranjha or those related with Bhagat Puran Singh and Matsyendranath. He could fly across borders, get magical potion from nether world of snakes, possessed miraculous healing powers and soon gathered a large following across races and castes not just in India but also in large numbers in Nepal. Not surprisingly, a major temple of his Nath monastic faith was established in Gorakhpur in North India, very close to the Nepal border. And though Gorakhnath temple became a major religious headquarters, unlike most mutts established in the Shankaracharya tradition, it did not and does not have a Brahaminical lineage with head priests having been mostly non-Brahmins. Over the years, the temple continued to be a Siddha peeth and followed Saivite practices, concerning itself mainly with religious, cultural and social activities. The change came mainly on the turn of the 20th century when the temple mahant Digvijaya Nath joined the Congress in 1921 and began participating in the Independence movement. However, Gandhis non-violent movement did not hold much appeal for him and he switched to Hindu Mahasabha in 1937 where he openly opposed Gandhi and in fact is believed to have controversially rallied support against him. The head priest of Nath peeth also made a religious manoeuvre to spearhead an essentially Vaishnav Ram Janmabhoomi movement in Ayodhya in 1949. It was after his highly publicized 9-day Ramcharit Manas recitation that the idols of Gods were placed in the Babri mosque. In 1967, he jumped into politics and got elected as an MP from Gorakhpur. His disciple Mahant Avaidyanath continued in his footsteps and got elected as an MLA and subsequently as an MP from the same constituency, later as a BJP representative. Yogi Adityanath has inherited this legacy. As much as a firebrand as his predecessors, he too belongs to the Thakur community and had political ambitions from a young age. He first contested and won an election in 1998 at the young age of 26 and has been returned as an MP ever since then. It is believed that the lower margin in his second victory had shocked the head priest so much that it was then that he decided to shift gears and adopt a more radical avatar. Much of his charisma now stems from his far-right Hindu appeal, his oratory skills and ability to use divisive politics to his advantage. Having launched the Hindu Yuva Vahini, he is believed to have been involved in communal riots in 2005 and 2007 and polarised people on sensitive issues. Though Adityanath had not been on the best of terms with the BJP and leaders like Amit Shah, the rising star of the saffron party led the Yogi to make peace for future prospects. The social imprint of Gorakhnath mutt its two dozen schools, colleges, hospitals and poly-tech institutes only helped matters. The apex achievement and opportunity has come in the form of the 44-year-old Yogi Adityanath becoming the chief minister of the most populous state of the country. His first month itself has been controversial with illegal slaughter houses being clamped down upon, anti-Romeo squads roaming streets and his equating triple talaq with the attempted disrobing of Draupadi. However, the CM is also trying to reinvent himself. Claiming to be the leader of the entire state, which includes a substantial minority, it is yet to be seen whether the saffron clad Yogi will keep a check on himself when it comes to provocative statements on Pakistan and making comparisons between Hafiz Saeed and Shah Rukh Khan. What will be particularly interesting is his strategy considering that the voting pattern of this election is now out in public domain, and it seems only 2% Muslims voted for the BJP, contrary to the perception that the community voted for Modi in the name of development. Obviously, despite populist statements, the message that BJP did not field a single Muslim candidate carried a sting. The Chief Minister, who was in his erstwhile incarnation know as Ajay Singh, will also face a litmus test when it comes to the Ayodhya issue, considering that Gorakhnath Mutt has been one of the first and most vocal proponents of building a Ram temple. The emotive issue Ayodhya is common to all Hindus and not just the upper segment. It goes without saying that Yogi will want to keep playing the 'Vrihad Hindu' card as well to keep support from all segments firmly behind him tact that Gorakhnath mutt leaders have cultivated over the years with its low caste affirmative politics. The cow protection strategy, on the contrary, is meant to keep the upper caste aligned. The moot point at this juncture however will not just be of consolidation it is of roadmap and delivery. The Yogi CM has got his task cut out clearly. Uttar Pradesh, despite its advantage of size, continues to languish on all development metrics such as education, healthcare and infrastructure. Even in terms of economic growth, it registered 3.38% growth, lower than the national average of 4.66%. Modi entrenched himself in Gujarat post spate of divisive politics and communal riots of 2002, but at the end it was development and delivery that kept him in his chair. It may do Yogi Adityanath a whole lot of good, if he took a leaf out of Modi stylebook of politics. Mumbai: A number of outsiders have made it big in the film industry without the support of a godfather and one of them is Kangana Ranaut. The curly-haired beauty is fearless and so is Sushant Singh Rajput, who has carved a niche for himself purely on merit. Kangana, who was on Karan Johars Koffee With Karan show in February to promote her then upcoming film Rangoon had addressed him as the flag-bearer of nepotism. Her comments triggered a controversy and subsequently came a number of reactions. Sushant, who is himself an outsider, has been associated with a number of prestigious banners for his films. And now, he has expressed his take of the whole issue of nepotism in Bollywood. According to a report in dnaindia.com, SSR expressed his views of nepotism on being asked about it at the trailer launch of his latest Raabta. Heres what Rajput said, Almost all the films I have done and the films I am doing in one and a half years and the films I really want to do are the many options and I had the luxury of choosing these films. So, from a personal point of view, I cannot complain. Having said that, it's not that it is there and it's everywhere in all sorts of industry, not just Bollywood. If you allow new talents from outside also to flourish and encourage them more, then it's good. If you don't allow that, then there's a problem and I think the whole structure of industry would collapse. Chennai: The talks regarding merger of the two AIADMK factions appeared to have hit a roadblock on Tuesday as the EPS camp rejected O Panneerselvam's call for removing VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran from the party before a reunion. Former Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam earlier broke his silence and claimed that Sasikala has betrayed late AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa. While also claiming that there is no place for Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakakaran in the AIADMK, OPS said that he will continue to fight to protect the legacy of 'Amma'. Amid talks of merger between the O Panneerselvam and E Palaniswami factions of Tamil Nadu's ruling party - AIADMK - the support for VK Sasikala is apparently thinning and she is under tremendous pressure to resign from her post along with her nephew TTV Dinakar who faces corruption charges. Here are the latest updates:- -Hari Prabhakaran, joint secretary, IT wing of the OPS faction, tweets the copy of FIR filed against TTV Dinakaran and S Chandrashekhar. FIR registered against TTV Dhinakaran & Sukesh Chandrasekar pic.twitter.com/1VmqMKQY8r Hari Prabhakaran (@Hariadmk) April 18, 2017 -We want Sasikala to continue as general secretary and Dinakaran as deputy general secretary: Vetrivel -No committee was formed to hold talks with OPS, says Vetrivel -Who authorised the ministers to convene a meeting on Monday night in the absence of AIADMK Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran? asks party MLA Vetrivel. -Sasikala and her family have to be kept away, directly or indirectly they shouldn't have any role within party: KC Palanisamy, OPS camp leader. -No demands have been made by OPS till now, he only said he wants to work unitedly. We are ready to talk whenever he wants to: Shanmugam, TN govt minister. -We have not deviated from our stand and we stick to our basics. Any change in our stand shall be injustice to people of TN and AIADMK cadres: OPS -We have been insisting that the family against whom we have waged a war had indulged in activities bringing disrepute to the entire TN: OPS -We have submitted a petition to EC to follow the bylaws and give justice: OPS. -Elevation of GS is not as per the bylaws of the party. Sasikala's elevation and inturn her subsequent actions is null and void: OPS. -The treatment provided to amma should be made transparent with an Enquiry to the same: OPS. -If we don't follow this path then it shall be injustice to the people: OPS. -Our founder MGR and Amma created this party as a party for the people and cadres, this is a Democratic Party for people and cadres: OPS. -AIADMK should not be controlled by one party, Jayalalithaa's death must be probed: OPS. Party should not be in the hands of a family. O Panneerselvam (@OfficeOfOPS) April 18, 2017 -AIADMK must be saved from dynastic politics, says OPS. -TTV faction gave 4000 per voter in the recent byelection at RK Nagar and IT raids were conducted unearthing evidences: OPS. -TTV Dinakaran tried to bribe voters, alleges OPS. -There is credible evidence against TTV Dinakaran, claims OPS. -Both Sasikala and Dinakaran were sacked by 'Amma', there is no place for them in AIADMK: OPS -The family which betrayed Jayalalithaa will have to go, says OPS. -I am an ardent follower of Amma, want to tread the path shown by her: OPS. -MK Stalin of the DMK has lashed out at the AIADMK, says 'the state has become a battleground'. -There were no talks about the Dinakaran and Sasikala issue. Even the OPS faction has not raised any questions about it, says Sengottaiyan. There are no talks on the issue of TTV Dinakaran and Sasikala, nor did OPS faction raise any question on the same: KA Sengottaiyan pic.twitter.com/DkMoboSIkT ANI (@ANI_news) April 18, 2017 -TTV Dinakaran has welcomed OPS' statement about AIADMK merger: KA Sengottaiyan. -AIADMK leaders' meet onboard INS Chennai still underway, many including D Jayakumar, P Thangamani and CV Shanmugam attending it. -OPS camp wants VK Sasikala, TTV Dinakaran to resign ahead of proposed AIADMK merger, want Panneerselvam reinstated as Chief Minister. -O Panneerselvam, who is in Tamil Nadu's Theni district, is expected to arrive in Chennai this afternoon. -A team consisting of senior ministers formed by us for the process of merger of two factions. We are brothers from same family: TN minister Sellur Raju. A team consisting of senior mins formed by us for the process of merger of 2 factions. We are brothers from same family: TN Min Sellur Raju pic.twitter.com/xxUlAdOaLa ANI (@ANI_news) April 18, 2017 -I am happy with the merger move: Tamil Nadu Forest Minister C Srinivasan. I am happy for the move of merger with the OPS faction: Tamil Nadu Forest Minister C Srinivasan pic.twitter.com/UZXq0xWYaJ ANI (@ANI_news) April 18, 2017 -We need to protect the party symbol, so all must come together. This is not a question of the CM post; only of Amma's legacy: Thambidurai. -Tamil Nadu people still support Amma's legacy. AIADMK still has 50 percent vote bank, while the DMK has only 30 percent, says Thambidurai. -There is no split in the party, only differences in opinion. We are sorting out all issues, says M Thambidurai quoted as saying by News18. -VK Sasikala is being increasingly isolated as E Palaniswami camp wants her to resign along with nephew Dinakaran who faces corruption charges, claim sources. -TTV Dinakran is meeting his legal team at his Chennai residence, say reports. -All MLAs of the VK Sasikala faction are onboard INS Chennai to discuss strategy, say reports. -TTV Dinakran, facing bribery charges, has reportedly reached his residence in Chennai. -Sasikala faction of AIADMK has formed a committee to conduct talks on merger, claims O Panneerselvam. -DMK says merger of 'power-monger' OPS, Sasikala factions will not last. -Meanwhile, the Delhi Police Crime Branch team, which was supposed to leave for Chennai today has postponed the visit. -EPS camp has reportedly welcomed the merger talks. -Some top ministers of the Edappadi Palaniswami camp had an impromptu meeting around midnight on Monday. D Jayakumar, Finance Minister in the Palaniswami government said after the meeting that the group had discussed the party's election symbol issue and Panneerselvam's suggestion at merger. -Rebel leader and former chief minister O Panneerselvam had earlier hinted at fresh efforts at a unified AIADMK, provided that VK Sasikala and TTV Dinakaran resign from their posts. -On the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday there were intense speculations of VK Sasikala resigning from her post as the party chief of AIADMK. This was later denied by Tamil Nadu finance minister, D Jayakumar. -Delhi Police had arrested Dinakaran's alleged middleman Sukesh Chandrashekhar with Rs 1.5 crore cash on Monday. The police also seized a BMW and a Mercedes car from him. Dinakaran and Sukesh had allegedly struck a deal of Rs 50 crore to help the AIADMK Sasikala faction keep the 'two leaves' symbol. The Midnight AIADMK Merger Drama Throwing indications of growing dissent against ruling AIADMK chief VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakara, who has been named in a bribery case relating to a tussle over party's frozen symbol 'two leaves', former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and Jayalalithaa loyalist O Panneerselvam yesterday hinted that he is open for merger. In a sudden move, some top leaders from AIADMK and TN govt ministers held an emergency meeting, hinting at the merger of two factions of AIADMK - O Panneerselvam and VK Sasikala camps. The OPS faction led by Panneerselvam has reportedly set a condition for merger VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran should resign from their posts. Reports also claim that a lot of leaders from the Sasikala camp too have lost faith in her leadership and ready for a merger inorder to strengthen the party. New Delhi: Following is the legal twists and turns leading up to the arrest of liquor baron Vijay Vittal Mallya in London. But the extradition hearings in UK courts may take time before he is extradited to India. April 18, 2017: Scotland Yard announces arrest after Mallya was asked to meet officers at central London police station. Later, gets bail. February 8: Indian government formally requests the UK to extradite him. The UK Secretary of State sends the request to Westminster Magistrate`s Court. November 10, 2016: Designated court orders seizure of domestic assets of Mallya and entities controlled by him. June: Designated ED court issues `proclamation order` asking Mallya to appear before it. May: UK government takes note of serious allegations against Mallya, suggests request be made under Extradition Treaty (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty). May 2: UK government declines request for deportation, saying no requirement of valid passport to remain in the country as long as entry was made on a valid one. April 28: Formal request made to UK to deport Mallya to India. April 23: Mallya`s passport revoked on ED`s request. March-April: ED issues several summons to Mallya to appear before it. Non-bailable warrant issued by designated courts (ED). March 1: State Bank of India, other banks move application in Supreme Court to impound Mallya`s passport. March 2: Mallya flees India, leaving behind Rs 8,191 of debts to 17 banks. January: ED initiates investigations under Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). July 2015: CBI initiates criminal investigations against Mallya. London: After liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in India for defaulting on bank loans of over Rs 8,000 crore, was arrested and granted bail in London on Tuesday, the Indian government said the legal process for his extradition is underway in Britain. Responding to a query, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said Mallya`s arrest in London was in connection with the request by India to British authorities for his extradition "Legal process in this regard is underway in the UK," Baglay said. "The two governments are in touch in this context." Metropolitan Police said Mallya, 61, was taken into custody after attending a central London police station. The Westminster Magistrates` Court later gave him bail on a 650,000-pound bond. The next hearing of the case will be on May 17. A Metropolitan Police statement said officers from the Extradition Unit arrested Mallya on an extradition warrant from India. "Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud," the statement said. After getting bail, Mallya tweeted: "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected." Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by Indian banks seeking to recover Rs 8,191 crore owed by his now defunct Kingfisher Airline. The banks had been able to recover only Rs 155 crore. Despite multiple injunctions, Mallya failed to appear before investigators -- and then flew out of India. In February, the Indian government handed over to British authorities a formal request for Mallya`s extradition, saying it had a legitimate case against him on charges of financial irregularities and loan default. New Delhi: Absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya was arrested in London on Tuesday and is likely to be extradited to India soon. British authorities have informed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about the arrest. Mallya was arrested at 9.30 am --London time. The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, appeared before the Westminster's Magistrates' Court in London for his bail hearing and was released within three hours. India had applied to Britain to extradite Vijay Mallya to face trial after the liquor and aviation tycoon was charged with conspiracy and fraud over a loan to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had last month informed that extradition of absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya was stratified by Secretary of State of the UK Government and soon a warrant would be released against him. While handing over the request, India had asserted that it has a "legitimate" case against Mallya and maintained that if an extradition request is honoured, it would show British "sensitivity towards our concerns". Earlier in March, the Supreme Court had fast-tracked the proceedings against Mallya and reserved its order on contempt proceedings against him for allegedly diverting $40 million to his children's accounts in foreign banks in violation of court orders. The apex court had started proceedings against Mallya a year ago and had issued notice to him on March 8, 2016 on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) for recovery of about Rs. 9,000 crore which the businessman and his companies owed to them. The liquor baron, however, fled the country days before the apex court took up the case against him. Earlier in January this year, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. New Delhi: Absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya was arrested in London on Tuesday and is likely to be extradited to India soon. British authorities have informed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about the arrest. Mallya was arrested at 9.30 am --London time. The CBI and the Indian High Commission in London will present India's case in the UK court for extradition of controversial industrialist Vijay Mallya as the government looks to break the myth that a law breaker is out of bound once he is out of country. A top source said India is seeking extradition of Mallya for defaulting on loans due to IDBI. "We want to shatter this myth that by crossing boundaries you are out of bounds. Mallya extradition will act as an important test case," the source said. Also read: 14 months from Vijay Mallya flight to arrest, extradition may take time The embattled businessman, who has been declared a proclaimed offender in India, was on Tuesday arrested in London by the Scotland Yard on India's request for his extradition on fraud charges. The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station this morning. The flamboyant businessman, who once called himself 'The King of Good Times", was released on bail a few hours later. "Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit this morning arrested a man on an extradition warrant. Vijay Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud," Scotland Yard told PTI. The Metropolitan Police said Mallya was arrested after attending a central London police station. He appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London and was seen walking out with his legal team a few hours later after being granted bail. "It was a voluntary action. He will be out in a few minutes," said a member of Mallya's team at the court, without giving any further details of the bail conditions. "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected," Mallya tweeted soon after getting the bail. Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016. He has repeatedly dismissed the charges against him. Mallya's reaction Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected. Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) April 18, 2017 In his first reaction after getting bail, Vijay Mallya played down his arrest saying that it's usual Indian media hype. He also said that extradition hearing in Court has started today as expected. The absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya was arrested in London on Tuesday. He is likely to be extradited to India soon. In January, an Indian court ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans. Also read: Vijay Mallya's reaction on his arrest: It's usual Indian media hype India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8. While handing over the request, India had asserted that it has a "legitimate" case against Mallya and maintained that if an extradition request is honoured, it would show British "sensitivity towards our concerns". Last month, setting in motion the process of extradition of Mallya, the British government had certified India's request and sent it to a district judge for further action. The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps including a decision by the judge whether to issue a warrant of arrest. Also read: Vijay Mallya arrest: Legal process for extradition underway, says government In case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a final decision is taken by the secretary of state. The wanted person has a right to appeal to the higher courts against any decision all the way up to the supreme court. Earlier in January this year, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. Political reactions Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said, "We are now assessing the facts how we can bring him back into the country and start judicial proceedings against him." The government, he said, will leave no stone unturned to bring to justice anyone indulging in financial irregularities. Mallya's arrest by the Scotland Yard in London underlines the Modi government's will to act against people accused of defrauding public resources, the BJP said. It is a confirmation of the government's relentless efforts and commitment to act against those involved in illegal activities like generation of black money, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said. Right from the formation of a Special Investigation Team against black money in the first cabinet meeting under Modi to the current initiation of the extradition process against Mallya, the government has acted at every level, he said. "Investigation agencies have a free hand to act without fear and favour," he said. Mallya, whose now defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016, and was arrested at New Delhi's request for his extradition on fraud charges. The Congress, however, assailed the Modi government for seeking Mallya's extradition and not deportation which, it said, would have ensured his immediate custody to India. "Strange that he is detained and released in the same go...What kind of extradition is this. He is detained for an hour and is honourably granted bail and is defiant. "Will it take another dozen years, 15 years, 30 years or our entire lifetime before Vijaya Mallya is brought back and Rs 9091 crore of people's money is recovered. These are questions that BJP and Modiji need to answer instead of hoodwinking people of India," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. He claimed that the action against Mallya came after a relentless campaign by the Congress party, its vice president Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders. Noting that Mallya's detention was first of 9 steps of extradition with 3 possible appeals, the Congress leader asked "when will we have his custody? Why did BJP Govt not move for Mallya's deportation instead of extradition?" Surjewala also questioned the government over its failure to bring back Lalit Modi, the former IPL commissioner, who is wanted by India for alleged money laundering. "Why is BJP government shying from moving against 'Chhota Modi' (Lalit Modi), who escaped to UK even before Mallya?" he asked. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, claimed consistent efforts by the Modi government had resulted in Mallya's arrest. "Previous governments could not do anything about it. It is certainly the success of this government, particularly Finance Ministry, whose efforts resulted in his (Mallya) arrest," said Singh. Amid all the political chest-thumping, former employees of Kingfisher Airlines talked about the bread and butter issue of getting their dues paid. "Our main concern is that the government should get him (Mallya) to India and we should get our dues," former Kingfisher Airlines pilot Rahul Bhasin said in his reaction to Mallya's arrest. "We appreciate government's efforts. They have done something, finally," Bhasin said. Anirudha Ballala, another former Kingfisher Airlines pilot, said that the law is taking its course. "Mallya is perhaps paying for the karmas (deeds) that he has done by not paying to employees," he added. New Delhi: In his first reaction after getting bail, Vijay Mallya played down his arrest saying that it's usual Indian media hype. He also said that extradition hearing in Court has started today as expected. The absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya was arrested in London on Tuesday. He is likely to be extradited to India soon. He tweeted: Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected. Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) April 18, 2017 British authorities have informed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) about the arrest. Mallya was arrested at 9.30 am --London time. India had applied to Britain to extradite Vijay Mallya to face trial after the liquor and aviation tycoon was charged with conspiracy and fraud over a loan to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, appeared before the Westminster's Magistrates' Court in London for his bail hearing and was released within three hours. Apart from the Formula One action, he showed his interest in health matters, retweeting two tweets from Doctify, a health platform in the UK that offers solutions to patients who want to search, compare and book doctors online. While one was on medical data security and health challenges, his other retweet was on contact lens hygiene routine. Earlier in the day, Mallya - who has been declared a proclaimed offender - was arrested in London after he appeared at a central London police station. Mallya is wanted in India for defaulting on loans. His now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to many banks. He had fled India on March 2, 2016 and has repeatedly dismissed the charges against him. New Delhi: As many as 173 candidates in the April 23 civic elections face criminal cases while another 116 have serious cases of murder, kidnapping and crime against women pending against them, a report said on Tuesday. The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said it went through the affidavits filed by 2,315 of the 2,537 candidates from 18 political parties, including six national parties, for the report. Percentage-wise, candidates with criminal cases pending against them are around seven per cent, with those with serious criminal cases nearly five per cent of the analysed figure. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has the highest number of candidates with criminal cases -- 35 of the 260 candidates, around 14 per cent of the total. Among other parties, the Congress had eight per cent candidates with criminal records -- 21 of its 250 contestants. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has seven per cent candidates with criminal cases against them -- 13 out of 191 candidates whose affidavits were analysed. Around 22 per cent of all analysed candidates hold assets between Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 crore, while five per cent own assets worth between Rs 5 crore and Rs 10 crore. Three per cent nominees had assets of more than Rs 10 crore each. The BJP has the highest number of candidates with assets worth more than Rs 1 crore, with 163 or around 54 per cent of its candidate in this category. The Congress has 104 contestants with assets of more than Rs 1 crore, which comes to 42 per cent, while the AAP has 41 such candidates or around 22 per cent of their contesting candidates analysed by the ADR. The average of assets per candidate contesting in the MCD elections is Rs 1.61 crore. The average assets held by each of the 260 BJP candidates comes to Rs 2.89 crore, with this figure for 256 Congress candidates coming to Rs 4.36 crore and for 250 AAP candidates to Rs 1.65 crore. New Delhi: All is not well within the Delhi Congress unit. Party stalwart and former Delhi chief minister Sheila Diksit on Tuesday blamed the functioning style of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), headed by Ajay Maken, the reason behind the exodus of senior party leaders like Arvind Singh Lovely and Amrish Gautam. While speaking exclusively to news agency ANI, Dikshit, who once headed the PCC said, "The approach which a PCC head should have, of taking everybody together, is not there." She accused the PCC chief of ignoring Congress party leaders and not paying any heed to their concerns. "There is some problem with the prevailing system in the PCC. There is an urgent need to amend it," Dikshit told ANI. "Yes of course. That is the reason (Ajay Maken's way of leadership). What else can be the reason? People worked with me for 15 years when Congress was in power. Did you hear any such news then of people leaving the party?" she said. In a huge setback for the Congress ahead of MCD elections, former Delhi Congress president and ex-minister Arvinder Singh Lovely joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today. Recently, three-time Congress MLA, Dalit leader, and ex-Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Assembly, Amrish Gautam, had also joined the BJP. New Delhi: Commuters in Delhi-NCR will need to brace up for a no-show of taxis on Tuesday as the drivers of two app-based cab aggregators Ola and Uber have threatened to go off roads against "low fares". The strikers will gather at Mata Sundari Gurudwara off the Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and will march to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's house in Civil Lines. This is the second round of strike called by the drivers. They had gone on strike in February too, which had lasted 13 days, causing inconvenience to commuters in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, and Faridabad. As per agitating Sarvodaya Drivers' Association, some groups of tourist taxi providers, autorickshaw union have extended their support to the strike, which means private transport service in Delhi and neighbouring cities will be hit badly. Their demands are: The Association, which claims to represent around 1.25 lakh app-based taxis in the Delhi-NCR, wants that fares be increased from existing Rs 6 per km to around 20 per km. It also demands the abolition of 25 percent commission the drivers are charged by companies. The agitating drivers also demand a stop be put to 'share' service employed by Ola and Uber, where many commuters share a cab to various points in the city lying along one route. They also want that these taxis be run according to a Delhi government authorised meter, which should be certified by Standardisation Testing and Quality certification (STQC). Sarvodaya Drivers' Association of Delhi president Kamaljeet Gill told news agency IANS: "These companies are big swindlers. Just as a crook sells movie ticket in 'black', when there are more buyers than there are seats, they too do the same, they only name it 'Surge' pricing or 'peak-hour' pricing. They tell you that you will be charged Rs 6 per kilometre but you end up paying Rs 18-20 instead." Meanwhile, Ravi Rathore, the vice-president of the Sarvodaya Drivers' Association, said the drivers will take out a protest march against the Delhi government which, he alleged, is not intervening to resolve the issue. He said the association has called for the one-day strike in favour of the demands and if companies and government do not pay heed, they will go on an indefinite strike. According to the association, the app-based cab companies made "tall promises" to drivers-- like they would earn as much as Rs 1.5 lakh every month. "But the situation is different. They are making us run taxis at Rs 6 per km while they charge 25 percent from us," Rathore also said. Contrary to the association's claim that most autorickshaw and tourists associations have decided to lend their support to the strike, Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union (yellow-black taxis) said they will not participate in it. "We will not support the strike in Delhi," Rajendra Soni, the general secretary of both the associations, said. Earlier on Monday, the Delhi High Court restrained two taxi drivers' unions - the Sarvodaya Driver Association of Delhi (SDAD) and the Rajdhani Tourist Drivers' Union - from disrupting services of cabs run by Ola and Uber in the national capital region. Welcoming the court order, Uber in a statement said it hopes it will enable drivers to stay behind the wheel, without fear or harassment. "We are hopeful that the order will be effectively enforced and that action is taken against any person who attempts to block cars, confiscate devices or harass riders and drivers and that the safety of everyone using the Uber App in Delhi is ensured. "We are committed to keeping Delhi moving and ensuring a reliable experience for riders and drivers," Uber said. (With Agency inputs) Mumbai: Former Kingfisher Airlines employees have said their main concern is the recovery of their unpaid salaries and extradition of industrialist Vijay Mallya, who was arrested by Scotland Yard in London on Tuesday. "Our main concern is that the government should get him (Mallya) to India and we should get our dues," former Kingfisher Airlines pilot Rahul Bhasin said in his reaction to Mallya's arrest. Mallya was today arrested in London by Scotland Yard on India's request for his extradition on fraud charges. The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted here for defaulting in payment of bank loans to the tune of over Rs 9,000 crore, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station this morning. "We appreciate the government's efforts. They have done something, finally," Bhasin said. Mallya appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London and was seen walking out with his legal team a few hours later after being granted bail. Anirudha Ballala, another former Kingfisher Airlines pilot, said the law is taking its course. "Mallya is perhaps paying for the 'karmas' that he has done by not paying to employees," he added. Significantly, Ballala along with other employees had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March last year, seeking his intervention in safeguarding the interest of the airline's erstwhile staffers. The employees had written to the Prime Minister after Mallya had sneaked out of the country. According to an open letter written by the former women employees of the erstwhile airline last year, Mallya owes Rs 300 crore as salaries dues to over 3,000 employees. "The government is only focussed on its dues. We don't have any hope other than the government, it is our last hope," Bhasin said, adding that he expects the government to do all it can do to recover employees' dues as well. Ballala said while he has no personal enmity with his former employer, "but by leaving his employees in the lurch was not a good thing. Not looking after his employees and their families and leaving them at the mercy of Almighty has perhaps gone against him." Hoping for an early extradition of Mallya from the UK, Ballala said, "If the government can get him arrested, it can bring him back as well." India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8. While handing over the request, India had asserted that it has a "legitimate" case against Mallya and maintained that if an extradition request is honoured, it would show British "sensitivity towards our concerns." "I thank this government for taking steps to bring him back to the country," Ballala added. A Delhi court had last week issued an open ended non- bailable warrant against Mallya in a case of allegedly evading summons in a Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) violation case. In January this year, the Debt Recovery Tribunal ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans. Around the same time, a CBI court too had issued a non- bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. New Delhi: Centre-funded top-ranking educational institutions like Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Delhi University (DU), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Lady Shri Ram College and Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC) are likely to be given full autonomy in terms of operation as well as finance. As a part of an extensive educational reform, the initiative is powered by a committee which is headed by NITI Aayog's vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya. The move would facilitate the institutions to put up funds individually. New Delhi: Art of living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has said that authorities should not have given permission if Yamuna was so fragile and instead of blaming AOL, fine should be levied on the National Green Tribunal, Delhi and Central governments. His remarks came after the report of an expert committee set up by NGT said it would take Rs 42.02 crore and a decade for the ecological rehabilitation of the Yamuna floodplains from adverse damages caused by the festival. In a statement issued on Tuesday, Ravi Shankar said the Art of Living (AoL) obtained all the necessary permissions including NGT`s. "The NGT had the application file for two months and they could have stopped it in the beginning. It defies all principles of natural justice that you give permissions and slap a fine for not violating any rules. "If the Yamuna was so fragile and pure, they should have stopped the World Culture Festival at the very beginning. A historic programme, deserving of applause and appreciation, is unjustly projected as a crime," he said. Ravi Shankar added that the event, which saw over three million attendees from 155 countries over a three-day period, polluted neither air, water nor land. "The world over, cultural programmes are held on riverbanks. The whole idea was to bring awareness to save the river. "The Art of Living, that has rejuvenated 27 rivers, planted 71 million trees, revived several ponds, is being projected as destroying a dead river," Ravi Shankar said. The event was held on the left bank of the river between the Barapullah elevated road and the DND flyway between March 11 and 13, 2016. The report of the seven-member expert committee, headed by former Secretary of Water Resources Ministry Shashi Shekhar, told the National Green Tribunal( NGT) about the ecological damage caused to over 300 acres of floodplains due to the festival last year. The experts have estimated that some 300 acres of floodplains west (right bank) of the river Yamuna and about 120 acres floodplains of the eastern side (left bank) of the river have been "adversely impacted" ecologically at "different magnitudes". The AoL has criticised the report stating it was deliberately leaked to the media and that some members of the committee were biased. The next hearing over the matter in the NGT is on April 20. (With IANS inputs) Ahmedabad: A 2002 Naroda Gam massacre case victim wrote to the Gujarat High Court on Tuesday seeking replacement of the special SIT judge hearing the matter with an "impartial" one. Sharif Malek, whose house was looted and relatives killed on February 28, 2002 during the Naroda Gam massacre, also demanded cancellation of bail to Naroda Patiya convict and former BJP MLA Maya Kodnani, who is an accused in this case also. Malek is also a witness in the Naroda Gam massacre case. In his letter to the high court, he sought cancellation of the bails to Kodnani and others facing trial in the Naroda Gam case. Malek said after the judge recently allowed Kodnani's plea to summon BJP national president Amit Shah and 13 others, the families of victims and witnesses like him suspect that the proceedings are being delayed deliberately. He alleged the SIT court has also not followed the Supreme Court's September 9 order to conclude the trial in the case in six months. "We, the victims and witnesses of the Naroda Gam case request for cancellation of bail given to Kodnani, sentenced to 28-year in jail following her conviction in the Naroda Patiya case, on the basis of fabricated health certificate," he said. "We also request the cancellation of bail of all the other accused in the Naroda Gam case, appointment of an impartial judge and shifting of the case to another state, as also initiating independent judicial inquiry into it," he said. "Special Judge P B Desai is the same who rejected conspiracy angle in Gulberg Society case, and we fear this judge can do the same in this case as well. Kindly replace him with an impartial judge," he said. Naroda Gam massacre is one of the nine major riot cases investigated by the SIT. Eleven persons of the minority community were killed in Naroda Gam in 2002 riots during a shutdown call given to protest the Godhra train carnage. A total of 82 persons are facing trial in the case. The Supreme Court had in September last year given the special court six months time to conclude the trial. Kodnani was a state minister for women and child development in former chief minister Narendra Modi's government. New Delhi: US National Security Adviser (NSA) Lt Gen HR McMaster on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held separate talks with his counterpart Ajit Doval. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval also attended the meeting at Modi`s official residence, according to a picture released by the Prime Minister`s Office. Here are the key takeaways: Informed sources said the officials discussed security issues concerning South Asia and how to better cooperate on countering terror threats emanating from the Taliban and Islamic State`s presence in Afghanistan. As per the US embassy, McMaster emphasised the importance of US-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed India`s designation as a major defence partner. "The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counterterrorism cooperation," an embassy statement said. Doval and McMaster held detailed discussions on Indo-US relations, especially the security aspect of the ties, sources said. McMaster's visit was a part of regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad. The US NSA arrived here on Monday evening, the first visit by a senior official of President Donald Trump`s administration. On his South Asian trip that began over the weekend, McMaster on Monday visited Pakistan where he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz and the Army chief, stressing "the need to confront terrorism in all its forms". He also visited Afghanistan to review efforts at stabilising the country. New Delhi: Responding to Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh's accusation that he was a "Khalistani sympathiser", Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan on Tuesday said, such comments hurt, but he had not come to India for petty politics. Sajjan who arrived in India on Monday is on a week-long visit. He is also scheduled to visit Punjab. "It does hurt, but not here for petty politics, my actions speak for me," the Canadian Defence Minister said when asked to comment on charges that he was a Khalistan backer. "I don't want to be sucked into the internal politics of a province of a nation. My goal is to build relationships. I am proud of the fact that I was born here," he said. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh last week called Sajjan a "Khalistani sympathiser" and said he would not meet him during his expected visit to India later this month. Speaking during a programme on a channel, the Chief Minister alleged: Harjit Sajjan is a Khalistani sympathiser and so was his father. "There were, in fact, five ministers in the Justin Trudeau government who were Khalistani sympathisers and I will not have any truck with them," he claimed. Amarinder's poll campaign in Canada was stalled last year in the run-up to the Punjab Assembly Elections. Islamabad: A PIL was filed in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday seeking international court's intervention in securing the immediate release of Indian national Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been sentenced to death over spying allegations by a military court in Pakistan. The PIL seeks response from the Centre on exploring remedies via International Court of Justice (ICJ) for securing Kulbhushan Jadhav's release. The move comes a day after Pakistan's Army categorically ruled out consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav despite the Indian government making a strong case for gaining access to the Indian prisoner on death row. Jadhav, 46, was awarded death sentence by the Field General Court Martial last week, evoking a sharp reaction in India which warned Pakistan of consequences and damage to bilateral ties if the "pre-meditated murder" was carried out. "Under the law we cannot give consular access to Khubhushan who was involved in spying," Pakistan military spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor told reporters. However, Indian officials maintained that there was no communication from Pakistan on the denial of consular access. Pakistan has denied India's request for consular access to Jadhav over a dozen times in the last one year. On Friday, Indian High Commissioner in Islamabad Gautam Bambawale had met Pakistan foreign secretary Tehmina Janjua and demanded a certified copy of the chargesheet as well as the army court order in the Jadhav case, besides seeking consular access to the retired Indian navy officer. Addressing the media in Rawalpindi on Monday, Maj Gen Ghafoor said that Jadhav was involved in anti-state activities so he had to face court martial. "It was duty of the Army (to apprehend and punish him). We have not compromised on it and awarded him punishment. We will not compromise on this issue in future also," he said. He said all legal requirements were fulfilled in the trial of Jadhav which resulted in his conviction. "The court martial is based on such evidence which cannot be refuted at any forum," he said. He said the Indian man can appeal against the judgement in the army appellate court and then to the army chief against the decision of the appellate court. The spokesman said the convict can also file an appeal to the Supreme Court and the president of Pakistan. "We will defend his conviction at every forum," he said. Pakistan claims its security forces had arrested Jadhav from the restive Balochistan province on March 3 last year after he reportedly entered from Iran. It also claimed that he was "a serving officer in the Indian Navy." Mumbai: The Indian Navy has rescued four crew members of a tugboat off the Mumbai coast after the boat ran aground on rocks during low tide, a statement said. The tugboat Sonika, with four on board, had run aground on rocks in the waters off Raj Bhavan during low tide late on Monday night and had begun to flood. The site is in the vicinity of the area where a Shivaji statue is planned to be built. A distress call was received at the Mumbai Main Police Control Room from the tugboat after which a police launch from Mahim reached the site around 9.15 pm on Monday. But they could not approach the tugboat due to rocks and shallow waters. The Indian Navy was then approached for assistance and the Joint Operations Centre was also contacted by the police. "At about 11.20 pm, a naval Seaking C helicopter, with divers on board, was launched from Naval Air Station Shikra. The helicopter was able to extract all four stranded men and returned to base by 11.45 pm," the Indian Navy said in a statement. The rescued men were provided a medical check up on arrival by a doctor of INS Shikra. The crew was safe and no injury was reported. 276 revisions sought in health edu bill Lawmakers have filed a total of 276 amendments to the Health Profession Education Bill-2016, with a majority seeking removal of the 10-year moratorium on establishing nursing and medical colleges in Kathmandu Valley. New Delhi: Inviting Indians investors to her country, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Tuesday said that after political transformation, socio-economic transformation is Nepal's top priority and it is keen to benefit from India's tremendous progress. "Nepal has undergone political transformation of historic proportion in recent years. Now socio-economic transformation is our topmost priority. If not backed by economic transformation, political transformation cannot be sustainable," Bhandari said at an event here organised by industry chambers CII, Ficci and Assocham. She said achievements made by India in economic, social, scientific and other fields are remarkable and Nepal is keen to benefit from India's success. "For Nepal, India remains the largest trading partner... We are closely engaged in SAARC, BIMSTEC and BBIN and these regional and sub-regional platforms could be made more effective in delivering results," she said. Emphasising that Nepal treats the private sector as a partner for development, Bhandari pointed out that Nepal has opened up almost every sector for foreign investment, including manufacturing, hydropower, tourism, services, mining and agro-based industries. "The government is committed to creating a climate conducive to investment. No discrimination is made between Nepali and Indian investors. Numerous similarities make us natural partners. "BIPPA (Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement) with India is under consideration for ratification while the double taxation avoidance agreement has already been signed," she said. She said that incentives for investment in Nepal are no less attractive than those in many other countries. "Ours is a virgin land for investment and any area is profitable. Importantly, location of Nepal in the middle of two thriving economies of the world offers greater advantages to potential investors," she said, adding that the abundance of water resources in her country has tremendous potential of utilisation. "We can put our efforts together to harness these resources for mutual benefit. Capitalising on this potential we can lead in the sector of cleaner technology and greener growth," Bhandari observed. Inviting the Indian businesses to invest in her country, Bhandari said a prosperous Nepal will also be "in the interest of our neighbourhood and beyond". In his address earlier, Nepal Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat tried to allay apprehensions about political stability in Nepal, saying there was a complete consensus over economic issues across political spectrum and that Nepal's economy may achieve a growth rate of 8-10 per cent in next few years. "You may wonder Nepal has different parties -- Communist Party, Maoist Centre etc. If you have some image, erase that. Left parties or right parties, we have a consensus. I am from Nepali Congress and my Prime Minister is from Maoist party, but we are together and there is a total consensus," he said. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh said that India's relations with Nepal are just not historical, they are deep and multi-layered and "cannot be defined in words". He said bilateral economic cooperation is beneficial for both countries. The Nepal President arrived here on Monday on a five-day state visit to India at the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee. Earlier in the day, she was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan here. Later, she paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Following this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on her. Later in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Bhandari at Rashtrapati Bhavan where she is staying. "We are honoured to welcome President Bidya Devi Bhandari of Nepal. Had fruitful talks with her," Modi tweeted. This is Bhandari's maiden foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015. She is accompanied by a 33-member delegation that includes Foreign Minister Mahat and Peace and Reconstruction Minister Sita Devi Yadav, five women MPs and senior officials. She will also visit Gujarat and Odisha before returning to Kathmandu on Friday. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that those who had looted the poor and the middle classes in the past will have to return what they had looted. "Indeed. There is no place for corruption in India. Those who looted the poor and middle classes will have to return what they have looted," Modi said on Twitter in response to a tweet by a follower. Modi's remarks came on a day liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in India for defaulting on over Rs 8,000 crore in bank loans, was arrested in London but later granted bail by a court. Modi's Twitter follower had written that "corruption not only robs us of hard-earned money but also of our dignity". Mallya, 61, was arrested following an extradition warrant from India. "Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud," a Metropolitan Police statement said. Seoul: US Vice President Mike Pence is expected to reassure Japan of American commitment to reining in North Korea`s nuclear and missile ambitions on Tuesday, after warning that US strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed the strength of its resolve. Pence took off for Tokyo from a US air base south of Seoul, where he assured leaders of the "iron-clad" alliance with the United States. He also warned the reclusive North, which has conducted a series of missile and nuclear tests in defiance of UN sanctions, that the "era of strategic patience" was over. He is expected to discuss Korean tensions with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, as well as hold economic talks with Finance Minister Taro Aso. North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea, and the United States and it showed no let-up in its defiance after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles in Pyongyang. North Korea`s deputy representative to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, accused the United States of creating "a situation where nuclear war could break out an any time" and said Pyongyang`s next nuclear test would take place "at a time and at a place where our headquarters deems necessary". North Korea`s Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol told the BBC that missiles would continue to be tested on "a weekly, monthly and yearly basis". South Korea`s acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, told a cabinet meeting on Tuesday that South Korea would strengthen its alliance with the United States and closely cooperate with China to rein in North Korea. "We should stay on our toes to protect our territory and people`s lives," Hwang said. The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. It has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead. TOUGHER SANCTIONS Pence said on Monday the world had witnessed US President Donald Trump`s resolve in the past two weeks, which saw a US missile attack on a Syrian airfield and the dropping of a powerful non-nuclear bomb on Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan. "North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region," Pence said. The Trump administration has said military action remains an option for dealing with North Korea. But, mindful that this would likely trigger massive retaliation and casualties in South Korea and Japan, U.S. officials say the Trump administration`s main focus is on tougher economic sanctions. Trump, when asked on Monday if he was considering military action, told Fox News Channel he didn`t want to "telegraph" his plans like the previous administration. US officials say tougher sanctions could include an oil embargo, a global ban on North Korea`s airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks doing business with Pyongyang. They say greater Chinese cooperation is vital. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said China had taken some "very helpful" steps, although it remained to be seen how effective these would be. Susan Thornton, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and China`s top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, agreed in a phone call on Sunday on the need for strict enforcement of U.N. resolutions and for international action to press Pyongyang "to cease provocative actions and recommit to peaceful denuclearisation". Thornton said any new North Korean nuclear test "would draw a pretty significant international response". Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeated China`s standard line that the crisis could only be resolved by diplomacy. "I`ve seen that the United States has reiterated it is willing to use political and diplomatic means to resolve this, as this is their first choice," he told reporters in Beijing. "Of course I think that any country will feel that political diplomatic means are of course the first choice." Pence`s economic discussions in Tokyo will be closely watched to see how hard a line Washington is prepared to take on trade. Trump campaigned on an "America First" platform, and has vowed to narrow big trade deficits with nations like China and Japan. However, Trump has also shown willingness to link trade to other issues, saying he would cut a better trade deal with China if it exerts influence on North Korea. China banned imports of North Korean coal, its most important export, in February, and Chinese media have raised the possibility of restricting oil shipments to the North. Impoverished North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. South Korea hosts 28,500 U.S. troops to counter the threat from the North. Delhi: It seems that people are paying heed to what Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged them to do a couple of months back. Addressing a gathering of ex-servicemen, war widows and students in Bhopal on the occasion of inauguration of Shaurya Smarak state war memorial, constructed by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, Prime Minister on October 14 last year had appealed to the nation to honour and respect soldiers who lay down their lives guarding the borders. He had said that in foreign countries, often when sitting at airports or railways stations one sees that soldiers are given standing ovation by civilians even when they just pass by. PM Modi had asked, "Can we make this effort slowly and develop a tradition to show respect to our defence forces?" He had added that such small factors make a huge difference in "our lives and soldiers' lives." Praising the armed forces for their bravery, he had said they were also among the first ones across the world when judged on the yardsticks of discipline and concern for fellow human beings. Given PM's appeal, a recent video of crowds breaking into applause on seeing Indian Army soldiers at Indira Gandhi International Airport will warm many a hearts. Watch the video below (Courtesy - @majorgauravarya): Jabalpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the concluding ceremony of Narmada river conservation awareness programme next month at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh, according to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. "'Namami Devi Narmade - Sewa Yatra,' would conclude on May 15 at Amarkantak from where it originates, in the presence of the Prime Minister," Chouhan said during a public gathering at Gwari Ghat near Jabalpur yesterday. Earlier, the state government had announced to conclude the campaign on May 11 after it began on December 11, 2016. Chouhan also said that the awareness campaign would be started again from July 2 wherein saplings would be planted on the banks of Narmada, flowing across various districts of the state. "A large number of saplings would be planted alongside banks of Narmada on both sides. An effective system would be evolved to ensure the security of these saplings," he said. Under the ongoing campaign, the government conducted a drive against liquor shops within five kilometres of Narmada's banks. A stretch of 1831-km on southern bank comprising 548 villages/towns and 1513-km on northern bank comprising 556 village/towns were covered under the campaign. The state government claims that this programme is one of the biggest river conservation campaigns in the world. New Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday held a strategy meeting with Congress leaders, MLAs and MPs to discuss measures to strenghten the party in states which will go for polls before the next general elections. According to sources, he had asked the party workers and leaders to focus more on strengthening the party at the grassroots level and internal democracy will be promoted. Gandhi also stressed on the need to strengthening the party cadres in all the states and revive the party at the panchayat, district, state and national level. He also called for suggestions to revitalise the party. There will be elections in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya before the next Lok Sabha polls in 2019. Sources said Gandhi hinted that there will more meetings in groups in future with party leaders The Congress lost badly in Uttar Pardesh and Uttarakhand in the recently held assembly elections. It also could not form governments in Manipur and Goa despite emerging as single-largest party. The only solace for Congress came from Punjab where it returned to power after 10 years. The Congress has suffered a series of reverses since 2014 Lok Sabha elections. New Delhi: Social media is getting flooded with the pictures of a restaurant. The name of the restaurant is 'Postik Restaurant'. Various media reports are claiming that this is Baba Ramdev's restaurant. Now, it has become a hot topic of social media and people are eager to know whether Ramdev opened this restaurant or is it a FAKE NEWS! Here is the TRUTH:- The owner of Postik Restaurant in Chandigarh has clarified that the restaurant is not Ramdev's. Colonel (Retd) Alok Sharma has denied rejected reports that the restaurant is of Patanjali, according to a report in India Today. Also, Alok Sharma clarified that they were only using Patanjali products. MENU Several media reports and social media user have shared pics of Postik Restaurant in Chandiragh and claimed that it is opened by Baba Ramdev. Baba Ramdev enters in restaurant business too. pic.twitter.com/X7tupCZnB4 ASHUTOSH MISHRA (@ashu3page) April 18, 2017 New Delhi: One of the most outstanding leaders of Indias First War of Independence, Tatya Tope, was hanged to death on April 18, 1859 at Shivpuri, Madhya Pradesh. The patriot of the highest order was captured by the British Forces on April 07, 1859 and after a hurried trial for waging war against the East India Company, he was hanged on April 18. On the occasion of his Martyrdom Day today, here are some of the facts about the patriot: Kabul: Thirteen Indian nationals who had joined Daesh were among those killed in the MOAB bombing in Afghanistan`s Achin district. Intelligence services in India have confirmed the death of their nationals, according to Tolo News. Citing a source, Afghanistan based Tolo News reported that alongside dozens of Pakistani nationals, twelve Tajikistanis and thirteen Indian nationals were also killed in the bombing. The source said that at least 13 Daesh commanders were among the 96 killed in the "Mother of All Bombs". The report also identified two militants killed in the raid as Commander Mohammad, an Indian national and Geeta, an Indian national. The report said that intelligence services in Tajikistan and India have confirmed the death of their citizens in the raid. The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb (MOAB), nicknamed the "mother of all bombs" was dropped last week in Afghanistan`s Nangarhar province to target a network of fortified underground tunnels that ISIS had been using to stage attacks on government forces in the province according to the US administration. The blast destroyed three underground tunnels as well as weapons and ammunition, but no civilians were hurt, Afghan and US officials claimed. The 30-foot-long, GPS-guided bomb is capable of destroying an area equivalent to nine city blocks. The US military previously estimated ISIS had 600 to 800 active fighters in the area. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he approved of the strike, and it was designed to support Afghan and US forces conducting clearance operations in the region. New Delhi: The US on Tuesday reaffirmed that India remained its "major defence partner" as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump's top security aide Lt Gen HR McMaster met to discuss military and counter-terror ties between the two countries. The visiting US National Security Adviser (NSA) called on PM Modi at his official residence, a day after he arrived here on the first visit by a senior White House official since President Trump took over in January. The US embassy said McMaster in his meeting with Modi that was also attended by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval "emphasised the importance of US-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed India's designation as a major defence partner". "The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counterterrorism cooperation," an embassy statement said. McMaster also met separately with Doval and Jaishankar. The embassy noted that the meetings were "productive". The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that "McMaster conveyed the greetings of President Trump" to Modi, who recalled "the importance attached by both sides to the strategic partnership and to stepping up India-US engagement across the board". The PMO statement said Modi and McMaster discussed peace and security in war-torn Afghanistan and the extended region, including the Middle East. "McMaster shared his perspective with (the) Prime Minister on the security situation in the extended region, including in Afghanistan, West Asia and the DPRK (North Korea). "During the conversation, they exchanged views on how both countries can work together to effectively address the challenge of terrorism and to advance regional peace, security and stability." The US official's trip was part of his South Asian sojourn that began over the weekend. On Monday, he visited Pakistan where he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz and the army chief, stressing "the need to confront terrorism in all its forms". He also visited Afghanistan to review efforts at stabilizing the country. "The visit was a part of regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad," said the embassy statement. The trip assumes significance amid growing US concerns over terror threats emanating from a resurgent Taliban and rising Islamic State's influence in Afghanistan, where America has some 8,400 troops. On Thursday, the US military dropped what it said was the "Mother of All Bombs" -- the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast -- on suspected Islamic State hideouts in Afghanistan. The first use of the bomb in a combat killed some 95 militants, the US said. 3 ex-NA officials convicted of killing Maina Sunuwar Kavre District Court has sentenced three former Nepal Army officials to life for killing Maina Sunuwar in detention in 2004. New Delhi: This video becomes extremely relevant today as liquor baron and bank defaulter Vijay Mallya has been arrested in London. Attacking bank defaulters, PM Narendra Modi had said that nobody will be spared. "Koi bachne wale nahi hai," PM Modi had committed. WATCH:- Vijay Mallya case Industrialist Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, was arrested on Tuesday in the UK by Scotland Yard on India's request for his extradition. Mallya, 61, will be appearing in Westminster Magistrates' Court in London later in the day. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8. While handing over the request, India had asserted that it has a "legitimate" case against Mallya and maintained that if an extradition request is honoured, it would show British "sensitivity towards our concerns". Last month, setting in motion the process of extradition of Mallya, the British government had certified India's request and sent it to a district judge for further action. The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps including a decision by the judge whether to issue a warrant of arrest. In case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a final decision is taken by the secretary of state. The wanted person has a right to appeal to the higher courts against any decision all the way up to the supreme court. Earlier in January this year, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday granted two months to Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to clean up two water tanks at the historic Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala. A bench, comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justices DY Chandrachud and SK Kaul, recorded the statement of a KWA official of the administrative committee of the famous temple, who said that the cleaning of the ponds would be completed within the stipulated time. The bench considered the submission of senior advocate Gopal Subramaniam, who is assisting the court as an amicus curiae, that besides cleaning the water tanks, there was a need to take measures to stop sewage and construction debris from flowing into them. The bench, which has fixed the matter for further hearing on May 3, has also asked the temple administration committee to file its fortnightly status report on or before May 2. Earlier, the court had asked the amicus curiae to keep tabs on the timely completion of the cleaning work. The government has fixed an estimate of Rs 28 lakh for the work. The bench had said it wanted the cleaning work to conclude before the onset of monsoon. Subramanium had submitted that the temple tanks were filled with filth and the priests were finding it increasingly difficult to take a dip before performing the religious tasks. The state government had told the court that it has sanctioned a project on March 18 to ensure that "drainage, sewerage and construction debris" do not enter the premises of the temple and the two tanks associated with it. The court had then asked the government not to outsource the task. "Given the importance of the issue, we hereby direct the Kerala Water Authority to undertake the project on its own, without outsourcing it. Accordingly, it will not be essential for the Kerala Water Authority to notify the tenders. "To ensure that the contemplated project is completed before the ensuing monsoon, we consider it just and appropriate to direct the Kerala Water Authority to commence the works forthwith," it had said. Imphal: Unidentified gunmen, suspected to be Kuki tribal militants, opened fire at oil tankers on Tuesday morning in Manipur's Kangpokpi district. The attack caused no casualty, the police said. Some trucks and tankers coming from Assam towards Imphal were ambushed by the militants using automatic rifles. The personnel of CRPF escorting the convoy opened fire in retaliation. The exchange of fire took place at 5.45 a.m. along the National Highway No. 37, about 60 km from here, the police said. Two tankers carrying petrol and diesel were hit by the militants' bullets. Police units were rushed to the spot after the information about the ambush was received. However, the militants managed to escape. The police officials suspect that it could be an extortion threat to the oil transporters. "If the fuel had exploded on bullet impact there would have been casualties. We strongly condemn the attack," T. Kipgen, a resident said. Later, the trucks and oil tankers resumed journey towards Imphal. "A few jeep-loads of CRPF personnel cannot ensure safety to over 600 vehicles along the mountain highway. We had welcomed the government's plan to deploy Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) and police commandos along the vulnerable spots of the two national highways," Laishram Chinglien, a driver, said. "However, the All Naga Students' Association Manipur (ANSAM) has strongly objected to it and the government cannot say or do anything," he added. Officials said that the government plan has been staved off. In the past, police commandos and IRB personnel had to be recalled from Ukhrul and some other tribal dominated districts. ANSAM and other Naga groups say that they object to the government plan to "militarise the lands of the Nagas". The United Naga Council (UNC) had imposed an economic blockade for more than four months along the two highways which are the lifelines of Manipur. The UNC was protesting the creation of seven new districts on the "lands of the Nagas" without consulting the stakeholders. Chief Minister N. Biren Singh held a meeting with his cabinet colleagues on Tuesday morning to review the situation. Official sources said that security along the highways would be beefed up, without which the drivers may refuse to ply. The IRB personnel and police commandos may be deployed shortly. New Delhi: Indian cinema's biggest star of all times, Amitabh Bachchan has a huge filmography to his credit. Not just that, the megastar is an avid social media user, who keeps his Twitter family happy with recent posts and pictures. Big B also writes a blog on regular basis and often keeps his fans in the know of what he is doing and that too with pictures. Recently, he wrote in his blog about an advertisement shoot where he bumped into none other than YRF ki 'Malkin' Rani Mukerji. And shared a picture of the two which is simple adorable! Big B in this blog wrote: And while I go through the myriad expression changes I bump into the malkin of YRF .. the Rani ..Who I meet after ages .. after marriage and child anyway .. And so goes the day and our life .. disguising our shapes and sizes .. hiding the real from the unreal .. never allowing the insides to reveal the outsides .. never .. no matter what the confessions, the honest blurt outs, the compelling circumstances .. there shall always be that inner that no one shall ever discover .. and long may that last .. Good night How about a film together? New Delhi: Orbital ATK's Cygnus spacecraft launches aboard a ULA Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Cygnus will deliver several tons of cargo including crew supplies and science experiments to the International Space Station. The unmanned Cygnus cargo craft is carrying more than 7,600 pounds of science research, crew supplies and hardware to the orbiting laboratory in support of the crew members. NASA Television is providing multiple broadcasts around launch activities, beginning at 10 a.m. EDT on air and streaming at www.nasa.gov/ntv. These events will also stream live on the agencys website at www.nasa.gov/live. Also, ten minutes prior to liftoff, NASA TVs YouTube channel will debut full, 360 coverage of the launch at http://youtube.com/nasatelevision. Meanwhile, forecasters predict a 90 percent chance of go conditions for today's launch of Orbital ATK CRS-7 mission, with the possibility of cumulus clouds posing the primary concern. We all know Burma as a neighbour and friend that was under the British rule along with Colonial India; a country famous for Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, precious stones like rubies, lungis and of course the old Bollywood song 'Mere piya gaye Rangoon'. However, very few know much about ancient Burma and how the land took its name because of its close association with the Hindu deity Brahma, considered to be the creator of the universe. In fact, the country was called Brahma Desha till the British turned it into Burma as a phonetic mispronunciation. Also, Myanmar in local parlance is a transliteration of Brahma where the alphabets b and m are interchangeable. These truths and more were revealed by Ram Katha exponent Morari Bapu, who travelled to Yangon to speak on the subject of Manas Brahma. Shedding fresh light on the Hindu God and our perception of him, the saint related interesting tales to bring out multifaceted aspects of the deitys personality. Bapu narrated how once Sanat Kumars, the manas putras (sons born out of mind) of Brahma approached their father and put forth a query. The sages, who are perpetually in boyhood stage of life, wanted to know a simple solution for the people of Kaliyuga (fourth and current epoch) to transcend the cycle of birth and death. Sanat Kumars felt an answer to this basic question would be in the larger welfare of worldly beings, who will find remedies through what Brahma says and which in turn can be sung and communicated by sage Narada. Surprisingly, what Brahma said in response was simple. But then it is in simplicity that all essence of life can be found. He expounded that the people on earth need not do anything but sankirtan (singing pastimes of the Lord). The four types of sankirtanas that sadhakas (aspirants) can do were explained as follows: Guna Sankirtan Devotees can sing about the characteristics of divine personalities like Ram and Krishna. Karma Sankirtan They can sing about their leelas the various pastimes and activities that the avatars did during their lifespan on earth. Bhava Sankirtan Is to just remember with deep feeling the largesse and generosity of God and our Sadaguru. Naam Sankirtan To constantly chant Gods name is the most important. Brahma explained that while humans may skip doing the aforementioned categories of sankirtan, they must never stop Naam Jap or chanting of the holy name. The answer to the question also reveals the trait of Bhakti (devotion) that seems to be ingrained in Brahma. As per popular perception, Brahma is observed to be a serious and dry person. He is known more for his Karma the act of creating this world, and Gyana (Knowledge) because of his high level of intellectual prowess. But Morari Bapu brought out Brahmas side of devotion by citing instances from Ram Charit Manas. After the battle in Lanka is over and Ravana has obtained Nirvana, deities make a beeline to sing eulogies of Ram. However, after the demigods had finished, Brahma once again began singing the praises of Ram, asking him to grant him love in His lotus feet. Nripa nayaka de bardanamidam, charan ambuja prema sada subhadam 11 (Lanka .Ch: 111) (Brahma says: Of King of Kings, grant me this boon that I may cherish loving devotion to your lotus feet, which is a perennial source of blessings.) Citing earlier episodes when Brahma displayed devotion, Bapu said Bidhi had washed the feet of the Lord with his tears when in Vamana Avatar his foot had reached Brahma Lok (the abode of Brahma). Stressing on the need for inculcating Bhakti, Bapu insisted that our self cannot be cleansed without tears of love and devotion. Tears wash our inner selves and, slowly, we lose ourselves in divine elixir. It is when nothing is left for us no brother, sister, relative, friend, thought, action, words, buddhi (intellect), chit (mind), ego. When there is an experience of complete emptiness, absolute nothingness; it is then that there is something. That something is Divine Grace. The true love of God param prem (supreme love). Chennai: In a big development, an influential section of Sasikala loyalists led by Chief Minister EK Palaniswami on Tuesday revolted against the AIADMK general secretary, resolving to 'delink' the party and the government from her family. "There was a consensus to delink the government and the party from TTV Dinakaran and the family he belongs to. This is the view of the basic partymen, district secretaries, MLAs and Ministers," Finance Minister D Jayakumar told reporters after a "consultative" meeting chaired by Palaniswami and attended by several ministers. Dinakaran is deputy general secretary of AIADMK (Amma) faction. "To put it directly, it is the desire of people and party workers that Dinakaran and his family should be sidelined," Jayakumar said. He added, "It has been decided to lead the party and government sans Dinakaran and his family and today the aspirations of people and party workers have been fulfilled and we are announcing this to them." A committee will be formed soon to run the day-to-day affairs of the party, he said. However, Sattur MLA SG Subramanian, told reporters that Dinakaran was their leader and the party deputy general secretary. The legislators were bound only by his directions, he said. Earlier in the day, two other MLAs P Vetrivel and Andipatti legislator Thanga Tamil Selvan had voiced support for Dinakaran. In the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Sasikala faction earlier enjoyed the support of 122 MLAs and Panneerselvam 12. However, the present tally is not clear. The development came on a day when Panneerselvam, a staunch loyalist of the late CM J Jayalalithaa and leader of the rival AIADMK faction, made merger talks between the two camps conditional to the ouster of Sasikala and her nephew. Though Panneerselvam commanded the support of just about 12 of the party's 134 MLAs, there has been public anger among the AIADMK supporters who hold Sasikala responsible for Jayalalithaa's conviction in a disproportionate assets case. She hitherto had the backing of the majority in both the party organisation and among the legislators. Meanwhile, mooting a patch-up with Panneerselvam, senior party leader M Thambidurai today said it will be in the party's interest if both factions merge to take forward the legacy of late Jayalalitha. Ruling out any change of CM in the state for this possible patch up, Thambidurai said people from the opposing faction may be included in the organisation. "I have initiated talks with the Panneerselvam camp. We all want to continue the legacy of late Amma and at the same time want to save the party's symbol of two leaves. So in this largest interest, I think both factions should come together," he said here, adding this is what party workers also want, as per PTI. Last month, the Election Commission had frozen the 'two leaves' symbol of the AIADMK as part of its interim order. Both AIADMK factions led by Panneerselvam and Sasikala respectively were asked to come up with new party names as well as party symbols. Sasikala is in jail in connection with the DA case in which Jayalalithaa was the main accused. In a related development, the Delhi Police had booked Dinakaran yesterday for allegedly trying to bribe an Election Commission official for obtaining the party symbol for his faction following the arrest of an alleged middleman. Dinakaran, who is a nephew of VK Sasikala has denied the allegation against him, calling it false. The crime branch of the Delhi police has claimed that Dinakaran was trying to ensure that his party was allotted the AIADMK poll symbol of two leaves for the RK Nagar bypolls. The bypolls to the RK Nagar Assembly constituency was scheduled for April 12, but the EC cancelled it, saying the electoral process had been "seriously vitiated" by parties through the use of money power. The bypoll was necessitated following the death of Jayalalithaa on December 5. Dhinakaran was the candidate of the Sasikala faction. (With Agency inputs) Chennai: Two months after he was shunted out, Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday brought back senior IPS officer KN Sathiyamurthy, posting him as IG, Intelligence. He had been earlier kept under 'compulsory wait,' after his transfer on February 12, 2017 at the peak of political churning in the state following former chief minister O Panneerselvam's revolt against AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala. "KN Sathiyamurthy, IPS, Inspector General of Police, on compulsory wait is posted as Inspector General of Police, Intelligence, Chennai, in the existing vacancy," Additional Chief Secretary Niranjan Mardi said in a police note. Sathiyamurthy was on February 12 replaced by S Davidson Devasirvatham. However, Devasirvatham was shunted as IG, Intelligence within 10 days of his appointment. Sathiyamurthy was appointed as IG of Intelligence in place of Devasirvatham in December 2015 by the AIADMK government. Lucknow: Yogi Adityanath's government on Tuesday took the decision to name Agra airport after RSS ideologue Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. On the other hand, the upcoming civil terminal at Gorakhpur Air Force station would be named after Mahayogi Gorakhnath who is known as the founder of the Nath monastic movement. These decisions were taken in a meeting of the Uttar Pradesh state Cabinet headed by the CM. "A decision was taken to name the civil terminal being constructed in Gorakhpur Air Force Station after Maha Yogi Gorakhnathji. Likewise, Agra airport will now be named after Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay," the state power minister Shrikant Sharma told reporters. Significantly, Yogi Adityanth himself is the head priest of the Gorakhnath Mutt, a leading centre of the Nath monastic order. The state Cabinet also approved another change in nomenclature today. The 'Viklang Kalyan Vibhag' (Handicap Welfare Department) would be renamed as the 'Divyang Jan Shasaktikaran Vibhag' ('Divyang' Empowerment Department), Sharma said, as per PTI. 'Divyang' is a term used for the differently-abled. Earlier, on April 11, Yogi had ordered 18-hour power supply in villages, 20-hour at tehsil level and in Bundelkhand region besides deciding to ink a pact with the Centre to ensure electricity in all UP villages by 2019 in a meeting of the state Cabinet chaired by the CM, the second since he assumed office. At that time, the meeting had also decided that district headquarters would get 24-hour power supply, Sharma had told reporters then after the three-hour-long meeting. The CM had directed the power department to ensure that defective or burnt transformers were replaced expeditiously in rural areas so that agricultural operations do not suffer. (With PTI inputs) RCA RecordsCarly Rae Jepsen is featured on a new song by Jack Antonoffs band Bleachers, called Hate That You Know Me. She provides backing vocals on the upbeat 80s-inspired track, which was co-written by Julia Michaels. Its the latest song to be shared from Bleachers upcoming sophomore album, Gone Now. Hate That You Know Me follows the albums lead single, Dont Take the Money, which was co-written by Lorde and features her backing vocals. Jack Antonoff also co-wrote and co-produced Lorde's latest single, "Green Light." Jack has also co-written hits for Rachel Platten, Sara Bareilles and Taylor Swift, including Taylor's hit duet with Zayn Malik, "I Don't Wanna Live Forever." Gone Now will arrive in full on June 2. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Aid fragmentation The Development Cooperation Report 2015-16 published on Sunday by the Ministry of Finance shows that aid agencies working in Nepal have not stopped scattering financial resources in smaller projects. Such fragmentation of financial assistance reduces aid effectiveness and raises transaction costs of projects. Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is expected to chair third meeting of his Cabinet on Tuesday. The meeting will be held at the Lok Bhawan in the state capital at 5 pm. Ahead of the crucial Cabinet meeting, CM Adityanath has issued a model code of conduct for UP government ministers and asked them to strictly abide by the new regulation. During today's meeting, the Yogi Adityanath government is expected to formulate states new transfer policy among other key proposals. Sources claim that the Yogi Adityanath government's new transfer policy may fix the divisional term for state officials to 7 years while the tenure for district-level officials could be reduced to 5 years. The Chief Minister may seek a detailed report from his ministers about the work done so far in their respective departments. The UP Cabinet may also fix dates for future state assembly sessions. The Yogi Adityanath Cabinet may also make e-tendering compulsory for procuring government contracts. The cabinet may also announce changes in the stamp registration procedures during today's meet. Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government can nominate an agency to study the feasibility of a metro project in CMs home city Gorakhpur. Earlier in the second Cabinet meet, the government had approved the proposal to supply 24-hour power to district headquarters in the state while in the maiden Cabinet meeting the government unanimously decided to waive off farm loans up to Rs One lakh for small and marginal farmers. London: British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for an early election on June 8, saying she needed to strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the European Union by bolstering support for her Brexit plan. Standing outside her Downing Street office, May said she had been reluctant to ask parliament to back her move to bring forward the poll from 2020. But, after thinking "long and hard" during a walking holiday, she decided it was necessary to try to stop the opposition "jeopardising" her work on Brexit. Some were surprised by May`s move - the Conservative prime minister has repeatedly said she does not want to be distracted by campaigning - but opinion polls give her a strong lead and the British economy has so far defied predictions of a slowdown. Growth is faster than expected, consumer confidence is high and unemployment low, but the economy may be poised to pass its peak as consumers start to feel the strain from rising prices. Sterling rose to a four-month high against the U.S. dollar after the market bet that May would strengthen her parliamentary majority, which Deutsche Bank said would be a "game-changer" for the pound. But the stronger pound helped push Britain`s main share index to close down 2.3 percent, its biggest one-day loss since June 27, days after Britain voted to leave the EU. "It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond," May said. "Before Easter I spent a few days walking in Wales with my husband, thought about this long and hard, and came to the decision that to provide that stability and certainty for the future that this was the way to do it, to have an election," she told ITV news. RUNAWAY LEAD Britain joins a list of western European countries scheduled to hold elections this year. Votes in France in April and May, and in Germany in September, have the potential to reshape the political landscape around the two years of Brexit talks with the EU expected to start in earnest in June. May is capitalising on her runaway lead in the opinion polls and she could win around 100 additional seats in parliament. A survey conducted after May`s announcement put her Conservative Party 21 points ahead of the main opposition Labour Party. The ICM/Guardian poll of 1,000 people put Conservative support at 46 percent, with Labour on 25 percent and the Liberal Democrats on 11 percent. May`s personal ratings also dwarf those of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with 50 percent of those asked by pollster YouGov saying she would make the best prime minister. Corbyn wins only 14 percent. May, a former interior minister, was appointed prime minister after Britain`s vote to leave the European Union forced the resignation of her predecessor David Cameron. The election will be a vote on her performance so far. She is counting on winning the support of British voters, who backed Brexit by 52-48 percent. Some Britons questioned on social media whether they wanted to cast yet another ballot less than a year after the June referendum and two years after they voted in the last parliamentary poll. However, the ICM/Guardian poll found that around three in five respondents said May was right to call an election. Her spokesman said she had the backing of her top team of ministers and had informed Queen Elizabeth of her plans on Monday. Business groups largely welcomed the move, while expressing concern that the government`s focus may stray away from the economy, which May said had defied "predictions of immediate financial and economic danger". Underlining divisions the vote is unlikely to mend, however, Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of the Scottish government, described the decision as a "huge political miscalculation" that could help her efforts to hold a new independence referendum. In Brussels, European Council President Donald Tusk, who is running the negotiations with Britain, said the election was a Brexit plot twist worthy of Alfred Hitchcock - the late film director known as the master of suspense. Before holding the early election, May must win the support of two-thirds of the parliament in a vote on Wednesday, which looked certain after Labour and the Liberal Democrats said they would vote in favour. Labour`s Corbyn welcomed the election plan, but some of his lawmakers doubted whether it was a good move, fearing they could lose their seats. At least two said they would not run. If the opinion polls are right, May will win a new mandate for a series of reforms she wants to make and also a vote of confidence in a vision for Brexit which sees the country outside the EU`s single market. "The decision facing the country will be all about leadership," May said. "What they are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home, and it weakens the government`s negotiating position in Europe." Beijing: Countries affected by North Korea`s nuclear arms programme will prefer a peaceful resolution of the issue, China`s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday. In a press conference, Wang said China stays committed to the goal of denuclearisation in the Korean peninsula and would prefer the use of peaceful and diplomatic means to resolve the issue, Efe news reported. "I think this is a common aspiration of the countries and a realistic way to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue," he said. "In fact, the US has also reaffirmed its willingness to stick to diplomacy and peaceful means in settling this issue. This is the first option although there are other options on the table," Wang added. The minister China considers the crisis an opportunity to resume dialogue and negotiations. North Korea`s Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Kim In Ryong, warned on Monday night that the US was pushing the situation to the brink of war. "It has created a situation where a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment." he said. Beijing: China today sought to allay India's concerns over the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, saying it has "no direct link" with the Kashmir issue and New Delhi was welcome to participate in the 'One Belt One Road' project. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, at press conference on the One belt One Road (OBOR) summit to be held here from May 14-15, said, "Although (an) Indian leader will not be here but India will have a representative" at the OBOR summit. "We welcome (the) Indian representative, members of the Indian business community and financial community to take part in the discussions at the summit," Wang said. 28 Presidents and Prime Ministers were expected to take part in the summit, he said. "OBOR is for common development of all participants. So we welcome India to take active part in building the OBOR," he said. Wang asserted that the purpose of the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor was economic. "It is for the purpose of serving economic cooperation and development," he said. "It has no direct link with political and boundary dispute. Certain sections of the CPEC have raised concern on the Indian side," Wang said. These disputes are not the direct result of the economic corridor and economic activities. China has been providing support to Pakistan in these areas for many years, Wang said. "As for the dispute of Kashmir, China's position remained unchanged. Also, CPEC has no relationship with the dispute in certain regions. I want to reaffirm to the Indian friend if India wants to take part in the OBOR, there are many channels and ways," the Chinese Foreign Minister said. China has taken note of India's participation in the Bangladesh, China, India, Myanmar (BCIM) which is part of OBOR, he said. "We have taken note of India's positive attitude on this," Wang said. India has reservations over OBOR as the CPEC is part of it and passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Washington: US President Donald Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him hours after his narrow victory in a referendum that will grant him sweeping new powers, the White House announced. During Sunday`s vote, about 51.35 per cent backed the constitutional changes, compared to 48.65 per cent for the "no" side. The constitutional reforms are set to grant more powers to Erdogan, effecting a changeover from parliamentary to the presidential form of government in Turkey. The amendments to the constitution are likely to allow him to hold office for two more terms until 2029. According to a White House statement, Trump spoke on Monday with Erdogan, discussing the developments in Syria, and Washington`s response to the chemical attack. They "agreed on the importance of holding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable", the Guardian reported. Asked during the White House daily briefing to respond to Erdogan`s accumulation of power after the referendum, Press Secretary Sean Spicer echoed the State Department statement and said he would withhold reaction until a final report is published. "Before we start getting into their governing system, let this commission get through its work," Spicer said. Trump also spoke to Erdogan in February, reports the Guardian. On the call, Trump reaffirmed Turkey as a strong NATO ally and a partner in the fight against the Islamic State terror group. The leaders again discussed the campaign against the group on Monday and agreed on "the need to cooperate against all groups that use terrorism to achieve their ends", the White House added. Moscow: Officials from Russia's Foreign Ministry have denied knowledge of reports that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State jihadist group, has been arrested in Syria, Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw said on Tuesday. "We are not aware of the arrest of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, 'caliph' of the Islamic State, and have not received any information or clarification in this regard," staff from the Foreign Ministry's media office were cited as telling Rudaw. Russian media had earlier cited the European Department for Security and Information (DESI) non-profit organisation as saying it received information that Baghdadi had been arrested in an operation coordinated between Russian and Syrian government intelligence agencies. Iraqi news site Ara News cited Iraqi military intelligence officials on Monday as saying Baghdadi had recently crossed to Syria from Iraq after being injured in an airstrike by the US-led coalition in the northwest. The Iraqi military intelligence unit, known as Suqur al-Istikhbarat , said that the recent reports about al-Baghdadi's death were inaccurate and said he is still alive, Ara News reported. Darwin: US Marines began arriving in Australia`s tropical north on Tuesday for a six-month deployment during which they will conduct exercises with Australian and visiting Chinese forces. The 25-year annual deployment programme started by former US president Barack Obama in 2011 is part of the US "pivot" to Asia at a time of increased assertiveness by China. "I think that the commitment that we`ve taken to put a task force here with a conversation to get larger over the years says that we do think this is an important region," said Marines` commander Lieutenant Colonel Brian Middleton after the first troops arrived in Darwin in the Northern Territory. "Being close to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, the Indo-Pacific position has always been important." Middleton said the marines would conduct an "important exercise alongside our Chinese partners" and Australia. The strength of this year`s deployment at 1,250 troops lags well behind the initial plan for the deployment to reach 2,500 Marines this year, but it will see the largest US aircraft contingent to Australia in peacetime history. Middleton said the 13 aircraft, including tilt-rotor Ospreys, Super Cobra helicopters and Huey helicopters, triple the four aircraft in past deployments, was a "tangible kind of sign of our commitment to the region and to this partnership". He said the decision to send the aircraft pre-dated the recent escalation in tensions over North Korea. "Regardless, I think it is just a good move any time we can strengthen the long standing partnership and alliance between our two countries. We stand ready to fight and win the night always." US President Donald Trump has ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to sail to near the Korean peninsula as a show of force aimed at deterring North Korea from conducting more missiles tests. Pyongyang launched a failed missile test on Sunday and has warned Washington against taking military action against North Korea. The Australia-US-China military exercises are also aimed at Australia charting a course between its most important security ally the United States and its biggest trading partner China. Australia has drawn rebukes from both superpowers as it tries to strike a balanced stance on the disputed South China Sea, with China criticising Australian freedom-of-navigation flights in the area and a senior US soldier calling on Australia to do more there. YEREVAN, APRIL 15, ARMENPRESS. Despite Israel denies the Armenian Genocide, the people of Israel stand with Armenians. The Jewish people definitely recognize the Armenian Genocide, Israeli researcher and lecturer, Genocide scholar Yair Auron told Armenpress. I can say for sure that Israel will not recognize the Armenian Genocide this year and during the upcoming years, which is a deep pain and shame for me. But the people of Israel have the same position as me and stand with us for sure. Still 30 years ago the people had no idea about the Armenian Genocide, but now everybody knows. Since those years this issue has been covered by many news outlets and TV programs. And the people by learning about that have come to the conclusion that the genocide of Armenians has really taken place. Today only the genocide of Jews is a subject of studies at Jewish universities and schools, but the Armenian Genocide is bypassed. But at the university where I am a professor a branch has already been opened where the Armenian Genocide is touched upon and discussed, Yair Auron said, adding that already hundreds of students have graduated from the university who know about the Armenian Genocide. The genocide scholars interest in the Medz Yeghern (Armenian Genocide) arose when he first read in a news outlet in 1986 that Israel support Turkey and denies the Armenian Genocide. He could not understand the denialism of his country. Yair Auron thinks Armenians should go on with their struggle until other countries and peoples also recognize the genocide. Referring to the position of the international community Yair Auron noted that nearly 200 countries are UN member states, while only 2-3 dozens of them have recognized the Armenian Genocide, which is a great shame for humanity. Anna Grigoryan Another way The Nepal governments handling of the Tarai issue is like Philippine President Duartes handling of drug addicts: YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. The National Security Council of Turkey decided to extend the state of emergency in the country with another three months. The state of emergency will be extended from April 19, Turkeys Vice PM Numan Kurtulmus said, according to Anadolu. The decision will come into force after being confirmed by the Parliament. A state of emergency was declared in Turkey following the July 15 2016 military coup attempt. The 90-day state of emergency was extended two times by the National Security Council, once on October 11, and again on January 3. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Turkeys President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump, Anadolu reported. President Trump congratulated Erdogan on the victory in the April 16 constitutional referendum. The two Presidents discussed the recent developments in Syria. They expressed their commitment to continue the cooperation in fight against the Islamic State terrorist group. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his anger over the report published by the OSCE observer mission on the constitutional referendum, Anadolu reports. During an event at the presidential palace, Erdogan urged the OSCE to know its place. There is an organization called OSCE in Europe. Now they are preparing a report stating that the elections in Turkey passed in this or that way. First you should know your place! We will not consider, see or recognize your political report. We will go on our own way, Erdogan said. The Turkish Foreign Ministry also issued a statement over the OSCE report, considering unacceptable the reports description that the referendum was not in accordance with international standards. On April 17 the OSCE issued a statement on Turkeys constitutional referendum results. The statement said the referendum was contested on an unlevel playing field, and the two sides in the campaign did not have equal opportunities. In general, the referendum did not live up to Council of Europe standards. The legal framework was inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic process, Cezar Florin Preda, Head of the delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said. The referendum took place in a political environment in which fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed under the state of emergency, and the two sides did not have equal opportunities to make their case to the voters, said Tana de Zulueta, Head of the ODIHR limited election observation mission. Our monitoring showed the Yes campaign dominated the media coverage and this, along with restrictions on the media, the arrests of journalists and the closure of media outlets, reduced voters access to a plurality of views. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Negotiations over a free trade agreement between Iran and the EEU continue. Anna Ohanyan, spokesperson of Armenias minister of economic development and investments, told ARMENPRESS the talks are in a rather intense phase. Ohanyan denied media reports saying the Armenian government will step back from the idea of creating a free economic zone on the Armenia-Iran border. Soon we will witness the signing of the document with the operator of the free economic zone according to the defined procedure, she added. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenian Ambassador to Iran H.E. Artashes Tumanyan had a meeting on April 16 with Nasrollah Pezhmanfar, chairman of the Culture Affairs Committee of the Iranian Parliament, the foreign ministry told ARMENPRESS. Pezhmanfar welcomed the Ambassador and mentioned the existing historical and cultural similarities between the Armenian and Iranian peoples create strong grounds for the development of relations in different spheres, and stressed that his committee is willing to assist in enhancing cooperation with Armenia in the cultural sector. Ambassador Tumanyan was pleased the mention the great attention towards cultural legacies of the two countries by state agencies, which is proved by the mindful attitude towards the Armenian Churches and cultural monuments in Iran and the Blue Mosque in Yerevan. The meeting also focused on further enhancing the cooperation in the field of culture as well as between relevant committees of the parliaments of Armenia and Iran. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. The demonstrations continued in Turkey in the evening of April 17 against the results of the constitutional referendum held in the country on April 16, reports Armenpress. Major protests were held in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya and Eskisehir. The protesters especially expressed their complaint that the Supreme Electoral Council considered the ballots with no stamps as valid. They kept posters entitled No, we will win, urging to annul the referendum results. According to Cumhuriyet newspaper, a large number of people were detained during the protests in Izmir and Antalya. On April 16 constitutional referendum was held in Turkey. 51.41% of people voted yes, and 48.59% voted no in the referendum on constitutional changes. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. One of the frontrunners in the French presidential election, far-right leader Marine Le Pen, says she would suspend all legal immigration to France, BBC reports. The National Front (FN) leader told a rally that she wanted to stop "a mad, uncontrolled situation". Polls suggest she is neck and neck with centrist Emmanuel Macron, ahead of Sunday's first round of voting. Mr Macron warned voters that choosing far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon would be like Cuba without the sun. Opinion polls predict that Mr Macron and Ms Le Pen will reach the second round on 7 May. But it looks like a very tight race. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. A group of public figures, including the first Ombudsman of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan and environmentalist Karine Danielyan, addressed a letter to the UN Secretary General against Polad Bulbuloglu, Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Russia, nominated for the post of UNESCO Director General. In addition to the UN Secretary General, the letter has been sent to all members of UNESCO council, as well as to those countries which have nominated candidates. Representatives of another 8 countries are nominated for the position. Against legal Arbitrariness NGO president Larisa Alaverdyan said this fact is important not only for the UN Secretary General, but also for other states. UNESCO has gained rather great reputation during decades of work, as a champion of cultural, scientific and other values. With this letter, we expect that in no event a leader be elected who is actively struggling against these values, Alaverdyan said. According to her, it seems like many are joining in sending the letters, not only organizations but also individuals. Karine Danielyan, president of the For Sustainable Human Development NGO and member of the Public Council, said Azerbaijanis and Turks are putting all efforts in order to enter international structures, especially the UN staff. Our organization cooperates with UN structures, and when we go to big events, conferences or discussions, then we always see that the organizer or secretary of the given event is either a Turk or an Azerbaijani. Everywhere, even in case of very little chance, issues are solved in favor of Azerbaijan and to the detriment of Armenia, Danielyan said. She was sad to mention that Armenia, having a big Diaspora, doesnt take action in this direction. Media expert Samvel Martirosyan urged to bombard the UN, UNESCO head and member-state offices with letters, in order to strengthen impact. Azerbaijans Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu is infamous for his belligerent rhetoric and Anti-Armenianism. In an interview to Govorit Moskva, he said the diplomatic ways of settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict proved to be ineffective, therefore Baku is ready to choose the military path. In addition, when Bulbuloglu served as Culture Minister of Azerbaijan, the Armenian cross-stones were destroyed in Nakhijevan. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. The overall picture of Turkeys constitutional referendum showed the societys being as separated and polarized, expert on Turkish studies Levon Hovsepyan told reporters, Armenpress reported. Previously as well that polarization existed, however, now it more intensified. I think that situation will still have various manifestations in future, he said. Presenting the voting picture, Levon Hovsepyan said this time the ruling party failed in big cities, mainly, in Istanbul and Ankara. Whereas previously the people of both cities have always voted in favor of the ruling party. Diana Yayloyan representative of Foreign Policy Department at the Economic Policy Research Foundation, said via skype that the elections differ from the previous ones with a one important factor. The elections were organized in such a political atmosphere when state of emergency is declared in the country. Previously it was stated that this will be eliminated soon, however, yesterday we were reported that the state of emergency will continue for several months in the country, she said, adding that a major part of the society is disappointed with the referendum results. Bagrat Estukyan editor of the Armenian language department of Agos weekly, who also joined the discussion via Skype, said this referendum will not significantly affect the daily life of Turkeys minorities. These reforms do not create difficulties specifically to us. In other words, the problem relates to the entire country, the state. Turkey took the way to the West, wanted to be closer to the Western customs, however, we see that in recent years it completely reversed from that path. Public as well reacts to this. All these affect both the countrys foreign policy and economy. Investors now are very cautious towards Turkey, the money for tourism significantly decreased. Considering all these, we all have a serious concern over the countrys future, Bagrat Estukian said, adding that majority of Armenians in Turkey are in favor of no. On April 16 constitutional referendum was held in Turkey. 51.41% of people voted yes, and 48.59% voted no in the referendum on constitutional changes. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet after Alexander Spendiaryan has acquired virtual decorations, Culture Minister Armen Amiryan told reporters on April 18, Armenpress reports. During this year the Opera Theatre will be presented with virtual decorations which is a significant achievement. Heavy and expensive decors will be replaced by virtual ones which are more accessible. This option is very accepted, and many opera theatres lack it, the Minister said. The Minister also informed that the Theatre has purchased 5 performances from the European theatres which will be presented soon to the Armenian public. Commenting on the plan to establish new infrastructures in the Opera building, Amiryan said his plans cannot change. I should call on our public to change its attitude concerning the infrastructures that we plan to build in the Opera Theatre. It is necessary to review the concept of a restaurant. One must not link it only with food, as it is often said in social networks. I understand that people imagine what they have seen, but we want to form a new culture which still doesnt exist in our reality, but which our public deserves, the Minister said, adding that the goal of such programs is not to earn money through a restaurant or adjacent vicinities. Minister Amiryan said they want to create a beautiful and pleasant atmosphere which will contribute so that people will come to watch a performance with a great pleasure. Money must be earned through performances. BRB to join forces with Yadav for joint movement With an aim to muster power for the ongoing struggle against the denial of party symbols for the May 14 local polls, the 68-party front led by the Naya Shakti Nepal is preparing to forge a working alliance with the Sanghiya Gathabandhan that includes the Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Dutch-Armenians have submitted a claim regarding the Armenian Genocide issue to the Parliament of Netherlands, Masis Abrahamyan, chairman of the ARF Netherlands Armenian National Committee told ARMENPRESS, who has just completed a meeting with the chairman of the foreign relations committee of the Parliament. We were received by acting chairman of the foreign relations committee Pieter Omtzigt, who often speaks for the benefit of the protections of our interests. Representatives of all parties were present at the meeting. We presented our claim. Our main issue is that lately the Netherlands has adopted a strange policy for us using the genocide issue word instead of genocide. This is painful for us. We mentioned how wrong this policy is. It is due to this policy that today Turkey has an even tougher stance for Netherlands. The fact that the Dutch were saying lets not hurt the Turks, lets not say the genocide word, in our belief backfired, he said. The claim will be discussed and responded soon. Abrahamyan is hopeful the government will display a turnaround attitude and will call things by their names. A commemorative week of events will be held by the Armenian community of Netherlands dedicated to the 102nd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. A large demonstration will be held on April 22 in Amsterdam. Abrahamyan said large numbers of Armenians participate in the events since the 100th anniversary. An agreement has already been reached with local law enforcement and the streets where the demonstration will pass through are clarified. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. In case of being elected president French Republican candidate Francois Fillon will mark April 24 as the remembrance day of Armenian Genocide victims as his predecessors did, Armenpress reports Fillon told Nouvelles dArmenie. Its important not to forget the thousands of victims. Nearly 1.5 million Armenians, 3/4th of the entire Armenian population, living in the eastern part of the Ottoman Empire, in the provinces of Minor Asia, fell victim to that Genocide, the presidential candidate said, recalling that France officially recognized the first Genocide of the 20th century, the Armenian Genocide back on January 29, 2001. According to him, however, recognition cannot be a final achievement. Its necessary to do the next step. Francois Fillon stressed that the heirs of the victims of the Shoah (Holocaust) are protected from denialism by law, which is not the case with nearly 500 thousands of French citizens of Armenian origin who have often defended France by their blood. The heirs of the Armenian Genocide victims have encountered a unique phenomenon state denialism. Turkey commits a huge mistake by not facing its past. Each nation has its shadow and they win by facing it, the presidential hopeful said. Francois Fillon said that France has to protect its citizens, therefore, legislative process for the criminalization of the Armenian Genocide denialism must be restored. This struggle against denialism must finally come to end by the mobilization of the senators and members of the National Assembly, he concluded. Presidential elections in France will take place on April 23. If none of the candidates receives more than 50% of votes the second stage will be held on May 7. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Kyrgyz-born Abror Azimov, who was detained by police in the Moscow Region on Monday, was one of the masterminds behind the fatal terror attack on the subway system in St. Petersburg two weeks ago, Armenpress reports, citing TASS, a spokesman for the Russian Investigative Committee said on Tuesday. "After being detained, Azimov confirmed his involvement in preparing for the terrorist attack," the spokesman said. Azimovs lawyer Armen Zadoyan told TASS earlier in the day that his defendant had pleaded guilty. However, Azimov said, "I have no objections at all regarding my detention, but this is not true regarding a statement from an investigator that I had pleaded guilty." "I do not deny my participation, but I was not directly involved," Azimov claimed. "I did not know what I was doing as I was only executing commands, which I received." Svetlana Petrenko, Spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee, stated earlier that Azimov had been detained in the Moscow Region on Monday is a suspected accomplice in the terrorist act and his exact role in the crime was being established. According to Petrenko, firearms and ammunition were seized during Azimovs detention. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) press service reported earlier that Azimov, a native of the Central Asian region, is one of the masterminds behind the terrorist attack in the St. Petersburg subway. According to the FSB, he trained the suicide bomber who detonated the bomb. On April 3, an explosive device went off in a subway car of the St. Petersburg metro system as the train was en-route between Tekhnologichesky Institut and Sennaya Ploshchad stations. The terror attack killed 14 passengers including the individual who set off the explosive device, in addition to wounding 50 other riders. The Russian Investigative Committee disclosed the suicide bombers name - Akbarzhon Jalilov - born in 1995 and a native of Kyrgyzstan. On April 6, the Russian Investigative Committee said eight criminal case suspects had been detained. They were arrested the next day. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan had a round table meeting with the Ambassadors of OSCE member states on April 18. As Armenpress was unformed from the press service of the Armenian Presidents Office, welcoming this format of meeting that has already become a tradition the President of the Republic noted that the parliamentary elections that took place some days ago is the theme of the meeting, considering that nearly a couple of weeks have passed from the day of the elections its worth to make a reference to that. Recalling the last meeting in the same format with the Ambassadors of the OSCE member states during the war days in 2016, President Sargsyan hoped that the April lessons were not only for Azerbaijan, but for everyone, as OSCE member states, as one common security zone, so as everyone is more careful towards the warnings and security threats. In his speech President Sargsyan referred to the National Assembly elections, the assessments given by international observer missions and also answered the questions of the participants of the meeting. The Ambassadors thanked the President of Armenia for making this format of meeting a tradition, and noted that during a conversation a an open and sincere atmosphere they are able to obtain the answers of the questions they are interested in just from the President of the country. The progress in the elections in my opinion was conditioned by a number of factors and I would like to draw your attention of three of them, Serzh Sargsyan said. I think the first factor is that in the recent years we managed to make the advancement of human rights and fundamental freedoms irreversib, he said. According to the President, the second factor for the progress in the elections was the consensus reached between the political forces, while the third factor is the very high level of international cooperation. In this context I would like to express my gratitude to the countries the representatives of which participated in the election observation within the missions of the OSCE / ODIHR, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, the CIS Secretariat, the CIS Parliamentary Assembly, the European Parliament, Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe or just as part of observer missions of the Embassies, Sargsyan said, adding that Armenia granted the OSCE / ODIHR with an opportunity to deploy unlimited number of observers. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Defense Army serviceman Tatul Harutyunyan, 1997, received an injury on April 17 at about 18:20 as a result of Azerbaijani shooting in the northern direction of the contact line. As Armenpress was informed from the press service of the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Artsakh, the injured soldier has been immediately taken to military hospital. His health condition is assessed as critical. Investigation is underway to find out details. Tired of pumping public money into Alitalia, the Italian government now says the carrier should go to the highest bidder Alitalia workers will begin voting this week on a high-stakes restructuring deal drawn up by management and unions to save the ailing carrier, a trade union source said Tuesday. The company's estimated 12,500 employees cast their ballots from dawn Thursday to midnight Monday at Rome's Fiumicino airport and Malpensa and Linate in Milan, the source said. Lengthy negotiations ended Friday with a pre-accord approved by the powerful unions but which needs approval of workers. The deal softens a tough restructuring package unveiled by management in mid-March, reducing job losses and salary cuts. It would see 980 permanent job contracts axed instead of 1,338 and would trim air crew salaries by eight percent rather than between 24 and 30 percent. In return, crew would agree to boost productivity by cutting the number of annual rest days to 108 from 120. "No" campaigners are up in arms, saying employees have been bled dry in previous bids to revive the loss-making airline. The company is de facto controlled by Etihad Airways, which acquired a 49 percent stake when it saved Alitalia from bankruptcy in 2014. Nino Cortorillo of the Filt Cgil union said the deal was the best the unions could get after "long and difficult negotiations". The pressure to find a solution is intense, with Alitalia's liquidity expected to run out this month without emergency funding, leaving its fleet grounded. Shareholders Etihad and the Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit have said they will only inject new funds if the unions agree to the new collective labour agreement and cuts. The Italian government, which acted as a mediator in the negotiations, warned Tuesday that a "no" victory would be not only costly but potentially fatal for the company. Alitalia has been hit hard by competition from low-cost companies and has been accumulating losses for years. Like many of Donald Trump's executive orders to date, the newest decree on worker visas will have little practical impact, but sends a signal for the various government departments to come forward with ideas for reform President Donald Trump moved Tuesday to make good on his emblematic pledge to "Buy American, Hire American" by tightening skilled-worker visa rules, but his room for maneuver remains limited without wider congressional reform. Speaking in Kenosha, Wisconsin -- one of the states that carried him to his upset victory last November -- Trump vowed: "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure more products are stamped with those wonderful words, 'Made in the USA.'" Like many of Trump's executive orders to date, his newest decree will have little practical impact, but sends a signal for government agencies to come forward with ideas for reforming the country's H-1B visa system. Trump is looking to stamp out "abuses" of the time-limited work permits, which are pervasive in the US high-tech sector, as a first step towards reforming the regime. Intended for scientists, engineers and computer programmers, H-1B visas have become an important gateway for the many Indians drawn to Silicon Valley. The United States issues 85,000 each year. Trump's decree namely instructs the Labor, Justice and Homeland Security departments to tackle abuses and draw up reforms aimed at bringing the program back to its original intent: awarding visas to the most skilled and highly paid applicants. The Trump administration argues that the current system has led to a "flood" of relatively low-wage, low-skill workers in the tech sector -- and in doing so has harmed American workers. "We believe jobs must be offered to American workers first," Trump said. The US Chamber of Commerce voiced immediate reservations: While it agreed there was room for improvement of the H-1B program, it warned the Trump administration not to do away with it altogether. "It would be a mistake to close the door on high-skilled workers from around the world who can contribute to American businesses' growth and expansion and make the US more competitive around the world," the business lobby said in a statement. Story continues The White House sees the decree as a way to spur momentum towards a broader congressional reform of the H-1B scheme -- whose outline remains unclear. "This is a transitional step to get towards a more skill-based and merit-based version," a US official told AFP. "There is a lot we can do administratively, and the rest will be done hopefully legislatively." In his maiden speech to Congress, on March 1, Trump had proposed introducing an Australian-style merit-based system to reduce the flow of unskilled workers into the United States. - Seeking momentum - Trump's new decree also includes a "Buy American" component, calling for stricter implementation of existing laws that are intended to favor US-manufactured goods in public tenders. Without making specific new announcements, the Republican president once more pointed the finger at the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico, dubbing it "a complete and total disaster." "It's been very, very bad for our companies and for our workers and we're going to make some very big changes or we are going to get rid of NAFTA for once and for all," he warned. As Trump's presidency nears the symbolic 100-day mark, the 70-year-old leader is looking to regain momentum on the domestic front after his flagship travel ban was blocked in court, and his vaunted health reform foundered in Congress. Trump's promise of an ambitious tax reform -- another central campaign pledge that would notably involve slashing corporate taxes -- is also struggling to take shape. "Our tax reform and tax plan is coming along very well," Trump said in Wisconsin. "It's going to be out very soon." But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin acknowledged in the Financial Times earlier Tuesday the reform would likely be delayed, calling the target of getting it through Congress before August "highly aggressive to not realistic at this point." LAS VEGAS, NVWestboro Baptist Churchyou know; the one that's been in all the papers for years about its anti-gay protests at military funerals and the likewill be marching on Rancho High School and the campuses of the College Of Southern Nevada and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on April 20 after a dawn ceremony in which church leaders will "explain" their interpretation of the Gospel of Jesus and what it has to say about the face of doomed American education. The church members, whose pastor is now Fred Phelps, Jr., will thrust their hate-speech posters high in the Las Vegas sunshine while trying to garner as much media attention as possibleand the Erotic Heritage Museum will be there to protest the protestors. Created by Fred Phelps, Sr., Westboro Baptist has been spewing hate in the name of Jesus since its founding in 1955. Despite the elder Phelps' death three years ago, and despite the several lawsuits against it, a minuscule membership from the WBC nevertheless pickets six locations daily. They have been present with their creative signs declaring God hates America or Fags Eat Poop, in all 50 U.S. states, picketing the funeral of Matthew Shepard (for which they enjoyed major media attention) and will be out and about on Thursday, April 20, doing what they do best. Their present leader, Phelps son Fred Jr., responded via tweet that he is prepared to meet the Erotic Heritage Museum head on. I can say with pretty much one hundred percent certainty that if the WBC is against it, the EHM and most of the thousands who come through our doors yearly, are for it whatever it happens to be, Dr. Victoria Hartmann, The Erotic Heritage Museums Executive Director, said. And although I champion Mr. Phelps and his organizations right to express their opinion, I can as easily declare that when a group like this slips into town puking their hatred for sexual freedom and sex positive culture, womens reproductive rights, LGBTIQAA+ rights and sexual free speech, the EHM will be just as vocal in how positively we feel about these issues. Representatives from The Erotic Heritage Museum will be on hand at both the CSN and UNLV university campuses to lend support to those opposing Westboro Baptist Churchs "American education" message and everything else Fred Phelps, Jr. and his church stand for. Photo of Westboro Baptist Church protesters at Virginia Holocaust Museum in 2010 by JCWilmore/Wikimedia Commons. CEC Yadav urges political parties not to make election campaigning extravagant Chief Election Commissioner Ayodhi Prasad Yadav has urged the political parties not to make the election campaigning extravagant and costly, and maintain financial transparency by abiding the election code of conduct. ATLANTAThe new reality-based travel show for Playboy TV called Toyride will feature a visit to the Liberator factory on the episode airing Saturday, April 29. Liberator, the manufacturer of Liberator Bedroom Adventure Gear, will be visited by hosts Nikki and Daniel. Toyride follows the hosts as they travel across the United States exploring different sex toy manufacturers. Episode two has the couple going to Atlanta for a guided factory tour with Liberator CEO and founder Louis Friedman. We are very proud of manufacturing in the United States and welcome visitors to our factory, said Friedman. Showing people what we do here day in and day out is rewarding and makes all of our hard work worthwhile. The episode takes place inside the Liberator 140,000-square-foot, vertically-integrated manufacturing plant. While touring the expansive facility, Nikki and Daniel get a first-hand look at the companys assembly process from the fabric and foam cutting to the sewing of materials to adding the final touches. After a rundown of the factory, the hosts escape to the Liberator showroom for additional product education from Marketing Manager Angela Lieben. Nikki and Daniel get a detailed look at Liberators finished goods as well as a live-action demonstration. The upcoming Toyride episode is the latest in a string of other media appearances featuring Liberator. The piece will be aired Saturday, April 29, through the Playboy TV cable broadcast channel. Check local cable listing for programming times. LOS ANGELESScreaming O has debuted Charged Yoga, an affordable rechargeable edition of its Yoga vibrating ring, in a free sample pack so retailers can experience the rumbling vibration firsthand. The free intro kit showcases Screaming Os rechargeable motor and demonstrates why the Charged series has become a popular choice for retailers. A extra-stretchy cock ring, Yoga reduces constriction and is wearable in three ways. The ring offers 10 functions of versatile pleasure in a comfortable shape, and it serves as a great option for cock ring beginners ready for a rechargeable upgrade. Charged Yogas top ring can be used as a finger ring to help users position the vibrator exactly where they want it. For more advanced users, this loop can be used as an additional cock ring to give him a special vibrating boost with the bonus of cock-and-ball isolation. Charged Yoga also features a double-sided reversible design with a different texture on the front and back: one side boasts soft extended nubs while the other has a modified jean seam fin that flicks, rubs and rocks against the clitoris. Charged Yoga lets couples flex their way to sex-positive fitness with the comfort of stretchy body-safe SEBS and the power of Screaming Os low-pitch Charged Vooom Bullet. The Yogas super-stretchy design was such a hit in our testing phase that it only made sense to offer it in entry-level and affordable rechargeable versions, Screaming O Account Executive Conde Aumann said. Charged Yoga is a convenient multi-use cock ring thats so impressive in person that we decided to offer it as part of a free sample pack that includes the Charged Yoga with our best-selling Positive mega-rumbling vibe. Were so confident that customers will love this line that were making it easy and hassle-free to get samples in their handssimply contact your preferred sales rep and well ship one out to you completely free! Charged Yoga is equipped with a waterproof Charged Vooom Bullet motor that emits 60-plus minutes of high-performance rumbling vibration and powers up fast with a USB cable (included). Charged Yoga is available in Gray, Red and Blue. As with all Screaming O products, Charged Yoga is supported by free full-color marketing materials and graphics upon request. Charged Yoga is made of flexible SEBS with a vibrating motor encased in ABS plastic, two materials that have been lab tested for a body-safe experience. For more information about Charged Yoga, the free Charged sample pack and the rest of Screaming Os product line, email [email protected] British Sandwich Week, running from 1420 May 2017, is a week-long celebration of that iconic British culinary invention, the sandwich. Britain buys over 3.5 billion sandwiches a year, spending some 7.85bn in the process, according to the British Sandwich & Food To Go Associations (BSAs) 2016 data. British Sandwich Week is a way of focusing the consumers attention on this fabulous dish. Sandwich manufacturers and retailers across the UK all have their own way of celebrating this fantastic food, many offering special promotions and new ranges during British Sandwich Week, the BSA said in a statement. Traditionally retailers donate some of their proceeds to charity or hold buy-one-donate-one initiatives for customers to take part in. And the sandwich industry also holds its annual awards, the Sammies, in the build-up to the week (11 May). There, the Best New Sandwich, the Sandwich Retailer of the Year and many more are crowned. Gluten-free bakery Bells of Lazonby has been ordered to pay more than 70k following two workers suffering hand injuries while operating machinery. Members of the bakery attended Carlisle Magistrates court and pleaded guilty for breaching two charges of Regulation 11 of the Provision and the Use of Work Equipment Regulation 1998. The bakery was fined 40,000 for the first incident and 30,000 for the second offence, with an additional 7,990 in costs. The two incidents occurred in January and March 2016, which resulted in regulator the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launching an investigation. The investigation found that the company failed to install guarding on the machine to prevent the injuries. Bells of Lazonby said in a statement that the company deeply regretted the unfortunate accidents, in which members of staff were injured. We take the welfare of our staff extremely seriously. We have an excellent reputation within our industry for all that we do and have never had any previous prosecutions in any area of business employment, food safety, environmental or health and safety, the statement said. Improvements have been made at our premises, to ensure they are safe for visitors and staff. These improvements have been reviewed and approved by our regulator. We believe we have done all we can to make sure that a similar incident is prevented. The company provided support and assistance to our injured colleagues and we are pleased to say that both returned to work with us. Birds Bakery has begun work to build a new shop in Stretton, Staffordshire in response to customer demand from the local area. The bakery will be 1,000 sq ft and construction work, which started on the site today (18 April), will finish on Thursday 18 May 2017. The opening will create four new part-time employment opportunities, with plans to increase vacancies in the future. Mike Holling, head of retail at Birds Bakery, told British Baker the company was always looking for new opportunities. We have agents looking all the time for sites and this one in Stretton was brought to our attention as its in a good area, Holling told British Baker. The shop is expected to be extremely popular as we have had numerous requests, and its great to bring a craft bakery onto the high street. The new store in Stretton will be selling all of the traditional Birds Bakery cakes, sandwiches, pork pies and coffees. Following the acquisition of the shop in Stretton, Birds Bakery has 58 sites around the UK and will be announcing another site in the area in the coming weeks. By Roberta Rampton and Minami Funakoshi TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday kicked off talks with Japan that the White House hopes will open doors for U.S. goods and attract infrastructure investment, putting Tokyo on notice that Washington wants results soon. Pence first joined a working lunch with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe before meeting Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso for economic talks. U.S. President Donald Trump and Abe arranged the talks between their deputies at a Washington summit in February, soon after Trump took office. "When President Trump agreed to this dialogue, he envisioned this as a mechanism for enhancing bilateral commercial relations between the United States and Japan, and achieving results in the near future. And I share that vision and impatience," Pence told Aso at the start of the talks, comments that could be construed as a warning to Tokyo not to use the dialogue to kick touchy topics down the road. Aso in turn said U.S.-Japan trade friction, which soured ties in the 1980s and 1990s, was a thing of the distant past and the allies were now entering an era of cooperation. In a statement after the talks, the two sides said they had agreed the dialogue should produce "concrete results in the near term" adding that they had "discussed specific sectors where improved commercial relations will promote mutual economic benefits and job creation in both countries". Earlier, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross met Japan's trade minister, Hiroshige Seko. Ross, seen as more hardline on trade, told reporters Washington was eager to increase trade ties with Tokyo through a two-way agreement. Pence landed in Tokyo from South Korea after a trip that included a visit to the heavily fortified border separating the North and South. He described the U.S.-Japan alliance as the "cornerstone" of regional security. Pence's 10-day tour of Asia is aimed at emphasising that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to boost U.S. trade in the region even though Trump has abandoned the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact. Advocates for the TPP, negotiated by former President Barack Obama and supported by Abe, said it would have opened markets for American exports. U.S. business groups supported the deal but U.S. labour unions argued it would hurt American workers. Trump campaigned for office on an "America First" platform, saying he would boost U.S. manufacturing jobs and shrink the country's trade deficit with countries like Japan. Trump also vowed to renegotiate existing regional trade deals to focus on bilateral agreements. Tokyo is wary of a two-way free trade agreement (FTA), fearing it would boost pressure to open up politically sensitive sectors such as agriculture. "Its a little bit early to say just what forms things will take but we are certainly eager to increase our trade relationships with Japan and to do so in the form of an agreement," Ross said when asked about a possible FTA. TRADE IMBALANCES Japan had a $69 billion trade surplus with the United States last year, the U.S. Treasury Department said, expressing concern over what it called the "persistence" of the imbalance. Japanese officials counter that Tokyo accounts for a much smaller chunk of America's deficit than in the past, while China's imbalance is much bigger. Trump has complained that Japan keeps its currency artificially low, although a Treasury Department report last week did not label Japan a currency manipulator. The issue was not expected to be raised in talks on Tuesday. Pence said in Seoul earlier on Tuesday the Trump administration would review and reform a 5-year-old free trade agreement with South Korea. The Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association expressed concern about any review of the pact, which removed tariffs on auto trade between the two countries. Trump and Abe agreed in February to have Pence and Aso, who is also Japan's finance minister, open an economic dialogue. The two sides were expected to agree on principles and a process for further detailed discussions between ministries. "Obviously, the first high-level talk is not going to have an immediate resolution of anything but I think we have a reasonable path forward," Ross said. Aso told reporters before the talks he would not discuss any bilateral free trade deal with Pence. The White House adviser said Tuesday's talks would not prescribe a free-trade deal but talks might eventually lead to such negotiations. Pence developed ties with Japanese business and political leaders as governor of Indiana, a state that is home to Subaru <7270.T>, Honda <7267.T> and Toyota <7203.T> plants, and about 260 Japanese companies employing about 60,000 residents. "To some extent, we want to do for the United States what we did for Indiana," the White House adviser said. The Trump administration wants to attract more foreign direct investment, hoping to lure some with a $1 trillion plan to rebuild U.S. roads, bridges and other infrastructure. Pence will take that message to upcoming stops this week in Jakarta and Sydney. While no immediate announcements are expected from Tokyo, the White House expects a "handful" of investment announcements while Pence is in Australia at the weekend, the adviser said. He is due to meet corporate leaders at each of his stops. (Additional writing by Linda Sieg; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto in TOKYO, Hyunjoo Jin in SEOUL and David Lawder in WASHINGTON; Editing by Paul Tait) North Korea military parade Amid ongoing tensions with the US, North Korea has created special-operations forces "for the first time," according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency. Pyongyang announced the Korean People's Army special forces during a military parade over the weekend, which marked the anniversary of the 105th birthday of Kim Il Sung, who founded the country and is the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un. The members of the new forces were reportedly shown marching in the parade, decked out in sunglasses and helmets with night-vision goggles. Their faces were covered in black and camouflage paint, and they carried rifles with grenade launchers. "Once Supreme Commander Kim Jong-Un issues an order, they will charge with resolve to thrust a sword through the enemy's heart like lighting over Mt. Paektu," an announced said during the parade broadcast, referring to the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, according to Yonhap. North Korea military parade special forces The forces' debut, and the parade itself, came just a few days before the start of US-South Korea joint military exercises, and analysts who spoke to Yonhap said the formation was related to the exercises in particular a reported "decapitation attack" simulation to be performed by the US Navy's SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden. The Pentagon has told Business Insider that the US does not train for decapitation attacks of any kind but would not comment on whether SEAL Team 6 was in South Korea. While the special-operations forces described by Yonhap report were said to have been formed by North Korea "for the first time," previous reports have referred to North Korean special-operations or special-warfare units. A 2010 report from South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, citing a defense white paper, said North Korean special forces had grown by 20,000 personnel over the previous two years. North Korea's special forces, according to the white paper, expanded from 120,000 in 2006 to about 200,000 in 2010, accounting for 17% of Pyongyang's forces at that point. Story continues North Korea military parade Those roughly 200,000 "special troops are primed to carry out combined operations such as attacks on major facilities in South Korea, assassination of VIPs and harassment in the rear by infiltrating the South using underground tunnels." Tunnels from North Korea into South Korea have been found before, though none have been uncovered since 1990. In a 2012 Vice interview, a purported South Korean-born NATO soldier detailed South Korean defense planning and said that North Korea had "something like 130,000 well-trained special forces" who would land on the South Korean coast to "promote general chaos" in should a conflict break out. Recent tensions between Washington and Pyongyang have been focused on the latter's nuclear-weapons program and missile testing. US Vice President Mike Pence, visiting the demilitarized zone on Monday, said the US had no more strategic patience with North Korea and was considering military force against the regime. North Korean Vice Minister Han Song Ryol responded that if "the US is planning a military attack against us, we will react with a nuclear pre-emptive strike by our own style and method." U.S. Vice President Mike Pence answers a reporter's question at the truce village of Panmunjom, South Korea, April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji The US has also considered shooting down future North Korean missile tests, according to The Guardian, though experts and former officials warned that such a move risked sparking escalation that the US may not be able to control. US military officials indicated earlier this month that the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its support group would sail toward the Korean Peninsula in response to rising tensions and reports of a looming North Korea missile test. However, on April 15, the carrier was pictured passing through Indonesia toward the Indian Ocean about 3,500 miles from Korea. The ships are currently operating in the Indian Ocean, conducting exercises with Australian naval forces, according to Defense News. More From Business Insider Chiraito farmers look for more accessible markets Difficulties in transporting chiraito plants to China, where there is a huge demand for the medicinal herb, has forced growers in Taplejung to look for alternative markets. Accreditation Education Department Database Publishes Accreditation Warnings The United States Department of Education (ED) last week launched a new database that shows, for the first time, data on accreditation reporting statuses. Now, users can either access the main website or download accreditation data files, search for an institution and view a log of accreditation statuses along with the agencys decision letter. The accreditation database is run by the EDs Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), which noted that the database is meant to be a public service without warranty or endorsement of any kind. With that in mind, the database delivers on the EDs promise to hold accrediting agencies accountable by ensuring that they enforce standards effectively. Last November, the Obama administration issued guidance to accrediting agencies on establishing the ground rules for the terminology used to report severe actions (i.e. probation and loss of accreditation statuses), requiring agencies to release their decision letters. This no small feat, said Clare McCann, a senior policy analyst with New America's Education Policy Program, in a blog post. McCann noted that most accrediting agencies are notoriously opaque about the steps they take to oversee and penalize institutions. The database helps to meet a public expectation of tracking institutions at risk of closure, identifying concerning finances and trends in enrollment drop-offs, and holding institutions accountable for poor outcomes for their students, the post stated. Such transparency could prevent institutions from losing their accreditation statuses, like the now-defunct ITT Tech and Corinthian. A recent report from the Center for American Progress found that 12 of the largest accrediting agencies lack the budgets and staffing necessary to adequately monitor the quality of the colleges they oversee. CAP analyzed tax filings belonging to 12 of the major institutional accrediting agencies, looking at how much they take and spend and comparing the numbers to the federal aid dollars they oversee. CAP found that the agencies altogether have just about $75 million to conduct quality assurance, which pales in comparison to the amount of money flowing from the U.S. Department of Education, the report stated. The new database can act as an extra safeguard for policymakers, state authorizers, licensure bodies, students, parents or anyone with a stake in knowing what risks exist at an institution. For example, last week it published the Distance Education Accrediting Commissions decision letter to William Loveland College (CO), asking to show why its accreditation should not be withdrawn after a number of moves by institution that flagged financial concerns. To use the database, visit the EDs Office of Postsecondary Education site. Policy & Research Research: Community College Pays Off Earning a two-year degree pays off. Specifically, completing an associate degree yields an average of $4,640 to $7,160 more per year than entering college and not completing a program. So concluded a research project by the Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment. CAPSEE is a government-funded research center that examines the financial returns on various education pathways. In this initiative, researchers used "very large datasets" from eight states that merged student transcripts from statewide community college systems with information on transfer college records from the National Student Clearinghouse. Individual-level full college records were then merged with quarterly earnings data from unemployment insurance records spanning a decade in the labor market. The goal was to gain a more detailed understanding of how community college students fare in the labor market and how the college experience varies by field of study. Source: "Does It Pay to Complete Community College and How Much?" from the Center for Analysis of Postsecondary Education and Employment. Among the states examined, the monetary return for achieving an associate degree compared to starting one but not finishing was highest in Kentucky. There, men earned $6,960 more per year, and women earned $11,080 more. The lowest increase for men surfaced in Arkansas, where the difference was $1,160; for women, the lowest difference was in Washington, where the gain was $4,000. The researchers also calculated the earnings difference for completing a certificate. For that, the average across all states was $2,120 for men and $2,960 for women. Although the increases were more modest, the report stated, it's still a "positive finding" because achieving a certificate doesn't typically require the same commitment as earning a degree. Even students who start but don't finish their college careers tend to enjoy financial benefits, the researchers found. "More credits lead to higher earnings," they wrote. That's an important consideration, they added, in a time when fewer than half of those who start college earn a credential. The news should motivate people both potential students and "taxpayers" to "invest" in college, the study concluded. Now, the report added, it's time to figure out "why completion rates at two-year colleges are so low." A research brief and the full report are available on the CAPSEE website here. Virtual Reality Speak to Go Allows Voice to Direct VR Experiences A new web program by Google allows users to explore the world in virtual reality (VR) by just speaking the name of a place. Speak to Go is activated by a users voice. When a user says the name of a place, Google Street View imagery pops up on ones phone or web browser. For example, Richard Byrne, who writes the blog Free Technology for Teachers, recently spoke the word Maine, and was taken to Acadia National Park in Maine. Had he been more specific and said Portland, Maine, he would have seen imagery of Portland, he said. Speak to Go is designed to be used with smartphones inside of VR headsets, such as the Google Cardboard. However, it can also be used in the Chrome web browser if the user allows access to his/her microphone. The imagery isnt as immersive in the web version as in the VR version, but it is still decent, Byrne said. Even in other browsers and without a VR headset, users can explore random locations in the world by clicking on Try it without a headset and tapping the space bar or the phone screen. A location pops up, and a 360-degree view is provided. Users can navigate perspectives either by clicking and dragging on a web browser or moving around with a phone. Clicking on arrows allows further mobility and exploration. Random locations include Niagara Falls, the Taj Mahal and Mont Blanc massif (mountain range) in France. In education, Speak to Go is a quick and easy option for exploring VR imagery without the need to touch a screen or click a command. In the web version, Speak to Go makes Street View imagery slightly more accessible to the average user. To try for yourself, visit the Speak to Go website. IT Trends Traditional Computers Inch (Barely) Upward in 1st Quarter Shipments of PCs have inched upward. According to International Data Corp., sales of desktops, notebooks and workstations worldwide totaled 60 million units in the first quarter of 2017, reflecting a year-over-year growth rate in that period of 0.6 percent. While IDC acknowledged that a sub-percentage point increase "was arguably flat," the IT market research firm said it was still noteworthy for being the first sign of expansion for PC sales in five years. IDC originally forecast that shipments would fall by 1.8 percent for the quarter. In fact, the last time growth was recorded was 2012, an era when "many users still considered PCs their first computing device." The estimates come from IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker and don't cover shipments of tablets or x86 servers. "The traditional PC market has been through a tough phase, with competition from tablets and smartphones as well as lengthening lifecycles pushing PC shipments down roughly 30 percent from a peak in 2011," said Research Manager Jay Chou, in a prepared statement. While consumer demand for PCs "will remain under pressure," (except for the gaming market), he added, the commercial market is waking up and "beginning a replacement cycle" that's expected to push growth. In the United States, overall PC shipments for the first quarter tallied 13.3 million units. That's a drop year-over-year, attributed to a slump in notebook sales. While consumer sales especially slowed down domestically, the commercial PC market was bolstered by the growth of Chromebook sales. During the quarter, HP regained the top spot from Lenovo, experiencing "strong" sales with a "deep portfolio" across all worldwide regions. Shipments for HP were 13.1 million for 1Q17 compared to 11.6 million in 1Q16. In the U.S. Lenovo had its first decline (4.2 percent) since the third quarter of 2009. Worldwide, the company shipped 12.3 million units in 1Q17 compared to 12.1 million units in 1Q16. Dell came in third, with 6.2 percent growth year-over-year with "strong notebook volume." Dell shipped 9.6 million PCs in the latest quarter vs. 9 million last year during the same period. Apple grew 4.1 percent in this quarter from 2016 and retained the fourth position. IDC said Apple shipments for 1Q17 were 4.2 million compared to 4.036 million in 1Q16. Acer, in fifth place, grew 2.9 percent, in part, the market intelligence firm reported, "due to better comparisons against a challenging 1Q16." While Acer sold 4.121 million units in 1Q17, it sold 4.006 million in 1Q16. Other companies sold a total of 17 million PCs during the latest quarter, according to IDC. Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, April 18, 2017The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on the Maldives prosecutor general to drop the legal case against Raajje TV journalist Mohamed Wisam, who was acquitted last month of obstructing police at an anti-government protest in 2015. The prosecutor general lodged an appeal with the high court on April 5. Wisam was acquitted on March 28, after Judge Ahmed Shakeel ruled there was insufficient evidence to support the charge brought against him, according to the Maldives Independent. Wisam was at the protest to cover an issue of national importance, according to a statement that Raajje TV emailed to CPJ. The prosecutor generals insistence on continuing this baseless case against Mohamed Wisam and Raajje TV is clearly intended to intimidate all journalists in the Maldives, said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Steven Butler. Wisam was merely doing his job as a journalist, and should not be prosecuted. During the trial, the prosecution said that Wisam scaled barricades and obstructed police officers, but the judge said that a video presented as evidence showed only Wisams arrest, according to the Maldives Independent. The judge noted that other journalists were covering the protests, the article said. PGs decision to appeal Wisams acquittal embarrassing, must revoke decision: @Raajje_tv | https://t.co/xIZ0YMKZu1 Raajjemv English (@RaajjeEnglish) April 17, 2017 In the statement emailed to CPJ, the independent Raajje TV said it wants the prosecutor general to withdraw the appeal and to cease the merciless attacks on journalism in this country. A date for the appeal hearing at the Maldives high court has not been set, Aishath Shaany, head of English content at Raajje TV, told CPJ. The maximum sentence for obstruction is six months in prison and a fine of up to 12,000 Maldivian rufiya (US$779), Shaany said. The prosecutor generals office did not immediately respond to request for comment via email. Prosecutors used the same video presented as evidence in Wisams trial in a separate trial of Raajje TV cameraman Adam Zareer, who was convicted in February of obstructing police at the March 2015 protest, and fined 3,000 rufiya (US$195), the Maldives Independent reported. Zareers lawyer said that he plans to appeal, according to reports. Wisam and other Raajje TV journalists have faced multiple charges in recent months. Last month, Wisam and Leevaan Ali Nasir were found guilty of a separate obstruction charge and fined 28,800 rufiya (US$1,868) each, according to the Maldives Independent. Raajje TV has also been fined 2 million rufiya (US$129,584) under the countrys criminal defamation law, the station told CPJ. [Editors note: The sixth paragraph of this alert has been updated to reflect the maximum sentence for obstruction.] Share this: Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Email Telegram New York, April 18, 2017Ecuadoran journalist Fernando Villavicencio, director of the news website Focus Ecuador and a critic of outgoing President Rafael Correa, today filed a petition for political asylum in Lima, Peru. A statement from the regional press group Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) said the journalist, who fled to Lima after presidential elections on April 2, is not guaranteed a fair trial in Ecuador, where he faces charges of distributing allegedly confidential emails sent by public officials. The fact that a well-known journalist like Fernando Villavicencio has been forced to file for political asylum in Peru is a clear reflection of Ecuadors systematic persecution of critics, said Carlos Lauria, CPJs senior program coordinator for the Americas. We ask Peruvian authorities to grant the asylum request and we urge Ecuadoran authorities to drop all charges against Villavicencio immediately and allow him to return home without fear for his freedom to work as a journalist. The charges against Villavicencio relate to an October 2013 article he wrote with fellow journalist Belen Palma for Ecuadoran website Plan V that was critical of the governments legal battle with U.S. company Chevron. Ramiro Garcia, a lawyer for Villavicencio, told CPJ in November last year that the article was published in the public interest. Ecuador has one of the worst press freedom records in the region, with journalists subject to legal measures, defamation suits, and public insults from officials, according to CPJ research. Five death penalty bills were heard in a seven-hour-long meeting at the Capitol Monday night. The death penalty was a hot topic at the Texas Capitol Monday night. Testimony on five capital punishment bills was heard by the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in a seven-hour-long meeting that lasted until close to midnight. The bills included two that would stop the practice of sentencing accomplices to death in certain cases and two which would abolish the death penalty altogether. House Bills 147 and 316, by Democrats Harold Dutton and Terry Canales , respectively, would change how a person could be sentenced to death under Texas law of parties, which holds that those involved in a crime resulting in death are equally responsible even if they weren't the actual killer. At the end of the day, the logic should be, 'Did you intend to participate in that murder? Were you a part of it?' Canales exclaimed while laying out his bill near the end of the long meeting. Lets cut the nonsense out. The most prominent case of a current Texas death row inmate sentenced under the law of parties is Jeff Wood . Wood was convicted in the 1996 murder of Kriss Keeran, who was fatally shot by Wood's friend in a Kerrville convenience store while he sat outside in a truck. Last year, Woods case garnered national attention as his execution neared . Texas lawmakers from both parties spoke out against the execution, which was halted days before the scheduled date. Republican Rep. Jeff Leach has been one of the most adamant supporters of reforming the law of parties. He has taken an interest in Woods case, going so far as to visiting him on death row in February. I promised Jeff that I and Chairman Dutton and Rep. Canales would do everything that we can this session to ensure that another case like Jeff Woods case would never happen again in the state of Texas, Leach said at a news conference earlier Monday on the bills. There are two ways to find someone guilty under Texas law of parties. The first puts responsibility on those who help commit or solicit a crime, even if they werent directly involved. The second states that all parties are responsible for one felony that stems from another if the second should have been anticipated. For Wood, the state argued he was willfully participating in a robbery and knew his accomplice would resort to killing if Keeran did not comply, so Wood should have anticipated the robbery would lead to a murder. Wood has maintained he didnt know his friend had a gun on him. The reform bills focus mainly on the anticipation clause, removing the possibility of a death sentence if someone is found guilty under the second part of the law of parties and automatically granting them a sentence of life without parole. Currently, after being convicted, a jury still must agree the convict intended to kill or anticipated death to issue a death sentence. Travis County Assistant District Attorney Justin Wood was the lone testifier against the bills, with eight others testifying in support of the bills that were laid out close to 11 p.m. He said the law of parties has been a useful tool for prosecutors, adding that there are a lot of monsters who never get their hands dirty. But Dutton argued that those people would still be punished, just not to death. Chairman Joe Moody , D-El Paso, said Woods testimony resonated with him as he has long struggled to strike a balance with the law of parties and the death penalty. In 2009, a similar bill filed in the House made it to the Senate, but died there. Terri Been, Jeff Woods sister, said she has been lobbying against the law of parties for 20 years and pleaded through tears for the Legislature to move it forward this year. My cries have fallen on mostly deaf ears. Im begging you to be leaders and to lead your constituents in the right direction, she said before wiping her eyes. It is not common for a jury to sentence someone to death under the law of parties, but it happens. In 2007, prison inmates Jerry Martin and John Ray Falk, Jr., attempted escape. In the escape, Martin hit and killed prison guard Susan Canfield with a van. This March, Falk was sentenced to death as a party to the murder. And Texas has executed at least five people under the statute, according to the Death Penalty Information Center . Only five other states have executed anyone under similar laws. Aside from the law of parties, two identical bills to get rid of the death penalty in Texas completely were also heard Monday evening. Dutton and Rep. Jessica Farrar filed House Bills 64 and 1537. Both lawmakers have repeatedly filed abolition bills in past legislative sessions, and they acknowledged their main goal was to keep up a discussion on the death penalty. In a Republican-led legislature, it is almost certain that the bills will not pass. Dutton clarified to committee members he was asking for them not to vote against the death penalty but to vote to let the House have a debate on this. This bill might not pass this time, but if it doesnt pass this time, well be right back here next time, fighting the same fight, Dutton said earlier Monday at a press conference on his two death penalty bills. Fourteen people testified in support of abolishing the death penalty for reasons ranging from arbitrary sentencing to the cost of appeals. One woman tearfully spoke of her death-sentenced husband. No one spoke out against the bill. The remaining bill focused on the death penalty was one by Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins , a democrat from San Antonio. House Bill 3411 aims to lessen requirements to become the lead defense attorney in capital murder cases to allow for more lawyers to handle the backlog of death penalty cases. Texas Defender Services Executive Director Amanda Marzullo argued against the lesser requirements, saying she believed it would cause more trouble in the appeals process and that there were other ways to ease the backlog such as creating a public defender office. Weve got to build the bench, and weve got to move these cases, Gervin-Hawkins responded. These people need their day in court. | 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 Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! All of the bills were left pending before the committee.Source: The Texas Tribune , Jolie McCullough, April 18, 2017 President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's remarks over reinstating capital punishment following the approval of constitutional amendments in the April 16 referendum has triggered a fresh debate, collecting warnings from European allies. Erdogan said during his arrival to Ankara from Istanbul on April 17 that he would approve the return of the death penalty if the parliament passes such a law to pay respect "to our martyrs." "If [a bill] comes before me, I will approve it. But if there isn't support [from opposition MPs], then we could have another referendum for that," Erdogan said late on April 16 to a crowd in Istanbul, which chanted for its reintroduction. A referendum on restoring the death penalty in Turkey would constitute a break from European values, the French president's office warned on April 17. France said the organization of a referendum on the death penalty would "obviously be a break with values and engagements" that was accepted by Turkey when it first joined Europe's top rights watchdog, the Council of Europe, the presidency said. The French presidency said it "took note" of the figures and the "disputes" surrounding them, saying they showed "that Turkish society is divided over the proposed deep reforms." In a separate statement, France's foreign ministry called on the Turkish government to respect the European Convention on Human Rights and its ban on the death penalty. Although the death penalty had not been in effect since 1984, Turkey abolished the capital punishment in 2004 as a part of reforms to ease Turkey's accession into the European Union. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said in March that any return of the death penalty in Turkey would be a "red line" in the country's stalled EU membership bid. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, meanwhile, said on April 17 that Turkish authorities needed to address concerns about the content and procedure of the referendum raised by a panel of European legal experts. "The German government respects the right of Turkish citizens to decide on their own constitutional order," they said in a statement. "The tight referendum result shows how deeply divided the Turkish society is and that means a big responsibility for the Turkish leadership and for President Erdogan personally," the statement said. The European Commission said Turkey should seek a broad national consensus on constitutional amendments. In March, the Venice Commission, a panel of legal experts at the Council of Europe, said the proposed changes to the constitution on which Turks voted, namely boosting Erdogan's power, represented a "dangerous step backwards" for democracy. Austria, which has repeatedly called for halting membership talks, once more called for them to stop. "We can't just go back to the daily routine after the Turkey referendum. We finally need some honesty in the relationship between the EU and Turkey," said Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, adding the bloc should instead work on a "partnership agreement." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on April 17 that the results of the Turkish referendum should be respected. He said the vote was a domestic Turkish matter. Rached Ghannouch, the leader of Tunisia's Ennahdha Party, said he called Erdogan to congratulate him over the win. Both Hamas and the Palestinian Liberation Army congratulated Erdogan, according to state-run Anadolu Agency. | 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 Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Source: Hurriyet Daily News, April 18, 2017 Americas largest drug wholesaler has re-filed suit against the state of Arkansas to stop the use of dishonestly-obtained medicines in four lethal injection executions between April 20th and 27th. Lawyers for healthcare giant McKesson had previously filed this suit a US legal first on Friday April 14, and were granted a Temporary Restraining Order. The company withdrew the suit when the executions were stayed by US federal court, but retained the option to refile should there be a renewed danger of executions going ahead. McKesson, which Fortune ranks as Americas 5th most successful company , alleges that Arkansas deliberately misled the firm to obtain its products for use in executions and reneged on an agreement to return them after being provided with a full refund. The company has tonight refiled its motion in Arkansas court seeking an emergency injunction and the immediate return of its medicine, and suing the Arkansas Department of Correction for rescission based on misrepresentation of a medical license, rescission based on unilateral mistake, replevin, unjust enrichment, and unjust taking. McKessons complaint to the court requests that its property, the 10 vials of 20mg/25ml Vecuronium, be impounded pending a hearing on its status. Should this request be granted the planned executions could be halted indefinitely, as a key drug in Arkansass lethal injection cocktail expires at the end of April. McKessons suit alleges that the Arkansas Department of Corrections (ADC): purchased the products under the medical license of an Arkansas physician, and represented that the order was placed at the request of a physician and with the intent to use the products for a legitimate medical purpose.; had the products shipped to the address previously used for its healthcare facilitys orders and asked that the ordering process not be documented via e-mail; assured McKesson it would return the products, accepted a full refund, then reneged on its pledge and kept both the illegally obtained Vecuronium and the returned funds. McKessons historic intervention represents only the latest and largest escalation in the healthcare industrys efforts to prevent Americas largest mass execution since the civil rights era. Last week, two global drug makers, Fresenius Kabi and Hikma, filed friend of the court briefs in a suit challenging the states lethal injection protocol. Maya Foa, an expert at the international human rights group Reprieve said: In purporting to enforce the law, Arkansas obtained these drugs by deliberately misrepresenting their intended purpose, then violated an agreement to return them even after accepting a full refund from the supplier. In doing so the state has ignored the rights of the business that made the drugs and put public health at risk. McKesson has shown that responsible healthcare companies will not tolerate such an assault on life-saving medicines, and will act to prevent this abuse. McKessons April 18 complaint is here. The other companies brief is available here. Source: Reprieve, April 18, 2017 | 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 Complex global challenges Political transitions are taking place throughout the world. A wave of popular protectionism in the West against immigrations, the non-resolution of the Afghan issue, the growing challenge posed by North Korea, and the rising influence and strategic initiatives of China are features of this transition. Ivan Teleguz RICHMOND, Va. (WVIR) - Governor Terry McAuliffe will soon announce whether he will grant clemency to a Virginia inmate on death row. RICHMOND, Va. (WVIR) - Governor Terry McAuliffe will soon announce whether he will grant clemency to a Virginia inmate on death row. Ivan Teleguz is set to die next week. A jury convicted Teleguz of a murder-for-hire plot to kill his ex-girlfriend, Stephanie Sipe, in Harrisonburg in 2001. There's been a growing push from Teleguz's lawyers, Christian leaders, and other public officials in the commonwealth to halt the scheduled execution. McAuliffe is reviewing a clemency petition filed by the inmates legal team. "Clearly issues have come up issues have arisen that I need to look at very closely," said the Democratic governor. Attorney Elizabeth Peiffer, with the Virginia Capital Representation Resource Center, is fighting to stop the execution. "No juror could look at the evidence and look at the record as it currently stands and find him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt," she said. Peiffer points out that two of the three key witnesses in the case have recanted their testimony, admitting that they lied about Teleguz's involvement. The third witness, Michael Hetrick, was the man who was actually convicted of stabbing Sipe to death. Peiffer also believes Teleguz received the death penalty because of false information given to jurors during the sentencing phase. "The jurors based their sentencing decision on a fictitious murder. A witness testified that Mr. Teleguz was involved in another murder in Ephrata, Pennsylvania," said the attorney. "But now we know that this murder is a fiction. It never happened. McAuliffe says he's carefully examining all the information in the case. "Nothing is more tough for a governor than to have to make this life death decision, and I take it very very seriously, he said. Lawyers for Teleguz are also working on filing a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court. The execution is scheduled to take place on April 25. Virginia Is About To Execute A Man Based On One Unreliable Witness 2 other witnesses have already admitted their original testimony was false. Whether Ivan Teleguz is put to death in Virginia on April 25 should depend on how much Governor Terry McAuliffe is willing to trust the testimony of confessed murderer Michael Hetrick. This is so because the Supreme Court of Virginia found that jurors needed to believe the testimony of Hetrick and 2 other witnesses in order to find Teleguz guilty. But the 2 other witnesses have since admitted that their testimony against Teleguz was false - given in exchange for generous deals from the government - and they have no reason to believe Teleguz was involved in the murder. That leaves only the word of Hetrick. But the manner in which Hetrick's testimony was engineered by police is a serious flaw that should bring the remaining piece of the case against Teleguz tumbling down. Hetrick was fed the prosecution's theory of the case before his statement, and was told he would face the death penalty himself unless he provided a matching account and stuck to that account. Teleguz was sentenced to death for paying Hetrick to kill Stephanie Sipe - according to Hetrick to avoid paying child support. Hetrick avoided a death sentence by agreeing to testify against Teleguz. As former law enforcement professionals, we have special expertise in, and appreciation for, the fundamental need to maintain integrity in witness interrogations. Improper interrogations can result in unreliable and false statements and confessions that put innocent people behind bars - and sometimes on death row. The police interrogation of Hetrick violated foundational interrogation principles and makes his resulting statement and testimony against Teleguz unreliable. It certainly should not serve as the sole remaining basis for putting Teleguz to death. After reviewing the nearly three-hour recording of police questioning Hetrick, we can identify numerous and significant improprieties. These include: tunnel vision, or the investigator's fixation on a result causing him to disregard other evidence; improperly combined maximization/minimization in which the investigator threatens inevitable and dire consequences, then promises assistance in avoiding the inevitable; and contamination, in which the investigators provide details of their theory of the case and investigation to Hetrick prior to getting Hetrick's own account. Hetrick's interrogation is a case study in what is not supposed to occur in police interviews. Police set Hetrick up by informing him that they had blood evidence from the crime scene, knew that he had a cut on his hand treated just after the murder, and they planned to take his DNA for comparison. They told him explicitly that he must accuse Teleguz of hiring Ms. Sipe's murderer - before the end of that interview - or Hetrick would face the death penalty. (Hetrick: "This Ivan'd so f*** bad a person, that you're willing to give a guy who should get the death penalty a deal?" Investigator: "I'm telling you that, as sure as we're sitting here.") Investigators continued the interrogation despite several requests from Hetrick to stop so he could talk to a lawyer. Hetrick was explicitly told the prosecution's theory of the case, and he was even allowed to review the 9-page, single-spaced written summary of the police investigation of the case (Investigator: "I highly encourage you to read through all that and understand the facts of this case that's going on right now.") Investigators also went so far as to interrupt the interrogation in order to put Hetrick on the telephone with the prosecutor so that she could directly assure him that she would seek his execution if he did not cooperate then and there, and that his only way out of an inevitable death sentence was to accuse Teleguz of arranging the murder. This all happened before Hetrick began to give a statement. Current standards for professional, properly trained law enforcement would not accept this kind of interrogation. In fact, Hetrick's interrogation is a case study in what is not supposed to occur in police interviews because all of these factors increase the likelihood that the resulting evidence will be false. The way in which the evidence was extracted or engineered runs sufficiently afoul of accepted professional police practices to prevent us from knowing what is true. Improper police work, combined with Hetrick's history of drug abuse and criminal behavior, produced a very unreliable witness. Now, this witness serves as the last remaining evidence against Teleguz, who will be executed in just weeks without the intervention of Governor McAuliffe. As a matter of professionalism, fairness, and justice, Virginia's Governor McAuliffe should commute Teleguz's death sentence, stop his April 25 execution, and prevent the Commonwealth of Virginia from carrying out an execution on so tenuous a basis. How the Police Generate False Confessions: An Inside Look at the Interrogation Room. Source: The Huffington Post , Gregg McCrary, Jim Trainum, April 17, 2017. Gregg McCrary is a former Supervisory Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and an internationally known expert in investigations, police practices, and interview and interrogation techniques. With nearly 50 years' experience in criminal investigations he provides expert testimony in these matters both nationally and internationally. He is also an adjunct professor in the Forensic and Legal Psychology Program at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. Jim Trainum is a former D.C. Homicide Detective with 27 years on the force, and nationally recognized expert in police interrogation practices, false confessions, and the use of informants and cooperating witnesses. He is the author of | 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 Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Source: NBC29 news, Alana Austin, April 17, 2017 The most complex organ in humans is the brain. Due to its complexity and, of course, for ethical reasons, it is extremely difficult to do scientific experiments on it - ones that could help us to understand neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's, for example. Scientists at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (LCSB) of the University of Luxembourg have now succeeded in turning human stem cells derived from skin samples into tiny, three-dimensional, brain-like cultures that behave very similarly to cells in the human midbrain. In the researchers' petri dishes, different cell types develop, connect into a network, exchange signals and produce metabolic products typical of the active brain. "Our cell cultures open new doors to brain research," says Prof. Dr. Jens Schwamborn, in whose LCSB research group Developmental & Cellular Biology the research work was done. "We can now use them to study the causes of Parkinson's disease and how it could possibly be effectively treated." The team publishes its results today in the prestigious scientific journal "Stem Cell Reports" (DOI: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2017.03.010). The human midbrain is of particular interest to Parkinson's researchers: it is the seat of the tissue structure known medically as the substantia nigra. Here, nerve cells - specifically dopaminergic neurons - produce the messenger dopamine. Dopamine is needed to maintain smooth body movements. If the dopaminergic neurons die off, then the person affected develops tremors and muscle rigidity, the distinctive symptoms of Parkinson's disease. For ethical reasons, researchers cannot take cells from the substantia nigra to study them. Research groups around the world are therefore working on cultivating three-dimensional structures of the midbrain in petri dishes. The LCSB team led by stem cell researcher Jens Schwamborn is one such group. The LCSB scientists worked with so-called induced pluripotent stem cells - stem cells that cannot produce a complete organism, but which can be transformed into all cell types of the human body. The procedures required for converting the stem cells into brain cells were developed by Anna Monzel as part of her doctoral thesis, which she is doing in Schwamborn's group. "I had to develop a special, precisely defined cocktail of growth factors and a certain treatment method for the stem cells, so that they would differentiate in the desired direction," Monzel describes her approach. To do this, she was able to draw on extensive preparatory work that had been done in Schwamborn's team the years before. The pluripotent stem cells in the petri dishes multiplied and spread out into a three-dimensional supporting structure - producing tissue-like cell cultures. "Our subsequent examination of these artificial tissue samples revealed that various cell types characteristic of the midbrain had developed," says Jens Schwamborn. "The cells can transmit and process signals. We were even able to detect dopaminergic cells - just like in the midbrain." This fact makes the LCSB scientists' results of extraordinary interest to Parkinson's researchers worldwide, as Schwamborn stresses: "On our new cell cultures, we can study the mechanisms that lead to Parkinson's much better than was ever the case before. We can test what effects environmental impacts such as pollutants have on the onset of the disease, whether there are new active agents that could possibly relieve the symptoms of Parkinson's - or whether the disease could even be cured from its very cause. We will be performing such investigations next." The development of the brain-like tissue cultures not only opens doors to new research approaches. It can also help to reduce the amount of animal testing in brain research. The cell cultures in the petri dishes are of human origin, and in some aspects resemble human brains more than the brains of lab animals such as rats or mice do. Therefore, the structures of human brains and its modes of function can be modelled in different ways than it is possible in animals. "There are also attractive economic opportunities in our approach," Jens Schwamborn explains: "The production of tissue cultures is highly elaborate. In the scope of our spin-off Braingineering Technologies Sarl, we will be developing technologies by which we can provide the cultures for a fee to other labs or the pharmaceutical industry for their research." ### By Allison Lampert MONTREAL (Reuters) - Air Canada has apologized and offered compensation for bumping a 10-year-old off a flight, the boy's father said on Monday, after the Canadian family's story sparked headlines following a high-profile incident involving overbooking by U.S. carrier United Airlines. Brett Doyle said his family, who first tried unsuccessfully to check in his older son online, was told at the airport there was no seat available for the boy on an oversold flight from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, to Montreal, where they were connecting to a flight to a Costa Rica vacation last month. The entrepreneur from Prince Edward Island said the family of four then drove to Moncton, New Brunswick, to catch a different flight to Montreal only to discover at the airport that it had been canceled. "I thought it was a joke, that there were hidden cameras or something," he recalled by phone from Charlottetown. Doyle said the family contacted Air Canada, the country's largest carrier, in March, but only received an apology and the offer of a C$2,500 trip voucher after the story was published by a Canadian newspaper on Saturday. Air Canada could not immediately be reached by Reuters for comment. An airline spokeswoman told the Canadian Press: We are currently following up to understand what went wrong and have apologized to Mr. Doyle and his family as well as offered a very generous compensation to the family for their inconvenience. Doyle, whose family finally arrived in Montreal and was able to connect to Costa Rica, said he understood the public outcry after a 69-year-old passenger was dragged from his seat on a United plane in Chicago on April 9 to make space for crew members. "People are fed up," he said of airline overbooking. "You shouldn't be able to sell something twice." United's parent company, United Continental Holdings Inc , which is still recovering from the public relations debacle, apologized again on Monday for the passenger's forceful removal, while reporting quarterly earnings. Doyle said the incident on United Flight 3411, which spread rapidly on social media after being shot on video by passengers, resonated with his family. "I ... said things could always be worse," he said after hearing about the United incident. "At least we weren't thrown off the plane." (Reporting by Allison Lampert; Editing by Peter Cooney) By Nikolaj Skydsgaard COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Uber Technologies [UBER.UL] sees opportunities to expand in the Europe Union, despite withdrawing its ride-hailing service from Denmark and facing the possibility of an EU court ruling that could mean tougher rules for the firm, an Uber executive said. Danes hailed their last rides on the UberPOP app on Tuesday before enforcement of a new law making taxi meters mandatory for drivers and imposing other requirements that meant Uber could no longer operate there. It has already quit Hungary and Bulgaria. "I am ... rather excited about some of the momentum and support I see across the EU, despite the Danish setback," Uber's head of operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Pierre Dimitri Gore-Coty told Reuters. In the past three months, more than 7.5 million people hailed rides in the 21 EU states where Uber operates, five times more people than two years ago, Uber said. The firm said it had more than 120,000 active drivers in the region. "Of course, there is more to do" to expand operations in the region, Gore-Coty said in an telephone interview from Amsterdam. For the final quarter of 2016, Uber's revenues were $2.9 billion but losses were $991 million in the period. Uber has expanded across the world, from Chile to China, but has often faced challenges from local taxi firms, unions and lawmakers complaining about unfair competition and saying Uber did not meet standards required for established taxi firms. Gore-Coty dismissed such criticism. "In every country we operate, we already operate within the transport regulation law that exists today," he said about Uber's operations in the EU. Looming later this year the EU's top court, the European Court of Justice, is due to rule on a dispute between Uber and Barcelona's main taxi operator, which in 2014 accused the company of running an illegal taxi service via UberPOP. The ruling could label Uber a digital service or a transport company. If it is the latter, it could constrain Uber by subjecting it to stricter rules on licensing, insurance and safety in the countries where Uber still operates peer-to-peer services such as UberPOP. Uber says it is a digital platform that connects willing drivers with customers and says it is not a transport service. Supporters of the app say it provides a more flexible work schedule, allowing independent drivers to work when they want. However, some drivers want Uber to recognize them as employees and offer them any associated benefits. To deal with its worldwide expansion, Uber said in March that its international headquarters in Amsterdam would move to a larger building to accommodate an increase in staff to 1,000 from 400. "We are very happy with how our business develops across the EU, but also ... all across the world," Gore-Coty said, adding he also saw promising prospects for a food delivery service called UberEATS. (Corrects spelling of Gore-Coty, location of interview in paragraph 5, spelling of UberEATS in final paragraph. Removes "typically" from quote in paragraph 3, adds clarification in paragraph 10) (Editing by Edmund Blair) VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Southern Lithium Corp. (TSX-V:SNL) (FSE:SL5) ("Southern" or "the Company") is pleased to welcome Miguel Angel Tobar Corriales to its recently created advisory board. Southern Lithium and the management view the creation of this advisory board as another tool to advance the companys business agenda in Latin America Mr. Tobar is a Chilean mining lawyer and engineer with over 36 years experience in the mining industry in Latin America. Currently he is a partner and the general manager of Luthe & Tobar Consultores Asociados Limitada, a private company that provides legal and geological consulting services to natural resource companies in Latin America in the areas of geology, property acquisitions, environmental and drill permitting. Through this work he has developed a strong network of industry professionals and contacts in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina, where he has worked for the past 15 years. He held the position of topographical engineer with Chevron Corporation of Chile from 1980 to 1988. From 1988 to 1992, Miguel worked at LAC Minerals in mining operations as a topographical engineer as well and was consulting engineer for Empresa Nacional de Mineria (ENAMI), Chilean National Mining Corporation, Placer Dome Plc., and Magma Copper Chile from 1992 to 1994. In 1994, he joined Magma Copper Chile as a topographical engineer in 1996 when it became part of BHP Billiton Copper Group where he also worked as a topographical engineer and land manager until 2004. From 2004 to 2009, Miguel was the land and new business manager of Minera Lejano Oeste, a subsidiary of Far West Mining Ltd. which was eventually acquired by Capstone Mining Corp. in a $725 million deal. In 2010 to 2015, again Miguel became a topographical engineer and in-house counsel in the land department of Minera Mandalay Limitada, a subsidiary of Mandalay Resources Corp. Miguel has participated on commissions for modifying the mining codes in Chile, as well as the implementation of the National Mining Cadastre using GPS technology for mining concessions in Peru. As both a lawyer and engineer, Miguel is familiar with mining legislation in numerous jurisdictions including Ecuador, Mexico and Canada. Miguel graduated in 1980 from Universidad Tecnica del Estado, UTE in Civil Topographic Engineering and in 2006 from La Universidad La Republica (ULARE) Facultad de Derecho. The Company also announces that pursuant to the Company's Stock Option Plan it has granted 1,100,000 stock options at a price of $0.25 per common share to Management, Directors and Consultants of the Company. The option grant will vest immediately. As per the Company's Stock Option Plan, the options granted are exercisable until March 6, 2018. Grant of the options is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. About the Cruz Property Through its partner Millennial Lithium Corp. (TSX.V:ML) (FSE:A3N2) (OTCQB:MLNLF), the Company has executed a formal option agreement with Proyecto Pastos Grandes S.A. (PPG SA), a wholly owned subsidiary of Millennial, for the right to earn up to an eighty percent (80%) interest in the PPG SAs Cruz Property in the Pocitos Salar Basin in Salta Province, Argentina. The Cruz Property is located in the heart of South Americas Lithium Triangle (northern Chile, northwestern Argentina and southwest Bolivia). The property encompasses 2,500 hectares in the Pocitos Salar Basin in Salta Province, Argentina, and lies 11 kilometres south of ADY Resources Limiteds lithium brine resource in the Salar del Rincon Basin. The Cruz property is adjacent to the Rincon volcanic center that defines the southern limit of the Rincon Salar Basin, where ADY Resources Limited is extracting lithium brine, and the northern limit of the Pocitos Salar Basin, where the Cruz property is located. Both properties lie along the structural belt that hosts the important lithium resources of the region, and at the junction of a large north-south fault system and the northwest-southeast megastructure along which lies the Rincon volcano, the possible source of the lithium brine in both salar basins. The 60-kilometre long Pocitos salar basin has previously only been drill tested with a shallow 12-hole program in the 1970s, by an Argentinean government agency Direccion General de Fabricaciones Militares. To date, this is the only confirmed exploration drilling conducted in the Pocitos basin. The hole that produced the best results is near the southeast edge of the Cruz property boundary, and averaged 417 parts per million lithium; note that these results are considered historical and have not been verified by the Company's QP, however the Company considers these results relevant to the future exploration of the property. About Southern Lithium Corp (TSX-V: SNL FSE: SL5) Southern Lithium Corp. is a resource exploration company engaged in the business of acquiring and exploring minerals properties. Southern Lithium Corp. has assembled an experienced management team with a growth strategy to develop portfolio of Lithium projects. The Companys main objective is to add shareholder value through exploration and development of high quality resources through strategic acquisitions, joint ventures, and marketing while maintaining a lower risk profile through project diversification and sound, cost-effective financial management. With the potential acquisition of the Cruz property, Southern Lithium intends to establish its presence in the Pocitos basin and further deliver on its mission to secure technically superior lithium projects. The Company is only focusing on projects of the highest technical merit in favorable geopolitical jurisdictions. Qualified Persons The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Larry Segerstrom, M.Sc. (Geology), P.Geo., a Director of the Company, who is a "Qualified Person" as such term is defined under National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS Clive H. Massey Chief Executive Officer For further information, please contact: Southern Lithium Corp. Sam Eskandari Phone: +1.416.918.6785 Email: ir@southernlithium.com Further information about the Company is available on our website at www.southernlithiumcorp.com or under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements within it, other than statements of historical fact, are to be considered forward looking. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. There can be no assurances that such statements will prove accurate and, therefore, readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such uncertainties. We do not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, other than as required pursuant to applicable securities laws. Latvian English Olaine, 2017-04-18 15:01 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- March 2017, consolidated sales Sales, thsnd. EUR Changes to March 2016 Share in total sales Russia 2 719 42% 28% Latvia 2 496 12% 25% The Netherlands 845 286% 9% Belarus 721 23% 7% Ukraine 631 -75% 6% Italy 467 268% 5% Turkmenistan 279 -12% 3% Kazakhstan 203 13% 2% Georgia 176 NA 2% Tajikistan 147 NA 1% Other 1 145 17% 12% Total 9 829 9% 100% Sales of pharmacy chain of SIA Latvijas aptieka during March 2017 were 1.78 million euros, which represents an increase by 9% compared to March 2016. Sixty-five pharmacies were operating during this period. Sales of SIA Silvanols in March 2017 were 0.53 million euros, which represents an increase by 20% compared to March of 2016. Suring this period SIA Silvanols sold its products in five European countries and with the help of AS Olainfarm also to Russia, Lithuania, Belarus and Armenia. Sales of SIA Tonus Elast in March 2017 were 0.96 million euros, and the company sold its products to 19 countries in three continents. In three months of 2017, according to preliminary results, consolidated sales of AS Olainfarm reached 26.95 million euros, which represents an increase by 3% compared to the same period of 2016. The biggest sales increase during this period was achieved in Georgia, where sales grew by 694%. Sales to The Netherlands grew by 271%, sales to Italy grew by 120% and sales to Germany grew by 99%. The biggest sales reduction took place in Ukraine, where sales dropped by 59%. The major markets of Olainfarm group in three months of 2017 were Russia, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine. 3 months of 2017, consolidated sales Sales, thsnd. EUR Changes to 3 months of 2016 Share in total sales Russia 7 676 22% 28% Latvia 7 445 12% 28% Belarus 3 202 6% 12% Ukraine 2 000 -59% 7% The Netherlands 1 758 271% 7% Italy 541 120% 2% Kazakhstan 449 -21% 2% Lithuania 402 11% 1% Germany 394 99% 1% Georgia 382 694% 1% Other 2 696 -20% 10% Total 26 945 3% 100% In three months of 2017 sales of pharmacies of SIA Latvijas aptieka reached 5.17 million euros, which represents an increase by 3% compared to three months of 2016. Sales of SIA Silvanols in three months of 2017 were 1.6 million euros, which represents an increase by 31% compared to three months of 2016. Products of SIA Silvanols were sold to nine European countries and with the help of AS Olainfarm also to Lithuania, Russia, Belarus and Armenia. Sales of SIA Tonus Elast in 3 months were 1.9 million euros, and companys products were sold to 26 countries in four continents. According to preliminary unconsolidated results for March 2017, sales of AS Olainfarm during this period were 7.58 million euros, which represents a reduction by 6% compared to March of 2016. The biggest sales increase was achieved in The Netherlands, where sales grew by 286%, but sales to Italy grew by 266%. Biggest sales reduction occurred in Ukraine, where sales dropped by 79%. During March 2017, the company also made significant shipments to Georgia and Tajikistan. The biggest sales markets were Russia, Latvia, The Netherlands and Belarus. During March 2017, products of AS Olainfarm were sold to 27 countries in four continents. March 2017, unconsolidated sales Sales, thsnd. EUR Changes to March 2016 Share in total sales Russia 2 287 19% 30% Latvia 1 193 -3% 16% The Netherlands 845 286% 11% Belarus 683 17% 9% Ukraine 539 -79% 7% Italy 464 266% 6% Turkmenistan 279 -12% 4% Georgia 177 NA 2% Tajikistan 147 NA 2% Lithuania 119 -24% 2% Other 842 -2% 11% Total 7 575 -6% 100% According to preliminary unconsolidated results for three months of 2017, sales of AS Olainfarm during this period were 21.3 million euros, which represents a reduction by 6% compared to the respective period of 2016. The most rapid sales increase during this period was achieved in Georgia, where sales grew by 596%. Sales to The Netherlands grew by 271%, but sales to Italy increased by 106%. The biggest sales reduction took place in Ukraine, where sales dropped by 61%. Major sales markets of AS Olainfarm during this period were Russia, Latvia, Belarus, Ukraine and The Netherlands. In total in three months of 2017, AS Olainfarm sold its products to 37 countries in four continents.. 3 months of 2017, unconsolidated sales Sales, thsnd. EUR Changes to 3 months of 2016 Share in total sales Russia 6 915 10% 32% Latvia 3 684 4% 17% Belarus 3 151 4% 15% Ukraine 1 908 -61% 9% The Netherlands 1 758 271% 8% Italy 508 106% 2% Germany 390 97% 2% Georgia 335 596% 2% Lithuania 327 5% 2% Turkmenistan 279 -42% 1% Other 2 045 -36% 10% Total 21 300 -6% 100% According to preliminary estimates, unconsolidated sales of AS Olainfarm in 2017 might reach 96 million euros, while consolidated sales might reach 127 million euros. According to the preliminary sales numbers published here, during three months of 2017, the company has already made 22% of its unconsolidated sales estimate and 21% of its annual consolidated sales estimate. JSC Olainfarm is one of the biggest pharmaceutical companies in Latvia with more than 40 years of experience in production of medication and chemical and pharmaceutical products. A basic principle of company's operations is to produce reliable and effective top quality products for Latvia and the rest of the world. Products made by the Group are being exported to more than 35 countries of the world, including the Baltics, Russia, other CIS, Europe, Asia, North America and Australia. LOS ANGELES, April 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hip Cuisine Inc., (PINKSHEETS:HIPC) the global fresh-served food purveyor for health conscious consumers, has completed its acquisition of Rawkin Juice, the popular organic-vegan spot based in Burbank CA. Under the terms of the asset purchase agreement both Hip Cuisine and Rawkin Juice have met all conditions to close the acquisition. Rawkin Juice will operate as Rawkin Juice Inc., a new wholly owned subsidiary of Hip Cuisine. Now that we have completed the purchase of Rawkin Juice we will start executing our business plan to open additional Rawkin Juice locations throughout Southern California. We entered into the lease of our second Rawkin Juice location on March 1, 2017 in anticipation of closing the acquisition and will open for business on May 1st 2017. With the combined wholly-owned subsidiaries, Hip Cuisine Panama and Rawkin Juice we now have two production kitchens and four locations and the capability to expand into an additional 10 locations before we reach the current capacity of the combined production kitchens. stated Natalia Lopera, CEO of Hip Cuisine. 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 Cuisine has two locations located at Balboa Boutiques, Ave. Balboa, Local 104, Panama City, Panama and Plaza 770, Main Street, Costa del Este Panama. Our telephone number is 011-507-6501-8105. @Hip Cuisine Hip Cuisine'sFacebook 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 has two locations located at 4201 West Alameda Ave., Burbank, CA and 705 Montana Ave., Santa Monica 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. ATHENS, Greece, April 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE:DSX) (the Company), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced that it has commenced an underwritten public offering of US$70.0 million of common shares. The Company intends to grant the underwriters an over-allotment option for a period of 30 days from the closing of this offering to purchase up to an additional US$10.5 million of common shares. As part of the offering, entities affiliated with Simeon Palios, the Companys Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, executive officers and certain directors, have agreed to purchase approximately US$20.0 million of common shares at the public offering price. Substantially all of the net proceeds of the offering are expected to be used to fund the acquisition costs of additional dry bulk vessels, including two 2013-built Post-Panamax dry bulk vessels that the Company has agreed to purchase from unaffiliated third parties and one 2013-built Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel that the Company has agreed to purchase from an unaffiliated third party. The acquisition of the three vessels is subject to approval by the Board of Directors of the Company. Any net proceeds from the offering not used for vessel acquisitions will be used for general corporate purposes. Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and Clarksons Platou Securities, Inc. are acting as joint book-running managers in the offering and BNP Paribas Securities Corp. is acting as co-lead manager. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy these securities, nor shall there be any sale of these securities, in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. This offering is being made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus. A prospectus supplement related to the offering will be filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and will be available on the SECs website located at www.sec.gov. When available, copies of the prospectus supplement and the accompanying base prospectus relating to this offering may be obtained from Wells Fargo Securities, Attention: Equity Syndicate Department, 375 Park Avenue, New York, New York, 10152, at (800) 326-5897 or email a request to cmclientsupport@wellsfargo.com or Clarksons Platou Securities, Inc., 280 Park Avenue, 21st floor, New York, NY 10019, (or by phone at (212) 317-7080, or by e-mail at prospectuses@clarksons.com). About the Company Diana Shipping Inc. is a global provider of shipping transportation services through its ownership of dry bulk vessels. The Companys vessels are employed primarily on medium to long-term charters and transport a range of dry bulk cargoes, including such commodities as iron ore, coal, grain and other materials along worldwide shipping routes. Diana Shipping Inc.s fleet currently consists of 48 dry bulk vessels (4 Newcastlemax, 14 Capesize, 3 Post-Panamax, 4 Kamsarmax and 23 Panamax). The Company also expects to take delivery of two 2013-built Post-Panamax dry bulk vessels and one 2013-built Kamsarmax dry bulk vessel during June 2017. As of today, the combined carrying capacity of the Companys fleet, excluding the three vessels not yet delivered, is approximately 5.7 million dwt with a weighted average age of 7.88 years. A table describing the current Diana Shipping Inc. fleet can be found on the Companys website, www.dianashippinginc.com. Information contained on the Companys website does not constitute a part of this press release. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words believe, anticipate, intends, estimate, forecast, project, plan, potential, may, should, expect, pending and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, the Companys managements examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Companys records and other data available from third parties. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Companys control, the Company cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections. In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Companys view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for dry bulk shipping capacity, changes in the Companys operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Companys vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Please see the Companys filings with the SEC for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. Couple dead as bus hits motorbike in Kanchanpur A couple died when a bus hit a motorbike at Suklaphant Municipality-5 in Kanchanpur district on Tuesday. betterscore wrote: Physician: The hormone melatonin has shown promise as a medication for sleep disorders when taken in synthesized form. Because the long-term side effects of synthetic melatonin are unknown , however, I cannot recommend its use at this time. Patient: Your position is inconsistent with your usual practice. You prescribe many medications that you know have serious side effects, so concern about side effects cannot be the real reason you will not prescribe melatonin. The patient's argument is flawed because it fails to consider that (A) the side effects of synthetic melatonin might be different from those of naturally produced melatonin (B) it is possible that the physician does not believe that melatonin has been conclusively shown to be effective (C) sleep disorders, if left untreated, might lead to serious medical complications (D) the side effects of a medication can take some time to manifest themselves (E) known risks can be weighed against known benefits, but unknown risks cannot Step 1: Identify the Question flawed Find the Flaw Weaken if true Step 2: Deconstruct the Argument Step 3: Pause and State the Goal Flaw undermines one of the arguments assumptions Step 4: Work from Wrong to Right (E) CORRECT unknown side effects of melatonin "Be challenged at EVERY MOMENT." Strength doesnt come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldnt. "Each stage of the journey is crucial to attaining new heights of knowledge." | Please DO NOT post short answer in your post! Advanced Search : https://gmatclub.com/forum/advanced-search/ Rules for posting in verbal forum | Please DO NOT post short answer in your post! Signature Read More MelatoninThe wordin the question stem indicates that this is aquestion. Flaw questions are closely related to Weaken questions with one big difference:questions will contain the language, while Flaw questions will NOT.Dr: M = effective, BUT: side effects unknown cant prescribePa: you prescribe other meds w/ side effects why not M?The physicians argument is this: Ms side effects are unknown, so he cant recommend using it. The patient counters this argument by claiming that the physician must actually have some other reason to avoid prescribing M. The physician prescribes other medications that have serious side effects, so unknown side effects arent (according to the patient) a valid excuse.Onquestions, the goal is to find an answer choice that. What is the patient overlooking or what bad assumption is he making in drawing his conclusion?.(A) Unless the argument also provides information about natural melatonin, knowing that the two types of melatonin are different from each other doesnt affect the argument, which is purely about synthetic melatonin.(B) This answer choice states that there is another reason that the physician chooses not to prescribe melatoninhe is concerned about its efficacy, rather than its safety. However, this isnt something that the patient has failed to consider. In fact, this type of issue is exactly what the patient is concerned about.(C) Failing to consider the serious medical consequences of sleep disorders is a criticism that would be more appropriately levied at the physician than the patient.(D) The argument deals only with which side effects a medication has, not the time frame in which those side effects make themselves known.. The doctors argument specifically regards the. In the patients response, he draws an analogy between melatonin and other medications with known serious side effects. In doing so, the patient assumesperhaps incorrectlythat known and unknown side effects should be treated in the same way._________________ Tue, 11/8 (10:30am ET): Recession Looming, Applications Down! Is It the Best Time to Get an MBA? - Beautiful Indian sisters popularly known as the Matharoo sisters are seriously wanted by the Nigerian police for blackmailing Femi Otedola and family - The sisters were arrested and charged to court for this act but found a way to escape from Nigeria - They were reported to have been part owner of a malicious site, NaijaGistLive.com It could be recalled that few months back, two Indian sisters and Canadian citizen Kiran and Jyoti Mathroo were involved in the blackmail of one of Nigerias billionaire, Femi Otedola, his wife and daughter, DJ Cuppy. Legit.ng gathered that the two sisters were arrested and charged to Magistrate court, Yaba, Lagos, for Cyber bulling, blackmail and extortion alongside their accomplice, Babatunde Oyebode a.k.a Baudex. After realizing their mistake the two sisters made an apology video to Mr Otedola and his family. READ ALSO: Jamaican citizen, Violet Brown becomes world's oldest woman as she turns 117 (photos) Watch their apology video below: However, Politics Nigeria disclosed that these two sisters were said to have escaped from Nigeria, ignoring the fact that their case with the business mogul is still in court. They added that, trouble started for the Matharoo sisters and Oyebode after Otedola wrote a petition to the Nigerian police on an attempt by the trio to blackmail and extort him. After their first appearance in court, the sisters absconded leaving only Oyebode who has been diligent in making court appearances. They visited the prosecutors office in Yaba, where it was revealed that the sisters obtained a temporary travel document that aided their escape. Femi Otedola and the Matharoo sisters It was further discovered that one was of the sureties; Alhaji Waheed Sobunlo was identified and made to write an undertaking to provide the trio on every date of adjournment. The undertaking was written on 26/12/2016. At a second hearing into the case on in January 2017, tables turned around when the sisters did not appear in court and this prompted the presiding judge to issue a bench warrant for the sisters. The warrants were dated 25/1/2017. A bench warrant was issued for their surety, Sobunlo on 2/2/2017 after he failed to produce the sisters in court. READ ALSO: Officers give thanks to God after returning safely to Lagos from North-East (photos) It was later discovered Sobunlo and 2 other sureties had also absconded. Only one of the sureties was arrested and he is currently in prison custody. Unconfirmed reports reveal that Sobunlo escaped to the US. All the issued bench warrants are still in effect. Read full story HERE. Watch related video below: Source: Legit.ng Fire in Bhaktapur after gases emerge while drilling ground for water A fire broke out near Pilagaun ward office at Sirutar-1 in Bhaktapur district when gases emerged while drilling the ground for water on Tuesday. As of August 26th, 2021 Yahoo India will no longer be publishing content. Your Yahoo Account Mail and Search experiences will not be affected in any way and will operate as usual. We thank you for your support and readership. For more information on Yahoo India, please visit the FAQ Five US states hunt 'Facebook killer' A US gunman who shot a grandfather on the street apparently at random and posted the footage on Facebook could be anywhere, say investigators. Geopolitical rivalry in SAsia As the gap between India and China continues to widen due to several bilateral and international issues, both countries are competing to increase their influence in Saarc countries. India is struggling to retain its influence in these countries, while China is keen to increase its clout. Publie le 18 avr. 2017 a 8:55 - Avoir signe un accord pour l'acquisition du groupe Luck en Allemagne ; - Que le groupe Luck a realise en 2016 un chiffre d'affaires d'environ 130 millions d'euros ; -Que la transaction devrait etre effective fin mai 2017. Quelles actions acheter ? Realiser les meilleurs investissements necessite une connaissance fine des marches, de leurs mecanismes, de leconomie et implique de se plonger au cur de la strategie de chacune des entreprises cotees. La redaction dInvestir le fait pour vous et reserve a ses abonnes ses conseils sur plus de 800 valeurs. Beneficiez de leurs recommandations dachat, dachat speculatif, decart ou de vente en vous abonnant a Investir. Only at a North Korean press conference at the United Nations, can you hear a diplomat say he hoped journalists had a good holiday weekend and then warn of possible thermonuclear war, according to CNN. North Korea has consistently issued threats of war toward the United States in recent decades, but the Trump administrations announced end of a strategic patience policy with Pyongyang has upped the ante in terms of warnings and bellicose rhetoric. North Koreas UN deputy representative, Kim In Ryong, on Monday unleashed at a hastily called UN press conference a torrent of threats, war scenarios and rhetoric aimed at the United States. The press event was held hours after US Vice President Mike Pence visited the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. Pence warned North Korea not to test the resolve of the United States or the strength of our military forces. In New York, North Korea returned verbal fire. North Koreas UN ambassador condemned the US naval buildup in the waters off the Korean Peninsula, plus the US missile attacks on Syria. Kim said, It has created a dangerous situation in which thermonuclear war may break out at any moment on the peninsula and poses a serious threat to world peace and security. While reporters at the United Nations have heard similar rhetoric from North Koreans before, Mondays forceful wording was on a higher level. The deputy ambassador, reading from a statement, told reporters, The US is disturbing the global peace and stability and insisting on the gangster-like logic that its invasion of a sovereign state is decisive, and just, and proportionate and contributes to defending the international order in its bid to apply it to the Korean Peninsula as well. Kim said his country is ready to react to any mode of war from the United States. Any missile or nuclear strike by the United States would be responded to in kind, said the North Korea representative. The USS Carl Vinson carrier-led Navy strike group was sent to the Korean Peninsula. North Koreas UN representative said the maneuvers show the US reckless moves for invading the DPRK (North Korea) have reached a serious phase. The United Nations is clearly worried. Spokesman Stephane Dujarric told journalists, Were obviously deeply concerned about the rising tensions that weve seen in the Korean Peninsula. We call on all to redouble their diplomatic efforts. The North Korean deputy ambassador was asked to respond to President Donald Trumps comment that North Korea should behave better. He declined, instead wrapping up numerous questions about US policy and Pences visit to the DMZ into a long series of criticisms of the United States. He denounced the United States for introducing into the Korean Peninsula what he called the worlds biggest hotspot its huge nuclear strategic assets, seriously threatening peace and security of the Peninsula and pushing the situation there to a brink of war. North Korea staged a failed missile launch over the weekend. Dujarric said, I think the latest launch that we saw over the weekend from the DPRK was troubling. We call on the DPRK to take all the steps necessary to deescalate the situation and return to a dialogue on denuclearization. North Korea is upset that the UN Security Council will hold a meeting on the situation later this month, with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson presiding. Pyongyang again said it has sent letters demanding its own hearing at the Security Council for alleged US abuses, but they have been ignored by a council which has seen numerous council resolutions violated by North Korean missile and nuclear tests. To add to the list of warnings, the North Korean diplomat said his country would hold the United States accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions. Journalists were asked to give their names on a sheet passed around by the North Koreans, but the sign-up sheet was left behind apparently when the news conference concluded. The incredible haul was found in an ancient nobles tomb on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor, Joinfo.com reports with reference to MailOnline. Little is known about who the mummies belong to, but the team says it expects to find even more statues as the dig continues. There are 10 coffins and eight mummies. The excavation is ongoing, said Mostafa Waziri, the head of the archaeological mission. The 18th Dynasty tomb, discovered in the Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis near the famed Valley of the Kings, belonged to a nobleman named Userhat who worked as the city judge, the ministry said in a statement. It was opened to add more mummies during the 21st Dynasty, about 3,000 years ago, to protect them during a period when tomb-robbing was common, said Waziri, the head of the archaeological mission, at the site. It was a surprise how much was being displayed inside the tomb, Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany told reporters outside the tomb. We found a large number of Ushabti (small carved figurines), more than 1,000 of them, Mr Enany said. This is an important discovery, he added. Ushabti figurines were often placed with the deceased in ancient Egyptian tombs to help with responsibilities in the afterlife. Inside the tomb, archaeologists wearing white masks and latex gloves inspected the sarcophagi, which were covered with intricate drawings in red, blue, black, green, and yellow, and featured the carved faces of the dead. The coffins were mainly well-preserved, though some had deteriorated and broken over the years. Archaeologists were also examining a mummy wrapped in linen which was inside one of the coffins. White, orange, green, and patterned pots were also found in the tombs. It is a T-shaped tomb (which) consists of an open court leading into a rectangular hall, a corridor and an inner chamber, the ministry said in a statement. A nine-metre shaft inside the tomb held the Ushabti figurines, as well as wooden masks and a handle of a sarcophagus lid, the ministry said. Another room in the tomb was also discovered, though it has not yet been completely excavated, it said. Nevine el-Aref, the spokeswoman for the antiquities ministry, said there is evidence and traces that new mummies could be discovered in the future. 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 ... Govt rolls back Friday holiday decision Following widespread criticism, the government on Monday rolled back its earlier decision of public holiday on Friday, the day President Bidya Devi Bhandari will return home from her five-day state visit to India. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has warned that the United States has not ruled out using military force to deal with an increasing nuclear threat from North Korea. He spoke of recent U.S. military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan as evidence of President Trumps strength and resolve. The warning came as Pence visited South Korea at the start of a four-nation Asia trip. He spoke during a joint appearance in Seoul with South Koreas acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn. Pence urged the U.S. to move away from a previous policy of what he called strategic patience. He said this policy had failed to produce lasting progress with North Korea. For more than two decades, the United States and our allies have worked to peacefully dismantle North Koreas nuclear program, and alleviate the suffering of their people. But at every step of the way, North Korea answered our overtures with willful deception, broken promises and nuclear and missile tests. Pence noted that during the past 18 months, North Korea had carried out two nuclear tests and more missile tests than ever before. Kim Jong Uns government conducted its latest missile test on Sunday, just before Pences arrival. The test failed when the missile exploded shortly after launch. Stopping a North Korean nuclear missile While Vice President Pence is in Asia, he is expected to seek support for increasing pressure on North Korea to end its nuclear and missile development programs. All options are on the table, Pence told reporters at the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates North and South Korea. However, U.S. National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said he is not currently considering a military option. On a TV news program, McMaster said U.S. officials are aiming to contain the threat peacefully. The Trump administration is reportedly considering new economic restrictions on North Korea. These could include an oil embargo, a global ban on its airline, stopping cargo ships, and punishing Chinese banks that do business with North Korean companies. Other players in the area China remains an important partner for the U.S. on North Korea. But Chinese officials have not supported strong measures against North Korea, which is a close ally of China. Those measures could cause instability at Chinas border and increase U.S. power in the area. A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman called for restarting multi-party talks that ended without agreement in 2009. He also spoke out against deploying the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea. Both Pence and Hwang repeated their support for THAAD as a way to protect against North Korean missile strikes. In Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said a diplomatic effort is important to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula. But he said dialogue for the sake of having dialogue is useless. We need to apply pressure on North Korea so they seriously respond to a dialogue, Abe told a parliamentary meeting. He urged the international community, especially China and Russia, to play a bigger role in the issue. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English, based on reports from VOA News, the Associated Press and Reuters. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. ________________________________________________________________ Words in This Story resolve n. determination patience n. being able to wait a long time without becoming annoyed or upset dismantle v. take something apart or completely get rid of it alleviate v. reduce the pain or difficulty of something overture n. something offered with the hope that it will improve a relationship, agreement, etc. deception n. act of making something seem true that is not embargo n. a government order that limits trade in some way dialogue n. discussion held between groups in attempt to come to an agreement For the best information, you will need to ask the consulate or embassy of the country you are interested in visiting. Laws change all the time, especially as countries crack down on illicit drugs. You might just need to carry a doctor's note, but before you book a trip, go to the governmental source with the list of prescriptions. (A travel clinic might not even have this information.) A 2016 report from Australia did provide these insights: "Anything containing codeine, pseudoephedrine, such as cold and flu tablets, morphine or dexamphetamine is prohibited in Bali, Japan and the United Arab Emirates. Thailand requires travelers to carry a permit for personal medications and people visiting Canada and Vietnam are advised to carry a letter from their doctor listing prescribed medicines and their dosage. The UAE also may ask for documentation for certain medication, and passengers who dont have the right paperwork may face prosecution." Credit: Rush University Medical Center If you currently are sexually active, have been sexually active in the past or have sex in the future, there's an extremely high chance that at some point before your sex life is over you will have been infected with the human papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted infection that is linked to several cancers. Just this month, the National Center for Health Statistics announced that it found that 45.2 percent of men and 39.9 percent of women 18 to 59 years in age were infected with genital HPV during 2013 to 2014. Even more alarming, the center found that during the same time period 25.1 percent of men and 20.4 percent of women were exposed to high-risk genital HPV, which result in about 31,000 cases of cancer each year. A viral infection, HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection and can be spread between partners through anal, vaginal, or oral sex, and even through close skin-to-skin touching. The center's latest figures are a reminder that nearly everyone who is sexually active becomes infected with HPV during some point in their lives, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (which includes the NCHS). "HPV is very common; up to 80 percent of sexually active people have been exposed at some point in their lives," says Summer Dewdney, MD, a gynecologic oncologist at Rush University Medical Center. "But the vast majority never develop any symptoms, and the body's immune system can usually clear HPV on its own within two years." HPV causes nearly all cervical and oral cancers But other times, the infection does not clear up. And since there is no cure for HPV, the virus puts people at risk for potentially serious problemssuch as cancer and genital wartsdown the road. Every year, more than 27,000 women and men are affected by the following cancers linked to HPV: Anal cancer Cervical cancer Oropharyngeal cancer, which includes oral cancer and throat cancer Penile cancer Vaginal cancer Vulvar cancer Almost all of the more than 11,000 cases of cervical cancers diagnosed in the U.S. each year are caused by HPV. While oral cancers used to be attributed mainly to tobacco and alcohol, now 72 percent of oral cancers (particularly in young men) are caused by HPV. "There has been significant change in the last decade. The HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancer has reached epidemic proportions," says Kerstin Stenson, MD, a head and neck cancer surgeon at Rush. "By 2020, HPV is projected to cause more oropharyngeal cancers than cervical cancers in the U.S.," adds Karen Lui, MD, a pediatrician at Rush Protect yourself with HPV vaccine ... The doctors recommend taking precautions to prevent HPV infection and catch infections that do occur before they become major health problems. "We have a vaccine for cancer," Dewdney says. "Use it!" Two vaccines, Cervarix and Gardasil, are available to protect against the types of HPV that cause the most cervical cancers, as well as anal cancers in men. A doctor can administer the vaccine in three shots over a six-month period. Gardasil is recommended for girls and women between ages 9 and 26 Cervarix is recommended for girls who are 9 years of age, plus women of any age who have not previously been vaccinated and have not previously been diagnosed with cervical cancer. The HPV vaccine is also recommended for boys, starting at age 11. "If you aren't eligible but your children are the right ages, consider taking them to be vaccinated," Dewdney says. "But the important thing to know is that even if you were not vaccinated as a child, you can still get the vaccine up to age 26." ... get regular pap tests and dental exams ... Additionally, Lui recommends annual PAP tests for women starting at 21 years of agewhether they've been vaccinated or not. Pap tests enable doctors to detect abnormalitieschanges on the cells on a woman's cervixand take action before cervical cancer develops. "Screening is the best way to catch HPV-related cancers early," Liu says. "Once you turn 30, we recommend pap smears every five years as long as you have HPV testing with your Pap and the results are negative," Dewdney says. "In addition, any bleeding with intercourse should be evaluated by a gynecologist." According to the American Cancer Society, between 60 and 80 percent of women in the United States with newly diagnosed invasive cervical cancer have not had a Pap test in the past five years. And, even more alarming, many of these women have never had the exam. Stenson stresses the importance of regular visits to the dentist. "Dentists play a key role in detecting oral cancer," she says. "You might not see a primary care physician even once a year, but most people see their dentist twice a year. Having regular dental visits can help catch cancers early to help ensure the best outcome." ... also, practice safe sex Studies have shown that women who have many sexual partners increase their risk of developing HPV and their risk of cervical cancer. "If you are sexually active, use a condom every time you have sex," Dewdney says. "Unprotected sex leaves you at risk for contracting sexually transmitted diseases that can increase your risk of getting HPV and greatly increase your chances of developing precancerous changes of the cervix." While condoms help to lower the risk of developing HPV-related diseases, including cervical cancer, be aware that HPV can infect areas that are not covered by a condom, so condoms may not fully protect against HPV. That's why it's essential get the HPV vaccine in addition to using condoms. Though studies have shown that using a condom properly and consistentlymeaning every single time you have sexcan reduce HPV transmission, any area of the penis not covered by the condom can be infected by the virus. "While the infection is most commonly passed by vaginal or anal sex, you can also transmit it during oral sex and skin-to-skin contact, and in those cases a condom isn't going to protect you at all," Lui says. "That's where the vaccine can help safeguard you." Protect your children 'for the rest of their lives' Due to controversy about vaccinating young people against a sexually transmitted infection and parental concerns about possible long-term effects of these relatively new vaccines, many children, teens and young adults aren't getting vaccinated, leaving them vulnerable to future HPV infection. Lui encourages kids and parents to have an ongoing, open conversation about their wishes when it comes to being vaccinated. "It's hard for some kids to admit to their parents that they're sexually active or are considering it," says Lui. "But it's important to be honest with your parents and tell them that you want to protect yourself." Also, research has shown that getting the HPV vaccine does not encourage kids to become sexually active or start having sex at a younger agea common concern cited by parents. "Parents need to understand that just because their kids want the HPV vaccine, it doesn't mean they're promiscuous, or even that they plan to start having sex right away," Liu says. "They're talking about doing something now that can help keep them safe for the rest of their livesand as parents, that's all we really want for our children." From left, Agrey Mwakisole, David Downs, Jennifer Downs, Mary Mbago, Mary Fuunay and Lucas Fuunay in Tanzania. Credit: Cornell University Educating religious leaders in sub-Saharan Africa about male circumcision increases the likelihood that men will undergo the procedure, Weill Cornell Medicine investigators found in a new trial. The results may have profound public health implications, as circumcision has been shown to dramatically reduce the incidence of HIV. Public health experts have long considered male circumcision to be a vital HIV prevention strategy. But the procedure is deeply entrenched in religious and cultural mores, limiting its prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa. In a study published Feb. 14 in The Lancet, Weill Cornell Medicine investigators found that educating local religious leaders about circumcision and its benefits led to an increase in the number of men who underwent the procedure. The findings underscore the public health benefits of aligning medicine with religious beliefs. "The longer I spend in sub-Saharan Africa, the more I realize how strongly people's faith motivates their behavior," said lead author Jennifer Downs, the Friedman Family Research Scholar in Pediatric Infectious Diseases and an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. "We learned that if people believe that circumcision is consistent with their religious beliefs, they will do it." Approximately 70 percent of the world's HIV infections occur in sub-Saharan Africa. In an effort to curb the epidemic, the World Health Organization in 2011 committed to increasing the prevalence of male circumcision. It targeted 14 countries in the region with the initial goal of performing 20.8 million male circumcisions by 2016. However, adapting religious beliefs to accept the procedure has been challenging and uptake has been about 50 percent lower than expected, with only 10 million circumcisions completed by the end of 2015. To determine if more men would undergo circumcision if their religious leaders endorsed it, Downs and her research team, which included Weill Cornell Medicine colleagues Myung Hee Lee and Daniel Fitzgerald, designed a curriculum to teach male and female Christian church leaders in eight northern Tanzanian villages about the procedure's medical, historical, religious and social aspects. They compared subsequent circumcision rates to eight control villages. In all 16 villages, the Tanzanian Ministry of Health offered a voluntary medical male circumcision outreach campaign. Working with Tanzanian colleagues from Weill Bugando University College of Health Sciences, the researchers found that in the villages in which church leaders received teaching about male circumcision, 52.8 percent of men and boys were circumcised, compared with 29.5 percent in the eight control villages. In villages that had been randomized to receive intervention, Christian church leaders of both sexes and all denominations were invited to attend an educational seminar about male circumcision. They participated in discussions about ways in which they could encourage male circumcision within their congregations. The standard outreach, which all of the villages received, included community meetings, drama performances, broadcast announcements and distribution of health information brochures, but did not specifically address religious leaders. Church leaders in the intervention villages who attended the seminars reported a better understanding of male circumcision and a sense of empowerment to teach their congregations about the issue. Many said their congregants sought circumcisions in great numbers after church discussions of the topic. "We believe a key reason for our study's effectiveness was its attentiveness to structural and cultural factors in promoting behavioral change," Downs said. "This study lays the groundwork for additional efforts to establish the effect of promoting healthy behaviors through religious communities in sub-Saharan Africa." More information: Jennifer A Downs et al. Educating religious leaders to promote uptake of male circumcision in Tanzania: a cluster randomised trial, The Lancet (2017). Journal information: The Lancet Jennifer A Downs et al. Educating religious leaders to promote uptake of male circumcision in Tanzania: a cluster randomised trial,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(16)32055-4 The University of Manchester is part of a new consortium which will develop new CT and MRI scan techniques and biomarkers to look at the accumulation of compounds in the body caused by drugs and the harm they may causepotentially improving patients' safety and the development of new treatments. The TRISTAN project, (Translational Imaging in Drug Safety Assessment) is a public-private partnership supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative involving organisations across Europe. The University of Manchester is a major part of this, receiving funding to develop scanning techniques for so-called imaging biomarkers for drug-induced liver and lung disease. The researchers believe that by refining these techniques to adapt scans for specific compounds they can spot the early signs of disease, tailor individual treatments and identify problems with new drugs early in their developmentpotentially saving time and money. One part of the package will be to develop a trial in rheumatology and cancer patients who have drug induced lung toxicity. By scanning them, the researchers hope to refine techniques to spot this early on and identify which patients are most susceptible. Dr Sarah Skeoch, a National Institute for Health Research Clinical Lecturer in Rheumatology, who is leading this part of the research in Manchester, said: "Some drugs can cause inflammation and damage in the lungs. We hope to develop scans that can identify early lung changes so that quick action can be taken to minimise harm to the patient. The scans may also help identify drugs which are at high risk of causing lung problems so they are not developed further." Another part of the project will investigate drug interactions and drug-induced liver disease. Specifically the researchers will look for the presence of imaging biomarker gadoxetate in liver cells. This will enable them to develop predictive models to help with the development of new drugs with less safety concerns. Dr Aleksandra Galetin, principal investigator and Reader in the School of Health Sciences/ Pharmacy, is leading this section of the project. She said: "Quite often drugs are far down the line of development before potential harmful side-effects are discovered. Use of imaging biomarkers and predictive models could help identify a drug that is not a good candidate much earlier, saving a lot of money and research time." Overall the five-year, European-wide project is budgeted at 24m. TRISTAN is led by Bayer and coordinated by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC). The University of Manchester will receive around 1.1m. Partners in this part of the work will be the University of Leeds, University of Sheffield/Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. It will also involve The University of Manchester spin-out company Bioxydyn, a specialist provider of ground-breaking MRI applications and imaging services. Professor Ian Bruce, a co-investigator and Director of the NIHR Manchester Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) said: "Researchers across Greater Manchester are working towards a more personalised approach that matches individuals to the treatment most likely to work for them. This grant from the European Commission will complement the funding for our new BRC and support research into the use of advanced imaging biomarkers to better predict targeting of treatment and reduce the risk of side effects." In patients with a sore throat that didn't require immediate antibiotics, a single capsule of the corticosteroid dexamethasone didn't increase the likelihood of complete symptom resolution after 24 hours, and although more patients taking the steroid reported feeling completely better after 48 hours, a role for steroids to treat sore throats in primary care is uncertain, according to a study published by JAMA. Acute sore throat is one of the most common symptoms among patients presenting to primary care. Adults in the United States made an estimated 92 million visits to doctors for sore throats between 1997 and 2010, an average of 6.6 million visits annually. Antibiotics are prescribed at 60 percent of UK primary care sore throat consultations, despite national guidelines advising against prescriptions. There is a need to find alternative strategies that reduce symptoms and antibiotic consumption. Gail Hayward, D.Phil., M.R.C.G.P., of the University of Oxford, United Kingdom, and colleagues randomly assigned adults with sore throat not requiring immediate antibiotics to a single oral dose of 10 mg of dexamethasone or placebo. The trial was conducted in 42 family practices in South and West England. Of 565 eligible randomized participants (median age, 34 years), 288 received dexamethasone and 277 placebo. The researchers found that at 24 hours, participants receiving dexamethasone were not more likely than those receiving placebo to have complete symptom resolution. Results were similar among those who were not offered an antibiotic prescription and those who were offered a delayed antibiotic prescription. At 48 hours, more participants receiving dexamethasone than placebo (35 percent versus 27 percent) had complete symptom resolution, which was also observed in patients not offered delayed antibiotics. There were no significant differences in other outcomes such as days missed from work or school and adverse events. The authors note that uncertainty remains about the role of oral corticosteroids for patients presenting in primary care with sore throat. "Corticosteroids may have clinical benefit in addition to antibiotics for severe sore throat, for example, to reduce hospital admissions of those patients who are unable to swallow fluids or medications. There have been no trials of corticosteroid use involving these patient groups." JSSK fails to meet book printing deadline, again The new school session started on Sunday but thousands of students are forced to attend classes without textbooks, thanks to the failure on the part of the Janak Shiksha Samagri Kendra (JSSK) to meet the book printing deadline. This microscopic image shows human lung epithelial cells treated with a new experimental molecular compound called RCM-1. RCM-1 treatment removes a transcription factor called FOXM1 (shown in green) from the nucleus of cells (blue) to the cell cytoplasm. FOXM1 triggers excess inflammation and mucous in diseases like asthma and COPD. Researchers at Cincinnati Children's report April 18 in Science Signaling that RMC-1 treatment prevents excess inflammation and mucous in mouse models and human respiratory cells. Credit: Cincinnati Children's Transcription factors, the tiny proteins that switch genes on or off in the nucleus of cells, are considered unreachable molecular targets for drugs attempting to treat medical conditions. Overcoming this challenge, researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center discovered a small molecular compound that successfully blocks a transcription factor and its pro-inflammatory and hyper-mucous activity in asthma. In a study published online April 18 by Science Signaling, scientists test a new compound they call RCM-1. The substance inhibits the transcription factor FOXM1 and a long downstream chain of pro-inflammatory processes it fuels in asthmatic airways. They show that RMC-1 treatment prevents overproduction of mucous-generating goblet cells in the lungs of mice with asthma and in human airway cell cultures. Calling their compound a new therapeutic candidate for people with severe asthma and other chronic airway diseases, researchers say with additional research and development their discovery could lead to future clinical trials for asthma, Cystic Fibrosis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). All are severe pulmonary diseases associated with increased inflammation and mucous hyper-secretion. "Traditional targets for drugs are receptors on cell surfaces, which are easy to reach. Transcription factors are inside cell nuclei and difficult to reach," said Vladimir Kalinichenko, MD, PhD, the study's lead investigator and a member of the Division of Pulmonary Biology. "RCM-1 keeps FOXM1 from entering the cell nucleus by activating cell machinery called proteasomes that degrade the transcription factor. This was very efficient at reducing lung inflammation and production of mucous-generating goblet cells in our tests." Better treatments needed Kalinichenko said the research is driven by the need to develop more effective treatments for people with severe asthma and other debilitating lung ailments like COPD. Current clinical management for asthma focuses on reducing lung and airway inflammation triggered by allergens, such as house dust mites, mold, etc. Therapeutic agents able to directly affect gene regulatory networks that trigger inflammation and mucous-producing goblet cells would potentially be more efficient at slowing or stopping disease progression. Leveraging the ongoing research of his laboratory into FOXM1 - which also plays a key role in lung cancer - Kalinichenko's team identified the RCM-1 compound during a computer-supported biological imaging screen of 50,000 small compounds stored at the University of Cincinnati Genome Research Center. The scientists searched specifically for compounds that would target FOXM1 and inhibit its activation of downstream pro-inflammatory molecules that drive overproduction of mucous-generating goblet cells. Successful lab testing The research team then tested RMC-1 in cultured human airway epithelial cells and mouse models of asthma (via injection into the animals' peritoneal cavities). The mice were either sensitized with house dust mite allergens or treated with a pro-inflammatory molecule called interleukin 13 (IL-13), which induces mucous production in airway diseases. Microscopic images show that RMC-1 prevented FOXM1 from entering the nucleus in cultured human airway epithelial cells and in mouse allergen-sensitized respiratory airways. It also decreased airway hyper-responsiveness to allergen, reduced lung inflammation and improved lung function in mice sensitized to house dust mite allergens. FOXM1 also prevented IL-13 from causing goblet cell expansion in mice that were given the pro-inflammatory molecule intra-nasally. Translating the science Before the research team's identification of RMC-1 could eventually lead to clinical trials, Kalinichenko said the researchers will first need to test RCM-1 in more sophisticated animal models of respiratory diseases. This will help address issues related to dosage, toxicity, optimal methods of therapeutic delivery, etc. In their future work, the researchers also want to refine the chemical structure of RCM-1 to make it more efficient and to improve the method of therapeutic delivery. This includes seeing if the compound can be packaged into nanoparticles for intravenous injection. The researchers have applied for a patent on RCM-1, working through the Cincinnati Children's Center for Technology Commercialization. Working-age people who have fainting spells (a condition known as syncope) have a higher risk of occupational accidents and job loss, compared to adults without the condition, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal. Syncope is characterized by a sudden loss of consciousness followed by spontaneous recovery. In a Danish study comparing adults age 18 to 64 with recurrent syncope to those without it, those with syncope had: a 1.4-fold increased risk of occupational accidents; and a 2-fold higher risk of loss of employment (31 percent vs 15 percent), Also, patients with recurrent syncope who were young, had poor socioeconomic status, or additional conditions (such as cardiovascular disease or depression), were particularly at high risk of workplace accidents or job termination. Researchers said the study is the first to show a significant association between syncope and work-related outcomes. "We believe that our findings shed light on a hidden consequence of syncope," said Anna-Karin Nume, M.D., the study's first author and a research fellow in the cardiology department at Copenhagen University Herlev Gentofte Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark. "The ability to feel safe at work and maintain a full-time job addresses an indirect effect and cost of syncope beyond the usual clinical parameters such as mortality and hospitalization. Employment is more than a measure of performance status; besides its financial importance, it is crucial for self-esteem and quality of life." Nume and colleagues identified 21,729 patients who had a first-time diagnosis of syncope that required a trip to the emergency room or hospitalization. Of that number, 49.5 percent were employed at that time and most returned to work within a month of hospital discharge. Researchers noted that 622 patients had a subsequent occupational accident and 36 involved severe injuries such as fracture, amputation crush or internal bleeding. Accidents were most frequent among those working manual jobs. The study was based on 2008-2013 data covering residents from Denmark's national population-based registers. The median age was 48, and 49.7 percent were men. One of the Danish study's limitations is the lack of information on potentially relevant factors such as the individuals' work environment, their habits and health behaviors, or exact circumstances of the syncopal events. Consequently, causal effects cannot be established, only associations, and the results should be interpreted with caution. The results may apply to similar Western countries, yet researchers advise caution when making comparisons because of differences in health, social security and other policies that may exist. "People with fainting episodes should be evaluated medically and have appropriate interventions to help them maintain their employment and keep safe at work," Nume said. "In general, syncope can be managed, and workplace risks might be managed by a change in job duties, such as avoidance of operating heavy equipment." "We hope that our findings will stimulate more research to examine why syncope is associated with adverse employment outcomes and to identify and test preventive strategies," she said. "Until then, we urge physicians to ask patients with syncope about their work to reduce any adverse consequences of syncope and educate them about underlying mechanisms and coping strategies." In the past, all forms of metastatic prostate cancer have been considered incurable. In recent years, the FDA has approved six drugs for men with metastatic disease, all of which can increase survival. In a study published in Urology, researchers demonstrate for the first time that an aggressive combination of systemic therapy (drug treatment) with local therapy (surgery and radiation) directed at both the primary tumor and metastasis can eliminate all detectable disease in selected patients with metastatic prostate cancer. While the study is only a first step, one-fifth of the patients treated had no detectable disease, with an undetectable prostate-specific-androgen (PSA) and normal blood testosterone, after 20 months. The results suggest that some men who have previously been considered incurable can possibly be cured; investigators also establish a new paradigm for testing various drug combinations in conjunction with local treatment of the prostate to determine which is the best approach (ie, has the highest undetectable disease rate). Such results could not have been achieved with any single therapy alone. According to lead investigator Howard I. Scher, MD, Chief of the Genitourinary Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, "The sequential use of the three different modalities helped illustrate the role and importance of each in achieving the undetectable PSA with normal testosterone level end point, which represents a 'no-evidence of disease' status." Longer follow-up is needed to determine whether these patients were in fact cured. Twenty men with metastatic prostate cancer, five with extra-pelvic lymph nodal disease and 15 with bone with or without nodal disease, were treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), radical surgery that included a retroperitoneal lymph node dissection as needed, and radiation therapy to visible metastatic lesions in bone. ADT was stopped after a minimum of six months if an undetectable PSA was achieved after combined modality therapy. Other patients were treated continuously. The combined treatment regimen including surgery was well tolerated. Matthew J. O'Shaughnessy, MD, PhD, Urology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, commented "While the role of local therapy in metastatic prostate cancer is still under investigation, aggressive resection of visible disease performed by experienced surgeons was critical to the outcome." (HealthDay)Although Zika virus is most well-known for the devastating neurological damage it can cause in the womb, a new study reports that some babies infected with Zika also may have lifelong vision impairment. Forty-three babies born in Colombia and Venezuela suffered damage to both eyes after being exposed to Zika through their pregnant mothers, researchers said. Their mothers showed no signs of eye problems. The damage mainly involved scar tissue on their retinas and optic nerves. But, five babies also appeared to have congenital glaucoma, said Dr. Fernando Arevalo, chair of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. Congenital glaucoma is a condition that causes increased pressure in the eye, likely because the eye's drainage system didn't develop properly. It can cause damage to the optic nerve, according to the Glaucoma Research Foundation. Vision loss caused by scarring is irreversible, but it's too early to tell how badly the damage has affected the babies' eyesight, Arevalo said. It's very likely that at least some are permanently blinded. "Their vision is impaired, but we don't know how much because the babies are just too small at this time," Arevalo said, noting that the average age at time of examination was 2 months old. "We can't tell how much they can see and can't see." The babies in the study were evaluated from October 2015 to June 2016. All of the babies included in the report were born with microcephaly, the hallmark birth defect of Zika, Arevalo said. Microcephaly causes the skull and brain to be underdeveloped. But upon examination, Arevalo and his colleagues found that Zika also had done damage to the babies' eyes. It makes sense, given the impact Zika has on neural tissue, Arevalo said. "The retina and the optic nerve are prolongations of the brain," he said. "They come from the brain. It is a natural thing that we would have this effect in the eyes." The scar tissue varied in size from baby to baby. "There are some babies that have very small lesions in the retina," Arevalo said. "Those babies may be lucky and have less impaired vision." Researchers will continue to monitor these children, first to establish how badly their eyesight is affected and then to see if their vision continues to deteriorate as they grow older, Arevalo said. The new report "provides further evidence that Zika can have damaging effects on the developing eyes of fetuses, a manifestation that has been reported previously," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. As of March 28, 2017, approximately 1,300 American women had completed pregnancies with confirmed Zika infections. Fifty-six babies born to those women had Zika-related birth defects, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus is transmitted mainly by mosquito bite. Health experts have been concerned that babies born apparently healthy after Zika exposure in the womb might develop some neurological problems later in childhood. Now that same concern needs to be extended to the vision of these children, Arevalo and Adalja said. "It will be important to follow all these patients to track the progression of their vision and other ophthalmologic parameters," Adalja said. "The report underscores the need for early recognition of Zika in newborns," he added. The study findings were published April 14 in the journal JAMA Ophthalmology. More information: Fernando Arevalo, M.D., chair, ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore; Amesh Adalja, M.D., senior associate, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Baltimore; April 14, 2017, JAMA Ophthalmology Fernando Arevalo, M.D., chair, ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore; Amesh Adalja, M.D., senior associate, Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, Baltimore; April 14, 2017, For more on Zika, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Journal information: JAMA Ophthalmology Copyright 2017 HealthDay. All rights reserved. But the decision does carry political risks for Mrs. May. For a politician who has cultivated a reputation as a straight shooter who puts country before party, the about-face on early elections could smack of opportunism. And in a year of election surprises, embittered but highly motivated voters from the Remain camp could coalesce behind one of the parties to register their anger over leaving the bloc. She presents herself as someone putting the national interest first, before her party, and someone who does not play political games, said Steven Fielding, a professor of political history at the University of Nottingham. It might bite her, but shell play the stability-versus-instability card. Mrs. May apparently calculated that the risks of an early vote were small compared with the possible payoff from a strengthened Conservative hold over Parliament. Mrs. May took office less than a year ago, when her Conservative predecessor, David Cameron quit after losing the June 23 referendum on British membership in the European Union. Chosen by the Tories to become prime minister when her most obvious rivals fell away, Mrs. May is now seeking an electoral mandate of her own to deal with her real danger: an unhappy group of anti-European Conservative legislators who are opposed to anything that might smell of compromise with the European Union. Without an early vote, Mrs. May said, the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next scheduled election, in 2020. She added, Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit, and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country. Analysts generally praised her decision to call early elections. This is the act of a rational politician, but one who had repeatedly promised not to call an early election, Mr. Fielding said. But her lead in the polls can only go down as soon as Brexit negotiations start, so why not go now? Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life! New Home Affairs Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize says her department is in need of a much-needed digital overhaul to help speed up applications and root out corrupt practices. Mkhize, who replaced Malusi Gigaba in President Jacob Zumas mass Cabinet reshuffle on March 31, told News24 that her department was bogged down by its antiquated systems. Major problems included slow timelines for processing documents and a system that is too reliant on paper, she said on Tuesday. If people do not get their documents on time, the temptation is to think: Maybe there is something else I can do to get my documents. As long as we dont adhere to any timelines, the old culture and malpractices will persist, and will undermine the repositioned [Department of Home Affairs]. She said she hoped the digitisation of the system would remove the temptation for both citizens and staff to engage in bribery or other forms of corruption. The department also hoped to have an implementation plan for new IT infrastructure ready by the time the 2018/19 budget is released in 2018. The turnaround project would be slow, but is turning, she said. Leadership training for staff Mkhize said she had visited various home affairs centres around the country over the Easter weekend. She said her initial impression was that the department had to tighten mandatory services, such as registration of passports and identity documents. Problems at one of the centres in Randburg were indicative of the general challenges across the board at the countrys centres. People in the area were feeling stressed over the number of visits they have to make to the centre before their request is processed. Most people in those areas though can work online, and its possible to even look at making applications online compulsory. She said a new system would have to encourage people to apply for their documents online, and make them appreciate the value of technology. The department would also start training its staff in being leaders in the community, to curb the temptation to sell citizenship. Mkhize said she would also ask her fellow ministers in the security cluster to start clamping down on illegality at home affairs centres. News24 YEREVAN. Pakistani citizen Abrar Zafar, who had illegally crossed into Armenia from Turkey in May 2016, has been sentenced to one year in prison. The Court of First Instance of the Ararat and Vayots Dzor Provinces of Armenia has reached this verdict. At court, however, Zafar plead innocent. He testified that he had no intention of crossing the Turkish-Armenian border illegally, he had gone from Pakistan to Turkey to work and save money to be able to head for Europe, but he had come across problems, attempted to flee, but ended up in Armenia. The court found the 25-year-old Pakistani guilty under the Criminal Code of Armenia, and handed down a one-year prison sentence. The Court, however, set May 14, 2016 as the beginning of this sentence, which means the young Pakistani man will be set free in about a month. According to the indictment, Abrar Zafar had reached the Turkish-Armenian border on May 14 of the year past. He then had crossed the state border of Armenia without proper authorization. Subsequently, he had headed toward Araksavan village in Ararat Province, but he was detected on the same day at around 1pm, and detained. During preliminary questioning, Abrar Zafar had said he was a Pakistani citizen born in 1998, and that he wanted to reach Europe via Armenia. An 86-year-old pensioner in Azerbaijan suffocated herself to death with a plastic bag. Zarifa Sultanova committed suicide on April 16, according to Haqqin.az news agency of the country. The elderly woman had pulled a plastic bag over her head to kill herself. According to available data, no traces of violence were found on Sultanovas body. It is believed that she had committed suicide due to her illness, as she was unable to move and was on a wheelchair. The pensioner was living with her daughter, who was at home at the time of the incident. Zarifa Sultanova had left a suicide note for her daughter, asking for her forgiveness. US President Donald Trump has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in the constitutional referendum in Turkey, informed the Reuters news agency sources close to Erdogan. A US State Department representative, however, noted that there had been irregularities during the referendum campaign season and the actual voting, and which had led to the No supporters being on an unlevel playing field. According to preliminary results, the Erdogan-led Yes campaign has won the referendum in Turkey on April 16, by garnering 51.2 percent of the votes. Eighteen constitutional amendments were put to the vote, and according to which Turkey is to transition from a parliamentary to a presidential system of government. Turkish opposition and international analysts stress, however, that with these amendments, Erdogan is gaining the sole right to govern the country, and that this is perilous for democracy and freedoms in the country. The president has already announced his plans for reinstating the death penalty in Turkey. Nepal-US trade talks to focus on boosting output The third joint council meeting of the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (Tifa) between Nepal and the US is scheduled to be held here on Thursday. U.S. officials secretly ask major banks to continue doing business with some Russian firms 19fortyfive: Is America tired of the war in Ukraine? EU replaces pipeline Russian gas with imported Russian LNG Kommersant: China split the 'unity' of the West Expert estimates level of Azerbaijan's information attack on Armenia in September, comparing it to 44-day war UK wants to work more with the U.S. on gas supplies Donald Trump votes in Florida midterm elections EU admits: It is impossible to set a ceiling on gas prices that will not affect contracts or security of supply Most valuable metal of year is named Mehr: Nikolai Patrushev arrives in Tehran Turkish TV company confesses that Ankara and Israel were arming Azerbaijan against Armenia Who is Baku threatening? Armenia's former deputy defense minister decodes Aliyev's statements Army Commander-in-Chief: Even those who claim to be superpowers do not dare to attack Iran Iran and Russia to build joint pipeline India to continue buying Russian oil Businessman Zhong Shanshan becomes richest man in China Armenia and Poland emphasize OSCE role in promoting stability in South Caucasus Banks are searched in Germany in case of money laundering by Russian businessman Armenian President reacts to Aliyev's speech at League of Arab States summit Armenia increases trade with EEU member states by $1.2 bln Cavusoglu: Sweden and Finland have not yet fulfilled all Turkey's conditions Oldest member of Rothschild dynasty die in Britain Armenian National Security Council head and Polish Secretary of State discuss regional security issues Stepantsminda-Lars highway faces restrictions Kyiv realizes if China starts supplying ammunition to Russian troops it will be terrible State Department: U.S. remains committed to supporting peace in South Caucasus region Iran condemns thousand protesters and calls for retaliation against rest Delegation from Israel visits Museum-Institute of the Armenian Genocide Media: London is close to agreement with Washington on LNG supplies Aliyev in fact confirms fact of Azerbaijani aggression against sovereign territory of Armenia Toivo Klaar: Important meeting held in Washington between Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs Aliyev switches from threatening Armenia to insulting foreign leaders Karabakh ombudsman: Todays occupation does not change status of Shushi Envoy briefs Kazakhstan human rights commissioner on consequences of Azerbaijan aggression against Armenia Dollar, euro continue to rise in Armenia U.S. Ambassador to UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield arrives in Kiev EU partners welcome justice sector reforms in Armenia Armenia government to have academic city project development working group Rybar: Publication of Iranian film about 'skeletons' of Aliyev family is blow to positions of Aliyev family Zelenskyy to attend G20 leaders' summit Voting for midterm elections to Congress begins in U.S. Russian MFA offers Tehran and Riyadh to mediate dialogue Survey: Georgia residents say Armenia is their friend Arman Yeghoyan to Poland colleague: Armenia needs support from European platforms State Department official: American side is impressed by Armenia Police reforms Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte: I realized that this project is the right one Heads of general staffs of CSTO countries armies to discuss military cooperation development President: Climate change agenda continues to remain priority for Armenia despite challenges, security concerns Armenia discusses issue of EEU citizens' stay in country for more than 180 days Economy minister: 74% of Diaspora Armenians ready to invest in Armenia Constitutional Court of Georgia revokes ban on pornography 158 people die in Philippines storm Close to $7.5M allocated for Armenia scientific infrastructure, material, technical base modernization Byblos Bank Armenia finances the construction of two major solar parks Bloomberg: EU mechanism to provide Ukraine with $18 billion implies conditions Turkey voices its full and unconditional support for Azerbaijan Ombudsperson attends Armenia-EU Human Rights Dialogue session, presents facts recorded in her ad hoc reports Israeli embassy congratulates Azerbaijan on 'Victory Day' World gold prices going down Ankara offers its storage capacity for Russian grain Zelenskiy calls key conditions for talks with Russia Bitcoin price goes down Copper price goes down World oil prices dropping Blinken: Armenia and Azerbaijan are taking courageous steps to achieve peace Newspaper: What changes expected in "Brussels package" of Armenia-Azerbaijan normalization talks? 13 billion cubic meters of natural gas found off Israel coast State Security Service of Azerbaijan is scared by YouTube video about situation in Nakhichevan Newspaper: There were serious problems in organizing Global Armenian Summit MFA: Armenia, Azerbaijan FMs agree to expedite their negotiations President: UAE is a responsible energy supplier as long as the world needs oil and gas EU has serious concerns about US inflation reduction act Head of IMF: The global surge in consumer prices may be close to the high point Germany wants EU to resume trade talks with US as soon as possible Pashinyan's closed meeting with MPs of ruling Civil Contract faction is over Hungary will not support EU efforts to help Ukraine with joint funds Greece to soon ban sale of spyware U.S. military delegation arrives in Turkey German industry calls for postponement of global minimum corporate tax Podolyak: Ukraine has never refused to negotiate YEREVAN. The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) has not yet made a decision on who will be the speaker of the new National Assembly (NA), according to Zhoghovurd (People) newspaper. Zhoghovurd has learned from well-informed sources that the matter of the NA President, as well as of the NA vice presidents and chairpersons of the standing committees of the parliament, is the topic of discussions these days of [President and RPA Chairman] Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister [and RPA First Vice-Chairman] Karen Karapetyan. Zhoghovurd has learned that there is no final decision yet regarding the composition of the new government. According to our information, Karen Karapetyan wishes to make some changes also in his team of ministers, and some surprises are expected in this regard, wrote Zhoghovurd. STEPANAKERT. The adversary violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between the Karabakh and Azerbaijani opposing forces 55 times, from late Monday night to early Tuesday morning. During this time the Azerbaijani armed forces fired more than 640 shots toward the position-holders of the Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh Republic/NKR) Defense Army, and with different-caliber shooting weapons, the defense army informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. In addition, the adversary fired 93 shots from sniper rifles, in southerly, easterly, and northeasterly directions of the line of contact. But the Artsakh defense army vanguard units took actions in response, and they continued to reliably maintain their military positions. YEREVAN. The amount of electricity produced in Armenia has increased by 9.3 percent in the first quarter of the current year. A total of 2.1 billion kWh of electricity has been produced, the Ministry of Energy Infrastructures and Natural Resources informed Armenian News-NEWS.am. Electricity exports to neighboring Georgia also have intensified. A total of 75.8 million kWh of electricity was supplied to this country in the first quarter, and this supply is expected to be around 40 million kWh in April. YEREVAN. The ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) will be the main target of the opposition Yerkir Tsirani [(Apricot Country)] Party. Yerkir Tsirani Chairwoman Zaruhi Postanjyan stated the abovementioned, at a press conference on Tuesday, with respect to the forthcoming Yerevan city council elections. Our target will be the RPA and [incumbent Mayor] Taron Margaryan, stated Postanjyan. We are coming to remove them from the political arena because the actions, which have made Armenia completely vulnerable, took place under that party. When asked what guarantee is there that the Yerevan Council election will not be rigged, the Yerkir Tsirani Party leader responded as follows, in particular: There is always a chance to both triumph and have accomplishments. In her words, it is possible to succeed solely by making a political bid. We [Armenians] need to understand that we need to become a political nation, added Zaruhi Postanjyan. The Yerevan Council election will be conducted on May 14. The campaigning for this vote will be held from April 21 to May 12. Incumbent Mayor Taron Margaryan is the mayoral candidate of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, Civil Contract Party Chairman and MP Nikol Pashinyan is the respective nominee of the opposition Yelk [(Way Out)] Bloc, and opposition Yerkir Tsirani [(Apricot Country)] Party Chairwoman Zaruhi Postanjyan is the mayoral candidate of this political force. Compulsory military serviceman Roland Sahakyan, who was wounded in April War last year, has been in the Central Clinical Military Hospital of Armenian Defense Ministry for already a year now. Roland is receiving rehabilitation treatment, the hospital representatives told Armenian News NEWS.am. Sahakyan is the only one of the wounded, who has been in the hospital for over a year now. A month ago the Health Ministry of Armenia issued a positive conclusion on the organization of his treatment abroad. However, as of now, it is yet uncertain when the wounded serviceman will be sent abroad for treatment. The Government is discussing the issue of sending him to Moscow. Private Roland Sahakyan sustained thoracoabdominal mine explosion wound in April War. He underwent nine operations in the military hospital. Currently, Roland needs rehabilitation treatment. Nidhis wee-hour tweet sparks concerns over election prospects A tweet in the wee hours of Monday by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs Bimalendra Nidhi offered the fodder for criticism the whole day, forcing him to post a series of tweets clarifying his position. YEREVAN. Under Erdogans rule, the Justice and Development Party in Turkey, figuratively speaking, directs its ship into the stormy sea, editor of the Armenian department Agos newspaper Pakrat Estukyan said during Armenia-Turkey space bridge. According to him, moreover, if Turkey holds a referendum on further European integration, the society is likely to say no because of the policies pursued by the authorities. At the same time, Estukyan reminded that the Turkish economy is connected with the EU. Now this system is in danger, investors have become much more cautious, the influx of investments has dried up, and tourism is going through hard times. All of us, people of different nations, are concerned about the future of the country. Moreover, as a result of the referendum, the power of Erdogan has doubled, he said. The European Union urged Turkey to investigate irregularities in Sunday's referendum that were recorded by international observers, European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said. Earlier the OSCE/ODIHR mission said the referendum did not comply with the standards of the Council of Europe. We call on the authorities to launch a transparent investigation into these alleged irregularities, Reuters quotes Commission spokesman. The obersvation mission satted the 16 April constitutional referendum in Turkey was contested on an unlevel playing field, and the two sides in the campaign did not have equal opportunities. Armenians and Jews of Florida will mark commemorate Yom HaShoah and Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day by organizing the screening of the critically acclaimed film Denial. The event is organized by Congregation Bnai Israel and the Armenian Genocide Commemoration, Armenian Weekly reported. The Armenian and Jewish communities have a shared historical pain. Our religions may be different, but our stories are the same. Families broken apart and slaughtered in campaigns of ethnic cleansing that took millions of lives from us, an uprooting of a people and a way of life, our survival and that we have not only survived but thrived, and a vow to remember and never forget commented Arsine Kaloustian, the Chair of Armenian Genocide Commemoration, Inc. We also share the vigilance against any denial of these atrocities, which makes the theme of the film so relevant for both communities, she added. Local Armenian and Jewish community leaders will then deliver brief remarks and discuss the importance of the film. After the film screening, the evening will conclude with an interfaith candlelit prayer service from local religious leaders. We human beings, created in the divine image, have a Godly responsibility to speak out and act against the atrocity of the extermination of any people because of their race, religion, or ethnicity. Too often people are complicit in their silence against those who would deny such a holocaust. The lessons of history must be studied and learned so that we might chart a better course for humanity. It does not do justice to our Godly responsibilities to ignore, deny, or reframe human history, stated Rabbi Robert A. Silvers of Congregation Bnai Israel. YEREVAN. Tourist visits to Armenia have increased by 18.2 percent during the first three months of the current year, as compared with the same period in 2016. Zarmine Zeytuntsyan, Chairperson of the State Committee for Tourism of Armenia, stated the aforementioned at a press conference on Tuesday. In her words, this is a significant indicator. [A total of] 599,291 tourists visited Armenia during the first quarter of this year, noted Zeytuntsyan. She added that Iran provided for the main increase in tourist visits to the country, with 17.7 percent, and it was followed by Russia, with 7.5 percent. China, Germany, and France also are among the top five respective countries. Washington investigators are trying to determine the cause of death of 20-year-old Turk in custody. Arcan Cetin carried out an attack on the trade Center, which resulted in five deaths. Cetin was found hanged at the Snohomish County Jail. According to the preliminary data, Cetin committed a suicide. Shortly before the incident, the prisoner had gone a psychiatric examination, the results of which will be published during the public hearing next week. According to the sheriff's office, yet there is no evidence that Cetin was killed, apparently, he committed a suicide. As of September 23, 2016, Cetin, broke into Burlington Cascade Mall Shopping Center armed with rifles and killed five people. He entered the skin care department, where he started shooting, then he fled. The Police arrested him a short time later. Cetin was not armed when he got arrested and behaved himself strangely. The investigation did not find out that he had connections with the Islamic extremists. Cetin had been facing the death penalty, although Washington's governor announced a moratorium on executions in the state in 2014. He had complained that other detains had been hostile towards him. No guarantor needed for West Seti loan: NEA The Nepal Electricity Authority has told China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC), its joint venture partner on the West Seti Hydroelectric Project, that it does not need a guarantor to borrow money to implement the scheme. YEREVAN. - President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan on Tuesday had a meeting at a tea table with the ambassadors of the OSCE member states. Welcoming the already traditional meeting format, the President noted that the parliamentary election held in the country served as an occasion for that meeting. Recalling the last meeting with the ambassadors in this format during the days of April war in 2016, Sargsyan expressed hope that the war served as a lesson not only for Azerbaijan but everyone as an OSCE member state and one common security area so that everyone is very watchful for alarms and security threats. In his opening speech, Sargsyan not only referred to the parliamentary election and its assessment by the international observation missions, but also responded to all the questions of interest to the meeting participants. The questions of the ambassadors referred to the assessments of the parliamentary election, continuous steps aimed at enhancing democracy in Armenia in the post-electoral period, the agenda of governmental reforms, efforts towards the struggle against corruption, work with the civil society and different strata, including work with youth and development of programs of cooperation with them, as well as the Nagorno-Karabakh settlement process and regional developments. The ambassadors thanked President Sargsyan for making meetings in such a format regular, noting that during a conversation in an open and frank environment they get an opportunity to receive quite important and detailed information on issues of interest to them directly from the President, as well as listen to different views of the President on specific issues and the ways of the solution thereof. Referring to the parliamentary election, Sargsyan noted that not only in case of election but also when assessing any phenomena, he tries to avoid giving the description of the most,preferring to give simply contextual assessment to processes. I would like to note that this election recorded important progress, which Armenia has reached in the sphere of democracy and state-building. I think, the progress in election is conditioned by several circumstances, three of which I would like to draw your attention to. I think the first circumstance is that in the recent years we have managed to make the advancement of human rights and fundamental freedoms irreversible, he said, at the same time stressing that the human rights and fundamental freedoms are the context, within the framework whereof the elections are held in Armenia. The dissidence in political and social life, which is expressed by political parties and vital political society, has become a reality in the recent decade. By saying this I dont mean that we have no issues to solve here: we have a lot of issues to solve. I mean, the grounds for this are already solid, and we can construct a building thereon, which is necessary to our people, the Armenian President said. According to Sargsyan, the second circumstance of the progress recorded in the election is the agreement reached between the political forces, the third being the very high level of international cooperation. From this standpoint, I should express my gratitude to the countries, whose representatives took part in the parliamentary election observation within the composition of the OSCE/ODIHR, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, CIS Secretariat, CIS Parliamentary Assembly, PACE or their respective embassies. Armenia gave OSCE/ODIHRwhich played a key role in coordinating a number of actions of electoral missionsan opportunity to allocate unlimited number of observers. I am happy to note that the ODIHR significantly increased the number of observers right in the run-up to the election, explaining this by the fact that many countries take interest in our election. We agreed that the number of observers be increased by fifty, Sargsyan noted. By the end of the opening speech, the President expressed conviction that the cooperation of the OSCE member states with Armenia is mutually beneficial and creates good traditions, this merely being a necessity for the region. We will continue to fulfill our international obligations in full, definitely relying on the support of your countries, he concluded. French- Armenian are concerned by the situation around Nagorno Karabakh, said the presidential candidate Francois Fillon in his interview with Nouvelles d'Armenie. According to Fillon, he is also concerned about the situation. "The South Caucasus broke out again in April 2016. In the situation of indifference of the international community, Azerbaijan tried to seize Nagorno Karabakh using force. The deadly attack ended with a shaky truce, "said Fillon. Fillon also noted, that Nagorno-Karabakh is a powder keg for the region. "We should not forget that the issue of Nagorno Karabakh status quo was set due to Stalin, who arbitrarily cut Karabakh from Armenia and handed it to Azerbaijan in 1921. Now there is no alternative, we should settle it in a peaceful way and seek for a lasting settlement with the help of the UN, " he said. The North Korea case is a challenge where the U.S. needs Chinese cooperation the most, and where Russia is a marginal and weak actor, Director of the Regional Studies Center (RSC), Richard Giragosian, said in an interview with Armenian News NEWS.am. Asked whether he sees any possibility for the deterioration of relations between the United States and Russia against the backdrop of the unsuccessful launch of Pyongyang ballistic missile, Giragosian said: What is most interesting is the fact that despite all expectations, U.S. foreign policy under President Trump is becoming the exact opposite of expectations. And the nuclear threat from North Korea has recently demonstrated this surprising development, with Washington pursuing a much more confrontational policy towards Moscow and a much softer, and even friendlier, approach toward Beijing. This difference is revealed over North Korea because it is a challenge where the U.S. needs Chinese cooperation the most, and where Russia is a marginal and weak actor. In a strategic context, this may be a new U.S. attempt at a policy of a balance of power, moving closer to China to offset or counter a re-assertive Russia. Referring to the question as to which extent the U.S.-Russian relations may deteriorate, the analyst said: Clearly, Syria is the most obvious example of a continued deterioration in relations between the United States and Russia. For the Trump Administration, unlike Ukraine or the post-Soviet space, Russian moves into the Middle East are not accepted as Moscows sphere of influence. And the tension will only increase as Russia is now becoming even more active in Libya and Afghanistan, suggesting a new collision course of interests between Moscow and Washington. He also noted that the pressure on the Trump Administration is both domestic, in terms of pressure over his links to Russia, and also external, from American allies that seek a stronger response to Russia and a more clear American commitment to NATO and other security guarantees, including toward Japan and South Korea. In the night of April 16, North Korea unsuccessfully launched a new missile, which most likely failed almost immediately. The media outlets of North Korea have not disseminated any information on the launch of a new missile. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who is on a visit to the Korean Peninsula, stated that the era of strategic patience is over with North Korea. Washington will stand by its iron-clad alliance with Seoul and seek peace through strength, he noted. Meanwhile, the North Korean authorities stated about their intention to develop their relations with Russia for joint counteraction to European and American sanctions. No political activities at Exhibition Road: SC The Supreme Court has issued an interim order directing the political parties and their sister wings not to carry out political activities at Exhibition Road. Mitchell Nitschke, a research specialist from Sussex Wisconsin, examines amoeba on a new microscope in the Filutowicz lab. Dictys grow fast enough to be seen in real time. Credit: David Tenenbaum, University Communications Bacteria have developed an uncountable number of chemistries, lifestyles, attacks and defenses through 2.5 billion years of evolution. One of the most impressive defenses is biofilma community of bacteria enmeshed in a matrix that protects against single-celled predators and antibioticschemicals evolved by competitors through the course of evolution, including other bacteria and fungi. Now, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of bacteriology has shown the first proof that a certain group of amoeba called dictyostelids can penetrate biofilms and eat the bacteria within. "This is the first demonstration that dicty are able to feed on biofilm-enmeshed bacteria," Marcin Filutowicz says. In an article now online in the journal Protist, Filutowicz, first author Dean Sanders of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, and colleagues show time-lapse, microscopic movies proving the amoeba's voracious appetite for five species of bacteria. In the study, the researchers pitted four types of amoeba called dictyostelium (dictys) against biofilm-forming bacteria that harm plants or humans. The target bacteria included: Pseudomonas aeruginosa , a common, multi-drug resistant bacteria that afflicts people who have, for example, burns or cystic fibrosis; , a common, multi-drug resistant bacteria that afflicts people who have, for example, burns or cystic fibrosis; Pseudomonas syringae , pathogen of beans; , pathogen of beans; Klebsiella oxytoca , cause of colitis and sepsis; and , cause of colitis and sepsis; and Erwinia amylovora, cause of fire blight in apples and pears. As expected, the results depended on the strain of dicty and species of bacteria; in several cases, the dictys completely obliterated a thriving biofilm containing millions of bacteria within a day or two. The study, Filutowicz says, "contains the first movies ever to show dicty cells moving into a biofilm and devouring the bacteria." Because they form a multi-cellular phase sometimes called a "slug," dictys are sometimes called "social amoeba." Beyond the visual evidence, spore germination and the subsequent union of single-celled dictys into a multi-cellular "slug" both showed successful attacks against all four species of bacteria. Filutowicz became interested in dictys after discovering a neglected archive of about 1,800 strains amassed by Kenneth Raper, a bacteriology colleague who started collecting the soil-borne microbes around the world in the 1930s. "Raper was the first to isolate dictys, but after he died, his life work was scattered around the department and neglected," Filutowicz says. Filutowicz was intrigued, but he knew very little about dictys. Then, the answer to his most fundamental question"How do I grow them?" triggered a mental chain reaction. He found that Raper and his followers were feeding and growing dictys in the lab using bacterial prey, but nobody had apparently pursued their real-world potential as microbe hunters. "If you grow them on E coli [a common resident of the human intestine], I quickly realized, because dictys are not pathogenic, we might use them as a biological weapon against bacteria." Having previously started Conjugon, a company devoted to developing benign bacteria to defeat pathogenic microbes, Filutowicz says he was "attuned to biological approaches, which were unheard then, and so this idea fell on a very fertile mind." With bacteria becoming resistant to a growing number of antibiotics, that's welcome news, although using a living organism may add complexity to the task of getting regulatory approval. Since 2010, Filutowicz has learned a good deal about how dicty "graze" upon bacteria, and which ones they prefer. "We looked at how these cells dismantle biofilms, trying to understand what physical, chemical and mechanical forces deconstruct the biofilms, and how the dictys move in 3-D space. These are phagocytes, and they behave much like our own immune cells," says Filutowicz. His collaborator, Curtis Brandt, a professor of ophthalmology and visual science at UW-Madison, has produced promising results suggesting that the organisms are harmless to rodents, and is preparing to use dictys to fight bacterial keratitis, an eye infection, first in rodents and then in humans, in research supported by the National Institutes of Health. "This medical application may not reach the clinic in my lifetime, but it has a lot of promise, and eventually we may be able to advance it in many other medical uses," Filutowicz says. In 2010, Filutowicz formed Amoebagone, to advance research into use of dictys, starting by trying to fight fire blight and other bacterial infections of fruit trees and vegetables; supported by the National Science Foundation. Between the far-off human medical potential, and the near-term use in agriculture, Filutowicz is delightedly pulling on the thread left by Ken Raper's beneficial microbes; licensed by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation to AmoebaGone. "To make a discovery, it needs some level of naivete," he says. "If you know too much, you immediately appreciate why things will not work, cannot work. Otherwise, if it was a good idea, people would have done it already. Colleagues said dictys behaved like human phagocytes, but they never mentioned harnessing them as biological controls. Every day I walk through the departmental hallway and read the inscription: "Discovery consists of seeing of what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. I was lucky enough to enter this as the foolish innocent." Next best thing to a hidey-hole box? Credit: Maggie Villiger, CC BY-ND Twitter's been on fire with people amazed by cats that seem compelled to park themselves in squares of tape marked out on the floor. These felines appear powerless to resist the call of the #CatSquare. This social media fascination is a variation on a question I heard over and over as a panelist on Animal Planet's "America's Cutest Pets" series. I was asked to watch video after video of cats climbing into cardboard boxes, suitcases, sinks, plastic storage bins, cupboards and even wide-necked flower vases. "That's so cute but why do you think she does that?" was always the question. It was as if each climbing or squeezing incident had a completely different explanation. It did not. It's just a fact of life that cats like to squeeze into small spaces where they feel much safer and more secure. Instead of being exposed to the clamor and possible danger of wide open spaces, cats prefer to huddle in smaller, more clearly delineated areas. When young, they used to snuggle with their mom and litter mates, feeling the warmth and soothing contact. Think of it as a kind of swaddling behavior. The close contact with the box's interior, we believe, releases endorphins nature's own morphine-like substances causing pleasure and reducing stress. Along with Temple Grandin, I researched the comforting effect of "lateral side pressure." We found that the drug naltrexone, which counteracts endorphins, reversed the soporific effect of gentle squeezing of pigs. Hugs, anyone? Also remember that cats make nests small, discrete areas where mother cats give birth and provide sanctuary for their kittens. Note that no behavior is entirely unique to any one particular sex, be they neutered or not. Small spaces are in cats' behavioral repertoire and are generally good (except for the cat carrier, of course, which has negative connotations like car rides or a visit to the vet). Kittens get securely snuggled by their mothers. Credit: www.shutterstock.com One variation on this theme occurs when the box is so shallow that it does not provide all the creature comforts it might. Or then again, the box may have no walls at all but simply be a representation of a box say a taped-in square on the ground. This virtual box is not as good as the real thing but is at least a representation of what might be if only there was a real square box to nestle in. Nobody has had a more productive day than my mother pic.twitter.com/LK6KX9KM1x Danielle Matheson (@prograpslady) April 10, 2017 This virtual box may provide some misplaced sense of security and psychosomatic comfort. The cats-in-boxes issue was put to the test by Dutch researchers who gave shelter cats boxes as retreats. According to the study, cats with boxes adapted to their new environment more quickly compared to a control group without boxes: The conclusion was that the cats with boxes were less stressed because they had a cardboard hidey-hole to hunker down in. Let this be a lesson to all cat people cats need boxes or other vessels for environmental enrichment purposes. Hidey-holes in elevated locations are even better: Being high up provides security and a birds's-eye view of the world, so to speak. Without a real box, a square on the ground may be the next best thing for a cat, though it's a poor substitute for the real thing. Whether a shoe box, shopping bag or a square on the ground, it probably gives a cat a sense of security that open space just can't provide. More information: Temple Grandin et al. Effect of naltrexone on relaxation induced by flank pressure in pigs, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior (1989). DOI: 10.1016/0091-3057(89)90479-6 This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. A well-studied blind cavefish (bottom), the Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus), is a small, docile, pink-hued fish just a few centimeters long that could easily make its home in an aquarium. ASU evolutionary biologist Reed Cartwright chose this Mexican tetra because there is also a surface-dwelling form (top) that has retained its sight. Credit: Arizona State University Why do animals that live in caves become blind? This question has long intrigued scientists and been the subject of hot debate. Clearly, across the animal kingdom, blindness has evolved repeatedly. There are thousands of underground and cave-dwelling species, from naked mole rats to bats, and many have lost their sense of sight. Charles Darwin originally suggested that eyes could be lost by "disuse" over time. But Reed Cartwright, an ASU evolutionary biologist in the School of Life Sciences and researcher at the Biodesign Institute, may be proving Darwin wrong in a recent publication in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology. "We think that blindness in cavefish is indeed Darwinian, but ultimately this disproves Darwin's original hypothesis of 'disuse'," Cartwright said. In new research, he explains that eyes are not lost by disuse, but rather a demonstration of Darwin's fundamental theory of natural selection at workwith blindness selected as favorable and the fittestfor living in a cave. Go fish For their work, his research team choose to model a well-studied blind cavefish, the Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus), a small, docile, pink-hued fish just a few centimeters long that could easily make its home in an aquarium. It's inhabited caves for 2 million to 3 million years, giving it 5 million generations worth of time to evolve blindness. Cartwright's group chose this Mexican tetra because there is also a surface-dwelling form that has retained its sight. And for scientists, this built-in comparative power makes it a good choice for further exploration. They have two populations to study that can interbreed and are polar opposites for physical traits. So Cartwright's group decided to use computational power to investigate how multiple evolutionary mechanisms interact to shape the fish that live in caves. "The problem we have in these caves is that they are connected to the surface, and fish that can see immigrate into the cave and bring genes for sight with them," Cartwright said. "Under these conditions, we don't typically expect to find such a difference in traits between surface and cave populations. Unless selection was really, really strong." How strong? In their model, the selection for blindness would need to be about 48 times stronger than the immigration rate for Mexican tetras to evolve blindness in caves. Cartwright's group estimates that a measure of fitness for blindness, called the selection coefficient, in the tetra is between 0.5 percent and 50 percent. These coefficients are high enough that laboratory experiments should have detected a difference between surface and cave forms of the fish; however, none have to date. Blinded by the light Cartwright's team turned to a hypothesis going all the way back to a letter to the editor of Nature in 1925 by E. Ray Lankester, that essentially stated that the reason you have blindness in caves is because the fish that can see simply leave. "If sighted fish swim towards the light, the only fish that stay in the cave are blind fish. They aren't trying to get to the light anymore because they can't see it. Which actually is a form of selection, and thus, Darwinian evolution in action," Cartwright said. According to Cartwright, explaining a fitness difference as big as 10 percent between sighted and blind fish may be difficult, "Iosing eyes might not give you 10 percent more offspring. However, if 10 percent of your seeing-eye fish leave the cave, the migration rate is reasonably low, and that could be enough." If over time, enough of the seeing-eye fish are systematically being removed, they will also be removed from the gene pool, and that could be enough to drive the evolutionary process. It could be this sort of habitat preference that maintains the local blind fish population, and the fish that can see are preferentially moving out of the cave. "We found that even a low level of preferential emigration, e.g. 2 percent, would provide a significant boost to local adaptation and the evolution of blindness in caves." Cartwright's team hopes that field biologists begin to consider Lankester's 90-year old hypothesis when studying cavefish. "It would be great if someone could develop a study to test Lankester's hypothesis and whether it is driving the evolution of blindness in caves. That would really help answer one of the questions that have intrigued biologists for over a century." Ball and stick model of methane. Credit: Ben Mills/Public Domain During the early 2000s, environmental scientists studying methane emissions noticed something unexpected: the global concentrations of atmospheric methane (CH4)which had increased for decades, driven by methane emissions from fossil fuels and agricultureinexplicably leveled off. The methane levels remained stable for a few years, then started rising again in 2007. Previous studies have suggested a variety of potential culprits behind the renewed rise: increasing emissions from high-latitude wetlands, increasing fossil fuel emissions, or the growth of agriculture in Asia. However, new modeling by researchers at Caltech and Harvard University suggests that methane emissions might not have increased dramatically in 2007 after all. Instead, the most likely explanation has less to do with methane emissions and more to do with changes in the availability of the hydroxyl (OH) radical, which breaks down methane in the atmosphere. As such, the amount of hydroxyl in the atmosphere governs the amount of methane. If global levels of hydroxyl decrease, global methane concentrations will increaseeven if methane emissions remain constant, the researchers say. Methane is the second most prevalent greenhouse gas, after carbon dioxide. However, the colorless, odorless gas can be difficult to track and derives from a wide range of sources, from decomposing biological material to leaks in natural gas pipelines. When atmospheric concentrations of methane increase, it may not be correct to chalk it up solely to an increase in methane emissions, says Caltech's Christian Frankenberg, co-corresponding author of a study on the decadal trends of methane concentrations that was published the week of April 17 in the early online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Frankenberg is an associate professor of environmental science and engineering at Caltech and a research scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is administered by Caltech for NASA. His collaborators on the paper are Paul Wennberg, the R. Stanton Avery Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry and Environmental Science and Engineering at Caltech, and Alexander Turner and Daniel Jacob of Harvard. "Think of the atmosphere like a kitchen sink with the faucet running," Frankenberg explains. "When the water level inside the sink rises, that can mean that you've opened up the faucet more. Or it can mean that the drain is blocking up. You have to look at both." In this analogy, hydroxyl represents part of the draining mechanism in the sink. Hydroxyl is the neutral form of the negatively charged hydroxide molecule (OH?). It is described as a "radical" because it is highly reactive and, as such, acts like a detergent in the atmosphere, breaking down methane into oxygen and water vapor. Tracking decadal trends in both methane and hydroxyl, Frankenberg and his colleagues noted that fluctuations in hydroxyl concentrations correlated strongly with fluctuations in methane. However, the authors do not yet have a mechanistic explanation for the last decade's global changes in hydroxyl concentrations. Future studies are needed to investigate this further, Frankenberg says. The researchers also would like to see the trends they detected verified with a more detailed study of both methane sources and sinks. "The tropics are the tricky part," Frankenberg says. "They're very complex in terms of methane emissions and destruction." Methane has the shortest lifetime in the tropics due to the large amounts of water vapor and radiation there. But because tropical areas are often remote and cloud-covered (thwarting satellite observation), they remain understudied, Frankenberg says. The PNAS study is titled "Ambiguity in the causes for decadal trends in atmospheric methane and hydroxyl." Alexander Turner, graduate student at Harvard University, is the lead author. The co-authors are Christian Frankenberg and Paul Wennberg from Caltech, and Daniel Jacob from Harvard. This research was funded by the Department of Energy and a NASA Carbon Monitoring System grant. More information: Alexander J. Turner el al., "Ambiguity in the causes for decadal trends in atmospheric methane and hydroxyl," PNAS (2017). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1616020114 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences One of the studied species, Calinaga sudassana. Credit: Dr. Valentina Todisco A group of rare Asian butterflies which have once inspired an association with Hindu mythological creatures have been quite a chaos for the experts. In fact, their systematics turned out so confusing that in order to decode their taxonomic placement, scientists had to dig up their roots some 43 million years back. Now, having shed new light on their ancestors, a team of researchers from the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at University of Guelph, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and University of Vienna, published their findings in the open access journal Zoosystematics and Evolution. Together, Drs. Valentina Todisco, Vazrick Nazari and Paul Hebert arrived at the conclusion that the enigmatic genus (Calinaga) originated in southeast Tibet in the Eocene as a result of the immense geological and environmental impact caused by the collision between the Indian and Asian subcontinents. However, the diversification within the lineage was far from over at that point. In the following epochs, the butterflies had to adapt to major changes when Indochina drifted away, leading to the isolation of numerous populations; and then again, when the Pleistocene climatic changes took their own toll. To make their conclusions, the scientists studied 51 specimens collected from a wide range of localities spanning across India, South China, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand. For the first time for the genus, the authors conducted molecular data and combined it with an examination of both genitalia and wing patterns - distinct morphological characters in butterflies. While previous estimates had reported existence of anywhere between one and eleven species in the genus, the present study identified only four, while confirming how easy it is to mislabel samples based on earlier descriptions. A picture from Moore (1857) depicting various butterflies species held at the Museum of the Hon. East-India, including a Calinaga species (5). Credit: F. Moore (1857) However, the researchers note that they have not sampled specimens from all species listed throughout the years under the name of the genus, so they need additional data to confirm the actual number of valid Calinaga species. The authors are to enrich this preliminary study in the near future, analysing both a larger dataset and type specimens in collaboration with the Natural History Museum of London that holds the largest Calinaga collection. Despite being beautiful butterflies, the examined species belong to a genus whose name derives from the Hindu mythical reptilian creatures Naga and a particular one of them - Kaliya, which is believed to live in Yamuna river, Uttar Pradesh, and is notorious for its poison. According to the Hindu myths, no sooner than Kaliya was confronted by the major deity Krishna, did it surrender. "It seems that the modern taxonomy of Calinaga is in need of a Krishna to conquer these superfluous names and cleanse its taxonomy albeit after careful examination of the types and sequencing of additional material," comment the authors. More information: Valentina Todisco et al, Preliminary molecular phylogeny and biogeography of the monobasic subfamily Calinaginae (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae), Zoosystematics and Evolution (2017). DOI: 10.3897/zse.93.10744 In this photo made available by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District, research entomologist Catherine Pruszynski releases male mosquitos in Key West, Fla., testing a new way to kill mosquitoes that carry Zika and other viruses Tuesday, April 18, 2017. The mosquitos bred by a Kentucky-based company are infected with the naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria. When the lab-bred mosquitoes mate with wild female mosquitoes the offspring don't survive adulthood. (Beth Ranson/Florida Keys Mosquito Control District via AP) Thousands of bacteria-infected mosquitoes were released in the wild Tuesday near Key West, testing a new way to kill mosquitoes that carry Zika and other viruses. The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District released 20,000 male mosquitoes infected by the Kentucky-based company MosquitoMate with naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria. The offspring produced when the lab-bred mosquitoes mate with wild female mosquitoes won't survive to adulthood. Male mosquitoes don't bite, and Wolbachia is not harmful to humans. "The eggs never even hatch," said Stephen Dobson, MosquitoMate's founder. The infected mosquitoes were flown in cardboard tubessimilar to ones used in paper towel rollsfrom Lexington, Kentucky, to Key West on Tuesday morning. At the Stock Island test site, about 25 acres with residential and commercial properties just north of Key West, district staff released them by shaking or blowing into the tubes, said Andrea Leal, the district's executive director. "They liked the humidity," Leal said. "They were very happy mosquitoes." The trial is expected to last about three months, with twice-weekly releases. Seven Wolbachia-infected males should be released for every one wild male in the field to drive down the mosquito population, Dobson said. The district has been exploring new ways to suppress Aedes aegypti mosquito populations, which thrive in urban environments and spread Zika, dengue fever and chikungunya. The Keys trial is MosquitoMate's second U.S. test with Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, after a similar trial in Clovis, California, last year. Stock Island is about 130 miles southwest of Miami, where Aedes aegypti mosquitoes were blamed for spreading the Zika virus last year. This photo made available by the Florida Keys Mosquito Control District shows a tube containing bacteria-infected male mosquitos in Key West, Fla., Tuesday, April 18, 2017, testing a new way to kill mosquitoes that carry Zika and other viruses. The mosquitos bred by a Kentucky-based company are infected with the naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria. When the lab-bred mosquitoes mate with wild female mosquitoes the offspring don't survive adulthood. (Beth Ranson/Florida Keys Mosquito Control District via AP) Keys officials are still considering a separate test of mosquitoes genetically modified by the British biotech firm Oxitec to produce Aedes aegypti offspring that die outside a lab. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration initially approved a trial in a residential neighborhood near Key West, saying the test would not significantly affect the environment, but outrage from anti-GMO activists and residents forced the district to find a new location. "We're looking at these sterile insect techniques because our conventional mosquito control methods are costly and labor-intensive," Leal said. MosquitoMate is awaiting permits from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to sell a related mosquito species, known as the "Asian tiger mosquito," infected with Wolbachia as a pest control service. Though these mosquitoes also can carry viruses, experts consider them less of a threat for triggering outbreaks than Aedes aegypti. The FDA is seeking public comment on a proposal clarifying which mosquito-related products it regulates and which ones would be regulated by the EPA. Currently, genetically engineering mosquitoes, as Oxitec does, is regulated by the FDA, while modifying mosquitoes through other techniques, such as MosquitoMate's bacteria, fall under the EPA as pesticides. According to the FDA proposal, the EPA would regulate any mosquito-related products controlling mosquito populations, while the FDA would regulate products making other claims, such as preventing disease. Oxitec has publicly supported regulatory changes that would expedite review of its mosquitoes "in light of the ongoing Zika-related public health emergency." It has asked both agencies to clarify how marketing claims would differentiate between suppressing mosquito populations and stopping diseases, "particularly where the vector control product is pesticidal in its action to suppress mosquitoes that transmit human disease." Dobson said he hopes the regulatory issues will be resolved quickly, so that mosquito controllers will have more tools to keep the viruses carried by invasive mosquito species from spreading, and more flexibility to address the public's concerns about human health. "It might be in some places that people will say, 'We don't want Wolbachia,' or they'll say, 'We don't want GMO,' or they'll say, 'We don't want planes spraying overhead,'" Dobson said. 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Credit: CC0 Public Domain Social networks are an ideal stage for narcissists to showcase themselves. Accordingly, a lot of people with narcissistic traits are drawn to these platforms as a new study conducted by psychologists from Wurzburg and Bamberg shows. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become an important part of the lives of many people worldwide. Around two billion users were active on Facebook at the end of 2016; 500 million regularly post photos on Instagram and more than 300 million communicate via Twitter. Various studies conducted over the past years have investigated to what extent the use of social media is associated with narcissistic tendencies - with contradictory results. Some studies supported a positive relationship between the use of Facebook, Twitter and the likes, whereas others confirmed only weak or even negative effects. Most comprehensive meta-analysis so far Fresh findings are now presented by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories Bamberg and the University of Wurzburg. They were able to show that there is a weak to moderate link between a certain form of narcissism and social media activity. When taking a differentiated look at specific forms of behaviour or at the participants' cultural background, the effect is even pronounced in some cases. The study is managed by Professor Markus Appel, who holds the Chair of Media Communication at the University of Wurzburg, and Dr. Timo Gnambs, head of the Educational Measurement section at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories, Bamberg. For their meta-analysis, the scientists summarized the results of 57 studies comprising more than 25,000 participants in total. They have now published their findings in the Journal of Personality. Forms of narcissism They think of themselves as being exceptionally talented, remarkable and successful. They love to present themselves to other people and seek approval from them: This is how psychologists describe the typical behaviour of people commonly referred to as narcissists. "Accordingly, social networks such as Facebook are believed to be an ideal platform for these people," says Markus Appel. The network gives them easy access to a large audience and allows them to selectively post information for the purpose of self-promotion. Moreover, they can meticulously cultivate their image. Therefore, researchers have suspected social networking sites to be an ideal breeding ground for narcissists from early on. Three hypotheses The recently published meta-analysis shows that the situation does not seem to be as bad as feared. The scientists examined the truth behind three hypotheses. Firstly, the assumption that grandiose narcissists frequent social networking sites more often than representatives of another form of narcissism, the "vulnerable narcissists". Vulnerable narcissism is associated with insecurity, fragile self-esteem, and social withdrawal. Secondly, they assumed that the link between narcissism and the number of friends and certain self-promoting activities is much more pronounced compared to other activities possible on social networking sites. Thirdly, the researchers hypothesized that the link between narcissism and the social networking behaviour is subject to cultural influences. In collectivistic cultures where the focus is on the community rather than the individual or where rigid roles prevail, social media give narcissists the opportunity to escape from prevalent constraints and present themselves in a way that would be impossible in public. The results The meta-analysis of the 57 studies did in fact confirm the scientists' assumptions. Grandiose narcissists are encountered more frequently in social networks than vulnerable narcissists. Moreover, a link has been found between the number of friends a person has and how many photos they upload and the prevalence of traits associated with narcissism. The gender and age of users is not relevant in this respect. Typical narcissists spend more time in social networks than average users and they exhibit specific behavioural patterns. A mixed result was found for the influence of the cultural background on the usage behaviour. "In countries where distinct social hierarchies and unequal power division are generally more accepted such as India or Malaysia, there is a stronger correlation between narcissism and the behaviour in social media than in countries like Austria or the USA," says Markus Appel. However, the analysis of the data from 16 countries on four continents does not show a comparable influence of the "individualism" factor. Generation Me So is the frequently cited "Generation Me" a product of social media such as Facebook and Instagram because they promote narcissistic tendencies? Or do these sites simply provide the ideal environment for narcissists? The two scientists were not able to finally answer these questions. "We suggest that the link between narcissism and the behaviour in social media follows the pattern of a self-reinforcing spiral," Markus Appel says. An individual disposition controls the social media activities and these activities in turn reinforce the disposition. To finally resolve this question, more research has to be conducted over longer periods. More information: Timo Gnambs et al, Narcissism and Social Networking Behavior: A Meta-Analysis, Journal of Personality (2017). DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12305 Journal information: Journal of Personality The clinging jellyfish first appeared in Cape Cod in 1894. Following an eelgrass die-off, the tiny creatures nearly vanished in the 1930s. It wasn't until 1990 that the jellies reappeared in the region and painful stings were first reported. Credit: Mary Carman, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution For such small and delicate creatures, they can pack mighty painful stings. Known as clinging jellyfish because they attach themselves to seagrasses and seaweeds, Gonionemus is found along coastlines in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and in particular in waters near Vladivostok, Russia. Exactly how these jellyfish, long assumed to be native to the North Pacific, became so widely distributed throughout the world has perplexed researchers for decades. Interest in the jellyfish has renewed in recent years, when stings with symptoms similar to those previously described off of the Russian coastincluding severe pain, respiratory and neurological symptomssuddenly started occurring in Cape Cod and nearby regions. Now, the first genetic study of the diversity of clinging jellyfish populations around the globe has discovered some surprising links among distant communities of jellies and also revealed there may be more than one species of the infamous stinger. The paper published April 18 in the journal Peer J. Annette Govindarajan, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and lead author of the paper, has studied these jellies for the past three years with the ultimate goal of tracing the species' origin off the U.S. East Coast, where it is thought to be invasive. The clinging jellyfish first appeared in the Cape Cod area in 1894. Scientists in Woods Hole studied the clingers in the early 1900s. Following an eelgrass die-off, their numbers dwindled. Then the tiny creatures, whose sizes range from about the diameter of a dime to a quarter, nearly vanished in the 1930s. Prior to that, says Govindarajan, researchers and others who were handling the jellies in Massachusetts made no reports of stings. "The Cape Cod populations were assumed to be a variety that didn't cause severe stings," Govindarajan adds. It wasn't until 1990 that the clinging jellyfish re-appeared in Cape Cod and painful stings were first reported. These observations lead Govindarajan and her colleague, WHOI researcher Mary Carman to suggest in a previous paper that an invasion from a toxic population had occurred. The new study shows that the story is much more complex than previously thought. The researchers uncovered a genetic match between populations of clinging jellyfish in the Vladivostok, Russia-areaspecifically the area well known to cause severe sting reactionsand those found along the U.S. East Coast in the Northwest Atlantic. "We know the two regions share one genetic variant or haplotype," Govindarajan says. "In the Northwest Atlantic, this variant was actually most frequently found in eastern Long Island Sound. The details about how and when an invasion, or possibly multiple invasions, occurred aren't clear. Interestingly, we also found evidence that both regions may contain native forms." Working with Carman and colleagues Marat Khaidarov and Alexander Semenchenko from the A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences in Vladivostok, Russia, and John Wares from the University of Georgia, Govindarajan obtained tissue samples for DNA sequencing. The jellyfish samples came from several Atlantic and Pacific locations. Their analysis identified seven variants, some of which were specific to only one location, and others that were shared among communities in distant locations. Interestingly, jellies from the Northeast Pacific and Northeast Atlantic locations shared a haplotype that was sufficiently different from Northwest Atlantic and Northwest Pacific jellyfish, which suggests the possibility that the two related groups may represent different species of Gonionemus. "In the past, some people have suggested that the Atlantic and the Pacific jellies were different forms," Govindarajan says. "Others have suggested that jellies in the Atlantic were introduced from the Pacific. But what we found doesn't correspond exactly to either hypothesis. And it could be that what we have in the Northwest Atlantic and Northwest Pacific is not Gonionemus 'vertens' at all, as it has been called, but some other species of Gonionemus." "The study documents what we suspected, that there are different types of Gonionemus jellies and some of these types co-occur in New England," says coauthor Carman. "Some types seem to have a toxic sting to people and some do not."Understanding the relationship between the genetic variants and toxicity is something the researchers would like to pursue in the future. "It could very well be that the toxicity is a function of both genetics and the environment, perhaps something in the environment is triggering the toxicity," Govindarajan says. While the animals bloom in the summer months, beginning in June through September, Govindarajan says swimmers and beachgoers shouldn't be overly concerned as the fragile stingers are not found along sandy beaches in high-energy areas where there are waves. "Unlike other jellies, it is unlikely that these would be in open water," she says. "We only see them in areas with eelgrass or seaweeds since they're able to cling to these surfaces with the sticky pads found on their tentacles."The lack of movement in open waters also makes the mystery of how the different varieties have become so widespread even more intriguing. The jellyfish are produced by microscopic polyps that are only about a millimeter or less in size, which Govindarajan says is a stage where they could easily hitchhike on a blade of eelgrass, an oyster shell or even a boat hull. "At that stage, they're so tiny," she adds. "To find them is like finding a needle in a haystack." Govindarajan and her coauthors hope to obtain funding to do additional genomic analyses that will give greater resolution and suggest genetic markers to help reveal more about the species and its toxicity. They hope this will lead to a better understanding of how invasive forms of the jellyfish are dispersing, so that further spread can be prevented."With this study, we answered some questions, but it also opened up many others," says Govindarajan. "That's part of the scientific process. It's what makes it for me, personally, very interesting. I feel like I'm solving a mystery." More information: Annette F. Govindarajan et al. Mitochondrial diversity in(Trachylina:Hydrozoa) and its implications for understanding the origins of clinging jellyfish in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean, PeerJ (2017). DOI: 10.7717/peerj.3205 Journal information: PeerJ Noise pollution: Shhhhh! I live in Nepal and love most things about the country. But there are some things I dont like much: Artist Mark Rademaker's concept for the IXS Enterprise, a theoretical interstellar spacecraft. Credit: Mark Rademaker/flickr.com Forty years ago, Canadian physicist Bill Unruh made a surprising prediction regarding quantum field theory. Known as the Unruh effect, his theory predicted that an accelerating observer would be bathed in blackbody radiation, whereas an inertial observer would be exposed to none. What better way to mark the 40th anniversary of this theory than to consider how it could affect human beings attempting relativistic space travel? Such was the intent behind a new study by a team of researchers from Sao Paulo, Brazil. In essence, they consider how the Unruh effect could be confirmed using a simple experiment that relies on existing technology. Not only would this experiment prove once and for all if the Unruh effect is real, it could also help us plan for the day when interstellar travel becomes a reality. To put it in layman's terms, Einstein's Theory of Relativity states that time and space are dependent upon the inertial reference frame of the observer. Consistent with this is the theory that if an observer is traveling at a constant speed through empty vacuum, they will find that the temperature of said vacuum is absolute zero. But if they were to begin to accelerate, the temperature of the empty space would become hotter. This is what William Unruh a theorist from the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver asserted in 1976. According to his theory, an observer accelerating through space would be subject to a "thermal bath" i.e. photons and other particles which would intensify the more they accelerated. Unfortunately, no one has ever been able to measure this effect, since no spacecraft exists that can achieve the kind of speeds necessary. According to the theory of the Unruh effect, accelerating particles are subject to increased radiation. Credit: NASA/Sonoma State University/Aurore Simonnet For the sake of their study which was recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters under the title "Virtual observation of the Unruh effect" the research team proposed a simple experiment to test for the Unruh effect. Led by Gabriel Cozzella of the Institute of Theoretical Physics (IFT) at Sao Paulo State University, they claim that this experiment would settle the issue by measuring an already-understood electromagnetic phenomenon. Essentially, they argue that it would be possible to detect the Unruh effect by measuring what is known as Larmor radiation. This refers to the electromagnetic energy that is radiated away from charged particles (such as electrons, protons or ions) when they accelerate. As they state in their study: "A more promising strategy consists of seeking for fingerprints of the Unruh effect in the radiation emitted by accelerated charges. Accelerated charges should back react due to radiation emission, quivering accordingly. Such a quivering would be naturally interpreted by Rindler observers as a consequence of the charge interaction with the photons of the Unruh thermal bath." As they describe in their paper, this would consist of monitoring the light emitted by electrons within two separate reference frames. In the first, known as the "accelerating frame", electrons are fired laterally across a magnetic field, which would cause the electrons to move in a circular pattern. In the second, the "laboratory frame", a vertical field is applied to accelerate the electrons upwards, causing them to follow a corkscrew-like path. Diagram of the experiment to test the Unruh effect, where electrons are injected into a magnetic field and subjected to lateral and vertical pulls. Credit: Cozzella, Gabriel (et al.) In the accelerating frame, Cozzella and his colleagues assume that the electrons would encounter the "fog of photons", where they both radiate and emit them. In the laboratory frame, the electrons would heat up once vertical acceleration was applied, causing them to show an excess of long-wavelength photons. However, this would be dependent on the "fog" existing in the accelerated frame to begin with. In short, this experiment offers a simple test which could determine whether or not the Unruh effect exists, which is something that has been in dispute ever since it was proposed. One of the beauties of the proposed experiment is that it could be conducted using particle accelerators and electromagnets that are currently available. On the other side of the debate are those who claim that the Unruh effect is due to a mathematical error made by Unruh and his colleagues. For those individuals, this experiment is useful because it would effectively debunk this theory. Regardless, Cozzella and his team are confident their proposed experiment will yield positive results. "We have proposed a simple experiment where the presence of the Unruh thermal bath is codified in the Larmor radiation emitted from an accelerated charge," they state. "Then, we carried out a straightforward classical-electrodynamics calculation (checked by a quantum-field-theory one) to confirm it by ourselves. Unless one challenges classical electrodynamics, our results must be virtually considered as an observation of the Unruh effect." If the experiments should prove successful, and the Unruh effect is proven to exist, it would certainly have consequences for any future deep-space missions that rely on advanced propulsion systems. Between Project Starshot, and any proposed mission that would involve sending a crew to another star system, the added effects of a "fog of photons" and a "thermal bath" will need to be factored in. More information: Virtual observation of the Unruh effect. arxiv.org/abs/1701.03446 Journal information: Physical Review Letters Credit: Antiquity (2017). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2017.18 (Phys.org)An international team of researchers has used a relatively new facial approximation technique to reconstruct the face of a woman who lived approximately 13,640 years ago in what is now Thailand. In their paper published in the journal Antiquity, the team describes the condition of the remains, where they were found, the methods used to ascertain details about the remains and the technique used to reconstruct the woman's face. Back in 2002, a team of archeologists discovered human skeletal remains in the Tham Lod rock shelter located in northern Thailand. The remains consisted of skull parts, teeth and some bones. Subsequent study of the remains led to the finding that the body was female and that she was likely part of the first group of people to move into Southeast Asia approximately 13,600 years agoduring the Late Pleistocene. The age of the woman at her death was calculated to be between 25 and 35 years old, and she was found to have stood just five feet tall. In this new effort, the researchers took a relatively new approach to create an image of the woman's face. The team started with the skull measurements, then to fill in the details, they tapped into a global database that holds statistical information about average physical characteristics of people from around the worldsuch as measurements of the skull, skin tone, muscle and soft facial tissue residing beneath the skin. After filtering, they wound up using data from 720 contemporary women living in 25 countries. They then used averages of what they found to create an imaged representation of the womannot an actual portrait, of course, taking care to ensure that European populations were not over-represented. The team reports that they deliberately chose to avoid the use of forensic facial reconstruction techniques because they believe it to be scientifically invalid. They also noted that they took into account that that woman would be anatomically modern, including her face, which is why they used statistical data from modern female faces. They also took care to avoid using the particular style that has become popular in depicting facial features of people from the past with wild expressions or appearances. Credit: Antiquity (2017). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2017.18 More information: Susan Hayes et al. A Late Pleistocene woman from Tham Lod, Thailand: the influence of today on a face from the past, Antiquity (2017). DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2017.18 Abstract Creating a facial appearance for individuals from the distant past is often highly problematic, even when verified methods are used. This is especially so in the case of non-European individuals, as the reference populations used to estimate the face tend to be heavily biased towards the average facial variation of recent people of European descent. To evaluate the problem, a facial approximation of a young woman from the Late Pleistocene rockshelter of Tham Lod in north-western Thailand was compared against the average facial variation of datasets from recent populations. The analysis indicated that the Tham Lod facial approximation was neither overtly recent in facial morphology, nor overtly European. The case is of particular interest as the Tham Lod individual probably belonged to a population ancestral to extant Australo-Melanesian peoples. Journal information: Antiquity 2017 Phys.org By Roberta Rampton and Minami Funakoshi TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday put Japan on notice that Washington wants results "in the near future" from talks it hopes will open markets to U.S. goods, adding that the dialogue could lead to negotiations on a two-way trade deal. U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arranged the economic dialogue between their deputies at a Washington summit in February, soon after Trump took office. "Today we are beginning a process of economic dialogue, the end of which may result in bilateral trade negotiations in the future," Pence told a news conference with Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, his counterpart at Tuesday's talks. "At some point in the future, there may be a decision made between our nations to take what we have learned in this dialogue and commence formal negotiations for a free trade agreement," he said. "But I leave that for the future." The comments dash the hopes of Japanese policymakers, who have said they want to avoid use of the economic dialogue as a forum to discuss a bilateral FTA that may put them under U.S. pressure to open up highly-protected areas like agriculture. They also echo those of U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who told reporters that Washington was eager to increase trade ties with Tokyo through a two-way pact. Trump campaigned for office on an "America First" platform, saying he would boost U.S. manufacturing jobs and shrink the country's trade deficit with countries like Japan. Trump also abandoned the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) backed by predecessor Barack Obama and Abe, and vowed to revisit regional trade deals to focus on two-way agreements. Pence said the TPP was a "thing of the past" and Washington would not wait forever for results from the talks. "When President Trump agreed to this dialogue, he envisioned this as a mechanism for enhancing bilateral commercial relations between the United States and Japan, and achieving results in the near future. And I share that vision and impatience," Pence told Aso at the start of the talks. Story continues COOPERATION NOT FRICTION Aso in turn said U.S.-Japan trade friction, which soured ties in the 1980s and 1990s, was in the distant past and the allies were now entering an era of cooperation. "In the past, U.S.-Japan economic relations have started from friction, but we're entering a new area where we start from cooperation," he told the news conference. "Instead of one side telling the other what to do, I want to start debate on a relationship that is mutual and strategic." In a statement after the talks, the two sides said they had agreed the dialogue should produce "concrete results in the near term." They agreed to hold a second round of talks before the end of the year. Ross, seen as more hardline on trade, was also visiting Tokyo and met Japan's trade minister Hiroshige Seko, a sign a bilateral trade deal was among Washington's top priorities. "It's a little bit early to say just what forms things will take, but we are certainly eager to increase our trade relationships with Japan, and to do so in the form of an agreement," Ross said when asked about a possible free trade pact. Pence arrived in Tokyo from South Korea, where he visited the heavily fortified border separating the North and South. He described the U.S.-Japan alliance as the "cornerstone" of regional security. Pence's 10-day tour of Asia aims at emphasising that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to boost U.S. trade in the region, despite scrapping the TPP. NO CURRENCY TALK Japan had a $69-billion trade surplus with the United States last year, the U.S. Treasury Department has said, expressing concern over what it called the "persistence" of the imbalance. Japanese officials counter that Tokyo accounts for a much smaller chunk of America's deficit than in the past, while China's imbalance is much bigger. Trump has complained Japan keeps its currency artificially low, although a Treasury Department report last week did not label Japan a currency manipulator. However, currencies did not figure in Tuesday's talks, a Japanese government official said. (Writing by Linda Sieg; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Leika Kihara, Stanley White and Tetsushi Kajimoto in TOKYO, Hyunjoo Jin in SEOUL and David Lawder in WASHINGTON; Editing by Paul Tait and Clarence Fernandez) By Jack Kim and Christian Shepherd SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - The travels and travails of Chinas veteran point man on North Korea underscore Chinas growing frustration in its efforts to broker a negotiated solution to rising tensions between North Korea and the United States. Wu Dawei, 70, spent an unusually long five days in Seoul last week. He met with presidential candidates as well as South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, partly in a bid to ease tensions as a U.S. aircraft carrier group headed towards the region ahead of U.S. Vice President Mike's Pence's visit this week. But Wu had not been able to confirm plans to visit North Korea, South Koreas Yonhap news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying: I understand the Chinese side is asking but the North is not replying. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Monday he had no information to share about any such visit, adding that China and the DPRK maintain the tradition of friendly exchanges. The last time Wu visited Pyongyang, in early February last year, his job was to urge restraint after North Korea announced a plan to put a satellite into orbit with a long-range rocket. Two days after his return to Beijing, North Korea launched the rocket, widely viewed as a ballistic missile test in disguise, further ratcheting up tensions on the Korean peninsula. China has shown growing willingness to supplement diplomacy with enforcement of United Nations Security Council sanctions against its unpredictable neighbour across the Yellow Sea. It banned all coal imports from North Korea from Feb. 26 as it grows increasingly impatient with North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, including a failed missile test-launch on Sunday morning. Officially, however, China supports dialogue above all, leaving Wu the thankless job of trying to coax North Korea and its neighbours and rivals back to the negotiating table. MORE DISTANT TIES U.S. President Trump has asked China's President Xi Jinping to take stronger measures to stop North Korea's programmes to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. North Korea relies heavily on China for food and fuel and the vast majority of its exports go through China. Xi, however, has yet to meet North Korea's young leader Kim Jong Un since the Chinese president took power in 2012 and ties between the two countries have become more distant since Pyongyang began accelerating its missile and nuclear programmes since Kim became leader at the end of 2011. For over a decade, Wu led Beijing's mostly fruitless efforts to denuclearise the Korean peninsula under so-called Six Party talks between China, the United States, North and South Korea, Japan and Russia. They've been suspended since the last round collapsed in 2008 following a failed rocket launch in North Korea. Wu is a career diplomat and Japan expert who, according to South Korean officials, speaks little Korean and no English. Wu has earned a number of friends in South Korea and a reputation as a "credible" diplomat over the years, according to one Asian diplomat who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media. The highlight of the Six Party era came shortly after Wu took up his position, when the sides reached an agreement for phased denuclearisation of the peninsula in September 2005. That deal was soon scuppered, however, when North Korea carried out its first nuclear test in October 2006 then pulled out of the discussions in 2009. Since then, China has been most vocal in calling for their resumption. 'DUAL SUSPENSION' In a rare interview with Hong Kong's Pheonix Television that aired on Friday, Wu conveyed China's position that Washington and Pyongyang should agree to a "dual suspension" of nuclear tests and military drills as a foundation for returning to talks - a stance opposed by both the United States and its ally South Korea. Wu did not mention sanctions during the interview, reiterating China's commitment to a peaceful resolution through dialogue, the same stance Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed to U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call last week. "If the DPRK and U.S.-Republic of Korea's tit-for-tat posturing and mutual displays of strength fail to fundamentally change, then sooner or later something will go wrong on the Korean Peninsula," Wu told Phoenix, referring to North and South Korea by their official names. The South Korean official said that while Wu was sometimes "abrasive" during the early rounds of Six Party talks, "he was just the person we needed at the time to keep the talks alive." "At times (he would) argue with envoys to keep them on track, at times cajole them, or warn about the fallout if the talks break down and we walk away empty-handed, leaving the North to continue on. He would do that all the while chain-smoking," the official added. Former South Korea nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo, who later served as vice foreign minister, gave a less flattering assessment, calling Wu China's most incompetent official, citing his lack of English and stalwart adherence to China's party line, according to a 2010 U.S. diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks. Chun could not be reached for comment. (Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang in SEOUL; Editing by Tony Munroe and Bill Tarrant) The casket of Othman Wok arrives at Sultan Mosque. Photo: Safhras Khan Dark skies and a heavy downpour marked the final journey of first-generation Singapore leader Othman Wok, who was accorded a state-assisted funeral on Tuesday (18 April). The main prayer hall of the Sultan Mosque was packed during the final prayer session for Othman, led by Mufti of Singapore Dr Fatris Bakaram. Those present included Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, ministers Yaacob Ibrahim and Masagos Zulkifli, former Members of Parliament, community leaders and members of the public. Hundreds of attendees started pouring into the mosque from as early as 10a.m., some three hours before the prayer session started. Among those present was driver Saharuden Mohamad, 58, who came to the mosque on his day off. Saharduen said, I will remember him for all that hes done for not only the Malay community but also for Singaporeans. As one of the pioneers of Singapore cabinet he played an important role in nation building. Othman, the only Malay minister in independent Singapores first cabinet, died on Monday at the age of 92. He was also one of the 10 men who signed the Independence of Singapore Agreement. Various leaders in Singapore have paid fulsome tribute to Othman, with PM Lee praising him as one of the multi-racial team of founding leaders who built Singapore. The heavens opened up as Othmans casket was brought out from the main prayer hall to the main compound of the mosque, where the state flag was placed over it. Friends and family members accompanied the casket to a waiting gun carriage, which wound its way through various locations in Singapore, before heading to the burial site at Choa Chu Kang Muslim Cemetery. Tweet MANILA Three tracker teams from the PNP Drug Enforcement Group (PDEG) are making rounds in Metro Manila to hunt big-time drug dealer Jun No. The PNP Drug Enforcement Group PDEG) has also alerted the managements of ports and airports and the Bureau of Immigration. PDEG is positive that Jun No has not gone far yet since he has fresh wounds after undergoing a surgery for acute appendicitis. He was supposed to be discharged on the morning of April 15. It was when authorities discovered he had fled. Our guard did not handcuff him at the hospital bed SPO2 Macarubbo went out for breakfast while the PDEA agent was sleeping beside him, PDEG Legal and Investigation Division chief Atty. Enrico Rigor said. The big-time drug suspects two guards are now facing criminal and administrative cases. Authorities have also arrested a woman alleged to have helped No to escape from the hospital. No is a notorious party drugs supplier. He was arrested in an entrapment operation on April 5 in Pasay City. The police confiscated 140 tablets of ecstasy from No during his arrest. For Jun No, it is better that you surrender yourself because very soon the long arms of the law will catch up with you, Atty. Rigor said. The PNP calls on the public to immediately report through the PDEG hotline any sightings of the suspect. Grace Casin | UNTV News & Rescue Tweet The post PDEG hunts for escaped big time drug dealer appeared first on UNTV News. A court on Tuesday summoned Mariano Rajoy to testify as a witness in a major graft trial, the first time in modern history that any Spanish prime minister has had to take the stand. The so-called Gurtel trial centres on a vast bribery network allegedly involving former members of Rajoy's Popular Party (PP), weakened by repeated accusations of graft. While Spain's 62-year-old leader is not accused of anything, his post as party chief since 2004 means he could provide valuable testimony. "They have called him as witness," a spokesman for the National Court that deals with major corruption cases told AFP, adding that no date had been set yet for the hearing. "Rajoy will be the first acting prime minister who has to appear in court as a witness," said Jaume Munoz Jofre, a historian and author of "Corrupt Spain: a brief history of corruption." The only comparable events since Spain's transition to democracy following dictator Francisco Franco's 1975 death, he added, were the court appearances of two former prime ministers. Felipe Gonzalez, an ex-Socialist leader, and Adolfo Suarez, prime minister during the transition, both testified as witnesses in separate trials in 1998. - 'Not agree' - A source at Rajoy's office, who refused to be named, said the government was "always willing to collaborate with judicial authorities as is normal in a democracy. But the PP said that while it "respects" the court's decision to summon Rajoy, "we cannot agree with it". The lawyers association, ADADE, which has filed the graft case with the court "attributes functions to Rajoy which were not his responsibility", the party said in a statement, before adding that the group is headed by two men with close ties to the main opposition Socialists. The Gurtel case allegedly saw companies shower former PP lawmakers and civil servants with bribes in exchange for contracts. Altogether, 37 defendants face justice including two former party treasurers and businessman Francisco Correa, the alleged head of the network. The case even forced the resignation of Rajoy's health minister Ana Mato in 2014, accused of benefitting from illegally-obtained funds via her then husband who was mayor of the city of Pozuelo de Alarcon near Madrid. According to a confession published by Correa in online daily eldiario.es, companies would give him a commission of two to three percent on the value of public contracts. After taking his share, he would allegedly give politicians involved in awarding contracts some of the money too. He also claimed he gave money to Luis Barcenas, a man also on trial who was PP manager from 1980s to 2008 and then treasurer for a year. - Party slush fund? - Further complicating matters, Barcenas claimed in 2013 that part of that money went into a secret party slush fund. The fund is an ingredient of the current case but not the focus, as a separate trial on it is pending. Barcenas was nevertheless questioned on the subject in January, and acknowledged there existed secret accounts in the PP, pointing to "financial resources that did not appear in official book-keeping." But he said that rather than bribes, businessmen gave donations "generously" without expecting anything in return. "I never received anything from Correa, not for me nor for the PP," he added, blasting the businessman's allegations as "nonsense". When questioned by a judge in 2013, Barcenas had also claimed he had given Rajoy envelopes of cash. But in his January hearing, he defended Rajoy, saying he had given orders not to use Correa's companies anymore in 2003, "because he was told that Correa was engaged in illegal activities." Corruption is a major issue in Spain -- which last year scored its worst ranking in Transparency International's annual corruption perceptions index -- with the PP, rival Socialists and regional politicians hit by scandals. Such is public anger over the issue that many voters have flocked to two relatively new parties -- the far-left Podemos and the centre-right Ciudadanos. As a result, although the PP still won a general election last year, it failed to retain the absolute majority it won in 2011, and Rajoy now heads a minority government. South Sudanese former rebels on Tuesday released 16 UN staff after holding them hostage for several hours in a camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN official said. About 530 former rebels from South Sudan are living in the Munigi camp, just outside of Goma, where they fled when fighting flared in the South Sudanese capital of Juba in July. "We are pleased to confirm that all 16 MONUSCO staff, who were earlier being held in a camp for former combatants in Munigi, have been released," said a UN official. The 16 staff worked for the UN mission, known as MONUSCO, but there were no details about their nationalities. "The camp is quiet and under full control of MONUSCO. All staff have returned safely to their homes," said the official. The official added that there were no casualties from the incident and that the mission had opened an investigation. The combatants, who were disarmed when they entered the camp, have for months demanded to be relocated, but UN officials have been unable to find countries willing to take them in. Rebel leader Riek Machar remains in South Africa and has been prevented from returning to South Sudan. After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and 3.5 million people displaced. North Korea 'will test missiles weekly', senior official tells BBC North Korea will continue to test missiles, a senior official has told the BBC in Pyongyang, despite international condemnation and growing military tensions with the US. Singapore Civil Defence Forces HAZMAT vehicles near the Woodleigh MRT station (Photo: Wan Ting Koh/Yahoo Singapore) The Woodleigh MRT Station is closed temporarily as the police investigate a case of suspicious substance found there. In a post on Facebook on Tuesday afternoon (18 April), the Singapore Police Force said police and Singapore Civil Defence Forces HAZMAT officers are managing the incident. Members of the public are advised to avoid the area. Updates will be provided when available, said the police, adding that members of the public are advised not to speculate about the incident. Robert Gilpin, R.I.P. - The Washington Post : His greatest book was written in 1981, but the main theory in it is perhaps more trenchant now... Automotive industry struggles by lack of labour force and rigid legislature. Font size: A - | A + Slovakia is almost for a decade the worldwide No. 1 in car production per capita. Recent figures on 2016 showed, car export exceeded the 20-percent mark on overall Slovak export of goods. Experts warned already years ago, single-sided orientation on automotive brings severe risks to Slovak economy, even though recently the uplift in automotive industry causes new record figures for the branch in the country. Despite all risks, the country continues in attracting further car producers. Jaguar Land Rover should start its production in 2018 with 150,000 cars produced annually, Slovakia also strives for a potential Mitsubishi plant. Besides the single-sided economy threat there is a much more recent problem labour force. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Automotive industry struggles by lack of labour force and rigid legislature Extreme labour force shortage is the case for last two years in Slovakia. The country lacks already 100,000 skilled workers. And it gets worse day by day. For example another 2,800 people are searched for by Land Rover Jaguar for its upcoming plant. The reasons for labour shortage are clear: estimates speak about 300,000 Slovaks who moved abroad in their search for better life and career chances in last two decades and only a small part of them came back. The situation has two immediate consequences, out of which none really solves the problem. The first wages in automotive are rising dramatically. The best example is Volkswagen, the largest car producer in the country. Average wage without counting the management exceeds 1,900 (Slovakias average is 980), plus the carmaker paid last two years large annual bonuses. Second consequence is more dramatic. Slovakia is very bureaucratic when it comes to employing foreign, non-EU citizens. The official way to get an official permit lasts six months. But also employing EU-citizens from Romania and Bulgaria is a problem. This derives from the governments strive to decrease the unemployment rate to the lowest level possible. But in fact, given the regional differences and extremely lack of workforce mobility in Slovakia, the country already reached its bottom, despite the official 8.64 percent unemployment rate is optically far from zero. The government attempts to create new jobs, so it can be presented to the voters, but lies behind in measures to solve the problems the companies face. And there seem to be no will to change the state in the near future. Production companies in Slovakia (not only automotive, but also electronics and others) in their desperate search for labour work with so-called employment agencies who deliver foreign workers for production sites. They made it to use a legislative grey-area to enable mostly Serbs to enter production sites very quickly. They take advantage of more liberal labour law in Hungary, enabling to easily employ foreigners and as employees of a Hungarian company the people are shifted to factories in Slovakia. Of course, the deformations in high salaries distort other sectors, which struggle with outflow of employees towards automotive industry. The vast majority of the missing 100,000 employees are being searched by other producers, not the automotive ones. In my view, low wages of those people in combination with intolerance of local inhabitants towards all foreigners cause an explosive mixture, which might be very disruptive for Slovakia. Subcontractors are heavily present, causing Slovakia even more dependant of automotive Slovakia made it to attract the whole automotive ecosystem since 1991, when the first plant of Volkswagen near Bratislava arose. Besides the three car producers, another 310 subcontractors are located in the country, employing altogether almost 100,000 people. Of course, the biggest among them had been attracted to move to Slovakia together with one of the car producers as their main customers. Examples like Faurecia (PSA), Mobis (Kia) and Delphi (VW) speak for itself. Means, each Tier 1 and the majority of all subcontractors are foreign-owned companies and the Slovak ones deliver mostly products with lower added value. This poses also a clear danger: already today, countries in the region such as Hungary and Poland have lower wage level and lower taxation and social levy levels, not speaking about eastern Europe countries, such as Ukraine. It is probably only matter of time, when the industry moves to a neighbouring country, taking all subcontractors with them. Stronger R&D capacities in the country would be the prevention against the potential dramatic drop. But, in fact, there are only a few in comparison to the mounting capacities. For example the world leader in seating, Adient, is having 400 people in its R&D facility in Trencin (western Slovakia). To sum it up, in my view, strong focus on automotive is of high risk for Slovakia for the time being and might get fatal consequences in the future. The threats are multifold. I am speaking not only about the biggest (and probably most distant) threat in moving the whole industry out of the country in search for lower production costs. The much closer threats are lack of people and raising labour expenses, financial incentives which are terribly needed elsewhere in the economy and future changes in automotive sector (shift in car production e.g. to electric cars, which are much more simple in construction and require less labour for completion and also heavily automation). Not speaking about potential downturn in the sector caused by any of the potential reasons (not only Brexit and US protectionism, but simply because the economic recovery in Europe is very fragile and any downturn has its impact in less car purchases). Peter Bukov is the chief analyst of TopForex The Kosice Regional Court retained two thirds of the U.S. Steel premises in Kosice-Saca in favour of a shell company. The steelworks do not comment on lawsuits. Font size: A - | A + USSK, the Kosice-based steelworks with 10,000 employees has a significant problem. The courts have placed restrictions on the sale of its property shortly before the factory is expected to change hands in a forthcoming deal with the Chinese owned Hesteel Group. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The Kosice Regional Court issued a right of lien in relation to two thirds of the land owned by U.S. Steel Kosice (USSK) in favour of an American shell company, Adams & Co. The courts spokesperson, Marcela Galova, confirmed the information for the Sme daily. The right of lien has also been published as part of the on-line cadastre. Adams & Co., whose ownership is unclear, is demanding 16 million from U.S. Steel but the value of the lands in question significantly exceeds the total amount claimed. The two companies have been in dispute since the 1990s when the steelworks, then known by the name Vychodoslovenske Zeleziarne (VSZ) was controlled by a privatisation group under Alexander Rezes, which brought it to the brink of bankruptcy. Adams & Co. do not currently own any part of the property but do have the right to restrict its sale until the debt they claim is owed to them is discharged. The right of lien on the lands is non binding and U.S. Steel can still appeal the measure. We do not comment on ongoing lawsuits, U.S.Steel Kosice spokesperson, Jan Baca, told Sme. The measure issued by the court does not prevent the American company, United States Steel Corporation, from concluding the planned sale of the business to the Chinese. Read also: Read also: U.S. Steel seems to be departing Read more Two thirds of the land The factory has 2,020 plots of land registered on the ownership certificate, of which two thirds have been included within the court ruling. Sme calculations point to 1,872 of them under the lien right, or 5.8 million square metres or 575 hectares of the area, which is almost 64 percent of the whole premises. Satellite images show that key parts of the steelworks are located on the lands in question, including blast furnaces for the production of iron and rolling mills for the production of sheets. https://www.google.com/maps/d/embed?mid=13XWjvNy0G82bE-8qqFfB4Y5zWac Back in the 1990s The measure is the result of a conflict that emerged 20 years ago. Adams & Co. sued the factory for the first time in 1999, alleging that in the 1990s the steelworks used its intellectual property without proper authorisation. The trade relations between the shell company and the steelworks came about in the 1990s. At that point they were facing bankruptcy and the banks placed an experienced manager, Gabriel Eichler, at the helm who managed to revitalise the company. There were contracts at all levels that were clearly disadvantageous for the company - the purchase of raw materials, transport, sale, and exports, Eichler said in 2012 about the state the factory was in when he took over. There were long-term contracts everywhere with companies who were making big money on it. When Adams & Co. sued the factory in 1999, they demanded USD 9.6 millions. The Bratislava Regional Court blocked the bank accounts of the steelworks for several weeks but later cancelled the order when the shell company failed to produce evidence to support its claims. Furthermore, the Bratislava court's authority to deal with the case has been questioned as it should fall under the jurisdiction of the Kosice court. Read also: Read also: Trump to lure US firms back. How will this impact Slovakia? Read more In 2013, Adams & Co. filed another lawsuit in Kosice and this case has resulted in the lien on the lands of the steelworks. The case has not been closed, the court has yet to rule on the obligation of U.S.Steel to pay. Shell company with debts on taxes It is not clear exactly what intellectual property is the subject of the suit. It is also not clear who the real owners of the American company are. The available data suggest that it is a shell company that was founded in 1990 based in an inconspicuous business centre in Wilmington, Delaware which is 200 km from New York. The same address is shared by thousands of other companies. Since 1993 the register has labelled the company a Tax Deliquent because it has failed to pay the annual tax licence, USD525. The company has also failed to submit the compulsory annual financial reports. Why did the court do it? It is not clear, for now, why the Kosice Regional Court put most of the U.S. Steel Kosice lands under the right of lien. The court has not yet published the full reasoning behind its decision. Sme daily requested this, based on the law on free access to information but a few days remain until the deadline elapses Doubts surround the decision of the court because the law states that property can only be impounded if there are concerns that the distrainment could be threatened but there are no reasons to believe there are such concerns in this case. Even if the company lost, it would not be a big problem for them to pay the amount the shell company demands. Sixteen millions is not a life-threatening amount for U.S. Steel, Finlord analyst, Boris Tomciak, told Sme and he pointed to its annual revenues exceeding two billions euros. Aerial view of USSK in 2001. (Source: TASR) The overall value of the property of USSK is about 1.4 billion based on the latest data from 2015. The account records show that just the lands and buildings alone have a value of 446 million, which is significantly in excess of 16 million. But if Adams & Co. finally wins the lawsuit, it will be able to call out its right of lien and take ownership of part of the lands under the steelworks. The law says Adams & Co. can apply the right of lien immediately after the court issues an effective ruling in its favour. It is not clear if the company would also get the lands if U.S. Steel paid in cash, in the case that the steelworks loses the lawsuit. The measure that the court applied in this case has only been part of the law since July 2016 and it has not been well-established in practice so far. No reserves Despite the fact that U.S. Steel does not comment on lawsuits, its accounting suggests that they did not count on ever losing one. In 2013 the company did not put aside any reserves for the purposes of a lost lawsuit. In 2015, its reserves for lawsuits amounted to 441,000, down by 3 million year-on-year. Many doubts The lawsuit has provoked doubts since its very start. At the beginning, U.S. Steel requested the court to order Adams & Co. to put down a deposit for the court fees. The law allows for such measures when the lawsuit in question exceeds 80,000. The court obliged U.S. Steel and in 2015 ordered that both parties put down a deposit of 590,000 each. While U.S. Steel sent the money to the court, Adams & Co. did not. Thus, the whole proceeding should have been halted in September of that year but it continued. In November 2015 the court issued a decision to free the American company of court fees without providing an explanation. U.S. Steel appealed against this decision at the Constitutional Court but the appeal was dismissed in March 2016. Just before the sale The court retained part of the lands under the steelworks only a few days before it is expected to change hands. The information garnered by the Sme daily suggests that the purchase agreement with the Chinese Hesteel Group should be closed after Easter. The sale may not necessarily be affected by the lawsuit. The measure does not impose limits on the owner to handle the property, the court spokesperson Marcela Galova said. The buyer must accept the right of lien for Adams & Co., however. Companies usually solve this kind of situation with a special clause in the sale contract, says Michal Misun from the Redbaenk advisory company. Sme The most infamous corruption cases have been halted by the offices of special prosecutor Dusan Kovacik and police chief Tibor Gaspar. Font size: A - | A + Was Prime Minister Robert Fico meeting with controversial business tycoon Jaroslav Hascak and discussing backroom politics? The public remains uninformed because Fico refuses to answer and special prosecutor Dusan Kovacik has not summoned him for a hearing in five years. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Was former Smer MP Vladimir Janos bringing home money from state subsidies for brown coal mines as his wife described in a home-made video? The public does not know because the police led by Tibor Gaspar stated there was no reason to launch a criminal prosecution. Out of the twenty most infamous corruption cases in Slovakia analysed by the Sme daily, a majority were stopped by Kovacik and Gaspar. Corruption in Slovakia has reached the point that it is forcing young people to leave the country, according to grammar school students Karolina Farska and David Straka. They decided to organise a student march against corruption on April 18 explaining that they cannot watch one cause replacing another without proper investigation. They demand that Kovacik and Gaspar, together with Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, step down. The students correctly named the most problematic persons who hinder the fight against corruption, according to political analyst Grigorij Meseznikov. What other demands should they have? Meseznikov told The Slovak Spectator. Legislation improves but the situation doesn't because responsible persons remain in their seats. Read also: Read also: Students will protest against corruption Read more How the biggest controversies ended After Smer became the most powerful party in Slovakia, suspicions were raised that it is financially supported by businessmen that previously supported former prime minister Vladimir Meciar who brought Slovakia to the brink of international isolation. Those rumours became more specific after the Sme and Novy Cas dailies published a contract between businessman Lubomir Blasko and Fedor Flasik, Smers former election campaign manager in May 2010. The contract stipulated that if Smer created the government, Blaskos people would occupy important seats in the energy sector. Fico responded by saying those contracts were fabricated. Subsequently, Sme published an audio recording featuring a voice strongly resembling that of Smer leader Robert Fico. The recording suggested that Smer had accepted undeclared campaign contributions from off-the-books sponsors. Special prosecutor Dusan Kovacik did not, however, give specialists an opportunity to prove whether it was Ficos voice or not. He halted the investigation of Smers funding based on the testimonies of both Flasik and Fico, stating that the signatures and voices on the recording, respectively, are not theirs. This decision prevents investigation which could prove that those documents are authentic or fabricated, then-police chief Jaroslav Spisiak responded. It will be possible only to speculate and create theories which will never be the objective truth, Spisiak told then Sme daily. The special prosecutor's office halted the investigation claiming that the party sufficiently explained its funding. The reason why Kovacik halts even partial investigations, such as proving the authenticity of an audio recording, is because he is trying to not offend influential people, according to Meseznikov. The fact that political parties top representatives are involved in those cases prevents Kovacik from taking a standard approach, Meseznikov said. Read also: Read also: Time and legislation play into the hands of prosecuted businessman Read more Even police stopped causes Anti-corruption activists also criticise the work of the police. For example, when the Financial Administration had a suspicion that businessman Ladislav Basternak may have committed tax fraud, it notified the National Criminal Agency (NAKA) which is a part of the police, but the complaint was refused in 2014. The case was reopened only after media reported about it in March 2016 and is still ongoing. The police also stopped an investigation of the case launched by one of the best-known whistleblowers in Slovakia, Vladimir Suchodolinsky. He is a former Military Intelligence Service (VSS) agent who created a report concerning the alleged embezzlement of intelligence service property. In the report, Suchodolinsky described the suspected mishandling of the funds and also the property of VSS by its then-representatives. The document, revealed by the Sme daily in 2013, also informed about the transfers and sales of immovable property, and contained other papers, like cadastre statements and orders from VSS representatives concerning the transfers. After writing the report, he had to leave the army. He passed away in October 2010. The police under Gaspar stopped the investigation without hearing all key witnesses, for example, new VSS head Jan Balciar whose name was mentioned in the report. When Suchodolinsky approached Kovacik, the prosecutor refused to deal with the case. Dusan Kovacik and Tibor Gaspar are a bottleneck which most cases cannot overcome to make it to court, according to Zuzana Wienk of Fair-play Alliance, the watchdog NGO. The biggest problem is, however, in political cover and capture of the entire system, Wienk told The Slovak Spectator. Read also: Read also: Slovakia stagnates in fight against corruption Read more Fico focuses on legislation Despite activists pointing to those two prosecutors, the prime minister plans to fight corruption with legislative changes. He asked the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to carry out an audit of Slovak anti-corruption legislation. I, as Prime Minister want an objective audit of anti-corruption legislation in Slovakia, said Fico at a press briefing held in Paris. But it will be neither journalists, nor opposition leaders who will get to say: this is bad and this is good. He also encouraged citizens to inform police when they learn about corruption practices. In fact, the OECD praised Slovakia for trying to improve its legislation back in 2012 and Transparency International has frequently stated that Slovakia will probably not get higher in its Corruption Index if it focuses solely on legislation. Slovakia fell to 54th place in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2016 published by Transparency International. Though it kept the score of 51 points out of 100, it dropped by four positions compared with last years edition as the number of surveyed countries increased from 168 to 176. Slovakia ranked as the seventh worst country in the European Union, leaving only Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Italy, Greece and Bulgaria behind. We adopted enough anti-corruption laws, Gabriel Sipos of Transparency International Slovakia told The Slovak Spectator. Legislation could improve but the main problem is that it is poorly pursued. The protest march is also supported by President Andrej Kiska. Font size: A - | A + While Prime Minister, Robert Fico, praises the Slovak laws put in place to fight corruption, the 18-year-olds have set out to remind him that corruption cases in Slovakia remain unsolved, not due to legislation loopholes but because of the decisions of specific people, the Sme daily reported. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Secondary school students, Karolina Farska and David Straka, have organised a protest march against corruption which starts in Bratislava on April 18 at 17:00. They are calling for the removal of Interior Minister, Robert Kalinak (Smer), Police Corps President, Tibor Gaspar and Special Prosecutor, Dusan Kovacik, from their posts. They represent symbols of corruption for us, Straka told Sme, adding that they must immediately leave. Read also: Read also: Students will protest against corruption Read more Some 11,000 people have confirmed, via social network, that they will attend the protest march, while another 21,000 are interested in the event. The march has already been supported by President Andrej Kiska. If all of us remain silent, nothing will change here, Kiska told the Dennik N daily. Thus I call on people to be active, not to be afraid of expressing their opinion if they see something wrong is happening. We all want to live in a decent country and everybody should contribute to this. Several personalities have confirmed they will attend the march, including Zuzana Hlavkova, who pointed to the dubious competitions concerning the cultural events held during Slovakias EU Council Presidency in the second half of 2016 and actor Maros Kramar who has recently appeared in the film, Kidnapping, which describes the events surrounding the abduction of the son of the former Slovak president Michal Kovac, Sme wrote. The organisers claim that the march has not been organised with the support of opposition politicians, particularly leader of the Ordinary People and Independent Personalities (OLaNO-NOVA) Igor Matovic, as it has been hinted at in some blog posts, Dennik N reported. The preparations may start after the April 20 meeting. Font size: A - | A + Bratislava-based carmaker Volkswagen Slovakia may face a strike as the representatives of their employees, the Modern Trade Unions (MOV), dislike the course and the results of negotiations with the firms management. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement It is striking that the management of Volkswagen Slovakia acts with absolute misunderstanding of the current situation in the company and the state of working and salary conditions of its employees in the collective negotiations, the MOV wrote on social network, as quoted by the TASR newswire. The conditions presented by the trade unions fully reflect the carmakers economic results as well as the development in Slovakias labour market and economy, they add. Except for increasing the tariff salaries by 16 percent, the MOV is asking for the merger of the holiday bonus with the Christmas one. They also propose to increase the budget for personal evaluation, the wage surcharge for working shifts and the basic length of holiday, as well as prolonged paid breaks, TASR reported. Read also: Read also: Volkswagen thrives in Bratislava Read more The MOV claimed that if the negotiations, scheduled for April 20, do not move in the direction of conditions advantageous for employees, they are ready to halt the talks. The trade unions will subsequently ask the Labour Ministry to appoint a mediator and will start preparations for a general strike. The carmakers management has not commented on the strike threat. We are asking for understanding of the fact that we dont comment on ongoing negotiations, said Volkswagen Slovakias spokesperson, Lucia Kovarovic Makayova, as quoted by TASR. The collective negotiations on working and salary conditions in Volkswagen Slovakia were restored on March 29, after a two-month break. The MOV currently represents more than half of the total of 12,300 employees at the carmaker, TASR reported. The construction works are expected to be finished in September 2017. The construction site of the new Amazon logistics centre near Sered (Source: MY Trnavske noviny) Font size: A - | A + The US company, Amazon, started building its new logistics centre in the industrial zone near Sered (Trnava Region) several weeks ago. It has already completed the external skeleton which can be spotted from the nearby R1 express double-carriageway. The construction works are expected to be finished in September 2017, the regional weekly MY Trnavske Noviny reported. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The new Amazon centre will occupy more than 60,000 square metres. One of the reasons which contributed to the companys decision to construct it in Slovakia was the successful operation of Amazon in Bratislava, which was opened in 2011 and currently employs 850 people. We have real estate teams who identify appropriate places across Europe, Amazon Vice-President for European Operations, Roy Perticucci, told the Sme daily in March 2017. During the following three years, Amazon plans to employ up to 1,000 people in the new centre but unofficial information indicates that the number may be as high as 3,000. Read also: Read also: Amazon could employ more than 1,000 people Read more Our main task will be to make Amazon the jobseekers first choice, Perticucci told Sme. We offer attractive benefits and several career growth possibilities. We expect that with our offer we will be able to convince employees to commute. A total of 18 universities and 489 students from various fields of study have participated in the survey. Font size: A - | A + Almost 24 percent of Slovak students plan to leave Slovakia either for the long term or permanently, with another 18 percent determined to leave for a shorter duration with the prospect of returning within a year, according to a survey mapping the emigration intents of Slovak university students. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement A total of 18 universities and 489 students from various fields of study have participated in the survey carried out since last year, the TASR newswire reported. The collected data suggest that 22 percent of students do not plan to leave Slovakia, 36 percent remain undecided and 5 percent have never given the issue any thought. Read also: Read also: Slovakia keeps losing its elites Read more The international study into the emigration intentions of university students in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Lithuania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary and the Ukraine is coordinated by the Faculty of Philosophy at the Pavol Jozef Safarik University (FF UPJS) in Kosice. The survey also showed there are a number of potential socio-psychological factors that influence the emigration decisions of university students, TASR reported. These include a higher willingness to take risks, openness towards new experiences, the need for change, emotional unhappiness and a negative perception of the economic situation prevailing in Slovakia, said professor Olga Orosova and PhD student Marta Kulanova of FF UPJS, who coordinate the survey, as quoted by TASR. Police imposter nabbed for extortion Police on Monday arrested a man for his alleged involvement in extortion pretending to be a policeman. Coding Learning.com Partners with Codesters to Develop K-8 Coding Curriculum Ed tech company Learning.com is partnering with Codesters, a platform for K12 computer science instruction, to develop EasyCode Pillars, an online interactive curriculum that incorporates coding challenges and game design into the classroom to cultivate students coding skills. This digital literacy resource is designed to offer students a dynamic, hands-on coding experience, while providing teachers with an easy instructional solution for use in the computer lab or in the classroom. In todays world, technology is part of nearly everything we do, said Learning.com CEO Keith Oelrich in a statement. Yet, we find that many of todays students are lacking in even the most basic tech skills necessary for success in school, college and careers. Through our partnership with Codesters, we are extending our commitment to providing students with opportunities to develop powerful computer science skills with the launch of this new project-based, interactive and engaging curriculum. As an extension of Learning.coms EasyCode computational thinking and coding curriculum for grades K-8, EasyCode Pillars takes a project-based approach and gives students hands-on coding experience via small coding challenges, debugging practice, game design and short quizzes that test comprehension, according to a news release. Students can learn how to animate objects, play sounds and use their mouse and keyboard input, building real-world Python coding skills. A self-paced program, EasyCode Pillars is designed to allow teachers to easily identify and work with struggling students, while more advanced students can move on to increasingly complex projects. Among the features of EasyCode Pillars is the Drag-to-Text Toolkit, which simplifies syntax and takes students through the transition into full-text coding from block-based coding. Using Python, an industry-recognized programming language, students should be able to see how the skills they are learning are applicable to real-world careers, increasing their level of engagement and interest. By building new projects from the ground up, students can deepen their understanding of the concepts they are learning while demonstrating mastery over the core skills theyve developed. The step-by-step activities in EasyCode Pillars are designed to help teachers with little to no computer science experience immediately provide quality classroom instruction. Detailed lesson plans are designed to guide teachers through each concept, including answer keys for each activity, ensuring instant solutions for in-class exercises. EasyCode Pillars aligns with Learning.coms pledge to support Computer Science for All, the Department of Educations call-to-action for more computer science opportunities for all K12 schools and students. To learn more about EasyCode Pillars and to get a sneak peek, register on this site for the Bring Coding to Your District webinar at noon PST April 27. To learn more about Learning.com, go to that companys website. For more information on Codesters, visit that companys site. FILE- In this Friday, April 14, 2017 file photo, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani smiles as he attends at the Interior Ministry to register his candidacy for the May 19 presidential elections, in Tehran, Iran. Over 1,600 people registered to run. Under Iranian law, there's no fee for registering. Hopefuls only must believe in Iran's form of government and be Shiite Muslims. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) Iran's upcoming presidential election likely will pit incumbent President Hassan Rouhani against a variety of contenders, but first all must be vetted by a panel as part of the Islamic Republic's one-of-a-kind government. So how does it all work and what happens next? WHY ARE THERE SO MANY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES? Over 1,600 people registered to run. Under Iranian law, there's no fee for registering. Hopefuls only must believe in Iran's form of government and be Shiite Muslims. That gives gadflies and publicity seekers the chance to smile and wave to gathered journalists. It's still a lot of candidates, though. The last similar turnout was Iran's 2005 election, which saw more than 1,000 register. Some think more people register under moderate or reformist governments as they are less repressive. WHO ARE THE TOP CONTENDERS? Rouhani, whose moderate administration negotiated the nuclear deal with world powers, is seeking another four-year term. Former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who ignored the supreme leader's warning that his candidacy could expose lingering wounds from the unrest surrounding his contested 2009 re-election, registered. Hard-line cleric and judge Ebrahim Raisi, a favorite of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who allegedly was involved in the 1988 mass execution of thousands of prisoners , signed up as well. Others include a brother of late President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Tehran's mayor. WHAT ARE ROUHANI'S CHANCES? Though accurate public polling remains difficult in Iran, Rouhani remains the favorite of analysts. Every Iranian president since Khamenei himself took the presidency in 1981 has won re-election. That's not to say it will be easy for Rouhani. The average Iranian still hasn't seen the benefits of the nuclear deal, which saw some international sanctions lifted in exchange for Iran limiting its uranium enrichment. For voters, the economy matters. Story continues WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? All the candidates will be vetted by the Guardian Council, a 12-member panel half selected by the supreme leader and half nominated by the judiciary and approved by parliament. The council controls elections and must approve all laws passed by parliament. It has never allowed a woman to run for president and routinely rejects candidates calling for dramatic reform. The panel also declared Ahmadinejad won the 2009 election despite widespread fraud allegations. WHAT POWER DOES THE SUPREME LEADER HAVE? At the heart of Iran's complex power-sharing government created after its 1979 Islamic Revolution is the supreme leader. The supreme leader also serves as the country's commander in chief over its military and the powerful Revolutionary Guard, a paramilitary force involved in the wars in Iraq and Syria that also has vast economic holdings across Iran. An 88-member elected clerical panel called the Assembly of Experts appoints the supreme leader and can remove one as well, though that's never happened. SO IS IRAN A DEMOCRACY? Iran describes itself as an Islamic Republic. It holds elections and has elected representatives passing laws and governing on behalf of its people, though the supreme leader has the final say on all state matters. However, those who led Iran's Green Movement after Ahmadinejad's disputed 2009 re-election remain under house arrest. Iran does not allow international observers to monitor its elections. Security forces answering only to the supreme leader also routinely arrest dual nationals and foreigners, using them as pawns in international negotiations. ___ Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellap. His work can be found at http://apne.ws/2galNpz . By Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - A Colombian nun who was kidnapped more than two months ago in Mali is being held by the Macina Liberation Front Islamist militant group, Colombian national police said on Tuesday, citing intelligence reports. Gloria Cecilia Narvaez was seized by armed men on Feb. 7 in Mali's southern Karangasso region, where she had been working in a health centre. Four people have been charged in her disappearance. "Intelligence tells us that it is the Macina Liberation Front. We'll have to wait for a statement from that group to know what they will demand," General Fernando Murillo, the head of the national police's anti-kidnapping division, told Reuters. An international unit led by France is looking for the nun, Murillo said, but she may have been moved out of Mali by her captors, perhaps to neighbouring Burkina Faso. The kidnappers have so far sent no proof of life or ransom demands, he added. "We think she was taken by mistake - that she was not the target," Murillo said in an interview. Neither Narvaez's religious order nor her family has the funds to pay a ransom, he said. The incident is the first time that Colombia, known as a kidnapping capital in the 1990s, has been involved in the search and rescue of one of its citizens in another country. Malian prosecutors have declined to provide details about the four people charged in the case, but a security source has told Reuters they are connected to the Catholic parish from which Narvaez was abducted. Investigators previously said they suspected Islamist militants could be responsible. Kidnapping has become a lucrative source of cash for groups like Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al Mourabitoun. The latter is suspected of kidnapping a French-Swiss aid worker from the northern city of Gao in December. The Macina Liberation Front is composed of Fulanis - cattle herders and farmers from central Mali. Its figurehead, Amadou Koufa, is a fiery cleric whose sermons call on Fulanis to rebuild historic empires like Massina, which once stretched over the Mopti region. Islamist militants, who seized northern Mali in 2012 before being driven back by French forces the following year, have regrouped and are increasingly conducting raids in southern and central Mali, areas previously deemed safe. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Peter Cooney) By Noah Browning and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin MANAMA/DUBAI (Reuters) - At a wake in Iran's holy city of Qom in February, a small group of Bahraini emigres and clerics mourned a young militant killed in a gun battle with Bahrain's security forces. The eulogy was delivered by an exiled Bahraini cleric who has called for the island's Shi'ite Muslim majority to uproot the Sunni Al Khalifa monarchy in a holy war. The choice of resistance is widening and spreading on the ground, said the cleric, Murtada al-Sanadi, who has been named by the United States as a "specially designated global terrorist" backed by Iran. The ceremony shines a light on Iran's widening influence over an armed fringe of the opposition in Bahrain, a country with a strategic value that belies its small size. It hosts a U.S. naval base and is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, Iran's main regional rival. A quickening tempo of mostly crude bombing and shooting attacks has accompanied a government crackdown, which culminated last year in the dissolution of the main opposition bloc. The dead 29-year-old militant, Reda al-Ghasra, was shot and killed when security forces ambushed the speedboat carrying him and fellow fugitives at dawn on February 9. Ghasra had just a few weeks earlier escaped from a prison where he was serving a life sentence for terrorism. Ghasra's two brothers, both wanted on militant charges, also appeared at his wake in Qom. They played a recorded phone call of Reda saying his boat was on its way. The Bahraini government has asserted he was fleeing to Iran. A confidential assessment by Bahrain security officials, reviewed by Reuters, names Sanadi as the leader of the Ashtar Brigades, a militant group that has carried out bombings and shootings directed at the kingdom's police. In a statement online, the group hailed Ghasra as a "martyr commander" on his death. According to the security assessment, Sanadi tasked Ghasra with forming militant cells with Iranian help. Iran's foreign ministry called Bahraini government accusations that Iran had any role in supporting Sanadi or the Ashtar Brigades in violent acts "baseless and fabricated." Sanadi did not respond to requests for comment. SUPREME LEADER An uprising by some in Bahrain's Shi'ite majority was quelled in 2011 with the help of a Saudi intervention. Low-level protests followed. Clashes with police killed scores of activists and suspected militants, while Bahrain says 24 of its officers have been killed. Most clashes involve youths throwing rocks and molotov cocktails, but there has been a series of bombings in recent years. Opposition activists say these attacks show that a government crackdown is pushing Shiite youths into the arms of extremists. An analysis of years of statements by Bahrain's public prosecutor on Ashtar Brigades suspects suggests that the group operates in cells of fewer than 10 young men overseen by emigre militants like Sanadi based in Iran. Recruited on religious pilgrimages or study trips to Iran, Bahrain's prosecutor has said, the suspects were given weapons and explosives training in Iran or neighbouring Iraq. Iran denies the accusation. Sanadi has powerful allies in Iran, where he has lived since he went into exile in 2012. The official website of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei published an editorial by Sanadi in December accusing the U.S. of helping repress Shiite activism in Bahrain. The U.S. State Department put Sanadi on its proscribed "terrorist" list on March 17. His name appears alongside leaders in al Qaeda and Islamic State. The U.S. cited Sanadi's links to the Ashtar Brigades which, it said, "receives funding and support from the Government of Iran." Bahrain accuses Sanadi of having organised deadly attacks on police and smuggling arms from Iran. According to Bahraini security dossiers on Ghasra and Sanadi reviewed by Reuters, Bahraini authorities consider the Ashtar Brigades to be the armed wing of Sanadi's Islamic Wafa Movement, a political party that is banned in Bahrain. Wafa and the Ashtar Brigades did not respond to requests for comment about their relationship. A Wafa party representative contacted by Reuters agreed to relay questions to Sanadi but did not ultimately reply. Sanadi, the security documents say, receives funding from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and commissioned Ghasra to organise the military training of Bahraini militants in Iran by the IRGC and in Iraq by the Hezbollah Brigades militia. The Ashtar Brigades announced an alliance with the Iran-backed Hezbollah Brigades via an online statement in February. Sanadi spoke of his relationship with Ghasra in a communication to his followers on messaging app Telegram, dated in March and seen by Reuters. "I found him a lover of (Shi'ites), ready for the highest sacrifice and dedicated to the choice of resistance. Ghasra's brother Yasser, speaking to Reuters from Iran, acknowledged that his brother Reda was a fighter but denied he received Iranian help. He declined to comment on links between his brother and Sanadi. PROUD TO BE AN ENEMY Speaking to Iranian state TV channel al-Alam in March Sanadi said: "I'm proud that America considers me an enemy." While not commenting directly on the state department accusations, he said the U.S. was using "so-called terrorism and ... an imaginary danger they claim is coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran" to sell arms to Gulf allies and maintain influence. Sanadi is the only official of his party to have eluded a long-term jail sentence, though he spent six months behind bars amid 2011 protests on rioting charges. Six months later he departed legally for Iran. Chronicling his experiences in a prison manifesto called "Pain and Hope" published in Iran last year, he said he suffered torture and watched fellow detainees killed at the hands of Jordanian and other foreign officers he scorns as "mercenaries." Bahraini security officials denied to Reuters that Sanadi suffered torture in custody. There have been isolated abuses which have been investigated and addressed but this is not a systematic phenomenon, said one official In January, Sanadi called on Bahrain's opposition to abandon mostly peaceful protests in public squares and to take up arms. "From today and hereafter, the period has changed. We in the Islamic Wafa Movement announce that we have begun a new phase as a tribute to the martyrs: one grip on the squares and one grip on the trigger!" he said in a speech in Qom. Iran's promotion of Sanadi appears to point to an endorsement of his agenda. Next to an Iranian flag and a banner reading "Death to the House of Saud," referring to Saudi Arabias rulers, Sanadi delivered a sermon at Friday prayers in the country's most prestigious mosque in Qom in September - an exceptional honour. Sanadi also took to the main stage at a 2013 conference of Ahl al-Bayt, a Qom-based global fraternity of scholars founded by Khamenei in 1990. The meeting commemorated Bahrain's uprising. "We are truly thankful to the Iranians, especially the leader of all Muslims, Ayatollah Khamenei," Sanadi declared. For his part, Irans Supreme Leader in a speech last summer warned that Bahrain government moves against top opposition figures was removing an obstacle in front of the passionate, heroic Bahraini youth to fight against the ruling system. (edited by Janet McBride)) TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan fishermen found the bodies of 28 migrants who appeared to have died of thirst and hunger after their boat broke down off the coast of Sabratha city, a ministry of interior official said on Tuesday. Since Libya fell into chaos after Muammar Gaddafi's fall in 2011, the North African country has become the main departure point for migrants hoping to reach Europe by sea. More than 150,000 have made the crossing to Italy annually over the past three years. The 28 migrants, including four women, were found after sunset by the fishermen, who towed the vessel to shore, Interior Ministry security unit commander Ahmaida Khalifa Amsalam told Reuters. The victims were buried together in a cemetery for illegal migrants, he said. "Their boat stopped in the middle of the water because the engine was broken," he said. He did not give details on any of the nationalities, but many illegal migrants are from sub-Saharan Africa. Smugglers often pack migrants in flimsy inflatable dinghies, dispatching them to sea to get picked up by rescue ships and other vessels once they reach international waters. Some are intercepted and turned back by the Libyan coastguard. U.N. Libya envoy Martin Kobler sharply criticized conditions in Libyan refugee camps in an interview with German broadcaster Bayerischen Rundfunk. "The camps are in terrible condition. Women are being sexually abused, people are crowded together in small buildings and are being kept like animals. These are intolerable conditions that must be changed," he said. Kobler said it was important to improve conditions in the camps, but the biggest priority should be to address the underlying reasons for the migration flows. The U.N. migration agency last week reported that growing numbers of African migrants passing through Libya are traded in what they call slave markets before being held for ransom, forced labour or sexual exploitation. Libya is the main gateway for migrants attempting to reach Europe by sea, with more than 150,000 people making the crossing in each of the past three years. So far this year, an estimated 26,886 migrants have crossed to Italy, over 7,000 more than during the same period in 2016. More than 600 are known to have died at sea, while an unknown number perish during their journey north through the desert. The German foreign ministry concluded in January that African migrants face executions, torture and other systematic rights abuses in camps in Libya, according to media reports. (Reporting by Ahmed Elumami; writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Susan Fenton, Larry King) North Korea has accused the US of creating a situation where nuclear war could break out at any time. Pyongyangs deputy ambassador to the UN slammed Washingtons naval build up in waters off the Korean peninsula, as well as the missile strikes in Syria. The United States is disturbing the global peace and stability and insisting on the gangster-like logic that its invasion of a sovereign state is decisive and just and proportionate, Kim In Ryong, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK) to the United Nations said. His comments came just hours after US vice president Mike Pence visited a demilitarised zone that separates North and South Korea. He issued a warning that the recent strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed that President Trumps resolve should not be questioned. FILE PHOTO: Newly recruited Houthi fighters ride on the back or a truck during a parade before heading to the frontline to fight against government forces, in Sanaa, Yemen January 3, 2017. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah/File Photo Thomson Reuters Iran wants to turn Yemen into a "missile base" from which it can threaten Saudi Arabia, according to a Saudi general. Saudi Gen. Ahmed Asiri claimed Saudi Arabia prevented an "Iranian plot" from threatening the countrys security and stability in an interview with Saudi Arabias al-Arabiya news Sunday. He added that the Iranians planned to use Yemens Houthi rebels to implement their scheme, allowing Iran to deploy missiles and use Hezbollah suicide bombers against the country. Saudi Arabia "did not need to wait for Yemen to become another missile base that threatens the security and safety of Saudi Arabia, as the Iranians planned to do, to turn Yemen into a military base, from which they could attack the kingdom," said Asiri, who serves as both the spokesman for Saudi operations in Yemen and as advisor to the defense minister. Houthi rebels have targeted Saudi Arabia with 48 ballistic missiles since the country began joint military operations with other Arab states in Yemen in 2015. He said a total of 138 missiles have targeted either Saudi territory or its forces. It is believed that Iran, which has one of the largest military stockpiles in the Middle East, is supplying Yemens Houthi rebels with military equipment. The Houthis (also known as Ansar Allah) are a rebel group from Yemens northern region. They have fought against the Yemeni government since 2004, including the current US and Saudi supported government of President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi. Yemen is currently divided between Hadis government and the Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia has been criticized for killing civilians while fighting the Houthis. More than one-third of Saudi strikes in Yemen have hit civilian areas, according to a study by the Yemen Data Project released in September. Asiri claimed that Saudi Arabia has shown restraint by avoiding a ground-based operation. "It did not happen for several reasons: First, there would have been be a large deployment of ground forces which would have resulted in a large number of civilian and military casualties. One of the objectives of the coalition is to rid Yemeni civilians of the Houthi rebel presence in their daily lives," said Asiri. "There are around 100,000 Saudi forces stationed on the border that could have occupied Yemen in a few days, but we wanted to support legitimacy in Yemen with the least possible losses on both sides. We are like a technical team in a hostage situation." Story continues Asiri said Saudi Arabia aims to support the Yemeni government and prevent Houthi incursions in Saudi territory. He claimed that the Saudi-led coalition has made progress in beating back the rebellion. However, the Yemeni capital of Sanaa is still under Houthi control, while several other cities are in contention. NOW WATCH: WWE has a 'Roman Reigns problem' heading into WrestleMania See Also: Prez Bhandari lands in new Delhi President Bidya Devi Bhandari arrived in New Delhi on Monday on a five-day state visit at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee. By Faith Hung TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan said on Tuesday it had apprehended a Chinese activist who had slipped away from his tour group last week, and authorities were deciding whether to deport him or risk fraying relations with Beijing by granting him sanctuary as a political refugee. Officials declined to say whether 48-year-old Zhang Xiangzhong had formally requested asylum, but his case comes at an awkward time as ties with China have been strained since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in Taiwan last year. According to media reports Zhang was released in 2016 after spending three years in jail for his involvement in the New Citizens Movement in China, a group that advocates working within the system to press for change and clean up corruption. Taiwan's immigration authorities said Zhang was picked up on the street on Monday evening. His whereabouts had been unknown since he had left his tour group last week, according to an official of the National Immigration Agency. Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council, the island's China policy-making body, has said they are ready to review any request from him for asylum, but his case will be vetted first by immigration officers. "He left his group without notice. From the perspective of our tourism regulation, the immigration authorities absolutely have the authority to apprehend him," MAC vice chairman Chiu Chui-cheng told Reuters. "If he intentionally overstays in Taiwan, the immigration authorities can deport him after an investigation," Chiu said, adding that the government must consider agreements between Taiwan and China regarding cross-strait tourism. "We can send him back, according to the tourism agreement between both sides." Defections from China to Taiwan are fairly infrequent as Beijing keeps a tight control on dissidents leaving the country and few would risk sea-crossing over the heavily patrolled strait dividing the mainland from the island. Wary of provoking Beijing's ire, Taiwan does not officially offer asylum to Chinese, but it occasionally allows "long term" stays for political refugees. There are currently about 10 such cases in Taiwan. Zhang, from Shandong province, has said that a source of inspiration for his asylum request was the wife of Taiwanese activist Li Ming-che, Taiwan's media reported. She has been attempting to free her husband, currently held by China on suspicion of activities harmful to national security. China regards Taiwan as a wayward province and it has never renounced the use of force to bring the island back under its control, while proudly democratic Taiwan has shown no interest in being run by Communist Party rulers in Beijing. Defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the Communists, but since a thaw began in the 1980s cross-straits investment has flourished. Relations ran into problems last year following the election of Tsai, whose Democratic Progressive Party espouses formal independence from China. (Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore) NAIROBI (Reuters) - Japan on Monday started withdrawing its troops from a U.N. mission in war battered South Sudan, according to an official, a move coinciding with escalating violence in a conflict where killings have been described as genocide. The 350-strong Japanese military contingent, which has been based in South Sudan's capital Juba for the past five years, has been mostly helping with infrastructure construction. "The first group is leaving today," Daniel Dickinson, spokesman for the U.N. peace keeping mission called UNMISS, told Reuters moments before the troops were due to board their flight at Juba International Airport. Dickinson said the Japanese contingent would leave in three batches and that the group that was due to leave on Monday had 68 troops. Deadly violence, often driven by ethnic hatred has gripped South Sudan since 2013 when fighting broke out between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his political foe Riek Machar whom he sacked as vice president. A 2015 peace deal ended that conflict and Machar was early last year restored to his vice presidency position but persistent animus between the two men finally exploded into fresh fighting in July. Episodes of mass violence especially in the equatorial region of south Sudan have been growing, with surviving civilian witnesses reporting government troops turning up in towns and starting shooting rampages. The UK has described the killings and other atrocities in South Sudan as genocide although the U.N. has not yet made that determination. South Sudan government spokesman, Ateny Wek Ateny, said they welcomed Japanese troops' departure because "the government of South Sudan is able to control the country." (Editing by Toby Chopra) When police arrived at a run-down house in a tidy neighborhood near San Mateo and Prospect NE on Sunday evening they found a woman lying dead on a mattress in the living room next to a handgun and two shotgun shells. The woman, Mindy Stuart, 30, had been shot in the neck. And her boyfriend, 32-year-old Scott Wade Bachicha, was standing over her, covered in blood, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. There was a bloody fist-sized hole in the wall and broken glass on the floor. It wasnt the first time police had been called to the house in the 2400 block of Madeira NE. The couples next-door neighbor told the Journal she saw police at their house almost every week and had called 911 herself more than 20 times after hearing Bachicha screaming and yelling. Mable Herrera said Stuart was very timid around Bachicha and always tried to calm him down and keep him from making a scene as he berated her and their children. She said the couple had three daughters and a baby boy and that she believes the Children, Youth and Families Department had removed the children from their care. She was a very nice woman, and she had three beautiful little girls and another baby afterward, Herrera said. It was hurtful to see her with that fear, and not get out of the relationship. I think a lot of us tried I tried a lot just to reach her. Four police reports and a criminal complaint detail allegations of several incidents of domestic violence dating back to 2011. In June 2016, Stuart told police Bachicha had pulled her hair and hit her while she was pregnant, according to a police report. Once when neighbors called 911 after hearing a loud quarrel, officers found Bachicha had a handgun tucked into his waistband, according to another police report. Bachicha was charged with battery on a household member in 2011 after witnesses reported seeing him punch the windshield of her car and try to drag her from it. That case was dismissed because the prosecution was unable to proceed, according to online court records. Officer Fred Duran, a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department, did not respond to questions about the number of times police had been called to the home. On Sunday, police were called to their home for the final time. When the officers arrived around 6:30 p.m., Bachichas friends flagged them down. They said he had told them someone had shot and killed Stuart. Bachicha told police the same thing. He said he saw a shadowy, dark figure flee the house and saw that his girlfriend had been shot and killed. Neighbors said that as he sat in a police cruiser, he yelled out the window that someone had shot his wife, and that he loved her. But after further questioning, he told detectives a different story, according to the complaint. Through tears, Bachicha told them he had been messing around with a shotgun and it suddenly discharged and struck Stuart in the neck. Scott panicked and began to hold Mindy in his arms, but he advised he knew she was already deceased, a detective wrote in the complaint. Scott took the shotgun and the spent shotgun shell and exited his residence through his back door. He said he threw the gun and shells onto the roof of a nearby building, according to the complaint. Its unclear where the handgun came from or why it was next to Stuarts body. Detectives charged him with murder and booked him into the county jail. Herrera said she and her husband had planned to take Stuart and Bachicha a plate of food left over from Easter dinner. Instead, she got a call saying their block was a crime scene. She said she cried throughout the night thinking of Stuart and her daughters and wishing something had been done before she was killed. The girls are going to know that their mom is no longer here, Herrera said. One of the little girls had said to me once, I wish my dad would stop beating my mom. Film festivals. Each one is different and has a specific focus. And MovieMaker Magazine has named the 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee in 2017. For the fourth straight year, the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival has made the list. The Santa Fe Independent Film Festival is an event that focuses on the singular vision of an artist, says Jacques Paisner, SFIFF executive director. So to be highlighted again in MovieMaker Magazine as a festival that celebrates the filmmaker indicates that weve been doing the right thing for the past nine years. The magazine credits the high-quality SFIFF panels. A strength of SFIFF is the talent on display at its panels: 2016s edition saw talks with MacGyver creator Lee Zlotoff, director Jay Roach (Trumbo) and editor Paul Barnes (The Thin Blue Line), moderated by producer-screenwriter Kirk Ellis (John Adams), the article stated. Add to that a solid independent line-up (titles like Sherng-Lee Huangs and Livia Ungurs Hotel Dallas and the Oscar-nominated doc Fire at Sea played last October) and historic venues like the Lensic (Performing Arts Center) and Jean Cocteau Cinema, and youve got a winner. Last year, the festival honored Jacqueline Bisset The festival runs Oct. 18-22 in Santa Fe. More information can be found at santafeindependentfilmfestival.com SANTA FE The former CEO of the group that puts on the annual Santa Fe Indian Market has admitted embezzling money from a charity fundraising effort and can have his criminal charges dropped if he pays restitution and successfully completes probation. Thats according to Santa Fe District Attorney Marco Serna, who also said John Torres Nez, 51, is entering a pre-prosecution agreement after admitting embezzling thousands of dollars from the fundraiser. Money from sale of items donated by Indian artists was supposed to go a Red Cross fund to aid victims of the 2011 tsunami that struck Japan. Although Torres Nez is not legally pleading guilty to the charges, Serna said that as part of the arrangement he must give a full admission to a pre-prosecution diversion officer from the District Attorneys Office, pay $36,918 in restitution within two months, write a public apology and serve two years of probation under supervision the District Attorneys Office. Serna said the charges can be refiled if Torres Nez doesnt meet those terms and that his office will have a written admission on file if Torres Nez is charged again. An attorney for Torres Nez couldnt be reached for comment. Torres Nez was indicted on two counts of embezzlement for taking money from the fundraiser from April 2011 to January 2012. Some of the donating artists contacted State Police in October 2014 and voiced concerns over where the money went. Torres Nez pleaded not guilty in June after a roughly 1-year investigation by State Police. A police search warrant affidavit said there was no sign that money from the art sales was transferred from the PayPal account of the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, which puts on Indian Market, to the intended Red Cross fund. Torres Nez was an administrator with SWAIA at the time of the fundraiser and later became CEO. He subsequently left and helped start the rival Indigenous Fine Art Market. The police affidavit said SWAIAs financial administrator determined that the money from the fundraiser went into a bank account Torres Nez used to collect his SWAIA paycheck. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump will take aim at information-technology outsourcing companies Tuesday when he orders a review of H-1B visa programs to favor more skilled and highly paid applicants. An administration official who briefed reporters in advance named Tata Consultancy Services, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. and Mphasis Corp. as examples of outsourcing companies that would likely have fewer visas approved as the administrations changes are adopted. The H-1B work visa program channels thousands of foreign workers to the U.S. technology industry. Trump will announce the order during a trip to Wisconsin along with instructions to federal agencies to examine their purchasing systems to more effectively favor buying American goods. Two administration officials previewed the orders for reporters on condition of anonymity because they didnt represent the agencies most directly involved in the policies. Trump campaigned on a promise to use the powers of the presidency to encourage companies to buy American products and hire American workers, and the officials portrayed the order as a step toward fulfilling the pledge. The H-1B visa system has been criticized following high-profile examples of American workers being replaced by lower-paid foreigners through the program. The new order asks agencies to propose ideas to direct visas which are currently distributed by lottery to the most skilled and highly paid applicants. It doesnt dictate any specifics about how to achieve the goal. The administration ultimately would like to get rid of the lottery system, one of the officials said. How much the president can change the program without Congress involvement is a matter of debate. The administration has significant leeway in deciding how to carry out the law. It could, for instance, give priority to employers who rely less heavily on holders of H-1B visas. Several bills have been proposed in Congress to end the lottery system. About 6 percent of the visas currently go to the Labor Departments top skill level, while eight in 10 workers on the visa are paid less than the median wage for their fields, the White House said in a fact sheet distributed to reporters. The Trump administration rolled out policy shifts earlier this month to begin cracking down on the H-1B visa system. They included a promise to pursue more investigations of fraud and abuses and a warning to employers applying for the visas not to discriminate against U.S. workers. (Joshua Brustein contributed to this report.) Prez Bhandari meets Indian PM Modi President Bidya Devi Bhandari, who is currently on a five-day state visit to India, met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on Tuesday. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal From the time Brian Colon formally announced he was entering Albuquerques mayoral race, it was clear he would be a formidable candidate, already having amassed more than $200,000 in campaign contributions at that point. Since his announcement in January, Colons campaign war chest has grown even larger, with more than $308,000 cash on hand as of March 31, according to a campaign finance report filed with the City Clerks Office over the weekend. And that doesnt include the $43,000 his campaign has already spent or the $32,000 in contributions he said he has raised since March 31. My campaign has raised $389,834.53 to date, Colon said Monday in a statement. I have long valued my community ties in the great city of Albuquerque, and am pleased to have received support from some of the areas key stakeholders, said Colon, former chairman of the state Democratic Party. But when it comes to cash on hand, Colon has competition from a local businessman who built a national company and just last week filed paperwork with the city to launch a mayoral run. Ricardo Chaves, founder of Parking Company of America, has $300,000 cash on hand money he lent to his campaign. Ive been a taxpayer for 50 years, and Im for the taxpayers, said Chaves, a Republican. He said government wastes too much money. Of course, to get on the Oct. 3 ballot, Chaves will need to gather at least 3,000 signatures by April 28. He acknowledged Monday that his late start will make that a challenge. Three mayoral candidates have already secured the necessary signatures to secure a spot on the ballot: City Councilor Dan Lewis, state Auditor Tim Keller and Michelle Garcia Holmes, former chief of staff for the state Attorney Generals Office and a retired Albuquerque police detective. Besides Colon and Chaves, other mayoral candidates who reported significant cash on hand as of March 31 were Lewis, former Bernalillo County Commissioner Deanna Archuleta and current Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson. Lewis, a Republican, reported a carry-over cash balance of $90,000 and contributions of nearly $101,000 from Jan. 15 to March 31. He spent nearly $45,000 and had a little more than $146,000 in the bank on March 31. But Lewis points out that because he is already a city councilor, his latest campaign finance report didnt capture a full three-month period. He said he has raised more than $250,000 for his mayoral run as of Saturday. Our campaign reflects a large grass-roots movement of people from every area of our city and small-business leaders that are concerned about our future, Lewis said in a statement. This sends a strong message that the people in our city are willing to invest in a new leader who will make Albuquerque No. 1 for the worst place in the country to be a criminal, who will create a booming city economy and who will fix our schools. Archuleta, a Democrat, reported raising nearly $141,000 in cash contributions. She spent $47,000 and had nearly $94,000 cash on hand. I am honored to have the support of so many people who share my love for our city and who want to make Albuquerque the best it can be, Archuleta said Monday in a statement. My supporters know that experience will be key for the next mayor; and they know that I will be ready on Day 1 to move our city forward. Johnson, a Republican, raised nearly $89,000 and spent $422. That left him with a balance of $88,500. Johnson also reported in-kind contributions totaling nearly $22,000, more than any other mayoral candidate. I am pleased and extremely grateful for the support my campaign has received from those who trust in my common-sense, bipartisan leadership to build a safe and prosperous city, Johnson said in a statement. In his campaign announcement earlier this month, he told his supporters, This is going to be a million-dollar race. I need as much financial support as you are willing to give me. Of the 16 candidates running for mayor, only Keller is running a publicly financed campaign. Keller has received roughly $380,000 in city funds, minus the seed money he raised, to run his campaign. Before this year, privately financed candidates for mayor who werent already holding public office didnt have to file campaign finance disclosure statements until about 12 weeks before the election. But the City Council last month voted to require candidates for mayor and council to file quarterly reports, with April 15 being the first deadline. Other mayoral candidates who filed quarterly reports are: Garcia Holmes, who reported cash contributions of $6,120 and in-kind contributions of $9,900; she reported cash on hand of $5,532. University of New Mexico undergraduate student Augustus Gus Pedrotty, who reported cash contributions of $1,707 and in-kind contributions of $48; he has $1,506 on hand. Retired Old Town resident Stella Anne Padilla reported cash contributions of $3,495, expenditures of $2,872 and cash on hand of $622. Susan Wheeler-Deichsel, founder of the civic group Urban ABQ, reported cash contributions of $1,583, in-kind contributions of $475 and expenditures of $2,287. Her campaign had a negative balance of $704. Elan Colello, CEO of a virtual reality company, reported that he had received no contributions as of March 31. Florida native Jacob Shull and movie theater worker Rachel Golden also reported no contributions. Garcia Holmes, an independent, said she isnt surprised by the amount of money flowing to some candidates. People associated with a (political) party tend to raise quite a bit of money, she said. Garcia Holmes said her focus has been on getting on the ballot, and now that she has accomplished that, she will work on raising money. Mayoral candidates Lamont Davis, Scott Madison and Ian Page, who only recently filed to run, had not submitted a quarterly report as of Monday morning. Top donors to mayoral candidates Top contributors to each of the campaigns, as reported by the candidates: Brian Colon Colon received 29 $5,150 contributions from Xcel Protective Services; Belinda Melton of Kubiak & Melton; Gold Mesa Investments LLC; Ernest Martinez, retired; Tonja McMullen of Holmans; Nestor Romero, retired; John Santoru, owner of Holmans; Sam Baca of AUI Inc.; Edward Romero, a retired attorney; Carlos Garcia with Holmans; Emet Rudolfo, attorney; Brandon Writtenberry of AON Risk Solutions; Jack Vigil with Harmonix; Adrian Perez, retired from Heritage Hotels & Resorts; Sherri Perez, a Corrales homemaker; Jill Harney, with Synergy Ventures; Jack Harney with Synergy Ventures; Jocelyn Herig, self employed; Tug Herig with SW Brands; business owner Victor Jury; John Wood, a business owner in Missouri; Robert Kurz, of Kurzsolutions; Marcus Rael of Robles, Rael and Anaya, P.C.; attorney Harold Albert; Steven B. Chavez with ICSI; Mark Cordova with Cordova Contracting & Development; Orae Dominguez, retired attorney; Joe Maez of the Maez Group; and Theresa Rael of Desert Mountain Properties. Balderas for New Mexico, Attorney General Hector Balderas political organization, made two contributions totaling $5,150. Margaret Branch, of the Branch Law Firm, and the Branch Law Firm Legal Group each donated $2,650. Oscar Cisneros, self employed, contributed $5,000. Argonaut LLC, an investment company, donated $5,000. Rio Cuatro LLC, a development company, donated $5,000. Deanna Archuleta U.S. Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., two contributions totaling $5,000. Kristina Martinez, no occupation or employer listed, $5,193. Karen Ruiz, with Rock House CGM LLC, $5,100. Also contributing $5,000 were Wendy York, attorney with Sheehan and Sheehan; Andrew and Martin Farach-Colton, educators; Tom Rothfield, with Presbyterian Health Plan; and Gordon Monaghan, teacher with Albuquerque Public Schools. Dan Lewis Footprints Home Care Inc., $5,000. Walking by Faith, $5,000. Victor Jury, $5,000. Strata Production Co., oil and natural gas, $5,192. John Bode Sr. and John Bode Jr., both of Bode Aviation Inc., each donated $2,500. Among other contributors also donating $2,500 to Lewis were WisePies owner Steven Chavez and CSI Aviation owner Allen Weh. Wayne Johnson Sherman McCorkle, self-employed, $5,193. Dale L. Armstrong, owner of TLC Plumbing, $5,193. Linda Scott, homemaker, $5,100. Contributing $5,000 to Johnson were D McCall, real estate-Midway Leasing; Kyla McCall, also with Midway Leasing; Tony Pisto with Maranatha Construction; Mason Wells, self-employed in health care; Ty Juana Hise, owner of Cemco Inc.; and NM Endo Specialists PC. NOTE: The maximum allowed contribution is $5,193, which represents 5 percent of the mayors salary. A man who police said was behind a series of 71 robberies is now facing significantly fewer charges, including just 10 counts of robbery, according to court documents. Robert Billie, 39, was indicted in District Court on Friday. His wife, Louise Billie, 37, was indicted on dozens of charges. Both face several conspiracy counts, and their cases are being handled together. Asked about the discrepancy in charges, District Attorneys Office spokesman Michael Patrick said prosecutors limited the indictment to focus resources on the strongest counts. In total, Robert Billie now faces 68 counts in his District Court case; 41 of those are aggravated assault charges, and the rest are a mix of battery, conspiracy and firearm charges. Thats down substantially from the 108 listed in his Metropolitan Court case centered on the same series of crimes. His attorney, Edward Bustamante, did not respond to a Journal call seeking comment Monday. Louise Billie faces 64 charges, also including 41 aggravated assault charges, according to court records. Her Metropolitan Court case listed 74 charges, including 37 counts of armed robbery. According to their indictments, the two are accused of robbing 10 fast food restaurants over four months. Police said in a criminal complaint that Robert Billie had been under surveillance for months before his arrest in late March. TOKYO The U.S. will not relent until it achieves its objective of ensuring the Korean Peninsula is free of nuclear weapons, Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday while visiting Japan. After meetings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other leaders, Pence told reporters that President Donald Trump was confident that economic and diplomatic pressure has a chance of compelling North Korea to cooperate. It is our belief by bringing together the family of nations with diplomatic and economic pressure we have a chance of achieving a freeze on the Korean Peninsula, Pence said. We will not rest and will not relent until we obtain the objective of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, he said. The Trump administration has signaled a more forceful U.S. stance toward North Koreas recent missile tests and threats, including a warning from Trump that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has gotta behave. So Pence struck a stern tone after arriving at a U.S. naval base from South Korea. We appreciate the challenging times in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocations from across the Sea of Japan, he said. We are with you 100 percent. On Monday, Pence traveled to the tense Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Korea, where he warned North Koreas leaders that after years of testing the U.S. and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, the era of strategic patience is over. A senior North Korean official then accused the United States of bringing the countries to the brink of thermonuclear war. Pence, on a 10-day Asia trip that will also take him to Indonesia and Australia, said Trump hopes China will use its leverage to get its longtime ally North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a fresh appeal for calm. Wang told reporters that although U.S. officials have made clear that a military strike remains a possibility, he believes that Washington would still prefer to de-escalate tensions through multi-sided talks. Abe said Japan likewise hopes for peaceful dialogue with Pyongyang, but at the same time, dialogue for the sake of dialogue is valueless. Pressure on North Korea is crucial, the prime minister said. After meeting with Abe, Pence held talks with Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on a new U.S.-Japan economic dialogue to be led by the two. The new forum for trade talks was launched by Trump and Abe during the Japanese leaders visit to the U.S. in February. In part, it is meant to take the place of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the regional trade pact that Trump withdrew from shortly after taking office. Pence and Aso said they believed the dialogue could yield opportunities to create new jobs on both sides and to fortify the economic aspects of the alliance. We would like to seek the best shape and forum for our bilateral relationship, Pence said. The TPP is a thing of the past for the United States of America. He said Trump is certain that negotiating trade deals with individual countries was the best way to ensure they yield win-win situations for both sides. The talks Tuesday did not delve into sector-by-sector issues such as auto exports. With no U.S. trade representative yet in office and other key positions still unfilled, such nitty-gritty discussions will have to come later. The loss of U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a blow to Japan following strenuous negotiations, especially over opening its long-protected farm sector to more imports, especially of dairy and meat products. For now, both sides seem eager to downplay potential for conflict, with Aso repeatedly saying that trade friction has been vanquished in a new era of cooperation. As Indiana governor, Pence saw firsthand the impact of Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Subaru, whose factories employ thousands of people in his home state. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who met with Japans trade minister, Hiroshige Seko, earlier Tuesday, said he hopes to soon begin talks on a free trade agreement with Japan. HOUSTON A storm system has dropped up to 10 inches of rain in some parts of Southeast Texas, flooding neighborhoods and closing schools. The highest rainfall totals were recorded in Brazoria County, south of Houston, where the Danbury school district closed its schools Tuesday following the overnight rain. Danbury and the Galveston County town of Santa Fe were among the communities contending with flooded neighborhoods, and some waterways, such as the Brazos River just west of Houston, were near flood stage. The National Weather Service has extended a flash flood watch into Tuesday afternoon for several counties. Traffic along Interstate 45 and several other routes was slowed and forecasts call for another 3 to 6 inches of rain through Tuesday. AUSTIN Texans oppose a border wall and sanctuary cities and think immigrants are more beneficial than harmful to the nation, according to the annual Texas Lyceum poll released Tuesday. The poll focused solely on immigration this year to get a better gauge of how Texans feel about the always-controversial subject that has been swept into the forefront of discussion by state and federal lawmakers. The poll questioned 1,000 Texas adults in English and Spanish and conducted half of the interviews by cellphone and half by landline. The poll was conducted April 3-9 and the overall margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. Overall, 27 percent of Texans said that immigration or border security is the states most important problem beating out other issues like the economy, political corruption and health care. That was not a surprise, as these subjects regularly rank near the top of public opinion polls in the state. But the survey also revealed stark differences between the heated rhetoric around immigration and the policies lawmakers want to use to address it. While 72 percent of Texans surveyed said they were extremely or somewhat concerned about illegal immigration, 61 percent opposed a proposal by President Donald Trump to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. And 62 percent said they dont want Trump to deport millions of unauthorized immigrants currently in the country. Despite the fact that immigration and border security is a perpetual concern, the fact is Texas adults as a whole still see immigration as a good thing, said Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Lyceum. Theres a commitment to these values of America as a place that immigrants come to. The Texas Lyceum is a nonpartisan statewide organization focused on identifying young Texas leaders. The survey found that 62 percent of adults said immigration helps the U.S. more than it hurts, a softening on the issue from last year, when 54 percent answered that way. The poll also found support for allowing immigrants in the country illegally to become citizens if there were strict conditions attached. On that issue, 90 percent of Texas adults said they either strongly or somewhat supported allowing these immigrants to become citizens after a long waiting period, payment of taxes and a penalty, passage of a criminal background check and learning English. Roughly equal shares of Democrats and Republicans expressed support for this measure, showing that even in Texas, supporters of the two parties appear to agree far more over the particulars of immigration reform than current debates might suggest, the polls authors wrote. On state level issues, Texans were more in favor of restrictive immigration policies. They supported keeping state border security funding at current levels despite Republicans in the White House and Congress who have promised to provide more federal funding for border security. And they expressed opposition to sanctuary policies in which local law enforcement agencies are prevented from asking about a persons immigration status or enforcing immigration law. The Legislature is considering a law that would ban these types of policies in the state. Respondents split strongly along racial and party lines, with 49 percent saying they were opposed to such policies while 45 percent expressed support. Eighty-six percent of Republicans opposed sanctuary cities, while 69 percent of Democrats supported them. And 62 percent of whites opposed these policies while 56 percent of Hispanics supported them. The poll also found strong support 72 percent for requiring businesses to verify a persons immigration status before hiring and creating stiff penalties for those who hire unauthorized immigrants. But 61 percent of Texans surveyed said they supported allowing unauthorized immigrants studying in state universities to pay in-state tuition, with 31 percent saying they should pay out-of-state tuition. Those sentiments again followed strong partisan lines, with 77 percent of Democrats favoring in-state tuition and 51 percent of Republicans favoring out-of-state tuition fees. Overall support for in-state tuition, however, had increased from when the poll asked the same question in 2011, when only 52 percent favored it. Overall, Blank said, the results of the study were not surprising but did show a general softening on immigration enforcement. That was partly a result of the methodology behind the survey, which polled Texas adults rather than registered voters who tend to be more conservative on these issues. But Blank also said that the less restrictive views found in the poll demonstrated a shift among Texas Hispanics and Democrats. When you look at the moderation on some of these items what you tend to see is that Republican attitudes remain fixed, Blank said. What changes was Democratic and Hispanic attitudes galvanizing toward a more liberal position on immigration. Blank said that distinction was particularly interesting because Hispanics are not universally liberal in the state, but the recent climate and national discussion around immigration may have pushed them toward more liberal positions. Younger people also had less restrictive views on immigration enforcement. Eighty percent of respondents between 18 and 29 said immigration helps the U.S. more than it hurts, but that percentage went down among older people. Only 46 percent of those 65 and older said immigrants were beneficial to the U.S. FRESNO, Calif. Three people were shot and killed after a man went on a shooting rampage Tuesday in Fresno, randomly shooting at four white men, killing three, before he was taken into custody, Police Chief Jerry Dyer said. The 39-year-old suspect, identified as Kori Ali Muhammad, is also suspected in the fatal shooting of a security guard outside a Motel 6 in central Fresno on Thursday. He is facing four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder, Dyer said. He said Muhammad had expressed dislike of whites in Facebook posts; all of the victims were white. Two of the people shot outside Catholic Charities, on Fulton Street just north of downtown, may have been clients of the social service agency, not employees, Dyer said. The third victim was a Pacific Gas & Electric employee riding in a company truck. A fourth man was shot at but not injured. Dyer said the gunman walked up to the PG&E truck on North Van Ness Avenue about 10:45 a.m. and shot the passenger repeatedly. The driver of the pickup then sped to Fresno police headquarters. The second shooting was only a few seconds later and was at Van Ness and Mildreda Street, where the gunman shot at but missed a resident. The gunman then turned onto Fulton Street and fired several rounds at another man, striking and killing him, Dyer said. After reloading at a bus stop, the gunman then shot and killed a man in the parking lot of Catholic Charities, he said. Officers responding to the initial shots found Muhammad running south on Fulton. Muhammad dove to the ground and yelled Allahu akbar before he was taken into custody, Dyer said. Although police found rounds of .357 caliber bullets and speed loaders for a revolver when Muhammad was taken into custody, no weapon was found, Dyer said. Dyer said that its too soon to determine if the shootings involved terrorism. However, a review of Muhammads social media shows he quoted the phrase Allahu akbar in a tweet. The Arabic phrase translates to God is the greatest. The FBI and ATF have both been notified about Tuesdays shootings, Dyer said. But Dyer noted that in Thursdays shooting at Motel 6, which was caught on surveillance video, Muhammad did not make any similar statements. What we know is that this was a random act of violence, Dyer said. There is every reason to believe he acted alone. Muhammad was identified early in the Motel 6 murder, based on the surveillance cameras, and officers had sought him in Madera and other locations in subsequent days. His Facebook page at one point indicated that he was in Atlanta, which was untrue, Dyer said. His Facebook posts indicated that he does not like white people, and he has anti-government sentiments, the chief said. Witnesses reported the gunman sprayed rounds while reloading and cursing. A second gunshot victim was reported outside the Fresno Police Department at 10:51 a.m. The victim also was taken to Community Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, Dyer said. Police are conducting investigations at four separate crime scenes on Van Ness, Mildreda and Fulton, and those areas will remain closed for at least a few hours, Dyer said. At least one shooting victim remained on the scene, and officers with K-9 are searching for the murder weapon. At 10:54 a.m., a report of a man down was reported on North Fulton Street, about a block from Catholic Charities. That victim died at the scene, county Emergency Medical Services officials confirmed. Fresno County government offices are on a lockdown alert. People have been urged to shelter in place. Homicide detectives were called to the shooting scenes. At least one agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was at the Fulton Street shooting scene, and agents from Homeland Security were outside Fresno police headquarters. A witness who lives close to Catholic Charities who did not want to be identified, said he watched the chaos unfold from his front yard as the suspect, carrying a large-caliber revolver, shot a man repeatedly in a front yard on the west side of Fulton Street north of Nevada Avenue. Then, he stopped and calmly ejected spent shell casings from the weapon and reloaded near a bus stop south of Nevada. The shells are still there, the witness said, pointing them out. The suspect then walked south on Fulton, where he opened fire on a man in the Catholic Charities parking lot, the witness said. A witness said the suspect carried a large-caliber handgun. He didnt look like a gang-banger or anything, the witness said. At Catholic Charities, about a dozen distraught people cried, moaned and hugged one another as several undercover police officers worked furiously to keep the shooting victim alive by pumping on his chest. Blood from the gunshot wounds flooded the ground nearby. It could have been me, moaned one man. I ran. He couldnt get away, he added, pointing to the victim as an ambulance sped toward the shooting, driving the wrong way up Fulton with siren blaring. Give us some room! Move back, shouted a woman, apparently a worker at the charity, where people line up daily to seek food and necessities. Arriving police officers jumped from their cars, pushing everyone back and throwing up crime scene tape. Teresa Dominguez, chancellor for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Fresno, said the diocese is providing support for those who witnessed the shooting. The diocese will be present to the needs of all those serving as witnesses to this violent and traumatic event, Dominguez said, such as counseling and pastoral care, and Bishop (Armando Xavier) Ochoa asks for the prayer of all the faithful for the victims of this violent crime and their families, and that law enforcement will be successful in the their investigation in identifying the perpetrator. In a statement issued Tuesday afternoon, PG&E spokesman Denny Boyles said: Our hearts are very heavy today, as we have lost a member of our PG&E family. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of our employee, and all those impacted by this tragic event. Imam Seyed Ali Ghazvini of the Islamic Cultural Center of Fresno said this attack is against the Muslim faith. We denounce and reject in the strongest words possible this kind of violence and attack, Ghazvini said, and we request law enforcement agencies investigate the reasons and motivations about the person himself. Hes not known in our community, and we are in touch with other communities to see if he was a member or not. At this time, we are collecting information to see who is this person. We have a very active relationship with all branches of state and federal law enforcement agencies in the Valley to make them aware of possible extremism within our area. Fresno Mayor Lee Brand expressed sadness for the families of the victims and noted that the quick response of police officers prevented further senseless violence. If there were ways to prevent tragedies like this in the future, I would not hesitate in using them. Again, my heart goes out to the families that lost loved ones today, Brand said. Copyright 2017 Albuquerque Journal SANTA TERESA While machinery roars and rows of steel rolls wait to be loaded on trucks headed south of the border, Southwest Steel Coil Inc. awaits the outcome of a promised renegotiation of the major trade deal underpinning its business. Should President Donald Trump follow through on a vow to reopen talks on the North American Free Trade Agreement, New Mexicos border industrial hub of Santa Teresa will be among the first to feel the effects of changes to the cross-border trade relationship and Southwest Steel is ground zero. Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., toured the plant Tuesday. Ninety-three percent of our steel ends up in Mexico, Jerry Groen, vice president of operations, told Udall. If all of a sudden Mexico isnt a competitive place for assembly, were in trouble. Our business model doesnt work. In an effort to glean local perspectives on the future of the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship, Udall also hosted a roundtable of border business leaders in the industrial zone. Representatives from trucking, manufacturing and rail concerns in Santa Teresa said that while business hasnt slowed in the first near-100 days of the Trump presidency, companies are putting off border investment decisions due to the uncertainty. Southwest Steel is holding pat on some capital set aside for new equipment, Groen said. Thats the biggest thing, he said. Whats going to happen? The Trump administration has made no formal moves to reopen NAFTA negotiations, Udall said. He called the administrations rhetoric on U.S.-Mexico trade reckless talk. A lot of people say, Were going to tear up NAFTA, Udall said. New Mexico, I believe, could be the hardest-hit of anyone in a trade war. I believe that, and I was further convinced of that talking with Jerry Groen at Southwest Steel. He feels the uncertainty, and he is very worried about that. New Mexicos exports to Mexico rose six years straight to an all-time high of $1.683 billion in 2015, before decreasing by $126 million, or 7.5 percent, last year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. The 2016 dip was due in part to a weak peso and uncertainty over U.S.-Mexico trade, experts say. Southwest Steel was one of the companies that drove the export growth. Without specifying, Groen said that the amount of business the company did in a year five years ago, it now does in a month. But the future remains unclear. The White House states its policy position online: President Trump is committed to renegotiating NAFTA. If our partners refuse a renegotiation that gives American workers a fair deal, then the President will give notice of the United States intent to withdraw from NAFTA. Udall said of the NAFTA renegotiation, If you are really going to reopen it, I think you ought to do it early. Were almost at 100 days and they havent actually done it. Union Pacific Corp. has spent roughly $1 billion in recent years to lay double track and upgrade its Sunset Route from Los Angeles to El Paso. It has invested an additional $470 million to build its new railyard in Santa Teresa. What were seeing in our business levels is a tale of two economies, said Union Pacific public affairs director Ivan Jaime. Overall, the economy since the Great Recession of 2008, hasnt recovered. It has continued to limp along, very slow growth if any. On the other hand, what has aided us is very robust growth in trade. Were seeing a lot of confidence for the future, uncertainty for the present, he said. Five best of advertisers and marketers were conferred with the first ever Champions of Excellence award at the recently concluded Goafest 2017. This award has been conceived and curated by the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI) and The Advertising Club for acknowledging and saluting visionary advertisers who have taken the leap of faith and invested resources, ensuring that Great ideas transform into Great advertising. RS Sodhi, Managing Director, Gujarat Co-Operative Milk Marketing Federation (Amul) was among the first recipients of this new industry award for his role in inspiring great advertising. Speaking to Adgully on the sidelines of Goafest, RS Sodhi spoke about why the media spends on Brand Amul has been minuscule, the importance of being consistent in communicating the brand message, outdoor and digital advertising plans and more. Media and marketing spends for Amul have been constant for years, said Sodhi, when asked about how Amul is looking at optimising media spends in a highly fragmented media market. He further said, Right from the beginning our budget has not been more than 1 per cent, in fact since the last 6-7 years, it has been around 0.8 per cent. I dont think to build a brand or the required positioning, you need a huge budget. If you take our 50-year old campaign for Amul Butter, our spends on that are peanuts. Out of the 0.8 per cent of our total budget, only 5 per cent is spent on Amul Butter. According to Sodhi, it is not about the money, but how creative the advertiser is with the campaign and how consistent they are in communicating the brand message. If you want to change your positioning and campaign every year or two, you will definitely require a huge budget otherwise consumers will not be able to recall it, he added. Speaking about Amul, Sodhi said, Our positioning for Amul Butter Utterly Butterly Delicious is 50 years old. The Taste of India positioning has been there for the last 27 years. Amul Doodh Peeta Hain India has been there for the last 15 years. They are working well with very minuscule budget. Amul has been spending extensively on outdoors, especially for Amul Butter, and in the last few years, the brand has also been using digital in its marketing plans. When asked to share his views on gauging the efficacy of outdoor and digital campaigns, given that there are no industry measurement currencies in place currently for the two mediums, Sodhi remarked, I think outdoor is mostly measured by the direct feedback from the consumers and also people in the field who tell us how effective outdoor is. Our budget for outdoor is 3-4 per cent of the total budget. In digital, the measurement is in terms of the views, likes and dislikes. Because most of the youngsters are on digital today, it has become mandatory for marketers to do something or the other on that front. Meanwhile, speaking about his Goafest experience, Sodhi said, This is the second time that I am attending Goafest. When I see the speakers, the people who come and talk here and discuss topics from across sectors, the talks are very inspiring and insightful. People come here to get the feedback about the work that they do in their fields. It is also a place to know what the market wants. We can help you make sense of the agribusiness industry, extending from chemicals and fertilizers used as inputs into agriculture, to the commodities, food and by-products that are an output to farming, with policy and regulation applied at every step of the value chain. In its latest note to clients, financial services firm Credit Suisse named Alphabet as its leading Internet stock choice, Business Insider reports. The company also cited Facebook and Amazon as the rest of the top three consumer Internet stocks to acquire. Analysts from the banking organization said its possible that Alphabet shares are worth an additional one-third of what they are currently trading for, putting their value at approximately $1,100 per share. That target would see the companys market capitalization at $757 billion, and on Monday in New York as of 2:21 pm, Alphabet shares went up to $833.64, up by 1.2 percent, presumably as a result of Credit Suisses statement. Credit Suisse analyst Stephen Ju explained the reason for Googles parent company currently being their top choice by citing several main pointers where the company is expected to outperform the current expectations of investors. Key areas include the monetization of advertising with Google Search, as well as non-search businesses such as Google Play, Google Cloud, and YouTube. Further aspects mentioned were Googles Other Bets and their likely commercialization, along with other initiatives ripe for monetization such as Maps. A possible risk with Credit Suisses view concerns a fall in the smartphone OS market share and a slow adoption of new Google ad formats. Although Alphabets Google Search leads the companys business interests, Credit Suisse forecasts that other subsidiaries, including those named above, will expand so that within three years they will form a third of Alphabets business. On a related note, while Facebook trades at 25 times of Credit Suisses 2018 non-GAAP EPS estimate, and Amazon trades at 55 times of the thereof, Alphabet trades at approximately 16 times that estimate. In January this year, Alphabet reported increases of several of its key revenue sources, and in a report of Q4 results for the 2016 fiscal year, the company revealed exceptional growth. Approximately $26 million in revenue was recorded during Q4 2016 compared to $21 million in Q4 2015, marking a year-on-year revenue increase of 22 percent. At that time, Alphabet said that mobile search and YouTube were the main areas of revenue increases while newer investments and Googles Other Bets were other areas of growth, though ones that are yet to become truly profitable. Prez Bhandari urges Indian entrepreneurs to invest in Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, who is on a five-day state visit to India, has urged Indian entrepreneurs and investors to invest in Nepal saying that Nepal has a favourable environment business. Android Pay received support for five more banks in the United States as part of its latest expansion that started on Monday. Googles mobile payments solution now supports cards issued by the O Bee Credit Union, Florence Savings Bank, Barksdale Federal Credit Union, Security State Bank Of Hibbing, and the J.S.C. Federal Credit Union. The move marks Googles latest attempt to expand the Android Pay ecosystem and bring it to as many consumers as possible, at least in the context of the companys home country that also happens to be its key market. The addition of the banks listed above marks the second expansion of Android Pay in April, as the mobile payments tool already received support for 13 other financial institutions last week. In total, the service extended its reach to more than 150 new banks since the turn of the year, indicating that Google is ramping up its efforts to expand its reach over the course of 2017. Regardless, the Mountain View-based tech giant is still seemingly focused on improving the Android Pay experience in the United States, while Canada and several other countries that were already expected to receive the service still dont have access to it. Previous reports suggested that the Alphabet-owned company is close to launching Android Pay in Canada as some users were even able to get an experimental version of the service to work in early 2017, but theres still no word on the official launch. Android Pays expansion in officially supported countries like Australia and the United Kingdom also slowed down in recent months, as users in those countries can still only use the service with cards issued by a rather limited number of banks. Its currently unclear when Google is planning to speed up the international expansion of its mobile payments solution, but more details on the matter might be available shortly seeing how the annual Google I/O developer conference is just around the corner and is scheduled to start on May 17. In the meantime, Android Pay is unlikely to extend its reach to users outside of the United States, though its stateside expansion is expected to continue. Googles Android Pay mobile platform will soon support PayPal as a payment method within the app, the two companies announced on Tuesday. Google and PayPal described the move as yet another step in their continuously growing partnership that already saw them collaborate on a number of different products and services. The firms have yet to clarify when exactly will Android Pay start supporting PayPal as a valid payment option, but the feature is expected to roll out in the coming weeks. All smartphones running Android 4.4 KitKat and newer versions of Googles ubiquitous operating system will support the new functionality, the companies said. This specific software requirement is unsurprising seeing how Android Pay itself officially doesnt work on any older versions of Android. Once PayPal integration debuts in Android Pay, users of Googles mobile payments solutions will be able to link their PayPal account with Android Pay like any other compatible credit card, meaning theyll be able to make purchases with PayPal at all locations that support the Android-powered platform. Apart from extending the versatility of Android Pay, the newly announced partnership is also expected to benefit PayPal as the popular online payments service continues looking for new avenues of growth in an effort to further solidify its already strong position on the market. In an announcement published on Tuesday, Bill Ready, PayPals Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer implied that the company might collaborate with Google on more projects in the future, though no further specifics have been given. The announcement of Android Pays support for PayPal comes only hours after Googles mobile payments platform expanded its support to five new banks in the United States. Googles service extended its support to over 150 additional banks this year already, indicating the Alphabet-owned company is now looking to promote Android Pay more aggressively than ever. As the number of Android Pay-enabled devices keeps increasing, Google is expected to try to position the service as the top mobile payments solution in the world, though the company is still facing competition in the form of Samsung Pay and similar solutions that are reportedly also looking to expand to more devices in the future. Last month a company going by the name of Livermorium Ltd. entered the spotlight on Indiegogo with a physical QWERTY Keyboard Mod for the Moto Z, and yesterday the firm revealed that it has constructed the first functional prototype unit which will be shown to both Lenovo and Verizon Wireless in Chicago on Wednesday, April 19. The QWERTY Keyboard Mod is one of the 50 products participating in the Transform the Smartphone Challenge, and its also one of the ten products chosen by Lenovo and Verizon Wireless who agreed to inspect it further. Back when physical QWERTY keyboards were more popular in the smartphone world, Motorola was among the only Android smartphone manufacturers to create high-end devices equipped with physical keyboards like the Motorola Droid 4. Today, physical QWERTY keyboards are a rare sight in the market and the only major manufacturer still willing to explore this concept is BlackBerry. However, startup Livermorium might put the Motorola brand back on the QWERTY map with its Moto Mod, which is designed to attach to the back of the Moto Z and offer a full QWERTY or AZERTY slide-out keyboard similar to the Motorola Droid 4. The mod also includes its own 2,100mAh battery which should increase the smartphones battery life considerably, and the slide-out design allows for usage in both landscape mode and tilted mode at 45 degrees. The Moto Mod keyboard has been launched on Indiegogo last month and at the time of writing the project raised $47,171 from a total of 639 backers, i.e. 47 percent of its $100,000 fixed goal. The campaign still has 15 days left to meet its goal, and the company stresses that the prototype shown below is an engineering sample and that the final product will see more improvements and feature a much better finish. Either way, the prototype will be shown to Lenovo and Verizon Wireless tomorrow as part of the Transform the Smartphone Challenge campaign, and assuming that the Moto Mod at hand manages to impress, it is possible that it could obtain further funding from Lenovo and/or Verizon, which would allow the company to continue improving the concept before the final product ships this July. Google removed the Free App Of The Week tab from the Google Play Store that was recently launched in the United States and several other countries, numerous users have confirmed, as reported by Phone Arena. The self-explanatory section was introduced by the Alphabet-owned company in late March and was said to be a part of a pilot test that Google was running, with industry sources claiming that the feature will be in testing for four weeks. The latter claim was seemingly inaccurate seeing how Google now scrapped the feature after just over three weeks of testing. While the Mountain View-based tech giant made no particular announcements on the matter and has simply removed the tab at some point in the last 24 hours, thats in line with how the company launched the functionality in the first place. Its currently unclear whether the Free App Of The Week will return to the Google Play Store in the future, though the fact that it was pulled before its trial period was supposed to end likely isnt a good sign. During the short testing phase that now came to an end, the Free App Of The Week section allowed owners of Android devices to download and play Card Wars Adventure Time and Chameleon Run free of charge. While neither game is free anymore, users who downloaded them during the promotional period are able to keep them. The Free App Of The Week functionality was reportedly live in the United States and parts of Europe during the aforementioned period, but as of today, the section is down in all of the markets in which it was previously available. While Google apparently shortened the testing period of the feature, the Internet giant might still relaunch the program at some point in the future. Even if it doesnt, the Google Play Store itself will certainly be updated with additional functionalities over the course of this year seeing how the most popular digital marketplace for Android apps on the planet is one of Googles flagship products that the company is always evolving. More information on the matter should be revealed shortly, possibly during the upcoming Google I/o 2017 conference thats starting in just under a month. Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer Xiaomi sold 6.3 million handsets in March 2017, known industry insider Kevin Wang revealed yesterday on Weibo. Wang also said that the Beijing-based tech giant has now concluded the process of restructuring its smartphone unit, though no further details on the matter have been given. Regardless, the comments likely refer to the companys recent efforts aimed at increasing the efficiency of its handset-making operations with the goal of making them more profitable. Xiaomi Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun recently confirmed the company will be looking to focus on several core aspects of its core business over the course of 2017 quality, innovation, and delivery. While Juns comments were relatively vague and revealed no specifics regarding the companys plans for the immediate future, the companys top executive still indicated that Xiaomi is serious about changing its general business strategy that recently led him to admit that the Beijing-based consumer electronics manufacturer grew in an unsustainable manner. If the company truly managed to sell 6.3 million devices over the course of last month, that figure could indicate its finally starting to bounce back from its disappointing 2016 during which it suffered declining sales, partially due to its imperfect supply chains. Previous reports indicated Xiaomi is aiming to sell 70 million Android smartphones in 2017 and the company might be able to hit that mark provided it can maintain its current performance. For reference, the firm shipped approximately 41.5 million handsets in 2016 and just under 65 million units the year before. While it remains to be seen whether the Chinese consumer electronics manufacturer manages to bounce back from its recent slump, its prospects will likely heavily depend on how successful the upcoming Mi 6 flagship ends up being. Xiaomis latest high-end Android smartphone is scheduled to be officially unveiled tomorrow, April 19, but the firm is also expected to announce a number of other devices alongside the Mi 6. Provided that the Mi 6 manages to offer a user experience thats comparable to that of its premium alternatives while still being priced in a competitive manner, Xiaomi might be able to make up for some of the disappointing results it posted last year. More information on the companys financial performance should follow soon. Verizon Wireless on Tuesday announced it will purchase $1.05 billion worth of fiber optics solutions including cables and related hardware from Corning Incorporated, a Corning, New York-based industrial components manufacturer. The deal isnt based on a one-time transaction and will instead see Corning provide Verizon with at least 12.4 million miles of optical fiber over a three-year period ending in 2020. The largest mobile service provider in the United States said its newly signed purchase agreement with Corning is meant to facilitate the companys efforts to continue providing adequate coverage and improve the overall quality of its network. Depending on Verizons future prospects, the New Jersey-based wireless carrier might end up paying for more than $1.05 billion worth of fiber optics equipment from Corning, as that figure only represents the minimal amount of equipment Verizon agreed to purchase in the period from 2018 to 2020. Representatives of Verizon repeatedly stated that fiber optical solutions will play an important role in the implementation of the fifth generation of mobile networks, commonly referred to as 5G. Deploying fiber cables to small and macro cell sites will help facilitate the deployment of 5G wireless networks given how the existing wired alternatives likely wont be able to handle the telecommunications backhaul thats expected once 5G technologies are commercialized. 5G solutions aside, Verizons latest purchase is also expected to positively reflect on the companys consumer-grade broadband offerings that will be improved as a result of the deal with Corning. Following Verizons 2016 launch of One Fiber in Boston, the company concluded its local plans are affected by a lack of fiber supply, which is what directly prompted the decision to purchase more related hardware from Corning. The network architecture that Verizon is planning to improve with its new purchase will positively reflect on all of its businesses, the wireless carrier said on Tuesday, implying consumers can expect a higher quality of services in the coming years as a direct result of its deal with Corning. In related news, the Big Red was recently hit with a lawsuit filed by the New York City administration that accused the company of failing to deliver on a contract that required it to complete its FiOS network in the city by 2014. With one day to go before Xiaomi officially unveils its next-generation Mi 6 flagship, the phone made an appearance on benchmarking website GFXBench. This isnt the first time the Mi 6 showed up on GFXBench, but this time around the listing corroborates that the handset will indeed feature a dual camera setup, as many rumors and leaks have already indicated. According to the current listing, the Xiaomi Mi 6 will debut with a 5.1-inch FullHD (1920 x 1080) display, just like its predecessor. The device is also reportedly set to take advantage of Qualcomms first 10nm system-on-chip (SoC), the Snapdragon 835. According to GFXBench, customers can expect the flagship to come in two variants the base one with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage and the more advanced one with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of native storage. The dual camera setup listed here consists of two 12-megapixel sensors capable of shooting 4K video recordings, while the selfie snapper is an 8-megapixel one and will also support 4K video capture. Its worth noting that previous rumors have claimed that the Xiaomi Mi 6 would come carrying a slightly different main dual camera made of a 12-megapixel and an 8-megapixel sensor. Regardless, most industry insiders agree that the Xiaomi Mi 6 will run Android 7.1.1 Nougat with Xiaomis MIUI 9 interface out of the box. A batch of leaked Xiaomi Mi 6 images surfaced out of China yesterday, suggesting the phone might make an appearance with a ceramic back panel and two speaker grills located at the bottom. The pictures also reveal the phone will lack the standard 3.5mm audio port but will feature an USB Type-C port. Alongside the Mi 6, Xiaomi is also expected to unveil a larger version of the flagship dubbed the Mi 6 Plus. If rumors are to be believed, this variant will arrive with a 5.7-inch panel with either FullHD or QHD resolution. Both phones will feature a physical home button located under the display, which will most likely double as a fingerprint scanner. While none of this information has been confirmed by the Chinese company, tomorrows launch event will surely reveal everything there is to know about the Xiaomi Mi 6 and Mi 6 Plus. Russia's undeclared death toll in Syria battle creeps higher The death toll among Russian forces in Syria during a period of intense fighting to retake the city of Palmyra now stands at 21, according to evidence gathered by Reuters, after information emerged about the deaths of three military contractors. India wants early completion of bilateral development projects in Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari, who is currently on a five-day state visit to India, met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi on Tuesday. NHTSA ECU The recall has been notified with the, and it is also present on Canadas transport authority webpage. In the case of the latter, 4,216 units are affected, but things are different in the U.S.According to the companys estimates with the NHTSA , the Japanese brand will have to fix about 33,131 units of the 2017 Impreza sold in the USA The filing announces that the problem that will be tackled by the service campaign leads to stalling the engine. It can also be manifested by the inability to start, or rough idling. Theres also the risk of stalling the engine and not being able to restart the unit for a certain period.While a rough idle is something that may be upsetting, but not a safety issue, the possibility of the engine stalling because of it can become a problem. This could lead to increasing the risk of an accident if a vehicle gets stuck in a place because it could not restart.Subaru of America has no knowledge of any accidents, injuries, or fatalities related to this issue. However, the automaker has decided to perform this service action to fix the existing units that manifested the symptoms described above, as well as preventing potential accidents that could happen because of stalling.The car manufacturer has explained that the problem is linked to the winter blend of gasoline used in North America, which will vaporize at a lower temperature. That event could occur under higher ambient temperatures, which could decrease the fuel pressure in the line, thus destabilizing the operation of the engine.The issue will be remedied with a re-flash of thefor the 2017 Impreza, which will be modified to support running on winter blend fuels. The changes will affect the radiator fan, which was also linked to the issue because it kicked in at a temperature that was not low enough with this kind of fuel. The idea for this brand, officially announced several months ahead of the event, was to reveal a close-to-production vehicle in Europe, and another creation in China. The second model from Lynk & Co is called 03, and it is a sedan that looks like it should be reworked before it gets to the market.As their press release remarks, Lynk will offer a lifetime warranty and free connectivity on every car they make. This unique offer is part of an aggressive market strategy meant for the local market, but it is unclear if it will be replicated in export markets.Before you get excited about an automobile with a lifetime warranty, try to keep in mind that Lynk & Co products are meant for ride sharing. With that objective in mind, the company was supposed to do something to ensure that all customers will get a car that operates accurately every time they get behind the wheel.Most likely, the fleet of shared vehicles will be maintained by dealers in the area where it is deployed. With careful coordination, the marque could have the chance of reducing downtime to a minimum with its future fleet of cars meant for sharing. The other part of the aggressive strategy planned by the company involves offering free connectivity on every car.The decision does make sense in a vehicle that will require a permanent Internet connection, which made this benefit an unexpected plus for clients of these automobiles.Lynk & Co representatives have not explained why the 02 model has yet to be showcased before an audience, but it looks like it inspired the creation of the 03 Sedan The sedan seen in the photo gallery appears to be an original design, but it is not the most beautiful product in the segment if you ask around our newsroom. Then again, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. AWD You are now a step closer to making the right choice, all with the help of Porshe YouTuber Nick Murray. The vlogger, who tried to give up the Zuffenhausen life with the help of a BMW M4, but couldn't, has now switched from his nine-o-lemon 991.1 Carrera S to a 991.2 Carrera 4S.And Nick's latest video shows him comparing his Porscha to a just-as-blue 991.2 Carrera. And while the latter is not an S model, at least it features the seven-speed manual gearbox, just like the YT man's car.The comparo involves the obvious details, letting profanes know that all-wheel-drive models feature more generous rear hips, while their posteriors are adorned with strips that connect the taillights.Nevertheless, many Porschephilles might be surprised to find out that, in its engineering obsession, Porsche gifted with "4" models with larger fuel tanks. And since the efficiency drawback brought by theonly brings for a 1 MPG loss, we end up with the conclusion that all-wheel-drive 911s actually offer a greater driving range than their rear-wheel-drive counterparts.As far as the 911 models that are set to be unveiled by the end of the year are concerned, this comparison is futile. And that's because the German automaker is now preparing to introduce a pair of rear-wheel-drive special.We're talking about the 991.2 GT3 RS (the final units of the 991.1 models are now reaching their owners), which has been recently spied Speaking of spyshots, the 2018 GT2 has been a constant presence in the spy section of our website.And, since the two nearly-baked Neunelfer derivatives follow the recently-unveiled 2018 911 GT3 , which has brought back the manual (yay!), we'll go ahead and open the Neunelfer calendar to mark 2017 as the year of the rear paws. When this Irkutsk repair crew finally showed up to fix two massive potholes, one of the trucks promptly fell in. https://t.co/0pdUNSlosS pic.twitter.com/IiCU00ZVVn The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) April 14, 2017 It is not uncommon anymore to see entire automobiles swept into ditches, and poor asphalt quality seems to be a global issue. The latest event from this series happened in the town of Bratsk, which is in the remote area of Irkutsk, Russia Apparently, the municipality has been hoping to solve its massive ruptures in the road surface since the summer of 2016, but work has been delayed for various reasons.The mayor of the city explained last year that the installation of drainage pipelines in the area was the reason why workers could not fix the situation encountered with the asphalt. Somehow, the town received funds to repair its problems, which look concerning if the images posted on Twitter are not digitally doctored.According to reports, there are pits as deep as six feet (1.82 meters), and it appears that few improvements are being made to the infrastructure in the remote area of Russia.This month, a repair crew was expected in Bratsk, and it was targeting the large trenches. Unfortunately for the team, it appears that the driver was too focused on correcting the issue, as one of the trucks fell into the ditch. An excavator had to be called to pull it out of the massive pit.Fortunately, nobody was killed or injured in this accident, which could have ended badly for the workers in the truck and the people in the area.The Internet began to modify pictures of the crash, which became popular on the countrys most used social network. As The Moscow Times reports, some images have become more popular than others.With the right legal team, someone who has fallen into one of these ditches could have obtained significant compensation from the state. However, it is better to prevent a personal injury lawsuit than having to fight for your rights with anyone on matters like these. kW HP SUV This vehicle is an electric SUV with coupe-inspired styling. It is also the first all-electric concept from the Czech brand, and it is scheduled to be revealed at the 2017 Shanghai Auto Show.Its creators say that it is capable of Level 3 Autonomous driving, which means relieving the driver of his or her duties in certain conditions, but continual monitoring by a human is required.The Vision E has two electric motors with a total output of 225(306), and it can drive up to 500 kilometers (310 miles) on a full charge of its batteries. Top speed is limited to 180 km/h (111 mph), but acceleration figures have not been revealed.This concept paves the way for future plug-in models from Skoda, which will represent a quarter of the total sales volume by 2025, but hybrids are also included in the goal.Five electric models will be launched by this marque by 2025, and the range will be complemented by several plug-in hybrid versions.The exhibit has an unusual golden shade, but it is less important than the features it has been gifted. The headlights are among the biggest modifications, and a strip of LEDs joins the two elements. The same piece is replicated in the bumper, in the form of a continuous light stripe.The front grille has been closed, but it is still a prominent design feature. This leads us to believe that the design of the concept will inspire production cars with internal combustion engines, which will need that front grille.Skodas concept also has the coolest rims we have ever seen on a car from Mlada Boleslav, but theres no hope of them reaching production in this form.The rear of thecontinues the companys styling cues, and comes as an evolution of existing shapes. The tail lights come in a minimized from of the ones seen on the Kodiaq , while the rear hatch in unusually short. Since this is a concept, the Czechs went ahead and fitted an illuminated logo on its back. Teenage girl killed as tanker hits bike in Bhaktapur A teenage girl died after a tanker hit a motorbike at Gatthaghar in Bhaktapur on Monday. Top officials in the West Wing including President Trump and Steve Bannon will closely monitor Tuesday's special election in Georgia's 6th congressional district. (The vote is to replace Tom Price, the new Health and Human Services Secretary.) Why Trump cares: Whether he likes it or not, the media will portray this election as an early verdict on his presidency. The year's first special election, in Kansas' usually reliable deep-red 4th district, was way closer than it should've been. A loss in Georgia would further weaken Trump and make his legislative agenda which relies on him holding his popularity like a knife over recalcitrant Republicans a fair bit tougher. What Nate Silver thinks will happen on Tuesday: "If the polls are right, then Democrat Jon Ossoff will receive by far the most votes..." "But Ossoff will probably finish with less than 50 percent of the vote, which would trigger a runoff between him and the next-highest finisher most likely the Republican Karen Handel, but possibly one of three other Republicans (Bob Gray, Dan Moody Judson Hill) who are closely bunched behind her in polls." Complicating matters further: "[T]he combined vote for all Republican candidates will probably exceed the combined vote for Ossoff and other Democrats, although it should be close. And the district has historically been Republican-leaning, although it was much less so in the 2016 election than it had been previously. All of this makes for a fairly confusing set of circumstances and a hard-to-forecast outcome." What's next? Silver says Tuesday "won't actually resolve that much unless Ossoff hits 50 percent of the vote and averts the runoff entirely. (That's an unlikely but hardly impossible scenario given the fairly high error margins of polls under these circumstances.)" Even if Ossoff finishes close to 50 percent, he adds, that's no guarantee he'll win the runoff because the district leans red and Republicans will have a chance to regroup for the June 20 rematch. Turkey seems to have voted yesterday to greatly expand the powers of President Recep Erdogan, choosing to add 18 amendments to its constitution, which in part: Abolish the role of prime minister in favor of a vice president Grant the president unilateral power to dismiss parliament, appoint ministers and judges, enact laws, and declare a state of emergency Reset Erdogan's term limits, allowing him to potentially stay in office until 2029 It's worth asking: As the opposition moves to challenge a huge portion of the vote share and international monitors question the result, how did Turkey get to this point in the first place? 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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Trump congratulates Erdogan on poll win Donald Trump has congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his victory in Sunday's referendum that gave him sweeping new powers. Two years after quake Durbar High School continues classes under tin roof Believe it or not, most of the quake-stricken schools are still continuing classes in makeshift tents in the capital city two years after the massive earthquake struck Nepal. SunTrust Banks, Inc. operates as the holding company for SunTrust Bank that provides various financial services for consumers, businesses, corporations, institutions, and not-for-profit entities in the United States. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Wholesale. The Consumer segment provides deposits and payments; home equity and personal credit lines; auto, student, and other lending products; credit cards; discount/online and full-service brokerage products; professional investment advisory products and services; and trust services, as well as family office solutions. This segment also offers residential mortgage products in the secondary market. The Wholesale segment provides capital markets solutions, including advisory, capital raising, and financial risk management; asset-based financing solutions, such as securitizations, asset-based lending, equipment financing, and structured real estate arrangements; cash management services and auto dealer financing solutions; investment banking solutions; and credit and deposit, fee-based product offering, multi-family agency lending, advisory, commercial mortgage brokerage, and tailored financing and equity investment solutions. This segment also offers treasury and payment solutions, such as operating various electronic and paper payment types, which comprise card, wire transfer, automated clearing house, check, and cash; and provides services clients to manage their accounts online. The company offers its products and services through a network of traditional and in-store branches, automated teller machines, Internet, mobile, and telephone banking channels. As of December 31, 2018, it operated 1,218 full-service banking offices located in Florida, Georgia, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, South Carolina, and the District of Columbia. SunTrust Banks, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Analysis: Fresh start for all parties as PM produces an Easter shock at Westminster Cynical hacks in an increasingly secular Westminster may largely have ignored the religious element of surprise at Easter over the weekend, but they got the shock of the year this morning when it became clear that the Prime Minister, Theresa May was calling a snap general election on June 8. One can only speculate to what extent May contemplated her move which seeks a political fresh start after months of wrangling over Brexit while attending St. Andrew's church at Sonning, where she still occupies a pew most Sundays. But perhaps there were clues in her almost monarch-like Easter statement, in which she referred explicitly, as the Queen does, to Christ and somewhat bizarrely portrayed Christians almost as a persecuted minority in Britain. Critics argued then that she should not be linking her government to Christian values while presiding over cuts to benefits, the NHS, schools and other public services, just as critics today will argue that her 'reluctant' move was sheer opportunism rather than statesmanship. After all, by blaming the Opposition parties for 'division' and then pulling the rug from under their feet by challenging them to oppose the House of Commons vote tomorrow that is needed to go to the country despite the Fixed Term Parliament Act, May has shown a ruthless streak. Barely a month ago officials were briefing journalists that there would definitely not be a snap election this year (a move Christian Today predicted at the end of 2016). But clearly the temptation to destroy the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn was too great, as May decided to learn from the politically fatal mistake of Gordon Brown in 2007 when he failed to heed the polls and go to the country to gain an early mandate of his own. And all the polls suggest a Tory victory, with a YouGov survey this morning placing the Conservatives on 44 per cent to Labour's 23 and the Liberal Democrats' 12. Fevered speculation will surely turn this week to the plight of Labour, and its weak leader Corbyn who was characteristically slow to respond to the announcement today. Moderate and even leftist Labour MPs may be wishing that Corbyn would resign today, but the reality is that, doubtless with deep reluctance, Corbyn will -- unless there can somehow be a coronation have to face a general election campaign he must know in his heart is doomed to disaster. The party simply does not now have the time for a leadership election. Critics will be cursing the vanity of Team Corbyn this week. Instead, the Liberal Democrats, led by the evangelical Christian Tim Farron, look like the Opposition party in waiting. In contrast to Corbyn, Farron was quick out of the blocks this morning, declaring this as an opportunity for voters who oppose a 'hard' Brexit to make their voices heard. And as former Labour voters consider whether to lend their vote to the Lib Dems to do just that, the third party looks well placed to increase its share of nine seats, a derisory figure resulting from Nick Clegg's fateful decision to go into coalition with a party the Tories diametrically opposed to them on all the majorissues of the day, starting with Europe. An unlikely chance for a fresh start has been gifted to the Lib Dems, so it is unsurprising that they welcome a general election that comes as it does in the midst of troubled Brexit negotiations. Meanwhile and this is where May is taking a risk, and arguably putting her own partisan interests ahead of the country's the SNP looks set to benefit, too. With a second independence referendum off the table for several years, this could be a chance for Scottish voters to register again their own opposition to Brexit, and the general course of what is actually, beneath the surface of Easter messages and the massive distraction of Brexit wrangling, a notably right-wing administration. Of course, the one set of divisions to which May did not refer were those in her own party, which are considerable, with groups of Tory MPs who back both a hard and soft Brexit circling her and monitoring her every move. By going to the country, the Prime Minister will be hoping for a mandate of her own for the next five years. And judging by the political landscape, it is almost inconceivable that she won't get it. Just when we looked to be settling into a period of relatively normal politics, the drama has started up again. Labour will surely have a new leader by the end of the year. The Lib Dems could be resurrected from the dead. And the Union could be in even greater peril, with Scottish nationalism ever more difficult to argue against in the face of pro-Brexit nationalism south of the border. For better or worse, all the parties will now get the chance for a fresh start. Are American Christians really being persecuted or are they just being manipulated? There's an enduring narrative among many conservative Christian groups that the downfall and even persecution of Christianity in America is coming. That fearful sentiment provided part of the foundational rationale of the new book the Benedict Option, drew attention to numerous 'studies' by polling organizations, and appeared in various Christian or right leaning news outlets. Even if many of these fears about persecution and marginalization are largely based on misunderstandings and overreactions, there's good reason to believe that the worst-case projections don't really hold water in light of so many professing Christian leaders in America. Russian electoral interference aside, evangelical Christians can finally tell themselves that, provided enough Christians mobilize for a common interest, they can exercise significant political power in order to advance their interests within the American political system. There will always be small skirmishes over the definition of religious freedom and its boundaries. Small skirmishes over boundary markers are not the same thing as a full-scale assault to ban a particular religion. Whether there are lawsuits over issuing gay marriage licenses, baking cakes for a gay wedding, setting tax laws for church buildings, or defining the limits of public/private partnerships when churches rent space in public schools, none of these religious freedom battles qualify as an attack on the right to practice a religion. These boundaries concern the nature of separating church and state, not the state attacking the church. Christians have long enjoyed a privileged position in America and Christians remain a majority religious group. As the overall number of Christians decline and cultural shifts lead to American values no longer being synonymous with a particular Christian group's beliefs, conflicts will be inevitable. Losing a place of privilege is not the same as losing all rights and freedom to read the Bible or to practice one's faith. Most 'religious freedom' battles are matters of balancing one group's rights against another group's rights. For instance, if a Christian university has policies that restrict gay students/employees, courts will need to rule between the rights of the gay students/employees and the rights of the religious institution. Both sides have their concerns and arguments, but such a case is hardly a concerted attack on Christianity or an attempt to persecute Christians. Even if a Republican president failed to provide sufficient safeguards for Christians on the federal level, there is no shortage of practicing Christians in the American government. In fact, Christians far outnumber every other faith group in Congress. In addition, the Republicans in the US Congress have by and large campaigned on 'religious freedom' platforms. If they hope to be re-elected, they would be expected by their constituents to take careful note of religious freedom issues although there are plenty of Christian Democrats who would defend Christians. With the disputed confirmation of Neil Gorsuch, a conservative justice believed to be further to the right than his predecessor Antonin Scalia, Christians worried about an assault on their religious freedom have yet another confirmed advocate in the court. This is also assuming that justices on the left would stand by if a gross violation of religious freedom occurred in America a possibility that I highly doubt. It's hard to imagine a pitched battle in America's courts where both parties would alter the laws of the land against Christians. However, even if the president, Congress and Supreme Court all failed to protect religious freedom in America and the rights of Christians came under fire, there remain state legislatures and governors as a significant line of defense. Republicans control a majority of these legislatures and governorships, the highest in recent history in fact. While there are serious charges of gerrymandering and voter suppression to contend with in the years to come, the fact remains that Republican representatives, who tend to be sympathetic to Christian voters, will have significant power in place to protect the religious freedom of citizens. Once again, this does not take into account that there are many Christian Democrats as well who would strongly oppose any overt form of persecution or restriction on religious practice. Yes, they are plenty of Democrats who support gay marriage and who may not be as sympathetic to churches in certain court cases, but these issues hardly constitute a spirit of hostility or desire to undermine the freedom of religion in America. The American Christian persecution complex is a fear-based manipulation tool that is designed to motivate voters for Republicans, to prompt donors to give to ministries, and to convince readers to buy books. There is no doubt about a decline of professing Christians in America, although a great deal of the decline can be explained by marginal or cultural Christians changing their status to unaffiliated. An unaffiliated former Christian voting for Democrats and supporting same sex marriage is hardly on par with a conspirator working to ban the Bible and to lock up Christians in large numbers. Christians still have significant influence and political power in America. The sooner we use that influence for the causes of justice and restoration of those in need, the better for America and the future of Christianity in America. Ed Cyzewski is the author of 'A Christian Survival Guide' and 'Pray, Write, Grow'. He writes at www.edcyzewski.com and is on Twitter as @edcyzewski. 'Atheists in the closet': New study suggests US could have twice as many non-believers as previously assumed There may be more than twice as many atheists in the US than previous studies have found, according to a new study that takes into account people's tendency to lie about whether they believe in God. The report by two University of Kentucky scholars suggests that because people may be embarrassed to admit they don't believe, the number of Americans who say they are non-believers may be artificially low, according to Religion News Service (RNS). Polls from Gallup, Pew and Barna have reported that number as being between three and 10 per cent. But the real number of American atheists may be as high as 26 per cent, according to the psychologists Will Gervais and Maxine Najle. 'There's a lot of atheists in the closet,' Gervais told Vox. 'And...if they knew there are lots of people just like them out there, that could potentially promote more tolerance.' Gervais and Najle's research, which will be published in the next issue of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science, shows that people are less likely to be truthful when answering a direct 'yes or no' question about their faith, such as, 'Do you believe in God?' Two groups of people were polled, with each asked how many of several statements were true for them, such as 'I am a vegetarian,' 'I own a dog,' and 'I believe in God'. One group 2,000 people received questionnaires with no query about God and another group 1,000 people questionnaires that asked about belief in God, RNS explained. By comparing the two groups, Gervais and Najle conclude that the number of American atheists is usually under-reported by most polls. 'According to our samples, about one in three atheists in our country don't feel comfortable disclosing their lack of belief,' Najle told Vox. Canadian church celebrates Easter by hiring helicopter to drop 45,000 chocolate eggs A Christian charity in Canada hired a helicopter this Easter which dropped 45,000 chocolate eggs to children waiting below. #WeheartOttawa is the outreach arm of the Kingdom Culture church in Ottawa which puts on free events in the city. Shawn Gabie and his wife Michelle, who are pastors at the church, booked the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum and rented a helicopter for a free family event on Saturday. 'In 10 days, just through social media, we had 5,500 people register online,' Shawn Gabie said. 'We had to shut down registration. We didn't expect that to happen. We thought we would have a couple thousand people show up, registering up until the last week. Everybody who comes will get an invite to our Easter service, which is the next day. Easter is a time where people who never come to church will come.' More than 5,000 people attended the event. Because We Heart Ottawa does not advertise that it is a church brand, they managed to recruit 15 different sponsors, according to the Christian website Spur Ottawa. 'I feel like this will shift paradigms of what church looks like and what other churches feel like they are capable of," said Matt Campbell, one of the organisers before the event. 'We will push the envelope of going big, going outside the idea of having a barbecue on the church grounds.' The event did not have any overt 'gospel presentation', according to Spur Ottawa, and there was no mention of church on the event's website. But Campbell said: 'Easter is a time where people who never come to church will come. If we can create life and expectation, it may inspire people to think about what they can do for their city. What can I do for the 2000 homeless people living in my city? What can I do to change the life of my boss?' Every family attending received a welcome bag with coupons from the sponsors, the biggest of which was Kingdom Culture, and an invitation to go to church on Easter Day. General Election on June 8 as Prime Minister announces vote The Prime Minister has announced her desire to call a general election on June 8. Throwing down a challenge to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and other opposition leaders, Theresa May will ask the House of Commons to back the decision for a snap decision on Wednesday. Labour have confirmed they will vote with the government and support a general election, giving the Prime Minister the two-thirds majority needed from MPs to overturn the Fixed-Term Parliament Act. Only a month ago Theresa May said she would not call an early election. She said she had reached her decision ''only recently and reluctantly'. Justifying her change of mind, May blamed 'division in Westminster' and said she needed a stronger mandate to negotiate a good Brexit deal from the European Union. 'We have a one off chance to get this done,' she said. In a surprise announcement outside 10 Downing Street on Tuesday she said: 'The country is coming together but Westminster is not.' She accused the Liberal Democrats and Labour of blocking progress on Brexit negotiations 'What they are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home,' she said. 'Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit. 'We need a general election and we need one now.' Issuing a challenge to Labour just as a poll gave her a 21-point lead over Jeremy Corbyn, May said: 'I have a simple challenge for the opposition parties. 'This is your moment to show you mean it...to show you don't treat politics as a game.' She added: 'Let the people decide.' Jeremy Corbyn said he welcomed the challenge. 'I welcome the prime minister's decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first. 'Labour will be offering the country an effective alternative to a government that has failed to rebuild the economy, delivered falling living standards and damaging cuts to our schools and NHS. 'In the last couple of weeks, Labour has set out policies that offer a clear and credible choice for the country. We look forward to showing how Labour will stand up for the people of Britain.' Indicating the Liberal Democrats would also back the call for an election, leader Tim Farron said: 'This election is your chance to change the direction of our country. 'If you want to avoid a disastrous Hard Brexit. If you want to keep Britain in the Single Market. If you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance. 'Only the Liberal Democrats can prevent a Conservative majority.' How Easter challenges the horrifying injustice of America's death penalty Holy Week witnessed new levels of protest against America's culture of violence, specifically the State of Arkansas' line-up of eight people to execute in 10 days. The Easter killing spree was designed to make the most of the state's remaining supplies of midazolam, one of three drugs in a lethal execution cocktail, before its use-by date of April 30. On Good Friday, hundreds of protesters gathered on the steps of the Arkansas Capitol and a petition of over 157,000 signatures was delivered to Republican governor Asa Hutchinson. The grounds for protesting Arkansas' schedule are many. Firstly, the risk of executing an innocent person was affirmed by one of Friday's protesters, Damien Echols, released in 2011 after 18 years on Death Row. One hundred and fifty-seven Death Row inmates have been exonerated to date and some have been executed then later proved innocent. Secondly, the lethal drugs used in executions have come under recent legal challenges in several states for the suffering caused by ghastly botched executions in recent years. On Maundy Thursday, two of the many pharmaceutical companies that have refused to supply drugs for execution filed a court brief claiming the drugs they supplied to Arkansas were obtained under false pretences, supposedly for medical purposes. Other states have found ways to circumvent the reputable drug companies' ban. Ohio, which witnessed the lengthy, suffocating death of Dennis McGuire in 2014 and the two-hour torturous attempt to inject Romell Broom in 2009, passed a law last year guaranteeing secrecy for any supplier or compounding pharmacy supplying killer drugs. Thirdly, objections to the death penalty have been raised on behalf of the executioners. On Wednesday, 23 former corrections officials from different States wrote to Arkansas Governor Hutchinson urging him to halt the killings, on the grounds that committing serial executions causes considerable mental trauma. The State had even resorted to asking for volunteers from the Rotary Club to initiate some of the executions, to take the strain off prison staff. They had no volunteers, even from professed death penalty supporters. By Easter Monday, Arkansas' hit list had gone down from eight to five. A parole board recommended clemency for Jason McGehee, who had spent 19 years on Death Row for a violent crime at age 19, following a severely abused childhood. The Governor does not have to accept the board's recommendation but it at least delays the issue until after the lethal drugs run out at the end of the month. A stay of execution was granted for Bruce Ward based on his mental disability. Then Don Davis who had already been given his final meal in the execution unit was granted a last minute appeal by the US Supreme Court due to his 'organic brain damage, intellectual disability, head injuries, fetal alcohol syndrome and other severe mental health conditions'. The mental health issue was further grounds for the Good Friday protests. Arkansas, which executed a man with schizophrenia in 2004, is one of seven states facing the introduction of a new bill to prohibit the death penalty for people suffering serious mental illness at the time of their crime. In theory, it is already unconstitutional to execute someone with mental illness but many are not diagnosed until they are in prison, and according to one Death Row inmate, usually the State 'medicates them, says they're OK now, then kills them'. It is already illegal (following the 2002 Atkins ruling) to execute someone with intellectual disability but states define disability in their own way. Texas has just been ordered by the US Supreme Court to relinquish outdated methods of assessing intellectual disability based on IQ tests and ignoring other data, a practice mirrored by other States. There are also ongoing protests from forensic scientists regarding the use or misuse of forensic evidence to convict people, and the new Attorney General's proposal to remove review of forensic procedures from the scientific community is causing dismay. Innocence Projects and attorneys for a number of Death Row inmates claim that their clients' convictions were based on uncorroborated forensic claims, junk science or improperly analysed DNA results. And lastly, but significantly, protesters are challenging the myth that executing the perpetrator of violent crime constitutes justice, 'closure' or rightful revenge for victims' families. Among the growing army of Americans joining the protests against state-sanctioned violence are family members of victims, who do not want the last memorial of their loved ones to be another gruesome death. Easter is a reminder, if Christians ever need one, that redemption does not preclude even the gravest offenders and that surely one crucifixion is enough. For more information see Murder Victims' Families For Reconciliation and Journey of Hope From Violence to Healing. An Ohio execution survivor's story can be seen on YouTube. Unknown group sets fire to Dhobighat Church An unknown group allegedly set fire to a Catholic Church at Dhobighat, Lalitpur at around 3 am on Tuesday. Two motorbikes and a four-wheeler parked inside the Church of the Assumption were reduced to cinder in the fire. Inquiry begins into sainthood for Jacques Hamel, killed while celebrating Mass last year A formal inquiry has begun into the cause for beatification of the French priest Fr Jacques Hamel, who was killed last July while celebrating Mass. The inquiry, which comes less than a year after the murder, is the first step towards possible sainthood. The Vatican traditionally requires a five-year waiting period after the death of a candidate for sainthood before a cause is opened, but Pope Francis waived the rule in response to pleas from French Catholics. Hamel was killed on July 26, 2016 as he celebrated Mass at St-Etienne-du-Rouvray Church near Rouen when two young men who claimed allegiance to so-called Islamic State stormed the church. After taking several hostages, the attackers slit his throat and seriously injured another parishioner. Police shot the attackers dead. The Pope called Hamel a martyr during a special service for the priest in September at the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae at the Vatican. 'Fr Jacques Hamel had his throat slit on the cross, at the exact moment he was celebrating the sacrifice of Christ's cross. A good man, meek, brotherly and who always sought to make peace, was murdered as if he were a criminal. This is the satanic line of persecution,' Pope Francis said. The inquiry, which was announced by Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen, is expected to take several years. The beatification of a martyr is a simpler process because there is no need to prove a miracle occurred through his intercession. A statement from the Archdiocese said that around 50 people will be contacted. The group will include witnesses at the Mass as well as family members, fellow priests and others who knew Fr Hamel. Middle East's only Christian President says his message is peace In a region torn by conflict and hate, a Christian political leaderthe only one in the regionlit the light of hope and peace just before Easter, the celebration of Jesus' resurrection. Michel Aoun, the newly elected President of Lebanon and the only Christian president in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), spoke to SAT-7 on Thursday to relate the message of Jesus' resurrection to the search for peace in the region. "Resurrection is what we wish for after death. This is the Christian hope based on our faith. Without it, there is no Christianity and no resurrection," he told the news outlet in an interview. Aoun emphasized the significance of Jesus' resurrection by quoting the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:14, "And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith." Aounwho was elected president by the Lebanese parliament on Oct. 31, 2016, which ended a 29-month power vacuum in the countryemphasized the need for peace, coexistence, and tolerance in the Middle East. "I carry a message of peace," he declared. Aoun is an ally of the powerful Iran-backed Shi'ite Muslim group Hezbollah, Reuters noted. He was prime minister of one of two rival Lebanese governments at the end of the 1975-90 civil war. He fought two wars during that period, one against Syrian forces in Lebanon, and another against a powerful Christian militia, the Lebanese Forces. The Syrian army ousted him from power in 1990 and he went into exile in France. He returned to Lebanon in 2005 after Syrian troops withdrew following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. The following year, Aoun declared an alliance with Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, which has remained in effect. In the SAT-7 interview, the former army general lamented that the political turmoil in the region is greatly affecting Christians. He focused on the plight of Christians in Israel who, he claimed, are being evicted from their land. "Christians in Jerusalem once constituted 22 percent of Israel's population. Now, we are left with only about one percent," he said. Aoun has vowed to turn Lebanon into a regional and global model of peaceful coexistence among people of differing faiths. He said he is seeking "blessing" from the United Nations in his plan to promote Lebanon as the international hub for religious dialogue. "Lebanon encompasses the ultimate mix of cultural, religious, and ethnic groups in the world," he said. Aoun urged the people of the region, regardless of their faiths, to hold on to their hope of eventually overcoming the many challenges in their lives. He urged the people not to give in to fear, doubt, and temptation, saying these are the "main reasons of failure in life" as conveyed by Jesus to His disciples. Meanwhile, the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem offered an Easter message to the world that celebrates the resurrection as well as unity in Christ. "The message of Easter, which was first announced in Jerusalem, and has echoed down the centuries, now resounds again in Jerusalem, the city of the Resurrection," reads the message. "It is our prayer that the hope established through our risen Lord will enlighten the leaders and nations of the whole world to see this light, and to perceive new opportunities to work and strive for the common good and recognize all as created equal before God," reads the message. "This light of Christ draws the whole human family towards justice, reconciliation and peace, and to pursue it diligently." This article was originally published in The Christian Post. Saeed Abedini finalises divorce from Naghmeh Abedini as accusations of adultery and conspiracy swirl Just over a year after his celebrated release from prison in Iran, persecuted Pastor Saeed Abedini's marriage to his wife, Naghmeh, came to a bitter end last Thursday under a cloud of whispers and accusations of adultery and conspiracy. "Naghmeh, today my divorce got finalized legally after one-and-a-half year," Abedini declared last Thursday on his Facebook page. Officials from the Fourth District Court of Ada County in Idaho, where the divorce documents were filed, said Wednesday they could not discuss the details of the divorce because the documents were sealed. A source familiar with Naghmeh, who now goes by her maiden name Naghmeh Panahi, confirmed that the divorce was finalized. Since last Thursday, however, Abedini has been posting criticisms of leading religious figures like Franklin Graham, president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan's Purse, claiming that they used him for personal gain until media interest in his story waned. Graham, however, has disputed his claims. "It is unfortunate that Graham's efforts to secure his (Abedini's) release from an Iranian prison and provide transportation for him from Germany to America, his financial assistance to Saeed and Naghmeh ... his provision of marital counseling at no cost to them, and various offers of employment for Saeed have now been met with a bitter Facebook post about him and his ministry, Samaritan's Purse," Graham's spokesman, Mark DeMoss, said in a statement to The Christian Post. At least two sources who asked not to be named for this story suggested to CP that Graham began withdrawing his financial support for the persecuted pastor when he learned of Abedini's alleged extra-marital affairs, both before he went to prison in Iran, and in Boise after his return home. One source said the claims are laid out in sealed divorce documents. Saeed did not respond to questions from CP regarding the allegations when contacted on Wednesday but he alleged in a Facebook post that Naghmeh took advantage of him and has made "false accusations" about him in the media. "I gave Naghmeh full power attorney before I got arrested and after she released false accusation against me on media while I was still in prison she sold our properties and made our account empty and asked for protection order on me," he wrote. "Therefore when I got free I didn't have anything and I couldn't even get close to her and my children to ask why you did all this to me?! But I know why I will share and clarify in my book. "Franklin Graham is aware of all this evil plan against me and he asked me to write all in my testimony book five weeks ago," he added. The controversial ex-couple, who have two young children, have been in the public eye since Abedini was placed under house arrest and later imprisoned for three-and-a-half years in his native Iran for participating in Christian home churches in 2012. While imprisoned, Naghmeh made many public appearances lobbying for her then husband's freedom, including giving a speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2013. She also met privately with former President Obama when he visited the former couple's hometown in Boise, Idaho, in 2015. But in November 2015, Naghmeh suspended her public advocacy for Saeed, citing continued psychological and sexual abuse in her marriage along with other allegations. Then, 10 days after Abedini's release from an Iranian prison in January 2016, Naghmeh filed for legal separation from her husband. She told Reuters that Abedini had threatened to end their marriage and that she had taken "temporary legal action to make sure our children will stay in Idaho" until the situation between them had been resolved. Last October, Abedini filed for divorce from Naghmeh. Since their divorce was finalized last Thursday, Abedini has been lashing out at the justice system, his ex-wife, and high-profile religious figures. "My experience in courts both in Iran and in USA was terrible and full of injustice," he said in a post on his Facebook page last Thursday. "Since I came back from prison my ex-wife Naghmeh never met me personally or even talk to me on the phone about our marriage problems and she didn't let me to see my kids after four years when I got back home from prison in the first day and she told my kids I am criminal and police has problem with me not her who asked for protection order," he wrote. In another post on Wednesday, he explained that the judge in his divorce matter awarded custody of his two children to his ex-wife. Sources tell CP that the judge was Judge Jill Jurries. "Iran government got me away from my family for 4 years. U.S. Court got away my kids from me for 1/5 years and forever. Both did because false accusations. Lord will judge both. I know God heard and hears my cry and he saw and he sees my tears," he wrote. "I [haven't] see them for more than a month now and miss them a lot. Shame on you both. The female judge Jury(sic) said more than a year ago: 'Saeed you have been far from your kids in prison for 5 years and we don't care you have been in prison as criminal or as prisoner for Christ . Our psycologist believes we should not change kids stability and place of living, so we can't give kids to you for overnight sleeping in your apartment,'" he continued. "Since I got released I could see them less than 10 hours weekly because that's what the Ex want. Court tortured me and my kids and in their fake dreams they think they are protecting them. You got away the father and the kids from each other's and you think this is very Psychologic?! You guys are Psycho. You are trying to change the nature that God created in us by law . This is abusive," he charged. Abedini claimed his ex-wife manipulated Graham and his professional marriage counselors, and charged that Graham advised him to get a divorce. "After he talked and tried so many time with Naghmeh and his fallen Pastor Bob Caldwell and Naghmeh's parents tricky involvement, he called me six months ago and said: 'Saeed get divorce, there is no other way,'" Saeed wrote. He claimed that Graham concluded that his wife was the one who abused him and urged him to move to Lynchburg, Virginia, where sources say he is currently living with his sister. "Naghmeh called police two times and gave a false report and there is a letter as evidence who proves she did it to hurt me publicly to keep the platform and attention for herself," he wrote. He also charged that Iranian intelligence officials were actively involved in destroying his reputation. "Last night was the hardest night of my whole life and couldn't stop crying and crying out to my Lord and savior Jesus Christ but I believe I am fighting with spirit of Jezebel these last years who got control in our beloved country USA and I never give up," he said the day his divorce was finalized. The persecuted pastor also accused Graham of encouraging him to leave ministry, but said he dismissed the evangelist as an agent of "Satan" for trying to discourage him from pursuing God's calling on his life. "He told me thing that wasn't biblical while I was working for him like a Mexican worker in Alaska. He told me: leave ministry and preaching of the Gospel forever. God removed His hand from your life. You are finished," Saeed wrote. "These words were voice of Satan to me when I heard them because Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior appear to me 17 years ago and he told me: Saeed, I am coming back soon, go to preach my Gospel," Abedini said. "And after that I started the largest churches in Iran Christian history, 100 Underground churches in 30 cities. "And now he was trying to stop me to follow my Lord instead of encouraging me and helping me to follow my calling so I left him and his place and his jets forever and got back to Boise 6 months ago. He stood against God in my life," he contended. This article was originally published in The Christian Post. Saeed Abedini hits out at critics again in latest Facebook post Saeed Abedini, the controversial Iranian pastor imprisoned for his faith, has launched another stinging Facebook attack on his opponents. Abedini hit back at allegations he abused his ex-wife Nagmeh and accused her of spreading lies. He also renewed criticisms of Franklin Graham, the conservative preacher who hosted him after he was released from jail in 2015, though said this was 'most difficult' and acknowledged Graham had helped him. The couple, who have two young children, are now divorced and since the separation was finalised last Thursday Saeed has made several Facebook posts defending himself and attacking his critics. He condemned supporters of Nagmeh, saying they would 'come on my page and accuse me of things they had absolutely no idea were true or not. They did not live with us, therefore they cannot know what went on in our home. Still, they spread these accusations as if it were gospel. I said nothing,' he wrote on Sunday. 'This past week I began trying to answer some of those allegations and also provide some insight into what I have been dealing with privately since my release.' He accused his former wife of 'telling total strangers lies about me and my family' and of having a 'Jezebel spirit'. Saeed rose to prominence when he was placed under house arrest and later jailed in his home country of Iran for participating in Christian churches. During his imprisonment Naghmeh lobbied for her husband's release and even met with President Obama in her hometown of Boise, Idaho , in 2015. But in November 2015 Naghmeh halted her public advocacy for her husband pointing to ongoing psychological and sexual abuse in their marriage. Months later when Saeed was released from prison in January 2016, Naghmeh filed for a legal separation, telling Reuters he had had threatened to end their marriage and that she had taken 'temporary legal action to make sure our children will stay in Idaho' until the situation between them had been resolved. But Naghmeh was not the only target of Saeed's social media attacks. He also turned on Franklin Graham, the conservative preacher and son of evangelist Billy Graham. Graham had offered Saeed a place to stay when he returned to the US but did not defend him publicly in his dispute, according to the Iranian's accusations. 'I am personally disappointed and hurt because he knew of many of the issues going on behind the scenes and would not speak out on my behalf,' Saeed wrote on Sunday. 'If he did a lot of this would have been avoided. It hurt that I even had to ask for help. But I did. Privately he supported me, and knew there were lies being spread, but would not make a stand for me publicly. 'Then he said I should forget my calling and take a job in fast food. That hurt most of all,' he added in his rambling Facebook message. 'I never intended to disparage any job or act like anything was beneath me. I don't feel that way. It was just so hurtful to be told that the calling of God on my life was now null and void. God's call is irrevocable.' Graham's spokesman, Mark DeMoss, told the Christian Post: 'It is unfortunate that Graham's efforts to secure his (Abedini's) release from an Iranian prison and provide transportation for him from Germany to America, his financial assistance to Saeed and Naghmeh ... his provision of marital counseling at no cost to them, and various offers of employment for Saeed have now been met with a bitter Facebook post about him and his ministry, Samaritan's Purse.' In a final sign-off Saeed suggested he would not comment further on the dispute. 'After today I intend to enjoy Easter with my family, and start to rebuild my life. Those who believe will believe. Those who don't never will. I don't intend on spending any more time worrying about it. I do pray God's blessings on them all, and on all of you as well.' 'Star Wars Rebels' latest news: Show to end after four seasons "Star Wars Rebels" will come to an end after the upcoming season. This was announced by show creator Dave Filoni during the show's panel at the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida. "This is where I have to tell you that Season 4 is the final season of 'Star Wars Rebels,'" he said, adding that he wants the show to end on a high note, in a place where he was satisfied with. Fans have taken this statement to mean that he was referring to the premature cancellation of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" after its fifth season when Disney bought Lucasfilm. The animated show was eventually picked up by Netflix. He also said during the event, "Seeing the evolution of this family, [and] these kids, and watching them get older, as a creator of a story I think of these things. I think about where we are going, and what the characters need to go through." While "Star Wars Rebels" is set to end, it does not necessarily mean the end of the story for the show's characters. For instance, Sabine and Ahsoka have already been revealed to be the protagonists for the upcoming animated series, "Star Wars: Forces of Destiny." Filoni described season 4 of "Star Wars Rebels" to be "different, a little dark, a little fun." The trailer of the fourth and final season of "Star Wars Rebels" premiered during the event. It served somewhat as a montage of protagonist Ezra's journey throughout the show's story. However, it also teased at upcoming events, such as the appearance of Imperial hover tanks, which first appeared in "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." The panel revealed that the last season will tie into the story of the aforementioned film. The trailer also showed Bo-Katan Kryze from "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," as well as Grand Admiral Thrawn. Aside from Ezra, Saw Guerrera and Mon Mothma will also be returning for the final season. Meanwhile, Warwick Davis will be joining the cast, voicing Rukh, Grand Admiral Thrawn's bodyguard. Season 4 of "Star Wars Rebels" will have 15 episodes. The oldest person in the world is a Jamaican, church-loving Christian aged 117 The oldest person in the world is a Jamaican, church-loving Christian aged 117. Violet Mosse-Brown, born March 10, 1900, said that her faith, commitment to the church and respect for family have helped her live so long. 'I love the church,' Brown told the Jamaica Gleaner in 2010. Baptised at 13, she was born in the Duanvale district of Trelawny, Jamaica. At age 107 she received a plaque from the Trelawny Baptist Association, celebrating her milestone achievement. She received a plaque from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II when she reached her 115th birthday. Mosse-Brown, known to many affectionately as 'Aunt V' said that her 'faith in serving God, and believing strongly in the teaching of the Bible' has been a key factor in her long life, according to the Violet Moss Foundation. 'Honour your mother and father so your days may be long,' she told the Gleaner, quoting her favourite verse in the Old Testament. In her early life, Brown served as a plantation worker cutting cane. She later became a businesswoman in her own right, cultivating her own sugarcane. She has also served as a community activist, church secretary, organist, seamstress and music teacher. She reflected on the relative ease of modern life: 'I tell you, these young people these days have it easy piped water, taxis and buses to bring them where they want to go, everything to their convenience. 'When I was younger, and even as an adult, I had to work so hard that sometimes when I look back, I cry at how hard I had to work to make a living for my family,' she told the Gleaner. The oldest person in the world was previously Italian Emma Morano, 117, who died on Saturday. In the video below, Aunt V prays for 'everything and everyone in this world', two days after her 117th birthday. My American friends often ask if Donald Trumps election has any repercussions for the French presidential election, the first round of which takes place on April 24. Id normally be inclined to say no, because presidential elections remain mainly domestic matters, but the American model is gradually influencing French politics. Thus, the main right-wing party, originally Gaullist and Christian Democrat, took the name Republican two years agoa direct reference to the Republican Party of the United States. Its candidate, Francois Fillon, appeals at once to social conservatism and to a market economy, which is exactly the American synthesis that the French Republican Party intends to represent. Another recent and significant borrowing from the American system is the use of primary elections to select party candidates. In France, as in the United States, primaries allow outsider candidates to crack the establishment hold over the nomination process, as happened in the United States with Trump. The French Republicans surprised themselves by choosing Fillon over more establishment candidates, such as Alain Juppe. Similarly, socialist militants nominated the relatively unknown Benoit Hamon, rather than their natural leaderin this case, Manuel Valls, the outgoing prime minister. Finally, the nationalist candidate, Marine Le Pen, coming from an old French tradition that favors turning inward and closing borders, is happy to identify herself with Trump. We can see in this election a continuation of traditional French trepidation about America, but without its past excesses: the candidate of the extreme Left, Jean-Luc Melenchon, derides American capitalism, but not with the Cold War vocabulary of the 1960s. The conservative candidate, Fillon, and the nationalist candidate, Le Pen, suggest a possible rapprochement with Russias Vladimir Putin, but less from hostility toward the United States than, in the old Gaullist tradition, to restore Frances rightful place midway between the great powers. More generally, the candidates only mild anti-Americanism suggests that French intellectuals are stepping back from their typical hostility toward the United States, capitalism, and a consumer-oriented society. With the exception of Le Pen, French politicians are in the process of reconciling with an American-inflected globalized economy. The elections most surprising aspect, which no one could have foreseen three months ago, is the rise of the centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron. Traditionally in French politics, the Right confronts the Left and the center is squeezed, forced to join one side or the other. This time, the reverse is happening: Macron, who is neither socialist nor conservative, has emerged as a possible victor, having drawn prominent figures from the Left and Right to his side. His centrist En MarcheOn Our Way is becoming Frances leading party by number of registered members. Macrons charismatic personality and relative youth (at 39, he is about decade younger than the next-youngest competitor) have attracted many voters; many Frenchmen seek a renewal of the political class, which Macron promises. Suddenly, all the other candidates and their parties seem old, including Le Pens National Front. Macrons inexperience doesnt bother his supporters; on the contrary, many young people who ordinarily do not vote are drawn to him. Another major lesson of this campaign, whatever its final result, is the collapse of the French Left. The Left is divided between two ferociously opposed candidatesthe radical anti-capitalist Jean-Luc Melenchon, an heir of the Jacobin revolution and Communism, and Benoit Hamon, a social democrat with a libertarian side who has proposed legalizing marijuana. Its clear that the French Left cannot renew itself along the lines of German, Swedish, or British social democracy. As for the National Front, one is tempted to say: nothing new here. French nationalism, with its anti-European, anti-immigration, and anti-capitalist views goes a long way back. Since it found a charismatic leader, initially Jean-Marie Le Pen and now his daughter Marine, nationalism has consistently attracted about a fourth of the electorate, but no more. In a majoritarian system like that of French democracy, the National Front is highly unlikely to win because, in the second, runoff round, it invariable provokes an alliance of all the others against it (in the name of republican values). Still, the National Fronts persistent, if limited, appeal demonstrates that a substantial portion of French are not comfortable with their nation being modern and open to the world. The ultimate example of the Americanization of French politics in this cycle is the personalization of voting. Voters seem less attached to platforms, which are generally seen as window dressing, than to personalities. Who cares about Macrons program, when he is 39 years old? Who cares that Melenchons program is a fantasy, since he is a revolutionary? Why should it matter what Marine Le Pen proposes, as long as she stands firm against the Islamization of France? As for Fillon, who three months ago seemed sure to win, his agendathe most developed among the candidateshas been forgotten since he and his wife were overcome by a financial scandal. It is unprecedented in French politics, incidentally, that the honesty of candidates be so scrupulously analyzed: in the past, the French concerned themselves little with corruption, because it was assumed that all politicians were more or less dishonest. Social media, with its open access and infatuation with connectedness, has doubtless contributed to placing corruption and the candidates wealth at the center of debate. One big difference with the United States remains, however: the French are not yet ready to vote for a billionaire. Where Donald Trump flaunted his fortune, French candidates tend to make a virtue of their penury. Also, two lesser candidates in France are Trotskyites. That can happen only in France, not in the United States. Photo by Jeff Mitchell/Getty Images The mentally ill have it rough in America. For decades now, deinstitutionalization and other well-intended but disastrous policies that sought to empower the mentally ill have left many of the most seriously sick untreatedand that too often means that they wind up homeless or, after committing some criminal act in a brain-fogged state, thrown behind bars, transforming our jails and prisons into de facto mental wards. Gotham mayor Bill de Blasios nearly $1 billion ThriveNYC initiative wants to improve conditions for the mentally ill, but as Stephen Eide shows in Failure to Thrive,the program is utterly misguided. Not only does it rely on a vague definition of mental health and fret excessively about stigma, says Eideas if thats the biggest problem someone suffering visual and auditory hallucinations has to deal with; it also blurs crucial distinctions between serious and mild forms of mental illness. The upshot: ThriveNYC extends services to too many New Yorkers who dont really need help while providing insufficient aid to those who desperately do need it. Theres a better way, Eide maintains, and his important essay limns it. Howard Husocks Dreams of My Uncle narrates the story of his schizophrenic great-uncle, Wolfe Levine, who spent most of his 92 years in Ohio mental hospitals. Yet as sad as Levines life was, Husock asks, are we treating the seriously mentally ill any better today? Is a life on the streets or in harsh prisons more humane than life in an asylum, for all its recognized deficiencies (and abuses)? Husock thinks not. The 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, aimed at vanquishing discrimination against the disabled and making them fully equal as American citizens, was, like our mental illness policies, noble in intentionand awful in unintended consequences. In The ADA Litigation Monster. Mark Pulliam describes how the law has given rise to mindless mandates, nonstop litigation, scams, and prosperity-killing compliance costs. Now the ADA has set its sights on e-commerce, with the University of California already withdrawing its free online courses because disabled advocates have complained that the content isnt closed-captioned. Expect lots more of the same. Pulliams essay, drawing on research by the Manhattan Institute and others whove studied the ADAs ill effects closely, calls for a return to common sense. During his successful presidential run, Donald Trump vigorously defended the police and pledged to restore order in American cities, where violent crime has exploded in recent months, as copsunder fire from the elite press and activists for a purported hostility to minoritieshave backed off in many troubled neighborhoods. Heather Mac Donalds How Trump Can Help the Cops offers a step-by-step plan to turn things around. First, and most important, Mac Donald argues, the new administration must rewrite the false Obama-era narrative about the criminal-justice system as irredeemably racist. (For Myron Magnets withering take on the Obama racial legacy, see What Ever Happened to the Civil Rights Movement?) Data-driven proactive policing, not bigoted intimidation, drove Americas 50 percent violent-crime decline, Mac Donald explainsand the primary beneficiaries were the residents of poor minority areas, where crime was highest and fell the most. Trump and his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, should also remember that battling crime is predominantly a local concern, and get federal lawyers to stop micromanaging so many police departments. No American novelist has focused so much on a single city as Philip Roth has on Newark, where he grew up and continues to have a presence (he recently donated his 4,000-book personal collection to the Newark Library). Steven Malangas Philip Roths Newark notes how the city (where Malanga himself hails from) has shown up in more than half of Roths novels and in his two autobiographies, as well as in some of his shorter essays and interviews. As Malanga details, the authors Newark writings chronicle the citys tragic fate, in which a flourishing blue-collar immigrant environment that propelled strivers like Roth into the American mainstream collapsed into dysfunction, entrenched poverty, and social pathologymaking it the worst American city, as one critic calls it. Roths vivid work shows how literature can capture the truth of urban life, in all its varieties. Brian C. Anderson The Information Commissioners Office has said it received over 300 responses to its public consultation to its draft GDPR consent guidance paper. In a blog on the ICOs website, Jo Pedder, interim head of policy and engagement at the data protection watchdog, said the significant response to the consultation showed that the issue of consent surrounding the use of data has proved to be increasingly high-profile recently with the impending implementation deadline for the EUs General Data Protection Regulation. Pedder said that the consultation, which closed on the 31 March 2017, had received more than 300 responses from across a variety of sectors, along with interested members of the public. In her blog, Pedder also said that the guidance around consent was the ICOs first piece of detailed, topic-specific GDPR guidance and said it would be publishing more draft guidance in the future. The ICO published a discussion paper on data profiling under GDPR earlier in April, and called on stakeholders and interested members of the public to make submissions on the topic. Submissions for consultation on profiling close on 28 April. Pedder said that the hard work of analysing the feedback is under way and will feed into the final version of the guidance. She said that the ICO is working towards having a final version of our GDPR Consent guidance for publication in June, although that may be dependent on developments at European level. A spokeswoman for the ICO was unable to confirm how many charities or voluntary sector organisations had made submissions as part of the consent consultation. Guidance has insufficient clarity says NCVO In its response to the ICOs guidance on consent, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations said that the document lacks the level of clarity required for regulatory guidance and would benefit from further detail in relation to a number of issues. NCVOs response was published in a blog on its website written by Elizabeth Chamberlain, head of policy and public services at the umbrella body. She wrote that the current draft [of the guidance] does not provide a clear distinction or explanation between what the ICO will require as a matter of legal compliance, and what instead the ICO recommends as good practice. Chamberlain also said there was the potential for confusion with regards to the ICOs use in the draft guidance of the expression opt-in. She said that GDPR requires clear affirmative action, and this does not need to be expressed as an opt-in box. In Fundraising Magazine She said that NCVO thought the final guidance would benefit from further detail in relation to issues around the mechanisms that organisations will need to put in place for individuals to withdraw their consent easily; when consent needs to be refreshed and what is the duration of consent and around how specifically the purposes need to be defined for obtaining consent for different processing operations. Civil Society News reported last week that the Fundraising Regulator had also called on the ICO to make an urgent amendment to the guidance around its wording regarding the Fundraising Preference Service. Civil Society Media is hosting two breakfast seminars discussing the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ahead of its introduction in May 2018. Tickets are sold out for our event in June, but a limited number of spaces are still available for our event in May: click here to book on to this event Monday marked the final time Mike Pride took to a lectern in the Columbia Journalism Schools Pulitzer Hall and announced the fabled prizes of the same name. But this ceremonycelebrating the 101st Pulitzersheld special significance for a man who spent three decades working at the 20,000-circulation Concord Monitor. When I was rehearsing this, Pride said later, I teared up when I got to the entry for The Storm Lake Times. The twice-weekly, family-owned newspaper from a tiny town in northwest Iowa took home the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing on Monday, capping off a strong showing by the very local and regional newspapers most threatened by economic headwinds. The East Bay Times was given the nod for Breaking News Reporting for its coverage of a deadly warehouse party in Oakland, while the Charleston Gazette-Mails series on prescription opioids flowing into West Virginia earned Investigative Reporting honors. The Storm Lake Times award came for editorials by its editor, Art Cullen, that challenged agricultural interest groups over water pollution. Speaking to reporters after Mondays ceremony, Pride said the paper showcased just how crucial local voices remain. It shows the power of one journalistor a smaller group of journalistsif they keep their eyes on the prize and dont get too downhearted about whats happening, the turmoil in journalism, but instead focus on what the work at hand is. Other takeaways: A big day for Trumps favorite targets Congrats to this year's Pulitzer Prize winners: The "Failing" New York Times The "Phony" Washington Post The "Left-wing blog" ProPublica Sign up for CJR 's daily email Jordan Uhl (@JordanUhl) April 10, 2017 David Fahrenthold adds another notch to his belt Was his Pulitzer for National Reporting ever in doubt? International Consortium of Investigative Journalists ends a tumultuous year on a high note Just months after the Panama Papers expose shocked the world in April 2016, the small investigative outfit that coordinated the effort was short on cash. ICIJ had to part ways with three contract journalists, and soon after it began spinning off from its parent organization of two decades, the Center for Public Integrity. Its definitely been an incredible year of ups and downs, ICIJ Senior Editor Michael Hudson said by phone Monday, sometimes at the same time. The latest upswing came in the form of a Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting shared with publishing partners at the Miami Herald and McClatchy. ICIJ connected hundreds of journalists across six continents to carry out the international leak investigation, which exposed how global elites sheltered wealth through offshore tax havens, among other revelations. Some stories are too big, too global, too complex for a single news outlet to tackle, Hudson said. When journalists pool their resources and work together, its much harder for bad guys to keep their transgressions secret. Its takes two things that journalists arent really known for: teamwork and patience. Recently bolstered by an Omidyar Network grant of $4.5 million, the newly independent ICIJ has staffed up past its Panama Papers-era size. Hudson, for one, is optimistic. These days, a lot of us in journalism feel like were part of this embattled and shrinking tribe, Hudson says. Weve endured, weve seen layoffs, weve seen newspapers going under, and then President Trump comes into office saying were the enemy of the people. But were not dead yet. And the Panama Papers shows that to people all over the world. TRENDING: 10 podcasts to help you keep up with the news cycle The full list of 2017 winners Public Service: The New York Daily News and ProPublica: For uncovering, primarily through the work of reporter Sarah Ryley, widespread abuse of eviction rules by the police to oust hundreds of people, most of them poor minorities. Finalists Chicago Tribune; Houston Chronicle Breaking News Reporting: East Bay Times: For relentless coverage of the Ghost Ship fire, which killed 36 people at a warehouse party, and for reporting after the tragedy that exposed the citys failure to take actions that might have prevented it. Finalists The Dallas Morning News Staff; The Orlando Sentinel Staff Investigative Reporting: Eric Eyre, Charleston Gazette Mail: For courageous reporting, performed in the face of powerful opposition, to expose the flood of opioids flowing into depressed West Virginia counties with the highest overdose death rates in the country. Finalists Michael J. Berens and Patricia Callahan of Chicago Tribune; Steve Reilly of USA Today Network, Tysons Corner, Virginia Local Reporting: Salt Lake Tribune Staff: For a string of vivid reports revealing the perverse, punitive and cruel treatment given to sexual assault victims at Brigham Young University, one of Utahs most powerful institutions. Finalists Jenna Russell, Maria Cramer, Michael Rezendes, Todd Wallack and Scott Helman of The Boston Globe; Michael Schwirtz, Michael Winerip and Robert Gebeloff of The New York Times National Reporting: David Fahrenthold, The Washington Post: For persistent reporting that created a model for transparent journalism in political campaign coverage while casting doubt on Donald Trumps assertions of generosity toward charities. Finalists Renee Dudley, Steve Stecklow, Alexandra Harney and other members of the Reuters Staff; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff International Reporting: The New York Times: For agenda-setting reporting on Vladimir Putins efforts to project Russias power abroad, revealing techniques that included assassination, online harassment and the planting of incriminating evidence on opponents. Finalists Chris Hamby of BuzzFeed News, New York; International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, McClatchy and the Miami Herald; The Wall Street Journal Staff Feature Writing: C.J. Chivers, The New York Times: For showing, through an artful accumulation of fact and detail, that a Marines postwar descent into violence reflected neither the actions of a simple criminal nor a stereotypical case of PTSD. Finalists Adam Entous and Devlin Barrett of The Wall Street Journal; Eli Saslow of The Washington Post Explanatory Reporting: International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, McClatchy and the Miami Herald: For the Panama Papers, a series of stories using a collaboration of more than 300 reporters on six continents to expose the hidden infrastructure and global scale of offshore tax havens. (Moved by the Board from the International Reporting category, where it was entered.) Finalists Joan Garrett McClane and Joy Lukachick Smith of Chattanooga Times Free Press; Julia Angwin, Jeff Larson, Surya Mattu, Lauren Kirchner and Terry Parris Jr. of ProPublica; Staff of National Geographic, Washington, D.C. Commentary: Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal: For rising to the moment with beautifully rendered columns that connected readers to the shared virtues of Americans during one of the nations most divisive political campaigns. Finalists Dahleen Glanton of Chicago Tribune; Trudy Rubin of Philadelphia Media Network Criticism: Hilton Als of The New Yorker: For bold and original reviews that strove to put stage dramas within a real-world cultural context, particularly the shifting landscape of gender, sexuality and race. Finalists Laura Reiley of Tampa Bay Times; Ty Burr of The Boston Globe Editorial Writing: Art Cullen of The Storm Lake Times: For editorials fueled by tenacious reporting, impressive expertise and engaging writing that successfully challenged powerful corporate agricultural interests in Iowa. Finalists Fred Hiatt of The Washington Post; Joe Holley of Houston Chronicle Editorial Cartooning: Jim Morin of the Miami Herald: For editorial cartoons that delivered sharp perspectives through flawless artistry, biting prose and crisp wit. Finalists Jen Sorensen, freelance cartoonist; Steve Sack of Star Tribune, Minneapolis Breaking News Photography: Daniel Berehulak, freelance photographer: For powerful storytelling through images published in The New York Times showing the callous disregard for human life in the Philippines brought about by a government assault on drug dealers and users. (Moved into this category from Feature Photography by the nominating jury.) Finalists Jonathan Bachman, freelance photographer; Photography Staff of the Associated Press Feature Photography: Jason Wambsgans of Chicago Tribune: For a superb portrayal of a 10-year-old boy and his mother striving to put the boys life back together after he survived a shooting in Chicago. Finalists Jake May of The Flint Journal, Flint, Michigan; Katie Falkenberg of Los Angeles Times Correction: An earlier version of this story misdescribed the topic of The Storm Lake Times editorials. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today David Uberti is a writer in New York. He was previously a media reporter for Gizmodo Media Group and a staff writer for CJR. Follow him on Twitter @DavidUberti. The 2016 Presidential election shook the foundations of American politics. Media reports immediately looked for external disruption to explain the unanticipated victorywith theories ranging from Russian hacking to fake news. We have a less exotic, but perhaps more disconcerting explanation: Our own study of over 1.25 million stories published online between April 1, 2015 and Election Day shows that a right-wing media network anchored around Breitbart developed as a distinct and insulated media system, using social media as a backbone to transmit a hyper-partisan perspective to the world. This pro-Trump media sphere appears to have not only successfully set the agenda for the conservative media sphere, but also strongly influenced the broader media agenda, in particular coverage of Hillary Clinton. While concerns about political and media polarization online are longstanding, our study suggests that polarization was asymmetric. Pro-Clinton audiences were highly attentive to traditional media outlets, which continued to be the most prominent outlets across the public sphere, alongside more left-oriented online sites. But pro-Trump audiences paid the majority of their attention to polarized outlets that have developed recently, many of them only since the 2008 election season. Attacks on the integrity and professionalism of opposing media were also a central theme of right-wing media. Rather than fake news in the sense of wholly fabricated falsities, many of the most-shared stories can more accurately be understood as disinformation: the purposeful construction of true or partly true bits of information into a message that is, at its core, misleading. Over the course of the election, this turned the right-wing media system into an internally coherent, relatively insulated knowledge community, reinforcing the shared worldview of readers and shielding them from journalism that challenged it. The prevalence of such material has created an environment in which the President can tell supporters about events in Sweden that never happened, or a presidential advisor can reference a non-existent Bowling Green massacre. RELATED: Breitbart editor slams mainstream media in Pulitzer Hall We began to study this ecosystem by looking at the landscape of what sites people share. If a person shares a link from Breitbart, is he or she more likely also to share a link from Fox News or from The New York Times? We analyzed hyperlinking patterns, social media sharing patterns on Facebook and Twitter, and topic and language patterns in the content of the 1.25 million stories, published by 25,000 sources over the course of the election, using Media Cloud, an open-source platform for studying media ecosystems developed by Harvards Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and MITs Center for Civic Media. Sign up for CJR 's daily email When we map media sources this way, we see that Breitbart became the center of a distinct right-wing media ecosystem, surrounded by Fox News, the Daily Caller, the Gateway Pundit, the Washington Examiner, Infowars, Conservative Treehouse, and Truthfeed. Notes: In the above clouds, the nodes are sized according to how often they were shared on Twitter (Fig. 1) or Facebook (Fig. 2). The location of nodes is determined by whether two sites were shared by the same Twitter user on the same day, representing the extent to which two sites draw similar audiences. The colors assigned to a site in the map reflect the share of that sites stories tweeted by users who also retweeted either Clinton or Trump during the election. These colors therefore reflect the attention patterns of audiences, not analysis of content of the sites. Dark blue sites draw attention in ratios of at least 4:1 from Clinton followers; red sites 4:1 Trump followers. Green sites are retweeted more or less equally by followers of each candidate. Light-blue sites draw 3:2 Clinton followers, and pink draw 3:2 Trump followers. Our analysis challenges a simple narrative that the internet as a technology is what fragments public discourse and polarizes opinions, by allowing us to inhabit filter bubbles or just read the daily me. If technology were the most important driver towards a post-truth world, we would expect to see symmetric patterns on the left and the right. Instead, different internal political dynamics in the right and the left led to different patterns in the reception and use of the technology by each wing. While Facebook and Twitter certainly enabled right-wing media to circumvent the gatekeeping power of traditional media, the pattern was not symmetric. The size of the nodes marking traditional professional media like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN, surrounded by the Hill, ABC, and NBC, tell us that these media drew particularly large audiences. Their color tells us that Clinton followers attended to them more than Trump followers, and their proximity on the map to more quintessentially partisan siteslike Huffington Post, MSNBC, or the Daily Beastsuggests that attention to these more partisan outlets on the left was more tightly interwoven with attention to traditional media. The Breitbart-centered wing, by contrast, is farther from the mainstream set and lacks bridging nodes that draw attention and connect it to that mainstream. RELATED: 10 tools to tackle common problems journalists face Moreover, the fact that these asymmetric patterns of attention were similar on both Twitter and Facebook suggests that human choices and political campaigning, not one companys algorithm, were responsible for the patterns we observe. These patterns might be the result of a coordinated campaign, but they could also be an emergent property of decentralized behavior, or some combination of both. Our data to this point cannot distinguish between these alternatives. Another way of seeing this asymmetry is to graph how much attention is given to sites that draw attention mostly from one side of the partisan divide. There are very few center-right sites: sites that draw many Trump followers, but also a substantial number of Clinton followers. Between the moderately conservative Wall Street Journal, which draws Clinton and Trump supporters in equal shares, and the starkly partisan sites that draw Trump supporters by ratios of 4:1 or more, there are only a handful of sites. Once a threshold of partisan-only attention is reached, the number of sites in the clearly partisan right increases, and indeed exceeds the number of sites in the clearly partisan left. By contrast, starting at The Wall Street Journal and moving left, attention is spread more evenly across a range of sites whose audience reflects a gradually increasing proportion of Clinton followers as opposed to Trump followers. Unlike on the right, on the left there is no dramatic increase in either the number of sites or levels of attention they receive as we move to more clearly partisan sites. The primary explanation of such asymmetric polarization is more likely politics and culture than technology. A remarkable feature of the right-wing media ecosystem is how new it is. Out of all the outlets favored by Trump followers, only the New York Post existed when Ronald Reagan was elected president in 1980. By the election of Bill Clinton in 1992, only the Washington Times, Rush Limbaugh, and arguably Sean Hannity had joined the fray. Alex Jones of Infowars started his first outlet on the radio in 1996. Fox News was not founded until 1996. Breitbart was founded in 2007, and most of the other major nodes in the right-wing media system were created even later. Outside the right-wing, the map reflects a mixture of high attention to traditional journalistic outlets and dispersed attention to new, online-only, and partisan media. The pattern of hyper-partisan attack was set during the primary campaign, targeting not only opposing candidates but also media that did not support Trumps candidacy. In our data, looking at the most widely-shared stories during the primary season and at the monthly maps of media during those months, we see that Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Fox News were the targets of attack. The February map, for example, shows Fox News as a smaller node quite distant from the Breitbart-centered right. It reflects the fact that Fox News received less attention than it did earlier or later in the campaign, and less attention, in particular, from users who also paid attention to the core Breitbart-centered sites and whose attention would have drawn Fox closer to Breitbart. The March map is similar, and only over April and May will Foxs overall attention and attention from Breitbart followers revive. This sidelining of Fox News in early 2016 coincided with sustained attacks against it by Breitbart. The top-20 stories in the right-wing media ecology during January included, for example, Trump Campaign Manager Reveals Fox News Debate Chief Has Daughter Working for Rubio. More generally, the five most-widely shared stories in which Breitbart refers to Fox are stories aimed to delegitimize Fox as the central arbiter of conservative news, tying it to immigration, terrorism and Muslims, and corruption: The Anti-Trump Network: Fox News Money Flows into Open Borders Group; NY Times Bombshell Scoop: Fox News Colluded with Rubio to Give Amnesty to Illegal Aliens; Google and Fox TV Invite Anti-Trump, Hitler-Citing, Muslim Advocate to Join Next GOP TV-Debate; Fox, Google Pick 1994 Illegal Immigrant To Ask Question In Iowa GOP Debate; Fox News At Facebook Meeting Is Misdirection: Murdoch and Zuckerberg Are Deeply Connected Over Immigration. The repeated theme of conspiracy, corruption, and media betrayal is palpable in these highly shared Breitbart headlines linking Fox News, Rubio, and illegal immigration. As the primaries ended, our maps show that attention to Fox revived and was more closely integrated with Breitbart and the remainder of the right-wing media sphere. The primary target of the right-wing media then became all other traditional media. While the prominence of different media sources in the right-wing sphere vary when viewed by shares on Facebook and Twitter, the content and core structure, with Breitbart at the center, is stable across platforms. Infowars, and similarly radical sites Truthfeed and Ending the Fed, gain in prominence in the Facebook map. These two maps reveal the same pattern. Even in the highly-charged pre-election month, everyone outside the Breitbart-centered universe forms a tightly interconnected attention network, with major traditional mass media and professional sources at the core. The right, by contrast, forms its own insular sphere. The right-wing media was also able to bring the focus on immigration, Clinton emails, and scandals more generally to the broader media environment. A sentence-level analysis of stories throughout the media environment suggests that Donald Trumps substantive agendaheavily focused on immigration and direct attacks on Hillary Clintoncame to dominate public discussions. Coverage of Clinton overwhelmingly focused on emails, followed by the Clinton Foundation and Benghazi. Coverage of Trump included some scandal, but the most prevalent topic of Trump-focused stories was his main substantive agenda itemimmigrationand his arguments about jobs and trade also received more attention than his scandals. While mainstream media coverage was often critical, it nonetheless revolved around the agenda that the right-wing media sphere set: immigration. Right-wing media, in turn, framed immigration in terms of terror, crime, and Islam, as a review of Breitbart and other right-wing media stories about immigration most widely shared on social media exhibits. Immigration is the key topic around which Trump and Breitbart found common cause; just as Trump made this a focal point for his campaign, Breitbart devoted disproportionate attention to the topic. What we find in our data is a network of mutually-reinforcing hyper-partisan sites that revive what Richard Hofstadter called the paranoid style in American politics, combining decontextualized truths, repeated falsehoods, and leaps of logic to create a fundamentally misleading view of the world. Fake news, which implies made of whole cloth by politically disinterested parties out to make a buck of Facebook advertising dollars, rather than propaganda and disinformation, is not an adequate term. By repetition, variation, and circulation through many associated sites, the network of sites make their claims familiar to readers, and this fluency with the core narrative gives credence to the incredible. Take a look at Ending the Fed, which, according to Buzzfeeds examination of fake news in November 2016, accounted for five of the top 10 of the top fake stories in the election. In our data, Ending the Fed is indeed prominent by Facebook measures, but not by Twitter shares. In the month before the election, for example, it was one of the three most-shared right-wing sites on Facebook, alongside Breitbart and Truthfeed. While Ending the Fed clearly had great success marketing stories on Facebook, our analysis shows nothing distinctive about the siteit is simply part-and-parcel of the Breitbart-centered sphere. And the false claims perpetuated in Ending the Feds most-shared posts are well established tropes in right wing media: the leaked Podesta emails, alleged Saudi funding of Clintons campaign, and a lack of credibility in media. The most Facebook-shared story by Ending the Fed in October was ITS OVER: Hillarys ISIS Email Just Leaked & Its Worse Than Anyone Could Have Imagined. See also, Infowars Saudi Arabia has funded 20% of Hillarys Presidential Campaign, Saudi Crown Prince Claims, and Breitbarts Clinton Cash: Khizr Khans Deep Legal, Financial Connections to Saudi Arabia, Hillarys Clinton Foundation Tie Terror, Immigration, Email Scandals Together. This mix of claims and facts, linked through paranoid logic characterizes much of the most shared content linked to Breitbart. It is a mistake to dismiss these stories as fake news; their power stems from a potent mix of verifiable facts (the leaked Podesta emails), familiar repeated falsehoods, paranoid logic, and consistent political orientation within a mutually-reinforcing network of like-minded sites. Use of disinformation by partisan media sources is neither new nor limited to the right wing, but the insulation of the partisan right-wing media from traditional journalistic media sources, and the vehemence of its attacks on journalism in common cause with a similarly outspoken president, is new and distinctive. Rebuilding a basis on which Americans can form a shared belief about what is going on is a precondition of democracy, and the most important task confronting the press going forward. Our data strongly suggest that most Americans, including those who access news through social networks, continue to pay attention to traditional media, following professional journalistic practices, and cross-reference what they read on partisan sites with what they read on mass media sites. To accomplish this, traditional media needs to reorient, not by developing better viral content and clickbait to compete in the social media environment, but by recognizing that it is operating in a propaganda and disinformation-rich environment. This, not Macedonian teenagers or Facebook, is the real challenge of the coming years. Rising to this challenge could usher in a new golden age for the Fourth Estate. The election study was funded by the Open Society Foundations U.S. Program. Media Cloud has received funding from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Robert Woods Johnson Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Open Societies Foundations. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Yochai Benkler, Robert Faris, Hal Roberts, and Ethan Zuckerman are the authors. Benkler is a professor at Harvard Law School and codirector of the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society at Harvard (BKC); Faris is research director at BKC; Roberts is a fellow at BKC and technical lead of Media Cloud; and Zuckerman is director of the MIT Center for Civic Media. On my first day of work, at my first job in city magazines, Champagne was served in the lobby. I was in the Indianapolis headquarters of Emmis Communications, home of my new employer, Indianapolis Monthly magazine. Emmis, which was predominantly a radio company, had just been named to a Best Places to Work list. But the bubbly celebration might as well have been a toast to our pillars of paper and ink. It was 2005, and city and regional magazines were fat (sometimes more than 300 pages!) with advertising. Emmis Publishing held the largest portfolio of regional titles in the country, including giants Texas Monthly and Los Angeles. Two years later, the division would post a 17-percent profit marginalmost double that of the national average for all magazines. Raises and bonuses followed. Cheers, indeed. I remembered those workday libations a few weeks ago when I read the news that Emmis, having already sold off Texas Monthly last October, unloaded the remainder of its out-of-town titles to Detroit-based Hour Media Group LLC. Four magazinesAtlanta, Cincinnati, Orange Coast, and Los Angeleswere moved for a combined $6.5 million. (Emmis paid $30 million for Los Angeles alone in 2000.) The fire-sale raised the eyebrows of magazine people across the nation and not just among Emmis alums and expats like me. Emmis has been a leader in both quality of writing and packaging and quality of design, says John Fennell, a magazine professor at the Missouri School of Journalism who also helps run the annual City and Regional Magazine Association awards. When you look at the awards, they have certainly led the way. And yet, while there is a sense of heightened awareness, if not outright trepidation, among many in the industry, there is also a sort of battle-hardened optimismeven at whats left of Emmis. Greg Loewen, president of Emmiss publishing division, which now consists solely of Indianapolis Monthly, maintains that the radio company was trying to rid its balance sheet of some debt, not betting city magazines are headed for oblivion. When the economy collapsed (in 2008), so did the business, says Loewen. The business certainly recovered. After we hit bottom, we saw pretty consistent year-over-year revenue growth. We havent seen a year that looked like 2007. But things certainly did get betterthe business mix looks different now. Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project Though Lowen declined to discuss the sale price of the four magazines, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicate that Emmis Publishing revenues dropped by 10 percent in the nine months prior to November 2016, excluding the performance of Texas Monthly, which Emmis sold on the first of that month. The report attributes a significant portion of the lackluster result to Los Angeles, but regardless, the groups bargain-basement sale price does not suggest an industry with stellar prospects. For the most part, publishers and editors tell me that city magazine circulationhome-delivery subscriptions and newsstand saleshas remained steady. Digital editions have been slow to get off the ground. But the true bedrock of the city-mag business model, print advertising, disappeared with the economic collapse in 2008 and never came back. Between 2008 and 2009, ad-page counts dropped by a whopping 22 percent, according to a City and Regional Magazine Association survey available online; an association representative told CJR it could not provide comparative numbers since 2009 without extensive research. What data is available online is sparse and devoid of context. But anyone who has picked up one of the (quite a bit lighter) magazines lately knows hopes for a full recovery have further dimmed. RELATED: New editor in chief takes Texas Monthly in a lifestyle direction The mix of revenue sources is different for each market, but many are still overwhelmingly reliant on print advertising. Ads on the print pages comprised anywhere from 75 to 90 percent of revenue at the titles I surveyed, a stat which underscores the economic unease. And digital prospects dont look much brighter, as more niche pubs, upstart blogs, and websites try to squeeze into a fragmented advertising picture. Nicole Vogel, president of SagaCity Media, whose titles include Seattle Met, Portland, and Houstonia magazines, says that while in 2008, a local media buyer might be called upon by 30 companies, now that number is in the hundreds, maybe even a thousand. And besides local rivals, national competitors such as Facebook and Google offer sophisticated local targeting. Whether the magazine was in Seattle, Dallas, or New England, it was suddenly fighting for every penny. When I was coming up in this business, you had the big fishnetwork affiliate TV and the newspapersand then the rest of usradio, us, free-rack pubs, burgeoning new websiteswere all guppies, says John Palumbo, owner and publisher of Rhode Island Monthly, who also writes an industry insider column for FOLIO:. There were certain pieces of business that you wouldnt think the big fish would look at. Now were all guppies. Everything is fair game. Add to that the fact businesses were already slashing, if not jettisoning advertising budgets entirely, and it sent city magazines scurrying to find alternative sources of revenue. While each pub has had to adapt to its unique local market, two streams have emerged into major tributaries for titles across the country: Custom publishing and events. Producing magazines, books, and travel guides for other companies and agencies was a natural fit. City mags already had the know-how, the production staff, and the relationships with printers and advertisers. We started looking at our magazines as beachheads, says Vogel. When somebody sees something that is well put together, they think I want something like that for my brand or my company. A particularly fruitful market has been putting out guides for city and state visitors bureaus and associations, which still have dollars to spend. Our magazines are love letters to our cities, says Vogel. Were good at illuminating places and what makes them special. Last year, half of respondents to a Hows Business survey, conducted by the third-party Circulation Verification Council at the behest of the City and Regional Magazine Association, reported that custom content revenue had increased from the previous year. Those that saw an increase reported an average gain of more than 25 percent. City mags for years have been known for events, like Best of the City and Best Restaurants parties where readers are invited to sample winning goods and grub. We did it because it was a good way to raise the flag and meet people, says Loewen. Now we think it needs to be profitable. Events are a rare bright spot for revenue: More than 57 percent of magazines surveyed by the CVC reported an average 17-percent bump in event revenue in 2016, and 92 percent planned for an increase in 2017. The Hows Business survey did not provide any hard numbers or break out what portion of revenue magazines get from ancillary sources. Which 2016 Los Angeles magazine Cover Is Your Favorite?: https://t.co/1RKKE3EiHB pic.twitter.com/apFoWg0qHp Los Angeles Magazine (@LAmag) December 21, 2016 Publishers are finding that they can use a magazines brand to offer more value to advertisers. For instance, in Rhode Island, Palumbo says they had always held a reception for the winners of its Top Doctors special issue, a staple franchise for all city mags. But recently, they had the idea of having the party sponsored by a local Audi dealer. Two hundred physicians and other guests showed up to the dealership to drink, get their plaques and gift bags, and have their pictures taken in front of the photo wallall while an affluent clientele was roaming the showroom of this luxury retailer. Doctors came back to test drive cars, says Palumbo. They sold four cars as a direct result. Magazines are desperate to imagine or steal new ideas for events: Beer, wine, and whiskey festivals; 5k runs; even creating awards for designers or civic leadersanything that appeals to the core demographic. A mature, affluent market has always been at the core of most city mags: According to a 2016 City and Regional Magazine Association readership study, 83 percent of readers are between the ages of 25 and 64, but the average reader age for many pubs is in the 40s and 50s. Theyre college educated (79 percent), and their median household income is $162,000. Regional mags are having increasing success reaching younger readers on websites, through e-newsletters, and through social mediaand that, too, has become a source of revenue. Between 2015 and 2016, almost 80 percent of city and regional titles reported an average of 61.8-percent gain in digital ad sales. (Again, the CVC report did not include a breakdown of print v. digital revenue.) Vogel says that each of the SagaMedia titles link to their websites through Facebook or Twitter 150 to 300 times each month, and that each post gets an average of around 250 likes, shares, or comments. Talk to brands and say Would you like everything that you post to get an average of 250 responses? says Vogel. Their jaws drop. RELATED: Magazines find theres little time to fact-check online So what about the old-fashioned paper and ink? With all these new paths of growth, with titles increasingly becoming custom pub shops and event coordinators with a URL at the bottom of the virtual business card, where does the actual magazine fit in? Is print finally dead? Far from it, say publishers and editors. The CRMA survey found that the average net circulation of all city mags is 3.6 million, and that 76 percent of readers still have last months issue on the coffee table when the new one arrives. That sort of permanence is supposed to separate the subscription-based city mags from the free-rack glossies and publications that might offer lower ad rates. The newspaper across town is trying to make everything work digitally. Thats their future. Thats not our future, says Tim Rogers, editor of D Magazine in Dallas. We provide a luxury product. Thats how we get subscribers. We dont survive if the magazine doesnt survive. We provide a luxury product. Thats how we get subscribers. We dont survive if the magazine doesnt survive. The physical edition is the core of the brand, and its prominence is crucial in making other ventures successful. No one is going to come to Atlanta Magazine Whiskey Festival if Atlanta loses its sheen of prestige and authority; no visitors bureau is going to want 5280, the city magazine in Denver, to put out its travel guide if the monthly issue is lacking in quality. Another factor helping print editions remain viable is that, in the wake of the 2008 downturn, city mags have emerged as one of the few remaining authorities in key lifestyle categories like dining and shopping. Newspapers have cut back or altogether ceased retail and restaurant reviews, which are costly. And the crowd-sourced upstarts such as Yelp! and most local bloggers dont yet have the cache of credibility that city mags have accrued over the years. Real dining coverage takes so much money, says Rogers. Well eat there several times and write a 1,200-word review. No one else is doing that. That level of investment also translates to the other, less directly profitable function of the magazinein-depth, long-form journalism. Like dining, this venture can be costly with travel, document acquisition, legal fees, and perhaps most importantly, staff writers and freelancers time to report and write. But like dining, its an area where many mags have found themselves alone at the finish line. I worked in the newspaper business in a time of multipart civic journalism series about the gentrification of a certain part of the city, says Palumbo. That doesnt exist anymore. They dont have the reportorial staff, they dont have the news hole, theyre not going to do it digitally because its not going to give them the clicks they so desperately need. But that doesnt mean the appetite went away. Palumbo says that, both through reader surveys and personal encounters with people in the community, he hears that the longer, more informative writing about the region is still part of the reason people buy the magazine. I feel that with the nature of longform journalism today, and the fact that we are one of the last bastions of it, as long as theres an appetite for it, its going to keep the magazine alive, he says. I feel that with the nature of longform journalism today, and the fact that we are one of the last bastions of it, as long as theres an appetite for it, its going to keep the magazine alive. While the actual success of such lengthy profiles and exposes is difficult to quantify, many in the industry feel those features are part of a city mags civic duty. Rogers says his gutand that of his publishertells him his readers expect nothing less. I have faith in readers that they want to read, he says. And we still do at monthly magazines what no other place can do. We present the material in a way that can beat the computer on your desk and that phone in your pocket. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Tony Rehagen has written for Pacific Standard, GQ, Bloomberg, and ESPN The Magazine. He is based in St. Louis and is on Twitter @trehagen. Everything was quiet in New York City the day after the 2016 election. The city was stunned into silence. Matthew Breen remembers people crying randomly on the street, comforted by friends and strangers. We were totally blindsided, Breen says. People were trying to look kindly on one another. It was such a raw and fragile moment. Breen, now the editorial director of LOGO, was in his final weeks at The Advocate, where he worked for nearly six years as the editor in chief. Having publicly endorsed Hillary Clinton, Breen says his last issue as the publications EIC wasnt the one he expected. The December cover of The Advocate depicted an American flag in which two of the stripes have fallen off. Meanwhile, a man and a woman stare out helplessly into the distance, struggling to figure out whats next. Sign up for CJR 's daily email The blunt title sums up the sudden and unexpected fear that gripped the LGBTQ community in those early days: Time to panic, it read. The election of Donald Trump to the White House has radically transformed the relationship between the press and the Oval Office, a shift felt acutely among LGBTQ media as the industry has taken on a more adversarial role. Prior to the Trump presidency, many in the community wondered whether there would be a need for LGBTQ-specific news outlets in the futurethat queer and transgender people would be so fully integrated into society that outlets like Out, NewNowNext, Washington Blade, The New Civil Rights Movement, and LGBTQ Nation would no longer be necessary. But as publishers and editors tell CJR, that has never been the case. The past five months have illustrated the vital importance of LGBTQ media in US society, as these publications provided support, information, and comfort to a community forced to adapt to a drastically different political landscape. Theres an even greater responsibility to tell the stories of the marginalized, ones that might otherwise get left behind, in a news cycle dominated by Trump. And readers have responded by visiting LGBTQ media outlets more often and sticking around longer, editors tell CJR. The past three months have been a call to arms for LGBTQ media, but five decades ago, The Advocatethe nations first monthly LGBTQ magazinewas founded in the wake of bar raids in Los Angeles. The first issue acted as a protest newsletter to help the community fight back. As much as the 2016 election was a wake-up call, it also represented a return to the movements roots. TRENDING: Breitbart-led right-wing media ecosystem altered broader media agenda The fear of erasure in Trumps America Merryn Johns knew the election would go badly. Born in Australia, the editor in chief of Curve magazine, a monthly magazine for lesbian and bisexual women in the US, came to the 2016 election as an outsider. While all of her friends went out on the evening of the election expecting to celebrate Americas first female president, she stayed in and began working on an editorial explaining why Trumpwidely expected to lose in a landslidehad won. Any time I heard Trump speak, I could hear him saying what a certain number of people wanted to have been said, Johns explains. I felt it was going to swing in his favor. He was tapping into a zeitgeist Clinton wasnt. Johns says that for LGBTQ-focused publications, having Trump in the White House has been a huge reversal from the previous administration. LGBTQ advocates had been gaining attention and notching wins for the past eight yearsfrom Obama enacting nondiscrimination rights for federal contractors in 2014, to the Supreme Court legalizing marriage equality a year later. Many felt that progress would continue under a Clinton presidency, but feel President Trump has already begun to reverse those gains. On March 27, the POTUS overturned an Obama executive order preventing federal workers from being fired on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Many of Trump Cabinet picks, including Secretary of State Jeff Sessions, have noted anti-LGBTQ track records. What we had under the Obama presidency was that he acknowledged us, Johns says. He mentioned us in his addresses. We were on the website. We were getting legislation pushed through. We were invited to the White House. That is all being rolled back, and its made us feel quite insecure. Its not only a fear of not being seen. Its a fear of being erased. A changing media landscape If Johns claims that the very concept of media has changed under the current administration, it has also shifted the role LGBTQ media sees itself playing during a contentious political moment. Lucas Grindley, editor in chief of The Advocate, says it has been important for LGBTQ publications to reflect what the community is feeling during an emotional time. During the week following the election, Grindley wrote an editorial taking his Republican family members to task for casting their ballot for a politician who campaigned on rolling back same-sex marriage. Ive been betrayed by my own family, Grindley wrote. Odds are, so have you. People felt like theyd been betrayed and it took awhile for people to be willing to say that. His op-ed, which was shared more than 20,000 times on Facebook, clearly touched a nerve. People felt like theyd been betrayed and it took awhile for people to be willing to say that, Grindley tells CJR in an interview. The goal of The Advocate is to make you forward on a story and say, Finally, someones said what Im thinking. I dont feel alone. Although hard data can be difficult to quantify, LGBTQ publications report that traffic has been up as readers seek out spaces that reflect what theyre feeling about the Trump administration. The Advocate reports a nearly 50-percent increase in overall pageviews for the first quarter of 2017 over the first quarter of 2016, while subscriptions have held steady. (CJR requested subscriber information from other LGBTQ publications, but they declined to provide hard data.) Given that demand, many LGBTQ publications have shifted greater resources to covering the daily happenings of the Trump administration and telling community members how to take action. In the days after the election, The Advocate started The Resistance, a Friday newsletter listing protests taking place in your area; that newsletter morphed into a video series. NewNowNext created Five Dollars/Five Minutes, a recurring feature that offers quick and easy action steps for readers who want to get involved. Go Magazine, which covers queer and lesbian nightlife, includes demonstrations and political activities in its monthly calendar. One challenge is striking a balance between taking a hard look at the current reality and offering healthy escapism for readers, says Trish Bendix, editor in chief of GO Magazine. Its an everyday battle, Bendix says. Theres definitely people out there who arent just interested in going out and dancing, but you dont want to be too depressing and to pump out stories that make us feel things are hopeless. Our community has enough problems with suicide, depression, and self-harm as it is, so there has to be a way to keep it positive while being very clear about what our missions are and what we have to do now. Our community has enough problems with suicide, depression, and self-harm as it is, so there has to be a way to keep it positive while being very clear about what our missions are and what we have to do now. Bringing everyones stories to the table The Advocate has aimed to balance not only levity and advocacy but coverage of topics that arent traditionally viewed as specific to the LGBTQ community. During the 2016 primaries, Grindley sent out a memo to staff to treat Donald Trump as an LGBTQ issue, meaning anything he does is news for Advocate readers. Since that time, the publication has covered the effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, the travel ban on seven Muslim-majority nations, and Trumps stated intent to increase the deportation of undocumented workers. Because the Trump administration is attacking different marginalized communities, its brought all those communities together, Grindley says. Were all combating mutual opposition. LGBTQ media has been criticized in recent years for marginalizing issues that affect people of color. #GayMediaSoWhite, a hashtag that went viral in 2016, drew attention to the fact that the covers of Out, The Advocate, and Attitude, a British gay publication, regularly feature straight white celebrities to sell magazines. Critics claimed that bottom line is calculated at the expense of non-white people, women, and transgender people yearning for the same platform. A Fusion survey found that between June 2011 and May 2016, 85 percent of the faces on the covers of these three magazines were white. Les Fabian Brathwaite, a senior editor at Out who is black, admits that LGBTQ publications have done a terrible job of racial inclusion in the pastand stressed that fixing these issues is crucial to addressing the intersectional problems posed by a Trump presidency. People are well-intentioned, but if you only have a bunch of gay white men talking about diversity, you have to have other people to in the room to address that as well, Braithwaite says. Our responsibility is to bring everyone to the table, tell everyones story, and make sure, as much as possible, that everyone has a chance to tell their own. To speak truth to power, you have to make sure everyones voices are represented in the conversation. We need LGBTQ media because no one else is going to speak for us. RELATED: Whats the right way to ask whether someone is gay? Its particularly important for LGBTQ publications to be more inclusive watchdogs because, as Breen argues, many stories impacting vulnerable subsections of the community may get lost in a media cycle dominated by Donald Trump. Trump has swamped the news, and it has crowded out stories about all kinds of populations, marginalized or not, he says. Three months into the new year, eight transgender women have been murdered as hate crimes against the LGBTQ community increase across the country. Nearly a dozen LGBTQ centers have been vandalized in 2017, and an employee of Casa Ruby, which offers support and services to Washington, DCs trans community, was attacked by two men who targeted the building. These stories have received attention in mainstream press, but they have yet to receive the traction such important subjects deserve. It is not only the responsibility of LGBTQ publications to fill that gap, as Johns argues. Its why these outlets will continue to be irreplaceable. We need LGBTQ media because no one else is going to speak for us, she says. We are planting a flag in the sand to say: Were here, we exist, and you cant get rid of us. RELATED: Covering gay marriage when its really, really personal Correction: An earlier version of this story had incorrect online traffic data for The Advocate. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Nico Lang is an award-winning reporter, essayist, and editor. His work has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Esquire and others. Follow him on Twitter @nico_lang. To hear journalists tell it, the 84 days since President Donald Trumps inauguration have exposed us to a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. Self-contained storylines that once would have risen and fallen in distinct waves of public attention have given way to information overload and frequent confusion. Time seemingly blurs as new developments flash like strobe lights from all angles. The traditional news cycle has been killed, and I suggest the culprit was Trump, in the White House, with the lead pipe. Remember alternative facts? It was just Day 3. The news-time continuum still had a semblance of balance then, even if the underlying factors priming it for carnage had already been set: a sensationalist media with an insatiable appetite for content; massive distrust of the mainstream press; a fragmented social web that incentivizes false information; and a political U-turn in Washington. With his predilection for impulsive action and self-contradiction, the tweeter-in-chief was uniquely suited to overload an already strained system. The question were left with, posed time and again by journalists on Twitter, in stories, and on podcasts that double as support groups for media whiplash, is whether the public can cope. And consensus speculation is that mere mortals cant possibly keep up. I have covered politics for the last 19 years. I never remember this much news all at once. Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) April 6, 2017 I feel like there's a new crazy story about the Trump administration every day. How does a average news consumer even keep up. andrew kaczynski ? (@KFILE) March 31, 2017 Sign up for CJR 's daily email That was the biggest news week since last week Farhad Manjoo ? (@fmanjoo) April 7, 2017 Me trying to catch up on all the politics news out of D.C. this morning pic.twitter.com/RyJcwq5mfL Liam Stack (@liamstack) April 6, 2017 Enterprising news organizations craving new products have not let this potential crisis of public attention go to waste. The Guardians daily CliffsNotes for political news, the self-explanatory Minute, was rolled out with some foresight last year. NBC News has been boiling down each of the Trump administrations first 100 days to a single key moment. Politico has expanded its early morning Playbook newsletter with a midday Power Lunch edition. Should the speed and discombobulation of news continue to accelerate, the franchise may need to detach itself from human eating schedules and align more with that of hobbits: Breakfast Playbook, Second Breakfast Playbook, Elevenses Playbook, and so on. A new entrant that displays perhaps the most accurate encapsulation of this peculiar moment takes the form of an independent email blast: What The Fuck Just Happened Today? The aptly named roundup does the yeomans work of logging the daily shock and awe in politics. An abridged recap of the greatest news hits of the not-yet-three-month-old Trump administrationpolicy changes, palace intrigue, military escalationwould read with encyclopedic density. Trumps tweeting and frequent clashes with the media provide a running backdrop, as does the ever-more-complicated inquiry into Russian meddling in last years election. That latter storyline has reached its umpteenth level of complexity, even if we still cant agree on how to pronounce House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nuness last name. The president and his retinue, meanwhile, empower the likes of Fox & Friends, conspiratorial blog Gateway Pundit, and alt-right icon Mike Cernovich. Fake news has become an overused and increasingly meaningless insult on all sides of the debate. We are entering a space of total metaphysical and informational confusion, Ezra Klein summarized on a February episode of Voxs policy podcast, The Weeds. The meta-coverage of this phenomenon has tended to focus on how keeping up with the news may induce stresssome pieces pose solutionsand the head of the American Psychological Association even called the potential effects deeply concerning. But what about news comprehension, ostensibly the first goal of journalism? A Huffington Post/YouGov poll released this week suggests that worries about information overload may be overstatedor at least more complicated than was previously assumed. Just 30 percent of respondents who try to follow current events say that they feel political news is changing so quickly that they cant keep up, according to the survey of 1,000 American adults. Sixty percent say its not a problem, and about two-thirds of all respondents add that following political news now is either just as manageable or even easier than in years past. Older and more Trump-supportive respondents were more likely to say they could cope. Of course, surveys also occasionally suggest that Americans may not be as well-versed in current events as they think. Yet there seem to be a few possibilities for the disconnect on the publics perceived ability to keep up. The Huffington Posts primary caveat is that respondents might, in fact, be overwhelmed by the news but say the opposite when polled. The rosier take is that media organizations have risen to the occasion more than they themselves understand. More plausible is that media professionals, academics, and the political class comprise an informational elite that live in a media universe distinct from that of a large portion of the public. They have the interest, energy, and toolkit to navigate the full scope of political information zooming around the internet. Many others tend to stick to familiar sources of their choosing, popping in and out of news depending on the story or day. During a time of intense discussion of the medias disconnect from the publicby ideology, geography, or formal educationit would add yet another fault line to the mix. Whats clear is that the digital hamster wheel that journalists inhabit will only continue its acceleration. Less so is whether the rest of the public, bereft of the news cycles that act as a sort of on-ramp by focusing attention, will be able to get back on track. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today David Uberti is a writer in New York. He was previously a media reporter for Gizmodo Media Group and a staff writer for CJR. Follow him on Twitter @DavidUberti. Rare is the occasion when digital mobs are unquestionably justified in their thirst for blood. But United Airlines provided more than ample reason Monday when a ticketed passenger on an overbooked flight who declined to leave the plane was yanked out of his seat, slammed against an armrest, and dragged down the aisle. Videos of a screaming and bleeding David Dao quickly ignited on social media, and the United PR shops passive and robotic response to this violence squirted yet more lighter fluid on an already blazing dumpster fire. The Louisville Courier-Journal was all over the story from the Louisville-bound flight out of Chicago, publishing numerous pieces including an eyewitness account, a column condemning Uniteds actions, and the airline CEOs response, among others. One of its Day 2 takes, however, seemed to resort to a familiar shade-the-victim reflex that many publications have been unable or unwilling to shake despite numerous instances of pushback in recent years. The lede of the Courier-Journals story: When airport security yanked David Dao off an overbooked flight Sunday, bloodying him as they dragged him down the aisle, he was thrust into the international spotlight. Dao, an Elizabethtown doctor, is familiar to many Kentuckians who recall his convictions on drug-related offenses in 2004. The piece goes on to detail how Dao was arrested in 2003 and eventually convicted of drug-related offenses after an undercover investigation. The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure alleged that he was involved in fraudulent prescriptions and was sexually involved with a patient. He was convicted on multiple felony counts in 2004 and forced to give up his medical license, only gaining approval to resume practicing, under certain conditions, in 2015. TRENDING: 10 podcasts to help you keep up with the news cycle Sign up for CJR 's daily email Some of the torches and pitchforks seen Monday reappeared in response to the piece. The fact that the Courier-Journal tweeted the item with an all-caps #BREAKINGas if it were some major scooponly added to the outrage. #BREAKING David Dao, the Elizabethtown doctor yanked from the United flight, has a troubled past in Kentucky https://t.co/pzkLLonJLG pic.twitter.com/FuZYCaLOEl Courier-Journal.com (@courierjournal) April 11, 2017 The piece delving into victims backstories is a familiar one, and the Courier-Journals conjured memories of some of the genres famously cringeworthy examples. The most controversial case came on the front page of The New York Times, where a sensationalist story marred by racial undertones described Michael Brown, an 18 year old killed by police, as no angel. More recently, New York tabloids zeroed in on the criminal history of a homeless New York man murdered in an apparently racist attack. Such victim-blaming or -shaming pops up in sexual assault reporting as well. The by-now boilerplate criticism of the genre goes like this: Just because a person falls victim to violence or trauma that piques public interest, journalists do not have license to unearth unrelated bad things that person did previously. The stories surely get attentionhate-reads are clicks, toobut its hard to see what journalistic value is added for audiences in the vast majority of cases. In a time of hand-wringing over trust of media, assignment editors would be wise to think twice. TRENDING: Headlines editors probably wish they could take back The pushback to the Courier-Journals piece Tuesday followed the same pattern, with many commenters referring to the no angel description of Brown. In reply to one critic, the storys reporter, Morgan Watkins, responded that her intent was not to justify [Uniteds actions]. Just identifying who he is for the public. Which public? Executive Editor Joel Christopher added this explanation to CJR Tuesday, in full below: I want to urge anyone from a national or international perspective to understand the full scope of our coverage here. This is one of dozens of pieces that weve done on the story. Dr. Dao is somebody who is not unfamiliar to people in our coverage area. His original case was pretty high profile. Its a name that doesnt come out of the blue. To not acknowledge that history and context would be unusual, frankly. There are two things here: Some folks are just seeing that piece and not the full scope of our coverage. So if thats the only piece you think weve done, of course youll zero in on it. Secondly, we didnt account for the fact that some people might just hit on that piece, and we didnt put the necessary context for a national or international audience to understand. Weve since done that. Theres information thats pretty vital that you wouldnt immediately understand if youre not from our market. The breadth of the Courier-Journals coverage doesnt absolve it from the fact that Daos criminal history is irrelevant to this bizarre episode. But Christopher does bring up an interesting wrinkle of local publishing in the digital age. When a story from an outlets backyard goes viral on a global scale, only a tiny fraction of audiences will be familiar with the players, plot, or stage. Should a journalists role be to serve their geographic community, or the global audience cocking back rotten tomatoes? ICYMI: Breitbart-led right-wing media ecosystem altered broader media agenda, study claims Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today David Uberti is a writer in New York. He was previously a media reporter for Gizmodo Media Group and a staff writer for CJR. Follow him on Twitter @DavidUberti. To say podcasting is having a moment is an understatement. The team behind Serials latest blockbuster, S-Town, recently broke records with 16 million downloads in the first week. Traditional news outlets like The New York Times and NPR are currently battling it out for the top spot on the daily news podcast beat. And Buzzfeed announced that Ben Smith, its editor in chief, is getting in on the action with the launch of an interview show called NewsFeed. Radio is the theater of the mind, says Marty Goldensohn, an Emmy award-winning radio and television producer who teaches podcasting to students at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. Goldensohn fell in love with the medium as a child while listening to radio greats like the humorists Bob & Ray and acclaimed storyteller Jean Shepherd on a radio the size of half a refrigerator, and went on to become News Director of WNYC and New York Bureau Chief of Marketplace. In contrast to traditional radio, one of best things about podcasting, he says, is you can do-it-yourself. CJR caught up with Goldensohn to get his tips from more than 30 years in the business on how to capture evocative sound, write for the ear, voice honestly, and edit ethically to create a powerful podcast that will resonate with your audience. RELATED: 10 podcasts to help you keep up with the news cycle What kind of podcast is it? Sign up for CJR 's daily email Once you have a good idea for a great podcast, you need to think about the format: Conversational : The most lo-fi choice of format is a conversation on a particular topic between experts. It might be a straight interview or a roundtable. Either way, the whole thing can be recorded in a studio, and there is minimal scripting and editing required. The key to success is choosing the right mix of guests. Documentary : A documentary podcast is composed almost entirely of sound recorded in the field. This approach requires some skill with recording equipment to ensure you get the right levels. Youll also need good editing and mixing skills for the back end. Monologue : Sometimes the best way to tell a story is to tell it yourself. The story might be complicated, or about a personal experience, or the material you recorded in the field wasnt up to scratch due to poor sound or inarticulate interviewees. To pull off this format, you need to be a great talker and excellent writer. Hybrid : One of most common types of podcast is a weaving of sound recorded in the field (actuality) and scripted narrative (continuity). Thats the format you hear on shows like This American Life . Field recording 101 If your podcast contains actuality, there are a few things to keep in mind while youre recording out in the field: Location : Think about what sort of sounds could add color and context to the topic. For example, if its a story about a person who has a job as a piano builder, find a place where you can capture music, and hammering, and building sounds to weave throughout the story. If youre out on the street interviewing a used book seller on Broadway, the sound of traffic and buses going by will evoke a sense of place. Levels : Background noise is great for context, but be careful that it doesnt overwhelm the person youre interviewing. Lower your input level and hold your mic close to the person speaking, but not so much that the background noise disappears entirely. Ambience : Wherever you go, record 30 seconds of ambient soundthe street noise, the room tone, the playground. Dont make it 10 seconds because if you have to loop it you might get a car horn coming up in the background every 10 seconds. If the sound in the location changes over time, capture sound before, during, and after. For example, if youre doing a theater piece, you want the ambience of the people coming in, but you also want the sound when the theater is full. You can use this sound later to liven up your voice track. Close-ups : Just like in photography, you want close-ups. If youre talking to a hot dog vendor, get your mic up close to the griddle to capture the sizzle. If your story is about squash players, get a close-up sound of the ball hitting the wall. Take control of the environment : When youre recording in the field, youll come up against background sound that you want to cut out entirely because it doesnt add anything to your story. This often happens when youre interviewing someone in their home. Dont be shy about switching off appliances such as the refrigerator and the air conditioner. Ask your subject if you can leave a note on the front door to notify anyone who might enter the house unexpectedly. Interviewing Getting good sound during interviews is essential. People often freeze up at beginning of an interview so you have to find a way to make them comfortable: Hold the mic under the chin : Placing the mic under the chin rather than in front of the face will not only prevent popping and sibilance, it will help people feel like theyre talking to you rather than to the microphone. Ask open questions : Keep your questions short, dont interrupt people, and ask open questions. The closed question is Were you there? The open version is What happened there? Avoid giving your subject the answer in the question. Instead ask, How did that feel? What was that like? Could you describe it? Record your impressions : Before and after the interview, as youre walking along, record what you see so you can write it visually later. Sit close to your subject : If youre interviewing someone in an office, dont try to reach your recorder across the desk. Ask your subject to sit next to you so you can move the mic back and forth between you. You might have to sit inappropriately close for American cultureget cozy! Ask your questions on mic : If your questions are recorded at the same quality as the interviewee, youll be able to use it to lead in when you ask a simple question like, Why is that? If you stumble, dont assume youll be able to re-record it later, because the background noise might change. Just apologize and ask again. Using your questions in the edit gives listeners the sense that you were there. TRENDING: 8 steps to upgrade your everyday news stories with tiny narratives Writing Once youve captured your actuality, you need to make a decision about pacing. Are you moving in and out of actuality rapidly? Or are people talking for three-minute chunks and youre just dropping in to describe who they are? The answer might depend on the quality of your interviews and the complexity of the subject. If the story is complicated, more narration will be required. If you find out that youve only got three decent quotes in the whole thing, you might need to tell the whole story yourself. When it comes to writing narration, the key is to stick to conversational language. Use short, punchy, informal speech : Dont use complex sentencesespecially not sentences with lots of subordinate clauses. When youre recording, you need to breathe. Cut : Think about how to reduce your points to the fewest number of words possible, without distorting the meaning. Goldensohns mantra is: For every word you remove from your script, you gain a listener. Use descriptive language : Where appropriate, make your narration visual. Describe what your listener is unable to see. Voicing During what has been dubbed the Golden Age of Radio, from the 1920s to the 1950s, announcers were mostly male and they generally spoke in authoritative tones that lacked ambiguity. These days, the most engaging podcast hosts are those who are authentic and confide in the listener as they would a friend. Even so, there are some tips and tricks you can follow to help you sound like your best self. Turn up the energy : Visual cues like facial expressions and hand signals can add energy to communication. Adjust for their absence by projecting your voice slightly more than you usually would, but dont go so far that you begin to sound fake. Use a director : A director could be a friend or your roommate, but dont record alone. You may not realize when your energy is falling or that youre skipping words, but someone else will. They can notify you when, 15 minutes in, you find yourself reading at half the pace you started at. Watch your emphasis : In a bid to sound authoritative, newbies often emphasize the wrong word in the sentence. Theyll say, He went to the store instead of He went to the store . Again, the rule is to speak the way you would everyday. RELATED: Battle heats up for morning daily podcasts as NPR enters the fray Editing Editing and mixing are art forms all their own. This is where you bring together your interviews, narration, the ambient sounds and close-ups youve captured, and add any music you want to use. Goldensohns rule is to edit on headphones and mix on speakers. On headphones, youll pick up the detail. On speakers, you can ensure your levels are correct, and your background sound isnt drowning out the speech. Cleaning things up : Spoken language is often slow, and halting. People say um or like a lot. Tightening, condensing, and cleaning up stumbles helps lift the energy of a story, but be mindful of overdoing it because you could lose the thoughtfulness and rhythm of the speech. Keep it ethical : Like other mediums, the ability to manipulate the truth is easy in an editing booth. Its especially true in audio because you dont hear the jump cut. Make sure your honesty detector is on high alert during the edit to ensure you dont distort anything. For example, taking out the key phrase of a sentence where someone says, Of course, thats not always true. The extreme version is interviewing someone who has got Alzheimers, and you make them sound like they dont. That goes for the ambient sound, too : Dont capture sound in one place and then make it seem like it came from somewhere else. Get a second opinion : If youve done an interview yourself and then youre editing the story together, it can be difficult to judge whether a quote makes sense out of context. Ask a friend to listen and feedback. Dont fall into the trap of hiding your work from friends and editors until its done. Music : If you want to use music in your podcast, you must obtain permission. Licensing commercial music is expensive, but you can find music libraries that allow you to use tracks under creative-commons licenses. Better yet, see if musically-inclined friends can give you a fair deal for original music. And remember, the moment in a podcast that is most dramatic can be when the music ends: Its in the silence that follows that words have the most impact. Update: This story previously referred to Marketplace as a production of National Public Radio. Marketplace is produced by American Public Media. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Shelley Hepworth , formerly a CJR Delacorte Fellow, is Technology Editor at The Conversation in Australia. Follow her on Twitter @shelleymiranda. David Layton and Mike Nicholson have been working for four years on their documentary about the great newspaper editor Gene Roberts. But as they approach the finishing kick for their labor of love, it seems that the long wait has a silver lining. The emergence of Donald Trump, known for his hostility to the press and his fast-and-loose approach to the truth, has brought with it a renewed respect for the importance of ambitious, aggressive, fact-based accountability journalism. Thats a commodity that perfectly sums up Roberts approach. A former New York Times reporter and editor, Roberts is legendary in journalism circles for masterminding the turnaround of The Philadelphia Inquirer, from one of the worst metro dailies in the country to a journalism superstar, winning 17 Pulitzers in the 18 years Roberts was at the helm from 1972 to 1990. While its been 27 years since the soft-spoken North Carolinian stepped down from his editing post to teach journalism at the University of Maryland, Roberts remains an inspirational figure in journalism circles, regarded as one of the very best if not the best editor of the second half of the 20th century. But his rise from the tiny Goldsboro News-Argus to the pinnacle of his craft remains little known to the general public. Layton and Nicholson hope to change all that, and they believe the timing couldnt be better. Were getting some interest we wouldnt have gotten a year ago, thanks to Trumps animosity to the press, says Layton, whose father, Charles, was an Inquirer mainstay during the glory years. He senses a much deeper appreciation for hard-hitting journalism with a code of ethics that looks under rocks. Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project The co-producer/directors detect a sense of urgency in the last few months when they talk about the project, both among film insiders and the general public. At Laytons birthday party last year after the election, Nicholson recalls a woman approached him and said forcefully, Youve got to make this documentary. Layton and Nicholson, who have a documentary production operation in Austin, have thus far, aside from a $25,000 Knight Foundation grant, funded the project on their own, spending about $35,000. A couple of times a year they hop into a van and travel the country, shooting interviews themselves. Theyve done 31 so far, talking to many key figures from the Roberts era in Philly. On April 4, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $150,000 to hire an editor, an assistant, and an archivist so they can finish up the project in the fall. The goal is to release The Newspaperman in time for next years movie festival season. Its an all-or-nothing campaign; if they dont raise the full amount by May 3, they dont get to keep any of the money. As of April 11, more than $57,000 had been pledged. Roberts has been, among many other things, a prodigious fundraiser. (He once spearheaded an effort that brought in a seven-figure haul to keep Columbia Journalism Review and American Journalism Review afloat.) Says Layton, I often get the feeling that Gene thinks if hed been raising the money, this film would already have been made. *** It was my privilege to have a close-up, at times uncomfortable, view of the the Roberts magic at work. I started my career at The Philadelphia Inquirer, pre-Gene, so I know just how bad it was. The stories of then-owner Walter S. Annenbergs penchant for using his paper to punish his enemies and reward his friends are legion. It was very clear to me just how heavy a lift it was to raise this daily to greatness. With my unerring instinct for the good career move, I had left the paper in 1969, about six months before it was sold to Knight Newspapers (later Knight Ridder), to join the then-larger and more prestigious Philadelphia Bulletin, an afternoon paper that offered me the opportunity to join its Washington bureau. Knight was known for the quality of its newspapers. Its first executive editor at the Inquirer, John McMullan, deserves major credit for starting the rebuilding process, establishing standards, removing dead wood and bringing in talent. When Roberts took over in 1972, his trademarks were soon apparent: hiring and developing excellent journalists; establishing a climate where talent could flourish; thinking big, seriously big; fostering formidable journalism; above all, creating the sense that all things were possible. These were golden days for newspapers, and big spending was always part of the Roberts formula. As the Inquirer rapidly became better and better, the Bulletin retreated. A painful memory: In 1979, when the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in central Pennsylvania took place, I was the Bulletins deputy metro editor. We jumped on the story quickly, dispatching reporters to the scene, about 100 miles from Philadelphia. Much to my chagrin, it wasnt long before I was ordered to bring the troops back; Three Mile Island was awfully far away. Meanwhile, Roberts was sending platoons of reporters to the scene, emptying an entire large suburban bureau in the process.The result was superb journalism and one of those Pulitzers. Without robust journalism, were doomed. Years later, I got to know Roberts well when I was running American Journalism Review, based at the University of Marylands J-school, where Gene was teaching. A great believer in AJR and journalism reviews in general, Roberts was a tireless and relentless ally. I dont know which impressed me more, his commitment to excellence or his iron will. In the late 1990s, Roberts raised what ultimately was nearly $2.5 million from the Pew Charitable Trusts for the Project on the State of the American Newspaper, a collection of 18 25,000-word pieces that ran in AJR. Our one bad moment: AJR was about to go to press with a piece on Washington coverage. Turns out Gene wanted to do a much more extensive article for the Project. He came to my office to talk about it. He was adamant that we hold off for the series. I wanted to run it now. We went back and forth, neither of us giving ground. Finally Generather than point out that he was Gene Roberts and I certainly wasnt and squashing me like a bugturned to me and said, Rem, you can see how passionate I am about this. What are you equally passionate about on the other side? He was right, of course; an examination of DC coverage ran as part of the Project. Roberts and The Washington Posts late Ben Bradlee are often cited as the two top editors of their time. And they couldnt be more different in style, Bradlee with his riverboat gambler swagger, Roberts with his deceptively quiet manner and long pauses. I remember telling an associate after she met Roberts and remained undazzled, You just had lunch with Michael Jordan. I asked a couple of journalists who had worked closely with Roberts in Philadelphia what they thought were the keys to his success. Bill Marimow, who spent 18 years with Roberts, thinks Roberts solid reporting background is a big part of the equation. In towns and cities from Goldsboro, North Carolina, to Saigon, he covered beats like agriculture, the waterfront, labor, the South during the civil rights era and the Vietnam War, says Marimow, until recently the Inquirers top editor and is now editor at large. That experience gave him both the credibility with newsroom staffers of every age and the experience to mentor younger staffers. He adds, Gene also knew talent when he saw itwhether it was a colleague or competitorand he had the persuasive power to get others to believe in his dream. Once Roberts had lured the talent to his newsroom, Marimow says, Gene had the wisdom and the confidence in his own leadership ability to give them the latitude to pursue great stories. Charles Layton, the filmmakers father, says that Roberts practically invented thinking big. He doesnt know how to think small. Ive seldom brought him a story without him telling me how it could be expanded or deepened or clarified. He sees the bedrock importance of stories, and hell tell you how to emphasize that. Another key, says Layton, is Roberts preparation. Ive never seen him unprepared, says Layton, who spent 22 years at the Inquirer, 16 under Roberts, and wrote major pieces for the Project on the State of the American Newspaper. He came to Philadelphia never having lived there before, but almost from day one he seemed to understand the city better than people whod grown up there. And theres his gift for assessing people. He reads peoples minds and emotions, and can assess their strengths and weaknesses, Layton says. Its like he has x-ray eyes. *** When David Layton was a lad, he loved to visit his father at the Inquirer, often sprinting past the security guard and making his way to his fathers desk in the newsroom. It was a magical place, the younger Layton recalls. People were excited about their jobs. There was a lot of wit and jokes. And Roberts was a mythic figure. Years later, Layton got into the documentary business, and after awhile he wanted to make his own film. By this point he had teamed up with Nicholson. Layton thought about climate change and opioid addiction as potential subjects. But he kept coming back to Gene Roberts. Nicholson, for his part, was obsessed with doing something on the media. But the potential subjects tended to be bummers, he says, big bitchfests about the media. Finally, they contacted Roberts, who agreed to meet with them for five days in his redoubt in Bath on North Carolinas Inner Banks, once the home of Blackbeard, the noted pirate. The filmmakers would interview Roberts by day, and at night theyd go through material from the Roberts archives that Genes wife, Sue, had provided. By the time they left, they were hooked. Since then, theyve conducted more than 30 interviews, talking with many key Inquirer figures, journalists who knew Roberts at the Times, and Tony Ridder, the Knight Ridder honcho who battled with Roberts over budgets at the end of Roberts Inquirer tenure. Several key players are dead, but Layton and Nicholson have access to interviews from The Unnatural, the film shot in Roberts honor when he left the Inquirer. Layton and Nicholson plan to use the Inquirer transformation as the movies narrative thread, tying specific events to Roberts previous reporting and editing career, his experiences covering civil rights and Vietnam. For example, when he was with the Detroit Free Press, Roberts wrote a detailed reconstruction of the Kennedy assassination. After the Three Mile Island accident, in addition to assigning all of those reporters to deal with the fast-moving breaking news, he detailed a separate team to immediately focus solely on putting together a definitive tick-tock. Although they already have 80-plus hours of material to whittle down, a powerful editing challenge, the filmmakers plan to do a handful of final interviews to fill in the gaps once the structure of the film takes shape. And Layton and Nicholson are convinced that their baby will have appeal to an audience that goes well beyond journalism junkies, particularly in an era where the truth is challenged by alternative facts. The stakes couldnt be higher, Nicholson says. Without robust journalism, were doomed. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Rem Rieder is a former USA Today media columnist and before that the longtime editor and senior vice president of American Journalism Review. On The Kicker this week, we discuss White House Press Secretary Sean Spicers job performance to date. Spicers gaffe in comparing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to Adolf Hitler was only the latest in a string of controversies emerging from behind the lectern in the Brady Briefing Room. Then, we have some fun imagining the life of a journalist in 2027. The impetus for the conversation was a recently published CJR story on the impact of artificial intelligence on journalism. Finally, author and Columbia Journalism School professor Todd Gitlin talks with Dave about the medias love affair with war. Gitlin is a fierce critic of the manner in which journalistsboth in print and especially on televisionreport on events like last weeks missile strike in Syria. He and Dave discuss the historical context for this concern, and how the media could better cover military action. Subscribe via iTunes Stitcher SoundCloud Overcast RSS Feed SHOW NOTES: Follow The Kicker on Twitter and email us suggestions for guests and discussion topics at TheKicker@CJR.org. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon. The US government was rocked in 2013 by a series of stories detailing the extent of the surveillance state. Edward Snowden, an NSA contractor who was the source behind those stories, has become famous for his role in leaking information that would eventually be published in The Guardian, The Washington Post, Der Spiegel, and The New York Times. Snowdens collaboration with filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald has been well-documented. But last week saw the revelation of a new, as-yet untold chapter in the saga: Writing in Harpers, journalists Dale Maharidge and Jessica Bruder describe their role in the leaks. Its a gripping story, involving cell phones stashed in refrigerators, a box of sensitive material buried under an outhouse and then perched in a tree, and a tribute to the analog beauty of the US Postal Service. Maharidge and Bruder recently spoke with CJR about their secret role in the Snowden leak, the value of security, and their goals in publishing the piece. The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity. Part of what makes this story so gripping is the seemingly amateur nature of your counter-surveillance tactics. You make up code names for everything and, at one point, bury the Snowden material in a fifty-five-gallon barrel of old shit. What were you thinking during the process? Maharidge: During the process it was le Carre meets The Three Stooges. It was very analog because I wasnt doing anything encrypted. I was very foolish at that point in my career, so Laura and I came up with all of this code language to use on the phone. Jess became the first sink. The NSA was the co-op board. Anybody whos lived in New York City knows co-op boards are notoriously crazy to deal with. If either of us wrote the co-op board is angry it meant bad shit. It meant the NSA or CIA is on to us and Holy shit. We better deal. We never had to use that code, thank goodness. Sign up for CJR 's daily email How have you changed your security practices as a result of this experience? Bruder: I use Signal, even for communications that dont need to be secure. I have the camera on my laptop covered up with a bit of gaffers tape. We showed the folks at Harpers ProtonMail and actually got them to transmit drafts of the story back and forth via PGP. A lot of these technologies have become more integrated in my ordinary life. Part of that is because I needed security in this particular situation. Also, the more Ive learned about the issue, the more Ive wanted to become part of the community around security because the more people who do this sort of thing, the more we normalize it, the harder it is for us all to be spied on. If a police department or the NSA wanted to surreptitiously watch people via laptop cameras and it was normalized for people to cover their cameras, that tool would not be in their arsenal anymore. I dont think somebodys watching me through my laptop, but I want to be part of the community of people covering their laptop cameras, if that makes any sense. One of the themes throughout the story is the paranoia you felt not knowing whether the government was on to you. Jess, you went so far as to cover a picnic table on the roof of your building because it was made out of NYPD sawhorses. How else did that paranoia manifest? Maharidge: Laura [Poitras], in her diary, had a passage from George Orwell about how [paranoia] affects your health and your nervous system. It manifests itself in very funny ways, so theres a physical reaction. It was this timeless period of incredible stress. I liken it to when my mother was dying, the last weeks, where time didnt exist. It was a single unit, and everything was kind of foggy. Anybody who has lost a loved one can appreciate that. But take that feeling and insert paranoia. When I got home there was a murderer on the loose, and there were 200 police officers roaming the woods where I live on the California coast. There was a helicopter overhead one daywere they looking for the murderer or watching me? May 2013 was very intense. I condensed that in the story, but like most of life, when we write a story we encapsulate something in a few paragraphs. You cant keep writing about it, but I cant overstate living through it, the PTSD that I had from it. There were several moments doing the story where Jess and I had some heart-to-heart discussions about how it was affecting us, and the paranoia came back. I dont know what Jeff Sessions or Trump are going to do with this knowledge. Two lawyers have told us that the odds are slim, but theyre vindictive people. Bruder: The phrase the narcissism of paranoia was something I was joking with Dale about because I basically told him, when this story comes out, if nothing happens Ill write an essay called The Narcissism of Paranoia. One of the creepy things about that is that there are so many people I know who arent engaged with privacy and anti-surveillance measures because the attitude is This isnt relevant to me. Nobodys watching me. In my mind, the narcissism of paranoia can be a destructive force in that way because it kind of pushes back against the idea that were a community here. Thats become something of a touchstone for us as we do what we can to be sane and secure but also go on to live our lives. But yeah, I did cover the picnic table again. In the story, one of the moments that stands out is when the realization hits that Snowden, Poitras, and Greenwald have all left the country, and youre the only ones left. Bruder: It was very weird and very isolating. You have to go on and keep living your life, but by the same token youre worried about all the things youre not doing. I think my biggest anxiety at the time was Am I anxious enough? You dont know how deep the rabbit hole goes; you just know that youre in it. Whats sane, whats paranoidonly history bears that out. Things that looked paranoid might have been sane if things had worked out in different ways. The knowing, in the moment, that you dont know the full picture and whats going to happenthat lack of control is whats scary. Its why we do small things we can control to make ourselves feel better, realizing that most things are not within our scope. Whats sane, whats paranoidonly history bears that out. Neither of you hesitated when you were asked to get involved in this work. In the piece, Dale, you write that you told Laura, This is what we do. Its why were journalists. What did you mean by that? Bruder: The only thing Dale told me was that it was for the cause of investigative journalism. For me, that was enough. Even though the media is really fragmented these days, and there is fierce competition between news outlets, I do think that on a deeper level there is a sense of solidarity, and its important to maintain it. If I needed something sent to somebody, Im sure I could find people to help me, too. Its important that were part of a community and that we keep that going. Maharidge: Journalism is not something that I do; its something that I am. Its part of me; its not a job. Bruder: Its an approach to the world. Its not just a profession. Maharidge: Its a mindset. So, from the get-go, when Laura said theres a person that wants to send something, I went into secure mode. It was interesting how much I did right without knowing it. She made me paranoid by making me put my phone in the fridge every time I went to her place. I never did that before. So when things got hotter, Jess and I were putting our phones in the fridge. Even before that, when this mysterious person wanted to send us something, I went to Jess and said Dont talk about it on the phone. Call it elk antlers. (A favorite toy of Jesss dog, Max). I had the presence of mind to go into the proper journalism mode. It was part of my life; it wasnt something I had to think about. Bruder: And even though Dale sounded crazy to me, out of respect for the great world of stuff I did not know, you put your phone in the fridge. It sounded crazy, but what do I know? Part of telling your role in this tale is to humanize a major international surveillance story. Why did you feel it needed that human touch? Bruder: So many people think of surveillance and the state and cryptography, and they see these giant unknowable octopi and things that are just not relevant to them in their ordinary lives. Im hoping that by humanizing the backstory here, we can show people that it is relevant and its something we can all play a part in. You dont need to be some super-sophisticated hacker to care and to make a difference. You dont need to be some super-sophisticated hacker to care and to make a difference. Maharidge: As Jess wrote, its not the realm of cyber ninjas. With video, everyones a journalist now. Anybody with an iPhone thats near police arresting someone instantly becomes a journalist as soon as they pull out their phone. I just saw another video of police kicking a guy on the ground. It was terrible. But if the police had seen the person recording, they may have gone over and taken the phone. They dont have a right to, but if they did, suddenly that evidence is gone. You write in the piece that, These are critical issues, relevant to everyone. Was part of your goal to evangelize for better security practices? Bruder: Yeah, the more people who understand and integrate these tools into their ordinary life and how they communicate, the better it is for the entire community. Its something Ive been encouraging a lot of people who would otherwise think it was narcissistic or weird to do, just to be a part of creating a bigger haystack for the needles. [These practices are] a given to me now, and [theyre] something I learned and thought about a lot throughout this whole process. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Pete Vernon is a former CJR staff writer. Follow him on Twitter @ByPeteVernon. The GOPs decision to pull the American Health Care Act, which would have repealed most of the major provisions of Obamacare, reflects in no small measure the groundswell of opposition from local news outlets. The bill would have substantially increased the number of uninsured, including the 13 million or so that gained coverage under Obamacares Medicaid expansion, and would have eliminated the ACAs essential benefits package, which included coverage for maternity care, mental health services, emergency room visits, and prescription drugs. Editorials and news coverage in numerous American communities responded with a clear message that such measures simply didnt pass muster for their communities. Many in their audiences agreed: A Quinnipiac Poll released yesterday found that only 17 percent of American voters approved of the Republicans bill, while 56 percent didnt. Many editorials found ways to ask the same questionIs this bill good policy?and then answer, conclusively, No. There are so many things wrong with this plan that its hard to know where to begin, wrote the St. Louis Post Dispatchs editorial board. The Star-Ledger in New Jersey attacked the GOPs plan for Medicaid, calling the $880 billion spending reduction over the next decade a savage cut that will gut the program no matter how they spin it. The Akron Beacon Journals editorial board described the structure of the Obamacare exchanges as sound enough. By comparison, the board noted, Trump, Ryan and the rest are misrepresenting things mostly to justify their ill-conceived intervention. The Lincoln Journal Star told readers that the AHCA fell far short of Trumps pledge to come up with a new plan thats going to be better health care for more people at a lesser cost. The Virginian-Pilot declared the Republican plan would make things worse for low-income Americans who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to benefit from subsidies. (There are hundreds of thousands of those folks in Virginia alone, the paper noted.) Two papers in Florida whose coverage areas are represented by GOP congressmen spared no criticism of the proposals; the Gainsville Sun recommended that Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Ted Yoho reject the plan in favor of something that fixes problems with Obamacare and not make things worse. News coverage in many states hinged on similarly blunt statements from sources. The Boston Globe covered a legislative committee meeting where the states Secretary of Health and Human Services Secretary, Marylou Sudders, discussed how cutting Medicaid payments would affect Massachusetts residents who relied on Medicaid to pay for nursing home care. (The Ryan plan would force the state to make its requirements to qualify for nursing home assistance even more onerous.) Sudders simply said, The bill, as currently presented, is not good for us. As editorial boards delivered blunt critiques, many newsrooms delivered sharp stories that brought the impact of the Republican health proposal home. In Montana, Lee Enterprises newspapers like the Billings Gazette and The Missoulian published stories that examined how the loss of Medicaid coverage would affect Native Americans; nearly 10,000 of them had signed up for coverage under Montanas Medicaid expansion. It was really a game-changer, said Dr. David Mark, the CEO of Bighorn Valley Health Center in Hardin, Montana. Its really allowed people to access care in a whole new way. Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project In Louisiana, the Times-Picayune brought home the point that many older people would pay more for insurance under the AHCA. Last year, Jefferson Parisha Republican strongholdhad the states greatest number of residents enrolled in Obamacare policies. One of every four people enrolled was between 55 and 64 years old, and the Times-Picayune explained how many of those people would receive less in tax credits under the AHCA: A 60-year-old resident in Jefferson and Orleans parishes who earns $30,000 a year, for example, stands to lose $4,730 a year in tax credits for health coverage under the GOP plan By contrast, higher-income earners would see their tax credits rise under the GOP plan. A 60-year-old in Jefferson and Orleans parishes who makes $75,000-per-year would see $4,000 more in tax credits under the proposed plan. Some newsrooms used the opposition from their states Republican officials to strengthen their critical coverage. Earlier this week, Michigan Republican Governor Rick Synder sent letters to each member of the states congressional delegation. Snyders letters all warned that the legislation would reduce federal resources that currently assist 2.4 million Michigandersnearly one-quarter of the states population. For each House member, Snyder provided the number of children, seniors, pregnant women and disabled individuals who are served by traditional Medicare in their districts. As you know, the governor said, these our states most vulnerable citizens, friends and neighbors. The proposed AHCA will adversely impact them. Michigans news outlets used Snyders letter to cinch their coverage of the AHCAs impact. TV stations in Lansing and Kalamazoo carried the story. So did the Detroit Free Press and Mlive.com, which also provided readers with a map and a search tool so they could learn how many people in each of the states congressional districts would be affected. At the Detroit News, health reporter Karen Bouffard noted the impact of Medicaid reductions on the state and then pushed beyond the numbers to show how one Detroit mother who frequents a family health center would get less care, if any at all. Bouffard also interviewed the executive director of the Michigan Health Policy Forum, who told her: States are going to have less money to treat more people, and once youre in that situation, there are only a couple things you can do. You can cut the number of eligibles, you can cut the benefits, you can cut provider reimbursements, or you can use state funds to replace where federal funds have fallen short. And none of those options are going to be popular. That quoteobtained by a dedicated health reporter at a time when we have far too fewgets at the hard truth of the American Health Care Act debacle, a truth that many local newsrooms seized on, too. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Trudy Lieberman is a longtime contributing editor to the Columbia Journalism Review. She is the lead writer for CJR's Covering the Health Care Fight. She also blogs for Health News Review and the Center for Health Journalism. Follow her on Twitter @Trudy_Lieberman. CAN GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS PICK AND CHOOSE which news outlets they give comments and information to? A lawsuit filed by a New Mexico alternative weekly against the governor could expand the states press freedom protections with a broader definition of censorship. Or it could quash a newspaper-led effort at accountability and transparency in state government, giving elected officials license to ignore smaller media outlets asking uncomfortable questions. During a three-day bench trial in March, lawyers for the Santa Fe Reporter argued that Gov. Susana Martinezs communications staffers discriminated against them because they didnt like the papers viewpointactions that amount to censorship that violates the state constitution. Reporter staff testified that the administration froze them out after the paper published a major story critical of the governor, ignoring their emails and sitting on their public records requests. The Reporters legal argument is that government cant disregard one news outlets routine requests for comment and information; courts have previously held that the government cant exclude reporters it doesnt like from press conferences or news release email lists. (Disclosure: I have done freelance writing for the Reporter, mostly about food. I have not been involved at all with this lawsuit.) The Reporter filed suit in state district court in 2013, but years of motions filed by the governors contract attorneys kept the case from trial. Now, both sides are laboring over written closing arguments they are expected to submit in early May. There will be time for rebuttals, and then a decision, which is expected in late spring. A victory for the Reporter could limit the abilities of government officials to delay or deny record requests, and force officials to treat all news organizations equally, despite their size or perceived friendliness. Knell told the court he believed his job was determining the best way to convey the governors message, and that communicating with reporters was only a small part of it. THE SUMMER OF 2012 BROUGHT WITH IT the revelation that the governor and administration officials had been using private email accounts to conduct state business. One cabinet secretary (who had been fired by Martinez) said she and other administration officials were told to use personal accounts in order to elude public records requests. A few months after that, a recording surfaced of the governors chief of staff, Keith Gardner, appearing to confirm as much. I never email on my state email anything that can come back to bite my ass. It is all done off-line. I never use my state email because it is all done on different stuff cause I dont want to go to court and jail, Gardner could be heard saying. In court, he testified that his comments were taken out of context. Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project Shortly after, Martinez ordered all executive branch employees to use official email for state business, and open government advocates lauded her for doing so. But Martineza Republican governor in what was then still her first termhad campaigned on bringing ethics, transparency and accountability to Santa Fe. Smelling hypocrisy, the Reporter sank its teeth in and wouldnt let go. In more than two-dozen stories published that year, staff writers sniffed around and dug into the inner workings of the administration. Their efforts culminated in a December 2012 cover story, which charged that in Martinezs administration, access is often limited to a privileged few; that many decisions are made behind closed doors; and that public officials have at times done more to avoid transparency than to foster it. The Reporters story was embarrassing in many ways for the governor. The cover featured a full-page illustration of Martinez as a snarling, angry giant, clutching a filing cabinet full of documents and crashing through the burning ruins of Santa Fe. The story mentioned that some of the emails from that private network (released by the former attorney general, a political rival) revealed a few purchases made by the governor: Spanx, 50 Shades of Grey, and songs by the critically maligned band Nickelback. Those details account for fewer than 50 words in what was ultimately a nearly 4,000-word feature. After that issue was published, there was a noticeable difference in the Reporters relationship with the governors office, former editor Alexa Schirtzinger testified. After becoming frustrated with getting no responses to their queries, staff writer Joey Peters called Gov. Martinezs cell phone and asked for comments on some stories the Reporter was following. With Martinez on speakerphone and a recorder taping the call, Peters, Schirtzinger and another staff writer, Justin Horwath, listened as the governor suggested they call Enrique Knell, her communications director at the time. Peters protested that Knell hadnt been returning their calls. Well I wonder why, Martinez said before hanging up. IN COURT, THE REPORTER LAID OUT its evidence for discrimination. Their lawyer presented a tweet by a Martinez spokesman complaining about a story Horwath published in The Santa Fe New Mexican, where he now works. No surprise given his previous reporting for liberal tabloid, the spokesman tweeted. That tweet echoed an official comment from Knell after the paper filed suit: Its not a surprise that a left-wing weekly tabloid that published stolen emails containing the Governors personal underwear order would file a baseless suit like this. Their public records requests are treated the same as every other citizen in New Mexico. The paper cited those examples as evidence that Martinez and her staff were intentionally denying access to the paper because they were unhappy with its coverage. But in court, the defense denied that charge and argued that the governors communications staff was simply too busy to respond to all inquiriesand, even if they could, they were under no obligation to do so. Knell told the court he believed his job was determining the best way to convey the governors message, and that communicating with reporters was only a small part of it. With limited resources, Knell said, he prioritized responding to the Associated Press and newspapers with higher circulation. The defense suggested that smaller news outlets could get all the information they needed from wire services. During the trial, the governors lawyer tried to paint the Reporter as a lightweight outlet staffed by amateurs. In cross-examination, he asked Schirtzinger, the former editor, about her education and qualifications. After she listed her degrees from Dartmouth and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, he pointedly asked about her brief, post-Peace Corps stint as a dive instructor. The Reporters lawsuit also charges the governors office with stifling its official records requests and improperly refusing to turn over information about pardon requests and the governors daily calendar. The Associated Press sued for the same records in 2013, and obtained some records as part of a 2015 settlement. There is this gap between what the retention laws require to be archived and stored and the definition of what has to be released under the public records laws, which are much broader. The defense suggested reporters from the paper were unreasonably demanding, submitting far more public records requests than other news organizations. Reporter staffers testified that after feeling as though they were shut out, they began submitting requests under the state Inspection of Public Records Act for information they were also requesting via email. Knell said he prioritized the records requests, which the Reporter showed the governors office was able to bunt for months, through extension after extension with no immediate penalty under the law. The Reporter is also suing for damages in the case, in part to strengthen the enforcement of the public records law, which was weakened by a recent decision requiring that plaintiffs show actual damages. We hope well win on the idea that if records are improperly withheld you are still able to collect damages, says the Reporters pro-bono lawyer, Daniel Yohalem. And that, in coordination with attorneys fees, will be a disincentive to withholding or delaying documents. THE CASE MAY ALSO ENABLE REPORTERS to take a bite out of the private email problem. Many public officials have come under fire for using private email accounts and messaging systems, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Vice President Mike Pence, who defended discussing government business on his AOL account when he was governor of Indiana. In many states, including New Mexico, it is not explicitly illegal for public officials to use private accounts, provided that public records contained in them are retained and turned over in response to records requests. During trial questioning about the Reporters public records requests, Martinez administration officials explained that so few emails had been found, even in their official email accounts, because they simply didnt have them. They had been deleted. As part of its lawsuit, the Reporter asks that the government be required to do more rigorous searches and to discipline employees who improperly delete records. This is a persistent problem around the country, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press attorney Adam Marshall tells CJR. There is this gap between what the retention laws require to be archived and stored and the definition of what has to be released under the public records laws, which are much broader. Attempting to prevent public access to the records of government by narrowing the definition in such an extreme way is dangerous, Marshall says. Its hugely detrimental to the public and the form of democratic governance that we generally uphold as being important. Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Gwyneth Doland is a multimedia journalist covering news, politics and culture in New Mexico. A former executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, she is the author of the 2012 and 2015 State Integrity reports for the Center for Public Integrity. She teaches writing, media law and ethics at the University of New Mexico. President Donald Trump is not the only national figure weighing in on the special House election in a red Georgia district the race has attracted more money and attention than the area ever has. Trump jabbed at 30-year-old Democratic House candidate Jon Ossoff in a Monday tweet, saying the "super liberal Democrat" wants to "protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes." The president's attack comes with Ossoff leading polls in an 18-candidate field as he tries to flip the traditionally Republican seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. The Georgia 6th District election, one of the first for Congress in the Trump era, has attracted more cash from around the country than the district has ever seen. Almost all of that money has gone toward helping or directly opposing Ossoff, a former congressional aide. A mysterious candidate named Rodney Stooksbury spent just $346 to win more than a third of the votes cast in the 2016 general election for the seat. The crowded field in Tuesday's election would love that kind of return on investment. As of March 29, Ossoff had raised $8.3 million and spent $6.1 million more than double the highest amount Price spent in any one of his seven election campaigns there. The sum does not include funds raised in the more than two weeks since. Price first won the House seat in 2004 and never spent more than $2.5 million in an election. Ossoff's haul is all the more remarkable because Price was no slouch with spending he spent more than the average Republican and Democratic House incumbent in 2016. The candidates to replace Price include Ossoff and several Republicans, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, businessman Bob Gray and former state Sens. Judson Hill and Dan Moody. Most recent polls have shown Ossoff with roughly 40 percent of support, with the four Republicans trailing him holding more than 50 percent of the support, combined. Ossoff has easily outraised his opponents. As of March 29, Handel raised about $463,000, Hill garnered about $473,000 and Moody about $108,000. If no candidate in Tuesday's election wins 50 percent of the vote, it goes to a June runoff. The top two candidates will advance regardless of party. Ossoff would face a much tougher task in a runoff, as support would likely coalesce around a Republican. The high-profile contest, which some see as an early test of whether Democrats can flip Republican districts in the Trump era, has sparked the interest of outside groups, as well. It is one of four special elections in which a red seat is up for grabs, vacated by a Trump nominee. Republicans held off the first major House challenge in Kansas' red 4th District, as the GOP's Ron Estes beat Democrat James Thompson by 7 points last week. Still, some Democrats are upbeat about the margin, as new CIA Director Mike Pompeo, whose nomination as CIA director opened up the seat, won the district by 31 points last year. The New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) has fined Excellus Health Plans, Inc. $1 million for wrongly denying contraceptive coverage. A DFS investigation found that the health insurer wrongly denied contraceptive coverage to customers due to internal system and process errors, failed to promptly pay or deny claims, and failed to acknowledge or resolve consumer grievances within time frames required by law. A DFS market-conduct examination found that Excellus erroneously denied 1,000 claims for contraceptive coverage between 2008 and 2013 due to an error in coding. DFS is taking this action to ensure that women receive the reproductive healthcare benefits they are entitled to under New York law, Maria Vullo, financial-services superintendent, said in a news release. Health insurers cannot deny New Yorkers of their State-mandated contraceptive coverage for any reason. In addition, consumers are entitled to prompt payment of claims and responses from their health insurers, as required by New York Insurance Law. Under the consent order, Excellus has agreed to take all steps necessary to correct all violations and to comply with New York State Insurance Law and Regulations in the future, DFS said. Elizabeth Martin, VP of communication for Excellus eastern markets, provided BJNN with the following statement regarding the DFS fine. The key findings in the report relate to items from a few years ago. Those issues were addressed when we completed a major transformation project which consolidated several computer platforms down to one. The changes we made have brought about significant improvements to our claims payment system, Excellus said. Rochesterbased Excellus BlueCross BlueShield is Central New Yorks largest health insurer. The investigation DFS is currently investigating whether insurers are complying with New Yorks contraceptive coverage laws, following an undercover sting that found many insurers were giving inaccurate information to consumers. Under New York State Insurance Law, health insurers must provide contraceptive coverage with no copayments, deductibles or any out-of-pocket costs. They must also provide their members accurate information about their rights to this coverage. The DFS investigation also found that Excellus did not make prompt payment of certain health-care claims, payment of interest on some claims and failed to deny some claims on a timely basis. Excellus also failed to acknowledge grievances by 482 customers within 15 business days and failed to resolve 339 grievances within the 30-day period mandated by New York Insurance Law, per the release. Under state law, health plans in New York are required to provide coverage for all contraceptive drugs and devices. All non-grandfathered health plans must cover at least one form of contraception in each of the FDA-approved contraceptive delivery methods without co-pays, coinsurance or deductibles. DFS recently issued a report describing an undercover sting investigation that discovered that certain New York health insurers are providing consumers with incorrect information about contraceptive coverage. Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com BJNN file photo by Eric Reinhardt The South Pacific Tourism Organization (SPTO) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the South Pacific Cruise Alliance (SPCA) for greater cooperation on the development of the cruise tourism industry in the greater Pacific Islands region, according to the American Samoa Visitors Bureau. SPCA is a private and public sector cruise alliance made up of members from American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Pitcairn Islands, Samoa and Tonga. The SPTO aims to collaborate with key cruise industry partners, government and private sector members such as SPCA to open up opportunities for existing and new cruise destinations in the Pacific and better coordinate priority areas of marketing and development under the Pacific Cruise Tourism Development Strategy (2015 2019), for the benefit of its members. Said to be the peak mandated body for tourism development and marketing in 16 Pacific Island Countries, the SPTO will work with its Pacific Islands member governments towards creating enabling environments for the further development of cruise tourism industries. The American Samoa Visitors Bureau said that the Pacific cruise traffic has grown by 43 percent in the last three years and currently generates around US$640 million per year for the region. New Caledonia and Vanuatu lead the charge, making up 78 percent of the total number of cruise visits in the South Pacific. American Samoa will have three cruise calls in April. The Noordam will be in Pago Pago Harbor on April 16 and both the Emerald and Sea Princess on April 22. While having two ships visit on one day is becoming an annual event in American Samoa, the visit by the Emerald and Sea Princess ships will be a record with over 8,100 passengers and crew. The latest available figures (2015) show of the 799 calls in the region, New Caledonia had 429, Vanuatu 256 and Fiji 115. Cruise tourism is described as an emerging industry in other Pacific Island countries like Tonga, where the Vuna Port in Nukualofa has recently undergone a multi-million dollar upgrade and is attracting more visiting cruise vessels. Samoa is gearing towards further improvements to the Apia wharf and French Polynesia plans to build a new cruise port terminal by 2020. Small island states such as Tuvalu and Kiribati, which currently receive one or two visiting cruise ships a year, would benefit from the development of expedition segment of the cruise market, involving smaller cruise ships. Cruise ships are said to bring a much-needed source of additional employment and income to remote communities by linking travelers to outer islands that are not as easily accessed by air. Further, the cruise tourism sector presents opportunities for greater labor mobility in the Pacific, according to the American Samoa Visitors Bureau. Is your credit union prepared for the next generation gap? Millennials (born 1980 to 1994) have been a topic of focus over the past several years, with good reason. At 83 million strong, millennials deserve your attention. Yet, there is a new generation that is about to hit the workforce. Generation Z (born 1995 to 2012) will begin to graduate from college this spring. At 73 million, the members of Gen Z are still being mistaken for millennials. This comes as no surprise as all young people tend to get lumped into the millennial ranks, even though half of the nations millennials are now parents themselves, according to Time magazine. What do you know about Gen Z? Remember that millennials were raised by baby boomers who taught them that if everyone pitches in, everyone wins. They were also taught to be themselves, question authority and to chase their dreams. Good advice from a generation that pioneered the new economy. Gen Z is a product of angsty Gen Xers who know that economic bubbles burst, jobs often get cut, 401(k)s dont always grow and no extra points are awarded for participation in Little League. As a result, Generation Z is independent, focused and fiercely competitive. According to the Institute for Corporate Productivity, half of Gen Z would rather work independently than collaborate and would prefer their own office to open environments. Sixty percent say they want a long career with one company and half would rather get a job than create one. I like these kids! How can your credit union plan to capture the next generation wave? If millennials are the mobile pioneers, Gen Z are mobile natives! Generation Z is the first generation to grow up completely digital. Unlike millennials, they dont remember life before smartphones and constant Wi-Fi. Todays teens had phones when they were in elementary or middle school, compared to high school or college for their older counterparts. As Gen Z enters the workforce be prepared for them to lead the high tech high touch charge. Gen Z battle plan: 1. Smartphones. If your credit union is not mobile, stop reading and rethink your technology strategy now! Phones are a life changing event according to a study conducted by Google. The top milestones for teens today are: Graduating from school Getting a license Getting a phone 2. Devices. User experience should be a focus of your internet banking platform, website and loan products, not just your mobile banking app. Gen Z has more devices at their disposal than any other generation. Teens today use multiple devices: 78% Smartphone 69% Laptop 68% Television 62% Gaming console 52% Tablet 50% Desktop Computer While todays teens have a reputation as gamers, smartphones, laptops, and TVs still reign supreme. Source: Google Think 3.Video. Mobile is the new primetime. Watching mobile video is how teens spend a lot of their time. If you want to capture Gen Zs attention consider YouTube video campaigns and social media. Teens spend 3+ hours per day on the following activities: 71% Watching videos online 52% Using messaging apps 51% social networking Source: Google Think 4.Shopping. Gen Z is a generation of mobile shoppers, which means other activities such as applying for a loan on a mobile device will not feel foreign. 53% of teens make regular purchases on their smartphones and this number is increasing. Why? 61% Its more convenient 49% Find better deals online 41% Its faster Source: Google Think 5. Connected. They grew up in a connected world, which means your credit union will need technologies to facilitate those connections. Being connected doesnt mean 247 or even expanding Saturday hours. Teens prefer to connect with people via text more than twice as much as messaging apps or in person. 38% Text message 18% App message 15% In-person Source: Google Think 6. Cool. Gen Z is the only age group that say ads influence their perception of cool products. According to teens here are the top 3 aspects that make a product cool. Friends talking about it They see an ad about it If something is personalized to them Source: Google Think We have all learned the impact and need of technology as we have adjusted to market to millennials. Well, now its time to double-down on that approach as Gen Z comes of age. While an app may be sufficient for your millennial members, keep in mind Gen Z will expect a lot more and you better be cool. Vodacom Tanzania is considering whether to push back the deadline for parties to register their interest in its upcoming IPO, which is thus far under-subscribed. With the current deadline set on 19th April, the operator is reportedly also considering allowing international participants, with East Africa a particular area of interest. Vodacom is offering TZS476 billion worth of shares, making the offer Tanzanias biggest IPO to date. While the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange is banking on the IPO raising its market capitalisation by 2.4% to around TZS20.7 trillion, others are not so optimistic. Fortius Rutabingwa, head of market research at the broker Orbit Securities, noted that the IPO was still below target, while fellow broker Core Securities has only committed to buying half of the shares it had aimed to, pledging TZS100 billion ($44.7 million). However, Vodacom itself was more upbeat, with head of corporate affairs Rosalynn Mworia saying: We have witnessed increased interest and applications over the past few days, which we hope will see to a successful close of Vodacoms IPO. All eight of Tanzanias operators are legally compelled to float 25% of their shares, under threat of penalties or losing their licences. Non-domestic parties currently may not bid in the auction, but the Capital Markets and Securities Authority may renege on this if Tanzanian investors do not acquire the available stakes. The three largest operators in Thailand have been given a one month deadline to install fingerprint scanners to register all subscribers to an online ID database. AIS, dtac and True have until next month to deploy the scanners at 600 service centres in 200 locations. By the end of 2017, they will need to extend the rollout to 8000 locations across the country, with penalties looming if they fail to hit these targets. In November, regulator NBTC (National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission) confirmed that it was introducing a fingerprint ID system for registering all SIM cards, with which the countrys operators would need to comply. Mobile users are being encouraged to register voluntarily for security purposes. NBTCs focus on fingerprint verification comes as a result of several instances of mobile banking fraud during 2016. The regulator will store all registered fingerprints on a central database, with the system tying into operators current obligatory SIM registration systems. MVNOs will also be required to install fingerprint ID scanners, although the actual number required has not yet been decided, according to NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith. All operators can cover the cost of implementing the ID system by deducting it from their yearly USO (universal service obligation) payment, which is calculated as 3.5% of their annual revenue. DALLAS, April 18, 2017 -- Working-age people who have fainting spells (a condition known as syncope) have a higher risk of occupational accidents and job loss, compared to adults without the condition, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal. Syncope is characterized by a sudden loss of consciousness followed by spontaneous recovery. In a Danish study comparing adults age 18 to 64 with recurrent syncope to those without it, those with syncope had: a 1.4-fold increased risk of occupational accidents; and a 2-fold higher risk of loss of employment (31 percent vs 15 percent), Also, patients with recurrent syncope who were young, had poor socioeconomic status, or additional conditions (such as cardiovascular disease or depression), were particularly at high risk of workplace accidents or job termination. Researchers said the study is the first to show a significant association between syncope and work-related outcomes. "We believe that our findings shed light on a hidden consequence of syncope," said Anna-Karin Nume, M.D., the study's first author and a research fellow in the cardiology department at Copenhagen University Herlev Gentofte Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark. "The ability to feel safe at work and maintain a full-time job addresses an indirect effect and cost of syncope beyond the usual clinical parameters such as mortality and hospitalization. Employment is more than a measure of performance status; besides its financial importance, it is crucial for self-esteem and quality of life." Nume and colleagues identified 21,729 patients who had a first-time diagnosis of syncope that required a trip to the emergency room or hospitalization. Of that number, 49.5 percent were employed at that time and most returned to work within a month of hospital discharge. Researchers noted that 622 patients had a subsequent occupational accident and 36 involved severe injuries such as fracture, amputation crush or internal bleeding. Accidents were most frequent among those working manual jobs. The study was based on 2008-2013 data covering residents from Denmark's national population-based registers. The median age was 48, and 49.7 percent were men. One of the Danish study's limitations is the lack of information on potentially relevant factors such as the individuals' work environment, their habits and health behaviors, or exact circumstances of the syncopal events. Consequently, causal effects cannot be established, only associations, and the results should be interpreted with caution. The results may apply to similar Western countries, yet researchers advise caution when making comparisons because of differences in health, social security and other policies that may exist. "People with fainting episodes should be evaluated medically and have appropriate interventions to help them maintain their employment and keep safe at work," Nume said. "In general, syncope can be managed, and workplace risks might be managed by a change in job duties, such as avoidance of operating heavy equipment." "We hope that our findings will stimulate more research to examine why syncope is associated with adverse employment outcomes and to identify and test preventive strategies," she said. "Until then, we urge physicians to ask patients with syncope about their work to reduce any adverse consequences of syncope and educate them about underlying mechanisms and coping strategies." ### Co-authors are Kristian Kragholm, M.D., Ph.D.; Nicolas Carlson, M.D.; Soren Kristensen, M.D, Ph.D.; Henrik Boggild, M.D., Ph.D.; Mark Hlatky, M.D.; Christian Torp-Pedersen, M.D., DSc; Gunnar Gislason, M.D., Ph.D.; and Martin Ruwald, M.D., Ph.D. Author disclosures are on the manuscript. The Department of Cardiology at Gentofte University Hospital funded the study. Additional Resources: After April 18, view the manuscript online Researcher photo available on the right column of the release link Experts Release Guidelines for Evaluating, Managing Syncope What is syncope? Follow AHA/ASA news on Twitter @HeartNews. Follow Circulation CV Quality and Outcomes on Twitter @CircOutcomes Statements and conclusions of study authors published in American Heart Association scientific journals are solely those of the study authors and do not necessarily reflect the association's policy or position. The association makes no representation or guarantee as to their accuracy or reliability. The association receives funding primarily from individuals; foundations and corporations (including pharmaceutical, device manufacturers and other companies) also make donations and fund specific association programs and events. The association has strict policies to prevent these relationships from influencing the science content. Revenues from pharmaceutical and device corporations and health insurance providers are available at http://www.heart.org/corporatefunding. CINCINNATI - Transcription factors, the tiny proteins that switch genes on or off in the nucleus of cells, are considered unreachable molecular targets for drugs attempting to treat medical conditions. Overcoming this challenge, researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center discovered a small molecular compound that successfully blocks a transcription factor and its pro-inflammatory and hyper-mucous activity in asthma. In a study published online April 18 by Science Signaling, scientists test a new compound they call RCM-1. The substance inhibits the transcription factor FOXM1 and a long downstream chain of pro-inflammatory processes it fuels in asthmatic airways. They show that RMC-1 treatment prevents overproduction of mucous-generating goblet cells in the lungs of mice with asthma and in human airway cell cultures. Calling their compound a new therapeutic candidate for people with severe asthma and other chronic airway diseases, researchers say with additional research and development their discovery could lead to future clinical trials for asthma, Cystic Fibrosis and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). All are severe pulmonary diseases associated with increased inflammation and mucous hyper-secretion. "Traditional targets for drugs are receptors on cell surfaces, which are easy to reach. Transcription factors are inside cell nuclei and difficult to reach," said Vladimir Kalinichenko, MD, PhD, the study's lead investigator and a member of the Division of Pulmonary Biology. "RCM-1 keeps FOXM1 from entering the cell nucleus by activating cell machinery called proteasomes that degrade the transcription factor. This was very efficient at reducing lung inflammation and production of mucous-generating goblet cells in our tests." Better treatments needed Kalinichenko said the research is driven by the need to develop more effective treatments for people with severe asthma and other debilitating lung ailments like COPD. Current clinical management for asthma focuses on reducing lung and airway inflammation triggered by allergens, such as house dust mites, mold, etc. Therapeutic agents able to directly affect gene regulatory networks that trigger inflammation and mucous-producing goblet cells would potentially be more efficient at slowing or stopping disease progression. Leveraging the ongoing research of his laboratory into FOXM1 - which also plays a key role in lung cancer - Kalinichenko's team identified the RCM-1 compound during a computer-supported biological imaging screen of 50,000 small compounds stored at the University of Cincinnati Genome Research Center. The scientists searched specifically for compounds that would target FOXM1 and inhibit its activation of downstream pro-inflammatory molecules that drive overproduction of mucous-generating goblet cells. Successful lab testing The research team then tested RMC-1 in cultured human airway epithelial cells and mouse models of asthma (via injection into the animals' peritoneal cavities). The mice were either sensitized with house dust mite allergens or treated with a pro-inflammatory molecule called interleukin 13 (IL-13), which induces mucous production in airway diseases. Microscopic images show that RMC-1 prevented FOXM1 from entering the nucleus in cultured human airway epithelial cells and in mouse allergen-sensitized respiratory airways. It also decreased airway hyper-responsiveness to allergen, reduced lung inflammation and improved lung function in mice sensitized to house dust mite allergens. FOXM1 also prevented IL-13 from causing goblet cell expansion in mice that were given the pro-inflammatory molecule intra-nasally. Translating the science Before the research team's identification of RMC-1 could eventually lead to clinical trials, Kalinichenko said the researchers will first need to test RCM-1 in more sophisticated animal models of respiratory diseases. This will help address issues related to dosage, toxicity, optimal methods of therapeutic delivery, etc. In their future work, the researchers also want to refine the chemical structure of RCM-1 to make it more efficient and to improve the method of therapeutic delivery. This includes seeing if the compound can be packaged into nanoparticles for intravenous injection. The researchers have applied for a patent on RCM-1, working through the Cincinnati Children's Center for Technology Commercialization. ### Funding support for this research came in part from: the National Institutes of Health (HL84151, HL123490, HL132849, CA142724); a Research Scholar Grant (RSG-13-325) from the American Cancer Society; the National Health Research Institutes of Taiwan (NHRI-EX105-10309BC); and from the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (MOST102-2628-B-007-003-MY3). The commonly used antibiotic azithromycin is not linked to an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia, an often life-threatening rapid, irregular heartbeat, according to a large study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Azithromycin is an antibiotic commonly used to treat bacterial infections -- mostly respiratory and urinary tract infections -- in people of all ages. It belongs to a class of drugs known as macrolides, of which at least one other drug, erythromycin, is known to disrupt the heart's normal rhythm, leading to a condition known as ventricular arrhythmia. Several recent studies have reported conflicting results over whether azithromycin is linked to an increased risk of death from ventricular arrhythmia in people taking the antibiotic. To provide clarity among these conflicting findings, a team of European researchers looked at data on nearly 29 million people in health care databases from Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark to determine if there is a link between azithromycin and ventricular arrhythmia. Of the more than 14 million new antibiotic users, 0.1% (12 874) people developed ventricular arrhythmia, of whom 30 were new users of azithromycin. When compared to amoxicillin, another commonly used antibiotic, from the penicillin class of drugs, there was no increased risk of this heart condition in people using azithromycin. However, there was an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia in people taking azithromycin compared to people not using antibiotics at all. "This finding suggests that the risk of ventricular arrhythmia is more likely to be due to a person's poor health and caused by their infection, rather than to azithromycin itself," says Dr. Gianluca Trifiro, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morpho-functional Imaging, University of Messina, Italy. "This finding was confirmed in several sensitivity analyses and replicated in single databases participating in the study." The authors note these findings may not be applied in hospital settings as the health of patients and use of antibiotics is quite different in community settings, from which the data were drawn. "Current azithromycin use was associated with an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia when compared with nonuse of antibiotics, but not when compared with current amoxicillin use. The decreased risk with an active comparator suggests significant confounding by indication," the authors conclude. ### The study was conducted by researchers from Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands; University of Messina, Messina, Italy; Italian College of General Practitioners, Florence, Italy; PHARMO Institute for Drug Outcomes Research, Utrecht, Netherlands; Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology - BIPS Gmbh, Bremen, Germany; University of Bologna, Italy; Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark; and King's College, London, United Kingdom. The cybersecurity workforce, which is currently struggling to fill seats with qualified talent, may have some newfound optimism. Over the past two weeks, upwards of 18,000 middle and high school students from across the United States learned and honed computer security skills in this year's picoCTF online hacking contest, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University's CyLab Security and Privacy Institute. The competition officially ended Friday, April 14, 2017. "I am very impressed by the amount of effort the participants put in and how much they accomplished over two weeks," said Marty Carlisle, picoCTF's technical lead and a teaching professor in Carnegie Mellon's Information Networking Institute. "I'm hoping these students will continue to pursue computer security and that I'll get a chance to work with some of them here at Carnegie Mellon." The winning team, "1064CBread," from Dos Pueblos High School in Goleta, CA, will receive their $5,000 cash award at an awards ceremony next month at Carnegie Mellon University's campus in Pittsburgh, PA. The second place team, "phsst," will receive $2,500 and consisted of students from Naperville North High School (IL), Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (VA), and Montgomery County Public Schools (MD). Team "Thee in/s/ane Potato" will receive $1,500 for finishing in third, and consisted of students from Thomas Jefferson High School (PA) and Stuyvesant High School (NY). "I think picoCTF is going to change lives here," said Anita Johnson, a teacher at Kealing Middle School in Austin, Texas, who had thirty-two of her students participate in picoCTF. "It has been a tremendous learning experience for all of us. What surprises and pleases me the most is the level of interest from the girls." During a two-week period beginning March 31, over 12,000 teams of students from across the United States attempted to hack, decrypt, reverse-engineer, and do anything necessary to solve 68 computer security challenges created by Carnegie Mellon's competitive hacking team, the Plaid Parliament of Pwning. Anyone could sign up and participate, but only United States students in grades 6-12 were eligible for prizes. ### Philadelphia, PA, April 18, 2017 - In the past, all forms of metastatic prostate cancer have been considered incurable. In recent years, the FDA has approved six drugs for men with metastatic disease, all of which can increase survival. In a study published in Urology, researchers demonstrate for the first time that an aggressive combination of systemic therapy (drug treatment) with local therapy (surgery and radiation) directed at both the primary tumor and metastasis can eliminate all detectable disease in selected patients with metastatic prostate cancer. While the study is only a first step, one-fifth of the patients treated had no detectable disease, with an undetectable prostate-specific-androgen (PSA) and normal blood testosterone, after 20 months. The results suggest that some men who have previously been considered incurable can possibly be cured; investigators also establish a new paradigm for testing various drug combinations in conjunction with local treatment of the prostate to determine which is the best approach (ie, has the highest undetectable disease rate). Such results could not have been achieved with any single therapy alone. According to lead investigator Howard I. Scher, MD, Chief of the Genitourinary Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, "The sequential use of the three different modalities helped illustrate the role and importance of each in achieving the undetectable PSA with normal testosterone level end point, which represents a 'no-evidence of disease' status." Longer follow-up is needed to determine whether these patients were in fact cured. Twenty men with metastatic prostate cancer, five with extra-pelvic lymph nodal disease and 15 with bone with or without nodal disease, were treated with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), radical surgery that included a retroperitoneal lymph node dissection as needed, and radiation therapy to visible metastatic lesions in bone. ADT was stopped after a minimum of six months if an undetectable PSA was achieved after combined modality therapy. Other patients were treated continuously. The combined treatment regimen including surgery was well tolerated. Matthew J. O'Shaughnessy, MD, PhD, Urology Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, commented "While the role of local therapy in metastatic prostate cancer is still under investigation, aggressive resection of visible disease performed by experienced surgeons was critical to the outcome." Scientists to collaborate to characterize Colombia's biodiversity, home to 1 in 10 of the world's plant and animal species Researchers are embarking on a major collaboration to characterise Colombia's plant and animal life, from densely rich cloud forests to little-seen museum collections. International research organisations led by Prof Federica Di Palma Director of Science of the Earlham Institute have formed BRIDGE Colombia, a multidisciplinary network, to understand, promote, and preserve Colombia's biodiversity through responsible innovation. The partners met for a workshop in Bogota on 13-15 March to agree new ways to protect and valorize Colombia's natural diversity in this post-conflict era. Colombia is a "megadiverse" country, home to nearly 10% of the planet's total biodiversity and almost one in 20 of all plant species worldwide. Over half is covered by forest, while wetlands and vast tropical grassland add to the mix. Record numbers of rare species abound including around 100 endangered mammals, 34 species of endangered hummingbird, and 2,500 plant species in danger of extinction. From an initial team of four people a year ago at the Earlham Institute, Prof Di Palma has galvanised support from 23 UK and Colombian organisations to create a lasting legacy of research to benefit the wildlife, landscape and people. "As well as being a source of wonder, the abundance of life in Colombia is essential to help end hunger and malnutrition and to achieve economic growth and peace," says Prof Di Palma. "We would be nothing, eat nothing and breathe nothing, without the diversity of life that exists on this planet. If biodiversity is lost, so is the ability to adapt to challenges like population growth and climate change," she says. The new network will help build Colombia's research capacity, an opportunity made possible by the peace process signed with armed groups. As well as characterising the country's biodiversity, research is needed to demonstrate the economic value of natural resources and to develop the bioeconomy. Some of the most remote and richly biodiverse areas of the country were under control of armed groups and inaccessible to researchers. There are now fewer restrictions to conduct studies in the field. Just last year a new species of golden frog was discovered in the high Andes and further discoveries might now be possible. Field studies are also needed to understand the threats to biodiversity so that effective policies can be put in place to curb them. UK institutions can provide access to technology, such as advanced genetic sequencing and informatics, as well as expertise through exchange programmes and training. The University of Sydney is also involved in the network, sharing experience with species conservation and management programmes. Research projects within the network are helping to establish species' conservation status, improve crop breeding to make farming more efficient and assess socio-economic challenges associated with biodiversity. At the recent workshop, the partners agreed on resolutions to protect existing biodiversity, to use biological resources in a sustainable way and to improve the technological self-sufficiency of Colombia. Resolutions also focus on reconciliation to help promote economic growth for all. The new network supports ongoing efforts to build a biodiversity inventory of Colombia. For example, via the Colombia BIO programme launched last year to increase the Colombian inventory and genetic library of biodiversity and to strengthen biological collections. The Network is strongly aligned with the Colombia BIO initiative (led by COLCIENCIAS), and associated Newton Fund research partnerships (BBSRC, NERC, AHRC). The Network also works to align with the aims of the Ministries of Environment, Agriculture, and Post-Conflict, to guide the priorities and activities. Felipe Garcia Cardona, Director of Colombia Bio, a joint Colombia-UK bioeconomy research programme, says: "At this very important time in Colombian history, we can connect academic and private institutions in the UK and Colombia to generate the knowledge necessary for stimulating economic and social growth around our rich natural heritage." Luis Calzadilla from the British Council says: "The historical moment Colombia is going through requires the country to connect with the world's best research practitioners. This is a unique opportunity for Colombia and the UK to work together on science and innovation to create a sustainable bio-economy. This network is a good example of the kind of partnerships that will make it possible." BRIDGE stands for: Biodiversity, Responsibility, Innovation, Development, Growth, and Education Or: Biodiversidad, Responsabilidad, Innovacion, Desarrollo, Ganancia, y Educacion BRIDGE Colombia is focused on preserving, restoring, and managing Colombian biodiversity through responsible innovation. ### Massive landslides, similar to those found on Earth, are occurring on the asteroid Ceres. That's according to a new study led by the Georgia Institute of Technology, adding to the growing evidence that Ceres retains a significant amount of water ice. The study is published in the journal Nature Geoscience. It used data from NASA's Dawn spacecraft to identify three different types of landslides, or flow features, on the Texas-sized asteroid. Type I are relatively round, large and have thick "toes" at their ends. They look similar to rock glaciers and icy landslides in Earth's arctic. Type I landslides are mostly found at high latitudes, which is also where the most ice is thought to reside near Ceres' surface. Type II features are the most common of Ceres' landslides and look similar to deposits left by avalanches on Earth. They are thinner and longer than Type I and found at mid-latitudes. The authors affectionately call one such Type II landslide "Bart" because of its resemblance to the elongated head of Bart Simpson from TV's "The Simpsons." Ceres' Type III features appear to form when some of the ice is melted during impact events. These landslides at low latitudes are always found coming from large-impact craters. Georgia Tech Assistant Professor and Dawn Science Team Associate Britney Schmidt led the study. She believes it provides more proof that the asteroid's shallow subsurface is a mixture of rock and ice. "Landslides cover more area in the poles than at the equator, but most surface processes generally don't care about latitude," said Schmidt, a faculty member in the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. "That's one reason why we think it's ice affecting the flow processes. There's no other good way to explain why the poles have huge, thick landslides; mid-latitudes have a mixture of sheeted and thick landslides; and low latitudes have just a few." The study's researchers were surprised at just how many landslides Ceres has in general. About 20 percent to 30 percent of craters greater than 6 miles (10 kilometers) wide have some type of landslide associated with them. Such widespread features formed by "ground ice" processes, made possible because of a mixture of rock and ice, have only been observed before on Earth and Mars. Based on the shape and distribution of landslides on Ceres, the authors estimate that the upper layers of Ceres may range from 10 percent to 50 percent ice by volume. "These landslides offer us the opportunity to understand what's happening in the upper few kilometers of Ceres," said Georgia Tech Ph.D. student Heather Chilton, a co-author on the paper. "That's a sweet spot between information about the upper meter or so provided by the GRaND (Gamma Ray and Neutron Detector (GRaND) and VIR (Visible and Infrared Spectrometer) instrument data, and the tens of kilometers-deep structure elucidated by crater studies." "It's just kind of fun that we see features on this small planet that remind us of those on the big planets, like Earth and Mars," Schmidt said. "It seems more and more that Ceres is our innermost icy world." ### The Dawn mission is managed by JPL for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington, D.C. Dawn is a project of the directorate's Discovery Program, managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. UCLA is responsible for overall Dawn mission science. Orbital ATK Inc., in Dulles, Virginia, designed and built the spacecraft. The German Aerospace Center, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Italian Space Agency and Italian National Astrophysical Institute are international partners on the mission team. For a complete list of mission participants, visit: http://dawn.jpl.nasa.gov/mission In recent years scientists, clinicians and pharmaceutical companies have been struggling to find new antibiotics or alternative strategies against multi-drug resistant bacteria that represent nowadays a serious health problem. In a breakthrough study now published in PLOS Biology*, Isabel Gordo and her team at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (IGC; Portugal) identified a compensatory mechanism in bacteria that might be used in the future as a new therapeutic target against multi-drug resistant bacteria. As spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria increases, it is important to understand how are they being maintained in populations. Antibiotics target essential bacteria cellular functions. However, bacteria can evolve and become resistant to these drugs by acquiring mutations in genes involved in those functions. This comes at a cost for bacteria, as most drug resistant mutations are prejudicial in the absence of the antibiotic. To overcome this, bacteria can acquire additional compensatory mutations. How these compensatory mutations evolve in multi-drug resistant bacteria was completely unknown, and was what Isabel Gordo's team proposed to study now. Previous results from Isabel Gordo's laboratory showed that genetic interactions between resistance mutations are frequent and are the driver for multi-resistance. Now, the researchers showed that the pace of the compensatory adaptation in multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli (E. coli) strains is faster than for strains carrying a single resistance mutation. Most importantly, they were able to identify the key proteins involved in the compensatory mechanism of multi-drug resistant bacteria. These results came from the analysis of E. coli strains with single resistance to rifampicin and to streptomycin antibiotics, and strains with resistance to both antibiotics, grown in antibiotic-free media. "If we use a very simplistic metaphor and compare bacteria with a car, we would say that many mutations that confer resistance to streptomycin affect the motor of the cell that drives the production of proteins (the ribosome), whereas resistances to rifampicin come from mutations in the accelerator of that motor (a protein called RNA polymerase). We now discovered that the compensatory mechanism of multi-drug resistant E. coli encompasses mutations in the 'clutch', i.e. in proteins that link the cell's 'motor' with the 'accelerator'", explains Isabel Gordo. The IGC researcher further adds: "If we can block the proteins now identified we may be able to kill multi-drug resistant bacteria, since we would be eliminating this compensatory mechanism that favours their growth in the population." The research team predicts that the mechanism now discovered might be generally used in several other multi-drug resistances, since antibiotics target the same cellular mechanisms. Hence, the proteins now identified can be good candidate targets for the design of therapies against multi-drug resistant bacteria. ### This study was conducted at Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia and funded by European Research Council and the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (Portugal). *Moura de Sousa J, Balbontin R, Durao P, Gordo I (2017) Multidrug-resistant bacteria compensate for the epistasis between resistances. PLoS Biol 15(4): e2001741. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.2001741 Scientists of the Luxembourg Institute of Health (LIH) have discovered a so far unknown molecular mechanism by which the human immune system activates its immune cells: T cells, a particular type of white blood cells, effectively ward off pathogens if a gene known as Gclc is expressed within them. The Gclc gene encodes a protein instrumental for the production of a substance called glutathione - a molecule that was previously known only to eliminate harmful waste products of metabolism such as reactive oxygen species and free radicals. A team led by LIH researcher Prof Dirk Brenner, FNR ATTRACT fellow and Head of the Experimental & Molecular Immunology research group at the Department of Infection and Immunity, has discovered that glutathione also stimulates T cells' energy metabolism. This way, when in contact with pathogens, T-cells can grow, divide and fight off intruders such as viruses. Glutathione is thus an important molecular switch for the immune system. This discovery offers starting points and perspectives to develop new therapeutic strategies for targeting cancer and autoimmune diseases. The scientists publish their findings today in the world's most prestigious immunology journal, Immunity (DOI: 10.1016/j.immuni.2017.03.019.). "Our body has to keep our immune system in a carefully balanced equilibrium", says Prof Dirk Brenner. "If the body's innate defences are overactive, then they turn against the body. This is what happens in autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis or arthritis, for example. However if the defences are too weak, then infections cannot be handled or body cells can proliferate uncontrolled and grow to form tumours, which can become life threatening." Immune cells such as T cells therefore normally reside in a state of alert hibernation, with their energy consumption reduced to a minimum. If pathogens or parts thereof dock onto their outer envelope, then the T cells wake up and boost their metabolism. This necessarily creates greater amounts of metabolic waste products, such as reactive oxygen species (ROS) and free radicals, which can be toxic for the cells. When the concentration of these oxidants increases, the T cells have to produce more antioxidants so as not to be poisoned. No previous research group had studied the mechanism of action of antioxidants in T cells to great detail before. In exploring this phenomenon, Prof Brenner's team discovered that the antioxidant glutathione produced by T cells serves not only as a garbage collector to dispose of ROS and free radicals, it is also a key switch for energy metabolism that controls the immune response, and is thus of high relevance to various diseases. "These fascinating results form a basis for a targeted intervening in the metabolism of immune cells and for developing a new generation of immunotherapies," explains Prof Markus Ollert, Director of LIH's Department of Infection and Immunity. For their investigations, the scientists employed genetically modified mice in whose T cells the Gclc gene was removed and therefore these cells could not produce glutathione. "In these mice, we discovered that the control of viruses is impaired - mice that lack the Gclc gene have an immunodeficiency. But by the same token, this also meant the mice could not develop any autoimmune disease such as multiple sclerosis." Further tests performed by Prof. Brenner's team demonstrated the reason for this: "The mice cannot produce any glutathione in their T-cells," Prof Brenner continues, "and so a number of other signalling events that directly boost metabolism and increase energy consumption are lacking." As a result, without glutathione, T-cells do not become fully functional; they remain in their state of hibernation and no self-destructive autoimmune response occurs. Prof Karsten Hiller from the Braunschweig University of Technology who collaborated with the Luxembourgish scientists adds: "It is intriguing to see that cellular metabolism and immune activation are so tightly entangled and that a fine-grained interplay is essential to achieve a correct function." Prof Brenner sees his T cell experiments as a prelude to more in-depth investigation of the energy balance of immune cells in general. A number of different autoimmune diseases, for example, are related to malfunctions in various subgroups of T cells. "If we understand the differences in the molecular mechanisms by which they stimulate their metabolism during defensive or autoimmune responses, then we can discover clues as to possible attack points for therapeutic agents regulating the immune response." The distinguished researcher sees a similar situation in cancer: "In this context too, it is important to know why the immune cells that are actually supposed to fight cancer cells drop to a low metabolic state and in some cases even actively suppress an immune response against the tumour. Counteractive metabolism-stimulating measures could make the immune cells work more efficiently and fight off cancer more effectively." In follow-up projects, the researchers are planning to gain new indications for potential sites of therapeutic interventions. The groups from Luxembourg and Braunschweig are currently applying for new research funding for a joint project supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR). ### Involved research teams Prof Dirk Brenner is the Deputy Head of Research & Strategy at LIH's Department of Infection and Immunity. He received a prestigious ATTRACT Consolidator grant from the Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR), in 2015 to set up the Experimental & Molecular Immunology research group. The FNR-ATTRACT programme supports the national research institutions by expanding their competences in strategic research areas - by attracting outstanding young researchers with high potential to Luxembourg. The present study was performed in close collaboration with the former FNR ATTRACT fellow Prof Karsten Hiller from the Metabolomics Group at the Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine of the University of Luxembourg (now full Professor at the Integrated Centre of Systems Biology (BRICS) of the Braunschweig University of Technology, Germany) and with Prof Tak W. Mak the Director of the Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research at the University of Toronto, Canada. About the Luxembourg Institute of Health: Research dedicated to life The Luxembourg Institute of Health is a public research organisation at the forefront of biomedical sciences. With its strong expertise in population health, oncology, infection and immunity as well as storage and handling of biological samples, its research activities are dedicated to people's health. At the Luxembourg Institute of Health, more than 300 individuals are working together, aiming at investigating disease mechanisms and developing new diagnostics, innovative therapies and effective tools to implement personalised medicine. The institution is the first supplier of public health information in Luxembourg, a strong cooperation partner in local and international projects and an attractive training place for ambitious early-stage researchers. About the Department of Infection and Immunity LIH's Department of Infection and Immunity is a basic clinical-translational research entity aiming at understanding the complex mechanisms of infectious and inflammatory disease processes to enable new ways to diagnose, prevent and cure human diseases. Building on a highly interdisciplinary research environment, the research strategy of the Department of Infection and Immunity focuses on experimental discovery and validation, bridging to clinical application and technology development to address major unsolved medical needs in the areas of immune-mediated inflammation (such as in allergy, asthma, autoimmunity), cancer and infectious diseases (AIDS, measles and rubella virus infection, amongst others). http://www.lih.lu Scientific contact: Prof Dirk Brenner Head of Experimental & Molecular Immunology research group Department of infection and Immunity Luxembourg Institute of Health E-mail: dirk.brenner@lih.lu Availability for interviews: upon request to the Communication Unit Media enquiries: Juliette Pertuy Communication Manager Luxembourg Institute of Health Tel: +352 26970-893 E-mail: juliette.pertuy@lih.lu Dr Malou Fraiture Scientific writer Luxembourg Institute of Health Tel: +352 26970-895 E-mail: malou.fraiture@lih.lu ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- A medical student in Michigan. A nursing student in Ghana. An anatomy professor in Brazil. A researcher in Australia. All need to learn -- or teach -- about the human body at the most basic level. For all of them, nothing beats a microscope-level view of healthy organs, tissues and cells. That view sets the stage for learning how these structures change because of mutation, disease or the passage of time -- and how to prevent, slow or stop those changes. Until recently, only those with access to microscopes and libraries of glass slides, each with a tiny sample of preserved tissue, were able to study cells and tissues at the microscopic scale. Now, students and teachers everywhere can see the human body in fine detail, thanks to "virtual microscopy," which has opened the body's secrets to a much wider audience of students and teachers. The University of Michigan Medical School was one of the first places to use virtual microscopy for teaching students about normal tissue morphology, a field called histology. The U-M histology teaching team digitized hundreds of slides from the U-M collection for use by the university's medical and dental students. Later, these images were made freely accessible online on the U-M's histology website and "Histology Lite - SecondLook," a free mobile app. In any given week, tens of thousands of people from more than 170 countries visit the site. With a few clicks, anyone can zoom in to view images at higher and higher magnification, ranging from an entire organ down to a single cell. In recent years, other universities and research institutes have also digitized their histology glass slide collections. A new database Now, a new website called the Virtual Microscopy Database has launched to bring these collections together and make it easier to find high-quality images of particular structures. With a grant from the American Association of Anatomists, the VMD is now accepting free registrations from educators or researchers affiliated with an academic institution who want to view, download and use digital microscopic images. Michael Hortsch, Ph.D., from the U-M Medical School and colleagues from the University of Colorado and Drexel University, led the effort to pull together images from many institutions. They will introduce the new VMD resource at the Experimental Biology meeting in Chicago. "I want my students to analyze and interpret micrographs they have not encountered previously in lectures, labs or textbooks. The VMD gives me a rich collection of images that I can use for tests and examinations," says Hortsch, an associate professor of cell and developmental biology and of learning health sciences who teaches histology to all U-M medical and dental students as well as graduate and senior undergraduate students. The global potential of the resource also excites Hortsch. "I'm frequently asked for help by colleagues from all over the world, who want to use virtual microscopy to teach their students histology, so I realized that there is a great demand for high quality microscopic images in a digital format," he says. Over the past few years, he has shared the entire contents of the U-M virtual microscopy library with colleagues worldwide -- to the tune of more than 200 gigabytes of data each time. "As no single slide collection is complete and flawless, pooling image collections from many different schools and making them available to all histology educators and researchers in form of an electronic database is a perfect solution." He hopes that the new resources will help more schools, colleges and universities -- including those in the developing world -- avoid having to purchase and maintain microscopes and glass slides. "Virtual microscopy is like Google Earth, just at the microscopic scale," he says. "It's not just about looking at pictures. It's also a way to connect structure with function. Because we are visual animals, it's easier for us to understand what is happening inside our bodies if we can see it with our own eyes." ### Visit the Virtual Microscopy Database at http://www.virtualmicroscopydatabase.org/ See virtual slides and other materials available from the University of Michigan at http://histology.sites.uofmhosting.net/ Get the SecondLook mobile applications available from U-M here: http://secondlook.med.umich.edu/ Scrolls ads, a newer style of advertisement designed for mobile screens, show signs of being more effective than older forms of digital advertising, according to a new experimental study conducted by The Media Insight Project, a collaboration between the American Press Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. This new research has significant implications for a news industry that is constantly searching for new revenue models to finance journalism. "Banner and pop-up ads have been the standard way to advertise online for decades, though they have met consumer resistance, especially in mobile," said Tom Rosenstiel, executive director of the American Press Institute. "Our research into online advertisements finds that formats designed more recently, and with mobile in mind, strike users as less intrusive and more pleasing. To our surprise, compared with ad formats designed for other web environments, scroll ads can also improve recall of the product being advertised and enhance trust in the article where the ad appears." These are some of the results of the online survey experiment conducted with 1,489 participants between November 9 and December 6, 2016, using AmeriSpeak, NORC's nationally representative survey panel. The online panel interface allows respondents to see and respond to content presented to them digitally, something that is not possible with traditional phone surveys. Key findings of the experiment include: The experiment finds that people are more likely to recall the product accurately if it appears in a scroll ad than if it appears in either a pop-up or static ad. Indeed, 34 percent of users accurately recalled the product from the scroll ad versus 26 percent in static ads and 25 percent in pop-up ads. The differences were even more pronounced if you take just those people who say they noticed the ad at all. The majority of all respondents, 57 percent, fell into this group. People are no more likely to notice pop-up ads than they are scroll ads (61 percent vs. 62 percent for scroll) and are less likely to recall the product in pop-up ads, just 41 percent versus 55 percent in scroll ads and 53 percent in static ads. Pop-up ads also have several negative effects. For instance, 61 percent of people say pop-up ads make the article more difficult to read (vs. 37 percent for scroll ads and 19 percent for static ads). When readers are interested in the topic of the ad, they are more likely to express some positive evaluations of the article and engage with that article. Overall, people who are interested in the topic of the ad provide more positive evaluations of the article, including that it provides diverse points of view (28 percent vs. 19 percent) and that it is entertaining (32 percent vs. 25 percent). However, those interested in the subject of the ad are no more likely to say the article got the facts right, had a professional appearance, that it was easy to find important information, or that the information was trustworthy. "Scroll ads should play an even bigger role in online advertising because they appear to be more effective on a range of metrics than pop-up ads and static banners," said Trevor Tompson, director of The AP-NORC Center. "These ads optimized for mobile produce benefits to the advertiser and the news outlet compared to older styles of digital advertising." ### About the Survey The survey was conducted from November 9 through December 6, 2016. The survey was funded by the American Press Institute (API). Staff from API, NORC at the University of Chicago, and The Associated Press collaborated on all aspects of the study. Data were collected using the AmeriSpeak Panel, which is NORC's probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. household population. During the initial recruitment phase of the panel, randomly selected U.S. households were sampled with a known, nonzero probability of selection from the NORC National Sample Frame and then contacted by U.S. mail, email, telephone, and field interviewers (face-to-face). Interviews for this survey were conducted with adults age 18 and over representing the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Panel members were randomly drawn from the AmeriSpeak Panel, and 1,489 completed the survey, all via the web. The final stage completion rate is 34.8 percent, the weighted household panel response rate is 32.4 percent, and the weighted household panel retention rate is 95.5 percent, for a cumulative response rate of 10.8 percent. The overall margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level, including the design effect. The margin of sampling error may be higher for subgroups. A full description of the study methodology for the survey and the qualitative group interviews can be found at the end of the report. The proper description of the survey's authorship is as follows: This study was conducted jointly by the American Press Institute and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. About the Media Insight Project The Media Insight Project is a collaboration between the American Press Institute and The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research with the objective of conducting high-quality, innovative research meant to inform the news industry and the public about various important issues facing journalism and the news business. The Media Insight Project brings together the expertise of both organizations and their respective partners, and involves collaborations among key staff at the American Press Institute, NORC at the University of Chicago, and The Associated Press. http://www.mediainsight.org/ About the American Press Institute Founded in 1946, the American Press Institute (API) conducts research, training, convenes thought leaders, and creates tools to help chart a path ahead for journalism in the 21st century. The American Press Institute is an educational non-advocacy 501(c)3 nonprofit organization affiliated with the Newspaper Association of America. It aims to help the news media, especially local publishers and newspaper media, advance in the digital age. http://www.pressinstitute.org About The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research taps into the power of social science research and the highest-quality journalism to bring key information to people across the nation and throughout the world. http://www.apnorc.org The Associated Press (AP) is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP. http://www.ap.org NORC at the University of Chicago is an objective and non-partisan research institution that delivers reliable data and rigorous analysis to guide critical programmatic, business, and policy decisions. Since 1941, NORC has conducted groundbreaking studies, created and applied innovative methods and tools, and advanced principles of scientific integrity and collaboration. Today, government, corporate, and nonprofit clients around the world partner with NORC to transform increasingly complex information into useful knowledge. http://www.norc.org The two organizations have established The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research to conduct, analyze, and distribute social science research in the public interest on newsworthy topics, and to use the power of journalism to tell the stories that research reveals. Contacts: For more information, contact Eric Young for NORC at young-eric@norc.org or (703) 217-6814 (cell); Ray Boyer for NORC at boyer-ray@norc.org or (312) 330-6433; Laurie Beth Harris for API at lauriebeth.harris@pressinstitute.org or (571) 366-1044; Tom Rosenstiel for API at tom.rosenstiel@pressinstitute.org or (571) 366-1044; or Lauren Easton for AP at leaston@ap.org. The breeding grounds of Arctic migratory birds such as the barnacle goose are changing rapidly due to accelerated warming in the polar regions. They won't be able to keep up with this climate change unless they can somehow anticipate it. A research team from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) employed computer models to assess the future of the geese and their young. Results are being published online by the scientific journal Global Change Biology. It's the time of year when barnacle geese and many other migratory birds prepare to depart for their breeding grounds above the Arctic Circle. From their wintering grounds in the Netherlands, the geese fly all the way up to the Barentsz Sea in northern Russia, where they should arrive just as the snow has melted. But in the polar regions, the climate is warming much more rapidly than in more temperate areas like the Netherlands - a phenomenon known as 'Arctic amplification'. It's hard enough for humans to get to grips with the accelerated warming, let alone for barnacle geese, as an earlier NIOO-led study showed. After all, how can they tell from their wintering grounds if the snow has begun to melt thousands of kilometres away? So is it possible for the barnacle geese to advance their spring migration nonetheless, to predict climate change? First study, fewer young Ecologist Thomas Lameris and his fellow researchers from NIOO, and also the Swiss Ornithological Institute among other institutions, have tried to find the answer. "This is the first study that tests if migratory birds are in any way able to adjust their timing to the accelerated warming in the polar regions. We used a model to show that the availability of enough edible grass to build up reserves for their journey is not a problem for the barnacle geese. It's the unpredictability of the climatic changes in their breeding grounds that spells trouble for them." If the geese continue to mistime their arrival, their reproductive success will be reduced. Lameris: "They miss their optimal breeding window and the peak in local food abundance, so fewer goslings will survive." Some compensation for this comes from the fact that as well as starting earlier, the breeding season is becoming longer. This gives the goslings more time to grow. But that's not enough. To establish the barnacle geese's potential for anticipating climate change, the researchers built a model that tracks individual geese as they fly to their breeding grounds in northern Russia and make stopovers along the route. "In the model, the geese have to make a choice each day: stay in their present location and continue to feed, or fly to the next stopover." The researchers tested the model for various gradations of climatic warming. Smarter migration strategy? The barnacle goose is an ideal 'model species' for studying the effects of climate changes, because researchers have been able to study this animal for decades. But it's not just about a single species. Lameris: "Our results are probably valid for many more species of Arctic-breeding migratory birds, and certainly for other geese such as the white-fronted and the brent goose." On the whole, geese are clever birds. Goslings learn the migration route from their parents, including the best places to stop over and build up fat reserves. "So if they do change the timing of their arrival, it would be easy to pass that on to the next generation", Lameris argues hopefully. "The main question is whether geese and other migratory birds can adapt as fast as the climate changes, to keep up." ### With more than 300 staff members and students, NIOO is one of the largest research institutes of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). The institute specialises in water and land ecology. As of 2011, the institute is located in an innovative and sustainable research building in Wageningen, the Netherlands. NIOO has an impressive research history that stretches back 60 years and spans the entire country, and beyond. WASHINGTON, D.C. April 18, 2017 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) today announced $9.6 million in available funding for projects to support the development of new biobased products and biomaterials from renewable sources such as crops, trees, and waste materials from farmland and forests. Funding is made through NIFA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), authorized by the 2014 Farm Bill. "Rural America has the potential to be the economic powerhouse through biofuels and biobased products," said NIFA Director Sonny Ramaswamy. "NIFA investments in research and development help to create new economic opportunities in rural communities, protect the environment, and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign energy." AFRI is America's flagship competitive grants programs for addressing critical societal issues through the food and agricultural sciences. The AFRI Sustainable Bioenergy and Bioproducts Challenge Area supports projects that lead to the commercial production of biobased products such as biochemicals, biomaterials, and products that replace fossil carbon-based products. This challenge area supports three types of projects: research, education or extension projects; integrated projects; and food and agricultural science enhancement grants. Applications may only be submitted by eligible entities. Eligibility is linked to the project type. The deadline for applications is June 28, 2017. See the request for applications for details. Among previously funded projects, a Cornell University project is helping teachers introduce students to the bioenergy and bioproducts systems being developed in the Northeastern United States. In November 2016, Alaska Airlines landed the first commercial flight powered in part by a new renewable fuel made of wood waste, a fuel developed through NIFA support to Washington State University and the Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance (NARA). Launched in 2011, NARA has advanced research into biofuels and biochemicals, fostered the Northwest regional biofuel industry and helped educate tomorrow's workforce on renewable energy. ### NIFA invests in and advances agricultural research, education, and extension and promotes transformative discoveries that solve societal challenges. NIFA support for the best and brightest scientists and extension personnel has resulted 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. USDA is an equal opportunity lender, provider, and employer. Roughly 2 million children experience maltreatment each year in the United States and face the possibility of a lifetime of mental, emotional, behavioral and physical health difficulties. With more than $124 billion spent in the U.S. on child maltreatment-related costs, the importance of mitigating damaging outcomes for victims cannot be overstated. There is a critical need for new research to identify health and developmental solutions, mobilize public investment in child maltreatment prevention and treatment, accelerate science to practice, and spark dynamic system-wide change. Recognizing this importance, The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the NICHD, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently completed a competitive process to fund for the first time ever, an academic institution to function as a "Capstone." Penn State has been selected based on scientific merit to establish the Center for Healthy Children. The award of $7.7 million over 5 years will support the center as a national resource for child maltreatment research and training. To further this effort, Penn State has committed $3.4 million in funds, to total more than $11 million. "Maltreatment is a critical issue requiring tangible solutions. There needs to be a heightened focus on raising the bar for research in this area so we can develop specific ways to prevent maltreatment and promote health and well-being for survivors," said Jennie Noll, the principal investigator of the NIH award, professor of human development and family studies in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development, and director of the Child Maltreatment Solutions Network, a unit of Penn State's Social Science Research Institute. "We don't yet have a comprehensive understanding of exactly why maltreatment leads to such dire consequences for some, while others may exhibit remarkable resilience. This is why it is vitally important that we identify the mechanisms involved in these health disparities." The knowledge generated by this research will allow scientists, in conjunction with advocates and practitioners, to develop and implement novel, targeted and optimized interventions that will maximize the ability to impact lives and have relevance nationwide and throughout the world. This Center grant augments the initial investment Penn State made in 2012 to create and support a network of researchers who have since come together at the University to solve the complex problem of child maltreatment. Through this investment, the network hired nine faculty members across five colleges, each working from distinct, yet complementary, angles in a highly unique trans-disciplinary effort. "We recruited the best and the brightest researchers to Penn State to create a network and we continue our commitment to work on this critical issue by contributing $3.4 million in support of the new NIH center," said Penn State President Eric J. Barron. "The expertise, passion and dedication of our researchers are unparalleled and this grant exemplifies our strength in successful interdisciplinary collaborations, with leading experts from across the University." The grant was established to fund cutting-edge research that focuses on child maltreatment and offers practical suggestions for preventative measures and legislative recommendations that can spur legislative action. In one of the research projects, Noll and her team will invite approximately 1,200 children aged 8-13 from around the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to participate in a study focused on eradicating health disparities for children who have experienced the child welfare system. This large cohort study led by Christine Heim, professor of bio-behavioral health at Penn State, will include health screenings, monitoring and education in the areas of emotional and behavioral well-being as well as physical health. Another research project supported by the grant will be led by Dr. Kent P. Hymel, a child abuse pediatrician at Penn State Children's Hospital. Eight pediatric intensive care units from across the country will participate in a randomized clinical trial designed to assess the impact of a novel, highly sensitive, screening tool for pediatric abusive head trauma. More than 1,500 U.S. children die annually from child abuse, a number similar to the mortality rate from all forms of pediatric cancer combined. Approximately 40 percent of child maltreatment deaths result from abusive head trauma. For the first time in any clinical setting, physicians will apply a recently validated screening tool to guide their decisions to launch or forgo child abuse evaluations in their young, acutely head-injured patients. By improving the accuracy of these difficult clinical decisions, implementing the screening tool could substantially reduce cases of missed or misdiagnosed abusive head trauma, unnecessary abuse evaluations, abusive re-injury and death. The overarching goal of the center is to translate research into solutions that can enhance how the child welfare system supports families. Moreover, the center grant also supports a team, led by Max Crowley, assistant professor of human development and family studies at Penn State, who will translate knowledge generated by the center's researchers into policy briefs and messages that will resonate with policy makers regarding the fiscal costs of maltreatment and its consequences, to implore larger public investment in prevention and treatment. In a unique partnership between children and youth organizations and University researchers, this team will work in conjunction with Pennsylvania's child welfare system to address pressing questions that are important to frontline social workers and administrators. "It is an incredible honor to be selected by the NIH as an organization that has the capabilities to make a tangible impact on the lives of children," said Noll. "I'm inspired to be working with this incredibly talented group of world-renowned researchers as we forge this vital path ahead." In addition to the new support from the NIH and continued support from the University, the center will be given dedicated space provided by the College of Health and Human Development on Penn State's University Park campus. Researchers working with Noll on this project include Max Crowley, assistant professor of human development and family studies; Christine Heim, professor of biobehavioral health; Kent Hymel, child abuse pediatrician; Diana Fishbein, professor of human development and family studies and director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Center; Sarah Font, assistant professor of sociology; Sheridan Miyamoto, assistant professor of nursing; Chad Shenk, assistant professor of human development and family studies; Idan Shalev, assistant professor of biobehavioral health; Hannah Schreirer, assistant professor of biobehavioral health; Emma Rose, research assistant professor, Prevention Research Center; Vernon Chinchilli, Distinguished Professor of Public Health Sciences; Mark Dias, associate professor of neurosurgery; and Ming Wang, assistant professor of biostatistics and bioinformatics. ### For the human body to mount an immune response to a viral infection, host cells must identify the viral invader and trigger a signaling pathway. This signal then prompts the immune system to attack and subdue the pathogen. Using the dengue virus (DENV) as a model, researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have identified the "viral sensor" that initiates an immune response and have also described how the virus counteracts this mechanism and evades immune detection. The paper describing these findings was published in the journal Nature Microbiology. Along with aiding in the design of future vaccines, understanding how host cells signal the need for an immune response and the sophisticated mechanisms viruses use to avoid recognition can illuminate patient susceptibility to disease severity. It can also inform techniques to dampen unwanted pro-inflammatory responses associated with autoimmune diseases. "Previous studies have shown that human viruses have acquired specific mechanisms to strategically avoid detection by the innate immune system. Active strategies are used by viruses to minimize the ability of cells to detect and respond to infection, allowing sufficient time for the production of viral progeny," said last author of the study Ana Fernandez-Sesma, PhD, Professor, Microbiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. "Our study shows how dengue virus, which affects people around the globe, employs multiple techniques to avoid detection. We shed light on the mechanisms cells use to recognize the traces of viral infection within a cell and the methods viruses have acquired to obstruct them. It is this recognition that eventually leads to an immune response." Researchers identified cyclic GMP-AMP synthase (cGAS) as the protein responsible for initially detecting viral infection. cGAS, a cytosolic DNA sensor, recognizes DNA that has escaped the nucleus or mitochondria of a cell and entered the cytoplasm, an unusual occurrence. In the case of DENV infection, cGAS recognizes traces of mitochondrial DNA released into the cytoplasm as a consequence of the beginning stages of the infection; it does not recognize the viral particles themselves. Once cGAS binds to DNA, it activates a series of cascading chemical triggers known as the cGAS/cGAMP/STING sensing pathway, which induces type I interferon (IFN) signaling and begins the immune response. Although cGAS has been characterized as a DNA sensor, it has antiviral properties against different positive-strand RNA viruses, like DENV--a characteristic that has not yet been fully explored. DENV in turn reduces the likelihood of triggering the cGAS/cGAMP/STING pathway by degrading cGAS and preventing it from binding with mitochondrial DNA in the cytoplasm of the cell. The DENV-encoded protease cofactor NS2B promotes cGAS degradation in an autophagy-lysosome-dependent mechanism. Previous research from this group has shown that DENV cleaves to STING, an endoplasmic reticulum resident host protein, to prevent type I IFN signaling. Uncovering the role DENV plays in degrading cGAS and stopping the preliminary step of the immune-signaling pathway confirms two separate but coordinated mechanisms the virus uses to thwart a host immune response. The interplay between DENV and the mitochondria is a field of increasing interest, and by exploring that relationship this study describes a novel mechanism by which human cells can detect damage generated during the early stages of an infection. By releasing its genomic DNA inside the cell, the mitochondria initiate the cGAS/cGAMP/STING pathway, type I IFN signaling, and the immune response. However, DENV has learned to counteract this "maternal" protection mechanism by NS2B-induced degradation of cGAS. "Mapping how cGAS recognizes DENV and the role mitochondrial DNA plays in creating an immune response is another novel insight of this study," Dr. Fernandez-Sesma said. "Until now, it has not been understood how cGAS can play such a critical role in identifying these RNA viruses. Our data strongly suggest that mitochondrial damage and the release of mitochondrial DNA are intrinsic collateral damage during DENV infection and prompt cGAS to activate the necessary immune signaling pathways." DENV infects close to 400 million people every year, globally, and almost half of the world population lives in areas where the same mosquito species can transmit dangerous viruses like dengue, yellow fever and Zika, among others. Finding new ways to combat DENV and similar viruses can play a crucial role in lessening the enormous global health burden they represent. Further, charting the strategies viruses use to counteract the immune system can be used as a platform for the design of chemical compounds that can mimic this inhibitory effect and address the inflammatory process observed in many autoimmune diseases. ### About the Mount Sinai Health System The Mount Sinai Health System is an integrated health system committed to providing distinguished care, conducting transformative research, and advancing biomedical education. Structured around seven hospital campuses and a single medical school, the Health System has an extensive ambulatory network and a range of inpatient and outpatient services--from community-based facilities to tertiary and quaternary care. The System includes approximately 7,100 primary and specialty care physicians; 12 joint-venture ambulatory surgery centers; more than 140 ambulatory practices throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and 31 affiliated community health centers. Physicians are affiliated with the renowned Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, which is ranked among the highest in the nation in National Institutes of Health funding per investigator. The Mount Sinai Hospital is in the "Honor Roll" of best hospitals in America, ranked No. 15 nationally in the 2016-2017 "Best Hospitals" issue of U.S. News & World Report. The Mount Sinai Hospital is also ranked as one of the nation's top 20 hospitals in Geriatrics, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Nephrology, Neurology/Neurosurgery, and Ear, Nose & Throat, and is in the top 50 in four other specialties. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 10 nationally for Ophthalmology, while Mount Sinai Beth Israel, Mount Sinai St. Luke's, and Mount Sinai West are ranked regionally. Mount Sinai's Kravis Children's Hospital is ranked in seven out of ten pediatric specialties by U.S. News & World Report in "Best Children's Hospitals." For more information, visit http://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Katherine Borkovich will be honored June 2 for her research on fungal genomics RIVERSIDE, Calif. (http://www.ucr.edu) -- Katherine Borkovich, a professor and chair of the UC Riverside Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology, has been elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology. The academy, the leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology, recognizes excellence, originality, and leadership in the microbiological sciences. She will be recognized at the annual American Society for Microbiology Conference June 2 in New Orleans. Borkovich, who is also a professor at UC Riverside's Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, is focused on functional genomics and the signaling pathways used by filamentous fungi to response to the environment, with the goal of identifying genes that control growth, development and pathogenesis. She is being honored for her research into environmental sensing by heterotrimeric G proteins in fungi, contributions to fungal genomics, leadership of microbiology undergraduate and graduate programs, and for teaching a research-based laboratory course for the microbiology major at UC Riverside. She was instrumental in establishment of the microbiology undergraduate major and reinstatement of the microbiology graduate program at UC Riverside. She was recognized with the 2016 campus Distinguished Teaching Award for her teaching of a research-based course for the Microbiology major, Experimental Microbiology. Borkovich received her Ph.D. from UCLA and did postdoctoral work at the University of Chicago and Caltech. ### URBANA, Ill. - What happens when meat scientists get their hands on nearly 8,000 commercially raised pigs? They spend a year running dozens of tests and crunching numbers to arrive at research-backed management recommendations for pork producers. "We had an opportunity to answer a lot of questions for the pork industry," says Dustin Boler, assistant professor in the animal sciences department at the University of Illinois. Anna Dilger, an associate professor in the department, explains their approach. "The two main questions were, 'Can I measure quality in one part of the pig and predict quality in the rest of it?' And then, 'What is the true variability in pork quality out there and what's causing it?'" The team, which also included U of I graduate students, USDA meat science researchers, and a representative from Smithfield Foods, recently published their findings in five articles. In the first article, the team looked at correlations between loin quality and quality of the belly and ham from the same pig. In this case, quality was defined mostly by color and tenderness. "Color is what drives whether or not a consumer purchases a particular pork chop. It translates into what we think of as purchase intent. Color is always number one," Boler says. "After that, we look at whether a product is tender. If it is tender enough, we think that will translate into a repeat purchase." Unfortunately, the team found no correlation between loin quality and the quality of other cuts. "Just because a loin has desirable color and is tender doesn't mean the same animal is going to produce a good belly for bacon or a great ham for a special dinner. It didn't. Hypothesis one: scratched," Boler reports. The remainder of the articles focused on understanding the variability in pork products - how much variability exists, and where it comes from. For example, one of the articles focused on barrows (castrated male pigs) and gilts (young, prebred female pigs). "We know barrows and gilts are different, but we wanted to know if they differ in how variable they are, or if one produces a more consistent product," Dilger explains. "You can deal with differences. It's harder to deal with variability." Traits associated with fatness, such as marbling, were more variable in barrows than in gilts, but the sexes varied to approximately the same degree in terms of muscling and lean quality. Based on these results, Dilger says that barrows and gilts probably do not need to be managed differently unless producers are targeting a very specific branded product. In another article, the researchers admit they had to channel their inner statistics geeks. They looked at every possible aspect of pork quality and tried to pinpoint the major sources of variability in the dataset, from season, production focus, marketing group, and sex to variation within individual animals. In the end, those individual differences accounted for the largest portion of the variability. "A lot of factors turn a pig into pork," Boler notes. "In the pig's journey from the farm to his ultimate fate, a lot of things happen. Whether he got in an argument with other pigs on the truck, whether he had to walk a long or a short distance, how much rest he was given at the plant, what kind of experience he had during termination, how that carcass was cooled. All these things can independently influence the products derived from that pig." Finding that the majority of the variability was within individual pigs and not in any particular management practice is good news for producers. "It means the things they're doing to deal with the variability in their environment are just fine. They don't need to stop doing any of those things," Dilger says. "There are things in the industry that get picked on. One of those is pigs raised in the summer. People think, 'Ah, they're so bad, so slow.' But no, they're fine. Gilts get blamed for a lot of things, too, but in the end, they're fine. We're not going to get rid of young female pigs or the summer. I believe we're stuck with those. Understanding the variability and differences allows you to better manage the system." The articles discussed here, "Pork loin quality is not indicative of fresh belly or fresh and cured ham quality," "Comparison of variability in pork carcass composition and quality between barrows and gilts," and "Characterization of variability in pork carcass composition and primal quality," are published in the Journal of Animal Science. Two additional articles resulting from the project are also published in the journal. The project was funded by The National Pork Board. ### Homing pigeons may share the human capacity to build on the knowledge of others, improving their navigational efficiency over time, a new Oxford University study has found. The ability to gather, pass on and improve on knowledge over generations is known as cumulative culture. Until now humans and, arguably some other primates, were the only species thought to be capable of it. Takao Sasaki and Dora Biro, Research Associates in the Department of Zoology at Oxford University, conducted a study testing whether homing pigeons can gradually improve their flight paths, over time. They removed and replaced individuals in pairs of birds that were given a specific navigational task. Ten chains of birds were released from the same site and generational succession was simulated with the continuous replacement of birds familiar with the route with inexperienced birds who had never flown the course before. The idea was that these individuals could then pass their experience of the route down to the next pair generation, and also enable the collective intelligence of the group to continuously improve the route's efficiency. The findings, published in Nature Communications, suggest that over time, the student does indeed become the teacher. The pairs' homing performance improved consistently over generations - they streamlined their route to be more direct. Later generation groups eventually outperformed individuals that flew solo or in groups that never changed membership. Homing routes were also found to be more similar in consecutive generations of the same chain of pigeon pairs than across them, showing cross-generational knowledge transfer, or a "culture" of homing routes. Takao Sasaki, co-author and Research Fellow in the Department of Zoology said: 'At one stage scientists thought that only humans had the cognitive capacity to accumulate knowledge as a society. Our study shows that pigeons share these abilities with humans, at least to the extent that they are capable of improving on a behavioural solution progressively over time. Nonetheless, we do not claim that they achieve this through the same processes.' When people share and pass knowledge down through generations, our culture tends to become more complex over time, There are many good examples of this from manufacturing and engineering. By contrast, when the process occurs between homing pigeons, the end result is an increase in the efficiency, (in this case navigational), but not necessarily the complexity, of the behaviour. Takao Sasaki added: 'Although they have different processes, our findings demonstrate that pigeons can accumulate knowledge and progressively improve their performance, satisfying the criteria for cumulative culture. Our results further suggest that cumulative culture does not require sophisticated cognitive abilities as previously thought.' This study shows that collective intelligence, which typically focuses on one-time performance, can emerge from accumulation of knowledge over time. Dora Biro, co-author and Associate Professor of Animal Behaviour concludes: 'One key novelty, we think, is that the gradual improvement we see is not due to new 'ideas' about how to improve the route being introduced by individual birds. Instead, the necessary innovations in each generation come from a form of collective intelligence that arises through pairs of birds having to solve the problem together - in other words through 'two heads being better than one'.' Moving forward, the team intend to build on the study by investigating if a similar style of knowledge sharing and accumulation occurs in other multi-generational species' social groups. Many animal groups have to solve the same problems repeatedly in the natural world, and if they use feedback from past outcomes of these tasks or events, this has the potential to influence, and potentially improve, the decisions the groups make in the future. ### Notes to editors: Please note that this press release is embargoed until Tuesday 18 April 2017 5:00 AM EST Images Supporting images are available to download from the below links: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/zp79odykb49lo5u/AAAwGiwf7i1U4XClfAgywHI-a?dl=0 The full paper 'Cumulative culture can emerge from collective intelligence in animal groups' written by Takao Sasaki and Dora Bird, features in the 18th April 2017 edition of Nature Communications. (PDF attached) 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. Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have become an important part of the lives of many people worldwide. Around two billion users were active on Facebook at the end of 2016; 500 million regularly post photos on Instagram and more than 300 million communicate via Twitter. Various studies conducted over the past years have investigated to what extent the use of social media is associated with narcissistic tendencies - with contradictory results. Some studies supported a positive relationship between the use of Facebook, Twitter and the likes, whereas others confirmed only weak or even negative effects. Most comprehensive meta-analysis so far Fresh findings are now presented by scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories Bamberg and the University of Wurzburg. They were able to show that there is a weak to moderate link between a certain form of narcissism and social media activity. When taking a differentiated look at specific forms of behaviour or at the participants' cultural background, the effect is even pronounced in some cases. The study is managed by Professor Markus Appel, who holds the Chair of Media Communication at the University of Wurzburg, and Dr. Timo Gnambs, head of the Educational Measurement section at the Leibniz Institute for Educational Trajectories, Bamberg. For their meta-analysis, the scientists summarized the results of 57 studies comprising more than 25,000 participants in total. They have now published their findings in the Journal of Personality. Forms of narcissism They think of themselves as being exceptionally talented, remarkable and successful. They love to present themselves to other people and seek approval from them: This is how psychologists describe the typical behaviour of people commonly referred to as narcissists. "Accordingly, social networks such as Facebook are believed to be an ideal platform for these people," says Markus Appel. The network gives them easy access to a large audience and allows them to selectively post information for the purpose of self-promotion. Moreover, they can meticulously cultivate their image. Therefore, researchers have suspected social networking sites to be an ideal breeding ground for narcissists from early on. Three hypotheses The recently published meta-analysis shows that the situation does not seem to be as bad as feared. The scientists examined the truth behind three hypotheses. Firstly, the assumption that grandiose narcissists frequent social networking sites more often than representatives of another form of narcissism, the "vulnerable narcissists". Vulnerable narcissism is associated with insecurity, fragile self-esteem, and social withdrawal. Secondly, they assumed that the link between narcissism and the number of friends and certain self-promoting activities is much more pronounced compared to other activities possible on social networking sites. Thirdly, the researchers hypothesized that the link between narcissism and the social networking behaviour is subject to cultural influences. In collectivistic cultures where the focus is on the community rather than the individual or where rigid roles prevail, social media give narcissists the opportunity to escape from prevalent constraints and present themselves in a way that would be impossible in public. The results The meta-analysis of the 57 studies did in fact confirm the scientists' assumptions. Grandiose narcissists are encountered more frequently in social networks than vulnerable narcissists. Moreover, a link has been found between the number of friends a person has and how many photos they upload and the prevalence of traits associated with narcissism. The gender and age of users is not relevant in this respect. Typical narcissists spend more time in social networks than average users and they exhibit specific behavioural patterns. A mixed result was found for the influence of the cultural background on the usage behaviour. "In countries where distinct social hierarchies and unequal power division are generally more accepted such as India or Malaysia, there is a stronger correlation between narcissism and the behaviour in social media than in countries like Austria or the USA," says Markus Appel. However, the analysis of the data from 16 countries on four continents does not show a comparable influence of the "individualism" factor. Generation Me So is the frequently cited "Generation Me" a product of social media such as Facebook and Instagram because they promote narcissistic tendencies? Or do these sites simply provide the ideal environment for narcissists? The two scientists were not able to finally answer these questions. "We suggest that the link between narcissism and the behaviour in social media follows the pattern of a self-reinforcing spiral," Markus Appel says. An individual disposition controls the social media activities and these activities in turn reinforce the disposition. To finally resolve this question, more research has to be conducted over longer periods. ### For such small and delicate creatures, they can pack mighty painful stings. Known as clinging jellyfish because they attach themselves to seagrasses and seaweeds, Gonionemus is found along coastlines in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans, and in particular in waters near Vladivostok, Russia. Exactly how these jellyfish, long assumed to be native to the North Pacific, became so widely distributed throughout the world has perplexed researchers for decades. Interest in the jellyfish has renewed in recent years, when stings with symptoms similar to those previously described off of the Russian coast -- including severe pain, respiratory and neurological symptoms -- suddenly started occurring in Cape Cod and nearby regions. Now, the first genetic study of the diversity of clinging jellyfish populations around the globe has discovered some surprising links among distant communities of jellies and also revealed there may be more than one species of the infamous stinger. The paper published April 18 in the journal Peer J. Annette Govindarajan, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and lead author of the paper, has studied these jellies for the past three years with the ultimate goal of tracing the species' origin off the U.S. East Coast, where it is thought to be invasive. The clinging jellyfish first appeared in the Cape Cod area in 1894. Scientists in Woods Hole studied the clingers in the early 1900s. Following an eelgrass die-off, their numbers dwindled. Then the tiny creatures, whose sizes range from about the diameter of a dime to a quarter, nearly vanished in the 1930s. Prior to that, says Govindarajan, researchers and others who were handling the jellies in Massachusetts made no reports of stings. "The Cape Cod populations were assumed to be a variety that didn't cause severe stings," Govindarajan adds. It wasn't until 1990 that the clinging jellyfish re-appeared in Cape Cod and painful stings were first reported. These observations lead Govindarajan and her colleague, WHOI researcher Mary Carman to suggest in a previous paper that an invasion from a toxic population had occurred. The new study shows that the story is much more complex than previously thought. The researchers uncovered a genetic match between populations of clinging jellyfish in the Vladivostok, Russia-area -- specifically the area well known to cause severe sting reactions -- and those found along the U.S. East Coast in the Northwest Atlantic. "We know the two regions share one genetic variant or haplotype," Govindarajan says. "In the Northwest Atlantic, this variant was actually most frequently found in eastern Long Island Sound. The details about how and when an invasion, or possibly multiple invasions, occurred aren't clear. Interestingly, we also found evidence that both regions may contain native forms." Working with Carman and colleagues Marat Khaidarov and Alexander Semenchenko from the A.V. Zhirmunsky Institute of Marine Biology, National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences in Vladivostok, Russia, and John Wares from the University of Georgia, Govindarajan obtained tissue samples for DNA sequencing. The jellyfish samples came from several Atlantic and Pacific locations. Their analysis identified seven variants, some of which were specific to only one location, and others that were shared among communities in distant locations. Interestingly, jellies from the Northeast Pacific and Northeast Atlantic locations shared a haplotype that was sufficiently different from Northwest Atlantic and Northwest Pacific jellyfish, which suggests the possibility that the two related groups may represent different species of Gonionemus. "In the past, some people have suggested that the Atlantic and the Pacific jellies were different forms," Govindarajan says. "Others have suggested that jellies in the Atlantic were introduced from the Pacific. But what we found doesn't correspond exactly to either hypothesis. And it could be that what we have in the Northwest Atlantic and Northwest Pacific is not Gonionemus 'vertens' at all, as it has been called, but some other species of Gonionemus." "The study documents what we suspected, that there are different types of Gonionemus jellies and some of these types co-occur in New England," says coauthor Carman. "Some types seem to have a toxic sting to people and some do not." Understanding the relationship between the genetic variants and toxicity is something the researchers would like to pursue in the future. "It could very well be that the toxicity is a function of both genetics and the environment, perhaps something in the environment is triggering the toxicity," Govindarajan says. While the animals bloom in the summer months, beginning in June through September, Govindarajan says swimmers and beachgoers shouldn't be overly concerned as the fragile stingers are not found along sandy beaches in high-energy areas where there are waves. "Unlike other jellies, it is unlikely that these would be in open water," she says. "We only see them in areas with eelgrass or seaweeds since they're able to cling to these surfaces with the sticky pads found on their tentacles." The lack of movement in open waters also makes the mystery of how the different varieties have become so widespread even more intriguing. The jellyfish are produced by microscopic polyps that are only about a millimeter or less in size, which Govindarajan says is a stage where they could easily hitchhike on a blade of eelgrass, an oyster shell or even a boat hull. "At that stage, they're so tiny," she adds. "To find them is like finding a needle in a haystack." Govindarajan and her coauthors hope to obtain funding to do additional genomic analyses that will give greater resolution and suggest genetic markers to help reveal more about the species and its toxicity. They hope this will lead to a better understanding of how invasive forms of the jellyfish are dispersing, so that further spread can be prevented. "With this study, we answered some questions, but it also opened up many others," says Govindarajan. "That's part of the scientific process. It's what makes it for me, personally, very interesting. I feel like I'm solving a mystery." ### This work was supported by grants from the Woods Hole Sea Grant, Nantucket Biodiversity Initiative, the Kathleen M. and Peter E. Naktenis Family Foundation, the Town of Oak Bluffs Community Preservation Committee, and the Russian Science Foundation. The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, non-profit organization on Cape Cod, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean's role in the changing global environment. For more information, please visit http://www.whoi.edu. EU farm commissioner Phil Hogan has said he would like to re-authorise glyphosate for 'at least the next 10 years', he told the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC). Although there is not yet a formal proposal, Mr Hogan said hopefully a decision would be made in the next few weeks. He said he wanted glyphosate to have a lengthy re-approval period to 'give legal certainty to the sector'. The news comes after the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) said that there isn't enough scientific evidence to prove that glyphosate causes cancer. But 30 MEPs, in a letter to Mr Juncker questioned the trustworthiness of one of the studies used by EFSA for its assessment. 'Sound science' NFU vice president Guy Smith said: "We are delighted to hear the Commissioner back sound science and recognise the importance of glyphosate to Europes farmers, but we are aware we could have a repeat of the political shenanigans of June 2016. We cannot take anything for granted." The European Commission granted a temporary licence to glyphosate last June, after EU member states remained deadlocked on the terms of a regular renewal. British farmers have been urged to get involved by writing to their MEP on the subject with many of them voicing their opinions via social media. A spokesperson for the EU Commission said a decision on the possible re-authorisation on glyphosate will be taken before the end of the year at the Plants Animals and Feed Committee. The chairman of protest group Farmers for Action has said the Government must intervene more in the dairy supply chain and make sure farmers benefit from money made at the top. David Handley, chairman of Farmers For Action (FFA), said average losses for dairy farms have been as much as 90,000 over the last two years. He told the Shropshire Star: All farmers are asking for is a price that reflects what it costs to produce the milk.We are using all sorts of different tools to improve efficiency and are benchmarking against the very best to see if we can all improve. The UK is a marvellous place to produce dairy. The people appreciate the product but it comes back to the Government again. Why are they continuing to let this happen year in year out? We start to get some stability and prices start to slip again. Somebody has to do something to investigate the market and its good to hear the Government are looking at the grocery code adjudicator to see if they can give more powers for those further down the supply chain than just retailers to find out what is going on. Protests in London and beyond Last year, protests around Europe - including the UK - took place due to falling incomes for dairy farmers. Hundreds of farmers arrived in London on 23 March 2016 to pressure the Government to do more to help Britains agricultural crisis. The protest, organised by FFA, saw the group present a letter of concern to David Cameron at Number 10 Downing Street. Mr Handley added that the group has received a report from the dairy industry which states the average losses for dairy farms has been as much as 90,000 over the last two years. Meadow Foods, Arla Foods and Barber's have recently decreased its milk price to owners, ending months of consecutive rises. The Prime Minister has been urged to take farming into account more when dealing with Brexit, with fears mounting that the sector is being left behind. Farming groups are being left out in the cold when it comes to meeting with Trade Ministers who are shaping the future of the UK. The Department for International Trade has held 234 meetings after the day of Brexit and not one has been with a UK farming body. Instead, the Government is favouring sectors such as finance and defence. Plaid Cymru has urged PM Theresa May to ensure the UK government departments dealing with Brexit are as "accessible and engaged" as possible to all bodies and sectors impacted by the UK's departure from the EU. Plaid Cymru has insisted that UK Ministers had "a duty" to engage fully with all organisations set to be impacted by Brexit, and that failure to do so would make a mockery of the Prime Minister's pledge that the devolved nations would have "a direct line" to Brexit departments. 'Set to lose' Leanne Wood said it is vital that UK government departments are open and accessible to all bodies and sectors impacted by Brexit. Ms Wood said: "This includes Wales's farming sector which is set to lose a great deal from leaving the EU unless key organisations' concerns and representations are listened to. "The Prime Minister and her Brexit ministers cannot be allowed to build a wall around Whitehall which gives them immunity from transparency and proper scrutiny. Uncertainty is crippling for business and industry and the farming sector as much as any other deserves answers. "By refusing to meet with key bodies in Wales and beyond for at least nine months after the referendum, UK government ministers are making a mockery of the pledge made by the Prime Minister last year that all devolved nations would have "a direct line" to Brexit departments. "Wales's key industries and sectors deserve better than to be treated with such disregard by the Westminster government." Environmental charity Friends of the Earth has published a new report today (Thursday January 5) at the Oxford Real Farming Conference warning that pesticides must not be used on wheat due to their 'high acute risk' to bees. In 2013 the European Union restricted the use of three neonicotinoid insecticides following a scientific review that concluded they pose a high risk to honey bees. The restrictions only applied to certain crops attractive to bees, like oilseed rape. Neonics can still be used on farms. One of these pesticides, clothianidin, was used on over 700,000 ha of wheat in the UK in 2014. FoE said in the report: High levels of neonicotinoids have been found in wildflowers next to wheat crops, and can enter flowering plants attractive to bees if they are grown after wheat. Bees can also be exposed to neonics due to dust drifting away from the crop when treated seeds are sown. Farmers who have been told by pesticide companies that that seeds treated with neonics are a very targetted way of applying a pesticide to a crop have been misled. Friends of the Earth thinks that to be sure we are protecting bees and other pollinators, the restrictions should be applied to all crops. NFU vice-president Guy Smith said Friends of the Earths idea to limit the use of neonicotinoids on wheat is 'not justified' by the available scientific evidence. It could have serious consequences for farmers ability to grow food sustainably. With no restrictions of this kind anywhere else in the world farmers would be put at an extreme competitive disadvantage without the use of neonicotinoids on wheat. Scientists have created the most accurate navigation system for the bread wheat genome to date allowing academics and breeders to analyse its genes more easily than ever before. Wheat is one of the worlds most important staple cereals but is also the most complex. Three sub-genomes together contain around five times more DNA than the human genome. Nearly 80% of this genetic material is repetitive, making it even harder to sequence and analyse. Now, harnessing advanced sequencing technology and computational approaches, scientists from the Earlham Institute, with colleagues at the John Innes Centre, have published the worlds most complete picture of the wheat genome. It includes the location and detailed annotation of over 100,000 wheat genes. More than a fifth (22%) of these were completely absent from earlier assemblies, or found only as fragments. Latest techniques We applied the latest sequencing and bioinformatic techniques we have developed at our institute to the huge and complex wheat genome, says senior author Matthew Clark, Head of Technology Development at the Earlham Institute (EI). We were able to achieve the best results anyone had seen, including uncovering previously hidden genes. Moreover, all our methods are open, and available for anyone to use. This is critical as wheat DNA varies across the world, which is key to its success in different environments. We have already started to sequence many varieties of UK wheat using these methods, and we hope others will sequence the genomes of wheat important in their country, he says. A better map of the wheat genome is essential for breaking the wheat deadlock The results, published in Genome Research, focus on the variety called Chinese Spring - the standard cultivar for genomic research. The genome and annotation have been accessed more than any other resource on the genomic portal Plant Ensembl, where they have been available for a over year for thousands of researchers and breeders to use. Gene families The improved genome assembly combined with high quality sequencing data and novel methods allowed EI scientists to more accurately identify genes and areas of the genome with interesting functions. In previous assemblies, many genes were missing or found only as fragments. By identifying the entire DNA sequences of genes, EI scientists have made it possible to identify more complete sets of similar genes - called gene families - that are important for yield, disease resistance or other qualities important for agriculture. EI scientists have already used the advances to explore UK varieties and they have released six wheat genomes on the EIs open data website Grassroots Genomics. They and scientists from the John Innes Centre and The Sainsbury Laboratory have also started to use the results to provide a more accurate picture of where to find disease resistance genes and genes important for the visco-elastic properties of bread - which make it soft and spongy. More than two billion people worldwide rely on wheat as a staple food, making it a vital crop for global food security. However, yield increases have stagnated since the mid-1990s. A better map of the wheat genome is essential for breaking the deadlock. It will help reveal the location of important traits that can be bred into elite varieties. 'New level of accuracy' Lead author Bernardo Clavijo from the Earlham Institute says: Scientists all over the world are already using these new results. But even more importantly, our open methods allow a new level of accuracy for any wheat line, and many other complex genomes. Assembly for this complexity of genome has always been a bit of a one-off work of art. Now we have a way to do it reliably and to a standard that enables thorough analysis. We are moving towards a scenario where more and more wheat lines will be sequenced and compared using these and similar techniques. This kind of detail on every wheat line will enable new discoveries and accelerate breeding. We are already working with the breeding industry as well as other researchers to enable more detailed analysis of elite varieties, which will impact the wheat breeding programs directly. Ksenia Krasileva, a co-author on the new study, likens the creation of an assembly to navigating using GPS: Breeders might know there is something really useful in wheat, for example for protecting crops against disease or for improving gluten for bread-making, but without a good quality genome assembly its like driving through thick fog. Full genome assembly and annotating genes provides a sat nav view of wheat genes to signpost the way to useful genes in all varieties of the species. Five things for farmers to watch out for in Autumn Statement 1. Yes. Taxpayers are funding its operation; they should have a voice in the naming process. 2. Yes. The city should operate with a spirit of inclusivity. Residents will be responsive. 3. No. Public input can be problematic; rejection of suggestions can be divisive for residents. 4. No. Residents elect council members to make decisions on their behalf. No input is needed. 5. Unsure. Its hard to say whether public input would be more of a benefit or a hindrance. Vote View Results Summary Company Announcement Date: April 13, 2017 FDA Publish Date: February 08, 2018 Product Type: Food & Beverages Gravy/Sauces Food & Beverage Safety Reason for Announcement: Recall Reason Description Risk for Clostridum Botulinum Company Name: TP Food Processing, Inc. Brand Name: Brand Name(s) TPF Product Description: Product Description Lemongrass Satay; and Shrimp Satay Sauces Company Announcement TP Food Processing, Inc. of Westminster, CA is recalling Lemongrass Satay; and Shrimp Satay (Lot code 2016) because the acidified sauces were not properly produced making them susceptible to contamination with Clostridium botulinum. No illnesses, customer complaints, or illnesses have been reported to date. Below are the product descriptions and photographs: Product Name Container Size Description Lot Code TPF Lemongrass Satay 9 oz Lemongrass satay, 9 oz hexagon glass jar with red lid 2016 TPF Shrimp Satay 6 oz and 9 oz Shrimp Satay, 6 oz & 9 oz hexagon glass jar with red lid 2016 The sauces were distributed at supermarkets located in California. Symptoms of Clostridium botulinum typically begin with blurred or double vision followed by trouble speaking and swallowing, then progress to muscle weakness starting in the upper body and moving downward. Botulism can lead to life-threatening paralysis of breathing muscles requiring support with a breathing machine (ventilator) and intensive care. http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Pages/Botulism.aspx People experiencing these symptoms who have recently eaten Lemongrass Satay and Shrimp Satay should seek immediate medical attention. TP Food Processing, Inc. immediately segregated its entire inventory of Lemongrass Satay and Shrimp Satay is notifying consumers and customers not to consume them. TP Food Processing, Inc wants to ensure its products are safe. Consequently, in addition to its ongoing cooperation with the California Department of Public Health, TP Food Processing, Inc. is voluntarily recalling all Lemongrass Satay and Shrimp Satay from its customers. Consumers in possession of these products should not eat them, rather product should be returned to the place of purchase. TP Food Processing, Inc will be sending recall notices to all of its direct customers. Please call Philip Ma at 714-891-3838 for further information. Company Contact Information Consumers: Philip Ma 714-891-3838 Tian Poh Resourceshas signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mongolias Ministry of Energy.The copper and coal mining company says this MOU provides a framework for both parties to collaborate on a number of projects.They include the development of coal to electricity, and coal to gas plants, distribution of electricity and gas, and the construction of the Ulaanbaatar City Gas Pipeline Network.Both parties plan to build a coal to gas plant at or near Tian Pohs existing Nuurst Coal Project, which is 100km from Mongolias capital. Ulaanbaatar.Last Thursday, Tian Poh shares closed steady at 16.5 cents. We might try to make it again. I usually go every other year but I need some parts from mid fitty and like to touch and feel the part before I buy plus no shipping even though I know it cost me to go there. Last year I bought the tilt hood and now have it on. Plus I need to go back to Honest Chucks just to do it again. If we go I hope to meet some of you guys last year I bought a couple nice prints from a guy with a panel for I think Ohio and a few things from other vendors . Haiti - FLASH : Roadmap for the OMRH General Coordinator Josue Pierre Louis, the General Coordinator of the Office of Management and Human Resources (OMRH), with the rank of Minister, held with the institution's management, a planning session of actions to be carried out for the next 6 months in accordance with the roadmap handed over by Prime Minister Jack Guy Lafontant. Also took part in the planning : Francoise Brugerolle and Anne Azam-pradeilles of the European Union ; Philippe Canal of the IFMS project, representatives of the Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Kers Jean, Alphonse Deo Nkunzimana and Marceau Jude Edouard Jr, all three from USAID. Under the orientations set by the President Moise, translated into roadmaps, handed each minister https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-20507-icihaiti-politics-handing-of-roadmaps-to-ministers.html , Prime Minister Lafontant reminded the OMRH General Coordinator that the deconcentration and decentralization projects remain the cornerstone of an administration closer to the citizen. To do this, you must immediately take all necessary steps to develop an ambitious action plan. To this end, the following activities must be carried out, among others : OMRH General Coordinator Roadmap (6 months) : "- Reorganize the OMRH according to its mission in order to optimize and improve its efficiency so that it is more efficient; - Propose the reorganization and better organization of the Superior Council of Administration and Civil Service (CSAFP); - Conduct an evaluation of the implementation of the State Reform Framework Program (PCRE) 2015-2017 with a view to updating it for the period 2017-2022, adding new themes if necessary, taking account of the quality of services, and direct services to the public; - Ensure the performance of the Public Service system through regulatory and evaluation measures as well as the formulation of policies in the field of human resources development; - Strengthen and modernize the human resources departments of the Public Administration; - Implement the system of classification of jobs and remuneration within the Administration and the Civil Service; - Strengthen regulations on the use of Contract Agents in the Public Administration and ensure its application; - Develop in collaboration with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the salary grid for Public Service and Public Administration in general; - Develop and ensure the application of procedures to facilitate decisions relating to the various positions of public servants; - Regulate career development in the civil service, including the training system for career civil servants; - Ensure the implementation of the gender policy in Public Administration and Civil Service; - Ensure the non-discrimination of persons with disabilities with regard to access to the Civil Service; - Contribute to the establishment of the Territorial Public Service; - Ensure the adaptation and harmonization of structures and administrative procedures; - Reform the legal framework of public institutions and ensure the harmonization of the missions of other public bodies with those of the ministries; - Encourage the development of digital technologies in public administration; - Ensure the implementation of quality service structures and progressively closer to the population; - Work towards the implementation of the effective deconcentration of the public services of the State; - Standardize the national brand; - Keep the public informed of the reform in general and the different stages of implementation of the roadmap; - Put all acts necessary for the reform in accordance with the law. I ask you to start preparing the 2017-2018 Budget, which will have to be approved by the Council of Ministers, after arbitration by the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, and filed within the required legal timeframe in Parliament. You will also have the task of increasing transparency, the fight against corruption and the good management of public property. It will be up to you to organize, direct and animate the services, teams and agents of the State placed under your responsibility. Jack Guy Lafontant, Prime Minister." See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20683-haiti-flash-feuille-de-route-du-ministre-de-l-interieur.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20659-haiti-flash-roadmap-to-the-minister-of-planning.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20649-haiti-flash-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-social-affairs.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20638-haiti-flash-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-the-environment.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20628-haiti-flash-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-culture.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20617-haiti-flash-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-national-education.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20610-haiti-flash-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-youth.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20601-haiti-flash-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-justice.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20591-haiti-flash-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-public-works.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20581-haiti-flash-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-health.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20569-haiti-flash-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-tourism.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20559-haiti-flash-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-the-diaspora.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20549-haiti-flash-big-roadmap-for-the-minister-of-agriculture.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20544-haiti-politics-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-trade-and-industry.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20529-haiti-politics-roadmap-of-the-minister-of-finance.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20519-haiti-politics-foreign-affairs-roadmap.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20508-haiti-flash-roadmap-for-the-establishment-of-the-haitian-army.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-20446-haiti-politics-major-projects-of-the-ministry-of-tourism.html HL/ HaitiLibre dormakaba Product Quality, Professional Tech Support, Service Earn Trust of Major National Lock Installation Company York Access Control, a wholly owned subsidiary of York Industries, Inc., installs thousands of electronic door locks for dozens of major-brand properties each month. Its five install teams are experienced with all lock brands and manage projects across North America, Hawaii and the Caribbean. We work with several electronic door lock companies and dormakaba is the best in my opinion. I have learned to trust the high quality of their products. They consistently provide everything we need to finish our installation projects on deadline, said Christopher T. York, president of York Access Control. dormakaba provides installation and service for the Saflok and Ilco brands of electronic door locks. The company is a service focused best-in-class global leader that combines innovative solutions and professional services to provide the worldwide hospitality industry with electronic locking solutions. Click here for information on electronic door locks from dormakaba. I have learned to trust the high quality of dormakaba products. When we first started our business, we installed primarily for builders at new construction hotel projects. Today most of our projects are property lock system transitions from magstripe reader technology to the newest RFID chip and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) solutions for mobile access, York said. The largest chains are quickly moving into BLE. We are heavily involved in dormakabas mobile access rollout with these companies and having great results! York said that each hotel project is unique. Retrofit installations are challenging because most properties remain open during the project to maintain full cash flow. We always accommodate guest and staff needs first while we are upgrading a properties lock system, York said. dormakaba is the best at supplying everything we need to finish our projects as scheduled. Plus, dormakabas service and tech support is the best in the industry. They have an excellent toll-free support number to help their strategic partners like us provide consistently great installs and customer satisfaction. I have seen dormakaba do the right thing for their customers many times, and worry about the costs later. That says a lot to me. Price is often a major factor in a propertys lock equipment decision. We do not partner with some lock providers. Although their product may be somewhat comparable or even slightly lower in cost initially, they will charge customers much more for after-market components once the installation is completed, York said. We also find that the lowest priced, imported locks are not currently cost effective because their lower quality undercuts operational reliability. We often replace these locks after a short time for customers that try them. dormakabas lock systems are well built and reliable and they treat their customers very well. I value that greatly for my customers. Alastair Cush, SVP Global Business Owner, Lodging Systems for dormakaba, said: York Access Control is a trusted strategic partner for dormakabas hospitality industry installations. Its field service teams are professional and Yorks repair work is always done to high standards. Their 25 years experience with dormakaba and our mutual client properties benefits every hotel company they work with, said Mr. Cush. About dormakaba dormakaba is one of the top three companies in the global market for access and security solutions. With strong brands such as Dorma and Kaba in our portfolio, we are a single source for products, solutions, and services related to doors and secure access to buildings and rooms. With around 16,000 employees and numerous cooperation partners, we are active in over 130 countries. dormakaba is headquartered in Rumlang (Zurich/Switzerland) and generates an annual turnover of over CHF 2 billion. SIX Swiss Exchange: DOKA (formerly: KABN / KABNE) Further information at www.dormakaba.com About York Access Control York Access Control is a wholly owned subsidiary of York Industries, Inc. of Corpus Christi Texas. The company is a group of experienced Access Control Systems professionals with business integrity grounded in Christian principles and based in the Texas, California and South Carolina regions. It has provided high quality access control systems installation & implementation to the Hospitality and Military industries for over 25 years in North America and the world. Yorks business mission is honest & simple. We strive to obtain customer satisfaction every time by providing high quality services performed by seasoned professionals who value honesty & integrity above all. http://www.yorkaccesscontrol.com CONTACTS: dormakaba Stephen Pollack Vice President Marketing Phone: 1-859-253-4744 x3542 Email: stephen.pollack@dormakaba.com www.kabalodging.com Media Contact: Julie Keyser-Squires, APR Softscribe Inc. 609 SW 8th Street, Ste 600 Bentonville, AR 72712 Phone: 404-256-5512 Email: Julie(at)softscribeinc.com www.softscribeinc.com The Ritz-Carlton Tysons Corner The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner announced the appointment of new General Manager, Tod Morrow, who recently joined the property from The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City. The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner announced the appointment of new General Manager, Tod Morrow, who recently joined the property from The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City. Tod Morrow is a seasoned professional who brings over twenty-five years of experience in luxury hospitality to his new position, the last eleven of which were spent as a General Manager for hotels within The Ritz-Carlton brand. "I am extremely thrilled to be the new General Manager for The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, one of the country's most distinguished properties known for their gracious hospitality, well-appointed guest rooms and dedicated staff," says Morrow. "In the wake of the hotel's 25th anniversary and completion of the Redefinition project, it is a critical time to promote our exceptional talent. I look forward to further enhancing our reputation as a key leader in the luxury hotel division to both locals and visitors alike." Prior to The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner, Tod Morrow served as General Manager for The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City for nearly six years, following a successful five-year appointment as General Manager for The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta. Previously, he worked in various executive positions in hotel management for several Ritz-Carlton hotels; The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead as Hotel Manager, The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta as Executive Assistant Manager of Rooms, as well as The Ritz-Carlton, Naples as Rooms Division Manager. In addition, Morrow has contributed to the successful hotel openings of The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island, The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, and The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota. While appointed as General Manager for The Ritz-Carlton, Pentagon City, Morrow maintained active membership in several hospitality and lodging associations including: Arlington Chamber of Commerce, Alexandria Chamber of Commerce, Washington Board of Trade, Virginia Hotel Lodging Association, and the Destination DC Advisory Board. Tod Morrow's arrival at The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner comes at a momentous time, as the property having recently completed an extensive, multimillion-dollar upgrade. project extended to all 398 guest rooms, suites and the club lounge, seamlessly enhancing the overall guest experience. The new guest rooms were unveiled this past fall, just in time for The Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner's 25th anniversary. Leading B2B travel wholesaler selects the Trio analytics platform to gain greater visibility into the performance of its suppliers, customers, distribution channels and operations. Triometric, the leading provider of real-time API performance monitoring and XML intelligence to the online travel industry, announced today that Destinations of the World (DOTW), the leading Dubai headquartered B2B travel wholesaler, has chosen the Trio Enterprise platform (Trio platform) to optimise the performance of its web services through real-time monitoring and analysis of its API traffic connecting its suppliers and customers. DOTW secures access to hotel room inventory in different travel destinations and sells hotel room bookings to its multi-regional distribution network of agents and tour operators. Recent acquisitions have spearheaded the companys growth and expansion of travel product offerings across key global markets, including Asia and the Caribbean. The companys proprietary online reservation system, DOTWConnect, seamlessly connects travel agents, tour operators and wholesalers to more than 170,000 hotels in over 10,000 destinations worldwide. Triometric delivers a real-time operational and business intelligence platform for B2B businesses and distribution channels, where speed and accuracy of data exchange is critical. Triometric recently extended deployment of its API monitoring and analytics platform into cloud based environments, making it easier for companies like DOTW with an existing cloud based infrastructure to deploy the Trio platform. Once fully installed, DOTW will be able to pro-actively monitor in real-time its extensive API connectivity and correct any performance issues as soon as they arise. Using the platforms BI capability, DOTW will also be able to enhance its service to customers and suppliers using rich insights from XML search and booking data streams. At a time when DOTW is consolidating and expanding its business, we are committed to continuous investment in our technology platform to ensure that our web operations and API networks are performing optimally as our product and client portfolio grows, said Mohammed Malik, Director of Technology at DOTW. We are delighted to be working with Triometric to ensure we keep our operations running optimally and are able to improve our levels of support to our customers. Trio Enterprise is a proven platform, capturing and analysing lots of information very quickly to allow our customers to see their operational performance and distribution activity. Said Matthew Goulden, CEO of Triometric. We are delighted that DOTW has selected Triometric and we are proud to be working with the company to ensure the platform is deployed quickly, efficiently and remains scalable and robust for future growth. About Destinations of the World (DOTW) DOTW established in Dubai in 1993, has grown into one of the world's largest accommodation wholesalers, operating an exclusively B2B distribution model in one of the fastest growing segments of the global travel industry. The company secures access to hotel room inventory in different travel destinations and sells hotel room bookings to its multi-regional distribution network of travel agents, online travel agents, and tour operators. The company has established a solid leadership position across MENA, enjoying a 95% penetration of the region's travel retailer agency market. DOTW's proprietary online reservation system, DOTW connect, seamlessly connects travel agents, tour operators, wholesalers and to more than 170,000 hotels in over 10,000 destinations worldwide. For more information visit: DOTW.com About Triometric Triometric helps online travel companies meet the challenges and opportunities of todays fragmented distribution landscape using XML analytics. Triometric technology is a powerful end-to-end web services monitoring and analytics platform that helps customers manage complex distribution dynamics by giving them deep insight into their search and booking traffic. This actionable intelligence enables online travel intermediaries and suppliers to improve their business performance by reducing costs and increasing revenue. Triometric is a privately held company based in Surrey, UK. Customers include some of the leaders in the travel industry including GTA, Hotelbeds, Miki Travel, Bonotel and Farelogix. For additional information, visit: www.triometric.net Contact: Sonja Woodman Marketing Manager, Triometric email info@triometric.net or call Tel: +44(0)1784 270400 / +44 (0) 7802 667865 email: Sonja.woodman@triometric.net Lucas Group Releases White Paper on New Legal Recruitment Strategy Posted by Press Releases on Tuesday, 04-18-2017 4:38 am Currently 0.0/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5 0.0 from 0 votes Executive recruiting firm outlines changes to traditional recruit-train-retain model and features step-by-step guide for conducting a market analysis on future strategy.Lucas Group announced the publication of the executive recruiting firms newest white paper, Strategic Growth in a Changing Legal Market: How to Make Your Firm the Right Fit for the Right Attorneys.The white paper, authored by Chicago-based Managing Partner Mat Martin, outlines a recruitment roadmap for law firms in todays rapidly evolving legal marketplace.As competition pushes more firms to segment their services and re-think their billing models, the traditional hiring model is also evolving, saysMartin. Firms must consider how each hire aligns with their current marketplace position. Retaining a partner whose practice is incongruous with a firms priorities or onboarding the wrong personnel can have costly financial and strategic consequences.Martins white paper considers how changing market dynamics are im... Close Forgot Your Password? Enter in your email address and we will send it to you. Send Email An HR.com member profile provides you with access to a multitude of information and education along with the opportunity to network with the largest HR community on the web. If you need any help, call .877.472.6648 and ask for our Member Experience Co-ordinator. Hi Please check your email for an activation link. If you do not receive your activation email within a few minutes, check your spam folder or call our Help Desk at 1.877.472.6648 For faster assistance, dial extension 4. Thank you! Continue Hi Verification error - Please enter the correct code above. Verified Wow! You have successfully verified the account Continue Hi your HR.com account is ready Your Profile completion: 30% Complete your profile Trucking Businesses Paying By Miles Are Accommodated With Latest EzPaycheck Payroll Software Posted by Press Releases on Tuesday, 04-18-2017 12:55 pm Currently 0.0/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5 0.0 from 0 votes EzPaycheck 2017 payroll software updated to accommodate trucking companies paying by the load or by mileage. Small businesses that want to start computerized payroll processing can test drive at http://www.halfpricesoft.com.DETROIT, MI (PRWEB) APRIL 17, 2017ezPaycheck 2017 payroll software has been updated to give customers in the trucking industry the special paycheck options that were requested. The Halfpricesoft.com developing team now offers pay by mile, by piece, or by weight at no additional charge to users.EzPaycheck 2017 payroll software gives trucking companies an easier solution to paying by mile, piece or weight at no additional cost, said Dr. Ge, the founder of Halfpricesoft.com.Customers seeking a way to simplify payroll processing with more accuracy can go online to http://www.halfpricesoft.com/index.asp and download the payroll accounting software. The download includes the full version of the paycheck software along with a sample database. The sample database allows n... Close Forgot Your Password? Enter in your email address and we will send it to you. Send Email An HR.com member profile provides you with access to a multitude of information and education along with the opportunity to network with the largest HR community on the web. If you need any help, call .877.472.6648 and ask for our Member Experience Co-ordinator. 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You have successfully verified the account Continue Hi your HR.com account is ready Your Profile completion: 30% Complete your profile Vector Solutions Recognized for Award-Winning Company Culture Posted by Press Releases on Tuesday, 04-18-2017 4:21 am Currently 0.0/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5 0.0 from 0 votes Tampa-Based eLearning Company Named as Finalist Among Citys Best Places to WorkVector Solutions, the leader in eLearning and performance support solutions for the architecture, engineering, construction (AEC), industrial, public safety, IT and education fields, has again been recognized as one of the best place to work in the Tampa Bay area, largely for its outstanding company culture.For the sixth year, Tampa Bay Times Top Workplaces 2017 honors Vector Solutions on its list, which is an annual roundup of the very best organizations to work for in the region. This award comes on the heels of Tampa Bay Business Journal naming Vector Solutions and RedVector, the companys founding brand, as a finalist for the ninth year on its Best Places to Work 2017 list, which is also published annually.We are very proud to be recognized by our peers and employees, said Victoria Zambito, Senior VP of Product, Content and Communication. Fostering a workplace environment that breeds connectivity, ac... Close Forgot Your Password? Enter in your email address and we will send it to you. Send Email An HR.com member profile provides you with access to a multitude of information and education along with the opportunity to network with the largest HR community on the web. If you need any help, call .877.472.6648 and ask for our Member Experience Co-ordinator. Hi Please check your email for an activation link. 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You have successfully verified the account Continue Hi your HR.com account is ready Your Profile completion: 30% Complete your profile We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector We work towards an equitable, gender-just, self-reliant and sustainable fisheries, particularly in the small-scale, artisanal sector The Drive to War Against North Korea and the Danger of World War III Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2017 Time: 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM Event Type: Meeting Organizer/Author: IYSSE at UC Berkeley Location Details: 247 Dwinelle Hall, UC Berkeley Not since the height of the Cold War has the danger of a war between major nuclear armed powers been so great. In the past two weeks the Trump Administration has fired cruise missiles at a Syrian base with Russian military personal operating out of it, fired the largest non-atomic weapon in history to intimidate its adversaries, and, now, has threatened North Korea with assassinations and a pre-emptive strike. The Democratic Party and media, which has opposed Trump on the basis of his attempt at a rapprochement with Russia, now bursts out in ecstatic praise for Trumps recent spate of warmongering. Behind the US threat to North Korea lies the more fundamental conflict with China, which American officials and military strategists see as a major long-term economic and geopolitical competitor. At the center of the campaign on the Korean peninsula is the effort to force China, which also possesses nuclear weapons, to accept US hegemony over the Asia-Pacific region. The war drive of Washington, backed by Seoul and Tokyo, has no progressive content. They have no regard for the suffering of the North Korean people or for the potential of even greater suffering in war. US and Japanese imperialism, backed by South Korea, seek to deepen their hegemony in the region. Pyongyang has commitied numerous crimes against its people, but the historical task of dealing with the Stalinist regime is the duty of the North Korean working class, united with their class brothers and sisters in the South, Japan, China, the United States, and internationally. Please join the IYSSE to discuss the grave, growing danger of war between the US and its major geopolitical rivals. At the discussion, WSWS journalist and Korean correspondent Ben McGrath will deliver a political report on the events in the Koreas, as well as deeper history of conflict and imperialism in the region. Burma Australian Mining Firm Abandons Exploration Bid in Contested Karenni State Area An ethnic Kayaw man walks with a gun in September 2015 in Hpruso Townshipnorth of mineral-rich Hpasawng Townshipin Karenni State. The area, which was once known as one of the biggest tin and tungsten mining areas in the world, is not currently experiencing active conflict, but has a strong military presence by various armed groups. Australian mining firm Eumeralla has decided not to pursue exploration there. / Soe Zayar Tun / Reuters The new management at the Australian mining firm Eumeralla Resources has decided not to further pursue mining opportunities in eastern Burma, following a three-year wait for permits. The Perth-based firm, which is currently undergoing a restructuring and name change, had been seeking to explore for minerals in a corner of Karenni State that has been beset by decades of conflict. Eumeralla and its local partner, Myanmar Energy Resources Group (MERG), filled out an application with government officials in July 2013 through their local joint venture company seeking permission to explore a 400-kilometer square area in eastern Karenni States Hpasawng Townshipalso known as Hpahsaung or Pasaungfor tin and tungsten. The firm had claimed that when approved, the exploration lease would be one of the largest foreign held concessions in Myanmar [Burma]. Eumeralla noted in a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange from December that the application had been subject to continuous delays. A prospectus released by Eumeralla in late March noted that its new management do not intend to pursue existing opportunities in Myanmar. In the prospectus, the firm also stated that intends to divest or relinquish its 70 percent stake in Mawsaki Mining, its local Burmese joint venture which had filed the permit applications. According to Eumerallas filing, its partner MERG owns the remaining 30 percent stake in Mawsaki. Local Karenni State-based environmental group the Molo Women Mining Watch Network (MWMWN) alleged in a report released in October 2013 that the head of the Karenni National Peoples Liberation Front (KNPLF), a militia group active Karenni State, was behind Mawsaki. Since 1994, the KNPLF have been in a ceasefire with the central government. Tun Kyaw, who oversaw the official transformation of the KNPLF into a border guard force (BGF) in 2009, is said to hold sway over two KNPLF BGF units that operate in the state, one of which is based in Hpasawng Township. Hpasawng Township is also home to the Mawchi mine, a site that during colonial times was considered one of the biggest tin and tungsten mining areas in the world. Decades of conflict in Karenni State saw the military and ethnic armed groups vie for control of Mawchi. News that the Eumerallawhose shares are listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)had decided to forgo its effort to explore in Karenni State will be of little surprise to observers of Burmas mining industry. Hpasawng Township remains a highly militarized area home to both the army, the KNPLF, and the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), an armed group who has yet to sign the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA). Although none of the groups are currently fighting against the central government, the military also maintains a strong presence in the area. Launching an extensive search for minerals in such an environment would almost certainly have been challenging, in particular because landmines are known to be present throughout the area. In addition to Eumeralla, several other relatively small Western mining firms have in recent years sought permits to explore for minerals in resource rich parts of Burma that have been home to long-running conflicts. One such firm, Aurasian Minerals, applied in December 2014 for exploration permits in a jade-producing part of Kachin State, where clashes between the military and the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) remain ongoing, before eventually withdrawing the following year, citing the security situation. Asia Pacific Mining Limited, (APML), a Hong Kong-based firm headed by a veteran of the Australian mining industry, submitted permits to explore for lead, zinc and silver in northern Shan State. Days after APMLs exploration permit was approved in October 2014 by Burmese authorities, deadly clashes broke out near the concession area. Much of the countryside in Northern Shan State remains a conflict zone with clashes between army and several armed groups regularly occurring. A number of activists and environmental organizations have called for Burma to put in place a moratorium on natural resource and development projects in conflict-affected parts of the country, like Karenni, Shan and Kachin states, until a lasting peace is put in place. These calls have so far yet to be heeded by the central government. Eumeralla announced in December last year that it would acquire Ausmex Mining, a privately held mining firm connected to Australian mining entrepreneur Wayne McCrae. Eumeralla will change its name to Ausmex Mining Group Limited. After the takeover is completed, McCrae is expected to hold a 27.3 percent stake in the newly merged firm. News Maungdaw Begins Late Thingyan Celebrations Police guard the central pavilion located near the district administrative office in Maungdaw town. / U Aung Ko / Maungdaw RANGOON Despite the Thingyan festival ending throughout Burma on Sunday, conflict-torn Maungdaw in northern Arakan State is celebrating the annual water festival from Monday until Thursday, according to local police major Kyaw Mya Win. Maungdaw is the only townshipof 17 in Arakan Statethat still celebrates the Buddhist New Year according to the Arakanese calendar, on April 17-20. Several photos have gone viral on Facebook depicting armed border guard police near the pavilions in Maungdawaround which celebrations are centereda reminder of the increased security presence in the township. Following coordinated attacks on police outposts last October, the Burma Army and police carried out clearance operations in the township in late 2016, resulting in tens of thousands of self-identifying Rohingya Muslims seeking refuge in neighboring Bangladesh. U Khin Maung Yee, a Muslim resident of Myoma, Maungdaw towns southern quarter, told The Irrawaddy that township government administration departments had instructed village heads to prevent Muslims from visiting the Thingyan pavilions in order to avoid unnecessary violence. Police official U Kyaw Mya Win rejected such claims, and said that authorities had not implemented such restrictions. U Khin Maung Yee recalled that up until five years ago, Muslims had regularly joined the annual water festival alongside Buddhists, but that this changed after riots erupted in Arakan State in 2012, displacing nearly 100,000 people. BeforeMuslims joined the Thingyan festival with Arakanese friends, but now no one is interested in participating in this event, because they are worried about conflict happening again, U Khin Maung Yee said. Dr. Aye Chan, an Arakanese professor at Japans Kanda University, said that the extended Thingyan period unique to Maungdaw could also be attributed to Arakanese traditions of courtship, because it allows more time for travel between Maungdaw and neighboring townships. News Revived Thingyan in Naypyidaw Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at Taichitos Pavilion on the last day of Thingyan / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy NAYPYIDAW State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi made a special appearance at a pavilion in Naypyidaw during Thingyan, one of the high points that locals say has made this years water festival the best in recent memory for Burmas administrative capital. The State Counselor joined the celebrations on Thingyan eve at Taichitos Pavilionnamed for her pet dognear her residence on Mya Nan Bon Tha Street in Zabuthiri Township. Other senior leaders soon joined the party at the small pavilion, built from coconut fronds for Daw Aung San Suu Kyis bodyguards. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had the pavilion made for her bodyguards to enjoy the festival, Ko Phyo Ko, head of youth affairs at Napyidaws chapter of the National League for Democracy (NLD), told The Irrawaddy. Then she came to cheer them on. After her appearance in the afternoon, Naypyidaw Municipality secured the pavilion with an iron frame. Senior leaders who live near the pavilion, including Lower House Speaker U Win Myint and the Commission for the Assessment of Legal Affairs and Special Issues chairman Thura U Shwe Mann, also graced the stage. No Serious Offenses Police said there were two crimes and one injury in the city throughout the water festival. We seized things [from revelers] that could have been used to harm people in front of the water-throwing pavilions, said Naypyidaw Police Col Zaw Khin Aung. This helped a bit to prevent offenses. Overcrowding at Naypyidaws hotel zone, formerly the only area with large water-throwing pavilions in the city, has been a source of fights and road accidents in past Thingyan festivals, according to locals. This year, however, every township had water-throwing pavilions, which locals said alleviated the problem of overcrowding and fighting. There were very few fights in my ward this year, said U Khin Maung Zaw, a resident of Pyinmana Township. I used to see a lot of fights during Thingyan, but this year no one from my ward was hospitalized or arrested. A Refreshing Thingyan for Old Townships Naypyidaws liveliest celebrations of Thingyan were once found at the water-throwing pavilions in Zabuthiri Township, which hoteliers said they erected on the orders of authorities. But this year, they reported not receiving any instructions and so did not build the stages. This pushed the party to Pyinmana, Lewe, and Tatkon and other townships, which were founded long before the establishment of Naypyidaw, where locals declared this years water festival the best in a long time. Ko Thein Than Oo, chairman of Pyinmana Youth Network, a civil society organization in Pyinmana, said, This years Thingyan was not only lively in the township on the whole, but also in every ward in the township. Thingyan has been quite lifeless in previous years, but this year every Thingyan day was lively. There were two big pavilions in the citythe Naypyidaw Mayors Pavilion by Naypyidaw Municipality and the pavilion by the office of Burmas commander-in-chief in Zayarthiri Township. News Thingyan Deaths Halve in 2017 Emergency rescue members give first aid to a patient during Thingyan in Rangoon. / Myo Min Soe / The Irrawaddy RANGOON The number of deaths during this years water festival Thingyan fell by more than half compared to last year, according to figures revealed by police on Monday. A total of 208 crimes related to the four-day celebrations of the Burmese New Year claimed 16 lives and injured 194 people, with the highest number of deaths and accidents reported in the former capital Rangoon, where two people died in homicides and three in road accidents, said the announcement. An initial report by the Ministry of Information on Monday said that 1,200 crimes related to the festivities from April 13-16 killed 285 people and injured 1,073 others. However, these figures were not specific to Thingyan and encompassed all crime that happened in Burma throughout the four days. As a result, many news outlets reported the erroneous figures. Editor U Than Oo of the state-run Myanmar News Agency told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday the ministry had miscalculated the data and confirmed the polices figures were correct. Thingyan celebrations were linked to 31 road accidents across all of Burmas 14 divisions and states, killing seven people and injuring 110, according to police data. No deaths related to the festival were recorded in the countrys capital Naypyidaw, or in Karen and Chin states, Tenasserim or Pegu. A total of 35 people died and 316 others were injured in last years Thingyan, which went on for five days. According to a press conference held by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Mar. 29, the government deployed around 6,000 police officers for the annual water festival. The fire department, the Red Cross, and the health ministry assigned around 2,000 members to respond to emergency incidents. Rangoon divisional chief minister U Phyo Min Thein and his cabinet members emphasized before the New Year holidays that the regional government would effectively take action against those who illegally sold alcohol during the festivities. His ban on for-profit water pavilions was controversial among the public, especially as party stages at the usual flocking grounds for revelersInya Road and around Kandawgyi Lanewere no longer allowed. He claimed the move was for people who have felt that Thingyan is not for them, encouraging the public to celebrate the festival in a traditional way instead of focusing on drinking alcohol and playing loud music from pavilions. Mandalays Thingyan Walk along its 26th Street received praise from the public though it also imposed a partial ban on for-profit pavilions during the celebrations. News Three Die in Cyclone Maarutha Damage caused by Cyclone Maarutha in Ramree Township, Arakan State. / Prof Win Myat Aye / Facebook RANGOON Three people were killed in Irrawaddy Division as Cyclone Maarutha made landfall on Arakan States coast and swept through southern coastal Burma on Sunday. One person was killed in Hinthada Townshipabout whom no information has yet been releasedand two women died in Labutta Township after being electrocuted by a live wire damaged in the storm, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement. The cyclone hit the seaside township of Thandwe in Arakan State, crossing Arakan and Shan states, and Magwe and Mandalay divisions on Sunday night, with 45 to 50 kilometers per hour (28 to 32 miles), said U Kyaw Moe Oo, deputy director general of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH). The storm also brought strong winds and heavy rains to other divisions and states including Irrawaddy, Rangoon, Pegu and Mon. It weakened on Monday morning. According to the ministrys data, the cyclone blew out the roofs of 81 houses, and a school in Thandwe. In Munaung Township of the same state, about 17 houses, 11 schools and three monasteries suffered damage. The winds also caused damage in Taungup, Kyaukphyu, Ramree, and Ngapali townships. In Irrawaddy Division, a house collapsed and the roofs of four other houses were blown out. A house also reportedly collapsed in Magwe. Cyclone Maarutha has faded, said U Kyaw Moe Oo, though a potential storm forming in the Bay of Bengal needs to be watched until mid-May. There was not a high number of casualties as the cyclones wind speed was not strong enough and also awareness and experience of storms have increased, he added. As there were quick updates from both state and private media, the news about the storms informed people well and could have helped reduce the damage. Reddit Email 429 Shares By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | Several hundred Turks demonstrated in Istanbul on Monday in protest at the referendum result on Sunday transforming Turkey into a presidential system and handing vast powers to right wing politician Tayyip Erdogan. In contrast, US president Donald J. Trump called Erdogan to congratulate him on his victory. Social media is saying that Trump only wishes he could get the kind of power Erdogan just did. Trump confidant Lt Gen. (ret) Mike Flynn was hired last summer and fall by a firm close to Erdogan and he appears to have hidden or under-reported his substantial income from Turkish graft. Had he not been forced out, Erdogan would have had a mole in the National Security Council. In Istanbul, demonstrators shouted Shoulder to Shoulder against Fascism! as the marched on the HQ of the High Electoral Commission. Another rally was held in Istanbuls Besiktas neighborhood, known as a bastion of secularism. Leaders of the Peoples Republican Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP), the two opposition parties in parliament who hold about a third of the seats, hastened to reject the outcome of the referendum. They maintained that the High Electoral Commission decided after voting was already underway to count contested ballots, and that it was unfair to change the rules abruptly. Scattered, smaller demonstrations took place throughout Turkey. Some 13 persons were arrested in Antalya. France 24 reports that However, Tana de Zulueta, head of the observer mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe specifically criticised a decision by Turkeys electoral board to accept ballots that did not have official stamps, saying it removed key safeguards and undermined the fight against fraud. The system is designed to ensure that only one vote is cast per registered person and to avoid the possibility of ballot box-stuffing. Also on Monday, Erdogan extended the state of emergency declared after the failed coup of July 15, 2016, for the third time. Under this law, basic civil liberties such as habeas corpus are suspended. Over 100,000 government employees have been fired in the past 8 months, with professors fired or chased out of the country along with journalists. Related video: The Young Turks: Was Turkeys Election Rigged? (Spoiler: Probably) Reddit Email 35 Shares TeleSur | Salutes of Palestinian Prisoners Day. Glory to the martyrs. Freedom for the prisoners of freedom, stated the PFLP in support of the strikers. On Palestinian Prisoners Day Monday, hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli prisons staged a mass hunger strike, continuing the decades-long resistance of prisoners in the apartheid state. Maan News Agency reported that prisoners throughout the country have purged all food products from their cells and have shaved their heads. According to Israels prison service, some 1,187 detainees from across the political spectrum are participating, with support from groups as diverse as the Palestine Liberation Organization to the Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, known as the PFLP. In a statement in support of the strike, PLO Executive Committee Member Hanan Ashrawi affirmed on behalf of Palestinian leadership unwavering commitment to ensuring the safe and unconditional release of all 6,500 Palestinian political prisoners. According to Maan, these prisoners include 57 women, 300 children, 13 members of parliament, 500 administrative detainees, 800 prisoners who require medical care and 18 journalists. PFLP Prison Branch urges action & unity to support Pal prisoners engaged in the battle for dignity https://t.co/A3lygv1ktm #PrisonersDay (@PFLP_info) April 17, 2017 Since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip began nearly 50 years ago, more than 800,000 Palestinians have been kidnapped and imprisoned by Israel, and in the past two years alone, at least 13 discriminatory and racist laws have been enacted by the Israeli government that deliberately target Palestinian prisoners and are in direct violation of international law and conventions, Ashrawi wrote in her impassioned statement. The entire global community should be alarmed by Israels willful breach and devaluation of the rights and lives of Palestinian political prisoners, especially in regards to the imprisonment and ill-treatment of Palestinian men, women, children, and the elderly," she added. The PFLP also released a statement in support of the strikers, saying, We salute every prisoner, the heroes and heroines of the battles of will and steadfastness to the sick prisoners, administrative detainees and imprisoned leaders and the long line of leaders who represent the national struggle and the prisoners cause. This 12-yr-old Palestinian girl spent 75 days in Israels prisonu know the"only democracy in the Middle East" #PalestinianPrisonersDay pic.twitter.com/Q2cBvcrgPd Abbs Winston (@AbbsWinston) April 17, 2017 We hope that the culmination of all of these battles waged by the prisoners inside the prisons, with the popular support inside and outside Palestine, will be to unify the prisoners movement, in light of the traditions and norms established by the prisoners movement for over 50 years, of prisons as revolutionary schools which unite all forces behind revolutionary national ideals, the PFLP concluded. The group also congratulated the longest-serving woman prisoner, Lena Jarbouni, on her freedom after 15 years in Israeli jails. Israeli authorities released Jarbouni Sunday, who stressed upon her release the right of Palestinian people to resist the Israeli occupation. She also expressed support for the prisoners strike. Ahmad Herzallah, a former detainee and now with the Mohjat al-Quds Prisoners Association explained Jarbounis case to teleSUR. "Lina Jarbouni has been subjected to all forms of humiliation and repression practiced by the Zionist enemy against Palestinian detainees," he said. "She is the only female prisoner who remained in Israeli custody after the Gilad Shalits exchange deal between Hamas and Israel in 2011, despite (the fact that) the agreement stipulated the release of all female prisoners under the deal." Jarbouni was detained on April 18, 2002 after Israeli army troops raided her home in the town of Arraba in Galilee over alleged charges of her affiliation with the Islamic Jihad movement and for housing Palestinian resistance fighters. Known for her advocacy for womens rights inside Israeli jails, Jabrouni was elected to a leadership position of an organization of female Palestinian detainees in the Hasharon Prison. WATCH: Silencing Palestine, Prison and Repression The strike, which started Monday, is being led by Palestinian resistance leader Marwan Barghouti, who despite being imprisoned, has been touted as a possible future successor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Despite the mass uprising, an Israel Prison Service official reportedly said they would not be responding to any of the prisoners demands, according to Maan. Meanwhile, Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan has ordered a separate military hospital to be set up so that hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners are not taken to civilian hospitals.These hospitals have so far refused to force-feed hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners, in line with accepted medical ethics that force-feeding is a form of torture. The Israeli Supreme Court, however, recently ruled that force-feeding hunger-striking prisoners is constitutional. While the strike began Monday, it is intended to be an open-ended one, with more prisoners expected to take part as the days go on. Protesters in support of the strikers are also staging mass rallies. Via TeleSur Related video added by Juan Cole: Euronews: Inmates begin hunger strike on Palestinian Prisoners Day VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - April 18, 2017) - Asanko Gold Inc. ("Asanko" or the "Company") (TSX:AKG)(NYSE MKT:AKG) is pleased to announce production results for the first quarter of 2017 ("Q1") from the Asanko Gold Mine, located in Ghana, West Africa. Commenting on the quarter's performance, Peter Breese, President and CEO, said, "I am pleased to report a second consecutive quarter of record production, with over 58,000 ounces produced in Q1 2017, which positions us well to meet our guidance for the year. Looking ahead, 2017 will be a year of two halves. With the first half focused solely on mining fresh ore from Nkran, production volumes will be lower and costs will be higher compared to H2. In H2, as we bring our second pit, Dynamite Hill, into production, the softer oxide ore is cheaper to both mine and process and we expect that the incremental ore from Dynamite Hill, coupled with the Project 5 Million plant expansion, will deliver increased volumes and lower operating costs enabling us to meet our 2017 production and cost guidance. Project 5 Million is progressing well and ahead of schedule, with commissioning now expected in Q4 2017. All the long lead items have been ordered and we will be starting the upgrades during this quarter." Mining With the strategic stockpile of 1.5 million tonnes, which is equivalent to five months of production, now in place as well as the dual ramp system, ore mining rates dropped during the quarter to more optimal levels. Ore mining rates for the quarter averaged 339,096 tonnes per month at an average mining grade of 1.8 g/t. Waste mining took place in the north and western sides in preparation for the next sequence of ore mining in the centre of the pit. The next pushback sequence will commence during Q2 2017. The grade for the quarter was lower as a result of mining through a planned lower grade section of the orebody. The increase in the strip ratio this quarter was driven by the implementation of the new CSA Global resource model mid-way through the quarter. Going forward, the life of mine strip ratio for Nkran is expected to be around 6:1, which will be confirmed by the new life of mine plan that will be included in the Expansion Definitive Feasibility Study due to be published in Q2 2017. Key Mining Statistics Units Q4 2016 Q1 2017 Total Tonnes Mined 000 t 7,231 6,637 Waste Tonnes Mined 000 t 5,931 5,620 Ore Tonnes Mined 000 t 1,300 1,017 Strip Ratio W:O 4.6:1 5.5:1 Average Gold Grade Mined g/t 2.0 1.8 Processing The processing plant continued to operate at an annualized rate of 3.6 million tonnes per annum (20% above design) during the quarter. The upgrades to the crushing circuit were commissioned during the quarter, which is now capable of handling the increased throughput requirements to the milling circuit, in anticipation of commissioning Project 5 Million later this year. Metallurgical recoveries continued to exceed design levels at 95%. Gold production for the quarter averaged 19,300 ounces per month. Key Production Statistics Units Q4 2016 Q1 2017 Ore Treated 000 t 901 908 Gold Feed Grade g/t 2.10 2.05 Gold Recovery % 94 95 Gold Produced oz 57,178 58,187 Sales and Liquidity Gold production for the quarter was 58,187 ounces with gold sales of 57,812 ounces at an average realized price of US$1,199 per ounce, generating gold sales revenue of US$69.3 million. At March 31, 2017 the Company's balance sheet had approximately US$48 million in unaudited cash, US$11.5 million in gold receivables and US$5.3 million in dore (with a market value of US$7.7 million). The Company has no significant current long term debt obligations with its first principal repayment on its US$150 million debt facility not due until July 1, 2018. As previously stated, the Company continues to expect to fund Project 5 Million and the development of Esaase, and the associated conveyor, from current balances and future cash flows. Health and Safety There was one lost time injury ("LTI") reported during the quarter and the 12-month rolling lost time injury frequency rate ("LTIFR") per million man hours worked is 0.21. Enquiries: For further information, please visit: www.asanko.com or email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . About Asanko Gold Inc. Asanko's vision is to become a mid-tier gold mining company that maximizes value for all its stakeholders. The Company's flagship project is the multi-million ounce Asanko Gold Mine located in Ghana, West Africa. Asanko is managed by highly skilled and successful technical, operational and financial professionals. The Company is strongly committed to the highest standards for environmental management, social responsibility, and health and safety for its employees and neighbouring communities. Vancouver, British Columbia / TheNewswire / April 18 2017 - Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the "Company" or "Wealth") - (TSXV: WML; OTCQB: WMLLF; SSE: WMLCL; Frankfurt: EJZN), announces that it has executed a non-binding Letter of Intent (the "LOI") to enter into an option agreement giving it the right to acquire a 100% royalty-free interest in a portfolio of exploration concessions, comprising approximately 10,500 hectares located in Regions I, II and II in northern Chile (the "Concessions"). The Concessions are divided into five projects, namely: Ascotan, Piedra Parada, Huasco, Lejia, and Siglia (collectively, the "Five Salars Project"). Wealth Minerals intends to maintain its core focus on its flagship Atacama Project over the coming 12 to 24 months. While doing so, the Company has been acquiring an extensive position in other potentially lithium-bearing salars throughout northern Chile. With this latest acquisition, Wealth's lithium project land position totals approximately 64,940 hectares, making Wealth one of the largest holders of lithium brine projects in South America (Table 1 and Figure 1). Henk van Alphen, Wealth's CEO, commented "The acquisition of the Five Salars Project is a key piece of our ongoing strategy at Wealth. Atacama represents our core project, but with past acquisitions and now the Five Salars Project, we have a front row seat to multiple lithium development projects in Chile. Consolidation of projects throughout South America is underway and we have positioned the Company to be a decisive player in the Chilean lithium industry. Table 1: Wealth Lithium Brine Projects Project Salar Hectares Atacama Project Atacama 46,000 Trinity Project Pujsa 1,600 Calientes Norte 2,000 Quisquiro 2,400 Laguna Verde Laguna Verde 2,440 Five Salars Project Ascotan 1,300 Piedra Parada 1,900 Lejia 400 Siglia 1,600 Huasco 5,300 Figure 1: Location of Wealth Minerals Lithium Properties in northern Chile. The properties labelled in yellow are existing properties. The properties labelled in red are new acquisitions comprising the Five Salars Project and the subject properties of this news release. The lithium-bearing salars in which Wealth currently has land positions includes the Salar de Atacama, which is the only current lithium-producing salar in Chile, which accounts for up to 35% of global lithium production. Servicio Nacional de Geologia y Mineria (Sernageomin) compiled a list of 14 salars with high potential to contain and produce lithium (2014) and Wealth has acquired lithium projects in three of these; Salars de Pujsa, Aguas Calientes Norte, and Quisquiro (together the "Trinity Project"). With the acquisition of the Five Salars Project, Wealth is adding more value to its property portfolio with a package of five strategic land positions, which are described in more detail below. Ascotan Project The Concessions include approximately 1,300 hectares in the west portion of the Salar de Ascotan (Figure 2) comprising the "Ascotan Project." Portions of the Salar de Ascotan were historically exploited by Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. ("SQM") for boron and has existing rail and road infrastructure in place. There are no current mining operations in the salar. The Salar de Ascotan is located 165km north of Wealth's Atacama Project in the Salar de Atacama. Figure 2: Wealth Minerals Ascotan Property, located in the northern portion of the Salar de Ascotan. Wealth's Ascotan Project is contiguous with Quiborax's land position in the Salar de Ascotan. Quiborax is a Chilean mining company with operations in the Salar de Surire, producing a range of boron products including boric acid, boron granules, fertilizers and insecticides. Corporation Nacional del Cobre de Chile ("Codelco") has a land position located east of the Quiborax position. Readers are cautioned that the Quiborax's and Codelco's projects are adjacent properties and that Wealth Minerals has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any part of either project. Mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties are not in any way indicative of mineral deposits on Wealth's Ascotan Project. Piedra Parada Project The Concessions also include approximately 1,900 hectares in the Salar de Piedra Parada (Figure 3) comprising the Piedra Parada Project that is contiguous to the Salares 7 Project ("Seven Salars"), a 50/50 joint venture between Talison Lithium Pty Ltd. ("Talison") and a group of local Chilean entrepreneurs. Talison's interest in the Seven Salars was acquired by way of acquiring Salares Lithium Ltd. (a TSX-V company) in 2010 for C$58.0 million. Talison's two lithium assets are the Greenbushes hard rock lithium mine in Western Australia and a 50% interest in the Seven Salars lithium brine project. Sichuan Tianqi Lithium Industries Inc. ("Tianqi") owns a controlling 51% interest in Talison and is also the sole distributer of technical-grade lithium concentrate for Talison in China. Readers are cautioned that the Seven Salars Project is an adjacent property and that Wealth has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any part of the Seven Salars Project and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties are not in any way indicative of mineral deposits on Wealth's Piedra Parada Project. Figure 3: Wealth Minerals Piedra Parada Project and the adjacent property, which forms part of the Seven Salars Project Huasco Project The Concessions include approximately 5,300 hectares in the Huasco Salar, comprising the Huasco Project. Wealth's land position is contiguous with claims held by notable major mining companies including Freeport McMoRan Inc ("Freeport"), BHP Billiton ("BHP") and Codelco (Figure 4). Readers are cautioned that the properties held by Freeport, BHP and Codelco are adjacent properties and that Wealth has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any part of the properties and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties are not in any way indicative of mineral deposits on Wealth's Huasco Project. Figure 4: Huasco Project showing adjacent properties Siglia and Lejia Projects The Concessions include approximately 1,600 hectares in the Siglia Salar and 400 hectares in the Lejia Salar (Figure 1). Option Terms The terms of the LOI provide that, subject to the completion of certain conditions, including TSX Venture Exchange acceptance and entry into a definitive option agreement, Wealth (or a subsidiary of Wealth) would be granted the exclusive option to acquire a 100% royalty-free interest in the Concessions comprising the Five Salars Project, free and clear of all liens, charges and encumbrances from an arm's length private Chilean company (the "Vendor") by making the following payments, and issuing the following fully paid and non-assessable Wealth common shares to the Vendor: Date Cash Payment (USD) Share Issuance Upon Signing Definitive Option Agreement 1,000,000 1,000,000 shares 6 months after signing 1,000,000 1,000,000 shares 12 months after signing 1,000,000 1,000,000 shares 18 months after signing 1,000,000 1,000,000 shares 24 months after signing 2,000,000 2,000,000 shares 28 months after signing 2,000,000 2,000,000 shares Total 8,000,000 8,000,000 shares About Wealth Minerals Ltd. Wealth is a mineral resource company with interests in Canada, Mexico, Peru and Chile. The Company's main focus is the acquisition of lithium projects in South America. To date, the Company has positioned itself to develop the Aguas Calientes Norte, Pujsa and Quisquiro Salars in Chile (the Trinity Project), as well as to work alongside existing producers in the prolific Atacama Salar, in addition to the Laguna Verde lithium project acquisition. The Company continues to aggressively pursue new acquisitions in the region, the latest of which is the Five Salars Project. Lithium market dynamics and a rapidly increasing metal price are the result of profound structural issues with the industry meeting anticipated future demand. Wealth is positioning itself to be a major beneficiary of this future mismatch of supply and demand. The Company also maintains and continues to evaluate a portfolio of precious and base metal exploration-stage projects. For further details on the Company, readers are referred to the Company's website (www.wealthminerals.com) and its Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 18, 2017) - Cornerstone Metals Inc. (TSXV: CCC) ("Cornerstone" or the "Company") announces the appointment of Michael Mracek, P.Eng., to its Advisory Board, effective immediately. Mr. Mracek is a professional mining engineer registered in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. A graduate of the University of Saskatchewan in 1970, he spent his summers working underground at Eldorado, United Keno Hill, and Placer's Craigmont sublevel caving operation. He moved to Thompson, Manitoba in 1970, where he spent 10 years with Inco, learning his craft from the bottom up. In the 1980's, he moved on to Dickenson, Amok Cluff Mining, and Terra Mines, becoming a Chief Engineer, Mine Superintendent, and finally, Mine Manager. In 1990, he moved to Timmins, where he spent 5 years for Royal Oak as General Manager at several mines including: Pamour, Hope Brook, and Colomac. Commencing in 1996, spent 11 years overseas where he worked in Ghana, Armenia, and Tanzania for Ashanti Goldfields, Sterlite Gold, and Barrick Gold in various capacities, including VP and General Manager. He returned to Canada as Chief Operating Officer for Tournigan Gold before returning to Ghana as VP and General Manager of Golden Star's Wassa operation. Since 2011, he has provided consulting services through Mracek Consulting, working for major consulting firms, including SRK and SNC-Lavalin, advising on various studies, including feasibility studies. The Company is pleased to have Mr. Mracek join the group. Over the past 6 months, the Company has taken significant steps to strengthen its Boards of Directors and Advisors with the addition of experienced, highly regarded professionals in their respective fields of expertise. Collectively, the Company now has the advantage of a deep and broad skill set ranging from financing, to mineral exploration, to mine development, construction and operations, including mining and processing - a unique attribute compared to many of its peers. About Cornerstone Metals Inc. Cornerstone's objective is to advance exploration/development stage copper and precious metals properties to production in the Americas. The Company's Management and Board Core Competence is in exploration, permitting, development, construction, and operation of mining projects. Cornerstone owns 100% (subject to 1.5% NSR) of the West Jerome property, near Jerome, Arizona, on the west side of Freeport McMoRan patented lands. The property, in a Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide camp, is a high-grade, massive sulfide target located 2.4 km south of the past-producing United Verde (32 million tons grading 4.4% copper, 1.5 oz/t silver and 0.04 oz/t gold). The West Jerome property has attractive untested drill targets. CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - April 18, 2017) - Antioquia Gold Inc. ("Antioquia" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:AGD) is pleased to announce that Mr. Gonzalo de Losada has been appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company in place of Mr. Felipe Ferraro. The Company and its Board of Directors would like to thank Mr. Ferraro for his support and contribution during his tenure as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Ferraro will remain Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors. Mr. De Losada previously led the health care business and the personal insurance business for Rimac Seguros, the largest insurance company in Peru, where he also was the President of the Board of Clinica International, the largest private sector hospital network in Peru. From 2006 to 2011 he was the Chief Financial Officer of Quimica Suiza, the largest pharmaceutical distributor and second largest retail pharmacy chain in Peru. Mr. De Losada is an Economist from Universidad del Pacifico (Peru), and holds an MBA degree from Columbia University (New York) with over 20 years of experience in banking and business. For further information on Antioquia Gold Inc., visit our website at www.antioquiagoldinc.com. Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - April 18, 2017) - The Board of Directors of Pancontinental Gold Corporation (TSXV: PUC) ("Pancon Gold", "Pancon" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Thomas Layton Croft as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Croft succeeds Mr. Rick Mark who remains a Pancon Director. Mr. Croft continues as President and CEO of Pancon's wholly-owned subsidiary, Palmetto Mining Corporation. Pancon Gold Chairman Don Whalen stated: "Layton joined the Pancon Gold and Palmetto Mining family in October 2016, and his performance since then has significantly contributed to the successful evolution of our Company and the advancement of our 100%-owned flagship Jefferson Gold Project in South Carolina. Layton brings a wealth of executive leadership, corporate strategy expertise and mining sector experience, combined with strong character and interpersonal skills to take Pancon to the next level. Given Layton's deep roots in the Carolinas and his home base in Charlotte, NC, he is the right person at the right time to take on the role of Pancon President and CEO. The Board is grateful to Rick Mark for his leadership of Pancon since its beginning in 2007 and more recently in the transition to Pancon Gold. This included the acquisition of the Jefferson Gold Project in mid-2016 and the raising of C $1,000,000, Pancon Gold's graduation back to the TSX Venture Exchange and the completion of our initial stage of drilling at the Jefferson Project. Rick will continue to add value for shareholders as a Pancon Director." Layton Croft has spent the past 15 years in executive and strategic advisory roles in the minerals exploration, mining and energy sectors in North America, Asia and Africa, with companies including Ivanhoe Mines, Rio Tinto, Peabody Energy and Duke Energy. In his 25 year professional career, Layton has consistently taken on increased levels of executive responsibility. He is a results-focused, team-oriented leader for whom integrity, shareholder value, stakeholder value and environmental stewardship matter most. He is also a Director and strategic advisor of Erdene Resource Development, which has discovered and is developing a greenfield high-grade gold district in southwestern Mongolia. Layton Croft stated: "I am highly motivated to grow Pancon Gold to become the leading gold exploration company in the southeastern United States. I join everyone at Pancon in our belief that a new bull market for gold has begun, and that the historically gold rich and under-explored Carolina Gold Belt is a premier place to be exploring for and developing gold projects. I deeply believe in core values of transparency, accountability, environmental responsibility and corporate citizenship. While creating and consistently delivering maximum shareholder value will be my number one job responsibility, I know I cannot do that without also creating long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with our landowners, community members, investors, government agencies, and all other stakeholders. I am honored and proud to be part of our world-class Pancon Gold team of exploration geologists, technical experts, and seasoned business veterans who have demonstrated their ability for more than three decades to discover gold deposits and develop gold mines in North America and around the world." Advance Royalty Payment Pancon is also pleased to report that the Company recently received the inaugural, annual AUD $50,000 "non-refundable, advance royalty payment", pursuant to the gross overriding royalty (the "Royalty") agreement made with Essential Mining Resources Pty ("EMR") and Crossland Strategic Metals Ltd. ("Crossland"). On November 26, 2015, Pancon sold its interest in an Australian joint venture (the "Joint Venture") with Crossland to EMR, and retained a one percent (1%) Royalty on production sales from 100% of the properties held by the Joint Venture on closing. The Joint Venture properties are prospective for rare earth elements (REE) and uranium. About Pancontinental Gold Corporation Pancontinental Gold Corporation (www.pancongold.com) is a Canadian-based mining company focused on the exploration and development of the Jefferson Gold Project in South Carolina, USA, and on acquiring additional prospective properties. The Company's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange, trading under the symbol PUC. In 2015, Pancon Gold sold its interest in its Australian rare earth element (REE) and uranium properties, formerly held through a joint venture, and retains a 1% gross overriding royalty on 100% of future production. TORONTO, April 17, 2017 /CNW/ - LSC Lithium Corporation (the "Company" or "LSC") (TSXV: LSC) is pleased to report the recent announcement made by our strategic partner, Enirgi Group Corporation ("Enirgi Group"), on the completion of major construction works and successful commissioning of the first section (the "Separation Plant") of its commercial scale demonstration lithium carbonate processing plant (the "DXP Plant"). The DXP Plant is located at Enirgi Group's lithium project at the Salar del Rincon in Salta, Argentina. LSC's large portfolio of properties are in close proximity to Enirgi Group's planned DXP Plant. LSC and Enirgi Group are strategically cooperating on lithium development in Northern Argentina pursuant to a Relationship Agreement whereby, among other things, the parties will examine the most economic solution to process LSC's brines which may include supplying LSC's brines for processing at Enirgi Group's planned facility. Should the economic viability and technical feasibility of the Company's project be established and it proceeds to production, LSC will have exclusive access to provide third party brines for processing at Enirgi Groups planned processing facility. LSC anticipates brine samples from the various LSC projects will be available for process analysis by Enirgi Group's Innovation Division and at the lithium processing facility. Enirgi Group reported that following full commissioning, the DXP Plant will initially produce 1 metric tonne per day of battery grade lithium carbonate and that it expects to complete full commissioning of the DXP Plant by the end of May 2017. To review Enirgi Group's news release dated April 17, 2017 please visit www.enirgi.com. For an up-close look at the progress being made at Enirgi Group's Lithium Project, please visit Enirgi Group's Lithium Project - Salar del Rincon, Salta, Argentina. ABOUT LSC LITHIUM CORPORATION: LSC is an emerging lithium producer that has amassed a large portfolio of tenements on prospective lithium rich salars in Northern Argentina. LSC's six major development plays are on the salars Pozuelos (pending completion of the acquisition), Pastos Grandes, Salinas Grandes (Salta), Salinas Grandes (Jujuy), Rio Grande and Jama, all of which are located in the "Lithium Triangle," an area at the intersection of Argentina, Bolivia and Chile where the world's most abundant lithium brine deposits are found. After completion of announced acquisitions, LSC will hold a land package portfolio totaling approximately 300,000 hectares, which represents extensive lithium prospective tenement holdings in Argentina. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA and JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA--(Marketwired - April 17, 2017) - Platinum Group Metals Ltd. (TSX:PTM)(NYSE MKT:PLG) ("Platinum Group" or the "Company") reports the Company's operating and financial results for the three and six months ended February 28, 2017 and provides an operational update and outlook. For details of the condensed consolidated interim financial statements for the three and six months ended February 28, 2017 (the "Financial Statements") and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the period ended February 28, 2017, please see the Company's filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or on EDGAR (www.sec.gov). Shareholders are encouraged to visit the Company's website at www.platinumgroupmetals.net. Shareholders may receive a hard copy of the complete Financial Statements from the Company free of charge upon request. All amounts herein are reported in United States Dollars unless otherwise specified. Many of the operating results and forecasts detailed below were reported in an earlier news release by the Company dated April 4, 2017. Operations at Maseve Mine Anglo American Platinum Limited reported on April 12, 2017 that the Maseve Mine had delivered 2,598 ounces of platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold ("4E") in concentrate during March 2017. Production in March 2017 was the best level achieved since completion of commissioning in 2016 and shows a positive trend. Further improvement in the ramp-up rate is required. The results for March demonstrate improved stoping and tramming as well as the positive effects of Block 11 production coming online. Scheduled conveyor and silo completions are on track for completion at the end of April and are expected to facilitate and continue improved performance. Mining and Milling Overview Improvements in stoping tonnes versus development during production ramp-up from Block 11 are in progress at the date hereof. Production levels in December, January and into February 2017 were hampered by the process of changing the primary underground mining contractor, senior management changes, equipment operator performance and slowly improving equipment availability. Production during February 2017 was also hampered by an extraordinary rain event over a period of days around February 20, 2017, which caused regional surface flooding and some underground flooding at the Maseve Mine, resulting in several lost mining and milling days. Production in March was improved, but was below target and did not offset the lower January and February results. A summary of monthly production for the second fiscal quarter plus the month of March 2017 follows: Month Dry Tonnes Milled Average Grade gms/tonne Recovery % 4E Ounces in Concentrate December, 2016 39,297 1.51 79.2 1,509 January, 2017 34,661 1.53 79.2 1,351 February, 2017 29,146 1.59 80.3 1,193 March, 2017(1) 51,663 1.88 83.3 2,598(2) (1) Approximately 7,825 dry tonnes of ore mined in February 2017 were milled in March 2017. (2) Final 4E ounce numbers are based on assay reports from Anglo American Platinum Limited received on April 12, 2017. Several important operational advancements were completed during the last few months: Significant advancement into Block 11 in preparation for increased mining from this important mining block was achieved. Double decline roadway access to Block 11 was competed at the end of December 2016. Five development ends and 17 mining faces or "bords" are now active in Block 11, representing an increase of nine mining faces since December 2016. The work focus in Block 11 has changed from predominantly development to mechanized bord and pillar mining. As of the date hereof the 1 km long conveyor under construction towards Block 11 is more than 60% complete and is on track for completion at the end of April. During January 2017, Redpath Mining South Africa (Pty) Limited ("Redpath") entered a letter of intent whereby they would install, operate and maintain the 1.0 km conveyor, linking into underground silos and the existing 1.4 km conveyor to surface and 1.7 km conveyor into the mill. Cost for the conveyor installation to be borne by Redpath was estimated at Rand 25.0 million (approximately $1.8 million), which Redpath plans to recoup by way of a per tonne charge. During the second fiscal quarter ended February 28, 2017 a monthly cost reduction program was undertaken through a process of rationalizing and consolidating underperforming and redundant contractors at the Maseve Mine. This process was undertaken cooperatively with the involvement of affected contractors, the National Union of Mineworkers, and on occasion, the Department of Minerals Resources. Many mining services previously provided by several contractors are now consolidated under the management of Redpath. As the changeover process is completed, the Company expects to achieve improved production and cost efficiencies because of these changes. Block 11 The contribution of mined tonnage from Block 11 is a critical factor to achieving positive cash flow at the Maseve Mine. Block 11 is a large, well-drilled and stable mining block estimated to host 545,000 4E Merensky Reef ounces (3,066,512 tonnes at 5.53 gpt 4E Indicated). This block is modelled as flat dipping at an average of nine degrees, with an average seam thickness of 157 cm (as published in the technical report titled "An Independent Technical Report on the Maseve Project (WBJV Project areas 1 and 1A) located on the Western Limb of the Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa" dated August 28, 2015, with an effective date of July 15, 2015). The flat dip and good quality of the Block 11 reef has been confirmed with over 150 meters of strike length exposed in underground development. During 2017, Block 11 is scheduled to build up to 70-80% of mined ore flow. At full production Block 11 is expected to provide up to 76,000 tonnes a month of mined ore flow. Historical monthly mined tonnes for Block 11 are recorded in the table below: Month Block 11 Mined Tonnes Total Mined Tonnes Percentage December, 2016 8,388 27,559 30.4% January, 2017 16,614 28,733 57.8% February, 2017 20,759 43,742 47.5% March, 2017 29,690 49,610 59.8% Mine plans have been updated for current underground development positions and stoping tonnes from Block 11 are expected to increase in the months ahead. Management has focussed on equipment maintenance and machine availability is planned to increase in order to achieve increased stope tonnes. The completion of an underground conveyor towards Block 11 by Redpath is also expected to reduce trucking fleet requirements, thereby reducing maintenance requirements and improving machine availability. The resulting improvement in tramming efficiency should allow for faster cleaning of stope faces and facilitate ramp-up. Results For The Six Months Ended February 28, 2017 During the six-months ended February 28, 2017, the Company incurred a net loss of $58.7 million (six months ended February 29, 2016 - net loss of $2.5 million). During the period the Company recorded a $55.2 million impairment of the Maseve Mine, which was taken primarily to offset capitalized costs applied to Maseve since the prior fiscal year end. The Company thereby maintains approximately the same Rand book value for Maseve as recorded at August 31, 2016. A stock compensation expense of $1.1 million was also recognized in the current period (February 29, 2016 - $0.09 million). General and administrative costs dropped from $3.0 million in the previous comparable period to $2.6 million in the current period, principally from cost cutting measures. The currency translation adjustment recognized in the period is a gain of $52 million (February 29, 2016 - $79 million loss) due to an 11% increase in value of the Rand against the US Dollar in the current period as compared to a 20% decrease in the value of the Rand in the comparable period. Accounts receivable at February 28, 2017 totalled $5.3 million while accounts payable and accrued liabilities amounted to $15.2 million. Accounts receivable were principally comprised of amounts receivable on sale of concentrate, value added taxes repayable to the Company in South Africa, amounts receivable from partners and tax and other receivables. Accounts payable and other current liabilities included contract development and mining fees, drilling expenses, engineering fees, accrued professional fees and regular trade payables for ongoing exploration, development and administration costs. During the six-month period ended February 28, 2017 the Company incurred and capitalized approximately $61 million (February 29, 2016 - $58 million) in development, construction, equipment and other costs for the Maseve Mine. Initial proceeds from concentrate sales before commercial production are treated as a reduction in project capital cost with $6.9 million being recognized to development costs in the period ended February 28, 2017. As at February 28, 2017, post impairment, the Company carried total deferred acquisition, development, construction, equipment and other costs related to the Maseve Mine of $525 million. During the period ended February 28, 2017, approximately $2.65 million was spent at the Waterberg Project for engineering and exploration activities. This work was fully funded by the Company's joint venture partner the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation. At period end, $22.8 million in net costs had been capitalized to the Waterberg Project. For more information on mineral properties, see Notes 4 and 5 of the Financial Statements. Loan Facilities Amended To accommodate the Company for delayed production ramp-up at the Maseve Mine, Sprott Resource Lending Partnership ("Sprott") and Liberty Metals & Mining Holdings, LLC ("LMM") have agreed to provide the following waiver and amendments to their existing loan facilities to the Company: a two-month extension to the requirement whereby Maseve must reach and maintain a three-month rolling average of at least 60% of planned production for a three-month period (the three-month period will now commence in April 2017); a two-month extension to the requirement whereby Maseve must reach and maintain a three-month rolling average of at least 70% of planned production for a three-month period, until June 30, 2017; to waive until May 31, 2017 the covenant to maintain at all times working capital and unrestricted cash or cash equivalents in excess of $5.0 million; and to postpone from March 31, 2017 to June 30, 2017 the commencement of the requirement to pay the Sprott lenders 50% of the proceeds of equity and debt financings (excluding intercompany financings) of the Company or its subsidiaries having a value exceeding $1.0 million in the aggregate, in partial repayment of the Sprott facility. Sprott and LMM will not be paid a fee in consideration of the above amendments. Instead the Company will repay $2.5 million from any equity or debt financing (excluding intercompany financings) that close after April 13, 2017, such amount otherwise being due to the Sprott lenders in six equal monthly repayments from July to December 2017. Outlook The Company's key business objectives for fiscal 2017 will be to safely improve operational efficiency and advance underground development and production ramp-up at the Maseve Mine with the objective of achieving positive cash flow as soon as possible and to advance the Waterberg Project through feasibility and into preparations for a mining right application. At the date hereof the Company is working closely with Redpath to improve contractor and labour performance, increase stope mining, reduce contractor redundancy, improve efficiencies and reduce costs. Underground sampling at the Maseve Mine has demonstrated good grade thickness confirmation to block model estimates and the plant has delivered good mill recovery to design specifications. At present, good progress is being made developing Block 11 and mined tonnage is beginning to come on line. Delays in underground development, stoping rates and planned tonnages have resulted in ounce production delays. Such delays have had, and will continue to have, a negative impact on working capital requirements until sufficient mined stoped material is produced to allow mine operations to generate positive cash flow. As a result of the production performance for the first calendar quarter, estimated calendar 2017 annual production guidance, based on the current mine plan, is adjusted from 100,000 ounces 4E to 85,000 ounces 4E. The Company is currently working with BMO Capital Markets and Macquarie Capital to review and assess corporate and asset level strategic alternatives. At February 28, 2017, the Company held $25.0 million in cash. In order to achieve positive cash flow and to maintain its working capital covenants in 2017 under existing loan facilities, the Company estimates that it will need to source $10 million to $15 million of additional funding by way of refinancing its existing debt, the issuance of new debt, private or public offerings of equity or the sale of project or property interests. Ongoing advancement of the Waterberg Project towards a Definitive Feasibility Study in 2017 will be funded by the commitment of JOGMEC for a further $5.3 million. About Platinum Group Metals Ltd. Platinum Group, based in Johannesburg, South Africa and Vancouver, Canada, has a successful track record with more than 20 years of experience in exploration, mine discovery, mine construction and mine operations. Formed in 2002, Platinum Group holds significant mineral rights and large scale reserves of platinum and palladium in the Bushveld Igneous Complex of South Africa, which is host to over 70% of the world's primary platinum production. The Company is currently focused on ramping up the Maseve Mine, its first near-surface platinum mine, to commercial production and on expanding reserves. Platinum Group has delineated new low cost, near surface reserves on the North Limb of the Bushveld Complex on the Waterberg Project. Waterberg represents a new bulk type of large scale, shallow low cost platinum, palladium and gold deposit. Waterberg is one of the only large scale dominantly palladium deposits in the world. Qualified Person R. Michael Jones, P.Eng., the Company's President, Chief Executive Officer and a significant shareholder of the Company, is a non-independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and is responsible for preparing the technical information contained in this news release. He has verified the data by reviewing the detailed information of the geological and engineering staff and the Independent Qualified Person reports as well as visiting the site regularly. VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - April 18, 2017) - GoldQuest Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE: GQC) ( FRANKFURT : M1W) ( BERLIN : M1W) ("GoldQuest" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of two important members to the management team to assist with the permitting and development of its assets in the Dominican Republic. Georges Boisse has been appointed as Special Advisor to the Company and Robert Crowley has been engaged as the full time Corporate and Social Responsibility (CSR) Manager. These appointments reinforce GoldQuest's commitment to active engagement with the Dominican communities at both a national and local level as it advances the permitting process of the Romero Gold/Copper Project and the regional exploration programs. Mr. Boisse previously served as Canadian Ambassador to the Dominican Republic from 2012 to 2014. He joined the Canadian Foreign Service in 1991 working in Costa Rica, the Philippines, Poland, Tunisia, Paris, New York, Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and, before his ambassadorial appointment held a number of senior positions including Immigration Manager in Tunis, New York and Mexico. Originally from Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec, he is widely recognized as a proponent of responsible mining. Mr. Crowley is based in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic and has 30 years of international leadership and management experience across 15 Latin American, Caribbean and Central Asian nations. His experience includes 12 years of large, multi-national project management and strategic planning, financing and planning to international standards for soil and water conservation, biodiversity, protected area management and financing of natural resources. He also has over 15 years' experience in training, managing and motivating teams in developmental themes for Non-governmental organizations and communities, as well as fundraising skills resulting in US$126.5 million bi-lateral and multi-lateral grants, complementing funding of US$100 million national level co-funding. Specifically in the Dominican Republic, he served as Bi-National Project Director of the Artibonite River Basin Management (Dominican Republic-Haiti), United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/ United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) liaison to forestry planning and USDA liaison to the Secretariat of the Presidency. As USAID's Technical Assistance Specialist to the Dominican Republic, he developed national guidelines for agriculture, forestry and watershed management. Much of this work was carried out in the San Juan Valley and environs, where GoldQuest's Romero Project and other exploration concessions are located. "We are honoured to have attracted such high profile and skilled personnel to enhance our team as we go through the mine permitting processes," commented Bill Fisher, GoldQuest's Executive Chairman. "These appointments allow us to further engage with the Dominican authorities and stakeholders at all levels. Following our recent C$23 million financing (see March 8, 2017 new release), we are building a first-class team charged with the development of the Romero Project and have doubled our drilling efforts in the surrounding district." Further to the Company's news release dated April 10, 2017, the board has authorized the grant of an additional 230,000 incentive stock options (the "Options") to certain officers and employees of GoldQuest, at an exercise price of C$0.50 per share. The Options are exercisable for a five-year period from the date of grant and will vest as follows: 1/3rd on the 6 month anniversary from the date of the grant; 1/3 on the first anniversary from the date of the grant and the final 1/3rd on the 18 month anniversary from the date of the grant. The information in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Jeremy Niemi, P. Geo., Vice President, Exploration of GoldQuest and a Qualified Person for the technical information in this press release under NI 43-101 standards. About GoldQuest GoldQuest is a Canadian based mineral exploration company with projects in the Dominican Republic. GoldQuest is traded on the TSX-V under the symbol GQC and in Frankfurt/Berlin with symbol M1W. GoldQuest is actively exploring the favorable Tireo Formation which hosts the Romero deposit discovered in May 2012. Recently the Company released results from the Pre-feasibility study on the Romero project (see the Company's September 27, 2016 news release). TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 18, 2017) - Darnley Bay Resources Limited (TSX VENTURE:DBL) ("Darnley Bay" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of an independent Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") of the 100% owned Pine Point Project ("Pine Point" or the "Project") located near Hay River, Northwest Territories. The PEA shows a robust economic return with a relatively low capital cost compared to similar projects and an after-tax payback of only 1.8 years. The PEA was prepared under the direction of JDS Energy & Mining Inc. ("JDS"), an industry-leading, international engineering firm, with extensive experience in planning, construction and operation of mining projects in the Canadian north. The study is being summarized into a Technical Report (the "Darnley Technical Report") to be filed on SEDAR in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") within 45 days. The PEA examined several development scenarios and settled on a mining plan where a number of open pit deposits would be developed using dense media separation plants followed by traditional grinding and flotation to upgrade mineralized material into lead & zinc concentrates, similar to the methods employed by Cominco when the mine was in production in the past. The study confirms that the Project has robust economics at the assumed parameters. Darnley Bay President and Chief Executive Officer Jamie Levy remarked that, "This Preliminary Economic Assessment supports that management's confidence in this project was well-placed when it was purchased this past December. What is also very encouraging is that there are multiple opportunities, including underground mining, to enhance the economics and extend the project life. The Company plans to initiate a feasibility study in the near future while drilling to add additional resources to the mine plan." Darnley Bay Chief Operating Officer John Key adds, "We had faith that the project would demonstrate healthy economic potential which this very thorough study by JDS supports. Darnley Bay looks forward to working closely with the stakeholders in the South Slave region to advance Pine Point to the benefit of the region." PEA Study Highlights - Base Case Pre-Tax Net Present Value (NPV) of $340.8 million at a discount rate of 8%, and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 47.8%, with a payback period of 1.4 years; After-Tax Net Present Value of $210.5 million and Internal Rate of Return of 34.5%, with a payback of 1.8 years. Sensitivity analyses are included in Tables 5 and 6; Pre-production capital costs of $153.8 million, including a 15% contingency, with sustaining capex of $117.5 million over the life of the mine. It is assumed that sustaining capex will be entirely funded out of cash flow; The Pine Point project is envisioned as a series of 10 open pit deposits mined in sequence. Total mineral resources included in the PEA mine plan are 25.8 million tonnes of measured and indicated resources grading 2.94% zinc and 1.12% lead, and an additional 3.7 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 2.90% zinc and 0.77% lead; A 13-year mine life with total life-of-mine production of 1.35 billion pounds of zinc and 536 million pounds of lead. Total shipments of 1.23 million tonnes (dry) of zinc concentrate grading 58.9% zinc, and 394,000 tonnes (dry) of lead concentrate grading 65% lead. Net of by-products, the average cash cost to produce zinc is US$0.60 per pound; The assessment estimates net smelter return over the life of the mine at $2,020 million, with gross pre-tax income of $908 million (Table 8); Total on-site operating costs of $37.64 per tonne processed, and total transport and refining costs of $23.07 per tonne material mined and processed; and A LOM average manpower of 321 persons including staff and contractors at full production. Table 1: Summary of Economic Results Parameter Unit Value Pre-Tax NPV @ 8% C$M 340.8 Pre-Tax IRR % 47.8 Pre-Tax Payback Years 1.4 After-Tax NPV @ 8% C$M 210.5 After-Tax IRR % 34.5 After-Tax Payback Years 1.8 Table 2: Sensitivity Analysis: Pre-Tax NPV @ 8% (C$M) Parameter -20% -10% Base +10% +20% Price 29 185 341 496 652 CAD:US FX 730 514 341 199 81 Mill Feed Grade 100 220 341 461 582 Recovery 7 181 341 497 652 OPEX 469 405 341 276 212 CAPEX 385 363 341 319 297 Table 3: Sensitivity Analysis: Pre-Tax IRR (%) Parameter -20% -10% Base +10% +20% Price 13 % 32 % 48 % 62 % 75 % CAD:US FX 81 % 63 % 48 % 34 % 20 % Mill Feed Grade 22 % 36 % 48 % 59 % 69 % Recovery 9 % 32 % 48 % 62 % 75 % OPEX 59 % 53 % 48 % 42 % 36 % CAPEX 62 % 54 % 48 % 42 % 38 % Table 4: Sensitivity Analysis: Discount Rate Discount Rate 0% 5% 8% 10% 12% Pre-Tax NPV (C$M) 637 428 341 294 254 Table 5: Sensitivity Analysis: After-Tax NPV @ 8% (C$M) Parameter -20% -10% Base +10% +20% Price 6 111 211 310 410 CAD:US FX 459 321 211 120 41 Mill Feed Grade 54 133 211 287 364 Recovery -11 108 211 210 410 OPEX 294 252 211 169 127 CAPEX 254 233 211 189 167 Table 6: Sensitivity Analysis: After-Tax IRR (%) Parameter -20% -10% Base +10% +20% Price 9 % 23 % 35 % 45 % 55 % CAD:US FX 60 % 46 % 35 % 24 % 14 % Mill Feed Grade 16 % 26 % 35 % 43 % 51 % Recovery 6 % 23 % 35 % 45 % 55 % OPEX 43 % 39 % 35 % 30 % 25 % CAPEX 47 % 40 % 35 % 30 % 26 % Table 7: Sensitivity Analysis: Discount Rate Discount Rate 0% 5% 8% 10% 12% Post-Tax NPV (C$M) 423 273 211 177 149 Table 8: Pre-Tax and After-Tax Cash Flows Parameter Unit Value Revenue (net of treatment charges and transportation) C$M 2,020.8 Operating Costs C$M 1,112.1 Capital Costs C$M 271.3 Pre-Tax Cash Flow C$M 637.5 Income Taxes C$M 214.3 After-Tax Cash Flow C$M 423.2 Note: All dollar amounts other than metal prices are quoted in Canadian dollars ("$"). The study assumes a zinc price US$1.10 per pound and a lead price of US$1.00 per pound, and a US$-C$ exchange rate of $0.75-$1.00. PEA DETAILS Mineral Resources Table 9: Summary of Open Pit Resources Pit Measured & Indicated Inferred Feed (kt) Pb (%) Zn (%) Pb (M Lb) Zn (M Lb) Feed (kt) Pb (%) Zn (%) Pb (M Lb) Zn (M Lb) J68 304 2.25 4.90 15 33 - - - - - HZ 1,549 2.76 3.58 94 122 - - - - - W85 3,983 1.98 3.46 174 304 - - - - - X65 5,430 0.80 2.41 95 288 56 0.00 3.67 0 5 O533 81 0.91 2.90 2 5 121 0.83 2.79 2 7 N204 10,005 0.80 2.98 177 657 3,527 0.78 2.89 61 224 M67 1,365 0.84 3.55 25 107 - - - - - K68 1,193 0.81 2.77 21 73 - - - - - L65 1,578 0.70 1.95 25 68 - - - - - M6263 352 1.42 2.13 11 16 - - - - - Total 25,841 1.12 2.94 640 1674 3,703 0.77 2.90 63 236 Notes to Table: The effective date for the open pit mineral Resource is March 27, 2017. Mineral Resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues. 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. The Pine Point Project, located 65 kilometres east of Hay River, N.W.T., was purchased in late December 2016 by Darnley Bay. It was operated as a successful zinc mine for several decades by Cominco Ltd., producing from 49 separate open pit and two underground mines lying along a 35-kilometre trend. Approximately 64 million tonnes of ore at a grade of 7.1% zinc and 3.1% lead were mined between 1964 and 1987. Previous drilling on the property totals approximately 1.3 million metres in 18,422 holes by previous operators. The PEA envisions the use of conventional open pit mining and processing methods. Mining rates will range from 4,000 to 6,800 tonnes per day of mineralized material for processing over the life of the mine using a fleet of 90-tonne trucks, 8.0 m3 shovels and 8.0 m3 front end loaders. Mineral processing will include a combination of portable and fixed crushers and dense media separation plants located near each deposit which will concentrate the mineralized material from the initial head grades of 2.93% and 1.08% lead-zinc, and a pre-concentrate will then be trucked to a central 1,800 tonne-per-day milling facility where it will be subject to standard grinding and flotation methods to produce a final concentrate. The concentrate will then be trucked to the Hay River railway facility approximately 65 km west, from which it will be shipped to markets. JDS engaged Knight Piesold Ltd. (KP) to develop tailings and water management plans for the Project. Tailings will be conveyed from the centralized milling facility and deposited within historic and new open pits. There will be no need to construct a new on-surface tailings facility. Dewatering of the open pits was an important component of the historic mining at Pine Point. The substantial historic site-specific data set related to pit dewatering and pumping tests provided a unique opportunity to calibrate an appropriate pit dewatering and management system for the Project, such that inflow estimates are based on past site experience rather than models. The Project includes $19.7 million in pre-production and sustaining capital costs for water management equipment, and an additional $32.2 million over the life of the project in operating costs directly related to dewatering. Currently, the company is working with local First Nations groups to identify opportunities of local employment and business opportunities. The next steps for the project include the launch of a feasibility study and the initiation of permitting. Provided the feasibility study supports the results of the PEA, and subject to financing and permitting, construction of a mine at Pine Point would be expected to take 12-18 months. Opportunities for Enhancement of the Project The Company believes there are several potential opportunities to further improve the economics of the Pine Point Project through: The addition of underground resources into the mine plan. Pine Point has two significant underground deposits, R190 and X25, that have potential to contribute higher grade feed to the process plant. Further evaluation of these deposits is planned during the Feasibility Study, planned to commence in H2 2017. Resources at these two deposits include: R190: 1.0 Mt (Measured & Indicated) grading 5.28% Pb and 10.98% Zn X25: 2.1 Mt (Indicated) grading 2.32% Pb and 6.73% Zn Conversion of historical resources into Measured and Indicated Resources, through confirmation drilling. Historically there are 46 undeveloped deposits on the Pine Point Project and of these, 10 are included in the PEA. Darnley Bay intends to evaluate the remaining deposits and, where considered appropriate, initiate confirmation drilling programs in an effort to add additional deposits to the mine plan prior to the feasibility study. Explore for additional deposits. Although more than 100 distinct deposits have been outlined historically in the Pine Point area, there are several portions of the mineralized trends that remain under-explored and Darnley Bay intends to begin exploring this spring to identify additional deposits. Additional metallurgical testing planned for 2017 could increase either recoveries, concentrate grades, or both. Additional surface and groundwater studies to determine ways to lower the costs of water handling. The PEA envisages the use of electric power sourced from a combination of local grid power and natural gas generators on the property. The Company intends to initiate a dialogue with the Northwest Territories Power Corporation to discuss the potential of obtaining more or all of Pine Point's power needs from the grid through upgrades to the Taltson River hydroelectric dam, which would reduce capital and operating costs significantly. Cautionary Statement Readers are cautioned that the Pine Point 2017 PEA is preliminary in nature and includes the use of 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. There is no certainty that the PEA will be realised. There is no certainty that the Inferred Resources will be converted to the Indicated or Measured categories, or that the potential Measured or Indicated Resources would be converted to the Proven or Probable Mineral Reserve categories. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimates of Mineral Resources in the PEA and the Mineral Resource statement may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues. The Pine Point 2017 PEA recommends that the Project be advanced to a Feasibility level study in order to increase confidence in the estimates. Darnley will be filing a National Instrument (NI) 43-101 Technical Report on the Pine Point PEA within 45 days of this news release. Conference Call Details PEA Study Conference Call A conference call will be held on April 19, 2016 at 4:15pm EST to discuss the PEA Study. Dial-In Number: 647-478-7145 Code: 437077 Qualified Persons The Pine Point 2017 PEA was prepared by JDS and is based on a Mineral Resource estimate for the Pine Point Project published as a NI 43-101 Technical Report with an effective date of March 4, 2017. JDS has a long and successful track record of delivering high-quality technical engineering and economic studies for a wide range of mineral resource companies, both in Canada and internationally. JDS is a specialized, private mineral engineering, consulting and construction company focused on adding value to mineral projects with fit-for-purpose designs and exceptional execution. The JDS team has a long history of northern Canadian and diamond experience including the construction of the Gahcho Kue diamond mine and the Silvertip silver and base-metals mine. The following Qualified Persons have participated in the development of the PEA, or are responsible for specific inputs into the PEA. VANCOUVER, April 18, 2017 /CNW/ - NexGen Energy Ltd. ("NexGen" or the "Company") (TSX:NXE, OTCQX:NXGEF) is pleased to report results from 18 drill holes from the on-going winter 2017 drilling program on our 100% owned, Rook I property, Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. Highlights: Northeast A3 Shear Step out scissor hole AR-17-136c2 (170 m northeast and up-dip from AR-15-57c2 and 70 m northeast and up-dip from the edge of the A3 High Grade Domain) intersected 26.0 m of total composite mineralization including 6.7 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) featuring 5.3 m of continuous massive to semi-massive pitchblende including 2.0 m at a minimum-of-greater-than 61,000 cps within a 59.0 m section (399.5 to 458.5 m). This hole is marked by dense accumulations of massive to semi-massive pitchblende mineralization and is the strongest zone of mineralization encountered in the A3 shear to date. This newly discovered area is open to the northeast. Infill scissor hole AR-17-121c2 (75 m up-dip from AR-15-57c2) intersected 65.5 m of total composite mineralization including 9.7 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) featuring 0.5 m at a minimum-of-greater-than 61,000 cps within an 86.5 m section (473.5 to 560.0 m). Infill scissor hole AR-17-121c1 (45 m up-dip from AR-15-57c2) intersected 81.0 m of total composite mineralization including 6.0 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 106.0 m section (481.0 to 587.0 m). Northeast A2 Shear Step out scissor hole AR-17-118c2 (180 m northeast and down-dip from AR-15-44b) intersected 49.0 m of total composite mineralization including 6.1 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 61.0 m section (691.5 to 752.5 m) within a gap in a northeast part of the Mineral Resource domains. Step out hole AR-17-119c2 (200 m northeast and down-dip from AR-15-44b) intersected 39.0 m of total composite mineralization including 1.65 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 49,000 cps) within an 80.5 m section (549.5 to 630.0 m). Step out hole AR-17-127c2 (255 m northeast and down-dip from AR-15-44b) intersected 18.5 m of total composite mineralization including 1.6 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 128.5 m section (662.5 to 791.0 m). Infill scissor hole AR-17-121c1 (172 m northeast and down-dip from AR-15-44b) intersected 58.0 m of total composite mineralization including 5.9 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 149.5 m section (636.5 to 786.0 m). Northeast A4 Shear Step out scissor hole AR-17-129c1 (90 m northeast and up-dip from AR-15-41 and 30 m northeast of the A4 Mineral Resource domains) intersected 33.5 m of total composite mineralization including 2.7 m of total composite off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) within a 60.0 m section (763.5 to 823.5 m). Arrow, Activities & Financial The 2017 winter program comprising a minimum of 35,000 m of drilling with seven drill rigs will continue until the end of April. None of the drilling completed in 2017 was included in the NI 43-101 Updated Mineral Resource estimate for the Arrow Deposit released on March 6, 2017 . . The Company has cash on hand of approximately $58 million . Longitudinal sections and a plan map showing drill hole locations are shown in Figures 1 to 3. A photo of the new high grade mineralization intersected in AR-17-136c2 is included in Figure 4. Table 1 is a summary of the mineralized intervals. Garrett Ainsworth, Vice-President, Exploration and Development, commented: "Drilling has been very successful in significantly expanding mineralization at Arrow on several fronts. The discovery of massive to semi-massive pitchblende mineralization encountered in hole AR-17-136c2 in the A3 shear looks identical to that found in the A2 Sub-Zone. The higher grade A2 Sub-Zone is located southwest of an interpreted cross cutting structure, and it appears that a similar Sub-Zone may be developing within the A3 shear to the northeast of this same cross cutting structure. Further step outs into the northeast gap of the A2 shear have returned additional high grade intervals, where we expect mineralization to continue further northeast and down-dip to drill hole AR-15-50. Scissor drill holes stepping out and within the A2 and A3 High Grade Domains continues to exceed our expectations." Leigh Curyer, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Drilling at Arrow continues to highlight how much room remains for material growth within the footprint of mineralization as well to the northeast demonstrated by today's results. Together with ongoing expansion the team is simultaneously undertaking engineering and environmental studies to determine to optimal development scenario for Arrow." Table 1: Arrow Deposit Drill Hole Data Drill Hole Athabasca Group - Basement Unconformity Depth (m) Handheld Scintillometer Results (RS-120) Hole ID Azimuth Dip Total Depth (m) From (m) To (m) Width (m) CPS Range AR-17-114c3 327 -70 792.50 130.00 639.00 639.50 0.50 <500 - 520 644.50 651.50 7.00 <500 - 43000 678.50 679.00 0.50 <500 - 1000 685.00 685.50 0.50 <500 - 850 703.50 714.50 11.00 <500 - 32000 723.00 726.50 3.50 <500 - 10500 AR-17-118c2 327 -70 828.50 129.90 458.50 459.00 0.50 <500 - 580 511.50 512.50 1.00 <500 - 1200 524.00 525.00 1.00 <500 - 2200 534.00 537.50 3.50 <500 - >61000 551.50 554.50 3.00 <500 - 50000 568.00 571.50 3.50 <500 - 14000 579.50 588.00 8.50 <500 - >61000 590.50 593.50 3.00 <500 - >61000 602.50 603.50 1.00 1200 - 11500 613.50 641.00 27.50 <500 - >61000 691.50 711.00 19.50 <500 - 31000 714.00 736.00 22.00 <500 - >61000 738.50 743.00 4.50 <500 - >61000 746.50 749.00 2.50 <500 - 1800 752.00 752.50 0.50 <500 - 530 AR-17-119c2 147 -67 1065.50 119.50 381.50 391.50 10.00 <500 - 9500 404.00 404.50 0.50 <500 - 1250 411.50 412.50 1.00 <500 - 1650 461.50 469.00 7.50 <500 - 25000 475.50 479.00 3.50 <500 - 1100 489.00 499.00 10.00 <500 - 8900 507.00 507.50 0.50 <500 - 2650 515.50 516.00 0.50 <500 - 1450 520.50 534.00 13.50 <500 - 9900 540.50 541.00 0.50 <500 - 770 549.50 577.50 28.00 <500 - 49000 603.00 610.50 7.50 <500 - 8000 613.50 614.00 0.50 <500 - 800 627.00 630.00 3.00 <500 - 1700 715.50 726.00 10.50 <500 - >61000 891.00 891.50 0.50 <500 - 1100 970.00 970.50 0.50 <500 - 520 1011.50 1012.00 0.50 <500 - 650 AR-16-120c1 327 -70 846.50 114.80 534.50 535.50 1.00 500 - >61000 620.00 620.50 0.50 <500 - 560 625.50 626.00 0.50 <500 - 1200 635.00 639.00 4.00 <500 - 25000 664.50 665.00 0.50 <500 - 580 AR-16-120c2 327 -70 864.50 114.80 534.50 535.00 0.50 <500 - 610 552.00 552.50 0.50 <500 - 700 633.00 634.50 1.50 <500 - 5900 691.00 691.50 0.50 <500 - 700 717.00 719.00 2.00 <500 - 2900 AR-16-121c1 327 -70 816.50 134.10 455.00 458.50 3.50 <500 - 11000 462.50 463.00 0.50 <500 - 800 481.00 482.00 1.00 <500 - 30000 485.00 496.00 11.00 <500 - 8900 498.50 505.00 6.50 <500 - 36000 509.00 514.00 5.00 <500 - 11000 520.00 548.00 28.00 <500 - >61000 551.50 577.00 25.50 <500 - 47000 580.00 583.00 3.00 <500 - 1050 586.00 587.00 1.00 <500 - 2400 636.50 664.50 28.00 <500 - >61000 669.00 677.50 8.50 <500 - 60000 680.00 681.00 1.00 1100 - 35000 684.00 685.00 1.00 <500 - 35000 687.50 688.50 1.00 <500 - 1250 691.00 693.50 2.50 <500 - 2000 716.50 720.00 3.50 <500 - >61000 722.50 734.00 11.50 <500 - 36000 785.00 786.00 1.00 <500 - 1850 AR-17-121c2 327 -70 813.50 134.10 473.50 474.00 0.50 <500 - 4600 483.50 485.00 1.50 <500 - 7100 487.50 491.00 3.50 <500 - 47000 497.50 535.50 38.00 <500 - >61000 538.00 560.00 22.00 <500 - 2700 616.50 620.50 4.00 <500 - 1600 623.50 624.00 0.50 <500 - 740 628.50 631.00 2.50 <500 - 29000 642.50 648.50 6.00 <500 - 30000 651.00 668.50 17.50 <500 - 55500 689.50 690.50 1.00 <500 - 2700 710.50 712.00 1.50 <500 - 3400 735.00 735.50 0.50 <500 - 1300 754.50 759.50 5.00 <500 - 2200 AR-17-126c1 327 -70 831.00 131.70 397.50 398.00 0.50 <500 - 2000 404.50 405.00 0.50 <500 - 650 408.50 411.50 3.00 <500 - 26800 424.00 424.50 0.50 <500 - 640 429.50 430.00 0.50 1600 - 56000 437.00 440.00 3.00 <500 - 1670 442.50 444.50 2.00 <500 - 7900 447.00 448.00 1.00 <500 - 9100 451.50 453.50 2.00 <500 - 5900 457.50 468.00 10.50 <500 - 56500 470.50 471.00 0.50 <500 - 520 477.50 490.50 13.00 <500 - 2300 561.50 562.00 0.50 <500 - 730 575.00 576.50 1.50 <500 - 1150 584.50 585.50 1.00 <500 - 6000 597.00 602.50 5.50 <500 - 2630 606.00 609.00 3.00 <500 - 1800 612.00 613.00 1.00 <500 - 5650 619.00 622.00 3.00 <500 - 980 625.00 627.00 2.00 <500 - 2400 749.50 756.50 7.00 <500 - 2700 805.00 806.50 1.50 <500 - 1300 AR-17-126c2 327 -70 543.00 131.70 426.50 427.00 0.50 2500 - 58000 429.50 430.00 0.50 <500 - 18800 433.00 433.50 0.50 <500 - 24000 440.50 441.50 1.00 <500 - 10500 444.00 444.50 0.50 3000 - 38000 451.50 452.50 1.00 <500 - 5460 460.00 468.00 8.00 <500 - >61000 479.00 480.50 1.50 <500 - 10800 486.50 508.00 21.50 <500 - >61000 512.50 514.00 1.50 <500 - 600 525.50 526.50 1.00 <500 - 650 AR-17-127c1 147 -67 882.50 117.90 478.00 482.00 4.00 <500 - 28000 486.00 491.00 5.00 <500 - 2900 512.00 515.00 3.00 <500 - 15000 543.00 544.50 1.50 <500 - 10700 554.00 555.00 1.00 <500 - 910 589.50 595.50 6.00 <500 - 4600 602.00 604.50 2.50 <500 - 2200 608.50 609.00 0.50 <500 - 700 611.50 612.50 1.00 <500 - 3300 619.50 620.50 1.00 <500 - 5000 626.50 628.50 2.00 <500 - 3100 641.00 647.00 6.00 <500 - 11000 670.50 671.00 0.50 <500 - 520 675.00 676.00 1.00 <500 - 830 679.00 680.00 1.00 <500 - 950 740.50 741.00 0.50 <500 - 730 757.50 763.50 6.00 <500 - 2900 768.50 772.00 3.50 <500 - 2100 775.00 779.00 4.00 <500 - 1300 782.50 785.50 3.00 <500 - 1100 807.50 810.00 2.50 <500 - 1100 856.00 857.00 1.00 <500 - 2800 AR-17-127c2 147 -67 954.50 117.90 507.00 508.00 1.00 <500 - 850 533.50 534.50 1.00 <500 - 650 568.00 568.50 0.50 <500 - 975 662.50 666.00 3.50 <500 - 2750 668.50 669.00 0.50 <500 - 980 679.50 687.50 8.00 <500 - >61000 761.50 765.50 4.00 <500 - 4000 788.50 791.00 2.50 <500 - 8500 843.50 845.00 1.50 <500 - 1700 849.50 850.00 0.50 <500 - 510 861.00 870.00 9.00 <500 - 2600 872.50 884.50 12.00 <500 - 11000 889.00 891.50 2.50 <500 - 2100 AR-17-129c1 327 -70 1074.50 N/A 670.00 671.00 1.00 <500 - 29000 763.50 775.50 12.00 <500 - 40000 779.50 784.50 5.00 <500 - 46000 791.50 794.50 3.00 <500 - 57000 801.50 808.50 7.00 <500 - >61000 812.00 814.50 2.50 <500 - 16500 819.50 823.50 4.00 <500 - 3800 831.50 833.50 2.00 <500 - 800 846.00 846.50 0.50 <500 - 560 851.00 851.50 0.50 <500 - 760 894.50 896.00 1.50 <500 - >61000 899.00 905.50 6.50 <500 - >61000 913.50 923.50 10.00 <500 - >61000 982.00 982.50 0.50 <500 - 1300 988.50 998.50 10.00 <500 - 2400 AR-17-129c2 327 -70 1002.50 N/A 603.50 604.00 0.50 <500 - 510 641.50 642.00 0.50 <500 - 1260 653.00 657.00 4.00 <500 - 8110 665.00 667.00 2.00 <500 - 3070 671.50 672.00 0.50 <500 - 6870 691.00 692.50 1.50 <500 - 4900 698.50 700.50 2.00 <500 - 57000 720.00 721.50 1.50 <500 - 2500 757.50 758.50 1.00 1500 - 45000 780.00 781.00 1.00 <500 - 4700 783.50 788.00 4.50 <500 - 11000 793.50 798.00 4.50 <500 - 1660 806.00 806.50 0.50 <500 - 600 811.50 812.00 0.50 <500 - 3000 823.50 824.00 0.50 <500 - 920 831.00 832.00 1.00 <500 - 1610 850.50 866.50 16.00 <500 - 17000 873.00 876.50 3.50 <500 - 6600 893.00 894.50 1.50 <500 - 2400 977.00 977.50 0.50 <500 - 560 984.50 985.50 1.00 <500 - 2040 994.50 995.50 1.00 <500 - 2200 AR-17-133c1 147 -67 864.50 110.45 437.00 438.00 1.00 <500 - 750 492.50 504.50 12.00 <500 - 1500 513.00 527.00 14.00 <500 - 5000 532.50 533.50 1.00 <500 - 1000 536.00 537.00 1.00 <500 - 800 604.50 607.00 2.50 <500 - 2400 611.50 615.50 4.00 <500 - 12000 618.00 619.00 1.00 <500 - 1500 631.50 632.50 1.00 <500 - 3800 676.00 678.50 2.50 <500 - 5500 697.00 697.50 0.50 <500 - 1100 732.50 737.00 4.50 <500 - 6300 749.50 751.00 1.50 <500 - 2600 AR-17-133c2 147 -67 981.50 110.45 479.00 479.50 0.50 <500 - 1000 485.00 488.50 3.50 <500 - 2600 495.50 496.50 1.00 <500 - 2200 532.00 533.00 1.00 <500 - 1550 535.50 563.00 27.50 <500 - 5000 567.00 570.50 3.50 <500 - 1350 579.00 583.00 4.00 <500 - 5300 588.00 588.50 0.50 <500 - 2100 593.00 598.00 5.00 <500 - 1200 602.00 605.50 3.50 <500 - 1130 608.50 620.00 11.50 <500 - 4000 624.50 632.00 7.50 <500 - 4000 644.50 658.50 14.00 <500 - 3400 661.50 663.50 2.00 <500 - 1700 666.00 667.50 1.50 <500 - 1150 673.50 677.50 4.00 <500 - 6000 680.00 690.00 10.00 <500 - 21000 710.00 710.50 0.50 <500 - 630 716.00 718.00 2.00 <500 - 4690 721.00 723.00 2.00 <500 - 6400 727.00 729.00 2.00 <500 - 1080 759.50 763.00 3.50 <500 - 3320 771.50 772.50 1.00 <500 - 1250 796.50 799.50 3.00 <500 - 1000 896.50 897.00 0.50 <500 - 520 929.50 930.00 0.50 <500 - 600 AR-17-136c1 327 -70 567.00 128.40 432.50 433.50 1.00 <500 - 1800 442.50 444.00 1.50 <500 - 13000 450.50 451.00 0.50 <500 - 4600 475.50 476.50 1.00 <500 - 34000 485.50 498.50 13.00 <500 - 22000 AR-17-136c2 327 -70 849.00 128.40 399.50 403.00 3.50 <500 - 2200 405.50 408.00 2.50 <500 - 4500 414.00 416.00 2.00 <500 - 8100 429.50 432.00 2.50 <500 - 9500 437.50 441.00 3.50 <500 - 23000 446.50 458.50 12.00 <500 - >61000 539.50 551.00 11.50 <500 - >61000 554.00 554.50 0.50 <500 - 1050 614.50 615.00 0.50 <500 - 575 752.00 756.00 4.00 <500 - 21000 767.50 768.00 0.50 <500 - 610 803.50 804.00 0.50 <500 - 980 AR-17-138c1 147 -70 102.80 936.00 532.00 532.50 0.50 <500 - 1700 559.00 559.50 0.50 <500 - 1400 562.00 563.00 1.00 <500 - 1600 581.00 583.00 2.00 <500 - 1200 613.00 613.50 0.50 <500 - 530 631.00 635.00 4.00 <500 - 1300 639.50 663.50 24.00 <500 - 4000 676.00 712.50 36.50 <500 - 7400 715.00 720.00 5.00 <500 - 1540 725.50 726.00 0.50 <500 - 740 728.50 730.50 2.00 <500 - 1900 743.50 746.00 2.50 <500 - 5500 749.00 766.00 17.00 <500 - 4750 771.50 773.00 1.50 <500 - 1250 777.50 778.00 0.50 <500 - 820 878.50 881.00 2.50 <500 - 2930 885.50 888.50 3.00 <500 - 1750 893.50 894.00 0.50 <500 - 3300 897.00 904.00 7.00 <500 - 5100 Parameters: Maximum internal dilution 2.00 m downhole All depths and intervals are meters downhole, true thicknesses are yet to be determined. Resource modelling in conjunction with an updated mineral resource estimate is required before true thicknesses can be estimated. "Anomalous" means >500 cps (counts per second) total count gamma readings by gamma scintillometer type RS-120 "Off-scale" means >10,000 cps (counts per second) total count gamma readings by gamma scintillometer type RS-120 Where "Min cps" is <500 cps, this refers to local low radiometric zones within the overall radioactive interval Arrow Deposit Drilling AR-17-114c3 Hole AR-17-114c3 was a directional scissor hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-114c2 at a depth of 595 m. The hole was designed to test the A2 shear 60 m down-dip of AR-16-96c2 (4.17% U3O8 over 57.5 m in the A2 shear). Directional drilling was initiated at 606 m. The A2 shear was intersected at an inclination of -72. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 shear). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A2 shear in association with stringers, fracture, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 23.0 m including 1.25 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >43,000 cps) was intersected within a 87.5 m section (639.0 m to 726.5 m), all in the A2 shear. The hole was terminated at 792.5 m. AR-17-118c2 Hole AR-17-118c2 was a directional scissor hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-118c1 at a depth of 207 m. The hole was designed to test the A2 shear 45 m down-dip and northeast of AR-15-53c3 (1.38% U3O8 over 24.5 m, 3.37% U3O8 over 8.5 m, and 1.87% U3O8 over 9.5 m in the A2 shear) and the A3 shear 20 m down-dip and southwest of AR-15-57c2 (5.89% U3O8 over 29.5 m in the A3 shear). Directional drilling was initiated at 250 m. The A2 and A3 shears were both intersected at an inclination of -67. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 through A4 shears). Anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity was intersected in the A2 through A4 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, and semi-massive to massive pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 101.5 m including 11.7 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 294.0 m section (458.5 to 752.5 m). In the A2 shear, 49.0 m of composite mineralization including 6.1 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A3 shear, 46.5 m of composite mineralization including 5.25 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. An additional 6.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.35 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected in the A4 shear. The hole was terminated at 828.5 m. AR-17-119c2 Hole AR-17-119c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-119c1 at a depth of 205 m. The hole was designed to test the A2 shear 95 m down-dip and southwest of AR-17-119c1 (1.15 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A2 shear; assays pending). Directional drilling was initiated at 222 m. The A2 and A3 shears were intersected at inclinations of -71 and -70 respectively. Basement lithologies were intersected beginning at the top of the hole and consisted largely of semi-pelitic gneiss to granofel and relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A1 through A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A1 through A3 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation-controlled, fracture-controlled, and semi-massive pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 98.5 m including 3.7 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 630.5 m section (381.5 to 1012.0 m). In the A1 shear, 47.5 m of composite mineralization including 0.2 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A2 shear, 39.0 m of composite mineralization including 1.65 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. In the A3 shear, 10.5 m of composite mineralization including 1.85 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. An additional 1.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected in the A4 shear. The hole was terminated at a depth of 1065.5 m. AR-17-120c1 Hole AR-17-120c1 was a directional scissor hole collared from the surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 Azimuth). It was designed to test the A2 shear 95 m down-dip and southwest of AR-15-59c5 (0.29% U3O8 over 24.0 m in the A2 shear). Directional drilling was initiated at 282 m. The A2 shear was intersected at an inclination of -67. The hole intersected bleached Athabasca Group sandstones between 106.0 m and the unconformity at 114.80 m. Basement lithologies dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 and A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A3 shear in association with disseminated, foliation-controlled, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 6.5 m including 0.6 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 130.5 m section (534.5 to 665.0 m), all in the A3 shear. The hole was terminated at a depth of 846.5 m. AR-17-120c2 Hole AR-17-120c2 was a directional scissor hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-120c1 at a depth of 286 m. It was designed to test the A2 shear 65 m down-dip of AR-17-120c1. Directional drilling was initiated at 295 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -71. Basement lithologies were intersected from the top of the hole and dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 through A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous radioactivity in the A3 and A4 shears in association with disseminated and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 5.0 m was intersected within a 184.5 m section (534.5 to 719.0 m). In the A3 shear, 4.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A4 shear, 1.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected. The hole was terminated at a depth of 864.5 m. AR-17-121c1 Hole AR-17-121c1 was a directional scissor hole collared from the surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 Azimuth). The hole was designed to test the A2 shear 25 m up-dip and northeast of AR-16-118c2 (6.1 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A2 shear; assays pending) and the A3 shear 45 m up-dip of AR-15-57c2 (5.89% U3O8 over 29.5 m in the A3 shear). Directional drilling was initiated at 249 m. The A2 and A3 shears were both intersected at an inclination of -71. The hole intersected bleached Athabasca Group sandstones between 122.8 m and the unconformity at 134.1 m. Basement lithologies largely consisted of semi-pelitic gneisses with narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 and A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A2 through A3 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation-controlled and fracture-controlled mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 143.0 m including 12.0 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 331.0 m section (455.0 to 786.0 m). In the A2 shear, 58.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 5.9 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A3 shear, 81.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 6.0 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A4 shear, 4.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 0.1 m of off-scale radioactivity. The hole was terminated at a depth of 816.5 m. AR-17-121c2 Hole AR-17-121c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-121c1 at a depth of 262 m. It was designed to test the A3 high-grade domains as a scissor hole immediately adjacent to AR-14-08 (2.51% U3O8 over 10.0 m and 2.94% U 3 O 8 over 6.2 m in the A3 shear). Directional drilling was initiated at 387 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -68. Basement lithologies were intersected from the top of the hole and dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 and A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A2 and A3 shears in association with disseminated, fracture-controlled, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 104.0 m including 11.6 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 286.0 m section (473.5 to 759.5 m). In the A2 shear, 33.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 1.9 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A3 shear, 65.5 m of composite mineralization including 9.7 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. An additional 5.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected in the A1 shear. The hole was terminated at a depth of 813.5 m. AR-17-126c1 Hole AR-17-126c1 was a scissor hole collared from surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 Azimuth). It was designed to test the A3 shear 32 m up-dip and northeast of AR-17-116c1 (6.5 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A3 shear; assays pending). Directional drilling was initiated at 195 m. The A2 and A3 shears were both intersected at inclinations of -67. The hole intersected strongly bleached Athabasca Group sandstones between 119.5 m and the unconformity at 131.7 m. Basement lithologies largely consisted of semi-pelitic gneisses with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 and A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A2 and A3 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation-controlled, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 63.0 m including 1.25 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 56,500 cps) was intersected within a 409.0 m section (397.5 to 806.5 m). In the A2 shear, 17.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A3 shear, 37.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 1.25 m of off-scale radioactivity. An additional 8.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected in the A1 shear. The hole was terminated at 831 m. AR-17-126c2 Hole AR-17-126c2 was a directional scissor hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-126c1 at a depth of 207 m. It was designed to test the A3 shear 43 m up-dip and northeast of AR-17-121c2 (9.7 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A3 shear; assays pending). Directional drilling was initiated at 306 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -70. Basement lithologies were intersected from the top of the hole and dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A3 shear). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A3 shear in association with stringers, disseminated, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 37.5 m including 3.65 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected within a 100.0 m section (426.5 to 526.5 m), all in the A3 shear. The hole was terminated at a depth of 543 m. AR-17-127c1 Hole AR-17-127c1 was collared from surface at an angled orientation (-67) to the southeast (147 Azimuth). It was designed to test the gap area to the northeast of the Arrow Deposit resource domains, 40 m down-dip and northeast of AR-17-119c2 (1.65 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A2 shear; assays pending). Directional drilling was initiated at 201 m. The A2 and A3 shears were both intersected at inclinations of -67. The hole intersected bleached Athabasca Group sandstones between 93.0 m and the unconformity at 117.9 m. Basement lithologies largely consisted of semi-pelitic gneisses with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A1 through A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A1 through A3 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation-controlled, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 56.5 m including 0.7 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 28,000 cps) was intersected within a 379.0 m section (478.0 to 857.0 m). In the A1 shear, 14.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 0.6 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A2 shear, 21.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 0.1 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A3 shear, 20.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. The hole was terminated at 882.5 m. AR-17-127c2 Hole AR-17-127c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-127c1 at a depth of 205 m. It was designed to test the gap area to the northeast of the Arrow Deposit resource domains, 85 m down-dip and northeast of AR-17-119c2 (1.65 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A2 shear; assays pending). Directional drilling was initiated at 205 m. The A2 and A3 shears were both intersected at inclinations of -70. Basement lithologies were intersected from the top of the hole and dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A1 through A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A1 through A3 shears in association with disseminated, fracture-controlled, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 46.5 m including 1.75 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 384.5 m section (507.0 to 891.5 m). In the A1 shear, 2.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A2 shear, 18.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 1.6 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A3 shear, 25.5 m of composite mineralization including 0.15 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected. The hole was terminated at a depth of 954.5 m. AR-17-129c1 Hole AR-17-129c1 was a scissor hole collared from surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 Azimuth). It was designed to test the A4 shear 90 m up-dip and northeast of AR-15-41 (4.30% U3O8 over 20.5 m in the A4 shear). The A4 shear was intersected at an inclination of -66. No Athabasca Group sandstones were encountered and basement lithologies largely consisted of semi-pelitic gneisses with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 through A4 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A2 through A5 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation-controlled, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 66.0 m including 4.4 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 328.5 m section (670.0 to 998.5 m). In the A2 shear, 10.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A3 shear, 21.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 1.6 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A4 shear, 33.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 2.7 m of off-scale radioactivity. An additional 1.0 m of composite mineralization including 0.1 m of off-scale radioactivity was intersected in the A5 shear. The hole was terminated at 1074.5 m. AR-17-129c2 Hole AR-17-129c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-129c1 at 495 m. It was designed to test the A4 shear 120 m up-dip of AR-15-41 (4.30% U3O8 over 20.5 m in the A4 shear) with an additional A3 intersection 90 m up-dip of AR-15-39 (2.27% U3O8 over 29.5 m in the A3 shear). Directional drilling was initiated at 510 m. The A3 and A4 shears were both intersected at an inclination of -58. Basement lithologies were intersected from the top of the hole and dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A2 through A4 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A2 through A5 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 49.5 m including 1.25 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 57,000 cps) was intersected within a 392.0 m section (603.5 to 995.5 m). In the A2 shear, 6.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A3 shear, 28.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 0.15 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A4 shear, 8.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 1.1 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A1 and A5 shears, an additional 1.0 m and 5.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected respectively. The hole was terminated at a depth of 1002.5 m. AR-17-133c1 Hole AR-17-133c1 was collared from surface at an angled orientation (-67) to the southeast (147 Azimuth). It was designed to test the gap area to the northeast of the Arrow Deposit resource domains, 77 m northeast of AR-17-119c2 (1.65 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A2 shear; assays pending). Directional drilling was initiated at 270 m. The A2 and A3 shears were both intersected at inclinations of -65. The hole intersected bleached Athabasca Group sandstones between 99.0 m and the unconformity at 110.45 m. Basement lithologies largely consisted of semi-pelitic gneisses with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A1 through A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A1 through A3 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, foliation-controlled, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 46.5 m including 0.1 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 12,000 cps) was intersected within a 314.0 m section (437.0 to 751.0 m). In the A1 shear, 29.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A2 shear, 8.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 0.1 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A3 shear, 9.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected. The hole was terminated at 864.5 m. AR-17-133c2 Hole AR-17-133c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-133c1 at 252 m. It was designed to test the gap area to the northeast of the Arrow Deposit resource domains, 60 m up-dip and northeast of AR-17-127c2 (1.6 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A2 shear; assays pending). Directional drilling was initiated at 270 m. The A1 through A3 shears were intersected at inclinations of -70, -69, and -69 respectively. Basement lithologies were intersected from the top of the hole and dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A1 through A4 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A1 through A4 shears in association with disseminated, fracture-controlled, and foliation-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 115.5 m including 0.25 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 21,000 cps) was intersected within a 451.0 m section (479.0 to 930.0 m). In the A1 shear, 46.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A2 shear, 64.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 0.25 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A3 shear, 4.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. An additional 0.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected in the A4 shear. The hole was terminated at a depth of 981.5 m. AR-17-136c1 Hole AR-16-136c1 was a scissor hole collared from surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the northwest (327 Azimuth). It was designed to test the A3 shear 30 m northeast of AR-17-116c1 (6.5 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A3 shear; assays pending). Directional drilling was initiated at 201 m. The A3 shear was intersected at an inclination of -69. The hole intersected bleached Athabasca Group sandstones between 112.1 m and the unconformity at 128.4 m. Basement lithologies largely consisted of semi-pelitic gneisses with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A3 shear). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A3 shear in association with stringers, disseminated, and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 17.0 m including 0.9 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to 34,000 cps) was intersected within a 66.0 m section (432.5 to 498.5 m), all within the A3 shear. The hole was terminated at 567 m. AR-17-136c2 Hole AR-17-136c2 was a directional hole that departed pilot hole AR-17-136c1 at 204 m. It was designed to test the A3 shear 50 m northeast and up-dip of AR-17-116c1 (6.5 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A3 shear; assays pending). Directional drilling was initiated at 216 m. The A1 through A3 shears were all intersected at inclinations of -66. Basement lithologies were intersected from the top of the hole and dominantly consisted of semi-pelitic gneiss with relatively narrow intervals of pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A1 through A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A1 through A3 shears in association with stringers, disseminated, fracture-controlled, foliation-controlled, and massive pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 43.5 m including 7.35 m of off-scale radioactivity (>10,000 to >61,000 cps) was intersected within a 404.5 m section (399.5 to 804.0 m). In the A1 shear, 4.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 0.15 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A2 shear, 12.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 0.5 m of off-scale radioactivity. In the A3 shear, 26.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected including 6.7 m of off-scale radioactivity anchored by dense accumulations of massive pitchblende. An additional 0.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected northwest of the A1 shear. The hole was terminated at a depth of 849 m. AR-17-138c1 Hole AR-16-138c1 was collared from surface at an angled orientation (-70) to the southeast (147 Azimuth). It was designed to test the gap area to the northeast of the Arrow Deposit resource domains, 120 m northeast of AR-17-127c2 (1.6 m of off-scale radioactivity in the A2 shear; assays pending). Directional drilling was initiated at 201 m. The A2 shear was intersected at an inclination of -70. The hole intersected strongly bleached Athabasca Group sandstones between 75.5 m and the unconformity at 102.8 m. Basement lithologies largely consisted of semi-pelitic gneisses with relatively narrow intervals of graphitic pelitic gneiss and mylonite (the A1 through A3 shears). The hole successfully intersected anomalous to strongly anomalous radioactivity in the A1 through A3 shears in association with disseminated and fracture-controlled pitchblende mineralization. A total composite mineralization of 111.0 m was intersected within a 372.0 m section (532.0 to 904.0 m). In the A1 shear, 8.5 m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A2 shear, 89.5m of composite mineralization was intersected. In the A3 shear, 13.0 m of composite mineralization was intersected. The hole was terminated at 936 m. Technical Information Natural gamma radiation in drill core reported in this news release was measured in counts per second (cps) using a Radiation Solutions Inc. RS-120 gamma-ray scintillometer. The reader is cautioned that total count gamma readings may not be directly or uniformly related to uranium grades of the rock sample measured; they should be used only as a preliminary indication of the presence of radioactive minerals. All intersections are downhole. Split core samples will be taken systematically, and intervals will be submitted to SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories (an SCC ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 Accredited Facility) of Saskatoon for analysis. All samples sent to SRC will be analyzed using ICP-MS for trace elements on partial and total digestions, ICP-OES for major and minor elements on a total digestion, and fusion solution of boron by ICP-OES. Mineralized samples are analyzed for U 3 O 8 by ICP-OES and select samples for gold by fire assay. Assay results will be released when received and after stringent internal QA/QC protocols are passed. All scientific and technical information in this news release has been prepared by or reviewed and approved by Mr. Garrett Ainsworth, P.Geo., Vice President Exploration & Development for NexGen. Mr. Ainsworth is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), and has verified the sampling, analytical, and test data underlying the information or opinions contained herein by reviewing original data certificates and monitoring all of the data collection protocols. For details of the Rook I Project including the quality assurance program and quality control measures applied and key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate the mineral resource set forth below please refer to the technical report entitled "Technical Report on the Rook 1 Property, Saskatchewan, Canada" dated effective March 31, 2017 (the "Rook 1 Technical Report") prepared by Mark B. Mathisen and David Ross, each of whom is a "qualified person" under NI 43-101. The Rook I Technical Report is available for review under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. About NexGen NexGen is a British Columbia corporation with a focus on the acquisition, exploration and development of Canadian uranium projects. NexGen has a highly experienced team of uranium industry professionals with a successful track record in the discovery of uranium deposits and in developing projects through discovery to production. NexGen owns a portfolio of highly prospective uranium exploration assets in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan, Canada, including a 100% interest in Rook I, location of the Arrow Discovery in February 2014 and Bow Discovery in March 2015 and the Harpoon discovery in August 2016. The Arrow Deposit's March 2017 Mineral Resource estimate (effective December 20, 2016) comprises an Indicated Mineral Resource of 179.5 M lbs U3O8 contained in 1.18 M tonnes grading 6.88% U3O8 and an Inferred Mineral Resource of an additional 122.1 M lbs U3O8 contained in 4.25 M tonnes grading 1.30% U3O8. By Lee Sang-ou The sinking of the RMS Titanic occurred on the night of 14 April, 1912, in the North Atlantic Ocean, during her first voyage from Southampton to New York City. The Titanic had an estimated 2,224 people on board when she struck an iceberg at around 23:40 p.m. Sunday, 14 April, 1912. Her sinking only took two hours and 40 minutes, which was one of the most rapid sinking speeds of a passenger ship at that time. And finally at around 02:20 a.m., 15 April, the sea swallowed one of the strongest and biggest man-made objects. Also, this resulted in the death of more than 1,500 people, which made it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. The whole world over was in great shock. And soon, the movement for an international treaty occurred in order to ensure the safe voyages and safety of ships themselves. So finally in 1914, SOLAS (the Safety of Life at Sea) was legitimized and is still in force today. Also, SOLAS itself is the father to numerous maritime safety regulations. SOLAS requires to be flagged by states in order to ensure that such ships comply with the minimum safety standards in construction, equipment and operation. Currently, SOLAS has 162 contracting states, which hold oversee than 99 percent of vessels around the globe. After the activation of SOLAS, the number of maritime incidents and accidents decreased to some extent. In relation to this, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is continuously enacting regulations and treaties for the sake of prevention of maritime disasters. What is the similarity of these regulations and treaties? Surprisingly, all of them are motivated by maritime incidents and accidents. Actually, the IMO investigates all kinds of maritime incidents and accidents from huge disasters like the Titanic, to minor incidents just to ensure a safe voyage. Just like this, the main purpose of a survey of maritime accidents is to prevent similar disasters, not to punish an interested party. The same policy must be applied to the MV Sewol. After the Sewol disaster, we must concentrate on how to prevent this kind of disaster. But sadly, in our society, we totally fail to learn from our errors and take necessary counter-measures. Instead of this, we just blame and criticize each other and punish the related parties without any consideration of the flaws that enabled these tragedies that lie in wait. If you speculate on all of the related policies after the disaster, you are sure to have doubts about their effectiveness. Counter-active measures are the key to prevention. Finally, the government successfully salvaged the MV Sewol. It is not common in maritime accident history to salvage a civilian ship which has no military affiliation. So, it is an opportunity which rarely comes up. In relation to this, we must prevent similar disasters through a thorough investigation and cause identification without wasting time. We neither have the time nor money for criticism. We cannot repeat the same mistake which took place three years ago. Identifying the cause of the accident and building a recurrence prevention system will be the only way to become a "not-sorry adult" to youngsters. The writer attends Korea Maritime University, serving as apprentice officer on the motor training ship TS Hanbada. Write to sangou2marine@gmail.com LifeStyle The best LifeStyle shows are right here, from Australia and around the world. Catch up with the experts on home design and interiors, food and cooking, the property market, and get fresh ideas with the savviest of renovators. Whether you need inspiration for cooking up a storm, to refresh a tired room, or tips to sell your property, Foxtel LifeStyle will always something new for you to watch. Enjoy your favourite experts like Andrew Winter and Neale Whitaker, or Deb Hutton and Jamie Oliver live or On Demand. Get Foxtel by Chase Martin , April 17, 2017 Live 360-degree video broadcasts just gained an aerial perspective, thanks to a new live-streaming virtual reality drone. The VR drone system was developed by 360 Designs and is set to be introduced and exhibited this week at the annual NAB Show in Las Vegas. The so-called Flying EYE system comprises a remote-controlled hexacopter with a custom spherical video camera rig and live-stitching components, which can stream 360-degree spherical video to a base-station on the ground in near-real time. The system is designed for professional use and can stream and record in up to 6K resolution with a range of up to five miles, according to 360 Designs. We wanted to create a broadcast quality, live 360 drone platform for professionals, so they can create stunning live VR productions, with or without the drone in shot, Alx Klive, CEO of 360 Designs, said in a statement. The sky is no longer the limit. Flying EYE is the first broadcast-quality live-streaming 360-degree drone platform, according to 360 Designs. However, spherical video has already been streamed live by at least one other major company at a lower resolution. For example, Intel streamed spherical video from a quadcopter live to attendees at a press event during CES earlier this year. That demonstration was streamed in real time to more than 260 Oculus Rift VR headsets at the event. Intel collaborated with live-streaming VR company Orah, for the demonstration. That was the first 4K 360-degree live-stream from a drone, according to Orah. Most consumer 360-degree cameras, such as Samsungs Gear 360, shoot in 4K resolution. The camera rig in the Flying EYE system is a 360-degree camera that has been used in projects including the Oscars last year. by Tanya Gazdik , April 18, 2017 Aflac is partnering with Tough Mudder, an active lifestyle brand and media company. The financial services company also will be Official Supplemental Insurance Provider for Tough Mudders 2017 events season. The effort includes a six-month campaign aimed at small businesses. The Aflac Small Business Challenge was designed for teams participating in Tough Mudder events on behalf of small businesses. Tough Mudder hosts a series of endurance events and obstacle course challenges all over the world. Events aim to promote teamwork, physical activity and fun. Aflac joins a wide range of sponsors including Merrell, Jeep, the U.S. Army, Vega, Olympus, For Goodness Shakes, Bosch, Snapchat, Live Stream, Sky Sports, ESPN Media Distribution, The CW and CBS Sports. advertisement advertisement Aflacs sponsorship was orchestrated by CSE in Atlanta, which has worked with the insurance company for about 10 years. For young employees working at a small business, camaraderie among the team is crucial, said Gail Galuppo, senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Aflac. Participating in an event like Tough Mudder can help improve communication and collaboration while creating a workplace culture that supports healthy and fit lifestyles all attributes that help small businesses succeed, she adds. This partnership underscores our brands commitment to promoting corporate team-building no matter how big or small the team may be, Galuppo tells Marketing Daily. Whether its climbing a 15-foot wall or plunging into ice-cold water, both Aflac and Tough Mudder support and celebrate all lifestyles when it matters most even when they get a little muddy. Both Aflac and Tough Mudder will promote the partnership through a variety of channels, including social media. Aflac will also promote the partnership to its more than 70,000 licensed agents who sell Aflac supplemental insurance products at small businesses across the country. Currently, we have a one-year commitment, Galuppo says. We are excited to kick off the partnership and will gauge its success towards the end of the Tough Mudder season. Aflac is encouraging businesses to take team-building to the next level by having employees participate in Tough Mudder events. To enter a team into the challenge, employees can enter on behalf of their company by simply sharing how teamwork has helped their small business succeed. A Team of the Month will be selected from the entries each month (April to October 2017), winning four complimentary entries into a Tough Mudder event to put their teamwork skills to the test. Tough Mudder will market that component of the sponsorship through a dedicated landing page on its website as well as email communications to registered participants throughout the year, Galuppo says. To kick off the Aflac Small Business Challenge, Aflac will also have a homepage takeover on Toughmudder.com for the first week of the Challenge, April 18 - 25, she adds. In the fall, one grand-prize winner will receive four complimentary entries and an all-expenses-paid trip for those four entry ticket holders to Worlds Toughest Mudder, the most extreme, 24-hour endurance race hosted by Tough Mudder, taking place at Lake Las Vegas Nov. 11 - 12. by Tobi Elkin @tobielkin, April 18, 2017 Pandora on Tuesday launched a brand campaign dubbed Sounds Like You and said its making Pandora Premium, previously available by invitation only since March, available to everyone via the App Store, Google Play, or online. Along with the availability of Premium ($9.99 per month), the streaming music service now offers three tiers of service: the ad-supported service (free) and Pandora Plus ($4.99 per month). With Premium, Pandora offers listeners an Add Similar Songs feature and personalized music recommendations. The new campaign showcases Pandoras role in offering personalized music experiences, along with the eclectic musical tastes of the artists featured in digital and outdoor creative, with their influences pictured in the "P" in Pandoras logo. Pandora, which devised the effort with in-house creative and design teams, identified a mix of 18 well-known and up-and-coming artists to feature in the campaign, including Big Sean, Gorillaz, Miranda Lambert, Keith Urban, Ziggy Marley, and Questlove. advertisement advertisement The U.S.-only campaign consists of mostly mobile, in-app and digital video advertising. It also includes outdoor billboards and murals painted by the artist and designer MADSTEEZ in New York and Los Angeles. Pandora is also partnering with Pitchfork and VICE's music channel Noisey on influencer marketing for the campaign, plans a series of digital video shorts with the artists directed by Academy Award winner Michel Gondry, plus social media activations. There are buys on YouTube, Facebook Live, Instagram, Snapchat filters, and more. Pandora declined to put a price tag on the effort. DigitasLBi, San Francisco handled all production and media strategy (buying and planning). In addition, Pandora will reach listeners through Artist Audio Messages on the service. "This is a transformational moment for Pandora and a moment to re-engage existing and new users, particularly in younger demos across all our ties of service," Nick Bartle, CMO, Pandora, told Real-Time Daily via email. He said the campaign reflect's Pandoras unique ability "to deliver a music experience completely personal to each listener." As for Pandora now having three tiers of service, Bartle said: "We believe that addressing the entire demand curve and meeting consumers where they are with options, be it ad-supported or subscriptions, is the key to Pandora's long-term growth." Pandora reported full-year 2016 ad revenue of $1.072 billion with 15% year-over-year growth. It will announce Q1 2017 earnings next month. by Aaron Baar , April 18, 2017 Marketers, be forewarned: Lock up those popular spokescharacters to long-term, no-compete deals or risk having them turn against you. Nearly a year into a campaign that featured Verizons famous Can you hear me now? character (played by actor Paul Marcarelli) switching to Sprint and declaring there is little difference between their networks, the latter is releasing a series of videos humorously highlighting those who have (fictionally) taken inspiration from him. Theres no denying that the response Sprint received when Paul switched from Verizon was unprecedented people love Paul, Tracy Palmer, vice president brand, advertising, and social at Sprint, tells Marketing Daily. Weve seen Paul fans coming out of the woodwork. advertisement advertisement The vignettes take the form of a television news magazine called Your World with Luther North. Each short segment explores a different element of the craze, from people dressing like Marcarelli to naming their babies after him (and getting tiny black-framed glasses and onesies in take-home packages) to erecting 30-foot statues in his honor. At the end of each segment, the newsmagazine catches up with Marcarelli to get his take on the phenomenon (often a mix of flattery and incredulity). Some of the themes were inspired by real events and some are wild exaggerations, Palmer says. We felt that all of these were in the right spirit based on responses and feedback we received. And we also brainstormed what would be funny if we took it to the next level of obsessiveness. The videos were created in partnership with Onion Labs, the content studio of the satirical magazine. The Onion is well known for its satirical takes on the news and popular culture and has strong connections with famously hard-to-reach Millennials, Palmer says. Weve taken some chances lately with our advertising and its paid off, Palmer says. During the Super Bowl, for example, we had a creative, fun and edgy ad that received a lot of positive feedback. Partnering with Onion Labs is another example of how Sprint is taking chances and moving in new directions in our business and in our advertising/marketing. Sprint debuted its campaign featuring Marcarelli in June 2016, and the company has declared it is its most popular advertising campaign ever. The original ad has garnered more than 14 million views on YouTube since its debut according to the company. by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, April 18, 2017 Just when you thought the weeks ahead were going to be all about the French election, along comes a bolt of out of the blue -- a UK general election on June 8th. The burning issue that meant this couldn't wait until 2020, when the election was due? You guessed it -- the only game in town: Brexit. Could adland finally get the reversal of Article 50, which it never wanted? Could the nightmare of a potential ending of free trade with the EU be reversed, could we maybe just carry on with our balance of trade in services firmly in the black? Could we put an end to Berlin, Amsterdam and Paris opening their arms to advertisers who want pan-EU reach without the risk of future tariffs? To be honest, I very much doubt it. If Theresa May increases her majority, it's Hard Brexit, or the potential for Hard Brexit, all the way. If she fails to gain a majority, that would be interesting, wouldn't it? A "softer" Brexit, even a PM calling for another referendum on Europe? Or maybe, more realistically, the alternative at the end of the negotiations could switch from a "deal, or no deal" vote in parliament to a choice between the deal on offer or staying within the EU. Today's calling of a snap election runs counter to the new practice, enshrined in law in 2011 that parliaments are supposed to last five years. However, with a slim majority in the Commons, getting the necessary votes to allow a June election will not be a problem. In fact, it is that slim margin that means the election is necessary. Theresa May knows she will always have a proverbial monkey on her back if an election were not called. She is, after all, a Prime Minister who has inherited the title, rather than won it through the ballot box (just as Gordon Brown from Labour before her). She is also pushing through Brexit, which she stood against, and in so doing, giving those still campaigning for the UK to remain in the UK political ammunition to fire in her direction daily. A victory for May and Brexit will mean the country has spoken again -- and that would not be good news for Remainers. More to the point, a general election would appear to make good sense. This is a tactical move as much as anything. The main opposition party, Labour, is in disarray. Young party members love left-winger Jeremy Corbyn, whom they have reaffirmed as leader, much to the chagrin of the parliamentary party, which is perpetually plotting to oust him. When better to strike at your weakened opponent than when you can claim the moral high ground of ratifying the trust the public has put in you (or words to that effect) to seek a greater majority to implement "the will of the people" (or words to that effect)? In the UK right now, we have the oddest political setup. Theresa May campaigned for Remain, yet became PM following the Leave vote. Her party's stronghold is the affluent south, which voted to Remain, yet here she is leading Brexit. Then we have Labour, which mostly campaigned to Remain, yet its heartland of Midlands and Northern support (and Welsh, to a lesser extent) pushed through the vote to Leave. So to recap, the Labour leader was a very quiet Remain campaigner who now faces a core support that wants to Leave, while the PM was a Remain supporter, forced to push through Brexit, despite her power base wanting to Remain. You may need to go back and read that last line again before you realise that it really is as nuts as it sounds. If you want my one tip as the hustings get underway, watch the Liberal Democrats. Why? Well, while the Labour party has been in turmoil, plotting against its leader and being at odds with its core supporters, the Liberal Democrats, who shared power with David Cameron's first administration, have effectively positioned themselves as the main party speaking out for those who want to Remain or at least Leave with the least noticeable difference to our relationship with the EU. The Liberal Democrats are strong in the south, where they have a good record in local government. The last general election was not good news for the party, but they're still strong in the south and will be fighting against what is perceived to be a potential "hard" Brexit in the Tory heartland. Trust me -- they might not cause a lot of upsets, but they will run the Conservative party a lot closer than in previous elections. There may even be a shock or two in the post. Ultimately, however, if you are thinking the June election may change everything and put adland back at heart of the EU, there are three things to consider. First of all, Article 50 has been fired following a referendum that called for the UK to leave the EU. Secondly, it's unlikely that a party pushing through "the will of the people" will be humiliated in a general election, and so the current path is likely to continue. Perhaps the most important point, however, is that the UK's relationship with the EU is no longer up to what we Brits want. It's down to what the remaining 27 member states decide to offer us. Many smart people are missing this very simple truth. We are one country -- they are 27. A general election will not impact this one iota. by Larissa Faw , April 18, 2017 Ad agency Phelps is naming Tony Stern as chief creative officer, replacing two-time CLIO Hall-of-Famer Howie Cohen, best known for creating the iconic Seventies Alka-Seltzer ads, including I cant believe I ate the whole thing." Stern brings a wealth of experience to Phelps having helped build many well-known brands including Adobe, Electronic Arts, Google, Hyundai and Smirnoff. Hes worked for several creative agencies, including David & Goliath, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, and J. Walter Thompson. For the past five years, Stern has played creative consultant to advertisers, agencies and tech startups. Stern reports to president Ed Chambliss and founder/chairman Joe Phelps. Cohen was actively involved in selecting his successor at the 100% employee-owned agency. Cohen admits Phelps requires "unusual talent" since the CCO must work alongside 70 colleagues where everyone has a voice in the work thats created. Even more than a thick skin, you need an open ear and a lot of flexibility, he says. advertisement advertisement Tony matches the heartbeat and personality of Phelps, said Cohen. He understands how advertising, public relations and social media in all their forms actually work in the world, and hes comfortable working with all of the specialists to make them work synergistically. Thats in line with Phelps, where we put everyone together on work from the beginning, because the linear approach to communications cant keep pace with todays world. Cohen is retiring after a career that spanned five decades, the last two of them with Phelps where he led defining campaigns for such brands as Petco, Tahiti Tourisme and City of Hope. "As you get older, you feel it in your bones - literally and figuratively," says Cohen. ""At age 74, I just wasn't willing to put in all the time or make the sacrifices it takes to be a strong creative leader. When Tony Stern came along, I knew the agency was in good creative hands and I could leave with confidence. Paris awaits." by Larissa Faw , April 18, 2017 Luxury advertisers, which as a group spent a little less on media last year (0.5%) will be spending more in the next few years but shifting a lot more money into digital from off-line media, according to the new edition of Zeniths Luxury Advertising Expenditure Forecasts. Expenditure on luxury advertising will rise by 2.9% in 2017 and 3.9% in 2018, driven by the U.S., China, and Japan, which together will account for 80% of the growth in luxury ad spend to 2018, per the report. Although print is currently the top channel for luxury advertising -- accounting for 32.7% of ad spend in 2016, compared to 31.3% for television and 25.8% for Internet advertising almost all new luxury advertising will go to online spending, projected to account for 87% of ad spend growth between 2016 and 2018. By 2018, the Internet will receive the majority of ad spend (30.6%), compared to 29.9% for television and 29.7% for print. Still, magazines and print will remain important to luxury advertisers, accounting for more than double the ad spend for the ad market overall: 13.8% of ad spend across all categories will be allocated to print in 2018, down from 16.7% in 2016. advertisement advertisement Advertisers are also adjusting their budgets within select luxury categories. Broad luxury defined as luxury automobiles, cosmetics and perfumes is credited with generating most of the growth (74%) within the luxury industry last year. So-called high luxury, defined as watches and jewelry/ fashion and accessories, shrank 3.9% in 2016. Broad luxury will continue its dominance, forecast to grow by 3.7% in 2017 and 4.6% in 2018, while high luxury ad spend will grow by 0.8% in 2017 and 1.6% in 2018. Although luxury advertising growth will accelerate to 3.4% a year between 2016 and 2018, it will continue to lag behind the market as a whole, which will grow 4.4% a year across all categories. Consumers are now looking for luxury experiences that are personal and relevant to them. Targeted brand communication is central to creating this extra brand value," stated Vittorio Bonori, Zeniths global brand president. Luxury will grow the fastest in Eastern Europe (at an average pace of 10% a year), Latin America (5% a year), and North America and Asia-Pacific (4% a year each). The Middle East and North Africa, suffering from political instability and low oil prices, will continue to shrink, at an average rate of 6% a year. The third edition of the report tracks 23 markets: Australia, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Peru, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the U.S. by Gord Hotchkiss , Featured Contributor, April 18, 2017 I have to confess, I was actually a fan of Googles Dont be evil philosophy. Predictably, once the company went public with it, the cynics were quick to tear it apart. Was it naive? Of course it was. The minute Google did anything that smacked of ethical transgression, there were scads of people willing to point fingers. But the fact was, at least Google was trying. It gave those inside the Googleplex a common code of conduct. More than one planning meetings blue-sky postulation ran up against the Dont be evil mantra, which caused the conversation to veer in another, hopefully less evil, direction. advertisement advertisement Some columns back, I talked about the corporate rush to embrace morality and voiced my own skepticism about this born-again fervor. Im skeptical because I dont believe that capitalism and morality play very nice together. Its tough to make a profit and make the world a kinder place at the same time. I think you can certainly set your sights in that direction, but as Google found out, if you wear your morality on your sleeve, there are many who look for every opportunity to call bullshit on you. Thats likely why the company downplayed the whole Dont be evil thing in 2015 when Alphabet was formed. But I still think that Google generally tries to be good. And, perhaps not coincidentally, Google is now the most valuable brand in the world, according to Brand Finance When youre a huge company you have your finger in a lot of pies -- and some of them, inevitably, will upset someone somewhere. The trick here is that what is evil is in the eye of the beholder. Is Airbnb good because it's enabled a new option for travelers to connect with property owners and find better value accommodations, or is it evil because it's disrupting an established industry and putting thousands of people out of work? Its hard to combine the church of morality and the state of profitability. Thats why most corporations elect to keep the two separate. Microsoft is a good example. Under the reign of Bill Gates, Microsoft was even called the Evil Empire because of its predatory and monopolistic business practices. Yet Forbes recently tagged Microsoft as having the second best corporate social responsibility program in the world, right behind -- you guessed it -- Google. How do you reconcile the two views of Microsoft? Thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates is one of the worlds most generous philanthropists. He really, really, really wants to make the planet a better place. But as head of Microsoft, he also made a shitload of money (some of which he is currently giving away) by being an asshole. He, perhaps more than anyone, personifies the dynamic tension we talk about when we refer to corporate ethics. Lets go back to the value of corporate brands on the Brand Finance list and the role ethics might play. Its a timely discussion, especially right now. United Airlines was heading in the right direction, 81 on the list, up a whopping 53 spots from 2016. But then the airline gave the thumbs-up to drag Dr. Dao down the aisle in front of an entire plane full of smartphone-equipped passengers. Pepsi was number 33 on the list. But that was before the Pepsi marketing execs gave the green light to the Kylie Jenner abomination masquerading as an ad. Theres evilness, and then theres just bone-headed, tone-deaf, shake your head in bewilderment stupidity. How the hell do these things happen? Even taking into account the two sides to every story factor, how did the multiple United staff members who must have had a part in the Dao debacle think that this could possibly be the way to treat a paying customer flying the friendly skies? How did the Jenner ad pass through what must have been multiple rounds of approval at Pepsi with no one whispering WTF? Here, its an issue of culture. Culture is defined by Merriam-Webster as: the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization. And the tone of the culture is generally set from the top down. Corporate ethics depend on the ethics of the founders, CEO and executive management. While having a moral CEO might not be enough to guarantee consistent corporate ethics, its a lead-pipe cinch that if you have a scumbag in the CEO role, the company is probably going to be a pretty sleazy operation. Culture depends on clearly understood values and practices that adhere to those values. If this is in place, it gives the rank and file the confidence to hold up their hand when off-culture things occur. It would give the United flight attendant the moral obligation to say, What a minute. Maybe we shouldnt drag a paying customer who had already been seated forcefully off the plane like a common criminal. That just doesnt seem right to me. Things like Googles Dont be evil dictate may seem naive in the corporate world, but it was a value that helped define the culture. Perhaps we shouldnt be so quick to criticize it. Maybe we need more of that particular type of naivete. by Sara Guaglione , April 18, 2017 Its been a busy week for publishing acquisitions. Modern Luxury has acquired GreenGale Publishing and Bustle has bought Modern Luxury claims it is now the largest luxury lifestyle publisher in the US, with 84 titles in 24 markets. Formerly Niche Media, GreenGale Publishing owned 17 lifestyle publications, including Ocean Drive, Hamptons and Vegas Magazine. Modern Luxury is now in the top 20 resort markets in the U.S. In cities where Modern Luxury and GreenGale publications overlap, such as in the Hamptons and Manhattan, some titles will shift their focus to younger audiences and specific themes, such as weddings, lifestyle and interiors. Modern Luxury says it has no plans to close any of the newly acquired titles. Our goal is to keep all the magazines up and running and to increase sales staff and editorial staff in those markets, Modern Luxury CEO Michael Dickey told the New York Post. advertisement advertisement Katherine Nicholls, the CEO of Greengale, will retire. Greengale CFO Jonathan Kushnir will become the CFO of the combined company, per the NYP. Last year, Modern Luxury launched Silicon Valley magazine and rebranded Weddings. The company plans to launch Modern Luxury Palm Beach this November. Separately, Bustle has acquired Elite Daily from Daily Mail, a surprising move considering Elite Daily has been in trouble for some time now. The Daily Mail purchased Elite Daily in 2015, when the site had about 40 million monthly unique visitors. The once SEO-driven, click-bait articles were punished by new algorithms on social-media platforms and its on-site readership was cut in half. Bustles CEO Bryan Goldberg believes the property is still valuable despite its decline. We see a tremendous opportunity to build off of Elite Dailys strong capabilities in video, social and native advertising, he stated. Elite Daily produces original videos that generate about 60 million monthly views, Goldberg told Business Insider. Both sites are focused on millennial women. Bustle is changing the name of its parent company to Bustle Digital Group. Its three properties Bustle, Elite Daily and young-mom site Romper could have a combined readership of up to 80 million unique monthly visitors. Goldberg says Bustle has about 50 million readers, while Romper is nearing 10 million. Elite Daily could add another 20 million. by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, April 18, 2017 Omnicom reported today that its first-quarter revenue was up 2.5% to nearly $3.6 billion with a 10.7% gain in net income to $241.8 million. The income boost was partly accelerated by a change in accounting rules that helped the firm nearly double its profit growth to $23.4 million. Organic revenue growth was 4.4% across the holding company, although North America lagged in growth just over 1%. Company executives on a conference call Tuesday morning with investors and analysts said part of the issue is underperformance by a number of the firms field marketing, event and branding operations. The company also said it struck a number of deals in Q1 to sell off many of those operations, which it no longer sees as strategic going forward. This month, the firm sold its print media business Novus to a buyer it did not disclose on the call. advertisement advertisement In the long term, those asset sales should have a positive impact on organic growth. This year, however, asset sales will outstrip acquisitions as the holding company realigns its portfolio. That will have a negative $24 million impact on 2017 revenues, according to company CFO Phil Angelastro who was on the investor call. Revenue at programmatic firm Accuen was flat. CEO John Wren noted that more clients are opting out of programmatic packages that the unit sells as a product for a fully disclosed alternative where the firm serves more as an agent. Wren said the company was off to a good start to the year, noting all regions posted positive organic revenue growth, including 8%-plus gains in the UK and Europe, over 9% in Asia Pacific and 5.4% in Latin America. Wren said while the current macroeconomic and geopolitical atmosphere has clients feeling cautious, for now, the firm is sticking with the 3% to 3.5% organic revenue growth guidance it gave earlier for full-year 2017. Pivotal analyst Brian Wieser posted a note positing that Omnicoms portfolio pruning is significant: Specifically, management stated that dispositions should exceed acquisitions by 3.5% to 4.5% for the full year, equal to around $600 million. The majority of this activity appears to relate to the newly announced sale of Novus, one of a handful of specialist agencies within the industry focused on print-based media owners. "As a business unit which had around 250 employees (per several company job posting sites), we can guess that this division would have generated $40-50 million in net revenue excluding pass through activities, and perhaps $10mm in operating income. "Because Omnicom books pass-through activity (including principal trading, which occurs at Novus in our understanding) as GAAP revenue, we can see how the disposal of a unit with a significant volume of this activity will have an automatic improvement in profit margins. Interpreting Omnicoms quarterly results, added Wieser, remains a challenging endeavor when comparing them versus peers given the scaled and mostly non-specified presence of remaining principal-based or pass-through activity in organic revenue figures at Omnicom. These activities extend beyond the companys trading desk, Accuen, to include revenue streams associated with entities such as Icon (barter) and OmNet (proprietary trading of traditional media). Ameriprise Financial, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services to individual and institutional clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Advice & Wealth Management, Asset Management, Retirement & Protection Solutions, and Corporate & Other. The Advice & Wealth Management segment provides financial planning and advice; brokerage products and services for retail and institutional clients; discretionary and non-discretionary investment advisory accounts; mutual funds; insurance and annuities products; cash management and banking products; and face-amount certificates. The Asset Management segment offers investment management and advice, and investment products to retail, high net worth, and institutional clients through unaffiliated third-party financial institutions and institutional sales force. This segment products also include U.S. mutual funds and their non-U.S. equivalents, exchange-traded funds, variable product funds underlying insurance, and annuity separate accounts; and institutional asset management products, such as traditional asset classes, separately managed accounts, individually managed accounts, collateralized loan obligations, hedge funds, collective funds, and property and infrastructure funds. The Retirement & Protection Solutions segment provides variable annuity products to individual clients, as well as life and DI insurance products to retail clients. The company was formerly known as American Express Financial Corporation and changed its name to Ameriprise Financial, Inc. in September 2005. Ameriprise Financial, Inc. was founded in 1894 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bayer Aktiengesellschaft, together its subsidiaries, operates as a life science company worldwide. It operates through Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, and Crop Science segments. The Pharmaceuticals segment offers prescription products primarily for cardiology and women's health care; specialty therapeutics in the areas of oncology, hematology, and ophthalmology; and diagnostic imaging equipment and contrast agents, as well as cell and gene therapy. The Consumer Health segment markets nonprescription over-the-counter medicines, medical products, medicated skincare products, nutritional supplements, and self-care solutions in dermatology, nutritional supplements, pain and cardiovascular risk prevention, digestive health, allergy, and cold and cough. The Crop Science segment offers chemical and biological crop protection products, improved plant traits, seeds, digital solution, and pest and weed control products, as well as customer service for agriculture. This segment also provides breeding, propagation, and production/processing of seeds, including seed dressing. The company has a collaboration agreement with MD Anderson Cancer Center to develop oncology drugs; research and license agreement with Dewpoint Therapeutics, Inc. for the development of new treatments for cardiovascular and gynecological diseases; collaboration agreement with Exscientia Ltd, Foundation Medicine Inc., and Evotec AG; research collaboration with Arvinas Inc.; strategic research partnership with University of Oxford to develop novel gynecological therapies; and Kyoto University to identify new drugs candidates for the treatment of pulmonary diseases. It distributes its products through wholesalers, pharmacies and pharmacy chains, supermarkets, online and other retailers, and hospitals, as well as directly to farmers. Bayer Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany. Core Laboratories N.V. provides reservoir description and production enhancement services and products to the oil and gas industry in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through Reservoir Description and Production Enhancement segments. The Reservoir Description segment includes the characterization of petroleum reservoir rock, reservoir fluid, and gas samples to enhance production and improve recovery of oil and gas from its clients' reservoirs. It offers laboratory-based analytical and field services to characterize properties of crude oil and oil delivered products; and proprietary and joint industry studies. The Production Enhancement segment provides services and products relating to reservoir well completions, perforations, stimulations, and production. It offers integrated diagnostic services to evaluate and monitor the effectiveness of well completions and to develop solutions to improve the effectiveness of enhanced oil recovery projects. In addition, the company markets and sells its products through a combination of sales representatives, technical seminars, trade shows, and print advertising, as well as through distributors. It operates approximately in 50 countries. The company was founded in 1936 and is based in Amstelveen, the Netherlands. Morgan Stanley is the 6th largest financial institution in the US. The company is ranked 61st on the Forbes Fortune 500 list and is the 39th largest bank in the world. A financial holding company, Morgan Stanley provides a full range of financial services to clients around the world. Morgan Stanley was formed in 1935 as a result of the Glass-Steagall Act. Glass-Steagall separated commercial and investment banking in a way that forced the then-largest bank J.P. Morgan & Co to split into two groups. J.P. Morgan & Co. chose to retain the commercial side of the business while partners Henry S. Morga, grandson of J.P., and Harold Stanley took the investment end. In its first year, Morgan Stanley did 24% of the IPO business and maintains a lions share of the market to this day. The original company existed and grew through acquisitions until 1987 when it merged with Dean Witter Discover & Co. The new Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover & Co existed for 14 years until 2001 when the name was shortened back to Morgan Stanley. The bank is credited in part with both beginning and ending the financial crisis of 2007/2008. The Process Driven Trading unit lost $300 million in one day due to a short-squeeze that popped the bubble in the housing market. After teetering on the brink of failure Morgan Stanley agreed to become a bank holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve, a key factor in the original decision to split from parent J.P. Morgan & Co. Ironically when given the chance, present-day J.P. Morgan refused to buy Morgan Stanley but that was for the better. Today, Morgan Stanley operates through three segments via offices in 41 countries and employs more than 75,000 people. Revenue in 2021 topped $49 billion and total assets topped $1.15 trillion. The operating segments are Institutional Securities, Wealth Management, and Investment Management segments. The Institutional Securities segment is by far the largest and most profitable. It offers a range of services and products for businesses, institutions, and entities that include capital raising, strategic advisory, underwriting, advice on M&A, restructuring, and real estate. The Wealth Management segment provides brokerage and investment advisory services for individuals and employers. The services include brokerage, financial planning, company stock-plan administration, insurance, mortgage loans, lines of credit, and retirement planning. The Investment Management segment provides investment products to a range of institutions, organizations, corporations, and governments. L3 Technologies, Inc. provides aircraft sustainment, simulation and training, night vision and image intensification equipment, and security and detection systems used on military, homeland security, and commercial platforms in the United States and internationally. It operates in three segments: Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) Systems; Communications and Networked Systems (C&NS); and Electronic Systems. The company offers engineering, modernization and sustainment, space avionics and imaging payload, counter unmanned aircraft systems (CUAS) mission, cyber and electronic warfare, special mission command and control, modeling and simulation, and life cycle support services for ISR, airborne sensor, warrior sensor, space and sensor, aircraft, and intelligence and mission systems, as well as for military aviation services and advanced programs. It also provides network and communication systems, secure communications products, radio frequency components, satellite communication terminals and space, microwave and telemetry products, and secure data links in various business areas, such as broadband communication, naval power, space and power, and maritime sensor systems, as well as in advanced communications. In addition, the company offers components, products, subsystems, and systems, as well as related services to military and commercial customers in various business areas, including commercial aviation solutions, precision engagement systems, link training and simulation, and security and detection systems. It serves the United States (U.S.) Department of Defense and its prime contractors, the U.S. Government intelligence agencies, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, foreign governments, and commercial customers. The company was formerly known as L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to L3 Technologies, Inc. in December 2016. L3 Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in New York, New York. The following companies are subsidiares of PepsiCo: Alimentos Quaker Oats y Compania Limitada, Alimentos del Istmo S.A., Amavale Agricola Ltda., Anderson Hill Insurance Limited, Asia Bottlers Limited, BAESA Capital Corporation Ltd., BFY Brands, BFY Brands LLC, BFY Brands Limited, BUG de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Balmoral Industries LLC, Bare Foods Co., Barrhead LLC, Be & Cheery, Beaman Bottling Company, Bebidas Sudamerica S.A., Beech Limited, Bell Taco Funding Syndicate, Bendler Investments II Ltd, Bendler Investments S.a r.l, Beverage Services Limited, Beverages Foods & Service Industries Inc., Bishkeksut OJSC, Blaue NC S. de R.L. de C.V., Blue Cloud Distribution Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arizona Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arkansas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Colorado Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Florida Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Georgia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Illinois Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Indiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Iowa Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Kentucky Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Louisiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Minnesota Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Mississippi Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Missouri Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nebraska Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nevada Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of North Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Ohio Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Oklahoma Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Pennsylvania Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of South Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Tennessee Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Texas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Virginia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Wisconsin Inc., Blue Ridge Sales LLC, Bluebird Foods Limited, Bluecan Holdings Unlimited Company, Bokomo Zambia Limited, Bolsherechensky Molkombinat JSC, Boquitas Fiestas LLC, Boquitas Fiestas S.R.L., Bottling Group Financing LLC, Bottling Group Holdings LLC, Bottling Group LLC, Bronte Industries Ltd, C & I Leasing Inc., CB Manufacturing Company Inc., CEME Holdings LLC, CMC Investment Company, Caroni Investments LLC, Centro-Mediterranea de Bebidas Carbonicas PepsiCo S.L., Ceres Fruit Juices Pty Ltd, ChampBev Inc., China Concentrate Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Chipsy International for Food Industries S.A.E., Chipsy for Food Industries S.A.E., Chitos Internacional y Cia Ltda, Cipa Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cipa Nordeste Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cocina Autentica Inc., Comercializadora CMC Investment y Compania Limitada, Comercializadora Nacional SAS Ltda., Comercializadora PepsiCo Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., Compania de Bebidas PepsiCo S.L., Concentrate Holding Uruguay Pte. Ltd., Concentrate Manufacturing Singapore Pte. Ltd., Confiteria Alegro S. de R.L. de C.V., Copella Fruit Juices Limited, Copper Beech International LLC, Corina Snacks Limited, Corporativo Internacional Mexicano S. de R.L. de C.V., CytoSport Holdings Inc., CytoSport Inc., Davlyn Realty Corporation, Defosto Holdings Limited, Desarrollo Inmobiliario Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Dilexis S.A., Donon Holdings Limited, Drinkfinity USA Inc., Drinkstation Inc., Drinkstation Innovation Co. Ltd., Drinkstation Limited, Dutch Snacks Holding S.A. de C.V., Duyvis Production B.V., EPIC Enterprises Inc., Echo Bay Holdings Inc., Elaboradora Argentina de Cereales S.R.L., Enter Logistica LLC, Environ at Inverrary Partnership, Environ of Inverrary Inc., Eridanus Investments S.a r.l, Evercrisp Snack Productos de Chile S.A., FL Transportation Inc., FLI Andean LLC, FLI Colombia LLC, FLI Snacks Andean GP LLC, Fabrica PepsiCo Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Fabrica de Productos Alimenticios Rene y Cia S.C.A., Fairlight International SRL, Far East Bottlers Hong Kong Limited, Food Concepts Pioneer Ltd., Forest Akers Nederland B.V., Forty-Six Peaks Holding Inc., Fovarosi Asvanyviz es Uditoipari Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Freshwater International B.V., Frito Lay Gida Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Frito Lay Poland Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay de Guatemala y Compania Limitada, Frito-Lay Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Frito-Lay Dip Company Inc., Frito-Lay Dominicana S.A., Frito-Lay Global Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Inc., Frito-Lay Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Manufacturing LLC, Frito-Lay Netherlands Holding B.V., Frito-Lay North America Inc., Frito-Lay Sales Inc., Frito-Lay Trading Company Europe GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company Poland GmbH, Frito-Lay Trinidad Unlimited, Fruko Mesrubat Sanayi Limited Sirketi, GB Czech LLC, GB International Inc., GB Russia LLC, GB Slovak LLC, GMP Manufacturing Inc., Gambrinus Investments Limited, Gamesa LLC, Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Gas Natural de Merida S. A. de C. V., Gatorade Puerto Rico Company, General Bottlers of Hungary Inc., Golden Grain Company, Goveh S.R.L., Grayhawk Leasing LLC, Green Hemlock International LLC, Grupo Frito Lay y Compania Limitada, Grupo Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Grupo Mabel, Grupo Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Gulkevichskiy Maslozavod JSC, Hangzhou Baicaowei Corporate Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co, Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Tao Dao Technology Co. Ltd., Health Warrior, Health Warrior Inc., Heathland LP, Helioscope Limited, Hillbrook Inc., Hillgrove Inc., Hillwood Bottling LLC, Hogganfield Limited Partnership, Holding Company "Opolie" JSC, Homefinding Company of Texas, Hudson Valley Insurance Company, IC Equities Inc., IZZE Beverage Co., Inmobiliaria Interamericana S.A. De C.V., Integrated Beverage Services Bangladesh Limited, Integrated Foods & Beverages Pvt. Ltd., International Bottlers Management Co. LLC, International KAS Aktiengesellschaft, Inversiones Borneo S.R.L., Inversiones PFI Chile Limitada, Inviting Foods Holdings Inc., Inviting Foods LLC, KAS Anorthosis S.a r.l, KAS S.L., KFC, Kevita Inc., Kinvara LLC, Kungursky Molkombinat JSC, Larragana S.L., Latin American Holdings Ltd., Latin American Snack Foods ApS, Latin Foods International LLC, Lebedyansky, Lebedyansky Holdings LLC, Lebedyansky LLC, Limited Liability Company "Sandora", Linkbay Limited, Lithuanian Snacks UAB, Mabel, Marbo Product d.o.o. Beograd, Marbo d.o.o. Laktasi, Matudis - Comercio de Produtos Alimentares Limitada, Matutano - Sociedade de Produtos Alimentares Lda., Mid-America Improvement Corporation, Mountainview Insurance Company Inc., Muscle Milk, NCJV LLC, New Bern Transport Corporation, New Century Beverage Company LLC, Noble Leasing LLC, Northeast Hot-Fill Co-op Inc., Office at Solyanka LLC, Onbiso Inversiones S.L., One World Enterprises LLC, One World Investors Inc., P-A Barbados Bottling Company LLC, P-A Bottlers Barbados SRL, P-Americas LLC, PAS Luxembourg S.a r.l, PAS Netherlands B.V., PBG Canada Holdings II LLC, PBG Canada Holdings Inc., PBG Cyprus Holdings Limited, PBG Investment Partnership, PBG Midwest Holdings S.a r.l, PBG Soda Can Holdings S.a r.l, PCBL LLC, PCNA Manufacturing Inc., PR Beverages Cyprus Holding Limited, PR Beverages Cyprus Russia Holding Limited, PRB Luxembourg S.a r.l, PRS Inc., PSAS Inversiones LLC, PSE Logistica S.R.L., PT Quaker Indonesia, Papas Chips S.A., Pei N.V., Pep Trade LLC, Pepsi B.V., Pepsi Beverages Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bottling Group Global Finance LLC, Pepsi Bottling Group GmbH, Pepsi Bottling Group Hoosiers B.V., Pepsi Bottling Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bugshan Investments S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Colombia Ltda, Pepsi Cola Egypt S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Panamericana S.R.L., Pepsi Cola Servis Ve Dagitim Limited Sirketi, Pepsi Cola Trading Ireland, Pepsi Logistics Company Inc., Pepsi Northwest Beverages LLC, Pepsi Overseas Investments Partnership, Pepsi Promotions Inc., Pepsi-Cola Advertising and Marketing Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bermuda Limited, Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Holding C.V., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company Of St. Louis Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach LLC, Pepsi-Cola Company, Pepsi-Cola Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Pepsi-Cola Far East Trade Development Co. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Finance LLC, Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Poland Sp. z o.o., Pepsi-Cola Industrial da Amazonia Ltda., Pepsi-Cola International Cork, Pepsi-Cola International LLC, Pepsi-Cola International Limited, Pepsi-Cola International Limited U.S.A., Pepsi-Cola International Private Limited, Pepsi-Cola Korea Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Management and Administrative Services Inc., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Company Of Uruguay S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing International Limited, Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Mediterranean Limited, Pepsi-Cola Marketing Corp. Of P.R. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mediterranean Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mexicana Holdings LLC, Pepsi-Cola Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Pepsi-Cola National Marketing LLC, Pepsi-Cola Operating Company Of Chesapeake And Indianapolis, Pepsi-Cola Sales and Distribution Inc., Pepsi-Cola Technical Operations Inc., Pepsi-Cola Thai Trading Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola de Honduras S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola of Corvallis Inc., PepsiAmericas Nemzetkozi Szolgaltato Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, PepsiCo ANZ Holdings Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Alimentos Antioquia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Colombia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Ecuador Cia. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Z.F. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos de Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Amacoco Bebidas Do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCo Asia Research & Development Center Company Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Cyprus Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Limited Partnership, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 1 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 2 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Australia Holdings Pty Limited, PepsiCo Australia International, PepsiCo Austria Services GmbH, PepsiCo Azerbaijan Limited Liability Company, PepsiCo BeLux BV, PepsiCo Beverage Sales LLC, PepsiCo Beverage Singapore Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Beverages Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Beverages International Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Italia Societa' A Responsabilita' Limitata, PepsiCo Canada Finance LLC, PepsiCo Canada Holdings ULC, PepsiCo Canada Investment ULC, PepsiCo Canada ULC, PepsiCo Captive Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Caribbean Inc., PepsiCo China Limited, PepsiCo Consulting Polska Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo De Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Del Paraguay S.R.L., PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH, PepsiCo Eesti AS, PepsiCo Euro Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Euro Finance Antilles B.V., PepsiCo Europe Support Center S.L., PepsiCo Finance Americas Company, PepsiCo Finance Antilles A N.V., PepsiCo Finance Antilles B N.V., PepsiCo Finance South Africa Proprietary Limited, PepsiCo Financial Shared Services Inc., PepsiCo Food & Beverage Holdings Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Foods A.I.E., PepsiCo Foods China Company Limited, PepsiCo Foods Group Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Foods Guangdong Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Nigeria Limited, PepsiCo Foods Private Limited, PepsiCo Foods Sichuan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Taiwan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Vietnam Company, PepsiCo France SAS, PepsiCo Global Business Services India LLP, PepsiCo Global Business Services Poland Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Global Holdings Limited, PepsiCo Global Investments B.V., PepsiCo Global Investments S.a r.l, PepsiCo Global Mobility LLC, PepsiCo Global Real Estate Inc., PepsiCo Global Trading Solutions Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Golden Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Group Finance International B.V., PepsiCo Group Holdings International B.V., PepsiCo Group Spotswood Holdings S.a r.l, PepsiCo Gulf International FZE, PepsiCo Hellas Single Member Industrial and Commercial Societe Anonyme, PepsiCo Holding de Espana S.L., PepsiCo Holdings, PepsiCo Holdings LLC, PepsiCo Holdings Toshkent LLC, PepsiCo Hong Kong LLC, PepsiCo Iberia Servicios Centrales S.L., PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited, PepsiCo India Sales Private Limited, PepsiCo Internacional Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., PepsiCo International Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo International Limited, PepsiCo International Pte Ltd., PepsiCo Investments Europe I B.V., PepsiCo Investments Ltd., PepsiCo Ireland Food & Beverages Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Japan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Light B.V., PepsiCo Logistyka Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., PepsiCo Management Services SAS, PepsiCo Manufacturing A.I.E., PepsiCo Max B.V., PepsiCo Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo Nederland B.V., PepsiCo Nordic Denmark ApS, PepsiCo Nordic Finland Oy, PepsiCo Nordic Norway AS, PepsiCo Nutrition Trading DMCC, PepsiCo One B.V., PepsiCo Overseas Corporation, PepsiCo Overseas Financing Partnership, PepsiCo Panimex Inc, PepsiCo Products B.V., PepsiCo Products FLLC, PepsiCo Puerto Rico Inc., PepsiCo Sales Inc., PepsiCo Sales LLC, PepsiCo Services Asia Ltd., PepsiCo Services CZ s.r.o., PepsiCo Services LLC, PepsiCo Twist B.V., PepsiCo UK Pension Plan Trustee Limited, PepsiCo Ventures B.V., PepsiCo Wave Holdings LLC, PepsiCo World Trading Company Inc., PepsiCo Y LLC, PepsiCo de Argentina S.R.L., PepsiCo de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo do Brasil Industria e Comercio de Alimentos Ltda., PepsiCo do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCola Interamericana de Guatemala S.A., Pet Iberia S.L., Pete & Johnny Limited, Pine International LLC, Pine International Limited, Pinstripe Leasing LLC, Pioneer Food Group Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Groceries Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Group Ltd., Pioneer Foods Holdings Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods UK Ltd, Pioneer Foods Wellingtons Pty Ltd, Pipers Crisps Limited, PlayCo Inc., Pop corners, PopCorners Holdings Inc., Portfolio Concentrate Solutions Unlimited Company, Premier Nutrition Trading L.L.C., Prestwick LLC, Prev PepsiCo Sociedade Previdenciaria, Productos Alimenticios Rene LLC, Productos S.A.S. C.V., Productos SAS Management B.V., Punch N.V., Punica Getranke GmbH, Q O Puerto Rico Inc., QFL OHQ Sdn. Bhd., QTG Development Inc., QTG Services Inc., Quadrant - Amroq Beverages S.R.L., Quaker Development B.V., Quaker European Beverages LLC, Quaker European Investments B.V., Quaker Foods, Quaker Global Investments B.V., Quaker Holdings UK Limited, Quaker Manufacturing LLC, Quaker Oats Asia Inc., Quaker Oats Australia Pty Ltd, Quaker Oats B.V., Quaker Oats Capital Corporation, Quaker Oats Europe Inc., Quaker Oats Europe LLC, Quaker Oats Limited, Quaker Sales & Distribution Inc, Raptas Finance S.a r.l., Rare Fare Foods LLC, Rare Fare Holdings Inc., Reading Industries Ltd, Real Estate Holdings LLC, Rockstar Energy Drink, Rolling Frito-Lay Sales LP, S & T of Mississippi Inc., SIH International LLC, SVC Logistics Inc., SVC Manufacturing Inc., SVE Russia Holdings GmbH, Sabritas LLC, Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Sabritas Snacks America Latina de Nicaragua y Cia Ltda, Sabritas de Costa Rica S. de R.L., Sabritas y Cia. S en C de C.V., Sakata Rice Snacks Australia Pty Ltd, Sandora Holdings B.V., Saudi Snack Foods Company Limited, Sea Eagle International SRL, Seepoint Holdings Ltd., Senselet Food Processing PLC, Senselet Holding B.V., Servicios GBF Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Servicios GFLG y Compania Limitada, Servicios Gamesa Puerto Rico L.L.C., Servicios SYC S. de R.L. de C.V., Seven-Up Asia Inc., Seven-Up Light B.V., Seven-Up Nederland B.V., Shanghai PepsiCo Snack Company Limited, Shanghai YuHo Agricultural Development Co. Ltd, Shoebill LLC, Simba (Proprietary) Limited, Simba Proprietary Limited, Sitka Spruce, Smartfoods Inc., Smiles and Bites Holdings S.de R.L. de C.V., Smiths Crisps Limited, Snack Food Investments GmbH, Snack Food Investments II GmbH, Snack Food Investments Limited, Snack Food-Beverage Asia Products Limited, Snacks America Latina S.R.L., Snacks Guatemala Ltd., So Spark Ltd., Soda-Club CO2 Atlantic GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 Ltd., Soda-Club Switzerland GmbH, Soda-Club Worldwide B.V., SodaStream, SodaStream Australia Pty Ltd, SodaStream CO2 SA, SodaStream Canada Ltd., SodaStream Enterprises N.V., SodaStream France SAS, SodaStream GmbH, SodaStream Iberia S.L., SodaStream Industries Ltd., SodaStream International B.V., SodaStream International Ltd., SodaStream Israel Ltd., SodaStream K.K., SodaStream New Zealand Ltd., SodaStream Nordics AB, SodaStream Poland Sp. z o.o., SodaStream SA Pty Ltd., SodaStream Switzerland GmbH, SodaStream USA Inc., SodaStream Osterreich GmbH, South Beach Beverage Company Inc., South Properties Inc., Spitz International Inc., Sportmex Internacional S.A. de C.V., Springboig Industries Ltd, Spruce Limited, Stacy's Pita Chip Company Incorporated, Star Foods E.M. S.R.L., Stokely-Van Camp Inc., Stratosphere Communications Pty Ltd, Stratosphere Holdings 2018 Limited, Streamfoods Ltd, TFL Holdings LLC, Tasman Finance S.a r.l, The Gatorade Company, The Good Carb Food Company Ltd., The Pepsi Bottling Group Canada ULC, The Quaker Oats Company, The Smith's Snackfood Company Pty Limited, Thomond Group Holdings Limited, Tobago Snack Holdings LLC, Tropicana Alvalle S.L., Tropicana Beverages Limited, Tropicana Europe N.V., Tropicana United Kingdom Limited, Troya-Ultra LLC, United Foods Companies Restaurantes S.A., V-Water, VentureCo Israel Ltd, Veurne Snack Foods BV, Vitamin Brands Ltd., Walkers Crisps Limited, Walkers Group Limited, Walkers Snack Foods Limited, Walkers Snacks Distribution Limited, Walkers Snacks Limited, Whitman Corporation, Whitman Insurance Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Beverages JSC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Brands Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Central Asia-Almaty LLP, Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods LLC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Georgia Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann JSC, and Wimm-Bill-Dann Ukraine PJSC. Read More 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 Sonoco Products: Associated Packaging Technologies Inc., Can Packaging, Clear Lam Packaging Inc., Clear Pack Co., Conitex Sonoco (BVI) Ltd., Corenso Holdings America Inc., CorrFlex Graphics LLC, Demolli Industria Cartaria S.p.A., Engraph Inc., Graffo Paranaense de Embalagens S/A, Hayes Manufacturing Group, Highland Packaging Solutions, Laminar Medica, Matrix Packaging Inc., PT Conitex Sonoco, PT Papcor Asia Pacific, PT Papertech Indonesia, PT Sonoco Indonesia, PenPack LLC, Peninsula Packaging Company, Peninsula Packaging LLC, Penpack S. de R.L. de C.V., Phoenix Packaging Corp., Plastique Holdings LTD, SMB GmbH, SPC Capital Management Inc, SPC Liquidation LLC, SPC Management LLC, SPC Resources Inc, SR Holdings of the Carolinas LLC, Sebro Plastics Inx, Sonoco (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Sonoco (Taicang) Packaging Co. Ltd, Sonoco (Weifang) Packaging Company Ltd, Sonoco Absorbent Technologies LLC, Sonoco Absorbent Technologies Limited, Sonoco Alcore - Demolli S.r.l., Sonoco Alcore AB, Sonoco Alcore GmbH, Sonoco Alcore N.V., Sonoco Alcore Nederland B.V., Sonoco Ambalaj Sanayi Ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Sonoco Asia Holding S.a.r.l., Sonoco Asia LLC, Sonoco Asia Management Company LLC, Sonoco Australia Pty Ltd, Sonoco Board Mills Limited, Sonoco Bonmati S.A.U., Sonoco Canada Corporation, Sonoco Capseals Liners Limited, Sonoco Comercial S. de R.L. de C.V., Sonoco Consumer Products Dordrecht B.V. (fka Dorpak B.V.), Sonoco Consumer Products Europe GmbH (fka Weidenhammer Packaging Group GmbH), Sonoco Consumer Products Hellas S.A. (fka Weidenhammer Hellas S.A.), Sonoco Consumer Products Limited, Sonoco Consumer Products Mechelen BVBA (fka Weidenhammer Belgium BVBA), Sonoco Consumer Products Montanay SAS (fka Neuvibox SAS), Sonoco Consumer Products Poland Sp. Z.O.O., Sonoco Consumer Products SAS, Sonoco Consumer Products South Africa (PTY) Ltd., Sonoco Consumer Products Zwenkau GmbH (fka fka Weidenhammer Plastice Packaging GmbH), Sonoco Cores and Paper Limited, Sonoco Deutschland GmbH, Sonoco Deutschland Holdings GmbH, Sonoco Development Inc, Sonoco Elk Grove Inc, Sonoco Embalagens Ltda. (fka Sonoco Embalagens S.A.), Sonoco Flexible Packaging Canada Corporation, Sonoco Flexible Packaging Co. Inc, Sonoco Graphics India Private Limited, Sonoco Hickory Inc, Sonoco Holdings Inc, Sonoco Holdings UK Limited, Sonoco Hutchinson LLC, Sonoco IPD France SAS, Sonoco Iberia S.L.U., Sonoco International Holdings GmbH, Sonoco JV GmbH & Co. KG, Sonoco Kaiping Packaging Co. Ltd., Sonoco Limited, Sonoco Luxembourg Holding S.a.r.l., Sonoco Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Sonoco Milnrow, Sonoco Netherlands Holding II BV, Sonoco Netherlands Holding III BV, Sonoco New Zealand Limited, Sonoco Operadora S. de R.L. de C.V., Sonoco Packaging Limited, Sonoco Packaging Tapes Limited, Sonoco Paper Mill & IPD Hellas SA, Sonoco Paperboard Group LLC, Sonoco Partitions Inc, Sonoco Phoenix LLC, Sonoco Pina S.A.U., Sonoco Plastics B.V., Sonoco Plastics Canada ULC, Sonoco Plastics Germany GmbH, Sonoco Plastics Inc, Sonoco Poland Holdings B.V., Sonoco Polysack A/S Inc, Sonoco Polysack Limited, Sonoco Products Company UK, Sonoco Products Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Sonoco Protective Solutions Inc, Sonoco Recycling - International Trade Group LLC, Sonoco Recycling LLC, Sonoco Reels Limited, Sonoco Retail Packaging S. de R.L. de C.V., Sonoco S.A. de C.V., Sonoco SAS, Sonoco Saudi Limited Company, Sonoco Services LLC, Sonoco Singapore Pte. Ltd., Sonoco TEQ Holdings Ltd, Sonoco TEQ LLC, Sonoco TEQ Ltd, Sonoco TEQ Sp. Z.o.o, Sonoco Taiwan Ltd, Sonoco Thailand Ltd, Sonoco UK Leasing Limited, Sonoco Venezolana C.A., Sonoco Venture International Holdings GmbH, Sonoco Ventures UK Limited, Sonoco Wisconsin Rapids Core Plant LLC, Sonoco Wisconsin Rapids Inc, Sonoco Wisconsin Rapids Paper Mill LLC, Sonoco Yatai Pinghu Packaging Co Ltd, Sonoco de Colombia Ltda, Sonoco do Brasil Participacoes Ltda, Sonoco do Brazil Ltda, Sonoco of Puerto Rico Inc, Sonoco-Alcore AS, Sonoco-Alcore Oy, Sonoco-Alcore S.a.r.l., Sonoco-Alcore Sp. Z.O.O., Sonoco-Engraph Puerto Rico Inc, TPT Limited, Tegrant Alloyd Brands Inc, Tegrant Corporation, Tegrant International Inc, Tegrant Property Holdings LLC, Tegrant de Mexico S.A. de C.V., ThermoSafe Brands Asia PTE LTD, ThermoSafe Brands Europe Ltd., Thermoform Engineered Quality LLC, Trident Graphics Canada Corporation, Trident Graphics NA LLC, Tubo-Tec Nordeste Industria, U.S. Paper Mills Corp., Weidenhammer Chile Ltda., Weidenhammer Packaging Group, Weidenhammer UK Ltd., and Wisenberg U.S. Inc. Read More After his blister problem reappeared in his most recent outing, Dodgers lefty Rich Hill is heading back to the DL, per a club announcement. For the time being, corner outfielder/infielder Rob Segedin is headed up to the active roster while Alex Wood will take the open rotation spot. Theres plenty of uncertainty in Hills situation. As things stand, the team is examining ways to treat the ongoing problem, though theres no timetable at present and it seems theres little in the way of clear answers. Manager Dave Roberts acknowledged that the organizations medical staff has been stymied thus far in its efforts to get at the root cause, as MLB.coms Ken Gurnick reports on Twitter. (Gurnick provided more detail on the confounding issue earlier today.) The strategy of utilizing the 10-day DL to provide rest obviously wasnt successful on its own. As Roberts notes, and Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times tweets, ten days wasnt enough. Whether additional rest will provide a solution obviously isnt known, though presumably thats one possible action. Its even possible that the veteran southpaw could move to the bullpen upon his return, Roberts says (as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register tweets), with the idea presumably being that shorter stints may help alleviate the problem. Fortunately, the Dodgers do have ample depth built into their plans. Every member of the current MLB staff has at least some significant recent injury on his record, but the current top five seems to be a strong and healthy unit at the moment. Swingman Ross Stripling could also step into the rotation, while Triple-A starters Julio Urias and Joe Gunkel could also be called upon. Scott Kazmir and Brock Stewart both represent additional starting options who are currently on the mend. While the organization always knew there was some health risk with the 37-year-old Hill, that doesnt soften the blow. The Dodgers promised Hill $48MM over three years to bring him back into the fold, so while a bullpen move might at least allow him to contribute and stay fresh while the team looks for a permanent fix, such an approach would surely not return value on the contract over the long run. Joe Mettle, VGMA Artiste of the year, 2017 18.04.2017 LISTEN A partying crowd of an estimated 20,000 persons gathered over the weekend in Takoradi in the Western Region to participate in the Vodafone Ghana Music Awards (VGMA) celebration jams held from Saturday dusk to Sunday dawn. The organisers, Charterhouse, put together a tight team of some of Ghana's finest musicians, including Stonebwoy, E.L, Sarkodie, Nacee, MzVee, Joe Mettle and several others to thrill residents of Takoradi and its environs in a mega concert held overnight. All the stars put up amazing performances which worked the crowd into an ecstatic frenzy as they sang and danced along. Although Amandzeba was not advertised to perform on the night, he got everyone dancing when he appeared on stage as a surprise act to perform his evergreen 'Kpanlogo' medley backed by the Patch Bay Band. Each time the band was not in motion, DJ Nii Ayi Tagoe, mostly known as the Grandmaster, took over the turntables and transformed the event venue, a huge park opposite the Takoradi Technical University, into a complete discotheque. The VGMA celebration jams would certainly be one successful music concert to be remembered with fond feelings for a very long time. E.L and MzVee Sarkodie Stonebwoy 18.04.2017 LISTEN Meet The African Gatsby the dazzling new collection by Ghanaian label AfroModTrends following a successful South African debut at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Cape Town last Friday. Following six versatile collections since the labels inception in 2011 is AfroMods latest collection The Great Gatsby inspired by the of a Gatsby party in all its glamour and splendour set in the 1920s, with a modern African twist. The 1920s was a time of great change in the world of fashion for women, with the introduction of new styles and perspectives. This era redefined womanhood and bridged the gap between wealthy and working class women, Ami Yomekpe, architect and the Creative Director of Afromod Trends, explains. My vision with this collection is to showcase a glamourous African woman in luxurious Afro-fusion garments inspired by the Great Gatsby. With African inspired fabrics from Printex Limited as well as fur, feather, fringing and sequins in a nod to the era, this collection displays the silhouette of the feminine form with luxurious attention to detail. It is also a first for us in the sense of a truly luxury collection from a predominantly ready-to-wear brand. The collection comes only days after the labels Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Cape Town showcase which was opened by Ghanaian top model Victoria Michaels and featured print fabric from Printex Limited, a Ghanaian textile company and headpieces by Cheerybridal, a budding Ghanaian millinery. The South African debut, Ami believes, is a crucial milestone for the label and a great platform to introduce the brand to the South African market. After six years of establishing the brand in the Ghanaian market, I feel now is the time to explore new markets across Africa and I cant think of a better platform than MBFWCT. It has been an exciting few weeks preparing for our debut here and both the label and our collection have been received well by the South African audience, the designer said following her show at the Salt River Studios on Friday, 7 April. Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Cape Town is the latest runway show under Amis fashionable belt. Having built one of Ghanas most celebrated fashion labels, she has previously showcased at fashion shows at home and internationally, most notably at Nairobi Fashion Week, Glitz Africa Fashion Week, Accra 2014, Oxford Africa Gala Dinner, United Kingdom (2015). A blend of the words African and Modern, AfroModTrends, like its name, aims to create the perfect blend of African inspired and contemporary, affordable ready-to-wear with a touch of luxury, bridging the gap between bespoke and ready-to-wear without compromising on the quality. Ami fell in love with all things fashionable at an early age whilst watching Style with Elsa Klensch on CNN back in 1980, fascinated with fashion from all over the world, interviews with designers, all-access backstage passes and the models on international runways. It was not until a chance meeting much later, however, whilst working on her dissertation that she took the first steps of her fashion journey. Following a series of interviews, the late Kofi Ansah, a trailblazer and celebrated Ghanaian fashion designer, who revolutionised the industry in Ghana, became a mentor and encouraged her to pursue her passion. Ami is also a versatile entrepreneur, whose business insight was recognised in 2016 by the Tony Elumelu Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP) when she emerged as one of the winners to claim $5000 seed funding prize after successfully completing a twelve-week start-up enterprise toolkit online training, submitting three progressive narrative reports, attending the Tony Elumelu entrepreneurship forum and submitting a viable business plan. Ami not only launched the labels own retail space in 2013 in Accras bustling shopping district, Osu, often a luxury for most brands in Ghana, she set up the Fashion for Change Africa Foundation to address social challenges and empower the youth through fashionable projects that impact communities positively. The designer aims to follow up with a resort collection shortly after her South African debut. The designers goal is to make AfroMod the ultimate brand in ready-to-wear Afro-fusion label for the contemporary, fashion-conscious, Afro-centric woman and The African Gatsby is the latest salvo in the designers bid to evolve into markets beyond her native Ghana. Lookbook and runway images available to download at: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/avt3kpba5hp38y7/AAAtFkIMYglujz7EfYFW7QK8a?dl=0 For stockist requests: [email protected] For press enquires: [email protected] Facebook: facebook.com/AfroModTrends Instagram: @afromodtrends If the news that all ministers of the Akufo-Addo administration have declared their assets didnt meet your expectation or excite you, I probably know why. I think the reason may not be far-fetched. Its perhaps not far from your backyard where the politicians often trek to engage in politics and seek your votes. I know whats on your mind. Youre probably wondering why assets declaration works in some countries in the world but not in ours. Certainly, in our part of the world its like a bitter pill for public office holders. Thus, this and other reasons made yesterdays news seem like business as usual and not something one could possibly bet his/her last dime on. Its simply not like the way Candles and Rosaries come handy when one is in the Vatican Citythe Holy land for the Papal or sights Tasbih (rosary) and Ihram (a white wrapper or cloth) when one makes a pilgrimage to Mecca. Ironically when a Ghanaian politician declares his assets no one knows what hes declared. Its a fist in a cloak. In some or many instances when they do declare the figures dont add up, creating a whole mystery around an exercise majority of western leaders find it so easy to partake. Many Ghanaians like to see this public office ritual work so that the wanton loot by public office holders can be minimised. Sadly, whenever, one administration leaves office the citizens are riveted with the news about financial loss and loots. Yes, it looks like the value hasnt changed the value is the same. They always declare but they always loot. At a Town hall meeting in Accra yesterday hosted by an Accra-based Radio Station, the Vice President Mahamoudu Bawumia said: All the ministers have declared their assets. That sounded like welcoming news. But not many people were enthused about it... One political pundit told me if the whole thing is not made public then theres nothing new. And I couldnt agree with him more on that assertion. Throughout the world most countries expect the public office holders to publish information about their assets. This is what our leaders fear to do. This is what theyve refused to do over the years. Their fears are steeped in fact that what they might declare before the Auditor-General might not tally with what may get published So I will hereby plead with the NPP government to put its best foot forward. I think merely declaring assets fall short of the public expectation. They expect to see all the assets so declared to be published for public consumption. Though we wont be first in the sub region to do that but it builds trust and helps the government to govern smoothly. In January 2013, the independent anti-corruption commission in Slovenia made public a report critical of the countrys prime minister and the leader of the opposition for hiding high value assets. The leaders had failed to list potential conflict of interests, including business deals with companies that have government contracts. In the final analysis when the news broke out it sparked public outcry with calls for the leaders resignation. Former Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan in 2011 refused calls by civil society groups to declare his assets. So you can see that our leaders are allergic to assets declaration. Why? Its simply because they have never meant well for the country. Its always for themselves and their family, their cronies, their mistresses and to suit their whims. Again the question is: whats the guarantee that there will be no loot as itd always been the case? Whats new about this declaration and the previous ones? Are we going to get our ears filled with gargantuan scandals as it is the case? Article 286 of the 1992 Constitution A person who holds a public office mentioned in section 3 of this Act shall submit to the Auditor-General a written declaration of a) all properties or assets owned by him, and all liabilities owed by him whether directly or indirectly. The Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) is spearheading a campaign for the law to make it mandatory for all declared assets of public officials to be verified and published to enhance transparency. As the Spring Meeting begins this week in Washington D.C, Finance Minster Ken Ofori-Atta is hopeful the Nana Akufo-Addo government has shown clear indications of partnering with the international investor community for economic growth. According to him, the meeting will provide Ghana an opportunity to sell the policies of the new administration to investors who are already enthusiastic of the new government's pro-business agenda. The spring meeting, which is held in the USA brings thousands of government officials, journalists, civil society organizations, and participants from the academia and private sectors, together in Washington DC for a meeting with the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund. Speaking to Citi Business News ahead of the meeting, Mr. Ofori-Atta maintained that the meeting provides an opportunity for government to return with lots of gains. The new economic team has momentum and confidence. We are in good shape, this is almost like an outdooring in the sense that we haven't been to Washington D.C yet, so we are going to meet all the major policy makers at the IMF and the World Bank for them to also get a feel of who we are as team that is committed and competent to execute the programme, he said. Mr. Ofori-Atta observed that the government has achieved some feat so far with foreigners investing in Ghana. He maintained that the renewed confidence in the economy is the reason why investors are putting their funds in the country. The market response has been quite phenomenal. Investors have gone along with us in the last bond that we issued which really is a testament to the sense of momentum that we are building, he stressed. Highlighting some areas that may further boost Ghana's ratings among investors, Mr. Ofori-Atta stated that government's commitment and integrity is favorable in the international community. We intend to come back from Washington in a way that they understand the purposefulness of the IMF programme that we have. Our commitment and the integrity that we bring to it, I think that would lead to a better partnership. They want to be regarded as trusted advisors so it's up to them to also make us believe that is what they are. By: Lawrence Segbefia/citibsinessnews.com/Ghana Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has disclosed that government has canceled about 20 power purchasing agreements entered into by the previous NDC government. He said the abrogation of the agreements has saved the nation more than $300 million. Dr. Bawumia who made this known when speaking at Joy News 100 days Town Hall meeting at the New Court Complex in Accra yesterday said government is reviewing four other power agreements. We have asked four of them to delay their operation and that has helped to manage governments expenditure, he said. The Vice president said government's review of some power purchase agreements entered into by the previous government has bolstered the energy sector, stating that government is committed to improving the energy situation in the country. President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo expressed disappointment with the way the previous administration handled the energy sector when he took over the rein of power on January 7. The President at his first State of the Nation Address in February said he was handed a heavily-indebted energy sector that owed its private partners a total sum of $2.4 billion as at December 2016. He promised to review a total of 43 Power Purchase Agreements (PPA) entered into by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in 2016 many of which were endorsed by former president John Mahama including a $1 billion power deal with Early Power Limited. There is also the deal with Turkey-based Karpower signed with ECG in June 2014 that will add 450 megawatts of power directly to Ghana's electricity grid. A 17-member committee set up to review one of the agreements, AMERI Power Agreement, revealed the deal was overpriced by $150 million, although former government officials have challenged it. The Philip Addison Committee has suggested to government to have the deal renegotiated to cut down the cost. Meanwhile Dr. Bawumia says the independent power producers in the country cannot charge Ghanaians more than 10 cent per kilowatt hour. He called for a reduction of the charge to 10 cent per kilowatt hour. We have informed independent power producers in the country that they cannot charge Ghanaians more than 10 cent per kilowatt hour. They are charging us 17 cents and in other countries they are 10 cents. [email protected] BY Cephas Larbi The 2017 Easter festivities at Kwahu in the Eastern Region started last Friday with the launch of the 12th paragliding festival at Kwahu-Atibie on the Odweanoma Mountain hosted by the Ghana Tourism Authority. The paragliding festival was initiated by the late Jake Obetsebi Lamptey, former Tourism Minister, more than a decade ago to promote tourism in the country and also to spice up the Easter celebrations in Kwahu. This year's paragliding exercise recruited six international tandem pilots from the United States, Romania and Japan who flew the passengers at the festival. Thousands of people from all walks of life stormed there to catch a glimpse of the ceremony. The event was launched by the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Catherine Afeku, chaired by Eastern Regional Minister Eric Kwakye Darfour and was graced by Otiko Afisa Djaba, Minister for Gender, Children & Social Protection, among other dignitaries. From Daniel Bampoe, Atibie Petroleum House, Tema, 18 April, 2017: The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) supported the University of Mines and Technology to organise an innovation and career fair to increase its talent pipeline and make GNPC an employer of choice. The fair brought together about 600 young people to showcase creativity and innovative projects. GNPC in this light has provided a platform for students in tertiary institutions including UMaT to do their National Service to bridge the academia & industry gap and to provide an entry level knowledgeable workforce for the industry. The two-day 3rd Innovation and Career Fair was under the theme Think Smart; Be Innovative. Engineers, geologists and human resource officers from GNPC interacted with the students on GNPCs activities and career opportunities. The fair among other things, created a platform for the students to showcase their creativity and innovation through science and technology driven projects. The GNPC team encouraged the students to take advantage of the several opportunities available to them while they are in school, especially in this era of ICT where information is more readily accessible. Martin Kofi Adu, an engineer of GNPC took the participants through the operations of GNPC and the impact the business has had on Ghanas economic development. Impressed with the high level of participation and seriousness of the students, Martin commended them and spoke highly of past students who have had the opportunity to do their national service at GNPC. No wonder the Best National Service Personnel at GNPC last year was from UMaT Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Jerry S-Y Kuma remarked on how GNPC has been a worthy industry partner who has provided a good learning platform for the students of UMat. The Corporation, this year, has participated in similar career fairs held at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and Ashesi University. About GNPC GNPC was established as a State-owned entity to operate on a commercial basis. The Corporation was given legal backing through two main statutes i.e. Ghana National Petroleum Corporation Law, 1983 PNDC Laws 64 and Petroleum (Exploration & Production). 84. The Corporations vision is to become a leading global oil and gas company whose operations have a profound impact on the quality of life on the people of Ghana. The government has given the financial clearance for 181 doctors and 11,000 health trainees to be employed this year. Some of the health trainees completed their training as far back as 2012 but remained at home. Deputy Information Minister Kojo Oppong-Nkrumah, emphasised this on Joy FMs Super Morning Show Tuesday, April 18, 2017. He was reiterating comments made by Vice-President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia at Joy News 100 days Town hall with the Vice. Dr. Bawumia stressed whilst the Nana Akufo-Addo government didnt set itself a 100-day target, it nonetheless made great strides in the time. He said government had chalked up significant achievements in about 103 areas in almost all the important sectors of the economy. 103 achievements in 100 days, he called it. Giving impetus to Dr. Bawumias presentation, the Deputy Information Minister said, the NPP looked at our manifesto as an agenda for our four-year term of office. He said the Vice-Presidents presentation was to explain to the people of Ghana through [Joy News], what we have been doing in these 100 days. Mr. Oppong-Nkrumah stressed that Dr. Bawumias submissions should not be construed to mean that in the 100 days, the full benefits of what we have been doing will [reflect] in everybodys life. He said time goes on, the benefits of the government's decisions and actions will become more and more apparent. About 15 different tax cuts have been made by the government which is bringing relief to companies, he stated. Explaining why some of the tax cuts announced by the government have not taken effect, the Ofoase-Ayirebi Member of Parliament said, it is important to understand the value chain of how things happen; first you read the policy, second you bring the amendment bills to parliament and have them passed; where we are now is to get the intervening agencies to fully translate the benefits to the people of Ghana. For instance, he said even though government has declared an intention to remove taxes on spare parts imported into the country, certain protocols have to be followed for this to happen. "We have done a lot of work on spare parts; we have gone through the classifications; we are engaging with ECOWAS, when we are done and the policy implication is done by government, there would still be spare parts dealers at Abossey Okai, Kumasi and elsewhere who will now have the onus of translating what we are doing to benefit the people of Ghana," he explained. Touching on the vexed issue of VAT on financial services which Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta announced would be abolished but which it is reported hasn't taken effect, the Deputy Minister said "as you do know, not even the Governor of the Central Bank can literally walk into a bank and stand at the door and say, 'do this or don't do that.' If you take the case of taxes for example, even when it is passed, the Ghana Revenue Authority now has to issue guidelines [for implementation]." He said the government was engaging with the relevant institutions to ensure that all the tax cuts reflect on beneficiary corporate organisations and individuals. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com The case of the eight members of the pro-New Patriotic Party vigilante group, Delta Force has been adjourned to 17th of May 2017. The eight were facing trial at the Kumasi Circuit Court 2 for disturbing a court session, resisting arrest, and freeing the 13 Delta Force members who were in lawful custody. The prosecutor, ACP Okyere Darko, on Tuesday pleaded that ample time be given them for further investigations. Lawyer for the accused persons, Gary Nimako has argued that his clients are not guilty because they were not arrested at the scene of crime. Her Honor Patricia Amponsah ordered that the 8 reappear before court on the 17th of May. 8 Delta Force court raiders granted bail They were last week granted bail by the Kumasi court. The bail conditions was GHc 10,000 each with two sureties, and they were also to report to the police CID on Tuesday, April 18, before 3:00 pm. The eight have been charged with disturbing a court session, for resisting arrest, and freeing the 13 persons who were in lawful custody. The 13 Delta Force members who were freed, were facing charges for raiding the Ashanti Regional Coordinating Council and assaulting its coordinator. The 13 have since been granted bail, and are to reappear before the court on the 20th of April, 2017, after charges of conspiracy to assault a public officer and causing unlawful damage. They were also granted bail of GHc 10,000 each, with two sureties. Meanwhile, the 13 have already been tried for escaping from court. They were each fined Ghc2,400, and made to sign a bond of good behaviour for six months. By: Lauretta Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana Google is celebrating Ghanaian entrepreneur Esther Afua Ocloo who founded the country's first local food processing company, Nkulenu Industries and championed women empowerment in Ghana with a doodle today [Tuesday, April 18, 2017]. The company in her honour, has decided to change the doodle on all of its websites in Ghana, Greece, Peru, Argentina, Iceland, Portugal, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the UK. Esther Ocloo, who died in 2002 at the age of 82, grew into a global inspiration having started her career in the 1930s. Popularly known as Auntie Ocloo, she is championed the cause of women and dedicated her life to supporting others to succeed. Esther Afua Ocloo A co-founder of the Women's World Banking; a lending organization in Ghana, she taught many women various skills to enable them live independent of financial support. Early beginning As a high school graduate with only a few Ghanaian shillings given to her by an aunt, she bought sugar, oranges and 12 jars to make marmalade jam. Ocloo sold them at a profit, despite the ridicule of her former classmates, who saw her as an uneducated street vendor. Soon she won a contract to supply her high school with marmalade jam and orange juice, and later managed to secure a deal to provide the military with her goods. On the basis of that contract, she took out a bank loan. In 1942, she established a business under her maiden name, Nkulenu. Ocloo then traveled to England to take a course in Food Science and Modern Processing Techniques at Bristol University. In 1953, determined to grow her business with her newly acquired knowledge in food processing and preservation, she returned to her homeland with a mission to help Ghana become self-sufficient. Nkulenu Industries still makes orange marmalade today and exports indigenous food items to markets abroad. In 1962, the company relocated to its present location at Madina, a suburb of Accra. Besides working on her thriving business, she also set up a programme to share her knowledge with other women who cook and sell products on the streets. You know what we found? We found that a woman selling rice and stew on the side of the street is making more money than most women in office jobs but they are not taken seriously, she said. In 1990, she became the first woman to receive the Africa Prize for Leadership. Her work inspired men and women. She proposed alternative solutions to the problems of hunger, poverty and the distribution of wealth championing the development of an indigenous economy based on agriculture. Our problem here in Ghana is that we have turned our back on agriculture. Over the past 40 years, since the beginning of compulsory education, we have been mimicking the west, Esther said in an interview in 1999. Ocloo died in 2002 after suffering from pneumonia. President Akufo-Addo in his address at the celebration of Ghana's 60th independence anniversary described Esther Ocloo as a pioneer industrialist and entrepreneur, whose food processing enterprises under the Nkulenu label changed our habits of food preparation forever. Former President John Kufuor at her state-organized funeral said, She was a real pillar.. worthy of emulation in our efforts to build our nation. Her good works in the promotion of development in Ghana cannot be measured. She was a creator and we need many people of her calibre to build our nation. By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @jnyabor Airtel Ghana, the Smartphone Network has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting quality education in Ghana through a Back to School donation of educational supplies to pupils of Tanoso SDA Cluster of Schools and the Sokoban Methodist School in the Brong Ahafo and Ashanti Regions respectively. The donations are in line with the companys bold ambition to empower young people to fully realise their potential through the provision of educational materials and infrastructure. A team from Airtel Ghana, led by the Zonal Business Manager for Ashanti and Brong Ahafo, Kwaku Asiedu, made a donation of books, school bags, pencil cases, mathematical sets, and lap desks to over 1,000 pupils in both schools. Speaking at a brief ceremony at the Tanaso SDA Cluster of Schools, Kwaku Asiedu reiterated the companys commitment to support the education of thousands of young people in the country through the provision of educational materials. He said Airtel Ghana believes in empowering the next generation of leaders to fully realize their potential through the power of education. This is evidenced through our School Adoption and Evolve with STEM initiatives which seeks to invest in infrastructure developments and encourage the study of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Through the School Adoption programme, we have invested in infrastructure such as classroom blocks, libraries and ICT centers to facilitate effective teaching and learning in several schools across the country. This donation is aligned to our commitment to invest in communities we operate in especially in the area of education. This donation is also a way for us to invest in the lives of our brothers and sisters as part of the Easter festivities. The Heads of the Sokoban Methodist School and Tanoso SDA Cluster of Schools, Mr. Charles Berko and Mr. Daniel Kwasi Okrah were optimistic that the pupils would put the materials to good use and expressed their heartfelt gratitude to Airtel Ghana for investing in the lives of young people across the country. The beneficiary pupils expressed their gratitude to Airtel Ghana for the kind gesture. Airtel Ghana continues to play a significant role in promoting education in Ghana through its CSR initiatives. The company has won several local and international awards such as Best CSR Initiative at the Africa and Global Carrier Awards. Dr. Asemfofro 18.04.2017 LISTEN National Democratic Congress (NDC) serial caller, Osei Yaw Nketia (popularly known as Dr. Asemfofro), is no more. He is reported to have passed away at the 37 Military Hospital on Easter Sunday after a short illness. Dr. Asemfofro's elder's son, Ampem Nketia, confirmed his death to Adom Fm. He indicated that his father was rushed to the hospital on Good Friday but gave up the ghost Sunday dawn. He was 52 years old. Politically, Dr. Asemfofro did not hide his support for the NDC as he was active on several campaign platforms to garner votes for the party. He shot to fame when he challenged former President John Agyekum Kufuor to swear by the dreaded Ashanti deity, Antoa Nyama, if indeed he (Kufuor) had not engaged in any corrupt acts. The herbal medicine peddler, however, fell out of favour with the NDC, saying the party he so much loved and had sacrificed his money, energy and time for, had treated him like a non-entity, virtually dumping him and leaving him to his fate. Until his death, he declared his support for the Progressive People's Party (PPP) and also supported the free SHS policy of the New Patriotic Party (NPP). The late Dr. Asemfofro left behind 13 children and two wives. Recent Interview In a recent interview on Nhyira FM in Kumasi, Asemfoforo shockingly invoked curses with powerful river gods in the country, against NDC Members of Parliament (MP). Without mincing words, he prayed that the river gods, and others should deal ruthlessly with any MP who would oppose President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's 'Free Education' policy and other programmes to develop the country. According to him, the NPP administration has the vision of transforming the country, especially the educational sector, to help improve the lives of the citizenry, and that he knew the NDC MPs hate transformation and so they would surely oppose the NPP's splendid policies. Dr. Asemfoforo stated that in order for President Akufo-Addo to have a leeway in developing the country, he was invoking the curses on the MPs and other top party members who always object to NPP's programmes that would bring transformation. Mills' Death The famous NDC member, who was brimming with rage, revisited the death of ex-President Atta Mills, alleging that some leading members in the NDC orchestrated the death of the ex-Ghana leader, saying, Prof. Mills did not die a natural death; they hired people to kill him. According to him, because some elements in the NDC killed Prof. Mills for their own selfish interest, they did not allow any investigations into what really killed the former president, noting that Israelis were called to investigate the collapse of the Melcom building but nothing was done about Mr. Mills' death, who was the Ghana president. FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi There are some leaders who are blessed with the ability to put into words, the unexpressed feelings harboured by many of their fellow-citizens. President Akufo Addo seems to be one of these leaders. When, on 11 April 2017, he told a visiting delegation of British Airways officials to ensure that their Airline does not take Ghanaians for granted, he was speaking for many silent customers of British Airways. I personally felt like getting up and cheering, for as you will soon find out, I have a bone to pick with the Airline. President Akufo-Addo was quite specific in his complaints: concerns had been raised by some Ghanaians over the service of British Airways, he said. People complain about the movement (of flights to and from Accra) from [Heathrow] Terminal 5 to Terminal 3. Terminal 3 is not as convenient a place as Terminal 5, he pointed out. The President went on: As British Airways prepares to commemorate 80 years of flying into Ghana, there have been complaints about the quality of the planes (on the route) and the service. In some quarters, there is a feeling that you are taking us a little for granted in the way in which we are receiving your services. Nana Addo then charged British Airways to upgrade the quality of its services. Having heard the concerns expressed by the President, the British Airways Corporate Commercial Manager for Europe, Africa and the Levant, Mr Paolo De Renzis, assured the President of his outfits resolve to upgrade the quality of its services. We have a long-standing relationship with Ghana, Mr De Renzis said. We are strongly committed to the market, and we appreciate your feedback. We will work very hard to improve the products and services to Ghana all the time, he stated. Very nice indeed. But I doubt whether the Corporate Commercial Manager of British Airways for Europe, Africa and the Levant will be able to do much to improve the Airline's services to Ghana. Usually, corporate policy is decided at board level and handed to the Airline's "coal-face" underlings to implement. And the board is advised by expensive firms of accountants on how to augment the bottom line (that is to say, "profits"). Which means that unless a competitor or competitors arrive on the scene to offer genuinely better services on the route and take business away from it, the Airline will pare down the quality of its services, in order to reap as much profit as possible. For what is called the ugly face of capitalism has hit the Airlines of the world very hard indeed in recent times. I recently read about a British Airways plane that allegedly flew without toilet tissue paper on board! What? Yes! British Airways! But British Airways is still 'civilised', compared to some of the airlines in the United States. A case in point is the behaviour of United Airlines towards a passenger recently, which has gone viral on the Internet. Because United does not fear competition on the vastly contracted internal flights business in the USA, it sometimes treats its passengers like dirt. In the incident that has gone viral on the Internet, United overbooked a flight and needed to remove one passenger. Its officials decided on a passenger of Oriental descent and asked him to leave the plane. The passenger, a doctor, probably felt that he was being picked upon because of his ethnicity, and refused to comply with the request to disembark. Whereupon airport police were called to come and remove him by force. And oh! -- did their they do their work well? They dragged the poor man, still struggling, along the floor of the plane's cabin. Fellow passengers looked on in horror and some could be heard screaming at sight of what was being done to a fellow passenger. The doctor was taken off the plane. But during the process of being forcibly removed, he lost two teeth, had a broken nose and suffered other injuries that kept him in hospital for a few days. Now, when a passenger is treated this way, he suffers doubly -- for some people are scared stiff of flying, and are already in a semi-traumatic state -- psychologically -- when they arrrive at the airport. Any nastiness displayed towards them therefore launches them straight into hysteria, without "curve or bend!" And all because United Airlines had made a mistake and overbooked the flight. It later turned out that actually, there were some staff members of the Airline on the plane, who, one would have thought, would have been the first to be asked to make way for paying passengers. But maybe the staff were off somewhere to fly another plane for United, and if they were left behind, United would lose money. So they took off the poor doctor, and now their name stinks throughout the world. Not that they would mind too much. As I have pointed out, the Airline industry has been contracting, whereas passenger numbers have been increasing by leaps and bounds. So, these days, if you get on a flight, it's as if you're being done a favour. As for customer relations, it's gone completely to pot. I am not saying that on the basis of hear-say, but out of a very bitter personal experience. Some time last year, I purchased a British Airways ticket: London-Accra-London. But just before the designated day of travel, I fell ill. I made sure I telephoned British Airways in good time to tell them I couldn't fly on the day I had booked. In the good old days, this would have been no problem. They would just have postponed my flight to a new agreed date, or set the day of departure as Open. Then whenever I felt capable of flying, they would have checked to see if there was room on the flight for me. End of story. But not this time! First, I was asked to obtain a medical reportconfirming that I was unfit to fly. I had just told them I was illand they wanted me to go to see a medical officer, waste the time of the patients who needed his/her attention, and procure a certificate saying I wasn't fit to fly? I resented being bullied when I was not well, but there was nothing to do. So I managed to drag myself to go and get the certificate and send it to the address given to me. It was NOT even acknowledged! Well, as expected, I got well soon. And I called British Airways to try and reinstate my flight. They said I should bring another medical certificate confirming that I was now fit to fly! What? My date of birth had been entered as part of the data needed before a ticket could be issued to me. Would a mature adult seek to fly if he was still unfit to travel? Especially if this same adult had had the good sense to postpone his travel once, because of ill-health? I remember distinctly the day I went for second medical certificate that said I could now travel. It was most inconvenient because -- it was raining! Not only that: my computer's printer had packed up, so I had to go out in the rain to find a place where I could scan the certificate and send it. I was rebuffed by one or two shops I approached, and was veryndespondent until a kindly lady at an estate agent's eventually did it for me. I felt terrible how could they bullyany person in such a way? But that was the least of my troubles. Having sent the certificate, I now needed to have my ticket revalidated and a date set for me to fly. The BA person who eventually took my call after I'd hung on for over half an hour said he couldn't find any trace of my ticketing matters. He gave me another number to call. Same thing. It was as if I was I the hands of well-trained ROBOTS who had been programmed to toss me from place to place, at my own expense, in terms of telephone time! They kept shifting the goalposts the whole time, and inserting me into a vicious circle."You sent the certificate? We can't find it here. Call this other number!" "You were asked to call us? But we don't deal with things like that!...." I swear, I was reduced almost to tears, and eventually after about two hours of total frustration phone, I gave up. I haven't had the courage to pursue the matter since. Every time I think of the potential annoyance a call would create in me, I put it off. In other words, they've bullied me into impotence. Meanwhile, I am sure my stolen fare has been processed as part of the profitsmade by British Airways. And the BA ROBOTS will make sure I never get it back. For the technique is perfect -- once the fare has been paid, make sure it's not easy for it to perform the service required. Profit. QED! My President has spoken for me. But I don't think anything will happen. For unless British Airways is seriously threatened with the loss of the extremely lucrative Accra route which means some other Airline being given the route it will still enjoy its position as Airline of choice for Accra-London passengers. That is because very few people like to make two or three stops, when a non-stop flight is available. So British Airways has got people like me by the short hairs, and it knows it. Me, I need a lot of ice in my veins before Iattempt again to contact the ROBOTS to rescue my stolen airfare. But I shall do it. At least, in the end, I shall feel a few more pounds well spent, even if I have to get a good lawyer who will be able to persuade the airline industry regulator to get them to give me the ticket I bought but was unable to use just because I fell ill. Now, ask yourself: if they could treat a person who fell into their hands only because he was sick in this scabdalkous way, what about someone who, somehow, could not travel, for a far less plausible reason? Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS) has condemned the alleged act of a laboratory technician assistant, Stephen Enyan, who sells blood of pregnant women who visit the Abura Dunkwa Hospital for antenatal checks, to some cyber fraudsters, popularly known as 'sakawa' boys, for ritual purposes. The attention of Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS) has been drawn to a publication on Monday, April 10. The alleged act as reported is disgusting and regrettable, and we, hereby, condemn it in no uncertain terms, GAMLS said in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer (PRO), Dennis Adu-Gyasi. The suspect, according to reports, was said to have been hiding parts of the blood samples he takes from pregnant women who visit the hospital for antenatal checks, for the purpose of selling it for cash. Reports indicate he purportedly sells little amount of the blood from GH5,000 to GH10,000. Reports monitored by Adom FM said the laboratory technician was tricked by police investigators feigning to be interested in buying blood for their 'sakawa' activities, following complaints lodged by the hospital to the police. Visitors to hospital reportedly claimed that their ailments had either been compounded after attending the clinic or in some instances, the pregnant women lose their lives, which hitherto was not the case. Our preliminary checks on the said Stephen Enyan indicate that the suspect was initially employed as a cleaner at the Cape Coast Regional Hospital and was further trained on the bench and appointed under the Ghana Health Service as Medical Laboratory Assistant at the Abura Dunkwa Hospital. He is not licensed to practice as such, the statement pointed out. It continuedThe hospital in the subject matter trained him to manage the facility's mortuary. In 2012, the hospital's management assigned Stephen Enyan to the laboratory and relieved him of his duties at the mortuary as manager. This decision by the hospital management under Ghana Health Service was strongly protested by the qualified medical laboratory scientists in-charge of the laboratory at the time, on grounds of his limited training on the bench and with respect to his scope of assigned duty. His professional advice was simply disregarded by the management. The statement added, As a professional body, we are deeply concerned about the arbitrary appointment of unqualified persons by managers of health facilities and the government agencies to perform duties that are designated for qualified and licensed medical. Laboratory practitioners; a practice which offends the laws of Ghana as enshrined in ACT 857:2013. We remain concerned about the increasing reports from our membership across the country of subtle attempts by some authorities or management of health facilities to place unqualified persons, including nurses, pharmacists, physicians, phlebotomists and others with general science background to work in clinical laboratories. In the statement, GAMLS indicated that in the light of the law regulating the practice of medical laboratory science in Ghana, such acts are not only irregular but pose great danger to the precious lives of Ghanaians. They simply lack the requisite training, skill and ethical commitment and legal cover required to practice the profession of medical laboratory science. BY Melvin Tarlue Admirers of Nana Addo who clamour not for political appointments, have been thinking. They will not talk loudly. But they will be elated with the Ashanti King's most wise counsel, as reported by Ghanaweb (Sunday, April 2, 2017). President Akufo-Addo should 'be wary of backbiters amongst persons he has surrounded himself with.' The report added that the King referred to how other presidents before Nana Addo had confessed regrets for not heeding that caution. Flashback, 'twas not a total jubilation when the kitchen staffers were announced. People said he couldn't have appointed a more capable and competent chief of staff. Beyond that, though, there was some degree of iffy about some of the others. I remember beefing 'beware of babies and babies beware.' I cannot tell whether it is a normal practice that the president does not publicly disclose his closest advisers such as Blaa Kutu's Afro Joe Appiahs. And I am unable to imagine the extent of influence of those close to Nana the President. Whichever way, I think it is for him to look out. But it will be far more benefitting if those around him will swear to themselves never to abuse the trust he has reposed in them. The temptations are great. Being around the one person in total control of the huge resources of the motherland, to think self is very tempting. It is goodies everywhere one turns. Perhaps, the trick is to tell one's self that everything you think is goodie belongs to someone else within the motherland. That should make you appreciate what's yours is your conditions of service. Anytime you charge a fee to introduce someone to the president, you have stolen money in his name. Remember he has promised to rid the motherland of corruption. His promise of an anti-corruption crusade was a key resonance with the electorate. Any corrupt practice on the part of a close associate therefore constitutes a betrayal. So if you don't want to be a Judas, live within your conditions of service. Three presidents ago, a presidential spokesperson felt as presidential as his appointer to the extent that he would contest to be president with his appointer still in office. Such appointees can hardly be too loyal to betray. Later, the tittle tattle was all over that when he was in the election strong room, he was thinking more ahead than the task before him then. When the congresspeople slipped a fast election stealing around him, he could hardly recognise their trap. As for the next two presidents, their faith in campaign staff undid whatever they could have done. One ended up losing his precious life because his 'handlers' were more interested in the politics of elections and not his welfare. They would rather lead him to lose his life for the sake of winning an election. The other one, the second congressperson in succession, surrounded himself with election propagandists who thought governance was electioneering. Propaganda was all they knew. They thought onaapo was so sweet a song that it would overcome the dums handicap. That didn't happen. He was annihilated in the election they, in true 'emperor your clothes are beautiful when there were no clothes' manner, was exposed in election nakedness. Young, with no life or living experience, his ampbr staffers and appointees developed a huge appetite for stealing public funds. Whether they were copying his own appetite or they were amassing wealth illegally to go and contest elections, he, that president, would say they let him down because he lost the election heavily. Nana Addo is caught in the embarrassment of so many sonomma rich in competence to choose from. There is so much competence it's hard to select one over the other. That is why, I guess, he has decided to principally settle on loyalty and trust as his main appointment criteria. It will, therefore be a great pity if any of his appointees should fail any of the appointer's integrity, honesty and value for money tests. That will disable help and support him to serve the motherland. I can clearly hear President Nana Addo address his appointees: Don't let me down. To me, it hard; so so hard, for the President, as one person to know who is telling him what will help and not hinder the successful prosecution of his agenda. However, the helpful ones will tell him that he has no clothes on when there are no clothes. If appointees care, I heard this old woman say: 'God punish any Nana Addo appointee who betrays him and his Ghana first agenda.' The King has said it all: 'Gye di pa, na din pa y sen ahonya' ('Pursue good reputation because good name is better than riches'). Nana's close associates, take note. By Kwasi Ansu-Kyeremeh The Church of Pentecost National Head for the Republic of Angola, Joshua De Souza, has paid glowing tribute to Ghanaians for their unique hospitality towards foreigners. Describing Ghanaians as people with very rich traditional values which push them into being hospitable to foreigners, the pastor recalled his encounter with various people in the Western Region who according to him, were very respectful and always prepared to ensure that he felt at home. The pastor, who was in the country on a short missionary tour, was preaching the sermon at a heavily attended Resurrection Sunday Service for members of the church in the Akuapem Zone of the Eastern Region. The nine districts forming the zone which include Aburi, Akropong, Adukrom, Mampong and Adwaso, had converged at old Adonten Senior High School, Aburi, for their annual Easter programme which was under the theme,Teteleslai: It's finished. Reading from the Holy scriptures, Pastor Joshua De Souza said the proclamation, It's finished by Jesus Christ while hanging on the cross at Golgotha on Good Friday meant His (Jesus Christ's) task of re-uniting sinful man to God was completed. It is a hard won battle over Satan and from now you do not need a pastor, prophet or any medium by which you can reach out to the Father (God) but by your faith and obedience to His call you have every opportunity to enter the Holy of Holies to present your case, he assured. Pastor Souza decried the conduct of some people, especially Christians, who till date are looking for salvation from wrong sources such as consulting mediums and self-acclaimed pastors and prophets who unsuspectingly exploit such people. The man of God without mincing words, urged Christians to take up the full armour of God and join the clarion call by the risen Christ to go into the world to evangelize to people who are being swayed into destruction. Pastor Souza also called on Christians to play active roles to shape the future of the world; they should lead Godly lives so that they can speak out boldly against evil. By Solomon Ofori Richard Owusu 18.04.2017 LISTEN RICHARD Owusu, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) second vice chairman for Manhyia South Constituency in Kumasi the Ashanti Regional capital, has been suspended indefinitely by the party over alleged gross misconduct. He has been accused of mobilizing some youth to seize lorry parks and toilet facilities in the area after the party's 2016 electoral victory. Mr. Owusu was also indicted for allegedly inciting some polling station executives of the NPP against other constituency executives and the sitting Member of Parliament ((MP) in the constituency. The party's constituency executives reportedly sat on the case on March 19, 2017, and Mr. Owusu was called to defend himself but they said he could not convince them enough. The party leadership therefore, in a letter dated April 5, 2017, decided to suspend him indefinitely and further referred the case to the Ashanti Regional Disciplinary Committee for further hearing. In the meantime, Mr. Owusu has been ordered to surrender every party property in his possession to the constituency officers, else he could face additional disciplinary action. DAILY GUIDE has sighted his suspension letter, signed by Haruna Alhassan, constituency secretary, which has been copied to major party stakeholders in the constituency. It reads in part, I confirm to you that from the date of this letter, you are suspended indefinitely from your position as the 2nd vice chairman of this constituency while the matter is being referred to the regional disciplinary committee of the party for hearing. In the meantime, you are instructed to surrender any party property in your possession to the constituency office of the party. Failure to comply with this instruction may itself constitute misconduct. A copy of the suspension letter FROM I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi The opposition National Democratic Congress has alleged that the Akufo-Addo led government have spent an enormous amount of state funds on multiple luxurious parties since he was sworn-in as the President of the Republic of Ghana. Addressing a press conference on Tuesday to review the presidents 100 days in office, the deputy minority leader James Klutse Avedzi called on President Akufo-Addo to disclose the source of funding for the numerous parties held in his honour since his inauguration. According to Mr. Avedzi, the opulence that characterized most of the parties are shocking as some of the drinks served were custom made with the presidents name embossed on the bottles served at the party. We have seen evidence of parties with some drinks, some custom-made with his name on itwe call on the Akufo-Addo government to disclose the source of funding. The Minority criticized the NPP administration over what it described as bloated government adding that the country is under siege from state-sponsored thuggery and terrorism from vigilante groups affiliated to the NPP. We wish to state plainly that what the president has done is far from protecting the public purse. It constitutes a direct raid of the economy of the taxpayer. Maintaining the salaries for this large army of ministers will severely burden the poor taxpayer. These appointments translate into 110 bungalows, 110 salon cars, 110 V8 Toyota Land Cruisers, 110 guards, 220 police guards in their bungalows. More importantly, it represents a direct breach of his pledge to cut waste in public expenditure. He has acted in a way that will introduce more waste in government finances. Simply put, President Akufo-Addo has been wasteful and has not been candid with Ghanaians. Mr President, prune down your 110 ministers now. Mr. Avedzi added that the president has failed to protect the public purse, despite his promise on the campaign trail to bring unprecedented economic growth and good governance to Ghana. The minority added that the so-called achievements touted by Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia on Monday are nothing but a total deception. Economy, security and the controversy surrounding the retrieval of state vehicles may have dominated discussions between President Nana Akufo-Addo and his predecessors. The President is meeting with former Presidents Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor and his immediate predecessor, John Dramani Mahama to deliberate on governance issues. Mr Mahama has been vociferous about his disapproval of how the retrieval of state vehicles is being handled. Deputy information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, however, says the meeting will center on more than the cars. "They will be having a general conversation, discussing many issues about the economy and other things that could be done to put the economy on track. They will talk about international relations, governance, anti-corruption among many others. President Akufo-Addo "is sharing ideas with them and explaining to them what he is doing and I am sure they will also give him some feedback," he confirmed. According to the Deputy Minister, the open engagement to share ideas will also feature other issues that the other former Presidents will put on the table for discussion. Former President John Mahama last month at a meeting with his former appointees promised to talk to President Akufo-Addo about the manner in which vehicles are being seized from former appointees. He was also worried about the manner in which some civil servants appointed during his tenure are being harassed and some being forced to resign. The former Governor of the Central bank Dr Nashiru Issahaku is reported to have been forced to leave his post although he himself has said he was resigning for personal reasons. Former Deputy Education Minister, Samuel Okudzeko Ablakwa, has also complained about the manner in which the former CEO of COCOBOD, Dr Stephen Opuni was made to leave office adding what government is doing to him amounts to a witch-hunt. Regarding why the President will seek counsel from former President Mahama whom the New Patriotic Party (NPP) had consistently described as incompetent in running the country during his tenure, Mr Oppong-Nkrumah said, the meeting is not about former President Mahama. "He is the former president of the republic of Ghana so if the president is meeting former presidents, it is not about former President Mahama, Rawlings or Kufuor specifically. It is about engaging with former presidents who have some experience and knowledge to share on how this country is moving forward," he said. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Abubakar Ibrahim The Minority in Parliament has levelled a litany accusations against the Akufo-Addo government, saying the new government has proven to be incompetent. Addressing a rather long press conference Tuesday, Deputy Minority James Klutse Avedzi, said the large number of ministers appointed by the president vitiates from the New Patriotic Partys mantra that we have the men. President Akufo-Addo has appointed 110 ministers and deputy ministers, constituting the largest government in Ghana's history. Some of the ministries have been assigned multiple deputies, courting anger against the government disappointment in the president who won an overwhelming endorsement at the polls last year. Singling out some ministries, Mr. Avedzi said the number of appointees there defies logic. He said the Information and Communications Ministries which were merged by President John Mahama with one Minister and two deputies, now have seven ministers. Mr. Avedzi said what three competent ministers under the John Mahama government did, seven incompetent appointees are required by the Akufo-Addo government to do. Touching on the Transport Ministry, he said the president inexplicably created three separate ministries Transport, Aviation and Railways when there is no evidence of any new projects being initiated by the government. He catalogued a number of projects - Tema-Akosombo, Takoradi-Paga rail projects, Tema and Takoradi port expansion projects, the introduction of Ayalolo bus service, and expansion of Metro Mass Transit initiated by the previous government. Mr. Avedzi maintained all these achievements were attained with a competent minister and a competent deputy minister. The former Chairman of Finance Committee of Parliament was making allusions to the NPPs campaign and tag incompetence against president Mahamas presidency. The NPPs, especially Dr. Mahamudus constant reference to the Mahama government as incompetent irked the then governing NDC greatly. President Mahama himself on several occasions fended off the expression as uninformed, insisting Dr Bawumia couldnt call him incompetent because he (Bawumia) did not know what it took to be president. At Tuesdays press conference, Mr. James Avedzi, who is also MP for Ketu North, flanked by other Minority MPs, repeatedly questioned the competence the new government in delivering on its promises. He said the government's "419 budget" does not mention any new projects to be undertaken by the government in the transport sector, wondering why the sector should have three separate ministries. "This is yet another bad example of a party that claims to have the men," he stated. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Tuesday met with Ghana's former presidents Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama at the Flagstaff House. The purpose of the meeting according to the Presidency, was to seek the views of the former presidents on some governance-enhancing measures Akufo-Addo's administration intends to take. A communique issued after the meeting, which lasted for about two hours, said the meeting was held in a good atmosphere, one of frank exchanges and mutual respect. It is the intention of President Akufo-Addo to have further meetings with the three former Presidents in the future, the communique added. Prior to the meeting, observers had predicted that, former President John Mahama would be speaking to Akufo-Addo on the activities of pro-NPP vigilante groups in the country. At a meeting with former appointees who served under his administration, Mahama said, I am going to have the opportunity to tell Nana Addo that they should stop this This cannot continue, this thuggery is not good for our country, and the point is we thought we had a good transition. It is also unclear whether former President Jerry John Rawlings, who has been very vocal on issues of corruption, brought up such issues. By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Photo credit: Flagstaff House. 18.04.2017 LISTEN Accra, April 18, GNA - President Beji Caid Essebsi of the Republic of Tunisia, has tasked the leadership of the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights (AfCHPR) to popularise their mandate to enable African citizens know about its lofty objectives and activities. 'In that way, African human rights will be protected and ensure sustained democratic progress of our people,' President Essebsi stated during a courtesy by Justice Sylvain OrA, President of the African Court at the State House in Tunis. The Tunisian President stressed the importance of popularising the work of the Court in AU Member States. He however commended the creation of the African Court, adding that its establishment guaranteed protection of human rights in Africa. The African Court delegation included Justice Rafa Ben Achour and Lady Justice Chafika Bensaoula. President Essebsi called for extensive dissemination of information on the African Court to enable the population to know, understand and appreciate its existence and its noble work to deepen democratic processes on the continent. Justice Ore expressed gratitude to the Tunisian government for agreeing to host the Court's delegation, provide the platform for meeting key officials and also conduct a sensitisation seminar for stakeholders in Tunis. He also lauded Tunisia's decision to sign the Article 34(6) declaration that enabled non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and individuals to access the Court directly. 'I hail the government of Tunisia on this decision and urge other African countries to follow suit,' Justice OrA stated. Tunisia has officially signed the declaration becoming the eighth country to do so. Other countries that had previously signed it are Benin, Burkina Faso, CAte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Malawi, Mali and Tanzania. Rwanda, which had signed, formally withdrew from the declaration last month, although the African Union Summit had urged the East African country to reconsider its position. The declaration was signed on behalf of the Tunisian government by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Khemaies Jhinaoui. The African Court delegation also visited the Arab Republic of Egypt from April 9 to 11 and held discussions with various key dignitaries, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Speaker of Parliament, among others. Egypt, which has not ratified the establishment of the Court, however, expressed its appreciation of the Court's work for the past 10 years and is giving consideration to ratifying the protocol. 'The visit to Egypt has been very much encouraging and we are looking forward to the North African country ratifying the Protocol,' said Justice OrA. According to Justice OrA, the sensitisation visits had helped to raise awareness of the Court's existence and also to encourage more AU Member States to ratify the Protocol and make the declaration to allow individuals and NGOs direct access to the Court. 'For the Court to achieve its objectives and further strengthen African human-rights systems, a greater number of countries must ratify the protocol and make the declaration under Article 34(6),' he said. Since December 2010, the Court had carried out continent-wide promotion programmes, which had so far undertaken 27 sensitisation visits and held 12 regional and continental seminars and conferences. The main objective of the sensitisation visits was to enhance the protection of human rights in Africa. Specific objectives include; raising public awareness about the Court, encouraging the ratification of the protocol and depositing of the declaration that allows individuals and NGOs direct access to the Court. It also included sensitising would-be applicants on how to access the Court and the procedures before the Court, encouraging the public to utilise the Court in settling human-rights disputes and encouraging the utilisation of the Court for advisory opinions. The African Court was established by virtue of Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights, to complement the protective mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, with a view to enhancing the protection of human rights on the continent. Since the adoption of the Protocol in June 1998, 30 of 55 AU Member States had ratified it and only eight State Parties to the Protocol had made the declaration under Article 34(6). As at March 2017, the Court had received 133 applications and finalised 32 cases. The Court is composed of 11 Judges, nationals of Member States of the African Union elected in their individual capacity. GNA By Francis Ameyibor, GNA By Laudia Sawer Tema, April 18, GNA - Mr Chris Addy Andoh, operator of the Kash Forex Bureau in Tema has called on government to control the activities of black marketers in the foreign exchange business. Mr Andoh in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said activities of the black marketers were collapsing operations of forex bureaux in the country. He explained that such operators who are mobile and visible are able to lure customers with their slightly better rates while the forex bureau who were regulated by law and pay taxes to the government, struggle in their enclosures. He cautioned the public against buying foreign currency from the black market as that could expose them to risk of been given fake currencies and even robbed. Mr Andoh advised them not to only consider the rate of exchange on offer when choosing a place to trade currencies but must also consider the risks involved. Meanwhile, an anonymous black market customer said she has been buying currency from them for over five years now and had no fears of falling victim to any risk. She added that the black market was reliable and fast, as they operated 24-hours daily and offered better rates than the forex bureaux. According to her, customers also have the opportunity to bargain with the black market operators in addition to changing monies without having to show their identity cards. Tema Community One business area has a lot of black marketers who openly operate and call on the public including policemen to do business with them while trading in other wares especially wrist watches. They are mostly seen near the Tema Community One market branch of the Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB), and the casino area which is about 100 meters away from the Community One Police station. GNA 18.04.2017 LISTEN Since Ghana attained independence in 1957, Ghanaian Muslims have largely proved to be forward looking. Many people the world over consider Ghanaian Muslims as different, as they have decided to follow the injunction of prophet Mohammed [Pbh] to seek knowledge from far and near, to join hands with the civilized world to improve themselves and Ghana through education. Consequently, today many Muslims have made contributions in Ghanas development through areas of medicine, banking, engineering, education, business and politics among others. No wonder that countless Muslims are found in top positions of private and public organizations. Yes, today, a sizeable number of Muslims are found in parliament as MPs while others are ministers with one Muslim, Dr. Mahmoud Bawumia as vice president of Ghana following from Alhaji Aliu Mahama who was Vice President under President John Kufuor. With this feat attained, there is no doubt that the current and coming generation of Muslims would follow their footsteps. The mileage attained by Muslims in Ghana followed the decision of many Muslims and their leadership to move away from the fear of sending their children to secular schools in and outside Ghana. With the establishment of the Islamic Education Unit and Ghana Muslim Students Association [GMSA], the awareness has been created that Muslim children cannot be forced in secular schools to become Christians. We have scores of Muslims who had their education in schools run by Christian missions, yet those people have remained Muslims till date. We can mention a lot of these men that include Dr. Alhasan Mohammed former Deputy Governor of Bank of Ghana and Ambassador of Ghana to Saudi Arabia, went to Adisadel College, a Catholic institution, but remained a top notch Muslim leader in Ghana. According to informed sources, the study of the Holy Bible by Muslims rather does for them a world of good, as with that, the Muslim children are able to embark on comparative religious studies meant to help them live peacefully with people belonging to other faiths. Apart from sending Muslim children to secular and schools run by Christian missions many Islamic organizations such as Ghana Muslim mission, Ahlul Sunna Wal Jamma and Islamic Council for Development and Humanitarian Services [ICODEHS] have established many Islamic schools being run across the country as secular institutions. The National Chief Imam Sheikh Dr. Osman Nuhu Sharubutu himself an educationist and preacher, has himself established a number of basic English and Arabic schools culminating in him constructing a magnificent building to be used as a modern university campus at Kasoa in the Central Region. A team of educationists and technocrats are preparing for accreditation for the new university to provide modern courses in management and media studies. Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim chairman of ICODEHS, himself an educationist had this to say about the Chief Imam. his eminence the National Chief Imam of Ghana, Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, as many of you, may be aware, is an educationist, a teacher and above all a champion of empowerment through education. According to Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim, the Chief Imam believes that through education, every man or woman can and has the potential of achieving what he or she aspires. He believes and associates himself with the saying that an educated and literate person is a master of his or her destiny Above all the National Chief Imam has come to realize that not many Muslim parents are capable of supporting their children financially to pursue educational studies. But he is of the firm belief that, Education should not be a privilege for a few that can afford it in any society but rather a right for every child of school going age from primary to tertiary level. Pursuant to this vision the National Chief Imam accepted the proposal to establish the Sheikh Osman Nuhu Sharubutu Education Fund [SONSETFUND] in 2009. He set up an executive council with Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim head of ICODEHS, as chairman to work towards promoting quality education among the less privileged in Ghana. 20 years on, SONSETFUND has done a lot in the area of education in Ghana by laying plans to support brilliant but needy students from the Muslim areas in Ghana who constantly appealed to Muslim leaders and the Chief Imam for assistance. In the early days of its formation, SONSETFUND linked up with MTN to raise funds through Islamic texts messages by Chief Imam. The proceeds were used in reconstructing some secondary schools in the Upper West and East Regions in Ghana. That was the first of its kind in Ghana by the National Chief Imam which opened up room for the enrolment of more students up north. SONSETFUND received books on various subjects from donors in Britain which were distributed to the University of Ghana, University of Development Studies, Islamic University of Ghana among other institutions. This was followed by a gigantic step taken to support Muslim and northern students in our tertiary institutions through the students loans scheme of Ghana leading to SONSETFUND supporting more than 2000 students to access loans from the Students to go through their courses. Some of the students have completed their studies and are said to begin paying back loans granted them. Through assistance given to SONSETFUND by the Islamic Council for Development and Humanitarian Services, a school block is being constructed at Abokobi in Accra to serve as a basic school. The project has reached an advanced stage and would be completed soon to enroll pupils in kindergarten and primary classes. Since the primary aim of SONSETFUND is to offer support to students from basic schools to tertiary level, a scholarship scheme was established for needy students in various schools in the country. Pursuant to the vision on education nineteen [19] qualified and needy students were awarded bursary worth 35,000GHC to study in various institutions in Greater Accra, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo Northern, Upper West and Eastern Regions. The beneficiaries of the scholarships that includes seven women will pursue subjects of interests to the nation including nursing, midwifery, science and technology, business studies, religious studies, development studies and communication studies. All the education programs of SONSETFUND could not have been possible without financial support of some individuals and organizations that includes MTN, Ghana Commercial Bank, ICODEHS, the Member of Parliament for Okaikoi North, Patrick Boamah and Yusif Ibrahim Chairman of the GT Bank and Managing Director of Dar es Salaam group of companies. At a ceremony held at the residence of the National Chief Imam Sheikh Mustapha Ibrahim Chairman of ICODEHS and SONSETFUND extended his thanks to all organizations who helped in diverse ways towards the programs of the fund and prayed for Gods blessings and guidance to them all. Vice president, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has disclosed that government has abrogated about 20 power purchase agreements signed by the erstwhile Mahama government. According to him, this has saved the country a whopping $300 million. We have saved the country $300 million by reviewing and prioritizing the existing power purchasing agreements. We've essentially cancelled about 20 of them, we've asked four of them to go ahead and the rest to delay by two or three years and in so doing, we have managed to reduce government's liabilities, he noted. The Akufo-Addo government had argued that some of the power agreements the Mahama government entered into were bloated, and were not value for money. They complained that, the Ameri Power deal was bloated by about $150 million, and have threatened to review the agreement. Speaking on Monday at a Joy FM Town Hall meeting, Dr. Bawumia added that, government has secured financing for two major electrification projects, which would extend electricity to over 800 communities when implemented. He also stated that, they further intend to put government buildings on solar plants instead of piling up debts for government. We have in the energy sector taken some major decisions. Anyone who is coming to produce power in Ghana and says we want a power purchase agreement, we are saying that you cannot charge us more than ten cents per kilowatt hourWe've also secured financing for two major electrification projects, the Hunan and China projects, and this when implemented, will extend electricity to over 800 communities, the Vice President added. By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin Lusaka (AFP) - Zambia's main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema on Tuesday claimed he was assault by police during his arrest as he appeared in court on charges of obstructing the presidential motorcade. The leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), who appeared before a magistrates court, is facing two separate charges over the alleged incident, which occurred on the weekend of April 8-9. One of the charges is treason which will be heard at a later date in the High Court. Police went to arrest him on April 11, with Hichilema telling the magistrate that they had attacked and tear-gassed him in an ordeal that lasted 15 hours. "We were attacked by criminals in police uniforms," he said. "They came without a search warrant." Hichilema had allegedly refused to give way to President Edgar Lungu's convoy as they were both travelling to the Western province for a traditional ceremony. Several days later, more than 100 armed police surrounded Hichilema's house outside Lusaka, firing tear gas before taking him into custody, AFP correspondents at the scene said. Hichilema has launched unsuccessful legal bids to challenge Lungu's victory in last August's election, and the businessman-turned-politician has said that he does not recognise Lungu's presidency. He claims the vote was rigged and accuses Lungu of unleashing an unprecedented bout of political repression in Zambia, which is known for its relative stability. Hichilema's lawyer Vincent Malambo told the court that since his arrest, his client had been denied access to a legal representative and family visits. At Tuesday's hearing, the magistrate ruled that he be seen by a doctor of his choice and be given access to both lawyers and family while in custody. His arrest has been strongly condemned by civil group and political commentators who say the charges would fuel tensions in this poor southern African country. He returns to court on Wednesday. 18.04.2017 LISTEN In a recent lecture , Owen Jones, who described himself as a socialist humanist and an atheist, drew attention to his objection to aggressive atheism. He defined aggressive atheism as that form of atheism that treats religious belief and believers with contempt. Jones said, Yet while I am an atheist, I dont have contempt for the religious. There is an aggressive form of atheism that simplistically reduces the worlds many problems to religious belief and treats believers and belief however moderate with contempt. I have been pondering over this statement since I finished listening to his lecture. I have tried relating it to situations in many parts of the world where aggressive theism and religion rages. Jones went on to argue that the manifestation of aggressive atheism was not conducive to the realisation of a peaceful and harmonious society and could only lead to extremism. Well, I guess that Jones may have made this statement bearing in mind the British society. Even at that, I find his position ambiguous and misleading. Treating Religion with Contempt For me, Jones conflated so many issues in his efforts to denounce and discredit aggressive atheism. The fact is that there are religious expressions which do not deserve respect. There are religious teachings that should be treated with contempt whether one is an aggressive atheist or not. These are religious notions that are either false or immoral. Many religious beliefs show disdain for facts and evidence. In addition, there are certain categories of religious believers that should be treated with scorn and disdain. These believers should be so treated not because of who they are as human beings, but because of what they do, i.e. evil; because of what they peddle, i.e. falsehoods, and because what they commit, i.e. atrocities! Take for instance the religious belief in blasphemy which is wreaking havoc in many parts of the world today. Should one treat such an obscene article of faith with respect? I mean, many religions consider it a crime that is punishable by death or imprisonment to commit an act or expression that insults or shows disrespect for a god or anything deemed sacred. Now think about this: how does one determine what/who is insulting a god or a religion? Today we have many religions that people profess across the world. These faiths lay competing claims to god and sacredness. In actual fact, these religions are competing claims of insult and disrespect because their teachings conflict and contradict each other in many respects. In fact, how can anyone talk about disrespecting a god? Is it not absurd that a spirit can be respected or disrespected? Religions Are Mutually Blasphemous Even without aggressive atheism or the tendency of a category of atheists to mock or ridicule religious beliefs, it is virtually impossible to achieve a harmonious religiously pluralistic society where religious belief in blasphemy actively applies because religions are mutually blasphemous. The religions of today were the blasphemies of yesterday! Every religious believer is a blasphemer because the teaching of one religion mocks the doctrines of other faiths. In fact, what one religion deems sacred, another treats as profane. Islamic religious doctrines mock Christian beliefs and vice versa. Both Christian and Islamic preachers ridicule Africans indigenous religious claims in the cause of their evangelism. So if I may ask: How can there be respect for freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression in societies where the religious belief in blasphemy applies? How can the human rights of believers and non-believers be equally guaranteed in a society that reckons with the outrageous idea that gods or religions could be insulted and those who disrespect these gods and faiths should be executed? So, the religious belief in blasphemy is a recipe for oppression, chaos, anarchy and bloodletting. If you are in doubt, take a look at countries such as Pakistan , Bangladesh , Nigeria and Jordan , where blaspheming against Islam is a crime under the law. Religious (Muslim) believers often take the law into their hands. They have murdered persons who are accused of blasphemy. Their allies are trying to extend the law to the west and to the entire world. They are campaigning to make criticism of Islam or what they call islamophobia a crime. Personally, I have nothing but scorn for any religion that treats human life, dignity and freedom with contempt. Religious absurdities that motivate believers to commit atrocities are undeserving of respect by human beings. Any religion, be it Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, or the indigenous faith, that sanctions death for blasphemers is evil and unworthy of humanity. Satire and criticism should be used to highlight their mistaken ideas and twisted moralities Religious believers who murder blasphemers and apostates are vicious entities. Using satire to expose the absurdity of what they represent is a moral duty to humanity. Religious believers who support that persons who cartoon Prophet Muhammad or that those who burn or desecrate the Quran be killed should be treated with uttermost disdain because their beliefs constitute real threats and dangers to the realisation of an open, tolerant and progressive society. I want to reiterate that religions that treat human life, freedom, truth, fact and evidence with contempt deserve nothing but disparagement. Such religious beliefs should be ridiculed and excoriated out of existence. To be specific, all the Mullahs and Muslims who were behind the latest blasphemy attacks in Pakistan that led to the brutal murder of a university student, Mashal , are a shame to humanity. The brand of Islam that they represent will forever dwell in infamy. If that makes me an aggressive atheist, so be it. Ibrahim Mahama, brother of former President John Dramani Mahama has been picked up by the Economic and Organised Crimes Office (EOCO), Starrfmonline.com has gathered. Information gathered by Starrfmonline.com indicate that Mr. Mahama was picked up to answer questions over some dud cheques he issued to the Customs division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) at the Tema Port to clear some heavy duty equipment he had imported. It is, however, not known if the businessman was also questioned on some allegations of fraud leveled against him by Member of Parliament for Assin Central Kennedy Agyepong. Hon. Agyepong had alleged on Oman FM in March this year that the younger brother of former President Mahama defrauded the state of almost 14million cedis. The maverick politician accused Mr. Mahama of taking advantage of the position of his brother and perpetuating criminal activities against the state. Benin City is the stunning capital of Edo state. Its the center of Nigerias rubber industry and processing palm nuts for oil is also an important traditional industry there. There many interesting things to explore in this historic and cultural city. Jumia Travel , the leading online travel agency, shares 5 interesting things about Benin City. The Royal Obas Palace Really, whats more interesting than a palace? In truth, no vacation or visit to Benin City is complete without a visit to this cultural and historical splendor. The Royal Obas Palace is at the heart of the city and a repository of Benin crafts. Its really a cultural and historic goldmine with interesting ancient adornments and ornaments that are sincerely a delight to explore. The Benin Moat Youve probably heard this name once or twice and wondered what exactly it was. The Benin Moat also known as Iya is one of the largest man made earthwork in the world. The Benin Moat was actually used as a defensive fortification for the Ancient Benin City and its archaeology is recognized as something that is indeed admirable. However, the monument has in recent times been described as a neglected monument in search of a rescuer. Nevertheless, its still a truly interesting feature of the city and a testament to the ingenuity and engineering acumen of the old Benin Kingdom. Igun-Eronmwon Quarters Its also called Igun Street and is listed as a Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO. The quarters is home to brass/bronze casting industries in Benin City and gives an opportunity to witness bronze casting in its various stages and buy any piece of your choice. Its the home guild of Benin Bronze casters with various popular bronze works of kings, queens, other notable royalties and other artistic motif to explore. Igue Festival This is the most popular festival in the city and is where the Oba celebrates the history and culture of his people as he blesses the land and the people. The festival is typically celebrated at a time between Christmas and New year and it involves traditional dances, a mock battle and a procession to the palace to reaffirm loyalty to and respect for the Oba. The festival is typically an annual cycle of rituals and rites, and is used as a platform by the Edo people to display their rich culture and tradition. Revelation Tourist Palazzo A place with an interesting name indeed; the palazzo has been described as a place the history of Nigeria comes alive and for cultural enthusiasts is the heartbeat of culture in Nigeria. Its a privately owned museum and tourist center put together by music maestro Prof. Victor Uwaifo. There are different exhibition points at this palazzo and each one extensively treats a specific subject, from music to culture, telling different sides of the Binis. Its an educative and culturally enriching site to explore. 5 INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT BENIN CITY Benin City is the stunning capital of Edo state. Its the center of Nigerias rubber industry and processing palm nuts for oil is also an important traditional industry there. There many interesting things to explore in this historic and cultural city. Jumia Travel , the leading online travel agency, shares 5 interesting things about Benin City. The Royal Obas Palace Really, whats more interesting than a palace? In truth, no vacation or visit to Benin City is complete without a visit to this cultural and historical splendor. The Royal Obas Palace is at the heart of the city and a repository of Benin crafts. Its really a cultural and historic goldmine with interesting ancient adornments and ornaments that are sincerely a delight to explore. The Benin Moat Youve probably heard this name once or twice and wondered what exactly it was. The Benin Moat also known as Iya is one of the largest man made earthwork in the world. The Benin Moat was actually used as a defensive fortification for the Ancient Benin City and its archaeology is recognized as something that is indeed admirable. However, the monument has in recent times been described as a neglected monument in search of a rescuer. Nevertheless, its still a truly interesting feature of the city and a testament to the ingenuity and engineering acumen of the old Benin Kingdom. Igun-Eronmwon Quarters Its also called Igun Street and is listed as a Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO. The quarters is home to brass/bronze casting industries in Benin City and gives an opportunity to witness bronze casting in its various stages and buy any piece of your choice. Its the home guild of Benin Bronze casters with various popular bronze works of kings, queens, other notable royalties and other artistic motif to explore. Igue Festival This is the most popular festival in the city and is where the Oba celebrates the history and culture of his people as he blesses the land and the people. The festival is typically celebrated at a time between Christmas and New year and it involves traditional dances, a mock battle and a procession to the palace to reaffirm loyalty to and respect for the Oba. The festival is typically an annual cycle of rituals and rites, and is used as a platform by the Edo people to display their rich culture and tradition. Revelation Tourist Palazzo A place with an interesting name indeed; the palazzo has been described as a place the history of Nigeria comes alive and for cultural enthusiasts is the heartbeat of culture in Nigeria. Its a privately owned museum and tourist center put together by music maestro Prof. Victor Uwaifo. There are different exhibition points at this palazzo and each one extensively treats a specific subject, from music to culture, telling different sides of the Binis. Its an educative and culturally enriching site to explore. Some financial analysts have described as minimal the GHc545,950,332.73 released for the Temporary Pension Fund Account (TPFA). The National Pensions Regulatory Authority (NPRA) last week announced that GHc545,950,332.73 has so far been released by government for onward distribution to contributors. The fund which had been locked up from September 2016 to April 2017 has led to many agitations especially from public sector pensioners. Speaking to Citi Business News on the matter, Pension Consultant, Andrews Agblobi said government should be strategic in releasing more funds and in a timely manner. They have a lot to release, so far I will say they haven't released that much because for the public sector none has been released yet when it comes to the TPFA so there is a lot to be released, it is true they cannot do so at once so as not to cause any shock to the economy but they can do so in a more timely manner, Mr. Agblobi said. As of June 2016, the NPRA had about GHc2.9 billion of TPFA to be released, with the continuous delay of the release of the funds, leading to the slow growth of some investment portfolios. Commenting on the issue, Mr. Agblobi said more attention should be given to the public sector so as to facilitate the quick release of their funds for the benefit of the contributors. If you compare how much is in the TPFA there is close to over two billion that TPFA might have activated so there is a lot to be released, as we go ahead like I said the four major public sector schemes have not been released yet so roughly the number of employees that are involved for this release is roughly about two hundred and fifty thousand so you can see that we have a lot more to go. This has also led to delay in returns on investments, he said By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana 18.04.2017 LISTEN Letshego Holdings Limited (Letshego), Africas leading inclusive finance group providing consumer lending, microfinance and deposit-taking services to improve life, has concluded the 100% acquisition of afb Ghana Plc. Key developments to be introduced to the Ghanaian market were presented before stakeholders including the Ghanaian media in press conference held in Accra. Details of the transaction were shared with the media and public in early 2017 when Bank of Ghana gave their approval; the acquisition has subsequently been approved by the Ghana Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The welcoming of afb Ghana into the Letshego Group is envisioned to provide an enhanced customer experience for the Ghanaian people, who will be offered simple, appropriate and accessible financial solutions to improve their lives. Announcing this transaction to the Ghanaian market in early 2017, Letshego shared that its diversified solutions encourage communities to financially empower themselves in a variety of sectors including agri-business, education, housing and healthcare. Letshego and the afb team have now further shared their intent to deliver more broad-based solutions during 2017 and going forward, primarily over a mobile delivery and access platform in order to enhance access, affordability and drive the progressive development of customer needs-based solutions. In order to deliver this inclusive finance agenda in Ghana, the leadership shared their philosophy of ensuring delivery of their strategic intent by starting with their people. To this end, afb Ghana Plcs newest board member and Chairman, Blaise Mankwa, was recognised and welcomed into the companys governance structures. Welcoming the media, and commenting on his appointment, Mr. Mankwa said, I am pleased to accept the appointment as Chairman of the Board of afb Ghana Plc. Clearly, this is a dynamic company being empowered by the Letshego Group to embrace financial inclusion while delivering growth and returns for its shareholders. The board and I will support Letshego and the afb team to engage our regulators and stakeholders. We will look to ensure we are capacitated to provide access to needs-driven financial solutions anytime, anywhere, without compromising a zero-tolerance approach to non-compliance and upholding high standards of governance and risk management. With Letshegos support, afb will continue advocating for financial inclusion policy enhancements, driving innovation, and mobilising financial empowerment programmes in underserved communities. Representing the Letshego Group was Duduetsang Olsen-Namanyane, Group Chief Operating Officer (COO), who also represents Letshegos interest on the afb Ghana Plc board. We are pleased to welcome Blaise onto the afb Ghana board. We have begun collaborating with the afb Ghana team and including them in the Letshego family. Our strategic intent to be Africas leading inclusive finance group is based on the model of providing the financially under-served with simple, appropriate and accessible solutions. "We are clear that this cuts across the formal, informal and Micro and Small Entrepreneurial (MSE) sectors of the society. We look forward to working with our Ghana Board as well as Arnold and his highly engaged team. Together, we seek to empower our people, our customers, communities and to improve their lives. said Mr Olsen-Namanyane. Arnold Parker, afb Ghana Managing Director also added, as our Group COO, Dudu, has shared, we already are part of the Letshego family. We have begun work on a number of synergies between the two operations. For example, on the back of our established and successful payroll lending operations, we are developing a mobile micro-loan solution that we will share more about in due course. In addition, with our deposit-taking capability, another priority is to mobilise savings for the financially under-served in this market. Our nation, and our economy, is brimming with potential that we look forward to helping realise. Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com | Joy Business The Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta has directed that names of 26,589 public sector workers be removed from the payroll commencing April 2017 for failure to register on the new SSNIT biometric system. A statement from the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Finance said the affected workers had failed to register despite many opportunities to do so. The Minister, in his presentation of the 2017 budget, announced Government's commitment to clean the payroll. To that effect, the Minister requested that the Controller and Accountant General on the 10th of February 2017 should inform all public servants on the Government of Ghana mechanised payroll system who had not registered on the new SSNIT biometric system to do so by the end of February 2017. The notice further stated that commencing end of March 2017,salaries for un-enrolled workers, were to be suspended indefinitely or until the SSNIT re-enrollment was completed by the said workers. The February 28th, 2017 deadline was further extended to March 31st 2017 by the Minister of Finance. This directive will as such now come into effect commencing with the end of April 2017 payroll. Consequently, those not registered with SSNIT, as directed shall be treated as Ghost going forward and shall as such be removed from the payroll for April 2017. In a related development, the Minister has also directed the Controller and Accountant General to suspend the payment of pensions to some 23,029 people because they could not be accounted for in a nationwide head count which ended on the 22nd of October 2016.These two directives, resulting in the identification of close to 50, 000 Ghost names on the payroll and Pensions Registry were expected to save the country some GH35 million in payroll cost on a monthly basis or a total of over GHS250 million in 2017 alone.The statement said SSNIT was prepared to validate any affected pensioner, across the country, who availed themselves to be counted and validated going forward. It said several mobile enrolment kits were on standby to cater for affected pensioners who may not be able to travel to their nearest SSNIT district offices to complete the validation process. The Minister called on all citizens to help protect the public purse as Government was commited to bringing Ghana beyond Aid. Any real person whose name has been suspended can visit any of the SNNIT branches nationwide to be biometrically re-enrolled. SNNIT has set up enrolment desks within all their offices, the statement added. -GNA Nyankomasi (C/R), April 18, GNA - Scores of people in the Assin South District of the Central Region have expressed satisfaction and hope with the performance of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo led administration in its first 100 days in office. They have therefore called on Ghanaians to rally behind the President, adding that 'it would require the active involvement and support of all to achieve the transformation agenda.' The people said this when Ghana News Agency (GNA) team visited some communities in the area including Nyankomasi, Darmang, Kyekyewere, Manso, Nsuta and Edubiase. They were particularly optimistic in the President's ability to initiate innovative policies and programmes to hasten the pace of socio-economic development to improve the livelihoods of the people. They commended the President for the alacrity with which he assembled his ministers to take-off the political and administrative governance of the country. Mr Emmanuel Boakye-Antwi, a resident of Nyankomasi and a retired teacher, was full of praise for the President for his determination to redeem the campaign promise of introducing free Senior High School (SHS) education slated for September this year. He therefore called on the government to give it a strong financial backing to significantly reduce the burden on parents. At Assin Darmang, the district capital, Madam Naomi Botway, a farmer lauded the President's initiative to supply subsidised fertilizer to farmers to boost food production and maintain food security. She urged the President to crack the whip on the activities of illegal miners (galamsey) and demanded that 'Ghanaians should adopt better and sustainable sanitation practices and learn to protect and preserve the environment.' He said the law enforcement agencies should also deal ruthlessly with all illegal miners as well as politicians, traditional rulers and foreigners engaged in the menace. Mr George Hodzie, resident of Edubiase, however, asked the President to give meaning to his 'Father for all' mantra by restraining his party activists and vigilante groups from attacking political opponents and institutions. He condemned the attacks and the inability of the party to stop its supporters from their unruly behaviour and called on all we-meaning Ghanaians to speak against it. At Cape Coast, Nana Twum, a taxi driver was optimistic that Nana Akufu Addo's administration would deliver. Giving reasons on his position, he noted that the plans and programmes enumerated by the Vice President, Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia on Easter Monday was a strong indication that Ghanaians would smile 'soon'. Vida Ackon, a trader at Kotokuraba market said she was confident that the new administration could perform. According to her, it was the first time she voted for the New Patriotic Party, but was positive that her vote would not go to waste and appealed to the government not to renege on its promises. She mentioned the free SHS, the one district one factory and a million dollars for each constituency as some of the policies that informed her decision to change her vote. A teacher, Ms Betty Okwan urged the new administration to rigorously pursue the illegal mining menace and stem it out completely saying, this would give the government credit and perpetuate it's stay in office if it was able to achieve that feat. GNA By Afedzi Abdullah/Isaac Arkoh, GNA 18.04.2017 LISTEN Accra, April 18, GNA - Some market women at the Tema Station in Accra have expressed varied views on the 100 days tenure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in power. While most of them commended the NPP for a good job done, some were of the view that they expected more from the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo's government. In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra on Tuesday, Mrs Irene Yaa, a tomatoes seller, said Ghanaians should give the Akufo- Addo government the benefit of the doubt to exhibit what he could do to improve the economy. She explained: 'It's been only 100 days since the government came to power. It therefore needs to pay all the debts the former Government left behind.' Mrs Irene yaa applauded the NPP government for the Free Senior High School (SHS) programme, which would take effect in September. Mrs Salomey Amponsah a trader in shoes also praised the NPP for the reduction of some taxes. She expressed gratitude to President Nana Akufo-Addo for the restoration of the National Health Insurance Scheme. She however entreated government to 'continue the good work' and fulfil all its promises. Hajia Bature, a vegetable seller, said she was not happy about the economic status of the country. She explained that prices of goods had rather increased instead of decreased, which forced sellers to also increase the price of their goods. This she said had made trading very difficult, resulting in less purchase of their products. A trader who wanted to remain anonymous said, prices of goods were not stable in the market. 'One buys goods at a lower price today and the next minute prices increase,' she noted She said business was not picking up well and government should help them out. GNA By Christielove Basmel Aborchie/Jamila Abubakar, GNA 18.04.2017 LISTEN Accra, April 18, GNA - Ghana, under the government of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), led by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Vice Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has suffered 'one hundred days of deception, thuggery, corruption and ostentation.' The Minority Caucus in Parliament, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in an assessment of the first 100 days of the NPP Government said the Government failed to honour its campaign promises on which it rode to power. The NDC Minority Caucus, at a media conference in Accra, alluded to the Ghanaian Akan proverb 'agro beso a, efri anopa,' to wit, 'the signs of an enthralling game can be detected right from the beginning,' and said the governing NPP had disappointed Ghanaians right from its early days in power. The conference, addressed by the Minority Leader Haruna Iddrisu, his deputy James Klutse Avedzi and Ranking Member on Finance Cassiel Ato Forson assured Ghanaians that it would continue to hold the Government in check. 'On our part, we shall offer the needed support and criticise constructively with the view to shepherding the ailing Akufo-Addo government in order that they do not roll back the clock of progress set in motion by the NDC government,' the NDC assured. The NDC Caucus alerted the NPP government that Ghana could not wait for what if called 'four years of recklessness, violence lawlessness and insecurity, incompetence, hardship, and '110 elephant sized ministers. It called on President Akufo-Addo to 'listen to the plea of most well-meaning Ghanaians and drastically prune' his government now. 'And so, with only the next election as an option, we ask the Almighty God for divine intervention in the affairs of this nation. 'Awurade, begye steer no; May the Almighty take over the steering wheel,'' Dr Avedzi said in a statement. Dr Avedzi, in a swipe at the NPP government, said they were not creating jobs for the masses and neither were they alleviating hardships, but only interested in creating an 'elephant size' executive by appointing 110 ministers and deputy ministers, and other party apparatchiks to positions. With reference to the activities of some vigilante groups in the country, the Minority NDC caucus accused the NPP of having earned the distinction of a violent organisation, recalling that internal disagreements within the party that degenerated into bloody political clashes long before the NPP came into power. 'The NPP has been importing wholesale into government, the same acts of violence and lawlessness that marked their time in opposition,' the NDC caucus noted. And with reference to groups of thugs calling themselves 'Invincible Forces', Kahandar Boys' and 'Delta Force' the Minority NDC caucus said these groups 'have instituted a reign of terror in many parts of the country including government facilities and installations. Dr Avedzi recalled an incident at the Flagstaff House, the seat of Government, on January 9, 2017, the very first day President Akufo Addo reported to work, when 'members of the notorious Invincible Forces subjected a senior police officer, ASP Nankan Bruce to assault and harassment.... These thugs later went to intimidate his family at home, ransacked his house and towed away his personal vehicles.' According to the NDC Minority caucus, the absence of professional staff and trained tour guards who otherwise manned the Kintampo Waterfalls as a result being driven away by the vigilante groups soon after the 2016 elections contributed to the disaster at the falls 'which sadly claimed the lives of 20 promising teenagers. While praying for the peaceful rest for the souls of the deceased, Dr Avedzi called the incident an 'act of deliberate terrorism', in addition to referencing the attack by another group named Delta Force, which he associated with the NPP that attacked the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator at the Regional Coordinating Council in Kumasi. 'The reason for this senseless act of thuggery was that the said appointee was not their preferred candidate for the job of Regional Security Coordinator, and that his appointment flew in the face of earlier agreements reached with the President. 'According to the illegal Delta Force, they had been promised their leader was the right and competent man for the post of Ashanti Regional Coordinator. '...On 6th April 2017, thirteen of these Delta Forces were arraigned before the court of Justice Mary Nsenkyire in Kumasi, on the account of their assault on the legitimately appointed Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator.' 'The Delta Force physically stormed the lady justice's court and thumbed their noses on the justice delivery in Ghana, as they intimidated the judge and everybody who was in the court and its precincts and freed the accused persons, whiles the police personnel on duty looked on helplessly. 'This contemptuous act committed right in court and before a judge, led to the accused persons fleeing from justice that day. ' The NDC caucus laid the blame of 'state lawlessness 'at the doorsteps of President Akufo-Addo, explaining that he is the one who encouraged the training of 'these thugs' by South African mercenaries and benefited most from their intimidation and harassment of his critics within the NPP, during the bloody confrontations within the party between 2013 and 2016 'in return for juicy appointments and precious gifts should he win political power.' Citing other violent acts as driving away public sector workers, attacking schools and driving away caterers feeding school children, the Minority said the 'impunity with which these violent thugs have behaved only stemmed from tacit support from the highest levels of government.' The NDC caucus called on the President to go beyond condemnation to decisive action against 'these hoodlums' and also urgently step in 'to assure the judiciary that they can be free to work devoid of fear from political attack among others.' The Minority also made mockery of the 110 ministers and deputy ministers, nicknaming it as '110 ministers in 100 days.' 'We demand on behalf of the people of Ghana, the full publication of the names and associated compensation packages of all persons engaged in this capacity since the Akufo-Addo government came into office.' GNA By Benjamin Mensah, GNA By D.I. Laary Accra, April 18, GNA - The Energy Media Group, producers of Energy Ghana magazine has called on Deputy Minister of Energy Dr Mohammed Amin Adam to present copies of its quarterly bulletin to the Ministry. Dr Adam who expressed appreciation to the Energy Media Group (EMG) for the production of the bulletin on energy matters in the country described their visit as timely. He pledged the Ministry's support to enable local content, which he said was the topmost priority of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to be competitive on the turbulent global market. In areas of partnership, he said, 'the Ministry's doors werw always opened' to the magazine producers for access of information to help them make compelling stories in their subsequent editions. 'There is the need for the energy sector to be marketed to the rest of the world of which the media, especially EMG cannot be left out,' Dr Adam said. 'Ghana has the best brains and what we need is to harness our fullest potential inclusively in every facet of our economy. 'The Government vision is to create the enabling business environment to help local enterprises grow,' he said, 'to show this commitment, I personally subscribe to the magazine.' Receiving the magazine on behalf the ministry was Chief Director of the Ministry of Energy, Professor Thomas Man Akabzaa. Mr Henry Teinor, Chief Executive of EMG who made the presentation said the magazine contained various exciting topics that looked critically at the happenings in the country's downstream, midstream and upstream energy sector policies. 'It contains topics like Ghana's electricity policy since 1920: the plans, the promises and election cycle as well as whether Ghana is ready to handle oil spills are dealt by experts in the bulletin.' The 60-page quarterly magazine made in-depth analysis into energy expectations of Ghanaians in the midst of chronic problems in the power sector. 'We are hoping that President Akufo-Addo will be powering Ghana adequately in 2017, while he takes the mantle of leadership,' Mr Teinor, who is also the Editor of the magazine, said. GNA United Nations (United States) (AFP) - South Sudanese former rebels on Tuesday released 16 UN staff after holding them hostage for several hours in a camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN official said. About 530 former rebels from South Sudan are living in the Munigi camp, just outside of Goma, where they fled when fighting flared in the South Sudanese capital of Juba in July. "We are pleased to confirm that all 16 MONUSCO staff, who were earlier being held in a camp for former combatants in Munigi, have been released," said a UN official. The 16 staff worked for the UN mission, known as MONUSCO, but there were no details about their nationalities. "The camp is quiet and under full control of MONUSCO. All staff have returned safely to their homes," said the official. The official added that there were no casualties from the incident and that the mission had opened an investigation. The combatants, who were disarmed when they entered the camp, have for months demanded to be relocated, but UN officials have been unable to find countries willing to take them in. Rebel leader Riek Machar remains in South Africa and has been prevented from returning to South Sudan. After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and 3.5 million people displaced. Bamako (AFP) - Suspected jihadists killed five Malian soldiers Tuesday in the restive northern Timbuktu region, the government said, while the French army said it had "neutralised" around 10 fleeing attackers. The attackers made a dawn raid on an army camp in the remote Gourma Rharous area, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) from the ancient city of Timbuktu, a statement from Mali's government said. The assault "by a terrorist group" led to "the deaths of five soldiers and around 10 wounded," the statement said without identifying the attackers. The French army said troops serving under Operation Barkhane, its counterterror operation targeting jihadist groups in the Sahel region, had arrived at the scene after Malian soldiers raised the alarm. They sent a plane and a team of French commandos and about 10 of the fleeing attackers were "neutralised" about 30 kilometres from the camp they raided, it said, without specifying if the attackers had been killed or wounded. The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali condemned the "terrorist" attack and said it had sent a helicopter to evacuate the injured soldiers. Mali's north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012 who hijacked an ethnic Tuareg-led uprising, though the Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013. But swathes of the country remain beyond the control of Malian, French and UN forces, which face regular attacks despite a 2015 peace deal that was supposed to isolate the jihadists once and for all. Lawyers for eight members of Delta Force standing trial at a Kumasi Circuit Court expressed disappointment at the inability of the court to bring finality to the case on Tuesday. The concerns by the counsels of the members of the so-called 'vigilante group' stems from the decision of the court to adjourn hearing to the 17th of May, 2017 following the Attorney-General Department's request for the case docket for perusal. Lead prosecutor, ACP Okyere Darko, announced the A-G office's request in court on Tuesday, much to the displeasure of lawyers for the Delta Force. The eight Delta Force members were granted bail last week on charges of disturbances in court, resisting arrest and rescuing persons in lawful custody. Lead counsel for the vigilante group, Garry Nimako, told the media after Tuesdays hearing the defence team was disappointed at the turn of events because the A-G department's request to study the case docket will delay the process. I thought they [court] were going to commence trial, he stated. Mr. Nimako, however, said the defence team will wait patiently for the due process to be followed. We will wait to abide by the direction of the Attorney-General", he said. The lawyers have maintained the innocence of the eight accused persons. Why is it that we want to believe so badly? Most of the western world has just celebrated the Easter break. Its meant to be a celebration of Christs death (on Good Friday) and rebirth (on Easter Sunday). For such a world defining event, youd think wed have the date of it nailed, wouldnt you? Instead, it changes every year. Thats because Easter is a pagan seasonal celebration, hijacked by the Church to make it a religious celebration. The actual day of the celebration of Christs death depends on the date of the full moon after the Autumn equinox. In the northern hemisphere, the equinox indicates the time where the sun swings back over the equator and ushers in longer days and the rebirth of nature (spring). If you had just spent the past six months freezing and existing on stored crops, youd celebrate the changing of seasons too. No wonder the early Church was happy to use the date for its own story of rebirth. And there were clearly enough willing believers to quickly make it the dominant reason behind the Easter celebration. I thought of this need to believe in something after reading an article in the Financial Review about Donald Trumps recent backflips: Donald Trumps palpable tiptoe towards mainstream economic and foreign policies illustrates a president lacking firm ideology and trying to reshape his vitriolic campaign rhetoric to the reality he presides over. Trumps shameless recent backflips, partly away from populist nationalism, pose a tantalising question for Americans and the rest of the world trying to understand the direction of the US President. What does Trump actually stand for? Donald Trump stands for Donald Trump. Its as simple as that. That people actually believed otherwise is a testament to just how desperate humans are to believe in somethinganything. After all, we happily accepted that Jesus was born to a virgin, died on the cross, and rose from the dead three days later. The fact that believers of this story were promised everlasting life in heaven made its sale that much easier. If a great swathe of humanity bought this story, then Trumps election rhetoric to build a wall along the Mexican border, slap 45% trade tariffs on China, pull back from international conflict and sack Fed boss Janet Yellen sound absolutely plausible. But now its apparent that Trump is just like all other politicians (hungry for power and willing to lie to get it) I wonder what the blowback from the heartland will be? After all, these people genuinely believed his rhetoric. They dont want to know that Easter has its roots as a pagan celebration, and that Jesus didnt really rise from the dead. Well, now theyre getting a taste of it. How Trump manages the conflict between the realities of politics and his nationalist rhetoric will be fascinating to watch. China maintains the growth (facade) Chinas one for the true believers though. The central planners in the Middle Kingdom just keep on delivering. On Monday, it reported its fastest pace of quarterly growth 6.9% annualised in 18 months. Thats largely thanks to stimulus measures put into place last year, which have put another rocket under the property market. While its all good in the short term, China is simply building up long term problems to keep the economy humming along. The single-minded focus on state directed infrastructure spending means the economy is now dangerously reliant on the property sector. According to the Wall Street Journal: Chinas property industry now accounts for between 25% and 30% of Chinas gross domestic product, including related industries such as construction, according to DBS, a Singapore-based bank. The problem is that China really has no other options. It recently announced plans to build a brand new city, just south of Beijing. That sparked a frenzy of activity. From the Wall Street Journal again: XIONGAN NEW AREA, ChinaWhen the Chinese government announced plans earlier this month for a new megacity a two-hour drive south of Beijing, instant gold fever erupted. Fan Yushou, a 36-year-old businessman from Chongqing, about 1,100 miles away, hopped in his car as soon as he heard about the plans and drove for 20 hours. Home prices in the area more than doubled in the days after the April 1 announcement. Local media reported one Beijinger arrived with a trunk full of cash to buy apartments. They all wanted a piece of the Xiongan New Area, billed in state media as an ecocity led by innovation and high tech set to rise from a swath of farmland and plastics factoriesthe epitome of the new model of growth China aspires to. Its a 15 year project apparently, and will be good for Australias iron ore industry. But the flipside is ever-increasing debt. Total debt in China is now approaching 280% of GDP. Thats dangerously high for a developing economy. The thing is, it could keep on growing for years. We simply dont know when enough will be enough. All we know is that in a historical context, its dangerousand getting worse. The great hope for China is that consumers will come through and eventually provide the growth that the government is now giving through its infrastructure spending. But thats going to be hard to achieve. While consumer spending is strong, it needs to get much stronger to offset any decline from the infrastructure sector. Whether China can engineer such a feat is questionable. The other issue to consider is Chinas debt levels. As most of the debt in China is internal (its not borrowed from foreigners) the Chinese are basically borrowing from each other. The household sector is the largest supplier of savings, and has effectively lent these savings to the government and corporate borrowers over the past few years. Its going to be very difficult for consumers to increase their borrowing to such an extent that it will offset reduced government or business borrowing. Despite these worries, Chinas government has managed to generate decent growth and avoid any debt blow upsso far. Theres nothing to suggest they cant continue to do this for years to come. And while national anxiety levels around Australias housing market are reaching all-time highs, Chinas successful central planning is good news for our economy. Because while China remains strong, commodity prices will remain at healthy levels, so our economy should continue to keep its head above water. And that means the housing crash that everyone is waiting for will continue to remain elusive. Regards, Greg Canavan, Editor, Money Morning Telstra Corp Ltd [ASX:TLS] dropped 3.8% to a low a $4.00 per share this morning. The stock has fallen almost 22% year-to-date. The prospects for Australias biggest Telco arent looking too bright. What happened to Telstras Share Price? Recently, investors have been spooked over TPG Telecom Ltds [ASX:TPM] move to cut into Telstras mobile network. TPG is planning to build its own network, according to The Australian Financial Review. TPG paid $1.26 billion for a slice of the 4G mobile spectrum, and will spend $600 million over three years building its own network. And if competition lowers returns for Telstra, analysts at Montgomery Investment Management believe, the valuation of the businesses falls by more than just the reduction in earnings. What now for TPG and Telstra? Right now might not be the best time to jump into Telstra. Yes, the stock is depressed but, in the face of uncertainty, its hard to say if it has bottomed out yet. TPG has said they plan to be very competitive on price. But its still unknown how many Aussies will switch over to TPGs network. For now, it might be worth looking at other potential investments while investors continue to push Telstras share price down. Regards, Harje Ronngard, Junior Analyst, Money Morning PS: Telstra is known for its huge dividend. The stock has a dividend yield of more than 7%. Now thats pretty hard to beat. But there are other stock paying hefty dividends which arent trending down. Income specialist, Matt Hibbard has been scouring the ASX to find the very best dividend stocks. In his research he decided to compile his finding into a report called Top 5 Dividend Stocks in Australia for 2017. To get a free copy of Matts report, click here. The education system in Nigeria has always been a subject for discussion. The situation is drastic almost at every level of the school. Therefore, no wonder that young Nigerians look for online courses. Still, employees of Nigeria want to find employers with certificates. It means that you need to find online courses with a certificate of completion. Take a close look why you should start online education. Appearance of the online courses in Nigeria People do not want to obtain traditional education for many reasons. The Economic situation in the country and overall situation with education facilities do not encourage people to enter the universities. Strikes of the Academic Staff Union of Universities showed the deep problem of the education system, which was further escalated with the killing of 45 learners at the College of the Agriculture. Should it be mentioned that the Federal and Government keeps decreasing funds of education? The highest allocated funds for education was in 1997 17.59% from the budget. Therefore, the highest payment for the education was made almost twenty years ago. Dawn of Online Courses in Nigerian Universities One of the first courses for online education in Nigeria was proposed by Intel. The company managed to provide low-cost free resources for digital learning. Learn Marketplace, and Intel Explore launched to help various age groups across all over the world to find a way to get the education. Learners can access interactive materials, like instruction videos, podcasts, examination papers, and books. Bunmi Ekundare, the country manager of Intel West Africa assured that educational community would find the way to the Intel materials. Nowadays you may not attend long hour classes or travel extreme distances to obtain your degree. You can find distance learning solution in the University of Nigeria. Nigerian Universities E-Learning Fully Online Degree Programs also provide various academic programs where you can get a certificate or degree. If you do not have a desire for relocation you can certainly get your education at home. You can also get degrees from well-known international universities. It`s extremely helpful not only for learners who can`t afford degrees from the USA or UK but also for people who are physically challenged. A lot of people who want to entry Universities Online Courses will have their dreams fulfilled. You can enroll in the Universities with better prices and international status. Nevertheless, online education also has some challenges as you still need to learn the subject by yourself entirely. Why do you need University Online Courses? READ ALSO: How to check JAMB result with scratch card 2017/2018? Online learning has become a trend in the educational sector. Millions of students around the world prefer to enroll online courses rather than traditional universities. There are several factors, why people prefer online courses over traditional university education. - You can study online without leaving your work - You can study where you like as long as you have the internet connection - Online learning is much cheaper than traditional studying - You can study at your own pace Online Courses in the Great Britain Online UK universities provide a wide range of courses. You can find next undergraduates from the universities: - Tourism and Hospitality; - Psychology and Health; - Media and Computing; - Law and Finance; - Business and Management. Most of the online universities provide postgraduate programs: - MBA in Tourism and Hospitality; - Law; - Finance; - IT; - Telecommunication. Nigerian students can get the best studying online. All required materials are available online for Nigerian students. People can apply for them at any time and any distance. They can also surf the internet for mentors and assistance in academics. Great opportunities are waiting for Nigerian students who want to connect their lives with online courses. Free Online Courses There are many online courses that can provide you free education for almost any subject or matter. Most of these courses offer students a credential. It`s something like a certificate of completion. It acknowledges that a student has mastered a certain course of study. Most of the courses are free of charge. It`s happened due to a revolution in the world`s education system. The overall system is called Massive Open Online Courses. You can find the best universities with Massive Online Courses Providers, like: - Venture Lab; - Google Course Builder; - Class2Go; - edX; - Udacity; - Coursera. These online course providers may help you to find free online courses or partial free online courses in any field of study. Online Courses on Management Management is one of the most popular directions for education in Nigeria. Check top 15 international online courses in management - Windows 10 Features for a Mobile Workforce: Identity Management and Data Access from Microsoft on edX; - Arts and Heritage Management from Universita Bocconi on Coursera; - Critical Perspectives on Management IE Business School on Coursera; - Entrepreneurial Strategic Management the University of New Mexico on Coursera; - Intermediate Financial and Management Accounting from ACCA on edX; - Introduction to Financial and Management Accounting from ACCA on edX; - Management and Leadership: Leading a Team The Open University on FutureLearn. - Project Management for Business Professionals from Shaping Tomorrow on Canvas Network - Protected Areas Management in Africa from Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne on Coursera - Relationship Management from Rice University on Coursera - Management from the University of Florida on Coursera - Sustainable Food Production Through Livestock Health Management from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Coursera - The Cycle: Management of Successful Arts and Cultural Organizations from University of Maryland of College Park on Coursera - Intercultural Management from ESCP Europe on Coursera - Business English: Management and Leadership from Arizona State University on Coursera Online Courses on Nutrition Check these top 15 best courses in nutrition and agriculture - Child Nutrition and Cooking from Stanford University on Coursera - Food, Nutrition and Your Health from Open2Study - The Science of Nutrition from the open university on FutureLearn - Nutrition and Health Part 3: Food Safety from Wageningen University on edX - Sustainable Agricultural Land Management from the University of Florida on Coursera - Agriculture and the World We Live In from Massey University on Open2Study - The Future of Farming: Exploring Climate Smart Agriculture from University of Reading on Futurelearn - Innovation: The Food Industry from the University of Leeds on FutureLearn - Food Safety and Toxicology from National Taiwan University on Coursera - Stanford Introduction to Food and Health from Stanford University on Coursera - A History of Royal Food and Feasting from University of Reading on FutureLearn - Food as Medicine from Monash University on FutureLearn - Identifying Food Fraud from University of East Anglia on FutureLearn - Antimicrobial Resistance in the Food Chain from the University of Nottingham on FutureLearn - Energy, Environment and Everyday Life from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign of Coursera Online courses with certificate of completion A lot of Universities can provide you a good quality education. They can provide you not only a certificate of completion but also a diploma. Check Top 10 University online courses! University of Phoenix This university provides a good quality education for people interested in rolling into the bachelor's, associate`s and master`s degrees. Ashford University This university helps to acquire subjects of study with using the latest technologies. Strayer University This university 'tailors' the programs and courses according to the lifestyle of the student, so you can easily combine work and study. Walden University Walden offers good quality education courses that can fit your lifestyle. Open University Australia This University has been rolling students for online courses for over seventeen years. Columbia Southern University This university feeds a comfortable style of learning in various fields of study. Kaplan University If you have a tight schedule, then Kaplan University is your choice. You can easy work at study at the same time with this University. State University of New York It provides various free online courses, where you can be granted with a Statement of Accomplishment. Nevertheless, if you want to enroll into a full study to obtain a degree it`s also quite possible. University of Michigan It`s one of the leading universities in the world. If you want to study IT technology or computer languages, then the University of Michigan can propose you several free online courses for studying on Coursera. University of Illinois It`s another USA university that provides a Statement of Accomplishment. You can be successful at the study and work at the same time with this university. READ ALSO: Teenage pregnancy in Nigeria Source: Legit.ng Nigerian educational system suffers from the examination malpractice for a long time. It is said that Nigerian academic certificates are worthless and are no more valuable than the paper they are printed on. Examination malpractice is illegal and can ruin a students life. But what are the main issues? How does it affect students? What can we do to stop the examination malpractice? Today we will give the answer to these questions. What is the meaning of the examination malpractice? Examination malpractice is any form of cheating before, during or after examination. There are different forms of examination malpractice: Plagiarism (stealing or passing ideas or words of another as ones own); Using any cheat notes; Copying from pre-prepared answer sheet; Colluding with other students to get the right answer; Copying from another students test; Continuing taking the test even when the time is over. If to generalize, each action that will give one unfair advantage may be considered as examination malpractice. A student can commit examination malpractice either inside or outside the classroom. What are the main causes of the examination malpractice? READ ALSO: Highest IQ in the world - Top 10 intelligent countries 'He who fails to prepare, gets ready to fail' One of the leading causes of the examination malpractice is failed preparation. There may be a few reasons for it - a unspecialized teacher that was not able to explain properly, lack of time (for example if a student has a part-time job) and laziness. The last one can be a big issue - students are more eager to do something simpler than studying. A big amount of students There may be a large population of students willing to go to higher institutions. However, there are not enough place for all of them. So students, who are not doing very well, will choose examination malpractice in order to get what they want. Lack of time The lack of time was mentioned before, but in this case, it is about subjects. There are complex subjects such as Math, Chemistry, Physics, that take a significant amount of time to explain properly. Unfortunately, there are not enough time during the school period, so the curriculum is usually reduced to fit all other subjects. Students may not be able to get all the needed information from the shortened version of the subjects. Therefore, they are supposed to study on their own or cheat. The last option is the easiest one for the lazy people. Despair A lot of students may consider cheating as the only way to pass the exam. They may be prepared, but examination malpractice is something that will let them excel by all means. Corruption Corruption is one of the biggest problems in modern society. And educational system suffers from it too. There may be corrupt supervisors and invigilators. A lot of students will like to go the easy way and bribe them to pass the exam. Parents Parents want the best for their child and education is not an exception. Some parents may want to bribe teachers instead of hiring a tutor, for example. The easiest option is not always the best choice and parents have to remember that. The consequences of examination malpractice Examination malpractice can cause different problems in the future. Students that hsd cheated and werent caught would try to go the same easy way in life - they might stay lazy and unproductive. They will grow into adults that cheat, copy instead of doing work on their own. They will not have any academic or moral values. Students that tried hard and prepared for exams will become less confident and perhaps suffer from apathy. They will see that unprepared students that can easily pass the exams and think Why do I have to try hard and prepare if anybody can pass?. Examination malpractice can lead to another area of misconduct such as robbery. It may appear as the easiest and the fastest way to earn money. What are the solutions to examination malpractice? There are several possible solutions to examination malpractice. - Higher salary for teachers. If the salary will be high enough, then there would be no need for corruption; - Properly trained teachers. A high skilled teacher can cover a big part of the syllabus, so that the students will be well prepared; - Guidance Counselors. They should be in all schools to help the students on studying and choosing a career; - Holidays. There should be more holidays in number but less in length. It is known that students tend to be less productive after a long holiday; - A bigger number of supervisors and invigilators. More people will be able to have more control over the students and will notice any cheating; - Students should be thoroughly searched before the exam. This is a great option that will help to avoid fraud. Examination Malpractice is the current problem of the educational system. It affects not only students or teachers but the system in general. It is critical to stop it from spreading. The consequences can be horrible - we will have a society of lazy, unproductive people that are ready to forget about their morals to get what they want. It may be hard to stop students from misconduct, but there are ways to do it. READ ALSO: Touching story of how this Nigerian lady graduated with a first class in law from University of Buckingham Source: Legit.ng - About 1,623 person held in the den of Boko Haram, have been rescued - The former captives were saved by the troops of 3 Battalion, 22 Brigade Nigerian Army on Operation LAFIYA DOLE, assisted by ten civilian (JTF) - They were recovered after the troops carried out an offensive on suspected location of Boko Haram terrorists at Jarawa general area, Kala Balge LGA of Borno state Troops of 3 Battalion, 22 Brigade Nigerian Army on Operation LAFIYA DOLE, assisted by ten civilian JTF, have rescued a total of 1,623 persons held captive by members of the Boko Haram terrorists group in Borno state. BREAKING: 1,623 persons held captives by Boko Haram released by troops According to a statement released last night by the Director, Army Public Relations, Brigadier General Sani Usman, the successful rescue operation was based on information received, yesterday by the troops by the civilian JTF intimating them to act for the safety of the captives. READ ALSO: 2017 #BBNaija: See how Marvis the "Little Miss Dynamite" received royal entry in Rivers state The captives were rescued after a joint effort offensive between the Nigerian troops and men of the JTF The troops, according to Usman, had embarked on offensive on suspected location of Boko Haram terrorists at Jarawa general area, Kala Balge Local Government Area of Borno State based on the tip-off. But the statement said while advancing, the troops came under heavy fire at Jarawa village and responded decisively. They went further to clear Deima, Artano, Saduguma, Duve, Bardo, Kala, Bok, Msherde and Ahirde settlements. Medical attention is very essential for the many who have been trapped in the terrorists den. The troops medical personnel administered medications to the children after the rescue operation During the operation, the troops neutralized 21 Boko Haram terrorists, rescued 1,623 residents of Jarawa who were held captives by the terrorists. They also recovered three AK-47 Rifles with registration numbers 565222414, 563729686 and UF 3646, a 36 Hand Grenade, 12 Cutlasses and four motorcycles," the statement added. "The rescued persons have been escorted to Rann Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) Camp, while all the children were vaccinated," the statement added. Source: Legit.ng Editor's note: Adjimot Ashogbon, a Nigerian Muslim, has advised business mogul Aliko Dangote on catering more for the poor Muslims in the country. Ashogbon in this piece believes that, if Dangote takes over 500,000 poor Muslims out of the streets as his Zakat, the battered image of Islam in Nigeria might be salvaged. Dear Sir, It is with great humility that I sent this letter to you. I am not sure it will get to you though, but I'm hoping and relying on the power of social media share button that, perhaps, it will. If however, you receive this letter, please note that I desire nothing personal, but the pleasure of Allah over you and well being of the Muslims at large. Sir, you know very sure that you have been greatly favoured by Allah among the entire black race in Africa and elsewhere, even among men of other colours, as no name makes echo than yours across Africa. Your business is progressing and expanding on a daily basis and no household, at least, no one here in Nigeria, can do without your product. Even when our nation is experiencing economic crisis, your business and wealth continues to grow without limit. Such is the favour of Allah over you. Sir, my greatest concern is about your Zakat, the fourth pillar of Islam, binding upon you as a Muslim. Sir, my greatest concern is about your Zakat, the fourth pillar of Islam, binding upon you as a Muslim. READ ALSO: Whistleblower narrates what transpired in Lagos apartment where EFCC seized $50m As a Muslim from Kano , I'm sure you knew more than I know about the importance of Zakat in the life of a wealthy Muslim. If our noble prophet Muhammad (saw) were to be alive today, you definitely would be noticed by him, and his message to you would centered on Zakat. Sir, I am not saying you are not paying Zakat, but the impact of your Zakat payment is yet to be seen; it should have been seen. I say this because the extent of your wealth is no longer a secret across the world. For example, it was reported that, as of today, you are the richest Black African with about $25 billion. The Forbes also ranked you as the 67th Richest person in the world of more than 7 billion people! Your investment cut across the globe, you are healthy and millions of people across the world earns their livelihood through you. Sir, "Which of Your Lord's Favours would you Deny?" (Q.55) Sir, $25bn is about 5trillion Naira, that is the size of Nigeria's annual budget, which has about 140 millions citizens. Sir, assuming you can pay 2.5% mandatory Zakat on 3trillion Naira only from your wealth, that would be some 75bn Naira! READ ALSO: BREAKING: 1,623 persons held captives by Boko Haram released by troops (Photos) Sir, with 75bn Naira made available yearly as Zakat for the vulnerable Muslims, starting from Kano, you can save Islam from its battered image. You will agree with me sir, that boko haram was able to recruits young people because there is too much poverty among the Muslims. Your Zakat can free no less than 500,000 Muslims every year from poverty if your Zakat is properly used. The gap between Sunni-Shia Muslims may also be considerably reduced and the fortune of Islam and Muslims will rise again. Sir, your Zakat alone can defeat the terrorists which have turned most Muslim countries of the world to war theater. In conclusion sir, help cross-check those who handle your Zakat to properly administer it so that the blessings of Allah becomes manifold. May your wealth continues to grow, and may your history never end in the manner of the richest man in the life-time of Prophet Musa (AS). Thank you sir, Your Daughter in Islam, Ajimot Ashogbon. NB: To those who may share this letter until it gets to you, it is my prayers that they will never be victims of poverty in their life-time. Amen. The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Legit.ng Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@corp.legit.ng drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors. Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App. Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Legit.ng Opinion page! Watch this Legit.ng video of Easter special market survey below: Source: Legit.ng - Detectives are to question a former governor over the recovered fund in a flat in Ikoyi, Lagos - Some high-profile owners of apartments in the area - Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos have also been penned down for interrogation - $43.4million was recovered last Wednesday, April 12 from the flat A report by The Nation indicates that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has identified how the controversial apartment 7B, where the $43.4million was kept, was acquired. Also recovered were 27,000 and N23million cash. According to the report, detectives are to question a former governor over the recovered fund in a flat in Ikoyi, Lagos. Some high-profile owners of apartments in the area - Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos have also been penned down for interrogation. Legit.ng gathered that the EFCC has intensified investigation into the roles played by some apartment owners and tenants on how the cash was brought into the towers. EFCC boss, Ibrahim Magu are under pressure to reveal the owners of the find recovered The anti-graft agency is said to be suspecting that some owners or tenants may have been complicit in the matter. READ ALSO: Whistleblower narrates what transpired in Lagos apartment where EFCC seized $50m A source said: The more we investigate this $43.4m haul, the more we get fresh facts. It has become imperative to interact with some owners or tenants of apartments in the Towers. We have invited a former governor and other high-profile owners and tenants for interaction. It is just to ask a few questions on whether or not they were aware of such movement of cash. We have clues linking some occupants of the Towers to the cash haul. And in line with sections 16 and 17 of the EFCC (Establishment Act) 2004, we are inviting these landlords or tenants. Unless we get to the root of this case, Nigerians may not know the truth or otherwise about the cash. We are not saying that those invited are guilty of any infraction or having link with the $43.4million but we need to hear from them in line with the ongoing profiling of those in the Towers. Another source said detectives discovered that the 7B Apartment was bought in the name of a company allegedly owned by the wife of a senior government official. President Buhari has since directed that the fund should be paid back into the national treasury Since investigation is still ongoing, we will not release the identity of the owner of the company. Doing so might jeopardise investigation, the source said, adding that the EFCC had interacted with some people from the company. A National Intelligence Agency (NIA) source said of the apartment: What happened was that because of the nature of the covert operations which the apartment will be used for, it was necessary to manage the process well. Only the Deed of Assignment was acquired by Thabis Ventures Limited on behalf of NIA. And immediately the process for the purchase of the apartment was completed, the ownership was clearly stated in the name of NIA. All the papers are reflecting NIA too, he said, adding: The title document is available for anyone to verify. READ ALSO: Pastor Kumuyi reveals Nigeria's crisis will end soon Meanwhile, the deputy national publicity secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank has written an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari in connection to the recent fund recovery by the EFCC. The Bayelsa-born APC chieftain noted that while many Nigerians have applauded the progress recorded in the anti-corruption war, and highly commend the EFCC for the great job they are doing, they expect the anti-graft commission to move a step further by disclosing those who truly own the recovered funds. Source: Legit.ng - Seven people have been arrested over the assassination attempt on Senator Dino Melaye's life on Saturday, April 15 - The suspects were arrested by the Kogi state police command in connection with the attempt on the senator's life at his residence in Aiyetoro-Gbede - A black jeep and some ammunition were also recovered by the police The Nigerian Police Force has arrested seven people over alleged attempt on the life of the senator representing Kogi West Central Dino Melaye. The individuals were arrested by the Kogi state police command in connection with the attempt on the senator's life at his residence in Aiyetoro-Gbede on Saturday, April 15, Punch reports. Legit.ng gathered that a black jeep suspected to have been used for the operation alongside some ammunition were recovered by the Kogi state Criminal Investigation Department on Monday, April 17. The suspects were arrested by the Kogi state police command in connection with the attempt on the senator's life at his residence in Aiyetoro-Gbede Senator Melaye had on Saturday escaped unhurt after gunmen invaded his house in his country home. READ ALSO: BREAKING: 1,623 persons held captives by Boko Haram released by troops (Photos) The gunmen who shot sporadically to the air destroyed two vehicles with bullets. However, sources within the police, Legit.ng gathered, arrested the suspects at different locations in Kogi state. The black jeep which was allegedly used in the assassination attempt has been impounded by the police in Kogi state. Also, security operatives are said to be combing the state for the remaining suspects as the command has ordered the Ijumu local government area administrator Taofiq Isa to report to the police command. READ ALSO: EFCC intensifies investigation to unravel owner of recovered fund in Ikoyi Speaking on the matter, the Kogi state police public relations officer William Ayah said investigation is still ongoing. Recall that Melaye had accused Isa of masterminding the attempt to take his life on Saturday. While Isa has denied the allegation, he said he was busy attending to his sick wife on the day the incident happened. Isa said: Ive never been a violent man. My running battle with Dino if any is because I have asked him to stop vilifying the state Governor, Yahaya Bello. Watch this Legit.ng video of All Progressives Congress official giving reasons his party could be voted out: Source: Legit.ng - Southern Cameroun has allegedly joined IPOB in the struggle for Biafra struggle - A new pro-Biafra group the Biafra Nations Youth League (BNYL), has joined join aligned with the IPOB - The BNYL says it has pledged its support to IPOB in a bid to end the "oppression of the Biafra people" Emerging reports suggest that the indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have won the trust and support of Southern Cameroon According to Daily Sun, a new pro-Biafra group, the Biafra Nations Youth League (BNYL), has joined the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), in its struggle for a sovereign state. BNYL, according to its leader, Prince Robinson C. Obuka is a community-based organization of youths with headquarters in Bakassi Peninsula. It was reportedly established on August 3, 2013 in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, following agreements by members and founders to uphold the unity of the various ethnic nations in the Bight of Biafra. The group said it supported all the actions taken so far by IPOB on the continued detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Already, IPOB has declared May 30 as a sit-at-home day to drive home its point and to further push for the unconditional release of its detained leaders, who are facing treason charges in a Federal High Court, Abuja. According to an electronic message, "the BNYL believes in due process to freedom and especially due consultations and have assured the aggrieved people of Biafra that we will remain steadfast in the greater dream of achieving Biafra and would make sure the various ethnic nations stay focused" Before throwing its weight behind IPOB, BNYL said it had begun grassroots mobilization in many towns of the coastal area and had expanded to the inland areas including the Igbo speaking territory who are majority tribe of Biafra. READ ALSO: Scandal! How Obasanjo bribed lagislators with N50m each to support third term ambition - Yerima IPOB says there is no justifiable ground on which its leader should remain in custody In the past, the group said it had organised a congress with the Governing Council of former British Southern Cameroons in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State during which a declaratory speech in support of Biafra independence and Biafra-Southern. Following the development, President of Southern Cameroons Youth League and Secretary General of the Organization of Emerging African States, Dr Ebenezer Dereck Mbongo Akwanga, a one time prisoner spoke with IBTIMES UK that Biafra-Southern Cameroon Coalition is a possibility as the people share similar culture and history. Another activist from Manyu division, Comrade Ashu Shamy, a former SUG President in Cameroon and co-founder of BNYL confirmed that his people and Cross Riverians are one and would never kick against Biafra, the statement read. It said the group has also held a congress in Ekukunela, Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State in honour of internally displaced natives of the Bakassi Peninsula last April. In an earlier report by Legit.ng, the Federal Government told the Biafran agitators to forget the idea, noting that after a 30-month civil war to keep the nation together, its unity remained non-negotiable. On the 12th of April 2016 following arrest of the Deputy Leader Comrade Ebuta Takon who was detained in Ikom for three days. IPOB says those who are keeping Nnamdi Kanu in custody, are only doing so to impress President Muhammadu Buhari The congress saw the announcement of the Biafra Youth resolution known as Akwa-Cross Declaration same day in Ekukunela with the presence of Ikom, Etung, Obubra, Boki and Bakassi youths which followed a demonstration by mostly Ejagham natives in the host town. The Resolution gave more recognition to the Communal Congress stating that the League will be Congress minded and nation conscious. The League have organised series of combined Akwa-Cross elders and youths Congress in Eket, Akwa Ibom State where the BNYL was adopted as a household Organization. This followed Nembe Kingdom meeting in Bayelsa State to ascertain the grievances of the Niger Delta Avengers, a militant group that focus on blowing pipelines after hearing from the people of Nembe declared support for Avengers action due to neglect of the Niger Delta, a region that lies at the mouth of the ancient African Region, Bight of Biafra. On November 05 2016 BNYL moved headquarters from Ikom to Bakassi following clashes between the militia group, Bakassi Strike Force and Nigeria Troops of Operation code named Delta Safe accusing the Nigerian Military of targeting natives, after blasting the government for ceding the Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroon without referendum urging the people to build faith in Biafra. The League currently have a Chief of Staff named Linus Essien who is also the leader of displaced Bakassi Youths. IPOB says its planned stay-at-home protest for May 30. will drive home its point regarding the oppression of its people On November 9th, 2016, the National Leader, Comrade Prince Obuka and some members of a Christian Charity that came with relief materials for IDPs were apprehended in Ikang-Cameroon boarder by troops and handed over to the Department of State Service DSS, Cross River State Command where they were detained for three days and was granted bail, troops revealed it was an order that came from Abuja. On Wednesday, February 8, 2017, the National Deputy Leader, Comrade Ebuta Tako, himself Ejagham native of Cross River was arrested in Ekok, a small Ejagham town in Mamfe area of Cameroon following his visit to the town. He was released on bail after two days in security net. The Biafra Nations Youth League have equally supported the actions by the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB), who have engaged in streets protests against the detained Director of Radio Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu as some members have been participating but organised by the IPOB. The BNYL believes in due process to freedom and especially due consultations and have assured the aggrieved people of Biafra that We will remain steadfast in the greater dream of achieving Biafra and would make sure the various ethnic nations stays focused. The Biafra Nations Youth League (BNYL), which promises to support IPOB activities at all times, according to its leader, Prince Robinson C. Obuka, is a community-based organisation of youths with headquarters in Bakassi Peninsula. The BNYL was established on August 3, 2013 in the popular city of Port-Harcourt, Rivers State. This follows agreements by members and founders to uphold the unity of the various ethnic nations in the Bight of Biafra. The group said it supported all the actions taken so far by IPOB to free its leader, Nnamdi Kanu from prison. The BNYL believes in due process to freedom and especially due consultations. We have assured the aggrieved people of Biafra that we will remain steadfast in the greater dream of achieving Biafra and will make sure the various ethnic nations stay focused, it stated. Source: Legit.ng After a Legit.ng video where a young Nigerian boy campaign for Mass burial for our political leaders, another man, who looked really frustrated in this video, has also advocated mass burial for African leaders, claiming that our leaders are Africa's biggest problem. Source: Legit.ng Editor's note: A Borno-based legal practitioner, Elmustapha Muhammad in an open letter to Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno state, expresses his frustrations over what he called neglect of the people of the state by the governor. I am not among those who collect money to write against you or public officers but since you are my leader and servant as well, I owe it a duty to tell you the truth no matter how painful it is. When Bornolites desperately fought for you to win election, we had a lot of hope and beliefs that your emergence will bring a new way of doing things in our body polity. READ ALSO: Police arrests 7 for assassination attempt on Dino Melaye We dreamt and fought for change. Many Bornolites have stood by you as the difficult process of change has continued painstaking but steadily and we are confident that a new Borno will arise from the ruins of yesterday. If I must remind you sir, you used to be one of the philanthropists by nature, this is the quality you possessed that won you the hearts of many Bornolites before your coming into power. Prior to your emergence as Borno state governor, Bornolites witnessed disastrous disasters and lacuna in good governance. Borno-based legal practitioner, Elmustapha Muhammad it is now a thing of regret that those Bornolites' who bestowed their trust in you are now crying in pains and hardship under your own watch. Your excellency, what then shocked us all was that months after your emergence as Borno state governor, you tactically turned your back against those Bornolites who aligned with you in fighting out for power, don't forget that you might still need those 'Bornolites tomorrow. Remember the day of judgement Your Excellency, the Almighty will ask you to give account of those who died due to your inability to provide health service for your people. You must therefore do everything possible to make sure that the 'Bornolites' wishes prevail so that you can write your name on a good slate before leaving office, because its never late to change for change is a constant thing in man. I am anticipating that this letter will get to you or any of your aides who are on social media. I am hoping to see you become a genuine apostle of the change your party (APC) uses as its mantra. READ ALSO: Why President Buhari should resign now Asu Beks Your excellency, I still believe Borno will be great and optimistic my letter will give you a sincere concern to lift our dear state (Borno) high. Thank you The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily represent the editorial policy of Legit.ng. Your own opinion articles are welcome at info@naij.com drop an email telling us what you want to write about and why. More details in Legit.ngs step-by-step guide for guest contributors. Were ready to trade your news for our money: submit news and photo reports from your area using our Citizen Journalism App. Contact us if you have any feedback, suggestions, complaints or compliments. We are also available on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to Legit.ng Opinion page! Meanwhile, in the video below by Legit.ng, Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II blasts Nigeria's leaders over poverty. Source: Legit.ng Despite the failing health system in Nigeria, a hospital in Anambra has proven to be in a class of its own after it recorded another success in open heart surgery. Legit.ng gathered that the Dr Joe Nwilo heart center at the Saint Joseph's hospital in Adazi Nnukwu, Anaocha local government area of Anambra state, recently conducted an open heart surgery on a 6-year-old boy. The little boy identified as Solomon Chinweuba, had been diagnosed with heart problems, and was operated on by a team of both Indian and Nigerian heart surgeons at the hospital. Solomon's mother identified as Mrs Delphine Joseph, said they were sent to the heart center from Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). Little Solomon Chinweuba had a successful open heart surgery at the Joe Nwilo heart center in Anambra state READ ALSO: Corp member celebrates mother who sold plantain to educate him She also proceeded to shower praises on the Anambra state government who she says paid the bill for the surgery, asking God to also protect Governor Willie Obiano. The state commissioner for health, Dr Josephat Akabuike, addressed newsmen after the surgery, stating that the government would continue to aid mission hospitals for the people of Anambra state. He also said that surgeries involving the heart was not only very expensive, but also very complex, so he went ahead to praise the team of doctors. READ ALSO: FBI declares Nigerian man wanted for fraud, offers N400k reward Dr Akabuike also called on Nigerians to patronise the heart center for their heart-related diseases, instead of borrowing money to go abroad for treatment. Speaking on why he started the heart center, Dr Joe Nwilo, said he hoped to help the treatment of heart diseases in Nigeria. He said the center has already performed over 30 successful heart surgeries with the help of the state government. He said the input of the government has ensured that most patients undergo surgery free of charge. READ ALSO: 5 policemen allegedly go blind while trying to arrest TB Joshua's spiritual son Dr Narendra, a doctor from the Vikram hospital in India, led the team of surgeons who conducted the open heart surgery. He expressed satisfaction over the state of the arts equipment the heart center boasts of. Some of the state of the arts equipment found in the heart center Meanwhile, here are signs that you should look out for to avoid a heart attack: Source: Legit.ng World acclaimed Nigerian novelist, nonfiction writer and short story writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is to lead team of scholars to Washington where a discuss boardering over Biafra will take central stage. The writer whose words on the the issues surrounding feminism has a global attention, would be the keynote speaker at a conference tagged: " Remembering Biafra", scheduled to hold at the The George Washington University in DC. George Washington University's Remembering Biafra conference will bring together scholars, activists, and humanitarians to examine the global impact of the Nigeria-Biafra War of 1967-70. Speakers will be analyzing the war in terms of its impact on US-Africa relations, its influence on the modern politics of humanitarianism, and the legacies of decolonization. To do justice to these issues raised alongside Adichie, are: Michael Aaronson, Douglas Anthony, Gloria Chuku, Anthonia Kalu, Chima Korieh, Cecelia Lynch, Brian McNeil, Chika Okeke-Agulu, Peter Redfield, Brad Simpson, Olufemi Vaughan; all professors of different fields. The event is scheduled to take place on Thursday, April 20. READ ALSO: BREAKING: Lagos confirms Reverend King, others to be executed Chimamanda Adichie and other scholars would be looking at the impact of the Biafra on Nigeria and in relation to Nigeria's relationship with the US In an earlier report by Legit.ng, George Onyeibe, the National Coordinator of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has said that nothing can stop the sit at home order that has been scheduled for Tuesday, May 30. Onyeibe made the statement on Tuesday, April 11, while speaking to newsmen in Owerri, alongside representatives of IPOB. He also alleged that the use of Sharia law to try their detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu, would not be accepted, adding that it was a ploy by the Federal government to Islamize the country. The IPOB chief said: "The right for self determination is bestowed on man by God as it is backed by the united nation constitution. Biafra has an agenda." In a similar vein, the IPOB has called on its members to honour all 'fallen heroes' who died during the 1967 civil war. The IPOB in a statement signed by its media and publicity secretary Powerful Emma said all those who died during war between 1967 and 1970 will be honour by the IPOB. Emma said: "The 30th of May 2017 sit at home and heroes remembrance day will be 50th year of the divine declaration of Biafra by our eternal leader Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu who by the grace of God Almighty Chukwu Okike Abiama announced the coming and independent state of Biafra which we are still on today." The IPOB said 2017 remembrance for those who died during 1976 civil war will be an extra special one in its golden jubilee anniversary. Source: Legit.ng - Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have arrested the former wife to one of the Boko Haram commanders - The suspect and one other was arrested in Maiduguri on Friday, April 14, the Corps commandant said - The NSCDC said the duo who were suspected to be strapped with explosive devices were heading to Kangarwa camp from Sambisa forest The estranged wife of one of the Boko Haram commanders have been arrested by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps. The NSCDC while speaking to journalists on Tuesday, April 18, said the wife of Mamman Nur, a factional leader of the Boko Haram terrorist group was arrested in Maiduguri, the capital city of Borno state. Legit.ng gathered that Ibrahim Abdullahi, the commandant of NSCDC in the state said, his men arrested two female suspects in Maiduguri on Friday, April 14. READ ALSO: EFCC intensifies investigation to unravel owner of recovered fund in Ikoyi Abdullahi said the duo who were suspected to be strapped with explosive devices were heading to Kangarwa camp from Sambisa forest. He said they were going to meet with factional leader of the insurgents. One of the suspect claimed that she is the ex-wife of the factional Boko Haram leader, Abdulahi said. The estranged wife of one of the Boko Haram commanders have been arrested by the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps. They said they escaped from a camp in Sambisa forest after Nigerian troops attack the terrorists, he said. READ ALSO: BREAKING: EFCC obtains warrant to search entire Osborne apartment The NSCDC commandant further added that the two suspects were abandoned by the Boko Haram commander who asked them to wait in Maiduguri. He said the terrorist had promised to provide accommodation for the suspects when they arrive at Kangarwa camp. Recall that some terrorists were said to have bombed a bridge in Gujba local government area of Yobe state on Tuesday, April 18. The attack left one vigilante dead while seven others were injured and already receiving treatment and the Damaturu Specialist Hospital in the state. Watch this Legit.ng video of Nigerian Air Force operations against Boko Haram below: Source: Legit.ng - Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the IPOB has been named as the leader of the Eastern Consultative Assembly (ECA) - In his acceptance of the office, Kanu says the Biafra people have endured so much and the time has come for them to leave - The IPOB says the false census figures which gives the north superior majority over the south is one of the major reasons for Biafra agitations Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has described what he called the continued treatment of easterners like slaves by the Federal Government as horrendous injustice. Kanu in his latest statement, stressed that the igbos have since gotten to a point where they can no longer tolerate the position of eternal slavery, in Nigeria. Kanu made this known in a letter of commendation to the Eastern Consultative Assembly, ECA, for appointing him leader of the Assembly in Enugu Tuesday. The ECA had announced a new leadership structure with detained the IPOB leader as its head. Kanu in his letter written from Kuje Prisons accepted to play the new role and pledged not to let the people down. However, the ECA also named Mrs Marie Okwo as its deputy leader and matron while Evangelist Elliot Ugochukwu- Uko was made the secretary. Rev Fr John Odey was named the publicity secretary while Dede Uzor A Uzor assistant publicity secretary, just as the former vice president, Dr Alex Ekwueme, erudite Professor Ben Nwabueze, SAN, and the Catholic Archbishop of Owerri, Dr Anthony Obinna became the patrons. Kanus letter of acceptance/appreciation read: With the greatest humility, I accept this clear demonstration of confidence you have reposed in me and wish to thank the entire membership and leadership of ECA for their doggedness in building a wonderful coalition dedicated to the defence of truth at a time when most are too terrified to stand up and be counted. I am honoured by this election; I hope all the affiliate groups in this coalition will soon join hands with us in our peaceful and non -violent pursuit of a referendum that will allow the people decide their future. READ ALSO: Release Kanu to us and we will advise him on the Biafra agitation - Igbo elders Embattled leader of the IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, says it is time for the Igbos to come out of the house of bondage The horrendous injustice visited on us daily by our oppressors have since gotten to a point where we can no longer tolerate the position of eternal slavery, which they carefully crafted for us and have ruthlessly executed over the years. Our children today and generations to come do not have a future. Our youths are despondent, our once truthful and outspoken elders frightened and silenced, our politicians compromised, our leaders bought over. Our present status as race and a people is one of utter hopelessness and s*rvitude. Our only hope for the future lies in a peaceful plebiscite that will settle once and for all time the burning issues that confront us today. I commend the ECA and strongly believe that I will not let you down. Once again, I say thank you for this great honour. However, in a communique issued after the meeting, the ECA stated that false and bogus census figures which gives the north superior majority over the south was one of the major reasons for agitations for the re-validation of the Biafran republic. The communique which was jointly signed by Mrs Marie Okwo and Rev Fr John Odey attacked two northern leaders, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai and Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu over their recent comments on restructuring and Biafran agitation. The communique read in part, The 6th plenary session of the ECA held today at the residence of Chief (Mrs.) Maria Okwor in Independence Layout Enugu." In an earlier report by Legit.ng, a new pro-Biafra group, the Biafra Nations Youth League (BNYL), has joined the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), in its struggle for a sovereign state. BNYL, according to its leader, Prince Robinson C. Obuka is a community-based organization of youths with headquarters in Bakassi Peninsula. It was reportedly established on August 3, 2013 in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, following agreements by members and founders to uphold the unity of the various ethnic nations in the Bight of Biafra. The group said it supported all the actions taken so far by IPOB on the continued detention of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu. In a similar vein, world acclaimed Nigerian novelist, nonfiction writer and short story writer, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is to lead team of scholars to Washington where a discuss boardering over Biafra will take central stage. The writer whose words on the the issues surrounding feminism has a global attention, would be the keynote speaker at a conference tagged: " Remembering Biafra", scheduled to hold at the The George Washington University in DC. George Washington University's Remembering Biafra conference will bring together scholars, activists, and humanitarians to examine the global impact of the Nigeria-Biafra War of 1967-70. Speakers will be analyzing the war in terms of its impact on US-Africa relations, its influence on the modern politics of humanitarianism, and the legacies of decolonization. Source: Legit.ng - Senator Shehu Sani says the All Progressives Congress (APC) may lose Kaduna state in the 2019 governorship election, if the state governments seeming anti peoples policies continue - Sani says the anti APC policies of the administration in Kaduna state is sending people away - He said many people now only have faith in Buhari not in the party any more Sen. Shehu Sani (APC Kaduna Central) says the All Progressives Congress [APC] may lose Kaduna State in the 2019 governorship election, if the state governments seeming anti peoples policies continue. Sani spoke to newsmen in Kaduna on Tuesday shortly after he received a complain from traders on Gov. Nasiru El-Rufais plan to demolish the famous Kasuwan Barci Market in Kaduna. The anti APC policies of the administration in Kaduna state is sending people away, many people now only have faith in Buhari not in the party any more. READ ALSO: I am not evil - Prophet T.B. Joshua reveals secret about Synagogue church Most programmes of government in the state are not in favour of the people and if it continues, APC will pay for it. The current administrations policies are only designed to please some certain group of people in the state, Sani claimed. He urged the state government to shelve plan to demolish the market, famous for its textile and second hand clothing. The Senator noted that demolishing such market with 4,800 shops at this time of hardship would spell doom for thousands of families. I identify with the pains, concerns and fears of the traders and I appeal to the governor to think twice with a human heart over the issue. We promised to deliver change to the country and as democrats, whatever we will do, we need to consult and carry the people along. We cannot treat people with arrogance and insolence and expect them to trust us again, Sani said. According to him, the traders are angry and fear that if the market is demolished, it will be difficult for them to regain their shops back. Sani, who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Domestic and Foreign Debts, advised El-Rufai to suspend the demolition plan and concentrate on completing projects he had started. For all the project he started, he has not completed any. So, the mistake will be when he demolishes the market and there is no funds to reconstruct it, what will happen to the traders and the place? He noted that most government activities would shut down by 2018 when political activities begin ahead of the 2019 general election. The market had provided jobs for more than 30,000 men and women, with many youth off the street and engaged in tailoring, craft work and trading. Engage the traders in reconstructing the market by giving them a specific design to reconstruct with a deadline, he suggested. Sani told the traders that he would forward a memo to the governor on the issue and advised them to also seek dialogue with the state government to resolve the matter. He also advised them to approach the state House of Assembly, religious leaders and human right organisations for intervention. READ ALSO: Former wife of Boko Haram commander nabbed (photo) The Senator added that the traders also have the option of taking legal action if all efforts failed to stop the government plan. The Chairman of the market traders union, Haruna Umar told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the market with 4,800 shops records over N500 million daily turnover. Umar said there were more than 30,000 persons earning their livelihood from the market and demolishing it would be devastating to them and their families. Legit.ng visits Southern Kaduna where residents narrate how herdsmen allegedly prevented them from getting Red Cross relief materials. Watch: Source: Legit.ng Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli prisons launched a hunger strike Monday, in what their leader behind bars called a new step in the Palestinians' "long walk to freedom." Activists said more than 1,500 of about 6,500 Palestinians held by Israel as so-called security prisoners joined the open-ended protest and that it was the largest such strike in five years. The hunger strikers' immediate demands included better conditions, including more contact with relatives, and an end to Israel's practice of detentions without trial. In the West Bank and Gaza, thousands staged solidarity marches Monday to mark Prisoners' Day in the Palestinian areas. The hunger strike was led by Marwan Barghouti, a prominent figure in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement. Over the years, polls have indicated that Barghouti is the most popular choice among Palestinians to succeed the 82-year-old Abbas who has failed to groom a political heir. Barghouti was arrested by Israel in 2002 for his role in a violent Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation and is serving multiple life terms. He is one of the best-known among thousands of Palestinians jailed for charges ranging from stone-throwing and membership in groups outlawed by Israel, to attacks that wounded or killed Israelis. In an op-ed published in The New York Times, Barghouti wrote that Israeli prisons have become the "cradle of a lasting movement for Palestinian self-determination." "This new hunger strike will demonstrate once more that the prisoners' movement is the compass that guides our struggle, the struggle for Freedom and Dignity, the name we have chosen for this new step in our long walk to freedom," he wrote. The hunger strike was launched as the approaching half-century mark of Israeli rule over Palestinians appeared to generate new interest in the long-running conflict, which in recent years was often overshadowed by war and turmoil elsewhere in the region. Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem in the June 1967 Mideast war. Abbas and his supporters seek a Palestinian state, roughly in the pre-1967 lines. The Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized Gaza from Abbas in 2007, has called for an Islamic state in historic Palestine, including in what is now Israel. Hamas recently suggested it would support a smaller Palestine state, without specifying if this would be a stepping stone to Israel's destruction. In Gaza City, about 2,000 people turned out for a march, raising flags of different Palestinian factions. Militants from Hamas surrounded cages on truck flatbeds depicting cells. One cage held two Palestinians in Israeli prison uniform. The other cage bore the pictures of two Israeli soldiers killed in the 2014 war between Israel and Hamas, and the pictures of two Israeli civilians who disappeared after entering Gaza. Hamas is believed to hold the two civilians and the remains of the soldiers. "Your soldiers will not see the light unless the price is paid," read a banner on the truck. Ismail Radwan, a Hamas official who participated in the march, reiterated Hamas' demand for a prisoner swap with Israel. In 2011, Israel swapped more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners for an Israeli soldier who had been held by Hamas for five years. In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Barghouti's wife, Fadwa, joined about 1,500 marchers. "This massive strike sends a strong message to the Israelis, after 50 years of occupation, suppression and oppression, that the prisoners ... will lead their people from behind bars," she said. Qadoura Fares, who runs the Prisoners' Club advocacy group, said over 1,500 prisoners joined the strike and that more were expected to follow. In 2012, hundreds participated in a large-scale strike that lasted 28 days, said Fares. In 2014, dozens of detainees who were being held without trial or charges staged a two-month-long hunger strike to demand their release. Israel's Prison Service was not immediately available for comment because of the Jewish Passover holiday. ___ Associated Press writers Fares Akram in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, and Karin Laub in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report. Many view Europe as a spent force in global politics. Conventional wisdom states that world politics today is unipolar, with the United States as the sole superpower. Or perhaps it is multipolar, with China, India, and the rest rising to challenge Western powers. Either way, Europes role is secondary and declining. The European Union, it is said, is too weak to avoid withering away in the face of Russian subversion, mass migration, right-wing revolt, British plans to leave, slow growth, and anemic defense spending. Foreign Policy makes the case that Europe rivals or surpasses the United States and China in its ability to project a full spectrum of global military, economic, and soft power. Europe consistently deploys military troops within and beyond its immediate neighborhood. It manipulates economic power with a skill and success unmatched by any other country or region. And its ability to employ soft power to persuade other countries to change their behavior is unique. If a superpower is a political entity that can consistently project military, economic, and soft power transcontinentally with a reasonable chance of success, Europe surely qualifies. Its power, moreover, is likely to remain entrenched for at least another generation. The UK by itself is better than China for projecting militarily power around the world. China is strong on defense and is strong a few hundred to a thousand miles from its borders. France and Germany also have capable military power. China has a far larger annual military budget than the UK, but military capability is better viewed by the total of decades of spending. It is similar to individual households. A family with lower income can accumulate greater assets over time than a person who only recently obtained a high paying job. The bang for the buck of the weapons Europe procures remains competitive, as evidenced by the fact that it consistently ranks as the worlds No. 1 arms exporter, outstripping even the United States and Russia. European militaries actually do more in the world than those of any country except the United States. Only Europe and the United States have deployed tens of thousands of combat troops outside of home countries almost continuously since the end of the Cold War. During the past decade, European deployments have averaged 107,000 soldiers per year on land, plus a considerable naval presence. By contrast, China has deployed almost no combat soldiers abroad, and India has done so only within U.N. missions. Recent Russian activities have been limited to brief forays in neighboring parts of the former Soviet Union and air and naval support for its sole remaining Middle Eastern ally. One European specialty is economic power projection. To induce political concessions, European countries manipulate access to their markets, condition economic assistance and exchange, and exploit regulatory and institutional dominance. Thus, a basic source of European economic power is the raw size of its economy. The conventional wisdom again misleads us. According to a recent poll of citizens in 40 countries, almost everyone in the world believes either that China is already the worlds dominant economy, or that the United States still maintains primacy. Only 5 percent think of the EU as a leading economic power. Yet those 5 percent have a point. By the simplest measure of economic power, nominal GDP, the EU is nearly the same size as the United States and 63 percent larger than China. I was only 15 when I was first imprisoned. I was barely 18 when an Israeli interrogator forced me to spread my legs while I stood naked in the interrogation room, before hitting my genitals. I passed out from the pain, and the resulting fall left an everlasting scar on my forehead. The interrogator mocked me afterward, saying that I would never procreate because people like me give birth only to terrorists and murderers. A few years later, I was again in an Israeli prison, leading a hunger strike, when my first son was born. Instead of the sweets we usually distribute to celebrate such news, I handed out salt to the other prisoners. When he was barely 18, he in turn was arrested and spent four years in Israeli prisons. The eldest of my four children is now a man of 31. Yet here I still am, pursuing this struggle for freedom along with thousands of prisoners, millions of Palestinians and the support of so many around the world. What is it with the arrogance of the occupier and the oppressor and their backers that makes them deaf to this simple truth: Our chains will be broken before we are, because it is human nature to heed the call for freedom regardless of the cost. Israel has built nearly all of its prisons inside Israel rather than in the occupied territory. In doing so, it has unlawfully and forcibly transferred Palestinian civilians into captivity, and has used this situation to restrict family visits and to inflict suffering on prisoners through long transports under cruel conditions. It turned basic rights that should be guaranteed under international law including some painfully secured through previous hunger strikes into privileges its prison service decides to grant us or deprive us of. Palestinian prisoners and detainees have suffered from torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, and medical negligence. Some have been killed while in detention. According to the latest count from the Palestinian Prisoners Club, about 200 Palestinian prisoners have died since 1967 because of such actions. Palestinian prisoners and their families also remain a primary target of Israels policy of imposing collective punishments. McDonalds use of Google contrasts rather strikingly with a stunt from Burger King last week, when it introduced a TV ad that aimed to prompt voice-activated Google devices into describing its burgers. Google, which was not involved in that campaign, sought to stymie the effort, which many saw as clever but invasive. The ads with Ms. Kaling, on the other hand, came out of We Are Unlimited, a relatively new creative ad agency that is dedicated to McDonalds and operates within Omnicom Group, a holding company. Employees of companies including Google, Twitter, Facebook and T Brand Studio (a marketing unit for The New York Times), are among the roughly 200 people who work at Unlimited in Chicago, though Ms. Wahl noted that Googles participation did not extend to affecting the search results themselves. Google didnt give us any tricks on search or anything, Ms. Wahl said, adding that gaming the system would have gone against the whole idea of the campaign. What theyre helping us do is understand if people are really searching as a result of this, and offering close feedback and collaboration in terms of whats happening with this with real behavior. Ms. Wahl said McDonalds did not pay for any of the Google results that rave about how Coke tastes at its restaurants. A Google search for the phrase at the center of the campaign, which is promoting a $1 soft-drink deal, showed results from relatively obscure blogs on Monday, some of which were written last week, as well as write-ups from websites like Fox News and Thrillist. A YouTube video of one of Ms. Kalings commercials also appeared under a channel named That Place Where Coke Tastes So Good. TUESDAY PUZZLE If you were to look up the definition of the word persisting in the dictionary, you would find the following: to go on resolutely or stubbornly in spite of opposition, importunity, or warning. Bruce Haight has a lesson for us today, even though it has nothing at all to do with his theme. You can read more about how todays puzzle came to be in his notes below, but I will say this: Mr. Haight is a persistent man. When he gets an idea in his head, he goes ahead with it, despite advice to the contrary. The thing is, todays puzzle is a classic example of borrowing from Peter to pay Paul. When you set tight constraints in one aspect of a puzzle like only using seven letters in the entire puzzle, even if they are commonly used you will pay for it in other areas, like the quality of the fill. Because there are only so many words that use those letters, and not all of them are fun to write into a grid. The bottom line here is that it works, but I found Mr. Haights puzzle to be more difficult than an average Tuesday, mostly because the theme limits at least some of the fill to entries that are not necessarily early week fare. But I will say this: No one ever discovered anything new by not trying. So kudos to Mr. Haight for his persistence. Ms. Clarks unit has reviewed 41 cases and has done 10 in-depth investigations. This was the second time the unit had asked a judge to vacate a guilty verdict in a murder case because of evidence that the defendant had not received a fair trial. The first came last year, when the office asked a judge to set aside a murder conviction against Richard Rosario, who had served 20 years for a 1996 killing, even though a dozen witnesses said he was 1,000 miles away in Florida at the time. Mr. Odiase and his co-defendant, Daikwan Giles, were convicted of murder by a Bronx jury in 2013, and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison in the fatal shooting of 15-year-old Juan Jerez at Minerva Place and Creston Avenue on June 12, 2009. Mr. Giles confessed to the murder and was identified by witnesses as being one of two shooters. The main evidence against Mr. Odiase came from a witness who cooperated with prosecutors in return for lighter sentences on other crimes. In July 2015, Mr. Odiases lawyers filed a motion asking for a new trial. Prosecutors in the conviction integrity office agreed to re-examine the evidence, and found something odd: A detectives report turned over to the defense had been redacted to omit key information from a second eyewitness. In the original report, that witness was quoted as saying the second gunman was a tall, bearded man with dark skin. Mr. Odiase is short, has light brown skin and did not have a beard at the time. Yet that information was left out of the report the defense received, prosecutors said on Monday. As a practical matter, given his Islamist-based A.K.P. partys majority in Parliament, Mr. Erdogan has been effectively exercising many of these powers. The fact that they have now been formally ratified in the Constitution can only reinforce his dictatorial instincts and further threaten the separation of powers on which liberal democracies have traditionally depended. When he was first elected prime minister in 2003, Mr. Erdogan seemed committed to making Turkey a model Muslim democracy. In recent years he has aggressively cracked down on dissent and on his critics in politics, the military, academia and the press. An aborted coup last summer provided an excuse to go even further; a state of emergency was declared, and the government has since fired or suspended 130,000 people suspected of having a connection to the coup and has arrested about 45,000, leaving Turkeys people sharply polarized. The referendum campaign suffered from the same climate of intimidation. Supporters of Mr. Erdogans proposals dominated the media, and some who opposed him were shot at or beaten. Opposition parties said some ballots lacked an official stamp and at least three instances of voter fraud appeared to be captured on camera. The referendum took place in a political environment in which fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed under the state of emergency, and the two sides did not have equal opportunities to make their case to the voters, said Tana de Zulueta, who headed the international election observation mission. Although Turkey is a vital member of NATO, it is increasingly an outlier in the alliance, which was founded on democratic values. Mr. Erdogan has picked fights with America and Europe, fanned anti-Western animosities among Turks and flirted with Russia. But Turkey remains a major factor in Syria, curbing migration to Europe and defending the alliances eastern flank. NATO countries should do whatever they can to mitigate Mr. Erdogans autocratic tendencies while encouraging the proponents of democracy in Turkey. The White House announced that President Trump called on Monday to congratulate Mr. Erdogan on the referendum result a shockingly wrongheaded response. FRONT PAGE A picture caption on Friday with the continuation of an article about the battle over public lands in the West misstated Monument Valleys relationship to the Bears Ears National Monument. While Monument Valley is near Bears Ears, it is not part of the national monument. An obituary on Saturday about the computer scientist Robert W. Taylor misidentified the institution from which he earned a bachelors degree. It is the University of Texas at Austin (where he also did graduate work), not Southern Methodist University in Dallas. An article on Friday about Immigration and Customs Enforcement requirements for jails that will house detained immigrants misstated the frequency with which bedsheets must be changed. It is once a week, not once a day. The article also referred incorrectly to a requirement for the thickness of trash bags. Only bags used for blood and bodily fluid cleanup must be 1.5 millimeters thick; that requirement does not include all trash bags. THE ARTS An article on Saturday about the artist Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle misstated the closing date of her current exhibition, The Evanesced, at the California African American Museum in Los Angeles. The show runs through June 25, not June 2. Facebooks dilemma is part of a debate that has pulled in other technology giants, including Twitter, Amazon and Google. As these companies have rushed to provide tools for people to widely share their intimate moments more frequently, they are dealing with a rising tide of calls to more proactively filter the type of content that appears. In recent weeks, Googles YouTube has been scrutinized for posting advertising next to racist video content, while Twitter contends with hate speech almost daily. But the attention is often focused on Facebook because of its nearly two billion users and global influence. It is an issue that is bedeviling Mark Zuckerberg, the companys chief executive. Facebook has encouraged users to post more it has spent the last two years emphasizing its push into photographs and video, underpinned by a thesis that cameras have become more important in how people share moments of their lives with their friends. The company was not prepared for the consequences of that push. Last summer, the death of Philando Castile, a Minnesota man shot by the police during a traffic stop, was broadcast by his girlfriend live across Facebook. In January, three men in Sweden were arrested on suspicion of raping a woman and streaming the assault live to a private Facebook group. In February, two radio journalists in the Dominican Republic were fatally shot during a Facebook Live broadcast. Some groups have pressured Facebook to take a stronger role in reviewing content posted on its platform. In a letter this year to Joel Kaplan, Facebooks director of global policy, the American Civil Liberties Union called for the social network to be more transparent in its censorship process and to agree to an external audit of its practices. Image Frame from a video posted on Facebook shows Robert Godwin Sr. moments before being fatally shot. Credit... Facebook, via Associated Press The problems have been compounded by the issue of fake news false stories across the social network that some Facebook users have taken as true and that may have swayed thinking in events like elections. Mr. Zuckerberg has had to address the fake news problem several times in recent months, including working more closely with fact-checking organizations and beginning efforts to teach Facebook users how to discern what is or is not a real news story. For Mr. Zuckerberg, the timing of the shooting video could not be worse. He is scheduled to appear on Tuesday in San Jose, Calif., at Facebooks annual developer conference, where the company typically focuses its energy on its technology. Republican leaders in Congress also failed to create momentum. Speaker Paul D. Ryan built a tax blueprint around a border adjustment tax that would have imposed a steep levy on imports, hoping to encourage domestic manufacturing while raising revenue that could be used to lower overall tax rates. But it has been assailed by retailers, oil companies and the billionaire Koch brothers. With no palpable support in the Senate, its prospects appear to be nearly dead. Heading into a congressional recess, Mr. Ryan admitted that Republicans in the House, Senate and White House were not on the same page. The presidents own vision for a new tax system is muddled at best. In the past few months, he has called for taxing companies that move operations abroad, waffled on the border tax and, last week, called for a reciprocal tax that would match the import taxes other countries impose on the United States. But it is Mr. Trumps own taxes that have provided the crucial leverage for his opponents. More than 100,000 of his critics took to the streets over the weekend in marches around the country, demanding that the president release his returns. Tax legislation, they say, could be a plot by Mr. Trump to get even richer. When they talk about tax reform, are they talking about cutting Donald Trumps taxes by millions of dollars a year? asked Ezra Levin, a member of the Tax March executive committee. We dont know. Beyond the politics of Mr. Trumps returns, lawmakers do not want to pass an overhaul of the tax code that unwittingly enriches the commander in chief and his progeny. Those who are worried about conflicts of interest point to the potential repeal of the estate tax or elimination of the alternative minimum tax as provisions that would enrich Mr. Trump. Perhaps the most consequential concern relates to a House Republican proposal to get rid of a rule that lets companies write off the interest they pay on loans a move real estate developers and Mr. Trump vehemently oppose. Doing so would raise $1 trillion in revenue and reduce the appeal of one of Mr. Trumps favorite business tools: debt. WASHINGTON President Trump called President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey on Monday to congratulate him on winning a much-disputed referendum that will cement his autocratic rule over the country and, in the view of many experts, erode Turkeys democratic institutions. Those concerns were not mentioned in a brief readout of the phone call that the White House released Monday night. After noting Mr. Trumps congratulations, the one-paragraph statement pivoted to a recent American missile strike on a Syrian airfield, which it said he and Mr. Erdogan had also discussed. The statement did not say whether Mr. Trump had raised independent reports of voting irregularities during the Turkish referendum or the governments heavy-handed tactics in the weeks leading up to it, when the country was under a state of emergency. The State Department noted both issues in a more cautious, less laudatory statement issued a few hours earlier. The White House was also silent about the long-term implications of the referendum, which some experts have likened to a deathblow to democracy in Turkey. Mr. Erdogans narrow victory, in effect, ratifies his authoritarian rule. The change to Turkeys Constitution will allow the winner of the 2019 presidential election to assume full control of the government, ending the current parliamentary political system. Todays classical music world is not foreign to composers who fuse their Asian roots with Western avant-garde techniques, from Toshio Hosokawa to Unsuk Chin. But in 1966, when the Korean composer Isang Yun made his international breakthrough with the orchestral work Reak, at Germanys Donaueschingen Festival, harmonies imitating an East Asian mouth organ were radical. Born in what is now South Korea, Mr. Yun was an activist for the reunification of the North and South after the division of his home country in 1945. He moved to West Berlin in 1957 to study at the Hochschule fur Musik. A decade later, he was abducted and held as an enemy of the state by the South Korean military regime of Park Chung-hee until protests from the West German Foreign Ministry and leading musical figures, including the composer Igor Stravinsky and the conductor Herbert von Karajan, led to his release. Mr. Yun became a West German citizen after returning to West Berlin in 1969. If both North and South Korea claim him as a national composer, it was the North that offered him a platform during his lifetime by 1990, the capital, Pyongyang, had established a festival, institute and ensemble in Mr. Yuns name. He tried to move back to South Korea on the occasion of a festival in his honor in 1994, but the trip fell through because of complications with the authorities. While much of the composers legacy has fallen into obscurity, concerts are taking place across Europe and South Korea this season to mark the centenary of his birth. Events include the Spanish premiere of the String Quartet No.1 by the Novus Quartet in Barcelona on Thursday and the Austrian premiere of the Cello Concerto, featuring Matt Haimovitz and the Bruckner Orchester Linz under the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, on June 12. Diamanda Galas sings the demonic blues. And shes sung them again and again. People say all I do is repeat myself, she said in a recent phone conversation. But I have certain ideas that fascinate me. For nearly 40 years, Ms. Galas, 61, has bared those ideas societys indifference to the sick, sexual violence, genocide, mental illness, incarceration, loneliness with a voice that stretches from hostile growls to bitter-cold shrieks. She rose to prominence in the 1980s as a kind of avant-garde angel of the AIDS epidemic. Joining the activists of Act Up, the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, she created a series of rancorous indictments of the political, medical and religious establishment hissing, rasping, wailing evening-length performances with titles like Plague Mass and Masque of the Red Death. In 1985, Stephen Holden wrote in The New York Times that Ms. Galas suggests an entranced Medusa, conjuring avenging spirits out of the darkness. As her work has taken in collaborations with John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, explorations of sensory deprivation and a book of her texts with a title both unprintable and blasphemous, that description has remained remarkably, consistently on point. It holds true in her two most recent albums, released simultaneously last month: All the Way, a gloomy compilation of jazz covers and standards, and At Saint Thomas the Apostle Harlem, which captures a 2016 New York performance of what she has called death songs. The award was the latest accolade in a career that started during her high school days in Florida, when she began singing in the Palm Beach Opera chorus. At 15, she sang on NPRs program From the Top. At 16, she sang the Sandman in a Palm Beach production of Hansel and Gretel conducted by Julius Rudel. She became the youngest winner of both the Marilyn Horne Foundation Vocal Competition and the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Barry Tucker, president of the Richard Tucker Music Foundation and the son of the Brooklyn-born tenor for whom it was named said that he had watched Ms. Sierra develop since she was in college. She possesses an artistic maturity that is well beyond her years and is destined to be a leading light of the opera world, he said in a statement. Next season will be another big one for Ms. Sierra: She will perform on opening night at the Royal Opera House in London as Musetta in a new production of Puccinis La Boheme, sing the title role in Massenets Manon for the first time at San Francisco Opera and sing Susanna in Mozarts Le Nozze di Figaro for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera. Ms. Sierra said that when she first saw that Mr. Tucker was calling, she thought he was simply checking in on her, as he has since she first won smaller grants from the foundation in 2010 and 2013. When I was really young and in some peoples eyes, far too young to be in the opera world and the industry, the Richard Tucker foundation in general just gave me a family to be a part of, she said. Previous winners of the Richard Tucker Award include many of the greats of the opera world: Renee Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, Stephanie Blythe, Joyce DiDonato, Michael Fabiano and Jamie Barton. To understand Taylor fully, it will help to be conversant with the humor magazine Viz, as well as with the humor magazine Punch; with the reality-TV star Katie Price as well as with the writer Nancy Mitford; and with the Kray twins and the rapper Tinie Tempah, as well as with Evelyn Waugh and Beau Brummell. Writing is hard because thinking is hard. Writing about class and snobbery, in particular, is so hard that doing it well bumps you a rung up the class ladder. In America, no one has made a serious attempt to unpick the multiple meanings of status cues since Paul Fussell did in his wicked book Class (1983). Image D.J. Taylor, author of The New Book of Snobs. Credit... David Levenson/Getty Images As a myriad-minded social critic, Taylor is not quite on Fussells level. (Almost no human is.) But hes astute, supremely well read and frequently very funny. In its combination of impact with effervescence, his book puts me in mind of a Black Velvet, that curious cocktail made from Guinness stout and champagne. The English class system, with its hereditary titles, is vastly different from ours. But snobbery classs meddlesome twin is a lingua franca. Theres plenty for an attentive student to learn here. We are in the age of Trump, and, clearly, some forms of attempted snobbery will always take the form of conspicuous consumption. Taylor correctly points out, however, that the wiliest snobs pursue their craft by stealth. Hes excellent on the distinctions that can be conveyed by an agency as subtle as an undone button, a gesture, a glance, an intonation, the pronunciation of a certain word. In England, its possible to be crushed by the sound of an attenuated vowel. Sloman and Fernbach take this argument further, positing that not just rationality but the very idea of individual thinking is a myth. Humans rarely think for themselves. Rather, we think in groups. Just as it takes a tribe to raise a child, it also takes a tribe to invent a tool, solve a conflict or cure a disease. No individual knows everything it takes to build a cathedral, an atom bomb or an aircraft. What gave Homo sapiens an edge over all other animals and turned us into the masters of the planet was not our individual rationality, but our unparalleled ability to think together in large groups. Image As Sloman and Fernbach demonstrate in some of the most interesting and unsettling parts of the book, individual humans know embarrassingly little about the world, and as history progressed, they came to know less and less. A hunter-gatherer in the Stone Age knew how to produce her own clothes, how to start a fire from scratch, how to hunt rabbits and how to escape lions. We today think we know far more, but as individuals we actually know far less. We rely on the expertise of others for almost all our needs. In one humbling experiment, people were asked to evaluate how well they understood how a zipper works. Most people confidently replied that they understood it very well after all, they use zippers all the time. They were then asked to explain how a zipper works, describing in as much detail as possible all the steps involved in the zippers operation. Most had no idea. This is the knowledge illusion. We think we know a lot, even though individually we know very little, because we treat knowledge in the minds of others as if it were our own. This is not necessarily bad, though. Our reliance on groupthink has made us masters of the world, and the knowledge illusion enables us to go through life without being caught in an impossible effort to understand everything ourselves. From an evolutionary perspective, trusting in the knowledge of others has worked extremely well for humans. Yet like many other human traits that made sense in past ages but cause trouble in the modern age, the knowledge illusion has its downside. The world is becoming ever more complex, and people fail to realize just how ignorant they are of whats going on. Consequently some who know next to nothing about meteorology or biology nevertheless conduct fierce debates about climate change and genetically modified crops, while others hold extremely strong views about what should be done in Iraq or Ukraine without being able to locate them on a map. People rarely appreciate their ignorance, because they lock themselves inside an echo chamber of like-minded friends and self-confirming newsfeeds, where their beliefs are constantly reinforced and seldom challenged. According to Sloman (a professor at Brown and editor of the journal Cognition) and Fernbach (a professor at the University of Colorados Leeds School of Business), providing people with more and better information is unlikely to improve matters. Scientists hope to dispel antiscience prejudices by better science education, and pundits hope to sway public opinion on issues like Obamacare or global warming by presenting the public with accurate facts and expert reports. Such hopes are grounded in a misunderstanding of how humans actually think. Most of our views are shaped by communal groupthink rather than individual rationality, and we cling to these views because of group loyalty. Bombarding people with facts and exposing their individual ignorance is likely to backfire. Most people dont like too many facts, and they certainly dont like to feel stupid. If you think that you can convince Donald Trump of the truth of global warming by presenting him with the relevant facts think again. Furthermore, Warren comes down forcefully on the left side of an ongoing debate over both the causes of inequality and the ways it can be reduced. Image One view, which was dominant even among Democratic-leaning economists in the 1990s, saw rising inequality mainly as a result of ineluctable market forces. Technology, in particular, was seen as the driver of falling wages for manual work, and attempts to fight this trend would, the argument went, do more harm than good raising the minimum wage, for example, would lead to job losses and higher unemployment among precisely the people you were trying to help. Given this view, even liberals generally favored free-market policies. Maybe, they suggested, rising income inequality could be limited by spending more on education and training. But limits on income concentration and support for workers would, they assumed, mainly have to come from progressive taxes and a stronger safety net. The alternative view, which Warren clearly endorses, is all for taxing the rich and strengthening the safety net, but it also argues that public policy can do a lot to increase workers bargaining power and that inequality has soared in large part because policy has, in fact, gone the other way. This view has gained much more prominence over the past couple of decades, mainly because its now backed by a lot of evidence (which is why I call Warrens populism enlightened). At the beginning of her book Warren talks about her frustration with politicians refusing to raise the minimum wage even though study after study shows that there are no large adverse effects on jobs when the minimum wage goes up. Shes right. Later, she writes about the adverse effects of the decline of unions; that, too, is a view supported by many studies, from such left-wing sources as, um, the International Monetary Fund. So Warren in effect gives intervention in markets equal billing with taxes and social spending as a way to combat inequality, marking a significant move left in Democratic positioning. (Want to get this briefing by email? Heres the sign-up.) Good morning. Heres what you need to know: Tax overhaul bogs down. President Trumps promise to overhaul the tax code is in serious jeopardy, and his refusal to release his tax returns is emerging as a central hurdle. Democrats have pledged not to cooperate on a new plan unless they know how it might benefit the president and his family, and a growing number of Republicans are also calling for him to share his tax forms. On the brighter side, Mr. Trump presided over his first White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday. 1. Call it the saga of the wayward warship. A week ago, the White House declared that ordering an American aircraft carrier into the Sea of Japan would send a powerful deterrent signal to North Korea. But the ship was actually sailing in the opposite direction a fact that came to light only after the photograph above was posted online by the Navy. The money manager Philip A. Falcone, who made billions of dollars betting on the collapse of the housing market a decade ago and later lost at least a billion dollars investing in wireless telecommunications, is no stranger to run-ins with regulators. In 2013, Mr. Falcone agreed to be barred from working in the securities industry for five years, an agreement stemming from violations at his former hedge fund, Harbinger Capital Partners. Now, some of Mr. Falcones original financial backers from Alabama have reached their own regulatory settlement in a tax investigation. Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, said on Tuesday that his office had reached a $40 million settlement with Harbert Management Corporation and several of its top executives over allegations that they had not paid state taxes for some of the most profitable years that Mr. Falcone was managing Harbinger, which was owned by Harbert. State officials did not accuse Mr. Falcone of any wrongdoing, and he was not part of the settlement. Donald J. Trump made big promises to overhaul the tax code during his successful election campaign. But efforts to make changes have barely gotten off the ground. One problem is President Trumps refusal to release his tax returns. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, maintained on Monday that Mr. Trump would not be publishing the information. Mr. Spicer said voters had elected the president with full knowledge that he was breaking decades of precedent by refusing to release his returns. But Democrats have united around a pledge not to cooperate on any rewriting of the tax code unless they know specifically how that revision might benefit the president and his family. Republicans are joining calls for Mr. Trump to publish his tax returns, too. The administrations tax plan has not yet materialized, and a House Republican plan has bogged down. LONDON Ivanka Trump calls her father a homebody. If it were up to him, hed seldom leave New York, she once wrote. By contrast, she has been her familys leading globalist doing deals around the world in her fathers name and her own. Even since her father took office, her own fashion brand has continued to look abroad, filing four new trademarks in Canada and the Philippines, according to a New York Times analysis of trademark records. The continued activity is tricky territory for Ms. Trumps new job as White House adviser. While she has stepped down from both her own fashion company and from the Trump Organization and put her brand in a trust, she has not given up her financial control, an unusual situation to navigate now that she is subject to federal ethics rules on conflicts of interest. Even though many of her trademark applications were filed long before she took her government job, they could be decided on by foreign governments while she works in the White House, creating ethical issues with little precedent. While trademarks do not directly confer financial gains, they protect the use of logos and other intellectual property, making them valuable tools for companies looking to build new ventures or expand existing operations. To sell more tickets, some movie theaters have introduced seats that tilt, spin and rumble to match the action on the screen, devices that spray water and pump scents and salted pretzels the size of steering wheels. Recently added to that list: playground equipment in auditoriums to cater to 3- to 12-year-olds. Cinepolis, which has more than 4,900 auditoriums worldwide, last month introduced Cinepolis Junior at theaters in Los Angeles and San Diego. They are equipped with a 55-foot-long and 25-foot-high play structure with two slides and two platforms with wobble hoppers (similar to stationary pogo sticks) and stand n spins (smaller versions of merry-go-rounds). A separate area enclosed with a colorful fence has green lawn turf and plastic animal sculptures for climbing and crawling. Cinepolis USA, a Dallas-based subsidiary with theaters in California, Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey and New York, plans to open more junior auditoriums in the United States. LONDON Vijay Mallya has spent a lifetime building a reputation as Indias professed King of Good Times, a flamboyant tycoon with investments in alcohol, an airline and an auto racing team. But his freewheeling, free-spending ways ended last year when he fled India under an avalanche of unpaid bills and accusations of fraud. Mr. Mallya capped a stunning fall from grace on Tuesday, when the British police arrested him as part of proceedings that could lead to his extradition to India. Mr. Mallya came to symbolize many of the heights, and excesses, of Indian business in the decades of economic growth that followed the countrys deregulation in the early 1990s. But he eventually became a target of the authorities, partly because his public displays of wealth came even as his company fell behind on salary payments to staff. Often likened to the British entrepreneur Richard Branson, Mr. Mallya, 61, turned what had been a family brewing business into a sprawling conglomerate. He now owns the United Breweries Group, which makes Kingfisher beer and distributes a wide variety of products, including alcohol, chemicals and fertilizer. He also has a stake in Indias only Formula One car racing team, Force India. With chicken, I covet the wings. With duck, not really; they tend to be sinewy and dry, without chickens succulence or so I thought. Then I ordered the duck wings at Upland in the Kips Bay neighborhood in Manhattan and instantly became a duck wing disciple. The fried wings from that first encounter a little over two years ago, made by the chef Justin Smillie, combined crisp skin, rich meat and gamy flavor emboldened by Asian seasonings. Since then, Ive seen duck wings on menus in New York, Chicago and Florida. Gunter Seeger has served them at his namesake restaurant in the West Village; Gary King, the new chef at NoMo Kitchen in SoHo, offers them, too. Mr. Kings version follows Mr. Smillies recipe; he was the former chef de cuisine at Upland. My grandfather harvested red wine grapes on the farm he worked with my grandmother; together they snipped Sangiovese grapes from the vines. They placed the grapes in big baskets that were loaded on a tractor and carted into a cellar. Perhaps it was the slope of the Tuscan hills combined with some human error in maneuvering the tractor: The cart plunged forward and hit my grandfather on the head, killing him on the spot. His lifeless body, covered by a white blanket, lay in the vineyard for hours, awaiting forensics and some legal authorization that in Italy seems to always come too late. Police kept my mother and her two sisters away while they waited for the authorities, but my family members vividly remember the scene and reconstructed it with their children, and with me, my brother and my cousins. My mother told us she had had a premonition that morning, while she was sewing in the tailors shop where she and her sister worked. For years afterward, tears filled her eyes every time she recounted that omen, that morning. Days after the incident, some of my grandfathers colleagues told our family that the landlords nephew was driving the tractor when the cart started rolling forward, but police did not look into it very carefully. We were alone and had no economic or legal power at the time, my mother answered me when I asked why they didnt call for an investigation into the accident. The landlord had money, and a name. We were just farmers. We still dont know exactly what caused my grandfathers death. Labor laws are much more protective now and, had he died more recently, perhaps there would have been a thorough investigation or court verdict that settled what exactly had happened. Forty-three years ago, however, a number of questions and a potent sense of injustice followed my grandfathers lifeless body out of the vineyard. My grandmother, who later developed diabetes, maintained a clear memory of the days she and her gentle husband worked together in the Chianti countryside. Turn On, Tune Up From The Leap, KQED: Theres been a revived interest in the therapeutic uses of LSD most recently in micro-dosing with the psychedelic drug to treat depression and other disorders. This podcast, from reporters Amy Standen and Judy Campbell, looks at a use case from decades ago that went in the other direction: In the early 60s, a psychologist used LSD in extremely large doses to treat severely emotionally disturbed children, some as young as 4. The approach, and the results, are shocking. Dan Saltzstein, assistant editor, Travel Do you think a cat person is different from a dog person? If so, how? What do you think about people who keep exotic pets, like snakes or tropical birds, for example? What does a persons choice of pet or his choice not to have a pet at all say about his personality or character? Why do you think the way you do? In What Kind of Pet Should Donald Trump Get, Alex Beam writes: The White House has at various times hosted snakes, a badger, a lion, a hyena, zebra, bears and even elephants, gifted to James Buchanan from the king of Siam, present-day Thailand. The animal lover and killer Theodore Roosevelt doubled as zookeeper, sheltering such exotic charges as the guinea pig Admiral Dewey and Jonathan Edwards, a small bear. More mundane pets such as Franklin D. Roosevelts Scottish terrier, Fala, and Senator Richard M. Nixons cocker spaniel, Checkers, have clawed their way into American history. It is said that Lyndon B. Johnson received more negative mail when he hoisted his beagle, Him, by the ears in 1964 than he did waging the Vietnam War. Many animal lovers never forgave Johnson, who received some tepid support from hunters, who sometimes pulled their dogs ears to make sure they were in full throat for the chase. Mr. Trumps reluctance to take a pet under his wing seems silly when you consider how little work it must involve. Lets get real; its not as if he would have to follow them around with a pooper scooper, or empty that foul-smelling litter box. That is why God invented White House ushers, and there are plenty of them. By all appearances, Mr. Trump doesnt like animals. Its hard not to notice his lack of commitment to companion animals and nature in general, comments Alan M. Beck, a professor of animal ecology at Purdue University and director of the Center for the Human-Animal Bond. His sons are trophy hunters. Professor Beck says that politicians often adopt animals because people with animals are given more positive attribution. If you have an animal, you are somehow a better person. There are lots of studies on this. But I dont think the president even seems to care about that. Students: Read the entire article, then tell us: What does your pet choice say about you and your personality? Why? What does a presidents choice of a pet or a choice not to have a pet at all say about his personality or character? Do other people view the president differently if he doesnt have a pet? Why? Do you think President Donald Trump should get a White House pet? If so, what kind of pet should he get? If not, why not? By the end of last summer, the assumption that economic anxiety was a straightforward political motivation had come under sustained attack, with dissenters pointing to the incomes of Trump supporters (higher than average), the antipathy toward Trump among many working-class people (especially nonwhite ones) and the more statistically persuasive connections between Trump support and attitudes about race. (For a while, economic anxiety became a wry joke on social media: Surely the racial slurs and anti-Semitic harassment appearing in your feed were really arguments for a more robust manufacturing sector.) But alternative theories about what was driving the election racial anxiety, demographic worries, cultural reaction still assumed people were emotionally, not ideologically, unsettled. And since one of the strange things about anxiety is how easily it can be made contagious, with one persons quivering unease shattering the next persons calm, this year so far has felt like a national exercise in reactive nervousness. Your angst might center on immigration or on a swelling deportation force, on the threat of North Korea or the safety of South Korea, but the expectation is that you will be racked by some sense of adrenalized dread over it. Weve reached a weird, quiet agreement that the most potent force in our politics is, for the moment, a stew of unease, fear, rage, grief, helplessness and humiliation. Anxiety, after all, need not be rational, need not be coherent, can contain multitudes. Its possible to be anxious about things that will almost certainly never affect you; its possible for anxiety to prevent you from accurately assessing danger and making plans to address it. (This is how we remain more panicked by terrorism than medical bankruptcy.) Americans are acknowledging, more openly than were used to or comfortable with, that the life of the nation may not take place in a realm of issues and policy and consensus-building but someplace more disordered, irrational and human. A mainstay of 20th-century age-of-anxiety complaints was that our world was becoming too complex for anyone to keep track of or feel like a relevant participant in, full of strange and byzantine distances between individuals and the grand global forces affecting us. This feels as obviously true today as it might have to a midcentury reader of Kafka. You can argue with a store owner; you cant argue with the call-center representative of the company contracted to maintain the point-of-sale machine owned by the other company contracted by the multinational conglomerate that owns the store. Freud connected psychological anxiety with birth and infancy, when human beings experience wrenching change theyre completely unequipped to make sense of. According to Michel Dugas, a psychologist at the University of Quebec, feelings of anxiety are closely connected to an inability to handle uncertainty. What might make human beings less anxious, it seems, is having a firmer sense of what in the world is happening and whats likely to happen next. We seem temporarily short on both. A quarter-century ago, in the Prozac-not-Xanax era after the end of the first gulf war, we were worrying at these same uncertainties. In the 1991 novel Generation X, one of Douglas Couplands characters ventures that the world has gotten too big way beyond our capacity to tell stories about it, and so all were stuck with are these blips and chunks and snippets on bumpers. A pressing national worry, right now, is that our dueling bumper-sticker snippets have nothing productive to say to one another. An unpleasant thought follows: that maybe the only thing that could relieve our national anxieties is something bad happening to us something so clarifyingly awful that were forced to become solemn and still and agree about it. For the past few years, the Harvard professor David Keith has been sketching this vision: Ten Gulfstream jets, outfitted with special engines that allow them to fly safely around the stratosphere at an altitude of 70,000 feet, take off from a runway near the Equator. Their cargo includes thousands of pounds of a chemical compound liquid sulfur, lets suppose that can be sprayed as a gas from the aircraft. It is not a one-time event; the flights take place throughout the year, dispersing a load that amounts to 25,000 tons. If things go right, the gas converts to an aerosol of particles that remain aloft and scatter sunlight for two years. The payoff? A slowing of the earths warming for as long as the Gulfstream flights continue. Keith argues that such a project, usually known as solar geoengineering, is technologically feasible and with a back-of-the-envelope cost of under $1 billion annually ought to be fairly cheap from a cost-benefit perspective, considering the economic damages potentially forestalled: It might do good for a world unable to cut carbon-dioxide emissions enough to prevent further temperature increases later this century. What surprised me, then, as Keith paced around his Harvard office one morning in early March, was his listing all the reasons humans might not want to hack the environment. Actually, Im writing a paper on this right now, he said. Most of his thoughts were related to the possible dangers of trying to engineer our way out of a climate problem of nearly unimaginable scientific, political and moral complexity. Solar geoengineering might lead to what some economists call lock-in, referring to the momentum that a new technology, even one with serious flaws, can assume after it gains a foothold in the market. The qwerty keyboard is one commonly cited example; the internal combustion engine is another. Once we start putting sulfate particles in the atmosphere, he mused, would we really be able to stop? Another concern, he said, is just the ethics about messing with nature. Tall, wiry and kinetic, with thinning hair and a thick beard that gives him the look of the backcountry skier he is, Keith proudly showed me the framed badge that his father, a biologist, wore when he attended the landmark United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm in 1972. Now 53, Keith has taken more wilderness trips hiking, rock climbing, canoeing than he can properly recall, and for their recent honeymoon, he and his wife were dropped off by helicopter 60 miles from the nearest road in northern British Columbia. It was quite rainy, he told me, and that ended up making it even better. So the prospect of intentionally changing the climate, he confessed, is not just unpleasant it initially struck me as nuts. Pizzanello volunteered that shed sent one of her clients, living in a below-flood-elevation house on a slab and paying $3,200 annually for N.F.I.P. coverage, to talk to Vernon. Short of options, they looked into private insurance. The lowest quote that came back was $22,000 a year. It was one of those raise-or-raze situations, Vernon told the gathering, saying, Elevation certificates are literally about tenths of feet. Spend a few days talking about floods and real estate in Norfolk, and youll quickly learn the importance of even tiny inclines. Locals know where, on what appears to the uninitiated to be a flat street, to park their cars to keep them from flooding past the axles when the wind pushes the tide up. Landscapers build what are essentially decorative earthen dikes around houses. When I asked one man how close storm and tidal surges come to his front porch, he pointed at the bricks under my feet, which I had taken for the wall of a flower bed. Youre actually standing on a bulkhead, he said. In the coming decades, these fine distinctions will mean little, as the risk of flooding becomes the certainty of it. The operative measurement for rising waters in Norfolk is not inches but feet as many as six of them by the end of the century, according to the Army Corps of Engineers, though estimates vary. City planners are forthright that theyre preparing for a future in which parts of the city do not survive. We absolutely cannot protect 200 miles of coastline, George Homewood, Norfolks planning director, says. We have to pick those areas we should armor, and the places where were going to let the water be. Norfolk now mandates that new construction be built three feet above current base flood elevation (as if the houses were boats, this distance from the waterline is called freeboard), and 18 inches above what Homewood says is euphemistically known as the 500-year floodplain. But Norfolk is an old, established city, where changing new construction can only get you so far. In 2008, the city hired a Dutch engineering firm, experienced with life below sea level, to help develop a plan for adaptation. The firm suggested $1 billion in changes, more than half of which would go to simply updating existing infrastructure. Like insurers, residents are playing a game of risk and timing. Adaptation is a range, says Fred Brusso, a former city flood manager. Do you need to just move your car? Do you have to put your washer and dryer on cinder blocks? Or do you need to get the heck out of town? Sean Becketti, the chief economist for Freddie Mac, cautioned in a report last year that economists arent sure if coastal property values will decline gradually, as the life expectancy of homes shrinks, or precipitously, the first time a lender refuses to make a mortgage on a nearby house or an insurer refuses to issue a homeowners policy. Skip Stiles, the executive director of the local nonprofit Wetlands Watch, took me on a tour of frequently flooded areas of Norfolk when waters are down, Stiles uses rusty storm drains and marsh plants growing in yards and medians to show where theyve been and pointed out buildings that had been elevated. Often their awkwardness made them obvious: ordinary, colorful houses perched uncomfortably atop walls of bare concrete blocks. While FEMA does pay to elevate risky houses, it struggles to keep up with demand: Wetlands Watch compared the number of people on the FEMA waiting list in Norfolk with the number of houses raised in a year, and concluded that it would take 188 years to complete them all. By then, of course, waters would be far higher. This is the hardest reality to discuss, Stiles said, and a reason flood insurance is serving as a kind of advance scout into a more difficult future. When you go out to the end of the century, some of these neighborhoods dont exist, so its hard to get community engagement, he said. Nobody wants to talk beyond where the dragons are on the map, into uncharted territory. After arriving in a ferryboat festooned in bunting, with big-band jazz blaring from the shoreline, Mayor Bill de Blasio made an announcement on Monday that New York Citys new ferry service would soon begin. Then he walked away. No questions were asked; no questions were allowed. Most other times, this would be a strange sight the mayor of the nations largest city passing up a chance to pontificate and parry with the City Hall press corps. But over the past four weeks, Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, has staunchly exhibited an approach that might be described as dont ask, dont answer. No questions were allowed after a Police Academy graduation, beside the statue known as Fearless Girl in Lower Manhattan, or even at the handful of events during the mayors weeklong road trip on Staten Island last week. All mayors have periods of tension with the news media, especially in New York. But by abruptly restricting the times when he will take questions, Mr. de Blasio seems to be embracing a new communications model, one that relies on social media channels, town hall exchanges with average New Yorkers and one-on-one interviews with specific reporters. Pedro Hernandez, a former store clerk who told the police that he murdered Etan Patz as the boy headed to school in 1979, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on Tuesday, bringing to a close a missing-child case that bedeviled investigators for decades and forever changed the way American parents protected their children. It took two trials, each of which lasted five months, for prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorneys office to persuade a jury to convict Mr. Hernandez of kidnapping and murder. His first trial ended two years ago in a hung jury after one juror held out for acquittal. On Tuesday, Etans parents, Stan and Julie Patz, stood and spoke inside a packed Manhattan courtroom before Mr. Hernandez was sentenced. Mr. Patz turned toward Mr. Hernandez and said: Pedro Hernandez, after all these years, we finally know what dark secret you had locked in your heart. You took our precious child and threw him in the garbage. I will never forgive you. The God you pray to will never forgive you. Mr. Hernandez stared straight ahead, his face betraying no emotion. He declined to speak, but his lawyers, Harvey Fishbein and Alice L. Fontier, rose to proclaim his innocence and vowed to appeal. In the stench and smolder that followed the Sept. 11 attacks, emergency workers ripped the pews out of the little Roman Catholic chapel opposite the World Trade Center site in Battery Park City in Manhattan and used the church as a command station. As the weeks passed, the pastor erected a tent outside to celebrate Mass. The interior was used by the workers at ground zero as a place for food, rest and counseling. When residents of Battery Park City began returning home three months later, they were determined to restore the chapel, St. Josephs. So the parish held a national fund-raising drive. It commissioned sacred artworks for the space to amplify the theme of rebirth. The chapel was rebuilt as both a prayer space and a Catholic memorial to the horrors and heroism of Sept. 11, 2001. In 2005, Cardinal Edward M. Egan officiated at the rededication. In a spot that for so long had felt like a war zone, it was a sign that life again bloomed. Now the little chapel itself is on the verge of destruction. As a result of the neighborhoods recovery, which the chapel helped bring about, St. Josephs rent more than tripled in 2014, to $264,000 a year. Since then, the parish has been borrowing money from the Archdiocese of New York to cover the cost, but the parishs new pastor and its Finance Council have decided that the debt is not sustainable. In times of crisis, credibility is an American presidents most valuable currency. Its one thing for a foreign partner to doubt a presidents judgment; its entirely more debilitating when that partner doubts the presidents word. As President Trump confronts the twin challenges of North Korea and Syria, he must overcome a credibility gap of his own making. His insistence on remaining the most prominent consumer and purveyor of fake news and conspiracy theories is not only corrosive of our democracy its dangerous to our national security. Every fact-averse tweet devalues his credibility at home and around the world. This matters more than ever when misinformation is a weapon of choice for our most dangerous adversaries. Part of the problem is that Mr. Trumps itchy Twitter finger cant resist bluster. A series of sophomoric presidential missives North Korea is behaving very badly; North Korea is looking for trouble; if China wont help, we will solve the problem without them! U.S.A.; North Koreas quest for a nuclear-tipped ICBM wont happen! has given Pyongyang a rare chance to take the high road. Trump is always making provocations with his aggressive words, its vice foreign minister declared. Presidential bravado also risks North Korea taking him at his word, and miscalculating accordingly. Loose threats of pre-emptive military attacks could cause its leader, Kim Jong-un, to shoot first and worry about the consequences later perhaps striking South Korea with conventional weapons to remind the world what he is capable of, if the United States seeks to eliminate his nuclear program. Thats a quick path to conflict with a volatile and nuclear-armed adversary. CHICAGO Last week, Richard B. Spencer, a white nationalist and one of the leaders of Americas so-called alt-right movement, announced that he would be giving a speech on the campus of Auburn University in Alabama. Auburn, a public university, has a policy of permitting anyone who wants to rent meeting space to do so. Mr. Spencer is a controversial and divisive figure who has been decried as racist, anti-Semitic, un-American and hateful. Knowing that his presence would upset many members of the university community, Auburn issued a statement: We strongly deplore his views, which run counter to those of this institution. While his event isnt affiliated with the university, Auburn supports the constitutional right to free speech. We encourage the campus community to respond to speech they find objectionable with their own views in civil discourse and to do so with respect and inclusion. Several days later, though, Auburn changed its tune. In consultation with law enforcement, the university announced that it had decided to cancel the event because of credible evidence that it will jeopardize the safety of students, faculty, staff and visitors. Given the sometimes disruptive responses to other controversial speakers on campuses recently, Auburns concern is certainly credible. But is that justification for canceling the speech constitutionally permissible? LEWISTON, Maine President Trumps name did not come up once as Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, met with patients, physicians, and the people running Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston. Stretch Tuemmler, a man with cancer struggling to pay for health insurance, made it clear to Senator Collins that Mr. Trumps latest lie or outrage wasnt what troubled him most. Im scared, he said. Im scared for myself, Im scared for my country, for the 24 million people who could lose health coverage and for people who arent covered at all. I really like the idea of reaching across the aisle and making things work. I dont know how thats going to happen, but I hope you can do it I have my sixth operation coming up. For the two weeks of spring recess, voters from Bangor to Bakersfield have been giving members of Congress an earful about what the chaos and do-nothing rancor of Trump-era Washington is costing them. But Senator Collins was not greeted with the rage that some Republican representatives have faced down, or run from. Despite its economic problems, Maines congressional delegation has maintained a stern sense of bipartisan pragmatism appropriate for a state evenly split politically, with a no-nonsense culture thats weathered longtime economic problems. LAS VEGAS Cheaper tampons. Office breaks to pump breast milk. No co-pay on birth control. These are not the talking points of a ladies happy hour. They are among the State Senate and Assembly bills being considered in the Nevada Legislature. Not only were the bills designed solely with women in mind, they each were sponsored by a female lawmaker. At 39.7 percent, Nevada now ranks near the top for womens representation in state politics, second only to Vermont. The bills women are bringing to the State Senate floor this session range from the annual ranking of companies by how fairly they pay men and women to arguably the most historic the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. The state legislature is a testimony to what many who study gender inequity in politics theorize to be true: Increased gender representation directly translates into better consideration of women in the drafting of law and policy. Although the 2016 presidential election is mourned as a symbolic impasse for womens progress, it was momentous for female politicians in Nevada, at both the state and the federal level. Many have called President Trumps election a wake-up call for American women, one that has inspired their increased grass-roots activism and political involvement. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey thought that Sundays referendum on a set of amendments to the countrys constitution would allow him to solidify his grip on power, uncontested. Its not proving as easy as he and his supporters might have hoped. Despite an uneven playing field, the yes campaign in support of the constitutional amendments failed to win with the wide margin that the president expected, and that he believed would legitimize his rule. Mr. Erdogans side won with a slim 51 percent. Drastic regime change like moving from a parliamentary system to a presidential one, with no checks and balances should normally require a clear national consensus. The 49 percent no vote to the proposed constitutional amendments, especially when there is major concern over foul play, denies that consensus. Sundays vote also proves that despite years of Mr. Erdogans authoritarian tactics, Turkish democracy still has a pulse. In fact, given the circumstances, the outcome of the referendum is a major victory for the opposition. Voters went to the polls under a state of emergency; the main opposition party was not allowed to mobilize its supporters; the most charismatic opposition leader is behind bars; and Mr. Erdogan has branded opponents of the presidential system as terrorists. The yes campaign received overwhelmingly more airtime, thanks to the governments tight grip on the news media. The ruling party in many places took down posters and billboards advocating a no vote. Independent election observers were not allowed to monitor the polls, and observers from opposition parties had their applications to observe polling procedures rejected by the election board. The same board made a last-minute decision on Sunday to make it harder to file allegations of ballot-box stuffing. The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe said on Monday that late changes in counting procedures removed an important safeguard. An ad in the April 9, 1967, edition of The New York Times caught my attention and changed my life. We appeal to North Vietnam, if they really want peace, to stop bombing the United States or else get the hell out of Vietnam! stated a group named Veterans for Peace in Vietnam. A Vietnam veteran myself, I recognized it as a tonic outburst of G.I. black humor, a cheeky comment on the reality of who was bombing whose homeland. It also convinced me that there was a role for me to play, as a veteran, in exposing what the American government was doing in Indochina. Posted to Vietnam as an Army radio specialist, I celebrated my 20th birthday in Saigon in January 1963, a very drunk soldier in the United States Military Assistance Command Vietnam. A year and a half before the Gulf of Tonkin incident, we were already waging war when we werent doing happy hours in bars from the Delta to Da Nang under slick counterinsurgency slogans like winning hearts and minds and cynical unit slogans like only you can prevent a forest (motto of the Air Force missions spraying the countryside with chemical warfare herbicides). Ill admit some of it was thrilling. I caught flights on Air Force C-123s skimming treetops and bush-pilot planes flown by my Army unit transporting Special Operations teams in and out of hush-hush places, with B-26 and T-28 bombers and assorted other airplanes and helicopters flitting around, all part of a strategy to pacify rice-farming regions and jungle forests potentially harboring elusive Vietcong guerrillas, under the guise of being military advisers to a government we had installed. Our mission was to hold Communist China in check. We occupied old French Foreign Legion posts, contemptuous of the French for being defeated by Vietnamese. Yet we seldom controlled much beyond our bases. Things in Southeast Asia, I learned, were not as upstanding as portrayed in official pronouncements. Declining a military career, I resigned from the United States Military Academy, where I went after serving in Vietnam, intending to write an expose of our secretive, bizarre little war in Southeast Asia. That project got snagged in a tangle of new revelations as the war mushroomed in 1965-66 into an assault on the scale of World War II campaigns. Quitting a newspaper job in New Jersey, I moved to New York in early 1967, looking to join the emerging public debate over the war. Working as a file clerk at the New York Public Library and doing research for another stab at a book project, I read a news dispatch about the bombing of yet another Vietnamese village. I was incensed that the news item quoted a military spokesman saying this was a mistake, but didnt report that bombing villages was our strategy in Vietnam. So I dashed off a dissenting letter to the editor; sent a furious letter of protest of our bombing campaign to one of my senators, Robert Kennedy; and wrote a blistering letter to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara blasting the bombing of civilians and enclosed my war medals with the letter to emphasize my disgust. On todays episode: We talk with Adam Liptak, our Supreme Court reporter, who was in the room for Mr. Gorsuchs first day on the job. Why would a democratic country voluntarily choose to make itself more authoritarian? Patricky Kingsley, a foreign correspondent based in Turkey, joins to discuss the referendum on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Background reading: Mr. Liptak writes about Mr. Gorsuchs first day. Mr. Kingsley describes how the vote on Mr. Erdogans powers highlights Turkeys divisions. Tune in, and tell us what you think. Email us at thedaily@nytimes.com. Tweet me at @mikiebarb. And if that isnt enough, we can even text. How do I listen? If you dont see an audio player on this page or to subscribe to The Daily for free, follow the instructions below. Marwan Barghouti is an unusually popular political figure among Palestinians, especially for a man behind bars. He is a charismatic leader who has written three books and for many years has commanded an outsize presence beyond the Israeli prison where he is serving time. He was given five consecutive life terms after being convicted in an Israeli criminal court of premeditated murder for his role in terrorist attacks that killed five people, along with other crimes. On Sunday, he wrote a piece for the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times to draw attention to a mass hunger strike for what he calls Israels arbitrary arrests and poor treatment of Palestinian prisoners. Israels inhumane system of colonial and military occupation aims to break the spirit of prisoners and the nation to which they belong, by inflicting suffering on their bodies, separating them from their families and communities, using humiliating measures to compel subjugation, he wrote. In spite of such treatment, we will not surrender to it. Image Photos of prisoners during a demonstration demanding the release of the Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, in Ramallah, West Bank, this month. Credit... Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency, via Getty Images In the piece, Barghouti makes reference to his life sentences and additional 40-year term but he does not say the crimes for which he was convicted. More crucially, neither did the editors of the Opinion pages. A biographical sentence at the end of the Op-Ed simply says, Marwan Barghouti is a Palestinian leader and parliamentarian. Mr. Chong arrived more than three years ago from the Museum of Modern Art, where he worked as associate curator of painting and sculpture. Suhanya Raffel, the new executive director of M+, is the former director of collections at the Art Gallery of New South Wales in Australia. (Ms. Raffel declined a request for an interview.) The museums design team includes Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architectural firm behind the Tate Modern and the Birds Nest stadium built for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. M+s concrete structure, with a horizontal base and a vertical tower, will total nearly 700,000 square feet with nearly 185,000 square feet reserved for exhibition space, according to Mr. Chong and cultural district officials. (That compares with MoMAs allotment of 125,000 square feet for gallery space in 630,000 square feet of total real estate.) Museum galleries will be in the horizontal slab while the 17-floor skyscraper will house offices, a members lounge and restaurants. The face of the tower will resemble a drive-in movie screen. At night the surface will glow with LED lights, displaying works of still or moving art, visible across Victoria Harbor. The edifice will be set in a grassy park with a waterfront promenade. Public reactions to the design are mixed some calling it sublime, others referring to it as bland. Architecturally it doesnt have that wow factor, said Fred Scholle, owner of Galerie du Monde, Hong Kongs longest running contemporary art gallery, which has been in operation since 1974. But it definitely conveys the fact it is a great museum that visually works extremely well with its location. So far curators have amassed about 6,000 items from Asia, with the majority coming from artists in China and Hong Kong. Uli Sigg, a former Swiss ambassador to China, donated 1,463 articles, and the museum purchased 47 items. Lars Nittve, the former executive director of M+ and the founding director of the Tate Modern, secured the acquisition. He stepped down from his post in early 2016 after it became clear that the museum was going to be delayed by two years, but he remains as a consultant. Facebook is hardly the only social media company struggling to deal with lurid material posted by its users. Twitter and YouTube have struggled to block violent videos and other postings by terrorists. And YouTube has lost a number of advertisers because of its inability to prevent their ads from appearing next to offensive material. There are also many examples of beatings and other assaults that are posted for the amusement of the perpetrators and their friends. Social networks have made great strides in recent years in their efforts to block pornography, and artificial intelligence may help block violent material. But there is no easy answer, other than rigorous self-policing by users. For now, telling a machine to recognize nudity is a lot easier than telling it recognize that an assault is taking place. What is the H-1B program, and why is the president focused on it? The H-1B program grants 65,000 work visas a year to foreigners, with 20,000 more visas granted to foreigners with advanced degrees and an unlimited number of extra visas available for universities, teaching hospitals and other nonprofit organizations. The program is aimed at highly skilled workers, and most of the visas are awarded to technology companies, although other specialty industries such as fashion also use the visas. (Melania Trump, the first lady, worked as a model on an H-1B visa.) Under federal law, employers that use a large number of H-1B workers are supposed to document that they tried to hire Americans for the jobs. All H-1B employers are also required to pay prevailing wages to the immigrant workers who receive the visas. Labor Department data shows that about 40 percent of the visas go to entry-level workers and another 40 percent go to people with limited experience and skills. The Trump administration says that more of the jobs performed by those people could and should be filled by Americans. How are the visas allocated? Visa applications must be sponsored by employers. Every April 1, the government begins accepting applications for the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. This year, the government received 199,000 H-1B applications in the first five days and then stopped accepting them. When a splashy new smartphone hits the market, consumers often weigh whether to place an order right away or to wait and see how others react to the device. But with the Galaxy S8, Samsungs first major smartphone release since the spontaneously combusting Galaxy Note 7 was discontinued last year, there isnt much of a debate. Your best bet is to wait to buy the roughly $750 device not just for safety reasons, but also because other uncertainties surround it. Samsung declined to provide an early review unit of the Galaxy S8 to The New York Times, but several consumer electronics experts who tried the device ahead of its release this Friday were cautiously optimistic about the product. Even so, they said the phone had some radical design changes that might make people uncomfortable, a few key features were unfinished and Samsungs recent safety record remained a concern. For those who may not recall, Samsung killed the Galaxy Note 7 last year after some of the phones overheated and several of them caught fire. The South Korean company issued two recalls for the big-screen smartphone and blamed battery manufacturing problems and design flaws for the issues. Kevin Spacey, a Tony-winning actor lately playing a nefarious president of the United States on Netflixs House of Cards, will be the host of this years Tony Awards. Mr. Spacey, 57, won his Tony in 1991, as a featured actor in Lost in Yonkers. He has appeared in six Broadway productions, including the 2007 revival of A Moon for the Misbegotten. He served for more than a decade as the artistic director of the Old Vic Theater in London. The Tony Awards, which each year honor plays and musicals presented on Broadway, will take place on June 11 at Radio City Music Hall. Much of the ceremony will be broadcast on CBS, starting at 8 p.m. (Some awards are bestowed before the telecast, or during commercial breaks.) The awards are presented by The Broadway League and the American Theater Wing. Mr. Spacey is an unusual choice, following a series of comic and musical performers last years host was James Corden. But Mr. Spacey has been known to sing on occasion, including in the 2004 Bobby Darin biopic Beyond the Sea. By the time I reached 50, Id accumulated many unresolved fears and desires. Each successive month, Id promised to conquer or cross another one off my bucket list before the end of my midcentury mark. There were writing goals the unwritten novel, which had an excellent title but no accompanying words; the physical goals, like the vexing inverted backbend that everybody except me could execute in hot yoga class; and the emotional goals, such as freeing myself from a fiendish need to consume cold pizza for breakfast. But nothing loomed quite as large as my failure to get a drivers license. It was the Grand Canyon of disappointments, shaming and taunting me. Id spent a lifetime in the passenger seat, daydreaming and sleeping through scenic drives to the tip of Long Island and the backwoods of Maine. I had become comfortable with my role as the map-quester and snack distributor on long journeys, making peace with the possibility that Id never get behind the wheel. Understand, over the years, Id made significant career decisions and sacrifices based on my inability to drive. Id accept work at theaters in cities that had superior rapid transit systems, like London and Chicago, and avoid jobs in places like Los Angeles and Dallas. Growing up in New York City, Id flirted with the idea of driving, but between the subway and the sidewalks, Id never needed to learn. My sister-in-law once attempted to teach me, but during our first lesson, I sideswiped a parked car and knocked off her side-view mirror. It would be nearly 15 years before I would try again. Then, just after turning 50 in November 2014, I completed a new play called Sweat for the Oregon Shakespeare Festivals American Revolutions history cycle, and much to my delight they decided to produce it. This was great news; however, it filled me with an equal measure of excitement and anxiety, because I knew that it would require spending almost three months rehearsing in a state that was near impossible to navigate without a drivers license. In the beginning, you called an airline or travel agent when you wanted to book a trip. But if youve done any traveling at all within the last 15 years, youve probably come across a fare aggregator or metasearch site. Hundreds of perfectly legitimate ones exist; youve undoubtedly heard of Expedia, Priceline and Hotwire, to name three. Does it matter which site you use, or are they all basically the same? These online travel agencies, or O.T.A.s, and search sites scrape data from other sources, reorganize it and present it to you, the user. The two proverbial 800-pound gorillas in the travel world are Expedia Inc. and the Priceline Group. Together, they have a hand in most of the major travel booking sites. I ran through various scenarios purchasing a flight, a hotel room and a flight, hotel and car package with the aid of a sampling of those sites: Travelocity (owned by Expedia), Kayak (owned by Priceline) and the newish kid on the block, Hipmunk. I also searched directly with airline and hotel sites. I admit that I went into this informal study expecting prices and options to be more or less the same from site to site. Lets just say I was surprised by how mistaken I was. Features Lets highlight a few features of the sites before getting into the nitty-gritty of travel details. Travelocity offers some nice options for travelers, including a $50 credit and refund of the difference if you can find a cheaper price on a flight, rental car or cruise within 24 hours of booking. It also featured some surprisingly useful travel articles in its Get Inspired section, including write-ups on Spanish sparkling wines and ideas for family-friendly locales in Ireland. Kayak is more search engine than travel agent, and its focus seems to have shifted away from flights (more on that later): The sites default search offering now involves hotels. It also allows you to connect, in most cases, directly to the service provider. If you search for a Hyatt hotel, Kayak will encourage you to book through Priceline, but will also send you to the Hyatt website. Some of its best features are its price predictor tool, which advises you to wait or pull the trigger on a purchase, and its alerts, which will track airfares and hotel prices over time; an email alert option will notify you about price changes and recommend that you buy or wait. The Obamacare marketplaces can be thought of as a government-run store. The government gives many customers subsidies, like gift cards, that they can use to buy insurance. But what happens if no companies want to sell their products in the store? That is the problem that could face Obamacare customers if no insurance carriers show up in a given area, a risk policy makers call the bare-market problem. That risk is growing as the administration sends negative signals about the future of the market. If all the insurers start leaving some stores, consumers there will find their options dwindling, and then their subsidies will become worthless. Most would end up uninsured. The problem could affect as few as dozens of customers or spread more broadly to affect a substantial fraction of the approximately 11 million people currently enrolled in Obamacare coverage. The markets created by the Affordable Care Act have always relied on the voluntary participation of private companies. If the government set up the right conditions for the market, the thinking went, insurers would want to jump in. But, as Sarah Kliff at Vox.com has reported, the law contained no real backup plan if that vision didnt work out. So far, there are parts of Tennessee where none of this years insurers want to sell insurance next year. Other counties have only one carrier, and in some of them, that carrier is looking shaky. LA GRULLA, Tex. Manuel Torresmutt, a Border Patrol agent, pulls his white and green Chevy Tahoe to the side of a deserted gravel road, framed on one side by railroad tracks and on the other by thick green brush. The South Texas sun streams brightly as Mr. Torresmutt, a stocky, 24-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol, steps from his truck to meet with his three-man team. A radio dispatcher says four bodies have been spotted on the Mike side, referring to the code name for the bank of the Rio Grande in Mexico. A few minutes later, Mr. Torresmutt and other members of the Border Patrols Rio Grande Valley Sector Horse Unit are on their way, rocks and dust flying as their mustangs rush into the bush in search of those crossing the border illegally. In another video he posted, he said that he had killed multiple people, but the police said there was only one known victim. He later spoke with the police by phone, although officials have not revealed what was said. We would like to have brought Steve in peacefully, and really talk to him and find out exactly why this happened, because there might be other people out there in similar situations that we can help, said Calvin D. Williams, the Cleveland police chief. The killing, and Mr. Stephenss flight, set off intense news coverage, widespread fear and a vast hunt involving the F.B.I., the United States Marshals Service, and several state and local police agencies. Investigators had picked up a ping from his cellphone near Erie on Sunday and had searched the area without success, Chief Williams said. Wanted posters showing Mr. Stephenss face and name appeared on digital billboards across the country, a $50,000 reward was offered, and the police received nearly 400 tips from people claiming to have information about him. Several schools in Philadelphia were placed on lockdown on Monday after the police received multiple reports that he had been spotted at a park. The police said on Twitter that there was no indication he was in the area, and on Tuesday, the Baltimore Police Department on Twitter debunked reports of sightings there as unfounded. Mr. Stephens had worked since 2008, without any disciplinary problems, at Beech Brook, a behavioral health agency that serves children, the organization said. All 270 employees there were notified on Sunday night to stay home on Monday, said Nancy Kortemeyer, a spokeswoman for the agency. At Beech Brooks 70-acre headquarters campus in Pepper Pike, a Cleveland suburb, and at a family drop-in center in Cleveland, the police did a walk through to make sure he was not there, she said. Upon learning of Mr. Stephenss suicide, there was a mixture of sadness and relief at the organization, Ms. Kortemeyer said. Prosecutors in Georgia have dismissed dozens of cases and are reviewing others called into question after two law enforcement officers with a central role in them were fired for kicking and punching a motorist at a traffic stop, officials have said. Rosanna Szabo, the solicitor general for Gwinnett County, on Friday dismissed 89 cases in which the officers, Robert McDonald and Michael F. Bongiovanni, were a principal officer or a main witness, a statement from her office said. Ms. Szabo declined to provide further details about the types of cases that were dismissed, but her office handles ordinance violations, such as traffic violations, and misdemeanors, such as trespassing, property damage and shoplifting or other crimes punishable by up to one year in jail. Danny Porter, the Gwinnett County district attorney, said his office was reviewing up to 40 felony cases in which the officers had been witnesses. Those that can be salvaged will be, he said in an email on Tuesday. Voters in Georgias Sixth Congressional District will have 18 candidates to choose from Tuesday when they decide who should fill the seat vacated by former Representative Tom Price, a Republican who was tapped to become President Trumps health and human services secretary. But none have earned more press, or raised more money, than Jon Ossoff, 30, a Democrat and documentary filmmaker who bills his campaign as a way to Make Trump Furious. Now, in one of the first political tests of the Trump presidency, the question is whether he can turn anti-Trump anger and energy into enough votes to send him to Congress from a wealthy suburban district that has not sent a Democrat to Washington in decades. Here are some key questions about Tuesdays election. Can Mr. Ossoff land a knockout in Round 1? The top two vote-getters on the crowded ballot will advance to a June 20 runoff unless one of them earns more than 50 percent of the vote. Mr. Ossoff, more than his Republican opponents, may need a knockout blow of 50 percent plus one. That would allow Democrats to avoid a long and costly slog toward a runoff when a Republican candidate is likely to be heavily favored in a one-to-one matchup. WASHINGTON President Trump visited the Tennessee estate of Andrew Jackson last month to symbolically claim the mantle of the first genuinely populist president since the 1830s. Just like Jackson, Mr. Trump defeated a political dynasty to take power and was now determined to challenge what the new president called the arrogant elite. But last week suggested the limits of the comparison. Where Jackson made it his mission to destroy the Second Bank of the United States, which he viewed as a construct of the nations wealthy to wield power over the people, Mr. Trump saved the Export-Import Bank and signaled that he may preserve the leadership of the Federal Reserve, two modern-day tools of federal power in the economy. As he nears 100 days in the White House, Mr. Trump has demonstrated that while he won office on a populist message, he has not consistently governed that way. He rails against elites and on Tuesday signed an order favoring American companies for federal contracts. But he has stocked his administration with billionaires and lobbyists while turning over his economic program to a Wall Street banker. He may be at war with the Washington establishment, but he has drifted away from some of the anti-establishment ideas that animated his campaign. The shift comes as the president has moved to marginalize their most outspoken proponent, Stephen K. Bannon, the White House chief strategist who made it his mission to deconstruct the administrative state. On the rise are Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, and Gary D. Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs president serving as the presidents national economics adviser. Masha Gessen in The New York Review of Books: Trump has become the real version of the man Putin plays on television an unpredictable, temperamental, impetuous man who will push reality past the limits of the imagination. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and Mr. Trump have much in common, writes Masha Gessen, including an affinity for the politics of spectacle and insatiable ambition. But their differences are instructive. With Mr. Trump becoming the madman that Ms. Gessen argues Mr. Putin only puts on, the results for geopolitical comity are truly terrifying. Read more _____ William Astore in Tom Dispatch: To Trump and his generals, an America-first approach [...] actually means putting the military first, second, and third. William Astore, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, urges his readers not to dismiss the power of the military-industrial complex. Mr. Trump, Mr. Astore writes, joins recent presidents whose foreign policies have little to do with deterrence and everything to do with maintaining lucrative and never-ending wars. Read more _____ Alyssa Battistoni in Dissent: The prospect of pushing for basic income in the United States right now when the right controls everything should be cause for alarm. Alyssa Battistoni looks at the growing interest in a universal basic income a policy sometimes explained as paying people for being alive. People from across political ideologies support the idea, including Trump-supporting venture capitalists like Peter Thiel and fully automated luxury communists like Peter Frase. A proponent of the policy herself, Ms. Battistoni warns that the left should proceed with caution in its embrace of a basic income. Put into effect in the Trump era, the program might become a vehicle to dismantle the welfare state entirely. Read more WASHINGTON President Trumps plans to build a border wall could cost more than three times as much as initial estimates, Senate Democrats said in a report released on Tuesday, adding that the administration has yet to provide Congress with evidence to show that a wall would be effective in stopping the flow of illegal immigration and drugs. The report said the border wall could cost nearly $70 billion to build and $150 million a year to maintain. An internal report by the Department of Homeland Security said the wall could cost about $21.6 billion, not including maintenance. The report, which was prepared by the Democratic staff of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, also found that the construction of a wall would require taking hundreds of acres of private land at a cost of millions to taxpayers and would divert money from crucial mobile video surveillance technology. The staff just wanted to summarize where we are at this point, given the lack of substantive answers coming from the administration, said Drew Pusateri, a spokesman for Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri and ranking member on the committee. The answer to that question, he said, is plainly no. But Justice Elena Kagan said there was something curious about the case. It doesnt make much sense, though, does it? she asked Mr. Shanmugam. Your client serviced this debt and counted as a debt collector at that time, she said. And then your client purchased the debt and all of a sudden is not a debt collector. And I guess the question is: What happened in between the time when your client serviced the debt and the time when your client purchased the debt that in any way changed its relationship with the borrower such that Congress wouldnt be concerned any longer with its behavior? she asked Mr. Shanmugam said his client, as owner of the debt, had different interests than some debt collectors, including keeping a good relationship with customers to whom it might want to sell other products. I do think, he said, that we would have incentives to maintain their good will in the way that the sort of fly-by-night debt collectors that Congress was seeking to target 40 years ago did not when it enacted the law. Kevin K. Russell, a lawyer for the borrowers, faced resistance even from justices who might be inclined to be sympathetic to his position. I can never get it to mean what you want it to mean, Justice Kagan said of the words of the law. Mr. Russell said his reading of the law avoided some contradictions and superfluous words. But Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said the supposed inconsistencies were inconsequential. Youre really going uphill on that, he said. Mr. Russell responded that some of the language in the statute created a null set or Venn diagrams with circles that do not touch. He gave what he said was a comparable example: If Congress has enacted a statute that regulates taxis only to the extent theyre driven by poodles. WASHINGTON President Trumps most influential policy advisers are urging him to keep the United States in the landmark Paris climate accord of 2015, a move that would break one of his signature campaign promises and further downgrade the counsel of his senior strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. Mr. Trump plans to make a final decision on the fate of the Paris agreement before a meeting of the Group of 7 leading economies at the end of May, according to Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary. A team of Mr. Trumps principal advisers was scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon at the White House to discuss the decision with the aim of recommending a path forward, but the meeting was canceled after some of the planned attendees flew with Mr. Trump to an event in Wisconsin, according to a White House spokeswoman. The spokeswoman, Kelly Love, said the meeting was still expected to take place, although the exact timing was unclear. On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump vowed to cancel the climate deal, and his most politically conservative advisers, including Mr. Bannon, have pushed him to follow through. But Mr. Bannons influence has waned in recent weeks, while authority has risen for Mr. Trumps daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who advocate staying in the accord. WASHINGTON Just over a week ago, the White House declared that ordering an American aircraft carrier into the Sea of Japan would send a powerful deterrent signal to North Korea and give President Trump more options in responding to the Norths provocative behavior. Were sending an armada, Mr. Trump said to Fox News last Tuesday afternoon. The problem was that the carrier, the Carl Vinson, and the three other warships in its strike force were that very moment sailing in the opposite direction, to take part in joint exercises with the Australian Navy in the Indian Ocean, 3,500 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula. White House officials said Tuesday that they had been relying on guidance from the Defense Department. Officials there described a glitch-ridden sequence of events, from an ill-timed announcement of the deployment by the militarys Pacific Command to a partially erroneous explanation by the defense secretary, Jim Mattis all of which perpetuated the false narrative that a flotilla was racing toward the waters off North Korea. By the time the White House was asked about the Carl Vinson, its imminent arrival had been emblazoned on front pages across East Asia, fanning fears that Mr. Trump was considering a pre-emptive military strike. It was portrayed as further evidence of the presidents muscular style days after he ordered a missile strike on Syria that came while he and President Xi Jinping of China chatted over dessert during a meeting in Florida. North Koreas military parade on Saturday, more than rallying its citizens, appeared intended to send a message to the rest of us: The country is seeking a program sophisticated enough to fire a guaranteed nuclear retaliation in any war, including one day against the United States. In 2013, when North Korea unveiled a map with a war plan for nuclear strikes against major American cities, we all fell out of our chairs laughing, said Melissa R. Hanham, an analyst at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, Calif. After a series of breakthroughs, including those shown on Saturday, theyre not laughing anymore, Ms. Hanham said: The more they roll out, the more it looks like that is their actual plan. That plan was conveyed in four missile systems that were paraded for the first time, two of which were new altogether. Here are what the systems reveal about North Koreas rapidly growing capabilities and how the country could use them in a war. BEIJING Shen Zhihua, a Chinese historian known for his groundbreaking research on the Korean War, has urged Beijing to rethink its longstanding support for North Korea. Mr. Shen made his case in a speech last month that has ignited widespread discussion in China, reflecting growing debate about how tough the government should be on North Korea. Here are some excerpts: Chairman Mao said long ago that who is our friend and who is our enemy is the question of first importance in a revolution. Getting to grips with that is also of the first importance in the foreign policy situation of northeast Asia. Just who is our friend, and who is our enemy? If you cant distinguish between friend and foe, how can you fight and whom do you fight? Of course, friends can also have conflicts, and sometimes theres also compromise and cooperation with enemies. If we look at North Korea and South Korea, who is a friend of China and who is an enemy? Outwardly, China and North Korea are allies, while the United States and Japan support South Korea against North Korea. Thats a legacy of the Cold War. But I believe that after decades of contention and shifts in the international landscape, theres long been a fundamental transformation. My basic conclusion is judging by the current situation, North Korea is Chinas latent enemy and South Korea could be Chinas friend. To call North Korea a latent enemy of China means that, for now, this still hasnt come to the fore. Diplomatically, when leaders of the two countries talk to each other, they dont use particularly hostile rhetoric. But that doesnt count. Dont look at the rhetoric. Look at fundamental interests! Look at whether the fundamental interests of China and North Korea are aligned and consistent. Speaking in light of my own research into the history of the Chinese-North Korean relationship, China and North Korea really were friends and allies in the past. That was when the relationship was a special friendship created by Mao Zedong, Kim Il-sung and other senior Chinese and North Korean leaders. When China and South Korea established diplomatic relations in 1992, that totally destroyed the political basis of the Chinese-North Korean relationship. ... By 1992, at the end of the Cold War, the Chinese-North Korean relationship and alliance created by the previous generation no longer existed. Practically speaking, everything had changed in the relationship. In foreign policy, economics, politics, everything, the interests of China and North Korea had diverged, and the basis for an alliance had disintegrated. The treaty of alliance between China and North Korea became a piece of scrap paper. At that time the Chinese-North Korean relationship became an ordinary, normal relationship between states. But this normal relationship quickly and quietly turned toward hostility, and that was because North Korea launched its nuclear strategy. The root cause of the ever-worsening crisis on the Korean Peninsula is that North Korea has gone nuclear and is constantly holding nuclear tests, and thats also the fundamental cause of instability on Chinas periphery. But North Korea has been doing this for the sake of its fundamental interests. So, putting it objectively, the fundamental interests of China and North Korea are at odds. Chinas fundamental interest lies in achieving stability on its borders and developing outward. But since North Korea acquired nuclear weapons, that periphery has never been stable, so inevitably Chinese and North Korean interests are at odds. The spokespeople for our Foreign Ministry claim that the North Korean nuclear crisis was triggered by antagonism between the United States and North Korea, and thats entirely understandable as diplomatic language. But, as scholars, we must see clearly that North Koreas shift to a policy of holding nuclear weapons was triggered by the shifts in its relationship with China. We must see clearly that China and North Korea are no longer brothers in arms, and in the short term theres no possibility of an improvement in Chinese-North Korean relations. The situation now is that each time North Korea stages a nuclear test, the United States increases its military forces in northeast Asia, sending in drones or an aircraft carrier or holding military exercises. And then the military pressure from the U.S. leads North Korea to stage another nuclear test. You stage a test, he adds troops and it keeps escalating. The outcome? The real pressure is felt by China and South Korea, and the ones who ultimately bear the brunt are China and South Korea. ... So the upshot of North Korea stirring up trouble is more pressure and threats on China. Stepping back, if a Korean nuclear bomb explodes, wholl be the victim of the nuclear leakage and fallout? That would be China and South Korea. Japan is separated by a sea, and the United States is separated by the Pacific Ocean. You shouldnt do what your enemies want you to do, so Ive been really disgusted by how China has handled Thaad [the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense antiballistic missile system being deployed in South Korea]. I have no idea whose idea that was, but what youve done is stir up such a ruckus that South Korean shops have had to close, and youve smashed up here, smashed up there. ... Putting it one way, youve got no foreign policy smarts. Youve done exactly what your enemies would like you to do, and youve pushed South Korea into an iron triangle with the United States and Japan. Putting it another way, are you a civilized great power or not? Arent you a civilized ancient country, so why stoop to this? How do you want neighboring countries to view China? You just know how to pick on a company to blow off steam. Youre not using your brain. Isnt there a mite of intelligence? By doing this weve alienated public opinion in South Korea, and in dealing with a democracy, the most important thing is to win over public sentiment and opinion. ... What weve been doing is just what the Americans and North Koreans want most of all. The North Koreans are also overjoyed, because the result of all this uproar over Thaad is that Chinese-South Korean relations have ruptured. SYDNEY, Australia Saying he was putting Australians first, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced plans on Tuesday to replace a special visa category that allows some temporary foreign workers to enter Australia. The rules would make it harder for skilled migrants to work in the country. Mr. Turnbull said that the special category, the so-called 457 visa, would be abolished in favor of two new temporary visas requiring more work experience and, in some cases, greater English skills. Current holders of the visa, who number about 95,000, would not be affected. We will no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians, Mr. Turnbull said. Were putting jobs first, and were putting Australians first. The prime minister said the changes would attract better-skilled workers and encourage the hiring of Australians instead of cheaper foreign labor. SANCRAIENI, Romania Young men in Sancraieni have risen early on Easter Monday for as long as anyone can remember. So have the women and girls to be soaked in ice-cold water and sprayed with patchouli. Sprinkling is a spring rite in the heart of Transylvania, in central Romania, when women are watered like flowers. The water, freshly drawn from a well, is believed to secure health, beauty and perhaps even love for the women who find themselves beneath a bucketful of it. On Monday morning, about two dozen young men in traditional attire high black boots, black hats, white shirts and cream-colored trousers resembling riding breeches gathered at the home of Koppany Gal, 23, who works at a hospital. Beer and snacks were already on the table. PARIS Two men were arrested in southern France on Tuesday on suspicion of preparing an attack to disrupt campaigning before the first round of the countrys presidential elections on Sunday, the authorities said. The target of the plot was not disclosed. The news injected additional uncertainty into a tumultuous and dynamic race, in which the four main candidates are neck-and-neck in the polls. It also put worries about terrorism back at the forefront of a campaign that had focused mostly on economic issues. The two men, French citizens aged 23 and 29, were arrested Tuesday morning in the southern port city of Marseille, according to Francois Molins, a prosecutor in Paris who handles terrorism investigations nationwide. What the Germans did, allowing a million migrants into their country, is against common sense, Mr. Orban said. But what the Hungarians did is in line with common sense. More people are beginning to realize this. In a recent interview on state radio, Viktor Orban said, Whoever is right before all the others is considered to be a heretic. That doesnt necessarily mean that refugees and economic migrants will stop coming. An estimated 8,000 asylum seekers now wait in Serbia for permission to cross into Hungary. Hundreds more hide in forests and in informal camps, hoping for an opportunity to cross illegally. Many more are expected as the weather warms. I do not try to cross illegally, said Mohammed Wafa Sekendari, who left Afghanistan with his family a year and a half ago hoping for a fresh life in Europe, only to end up in a tent camp just feet from the entrance to one of Hungarys new transit zones. I want to do everything legal, to follow all the rules, so when I arrive in Germany, my family and I no longer need to hide, he said. Mr. Orban denies charges from refugee advocates that Hungarys new policy violates international law and European Union rules. But his government has strictly controlled access to the camps and would not allow journalists to enter, saying that it was only safeguarding the refugees privacy. In most countries, asylum seekers are usually allowed to come and go freely, even if housed in immigration centers. Previously, that was the case in Hungary, too, though many walked away, continuing their journey to Western Europe. A panel of United Nations human rights advisers urged the global organization more than a year ago to publicly apologize and compensate hundreds of ethnic Roma who were poisoned by lead waste in decrepit camps run by its peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. But it is increasingly unclear whether the Roma, also known as Gypsies, will get even an apology. A draft statement that would sincerely apologize for the poisoning and other problems that the panel attributed to negligence by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, known as Unmik, has been under revision since March, according to people in and outside the United Nations who are knowledgeable about the deliberations. Those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were talking about internal United Nations discussions, also said that the precise mechanism and amount of any financial remedy, should there be one, had not been determined. The main obstacle, they said, was the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs objections to any language in the statement that could be construed as acknowledging liability. A copy of the draft statement was obtained by The New York Times. One senior Afghan security official in Kabul said on Tuesday that Thursdays bombing killed 96 Islamic State militants, 13 of them major commanders. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the news media, provided the names and basic information about the commanders, most of whom were from the tribal areas across the border in Pakistan, but who also included some Indian citizens and Central Asians. However, the official provided no proof of the deaths or information on how officials reached the number of 96. The United States military, despite repeated attempts, did not provide comment. The Islamic States local radio outlet, which was unaffected by the bombing, continues to broadcast into Jalalabad, the urban center in the east. It broadcasts half-hour programs during the day and an evening program that often lasts more than an hour. As early as the day after the bombing, it broadcast a call-in program in which voices of men who claimed to be fighters in the area who were not affected by the powerful bomb could be heard between rhyming Islamic chants. The media was expecting that this bomb would have killed all the Islamic State fighters or forced them to flee, but that is not the case, the programs anchor said. After the big bomb, our warrior, brave youth became a shield in front of them. Islamic State radio, known as Voice of the Caliphate, has been reconstituted after it was destroyed last year by a targeted American drone attack. Afghan officials said that the earlier operation was run by five militants from the back of a small truck that switched locations often to avoid being targeted. UNITED NATIONS In a bid to show that the Trump administration cares about human rights around the world, its envoy to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, on Tuesday presided over what the administration called the first thematic debate on human rights in the Security Council. In case after case, human rights violations and abuses are not merely the incidental byproduct of conflict, Ms. Haley said at the session. They are the trigger for conflict. She referred to countries that the United States has consistently criticized for their rights abuses, including Cuba, North Korea and Syria. Rights groups reacted with criticism. The Trump administration, they pointed out, has been sued at home for its visa ban targeting some predominantly Muslim countries. The president has praised Egypts authoritarian leader, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the advocates noted. On Monday, President Trump congratulated Turkeys authoritarian president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for prevailing in a referendum that strengthened his powers. Cant wait for discussion about detention of journalists, writers, & others in Turkey, David Kaye, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine and a special United Nations envoy on freedom of expression, wrote on Twitter. This article originally appeared at TomDispatch.com. To receive TomDispatch in your inbox three times a week, click here. Now, we know. According to Todd Harrison, an expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the replacement cost for the 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles recently dumped on an air base in Syria: $89 million. That not-exactly-decisive strike in Washington's 15 years of war in the ever more chaotic Greater Middle East against... well, you tell me what or whom... was but a drop in the bucket. After all, the cost of those never-ending wars has already reached into the trillions of dollars. And keep in mind that these are wars in which, as U.S. Army major and TomDispatch regular Danny Sjursen suggests today, the most all-American military word around may be "more" -- as in more troops for Syria, more troops for Iraq, more troops for Afghanistan, and of course more missiles, planes, ships, advanced arms, you name it. In that context, $89 million is a laughably small sum. Still, just for the hell of it, let's think about what a figure like that might mean if spent domestically rather than on a strike of more or less no significance in Syria. That sum is, for instance, well more than half of the $149 million budget for the National Endowment for the Arts and also of the $149 million budget for the National Endowment for the Humanities, both of which the Trump administration would like to wipe out. It represents one-fifth of the $445 million the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, also on Trump's chopping block, gets from the federal government. That single strike also represents about a thirtieth of the $2.6 billion his administration wants to cut from the Environmental Protection Agency's budget and about a sixtieth of the $5.8 billion that it plans to excise from the budget of the National Institutes of Health. So each time those Tomahawks are launched, or American planes or drones take off on their latest missions over Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, or Somalia, or the next batch of U.S. troops heads for Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, or elsewhere in the Greater Middle East and those millions of dollars start to add up to billions and finally trillions, just think to yourself: that's the arts, the sciences, public health, and environmental safety that we're knocking off. Think of that as part of the "collateral damage" produced by our never-ending wars, or take a moment with Major Sjursen and imagine just how Washington might continue to lose those wars in the future with even greater flare and at even greater cost. Tom How to Lose the Next War in the Middle East The Short Answer: Fight it! By Danny Sjursen Make no mistake: after 15 years of losing wars, spreading terror movements, and multiplying failed states across the Greater Middle East, America will fight the next versions of our ongoing wars. Not that we ever really stopped. Sure, Washington traded in George W. Bush's expansive, almost messianic attitude toward his Global War on Terror for Barack Obama's more precise, deliberate, even cautious approach to an unnamed version of the same war for hegemony in the Greater Middle East. Sure, in the process kitted-up 19 year-olds from Iowa became less ubiquitous features on Baghdad's and Kabul's busy boulevards, even if that distinction was lost on the real-life targets of America's wars -- and the bystanders (call them "collateral damage") scurrying across digital drone display screens. It's hardly a brilliant observation to point out that, more than 15 years later, the entire region is a remarkable mess. So much worse off than Washington found it, even if all of that mess can't simply be blamed on the United States -- at least not directly. It's too late now, as the Trump administration is discovering, to retreat behind two oceans and cover our collective eyes. And yet, acts that might still do some modest amount of good (resettling refugees, sending aid, brokering truces, anything within reason to limit suffering) don't seem to be on any American agenda. So, after 16 years of inconclusive or catastrophic regional campaigns, maybe it's time to stop dreaming about how to make things better in the Greater Middle East and try instead to imagine how to make things worse (since that's the path we often seem to take anyway). Here, then, is a little thought experiment for you: what if Washington actually wanted to lose? How might the U.S. government go about accomplishing that? Let me offer a quick (and inevitably incomplete) to-do list on the subject: As a start, you would drop an enlarged, conventional army into Iraq and/or Syria. This would offer a giant red, white, and blue target for all those angry, young radicalized men just dying (pardon the pun) to extinguish some new "crusader" force. It would serve as an effective religious-nationalist rallying cry (and target) throughout the region. Then you would create a news-magnet of a ban (or at least the appearance of one) on immigrants and visitors of every sort from predominantly Muslim countries coming to the United States. It's hardly an accident that ISIS has taken to calling the president's proposed executive order to do just that "the blessed ban" and praising Donald Trump as the "best caller to Islam." Such actions only confirm the extremist narrative: that Muslims are unwelcome in and incompatible with the West, that liberal plurality is a neo-imperial scam. Finally, you would feed the common perception in the region that Washington's support for Israel and assorted Arab autocrats is unconditional. To do so, you would go out of your way to hold fawning public meetings with military strongmen like Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, and suggest that, when it came to Israel, you were considering changing American policy when it comes to a two-state solution and the illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine. Such policies would feed another ISIS narrative: U.S. support for illiberal despots and the failure of the Arab Spring is proof that practicing Muslims and peaceful Islamists will never successfully gain power through the democratic process. Key to such a losing strategy would be doing anything you could to reinforce ISIS's twisted narrative of an end-of-days battle between Islam and Christendom, a virtuous East versus a depraved West, an authentic Caliphate against hypocritical democracies. In what amounts to a war of ideas, pursuing such policies would all but hand victory to ISIS and other jihadi extremist groups. And so you would have successfully created a strategy for losing eternally in the Greater Middle East. And if that was the desired outcome in Washington, well, congratulations all around, but of course we all know that it wasn't. Let's take these three points in such a losing strategy one by one. (Of course "losing" is itself a contested term, but for our purposes, consider the U.S. to have lost as long as its military spins its wheels in a never-ending quagmire, while gradually empowering various local "adversaries.") Just a Few Thousand More Troops Will Get It Done... There are already thousands of American soldiers and Marines in Iraq and Syria, to say nothing of the even more numerous troops and sailors stationed on bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Turkey, and other states ringing America's Middle Eastern battlefields. Still, if you want to mainline into the fastest way to lose the next phase of the war on terror, just blindly acquiesce in the inevitable requests of your commanders for yet more troops and planes needed to finish the job in Syria ( and Iraq, and Afghanistan, and Yemen, and so on). Let's play this out. First, the worst (and most plausible) case: U.S. ground forces get sucked into an ever more complex, multi-faceted civil war -- deeper and deeper still, until one day they wake up in a world that looks like Baghdad, 2007, all over again. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Progressive Content Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their progressive content after publishing. To see if the progressive content was renamed or re-published, please click here. I would take this standard and apply it to the possession of nuclear weapons. There are those who shouldn't have nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. (The reality of course is that no nation should have nuclear weapons) In the case of North Korea, we have one man who decides everything that goes on in that country on a national level, who wasn't elected and seems to have no opposition whatsoever to anything he says or does. Speaking for myself, I wouldn't trust this person in my neighborhood with a loaded gun. Having Kim Un Sung in the possession of nuclear weapons or Thermo-nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them is tantamount to having someone not only possessing a gun, but having an assault rifle and ten 20 round clips. Some that say that it is hypocritical for the nation that developed this type of weapon and who possesses a stockpile of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them, to tell another country that they shouldn't have them. This may be true, and we may not have the right to do this, and we may be wrong in the belief that we should have these types of weapons, and no one else should possess them, in this case I really don't care if we are hypocritical. I would be the first one to rid the planet of all types of nuclear weapons. Still, the decision to develop atomic weapons was made before I was born. I was born 66 years ago and most people reading this article, although not everyone, have not been around this long. Even though, I spent 20 years supposedly "serving my nation" in the military, I have never subscribed to the development of nuclear weapons by either the United States or the old Soviet Union. It has always been my belief that people should never have let the United States government or the Russians, after seeing the carnage of World War II, have let their governments develop nuclear weapons, especially after seeing what it did to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In my defense, I was 17 years old when I entered the military and wasn't as astute as I am now. I wore my uniform to protest the Vietnam War and attended the Washington veterans against the Vietnam War demonstration. Still, I never realized how corrupt our government or and other governments around the world really were. In the case of my outlook on the government in Washington along with other governments of the world, I didn't start to see what was underneath the veil of propaganda and secrecy until after 9/11 and the run-up to the disastrous war against the country of Iraq. I was retired from the military at that time and I saw how the mainstream media was marching to the tune of war and spouting the propaganda of Washington, even though Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. With my military experience, I understood how Bush and his minions were misleading the American people. This is when I started writing politically on a small blog of my own. Since then, I have been writing about lies and propaganda whenever I see it. In the case of the present situation in Korea, I see only a madman that rules and isolated nation, virtually unaware of what goes on in the world, developing nuclear weapons and the capability of using them against other nations. The hate that North Korea and to an extent even South Korea has towards the nation of Japan is real and understandable. The hate that North Korea has towards the United States is also real and understandable. Even though the North Koreans might have justification for despising the United States, it would be foolish to let them develop weapons of mass destruction, no matter how justified they believe they are. The facts are that the leader of North Korea and his government cannot be trusted with nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. I don't like Donald Trump and I don't like American foreign policy and I distrust my own government to the extent that I can't watch mainstream media or read most American publications for that matter, because I believe this country is sleepwalking towards a fascism. I do believe however, that what our government is saying about North Korea is totally correct and letting them have long-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads is about the worst thing that can happen. (Although some may say it is poetic justice). They might not develop long-range ballistic missiles in my lifetime, but they surely will in my children and grandchildren's lifetimes and I'm not comfortable with that. I think that our government, along with other governments, must insist that North Korea stop its nuclear program. Like other people, I worry that the use of force would involve tremendous death and destruction to not only North Korea, but South Korea, and could escalate out of control and could start World War III. Still, I would hope that the nations of the world will unite to deny North Korea the means to launch nuclear attacks on Japan and the United States. I implore people to get involved and make the American government realized that they cannot command North Korea to give up its weapons program because they're threatening to use of force. The truth is that North Korea is not going to unilaterally give up its nuclear program because of the dictates of the United States. The only way that North Korea is going to give up its nuclear program is if they get something in return. The last time that North Korea suspended its nuclear program, the United States immediately began demonizing them and continued with its threats and sanctions. The United States must realize that it no longer is a policeman of the world. The world does not bend to the will of the Americans because of its economic and military power. The United States must also realize that great powers and empires come and go. No single country or Empire can dictate what the world does forever. America must realize that the world now is no longer the world it was after the second world war. After the second world war America's economy was 54% of the world economy. This is no longer the case. America has only been a world power in the last 100 years. This is a second of time in the history of the world. The truth is that soon, the United States will no longer be the dominant economic or military power. This may hurt the feelings of the far right in America, but this is the way of civilization Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. From Beirut: Andre Vltchek As the US Tomahawk missiles were raining on Syria, the entire Middle East was shaken to its core. Here, even the name itself - Syria - triggers extremely complex and often contradictory sets of emotions. To some, Syria is synonymous with pride and a determined struggle against Western imperialism, while others see it as an uncomfortable reminder of how low their own rulers and societies have managed to sink, serving foreign interests and various neo-colonialist designs. Many people are hiding their heads in the sand, obediently repeating the official Western narrative, while others are gradually resorting to the alternative sources of information that are coming from outlets such as RT Arabic, Al-Mayadeen and Press TV. Here in the Middle East and in fact all over the entire Arab world, feelings towards the Syrian President Basheer Al-Assad are always 'strong'; no one appears to be 'neutral'. But even the divisions are often 'pre-defined', carved along pan-Arab versus pro-Western, or Sunni versus Shi'a lines. It is rarely being mentioned that the Syrian state is constructed mainly on secular and socialist principles. The recent opportunistic statements by certain badly informed and biased Western 'progressive' intellectuals, calling the Syrian system "disgraceful" has confused things even further. Overall, in the countries encircling Syria, there is very little support among the general population as well as among the intellectuals, for the Western assaults on the country, conducted directly, and indirectly by proxies. Pro-Western regimes and governments are currently governing Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, and all of them are officially supporting the Western military actions. So is, naturally, Israel. The leaders of both Turkey and Israel would actually like to see more military actions, and more attacks against one of the last Arab countries, which is still upholds its independence. But ask the thinkers from all over the region, and the reaction is near unanimously against the assaults that are being conducted by the West. Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). If it were up to me, the world would be united by bio-regions: for instance: California, Oregon, and Washington, and British Columbia would form a democratic socialist Republic. But it's not up to me, so I have to work with what is given: I do not agree that the root of all our evils is the United States, as many assert though many evils do result. This article explores the idea that the root of the problem is capitalistic oligarchy, the rule of the rich, which is embedded in our Constitution and institutions. This article explores the origins of fascism and the alternative, democracy. I hope to flesh out these concepts and show how the Deep State which serves the oligarchy, in which state and corporations are merged (fascism, as defined by Mussolini in The Doctrine of Fascism,1932), are mirrored by a shadow democracy which exists in our counter-cultural tradition, as old as the human community itself and reiterated in the Declaration of Independence and renewed by Abraham Lincoln. This concept is reiterated in Brown vs the Board of Education, which declared that separate is not equal. Inequality brings separation, in class, in neighborhoods, and in institutions like schools and courts. My thesis, which I call deep democracy, is that we will never have universal liberty until we have universal equality: Liberty, Equality, and Solidarity. I do advocate a new Constitution, democratic and based on equality and voluntary membership. But liberty without equality is a charade. In a world where a handful of rich men have more wealth than half the world's population, and billions are wage-slave and tens of millions are starving, the concept of liberty is a farce. A hungry man is not free; a sick man without healthcare is not free; a person working at a job they hate in order to pay off debt is not free. , For me the key to the evil the US does is the triumph of the proto-fascist idea articulated by Founding Father,First Chief Justice, and slave owner John Jay: "Those who own the country should run it" This concept, which is the root of the fascist concept of the marriage of state, wealth and corporatons using coercion, is repeated by the main author of the Constitution, slave owner Madison, who stated at the Constitutional Convention that the main purpose of the political system is to "protect the minority of the opulent against the majority." The Constitutional Convention was 95% slave owners. They feared the people, feared slave revolts, feared democracy, and thus devised a Constitution which allowed them, the minority, whose power was based on slavery, to rule: the first 7 Presidents were all slave owners, and the first two were among the largest .04% of slave owners. Equality and consent of the governed were replaced with the rule of the slave owners. When slavery was abolished, the banks and major corporations took their place in a system of oligarch rule, using democratic institutions like elections as a mask for the raw power of the rich. Adam Smith , the father of liberal economics , wrote that "Civil government...is in reality instituted for the defense of the rich against the poor, or of those who have some property against those who have none at all." And John Locke, the father of liberal political theory, wrote that "Government has no other end but the preservation of property." And our new President, Donald J. Trump, has repeated this concept that the rich should rule (the goal of the merging of state and corporate interests) when he said he would select people to run the government "who had made fortunes." This is the ruling paradigm, the ideology which created the modern state based on coercion: the state is not the cause but the result of this belief system in what has always been called plutocracy but takes its fascist nature from the fact that wealth is now concentrated in ways unimaginable in previous time (6 billionaires have as much wealth as 50% of the world's population, according to Oxfam studies) and these wealthy elites have now accumulated the means of force to control the entire globe. And at the center, the concept of American hegemony, that one state, ruled by those who own not only the country but a good part of the entire world (Trump has businesses in 22 nations) with the most expensive and dangerous military force in world history: those who own the world should run it, and if anyone disagrees, then they kill them. That is why the US only attacks nations which are independent or do not submit. The goal is world domination, the deep dream of all fascist movements. For fascism, the magic key is war, which both increases the power of the state as it enriches the banks, which fund wars, the fossil fuel industry, which finds in war its main consumer, and the merchants of death who provide the killing machines....along with their shills in politics, the media, and academia, as well as NGOs, foundations, etc. The power of this ruling class, controlled both through the state, visible and deep, is the source of modern evils such as world wars, mass starvation, and ecological devastation. The counter-ideology goes back to our ancient forefathers, the foraging tribes which created egalitarian, sharing, non-hierarchical communities in which violence was all but absent. In modern times, it was restated by philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau in Discourse on Inequality (pdf) the Diggers and Levelers of 16th Century England, the utopian socialists, the anarchists, and then leaders like Jefferson and revolutionary Tom Paine, both of whom believed that the natural wealth of the earth, the fertility of the soil, the mineral wealth, the fish in the sea, belonged to all humanity. Against the armed defense of enclosing fences which defined the property of the rich, they (though Jefferson was a large slave owner) produced a vision of a society based on equality and consent (the foundation of voluntary membership). Both were unwelcome at the Constitutional Convention, which served as a counter-revolution (see the Madison quote) to the proclaimed principles of the American Revolution, which has never been realized. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). This piece was reprinted by OpEd News with permission or license. It may not be reproduced in any form without permission or license from the source. McCain criticizes Trump's inaction after dozens had reportedly been killed in rebel-held, northsyrian Khan Sheikhoun by the toxic nerve gas SARIN dropped by airplanes {_CNN breaking news 04/04/2017_} (Image by quapan) Details DMCA Reprinted from downwithtyranny.blogspot.com Pentagon MIT Engineer: White Helmets claims that Sarin was dropped by Syrian planes are false most likely staged https://t.co/mksLVgOtAI at https://t.co/mksLVgOtAI aspals legal pages (@aspals) April 18, 2017 (This piece is organized in two parts, the story to this point and the new evidence. To go directly to the new evidence, click here.) The Trump administration officials dismissed the Russian claim that the Syrian airstrike had targeted a munitions warehouse controlled by Islamic extremists as an afterthought to cover up the Syrian government's culpability for the chemical attack. Moreover, the Trump officials claimed that US intelligence had located the site where the Syrian regime had dropped the chemical weapon. However, two new revelations contradict the Trump administration's line on the April 4 attack. A former US official knowledgeable about the episode told Truthout that the Russians had actually informed their US counterparts in Syria of the Syrian military's plan to strike the warehouse in Khan Sheikhoun 24 hours before the strike. And a leading analyst on military technology, Dr. Theodore Postol of MIT, has concluded that the alleged device for a sarin attack could not have been delivered from the air but only from the ground, meaning that the chemical attack may not have been the result of the Syrian airstrike. [...] [T]he US military allegedly knew in advance that the strike was coming: Russian military officers informed their American counterparts of the Syrian military's plan to strike the warehouse in Khan Sheikhoun city 24 hours before the planned airstrike, according to the former US official who spoke with Truthout. The official is in direct contact with a US military intelligence officer with access to information about the US-Russian communications. The military intelligence officer reported to his associate that the Russians provided the information about the strike to the Americans through the normal US-Russian Syria deconfliction telephone line, which was established after the Russian intervention in 2015 to prevent any accidental clash between the two powers. The officer said that Russia communicated to the US the fact that the Syrians believed that the warehouse held toxic chemicals. That information was considered so politically sensitive that after its initial dissemination, it was available only to a few officials, the US military intelligence officer told his associate. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Is There a Grave Danger that North Korea may launch a military attack on South Korea, Japan and the US military bases near Korea? In the opinions of so-called experts in MSM, the answer must be a resounding Yes. Otherwise, why would they say that the presence of North Korea itself poses as a treat to peace in the region and that each test of missile or weapon escalates the risk to the situation? However, I will tell you and all who has brain to think, in no uncertain terms, that there is no more than a near-Zero probability of North Korea launching a military attack against the South. How do I know that? Because that's what has been proven theoretically and in real politics during the Cold-War era. During the Cold-War era, there was something called MAD, which meant Mutual Assured Destruction: if either side attacks, the other side will immediately retaliate and because neither side is militarily so superior to the other side that it can launch a totally debilitating attack that will make the other side even unable to retaliate, neither side could attack at all. That is if they want to survive! If either side wants to kill itself, it can go ahead and launch a military attack, with the predictable result. But no one would ever worry about that! Now back to North Korea. We all know that MAD doesn't apply to North Korea because North Korea and the US military powers are not nearly as evenly balanced as the Soviet Union and the US were during the Cold-War era. But people keep forgetting that one part of MAD does apply to one part of our equation: the North Korea-attacking-the-US equation. If North Korea launches a first strike, no matter how devastating that attack may be, North Korea will immediately be retaliated so massively that North Korea will no longer exist on the planet, within days or maybe within hours, according to some people. Will this prospect encourage, or discourage, North Korean leaders to contemplate going for war with the US? I don't think we need "proof" that they will not intentionally choose the road to their own nationwide self-destruction. But some people say that North Koreans are crazy, and are different from us, and that therefore we don't know how they will behave. If these comments imply that the North Korean may not know the difference between their own collective survival and their collective, nationwide, mass suicides, these comments must be not only thrown away but should be scrutinized for what there are: Nothing but "Seeping Racism". On the other side of the equation, however, we have a genuine risk of war, as we don't have anything resembling MAD, which would assure us peace over war. As noted above, North Korea and the US (including S. Korea and Japan) are not powered evenly at all. This creates the possibility that the US may conclude that it has enough military superiority to launch a first strike, which will devastate North Korea, but with acceptable damages on its side. To minimize damage on our side, the US will make the initial attack as disabling as possible. That part is understandable. But how much of what type of damages will be considered acceptable? And why? North Korean casualties, South Korean casualties, US military personnel in Korea? Will they all be considered more or less equal value? How much total casualties will be considered acceptable enough to make the strike "worth it"? We must know that this is the only real danger of a catastrophic war in our equations. When we realize that we are talking about literally millions, and tens of millions, of human casualties and asking whether they can be accepted if it helps eliminate the North Korean eyesore from the planet earth, we should also realize how far down we are on the rabbit hole from which we seem unable to retrieve ourselves, or regain any measure of sanity. "We've reached the point where state actors can penetrate rectums and vaginas, where judges can order forced catheterizations, and where police and medical personnel can perform scans, enemas and colonoscopies without the suspect's consent.... These tactics are ... about degrading and humiliating a class of people that politicians and law enforcement have deemed the enemy."--Radley Balko, The Washington Post Daily, all across America, individuals who dare to resist--or even question--a police order are being subjected to all sorts of government-sanctioned abuse ranging from forced catheterization, forced blood draws, roadside strip searches and cavity searches, and other foul and debasing acts that degrade their bodily integrity and leave them bloodied and bruised. Americans as young as 4 years old are being leg shackled, handcuffed, tasered and held at gun point for not being quiet, not being orderly and just being childlike--i.e., not being compliant enough. Government social workers actually subjected a 3-year-old boy to a forced catheterization after he was unable to provide them with a urine sample on demand (the boy still wasn't potty trained). The boy was held down, screaming in pain, while nurses forcibly inserted a tube into his penis to drain his bladder--all of this done because the boy's mother's boyfriend had failed a urine analysis for drugs. Americans as old as 95 are being beaten, shot and killed for questioning an order, hesitating in the face of a directive, and mistaking a policeman crashing through their door for a criminal breaking into their home--i.e., not being submissive enough. Consider what happened to David Dao, the United Airlines passenger who was accosted by three police, forcibly wrenched from his seat across the armrest, bloodying his face in the process, and dragged down the aisle by the arms merely for refusing to relinquish his paid seat after the airline chose him randomly to be bumped from the flight--after being checked in and allowed to board--so that airline workers could make a connecting flight. Those with ADHD, autism, hearing impairments, dementia or some other disability that can hinder communication in the slightest way are in even greater danger of having their actions misconstrued by police. Police shot a 73-year-old man with dementia seven times after he allegedly failed to respond to orders to stop approaching and remove his hands from his jacket. The man was unarmed and had been holding a crucifix. Clearly, it no longer matters where you live. Big city or small town: it's the same scenario being played out over and over again in which government agents, hyped up on their own authority and the power of their uniform, ride roughshod over the citizenry who--in the eyes of the government--are viewed as having no rights. Our freedoms--especially the Fourth Amendment--continue to be torn asunder by the prevailing view among government bureaucrats that they have the right to search, seize, strip, scan, spy on, probe, pat down, taser, and arrest any individual at any time and for the slightest provocation. Forced cavity searches, forced colonoscopies, forced blood draws, forced breath-alcohol tests, forced DNA extractions, forced eye scans, and forced inclusion in biometric databases are just a few ways in which Americans continue to be reminded that we have no control over what happens to our bodies during an encounter with government officials. These incidents--sanctioned by the courts and conveniently overlooked by the legislatures--teach Americans of every age and skin color the painful lesson that there are no limits to what the government can do in its so-called "pursuit" of law and order. If this is a war, then "we the people" are the enemy. As Radley Balko notes in The Washington Post, "When you're at war, it's important to dehumanize your enemy. And there's nothing more dehumanizing than forcibly and painfully invading someone's body -- all the better if you can involve the sex organs." The message being beaten, shot, tasered, probed and slammed into our collective consciousness is simply this: it doesn't matter if you're in the right, it doesn't matter if a cop is in the wrong, it doesn't matter if you're being treated with less than the respect you deserve or the law demands. The only thing that matters to the American police state is that you comply, submit, respect authority and generally obey without question whatever a government official (anyone who wears a government uniform, be it a police officer, social worker, petty bureaucrat or zoning official) tells you to do. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). We are living in unprecedented times. Never before in the history of mankind have we seen a situation where, the countries that make up the Western World, once the leaders of modern civilization, have become the leading purveyors of evil in our world. This Western World is itself a paradox. The normal people of these nations are generally peace loving people who do not want war. Americans keep voting for the anti-war candidate but once in power, every candidate quickly reverses on their election promises and picks up where their predecessor left off. But, it's not just the US. The leaders of all the western nations, regardless of who's elected, all seem hell bent on war. And more recently, war against Russia. Not only do we see our collective governments aggressively pro-war but, there's no opposition within governments or, through the media, to present an opposing, sober argument. Anyone who does speak up in the media and argues against the pro-war lobby soon finds that they're no longer required for comment. The media has become a War Cheer Squad who continually dish up talking heads who take on the role of spokesperson for our collective moral compass. They tell us why we should act militarily and why we have to do something to stop some evil in a foreign land that they have presented to us in a report usually, in a distorted and untruthful way. We have watched the lies and manipulation of facts take shape with the illegal invasion of Iraq. Then, we were presented with lie after lie accusing Gadhafi of bombing his own people that quickly led to the bombing and destruction of Libya. Libya is still in a state of anarchy because of the evil perpetrated upon her by the US and NATO governments. However, the coup in Ukraine and the successful takeover of that country was where the anti-Russian agenda began. And, an agenda it is. In fact, as normal people, we should be aware that any policy adopted because of "supposed Russian aggression" is in fact, the preparedness of war with Russia by the evil who, are now ruling our collective western Governments. Ukraine Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Reprinted from www.truthdig.com by Unknown By Chris Hedges Mr. Fish / Truthdig This is a talk that Chris Hedges gave Monday at Princeton University in New Jersey. In the conflicts I covered as a reporter in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans, I encountered singular individuals of varying creeds, religions, races and nationalities who majestically rose up to defy the oppressor on behalf of the oppressed. Some of them are dead. Some of them are forgotten. Most of them are unknown. These individuals, despite their vast cultural differences, had common traits--a profound commitment to the truth, incorruptibility, courage, a distrust of power, a hatred of violence and a deep empathy that was extended to people who were different from them, even to people defined by the dominant culture as the enemy. They are the most remarkable men and women I met in my 20 years as a foreign correspondent. And to this day I set my life by the standards they set. You have heard of some, such as Vaclav Havel, whom I and other foreign reporters met most evenings, during the 1989 Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, in the Magic Lantern Theatre in Prague. Others, no less great, you probably do not know, such as the Jesuit priest Ignacio Ellacuria, who was assassinated in El Salvador in 1989. And then there are those "ordinary" people, although, as the writer V.S. Pritchett said, no people are ordinary, who risked their lives in wartime to shelter and protect those of an opposing religion or ethnicity being persecuted and hunted. And to some of these "ordinary" people I owe my own life. Ruling institutions--the state, the press, the church, the courts, academia--mouth the language of morality, but they serve the structures of power, no matter how venal, which provide them with money, status and authority. In times of national distress--one has only to look at Nazi Germany--all of these institutions, including the academy, are complicit through their silence or their active collaboration with radical evil. And our own institutions, which have surrendered to corporate power and the utopian ideology of neoliberalism, are no different. The lonely individuals who defy tyrannical power within these institutions, as we saw with the thousands of academics who were fired from their jobs and blacklisted during the McCarthy era, are purged and turned into pariahs. All institutions, including the church, Paul Tillich once wrote, are inherently demonic. And a life dedicated to resistance has to accept that a relationship with any institution is often temporary, because sooner or later that institution is going to demand acts of silence or obedience your conscience will not allow you to make. To be a rebel is to reject what it means to succeed in a capitalist, consumer culture, especially the idea that we should always come first. The theologian James H. Cone in his book "The Cross and the Lynching Tree" writes that for oppressed blacks the cross was a "paradoxical religious symbol because it inverts the world's value system with the news that hope comes by way of defeat, that suffering and death do not have the last word, that the last shall be first and the first last." Cone continues: "That God could 'make a way out of no way' in Jesus' cross was truly absurd to the intellect, yet profoundly real in the souls of black folk. Enslaved blacks who first heard the gospel message seized on the power of the cross. Christ crucified manifested God's loving and liberating presence in the contradictions of black life--that transcendent presence in the lives of black Christians that empowered them to believe that ultimately, in God's eschatological future, they would not be defeated by the 'troubles of this world,' no matter how great and painful their suffering. Believing this paradox, this absurd claim of faith, was only possible in humility and repentance. There was no place for the proud and the mighty, for people who think that God called them to rule over others. The cross was God's critique of power--white power--with powerless love, snatching victory out of defeat." Reinhold Niebuhr labeled this capacity to defy the forces of repression "a sublime madness in the soul." Niebuhr wrote that "nothing but madness will do battle with malignant power and 'spiritual wickedness in high places.' " This sublime madness, as Niebuhr understood, is dangerous, but it is vital. Without it, "truth is obscured." And Niebuhr also knew that traditional liberalism was a useless force in moments of extremity. Liberalism, Niebuhr said, "lacks the spirit of enthusiasm, not to say fanaticism, which is so necessary to move the world out of its beaten tracks. It is too intellectual and too little emotional to be an efficient force in history." Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Wisdom Claws us Out of Darkness (Image by Akemi Ohira) Details DMCA Descendants of generations of Passover, once again find humanity choosing between man's inhumanity to man and the calculations by madmen. Again, the world is in the hands of a composition of despots, Putin, Assad, Erdogan, Kim Jong-Un and Trump, all as dishonest and unstable as they are perilously dangerous. Senior citizens have witnessed reconstruction after manmade destruction, but the magnitude of both the insanity and efficiency of war has evolved well beyond even the Bush/Cheney Mushroom Cloud inflammation of bloodshed. If dominion over earth is our commission, then we must resurrect the balance found in peaceful co-existence, before the pride of leaders induces the fall of nations. Our immense power is the courage of true human kindness, not the ashes into which demagogues lacking conscience, human decency, reigning without roots in the reason of deep thinking, would entomb us. If we can but divine this reality check: the first shall be last and the last shall be first, we could escape the betrayal of, all for one and one for all, by the deception of America First. It is in revelation that we discover the truth -- most loss on earth is caused by humans who have lost sight of life's greatest gift: the opportunity to love, to share and to prosper in peaceful ensemble -- little is beyond the reach of those with the vision and desire to see and progress forward embracing world peace. Arguably, Donald Trump has some competition for being the most self-serving, needy of praise, inept President ever to occupy the White House, but with a lust for being the idol of mesmerized idolaters, while hovering his middle finger over nuclear launch codes, he is more terrible than any Ivan or Cesar -- indoctrinating a child's White House Easter Egg Hunt with, stronger and better"than ever before rhetoric, sad. Emma Morano was born November 29, 1899. In 2017, between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, on the 86th day of the Trump Administration, she died at the age of 117. She lived to see humankind advance from ox drawn carts to automobiles; from Kitty Hawk to the Moon. Ms. Morano survived Mussolini, two World Wars, The Korean Conflict and an attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II. Emma Morano lived to hear of Trump's election escalating global stress levels, threatening a new nuclear age Korean War, while seemingly diminishing both the need to hope for reversing Climate Change and imprisoning science behind the walls of Reactionary Nostalgia. She lived to see a black looking president on TV and a TV personality -- all Birther atwitter in the bewitching hours of alternative facts -- lusting to bury the memory of his able predecessor. Living eighty-four years longer than Jesus of Nazareth, Emma Morano undoubtedly knew, boisterous rattling of sabers, gesticulating war, defying The Ten Commandments, can deafen humanity to the world's heart pounding memories of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis -- and even perhaps, short-circuit American conscientiousness to Russian connectors Paul Manafort and Carter Page. Unlike Martha Raddatz, not all of us can bear witness to a Trump epiphany, following Assad's horrific Siren Gas attack on his own people -- Sean Spicer's historical misinformation, notwithstanding. Patriotic citizens encircle our Jericho government, marching to tumble down its wall of lies, knowing there is more MIA in America than Trump's tax returns and Mar-a-Lago visitors' log. Beware, perched in-between Palm and Easter Sundays, an ancient giant observes the mad moves and moods of those having no idea how to orchestrate an end, without a finale. Indeed, it is for us, to extract from any tomb of ignorance, the discernment of the marriage between Resurrection, Revelation and the joy of discovery in the laughter of children -- for what will it profit America if we bomb the s**t out of any soul only to lose the whole world? Every year, nearly 50,000 sea turtles lay their eggs on Floridas beaches. Researchers monitor each new generation of sea turtles closely to determine their health, especially as the environment changes and external factors impact wildlife populations. One significant change that has occurred in the sea turtle populations is the shifting sex ratio as more female turtles are born than males. Over the last few years, scientists have noticed an overwhelming number of female hatchlings on Floridas coast, almost 95 percent of hatchlings were females in some cases. Warming temperatures may be a driving factor behind the changing ratios. Unlike many other animal species, sea turtles sex is not determined by chromosomes but by environmental factors like temperature. In warm conditions, hatchlings are more likely to develop as females, whereas cool conditions are more conducive to producing male turtles. Jeannette Wyneken and her colleagues at Florida Atlantic University have been studying the sea turtles on Floridas beaches and have developed a method to predict the sex of turtles before they hatch by tracking environmental factors like temperature and a protein that is only found on female cells. Their goal is to aid in conservation efforts to protect the turtles and to forecast the ratio that will be present in each generation. Concern that changing ratios could have devastating effects on turtle populations has caused conservationists to look to studies like that of Wyneken and her team to understand what factors impact the animals most strongly. However, it is not clear if the unbalanced sex ratio is truly abnormal or if it really will have significant impacts on turtle species as a whole. David Godfrey, executive director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy, notes that, while the study does provide useful information regarding how rising temperatures plays a part in determining sex, it should not be used as a reason to manipulate sex ratios. It is not clear if a 50-50 male-to-female ratio is really healthy for these species, and it will take more study to determine what the healthy ratio is, he told Scientific American. Understanding the effects of environmental factors like temperature is valuable but more research is necessary to see how the animals will be impacted long-term. Top photo by Geoff Stearns, CC BY 2.0 Lauren Leising is a freelance writer based in Athens, Georgia. 2017 News Archive This page includes links to all the news articles published on pokernews.com during 2017. For your convenience, the articles are segmented by month. Bet or Check After Top Pair Becomes Full House? April 18, 2017 Jonathan Little Today's hand comes from a side event I played in the Bahamas a while back in a PokerStars series. In the hand I have position in a multi-way pot, flop well and improve further on the turn, then face an interesting river bet from my lone remaining opponent. The most interesting decision, though, probably comes on the turn after I've made a full house and have to decide whether to bet or check. The blinds were 200/400 with a 50 ante. I was on the button, and the action in this hand began with a splashy player to my right in the hijack seat limping into the pot. As I mention in the video below, that creates an opportunity for me to raise with a wide range of hands on the button. In fact, I picked up a strong hand and raised to 1,500. There were two more splashy players in the blinds, and both of them called. So did the limper in the hijack, meaning there was nearly 6,500 in the middle and four of us involved when the flop came . It checked around to me and I bet 2,000, and only the hijack called. The turn then brought the , giving me a full house. My opponent checked again, and this is where I had to think about whether to bet or check behind. First of all, I had to consider what hands he could have that would call my turn bet. In this sort of situation, it is important that you always put your opponent on a range and try to determine which part of that range can continue versus a bet. In this case, very few hands in the opponent's range can call, which led me to check the turn. The river then brought the and a half-pot bet of 5,000 from my opponent, putting me to a decision. See what happens next and how things turned out, and hear my further analysis of the hand: Would you have checked the turn in this situation? Also, would you have raised the river with the fourth nuts? Let me know in a comment below. Jonathan Little is a professional poker player and author with over $6,300,000 in live tournament earnings. He writes a weekly educational blog and hosts a podcast at JonathanLittlePoker.com. You can follow him on Twitter @JonathanLittle. Royalty works together to overcome the stigma of mental illness The Lady and Prince have picked up where the Princess left off. Carrie Fischer, often recognized as the actress who played Princess Leia in Star Wars, had been perhaps one of the most fiercely dedicatied advocate for mental health issues. She died, at age 60, last year. It was felt by many that had benefited from her inspiring message. She was treating Bi Polar disorder, often referred to as manic depression. Drug addiction, manic episodes and hospitalization were just some of the personal experiences she had conveyed. Her intention was to let people know that others were going through the same thing. She gave inspiration to so many. "I am mentally ill. I can say that. I am not ashamed of that. I survived that, I'm still surviving it, but bring it on," Fisher told ABC News. Lady Gaga and Prince William are following Fischer's example. They are seen having a conversation that is a difficult subject to talk about. Admitting to everyone that they have been dealing with mental heath disorders must not be easy. Considering that these public figures are constantly scrutinized by the public eye, Gaga and William have come out and are offering support to those who are still struggling without any help. Some of these people are scared to ask for help for the fear of being judged. This could have fatal results as some will resort to hurting them selves before coming forward to a family member. This morning there was a video released of them having a FaceTime chat discussing their personal experiences how mental illness has impacted their lives. This is part of the Heads Together #oktosay series, a campaign set up by the Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, encouraging those who suffer to open up about it. Many people have felt insecure about mentioning because they fear this problem labels them as "crazy." The truth of the matter is there are so many people that go undiagnosed and never get the treatment that could dramatically improve the quality of their lives. Two years ago, Lady Gaga nervously first spoke publicly about dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) as a result of being raped when she was 19. "For me, waking up every day and feeling sad and going on stage is something that is very hard to describe." she said, "There is a lot of shame attached to mental illness, you feel like something's wrong with you." In December she posted an open letter that speaks frankly about her struggle. "I also experience something called dissociation which means that my mind doesn't want to relive the pain so "I look off and I stare" in a glazed over state. As my doctors have taught me, I cannot express my feelings because my pre-frontal cortex (the part of the brain that controls logical, orderly thought) is overridden by the amygdala (which stores emotional memory) and sends me into a fight or flight response. My body is in one place and my mind in another. It's like the panic accelerator in my mind gets stuck and I am paralyzed with fear." Lady Gaga continues,"I am doing various modalities of psychotherapy and am on medicine prescribed by my psychiatrist. However, I believe that the most inexpensive and perhaps the best medicine in the world is words. Kind wordspositive wordswords that help people who feel ashamed of an invisible illness to overcome their shame and feel free." Prince William and Prince Harry have both admitted to seeking treatment for Depression after the death of their mother, Prince Diana, in 1997. Harry stated that he had surpassed these feelings for his mother's passing, even 20 years afterwards. The Duke of Cambridge wants his children to be able to talk about their emotions. William says the "stiff upper lip" culture in the UK is something that needs to stop. CNN "It's time that everyone speaks up and really feels very normal about mental health, it's the same as physical health. Everybody has mental health and we shouldn't be ashamed of it and just having a conversation with a friend or family member can really make such a difference." "It's OK to have this conversation, it's really important to have this conversation and that you won't be judged." William also stated. "It's so important to break open that fear and that taboo which is only going to lead to more problems down the line." Prince William had also made plans for them to get together when Lady Gaga comes to the UK in October. This is promising to all those that secretly endure mental illness without assistance. Hopefully this succeeds in making it easier to seek out the proper treatment. The new Lady Gaga single, The Cure, makes sense considering the dialog. Col. Diron Cruz, assistant adjutant general for the Guam Army National Guard, placed a blue cord around the right shoulder of 2nd Lt. Sheryl Padilla at the "Turning Blue" ceremony last week, symbolizing Padilla's initiation into the U.S. Army's infantry branch in a tradition dating back to the 1950s. Padilla, from the Guam Army National Guard's 1st-294th Infantry Regiment, made history as the first female infantry officer to serve in the Guam National Guard. Alongside fellow Guam Guardsman 2nd Lt. Bryant Bamba, Padilla completed the U.S. Army Infantry Basic Officer Leadership Course (IBOLC) April 11 at Fort Benning, Georgia. The 19-week physically and mentally demanding course comprises four phases, each of which tests tactical and physical agility, and requires students to pass a challenging knowledge-based test before advancing to the next phase. 'Where does the Army need me most?' Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request. Upon completion of Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Meade, South Dakota, Padilla, a former signal soldier, asked her cadre, "Where does the Army need me most?" They replied with, "Infantry." The Department of Defense had just lifted the ban on women in combat arms positions months before, and Padilla decided to take on the challenge. Her courage, confidence and faith led her to successful completion of IBOLC as the Guam National Guard's first female infantry officer. "The 12-mile ruck march was the most challenging event for me," Padilla said. "Second Lt. Bamba stuck by me the whole way encouraging me to finish." Humbled by the whole experience, Padilla's faith and determination to be the best leader for her future soldiers drove her to persevere through all obstacles she confronted. Padilla will assume the role of platoon leader for Alpha Company, 1st-294th Infantry Regiment, upon her return to the Guam National Guard, while Bamba will be assigned as a platoon leader for Bravo Company, 1st-294th Infantry Regiment. Writings on the Wall Many years ago, I got a phone call from Troy Torres at a political candidates office. He had seen an election estimate I had written and didn Read morePower of polls and weekend talks PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 17:25:08 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 389 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Badger Daylighting Ltd.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Calgary, Alberta (FSCWire) - Badger Daylighting Ltd. (TSX:BAD). has issued a press release with the following headline:Badger Daylighting Ltd. April Cash DividendTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Badger Daylighting Ltd., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Badger Daylighting Ltd.Source: Badger Daylighting Ltd. (TSX: BAD, ISIN: A1H5L9, WKN: CA05651W2094)Date: April 18, 2017Time: 11:25 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Badger Daylighting Ltd. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Bio-Plasticizers Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025" report to their offering. Bio-Plasticizers Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 06:33:42 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 572 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Plasticizers are compounds incorporated in a polymer matrix to increase its flexibility and improve the chemical properties of the plastic product. Addition of a plasticizer can lower the glass transition temperature, melt viscosity and elastic modulus of the polymer. Earlier phthalate-based plasticizer represented 85% of the total plasticizers market. However, stringent government regulations and rising health concerns of the consumers, stimulated the demand of bio-plasticizers. In order to assure sustainability, end users are looking for safe, bio-degradable and non-phthalate-based plasticizers.Bio-based plasticizers are widely used as additives in PVCs. They are used in PVC resins, PVC cables, vinyl flooring, wire jacketing, automobile parts etc. The use of bio-plasticizers for wire applications can enable cable manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) reduce carbon gas emission by up to 40%. Also, plasticizers are the most commonly used additives used in plastic industries. Bio-based plasticizers are produced from vegetable raw materials and are used as an alternative of petroleum based plasticizers. The raw material used for production of bio-plasticizers are castor oil, soybean oil, palm oil and starch. Epoxidized Soybean Oil (ESBO) are the most commonly used bio-plasticizer. ESBO is manufactured from soybean oil through a process of epoxidation. ESBO is one of the most preferred additives in PVC gasket used particularly in food packaging.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1108 Bio-Plasticizers Market: Drivers & RestraintsGrowth in end user industries in developing nations such as India, China, Brazil etc. are expected to drive the bio-plasticizers market during the forecasted period. Tight supply of harmful phthalate such as BBP, DEP, DBP, DOP and increasing consumer awareness are driving the growth of bio-plasticizers. Ban on phthalate-based plasticizers in consumer goods, food packaging material and medical products have led to the development of eco-friendly bio-based plasticizers. Higher cost of bio-plasticizers as compared to phthalate-based plasticizers is a key challenge faced by bio-plasticizers market. These bio-plasticizers, when used for cable manufacturing, offer various advantages in terms of electrical and temperature performance as compared to traditional plasticizers.Bio-Plasticizers Market: SegmentationOn the basis of product type, the global Bio-Plasticizers market is segmented intoEpoxidized Soybean Oil(ESBO)CitratesCastor OilSuccinic AcidOn the basis of application, the global Bio-Plasticizers market is segmented intoPackage MaterialsMedical DevicesConsumer GoodsWire & CablesBuilding & ConstructionAutomotiveBio-Plasticizers Market: Region-wise OutlookCurrent, North America serves as a largest market for bio-plasticizers due to flourishing sectors such as medical devices, chemicals and consumer goods. Europe is estimated to be matured markets. North America and Europe account for a larger share in the market due to growth in manufacturing and healthcare industry. Various efforts made by different regulatory authorities to promote environmental friendly products have led to increase in the demand of bio-plasticizers in developed regions. Middle East & Africa bio-plasticizers market are still at a nascent stage. However, emerging countries such as UAE and Brazil are expected to have a significant market share in the near future. Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) is estimated to be the fastest growing market in terms of market share by value, particularly in medical, wires & cables, and packaging materials applications.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1108 Bio-Plasticizers Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in the global Bio-Plasticizers market are The Dow Chemical Company, Bioamber Inc., Vertellus Specialties Inc., Danisco Us Inc., Solvay S.A., Dow Chemical Company, Polyone Corporation, Emery Oleochemicals Llc, Myriant Corporation, Evonik Industries, Matrica Spa, Lanxess Ag PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 14:56:08 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 398 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for First Colombia Gold Corp.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Nashville, TN (FSCWire) - First Colombia Gold Corp. (OTC Pink:FCGD). has issued a press release with the following headline:First Colombia Gold Corp. Signs Letter of Intent to Lease Coal Mineral RightsTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on First Colombia Gold Corp., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/First Colombia Gold Corp.Source: First Colombia Gold Corp. (OTC Pink: FCGD, ISIN: US3197142009, WKN: A112QT)Date: April 18, 2017Time: 8:56 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of First Colombia Gold Corp. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Industrial Lubricants Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025" report to their offering. Industrial Lubricants Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 06:27:21 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 603 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Industrial lubricants are defined as the fluid used to lessen the wear and tear of materials and also to reduce friction. Industrial lubricants can be either water based or petroleum based. Their primary function is to avoid metal to metal contact amongst the tools or finished components. Industrial lubricants exhibit good corrosion protection properties, excellent demulsibility and help extend the equipment life. It is used in variety of equipments to yield a particular performance level. They help achieve higher productivity and also improve efficiency of machineries. The industrial lubricants can be used in variety of applications such as automotive, industrial machinery, mining, hydraulic and many others. The selection of lubricants depends on variety of factors such as exposure to harsh chemicals, temperature, etc. However, the global industrial lubricants market is anticipated to witness a moderate single digit growth in the forecast period.Industrial Lubricants Market: Drivers and restraintsThe global industrial lubricants market is expected to witness a high growth rate in the upcoming years due to the growing automotive industry. The increasing manufacturing of vehicles is one of the major factor contributing to the growth of global industrial lubricants market. Growing demand for low viscosity fluids in automotive sector is expected to boost the industrial lubricants market in the forecast period. The increasing demand for grease in industries to continue smooth working of machineries is anticipated to help the global industrial lubricants market grow in the upcoming years. The growing food industry is also expected to be a major growth driving factor in the global industrial lubricants market. Rapid industrialization in the developing countries is also anticipated to drive the global industrial lubricants market. There are specific standards in each region pertaining to the mandatory minimum standards for the imported and manufactured industrial lubricants. Investments in research and development along with proper expansion can help the global industrial lubricant market players grow.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1010 Industrial Lubricants Market: SegmentationThe global industrial lubricants market can be segmented on the basis of type asGear lubricantsCompressor lubricantsHydraulic lubricantsTurbine lubricantsMetal working fluidsOthers (processing lubricants, textile machinery oils, greases, etc.)The hydraulic lubricants account for the maximum share in the global industrial lubricants market. Metal working fluids as well as industrial lubricants together accounts for major share in the global industrial lubricants market.On the basis on end use industries, the global industrial lubricants market is broadly segmented as follows:AutomotiveIndustrialMarinePower generationChemicalsFood processingTextilesOthers (railways, metals, petroleum refining, etc.)The automotive industry contributes to the maximum share in the global industrial lubricants market. The industrial sector also accounts for a major share in the global industrial lubricants market.Industrial Lubricants Market: Region wise outlookThe global industrial lubricants market is segmented into seven key regions on the basis of geography as North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan and Middle East and Africa. Out of these, North America and Western Europe contribute maximum share to the global industrial lubricants market. Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness the maximum growth rate in the global industrial lubricants market in the near future. India itself accounts for a major share in the global industrial lubricants market.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1010 Industrial Lubricants Market: Major key playersSome of the key players identified in the global industrial lubricants market areExxon Mobil CorporationFUCHS LubricantsShell International Petroleum Company LimitedChevron CorporationBP p.l.cPetrochina lubricant companyBASF SEKMG ChemicalsEni S.p.AIndian Oil Corporation Ltd Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Aerogel Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025" report to their offering. Aerogel Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 06:23:59 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 640 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 The global aerogel market is on the rise due to increased applications of aerogel in industries such as oil & gas, marine, automotive, and aerospace. Aerogel is an extremely low density solid material, mainly composed of air, and is manufactured using conventional gel. Global aerogel market consists of material exhibiting numerous properties, making it suitable for the applications in aforementioned industries. These properties include thermal & acoustic damping, low density, high degree of porosity and other desired properties in various applications industries. In addition to the abundant uses of aerogel in industrial applications, one of the key reasons for increasing global aerogel market is due to the fact that the material is being witnessed as a good replacement for thermal insulation materials, since it is providing cost competitiveness to other high performance thermal insulating materials.Aerogel Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe increasing demand of aerogels by the end users such as oil & gas, automotive, marine & aerospace , etc. are driving the global aerogel market. Growing globalization leading to an increase in investments, new establishments for construction and properties of aerogel such as high insulation, being cheap and abundant availability of the raw material are some of the factors driving the growth of global aerogel market. High production cost is the major challenging factor for the growth of global aerogel market.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-927 Aerogel Market: SegmentationIn terms of application industry, the global aerogel market is segmented into key applications:Oil & gasMarine & aerospacePerformance coatingsLVHSDay-lightingAutomotiveConstructionWithin these applications, the oil & gas industry accounts for a leading share in the global aerogel market. Among other applications, wherein significant growth is likely to be witnessed is automotive and construction applications, wherein thermal insulation properties of aerogel material are being exploited.On the basis of product types, the global aerogel market is can be segmented into:SilicaPolymerCarbonThese different types of aerogel are being utilized in the global marketplace, wherein polymer type of aerogel is expected to witness the highest growth in coming years. In terms of market share, the global aerogel market has been dominated by silica type aerogel, which is likely to continue its dominance through the forecast period as well.On the basis of forms, the global aerogel market has been segmented into:MonolithBlanketArticlePanel formThe global aerogel market is dominated by blanket form of aerogel, which is widely used for thermal insulation applications across the industries. The global aerogel market is expected to witness the tremendous growth in particle form of aerogel, which is expected to contribute towards the growth in demand for aerogel in global aerogel market during the forecast period.On the basis of processing segment, the global aerogel market has also been segmented into:Virgin processedFabricatedIn terms of processing, within the global aerogel market, virgin aerogel is witnessed to be the dominating processing segment. This is due to the fact that virgin aerogel is free from composites and additives, which enables its applications in research & development activities. Further virgin aerogel is accompanied with high commercial availability in the global aerogel market.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-927 Aerogel Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global aerogel market has witnessed increased growth in North American region, which accounts for a leading share in the global aerogel market. Followed by North America, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region accounts for the second leading regions in terms of aerogel consumption across the globe, which is due to high amount of consumption in China. However, the European market is likely to be the leading region, in terms of annual growth, in years to come.Aerogel Market: Key PlayersThe global aerogel market is dominated by major players such as Cabot Corporation, Aerogel Technologies LLC, Aspen Aerogels, Inc. and BASF SE, to name a few. PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 15:00:18 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 388 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Kairos Capital Corporation--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Calgary, Alberta (FSCWire) - Kairos Capital Corporation (TSX Venture:KRS). has issued a press release with the following headline:Kairos Announces Drilling Results from Salvadora One of its Legacy Copper/Gold/Silver PropertiesTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Kairos Capital Corporation, or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Kairos Capital CorporationSource: Kairos Capital Corporation (TSX Venture: KRS)Date: April 18, 2017Time: 9:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Kairos Capital Corporation and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 17:39:09 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 402 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Luminar Media Group Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Toronto, Ontario (FSCWire) - Luminar Media Group Inc. (OTC Pink:LRGR). has issued a press release with the following headline:Luminar Media Group Inc.: Testing to Begin on TherOZap" Working Prototype Topical Cannabidiol Oil against the Zika and West Nile VirusesTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Luminar Media Group Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Luminar Media Group Inc.Source: Luminar Media Group Inc. (OTC Pink: LRGR)Date: April 18, 2017Time: 11:39 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Luminar Media Group Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 08:03:01 Mobidiag Secures Additional 3,99 Million Euros in Capital Increase with Kansalaisrahoitus Public Financing Round Mobidiag Tuomas Tenkanen, +350 50 553 4980 tuomas.tenkanen@mobidiag.com or Kansalaisrahoitus Toni Lahti, +358 40 522 7633 toimitusjohtaja toni.lahti@kansalaisrahoitus.fi Mobidiag Ltd., a Finnish molecular diagnostics company, announced today that it has successfully completed a 3,99 million euros funding supported by the Finnish investment service company Kansalaisrahoitus Oy. Adding up to the loan of 15 million euros from the European Investment Bank (EIB), this new funding was completed before closing date by over 300 investors. Mobidiag provides innovative solutions for in vitro diagnostics of infectious diseases. More reliable and faster diagnostics can ensure patient care and safety by detecting infection type allowing selection of the appropriate treatment with or without antibiotics. Mobidiag has used its expertise in the detection of gastrointestinal infections and multi-drug resistant organisms, also known as superbugs. Product lines currently available are well suited for high-throughput laboratories. Upcoming products are instrument and test cassettes that detect simultaneously panels of bacteria, viruses or parasites. This syndromic approach brings effective DNA technique closer to patients in a user-friendly and economically effective format reducing overall healthcare costs and directing better patient treatment. Mobidiag now invests strongly to expand its sales and marketing channels in Europe and other parts of the world. We were very happy with the share issue organised by Kansalaisrahoitus, which was achieved very professionally and fast. This type of financing completes perfectly traditional ones, says Tuomas Tenkanen, CEO of Mobidiag. We were privileged to participate in the financing of a very promising and fast growing company that aims to improve healthcare quality and peoples health, says Toni Lahti, CEO of Kansalaisrahoitus. This new funding will allow Mobidiag to finalize and scale up its product manufacturing and assay validation, as well as to strengthen its sales and marketing activities. About Mobidiag Established in 2000, Mobidiag develops innovative solutions to advance the diagnosis of infectious diseases and serves the European clinical diagnostics market since 2008. Mobidiag is headquartered in Espoo, Finland. Mobidiag addresses both high to medium volume screening with the Amplidiag Easy platform, bringing the Amplidiag suite further by automating the workflow from sample to results, and the upcoming Novodiag platform & associated panels for a fully automated solution and suitable for smaller volumes and labs. For more information, visit www.mobidiag.com About Kansalaisrahoitus Established in 2012, Kansalaisrahoitus Oy is a company that connects investors looking for interesting investments and companies looking for efficient capital funding solutions. It has organized over 30 financial rounds, which have brought about 44 million euros to Finnish companies. Finanssivalvonta is the authority that controls the operation of Kansalaisrahoitus. Learn more: www.kansalaisrahoitus.fi View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201704170050 Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Portable Ramps Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering. PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 10:28:18 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Press: press@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 748 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 The global healthcare industry is witnessing a steady rise. Presently a massive technical revolution is eroding the entire healthcare industry. The manufacturers of healthcare tools and gadgets are all set to ride this growth wave. The demands of healthcare apparatus such as portable ramps are soaring as the global population of senior citizens is on a rise. According to a recent published report, 20 percent of the worlds population will age by 2050. Portable ramps are extremely useful for people who are fighting disabilities, given a WHO report that cites 15 percent of the global population is combating physical disability. The global portable ramps market is likely to witness steady growth over the next 10 years.Portable Ramps Market: DriversPortable ramps are available in a gamut of designs. They are lightweight and user friendly. Portable ramps increase the accessibility of a disabled or an elderly person. They are easily attachable with doors or cars and can be ferried across easily and can be dismantled with ease. The portable ramps market is expected to witness a steady spike in demand with a rising elderly population across the globe. New and emerging pockets are popping up in the global business map which is extremely promising sign for the growth of the portable ramp market. These factors are likely to boost the overall growth of the portable ramps market in the coming decade. A competitive ambience and a massive pool of buyers are some of the major drivers fuelling the sales and growth of the portable ramps market in emerging global economies. Portable Ramps Market: RestraintsRequest Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2242 The U.S. dominance in the portable ramps market is affecting the growth trail and creating massive hurdles in the development and growth of the portable ramps market. The pricing and supply is completely anchored by some of the major players of the portable ramps market who are controlling the numbers in the global portable ramps market. The Chinese healthcare equipment manufacturers are clawing into the global arena, but they still need time and research to meet the standards of their U.S. counterparts.Portable Ramps Market: Key RegionsFor more than a decade the U.S. is calling the shots in the healthcare equipment industry. Some of the major players in the global portable ramps market are camped across the U.S. and they are manufacturing and exporting some of the best portable ramps. Apart from the U.S., the portable ramps market of U.K is also populated with some of the best brands that are curating some of the smartest and finest portable ramps. The Chinese manufacturers are fuelling the production of medical apparatus to establish their footprint in the South-East Asian portable ramps market spread across India, Indonesia and Malaysia, Singapore and many other emerging economies.Visit for TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2242 Portable Ramps Market: Key Market PlayersThe U.S. based manufacturers of portable ramps are sprawling their business globally by establishing a proper and robust distribution network. Companies such as Roll-a Ramp have registered massive exports in the last few years. Several recent studies reveal that apart from south East Asia, South Korea is a major procurer of the portable ramps and other healthcare related articles. Portable ramps market observers believe that the portable ramps market is growing in Dubai and Saudi Arabia. The entire Middle-East is providing a leeway to healthcare related tools and other gadget builders. These cities are the cradles of healthcare facility providers and they are constantly complimenting the growth of the medical ancillary related market that also builds some of the high end medical support tools like portable ramps.Most of the major European and U.S. based players operating in the portable ramps market are queuing up to tap the potential of these fertile markets. They are not only growing at a steady rate but at the same time they are providing a proper incubation for research and development. The developers of portable ramps are minting massive revenue from a steady export chain which is spread across the globe and properly cushioned with a robust distribution network. The portable ramps manufacturing market is concentrated in U.S. and U.K. are facing stark competition from dragon economy. The market is extremely ripe and demands of portable ramps are skyrocketing. The entire manufacturing and supply of the portable ramps is directly related with a thriving population of elders and people with physical disabilities. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Pressure infusion bags market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering. PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 10:29:10 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Press: press@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 739 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 The need of alternate healthcare framework is the need of the hour. Countries US, Canada, Australia, China and India are ageing fast. Apart from this largely populated countries like India, China is struggling to find ways to meet the emerging challenges of healthcare domain. The alternate healthcare channels such as home care are extremely useful and it can easily shoulder the load thrust on the global healthcare industry. A massive pool of adult population and the emergence of several new diseases and balancing the healthcare facilities around the globe are some of the massive challenges which are hounding the entire healthcare climate of the world. Challenges are not only pushing the horizons of the healthcare industry it is also helping it to discover new avenues to reach the cusp. The pressure infusion bags market is directly related to the development and growth of the healthcare domain and also it is affected by the growth and development of the home care services worldwide. A recent report says, that a massive chunk Canadian population is dependent on home care and the numbers are increasing every day. This is not only developing a future ground for the Pressure infusion bags market it is also changing the scenes of the Pressure infusion bags market. Apart from Canada, the home care facilities are in great demand in the US. Market predicts that home services in the US will have to cater to almost 27 million seniors by 2050. China and India are also two of the most fertile markets of Pressure infusion bags as the homecare is growing steadily in these regions. The alternate healthcare framework apart from hospitals or other medical facilities is creating an excellent opportunity for pressure infusion bags market.Pressure infusion bags market: DriversThere are several pivotal factors which are influencing the growth trail of the Pressure infusion bags market. The upsurge of the Pressure infusion bags market depends on the consolidated growth of the healthcare industry worldwide. The healthcare industry is growing steadily and it is also complimenting the growth of the healthcare tools and equipment market which include pressure infusion bags.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2243 The boom of healthcare in the countries like India, Malaysia, China, and Japan has changed the entire canvas of the Pressure infusion bags market. The demands are high and the supply is limited with a certain periphery.The emergence of home care worldwide is also opening new avenues for the pressure infusion bags market. The swelling adult population of the world is creating new ways for the Pressure infusion bags market.Several stakeholders of the healthcare industry is rolling out special measures to enhance patient safety. The Pressure infusion bags are mostly used for minimising chances of cross contamination during fluid infusion. Which makes it an effective tool which ensures patient safety. This increase of the awareness levels about patient safety is also a boon for the entire Pressure infusion bags market. This will further promote and will expand the market worldwide.Pressure infusion bags market: RestraintsThe issue of patient safety and development of home care facilities are extremely fragmented. There is a large difference in market behaviours and also the markets of homecare are budding in countries like India and China and healthcare institutes are mulling over issues like patient safety mainly in the government healthcare system. Which is slumping the growth of the Pressure infusion bags in these specific zones. The market is mainly dominated by players from the west which is further corking the growth of the Pressure infusion bags market.Visit for TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2243 Pressure infusion bags market: Key RegionsSome of the market leaders are based in the US and they are expanding their business. They are mostly eyeing the emerging market like China, India, Brazil, Chile and many other emerging markets of Asia and Africa. Many of the US based makers are pumping in funds to reach out to the larger population of the world with their products and services. Several US-based healthcare facilitators are also shaking hands with local players in the south East Asian markets and Middle East markets and planning for massive mergers to mop up the profits.Pressure infusion bags market: Key PlayersSome of the leading stakeholders in this region are BD worldwide, Medline. Though the local markets of China, India and Malaysia, Singapore are stuffed with local manufacturers and traders. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Reachers Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering. PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 10:32:01 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Press: press@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 696 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 A billion dollar medical equipment industry is lurking under the shadow of the healthcare industry which is evolving very fast. Several big international players are infusing massive funds into research and development to change the entire landscape of the medical tools and equipment industry. Reachers are mostly made of aluminum and comes as an aid for people who have problem in bending or stretching. They are available in a gamut of designs and they are portable and can be carried along. They are extremely helpful for adult citizens and also for patients who are suffering with any kind of knee or back problem. Even they come to the rescue of pregnant women, as it bars them from bending or stretching.The global reachers market is massive and it is mopping up a massive revenue from the global market every passing year. The reachers market feeds on the global healthcare ecosystem which is significantly with passing time. The exuberant growth of the healthcare industry is also accosting the development of the medical equipment industry and thus it is also expanding the global reachers market. United States is one of the major manufacturers and exporters of medical tools and it supplies its medial apparatus to countries like Germany, Japan, Australia, Mexico and man more. The country spends massive sum of money on the development of new medical devices an amount is close to 7.3 billion. This is a big push for the entire reachers market. Apart from U.S. the local market of China and India are steadily rising. The export and the import markets are thriving in these regions of Asia.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2244 Reachers market: DriversThe reachers market is clinging on to the growth of the elderly population. They are also reaping their profits from the surge in the healthcare device markets. Apart from this, the reachers market can witness a considerable hike in the countries which are over populated with expecting women. According to statistics countries in the African region has highest birth rates. Nigeria is topping the chart with 46.12 percent followed by Mali at 45 percent and a slew of other African countries. As per the report published by UN (United Nations), the elderly population of the world will reach its cusp within the coming few years. This will again beef up the prospects for the reachers market.Reachers market: RestraintsThough the development of the reachers market is dependent upon several catalysts but there are multiple blockades which are blocking the advancement of this industry globally. One of the biggest restraint for this industry is the awareness about this tool in the developing markets like India and China, Mexico, Brazil or any other developing nation where the public healthcare system is maimed by foul healthcare strategies. The governments apathy towards the research and development of the medical device industry which is spread in these Asian, African or Lain American countries. Developing markets, low public awareness levels, local traders, cheap cloning of several medical tools and devices like reachers are is barricading the headway of the reachers market in these locations of the world.Visit for TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2244 Reachers market: Key RegionsAs discussed earlier the medical device and reachers manufacturers are mostly located in the U.S. and U.K. and they are exporting heavily to the third world nations of the world. They are catering their services to the countries like Japan, China, India, and spreading their operations in these markets massively. The local manufacturers of China and India are also rising the chart with their developing healthcare market. The neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and Bhutan are some of the prospective clients of the reachers market based in this parts of the world.Reachers market: Key PlayersThe medical device manufacturing industry is growing at an approximate rate of 9 percent and it has earned a revenue of close to 10 billion. U.S. is also dominating a considerable amount of the international market. Companies like DeVilbliss health care in U.S. and Nova from L.A., and much more are presently exporting high-end reachers to the international markets. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Phlebotomy Equipments Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering. PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 10:25:19 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Press: press@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 717 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Diagnostic services act as a lifeblood for the entire healthcare industry. An ideal medical facility is always cushioned by a proper diagnostic infrastructure. Immediate detection of disease not only helps in reducing the life risk of the patient but it also reduces the pressure of the patients on the healthcare industry as a whole. The diagnostic market is steadily increasing around the world and it is also complimenting the growth and development of the Phlebotomy Equipments market. The need of skilled phlebotomist are immense in the market and as the numbers of healthcare facilities are soaring every single day. The Phlebotomy equipments market is directly dependent on the growth and expansion of the entire healthcare and diagnostic industry. The healthcare industry has registered a steady growth in the last few years through revamped and public friendly policies and public, private partnerships and by exposing more people to the insurance backed healthcare system. Which is directly impacting the development of the Phlebotomy Equipments market around the globe. Apart from this, the entire diagnostic industrys growth is also pushing the Phlebotomy markets spread across the globe.The diagnostic industry is revamping itself to meet the present challenges. The industry is consolidating and growing steadily. A massive influx of investment has eroded the entire diagnostic industry which is pushing many small and medium level players into the global arena. This is also building up the base of the phlebotomy equipments market and creating a new avenue for the Phlebotomy Equipments market globally.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2240 There is a wide variety of Phlebotomy Equipments which are present in the Phlebotomy Equipments market. The wide array of equipments which are used by technicians is personal protective equipments, torniquets, antiseptics, gauze pads, lancets, butterfly needles, sharp containers, evacuated collection tubes, centrifuge machines, blood drawing tray and much more. The compliment the rising demand of the phlebotomy equipments several new players have entered the Phlebotomy Equipments market. The manufacturers of these equipments are spread across the globe but there is a stark difference in the quality of the products which are manufactured in India, China and in western countries of the world.Phlebotomy Equipments market: DriversThe Phlebotomy Equipments market has grown by leaps and bounds and there are several pivotal factors which are influencing this growth. The first and foremost is the overall evolution of the healthcare and diagnostic market. The expansion of the market is directly effecting the demand and supply ratio and expanding the periphery and the depth of the Phlebotomy Equipments market. The Phlebotomy equipments are mostly used for detecting blood-related diseases and presently ailments like Hyperuricemia, high blood cholesterol, kidney diseases, white blood disorders have grown manifold. This sudden rise has created a massive ground of opportunity for Phlebotomy Equipments market. Countries like India, China, Malaysia and Japan are some of the emerging healthcare markets of the world which is influencing the growth of the Phlebotomy Equipments market.A massive flow of investment in the global diagnostic industry has changed the entire framework of the Phlebotomy Equipments market. It has not only encouraged new players also it has promoted new inventions in this segment.Visit for TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2240 Phlebotomy Equipments market: RestraintsThe Phlebotomy Equipments market is completely driven by the overall development of the healthcare industry spread across the world. The development of the industry is fragmented in some parts of the world and it is dominated by the fee players based in the western markets of the world. This is adversely affecting the development of the Phlebotomy Equipments market worldwide.Phlebotomy Equipments market: Key RegionsThe demand of this tailor-made equipments are spread across the world. The key manufacturers and exporters are based in US and Australia, UK. On the other hand, the Asian market is largely dominated by players from India, China, Malaysia and Japan.Phlebotomy Equipments market: Key PlayersPhlebotomy Equipments are manufactured by several big and small makers spread across the world. In the US, Cardinal health is one of the major stakeholders of this segment and they are planning to plunge into the Asian market. Market Lab in the UK, BD worldwide in the US are also boosting their productions to meet the demands of the emerging Phlebotomy Equipments market. Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Respiratory Analysers Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" report to their offering. PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 10:30:57 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Press: press@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 612 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comPress: press@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 In the field of medicine, anaesthesia is a temporary state induced to cause amnesia, paralysis, and unconsciousness. The main objective is to enable a surgeon to perform a procedure which would cause the patient immense and intolerable pain without it. While it has enabled the saving of lives on many an occasion, it is not completely risk free. Minor risks include nausea, vomiting while major ones can include a heart attack or even death. Thus, respiratory analysers are absolutely critical as they measure various gases like Oxygen, Carbon Monoxide and volatile anaesthetics in the operation theatre. It enables the anaesthetist to ensure that the patient does not have any adverse reaction to the drugs administered. Paramagnetic Oxygen Analysers, Carbon Dioxide analysers are some of the respiratory analysers available.Respiratory Analysers Market: DriversAt present, North America is the leading global respiratory analyser market. As per the WHO, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is expected to be the 3rd leading cause of global deaths. According to the National Sleep Foundation, 40 million Americans suffered from insomnia or some other form of chronic sleep disorders. There are many cases of both COPD and Asthma reported there. While North America leads these statistics, Europe is second in terms of the people complaining of respiratory ailments. The key respiratory analyser market to focus on for long-term growth would be the APAC region. It is undergoing rapid modernization, with little to no concern for environmental or biological factors, thus giving rise to health issues for its citizens. Increasing focus on medical programs and awareness, both from the government and the private sector all point to a bright future for this market. Hospitals form the largest end users of respiratory analysers and they are also expected to record the highest growth rate.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2245 Respiratory Analysers Market: RestraintsAny equipment which serves a specialised function tends to be expensive and this holds true for the Respiratory Analysers Market as well. The high cost is such a detriment that customers hesitate purchasing modern equipment and prefer using the old, archaic ones. Even lack of awareness in underdiagnosed, undertreated poorer countries can be a major impediment to growth. Along with this, the installation and usage of such advanced respiratory analysers requires highly skilled professionals, who are in short supply in these nations. Another issue is the saturation in developed countries due to the oligopolistic market situation. Hence, there are moderate to high barriers for entry for new players seeking to enter this market, thereby limiting competition and customer choice.Respiratory Analysers Market: Key RegionsThe Respiratory Analysers Market can be divided into five key regions viz. North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East and North Africa. (MENA) North America is the largest market at present and is expected to remain so for the near future. The fastest growing market for this is unquestionably the Asia- Pacific region. China and India are the fastest growing major economies in the world. Their large populations, increasing government attention towards healthcare, booming medical tourism in them and Southeast Asian nations like Thailand will ensure continued demand for products sold in the respiratory analyser market. Key players would also be advised to look at Latin America to provide ample growth opportunities in the years to come.Visit for TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2245 Respiratory Analysers Market: Key Market PlayersThe main manufacturers in the Respiratory analyser market include globally renowned companies like Smiths Medical (U.K), Philips Healthcare (Netherlands), ResMed, Inc. (U.S.), Covidien plc (Ireland), Masimo Corporation (U.S.), Fisher and Paykel Healthcare Limited (New Zealand), and CareFusion Corporation (U.S.). PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 15:49:08 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 392 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for RTG Mining Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Subiaco, Western Australia (FSCWire) - RTG Mining Inc. (TSX:RTG). has issued a press release with the following headline:RTG Announces High Grade Intercepts and New Style of Mineralisation at Bunawan ProjectTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on RTG Mining Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/RTG Mining Inc.Source: RTG Mining Inc. (TSX: RTG, ISIN: VGG738971032)Date: April 18, 2017Time: 9:48 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of RTG Mining Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 15:00:14 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 391 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for The Graystone Company Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Santa Ana, California (FSCWire) - The Graystone Company Inc. (OTC Pink:GYST). has issued a press release with the following headline:The Graystone Company Exceeds Revenue ExpectationsTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on The Graystone Company Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/The Graystone Company Inc.Source: The Graystone Company Inc. (OTC Pink: GYST)Date: April 18, 2017Time: 9:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of The Graystone Company Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 15:00:10 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 391 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Theralase Technologies Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Toronto, Ontario (FSCWire) - Theralase Technologies Inc. (TSX Venture:TLT). has issued a press release with the following headline:Theralase Grants Stock OptionsTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Theralase Technologies Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Theralase Technologies Inc.Source: Theralase Technologies Inc. (TSX Venture: TLT, OTC Pink: TLTFF, ISIN: CA88337V1004, WKN: A0DLB7)Date: April 18, 2017Time: 9:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Theralase Technologies Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) Future Market Insights has announced the addition of the Transformer Oil Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2015-2025" report to their offering. Transformer Oil Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 06:32:24 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 528 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 In order to meet the residential, commercial and industrial energy requirements and ensure a smooth operation of power supply transformer plays an important role. During transformer operation, transformers dissipate heat which can damage the system if not controlled. In order to achieve seamless operation of transformer by preventing from heat damage the oil are used. Transformer oil is used in oil-filled and submersible transformers to maintain temperature of transformer. Application of transformer oil can also be seen in high-voltagecircuit breakers and switches. Since the oil is in constant contact with components it is therefore susceptible to chemical interaction. It is therefore essential to check for the quality of transformer oil at regular intervals since with continuous reaction the chemical composition of the oil may change and this may render it unfit for use.The market for transformer oil is subjected to the demands of the various end-use industries such as chemicals and automotive, and the type of transformer used. The oil used in transformers is hydrocarbon mineral oil. There are two major types of transformer oil used in the industry; naphthenic and paraffinic based. Though bio based transformer oil have gained attention due to stringent environmental issues but their usage is restricted due to limited advantage. The market of transformer oil will be driven by the expanding energy demand and growing installation of power grids in urban scenario. Due to growing population, the power grid companies needs to expand and upgrade their existing capacities causing penetration of transformers to increase which in turn fuel the market for transformer oil. The transition towards renewable sources of energy, strict environmental laws and shift towards organic oils may restraint the market of mineral based transformer oil.Request For Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1105 Asia is one of the largest consumer of transformer oils followed by North America, South America and Europe. For the forecasted years Asia-pacific transformer oil market will continue to lead in terms of consumption. The demand for transformer oil in Asia Pacific is rapidly growing for emerging markets of India and China. This demand is transformer oil is attributed to the increasing focus on rural and urban development in infrastructure. This involves a shift in focus from high capacity transformer to small and mid-segment transformers for domestic and agricultural uses. The transformer oil markets of China, India and also Brazil will dominate owing to the government initiative for the electricity accessibility to the countrys population. The demand for in the mineral based is anticipated to stabilize due to the shift towards green (bio based) alternatives. The demand for transformer oil in regions of Americas and Europe is related to high capacity industrial transformers. The demand for transformer oil in these regions is anticipated to be slower than those in Asia Pacific owing to the significant development of renewable sources of energy and reduced dependability on conventional sources of energy.Transformer Oil Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in the transformer oil market are Hydrodec Group PLC, Nynas AB, Calumet Specialty Products Partners, Valvoline,APAR Industries, Sinopec Corporation, Engen Petroleum Limited.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-1105 Utrasound Doppler Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026 Research Report By Future Market Insights Utrasound Doppler Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 06:47:06 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com press@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 692 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 The term ultrasound treatment is a known one, while some of us may even have undergone some kind of check-up with its assistance. As the name suggests, a Doppler Ultrasound test uses higher frequency sound waves to measure blood flow in the arteries and veins and is usually done on the arms and legs. It is a completely risk and pain free procedure as it only involves using high intensity sound waves. It is recommended by doctors to check for signs of deep vein thrombosis, superficial thrombophlebitis, arteriosclerosis or even if tumours are suspected in any of the limbs. The ultrasound Doppler market can broadly be classified into two main types based on portability- handheld and trolley based ones. The trolley based ones account for the majority sold at present but the handheld ones are expected to show larger growth because of ease of use, cheaper initial expenditure and also lower long term cost of running due to less electricity consumed as compared to trolleys.Utrasound Doppler Market DriversThere are several drivers responsible for the growth of the ultrasound Doppler market. In the developed world, an aging population at a greater risk of chronic and lifestyle-related problems, technological advancements making the devices (relatively) more affordable, increasing healthcare investment both in the public and private sectors and also a growing preference for therapeutic and non-invasive kind of treatments. In the developing world, the high birth rate, in-vitro fertilization treatment and required gynaecological care for young mothers are fuelling the demand for ultrasound devices. It can also be used for detecting breast cancer and the American Cancer Society and Radiological Society of North America recommends periodic mammographic screening to women above the age of 40 years. An increasing awareness from the public and government support and encouragement ensure the continued demand for ultrasound Doppler market products.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2253 Utrasound Doppler Market RestraintsThe picture is not all rosy for the ultrasound Doppler market as there are several impediments to its growth. As is the case with almost all other specialized equipment, there can be a dearth of qualified and trained technicians to use the equipment in the developing world. Sale of refurbished devices at lower prices also makes them more attractive, making first time sales difficult in places where the disposable income is less. There are also cultural and social issues involved in Asian countries like China and India. Preference for the male child and sex-selective abortions have made governments pass laws like the Prenatal Diagnostic Test Act (PNDT). This requires registration of all counselling centres, laboratories, and clinics like solography centres, mobile solography vans and those having advanced ultrasound machines. Strict compliance with the law can also hamper adoption of such equipment to an extent.Utrasound Doppler Market Key RegionAn aging population in the western world while continue to ensure that both North America and Europe remain among the largest ultrasound Doppler markets. They benefit from world-class infrastructure, many healthcare benefits provided by the governments and also increasing adoption of home and remote patient monitoring to cater to their privacy concerns. They will drive the demand for compact, handheld devices in the medium to long term. Asia Pacific on the other hand, is expected to demand for greater trolley based ultrasound devices due to a proliferation of hospitals in underdiagnosed rural areas of these populous and fast growing countries. There have also been an increasing number of lifestyle-related health issues, especially in the polluted metropolis cities of China and India. Greater public awareness of benefits offered by the ultrasound treatments along with a special focus of global players on this highly dynamic region ensures thriving demand for the ultrasound Doppler market here as well.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2253 Utrasound Doppler Market Key Market PlayersGeneral Electric Company (U.S.), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (Netherlands), Toshiba Corporation (Japan), Siemens AG (Germany), Hitachi Ltd. (Japan), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (South Korea), FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation (Japan), Esaote S.p.A. (Italy), Mindray Medical International Ltd. (China), and Analogic Corporation (U.S.) are some of the Utrasound Doppler Market key market players in 2016. Ventricle Assist Device Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016 - 2026 Research Report By Future Market Insights Ventricle Assist Device Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 06:49:46 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com press@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 998 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.compress@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Heart failure is one of the most common cause of deaths worldwide, it is a condition when the heart cannot pump blood properly throughout the body. In most of the cases the left ventricle gets affected but sometimes the right ventricle gets affected and the heart cannot pump oxygen rich blood to the lungs. Ventricle assist devices are mechanical pumps which support the functioning of the heart in individuals who have weak heart. There are two types of heart failure one is diastolic heart failure and the other systolic heart failure. The major symptoms of heart failure are fatigue, irregular heart rhythm, blood pressure, heart valve functioning is affected, shortness of breath and fluid retention. Most of the above symptoms can be stabilized by the use of medication but in some cases ventricle assist devices have to be used depending upon the condition of the patient.A ventricle assist device comprises of a small tubes transferring blood out of heart and into the pump, the heart pump is connected to a control unit, which monitors the functioning of the ventricle assist device. Recent research has shown that continuous flow ventricle assist devices are more effective as they reduce the hospitalization and improve survival rate of patients suffering from heart failure. The different types of ventricle assist devices available in the market, left ventricle support, right ventricle support and bi-ventricle support.The ventricle assist devices are used for short-term period for individuals recovering from myocardial infraction or individuals recovering from cardiac surgery, and for long term use in individuals suffering from total heart failure. Ventricle devices are generally used as bridge to transplant, bridge to decision and bridge to recovery for an individual who is suffering from Class III & Class IV heart failure. Ventricle assist devices are generally implantable and transcutaneous depending on the individual heart condition.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-2273 Transcutaneous ventricle assist devices have the control unit installed outside the body and the pump placed inside the body whereas implantable ventricle assist devices are generally used for people waiting for heart transplant. Ventricle assist devices are generally categorized as Pulsatile and Non Pulsatile devices. Pulsatile devices were the first generation devices, whereas non pulsatile devices have a continuous flow as they allow the blood to move forward in a systemic circulation. In a non-pulsatile ventricle assist device all the parameters are displayed on the console or the control unit. Some of the common ventricle assist devices in the market are Thoratec VAD, Heart Mate and Jarvik 2000.Ventricle assist devices although have great benefits but some time they may give rise to certain complication like bleeding, infection, thrombosis, device malfunctioning and hemolysis.When both the ventricle stop functioning or the entire heart fails, bi-ventricle assist devices are used and Total Artificial Heart is implanted. The rapid advancement in ventricle assist device technology has limited the TAH (Total Artificial Heart) development as majority of the heart failure can be controlled by using ventricle assist devices. At present the only TAH approved by the FDA is the Cardio West TAH by Syncardia System, which is a pneumatically powered dual chamber device.Ventricle Assist Device Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global market for ventricle assist devices is expected to be driven by the advancement in technology and increasing prevalence of Class III & Class IV heart failure, increase in geriatric population, better reimbursement reforms are some factors anticipated to fuel growth of global ventricle assist devices market within the forecast period of 2016-2026. However the high cost certain complication which may arise after or during the implant and development of the total artificial heart can be the restraint for the growth of this market.Ventricle Assist Device Market: SegmentationThe global Ventricle assist device market is classified on the basis of product type, modality, indication, end user and geography.Based on modality, the global Ventricle assist device market is segmented into the following:Transcutaneous Ventricle Assist DevicesImplantable Ventricle Assist DevicesBased on product type, the global Ventricle Assist device market is segmented into the following:LVAD (Left Ventricle Assist Devices)RVAD (Right Ventricle Assist Devices)Bi-VAD (Bi-Ventricle Assist Devices)TAH (Total Artificial Heart)Based on indication, the global ventricle assist device market is segmented into the following:Bridge to RecoveryBridge to TransplantBridge to TherapyBased on end user, the global ventricle assist device market is segmented into the following:HospitalsSpecialized Cardiac ClinicsAmbulatory Surgical CentersVentricle Assist Device Market: OverviewCost-effectiveness of ventricle assist devices and ongoing researches on improving quality of care for continence would create an attractive growth opportunities for the ventricle assist device market. The hospitals end user segment is expected to hold the highest market share in global market for ventricle assist devices.Request For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-2273 A new generation of ventricle assist devices have been approved by the FDA which are more efficient in increasing the survival rate of individuals suffering from heart failure. These devices are much small smaller in size and much more efficient in restoring the functioning of the heart. These are centrifugal continuous flow pumps suspended through magnetic or hydrodynamic levitation in blood flow path, this levitation mechanism theoretically increases the device durability and reliability as there is no friction and heat generation component contact. The third generation left ventricle assist devices are more used in Europe.Ventricle Assist Device Market: Regional OverviewRegion wise, the global ventricle assist device market is classified into regions namely, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, Middle East and Africa. North America dominated the global market for ventricle assist devices because of better reimbursement policies for diagnostic procedures. Europe dominates the market for the third generation ventricle assist devices.Ventricle Assist Device Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players in global ventricle assist device market are SynCardia System Inc., St. Jude Medical, Berlin Heart, Heart Ware International, Jarvik Heart Inc. Abiomed, CardiacAssist Inc., and Reliant Heart Inc. Europe Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination Market Report 2016 Purchase This Report by calling ResearchnReports.com at +1-888-631-6977. Researchnreports PR-Inside.com: 2017-04-18 19:22:46 Press Information ResearchnReports 10916, Gold Point, Dr, Houston, TX, Pin - 77064. Sunny Denis Sales Manager +1 888-631-6977 email http://www.researchnreports.com # 754 Words 10916, Gold Point, Dr,Houston, TX,Pin - 77064.Sales Manager+1 888-631-6977 The research report on Europe Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market offers a clear understanding of the market, focusing on the key growth factors and potential opportunities. The product specifications, major geographical segments, and competitive analysis of the Europe Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market have also been discussed in detail in the research report. It presents future projections of the Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market on a Europe as well as on regional level. The research study further presents the past performance of the Europe Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market, coupled with the statistics from 2016 to 2021 on the basis of volume and revenue.This report considers the main regions i.e. North America, Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe and Latin America. Top manufacturers in Europe market, their capacity, production, revenue, price and shares are covered in detail.Download sample pages of this premium report: https://www.researchnreports.com/request_sample.php?id=31255 To offer a clear understanding of the Europe Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market, several questions have been addressed in the research study concerning the growth of the Europe Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market. It is also been discussed with respect to projected growth rate of the Europe Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market in the near future. Also, depending on the ongoing trend of the market, the region which is anticipated to witness high growth in the next few years is studied in detail.Get Discount on this Report: https://www.researchnreports.com/ask_for_discount.php?id=31255 Furthermore, the major geographical segments of the Europe Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market have been evaluated in the research report. The market share, consumption, revenue, and size of each segment have been provided in the study. A list of all the prominent players operating in the Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market across the globe has been presented along with detailed company profiles and major developments. The product portfolio, financial status, and business policies of these players are studied in the report in detail. Using SWOT analysis the report has studied the strengths and weaknesses of the profiled players.For more inquiry before purchase: https://www.researchnreports.com/enquiry_before_buying.php?id=31255 This report will endow both settled firms and new entrants/smaller firms to determine the pulse of the market, which consecutively helps firms to collect a greater market share. Companies purchasing this report could use any or all of the below mentioned five strategies to strengthen their market share:a) Market penetration-In depth data on the products and services offered by top players in the Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market. The report analyzes the Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market by products, application, end user and region.b) Product development/innovation- Intricate insights on upcoming technologies, research and development activities, and new product launches in the Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market.c) Market development-Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets. The report analyzes the markets for Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination across various regions.d) Market diversification-Exhaustive information about new products, untapped regions, recent developments, and investments in the Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market.e) Competitive assessment- In depth evaluation of market shares, strategies, products and distribution networks of the leading players in the Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination market.Europe Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination Market Report 2016This report studies sales (consumption) of Indicator Lens & Lampholder Combination in Europe market, especially in Germany, UK, France, Russia, Italy, Benelux and Spain, focuses on top players in these countries, with sales, price, revenue and market share for each player in these CountriesCompany Profiled in this Report: Tranilamp RS Pro Dialight Motociclo Legends Tukxi Shimano Rnod Lucas KosoComplete report available at: https://www.researchnreports.com/semiconductor-electronics/Europe-Indicator-Lens---Lampholder-Combination-Market-Report-2016-31255 About Research n Reports:Research N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat Europe competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof. 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. "Hooked from the very beginning," Teun Brock's film Burgers: The Living Room takes out Actuality Media's Changemaker in Your Documentary Competititon. Media Contact Stephanie Capper Media & Marketing Director steph@actualitymedia.org Stephanie CapperMedia & Marketing Director End -- Teun Brock has been announced winner of Actuality Media's Changemaker in Your Community Documentary Competition.Mr Brock's film Burgers: The Living Room won him a 100% scholarship valid for a 2017 Documentary Outreach with the study abroad organization.Actuality Media's program director Robin Canfield said whilst the competition was fierce, Mr Brock's film had him "hooked from the very beginning"."The setting is different from anything I'm familiar with yet the way it was captured pulled me in immediately with a feel of familiarity - I knew I'd be welcome if I stepped in the door, which is just what Burgers intends," Mr Canfield said."More than other submissions, we weren't just told what was happening, but we got to follow along with the character through parts of his daily life and experience his work with him."We are thrilled that Teun will be joining Actuality Media's Nicaragua Documentary Outreach as Director in June."Mr Brock, who is from The Netherlands and studies cinematography at the Royal Institute for Theatre, Cinema and Sound (RITCS) in Brussels, said he was inspired by Burgers' inclusive socio-cultural space.The former squat in Eindhoven was bought out in the '80s by its residents and developed into a thriving social collective.A network of volunteers now run the collective's small biological grocery store, restaurant and art space which hosts film screenings, expositions and workshops."Burgers' solidarity is very inspiring to me. It shows us that money does not have to be the main driving force in life," he said."We all live together in this world, so it's nice to see people who not only realize this, but act on it."Mr Brock said he was flattered his documentary was appreciated and felt privileged to join Actuality Media's program in Nicaragua in July."Travelling to a new continent with an international team of excited and adventurous filmmakers to discover inspiring stories sounds like a dream come true!"To watch the film, visit our blog at http://www.actualitymedia.org/ documentary- competition- win... Founded in 2011 by Robin and Aubrie Canfield, Actuality Media is a service-learning production organisation coordinating programs for media students and emerging filmmakers to connect with changemakers around the world to tell stories that matter. Actuality Media's programs provide a unique platform to produce short documentaries that showcase individuals and organizations who are making a sustainable impact on chronic social and environmental problems in grassroots innovative ways. To date, Actuality Media's programs have produced 82 documentaries and micro-documentaries in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Bolivia, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, Turkey, Morocco and Colombia across a range of categories, from the environment and human rights to social justice. End --MERHOFF (CRD# 2918171) is employed and a registered representative of CETERA ADVISORS in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Many of the investors who have brought lawsuits were completely reliant on his advice in investing and were in managed accounts. It is alleged that, MERHOFF, for some clients, made large concentrated positions in oil and gas related investments. MERHOFF concentrated these accounts in high-risk investments, including but not limited to: Linn Energy, PenGrowth Energ Corp, Teekay Partners, and Vale S.A.MERHOFF also purchased other highly speculative non-energy investments for some clients. The lawsuits state that MERHOFF was allegedly reckless with investors' money, ignoring all warnings and market signals with the energy market collapsing. These investors were looking to invest in stable income producing investments and not speculate with their irreplaceable life savings.The lawsuits state that in some cases there was also no hedging or stop loss strategy implemented in the accounts. Most of these losses were to irreplaceable retirement savings. Over-concentrated positions in risky oil and gas investments is totally unsuitable for a conservative portfolio.There are now claims brought against MERHOFF by Soreide Law Group clients. Some of the allegations brought against MERHOFF are: Violations of Oregon Securities Law, Negligence, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, Breach of Contract, Unsuitable Investments, and Common Law Fraud.According to FINRA's BrokerCheck,has 12 Disclosures on his report with 10 Customer Disputes still "Pending." He has been in the securities industry for 19 years and has been listed with 3 firms including the current firm he is now listed with:1903 AUSTIN ST STE AIf you were a client and suffered losses with Oregon broker,due to his actions or recommendations, callwho have now filed 6 lawsuits on behalf of clients at:represents clients nationwide before FINRA and we operate on a contingency fee basis. End -- Today we would like to tell you about the capital of Latvia, Riga. There is so much to discover in Riga. The Old Town, the historic centre of Riga is today included in the UNESCO World Heritage. Despite being more than 800 years old this is a modern European capital that offers numerous open-air cafes, operas and concerts, brilliant architecture, from the medieval to the Art Nouveau, an old city centre, good shopping and small cosy restaurants.You can also find hundreds of green areas and parks in the city, forty museums, a lot of theatres and an active artistic life. Riga manages to keep in harmony its vast green areas and parks in the very city centre. Or just choose to take a walk in the Old Town on its cobblestone streets and just look up at the eaves and feel the wings of history. The main sights in the old town are Riga Castle, St Peters Church and the Dome Cathedral.It is easy to go around in the city with public transports, buses, trolley buses and trams take you to any part of the city in 35 minutes. But where to stay in Riga? Four-star boutique Hotel Justus is located in the heart of the old town of Riga, literally a few steps away from the famous Dome cathedral. Today the hotel consists of 45 cosy rooms uniquely designed to embrace the charm of genuine brickwork combined with fascinating art objects, antique as well as contemporary. Personalised service matched with attractive pricing policy makes Hotel Justus of great interest for a wide range of guests. We guarantee, that Hotel Justus is the best stay in Riga. For more information, please, visit http://www.hoteljustus.lv By: Central Indiana Dance Ensemble Media Contact Vicki Burdick vickiburdick@ me.com ***@me.com Vicki Burdickvickiburdick@me.com End -- Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? CIDE's Snow White, of course!On May 20, 2017, Central Indiana Dance Ensemble (CIDE), the pre-professional dance company under the direction of Artistic Director Suzann DeLay, presents the iconic fairytale ballet, Snow White, at The Center for the Performing Arts Booth Tarkington Civic Theater.CIDE invites central Indiana residents to experience this enchanting family friendly, classic fairytale with every child's favorite characters. This world premier production is choreographed exclusively for CIDE by the talented Chelsey Dahm Bradley. Ms. Bradley is a four-time recipient of the Regional Dance America National Commissioning Award and was named the recipient of Regional Dance America's Choreography Connection Grant. Ms. Bradley is currently the resident choreographer for Dance Wisconsin.Artistic Director Suzann DeLay is thrilled to perform this enchanted fairytale, "Central Indiana Dance Ensemble is proud to be the first local ballet company to introduce the Snow White ballet to the community. As a company, this is another example of how we strive to bring the best shows and talent to the stage for our audience. "Snow White will be performed on Saturday, May 20th at the Booth Tarkington Civic Theater. There is a 2 p.m. matinee performance and 7:30 p.m. evening show. Guests can purchase tickets online at www.cidedance.org or by calling 317.844.7453. INKAS Israel is differentiated from their competitors by their competitive rates and production turnaround both in Israel as well as neighboring countries. By: INKAS Israel INKAS Israel Media Contact Olga Eletckaia, INKAS Group of Companies olga.e@inkas.ca Olga Eletckaia, INKAS Group of Companies End -- INKASGroup of Companies, a world leading security solutions provider headquartered in Toronto, Canada, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary INKASIsrael commences full-scale operations in the Middle East by acquiring two Israeli special purpose tactical vehicles manufacturers with more than 30 years of experience. Their extensive track record in the region will strengthen INKASpositions and allow to provide improved services to its clients in the Middle East and East Africa.INKASGroup of Companies intends to evolve INKASIsrael to the next level by investing significant resources into growing of its technological base and production capacities. Being headquartered in Canada, INKASIsrael has access to the world-class R&D center, testing range, extensive engineering resources, and broad international experience in the security industry.In addition to armoring services, INKASIsrael offers advanced technological solutions for special purpose vehicle modifications and conversions utilizing high quality certified materials and unique know-how. Its wide product range consists of luxury SUVs and sedans, special purpose vehicles, cast-in-transit vans and executive limousines. INKASIsrael products are certified by internationally recognized laboratories, including those located in Canada and the United States."Our goal is to be closer to our customers in order to respond to their requests in even more efficient and timely manner. We aim to develop long terms partnerships with the stakeholders and become a primary supplier of integrated defense solutions to the government authorities of Israel. We view Israel as a strategic partner, and we truly believe that our engineering and technological support from the headquarters in Canada will allow our subsidiary in Israel to deliver innovative and cost-effective solutions for both law enforcement and civilian vehicle applications at competitive rates and in a timely manner," said David Khazanski, President, INKASGroup of Companies.A new enterprise with its extensive experience in modifications of special purpose vehicles will further enhance INKASpositions in the industry as well as bring the company closer to its customers in the region.Everyone interested in INKASproducts is welcome to visit the production facilities in both Canada and Israel. To arrange tours, please email at info@inkas.ca or info@inkas.co.il INKASGroup of Companies is an international corporation with presence in a multitude of industries and geographies headquartered in Toronto, Canada. For over two decades, INKAShas been offering integrated security solutions for retailers, government agencies, financial institutions, global corporations and high-profile individuals all over the world. The company started its operations in October 1993 in Toronto, Canada. To date, INKAShas grown to employ over 350 highly skilled and specialized team members who produce the highest value products and services in the industry.For more information about the company please visit https://inkas.ca/https://inkasarmored.com/Tel: +1 416-7443322INKASIsrael is a subsidiary of INKASGroup of Companies, specializing in armoring services as well as advanced technological solutions for special purpose vehicle modifications and conversions. With production facilities located in Sderot, Israel, the company executes local and international orders on a wide variety of armored vehicles, including luxury SUVs and sedans, special purpose vehicles, cash-in-transit vans and others.For more information about the company please visit: http://www.inkas.co.il/Tel: 972-8-678-8121 By: Vandeventer Black LLP Contact Cristen Fletcher ***@vanblacklaw.com Cristen Fletcher End -- Vandeventer Black LLPPartner Richard Ottinger was recently elected to a three-year term on the Board of Governors of the Virginia Bar Association (VBA). "I am honored to be elected to the Board of Governors of the association representing the Tidewater Region. Having the opportunity to serve on the VBA Board of Governors will be an enriching experience."Ottinger's diverse practice includes business and contracts disputes, commercial lease and real estate matters, intellectual property disputes, personal injury, maritime, transportation products liability defense, as well as creditors' rights. Ottinger also serves as a co-chair of the firm's Government Relations Committee and works on a broad variety of governmental matters."We are certain Richard's work ethic and achievements will translate into great work for the VBA and our community," said Mike Sterling, Managing Partner.Ottinger's achievements include receipt of the Virginia State Bar's 'R. Edwin Burnette Jr. Young Lawyer of the Year' award, the Norfolk & Portsmouth Bar Association's 'Walter E. Hoffman Community Service Award' and the Virginia Bar Association 'Young Lawyers Division Sandra P. Thompson Award' for his outstanding and long-term service. For more information, please call Cristen Fletcher at 757-446-8674, or write to CFletcher@vanblacklaw.com . Also, you may visit http://www.vanblk.com and follow us on LinkedIn.com/VandeventerBlackLLP.Vandeventer Black LLP is a dynamic business law firm established in 1883. We focus on responsiveness and results while providing internationally recognized services across a wide variety of legal sectors. Headquartered in the commercial gateway of Norfolk, Virginia, our accomplished attorneys assist clients from offices located in Virginia, North Carolina and Germany. Real estate is promising and highly profitable sphere for investing money. Real estate investments are among the most reliable assets that the invest market has for a long time. By: Hermes-Sojitz Investment Fund Contact Hermes-Sojitz Investment Fund ***@hermes-sojitz.com Hermes-Sojitz Investment Fund End -- Money invested in real estate can not devalue to zero as compared to, for example, money invested in unit investment funds. Thus, preference is given to this investment vehicle. Applicability of real estate as goods is another advantage of such type of investments. This type of investments has two yield levels: rent and annual increase in price per mthat help to ensure steady income despite influence of external factors.Europe and USA are traditionally the most popular places for construction and purchase of real estate. However, high cost of project implementation and rather high market competition are serious disadvantages of purchasing real estate in these areas.Experts tend to pay more and more attention to West African countries when searching for alternative areas for real estate investments.Apart from inner African countries where political conflicts are quite usual, such countries as Nigeria, Senegal, Guinea, Ghana, Cameroon and other West African states have captured attention of investors worldwide owing to the fact that political and social situation in these countries is stable and they are rich in natural resources. As far as real estate investments are concerned, this investment vehicle becomes more and more popular among investors.Major advantage of West Africa area related to construction of residential and commercial real estate is high economic rate of return for such projects. It is based on several factors, e.g. cheap work force and building materials. Large cement plants are located within the territory of West Africa. Thus, construction expenses are significantly reduced.High demand for high quality real estate is another factor that implies high economic rates of return for real estate in West African countries. As far as premium residential and commercial real estate is concerned, demand is higher if a foreign company carries out construction ensuring implementation of European standards in its projects.Major customers are citizens of African countries, mostly people from inner states who want to have better living conditions in better places. West African countries are quite stable and are less subject to market changes.Due to current demand for high quality residential real estate constructed in accordance with European standards and low construction expenses economic rates of return for investment projects are high.Naoki Matsumura, Chairman of Hermes-Sojitz's Board of Directors, who is responsible for implementation of real estate construction projects in Africa comments, "Situation at real estate market in Africa is as follows: capitals of West African Union countries lack high quality residential real estate, especially premium real estate. Due to this fact demand for such projects is rather high. As a rule, about 90 % of luxury real estate is sold before construction is over. It is necessary to point out that if, for example, project implementation period is 1.5 year and price of premium real estate is from 3 to 10 thousand euro, marginal revenue for projects implemented in West Africa is several times higher than marginal revenue for projects implemented in Europe."Africa has become an interesting place for investors in various spheres worldwide. Residential and commercial real estate market in West Africa is a promising investment vehicle that can be highly income generating and profitable for investors. Taking into account the fact that the sphere is currently not occupied, demand is high, work force and building materials are cheap soon real estate investments can become key investment vehicle for businessmen. Dave Cox, Middleton Idaho DUI Analyst and Consultant, recently concluded multiple DUI Seminars in Illinois, helping DUI attorneys win more DUI cases. Contact Dave Cox ***@yourduipro.com Dave Cox End --Your DUI Pro, recently traveled to Illinois to present his well-received "Winning DUI Cases" Seminar. Dave visited Champaign, Peoria and Springfield;Illinois to deliver the seminar to some of Illinois' best DUI attorneys. Dave Cox taught these Attorneys how to win DUI cases using NHTSA Manuals and advanced cross-examination techniques.The attorneys who attended Dave Cox's DUI Seminar, "Winning DUI Cases", had great things to say about their experience. Here are some testimonials from some of Illinois' best DUI attorneys:"Great presentation. Invaluable insight."David Clark - Monmouth, Illinois"Excellent job. Good value. Fun too!"Thomas Tonozzi - Spring Valley, IllinoisDave Cox, DUI Analyst and Consultant, has personally trained thousands of attorneys across the United States. Dave is a former police officer and, during his career, he was recognized as one of the top DUI officers in the country. As an officer, Dave Cox was certified as a Drug Recognition Expert, the highest level of training available to DUI enforcement officers. Dave now specializes in training attorneys how to easily and effectively use the officer, the officer's training, and the officer's NHTSA Manuals to win DUI Cases.In the upcoming weeks, Dave Cox will be presenting his DUI Seminar to attorneys in Texas, Indiana, Arkansas, and Kansas. Dave will be visiting the following cities:Fort Worth, Tyler, and Dallas; TexasEvansville, Terre Haute, and Indianapolis;IndianaJonesboro, Fayetteville, and Little Rock; ArkansasSalina, Wichita, and Overland Park; KansasTo register for upcoming seminars, please visit http://www.YourDUIPro.com/ seminars To learn more about Dave Cox and Your DUI Pro, please visit http://www.YourDUIPro.com By: Air Choice One Contact Erica Skrivan ***@kolbeco.net Erica Skrivan End -- Air Choice One, a St. Louis based airline, announced that the carrier has submitted a proposal to the U.S. Department of Transportation to connect Greenville, Mississippi to Dallas Fort Worth, TX; New Orleans, LA; and Memphis, TN. If approved by the D.O.T., the new proposed air links will provide Greenville with hubs in Dallas, New Orleans and Memphis.Air Choice One has submitted the airline's proposal to the government under the Essential Air Service Program which provides communities throughout the United States with air service to connect smaller cities to the national air transportation network. With their continued growth, Air Choice One is looking to offer the Greenville North/South and East/West Connections, as well as expanded access to the Mid-Delta region."We are excited for the opportunity to not only bring our service to the Greenville community, but to offer the region access to locations with such rich heritage, like Dallas Forth Worth, New Orleans and Memphis," said Shane Storz, CEO of Air Choice One. "Our proposal will give the best access to the national transportation system for the communities, and at reasonable prices with optimal convenience. We know that having access to a dedicated air carrier is critical to having scheduled airline service in the future. We have proven our strategy works in similar communities, including Jonesboro, Arkansas, Jackson, Tennessee , and Ironwood, Michigan ." Air Choice One is committed to delivering these same dramatic increases and sustaining these numbers over time.The Air Choice One proposal includes weekday and weekend service of 18 total round trips per week, per city, utilizing a Beechcraft 1900 and Cessna Grand Caravan. Both planes feature lots of leg room, expanded storage/luggage capacity and an air-conditioned/heated cabin for passenger comfort.If the Air Choice One proposal is accepted, service in Greenville will begin by the end of 2017.Based in St. Louis, MO, Air Choice One was launched as a scheduled airline serving to hard-to-reach communities, and supports their economic development by increasing business productivity while enhancing the travel experience for business and leisure travelers alike. Air Choice One markets enjoy the benefits of efficient, scheduled airline service into larger cities, like St. Louis, Chicago and Minneapolis packaged in a "First-Class"service and seating format. Air Choice One's goal is to deliver the highest quality and reliability in scheduled commercial air service. The March will feature speakers, electric hummers, science demonstrations for kids, science-themed music, and more By: March For Science Los Angeles March for Science Los Angeles April 22 Contact Rebecca Fuoco, MPH ***@marchforsciencela.com Rebecca Fuoco, MPH End -- Theis projected to be the second largest of over 500 March for Science events happening worldwide on April 22 (Earth Day), behind only the national March for Science in Washington, DC. Over 50,000 people are anticipated to march in Los Angeles, including scientists, educators, students, advocates, and community leaders.The March will advocate for evidence-based policies and stand against the silencing and defunding of research. "Facts matter. Government that ignores science endangers the world," says lead organizer. "In California, we use science to enable technology, spur innovation, and create new industries and new jobs," says March speaker and NextGen Climate founder. "An attack on science is an attack on our fundamental values, and we will continue to defend the truth in order to protect all Californians."The March will also promote comprehensive education in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM). In addition to marching, there will be a science expo throughout the day with informational booths, science-inspired music, and demonstrations geared toward kids. "Scientific wonder and curiosity should be nurtured early on," says program director. "It's important that the next generation has a foundation in critical thinking and the ability to separate fact from opinion."Marchers will gather at 9:00am at Pershing Square Park in downtown Los Angeles. There will be a legislative meet and greet with local politicians to kick off the morning. At 10:00am, a pre-march rally will feature speeches on topics ranging from the role of science in protecting health and the environment to the importance of diversity in science. Speakers include:, seismologist and founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society, astrophysicist and professor at California State University-Northridge and Moorpark College, U.S. Representative from California's 30th Congressional District, junior at the California Academy of Mathematics and Science, founder of NextGen Climate, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of, professor of biology at California State University-NorthridgeAt 11:00am, twoelectric hummers will lead the march to City Hall. At 12:00pm, thewill open the call to action at City Hall with a performance of their original piece "A Song for Planet Earth." Call to action speakers will include:, theoretical physicist at Caltech, executive director of Physicians for Responsibility-Los Angeles, President of the Los Angeles Council of Black Professional Engineers, neurobiologist at the RAND Corporation, CEO of Materia, Inc., professor-in-residence and director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities at UCLAThe science expo in Pershing Square Park will feature booths, teach-ins, and demonstrations from local organizations and universities from 9:00am to 4:00pm., Nerdist's Science Editor, will emcee presentations on the Science Expo Stage in Pershing Square Park from 1:30pm to 4:00pm. Presentations include: Science-inspired music from Shredded Science and Tim Griffin with GriffinEd. Science demonstrations from the Mars Academy USA/Mars Without Borders, Center for Inquiry, and Lombardi Labs Talks from the Science Kids Alex and Sophia, 314 Action, Nerd Nite Los Angeles, the Skeptic Society, LA Makerspace, and Free Radicals### http://www.marchforsciencela.com ) celebrates the crucial roles science plays in driving our economic growth, preserving our environment, and protecting the health of our citizens. We unite as a diverse, nonpartisan group to call for policymakers to champion and fund science that upholds the common good and to advocate for evidence-based policies in the public interest at the local, state, and national levels. The March for Science Los Angeles is a project of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.Sponsors of the March for Science Los Angeles include NextGen Climate America, the Women's March Los Angeles Foundation, Nerdist, LA Makerspace, Zeusvision, and Flash Marketing. Supporters include the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science, the Center for Inquiry-Los Angeles, the Independent Investigations Group, Physicians for Social Responsibility-LA, the Center for Biological Diversity, Yuri's Night, and Go Fund Me. The March has been endorsed by over 100 organizations (for a full list, see http://www.marchforsciencela.com/ endorsements ). Aroma Bravo considers Marcala, Honduras to be the best source of gourmet coffee beans to serve to customers. Contact Charles C Harmon Co LLC ***@gmail.com 888-582-6650 Charles C Harmon Co LLC888-582-6650 End -- Honduras is known as a powerhouse when it comes to coffee production. It is the top exporter of Arabica beans in Central America, and currently ranks sixth in the overall global market. A huge percent of the country's coffee comes from the fertile region of Marcala, where several organic farms grow Arabica beans through sustainable methods.Greatly impressed by the quality of the beans, Aroma Bravo Coffee and Tea only sources gourmet coffee beans from this area. "Our dedication to give the best coffee experience to our customers starts with finding the best coffee beans," says a company spokesperson. "After trying coffees of different origins, we've concluded that Honduras coffee is the best match for our brand."Aroma Bravo observes strict standards when it comes to bean selection. First and foremost, the beans must be grown organically."Because we're an organic company, the beans we sell should also be 100% organic. Our source are organic farms that are located at an altitude which has the optimum growing conditions for coffee beans. There are also much fewer insects in these Marcala mountains, so there's no need to use insecticides. Only sustainable solutions are used such as planting peppers to repel what little pests remain. Vermiculture, compost and other organic matter are also applied for cultivation. This ensures that the beans are naturally grown and chemical-free,"the spokesperson remarked.The second criteria is that the beans must be Arabica varieties of the highest possible quality. "In the gourmet coffee industry, Arabica beans are strongly preferred by aficionados and expert roasters because the taste is far superior to Robusta and other bean varieties. This is why our whole bean coffee are 100% Arabica," the Aroma Bravo spokesperson continued.The final criteria is that the beans must be cultivated by workers who are fairly compensated for their effort. The spokesperson adds, "Aroma Bravo values the hard work of the Honduran farmers and harvesters who grow these amazing beans that our customers love. We set up a profit-sharing system to make sure that everyone is paid generously for their skill and effort."These three important criteria are all met by Aroma Bravo's suppliers in Marcala, that's why the company has great faith in this coffee-producing region. Thanks to Marcala, Aroma Bravo has finally found the best coffee beans to serve to millions of coffee lovers around the world. More info available at https://www.amazon.com/ s/ref=bl_dp_ s_web_0?ie=UTF8&se... Aroma Bravo is a trusted brand of organic Honduras gourmet coffee. Highly recommended for its smooth and well-balanced flavor, Aroma Bravo Coffee is a must-have for gourmet coffee lovers. By: Retina Consultants of Southwest Florida Retina Consultants Contact Susan Bennett Marketing & Media, L.C. ***@susanbennett.biz Susan Bennett Marketing & Media, L.C. End -- Five physicians with Retina Consultants of Southwest Florida have been named "Top Doctors" by Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. in New York.Retina Consultants Founder Joseph P. Walker, M.D.; Glenn L. Wing, M.D.-Physician Emeritus; Paul A Raskauskas, M.D.; Tom Ghuman, M.D.; and Ashish Sharma, M.D.; will be featured in the June issue ofmagazine. All five are repeat winners of the Top Doctors designation.Retina Consultants has five offices in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Bonita Springs, Naples and Port Charlotte.Other physicians in the practice include Dr. Donald C. Fletcher, low vision rehabilitation specialist, and their newest retina specialist, Dr. Katrina Mears.Selections are made through a national survey of physicians and hospital administrators conducted by Castle Connolly, an independent research and information company that is the nation's leading provider of information on top physicians. After the votes are tallied, Castle Connolly ensures that the physicians meet the company's criteria, which include board certification, years of experience in their specialties, and a clean disciplinary record."Castle Connolly is widely recognized for its extensive research of the medical profession. This demonstrates to our patients that we have been evaluated and meet their highest standards," said Dr. Walker.The physicians will be honored bymagazine at an awards banquet.is the most experienced team of retina specialists in Southwest Florida with combined experience of more than 125 years. Doctors with Retina Consultants of Southwest Florida are members of the American Society of Retina Specialists, American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the American Medical Association.Retina Consultants of Southwest Florida offers all FDA-approved therapies for retina eye disease and is a leader in clinical research through the National Ophthalmic Research Institute (NORI), including clinical trials funded by the National Eye Institute and other public and private medical research foundations. Five offices are conveniently located in Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Bonita Springs, Naples and Port Charlotte. For more information, visit http://www.eye.md CSafe Global is pleased to report the opening of a new service center in Seoul (Incheon), South Korea. This company-owned facility will support South Korean manufacturers with service and delivery of biopharmaceutical products in the Contact Kim L. Clifton ***@csafeglobal.com Kim L. Clifton End -- To meet market growth demand, CSafe Global's new service center in Seoul (Incheon) is now open and servicing inbound and outbound traffic of the company's RKN units and passive solutions, providing delivery, maintenance, calibration and technical support.Rick Rackley, CSafe's Director of Quality, Technical Support and Service Partners, says, "This location will support the increased volumes for both the active and passive business; thus, strengthening our first-class service capability with improved availability and faster, cost effective turnarounds (turn times of 18-60 hours) - something our partners can pass on to their customers. Our experienced teams of technicians are trained in-house to a very high standard with CSafe Global's products and processesBrian Kohr, President and CEO of CSafe Global, adds, "The South Korean industry segment is fast growing. It is estimated to double in value to 150 billion Won ($130M) by 2019. Customers can be assured the CSafe service center serving South Korea will provide high quality support and maintenance for many years to come."CSafe remains committed to expanding the company's global footprint. The ICN service center is part of that commitment. With CSafe Global appointed and trained technicians, this key market will benefit from the strengthened customer service for the full range of active and passive packaging solutions.To find out more about the new ICN operation, contact Rick Rackley at rrackley@csafeglobal.com CSafe Global is the world's largest producer of actively controlled mobile refrigeration units for life science companies, healthcare organizations, global military organizations and international disaster relief agencies. The company manufacturers AcuTemp brand passive packaging and hand-held mobile carriers, the CSafe brand of active containers, and is the exclusive manufacturer and provider of ThermoCor vacuum insulation.The active solution product assortment includes the CSafe RKN, the only compressor-driven air cargo container of its kind with approvals from both the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). The RKN utilizes heating and compressor-driven cooling technology to eliminate the risks associated with extreme ambient conditions as well as the cost, aggravation and environmental challenges associated with dry ice transportation with benefits that include eliminating the need for refrigerated trucking and/or temperature controlled packaging.CSafe Global's AcuTemp brand has provided more than ten thousand hand-held mobile temperature-management solutions since its founding more than 25 years ago. The passive solution assortment includes packaging for 2-8C, CRT and frozen shipments with hold times from 12 to 240 hours and with payload volumes up to 50 liters. The Atlanta-based nonprofit will host H.E. Hajia Samira Bawumia, humanitarian and wife of the Vice President of Ghana. End -- MedShare, an Atlanta-based humanitarian aid organization dedicated to global health, will host Ghana's Second Lady, Her Excellency, Hajia Samira Bawumia, at the organization's Headquarters on Thursday, April 20. MedShare Senior Leadership will discuss global health issues including initiatives of the organization's Maternal and Child Health Program with the Second Lady.Her Excellency, Mrs. Bawumia is the Founder and CEO of Samira Empowerment and Humanitarian Projects, a non-profit organization dedicated to the welfare of the people of Ghana. Her humanitarian efforts extend to health, education, gender parity, female empowerment, and entrepreneurial development. With a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology and a Master of Business Administration and Project Management from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration, the Second Lady has also made strides in politics as a proponent of efficient government and ending political corruption.MedShare CEO and President, Charles Redding, said "Knowing that the Second Lady is making healthcare a priority for the nation's government makes us hopeful for the future. We know that cooperation between governments, people, and organizations like ours is the best way to make positive change and support stronger, more sustainable health systems in Ghana." MedShare sent its first donation of essential supplies for medical diagnosis and treatment to Salaga District Hospital in Salaga, Ghana in 2002. Since then, the organization has donated nearly $10 million worth of lifesaving medical supplies and equipment to the West African nation.MedShare's partners for strengthening healthcare in Ghana have included The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, the Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine, Giving to Ghana Foundation, Western Union, and the Ghana Diaspora, USA.Visit from the Second Lady of Ghana, Her Excellency, Hajia Samira BawumiaThursday, April 20 at 9:30 a.m.MedShare Headquarters & Southeast Region Distribution Center3240 Clifton Springs RoadDecatur, GA 30034About MedShareMedShare is a 501c(3) humanitarian aid organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of people, communities, and our planet by sourcing and directly delivering surplus medical supplies and equipment to communities in need around the world. For more information, please visit the organization's website at http:// www.medshare.org /. Answering the Call On arriving in Britain, the volunteers discovered that few British people had met a Black person before. This sometimes caused problems, but the newcomers found the natives generally friendly. The appearance in Britain of the racially segregated American forces complicated matters. Although the RAF took racism seriously, a minority of white personnel continued to discriminate and some of the volunteers responded by taking the law into their own hands. Despite this, most Black airmen and airwomen got on well with their white comrades. Heroes and Sheroes For one hundred years, African-Caribbean people have volunteered to join Britains flying services. Here are some of the Black men and women who have proudly worn RAF blue. Malaga has been selected to host the Observatorio VR/AR event from 19-20 July, which will focus on virtual reality (VR), augmented reality and 360 production. Organised by Medina Media, which also supports Spains 4K Summit, the Observatorio will offer a schedule of conferences, round tables and technological demonstrations, including not only glasses and cameras, but distribution and business platforms, and production systems.Technology developers and content creators will analyse the future trends within virtual and augmented reality at a local and international level, said Ricardo Medina, CEO, Medina Media. The Observatorio VR/AR is the result of an agreement between Medina Media and ProMalaga to put the capital of the Costa del Sol at the centre of digital and new technology in Southern European pole. The first move in the agreement was to move the 4K-UHD Summit from Sevilla to Malaga A member of the Council of Europes election observer mission in Turkey said on April 18 that as many as 2.5 million votes may have been tampered with in a closely contested referendum that expanded presidential powers and could allow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stay in power until 2029. Alev Korun, an Austrian member of parliament and part of the observer mission for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said the possible manipulation of votes was almost double the margin of Erdogan's victory in the April 16 referendum. Korun also said questions have arisen about the actual voting. This is about the fact that actually the law only allows official voting envelopes. The highest election authority decided however -- as it were, against the law -- that envelopes without official stamp should be admitted," she told ORF radio. "There is a suspicion that up to 2.5 million votes could have been manipulated," Korun added. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which conducted a separate observer mission, said Ankara was not cooperating in an investigation into allegations of voting fraud. Turkey's main opposition party has formally appealed for the annulment of a referendum to expand Erdogans powers, defying the prime minister's call for political forces to respect the official results of the disputed vote. People's Republican Party (CHP) deputy chairman Bulent Tezcan announced he had filed a request with the High Electoral Board (YSK) on April 18, saying the results of the referendum on constitutional changes are "illegitimate" due to voting irregularities. The challenge from the secularist party comes amid concerns raised by opposition parties and international voting monitors about major voting irregularities in the April 16 referendum. Proposed changes that will give the president more power and could enable Erdogan to stay in office until 2029 passed with 51.4 percent of the vote, according to electoral officials. Erdogan's critics say the reforms will hand extensive power to a man with an increasingly autocratic bent and leave few democratic checks and balances in place. In an address to legislators from Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) earlier on April 18, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said that the people's will has been reflected at the ballot box, and the debate is over." "Everyone should respect the outcome, especially the main opposition," he added. Meanwhile, the European Union urged the country to initiate "transparent investigations" into the allegations of voting irregularities and make efforts to unify the divided nation. "We call on the Turkish authorities to consider the next steps very carefully, and to seek the broadest possible national consensus in the follow-up to the national referendum," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said. Protests In Turkish Cities Thousands of people took to the streets of Istanbul and other Turkish cities late on April 17 to protest the results of the referendum. The protesters expressed anger about last-minute changes to the referendum voting procedures and an electoral board decision to allow as valid more than a million ballots cast without an official stamp. The decision by the YSK to allow unstamped ballots was clearly against the law, prevented proper records being kept, and may have impacted the results, according to the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB). The bar association expects Turkey's electoral body to realize its constitutional responsibilities in evaluating complaints, a statement said. Observers from the OSCE and PACE said the legal framework for the referendum remained inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic referendum." WATCH: Monitors Say Turkish Vote Fell Short Of International Standards The monitors also said the referendum campaign was conducted on an unlevel playing field and that the counting of ballots in the referendum had been marred by "late procedural changes." U.S. President Donald Trump called Erdogan on April 17 "to congratulate him on his recent referendum victory" and discuss the situation in neighboring Syria. The U.S. State Department, meanwhile, noted the observers' concerns and urged Turkey to respect diverse viewpoints and "maintain a meaningful political dialogue" with opposition parties. "We look to the government of Turkey to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all its citizens, regardless" of how they voted, it said. "The United States remains committed to strengthening our bilateral relationship [and] continues to support Turkey's democratic development, to which commitment to the rule of law and a diverse and free media remain essential." Erdogan rejected criticism, saying Turkey does not "see, hear, or acknowledge the politically motivated reports" of the monitors. Addressing supporters in Ankara, Erdogan said the country could hold a referendum on its long-stalled EU membership bid. He added that he would approve reinstating the death penalty if it was supported in a referendum or a bill was submitted through parliament, a move that would end Turkey's EU negotiations. In a separate development, Turkey's council of ministers moved to extend for another three months a state of emergency declared in the wake of a failed July 2016 coup. The extension first must go to parliament for approval. With reporting by AP and Reuters In a study published today in PLoS ONE, a team of researchers reports solving a medical mystery in a day's work. In record-time detective work, the scientists narrowed down the genetic cause of intellectual disability in four male patients to a deletion of a small section of the X chromosome that had not been previously linked to a medical condition. Even with the current technological advances, solving medical mysteries such as this one usually entails a much longer period of research. "We found it very interesting how fast we went from knowing nothing about the genetic cause of one patient's condition, to discovering the cause and finding three more individuals with the same problems," said senior author Dr. Daryl A. Scott, associate professor of molecular and human genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. "It took us a year to get all the documentation for writing and publishing the report, but the actual discovery was within hours. It was essential to our discovery that we had at our disposal technology to find and search genomic databases, and to connect electronically and exchange information with other researchers around the world." Modern day medical detective work It all began on a Thursday, Scott's day to visit patients with developmental disabilities in clinic. "For one of the patients, a young male with intellectual disability, developmental delay, macrocephaly (enlarged head) and very flexible joints, our genetics lab indicated that the patient did not seem to have any known genetic changes that could explain his condition," said Scott. "I saw a relatively small deletion in the X chromosome, identified as Xp11.22; it had only a few genes in it. The lab indicated that there had been no previous reports about this particular part of the genome causing any kind of medical problems." Two of the genes in the delete section of the patient's X chromosome were MAGED1 and GSPT2. "To have an idea of what these genes might do, I searched a database that describes the functions of genes in the mouse and found that mice that have a deletion of the Maged1 gene have neurocognitive behavioral abnormalities. This caught my interest as it related to my patient's condition." To make his case that deletions in Xp11.22 caused the clinical features of his patient, Scott needed to find more patients presenting similar clinical conditions and deletions. He searched two large genomic databases looking for more patients. advertisement After searching the DECIPHER database, Scott found one patient carrying almost the exact same deletion as his patient, but there was no information about the individual's clinical problems. Scott immediately sent an electronic message to the physician, co-author Dr. Alex Henderson, at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals in England, in order learn more about the clinical characteristics of his patient. Then, Scott contacted co-author Dr. Seema Lalani, associate professor of molecular and human Genetics at Baylor and assistant laboratory director of cytogenetics at Baylor Genetics. Lalani searched the Baylor Genetics database of 60,000 cases for patients with the deletion. After carrying on this detective electronic work, Scott went to see his patient. By early afternoon, he was back in his office checking his email. He found a message from Henderson. He had two male patients (siblings) with the deletion, and intellectual disability, developmental delay and super mobile joints! Shortly after, Lalani informed Scott that co-author Dr. Patricia Evans, professor of pediatrics, neurology and neurotherapeutics at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas had a patient with the Xp11.22 deletion and the same clinical features as Scott's patient. "In a day's work we identified four patients in two continents, involving 3 families and it was all put together within 8 hours," Scott said. "None of the patients and their families had an explanation for the condition before this work. Our findings allowed us to provide them with a genetic diagnosis." "In every case the mothers are carriers for these deletions but they do not have any apparent symptoms," said Scott. "Yet, they can have male children that have significant problems. With this information, we can say to the parents that they have a 50 percent chance of passing this X chromosome with the deletion to a male child. Female children have a 50 percent chance of being carriers. This represents a significant change for the parents; they can now make informed decisions about future family planning." Other contributors of this work include Christina Grau, Molly Starkovich, Mahshid S. Azamian, Fan Xia and Sau Wai Cheung. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health/ National Institute of General Medical Sciences Initiative for Maximizing Student Development [R25 GM056929-16]. Cover crops long have been touted for their ability to reduce erosion, fix atmospheric nitrogen, reduce nitrogen leaching and improve soil health, but they also may play an important role in mitigating the effects of climate change on agriculture, according to a Penn State researcher. Climate-change mitigation and adaptation may be additional, important ecosystem services provided by cover crops, said Jason Kaye, professor of soil biogeochemistry in the College of Agricultural Sciences. He suggested that the climate-change mitigation potential of cover crops is significant, comparable to other practices, such as no-till. "Many people have been promoting no-till as a climate-mitigation tool, so finding that cover crops are comparable to no-till means there is another valuable tool in the toolbox for agricultural climate mitigation," he said. In a recent issue of Agronomy for Sustainable Development -- the official journal of the French National Institute for Agricultural Research, Europe's top agricultural research institute and the world's number two center for the agricultural sciences -- Kaye contends that cover cropping can be an adaptive management tool to maintain yields and minimize nitrogen losses as the climate warms. Collaborating with Miguel Quemada in the Department of Agriculture Production at the Technical University of Madrid in Spain, Kaye reviewed cover-cropping initiatives in Pennsylvania and central Spain. He said that lessons learned from cover cropping in those contrasting regions show that the strategy has merit in a warming world. The researchers concluded that cover-crop effects on greenhouse-gas fluxes typically mitigate warming by 100-150 grams of carbon per square meter per year, which is comparable to, and perhaps higher than, mitigation from transitioning to no-till. The key ways that cover crops mitigate climate change from greenhouse-gas fluxes are by increasing soil carbon sequestration and reducing fertilizer use after legume cover crops. "Perhaps most significant, the surface albedo change -- the proportion of energy from sunlight reflecting off of farm fields due to cover cropping -- calculated for the first time in our review using case-study sites in central Spain and Pennsylvania, may mitigate 12 to 46 grams of carbon per square meter per year over a 100-year time horizon," Kaye wrote. "Cover crop management also can enable climate-change adaptation at these case-study sites, especially through reduced vulnerability to erosion from extreme rain events, increased soil-water management options during droughts or periods of soil saturation, and retention of nitrogen mineralized due to warming," he said. Despite the benefits, Kaye is not necessarily advocating that cover crops be planted primarily for the purposes of climate-change mitigation or adaptation. Instead, he thinks the most important conclusion from his analysis is that there appear to be few compromises between traditional benefits of cover cropping and the benefits for climate change. "Farmers and policymakers can expect cover cropping simultaneously to benefit soil quality, water quality and climate-change adaptation and mitigation," he wrote. "Overall, we found very few tradeoffs between cover cropping and climate-change mitigation and adaptation, suggesting that ecosystem services that are traditionally expected from cover cropping can be promoted synergistically with services related to climate change." UCLA scientists have unlocked an important mechanism that allows chemotherapy-carrying nanoparticles -- extremely small objects between 1 and 100 nanometers (a billionth of a meter) -- to directly access pancreatic cancer tumors, thereby improving the ability to kill cancer cells and hence leading to more effective treatment outcome of the disease. The researchers also confirmed the key role of a peptide (an extremely small protein) in regulating vascular access of the nanoparticle to the cancer site. The discovery is the result of a two-year study co-led by Drs. Huan Meng and Andre Nel, members of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UCLA California NanoSystems Institute. The findings are important as they demonstrate how the delivery of chemotherapy to pancreatic cancer can be improved significantly through the use of smart-designed nanoparticle features. The study is published online in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is generally a fatal disease, with a five-year survival rate of less than 6 percent. The introduction of nanocarriers as delivery vehicles for common chemotherapy agents such as the drug irinotecan, has led to improved survival of patients with this disease. However, the reality is that nanocarriers may not always reach their intended target in sufficient numbers because of a constraint on their ability to transit through the blood vessel wall at the tumor site, leading the encapsulated drugs to be diverted or lost before they can deliver their payload. A key challenge for scientists is how to help nanoparticles travel to and be retained at tumor sites. This can be accomplished by custom-designed or engineered nanoparticles that overcome common challenges, such as the presence of a dense tissue surrounding the pancreas cancer cells. Prior research has identified a major vascular access mechanism that relies on a vesicle transport system, which can be turned with a peptide called iRGD in the blood vessel wall. iRGD is therefore potentially useful to optimize the delivery of cancer drugs by the nanoparticle to the tumor. The UCLA research team designed a nanoparticle comprised of a hollow silica core surrounded by a lipid bilayer to enhance the delivery of irinotecan in an animal model with pancreatic cancer. The invention is called a silicasome. The researchers proposed that the therapeutic benefit of the irinotecan containing nanoparticles may be enhanced when combined with the injection of iRGD. The investigators used the nanoparticle plus the iRGD to deliver irinotecan in a robust animal model for pancreatic cancer that closely mimics human disease. "We demonstrated that the co-administration of the iRGD peptide with the particles can enhance the effectiveness of pancreatic cancer treatment in the tumor model, leading to increased tumor shrinkage, disappearance of metastases and enhanced animal survival" said Meng, an adjunct assistant professor of nanomedicine. "Utilizing the nanoparticle carrier with a core made of gold nanoparticles also made it possible to obtain evidence for the entry of nanoparticles into the tumor; we looked at the tumor under the electron microscope and observed the particles," said post-doctoral fellow and first author Xiangsheng Liu. This helped to confirm that in addition to relying on leaky blood vessels for nanoparticles to gain access to the tumor, a major inducible vascular transit pathway is available in the form of the vesicle transport system. Meng and Nel also collaborated with Dr. Timothy Donahue, chief of gastrointestinal and pancreatic surgery and a Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center member, to demonstrate that treatment with the iRGD peptide can enhance tumor cell killing for patient-derived pancreatic cancers, growing subcutaneously in a mouse model. The ability to enhance nanoparticle uptake is dependent on the level of expression of a molecule, called NRP-1, to allow the peptide to bind to the tumor blood vessels. "In the tumor sample from a patient with high NRP-1 expression, there was a significant improvement in the efficacy of the nanoparticle to induce tumor shrinkage," said Nel. "The enhancing effect was not seen in a patient tumor sample with a low level of NRP-1 expression on the vasculature. This allows for a personalized approach to the treatment of pancreatic cancer with the iRGD peptide in combination with the nanoparticle." The paper by Nel and colleagues is accompanied by a commentary in the Journal of Clinical Investigation that explains the utility of co-administrating iRGD with the silicasome. This commentary also points out that in order to obtain effective treatment outcome with the peptide, it is important to consider the biological variation from patient to patient and one tumor model to another in obtaining success by iRGD treatment, as shown in the UCLA led study. A group of rare Asian butterflies which have once inspired an association with Hindu mythological creatures have been quite a chaos for the experts. In fact, their systematics turned out so confusing that in order to decode their taxonomic placement, scientists had to dig up their roots some 43 million years back. Now, having shed new light on their ancestors, a team of researchers from the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario at University of Guelph, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and University of Vienna, published their findings in the open access journal Zoosystematics and Evolution. Together, Drs. Valentina Todisco, Vazrick Nazari and Paul Hebert arrived at the conclusion that the enigmatic genus (Calinaga) originated in southeast Tibet in the Eocene as a result of the immense geological and environmental impact caused by the collision between the Indian and Asian subcontinents. However, the diversification within the lineage was far from over at that point. In the following epochs, the butterflies had to adapt to major changes when Indochina drifted away, leading to the isolation of numerous populations; and then again, when the Pleistocene climatic changes took their own toll. To make their conclusions, the scientists studied 51 specimens collected from a wide range of localities spanning across India, South China, Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand. For the first time for the genus, the authors conducted molecular data and combined it with an examination of both genitalia and wing patterns -- distinct morphological characters in butterflies. While previous estimates had reported existence of anywhere between one and eleven species in the genus, the present study identified only four, while confirming how easy it is to mislabel samples based on earlier descriptions. However, the researchers note that they have not sampled specimens from all species listed throughout the years under the name of the genus, so they need additional data to confirm the actual number of valid Calinaga species. The authors are to enrich this preliminary study in the near future, analysing both a larger dataset and type specimens in collaboration with the Natural History Museum of London that holds the largest Calinaga collection. Despite being beautiful butterflies, the examined species belong to a genus whose name derives from the Hindu mythical reptilian creatures N?ga and a particular one of them -- Kaliya, which is believed to live in Yamuna river, Uttar Pradesh, and is notorious for its poison. According to the Hindu myths, no sooner than Kaliya was confronted by the major deity Krishna, did it surrender. "It seems that the modern taxonomy of Calinaga is in need of a Krishna to conquer these superfluous names and cleanse its taxonomy albeit after careful examination of the types and sequencing of additional material," comment the authors. Young adults get more pleasure from smoking cigarettes while they are drinking alcohol than they do while using marijuana, according to a new UC San Francisco study. The study is the first to document that tobacco accompanied by alcohol provides cigarette smokers with a greater perceived reward than when they smoke cigarettes while using marijuana. The study will be published online April 18 in the journal Addiction Research & Theory. "What we've learned may have important implications for understanding differences in co-use of cigarettes with alcohol versus marijuana," said co-first author Noah R. Gubner, PhD, a postdoctoral scholar at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at UCSF. "Our findings show that co-use of cigarettes and alcohol could be more pleasurable than co-use of cigarettes and marijuana," said Gubner. Research has shown that among young adults, cigarette smoking is strongly associated with alcohol and marijuana use -- and smoking is particularly common among heavy drinkers or binge drinkers. Previous studies have also shown that the combined pharmacological effects of cigarettes and alcohol can lead to a heightened sense of reward for the users. In the new study, which used self-reported data, participants were between the ages of 18 and 25, living in the United States, and reported current smoking along with recent use of alcohol or marijuana, or both. The study recruited participants between October 2014 and August 2015 through a paid advertising campaign on Facebook. Altogether, there were 500 participants. Using cross-sectional survey data, the researchers examined the extent of cigarette smoking under the influence of alcohol or marijuana, along with the differences in perceived pleasure. They found that individuals smoked more than 40 percent of their cigarettes under the influence of alcohol or marijuana. "Since the main route of administration for marijuana is smoking, some aspects of marijuana use (such as the smoke, lighting of a joint, the throat feeling when inhaling smoke) may serve as cues that increase urges to smoke cigarettes," the authors write. "In addition, certain individuals may enjoy aspects of smoking in general, regardless of substance." But both alcohol and marijuana users reported increased pleasure from smoking cigarettes when drinking alcohol -- and this pleasure was not heightened by binge drinking. By contrast, there was on average no change in perceived pleasure from smoking cigarettes when using marijuana. "Our findings point to different reasons why people co-use cigarettes with marijuana than with alcohol," said Johannes Thrul, PhD, co-first author of the study and a postdoctoral scholar at the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education. "Smoking cessation interventions should highlight these differences and address co-use to effectively help people cope with triggers to smoke." The authors noted some limitations in the study, including their focus on the enhancement of perceived pleasure of smoking cigarettes by alcohol or marijuana "rather than the ability of cigarettes to enhance the pleasurable effects of other substances." The commonly used antibiotic azithromycin is not linked to an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia, an often life-threatening rapid, irregular heartbeat, according to a large study published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal). Azithromycin is an antibiotic commonly used to treat bacterial infections -- mostly respiratory and urinary tract infections -- in people of all ages. It belongs to a class of drugs known as macrolides, of which at least one other drug, erythromycin, is known to disrupt the heart's normal rhythm, leading to a condition known as ventricular arrhythmia. Several recent studies have reported conflicting results over whether azithromycin is linked to an increased risk of death from ventricular arrhythmia in people taking the antibiotic. To provide clarity among these conflicting findings, a team of European researchers looked at data on nearly 29 million people in health care databases from Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark to determine if there is a link between azithromycin and ventricular arrhythmia. Of the more than 14 million new antibiotic users, 0.1% (12 874) people developed ventricular arrhythmia, of whom 30 were new users of azithromycin. When compared to amoxicillin, another commonly used antibiotic, from the penicillin class of drugs, there was no increased risk of this heart condition in people using azithromycin. However, there was an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia in people taking azithromycin compared to people not using antibiotics at all. "This finding suggests that the risk of ventricular arrhythmia is more likely to be due to a person's poor health and caused by their infection, rather than to azithromycin itself," says Dr. Gianluca Trifiro, Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morpho-functional Imaging, University of Messina, Italy. "This finding was confirmed in several sensitivity analyses and replicated in single databases participating in the study." The authors note these findings may not be applied in hospital settings as the health of patients and use of antibiotics is quite different in community settings, from which the data were drawn. "Current azithromycin use was associated with an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia when compared with nonuse of antibiotics, but not when compared with current amoxicillin use. The decreased risk with an active comparator suggests significant confounding by indication," the authors conclude. A partnership between computer scientists at the University of California San Diego and Google has allowed the search giant to reduce by 70 percent fraudulent business listings in Google Maps. The researchers worked together to analyze more than 100,000 fraudulent listings to determine how scammers had been able to avoid detection -- albeit for a limited amount of time -- and how they made money. The team presented their findings at the 26th International Conference on the World Wide Web in Australia earlier this month. The computer scientists identified what they describe as a "new form of blackhat search engine optimization that targets local listing services" such as Google Maps. They also describe how these scammers were able to make money. "Location-based search is increasingly becoming the way people interact with online content -- even if you're not using a mapping application," said Alex C. Snoeren, a professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at UC San Diego and a senior author of the study. For example, when people run a search on their mobile phone, the search engine uses their physical location as one of the inputs to decide which results to display, Snoeren explained. The scammers take advantage of this by using fake locations to make it look like their business is in close proximity to the user doing the search. This was particularly true of on-call contractors, notably plumbers and locksmiths. Researchers found that 40 percent of all fake listings on Google Maps belong to that category. "I might find seven listings for locksmiths in my neighborhood," said Danny Huang, the paper's first author and a Ph.D. student in computer science at the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego. "But in fact, none of those listings are real." In all, researchers found that 11 percent of overall search results for locksmiths were fraudulent. In New York, that percentage went up to 15.6 percent. And it went up to an astonishing 83.3 percent in West Harrison, New York. Scammers are able to make money when they get called to help a user based on a fake listing. Scammers might quote a low price when called on the phone, only to charge a higher fee when they show up. They might not be licensed but get the business anyway. advertisement In another scheme, scammers set up fake pins for real hotels or restaurants on Google Maps. They set up websites where customers make reservations, which are connected to the business' real website or to a travel agency, which is not part of the scam. This allows scammers to make money either by getting a commission for each reservation or for referring traffic to the businesses' real websites. The researchers found that roughly 13 percent of the fraudulent listings had real hotel and restaurant addresses, but were not created by these businesses. All these fraud schemes were possible primarily because scammers found a way to get around Google's verification process. Businesses can register for Google Maps online for free. But before a listing goes live, Google sends a postcard with a verification code to the business' address. The business inputs this verification code and the listing is then approved to go live. Partly thanks to these measures, Google is able to detect 85 percent of fake listings before they even appear on Google Maps. The fake listings that make it past the verification process are taken down within an average of 8.6 days between creation and suspension. Scammers got around verification requirements mainly by leasing PO boxes and using those addresses to receive their verification codes. They also added fake suite numbers to a specific address so Google wouldn't get suspicious about a large number of businesses located at the same address. Researchers note that there are legitimate reasons for a large number of businesses to have the same address -- big office buildings in Manhattan come to mind. advertisement Researchers also noted that a large percent of fraudulent listings changed their address or the category they belonged to (from hotel to locksmith, for example) after verification. To tamp down on abuse, Google has taken a number of measures, which the company details in a post on its research blog. Steps include: prohibiting bulk registration at most addresses; preventing businesses from changing their addresses to a location that is impossibly far from the original without additional verification; and detecting and ignoring intentionally mangled text in address fields designed to confuse Google's algorithms. The company also fine-tuned its anti-spam machine learning systems to detect data discrepancies that are common in fake or deceptive listings. The research was partially funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation. *D.Y. Huang, D. Grundman, K. Thomas, A. Kumar, E. Bursztein, K. Levchenko and A.C. Snoeren, "Pinning Down Abuse on Google Maps," Proc. of the International Conference on World Wide Web (WWW), April 3-7, 2017, Perth, Australia. Most Americans have some form of digital technology, whether it is a smartphone, tablet or laptop, within their reach 24-7. Our dependence on these gadgets has dramatically changed how we communicate and interact, and is slowly eroding some of our core principles, said Michael Bugeja, professor and director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University. Bugeja is not advocating against technology -- in fact, he relies on it for his work and personal life -- but he says we need to recognize the possible ramifications before it is too late. In his forthcoming book, "Interpersonal Divide in the Age of the Machine," Bugeja explores what might happen if we allow machines to dictate our life. Those machines range from smartphones to robotics to virtual reality. Bugeja theorizes that because of our reliance on machines, we will start to develop the universal principles of technology, such as urgency, a need for constant updates and a loss of privacy. "We are losing empathy, compassion, truth-telling, fairness and responsibility and replacing them with all these machine values," Bugeja said. "If we embed ourselves in technology, what happens to those universal principles that have stopped wars and elevated human consciousness and conscience above more primitive times in history?" Need for media and technology literacy Bugeja warns of the dangers associated with adopting these values. The proliferation of fake news is just one example of how this shift is already influencing our culture. Technology provides a continuous connection to our social media feeds, which has become a popular source for news for many Americans. However, social media tends to cultivate news stories that reflect our individual beliefs and values -- not a broad spectrum of viewpoints -- and is an easy way for fake news stories to spread, Bugeja said. advertisement "The business of journalism is already feeling the effect of living in a world of correlation without causation," he said. "We understand what happened and how it happened, but we don't understand why it happened." That's why Bugeja wants colleges and universities to require students take media and technology literacy courses. He says it is important that students know where to go to find credible news stories, and open their minds to information from a variety of sources, not just those that confirm what they already think or believe. "We need these courses so that people know where to go for facts and how to deal with technology. If you do not assert yourself over technology, it will assert itself over you and you will be doing what the machine asks you, rather than you telling the machine what to do," Bugeja said. There is no easy short-term fix for the future, Bugeja said, which is why we need to temper our use. He says the long-term solution is through education. Machines are not human It is not just the philosophical and intellectual consequences that have Bugeja concerned, but also the impact of technology on business, behavior and everyday activities. Business and industry increasingly rely on machines or robots to do the jobs of humans. Bugeja says this shift can improve efficiency, safety and the company's bottom line, but he questions what will happen to those individuals who lose their jobs to machines. Working at a university, Bugeja has witnessed how machines have altered behavior in the classroom, dining hall or when walking across campus. Technology is a distraction that keeps students from focusing on their studies and limits interpersonal interactions, he said. In much the same way, the temptation of responding to an alert from social media or notification of a text message while driving has increased safety concerns. "We introduce new gadgets by saying they will make our lives better, which is true, but there are also dangers," Bugeja said. The purpose of his latest book is to raise awareness about the dangers of living in a world dominated by machines. He challenges readers, just as he does with students in his class, to balance their use of technology and not feel pressured to respond immediately to an email or text message. The book, published by Oxford University Press, will be available in July. An international team based at Geneva University Hospitals (HUG) and at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, has succeeded in defining a "signature" composed of a small number of inflammatory markers that can be monitored in order to understand how a promising anti-Ebola virus vaccine stimulates the immune system. The researchers inoculated 115 volunteers with either a high dose or a low dose of the rVSV-ZEBOV anti-Ebola vaccine, or with placebo. By analyzing the differences between the three groups, they found that it is sufficient to monitor only 5 substances that are naturally present in the blood in order to define immune responses to the vaccine. The "Geneva rVSV-ZEBOV signature" is published in a scientific paper, in Science Translational Medicine. It's an easy-to-use equation adding up the concentrations of these 5 substances or markers, most of which are mediated by monocytes, a class of white blood cells known to be active in combatting Ebolavirus in infected individuals. The signature is also expected to inform investigations of safety and immunogenicity of other emerging vaccines. The 2014-2015 Ebola epidemic affected several countries in West Africa, leading to the death of more than 11'000 people. Although this epidemic of Ebolavirus disease is over, there is no knowing if, when or where another may strike. It is therefore more important than ever to find a reliable vaccine against this deadly disease. Research on vaccines, which was ongoing during the epidemic in West Africa, is now yielding promising results. Important progress in understanding the vaccine In an article published on April 12, 2017, in Science Translational Medicine, a team from the HUG and the UNIGE, working in collaboration with researchers and clinicians in several other countries in Europe and Africa, has defined a formula that measures the reliability and efficacy of vaccines that might help prevent or limit future outbreaks. The rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine (recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus-vectored Zaire Ebola vaccine) had already been shown to stimulate the immune system in human volunteers; and in a field trial in 2015 it successfully protected people who had been exposed to Ebola patients from contracting the disease themselves. Yet concerns had been raised during the Geneva trial regarding side effects. What the Geneva team has now published is a detailed examination of the blood plasma of 115 healthy volunteers from Geneva, some of whom received either a low-dose or a high dose of vaccine, while others received a placebo vaccine. When a vaccine enters the bloodstream, dozens of inflammatory markers that are naturally present see their concentrations change over the next few days. The researchers investigated 15 of them (different varieties of chemokines or cytokines). They found that 1-3 days after the vaccine was administered, the concentration of 6 of these 15 markers had measurably increased. Using a statistical procedure known as principal components analysis, the Geneva team succeeded in producing a simple score that makes the activity of the vaccine much easier to monitor. This "signature" contains only 5 of the 6 markers most likely to change in the presence of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine: together, they account for over two-thirds (68%) of the variation in blood cytokine/chemokine activity. The Geneva Signature found in Gabon The signature was found to be stronger in volunteers who received the higher dose than in those who got the lower dose. Importantly, the "Geneva signature" was applied to blood samples from a similar trial that took place in Lambarene, Gabon, where healthy volunteers had also received the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine. The same markers were elevated and correlated with side effects and later immunity in the same way. The 5 markers in the signature are: monocyte attractant protein 1 (MCP-1), the interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha), interleukin-10 and interleukin-6. Several of these are produced by monocytes or are known to interact with them, so the results imply that monocytes play a critical role in the efficacy and safety of the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine. In the case of many other vaccines, such as one recently developed against H1N1 influenza, the chemical markers mostly belong to another category of white blood cells: lymphocytes. Taken together, these signatures help understand how vaccines stimulate the immune system in very different ways to tackle various types of virus. This latest discovery therefore opens up encouraging perspectives for investigating the safety, efficacy and mechanisms of other emerging vaccines. Spherical biodegradable carriers support scalable and cost-effective stem cell expansion and bone formation for tissue engineering. Bone tissue engineering is theoretically now possible at a large scale. Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) researchers have developed small biodegradable and biocompatible supports that aid stem cell differentiation and multiplication as well as bone formation in living animal models. Mesenchymal stem cells self-renew and differentiate into fat, muscle, bone, and cartilage cells, which makes them attractive for organ repair and regeneration. These stem cells can be isolated from different sources, such as the human placenta and fatty tissue. Human early mesenchymal stem cells (heMSCs), which are derived from fetal bone marrow, were thought to be best suited for bone healing, but were not readily accessible for therapeutic use. Existing approaches to expand stem cells for industrial applications tend to use two-dimensional materials as culture media, but their production yields are too low for clinical demand. Furthermore, stem cells typically need to be harvested with enzymes and attached to a scaffold before they can be implanted. To bring commercially viable cell therapies to market, Asha Shekaran and Steve Oh, from the A*STAR Bioprocessing Technology Institute, have created directly implantable microscopic spheres in collaboration with the A*STAR Institute of Materials Research and Engineering. These spheres, which acted as heMSC microcarriers, consist of a biodegradable and biocompatible polymer called polycaprolactone. According to Shekaran, their initial aim was to expand stem cells on microcarriers in bioreactors to scale up production. However, this strategy threw up difficulties, especially when attempting to effectively dissociate the cells from the microcarriers and transfer them to biodegradable scaffolds for implantation. "A biodegradable microcarrier would have a dual purpose," Shekaran says, noting that it could potentially provide a substrate for cell attachment during scalable expansion in bioreactors, and a porous scaffold for cell delivery during implantation. The researchers generated their microcarriers by synthesizing polycaprolactone spheres and coating them with two proteins polylysine and fibronectin. These proteins are found in the extracellular matrix that assists cell adhesion, growth, proliferation, and differentiation in the body. Microcarriers that most induced cell attachment also promoted cell differentiation into bone-like matrix more strongly than conventional two-dimensional supports. In addition, implanted stem cells grown on these microcarriers produced an equivalent amount of bone to their conventionally-derived analogs. "This is encouraging because microcarrier-based expansion and delivery are more scalable than two-dimensional culture methods," says Shekaran. The team now plans to further investigate the therapeutic potential of these microcarrier-stem cell assemblies in actual bone healing models. The A*STAR-affiliated researchers contributing to this research are from the Bioprocessing Technology Institute and the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering. For more information about the team's research, please visit the Stem Cell Group webpage. Superimposing two lattices of similar periods creates structures that researchers can design to control and localize light. Brighter LEDs and more efficient solar cells are two potential applications for Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)'s research into lattice structures that can slow or trap light. Harnessing wave energy by localizing it and suppressing its propagation through a medium is a powerful technique. Now, Alagappin Gandhi and Png Ching Eng Jason from the A*STAR Institute of High Performance Computing have calculated a design that localizes light in tiny loops, within a two-dimensional structure created by merging two lattices of slightly differing periodicities. The new technique is not limited to light, and may enable the design of systems that can precisely control wave energy in any realm and at any scale -- sound, thermal, water, or even matter waves such as in Bose-Einstein condensates. For light-based devices the new insights could be used to build more efficient photonic components, said Gandhi. "If you pattern the surface of an LED with merged lattices it will assist with getting the light out efficiently," said Gandhi. "For a solar cell, however merged lattices will help light to enter better so that more energy can be harvested." The ability to create resonators in which light is localized on the surface of a device also has applications in quantum computing components based on light, such as defects in diamond. advertisement Gandhi and Png designed the structures by superimposing lattices of small circular dielectric materials with periods in a simple ratio R:R-1 -- for example one lattice is merged with another whose spacing is 4/3 as big, or 5/4, 6/5 etc. "It creates a two-dimensional effect similar to beats between two waves of very close frequency," Gandhi said. "Where there are antinodes the light is localized in the form of a closed path." Gandhi said the creation of a regular array of localized loops of light contrasted with Anderson Localization, which arises from randomness in a structure. "This is a systematic way of creating a large number of loops," Gandhi said. Gandhi and Png ran numerical simulations of the propagation of light in a range of wavelengths slightly below that of the lattice spacing, and calculated the energy band structure. They found that as R increased, there emerged a large number of energy bands whose light had a group velocity of zero, the signature of light localized within the crystal. Gandhi said merged lattices would also provide a way for researchers to explore topological properties, such as protected edge modes. The A*STAR-affiliated researchers contributing to this research are from the Institute of High Performance Computing. Bacteria have developed an uncountable number of chemistries, lifestyles, attacks and defenses through 2.5 billion years of evolution. One of the most impressive defenses is biofilm -- a community of bacteria enmeshed in a matrix that protects against single-celled predators and antibiotics -- chemicals evolved by competitors through the course of evolution, including other bacteria and fungi. Now, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of bacteriology has shown the first proof that a certain group of amoeba called dictyostelids can penetrate biofilms and eat the bacteria within. "This is the first demonstration that dicty are able to feed on biofilm-enmeshed bacteria," Marcin Filutowicz says. In an article now online in the journal Protist, Filutowicz, first author Dean Sanders of the Wisconsin Institute for Discovery, and colleagues show time-lapse, microscopic movies proving the amoeba's voracious appetite for five species of bacteria. In the study, the researchers pitted four types of amoeba called dictyostelium (dictys) against biofilm-forming bacteria that harm plants or humans. The target bacteria included: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common, multi-drug resistant bacteria that afflicts people who have, for example, burns or cystic fibrosis; Pseudomonas syringae, pathogen of beans; Klebsiella oxytoca, cause of colitis and sepsis; and Erwinia amylovora, cause of fire blight in apples and pears. As expected, the results depended on the strain of dicty and species of bacteria; in several cases, the dictys completely obliterated a thriving biofilm containing millions of bacteria within a day or two. The study, Filutowicz says, "contains the first movies ever to show dicty cells moving into a biofilm and devouring the bacteria." Because they form a multi-cellular phase sometimes called a "slug," dictys are sometimes called "social amoeba." Beyond the visual evidence, spore germination and the subsequent union of single-celled dictys into a multi-cellular "slug" both showed successful attacks against all four species of bacteria. Filutowicz became interested in dictys after discovering a neglected archive of about 1,800 strains amassed by Kenneth Raper, a bacteriology colleague who started collecting the soil-borne microbes around the world in the 1930s. "Raper was the first to isolate dictys, but after he died, his life work was scattered around the department and neglected," Filutowicz says. advertisement Filutowicz was intrigued, but he knew very little about dictys. Then, the answer to his most fundamental question -- "How do I grow them?" triggered a mental chain reaction. He found that Raper and his followers were feeding and growing dictys in the lab using bacterial prey, but nobody had apparently pursued their real-world potential as microbe hunters. "If you grow them on E coli [a common resident of the human intestine], I quickly realized, because dictys are not pathogenic, we might use them as a biological weapon against bacteria." Having previously started Conjugon, a company devoted to developing benign bacteria to defeat pathogenic microbes, Filutowicz says he was "attuned to biological approaches, which were unheard then, and so this idea fell on a very fertile mind." With bacteria becoming resistant to a growing number of antibiotics, that's welcome news, although using a living organism may add complexity to the task of getting regulatory approval. Since 2010, Filutowicz has learned a good deal about how dicty "graze" upon bacteria, and which ones they prefer. "We looked at how these cells dismantle biofilms, trying to understand what physical, chemical and mechanical forces deconstruct the biofilms, and how the dictys move in 3-D space. These are phagocytes, and they behave much like our own immune cells," says Filutowicz. His collaborator, Curtis Brandt, a professor of ophthalmology and visual science at UW-Madison, has produced promising results suggesting that the organisms are harmless to rodents, and is preparing to use dictys to fight bacterial keratitis, an eye infection, first in rodents and then in humans, in research supported by the National Institutes of Health. "This medical application may not reach the clinic in my lifetime, but it has a lot of promise, and eventually we may be able to advance it in many other medical uses," Filutowicz says. In 2010, Filutowicz formed Amoebagone, to advance research into use of dictys, starting by trying to fight fire blight and other bacterial infections of fruit trees and vegetables; supported by the National Science Foundation. Between the far-off human medical potential, and the near-term use in agriculture, Filutowicz is delightedly pulling on the thread left by Ken Raper's beneficial microbes; licensed by the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation to AmoebaGone. "To make a discovery, it needs some level of naivete," he says. "If you know too much, you immediately appreciate why things will not work, cannot work. Otherwise, if it was a good idea, people would have done it already. Colleagues said dictys behaved like human phagocytes, but they never mentioned harnessing them as biological controls. Every day I walk through the departmental hallway and read the inscription: "Discovery consists of seeing of what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought. I was lucky enough to enter this as the foolish innocent." Working-age people who have fainting spells (a condition known as syncope) have a higher risk of occupational accidents and job loss, compared to adults without the condition, according to new research in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, an American Heart Association journal. Syncope is characterized by a sudden loss of consciousness followed by spontaneous recovery. In a Danish study comparing adults age 18 to 64 with recurrent syncope to those without it, those with syncope had: a 1.4-fold increased risk of occupational accidents; and a 2-fold higher risk of loss of employment (31 percent vs 15 percent), Also, patients with recurrent syncope who were young, had poor socioeconomic status, or additional conditions (such as cardiovascular disease or depression), were particularly at high risk of workplace accidents or job termination. Researchers said the study is the first to show a significant association between syncope and work-related outcomes. "We believe that our findings shed light on a hidden consequence of syncope," said Anna-Karin Nume, M.D., the study's first author and a research fellow in the cardiology department at Copenhagen University Herlev Gentofte Hospital in Hellerup, Denmark. advertisement "The ability to feel safe at work and maintain a full-time job addresses an indirect effect and cost of syncope beyond the usual clinical parameters such as mortality and hospitalization. Employment is more than a measure of performance status; besides its financial importance, it is crucial for self-esteem and quality of life." Nume and colleagues identified 21,729 patients who had a first-time diagnosis of syncope that required a trip to the emergency room or hospitalization. Of that number, 49.5 percent were employed at that time and most returned to work within a month of hospital discharge. Researchers noted that 622 patients had a subsequent occupational accident and 36 involved severe injuries such as fracture, amputation crush or internal bleeding. Accidents were most frequent among those working manual jobs. The study was based on 2008-2013 data covering residents from Denmark's national population-based registers. The median age was 48, and 49.7 percent were men. One of the Danish study's limitations is the lack of information on potentially relevant factors such as the individuals' work environment, their habits and health behaviors, or exact circumstances of the syncopal events. Consequently, causal effects cannot be established, only associations, and the results should be interpreted with caution. The results may apply to similar Western countries, yet researchers advise caution when making comparisons because of differences in health, social security and other policies that may exist. "People with fainting episodes should be evaluated medically and have appropriate interventions to help them maintain their employment and keep safe at work," Nume said. "In general, syncope can be managed, and workplace risks might be managed by a change in job duties, such as avoidance of operating heavy equipment." "We hope that our findings will stimulate more research to examine why syncope is associated with adverse employment outcomes and to identify and test preventive strategies," she said. "Until then, we urge physicians to ask patients with syncope about their work to reduce any adverse consequences of syncope and educate them about underlying mechanisms and coping strategies." 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To help you find what you are looking for: Enter Search Term(s): Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL. Thank you for visiting state.gov. Pakistan has quietly ordered four more AW139 helicopters for SAR (search and rescue) and Medevac (medical evacuation) missions in high altitude areas. The AW139 has demonstrated the ability to operate like that and has been ordered by dozens of nations because of those capabilities. With the continued counter-terror operations in Pakistan its no surprise that Pakistan is buying more equipment best suited for use in the high-altitude areas along the Afghan border where there has been the most Islamic terrorist activity. The Pakistan government already uses some AW139s for SAR and Medevac but this latest order is specifically for the military. AW139 transport helicopters are built by Anglo-Italian firm AgustaWestland. AW139s cost $20 million and up each depending on accessories and support contracts. These eight ton choppers carry up to 15 passengers and can get by with just one pilot. They have a very large cabin and can hold up to four stretchers, which is one reason it is so popular for medevac. Cruise speed is 288 kilometers an hour and endurance averages 3.2 hours. The AW149, a military version of the AW139, is also available but is more expensive. The AW139 competes with the U.S. UH-60 and another European helicopter, the slightly larger NH90. Entering service in 2003 nearly 800 AW139s have been delivered or are on order. Police are yet to release the identity of a body that was found of the Tauranga Coast in the weekend. Fishermen made the grim discovery near Pudney Rocks, a reef to the North East of Tauranga, between Mayor Island and Motiti Island, around midday yesterday. They recovered the human remains and returned to Tauranga. Despite some social media commentary, experienced boaties in the area say it is unlikely to be Karl Earwaker, whose boat was found upturned near Mayor Island three weeks ago, due to the currents in the Bay which generally tend to sweep northwards. A police spokesperson says inquiries are continuing into how the body came to be in the water. Police are still in the process of formal identification and speaking to next of kin, so until those formal processes are completed, we dont have any more information to share. Meanwhile, police are continuing to investigate the disappearance of a man whose car was found in the Kaituna River on March 31. Police responded to reports of a crash on Ford Road at about 11pm. A vehicle was found submerged in the river. Police believe 53-year-old Maketu man Simon Oliver may have been in the vehicle at the time of the crash. The police national dive squad was called in the following day, but was unable to locate Mr Oliver. At the time of the search, Senior Sergeant Glenn Saunders said police believed Mr Oliver was the only occupant in the car. Alleged Nokia 8 and Nokia 9 smartphone sketches reveal bezel-less displays and dual-lens camera We normally take rumored phones with a bit of caution but, when the rumor happens to be 2 Nokia devices, they need to be reported. The Former Behemoth Nokia used to be the biggest phone company in the world. With its only competitor being the Research in Motion owned Blackberry. That too, just in the US. In the rest of the world, no one could even hold a candle to Nokia. Then the iPhone came along and shattered the mobile landscape like never before. It changed the tide to such an extent, that Nokia ended up being bought over by Microsoft. In 2014, Nokias Devices and Services division was sold to Microsoft. In 2016, A Finnish company HMD Global bought a part of Microsofts feature phone business and has a licensing agreement that allows it to make smartphones under the Nokia brand. And the expectancy of a full fledged return of the brand has since been eagerly awaited. Two Powerhouses The rumored devices in question are the Nokia 8 & Nokia 9Nokia 9. And from the leaked specifications they seem to be powerhouses if rumors are to be believed, both devices will come with Android Nougat 7.0, a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels giving them an approximate 515 pixel density, a massive 12 megapixel front camera and an even bigger 24 megapixel back camera. Nokia 8 and Nokia 9 are rumored to have Octa-core and Quad-core Qualcomm processor respectively and the screen size with the 8 expected to come in at 5.7 inches while the 9 might be a tad bit smaller at 5.5 inches. Both are expected to sport a humongous 6 GB of RAM. Internal storage options are said to be 64 & 128 GB. Battery are expected to be near the 4000 mAh range. If these specifications turn out to be true, we might be seeing Nokia compete in the big leagues of Flagship devices. Will the next Galaxy S9 be going head to head against a Nokia ? Poachers aimed their guns at the rhinos and pulled the triggers. When the bullets hit the animals, they fell hard to the ground. Then the poachers got to work hacking off their horns. The rhinos were left to die, but their horns were carefully packed into crates and shipped to Asia, where they'd be sold for large amounts of money. Thankfully, the people who shipped these rhino horns to Asia were caught. Last week, Malaysian officials at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia inspected a crate labeled "artwork" - and found 18 rhino horns inside. The officials immediately seized the horns, which were being transported illegally. These 18 rhino horns could represent about eight dead rhinos, David Newton, a South African representative for TRAFFIC, an international wildlife monitoring network, told The Dodo, although he noted that this is just an estimate. "There do seem to be many pairs of horns - large front, smaller back horn," Newton said. "Normally poachers remove both horns from the animals." Dodo Shows Odd Couples Kitten Isn't Sure About His Pittie Brother At First Newton also explained that the horns looked like they'd been cleaned prior to shipping - probably to reduce bad smells and decrease detection. Unfortunately, these kinds of busts are far too common. Since the beginning of March, authorities have seized over 103 rhino horns and horn pieces on five separate occasions throughout Asia, where they're used in traditional medicine. And these are just the shipments that have been intercepted by officials. Poachers have gotten increasingly brazen. Last month, armed men stormed a rhino orphanage in South Africa and killed two baby rhinos for their horns. Not long after that, poachers broke into a French zoo and killed a captive rhino for his horn. In South Africa, rhino poaching has been rapidly increasing since the 1990s. In 2016, it was reported that 1,054 rhinos were killed. Rhino poaching is also rampant in countries like Botswana, India, Kenya, Namibia and Nepal. Poaching is a massive issue, but Newton is pleased that wildlife traffickers are getting caught. "It seems that Asian law enforcement agencies are being increasingly effective at intercepting smugglers," Newton said. "On the other hand, it shows that smugglers are avoiding African-based enforcement agencies." SHANGHAIOn April 6, Ivanka Trumps company won provisional approval from the Chinese government for three new trademarks, giving it monopoly rights to sell Ivanka brand jewelry, bags and spa services in the worlds second-largest economy. That night, the first daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, sat next to the president of China and his wife for a steak and Dover sole dinner at Mar-a-Lago. The scenario underscores how difficult it is for the presidents daughter, who has tried to distance herself from the brand that bears her name, to separate business from politics in her new position at the White House. As she crafts a political career from her West Wing office, her brand is flourishing, despite boycotts and several stores limiting her merchandise. U.S. imports, almost all of them from China, shot up an estimated 166 per cent last year, while sales hit record levels in 2017. The brand, which Ivanka Trump still owns, says distribution is growing. It has launched new activewear and affordable jewelry lines and is working to expand its global intellectual property footprint. In addition to winning the approvals from China, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC applied for at least nine new trademarks in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canada and the U.S. after the election. Read more: Growing online backlash over Ivanka Trump brand offered at The Bay The commercial currents of the Trump White House are unprecedented in modern American politics, ethics lawyers say. They have created an unfamiliar landscape riven with ethical pitfalls, and forced consumers and retailers to wrestle with the unlikely passions now inspired by Ivanka Trumps midmarket collection of ruffled blouses, shifts and wedges. Using the prestige of government service to build a brand is not illegal. But criminal conflict-of-interest law prohibits federal officials, like Ivanka Trump and her husband, from participating in government matters that could impact their own financial interest or that of their spouses. Some argue that the more her business broadens its scope, the more it threatens to encroach on the ability of two trusted advisers to deliver credible counsel to the president on core issues like trade, intellectual property and the value of Chinese currency. Put the business on hold and stop trying to get trademarks while youre in government, advises Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush. To address ethical concerns, Ivanka Trump has shifted the brands assets to a family-run trust valued at more than $50 million and pledged to recuse herself from issues that present conflicts. She is also no longer running her design business and has given day-to-day responsibility to Abigail Klem, president of the brand. Meanwhile, her husband has taken steps to distance himself from his sprawling New York real estate business, divesting some of his business interests including his stake in a major Fifth Avenue skyscraper. Ivanka will not weigh in on business strategy, marketing issues or the commercial terms of agreements, her attorney, Jamie Gorelick, said in a statement. She has retained authority to direct the trustees to terminate agreements that she determines create a conflict of interest or the appearance of one. In a recent interview with CBS News, Trump argued that her business would be doing even better if she hadnt moved to Washington and placed restrictions on her team to ensure that any growth is done with extreme caution. China, however, remains a nagging concern. Ivanka has so many China ties and conflicts, yet she and Jared appear deeply involved in China contacts and policy. I would never have allowed it, said Norman Eisen, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under Barack Obama. For their own sake, and the countrys, Ivanka and Jared should consider stepping away from China matters. Instead, the first daughter and her husband have emerged as prominent interlocutors with China, where they have both had significant business ties. Last year, Kushner pursued hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate investments from Anbang Insurance Group, a financial conglomerate with close ties to the Chinese state. After media reports about the deal, talks were called off. Publicly, Ivanka Trump has taken a gracious, charming approach toward Beijing. During the Mar-a-Lago meetings, her daughter, 5-year-old Arabella, stood in a gilded room and sang a traditional Chinese song, in Mandarin, for Chinas president, Xi Jinping. The video, which was lavishly praised by Chinese state media, played over 2.2 million times on Chinas popular news portal qq.com. Read more: Ivanka Trump responds to criticism, says lack of public denouncement isnt silence The week of the summit, 3.4 tons of Ivanka Trump handbags, wallets and blouses arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong and Shanghai. U.S. imports of her merchandise grew an estimated 40 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to Panjiva Inc., which maintains and analyzes global shipping records. Painter, the former Bush administration lawyer, recommended full recusal from issues related to trade with China. That is likely to be difficult because trade is so deeply embedded in the US-China relationship and has been linked with other matters, like North Korea. The danger is that with any discussion with the Chinese, one party or the other may try to bring up trade, he said. Thats a slippery slope that may require her or Jared to step out of the room. Gorelick, Ivanka Trumps attorney, said that she and her husband would steer clear of specific areas that could impact her business, or be seen as conflicts of interest, but are under no legal obligation to step back from huge swaths of policy, like trade with China. Under the rules, Trump would recuse herself from conversations about duties on clothing imported from China, Gorelick said, but not broad foreign policy. In between, you have to assess it case-by-case, she said. Trademarks can be signs of corporate ambition, though many countries such as China, where trademark squatting is rampant also allow for defensive filings to prevent copycats from using a brand. Trademarks pose ethical, and possibly legal, implications for government employees because they are granted by foreign states and confer the monopoly right to sell branded products in a particular country an entitlement that can be enormously valuable. Intellectual property lawyers say trademarks are also a crucial prerequisite for cutting licensing deals, which form the basis of both Ivanka and Donald Trumps global business strategy. The brand has filed, updated, and rigorously protected its international trademarks over the past several years in the normal course of business, especially in regions where trademark infringement is rampant, said Klem in a statement. Today, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC has 16 registered trademarks in China and 32 pending applications, along with a total of four marks granted preliminary approval since the inauguration, according to Chinas Trademark Office. Altogether, they cover a wide range of goods and services, including cosmetics, jewelry, leather handbags, luggage, clothes, shoes, retail, spa and beauty services. There is no sign the recent approvals were particularly swift. Chinas Trademark Office did not respond to a request for comment. Globally, the company has more than 180 pending and registered trademarks in countries including Canada, India, Japan, Israel, Mexico, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.S. and Europe, public records show. In December, the company applied for five trademarks, covering handbags and wallets in Puerto Rico, and lingerie and other clothes in the U.S. After the inauguration, the company filed four more applications, for branded clothing and shoes in the Philippines, and perfume and other items in Canada. Ivanka Trump did not sign off on the new trademark applications, her brand said in a statement, adding that they are not necessarily an indication that the brand is planning to launch a category or a store in a specific territory. Whatever the future plans, right now sales are growing helped, some argue, by the glow of Ivanka Trumps political rise. The G-III Apparel Group Ltd., which makes Ivanka Trump clothes, said net sales for the collection increased by $17.9 million during the year that ended Jan. 31. The overall brand itself says revenues rose 21 per cent last year, with early February seeing some of the best performance ever, according to a statement by Klem. Because it is privately held, the brand does not have to declare its earnings or where revenues come from. The actual corporate structure of Trumps retail business remains opaque. Kushners financial disclosure form lists two dozen corporate entities that appear directly related to his wifes brand. Trump herself has yet to file a disclosure. Data from Lyst, a massive fashion e-commerce platform, indicates some of this growth coincided with specific political events. The number of Ivanka Trump items sold through Lyst was 46 per cent higher the month her father was elected president than in November 2015. Sales spiked 771 per cent in February over the same month last year, after White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway exhorted Fox viewers to Go buy Ivankas stuff. Conway was later reprimanded. The bounce appears somewhat sustained. March sales on Lyst were up 262 per cent over the same period last year. Read more: Sales for Ivanka Trumps products take off after Conways public endorsement You cant separate Ivanka from her role in life and from her business, said Allen Adamson, founder of BrandSimpleConsulting. Her celebrity status is now not only being fuelled by her wealth and her family connection, but by her huge role in the White House. All that buzz is hard-wired to her products. That, he added, is a competitive advantage other brands just cant match though it does come with risk. Things could easily cut the other way for the first daughter. Ashley King, 28 of Calabasas, California, bought Ivanka Trump black flats and a cardigan several years ago. But King, who voted for Hillary Clinton, said she believes Trumps role in the White House represents a conflict of interest. This is bothering me more and more, she said. As for the Ivanka Trump items in her closet, she said, I will be donating them. SHARE: The latest television commercials for McDonalds, featuring actress Mindy Kaling, do not appear on the companys YouTube channel, Facebook page or Twitter account. In fact, they dont mention McDonalds at all though they do mention Coca-Cola and Google. The ads are part of the chains first unbranded marketing campaign, in which it is coyly asking people to search Google for that place where Coke tastes so good. The query, meant to capitalize on millions of search engine results that favour the fast-food chain, is central to the ads where association with the brand is limited to placing Kaling in a bright yellow dress against a red backdrop. The ads, which started running last week, are meant to play on how teens and twentysomethings use their phones while watching TV, while also acknowledging how theyre discovering information they trust, said Deborah Wahl, chief marketing officer of McDonalds for the United States. They are very influenced by word-of-mouth and what their peers say, she said. Kaling posted to Twitter on Friday that she recently partnered with a brand without being able to say the name of the brand, and jokingly asked to be paid in fries. McDonalds use of Google contrasts rather strikingly with a stunt from Burger King last week, when it introduced a TV ad that aimed to prompt voice-activated Google devices into describing its burgers. Google, which was not involved in that campaign, sought to stymie the effort, which many saw as clever but invasive. The ads with Kaling, on the other hand, came out of We Are Unlimited, a relatively new creative ad agency that is dedicated to McDonalds and operates within Omnicom Group, a holding company. Employees of companies including Google, Twitter, Facebook and T Brand Studio (a marketing unit for The New York Times), are among the roughly 200 people who work at Unlimited in Chicago, though Wahl noted that Googles participation did not extend to affecting the search results themselves. Google didnt give us any tricks on search or anything, Wahl said, adding that gaming the system would have gone against the whole idea of the campaign. What theyre helping us do is understand if people are really searching as a result of this, and offering close feedback and collaboration in terms of whats happening with this with real behaviour. Wahl said McDonalds did not pay for any of the Google results that rave about how Coke tastes at its restaurants. A Google search for the phrase at the centre of the campaign, which is promoting a $1 soft-drink deal, showed results from relatively obscure blogs on Monday, some of which were written last week, as well as write-ups from websites like Fox News and Thrillist. A YouTube video of one of Kalings commercials also appeared under a channel named That Place Where Coke Tastes So Good. Wahl said the company is prepared for people to try to interfere with the results, which is by now a hallmark of ad campaigns that involve social media. But, she said, it was anticipating a positive reaction given the conversations about Coke and McDonalds that were already out there. (Burger King, which relied on the Wikipedia entry for one of its burgers as part of its stunt, saw several mischievous revisions of that page last week.) The notion that Coke tastes differently at McDonalds has been a topic of fascination for some time. The New York Times, as part of a 2014 article on the business relationship between McDonalds and Coke, which dates to 1955, reported that Coke has a special system for transporting and producing the beverage at the fast-food chain. Part of that includes delivering its syrup in stainless steel tanks versus plastic bags. McDonalds also says it pre-chills the water and the syrup before it enters its fountain dispensers, and offers a slightly wider straw. Selecting Kaling as a pitchwoman for this campaign was also a deliberate choice, Wahl said, noting that she has been a vocal fan of the brand for years. Indeed, Kaling wrote in her 2015 book Why Not Me? that McDonalds once sent her a stack of $10 gift cards on her birthday. If you follow me on any kind of social media you will see that Im constantly eating McDonalds, and not in a campy, skinny-actress way where I go when Im on my period and being bad! she wrote in the book. I go regularly enough that the woman at the Crescent Heights & Sunset McDonalds gives me ranch and buffalo sauce packets for my McNuggets without me having to ask. Read more about: SHARE: The number of Canadian home sales hit a record high last month with the sizzling Toronto-area market pulling up the rest of the country, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). "Toronto always swings the biggest bat in Canada, but even more so lately," said CREA senior economist Shawn Cathcart on Tuesday. Non-seasonally adjusted Canadian sales were up 6.6 per cent year over year in March, with Toronto climbing 17 per cent in that period. That offset a 31.5 per cent decline in Vancouver sales, the latest drop since the introduction of a foreign investor tax and vacant homes taxes last year. The monthly CREA statistics came Tuesday as the provincial and federal finance ministers and Toronto Mayor John Tory met to discuss the imposition of potentially using similar taxes to cool Toronto's increasingly unaffordable property market. CREA cautioned politicians, however, against destabilizing other Canadian markets in any attempt to temper Toronto prices. "If Toronto is the only hot market in Canada, you don't want to be throwing cold water on everybody," said Cathcart. He said the city's "prices are as tight as they've ever been." "There's a lot of interest for every listing that comes on and that's all the way out basically in 200 kilometres in any direction from downtown Toronto at the moment." Cathcart noted that Toronto's real estate trends now encompass the entire Greater Golden Horseshoe. "So instead of being 20 per cent of Canada, we're actually looking at a third of Canada that's seeing these kinds of trends," he said. The average Canadian sale price increased 8.2 per cent year-over-year in March with a 9.3 per cent decline in Greater Vancouver and 33.2 per cent increase in the Toronto area, according to CREA. "If you take the GTA or Greater Golden Horseshoe out of the numbers, the average price in the rest of Canada is actually down on a year-over-year basis," he said. The association said home sales over its Multiple Listings Service system increased by 1.1 per cent in March to top the previous monthly record set in April 2016. On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales totalled 46,353, up from 45,856 in February. The actual national average price for homes sold in March this year was $548,517, up 8.2 per cent from a year ago. Excluding the Toronto and Vancouver areas, the average price was $389,726. With files from Canadian Press SHARE: MARQUETTE, MAN.In the small rural community of Marquette, Man., it isnt unusual to bump into your neighbours. But these days, residents are bumping into Hollywood star Keanu Reeves. I think he was using the bathroom, said Marquette resident Tayvia Dorge with a laugh. So we waited and got a photo with him. The star of The Matrix and John Wick was in Marquette to shoot his latest movie, Siberia. Its cool, you know? resident Lee McRae told CTV Winnipeg. Hes been in lots of blockbusters, so to have him come to middle of the nowhere Marquette is kind of a cool deal. The small town has a cool role to play, quite literally. Its standing in for Siberia, the setting of the film. That meant the town was transformed using some Hollywood magic. A Russian billboard went up, vehicles with Russian licence plates are on set, and the exterior of Bonnie Lawrences house underwent an extreme makeover, turning it into a bit of a junkyard. She said its an exciting time, but a little overwhelming too because all of a sudden its an invasion. It will be a short-lived one. The lights, cameras and action will shift to another location in the coming days, leaving just memories of Hollywood for the people of Marquette. Read more about: SHARE: WELLINGTON NORTH, ONT.Police are looking for a man who allegedly approached an 8-year-old girl while naked in southwestern Ontario. Ontario Provincial Police say they received a call about an indecent act on Saturday near Mount Forest, Ont., about 150 kilometres northwest of Toronto. They say two men in a dark blue pickup truck approached the girl around 9:30 a.m. while she rode her bike. Police say the men asked her to come to the truck, but she began riding away. They allege the passenger then got out of the truck, naked, and asked the girl to return, but she rode to safety at a neighbours house. He is described as a white man with white hair and beard and anyone with information is asked to contact the OPP. SHARE: Will she or wont she? Speculation about whether Premier Kathleen Wynne can continue to lead the governing Liberals is at a fever pitch. Party stalwarts are hoping next weeks balanced budget from Finance Minister Charles Sousa will tip the scales for Wynnes teetering political fortunes. But with public and private polling showing the Liberals languishing in third place well behind the Progressive Conservatives and the New Democrats even after Wynnes 25 per cent cut in residential electricity rates there is mounting uncertainty she will remain at the helm. The Ontario Liberal Partys chief fundraiser, Zak Bailey, has quietly resigned just seven months into a job made even more challenging by campaign finance reforms triggered by a Star series last year. Youd have to ask the party what their plans are, Bailey said Monday, declining further comment. Sources say Liberal fundraising is not going well now that corporate and union donations have been banned and that riding associations are rattled. Recruiting a candidate for a byelection expected this summer in Liberal-held Sault Ste. Marie is proving difficult to say nothing of attracting scores of Grit standard-bearers for the June 7, 2018 election. If the premier is unable to pull her personal poll numbers out of a tailspin before the House rises in six weeks then salvaging a Liberal administration that dates back to 2003 could be daunting without a leadership change. I like to say that I live in world of heightened advice right now, Wynne wryly admitted to Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area mayors and regional chairs last week in a candid moment that revealed the pressure shes under. Behind closed doors in the Liberal caucus room, MPPs apologetically share with her their constituents views. They just dont like you, premier, one veteran MPP gently told her within earshot of other members. I do, but they dont and I dont know why. Its a sentiment that Wynne who remains both liked and respected by most of her caucus colleagues may finally be starting to take to heart even as she insists she plans to lead the Liberals into the next campaign. She will do the right thing for the Ontario Liberal Party, confided one intimate, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss internal party matters. The premier won us the last election (in 2014) and we know that. But the dislike toward her now unfair and undeserved as it is borders on the irrational, said another Liberal. Sources told the Star that more than a dozen MPPs are looking at not running again in the 2018 election over fears they will lose their seats due to her unpopularity. No MPPs will yet speak publicly about the potential exodus more out of their personal regard for Wynne than due to a fear of retribution. But some are known to be considering an appeal to her en masse to share their worries about the future. Theres no way we should lose to Patrick Brown hes an empty suit with no plan, fumed one long-time member, referring to the little-known rookie Progressive Conservative leader who polls suggest could win the election. If our vote collapses, theres a very real possibility Andrea Horwath could be the next premier of Ontario, warned another Liberal, predicting the New Democrats would benefit if progressives abandon the Liberals to stop Browns Tories. Andrea is more dangerous to us than Patrick. Sousa, the Liberals happy warrior, is bullish on his boss and on the partys future after he tables a balanced budget chock full of campaign-friendly goodies on April 27. The premier is doing an outstanding job. She cares. Shes deliberated over a number of tough files and issues and I have full confidence in her and my colleagues in the party to do whats best for the people of Ontario, the treasurer said last Thursday. We have been an activist centre government. Were looking at stimulating growth, managing spending, and ensuring greater prosperity for the people of Ontario, he said. Sousa stressed hes confident that the people of Ontario will come to appreciate and have already appreciated the work we do. They elected her to a majority government; I believe theyll elect her again. Wynnes predecessor, Dalton McGuinty, who turned over the reins four years ago, once likened the role of a premier to a political partys liver that absorbs toxins. And one of your responsibilities on the way out is to take those (toxins) with you, McGuinty told Robyn Bresnahan on CBC Radios Ottawa Morning in 2015, and to leave your successor a fighting chance. Having turned down the political heat on hydro with the 25 per cent rate cut that takes full effect in June and eliminated a stubborn deficit as of next weeks budget, one Liberal insider said Wynne could depart with her head held high. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONPresident Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order on Tuesday that will crack down on exemptions to federal Buy American policies, a move that could hurt Canadian companies. The administrations new policy is to minimize the granting of waivers, an official who insisted on anonymity said in a briefing on Monday. The message here is clear: Buy American is the Trump administrations highest priority, the official said. When it comes to spending taxpayer dollars, agencies have their clear marching orders, and they will be held strictly accountable for any failure to fulfil the Buy American vision. Buy American provisions require the government to use American firms rather than foreign firms. The North American Free Trade Agreement is supposed to protect Canadian firms from Buy American on significant purchases. For example, Canadian firms are allowed to compete for goods contracts of more than $25,000 U.S. and construction contracts of more than $10.1 million. But an expert on Canada-U.S. trade, Dan Ujczo, said the order will likely do immediate harm to Canadian businesses anyway, sending a clear message to U.S. government officials that they should not favour bids that involve foreign firms and materials. It sends a chilling effect down to all the agency heads, where theyre not going to even consider bids that have foreign components from Canadian suppliers, said Ujczo, an Ohio lawyer with Dickinson Wright. Its going to send that chill all the way through agencies and departments that are otherwise inclined to favour the most efficient and cost-effective bid. The chill might extend further. The order, Ujczo said, will likely prompt some U.S. companies to use domestic suppliers rather than better-value Canadians. And state governments might now choose to avoid foreign firms in projects funded in part by Trumps federal government, he said. The usual caveats apply. Canada was not mentioned during the briefing. As with most of Trumps executive orders, it was not clear how much it was intended merely to serve as political rhetoric rather than make actual change. But the order signals that Canadian officials have a Buy American fight on their hands as they head into a possible renegotiation of NAFTA. Among other things, the order will instruct the U.S. to take a very hard look at how waivers of Buy American in our free trade agreements may be a poster child of unfair and non-reciprocal trade, an official said. Canadian officials have lobbied against Buy American for years, with varying success. They managed to secure a partial exemption for Canada from the economic-stimulus law signed by Barack Obama in 2009. Big Canadian companies with U.S. operations and top lawyers will likely manage to manoeuvre around Trumps crackdown, but smaller firms will be hit harder, Ujczo said. Read more about: SHARE: In the very public, post-election parade of dignitaries, confidantes and job-seekers filing in and out of Donald Trumps marquee Manhattan tower, Blackwater founder Erik Prince was largely out of sight. And yet Prince was very much a presence, providing advice to Trumps inner circle, including his top national security adviser, Michael Flynn, according to people familiar with his activities. Trump was weakest in the area where the stakes were highest foreign affairs. Among those his aides turned to was Prince, a man whose specialty is paramilitary security forces, and whose company is best remembered after its employees were convicted of killing Iraqi citizens, including children, in the notorious 2007 Nisour Square gun battle. Prince wasnt implicated in the shootings. In the decade since, Prince has carved out a role as a controversial critic of U.S. policies to fight terrorism, a view often espoused by the incoming Trump administration, which was eager to ramp up its anti-terrorism policies. According to people familiar with his activities, Prince entered Trump Tower through the back, like others who wanted to avoid the media spotlight, and huddled with members of the president-elects team to discuss intelligence and security issues. The conversations provide a glimpse of Princes relationship with an administration thats distanced itself from him since the Washington Post reported earlier this month that Prince had met with a top aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Seychelles in January. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump That island encounter was the latest in a series of conversations between Trump advisers and Russians that have come to light as U.S. investigators probe allegations that Russia interfered with the presidential election. A person close to Prince said the Seychelles meeting was arranged at the request of the United Arab Emirates. The person added that it was a private meeting and that Prince was not representing the Trump administration. Erik had no role in the transition, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said again when asked about Prince last week. A Prince spokesman in London said the same in a prepared statement: Erik had no role on the transition team. This is a complete fabrication. The meeting had nothing to do with President Trump. The statement also questioned whether Princes activities were being monitored. Why is the so-called under-resourced intelligence community messing around with surveillance of American citizens when they should be hunting terrorists? Yet over a two to three month period around the election, Prince met several times with top aides as the incoming government took shape, offering ideas on how to fight terror and restructure the countrys major intelligence agencies, according to information provided by five people familiar with the meetings. Among those he conferred with was Flynn, a member of the transition team who joined the administration and was later dismissed, some of the people said. He discussed possible government appointees with people in the private sector, one person said. Prince himself told several people that while he was not offering his advice in any official capacity, his role was significant. The meetings occurred in Trump Tower, the administrations transition office in Washington and elsewhere, according to people familiar with them. In one informal discussion in late November, Prince spoke openly with two members of Trumps transition team on a train bound from New York to Washington. He boarded the same Acela as Kellyanne Conway and they sat together. Joining the conversation at one point was Kevin Harrington, a longtime associate of Trump adviser Peter Thiel who is now on the National Security Council. They discussed, in broad terms, major changes the incoming administration envisioned for the intelligence community, as recounted by a person on the train who overheard their conversation. Conway declined to comment for this story. Harrington said through a spokesman that he recalled speaking briefly to Prince on the train ride but that was the only time he talked to him. Prince was a generous financial backer of the Trump campaign, along with his sister, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. Prince contributed at least $100,000 through a political action committee run by billionaire hedge-fund manager Robert Mercer. That PAC also funneled contributions from Thiel, the billionaire Silicon Valley entrepreneur who has acted as an informal liaison to the high-tech world for the White House. Neither Mercer nor Thiel responded to requests for comment sent to their spokesmen. A longtime critic of government defence and security policies, Prince advocated a restructuring of security agencies as well as a thorough rethink of costly defence programs, even if it meant cancelling existing major contracts in favour of smaller ones, said a person familiar with the matter. Prince is no longer talking to those in the administration, said the person close to him, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were intended to remain private. His influence waned after Flynn was ousted as National Security Adviser in February over concerns about his own disclosures and conversations with the Russian ambassador. And Prince has no relationship with Flynns successor, General H.R. McMaster. Flynn did not respond to a request for comment. Princes discussions can be seen as a testament to the all-comers-welcome nature of the Trump transition, which listened to theories and suggestions from a range of supporters with conservative views. Prince would have been among the more controversial. During the Iraq War, Blackwater landed more than $1 billion worth of government contracts to provide personal protection for visiting officials and assist with military operations and, according to Princes memoir, carry out covert operations for the Central Intelligence Agency. In 2007, guards working for Blackwater, which had been running a lucrative executive protection mission for the State Department in Iraq since the start of the war, were accused of killing 14 unarmed Iraqi civilians in a bloody shootout on a Baghdad street corner. A year earlier, a Blackwater guard had killed a bodyguard to an Iraqi official. He was fired, sent home and never charged with a crime. Four contractors were later convicted by a federal jury in the street corner shootout and sentenced to jail. Their cases are on appeal. These incidents prompted a grilling by lawmakers in a public hearing in 2007, wrongful death lawsuits against the company and a criminal investigation by federal authorities into the shooting. Blackwater, which had been among the most prominent military contractors in Iraq, was forced out of the country. Read more: The Trump admin said this aircraft carrier was on her way to North Korea. It was sailing the other way Trumps top advisers are telling him to break his promise to abandon the Paris climate agreement Who is Source D? The man said to be behind the Trump-Russia dossiers juiciest claim After years of additional investigations and lawsuits, Prince sold the firm to an investor group in 2010. Blackwater was renamed Xe Services, then Academi, and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the government in 2012 over violations of arms sales rules and paid a $7.5 million fine. Prosecutors said it was the conclusion of a lengthy and complex investigation into a company which has provided valuable services to the United States government, but which, at times, and in many ways, failed to comply with important laws and regulations. Prince was never charged with a crime, and he said allegations of wrongdoing were baseless. He now runs Frontier Resource Group, a Hong Kong fund with Chinese investors who see opportunities in natural resources in Africa. More recently, Princes money, connections and conservative credentials have allowed him to move easily in and around Trump World. He was a guest, along with Trump, at Mercers Villains and Heroes holiday party last year. Prince also attended the election-night victory party at Trump Tower. Last year, Prince was often heard on Breitbart radio, overseen by Steve Bannon, who today serves as White House chief strategist. Speaking on topics such as immigration and how to defeat terrorists, Prince laid out a three-point plan to deal with Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL. In the heat of the closing weeks of the presidential campaign, Prince claimed New York police found evidence of Hillary Clinton and her closest advisers committing criminal activity, including money laundering and underage sex. The evidence was purportedly in Clinton emails seized in the investigation of former Congressman Anthony Weiner. Prince cited sources at the New York Police Department. The claim was never substantiated, nor did the police address the allegations. Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONHoly cow, hes now coming after us. U.S. President Donald Trump slammed Canadas trade practices for the first time, vowing to call Canadian officials to demand changes to dairy policies Wisconsin farmers say threaten their livelihoods. We are also going to stand up for our dairy farmers in Wisconsin. And Ive been reading about it, Ive been talking about it for a long time, and that demands, really, immediately, fair trade, with all of our trading partners. And that includes Canada, he said Tuesday, raising his voice to emphasize the country. Because in Canada, some very unfair things have happened to our dairy farmers and others. He did not specifically identify what he was talking about in his unscripted musings, which came during a Wisconsin speech in which he touted Buy American policies that are opposed by Canada. It appeared, though, that he was weighing in on an arcane but escalating bilateral dispute over ultrafiltered milk, a high-protein concentrate sometimes used to make cheese and yogurt. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump The Canadian dairy lobby and government say Canadian policies are not responsible for the crisis that has beset about 75 family farms in Wisconsin since a local milk-processing company cancelled their contracts April 1. But Trump joined the U.S. dairy lobby and a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers in attributing the problem to a Canadian reduction in prices that has made American imports less competitive. His remarks were the latest in a series of signals that suggest Canada will not glide easily through the possible renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). After declaring in February that the trade relationship is very outstanding, his administration has floated a series of complaints. Not until Tuesday had he called out Canada specifically. Whats happened to you is very, very unfair, he told the farmers. Its another typical one-sided deal against the United States, and its not going to be happening for long. So . . . were going to get together and were going to call Canada, and were going to say what happened? And they might give us an answer, but were going to get the solution, not just the answer, OK, because we know what the solution is, all right? He did not say what he believes the solution is. Trump had been urged to take action on the dispute by politicians from both parties, including Republican Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In an October letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Cuomo said the policy amounts to a trade barrier that flouts international agreements. Trudeaus government did not respond to Trump on Tuesday. Instead, Ambassador David MacNaughton wrote a letter to Walker and Cuomo, urging them to not lay blame where it does not belong. Canada?s ambassador to the U.S. says he expects to have constructive trade talks with the Trump administration despite the president questioning Canada?s practices in the dairy industry. MacNaughton said Canada does not accept the contention that dairy policies in Canada are causing financial hardship in the U.S. The facts do not bear this out, he wrote, citing a U.S. government report that says global and U.S. overproduction is the root of the U.S. dairy industrys struggles. As made clear in the report, Canada is not a contributor to the overproduction problem, MacNaughton said. He argued that Canadas dairy industry is less protectionist than Americas. Like most things related to Canadas milk policy, the dispute is complicated. At the beginning of April, Wisconsins Grassland Dairy Products informed 75 local farms that it would no longer purchase their milk. Grassland said it made the decision because it had just lost tens of millions of dollars worth of Canadian business as a result of the policy change in Canada. The Canadian dairy industry, tightly regulated under a system of supply management, has long been protected from foreign competition by tariffs on imports. But ultrafiltered milk from the U.S. had been allowed to enter Canada tariff-free, and Canadian processors often preferred to import rather than pay higher prices to buy from Canadians. A year ago, though, Ontario changed the rules: it allowed local processors to buy ultrafiltered milk and other kinds of skim milk from Canadian farms at world prices rather than the higher Canadian prices. All of a sudden, the need for U.S. imports evaporated. Canada is now adopting a similar policy across the country, further alarming the U.S. industry already beset by a supply glut. In Wisconsin, some of the family farmers say they will have to sell off their cows if they cant quickly find another processor. The Canadian dairy industry says the entire issue has been misconstrued by the Americans. A spokesperson for the Dairy Farmers of Canada told the Washington Post in a front-page article Tuesday that the Wisconsin farmers were using inaccurate alternative facts, a phrase popularized by a Trump aide. In the Canadian industrys version, the real culprit for the U.S. woes isnt Canadian policy but the U.S. supply glut. When too much milk is produced, prices crash and there is no incentive to invest in increased processing capacities. The end result is job loss, loss of income for farmers, and in some cases, farmers having to shut down their farms, a Dairy Farmers of Canada official wrote in early April. No matter how one views the situation, exports to a comparatively small Canadian market one that is already filled with Canadian milk are a drop in the bucket that will not solve the problems currently impacting the U.S dairy industry. It is wrong to use Canada as a scapegoat for the situation in the United States. The Dairy Farmers declined to respond to Trump on Tuesday, referring questions to the Canadian government. A spokesperson said they are very confident Trudeau will protect our industry. Trump has not criticized supply management more broadly. But in a draft letter to Congress that expressed a preliminary NAFTA wish list, his administration hinted that it wants to raise the subject during the upcoming talks. Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday to crack down on exemptions to Buy American policies, which are supposed to require U.S. government projects to buy from American firms. Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau will raise objections to the order at this weeks meeting of G20 finance ministers in Washington, The Canadian Press reported. With files from Bruce Campion-Smith Read more about: SHARE: ERIE, PA.The man who randomly gunned down a Cleveland retiree and posted video of the crime on Facebook killed himself Tuesday during a police chase in Pennsylvania that began when a McDonalds drive-thru attendant recognized him. It marked a violent end to the nearly 48-hour multistate manhunt for Steve Stephens, whose case brought another round of criticism down on Facebook over how responsibly it polices objectionable material posted by users. Acting on a tip from the McDonalds, state troopers spotted Stephens leaving the restaurant in Erie and went after him, bumping his car to try to get it to stop, authorities said. He shot himself in the head after the car spun and came to a stop, police said. This started with one tragedy and ended with another person taking their own life, said Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams. We would have liked to have brought Steve in peacefully and really talked to him about why this happened. Stephens, a 37-year-old job counsellor who worked with young people, was wanted on murder charges in the killing of Robert Godwin Sr., 74, a former foundry worker and father of 10 who was picking up aluminum cans on Sunday when he was shot. The chilling video was on Facebook for three hours before it was taken down. It was just the latest instance of crime footage being shared on social media. At a Silicon Valley conference Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg briefly addressed the Cleveland case, saying Facebook has a lot of work to do and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this. Read more: Cleveland shooting in Facebook video the latest in growing trend of online violence Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson announced a reward of up to $50,000 dollars for the arrest of Steve Stephens, the murder suspect who police say posted a Facebook video of himself shooting an elderly man. As manhunt continues, Cleveland police unable to explain motive behind Facebook video killing Cleveland police urge suspect who posted video of killing on Facebook to turn himself in Police would not speculate on what triggered the killing, but in the video and other footage he posted, Stephens talked about having trouble with his girlfriend and losing everything he had to gambling. He said he just snapped. One of Godwins daughters, Debbie Godwin, said she wished Stephens had been captured. Im not happy hes dead at all, not at all. If you did it, you have to face your crime, she said. The break in the case came when police received a tip that Stephens was at the McDonalds in Erie, in far western Pennsylvania about 160 kilometres east of Cleveland, where he ordered a 20-piece Chicken McNuggets and fries. The drive-thru attendant thought she recognized Stephens and called state police, restaurant owner Thomas DuCharme Jr. told the Erie Times-News. State Police Maj. William Teper Jr. would say only that the tip came from a concerned citizen. The McDonalds employees tried to buy some time for the cops by telling Stephens his fries were delayed, but he said he had no time to wait and drove off, according to DuCharme. Police picked up the trail in a chase that lasted 3 kilometres before Stephens took his own life, authorities said. Gail Wheeler, of Erie, said she was stopped at a light at the McDonalds when Stephens came whipping out of the parking lot, nearly hitting her. She said state troopers werent far behind. Wheeler said she followed the chase and saw a trooper clip Stephens rear bumper. His car did a half-turn and came to rest against the curb, and she heard a gunshot, she said. She then saw officers approach the car. The officer closest to the car just shook his head, she said. They had their guns out, but when he shook his head, they lowered their guns. Police said it wasnt clear whether Stephens had any help while he was on the run or where he had been and that investigators will try to retrace his steps. Stephens cellphone had been tracked Sunday afternoon near Erie, officials said on Monday. Facebook said it removed the video of the shooting 23 minutes after learning of it. The company has since announced it is launching a review for reporting harmful content. This is something that should not have been shared around the world. Period, Clevelands police chief said. In the video, Stephens told Godwin the name of his girlfriend and said, Shes the reason that this is about to happen to you. Godwin did not seem to recognize the name. The woman, Joy Lane, told WJW-TV in Cleveland that she last talked with Stephens on Saturday night, when he told her he had quit his job and was moving out of state. Investigators said that Godwin was the only victim so far linked to Stephens, despite his claim on Facebook that he killed over a dozen people. Detectives spoke with the suspect on Sunday by cellphone and tried to persuade him to surrender, police said. Within a day, authorities expanded the search nationwide and offered a $50,000 (U.S.) reward for information leading to his capture. Read more about: SHARE: HAYANGE, FRANCETwo things now grow around the rusting carcasses of the last blast furnaces in this French steel town: weeds, and votes for populist Marine Le Pen. For months, labour leader Walter Broccoli fought to keep the fires burning, fearing that failure could drive enraged workers into the arms of Le Pen and her virulently nationalistic politics. He never imagined his own son would become part of the stampede. He says theyve not spoken in the three years since he discovered to his horror from their local newspaper that David Broccoli was registered as a candidate in municipal elections for Le Pens anti-European Union, anti-immigration National Front. I said to myself, Impossible! Whats happened to him? I called him up. We argued. He told me, Thats the way it is and hung up on me, Walter Broccoli says. Ive had nightmares where I saw him dressed in an SS uniform, all in black, with a cap. I took it very hard. It shocked me: My son, in the National Front? Impossible. Unbearable. Yet the National Front is now an inescapable part of the landscape in Frances industrial eastern rust belt and its once left-leaning towns. Le Pen is projected to win millions of votes Sunday in the first round of Frances two-stage presidential election, likely catapulting her to within one step of an electoral earthquake that would shake France and the EU to its core. Disgruntled working-class voters will cast ballots for the anti-establishment Le Pen not solely out of conviction but also in protest. She is their nuclear option, their way to flip the bird at the French political mainstream they feel has betrayed and abandoned them. Read more: Demonstrators march against French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen EU Parliament lifts Marine Le Pens immunity over gruesome tweets Marine Le Pen criticized for denying Frances role in Holocaust Steel worker Pascal Grimmer doesnt share Le Pens politics; he doesnt, like her, want a Frexit to take France out of the EU or to ditch its shared euro currency. But she will get his vote because hes angry with politicians, filled with rage, and she is the candidate who most scares the others, Grimmer says. He hopes that an electro-shock-high score for Le Pen not quite enough to install her in the presidential Elysee Palace but an uncomfortably close shave will jolt more mainstream politicians to use their brains to ask themselves, What do people want? You reap what you sow. And our politicians have treated the French people like idiots, he says. Politicians dont fulfil their promises. They lie as easily as they breathe. Last time, Grimmer voted Francois Hollande, the Socialist whose presidency, now in its final weeks, lasted just one term, sunk by his unpopularity. Grimmer was impressed when Hollande came stumping during the 2012 campaign for working-class votes at the ArcelorMittal steel plant where he works. Labor leaders were in the thick of their battle to save Hayanges furnaces, the last in eastern France still serving the steel industry. Incongruous in his suit and tie, Hollande clambered onto the roof of a van with union leaders, took a microphone and promised to push for a law to help save plants facing closure. The crowd, which included Grimmer, cheered. In a seemingly trivial detail, but one which workers subsequently wouldnt let him forget, Hollande even shared a spicy barbecued merguez sausage with them. I said to myself, Oh, I like this guy. Naively, I believed him, Grimmer recalls. I was completely hoodwinked. Grimmer and others felt betrayed when the furnaces were extinguished in 2013, as part of a deal the Socialist government struck with steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal seven months after Hollandes election. Hollande beat conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, another one-term president under whom ArcelorMittal also closed a plant in nearby Gandrange. The deal included jobs elsewhere or retirement for furnace workers. ArcelorMittal also promised to invest 180 million euros ($190 million at todays rates) in other sectors of the giant steel works, which still produce high-grade metals for automakers and other clients and sprawl across three towns, including Hayange, in the Fensch valley. Workers had hoped for more. The mothballing of the furnaces that used to turn the skies incandescent red, dust soot over the valleys towns and draw labourers from across Europe and North Africa hit hard. In a final show of defiance, Grimmer, Broccoli and other members of their Workers Force union unveiled a plaque of protest in Hayange when the scorching fires which had melted ores into metal went cold. SELLOUT, the plaque read. Here lie the promises of change that F. HOLLANDE made to workers and their families. Still bitter, Grimmer says: Politicians are forcing me to vote Le Pen. Thats why Im doing this. Not with a happy heart but because Im forced to. And increasing numbers of French people are starting to think this way. And if Le Pen wins? So be it. They will have to live with that, he says. Broccoli says he warned Socialist officials that extinguishing the furnaces would be electoral suicide. Sure enough, the year after they were put out, Hayange voted in a National Front mayor in 2014 one of just a handful of towns in France to do so. It really hurts me to see workers turning toward fascism, the extreme right, Broccoli says. They are so angry that they are prepared to vote National Front, to destroy everything. They have nothing left to lose. Broccolis son, a computer technician, doesnt work in the steel industry. Still, the father assumes his son felt abandoned by the government after losing a job in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, leaving him unable to pay rent. He says the son moved in with his mother, also a National Front supporter. The parents are separated. I feel as though hes been stolen from me, Walter Broccoli says. All these people like his mother, his stepfather they werent like this 15 or 20 years ago. It happened gradually. David Broccoli didnt respond to calls and a text message from The Associated Press. Herve Hoff, who stood with him as a National Front candidate in 2014, says David Broccoli and his mother adopted our ideas because they felt that the left had betrayed them. Simple as that. Hoff, a restaurateur, is now seeking election to parliament. He proudly showed the AP his letter from the National Front investing him as its candidate in the Fensch valley in June legislative elections. Saying Le Pen appeals to forgotten people, he drew parallels with Donald Trumps election to the White House, won with strong support from disgruntled workers in coal country. Well have the same phenomenon. Deepest France, rural France, will lift up Marine Le Pen and youll see villages where shell get crazy scores, he says. Michel Liebgott, the valleys current lawmaker, a Socialist, handily beat a National Front opponent last time. This time, hes not so confident. If he decides against running again, he says the National Front could win the seat. Liebgott, who was born in the valley and remembers Hayange as its jewel, a bustling steel town, says the region is dividing between haves and have-nots. Many of the better-off work across the nearby border with Luxembourg, braving gnarled traffic on the highway to Luxembourg City for higher wages in its services economy. An estimated 90,000 such jobs have helped fill voids left by decades of steel plant and mine closures in France. The poor are here. The others have gone elsewhere, Liebgott says. With the benefit of hindsight, the lawmaker says Hollandes campaign stop in the valley in 2012 was bloody stupid. It gave steel workers false hope that the furnaces, which had long been earmarked for closure, could be saved. Now firmly ensconced in Hayange, where the eyesore furnaces dominate the skyline, National Front Mayor Fabien Engelmann says he did not propose saving them because that would have been impossible. I didnt lie to my voters. I offered them a coherent program: security, cleanliness, lower taxes, reduced debts, road building, work on schools things a mayor can do, he says smugly. The unemployment rate in Hayange is 14 per cent, the mayor says above the already high national average of 10 per cent. Jean-Paul Holtz sees the decaying cathedrals of once-belching pipes and chimneys from his windows. The drum player in Hayanges brass band spent all his working life in steel plants, starting as a 14-year-old apprentice. Now 66 and retired, he wishes the furnaces could be torn down because it makes me sick to the stomach to see them like that. Holtz plans to vote for far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who is making a late surge in polls. People came to set up industries, money was made, people were provided with jobs. But its over, finished, Holtz says. We have to move on. Will we move on? When? I dont know. It drags on and on and on, rusting away. Read more about: SHARE: MANILA, PHILIPPINESBus passengers were screaming in horror as the driver repeatedly stepped on the apparently malfunctioning brakes before plunging into a deep ravine in the northern Philippines, leaving at least 29 people dead Tuesday in one of the countrys deadliest accidents in years, a survivor and officials said. The rest of the more than 50 passengers were retrieved by rescuers who struggled with ropes to descend down the 24-metre deep ravine to reach the wreckage in Nueva Ecija provinces Carranglan town, said disaster-response officer Mark Raymond Cano. Many of the passengers were hospitalized with serious injuries and parents were separated from their children in the confusion, officials said. One child here sat beside her mother. The mother was dead, said Dr. Napoleon Obana of the Veterans Regional Hospital, where some of the victims were taken. TV footage showed a line of rescuers and villagers, some holding on to a rope to climb up on a grassy slope with a victim on a stretcher. A throng of villagers waited in a clearing above them to help pull the victim to safety. Cano said a preliminary investigation showed that the bus lost its brakes and plunged down the ravine. Passenger Ralph Raymond Grajo said he saw the driver repeatedly stepping on the malfunctioning brakes as the wayward bus was speeding along a downhill road. The driver attempted to steer the bus to the right, but roadside houses made him veer back in the direction of the ravine as horrified passengers watched, Grajo said. All the passengers were screaming and somebody in front me told everybody dont panic, but many were already gripped by panic, Grajo told DZMM radio network. Grajo apparently fell off the bus as it rolled down the ravine and regained consciousness away from the wreckage with injuries to his feet and arms. He said he was among the first to be rescued and brought to a hospital. It wasnt immediately clear if the driver survived. The spot along the road is accident-prone. Tuesdays accident was the sixth in the area in recent years, a local village official told DZMM. The impact from the plunge ripped the bus, which could no longer be distinguished at the bottom of the ravine, said Nueva Ecijas police chief Antonio Yarra. He said investigators could not yet talk to the stunned and injured survivors. Carranglan police chief Robert de Guzman said the bus from northern Isabela province was on its way to Ilocos Sur, a tobacco- and rice-growing region also in the mountainous northern Philippines, when it crashed shortly before noon in Nueva Ecija, about 200 kilometres north of Manila. Poorly maintained passenger buses, inadequate road safety features and weak enforcement of local transport laws have been blamed for many vehicular accidents in the Philippines. In February, a sightseeing bus carrying college students on a camping trip lost its brakes as it sped down a steep downhill road before smashing into a concrete electrical post in Tanay town in Rizal province east of Manila, killing 15 people. SHARE: LONDONPrince William has enlisted Lady Gaga in his campaign to persuade people to be more open about mental health issues. The heir to the throne released a video Tuesday in which he speaks with the pop star via FaceTime. Lady Gaga, who last year spoke out about her struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, places the call from her kitchen in California, and William answers at his desk in Kensington Palace. Its interesting to see and hear from you how much having that conversation has really made a difference to you, William said in the video. Its so important to break open that fear and that taboo which is only going to lead to more problems down the line. Read more: Prince Harry talks of total chaos, dealing with long-suppressed grief after Dianas death Prince William calls for end to stigma on mental health treatment The conversation is part of the latest blitz by the young royals as they campaign to end the stigma associated with mental health issues. William and his wife, the Duchess of Cambridge, along with his brother, Prince Harry, have made mental health a focus of their charitable work. It comes a day after the Daily Telegraph published an unusually candid interview with Harry. The 32-year-old prince acknowledged that he spent nearly 20 years not thinking about the death of his mother, Princess Diana, and that he only got help after two years of total chaos. Though the Royal Family has toiled for years for hundreds of charities, the work on mental health represents something of a departure in part because of the taboo long associated with psychological issues. It can be seen as an extension of the work of Diana, who among other things shook the hand of an HIV-positive man during the height of the Aids crisis. She created the new template, the new orthodoxy, said Ellis Cashmore, a visiting professor of sociology at Aston University and the author of Elizabeth Taylor: A Private Life for Public Consumption. She was rewriting the script of the royals for the future. Mental health charities are flatly thrilled. Comments from the royals gain immediate attention particularly when they offer tantalizing revelations about their private lives. But mostly the comments show that it is normal to seek assistance when going through tough times. The Campaign Against Living Miserably, or CALM, said research shows that men particularly have trouble telling others when they feel depressed. Prince Harry sharing how he needed support to cope with losing his mother shows both how normal it is to go through a tough time and how much opening up can help, CEO Simon Gunning said in an email. Hearing public figures say theyve felt better after opening up can help chip away at feelings of embarrassment, meaning more guys will seek support when they need it. Lady Gaga brings even more attention to the cause. She told Prince William in the video that talking more openly about mental health would let people feel like we are not hiding anymore. Even though it was hard, the best thing that could come out of my mental illness was to share it with other people and let our generation, as well as other generations, know that if you are feeling not well in your mind that youre not alone and that people that you think would never have a problem, do, she said. William also applauded grime musician Stormzy for talking about his battle with depression in the publication CALMzine. There may be a time and a place for the stiff upper lip, but not at the expense of your health, William said in CALMzine. Read more about: SHARE: BEIJINGLeaders of 28 countries are set to attend a Chinese summit next month showcasing President Xi Jinpings signature foreign policy initiative, but few will hail from major Western countries. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Tuesday that Vladimir Putin of Russia, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Spains Mariano Rajoy are among those slated to appear next month in Beijing for a summit to discuss Xis One Belt, One Road program to stitch together the Eurasian continent with infrastructure investment. The May 14-15 summit is seen as a measure of Chinas international prestige at a time when Xi has positioned China as a rising outward-looking regional power, and as questions have arisen over U.S. President Donald Trumps commitment to maintaining the United States traditional global leadership. Read more: America is passing the torch. China is ready to take it: Burman Wang said leaders from France and Germany will not attend due to their domestic election schedules, not because they snubbed China. This is a positive, co-operative conference, it shouldnt be politicized, Wang told reporters in Beijing, in response to a question asking if China felt insulted by the absence of top leaders from the U.S. and its allies, including Japan, Britain and Australia. China has sought to frame Xis vision for the China-led development program as an inclusive, mutually beneficial project rather than a statement of geopolitical ambitions that should arouse Western suspicions. The program aims to build roads, railways, ports and other infrastructure along the ancient Silk Roads maritime and overland routes with close to $100 billion in funding. The program is closely linked to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Chinas version of a global financial institution that faced similar Western skepticism upon its formation last year. In the year since, the bank has succeeded in attracting U.S. allies as members, including Germany, Canada and Britain, although Washington continues to maintain its distance. Xi unveiled the first outlines of his Belt and Road plan as early as 2013, but the inaugural summit next month will provide the Chinese leader the most high-profile stage so far to deliver a focused pitch to a world audience. This is an economic co-operation forum, an international co-operation platform that everyone is paying attention to, supports and hopes to participate in, Wang said, characterizing the summit as an effort to uphold globalization. Aside from Putin, other Chinese allies including Pakistani President Nawaz Sharif and Myanmars Aung San Suu Kyi will attend, as will Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, Wang said. British Finance Minister Philip Hammond will also attend in the place of Prime Minister Theresa May. Read more about: SHARE: The video showed a 1-year-old boy strapped in a car seat, whimpering and squirming as a female voice spoke from out of frame. Tell your daddy, the woman said. Thats what happens when you sit around and play with people. She continued: Now, this is what you get. She then struck the child on his torso with a closed fist, yelling an expletive as the baby screamed. That was the least of the abuse Janelle Andrea Peterkin, of Humble, Texas, inflicted on her son, according to prosecutors. Last month, the 23-year-old mother allegedly filmed and took dozens of pictures of herself beating the child at one point placing a bag over his head and burning his hand with a lighter then sent them to the father, her ex-boyfriend. The horrifying images didnt surface until last week, after a relative found them, alerted police and posted them on social media, the Houston Chronicle reported. Peterkin appeared in court on Monday after being arrested last week on a child endangerment charge, according to local media. A judge reportedly released her on a $15,000 bond after ordering her not to come within 60 metres of her son. Its not clear if she has an attorney. Prosecutors said officers saw video of the complainant in a car seat and an adult hand was seen stuffing a plastic bag into the mouth of the complainant, who appeared to have difficulty breathing. Officers also saw another still picture of the complainant ... with a plastic bag over his head, covering the face and tying it in a knot. When Peterkin told the judge her mother was coming to pick her up from jail with the baby in tow, the judge gave her a stern warning, saying shed have to find another ride, according to KPRC. If you get within 200 feet of the child while this order is pending, shes going to have to bring that child to 701 San Jacinto to visit you because youre going to be in jail, the judge said. After Peterkin was arrested last week, she told officers she sent the images because she was angry with the babys father, according to KPRC. The alleged abuse was recorded in a parking lot near the Eastex Freeway. Prosecutors said she failed to get the child medical care. She sent the pictures to her ex-boyfriend to disturb him, prosecutors said, according to the Chronicle. Raneicha Broadnax of Richmond, Virginia, sister of the babys father, said she discovered dozens of videos and photos of the alleged abuse last week and reported them to police. She told CW39 the father might not have noticed them because he had turned on the do not disturb function on his phone for Peterkins number. When I saw the video, I had to ask the police if he was still alive, Broadnax told Valley Central. I thought she had killed him. Broadnax said police in Humble gave her the impression that there was nothing the department could do to respond, so she posted some of the images to Facebook. Within an hour, local police contacted her, she told Valley Central. A spokeswoman for the Humble Police Department told the Houston Chronicle that officers had to track down Peterkins address in another jurisdiction. When originally called us, she did not have an address, Capt. Melinda Bradshaw said. We came up with an address based on the last name. We promptly contacted Precinct 4 and gave them the information. We cant investigate something in somebody elses jurisdiction. Broadnax told local media the baby is safe and living with relatives in Texas. Read more about: SHARE: As worries deepened last week about whether North Korea would conduct a missile test, the White House declared that ordering a U.S. aircraft carrier into the Sea of Japan would send a powerful deterrent signal and give U.S. President Donald Trump more options in responding to the Norths provocative behaviour. The problem was, the carrier, the Carl Vinson, and the four other warships in its strike force were at that very moment sailing in the opposite direction, to take part in joint exercises with the Australian navy in the Indian Ocean, 5,600 kilometres southwest of the Korean Peninsula. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump White House officials said Tuesday they were relying on guidance from the Defense Department. Officials there describe a glitch-ridden sequence of events, from a premature announcement of the deployment by the militarys Pacific Command to an erroneous explanation by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis all of which perpetuated the false narrative that a U.S. armada was racing toward the waters off North Korea. By the time the White House was asked about the Carl Vinson on April 11, its imminent arrival had been emblazoned on front pages across East Asia, fanning fears that Trump was considering a pre-emptive military strike on North Korea. It was portrayed as further evidence of the presidents muscular style two days after he ordered a missile strike on Syria while he and President Xi Jinping of China were finishing dessert during a meeting in Florida. The saga of the wayward carrier might never have come to light, had the Navy not posted a photograph on Monday of the Carl Vinson sailing through the Sunda Strait, which separates the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra. The picture was taken Saturday, four days after the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, described its mission in the Sea of Japan. The Carl Vinson is now on a northerly course for the Korean Peninsula and is expected to arrive in the region sometime next week, Defense Department officials said. The White House declined to comment on the misunderstanding, referring all questions to the Pentagon. Sean discussed it once when asked, and it was all about process, said a spokesman, Michael Short. Privately, however, other officials expressed bewilderment that the Pentagon did not correct its timeline, particularly given the tensions surging in the region and the fact that Spicer, as well as the national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, were publicly answering questions about it. Read more about: SHARE: U.S. President Donald Trumps most influential policy advisers are urging him to keep the United States in the landmark Paris climate accord of 2015, a move that would break one of his signature campaign promises and further downgrade the counsel of his senior strategist, Stephen Bannon. Trump plans to make a final decision on the fate of the Paris agreement before a meeting of the Group of 7 leading economies at the end of May, according to Sean Spicer, White House press secretary. A team of Trumps principal advisers was scheduled to meet Tuesday afternoon at the White House to discuss the decision with the aim of recommending a path forward, but the meeting was cancelled after some of the planned attendees flew with Trump to an event in Wisconsin, according to a White House spokeswoman. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump The spokeswoman, Kelly Love, said the meeting was still expected to take place, although the exact timing was unclear. On the campaign trail, Trump vowed to cancel the climate deal, and his most politically conservative advisers, including Bannon, have pushed him to follow through. But Bannons influence has waned in recent weeks, while authority has risen for Trumps daughter Ivanka and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who advocate staying in the accord. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former chief executive of Exxon Mobil, has also spoken in favour of keeping a seat at the table in the climate pact, and in recent days, major corporations have stepped forward to embrace that position. While no decision has been made, experts tracking it say that view is gaining traction. We do not currently believe the Trump administration plans to withdraw from either Paris agreement, wrote Kevin Book, an analyst at ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington firm, in a memo to clients on Monday. While Trump does not have the power to undo a multilateral United Nations accord, he could withdraw the worlds largest economy from the pact, weakening it substantially. Such a move would win cheers from the nations most powerful conservative political advocates, and give Trump bragging rights in coal country. But withdrawing from the landmark accord that committed nearly every nation to take action against planet-warming emissions could create diplomatic blowback, while weakening U.S. leadership in arenas far afield from energy and the environment. Besides, keeping the United States name on the accord does not obligate the Trump administration to abide by the ambitious emissions-control pledges of Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama. At least one senior White House climate policy adviser, George David Banks, has advocated staying in the agreement while replacing the Obama plan with a weaker, more industry-friendly pledge. Over recent weeks, Banks has asked top officials at several major corporations, including Exxon Mobil, who have similar views, to submit letters to the White House confirming their support of staying in the Paris deal, even if in a modified form. In response, Peter Trelenberg, manager of environmental policy and planning at Exxon Mobil, wrote to Banks, Exxon Mobil supports the Paris agreement as an effective framework for addressing the risks of climate change. Royal Dutch Shell and BP, European companies with significant investments in the United States, have also endorsed the accord. Last month, Rep. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from oil-, gas- and coal-rich North Dakota, wrote, The U.S. should present a new pledge that does no harm to our economy. Cramer, an early supporter of Trump, advised Trump on energy issues during his presidential campaign. Colin Marshall, chief executive of Cloud Peak, a major coal producer in Wyoming, the nations largest coal-mining state, also wrote to Trump: By remaining in the Paris agreement, albeit with a much different pledge on emissions, you can help shape a more rational international approach to climate policy. Regardless of his decision, Trump has already undermined the United States ability to meet its Paris pledge. Obama declared that the United States would reduce its planet-warming carbon pollution about 26 per cent from 2005 levels by 2025. Its primary policy for meeting that target would be the Clean Power Plan, a set of Environmental Protection Agency regulations designed to shutter hundreds of heavily polluting coal-fired power plants, the nations chief source of greenhouse emissions. Last month, Trump directed Scott Pruitt, head of the EPA, to begin the legal process of dismantling the Clean Power Plan. Whether or not the United States remains in the Paris pact, it almost certainly will not be able to meet its pledged pollution-reduction targets. Pruitt has emerged as a leading voice for withdrawal from the Paris deal. Last week, he told Fox News, Its something we need to exit. That reflects the views of powerful conservative political advocacy groups such as Americans for Prosperity, which is funded by the influential libertarian brothers Charles and David Koch. What we say to the White House is that its clearly a terrible agreement for the American people, said Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity. That view is also backed by economists at the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that has supplied the Trump administration with many of its policy proposals. Harold G. Hamm, chief executive of Continental Resources and a Trump campaign adviser, has also condemned the pact. Cancel the Paris climate treaty and any other agreements entered into unilaterally and without the consent of Congress, Hamm wrote in a letter to Trump before his inauguration. Bob Murray, chief executive of the coal company Murray Energy, who is personally close with the president, has also strongly criticized the deal. Book, the analyst, noted that the risks of withdrawing from the Paris deal include not only diplomatic ill will, but also the possibility of trade reprisals. Countries that tax emissions of carbon dioxide pollution could place a carbon tariff on imports of U.S.-made goods. The European Union currently charges polluters fees for carbon emissions, while China, Mexico and Canada are in the process of carrying out such programs. If the U.S. were to pull out, it would do so in the context that would invite trade reprisals, Book said. It could lead to a carbon tariff trade war. Daniel M. Bodansky, an expert in international environmental agreements at Arizona State University, said that remaining in the Paris deal but weakening the United States commitment could still have the effect of generating some ill will but without the repercussions of trade sanctions. They could just submit a new plan, he said. People internationally would not be happy, but theyd be a lot less unhappy than if the U.S. actually pulled out. Read more about: SHARE: RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIADefence Secretary Jim Mattis says North Koreas latest failed missile launch was a reckless act of provocation. Mattis commented on the weekend missile launch in an interview with reporters travelling with him Tuesday to Saudi Arabia, where he begins a weeklong Mideast tour. His language was stronger than in an initial written statement he issued shortly after the launch, in which he simply said he was aware of the failure. The leader of North Korea again recklessly tried to provoke something by launching a missile, he said Tuesday, invoking a term reckless that the North Koreans have used to describe ongoing large-scale U.S. and South Korean military exercises, which the North calls a dress rehearsal for an invasion. Mattis did not identify the type of missile but said it was not of intercontinental range, meaning it could not reach U.S. territory. He did not comment on what might have caused the missile to fail. Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence matter, said later that the missile was a Scud variant that the U.S. calls a KN-17. Read more: War clouds gather over Koreas but Pyongyang residents barely notice Trump, Pence talk tough on North Koreas nuclear ambitions Canadian soldiers stopped Seoul from falling in Korean War, could Canada step in again? Mattis credited China with trying to help get the North Korea situation under control with the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Asked about his visit to Saudi Arabia, Mattis said the desert kingdom is a pillar of our security framework for the region. He is scheduled to meet on Wednesday with King Salman, deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who also is the Saudi defence minister, and other top officials. The U.S. military is providing support for a Saudi-led coalition fighting anti-government Houthi rebels. Asked whether the Trump administration plans to increase its military support, Mattis responded by saying the U.S. focus is on arranging a United Nations-brokered negotiating team to resolve Yemens civil war diplomatically. This is something, with the number of innocent people dying inside Yemen, that simply has to be brought to an end, he said. Human rights groups have urged the Trump administration to be more vocal about human rights issues during visits to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf States. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, among others, has criticized what it calls the administrations plan to decouple human rights from weapons sales. It is indeed important to address security concerns, but it is ill-advised, if not dangerous, to make security concerns the only basis for co-operation and an alliance, said Husain Abdulla, executive director of the group, which is based in Washington. The U.S. security alliance with Saudi Arabia, dating to 1944 and based largely on the Saudis oil riches, has made Washington the kingdoms most important arms supplier. The Middle East is familiar turf for Mattis, a Marine veteran of the Iraq War who rose to four-star rank. He finished his military career as head of Central Command, which directs U.S. military operations across the Middle East and Central Asia. Mattis also plans to visit Qatar, a Persian Gulf state that hosts U.S. forces at al-Udeid airbase, which the U.S. uses to centralize its air operations for the campaign against Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, in Iraq and Syria, as well as the war in Afghanistan. Read more about: SHARE: TOKYOThe U.S. will not relent until it achieves its objective of ensuring the Korean Peninsula is free of nuclear weapons, U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence said Tuesday while visiting Japan. After meetings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other leaders, Pence told reporters that U.S. President Donald Trump was confident that economic and diplomatic pressure has a chance of compelling North Korea to co-operate. It is our belief by bringing together the family of nations with diplomatic and economic pressure we have a chance of achieving a freeze on the Korean Peninsula, Pence said. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump We will not rest and will not relent until we obtain the objective of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, he said. The Trump administration has signalled a more forceful U.S. stance toward North Koreas recent missile tests and threats, including a warning from Trump that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has gotta behave. So Pence struck a stern tone after arriving at a U.S. naval base from South Korea. We appreciate the challenging times in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocations from across the Sea of Japan, he said. We are with you 100 per cent. On Monday, Pence travelled to the tense Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Korea, where he warned North Koreas leaders that after years of testing the U.S. and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, the era of strategic patience is over. A senior North Korean official then accused the United States of bringing the countries to the brink of thermonuclear war. Pence, on a 10-day Asia trip that will also take him to Indonesia and Australia, said Trump hopes China will use its leverage to get its longtime ally North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a fresh appeal for calm. Wang told reporters that although U.S. officials have made clear that a military strike remains a possibility, he believes that Washington would still prefer to de-escalate tensions through multi-sided talks. Abe said Japan likewise hopes for peaceful dialogue with Pyongyang, but at the same time, dialogue for the sake of dialogue is valueless. Pressure on North Korea is crucial, the prime minister said. After meeting with Abe, Pence held talks with Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on a new U.S.-Japan economic dialogue to be led by the two. The new forum for trade talks was launched by Trump and Abe during the Japanese leaders visit to the U.S. in February. In part, it is meant to take the place of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the regional trade pact that Trump withdrew from shortly after taking office. Pence and Aso said they believed the dialogue could yield opportunities to create new jobs on both sides and to fortify the economic aspects of the alliance. Read more: U.S. defence chief says North Korea recklessly tried to provoke with missile launch Trump, Pence talk tough on North Koreas nuclear ambitions Japan planning for refugees in event of Korean crisis, Japans PM says We would like to seek the best shape and forum for our bilateral relationship, Pence said. The TPP is a thing of the past for the United States of America. He said Trump is certain that negotiating trade deals with individual countries was the best way to ensure they yield win-win situations for both sides. The talks Tuesday did not delve into sector-by-sector issues such as auto exports. With no U.S. trade representative yet in office and other key positions still unfilled, such nitty-gritty discussions will have to come later. The loss of U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a blow to Japan following strenuous negotiations, especially over opening its long-protected farm sector to more imports, especially of dairy and meat products. For now, both sides seem eager to downplay potential for conflict, with Aso repeatedly saying that trade friction has been vanquished in a new era of co-operation. As Indiana governor, Pence saw firsthand the impact of Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Subaru, whose factories employ thousands of people in his home state. U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who met with Japans trade minister, Hiroshige Seko, earlier Tuesday, said he hopes to soon begin talks on a free-trade agreement with Japan. Read more about: SHARE: At its meeting this Thursday the Toronto Police Services Board will be considering its response to Ontarios request for feedback on police street checks public awareness. Street checks, better known as carding, is the practice of police officers questioning people who are not suspected of having committed any crime and are not thought to have knowledge of any particular criminal activity. The officers record the information they obtain about the person. The filing of cards containing such information gave the practice its name. The province is presently asking police services to comment on public awareness of its recent regulation on carding. However, the Toronto Police Services Board is virtually ignoring a report, paid for and commissioned by the board itself, which clearly implies carding should be abolished. A little background. In 2010, the Toronto Star reported on its detailed study of six years of carding of hundreds of thousands of people by Toronto Police. The study demonstrated that black people had been carded three times as often as others had been, although only about 8.4 per cent of the residents of Toronto were black. The Toronto Stars headlines could not be ignored. Over the past seven years, the Toronto Police board has spent an enormous amount of time, effort and money trying to find ways that carding could be regulated so it does not entail racial profiling and violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Many people argued that carding had to be abolished since it would be harmful no matter what regulations were imposed. The police board adopted several different policies but refused to ban the practice. The Province of Ontario enacted a regulation that still permits carding and is now asking all Ontario police services to comment on the publics awareness of this regulation. Late last year, the board retained highly respected criminologists Anthony Doob and Rosemary Gartner to research the effectiveness of carding. Doob and Gartner presented their extensive report to the board on March 23. The Doob-Gartner Report contains a thorough analysis of many studies on the benefits and harms of carding in many jurisdictions. They conclude that evidence of any benefit is substantially outweighed by convincing evidence of the harm of such practices both to the person subject to them and to the long term and overall relationship of the police to the community. Numerous deputations to the board over the past seven years have provided a large amount of anecdotal evidence of such harms; the Doob-Gartner report establishes the harms and the lack of significant benefits beyond any reasonable doubt. In responding to questions from board members, Doob made it clear that carding causes those harms even if the officers involved behave impeccably. There is only one reasonable response to the Doob-Gartner report: immediately end carding. However, unless public pressure mounts, it is very unlikely the police board will do so. The minutes of the March 23 meeting state: The Board received the presentation and thanked Professor Doob and Professor Gartner for their research. The Board said that the Regulated Interaction with the Community and the Collection of Identifying Information Policy will evolve over time and believes that the research will assist it in assessing the Policy. But professors Doob and Gartner HAVE thoroughly assessed the policy, and have unequivocally concluded the practice is harmful, regardless of the details of the policy. It is irresponsible to let it evolve over time. The board has continued to allow carding because police chiefs have insisted it is useful. However, the Doob-Gartner study establishes that it is easy to exaggerate the usefulness of these stops, and hard to find data that supports the usefulness of continuing to carry them out. We cannot blame the police for the continuation of carding; it is natural for police officers to want as much surveillance power as they can get. But we can blame those who are responsible for civilian control of the police. Members of the Toronto Police Services Board, including Mayor John Tory, can and should be blamed if they allow carding to continue in spite of the compelling conclusions of the Doob-Gartner report. If carding is not completely stopped, there will be many additional harms to police-community relations, many more expenses in carrying out and regulating the practice, continued debates and a number of law suits. Enough already! Peter Rosenthal is adjunct professor of law and professor emeritus of mathematics at the University of Toronto. He is also a practicing lawyer. SHARE: Its entirely possible that Alberta NDP Premier Rachel Notley secretly hopes B.C. premier Christy Clark will soundly beat the NDP in the upcoming provincial election. Thats because a win by the NDP would put one of Notleys most prized bragging points the expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline in jeopardy. B.C. NDP leader John Horgan, a former colleague of Notleys, opposes the $7.4 billion pipeline, which would transport diluted bitumen from Albertas oilsands to shipping terminals near Vancouver. He has pledged to withdraw B.Cs support if elected on May 9. That would be a disaster for Notley, who has gone to great lengths to try and convince Albertans that her NDP government not only supports the petroleum industrys expansion plans but sees them as essential to the provinces economic well being. She often points out her governments Climate Leadership Plan, which includes a carbon tax and a cap on oilsands emissions, paved the way for federal approval of the pipeline. Those carbon reduction strategies, she argues, dampened the arguments against the pipeline mounted by environmentalists, climate change activists, and some indigenous groups, thereby making it easier to gain social license. For many New Democrats in B.C., Notleys attempts to curb carbon emissions simply werent enough. They reject Kinder Morgans expanded pipeline because of the threat of explosions, leaks, and spills. They dont want tankers full of tarry bitumen plying the waters off their coast, even if it would help Albertas economy. New Democrats in the B.C. interior are more amenable to the project because it will employ construction workers and local contractors. But the heavily populated areas on the coast will hold the most sway come election time. Its not clear what the B.C. government could actually do to prevent construction of the pipeline, which has been approved by the National Energy Board and the federal government. But even just delaying the start of construction could be enough to weaken Notleys claim she has been more successful at getting major oil pipelines approved than her conservative predecessors at both the provincial and federal level. This may not mean much in B.C., but in Alberta it is an important bragging point for an NDP premier, especially since the low price of oil has caused corporate layoffs, reduced investment in the oilpatch, and eroding confidence in the Notleys government. Last week, Notley announced that none of her staff would be allowed to work for the NDP during the B.C. election. So far Notley has good reason to be worried. Polls show the NDP are in the lead at 40 per cent with the Liberals a close second. Complicating matters is the support for the Greens, who also oppose The Trans Mountain pipeline. They are up around 17 per cent. At this stage, a minority NDP government with support from the Greens is certainly within the realm of possibility. At the federal level, Justin Trudeau is also no doubt hoping the NDP lose to Christy Clarks Liberals (even though they arent his brand of Liberals). Throwing a monkey wrench into the Trans Mountain pipeline will only make his life more complicated. As for the federal NDP, it stands to end up caught in the middle of a nasty fight between two NDP premiers. That should do wonders for its image. Of course, the NDP was touted to win the 2013 B.C. election. But that was before its leader Adrian Dix revealed he was opposed to the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, even though Kinder Morgan was still in the midst of the application process. That seemed to spook voters who felt Dix had gone too far in his quest to outdo the Greens, who were gaining support at the expense of the NDP. In the end, Christy Clark won a resounding victory. She may pull it off again. Especially since, according to Democracy Watch, more than $550,000 was donated to the B.C. Liberal party by pipeline-related companies over the past five years. Notley, no doubt, hopes all that money will save her bacon as well. Gillian Steward is a Calgary writer and former managing editor of the Calgary Herald. Her column appears every other week. gsteward@telus.net Read more about: SHARE: On most issues, Donald Trumps tendency to blurt out provocative remarks and vent via Twitter is just bewildering. But when it comes to dealing with North Korea, it borders on frightening. If ever there was a situation that demands cool heads and rational thinking, its Korea. The norths drive to develop missiles that would let it deliver a nuclear warhead to South Korea, Japan or even the United States poses an obvious threat to the peace of the world. Even a conventional war in Korea would, the experts warn, lead to hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, of casualties. A nuclear exchange is unthinkable. Into this tinderbox comes the American president with a typical barrage of statements and tweets that dont add up to a coherent policy in what has long been potentially the most dangerous area of the world. Trump has called on his new best friend, Chinese President Xi Jinping, to put the screws to the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un. If China decides to help, that would be great, he tweeted. If not, we will solve the problem without them! He has sent what he calls an armada of U.S. naval vessels towards Korean waters and blasted jihadists in Afghanistan with the so-called Mother of All Bombs, presumably to show Kim that he means business. And on Monday he had Vice-President Mike Pence posing at the north-south border and proclaiming that the United States era of strategic patience is over. The rhetoric is impressive, but its not clear what the policy of the Trump administration actually amounts to. According to one report, the presidents national security team has reviewed the Korean situation and concluded that it should aim to put maximum pressure on the North to end the nuclear threat, but not to aim for regime change that would topple the Kim dynasty. Can it be done? U.S. administrations have tried both sticks and carrots over the years and found that nothing much works when it comes to dealing with the most secretive, most paranoid regime in the world. A glance at a map would suggest that China could readily lean on North Korea, but as Xi explained to Trump last week at their Florida meeting, its not so simple. Long, tangled historical relationships get in the way. With military options severely limited, then, the logical conclusion is that somehow the U.S. must find a way to re-engage North Korea in negotiations, despite the frustration of earlier efforts. Surprisingly, despite President Trumps white-hot words now, candidate Trump suggested just that last year. In May 2016 he told an interviewer he would be willing to meet with Kim Jong Un, a major break from U.S. policy, and even proposed withdrawing American troops from South Korea. That led to North Korean state media hailing Trump as a wise politician. That seems like an eon ago, with threats now flying in both directions. But there is potentially an opening to talk. In the meantime, though, Trump needs to do what doesnt come naturally: stop making needlessly provocative comments and avoid making a very bad situation even worse. Read more about: SHARE: Snap (SNAP) - Get Free Report CEO Evan Spiegel is facing backlash today for allegedly saying the company would not expand into "poor countries" like India, according to USA Today. The comments were made public by former employee Anthony Pompliano who is suing the company, claiming he was fired for raising concerns about misleading investors when Snap first went public. Pompliano said he told Spiegel that Snapchat's international user metrics were "very low," and suggested ways to accelerate growth in those areas. The complaint alleges Spiegel interrupted him, saying "this app is only for rich people. I don't want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain." Snap has since issued a response saying, "we are grateful for our Snapchat community in India and around the world." (What will move markets this quarter and how should investors position themselves ahead of time? Jim Cramer sat down with four of TheStreet's top columnists recently to get their views. Click hereto listen to his latest Trading Strategies roundtable with them and read their advice for stocks, bonds, forex and gold.) Is Snap's (SNAP) - Get Free Report Snapchat "only for rich people," not for users in "poor countries like India and Spain?" According to some reports, that's what Snap CEO Evan Spiegel had said in the past, despite the company denying those reports. Those reports were mentioned in a previous story on TheStreet. From that same story: "The comments were made public by former employee Anthony Pompliano who is suing the company, claiming he was fired for raising concerns about misleading investors when Snap first went public. Pompliano said he told Spiegel that Snapchat's international user metrics were 'very low,' and suggested ways to accelerate growth in those areas. The complaint alleges Spiegel interrupted him, saying 'this app is only for rich people. I don't want to expand into poor countries like India and Spain.'" As a result, it's not too surprising to hear the calls for users to boycott the app and uninstall it. Similar protests have erupted over Uber and its string of PR nightmares throughout 2017. While it's unclear whether this will actually impact the company's active user base, it's not a good look for a company that so recently went public. Notably though, the app's rating has taken in a hit in certain app stores. Snapchat's response? "This is ridiculous. Obviously Snapchat is for everyone. It's available worldwide to download for free." Shares of Snap closed at $19.94 Monday, down 1.2%. The self-driving car theme remains alive and well -- and it's not just for tech companies. Although, don't tell General Motors (GM) - Get Free Report that. The Detroit-based automaker plans to invest another $14 million into Cruise Automation, the self-driving research facility it acquired in San Francisco. The plan includes hiring 1,100 employees to continue building out the developments it has made in this arena. It also calls for doubling the size of the current facility in the area. GM CEO Mary Barra is obviously behind the self-driving car movement too. "Self-driving technology holds enormous benefits to society in the form of increased safety and access to transportation," she said in the company's press release. Some investors might be wondering why Ford (F) - Get Free Report and GM continue working on this technology in Silicon Valley when they are based in Michigan. The answer is simple, really. Since self-driving technology is so reliant on programming and technological expertise, the automakers know they'll have an easier time attracting top talent in the Bay area rather than in Michigan. Shares of General Motors closed at $33.90 Monday, up 1.5% Are hotels conspiring against Airbnb? According to recent reports, it may seem that way. An excerpt from SiliconBeat sums it up best: "The New York Times on Sunday revealed an intense, multifaceted campaign by the country's major hotel trade group to promote anti-Airbnb legislation on the state and federal level, aggressively push for investigations into Airbnbs that violate local ordinances, and generally turn public sentiment against the home-sharing company." These documents were obtained through the American Hotel and Lodging Association. Hotels' frustration with Airbnb is understandable. While hotel visits are still trusted and used by millions, younger customers have also begun using Airbnb for plenty of their journeys, whether business or pleasure. Renting a home or condo makes life feel a bit more "normal," having access to a more a homely stay. Airbnb and hotels each have their pros and cons, but one thing is simple: Airbnb takes away customers from hotels. While that doesn't necessarily validate this anti-Airbnb campaign, it does explain it. Airbnb has taken decades to grow either. Its emergence has really been felt over just the past few years. Airbnb boasts a valuation north of $30 billion, according to its most recent funding rounds. The hotel association defended itself, saying it's not about the profits per se. Instead, it's to create a level playing field and trying to make sure Airbnb plays by the same rules they have to abide by. It also goes to show that while technology can make our lives better -- Uber, Airbnb, self-driving cars, etc. -- it can also make legislation a tricky road to navigate. This article is commentary by an independent contributor. At the time of publication, the author held no positions in the stocks mentioned. The U.K. pound fell sharply in mid-morning trading in London after Prime Minister Theresa May planned a formal statement outside Downing Street, a move typically associated with major government announcements that some have linked to an early national election. The pound, which had touched an 8-week high of 1.2608 against the U.S. dollar, fell more than 0.35% to 1.2525 immediately after the press lobby was informed of the statement, which is set for 11:15 BST, a spokesperson for the Prime Minister confirmed to TheStreet. The currency pared losses after that to around 0.2% and was marked at 1.2536 at 10:35 BST. Benchmark 10-year U.K. government bond yields, known as Gilts, were also active, falling below the 1% level for the first time since early October. Under the Fixed Term Parliament Act, the current government, which was elected in May of 2015, would need to serve a full five years before going to the polls. However, if a two-thirds majority of UK lawmakers vote to dissolve the current parliament, new elections can be held prior to the conclusion of the term. The ruling Conservative Party holds 330 of Parliament's 650 seats, while the opposition Labour Party holds 229 and the Scottish National Party holds 54. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has called for an early general election in order establish a solid mandate for the country's exit from the European Union. Speaking to the media outside Downing Street in an unscheduled statement, May said that "political game-playing" from those in government opposed to the country's EU exit would put the country's stability at risk. "Britain is leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back. And as we look to the future, the Government has the right plan for negotiating our new relationship with Europe," May said. "At this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division. "The country is coming together, but Westminster is not." In a reversal of her earlier position that Parliament should remain in place until 2020, May said she "reluctantly" decided to approach lawmakers for an early national poll on June 8 in order to put to rest "the risks of uncertainty and instability ... and to continue to give the country the strong and stable leadership it demands." The pound remained volatile amid the announcement, falling to a session low of 1.2525 against the U.S. dollar as news of the Prime Minister's statement surfaced before rising to 1.2631 after she made her election plans public, the highest level since Feb 2. Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 index, which had been nursing losses throughout the morning session, extended declines to around 1.3% while 10-year government bond yields fell below 1 for the first time since early October. May said she would put forward a bill to lawmakers Wednesday to repeal the Fixed Term Parliament Act, which keeps the current government in place until at least 2020. A two-thirds majority of UK lawmakers is required to dissolve the current parliament and allow new elections to be held. The ruling Conservative Party holds 330 of Parliament's 650 seats, while the opposition Labour Party holds 229 and the Scottish National Party holds 54. Current polling, taken prior to the Prime Minister's statement, suggests the Conservatives would win 44% of the vote at the next election, Labour 23% and the Liberal Democrats 12%. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to reverse her earlier position and call a snap election for June 8 has added yet another level of political risk to European markets, with polls now called or expected for each of the region's four largest economies. The Prime Minister said her "reluctant" decision to abolish the current Parliament and seek a fresh mandate for the country's impending negotiations to exit the European Union was made because opponents are jeopardising "the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home and it weakens the Government's negotiating position in Europe." However, not only is decision itself a surprise, given that it is a stark reversal of the Prime Minister's repeated vow to remain in government until 2020, but the timing of it is also somewhat of a shock for European investors who are grappling with upcoming elections in France and Germany and the potential for yet another national vote in Italy in the coming months. Each of the region's major equity benchmarks has lagged the gains of the S&P 500 so far this year, partly as a result of the political uncertainty, with Germany's DAX rising 4.8%, France's CAC-40 rising 3%, Britain's FTSE 100 rising 0.9% and Italy's FTSE MIB falling 3.7%. Government bond yields, however, have held up reasonably well, in large part due to the ongoing purchases from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England as part of their quantitative easing programs. France, in fact, heads to the polls this weekend in the first round of its Presidential elections that are effectively deadlocked in a four-way tie between candidates on the far right, the far left and the center of the country's political spectrum. Marine Le Pen, who heads France's Front National party, is likely to claw her way into the second round of voting, set for May 7, after Sunday's first round, according to recent polls, where she will face centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron. However, 11th-hour surges in support for far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon and former Prime Minister Francois Fillon have made the race simply too close to call - and more than a third of the country's 47 million voters have said they remain undecided heading into the Sunday vote. That has raised the spectre of two anti-European candidates -- Melenchon and Le Pen -- facing one another in a second-round runoff that could signal massive changes to France's relationship with the European Union. It could also have implications for Britain's snap election, in which the issue of the country's Brexit referendum -- won by a narrow majority of voters wishing to leave the EU -- will likely be the one-and-only topic of debate in the seven-week campaign. Germany is also slated to hold national elections later this year, likely in September, amid an ongoing debate about its own place in the European Union and what many see as an unfair financial and political burden on the region's biggest economy. That said, Chancellor Angela Merkel and her coalition of Christian Democrats and Christian Social Unionists still hold firm -- but not commanding -- leads in recent opinion polls over social challenger Martin Schulz and conservative upstart Alternative for Deutscheland (Afd). Europe's election risks don't end in Berlin, however, given that Italy is currently being held up by Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni after the humiliating defeat of former leader Matteo Renzi's constitutional reform bill late last year. New laws passed in January allow for the easier execution of national elections, and although the current government has said they won't be held until February 2018, few expect what is effectively a caretaker administration to last that long. Netflix (NFLX) - Get Free Report is holding discussions with Telekom Indonesia, the country's largest Internet service provider, about rolling out its service on its network, Reuters reports. Netflix has been blocked on Telekom Indonesia since January 2016 because of censorship regulations. Indonesia's censorship board blocks content that it deems not "healthy" for society, including politically sensitive films such as "The Act of Killing," which is available on Netflix. In the first quarter of 2017, Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) - Get Free Report saw "very little impact" from biosimilar competition to Remicade in the U.S., said chief financial officer Dominic Caruso on an earnings call Tuesday. Remicade is a treatment for arthritis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's Disease and is a key component of Johnson & Johnson's immunology franchise, which also includes Stelara and Simponi. Previously the company has said it expects a 10% to 15% market share erosion for Remicade, Tony Butler, an analyst with Guggenheim Securities, noted in an interview on Monday. Remicade is a treatment for arthritis, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's Disease. Pfizer (PFE) - Get Free Reportlaunched Inflector, a biosimilar of Remicade, in November. "Of course, it's early because the product just launched at the end of last year," Caruso said, referring to Inflectra, a Remicade biosimilar launched by Pfizer in November. He noted that there's no interchangeability, "so we certainly don't expect that physicians will switch patients," adding: "They may start new patients on therapy. But with the long history that we have of Remicade's efficacy and safety, we believe patients will move slowly to switch to a biosimilar." Remicade sales in the U.S. were $1.18 billion in the first quarter, down 2.4% year-over-year. Worldwide sales totaled $1.67 billion, down 6%. Among the topics discussed during the conference call was potential tax reform. Asked by an analyst for his thoughts on the prospects for corporate tax reform and repatriation, Caruso said he was in Washington last week and his takeaway was that "both the House and the Senate are waiting for guidance from the White House on whether they prefer the border adjustment tax or whether they have another vehicle that they would like to implement." Also during the call, Caruso said Johnson & Johnson continues to evaluate options for its diabetes care business. Back in January, when it reported fourth-quarter results, Johnson & Johnson said it was looking at potential strategic options for the diabetes care unit, including LifeScan, Animas and Calibra Medical. On Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of $1.83, up 5.8% year-over-year, and revenue of $17.8 billion, up 1.6% compared to the same period a year ago. Analysts polled by FactSet Research Systems had forecast adjusted EPS of $1.72 on revenue of $18.02 billion. Pharmaceutical sales were $8.2 billion, up 0.8% year-over-year. Consumer sales were $ $3.2 billion, up 1%, and medical devices sales were $6.3 billion, representing a 3% rise from the year-ago period. Also on Tuesday, Johnson & Johnson said its deal to acquire Swiss biotech Actelion Ltd. remains on pace to close in the second quarter. Johnson & Johnson in January said it will purchase Actelion for $30 billion and plans to spin out the latter's research and development unit into a separate business. The company has now included the estimated impact of the Actelion acquisition in its financial guidance. For full-year 2017, Johnson & Johnson raised its sales guidance to $75.4 billion to $76.1 billion and its adjusted earnings guidance to $7.00 to $7.15 a share. Previously, the company has forecast full-year 2017 sales of $74.1 billion to $74.8 billion and adjusted earnings of $6.93 to $7.08 per share. Shares of Johnson & Johnson were trading at $121.34 on Tuesday, down 3.5%. In February, Johnson & Johnson completed its purchase of Abbott Laboratories' (ABT) - Get Free Report medical optics business in a $4.325 billion deal first announced in September. FDA cancer drug chieftain Rick Pazdur allotted five hours, or half a day, to review Puma Biotechnology's (PBYI) - Get Free Report breast cancer drug neratinib at an advisory committee meeting scheduled for May 24. If FDA history is a guide, an abbreviated turn in front of a panel of outside experts spells a bad outcome for Puma. Over the past five years, Pazdur has often used half-day sessions of the FDA Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) to administer public floggings to flawed cancer drugs. Puma is seeking accelerated approval for neratinib as an extended adjuvant treatment of HER-2 positive breast cancer. The company's FDA submission is based largely on a phase III clinical trial showing a modest improvement in disease-free survival at the expense of high rates of severe diarrhea. There's little about neratinib that isn't controversial, providing ample fodder for Puma bulls and bears to argue over. The FDA has until July 21 to render a verdict on neratinib. Before making that decision, the FDA's cancer branch, led by longtime agency veteran Pazdur, will vet the neratinib clinical data at the morning session of the ODAC meeting scheduled for May 24. Puma bulls argue FDA's decision to apportion only half of the ODAC meeting on May 24 to neratinib is positive. Why? Because an abbreviated review session suggests FDA has few concerns with the neratinib clinical data. [If Pazdur hated the neratinib data, he would have scheduled the drug for a full-day hearing, Puma bulls believe.] They might be right but precedent says otherwise. Over the past five years, Pazdur has brought together the FDA and its ODAC experts for 12 half-day sessions where cancer drugs were reviewed and voted on. At eight of these sessions -- two-thirds of the time -- the FDA was sharply critical of the cancer drugs being reviewed, leading to ODAC panel votes against approval. At the remaining four half-day ODAC sessions, the cancer drugs received positive recommendations supporting approval. In September 2016, ODAC concluded a half-day session to vote against a bladder cancer drug from Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (SPPI) - Get Free Report . The negative vote was prompted by a blistering attack against the drug by the FDA's cancer division. The same thing happened in April 2016 to Clovis Oncology (CLVS) - Get Free Report . The FDA scheduled an abbreviated ODAC meeting to review the company's lung cancer drug. The FDA review was negative and the experts on the panel decided the drug was not approvable. In both cases, it was clear FDA only scheduled half-day ODAC sessions because there was little need to waste extra time reviewing drugs not ready for approval. Here's a breakdown of the ODAC half-day sessions going back to 2012: 2015: Positive vote for Eli Lilly's lung cancer drug necitumumab. 2014: Negative vote for Novartis panobinostat in multiple myeloma. 2013: Negative votes for AVEO Pharma's tivozanib and Delcath System's Melblez. 2012: Positive votes for Onyx Pharma's Kyprolis, Talon Therapeutics' Marquibo and GlaxoSmithKline's pazopanib. Negative votes for Merck's ridaforolimus, Eisai's Dacogen and Amgen's Xgeva. Adam Feuerstein writes regularly for TheStreet. In keeping with company editorial policy, he doesn't own or short individual stocks, although he owns stock in TheStreet. He also doesn't invest in hedge funds or other private investment partnerships. Feuerstein appreciates your feedback; click here to send him an email. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. operates as a diversified financial services company in the United States. The company's Retail Banking segment offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines of credit, auto loans, credit cards, education loans, and personal and small business loans and lines of credit; and brokerage, insurance, and investment and cash management services. This segment serves consumer and small business customers through a network of branches, ATMs, call centers, and online and mobile banking channels. Its Corporate & Institutional Banking segment provides secured and unsecured loans, letters of credit, and equipment leases; cash and investment management services, receivables and disbursement management services, funds transfer services, international payment services, and access to online/mobile information management and reporting; foreign exchange, derivatives, fixed income, securities underwriting, loan syndications, and mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets advisory related services; and commercial loan servicing and technology solutions. It serves mid-sized and large corporations, and government and not-for-profit entities. The company's Asset Management Group segment offers investment and retirement planning, customized investment management, credit and cash management solutions, and trust management and administration services for high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals, and their families; and multi-generational family planning services for ultra high net worth individuals and their families. It also provides outsourced chief investment officer, custody, private real estate, cash and fixed income client solutions, and fiduciary retirement advisory services for institutional clients. The company has 2,591 branches and 9,502 ATMs. The company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Enbridge Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company. The company operates through five segments: Liquids Pipelines, Gas Transmission and Midstream, Gas Distribution and Storage, Renewable Power Generation, and Energy Services. The Liquids Pipelines segment operates pipelines and related terminals to transport various grades of crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons in Canada and the United States. The Gas Transmission and Midstream segment invests in natural gas pipelines, and gathering and processing facilities in Canada and the United States. The Gas Distribution and Storage segment is involved in natural gas utility operations serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ontario, as well as natural gas distribution and energy transportation activities in Quebec. The Renewable Power Generation segment operates power generating assets, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and waste heat recovery facilities; and transmission assets in North America and Europe. The Energy Services segment provides energy marketing services to refiners, producers, and other customers; and physical commodity marketing and logistical services in Canada and the United States. The company was formerly known as IPL Energy Inc. and changed its name to Enbridge Inc. in October 1998. Enbridge Inc. was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. - Fatuma Mohamed Masou was found dead by police more than a month ago - Police reportedly did not immediately identify her - Masou had a Ksh2 million bounty on her head and was wife to slain terrorist suspect, Kassim Omondi Fatuma Mohamed Masou, one of Kenya's most wanted terrorism suspects, has been found dead. Police found the body of Ms Masou in Kedong, Naivasha, over a month ago but reportedly did not make a positive identification of her immediately. Ms Masou had been in hiding since September last year and had a Ksh2 million bounty on her head. Fatuma Mohamed Masou's body was found in Kedong, Naivasha Install TUKO App To Read News For FREE She was also the wife of Kassim Omondi, a suspected terrorist whom police killed in a raid in June 2013. Police reportedly suspected Ms Masou of having provided shelter and hiding to another suspected terrorist, Ishmael Shosi, whom police also killed during a raid in Kisauni, Mombasa, in September last year. READ ALSO: Police shoot terrorist dead at his hideout in Kisauni, Mombasa Police first arrested Ms Masou after the raid that killed her husband in 2013, but she was released soon thereafter after denying charges of possession of firearms. Police reportedly used fingerprints to make a positive identification of Ms Masou, whose body was found alongside the body of another suspected terrorist, Farid Omar Awadh. READ ALSO: Al-Shabaab suspect is not one of us, says KWS According to Adam Ali Hassan, a Muslim preacher in Naivasha, Ms Masou's family also identified her body but refused to take part in her burial. Mr Hassan said: "We also got in touch with the family of Masou and, after giving them her physical descriptions, they confirmed that she was the one. They have given us the go-ahead to bury her. Before her death, police believed Ms Masou to have been armed and dangerous. Below is a news coverage of another suspected terrorist found dead in November last year. Have something to add to this article or suggestions? Send to news@tuko.co.ke Source: TUKO.co.ke Militants launched 32 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas over the past day. This is reported by the ATO press center. The tensest situation was observed in Mariupol direction, where the enemy used grenade launchers and small arms to shell Ukrainian positions near Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), Talakivka (20km north-west of Mariupol) and Pavlopol (30 km northeast of Mariupol). Ukrainian marines in Vodiane (16km north-west of Donetsk) came under anti-tank grenade launcher and heavy machine gun fire. In Donetsk direction, militants fired at Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk), using 82mm mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns. Ukrainian positions outside Butovka coal mine (11.4km north-west of Donetsk) came under anti-tank grenade launcher, heavy machine gun and small arms fire. In Luhansk direction, terrorists used anti-tank grenade launchers to shell Ukrainian strongholds near Novooleksandrivka (65km west of Luhansk). ol Ukraines Minister of Defense Stepan Poltorak today has begun an official visit to the Italian Republic, the ministrys press service reports. Minister of Defense Poltorak during the visit will meet with Italian Minister of Defense Roberta Pinotti and Chief of Defense Staff of the Italian Armed Forces General Claudio Graziano, reads the report. Also, Minister Poltorak will hold talks with President of the NATO Parliament Assembly Paolo Alli, representatives of the Ukrainian community in Italy, as well as will visit wounded Ukrainian soldiers undergoing treatment in the Italian military hospital Celio. iy No Ukrainian soldiers were killed, but one serviceperson was wounded in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine over the past day. Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO issues Colonel Oleksandr Motuzianyk said this at a press briefing on Tuesday, an Ukrinform correspondent reported. "As a result of combat actions over the last day, no Ukrainian soldiers were killed, but one serviceperson of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was wounded. This took place as a result of enemy mortar shelling near Chermalyk [a village in Donetsk region], he said. iy Defense Minister of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak held talks with President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Paolo Alli. This has been reported by the press service of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine. The parties discussed security situation in Ukraine and reforms of Ukraines Defense Ministry and army. The Ukrainians are ready to defend their country and European democratic values, Poltorak said, stressing that the reforms in the context of current situation in east of Ukraine were rather challenging. Mr Paolo Alli praised the ongoing reforms in Ukraine and said that Italy was a true friend of Ukraine. ish Ukraines Deputy Minister for Temporary Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons Yuriy Hrymchak says that Ukraine continues to purchase coking coal from Russia. The deputy minister stated this on NewsOne TV Channel, when commenting on the report that in the first quarter of 2017, a share of Russian coking coal imports exceeded 50%, while the total volume of coal imports was 413 thousand tons. As to coking coal, it is still purchased from Russia. We havent had enough coking coal since before the war, Hrymchak noted. At present Ukraine purchases 221 thousand tons of coking coal in Russia, 73 thousand tons of coking coal in South Africa, 119 thousand tons - in Poland. iy First Deputy Chairman of Kyiv City State Administration Hennadiy Plis says that Kyiv received about $5 million in technical assistance from foreign donors in support of the city infrastructure in 2017, the administrations press service reports. We have a problem - what to do with Kyivenergo [the company supplying electricity and heating]. In particular, using endowment funds we study the situation, conduct an audit, etc. In addition, EUR 200 thousand was allocated to study the situation with Podilsky bridge. This is a financial assistance from Germany, and City Mayor Vitali Klitschko actively cooperates with this country, which helps us and assures us that it is quite possible to collect an investor pool from the German Federal Republic and to find means to modernize this bridge, the first deputy chairman of Kyiv City State Administration said. He also stressed that this year Kyiv invests own funds totaling about UAH 1 billion in the construction of Podilsky bridge, while about UAH 7 billion is needed to complete the construction works. According to Plis, Kyiv expects that the rest of the needed funds will be received from investors. iy The expert examination conducted by German specialists showed that the Podilsko-Voskresenskyi bridge was in reasonably good condition and the cost of further construction would be EUR 350 million. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko has stated this on Kyiv TV channel, the mayor's press service reports. It was the first visit by German Federal Minister of Transport and Digital Infrastructure Alexander Dobrindt to Kyiv. He looked over the bridge and handed the expert evaluation findings, which were prepared by the German side. I would like to remind that the German side allocated EUR 200 thousand to carry out this expert examination, Klitschko said. According to the expert evaluation findings, the Podilsko-Voskresenskyi bridge is in reasonably good condition and the estimated cost of its further construction is EUR 350 million. In the next few months, meetings with potential investors are expected to be held with the assistance of the German side. mk Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksandr Turchynov states that it is necessary to strengthen cooperation between Ukraine and the People's Republic of China. He said this during a meeting with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People's Republic of China to Ukraine Du Wei, the press service of the National Security and Defense Council reported. "We should enhance our cooperation in various fields to a fundamentally new level that will meet the interests of our countries," Turchynov said. In turn, Chinese Ambassador Du Wei noted that China firmly supported the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of Ukrainian-Chinese cooperation in political, economic and security spheres. ish President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko had a phone call with President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan. This has been reported by the press service of the Head of State. President Poroshenko thanked for an unwavering support of Turkey for Ukraines independence and territorial integrity. The leaders discussed future steps with a view to enhance strategic partnership between the two states. In this context, they noted the importance of holding the sixth session of the Ukrainian-Turkish High-Level Strategic Council in Kyiv. The President expressed condolences over the helicopter crash in eastern Turkey. ish Kyiv will host the Drone Festival on April 29. "The Drone Festival of unmanned aerial vehicles (drones, quadrocopters), a unique event for Ukraine, will be held in Kyiv on April 29, 2017 by the company Service Center Navigation in cooperation and with the support of the National Association of Aviation and Unmanned Systems of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Association of Drone Racing and the All-Ukrainian Aviation Association AOPA-Ukraine. The program of the festival includes the exhibition of UAVs and the competition of participants," the festival organizer informs. The event will be held at the Start Stadium, 26-28/4 Sholudenko Street in Kyiv. Everyone interested will be able to get acquainted with the technical capabilities and equipment of the represented unmanned aerial vehicles and watch the demonstration flights and competitions. ol 04/10/2017 Lowell Sun By Christopher Scott LOWELL -- Former state Sen. Steven Panagiotakos, hailed as a giant of a politician who never forgot his humble beginnings, was recognized Monday for his key role in the development of products so infinitesimally tiny they could fit on the head of pin. UMass Lowell honored former state Senator Steven Panagiotakos for his help in securing $35 million to build the Mark and Elisia Saab Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center on UML's North Campus. The building's lobby was named for Panagiotakos, who represented the 1st Middlesex District for nearly 14 years and rose to become chairman of the powerful Senate Ways and Means Committee. He announced his resignation from politics in 2010. The late morning ceremony left no doubt that without Panagiotakos' advocacy the building that has come to symbolize the UML renaissance might never have moved off the drawing board. Several speakers, including UMass President Marty Meehan, Chancellor Jacquie Moloney, state Rep. David Nangle and City Manager Kevin Murphy, used the event to mark Panagiotakos' many achievements -- which they said were done in the name of Lowell first and foremost. The Saab building was the university's first new academic building since the 1970s. Panagiotakos helped secure the appropriation from the state Legislature in 2006, a year before he became chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee. Today, the building is home to cutting-edge nanotechnology research and development, with far-reaching applications into such diverse fields as the war on cancer, personal electronics, and commercial aircraft de-icing. "When he first mentioned nanotechnology we didn't know what the hell he was talking about," said Rep. David Nangle, with a chuckle. "We thought it was an action figure." Today, the Saab building is a business-incubator that helps drive the economic engine that is UML. Companies like Raytheon are in partnership with the university to develop highly advanced products -- some tiny and invisible to the naked eye -- that pack a punch. "We're here today to recognize the man who made it all possible," Moloney said. Ironically, the event almost didn't happen. The university has wanted to recognize Panagiotakos for a number of years, but the humble Highlands resident who cut his political teeth on the Lowell School Committee would have none of it. It wasn't until recently that he came around. "It just seemed right," Panagiotakos said following the ceremony. "Did they spell your name right," Lowell businessman George Behrakis joked with his friend. "But seriously, a well-deserved honor." In typical fashion, Panagiotakos took the spotlight off himself and shared it with Nangle, Rep. Thomas Golden and Murphy, the former 18th Middlesex District representative. As Panagiotakos took to the podium, many former Senate colleagues from across the state who attended cheered him on, such as Steve Baddour from Methuen and Therese Murray from Plymouth. "We shared a unity of spirit and mind," said Panagiotakos. "This is our home, and we worked as a team." "He was never one to take the credit," recalled Murphy. "Steve always included us in the press conferences." A local history buff, Panagiotakos used the event for a short history lesson. Noting the proximity of the Saab building to the nearby Pawtucket Falls on the Merrimack River, Panagiotakos explained their places in history: from a once rich fishing area to an early border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire. "To appreciate where your are it's important to know where you came from," Panagiotakos said. "I'm just very thankful to have played a part in the newest chapter of history along the Pawtucket Falls." Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails began a hunger strike on Monday in response to a call by prominent prisoner Marwan Barghouti, widely seen as a possible future Palestinian president. Palestinians termed the open-ended strike a protest against poor conditions and an Israeli policy of detention without trial that has been applied against thousands since the 1980s. Israel said the move by the prisoners, many of whom were convicted of attacks or planning attacks against Israel, was politically motivated. The protest was led by Barghouti, 58, a leader of the mainstream Fatah movement of the Palestine Liberation Organization, serving five life terms after being convicted of murder in the killing of Israelis in a 2000-2005 uprising. The strike, if sustained, could present a challenge to Israel and raise tensions between the two sides as the 50th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip approaches in June. Israeli troops and settlers pulled out of the Gaza Strip, now run by Hamas Islamists, in 2005, but peace talks on the creation of a Palestinian state collapsed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2014. In an opinion piece in the New York Times on Monday, Barghouti said a strike was the only way to gain concessions after other options had failed. "Through our hunger strike, we seek an end to these abuses ... Palestinian prisoners and detainees have suffered from torture, inhumane and degrading treatment and medical negligence. Some have been killed while in detention," he wrote. Field hospital Israel denies Palestinian inmates are mistreated and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said the Barghouti-led protest was "prompted by internal Palestinian politics and therefore includes unreasonable demands". Palestinian officials said some 1,500 inmates affiliated with all political factions including rival Fatah and Hamas were taking part in the protest. An Israel Prisons Service spokesman said some 1,100 inmates at eight jails had joined the strike. Almost 6,500 Palestinians are being held in 22 Israeli prisons, said Qadoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club that advocates on behalf of the inmates. The Prisoners' Club said a main demand was for Israel to halt detention without trial for some 500 Palestinians currently being held, and for an end to solitary confinement. The strikers also want better medical treatment and that disabled inmates or those suffering chronic illness be freed, access to more television channels and more phone contact with relatives and more family visits. The strike prompted a large rally in Gaza and a protest broke out near the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem where Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli forces. Palestinians consider brethren held in Israeli jails as national heroes. Long-term mass hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners are rare, but in past cases of individual inmates who stopped eating for weeks, detention terms were shortened or not renewed after they were hospitalized in critical condition. Erdan said a field hospital would be erected next to one prison - an apparent move to pre-empt transfers to civilian medical facilities, which could draw wider media attention. Abbas, 82, said in a statement that efforts would continue to secure prisoners' freedom. He condemned what he called Israel's intransigence in the face of "fair" prisoner demands. Military officials in Pakistan say a would-be Islamic State female suicide bomber had planned to assault a church during Easter celebrations Sunday in Lahore before a counterterrorism raid captured her this past Friday. Army spokesman General Asif Ghafoor at a news conference Monday identified the suspect as Naureen Leghari, saying she is still under investigation. The young woman, officials say, has told investigators she was contacted and radicalized by IS operatives through social media. Ghafoor also dismissed reported claims that Leghari had traveled to Syria and received training at IS-run terror camps there. He said the evidence collected so far has established she never went to Syria. "We are debriefing her. Our first effort is that she should go back and live a normal life. And the next is that we should do measures collectively as a nation that our kids are not misguided and they are not lured into such activities again," Ghafoor said. The spokesman released a video confessional statement in which Leghari says she was studying in a medical college in the southern city of Hyderabad and only recently moved to Lahore with two other accomplices to execute the terrorist plot. "We were given two suicide vests, four hand grenades and some bullets by our organization. The [explosives-filled] jackets were to be used for an attack on a church on Easter and I was tasked to be the suicide bomber," Leghari said. "But the security forces raided their hideout on the night of April 14 and arrested them." Pakistani authorities have repeatedly asserted that there is no "organized" presence of IS in the country, but critics question those claims, citing recent arrests of loyalists of the group from major cities, including the national capital of Islamabad and Karachi. More than 70 people, including Muslims and Christians, were killed during Easter celebrations in 2016 when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded park in Lahore, the capital of the country's most populous province of Punjab. A splinter Pakistani Taliban faction, Jamaatul Ahrar, or JuA, claimed responsibility for the bloodshed. Ghafoor said that Friday's raid that led to Leghari's detention was conducted as part of a nationwide military-led operation launched in February to rid Pakistan of militant networks linked to terrorist groups, including IS. A series of deadly suicide bombings across Pakistan in early February prompted the military to undertake the operation. Militants linked to JuA took credit for most of the violence, though IS claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing of a Sufi shrine in southern Pakistan that killed scores of people and wounded more than 300 others. Ghafoor said Monday the security operation has since detained more than 4,500 suspected militants. He also announced that Ehsanullah Ahsan, a central leader of the Jamaatul Ahrar faction, has surrendered to Pakistani security forces. The military spokesman refused to discuss details or circumstances that led to the surrender of Ahsan, who was allegedly operating out of Afghan border areas. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday the international community should be applying diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea to get that country to abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Speaking during a visit to Japan, Pence said the U.S. "will not relent" until it achieves the goal of a denuclearized Korean peninsula, and that "all options are on the table." He cited past international efforts to negotiate with North Korea on its nuclear program, including the most recent six-party talks that broke down in 2009, saying the North Korean side has repeatedly responded with "broken promises and more provocations." Pence again stated that "the era of strategic patience is over," advocating as the best way forward dialogue among the U.S., Japan, South Korea and China in order to isolate and pressure North Korea. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who hosted Pence for talks in Tokyo, said he appreciates the Trump administration's "all options" approach. Abe added that he hopes for peaceful dialogue with North Korea, but that dialogue for the sake of dialogue has no value. Watch: North Korea reacts to tough talk from Trump The comments came a day after North Korea tried and failed to launch a missile from its submarine base at Sinpo. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis called the failed missile launch a reckless provocation. The leader in North Korea again recklessly tried to provoke something by launching a missile, Mattis told reporters Tuesday aboard a U.S. military aircraft while en route to Saudi Arabia. Back in Washington, White House press secretary Sean Spicer indicated tolerance for a bit more patience on the U.S. side during a briefing with reporters Monday. I think that we're going to continue to work with China in particular to help find a way forward, Spicer said. The press secretary characterized the era of strategic patience as an Obama administration policy of basically wait and see that is not prudent for the United States. But, he added, as a result of the recent talks between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the current administration is giving Beijing time to use its economic and political influence on Pyongyang. The vice president, speaking to reporters Monday near the Korean Demilitarized Zone, said President Trump has made it clear that the patience of the United States and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change. We want to see North Korea abandon its reckless path of the development of nuclear weapons and also its continual use and testing of ballistic missiles is unacceptable. WATCH: 'The Era of Strategic Patience is Over,' Pence Says At a hastily called news conference Monday in New York, North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, accused the United States of pushing the Korean peninsula "to the brink of a war," warning that a "thermo-nuclear war may break out at any moment on the peninsula." Referring to the deployment of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its strike group to waters off the Korean peninsula, Kim said if Washington "dares opt for a military action," calling it a preemptive strike, "the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S." Such belligerent rhetoric from North Korea's state media and officials is common. Pyongyang has yet to conduct its anticipated sixth nuclear test, amid indications it has made all preparations for such an event. North Korea held a massive military parade Saturday, exhibiting some new long-range and submarine-based missiles. Pence's visit to Northeast Asia comes at a time of heightened tensions over North Korea's defiant efforts to ultimately develop a nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland, and the Trump administration's determination to prevent that from happening. "I think the U.S. has been clear that we want to resolve this issue through the peaceful de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula," said Acting Assistant Secretary of State Susan Thornton. "We are definitely not seeking conflict or regime change, but we are committed to defending our people and our allies, should it be necessary." Trump on Monday told a reporter that North Korea has "got to behave" and, in remarks recorded for airing Tuesday on a Fox News program, contended that his presidential predecessors had "all been outplayed" by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. It is a questionable whether Trump is serious about the use of force against Kim or just bluffing to pressure him and the Chinese, according to one analyst. The national security adviser, General H.R. McMaster, and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis "are well aware that North Korea is not Syria or Afghanistan, and that a military strike against the North is a risky gambit whose full import is impossible to anticipate," a former CIA analyst on Korean issues, Sue Mi Terry, told VOA. "My take is that all of this rhetoric is simply to ramp up the pressure and signal to the world, particularly China and North Korea, that they are not pushovers like they think the Obama administration had been," added Terry, who served as Northeast Asia affairs director on the National Security Council at the end of the Bush and beginning of the Obama administrations. Terry said she sees the Trump administration's approach as "an intensification of Obama's sanctions approach," adding it is yet unclear what is replacing strategic patience. A top U.S. politician visiting South Sudan says he will urge colleagues to maintain assistance to the country despite severe cuts in foreign aid proposed by the Trump administration. Senator Christopher Coons (D-Delaware), who is in rebel-controlled Ganyiel of former Unity State this week, said he was shocked to learn that the town's entire population depends on humanitarian agencies for food. The senator noted there are no roads going into and out of Ganyiel, so all equipment and relief aid must be delivered by air, which is extremely expensive. We will have to make stronger arguments for why particular U.N. missions and particular countries should remain a priority," Coons told VOA's South Sudan in Focus on Monday. "South Sudan currently has the largest and most difficult refugee problem in the entire continent of 54 countries. I think it should remain a priority but there will be some difficult negotiations between Congress and the Trump administration, said Coons. Since the outbreak of South Sudan's conflict in late 2013, the United States has contributed at least one billion dollars toward humanitarian aid in the African country. The budget proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump would cut total U.S. aid abroad by more than 30 percent. This marks the first visit to South Sudan for Coons, the former chairman and member of the Senate Subcommittee on African Affairs. The U.S. lawmaker also visited a refugee camp in neighboring Uganda, which hosts hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese who fled the violence back home. Coons said he came to Ganyiel to familiarize himself with U.S.-funded projects aimed at combating hunger and health problems in the area. U.N. agencies declared two counties of former Unity State famine-stricken in February. Coons also visited Panyijar County, which hosts tens of thousands of internally displaced persons who fled to the area from Mayendit and Leer, the two former Unity State counties hit by famine. Panyijar County Commissioner John Tap asked Senator Coons to deliver to a message to the Trump administration. The Obama administration was not serious about resolving the South Sudan conflict, said Tap. He said even if the U.S. government continues to pour millions of dollars into South Sudan for humanitarian aid, it will do nothing if there is no peace. He called the money useless. Coons urged South Sudanese leaders to find workable solutions to the conflict. This is not the time to assume that the U.S. will always be present and will always provide support. I think that makes it an urgent time for the leaders of South Sudan to find a peaceful resolution to the widening violence and the conflict, he said. LABOR Bank of America settles racial bias case Bank of America is settling a case, disputed since 1993, that its predecessor company systematically discriminated against black applicants for entry-level jobs. The Labor Department said Monday that the largest U.S. consumer bank settled the nearly 24-year-old case against its Charlotte-based predecessor, NationsBank. The agency said Bank of America will pay $1 million in back wages and interest to 1,027 people who applied for North Carolina clerical, teller and administrative positions a generation ago. The banks penalty roughly corresponds to what a Labor Department review board last year determined it should pay. The bank challenged the decision in federal court before reaching the settlement. Bank of America said in a statement that it disagrees with the department analyses and is committed to fair hiring practices. Associated Press TECHNOLOGY Time Warner cleared for sale of TV station U.S. regulators have approved Time Warners sale of its only TV station, clearing a transaction that helps ease scrutiny of the film and TV giants proposed $85.4 billion purchase by AT&T. The Federal Communications Commission on Friday granted Meredith Corp. permission to buy WPCH in Atlanta from Time Warners Turner Broadcasting System, the agency said in an announcement on its website. The FCC, which oversees broadcast licenses, could have grounds to scrutinize the AT&T-Time Warner deal if the station were part of the transaction. Were pleased that the FCC approved the application, Art Slusark, a Meredith spokesman, said in an email. The price for the station is roughly $70 million, according to a regulatory filing. The Justice Department is conducting an antitrust review that examines the impact on competition of the Time Warner-AT&T deal. Bloomberg News Also in Business Boeing plans to lay off hundreds of engineers in Washington state and other locations, as the plane maker faces slowing aircraft sales. The latest job cuts, to take effect June 23, follow an exodus of 1,500 mechanics and 305 engineers and technical workers who agreed to leave voluntarily earlier this year. Union and nonunion workers will be affected, a spokesman for Boeing said Monday. Additional engineering job cuts may follow this year, said John Hamilton, vice president of engineering. A California utility has launched a system combining a hybrid battery and gas turbine to produce and store electricity for use when power demand soars. The Hybrid Electric Gas Turbines are the first of their kind in the world, officials with Southern California Edison and the manufacturer, General Electric, said Monday. Edison President Ron Nichols said the twin systems that went online March 30 operate similarly to a hybrid car drawing first on the battery, then switching over to the gas turbine if power demands spike. Arconics Klaus Kleinfeld will step down as chief executive and chairman after the companys board of directors found that he sent a letter to its largest shareholder without telling them, Arconic said Monday. A spokeswoman declined to reveal the letters contents. Arconic was spun off from aluminum company Alcoa last year. Arconic said Kleinfeld sent a letter to a senior official at Elliott Management, an activist investor that has been pushing Arconic to replace Kleinfeld. U.S. home builders are feeling slightly less optimistic about their sales prospects. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index released Monday slipped to 68 this month. Thats down three points from 71 in March, when it jumped to the highest level since June 2005. Readings above 50 indicate more builders view sales conditions as good rather than poor. Readings gauging builders view of sales now and over the next six months also edged lower, as did a measure of traffic by prospective buyers. From news reports Coming today 8:30 a.m.: Commerce Department releases housing starts for March. 9:15 a.m.: Federal Reserve releases industrial production for March. Earnings: Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, United Health Group. Some Democratic senators who face reelection next year are gearing up for a tough sell: that they still represent their voters interests, even if theyve stuck with a party many of those voters have abandoned. The following charts explain which lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are the most mismatched with their constituents, as judged by their preference in recent presidential elections. These will be some of the most interesting races to watch in 2018. Well start with this map of states colored based on an analysis of 2012 and 2016 presidential election results called the Partisan Voter Index (PVI). Next, lets line those states up from most Democratic to most Republican. They range from solidly Democratic Hawaii on the left, all the way to safely Republican Wyoming on the right. In recent decades, many have shifted further into one camp or the other. Now lets look at the political party of each states two senators Democratic, independent and Republican. Next, well measure senators ideologies, from liberal to conservative, using a measure called DW-Nominate. Of course, most Republicans fall in the upper right-hand corner of the chart, with a conservative voting record and a state that votes more Republican for president. The opposite is true for Democrats, with a majority falling in the lower left-hand, liberal-Democratic corner. But there is a small group of senators whose states recently voted against their party for president. That puts them in an awkward spot. Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, for example, would be asking conservative voters from North Dakota (R+17) to support a reelection bid next year. Those same voters gave Donald Trump a 36-point win over Hillary Clinton in 2016. At times, senators like Heitkamp will need to break ranks to show that they represent their voters interests, rather than their party. All three Democrats who voted in favor of Neil M. Gorsuchs Supreme Court nomination fall into this category. On the Republican side, Sen. Susan Collins (Maine, D+3) was one of a few who broke with her party to vote no on some confirmations for Trumps Cabinet. Democrats have a lot of work to do, with many more seats up for reelection in 2018. Whats worse for them: Many are in states that recently supported Mitt Romney, Donald Trump or both for president. Take a look at the House , where the pattern is similar. Most of the seats are expected to be fairly safe, though Democrats have been watching recent special elections to see whether they want to compete in districts previously thought to be safely Republican. See how the Democrats form more of a line, and Republicans are a taller, round cluster? This shows Democrats tend to vote similarly on legislation, and Republicans have a wider ideological spread in their voting, challenging party leadership. Here are the members of the House Freedom Caucus, some of the most conservative Republicans who played an important role in derailing health-care overhaul efforts last month. And here are the initial lists of House districts the parties hope to flip in 2018. Unsurprisingly, each is targeting the swing districts that sit around the middle of the presidential voting spectrum. Unlike their colleagues in safe districts, the shrinking group of lawmakers who represent areas that are evenly split or are firmly against their ideological lean must appeal beyond their base. Its unclear if the tough odds for Democrats will result in a poor showing, as Republicans face their own set of challenges. Chief among these are the current lack of Senate challengers and Trumps low approval rating, which could jeopardize the House majority. Dear Heloise: I let my phone ring four times, and then the answering service comes on. If it is someone wanting a donation or taking a survey, the person will hang up. If I recognize the voice, I pick up the phone. Or if I recognize the number, I answer it. Sure saves time and steps! Leo D., Little Rock Leo D.: Thanks for your letter! You can register your phone number with the National Do Not Call Registry through the Federal Trade Commission. Call 888-382-1222 from the phone number you want to register. A lot of annoying calls will stop after 31 days of registry. This wont stop all calls, but it should cut down on them. Dear Heloise: Social media has made contact with companies easier and faster than ever before. I was in the market for a good used car, so I friended a woman whose family owns a group of dealerships in town. She has a large presence on this social-media site, and she promotes sales and special deals that her family is offering. Of course, I still researched the makes and models I was interested in, but I like the family aspect of knowing the dealership on a new level. Cindy M. in Dallas Cindy M. in Dallas: Sometimes things do work out for the better! Dear Heloise: Spring is a good time to remind everyone (especially teen drivers) that texting while driving is an absolute no-no. Its also against the law in most areas. In fact, all distracted driving takes your focus away from the road, the cars around you, pedestrians, stoplights, etc. Your focus needs to be on driving nothing else. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (Nhtsa.gov ), distracted driving includes, but is not limited to: texting, eating, applying makeup, fumbling with the radio, singing, using a GPS system and other activities. Do none of these while you are driving. If you need to text, make a call or do any other activity, pull over to a safe place. Mike N. in Pennsylvania Dear Heloise: If talking to someone on Monday and you hear: Come over next Thursday, does that mean the immediate next Thursday or the Thursday of next week? How about Come over Thursday? Heres the hint: Always ask for a calendar date! E.L.Y., Villa Park, Calif. Dear Heloise: I love fresh floral arrangements, but they dont last forever. As the flowers start to droop, I replace them with silk flowers. This way, the artificial arrangement looks almost as beautiful as the original fresh bouquet. Harriet N. in Indiana Dear Readers: Try not to leave clothing in the car for long periods of time, either in or out of plastic dry-cleaner bags. The hot temperatures in the car and sunlight beating in can fade fabrics and/or set stains. Heloises column appears six days a week at washingtonpost.com/advice. Send a hint to Heloise , P.O. Box 795000, San Antonio, Tex. 78279-5000, or email it to Heloise@Heloise.com. Facebooks existential crisis arrived with a vengeance this week. But Mark Zuckerberg didnt want to talk about it much. Yes, as he took the stage Tuesday in San Jose for his keynote address at a Facebook conference, he nodded to what had happened just two days before: A coldblooded killing posted for millions to see, with live-streamed commentary from the killer soon after. Our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim in Cleveland, Zuckerberg said. Well do all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening. But then Facebooks founder and chairman dived right into an extended discussion of the next Facebook frontier augmented reality, which integrates digital information with the users experience in real time. [We have our closure: Facebook murder suspect killed himself after police pursuit in Pennsylvania] His mention of the killing, while seemingly sincere, still felt like a kiss-off. But its not surprising. Denial is, far too often, the Facebook way. Remember just after the presidential election when Zuckerberg shrugged off the importance of the hyperpartisan lies in the form of news stories like Pope Francis supposedly endorsing Donald Trump? Personally I think the idea that fake news on Facebook, which is a very small amount of the content, influenced the election in any way I think is a pretty crazy idea. In time, he changed his mind about that, and Facebook, to its credit, has made some significant moves to flag, limit and remove financial incentives for lies and misinformation that spread like a disastrous oil spill during the campaign. But Facebook still hasnt come to terms with what it really is a media company where people get their news and which, especially because of the year-old Facebook Live, generates news content. Since it began, rape, a horrible attack on a disabled teenager, and more than one suicide have been live-streamed. The crux of this is what is Facebooks true nature: a technology that enables anyone to publish anything? Or a self-regulating media company with enforced standards? Emily Bell, director of the Tow Center for digital journalism at Columbia University, told me Monday evening. Facebooks answer became clear Tuesday morning. With its nearly 2 billion monthly active users and more than $10 billion in annual profits, Facebook is better at making money and capturing eyeballs than at owning its equally huge power and responsibilities. David Clinch, global news editor of the verification site Storyful, put it this way: They have to take this issue very seriously and deal with it urgently, or they will surely face more calls for Facebook Live to be put on hold until far more robust controls are put in place. So far, thats not happening. In recent months, Facebook has gone out of its way to avoid acknowledging the obvious: It is a media company, not simply a platform for its billion-plus users to share their lives with family and friends. (I called last year for the company to hire an executive editor, as one step, partly a symbolic one, in that direction; that was shortly after a Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph was deleted by Facebook, which saw its depiction of the famous Vietnamese napalm girl not as art but as child pornography.) But there are, of course, business reasons not to accept that. As soon as Facebook acknowledges that it is a publisher and not a platform, it may open itself up to lawsuits that could cut into profits fast. Better, the thinking apparently goes, to stress technological advances and the ability to connect the whole world with virtual reality, baby pictures and exploding watermelons. And its Facebook Live has been a force for good, too. Last year, Diamond Reynolds live-streamed the police shooting in Minnesota of her boyfriend, Philando Castile. It was an important piece of bearing witness, made poignant by the presence of Reynoldss tiny daughter. [Face it, Facebook. Youre in the news business.] At this crucial moment, Facebooks language often sounds clueless, with its combination of stilted corporate euphemism and childlike wonder about community and sharing. Following the Cleveland slaying, which remained on the site for hours, a Facebook statement put it like this: This is a horrific crime and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook. Later, a Facebook vice president made a seemingly more thoughtful effort to describe the ways the company would use artificial intelligence and a better reporting flow to address the problem. But none of this was specific enough, or serious enough. Nor did Zuckerbergs brief mention help. As Clinch wrote on Twitter: Theres no algorithm for this and there is no cheap way to do this with community monitoring and inexperienced staff. Facebook is immensely and increasingly profitable it made more than $10 billion last year, up dramatically from 2015. More than four of every five dollars comes from mobile ads, which makes video more and more essential to corporate success. But this cant go on forever. Bell summed it up: If Facebook is really interested in the unbiased nature of discourse it would know that totally unmoderated systems favor the authoritarian bully, and suppress free speech rather than enable it. Ask Twitter. An innocent man and his killer who committed suicide Tuesday are dead. But that cant be the end of the story. For more by Margaret Sullivan visit wapo.st/sullivan Media and protesters move through the smoke of percussion grenades as protesters and police clash on the streets of the District on Inauguration Day. (Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post) D.C. police this month searched the home of a local activist they say helped spearhead Inauguration Day protests that injured six police officers and resulted in extensive damage in downtown Washington. Dylan Petrohilos, a 28-year-old graphic designer, said officers broke through the door of his Petworth home early April 3. Police were led to the house after an undercover police officer secretly attended protest-planning meetings in the weeks before the Jan. 20 inauguration, court documents show. Authorities seized cellphones, computers and a black anti-capitalist, anti-fascist flag from Petrohiloss front lawn, according to the court documents. Petrohilos has not been charged with any crimes. He says he did nothing illegal as he helped plan the protests and participated in them. The search was part of an effort by authorities to build a legal case against hundreds of activists accused of conspiring to riot and incite violence on the day President Trump was sworn in. But it also has reignited concerns from activists and others who question whether police went too far in making mass arrests Jan. 20 or in investigating demonstrators exercising their right to free speech. A limousine burns on Inauguration Day. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post) We believe this is an aggressive assault on the right to organize, to protest, said David Thurston, an organizer of Disrupt J20, a group that planned protests at the inauguration. The D.C. Superior Court document an affidavit providing justification for searching Petrohiloss home shows that law enforcement infiltrated several meetings where Disrupt J20 organizers discussed logistics. One was a multiday action camp, according to the affidavit. At another, the undercover police officer and other attendees were asked to place their cellphones in a microwave for fear that law enforcement or people opposed to the group were seeking access to their plans, the document states. Authorities have alleged that members of Disrupt J20 were behind inauguration protests that turned violent. Some activists, wearing masks and dressed in black, smashed downtown store windows and burned a limousine, resulting in more than $100,000 in damage, officials say. Six officers were injured, including one who was knocked unconscious when a brick or piece of metal thrown by a protester hit him in the head. Officials allege that the protesters employed black bloc tactics, most commonly linked to anarchists. Police arrested people en masse, and 214 were indicted by a grand jury on charges of felony rioting. One person has pleaded guilty to lesser charges. In the other cases, investigators are working to identify each persons role in the demonstrations. [Inauguration Days mass arrests are challenging for prosecutors] Petrohilos was not arrested on Inauguration Day, but court papers say an undercover officer was there when the activist facilitated a Disrupt J20 meeting at a Mount Pleasant church Jan. 8. A question was posed by an attendee [at the planning meeting] about how arrestable this march was, and Petrohilos noted that MPD does not conduct mass arrests in Washington D.C., the affidavit says. Petrohilos further states that the organizers were asking the participants to wear all black clothing, and the participants should not wear unique clothing because that will make it easier to question or identify them. Petrohilos said in an interview that police broke through his door on the morning of the search. He said there is no incriminating material on his computers or phones. As a graphic designer, he said, the posters and fliers he made advertising protests on Inauguration Day account for the bulk of the files on his devices. Facilitating public meetings is a First Amendment-protected activity, he said. I didnt break the law on Inauguration [Day], and I think that its absurd that police are targeting events such as facilitating a public meeting. Organizers of the Disrupt J20 protests decried the search as a desperate attempt to try to build criminal cases. They held a news conference last week to bring attention to what they called the unjust police tactics used on protesters. [Defense attorneys allege police trapped and then arrested protesters] D.C. police defended the search and said in a statement that it was related to an ongoing criminal investigation. We cannot comment on the specifics of this case, out of concern it would jeopardize the investigation, police said. A judge found enough probable cause to issue this search warrant, and we believe it was in line with our mission of ensuring the safety of all District visitors and residents. The search warrant affidavit says a seized cellphone belonging to a man arrested at the protests showed that he had been texting with Petrohilos. Petrohilos, according to the affidavit, told the protester that he would be providing route information for the anti-capitalist march. The affidavit also stated that police heard protesters describing plans during a podcast on an anarchist website. The self-identified anarchists said that protesters were excited to create a mess on Inauguration Day and that the chances of arrest were low. The unidentified duo on the podcast said that D.C. police had been sued into a state of fear and are now trained little piggies. The two were referring to the 2002 protests against the World Bank that resulted in the arrest of almost 400 protesters and bystanders at the Districts Pershing Park. The District and federal authorities in April 2016 settled the final lawsuit filed by demonstrators at Pershing Park, bringing the total payout for the arrests of protesters caught in a trap and detain policy to $13.25 million. Police have acknowledged that mistakes were made during the Pershing Park demonstrations but have said that during the inauguration, they strategically targeted protesters after the situation turned violent. Legal arguments over privacy and free speech rights also have become a key part of the pending criminal cases. On Tuesday, an attorney for Marisa Matthews, a protester from Pittsburgh charged with felony rioting, filed a motion in D.C. Superior Court seeking to have her case dismissed. Matthews says that the government violated her First Amendment rights by, in part, infiltrating planning meetings she attended and that she is being prosecuted for associating with the protest group. People now fear that if they attend a protest where someone they dont know destroys property, then regardless of innocence they will be charged with felonies, the motion says. This is unhealthy for a Constitution that lives and dies with the vitality of its First Amendment. In addition, dozens of the defendants are seeking to block a government request to search more than 100 locked cellphones seized during the Inauguration Day arrests. You have your own private photos and videos on there no one has the right to see, said defense attorney Patrice Sulton, who represents one of those charged. She said the court should review the material first and decide what is relevant. One of those arrested has reached a deal with prosecutors, who reduced his charge to misdemeanor rioting in exchange for a guilty plea. Jack Sorensen, 18, of Pittsford, N.Y., admitted to being dressed in black, wearing goggles and concealing his face with a mask at the time of the rioting. Sorensen did not admit to causing destruction. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. As part of the plea, prosecutors agreed to one year of supervised probation, a $500 fine and 50 hours of community service. Sorensen was sentenced under the Youth Rehabilitation Act, which would allow him, should he successfully complete probation, to emerge with no criminal record because he is under 22. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) marches in the citys Emancipation Day parade held nine days early, on April 8 2017. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post) D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser is traveling for six days and her office will only say that she is on personal travel. It is at least the third time since taking office in 2015 that Bowser (D) has left the District for several days and her public schedule has not reflected her absence. Balancing personal privacy and public responsibility is a fraught topic for elected leaders. But the travel of D.C. leaders has been an especially sensitive topic since former mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) traveled to China and the United Arab Emirates on trips announced as personal travel that city officials later disclosed were paid for by foreign governments. In a statement Monday, Bowser spokesman Kevin Harris said that the mayor was paying her own way, but not where she was. Asked whether a security detail or any other city employee was accompanying Bowser at taxpayer expense, Harris said no. The mayors taxpayer funded salary is $200,000. The Mayor is on personal travel and will resume a public schedule on Thursday, Harris wrote in an email. She remains in regular contact and communications with city leadership. D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) takes a selfie with students at Jesus Suarez Gayol high school in Havana, Cuba, on February 23, 2016. (Bonnie Jo Mount/Washington Post) As during previous trips, however, the mayors absence was not shared with members of the D.C. Council. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said Monday that he was unaware of the mayors absence. Told of her travel by a reporter, Mendelson said he assumed Bowser would have delegated mayoral authority to a senior staff member for the duration of her absence. Harris, however, said the mayor had not done so: There is no signed delegation of authority, he said. As is the case whenever she travels, Mayor is in regular contact with city leadership and her cabinet who continue to fulfill their roles and responsibilities. In case of emergencies, most states require a governor to designate an acting leader when he or she leaves state borders. But in the District, many emergency powers of a governor rest with the federal government, including the ability to mobilize the D.C. National Guard. Bowsers trip falls the same week that D.C. public schools are on spring break. Monday was also the Districts Emancipation Day holiday, commemorating the 1862 end of slavery in the city, three years before the end of the Civil War. In tweets Sunday from the mayors official Twitter account, Bowser wrote, Happy Emancipation Day, DC and in another she wrote, Due to the Easter holiday, DC Emancipation Day festivities were held last weekend. A year ago, Bowser used Emancipation Day to call for a citywide vote on what became a successful ballot measure in favor of petitioning Congress to designate the District as the 51st state. D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine is also traveling this week. He is in Kenya with the attorney general of Illinois attending a conference on human and sex trafficking. Extraordinary, Racine wrote Monday in a text message. I learned at least as much as I imparted. [D.C. officials praise Cuban schools, where students have little choice] The council chairman said he appreciated that the mayor wants privacy on her trip. At the same time, there shouldnt be total secrecy about her travel. And there should be no secrecy with regard to government expense. Harris would not say whether Bowsers security detail accompanied her to an airport or train station or on any portion of her travel. He also would not say whether she was in the United States or traveling abroad. In March 2016, Bowsers office declined for three days to identify the mayors location. When told that information would be printed in a news article, Bowser then responded to a text message from a reporter: Im in Jamaica. Personal travel, she wrote. A conservative legal watchdog group said it will sue the state of Maryland unless it takes more aggressive action to remove ineligible voters from the registration rolls of Montgomery County, its largest jurisdiction. In a letter to the Maryland State Board of Elections last week, Judicial Watch cited data showing that there are more registered voters in Montgomery than there are citizens of voting age (18 and over). The group called it strong circumstantial evidence that the states rolls are swollen by voters who are deceased, have moved away or who are not citizens. Judicial Watch has made similar allegations in more than 90 counties in 11 states, including North Carolina, Florida and Kentucky. Montgomery County, where Democrats have a 2-to-1 registration advantage is the only Maryland county that was served notice. The group said it will file a lawsuit against Maryland within 90 days unless the state takes corrective action. Your failure to maintain accurate, up-to-date voter registration lists has created the risk that the 2018 federal elections will lack the integrity required by federal law and by the expectations of Maryland citizens, Judicial Watch President Thomas Fitton said in the April 11 letter to board chairman David McManus Jr. Maryland officials said they are reviewing the letter, but elections administrator Linda Lamone said in a statement Tuesday that she is confident that the state and local elections boards are complying with the National Voter Registration Act, also known as the motor voter law, which is designed to expand access to voting. Federal and state law lays out a process for list maintenance of the voter registration database that the local boards of elections in Maryland are instructed to follow, Lamone said. We here at the state board regularly audit the local boards compliance with the process as part of our oversight role. The board is scheduled to discuss the Judicial Watch letter at its meeting on Thursday. [Here are nine investigations on voter fraud that found virtually nothing] The action by Judicial Watch is the latest in a fight that has raged for years in courts and statehouses over claims from the right that the countrys voting and registration systems are rife with fraud and neglect. Experts acknowledge that registration rolls are often out of date, but they say that charges of widespread voting fraud are baseless. President Trump renewed the charges shortly after taking office in January, when he claimed in a tweet that between 3 and 5 million people voted illegally in November. He tasked Vice President Pence with heading an investigation into the matter. [Analysis: Donald Trumps indefensible claims of rampant voter fraud are now White House policy] At the state and local levels, officials have cited concerns about fraud to enact stricter voter-ID laws and in some cases mass purging of voter rolls measures that critics say are aimed at suppressing minority voting. Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, said the Judicial Watch action is part of that larger effort to coerce states into aggressively purging voter rolls. This has often been used as a technique to try to suppress votes, Weiser said. It seems a little more like a stunt than a serious effort. Fitton said in an interview Tuesday that Weisers criticism is just slander from the left. Theyre playing the race card to steal elections, he said. This is a straightforward federal law, and the law requires that [voter rolls] be cleaned up. Judicial Watch has succeeded in compelling some states to overhaul their rolls. In 2012, Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted entered a settlement with Judicial Watch and True the Vote, a conservative vote-monitoring organization, to make certain changes in its management of voter lists. Among them was an agreement to use the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck, a program created by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach back in 2007. About 30 states, most of which have Republican secretaries of state, use the system to compare voter rolls for duplicate entries. Kobach has been among the most aggressive state officials in pursuing cases of alleged voter fraud, obtaining eight convictions since gaining the authority to prosecute such cases in 2015. Records show that Montgomerys total registration of 657,548 is higher than its voting-age population of 633,295. But county and state officials said the numbers reflect the lengthy process that states are required by law to employ when verifying voting status. A voter is placed on inactive status after two sample ballots are mailed and returned to the state with no forwarding address. Voters are removed from the rolls after not voting in two consecutive federal elections. The state also collects death notices, felony convictions and information about residents who have moved out of state, and it passes those on to county election boards, which are responsible for making the actual changes every month. Montgomerys March report shows 15,294 voters placed on inactive status and 758 removed from the rolls. I can tell you that Montgomery County follows every rule and regulation making sure that every ineligible voter is removed from the rolls, said county election board president James Shalleck. Fitton said most counties dont have numbers like Montgomerys. Following federal law shouldnt result in the numbers Montgomery County has, Fitton said. Judicial Watch has asked for records and further explanation from the state. If we can get the list cleaned up without litigation that would be great, he said. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is flanked by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., left, and House Speaker Michael E. Busch during a bill signing ceremony on April 11. (Patrick Semansky/AP) Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Tuesday signed more than 200 bills, including a measure that advocates say will change the way we look at rape. The governor was joined by Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) to sign what many advocates referred to as the no means no bill. Under the measure, evidence of physical resistance is not required to prove that a sexual crime has been committed. Weve really made some significant progress this year, said Lisae C. Jordan, executive director of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault. The bill on physical resistance is a fundamental change in the way we look at rape and respond to rape. The governor also signed bills that require the retention of sexual-assault evidence kits for at least 20 years, redefine sexual abuse to include sex trafficking and expand the definition of rape to conform with that of the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Making Maryland safer begins with making sure that we have a criminal justice system that holds offenders accountable for their actions and the harm they cause, while also supporting victims and the community in the process of healing, Hogan said in a statement. We are extremely proud to have worked with our partners in the legislature to pass these important measures to protect our most vulnerable Marylanders and bring criminals to justice. The signing of the no means no bill comes just months after the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault completed an audit of three years of sexual assault cases in Baltimore County that failed to move forward. Jordan said of the 124 cases the coalition reviewed, 42 were discharged because of a failure to demonstrate physical resistance. What is so important about this is that it conforms our law to what we are teaching our students in high school and college, Jordan said. You have to have consent and no means no. Hogan also signed a bill that exempts law enforcement and fire and emergency responders from state taxes on retirement income. Del. Sheila E. Hixson (D-Montgomery) has introduced the bill for several years, and Hogan offered the idea as part of his legislative package this year. [Md. legislative leaders in standoff over special session on medical marijuana] Also on Tuesday, the Legislative Black Caucus continued its push for Hogan, Miller and Busch to call for a one-day special session to take up a bill to expand and diversify the states medical marijuana industry. Andy Pierre, the executive director of the caucus, said the group began collecting signatures on a petition that would force lawmakers to come back to Annapolis to resolve the issue. Were doing a full spread, Pierre said of the attempt to reach lawmakers who attended Tuesdays bill signing. Miller said that the bill got played in the House, where final minutes of the session were spent thanking staff, and that he is willing to hold a special session but only to consider the bill that passed the Senate. Were not going to call a special session to renegotiate any bills, Miller said. But, if a special session is called, Miller said he would also be inclined to take another look at another bill that failed to move in the final minutes of the session: a measure that would allow rape victims to terminate the parental rights of their abusers. THE DISTRICT Man, 79, is identified as victim of stabbing A man who was found fatally stabbed inside a rowhouse Sunday afternoon near Stanton Park on Capitol Hill has been identified, according to D.C. police. David Norwood, 79, of Northeast Washington was pronounced dead at the scene in the 600 block of C Street NE. His body was discovered about 1:40 p.m. The house is between Massachusetts and Maryland avenues. Police said Monday that Norwood suffered stab wounds. A police lieutenant, commenting on an Internet community bulletin board, told residents that the attacker was possibly known to the victim. Peter Hermann VIRGINIA Inmate dies in jail;foul play not suspected A 49-year-old woman died in the Fairfax County jail Sunday, but there were no indications of suspicious causes, police said. Anna Carmela Dinenna, 49, of Silver Spring, Md., was found unresponsive in a jail cell shortly after 9 a.m. Sunday, police said. Dinenna had been in the jail since April 12. Sheriffs deputies started CPR and called for first responders, who later pronounced her dead, police said. The woman, who was alone in her cell, showed no signs of trauma, police said. Initial indications suggest nothing suspicious, Fairfax County police said in a statement. Medical examiners will conduct an autopsy. Lynh Bui 17-hour standoff ends with two children safe A man who barricaded himself inside his Fairfax County home with his two children for more than 17 hours was taken into custody Monday afternoon, police said. The children, ages 4 and 8, are safe. Police said the children exited the home in the Fort Hunt area shortly after 1 p.m., but the unidentified man, who appeared to be suffering from a mental-health crisis, remained uncooperative and did not follow officers commands. The man repeatedly walked in and out of the home and was eventually subdued with a stun gun, police said. As part of routine procedure, the man was transported to a hospital for treatment. Lynh Bui This undated photo provided by the Cleveland Police shows Steve W. Stephens. (Cleveland Police via Associated Press) D.C. police on Tuesday debunked a claim that the man who was being called the Facebook killer after he allegedly fatally shot a man in Cleveland was spotted at a Dupont Circle hotel. Later Tuesday, the man accused of the Cleveland slaying, Steve W. Stephens, killed himself as police were pursuing him in Erie County, Pa., Pennsylvania State Police said. The death ended a three-day nationwide manhunt for Stephens, who authorities said killed Robert Godwin Sr. in East Cleveland. Stephens, 37, then posted a graphic video on Facebook of the incident, police said. [Suspect in horrific Facebook homicide video still at large amid nationwide manhunt] Authorities had warned residents in Indiana, Michigan, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania to beware. And on Tuesday, D.C. police quashed a claim that he had been spotted at a Dupont Circle hotel. Early Tuesday, someone called police to say Stephens had been seen about 1 a.m. at the Fairfax at Embassy Row in the 2100 block of Massachusetts Avenue NW. But D.C. police spokesman Dustin Sternbeck said authorities quickly determined that the person was not the man being sought. Sternbeck said police received two tips Monday about possible sightings of the suspect, including the one at the hotel, and neither was accurate. He would not say where the other alleged sighting was. A reward of up to $50,000 was being offered for information leading to Stephenss arrest. Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams had made a plea to Stephens, Steve, if youre out there listening, call someone whether its a friend or family member or pastor give them a call; theyre waiting for you to call them. The video of Godwins killing was viewable for about three hours before it was removed. Stephenss profile was deactivated. [Facebook wanted visceral live video. Its getting live-streaming killers and suicides.] Stephens also had posted a video saying he snapped and mentioning a relationship with a woman, who is said to be cooperating with officials. Facebook called the shooting a horrific crime and said it would review its policies on how easily and quickly material that violates its standards can be reported by users. In the District, the mistaken sighting occurred when a guest at the Fairfax at Embassy Row hotel called police shortly after midnight. He said he saw a man with a shaved head and a beard walk into the lobby who looked similar to Stephens. The guest Christopher Picciolini, 43, of Chicago said he was in town to attend an event at the U.S. State Department. Picciolini said he went upstairs to his room and texted the D.C. police departments tip line, prompting a response. He said police later told him that the man had tried to pay cash for a room and was turned away. A police report says officers reviewed hotel surveillance video of the man and determined it wasnt Stephens. Picciolini said the man he saw had a beard much longer than the man from Cleveland. David Hendrix, the hotels general manager, confirmed Picciolinis account. He said the man was turned away because the hotel requires a valid identification and credit card to book a room. He said there was nothing about the man that raised any alarms. Lindsey Bever, Peter Holley and Drew Harwell contributed to this report. Leaders of Iranian-American organizations asked a U.S. district court in Washington Tuesday to become the latest to order a nationwide halt to President Trumps executive order banning new visas and immigration from six Muslim-majority countries. Testimony came on behalf of the largest ethnic group directly affected by the March 6 order, and was entered in one of a half-dozen challenges to the White House action watched closely by legal analysts. The lawsuit is unusual in that U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan of Washington allowed live testimony by individuals who allege they are harmed by the order, and because the case is on a fast-track, said Michigan University law professor Margo Schlanger, sponsor of the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse that is tracking more than 80 related lawsuits. An order by a third U.S. trial judge to freeze the ban, if granted, would take direct effect only if similar decisions made March 15 by federal district judges in Hawaii and Maryland were overturned. However, the legal arguments raised by American immigrants from the Middle Easts most populous nation could play a role in a fight widely seen as destined for the U.S. Supreme Court. More Iranians received U.S. visas in 2015 than nationals from the other five countries on the list combined Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Libya or 57 percent of the total including Iraq, which was initially on the travel ban list but later dropped. Meanwhile, Iranian students accounted for about 80 percent of foreign students last year from the same countries, according to State Department data. Lawyers for the four suing groups Pars Equality Center, the Iranian American Bar Association, National Iranian American Council, and Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans said the success of the Iranian-American community is a national security asset, not a threat, as the U.S. seeks a more moderate Iran. Migration policy groups cited U.S. population surveys showing half of the estimated 1 million Iranian-Americans living in the United States work as professionals, many arriving after the 1979 Islamic revolution topped the U.S.-backed shah of Iran. The lawyers for the groups suing said they assembled 16 plaintiffs and statements from 25 people to show a range of people harmed by the White House ban and to overcome legal barriers to suing in federal court. They also asked the judge Tuesday to order a resumption of visa granting processes. The statements come from individuals who told the court they face barriers to travel for business and investment opportunities, attending the wedding and births of children, and schooling. They included accounts by students on visas, U.S. permanent residents awaiting reunification with family members, dual citizens, U.N.-approved and vetted refugee families and an Iranian resident with an approved nonimmigrant visa issued to researchers, professors and cultural exchange visitors. The vast majority of our resources have been diverted to educating the public on this one issue, bar association president Babak Yousefzadeh, of San Francisco, testified during the two-hour hearing. It frustrates the mission of the IABA, he said, which is to educate and increase civic participation by Iranian-Americans and to communicate their concerns to government. Leila Golestaneh Austin, executive director of the alliance, echoed those claims, adding its members see a chilling effect on finding talent for their businesses, and have had to respond to a rise in hate crimes and postpone efforts such as a sports diplomacy initiative. Justice Department civil division attorney Daniel Schwei said that travel by members of the groups who are U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents is not restricted, that many of the plaintiff declarations predate the latest version of the order, and that groups assertions of continuous harm are inaccurate since the order has been stayed. The White House issued its March order rescinding and replacing a broader January travel ban that courts had rejected. Trumps revised version suspended the U.S. refugee program for 120 days and halted for 90 days the issuance of new visas to people from the six countries. [Federal judges in Hawaii, Maryland, freeze President Trumps new entry ban] Judges in cases brought by the state of Hawaii and refugee organizations based in Maryland who froze aspects of the most recent ban agreed the Trump order could be construed as unconstitutionally discriminating on religious grounds. By comparison, the Iranian-American case, brought by Iranian-American civil rights lawyer Cyrus Mehri and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, draws on civil rights precedents directed at bias based on ethnicity and national origin. The case, which is being heard with another lawsuit brought by a Shia Muslim group and two Yemeni individuals, has flown under the radar compared with the Hawaii and Maryland cases, which were the first to prompt nationwide injunctions. But like the others, it is moving at an expedited pace. Justice Department officials said the court rulings are flawed both in reasoning and scope, and promised to continue to defend the executive order and the presidents lawful authority to protect the nations security. For the past 30 years, every President has invoked his power to protect the Nation by suspending entry of categories of aliens. As a legal matter, this Order is no different, department lawyers argued in the Washington case. Department lawyers unsuccessfully urged Chutkan not to allow Tuesdays live testimony or Fridays scheduled preliminary injunction hearing. The department lawyers told the court that they were not disputing the truthfulness and credibility of the plaintiff groups leaders, only their legal import. Two years ago, Bhadreshkumar Patel fatally stabbed his wife in the backroom of a Dunkin Donuts while customers were still in the shop, took a cab to New Jersey and then vanished, according to police and the FBI. The horrific crime stunned the local Maryland community where Palak Patel, 21, was killed, but also shocked veteran homicide investigators with the level of brutality involved, authorities said. After an exhaustive hunt for Bhadreshkumar Patel, 26, and with his whereabouts still a mystery, authorities on Tuesday added him to the FBIs most wanted list. They hope additional publicity will lead to his capture and arrest. Mr. Patel brutally took her life, her ambitions and her dreams with a horrific crime of violence, said Gordon B. Johnson, the FBI special agent in charge at the agencys Baltimore field office. Authorities have been searching for Patel since 2015 when he was last reportedly seen getting on a shuttle to Penn Station in Newark. Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel (Courtesy of Anne Arundel County Police Department) Patel is the 514th person added to the national FBI list of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, and the second on the current list suspected of crimes committed in Maryland. Authorities say Patel brutally killed his wife shortly before midnight April 12, 2015, in the doughnut shop on Arundel Mills Boulevard in Hanover where they worked nights. After stabbing her multiple times, he went home and collected cash and belongings, then took a cab to New Jersey, according to the FBI and Anne Arundel police. He checked into a hotel near Newark Liberty International Airport at 3 a.m., checked out seven hours later and took a hotel shuttle to the local train station, law enforcement authorities say. He has not been located since. [Well-known murder suspect from Bethesda added to FBIs most wanted list] The violence in this case was stark, said Tim Altomare, police chief in Anne Arundel County. It was heart-wrenching and a shock to our collective conscience. Investigators say the killing might have been motivated by a disagreement between Patel and his wife. The couples visas had expired and Patels wife wanted to return to India, but he did not, authorities assert. The extreme violence of the crime with which Patel has been charged and his eluding authorities for two years earned him a spot on the list, Johnson said. Patel was charged with first-degree murder, assault and other related charges in Maryland. He is charged in federal court with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. FBI Special Agent Jonathan Shaffer said Patels everyman appearance and common last name make him particularly difficult to track. His ability to come up with a plan in the heat of the moment to escape the area is troubling, Shaffer said. Patel has connections in Canada, India, New Jersey, Kentucky, Georgia and Illinois, authorities say. A reward of up to $100,000 is available for information that leads to an arrest. Those with information can call 800-Call-FBI (800-225-5324) or provide information online at tips.fbi.gov. [Timeline: The search for Bradford Bishop] Since the creation of the FBIs Ten Most Wanted list in 1950, 481 fugitives have been captured. In a case also from the FBIs Baltimore field office, William Bradford Bishop was added in 2014. Bishop is wanted in connection with the 1976 slaying of his family in Montgomery County, Md. Investigators allege he used a sledgehammer to kill his wife, three sons, and his mother and burned their bodies. Of the fugitives on the FBI list, Bishop has been on the run the longest, said Special Agent Karen Marinos, who manages the most-wanted-list program. Field offices nominate fugitives and Marinos and others at FBI headquarters decide who earns a spot on the basis of the circumstances of each case. Marinos said that last year, the FBI paid out three $100,000 rewards to tipsters who helped to close cases. Theres some fortunate people whove run into the wrong people at the right time, Marinos said. The FBI and the Anne Arundel County Police Department will not rest until Mr. Patel is located, captured and brought to justice, Johnson said. Police have released a composite sketch of a woman who was fatally stabbed Easter morning in Maryland, hoping the public can help determine her identity. We really dont have anything to go on, Prince Georges County Deputy Chief Sammy Patel said. The first step to solving this case is to identify her. The woman was stabbed in the 3300 block of Springdale Avenue in Forestville and knocked on a strangers door for help, police said. When the homeowner opened the door, they saw a woman collapsed in the yard, police said. She was taken to a hospital, where she died, said Capt. Anthony Schartner, head of the police departments homicide unit. Detectives have been unable to determine her identity. A scan of fingerprints did not yield any results, police said, and she has no distinctive tattoos, scars or birthmarks. Schartner said the victim weighed about 126 pounds and was 5-foot-11. Police also released images of clothing she wore, including a distinctive Armani Exchange T-shirt, dark jeans, colorful socks printed with marijuana leaves and a beanie. She also had on tights under her jeans, police said. Schartner said anyone with information should call 1-866-411-TIPS so investigators can start bringing answers to her family. The decennial Census count has been a staple of American life since the early days of the republic, but at a time when public funding is being slashed and scientific data questioned, Census-watchers fear the 2020 count is heading toward a crisis. The count typically requires a massive ramp-up in spending in the three years preceding it, involving extensive testing, hiring, and publicity. However, Congress has yet to approve a funding increase requested for the 2017 fiscal year, which began in October, and experts say the White Houses proposed budget for 2018 falls far below what is needed. In addition, recent rhetoric from the Trump administration has left some groups fearful of sharing personal information with the government, further threatening the success of the count. If the Census Bureau does not receive significantly more than the White House has proposed, it could be catastrophic for the 2020 count, said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former staff director of the House census oversight subcommittee. I think Congress is taking a grave risk right now, she said, adding that the bureau is in danger of not being able to afford a comprehensive dress rehearsal slated for 2018. What Congress does in the next few weeks will really determine how much confidence both the Census Bureau and the public can have in the bureaus ability to take an inclusive Census in 2020. The Census, which every ten years counts every person in the United States, was mandated by the Founding Fathers and has been called a keystone of American democracy. The government uses it to allocate public resources; businesses use it to choose where to invest; and the count affects congressional redistricting. In announcing its budget last month, the administration touted its proposed $1.5 billion for the Census Bureau as a $100 million increase. Critics called that smoke and mirrors, however, noting that the White House was comparing it to the 2016 budget of $1.37 billion. The proposed amount is about $140 millionless than the $1.64 billion, or 20 percent increase, requested for 2017. In past decades, the ramp-up in the years leading up to the count has been precipitous, with budgets sometimes doubling between the year ending in 7 and the year ending in 8. Congress did not pass a budget last year, opting instead for a continuing resolution that kept most federal agencies funded at 2016 levels. They are slated to pass the 2017 budget by April 28; debate on new funding for 2018 could continue into this fall. Many agree that the bureau could stand to trim its budget. The 2010 count was the biggest non-wartime mobilization in American history and the most expensive Census ever. With over 500 field offices and 550,000 staff deployed around the country, it cost $13 billion over ten years. To carry out a similar operation this time would cost $17.8 billion. But five years ago, Congress ordered the Census Bureau not to spend more in 2020 than it had in 2010. So the bureau announced changes designed to achieve the most automated, modern, and dynamic decennial census in history. Instead of sending workers to physically walk 11 million blocks, it would compile new addresses using geographic information systems and aerial imagery. It would encourage respondents to fill out questionnaires online rather than by mail. It would use data it already had from the public and data available from commercial sources. The new approaches would allow the bureau to halve the number of field offices and reduce the number of workers to 300,000 or less, keeping costs down at around $12.5 billion over ten years. The problem, critics say, is that the new methods must be tested well before 2020. And that takes money. Instead, the bureau is so short on funds that it has cancelled tests that were planned for this year and suspended development of a communications campaign. Failing to beef up funding now reflects a pound-foolish, penny-wise mentality, said Arturo Vargas, executive director of NALEO Educational Fund, a nonprofit that promotes Latino participation in the political process. The bureau needs the money now, he said. It cant be doing 2020 blindly. It should be taking the time to do the testing now, to work out all the kinks (and) make sure the bureau gets it right, because there are no do-overs after 2020. Funding for the Census Bureau does not all go to the decennial count. Among other things, the bureau puts out the annual American Communities Survey, a more detailed questionnaire sent to a smaller sample of respondents, and the Economic Census, conducted every 5 years, including this year. For the 2020 Census, the strain is already showing. In October, citing uncertainty about funding, the bureau said it was canceling 2017 testing in Puerto Rico, the Standing Rock Reservation in North and South Dakota, and the Colville Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land in Washington State. Earlier this year, the government accountability office placed the Census on its High Risk list. Part of the problem, critics say, is that Congress is not good at longterm planning. The Census is not the sort of legislative advantage that Congressmembers can see on their radar screens, Lowenthal said. Its not a new highway that warrants a press release, its not a health clinic for senior citizens and veterans in the home district. But it is the foundation of democracyand its at the point where starving the Census Bureau of sufficient funding will have the certain consequence of a less accurate count. Either that or, lacking money to test the cost-cutting measures, the Census might have to fall back on old methods, necessitating requests for emergency funds and ultimately driving costs higher. Wilbur Ross, the newly-appointed secretary of the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census, has positioned himself as an advocate for the count and he has vowed to push back against efforts to cut its funding (he also worked as a Census taker while in business school.) His office did not respond to a request for comment. Census bureau officials did not respond to specific questions about funding concerns; a spokesman said in a statement that they were confident in our ability to complete an accurate Census in a timely fashion. Underfunding is not the only Census-related concern in the Trump era. In January, a leaked draft executive order suggested adding a question about immigration status; such a move would likely discourage undocumented immigrants from filling it out. And last month, LGBTQ advocates protested after a list of planned subjects for the 2020 ACS was released that for the first time included sexual orientation and gender identity, then quickly re-released with that topic missing. The bureau said the first version was an error. A proposal to add a dedicated Middle Eastern or North African option to the race/ethnicity terminology in 2020 has tested well, but since the 2016 presidential campaign some who might have checked this category say they worry about being targeted by the government. For several years some Republican lawmakers have also sought to make the ACS voluntary, which critics say would decrease participation, reduce accuracy, and cost more because it would be necessary to send out many more forms to get a big enough sample. But these concerns pale next to the prospect of insufficient funding. A less accurate Census could mean a greater undercount of traditionally undercounted groups such as poor people, young children, immigrants, and non-English speakers, reducing public services and congressional representation for them. It could also greatly impact businesses. For example, a company deciding whether to build anything from a giant shopping mall to a small shop needs to know how many prospective customers and employees live in the vicinity, information they have typically gotten from Census data. A less accurate count would compromise this, especially in less populated areas, said Howard Fienberg, director of government affairs at Insights Association, which represents the marketing research and analytics industry. Its very easy to open a new business in New York City, but putting it in some small town in West Virginia is much more difficult, Fienberg said. You have to have really rock solid data to be able to make the case, he said. When we have uncertainty, business goes nowhere. Congress has in the past turned down requests for funding from the Census Bureau, sometimes with dire consequences, said Andrew Reamer, a research professor at the George Washington Institute of Public Policy at The George Washington University. The consequence of not providing the funding was that GDP estimates before the Great Recession were far too high, leading policymakers to underrespond, he said. If we have an inaccurate Census, then businesses will make poorer decisions and there will be a cost. Chidinma, left, and Chuckwunonso Dureke are Nigerian American sisters who seek to bring more African flavor to the cultural scene in the city. (Courtland Milloy/The Washington Post) In a younger, richer, gentrifying District, greasy spoons give way to swank new restaurants. Music shops morph into yoga studios. Liquor stores become wine bars and microbreweries. But for two Nigerian American sisters who grew up in the Washington area, an essential ingredient is missing from the new urban recipe. We say D.C. doesnt have Maggi cube, said Chidinma Chi Chi Dureke, 27. Maggi is the brand name of a seasoning cube widely used in West African cooking. Its like mumbo sauce, said Chuckwunonso Nonso Dureke, 25. It adds flavor. The Dureke sisters want to add cultural flavor to the city. They want to make the District a cultural cornerstone of the African diaspora a place where black people embrace and celebrate their African heritage and not just pay lip service to the name, African American. There are a lot of people like us, in our generation, that are searching for self, trying to discover who we are and where we can feel at home in the world, Chidinma said. D.C. ought to be a place where people are encouraged to take that journey. We believe that our dual identity as Nigerian and American allows us to help guide people along the way. Their efforts include discussing African culture including food, fabric and family traditions in a blog called Nkem Life. They also serve as the D.C. partners on a sociopolitical website aimed primarily at black urban millennial women, called I Dont Do Clubs. The site, founder Genese Jamilah said, is for women who are looking for social events beyond the typical nightclub scene and who want to avoid the random men grabbing . . . as you and your friends hold hands just to make it to the restroom. The Dureke sisters are from the Igbo tribe, in eastern Nigeria. Both were born in the Washington area and went to live in Nigeria for several years before returning to the region. Chidinma, a graduate of Frostburg State University in Maryland, is a visual artist who owns a graphic design business called CHDesignz. Chuckwunonso is also a visual artist and is a MFA student at Howard University studying cinematography and film production. Both can recall the days when African culture was a ubiquitous part of D.C. life. African and Caribbean music pulsated from bookstores and carryouts along Georgia Avenue and Columbia Road. Wood carvers from Ghana whittled away while sitting on storefront steps. Authentic African foods were served at street festivals and even dished out to strangers at impromptu family picnics in Rock Creek Park. It was not unusual to see women wearing traditional African dresses. You didnt have to go to the Smithsonian to see authentic African fabric, Chuckwunonso said. There were shops where you could buy it, and people werent afraid to wear the most colorful designs. But the African culture was taken for granted, neglected, not nurtured. Even kente cloth, the iconic link to the Ashanti kingdom, ended up as little more than a fad. The sisters wore dresses that they had designed and made from fabrics bought in Nigeria. Similar African-inspired dresses can be found at the Nubian Hueman boutique in Southeast Washington. The Dureke sisters also have an email newsletter that includes listings of black-owned stores in the Washington area, such as the boutique. We might not be able to do much for the black-owned businesses that couldnt hold on because of gentrification, but we can give a shout-out to those that are hanging on, Chidinma said. Of course, such flair is not for everyone. In the District, look-alike shoe-box condos proliferate like kudzu. Rows of sidewalk cafes cater to look-alike, mostly nonblack clientele. Some ethnic restaurants are so Americanized that they might as well have golden arches over the entrance. Id interviewed the Dureke sisters at the Bukom Cafe on 18th Street near Columbia Road NW, in Adams Morgan. They had recommended it. Bukom to us has a great balance of American and West African culture with Afro-Caribbean flair, Chidinma said. We noticed while dining that some African American pedestrians walked past without so much as glancing at the place. Some ended up going to an Italian restaurant and a popular fast-food joint nearby. A lot of that kind of decision-making has to do with lack of exposure and conditioning, Chuckwunonso said. We want people to celebrate their ancestral homeland, not be ashamed of where they came from. That may not be enough for the District to get its Maggi cube back. But just having the Dureke sisters around certainly adds flavor to an otherwise bland town. To read previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/milloy. Virginia Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam had almost twice as much campaign cash available as rival Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Perriello two months ahead of the primary, according to data compiled Tuesday by the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP). Northam had $3.3 million available as of March 31, compared with Perriellos $1.7 million. But Perriello, a former congressman and State Department official, has outraised Northam since his unexpected entry into the race in early January, taking in $2.2 million to Northams $1.4 million. In the Republican primary field, Ed Gillespie maintained his commanding financial edge in the three-person contest, raising nearly $1.9 million, which, combined with earlier fundraising, left him with just over $3 million on hand. Perriellos haul was buoyed by several massive campaign contributions, with half of his money coming from four donors, while Northam was barred from fundraising during the 46-day General Assembly session that ended in late February. [Republicans running for governor tangle in first TV debate] Gillespies donors reflected his former role as a top-level Republican consultant, with 49 percent of his money coming from out of state. Former president George W. Bush, who attended a Dallas fundraiser for Gillespie, kicked in $25,000, and strategist Karl Rove gave $20,000. Edward St. John, a real estate executive and philanthropist from Baltimore who gives heavily to GOP candidates, was Gillespies top donor in the most recent period at $50,000. Gillespie reported about 3,600 donors in total. Corey A. Stewart, the Republican chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, had a little more than $400,000 available after taking in and spending about $300,000 in the first three months of the year. Frank Wagner, a state senator from Virginia Beach who also is subject to the fundraising ban during a legislative session, reported that his campaign treasury dwindled to $178,000 after he raised just $58,000 and spent more than $250,000. A fourth Republican candidate, Denver Riggleman, dropped out of the race in March, citing financial struggles. He raised about as much money as Wagner in the latest period and spent nearly all of it. Voters can cast ballots in either major partys June 13 primary. Perriello drew big money from national Democratic donors, reflecting his status as an insurgent Democrat who is operating outside the Virginia party structure. [Perriello competes in Virginia governors race on national field] He launched his campaign Jan. 5 with $500,000 from Sonjia Smith, a Charlottesville resident who is a major donor to Democrats in Virginia and nationwide, and $200,000 from Avaaz, an international nonprofit group that funds progressive activists and was co-founded by Perriello a decade ago. Philanthropist and liberal activist George Soros was Perriellos second-most-generous contributor, at $250,000, and Soross son Alexander chipped in $125,000. New York financier Courtney Smith gave $75,000, while California philanthropist Stephen Silberstein donated $50,000. Republican groups on Tuesday criticized Perriello for accepting the large donations, citing the candidates frequent bashing of Virginias system of unlimited campaign giving. A spokesman for Perriello said the largest donations come from people familiar with the candidates advocacy for progressive causes, not corporations or individuals with business before the state. Perriello, who represented Southside Virginia and Charlottesville in Congress from 2009 to 2011, also picked up contributions from some of Charlottesvilles celebrities: $25,000 from best-selling author John Grisham and $12,500 from members of the Dave Matthews Band. After the filing period, Perriello was endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and the Our Revolution political group that grew out of Sanderss failed presidential bid, providing access to a national donor network of progressive activists. Overall, 57 percent of Perriellos money came from outside Virginia, compared with 11 percent out-of-state donations for Northam, according to VPAP. Perriello reported about 5,200 total donors, compared with about 11,000 total donors for Northam in the latest period, according to VPAPs analysis of the numbers. Common Good VA, the political action committee formed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe to help Democrats running for office in Virginia, steered $100,000 to Northam days after Perriello announced his challenge. It was Northams largest donation in the most recent period. Northams largest donor is Charlottesville-based financier Michael D. Bills, who gave a total of $200,000 and is married to Sonjia Smith Perriellos top donor. Northam picked up funding from some big Northern Virginia and Beltway players, such as financier Ronald D. Abramson ($25,000) and longtime Democratic donors such as stockbroker Edward Hart Rice of Vienna ($20,000) and McLean activist Suzann W. Matthews ($30,000). Northam also scored $15,000 from Internet pioneer Vinton G. Cerf. Both Perriellos and Northams campaign fundraising falls far short of McAuliffes record haul of more than $5 million in the same period in the 2013 election cycle. The state constitution bars governors from seeking consecutive terms. The gubernatorial campaign is expected to draw tens of millions of dollars because Virginia is one of only two states electing governors this year, and the election is seen as an early test of President Trumps popularity. In other Virginia races: In the Republican primary for lieutenant governor, state Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (Fauquier) increased her financial edge over state Sen. Bryce Reeves (Spotsylvania). Vogel had $550,000 to Reevess $450,000. Del. Glenn Davis (R-Virginia Beach), who is running a low-cost campaign based in his recreational vehicle, had about $31,000 left after lending himself $83,000. In the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, lawyer and former federal prosecutor Justin Fairfax led the three-person field with $145,000 available. Former Democratic operative Susan Platt had about $100,000 available after a $20,000 loan from her husband, while former prosecutor Gene Rossi had $62,000, with nearly $50,000 in loans from himself and his brother. Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) expanded his campaign fund to $1.4 million, while Republican John Adams ended the quarter with $560,000. Both candidates are uncontested in their primaries after Republican lawyer Chuck Smith did not qualify for the ballot. The Republican Attorneys General Association donated $250,000 to Adams, the debut of its new strategy to target incumbent Democratic attorneys general in addition to competing in open races and supporting GOP incumbents. (Monica Akhtar/The Washington Post) On a hill above the main campus of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a sprawling complex called the Spallation Neutron Source. Its a particle accelerator, although you could think of it as a giant microscope. The technicians fire protons at nearly the speed of light into a vessel of liquid mercury. Neutrons spew forth, channeled down 19 tubes called beam lines, toward targets of scientific curiosity. When the neutrons hit a target and scatter, they reveal the atomic structure of whatever it is thats being scrutinized. Neutrons are different. They see matter in a different way, says Paul Langan, associate laboratory director for neutron sciences. And whats this about spallation? You hit a piece of concrete with a hammer. Pieces fly off. Thats spalling, says lab spokesman Bill Cabage. This neutron factory, and many other scientific projects at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, find themselves threatened by a different kind of hammering from the Trump administration. President Trumps fiscal 2018 budget outline, released last month, envisions a dramatically smaller federal investment in science and medicine, while boosting spending on the military and reserving billions for a wall on the Mexico border. The budget blueprint includes cuts to agencies that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support, such as the National Institutes of Health. The proposed cuts have added some urgency to the March for Science, which is expected to draw tens of thousands of people Saturday in Washington and in cities across the country. The march, inspired by the Womens March the day after Trumps inauguration, reflects dismay in the scientific community about comments and actions by Trump perceived to be hostile to science. A recurring theme of small-government conservatives is that federal dollars crowd out private investment in research. These critics object to the government picking winners and losers. In a Facebook post last September that was later deleted, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a Republican from South Carolina, referred to comments about a bill dealing with the Zika virus epidemic. He wrote, No one has written me yet, though, to ask what might be the best question: do we really need government-funded research at all. Mulvaney was selected by Trump to be director of the Office of Management and Budget. OAK RIDGE, Tenn. A photograph of the hybrid spectrometer is display on a door at the Spallation Neutron Source. (Jacob Biba/For The Washington Post) The national lab here gets about 80 percent of its funding from the Energy Departments Office of Science, which would lose $900 million more than one-sixth of its funding if Trumps budget outline were embraced by Congress. Some agencies within the Energy Department would vanish altogether. The OMB, responding to questions from The Washington Post, released a statement saying that the budget blueprint reasserts the proper role of government by increasing the reliance on the private sector to fund later stage research, development, demonstration, commercialization, and deployment of energy technologies while focusing Federal funding on early stage R & D. L. Rafael Reif, the president of MIT, has been pushing hard against the proposed cuts, saying that U.S. investment in research and development, as a percentage of GDP, has been eroding for decades. Nothing less than Americas leadership in science is at stake, Reif told The Post. We are in a global competition, Reif said. While we are dwindling and reducing our funding for research, China is growing rapidly. Oak Ridge labs director, Thom Mason, said a large cut in the Office of Science could not be handled through minor trimming around the edges. He pointed to the Spallation Neutron Source: In the end, the machine is either on or its not. [The prophets of Oak Ridge] Bombs and basic science This was Trump Country on Nov. 8. The city of Oak Ridge is in Anderson County, where Trump won 65 percent of the vote. In many of the rural counties in east Tennessee, Trump won more than 80 percent of the vote. Few places in America have received as much federal investment over the past century as eastern Tennessee. This was a region where, in 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Tennessee Valley Authority, a public corporation that dammed rivers and brought electricity to the impoverished rural South. OAK RIDGE, Tenn. A car is parked in front of a home in Oak Ridge. (Jacob Biba/For The Washington Post) In the early days of World War II, the Army needed someplace remote to build a secret city for the Manhattan Project. The city of Oak Ridge sprouted overnight. On multiple sites, engineers threw together massive buildings in which thousands of workers labored to refine naturally occurring uranium into a version that the physicists said could be used in a new kind of bomb. Only after the obliteration of Hiroshimadid the government reveal what had been going on for several years that inside the fences of Oak Ridge this secret community had a world-changing mission. After the war the federal government stuck around. One valley away from the national laboratory is the Y-12 National Security Complex, where the government stores and processes highly enriched uranium. Y-12 continues to be the site of protests by peace activists. Some of the local pain from Trump-era budget cuts could be offset by increased military spending. At the national lab, officials stick to their message about the merits of scientific research and they show off their impressive hardware, such as the supercomputer named Titan. If the private sector is doing what were doing, were not doing our jobs, said Jack Wells, director of science for the labs National Center for Computational Sciences. OAK RIDGE, Tenn. An archival photo is displayed on a transformer. (Jacob Biba/For The Washington Post) Wells reeled off the vital statistics of Titan, including 18,688 computer nodes working in tandem. Visitors have to wear earplugs in the computer room because of noise from the cooling fans. Wells said a new supercomputer will be built in a nearby room that is five to 10 times faster. This is competitive stuff China has the fastest supercomputers in the world. The lab can show off its supercomputers moves with a 37-megapixel, 33-foot-wide, 3-D visualization screen. You can see, for example, how seismic waves would propagate across Southern California and reach peaks of intensity after a massive earthquake on the San Andreas fault. Titan can create a 3-D map of Earths interior and the hot plumes that feed volcanoes. Scientists write grant proposals hoping to get access to these unique government tools. Theyre in demand: Langan, at the Spallation Neutron Source, said theres a waiting list for each of those 19 beam lines. Langans operation is a cavernous realm of pipes, wires and humming machinery. He walks around with a radiation dosimeter around his neckto measure his exposureanda lapel pin that reads Ts, for Tennessine, atomic number 117, a recently created element whose name honors the state that is home to Oak Ridge. At the end of Beam Line 12, a scientist named Helen He showed off the object being scrutinized: a crystal inside a capillary tube, almost too small to see with the naked eye. This was research to understand the structure of an enzyme called beta-lactamase that lets bacteria withstand antibiotic drugs. Humanity has a bacteria problem: Antibiotics dont work like they used to because the bacteria are becoming resistant evolution in action in real time. To crack the code of these small organisms, it helps to have neutrons and a big spalling machine. Ina small office directly on top of another beam line named Sequoia, three scientists were fizzing with excitement about something they were examining via the neutron source. Igor Zaliznyak said they were studying an exotic molecule that seemed to hold promise for application in data storage. He jotted down the name of the molecule on a pad of paper, using chemistry shorthand: YbMnBi2. Most of what Zaliznyak and his colleagues are doing is beyond the ken of a typical visitor, but the gist of their message is that this kind of basic research could lead to paradigm shifts in how we store information. The Spallation Neutron Source is the most powerful instrument of its kind in America. Japan has a similar machine, and the Swedes want to build one that is five times as powerful. Langan said the Oak Ridge lab would like to build a second target building next to the current one. Is he worried about Trump? Weve always historically found strong support across the political spectrum, he said. I focus on what I can impact. This kind of basic science research has an intrinsic problem: Its not necessarily practical. That is also its virtue. Many of the greatest advances in technology and medicine the laser, the MRI machine, the GPS system emerged serendipitously from basic research. Basic science research seeks to understand the world and that may lead to something you can purchase at Best Buy. Its a long way away from any real product, Mason said. It may be 20 years before that turns into a high-performance, lightweight material for the automotive sector. No private company would build something like the neutron source, he said. And if the federal government doesnt invest in these things, the smartest people in the world will go to some other country that hasnt been stingy with science funding. In science, Mason said, theres not as much value in being second-best. The Hon. Kim Jong Un The Great Successor Sun of the 21st Century Supreme Leader Marshal of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea Ryongsong Residence Pyongyang, North Korea Dear Mr. Kim: I write to congratulate you on the occasion of your late grandfathers 105th birthday. I heard about the difficulties you had with the missile this weekend, but be assured that the launch was cheered by thousands of Muslims in Jersey City. Please forgive the impersonal nature of this correspondence, but a matter of this urgency cannot be left to the North Korean postal system. The world is the closest it has been to nuclear war in 55 years, and I wanted to caution you that the man with whom you are now eyeball to eyeball could be as mad as a March hare. Jong (if I may, or do you prefer Little Un?), you yourself are known to be a bit nutty, or, as John McCain calls you, a crazy fat kid. Thats why we were so quick to believe that you fed your uncle to dogs a few years ago. For years, American presidents left you and your father in power because they didnt want the bother of a war. But that was then. (Adriana Usero/The Washington Post) President Trump has been practicing the madman theory, which your family has used well: If people think you are insane, theyll give you a wide berth. But Trump does such a convincing job portraying a madman that he might actually be a madman. It may surprise you to hear me say that, but here in America we can criticize our leader without fear that our coffee will be poisoned and we will keel over onto our 8jmkiuh9tr5f44444444444444444444444444444444u Kidding! The point is we dont know if hes bluffing or if hes crazy. And neither do you. Surely it didnt escape your notice that he arranged his response to one of your recent missile tests while dining in public at his Florida country club. He was also at Mar-a-Lago, eating the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake with Chinese President Xi Jinping, when he approved the missile attack on Syria, which he mistakenly called Iraq. Little Un, if you think this American president is stable like his predecessors, I refer you to his Twitter account. He has sent 13,321 tweets with exclamation points, 864 tweets with two exclamation points, 432 with three, 146 with four and 57 with five (the last one, in August: #WheresHillary? Sleeping!!!!!). Trumps single greatest exclamation in recent years 15 points was in 2014: This cannot be the the [sic] Academy Awards #Oscars AWFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now hes turning his punctuation on you. Until the past couple of years, the extent of his public commentary on your country was to say he wouldnt go. Dennis Rodman was either drunk or on drugs (delusional) when he said I wanted to go to North Korea with him. Glad I fired him on Apprentice! he tweeted in 2014. But this time Trump is in a position to fire missiles, not the former Chicago Bulls forward. And he has been treating the crisis with the gravity weve come to expect from him. At the White House Easter Egg Roll, where he was joined by the Easter Bunny, Trump said North Korea gotta behave and, if not, youll see. There is still a chance that his advisers will talk him down. The most sensible one is Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. His nickname: Mad Dog. Americans, though concerned about the nuclear standoff, have been paying more attention to an election in Georgia for one of 435 seats in Congress, and to a lawsuit filed by a white nationalist claiming Trumps language incited him to violence. And this gives me an idea. Jong, if you really want to go after Trump, do it the American way: File a lawsuit. True, he has been sued hundreds of times, but yours would be special, because you could claim that his words and actions incited you to build and test missiles and weapons capable of unspeakable violence. You would be following in the footsteps of a revered American, Paula Jones, whose lawsuit against President Bill Clinton won a substantial payout and helped pave the way for his impeachment. You would, Im afraid, have to give up your nuclear arsenal to pursue this course, but Trump could afford to settle with you for significantly more than Clinton paid Jones. Also, I know from Seth Rogen and James Franco that you admire Katy Perry and margaritas. I cant promise, but its possible that if you renounced your nuclear weapons and sued Trump instead, Perry might perform for you. And I would share my secret margarita recipe. Please consider this peaceful alternative. Should you stay your current course, nobody knows what Trump might do. Not even Trump. Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Contradicting expectations and her own explicit promises, British Prime Minister Theresa May has called a snap election. May is committed to the most misguided policy of any British government in memory the foolish experiment in deglobalization known as Brexit. Yet such is the splintering of British politics, and the implosion of the opposition Labour Party under the non-leadership of a far-left nonentity, that May will probably win in a landslide. For Britains immediate prospects, this may be a good thing: If the country is going to leave the European Union, it might as well have a prime minister who can negotiate from strength. But as a barometer of politics in Europe, the triumph of a deglobalizer is depressing. Meanwhile, across a narrow sea channel, another political drama makes the British one seem tame. That other drama is in France. In the first round of its presidential election, to be held on Sunday, some three-quarters of the French electorate are expected to back candidates who stand variously for corruption, a 100 percent top tax rate, Islamophobia, Russophilia, Holocaust denial, the undermining of NATO and the traumatic breakup of Europes political and monetary union. France was once the cradle of the Western Enlightenment. Now it threatens to become a spectacle of decadent collapse. (Sarah Parnass,Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) Fortunately, France chooses its presidents in stages, so all is not quite lost. Emmanuel Macron, a fresh and vaguely pro-market ex-investment banker, will probably win about a quarter of the votes Sunday, perhaps placing him among the two candidates who make it to the runoff on May 7. If that happens, French voters may prefer him to whichever version of crazy he is up against. But there are no guarantees here. And the crazies are truly bad. Start with the strongest of them, the far-right immigration-hater, Marine Le Pen. It was she who recently denied any French responsibility for the deportation of Jews to Auschwitz, a claim as shameful and post-truthy as any populist fable. Le Pen has endorsed Russias swallowing of Crimea. Her party has accepted a large loan from a Kremlin-linked bank. And she wants to pull France out of NATOs military command and out of the European Union and the blocs common currency. The European Union will die! she says, to rapturous screams from her supporters. Next comes Jean-Luc Melenchon, the Communist-allied candidate who styles himself after Venezuelas Hugo Chavez and promises a citizens revolution. No prizes for guessing that hes the one who proposes a 100 percent top tax rate, erasing all danger of hyperbole in the phrase confiscatory tax. Like Le Pen, Melenchon is hostile to NATO and the European Union. He also appears to see no evil in Vladimir Putin. Oblivious to the fact that France has taxed and regulated its way to a 25 percent youth unemployment rate and a government-debt trajectory that threatens Armageddon, he wants further cuts to the French workweek, an additional 10,000 civil servants and a shift in the retirement age from 62 to 60. The last and weakest of the significant candidates is a conventional conservative, Francois Fillon. Conventional except for his strange attitude to Russia: Fillon, too, refuses to condemn the invasion of Crimea, which he has compared to the Wests support for the secession of Kosovo from Serbia. And conventional except for the fact that he stands accused of funneling almost $1 million of government money to his wife and two of his children for work they did not do. France, he has declared brazenly, is greater than my errors. British and French decadence are not quite the same. Britain hitherto an open, dynamic and broadly successful melting pot has experienced a backlash from older voters who feel disoriented by immigration and technological change. France culturally proud, economically sluggish, at times bizarrely insistent that Muslim women on beaches dress less modestly has experienced a backlash from younger voters who cant get jobs. But in a larger sense, both countries point toward the fragile state of European politics. Elites are out of favor. Meager growth has not been shared equitably. Foreign voices are resented. Terrorist attacks add poison to the well. Perhaps Britains government, fortified by a fresh electoral mandate, can negotiate a divorce from Europe that limits the damage. Perhaps the French will rally behind Macron, who, though young and prone to platitudes, does not want to dismantle the European Union or NATO. But Europe is walking a long tightrope. It may escape the abyss one time, two times. But after France there will be Italy, another large economy that is central to Europes cohesion and that features a similar brew of government debt, youth unemployment, discredited elites and scary demagogues. How long can the center hold? MARYLANDS LAW granting parental rights to rapists has long been a source of embarrassment. Samantha Bee publicly ridiculed the state on The Daily Show in 2015, and groups as disparate as Planned Parenthood and Maryland Right to Life have supported reform. Some legislators have been trying for a decade to bring Maryland into line with other states, with bipartisan support. But the General Assembly again this year adjourned without taking action. That means that a woman who becomes pregnant as the result of rape will still be faced with having to negotiate with her assailant over custody or put the child up for adoption. Insane is how Robert A. Zirkin (D-Baltimore County), chairman of the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee, described the situation last year when legislation died in the final days of the legislature. He promised to make the issue a priority that this year would be different. And this year, for the first time, the House and Senate unanimously approved legislation that would establish a court process for a woman to seek termination of parental rights of a rapist-father. Yet amazingly the bill died again, at the close of the session, as the two chambers failed to reconcile differences in their two versions of the bill. Advocates complained that Mr. Zirkin delayed in appointing members to a conference committee. They noted that neither he nor Joseph F. Vallario Jr. (D-Prince Georges), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, named a single woman to the conference committee. Chairman Zirkin knows how to pass a bill and how to kill one. If he wanted the Rape Survivor Family Protection Act to pass, it would have, Lisae C. Jordan, director of the Maryland Coalition Against Sexual Assault, told the Baltimore Sun. Mr. Zirkin did not return our call for comment. Sen. Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery), a sponsor, did call us to explain that this is complicated legislation with legal intricacies and that time just ran out. It is an explanation that would be easier to buy if not for the fact that this is the ninth time legislation has been introduced and the fact that there has been extensive study and debate, including collaboration between Del. Kathleen M. Dumais (D-Montgomery), a prime mover for reform, and the Maryland State Bar Association. Did incompetent leadership or actual animus doom the bill this time around? Neither would be particularly flattering to Mr. Zirkin, Mr. Vallario and their colleagues. But if they would like Marylanders to believe that the death was not intentional, they should ensure that the General Assembly take this matter up if the legislature is called into special session to deal with medical marijuana. In the past week or so, Donald Trump has decided not to be totally Donald Trump. He has changed his positions on many issues, often by simply contradicting himself and sometimes by repudiating what he once said. However he does it, it comes down to this: If policies were gender identities, Trump wouldnt know which bathroom to use. The president has reversed himself on NATO. Where just recently he pronounced it obsolete, he now has changed his position by cleverly reimagining it. He gave NATO a role in fighting terrorism, which it has been doing all along. Similar feats of mental prestidigitation got Trump to change his mind on China, Russia and Syria, where the one which was once almost a buddy (Russia) is now a foe and the one which was once a foe (China) is going to help contain North Korea and the one for which he had no policy (Syria) has been whacked by Tomahawk missiles. And for the moment, the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv is not moving to Jerusalem. These reversals represent nothing less than a retreat to the status quo ante that halcyon era before Trump and his cast of mental munchkins started messing with foreign policy. The policies that now seem to be in place are ones that even former president Barack Obama might support. In fact, with the exception of hitting Syria, he did. But before we start celebrating Trump as a drunk who has suddenly gone sober, additional reversals are in order. The president might want to declare that it is wrong to mock persons with disabilities. He might want to say something nice about Mexicans, and he might want to retract his belittling of John McCains heroism acknowledge how the man suffered as a prisoner of war, choosing to undergo torture and confinement rather than accept freedom without pride. (Adriana Usero/The Washington Post) Trump might also want to praise the Khans, the couple who lost a son in Iraq and whose sacrifice he mocked by likening it to what it cost him to build his business. He might also want to say he was wrong to suggest a certain judge could not fairly preside over a case involving Trump University because he was of Hispanic ancestry. Trump was wrong, too, to turn the presidential race into one of schoolyard taunts Little Marco, Crooked Hillary and the rest. In short, Trump might want to institute a policy of acting presidential. Now, that would be a reversal. His foreign policy 180s are welcome, but those were not what won the hearts of his ardent supporters. They wanted something more jobs, affordable health care and a general sense that Washington would once again be their capital. But NAFTA remains in place, Obamacare is still the law of the land, tax reform aint coming soon, and the swamp that was supposed to be drained has been replenished with, among others, former Goldman Sachs executives most prominently Gary Cohn, once No. 2 at Goldman and now, for much lower pay, apparently No. 2 at the White House. Thats fine and dandy with me. I do not demonize Goldman Sachs. But Trump did. During the campaign, he lambasted both Ted Cruz and Hillary Clinton for their relationship with the bank. I know the guys at Goldman Sachs, Trump said. They have total, total control over [Cruz]. Just like they have total control over Hillary Clinton. Now, though, the total controllers are prominent in the administration Steven Mnuchin at Treasury and, in the White House itself, Dina Powell, the aforementioned Cohn and even the odd-man-out, Stephen K. Bannon. This reversal by personnel was not triggered by unforeseen events Syrias use of a nerve agent, for instance. It is, instead, a strong indication that Trumps campaign was a lie. His wooing of the American working class was insincere. For instance, he put more effort into denouncing Obamacare than he did in preparing legislation to replace it. Those who thought Trump was somehow going to pay their doctors bills simply got taken. They were as were the students of Trump University suckered. Sooner or later, Trumps supporters will realize they have been seduced and abandoned. The easy solutions he promised the return of manufacturing to the Midwest, the restoration of King Coal to its traditional throne will not materialize. Maybe then these voters will seek an accounting and they will turn, with appropriate fury, not just on Trump but on the coterie of the craven who jumped on his bandwagon. Trump is not the only one who can reverse his actions. So can the voters. Read more from Richard Cohens archive. Air-traffic controllers work in the tower at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York on March 16. (Seth Wenig/Associated Press) The April 10 editorial A bright idea for Mr. Trumps skinny budget called spinning off the nations air-traffic-control operations to a corporation a bright idea. However, serious concerns have been raised about whether air-traffic-control privatization would guarantee safety, protect national security and expedite new technology while keeping the U.S. aviation system solvent. All of these very real concerns have been validated by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. Last year, the GAO found that a privatized air-traffic-control system would be too big to fail, meaning taxpayers might have to bail out the corporation if it couldnt pay the costs to operate a safe system. The GAO also could not confirm that a private system would be capable of protecting national security and collaborating with the military to protect Americans from security threats, nor could it guarantee that a private corporation would speed up the Federal Aviation Administrations work to modernize the nations air-traffic-control system. A real bright idea would be for Congress to pass targeted reforms to fix the problems facing the FAA today without ripping the agency apart. Privatizing our air-traffic-control system presents myriad risks and perils. Targeted reforms can achieve our common objectives and maintain our nations unparalleled aviation safety record. Peter DeFazio, Washington The writer, a Democrat, represents Oregons 4th District and is ranking minority-party member of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Rick Larsen, Washington The writer, a Democrat, represents Washingtons 2nd District and is ranking minority-party member of the House subcommittee on aviation. Hillary Clinton signs souvenirs for supporters in New Hampshire two days before the election in November. Hours into election night, she and her aides were certain they would win. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post) Steven Ginsberg is the senior politics editor for The Washington Post. Around 7:45 on election night, when Hillary Clinton and her aides still thought they were headed to the White House, troubling news emerged from Florida. Steve Schale, the best vote-counter the Democrats had in the state, told campaign officials they were going to lose the biggest battleground in the country. Yes, Clinton was doing well in some places, but Donald Trumps numbers in Republican areas were inconceivably big. Youre going to come up short, Schale said, stunning aides in Brooklyn who were, until that moment, comfortably cradled in the security of their own faulty analytics. The call with Schale marks the beginning of a riveting account of the final, dreadful hours of Clintons long pursuit of the presidency, as told by reporters Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes in their insidery new book, Shattered. As fear gave over to dread in the Peninsula Hotel, the Clinton campaign reacted as you might expect: Bill became furious, Hillary turned stoic, and their cocksure aides started to blame one another. It wasnt long into the night before Bill Clinton called his old pal, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, and told him not to bother coming to New York. There would be no victory to celebrate. Shortly after 11:00 p.m., after Wisconsin was called by Fox News, Allen and Parnes report that the campaign fielded a series of calls from the White House pushing Hillary Clinton to concede, even though the margins in many states were extraordinarily close. President Barack Obama thought it was over and did not want a messy recount. First came a call from White House political director David Simas to Clintons campaign manager, Robby Mook. POTUS doesnt think its wise to drag this out, Simas said. But Clinton was dragging it out. So then she got a call from POTUS. You need to concede, urged Obama, who repeated the message in a follow-up call to Clintons campaign chairman, John Podesta. At last, Clinton said, Give me the phone. And then the first woman who was going to be president got her opponent on the line and said two words she never expected to say: Congratulations, Donald. Moments later, Obama was back on the phone, this time making a consolation call. Mr. President, Clinton said softly. Im sorry. The dire scene in the Peninsula unearths a bit of history that was mostly left unreported in the madness that followed that night, as the country and the world focused almost entirely on the emerging reality of Trumps victory. Thanks to Allen and Parnes, we now know how Clinton reacted, at the moment she was supposed to become the first female president. And we know how the Clintons responded, at the moment when the country told them: No more. 1 of 55 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad See what Hillary Clinton has been doing since the presidential election View Photos The former Democratic candidate and secretary of state has returned to public life after a post-election-loss respite. Caption The former Democratic candidate and secretary of state has returned to public life after a post-election respite. Jan. 28, 2018 Hillary Clinton appears on screen reading an excerpt from the book, Fire and Fury, during a skit at the 60th annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden in New York. Matt Sayles/Invision/AP Wait 1 second to continue. But as revealing as those moments are, they inexplicably come in the books final pages and largely stand apart from the rest, which is mostly a dutiful recitation of every to and fro of the so-very-long, joyless, ugh-filled Clinton campaign. Who wants to relive the Democratic primary debates? Or read 20 pages each about the Iowa caucuses (she won, barely) and the New Hampshire primary (she lost, bigly)? Shattered is essentially a sequel to HRC, a 2014 book by Allen and Parnes that chronicled Clintons time at the State Department. Its also the first offering of what will surely be many books about what really happened inside the 2016 campaigns. Going first has its advantages perhaps in sales and attention but in this case the quick-fire version proves too limiting. Does it really matter who was pissy at whom in Brooklyn when we still dont know what role the Russians played in the election or why FBI Director James Comey publicly announced a reopening of the email investigation in late October? Those questions are largely left unexplored here, other than as targets of Clintons post-election ire. Staying inside Clintons inner circle also keeps the story oddly away from Trump, who is absent from much of the book even though he was the dominant force throughout the election. By contrast, Clintons primary fight against Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont consumes much of the first half of the book. The authors provide plenty of details, but their takeaway is familiar: Sanders was unexpectedly popular; Clinton could never quite figure him out but nonetheless managed to outlast him. As we dive into the Clinton apparatus in Brooklyn, we discover a somewhat different picture of Mook, who was largely portrayed as an affable, modern-age data whiz during the campaign. In Shattered, he is depicted as a professional political assassin who pushes aside anyone who threatens his control-freak grip on power. He fights with Podesta. Theres tension with chief strategist Joel Benenson (who appears to have been almost completely sidelined months before Election Day). Mook has little regard for communications director Jennifer Palmieri. He thinks the old-style politics of Bill Clinton are relics of a bygone time. Some of the criticism of Mook rings true his celebrated voter modeling, for instance, turned out to be catastrophically off but his portrait also carries the stench of bitter co-workers conveniently tossing after-the-fact blame his way. Shattered leaves open the question of how Clinton lost. She and her campaign are convinced that Comey was the pivotal factor and there is evidence to support that view. But the Comey episode doesnt address why the race in the reliably blue Rust Belt was so close to begin with or what Clinton could have done to alter it. Much of the post-election analysis has criticized Clinton and her campaign for focusing on reach states such as North Carolina instead of putting more resources in the upper Midwest. That view is both echoed and called into question in Shattered, which depicts a vexing Goldilocks-style problem for Clinton across the region. In Wisconsin, she didnt show up enough. In Michigan, local organizers thought it was best that she stayed away. In Pennsylvania, she campaigned as aggressively as anywhere in the nation. In all three, she lost by less than 1 percent of the vote. So what should she have done? The answer often comes back to Mooks model, which, we are reminded again and again, was wrong. But lets say he had the right model would Clinton have had a winning strategy, or would she have known she was going to lose? Were never told. What we do know is that Clinton based her entire campaign on the notion that Trump was socially unacceptable and dangerously unqualified. We also know that that strategy proved to be insufficient, but we gain little insight into how it came to be or whether any alternative was discussed. Also left uninvestigated is the extent to which Clintons deplorable remark, which became a rallying cry for her opponents, hurt her among white working-class voters. The world does not often clamor for a book about the losing presidential candidate, though Clinton may be the exception, given her celebrity and all the weighty questions for Democrats that still shroud her devastating loss. Those who have been fascinated with Hillary Clinton for the past quarter-century may want to add Shattered to their libraries. But those looking for some of those answers will want to look elsewhere. STRIP AWAY the bravado and hype, and two important developments emerged from the news of recent days with regard to North Korea. The first is that in a show of missiles over the weekend, the regime in Pyongyang revealed some new strengths and some uncertainties in its quest to be a global nuclear and missile threat. The second is that the Trump administration has begun to implement a strategy to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang, but along well-known paths. Assumptions about technological progress based on a military parade can be guesswork, but the weekends extravaganza in Pyongyang offered important clues, according to experts at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. North Korea is moving toward solid-fuel ballistic missiles displaying both sea- and land-based variants that have been previously tested. Solid-fuel missiles can be quicker to launch than liquid-fueled and, on land, easier to transport and conceal. A second surprise was a nose cone with fins that might indicate progress toward a targeted or steerable warhead reentry vehicle. North Korea also showed off some very long canisters, suggesting a large, long-range missile under development, but the missile itself was not on display. No conclusions can be drawn about a weekend missile test that failed except that North Korea, like all missile and nuclear powers, is testing and presumably learning from success as well as failure. The regimes intentions are clear, and its capabilities seem to be improving, if uneven. Now President Trump is throwing his own strategy into gear. Vice President Pence repeated sternly at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas on Monday that the era of President Barack Obamas strategic patience is over and warned North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un not to test U.S. resolve. The United States also sent a Navy carrier battle group to the region. Beyond the public psy-ops, which hopefully will not spin out of control into a military miscalculation, it appears the central thrust of the administrations strategy is to induce China to rein in its client. Mr. Trump has explicitly hinted that he will not punish China as a currency manipulator as he had often threatened if it helps on North Korea. Certainly, China can do more than it has in recent years, including squeeze North Koreas energy lifeline. But Mr. Trumps approach has been tried repeatedly, without much success, because Chinas leaders, while irked by Pyongyang, do not want to destroy the regime and risk a hostile state on their border. Is Mr. Trump driving toward a new outcome with China or the same old dead end? Mr. Trumps strategy is to crank up pressure, then push for a negotiation leading to denuclearization, stopping short of regime change. This approach makes sense in the short term. The Trump administration is right both to declare a limit to Western patience and to look for a non-military solution. But the horror of Mr. Kims rule also cannot be overstated, from the reported assassination of his own half brother in Malaysia to systematic and grave human rights violations. As long as North Korea remains a giant prison camp, the long-term problem will not have been solved. THERE IS something inspiring about the annual civic ritual playing out on Tuesday. Millions of people will submit tax forms, poring over details to get them just right, even though very few will ever be audited. They are dutifully, if not necessarily cheerfully, paying the price of admission into a civilized society. Still, were not so naive as to believe that compliance would be unchanged if cheaters were never caught. That is one reason President Trumps proposal to slash Internal Revenue Service funding is such an abysmal idea. The president last month suggested reducing the national tax collectors $11.2 billion budget by $239 million this after Republicans already have cut $1 billion from its budget since taking over Congress at the beginning of this decade. Attacking the IRS is a particularly expensive way to play to the crowd. It rewards tax cheats at everyone elses expense. Commissioner John Koskinen estimates that the government loses at least $4 for every $1 cut from the IRS and is losing some $4 billion to $8 billion a year due to inadequate funding. The agencys workforce has contracted by some 17,000 employees in recent years while demands on the agency, from preventing identity theft to enforcing Obamacares individual health-insurance mandate, have expanded. Fewer employees means less enforcement: Last year the agency conducted the fewest audits since 2004 when the U.S. population was about 30 million smaller, the Associated Press notes and its audit rate has declined to a point not seen since 2003. The more the integrity of the tax oversight system comes into doubt, the more tax-day shenanigans people will attempt and the more even honest people will wonder why they bother paying such close attention while less scrupulous people get rewarded. Fewer IRS employees also means worse customer service. Though by some measures service has improved over the past year, it is still far below what it should be. Some callers needing help still have trouble getting through to live people in a reasonable amount of time. I was particularly surprised that at looking at the IRS numbers that the IRS head count has gone down quite dramatically, almost 30 percent over the last number of years, Steven Mnuchin said in his confirmation hearings as treasury secretary. I can assure you that the president-elect understands the concept of where we add people and we make money, he said. Thats a very quick conversation with Donald Trump. It may have been quick, but apparently the logic was not as self-evident as Mr. Mnuchin expected. The country will quite literally pay. 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 There was an unseemly glee on the part of some Trump supporters in the use of the MOAB Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb against a target in Afghanistan. A powerful nation may possess 21,600 pounds of precision-guided death. A great nation uses it only in a spirit of grim necessity. Yet considered along with the 59 cruise missiles thrown at the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria a useful, kinetic statement has been made. The United States will no longer be constrained by President Barack Obamas infinitely varied excuses for inaction (which a rational and determined mind can always find). Nor, apparently, will the nation follow President Trumps incoherent campaign pledge to disengage itself into preeminence, to somehow retreat into greatness. But a Trump Doctrine is still at the lumpy, unwhisked-batter stage of intellectual baking. The United States acts when horrible images of murdered children catch the presidents eye, or when the ordnance employed sends a signal of toughness. This is hardly a turn toward neo-conservatism. But what is it? And how can we know, if Trump, in all probability, does not yet know himself? Uncertainty is not always a bad thing. There should be questions in the minds of foreign powers when they calculate the length of our chief executives fuse. A president should be reliable in providing a proportionate response to aggression and atrocities. He should also be capable of a disproportionate and decisive response, planting a seed of deathly fear in the minds of the United States enemies. (Deterring aggression against Europe during the Cold War, for example, depended on the credible belief that U.S. presidents might be mad enough to use nuclear weapons first if the Soviet tanks began rolling in effectively defending a continent by promising to irradiate it.) [Trumps no populist. Hes a swamp monster.] (Adriana Usero/The Washington Post) The existence of real red lines that North Korea will not have the capability to lob a nuclear missile into Napa Valley, that the Taliban cant control Kabul, that the Islamic State cant be allowed a permanent, territorial home are the essential guides to foreign policy. But a post-Iraq-invasion America better understands how expensive (in a variety of horrible ways) an invasion and occupation can be. So every U.S. president no matter how they campaign will be faced with the necessity and challenge of degrading threats from a distance. This is really the post-Cold War American doctrine, on the order of the Monroe or Truman doctrines: When possible, the United States will preempt and prevent emerging threats by strengthening proxies and projecting power from medium to long range. This is the essence of a high-tech, offshore war against terrorism and other sources of grave harm a policy that not only takes the lessons of Iraq seriously, but also recalls the lessons of 9/11. The problem with the Trump administrations foreign policy as represented in its proposed budget is that it does not fully understand our threats or the meaning of power. The existence of the Islamic State is, indeed, a threat. But terrorism is often parasitic, attaching its agenda to local grievances and attempting to ride its proxies to greater power. So al-Qaeda first tried to take root in Sudan, and then more successfully did so in alliance with the Taliban in Afghanistan. So the Islamic State gathered strength fighting the Assad regime in the ungoverned badlands of eastern Syria before rolling back into Iraq. [Trumps cake and golf presidency] This makes the fate of failed, fragile and lawless states directly and unavoidably relevant to the conduct of the war against terrorism and the defense against other threats. American interests must be defined broadly enough to include things such as the effective delivery of social services in Afghanistan, the surveillance for pandemic disease in rural Tanzania, the construction of classrooms in refugee-stressed Jordan, the settlement of conflict in Libya and the promotion of economic progress in northern Nigeria. Encouraging these outcomes represents another, very real type of American power, exercised from afar (apart from the irenic army of health, development and diplomatic professionals). It is an absurd misnomer to call the exercise of power in these areas soft. The matter is simple: Will the United States merely respond to security threats? Or will it also try to shape the security environments in which threats emerge? This is the context in which the Trump administration is proposing a nearly 29 percent cut in State Department funding for development and diplomacy, for peace-building and conflict prevention. It is not a soft-power budget, explains budget director Mick Mulvaney. This is a hard-power budget. It is really a softheaded, hardhearted budget. If it passed in anything close to current form, no amount of explosive power could undo the stupidity or remedy the harm. Read more from Michael Gersons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook . In January 1970, the organizers of the first Earth Day published a full-page ad in the New York Times. A few months ahead of thousands of demonstrations and teach-ins across the United States, they declared that Earth Day represented a commitment to make life better, to provide real rather than rhetorical solutions, and to challenge the corporate and government leaders who promise change, but who short change the necessary programs. They continued, April 22 seeks a future. Nearly half a century later, the scientific community is once again issuing a call to action. When the world commemorates the 48th Earth Day this weekend, the occasion will be marked by March for Science rallies nationwide and around the globe. At a time when facts and science are under attack, the organizers hope to send a loud and clear message that science is a vital feature of a working democracy. Denouncing policies that threaten to further restrict scientists ability to research and communicate their findings, they warn that we face a possible future where people not only ignore scientific evidence, but seek to eliminate it entirely. One of the most threatening of those policies is in President Trumps budget blueprint: a cut of nearly $6 billion to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). As The Post reported last month, the proposal would slash roughly a fifth of NIHs funding in fiscal year 2018, a seismic disruption in government-funded medical and scientific research. The administration has also proposed a separate $1.2 billion reduction in the remainder of this years NIH funding, along with severe cuts to the National Science Foundation, the Environmental Protection Agency and other programs, to pay for a border wall and higher defense spending. When news of the proposed NIH cuts broke, scientists expressed fear about the far-reaching implications. In addition to biomedical research conducted at NIH headquarters in Maryland, more than 80 percent of the NIH budget is used to fund research at universities and other institutions nationwide. In many cases, NIH grants account for most of a laboratorys funding, and they often drive follow-on contributions from other sources. In 2016, for example, NIH distributed more than $23.5 billion in grants to support research on everything from cancer to Alzheimers to mental health to blindness. (Disclosure: I serve as a trustee of Research to Prevent Blindness, the leading private funder of vision research in the United States.) The budget proposal also breaks with a history of bipartisan support for federally funded science, as The Post reported. Indeed, it was one of the bipartisan triumphs in this countrys history to agree on the importance of scientific research in driving progress. Just last year, despite persistent gridlock in Washington and a divisive presidential campaign, Congress approved an increase in the NIH budget with strong bipartisan support. (Video: Jenny Starrs/Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) And though the Republican Party is clearly guilty of advancing an anti-science agenda, especially when it comes to climate change, it has been encouraging to see members of both parties speak out forcefully about the importance of fully funding the NIH. For example, Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), an influential member of the Appropriations and Budget committees, called the proposed cuts very shortsighted, adding that biomedical research is part of the defense of the country. Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.), a progressive House freshman who represents the district where NIH is headquartered, described slashing the NIH budget as indefensible. Nonetheless, the debate over NIH funding is further evidence of what has been clear for quite some time: Science is now political. In response, scientists are becoming more political, too. The March for Science is merely the most visible manifestation to date of an emerging social movement built on the common-sense principle that scientific findings should inform policy and not the other way around. It will be followed later this month, on Trumps 100th day in office, by the Peoples Climate March. Meanwhile, the recently formed group 314 Action is recruiting and training members of the scientific community to run for Congress, prioritizing races against members of the House Science Committee who are working to advance anti-science policies. While some politicians would have us believe that we cant spare money for scientific research, the opposite is true. We cant afford to defund the vital efforts that could help solve some of our greatest challenges, from cancer to climate change. Those who plan to attend the March for Science who are not just progressives or Democrats but represent an ideologically and culturally diverse movement know that science is for all. They are sending an unequivocal message that while science may have become political, it will never be negotiable. Read more from Katrina vanden Heuvels archive or follow her on Twitter. Neil M. Gorsuch, shown at a Senate confirmation hearing, was an active participant in his first session as a Supreme Court justice. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post) New Justice Neil M. Gorsuch was an active, aggressive and somewhat long-winded questioner in his debut Monday at the Supreme Court, making his presence known during a series of complicated cases about legal procedures. Gorsuch waited barely 10 minutes into the first of three hour-long cases before kicking off what became a long chain of questions. There is no expectation at the high court that new justices are to be seen and not heard, but the 49-year-old rookie seemed to push the envelope a bit. [Neil Gorsuch sworn in as nations 113th Supreme Court justice] Gorsuch asked more questions at his first oral argument 22 than did any of his fellow justices at their first appearances, according to Adam Feldman, a scholar who studies all things empirical about the Supreme Court. Before Monday, Justice Sonia Sotomayor had been the leader with 15 questions. And, according to Feldmans count, Gorsuch was wordier than all of his colleagues during their first time out, save for Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justice Elena Kagan, who had joined the court after representing the government there as its chief lawyer. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post) In short order, Gorsuch showed he could be polite and still deliver a jab reminiscent of the justice he replaced, the late Antonin Scalia. At one point, Christopher Landau, a Washington lawyer representing a former federal worker trying to navigate a complicated law governing grievance procedures, said, Were not asking this court to break any new ground. No, just to continue to make it up, Gorsuch shot back with a grin, indicating he believed previous court decisions had strayed from the text of the law. As Gorsuch first emerged from behind the courts maroon velvet curtains with his colleagues, he seemed to pause for a moment to take in the scene. His silver hair looking recently trimmed, and he wore a dark red tie under his black robe. He shared a laugh with his seatmate, Sotomayor, and sat ramrod straight in his high-backed chair all the way to Robertss left. He rarely stopped smiling. At the start of the days proceedings, the chief justice welcomed Gorsuch, nominated by President Trump to fill the seat left vacant by Scalias death in February 2016. Senate Republicans had refused to hold hearings for President Barack Obamas nominee for the seat, Judge Merrick Garland. Gorsuch returns the court to its previous composition of five generally conservative Republican-nominated justices and four consistent liberals nominated by Democrats. [President Trump made his choice, but its still Kennedys court] Justice Gorsuch, we wish you a long and happy career in our common calling, Roberts said. Gorsuch responded: Thank you very much, chief justice, and thank you to each of my new colleagues for the very warm welcome Ive received this last week. I appreciate it greatly. Gorsuch skipped last weeks private conference, where justices consider which cases to accept and reject, so he could bone up on the cases the court is hearing this week and next, its last oral arguments of the current term, which ends in June. The second case of the day, Town of Chester, N.Y., v. Laroe Estates, was another complicated matter involving when a development company can intervene in a lawsuit brought by a landowner against a local government. Like a front-row law student, Gorsuch flaunted the details. Thats his complaint, page 122 of the Joint Appendix, he told Washington lawyer Shay Dvoretzky, who represented Laroe. Your client, page 162, wants damages for itself. Gorsuch was confident and seemed not the least bit self-conscious as he questioned attorneys. He stressed, as he had at his confirmation hearings, that the text of the law would matter more to him than whether it resulted in outcomes that might not be what Congress had intended. Wouldnt it be a lot easier if we just followed the plain text of the statute? he asked Brian H. Fletcher, the Justice Department lawyer representing the government in the civil service case Perry v. Merit Systems Protection Board. What am I missing? His new colleagues partly provided the answer. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. said the case was unbelievably complicated and drew laughter from the courtroom spectators when he speculated that the person who wrote the law must be somebody who takes pleasure out of pulling the wings off flies. Alito added; The one thing about this case that seems perfectly clear to me is that nobody who is not a lawyer, and no ordinary lawyer, could read these statutes and figure out what they are supposed to do. One lawyer Gorsuch listened to but did not question was the attorney representing the town of Chester, Neal K. Katyal, a former acting solicitor general in the Obama administration. Katyal, who has an active practice before the Supreme Court, testified on Gorsuchs behalf at the judges Senate confirmation hearing and was frequently invoked by Gorsuchs supporters because of a New York Times op-ed he wrote titled Why Liberals Should Back Neil Gorsuch. [Lawyer introducing Gorsuch at hearing is suing Trump over travel ban] Some were watching to see if Gorsuch might recuse himself; he had routinely done so as a member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit when his former law firm had a case there or a controversy involved someone he knew. But in the appeals courts, another judge can take the place of a recused colleague. There can be no replacement at the Supreme Court. And justices routinely hear cases involving lawyers with whom they once worked or are friends. Katyal, for instance, was deputy solicitor general when Kagan ran the office under Obama. Gorsuch at times seemed sensitive about asking so many questions on his first outing. Im sorry for taking up so much time, I apologize, he said. My last question. But it wasnt. The Supreme Court indicated Tuesday that the federal government does not have the wide power it claims in pursuing the ill-gotten profits of fraudulent behavior. Justices across the board were at least skeptical of the Securities and Exchange Commissions claim that it is not bound by a five-year statute of limitations when it seeks disgorgement, or the return of profits made from illegal behavior. It is a popular tool for SEC lawyers, who took in more than $3 billion in disgorgement payments in 2015. Some was returned to victims, and some went in the federal treasury. Adam Unikowsky, a Washington lawyer representing Charles R. Kokesh, who has been convicted of federal securities fraud, said the government was claiming an open-ended ability to impose punishments. This latitude, Unikowsky said, even exceeds that for punishing terrible violent crimes. It seeks enforcement actions based on conduct dating back forever, with no statute of limitations at all, he said. He seemed to find a receptive audience, notably Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Roberts quoted a predecessor, Chief Justice John Marshall, as saying it was utterly repugnant to the genius of our laws to have a penalty remedy without limit. Marshall was talking about a statute of limitations, Roberts said. The concern, it seems to me, is multiplied when its not only no limitation but its something that the government kind of devised on its own, he said. Justice Department lawyer Elaine J. Goldenberg, representing the SEC, disputed Robertss premise. Disgorgement is not a penalty, she said. It remedies unjust enrichment and just takes the person back to where they would have been had they not acted illegally. Kokesh is a Santa Fe, N.M., businessman who was convicted of misappropriating money from four investment companies he controlled from 1995 through 2006 and using the proceeds for a lavish lifestyle. A judge in 2015 ordered him to pay a $2.4 million civil penalty. But because the SEC has interpreted disgorgement to have no time restraint, the judge said Kokesh must also pay $35 million, the calculated amount of illegal profits dating back to the initiation of his illegal behavior. Federal law establishes a five-year statute of limitations on enforcement of any civil fine, penalty or forfeiture. But that does not apply to disgorgements, the SEC says. Federal courts are split on that question. If the five-year limit applies, Kokeshs disgorgement would be reduced to about $5 million. Unikowsky said it was clear that the disgorgements were the same as a forfeiture a turning over of ill-gotten gains so the limitation applies. He received some pushback from Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ginsburg noted that the SEC has been pursuing disgorgements for decades, so Congress could have intervened if it thought the agency was doing something wrong. But Unikowsky said it was only relatively recently that the commission had pursued profits from beyond the five-year limit. And when Goldenberg rose to defend the agency, Ginsburg said there was kind of an unreality to the governments argument in this case, since Kokeshs fine was relatively small compared with the amount of disgorgement. The newest justice, Neil M. Gorsuch, noted there was no law governing disgorgements, only the SECs regulations. Gorsuch, as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit, expressed alarm about a growing administrative state and seemed to signal a belief that this was another example of an agency operating without congressional directive. Were just making it up, he said. Goldenberg noted that it is not up to the SEC what wrongdoers pay. Judges decide the amounts and where the money goes, she said. But Roberts said that was not enough. It does seem to me that we kind of have a special obligation to be concerned about how far back the government can go when its something that Congress did not address because it did not specify the remedy, he said. The case is Kokesh v. SEC. Two new plaintiffs an association of restaurants and restaurant workers, and a woman who books banquet halls for two D.C. hotels plan to join a lawsuit alleging that President Trump has violated the Constitutions emoluments clause because his hotels and restaurants do business with foreign governments. The new plaintiffs will be added to the case on Tuesday morning, according to a spokesman for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a D.C.-based watchdog group. CREW had originally filed suit against Trump in federal court in January, alleging that by continuing to own his business, which rents out hotel rooms and meeting spaces to other governments Trump had violated the constitutional provision that bans emoluments from foreign powers. [Could lawsuits force Trump to give up his businesses?] Legal experts had said that the case faced a serious hurdle: It wasnt clear that the watchdog group actually had standing to sue in the first place. What harm had it suffered, specifically, because of Trumps actions? (Jenny Starrs/The Washington Post) The new plaintiffs are intended to offer an alternative answer to that question. Both say that, as direct competitors of Trumps restaurants and hotels, they may lose foreign clients, who may book with Trump properties to curry favor with the president. Its damage to our members, both employers bottom lines, and workers loss of income and tips, said Saru Jayaraman, co-director of Restaurant Opportunities Centers United. That group a nonprofit association that says its members include more than 25,000 restaurant workers, 200-plus restaurants and thousands of people who eat in restaurants trains restaurant workers and advocates for higher wages. The association was one of two plaintiffs added to the lawsuit Tuesday. Jayaraman could not cite a specific instance in which a member of the group had lost a client to a Trump business. But she said the potential for such a development is clear. Its not a free market, or a free country, when foreign governments feel like they have to eat and patronize Trump hotels and restaurants because hes the president of the United States, Jayaraman said. I mean, thats why the emoluments clause was written. The other new plaintiff is Jill Phaneuf, who works for a hospitality company, booking events for two Washington hotels: the Carlyle Hotel near Dupont Circle and the Glover Park Hotel on Wisconsin Avenue NW. The two hotels themselves are not joining the lawsuit, the watchdog group said. Jordan Libowitz, a CREW spokesman, said that Phaneuf is a contractor who is paid on commissions that are tied to the gross receipts of the events she books. She joined the suit as an individual. I joined this lawsuit because the president is taking business away from me and others with unfair business practices that violate the Constitution, Phaneuf said in a written statement. She declined to comment when asked if she could cite an example where a Trump hotel had taken her business away. When The Washington Post asked the White House for comment, a spokeswoman directed the question to the Trump Organization. A Trump Organization spokeswoman said she could not comment before she had seen a copy of the new filing. The aim of the lawsuit is the same as before. The plaintiffs ask U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams in New York to order Trump to stop violating the emoluments clause, and to release financial records to prove it. The Constitution says that no person holding a federal office shall accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State. It was inspired by fears that early American ambassadors might be corrupted by gifts from the countries where they were serving. The plaintiffs in this case say that, by the same logic, Trumps loyalties might be bent by foreign governments paying for the hotel rooms and office space he owns. This is MOAC. The mother of all conflicts, said Norm Eisen, a former ethics official in the Obama administration and a board member of CREW. This is the one thing that we have in our power to do to stop it, he said. In the past, Trumps attorneys have said that the term emolument should not apply to transactions where foreign governments pay market rates for hotel rooms or banquet halls. Backers of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte take part in a protest rally against Vice President Leni Robredo in Manila on April 2 after reports surfaced that a video of her apparently criticizing the Duterte governments drug war had been sent to the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs. (Mark R. Cristino/European Pressphoto Agency) Justin Quirino is a 28-year-old radio disc jockey and events host who is active in Manilas hip cultural scene. He abhors violence and says more of his countrys wealth and opportunities should flow to the poor. And he considers himself a supporter of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte. Hes far from perfect, Quirino said, sitting in a Manila Starbucks. But I think hes what the country needs right now. Quirino holds a business degree and speaks perfect English, so he knows that recent international coverage of the Philippines has focused on the thousands killed in the war on drugs that Duterte launched after taking office last year. It really hits a nerve when I hear about those deaths. Its painful. But I think that violence of that kind is unfortunately inevitable when theres a struggle for power, especially when drug gangs are involved, he said. Around this country, youll find a blatant disregard of many of our laws, and theres little to no accountability. We have to change that. [Philippine justice minister: Deadly drug war not crime against humanity because drug users not humanity] Duterte greets supporters in Quezon City, north of Manila, in February 2016 during his campaign for the presidency. He was elected in May. (Aaron Favila/AP) Despite international allegations of mass extrajudicial executions and an outcry against the recent imprisonment of a political rival, polls indicate that Duterte still has the majority of the country behind him. That support can often be found in unexpected places, from the well-heeled elite circles that the unapologetically populist president attacks so aggressively to poor neighborhoods experiencing violence firsthand. A lot of support for Duterte is just as much about rejecting what came before him as it is about the man and the policies, said Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform in Manila. Two particularly important Duterte voting blocs, he said, were people from the large southern island of Mindanao, which had never produced a prominent national politician, and Filipinos working abroad, many of whom worry that their children back home could get mixed up with drugs or gangs. His victory was won out of frustrations, not only with the last president but with the last 30 years of politics, Casiple said. Some supporters blame the killings on drug gangs themselves rather than the police. Others accuse the elite-controlled mainstream media and the political opposition of exaggerating the violence so they can regain power from Duterte, who hails from outside the traditional Manila circles that ran the country for decades. Some frown and say they dont know much about the killings, while others are active in the online pro-Duterte groups that work to rebut accusations against the president. [Gallery: Heart-wrenching scenes from the Philippines drug war] They arent really EJKs, said Janina Boncales, a 25-year-old food attendant in the city of Cebu, using an abbreviation for extrajudicial killings. Its the narcos who are killing their own people, she said. She added that she believes that killings also took place under the previous administration of Benigno Aquino but that mainstream media here did not report them. Because of the large number of Filipinos who live abroad, social-media campaigns have been essential to building and maintaining Dutertes support, experts say. On Facebook, Boncales recently shared an English-language YouTube video titled Dear International Community: What makes Leila de Lima special? a defense of the February arrest of the senator and Duterte critic on charges that she was involved with the drug trade. A recent European Union resolution expressed concern that the charges against de Lima are almost entirely fabricated. The video was uploaded by Sass Rogando Sasot, a Filipina in graduate school in the Netherlands who has become a leading pro-Duterte voice online. Insisting on an email interview on the grounds that she suspected international media might twist her words, she said she adheres to the liberal values of equality and freedom and came around to supporting Duterte last year because of his leadership and crisis-management skills. She also contends that the Philippines will benefit from his less antagonistic approach to China. [Duterte plays a winning hand with foreign policy, but will his luck run out?] Duterte is that kind of leader who doesnt really give a s--- about what other people think about him, she said. My support for him is not about defending him per se but about explaining and making people understand his actions, policies and decisions. A transgender woman and longtime activist in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, she rejects assertions that Duterte is anti-LGBT. As long ago as 2001, in Mindanaos Davao City, she recalled, she was surprised to see how advanced local LGBT organizations were, and she credits Dutertes longtime leadership there. Thats why when Duterte was painted as an anti-LGBT candidate, I was really vocal about refuting that. Duterte has appointed several LGBT people to government positions, most notably Aiza Seguerra, who chairs the National Youth Commission. In Davao City, Duterte spearheaded passage of an anti-discrimination ordinance in 2012, when he was serving as vice mayor. Off the record, some other Duterte supporters might even acknowledge taking drugs from time to time. Maybe a puff of marijuana with friends or ecstasy at an international dance-music show. But not the methamphetamine product known here as shabu. Shabu is like the cancer of our society, said Nick, who asked that his last name not be used, because his work brings him in contact with police and drug dealers, both of whom he fears. His brother is in jail for a drug-related crime, and associates have disappeared. He worries they have been killed or have fled to avoid being hunted down. He supports Duterte. To be honest, I like whats happening right now, he said. We feel safer. International analysts note that meth use here is probably not much greater than in countries such as Australia or the United States. But studies have shown that historically, when faith in public institutions is lacking, extrajudicial violence can come to be seen as a solution. We have all the ingredients usually required to garner support for populism or extreme measures, said Carlos H. Conde, a researcher with Human Rights Watch in the Philippines. There are decades of political dysfunction going back to the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship. We have corruption at every level, we have disenchantment with our institutions, poverty is widespread, and crime is rampant. Its almost a textbook case. The organization says the recent spike in violence is clearly linked to Dutertes policies and rhetoric, and it is requesting a full investigation by the United Nations. Conde added, however, that in countries where death squads or extrajudicial killings have been used to combat drug gangs, such as in Latin America, we know that its not effective in the long term. At a karaoke bar on a run-down street in the Manila neighborhood of Pasay, where a number of killings have taken place in recent months, Richie Macalisang said he disagreed. Criminals are using human rights groups as a shield, said the 39-year-old sailor, who was drinking and singing, waiting for his ship to leave soon for the United States, and wearing a red, white and blue bracelet with Dutertes name on it. They were given fair warning, and if they want to avoid violence, they can just turn themselves in. Read more: Duterte: Hitler killed millions of Jews, I will kill millions of drug addicts False prophet: Duterte, the Catholic Church and the fight for the soul of the Philippines Duterte orders troops to disputed South China Sea in possible new rift with Beijing Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news British Prime Minister Theresa May shocked her country Tuesday with an unexpected call for June elections, a gamble aimed at increasing her political power at home and enhancing her leverage in Brussels for the high-wire Brexit negotiations. The move amounted to an ambush of Britains weak and fractious opposition, giving them just seven weeks to prepare for a vote that had not been due for three more years. Brexit brought May to power; her predecessor, David Cameron, resigned after the humbling defeat of his pro-European Union side in last Junes referendum on whether to leave the trading bloc. If May emerges strengthened from the snap election as opinion polls currently suggest she will have greater clout as Britain goes into the complex talks with the remaining 27 E.U. nations, which appear in no mood to offer generous farewell concessions to Britain. [Theresa Mays element of surprise] (The Washington Post) But if anti-Brexit voices do well in the polls, May could be forced to soften her demands that Europe provide favorable conditions for the split. No matter how the vote swings, the election campaign is certain to reopen some of the wounds from last years referendum, as voters are once again asked to consider what kind of future they envision for Britain after its E.U. break. I have concluded the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I have to make, said May, who last month submitted Britains formal request to begin E.U. exit negotiations. [Britains snap elections wont reverse Brexit. Heres why.] May has consolidated power within the Conservative Party. But the lack of her own popular mandate has threatened to become a liability as Britain begins to reckon with the inevitable trade-offs that will come with the Brexit talks. In the election announcement, May argued that her political opponents from the independence-minded Scots to pro-E.U. factions in Parliament are undermining Britains negotiating position with the European Union. At the same time, some hard-liners in her own Conservative Party are calling for a dirty Brexit, in which Britain could walk away from the negotiating table without any deals with the European Union. May is also sensing political opportunity. Her Conservative Party has a narrow majority in Parliament but has opened up a 20-point lead over the opposition Labour Party in recent polls. While May had promised not to call an early election, her allies have been pushing her to break that vow. [The Brexit road map] The Labour Party has been at war with itself since the far-left Jeremy Corbyn became leader in September 2015. A recent poll showed that, in a head-to-head matchup between May and Corbyn, not even a majority of Labour voters would want Corbyn as their prime minister. Corbyn, however, welcomed the snap election as giving the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first. [Not another one! Vote-weary Britons greet election news. ] Other parties are similarly weakened. The far-right U.K. Independence Party has lost its charismatic leader, Nigel Farage, while its central message that Britain needs to get out of the E.U. has been co-opted by May. The centrist Liberal Democrats were all but wiped out in the 2015 election, though they will hope to rally the Brexit referendums remain voters around their unapologetically pro-Europe stance. May planned to seek Parliaments backing Wednesday for the June 8 election. We need a general election, and we need one now, May said, because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin. One reason so many were stunned by the move is that May had repeatedly ruled out an early election, and she has staked her reputation on doing what she says. The next election was scheduled for 2020. May said that she had recently and reluctantly decided that a snap election was the only way to guarantee stability and to stop the game-playing in Westminster. She cited several examples of what she called division in Parliament, including the Labour Partys threat to vote against the final deal negotiated with the European Union. [In Brexit capital, Labours struggles on display] Tim Farron, leader of the pro-Europe Liberal Democrat Party, said the election offered an opportunity to urge May to take a more conciliatory line in the E.U. talks. Some critics worry that Britain could lose important trade and other links to Europe by pushing for what May has called a full break from the E.U. There are also concerns over the estimated 3 million E.U. citizens working and living in Britain and the more than 1 million Britons residing across Europe. May said she would seek to preserve their rights. If you want to avoid a disastrous hard Brexit. If you want to keep Britain in the single market. If you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance. Only the Liberal Democrats can prevent a Conservative majority, Farron said in a statement. The E.U. bureaucracy, however, has shown little interest in giving Britain an easy landing as it seeks to leave the bloc. E.U. officials are still smarting from Britains vote and worried that generous concessions could encourage other E.U. breakaway bids around Europe. European Council President Donald Tusk, a powerful voice in the Brexit talks, summed up the surprise many in Europe felt at Mays announcement. It was Hitchcock who directed Brexit: first an earthquake and the tension rises, Tusk wrote on Twitter. Although Britain as a whole voted 52 to 48 percent in favor of leaving the European Union, majorities in both Scotland and Northern Ireland favored staying. Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon has charged that Scotlands voters are being taken out of the bloc against their will. And she said last month that she wants a referendum on independence a rerun of a September 2014 vote, in which a majority of Scottish voters opted to stay in the United Kingdom between the autumn of 2018 and the spring of 2019. May has repeatedly said that now is not the time for a Scottish vote. But she has not threatened to veto another referendum. Moments after Tuesdays election call, Sturgeon described it as an attempt by May to move the Conservative Party to the right and force through a hard Brexit and impose deeper cuts. Lets stand up for Scotland, Sturgeon wrote on Twitter. Witte reported from Paris and Murphy from Washington. Michael Birnbaum in Brussels contributed to this report. Read more: As Brexit reshapes Britain, it does the same to Europe In Shakespeares home town, a house divided Cue the British nostalgia Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson transits the Sunda Strait between the Indonesian Islands of Java and Sumatra on April 15, 2017, after the U.S. Navy announced it had sent a carrier-led strike group to the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against North Korea's "reckless" nuclear weapons program. (Mc2 Sean M. Castellano/AFP/Getty Images) As tensions mounted on the Korean Peninsula, Adm. Harry Harris made a dramatic announcement: An aircraft carrier had been ordered to sail north from Singapore on April 8 toward the Western Pacific. A spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Command, which Harris heads, linked the deployment directly to the number one threat in the region, North Korea, and its reckless, irresponsible and destabilizing program of missile tests and pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters on April 11 that the Carl Vinson was on her way up there. Asked about the deployment in an interview with Fox Business Network that aired April 12, President Trump said: We are sending an armada, very powerful. U.S. media went into overdrive, and Fox reported on April 14 that the armada was steaming toward North Korea. But pictures posted by the U.S. Navy suggest thats not quite the case or at least not yet. [Trumps missing armada finally heading to Korea] A photograph released by the Navy showed the aircraft carrier sailing through the calm waters of Sunda Strait between the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java on Saturday, April 15. By later in the day, it was in the Indian Ocean, according to Navy photographs. In other words, on the same day that the world nervously watched North Korea stage a massive military parade to celebrate the birthday of the nations founder, Kim Il Sung, and the press speculated about a preemptive U.S. strike, the U.S. Navy put the Carl Vinson, together with its escort of two guided-missile destroyers and a cruiser, more than 3,000 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula and more than 500 miles southeast of Singapore. Instead of steaming toward the Korea Peninsula, the carrier strike group was actually headed in the opposite direction to take part in scheduled exercises with Australian forces in the Indian Ocean, according to Defense News, which first reported the story. Neither the Pacific Command nor the Pacific Fleet responded immediately to requests for comment. On Monday, Cmdr. Clayton Doss, a Pacific Fleet spokesman, said only that the USS Carl Vinson and its escorts were transiting the Western Pacific. He declined to give a more precise location except to rule out the waters around South Korea or Japan. The presence of the U.S. carrier strike group, and the threat of a U.S. military strike on North Korea, had weighed heavily on Chinese minds and in the media here. Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that storm clouds were gathering and the risk of conflict rising. The news that the ships were not where everyone assumed them to be was greeted with some glee in the Chinese media Tuesday. Tricked badly! the Global Times exulted on its social media account. None of the U.S. aircraft carriers that South Korea is desperately waiting for has come! Was it all a misunderstanding, or deliberate obfuscation? Cai Jian, an expert from the Center for Korean Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said the whole episode was part of an elaborate game of psychological warfare or bluffing by the United States. He argued that Washington never really intended to launch a military strike on North Korea right now. At the peak of the standoff, psychological warfare is very important, he said. Ross Babbage, a nonresident senior fellow at the Center for Strategic Budgetary Assessments, a Washington-based think tank that focuses on the military, said the move may be military signaling by the United States. Its more than a bluff, he said. A bluff suggests youre not serious. My understanding is that this U.S. administration is dead serious. Its been 40 years of trying to get the North Koreans to back away from the nuclear weapons. Babbage said it was also possible that the Trump administration had decided to give China a little time to put its own pressure on North Korea before sending the carrier strike group north. Trump met his Chinese counterpart, President Xi Jinping, on April 6 and 7 and spoke by phone with him on April 11, and may have wanted to give the Chinese some breathing space to before rattling the bars, Babbage said. Nor should the aircraft carriers presence, alone, be given too much weight, he added, since any early strikes on North Korea would likely have been carried out by long-range aircraft. Mattis said the U.S. administration was working closely with China to address the issue of North Koreas nuclear program. Youre aware that the leader of North Korea again recklessly tried to provoke something by launching a missile, Mattis told reporters Tuesday on his way to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It shows why were working so closely right now with the Chinese coming out of the Mar-a-Lago meeting . . . to try to get this under control and to aim for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula that China and the United States, South Korea and Japan all share that same interest in. While the belief that the Carl Vinson was heading toward Korea was reported as fact by media outlets around the world, there were hints it was perhaps not steaming there as fast as many supposed. On April 11, U.S. Naval Institute News reported that although the carrier had canceled port calls in Australia, it had not scrubbed training events to move faster toward the Korean Peninsula, and would still take more than a week to enter waters near Korea a point that was lost amid heated talk of war. Other photographs released by the Navy showed the Carl Vinson in the South China Sea from April 12 to 14. In any case, the carrier strike force may indeed be finally heading north now. The Korea Herald reported Monday that the Carl Vinson is due to arrive in South Koreas eastern waters on April 25, in time for another important date on the North Korean calendar: the anniversary of the armys founding. Quoting unnamed South Korean officials, the Herald said the strike group will join the South Korean Navy in a massive maritime drill designed to counter provocation from the North. CNN also cited U.S. defense officials as saying the aircraft carrier would arrive off the Korean Peninsula at the end of April. Luna Lin in Beijing, Dan Lamothe in Washington, Thomas Gibbons-Neff in Riyadh and Anna Fifield in Tokyo contributed to this report. Read more U.S. Navy sends strike group toward Korean Peninsula Chinas Xi calls Trump, urges peaceful approach to North Korea Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Supporters of French far-right candidate Marine Le Pen take down a poster after a campaign rally in the rural town of La Bazoche-Gouet, France, on April 3, 2017. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post) For some, the French presidential election will alter the course of a troubled nation steeped in economic and social turmoil. For others, it will alter the course of a troubled continent, challenging the very existence of European integration. But in France itself, something far less abstract and far more intimate is at stake. In a country that remains under an official state of emergency following an unprecedented spate of terrorist violence in the past two years, the election also has become a referendum on Muslims and their place in what is probably Europes most anxious multicultural society. Before the elections first round of voting Sunday, each of the five leading contenders from across the ideological spectrum has felt compelled to address an apparently pressing Muslim question about what to do with the countrys largest religious minority. Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front, has made her answer crystal clear. In February, in the same speech in which she declared her candidacy for president, she decried Islamist globalization, which she called an ideology that wants to bring France to its knees. While Le Pens diverse array of opponents do not all share her extremity or conviction, each seems to agree that, when it comes to Muslims, something needs to be done. I want strict administrative control of the Muslim faith, announced Francois Fillon, the now-disgraced mainstream conservative candidate, in a January campaign speech. By contrast, Emmanuel Macron, the popular independent candidate, has spoken frequently of what he considers the urgent need to help Muslims restructure the Islam of France. The far-left Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has condemned Islamophobia, ultimately wants to stamp out all communitarianisms and has reiterated what he calls the urgent need to put an end to the misappropriation of public funds attributed to private denominational education. Only Benoit Hamon, the Socialist candidate, has regularly defended the community interests of French Muslims, insisting in the year of the burkini scandal that French law protect both the girl in shorts and the one who wants to wear the scarf. [School shooting, letter bomb at IMF put France on alert] With many of the devastating terrorist attacks perpetrated by French or European passport-holding militants affiliated with or inspired by the Islamic State, public opinion has grown increasingly suspicious of the Muslim population that has existed in this country for centuries. Despite the intricate diversity of that population, there is widespread anxiety that if either Le Pen or Fillon is elected, things could get significantly worse. Both candidates probably would move quickly to advance crackdowns on veils, mosques and Muslim community organizations in the name of state secularism. The alternatives also leave a profound sense of bitter resignation: Few French Muslims see a candidate in the running who would change a status quo that many view as unsustainable. There is no campaign for us no one who understands our situation, said Laorla Loub, 56, a fifth-generation French citizen and professor of Arabic literature in Clichy, a Paris suburb. She was waiting to enter the Annual Meeting of French Muslims, a large-scale community event held in several warehouses next to the tarmac of Paris-Le Bourget Airport. As a result, voter abstention among French Muslims is rising, said Hakim El Karoui, the author of a widely circulated 2016 report on Islam in France published by the Institut Montaigne, a Paris-based think tank. [E.U. court says employers can ban Muslim headscarf in workplace] A principal reason, he said, is that the strict anti-terrorist stance adopted by the Socialist administration of President Francois Hollande especially by his former prime minister, Manuel Valls, who famously persecuted the burkini last summer has undercut the desire among French Muslims to support the left in the 2017 election, as many normally do. The right has always been against Muslims and immigrants, El Karoui said. But with Valls, its as if he gave up the lefts image of neutrality among Muslims. He gave it a toxic name. Chief among the concerns many Muslims harbor is over the so-called state of emergency, a security regime imposed by Hollande the day after the November 2015 Paris attacks, nominally to fight terrorism. The period of heightened scrutiny technically is slated to end this summer, but it already has continued for more than 16 months. Only one of the candidates Melenchon has proposed ending it. Since its imposition, French authorities have been permitted to carry out upward of 4,000 warrantless searches on French homes, and likewise have placed more than 700 people under house arrest. But many Muslims say they have been targeted unlawfully. According to Frances Collective Against Islamophobia (in French, CCIF), an advocacy organization committed to fighting discrimination, more than 400 French Muslims reported having their homes searched for no clear reason in 2016. Approximately 100 of those also were placed under house arrest, while nearly 30 were asked to leave the country. For some, the consequences have been dire. On December 3, 2015, for example, Drissia a Muslim resident of the French Alps who declined to give her last name for fear of professional reprisal sat up in bed at 4:30 a.m. to the sound of 10 French police officers banging on her door, three wearing face masks. They searched her apartment until 6 a.m., she said, telling her and her 7-year-old daughter that everything was fine. But it was only the beginning of the nightmare, she said, recounting how six days later she was fired from her job after 15 years as a traffic security regulator. The reason, she later learned through her lawyer, came from the regional prefect, who, in Drissias telling, had confidential information proving that some of my close relatives were a threat to the security and staff of the Mont Blanc transit authority. I had no idea who those close relatives were, she said. She ultimately won her appeal in court, but her legal exoneration did little to overturn the harsh sentence she received in the court of public opinion. Ive read horrible and hurtful things in the press about myself, she said. One headline was, The ATMB fired a radicalized employee, a reference to her employer. [A mosque is at the center of a raw debate in the South of France] As central as French Muslims have become to the presidential campaign, they have rarely been included in the frequent debates among the non-Muslim candidates vying to be their president about how they should interpret their faith and live their lives. If they are focal points of public discourse, they are also somehow absent from public view and, some say, entirely unknown. When presidential candidates pitch ideas such as university training programs in the values of the Republic for imams as Emmanuel Macron did recently many bristle at the suggestion that these are somehow values they do not already know. Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed, 40, is an openly gay imam and the founder of Europes first LGBT-inclusive mosque, which he runs weekly in a rented room in Marseille, the sprawling metropolis on Frances Mediterranean coast. If you think its not possible to be both of those things, then good for you, he said of the apparent separation between French and Muslim identities. But I have never felt the need to convince you otherwise. Much the same is true across the ideological spectrum. When Marine Le Pen says that imams should be preaching in French, shes right thats normal. This is France, said Farid Ait-Ouarab, a senior leader of Muslim Scouts of France, a youth organization that strives to teach young Muslims how to reconcile their faith with the values of the French republic. Islam is about doing things together in a circle, by consensus, Ait-Ouarab said. We see exactly that in the National Assembly, in the Senate, where deputies gather to decide our laws in tandem, together. For a real Muslim, there is no difference between French and Muslim. People talk about Muslims as if we are all the same person, one single person, said Asma Bougnaoui, 31, who was fired in 2009 for wearing a headscarf to her job as a design engineer at Micropole, a French IT consultancy. Theres absolutely no recognition of the diversity. Who are French Muslims? she said recently, sitting in a cafe in Pariss Gare de Lyon. What are we? Cleophee Demoustier contributed to this report. Read more: France asks, can an anti-Semitic tweet ever be considered a mockery of anti-Semitism? Man attacks French soldier with knife near the Louvre; prime minister calls it terrorist in nature Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Congressional critics of the Department of Homeland Security should shut up and assume the agency is acting appropriately and following the law, the agencys chief said in a combative public speech Tuesday. If lawmakers do not like the laws theyve passed and we are charged to enforce, then they should have the courage and skill to change the laws, Secretary John F. Kelly said. Otherwise they should shut up and support the men and women on the front lines. Speaking at George Washington University, Kelly laid out the threats facing the United States from international criminal networks to homegrown terrorists. Several times in the speech, he took on critics of the agency, following months of complaints from Congress, civil rights groups and protesters that DHS is targeting Muslim travelers for unfair scrutiny. Kellys first days in office have been dominated by the legal and political fights over President Trumps executive order barring visitors from about a half dozen majority-Muslim countries, and the administrations effort to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants. After the first travel-ban executive order was declared unlawful by an appeals court, a second version is on hold, pending a ruling from another appellate court. [Revised Trump order bans travelers from six Muslim-majority nations] The problem, Kelly said, is not the practices of the federal agents enforcing immigration laws, but the political games that have been played around such issues. For too long, the men and women of my department have been political pawns, he said. My people have been discouraged from doing their jobs for nearly a decade, disabled by pointless bureaucracy and political meddling, and suffered disrespect and contempt by public officials who have no idea what it means to serve. Kelly, a retired Marine general, said criticism of the agencys work is often misguided and based on inaccurate reporting. Lawmakers, politicians and advocacy groups may hear a partial or inaccurate media report and assume the men and women of DHS are intentionally abusing innocent individuals while breaking or ignoring U.S. laws or court orders, instead of assuming as they should that the men and women of DHS are carrying out their assigned mission in accordance with the law. Theres always, always, always more to the story, he said. Congressional Democrats complained last month that Kelly has been dismissive of their concerns. This is not boot camp, Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) said after a contentious private meeting with Kelly. This is not newly inducted members of the Marine Corps. These are experienced lawmakers who understand the law. [Kelly, House Democrats face off at first meeting] On Tuesday, Kelly framed his remarks as seeking to repair the morale problems that have plagued DHS for years. The worst morale, Im told, is in this department, he said, adding that the mood inside DHS already is changing for the better. Kelly also alluded to a recent decision to ban portable computer devices, such as laptops and tablets, from the passenger cabins of planes coming from 10 airports in the Middle East and Africa. He hinted that such restrictions could grow. We have taken some decisions about that that we will likely expand, he said. He did not say how or when such changes might happen. That restriction, which was put in place a month ago, was based on intelligence reports indicating further effort by terrorists to develop homemade explosives that could be hidden in electronics and then manually detonated aboard a plane, according to people familiar with the matter. [Trump administration moves quickly to build deportation force] Kelly also indicated that his agency is reviewing how the United States admits visitors from Europe and other members of the Visa Waiver Program. Under that program, visitors from 20 nations do not need a visa, or the screening that goes with a visa, to enter the United States. We have to start looking very hard at that program not eliminating it, but looking very hard at it, he said. Of paramount concern to U.S. security officials has been the thousands of European citizens thought to have traveled to Syria to join terrorist groups. As more of those people return to their home countries in Europe, they could then travel to the United States. The United States is the Super Bowl, in terms of terrorists, and thats what they want to do, and thats where they want to come, Kelly said. President Trump called to congratulate Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday after a referendum greatly expanding his powers, despite a more circumspect State Department response to Sundays vote, which international election observers declared unfair. According to accounts by both Trump and Erdogan, the two also discussed the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base in response to the April 4 chemical weapons attack on civilians in Idlib province. Trump thanked Erdogan for Turkeys support of the retaliatory action. The leaders agreed that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad should be held accountable for the chemical attack that killed at least 70 people, and they talked about the ongoing campaign to counter the Islamic State. Trumps comments differed in tone from those of the State Department, which urged Turkey to respect the basic rights of its citizens and noted the election irregularities witnessed by monitors with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The United States is a member of the OSCE. [Turkish president defends victory in referendum amid criticism from opposition, election observers] We look to the government of Turkey to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all its citizens, said the departments acting spokesman, Mark Toner, noting the objections of the Turkish opposition and the monitors. The United States remains committed to strengthening our bilateral relationship, he added. The United States continues to support Turkeys democratic development, to which commitment to the rule of law and a diverse and free media remain essential. White House press secretary Sean Spicer earlier told reporters that the administration would not comment on the referendum until the final report of election observers is complete sometime next week. Before we start getting into their government system, let this commission get through its work, he said. The juxtaposition of the differing responses underscored the awkward situation faced by many U.S. and European officials in responding to the disputed results of the referendum, which changed Turkey from a parliamentary democracy to one led by an executive president with strong central powers. It passed by a slim margin, 51.3 percent to 48.7 percent. OSCE observers said the campaign did not meet international standards for democracies, noting that virtually all Turkish media failed to cover the opposition, creating an uneven playing field. Erdogan lashed out in response at what he called a Crusader mentality in the West. Both the U.S. and E.U. are in a bind, said Michael Werz, a Turkey analyst with the Center for American Progress. They can either [disagree with] the OSCE findings, or they can say the truth: It was not a free and fair election. Turkey remains a key ally in the campaign against the Islamic State and as the host for millions of Syrian refugees. The United States flies bombing missions over Syria from Turkeys Incirlik Air Base, and almost 3 million Syrians are registered as refugees in Turkey, more than in any other country. The E.U. has sought Turkeys help in stanching the westward flow of refugees. Since a failed coup last July, Turkey has been under a state of emergency and basic freedoms have been eroded, according to human rights groups. For example, Turkey has imprisoned more journalists than any other country has previously, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. [Inside a nervous Turkish newsroom as the government closes in] But Turkeys strategic importance means that the referendum, even if voting irregularities are proved, is unlikely to affect U.S. policy. I dont think the administration will be concerned about problems with Turkish democracy, said Gonul Tol, head of the Middle East Institutes Center for Turkish Studies. From the get-go, they made it clear they will work with U.S. allies on U.S. national security concerns. But aside from that, they wont interfere in a countrys domestic matters. But Aykan Erdemir, a former member of the Turkish parliament who is an analyst with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said suspicions that the referendum was rigged and still produced only a razor-thin victory create a legitimacy crisis for Erdogan and his allies in the United States and the E.U. The ones who voted no are the bulk of the pro-Western and pro-secular crowd in Turkey, Erdemir said. If the West turns a blind eye to their grievances and embraces Erdogan wholeheartedly, the West risks losing Turkeys pro-West half. I understand the U.S. and their E.U. counterparts have to work with Turkey in the fight against ISIS, and the refugee crisis, Erdemir said. There needs to be a way to remind Turkey that NATO is not just a tactical alliance of military forces. More importantly, its an alliance of shared values, of democracy. [How Erodgan has reshaped Turkey, as told by readers] Turkish voters approved 18 constitutional amendments that eliminated the position of prime minister and expanded Erdogans power to appoint judges and prosecutors. But some observers remain sanguine about Turkeys democratic future. As long as Erdogan has an absolute majority in parliament, he can do most anything he wants, said James Jeffrey, a former U.S. ambassador to Ankara and Baghdad. Look at what [the constitutional change] does. You can overturn a presidential veto with an absolute majority. In America, it takes two-thirds. Are we less democratic than Turkey? The most significant change is that Erdogan will have greater latitude in appointing judges and prosecutors. Those people are crucial in preserving rights, Jeffrey said. He has a tendency to appoint people beholden to him, and who think like him. And half of Turkey doesnt. In the long term, however, the changes may undercut the Turkish democratic model one that has served as a vivid contrast to the failed governance in many countries in the Middle East. The Turkish republic, such as it was, was more important to us than access to Incirlik Air Base, said Eric Brown, a Hudson Institute researcher, speaking Monday at the Bipartisan Policy Center. It meant having a stable republic, bringing together a diversity of people in a multiethnic society, demonstrating it was possible to have healthy politics. Thats no longer there. Turkey is programmed to have greater instability going forward, and much greater frailty. John Wagner contributed to this report. The United States wants stronger and more balanced bilateral trade relationships with countries including Japan and South Korea, Vice President Pence said Tuesday, raising the prospect of opening bilateral talks with Tokyo and reviewing a deal already struck with Seoul. Pences remarks, to business leaders in South Korea and then after meetings with Japans prime minister and his deputy Tuesday, hew closely to President Trumps America First promises on the campaign trail. We seek trade that is free. We seek trade that is fair, Pence said in Tokyo after opening an economic dialogue with his Japanese counterpart, Taro Aso. Although the tone was friendly after the meeting, Japan and the United States appear to have decidedly different ideas about where their trading relationship should go. Trump withdrew the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership pact immediately after taking office, and Pence said Tuesday that the TPP is a thing of the past. Instead, the vice president opened up the prospect of forging a bilateral deal with Japan, which Trump has repeatedly accused of engaging in unfair trade practices. The United States trade deficit with Japan stood at almost $69 billion last year. A bilateral deal probably would require Tokyo to respond to politically sensitive demands such as removing trade barriers on cars and agriculture. Instead, Tokyo is looking at reviving the TPP without the United States. [ Pence tells North Korea not to underestimate American resolve ] One of Prime Minister Shinzo Abes closest aides, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, suggested that the Japanese government might try to breathe new life into the TPP, which was meant to encompass 12 Pacific Rim nations that comprise 40 percent of the world economy. Abe had previously said that the TPP without the United States would be meaningless. But his government has re-embraced the pact because even without the United States, it may be the best option for Japan, said Tobias Harris, a Japan analyst for Teneo Intelligence, a consulting firm. It certainly was looking better than the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, an alternative bloc led by China. Reviving TPP even without the United States would allow Japan to present itself as a regional leader and an alternative to China, Harris wrote in a research note. Second, it gives Japan some leverage over the U.S. in their bilateral economic relationship, while also leaving the door open for the U.S. to join in the future, he said. [ Trump targeted Japan during the campaign. Now Abe is embracing the new president. ] Pence and Aso will meet again this year, and said in a joint statement Tuesday that the talks should generate concrete results in the near term. [ Asia doesn't think Trump is serious about ripping up trade agreements ] James Schoff, a Japan expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, called the economic dialogue aspirational. There would also be a limit to how far any discussions could go until the Trump administration put in place an agriculture secretary and a trade representative, he said. Before heading to Japan on Tuesday, Pence told U.S. and South Korean business leaders in Seoul that the Trump administration wants to restructure the South Korea-U.S. bilateral deal, known as Korus. The United States trade deficit with South Korea has more than doubled since Korus came into effect. Thats the hard truth of it, he said. And our businesses continue to face too many barriers to entry, which tilts the playing field against American workers and American growth, he said, adding that Washington will seek to work with Seoul to reform Korus in the days ahead. Read more: Japanese Prime Minister Abe accused of giving secret donation to far-right school How the TPP became the most divisive policy in the Democratic Party Trump kills TPP, giving China its first big win Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news It was March 2020, and the world was closing down as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. At first, the news of... Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina concluded a four-day trip to India last weekher first visit since 2010during which she signed a range of defence and other agreements to strengthen relations between the two countries. India, backed by the US, is keen to undermine its regional rival Chinas growing influence in Bangladesh. Last June, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Dhaka and signed 22 agreements, including on maritime security and to establish special economic zones in Bangladesh. Later in the year Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar travelled to Bangladesh, accompanied Indias coast guard chief and the vice-chiefs of the army, air force and navy. Parrikar discussed the finalisation of a new defence cooperation framework with Bangladesh. Hasina held discussions last week with Modi on defence, regional security and cooperation in combating international terrorism. Officials from Bangladesh and India signed a range of agreements, including defence, cyber security, information technology, connectivity, energy and human resource development, and a civil nuclear cooperation pact. New Delhi offered Dhaka a $US4.5 billion concessionary line of credit for development projects in Bangladesh. Modi declared that the line of credit brings our resources allocation to Bangladesh to more than $8 billion over the past six years. This finance, however, is small compared the $30 billion in investment promised during President Xi Jinpings visit to Bangladesh last October. Beijing is concerned about Washingtons efforts to enlist India as a frontline state in its military encirclement of China. Last November in Tokyo Modi signed a defence agreement with Japan and, in line with US propaganda, declared support for freedom of overflight and navigation in the South China Sea. The main agreement signed during Hasinas visit last week was a five-year defence cooperation pact. The first-ever defence cooperation agreement between the two countries is in addition to $500 million for Bangladesh to buy military equipment from India. It includes annual consultations between the defence forces, training and capacity-building cooperation. New Delhi hopes this will help to reduce Bangladeshs reliance on China for its military needs. Beijing is currently Bangladeshs leading provider of military equipment along with robust training and military exchange programs between the two countries. New Delhis concerns over these ties were recently voiced by Sukh Deo Muni, from New Delhis Institute of Defence Studies and Analyses, who declared that India does not want China to consolidate defence ties just next to its belly. Bangladeshs $24 billion purchase of two refurbished submarines from China last year has increased these worries. Institute of Conflict, Law and Development Studies executive director Abdur Rashid in Dhaka welcomed the Hasina governments defence deal with India. He stated that the approximately 80 percent dependency at this moment you see on China should be brought down. That actually reduces our vulnerability. If one is interrupted we can depend on the other. Dhaka is attempting to maintain a delicate balancing act between New Delhi and Beijing. Bangladeshs foreign secretary, Shahidul Haque, claimed that last weeks agreement did not oblige Dhaka to buy arms from India. Efforts are being made to increase connectivity between the two countries. A new rail link between the Indian city of Kolkata and Khulna in Bangladesh and a bus link between Kolkata and Dhaka were inaugurated. Another old rail link was restored. A key sticking point between the two countries, however, centres on Teesta River water sharing. The main reason Bangladesh cancelled Hasinas scheduled visit to India last December was the failure of the Modi government to reach an agreement on this issue. The Teesta River flows through West Bengal before passing into the sea in Bangladesh. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee opposes any deal. The whole question is a product of 1948 communal partition of India, which arbitrarily divides rivers between the two countries. To placate Hasina, Modi declared that the Teesta pact was important for the Indo-Bangladesh relationship and he hoped that Banerjee would eventually support an agreement. In a face-saving statement, Foreign Secretary Haque told the media that the Indian prime minister firmly believed there would be an early solution to the Teesta issue and that water resources should be a uniting factor between the two countries. The Dhaka Tribune, however, declared on April 9 that Indo-Bangladesh relations are shrinking and was critical of Indian pressure on Bangladesh. Sections of the Indian ruling elite want the Teesta issue settled. The Hindustan Times published an editorial on April 6 entitled, India must go the extra mile for Sheikh Hasina to strengthen ties with Bangladesh. It stated that it was imperative for India to strengthen the hands of an ally who has adopted a common stance on issues that are crucial for New Delhi, such as terrorism and regional diplomacy. Even though the Teesta issue remains on hold, Dhaka is ready to develop closer relations with New Delhi because of US pressure. At the same time, if Bangladesh is to reach the ambitious annual growth target of 8 percent by 2020up from the current 6 percentit must diversify its trade, which is heavily dependent on the apparel industry. To do so it will not only need Indian investment but the fees it will receive as a transportation hub between East Asia and South Asia. The main opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), which has denounced Hasina as an Indian stooge, opposed the military pact. Playing the anti-Indian card, BNPs senior joint secretary general Rizvi Ahmed declared that the defence pact meant that Bangladeshs territorial sovereignty had been handed over to India. The agreements, he said, had been signed to appease India, adding that Bangladeshs defence system has now been turned into [a] made-in-India one. He declared that April 8 [the day the deal was signed] will be considered as a black day in Bangladesh history. With general elections scheduled in early 2019, BNP is promoting anti-Indian chauvinism in a bid to mobilise opposition against Hasinas Awami League. Though the exact course of political developments and diplomatic horse-trading is not certain, Washington is pushing Dhaka to integrate itself into US and Indian military plans against China. In the context of growing geopolitical tensions, Dhakas ability to manoeuvre between China and India is becoming increasingly tenuous. An oil well in the remote North Slope area of Alaska suffered a blowout last Friday, sending natural gas and crude oil onto the surrounding area. Repair crews managed to contain the oil leak by Sunday, but had still not managed to stop the escape of natural gas as of Monday afternoon. The cause of the leak as well as the volume of oil and gas emitted into the surrounding wilderness is still unknown. Alaska state officials have stated that no injuries or harm to wildlife have been reported at this time. Officials from BP, the oil company that owns the well, have claimed that the oil spill was restricted to the surrounding well pad and that no crude oil reached the tundra. The company also stated that it plans to discontinue production at the well once the natural gas leak has been repaired. The credibility of BPs public assurances must be judged by its past performance. The company is responsible for one of the greatest environmental disasters in history, the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which leaked an estimated 4.9 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Eleven oil workers were killed in the explosion which led to the leak, and seventeen injured. Many thousands of additional workers who participated in the cleanup were also sickened. The full extent of the impact on human health is still being assessed today. The damage to marine life was also extensive and aggravated by the companys deployment of the toxic oil dispersant Corexit. Repairs on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig took five months to complete. In that time, company officials continuously lied to the public about the extent of the damage, the volume of oil being leaked, and the potential harm to human and marine life. In subsequent court proceedings, the company and its personnel were found to be guilty of multiple felonies, including manslaughter. A federal court in 2014 ruled that BP was responsible for the disaster and the company ultimately agreed to pay $13.7 billion in fines. This is in addition to the $42.2 billion the company had already paid in civil and criminal penalties. The Alaskan oil spill is the just the latest in a series of energy-related environmental catastrophes. In December of last year, 12,615 barrels of oil spilled into a tributary of the Little Missouri River near Belfield, North Dakota when the Belle Fourche pipeline sprang a leak. Like many oil-related accidents in that state, the pipeline leak happened in a remote area and officials estimate that the leak was ongoing for at least four days before it was discovered. State officials initially downplayed the extent of the leak, which contaminated a nearby hill as well as the Ash Coulee creek. Environmental testing of the creek has shown elevated levels of the carcinogenic chemical benzene. The Belle Fourche spill was among the largest pipeline spills of 2016, and the second largest in the state's relatively brief history as an oil producer. The largest was a spill in 2013 that spewed over 20,600 barrels of oil across a 7.3 acre spread of land near Tioga, ND. Lawmakers in that state recently passed legislation relaxing regulations on reporting of oil spills. On March 20, the Coast Guard in Louisiana was called out to clean up a spill of 840 gallons of crude oil into the Mississippi River. The spill was caused when an abandoned wellhead owned by Hilcorp Energy failed. That was just one of an estimated 1,500 spills reported in that state each year. The Louisiana Department of public safety reports that approximately 330,000 gallons of oil are spilled in that state per year, representing 20 percent of all oil spilled in the U.S. annually. In Shelby County, Alabama in 2016, the Colonial Pipeline was damaged twice in the course of two months, spilling a combined total of 588,000 gallons of refined gas and oil. Two workers were killed and another four injured in the incidents. The spills also caused a temporary spike in gas prices throughout the southeast, affecting millions of motorists. In 2003, the Colonial pipeline company paid a civil penalty of $34 million to the Environmental Protection Agency after it was found that multiple oil spills from the companys facilities during the late 1990s had caused "significant environmental damage" to southeastern waterways. In addition to the Deepwater Horizon spill, other facilities operated by BP have been at the center of many of the most notable petroleum-related accidents in recent years. In 2005, an explosion at the companys Texas City Refinery killed 15 workers and injured 180 more. An investigation by the US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board found that the disaster was largely the result of cost-cutting measures undertaken by the company and that BP had failed to implement multiple safety procedures before the accident. The company was charged with multiple criminal violations of environmental laws and was given an initial fine of $21 million by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In 2009, the company was fined an additional $87 million when it was found to have failed to address the safety hazards that led to the Texas City explosion. In 2006, a corroded pipeline in northern Alaska jointly controlled by BP, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips burst, releasing 212,252 gallons of crude oil into the surrounding wilderness. Once again, investigators found the company to be responsible for the accident. The company had knowingly failed to perform the required maintenance on the pipeline and had ignored multiple warnings from its own employees. BP and its partners subsequently paid a $20 million fine for the accident and an additional $255 million to the state of Alaska. In studying the aftermath of each of these incidents a pattern emerges. A large energy company such as BP, which in 2016 reported total assets of $263.3 billion, causes an environmental disaster through a combination of negligence and a deliberate disregard for safety measures that could cut into their profit margins. Public outrage ensues, and investigations find the company to be criminally liable. Fines are levied, which the companys lawyers have reduced through subsequent litigation. Lawsuits by workers affected by the disaster are filed, which the company ties up for years in court hearings. Occasionally, if the incident is especially horrible, such as the Deepwater Horizon spill, an executive may be removed. But then its back to business as usual. BP and the other major oil companies are among the largest and most profitable companies on the planet. Fines, even in the tens of billions of dollars, are not enough to prevent them from engaging in hazardous business practices that endanger the environment and human health. That can only be achieved under a socialist program with the seizure of the energy companies and their conversion into publicly owned and managed utilities. Arrests of immigrants have jumped by nearly one-third since President Donald Trump took office, compared to the same period a year ago. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit of the Department of Homeland Security arrested 21,362 allegedly undocumented immigrants from January 20 through mid-March, according to statistics released to the Washington Post, compared to 16,104 in the same period of 2016. Despite Trumps claim that he is targeting criminals among the undocumented immigrant population, the largest increase in arrests is among immigrants with no criminal record of any kind, more than doubling to 5,441. Arrests of immigrants with some type of criminal recordwhich could include a drunk driving charge from 20 years agorose from 13,404 to 15,921, an increase of 18.7 percent. The Post wrote of newly empowered federal agents intensifying their pursuit of not just undocumented immigrants with criminal records, but also thousands of illegal immigrants who have been otherwise law-abiding. Some regional ICE offices reported much greater increases in arrests for immigrants with no criminal record: Philadelphia was up 500 percent to a total of 356, Atlanta was up 300 percent to nearly 700. There was also a 75 percent increase in immigration detainers, requests from ICE to local police agencies and prisons asking that they hold prisoners beyond their scheduled release date for transfer to federal custody and deportation. The total since Trumps inauguration through mid-March was 22,161, greater than the number of ICE arrests. Despite the increase in arrests and detainers, actual deportations fell by 1.2 percent, to 54,741 in January, February and March, compared to the same months in 2016. That is because the greater number of recent arrests is putting more prisoners into already clogged immigration courts, where caseloads have soared and the time required to process cases has lengthened. There is also resistance from many countries to taking back citizens targeted by the US authorities for removal, particularly China, which has no reason to do any favors for a government that has accused it of raping the United States through its trade practices, and which is beating the drums for war against North Korea. The total number of ICE arrests is still below the peak levels of 2014, when the Obama administration had 29,238 immigrants arrested during the first months of the year. This corresponded to a surge of refugees, mostly mothers and unaccompanied children, who fled the Central American countries of Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras fearing violence from gangs and right-wing US-backed regimes. In November 2014, DHS began to curb arrests of immigrants systematically, limiting detentions to those with violent criminal records and recent border-crossers. Under Trump, however, the DHS has greatly expanded the categories of immigrants targeted for arrest. DHS Secretary Robert Kelly, a former Marine general, told the NBC program Meet the Press that the Trump administration was expanding policies already in place under the Obama administration. It is fair to say that the definition of criminal has not changed, he said, but where on the spectrum of criminality we operate has changed. Even a single DUI conviction, no matter how remote, can now be grounds for prioritizing an undocumented immigrant for deportation, he said. Kelly boasted that Trumps anti-immigrant rhetoric, as well as the recent visit to the border zone by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, had played a role in reducing the number of people crossing the US-Mexico border, mainly from Central America. Its injected enough confusion in their minds, I think, and theyre just waiting to see what actually does happen, he concluded. Local newspaper and television reports across the country, collected by immigrants rights groups, are filled with accounts of undocumented workers with no criminal records, well-established lives in the United States and US citizen children being picked up by ICE and deported. One report from Naples, Florida, noted, For undocumented immigrants in Collier County, a traffic offense is now enough to end up at Krome, where they face deportation, according to recent arrest records. In the month after Trumps order, at least 35 people and as many as 48 arrested by Collier deputies were transferred to ICE, according to hundreds of arrest records and court documents reviewed by the Naples Daily News. The newspaper found, Three-fourths of those cases alleged only misdemeanor traffic offenses, such as driving with no valid license, driving with an expired license or driving with a suspended license, according to arrest records. Only three were for alleged felonies, and charges in two of those cases were dropped, and reduced to a misdemeanor in the third, court records show. An undocumented worker married to a US citizen and father to three US citizen children, who has lived in Indiana for two decades, crossed into Canada on a vacation to Niagara Falls and was arrested when he returned across the border. He was deported to Mexico. An Ohio woman is fighting deportation after she became a victim of domestic violence and had to go to court as a witness against her abuser. Those who are arrested and detained disappear into an increasingly overloaded court and prison system. The number of backlogged cases has soared from 236,415 in 2010 to 508,036 this year, about 1,700 cases for each of the 301 immigration judges. The processing time is extended because under Trumps immigration directives, set down in executive orders just after his inauguration, prosecutors are going forward with every possible immigration case, rather than setting aside those involving immigrants with long US residence and no criminal record. The Trump administration is pushing ahead with plans for another 30,000 beds in detention facilities. GEO Group, one of the big contractors operating detention centers, announced Monday it would build a $110 million prison in Conroe, Texas, outside of Houston, to hold as many as 1,000 detainees. The deteriorating conditions in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement gulag were underscored by the death April 13 of a Mexican immigrant, Sergio Alonso Lopez, who had been held at the Adelanto Detention Facility in California. He was transferred to Victor Valley Global Medical Center in Victorville on April 1 when he began vomiting blood, but he died 12 days later from internal bleeding. He had a history of alcohol abuse leading to hypertension and cirrhosis of the liver, which could not be properly treated in a prison. Lopez, age 55, was the sixth detainee to die in ICE custody during the current fiscal year, which began last October 1. He was arrested February 7 in the Los Angeles area, where he had lived for nearly two decades. Meanwhile, on Friday, a federal judge in California began hearing the suit filed by two large metropolitan counties, San Francisco and Santa Clara (San Jose), against Trumps executive order to withhold federal funds from cities and counties which decline to turn their local police forces into branches of the ICE and DHS (so-called sanctuary cities). The two counties are seeking a nationwide preliminary injunction against Trumps executive order, describing it as a weapon to cancel all funding to jurisdictions that violated the 10th Amendment to the US Constitution, which upholds the division of powers between the federal government and state and local jurisdictions. Chad Readler, a Justice Department attorney, said the executive order was limited to grants provided by the Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security, not all federal funds, sharply curtailing the scope of Trumps decree. He said that as little as $1 million out of the $1 billion in federal funds received by Santa Clara County, and perhaps none of the $1.2 billion going to San Francisco would be affected. He also claimed, There is no actual enforcement action on the table or that has been formally threatened, and that the two counties were giving the broadest possible reading to the executive order. The sanctuary city issue has also became a major legislative question in Washington, after Trumps budget director, Mick Mulvaney, sought to insert language restricting federal funds to cities that resist federal immigration policies in legislation that must pass by the end of April to raise the federal debt ceiling and extend funding for federal agencies through the end of the current fiscal year. Mulvaney said that Trump would veto any budget legislation that did not shut off funds to sanctuary cities and provide the initial funding to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. The author also recommends: Trump plans detention force and network of camps for immigrants [14 April 2017] Trumps attorney general threatens immigrants in speech at US-Mexico border [13 April 2017] More than half of Iraqi familiesaround 20 million peopleare at risk of food insecurity and cannot withstand any further shocks such as conflict or increases in basic food prices, warned a joint report by the UNs World Food Programme (WFP) and the Iraqi government. It follows nearly four decades of wars, sanctions, occupation and civil war, instigated by Washington, that have devastated this once prosperous country. It is American imperialism, and its European allieswho invaded the country in 1991 and again in 2003that are principally responsible for the growing danger of a colossal humanitarian disaster now confronting Iraq. Operations by US forces still range throughout the country. Their drone missile strikes and bombings of residential areas at a rate of 200 to 300 a month have slaughtered hundreds, if not thousands, of civilian men, women and children. The March 17 bombing of the Jadida neighbourhood in the densely populated western part of Mosul that killed at least 531 people, according to the Iraqi Civil Defence Department, is only the bloodiest in a series of attacks carried out by US forces resulting in mass civilian casualties. The Iraq Body Count group estimates that air strikes have killed more than 5,000 people since the beginning of the year. The WFP study, carried out in December, before the recent offensive on west Mosul that started February 18, was based upon surveys of 20,000 families in urban and rural areas across the country. Since then, the scale of the crisis has intensified as people flee the conflict. The report notes that even before the assault on Mosul, around 2.5 percent of Iraqis were food insecure. That is, more than 800,000 people were going to bed hungry every night. More than 3 million people have been displaced from their homes since 2014, when Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) took over one third of the country. The report estimates that two thirds of the internally displaced, some 2 million people, and more than half of Iraqis living in their own homes have barely enough food to feed themselves. The situation is so bad that almost 75 percent of children under the age of 15 are working to help their families put food on the table instead of going to school. The survey, the most comprehensive ever carried out in Iraq, found that 53 percent of residents and 66 percent of internally displaced people are vulnerable to food insecurity. Food insecurity was twice as high among internally displaced families, compared to those still living in their own homes. The highest concentration of food-insecure families was found in the long-neglected Muthanna governorate in southwest Iraq, on the border with Saudi Arabia. Other high concentrations were in parts of the largely Sunni governorate of Salah al-Deen, whose capital Tikrit was Saddam Husseins hometown and support base. The WFP currently provides monthly food assistance to 1.5 million of the most vulnerable displaced people in Iraqs 18 governorates, through a system of cash hand-outs and monthly family rations. In January, it was forced to halve the food rations because donors had failed to deliver on their pledges. The WFP warned that even these are now at risk, as it needs to raise $113 million to cover costs until the end of September 2017. Such a sum is loose change compared to the resources squandered by the major powers on war and militarism. The US Pentagon war machine alone spends more than $10 billion a week. Even the devastating figures compiled by the WFP pale into insignificance when one considers the impact of the vast numbers displaced by the attempt to retake Mosul from ISIS, in one of the largest urban military operations since World War II. By the end of Januaryin a city once home to 1.8 million peopleat least 160,000 out of 400,000 people living in eastern Mosul had fled their homes after the military campaign to take the eastern part of the city began. The assault by Iraqi forces, under cover of air strikes by US-led forces, led to a huge number of civilian casualties. They comprised nearly half of all casualties, far higher than the 15-20 percent expected in such a conflict. This was despite a promise by the Iraqi security forces to adopt a plan prohibiting artillery strikes, requiring civilians to remain in their homes, and providing humanitarian exit corridors wherever necessary. The situation has hardly improved in the months since the recapture of eastern Mosul. While booby-traps are being removed and some people have returned to their homes, water, electricity and food are in short supply. Schools remained closed for two months because of delays in paying teachers. Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Iraq, told the website Middle East Eye, Worryingly, large numbers of people are actually leaving eastern Mosul. People tell us that they are leaving because not enough food is being distributed and because they are being harassedsome even feel threatened. In fact, the Iraqi authorities are targeting households whose family members are thought to have supported ISIS. This is giving rise to fears that Mosul will experience the same horrendous sectarian abuse and corrupt governance that befell Fallujah and Ramadi after their recapture. Mosuls governor, Nofal Hammadi al-Sultan, remains in Erbil, not even visiting the city until February, even though eastern Mosul was recaptured in December. The bitter sectarian conflict that threatens to explode is directly linked to Washingtons criminal policy of divide and rule pursued in the years following the Iraq war. Support for reactionary ISIS only emerged under conditions where the Sunni population was sidelined and suffered sectarian violence at the hands of the Shia-dominated Baghdad government. Moreover, at least 355,000 Iraqis are believed to have fled the battle to retake the western part of the city, which began in February, with 15,000 fleeing every day. Grande said, Hundreds of thousands more may [flee] in the days and weeks ahead. Those internally displaced face dire conditions in squalid camps, sometimes with three or four families crammed into one 10-by-4-metre tent, where they wait in massive queues to get a helping of rice and sauce. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recently issued an urgent call for the major powers to increase aid to help people fleeing the city. He said, during a visit to Hassan Sham camp, one of a number of camps for displaced people, We dont have the resources necessary to support these people, adding, Unfortunately our programme is only 8 percent funded. While Iraqi forces have recaptured parts of the city, at least 400,000 people remain trapped inside the densely populated Old City, the scene of weeks of street battles. While many of the ISIS leaders are thought to have left Mosul, the US believes around 2,000 fighters are still in the city, resisting Iraqi ground forces with snipers, car bombs and suicide attacks. The UN humanitarian coordinator said, The level of damage in western Mosul is already far greater than in the east, even before the battle to retake the Old City begins [emphasis added]. Homes have been destroyed, schools and health centres damaged and crucial public infrastructures including electricity and water stations lie in ruins. The media has largely ignored the death and destruction wreaked by US bombs and missiles upon the people of Iraq, rarely giving it any significant coverage. This contrasts starkly with the moral outrage of those crying crocodile tears over the victims of the alleged chemical attack for which the Syrian government has been framed. The repeated statements by US Vice President Mike Pence and other Trump administration officials Monday that the era of strategic patience with North Korea is over and all options are on the table have laid bare the mounting threat that Washington will provoke a war on the Korean peninsula involving the use of nuclear weapons and the deaths of millions. Just in the past two weeks, the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan, Pence declared during a provocative visit to South Korea that brought him to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) on the North Korean border. North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region, Pence said. This boasting about the reckless acts of military aggressionfirst, the cruise missile attack on Syria on April 7 and then, a week later, the use in Afghanistan of the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) bomb, the most destructive weapon unleashed anywhere since the US incineration of Hiroshima and Nagasakicannot be read by the government of North Korea as anything other than an ultimatum to accept US demands or expect to be on the receiving end of far greater violence. With the naval strike group led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson set to take up a position off the Korean peninsula, the means of inflicting such violence are being put into place. The global implications of this buildup were underscored Monday with the report that both Russia and China have dispatched spy ships to trail the Vinson battle group. For these two nuclear-armed countries, Washingtons launching of a war against North Korea poses an existential threat. The drive toward a military confrontation in Asia that could lead to a nuclear third world war has unfolded largely behind the backs of the people of the United States and the entire world. Neither the politicians of the two big business parties in the US nor the corporate-controlled media have so much as hinted to the public the horrific consequences of even a limited nuclear exchange on the Korean peninsula, nor the likelihood that such a catastrophe would draw all of the major nuclear powers into a global conflagration. The recklessness of the path being pursued by Washington is staggering. Why the era of strategic patience has ended is not explained, nor are the conclusions drawn from this declaration even challenged. There are a whole number of states that now have nuclear weapons. North Koreas pursuit of such arms does not represent a credible threat to the US. All options are on the table can only mean that Washington is prepared to launch an unprovoked first strike against North Korea. Yet, within the media, there is barely a mention that such a course involves the threat of nuclear war. Nor is there the slightest suggestion that the US Congress should convene to vote on whether to authorize an attack that could produce casualties in the millions. The accepted wisdom is that Donald Trump doesnt have to tell anyone what military action he will take until after the attack is executed. The only hint Trump gave of his intentions was at a Monday Easter egg-rolling event on the White House lawn, where he declared that North Korea has gotta behave. The real character of the policy being pursued by Washington was indicated by John Bolton, the Bush administrations ambassador to the United Nations, who told Fox News that the way to end North Koreas nuclear weapons program is to end North Korea, i.e., topple the government and militarily smash the country. The real and growing danger posed by Washingtons reckless policy is beginning to be registered, if only in the mildest form. The New York Times, which had previously celebrated the Trump administrations turn toward stepped-up militarism against Syria and Russia, proclaiming its feeling of emotional satisfaction and justice done over the cruise missile strike of April 7, has become somewhat nervous that things are spinning out of control. The newspaper, which increasingly functions as the house organ of the CIA, expressed concern Monday that Trumps intemperate talk is adding to regional tensions, unnerving allies and likely reinforcing North Koreas longstanding fear that it could one day be attacked by Americathe very reason North Korea invested in a nuclear arsenal in the first place. It warned that the US presidents bellicose threats served to box him into some kind of showdown and paved the way for a devastating miscalculation. Gideon Rachman, the chief foreign affairs columnist of the Financial Times, wrote in a piece posted Monday that if North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un concludes that the US is indeed poised to attack his regime, he will be tempted to attack first. His incentive to move fast will only have been increased by stories in the media that the USs war plans involve an early attempt to kill the North Korean leadership. In fact, the same US Special Operations unit that carried out the 2011 assassination of Osama bin-Laden has been reported carrying out exercises in South Korea. While Trumps intimidation and threats could produce a capitulation by Pyongyang, Rachman continues, ... It is more likely that North Korea will not back down--and that the Trump strategy will therefore fail. In that case, the US president is faced with a dilemma. Does Mr. Trumps very powerful armada steam away from the Korean peninsula with its mission unaccomplished? To ask the question is to answer it. Neither Trump nor the cabal of active duty and retired generals who are setting his foreign policy are inclined to back down from the brink of war without having achieved the objectives over which such a war would be fought, i.e., the complete capitulation and disarmament of North Korea. After 25 years of waging continuous war against largely unarmed oppressed countries and killing millions, while suffering relatively few consequences, US imperialism is now being driven by its own internal crisis and contradictions to an entirely different level of military confrontation. More and more the situation resembles that which prevailed in the late 1930s on the eve of the Second World War. If Adolf Hitler had possessed a Twitter account, it is hard to imagine how he would have used it much differently from the way the US president is using his own. Our military is building and is rapidly becoming stronger than ever before. Frankly, we have no choice! Trump tweeted Sunday. Three days earlier: I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea. If they are unable to do so, the US, with its allies, will! USA. Trumps rhetoric echoes that employed by Hitler in the run-up to Germanys march into Czechoslovakia and Poland. The Nazi leader proclaimed of the Czechoslovak problem that it must be solved. Then it was the Polish problem that must be solved. He deliberately created crises as pretexts for military action. Trump employs similar rhetoric, describing an entire nation, North Korea, as a problem, and then warning menacingly that it will be taken care of. Why this problem is now so urgent, no one explains, and, as far as the media is concerned, virtually no one asks. What could Pyongyang possibly do to satisfy Washington? It would have to renounce its nuclear program and open itself up to an inspections regime, going down the same road traveled by Iraqs Saddam Hussein and Libyas Muammar Gaddafi, ending in their nations destruction and their own violent deaths. The assumption that China can be pressured into imposing Washingtons diktat in relation to North Korea is without foundation. China was compelled to go to war in 1950 when US troops reached the Yalu River, sacrificing hundreds of thousands to drive the American army back. Now Washington wants China to intervene to hand the US and South Korea what they were unable to achieve half a century ago through war. If Beijing were to accede to these demands, it would have immense strategic implications for China as well as major internal political consequences. There are already indications that tensions between Beijing and Washington are escalating on the Korean peninsula after Seouls announcement that it intends to move ahead rapidly with the installation of the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, which the US claims is designed to defend against North Korean missiles, but which China recognizes as a means of assuring the US a nuclear first-strike capability. Twice in the 20th century, the crisis of world capitalism drove capitalist heads of state and their general staffs to seek a way out through war, leading to the deaths of tens of millions. Today, similar pressures are unleashing a drive toward a nuclear confrontation that could lead to the destruction of life on the planet. Everything that is being done by the US government involves astonishing levels of risk, including that of a nuclear war. Whether it happens in the immediate confrontation with North Korea cannot be predicted, but that this is the course Washington is prepared to pursue all over the world is undeniable. No one can afford the illusion that todays capitalist governments, unlike those of 1914 and 1939, will not risk war because of the threat of nuclear annihilation. If anything, they are far more reckless than their predecessors. Confronted with deepening economic and social crises for which they have no progressive solution, they are even more prone to dragging humanity to the brink of destruction. The present crisis is characterized by a terrible chasm between the scale of the danger of war and the absence of any organized movement against it. There is no way to stop the drive toward war outside of the politically conscious intervention of the working class within the United States and internationally. The Socialist Equality Party and the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) are fighting for a new international anti-war, anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist movement of the working class based on socialist policies. The fight for the development of this movement includes the organization of demonstrations at workplaces, universities and in working class neighborhoods against war. The ICFI on April 30 will hold its annual International May Day Online Rally, which will have as its central aim the fight to mobilize the working class against imperialist war. We call on all of our readers and supporters to participate in and build this rally among the widest possible layers of workers and youth. An Oklahoma City woman who prosecutors say dressed like a witch while severely abusing her 7-year-old granddaughter was sentenced last week to life in prison, PEOPLE confirms. It was two months ago that Geneva Robinson, 51, and her 33-year-old boyfriend and co-defendant, Joshua Granger, pleaded guilty to child abuse and neglect charges. On Thursday, Robinson learned shell spend the rest of her life behind bars when she received three life sentences; Granger received a 30-year sentence for helping Robinson commit the abuse. The defendants initially faced a combined 29 counts of felony child abuse and neglect. Robinson assaulted her granddaughter for more than a year, prosecutors said, including burning the girl with cigarettes, smacking her in the face and beating her with a rolling pin. She painted her skin green and dressed in black whenever assuming the persona of the abusive Nelda the Witch, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE. Robinson also removed the girl from the local school system and deprived her of food. Court records further confirm Robinson often forced her granddaughter to sleep outside with her dogs. Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. As she was sentenced, prosecutors also released cellphone video showing some of her abuse. In the footage, which PEOPLE declined to publish, Robinson appears dressed as Nelda and grabs the girl by the throat before dragging her across the floor. She tells the child shes going to eat her, according to the video. Abusive grandmother Geneva Robinson dressed as A History of Violence Detectives began investigating Robinson in 2014, after receiving a call from workers at Griffin Memorial Hospital in Norman, Oklahoma, where she had tried to have her granddaughter committed - saying she couldnt control the girl. The victim told investigators her grandmother regularly whipped her, beat her and pinched her skin with pliers, court documents state. She also said she went days without eating. Story continues The girl told detectives her grandmother would wear a green mask and bring her into the garage, where she was restrained and forced to sleep on a pair of pants, according to the documents. Robinson also used a pink dog leash to tie her up and suspend her from the ceiling. Inside Robinsons home, police recovered the leash as well as a horse whip. Court records indicate Robinson allegedly utilized her Nelda character on others, including the girls father when he was a child. The victim, who is now 9, addressed Robinson in a letter that was read in court on Thursday, a court official confirms. I love you, the girl wrote, the official says. I forgive you. Youre the best grandmother I ever had. It was not immediately clear in whose custody the child is now. Lawyers for both defendants were unavailable for comment Monday afternoon. This article was originally published on PEOPLE.com This mornings provocation from the North is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face every day in the defense of the freedom," he said. By Associate Press U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, accompanied by wife Karen Pence, said Sunday that North Koreas provocation underscored the risks faced by American and South Korean service members, hours after the North conducted a failed missile launch shortly before Pences arrival. READ: Trump Administration States Planned Parenthoods Funding Will Remain Intact Under One Condition Pence landed in South Korea at the start of a 10-day trip to Asia and was quickly confronted with the stakes facing the United States as Pyongyang seeks to flex its muscles around the birth anniversary of the countrys late founder and advance the regimes nuclear and missile capabilities. While Pence was aboard Air Force Two flying over the Bering Sea, a North Korean missile exploded during launch on Sunday, U.S. and South Korean officials said, representing a high-profile failure that came as a powerful U.S. aircraft supercarrier approaches the Korean Peninsula. After arriving in Seoul, the vice president placed a wreath at Seoul National Cemetery and then worshipped with military personnel at an Easter church service at the U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan. During a fellowship meal after the services, he said the tensions on the Korean peninsula had put into sharp focus the importance of the joint U.S.-South Korean mission. This mornings provocation from the North is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face every day in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world, said Pence, who was introduced by Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, commander of U.S. Forces Korea. Your willingness to step forward, to serve, to stand firm without fear, inspires the nation and inspires the world. Pence told the military members that he had spoken twice with President Donald Trump during the day. Pence said that under Trumps leadership, our resolve has never been stronger, our commitment to this historic alliance with the courageous people of South Korea has never been stronger and with your help and Gods help, freedom will ever prevail on this peninsula. Story continues Trump has suggested that the U.S. will take a tougher stance against North Korea, telling reporters last week: North Korea is a problem. The problem will be taken care of. He has repeatedly said if China, North Koreas dominant trading partner, is unwilling to do more to pressure the North, the U.S. might take the matter into its own hands. Along with the deployment of the Naval aircraft carrier and other vessels into waters off the Korean Peninsula, thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops, tanks and other weaponry were also deployed last month in their biggest-ever joint military exercises. That led North Korea to issue routine threats of attacks on its rivals if they show signs of aggression. A White House foreign policy adviser told reporters aboard Air Force Two that the type of missile that North Korea tried to fire on Sunday was medium-range, and that it exploded about 4 to 5 seconds after it was launched. According to the adviser, the test had been expected and the U.S. had good intelligence both before and after the launch. The adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administrations initial understanding of the launch, said there was no expected response from the Trump administration because there was no need for the U.S. to reinforce the failure. The official said that had it been a nuclear test, other actions would have been taken by the U.S. North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, including two last year. Recent satellite imagery suggests the country could conduct another underground nuclear test at any time. Despite North Koreas provocations, U.S. officials have said that the U.S. doesnt intend to use military force against North Korea in response to either a nuclear test or a missile launch. After a two-month policy review, officials settled on a policy dubbed maximum pressure and engagement, U.S. officials said Friday. The administrations immediate emphasis, the officials said, will be on increasing pressure on Pyongyang with the help of Beijing. The officials werent authorized to speak publicly on the results of the policy review and requested anonymity. Pence will be tasked with explaining the policy in meetings with leaders in South Korea and Japan at the start of his trip, which will also include stops in Indonesia and Australia. He will also aim to reassure allies in South Korea and Japan that the U.S. will take appropriate steps to defend them against North Korean aggression. Pences first trip to South Korea carries personal meaning as well. He noted to the soldiers that his late father, Edward, served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and was awarded the Bronze Star on April 15, 1953 64 years to the day of the vice presidents departure for South Korea. Pence displays in his office his fathers Bronze Star and a photograph of his father receiving the honor. READ: Arkansas Judge Blocks States Plan To Execute Eight Inmates Over An 11-Day Period This article was originally published on Death & Taxes. This post Mike Pence Calls North Koreas Failed Missile Launch A Provocation first appeared on Vibe. The U.S. News Short List, separate from our overall rankings, is a regular series that magnifies individual data points in hopes of providing students and parents a way to find which undergraduate or graduate programs excel or have room to grow in specific areas. Be sure to explore The Short List: College, The Short List: Grad School and The Short List: Online Programs to find data that matter to you in your college or grad school search. For some applicants, being placed on a college waitlist is discouraging. For others, it might provide some hope that they will still be admitted. When an applicant is wait-listed, there's still a chance of getting in, depending on whether space becomes available in the incoming class -- typically after the May 1 deadline for high school seniors to submit a deposit and secure a spot at a college. Applicants can either accept or reject a spot on the waitlist during the regular decision round of admission. Though the odds of being accepted as a wait-listed applicant are often slim, that's not true for every school, according to U.S. News data. [Explore how to get admitted off a college waitlist.] Among the 91 ranked schools that submitted these data to U.S. News in an annual survey, the average proportion of students accepted off a waitlist for fall 2015 was 20 percent. But among the 10 schools where those proportions are the highest, the average is 82 percent. On the other side of the spectrum, 14 ranked National Universities reported that they did not admit any applicants off the waitlist for the 2015-2016 school year. Among them are Stanford University in California, the University of Delaware, Lehigh University in Pennsylvania and Suffolk University in Massachusetts. [Discover three college waitlist mistakes to avoid.] In the 2015-2016 school year, 132 ranked National Universities that submitted waitlist information to U.S. News indicated that they have a waitlist policy, and 161 said they did not. Story continues Below are the 10 ranked National Universities where the greatest proportion of wait-listed students were admitted for fall 2015. Unranked schools, which did not meet certain criteria required by U.S. News to be numerically ranked, were not considered for this report. Don't see your school in the top 10? Access the U.S. News College Compass to find waitlist data, complete rankings and much more. School officials can access historical data and rankings, including of peer institutions, via U.S. News Academic Insights. U.S. News surveyed more than 1,800 colleges and universities for our 2016 survey of undergraduate programs. Schools self-reported myriad data regarding their academic programs and the makeup of their student body, among other areas, making U.S. News' data the most accurate and detailed collection of college facts and figures of its kind. While U.S. News uses much of this survey data to rank schools for our annual Best Colleges rankings, the data can also be useful when examined on a smaller scale. U.S. News will now produce lists of data, separate from the overall rankings, meant to provide students and parents a means to find which schools excel, or have room to grow, in specific areas that are important to them. While the data come from the schools themselves, these lists are not related to, and have no influence over, U.S. News' rankings of Best Colleges, Best Graduate Schools or Best Online Programs. The waitlist data above are correct as of April 18, 2017. Jordan Friedman is an online education editor at U.S. News. You can follow him on Twitter or email him at jfriedman@usnews.com. At least 25 people were killed and 22 injured when a passenger bus crashed into a deep ravine in the mountainous northern Philippines on Tuesday, authorities said. The bus plunged about 24 metres (80 feet) in the upland province of Nueva Ecija before noon after its brakes failed while travelling on a windy road, police and local officials said. "The vehicle is totally wrecked," said senior inspector Robert De Guzman, police chief of the town of Carranglan where the accident occurred. The impact appeared to have ripped the top off the vehicle, he added. "Almost all of the passengers, both dead and injured, were found outside the bus." Authorities were still investigating the cause of the accident but Carranglan Mayor Mary Abad told ABS-CBN television there were 60 passengers onboard although the bus had a capacity of only 45. Abad added the wounded, some of whom sustained critical injuries, were rushed to nearby hospitals. "The road is really risky. There are many ravines along that road going to Abra," Abad said, referring to the northern province where the bus was headed. Dr. Arlene Jara, chief of the nearby provincial hospital treating the wounded, said children were among those injured. Road accidents are common in the Philippines, where old, badly maintained buses ply poorly lit roads. Poor road habits and drivers working long hours also contribute to frequent mishaps. The next general election wasnt due until 2020, but British Prime Minister Theresa May has urged Parliament to vote to go to the polls again in just six weeks. Lawmakers are set to vote on an early election on Wednesday, and approval is almost guaranteed with the opposition Labour Party backing the vote. I welcome the PMs decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first pic.twitter.com/9P3X6A2Zpw - Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) April 18, 2017 May said Tuesday she wanted the early vote to prevent opposition parties in Westminster from dividing the country over the governments approach to the Brexit negotiations. I am not prepared to let them endanger the work of millions of working people, she said. It weakens the governments negotiating position. But there are plenty of other good reasons why May wants an election now: 1. She currently holds a record polling lead over her rivals For months now, opinion poll after opinion poll has said the same thing - Theresa Mays party would win a major landslide if the election was held tomorrow. Two polls over the weekend gave Mays Conservative Party a 21-point lead over the Labour Party, their largest rival. Just a week ago, another poll gave May herself a 37-point lead over Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn in terms of who would make the best Prime Minister (though Britons vote for a party, rather than an individual). With numbers like these, its likely Mays advisers were desperate for an early vote. 2. Her main opposition party is historically weak Mays historic lead in opinion polls isnt just because she is especially popular; in fact, its because support for the Labour Party has fallen to record lows. A YouGov survey found fewer than one in four people in the U.K. backing Labour - an astonishing fall for a party which enjoyed over a decade in power under Tony Blair and then Gordon Brown. Story continues The credit for that is largely due to Corbyn himself, a leftist lawmaker from London who commands a passionate following on the far left, but has little support from the general public. That YouGov poll found just 14% said he would make the best choice of Prime Minister. In particular, Corbyns muddled support for Brexit has alienated Labour voters who want a less severe break from the E.U. 3. She does not currently have a popular mandate May won power not by a general election, but by emerging as the last woman standing in the dramatic Conservative leadership contest following the Brexit vote. As the Conservative Party won a general election victory in 2015, the party itself had a mandate until 2020. But May herself never faced the electorate - and as she has attempted to unite her country behind a Brexit position, she has been dogged by accusations that she does not represent a United Kingdom that never had a chance to vote for her. Now, it will. 4. If Britain votes this year, it wont have to do it again until 2022 Britain votes every five years thanks to a law passed in 2011. As May pointed out in her brief statement on Tuesday morning, the next general election is currently scheduled for May 2020 - only a year after Britain is scheduled to formally leave the European Union under the terms of Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. The vote would have hung over the Brexit negotiations, and possibly hamstrung negotiators as they attempted to finalize a deal. Now, May - or whoever wins the election - will be able to go into talks with a mandate for their approach. 5. She wants to keep the United Kingdom united The general election also comes as the Scottish National Party (SNP) is agitating for a second independence referendum, based on the Scottish populations vote against leaving the E.U. May - who does not want Scotland to leave the U.K. - might be hoping a general election will cut into the partys extraordinary dominance in Scotlands Westminster seats, and weaken the overall case for an independence vote. However, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has already identified this as a tactic and seems intent on fighting against it: The Tories see a chance to move the UK to the right, force through a hard Brexit and impose deeper cuts. Let39;s stand up for Scotland. #GE17 - Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) April 18, 2017 The question of what the general election will mean for Northern Ireland, which is currently gridlocked after the power-sharing agreement there collapsed, is less clear. If voting follows the pattern in the assembly elections, the Democratic Unionist Party stands to lose support to Sinn Fein. This article was originally published on TIME.com From barefoot fishermen to software millionaires, Belize is a melting pot. Today's immigrants include 50-somethings raised on the Rolling Stones and 20-somethings looking for a place to make their mark. Farmers, environmentalists, budget-minded retirees and big-time investors are all making their way to this little country with a Caribbean coast and a rainforest interior. [See: 10 Places to Retire Overseas in 2017.] The draw is obvious: The white sand and azure water of the Caribbean cayes and coast, the eco-adventures and the Mayan history inland. But it's more than that, too. The common denominator among people making their way to Belize's shores today -- from scuba enthusiasts and eco-adventurers to missionaries and billionaire investors -- is a desire for a simpler, freer, more private way of life. With everything going on in the world these days, Belize's back-to-basics approach to living is increasingly, almost irresistibly alluring. Most people you meet in this country have two other common characteristics. They are hospitable, and they are fiercely independent. The average Belizean -- including those who've adopted this country as their homeland -- would choose to live in a humble home and off the land and sea rather than be beholden to someone else. This country operates according to an old school mentality that many of the world's more developed nations have forgotten. Perhaps the best way to consider whether Belize might be the best place for you to launch an adventure overseas would be to understand who wouldn't be happy here. While Belize is a beautiful, sunny, affordable and easygoing haven, it certainly isn't perfect. Living here, like anywhere, you'll encounter challenges and frustrations. Here are seven signs you won't be happy in Belize: You're a hobby shopper. There's little opportunity for non-essential shopping in Belize, and there are no big chain stores. You won't be able to shop at Wal-Mart, Costco or Sam's Club. This is a small country where life is simple. You'll find everything you need, but probably not everything you might want. Story continues [See: 10 Tips for Finding a Great Place to Retire.] You're looking for peace and quiet. Parties, festivals and music are loud in Belize and can last all night. Belizeans of all ages love to party. The louder the music, the better, and the party can continue until 4 or 5 a.m. The churches love amplifiers. Everyone sings along, and singing in key isn't considered important. If you can't appreciate the Belizeans' zest for living life to the fullest, you have three choices. You could move to an isolated area, which is easy to find in this country. You could escape during the festival weekends, though there are lots of them. Or you could steer clear of Belize and, frankly, most of Latin America. You have serious health care needs. This is a small country, and its health care resources are limited. When you consider that the entire country is home to fewer than 350,000 residents, it's not surprising that you don't find the breadth of health care specialists and facilities you might be used to elsewhere. You will find competent, dedicated general practitioners and some highly qualified specialists. However, if you have a sensitive medical condition, you'll likely want to head to Mexico or the United States for care. You can't stand the heat. Belize is a subtropical country. In other words, yes, it's hot and humid here, as it is throughout nearly all of Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean (with highlands exceptions). Also, like the rest of the tropics, Belize has bugs, snakes, scorpions, spiders and dengue fever. You will be bitten by mosquitoes, no-see-ums and other insects at the beach. You might cross paths with a snake or a noisy monkey in the jungle. You're a theater or opera buff. If you need a regular fix of traditional European-style culture, you'll feel deprived living here. Belize is a beautiful country that is archaeologically and historically rich, boasting many annual festivals plus local music and dance traditions. But the only Broadway-style musicals are put on by the local high school. However, if you like to dance to live music on the beach, you'll be happy indeed. You'll find many musical styles including rock 'n' roll, country, punta and salsa. You feel the need to be vocal about how to improve things. Sometimes you will feel frustrated by the lack of efficiency in this country. But if you are the kind of person who can't learn to take frustration in stride or who will respond by becoming demanding or rude when people don't meet your expectations, you won't do well here. Belizeans are helpful and good-natured, but they are also proud and independent. They respond to polite people. Those who are critical of Belizeans will find that things become even more difficult and take longer. [See: 10 Places to Retire on a Social Security Budget.] You're looking for extensive services. There is little infrastructure and limited services and amenities in Belize. The people who do well here find this to be a big part of the appeal. The culture is more concerned with conservation than consumerism. If you're interested in a lifestyle supported by the diversions and distractions of a big, cosmopolitan city, Belize is definitely not for you. If you're delighted by the diversions and distractions of a wide-open land where life revolves around the sea and the sun and where independence and self-sufficiency are prized above all else, then Belize could be exactly the paradise you seek. Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. For months, the auto industry has been urging the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider new, high emissions benchmarks for 2025 model-year vehicles. Automakers say that they don't want to roll back the regulations, they just want more time to implement them because today's low fuel prices are driving demand for larger, less efficient rides. In other words, automakers are concerned that if the rules remain in place, companies will end up making a bunch of super-efficient cars that no one wants. But is that true? A new study from AAA suggests it's not--and in fact, Americans' interest in emissions-free electrics could rival their interest in the time-honored pickup. Survey findings To gather its data, AAA conducted phone interviews with 1,004 U.S. adults in February. Participants were asked a number of questions about their next car purchase. Here are some of the more interesting takeaways: Of those surveyed, 15 percent said that they were likely to purchase or lease an electric vehicle as their next car . That's nearly as high as the number considering pickup trucks: 16 percent. Among Millennials, the figure was higher, with 20 percent likely to buy an electric car in the near future. . That's nearly as high as the number considering pickup trucks: 16 percent. Among Millennials, the figure was higher, with 20 percent likely to buy an electric car in the near future. If those figures hold true, they suggest that some 30 million Americans are preparing to purchase or lease an electric car. Hybrids remain popular, too: almost one-third of those surveyed (32 percent) said that they were likely to purchase or lease a hybrid as their next car. as their next car. Despite today's low fuel prices, fuel economy remains among the most important factors for car shoppers. Reliability remained the tip-top pick, chosen by 93 percent of respondents. However, the race for second place was tight, with cost (71 percent), fuel economy (70 percent), crash rating (70 percent), and performance (69 percent) vying for the spot. remained the tip-top pick, chosen by 93 percent of respondents. However, the race for second place was tight, with (71 percent), (70 percent), (70 percent), and (69 percent) vying for the spot. Less important factors for shoppers were safety technology (50 percent), car brand (48 percent), styling and design (46 percent), and the ability to connect to a smartphone (34 percent). (50 percent), (48 percent), (46 percent), and the ability to (34 percent). The biggest concern among those switching to electric cars remains range anxiety, with 69 percent of respondents saying that there aren't enough charging stations , and 68 percent worried about running out of juice before they reach their destinations. with 69 percent of respondents saying that there , and 68 percent worried about before they reach their destinations. Although there's been a surge in demand for crossovers and SUVs in recent years, 43 percent of those surveyed by AAA said that their next vehicle would be a car. SUVs were next at 26 percent, followed by pickups (16 percent), minivans (5 percent), and motorcycles (1 percent). (Those figures don't add up to 100 because some respondents were undecided.) If we learned anything from the last election cycle, it's that polls are curious things and don't always reflect people's attitudes. So, while these numbers may be encouraging to green car fans, don't break out the eco-friendly confetti just yet. That said, perceptions about electrics are likely to change dramatically in the coming years, as range anxiety diminishes. That will be in part due to battery improvements that make range less of an issue, and due to growth of the charging infrastructure. As AAA's Greg Brannon explains, "Range anxiety stems from seeing gas stations, not charging stations, on every corner. While electric vehicles may not yet fit every lifestyle, the number of charging stations has quadrupled over the last five years and battery ranges support average commutes." By Bernie Woodall (Reuters) - Alabama Governor Kay Ivey on Tuesday moved up to December the election to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions after he was named attorney general, saying that the original plan to hold the election in late 2018 was not soon enough to meet state law. Ivey last week replaced fellow Republican Robert Bentley as governor after he resigned amid impeachment proceedings in the legislature. Bentley had appointed Republican Luther Strange in February to fill the seat Sessions held before joining President Donald Trump's cabinet. Citing concerns about the cost of a special election, Bentley opted to wait until the 2018 general election for voters to elect Sessions' replacement. The state's new governor said Alabama law required a speedier timetable. The primary election will now be held on Aug. 15 and the general vote will be on Dec. 12, Ivey's office said. I promised to steady our ship of state. This means following the law, which clearly states the people should vote for a replacement U.S. senator as soon as possible, Ivey said in an emailed statement. "Following the law trumps the expense of a special election," she said. Strange, who was previously Alabama's attorney general, said he would have run for the Senate seat even if he had not been appointed by Bentley. As Ive said for months, Im a candidate and Im ready to run whether the election is next month or next year," Strange said in an emailed statement. The new date pleased Alabama Auditor Jim Zeigler, a Republican who filed suit against Bentley last month seeking to force a quicker special election. Zeigler told Reuters he considered Bentley's appointment of Strange "questionable." As Alabama's attorney general, Strange in November had put a hold on the state legislature's impeachment proceedings against Bentley. "We need a people-elected senator, not a senator appointed by a failed, disgraced former governor," Zeigler said. In his statement, Strange said he agreed that the people of Alabama should decide who represents them in the U.S. Senate. In an interview with local media last week, after Bentley resigned, Strange said he had asked the legislature to put the impeachment process on hold last November before the presidential election because his office was conducting an investigation of Bentley similar to the legislators' efforts. (Reporting by Bernie Woodall in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Leslie Adler) Milan (AFP) - Alitalia workers will begin voting this week on a high-stakes restructuring deal drawn up by management and unions to save the ailing carrier, a trade union source said Tuesday. The company's estimated 12,500 employees cast their ballots from dawn Thursday to midnight Monday at Rome's Fiumicino airport and Malpensa and Linate in Milan, the source said. Lengthy negotiations ended Friday with a pre-accord approved by the powerful unions but which needs approval of workers. The deal softens a tough restructuring package unveiled by management in mid-March, reducing job losses and salary cuts. It would see 980 permanent job contracts axed instead of 1,338 and would trim air crew salaries by eight percent rather than between 24 and 30 percent. In return, crew would agree to boost productivity by cutting the number of annual rest days to 108 from 120. "No" campaigners are up in arms, saying employees have been bled dry in previous bids to revive the loss-making airline. The company is de facto controlled by Etihad Airways, which acquired a 49 percent stake when it saved Alitalia from bankruptcy in 2014. Nino Cortorillo of the Filt Cgil union said the deal was the best the unions could get after "long and difficult negotiations". The pressure to find a solution is intense, with Alitalia's liquidity expected to run out this month without emergency funding, leaving its fleet grounded. Shareholders Etihad and the Italian banks Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit have said they will only inject new funds if the unions agree to the new collective labour agreement and cuts. The Italian government, which acted as a mediator in the negotiations, warned Tuesday that a "no" victory would be not only costly but potentially fatal for the company. Alitalia has been hit hard by competition from low-cost companies and has been accumulating losses for years. Associated Press There has already been two coaching changes halfway through the NFL season with Indianapolis firing Frank Reich this week four weeks after Carolina did the same to Matt Rhule. The NFL had a record-tying 10 coaching changes last offseason and three-quarters of the teams have changed head coaches at least once in the past five years. Here's a look at some coaches who figure to be on the hot seat if things don't turn around in the second half of the season and some assistants who could be in line for head coaching jobs. By Steve Barnes LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - Arkansas' Supreme Court halted two executions hours before they were due to take place on Monday, while a federal appeals court overruled a lower court decision that had blocked the state's original plan to put eight inmates to death in an 11-day period. The decision by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis was independent of the Arkansas State Supreme Court ruling, meaning the state was barred from executing condemned killers Don Davis and Bruce Ward as scheduled on Monday evening, the Arkansas attorney general's office said. Ward, 60, and Davis, 55, were being held in cells near the state's death chamber and their execution warrants expired at midnight. The next executions are scheduled for Thursday. In a 4-3 decision, Arkansas' highest court stayed the executions of Ward and Davis, each of whom has spent more than 20 years on death row. Their lawyers had raised questions about their mental competency. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge later petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the reprieve granted to Davis, sentenced to die for the 1990 slaying of Jane Daniel, 62, during a home burglary. About 20 minutes before the execution warrant for Davis expired, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Rutledge's request to vacate the stay. "It is heartbreaking that the family of Jane Daniel has once again seen justice delayed," Rutledge said in a statement. Rutledge's office declined to challenge the stay ordered for Ward, who was convicted of strangling 18-year-old gas station attendant Rebecca Doss in 1989. The separate 8th Circuit Court decision vacated a ruling made over the weekend by a U.S. district judge that halted all eight executions. The legal fight in Arkansas, which last put someone to death 12 years ago, came after the number of U.S. executions fell to a quarter-century low in 2016 and as capital punishment in several states was stymied by problems with lethal-injection drugs and legal questions over their protocols. Story continues THREE DAYS OF EXECUTIONS Arkansas said it would go ahead with its plans to execute the remaining six inmates on its current eight-man roster by carrying out dual executions on Thursday, April 24 and April 27. Critics have contended that Arkansas' rush to the death chamber was reckless. The state has said it had to act quickly because one of the drugs in its difficult-to-obtain lethal injection mix, the valium-like sedative midazolam, expires at the end of April. Attorneys for the eight were likely to appeal the federal appeals court ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. They filed a separate petition for stays on Monday with the U.S. Supreme Court over a procedural matter. The state also argued that U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker abused her discretion on Saturday when she ruled about potential harm from midazolam. The drug has been used in flawed executions in Oklahoma and Arizona. Critics contend it does not put a person in a deep enough state of unconsciousness and should not be used in executions. The state Supreme Court on Monday also lifted a temporary restraining order imposed last week by a state judge who blocked the use of one of three drugs Arkansas planned for its executions - vercuronium bromide - after pharmaceutical companies said the state deceived the firms in procuring the chemicals. In 2014, Oklahoma was the last state to try carrying out two executions on the same night, an effort that went badly awry. A poorly secured intravenous tube popped loose during the first attempt, spraying the inside of the death chamber in lethal-injection chemicals. The second execution set for that night was canceled. Texas conducted the last successful dual executions in the United States in 2000. For a graphic on executions in the U.S., click http://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/rngs/m1/412/2011/USA-GEORGIA-EXECUTION.jpg (Reporting by Steve Barnes; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Steve Gorman and Bill Trott) tom cotton Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas was jeered by an aggressive crowd at a town-hall meeting on Monday when he defended President Donald Trump for not releasing his tax returns. When a constituent asked Cotton whether he would push to force Trump to disclose his tax returns, the Republican demured, causing the largely anti-Trump crowd in Little Rock to erupt in boos. "As far as I'm aware, the president says he's still under audit," Cotton said. Cotton, at times raising his voice over the heckling crowd, argued that Trump's tax returns were not necessary to understand his financial situation. "It doesn't take a lot of effort to find out where Donald Trump has connections overseas. He normally puts his name on buildings where he has them," Cotton said. Monday's town hall came two days after nationwide protests called for Trump to uphold 40 years of presidential tradition by disclosing his tax returns. Trump has long maintained that an IRS audit is preventing him from releasing them, although there are no IRS rules to back that up. A growing number of lawmakers from both parties are putting pressure on Trump by publicly calling for him to continue the tradition. But defending Trump at a town hall was familiar territory for Cotton. At a similar event in February, Cotton deflected a question about why he wasn't demanding Trump's tax returns by suggesting his victory in the election excused him. "The way we determine our commander in chief in our country is through elections, and we just had an election, and this was a hotly contested issue during the election. Donald Trump still won," he said. View the exchange below, starting at 8:15 in the video: NOW WATCH: Watch a Trump surrogate get shut down after calling Trump the 'Martin Luther King of healthcare' More From Business Insider Miami (AFP) - A legal battle over the death sentence in the US state of Arkansas has seen skirmishes and retreats, but it's not over yet. Two death row inmates won reprieves on Monday, but five others still face execution in the coming days. After the US Supreme Court and the Arkansas Supreme Court delivered the stays, Arkansas authorities vowed to push on with their state's first executions since 2005. Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson are scheduled to receive lethal injections on Thursday. The other three prisoners are to be executed next week: Jack Harold Jones, Marcel Williams on Monday and Kenneth Williams on Thursday April 27, a spokesman for the state attorney general, Judd Deere, told AFP. Arkansas' Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, had planned for eight men on death row to be executed within an 11-day period before the end of April, when the state's stock of midazolam, a sedative used in the lethal injections, expires. But amid public opposition to the death penalty, including protests in the state capital Little Rock including actor Johnny Depp and a judge linked to one of the cases, lawyers obtained stays for three of the executions. Jason McGehee, who was to be put to death on April 27, received a month-long stay two weeks ago because of a parole board's clemency recommendation. Then, last Friday, Arkansas' Supreme Court suspended -- with no explanation -- the execution of prisoner Bruce Ward planned for Monday. And late on Monday, after inmate Don Davis ate what was supposed to be his "last meal" and just minutes before his execution, the US Supreme Court gave a last-minute ruling sparing him. But Arkansas' attorney general, Leslie Rutledge, has pledged to overcome the stays and haul Ward and Davis back into the death chamber. "The attorney general will go back to the state supreme court and address the merits in both cases brought by Ward and Davis," Deere said. "Until the merits are decided, the stay remains in place." Story continues The lawyers for those two prisoners said their clients suffered serious psychological problems but that their defense attorneys had presented no mental health experts during their trials that results in the death penalty. "They clearly demonstrated that mental health issues would be significant factors at their trials," said public defender Scott Braden. - DNA test requests - Death-penalty abolitionists are now putting in motion legal machinery to try to prevent the executions of Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson on Thursday, laying the scene for another dramatic judicial battle. Last week, Stacey Johnson's lawyer lodged a request for a DNA test to verify whether his client's protestations of innocence were founded. Johnson, a black man, was sentenced for the 1993 murder of a white woman. Paul Cates, from a group known as the Innocence Project that fights the death penalty, said the trial court had rejected a DNA test. His group was filing an appeal before the Arkansas Supreme Court on that basis. There was also an appeal aimed at obtaining a stay for Ledell Lee. America's biggest civil rights organization, the ACLU, brought the motion before a lower Arkansas court on Monday that requests a pause to also carry out a DNA test. Lee, who is also black, was sentenced to death in 1993 for the murder of his neighbor, a white woman. The ACLU argues he should not have been found guilty. At the same time as the legal thrusts and parries, there are challenges to the state's use of the drug used in the lethal injections. McKesson Medical-Surgical, a distributor for pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, had asked courts to ban the use of a paralytic it sells, vecuronium bromide, in the chemical cocktail used to kill prisoners. A lower court judge ruled in favor last Friday. But then an appeals court suspended that injunction, allowing the state to go ahead with using the drug. However, "the prisoners are preparing a petition to ask the US Supreme Court to review that," Rob Dunham, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, told AFP on Tuesday. If they win that case, the death-penalty abolitionists might win the war in Arkansas -- if only temporarily. There are two things Hollywood has been reliably obsessed with for decades: treasure hunts, and space exploration. Discovery's new documentary series, Cooper's Treasure, combines the two in a compelling new tale, which began when one of the original Mercury 7 astronauts, Gordon Cooper, discovered anomalies dark spots in the ocean while searching for nuclear test sites during one of his missions. Cooper soon deduced that the spots were actually shipwrecks, and spent the next several decades using the information he collected while orbiting the Earth to create a document that he thought could lead to unimaginable wealth a treasure map from space. Before he died, Cooper shared the information with his friend Darrell Miklos, in the hope that his exploration would continue and the treasure would ultimately be found, and Discovery went along for the hunt. Mashable has an exclusive sneak peek from the premiere of Cooper's Treasure, in which Miklos lays out everything Cooper left for him to begin his quest. Cooper's Treasure premieres Tuesday, April 18 at 10 p.m. on Discovery. The show is produced for Discovery Channel by AMPLE and Amblin Television. A portion of a westbound Atlanta interstate has closed after the road buckled on Monday, officials said. Lanes on I-20 West between Candler and Gresham roads in DeKalb County were closed indefinitely after part of the road bucked, likely because of an issue with an underground utility installation, the Georgia Department of Transportation said in a statement. Prior reports indicated that a gas leak caused the buckling, but a spokesperson for Southern Company said the incident did not involve the release of natural gas. The GDOT and DeKalb County police urged motorists to find alternative routes until further notice. GDOT spokesperson Natalie Dale said they anticipate having some lanes open by 5 p.m. EDT Monday, with plans to have all lanes open by noon on Tuesday. The road buckling and closure comes just weeks after a massive fire caused a bridge on I-85 to collapse in Atlanta, significantly impacting traffic patterns in the city. The GDOT said things will not return back to normal for months. This article was originally published on TIME.com By Ali Abdelaty CAIRO (Reuters) - Gunmen attacked security forces near St. Catherine's Monastery in Egypt's south Sinai on Tuesday, killing at least one police officer and injuring four others, the Health Ministry said, just a week after two deadly church bombings killed 45. Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on a police checkpoint about 800 meters (yards) from the entrance to the monastery, one of the world's most important Christian sites. The attack comes just 10 days before Pope Francis is scheduled to visit Egypt and just over a week after two deadly suicide bombings on Christian churches, also claimed by Islamic State, plunged the country into mourning and marked one of the bloodiest days for the country's Christian minority in decades. St. Catherine's, founded in the 6th century and located at the foot of Mount Sinai, is one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world and a UNESCO world heritage site. It is part of the Eastern Orthodox church. Egypt's Christian minority, which makes up about 10 percent of the country's 92 million people, has increasingly been targeted by Islamist militants, with three deadly church attacks in the span of four months. In February, scores of Christian families and students fled North Sinai province after a spate of targeted killings. A successful assault on St. Catherine's would be the latest challenge to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who has pledged to protect the religious minority as part of his campaign against extremism. Egypt has for years been battling an Islamist insurgency in the rugged and thinly populated northern Sinai, which gained pace after the military overthrew President Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2013 following mass protests against his rule. Attacks in Egypt's southern Sinai, a popular destination for tourists dotted with Red Sea resorts, are by contrast rare. Security sources told Reuters that security had been put on high alert at tourist facilities across southern Sinai after the attack. The attack in southern Sinai comes as Russia is expected to make a long-awaited decision on whether to restore flights to the Sharm el-Sheikh resort after a Russian airliner was downed in 2015, dealing a serious blow to the area's tourism industry, which relies heavily on Russian visitors. Egypt's tourism industry, a crucial source of hard currency, has suffered in the years of turmoil that followed the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, as well as from the suspected bombing of the Russian plane, which killed all 224 on board. Israel took the unusual step earlier this month of barring its citizens from crossing into the Sinai peninsula, saying the threat of attacks in the area inspired by Islamic State and other jihadi groups was high. (Reporting by Ali Abdelaty; Additional reporting by Ahmed Mohamed Hassan and Yousri Mohamed; Writing by Eric Knecht; Editing by Giles Elgood and Tom Brown) The British director Ridley Scott has launched RSA VR, a new studio which will be dedicated exclusively to Virtual Reality. This division of his production company is working on, among other projects, an immersive experience inspired by his next film "Alien: Covenant." Scott is the latest in a long list of major directors who have taken an interest in this new technology. Ridley Scott's reputation as an innovator has been proven once again with his decision to create RSA VR, a division of his production company which will be exclusively dedicated to virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed media. Headed by Jen Dennis, this specialist unit's roster includes 13 directors who will help to create new film experiences. One of these is David Karlak, who is working on an immersive film inspired by the terrifying world of "Alien: Covenant," Ridley Scott's next movie which will be released in May. This voyage into virtual reality will be created with the help of 20th Century Fox, which has also launched its own division in this field called Fox Innovation Lab. This unit has already worked with Ridley Scott on "The Martian VR Experience", a VR film inspired by Scott's previous movie "The Martian" which was released in 2015. At that time, "The Martian VR Experience" was available on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR. These platforms are expected to make available a similar film inspired by "Planet of the Apes," when its next instalment "War for the Planet of the Apes" is released in July. VR is heading for Cannes and Venice VR in the movie industry is more than just a few isolated projects. In 2017, the technology will be introduced in one of the biggest film festivals in the world. The Out of Competition section of the 70th Cannes Film Festival in May will unveil a VR installation by Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("The Revenant," "Birdman"). This six-minute project is called "Carne y Arena (Virtually Present, Physically Invisible)". The next Venice Film Festival (from August 31 to September 4) will go even further. It will have a section dedicated exclusively to VR. Three prizes, decided on by a jury of five professionals, will be awarded in this category which will consist of 18 immersive films. VR is already attracting big names in the movie industry. In addition to Scott and Inarritu, Kathryn Bigelow has taken an interest in the subject via the documentary "The Protectors." The director of "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty" worked with Imraan Ismail, Annapurna Pictures and National Geographic Channel to create this eight-minute film about women and men in the Democratic Republic of Congo who strive to protect elephants against ivory poachers. An 8-year-old child is suspected in the death of a toddler at a Michigan day care, where the victims mother said she discovered her sons lifeless body when she arrived to pick him up, according to reports. Little Korey Brown, 1, was found dead in the day care, which was run out of a home in Muskegon, after apparently being left unsupervised for an extended period on Friday, Police Chief Jeffrey Lewis told MLive.com. Authorities said the little boy was dropped off at the day care the previous night and left unsupervised with an 8-year-old girl, who had been left at the facility around 2 a.m. that day. The death occurred while the children were left alone, and Korey was found concealed in a bedroom, Lewis told MLive.com. A cause of death was not immediately known. "The 1-year-old was crying and it appears no one was attending to the child," he said. "The 8-year-old dealt with the baby crying This person that was involved in the death probably felt something was wrong. If you're a child and break something, you try to hide it." Read: Toddler Dies Days After He Stopped Breathing During Naptime at Day Care The primary witness is 5 years old, making the case very difficult for officers, Lewis said. "I thought I saw everything," Lewis said. "This one floors me. I can hardly get a grip on it." Bryanna Reasonover, Koreys mother, told MLive.com that she found her son unresponsive in a playpen when she went to pick him and his siblings up. "I picked Korey up and I'm thinking he's asleep and then his face tilts over," Reasonover said, noting her son appeared to have bite marks and bruises on his face. "I'm saying 'What's wrong with my baby's face?' I'm thinking he's still asleep." First responders were called to the home at 6:50 a.m., and Korey was pronounced dead at 8 a.m., following resuscitation and other life-saving efforts, officials said. Story continues Lewis said that he didn't believe the child had any visible injuries. The 8-year-old girl was taken for a mental evaluation at Mercy Health Partners Hackley Campus, Lewis told MLive.com. No complaints have ever been made against the owner and operator of the day care, Keysha Collins, who was first licensed to run the facility, which accommodates up to 12 children, in 2016, the state's Licensing and Regulatory Affairs division said. That agency is now investigating the incident. Police are also continuing to investigate, Lewis said, noting that the case is unlike anything hes ever seen. Read: Day Care Center Shuttered After 3-Month-Old Died On Her Mother's First Day Back at Work "I thought I saw everything," Lewis said. "This one floors me. I can hardly get a grip on it." The loss of Korey came as a shock for loved ones, who took to social media to share their grief. Korey wasn't your average 1 year old," a relative wrote on a GoFundMe page created to offset funeral costs. "He was full of life and made his presence known in any room he entered. He is his mothers angel, born on her birthday." Others expressed their condolences with Koreys devastated mother. May your precious boy find peace....and I wish you strength to help you through this terrible time, a friend wrote on her Facebook page. May [God] hold your family close. My heart breaks for you sweetie, another friend posted. Sending Comforting Prayers. Watch: 4-Year-Old Girl Feared Missing When Day Care Gives Child to Wrong Person: Cops Related Articles: A Virginia mother says her young daughter is a true hero after saving her little sister from a crazed carjacker. Brandie Weiler told InsideEdition.com that she was driving with her two daughters, Madison, 12, and Mollie, 7, when they witnessed a car accident at the intersection in front of them on John Taylor Highway on Saturday. Read: Woman Pumping Gas is Carjacked, Taken on 150-Mile Ride Before Escaping Weiler said she got out of her van to check on the other driver who was hit and call police when the man driving the other vehicle got out tried to enter her van with her two daughters inside. The next thing I know he started going towards my van. He opened the door and got in. My kids were in it so I was trying to run back to the car, Weiler said. In a quick-thinking action, 12-year-Madison put the van in drive because she knew the man, later identified as Paul Salsman, wouldnt be able to start it. He was saying all these things like, Lets go and, I need to get to this place,'" Madison told WTKR. But the girl clearly wasn't going to let him drive them off without a fight especially with her little sister Mollie in the back seat. Madison started punching and screaming at the man. I just went for it, Madison said. Nothing passed my mind except he is a psycho and he needs to get out of the car." Weiler said the man eventually gave up and got out of the car and then tried to take someone elses car before police showed up and arrested 21-year-old Salsman. Weiler said shes extremely proud of her daughter for her brave actions. Read: A Teenage Girl Was Shot Point-Blank After She Chased Her Carjacker and Opened Passenger Door I dont know where it came from," Weiler said. "Madison just said she had to do what she had to do to take care of Mollie. Shes tough. I never thought that she would be that. So its just like, 'Whoa, wait." Story continues The 12-year-old fractured her growth plate during the altercation, but the mom said she definitely held her own. She held it together better than I did, Weiler said. Police arrested Salsman and charged him with three counts of attempted carjacking. Watch: 15 Heroic Men Flip Overturned Convertible Saving Trapped Man After Crash Related Articles: A French artist who has spent three weeks sitting on 10 eggs hatched his first chick Tuesday. Abraham Poincheval -- who made headlines last month after spending a week entombed inside an egg-shaped rock -- has hardly slept since he stepped inside a glass vitrine in a Paris modern art museum to sit on the eggs on March 29. But late on Tuesday afternoon the first of the eggs began to hatch, forcing the artist to temporarily rise from his nest for fear of crushing the new-born. Up until then Poincheval was only allowed a half-hour break every 24 hours to keep him from cracking -- although he never once left the glass case in the Palais de Tokyo. "It has been really tough for him. He has slept sitting on the eggs. It's been a lot harder than being shut inside the rock," a spokeswoman for the museum told AFP. What is more the 44-year-old has had to contend with the heat, having to keep the eggs at a minimum of 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit). He has also been all but cut off from the outside world. "His voice is quite muffled through the glass," the spokeswoman added. "It is quite frustrating to communicate sometimes." From the start, Poincheval -- dubbed France's most extreme artist -- appeared far more daunted by the performance than his claustrophobia-defying spell inside the rock. - Cooped up - Cooped up in one corner of the vitrine in a heavy traditional Korean cape on a specially designed "laying table", the usually amiable artist avoided the gaze of gallery goers and retreated into himself. However, as cracks appeared in the first of the eggs, his spirits lifted. Now bearded, he could be seen checking on the eggs every few minutes on the museum's live YouTube feed and talking with museum staff. His ordeal is far from over, however. Although the chick has cracked a large hole in the top of its shell, it has shown no sign of wanting to leave it. And its nine siblings must also hatch before Poincheval can go home to his two human children. Story continues "The chicks will stay with Abraham inside the vitrine for 72 hours," the museum's spokeswoman said. "He will not feed them for the first 24 hours until their bowels clear and he has enough feed for them inside the vitrine for their first 48 hours of life," she added. Only then will he have the right to quit the run with his "offspring", which he has already vowed will never end up in a casserole. His father Christian had earlier told AFP that as a child Poincheval had a pet chicken. He also revealed that the "hen-men and hen-women" his son brings into the world will be allowed to live out their natural lives on his smallholding in the west of France. - Chickens to be spared pot - "I have prepared everything to welcome the chicks including a luxury chicken coop. I can assure you that they will never be the centrepiece of a grand feast," said Christian Poincheval, an inventor best known for pills that make farts smell of roses. His son had said earlier that he was inspired by a tragicomic short story by the French writer Guy de Maupassant. In "Toine", a bad-tempered farmer's wife gets revenge on her idle bon vivant husband by using his body to keep her chickens' eggs warm when he is paralysed by a mysterious malady. Poincheval is no stranger to bizarre performances. He once spent a fortnight inside a stuffed bear eating worms and insects, was buried under a rock for eight days and navigated France's Rhone river inside a giant corked bottle. His big dream, however, is to walk on the clouds. "I have been working on it for five years, but it is not quite there yet," he said. London (AFP) - Prime ministerial resignations, historic referendums and of course Brexit: Here are the main events from a seismic few years in British politics: - Scotland votes to stay - After a bruising campaign, Scots voted by 55 percent to 45 percent against independence in September 2014. In the aftermath of Britain's June 2016 vote to leave the European Union, Scotland asked for a second referendum. - Cameron election - Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservatives perform surprisingly well in the May 2015 general election, winning an overall majority in parliament after years of coalition government with the Liberal Democrats. - Brexit referendum - In a historic referendum, Britain votes to leave the European Union by 52 percent to 48 percent, ending more than four decades of memberships and plunging the bloc into turmoil. - Cameron resigns - The morning after the referendum, Cameron, who had campaigned for Britain to stay in the EU, says he is stepping down. This sparks a Conservative leadership race won in surprisingly quick time by Theresa May, formerly home secretary (interior minister). - Article 50 - On March 29, 2017 Britain's ambassador to the EU hands over a historic letter to the EU president, formally starting the process of Britain leaving the European Union, the first country in the bloc's history to do so. - Snap election - In a surprise announcement, May calls for an early general election on June 8 as Britain prepares for delicate negotiations on its EU departure. "We need a general election and we need one now. We have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done... before the detailed talks begin," May said. A husband-to-be who claims he was unfairly kicked off of a United Airlines flight on Saturday says he and his bride arent letting the incident put a damper on their wedding celebrations. Its not gonna slow us down, Michael Hohl tells PEOPLE of himself and his fiancee Amber Maxwell. Its just a bump in the road. He adds: Were in Costa Rica now, we got here. Were trying our best to find a different airline to fly home. Hohl tells PEOPLE that he and Maxwell, both of Park City, Utah, were boarding a plane out of Houston on Saturday, heading to the country for their wedding when they saw a man lying in their seats. Michael Hohl (left) and Amber Maxwell We didnt wanna bother the guy because there were so many empty seats. Thats when we sat in an empty row that was a few rows ahead of ours, Hohl says, noting that the aircraft was 60 percent full at best. They came and asked us to move, we kindly, politely moved. We moved back to our seats, we sat down, got our seatbelt on and we were taken off the plane. United Airlines acknowledged the incident in a statement to PEOPLE, with a spokesperson saying that the company is disappointed anytime a customer has an experience that doesnt measure up to their expectations. These passengers repeatedly attempted to sit in upgraded seating which they did not purchase and they would not follow crew instructions to return to their assigned seats, the statement read. They were asked to leave the plane by our staff and complied. Hohl says that he was told to leave the plane and although Maxwell was not ordered to do so, she went with him because she wasnt gonna fly to Costa Rica for a wedding by herself. The couple was not allowed back on the plane and their flight was rescheduled for the following morning, he says. The airlines statement noted that Hohl and Maxwell were ticketed in Economy but attempted to move up to Economy Plus and declined to pay the difference in fare. Hohl tells PEOPLE that he and his fiancee told flight attendants that they didnt know the seats were upgraded. He says that when he asked how to pay for the seats, he and Maxwell were told they couldnt do so because they had already boarded the plane. Story continues Daughter of Dr. David Daughter Says Family Was Sickened By United Airlines Incident We did exactly as told. When they asked us to move, we moved without a flight, he says, calling the situation strange. We apologized that we were in another row of seats, but it was a nearly empty plane. Hohl says he and Maxwell are schedule to wed on Thursday. The incident came less than a week after footage of David Dao being violently dragged from a United Airlines flight sparked national outrage and landed the company in very hot water. Daos lawyer said the man suffered a significant concussion, a serious broken nose, two broken teeth and an injury to sinuses. Dao, through his attorneys, has since been granted a bill of discovery to preserve all surveillance videos, cockpit voice recordings, a full passenger list and any incident reports from the altercation. In the wake of the controversy, United has changed is policy, stating that crew members will not be able to bump a passenger who is already seated in one of the airlines planes, the company told PEOPLE in the statement. Delta Air Lines and American Airlines have followed suit altering policies, with Delta confirming to PEOPLE that gate supervisors could offer passengers up to $9,950 to give up their seats on a flight. Meanwhile, American Airlines has announced that officials will not involuntarily remove a revenue passenger, who has already boarded, in order to give a seat to another passenger. This article was originally published on PEOPLE.com London (AFP) - Britain's snap election is likely to be judgement day for embattled opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, but offers little prospect of resolving the deep-seated tensions tearing the party apart, experts said. As the country gears up for a June 8 vote, the centre-left party lags far behind Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives in the latest opinion polls and is bitterly divided over Brexit. With her shock announcement calling for an election on Tuesday, May made a bid to strengthen her position going into negotiations for leaving the European Union but also to capitalise on Labour's weaknesses. "It's a mixed blessing, it's an opportunity for the Labour right to oust Corbyn if he performs badly, but it could be a political disaster and Labour could poll its lowest vote since 1918," political expert and author Eliza Filby told AFP. Wyn Grant, politics professor at the University of Warwick, said: "Clearly if Labour suffer a big defeat, Corbyn is going to go". "The Labour Party is then going to have to identify a new leader of the opposition who has real credibility and can rebuild the traditional bases of support, which is going to be a big task. "It may not be possible within the span of one parliament to achieve that," he said. Veteran left-winger Corbyn, who was seen as a marginal figure, came to power in 2015 after the party changed the rules to allow grassroots members to elect the leader, as opposed to its MPs. The vote for Brexit last June brought tensions between Corbyn's team and the more centrist MPs to a head after the leader -- a long-time eurosceptic -- was accused of sabotaging the campaign to stay in the EU, the party's official position. However, a bid to oust him floundered. The party has traditionally counted on working-class communities in northern England and Scotland and progressive urban voters, but is in danger of losing both, warned Filby. Story continues "They are under threat from so many different angles -- in Scotland from the SNP (Scottish National Party); from the Liberal Democrats in the cities; the Conservatives and possibly UKIP (UK Independence Party) in the north." She said Brexit only highlighted deeper ideological differences between the anti-globalisation, pro-Brexit working class bloc and the pro-EU, pro-immigration urban voters. - 'Too strong to collapse' - "Corbyn's strategy has been to say 'we will allow Brexit to pass but under certain conditions'. That hasn't really worked in parliament and I'm not sure it will work in the country," she said. "Core voters in the north who voted for Brexit are not convinced, and metropolitan liberal voters aren't convinced by that either." Adding to the pressure is May's apparent ability to bridge the class divide, with the latest YouGov poll finding she was almost as popular with poorer voters as she was with the affluent. Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP, will hope to woo disappointed pro-EU voters with their clear anti-Brexit stance. Latest projections produced by the Electoral Calculus group predict that the Conservatives would win 381 seats, a gain of 50 seats from the 2015 vote, with Labour winning 182 seats, a loss of 50 seats. Despite the potential electoral disaster, Filby doubted that the vote posed an existential crisis for the 117-year-old party. "I don't think it will be the final nail in the coffin. It's in a position where it is too strong to collapse and too weak to win." Corbyn himself remained bullish after May's announcement, insisting he wanted "to lead a government that will transform this country." King's College professor Alex Callinicos said even replacing Corbyn would leave no end in sight to the battle over the party's soul. "Even if the divisions went away, it still wouldn't be clear what Labour stands for," he said. Filby said that what the party needed was a "unity candidate that can bring both elements, the parliamentary party and the voting constituency together". LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday called for an early election on June 8. Here are the steps needed before the vote happens. HOW WILL SHE CALL AN ELECTION? The mechanism for a government in Britain to call a new election is more complicated than it used to be. Governments used to be able to call elections when they saw fit, but the Fixed-term Parliaments Act, passed in 2011, set a timetable for elections to take place every five years. Under the legislation, a motion for a new vote ahead of schedule needs to be carried by two thirds of the 650 seats in the House of Commons, including vacant seats. This means that the government needs 434 votes to call the election. May said that she would introduce a motion to Parliament on Wednesday. If it is passed, Parliament will come to an end 25 working days before the date of the general election which, accounting for public holidays, will be May 3. May's Conservatives hold 330 seats in the chamber, and the opposition Labour party 229. Labour has said that it will vote for the election, so the combined 559 votes would be enough to pass the motion if all lawmakers of both parties follow the party line. WHY DID MAY CHANGE HER MIND? The decision by Theresa May to call a snap election is a U-turn, as she had previously repeatedly ruled out such a move. She has previously said that Britain needs stability rather than a new election, but on Tuesday she implied that division in Westminster was undermining that stability already. "At this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division," May said on Tuesday as she announced a general election. She also cited economic strength as a sign of her government's success. "Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs, and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations," she said. Economists had said that the UK economy's relative strength at the moment makes this a good time to have an election, before nascent signs of a downturn can gather steam. May's position may also have been influenced by the polls. A survey by ICM on Tuesday gave the Conservatives a 18 percentage point lead over the main Labour opposition party, and other polls over the last week have put the lead at over 20 percentage points. Labour has been riven with internal division over the Brexit vote and the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, who many of its lawmakers believe will struggle to win an election. Betting odds indicated May's Conservatives had an 80 percent chance of winning a majority while Labour had just a 2 percent chance. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR BREXIT? If May wins the June 8 election, her position would be strengthened at home and in negotiations with the 27 other members of the EU. With a large majority, May would be less beholden to extreme eurosceptics inside the Conservative Party while winning a personal mandate would strengthen her position as prime minister. It also gives her more space domestically to negotiate Britain's exit, which under the current timetable will take place in March 2019. Had she waited until 2020 to hold an election, she would have faced voters just a year after leaving the EU. By calling one in June, May could win more space domestically as the next British election would not be due until 2022. That would allow her some political space to deal with any of the potentially negative economic implications of Brexit. But her gamble also means that the biggest three economies of the European Union - Germany, the United Kingdom and France - all face elections in 2017. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and John Stonestreet) LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for an election on June 8, saying Britain's opposition parties risked worsening her negotiating hand in divorce talks with the European Union by opposing her Brexit plan. "It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond," she said on the doorstep of her Downing Street office. May, who was appointed prime minister after the country voted in favor of Brexit in June last year, enjoys a large lead in the opinion polls, with 50 percent saying she would be the best prime minister. The leader of the main opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, won 14 percent, pollster YouGov said. But she must first win the support of two-thirds of the parliament for her call for an early election. The main opposition Labour Party has said it is ready for a new election. (Reporting by Elizabeth Piper, Kylie MacLellan and William James; editing by Kate Holton) BRUSSELS (Reuters) - British voters can use a snap election called on Tuesday to show what kind of relationship they want with the European Union, the European Parliament's point-man on Brexit, Guy Verhofstadt, said in a statement. "There will be an opportunity for the UK citizens to express themselves on how they see the future relationship between the their country and the EU," the liberal former Belgian prime minister said on his Facebook page. "As the EP Brexit negotiator, I will work with a new government for the best common future possible." Verhofstadt, a strong proponent of a more federally centralized European Union, leads the liberal bloc in the EU legislature to which Britain's Liberal Democrats belong. They plan to campaign to prevent the ruling Conservatives negotiating a "hard Brexit" in which Britain cuts many ties with the Union. (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; @macdonaldrtr) Britains Prime Minister Theresa May has announced her intention to call a snap general election on June 8 - and the U.K. isnt quite sure how to process the information. According to Google Trends, one of the U.K.s most-searched questions following Mays shock announcement has been When was the last general election?, which is a pretty understandable question when you consider that it has been less than two years (712 days to be precise) since the country last endured a national vote for Prime Minister, whose term is ordinarily five years. Other questions that make the list include What is a snap election?, What does general election mean? and Who can vote in a general election? Google Trends has also released the top five most searched terms relating to the Prime Minister. As one would expect, What party is Theresa May from?, Why has Theresa May called a general election? and How can Theresa May call an election? make the list. However, rather surprisingly, the most searched question has been How old is Theresa May?, which feels fairly irrelevant. "When did Theresa May get elected?" Top UK questions following May39;s snap #GeneralElection announcement pic.twitter.com/lTq56jjOYl - GoogleTrends (@GoogleTrends) April 18, 2017 This article was originally published on TIME.com What do you do when youre the leader of a U.S. secessionist movement losing support because youre backed by Russia? If youre Californias Louis Marinelli, you give up and decide to settle in Russia. The Yes California Independence Campaign is not the only secession movement with suspected Kremlin support (Russian backing, like the stars, shines bright deep in the heart of Texas), but it is the one Marinelli championed. But backers of Yes California were put off by its ties to Russia, which seemed especially shady given that Marinellis physical whereabouts were unclear during the campaign. And so they pulled the proverbial plug. As the Sacramento Bee reported, Organizers said they want to make a clean break from any push tainted by perceived links to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. I have found in Russia a new happiness, a life without the albatross of frustration and resentment towards ones [sic] homeland, and a future detached from the partisan divisions and animosity that has thus far engulfed my entire adult life, Marinelli wrote in a letter to his supporters on Monday, referring to the Golden State as occupied California. In a December interview with Russias RT, everyones favorite state-backed news outlet, Marinelli said his strategy was to court countries with U.N. Security Council veto power, namely Russia and China, to recognize the movement even if Washington and its allies rejected it. Russian nationalists, whove made a hobby out of supporting secessionist movements in Europe, were happy to oblige. That month, Marinelli established a makeshift Embassy of the Independent Republic of California in Moscow. Hes been there ever since, but now wants to make Russia his official home. If the people of Russia would be so kind as to welcome me here on a permanent basis, I intend to make Russia my new home, he wrote. No word yet on whether the Kremlin will be so kind. But fear not, California independence supporters. He said when California gains its independence, he will return to live once again under our bear flag. Story continues And Ruiz Evans, Yes Californias now former vice president, is joining the California Freedom Coalition, another Calexit political group, and hopes to file a new proposal for Californian nationhood by the end of the month one without any Russian baggage. Evans believes his movement would have more money and backing if people werent worried about ties to Russia. Setting Kremlin hijinks aside, the movement still has some numbers issues to sort out. Per state rules, the California Freedom Coalition needs 585,000 signatures to qualify for a ballot measure on independence. Yes California only has 97,463 registered supporters. While Evans plots another campaign from his new digs, Marinelli will remain the leader of Yes California from, yes, Russia. Until then I will continue to serve as the representative of the Republic of California to Russia, he concluded, not clarifying who gave him this authority or what the role would actually entail. Photo credit: MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images Rivers ordinarily take thousands of years to disappear or reverse their course. But for one immense river in Canada, it took four days. The Slims River in northern Canada abruptly disappeared over the course of days last year, thanks to a rapidly melting glacier at the rivers headwaters. Melting water cut a new canyon through the Canadian Yukons vast Kaskawulsh Glacier during last years unusually warm spring. That caused water that normally runs north through the Slims river to the Yukon River to be diverted southward instead to the Alsek River and onto the Pacific Ocean. A paper published in Nature Geoscience on Monday outlined the phenomenon and pinned the blame on post-industrial climate change. Geologists are calling it an unprecedented side effect of climate change. And it could happen to other glacial-fed rivers too, putting river-reliant ecosystems and communities in grave risk in the future. Now all that remains of the Slims River is a slim trickle of water and dust, said the authors. We went to the area intending to continue our measurements in the Slims river, but found the riverbed more or less dry, said University of Illinois geologist James Best. The delta top that wed been sailing over in a small boat was now a dust storm. In terms of landscape change it was incredibly dramatic. The Slims Rivers disappearance has quickly had a dramatic impact on the ecosystem, redistributing fish populations, altering the chemistry of nearby lakes, and plaguing the region with a spate of new dust storms. Other glacial-fed rivers, ones that supply hydroelectric power and water supplies to more populated regions, could also be at risk. The phenomenon known as river piracy was coined in the 19th century and describes when tectonic shifts and long-term erosion causes rivers to disappear. Geologists say the Slims River appears to be the first case of modern river piracy, and the first ever caused by climate change. Story continues It wont be the last, warned Lonnie Thompson, a paleoclimatologist at Ohio State University. Thompson told the Guardian similar incidents could happen in the Himalayas, Andes mountains of South America, or other parts of Alaska and Canada as climate change accelerates. Often these events occur in remote and poor parts of our planet and thus go largely unnoticed by the larger population but greatly impact the livelihood of many families downstream, Thompson said. Photo credit: Jeff Wallace/Flickr LONDON (Reuters) - No one can be complacent about the potential threat posed by the missiles being developed by North Korea, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said on Tuesday. In an interview with the BBC on Monday, North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol said Pyongyang would continue to test missiles on a "weekly, monthly and yearly basis". "The regime is now developing intercontinental ballistic missiles which would be capable of delivering a nuclear strike on the mainland United States. These weapons have not yet been fully tested but no one can be complacent about the potential threat they pose," Johnson told parliament. Johnson also said he had spoken to his Chinese counterpart on Monday and urged him to use Beijing's influence to restrain North Korea. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan; editing by William James) By James Pearson SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea used Chinese-made trucks to display missiles at a massive military parade last week, according to photographs released by state media, underlining the difficulty in enforcing U.N. sanctions against the isolated state. At Saturday's parade to mark the 105th birth anniversary of founder president Kim Il Sung, North Korea displayed six Pukkuksong submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) for the first time, towed behind trucks painted in North Korean navy camouflage. In the photographs, the logo of Chinese firm Sinotruk can be seen on the vehicles. Last year, Reuters reported that North Korea was using Sinotruk HOWO trucks to display a new mobile artillery system. A Sinotruk sales official said on Tuesday he was not aware the company's trucks had been used in this year's parade. "From my understanding, we haven't had any business with the North Korean market since last year; North Korea has never been a major focus of ours," said the official, who gave only his last name, Gu. "It may have been from before then and they refitted it themselves." China and North Korea maintain "normal contacts, including normal business contacts", said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, when asked about the trucks. "At the same time, as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China strictly adheres to its international responsibilities, including those from Security Council resolutions," Lu told a daily news briefing. Since 2006, it has been against United Nations sanctions to ship military hardware into North Korea but control of equipment and vehicles that have "dual-use" military and civilian applications has been far less stringent. It is also much harder to track. North Korean state media has in the past released images of Sinotruk chassis and cabins in propaganda related to construction or mining. A U.N. report which noted the use of the trucks in the display of mobile artillery last year did not name Sinotruk, but said that the Chinese seller had included a "clear clause" in its deal with the North Korean buyer that the trucks were to be for civilian use only. TIMBER TRUCKS North Korea also appeared to reveal two new types of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) during Saturday's parade. One was mounted on a large off-road truck which was identified in an earlier U.N. report as being of Chinese origin. In a 2010 statement sent to China, North Korea's forestry ministry said the trucks were bought to transport timber, according to the U.N. report. The second of the two ICBMs was mounted on a North Korean-branded "Taekpaeksan" military truck which used tyres made by China-based Triangle Group, according to photos of the parade seen by Reuters. Triangle Group, a major tyre manufacturer headquartered in Weihai, a port city in eastern Shandong province, said it was not aware its tyres had been used in the military parade. "It's possible they were resold from somewhere else," an official from Triangle's export department said. (Additional reporting by Philip Wen and Christian Shepherd in BEIJING; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan) KACHIN STATE, Myanmar In early March, Myanmars government sat down with a coalition of ethnic rebel groups, including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), trying to jump-start peace negotiations that had sputtered out after months of escalating fighting. The meeting had been brokered by China, keen to quell the conflict along its southwestern border. The Kachin are an ethnic group of about a million people with their own eponymous province, Kachin State, in northern Myanmar. Ever since a coup brought a junta led by the nations ethnic majority Burmese to power in 1962, the Kachin have been fighting for independence as part of a constellation of conflicts that observers have called the worlds longest-running civil war. The KIA is no paltry guerrilla band it has about 10,000 men and controls much of the Myanmar-China border and the fighting has been intense. During the past six years, the conflict has displaced more than 100,000 people, and the military has committed widespread human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, rape, and torture. With refugees spilling across the border, Beijing has repeatedly emphasized the need for peace. But China has not always been so conciliatory. As recently as 2011, China was used to getting its way with its much smaller neighbor through force. For five decades, as the junta ruled Myanmar, China had treated its neighbor, which it officially termed a little brother, like a client nation, knowing that the regime was isolated by sanctions and had few other places to turn. During the past few decades, China has extracted massive quantities of timber, gold, jade, and other resources from Kachin State much of it illegally. But Myanmars recent democratization and the changing goals of its rebel groups, from fighting off the government to winning the right to run their own states within Myanmar, have forced China to pivot. The clearest example of Chinas changing strategy is the transformation of its efforts to build the Myitsone Dam across the Irrawaddy River. Before 2011, China planned to sink $3.5 billion into constructing one of the largest hydroelectric dams in the world to produce electricity primarily for its cities over the border in Yunnan Province, though about 10 percent of the energy would have gone to Myanmar. The project was jointly pushed by both countries governments and epitomized Naypyidaws prioritization of Chinese demands and the money that came with them over local needs. Yet today, a boulder with the graffiti No Dam, No War painted in red stands at the headwaters of the Irrawaddy River. A few miles downstream, four huge concrete towers thrust out of the water: the unfinished Myitsone Dam. In September 2011, Myanmars new government shocked everyone especially China by announcing that work on the dam would be suspended. The reversal was so unexpected that scaffolding still crowns the uncompleted dam, streaking the concrete brown as it rusts. The suspension seems permanent enough that many Kachin have moved back to their villages. While driving through them we saw women hoeing potatoes and men hammering together new houses on wooden stilts. This is a sharp reversal of the previous governments position. Because the dam would flood about 65,000 acres of the surrounding valleys, the junta, with the encouragement of the Chinese, forcibly evicted nearby Kachin villagers through 2011, leading to widespread reports of abuse. They bulldozed five or six villages without warning, Htu Hkwang, who lived in one of the villages, told Foreign Policy. Once people began to protest, they tried to bribe the rest of the villages. When people still wouldnt move, they threatened them with false legal orders and warned, This place will be covered with water anyway, so you dont really have a choice. Protests against the dam spread nationwide, on behalf of both the villagers and the rivers fragile ecosystem. Soon, celebrities like Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and Burmese democracy activist, took up the cause. The size of the crowds surprised everyone. But shortly after the suspension of the dam, China received an even bigger shock. Myanmar was intent on democratizing. In 2015, elections raised up the Nationwide League for Democracy, an opposition party led by Aung San Suu Kyi, though the military retained control of important ministries and substantial influence in the parliament through a new constitution. Instead of a client state on its southwestern border, China had to deal with a government that was keen to find great powers to balance Beijings influence. Chinas hopes to restart the dam were complicated by a resumption of fighting between the KIA and Myanmars military after a cease-fire had broken down after two decades in 2011, shortly before the dam was put on hold. The instability has often closed the border and threatened Chinas huge business interests in timber, gold, and jade. In 2014, Global Witness found that the black market jade trade could be worth up to $31 billion, which is equal to nearly half of Myanmars legitimate gross domestic product, most of which flowed from the richest jade mines in the world in east Kachin State. Thousands of Kachin refugees periodically flood Chinese townships. Given these new realities, it was clear that China would have to change its strong-arm strategies. The country has shifted its approach in an attempt to restart the Myitsone Dam project, from raising the issue during Aung San Suu Kyis first diplomatic visit to hearts-and-minds campaigns. A public outreach campaign was funded to convince the Kachin that the dam was in their best interest. Kachin leaders were taken on educational trips to see the benefits of hydropower projects in China. Donations were made to schools and civic organizations. And peace suddenly became a priority. In the old days, the Chinese talked directly to the military, and they didnt have to care about the people because the military was in control, said Steve Naw Aung, the general secretary for the Kachin Development Networking Group, which organized protests of the Myitsone Dam. But when the people started to protest and then the new government responded to the democratic pressure, they learned they had to engage with the people. Still, many Kachin doubted Chinas sincerity. They just want peace so they can happily run their businesses, Steve Naw Aung said. Chinas interest in a peacekeeping role is new, but its objectives havent changed. China doesnt want an escalation in fighting, but it also doesnt want a Western-funded peace process bringing international monitors and NGOs right up to its southwestern border, Thant Myint-U, the celebrated Burmese historian and special advisor to the Myanmar Peace Center, told Foreign Policy by email. Ideally for Beijing, China would be the dominant outside partner in any new ceasefire arrangement, one that would be coupled new economic schemes, further tying Myanmars economy to Chinas hinterland. Dau Hka, a spokesman for the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the civilian twin of the KIA, remembered the Chinese strategy at the opening 2013 peace talks: The Chinese were very aggressive in pushing for us to sit down. They kept insisting on a cease-fire before any conditions. It was a little bit confusing to us. But they really wanted to see the conflict finished especially under their watch. They warned us not to invite America, England, or the United Nations. They wanted to make sure it was all arranged under Chinese eyes. However, the Kachin, seeking to balance Chinas influence, insisted that Western powers be included in the talks. This led to years of unsuccessful talks, which were subsumed into negotiations for the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, a framework for the government and over 20 ethnic rebel armies hoping to work out a lasting peace at the second round of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference later this year. China, however, argues that it is playing the role of a responsible great power that the West has often asked it to assume. Recently, China has been pushing even harder for peace, with the Foreign Ministry playing a strong role and the government arranging multiple negotiations in its southern provinces. In November 2016, China held high-level discussions between the two countries defense ministries about border security. In December, it hosted talks between four rebel groups and Myanmar officials, though the negotiations quickly failed. It has even offered $3 million to fund the peace talks with the KIA. And it has called on Myanmars rebel groups, including the Kachin, to sign the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement with the government, leaning especially hard on the armed forces who control territory abutting China. But for now, the KIA have resisted calls for a cease-fire. There are signs China wields substantial influence on some of the most powerful groups along its borders. At the sit-down in early March between Myanmars government and the KIA and its rebel allies, the United Wa State Army (UWSA) the rebel group leading the conference announced that it wanted to scrap the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. Instead, it proposed a new peace process led by China. The UWSA is a force of about 30,000-strong that controls a Belgium-sized chunk of Myanmars border alongside China and is widely seen as being heavily influenced by its northern neighbor, even using arms supplied illicitly by the Peoples Liberation Army. As Thant Myint-U wrote, The keystone for peace in Myanmar is the desires of the UWSA, head of the self-styled Northern Alliance, the rebel coalition of which the KIA are part. There is very little chance of a meeting of minds between the UWSA and [Naypyidaw] on a way forward, yet without this, its hard to see how any peace process can get very far. However, Yun Sun, a senior researcher at the Stimson Center in Washington, cautioned that rather than manipulating the peace process, China is actually afraid of being drawn too deeply into this conflict. It wants peace on its border, open trade, and continued influence with Myanmar at the expense of Western governments, but it does not want to become a signatory to a peace deal it cannot guarantee and that could damage its commercial relationships with Myanmar, if Myanmar felt it was taking the rebels side. Ultimately, Chinas primary goal is to keep border trade flowing. Throughout the conflict, it has maintained commerce through backdoor ties with the KIA and the Myanmar military. But the constant uncertainty has impeded trade. Fighting in Myanmars Kokang region in early 2015 led to the declaration of martial law and the subsequent closure of many vital border crossings. According to the World Bank, trade decreased through Muse, Myanmars most important land border crossing to China. Myanmars third-largest crossing at Chin Shwe Haw was temporarily closed. China has grander ambitions than trade with its small neighbor. The most direct route to southern China from India runs across Kachin State, along the old Ledo Road constructed by the Allies during World War II to supply their fight against the Japanese. Chinas plan to create the One Belt, One Road project, a new set of Eurasian infrastructure connections both on land (the belt) and at sea (the road), has singled out the Ledo Road as a comparatively easy and low-altitude way to cross the Himalayas compared with the steep routes of the far north. One Belt, One Road is the signature policy of the increasingly powerful Chinese President Xi Jinping, making it both politically and economically vital. Peace could usher in a chance for China not only to have better access to Myanmars markets, but even more significantly a better land route between two of the worlds most important economies. As much as the KIA has resisted Chinas prodding for a cease-fire, the time may come when they too find it in their best interest. Over the years, Myanmars military has ground them down with its superior numbers and hardware, including helicopters and fighter jets that the rebels have few answers for. In the past few months, the military has captured a string of important KIA outposts, driving closer to its headquarters along the Chinese border. The fighting has taken a hard toll on the population, with fresh waves of refugees spilling into China. The jade and timber are almost gone, Dau Hka, the KIO spokesman, told Foreign Policy. The natural resources have nearly been exhausted. After decades of exploitation by the Kachin, Chinese, and Burmese, the areas old-growth forests have been mostly cut down and there have been fears that the Hpakant jade mine is running dry. When asked how the Kachin would survive without these resources, Dau Hka said: If the political system is stable in Myanmar, then we could open the border gates and tax the trade coming through. It is possible to cross Myanmar from India to China in just one day with a truck if our border posts are open. If the political conditions are met, then we could open the highway in just one year, suggesting that the Kachin could tax the trade, probably after the state was granted greater autonomy as part of a peace deal. But he cautioned that Myanmars government had proved resistant to many of the conditions, including the KIAs demands to semi-autonomously run Kachin State, and that decades of mistrust would have to be overcome. China might achieve stability on the border it covets if it can persuade the KIA that Beijings grand ambitions serve the economic needs of the Kachin. But it has to convince the Kachin that it has learned from past mistakes, despite fresh conflicts that echo old flashpoints. In mid-March, several thousand Kachin protested Chinas new plans for the May Kha and Ngaw Chan Kha rivers in Kachin State eight more dams. This article was written with the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Photo Credit: STR/AFP/Getty Images By Jack Kim and Christian Shepherd SEOUL/BEIJING (Reuters) - The travels and travails of Chinas veteran point man on North Korea underscore Chinas growing frustration in its efforts to broker a negotiated solution to rising tensions between North Korea and the United States. Wu Dawei, 70, spent an unusually long five days in Seoul last week. He met with presidential candidates as well as South Korea's chief nuclear envoy, partly in a bid to ease tensions as a U.S. aircraft carrier group headed toward the region ahead of U.S. Vice President Mike's Pence's visit this week. But Wu had not been able to confirm plans to visit North Korea, South Koreas Yonhap news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying: I understand the Chinese side is asking but the North is not replying. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said on Monday he had no information to share about any such visit, adding that China and the DPRK maintain the tradition of friendly exchanges. The last time Wu visited Pyongyang, in early February last year, his job was to urge restraint after North Korea announced a plan to put a satellite into orbit with a long-range rocket. Two days after his return to Beijing, North Korea launched the rocket, widely viewed as a ballistic missile test in disguise, further ratcheting up tensions on the Korean peninsula. China has shown growing willingness to supplement diplomacy with enforcement of United Nations Security Council sanctions against its unpredictable neighbor across the Yellow Sea. It banned all coal imports from North Korea from Feb. 26 as it grows increasingly impatient with North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, including a failed missile test-launch on Sunday morning. Officially, however, China supports dialogue above all, leaving Wu the thankless job of trying to coax North Korea and its neighbors and rivals back to the negotiating table. MORE DISTANT TIES U.S. President Trump has asked China's President Xi Jinping to take stronger measures to stop North Korea's programs to develop nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. North Korea relies heavily on China for food and fuel and the vast majority of its exports go through China. Xi, however, has yet to meet North Korea's young leader Kim Jong Un since the Chinese president took power in 2012 and ties between the two countries have become more distant since Pyongyang began accelerating its missile and nuclear programs since Kim became leader at the end of 2011. For over a decade, Wu led Beijing's mostly fruitless efforts to denuclearize the Korean peninsula under so-called Six Party talks between China, the United States, North and South Korea, Japan and Russia. They've been suspended since the last round collapsed in 2008 following a failed rocket launch in North Korea. Wu is a career diplomat and Japan expert who, according to South Korean officials, speaks little Korean and no English. Wu has earned a number of friends in South Korea and a reputation as a "credible" diplomat over the years, according to one Asian diplomat who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media. The highlight of the Six Party era came shortly after Wu took up his position, when the sides reached an agreement for phased denuclearization of the peninsula in September 2005. That deal was soon scuppered, however, when North Korea carried out its first nuclear test in October 2006 then pulled out of the discussions in 2009. Since then, China has been most vocal in calling for their resumption. 'DUAL SUSPENSION' In a rare interview with Hong Kong's Pheonix Television that aired on Friday, Wu conveyed China's position that Washington and Pyongyang should agree to a "dual suspension" of nuclear tests and military drills as a foundation for returning to talks - a stance opposed by both the United States and its ally South Korea. Wu did not mention sanctions during the interview, reiterating China's commitment to a peaceful resolution through dialogue, the same stance Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed to U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call last week. "If the DPRK and U.S.-Republic of Korea's tit-for-tat posturing and mutual displays of strength fail to fundamentally change, then sooner or later something will go wrong on the Korean Peninsula," Wu told Phoenix, referring to North and South Korea by their official names. The South Korean official said that while Wu was sometimes "abrasive" during the early rounds of Six Party talks, "he was just the person we needed at the time to keep the talks alive." "At times (he would) argue with envoys to keep them on track, at times cajole them, or warn about the fallout if the talks break down and we walk away empty-handed, leaving the North to continue on. He would do that all the while chain-smoking," the official added. Former South Korea nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo, who later served as vice foreign minister, gave a less flattering assessment, calling Wu China's most incompetent official, citing his lack of English and stalwart adherence to China's party line, according to a 2010 U.S. diplomatic cable released by Wikileaks. Chun could not be reached for comment. (Additional reporting by Heekyong Yang in SEOUL; Editing by Tony Munroe and Bill Tarrant) As well as being the marque's first ever full-size SUV, the new C5 Aircross promises to be the most comfortable and powerful production car in Citroen's history when it goes on sale following its Shanghai reveal. Two years after unveiling a fun full-size SUV concept, Citroen has returned to Auto Shanghai with a full production version of the C5 Aircross. And the good news for fans of the company's historically singular take on automotive design is that from the external airbumps and short overhangs, to oversized alloys, Citroen has stuck to the script in turning the idea into a reality. "[It is] faithful to the Aircross Concept," said Citroen Design Director, Alexandre Malval. "It is a powerful, modern vehicle whose unique stance sets it apart in the SUV market." Citroen has been bringing a crossover aesthetic to its existing range, but the C5 Aircross is a huge step into the SUV market proper and although its design will help it get noticed, it is going to need more than visual quirks to convert interest into investment. "[This car] is the first practical illustration of our offensive on the SUV market, illustrating our ability to approach it in our own way, with greater emphasis on character, comfort and on-board well-being," said Linda Jackson, Citroen CEO. The C5 Aircross shows Citroen's team believes people want everyday comfort, huge amounts of luggage space plus performance, but without becoming environmentally irresponsible. In terms of comfort, the 4.5-meter-long car promises to offer class-leading cabin and storage space -- the trunk offers 482 liters of capacity and rear passengers have 201mm of legroom. Then there's the sofa-inspired seats that are huge, welcoming and leather-trimmed. They offer massages to those sitting in the front and 27 degrees of recline in the rear. But it's the car's suspension that is its real USP. It adds a hydraulic cushion at either end of a traditional spring, shock absorber and bump-stop suspension set-up so that it's potentially impossible to experience a jolt in this car, even if it bangs down into a pothole. These extra cushions also mean that the wheels have more travel up and down before they hit their limits and start interfering with the car's ride and handling. Citroen made its name in suspension technology, so the system doesn't come as a surprise. However, what does is that when this car goes on sale initially in China (and Europe in 2018), it will be the most potent production car in the marque's 100-year+ history. When ordered in PHEV e-AWD guise it will offer a 200hp gasoline engine plus two electric motors driving the front wheels for a combined 300hp plus all-wheel grip and all-terrain stability systems. By Maher Chmaytelli ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - The battle to dislodge Islamic State from the Old City of Mosul, where hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are trapped, could turn into the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the war against the militants, the United Nations warned on Tuesday. About 400,000 civilians, or a quarter of Mosul's pre-war population, are trapped in the Old City, according to U.N. estimates. As many as half a million are estimated to remain overall in neighborhoods still under IS control in western Mosul. "If there is a siege and hundreds of thousands of people dont have water and dont have food, they will be at enormous risk," U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande told Reuters in a telephone interview. "We could be facing a humanitarian catastrophe, perhaps the worst in the entire conflict." Mosul, the largest city in northern Iraq, was captured by the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim fighters in mid-2014. Iraqi government forces have taken back most of it in a U.S.-backed offensive launched in October, including the half that lies east of the Tigris River. The militants are now surrounded in the northwestern quarter including the historic Old City, countering the offensive with booby traps, suicide motorbike attacks, sniper and mortar fire, occasionally using shells filled with toxic gas. "It is a deteriorating situation, we fear for the lives of the 400,000 people in the old city," said Grande. "Families ... tell us that they are being shot at as they are escaping. Its terrifying." Residents who have managed to escape from the Old City have said there is almost nothing to eat but flour mixed with water and boiled wheat grain. What little food remains is too expensive for most residents to afford, or kept for Islamic State members and their supporters. Government forces are trying to capture the Grand al-Nuri Mosque in the Old City, from where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a "caliphate" spanning parts of Iraq and Syria nearly three years ago. Troops have had the mosque, with its leaning minaret, in their sights since last month. But their progress has been painstakingly slow as the militants are dug in among civilians. The narrow alleyways of the Old City restrict the use of suicide cars by the militants and tanks, armored personnel carriers and Humvees by the government forces. The fighting has killed several thousands among civilians and fighters on both sides, according to aid organizations. More than 327,000 have fled in the past six months. "The security forces know the situation on the ground and they need to decide how this is best done, whether by evacuating civilians or protecting them in their homes or opening routes they can escape through," said Grande. (Reporting by Maher Chmaytelli; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) The woman whose name suspected Cleveland killer Steve Stephens uttered as he gunned down an elderly man at random said Monday that shes overwhelmed by the tragedy and offered her sympathies to those left grieving. Joy Lane, who also goes by Joy Carr, is in a safe location while Stephens is still at large, she told TIME. Stephens, 37, is accused of fatally shooting a 74-year-old man Sunday - in what police say is a heinous and senseless crime that Stephens recorded and posted on Facebook. Im just overwhelmed, and I feel bad for all the families affected, Lane said in a brief phone conversation. He was a really good guy. Hes been fabulous to me. Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said at a news conference Monday that Lane is among several people who have cooperated with authorities in the investigation. Lane told CBS News in a text message that she and Stephens had been in a relationship for several years. In the video of the killing, which Facebook has since removed, Stephens can be seen approaching Robert Godwin Sr. and asking his victim to say Joy Lane, according to the Washington Post. Shes the reason that this is about to happen to you, Stephens tells Godwin before he opens fire. Lane told TIME she did not know why he would have killed in her name. Im not sure, she said. The details of the couples relationship are unclear. Lane declined to comment further. Stephens mother, Maggie Green, told CNN that her son said he was mad with his girlfriend and wouldnt stop until his mother or girlfriend tell him to stop. Local and federal authorities are searching for Stephens in Ohio and several other states, including Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan. Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said they wouldnt rest until he is captured. Were not going to stop until hes in custody, the police chief said. This article was originally published on TIME.com By Peter Szekely and Timothy Mclaughlin (Reuters) - The manhunt widened on Monday for a murder suspect who police said posted a video of himself on Facebook shooting an elderly man in Cleveland, where authorities appealed to the public for help in the case after urging the killer to turn himself in. Police said they have received "dozens and dozens" of tips for possible sightings of the suspect, Steve Stephens, and tried to persuade him to surrender when they spoke with him via his cellphone on Sunday after the shooting. But Stephens remained at large as the search for him expanded nationwide, police said. "Our reach now is basically all over this country," Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told a news conference in Ohio's second-largest city. The shooting marked the latest video clip of a violent crime to turn up on Facebook, raising questions about how the world's biggest social media network moderates content. The company on Monday said it would begin reviewing how it monitors violent footage and other objectionable material in response to the killing. Meanwhile, a reward of $50,000 was being offered for information regarding Stephens' location, officials said. Police said Stephens used Facebook Inc's service to post video of him killing Robert Godwin Sr., 74, who is seen standing on a sidewalk carrying a plastic shopping bag as the suspect gets out of his car and approaches him from the street. "Hi, can you do me a favour? Can you say, 'Joy Lane?'" the suspect asks Godwin, referring to a woman authorities have identified as Stephen's former girlfriend. The elderly man, looking bewildered, asks, "Joy Lane?" and the suspect is heard replying, "Yeah. She's the reason why this is about to happen to you." He then asks Godwin his age before gunning him down. Stephens is not believed to have known Godwin, a retired foundry worker who media reports said spent Easter Sunday morning with his son and daughter-in-law before he was killed. Godwin was the father of nine children and grandfather of 14, his son, Robert Godwin Jr., told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Godwin Jr. could not immediately be reached by Reuters to comment. Lane, in a text message to CBS News commenting on the shooting, said she was "sorry that all of this has happened." She went on to describe Stephens as having been "kind and loving to me and my children," adding, "This is a very difficult time for me and my family." Reuters was not able to reach Lane by phone or email for comment. The shooting video was visible on Facebook for nearly two hours before it was reported, the company said. "As a result of this terrible series of events, we are reviewing our reporting flows to be sure people can report videos and other material that violates our standards as easily and quickly as possible," Justin Osofsky, a Facebook vice president, said in a blog post. Stephens, who has no prior criminal record, is not suspected in any other murders, despite a claim he made in the video of having killed more than a dozen other people, police said. "To be honest, we've interviewed several people involved in this and I don't think there is any rhyme or reason for it happening," Williams said. The last confirmed sighting of Stephens was at the scene of the homicide. Police said he might be driving a white or cream-coloured Ford Fusion, and asked anyone who spots him or his car to call police or a special FBI hotline (800-CALLFBI). Stephens had worked since 2008 as a vocational specialist and youth mentor at Beech Brook, a behavioural health agency located outside Cleveland. Beech Brook's offices were closed on Monday. (Reporting by Peter Szekely in New York and Timothy McLaughlin in Chicago; Editing by Bill Rigby and Lisa Shumaker) By Luis Jaime Acosta BOGOTA (Reuters) - A Colombian nun who was kidnapped more than two months ago in Mali is being held by the Macina Liberation Front Islamist militant group, Colombian national police said on Tuesday, citing intelligence reports. Gloria Cecilia Narvaez was seized by armed men on Feb. 7 in Mali's southern Karangasso region, where she had been working in a health center. Four people have been charged in her disappearance. "Intelligence tells us that it is the Macina Liberation Front. We'll have to wait for a statement from that group to know what they will demand," General Fernando Murillo, the head of the national police's anti-kidnapping division, told Reuters. An international unit led by France is looking for the nun, Murillo said, but she may have been moved out of Mali by her captors, perhaps to neighboring Burkina Faso. The kidnappers have so far sent no proof of life or ransom demands, he added. "We think she was taken by mistake - that she was not the target," Murillo said in an interview. Neither Narvaez's religious order nor her family has the funds to pay a ransom, he said. The incident is the first time that Colombia, known as a kidnapping capital in the 1990s, has been involved in the search and rescue of one of its citizens in another country. Malian prosecutors have declined to provide details about the four people charged in the case, but a security source has told Reuters they are connected to the Catholic parish from which Narvaez was abducted. Investigators previously said they suspected Islamist militants could be responsible. Kidnapping has become a lucrative source of cash for groups like Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and al Mourabitoun. The latter is suspected of kidnapping a French-Swiss aid worker from the northern city of Gao in December. The Macina Liberation Front is composed of Fulanis - cattle herders and farmers from central Mali. Its figurehead, Amadou Koufa, is a fiery cleric whose sermons call on Fulanis to rebuild historic empires like Massina, which once stretched over the Mopti region. Islamist militants, who seized northern Mali in 2012 before being driven back by French forces the following year, have regrouped and are increasingly conducting raids in southern and central Mali, areas previously deemed safe. (Reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Peter Cooney) President Trump has resisted extraordinary pressure to release his tax returns, and as someone who struggles with some of the very same issues, I can completely sympathize. Sure, I may not *technically* be leader of the free world. I'm not shattering decades of historical precedent and my returns probably won't reveal any collusion with one of our leading foreign adversaries. Still, there's so much we have in common. SEE ALSO: There's a reason why you feel like time is moving slower in Trump's America President Trump, if you're listening to this, know that you're not alone. There are others like you out there who are trying to resist the tidal pressure of the mainstream media mob. Here are just a few reasons why both President Trump and I are worried about releasing our tax returns. 1. If we show them to people, they will laugh at us Image: AP/REX/Shutterstock Trump routinely brags about his net worth, estimating it to be around $362 million dollars, even though his actual net worth is estimated to be just $123 million dollars. Apparently, this causes Trump acute embarrassment. I estimate that I have 362 million pennies at the bottom of my backpack right now, though it's likely much less. 2. We actually don't know how taxes work and have to make smart people do them for us Trump uses expensive outside accountants, I use Turbo Tax or have my much smarter roommate do them after I start crying in the living room. 3. It's possible we accidentally committed one or two minor federal crimes we're fully confident everyone else commits anyways Pundits have suggested that Trump's tax returns could expose potential mob ties or fraud. Because I get bored when I fill out my taxes, I check as few boxes as possible so I can finish it quickly. I have no idea what I'm reading and it's therefore plausible I committed a pesky federal crime. 4. I imagine we both had one or two unsavory jobs in the past decade we don't want people to know about Trump's tax returns may very well reveal some unsavory/potentially treasonous business ties he has to Russia. Story continues Mine may include a certain highly embarrassing children's birthday party entertainer job I had for the last 10 years of my life. 6. If we look at how much we've made in the past few years, it makes us feel sad Trump's net worth is estimated to be much lower than he reports it to be. Living in New York, I am estimated to have enough money to buy a house approximately 200 years after I die. 7. We don't exactly "donate" to charity Of course we did, we just don't have any "legal" proof of it, you know? 8. Everyone keeps yelling at us to do it Trump doesn't want to release his returns just because the vast majority of Americans, journalists, and leaders worldwide want to see them. I'm not about to show my tax returns to my grandma because she's worried I'm not saving for some mysterious "future" I'm supposed to have. No way, grandma. Trump has shown me the way. WATCH: This mini scuba gear just gave snorkeling a cool upgrade During one 28-hour call shift, I took care of a critically ill man in the cardiac intensive care unit. He had been sick for years, and had been getting worse over several months. It was a relatively quiet night, so I was able to spend a lot of time in his room. I watched him become increasingly confused and sleepy, his skin become mottled with net-like patches, and his blood pressure fall lower and lower despite adding multiple medications to keep it up. All of these were signs that he was close to death, and there was little chance he would get better. His wife stayed at his bedside until late in the evening. She and I talked about his condition. She said he had been through so much during multiple moves back and forth between the hospital and a nursing home. He had told her that he was tired and didnt want to suffer anymore. Given that my patient could stay awake for only a few seconds at a time, his wife would need to make medical decisions for him if there were any important changes. After she left to get a few hours of rest, his condition continued to worsen. By the morning, I was sure he was near death and that escalating medical interventions would both be futile and not match his wishes. During morning rounds, I described to my co-residents and the attending physician my supervisor the patients condition, my view of what was happening, and the conversation I had with his wife the night before. But after the attending examined the patient and reviewed his vital signs, he told me to start more aggressive interventions: more medication to support the mans blood pressure, a catheter in an artery to track his blood pressure, and high doses of steroids. Read more: The patient called me colored girl. The senior doctor training me said nothing I was surprised at how different his instructions were with what I thought we should do. I framed my disagreement as a question: Do you think these interventions are within the patients goals of care? I also suggested that we speak with the patients wife to see what she wanted us to do. Story continues My feeble objection didnt get very far, and I dropped the issue. Minutes later, I was inserting a catheter into an artery in the patients wrist and ordering the new medications, just as my attending had told me to do. But when the mans wife returned to the hospital an hour later, she was dismayed. Hadnt she clearly explained what she wanted for her husband? She did not want us to pursue any of these interventions, as I had believed but had been unable to make my attending understand. She asked that we withdraw all care, and her husband died later that morning. The relationship between attending physicians and residents is complex. Attendings are legally responsible for their patients outcomes, so the stakes are high for them if anything goes wrong. Attendings are also supposed to provide residents with the practical knowledge they need to eventually practice independently. Residents, in turn, handle more mundane tasks and execute medical plans on behalf of attending physicians. The seniority of attendings leads to a strict hierarchy in which residents must defer to attendings on all major clinical decisions. Disagreements between residents and attendings happen all the time. Given the hierarchical leadership structure, the attending always has the right to overrule a residents decision. But virtually every resident can rattle off a list of times he or she thinks an attending made the wrong decision. Attendings have more experience than residents sometimes decades more but that doesnt mean residents cant occasionally be right when theres a disagreement. A resident might be familiar with new research or guidelines because he or she has had more recent education on a topic. Attendings who are specialists in a field like cardiology or oncology may be less comfortable with conditions outside their expertise. Perhaps the most common reason that residents can be right is because they typically spend much more time with patients and their families than attendings. That means they may have a stronger understanding of important psychosocial factors that affect patients clinical care. In theory, a resident can file a complaint with the residency program director when there is a disagreement with an attending. In practice, this rarely happens. When decisions need to be made in a matter of minutes or hours, it isnt practical to wait for a meeting with the program director to discuss the differing opinions. Whats more, vigorously arguing about a decision can strain a relationship, and when attendings have influence over a residents fellowship placement, the career risk from arguing with an attending can be significant. If discreet questions dont work, most residents defer to their attendings, even when they disagree with the decision. Residents must then carry out actions they do not think are in their patients best interest, which presents an ethical predicament. In the case of my intensive-care patient, I inserted the arterial catheter, causing him pain, even though I did not think it was the right thing to do. In other cases, residents may give dangerous medications they do not think are appropriate or may even arrange for a patient to undergo a surgery they disagree with. This can be both stressful and demoralizing to residents, not to mention potentially harmful for patients. Disagreements between residents and attendings can also create confusion and undermine a residents credibility. Overnight, as I cared for my dying patient in the intensive care unit, a nurse had asked if I should place a catheter to monitor his blood pressure. I explained that I didnt think it would change his course or be within his goals of care. The following morning, I had to explain to the nurse why I had reversed my stance, adding tension to our relationship. In many cases, residents and attendings could reach an agreement if they had a frank discussion. But these discussions often dont happen. Residents can be too timid to advocate strongly for their stance, and attendings are sometimes domineering and unwilling to entertain alternative perspectives. Read more: My job was to mentor this student. Instead, I left her behind There is a better way. Some attending physicians are masterful at encouraging their residents to challenge them. I once had an attending outline two possible treatment approaches for a complex patient and then ask each resident his or her view on which option would be better. It was only after hearing the opinion of each team member that he voiced his own opinion, explaining his thinking by drawing from what a couple of residents had said. He did not make the decision final until we had considered every residents concerns. Another attending repeatedly drew me into conversations about patients I was not even caring for to ask my opinion on their cases. In doing so, she showed that she respected my clinical reasoning. Later on, when she made a decision I disagreed with, I felt comfortable raising my concerns because of the trust she had built up over our two weeks working together. We had an open conversation and recognized that there was a better solution that combined elements of both our approaches. By encouraging dissenting opinions, attending physicians can foster richer conversations about important decisions. In some cases, these conversations will sway an attending toward the residents perspective. In others, the resident may gain a better understanding of the attendings rationale and change his or her mind. In either case, both physicians will feel more comfortable about the decision, and the patient will benefit from a more thoughtful decision making process. Alex Harding, MD, is a second-year resident in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Lima (AFP) - The death toll from flooding and mudslides plaguing Peru since the start of the year has risen to 113 people, including five killed last weekend, officials said Tuesday. The natural disasters, which scientists blame on a climate phenomenon called "coastal El Nino," have also left more than 178,000 people homeless, the National Center for Emergency Operations said in its latest update. Another one million people's homes have been partly damaged, and more than 2,500 kilometers (1,500 miles) of roads have been destroyed. President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has said the South American country will need some $9 billion to rebuild and modernize the affected areas. Heavy rains have been lashing Peru all year, triggering flash floods and landslides known in the indigenous Quechua language as "huaycos." The problem has also struck Colombia, where three rivers flooded and sent a wall of mud and boulders smashing into the southern town of Mocoa on March 31, killing 323 people, including more than 100 children, according to a new toll Tuesday. Scientists say the extreme weather is being caused by a localized warming of the Pacific Ocean along the South American coast. It causes effects similar to the "El Nino" ocean warming phenomenon that wreaks havoc on weather patterns in the Americas every few years. The political world and the media are transfixed by Tuesdays special election in the Georgia district formerly represented by Rep. Tom Price, who gave up his seat to become secretary of Health and Human Services. The Republicans had been expected to easily win this reliably red seat in the Atlanta suburbs. But polls have suggested that one of the Democratic candidates, a 30-year-old film-maker named Jon Ossoff, is within range of getting 50 percent of the vote against a large field of Republicans, winning the seat outright and avoiding a runoff. There is some anxiety in the GOPs ranks. Last week, a Republican candidate won a seven-point victory in a deep-red Kansas House district that should have seen a far bigger victory margin. The Kansas results and Ossoffs strong polling heading into the election have raised the prospect that the 2018 midterms could see a wave that Democrats ride to take back the House. Since 1954, the House has changed hands a mere three times. But the flip years 1994, 2006, 2010 suggest both the promise of 2018 and its perils for House Democrats. Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff greets supporters in Atlanta. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images) John Lawrence, former chief of staff to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, was a senior House staffer for all three of those wave elections, and he argues that these wave elections share some obvious features that might be replicated in 2018. But he warns that it is far too early to know, and Democrats still face formidable challenges. The 2010 redistricting process created many safe Republican seats that will be hard for Democrats to pick off. And the post-Citizens United landscape, in which congressional races are awash in outside money, can also help Republicans defend their seats, Lawrence points out. While the attention is on the outcome in Georgia, the midterm elections next year will be shaped by bigger forces. Partisan fury at a president created the climate that made the three previous waves possible, and a series of factors congressional ethics scandals, an unpopular war, controversial landmark health care reform set the template for dozens of members from the opposition to win seats that few observers thought would be vulnerable. As Lawrence, the author of the forthcoming The Class: Rebels, Reformers and the Rise of Partisanship in the Post-Watergate Congress, put it: The similarities in the waves of 1994, 2006, and 2010 include divided government, a president who seemingly is not delivering on key pledges or has alienated swing voters on a key issue, and a message-focused and well-funded minority intent on gaining the majority. Story continues The 1994 story is probably the most interesting, as Republican flamethrower Newt Gingrich campaigned on a Contract With America that helped the GOP end four decades of Democratic dominance in the House and seized on a decades-in-the-making Republican surge across the states of the Old Confederacy. President Bill Clintons unpopular stances the dont ask, dont tell compromise policy on gays serving in the military, his 1993 budget raising taxes on the wealthy, the failure of his health care reform bill, an assault weapons ban fed the image that Clintons was a chaotic and overly liberal White House at odds with his more centrist campaign pledges. Gingrich also exploited the Democratic majoritys ethical weak spots Speaker Jim Wrights 1989 ouster under an investigatory cloud and the 1992 House bank scandal, to cite two instances. Gingrich seized the advantage in an evermore jaundiced political climate, in which the media was eager to report on corruption in politics, and the House minority was able to use the issue for partisan gain. Gingrich nationalized the campaign by pledging to enact a set of simple proposals to reform the way the House did business and drain the Washington swamp. Then House Minority Whip Rep. Newt Gingrich addressing Republican congressional candidates in 1974. (Photo: John Duricka/AP) President George W. Bush won a close reelection campaign in 2004 partly owing to his handling of the September 11 terrorist attacks. But two years later, as the war in Iraq spun into a bloody civil war with American soldiers dying in greater numbers and with no mission accomplished in sight, House Democrats led by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi recruited moderate candidates to run in swing districts. A culture of corruption superlobbyist Jack Abramoff and GOP congressmen Tom DeLay, Bob Ney and Mark Foley were all tarred with the brush of scandal bolstered the Democratic case. Pelosi tied the scandals to the GOP leadership, charging it with corruption or inaction, and pledged to pass lobbying reforms that the Republican majority had stymied. Bushs unpopular proposal to privatize Social Security incurred the voters wrath too. On election eve 2006, President Bushs approval rating stood at 38 percent. While that number was hardly stellar, Bushs unpopularity by itself was not enough to put the Democrats into the House majority. Similarly, in early November 2010, Obamas approval rating, which stood at a far-from-terrible 45 percent, wouldnt have predicted the 63-seat shellacking administered by John Boehners Republicans that year. Its important to recall that only 39.9 percent of voting-eligible Americans cast a ballot in the 2010 midterm elections, and that years wave can partially be explained by a highly motivated GOP base and a dispirited Democratic Party. The Tea Party and other Republican organizers seized on the passage of Obamacare and a $787 billion stimulus bill to push Republicans to the right and motivate Republicans to vote. The short-lived Occupy Wall Street movement on the left chanted slogans in Zuccotti Park in lower Manhattan; the more influential Tea Party movement organized politically district by district, helping deeply conservative candidates to gain House seats. Regardless of whether Ossoff wins Tuesday, Lawrence urges caution about predicting wave elections this far in advance. It is arguable that the outcomes [in 1994 and 2006] were more influenced by voter desires to send an early message of displeasure to the recently elected president, or by congressional scandals that soured the public and created a receptive mood for a message of reform. Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff is making a surprisingly strong run in a once reliably Republican Congressional District in Atlanta. (Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images) These conditions could be replicated in 2018, he adds, although it remains unclear whether the distorted districts and financial influences will allow the kind of wave we have previously witnessed. Unless Donald Trump and congressional Republicans find their legislative footing, they will go into the 2018 election with all the symptoms that typically motivate voters to send a message to unresponsive or unproductive majorities; a scandal or military misstep could tip the scales further towards Democrats, who nevertheless must still recruit top-flight and well-funded candidates and a well-honed message that appeals not just to the base but to the persuadable moderate and independent voters. But ultimately, it is likely to be those gerrymandered districts that serve as the Republicans security blanket for 2018. That structural factor, Lawrence concludes, will compete with the possibility of an unpredictable crisis that is the Democrats best hope for a wave restoration to the majority. Matthew Dallek is an associate professor at George Washington Universitys Graduate School of Political Management. His most recent book is Defenseless Under the Night: The Roosevelt Years and the Origins of Homeland Security. _____ Read more from Yahoo News: If you were to hear that the national hopes of the Democratic Party currently rest on the shoulders of a 30-year-old rookie candidate in a Georgia congressional district the GOP has controlled for nearly four decades, you might assume the Democrats had fallen into a state of woeful disrepair. Yet the rise of Jon Ossoff is a clear sign of the momentum coursing through the party. In the first closely contested race of Donald Trumps presidency, Ossoff is leading an 18-candidate field in Tuesdays special election for the North Atlanta House seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. The documentary filmmaker has pulled in $8.3 million in the space of a couple months-more than all but three House candidates raised in the entire two-year 2016 election cycle. Ossoffs edge in the polls and massive fundraising haul look like spooky omens to some Republicans. I cant believe what Im seeing, says Chip Lake, a Georgia GOP strategist. Its mind-boggling. It certainly goes to show how unified the Democratic Party is against this President. But if the race has become a national referendum on Trump, these days Ossoff rarely even mentions the Presidents name. There are clearly some national implications, Ossoff conceded in a recent interview with TIME. But thats not what the campaign is about. Which seems like a smart move. Georgias 6th district, a wealthy patch of suburbs perched atop Atlanta, isnt exactly Trump country: the President won here by just a point despite little local investment by Hillary Clintons campaign. At the same time, its no liberal hotbed. Price, one of the most conservative members of Congress before joining the Presidents cabinet, carried it in November by 23 points. And so the cautious and soft-spoken candidate has tuned his campaign pitch to a frequency he believes voters want to hear. Ossoffs stump speech is stuffed with promises to bring new tech jobs to the area and restore accountability in Washington. He talks about working across party lines and governing from the center. Trumps presence in the race hovers over it all; when Ossoff talks about shared values and uniting people, the juxtaposition with the divisive President is unmistakable. But ever since he first drew notice with a campaign pitch to Make Trump Furious, Ossoff has been disciplined about localizing the race. Story continues The centrist pitch hasnt dissuaded the liberal Democrats who support him. We didnt ask Ossoff to fill out any kind of questionnaire, and we didnt subject him to any ideological litmus test, says David Nir, the political director at Daily Kos, whose readers have funneled more than $1.35 million to Ossoff. Our community has responded so enthusiastically because this race is an opportunity to send a message to Republicans and to help provide a check on Trump. At a campaign stop at Atlantas Oglethorpe University earlier this month, Ryan Holtzen, a 19-year-old English major, asked Ossoff why he doesnt advertise his party affiliation in some campaign ads. Ossoff explained he was building a coalition here around something that is bigger than party, which is perhaps not the kind of thing that an anti-Trump Democrat would want to hear. But Holtzen seemed untroubled by the response. I feel like a lot of people put too much emphasis on ideology, he shrugged. Trump is certainly fixated on it. The super Liberal Democrat in the Georgia Congressioal [sic] race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes! the President tweeted on Monday. Whether Ossoff will win is an open question. Under Georgia rules, every candidate in the race runs on the same ballot, regardless of party. If none earns a majority, the top two finishers proceed to a June runoff. In the field of 11 Republicans, five Democrats and two independents, Ossoff is sitting in the low-to-mid 40s, according to recent polls. Thats more than enough to grab the top spot but not quite enough to clear the 50% threshold required to win the contest outright. Well be ready for the runoff, but were going for the knockout, Ossoff says. But Republicans say they are confident they can hold Ossoff under 50%. If that happens, they believe the partys voters will coalesce behind Ossoffs opponent to defeat the Democrat in June. You might ask Senator Michelle Nunn how he will do, former Republican House speaker Newt Gingrich, who represented the 6th district for two decades, wrote in an email to TIME, referring to the 2014 Georgia Senate candidate-a ballyhooed recruit who drew oodles of fanfare before getting trounced on Election Day. This article was originally published on TIME.com By Brian Ellsworth and Marianna Parraga ST. EUSTATIUS/HOUSTON (Reuters) - Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, sent a tanker in October to the Caribbean with the expectation that its cargo of crude would fetch about $20 million - money the crisis-stricken nation desperately needs. Instead, the owner of the tanker, the Russian state-owned shipping conglomerate Sovcomflot, held the oil in hopes of collecting partial payment on $30 million that it says PDVSA owes for unpaid shipping fees. Despite a longstanding alliance between Venezuela and Russia, Sovcomflot sued PDVSA in St. Maarten, a Dutch island on the northeast end of the Caribbean. "The ship owners ... imposed garnishment on the aforementioned oil cargo," reads a March decision by the St. Maarten court. Five months after crossing the Caribbean, the NS Columbus discharged its cargo of crude at a storage terminal on St. Eustatius, an island just south of St. Maarten, under a temporary decision by the court. Another tribunal in England will decide if Sovcomflot will ultimately take the oil. The dispute, which is being heard by the United Kingdom Admiralty Court, highlights how shipping companies are becoming increasingly aggressive in pursuing PDVSA's debts. It also shows that political allies such as Russia are losing patience with delinquent payments from Venezuela, whose obsolete tankers are struggling to export oil and even to supply fuel to the domestic market. PDVSA also owes millions of dollars to Caribbean terminals - including the one in Saint Eustatius, which is owned by U.S. NuStar Energy , according to a PDVSA executive and an employee at one of the facilities. NuStar and a lawyer representing subsidiaries of Sovcomflot declined to comment. The Russian conglomerate PDVSA did not respond to requests for comment. PDVSA did not respond to written questions regarding its tanker fleet or its debts to shipping companies. PDVSA's tangled web of payment disputes now spans the globe, from unpaid shipyards in Portugal and half-built tankers in Iran and Brazil to the seized cargo in tiny St. Eustatius, whose strategic location in the Caribbean made it an 18th century colonial-era trading hub. DEBTS TO RUSSIA The oil price crash starting in 2014 hit Venezuela particularly hard. Once a paradise of oil-fueled consumption, the OPEC nation is now a Soviet-style economy of empty supermarket shelves and snaking food queues. Russia has consistently supported President Nicolas Maduro with financing arrangements and oilfield investments. State-run oil firm Rosneft has lent money to PDVSA since 2016 and last month was in talks to help PDVSA make a hefty bond payment, according to Venezuelan government and banking sources. But problems had been brewing for months between Venezuela and Sovcomflot, which provides about 15 percent of vessels that PDVSA charters to ship crude to its clients amid a steady deterioration of its own fleet, according to a captain and two shipbrokers working with PDVSA. Debts to Sovcomflot had by 2016 swelled enough that company's top brass complained in person to PDVSA President Eulogio Del Pino in the Russian city of Sochi, according to source from PDVSA's trade department with knowledge of the meeting. Del Pino agreed to a payment schedule proposed by his trade and fleet executives and accepted by Sovcomflot, the source said. But PDVSA - saddled with heavy bond payments and billions of dollars in unpaid bills to oilfield services providers - was unable to make sufficient payments to avoid Sovcomflot's unusually public debt-collection gambit. A PDVSA representative denied that Del Pino was confronted by Sovcomflot in Sochi, saying the account was false, without elaborating. Detentions of oil cargoes have been unusual because creditors rarely have sufficiently detailed information on tanker movements to obtain timely court orders. Venezuela also tends to ensure that any cargoes that leave its ports legally belong to the clients rather than to PDVSA, meaning they are rarely in a position to be seized. The Sovcomflot dispute was different in that the creditors are the tanker owners. Although the crude onboard the NS Columbus had already been sold to Norway's Statoil , the cargo was being carried in a tanker navigating with a bill of lading under PDVSA's name, according to two inspectors and a representative of one of the companies involved. Statoil declined to comment. (Additional reporting by Walter Hellebrand in St. Eustatius, Jonathan Saul in London, Juliana Castilla in Buenos Aires and Marta Nogueira in Rio de Janeiro; Editing by Brian Thevenot) By Fergus Jensen and Tom Allard JAKARTA (Reuters) - Luar Batang is one of the Indonesian capital's oldest neighborhoods, founded in the 17th century to collect tolls from ships sailing in from the Java Sea when the city was the center of the Dutch East Indies spice trade. Now, it is being demolished and many of its residents are being evicted to make way for a giant seawall meant to keep Jakarta from sinking under rising sea levels. That has made it ground zero for the election of the city's governor, dubbed one of the most divisive election campaigns Indonesia has ever seen. The incumbent governor, Basuki "Ahok" Purnama, was cruising toward a decisive election victory last September when he allegedly criticized a verse from the Koran that warns Muslims against allying with Christians and Jews. Hardline Islamist groups responded with mass protests demanding that Purnama, an ethnic Chinese and Christian, be prosecuted. Police eventually did charge him with blasphemy. It was Purnama who ordered the evictions from Luar Batang's slums to make way for one of his many infrastructure projects aimed at modernizing this clogged and chaotic city. Many of those who filled the streets of Jakarta to protest against him late last year were among the displaced, and violence broke out in Luar Batang after one of those demonstrations. Luar Batang residents had just about given up their fight against evictions when the controversy over the Koran comments erupted, said one woman who did not want to be named, sitting outside a small shack amid the rubble. "We see it as a gift from God," she said, describing the slur as a means to bring down Purnama. NECK AND NECK RACE Opinion surveys show Purnama running neck and neck with his challenger Anies Baswedan, who, like some 85 percent of Jakartans, is a Muslim. Purnama, 50, inherited the governorship after Joko Widodo was elected president in 2014. His brash talking style, a contrast with the soft-spoken Javanese politicians who dominate the ruling class, has grated on some voters. Purnama won the first round of voting in February in a three-way race with 43 percent of the ballots to set up Wednesday's second round with Basedan, who won 40 percent. The campaign has been "the dirtiest, most polarizing and most divisive the nation has ever seen," the Jakarta Post said in an editorial on Tuesday. Calling the capital "the barometer of Indonesia's political pulse", the daily said the election would have a bearing on the next presidential election in 2019. Police on Monday blocked plans by hardline Islamist groups to guard polling booths, citing the risk of clashes after a campaign fraught with religious tensions, and said around 66,000 police and military personnel will be deployed on voting day. 'VOTER FRAUD' Prabowo Subianto, head of the Gerindra Party that Baswedan represents, said in a video message recorded over the weekend that "religious people need a leader who respects their beliefs". Prabowo lost the 2014 election to President Widodo. Purnama faces up to five years in jail if convicted of blasphemy. His trial will resume on Thursday, when prosecutors will submit their sentence request. Prabowo said he was concerned about potential voter fraud. "Cheating is a common enemy to us. We don't want to cheat," he said. "However, we will not hold back if we are cheated." Hardline Islamic cleric Habib Rizieq, who helped organize the anti-Purnama demonstrations during the campaign, last week urged Muslims to travel to Jakarta and be ready to "finish" their opponents. "This is not a battle between Anies and Ahok. This is a battle between ... defenders of Islam and those who blaspheme against Islam," Rizieq said at an event in the city of Surabaya. "Those who can come to Jakarta better have the guts to do so and prepare a will for your family," he added, as the crowd roared in response. At Luar Batang, where Prabowo's party has set up tents for those evicted from their homes, the woman at the street cafe said people are tired of politicians' false promises and warned that frustration could boil over if Purnama wins the vote. "If (Purnama) is elected again something extraordinary will happen," she said. (Editing by Bill Tarrant) A new poll out on Tuesday puts numbers behind a trend youve probably seen evidence of in your feeds: dictionaries are hot right now. And that is thanks, in good part, to Donald Trump. Dictionary.com commissioned a survey, conducted by Harris Poll, to ask more than 2,200 Americans about how they are dealing with current affairs. Half of them said they are reading more political news since the 2016 election and nearly 60% said they feel a greater need to analyze the meaning of words used by politicians. Per the poll, a third of Americans have looked up words because of the election and expanded their vocabularies, action that dictionary editors have seen in website traffic and on social media. People have been curious about Donald Trump and the words he has used - and the words used around him - since he announced his candidacy, says Jane Solomon, a lexicographer at Dictionary.com. She can casually reel off a list of words Trump used or had thrust upon him that sent lookups spiking: shrill, schlonged, bigly, xenophobia, trumpery, alt-right, rigged, braggadocio, temperament, hombre. When something like Trump happens to an election cycle, the standard vocabulary simply doesnt cover it. But thats just part of the story. In a time when many distrust politicians as well as the media meant to act as a check on those politicians - and when the very nature of reality seems beholden to appearances - people are starving for an arbiter everybody trusts, something concrete to point to and say those, sir, are the facts. And the dictionary is about as close as you can get to a universally accepted neutral party. It is a weapon and a security blanket, used by Democrats and Republicans alike. People crave a source of truth, says Solomon, and reference materials like dictionaries have historically been a source of truth, so people are turning to them. People are re-identifying with the dictionary, as one of her colleagues says. Story continues The average person trusts the dictionary to settle an argument, even if they dont trust that fake news article their friend shared on Facebook or that academic elite or that poll. As Peter Sokolowski, editor-at-large for Merriam-Webster, says, Traditionally the dictionary has called balls and strikes. Often those calls have been related to spelling and grammar, he says, but these days something is different. The meanings of even the most basic words - like fact - are suddenly in need of confirmation. People have been begging dictionaries to act as referees, driving up their retweets and replies on Twitter and also driving them to be cautious about when they weigh in. Lauren Sliter, who runs Dictionary.coms social media accounts, says shell regularly get requests to put people in check. Can you please tell X what fascism is because they dont seem to understand that Donald Trump is a fascist,' she says of the messages theyll get, or a populist, or a misogynist. Sliter says they try to focus on words that are driving people to their pages because of misunderstanding and not tweet about a word where everyone is already in agreement, though the real-time nature of news consumption and social media adds urgency to making those calls. The dictionary, paired with the even playing field of Twitter, she says, has become this focal point of consensus. When dictionaries have joined the conversation after Trump or his aides have caused debate over a words meaning, the responses have often gone viral and become news stories of their own. After Kellyanne Conway introduced the notion of alternative facts, dictionary editors tweeted the definition of fact: a piece of information presented as having objective reality. After press secretary Sean Spicer said that getting less money didnt necessarily amount to a cut, dictionary editors tweeted the definition of cut: a reduction in price, salary, etc. After Ivanka Trump was asked in an interview if she was complicit in her fathers decisions and said she didnt know the definition of the word, dictionary editors provided one: helping to commit a crime or do wrong in some way. This has led to some allegations that dictionaries are trolling Team Trump. The editors say thats not the case. Sokolowski emphasizes that Merriam-Webster has been tweeting for years about news trends theyre seeing reflected in lookups, whether the biggest story is Hillary Clinton calling people deplorables or United Airlines describing violently bumped passengers as volunteers. And few would dispute that Trump is clearly the biggest story around, as he says, or that Team Trump has sowed confusion with their words in remarkable ways. As TIME has reported, Trump does not have a clear-cut relationship to the truth, sometimes flouting the general consensus or evidence that contradicts his interpretation of things. That means there is more of a question about what he may believe a word means, especially because he has backtracked on his own words by suggesting that people misinterpreted them - when they read them in the plainest way. Spicer (who has himself sent people running for the dictionary by using terms like Holocaust centers) said, for instance, that Trump didnt mean wiretaps when he tweeted that Obama had his wires tapped, that he didnt mean military operation when he used the words military operation to describe immigration enforcement. All of which begs the involvement of a dictionary, as Trumps critics continue to fact-check the big picture as well as every syllable that comes out of his mouth (or the mouths of people speaking on his behalf). While dictionaries go to great lengths to eliminate any bias in their pages, some tinges will inevitably remain. After all, humans are writing the definitions, even if they analyze mounds of evidence about how a word is being used in the world before they distill a definition. And its hard to anticipate what might look slanted or close-minded in 50 years, which is why dictionaries are in a constant state of revision. The misconception that a dictionary is authorless has made dictionaries more trustworthy, and it also makes people who write dictionaries, lexicographers, take their jobs very seriously, says Solomon, who writes definitions for Dictionary.com. She says she is thinking harder these days about when an entry is political: Sure, Black Lives Matter is political but is the Trump-uttered hombre political now too? Merriam-Websters Sokolowski says the stirs on Twitter have raised another interesting query in their world: When is presenting a dictionary definition a subversive act? Dictionaries have been accused of having political bents in the past. Though they dont take partisan sides, they do still have an ethic, one that editors say more people are buying into these days. Theres definitely a reemergence of the thinking that words matter and how you use words matters, says Dictionary.coms Sliter. Solomon echoes her. The meaning of words is vital, and when people in power use words in a way that confounds us, she says, its only natural to use whatever means are handy to try to understand. This article was originally published on TIME.com I just walked into hell, Dr. Oz said last week as he visited Philadelphias heroin encampments in the Badlands of West Kensington. Mehmet Oz, the heart surgeon turned TV host, doesnt do a lot of work as a television tour guide. That is usually the province of PBS hosts such as travel writer Rick Steves. But Tuesday at 1 p.m. on Fox29, Oz will recap his whirlwind journey into the epicenter of the regions opioid crisis. It may be the first time a national audience has seen the squalor of used syringes and lost lives that for 30 years has festered in the North Philadelphia. In clips released before the shows airing, the city puts the blame squarely on Conrail, which owns a set of railroad tracks that cuts through neighborhoods. Thousands of people buy heroin on the streets of West Kensington every day. Hundreds of those then head to areas along the rails to shoot up under the bridges. We need to put big barriers here, so people cant go down and hide to use illegal drugs, said Thomas Farley, the citys health commissioner in a recorded interview with Oz. That will bring them out in the street which gives a great opportunity to engage them and get them into treatment. The citys managing director, Mike DiBerardinis, also has advocated for impenetrable fencing along the rail corridor to keep the problem at street level. But many of the heroin addicts say the ragtag community of drug users helps keep them safe from predators. Many say they carry naloxone, the opioid antidote, and have used it to bring back other addicts who would have otherwise have died of an overdose. Law enforcement agencies also question the wisdom of walling off the railroad right of way. Oz asked the Drug Enforcement Administration's Philadelphia division director what would happen if you built two large walls on either side of the tracks. That would only push it somewhere else, responded special agent Gary Tuggle. Story continues Oz later spoke to a former South Jersey contractor, Steve Johnson, 49, who has been battling a heroin addiction for about five years. Oz promised to help get the man into detox treatment, into patient rehab and post-rehab housing. Johnson has his own ideas about how the city should address the encampments. According to DEA spokesman Patrick Trainor, Johnson entered treatment on Saturday. According to Emory Salley, of Integrity House, Johnson will be transfered to their residential program in Secaucus, N.J. "They will stabilize not only his substance abuse issues, but also his chronic mental health issues as well," she said. The Dr. Oz episode, "A Festering Epicenter of Heroin That Will Shock You," airs today at 1 p.m. on Fox29. Most Popular on Philly.com DUBLIN (Reuters) - The leaders of the Netherlands, Denmark and Ireland are to hold a meeting to discuss Britain's exit from the European Union on Friday, the Irish government said, in a sign the three pro-trade powers plan to coordinate their strategy on Brexit. The three countries, which Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny has said are likely to be the most negatively impacted by Brexit, have a similar outlook on free trade and competition issues and in the past have often allied with Britain. The 27 EU members that will remain after Britain leaves have repeatedly pledged to maintain a united front in negotiations with Britain and avoid divisions that could be exploited by London. Kenny will meet with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen in The Hague on Friday, an Irish government spokesman said. The meeting will underline the strength of the 27 to remain united, he said. (Reporting by Conor Humphries; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union will stick to a timetable for preparing to launch Brexit negotiations with Britain, despite Theresa May calling for a snap general election on June 8, an EU spokesman said on Tuesday. "The UK elections do not change our EU27 plans," Preben Aamann, a spokesman for European Council President Donald Tusk, said in a statement after Tusk spoke to Prime Minister May. Tusk will chair a summit of the other 27 EU national leaders in Brussels on April 29, where he expects them to agree negotiating guidelines he has proposed. On May 22, Aamann added, governments should agree the directives that EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier needs in order to launch the formal talks. Barnier has said he expects full negotiations to start in early June, although it remains unclear what the British position on that will now be, given the electoral timetable. May formally triggered a two-year countdown to Brexit on March 29. Tusk said on Twitter that he had a "good" telephone conversation with May after she called for the election. In a separate tweet, the former Polish premier likened the surprising twist in the Brexit saga to a movie plot by British master of suspense Alfred Hitchcock: "It was Hitchcock who directed Brexit: first an earthquake and the tension rises." Tusk was referring to a comment attributed to the late filmmaker that a good film "should start with an earthquake and be followed by rising tension". May said in her announcement that "there can be no turning back" on Britain's decision to leave the EU, something she herself had campaigned against before last year's referendum. (Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Mark Heinrich) New York (AFP) - A US gunman accused of murdering an elderly grandfather and posting the footage on Facebook killed himself after a brief police chase, bringing to a close a frantic nationwide manhunt. Steve Stephens, 37 and thought to have been mentally unstable, had been on the run since 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr was shot dead on Easter Sunday, seemingly at random in broad daylight in Cleveland, Ohio. The murder and a video sparked outrage across the world and renewed scrutiny of the growing number of grisly videos being posted on social media. Facebook removed the footage hours after the attack. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that the world's largest social network had a role to play in stemming the worrisome trend. "There is a lot of work to do here," he told a Facebook developers' conference. "And we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this from happening." Police got the decisive tip-off after Stephens had been on the run for nearly 48 hours, when a McDonald's employee recognized him at a drive-thru in Pennsylvania shortly after 11:00 am (1500 GMT) and called authorities. "There was a short pursuit in which the vehicle was stopped. As the officers approached that vehicle, Steve Stephens took his own life," Cleveland police chief Calvin Williams said. Pennsylvania police said he shot himself with a handgun about a mile from the McDonald's following a low-speed pursuit -- at under 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour. Tom Ducharme, owner of the restaurant near Erie, told CNN that Stephens drove up, placed an order and paid an employee, who recognized him and called police. - 'Mad with girlfriend' - The suspect, described as armed and dangerous, had been on the FBI's Most Wanted list. Up to $50,000 had been offered for information leading to his arrest. Stephens worked for a behavioral health agency serving children through mental health services, foster care and adoption, at-risk youth and other programs. Story continues But according to a timeline of events pieced together by police and Facebook, Stephens posted a video on Sunday afternoon saying he intended to kill, and followed up two minutes later with video of Godwin's shooting. In a third video 11 minutes later, streamed live from Stephens' car, he said he intended to kill others. Stephens' mother told CNN she called him after learning about the video, and he had told her he was shooting people because he was "mad with his girlfriend." Police say Godwin is the only known victim. Stephens had demanded that Godwin say the name of his girlfriend and added: "Shes the reason this is about to happen to you." There was no indication Godwin knew Stephens' girlfriend. The killing was the latest in a string of disturbing crimes captured on Facebook video, including the alleged gang rape of a 15-year-old girl, two fatal shootings, and the kidnapping and torture of a disabled 18-year-old man. - 'Can't do this' - Authorities in Cleveland urged a nationwide debate on the issue of violence on social media and to find answers to the plague of gun crime rocking America. "This is something that should not have been shared around the world, period," said Williams, the police chief. "Our kids, although they should not have seen this, I'm sure a lot have. They need to take this as a lesson. We can't do this in this country. We just can't." Facebook took down Stephens' videos and disabled his account two hours after he first started uploading. It acknowledged the delay had been too long and said it was reviewing its protocols. More than 400 tips poured in before the suspect was spotted, and members of Godwin's family had offered Stephens their forgiveness. "I don't want that man to die, I want him brought to justice," one of Godwin's sons, Robby Miller, told CNN. Police warned Stephens' death might make it harder to prevent similar crimes. "There might be people out there in similar situations and we could find out why he did what he did" if he hadn't killed himself, said Williams. "If you're feeling, you know, not quite right and if there are things going on in your life that you need assistance with, you need to reach out and call somebody. And we'll get you that help," he added. "We cannot resolve this underlying issue of violence, particularly gun violence if we do not function and operate and have the same compassion and commitment that we've shown here," said Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson. It was not immediately clear how long Stephens had been in Erie, in an area of remote woodland, farms and barns. Police initially searched the area on Sunday. burs/jm-mdl/rmb Facebook has created a new empire over the last six months. It has nothing to do with Snapchat or even virtual reality, and it's not just about video. SEE ALSO: Facebook wants your boss to let you use Facebook Facebook Workplace is the social network's effort to get serious about getting into the business world, and Facebook is making a serious push. The Workplace platform connects businesses internally, where companies can pay for or (as of this latest update) use a free version of a software that looks and functions similarly to Facebook but is bolstered with a more work-oriented tools. Workplace is already used by about 14,000 organizations in 77 languages and in every country, including Antarctica, Facebook announced Tuesday in time with their annual developers conference, F8. Clients include Fortune 500 companies like Starbucks along with startups. Starbucks, for example, uses it to broadcast weekly live videos from the CEO and for managers to check in with employees. Facebook announced new features Tuesday that it hopes will make Workplace a much more appealing product. Prior to this week, Workplace included multi-company Groups, live video, reactions, auto-translate, video and group audio calling, trending posts, and search filters. Image: facebook As of Tuesday, Workplace offers new file-sharing integrations, including Salesforce, Quip, and Box. Notably, Dropbox is absent from the initial release. Facebook is also introducing bots into Workplace. Developers can build bots for work chat and for Groups to do tasks like help order food or order a Lyft. "Bots help people weave Workplace into their daily workflow. At Facebook, we have over 100 of these bots helping people be more productive," said Simon Cross, product manager for Workplace. Image: facebook Facebook is also integrated with eDiscovery and compliance partners to help with exporting documents, making it a better product for companies that have regulatory restrictions and are traditionally unable to use third-party software. Story continues Workplace users can also soon broadcast live video from professional video gear. The best selling point for Workplace, according to Facebook, continues to be that its so easy to sign up for and to use because everyone already knows how to use Facebook. "Everyone knows how to use it straight away," Cross said. "It's a modern communication layer of a company and connecting people in a way they've never been connected before." Cross has worked at Facebook for the last six and a half years, and to him, Workplace is one of the most important projects the company has ever done. Obviously, he's biased, but he moved onto the team due to his fascination with Facebook's own use of Facebook during work. Image: facebook "When I joined Facebook in 2010, Facebook ran on email. We started using groups in 2011 and 2012. It fundamentally changed how Facebook works, the speed at which we can make decisions and how close we feel too each other," Cross said. "I cannot imagine working anywhere without it. What's humbling about this thing is companies are telling us the same thing," he continued. What's next for Facebook Workplace is making it even easier for companies especially those companies without a lot of money and developers, even businesses where not everyone has a laptop or an email address. Cross used the example of workers on the store floor of Starbucks. "They should be listening to customers. In those environments, it's all about the thing in your pocket, putting those in the hands of people on the shop floor, in factories, in fields," Cross said. WATCH: This paper can fold itself into a beautiful crane JAKARTA (Reuters) - Jakarta voters head to the polls on Wednesday to elect a governor for Indonesia's capital after a campaign that incited political and religious tensions in the world's most populous Muslim country. The race to lead the city of more than 10 million has been fought by two candidates - an ethnic Chinese Christian and a Muslim. It has triggered mass protests and stirred religious and political tensions in the world's third largest democracy. THE CANDIDATES Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, known by his Chinese nickname as "Ahok", is the incumbent governor who took over running Jakarta in 2014 when his then boss, Joko Widodo, won the presidency. Purnama, 50, is the city's first ethnic Chinese and Christian leader and is backed by the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P). Purnama is standing trial on blasphemy charges after allegedly insulting the Koran during the campaign. Hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied after an edited video of his comments about a Koranic verse were circulated. He has appeared in court throughout the campaign. If he wins the election but is convicted of blasphemy, Purnama can assume office as long as an appeals process is going on. Purnama's policies include new infrastructure to fix Jakartas chronic traffic congestion, flood mitigation, better waste management and anti-corruption measures. Anies Baswedan, 47, is the former rector of Jakartas Paramadina University and campaign manager for Widodo during the 2014 election. Widodo appointed him education minister but sacked him less than two years later. Baswedan has shifted allegiance to Widodos presidential rival in the 2014 campaign, Prabowo Subianto, and now represents Subianto's Gerindra Party. Baswedan was criticised for meeting hardline Islamists during the campaign. His platform has focused on improving public education and combating the rising cost of living. He opposes a giant seawall in Jakarta Bay that Purnama has advocated. VOTING IN JAKARTA The April 19 election is a runoff between the two most popular candidates in the first round of polling held on Feb. 15. In the first round, Purnama received 43 per cent of the vote and Baswedan 40 per cent. A third candidate, Agus Yudhoyono, dropped out of the race after receiving only 17 per cent of the vote. A candidate needs a simple majority to win. Private pollsters approved by the General Elections Commission will conduct quick counts of a sample of votes after polls close on April 19, giving an indication of the winner. Official results are expected to be announced by the elections commission by May 5-6. Defeated candidates can dispute the results in the Constitutional Court. About 7.1 million people are registered to vote in Jakarta. The turnout was 77 per cent for the first round of voting. (Compiled by Jakarta bureau; Editing by Bill Tarrant) London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May's surprise call for a snap general election comes with the country facing a host of challenges -- all closely bound up with the country's exit from the European Union. Here are some of the major issues May or her successor will be taking on after the proposed June 8 vote. - Brexit negotiations - On March 29, Britain formally gave notice to the other 27 EU nations that it was leaving the bloc, starting a two-year countdown to Brexit. The main issues include Britain's multi-billion-euro exit bill and the rights of European citizens living in Britain and vice versa. The incoming prime minister will be under pressure at home to get a deal that secures Britain's interests in Europe, while the EU is determined that Britain should not get a better deal by leaving the bloc than it had as a member. Negotiations were due to start in late May or early June, and the EU says this timetable has not changed. - Immigration - Mass EU migration into Britain was a major issue in the run-up to the June 23 EU referendum, with "Leave" campaigners arguing that quitting the bloc was the only way to control numbers. May has promised to cut immigration, even at the expense of leaving Europe's single market, for which freedom of movement of labour is a key principle. But some sectors of the economy, notably hospitality and agriculture, are worried about losing an important part of their workforce. Brexit has also thrown the lives of more than three million EU citizens living in Britain into uncertainty -- will they be able to stay in the country and under what conditions? - Economy - The British economy has been performing better than expected since the referendum, but the final exit deal has yet to take shape. May is seeking the "maximum possible access" for British firms to the single market, amid concerns about the impact of leaving the world's biggest trading bloc on jobs and growth. Story continues But hammering out a trade deal will be a huge task, with Britain short of experienced negotiators, and the prospect of falling back on basic World Trade Organization rules looms large in the background. London's commanding position as Europe's financial hub could be threatened, with banks potentially set to lose "passporting rights" that allow them to sell services across the EU. - Scotland - The unity of the United Kingdom has come under renewed pressure in the wake of the Brexit vote, with Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last month asking May for a fresh referendum on independence. Scotland rejected independence in a 2014 vote but Sturgeon says circumstances have now changed, as most Scots voted "Remain" in the Brexit poll. Whoever takes power in Westminster will have to find a way to manage pressure from Sturgeon's Scottish National Party, which dominates politics north of the border. - Security - Last month's deadly attack outside the British parliament brought the question of terror back into the foreground. It followed a series of Islamic State-inspired attacks around Europe in recent years and there are fears about British jihadists returning from fighting Syria and Iraq. In her letter notifying the EU of Brexit, May alarmed European capitals by warning that failing to reach a deal on trade would weaken the fight against terrorism, though Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson later said Britain would not use security cooperation as leverage in talks. All eyes were on the first couple as they kicked off their first White House Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn Monday. The FLOTUS wore a spring dress, a pale pink sleeveless dress to the 139th presidential Easter event, which took place Monday. To host, Melania opted for a longer pink fit-and-flare dress in pink chiffon with minimal accessories. President Trump and First Lady Melania began the traditional festivities with a speech. During her brief address to the Easter Egg Roll participants and guests, Melania thanked the volunteers and military members for their services. During the event, viewers also caught a subtle dig during a live stream of the event when the first family went to put their right hands over their hearts. As Melania placed her right hand over her heart, she reached for her husband's, to which he moved away and placed the hand she reached for over his heart. The Easter Egg Roll is a time-honored holiday event that takes place on the White House South Lawn every year the Monday following Easter Sunday. Participants can only attend by entering into a lottery system. This year, thousands were expected to participate in the event, about 21,000, according to the Daily Mail. For Easter, the first family spent Easter weekend at Mar-a-Lago before coming back to Washington D.C. in advance of the Easter Egg Roll. They spent Easter Sunday attending church in Palm Beach. For the occasion, Melania wore a flared, sleeveless white crochet dress with a gold belt cinched at the waist. She completed the look with tall neon stilettos. Press Secretary Sean Spicer, who acted as the official White House Easter Bunny during the George W. Bush term, did attend the event this year, but opted for a jacket and tie instead of a cottontail. He read to children on the lawn as the first couple along with their son Barron mingled with attendees on the lawn. Story continues Michelle Obama, who was known for her tasteful yet fashion-forward ensembles, went for a casual ensemble in 2016 and wore black skinny pants with a long green top and a pair of sneakers to 138th White House Easter Egg Roll. Related Articles HOUSTON (Reuters) - Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush has been readmitted to a Houston hospital for treatment of a mild case of pneumonia, his second bout of that respiratory illness in three months, but "is going to be fine," his spokesman said on Tuesday. Family spokesman Jim McGrath said the 92-year-old former president was hospitalized on Friday "for observation due to a persistent cough that prevented him from getting proper rest." "It was subsequently determined he had a mild case of pneumonia, which was treated and has been resolved," McGrath said in a statement. "President Bush is in very good spirits and is being held for further observation while he regains his strength." McGrath furnished no immediate additional information except to say that Bush was at Houston Methodist Hospital, where he had spent more than two weeks in January after developing pneumonia. Bush spent much of that time in the hospital's intensive care unit. His wife, former first lady Barbara Bush, 91, had an overlapping stay at the same hospital for treatment of bronchitis. The couple marked their 72nd wedding anniversary on Jan. 6. Bush, the nation's oldest living ex-president, served a single term in the Oval Office as America's 41st commander-in-chief from 1989 through 1992. He is the father of former President George W. Bush, who served two terms in the White House from 2001 through 2008, and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who unsuccessfully sought the 2016 Republican nomination for president. The elder Bush, a Republican like his sons, also served as vice president for eight years during Ronald Reagan's two terms as president before being elected to the White House himself, defeating former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, the Democratic nominee, in 1988. He lost his 1992 re-election bid to Democrat Bill Clinton. (Reporting by Texas Bureau in Houston; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Sandra Maler and Bill Trott) PHILADELPHIA (AP) Alongside a display of the Declaration of Independence at the Museum of the American Revolution, a separate tableau tells the story of Mumbet, an enslaved black woman in Massachusetts who, upon hearing the document read aloud, announced that its proclamation that "all men are created equal" should also include her. In response, her master hit her with a frying pan. Mumbet sued him, won her freedom in court, changed her name to Elizabeth Freeman and became a nurse. Her case set a precedent prohibiting slavery in the state. The story is a reminder that during the struggle for our nation's liberty, the 400,000 African Americans who lived in slavery in 1776 also longed to be free. Such stories are found throughout the museum, which opens Wednesday in Philadelphia coinciding with the 242nd anniversary of the battle at Lexington and Concord, the "shot heard 'round the world" that began the Revolutionary War in 1775. The more inclusive, clear-eyed view of the country's turning points is an intentional departure from the whitewashed story America has often told itself and the world. Instead, the museum seeks to show visitors that the Revolution was a set of aspirational ideas founded on equality, individual rights and freedom that remain relevant today, said president Michael Quinn. "These ideas rallied people from all walks of life, and they took those ideas to heart," Quinn said "What unifies us as a people is our shared, common commitment to these ideas." At several points throughout the museum, visitors are forced to confront the contradictions of the high-minded ideals of the framers of the Constitution and the realities of their time, including slavery and the second-class status of women. Slavery, for example, would expand for nearly another century after the Revolutionary War ended, and despite arguing for their liberty at the start of America, women in the United States would fight for suffrage into the early 20th century. Story continues The message: The ideals of the American Revolution belong not only to the founding fathers long revered by our country, but also to the founding generation of Americans who first heard them, and the generations that have come since. "For over two centuries, if you said the words 'founders of this country,' the image that would pop to most people's minds would be a white man," said Scott Stephenson, vice president of collections, exhibitions and programming. "Increasingly, we at museums have realized we have got to tell a broader story." One exhibit features the story of the Oneida Indians, one of the first allies to support the nascent America, who fought and died alongside the colonist soldiers. Also on display is the active role of African-Americans, enslaved and free, in the war, fighting with both the Continental and British armies, showed that blacks were patriots also fighting for their own freedom. Historical interpretations conjured from diaries and letters of the lives of five men and women who took various routes to freedom during the war are presented in an interactive digital installation. In paintings, dioramas and exhibits, the stories of figures including poet Phillis Wheatley and William Lee, valet to Gen. George Washington, challenge the idea of who could claim the title of "revolutionary." Visitors are asked to consider the question, "Freedom for whom?" said Adrienne Whaley, the museum's manager for school programs. "The struggle to become free predates the Revolution, and it continues after the war is over," she said. "The promise of America is defined by the ways in which we treat these people." ___ Errin Haines Whack covers urban affairs for The Associated Press. Follow her work on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/emarvelous. ___ Online: Museum of the American Revolution: http://www.amrevmuseum.org Cayenne (AFP) - The movement behind more than three weeks of social unrest in French Guiana said Monday it would press its action until the government signs a draft accord on an emergency package and reopens talks on further funds. Activists are protesting against what they say is decades of under-investment in the French territory in South America, paralysed by a general strike which 37 unions called on March 25. Locals have been pressing demands for a "Marshall Plan" of French aid, along the lines of the huge US economic support given to help western Europe to recover after World War II. The seven-page accord "to suspend the movement in its present form", drawn up by the "Collective to Get Guiana Moving" spearheading the protests, was sent to the government on Sunday. "To have a swift signature, we have an obligation to harden the movement," Valerie Vanoukia, representative of very small companies in Guiana, said on behalf of the collective after a general meeting calling on the population to remobilise. She said the barricades which had been lifted for Easter would be back in place from Monday night. The draft accord calls for an emergency plan of more than one billion euros ($1.07 billion) put forward by the government and proposes reopening dialogue on an additional two billion euros the protestors have demanded so far. Vanoukia stressed that in the original government text, questions on health, education, land and the communes "have not received any real answers". She said two points were non-negotiable: "The government must act on the fact that the Guianese people want to take charge". And she insisted that no demonstrators taking part in the movement would face punishment. "We accept the resumption of the dialogue that the president of the republic has proposed to us," she said, and "to have a quick response, we will continue raising the pressure" just before the first round of the French presidential election this weekend. Story continues Vanoukia said she was "very confident to say that the movement will be suspended in the next two or three days". A blockade of the port in the capital Cayenne has seen the flow of fresh produce slow to a dribble in the territory bordering Surinam and northern Brazil on the northeast coast of South America, some 7,000 kilometres (4,400 miles) from Paris. The protests also led to the indefinite postponement of an Arianespace rocket launch at Europe's Guiana Space Centre in Kourou. The Kourou space centre has become a symbol of economic disparity in Guiana and a focus for anger, given many locals have no electricity or running water and around one in four is jobless. Guiana has been administered as a French region since the end of the 18th century and was also used as a place to send convicts for forced labour between 1852 and 1946. Here's hoping you liked Tom Holland as Peter Parker in Captain America: Civil War, because you're going to be seeing a lot of him over the next few years. Marvel Studios has officially confirmed Spider-Man will return for Avengers 4, due out in 2019. SEE ALSO: Marvel plans to keep making movies until you're dead and your children are old Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios, dropped the news during a recent press event, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. Civil War and Infinity War directors Anthony and Joe Russo are expected to return to the helm for Avengers 4. Though it's too early to say exactly which Marvel Cinematic Universe characters will appear, the safe guess is probably "most of them." Spidey's appearance in Avengers 4 will come after his debut in 2016's Civil War, with his first solo outing this summer in Spider-Man: Homecoming, and his return next year in Avengers: Infinity War. Avengers 4 (which will surely get a title change by the time it hits theaters) is scheduled for May 3, 2019. It'll be followed two months later by the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, due out July 5, 2019. And after that? "That's as far as it goes for now," said Feige. While he didn't say what else might be on the horizon for Spidey, we can be confident those plans don't include the sorta-spinoffs currently in the works at Sony like the Venom standalone or the Black Cat / Silver Sable team-up. Feige clarified that Marvel Studios is not involved in those projects. "We had a very particular plan about Spidey himself," he said. WATCH: 'Spider-Man: Homecoming' gets a homemade makeover and we've got the exclusive BTS Hundreds of tonnes of rotting garbage piled up in Sri Lanka's capital Tuesday after the main rubbish dump was shut following an accident that killed at least 30 people. Authorities sealed the massive 300-foot (90-metre) rubbish mountain on the northeastern edge of Colombo after it collapsed Friday, destroying 145 homes nearby and burying victims in a garbage landslide. Military spokesman Roshan Seneviratne said hundreds of troops were still searching for six people missing since the accident, but authorities were not hopeful of finding any survivors four days on. The Colombo Municipal Council was scrambling for new locations to dump the roughly 800 tonnes of garbage produced every day in the capital, as crows and stray dogs picked through bags of reeking garbage left on city streets. The council sought permission Tuesday from a local magistrate to access another tip outside the city limits, promising it would clear the four-day backlog of trash within 24 hours. "We are finding new locations. By noon Wednesday I am hopeful of restoring normality in clearing the garbage," Commissioner V. K. A. Anura told AFP. "We will not dump it all in one location, but at several sites." The death toll from Friday's accident climbed to 30 on Tuesday as another victim was found, Seneviratne said. "We are still carrying out clearing of damaged homes," he told AFP. Officials said 1,700 people living near the tip had been relocated to temporary shelters while the government searched for alternative accommodation. A night of heavy rain, followed by an outbreak of fire, destabilised the 23 million-tonne garbage heap, causing its collapse as Sri Lankans celebrated the traditional new year. Parliament had been warned the vast tip posed a serious health hazard, and that a long-term solution was needed to dispose of Colombo's trash. Disaster management minister Anura Yapa said the loss of life could have been avoided had local residents acted on warnings to move, issued as recently as a fortnight ago. But activists have complained that ad hoc compensation and relocation was not the answer to a festering problem that politicians have been unable to resolve for years. UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday named an environmental and politics expert, Achim Steiner of Germany, to head the U.N. Development Programme, replacing former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who steps down on Wednesday. The U.N. agency works in 170 countries and territories to try and wipe out poverty, reduce inequalities and exclusion and promote sustainable development. In 2015 the agency received $4.5 billion in voluntary funding. The United States was among the top government contributors to the UNDP in 2015, giving $266 million, but the administration of President Donald Trump is pushing cuts to diplomacy and foreign aid. Steiner is director of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford. From 2006 to 2016 he was U.N. Environment Programme executive director and also the director general of the U.N. office in Nairobi from 2009 and 2011. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres has asked the 193-member General Assembly to confirm Steiner for a four-year term. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; editing by Grant McCool) By Paul Carrel BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) hopes to reclaim its traditional role as kingmaker after September's national election, but its leader proved coy on Tuesday over which of the two main parties it might join in coalition. The business-friendly FDP was the junior partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel's 2009-13 conservative-led coalition but failed to clear the 5 percent threshold to win seats in the current lower house Bundestag. Media reports suggest it is now being courted by the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) as a possible alternative partner to the far-left Linke. Opinion polls suggest six party groups, including the FDP, will enter parliament after the Sept. 24 election, up from four now. Neither Merkel's conservatives nor the SPD would be able to govern alone, opening the way for talks with smaller parties in their efforts to forge a stable coalition government. FDP leader Christian Lindner appeared to play down the possibility of a tie-up with Martin Schulz's SPD, which he accused of wanting to strangle German business with red tape, but he also ruled nothing out. "Schulz wants redistribution (of incomes), for the state to command the economy, more bureaucracy," Lindner told broadcaster n-tv. "Merkel basically wants to change nothing in Germany ... At least she doesn't want to go backwards." Pressed on which party would be his preferred coalition partner, Lindner said: "That depends on the (policy) content. If it is not possible to implement (our policy) content in a government, then we will go into opposition." An Emnid poll on Saturday showed Merkel's conservative bloc winning 35 percent, the SPD 31 percent, the Linke and the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) both on 9 percent, the Greens on 7 percent and the FDP on 6 percent. "GOOD CONSTELLATION" Merkel's conservatives now rule in a 'grand coalition' with the SPD, though neither is keen to repeat the right-left partnership. A re-run would be "not ideal", senior conservative Jens Spahn told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. Underlining the FDP's credentials as a potential ally, Spahn said the liberals were closest on policy to the conservatives. "That would be a good constellation with regard to economic developments as well," he said in pre-released comments to run in the paper's Wednesday edition, adding: "We could finally lower taxes together." The FDP wants to cut taxes while also increasing investment in education and digital infrastructure by privatizing state assets. The FDP has more often joined conservative-led federal governments in the past, though it served in SPD-led coalitions from 1969 to 1982 and more recently has governed with the Social Democrats at the regional level. Schulz has led a revival in the SPD's poll ratings since being nominated in January to challenge Merkel in her bid for a fourth term as chancellor. But his party stumbled in a regional election in the western state of Saarland late last month, with voters flocking to Merkel's conservatives for fear of the SPD joining forces with the Linke to form a left-wing alliance. The prospect of a coalition with the FDP might prove more popular with centrist-minded voters, but Lindner described reports of the SPD scoping out such a tie-up as "tactical, a diversion from the Linke party option". Lawmakers in Merkel's conservative bloc say privately they believe the FDP is hungry for power after four years in the political wilderness and believe the party could join a left-leaning coalition to get back into government. (Writing by Paul Carrel; Editing by Gareth Jones) Remember when gas mileage was a thing? Pfft. How quaint. With gas prices low and the economy humming along, Americans are rediscovering Giganticus Utilitus, the overgrown rovers the SUV craze spawned in the late 1990s. The Ford Expedition and its upscale cousin, the Lincoln Navigator, were among the first giant utilities back then, and Ford Motor Co. (F) has just rejuvenated both of them, with a new Navigator debuting at this months New York auto show. If youre wondering whats left to be stuffed into an SUV, the answer is electronics. The new Navigator, due to go on sale this fall, will feature six USB ports plus a regular 110-volt outlet. A wifi hotspot servicing up to 10 devices will be standard (though youll have to pay extra for the connection). Optional is a wireless phone charger for the storage bin upfront, eliminating the need for those unsightly charging cables. Another option lets you stream videos (from Android devices only) to two 10-inch screens affixed in the second row of seats. No more boredom with that DVD your kids have watched 40 times. Sure, its over-the-top, but in case you havent noticed, these are over-the-top times, automotively speaking. Dodge just unveiled an insane modification of its Challenger muscle car, called the Demon, thats so fast it can pop a wheelie. Sales of large SUVs are up 26% this year over last, according to KBB, while sales of ordinary midsized sedans are down 21%. Sales of electrics, hybrids and other alternative-energy cars are falling too, even though new models, such as the Chevrolet Bolt, are increasingly available. Meanwhile, the average new-car buyer spends more than $34,000 on a vehicle, often splurging on options and fancy trim lines. Lincoln hasnt priced the Navigator yet, but itll probably start in the mid $60,000 range. How long the good times will continue to roll is a question causing some anxiety in the industry. Overall sales in 2017 are about 5% lower than last year, and its possible the appetite for excess will fade. But asked if Lincoln is late to the party with the new Navigator, Ford CEO Mark Fields told Yahoo Finance, Absolutely not. When you look at the economy and the state of the consumer, theyre pretty healthy. The industry has plateaued, but it has plateaued at a historically high level. Story continues Theres a nod to efficiency in the new Navigator, which is powered by a twin-turbo V-6 engine instead of the V-8 of yore. A 10-speed transmission ought to help as well. Still, youre unlikely to hear Lincoln saying much about the Navigators fuel economy, which will average around 18 mpg. If you care about that, maybe the dealer can scrounge a subcompact to show you, from somewhere on the back of the lot. Confidential tip line: rickjnewman@yahoo.com Read more: Rick Newman is the author of four books, including Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman Google rolled out a new Doodle Tuesday in honor of Ghanaian entrepreneur Esther Afua Ocloo, who was instrumental in helping millions of low-income women secure loans. The Doodle depicts Ocloo empowering the women of Ghana with the tools to improve their lives and communities, said Google. April 18th would have been her 98th birthday. According to Google, Auntie Ocloo had just six shillings - less than one dollar - when she began making and selling marmalade as a young woman in the 1930s. After eventually securing a loan, she grew her business and traveled to the U.K. to learn more about food processing. On her return, she shared with other Ghanaian women the technical knowledge and skills of how to start and run a business. Due to her success she was invited to the first U.N. World Conference on Women in 1975. Throughout her life, Ocloo helped improve womens lives in Ghana and advocated for their success in business. She saw the importance of credit in helping women achieve better health and prosperity, but poor black women were often ignored by the banks. So she helped establish Womens World Banking, a global nonprofit that provided low-income women with microloans to help start their own businesses. This article was originally published on TIME.com GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa. (Photo: Nicki Kohl/Telegraph Herald via AP) Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, said Tuesday that she has concerns about the frequency of President Trumps trips to his Mar-a-Lago residence and particularly about his use of the Palm Beach, Fla., venue to host foreign leaders. Ernst was holding a town hall in Wall Lake, Iowa, when a constituent inquired about the cost of Trumps trips to the Winter White House, as Trump has called it. The president has spent seven of his 13 weekends as president at the estate. According to the Associated Press, cost estimates for each trip have ranged from $1 million to three times that. I agree with you, Ernst responded. I do wish that he would spend more time in Washington, D.C. Thats what we have the White House for. The senator also alluded to similar concerns among other congressional Republicans, and said they may try raising the issue with Trump. I have not spoken to him about the Florida issue yet, Ernst said. But that is something I think that has been bothering not just me, but some other members of our caucus. So I think that is going to be a topic of discussion that we have when we get back to Washington, D.C. Ernst specifically questioned Trumps use of Mar-a-Lago to host foreign heads of state, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Trump was having dinner with Xi when he ordered a missile strike on a Syrian air force base earlier this month. (Trump later recalled that he was eating the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that youve ever seen when he informed Xi of his action.) We would love to see more of those State Department visits in Washington, D.C., Ernst said. I think its smart that he does business in Washington, D.C. PARIS (Reuters) - A machine gun, two hand guns and three kilos of TATP explosive were among the weapons found at a flat in Marseille raided by police on Tuesday after they foiled an imminent attack ahead of the French election, according to the Paris prosecutor. The two Frenchmen had met while sharing a cell in prison and were known to police as having turned to radical Islam, prosecutor Francois Molins said at a news conference. He added that an Islamic State flag and jihadist propaganda had previously been found at the home of one of the men, while the other was thought to have had links to a Belgian jihadist cell. (Reporting by Bate Felix, Writing by Sarah White) Geneva (AFP) - The World Health Organization on Wednesday hailed "unprecedented progress" in the fight against 18 neglected tropical diseases -- including dengue fever and sleeping sickness -- which kill 170,000 people and disable millions each year. The UN's health agency, pharmaceutical companies and civil society groups led by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have been waging a protracted effort to eradicate the group of highly treatable diseases, which had previously received scant attention and resources. "It's really a story of wonderful progress," the billionaire Microsoft founder Bill Gates said in Geneva. "A lot of pieces have come together." His comments came as WHO launched its latest report on the battle against so-called NTDs. "Over the past 10 years, millions of people have been rescued from disability and poverty, thanks to one of the most effective global partnerships in modern public health," WHO chief Margaret Chan said in a statement. A full 1.6 billion people remain affected by NTDs -- more than 500 million of them children -- but that number is down from more than two billion in 2010, WHO said. The effort against the group of diseases intensified in 2012, when governments and drug companies signed the London Declaration pact committing resources to help eliminate the most common NTDs. Companies have since annually donated hundreds of millions of treatment doses, enabling one billion people to get therapy for at least one disease in 2015 alone. Before the deal, "we really weren't organised as a global community to solve the problem", Gates told reporters, describing the accord's five-year anniversary as "a milestone in global health". - Infections falling - Great strides have been made to rein in some of the worst ailments, including Dracunculiasis, a crippling parasitic condition caused by the flesh-burrowing guinea worm. The worm, which exists in South Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia and Mali, enters the body when people drink stagnant water contaminated with parasite-infected water fleas. Story continues In its bid to exit the body, the worms, which can be up to a metre long, dig their way out of the body, including through the eyes and genitals. Last year, only 25 human cases of guinea worm were recorded, down from nearly 900,000 in 1989, when it was endemic in 21 countries, "putting eradication within reach", WHO said. There has also been a huge reduction in human African trypanosomiasis, commonly known as sleeping sickness, which is transmitted by the tsetse fly. The initial stage of the disease is symptom free, but during the second stage the parasites cross into the central nervous system and the brain, where they can be lethal if untreated. In 2015, only 2,804 cases were registered, down from 37,000 in 1999, WHO said, putting the goal of eliminating the disease altogether by 2030 "on track". While much has been done in the battle against NTDs, WHO cautioned that progress would stagnate without efforts to address broader poverty-related issues. WHO estimates that 2.4 billion people still lack basic sanitation facilities like toilets and latrines, while nearly two billion use drinking water sources contaminated with faecal matter. By Rupam Jain UNNAO, India (Reuters) - One recent afternoon, dozens of young Hindu men, swords drawn and saffron scarves draped around their necks, rode motorcycles through a Muslim neighborhood near the capital of India's most populous state and chanted "Hail Lord Ram!" In the preceding weeks they and their peers had acted as informers, police officials say, helping them identify thousands of Muslim-run butchers' shops that have since been shut and urging officers to stop Muslim youths talking to Hindu girls in the street. Their organization is the Hindu Yuva Vahini (Hindu Youth Force), a private militia set up in 2002 by Yogi Adityanath, a local priest and politician, to assert the dominance of India's main religion which he felt was being eroded by minority faiths. Since Adityanath's promotion last month to chief minister of Uttar Pradesh state, home to 220 million people of which a fifth are Muslims, the group has become emboldened, openly proclaiming its Hindu roots and putting pressure on police. The appointment of the 44-year-old, known for his fiery anti-Muslim rhetoric and a campaign against "Love Jihad" - or the conversion of Hindu women to Islam - has shocked some Indians, who say it undermines the country's secular status. They worry that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "development for all" agenda will be overtaken by radical, Hindu-first policies with the potential to stoke communal tensions that have erupted sporadically through India's 70-year history. Adityanath declined to be interviewed for this article. "Blood can be shed, and Muslims will feel the pain," Pankaj Singh, a senior leader of the Hindu Youth Force, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the rally in Unnao, an hour's drive southwest of the capital Lucknow. Such comments have sent a chill through some in the Muslim community, on the defensive in Uttar Pradesh since this year's election in which Adityanath rallied the Hindu majority and delivered a resounding victory to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In return for his successful campaign, the party handed the priest one of India's most powerful positions, emboldening his militia to act and speak more openly than it did under the previous administration. Based in Uttar Pradesh and funded by members who want to win favor with local power brokers, the youth force says it is 2 million strong and growing. In Unnao, police stood back as members blocked traffic, honked horns and shouted pro-Hindu slogans on the busy streets. Muslims who came out to watch did so quietly from their doorways. HINDU RIGHT, HINDU RADICAL Modi himself is the product of the Hindu right, coming from the BJP and its powerful parent movement, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), that nurtured him early in his career. But since sweeping to power in 2014, he has focused on economic reforms that he hopes will drag India into the modern era and create enough jobs for a swelling workforce. Adityanath represented the BJP during the Uttar Pradesh state polls earlier this year, and helped Modi consolidate power as he bids for re-election in a national ballot in 2019. The priest, however, has often defied BJP discipline and is not part of the RSS machine, raising fears that Modi may have unleashed radical "Hindutva", or religious-nationalist forces that he will struggle to contain. "The BJP has no command over this organization. They respond to Adityanath and no one else," said Gilles Verniers, assistant professor of political sciences at Ashoka University. A close aide to Modi said it was Adityanath's job to maintain law and order in the state. "The onus lies on him. It is his duty to take care of his vigilante group," said the aide. Daljit Singh Chawdhary, additional director general of police for Uttar Pradesh, dismissed the threat of the youth force acting outside the law. "We are not tolerating any vigilante group taking the law into their (own) hands, while at the same time anyone is free to provide us with tip-offs," he said. "We have had no recent complaints against the Hindu Yuva Vahini, so there is no reason for us to take action against them." DEVOTION AND POWER The original source of Adityanath's power is an ancient temple in Gorakhpur, eastern Uttar Pradesh, where people treat the shaven-headed priest with reverence. Soon after he was named chief minister last month, a devotee collected dust from the rug on which Adityanath had walked, so as to worship it. Built on such devotion, the youth force has evolved into a powerful group that dispenses justice and has proved itself a formidable vote-getter. The BJP's national spokesman, Nalin Kohli, said the party's victory in Uttar Pradesh was not only thanks to Adityanath and his private militia. But Singh expressed little doubt about the group's importance in securing the result. "Modi won Uttar Pradesh because of Adityanath's ground force," Singh said. One of Adityanath's first directives after becoming chief minister was to impose a ban on Uttar Pradesh slaughterhouses that operated without licenses. Most Indian states have laws that ban the slaughter of cows, considered sacred by Hindus, while buffalo slaughter requires permission from state governments. Butchers in Uttar Pradesh have long complained that authorities failed to issue new licenses, although the outgoing government allowed them to continue operating anyway, ensuring employment and food for the Muslims who dominate the industry. Adityanath's militia has been pushing police to enforce rules calling for a complete ban on illegal slaughterhouses and the sale of meat from unlicensed shops. "We got the police to shut down 45,000 small meat shops in less than 24 hours ... they would have failed without our informers," said Singh, who added that he reported daily to Adityanath. "They (police) know we are the real heroes now." Chandani Qureshi, a mother of four, said her husband worked as a sweeper in a meat shop in Lucknow. Her family relied on his daily wage of 300 rupees ($4) to survive. "The chief minister's men came with orange flags, broke the window panes of our shops and threw knives and weighing scales out on the street," she said, sitting in her one-room home. "We had no power to stop them." Owners of large abattoirs have sought injunctions to block Adityanath's orders to ban unlicensed slaughterhouses and thousands of butchers have protested against the ban, yet some doubt they will prevail. "I don't think we can defeat Adityanath's militia. It would be better if we start selling something else," said Mohammed Faizan, who inherited a meat shop from his grandfather. Uttar Pradesh's deputy chief minister and state BJP president, Keshav Prasad Maurya, said his government would not let slaughterhouses sell cow and buffalo meat. It wanted shop owners instead to start selling chicken and eggs. "The dairy business is more profitable than the beef trade," he said. He also said members of Adityanath's militia were acting as responsible citizens. "It would be wrong to consider them as a parallel administration." "HANDS OFF HINDU GIRLS" At the rally in Unnao, Singh stood on a rickety stage and awarded idols of Hindu gods to youths for halting sales of beef, stopping religious intermarriage and composing poetry in honor of cows. As well as helping to close down butchers, the militia has been tipping off "Anti-Romeo Squads", groups of police who intervene to prevent young men and women meeting publicly. A police official who oversees 64 such squads said the units were formed to tackle sexual harassment of women, but admitted that there had been cases where militia members pressured policemen to target Muslim men seen in the company of Hindu women. He declined to be named. Muslims say they are being singled out. "They think our boys are villains," said Irshad Sheikh, whose son was detained by police recently. Singh, the youth force leader, rejected suggestions that the squads deliberately targeted Muslims. At the rally, he met the father of a 21-year-old Hindu woman who was recently forced by members of the militia to call off her wedding to a Muslim man. "For centuries, Muslims have been playing the dirty game of converting Hindus," Singh said, as his men returned from their run through the Muslim neighborhood. "But now if they touch a Hindu girl, we can fight with our swords." The woman's father, Subhash Chandra, said he welcomed the militia's intervention. "The Muslim boy trapped her and wanted to convert her. I am lucky that Yogi Adityanath's people saved my daughter's life. How can a Hindu become a Muslim? It is a sin to convert anyone." (Editing by Mike Collett-White and Douglas Busvine) (Reuters) - Highlights for U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Monday: NORTH KOREA Vice President Mike Pence puts North Korea on notice, warning that recent U.S. strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed that Trump's resolve should not be tested. North Korea will continue to test missiles regularly and any military action against it by the United States will prompt "all-out war," a senior North Korean official tells the BBC. China reiterates its opposition to the deployment of a sophisticated U.S. anti-missile system in South Korea. RUSSIA As Russian hopes of swift detente with the United States under Trump have fizzled, state media, which hailed his election win, have made a U-turn: On Sunday, they said he was scarier than North Korea's Kim Jong Un. TURKEY Trump calls Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on his referendum victory and to thank him for supporting a U.S. missile attack on Syria in response to a chemical attack by Syrian government forces on April 4, the White House says SUPREME COURT Trump's appointee, Neil Gorsuch, shows himself to be a frequent and energetic questioner during U.S. Supreme Court arguments in his first day hearing cases as a justice, at one point even apologizing for talking too much. The U.S. Supreme Court sidesteps a turbulent debate over illegal immigration, turning away an appeal by a group of asylum-seeking Central American women and their children who aimed to clarify the constitutional rights of people who the government has prioritized for deportation. JAPAN Pence will meet with Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday, kicking off talks in Tokyo that the White House hopes will open doors in Japan for U.S.-made products and attract Japanese investment for infrastructure projects in the United States. VISA PROGRAM Trump on Tuesday will sign an executive order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs. CLIMATE CHANGE ACCORD Trump's top advisers will meet on Tuesday to discuss whether to recommend that he withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, a White House official says. PAKISTAN Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, meets Pakistan's prime minister and army chief and emphasizes "the need to confront terrorism in all its forms", while praising democratic and economic development. (Compiled by Jonathan Oatis, Bill Trott and Peter Cooney; Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Sandra Maler) Hillary Clinton gives her concession speech on Nov. 9, 2016. (Photo: Carlos Barria/Reuters) As Hillary Clinton was reviewing a draft of her concession speech on the night of the 2016 election, she reportedly said her stunning loss to Donald Trump was her last race. Thats according to Shattered: Inside Hillary Clintons Doomed Campaign, a new book by Sidewires Jonathan Allen and the Hills Amie Parnes. The book described the scene in detail. Look, I really just want to concede gracefully, wish him the best, thank everybody, and get off the stage, Clinton said during a discussion with top aide Jake Sullivan. This is not a moment for me to do more than that. Sullivan argued that Clinton ought to tell voters how she really felt. Everything you said, were going to do in the speech, Sullivan told her. But you have been saying for many months that hes temperamentally unfit and that he would be dangerous, and if you meant it, you should say it. He continued, And you made a case that all these peoples rights and safety are in danger. If you meant that, you should say it. Clinton said that wasnt her job anymore. Other people will criticize him. Thats their job. I have done it. I just lost, and that is that, she said. That was my last race. After Clinton called Trump to concede the election, she called then-President Barack Obama. Mr. President, she said, Im sorry. When Clinton delivered her concession speech on the morning after Trumps victory, she tried to strike a hopeful tone. This is not the outcome we wanted or we worked so hard for, and Im sorry that we did not win this election for the values we share and the vision we hold for our country, Clinton said. But I feel pride and gratitude for this wonderful campaign that we built together this vast, diverse, creative, unruly, energized campaign. You represent the best of America, and being your candidate has been one of the greatest honors of my life. This is painful and it will be for a long time, but I want you to remember this, she continued. Our campaign was never about one person or even one election, it was about the country we love and about building an America thats hopeful, inclusive and bighearted. Story continues We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought, Clinton added. But I still believe in America, and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. In their introduction, the authors of Shattered admit they thought there was a pretty good chance they would be writing the inside story of Hillary shattering what she had called the highest, hardest glass ceiling. But Allen and Parnes were surprised to discover how much infighting was going on below the surface. Hillarys campaign was so spirit-crushing that her aides eventually shorthanded the feeling of impending doom with a simple mantra, they added. Were not allowed to have nice things.' Read more from Yahoo News: Game of Thrones star Kristian Nairn is saying a lot more than "Hodor!" these days. The Northern Ireland native, known for acting in HBO's Game of Thrones and for his DJ sets on his "Rave of Thrones" tour, is speaking out for same-sex marriage in his country. In an interview with Northern Ireland's Belfast Telegraph Tuesday, he said he hopes the country will embrace marriage equality like Ireland and the rest of the UK. And he might even get politically involved to help make it happen. SEE ALSO: Nathan Fillion trolls Hodor and, well, all of us, in new Instagram post "I don't see why people are so concerned at what other people do behind closed doors or in their lives," he told the newspaper. Since his country has still not legislated in favor of same-sex marriage, he's up to the task possibly in the future. "Of course I have had thoughts about going into politics. I certainly don't mean now, definitely not, but in the future who knows?" he said. "I've thought about running for office for later in life, not for now. I definitely have something to say." Nairn went on to say that the current political system isn't looking out for the gay community. But if he were to get involved politically he'd champion equality beyond gay people. "It's just making sure that everyone's treated equally. Is that so progressive? I don't think it's progressive, I think it's human. And not just gay people women's rights, immigrants, people of different ethnic backgrounds." While not touring around the globe (he'll be in Madison, Wisconsin, next month as part of the Rave of Thrones tour), he lives with his mother in Northern Ireland. He made sure to tell the newspaper he has a lot of Northern Irish pride: "People are so lovely in this country." But he's upset by outdated notions, mostly led by religious beliefs, blocking same-sex marriage. "There's so much other horrible shit happening in the world at the minute, I think it's the least of their worries," he said. WATCH: Natalie Dormer reveals what it's like to be killed off on 'Game of Thrones' Washington (AFP) - The global economic recovery is picking up steam, but the rise of protectionist rhetoric and the threat of trade wars could erode those gains, the International Monetary Fund warned Tuesday. The fund's semi-annual World Economic Outlook report revised global growth up to 3.5 percent for this year, one-tenth higher than the January forecast. It was a rare upward revision to the growth forecast -- the first in two years -- which has been consistently disappointing. For 2018, growth is expected to rise to 3.6 percent, and to 3.8 percent by 2022. "The global economy seems to be gaining momentum -- we could be at a turning point. But even as things look up, the post-World War II system of international economic relations is under severe strain," IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld said. The Washington-based IMF warns of the "significant downside risks" to the outlook, which have grown worse since January. Among them is "the turn towards protectionism, leading to trade warfare," Obstfeld said in the foreword of the report. "Whether the current momentum will be sustained remains a question mark," he said in a press conference. Many of the concerns -- including rolling back financial regulation, pulling away from the multilateral trading system and restricting immigration -- are centerpieces of US President Donald Trump's policy program. But the issues also are visible in the bitter French election campaign, as well as in Britain's planned exit from the European Union, and the surprise call for elections in June. "Clearly there is rising concern about the uncertain outcome of the elections," Obstfeld told reporters. The anti-trade, anti-immigration attitude in advanced economies is to some degree understandable, given "the failure of growth gains in rich economies to substantially reach those in the lower parts of the income distribution in recent decades," he said. Story continues However, Obstfeld warned that, "capitulating to those pressures would result in a self-inflicted wound." He said it would harm countries by pushing prices higher and eroding household income, and it would prompt retaliation, worsening the global economy. - Developing countries spur growth - Economies in the developing world continue to provide most of the impetus to global growth, led by China and India. In its report, IMF put China growth this year at 6.6 percent, up a tenth of a point from the January estimate, while the 2018 prediction was increased by two tenths to 6.2 percent. The forecasts for India were unchanged at 7.2 percent this year and 7.7 percent next. But there were a couple of upside surprises among the advanced economies, including a half-point upward revision to the forecast for Britain this year, to two percent, despite fears of a negative impact of Brexit. And Japan's growth is now seen at 1.2 percent -- modest, but a full four-tenths higher than three months ago. The estimate for US growth was steady at 2.3 percent this year and 2.5 percent in 2018. "Global economic activity is picking up speed, but the potential for disappointments remains high, and momentum is unlikely to be sustained in the absence of efforts by policymakers to implement the right set of policies and avoid missteps," the report said. - 'Well-targeted' initiatives - The IMF said "hundreds of millions" of people have been lifted out of poverty through economic integration and technological progress, "helping to reduce global income inequality." But Obstfeld said the benefits of growth and the burden of economic adjustments too often have been unequally shared. It will be up to the governments to "address these disparities head-on." The IMF recommends "well-targeted initiatives" to help workers adversely affected by free trade and other economic changes to "find jobs in expanding sectors" as well as "social safety nets to smooth the loss of income," and improved education and training in the longer term. "Similarly, curbing immigration flows would hinder opportunities for skill specialization in advanced economies, limiting a positive force for productivity and income growth over the long term," the report said. - Downside risks - The IMF report stressed that risks to the outlook "remain tilted to the downside," meaning that while growth could turn out to be faster than expected there are more negative possibilities on the horizon. Among the worries are the possibility for a rising US deficit and the dismantling of financial regulations erected after the 2008 global crisis, which "would raise the probability of costly financial crises in the future," the IMF warned. China's "dangerous dependence on rapidly expanding credit" is another area of concern, as is weak demand in Europe, and a series of non-economic factors, including geopolitical risks and corruption. By Agustinus Beo Da Costa JAKARTA (Reuters) - Millions of Indonesians will head to the polls in Jakarta on Wednesday to choose between a Muslim and a Christian candidate for governor, as religious tensions run high in the capital of the worlds third-largest democracy. Polls open at 7 a.m. (0000 GMT) in what is expected to be an unusually close race between the incumbent, Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama the citys first Christian and ethnic Chinese leader and a former education minister, Anies Baswedan, who like 85 percent of Jakarta residents, is Muslim. (For graphic on Jakarta Governor Election click: http://tmsnrt.rs/2lwXW5V) Security is also unusually tight for the poll. Police say about 66,000 personnel will be deployed throughout the city of some 10 million people to prevent voter intimidation and civil unrest. The election is viewed as a test for Indonesias young democracy and record of religious tolerance. Given Jakarta's outsized importance as both the nation's capital and commercial centre, the election is also viewed as a barometer for a 2019 presidential election. Purnama is backed by President Joko Widodo's ruling party. Baswedan, is backed by a conservative retired general, Prabowo Subianto, who lost to Widodo in a 2014 presidential vote. Both sides have raised concerns about intimidation and warned against voter fraud. About 7 million people are eligible to vote by 1 p.m. (0600 GMT), when polling stations close. Private pollsters, approved by the national elections commission, are expected to announce an unofficial tabulation of a sample of votes, known as "quick counts" within a few hours of polls closing. The elections commission is expected to announce official results by the first week of May. The loser, however, can contest the results in Constitutional Court, which could prolong political uncertainty for weeks. DEAD HEAT Several opinion surveys have showed the candidates in a statistical dead heat. President Widodo and his government have called for calm, unity, and a transparent election. To all the people of Indonesia ... do not be easily tempted by racial issues that weaken our nation, Widodo said on Tuesday. Dont be afraid to resist acts of intolerance and violence, no matter why it is carried out." Citing security concerns, police on Monday blocked plans by thousands of members of hardline Islamic groups, including those from outside the city, to stand guard at polling booths. Authorities in neighboring provinces on Java island have urged the public to refrain from non-essential travel to Jakarta. Police in Central Java raided private cars and public buses on Tuesday for sharp objects and explosives. We are making checks on public transport and suspicious individuals, said police spokesman Djarod Padakova. We are trying to prevent violence, and trying to prevent people from becoming victims or instigators. We will not allow movement of masses toward Jakarta. Incumbent governor Purnama is on trial for blasphemy over comments he made last year that many took to be insulting to Islam. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims took to the streets late last year to call for his sacking and to urge voters against electing a non-Muslim leader. Purnama faces up to five years in jail if convicted of blasphemy. His trial will resume on Thursday, when prosecutors will submit their sentence request. (Editing by Bill Tarrant and Robert Birsel) By Noah Browning and Bozorgmehr Sharafedin MANAMA/DUBAI (Reuters) - At a wake in Iran's holy city of Qom in February, a small group of Bahraini emigres and clerics mourned a young militant killed in a gun battle with Bahrain's security forces. The eulogy was delivered by an exiled Bahraini cleric who has called for the island's Shi'ite Muslim majority to uproot the Sunni Al Khalifa monarchy in a holy war. The choice of resistance is widening and spreading on the ground, said the cleric, Murtada al-Sanadi, who has been named by the United States as a "specially designated global terrorist" backed by Iran. The ceremony shines a light on Iran's widening influence over an armed fringe of the opposition in Bahrain, a country with a strategic value that belies its small size. It hosts a U.S. naval base and is a close ally of Saudi Arabia, Iran's main regional rival. A quickening tempo of mostly crude bombing and shooting attacks has accompanied a government crackdown, which culminated last year in the dissolution of the main opposition bloc. The dead 29-year-old militant, Reda al-Ghasra, was shot and killed when security forces ambushed the speedboat carrying him and fellow fugitives at dawn on February 9. Ghasra had just a few weeks earlier escaped from a prison where he was serving a life sentence for terrorism. Ghasra's two brothers, both wanted on militant charges, also appeared at his wake in Qom. They played a recorded phone call of Reda saying his boat was on its way. The Bahraini government has asserted he was fleeing to Iran. A confidential assessment by Bahrain security officials, reviewed by Reuters, names Sanadi as the leader of the Ashtar Brigades, a militant group that has carried out bombings and shootings directed at the kingdom's police. In a statement online, the group hailed Ghasra as a "martyr commander" on his death. According to the security assessment, Sanadi tasked Ghasra with forming militant cells with Iranian help. Iran's foreign ministry called Bahraini government accusations that Iran had any role in supporting Sanadi or the Ashtar Brigades in violent acts "baseless and fabricated." Sanadi did not respond to requests for comment. SUPREME LEADER An uprising by some in Bahrain's Shi'ite majority was quelled in 2011 with the help of a Saudi intervention. Low-level protests followed. Clashes with police killed scores of activists and suspected militants, while Bahrain says 24 of its officers have been killed. Most clashes involve youths throwing rocks and molotov cocktails, but there has been a series of bombings in recent years. Opposition activists say these attacks show that a government crackdown is pushing Shiite youths into the arms of extremists. An analysis of years of statements by Bahrain's public prosecutor on Ashtar Brigades suspects suggests that the group operates in cells of fewer than 10 young men overseen by emigre militants like Sanadi based in Iran. Recruited on religious pilgrimages or study trips to Iran, Bahrain's prosecutor has said, the suspects were given weapons and explosives training in Iran or neighbouring Iraq. Iran denies the accusation. Sanadi has powerful allies in Iran, where he has lived since he went into exile in 2012. The official website of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei published an editorial by Sanadi in December accusing the U.S. of helping repress Shiite activism in Bahrain. The U.S. State Department put Sanadi on its proscribed "terrorist" list on March 17. His name appears alongside leaders in al Qaeda and Islamic State. The U.S. cited Sanadi's links to the Ashtar Brigades which, it said, "receives funding and support from the Government of Iran." Bahrain accuses Sanadi of having organized deadly attacks on police and smuggling arms from Iran. According to Bahraini security dossiers on Ghasra and Sanadi reviewed by Reuters, Bahraini authorities consider the Ashtar Brigades to be the armed wing of Sanadi's Islamic Wafa Movement, a political party that is banned in Bahrain. Wafa and the Ashtar Brigades did not respond to requests for comment about their relationship. A Wafa party representative contacted by Reuters agreed to relay questions to Sanadi but did not ultimately reply. Sanadi, the security documents say, receives funding from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and commissioned Ghasra to organize the military training of Bahraini militants in Iran by the IRGC and in Iraq by the Hezbollah Brigades militia. The Ashtar Brigades announced an alliance with the Iran-backed Hezbollah Brigades via an online statement in February. Sanadi spoke of his relationship with Ghasra in a communication to his followers on messaging app Telegram, dated in March and seen by Reuters. "I found him a lover of (Shi'ites), ready for the highest sacrifice and dedicated to the choice of resistance. Ghasra's brother Yasser, speaking to Reuters from Iran, acknowledged that his brother Reda was a fighter but denied he received Iranian help. He declined to comment on links between his brother and Sanadi. PROUD TO BE AN ENEMY Speaking to Iranian state TV channel al-Alam in March Sanadi said: "I'm proud that America considers me an enemy." While not commenting directly on the state department accusations, he said the U.S. was using "so-called terrorism and ... an imaginary danger they claim is coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran" to sell arms to Gulf allies and maintain influence. Sanadi is the only official of his party to have eluded a long-term jail sentence, though he spent six months behind bars amid 2011 protests on rioting charges. Six months later he departed legally for Iran. Chronicling his experiences in a prison manifesto called "Pain and Hope" published in Iran last year, he said he suffered torture and watched fellow detainees killed at the hands of Jordanian and other foreign officers he scorns as "mercenaries." Bahraini security officials denied to Reuters that Sanadi suffered torture in custody. There have been isolated abuses which have been investigated and addressed but this is not a systematic phenomenon, said one official In January, Sanadi called on Bahrain's opposition to abandon mostly peaceful protests in public squares and to take up arms. "From today and hereafter, the period has changed. We in the Islamic Wafa Movement announce that we have begun a new phase as a tribute to the martyrs: one grip on the squares and one grip on the trigger!" he said in a speech in Qom. Iran's promotion of Sanadi appears to point to an endorsement of his agenda. Next to an Iranian flag and a banner reading "Death to the House of Saud," referring to Saudi Arabias rulers, Sanadi delivered a sermon at Friday prayers in the country's most prestigious mosque in Qom in September - an exceptional honor. Sanadi also took to the main stage at a 2013 conference of Ahl al-Bayt, a Qom-based global fraternity of scholars founded by Khamenei in 1990. The meeting commemorated Bahrain's uprising. "We are truly thankful to the Iranians, especially the leader of all Muslims, Ayatollah Khamenei," Sanadi declared. For his part, Irans Supreme Leader in a speech last summer warned that Bahrain government moves against top opposition figures was removing an obstacle in front of the passionate, heroic Bahraini youth to fight against the ruling system. (edited by Janet McBride) By Ulf Laessing MOSUL (Reuters) - Iraqi's army has built a new pontoon bridge over the Tigris river south of Mosul, after flooding had blocked all crossing points, opening an escape route for families fleeing fighting between government forces and Islamic State. On Friday, the army dismantled makeshift bridges linking the two parts of Mosul due to heavy rain, forcing residents leaving Iraq's second-largest city to use small boats. The city's permanent bridges have been largely destroyed during a six-month military campaign to seize back Mosul from the Sunni Muslim Islamists, which overran it in 2014. Long queues formed at the new bridge on Tuesday with families crossing in public buses, trucks and taxis. Aid shipments also resumed to the Hammam al-Alil camp, southwest of Mosul, the main arrival point for people fleeing the fighting. Deliveries from Erbil, located some 80 km (50 miles) east in peaceful Iraqi Kurdistan, where aid agencies are based, had stopped due to the flooding. "Everything is back to normal," said a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR. Some 20,000 people have escaped from Mosul in the past four days, fewer than before due to the lack of transport, the UNHCR said in a report. Almost 330,000 people have fled Mosul since Iraq started an operation to expel Islamic State in October. They were some of the around 400,000 people still in western Mosul where military forces are trying to dislodge the militants from the Old City. Fighting continued in the Old City where heavy smoke could be seen from the area of the Grand al-Nuri Mosque, from where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a "caliphate" spanning parts of Iraq and Syria. Aircraft, helicopter and artillery opened fire, while gunfire could also be heard at several positions of Iraq's federal police near the Old City. "They (Islamic State militants) carry out attacks on our defensive lines, but each time we repel them and they run away, leaving bodies of their dead fighters behind," Lieutenant Colonel Hussein Lazim Zghayer said of the force's 9th division. "Minutes ago, they launched an attack and we responded by shelling them with mortar rounds, killing two of them and their bodies were left in front of our defensive lines," he said. Government forces, including army, police and elite counter terrorism units have taken back most of Mosul, including the half that lies east of the Tigris river. The militants are now surrounded in northwestern Mosul, using booby traps, sniper and mortar fire against the assailants. (Editing by Alison Williams) An Iraqi Christian who served a lengthy prison sentence for shooting a Michigan police officer is trying to stave off imminent deportation to Iraq, a country he left when he was five. The case of Nahihd Shaou, a 55-year-old U.S. Army veteran who doesnt speak Arabic, could be a test of the Trump administrations resolve to expel immigrants with criminal backgrounds from the United States even if deportation puts their lives at risk. Shaou is a Chaldean Christian, a religious and ethnic minority in Iraq that is often vulnerable to kidnappings, torture, and killings by the Islamic State and local militias. His Western mannerisms and service in the U.S. military could also mark him as an easy target in Iraq, Shaou and his advocates said. It will be much more dangerous for someone like myself in Iraq, said Shaou, speaking from a detention center in Louisiana. Id be more than a fish out of water. In 1983, Shaou pleaded guilty to two armed robberies and shooting and wounding a police officer outside Detroit after robbing a McDonalds restaurant. He was 20-years-old at the time of his crime and had been recently honorably discharged from the Army for suffering PTSD after serving in South Koreas demilitarized zone. Shaou joined the U.S. Army when he was 17, and his applications for U.S. citizenship was put on hold when he was deployed overseas. After serving a nearly 34-year prison sentence, he was scheduled to be deported Monday, but a last-minute ruling by the Board of Immigration Appeals granted his lawyer a sliver of time to argue that his client should not be returned to Iraq because of the risks of persecution. If this is simply about his character and background then weve lost, Rich Kent, Shaous lawyer, said. But this is about the conditions we are sending people back to. We are imposing a death penalty through the backdoor. The Obama administration worked aggressively to expel immigrants who committed violent or terror-related crimes. But in recent years, Iraqis like Shaou had a good chance of receiving temporary permission to remain in the United States because Iraq refused to accept deportees and the administration didnt push the issue. Iraqi ex-convicts were typically released under supervisory probation after serving their sentences, a policy that allowed them to live and work in the United States under a temporary status, as long as they checked in periodically with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Story continues But Iraq recently reversed its policy on receiving deportees following outrage over Trumps inclusion of their country in his first immigration travel ban. In exchange for Iraqs removal from the list, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi agreed in March to start accepting Iraqi deportees. In addition to Shaou, around 300 Iraqi Christians around Detroit have been told they they are also likely to face deportation. It is not clear if they have criminal records. The end of Shaous prison term also coincided with the Trump administrations stepped-up focus on deporting immigrants who have committed crimes. Past administrations traditionally considered the security situation in a home country before ordering deportations, said John Sandweg, a former acting director at ICE during the Obama administration. It was not at all uncommon for us to exercise discretion on behalf of individuals even when they were a priority for deportation when they were likely to face persecution in their home countries, he told Foreign Policy. A spokesperson for ICE said the same policy applies. The U.S. government provides each individual an opportunity to apply and be considered for all relief, he said. But Trumps harder line on illegal immigration worries immigrant advocates who say the administration seems prepared to downplay such humanitarian concerns. On the campaign trail, Trump, like other Republican candidates, expressed support for persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East. Yet its unclear whether that rhetorical support will extend to immigrants who committed serious crimes. Shaous case is complicated by the gravity of his crime. The difficulty in the case lies in four words: He shot a cop, said Kent, Shaous lawyer. The police officer, Michael Elliot, was shot in the chest. Now retired, he told The Detroit News he has no sympathy for Shaou. He made those choices, Elliott said. Like many Iraqi Christian Chaldeans, Shaou rooted for Trump in the last election because of his support for the U.S. military, and comments supporting persecuted religious minorities in the Middle East. His case has left many of the 400,000 or so Iraqi Christian Americans wondering whether the new president will live up to his pledge to protect persecuted religious minorities. Iraqi Chaldeans were promised Christians would be free, would be safe and secure, yet the policies say otherwise, James Elia, an advocate for Iraqi-American Chaldeans and a Democratic candidate for city council in El Cajon, Ca. Advocates and family members argued that Shaou, with his service to the U.S. Army, long roots in the United States, and exemplary record in prison, deserves the same chance to start over in the United States as other inmates who served their sentences. They are pleading with lawmakers in Congress to draft a bill for humanitarian relief based on Shaous minority status in Iraq. This was a serious crime but it was 34 years ago and I think that humans have the capacity to change. People should not be singularly defined by their worst action, said Tiara Shaya, Shaous niece, who lives in California. Shaous family said they have not had any contact with the Iraqi government regarding his deportation, and dont have any family members in Iraq because the entire family are now American citizens. Shaou said he regrets his crime every day. Yet he pleaded for an opportunity to redeem himself on U.S. soil instead of being sent to Iraq. Im not a monster, Im a civilized compassionate human being that wants nothing more than a chance to prove myself and a chance to live whats left of my life, and a chance for my family to be happy again, he said. This post was updated at 3:07 p.m. EST. Tiara Shaya said people should not be singularly defined by their worst action, not their actions. Photo credit: JOHN MOORE/Getty Images Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan vowed on Tuesday not to negotiate with hundreds of Palestinian detainees on the second day of a hunger strike led by popular leader Marwan Barghouti. More than 1,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons launched the hunger strike on Monday, issuing a list of demands ranging from better medical services to access to telephones. Issa Qaraqe, head of prisoner affairs for the Palestinian Authority, said on Monday that around 1,300 prisoners were on hunger strike and the number could rise. The Palestinian Prisoners' Club had put the number at 1,500. A spokesman for the Israel Prisons Service said around 1,100 prisoners started the hunger strike and roughly the same number were believed to be continuing on Tuesday. Erdan vowed that Israeli authorities would not negotiate with the prisoners and said Barghouti had been moved to another prison and placed in solitary confinement. "They are terrorists and incarcerated murderers who are getting what they deserve and we have no reason to negotiate with them," Erdan told army radio. He said Barghouti had been placed in solitary confinement because calling for the hunger strike was against prison rules. Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel for a range of offences and alleged crimes. Of those, 62 are women and 300 are minors. Some 500 are held under administrative detention, which allows for imprisonment without charge. Palestinian prisoners have mounted repeated hunger strikes, but rarely on such a large scale. Barghouti's call for the strike has given it added credibility, with the 57-year-old serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada or uprising. He was convicted of attacks that killed five people. He is popular among Palestinians, with polls suggesting he could win the Palestinian presidency. "Decades of experience have proved that Israel's inhumane system of colonial and military occupation aims to break the spirit of prisoners and the nation to which they belong, by inflicting suffering on their bodies, separating them from their families and communities, using humiliating measures to compel subjugation," Barghouti wrote in a New York Times opinion piece. "In spite of such treatment, we will not surrender to it." Jerusalem (AFP) - Israel vowed on Tuesday not to negotiate with hundreds of Palestinian detainees on the second day of a hunger strike led by prominent prisoner and popular leader Marwan Barghouti. More than 1,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons launched the hunger strike on Monday, issuing a list of demands ranging from better medical services to access to telephones. Issa Qaraqe, head of prisoner affairs for the Palestinian Authority, said on Monday that around 1,300 prisoners were on hunger strike and the number could rise. The Palestinian Prisoners' Club put the number at 1,500. A spokesman for the Israel Prisons Service said around 1,100 prisoners started the hunger strike and roughly the same number were believed to be continuing on Tuesday. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan vowed that Israeli authorities would not negotiate with the prisoners and said Barghouti had been moved to another prison and placed in solitary confinement. "They are terrorists and incarcerated murderers who are getting what they deserve and we have no reason to negotiate with them," Erdan told army radio. He said Barghouti had been placed in solitary confinement because calling for the hunger strike was against prison rules. Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel for a range of offences and alleged crimes. Of those, 62 are women and 300 are minors. Some 500 are held under administrative detention, which allows for imprisonment without charge. Thirteen Palestinian lawmakers are also among the detainees. - 'Will not surrender' - Palestinian prisoners have mounted repeated hunger strikes, but rarely on such a large scale. Barghouti's call for the strike has given it added credibility, with the 57-year-old serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada or uprising. He was convicted of attacks that killed five people. Barghouti is popular among Palestinians, with polls suggesting he could win the Palestinian presidency. Story continues Graffiti showing the iconic image of his cuffed hands raised above his head flashing a peace sign during his trial in 2003-4 has been daubed on walls across the occupied West Bank. "Decades of experience have proved that Israel's inhumane system of colonial and military occupation aims to break the spirit of prisoners and the nation to which they belong, by inflicting suffering on their bodies, separating them from their families and communities, using humiliating measures to compel subjugation," Barghouti wrote in a New York Times opinion piece. "In spite of such treatment, we will not surrender to it." Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, saluted the "brave prisoners" on hunger strike. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas issued a statement on Monday calling on "the international community to save the lives of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails." - The Thatcher approach - The start of the hunger strike coincided with Palestinian Prisoners Day. Thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in support of the inmates. It also comes ahead of commemorations this summer marking the 50th anniversary of Israel's occupation of the West Bank, including now annexed east Jerusalem, in the Six-Day War. The hunger strike has met with harsh criticism from members of Israel's right-wing government. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not comment directly on the protest, but on Tuesday called Barghouti an "arch-terrorist". Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he wanted to take the approach of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who publicly refused to accede to the demands of IRA hunger strikers in 1981, 10 of whom died. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked told television that authorities "would not hesitate to implement the law which authorises the force-feeding of detainees". The law voted in 2015 concerns hunger strikers whose life is deemed in danger. The United Nations said Tuesday it was following the situation closely. "We are obviously aware of the situation and following the developments closely," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said, urging all parties to "exercise maximum restraint". While many Palestinians view Barghouti as a hero, Israelis point to the bloody suicide attacks of the second intifada of 2000-2005 and his role in the uprising. For Palestinians, the prisons have become a stark symbol of Israel's occupation. Barghouti refused to defend himself at his trial and did not recognise the court's legitimacy. Some Israeli analysts have sought to highlight the rivalry between Barghouti and Abbas within their Fatah party, suggesting that his call for a hunger strike was also related to internal politics. Those close to Barghouti have dismissed such suggestions. Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed three years ago. Abbas is due to meet US President Donald Trump in Washington for the first time in the coming weeks as the White House seeks a way forward with peace efforts. iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The U.S. Supreme has denied a challenge to carry out the first execution in Arkansas in 12 years according to a report from The Washington Post. According to the report, Arkansas was set to carry out a string of executions in a short period of time -- eight over 11 days -- a number unseen in the modern era. The state and death-row inmates engaged in legal battles over whether or not the executions would take place in that 11-day window. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) argued that one of the state's lethal drugs was soon to expire, so the executions needed to take place because they may not be able to replace it. Lawyers representing the inmates praised the decision of the Arkansas Supreme Court to stay, or temporarily suspend, the executions. Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge filed a motion to have the stay in one case vacated, and the high court rejected the request to vacate without explanation. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. (SHANGHAI) - On April 6, Ivanka Trumps company won provisional approval from the Chinese government for three new trademarks, giving it monopoly rights to sell Ivanka brand jewelry, bags and spa services in the worlds second-largest economy. That night, the first daughter and her husband, Jared Kushner, sat next to the president of China and his wife for a steak and Dover sole dinner at Mar-a-Lago. The scenario underscores how difficult it is for Trump, who has tried to distance herself from the brand that bears her name, to separate business from politics in her new position at the White House. As the first daughter crafts a political career from her West Wing office, her brand is flourishing, despite boycotts and several stores limiting her merchandise. U.S. imports, almost all of them from China, shot up an estimated 166% last year, while sales hit record levels in 2017. The brand, which Trump still owns, says distribution is growing. It has launched new activewear and affordable jewelry lines and is working to expand its global intellectual property footprint. In addition to winning the approvals from China, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC applied for at least nine new trademarks in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Canada and the U.S. after the election. The commercial currents of the Trump White House are unprecedented in modern American politics, ethics lawyers say. They have created an unfamiliar landscape riven with ethical pitfalls, and forced consumers and retailers to wrestle with the unlikely passions now inspired by Ivanka Trumps mid-market collection of ruffled blouses, shifts and wedges. Using the prestige of government service to build a brand is not illegal. But criminal conflict of interest law prohibits federal officials, like Trump and her husband, from participating in government matters that could impact their own financial interest or that of their spouse. Some argue that the more her business broadens its scope, the more it threatens to encroach on the ability of two trusted advisers to deliver credible counsel to the president on core issues like trade, intellectual property, and the value of the Chinese currency. Story continues Put the business on hold and stop trying to get trademarks while youre in government, advised Richard Painter, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush. To address ethical concerns, Trump has shifted the brands assets to a family-run trust valued at more than $50 million and pledged to recuse herself from issues that present conflicts. Ivanka will not weigh in on business strategy, marketing issues, or the commercial terms of agreements, her attorney, Jamie Gorelick, said in a statement. She has retained authority to direct the trustees to terminate agreements that she determines create a conflict of interest or the appearance of one. In a recent interview with CBS News, Trump argued that her business would be doing even better if she hadnt moved to Washington and placed restrictions on her team to ensure that any growth is done with extreme caution. China, however, remains a nagging concern. Ivanka has so many China ties and conflicts, yet she and Jared appear deeply involved in China contacts and policy. I would never have allowed it, said Norman Eisen, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under Barack Obama. For their own sake, and the countrys, Ivanka and Jared should consider stepping away from China matters. Instead, the first daughter and her husband have emerged as prominent interlocutors with China, where they have both had significant business ties. Last year, Kushner pursued hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate investments from Anbang Insurance Group, a financial conglomerate with close ties to the Chinese state. After media reports about the deal, talks were called off. Publicly, Ivanka has taken a gracious, charming approach toward Beijing. During the Mar-a-Lago meetings, her daughter, 5-year-old Arabella stood in a gilded room and sang a traditional Chinese song, in Mandarin, for Chinas President, Xi Jinping. The video, which was lavishly praised by Chinese state media, played over 2.2 million times on Chinas popular news portal qq.com. The week of the summit, 3.4 tons of Ivanka Trump handbags, wallets and blouses arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong and Shanghai. U.S. imports of her merchandise grew an estimated 40% in the first quarter of this year, according to Panjiva Inc., which maintains and analyzes global shipping records. Painter, the former Bush administration lawyer, recommended full recusal from issues related to trade with China. That is likely to be difficult because trade is so deeply embedded in the US-China relationship and has been linked with other matters, like North Korea. The danger is that with any discussion with the Chinese, one party or the other may try to bring up trade, he said. Thats a slippery slope that may require her or Jared to step out of the room. Gorelick, Ivanka Trumps attorney, said that Ivanka and her husband would steer clear of specific areas that could impact her business, or be seen as conflicts of interest, but are under no legal obligation to step back from huge swaths of policy, like trade with China. Under the rules, Trump would recuse herself from conversations about duties on clothing imported from China, Gorelick said, but not broad foreign policy. In between, you have to assess it case-by-case, she said. Trademarks can be signs of corporate ambition, though many countries - such as China, where trademark squatting is rampant - also allow for defensive filings to prevent copycats from using a brand. Trademarks pose ethical, and possibly legal, implications for government employees because they are granted by foreign states and confer the monopoly right to sell branded product in a particular country - an entitlement that can be enormously valuable. Intellectual property lawyers say trademarks are also a crucial prerequisite for cutting licensing deals, which form the basis of both Ivanka and Donald Trumps global business strategy. Today, Ivanka Trump Marks LLC has 16 registered trademarks in China and 32 pending applications, along with a total of four marks granted preliminary approval since the inauguration, according to Chinas Trademark Office. Altogether, they cover a wide range of goods and services, including cosmetics, jewelry, leather handbags, luggage, clothes, shoes, retail, spa and beauty services. There is no sign the recent approvals were particularly swift. Chinas Trademark Office did not respond to a request for comment. Globally, the company has more than 180 pending and registered trademarks in countries including Canada, India, Japan, Israel, Mexico, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, as well as the U.S. and Europe, public records show. In December, the company applied for five trademarks, covering handbags and wallets in Puerto Rico, and lingerie and other clothes in the U.S. After the inauguration, the company filed four more applications, for branded clothing and shoes in the Philippines, and perfume and other items in Canada. Trump did not sign off on the new trademark applications, her brand said in a statement, adding that they are not necessarily an indication that the brand is planning to launch a category or a store in a specific territory. Whatever the future plans, right now sales are growing - helped, some argue, by the glow of Ivanka Trumps political rise. The G-III Apparel Group Ltd., which makes Ivanka Trump clothes, said net sales for the collection increased by $17.9 million during the year that ended Jan. 31. The brand itself claims revenues rose 21% last year, with early February seeing some of the best performance ever, according to a statement by Abigail Klem, president of the Ivanka Trump brand. Because it is privately held, the brand does not have to declare its earnings or where revenues come from. The actual corporate structure of Trumps retail business remains opaque. Kushners financial disclosure form lists two dozen corporate entities that appear directly related to his wifes brand. Trump herself has yet to file a disclosure. Data from Lyst, a massive fashion e-commerce platform, indicates some of this growth coincided with specific political events. The number of Ivanka Trump items sold through Lyst was 46% higher the month her father was elected president than in November 2015. Sales spiked 771% in February over the same month last year, after White House counselor Kellyanne Conway exhorted Fox viewers to Go buy Ivankas stuff. Conway was later reprimanded. The bounce appears somewhat sustained. March sales on Lyst were up 262% over the same period last year. You cant separate Ivanka from her role in life and from her business, said Allen Adamson, founder of BrandSimpleConsulting. Her celebrity status is now not only being fueled by her wealth and her family connection, but by her huge role in the White House. All that buzz is hardwired to her products. That, he added, is a competitive advantage other brands just cant match - though it does come with risk. Things could easily cut the other way for the first daughter. Ashley King, 28 of Calabasas, California, bought Ivanka Trump black flats and a cardigan several years ago. But King, who voted for Hillary Clinton, said she believes Trumps role in the White House represents a conflict of interest. This is bothering me more and more, she said. As for the Ivanka Trump items in her closet, she said, I will be donating them. This article was originally published on TIME.com By Tom Allard and Gayatri Suroyo JAKARTA (Reuters) - Jakarta voters head to the polls on Wednesday to elect a governor for Indonesia's teeming capital after a campaign that incited political and religious tensions in the world's most-populous Muslim country. Surveys have shown the race tightening to a statistical dead heat, with incumbent Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, an ethnic Chinese Christian, closing in on rival Anies Baswedan, a former education minister. Purnama is standing trial on blasphemy charges stemming from the divisive campaign that also featured mass rallies led by Islamist hardliners and alleged plots to overthrow President Joko Widodo, who is popularly known as Jokowi. The Jakarta election is viewed as a larger choice ahead of a 2019 presidential poll between the secular policies Indonesia has practiced since its post-World War Two independence and a hardline political Islam that has strengthened in recent years. "This is a test case for Indonesian pluralism, if it can withstand the pressure of the religious groups, the populists," said Wimar Witoelar, a political analyst and an adviser to former Indonesian president Abdurrahman Wahid. "Indonesia is at a crossroads, and I mean Indonesia, not just Jakarta." A survey conducted April 12-14 by polling firm Indikator showed Anies with 48.2 percent support versus 47.4 percent for Purnama, with 4.4 percent undecided. WORRIES ABOUT BACKLASH The business community is worried about a possible violent backlash from the losing side in the election, which could affect the investment climate and endanger Widodo's fit-and-start economic reforms. Southeast Asia's biggest economy grew 5.2 percent in 2016 and the government expects a repeat of that this year.[nJ9N1FN01U] Indonesian stocks <.JKSE> are up 12.6 percent on the year, making the Jakarta market one of Asia's best performers . Kartika Wirjoatmodjo, chief executive officer of the country's largest state bank, Bank Mandiri, said in an interview that whoever won "we (should) make sure it doesn't affect any of the long-term policies, especially on the openness and ... ease of doing business and attracting investment." Purnama, who replaced Widodo in 2014 as Jakarta governor after serving as his deputy, saw his popularity soar as he tackled decrepit infrastructure, chronic flooding and endemic corruption in the traffic-clogged city of over 10 million. His support plunged after an edited video circulated last September suggesting Purnama had mocked a verse in the Koran used by his opponents to argue Muslims should not vote for a person holding different religious beliefs. Amid two rallies last year that drew hundreds of thousands of protesters, Purnama was charged with blasphemy, forcing him to make regular appearances in court during the campaign. The hardline Islamists behind the rallies - led by the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), a group known for attacks on religious minorities and extorting money from nightclubs - were cultivated by Purnama's rivals. Baswedan was accused of betraying his moderate Islamic roots when he met and sang with FPI leader Habib Rizieq, who was twice imprisoned for inciting violence in 2003 and 2008. Purnama recovered to win the first round on Feb. 15 with 43 percent of the vote, compared to 40 percent for Baswedan and 17 percent for Agus Yudhoyono, son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who drew support from conservative Muslims. CHINESE PLOTS The FPI was among groups circulating hoax news stories on social media during the campaign of a pending invasion of Chinese workers and Chinese plots to decimate Indonesia's crops with contaminated chili The FPI has vowed to stage further protests and a "revolution" if Purnama wins, according to flyers circulated by the group. A senior government official said a victory for Purnama could reignite religious tensions and China-baiting at a time when the government is chasing Chinese investment for much-needed infrastructure. "I worry that if a sizeable portion of the electorate feels cheated there could be a very serious backlash," said the official, who asked for anonymity to speak freely about the political climate in Indonesia. However, political analyst Tobias Basuki also saw risks for the national government and its reform agenda if Baswedan won, given plans by his political patron Prabowo Subianto to challenge Widodo in the 2019 presidential poll. Baswedan was Widodo's campaign manager in the 2014 presidential election, when he beat Subianto. But Widodo sacked him as education minister last year. "Anies and Prabowo controlling Jakarta would impede Jokowi every step of the way," Basuki said. (Additional reporting by Eveline Danubrata and John Chalmers; Editing by Bill Tarrant) Japan will prepare to send troops to the Korean peninsula to protect its nationals there if a crisis requires their evacuation, its defence chief reportedly said Tuesday. The remarks by Defence Minister Tomomi Inada came as fears grow over North Korea, which is believed to be on the verge of a sixth nuclear test and has threatened to launch missile tests "every week". But her statement in parliament reported by Jiji Press and public broadcaster NHK is likely to be controversial in South Korea. There memories of Japan's brutal colonial occupation from 1910-1945 have hindered relations and the possibility of Japanese troops on its soil would likely cause anger. Inada, a noted hawk who supports a bigger role for Japan's military, said that the country would be ready to mobilise its troops if Japanese needed to be evacuated "but have difficulties in leaving via private means of transportation". Inada said such a dispatch of troops is allowed under Japanese law, which also requires the consent of the related country. Japan's constitution renounces the right to wage war and the country's military is limited to self defence in the strictest sense. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, however, is pushing to expand the military's role and legislation was passed in 2015 that could see troops engage in overseas combat for the first time since the end of World War II. Inada's comments came as US Vice President Mike Pence arrived in Japan after visiting South Korea, the first leg of his Asian tour, and observed the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas. Pence met Abe on Tuesday, reiterating Washington's commitment to their decades-old alliance. Amid growing tensions in the Korean Peninsula, Japan is contemplating the deployment of its Self-Defense Forces in case North Koreas missiles land in its territorial waters, according to local reports Tuesday. The countrys law over security threats is classified into three categories the possibility of military aggression, obvious threat of military aggression and military aggression. At a time of mounting nuclear and missile threat from North Korea, the Japanese government wants to recognize Pyongyangs missile fall in Japans territorial waters as an obvious threat of military aggression, in which the deployment of troops is allowed, Sputnik reported citing the Japanese language Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. There have been several instances when Pyongyangs missiles have reportedly splashed into Japanese waters angering the East Asian nation. Tokyo has maintained its opposition to the Norths nuclear and missile progress. On Monday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his country will maintain high alert following the Norths failed ballistic missile launch Sunday. Under the current stringent circumstances, we will maintain a high level of alert and take all possible measures, Abe said at a House of Representatives committee meeting. Through close cooperation with the United States, South Korea, China and Russia, Japan will strongly demand North Korea refrain from provocative acts and abandon its nuclear and missile programs. On Sunday, Pyongyang test-fired a missile but the launch resulted in failure as the projectile blew up almost immediately, according to the U.S. military. The missile launch was the third this year with the reclusive country firing a medium-range ballistic missile into the East Sea in February and test-launching four ballistic missiles as a part of exercises targeting U.S. military bases in Japan. Separately, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is heading to Tokyo on Tuesday to reaffirm the security ties with the country. According to Mainichi Times, the Japanese prime minister would bring talks about stepping up its Self-Defense Forces coordination with the U.S. military during his meeting with Pence. Related Articles (SALT LAKE CITY) - Complaints keep pouring in about a Utah judge who called a convicted rapist a good man during his sentencing hearing. But the chances of the judge being punished appear slim because his remarks dont seem to fit within any of the five forms of judicial misconduct that would trigger reprimands, one expert said. At least four of these categories of misconduct dont apply to Judge Thomas Lows remarks, Paul Cassell, a professor of criminal law at the University of Utah, said Monday. The fifth category would only apply if officials determined that his comments were damaging to the administration of justice, which is difficult to prove, Cassell said. Last week, Low sentenced Keith Robert Vallejo, a former Mormon bishop, to up to life in prison after a jury found him guilty of 10 counts of forcible sexual abuse and one count of object rape. The judge is now facing a deluge of complaints after saying during the hearing, The court has no doubt that Mr. Vallejo is an extraordinarily good man .... But great men sometimes do bad things. Utahs Judicial Conduct Commission is tasked with investigating judges who receive complaints. It can then make a recommendation to the states Supreme Court about whether the judge should be reprimanded or removed. Democrat Rep. Brian King, the commissions chair, said the group looks into every complaint it receives, but such information is confidential. If the commission decides to conduct an investigation, it could take months, he said. A Utah LGBT-rights group, Restore our Humanity, plans to file a complaint with the commission against the judge later this week. Mark Lawrence said the group has identified a handful of reasons the judge should be sanctioned, including bias and a lack of independence. The judges remarks are exactly the type of things that make it difficult for victims and survivors of sexual abuse to come forward, Lawrence said. It was completely outlandish for him to say that. Story continues Jennifer Yim, a representative from another state judicial oversight commission, said the group has received in total 120 emails, phone calls and Facebook messages about Low since late March, when the judge came under scrutiny for letting Vallejo out of custody after his conviction. But the vast majority of them have come since Lows remarks at Vallejos sentencing hearing. Yim said on average her organization receives about two or three comments about judges each week, so this is an extraordinary number. She wouldnt say whether or not these were all complaints, but she said: Itd be pretty unlikely that people would write to praise him. Low declined comment through a spokesman who said judges arent supposed to comment on cases that are still pending. The sexual abuse occurred in Provo, a Mormon stronghold that is home to Brigham Young University. Low attended the school, where almost all students are Mormon, but it is not clear whether he is a member of the faith. In the faith, bishops are regular church members who lead their congregations for four to five years. The position is unpaid and part of the religions lay clergy structure that makes it different from many other religions. This article was originally published on TIME.com The number of babies born in Puerto Rico with microcephaly and other birth defects caused by the Zika virus appears to be unexpectedly low so low that experts are beginning to question whether the actual count is being significantly underreported by authorities on the island. As Zika surged across the Americas last year, US health authorities warned that Puerto Rico was facing a perfect storm and braced for a large number of pregnancies affected by the virus. But, to date, Puerto Rico has reported only 16 cases of congenital defects associated with Zika, even though more than 3,300 pregnant women are known to have contracted the virus and several times that number are believed to have been infected. By contrast, US states and the District of Columbia, where the threat posed by Zika was thought to be much lower overall, have registered congenital defects in 63 fetuses or newborns among 1,300 pregnant women who have contracted the Zika virus. Read more: Scientists begin mid-stage trial of Zika vaccine for first time Some observers believe Puerto Rico, which is heavily dependent on tourism, is downplaying the scale of its Zika problem. Puerto Ricos not escaping this. Theyre just hiding, one former US official said of the situation. The individual, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said months ago it was clear dozens and dozens of babies in Puerto Rico bore the hallmarks of Zika damage. But territorial health officials declined to label most of them cases of Zika congenital syndrome. Theyre kind of in denial about what the problem is, the former official said. And six months, a year, two years from now there will be all these babies who arent learning and all these problems that will come to light. Puerto Ricos health department did not respond to a request for comment, nor did its top epidemiologist. Last October, without fanfare, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stopped reporting the outcomes of pregnancies in US territories in which women had been infected with Zika. Without providing details, the agency simply said that Puerto Rico wasnt counting cases the same way. Story continues CDC is using a consistent case inclusion criteria to monitor brain abnormalities and other adverse pregnancy outcomes potentially related to Zika virus infection during pregnancy in the US states and territories. Puerto Rico is not using the same inclusion criteria, the CDC website states. Dr. Margaret Honein, chief of the CDCs birth defect branch and a senior member of the agencys Zika response team, said an agreement between the agency and other jurisdictions that contribute to its Zika pregnancy registries prevented her from providing specific details about how Puerto Ricos case definition varies from the CDCs without the explicit permission of authorities there. We have an ongoing collaboration with Puerto Rico department of health, she said. And we have ongoing discussions about working to align our case definitions. But at this time were not fully aligned. Last August researchers from the Puerto Rico health department and the CDC published a study predicting that Zikas first wave of activity would strike a large number of pregnancies there, based on analyses factoring in the percentage of the population thought to be infected and the number of pregnant women on the island. The study, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, projected that between 100 and 270 babies with Zika-induced microcephaly would be born between mid-2016 and the same time in 2017. That study didnt forecast figures for a host of other birth defects that Zika is known to cause but that are not always readily apparent shortly after birth, including destruction of brain tissue, damage to newborns optical nerves, and partial or total hearing loss. A more recent study from the CDC mined the US Zika pregnancy registry to try to get a clearer picture of how often infections in pregnancy lead to birth defects in infants. According to that study, 5 percent of babies born to women with confirmed or suspected Zika infection during pregnancy had Zika-related birth defects; when the researchers only included women with confirmed Zika infection, the rate was 10 percent. And when confirmed infection occurred in the first trimester of pregnancy when the risk Zika poses to a developing fetal brain is highest 15 percent babies born or fetuses lost had Zika-related defects. Read more: Obama administration declares Zika public health emergency in Puerto Rico Its not possible to perform the same calculations for Puerto Rico. The health departments weekly report does not indicate how many of the 3,356 pregnancies with confirmed Zika infections have been completed. Questions about Puerto Ricos Zika birth defects count have started to appear in local newspapers. A former health secretary, Dr. Johnny Rullan, described the situation as Puerto Ricos Zika baby puzzle in a recent column in the San Juan newspaper, Nuevo Dia. When Zika first hit Puerto Rico, Rullan was brought in to advise the government on how to handle the new threat. He quit after the territorial government, under pressure from residents, rejected a plan to conduct aerial spraying to tamp down populations of the mosquitos that transmit Zika. In the column, Rullan suggested there was evidence pointing toward substantially more births affected by Zika than have been reported. He urged the health department to follow up on babies born to women who may have been infected with Zika, because it needs to plan to deliver services to the affected children. If we do not identify them early, we can not give them the benefit of early interventions to avoid the ton of rehabilitation, he wrote. When contacted by STAT, Rullan declined to comment further, saying it was up to the Puerto Rican health department to respond to the questions he raised. I recommend you get the PR health officials to react to it! Rullan said. You have to ask them! Dr. Jose Cordero, a professor of public health at the University of Georgia who has been tracking Zika-related birth defects as part of an international study, offered a possible explanation for why Puerto Rico is reporting such a low number of affected pregnancies. Cordero said the CDC has been casting a broad net for possible signs of damage by the virus, including in the offspring of all women infected during pregnancy if theres any sign of the types of birth defects associated with Zika. That doesnt appear to be the way health authorities in Puerto Rico are counting cases, he said. Cordero said he was recently invited to a Zika issues planning meeting on the island. There he heard Dr. Miguel Valencia, director of the health departments division for infants with special medical needs, describe the case definition Puerto Rico is using to identify Zika birth defect cases. As I understand the conversations that I had with Dr. Valencia he was going in the opposite direction [of the CDC] that the child must have microcephaly before hes considered to be affected, Cordero said. Cordero called Valencia the keeper of all those numbers. And hes certainly keeping them very close to his vest. Valencia did not respond to a request for comment. Does Cordero believe Puerto Ricos official report on Zika-affected infants represents the true number in Puerto Rico? I dont know. I dont know the answer to that, he said. I think that one has to be intrigued in terms of the differences. Cordero said part of the problem may relate to the number of challenges Puerto Rico is facing. The islands finances are in dire straits, making Zika only one of several major issues the territorial government must address. The economic situation has also led to the migration of Puerto Ricans elsewhere. Some women who know theyre going to give birth to a baby with Zika birth defects or who have done so in Puerto Rico may move to the US mainland in the hope of accessing better services for the child, Cordero said. That could also contribute to a lower-the-expected count of affected pregnancies on the island. There are many variables here, Cordero said. US actor Kevin Spacey has signed on host the 71st Tony Awards, to be held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City in June. The star, famous for his quirky characters in films such as "The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty", as well as his turn as politician-turned-US-president Francis Underwood in the popular TV series "House of Cards", will take over from James Corden, who hosted the ceremony last year. Despite being best known for his film and TV work, Spacey a Tony winner himself has a long history in theatre, having won the Tony award in 1991 for his performance in "Lost in Yonkers" and, most recently, wrapped up an 11-year tenure as the artistic director of the Old Vic in London (via Variety). This latest real-life role will see the actor also a double Oscar winner emcee the Tony ceremony, which celebrates the best shows on Broadway, when the prizes are handed out on June 11. Steve Stephens, the man who allegedly killed a grandfather of 14 and posted a video of the murder to Facebook, committed suicide in Pennsylvania Tuesday, police have confirmed. Pennsylvania State Police confirmed his death in a Twitter post Tuesday that read: "Steve Stephens was spotted this morning by PSP members in Erie County. After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself." Police also reported his suicide, saying he was driving a white Ford Fusion that was being following by officers. Read: Hear the Chilling 911 Calls After Shooting of Beloved Grandfather on Facebook Video As news of his suicide spread, new details of Stephens' life are being revealed. He was a social worker at a children's facility in Cleveland, Ohio, and was wearing his ID when he committed the murder. In another chilling video posted online, he said, I got a lot of built-in anger and frustration, man." In the video, Stephens can be seen at a firing range, practicing his aim. We getting ready! he exclaims. Stephens mentioned his college fraternity Omega Psi Phi in the Facebook videos. His former fraternity brothers are speaking out. "We lift our sincere and heartfelt prayers and condolences of comfort to the families impacted by the recent shooting in Cleveland," fraternity member Antonio F. Knox Sr. told Cleveland.com. Stephens' ex-girlfriend, Joy Lane, is also speaking out. She was named by the killer in those chilling videos, and Stephens commanded 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. to say her name before fatally shooting him Sunday. Today is the Easter Sunday Joy Lane massacre! Stephens said in the video. She is now in hiding for her own safety. In a statement, she said: "I am sorry that all this has happened. My heart and prayers go out to the family members of the victim." She also described Stephens as "a really nice guyHe is generous with everyone he knows. He was kind and loving to me and my children." Story continues Read: $50G Reward Offered for Alleged Killer in Facebook Murder as Cops Extend Manhunt She said she dated 37-year-old Stephens for several years and they were living together until last Friday. The break-up apparently triggered the slaying. Stephens said in a video, I was living over there with her. Just woke up Friday. I couldn't take it no more. I just left." "She's the reason that this is about to happen to you," the shooter tells Godwin in the video, according to multiple reports. Godwin was picked at random, shot to death for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Stephens also claims to have killed 13 others, but police say they have no evidence that he is a serial killer. I killed 13 so I am working on 14 as we speak, he said. Before he was found dead, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams had said a detective actually spoke with Stephens, asking him to surrender. We did have contact with him, direct contact with our detectives. They tried to of course [to] convince him to turn himself in." Watch: Author of President Trump Manifesto Arrested After Manhunt Related Articles: A suspected killer who police say fatally shot an elderly man in Cleveland and published the gruesome video of the murder on Facebook is still on the lam as authorities on Monday widened a search for him to include the entire country. The crime, which authorities have condemned as heinous and senseless, has left at least one family grieving and has put local communities on edge. Police pledged to hunt nonstop for suspect Steve Stephens. Were not going to stop until hes in custody, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said at a news conference Monday. Heres what to know about the suspect and the incident: Steve Stephens / Photo courtesy Cleveland Police What happened? Cleveland police and the FBI are on the hunt for Stephens, 37, who allegedly shot and killed a 74-year-old man at random Sunday, recorded the murder and then published the video on his Facebook page. The footage, which Facebook has since removed, shows Stephens approaching Robert Godwin Sr. and asking his victim to say a womans name. Shes the reason that this is about to happen to you, Stephens tells Godwin before gunning him down. In another video, Stephens can be seen calmly telling somebody over the phone that he killed more than a dozen others. However, only one victim has been confirmed as of Monday morning, Williams said. Joy Lane, the woman who Stephens mentioned in the video, told TIME that shes overwhelmed by the violence. I feel bad for all the families affected. He was a really good guy. Hes been fabulous to me, she said, declining to comment further. Where is the suspect? Authorities do not know where Stephens may be hiding but have expanded their search nationwide and have offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. This is what we consider a national search, Williams said. We are not going to leave any stone unturned. We definitely want to get it resolved as fast as possible, Williams added. The victims family, they deserve that. The FBI is assisting in the investigation. Peter Elliott, the U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio, said he was very optimistic that Stephens would be captured pretty quickly. Were going to make this individuals world very, very, very small, Elliott said. Story continues Who is the suspect? Stephens works as a case manager at Beech Brook, which is an Ohio-based behavioral health agency that serves children and families, according to the Associated Press. Williams said Stephens has a lot of traffic violations but no criminal record. Stephens is also affiliated with the Omega Psi Phi fraternity, the AP reports. Beech Brook spokeswoman Nancy Kortemeyer said in a statement to the AP that the agency was shocked and horrified by the killing. Stephens is considered armed and dangerous and appears to have deep, deep issues, Williams said. The woman who is mentioned in the video is safe in an undisclosed location, according to police. She is among several people who have cooperated with authorities in the investigation. Investigators were able to have a brief phone conversation with Stephens early in the investigation, Williams said. Authorities urged the suspect to turn himself in for the heinous crime. Stephens is wanted on an aggravated murder charge. The 6-foot-1 man was last seen wearing a dark blue and grey or black striped polo shirt and driving a white Ford Fusion. Who is the victim? Godwin was a retired foundry worker who is survived by nine children, 14 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren, one of his sons told Cleveland.com. Godwin often collected cans on the street, Robert Godwin Jr. said. Godwin Jr. said he saw his father Sunday morning, hours before the fatal shooting. He hugged my wife and me and said Ill see you guys next time, the son recalled. Godwin Jr. said he hasnt been able to summon the strength to watch the video of his fathers shooting death. I dont really want to see it, he said. This article was originally published on TIME.com A federal judge has ruled that Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach must reveal the document he brought into a meeting with then-President-elect Donald Trump on November 20th during the presidential transition. Kobach must turn over the document by Wednesday, the order states. Kobach had initially objected to producing the documents. During the presidential transition, Kobach, who was under consideration to serve in Trumps cabinet and was advising him on immigration policy, was seen heading into a meeting with the then-President elect November 20th at one of the Trump properties with a partially obscured document. An Associated Press photographer captured part of the document. A reporter from the Topeka Capital-Journal examined the photo and determined the document proposed questioning what Kobach viewed as high risk immigrants on their support for sharia law. The first point in the document, according to the Capital-Journal, is to Bar the Entry of Potential Terrorists. This article was originally published on TIME.com Kuwait was set to begin questioning on Tuesday of a suspected Islamic State group jihadist deported from the Philippines as it remanded four relatives in custody, the emirate's media reported. Hussein al-Dhafiri was arrested in an upscale district of Manila late last month along with his Syrian wife Rahaf Zina on suspicion of being members of IS and of planning attacks in both countries. He was deported to Kuwait on Friday to stand trial in his home country on charges of membership of a banned organisation and of plotting attacks. His wife, whom he married after her high-ranking IS commander husband was killed in Syria, remains in custody in the Philippines pending deportation to Qatar, from where she entered the islands. Judicial authorities in Kuwait have remanded four relatives of Dhafiri in custody for 21 days pending further inquiries, Al-Qabas newspaper reported. They face similar charges to Dhafiri, the paper added. Philippine Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre said on Thursday that Dhafiri was suspected of manufacturing explosives and of possible operational planning against Kuwait. Washington believed he could "pose a threat to the national security of the Philippines," Aguirre added. A statement issued by the Kuwaiti embassy in Manila on Friday said evidence was obtained by the emirate's security services that Dhafiri was "planning to carry out terroristic attacks in the State of Kuwait." Kuwaiti courts have handed down multiple convictions on charges of IS membership or financing. Some of the defendants have been found guilty of fighting with the jihadists in Iraq or Syria. All have received lengthy jail sentences. In June 2015, a Saudi blew himself up in a Shiite mosque in Kuwait City, killing 26 worshippers in an attack claimed by the Sunni extremists that was the deadliest in the emirate's history. By Tom James (Reuters) - An asteroid more than a quarter mile (400 meters) wide will pass close to Earth on Wednesday, zooming by at a distance of just over a million miles (1.8 million km), but with no chance of impact, according to NASA scientists. Smaller asteroids routinely make closer passes to Earth, but 2014 J025, discovered in May 2014, will be the largest asteroid to come this near to the planet since 2004, flying by at only about 4.6 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon, 1.1 million miles (1.8 million km). "We know the time that the object is going to be closest within seconds, and the distance is known within hundreds of kilometers (miles)," Davide Farnocchia, a mathematician at NASA's Near-Earth Object program, said by telephone on Tuesday. Having several years of data on the asteroid's trajectory gives scientists the ability to predict its path very confidently, he added. The asteroid, estimated to be between one-quarter and three-quarters of a mile (600-1,400 meters) wide and twice as reflective as the Moon, won't be visible to the naked eye, but sky watchers should be able to view it with home telescopes for one or two nights starting on Wednesday. The approach of J025 will be the asteroid's closest for at least the next 500 years. In 2004, the 3.1-mile (5-km) wide asteroid Toutatis passed about four lunar distances, or just under a million miles (1.6 million km) from Earth. Amateur astronomers may be watching J025's journey, but Farnocchia said he and his colleagues have moved on to tracking even closer encounters, such as asteroid 1999 AN10, a half-mile (800-meter) wide rock predicted to pass only 236,000 miles (380,000 km) from Earth, or slightly less than the distance to the Moon, in 2027. (Reporting by Tom James in Seattle; Editing by Patrick Enright and Sandra Maler) TOKYO (AP) The Latest on U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Asia (all times local): ___ 3:40 p.m. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso are kicking off a new U.S.-Japan economic dialogue that was launched during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's meeting with President Donald Trump in the U.S. in February. As talks began Tuesday, Aso said the U.S.-Japan alliance has underpinned peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and that trade friction with the U.S. has given way to an "age of cooperation." Pence said Trump sees the talks as a way to improve business ties with Japan and is hoping for quick results. The discussions are to focus on economic and structural policy and trade and investment strategies aimed at strengthening both countries' economies. ___ 2:15 p.m. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese leaders have begun talks expected to focus largely on trade with America's anchor ally in the region, though tensions with North Korea loomed large. Pence reassured Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday that the U.S. considers its alliance with Japan to be a cornerstone of security in the region. Pence said, "We appreciate the challenging times in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocations from across the Sea of Japan." He also said, "We are with you 100 percent," adding that the U.S. always seeks peace. Abe said Japan hoped for peaceful dialogue with Pyongyang, "but at the same time, dialogue for the sake of dialogue is valueless and it is necessary for us to exercise pressure North Korea so that it comes forward and engages in this serious dialogue." Pence was having lunch with Abe at the prime minister's official residence after arriving in Japan earlier in the day for the second stop of a 10-day Asia tour. ___ 12:15 p.m. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has arrived in Japan for the second stop of a 10-day Asia tour. Story continues His plane touched down Tuesday at the U.S. military's Atsugi base outside Tokyo. The focus of his trip is expected to shift in Japan to trade. North Korea's nuclear and missile development dominated the agenda on his first stop in South Korea. Pence told business leaders before leaving Seoul that the Trump administration is reviewing all trade agreements as part of its "America First" policy. White House officials say the meetings in Tokyo are meant to forge a framework for future discussions after the U.S. withdrew from a Pacific Rim trade pact. Caracas (AFP) - Venezuela braced for rival demonstrations Wednesday for and against President Nicolas Maduro, whose push to tighten his grip on power has triggered waves of deadly unrest that have escalated the country's political and economic crisis. Maduro's opponents are vowing to stage the "mother of all protests" calling for his ouster, after two weeks of violent demonstrations that have left five people dead and dozens wounded. Sowing fears of more violence, Maduro has in turn urged his supporters, along with the military and civilian militias, to defend the leftist "revolution" launched by his predecessor Hugo Chavez in 1999. It is set to be the biggest day of protests since Maduro's allies tried to strip the power of the opposition-controlled legislature -- the only lever of government Maduro's camp does not hold -- and banned opposition leader Henrique Capriles from politics. The streets of Caracas have seen running battles pitting masked protesters hurling stones and Molotov cocktails against riot police firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons. The protests have been relatively small so far, with turnout in the thousands. But the opposition is now hoping to flood the streets with protesters, whom they are urging to remain peaceful. They plan to march from 26 rally points toward central Caracas, a pro-Maduro bastion and the seat of government. The authorities say they will not allow the protesters into the area, where the rival rally will be held. Maduro's camp has vowed not to be outdone by the opposition. "The whole of Caracas will be held by the revolutionary forces," said lawmaker Diosdado Cabello, one of the president's most powerful allies. - 'Hour of combat has arrived' - Pressure on Maduro has increased as falling prices for Venezuela's crucial oil exports has aggravated a financial crisis, creating severe shortages of food and medicine in the state-led economy. Story continues On Tuesday, the center-right opposition repeated its call for the military -- a pillar of Maduro's power -- to abandon him. "It is the moment for the armed forces to demonstrate that they are with the constitution and with the people," said Julio Borges, the opposition speaker in the legislature. But the defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino Lopez, pledged the army's "unconditional loyalty," while Maduro blasted Borges for urging a "coup" against him, saying he "should be put on trial." The president rallied his troops this week, vowing to send the army into the streets and ordering pro-government militias to be expanded to half a million members, "each with a rifle." "The hour of combat has arrived," Maduro said. "We are at a crucial moment in the destiny of our nation." Maduro on Tuesday activated the "Zamora Plan" -- a military, police and civilian operation aimed at combatting a supposed coup attempt -- which the president says is being orchestrated by Venezuela's opposition and the United States. "The Zamora Plan is a strategic and operational plan that activates the defense of the nation in case of threats to the internal order," Retired Major General Cliver Alcala told AFP. "But its application seems to me intimidating, they want to dissuade the protests," he said. International campaign group Human Rights Watch also said strengthening the militia was an attempt at frightening the opposition. "We know of no other similar case in Latin America of a government arming urban militias," the group's Americas director Jose Miguel Vivanco said at a news conference in Washington. "By that I mean delinquents, gangs that act with total impunity and intimidate citizens, with power to shoot and make arrests." - Region on edge - In Latin America, where other governments are increasingly alarmed by Venezuela's instability, 11 countries including Brazil, Mexico and Chile issued a statement Monday condemning the deaths of protesters and urging the security forces to show restraint. Mark Toner, the US State Department spokesman, echoed that call in a statement Tuesday, pressing for calm and accountability during the protests. "We again urge demonstrators to express themselves non-violently," Toner said. "We also again remind the public forces - members of the police, the army and the national guard - as well as members of the judiciary, of their legal and constitutional responsibilities to protect, not prevent, peaceful demonstrations." Maduro, speaking at a meeting with high-ranking political and military officials, denounced the US statement as a "green light and approval of a coup process." The fragmented opposition has been galvanized since the Supreme Court issued a ruling on March 30 seizing the legislature's power. The court partly backtracked after an international outcry, but tension only increased when authorities slapped a political ban on Capriles on April 7. Venezuela suffered its last major wave of unrest in 2014, when 43 people were killed in anti-government riots. By Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) - A nonprofit watchdog expanded a lawsuit accusing U.S. President Donald Trump of violating the Constitution by letting his hotels and restaurants accept payments from foreign governments. The amended complaint filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan adds a restaurant trade group, whose members include nationally known chefs Tom Colicchio and Alice Waters, and a hotel events booker in Washington, D.C. as plaintiffs. It is intended to address concern over whether the watchdog, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, was itself harmed by Trump and had standing to sue at all. Trump is expected to respond by April 21, and had said the original lawsuit filed on Jan. 23 had no merit. Spokesmen for the U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday. The amended complaint said Trump violates the Constitution's "emoluments" clause, which bars him from accepting various gifts from foreign governments without congressional approval, by maintaining ownership over his business empire despite ceding day-to-day control to his sons, Eric and Donald Jr. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. It said members of Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United Inc, which represents more than 200 restaurants and nearly 25,000 workers, have improperly lost business, wages and tips to Trump's competing businesses. Jill Phaneuf, the other new plaintiff, works for a hospitality company that books events in hotels near Washington's "Embassy Row," which house foreign diplomats, and claimed that Trump is costing her commissions. The complaint said such plaintiffs are injured when foreign governments try to "curry favor" with Trump by favoring his businesses. It said this has even occurred since Trump took office, when China granted him trademark rights after he pledged to honor the "One China" policy of his White House predecessors. Story continues "When asked why defendant changed his position on the One China policy, and whether he had gotten something in exchange from China, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer answered: 'The President always gets something,'" the complaint said. (https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/27/press-briefing-press-secretary-sean-spicer-2272017-17) U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams, an appointee of former Democratic President Barack Obama, oversees the litigation. The lawsuit seeks to "uphold one of the most basic aspects of the rule of law: no one, including the president, is above the law," Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the University of California at Irvine's law school and one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, said in a statement. The case is Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington et al v. Trump, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 17-00458. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci) Corporate lobbyists are taking on a larger role in the Democratic Partys fundraising efforts as it seeks to regain control of Congress, according to documents reviewed by MapLight and International Business Times. The cash infusion comes as House Democrats face pressure to break from their party and support Trump administration initiatives that could benefit the lobbyists clients. A filing last week by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) shows four corporate lobbyists raised more than $380,000 for the organization -- the primary campaign arm for Democratic House candidates -- between January and March. The three-month figure is nearly four times as much as the amount lobbyists raised for the DCCC during the entire 2016 election cycle. In all, the DCCC reported raising $31 million in the first quarter of 2017. Since the election, the question of whether Democrats should embrace or spurn business interests has been a point of contention in the lingering feud between the partys centrist officials, most of whom backed Hillary Clintons 2016 presidential campaign, and supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent who challenged the former secretary of state for the Democratic nomination. Last year, the Democratic National Committee ended its ban on lobbyist donations, which was put in place by former President Barack Obama. The decision angered many Sanders voters, who saw it as a move to boost Clintons fundraising in the primary race. In the wake of Clintons loss to Trump, progressives have pushed the party once again to reject lobbyist cash. Although the DCCC never prohibited lobbyist donations, the committee reported only about $100,000 in funds bundled by lobbyists in all of 2015 and 2016, according to a MapLight review of campaign finance records. Three of the lobbyists who have been collecting checks for the DCCC were major Clinton donors and fundraisers -- accounting for about $1.7 million in donations to the Clinton campaign and its joint fundraising account with the DNC and state parties. Some of their clients could have interests in legislative measures before the House of Representatives. Story continues Tony Podesta, who founded the Podesta Group lobbying firm, has raised $131,000 for the DCCC and donated $5,000 to the committee so far this year. His client list includes Walmart, Wells Fargo, as well as defense contractors Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems. Trump and House Republicans have promised to repeal the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation passed after the 2008 financial crisis -- and House Democratic votes could be crucial to any repeal effort. Lobbying disclosures show Podestas firm has lobbied for Wells Fargo on financial services regulation. The Podesta Group also lobbied on Dodd-Frank for the BMO Financial Corporation and the Investment Company Institute, a trade association representing the mutual fund industry. Trump is expected to seek Democratic House votes for measures to lower the corporate tax rate. Federal records show that in 2016, Podesta lobbied for Credit Suisse Securities, Oracle and Wal-Mart on the issue of corporate tax reform. Democrats have called for an investigation into the Trump administrations links to Russias government. Podesta was hired to lobby for Sberbank, a Russian state-owned bank, during the 2016 election. He has also registered to lobby for at least six foreign governments, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Podesta bundled $450,000 for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in 2016. His brother, John, was a former White House chief of staff for President Bill Clinton and chairman of Hillary Clintons presidential campaign. Steve Elmendorf, who has raised $55,000 for the DCCC, leads the lobbying and public relations firm Subject Matter. His firm has lobbied on Dodd-Frank implementation for clients that include Goldman Sachs, MetLife and at least three financial industry trade associations. One of Elmendorfs clients, CIT Group, recently gave Steven Mnuchin an $11 million payout upon his being appointed Treasury Secretary by Trump. Elmendorf also recently lobbied for General Electric and News Corporation on the issue of corporate tax policy. Congress is now considering legislation to strengthen airline passenger rights, after a senior citizen was bloodied, knocked semi-conscious and forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight to make room for a company employee. The efforts could face opposition from the industry trade group Airlines for America, another Elmendorf client. "We helped America's airline industry connect with policymakers," his firms website boasts. Another lobbyist, Vincent Roberti, Sr., has raised more than $88,000 for the DCCC year. He, too, has lobbied for Airlines for America. In recent months, Roberti has also lobbied on behalf of Citigroup, Pfizer, Boeing and AT&T. Unlike his colleagues, David Thomas, a partner at Mehlman Castagnetti Rosen & Thomas, didnt collect money for Clintons 2016 committees. Hes been an active fundraiser for the DCCC this year, though, raising almost $106,000. Thomas has lobbied for Chevron, Humana, and United Technologies Corporation. In 2011, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that New Mexico Rep. Ben Ray Lujan planned to decline donations from lobbyists. Lujan, who currently chairs the DCCC, quickly reversed course. The DCCC and the lobbyists raising money for the committee did not respond to requests for comment. This story is a collaboration between International Business Times' David Sirota and MapLight's Andrew Perez. Photo credit: Getty From Delish A trip to IKEA just isn't complete without a stop at the store's cafeteria, where you can chow down on the store's Swedish meatballs before venturing back into the maze of furniture shopping. And it turns out IKEA's food is so popular, the company might create its own chain of restaurants so you can dine out without getting lost in the living-room section. Fast Company reports that food is one of the fastest-growing parts of the company these days; in 2016, the company served 650 million people and sold $1.8 billion in food alone. And the food was originally just a way to keep customers in the stores longer, and keep them there while they ponder what desk to buy. "We've always called the meatballs 'the best sofa-seller,'" Gerd Diewald, the head of IKEA's food operations in the U.S, told the magazine. "Because it's hard to do business with hungry customers." But now, IKEA is investing in its restaurants, adding some healthier options like chicken and vegan meatballs, and dividing each food court area for different types of customers, with a play section for kids and a quieter section for people who want to have coffee in peace. Business Insider notes they offer way more than just meatballs, including a solid stuffed chicken and a $2 Swedish breakfast plate. And lots of people noticed, because IKEA found out that nearly a third of customers are just going there to eat. Because the food is so popular, IKEA is thinking of how to make it even bigger. They have already tested pop-up restaurants in London, Paris, and Oslo, and they're now thinking of starting their own line of restaurants that are separate from the stores. "The mere fact that we don't need so many square feet to do a cafe or a restaurant makes it interesting by itself," Michael La Cour, IKEA Food's managing director, told the magazine. "I hope in a few years our customers will be saying, 'IKEA is a great place to eat - and, by the way, they also sell some furniture.'" Story continues IKEA is still in the thinking-about-it phase, so there's no timeline for when a restaurant will pop up in your town. But here's hoping it's as cheap and tasty as the real thing. Follow Delish on Instagram. You Might Also Like By Andrew M. Seaman (Reuters Health) - More than nine million people may miss out on cholesterol-lowering drugs that prevent heart attacks and strokes if doctors choose one set of medical guidelines over another, according to a new study. That's because the government-backed U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) set a higher threshold for use of the drugs, known as statins, than the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association (ACC/AHA). "I would say were still searching for the perfect guidelines," said lead author Michael Pencina, of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The 2013 ACC/AHA guidelines recommend statins for people ages 40 to 75 with at least a 7.5 percent risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years. (The ACC/AHA cardiovascular risk estimator tool is available online here: http://bit.ly/2pPwoXh.) The ACC/AHA also recommends statins for people with cardiovascular disease, for diabetics between ages 40 and 75 and for adults with high levels of bad low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The 2016 USPSTF recommendation endorses statins for people ages 40 to 75 with at least a 10 percent or greater risk of a heart attack or stroke over the next decade and at least one cardiovascular risk factor like diabetes or high blood pressure. Pencina told Reuters Health fewer people would be using statins under the more conservative USPSTF guidelines. "What we wanted to do is quantify the impact and look at what it means in terms of numbers." The researchers applied the recommendations to nationally representative data collected from 3,416 people without a history of cardiovascular disease between 2009 and 2014. Overall, 21.5 percent were already on statins to prevent heart attacks and strokes. An additional 24.3 percent would be on statins if all doctors followed the ACC/AHA guidelines, compared to an additional 15.8 percent if all doctors followed the USPSTF recommendation. The difference between the two guidelines represents about 9.3 million people in the United States, the researchers write in JAMA. Under the USPSTF guidelines, some diabetics would be excluded from statin use. More than half of those excluded would be middle-aged adults with a more than 30 percent average risk of a cardiovascular event over the next 30 years. "About one in three people are going to experience a cardiovascular event over the next 30 years," said Pencina. In a statement to Reuters Health, the USPSTF said its recommendations are based on the best available evidence about a preventive service's benefits and harms. "Because the USPSTF makes recommendations that are closely tied to the available evidence, we focused on recommending statins for the people who the evidence showed were most likely to benefit, though ultimately this decision should be made through a conversation between each patient and their doctor," the statement continued. In its review of evidence, the USPSTF focused on 19 trials involving a total of 71,344 people who had no history of cardiovascular disease. Overall, people were 14 percent less likely to die during the study period if they were taking statins than if they were taking a dummy pill or nothing at all. The risk of serious side effects from statins was also low. The USPSTF is always more conservative in its recommendations than professional organizations - not just for cholesterol, said Dr. Steve Nissen, chairman of the Robert and Suzanne Tomsich Department of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. "Whether you treat or not treat is frankly something that should be a discussion between patient and physician," he told Reuters Health. "Thats how I do it." Nissen, who was not involved in the new study, said some entity should step in to clear up the confusion between the USPSTF, ACC/AHA and several other statin guidelines. "Im not terribly happy to have multiple guidelines floating around out there," he said. Pencina said it's important for patients to be informed about their risk of cardiovascular disease and understand the risks and benefits of statins. "Both sets of guidelines - to their credit - recommend an informed decision between the patient and the clinician," he said. "Those are crucial." SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2oJ4EpN JAMA, online April 18, 2017. Thailand's junta on Tuesday warned democracy activists against protesting over the removal of a plaque marking the abolition of the country's absolute monarchy, fuelling fears of official whitewashing of history. Authorities say they have no idea what happened to the memorial in the capital Bangkok which marked the spot in 1932 where a group of revolutionaries declared an end to absolute powers of the then monarch Rama VII. The date was pivotal in Thai history, leading to the country's first constitution among other political reforms. The plaque was reported missing last Friday. In more recent times the memorial has become a touchpaper for Thailand's current political divide between democrats and monarchial conservatives -- some of whom had called for the plaque to be ripped up. Now the disappearance of the small but symbolic memorial has rekindled fears among democracy campaigners that ascendant arch-royalists are trying to rewrite Thai history. Official denials over the plaque's whereabouts have stretched credulity given the circular bronze memorial was embedded in the road of the well-policed Royal Plaza. It was also replaced by a new plaque calling on Thais to be loyal to Buddhism, the state, family and the monarchy -- core values of conservatives. "I don't want this to become an issue," Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha, an ultra-monarchist who seized power three years ago, told reporters. Warning democracy activists from ramping up the issue he said it was "useless to ask for its return". His comments came as soldiers detained a prominent activist as he tried to file a complaint with the government over the missing plaque. There was a heavy police presence around the replacement memorial and officers refused to let an AFP journalist photograph it. After days of obfuscation by police, Prayut on Tuesday said he had ordered an investigation into the issue. Small groups of protesters have staged demonstrations or taken to social media in recent days to voice outrage over the plaque's removal. Earlier this month Thailand's new monarch King Maha Vajiralongkorn, or Rama X, requested a series of amendments to the kingdom's charter that analysts said would boost his constitutional powers. The New Democracy Movement, an anti-junta student group, said the disappearance of the plaque "showed a lack of respect for the past" and to those who brought democracy to Thailand. BEIRUT (Reuters) - Air strikes, thought to be by planes from a U.S.-led military coalition, killed at least 30 people in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zor on Monday, including women and children, residents and activists said. Coalition spokesman U.S. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian confirmed that the U.S.-led coalition had conducted strikes in the vicinity of the town of al-Bukamal, but said he could not "confirm the veracity of allegations of civilian casualties". He told Reuters the coalition tried to avoid civilian deaths in its bombing campaign against Islamic State militants in Syria and neighboring Iraq. The border town has been a haven in recent years for thousands of displaced Syrians from Aleppo and from other areas, including Iraq, where its residents have strong tribal ties across the border. An activist in touch with relatives in al-Bukamal said at least three homes had been flattened in the residential Hay al Masriya district of the town and at least 30 people, mostly women and children from six families, had been killed. A second former resident of the town gave a similar figure and said it was likely to rise, with several critical cases among the scores of people injured. Amaq news agency, which is affiliated to the militants, released a video that it said showed extensive damage to a whole string of houses inside the city with rescuers treating children. There were other casualties in raids on several villages near al-Bukamal. Earlier the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that jets "believed to belong to the international coalition" had struck al-Bukamal on Monday, killing three militants and 13 civilians including children. The monitor said strikes also killed seven civilians in the town of al-Husainiyah further north along the Euphrates river. Islamic State militants control most of Deir al-Zor province, which links territory they hold in Syria and Iraq, and parts of the provincial capital, which has the same name. The Syrian government still controls some parts of Deir al-Zor city, including a nearby military air base, where Islamic State has besieged about 200,000 people lacking food and medicine for around two years. Syrian government forces and their allies, backed by Russian air power, have been fighting back against Islamic State assaults in the area. The U.S.-led coalition has in recent months stepped up targeted raids on the province to rupture the militants' supply lines across Iraq and Syria. (Reporting by Ellen Francis and Suleiman al-Khalidi; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Gareth Jones) Luxor (Egypt) (AFP) - Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed several mummies, colourful wooden sarcophagi and more than 1,000 funerary statues in a 3,500-year-old tomb near the city of Luxor hailed as an "important discovery". Antiquities officials had initially said six mummies along with partial remains were discovered near the southern city, but said they had later identified two more mummies. "There are 10 coffins and eight mummies. The excavation is ongoing," Mostafa Waziri, the head of the archeological mission, told AFP. The 18th Dynasty tomb, discovered in the Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis near the famed Valley of the Kings, belonged to a nobleman named Userhat who worked as the city judge, the ministry said in a Tuesday statement. It was opened to add more mummies during the 21st Dynasty, about 3,000 years ago, to protect them during a period when tomb-robbing was common, said Waziri, the head of the archaeological mission, at the site. "It was a surprise how much was being displayed inside" the tomb, Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany told reporters outside the tomb. "We found a large number of Ushabti (small carved figurines), more than 1,000 of them," Enany said. "This is an important discovery," he said. Ushabti figurines were often placed with the deceased in ancient Egyptian tombs to help with responsibilities in the afterlife. Inside the tomb, archaeologists wearing white masks and latex gloves inspected the sarcophagi, which were covered with intricate drawings in red, blue, black, green, and yellow, and featured the carved faces of the dead. The coffins were mainly well-preserved, though some had deteriorated and broken over the years. Archeologists were also examining a mummy wrapped in linen which was inside one of the coffins. White, orange, green, and patterned pots were also found in the tombs. "It is a T-shaped tomb (which) consists of an open court leading into a rectangular hall, a corridor and an inner chamber," the ministry said in a statement. Story continues A nine-metre shaft inside the tomb held the Ushabti figurines, as well as "wooden masks and a handle of a sarcophagus lid," the ministry said. Another room in the tomb was also discovered, though it has not yet been completely excavated, it said. Nevine el-Aref, the spokeswoman for the antiquities ministry, said "there is evidence and traces that new mummies could be discovered in the future." Related Video: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. By Wa Lone YANGON (Reuters) - A Myanmar publisher whose magazine has criticized the military, political and business establishment was found stabbed to death in his office at the weekend, police said on Tuesday. Wai Yan Heinn, 27, was stabbed 15 times with a knife in his chest and abdomen, police captain Yin Htwe told Reuters. "We're now investigating his death and awaiting the results of the autopsy," Yin Htwe said. Journalists and activists are often targeted in Myanmar, where freedom of speech still faces considerable obstacles, more than a year since Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi took power after a landslide election win. In the past three months, a prominent lawyer who worked to change the military-drafted constitution was assassinated, and a journalist was threatened after speaking out against nationalist Buddhists. In December, a reporter covering illegal logging and crime in the country's rugged northwest was beaten to death. Wai Yan Heinn published a weekly news magazine called Iron Rose which, according to frontpage images available online, has run stories criticizing Myanmar's former ruling generals and businessmen connected to them. One headline described Suu Kyi, who is the country's de facto leader but under the constitution is barred from the presidency because her two sons are foreigners, as a "drone president", implying she controls the government from the back seat. Police said the victim's body was discovered lying in a chair in his Yangon office on Sunday after neighbors reported a rotten odor. "We loved our son so much, I'm speechless," his mother said after the funeral on Tuesday, asking not to be named out of fear of retribution. She said the family was heartbroken because Wai Yan Heinn was their only son. She did not know why he was killed. (Editing by Antoni Slodkowski and Mark Trevelyan) By Gina Cherelus NEW YORK (Reuters) - A New York pizzeria owner was sentenced on Tuesday to 18 years in prison for trafficking more than 50 kg (110 lb) of cocaine into the United States from Costa Rica, in a case born out of a probe into an Italian organized crime group. Gregorio Gigliotti, 61, and his son Angelo were convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn in July of crimes including conspiracy to import cocaine. The elder Gigliotti was also found guilty of two firearms offenses. The pair were arrested in March 2015, two months before U.S. and Italian authorities said they arrested 13 people on related charges for taking part in a drug trafficking ring in Italy's southern Calabria region. Calabria is home to 'Ndrangheta, Italy's richest and most powerful criminal organization, which U.S. authorities say has conducted drug smuggling and trafficking in New York with members in Calabria and Toronto, Canada. Federal prosecutors said Gigliotti and his son used their family-run Italian restaurant Cucino Amodo Mio in Corona, Queens, as well as a produce importation company, Fresh Farm Export Corp, to provide cover for drug trafficking for 'Ndrangheta. Gigliotti's son is awaiting sentencing and faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison. Gigliotti's wife Eleonora, who has admitted conspiring to import cocaine, faces a minimum of five years behind bars, prosecutors said. A lawyer for the elder Gigliotti did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Joe McMahon, an attorney for Gigliotti's son, said he was working with U.S. authorities to try to reduce his client's mandatory minimum sentence. Between October and December of 2014, police seized approximately 55 kg (121 lbs) of cocaine that had been hidden in cardboard boxes containing cassava and sent to the family by co-conspirators in Costa Rica. Some of the drugs imported to the United States were destined to be exported for distribution in Italy, according to prosecutors. When Gigliotti and his son were arrested, police who searched their restaurant seized items including seven firearms, ammunition, brass knuckles, and a handwritten ledger listing transactions of hundreds of thousands of dollars. (Reporting by Gina Cherelus; editing by Daniel Wallis and Cynthia Osterman) KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia said on Tuesday 296 North Koreans had surrendered to authorities over the last week, as it enforces new visa requirements following a dispute over the murder of the half-brother of North Korea's leader. Malaysia revoked visa-free entry for North Koreans after the murder of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Feb. 13. All of those who surrendered had over-stayed their visas, including 113 who had been on work permits and 183 on social visit passes, Malaysia's Immigration Department said in a statement. "All 296 North Koreans have or will leave Malaysia in stages," the department said. All had been in Sarawak, a Malaysian state in Borneo. The department said there were still four North Koreans who had overstayed their work permits who had not surrendered, but their employers had said they would be handed over to authorities. Income from migrant workers is an important source of revenue for North Korea, which is being squeezed by U.N. sanctions, imposed in response to its weapons development. (Reporting by Joseph Sipalan; Editing by Robert Birsel) Paris (AFP) - "We're going to win! We're going to win!" thundered thousands of supporters of French centrist Emmanuel Macron at his mega-rally in Paris six days before voting. In private, many sounded less confident. Victory for the 39-year-old looked the most likely outcome of France's presidential election a month ago, but the race has tightened as the first round of voting looms on Sunday. Polls now show a close four-way race developing between Macron, far-right candidate Marine Le Pen, scandal-hit conservative Francois Fillon and the surprise challenger, far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon. Macron's biggest rally yet at the 20,000-capacity Bercy stadium in Paris on Monday night was a powerful show of force and a reminder of how his young new movement "En Marche" ("On the Move") has captured imaginations. But research has consistently shown that support for the "neither right, nor left" candidate is among the most fragile of the major contenders, making him particularly vulnerable to late swings in sentiment. About a third of French voters are thought to be still unsure of whom they will plump for on Sunday. "We're crossing our fingers," Macron campaigner Isabelle Nkounkou told AFP at the rally after another weekend handing out leaflets in Cergy, northwest of the capital. "The last few days have been very tense." Support for Melenchon, a 65-year-old career politician, has surged after the charismatic Communist-backed leftist gave two strong performances in televised debates over the last month. His programme promising greater job protection, huge increases in public spending and a 100-percent tax on personal earnings above 400,000 euros ($430,000) a year was likened by Macron to Communist Cuba "without the sunshine". "We're a bit worried by Melenchon's breakthrough," Dominique Dusart, 57, who heads En Marche in the Yonne area south of Paris, acknowledged before the meeting. "It has been a bit of a slap in the face because we weren't expecting it." Story continues - Frontrunner under attack - As well as polls showing a slight softening in support to around 23 percent ahead of the first round, Macron has faced other political difficulties. The left-leaning Le Monde newspaper has reported uncertainty in his camp about how to approach the final straight, with some advisors pleading for more headline-grabbing announcements -- which have not materialised. Strict new rules in place since April 10 that oblige television channels to offer equal airtime to all 11 presidential candidates have also meant that his face, once ubiquitous, is far less dominant. And he has faced consistent questions about his personal wealth, which was declared as just a few hundred thousand euros despite his years spent working as an investment banker, presidential advisor and economy minister. The son of doctors from northeastern Amiens had refused to divulge further information, pointing out that he had been audited and cleared by tax authorities as well as the state transparency watchdog. But at the weekend, after attacks online accusing him of either burning through thousands of euros a day or hiding his wealth, he reversed course and gave a detailed account. "You're going to hear 'he's got a account hidden in a tax haven', 'he's got money hidden in such or such a place'. It's completely false," Macron told BFM television on Sunday. Far-right opponents and parts of the rightwing media have also focused on a senior En Marche campaigner in an area north of Paris who was accused of having Islamist sympathies. The man's participation was suspended, but not before Macron was attacked by all sides. "After the highs of a fortnight ago, you can sense Emmanuel Macron's campaign is fragile, but perhaps not at the point where it's going to shatter," said Philippe Braud, an analyst at the Cevipof institute at the Sciences Po university in Paris. Marie Imbert, a 27-year-old fan wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with "Macron President", told AFP at the Paris rally Monday that the narrowing polls were a warning against complacency after one of the most unpredictable elections in decades. "It's having a mobilising effect. It means we'll have to be on the ground working until midnight on Friday night," she said. The top two finishers in Sunday's vote will go through to a run-off vote on May 7. ISTANBUL (AP) Turkey's state-run news agency says a court has accepted an indictment against columnists and senior staff from the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper for "aiding terrorist organizations." Anadolu Agency said Tuesday the 274-page indictment accused 19 people of "sponsoring" several outlawed organizations, including Kurdish militants, a far-left group and the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who is blamed for last summer's failed coup. Twelve of the suspects, including investigative journalist Ahmet Sik, columnist Kadri Gursel and cartoonist Musa Kart, have been in pre-trial detention for months. Anadolu said two suspects are being sought. The arrests are part of a widespread crackdown in the wake of the attempted coup, which has led to the imprisonment of more than 40,000 people. The Committee to Protect Journalists says Turkey has the highest number of imprisoned journalists in the world. The first hearing is scheduled for July 24. United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley spoke out against reported abuse and murder of gay people at the hands of authorities in the Russian republic of Chechnya on Monday. Several organizations have reported that more than 100 men suspected of homosexuality have been rounded up by Chechen authorities, and that at least three have been killed. Haley released a statement from the U.S. Mission to the U.N. that said if the recent allegations of detainment and murder are true, the human rights violation cannot be ignored. We continue to be disturbed by reports of kidnapping, torture, and murder of people in Chechnya based on their sexual orientation and those persecuted by association, Haley wrote in the statement. If true, this violation of human rights cannot be ignoredChechen authorities must immediately investigate these allegations, hold anyone involved accountable, and take steps to prevent future abuses. The statement also said the U.S. delegation will lead the U.N. Security Councils first-ever meeting on human rights in international conflicts tomorrow. We are against all forms of discrimination, including against people based on sexual orientation, Haley said. When left unchecked, discrimination and human rights abuses can lead to destabilization and conflict. Last week, LGBTQ Advocacy group GLAAD had called on Haley to condemn the reported killings in Chechnya. This article was originally published on TIME.com Photo credit: Ahn Young-joon / AP From Popular Mechanics A North Korean medium-range missile exploded seconds after it was launched on Sunday, U.S. officials said, a high-profile failure that came hours before the U.S. vice president arrived in South Korea, and as an American aircraft supercarrier approaches the Korean Peninsula in a show of force. The U.S. had good intelligence both before and after the launch, said a White House foreign policy adviser traveling with Vice President Mike Pence, who arrived in Seoul in the afternoon to start a 10-day trip to Asia. No planned response is expected from the Trump administration because the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's initial understanding of the launch, said there was no need for the U.S. to reinforce the failure. The official said that had it been a nuclear test, "other actions would have been taken by the U.S." North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, including two last year. Recent satellite imagery suggests the country could conduct another underground nuclear test at any time. The White House believes that Sunday's test involved a medium-range ballistic missile that failed within 4-5 seconds after launch, and that it did not involve an intercontinental ballistic missile, the foreign policy adviser said. The North regularly launches short-range missiles, but is also developing mid-range and long-range missiles meant to target U.S. troops in Asia and, eventually, the U.S. mainland. The failed launch will sting in Pyongyang because it came a day after one of the biggest North Korean propaganda events of the year- celebrations of the 105th birthday of late North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, the current leader's grandfather. President Donald Trump was uncharacteristically quiet about the failed launch, which was attempted from the east coast city of Sinpo. In a statement, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Trump and his military team "are aware of North Korea's most recent unsuccessful missile launch. The president has no further comment." Story continues Pence said North Korea's "provocation" was another reminder of the risks that U.S. and South Korean service members face every day "in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world." The vice president said at a fellowship dinner at U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan in Seoul that the willingness of military members "to stand firm without fear inspires the nation and inspires the world." North Korea's ultimate goal is to have a full array of nuclear-tipped missiles in response to what Pyongyang says is hostility by Washington and Seoul meant to topple its government. North Korea is thought to have a small arsenal of atomic bombs and an impressive array of short- and medium-range missiles. Many outside analysts believe that North Korea has not yet mastered the technology to build warheads small enough to place on long-range missiles, though some civilian experts say it can already build nuclear-tipped shorter range missiles that have South Korea and Japan within its striking range. The U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement that Sunday's missile exploded on launch. South Korea's Defense Ministry said it was analyzing exactly how the North Korean launch failed. In Seoul, South Korea's presidential office convened a national security council meeting to examine security postures. Always high animosity has risen on the Korean Peninsula in recent months, as the United States and South Korea conduct annual war games that North Korea claims are invasion preparation and the North prepared for Saturday's anniversary celebrations. A U.S. aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, is heading to waters off Korea in a show of force. Analysts warn that even failed missile launches provide valuable knowledge to North Korea as it tries to build its weapons program. The country launched a long-range rocket and conducted the two nuclear tests last year, including its most powerful to date. Aside from improving the technology, North Korean missile and nuclear tests are seen by outside analysts partly as efforts to bolster the domestic image of leader Kim Jong Un and apply political pressure on Seoul and Washington. Kim has overseen three nuclear tests and a string of missile and rocket launches since taking over after the death of his father, dictator Kim Jong Il, in late 2011. Another missile test from Sinpo failed earlier this month, when the rocket spun out of control and plunged into the ocean. That launch came shortly before Trump's first meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. China is North Korea's only major ally. The extended-range Scud missile in that earlier launch suffered an in-flight failure and fell into the sea off North Korea's east coast, according to U.S. imagery and assessments. Despite Sunday's failure, the North's previous claim to have used "standardized" warheads has led to worries that it was making headway in its push to develop small and sophisticated warheads to be topped on long-range missiles. Washington sees North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles as a threat to world security and to its Asian allies, Japan and South Korea. The United States, South Korea and other countries have vowed to apply more pressure on the North, but so far nothing has worked to stop Pyongyang's nuclear program. Six-nation negotiations on dismantling North Korea's nuclear program in exchange for aid fell apart in early 2009. You Might Also Like North Korea isnt backing down after President Donald Trump said Kim Jung Uns country gotta behave during the White House Egg Roll Monday. Ambassador Kim In Ryong confirmed nuclear war was a real threat for the United States during a press conference, according to tweetd from CBS News reported Pamela Falk, who covered the presser. The DPRK is ready to react to any war desired by the US, In Ryong reportedly said. North Korea will hold the U.S. accountable. READ: Is War With North Korea Imminent? Pence Calls Missile Test 'Provocation' He added, according to Falks tweets, [The] U.S. is disturbing global peace, stability and insisting on Gangster-like logic and Nuclear war make break out at any moment on Korean Peninsula. #NorthKorean ambassador to the UN Kim In Ryong says The DPRK is ready to react to any war desired by the US, at live presser via @RT_com pic.twitter.com/nRwXdl3ZPp Jihye Lee (@TheJihyeLee) April 17, 2017 In Ryong echoed comments made by North Koreas vice foreign minister Friday after he said they were prepared to go to war with the U.S. We will go to war if they choose, Vice Minister Han Song Ryol told the Associated Press. If the U.S. comes with reckless military maneuvers, then we will confront it with the [North Koreas] preemptive strike. Han slammed Trump for his aggressive tweets that were making trouble, adding: Weve got a powerful nuclear deterrent already in our hands, and we certainly will not keep our arms crossed in the face of a US preemptive strike. When North Korea held a missile test from its Sinpo submarine base Sunday, Vice President Mike Pence said it was a provocation, even though the experiment failed. This mornings provocation from the North is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face each and every day in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world, Pence said. Story continues NOW: Amb Kim In Ryong: North Korea will take toughest counter actions; "We will hold the US accountable" ~ @realDonaldTrump "GottaBehave" pic.twitter.com/xuyDbUm2at Pamela Falk (@PamelaFalk) April 17, 2017 The DPRK has been conducting missile launches since 1984, though they've mostly been unsuccessful. The first was under the command of Kim Il Sungs rule. It wasnt until 2005 when they announced they had nuclear weapons. Ten years later, Kim Jong Un said in December North Korea was ready to detonate a hydrogen bomb. North Korea Kim Jong Un Photo: Getty Images Follow me on Twitter @mariamzzarella Related Articles A North Korean official said the country will continue to test missiles regularly, as both President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence warned the country against such launches. Well be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis, North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol told the BBC, warning that an all-out war will result if the United States takes military action. A North Korean test missile failed on Sunday. Last week, Trump dispatched a strike fleet toward the Korean peninsula. During a visit to the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea this weekend, Pence warned North Korea to stop its reckless development of nuclear weapons. The era of strategic patience is over, he said, according to the Associated Press. President Trump has made it clear that the patience of the United States and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change. We want to see North Korea abandon its reckless path of the development of nuclear weapons, and also its continual use and testing of ballistic missiles is unacceptable. Gotta behave, Trump said Monday at the White House when asked if he had a message for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. This article was originally published on TIME.com Donald Trump has been accused of not knowing who the the leader of North Korea actually is. In a rambling interview with Fox News on Monday, the US president continually referred to the hermit nations leader as this gentlemen. He then spoke about how this gentlemen had outmaneuvered past presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. This is despite the fact that the North Korean leader during Clintons presidency and part of Obamas rule was Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011. His son, Kim Jon-un is now in charge of the secretive country. MORE: The first living giant shipworm has been discovered by scientists in the Philippines MORE: Guerilla gardeners plant flowers in Baths potholes to warn cyclists of crater dangers Mr Trump was asked about escalating tensions between the US and North Korea over the latters missile testing. He said: I dont want to telegraph what Im doing or what Im thinking. Im not like other administrations where they say, Were going to do this in four weeks. It doesnt work that way. Well see what happens. I hope things work out well. I hope theres going to be peace. Guys. Guys. I dont think Trump knows whos the leader of North Korea. https://t.co/Gm1o6xV4AD pic.twitter.com/JYtGKIDJde Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) April 18, 2017 He added: Theyve been talking with this gentleman for a long time. You read Clintons book, he said, Oh, we made such a great peace deal, and it was a joke. You look at different things over the years with President Obama. Everybody has been outplayed, theyve all been outplayed by this gentleman and well see what happens. But I just dont telegraph my moves. A senior North Korean official warned today that the country would now conduct weekly missile tests, under a growing cloud of military tension with the U.S. Donald Trump last week sent an American armada of ships into the Sea of Japan as a show of force, increasing fears that all-out war could be on the cards. Belize, the Bahamas and Playa del Carmen, Mexico have been named some of the best places to live along the coast. Coastal Living magazine, a brand owned by Time Inc., published its "20 Best Places to Live 2017" list, which considers everything from the coastal lifestyle to urban and community design, expat life, ease of transition, real estate ownership, location and quality of destination. It's a list tailor-made for retirees looking for property along water-front, sun-soaked coastlines in North America and the Caribbean, or ocean lovers and water babies looking to live near its wildness. Destinations are divided into different categories. For those in search of a smaller coastal town, the list includes Fernandina Beach and Sarasota in Florida. There's also Grand Haven in Michigan, Langley in Washington and Orleans in Massachusetts. More dynamic destinations in the "cities" category include Boston, San Diego, Santa Barbara and St. Petersburg, Florida. For those looking for something more exotic and tropical, experts singled out Ambergris Caye in Belize, Harbour Islands in the Bahamas and Playa del Carmen, in Mexico. For the full list visit http://www.coastalliving.com/travel/top-10/best-places-to-live. By Jibran Ahmed PESHAWAR, Pakistan, (Reuters) - Pakistani police opened a hate speech investigation involving two Muslim clerics on Sunday after the killing of a university student over allegations he committed blasphemy. The clerics are accused of attempting to disrupt the funeral of student Mashal Khan, who was beaten to death by fellow students after a dormitory debate was followed by accusations of blasphemy being spread across a university campus in the northern city of Maradan. University officials had issued a public notification hours before the murder naming three students being investigated for "blasphemous activities". Blasphemy is an extremely sensitive topic in Muslim majority Pakistan, where penalties range from small fines to the death sentence, and dozens of people are on death row in the country's jails. There have been at least 65 recorded cases of vigilante murders since 1990, according to figures from a Center for Research and Security Studies report and local media. In a statement released to the press on Saturday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he was "shocked and saddened by the senseless display of mob justice that resulted in the murder of a young student, Mashal Khan, at Wali Khan University". Mardan police chief Alam Shinwari said 20 people had been identified as culpable in the killing on the basis of videos taken during the attack, and 15 had been arrested. He said they would be tried by anti-terrorism courts. Police say they are also investigating the clerics in Khan's hometown of Swabi, some 60 kilometers south of Mardan, for attempting to disrupt funeral proceedings and instigate hatred against the dead student's family. "The two clerics ... [used] the mosque loudspeaker for hate speech against the slain student and his family and ... created hurdles for the people and another cleric to participate in the funeral," a senior Swabi police official told Reuters. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being targeted by religious hardliners. A local imam had refused to lead the funeral prayers at Khan's funeral on Friday, according to Swabi resident Salman Ahmed. A technician who was asked to do so in the cleric's place was confronted by several people afterwards. In his press release, the prime minister said the perpetrators of the attack would be brought to justice. "The nation should stand united to condemn this crime and to promote tolerance and rule of law in society," Sharif said. However, Pakistan's government has been vocal about blasphemy in recent months, with Sharif issuing an order in March for the removal of content deemed blasphemous online and threatening "strict punishment" for those violating the law. (Writing by Saad Sayeed; Editing by Andrew Bolton) A teacher has described the moment he was accosted by a Pakistani mob which lynched a liberal student accused of blasphemy -- an attack which has triggered shock, outrage and fear across the country. Hundreds of men attacked journalism student Mashal Khan last Thursday, stripping, beating and shooting him before throwing him from the second floor of his hostel at the Abdul Wali Khan university in the northwestern town of Mardan. Khan had been known for his liberal views, especially on Facebook, sparking the blasphemy allegations against him. Twenty-two people have been arrested so far over the killing, which came after the government intensified its rhetoric against blasphemy. Ziaullah Hamdard, one of Mashal Khan's teachers, told the private Geo TV channel Tuesday that he saw students shouting slogans against Khan and another student, Abdullah. One university employee threatened to kill Khan and cut him into pieces, Hamdard said. Then the mob began kicking in the door to a washroom where Abdullah had taken refuge. "All this happened in seconds. They broke the door, some of them had batons, they were furious -- suddenly they entered inside... they were not listening to anyone," Hamdard said. Police arrived and managed to yank a wounded Abdullah to safety, he told Geo. At the sight of blood and the crowd, he added, "I lost my courage." Hamdard rushed to the staff hostel, but around 20 students were already there and accused him of hiding Khan. "They said, 'You are a non-believer, you have hidden a blasphemer'... They were crazy, they were not listening to me. "Two of them kicked me and snatched my mobile and locked me in my room." Hamdard was rescued by another teacher and spirited away by police. By then Khan, who had been hiding in his own room at a nearby student hostel, was dead. "Mashal was a Diya (lamp). They have turned off a lamp," Hamdard told Geo. He apologised to Khan's parents for failing to protect their son and said his guilt had driven him to resign. Story continues - 'Find them!' - The brutality of the attack, partly recorded on mobile phone, provoked widespread condemnation, with protests in several cities over the weekend -- although it took two days for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to speak out. On Tuesday an opposition leader Imran Khan, whose party controls Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where Mardan is located, vowed the perpetrators would face justice. The killing came in the wake of a government drive against blasphemy, a hugely sensitive charge in conservative Muslim Pakistan. Unproven allegations have led to dozens of mob attacks or murders since 1990. Last month Sharif swore that blasphemers on social media would be prosecuted. The interior ministry also threatened to block social media websites with blasphemous content. "The state itself has said, there are blasphemers hiding among you, the people; find them! So now the people are finding them," wrote columnist Cyril Almeida in Dawn newspaper over the weekend in comments critical of the government. Social media users have become increasingly nervous in the wake of the attack, with posts warning about the dangers of fake accounts that could be used for blasphemy allegations. Rights activists have long criticised the colonial-era blasphemy legislation, saying it can be abused for personal vendettas. Abdullah, who has been taken into protective custody, claimed the university had wanted him to brand Khan a blasphemer because he (Khan) had criticised the school, according to court documents released late Monday. A second student told a magistrate he had testified before a university "congress" on the day of the killing, accusing Khan of blasphemy, according to the documents seen by AFP. TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea, but that President Donald Trump is determined to work with Japan, China and South Korea to find a peaceful solution. "We appreciate the challenging time in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocation across the Sea of Japan," Pence said in Tokyo before a lunch with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. "We are with you 100 percent." Abe said he supported Trump's stance that strategic patience with North Korea had run out, and that all options were on the table. North Korea has conducted a series of missile launches and nuclear tests in defiance of U.N. sanctions, including a failed missile launch on Sunday. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Writing by Malcolm Foster; Editing by Paul Tait) From Woman's Day This past Friday, a family from Charlotte, North Carolina was visiting the Sun Dial in Atlanta, a popular rotating restaurant on the 72nd floor of the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, when tragedy struck, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution. Charlie Holt picture,killed at the rotating restaurant Sun Dial https://t.co/Dpu143RdQP pic.twitter.com/07yhTPx6b3 - infowe (@infowe) April 17, 2017 A 5-year-old boy, identified as Charlie Holt, got his head stuck between a stationary wall and a table bolted to the slowly rotating floor, according to Reuters. The rotating floor has safety mechanisms in place that caused it to immediately shut off; restaurant staffers and patrons scrambled to free the boy, who was then rushed to the hospital. But sadly, Charlie succumbed to his head injuries and was pronounced dead later that day. According to police reports, Charlie had only wandered a few feet from his parents, who were seated at a table near the window, when he became stuck. "I simply think he lost sight of his parents and panicked, and found himself in that situation. A small child doesn't know what to do in those moments," Warren Pickard, a spokesman for the Atlanta Police Department, told reporters. Officials have ruled his death an accident. "The family asks for prayers and privacy right now to come to terms with this tragedy," a spokesperson for the Holt family said in a statement released to WBTV. "No words can express their loss. If you have a loved one, please give them an extra hug today." According to Scary Mommy, some internet commenters were quick to blame Charlie's parents for the tragedy. The article highlighted a few of the judgmental comments that appeared on Huffington Post's Facebook page in response to the incident: Story continues Restaurants aren't playgrounds, they are places for dining. I've seen so many loose kids nearly trip the wait staff. If they can't sit down and enjoy a meal at a restaurant, then they're not ready to eat at a restaurant. So sorry for this little boy. I see it all the time, parents allowing little children to run free. It's not your home. Supervision of your children is expected. Tears for this little lost soul because of neglect. This is a good reason to not let your bratty kids run wild in a restaurant. Especially dumb ones that manage to get themselves wedged in between the wall "The fact that anyone's first instinct is to vilify a pair of grieving parents who lost their son in a grisly accident really speaks to the state of modern society," wrote Scary Mommy's Valerie Williams. "Let's just hope that those who dare to judge and blame are always perfect and never on the other side of something so completely, unimaginably awful." As the mother of a 21-month-old boy myself, my heart aches for Charlie's parents-but I can also completely understand the instinct to want to blame them. Why? When I spot devastating stories like this one in my Facebook newsfeed, I instinctively try to convince myself that something like this could never happen to me (even though I know that's not true-it could happen to any parent, even the most vigilant among us), because otherwise, I'd have to fully digest the fact that I live in a world where my husband and I might take our son out to lunch, and he could wind up dead. But the reality is that this was a freak accident-and Charlie's parents don't deserve to be dragged through the mud of the internet in the aftermath. So let's all heed the Holt family's suggestion, and give our loved ones some extra big hugs today. You Might Also Like The Hague (AFP) - An informal people's tribunal headed by five professional international judges Tuesday accused US seeds firm Monsanto of harming the environment and possible "ecocide". Monsanto, which produces genetically-modified seeds as well as controversial pesticides, however said the event was "staged by a select group of anti-agriculture technology and anti-Monsanto critics." Held in The Hague over two days and organised by hundreds of grassroots groups, the tribunal found that the US-based company "has engaged in practices which have negatively impacted the right to a healthy environment." The panel of judges heard some 30 witnesses from countries as diverse as Argentina, Bangladesh, Canada, Burkina Faso and Sri Lanka about the various impacts of chemicals on the environment including spraying crops with herbicides and pesticides. Judges were asked six questions for an advisory opinion, including whether Monsanto violated the rights to a safe environment, food as well as the highest standards of health. "Monsanto's activities and products cause damage to soil, water and to the environment more generally," the tribunal replied in a statement on Tuesday. It urged international lawmakers to "precisely and clearly assert the protection of the environment and the crime of ecocide." It said that if "ecocide" was added in international law, the reported facts could fall within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court based in The Hague. The event came against the backdrop of ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda saying she intended to deepen her focus on environmental crimes such as land grabs. Monsanto's GM seeds are designed for use alongside its pesticide glyphosate which has made headlines last year over cancer fears. But Monsanto, headquartered in St Louis, Missouri, defended itself against the allegations saying: "We stand committed to real dialogue with those who are genuinely interested in sustainable agriculture." Story continues It added in a statement that anti-Monsanto critics organised the tribunal and "played organisers, judge and jury." The informal court "denied existing scientific evidence and judicial outcomes on several topics... and was organised with pre-determined outcomes," the company's global human rights steering committee said. Monsanto is currently the subject of a mammoth $66 billion (61.6 billion euro) takeover deal by German pharmaceuticals and chemicals giant Bayer. Bayer too faces close scrutiny over its own pesticides, accused by some of contributing to mass die-offs of bees. The same group that offered a free joint to Inauguration Day attendees is puff, puff, passing along the free cannabis to Capitol Hill workers. To properly celebrate 420 in the nation's capital, on Thursday from (high) noon until 4:20 p.m., the pro-marijuana group DCMJ is handing out two free joints to members of Congress and congressional staffers, interns, and other workers and credentialed journalists. The group will be passing out joints on non-federal land since the city of D.C. allows possession of a small amount of marijuana, but the federal government does not. SEE ALSO: Liquor sales haven't dropped where weed is legal, and people still go out, new analysis says The giveaway is part of the first annual congressional "joint session" to urge lawmakers to pass cannabis reform and reschedule the drug, which is currently a Schedule I controlled substance along with heroin and LSD. The 420 event is a warmup for the advocacy group's rally at the capitol on Monday to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substance Act and renew the Rohrbacher-Farr amendment which protects state-sanctioned medical cannabis use. Image: dcmj In a statement about Thursday's event, DCMJ co-founder Adam Eidinger said, "Americans dont want a crackdown on legal cannabisthey want Congress to end cannabis prohibition once and for all." The group hopes 1,000 free joints will change the government's stance on cannabis laws. Seems like a high hope, but anything is possible on 420. WATCH: This futuristic tumbleweed is actually a minesweeper The Hague (AFP) - Police have arrested 39 suspects in over a dozen countries across Europe and Latin America after busting an online paedophile ring that used the WhatsApp chat service to share images of child sex abuse, officials said Tuesday. In coordinated swoops late last month, local and international authorities searched houses and seized hundreds of devices containing child sexual exploitation material in South and Central America as well as Germany, Italy and Spain, Europe's policing agency Europol said in a statement. "These offenders are pushing the boundaries of modern technology to try to avoid being caught by law enforcement," Europol's director Rob Wainwright said. Dubbed "Operation Tantalio", the investigation was sparked in mid-2016 by the Spanish police's High-Tech Crime Unit focusing on the Tor encryption network, used by criminals to mask their identities. "Prompted by clear evidence of prolific sharing of indecent images, the Spanish investigators revealed links diverting users to private groups on WhatsApp," Europol said. A total of 25 groups, formed by invitation only, are currently being investigated, according to Europol. Hundreds of devices containing pornographic material have been seized, it added. Spanish police said the photos and videos that were seized showed "humiliating treatment" and "excessive brutality" involving children from babies to children up to eight years old. Europol and international law enforcement agency Interpol, which also took part in the investigation, said 38 suspects had been arrested but Spanish police said "so far" 39 people had been held, including 17 in Spain. The other arrests took place in Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Colombia, El Salvador, Germany, Italy, Paraguay and Portugal. Spanish police said they found handwritten material at a house they searched in Lugo in the north of the country listing the names, ages, and places where encounters with minors took place. Some of them dated back 20 years. "We need to continue to combine our joint resources and skills to tackle this threat to our children and bring these offenders to justice," Wainwright said. "Actions like Operation Tantalio send a strong message" that police across the globe will continue to work together to bring to justice those "engaging in or benefitting from the heinous crimes," added Bjorn Sellstrom, Interpol Crimes Against Children operations coordinator. President Donald Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on his referendum victory, a controversial election that increased his governing powers, the White House said Monday. The referendum greatly expanded Erdogans power and limited the countrys parliaments. Turkeys opposition party has vowed to challenge the results. International observers called the validity of Erdogans Sunday victory into question, citing the counting procedures used in the referendum and acknowledging that the vote took place on an unlevel playing field. Erdogan has rejected these critiques, claiming the vote was the most democratic election in any Western country. Earlier Monday, the U.S. State Department released a statement thanking international observers for their preliminary assessment of the report, and mentioning reports of irregularities during the referendum vote. Read More: Erdogans Victory in the Referendum on His Powers Will Leave Turkey Even More Divided While the White House acknowledged Trump congratulated Erdogan, the statement also emphasized that the two leaders discussed the ongoing civil war in Syria. President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to congratulate him on his recent referendum victory and to discuss the United States action in response to the Syrian regimes use of chemical weapons on April 4th, the White House said in a statement. President Trump thanked President Erdogan for supporting this action by the United States, and the leaders agreed on the importance of holding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable. This article was originally published on TIME.com President Trump again pulled back from declaring China a currency manipulator, saying he is more focused on the countrys relationship with North Korea. Now, what am I going to do? Start a trade war with China in the middle of him working on a bigger problem, frankly, with North Korea? Trump said during an interview with Fox & Friends, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping. The two leaders met earlier this month at Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump last week declined to label China a currency manipulator, despite the Presidents campaign pledge to do so when he took office. Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem? We will see what happens! - Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2017 Trump blamed the fake media for noting he had changed his stance on China. I havent changed my stance, he said. Chinas trying to help us. I dont know if theyre going to be able to or not. Asked by Fox & Friends whether he had ruled out a military strike against North Korea, Trump said: I dont want to telegraph what Im doing or what Im thinking. The President last week stoked fears of an attack on North Koreas nuclear facilities after he dispatched a strike fleet near the Korean peninsula. This article was originally published on TIME.com (PANMUNJOM, South Korea) - The White House displayed a tough and unyielding approach to North Korea and its nuclear ambitions Monday, with President Donald Trump warning that Kim Jong Un has gotta behave and Vice President Mike Pence sternly advising Kim not to test Americas resolve and military power. Trump, in Washington, and Pence at the tense Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, signaled a forceful U.S. stance on North Koreas recent actions and threats. But no one was predicting what might come next. Behind the heated rhetoric, in fact, Trumps strategy in the region looks somewhat similar to predecessor Barack Obamas - albeit with the added unpredictability of a new president who has shown hes willing to use force. Pence, inspecting the DMZ, warned Pyongyang that after years of testing the U.S. and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, the era of strategic patience is over. Appearing later with South Koreas acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, the vice president pointed to Trumps recent military actions in Syria and Afghanistan as signs that the new administration would not shrink from acting against the North. North Korea would do well not to test his resolve - or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region, Pence said at the start of a 10-day trip to Asia. Pences remarks also came with hope for a diplomatic path. Washington, he said, was looking for security through peaceable means, through negotiations. Trump said the same at the White House. In the meantime, North Koreas deputy U.N. ambassador accused the United States of turning the Korean peninsula into the worlds biggest hotspot and creating a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment. Kim In Ryong told a news conference Monday that U.S.-South Korean military exercises being staged now are the largest-ever aggressive war drill. He said North Koreas measures to bolster its nuclear forces are self-defensive to cope with the U.S. vicious nuclear threat and blackmail, and he said his country is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S. Story continues Americas implied threat of force isnt new, nor is hope for engagement. Previous presidents have repeatedly left all options on the table while trying to enlist Chinas help to pressure North Korea to pursue diplomatic solutions. The Trump administration has labeled this policy maximum pressure and engagement, although officials acknowledge there is no current engagement with Pyongyang. Until recently, it has been Trumps confrontational tone that has drawn attention rather than his action. But then he ordered the unilateral missile strike against Syria, even after dismissing talk of deeper U.S. involvement in that nations civil war. There is both greater unpredictability and decisiveness from President Trump, said Victor Cha, the director of Asian Studies at Georgetown University and a former adviser to President George W. Bush. Cha noted Pences reference to strategic patience, an Obama administration strategy in which diplomatic and economic pressure from sanctions were given time to change the Norths behavior. Strategic patience signaled indecision and predictability - not a good combination in Trumps eyes, Cha said. The White House did not offer a sense of when Trumps patience might run out. I dont think that youre going to see the president drawing red lines in the sand, but I think that the action that he took in Syria shows that, when appropriate, this president will take decisive action, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said. North Koreas latest missile test fizzled over the weekend, but its weapons development has appeared to make steady progress in recent years. The North conducted two nuclear test explosions and 24 ballistic missile tests in 2016, and experts predict it could have a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland within a few years. Pence said after meeting with South Koreas acting president that the U.S. and its allies have attempted to peacefully dismantle North Koreas nuclear program for more than two decades. But at every step of the way, North Korea answered our overtures with willful deception, broken promises and nuclear and missile tests. Former President Obama, too, tried to persuade China to use its influence over Pyongyang. It remains unclear the extent to which China might step up. Trump and his advisers have pointed to Beijings move to restrict coal imports from North Korea as a sign Beijing is listening, and the U.S. says China has turned back some shipments in recent days. But some of those restrictions merely put in place U.N. sanctions passed last year with Chinas support - before Trump took office. In a phone call with reporters Monday, Susan Thornton, the acting assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific Affairs, said the president has made clear to the Chinese that they should view North Korea as a liability, not as an asset, and that this is an urgent global threat that must be addressed by all peace-loving nations, but especially by China, when they have so much leverage. Weve seen some tangible indications that theyre working toward this end, but its still quite early, she said. Trump himself appeared to reinforce the stern U.S. message at the White House, replying Gotta behave when a CNN reporter asked what message he had for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. China also made a plea for a return to negotiations, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang saying Beijing wants to resume the talks that ended in stalemate in 2009. He suggested that U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system in South Korea were damaging its relations with China. ___ Colvin reported from Washington. Edith Lederer, Matthew Lee, Josh Lederman and Darlene Superville contributed to this report. This article was originally published on TIME.com Lady Gaga had a FaceTime call with royalty as she and Prince William talked mental health in a video released Tuesday. The pop superstar joined the Duke of Cambridge's Heads Together, a campaign he leads along with his wife, to raise awareness about mental illness. Read: Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper Give First Glimpse of 'A Star Is Born' Remake "It's time that everyone speaks up and really feels very normal about mental health," the prince said. "It's the same as physical health. Everybody has mental health and we shouldn't be ashamed of it and just having a conversation with a friend or family member can really make such a difference." In December, Gaga opened up in a letter about her own battles with PTSD after she was sexually assaulted at 19 years old. "There's a lot of shame attached to mental illness; you feel like something is wrong with you," Lady Gaga said from her Los Angeles kitchen. "I should be so happy, but you can't help it when in the morning you wake up, you are so tired, you are so sad, you are so full of anxiety and the shakes that you can barely think. The FaceTime comes a day after Prince Harry revealed he recently sought counseling to deal with the grief of losing his mother, Princess Diana. It was the best thing that could come out of my mental illness... was to share it, Prince Harry said. Heads Together most recently launched a series of films centered around the importance of speaking up about mental health. Read: 91-Year-Old D-Day Veteran Scolds Prince Harry: 'You Should Have Worn a Bloody Tie' "It's okay to have this conversation. It's really important to have this conversation," said Prince William. "You won't be judged. It's so important to break open that fear and that taboo which is only going to lead to more problems down the line." Prince Harry plans to meet Lady Gaga when she visits the U.K. in October. Story continues Watch: Prince Harry Reveals Mental Health Issues He Endured After Princess Diana Died Related Articles: NEW YORK (AP) A man convicted of murdering a woman during a down-and-out tryst in a Times Square budget hotel was sentenced Monday to 25 years to life behind bars, capping a case that endured for nearly a decade and aired a dispute over the validity of bite-mark evidence. Clarence Dean already has spent more than nine years in jail , awaiting trial and then sentencing in the August 2007 death of Kristine Yitref, whose battered body was found in a garbage bag underneath a bed in Dean's room. Dean was arrested a day after the discovery. But his trial was delayed for years, partly because of the bite-mark debate. "Clarence Dean committed a merciless and brutal act of violence against a vulnerable woman," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. said in a statement announcing Dean's sentence. "He showed a complete disregard for human life." Dean's lawyer, Sean Maher, did not immediately return a phone call Monday seeking comment. He has said Dean planned to appeal and was hopeful he would be exonerated. The case began with the meeting of two people living on the margins of the nation's biggest city. Dean, who is 45 and from Alabaster, Alabama, was a convicted sex offender who was wanted on charges including stealing a woman's car and draining her bank account. He had been in New York a few weeks, bussing glasses and doing other tasks at a club. Yitref, 33, had come to New York in 1994 from Yakima, Washington, aspiring to a career in fashion. She enrolled in design school but spiraled into crack addiction and prostitution. She had somehow lost part of a finger about three months before her death. Dean and Yitref met on the street in Times Square and went to his room for a $40 sexual encounter, according to Dean's lawyer. Prosecutors said Dean killed Yitref in a rage, snapping her neck, fracturing her skull and breaking her ribs and breastbone. "He reduced her bones to dust," Vance said. Story continues Dean admitted choking Yitref but denied killing her. He said he blacked out while defending himself from her and her pimp "two desperate thieves that ambushed him in his hotel room," Dean's attorney said during the trial last year. A jury convicted Dean in December. Prosecutors initially planned to include a controversial piece of evidence: a forensic comparison between Dean's teeth and a bite mark found on Yitref's body. Defense lawyers argued the technique was junk science; over 20 men nationwide have been exonerated since 2000 in murder or rape cases that hinged on bite marks. The judge in Dean's case OK'd the bite mark evidence, but prosecutors ultimately did not use it. Over the past few years, conflicts in Syria, South Sudan, and Afghanistan have created the largest international refugee crisis since World War II. Now, according to a top government official, another massive migrant crisis is looming in a far more populous country: Nigeria. Almost five million people are at risk of starvation in the West African nation amid a years-long Islamist insurgency. But insufficient funding means that emergency food aid to the vulnerable northeast may be cut just as the lean season approaches, endangering millions. The world could see a mass exodus from a country of 180 million people if support is not given, and fast, said Ayoade Alakija, Nigerias chief humanitarian coordinator, in an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation. Since 2009, Boko Haram, a militant Islamist group based in the countrys northeast state of Borno, has waged a campaign in the region to establish an Islamic state. The insurgency has disrupted farming and displaced more than two million residents in the northeast. In February, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the U.N would need $4.4 billion by the end of March to avert famine in Nigeria, South Sudan, Yemen, and Somalia. With the exception of Somalia, the food security in these nations result from man-made food crises, said Guterres. The funding has not materialized. The U.N. World Food Program, which coordinates with countries to provide emergency food aid, has only received 15 percent of the money it needs. (And it could get even less, if President Donald Trumps proposed budget were to be passed; it takes a machete to U.S. contributions for the United Nations.) Without sufficient financing, the World Food Program will have to reduce its vital support, Peter Lundberg, a deputy U.N. humanitarian coordinator based in Borno, wrote last week in Le Monde. The WFP needs $242 million $1.3 million a day for the next six months to help feed 1.8 million people in the northeastern state, Lundberg wrote. Without further funding, food assistance to Borno will be cut. Story continues That could create a migrant crisis in west Africa of unprecedented size. In the past four years, 200,000 Nigerians have fled into neighboring Cameroon, Chad, and Niger. With just under five million people already facing severe malnutrition inside the country, a sudden cut to emergency rations could drive even more people from Nigeria in search of relief. Its not inevitable, though, aid agencies say. We want people to understand this will work if its funded. We can avert the famine, a World Food Program spokesperson told Reuters on Monday. STEFAN HEUNIS/AFP/Getty Images DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) A state-linked Saudi newspaper says the kingdom's prosecutors have asked for the death sentence for a man suspected of being behind an attack on a German diplomatic car. Medina news website reported Tuesday the Saudi citizen, who was unnamed, has been accused of burning tires to shut down a road in the eastern town of al-Awamiya and shooting at a car carrying German diplomats. The news site did not say when the alleged shooting occurred. The Saudi Interior Ministry in March 2014 had announced the arrest of Ahmed al-Aradi in connection with an attack that burnt a German diplomatic vehicle in al-Awamiya and a number of other crimes, including robbery. Al-Awamiya is heavily populated by the kingdom's minority Shiites and has been a flashpoint of anti-government unrest. March for Science organizers, worried that unauthorized sellers are cutting into their fundraising efforts, have been playing whack-a-mole for months in an effort to shut down new stores and targeted social media advertisements. In recent weeks, theyve had to contend with another group of potential competitors: March for Science partners themselves. Official merchandise sales through the events main online retailer, Bonfire, have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to defray expenses such as portable toilets and audio-visual equipment. And satellite marches keep the proceeds from what they sell. However, the national organization isnt providing financial support to satellites, and organizers of those smaller marches have watched with growing anxiety as competitors have swarmed in to sell their own T-shirts. Read more: As the March for Science approaches, companies seize the moment Every March for Science shirt someone buys elsewhere is an opportunity that is lost to us, said March for Science Los Angeless marketing and design director Dan Leibson. Since we are a volunteer-run nonprofit, we dont have the resources that private companies use to track and police [intellectual property] violations like this. Trademark applications have been filed on behalf of March for Science, Inc. a nonprofit incorporated in Delaware to prevent unauthorized uses of the events name and the logo. Although the applications havent yet been approved, organizers still have some recourse to shut down bad actors including shaming them on social media. One such seller, Teespring, has been host to some particularly egregious violations. In February, organizers began contacting Teespring on social media to have unofficial merchandise removed, and the company said it would make it right. In a statement last week, a spokesperson said, Teespring has removed all infringing products from our platform and is proactively monitoring new designs to prevent future infringement of the March for Sciences trademarks. Story continues Still, as of Monday afternoon, a search for march for science on Teesprings website returned at least 300 products, some with the March for Science logo and phrase. More recently, organizers of local marches have also had to contend with authorized march shirts appealing to attendees. The American Geophysical Union offers March for Science-branded clothing, as does AAAS, the Genetics Society of America, and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Bill Nye, an honorary co-chair of the event, also recently started selling March for Science apparel to benefit the Planetary Society, Nyes space-oriented nonprofit. Last week, the authorized March for Science merch market welcomed a new player: online custom printer CafePress. The company unveiled a March for Science collection, 10 percent of the profits from which will go to the Earth Day Network, which is officially co-organizing the Washington event. Read more: Are you marching for science? Send us your signs Unfortunately, some of the merchandise initially offered on CafePress bore a striking resemblance to what local organizers have offered including city-specific shirts, mugs, phone cases, and stickers. And those are profits those cities will never see. After a reporter pointed this fact out to CafePress and a local march, the designs were promptly pulled. In an email, CafePress said the merchandise was being taken down because the Earth Day Network only has a partnership with the D.C.-area march, and therefore could not sell merchandise emblazoned with other city names. Although CafePress acted quickly, organizers of satellite marches say unauthorized merchandise continues to be a daily frustration. For all of us, shirt sales have been very important for fundraising, said organizers of the Boston-based rally via email. For many cities, it has been their most impactful fundraiser. By Andrew Osborn MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's most famous campaigning newspaper said on Friday it had appealed to the Kremlin to protect its staff after Chechen clerics said the paper faced "retribution" for alleging that gay men in Chechnya were being tortured and killed. Novaya Gazeta published an article this month which said authorities in the majority Muslim southern Russian republic had rounded up over 100 gay men or men suspected of being gay and tortured them. It said at least three of them had been killed. Kremlin critics saw the report as further evidence that Moscow allows authorities in Chechnya to run the region - which has been consumed by two wars since the Soviet collapse - as a feudal fiefdom in exchange for separatist and radical Islamist sentiment being brutally suppressed. Chechnya's Moscow-backed president Ramzan Kadyrov denies allegations human rights are routinely flouted. His spokesman Alvi Karimov called Novaya's report "an absolute lie", saying there were no gay men in Chechnya to be persecuted. "Nobody can detain or harass anyone who is simply not present in the republic," Karimov told the Interfax news agency. Novaya's report also caused outrage among Chechnya's Muslim clerics, who adopted a resolution saying it had insulted the dignity and Islamic faith of Chechen men and society. "We promise that retribution will catch up with the hate-mongers wherever and whoever they are and with no statute of limitations," the resolution read. Dmitry Muratov, Novaya's editor, said on Friday that the resolution was an incitement to violence and that he was worried about his staff's safety. "This resolution is encouraging religious fanatics to retaliate against our journalists," he said in a statement, calling on the authorities to protect journalists and stop anyone whipping up hatred against them. Two of Novaya's reporters specializing in Chechnya - Anna Politkovskaya and Natalya Estermirova - have been murdered in the last decade. Neither case has been fully solved. Set up with financial help from ex-Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993, Novaya Gazeta is well-known in Russia for its investigations into official corruption, its reporting on Chechnya, criticism of the authorities and coverage of the opposition in a media landscape where most big-circulation newspapers are loyal to the Kremlin. The Kremlin said it was following the situation closely and that anyone who thought Novaya's report was false should contest it through the courts. "We are against any actions that could pose a threat to the safety or lives of journalists," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Peskov said that reports about gay men being tortured in Chechnya could not be regarded as reliable at this stage however, and that the Kremlin was not aware of the police receiving any complaints on the subject. Novaya said Russian investigators had so far ignored a request it sent to the authorities to investigate the contents of its report. (Additional reporting by Denis Pinchuk; Editing by Hugh Lawson) Zhytomyr (Ukraine) (AFP) - Dental treatment by the best vets, open-air accommodation and fresh fish instead of dubious leftovers and abuse -- life has changed markedly for brown bears rescued from Ukrainian circuses and restaurants. Tortured for years by humans, the animals have received a second lease of life in the city of Zhytomyr in northwestern Ukraine. Opened in 2012 by the Vienna-based animal welfare charity Four Paws, the shelter soon became one of the region's prime attractions. "I saw bears before in Kiev zoos, but they were much sadder than here," Myroslava, 10, says in reference to the Ukrainian capital. "Here they are happy", says Myroslava after coming to the shelter with her school class and being particularly taken by a scarred female bare named Masha. "I don't like the fact that she was severely beaten before and that she has scars. I was scared for her." - A home for five - The whole shelter was initially built for only one bear named Nastya, who was seized from her mother when she was three months old and sold to a private zoo. It took two months for volunteers to find her and return her to her birthplace, but Nastya's mother refused to accept her as her own. Nastya was soon joined by another brown bear, Masha, who was rescued from a hunting dog training centre, where she served as the bait. "We received her in a terrible state: the hair on her neck had been worn away by a collar, her tail was torn off, nose scratched", shelter manager Oleksandr Leonov tells AFP. A law banning the training of hunting dogs on bears was only adopted in Ukraine in 2015, and it noticeably simplified the work of animal rights activists across the country. The shelter's staff usually finds out about abused animals from ordinary people and goes straight to the location to verify the tip. Once the bear is transported to Four Paws, a group of veterinarians from Austria and Germany come to Ukraine to make a physical examination and carry out all the necessary vaccinations. Story continues The bear is then released into the shelter's spacious enclosure, where the creature can finally start a new life. Four Paws park is now home to five brown bears saved from places such as roadside cafe and private circuses. "Olya (the oldest bear in the shelter) was blind when she came here. Possibly she was blinded on purpose", manager Leonov says. "And her teeth were in a very bad condition. Last year dentists came here to treat her teeth and everything is much better now." - Bears for sale - "It is considered fashionable to have a bear at home or in a restaurant, or to make money off people who get amused by seeing a bear on a chain", says Taras Boyko from the Four Paws wild animals department. "This complex problem is rooted in the mentality of our people." Maryna Shkvyrya, widely considered to be the leading scientific expert on bears in Ukraine, explains that most privately owned bears were already born in captivity, but that there was also a black market on which bears are sold. Some bears come from the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine's west, but most are smuggled in across the border with Russia, where hunting for bears is legal and a lot of cubs are motherless. The east of the country has been ravaged by a three-year war with Russian-backed insurgents. "These cubs are sold as a gift, as a living toy, as an animal that will be the object for training hunting dogs", Shkvyrya says. "On the black market, prices start from $1,000 (945 euros) and go up to several thousand dollars per cub," she adds. Four Paws plans to open another large shelter for bears in the western Lviv region in September 2017 to bring them closer to their natural habitat. But there are no plans to release the saved bears into the wild. Their behaviour changes dramatically while in human captivity and they may be unable to cohabitate with other animals. "Our project gives these bears an opportunity to spend the rest of their life in normal conditions," Shkvyrya says. "And also to show people the consequences of animal abuse." This story is a collaboration between Kaiser Health News and the Center for Public Integrity. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, wants federal health officials to tighten scrutiny of private Medicare Advantage health plans amid ongoing concern that insurers overbill the government by billions of dollars every year. Grassley, the influential chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has asked Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) officials to explain why they failed to collect nearly $125 million in potential overcharges identified at five Medicare Advantage plans audited in a single year. In an April 17 letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, Grassley cited an article on alleged overcharges published in January by Kaiser Health News and the Center for Public Integrity. The story said that Medicare had potentially overpaid five health plans $128 million in 2007, but under pressure from the insurance industry, collected just $3.4 million and settled the cases. The difference in the assessment and the actual recovery is striking and demands an explanation, Grassley wrote. CMS officials did not respond to requests for comment. Medicare Advantage is a popular alternative to traditional Medicare. The privately run health plans have enrolled more than 18 million elderly and disabled people about a third of those eligible for Medicare at a cost to taxpayers approaching $200 billion a year. The plans also enjoy strong support in Congress. Medicare is supposed to pay the health plans higher rates for sicker patients and less for people in good health using a formula called a risk score. Yet CMS records reveal that billions of tax dollars are wasted annually partly because some health plans exaggerate how sick their patients are by inflating risk scores and boosting their payments improperly. Grassley asked in his letter what steps CMS is taking to ensure that insurance companies are not fraudulently altering risk scores and how many audits are now being conducted. Story continues By all accounts, risk score gaming is not going to go away. Therefore, CMS must aggressively use the tools at its disposal to ensure that it is efficiently identifying fraud and subsequently implementing timely and fair remedies, he wrote. Grassley also noted that CMS needs to step up oversight audits because Medicare Advantage plans are expected to grow substantially in coming years. The use of these tools is all the more important as Medicare Advantage adds more patients and billions of dollars of taxpayer money is at stake, Grassleys letter said. This story is part of Medicare Advantage Money Grab. Billing errors cost taxpayers billions. Click here to read more stories in this investigation. Don't miss another Health investigation: Sign up for the Center for Public Integrity's Watchdog email. The Government Accountability Office, the watchdog arm of Congress, has sharply criticized CMS for its failure to ferret out overcharges and in April 2016 called for fundamental improvements in audits of Medicare Advantage plans. GAO also found that CMS has spent about $117 million on Medicare Advantage audits, but recouped just under $14 million overall. Medicare Advantage plans have been the target of at least a half-dozen whistleblower lawsuits alleging patterns of overbilling and fraud. In March, the Justice Department joined one such suit against insurance giant UnitedHealth Group. The suit alleges that the health plan submitted claims for underpayments to the government, but ignored examples in which it had received too much money. The audits disclosing the $128 million in overpayments to health plans were part of a cache of confidential CMS documents released through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by the Center for Public Integrity. The CMS records identify the companies chosen for the initial Medicare Advantage audits as a Florida Humana plan, a Washington state subsidiary of United Healthcare called PacifiCare, an Aetna plan in New Jersey and an Independence Blue Cross plan in the Philadelphia area. The fifth one focused on a Lovelace Medicare plan in New Mexico, which has since been acquired by Blue Cross. In the audits, CMS repeatedly found that the health plans couldnt document their patients were as sick as the insurer had claimed. For example, auditors couldnt confirm that one-third of the diseases the health plans had been paid to treat actually existed, mostly because patient records lacked sufficient documentation of a diagnosis. Overall, Medicare paid the wrong amount for nearly two-thirds of patients whose records were examined; all five plans were far more likely to charge too much than too little. For 1 in 5 patients, the overcharges were $5,000 or more for the year, according to the audits. Americas Health Insurance Plans, an industry trade group, has denied that Medicare Advantage plans overcharge. The group argued in a June 2016 position paper that the auditing method used by CMS was not yet stable and reliable. The group also said that conducting audits could disrupt the care being provided by plans that are working hard to meet the needs of their enrollees. Grassley cited reports by the Center for Public Integrity that improper payments to Medicare Advantage plans cost taxpayers as much as $70 billion from 2008 to 2013. He said that CMS estimate that it had overpaid the five health plans $128 million appears low and could very well be just the tip of the iceberg. Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit health newsroom whose stories appear in news outlets nationwide, is an editorially independent part of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Schulte, formerly of the Center for Public Integrity, is now a senior correspondent at Kaiser Health News. This story is part of Medicare Advantage Money Grab. Billing errors cost taxpayers billions. Click here to read more stories in this investigation. Related stories Copyright 2017 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C. By Mirwais Harooni and Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - A prominent Afghan politician said on Tuesday his dismissal by President Ashraf Ghani was unfair and could further destabilize the country, at a time when the coalition government has already been weakened by divisions and uncertainty over U.S. policy. Ahmad Zia Massoud, a former vice president, had been serving as Ghani's representative on good governance and reform before he was sacked with little explanation on Monday. "If the president wants to push me out, the country will end up in another civil war," Massoud told reporters on Tuesday. "You do not have the power and the right to do this," Massoud said. "Taking me out of the government structure means moving the country to more instability." The power-sharing agreement brokered by then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry looked unwieldy from its inception in 2014, and since then has been buffeted by internal rivalries. Politicians and analysts say the divisions have hampered the government's ability to lead a country beset by a worsening insurgency, in which thousands of people are killed in fighting between the government and Islamist militant groups like the Taliban. The new U.S. administration has yet to set out a clear policy for Afghanistan, raising questions about how far it will go to support Ghani and his government in the coming years. Ghani's office said Massoud, who had often publicly criticized the president, had failed to do his job. But Timor Sharan, a Kabul-based analyst for the International Crisis Group, said the move would reinforce the impression among Ghani's rivals that he was excluding them from power. "This sends a clear signal to others that they could be easily removed within this strategy of monopolizing power around the palace, and this creates the chance of political instability," Sharan said. RIVAL FACTIONS Massoud, from Afghanistan's Tajik community, framed his firing as a move by Ghani, a Pashtun from the country's largest ethnic group, to push others away. Ghani shares power with Tajik politician Abdullah Abdullah, although Massoud, brother of a slain anti-Soviet resistance hero, lost some support among his own constituency when he backed Ghani over Abdullah at the time the government formed in 2014. Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, a prominent figure in Kabul, has upped pressure on his successor by vowing to oppose the unity government for its role in allowing the U.S. military to drop a huge bomb on a suspected Islamic State stronghold in eastern Afghanistan last week. In addition, First Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum, brought into the administration to gather support from his ethnic Uzbek bloc, has been marginalized amid accusations he ordered his men to abduct and assault a political rival last year. Dostum denies the allegations and no official charges have been filed. Some Afghan officials link the political tensions to the relative lack of policy direction from and interaction with President Donald Trump's new administration in Washington. "During the Dostum crisis, countries like Iran and Turkey were the go-between between Ghani and Dostum trying to bring the two together," said one senior Afghan political official. "If this was under Kerry, it would have been already sorted out." Trump has yet to appoint an ambassador to Afghanistan, and while U.S. national security adviser H.R. McMaster visited Kabul over the weekend, no new decisions were announced. McMaster said more broadly that the United States planned to continue to cooperate with Afghanistan in the fight against insurgent groups like Islamic State, al Qaeda, and the Taliban. "I think what Afghanistan needs at the moment is the political backing of Trump's administration," said Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, an Afghan politician. (Additional reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Mike Collett-White) Brick-and-mortar retail is having a meltdown, and economists are starting to see the effects in the job market. Overall retail employment has fallen every month this year. Department stores, including Macys and JC Penney, have shed nearly 100,000 jobs since Octobermore than the total number of coal miners or steel workers currently employed in the U.S. Even Americas richest areas are getting hit: Employment in New York City clothing stores has fallen three years in a row, the longest period of decline on record, going back to the early 1990s. When some industries lose workers, they win the consolation prize of empty political promises to turn back time. During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton went up and down Appalachiaand far beyondto lament the job losses suffered by manufacturers and miners. The loss of these jobs has been devastating to many cities and towns. But department stores have lost 18 times more workers than coal mining since 2001. Recommended: North Carolina: Where the Government Has Already Weakened Environmental Protections So, how has the retail bloodletting been so much quieter than the decline in mining and manufacturing? There are several plausible explanations. First, mining and manufacturing jobs are geographically concentrated. Sixty percent of coal-mining jobs are in just four states: West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Wyoming. Retail is spread more evenly across the country, so there are mining towns, which politicians can visit and photographers can capture and where the pain runs especially deep, in a way there are not mall towns. Second, as Slate Chief Political Correspondent Jamelle Bouie tweeted, the demographics of a job can determine its political salience. Coal mining is still 95 percent white and 95 percent male. Department store workers are 40 percent minority and just 40 percent male. The emphasis on work that is white, male, and burly may represent an implicit bias against the working class of the modern service economy, which is more diverse and female. Third, mining and manufacturing jobs feed into a national nostalgia for the mid-century economy, with its unionized workforce, economic growth, and high pay for men without much education. Story continues But the decline of clothing-store jobs has something in common with the demise of manufacturing and mining jobs, too. They are both victims of the familiar forces of globalization and technology, which have conspired to make clothes cheaper and accessible online. Both forces can make the country richer while specific areas suffer. For example, the loss of Ohio manufacturing jobs or an exurban department store can have severe local costslike high poverty in an eastern Ohio steel town, or the shuttering of a downtown mallwhile elsewhere the country flourishes, with rising industrial productivity and better access to cheaper clothes. Recommended: What in the World Is Causing the Retail Meltdown of 2017? Altogether, the destruction of jobs in retail, mining, and manufacturing raises a thorny question: Is it really so bad when one industrys jobs go away, if the country as a whole is getting richer and the number of jobs is still growing? Indeed, as retail has moved online, some economists argue that e-commerce has created moreand, perhaps, better payingwork. The economist Michael Mandel estimates that since the Great Recession began, the e-commerce sector has created 355,000 new jobs, compared to about 50,000 total jobs lost in physical retail stores. Much of that growth has come from large fulfillment centers in warehouses. Warehousing is not used exclusively for e-commerce, but the change in warehousing jobs is highly correlated with Amazons job growth in the state; since 2009, warehousing employment has soared by almost 50 percent. Fulfillment centers pay 26 percent better than general retail jobs, and warehouse wages are currently growing twice as fast as the national average. Politicians are often nostalgia merchants, selling the irreplaceable virtues of whatever cultural or economic norm is in its twilight. In the 20th century, they mourned the wilting of the agricultural industry, just as they currently lament the death of factories. But in an economy that will become increasingly digitized, automated, and otherwise inflected with new technologies like self-driving cars and artificial intelligence, Americans cant get too precious about any particular job or industry. Recommended: Frank and Stevens Excellent Corporate-Raiding Adventure Instead, lawmakers should be focused on reducing human suffering as some job sectors shrink or disappear altogether. That might include universal health care that isnt tied to any one specific company and moving vouchers to help workers manage the transition to a new area for work. Overall it requires an approach that is the opposite of then-candidate Trumps message on the campaign: Not how can we rebuild the economy of about 40 years ago and freeze it in carbonite? but rather what sort of federal policies are best for an economy that might be embarking on a period of industrial churn? The former question probably makes for better politics. It is easier to build a coalition through demonization, the establishment of an evil themlike, Democrats and their environmental regulationsto crystallize a politically motivated uslike, West Virginia mining towns. It is much harder to say the truth: Technology and trade make America richer as a country, but the winnings are distributed unevenly, and its the responsibility of government to improve the distribution without making everybody poorer in the process. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. By Aaron Ross DAKAR (Reuters) - A hundred unarmed South Sudanese refugees in east Congo took 13 United Nations mission staff hostage on Tuesday, demanding to be moved to a third country before later releasing them unharmed. They were among 530 people who have been living in the Munigi base, outside Goma, since fleeing South Sudan last August, U.N. Goma bureau head Daniel Ruiz told Reuters. Most are former fighters loyal to former vice president Riek Machar, who have clashed with President Salva Kiir's forces since July 2016. "The camp is quiet and under full control of MONUSCO (the peacekeeping mission)," U.N. peacekeeping spokeswoman Ismini Palla said at the United Nations. "All staff have returned safely to their homes. No casualties have been reported. The mission is investigating the incident." The United Nations estimates about 3 million South Sudanese have been uprooted by the violence in their country, the biggest cross-border exodus in Africa since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Ruiz said the camp occupants had been demanding for months to be moved to a third country, but no one would take them. Congo's government, mindful of threats to its stability from past refugee influxes, and from the armed groups that frequently roam its lawless east, is also keen to move them. On Friday, eight of them agreed to be repatriated to South Sudan's capital Juba. Others fear going back and are frustrated at being confined in the tiny camp in eastern Congo. "They're saying if the eight were transferred to South Sudan, why shouldn't we be able to go to a third country?" Ruiz said. Civil war broke out in oil-producing South Sudan in 2013, after Kiir sacked Machar from the vice presidency. That conflict ended in a peace pact in 2015 and Machar was reinstated early last year, but tensions between the two men lingered and finally erupted into new fighting in July. (Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Andrew Roche and Sandra Maler) A Southwest Airlines co-pilot was taken into custody for trying to board a plane with a loaded handgun at Albany International Airport on Monday. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) officers discovered a .380 caliber handgun loaded with six bullets in the first officers bag at the New York airport. After a TSA officer spotted the gun using the carry-on x-ray machine, an Albany County Sheriffs Deputy arrested the man on gun charges, the security agency said in a press release. The co-pilots flight to Chicago had to be delayed for four hours, according to the TSA. As a reminder, firearms, firearm parts and ammunition-are not permitted in carry-on bags, but can be transported in checked bags if they are unloaded, properly packed and declared to the airline, TSA said in the press release. Those who do bring guns to the security checkpoint could be arrested or hit with a fine up to $12,000. TSA officers at the same airport also found a loaded handgun in a passengers bag at the end of March. Southwest did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This article was originally published on TIME.com Scientists sounded the alarm Tuesday over the problems posed to space missions from orbital junk -- the accumulating debris from mankind's six-decade exploration of the cosmos. In less than a quarter of a century, the number of orbiting fragments large enough to destroy a spacecraft has more than doubled, a conference in Germany heard. And the estimated tally of tiny objects -- which can harm or degrade spacecraft in the event of a collision, and are hard to track -- is now around 150 million. "We are very much concerned," said Rolf Densing, director of operations at the European Space Agency (ESA), pleading for a worldwide effort to tackle the mess. "This problem can only be solved globally." Travelling at up to 28,000 kilometres (17,500 miles) per hour, even a minute object impacts with enough energy to damage the surface of a satellite or manned spacecraft. In 1993, monitoring by ground-based radar showed there to be around 8,000 manmade objects in orbit that were larger than 10 centimetres (4.5 inches) across, a size big enough to inflict catastrophic damage, said Holger Krag, in charge of ESA's space debris office. "Today, we find in space roughly 5,000 objects with sizes larger than 1 metre (3.25 feet), roughly 20,000 objects with sizes over 10 centimetres... and 750,000 'flying bullets' of around one centimetre (half an inch)," he said. "For objects larger than one millimetre (0.04 inch), 150 million is our model estimate for that." Risks of collision are statistically remote, but rise as litter increases and more satellites are deployed. "The growth in the number of fragments has deviated from the linear trend in the past and has entered into the more feared exponential trend," Krag warned. The conference in Darmstadt, whose opening was broadcast online, is the biggest-ever gathering dedicated to space debris. Experts will spend four days discussing debris and measures to mitigate space litter such as by "de-orbiting" satellites after their working lives. Story continues - Debris fields - Krag pointed to two events that had badly worsened the problem, creating debris fields that may generate further junk as pieces smash into each other. The second was in January 2007, when China tested an anti-satellite weapon on an old Fengyun weather satellite. The other was in February 2009, when an Iridium telecoms satellite and Kosmos-2251, a Russian military satellite, accidentally collided. With enough warning, satellites can shift position to avoid a collision, but this uses fuel and potentially shortens operational life. ESA receives a high-risk collision alert every week on average for its 10 satellites in low-Earth orbit, Krag said. Each has to resort to "one or two" avoidance manoeuvres per year. In a message from the International Space Station, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet said the station was shielded for objects up to 1 cm across. The ISS often has to make manoeuvres to avoid debris, but needs 24 hours' warning to do this, using onboard thrusters, he said. If there is less time, "our crew will have to close all the hatches and enter the safe haven which is our Soyuz spacecraft so that we can depart the ISS in the case of a collision," he said. "This has happened four times in the history of the ISS programme." - Space junkyards - Experts pointed to two once-pristine sites that have become worryingly cluttered since the space age dawned in 1957. One is low Earth orbit -- generally defined as less than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) from Earth -- which is used by satnav satellites, the ISS, China's manned missions and the Hubble telescope, among others. The other is in geostationary orbit, a coveted zone 35,000 km (22,000 miles) away used by communications, weather and surveillance satellites that must maintain a fixed position relative to Earth. The trash ranges from fuel tanks and Soviet-era nuclear-powered satellites, dripping sodium and potassium coolant from decrepit hulls, to nuts, bolts and tools dropped by spacewalking astronauts. The items ironically include a 1.5-metre (five-feet) debris shield that floated off as it was being installed on the ISS on March 30. Lost in low orbit, the shield will eventually be plucked into Earth's atmosphere and burn up. Madrid (AFP) - A court on Tuesday summoned Mariano Rajoy to testify as a witness in a major graft trial, the first time in modern history that any Spanish prime minister has had to take the stand. The so-called Gurtel trial centres on a vast bribery network allegedly involving former members of Rajoy's Popular Party (PP), weakened by repeated accusations of graft. While Spain's 62-year-old leader is not accused of anything, his post as party chief since 2004 means he could provide valuable testimony. "They have called him as witness," a spokesman for the National Court that deals with major corruption cases told AFP, adding that no date had been set yet for the hearing. "Rajoy will be the first acting prime minister who has to appear in court as a witness," said Jaume Munoz Jofre, a historian and author of "Corrupt Spain: a brief history of corruption." The only comparable events since Spain's transition to democracy following dictator Francisco Franco's 1975 death, he added, were the court appearances of two former prime ministers. Felipe Gonzalez, an ex-Socialist leader, and Adolfo Suarez, prime minister during the transition, both testified as witnesses in separate trials in 1998. - 'Not agree' - A source at Rajoy's office, who refused to be named, said the government was "always willing to collaborate with judicial authorities as is normal in a democracy. But the PP said that while it "respects" the court's decision to summon Rajoy, "we cannot agree with it". The lawyers association, ADADE, which has filed the graft case with the court "attributes functions to Rajoy which were not his responsibility", the party said in a statement, before adding that the group is headed by two men with close ties to the main opposition Socialists. The Gurtel case allegedly saw companies shower former PP lawmakers and civil servants with bribes in exchange for contracts. Story continues Altogether, 37 defendants face justice including two former party treasurers and businessman Francisco Correa, the alleged head of the network. The case even forced the resignation of Rajoy's health minister Ana Mato in 2014, accused of benefitting from illegally-obtained funds via her then husband who was mayor of the city of Pozuelo de Alarcon near Madrid. According to a confession published by Correa in online daily eldiario.es, companies would give him a commission of two to three percent on the value of public contracts. After taking his share, he would allegedly give politicians involved in awarding contracts some of the money too. He also claimed he gave money to Luis Barcenas, a man also on trial who was PP manager from 1980s to 2008 and then treasurer for a year. - Party slush fund? - Further complicating matters, Barcenas claimed in 2013 that part of that money went into a secret party slush fund. The fund is an ingredient of the current case but not the focus, as a separate trial on it is pending. Barcenas was nevertheless questioned on the subject in January, and acknowledged there existed secret accounts in the PP, pointing to "financial resources that did not appear in official book-keeping." But he said that rather than bribes, businessmen gave donations "generously" without expecting anything in return. "I never received anything from Correa, not for me nor for the PP," he added, blasting the businessman's allegations as "nonsense". When questioned by a judge in 2013, Barcenas had also claimed he had given Rajoy envelopes of cash. But in his January hearing, he defended Rajoy, saying he had given orders not to use Correa's companies anymore in 2003, "because he was told that Correa was engaged in illegal activities." Corruption is a major issue in Spain -- which last year scored its worst ranking in Transparency International's annual corruption perceptions index -- with the PP, rival Socialists and regional politicians hit by scandals. Such is public anger over the issue that many voters have flocked to two relatively new parties -- the far-left Podemos and the centre-right Ciudadanos. As a result, although the PP still won a general election last year, it failed to retain the absolute majority it won in 2011, and Rajoy now heads a minority government. Tensions are on the rise once again in the India-controlled Kashmir Valley, where large crowds of protesters have taken to the streets following a violent clash between students and authorities at a college on Saturday. More than 50 people were reportedly injured during what local media has described as a crackdown on students gathered at a school in the town of Pulwama, in the states south, over the weekend. According to the Hindustan Times, the students began throwing stones at security forces in response to the installation of a military checkpoint near the campus. Security forces reportedly responded by launching tear gas and firing pellets at the students. Students turned out by the hundreds in the capital Srinigar on Monday to protest the crackdown, with crowds later amassing in at least 10 towns throughout the state, according to the Indian Express. Some 60 protesters were reportedly injured Monday as police and paramilitary forces tried to break up the demonstrations, again using rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas. Read More: These 5 Facts Explain Why India and Pakistans Kashmir Dispute Is Going to Get Worse Several local media outlets reported that 3G and 4G providers have been ordered to temporarily cut service in the region to avoid the spread of videos and images that could exacerbate the violence. The Indian government of Jammu and Kashmir, as the state is officially known, has also ordered the temporary closure of all schools and colleges throughout the valley, the Express reports. The fresh demonstrations, anti-Indian in nature, follow a sequence of recent skirmishes in the volatile state. In early April, eight people were killed during clashes with police and paramilitary troops that broke out during a by-election. Last Friday, a viral video of a Kashmiri man tied to the front of a military vehicle - apparently used as a human shield to deter stone-pelting residents who oppose Indian militarization of the territory - sparked outrage and allegations of human rights abuses. Story continues Read More: Another Season of Unrest Brings Darkness for Ordinary Kashmiris The Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir, wedged between India and Pakistan and claimed by both, has been the frequent site of violent unrest. Both countries claim sovereignty over the entire region, but only parts of it are ruled by each side. This article was originally published on TIME.com Scientists are diving deep off the coast of Antarctica to help protect whale feeding areas. But they're not jumping into the frigid Southern Ocean themselves. Instead, a team of researchers has attached non-invasive sensors and cameras to the backs of humpback and minke whales. The project, supported by World Wildlife Fund's Australia office, has gathered a bounty of information so far, including when, where, and how whales eat krill; what their social lives are like; and how they're able to blow through sea ice so they can breathe. SEE ALSO: Watching orcas swimming in the wild on live cam is why we have internet Whales in the Southern Ocean face two main threats to their food supply: overfishing of krill, and climate change. Warming ocean temperatures are causing ice to shrink, which is altering Antarctic ecosystems. In the whale study, each whale wears the suction-cup cameras for between 24 and 48 hours at a time. Scientists then retrieve the "whale cams" and apply them to other whales. "We have been able to show that whales spend a great deal of time during the days socializing and resting, and then feeding largely throughout the evening and night time," said Ari Friedlander, lead scientist on the whale study and an associate professor from Oregon State University. "Whales are aggregating in a number of bays including Wilhelmina Bay, Cierva Cove, Fournier Bay, Errera Channel in high numbers and are feeding there for weeks at a time," he said in a news release. "Every time we deploy a tag or collect a sample, we learn something new about whales in the Antarctic." Just because a judge makes it to the Supreme Court, that doesn't mean the person gets to speak freely: A new study finds that female justices are interrupted more than male justices. This happens even though female justices on the Supreme Court speak less than their male colleagues, according to the study, which will be published in an upcoming issue of the Virginia Law Review journal. In the study, the researchers analyzed transcripts of court proceedings during three Supreme Court terms: 1990, 2002 and 2015. The researchers tallied up the interruptions that took place when lawyers were presenting their cases to the court, a process called oral arguments. [8 Supreme Court Decisions That Changed US Families] In 1990, there was only one woman on the Supreme Court: Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. In 2002, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was on the bench alongside Justice O'Connor. Finally, in 2015, there were three female Justices: Justice Ginsburg, Justice Sonia Sotomayor and Justice Elena Kagan. The researchers found that, overall, the female justices were interrupted about three times more often than their male counterparts. For example, in 2015, Justice Sotomayor was interrupted 60 times and Justice Kagan was interrupted 54 times, whereas Chief Justice John Roberts was interrupted 27 times and Justice Antonin Scalia was interrupted just 19 times. The interruptions took on many forms, said study authors Tonja Jacobi, a law professor at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in Chicago, and Dylan Schweers, a law student at the same institution. For example, during a 2015 oral argument, Justice Anthony Kennedy interrupted Justice Ginsburg, and though he acknowledged that he was interrupting, he kept going. In other instances, male justices interrupted female justices to "mansplain," the researchers wrote. That is, the men either unnecessarily explained something to a female justice or explained to a third party what a woman was "trying to say," the study said. Story continues The authors highlighted a 2002 instance in which Justice Kennedy interrupted Justice O'Connor and proceeded to "mansplain" to a lawyer by explaining a question O'Connor had asked perfectly clearly. But male justices weren't the only ones who interrupted the female justices on the court: The researchers found that lawyers also interrupted the court's women. This is surprising, because lawyers are not allowed to interrupt justices, and the chief justice is supposed to intervene when this occurs, the researchers noted. The researchers highlighted a 2002 instance in which Chief Justice William Rehnquist did, in fact, intervene when a lawyer interrupted Justice Scalia. But in different case, Justice Rehnquist did not intervene when a lawyer interrupted Justice Ginsburg. But gender wasn't the only factor that played a role in interruptions, the researchers found. A justice's ideology also appeared to have an effect, the researchers found, with conservative justices interrupting liberal justices more often than the reverse occurred. However, the researchers noted out that it was difficult to disentangle the effects of gender and ideology, as the three female justices on the court in 2015 were all liberal. Seniority also played a role, as more-senior justices were more likely to interrupt less-senior justices, the study said. However, this effect was smaller than that of gender and ideology, according to the study. Originally published on Live Science. Editor's Recommendations By Sue-Lin Wong PYONGYANG (Reuters) - Syria's ambassador to North Korea denounced what he called U.S. aggression and its "history of interventions" on Monday and said that it sending a "message" to North Korea with an attack on a Syrian airfield was irresponsible. North Korea has conducted several missile and nuclear tests in defiance of U.N. sanctions and has said it has developed a missile that can strike the U.S. mainland. Its latest missile test on Sunday failed a few seconds after launch. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea on Monday that recent U.S. strikes in Syria, one of North Korea's few close allies, and Afghanistan showed that the resolve of President Donald Trump should not be tested. The U.S. Navy this month struck a Syrian airfield with 59 Tomahawk missiles after a chemical weapons attack. On Thursday, the U.S. military said it had dropped the largest non-nuclear device it had unleashed in combat on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in Afghanistan. Syrian Ambassador to North Korea Tammam Sulaiman said the United States was wrong to send messages with attacks on other countries. "Whatever they do, this is clear aggression. If they want to mention this they ought to do this as a message or whatever, it has no sense to talk about this," he told Reuters, in English. "Because what is sense is to see whether the U.S. is really serious in finding solutions, whether in Syria or Korea. If they want to keep sending messages, then you are not talking with a responsible state or a responsible administration. It is not about giving messages, it is about taking a position." A high-level government official at North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Reuters in a separate interview on Monday that North Korea would have been attacked a long time ago like other countries if it did not have strong military capabilities. "The Syrian incident proves that our policy to bolster our national defence capabilities by tightening our belts is the correct policy," said Kim Son Gyong, Director General of the European Department at North Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Asked whether he thought the U.S. was sending Pyongyang a message by striking Syria, he said: "We are not startled or surprised in the slightest by this kind of act. If the U.S. thinks this kind of thing will startle us, then they have misjudged us." North Korea's KCNA news agency on Monday carried a letter from leader Kim Jong Un to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad marking the 70th anniversary of Syrias independence. "I express again a strong support and alliance to the Syrian government and its people for its work of justice, condemning the United States recent violent invasive act against your country," Kim said. Asked to what extent North Korea supported the Syrian military in its fight against rebel forces, Sulaiman said there was "nothing of military cooperation". North Korea in 2013 denied it was sending military aid to the Syrian government after media reports said that Pyongyang had sent advisers and helicopter pilots. Kim Son Gyong declined to comment when asked about the kind of military aid North Korea currently provides Syria. Sulaiman said the "acquisition of nuclear weapons should not be a goal" for any country. "But I can understand in the case of North Korea, I can understand why (it) is building its nuclear capabilities to face the American aggression, clear aggression." (Writing by Nick Macfie; Editing by Alison Williams and Hugh Lawson) Several arrested over the weekend ANGOLA The following people were arrested over the weekend by law enforcement officers working in Steuben County and lodged in the Steuben County Jail. Mary H. Carrigan, 52, of the 100 block of Powers Street, arrested at North Wayne Street and Calvary Lane on a misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana and a felony charge of illegal possession of a legend drug. Jennifer L. Davis, 35, of the 900 block of Griswold Court, Auburn, arrested on a warrant alleging felony possession of methamphetamine and failure to return to lawful detention. Sharlene M. Domanski, 52, of the 100 block of Walnut Street, Coldwater, Michigan, arrested in Fremont on misdemeanor charges of operating while intoxicated and resisting law enforcement. Nicole H. Dunafin, 27, of the 3000 block of North S.R. 127, arrested at home on a felony charge of domestic battery in the presence of a child. Michael A. Forrester, 27, of the 200 block of Lane 100 Lake Charles East, arrested at home on a felony charge of battery of someone less than 14 years old by someone 18 years old or older and misdemeanor charges of criminal recklessness and resisting law enforcement. David Gregg, 32, of the 100 block of North Tillotson Street, Fremont, Michigan, arrested on a warrant alleging civil contempt of court. Andre J. Hilson, 26, of the 300 block of North Washington Street, Bremen, arrested on a warrant alleging misdemeanor probation violation. Steven R. Maxwell, 42, of the 100 block of Locust Street, Menden, Michigan, arrested on a warrant alleging misdemeanor failure to appear. Shawn A. Ring Jr., 19, of the 1000 block of West S.R. 120, Fremont, arrested at S.R. 120 and C.R. 50W on a misdemeanor charge of unlicensed driver. Eric D. Schwartz, 46, of the 200 block of West Depot Street, Hudson, arrested in the 200 block of West Wabash Street on a misdemeanor charge of domestic battery. Leonardo C. Sosa, 25, of the 800 block of North C.R. 300E, LaGrange, arrested on a fugitive warrant. Cody A. Vitek, 21, of the 1000 block of North S.R. 827, arrested at home on a misdemeanor charge of invasion of privacy. Eric R. Worthington, 39, of the 2000 block of West Orland Road, arrested on S.R. 127 on a misdemeanor charge of operating while intoxicated. Bab al-Hawa (Syria) (AFP) - Fatima Rashid was recovering in a Syrian hospital after a deadly suicide blast when she glanced at a teenager with a bloody, disfigured face. She did not recognise her daughter. The wounded teenager was later taken across the border to Turkey for treatment and now Rashid, like many parents caught up in a horrifying attack on Saturday, is searching frantically for her child. "I lifted the curtain back in the emergency room and I saw a girl. Half her face was gone and she was bleeding," Rashid told AFP, speaking at a shelter for displaced families near the Syria-Turkey border. "I didn't think about whose daughter she was." "When I woke up the next day, the doctors came to show me a picture of that girl. I remembered what my daughter Ghadir had been wearing. That was her," she said, with tears in her eyes. At least 68 children were among 126 people killed when a suicide car bomb tore through buses evacuating Fuaa and Kafraya, two villages in northern Syria under rebel siege. Dozens of wounded, including 37-year-old Fatima and her children, were rushed to hospitals in nearby opposition-controlled territory, while others were taken to government-held Aleppo city. Fatima has no news of Ghadir, her son Adel, 15, her 13-month-old daughter Rimas, or her husband Mohannad. Only Zahra, seven, is safely at Fatima's side. - 'Didn't even have her name' - The carnage on Saturday came as thousands gathered to be evacuated from Fuaa and Kafraya as part of a complex deal that also saw people leave Madaya and Zabadani, towns near Damascus surrounded by pro-government forces. "I saw a car distributing potato chips to the children. My daughter asked me to get her a bag, but a little kid came and snatched the bag from me," Fatima said. A smile briefly crossed her face before it turned dark again, as she remembered the devastating scene that followed. "I went to get another one and suddenly something exploded. I flew back onto the ground and there were bodies on top of me.... I pulled myself and my daughter out from under the bodies and ran." Story continues "They took us to a hospital and treated us well... But when they took Ghadir to Turkey, I didn't know anything. They didn't even have her name," Fatima said. Dozens of survivors from Fuaa and Kafraya were squatting on blankets and rugs in the displacement centre, awaiting news of relatives of whom they lost track after the explosion. Several children, some as young as three, sat shell-shocked in a row, staying quiet as people asked for their names or where their parents were. One woman, whose daughter was taken to another village for treatment, anxiously tried to locate her in unfamiliar rebel-controlled territory. "Where is this village? How am I supposed to know anything about her?" she called out. - 'Did he die?' - Nearby, Umm Mohammad, her face scratched and her left hand wrapped in gauze, was hysterical. She was flanked by her two young boys, whose faces were bandaged, but her third child was nowhere in sight. "I want information about my son. Is he in Turkey? Did he die?" she screamed, as mothers nearby tried to soothe her. "He's eight months old, he can't tell people who he is. No one knows his name. How am I supposed to get to him?" In a section of the tent reserved for men, Shareef al-Hussein, 35, waited with his two sons. Haydar, 10, was lightly wounded in the forehead. All that was visible of four-year-old Hamza's face from behind his bloodied bandages was his nose. "My children cry every day because they want to see their mother. We hope to go back one day" to Kafraya, Hussein said. He and fellow evacuees were besieged for two years by rebel fighters -- some of whom helped rescue people hurt in the suicide attack. "They got us medication and food, they helped us with the kids," Hussein told AFP, which requested that rebel fighters not be present during the interview. Osama, a resident of Fuaa who had joined a local pro-government militia in the village, said he was "not afraid" of being in opposition-controlled territory. "Our brothers here are assuring us that we are not their hostages," he said. Syria's six-year war has so bitterly divided its population that many anti-regime rebels and residents of government-held territory struggled to believe they were under the same tent. Abu Obeida, a 33-year-old rebel fighter, said he helped rescue wounded civilians after Saturday's attack, but acknowledged it was "difficult" to say how he would have reacted if a deal between the two sides had not been underway. "But I had to rescue the children and the old people," he added. "It's a human issue." LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. For decades, scientists here at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory have sent spacecraft deep into the solar system. Now, theyre exploring another mysterious terrain: the human breast. The labs primary mission, of course, is to dream up and create robotic spacecraft to look for water on Mars or peer below the dense clouds that shroud Jupiter. But in recent years, top scientists here have realized that JPLs powerful technology for exploring the cosmos might also help solve daunting medical questions here on Earth. Its very simple. If If JPL has a bunch of technology to get to the moon, to look for life on Europa and that has any benefit for medicine and health, then we have a responsibility to share that benefit with the public, said Leon Alkalai, a veteran technologist at JPL who has been involved in several space missions and now manages the labs office of strategic planning. One of labs first medical breakthroughs came in the area of breast cancer. Dr. Susan Love, a well-known surgeon and advocate for breast cancer research, was trying to understand the microbiome of breast ducts the channels under the skin that carry milk to the nipple. (The breast was one of the organs left out of the federally funded Human Microbiome Project, she notes.) Since almost all breast cancers originate in the ducts, Love has been keen to map them and to determine if they harbor any infectious agents that may play a role in breast cancer. Read more: Mammograms plus personalized treatment are the best options to fight breast cancer But Loves analysis kept running into trouble; her team found far more microbes than they anticipated. It turns out, she said, that the antiseptic being used to clean the volunteers skin was filled with dead microbes, which posed no risk them but made analysis tough. It was hard to figure out what were the important bacteria versus what was just noise and contamination, Love said. Story continues Enter JPL. A tool to protect planets powers cancer research Scientists here have developed a host of techniques to analyze very tiny concentrations of microorganisms. These tools are exquisitely sensitive because they are used for planetary protection to ensure that NASA spacecraft carry as little earthly bacteria as possible so they dont contaminate distant worlds. In a fortuitous coincidence, one of the scientists immersed in planetary protection at JPL, Parag Vaishampayan, had spent his postdoctoral training in Berkeley studying how a mother shares her microbiome with her infant, possibly through breastfeeding. While many biologists have long assumed the breast and ducts to be sterile, Vaishampayan knew otherwise. When Dr. Love presented her work, I said, Thats fantastic. Of course theres microbacteria in the breast. And we can help analyze it, he said. Vaishampayan was thrilled to return to his academic roots: When I came to NASA, he said, I never thought I would work on microbiome ever. The team analyzed breast ductal fluid from 23 healthy women and 25 women with a history of breast cancer, using advanced sequencing techniques to determine the microbial fauna. They established that breast duct fluid does indeed have a distinct microbiome, and that the populations of microbes in healthy patients appear to differ from those with cancer history. What does that mean? Its still not clear: It may be that the microbe they found in healthy women is somehow protective against breast cancer. But it also could simply be that radiation and chemotherapy wiped out that particular microbe in women whod been treated for cancer. Either way, the differences are intriguing enough that Love and her collaborator, UCLAs Dr. Delphine Lee, are planning a larger, follow-up study. Vaishampayan plans to work with them. He sees real potential for clinical gains: These are not sci-fi objectives, he said. Indeed, there is mounting evidence that changes in the microbiome may play a role in both the development of breast cancer and how aggressively it spreads. Altering the microbiome may one day even be a therapeutic option for patients, according to Nick Chia, a microbiome researcher at the Mayo Clinic. Mapping foreign terrain inside the breast Love has also tapped JPL for help updating maps of the breast ductal system, which has been little studied since some basic dissection work was conducted by master English anatomist Sir Astley Paston Cooper back in 1840. She hopes the new maps could lead to more precise cancer surgeries. We know nothing about the anatomy, said Love, who now serves as chief visionary officer for the nonprofit Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation in Encino, Calif. Thats why we cut out big chunks. The Love Foundation has tried to use regular 3-D medical ultrasound to capture images of the ducts in healthy, lactating women. But theyre still very hard to trace. Thats where JPL comes in: Detailed radar mapping of complex and foreign topography is second nature to the planetary scientists. Read more: Could extreme breath-holding help in breast cancer treatment? For Love, who considers the human breast about as unexplored as the surface of Mars, the collaboration with the lab is a natural fit. This is really discovery research. We have no idea what were going to find, Love said. Were like JPL. We just want to go and see whats out there. Love credits her connection with JPL to Charlayne Fliege. A senior executive at at the lab, Fliege also belongs to Loves Army of Women healthy women who volunteer their time and bodies to participate in breast cancer research. As Fliege lay on a table getting poked and prodded during one research session, Love talked about the vital need to learn more about the breast. Shes so passionate, Fliege said. I said, Susan, you sound just like a scientist whos exploring Mars. Seriously, you should talk to the people at JPL. So Love did. Before the work could start, Alkalai had to convince his superiors at JPL to devote at least a few resources to medical questions on Earth. Its not an easy thing to sell, he said. JPL is very busy. In search of truly tough questions But when Alkalai held an exploratory meeting, he was shocked to draw a full house of 60 JPL staffers, many of whom were already working on medical projects on the side or as volunteers. So he set up the Medical Engineering Forum, a virtual department at JPL that brings together scientists and engineers keen to work on medical projects. It brings in external researchers to talk about their work and offers small amounts of seed money for JPL scientists to team up with them. Read more: Young women with breast cancer learn to celebrate life and say goodbye Its still early days for the forum, but JPL employees are already working on a number of collaborations, including working with neurosurgeons to develop smarter materials for use in spinal surgery. Also on the table: better imaging technology to guide surgeons more precisely. JPLs tech, after all, includes exquisite detectors to image galaxies, Alkalai said. They can also image the human brain for cancer surgery. Outside experts who want to work with the lab can submit challenge problems. But Alkalai warns its highly competitive. The forum looks for problems with high medical relevance and research protocols that make full use of JPLs unique sets of skills. Were hard to get, he said. What were looking for is truly tough problems. The new initiative has a side benefit as well. Its building community across JPL. Scientists always attend the lectures and colloquia held here. But when the topic is medical, the rooms fill with new faces: administrators and secretarial staff rarely seen at scientific talks. If theyre talking about cancer, it doesnt matter what degree you have, said Alkalai. It cuts across every demographic. Many girls dream of becoming prom queen, but it became a reality for this South Dakota teen with Down syndrome after all her friends nominated her for the coveted title. Read: 'It's So Exciting': Little Girl Tells the World That Down Syndrome Isn't Scary in Viral Video Katie Haugh, a senior at Douglas High School, was voted prom queen earlier this month after an overwhelming student-run campaign to get her to the top. I never expected it at all," said her mom, Donna Haugh, who is a special education teacher's aide at the same school. It was so exciting. It was unbelievable. It was good for her [and] good for us. Her mom told InsideEdition.com that Katie was first nominated to become queen, alongside four other girls, which I was surprised about. Then, students rallied around her campaign to become queen, handing out ballots and yelling Vote for Katie! as people placed their votes. Although Katie said she was only there for the dancing and her friends, she was excited to get on stage in her navy lace gown, and accept the golden crown when she was declared this years prom queen. Of course, I started to cry, her mom said. At first, I was just happy and then the tears started coming. She explained it hasnt always been easy being the mom of a daughter with Down syndrome. Read: Teen With Down Syndrome Cries as Boyfriend Asks Her to Homecoming Dance Katie spent the past six months of her senior year sick, and spent her days in and out of the hospital instead of at school with her friends. But, the moment she got back, Haugh said she was touched by the efforts of her fellow students to make her feel welcome all over again. Watch: Woman With Down Syndrome Makes Television Debut as Meteorologist Related Articles: As the USS Carl Vinson and its carrier battle group steam through the Pacific toward the Korean Peninsula, many are wondering if the Trump administration could be so rash as to attack North Korea. Regardless of how this latest move plays out, the international community will ultimately have to accept and learn to manage a nuclear North Korea. This is because: North Korea will not relinquish its nuclear program for any price; the economic sanctions placed on it by the UN Security Council have had minimal impact in compelling North Koreas denuclearization; and military options for denuclearizing North Korea carry unacceptably high risks of a disastrous cascade to full-scale war. The Trump administration appears to agree with the first two assertions. However, it has reached a contrary view on the threat or use of military force to tame North Korea. The end of strategic patience? North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear test in September 2016, and has since embarked on several missile tests. The reasons for these tests include advancing the technological development of its nuclear weapons program, signaling displeasure about the annual US-South Korea joint military exercises, and testing the new Trump administrations mettle. In response, the US is doubling down on abrasive posturing and military threats. During his recent visit to South Korea, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the policy of strategic patience has ended with North Korea, and all options are on the table to denuclearize it. And Donald Trump has since declared on Twitter: In the past, US leaders have deployed stealth fighters and bombers to the Korean Peninsula as a signal to North Korea of the consequences of continued provocation. Trump, however, has deployed an aircraft carrier group in a move that goes beyond signaling a declaration of intent to attack. In the context of US air strikes against the Assad regime in Syria, the North Korean government would have little choice but to take the threat seriously. The risk of escalation to full-scale war has intensified. Story continues Surgical air strikes Surgical air strikes similar to those conducted last week in Syria are likely to be the USs preferred military option. Such a proposal is not new. In July 2006, former defense officials Ashton Carter and William Perry suggested that the US could prevent further missile tests and send a strong message to the North Korean leadership by surgically attacking the countrys missile launch platforms. Such proposals have never been followed through: the assumption North Korea would not retaliate is a high-risk bet. Targeting missile facilities is one thing. Bombing North Koreas nuclear infrastructure is a different proposition. For surgical air strikes to be successful, the US needs to be sure the most critical sites have been destroyed. During the early phase of its development, North Koreas nuclear program was centered on the reactors and reprocessing facilities at Yongbyon. Since then, several clandestine processes within North Koreas nuclear fuel cycle have been uncovered, or been intentionally declared by the Kim regime. The nuclear programs crown jewels the bombs themselves, and the stockpiles of fissile material are likely to be buried deep in secret, reinforced underground facilities, protected from aerial attack. If there were good options for surgical air strikes, these would have been more viable during the nuclear programs earlier phase. Should air strikes successfully target nuclear facilities, there is a risk of toxic radioactive fallout contaminating surrounding regions both inside North Korea and in neighboring countries. The fallout risk has long been recognized as one of the reasons discounting air strikes against North Korea as a viable military option. It is possible that surgical air strikes may instead target sites associated with the North Korean leadership, in an attempt to mortally wound the Kim regime and facilitate denuclearization through regime change. There is precedent for this: the initial attack on Iraq in 2003. US-led coalition forces targeted presidential palaces, government buildings and other targets of opportunity in an attempt to eliminate Saddam Hussein and expedite the conclusion of the invasion. Lets assume for the sake of argument that an air strike successfully killed Kim Jong Un. Does the Trump administration have a contingency plan for securing a post-Kim North Korea? There is a clear risk of mission creep should the US be drawn into an extended pacification and nation-building campaign. Its experience in Iraq should offer a cautionary tale about the risks of regime change by force in the absence of a plan to win the peace. Cascade to full-scale war Lets say, however, that Kim survives a targeted attack. The North Korean leaderships strategic culture and the political capital invested in decades of anti-US domestic propaganda has created a path dependency that virtually locks in an escalation to full-scale war, should North Korea be attacked. This is one of the reasons why South Korea has not retaliated against any North Korean provocations over the past two decades even attacks as brazen as the shelling of Yeonpyeong-do and the sinking of South Korean naval corvette Cheonan. The South Korean capital, Seoul, is acutely vulnerable to North Korean attack because of its proximity to the demilitarized zone. It is virtually indefensible against artillery and missile barrage. Is the Trump administration willing to risk a cascade into full-scale war that would jeopardize the lives of millions of South Koreans in Seoul and its surrounds? It would be difficult to see the US-South Korea alliance surviving such a disaster especially if such a crisis was precipitated by a clumsy American intervention. Such an escalation would be a disaster for the region. Picture the humanitarian tragedy and toxic politics of the Syrian refugee crisis superimposed on Northeast Asia. Does the Trump administration have a plan for managing the regional humanitarian fallout of an escalated war? This is the nightmare scenario for the Chinese government. It is one of the primary reasons for its continued though increasingly lukewarm backing of the Kim regime. It is also why China will inevitably veto any resolution put to the UN Security Council for military action against North Korea. Why deterrence has prevailed The idea that a discrete, surgical air strike could be deployed in the Korean context is a mirage. North Korea is not Syria. There is a good reason successive US presidents have settled on deterring North Korea as their default strategy. The menu of possible military options all carry unacceptably high risks. North Korea has the means to retaliate against targets in South Korea and Japan with conventional weapons, as well as weapons of mass destruction. North Koreas capacity to attack South Korea has helped preserve a balance of deterrence on the Korean Peninsula since the Korean War armistice in 1953. While the balance of terror overwhelming favors the US, the balance of deterrence in Korea sits at a rough equilibrium. As the more powerful player, the US does not have to act aggressively to maintain this equilibrium and preserve regional stability. In this context, the threat posed by a nuclear North Korea has been exaggerated through intellectually lazy analysis based on assumptions of the Kim regimes irrationality. More careful analysis of North Koreas actual behavior suggests otherwise. The overriding priority underpinning North Korean foreign policy remains regime survival and the perpetuation of the Kim family dynasty. To this end, North Korea sees hard military power as the only reliable means of guaranteeing its security in what it perceives as a hostile strategic environment. North Koreas nuclear weapons and ballistic missile capabilities are the ultimate practical expressions of this worldview. But, more importantly, they are the North Korean leaderships only real levers of power internationally. Trumps foreign policy team would do well to think through the logic of their escalation. A North Korean first-strike nuclear attack against the US or its regional allies makes little sense for North Korea. From this perspective, it is a strategic restraint on Americas part based on deterrence rather than unnecessary unilateral muscle-flexing thats more likely to preserve regional stability. Back in 2002, North Korea expert Victor Cha pointed out North Korea was most likely to use nuclear weapons if backed into a corner where the perpetuation of the Kim regime was directly threatened. It is a disturbing irony that by deploying the USS Carl Vinson battle group, Trump has increased the possibility of that scenario coming to pass. Benjamin Habib, Lecturer, School of Social Sciences, La Trobe University This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. conversation logo Photo: The Conversation The Conversation Related Articles Bangkok (AFP) - The number of people killed on Thailand's roads during the country's traditional new year week dropped by more than ten percent following a junta campaign to end the annual carnage. The kingdom has some of the world's most lethal roads, with accidents spiking over Songkran -- the April new year festival -- as millions of city workers return to their country homes. Both Songkran and the western New Year are both dubbed the "seven deadly days" because of the surge in crashes and road fatalities. Figures released on Tuesday showed 390 people lost their lives on Thailand's roads during the previous seven days, an eleven percent decrease on the previous year. Thailand's junta government has launched repeated crackdowns on drink driving since its 2014 power grab, including approving harsher penalties for offenders, seizing vehicles and forcing drivers to visit mortuaries holding the bodies of accident victims. But until now all the previous campaigns showed no reductions. Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha on Tuesday said there was still work to be done to persuade Thais to drive more responsibly. "No I am not satisfied because people are still dead," he told reporters. Despite relatively good infrastructure, Thailand has the world's second most dangerous roads in terms of per capita deaths, according to data collected by the World Health Organization in a 2015 report. Figures show drink-driving remains stubbornly entrenched in Thailand. Nearly a third of accidents over this year's Songkran -- 28 percent -- were caused by drunk driving. Military authorities said they also seized 5,600 motorbikes and 1,800 cars driven by people who were over the limit. Experts say speeding and a lack of helmet-wearing among motorcyclists are also major factors behind the high death rate. The kingdom's traffic cops are also notorious for bribe-taking and letting wealthy, well-connected drivers off the hook for offences. Neighbouring Myanmar, which also celebrates the traditional new year over the same period, said 285 people were killed on its roads last week. (Reuters) - Embattled blood-testing company Theranos Inc will pay $4.65 million to customers in Arizona who used its services between 2013 and 2016, the state's attorney general said on Tuesday. Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich had alleged that Theranos' advertisements misrepresented the method, accuracy and reliability of its blood testing. Of the roughly 1.5 million blood tests Theranos sold to more than 175,000 customers in Arizona, 10 percent were voided or corrected, Brnovich said in a statement. (http://bit.ly/2pOVZzF) Theranos said on Tuesday the agreement reflects costs incurred by customers for tests, regardless of whether the company received payment, or whether the test results were voided or corrected. Theranos was founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003 to develop an innovative blood testing device that would give quicker results using just one drop of blood. However, its fortunes waned after the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles starting in October 2015 that suggested the devices were flawed and inaccurate. Theranos in January announced layoffs affecting 155 jobs, or 41 percent of its workforce. On Monday, Theranos said it would stay out of the blood-testing business for at least two years in exchange for reduced penalties from federal health authorities. (Reporting by Divya Grover in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) (Reuters) - Theranos Inc said on Monday it would stay out of the blood-testing business for at least two years in exchange for reduced penalties from federal health authorities. The settlement resolves all outstanding legal and regulatory proceedings between Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the company, Theranos said. Under the terms of the agreement, CMS has withdrawn the revocation of the Theranos' CLIA operating certificates and reduced its civil monetary penalty against the company to $30,000, Theranos said. Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) mandates that virtually all laboratories, including physician office laboratories, meet applicable federal requirements and have a CLIA certificate to operate. Theranos, which exited the clinical lab and retail business last year, said it also would withdraw its September 2015 appeal of the sanctions imposed by CMS on its Newark clinical laboratory. CMS could not be immediately reached for comment outside regular business hours. Theranos ran into trouble after the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles beginning last October suggesting its blood-testing devices were flawed and inaccurate. The company, once valued at $9 billion, was founded by Elizabeth Holmes in 2003 to develop an innovative blood testing device that would give quicker results using just one drop of blood. In 2016 Holmes was barred by a U.S. regulator from owning or operating a lab for at least two years. (Reporting by John Benny in Bengaluru; Editing by Bill Trott) Embattled diagnostics startup Theranos said it will return $4.65 million to Arizona residents for the blood testing services they received between 2013 and 2016. Everyone who paid for a test will receive a full refund, period, Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich said in a statement. Some 1.5 million blood tests were performed on 175,000 customers and more than 10 percent were ultimately voided. The deal, made with the Arizona attorney generals office, is Theranoss second for the week: The Silicon Valley company also told the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that it wouldnt conduct any blood testing for at least two years, in exchange for pared-down penalties from federal health authorities. As part of the new deal, Theranos also agreed to not operate a CLIA-certified lab in Arizona for two years, starting March 28, 2017. It will pay the attorney generals office $200,000 in civil penalties, and $25,000 in legal fees. Theranos, launched in 2003 by CEO Elizabeth Holmes, once had grand plans to revolutionize the diagnostics industry. The company claimed that its technology could run hundreds of lab tests with a single drop of blood. It partnered with Walgreens to create a network of Wellness Centers across Arizona and California, aiming to expand the direct-to-consumer diagnostics market. Read more: Theranos to shut labs and lay off hundreds as mission shifts to research But a series of damning media reports, beginning in late 2015, reversed the course of the once-promising diagnostics startup and last summer, CMS found that Theranoss practices in its California lab led to immediate jeopardy to patient health and safety. Federal health authorities banned Holmes from owning or operating a lab for two years, and Walgreens ended its partnership with Theranos closing down the 40 Wellness Centers in Arizona and California. It has since switched gears, and is developing a miniLab device that it claims will miniaturize the entire diagnostics process into a small, table-top device. In January, the Arizona attorney generals office began gearing up to launch a lawsuit against Theranos and its subsidiaries, alleging consumer fraud. It claimed that Theranos violated the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, thanks to a long-running scheme of deceptive acts and misrepresentations relating to the capabilities of Theranos blood testing equipment. London (AFP) - British Prime Minister Theresa May, who on Tuesday called for a snap election, has forged a reputation as a no-nonsense pragmatist seeking to lead the country through one of the most tumultuous periods of its history. Britain's second female leader after fellow Conservative Margaret Thatcher, May took over the helm of government in July last year after the country's shock vote to leave the European Union after four decades of membership. She was officially -- but unenthusiastically -- in favour of Britain staying in the European Union and had kept a low profile throughout the often poisonous and polarising campaign. But after stepping into the political vacuum left by David Cameron's decision to quit -- becoming prime minister without winning an election -- her constant refrain was "Brexit means Brexit". She faced a struggle to keep together a country deeply divided by the referendum, with Scotland planning to hold a new referendum on its independence. After formally launching the divorce process from the European Union in late March, May insisted there could be "no turning back" from the historic decision and appealed for national unity. "We need a general election and we need one now. We have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done... before the detailed talks begin," said May in a dramatic announcement outside her Downing Street residence. - 'Bloody difficult woman' - The clergyman's daughter was once labelled by senior Conservative Kenneth Clarke in an unguarded moment, a "bloody difficult woman." But the 60-year-old claimed this was the very quality which would stand her in good stead for the battles ahead. May was born Theresa Brasier in the southern English seaside town of Eastbourne in 1956. Her father Hubert was an Anglican clergyman, one of several points which has drawn comparisons between May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Her education - at a series of little-known state and private schools - has been contrasted with the elite Etonian background of Cameron and many in his so-called "Notting Hill Set" circle. Story continues Like Cameron, she attended Oxford University but kept a low profile. It was here that she met her husband Philip, a banker they were reportedly introduced by Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto. The couple married in 1980 but were unable to have children. May's rival Andrea Leadsom withdrew from the leadership race two days after comments were published suggesting this made her less qualified to be prime minister. - 'The nasty party' - May worked in finance, including at the Bank of England, before being elected as MP for the London commuter town of Maidenhead in 1997. As Conservative chairwoman in 2002, she made waves by suggesting the Tories were seen as "the nasty party" and needed to overhaul their image although under Cameron's leadership, they did so. When the Conservatives won the 2010 general election, May was named home secretary, seen as one of the hardest jobs in government which has wrecked a string of other political careers. But May kept the job for six years -- the longest serving interior minister since 1892. Supporters say her achievements in that post include deporting radical cleric Abu Qatada to Jordan -- where he was later freed after a decade of legal cases -- and standing up to the Police Federation, the powerful police officers union, to try to address a string of scandals. In 2013, May revealed she has type 1 diabetes but insisted it would not affect her career, saying it was a question of "head down and getting on with it". While widely respected, she is not part of any clique in the corridors of power in Westminster, acknowledging that she does not drink in parliament's many bars or "gossip about people over lunch". A source who has worked closely with her once told AFP on condition of anonymity that she was "incredibly hard-working". "She's always got up three hours before everybody else and knows five times more than anyone else in the room," the source said. "Theresa is not going to do anything radical ... she's incredibly risk-averse, a safe pair of hands." May has little time for hobbies but is well known for her collection of leopard-print kitten heels and enjoys cooking and taking walking holidays with her husband. Bratislava (AFP) - Several thousand young Slovaks on Tuesday protested in the EU member's capital, calling for the dismissal of the interior minister and police officials for allegedly not doing enough to fight corruption. Demonstrators at the rally organised by a couple of high school students carried signs reading "We want a better country" and "Fico defends thieves," in reference to leftist Prime Minister Robert Fico. "Corruption is one of Slovakia's biggest problems. Our money disappears into the pockets of oligarchs," said student Karolina Farska, one of the rally organisers. "We have to act immediately." The protest was backed by Slovak President Andrej Kiska, a vocal critic of the government, who told the local Dennik N daily recently: "If we all remain silent, nothing will change here." The protest organisers called for the dismissal of Interior Minister Robert Kalinak, police chief Tibor Gaspar and the prosecutor for corruption cases, Dusan Kovacik. "Corruption is everywhere. You have to have a thick envelope handy to get things done in Slovakia," 23-year-old student Tomas Reichmann told AFP. Transparency International recently ranked the eurozone nation of 5.4 million people as the seventh most corrupt EU member. Approaching his 100-day mark with little to show for it but a new Supreme Court justice, Donald Trump is shedding his past positions faster than a stock trader getting rid of underperforming stocks. Syria? Do NOT attack Syria,fix U.S.A., he tweeted in 2013. On April 6, Trump, of course, attacked Syria while criticizing former President Barack Obama for not having done so in 2013 i.e., for not having acted in contravention of Trumps advice at the time. NATO? As recently as March 22, he said it was obsolete, because it doesnt cover terrorism. On April 12, he declared, They made a change, and now they do fight terrorism. I said it was obsolete. Its no longer obsolete. So NATO suddenly embraced counterterrorism in those three weeks? Hardly. It has been doing so since at least 2001. China? As recently as April 2, Trump said, When you talk about currency manipulation, when you talk about devaluations, they are world champions. On April 12, however, he told the Wall Street Journal, Theyre not currency manipulators. In that same interview, he delivered an endorsement of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen after having said last year that he would most likely not appoint her to another term. And an endorsement of the Export-Import Bank after having said in 2015, I dont like it because I dont think its necessary. The trade deficit? As recently as March 31, Trump identified this as the top problem facing America: The jobs and wealth have been stripped from our country year after year, decade after decade, trade deficit upon trade deficit, he said. But now he is offering Xi Jinping, leader of the country with the biggest trade surplus with America, better trade terms in exchange for help with North Korea. So I guess the trade deficit isnt a priority anymore? Russia? After having nothing but praise for Vladimir Putin last year, Trump is now denouncing the Russian strongman for supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Putin is backing a person thats truly an evil person, and I think its very bad for Russia, he said in an April 12 interview with Fox News. I think its very bad for mankind. Its very bad for this world. Story continues Tax reform? Trump has scrapped the tax plan he campaigned on and is starting to work on a new one from scratch. Steve Bannon? He has gone from indispensable White House ideologue to a guy who works for me and someone whom Trump falsely claims he didnt even meet until last year. News reports indicate that Bannon is losing influence in the White House to those whom Trumps followers once derided as RINOs, globalists, and cucks, e.g., former Goldman Sachs President Gary Cohn and first son-in-law Jared Kushner. Thats nine major flip-flops just since April began and the month is far from over. About the only views that Trump isnt shedding are the conspiratorial ones. On April 11, for example, he insisted in an interview with the New York Post that he was surveilled and so was my campaign, claims that have been debunked by his own FBI and National Security Agency directors. Trumps most ardent supporters are, of course, remolding their own views to keep pace with their leader. Newt Gingrich is Exhibit A. Last year, after Trump trashed NATO, the former House speaker repented of his previous support for NATO expansion. Estonia is in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, he explained gravely. Im not sure I would risk a nuclear war over some place which is the suburbs of St. Petersburg. But now that Trump has attacked Russias Syrian allies, Gingrich professes himself unperturbed by the possibility of a clash with Moscow. If Assad uses chemical weapons again, Gingrich has blustered, I think were going to hit him again, and if the Russians get in the way, theyre just going to get hit as part of the process. So we should risk World War III over Syria but not over NATO member Estonia? Got it. In his willingness to follow Trump wherever he may go, Gingrich reflects the vast majority of the Republican faithful. In 2013, only 22 percent of Republicans supported military action against Syria over the chemical weapons red line. Now, 86 percent support it. Wonder what changed? This shows the extent to which Trumps rise was not based on any particular positions or views. It was and remains a cult of personality. Trumps followers worship him and he worships himself, too. They are bound by a conviction, rooted in basically nothing but quasi-religious faith, that he is a singularly tough and savvy deal-maker who will protect American interests in a way that no previous president has done. Not even Trumps failure to actually pull off any successful deals dents his aura among the faithful. In fact, the failure of the Republican health care plan showed that Trump could not even convince legislators of his own party to go along with him. And Trump briefly flirted with abandoning the One China policy before endorsing it in return for nothing more than a phone call with Xi. If Trump cannot eventually show more success as a deal-maker, at least some of his more rational followers will likely grow disenchanted. But we are not there yet. What are the rest of us, who were never enamored of Trump to begin with, to make of Trump 2.0? My own view is cautious optimism tempered by befuddlement and trepidation. The optimism comes from the fact that Trump is shedding his loonier positions e.g., the claim that China is a currency manipulator, which hasnt been true for years in favor of more mainstream, factually based views. This shows the growing influence of the Axis of Adults, led by H.R. McMaster and James Mattis, and the waning power of the Cabal of Crazies, led by Bannon. A positive development, that. It also shows that Trump is capable of learning. Yet I remain confused by why Trump is suddenly reversing himself, because he seldom if ever offers any explanation and often does not even acknowledge his flip-flops. On those rare occasions when he admits that his views have changed, his explanations are usually disingenuous, e.g., his claim that NATO has suddenly embraced counterterrorism. More often, as in the case of Syria, he wont deign to explain why he now favors a course of action he once violently opposed or what his policy will be in the future. This leads to my trepidation: Will Trump maintain his latest positions for the length of his presidency, or will he discover a new set of positions next month if his latest positions are not immediately rewarded with higher poll numbers? As CNN reports, Hazarding a guess at the mercurial Presidents plans is roughly as fruitful as predicting an earthquake, a person in close touch with the White House said: Equal parts science and art. Who the hell knows? another senior Republican source in frequent contact with the White House said. Its Donald Trump. Considering that Trump is the most important person in the most important country on Earth, the very fact that his future path is so unpredictable Who the hell knows? should be a cause for concern. A certain amount of leverage comes from being a president who is thought to be capable of anything a madman, to borrow Richard Nixons term. But in the end the world needs a significant degree of predictability from the leader of the free world so that allies and enemies alike know that certain red lines cant be crossed and certain commitments wont be abandoned. With Trump, its impossible to have any such confidence. The only thing we know for sure is that he will continue to surprise. Lets hope it will be in a good way. Photo credit: CHIP SOMODEVILLA/Getty Images President Donald Trump is not the only national figure weighing in on the special House election in a red Georgia district the race has attracted more money and attention than the area ever has. Trump jabbed at 30-year-old Democratic House candidate Jon Ossoff in a Monday tweet, saying the "super liberal Democrat" wants to "protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes." The president's attack comes with Ossoff leading polls in an 18-candidate field as he tries to flip the traditionally Republican seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. The Georgia 6th District election, one of the first for Congress in the Trump era, has attracted more cash from around the country than the district has ever seen. Almost all of that money has gone toward helping or directly opposing Ossoff, a former congressional aide. A mysterious candidate named Rodney Stooksbury spent just $346 to win more than a third of the votes cast in the 2016 general election for the seat. The crowded field in Tuesday's election would love that kind of return on investment. As of March 29, Ossoff had raised $8.3 million and spent $6.1 million more than double the highest amount Price spent in any one of his seven election campaigns there. The sum does not include funds raised in the more than two weeks since. Price first won the House seat in 2004 and never spent more than $2.5 million in an election. Ossoff's haul is all the more remarkable because Price was no slouch with spending he spent more than the average Republican and Democratic House incumbent in 2016. The candidates to replace Price include Ossoff and several Republicans, former Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel, businessman Bob Gray and former state Sens. Judson Hill and Dan Moody. Most recent polls have shown Ossoff with roughly 40 percent of support, with the four Republicans trailing him holding more than 50 percent of the support, combined. Story continues Ossoff has easily outraised his opponents. As of March 29, Handel raised about $463,000, Hill garnered about $473,000 and Moody about $108,000. If no candidate in Tuesday's election wins 50 percent of the vote, it goes to a June runoff. The top two candidates will advance regardless of party. Ossoff would face a much tougher task in a runoff, as support would likely coalesce around a Republican. The high-profile contest, which some see as an early test of whether Democrats can flip Republican districts in the Trump era, has sparked the interest of outside groups, as well. It is one of four special elections in which a red seat is up for grabs, vacated by a Trump nominee. Republicans held off the first major House challenge in Kansas' red 4th District, as the GOP's Ron Estes beat Democrat James Thompson by 7 points last week. Still, some Democrats are upbeat about the margin, as new CIA Director Mike Pompeo, whose nomination as CIA director opened up the seat, won the district by 31 points last year. The activity from big-money interest groups on both the right and left underscores the national attention on the special elections as the Georgia race comes into focus. Several groups dedicated to keeping the Republican House majority, as well as wings of the National Rifle Association and Planned Parenthood, among other organizations, have funneled nearly $8 million into the race. At least $4.5 million of that was spent to oppose Ossoff, who has led most polling in the race, partly because of fractured support among Republicans. Ads targeting Ossoff have claimed he lacks experience and is too closely tied to top Democrats. One even hit him for dressing up as "Star Wars" character Han Solo when he was in college. Another tied Ossoff to terrorist groups, even including an image of Osama bin Laden, because his filmmaking company reportedly produced documentaries for news outlet Al Jazeera. There is nothing to indicate that Ossoff has any ties to terrorist organizations. His campaign manager Keenan Pontoni called the ad a "smear attack" and said it was "truly shameful." In a statement, he said Ossoff is "proud of his work as an investigative filmmaker." All the more unusual is the Hollywood attention Ossoff has attracted. Actor Jon Cryer and comedian Chelsea Handler both donated $2,700 to his campaign, and actress Alyssa Milano has publicly supported him, prompting an attack from Handel. Trump won the 6th district by only 1.5 points last year. Still, Price got more than 60 percent of the vote there in 2016. More From CNBC Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump wants to retool the fabled H-1B visas for skilled workers sought by Silicon Valley heavyweights, a White House official said Monday. There are, however, limits to the scope of his action in the absence of a broader legislative plan. These time-limited work permits meant for scientists, engineers and computer programmers are an important gateway for many Indians attracted by Silicon Valley. Trump on Tuesday will sign a decree while in Kenosha, Wisconsin, ordering the Labor, Justice and Homeland Security departments to propose reforms so that the H-1B program goes back to its roots. Its "original intent (was) awarding visas to the most skilled and highest paid applicants -- crucially, at such time as these reforms are eventually implemented, it will prevent the program from being used to displace American workers," a White House official said. "For too long, rather than just allowing the best to come (...), the H-1B program has been applied in a bad way for US workers," the White House said. The executive order will aim to support stated Trump priorities of "buy American, hire American." Immigration authorities already announced earlier in April measures to combat "fraud and abuse" in issuing the visas. The steps announced Monday come when the United States opens the annual allocation of some 85,000 H-1B visas. The US president cannot, by a simple decree, change the number of visas allocated. But the White House hopes, by signing the decree will build momentum before a possible legislative reform. "This is a transitional step to get towards a more skilled based and merit based version," a White House official told AFP. "There is a lot we can do administratively, and the rest will be done hopefully legislatively." The United States offers 85,000 H-1B visas every year, most of which are snapped up by Indian outsourcers whose employees fill a skill gap in US engineering. Applications are vastly oversubscribed and are allocated via a lottery system. On the campaign trail, the media loved Donald Trumps unpredictability. What would the wacky candidate do next? It was an approach he was keen to wield not only on the political stage but the global one, calling for an unpredictable foreign policy. We are totally predictable. We tell everything. Were sending troops? We tell them. Were sending something else? We have a news conference. We have to be unpredictable, and we have to be unpredictable starting now, he said in an April 2016 speech. Recent weeks have seen a renewed focus on this pledge, with Trump switching positions almost by the day. Trump declared that NATO, despite his earlier claims, is no longer obsolete. He wont declare China a currency manipulator. Despite months (and even years) of calling for cooperation with Syria and Russia to combat the Islamic State, and for an America First doctrine skeptical of the value of international norms, Trump ordered a cruise missile strike on Syrias Shayrat air base in retaliation for the Bashar al-Assad regimes apparent use of chemical weapons against civilians. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., now visibly disagree on whether the administration will resume Barack Obamas policy of demanding Assads removal from power. Reversals and shifts are far from unprecedented. New administrations often adjust their policies to deal with the complex realities of international affairs or with changing tides in domestic politics. But few of these have openly sung the praises of unpredictability or contradicted themselves with such abandon as the Trump administration. The president and his supporters argue that having a reputation for being unpredictable will make others think twice before messing with the United States. But unpredictability isnt a strength. For a great power such as America, its a recipe for instability, confusion, and self-inflicted harm to U.S. interests abroad. Some commentators link Trumps championing of unpredictability to the so-called madman theory of Richard Nixons attempt to persuade rivals including the North Vietnamese and the Soviet Union that he was impulsive and unpredictable. Neither Hanoi nor Moscow was ever entirely convinced by Nixons stance. But the madman theory also wasnt about Trumpian unpredictability. Nixon wanted to convince his adversaries that he was irrational, but consistent, when it came to calculating the downsides of using force. Consider nuclear brinkmanship during the Cold War. A rational leader would never risk nuclear oblivion over an issue of minor importance. It is, in fact, difficult to imagine any particular dispute being worth nuclear Armageddon, especially one that does not directly threaten the American homeland. That left some questioning the value of the deterrent at all. So how do you make it credible that the United States will risk a nuclear exchange over West Germany or Japan, let alone, as Nixon toyed with, Vietnam or Israel? Nixon thought that it might help create the impression that he was irrational but in the sense of being prone to impulsive and disproportionate actions without thinking about the costs. There was nothing unpredictable about his underlying policy preferences or goals. The strategy was attractive, in large part, because some of the situations Nixon faced did not lend themselves to standard solutions. In the context of nuclear deterrence and coercion which was central to Nixons calculations the textbook approach is to make a nuclear response more or less automatic. Such policies are ways of approximating the act of throwing the steering wheel out the window in a game of chicken. They show your opponent that you cant swerve out of the way that you will, metaphorically or literally, fight to the death. There was no guarantee that the United States would go nuclear over Berlin, but the U.S. troop presence in the city made clear that Washington would be under enormous pressure to do something following thousands of American deaths. It left multiple pathways through which an attack on Berlin might spiral out of control. As famed nuclear theorist Thomas Schelling noted of the garrison in Berlin, What can 7,000 American troops do, or 12,000 Allied troops? Bluntly, they can die. They can die heroically, dramatically, and in a manner that guarantees that the action cannot stop there. The tripwire of an outmatched U.S. presence in Berlin therefore enhanced deterrence. By placing its troops in a place where they might be easily sacrificed, Washington showed it simply had no other option than escalating the conflict. While we might associate such behavior with a crazy person, it is the exact opposite of unpredictability. Throwing the steering wheel out the window makes the outcome of failing to swerve totally predictable. In sharp contrast, Trumpian unpredictability often undermines coercive diplomacy. What would have happened if the Trump administration had made clear that the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria would result in American military action? Or if Trump and his closest advisors hadnt repeatedly signaled that they would rather work with Assad than against him? We will never know. But an unambiguous threat to retaliate might have deterred the use of chemical weapons in the first place. Seen from this perspective, the American strike looks like a failure of coercive diplomacy, not a success. While Trump demonstrated his willingness to use force by attacking the Shayrat air base, the only way that the attack will reduce the chances of the Assad regime using chemical weapons in the future is if it believes that Trump is predictable and that any future use will cause another strike. Similarly, leaks from the administration suggested that if Pyongyang tested a nuclear device last weekend, then the United States would launch military action against North Korea. Other members of the administration walked back those threats, creating at least in public significant ambiguity about possible American actions. On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence warned that North Korea should not test American resolve but that the United States is open to talks. Lets say that Trump does, in fact, intend to retaliate if North Korea tests another nuclear device. The unpredictability of the situation likely makes Pyongyang more, not less, likely to initiate a test. After all, it cannot be sure that Trump would, in fact, use force. There are situations where this might benefit American policymakers. If Washington wants to deter an adversary, but does not actually want to use force, then leaving the threat ambiguous reduces the political costs of backing down, stopping opponents at home from accusing you of chickening out of enforcing a supposed red line. If the goal is to keep an adversary from taking any provocative steps even those short of what you consider worth using force or imposing sanctions over then introducing some unpredictability about what would trigger a response might be a good idea. The problem is that ambiguity might encourage the adversary to probe your resolve and test the limits of your interests while making it more difficult to clearly signal that a particular move is a step too far and will credibly invite retaliation. For example, in the absence of clear signals about what the United States is and is not willing to tolerate, and faced with mixed signals about American interests, Pyongyang might be tempted to initiate a series of low-level incidents designed to test the limits of U.S. tolerance. It is easy to imagine one of those actions, like the downing or seizure of a naval vessel or drone, crossing a line that prompts a forceful response to the perceived affront. The irony in such a scenario is that Pyongyang might steer clear of these actions if it could predict with some confidence how the United States would react. The trade-offs around strategic ambiguity are difficult, but Trumpian unpredictability seems not to take account of them at all. No rational policy calculation for the United States favors sudden policy reversals, a failure to communicate consistent interests or preferences, consistently mixed signals, or any of the other forms of flexibility now on the table. Trumps unpredictability is a strategy that carries more benefits for weak states facing vastly superior foes. Indeed, Trump might make more sense if he were North Koreas leader, not Americas. On the classic sitcom Malcolm in the Middle, the father, Hal, explains the strategy of schoolyard fights to his sons: Crazy beats big every time. Crazies fight harder and dirtier and care less about consequences. North Korea certainly derives some benefit from the common perception that its leaders are crazy. The United States has the ability to utterly annihilate North Korea a few times over. But the simple risk that crazy North Korea would be willing to risk total destruction, carrying large portions of South Korea and the U.S. garrison there with it, has contributed to deterring Washington from preventive action in the peninsula. But the United States, in this scenario, is one of the big kids on the schoolyard. With the limited exception of the other nuclear great powers, Washington can inflict far more damage economic, diplomatic, or military on any other state than they can impose on the United States. Some of that outsized power derives directly from Americas vast network of allies and strategic partners, which no rival comes close to matching. Thus, for the United States, unpredictability carries enormous risks. Thats true for Nixonian calculated irrationality, too, but much more so for Trumpian unpredictability. Rivals and allies can easily interpret mixed signals from different voices in the administration and frequent high-profile policy reversals as evidence that the president does not mean what he says, that he has no idea what he is doing, or that he can change his mind on a whim. Intentionally fostering uncertainty reduces the credibility of existing commitments. Unraveling the American alliance network by undermining confidence in Washington is probably the worst way to implement an America First policy. It undercuts a major source of American strength without gaining the benefits that might follow from strategic retrenchment that is, of making deliberate decisions about what commitments are key to American security and which can be shed, while taking steps to ensure that unwinding those commitments dont harm vital interests and alliances. Trumpian unpredictability creates more problems than solutions. Playing crazy may sometimes be an attractive strategy, especially for weaker actors that have a narrow set of minimalist goals like survival or autonomy. But if a state has more expansive goals, and ample resources to pursue them, as does the United States, unpredictability is a poor approach to grand strategy. It is hard for others to follow your lead when they dont know what your goals are. Partners are less likely to stand by your side if they lack confidence that you will stand by theirs. If Trump wants America to remain a dominant power, and wants others to respect American interests around the world, he needs to bolster American credibility. This requires a good measure of predictability, not the attitudes of an unpredictable rogue state. Photo credit: OLIVIER DOULIERY-Pool/Getty Images Many expected the insurgent presidency of Donald Trump to be accompanied by a revolutionary foreign policy that broke with the record of American internationalism since 1945. On the campaign trail and in his inaugural address, Trump promised an America First doctrine that distanced Washington from its traditional allies, treated trade as a weapon of statecraft, and stepped back from a global stewardship role. But the world looks different from the Oval Office, and governance imposes compelling imperatives on the commander-in-chief of a superpower. Early tests on China, North Korea, Russia, and Syria suggest that a president who relishes unpredictability may yet revert to some traditional tenets of American foreign policy and regain strategic initiative after years in which his predecessor relinquished it to others. Most presidents learn on the job and course-correct with experience. The dovish Jimmy Carter took office at the height of detente, only to intensify the contest against Soviet power after Moscows invasion of Afghanistan. The hawkish Ronald Reagan pursued an expansive military buildup to roll back the Soviet empire, but entered into historic negotiations with the Soviet Unions leaders. Bill Clinton condemned the butchers of Beijing, only to embrace a strategic partnership with China that allies worried was a tad too cozy. George W. Bush decried nation-building abroad, only to undertake the most ambitious effort to do just that in the Middle East. Barack Obama promised American labor unions he would not pursue any new trade agreements only to become a late champion of the most far-reaching U.S. trade initiatives in a generation: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership. American presidents adapt to reality because American national interests endure. They include preventing any hostile power from dominating Asia, Europe, or the energy resources of the Middle East; sustaining an open international economic and political order, not subverted by spheres of influence that exclude the United States; protecting free access to the global commons, especially the maritime sea lanes that carry 90 percent of global trade; nurturing alliances that magnify American power and influence; and promoting democracy and human rights, because the ultimate source of global security is a world in which power is bounded by law and pluralistic institutions. Trump may seem an odd champion of some of these causes. But his national security Cabinet, which now seems to be finding its feet, is in keeping with American foreign-policy traditions. In international affairs, Trump relies on two of the leading general officers of their generation, James Mattis and H.R. McMaster; a pillar of Americas globalist-corporate establishment, former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson; and the former president of Goldman Sachs, Gary Cohn, who has led a so-far-successful effort to check the mercantilist instincts of White House advisers Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro. The internationalists have an ally in Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law and key adviser, who takes a pragmatic view of U.S. policy priorities. For all the focus on Trumps personality, his unorthodox presidency may yield a more traditional focus on deploying American power for broader ends. Obama decried American exceptionalism, emphasized nation-building at home, and pursued a dedicated policy of retracting American power from pivotal theaters like the Middle East, enabling revisionist regional powers to go on the offensive. He did not do enough as the humanitarian tragedy of Syria played out in slow motion, destabilizing not only the Middle East but also Europe, dividing and weakening Washingtons closest ally in world affairs. His rhetorical pivot to Asia left U.S. allies wanting more American presence and leadership than they got. Trump remains at odds with much of Washingtons bipartisan foreign-policy establishment. He has yet to embrace the trade leadership that makes the worlds biggest economy more competitive and dynamic, and Americans more prosperous. But his willingness to employ limited military force including ramping up military action against the Islamic State in Syria and Afghanistan and to stand up to the regional power plays of revisionist states, creates opportunities to more effectively manage complex conflicts, from the Levant to the Korean Peninsula. It is telling that a modest set of missile strikes against a remote Syrian airbase represents the boldest use of American military power against the murderous regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. It is also telling that the tangible threat of U.S. military action against North Korea is on the table after eight years of a policy the Obama administration termed strategic patience, which created a window of opportunity that Pyongyang used to continue to perfect its intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons programs while America looked away. Even China and Russia look off-balance after early fears in Washington that an inexperienced president would appease the leaders of these countries. Chinese President Xi Jinping came to Trumps Mar-a-Lago estate bearing concessions designed to fend off an American trade war. At their inaugural summit, Trump was clear with Xi that the quality of U.S.-China relations would be tied to Beijings cooperation in tightening economic pressure on North Korea. Having secured strategic gains during the Obama presidency, and given the five-year leadership plenum approaching this fall, Xi would be wise to exercise strategic restraint during Trumps first term, and demonstrate Chinas utility by tightening the pressure on its ally North Korea to deter further nuclear tests. Given that Trump wants to manage trade with what he sees as a mercantilist superpower that does not play by the rules, China would also be prudent to pursue the kind of voluntary export restraint agreements that Japan struck with the Ronald Reagan administration in the 1980s, when trade frictions with Tokyo peaked. Trumps threat to use trade barriers as leverage to move China to assume a tougher posture with its client in Pyongyang clearly has gotten Beijings attention and may even yield dividends. Ironically, Trump is likely to be the first American president since the end of the Cold War not to pursue a reset in relations with Russia. The ongoing investigations into the Trump campaigns dealings with Russian agents of influence severely restrict the ability of this administration to pursue any kind of improvement in relations with a regime that invades democratic neighbors, threatens NATO allies with nuclear attack, attempts as a matter of state policy to subvert Western elections, and murders political opponents. Indeed, the mounting domestic opposition to Russian President Vladimir Putins autocratic rule as manifested in popular protests in cities across Russia creates a new pressure point that the United States could leverage through a heightened force posture in Europe and more robust campaign for Russia to conform to international law by severing dealings with the outlaw Syrian regime. As Tillerson pointed out on his way to Moscow to meet Putin, Assad has become a liability rather than an asset to Russias geopolitical ambitions. The Trump administration is still in its first 100 days. It has not been subjected to the kind of international crisis that tests every administration, and which will call into question not only its statecraft but the judgment of the commander-in-chief. There remain reasons to be concerned, particularly about the administrations trade agenda. But anxious allies are breathing a sigh of relief that American power is back as a force to be reckoned with in a dangerous world, after what many see as Obamas abdication of the U.S. role as global guarantor and following a political campaign in which America was presented as a victim of globalization rather than as its engine. In Asia in particular, friends of the United States seek a robust commitment to U.S. military and diplomatic leadership as well as skill in stewarding the pivotal U.S.-China relationship in ways that preclude both condominium and conflict. North Korea poses a harder test than Syria: Asian allies will want to see that the Trump administration is as adept at diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula as it is at projecting military power in the Middle East. The White House will also need to be willing to risk an increase in tensions with Beijing by imposing secondary sanctions on Chinese banks and businesses that are the lifeline of the North Korean economy. Perhaps a harder test for the Trump administration will be whether it can reassert American economic leadership to sustain the open global trading order and prevent China from building a new Asian economy around itself, at Americas expense. Before the wars of the 20th century required it to pivot to Europe, much of the early American republics diplomacy was centered on opening Asian markets to U.S. commerce. That mission is even more important today, as economic power shifts east. Taking back the initiative on trade and investment liberalization in the vacuum left by the TPPs collapse will be essential to this administrations foreign policy success. A version of this essay appeared in the Nikkei Asian Review. Photo credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images donald trump phone President Donald Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to personally congratulate him on his narrow referendum win on Monday. Critics questioned Trump's congratulatory call because Erdogan's victory was seen as bringing him a step closer to one-man rule in his country. The US State Department took a different tone. "We encourage voters and parties on both sides to focus on working together for Turkey's future and to maintain a meaningful political dialogue," said acting State Department spokesman Mark Toner. "Democracies gain strength through respect for diverse points of view, especially on difficult issues. "We look to the government of Turkey to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all its citizens," Toner continued. "The United States continues to support Turkeys democratic development, to which commitment to the rule of law and a diverse and free media remain essential." The new referendum would allow Erdogan, who has already enacted sweeping reforms since a 2016 uprising that nearly ended in a coup, "to issue decrees, declare emergency rule, appoint ministers and top state officials and dissolve parliament," according to Reuters. After 51.4% of voters reportedly opted to pass the referendum, protests against have erupted in the streets of Istanbul. Protesters claim that despite the win, there have been voting irregularities, such as the acceptance of ballots that did not bear official stamps, according to an Associated Press report. Reuters also reported that an initial assessment by the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) the European monitor that was supposed to have been overseeing the voting concluded that it "did not meet democratic norms." In addition to endorsing Erdogan's referendum win, Trump was reported to have discussed other issues that the US and Turkey have been embroiled in recently. "The two leaders agreed that [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad should be held accountable for the actions he has taken," added a statement from Erdogan's office, in a Washington Post report. Since Assad's chemical weapons attack earlier this month, the Turkish Health Ministry was one of the first organizations to denounce Syria for its role in that attack, which killed at least 83 people in the northwest city of Idlib. Story continues NOW WATCH: 'Stop interrupting': Spicer argues with a reporter after saying Trumps former campaign manager played a 'limited role' More From Business Insider By Andrew Chung WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court is set this week to hear a closely watched case testing the limits of religious rights, and new Justice Neil Gorsuch's judicial record indicates he could tip the court toward siding with a church challenging Missouri's ban on state funding of religious entities. Trinity Lutheran Church, which is located in Columbia, Missouri and runs a preschool and daycare center, said Missouri unlawfully excluded it from a grant program providing state funds to nonprofit groups to buy rubber playground surfaces. Missouri's constitution prohibits "any church, sect or denomination of religion" from receiving state taxpayer money. Gorsuch, who embraced an expansive view of religious rights as a Colorado-based federal appeals court judge, on Monday hears his first arguments since becoming a justice last week. He will be on the bench on Wednesday when the justices hear the Trinity Lutheran case, one of the most important of their current term. Gorsuch, appointed by President Donald Trump, restored the Supreme Court's 5-4 conservative majority. Trinity Lutheran wanted public funds to replace its playground's gravel with a rubber surface made from recycled tires that would be safer for children to play on. The U.S. Constitution calls for a separation of church and state and guarantees the free exercise of religion. At the very least, a victory for Trinity Lutheran would help religious organizations nationwide win public dollars for certain purposes, such as health and safety. But it also could bolster the case for using public money for vouchers to help pay for children to attend religious schools rather than public schools in "school choice" programs backed by many conservatives. For example, Colorado's top court in 2015 found that a Douglas County voucher program violated a state constitutional provision similar to Missouri's. Trinity Lutheran's legal effort is being spearheaded by the Alliance Defending Freedom conservative Christian legal activist group, which argues Missouri's policy violates the U.S. Constitution's guarantees of free exercise of religion and equal protection under the law. If the church wins, "religious organizations cannot be excluded from general public welfare benefits that apply to everybody," said Erik Stanley, an alliance lawyer representing the church. Referring to Gorsuch, Stanley said, "He has definitely been a friend of religious liberty. So we are hopeful that will continue when he's on the court, and we're grateful he gets to participate on this important case." In 2013, Gorsuch sided with the evangelical Christian owners of arts-and-crafts retailer Hobby Lobby and allowed owners of private companies to object on religious grounds to a provision in federal healthcare law requiring employers to provide medical insurance that pays for women's birth control. Gorsuch wrote in a concurring opinion that Hobby Lobby's owners faced a choice "between exercising their faith or saving their business." The Supreme Court later affirmed the ruling. Missouri said there is nothing unconstitutional about its grant program. "Trinity Lutheran remains free, without any public subsidy, to worship, teach, pray and practice any other aspect of its faith however it wishes. The state merely declines to offer financial support," the state said in legal papers. The church has drawn support from the religious community including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Mormon Church and Jewish groups. 'OPEN THE FLOODGATES' Groups filing legal papers opposing Trinity Lutheran, including the American Civil Liberties Union, said government funding of churches is precisely what the Constitution forbids. "Forcing states to provide cash to build church property could open the floodgates to programs that coerce taxpayers to underwrite religion," said Daniel Mach, director of the ACLU's program on freedom of religion and belief. Mach said three-quarters of the U.S. states have provisions like Missouri's. Alliance Defending Freedom, which also opposes gay marriage, transgender protections and abortion, has another major case involving religion that the Supreme Court could take up in its term beginning in October. It represents a Colorado bakery's Christian owner who argues the Constitution's promise of religious freedom means he should not have to make a wedding cake for a gay couple. Trinity Lutheran sued in federal court in 2012. The St. Louis-based 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2015 upheld a trial court's dismissal of the suit. The appeals court said accepting the church's arguments would be "unprecedented," noting the Supreme Court's 2004 decision in the case Locke v. Davey that upheld a bar on Washington state scholarships for students preparing for the ministry. The justice who Gorsuch replaced, the late fellow conservative Antonin Scalia, was one of two dissenters in the Locke ruling. When a state withholds a generally available benefit solely on religious grounds, it is like an unconstitutional "special tax" on religion, Scalia said. Judicial observers have described Gorsuch as very much in the mold of Scalia. Missouri's grant program was meant to keep tires out of landfills while also fostering children's safety. The church's brief to the high court stated, "A rubber playground surface accomplishes the state's purposes whether it cushions the fall of the pious or the profane." (Reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will Dunham) Kenosha (United States) (AFP) - President Donald Trump moved Tuesday to make good on his emblematic pledge to "Buy American, Hire American" by tightening skilled-worker visa rules, but his room for maneuver remains limited without wider congressional reform. Speaking in Kenosha, Wisconsin -- one of the states that carried him to his upset victory last November -- Trump vowed: "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure more products are stamped with those wonderful words, 'Made in the USA.'" Like many of Trump's executive orders to date, his newest decree will have little practical impact, but sends a signal for government agencies to come forward with ideas for reforming the country's H-1B visa system. Trump is looking to stamp out "abuses" of the time-limited work permits, which are pervasive in the US high-tech sector, as a first step towards reforming the regime. Intended for scientists, engineers and computer programmers, H-1B visas have become an important gateway for the many Indians drawn to Silicon Valley. The United States issues 85,000 each year. Trump's decree namely instructs the Labor, Justice and Homeland Security departments to tackle abuses and draw up reforms aimed at bringing the program back to its original intent: awarding visas to the most skilled and highly paid applicants. The Trump administration argues that the current system has led to a "flood" of relatively low-wage, low-skill workers in the tech sector -- and in doing so has harmed American workers. "We believe jobs must be offered to American workers first," Trump said. The US Chamber of Commerce voiced immediate reservations: While it agreed there was room for improvement of the H-1B program, it warned the Trump administration not to do away with it altogether. "It would be a mistake to close the door on high-skilled workers from around the world who can contribute to American businesses' growth and expansion and make the US more competitive around the world," the business lobby said in a statement. Story continues The White House sees the decree as a way to spur momentum towards a broader congressional reform of the H-1B scheme -- whose outline remains unclear. "This is a transitional step to get towards a more skill-based and merit-based version," a US official told AFP. "There is a lot we can do administratively, and the rest will be done hopefully legislatively." In his maiden speech to Congress, on March 1, Trump had proposed introducing an Australian-style merit-based system to reduce the flow of unskilled workers into the United States. - Seeking momentum - Trump's new decree also includes a "Buy American" component, calling for stricter implementation of existing laws that are intended to favor US-manufactured goods in public tenders. Without making specific new announcements, the Republican president once more pointed the finger at the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico, dubbing it "a complete and total disaster." "It's been very, very bad for our companies and for our workers and we're going to make some very big changes or we are going to get rid of NAFTA for once and for all," he warned. As Trump's presidency nears the symbolic 100-day mark, the 70-year-old leader is looking to regain momentum on the domestic front after his flagship travel ban was blocked in court, and his vaunted health reform foundered in Congress. Trump's promise of an ambitious tax reform -- another central campaign pledge that would notably involve slashing corporate taxes -- is also struggling to take shape. "Our tax reform and tax plan is coming along very well," Trump said in Wisconsin. "It's going to be out very soon." But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin acknowledged in the Financial Times earlier Tuesday the reform would likely be delayed, calling the target of getting it through Congress before August "highly aggressive to not realistic at this point." U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to compel U.S. companies to hire more American workers, but the proposed changes will require congressional action to have any significant impact. The new Buy America, Hire America order directs government agencies to enforce rules against immigration fraud and abuse and proposes reforming the H-1B visa program to give priority to the most skilled or highest paid applicants instead of selecting them in a lottery system. It also aims to toughen Buy America rules, which favors American companies in federal government contracts, and orders a broad review of U.S. trade agreements containing waivers to procurement rules. The president could renegotiate or rescind agreements that arent deemed fair or reciprocal. H-1B visas are awarded to skilled workers, such as software engineers, professors, doctors, and lawyers, through a lottery system and subject to a wage scale. This year, the program received 199,000 new applications for 85,000 spots a 15 percent drop from the past two years. Trump criticized the program on the campaign trail, arguing it allows U.S. companies to hire low-cost foreign workers instead of American workers, and said he would end it. The administration believes that weaknesses in the H-1B program and loopholes, waivers and lax enforcement of policies aimed at steering government procurement to U.S companies have hurt American workers. But for now, Trumps proposed changes to the visa program is more of a wishlist than an action plan. Congress would need to approve changes, such as raising the wage scale to make it less appealing for U.S. companies to hire foreign workers, or to give priority to highly skilled workers in the H-1B lottery. Ultimately the only things I take away so far are that the administration wants to sound tough and muscular in rooting out fraud and abuse, William Stock, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said. They really want Congress to make changes that, at least for the past 15 years, Congress hasnt been willing to make. Story continues Trump, speaking Tuesday at a manufacturing company in Kenosha, Wisconsin, called his order a historic action and declared the policy of our government is to aggressively promote and use American-made goods and to ensure that American labor is hired to do the job. Large Silicon Valley companies, like Facebook and Google, often use H-1B visas to fill full-time software engineering and programming jobs. Yet information technology firms, which operate more like staffing agencies, have recently come under scrutiny for alleged abuse and fraud involving lower level technical jobs. The most high-profile case of H-1B visa abuse concerned Walt Disney Company in Florida, where American tech workers claimed they were forced to train foreign replacements on the H-1B visa program before being laid off. In October, a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by two workers accusing Disney of conspiring with IT outsourcing companies to circumvent visa regulations. Priya Alagiri, an immigration lawyer for companies in the Bay Area, said the vast majority of H-1B visas are used by tech companies who cannot find qualified workers at home, even though they try. The H-1B program is an arduous, expensive undertaking, she said. Companies dont go out of their way to choose a foreign worker. A typical H-1B visa can cost up to $3,700 in U.S. immigration filing fees, on top of legal fees. It can take months to get a new visa processed, as well as copious evidence demonstrating why the company needs to hire the particular worker. Legally, companies must pay H-1B visa holders the same wage an American would be paid in the equivalent position. Alagiri predicted some big companies would simply leave the United States or outsource more jobs if Congress follows through with the plans outlined in the order. These companies are not going to hire U.S. workers, they are going to move these jobs overseas, she said. Trump has used visa programs to fill jobs at his Mar-a-Lago resort with foreign workers in the past, often under a different visa program for lower skilled workers. A New York Times investigation found the resort pursued more than 500 visas for foreign workers since 2010, while domestic applicants were rejected from the same jobs. Todd Schulte, the president of FWD.us, a bipartisan immigration policy group led by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, said many companies agree the H-1B program needs changes, but such reforms should be targeted at increasing the wage floor to ensure foreign workers are not a cheaper option, and cracking down on companies that abuse the H-1B program for low-skilled outsourcing. Meanwhile, moves to broaden Buy America measures threaten to rile Americas trading partners. Canada, China, the European Union, and Japan have long criticized such measures as barriers to trade even though these countries have similar rules in place. An agreement the United States struck with 42 other World Trade Organization members on access to government contracts may constrain how much the administration can prod other countries to open their procurement further. A senior administration official, in a background briefing with reporters Monday, indicated the administration wasnt planning to scrap or rework the agreement for now. The order takes a measured approach to this problem by not immediately rescinding these agreements or calling for their renegotiation, the official said. The new executive order also aims to strengthen the enforcement of Buy America measures at the bureaucratic level by requiring each federal agency to carry out a review of how it complies with the rules. The Commerce Secretary would furnish a report to the president summarizing the findings. Photo Credit: SCOTT OLSON/Getty Images ALBION From her basement office at St. Marks Lutheran Church, Vickie Truelove is spreading the word throughout the United States. And the word is love. For 21 years, Truelove has been working full-time with Hand In Hand International Adoptions. Thanks to her efforts, more than 750 children have been placed in homes from orphanages around the world. What keeps her motivated? I get information on children who are waiting, Truelove said. I get information monthly. Sometimes, I see the same faces month after month, even year after year. While there are children in need of a home, Truelove and Hand in Hand will have a mission. Based in Albion, Truelove has helped families throughout the U.S. and beyond in seeking children to adopt from countries such as the Philippines, Guatemala, Bulgaria, Moldova, China, Russia and Ukraine. Each country has different criteria. China requires a certain wage minimum for parents looking to adopt, for example. The Philippines requires a couple be married at least three years before adopting. Russia has stopped allowing international adoptions. Truelove is not sure when, of if, the ban will be lifted. Currently, there are approximately 30 families in the process of adopting children from various countries around the globe. When she first started, she estimated that half of the adoptions were for childless couples. Today, most are couples seeking to expand their families. The best part of her job, she said, is kids getting matched. Those who arent matched yet, weigh on her and motivate her to keep going. Truelove, through Hand In Hand International Adoptions, has placed children in homes throughout northeastern Indiana, including Noble, DeKalb, LaGrange, Steuben and Whitley counties. Each year, the organization holds a picnic and a Christmas party for families. The gatherings draw upward of 200 people one big family consisting of several smaller families. It was a desire for a bigger family that drove Vickie and Paul Truelove to get involved. Paul and I had one child, Vicki Truelove said. We felt we wanted to parent another child. Working with Hand In Hand, the couple adopted the first of what would become five children from the Philippines. Vickies job as a teacher, meanwhile, was taking her further away from Albion, and she decided she wanted to do something different. With Pauls support, she contacted Hand In Hand International Adoptions and inquired about whether the organization would have an interest in opening an office in Indiana. The organization agreed. I felt we were almost led into it, Paul Truelove said. It just seemed like everything fell into place. Their church was a big help, providing space in its basement. Theyve been very gracious in allowing us to be here, Vickie said of the church. Its a nice place to work. Having someone help people through the process who has been through the process themselves is a plus, Vickie said. She has some good help, she said. Husband Paul is a member of both the local and corporate board of Hand in Hand. Other local board members Stan Tipton, Deb Tipton, Carrie Gray and Lisa Welfle. Daughter Maia Truelove is a part-time clerical worker, with Emma Spink also does clerical work. Margaret Fisher is a part-time social worker. They may have different duties and responsibilities, but the goal is the same to find loving homes for children who need them. It can be a long process. One of Vickie and Pauls adoption took more than two years to be finalized. It felt like forever, Paul said. The waiting can be difficult, and so can seeing all those faces of children who still need to find a good home. I just have to focus on one child at a time, Vickie said, one set of siblings at a time. I cant do it all. But I can do my part. By Rod Nickel (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump promised on Tuesday to defend American dairy farmers who have been hurt by Canadas protectionist trade practices, during a visit to the cheese-making state of Wisconsin. Canada's dairy sector is protected by high tariffs on imported products and controls on domestic production as a means of supporting prices that farmers receive. It is frequently criticized by other dairy-producing countries. "Were also going to stand up for our dairy farmers," Trump said in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Because in Canada some very unfair things have happened to our dairy farmers and others. Trump did not detail his concerns, but promised his administration would call the Canadian government led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and demand an explanation. "It's another typical one-sided deal against the United States and it's not going to be happening for long," Trump said. Trump also reiterated his threat to eliminate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) with Canada and Mexico if it cannot be changed. U.S. dairy industry groups, in a letter last week, asked Trump to urge Trudeau to halt the pricing policy that has disrupted some U.S. dairy exports and prioritize dairy market access in NAFTA renegotiation talks. "A WTO complaint would be a last resort because it would take five or six years to come to any resolution," said Jaime Castaneda, senior vice president for the U.S. Dairy Export Council. Canada's dairy farmers agreed last year to sell milk ingredients used for cheese-making to Canadian processors, who include Saputo Inc and Parmalat Canada Inc [PLTPRC.UL] at prices competitive with international rates. The pricing agreement was a response to growing U.S. exports of milk proteins to Canada that missed Canada's high tariffs. Industry groups in New Zealand, Australia, the European Union, Mexico and the United States complained that the new prices for Canadian milk ingredients under-cut their exports to Canada. President Trumps reaction is not surprising. He is defending his domestic dairy industry," said Jacques Lefebvre, CEO of Dairy Processors Association of Canada. "We believe that further communications with the Canadian government will broaden his perspective." The Dairy Farmers of Canada said it is confident that the Canadian government will "continue to protect and defend" the country's dairy industry. Representatives for Canada's trade and agriculture ministers could not be immediately reached. Heritage Minister Melanie Joly, speaking to CTV, said about the dispute that "any form of restriction (on) trade will hurt workers on both sides of the border." (Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; additional reporting by Steve Holland in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Karl Plume in Chicago,; Ayesha Rascoe in Washington; and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Editing by Lisa Shumaker) Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump wished Britons "best of luck" with the early election announced by their prime minister, Theresa May, on Tuesday, the White House said. Trump expressed the sentiment when he "received a telephone call from Prime Minister Theresa May... regarding her plans to call a special election in June," a brief statement said. "President Trump wished the British people the best of luck in their electoral process," the White House added, giving no further details of the telephone discussion. Trump has previously hailed the result of the British referendum last year that approved the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union. Brexit, he said when he hosted May at the White House in late January, is going to be a "wonderful thing." May on Tuesday unexpectedly called for the snap June 8 general election to strengthen her position ahead of the Brexit talks with the European Union. One of her goals is to eventually obtain a free-trade deal with the United States. Trump has been invited to visit Britain sometime this year, but no date has yet been announced. President Trump is refusing to say whether the U.S. sabotaged North Koreas launch of ballistic missile that blew up shortly after liftoff Sunday morning. I dont want to comment on it, Trump told Fox & Friends co-host Ainsley Earhardt at Mondays White House Easter Egg Roll. Last month, the New York Times reported that during President Barack Obamas last three years in office, he quietly ordered a surge in strikes against the missile launches including the use of electronic warfare techniques to combat them. Its unclear whether such a counterattack was used to sabotage Sundays launch. The approach taken in targeting the North Korean missiles has distinct echoes of the American- and Israeli-led sabotage of Irans nuclear program, the most sophisticated known use of a cyberweapon meant to cripple a nuclear threat, the Times David Sanger and William Broad wrote in early March. During his Fox & Friends interview, Trump would also not comment on what the U.S. response would be if North Korea attempted to launch another missile. Well find out, the president said. Earlier this month, Trump deployed a U.S. Navy strike group to the vicinity of the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against dictator Kim Jong Uns nuclear provocations. We are sending an armada, very powerful, Trump said on Fox Business. We have submarines very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier, that I can tell you. North Korea is one of Trumps most difficult national security challenges. During the last two administrations, Pyongyang made enough progress on nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that, experts predict, it could strike the U.S. mainland possibly even the East Coast in two to three years. As Yahoo News previously reported, the Obama administration enlisted China and other world powers in two rounds of international sanctions, and left Trump options for further tightening the economic vise, according to administration and congressional sources. Story continues Trump has also repeatedly signaled in his interest in working with China to curb North Koreas nuclear ambitions. Chinas trying to help us, Trump told Earhardt. I dont know if they are going to be able to or not. On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence toured the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea, saying, The era of strategic patience is over. Were going to redouble our efforts to bring diplomatic and economic pressure to bear on North Korea, Pence said. Our hope is that we can resolve this issue peaceably. At the Easter Egg Roll, Trump was asked whether he had ruled out a U.S. military strike. I dont want to telegraph what Im doing or what Im thinking, Trump said. Im not like other administrations where they say were going to do this in four weeks. It doesnt work that way. Well see what happens. I hope things work out well. I hope theres going to be peace, but theyve been talking with this gentleman for a long time. Its appeared the gentleman Trump was referring to was Kim Jong Un, but the president also seemed to conflate Kim with his father, former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, who died in 2011. In 1994, the U.S. signed a deal meant to freeze and ultimately dismantle North Koreas nuclear program. You read [Bill] Clintons book, and he said, Oh, we made such a great peace deal, and it was a joke, Trump said. You look at different things over the years with President Obama. Everybody has been outplayed. Theyve all been outplayed by this gentleman, and well see what happens. I just dont telegraph my moves. Yahoo News Chief Washington Correspondent Olivier Knox contributed reporting. Read more from Yahoo News: Riyadh (AFP) - Twelve Saudi soldiers, including four officers, were killed on Tuesday when their helicopter went down in Yemen, the Arab coalition fighting Yemeni rebels said in a statement. The Saudi Black Hawk "fell during operations in the province of Marib" east of Sanaa, the coalition said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency, without clarifying the reason. "The causes of the incident are being investigated," the statement added. Coalition spokesman General Ahmed Assiri told AFP it was "too early" to comment on the causes of the crash, which is one of the deadliest incidents involving coalition forces in Yemen. The rebel-controlled Saba news agency said a helicopter crashed east of the provincial capital Marib without giving further details. A Saudi-led coalition began air strikes over Yemen in March 2015 in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's internationally recognised government in its fight against Iran-backed Huthi rebels. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which play key roles in the coalition, have suffered the alliance's heaviest losses in Yemen, with dozens of soldiers killed. In September 2015, a rebel missile strike on a coalition base in Marib killed 67 coalition soldiers, most of them Emiratis. The United Nations says that more than 7,700 people have been killed since March 2015 in Yemen, which also faces a serious risk of famine this year. Seven ceasefires brokered between government and rebel forces by the United Nations have failed, while UN-backed peace talks have repeatedly broken down. Paris (AFP) - Police arrested two men in Marseille Tuesday on suspicion of planning an "imminent" attack, finding guns, explosives and an Islamic State jihadist flag just days before the first round of France's presidential election. The foiled plot sparked fears that the closing days of the campaign could be a target for extremists ahead of Sunday's vote, the country's most unpredictable election in decades. Elite police and intelligence agents detained the two Frenchmen -- identified by sources as 23-year-old Clement Baur and Mahiedine Merabet, 29 -- in the Mediterranean port city and Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said they were known to be "radicalised". While searching the suspects' shared Marseille apartment, authorities uncovered an arsenal including a loaded Uzi submachine gun, two loaded pistols, three kilos (6.5 pounds) of TATP explosives and a homemade grenade as well as the flag of the IS group, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins told reporters. The men both have criminal records and are suspected of plotting "an imminent, violent act on French soil, though we don't know precisely the day, the target or targets," Molins added. Merabet was trying to contact IS to pass them "a video pledging allegiance or claiming (an attack)", the prosecutor said, adding both suspects were on a French watchlist of extremists. A video intercepted last week included images of a newspaper front page that bore the image of a presidential candidate whom Molins did not identify. Despite officials giving no indication of who the men were targeting, the campaign team of far-right candidate Marine Le Pen linked the arrests to her planned campaign visit to Marseille on Wednesday. "The fact that the two individuals were arrested in Marseille as Marine Le Pen was preparing to hold a meeting the following day is perhaps not a coincidence," a member of her entourage said. Photos of the two suspects were distributed last week to the security teams for Le Pen and centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron. Story continues Conservative candidate Francois Fillon was also warned about the danger last week, an aide said. France remains under a state of emergency after being the repeated target of jihadist attacks that have killed more than 230 people since January 2015. In the deadliest attack, IS gunmen and suicide bombers slaughtered 130 people in Paris in November 2015. Candidates have been heavily guarded during the election campaign, but so far there have been few security scares. - Election race narrowing - The presidential race has narrowed with just days to go, with the pack closing behind frontrunners Macron and Le Pen. For weeks, centrist former banker Macron and National Front leader Le Pen have been in front but opinion polls now show any of the four leading candidates could reach the May 7 run-off. Scandal-plagued Fillon and far-left firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon have closed the gap dramatically in the last two weeks. "We have never seen a four-way contest like this in the first round of a presidential election," Frederic Dabi of the Ifop polling institute told AFP. "There has been a real tightening of the race with four candidates between 19 percent and 23 percent." Macron and Le Pen are tied on 22-23 percent, with Fillon improving to around 21 percent and Melenchon surging as high as 20 percent in some polls. With Le Pen expected to reach the second round, polls continue to indicate that whoever faces her will win, although after Brexit and Donald Trump's US presidential election victory, no one is taking anything for granted. Melenchon has made the most remarkable breakthrough in recent weeks with a far-left programme that includes huge public spending and a pledge to renegotiate all European Union treaties. But he told supporters Tuesday -- appearing simultaneously in seven towns by hologram, one of this campaign's most innovative gimmicks -- he did not want France to follow Britain out of the bloc. "Don't believe what they tell you," he said. - EU fears - Le Pen wants to pull France out of the eurozone and also foresees a mass renegotiation of EU treaties, sparking fears that a far-right victory, hot on the heels of Brexit, could be fatal for the European bloc. In contrast to Le Pen, Macron told 20,000 people at a Paris rally Sunday that France's future lay firmly in Europe, albeit one that suited French interests. "We need Europe, so we will remake it," Macron said. Polls suggest more than a quarter of voters have yet to decide who they will support. Former premier Fillon has been hit hard by a "fake jobs" scandal, but voters seem to be warming to his message that he is a safe pair of hands in an election of largely untested candidates. Fillon has been charged over allegations he gave his wife Penelope a fictional job as his parliamentary assistant for which she earned nearly 680,000 euros ($725,000) in public money. CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illinois' record-breaking stretch without a complete budget could push the credit ratings of two more state universities into the junk level. Moody's Investors Service on Monday said it placed seven state universities under review for potential downgrades affecting $2.2 billion of debt because Illinois has failed to provide them with full operating funding. Four universities, Northeastern Illinois, Northern Illinois, Governors State, and Eastern Illinois, already have some or all of their debt rated junk. Multi-notch downgrades would push ratings for Illinois State and Southern Illinois universities into junk. "We will review contingency plans and other expense actions initiated to cope with the shortfall in state operating appropriations. Also included in the reviews are budgeted (fiscal) 2018 operations and assumptions," the credit rating agency said in a statement. Illinois is limping toward the June 30 end of a second-straight fiscal year without a complete budget due to a stalemate between its Republican governor and Democrats who control the legislature. Moody's said the potential exists for multi-notch downgrades depending on a university's liquidity and ongoing ability to adjust to the lack of state funding. The state's biggest system, the University of Illinois, has so far escaped a downgrade of its Aa3 Moody's rating since the budget impasse began in 2015. Moody's last review resulted in downgrades for six of the universities in June 2016. Only about four public universities in three other states and Puerto Rico are currently rated junk by Moody's. Ahead of its review, Moody's on Monday cut Northeastern Illinois' certificates of participation rating two notches deeper into junk, to B1 from Ba2, citing the school's "continued rapid liquidity deterioration due to weakened cash flow caused in part by a protracted state budget impasse." Northeastern's Interim President Richard Helldobler said he was not surprised by the move. Story continues "The real tragedy here is that after a long history of fiscal responsibility and sound planning, the financial reputations of Northeastern Illinois University and other Illinois public universities are at stake, and this is really reflection of Springfield's inaction regarding the state's budget," he said in a statement. The Illinois House earlier this month passed $817 million in spending to provide a lifeline to higher education and other state programs. But the measure's fate is unclear in the Senate, which returns from a spring break next week. A spokesman for Senate President John Cullerton said on Tuesday the bill remains under review. (Reporting By Karen Pierog; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) Photo credit: U.S. Air Force / R. Nial Bradshaw From Popular Mechanics U.S. Air Force F-35s arrived at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, on Saturday April 15, marking the first overseas deployment of the F-35A, the Air Force's variant of the Lightning II, according to Aviation Week. The 34th Fighter Squadron out of Hill AFB, known as the "Rude Rams," along with the Air Force Reserve's 46th Fighter Squadron have been preparing for overseas deployment for over a year. The location was not known until now. The 34th was the first squadron to achieve initial operating capability with the F-35A, and now they are the first USAF squadron to deploy in Europe. The Rude Rams arrive during a time of high tensions between Washington and Moscow following missile strikes that President Trump ordered against a Syrian airfield in retaliation for chemical attacks carried out by Syrian President Bashar Assad. Russia has condemned the strike and said it would cease to coordinate with U.S. aircraft in the skies over Syria, while the U.S. maintains that Moscow has been helping to prop up the Assad regime with a misinformation campaign. The U.S. Marine Corps already deployed F-35Bs to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan in January. F-35Bs have also been conducting military training exercises with South Korea as Kim Jong-un and the North Korean military continue to launch missile tests and conduct nuclear research. Sending the F-35-the U.S. military's newest and most advanced warplane-to both the Pacific and European theaters is a precautionary move as well as a show of force during a time of high tensions worldwide. The young Trump administration has shown that it is willing to use military force to dissuade aggressors, both in the missile strike against Syrian air forces and in the bombing of ISIS supply lines with the Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), the largest conventional bomb in the world, also known as the "Mother Of All Bombs." The new squadron of U.S. F-35As stationed at Lakenheath will be training with the Royal Air Force and other allied NATO nations, while the Marine's F-35Bs continue to train with Japan, South Korea, and other U.S. allies in the Pacific. The U.S. is hoping the additional forces will help dissuade further conflict, and if the Joint Strike Fighter's presence can't do that, then military officials are expecting the F-35 to enter combat, and to win. Story continues "There is no other aircraft on the planet that can touch it," Admiral Harry Harris, commander of U.S. Pacific Command, said back in November when the first overseas deployments were announced. "Any adversary aircraft, nothing like that will be able to touch the F-35." Source: Aviation Week You Might Also Like BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S.-allied militias in northern Syria announced on Tuesday the formation of a civilian council to govern Raqqa after their planned capture of the city from Islamic State militants. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which include a large contingent from the powerful Kurdish YPG militia, has advanced toward Raqqa with the help of air strikes and special forces from the U.S.-led coalition. The SDF - made up of both Kurds and Arabs waging a military campaign against Islamic State - said local officials had been setting up the council for six months. Reuters reported last month that the political wing of the SDF was helping to install a civilian council to run the eastern Syrian city, Islamic State's base of operations in Syria. A preparatory committee met "with the people and important tribal figures of Raqqa city to find out their opinions on how to govern it", the SDF said in a statement. Spokesman Talal Selo said the SDF would "provide all the support" and had already turned over some towns around Raqqa city to the council after driving out Islamic State militants. The extent of Kurdish control in Raqqa's future is sensitive both for residents and for Ankara, which has fought a three-decade Kurdish insurgency inside Turkey and fears growing YPG ascendancy just over the border in northern Syria. The United States says a final decision has yet to be made on how and when Raqqa will be captured. But the SDF is pressing its assault near the city to isolate and ultimately take Raqqa while plans for civilian rule take shape. The establishment of a local council allied to the SDF in Raqqa could expand a sphere of Kurdish influence that has grown in northern Syria during the six-year, multi-sided conflict. It would mirror governing arrangements put in place in the Manbij area after the SDF repelled Islamic State. (Reporting by Ellen Francis; editing by Mark Heinrich) TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday the United States was eager to strengthen its trade relations with Japan, after meeting his Japanese counterpart in Tokyo. Asked about a possible free trade agreement, Ross told reporters: "It's a little bit early to say just what forms things will take, but we are certainly eager to increase our trade relationships with Japan and to do so in the form of an agreement." He added: "We made good progress in terms of establishing the overall issues and frame of reference for continuing dialogue." Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko, also speaking after their meeting, told reporters he had a "detailed, frank and practical" discussion with Ross. Separately, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will meet with Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday, kicking off talks in Tokyo that the White House hopes will open doors in Japan for U.S. products and attract Japanese investment in U.S. infrastructure projects. (Reporting by Minami Funakoshi and Ami Miyazaki; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim) No Yes, a light case Yes, two or more light cases One serious case Two or more serious bouts Vote View Results By Andy Sullivan SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (Reuters) - U.S. Democrats hope frustration with President Donald Trump will give them a surprise victory on Tuesday in an election to fill a vacant congressional seat in suburban Atlanta that has been held by Republicans for decades. As voting concluded on Tuesday, Democrat Jon Ossoff, a 30-year-old political novice, was expected to come out atop a field of 18 candidates vying for a U.S. House of Representatives seat that was vacated when Trump named Tom Price as his health secretary. The drama hinged on whether the documentary filmmaker would win an outright majority of the vote, which would send him to Congress, or if he would fall short of 50 percent and be forced into a June 20 runoff with one of the 11 Republicans in the race. An Ossoff win would not tip the balance of power in Washington but could weaken the already shaky hold Trump has on his fellow Republicans by encouraging lawmakers to distance themselves from him. "It's a test case for how far a Democratic candidate can go in a Republican district on the strength of opposition to Trump," said Todd Rehm, a Georgia Republican strategist who is not affiliated with any candidate in the race. The district, which encompasses a swath of well-heeled suburbs north of Atlanta, has elected Republicans to the House since the late 1970s, but Trump carried it by only 1 percentage point in the November presidential election. Republicans in the race are split among Trump supporters and candidates trying to hold the president at arm's length. Party officials say they can beat Ossoff once the primary is over and they unite behind a single candidate. The party avoided embarrassment last week when it narrowly held a conservative Kansas seat vacated when Trump tapped Republican Representative Mike Pompeo to head the Central Intelligence Agency. 'MAKE TRUMP FURIOUS' With the slogan "Make Trump Furious," Ossoff aims to galvanise opposition to a president struggling with an approval rating that has not topped 50 percent since he took office on Jan. 20, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling. Ossoff has drawn volunteers and donors from out of state who see the race as a way to strike a blow against Trump. He raised a stunning $8.3 million in the first three months of the year, fuelling a robust campaign. "They were ringing my phone off the hook," said Kim Fambro, 45, who said the outreach convinced her to vote for Ossoff. Trump blasted Ossoff on Twitter and said in a robocall that the Democrat would "raise your taxes, destroy your healthcare, and flood our country with illegal immigrants." Ossoff said on CNN that Trump was misinformed about his positions and that he was focussed on issues affecting the region, not Washington. Republicans have responded with millions of dollars of spending of their own, casting Ossoff as an inexperienced outsider who does not live in the area he hopes to represent. Ossoff, who grew up in the district, says he will move back if he wins. (Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Peter Cooney) By Valerie Volcovici WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials on Tuesday denied reports the agency will close the office in Chicago that oversees regional environmental protection efforts including the Flint, Michigan drinking water clean-up and Great Lakes restoration. Republican and Democratic lawmakers representing the Midwestern states around the Great Lakes raised concerns over the past two days after a report by the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper that the EPA was considering closing its Region 5 office. "These stories are not true, are pure speculation, and undermine our ability to communicate with the public the real information we have," Bob Kaplan, acting regional administrator, wrote in a memo sent to staff on Monday. There have been discussions about eliminating "excess office space" to save money, but no talk of shutting the office, Kaplan said in the memo, a copy of which Reuters obtained. "Anyone stating anything to the contrary is spreading false information." The reports come during a tense period for the agency. Trump administration's proposed budget for fiscal year 2018 would cut EPA funding 31 percent, the biggest planned cut for any federal agency. Career EPA employees have raised concerns about proposed staff cuts and plans to undo some environmental protection regulations under the leadership of new EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. "If you close our office, the ability to protect the Great Lakes would be in danger. The work we do here is too important to cut," said Michael Mikulka, Chicago chapter president of the American Federation of Government Employees, the union for federal employees. The EPA Region 5 office oversees Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan. Reports of the closure alarmed both Republican and Democratic lawmakers from around the region, which relies on the EPA to carry out work state and municipal governments cannot handle alone. "If true, this report is shocking," said U.S. Representative Fred Upton, a Republican from Michigan. "Whatever the deficiencies of the Region 5 office, the folks there do play a critical role in protecting human health and the environment." Illinois Democratic Senator Dick Durbin took to Twitter to flag concerns. "Such an action would be irresponsible & demonstrate clear disregard for the health and safety of millions of residents of Great Lakes region, he wrote. Pruitt will be in the region on Wednesday to visit a lead contaminated housing complex in East Chicago, Indiana, just 30 minutes south of Chicago. (Reporting By Valerie Volcovici; additional reporting by Timothy McLaughlin in Chicago, Editing by Ben Klayman and David Gregorio) By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday held what it dubbed a historic U.N. Security Council meeting on the link between rights abuses and conflict, but dropped a push for the broad issue to become a council fixture after at least six members opposed it. Diplomats said Russia, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan and Bolivia were against the move and that the United States, council president for April, did not risk the measure being put to a rare procedural vote as Senegal's support was uncertain. Such a vote requires nine in favor, and vetoes by the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China cannot be used. The opposing council members say rights discussion should be confined to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council - which Washington accuses of being anti-Israel and has threatened to quit - and the 193-member U.N. General Assembly third committee. Egypt also voiced concern that some countries used human rights as a "back door" to undermine state sovereignty, citing Iraq and Libya as examples. Security Council discussions of human rights situations in specific countries, such as Syria, North Korea and Myanmar, are not new and most of the 16 U.N. peacekeeping missions include human rights mandates approved by the council. "We've never dedicated a meeting to the broader question of how human rights violations and abuses can lead to a breakdown in peace and security," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley told the council. She said rights abuses were "one of the clearest possible indicators that instability and violence may follow and spill across borders." Haley had said Tuesday's meeting was not intended to single out any countries - although she referred in her council statement to North Korea, Syria, Burundi and Myanmar - which left some questioning what it would achieve. "They're putting on a show of paying attention to human rights in the Security Council, but not paying attention to any actual humans or any actual rights," former Obama administration deputy U.N. envoy David Pressman said. "What's the point?" Akshaya Kumar, deputy U.N. director at Human Rights Watch, said the meeting would serve little purpose unless Washington was prepared to address its own rights record and rights abuses committed by its allies. "If the Trump administration wants to burnish its reputation on rights it should address problems at home such as its discriminatory travel ban on people from six Muslim majority countries," she said in a statement. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Peter Cooney) By Tom Westbrook DARWIN (Reuters) - U.S. Marines began arriving in Australia's tropical north on Tuesday for a six-month deployment during which they will conduct exercises with Australian and visiting Chinese forces. The 25-year annual deployment program started by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2011 is part of the U.S. "pivot" to Asia at a time of increased assertiveness by China. "I think that the commitment that we've taken to put a task force here with a conversation to get larger over the years says that we do think this is an important region," said Marines' commander Lieutenant Colonel Brian Middleton after the first troops arrived in Darwin in the Northern Territory. "Being close to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, the Indo Pacific position has always been important." Middleton said the marines would conduct an "important exercise alongside our Chinese partners" and Australia. The strength of this year's deployment at 1,250 troops lags well behind the initial plan for the deployment to reach 2,500 Marines this year, but it will see the largest U.S. aircraft contingent to Australia in peacetime history. Middleton said the 13 aircraft, including tilt-rotor Ospreys, Super Cobra helicopters and Huey helicopters, triple the four aircraft in past deployments, was a "tangible kind of sign of our commitment to the region and to this partnership". He said the decision to send the aircraft pre-dated the recent escalation in tensions over North Korea. "Regardless, I think it is just a good move any time we can strengthen the long standing partnership and alliance between our two countries. We stand ready to fight and win the night always." U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to sail to near the Korean peninsula as a show of force aimed at deterring North Korea from conducting more missiles tests. Pyongyang launched a failed missile test on Sunday and has warned Washington against taking military action against North Korea. The Australia-US-China military exercises are also aimed at Australia charting a course between its most important security ally the United States and its biggest trading partner China. Australia has drawn rebukes from both superpowers as it tries to strike a balanced stance on the disputed South China Sea, with China criticizing Australian freedom-of-navigation flights in the area and a senior U.S. soldier calling on Australia to do more there. (Reporting by Tom Westbrook. Additional reporting by Sonali Paul in SYDNEY. Writing by Jane Wardell; Editing by Michael Perry) By Roberta Rampton and Minami Funakoshi TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday put Japan on notice that Washington wants results "in the near future" from talks it hopes will open markets to U.S. goods, adding that the dialogue could lead to negotiations on a two-way trade deal. U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe arranged the economic dialogue between their deputies at a Washington summit in February, soon after Trump took office. "Today we are beginning a process of economic dialogue, the end of which may result in bilateral trade negotiations in the future," Pence told a news conference with Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, his counterpart at Tuesday's talks. "At some point in the future, there may be a decision made between our nations to take what we have learned in this dialogue and commence formal negotiations for a free trade agreement," he said. "But I leave that for the future." The comments dash the hopes of Japanese policymakers, who have said they want to avoid use of the economic dialogue as a forum to discuss a bilateral FTA that may put them under U.S. pressure to open up highly-protected areas like agriculture. They also echo those of U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who told reporters that Washington was eager to increase trade ties with Tokyo through a two-way pact. Trump campaigned for office on an "America First" platform, saying he would boost U.S. manufacturing jobs and shrink the country's trade deficit with countries like Japan. Trump also abandoned the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) backed by predecessor Barack Obama and Abe, and vowed to revisit regional trade deals to focus on two-way agreements. Pence said the TPP was a "thing of the past" and Washington would not wait forever for results from the talks. "When President Trump agreed to this dialogue, he envisioned this as a mechanism for enhancing bilateral commercial relations between the United States and Japan, and achieving results in the near future. And I share that vision and impatience," Pence told Aso at the start of the talks. COOPERATION NOT FRICTION Aso in turn said U.S.-Japan trade friction, which soured ties in the 1980s and 1990s, was in the distant past and the allies were now entering an era of cooperation. "In the past, U.S.-Japan economic relations have started from friction, but we're entering a new area where we start from cooperation," he told the news conference. "Instead of one side telling the other what to do, I want to start debate on a relationship that is mutual and strategic." In a statement after the talks, the two sides said they had agreed the dialogue should produce "concrete results in the near term." They agreed to hold a second round of talks before the end of the year. Ross, seen as more hardline on trade, was also visiting Tokyo and met Japan's trade minister Hiroshige Seko, a sign a bilateral trade deal was among Washington's top priorities. "It's a little bit early to say just what forms things will take, but we are certainly eager to increase our trade relationships with Japan, and to do so in the form of an agreement," Ross said when asked about a possible free trade pact. Pence arrived in Tokyo from South Korea, where he visited the heavily fortified border separating the North and South. He described the U.S.-Japan alliance as the "cornerstone" of regional security. Pence's 10-day tour of Asia aims at emphasising that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to boost U.S. trade in the region, despite scrapping the TPP. NO CURRENCY TALK Japan had a $69-billion trade surplus with the United States last year, the U.S. Treasury Department has said, expressing concern over what it called the "persistence" of the imbalance. Japanese officials counter that Tokyo accounts for a much smaller chunk of America's deficit than in the past, while China's imbalance is much bigger. Trump has complained Japan keeps its currency artificially low, although a Treasury Department report last week did not label Japan a currency manipulator. However, currencies did not figure in Tuesday's talks, a Japanese government official said. (Writing by Linda Sieg; Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka, Leika Kihara, Stanley White and Tetsushi Kajimoto in TOKYO, Hyunjoo Jin in SEOUL and David Lawder in WASHINGTON; Editing by Paul Tait and Clarence Fernandez) The last two months have not been easy for Andrey Artemenko. On Feb. 19, the right-wing Ukrainian member of parliament was sucked into the scandal surrounding President Donald Trump and his alleged ties to Russia when the New York Times reported that Artemenko had served as a back channel between Moscow and Trump associates. In the aftermath of the report, Artemenko was forced out of his political faction in Ukraine, the far-right Radical Party, and the Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine has opened an investigation into whether his diplomatic outreach, which was done without Kievs approval, constitutes treason. Despite the political firestorm, Artemenko is still shopping his proposal in Washington and insists that now is the time to find a resolution to the nearly three-year war in eastern Ukraine that has claimed more than 10,000 lives. In an interview with Foreign Policy, Artemenko denied any connections between him and the Kremlin, praised the early stages of the Trump presidency, and rebuffed elements of the Times report, saying he was unfairly caught up in a fight between the U.S. president and the liberal media. The lawmaker also accused Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko of not being interested in ending the war in the Donbass and said he was using Russia as an excuse to scapegoat his critics. Anyone who has a personal opinion in Ukraine is automatically named a Russian spy, Artemenko said. But I dont have any connections to Russia. Thats why Im trying to involve the Trump administration on this issue and not the Kremlin. Artemenkos peace plan episode is just one small part of a rapidly mushrooming investigation in Washington over possible coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian intelligence to tilt the 2016 U.S. presidential election in Trumps favor. But its also emblematic of another political fight unfolding against the backdrop of U.S. politics: the power struggle for the future of Ukraine. Story continues Since the 2014 Maidan revolution that ousted pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, Washington has played an outsized role in Ukrainian domestic politics, where recognition and support from influential U.S. figures can make or break a politicians career back home. The importance of these ties has taken on a new but uncertain dimension since the election of Trump in November 2016; a lack of clarity about the administrations policies toward Kiev has been both a source of anxiety and opportunity for Ukraines political class. With key policy positions still unfilled at the State Department, many high-profile Ukrainians have sought back channels to the Trump administration to push for a solution to the war in Ukraine. Thats what Artemenko apparently did to pitch his loosely defined plan, which calls for Russian separatists to return eastern territory to Kiev, and the holding of a national referendum on leasing Crimea to Russia for an undetermined amount of time. Maybe its dual management of Crimea, or maybe its a lease like the Panama Canal and Hong Kong, said Artemenko, who prefers to call his proposal a road map for peace rather than a set plan. It should be obvious that there is no military solution, only a diplomatic one. Tall and brawny, Artemenko is a populist politician with ties to the far-right Ukrainian military-political group Right Sector and a member of the pro-Western opposition parliamentary coalition led by former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenkos party. In Kiev, hes known for being outspoken and politically ambitious. The lawmaker also professes an affinity for Trump, saying he wants to make Ukraine great again and has been trying to make inroads with the real estate mogul since he was a presidential candidate. In July 2016, Artemenko traveled to Cleveland for the Republican National Convention and later attended Trumps inauguration in January. Artemenko used these connections in late January to arrange a meeting with Michael Cohen, Trumps longtime personal lawyer who currently works at the Republican National Committee, to pass his peace plan to Mike Flynn, who served about three weeks as Trumps national security advisor. Flynn was forced to resign in early February over a separate Russia-related controversy, but the Times reported that Cohen said he had hand-delivered the plan in a sealed envelope to the now former national security advisor. Artemenko confirmed to FP that Trump associate Felix Sater had arranged a meeting with Cohen and that he was told details of the plan were relayed to Flynn, although he says no physical documents were passed at the sit-down in Manhattan. The Kremlin denied any knowledge of the plan, and Cohen walked back his initial comments, saying he hadnt delivered the plan to Flynn or discussed it with anyone in the White House. The Times has stood by its reporting. The Times also reported that Artemenko said he received encouragement for his plans from top aides to Mr. Putin and that he emerged from the opposition nurtured in Ukraine by Paul Manafort, Trumps former campaign manager who previously worked as political operative in Ukraine. Artemenko told FP that he had no contacts with any Russian officials and has never met or dealt with Manafort. Trumps former campaign manager made millions of dollars in assisting the rise of Yanukovych and lobbied for several pro-Kremlin causes in Washington. Artemenko insists that his intentions in pushing a peace plan for Ukraine are in the countrys best interests. But political observers see his freelance diplomacy as part of a rising groundswell in Kiev against Poroshenko by opposition forces ahead of parliamentary and presidential elections scheduled for 2019. Alliances are shifting in Ukraine right now against Poroshenko, said Balazs Jarabik, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. All this diplomatic maneuvering in Washington needs to be viewed through this lens. Artemenko has emerged as a vocal critic of Poroshenko and says he has evidence showing corruption by the Ukrainian president. Moreover, Artemenko claims to have offered to organize a meeting between Trump and Valeriy Chaly, Ukraines ambassador to Washington, during the campaign. Chaly refused, Artemenko told FP, saying the Ukrainian government was backing Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton at the time. They said they didnt want to meet Mr. Trump, Artemenko said. The Ukrainian Embassy has denied the charges and said it did not support any candidate in the U.S. election. Frustration at the slow pace of change in Ukraine has seen Poroshenkos approval ratings plummet, allowing rivals to try to fill the void. Artemenko, who is staunch ally of Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, a former head of Ukraines security service with lofty political ambitions, has aligned himself with other West-leaning populists like Tymoshenko. While its not saying much, shes currently Ukraines most popular politician, with polls showing about 18 percent support for her party. Tymoshenko carried out some freelance diplomacy of her own on Feb. 2 when the former prime minister met Trump in Washington, before ever meeting Poroshenko or speaking with him on the phone. The conversation, which took place at the National Prayer Breakfast, was reportedly short and consisted of her seeking assurances that the Trump administration would not abandon Ukraine or lift sanctions on Russia. But the meetings worked to send a message back home that Tymoshenko was ascendant. Despite the backlash he has faced, Artemenko is still optimistic about his proposal, saying he has discussed it with the office of Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who has sponsored a resolution reaffirming support for Ukraine and outlining measures to stop the conflict. Artemenko says elements of his plan influenced the Portman measure. A spokesperson from Portmans office confirmed meeting Artemenko but told FP that his peace plan is not part of the resolution. Back in Kiev, Artemenko has his sights on the upcoming elections, saying he will continue to push for a resolution to the war in the Donbass and that he plans to start his own political party. I am clear and sure that I am going the right way, Artemenko said. Photo credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images BERLIN (AP) The U.N.'s top human rights official said Tuesday he is alarmed by what appears to be a "widespread pattern" of rallies in Burundi in which members of a pro-government youth militia chant a call to "impregnate" or kill opponents. An online video emerged this month of an incident in a rural province involving the Imbonerakure militia. It showed members singing in the local Kirundi language: "Impregnate those opponents, so that they give birth to Imbonerakure." Burundi's ruling party criticized the song. The party normally supports the Imbonerakure, despite accusations of rights violations perpetrated by its members. The U.N. human rights office cited reports of several similar incidents early this month. "The grotesque rape chants by the young men of the Imbonerakure across several provinces in various parts of Burundi are deeply alarming particularly because they confirm what we have been hearing from those who have fled Burundi about a campaign of fear and terror by this organized militia," the high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, said in a statement. Zeid welcomed the governing party's condemnation but said reports senior officials were present at other rallies are "very disturbing" and called for an acknowledgement that the rally caught on camera "was not an isolated incident." Burundi has been plagued by violence since President Pierre Nkurunziza successfully sought a disputed third term in 2015. Hundreds of people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have fled the country. Zeid said his office has received "credible reports of grave human rights violations, including the systematic use of torture by security forces and nightly raids by the Imbonerakure into the homes of people who refuse to join the ruling party." Nairobi (AFP) - The UN rights chief on Tuesday condemned the feared youth wing of Burundi's ruling party for repeatedly calling for the rape and murder of opposition supporters. Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said the calls for violence -- which often took the form of songs or chants -- by members of the Imbonerakure youth wing of the CNND-FDD party amounted to a "campaign of terror." "The grotesque rape chants by the young men of the Imbonerakure across several provinces in various parts of Burundi are deeply alarming -- particularly because they confirm what we have been hearing from those who have fled Burundi about a campaign of fear and terror by this organised militia," Zeid said in a statement. The youth wing, whose name means "those who see from afar" in the local Kirundi language, has come under scrutiny since Burundi spiralled into crisis two years ago when President Pierre Nkurunziza launched a bid for a third term in office, sparking street protests and a failed coup attempt. More than 400,000 people have fled the country since the unrest began and the UN estimates at least 500 people have been killed, though NGOs believe that year-old death toll is an underestimate and the real count could be as many as 2,000 people. Human Rights Watch has accused the Imbonerakure of being involved in assaults on opposition members, gang-rapes of women and torture, while the UN regularly refers to them as a militia. - 'Organised incitement' - Earlier this month, the ruling party was forced to disavow a video that emerged of youth wing members singing "impregnate the opposition so that they give birth to Imbonerakure". The UN statement said that video was just "the tip of the iceberg" and said similar calls for violence had continued throughout April. In one case, about 2,500 Imbonerakure in the northern city of Kayanza marched along a main road chanting slogans that called for the rape of opposition supporters. Story continues In the eastern province of Ruyigi a crowd of 200 that included youth wing members attending the inauguration of a party office also began singing for the rape of their opponents, the UN statement said. In that instance, party officials told them to stop. "The government needs to stop pretending that the Imbonerakure are nothing but a community development group," said the UN statement. "In a region which has suffered so many massive outbreaks of violence and atrocities, this type of organised incitement rings very loud alarm bells." United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The United States on Tuesday singled out North Korea and Syria over human rights violations and warned at the United Nations that new conflicts could be triggered by abuses in Iran, Cuba and North Korea. US ambassador Nikki Haley made the case at the Security Council that more attention should be focused on rights abuses to prevent conflict, a view challenged by Russia, China and other countries at the UN body. "When a state begins to systematically violate human rights, it is a sign, it is a red flag, it's a blaring siren -- one of the clearest possible indicators that instability and violence may follow and spill across borders," said Haley. Turning to Syria, she recalled that the war, now in its seventh year, began with anti-government protests, and took a swipe at the council for being "reluctant to address" the crisis early on. In North Korea, "systematic human rights violations underwrite the country's nuclear and ballistic missile programs," she argued. "The next international crisis could very well come from places where human rights are widely disregarded. Perhaps it will be North Korea or Iran or Cuba," she said. Haley also mentioned cases of torture in Burundi and Myanmar's crackdown on ethnic Rohingyas as human rights concerns. The United States, which holds the council presidency this month, was able to hold the meeting on human rights following negotiations with countries that did not want it to be a formal agenda item. Seven countries -- Russia, China, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Bolivia, Senegal -- raised objections, with many arguing that the UN Human Rights Council was the venue for such discussion. In the end, human rights were discussed under the existing "international peace and security" agenda item at the Security Council. - Poverty causes conflict - During the meeting, Chinese Ambassador Liu Jieyi devoted his remarks on poverty as one of the root causes of conflict and notably did not mention human rights. Story continues "All nations should take development as a first priority," he said. Russian Deputy Ambassador Evgeniy Zagaynov argued that the Security Council would be extending its mandate of preserving peace and security if it were to tackle human rights. Such a move would lead to a "politicization" of the Security Council and "lower trust" in its work, argued the Russian envoy. In a jab at the United States, Bolivia argued that joining the International Criminal Court would help advance human rights. The United States has not signed the Rome statute establishing the ICC. Human rights groups were skeptical of the US push for the meeting, raising questions about President Donald Trump's commitment to ending violations. "If the Trump administration wants to burnish its reputation on rights, it should address problems at home such as its discriminatory travel ban on people from six Muslim majority countries," said Akshaya Kumar, deputy UN director at Human Rights Watch. Are people actually going to #BoycottUnited? A new poll says yesmore bad news for the airline after it was slammed on social media for dragging a doctor off a flight and botching the apologies. SEE ALSO: The internet is trolling United so hard right now More than 40 percent of people who heard about the scandal say they would pay more and endure a longer trip just to avoid flying United, according to a recent survey of nearly 2,000 Americans from Morning Consult. Nearly four in five said they would shun the airline if given the choice between two otherwise identical flights through different carriers. (American Airlines was the other choice for the purposes of the poll.) For comparison, the split between American and United was half and half among people who somehow hadn't caught wind of last week's incident. Eighty percent of that group chose United when the other flight was longer and more expensive. It's not looking good for United. Image: Scott Olson/Getty Images Even so, there's no guarantee the harsh feelings towards the airline will linger long. People are beholden to price above all else, most analysts and business pundits said, and industry consolidation means airlines can do pretty much whatever they want to you. The public memory for scandals involving commodities like air travel is especially short, according to Loraine Lau-Gesk, a business school professor at the University of California at Irvine, who was quoted in the report. For its part, United seems masochistically determined to ensure people don't forget. Days after the passenger ejection, the media picked up on a bizarre story in which a scorpion fell from an overhead bin and stung a passenger. The airline is in the headlines again this week after blocking a wedding-bound couple from boarding their flight. So much for the "friendly skies." WATCH: Man removed from United flight An engaged couple flying on United Airlines from Houston, Texas, to their wedding in Costa Rica were removed by a federal law enforcement officer from the flight on Saturday amid disputed circumstances, according to media reports. The removal comes at a time of heightened scrutiny of the airlines approach to customer service after a video emerged a week ago showing security officers dragging a bloodied passenger off an overbooked United Express flight in Chicago. United said the couple repeatedly tried to sit in more expensive seats for which they had not paid and would not follow flight crew instructions, according to the KHOU 11 New channel in Houston. United, owned by United Continental Holdings ual , did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday evening. Michael Hohl and his fiancee, Amber Maxwell, gave a different account. Hohl said he and Maxwell found another passenger sleeping sprawled across their seats after they were the last to board the flight, according to an interview with KHOU. Soon after moving to other, empty seats in the economy cabin a few rows up, flight crew denied their request to pay a supplement for the seats, which United sells as economy plus, and told them to move back to their original seats, Hohl said. We thought not a big deal, its not like we are trying to jump up into a first-class seat, Hohl told KHOU. We were simply in an economy row a few rows above our economy seat. They then cooperated with an officer from the U.S. Marshals Service who boarded and told them they had to get off the plane, Hohl said. The couple were rebooked on a flight on Sunday, KHOU reported. Dr. David Dao, the 69-year-old Vietnamese-American doctor who was seen in video being dragged off a United flight a week ago, will likely sue the airline, his attorney said on Thursday. For more on airlines, see Fortunes video: After the incident triggered international outrage, United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz apologized to Dao, his family and its customers, saying the carrier would no longer use law enforcement officers to remove passengers from overbooked flights. This article was originally published on FORTUNE.com By Alana Wise NEW YORK (Reuters) - The head of United Airlines met with the Chinese consulate in Chicago over the possible impact to bookings from a customer being dragged off a plane but it was too early to tell if business in China had been hit by the event, the company said. In the carrier's first quarter earnings call, United again apologized repeatedly for the incident in which Dr. David Dao was dragged from his seat on a United flight to make room for crew members. Dao accused officials of discriminating against him for being Chinese before he was hauled off the plane, according to a fellow passenger. Social media users across the United States, Vietnam and China called for a boycott of the airline over the incident. United has about 20 percent of total U.S.-China traffic and a partnership with Air China<601111.SS><0753.HK>, the country's third-largest airline, according to analysts. "It's really too early for us to tell anything about bookings, and in particular last week because it's the week before Easter. That's normally a very low booking period," United President Scott Kirby said on the call. Shares of United Continental Holdings Inc were down 4.12 percent in afternoon trading, despite earnings that outperformed analyst expectations on several key metrics. On the call, Chief Executive Officer Oscar Munoz said he would have "further conversations with customers and related governmental officials" in an upcoming trip to China that had been planned prior to the incident. United did not say when Munoz met with the Chinese consulate officials. United Flight 3411 was the subject of intense global scrutiny last week when Dao, a paying customer, was selected to be involuntarily bumped from his seat. Dao's attorney said it was likely he would sue over the incident, in which Dao lost two front teeth, broke his nose and suffered a concussion. Dao emigrated to the United States from Vietnam. A spokeswoman for his attorney could not confirm Dao's ethnicity. (Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Andrew Hay) New York (AFP) - United's widely-condemned violent removal of a passenger from a flight was a "system failure" and no employees will lose their jobs as a result, United Continental chief Oscar Munoz said Tuesday. "It was a system failure across various areas, so there was never a consideration for firing an employee or anyone around it," Munoz said on a conference call. United has been under fire since video went viral showing security personnel dragging battered and bloodied passenger David Dao off an overbooked Chicago flight to make room for an airline employee. Munoz again apologized for the incident as he opened the quarterly earnings conference call with investors Tuesday. "We've always thought to repay our customers' trust with the highest quality of service and deepest level of respect and dignity," Munoz said. "We are and will make the necessary policy changes to ensure this never happens again." The incident stoked global outrage and talk of boycotts on social media, although some analysts think it will not significantly affect United's financial prospects. Morningstar said, "The flight 3411 incident, while undoubtedly a public relations disaster, will most likely not materially affect United's medium- to long-term financial and operational performance." Airline executives said it was too soon to see any effect of the incident on leisure travelers, or on travelers from China, where the controversy sparked especially sharp criticism because of Dao's Vietnamese ethnicity. United President Scott Kirby said some of the airline's corporate clients had "appropriate questions" about the incident. "We feel like we've managed that pretty well and our corporate accounts are largely supportive," Kirby said. "They want us to fix this... But they believe in us and believe that we will get this fixed." United already has announced some policy changes such as no longer having law enforcement remove customers from flights and requiring employees to sign in at least 60 minutes before the flight. Shares of United slumped 4.0 percent in midday trading to $67.92 Unu Motors Raises Money to Build More Scooters Berlin-based Unu Motors, which builds smart electric scooters, has raised over $7-million in a new round of funding. German-based tech magazine Grunderszene reports that the round was led by Capnamic Ventures and Iris Capital with participation from Michael Baum and NRW.Bank. Reading between the lines reveals that these e-motos are really starting to pick up some momentum. Unu sells its scooters online through a logistics partnership with DHL, with most of the manufacturing taking place in China. The company sells to both consumers and businesses so its supply chain is strong and already securely in place. The startup launched in three Dutch cities in January, and plans to invest the new funds in further expansion in France and the Netherlands. Unu Motors expects to make half of its sales in these new markets by the end of the year, according to a statement by co-founder Pascal Blum. But wait, there's more; U.S. expansion is under consideration as well. Washington (AFP) - An aircraft carrier the US Navy said was steaming toward the Korean Peninsula amid rising tensions has not yet departed, a US defense official acknowledged Tuesday. The Navy on April 8 said it was directing a naval strike group headed by the USS Carl Vinson supercarrier to "sail north," as a "prudent measure" to deter North Korea. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis on April 11 said the Vinson was "on her way up" to the peninsula. For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. President Donald Trump the next day said: "We are sending an armada. Very powerful." But a defense official told AFP Tuesday that the ships were still off the northwest coast of Australia. A Navy photograph showed the Vinson off Java over the weekend. "They are going to start heading north towards the Sea of Japan within the next 24 hours," the official said on condition of anonymity. The official added that the strike group wouldn't be in the region before next week at the earliest -- it is thousands of nautical miles from the Java Sea to the Sea of Japan. At the time of the strike group's deployment, many media outlets said the ships were steaming toward North Korea, when in fact they had temporarily headed in the opposite direction. The United States ratcheted up its rhetoric ahead of North Korea's military parade and failed missile launch over the weekend, and Vice President Mike Pence on Monday declared that the era of US "strategic patience" in dealing with Pyongyang was over. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un responded with his own fiery warnings and threatened to conduct weekly missile tests. It was not clear if the issue was the result of poor communication by the Navy, but some observers were critical. Joel Wit, a co-founder of the 38 North program of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said the matter was "very perplexing" and fed into North Korea's narrative that America is all bluster and doesn't follow through on threats. Story continues "If you are going to threaten the North Koreans, you better make sure your threat is credible," Wit said. "If you threaten them and your threat is not credible, it's only going to undermine whatever your policy toward them is." The strike group has been conducting drills with the Australian navy in recent days, the official said, though it scrapped a planned port visit in Australia as a result of the new orders. The United States and China are working "closely" together over North Korea, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday, two days after a new missile test by Pyongyang. Sunday's test "shows why we are working so closely right now with the Chinese, coming out of the Mar-a-Lago meeting" in Florida between the two nations' leaders earlier this month, Mattis told reporters. The American-Chinese effort seeks to "get this under control and aim for the denuclearised Korean peninsula" desired by China, the US, South Korea and Japan, he said as he flew to the Middle East for a tour. "We all share that same interest." North Korea has defied international pressure over its quest to develop a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile capable of reaching the US mainland. American officials said the missile test-fired on Sunday exploded seconds after launch. North Korea still has many technical problems to resolve, but the intensity of its current testing worries Pentagon strategists. Estimates vary about how much time Pyongyang would still need to build intercontinental ballistic missiles, but some at the Pentagon think it could happen within two years. Others believe several more years might be needed, noting the difficulty of designing and testing the warhead. This component, which contains the nuclear bomb, must be able to resist the enormous heat and shock accompanying its atmospheric re-entry after being fired into space. Mattis arrived on Tuesday in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, his first stop on the Middle East tour that will also see him visit Egypt, Israel, Qatar and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says North Korea's latest failed missile launch was a reckless act of provocation. Mattis commented on the weekend missile launch in an interview with reporters traveling with him Tuesday to Saudi Arabia, where he begins a weeklong Mideast tour. His language was stronger than in an initial written statement he issued shortly after the launch, in which he simply said he was aware of the failure. "The leader of North Korea again recklessly tried to provoke something by launching a missile," he said Tuesday, invoking a term "reckless" that the North Koreans have used to describe ongoing large-scale U.S. and South Korean military exercises, which the North calls a dress rehearsal for an invasion. Mattis did not identify the type of missile but said it was not of intercontinental range, meaning it could not reach U.S. territory. He did not comment on what might have caused the missile to fail. Another official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence matter, said later that the missile was a Scud variant that the U.S. calls a KN-17. Mattis credited China with trying to help get the North Korea situation "under control" with the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula. Asked about his visit to Saudi Arabia, Mattis said the desert kingdom is a "pillar of our security framework for the region." He is scheduled to meet on Wednesday with King Salman, deputy crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, who also is the Saudi defense minister, and other top officials. The U.S. military is providing support for a Saudi-led coalition fighting anti-government Houthi rebels. Asked whether the Trump administration plans to increase its military support, Mattis responded by saying the U.S. focus is on arranging a United Nations-brokered negotiating team to resolve Yemen's civil war diplomatically. "This is something, with the number of innocent people dying inside Yemen, that simply has to be brought to an end," he said. Story continues Human rights groups have urged the Trump administration to be more vocal about human rights issues during visits to Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain, among others, has criticized what it calls the administration's plan to decouple human rights from weapons sales. "It is indeed important to address security concerns, but it is ill-advised, if not dangerous, to make security concerns the only basis for cooperation and an alliance," said Husain Abdulla, executive director of the group, which is based in Washington. The U.S. security alliance with Saudi Arabia, dating to 1944 and based largely on the Saudis' oil riches, has made Washington the kingdom's most important arms supplier. The Middle East is familiar turf for Mattis, a Marine veteran of the Iraq war who rose to four-star rank. He finished his military career as head of Central Command, which directs U.S. military operations across the Middle East and Central Asia. Mattis also plans to visit Qatar, a Persian Gulf state that hosts U.S. forces at al-Udeid air base, which the U.S. uses to centralize its air operations for the campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, as well as the war in Afghanistan. Washington (AFP) - The US Supreme Court on Monday denied a last-minute request from Arkansas state authorities for permission to carry out its first execution in more than a decade. The US high court decision is the latest in a flurry of legal setbacks to the southeastern state's original plan to carry out eight executions between April 17 and 27, an unprecedented pace. Justices declined an appeal from the state's attorney general to lift a stay barring the execution of Don Davis, who was slated to be the first of several inmates to die this month. The Arkansas Supreme Court on Monday had blocked the executions of Davis and one other inmate, after lawyers had requested the executions be delayed until the US Supreme Court hears a separate case concerning prisoners' access to mental health experts who are independent of the prosecution. But Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge swiftly filed an application with the US Supreme Court to obtain permission to proceed with the execution of just Davis. As he awaited the court to decide his fate Davis ate fried chicken, mashed potatoes and strawberry cake -- what could have been his last meal. The US Supreme court's denial of the state's request came minutes before Davis's execution warrant expired at 12:00 am local time (0500 GMT), wrapping up a day of legal wrangling among state and federal courts over the state's accelerated execution plan. - 'An exhausting day' - The legal roadblock constitutes yet another setback for Arkansas's Republican governor, Asa Hutchinson, who had pushed for the accelerated executions as the expiration of the state's supply of midazolam drew near. "While this has been an exhausting day for all involved, tomorrow we will continue to fight back on last minute appeals and efforts to block justice for the victims' families," Hutchinson said in a statement. He said the state would continue towards carrying out the executions of the other inmates. Story continues Hours prior to the US Supreme Court decision, state courts had lifted obstacles to continuing those plans. The US Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit on Monday reversed a federal judge's broader stay on the executions, clearing the path for deaths scheduled to take place later this month to proceed. The state's Supreme Court on Monday also vacated an order blocking the use of the drug vecuronium bromide as part of a lethal-injection protocol. - Drug expiration nears - The drugs used in lethal injections by some American states -- 19 of the 50 no longer execute prisoners -- have become increasingly difficult to obtain. Many pharmaceutical companies, particularly in Europe, ban their use for executions. While lethal injection was meant to be painless, death-penalty opponents say the risk of badly botched executions, with inmates writhing in agony for long minutes, is unacceptably high. Arkansas's plan to reduce the number of its death-row prisoners by some 20 percent in the space of a week and a half has drawn sharp protests around the world. The European Union on Wednesday urged Hutchinson to commute the death-row inmates' sentences. Amnesty International called on Arkansas to urgently halt "the conveyor belt of death which it is about to set in motion." The court battles are playing out on multiple fronts as the state's supply of midazolam expires on April 30. Critics say that midazolam, a sedative meant to render a condemned person unconscious before other drugs are used to stop the heart, does not always work. Some inmates have been left partly conscious, struggling for breath and writhing for nearly an hour before dying. Lawyers for the condemned also say that the accelerated executions could take a severe toll on the small team of penitentiary employees who carry out the death penalty, and who have not had to do so for 12 years. No single US state has held eight executions in 10 days since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area is excited to celebrate April as National Volunteer Month and April 23-29 for National Volunteer Week. Like many non-profits, Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area could not do the work we do without our volunteers. Based on the latest statistics from the Corporation for National and Community Service, 35.3 percent of Wisconsin residents volunteer, ranking us third in the nation in overall volunteerism. This equals 1,630,800 total volunteers logging more than 169.03 million hours of service for a whopping $4.6 billion of services delivered. In 2016, 442 people volunteered at Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area for a total of 15,092 hours. Thats more than seven full-time jobs. In that year, they built homes for families. They volunteered in our ReStore. They gave of their time to improve local neighborhoods. They served on committees, for special events and in our offices. They all made their communities better. To our Habitat for Humanity volunteers and to our volunteers everywhere, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you for your time, passion and commitment. Kahya Fox La Crosse uss carl vinson sunda strait.JPG The US announced on April 8 that the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier would head to the Korean peninsula amid soaring tensions between the US and North Korea but the US Navy posted a picture of the carrier about 3,500 miles away from Korea on April 15. The picture, first noticed by Defense News, shows the Vinson in the Sunda Strait between the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Java. Business Insider contacted the Navy about the discrepancy, but it did not immediately comment. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis said on April 11 that the Vinson had been called away from exercises near Australia to head for the Korean peninsula but declined to say why. Mattis did say that, as a practice, the Navy does not disclose the whereabouts of its ships. US aircraft-carrier strike groups include guided-missile destroyers with powerful radars that could potentially be useful in tracking missile launches, like the kind recently attempted by North Korea. NOW WATCH: These are the small, agile new aircraft carriers meant to take F-35s into battle More From Business Insider Riyadh (AFP) - Washington wants a return "as quickly as possible" to UN-backed Yemen peace talks, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said as he began a Middle East tour Tuesday in Saudi Arabia. The United States provides limited military support to a Saudi-led coalition which for two years has been fighting in support of Yemen's government against rebels supported by Iran. On Wednesday, Mattis will meet the kingdom's top leaders in Riyadh. Washington provides intelligence as well as aerial refuelling to coalition warplanes conducting air strikes in Yemen with American-supplied weapons. Rights groups have repeatedly criticised the coalition bombing campaign in Yemen for causing civilian casualties. Asked by reporters about the chance of stepping up American support, Mattis did not reply and instead put the accent on a return to peace talks. "Our aim is that this crisis can be handed to a team of negotiators under the aegis of the United Nations that can try to find a political solution as quickly as possible," he said as he flew to Riyadh. Seven ceasefires alongside peace efforts by the United Nations have so far failed to stop the fighting. It is necessary to end the "firing of missiles provided by Iran against Saudi Arabia" as well as "the death of innocent people in Yemen", Mattis said. Yemen's Huthi rebels allied with troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh have fired ballistic missiles into Saudi Arabia. Rebels have also shot short-range rockets over the kingdom's southern border, killing least 130 soldiers and civilians. Washington alleges that Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rival, has shipped missiles to Yemen but Tehran denies the charge. A United Nations Panel of Experts in January reported that it "has not seen sufficient evidence to confirm any direct large-scale supply of arms" from Iran. Some in US President Donald Trump's administration would like to increase American military support for the Saudi-led coalition to better counter Iranian ambitions in the region. Story continues Sunni-dominated Saudi Arabia regularly accuses the Shiite-majority Islamic republic of interference in the Middle East, and Mattis has called Iran the world's "biggest state sponsor of terrorism". The UN estimates that more than 7,700 people have been killed over the past two years and more than 40,000 wounded in impoverished Yemen, which faces a serious risk of famine. Riyadh has expressed optimism that Trump's team will be more engaged in the region, particularly in containing Iran, compared with former president Barack Obama. In December, the Obama administration blocked a sale of precision guided weapons to Saudi Arabia because of concerns over civilian casualties in Yemen. By Lisa Rapaport (Reuters Health) - Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals in the U.S. may deliver higher quality care than other medical centers but still get lower marks on patient satisfaction, a new study suggests. Researchers examined data for 129 VA and 4,010 non-VA hospitals nationwide and found the VA had lower rates of six complications tied to quality: pressure ulcers, deaths of surgical patients with serious treatable conditions, care-related lung injuries, clots in the vein in surgical patients, catheter-related bloodstream infections, post-operative bloodstream infections and post-operative surgical wound ruptures. Rates of other complications tied to quality were similar at VA and non-VA hospitals. For some common medical problems, the VA also had lower mortality rates and lower rates of repeat hospitalizations than other hospitals, the study found. But when it came to several measures of patient satisfaction like doctors and nurses communication skills and pain management, the VA lagged behind. The VA certainly looks good on many of these measures, but they definitely have room for improvement regarding the patient experience, said senior study author Dr. Karl Bilimoria, director of the Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement Center at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Patients at VA hospitals were less likely to recommend VA hospitals to friends or family than patients at non-VA hospitals, Bilimoria said by email. The researchers note in JAMA Internal Medicine that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated Hospital Compare, a website that helps patients choose where to get care, to include VA hospitals. For the current study, the study team examined data from Hospital Compare for 2012 to 2015 and from the American Hospital Associations 2014 annual survey. Non-VA hospitals did better on four of nine measures of behavioral health quality including screening for alcohol and tobacco use and developing clear plans for care after patients leave the hospital, the study found. The findings might reflect a decades-long investment in quality improvement and care coordination at the VA and efforts to document outcomes for patients with multiple complex medical conditions, the researchers note. Its possible some of these quality measures dont necessarily reflect the true quality of patient care, the authors also point out. "The VA has had some excellent initiatives to improve quality in a number of areas, particularly in surgery through the landmark quality assessment program, NSQIP, Bilimoria said. However, the outcome measures CMS has reported here are flawed and are not that useful or valid, so patients are still left without valid information about whether VAs truly have better or worse outcomes than non-VA hospitals." Still, the findings mirror results from other research demonstrating that VA hospitals in general have equal or better outcomes on certain quality measures, said Dr. Vineet Arora, a researcher at the University of Chicago who wasnt involved in the study. What is new here is that the patient experience and behavioral health measure comparisons were less favorable for VA hospitals, Arora said by email. The patient experience scores in the current study appear to be consistent with reports of treatment delays at the VA in recent years, said Dr. Anupam Jena, a health policy researcher at Harvard Medical School in Boston who also wasnt involved in the analysis. But because the study wasnt a controlled experiment designed to test what happens when similar patients are randomly sent to VA or non-VA hospitals, its hard to rule out the possibility that any differences might be due to who gets treated where, Jena said by email. The mortality differences between the VA and non-VA hospitals are quite large, larger than I would expect. That makes me wonder whether similar patients are being compared between the two sets of hospitals, Jena noted. That said, I am sure there are lessons that other hospitals can learn from the VA and vice versa, Jena added. From a patient perspective, the study certainly does not raise red flags about specific groups of hospitals. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2opzQXM JAMA Internal Medicine, online April 17, 2017. PEKANBARU, Indonesia Much of the palm oil used to keep our ice cream smooth, our chocolate shiny, and our margarine free of trans fats comes from the lush plantations of Indonesia and Malaysia. The big companies that produce the oil for food giants like Kellogg and Nestle typically promise that its harvested in a way that protects both the environment and the workers. Yet the women who work on the plantations here are suffering. Their complaints about health risks have gained such momentum that the palm oil industry group just created a task force to address concerns of female workers. While men are often assigned the heavy jobs of harvesting the spiky bunches of oil palm fruits, women typically take charge of spraying young trees with a potent cocktail of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides. In the tropical heat, they trudge through the rows of palms carrying plastic tanks loaded with chemicals, including paraquat, an herbicide banned in much of Europe. Hour after hour, they spray the tree trunks, often with no protection beyond a piece of cloth tied over their nose and mouth. Theyre typically expected to work through a quota of chemical tanks in order to earn their daily wage. Read more: EPA declines to ban pesticide over concerns it could harm brain development Veteran plantation workers and the human rights organizations fighting on their behalf say the women are exposed to severe health hazards from handling the chemicals. Work accidents can cause infections or blindness or blistering of the skin. Documented health effects of long-term exposure to paraquat also include Parkinsons disease, lung damage, and kidney and heart failure. Sometimes if we give the grass pesticide, it goes right back to our face, said Minah, a 40-year old worker at a palm oil plantation in Riau. She and other workers interviewed asked to be identified by pseudonyms because they fear retaliation. A winding trip from plantation to grocery shelves Palm oil makes its way into many processed foods, from instant noodles to cookies, as well as toiletries, such as shampoo, toothpaste, and soap. Its also a component of lipstick and biodiesel. Story continues Many food companies that use palm oil along with major Asian producers and distributors are members of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil, or RSPO, an industry organization that strives to ensure the plantations dont exploit workers or ravage the forests, in part by certifying that plantations comply with a set of standards. But the organization has a backlog of complaints, and activists say violations persist. And while Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, General Mills, PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, Nestle, Con Agra, and Kellogg have all issued statements committing to buy palm oil from sources that adhere to environmental standards and international human rights laws, many of them work through complex chains of traders and suppliers, making it tough to fully verify conditions on the ground in Asia. We recognize more can be done within our own supply chain to independently verify that the palm oil we use is both environmentally and socially sustainable, Unilever said in a statement. A spokesperson at Nestle said that the company has been talking about labor concerns with Amnesty International and is now developing a road map on labor rights in agricultural supply chains that will include specific steps to ensure the companys palm oil is harvested without exploitation. Other companies that use Indonesian palm oil said they investigate any health or labor violations that come to light and demand corrective action. Read more: EPA sidestepped decision to tighten standards for lead levels, leaving communities adrift But labor activists say too many companies blindly trust RSPO certification as a seal of approval, without doing their own research. Relying on RSPO alone is insufficient when it comes to labor issues, said Seema Joshi, head of Amnesty Internationals business and human rights team. Even RSPO acknowledges that it has not solved the issues: Our current guidelines are meant to provide adequate protection to workers, said Stefano Savi, the groups global outreach director. This said, agriculture including oil palm cultivation and the regions where it is grown are challenging environments to secure the protection of human and labor rights. Amnesty International last year published a report documenting labor abuses on palm oil plantations owned by Asian agricultural giant Wilmar, headquartered in Singapore. The team also found strong evidence that women working in Indonesias palm oil plantations faced significant health risks. These issues that women are facing are systemic, Joshi said. It was shocking to me to see that the women who have the least secure work contracts are facing some of the most serious health risks because of the nature of work theyre doing on the plantations. The Indonesian nongovernmental organization Sawit Watch has uncovered similar stories. In 2015, Sawit Watch interviewed 22 female workers across three plantations. It found that workers who spent hours each day spraying fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides suffered from respiratory and vision problems. Some said they did receive protective equipment, such as masks and gloves, but still came into direct contact with the chemicals and rarely, if ever, got checkups. Yet such women often have few other options. Milk and pudding as detox treatment Growing palm oil in Indonesia is a family affair. During the 1970s and 80s, the government gave families from the populated Indonesian island of Java incentives to move to the more remote islands that are now centers of the countrys palm oil industry namely, Sumatra, Kalimantan, and Sulawesi. On the sprawling plantations, the canopies of the evenly spaced trees are green and lush; it almost looks like a forest. But the land can be hilly and muddy, with weeds choking some patches of trees. Men toil among the rows of trees carrying a long sickle, their eyes peeled for loose fruits on the ground a sign that the fruit bunches above them are ready to be harvested. These men often bring their wives, who do not get paid, to help them collect fruits that might fall during the harvesting process. On some Indonesian plantations, children help their father ferry the heavy bunches to the side of the road with wheelbarrows. Those women who have paid jobs typically work as pesticide sprayers. Among them is Sari now 40, married, and the mother of two sons, with waist-long hair wound tightly in a bun. She has a strong, determined face. But after several years of working as a pesticide sprayer, she said, her health began to deteriorate. Sari found it increasingly difficult to breathe during and after work. Headaches were accompanied by bouts of vomiting. Every two or three months, she would faint for no particular reason. To offset the toxic effects of pesticide exposure, Musim Mas, the company that owned the plantation where Sari worked, gave employees who handled chemicals milk or pudding. They told us that it was to help us detoxify, Sari said. Read more: This community has slipped through the cracks of the US health care system Theres no evidence that milk could mitigate the effects of exposure to toxic pesticides. And in an email to STAT, Musim Mas said the milk was mostly provided as a benefit and nutrition and not from any other perspective. But the company added that the milk functions as a dilution or delays the digestion of chemicals that a worker may have inadvertently inhaled. Musim Mas said it provides maintenance workers with protective gear and monthly checkups, but Sari recalls visiting a doctor just once every year or two. Then one day in 2010, she woke up, disoriented on a hospital bed. The last thing she remembered was taking a brief break during work. An X-ray revealed that she had a lung condition, likely caused by persistent exposure to the chemicals she sprayed on palm oil trees. I never used to have respiratory problems until I started working with them, Sari said. In addition to the health issues, some women on palm oil plantations complain that they are rarely allowed to take the two days of menstrual leave theyre supposed to be granted each month under Indonesian law. The law is intended to give them a reprieve from work on days when they experience pain, but human rights groups have found that the palm oil plantations routinely decline such requests or subject women to degrading tests to prove they are menstruating. Read more: Birth spacing, and the information and tools to do it, can save womens and childrens lives For Sari, conditions have slowly started to improve. When she started on the plantation in the 90s, she did not get masks or gloves to protect her as she handled the chemicals. Now, however, her employer is a RSPO member and has started providing workers with protective equipment. Four years ago, a doctor recommended that Sari be relocated from working with pesticides because of the damage to her lungs. The plantation found a job for her to plant flowers alongside the roads. She no longer handles chemicals daily. Things have gotten better, she said, although Ive never been normal again. Reporting in Indonesia was facilitated by a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. HANOI (Reuters) - Protesters in Vietnam's capital of Hanoi said on Tuesday they were ready to release the 21 officials remaining from a group taken hostage when a long-running land dispute escalated on the weekend. Police officers were among the 36 hostages seized on Saturday, following the arrest of four people protesting against what they called insufficient compensation by authorities taking over residential land for a telecommunications project. An initial group of 15 hostages was freed on Monday, when authorities also released all the detained protesters. "We are ready to free all officials now," said Bui Viet Hieu, a representative of the protesters from the commune of My Duc, on the city's outskirts. "We are just waiting for representatives of the authorities to come and receive them." Local government officials responded to the protesters' claim of inadequate compensation by saying they did not own the land and their demonstration was against the law. Protesters used rocks and pieces of wood to block access roads to the area, with some families even putting sofas in the streets. Land disputes are common in Vietnam and the disagreement over My Duc has run for years, but it is rare for residents to take officials hostage in the communist state, where there is little tolerance of dissent. Police will deal resolutely with lawbreakers and residents of My Duc should not think the authorities had compromised, Bach Thanh Dinh, the deputy director of Hanoi police, told state media VnExpress. (Reporting by Hanoi Newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A White House meeting that was to help determine whether the United States should withdraw from the Paris climate accord has been postponed, an administration official said on Tuesday. Some of President Donald Trump's top advisers, including Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt, were scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss how Trump should handle the 2015 climate deal. The meeting was canceled because "some of the principals are traveling today," the White House official said. The meeting will be rescheduled, but no date has been set, the official said. White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters on Air Force One as Trump was returning from a visit to Wisconsin that the meeting "could be as soon as tomorrow, but I know that they're working on trying to find a time that works for everybody." The accord, agreed on by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015 and ratified in 2016, aims to limit planetary warming in part by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Under the pact, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by 26 to 28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025. Trump has said the United States should "cancel" the deal, but he has been mostly quiet on the issue since he was elected last November. The White House has said it would take a position on the agreement before a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in late May. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Ayesha Rascoe; Editing by Dan Grebler and Peter Cooney) Ede Borek, 78, died peacefully Monday, April 3, 2017, with her family at her side. Ede was born Edna Lois Quinn March 12, 1939, in Wrightsville, Wis. She was the sixth child of Edward and Lovetta (Preston) Quinn. Ede lived in Black River Falls, until her senior year of high school when she moved to Milwaukee, to work and be near her sister. While in Milwaukee she worked for an insurance company and as a nanny until later becoming a dental assistant. She married John Borek July 11, 1959, in Black River Falls. She and John had three children and cared for many stray animals. They owned John and Edes bar in Pray, Wis., for nearly 20 years and over that time formed many friendships with people from all over Wisconsin, who came to enjoy deer hunting and other recreational opportunities in central Wisconsin. Ede and her husband also owned Parkland Village Campground and Mobile Home Park in Black River Falls, for several years. During this time, she spent some time serving on the Governors Council of Tourism for the State of Wisconsin. One of the things Ede was best known for was her knowledge and skill of massage therapy. Ede was a pioneer for the acceptance of therapeutic massage and paved the way for the appreciation many people have for massage today. She took her first classes in Iowa, in the early 1980s and continued to educate herself on anything wellness related as long as she was able. Ede was preceded in death by her parents; two of her sisters, Janice Halverson and Deana Eubanks; and her brother, Bernard (Bud) Quinn. She is survived by her husband, John; their son, Jay (Julie) Borek; their two daughters, Lana (Tim) Langreck and Brenda (Mark) Miles, all of Black River Falls; foster daughter, Jodi Gorst-King, Washington state; and foster son, Tom Kozlowski, Wisconsin; her grandchildren are Levi and Aaron Miles and Mackenzie and Logan Borek. She is also survived by a sister, Lovetta Misfeldt, Eau Claire, Wis., and brother, John (Jack) Quinn of Sarasota, Fla. Friends and family are invited to join Edes family in a celebration of life from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday April 30, at the Stones Throw Supper Club in Hatfield. Edes family would like to thank the staff of Pine Views Memory Care for their kindness and compassion while Ede was under their care. Chippewa Valley Cremation Services, Altoona is assisting the family. To sign the guestbook or share a memory online, please visit www.chippewavalleycremation.com. When asked whether President Donald Trump will release his tax returns, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that Trump cannot do so as he is under audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). If Trump continues to refuse to release his tax returns in office, he will reportedly become the first American president in 40 years to do so. In the press briefing, Spicer said that Trump had made it clear during the campaign last year about the status of his income tax returns. Trump has used the same explanation about him being under audit by the IRS since early last year, according to reports. Read: Trumps 2005 1040 Tax Filing Summary Released On Air Trump is not the first president whose tax returns have created controversy. In the decadeslong history of presidential tax returns, there have been others as well whose tax returns have raised questions. In 1973, when the Watergate scandal was at its peak, tax experts demanded for an audit of the then-President Richard Nixon. The IRS refused, but one of the agency's employees leaked information showing that despite having an income of more than $200,000, Nixon paid only $792.81 in federal income taxes in 1970 and $878.03 in 1971. Nixon also took a huge number of deductions, which included $570,000 for the gift of his vice-presidential papers to the National Archives. He apparently asked his aide to show that transaction as a backdated entry to the previous year. Nixon eventually had to his show his tax returns going back to 1969, and was later hit with a tax bill of $471,431 plus interest. People have got to know whether or not their president is a crook, Nixon told reporters in November 1973, amid the scandal over his taxes. Well, I am not a crook. He resigned less than a year later. Former President Ronald Reagans 1981 tax return showed that he paid taxes at an effective rate of 40 percent. However, Reagan took advantage of the signature tax cuts that he passed when he was in office. In 1987, he gave only 25 percent of his income to the IRS. According to 1987's tax returns, the former president's income that year included not only his presidential salary, but also his income from his movie career and autobiography. Story continues In 1994, the then-President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary Clinton, released their tax returns for several years to silence all those questioning the couple's Whitewater Development Corporation, which was formed in 1978. The real estate venture failed but some claimed it involved illegal dealings by the couple. Three separate inquiries were held but no evidence were found against the Clintons. Then-Senator Barack Obama's tax returns in 2008 reflected a huge spike in charitable donations during his presidential campaign. The New York Times also reported at the time how Obama's income rose drastically from book royalties. Some of Obama's largest donations went to the Trinity United Church of Christ. In 2005 and 2006, the church reportedly received $27,500 from Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle. Related Articles A white nationalist caught shoving a black protestor at a Trump rally has a creative defense for why he should be let off the hook: Trump told him to do it. Matthew Heimbach, the chairman of the unabashedly white nationalist Traditionalist Workers Party, shoved Kashiya Nwanguma while she was protesting at a Trump campaign rally on March 1, 2016. She and two others then sued Heimbach and another rally-goer for assault. SEE ALSO: Once again, Trump makes one of his old tweets 'fake news' It wouldn't be possible for Heimbach to say with any credibility that he didn't push a protester. He shoves Nwanguma on a widely-seen video in which a group of white men surround, scuffle with, and shriek at Nwanguma. But Heimbach did deny the assault charge, and his argument is that he had authority to kick protesters out of the rally because Trump made a legal plea for help in doing so. Trump shouted "get 'em out" several times from the podium at the March event in Louisville, Kentucky. Though he was clearly referring to the protesters, he didn't say just who should be tasked with removing them. Nwanguma and two other protesters also filed a lawsuit against Trump, alleging the president incited a riot during the Louisville rally. Trump's lawyers argue that the then-candidate's words were never meant to make his fans believe they should shove protesters or commit another sort of violence, an argument that would undermine Heimbach's defense. Fights broke out in several states at Trump rallies during the course of his presidential campaign, and low-grade political violence has continued in the United States ever since. Anti- and pro-Trump protesters attacked each other in Berkeley, California, just this past Saturday. Police arrested 20 people, and found weapons in the crowd including mace and knives. WATCH: Merriam-Webster throws shade at Ivanka Trump after she can't define the word 'complicit' There's no reason for the average investor to not know some basic accounting. The reaction of most people will be something akin to "Ugh!" and "Oh no, not chopped liver again!" But smart people who want to get even smarter will learn accounting. There's also a bonus, you can now do so for free. Here's the why and the how: Learning the language. "Whenever you move to a new world [or country] you need to learn the language," says Stephen Wood, chief market strategist of Russell Investments in New York. If you want to do well in France then you'll need to learn French; if you want to do well in Germany, then at least an introduction to German would be helpful. When it comes to investing you need to learn the language of business, which is accounting. "If you aren't conversant with the language then you can't expect to do well," Wood says. [See: 10 Long-Term Investment Strategies That Work.] The issue at hand is that so much of investing requires an understanding of what is written in financial statements. How well is a company doing? Are its sales more or less profitable than last year? Is the business expanding into new ventures, and if so how well are those efforts serving the shareholders? These are the sorts of questions that reading the financial statements can provide. The problem, as with so many things, is that when most people first look at an annual report from a public company the tables at the back are incomprehensible. Financial documents are truly a different language. For many people, that's as far as they get. They take a peek, then recoil in horror and never really look in detail at the matter again. Once upon a time that may have been a satisfactory outcome. That's because many people had so-called defined-benefit pension plans where upon retirement they were promised a certain level of annual income until they died. The knowledge of what investments to make was firmly on the shoulders of someone else -- notably, the employer and the pension account that they sponsored. Story continues These days such arrangements are a rarity. The stakes are high. "There is a huge amount of responsibility on the person," says Jonathan Gibbs, an investment specialist at Standard Life Investments in Edinburgh, Scotland. Most have to make their own investment decisions through picking mutual funds from alternatives in a 401(k) plan, or IRA. Or through buying individual stocks. [See: 9 Under-the-Radar Ways to Buy Financial Stocks.] That's only part of the equation. "One of the biggest changes in the world is the increase in life expectancy," Gibbs says. The cash you save and hopefully grow has to last longer than it would have a generation ago. In the simplest terms, now you have the responsibility to be a part-time manager of your retirement account and you must make sure it lasts far longer than was needed for previous generations. For that, that means learning some accounting. Don't worry, though, the basics are relatively easy. After you grasp the "basic concepts" learning your way around should be "relatively simple," Gibbs says. Learn for free. Unlike in the past, investors can find an accounting course without the need to dole out tons of cash. That's because of the rise of online courses, such as one at the University of Virginia. "Students don't need financial resources, just time, and desire to learn," says Luann Lynch, professor of accounting at Darden Graduate School of Business Administration in Charlottesville, Virginia. She made the five-week course for the school and says it requires between one and three hours of study each week. "The course will stretch them," she says. "They won't become a certified public accountant when they are done, but they will know a lot of more than when they started." And that will include the ability to understand how financial accounts are made, what sort of decisions businesses make, and how to analyze what the financial statements mean. "You have people in the workplace who haven't had much exposure to financial information," she says. "But when they look back [after the course] they see how it fits together." While the Darden course is free to take, people can upgrade for a nominal fee and get a certificate. [See: 20 Questions to Ask a Financial Advisor.] Likely roadblock. "It seems to me that most people think accounting is something you have to memorize," Lynch says. As a result, it can be easy to get intimidated by the material. But once you grasp the very basic ideas you should be able to use the concepts in multiple ways. Most importantly, you'll be able to understand more about the investments you make. "The trick is to realize that there is some fundamental logic," Lynch says. "And if they get that logic they can apply that logic to many things." Simon Constable is a freelance economics and markets commentator for U.S. News & World Report. He has written for The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, TheStreet and Forbes, as well as many other well-known publications. He co-authored "The WSJ Guide to the 50 Economic Indicators that Really Matter," which was an economics category winner in the Small Business Book Awards at Small Business Trends. Constable is also a fellow at the Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health and the Study of Business Enterprise. You can follow him Twitter @simonconstable or find him on LinkedIn. Prince Harry, who lost his mother 20 years ago this August, has acknowledged that her death affected his mental health well into adulthood, including for a roughly two-year period when he wondered if there was something really wrong with him. I can safely say that losing my mum at the age of 12 and then shutting down all of my emotions for the last 20 years has not only had an effect on my personal life but my work as well, he told a podcast of the U.K. newspaper The Telegraph. Prince Harrys account of his personal struggles coincides with a new initiative from Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, who has launched OptionB.org to help people overcome adversity, and particularly grief. Her new book, also called Option B and written with psychologist Adam Grant, chronicles how the death of her husband Dave Goldberg made her lose her bearings, and offers advice for those who have to face down similar difficulties. Because Harry was in the public eye and because he thought there was very little point in dwelling on his mothers death, he says he simply didnt think about it. Until he had to. All of a sudden all of this grief that Id never processed started to come to the forefront, he said, and he began to have panicky fight or flight instincts at public engagements. It was 20 years of not thinking about it and two years of total chaos. I couldnt put my finger on it. I didnt know what was wrong with me. Three years ago, encouraged by his brother William, the Duke of Cambridge, he sought professional help. Now he, William and Williams wife Kate are speaking up about mental illness, and encouraging others to do the same, to try to change the stigma around mental health, as part of a new initiative they have founded HeadsTogether. Sandberg, one of whose children is now 12, the same age as Harry was when his mother died in a car accident in Paris, says that her kids future was what she worried about most. As a mother you can be heartbroken for yourself but I grew up with a dad and hes still alive, she told TIME in an interview about her new book. And Im heartbroken that I was not able to give my children the stability of growing up with two parents, that they lived through and still are living through something so traumatic so young. Story continues A therapist warned Sandberg to expect her kids to run off and play even if they are grieving, because like the young Harry, children find the huge emotions around not having a parent too overwhelming to process so they take a break. Think about your emotional capacity at 7 and 10, says Sandberg, referring to the ages of her kids when their dad died. What the therapist explained to me is kids can only bear so much. The reason they go off and play and then come back to it is they cannot [always be grieving]. Unlike the royal family, whose job is to be out in public, Sandbergs kids are kept away from the public eye. And one of the lessons Sandberg has learned from the mourning process is to let your loved ones know how you feel. Ive gotten a little bit cheesy, she says. Her kids even complain about it. My son said Mom, you say I love you all day. Mom, I know you love me, you always say it.' As for Harry, he says hes in a good place. Fine, yes, Im a prince, he acknowledges. He doesnt have worries about homelessness or lack of help. But because of the process Ive been through over the past few years, Ive been able to take my work seriously and my private life seriously, and put my blood sweat and tears into stuff I think will really make a difference. This article was originally published on TIME.com British Prime Minister Theresa May called for a surprise snap election Tuesday, ending months of speculation as to whether she will pull the trigger in order to exploit the weaknesses of the opposition Labour Party and strengthen the governments Brexit position. But May cant just simply order an election to be held. Instead, she needs approval by a parliamentary supermajority. Here, a guide to the process: Why cant she just call an election? Its due to a law introduced under her predecessor as Prime Minister, David Cameron. Until 2010, prime ministers could call an election whenever they wanted. The coalition government of then-Prime Minister Cameron introduced the Fixed-Term Parliaments Bill, which his administration said would be a way to remove the unchecked right of the prime minister to dissolve Parliament and trigger the election for pure political gain. For the first time in our history, the timing of general elections will not be a plaything of governments and Prime Ministers will no longer have the power to go to the polls at a time of their own choosing, Deputy Nick Clegg told lawmakers during the bills second reading in Sept. 2010. Instead, there will be greater stability in our political system and people will know exactly how long a parliament can be expected to last. The Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) came into law a year later and provided a fixed polling day for general elections- held every five years on the first Thursday in May. The next election is due to take place in May 2020. So how is she planning to hold one? The FTPA allows for two ways for the fixed five-year term to be cut short: If more than two-thirds of all lawmakers in the lower house of Parliament, known as the House of Commons, vote to call an election. If there is a specific motion of no confidence, which only requires a simple majority of 51%. After that vote happens, parties are given 14 days to form a new government. If they are unable to do so, a new election is held. Story continues May has chosen the first option, which requires a parliamentary vote scheduled for Wednesday. Under the terms of the FTPA, May will need 434 out of the total 650 lawmakers in the House of Commons to back her. This means May needs more than 100 lawmakers from opposition parties to vote for an early election, as her party only has 330 seats. Is there a risk of her losing? Its highly unlikely. Opposition parties will find it hard to vote against the chance to defeat the Conservative Party at the ballot, despite the vulnerability of some of their seats. Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, whose party holds the most seats in opposition, has already said his lawmakers will vote for an election on Wednesday. I welcome the PMs decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first pic.twitter.com/9P3X6A2Zpw - Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) April 18, 2017 During her speech on Tuesday, May goaded the opposition to pass her Wednesday motion. This is your moment to show you mean it, to show you are not opposing the Government for the sake of it, to show that you do not treat politics as a game she said. Let us tomorrow vote for an election, let us put forward our plans for Brexit and our alternative programmes for government and then let the people decide she said. This article was originally published on TIME.com President Donald Trump was in Wisconsin on Tuesday, but his words probably resonated most in California. He announced a plan to overhaul an American visa program that brings tens of thousands of workers and students to the United States every year, many of whom find work in tech-related jobs in Silicon Valley. SEE ALSO: Trump just dropped the hammer on Silicon Valley's efforts to hire abroad "American workers have long called for reforms to end these visa abuses," Trump said. "They should never, ever be used to replace Americans." The United States admits 85,000 people into the country each year on H-1B visas, 20,000 of whom are graduate student workers. But Trump says companies exploit the system to the disadvantage of American workers. Workers from outside the country, he says, are often hired at low-grade information technology jobs and are paid less than American workers. Trump's plan is to alter the H-1B system so it admits only workers who are among the most highly paid and/or skilled in their fields a "total transformation," he says, from the current system in which successful applicants are chosen in a lottery. Pres. Trump signs "Buy American, Hire American" executive order in Wisconsin, calling on agencies to address problems with H-1B visa program pic.twitter.com/2XwbTNv410 ABC News (@ABC) April 18, 2017 Some experts have worried the move will limit Silicon Valley's talent pool, forcing companies to move operations overseas. Others say it could make it easier to recruit highly skilled employees because H-1B visas wouldn't be taken by lower-skilled workers. Outsourcing companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, however, are almost certain to feel the effects of such a move. Trump was likely referring to Tata and companies such as Infosys when he talked about the visa program being used to bring in workers from outside the U.S. to work in lower-paying information technology jobs. Story continues Citizenship and Immigration Services has also muddled the hiring process for Silicon Valley companies. A policy change earlier this month makes computer programmers applying for an H-1B visa turn in extra documentation to prove their jobs are specialized in a way that requires companies to look outside the U.S. to fill open positions. It also commits government officials to assure companies conduct thorough searches for American employees before looking to those who have applied for a visa. "We are sending a powerful signal to the world: We're going to defend our workers, protect our jobs and finally put America first," Trump said. WATCH: Melania Trump sues 'Daily Mail' for ruining her, um, chance to make millions An Oklahoma grandmother, who pleaded guilty to child abuse earlier this year after cops say she terrorized and physically harmed her young granddaughter while dressed as a witch, will now spend the rest of her life in prison. Geneva Robinson, 51, was sentenced Thursday to three consecutive life terms in the case that began in the fall of 2014 when she took her starving 7-year-old granddaughter to a hospital. Read: 4-Year-Old Dies After Mom Allegedly Kicked Her the Stomach for Not Brushing Her Teeth Hospital staff said at the time that Robinson came in complaining she couldn't control the girl anymore, according to a police report. When she was examined, police said the girl was found to be malnourished, burned and bruised. In their affidavit, police said the little girl told them Robinson would wear a green mask and tie her up in the garage, where she'd make her sleep on a pair of pants because "she was in trouble," KFOR reported. The girl said the witch even had a name: "Nelda." Robinson also allegedly withheld food from the girl, kept her out of school, failed to treat her ringworm, and forced her to sleep outside with dogs. "What she did was horrific and what she did will forever impact this child and her siblings," Assistant District Attorney Merydith Easter told the AP. "She deserves the same amount of mercy that she showed this child, and thats none." Read: Teacher Charged With Child Sex Abuse After Being Impregnated by Student A cell phone video shown in court reportedly showed Robinson dressed in black with a mask and her hands painted green. Robinsons defense attorney said her client "understands she went too far." The attorney also said Robinson is getting treatment for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Watch: Man Discovers 2-Year-Old Girl Wandering on Street in the Middle of the Night Related Articles: Five years after the launch of an international effort to combat the burden of tropical diseases, global health leaders say enormous progress has been made toward freeing some of the planets poorest people from some of natures most gruesome and debilitating threats. The effort to ease the burden of neglected tropical diseases has been led by the World Health Organization and a host of other institutions and nonprofits, notably the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. They have worked with pharmaceutical companies to arrange large-scale drug donations 1.5 billion treatment courses in 2015 alone and cultivated political support for action in affected countries. On Tuesday, backers of the initiative are gathering in Geneva to mark five years since the signing of the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases, a commitment to try to rid the world of scourges like Guinea worm in which people become infected with worms that bore their way out of the body and lymphatic filariasis, or elephantiasis, a condition in which limbs become hugely and irreversibly swollen after tiny worms transmitted via mosquito bites invade the lymphatic system. Neglected diseases have historically been overlooked by the scientific community and pharmaceutical industry, but advocates believe they are beginning to turn that tide. At the same time, they fear that the effort could be undermined by warning support for global health funding in Washington and elsewhere. Read more: William Campbell loves worms. And they won him a Nobel Prize Were not big enough to do this without the incredible generosity of the big governments that are far bigger than us, Bill Gates, who argued that the programs are money well spent, told STAT in an interview. Under any framework, whether its humanitarian or strategic, maintaining these investments makes sense. Gates, who met last month with President Trump, said he made a point of telling the president how effective money spent on neglected tropical diseases can be. Story continues Weve made really amazing progress. Guinea worm, were pretty close [to eradication], he added, noting a couple of setbacks, including the civil war in South Sudan, have kept the long-standing campaign led by former President Jimmy Carters Atlanta-based Carter Foundation from completing the job of stopping transmission of Guinea worm. Give us a couple of years and hopefully those things will get straightened out. President Carter deserves to celebrate the end of Guinea worm, Gates said. When the bid to eradicate Guinea worm kicked off in 1986, it is estimated that 3.5 million people in 21 African and Asian countries were infected with the excruciatingly painful worms, which are acquired by drinking contaminated water. Last year there were 25 cases in three countries; this year so far, only one country Chad has reported three cases. The effort to launch a coordinated assault on neglected tropical diseases dates back about a dozen years. Professor David Molyneux, a tropical diseases expert at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, said he and some others in the field at the WHO and in academia decided to brand a number of little-known but horrible conditions neglected tropical diseases in order to raise their profile and to emphasize that in at least some cases they could be prevented at relatively low cost. The problem lay in the fact that many of these diseases had unpronounceable names, didnt affect people in Western societies, [and] couldnt be transmitted in the West, Molyneux said. Read more: Guinea worm, on the brink of eradication, puts up a surprisingly stubborn fight They were right. Names like onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminths, and human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) dont exactly roll off the tongue. These diseases havent earned the level of awareness that results in little pink or yellow lapel pins worn on specified days to honor the struggle against them. But they plague huge numbers of people around the globe. Here you are with diseases that are affecting a billion-plus people, with perfectly adequate solutions available at very low cost and known to be capable of working. So we said: Why cant you do this? Molyneux said. In the years since, theres been increased funding from the US and the UK. On Sunday, the British government announced it will spend 360 million pounds ($462 million) on neglected tropical diseases over the next five years; 205 million pounds ($263 million) of that is newly committed funding. In January 2102, when the London Declaration was signed, partners committed themselves to working to control, eliminate, or eradicate 10 neglected tropical diseases for which there currently are effective drugs or other measures, such a water filters to prevent transmission of Guinea worm. Drug companies have come on board in a big way, donating billions of doses of drugs. During 2015, nearly 1 billion people the highest number ever received protection through preventive chemotherapy for at least one of these diseases, Director-General Margaret Chan noted in the forward of a WHO report that is being released Wednesday in Geneva. The drug ivermectin which won its co-discoverers the 2015 Nobel Prize for Medicine has been donated to prevent onchocerciasis or river blindness. Chan wrote that an estimated 270 million treatment courses of the drug are donated annually. Ellen Agler is the CEO of The END Fund, a nongovernmental agency that works to eliminate or control five neglected tropical diseases: intestinal worms, schistosomiasis, lymphatic filariasis, trachoma, and river blindness. Agler said she was in the process of interviewing for her job when the London declaration was signed. In the years since, shes seen enormous advances, not least of which is a massive scaling up of the number of people being treated. There are hundreds of millions more people getting treated now than five years ago. Thats remarkable, Agler said. In 2012, few of the governments in the affected countries had plans to address neglected tropical diseases; they didnt necessarily know where the diseases were spreading or have logistics in place to get free drugs to the people who needed them. But increasingly countries have become involved in the work and are setting their own priorities, Agler said. Another huge step forward has occurred in disease mapping. If you dont have maps of what is the prevalence and where you need to treat, you obviously dont even know where to begin. So that has increased radically, she said. There have been setbacks along the way. But there have also been unexpected gains. It was recently found that adding a third medication to the two-drug regime used to treat lymphatic filariasis can speed up the treatment, reducing what now takes as many as 10 years down to a year or two. Weve had a few positive surprises like this triple drug therapy that looks like it will be effective for lymphatic filariasis, Gates said. That if you go a couple of years with reasonable quality, you can get rid of it. Agler said this has been an invigorating time to work in this field. Theyve been around for thousands of years, these diseases. You read about them in the Bible. Egyptian pharaohs had these diseases, she said. And its just remarkable to think that we are at that point in history where we can really turn the tide on something thats been plaguing humanity forever. Though continued success, Gates and others warned, rests on continued American financial assistance. We have no idea what Congress and the new president will actually commit. And if the commitment falls, then the number of people who are going to be treated with three drugs is going to fall proportionately, said Molyneux. For relatively small amounts of money compared to what weve spent on HIV and malaria, weve made huge progress, he said. I hope that progress can continue. By Idrees Ali RIYADH (Reuters) - A political solution through U.N.-brokered negotiations is needed to resolve the conflict in Yemen, U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday as he made his first trip in the role to Saudi Arabia. At the same time, officials have said the United States is considering deepening its role in the Yemen conflict by more directly aiding its Gulf allies, who are fighting Iranian-supported Houthi rebels. At least 10,000 people have been killed and more than 3 million displaced in the war, now in its third year. Millions of people are also struggling to feed themselves. The Houthis control the capital Sanaa and large swathes of territory. The United States backs the Saudi-led coalition which is trying to restore the Aden-based government of Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power, including through a devastating aeriel bombing campaign. "It has gone on for a long time, we see Iranian supplied missiles being fired by the Houthis into Saudi Arabia and this is something, with the number of innocent people dying inside Yemen, it has simply got to be brought to an end," Mattis told reporters on his way to Riyadh. Seven ceasefires brokered between government and rebel forces by the United Nations have failed while U.N.-backed peace talks have repeatedly broken down. "We will work with our allies, with our partners to try to get it to the U.N.-brokered negotiating table," Mattis said. He gave no details on what additional support, if any, the United States would provide to the Saudi-led coalition. But he said he was looking to deepen and broaden the relationship between the two countries on the trip. Mattis is expected to meet senior Saudi officials including King Salman and Deputy Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammed bin Salman. Jon Alterman, head of the Middle East program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said Saudi Arabia was concerned strategically about Iran, its main rival in a regional power struggle. "The near-term Saudi concern is how they send a message to the Iranians in Yemen, and they would like full-throated American support," Alterman said. The review of possible U.S. assistance, which already includes intelligence support, would come amid evidence that Iran is sending advanced weapons and military advisers to the Houthis. Congressional sources say the Trump administration is on the verge of notifying Congress of the proposed sale of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia. Increased military support for the Saudi-led coalition could fuel controvesy over the air campaign, which has killed a number of civilians and destroyed infrastructure, including hospitals. The United States' involvement in Yemen has also focused on battling al-Qaeda, whose affiliate there has taken advantage of the chaos caused by the war. CLARITY ON SYRIA Mattis will also be visiting Egypt, Qatar and Israel on a trip which may give clarity on the Trump administration's tactics in the fight against Islamic State militants and its willingness to use more military power than former President Barack Obama did. One of the main questions from allies about Syria is whether Washington has formulated a strategy to prevent areas seized from militants from collapsing into ethnic and sectarian feuds or succumbing to a new generation of extremism, as parts of Iraq and Afghanistan have done since the United States invaded them. U.S.-backed forces are fighting to retake the Islamic State strongholds of Mosul in Iraq and Raqqa in Syria, and questions remain about what will happen after that and what role other allies such as Saudi Arabia, can play. Administration officials said the U.S. strategy in Syria -- to defeat Islamic State while still calling for the removal of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad -- is unchanged, a message Mattis is expected to reinforce. (Editing by Angus MacSwan) Lusaka (AFP) - Zambia's main opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema on Tuesday claimed he was assaulted by police during his arrest as he appeared in court on charges of obstructing the presidential motorcade. The leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), who appeared before a magistrates court, faces multiple charges over the alleged motorcade incident, which occurred on the weekend of April 8-9. One of the charges is treason which will be heard at a later date in the High Court. Police went to arrest him on April 11, with Hichilema telling the magistrate that they had attacked and tear-gassed him in an ordeal lasting 15 hours. "We were attacked by criminals in police uniforms," he said. "They came without a search warrant." Hichilema had allegedly refused to give way to President Edgar Lungu's convoy as they were both travelling to the Western province for a traditional ceremony. Several days later, more than 100 armed police surrounded Hichilema's house outside Lusaka, firing tear gas before taking him into custody, AFP correspondents at the scene said. His lawyer accused police of using excessive force during the arrest and of "torturing" in custody three of his aides arrested a day earlier. "The police sprayed pepper spray in their private parts, mouth, ears," lawyer Jack Mwiimbu told the court. Hichilema has launched unsuccessful legal bids to challenge Lungu's victory in last August's election, and the businessman-turned-politician has said he does not recognise Lungu's presidency. He claims the vote was rigged and accuses Lungu of unleashing an unprecedented bout of political repression in the southern African country, which is known for its relative stability. Hichilema's lawyer Vincent Malambo told the court that since his arrest, his client had been denied access to a legal representative and family visits. At Tuesday's hearing, the magistrate ruled that he be seen by a doctor of his choice and be given access to both lawyers and family while in custody. Story continues His arrest has been strongly condemned by civil group and political commentators who say the charges will fuel tensions. The presidency meanwhile reacted angrily to comments reportedly made by Nigeria's former president Olusegun Obasanjo appealing to Zambian authorities to follow the rule of law in dealing with Hichilema. "We find Obasanjo's interference unacceptable," presidential spokesman Amos Chanda told foreign correspondents in Lusaka on Tuesday. He said Obasanjo was not being "sincere" and accused him and unnamed individuals under the auspices of a Johannesburg-based think-tank, the Brenthurst Foundation, of trying to secure Lungu's removal from power by helping the opposition. "We cannot take their advice, they can go to hell," said Chanda. President Lungu has vowed not to interfere in the trial. Hichilema returns to court on Wednesday. Ashleigh Thurman, 16, of Merrillan was found Sunday in La Crosse County by authorities after she had run away from home last week. Officials have not released any specifics about why Thurman ran away, but Thurmans parents have been notified that she has been found. Thurman was last spotted in Black River Falls on Friday, April 7, after leaving work at Donna Ks at about 2 p.m. Police said she then fled with her boyfriend. She was not believed to be in any danger. Her mothers vehicle was also found in the Chippewa Falls area, but the license plates were removed. She had been speaking with her friends, but she refused to come home. With just three days to go before the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are officially released, the buzz surrounding Samsungs next-generation flagship phones has reached new heights. I published my in-depth Galaxy S8 review earlier on Tuesday, and I made my feelings perfectly clear: Samsungs new Galaxy S8 and S8+ are the best Android phones of all time, hands down. In terms of hardware and design, theyre the best smartphones, period. Thats right, Samsung managed to pull off the unthinkable and out-design Apple for the first time ever. For a deep dive into Samsungs new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, definitely be sure to check out BGRs full review. In this supplemental post, well cover five key ways the Galaxy S8 is better than the iPhone 7. Don't Miss: Samsung Galaxy S8 review: Meet the envy of every iPhone user Display Design The screen is obviously one of the most important components in any smartphone since its still the primary means of displaying content and interacting with content. And in the case of the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, the display is the star of the show in so many ways. Beginning with the phones design, Samsung has managed to increase the screen-to-body ratio on its new phones to an impressive 83%. That compares with a screen-to-body ratio of just 66% on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Are these ratios really that important? You wont be able to fully appreciate it until you experience it for yourself, but the answer is yes. Apart from looking much better, the user experience on the Galaxy S8 is so much more immersive than it is on the iPhone 7. It feels like youre holding content in your hand, not a phone. Apples upcoming new iPhone 8 is expected to adopt a similar design that is nearly all screen but until then, the Galaxy S8 has the upper hand in a big way. Display Quality This wont come as much of a surprise to anyone who has ever used a Samsung flagship phone before, but the Galaxy S8s screen advantage extends well beyond design. In terms of display quality, the Galaxy S8 and S8+ have no equal. Story continues Samsungs Super AMOLED screens on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are simply stunning. They both have the same QHD+ resolution so the 5.8-inch screen on the smaller Galaxy S8 model actually has better pixel density than the larger 6.2-inch display on the Galaxy S8+. The difference is pretty big on paper 570 ppi vs. 529 ppi but I doubt even someone with 20/20 vision would be able to notice any difference at a normal viewing distance. In terms of comparing these screens to the displays on the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, it couldnt be easier: Samsungs screens are better in every way. Blacks are deeper, colors are more vivid, the resolution is better, the contrast is better, and the clarity is better. Samsung has absolutely hit yet another home run with its Galaxy S8 and S8+ screens. Curved Edges Samsungs first curved smartphones was a total gimmick that should not have existed. The Note Edge was the companys first smartphone with a curved screen (on one side only), and it was also a gimmick that was next to useless. The curves on the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are far from useless, however. Theyre awesome. In terms of software features, the only benefit afforded by the curved screen on the S8 is an option that makes the exposed edges light up with incoming calls when the phone is face-down on a table or desk. Yeah, its not exactly Earth-shattering. The real benefit of the curved sides on the front and back of the phone is usability. The Galaxy S8+ is about the same width as the iPhone 7 Plus, and its actually a bit thicker than the 7 Plus at its center. But with one hand, I can comfortably reach from one side of the S8+s display to the other. And Samsungs rounded sides on the front and back dont just extend the users reach, hey help the S8 and S8+ sit comfortably in the hand. Its an awesome design. Charging Charging certainly isnt the first thing that comes to mind when you weigh the pros and cons of a smartphone. But if you stop for a moment and really think about it, this is a hugely important part of the user experience. We charge our phones each and every day, so the speed a phone can charge and the convenience with which it can be charged are actually a very big deal. The Galaxy S8 supports multiple fast charging standards. The iPhone 7 does not. The Galaxy S8 supports wireless charging, and even fast wireless charging. The iPhone 7 does not. Long story short, Samsungs Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ charge much faster than their iPhone counterparts, and they also have bigger batteries. Google Assistant Siri has come a long way since it was first introduced, and theres no question that Apples virtual personal assistant is solely responsible for the recent explosion in similar solutions from rival companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung. As an iPhone user, however, I really enjoyed the personal assistant on Samsungs Galaxy S8+ while I was reviewing it. No, not Bixby. Sure, Samsungs own personal assistant solution shows promise, but its inability to support English-language voice commands at launch makes it a non-starter for the time being. Im talking about Google Assistant, the latest evolution of Googles assistant software. These AI driven assistants are always evolving, but Googles young Assistant solution has already surpassed Siri in many ways. I often find that Siri gets confused, has trouble with context, or just flat-out gets things wrong when I ask it a question or speak a command. Google Assistant, on the other hand, is far more consistent and accurate. This is a big check in the Galaxy S8s box for me. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com Youve read the Galaxy S8 review. Youve read about the most important ways Samsungs new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ are better than the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. Now, however, its time to flip things around and dive into the key ways Apples most recent flagship iPhones are better than the new Galaxy S8 and S8+. Theres no question that Samsung out-designed Apple with its latest flagship smartphones, and theyre undoubtedly the most impressive Android smartphones the world has ever seen at this point. But theyre not perfect, and Apples class-leading iPhones still have the edge in a number of key areas. In this post, well take a look at five important ways the iPhone 7 is still better than Samsungs brand new Galaxy S8. Don't Miss: Samsung Galaxy S8 review: Meet the envy of every iPhone user Operating System This is probably the most controversial of the five points listed in this post. All things considered, however, its true. After all these years, Apples iOS platform is still far more refined and far more simple than Android. Simple, of course, doesnt mean less capable. While its true that Google still gives Android developers far more freedom than iOS developers have, the capabilities afforded by that freedom that arent in iOS appeal to a somewhat small subset of users. iOS has grown more and more capable over the years, and its latest iteration is obviously the most impressive yet. Apple has managed to pile on additional features without overcomplicating the user experience or losing the simplicity that made iOS so enjoyable in the first place. Android gets better with each iteration as well, of course, but users still have trouble making sense of much of what the platform has to offer. Software Updates Speaking of software, this is one of the most important advantages Apple has over Google as a platform company. Its also an area where Google may never catch up. Right now, according to Googles own data, the most widely used version of Android in the world is Android Lollipop. It was first released about 2.5 years ago in November 2014. Googles most recent version of Android is Android Nougat, which was released eight months ago but is only found on 4.9% of active devices. Story continues Meanwhile, Apples iOS 10 software was released a month after Android Nougat, and yet its installed on 79% of active iOS devices as of February. New software brings with it new features, bug fixes, and important security updates. iPhones have access to new software releases the moment theyre made available. Android users with devices other than Googles Pixel or Nexus phones, on the other hand, have to wait months if not over a year before they can install an Android update. Third-Party Apps Sorry, Android fans, but the experiences afforded by Android apps never measure up to comparable apps on iPhones and iPads. The consistency isnt there, the smoothness and refinement arent there, and the usability isnt there. Google offers great guidelines for app developers, but theyre just not strict enough to ensure a consistent user experience across apps. Until Google tightens the reins a lot this isnt ever going to improve. Continuity Samsung has taken many, many pages out of Apples playbook before, and its currently working on yet another page thanks to its Samsung Connect solution. Samsung Connect allows devices like the Galaxy S8 to interact with and control other Samsung (and third-party) devices, but its nothing like Apples elegant Continuity solution. From handing off web pages and copied text between devices, to synchronizing data across devices, to the beauty that is Apples cross-device Messages solution, iPhones and other Apple products work together seamlessly. It may be that a solution this slick is impossible unless a company controls hardware and software alike, but Samsungs efforts with Tizen suggest that may never happen for the South Korean company. Performance Last but certainly not least is performance. It seems odd on paper that Apples 16nm quad-core A10 processor could out-perform the brand new 10nm octa-core Snapdragon 835 and Exynos 8895, but a phones processor is only part of the story. (That said, the A10 still crushes the 835 and 8895 in single-core performance on paper as well as in real-world usage.) Apples iOS platform is so lightweight and so well optimized that it continues to crush even the most powerful Android phones in the world where real-world performance is concerned. And yes, recent performance tests have shown that this is also the case with the brand new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. Will Android ever catch up? Maybe some day, but it wont be anytime soon. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com The Galaxy S8 is getting glowing reviews, but some pre-order customers who were lucky enough to get their handsets early don't feel so lucky today. Some Galaxy S8 pre-orders are showing up with red screens. Credit: Korea Herald Some Galaxy S8 pre-orders are showing up with red screens. Credit: Korea Herald An unknown number of Galaxy S8 owners are reporting that their screens are hobbled by a red tint, according to the Korea Herald. Even after fixing the color balance on the screen, the reddish tint was still there, and users are now saying that they don't know how to get rid of it. In its conversations with "industry watchers," Korea Herald found that the problem might have something to do with improper color balance on the Galaxy S8's OLED display. MORE: Galaxy S8 Review - Here's the Pros and Cons Instead of employing red, green, and blue to create colors like an LCD, OLED panels use blue-green and red-green subpixels to create the screen's color balance. However, at times, the red might not be strong enough, forcing the display maker (in this case, Samsung) to boost the red to balance out the color. It's possible, Korea Herald's sources said, that Samsung went overboard. Samsung announced the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ at a press event last month and plans to release the device on Friday. While Samsung and its carrier partners have promise that pre-order customers will get the handset on Friday (Apr. 21), some have apparently already received the device. It's unknown how widespread the red screen problem might be, and for now, only a handful of those who pre-ordered a Galaxy S8 have reported the issue, so it's unclear whether it'll be a broader concern after Friday. Korea Herald spoke to Samsung about the red screens. The company said that customers could change the color settings on their devices and it should be addressed. If not, they can turn in the handset at a service center and get a replacement. The company didn't say whether it's a known issue. Story continues The news comes after Samsung caught the ire of some critics after revealing that the company's Bixby button couldn't be remapped and the physical button its side used for other functions. Instead, Samsung released a software update that ensured you're locked to activating Bixby with the feature. See also : 9 Reasons the iPhone 7 Beats the Galaxy S8 People look at a Google Earth map of Paris, France during an event at New York's Whitney Museum of Art (AFP Photo/TIMOTHY A. CLARY) (AFP) San Francisco (AFP) - Google on Tuesday launched a re-imagined version of its free Earth mapping service, weaving in storytelling and artificial intelligence and freeing it from apps. "This is our gift to the world," Google Earth director Rebecca Moore said while giving AFP an early look at the new version of the program that lets people range the planet from the comfort of their computers, smartphones or tablets. "It's a product that speaks to our deepest values around education and making information available to people." A new 'Voyager' feature enables people digitally exploring the planet to be guided on interactive stories told by experts, boasting partners including BBC Earth, NASA, Sesame Street, and the Jane Goodall Institute. Google artificial intelligence will be put to work for Earth users in the form of "knowledge cards" that let them dive deeper into online information about mountains, countries, landmarks or other places being virtually visited. It will also make suggestions on other locations armchair explorers might be interested in based on what they have searched in the past. "This is the first time we have done this deep integration with the Google Knowledge Graph," Earth engineering manager Sean Askay said. "Everything Google knows about the world, you can know about the world." There is also a newly installed "Feeling Lucky?" feature for people who want to let the software suggest hidden gems such as Pemba Island off the Swahili coast or the Oodaira Hot Spring in Yamagata, Japan. People can choose to fly around the world in Earth, using a 3-D button to see the Grand Canyon, chateaux of the Loire Valley and other stunning spots from any angles they wish. "Because we're doing a lot of the computing in the cloud, it allows you to have Google Earth right on your phone, so you can literally carry the whole world in your pocket," Earth product manager Gopal Shah told AFP at the New York launch. Story continues "The new version of Google Earth is really about education, it's really about immersing yourself in places you haven't been before to get a little bit of an exposure," he added. Online explorers cruising the mobile version of Earth can also capture pictures on their travels, sending friends digital postcards. New Earth was launched on Google's Chrome and Android software, with versions tailored for Apple devices and other internet browsing software promised soon. It's the first time that Earth can be reached on a web browser instead of through applications installed on devices. The move allows Google to tap into more powerful computing power at data centers in the internet "cloud" instead of relying on the capabilities of smartphones and other devices. By Lisa Lambert WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A group that supports a new rule governing prepaid cards sued the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Tuesday for information that it says could reveal why Republicans are trying to reverse the regulation. The bureau, created after the 2007-09 financial crisis to protect individuals against fraud, finished a regulation in October requiring prepaid card sellers such as Mastercard Inc and Greendot to display their terms prominently and limit overdraft fees. However, a resolution introduced in the U.S. Congress in February would wipe out the rule. Allied Progress, an advocacy group that seeks to hold Wall Street firms accountable and which sued in federal court for documents around drafting of the rule, says the resolution is a political favor to industry leader Total System Services Inc, or TSYS . According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the company has donated thousands of dollars to Georgia Senator David Perdue, a Republican member of the Banking Committee taking the lead on the resolution. TSYS's Netspend division is based in Perdue's home state and could lose at least $80 million a year in overdraft fees under the rule, according to the National Consumer Law Center. Perdue's office says his objections to the rule are linked to his belief the CFPB has too much power. In February, Perdue introduced legislation to move funding for the agency from the Federal Reserve to the congressional budget. "While Allied Progress continues to recklessly defend this overreaching government agency, Senator Perdue will continue working fearlessly to provide congressional oversight and hold them accountable to the American people," said Perdue's spokeswoman, Caroline Vanvick. She added that Democrats, Republicans, and businesses had posted concerns about the rule on the CFPB website. Netspend spokesman Cyle Mims said the company "supports smart regulation of our industry that promotes financial inclusion and empowerment for Americans, including those without access to traditional financial services." The prepaid rule is new enough for lawmakers to repeal it under the Congressional Review Act, which allows them to wipe out recent regulations with simple majorities in both chambers and the president's signature. A companion resolution was also introduced in the House of Representatives. Republicans hold the majority in both chambers. With time running out for Congress to repeal regulations from the administration of Democratic former President Barack Obama, Perdue recently took a procedural step to rush his resolution to the full Senate for a vote after the chamber returns from recess next week. In response, Allied Progress asked the CFPB to quickly provide a raft of documents encompassing communications from Perdue and other lawmakers during the three years the rule was drafted, as well as interactions with TSYS and Netspend. But the bureau said it could not meet the request expeditiously, and so Allied Progress filed suit with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to require the agency to produce the documents promptly. The CFPB declined to comment on the suit, but pointed to remarks its director, Richard Cordray, made while unveiling the final rule, where he said the rule "will give consumers easy-to-understand information about prepaid accounts right up front." Providers of prepaid cards have said the rule's requirements are complicated and expensive to implement. They say they sometimes need overdraft fees to cover risks associated with cards, which are also often issued in place of traditional paychecks to lower-income workers. Earlier this month, 18 states' attorneys general from 18 states wrote to congressional leaders opposing the resolution that would overturn the new rule, saying overdraft penalties and undisclosed fees can put consumers in significant debt. (Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Frances Kerry) As streaming video services like Amazon and Netflix gain more and more subscribers, revenue, and pull within Hollywood, its become clear that the traditional cinema model of theatrical releases leading to home media several months later just isnt going to cut it. As the largest streaming service in the land, all eyes are on Netflix, and in a letter to shareholders the company stood firmly behind its current strategy, while opening up the possibility that its own movies could very well appear in theaters, but only alongside the online streaming option. Don't Miss: The first major Galaxy S8 problem concerns the phones most important feature As the Verge reports, Netflixs official stance reads like this: Since our members are funding these films, they should be the first to see them. But we are also open to supporting the large theater chains, such as AMC and Regal in the US, if they want to offer our films, such as our upcoming Will Smith film Bright, in theaters simultaneous to Netflix. Let consumers choose. Its hard to read that statement as anything but a challenge and ultimately a dig against the traditional theater experience which, while fun, is often ridiculously expensive. Its difficult to imagine that letting consumer choose would result in anything but an overwhelming majority of moviegoers opting to simply watch new release films on the service theyre already paying (a much more reasonable fee) for. Its worth noting that Amazon, which has been building a respectable library of its own original films while living in Netflixs shadow, has played nice with theaters and pushed some of its movies to the big screen before allowing subscribers to feast on them at home. Netflix doesnt seem to want any part of that. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com Reports last week said that Google wants to invest almost $1 billion in LG Displays OLED manufacturing plants to secure OLED displays for the Pixel 2 series, although the two parties did not sign an agreement. New reports from Korea claim that LG is eyeing a bigger opportunity for next year: Apples iPhone 8. The company is expected to confirm during a board meeting in June that itll provide OLED displays for the iPhone 8 next year. That doesnt mean the Pixel 2 deal isnt on the table, just that the iPhone seems to be the kind of opportunity LG cant refuse. Don't Miss: These are the Netflix originals generating the most buzz online According to Business Korea , LG Display virtually decided to supply small and medium panels for Apples iPhone 8. Apparently, Apple asked LG directly to submit bids. We received a request to take part in a bid for receiving an order for small and medium-sized OLEDs from Apple, a senior LG Display official said. At the end of June, we will make a decision based on OLED production technology, capacity and the accompanying investment volume in an extraordinary board meeting. LG Display needs to make huge investments to manufacture OLED displays for smartphones, but the company doesnt want to miss out on the current display trend. Smartphone makers are moving from LCD to OLED screens, with Apple leading the charge. The annual sales volume of the iPhone 8 with OLEDs is estimated at 40 million units, representative of the display industry said. Although LG Display was a few months behind Samsung, its E5s annual production volume reached 5.5 million units, bringing LG Display enough volume to supply OLEDs not only to Apple but to Chinese smartphone makers. Samsung will be the big initial winner of Apples move to OLED, as LGs biggest rival owns 95% of the smartphone OLED display market. Reports claimed that Apple inked OLED deals with Samsung worth over $9 billion. Samsung is also rapidly expanding its OLED factories to meet increasing OLED display demand. Story continues A report from The Investor says that Apples iPhone 8 will secure parts from Korean suppliers, including Samsung Display for OLED screens. Because Apple is less experienced in OLED, Samsung Display is expected to play a key role in the overall supply chain management for OLED screens, which means itll use its own key component suppliers. Samsungs System LSI will supply the display driver chip for the OLED screen, a contract worth some $422 million. Because one unit costs $5, the report notes that Apple is expected to make some 80 million iPhone 8 units this year alone. Trending right now: See the original version of this article on BGR.com Weekends are beloved because of the hearty meal at the tables centerpiece. After a robust spring supper, I like to plan on a light, meatless meal for the following night (or two) such as shiitake salad with arugula. The following recipe is a riff on the most luxurious salad, Insalata di Porcini, found in my cookbook Molto Italiano (Ecco, 2005). The original recipe uses a classic Italian mushroom popular in the hills of Emilia-Romagna and truly represents the excellent relationship between the forager and the cook. This version uses easy-to-find shiitakes but still delivers the same outstanding flavor. Lucky for us, we can buy this mushroom at most grocery stores and markets year-round. Since this salad requires few ingredients that arent already pantry staples, I encourage you to really take your time while shopping. Revel in the farmers market for the greenest arugula and make a quick visit to your cheese monger to find the absolute best Parmigiano-Reggiano available. The key to making the shiitakes sing is to place them directly on the grill without oil. Theyll develop a rich char, and it adds an elegant depth of flavor to this simple dish. Just before serving, drizzle with a nice olive oil (Capezzana is my favorite this year; they change like wine every harvest) and a sprinkle of coarse sea salt. One bite of this dish and youll see why the Batali family welcomes a light salad on any weeknight. SHIITAKE SALAD WITH ARUGULA Serves 4 1/2 pound fresh shiitake mushrooms 2 bunches arugula, washed and spun dry (about 3 loose cups) 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon Salt Freshly ground black pepper 8-ounce chunk of Parmigiano-Reggiano, for shaving Coarse sea salt Preheat the grill or broiler. Carefully cut each mushroom in half. Place on the grill or on a baking sheet under broiler and cook, turning often, until charred and softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Place the arugula, 1/4 cup of the olive oil, the lemon juice and zest in large mixing bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper and toss to mix thoroughly. Divide the salad equally among four plates. Remove the hot mushroom caps from the grill or broiler and place over the center of each salad. Using a vegetable peeler, shave Parmigiano onto each salad, right around the mushroom cap. Spoon 1 tablespoon of remaining olive oil over each salad, sprinkle with coarse sea salt, and serve immediately. A new institute at the Department of Energys SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is using the power of theory to search for new types of materials that could revolutionize society by making it possible, for instance, to transmit electricity over power lines with no loss. The Theory Institute for Materials and Energy Spectroscopies (TIMES) focuses on improving experimental techniques and speeding the pace of discovery at West Coast X-ray facilities operated by SLAC and by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, its DOE sister lab across the bay. But the institute aims to have a much broader impact on studies aimed at developing new materials for energy and other technological applications by making the tools it develops available to scientists around the world. TIMES opened in August 2016 as part of the Stanford Institute for Materials and Energy Sciences (SIMES), a DOE-funded institute operated jointly with Stanford. Materials that Surprise Were interested in materials with remarkable properties that seem to emerge out of nowhere when you arrange them in particular ways or squeeze them down into a single, two-dimensional layer, says Thomas Devereaux, a SLAC professor of photon science who directs both TIMES and SIMES. This general class of materials is known as quantum materials. Some of the best-known examples are high-temperature superconductors, which conduct electricity with no loss; topological insulators, which conduct electricity only along their surfaces; and graphene, a form of pure carbon whose superior strength, electrical conductivity and other surprising qualities derive from the fact that its just one layer of atoms thick. In another research focus, Devereaux says, We want to see what happens when you push materials far beyond their resting state out of equilibrium, is the way we put it by exciting them in various ways with pulses of X-ray light at facilities known as light sources. This tells you how materials will behave under realistic operating conditions, for instance in a lightweight airplane or a new type of battery. Understanding and controlling out-of-equilibrium behavior and learning how novel properties emerge in complex materials are two of the scientific grand challenges in our field, and light sources are ideal places to do this work." Joining Forces With Light Sources A key part of the institutes work is to use theory and computation to improve experimental techniques especially X-ray spectroscopy, which probes the chemical composition and electronic structure of materials in order to make research at light sources more productive. "We are in a golden age of X-ray spectroscopy, in which many billions of dollars have been invested worldwide to develop new X-ray and neutron sources that allow us to study very small details and very fast processes in materials, Devereaux says. In fact, we are on the threshold of being able to control matter at a much deeper level than ever possible before. But while X-ray spectroscopy has a long history of collaboration between experimentalists and theorists, there has not been a companion theory institute anywhere. TIMES fills this gap. It aims to solidify collaboration and development of new methods and tools for theory relevant to this new landscape. Devereaux, a theorist who uses computation to study quantum materials, came to SLAC 10 years ago from the University of Waterloo in Canada to work more closely with researchers at three light sources SLACs Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource (SSRL), Berkeley Labs Advanced Light Source (ALS) and the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), the worlds first X-ray free-electron laser, which at the time was under construction at SLAC. Opened for research in 2009, LCLS gives scientists access to pulses a billion times brighter than any available before and that arrive up to 120 times per second, opening whole new avenues for research. With LCLS, Devereaux says, It became clear that we had an unprecedented opportunity to study materials that have been pushed farther away from equilibrium than was ever possible before. Basic Questions and Practical Answers The DOE-funded theory institute has hired two staff scientists, Chunjing Jia and Das Pemmaraju, and works closely with SLAC staff scientists Brian Moritz and Hongchen Jiang and with a number of scientists at the three light sources. We have two main goals, Jia says. One is to use X-ray spectroscopy and other techniques to look at practical materials, like the ones in batteries to study the charging and discharging process and see how the structure of the battery changes, for instance. The second is to understand the fundamental underlying physics principles that govern the behavior of materials. Eventually, she added, theorists want to understand those physics principles so well that they can predict the results of high-priority experiments at facilities that havent even been built yet for instance at LCLS-II, a major upgrade to LCLS that will add a much brighter X-ray laser beam that fires up to a million pulses per second. These predictions have the potential to make experiments at new facilities much more productive and efficient. Running Experiments in Supercomputers Theoretical work can involve a lot of math and millions of hours of supercomputer time, as theorists struggle to clarify how the fundamental laws of quantum mechanics apply to the materials they are investigating, Pemmaraju says. We use these laws in a form that can be simulated on a computer to make predictions about new materials and their properties," he says. The full richness and complexity of the theory are still being discovered, and its equations can only be solved approximately with the aid of supercomputers. Jia adds that you can think of these computer simulations as numerical experiments working in silico, rather than at a lab bench. By simulating whats going on in a material, scientists can decide which of all the experimental options are the best ones, saving both time and money. The institutes core research team includes theorists Joel Moore of the University of California, Berkeley and John Rehr of the University of Washington. Rehr is the developer of FEFF, an efficient and widely accessible software code that is used by the X-ray light source community worldwide. Devereaux says the plan is to establish a center for FEFF within the institute, which will serve as a home for its further development and for making those advances widely available to theorists and experimentalists at various levels of sophistication. TIMES and SIMES are funded by the DOE Office of Science, and the three light sources ALS, SSRL and LCLS are DOE Office of Science User Facilities. For questions or comments, contact the SLAC Office of Communications at communications@slac.stanford.edu. SLAC is a multi-program laboratory exploring frontier questions in photon science, astrophysics, particle physics and accelerator research. Located in Menlo Park, Calif., SLAC is operated by Stanford University for the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science. SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The 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. Prosecutors Tuesday charged a La Crosse woman with threatening to kill a man the day before she posted a video on social media that led to a shooting on State Street. Monica Thompson, 19, about 4:30 p.m. April 9 confronted a man walking on the citys North Side and said she would shoot him in the head if he continued to disrespect her family, according to the complaint filed in La Crosse County Circuit Court. The next afternoon, Thompson used Facebook Live to taunt Ramon Washington, telling him to come fight her and that she was not afraid to die, according to La Crosse police reports. Referencing George Millers 2015 shooting death, Thompson said in her video post, If yall keep at like this, imma send yalls a to where the f yall homie at, reports stated. Deshawn Randall shot and killed Miller, 17, on Aug. 21 after a confrontation outside Thompsons previous residence at 1313 Redfield St. Surveillance video captured Washington shooting at Thompson at about 4:40 p.m. April 10 while she was outside 1008 State St., according to reports. No one was injured, and Thompson fled after the shooting. About an hour later, the man threatened by Thompson said he believed she drove by his house and told him, Youre next, according to the complaint. Thompson, arrested Monday during a traffic stop, was charged Tuesday with disorderly conduct and two counts of bail jumping and released by Circuit Judge Elliott Levine on a $5,000 signature bond. WINONA, Minn. Shots were fired toward a crowd, but no one was injured in an incident Friday evening. Jaquann Oshay Hughes, 22, Chicago, is charged with two counts of dangerous weapons violation for intentionally firing a gun and endangering the safety of another and firing a gun in a municipality in a public housing zone. Police were called to the Maplewood Townhomes at around 9 p.m. Friday for a reported shooting. According to the complaint, witnesses said that a person called Bay Bay later identified as Hughes had come from an apartment building, stood next to a tree and fired two rounds in the air. Witnesses said that then he pointed the gun toward a group of people and continued shooting. After searching the area, police did not find a gun but did find three .40-caliber shell casings which they determined to be used recently. Officers located a hole in one of the buildings and a bullet was recovered from the wall of the apartment, about 1 foot from where a child was sleeping. Hughes denies that he goes by the nickname Bay Bay and also said he has not held a gun since 2012. Police say they recognized Hughes as the owner of a Facebook account, Bay Bay Da Shoota, and that he turned around when they yelled Bay Bay upon seeing him. According to the police report, they spoke to another witness who claimed that Hughes had an argument with another man prior to hearing gun shots. According to Winona Police Chief Paul Bostrack, the response involved around 20 officers from the Winona and Goodview police, along with Winona County sheriffs deputies and the Minnesota State Patrol. Police say they recognized Hughes as the owner of a Facebook account Bay Bay Da Shoota. ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) The race for Minnesota attorney general is already underway, even though the current officeholder hasnt said if shell run for re-election or run for governor. Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party hasnt given a timetable on when shell make a decision. As she decides, the scramble for the attorney generals office is in full swing. Republican Harry Niska declared his candidacy Monday, and former state Rep. Doug Wardlow, another Republican, is also running. Niska, a business litigation attorney from Ramsey, has never held elective office. He said he considers that an asset. As I look at the field, I see a number of essentially career politicians looking for another step up on the political ladder, he said. DFL Rep. John Lesch, St. Paul, and former DFL Rep. Ryan Winkler have launched campaigns, contingent on if Swanson moves on from the post. Youre going to have to get out there now because you cant necessarily wait for other decisions. You need to start preparing now, Lesch said. Winkler left his seat in the Legislature in 2015 when his family moved to Brussels for career reasons, but he said he plans to be back in Minnesota full-time by June. Two other Democrats also have expressed interest in running if Swanson doesnt. Childless adults who sign up for Wisconsins Medicaid program would be screened for drug use and required to pay premiums under a proposal Gov. Scott Walkers administration plans to submit next month to the federal government. The state Department of Health Services released a summary of the proposal Monday. The department will issue a detailed plan Wednesday and gather public comment before submitting it May 26 to President Donald Trumps administration for approval. Wisconsin would be the first state with mandatory drug screening for Medicaid enrollees, said Robin Rudowitz, a Medicaid expert with the Kaiser Family Foundation. Walker has also announced plans to drug test able-bodied adults seeking food stamps and unemployment payments. Public hearings on the Medicaid proposal will take place in Wausau on April 26 and Milwaukee on May 1. Under the proposal, adults without dependent children who seek BadgerCare, the states main Medicaid program, would have to submit to drug testing if screening called for it. Those who refuse testing would go six months without coverage. Those who test positive could enroll in BadgerCare and would be referred to treatment. Enrollees with annual individual incomes of $2,412 to $12,060, the cutoff for BadgerCare, would have to pay monthly premiums of $1 to $10. For those who engage in healthy behaviors, the amount would be halved. In other proposed changes, childless adults would face higher premiums if they didnt complete a health risk assessment. They would have to pay $8 for an emergency room visit and $25 for a second visit the same year. Coverage for able-bodied adults younger than 50 would be limited to four years unless they work or are in job training. Some of the changes are similar to rules in Indianas Medicaid program. Vice President Mike Pence, Indianas former governor, changed that states program along with consultant Seema Verma, who now oversees Medicaid and Medicare for the Trump administration. It is designed for moving folks from dependence to independence, Michael Heifetz, Wisconsins Medicaid director, said in discussing the proposals earlier this year. The work and job training requirement would affect about 49,000 people, and the job training and administration would cost about $48 million a year when fully implemented, said John Dyck, a Medicaid analyst for the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau. No cost estimate for the drug testing was available, he said. Health care advocates say the changes would make coverage more difficult for those who need it. Dr. Richard Brown, a substance use expert at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, said many drug users can quit for a few days before testing or find ways to avoid detection. If the purpose of this policy is to sustainably discourage drug use, then the policy is doomed to fail, Brown said. Most drug users would still end up on Medicaid, he said. Voluntary drug screening in health care settings works better than mandatory screening and testing by the government, Brown said. Drug testing can result in false positives, and the state could face lawsuits if it doesnt do the testing properly, he said. Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin, said the drug screening and testing plays into stereotypes about people on BadgerCare. It may be very good politics for a governors race, but thats mostly what it is, Kraig said. Jon Peacock, research director of the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, said many people who sign up for BadgerCare dont have checking accounts or credit cards. Even small increases in premiums cause many low-income people to lose their insurance coverage, Peacock said. It will also result in a less healthy workforce and a significant increase in the cost of uncompensated care for hospitals. The changes were approved by the Legislature in 2015, in the last two-year budget. Currently, about 147,000 of the 977,000 people on BadgerCare are childless adults. Nearly 1.2 million state residents get some form of Medicaid. Wisconsin is one of 19 states that refused the Affordable Care Acts Medicaid expansion, which provides federal funding for at least 90 percent of the cost for new enrollees who make up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. Walker and the Legislature opted instead to cover all adults under the poverty level, allowing about 130,000 childless adults to sign up but shifting roughly 63,000 parents off Medicaid. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy This spring session of the Conservation Congress Citizen Resolutions made headlines. This year, a wide range of environmental protection resolutions were passed statewide. These resolutions were introduced by citizens and passed by a strong representation of the hunting, trapping and shing community in Wisconsin. Environmental protection is not just a tree-huggers concern. Although all sorts of outdoor lovers participate, its been hunters, trappers and shing lovers who have been the backbone of the Conservation Congress for its many years as a citizens advisory body to the DNR. They have taken their task about land, water and wildlife stewardship seriously. Though Im not a hunter or trapper, on behalf of Citizens Acting for Rail Safety-La Crosse, I introduced a resolution at last years spring meeting to protect natural resources from environmentally damaging derailments. It encourages the DNR to work with the state railroad commisioner and elected ofcials to strengthen rail safety inspections, prevention and preparedness measures; and to examine railroad insurance for damage from toxic spills. The thoughtful consideration and debate about this and other resolutions which brought this and other resolutions to vote was a heartening example of citizen democracy in action. Our resolution passed easily. Tom Tiffany and other legislators who disparage this years resolutions, and Walker administration threats to dismantle the CC, are unwise efforts to dismiss this coalition of outdoor stewards of all types. They have just spoken with a strong grassroots voice. Dane County Executive Joe Parisi will not run for governor of Wisconsin in 2018, he told the Cap Times Monday, adding his name to a growing list of Democrats who will not challenge Gov. Scott Walker. Parisi said last month he had not yet ruled out running, but said he ultimately decided against it after considering where he could make the biggest difference, what would be best for his family and whether running for state office would be worth leaving the county executive position. At the end of the day, the answer was not that difficult to come to, Parisi said. Im in a job that I love. Im in a job where Im making a tangible difference in my community. Parisi was re-elected to another four years leading the county in the April 4 election. He will be sworn in Tuesday. He was first elected to the county executive position in 2011 during a special election to serve out the remainder of former Executive Kathleen Falks term and was elected to his first full term in 2013. Parisi also served as Dane County clerk from 1996 to 2004 and in the state Assembly, representing an east side Madison district, from 2004 to 2011. Former state Sen. Tim Cullen also announced he will not run for governor, citing the challenge of fundraising as a primary reason. Cullen was one of the first potential challengers to publicly acknowledge serious consideration of a run. Democratic Party of Dane County chair Mike Basford said Parisi would have contributed to the race and that potential candidates dropping out is not a surprise. "I think that the process is happening at a pretty good pace, and this is another step in the process," Basford said. "I would have liked to see (Parisi) get in the race myself, but its a decision thats best for him and his future and his family, and I certainly respect that." Basford said he is looking forward to a "very robust primary process" with multiple Democratic candidates. Opting out of a run for the governor seat was not a simple decision, Parisi said. The dysfunction he described seeing at the state level would sometimes tip his decision making. Some days I would wake up and would think, This is something I should really do: run for governor, Parisi said. As I sat with it and considered everything, I kept coming back to the fact that where I believe I belong right now is as county executive. As county executive, Parisi said he can affect positive change for Dane County. Several initiatives the county is spearheading are in mid-stride, including mental health teams in schools, lake cleanup efforts and establishing an office on climate change. Parisi said he was not as confident he could influence that kind of change as governor. If I ran for governor and even if I became governor, it would have been extremely difficult considering the huge Republican majority, Parisi said. I love what I do, and Im able to accomplish so much right now, much more than I believe as governor. Monday, April 17, 2017 The New York Appellate Division for the Second Judicial Department imposed a public censure for neglect of a probate matter. Charge one alleges that the respondent neglected a legal matter entrusted to him, in violation of former Code of Professional Responsibility DR 6-101(a)(3) (22 NYCRR 1200.30[a][3]) and/or rule 1.3 of the Rules of Professional Conduct (22 NYCRR 1200.0), as follows: the respondent was retained in or about 2002 to represent the estates of Sydney Math, who died in 1995, and Math's sister-in-law, Lilly Weinberg, who died in 1996. In June 2011, the complainant Jonathan Stone filed a grievance against the respondent, alleging that he had neglected his representation of the estates of Math and Weinberg. In or about July 2012, the Grievance Committee for the Ninth Judicial District admonished the respondent for his neglect of the Math and Weinberg estates. In June 2014, Jonathan Stone filed a complaint, alleging, inter alia, that the respondent had still failed to offer Lilly Weinberg's will to probate. A stipulation On February 4, 2016, the parties entered into a stipulation. With respect to charge one, it was stipulated that the respondent began representation of the Math and Weinberg estates in or about 2002; that in June 2011, the complainant filed a grievance against the respondent alleging that he had neglected the matter; that in or about July 2012, the Grievance Committee admonished the respondent for his neglect of the Math and Weinberg estates; and that a complaint dated June 19, 2014, alleged, inter alia, that the respondent had still not filed Weinberg's will for probate. It was further stipulated that, in his answer to the complaint dated September 10, 2014, the respondent did not deny the allegation that he had not yet filed Weinberg's will for probate, and acknowledged "in retrospect, and being objective as possible, I recognize that for some reason not entirely clear to me, I have not pursued this matter with the same level of diligence I believe I typically do in my practice . . . I have had a blind spot when it comes to this file. I can't really explain the why of it. I will endeavor to remove the blind spot and do whatever has to be done to bring this matter to a close." It was also stipulated that on February 10, 2015, the respondent appeared, voluntarily, at the Grievance Committee's office for an examination under oath; that the respondent offered no explanation as to why he was unable to bring the Weinberg estate to a conclusion; and that the respondent testified: "I don't know and it's very disturbing to me and as I said it does not meet my own personal standards from what I ought to be doing for people who come to me. And this is a very, very troubling thing to me, not really having a grip on why, why it has gone on in this fashion." The attorney was suspended for two years in 1988 and had practiced without incident until this matter In view of the mitigation advanced at the hearing, including the respondent's candor and sincere contrition, his cooperation with the Grievance Committee in these proceedings, his advanced age and the fact that he has begun to wind down his practice in anticipation of retirement, the respondent's volunteer and community activities, the aberrational nature of the respondent's misconduct since his resumption of the practice of law in 1988, and the filing of the subject will for probate in February 2015, we conclude that the appropriate sanction is a public censure. (Mike Frisch) https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_profession/2017/04/the-new-york-appellate-division-for-the-second-judicial-department-charge-one-alleges-that-the-respondent-neglected-a-legal.html This is Whats Trending Today. Millions of people have been eagerly waiting for April, a giraffe living at a zoo in New York State, to have her baby. Viewers were rewarded on Saturday: at about 10 a.m. April gave birth to a male calf. The birth was filmed and shown live on YouTube. About 1 million people watched it. (Note: advance video to 3:18:46 to see birth.) The zoo first posted live video of pregnant April in her pen on YouTube in late February. People who object to zoos complained to YouTube, which took down the video. But stopping the video attracted even more interest. After investigating, YouTube returned the video and allowed it to remain online. The New York Times called April an internet star. Millions of people have checked on April at some point in the last two months. At its peak, Aprils live camera on YouTube had almost 5 million viewers per day. But after a while, many people wondered if the baby giraffe would ever be born. Some even proposed April was not really pregnant. One fan said he followed Aprils story for 10 weeks. David Chase used Facebook to write: Ive been watching 10 weeks, who says guys cant commit? After the birth, many people just simply wrote: Finally! The zoo said the baby and April are doing fine. The calf weighs 58.5 kilograms and is just under 1.8 meters tall. The calf stood up about 45 minutes after he was born. The zoo, called Animal Adventure Park, is located about 200 kilometers northwest of New York City. It is currently closed but fans of April and her new baby will be able to visit when the park re-opens in mid-May. The zoo has not yet announced the calfs name. And thats Whats Trending Today. Im Dan Friedell. Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a story from the Associated Press. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. Did you think the baby giraffe would ever be born? We want to know. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story eager adj. very excited and interested calf n. the young of various other large animals (such as the elephant or whale) complain v. to say or write that you are unhappy, sick, uncomfortable, etc., or that you do not like something commit v. to decide to give your love, support, or effort to someone or something in a serious or permanent way peak adj. at the highest point or level The Malaysian government is facing public pressure to resist following reports of the Chinese coast guard patrolling waters claimed by Malaysia. From December to late February, three Chinese coast guard ships had been patrolling off the Malaysian coast of Borneo. A Malaysian coast guard ship, according to the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative, tracked the boats. The initiative is part of the U.S. Center for Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS. The Chinese boats were found near Luconia Shoals, a small area of land in Malaysias exclusive economic zone. The report from CSIS says Malaysia also spotted 100 fishing boats escorted by the Chinese coast guard at the same area in March 2016. The Chinese coast guard had been there since 2013. Pressure on Malaysia for response Experts say the finding will add pressure on Malaysias Prime Minister Najib Razak to respond against China. Colin Koh is a maritime security research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. He feels that these issues will be problematic for Razak. This is going to become a particularly problematic issue that he will find very hard to deal with," Koh said. Economic relations a factor Razak usually avoids direct conflict with China. The country is Malaysias top trading partner and its biggest source of direct foreign investment. Jonathan Spangler is director of the South China Sea Think Tank in Taipei. He says, For Malaysia, which has sought to maintain friendly relations with China, publicly condemning Chinese actions would disrupt that delicate balance and could have serious economic and other repercussions. Other countries concerned In the past few years, China has reduced economic activities with South Korea, Taiwan, and countries in Europe when it is unhappy with their political decisions. CSIS says the presence of Chinese boats at Luconia Shoals is Chinas efforts to establish control over the nine-dash line. China claims more than 90 percent of the South China Sea with the nine-dash line boundary. The shoals, 100 kilometers north of Borneo in Malaysia and 2,000 kilometers south from China, fall within the nine-dash line. Several Southeast Asian nations have claims to parts of the South China Sea for its abundance of fisheries and potential oil reserves. Colin Koh says people in Malaysia feel their government reacts too passively to Chinas ship movements. And public pressure will rise fast if China were to stop Malaysian boats in the exclusive economic zone. Im Phil Dierking Ralph Jennings wrote this story for VOA News. Phil Dierking adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor. Do you think its better for countries to be passive and keep peace with each other, or to address conflict over boundaries? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page. ______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story abundance - n. a large amount of something boundary - n. something, such as a river, a fence, or an imaginary line, that shows where an area ends and another area begins delicate - adj. easily broken or damaged escort - v. to go with someone or something to give protection or guidance patrol - v. the act of walking or going around or through an area, building, etc., in order to make sure that it is safe : the act of patrolling an area repercussions - n. something usually bad or unpleasant that happens as a result of an action, statement, etc., and that usually affects people for a long time reserves - n. levels of primary energy resources found in the ground passively - adv. done in an accepting way, without active response From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle report. From Asia to Europe to North America, poor air quality is making people sick and, in some cases, killing them at an early age. Air pollution causes six million premature deaths every year worldwide. This number comes from studies done by the World Health Organization (WHO). Thirty-three of Europe's most polluted cities are in Poland. Part of the reason is how Poles heat their homes. In the winter, many people keep warm by burning coal. Northern China has a similar problem. And it is a big problem. Burning coal releases dirty particulate matter into the atmosphere. Particulate matter, sometimes called PM for short, is a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air. Some particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are so large or dark that we can see them with the naked eye. Others are so small that we can only see them using an electron microscope. Scientists say particulates, in large amounts, are partly responsible for changes in Earths climate and serious health problems. The WHO is urging governments to set pollution rules for industries and show people how to cook, heat and travel in ways that arent so dirty. But in the short-term, we need to create clean technologies and to improve the way we burn fuel. Polish device cleans air In Poland, researchers have invented some simple technology that may help to reduce air pollution. The device looks like a normal pipe. One of the engineers on the project, Robert Kubica, explains how it works. He says the device uses electricity to trap dust in the pipe. He explains that the electricity turns the ash into ionized particles, which fall on the inner part of the pipe. There they are gathered by an automatic ash removal system. From there, they go into an ash box. The remaining gases -- without the ash -- go out of a chimney and into the air. The ionized particles are deposited on the inner part of the body where they are gathered by an automatic ash removal system. The ashes go into the ash box, while the exhaust goes into the chimney. The Polish researchers say this simple technology probably will not solve the long-term problem of air pollution in their country. However, it will keep the air cleaner in the near future. Kubica says that from day one, this device immediately reduces the amount of dust released into the air. The researchers say the device will keep 60 to 90 percent of the coal ash from getting into the atmosphere. Kubica says this technology is a short-term solution. Availability of cleaner-burning fuels depends on Polands infrastructure. Setting up public services and systems that will allow for cleaner-burning fuels requires long-term investment. From the first day of its work, this device immediately reduces emissions of dust into the atmosphere. On the other hand, the transition to other cleaner fuels such as gas fuels is mostly dependent on access to infrastructure, and if its not there -- then there are long-term investments (that are necessary.)" This year, several hundred of these devices are being set up in the Polish town of Rybnik a community known for its poor air quality. Im Anna Matteo. Kevin Enochs wrote this story for VOA News. Anna Matteo adapted his report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. ____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story premature adj. happening, arriving, existing, or performed before the proper, usual, or intended time particulate matter n. the term for a mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets found in the air (also called particle pollution.) Some particles, such as dust, dirt, soot, or smoke, are large or dark enough to be seen with the naked eye. Others are so small they can only be detected using an electron microscope. naked eye n. the eye unaided by any instrument that changes the apparent size or distance of an object or otherwise alters visual powers ionized v. to convert wholly or partly into ions automatic adj. having controls that allow something to work or happen without being directly controlled by a person exhaust n. the mixture of gases produced by an engine chimney n. a part of a building through which smoke rises into the outside air deposit v. to put or leave (someone or something) in a particular place infrastructure n. the basic equipment and structures (such as roads and bridges) that are needed for a country, region, or organization to function properly emission n. substances discharged into the air (as by a smokestack or an automobile engine transition v. passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another __________________________________________________________________ Now, test your understand with this short quiz. Quiz - Polish Engineers Make Air-Cleaning Device Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz Pirooz Parvarandeh has been an executive in the technology industry for many years. He is also an Iranian American. But Paravarandeh believes Iranian Americans are subject to many negative stereotypes. A stereotype is a widely held but often wrong or oversimplified idea about a group of people. One reason is that even Iranian Americans themselves do not know about the many success stories of their group, he said. So Parvarandeh helped set up what he calls the Iranian Americans Contribution Project. It collected 200,000 Iranian last names and 70,000 first names. It uses the internet to search jobs held by people with these Iranian names. So far, the project has found more than 9,000 doctors and 3,000 dentists. It also found that Iranian Americans have received at least 40,000 patents. Patents are given to people who invent new products or processes. Parvarandeh hopes the information will cause people to reject negative images of Iranian Americans. What images come up with Iranian? A terrorist? A hostage-taker? Or a contributing member of society, he asked during a recent talk at the University of California, Berkeley. If we dont know the contributions of Iranian Americans, how can we expect the American public to know? If the public is not with us, why would policymakers want to stick up for us? About one million Iranians now live in the United States, mostly in California. The Iranian Americans Contributions Project started last year. But it grew more interest this year after Iran was listed among countries included in the first and second travel bans called for by the Trump administration. Both orders have been blocked temporarily by federal judges. Parvarandeh hopes his new project will show Americans the many contributions being made by Iranian Americans. Immigrant groups in America have long considered how best to both assimilate, or fit in, and remain proud of their culture. For Iranian Americans, this has been made more difficult by continuing tensions between the United States and Iran. Those tensions date back to the seizing and holding of 52 American hostages at the U.S. embassy in Tehran from November 1979 to January 1981. The internet effort to identify important jobs done by Iranian Americans is not always successful. The second generation of Iranian Americans and people marrying non-Iranian Americans means more have taken on American sounding names. But Parvarandeh hopes that Iranian Americans will reach out to his project. It uses both information collected on the internet, and interviews with Iranian Americans. Abe Kasbo is founder and chief executive officer of Verasoni Worldwide. It is a marketing and public relations company with offices in New Jersey and Texas. Kasbo decided too many Americans do not know about the contributions of Arab Americans. That led him to produce the 2016 film, A Thousand and One Journeys. It includes interviews with successful Arab Americans. He hopes the movie will show people the important contributions made by Arab-Americans. Among those interviewed for the movie were former Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell, actor Jamie Farr, political activist Ralph Nader and the late journalist, Helen Thomas. Kasbo said people who watch the movie will learn about just some of the noteworthy contributions by Arab Americans. Im Jonathan Evans. Michelle Quinn reported on this story for VOANews.com. Bruce Alpert adapted this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and share your views on our Facebook Page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story negative - adj. thinking about the bad qualities of someone or something contributing - adj. to help to cause something to happen society - n. people living together in organized communities with shared laws, traditions, and values interview - n. to ask someone questions noteworthy - adj. significant or important Rooftop yoga, group meditation, sustainability-focused panel discussions, live entertainment and more will be available to the public at the ground-up development and flagship property. NEW YORK -- Mission-driven luxury hotel brand, 1 Hotels, and leading lifestyle media company, mindbodygreen, have partnered to celebrate the hotel's grand opening on Earth Day, Saturday April 22, with a FREE, public mindfulness event at 1 Hotels' newest property in Brooklyn Heights. Celebrating Earth Day with 1 Hotels The partnership will see a headline Earth Day event take place at 1 Hotels' flagship property 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, with supporting satellite activations at other 1 Hotel locations including Central Park, New York and South Beach, Miami. "The World Around Us Is Beautiful and We Want to Keep It That Way" "Every year, the world pays tribute to our planet on Earth Day, utilizing it as an effective advocacy vehicle to build a healthy, sustainable environment, address climate change and protect the Earth for future generations," says 1 Hotels' Vice President of Sustainability, Amanda DeSantis. "At 1 Hotels, our core philosophy is that the world around us is beautiful and we want to keep it that way, so it was a natural alignment for us to host this nationwide first event that facilitates awareness of the world's largest environmental movement." Yoga, Meditation and a Performance by BELLA GAIA Curated by mindbodygreen, the Brooklyn event will host a variety of activities including rooftop yoga led by Los-Angeles based instructor Caley Alyssa, group meditations led by Light Watkins and 1 Hotels' in house meditation leader Biet Simkin, astrology readings with Bess Matassa of Mojave Rising and one-on-one sessions with Treatment by Lanshin, a Brooklyn-based wellness studio. Additionally, there will be a musical and visual performance by BELLA GAIA and live panel discussions facilitated by CEO and Founder of mindbodygreen, Jason Wachob around sustainability, which will be livestreamed at Facebook/mindbodygreen.com. Brooklyn vendors including Keap, Natchie, Matchaful, Devocion and more will be selling and sampling locally-made food, beverages, gift items, beauty and wellness products. Additional refreshments will be available for purchase through 1 Hotels, along with local vendors from the new DeKalb Market Hall, opening later this spring, including Ample Hills Creamery, Bread & Spread and Jianbing Company. Live Your Best Life "Environmental sustainability is in our DNA at mindbodygreen! We strive to help people live their best life mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally and environmentally," said CEO and Founder of mindbodygreen, Jason Wachob. "We're proud to be partnering with 1 Hotels this Earth Day to bring our community together to inspire them with information that will drive action to protect our environment." Event Details: Situated at Pier 1, just south of the iconic Brooklyn Bridge, in Brooklyn Bridge Park, the property features 194 guest rooms, including 29 two- to six-bedroom suites and The Riverhouse, its Presidential Suite, with most rooms offering panoramic views of the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge and the New York City skyline. 1 Hotel and mindbodygreen's headline event will take place on Earth Day (Saturday, April 22) at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge (60 Furman Street, Brooklyn NY) and in nearby Brooklyn Bridge Park from 12:00PM-9:15PM. FULL SCHEDULE: 12:00-8:00PM: Astrology readings with Bess Matassa and wellness sessions with Joanna Coates of Treatment by Lanshin (free appointments, first-served); marketplace of local Brooklyn vendors and food purveyors open to the public. 12:00-12:45PM: Group meditation in Brooklyn Bridge Park led by Vedic Meditation teacher Light Watkins. 1:00-2:00PM: Group yoga class on the 1 Hotel rooftop hosted by Los Angeles yoga instructor Caley Alyssa. 3:00-4:30PM: Panel discussions around the future of sustainability as it pertains to: Business:Christiana Peppard, Ph.D. andDrew Fitzgerald of JUST Water Fashion: Fashion designerMara Hoffman,Scott Mackinlay Hahn of Loomstate andDeb Johnson of the Brooklyn Fashion + Design Accelerator Food: Dr.Robert Graham Activism:Barry Sternlicht, 1 Hotels Chairman & CEO andRhea Suh, President of the Natural Resources Defense Council 5:00-5:45PM: Discussion with astronaut Ron Garan and filmmaker Guy Reid and an exclusive premier of their film, Planetary6:00-6:45: Group meditation on the 1 Hotel rooftop with Biet Simkin 8:00-9:15pm: Free performance in Brooklyn Bridge Park by BELLA GAIA To join us at 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge for this FREE community Earth Day Celebration, visit: https://1earthdaybb.splashthat.com/ or 1 Hotels here. Satellite Events: Supporting activations at 1 Hotel Central Park and 1 Hotel South Beach will entail: 1 Hotel Central Park 1 Hotels and mindbodygreen will commission a custom Earth Day installation by local florist Denise Porcaro of Flower Girl that invites pedestrians to stop, appreciate the beauty of nature and snap a photo to benefit the NRDC. The installation will live in or outside 1 Hotel Central Park and its restaurant, Jams, in the days leading up to Earth Day. 1 Hotel Central Park will also provide opportunities for guests to give back and do good: GET ACTIVE 1 Hotel Central Park is partnering with our friends at New York Restoration Project for a community clean up activity this Earth Day in collaboration with Columbia Sportswear and Bronx Brewery. Activities will take place in the Meatpacking District ofNew York City. After volunteering, everyone is invited to the nearbyColumbia store for a seed planting workshop and complimentary beer tasting by the Bronx Brewery. GO GREEN 1 Hotel Central Park's Lobby Farmstand will host a tree stand for the week of Earth Day, offering guests packets of seeds to plant after their stay. GIVE BACK Stop by the bar at Jams to enjoy a special seasonal cocktail benefitting the New York Restoration Project. The Don't Believe the Florist cocktail is made using basil from a NYRP community garden and is available for $17 with $1 of each cocktail going to NYRP. 1 Hotel South Beach The brand's Miami property will present a day of eco-celebrations and wellness activities highlighting Soul, Being, Mind and Movement: SOUL 1 Hotel South Beach, Dune Restoration Project, Citi Bike and Surfrider Miami invite select guests and locals to help restore the dune and learn about the effects of erosion on the eco-system. Later that afternoon, individuals of all ages will be able to release butterflies back into their natural habitat at the Hatchery by the Center pool entrance. BEING The newly opened plnthouse will offer specials from 1-4 pm of sustainable, plant-based dishes by ChefMatthew Kenney while a live DJ spins outside on the patio. MIND Connect with nature and the elements during the Sunset Elemental Flow & Mind Meditation on the plnthouse terrace. MOVEMENT Spartan's Coach Lawrence hosts Challenge Your Movement. Starting with an animal flow warm-up, attendees will learn to improve mobility, strength and endurance outside on the Turf and later move inside the first ever Spartan Gym for a strength-based circuit training session. About mindbodygreen Founded in 2009, mindbodygreen is a leading lifestyle media brand dedicated to helping people live their best life mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally and environmentally. With 10 million monthly unique visitors, mindbodygreen has over 5,000 contributors consisting of best-selling authors, fitness experts, trusted healers, pioneering doctors, top chefs, celebrities and top-tier journalists. Bringing together community, content and commerce, mindbodygreen is also well-known for its annual award-winning event, revitalize and online classes that offer users access to sessions on topics including personal growth, nutrition, fitness, relationships, meditation, and more. About Starwood Capital Group Starwood Capital Group is a private investment firm with a core focus on global real estate, energy infrastructure and oil & gas. The Firm and its affiliates maintain 13 offices in five countries around the world, and currently have approximately 4,000 employees. Since its inception in 1991, Starwood Capital Group has raised $45 billion of equity capital, and currently has in excess of $60 billion of assets under management. The Firm has invested in virtually every category of real estate on a global basis, opportunistically shifting asset classes, geographies and positions in the capital stack as it perceives risk/reward dynamics to be evolving. Over the past 27 years, Starwood Capital Group and its affiliates have successfully executed an investment strategy that involves building enterprises in both the private and public markets. Additional information can be found at starwoodcapital.com. A submarine-launched ballistic missile is displayed during a military parade in central Pyongyang, April 15, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] Among the possible, but the least desirable, responses to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear and missile tests (although its last one on Sunday was a failure) could be a preemptive strike by the United States. There is no guarantee, though, that the presumed US strike would be precise enough to wipe out all nuclear facilities in the DPRK before Pyongyang launches a nuclear attack in retaliation. If that happens, the DPRK won't wait to fire its nuclear missiles, and thousands of howitzers and rocket launchers deployed along the 38th parallel Military Demarcation Line into the Republic of Korea. No defense systems, including the US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system, will be able to shield off such a shower of artillery shells. And Pyongyang's missiles could destroy Seoul and hit even Japan. Since 2006 the United Nations has passed a number of resolutions imposing sanctions on the DPRK. The ever-tougher sanctions have crippled the DPRK's economy but failed to rein in its nuclear and missile programs, revealing an intrinsic loophole in any economic sanction: they are meant to harm the leader or ruling party but, instead, always end up hurting innocent citizens first and most, leaving the real target to suffer the effects, if at all, last. Talks are the only way to resolve the issue. But how can the US be persuaded to hold talks with the DPRK? Having fired 59 Tomahawk missiles on Syria on April 6, the Donald Trump administration seems anxious to use force to showcase its political resolve. The US doesn't want to be seen as being blackmailed by a country it has labeled a "rogue state". That is why Washington has rejected all proposals by Pyongyang for bilateral talks. Besides, it believes that the Six-Party Talks were useful only in giving the DPRK the needed time to develop nuclear weapons. But time is running short. DPRK leader Kim Jong-un said in his New Year's Day address that his country was close to testing an intercontinental ballistic missile which would bring the US within its range. Although Pyongyang has suffered many failures in missile tests (like the one on Sunday), if it can, even theoretically, develop medium range missiles, it can build ICBMs one day. In fact, Pyongyang exhibited two ICBM-size canisters for the first time at a parade on April 15, the 105th birth anniversary of the DPRK founder Kim Il-sung. But why would the DPRK want to develop nuclear weapons? A short answer is: for survival. Its worst fear is a preemptive strike by the US to effect a regime change. Unless attacked, there is no reason why the DPRK should launch a suicidal attack against the ROK. Pyongyang is desperately trying to develop ICBMs because it believes, however wrongly, that if it possesses missiles that can reach the US, its survival would be assured. Therefore, the first step toward denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula is to reduce the importance of nuclear weapons for the DPRK. For that to happen, the US needs to convince Kim Jong-un that it has no plans to launch a strike on or engineer a regime change in the DPRK. Indeed, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said the Trump administration has no plans for engineering a regime change in Pyongyang, but apparently the deployment of US warships in the region sends a different signal. That is why China's proposal of suspending hostilities is worth considering. Beijing has suggested that as a first step, the DPRK freeze its nuclear program if, in exchange, the US halts its military exercises with the ROK. The proposal is balanced in that it doesn't ask for any unilateral concession. It saves face for both sides because it is mutually conditional. Above all, it will help cool down the high tensions on the peninsula. If the US can come to agreements with Cuba and Iran, why can't it do so with the DPRK? A dialogue, be it formal or informal, be it bilateral between the US and the DPRK or multilateral among all stakeholders, as suggested by Beijing, looks like the most affordable price the US can pay when compared with the sad eventuality of the DPRK possessing ICBMs that could reach the US mainland. The author is an honorary fellow with the Center of China-American Defense Relations, Academy of Military Science. Thailand-based, global hospitality group Dusit Hotels & Resorts has signed a partnership agreement with Ksher (WeChat Pay Thailand) and Asset Bright Public Company Limited to accept WeChat Pay at Dusit Hotels and Resorts. WeChat Pay is part of China's largest mobile instant messaging app, WeChat, which to date has over 800 million active users. It allows users to pay bills, order goods, transfer money to other users, and pay in selected stores directly via smartphone using credit from their personal WeChat Pay accounts. Under the new partnership agreement, Dusit Hotels & Resorts will be the first hotel group in Thailand to accept WeChat Pay at its restaurants, spas, participating outlets, and for hotel rooms upon check-out, initially at its owned properties in Thailand and subsequently its other properties around the world. Users will be able to pay their hotel bills by simply scanning a QR code to have the relevant fee deducted from their accounts. Authorized by the Bank of Thailand, Asset Bright Public Company Limited will process all e-payments made via WeChat Pay at Dusit hotels in Thailand. Ksher, meanwhile, will implement and maintain the WeChat Pay system, including providing online security and technical support. According to figures released by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), 8.75 million Chinese tourists visited the kingdom in 2016 and Chinese visitors now account for 27 per cent of all foreign travellers to Thailand. Dusit Hotels & Resorts believes implementing WeChat Pay at its owned properties in Thailand will prove an attractive proposition for Chinese visitors who are well aware of the security and convenience that WeChat Pay affords. "In China's top-tier cities, approximately 90 per cent of stores now accept WeChat Pay as a payment method and the platform's reach is starting to expand globally," said Mr Lim Boon Kwee, Chief Operating Officer of Dusit Hotels & Resorts. "Chinese tourists are high value market and increasingly significant to our business, so it's important we do all we can to cater to their needs. By implementing WeChat Pay, our Chinese guests will now be able to benefit from favourable exchange rates and occasional exclusive promotions, so we are confident it will be a huge success." Mr Donald Tang, Vice President of Global Business Development at Ksher, said, "As WeChat Pay's strategic partner in Thailand, we work together with Asset Bright to provide secure, stable and advanced mobile payment solutions designed to provide the utmost of convenience to Chinese travellers. We are delighted that Dusit Hotels & Resorts is the first hotel group in Thailand to adopt WeChat Pay, and we now look forward to working with the company to delight its Chinese guests." Mr Premchai Kusolrerkdee, Deputy Managing Director, Asset Bright Public Company Limited, added, "We are fast moving towards a cashless future where transactions are made seamlessly online. As WeChat Pay allows Chinese guests at Dusit Hotels & Resorts to pay for rooms and services securely, easily, and without currency exchange, we believe this will lead to more transactions made at each hotel, making it a solution that benefits all parties involved." In addition to all Dusit hotels in China, WeChat Pay is now accepted at all Dusit-owned hotels in Thailand, including Dusit Thani Bangkok, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, Dusit Thani Pattaya, Dusit Thani Hua Hin, DusitPrincess Korat, DusitPrincess Chiang Mai, DusitPrincess Srinakarin Bangkok, and dusitD2Chiang Mai. Dusit Hotels & Resorts will also introduce the service at its international properties in the near future. In celebration of the launch, from now through 30 September 2017 Dusit Hotels & Resorts will offer an exclusive Dusit WeChat Pay package of up to 40 per cent off regular room rates at its owned hotels in Thailand. Guests must use WeChat Pay to qualify for this package, which also includes breakfast and is bookable via Dusit's WeChat account. In addition, courtesy of WeChat Pay, anyone who uses the app to pay for a room at Dusit's participating hotels and resorts will receive a digital red lucky envelope, known in China as 'Ang Pao,' containing up to 888 RMB (approximate 4,440 Baht) which will be paid directly into their accounts if they stay at participating Dusit hotels from now through 23 April 2017. About Dusit International Established in 1948, Dusit International or Dusit Thani Public Company Limited (DUSIT) is a leading hospitality group listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Its operations comprise five distinct yet complementary business units: hotels and resorts, hospitality education, food, property development, and hospitality-related services. The group's portfolio of hotels, resorts and luxury villas includes more than 300 properties operating under a total of six brands (Dusit Thani, Dusit Devarana, dusitD2, Dusit Princess, ASAI Hotels, and Elite Havens) across 16 countries worldwide. The group also operates culinary schools and hospitality colleges in Thailand, plus catering companies for the education sector in Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Dusit International's diversified investments in real estate development, hospitality-related services, and the food sector are part of its long-term strategy for sustainable growth, which focuses on three key areas: balance, expansion and diversification. For more information, please visit dusit-international.com. WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. The SureStay Signature Collection Genetti Hotel is opening its doors to guests in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The property is one of the first of its kind to join one of the newest hotel brands in the industry SureStay Hotel Group. The hotel will provide guests with an experience they can count on and the amenities today's travelers have come to expect. Built in 1922, the SureStay Signature Collection Genetti Hotel is an historic landmark in Williamsport and is also the city's tallest building, with 10 stories. The property's location is optimal for guests interested in exploring the nearby area as it is just a three-hour drive from New York City, Washington D.C. and Philadelphia. Located at 200 West 4th Street in Williamsport, the hotel features 164 guest rooms and 40 suites, with more than 14,000 square feet of meeting and event space. The hotel is also home to Genetti Taphouse (formerly 4th Street Grille and Ale House), a full-service restaurant with 18 beers on tap and amazing American fare. The property also has a 24-hour fitness facility, business center and a complementary full hot breakfast. "The SureStay Signature Collection Genetti Hotel is a welcomed addition to our growing portfolio of SureStay hotels," said Shane Platt, Managing Director of SureStay Hotel Group. "We are thrilled to bring this new hotel brand to Williamsport and believe this hotel will be an affordable, quality lodging option for travelers in this area." "We are committed to providing our guests with the amenities they look for in a hotel stay free high-speed internet throughout the hotel, complimentary breakfast and quality customer care," said Marc Schefsky, general manager of the SureStay Signature Collection Genetti Hotel. "Travelers visiting Williamsport and surrounding areas can be sure about their stay at our hotel." Reservations may be booked by calling 1-800-827-8298 or by visiting surestay.com. About BWH Hotel Group BWH Hotel Group is a leading, global hospitality network comprised of three hotel companies, including WorldHotels Collection, Best Western Hotels & Resorts and SureStay Hotel Group. The global network boasts approximately 4,500 hotels in over 100 countries and territories worldwide*. With 18 brands across every chain scale segment, from economy to luxury, BWH Hotel Group suits the needs of developers and guests in every market. WorldHotels WorldHotels Collection is a privately held hotel soft brand within the BWH Hotel Group global network. Founded by independent hoteliers dedicated to the art of hospitality, and celebrating its 50th year anniversary in 2021, WorldHotels offers one of the finest portfolios of independent hotels and resorts around the globe, expertly curated to inspire unique, life enriching experiences that connect people and places. WorldHotels is comprised of four unique collections, each with its own personality and style to appeal to the needs of today's traveler. The collections include: WorldHotels Luxury, WorldHotels Elite, WorldHotels Distinctive and WorldHotels Crafted. For more information visit WorldHotels.com. *Numbers are approximate, may fluctuate, and include hotels currently in the development pipeline. Sioux Jeffrey Corporate Communications - Best Western Hotels & Resorts 602-957-5749 BWH Hotel Group Once soft on Russia and hard on China, President Donald Trump rapidly reversed course in the last weeks, concluding theres more business to be done with Beijing than with Moscow. Trumps evolving views on those two world powers have brought the U.S. back into alignment with former President Barack Obamas pattern of great power politics. Though Russia critics welcomed Trumps newly hardened tone, theres less enthusiasm from Americas allies in Asia, who fear the U.S. could overlook Chinas more aggressive posture toward its neighbors. It may be that Trump, the businessman-turned-world leader, is discovering Chinas transactional approach to foreign relations is better suited to achieving his own goals. Chinese leaders have sought a U.S. relationship based on the two powers respecting each others spheres of influence and not intervening in one anothers internal affairs. Such a balance-of-powers approach had been Russias traditional stance. Moscow still wants Washington out of its backyard, but Russias alleged campaigns to influence the U.S. presidential election and upcoming votes in the heart of Western Europe have made it harder for American officials to take the offer seriously. Russias support for Syrian President Bashar Assad and Trumps newfound commitment to militarily countering any chemical weapons attacks also is proving hard to square. Also, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putins shared tendency toward nationalist, dont-mess-with-us rhetoric may be putting the pair on a collision course. The sudden U-turn for Trump has been head-snapping for people around the world, despite his self-professed penchant for unpredictability and willingness to adapt to changing circumstances. As the Republican presidential nominee, Trump praised Putin repeatedly as a strong, very smart leader. Trump dismissed Americas Russia hawks as stupid people or fools and predicted that under his leadership the Cold War foes would work together to solve some of the many great and pressing problems and issues of the world. Trumps gestures to Moscow even fueled perceptions that his campaign and Russia were colluding to help him get elected a possibility the FBI is now investigating. Frankly, if we got along with Russia and knocked out ISIS, that would be a good thing, not a bad thing, Trump told a radio host in October, citing his still unrealized goal to have both countries cooperate to defeat the Islamic State group. This past week, it was the opposite message, as the U.S. and Russia feuded about Syria. Were not getting along with Russia at all, Trump said. We may be at an all-time low. Trumps declaration came at a joint news conference with the leader of NATO, an alliance established as a Cold War bulwark against the Soviet Union. Trump had dismissed NATO as obsolete, but now says it is no longer obsolete. As he shifts away from Russia, Trump is offering an outstretched hand to China. Trump recently hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at Trumps Florida resort, and last week hailed Xi as a terrific person and a very special man. For years Trump said that China was eating our lunch, and he peppered his campaign rallies with promises to label China a currency manipulator as one of his first acts. He even threatened to start a trade war, arguing that Chinas trade surplus was the reason for Americas economic woes. Trumps growing focus on the North Korean threat, heightened by signs the North might soon conduct another nuclear test, has changed Trumps thinking. Now he is looking for help from China, North Koreas dominant trade partner, and easing up on his rhetoric. I think China has really been working very hard on North Korea, he said. Coinciding with this new assessment was Trumps announcement that he wont declare China a currency manipulator. It was Trumps second major concession to Xi, after backing away from a threat to abandon Americas One China policy that sees Taiwan as part of China. So what did Trump, the self-declared deal-maker, get in return? The U.S. hasnt gotten anything from China yet, said Evan Medeiros, who was Obamas top Asia adviser in the White House. The question becomes, if they dont give him what he wants, what happens next? Trump and White House aides have pointed to Beijings move to restrict coal imports from North Korea as a sign its listening to Trump. But the restriction merely put in place U.N. sanctions passed last year with Chinas support before Trump took office. Although U.S. allies Japan and South Korea are heartened by Trumps North Korea focus, his softer tack toward Beijing is causing concern. Chinas other designs for Asia include staking sovereignty to maritime territories, sometimes far from its coast, that others countries claim as well. Despite Trumps argument that China is taking North Korea seriously, China remains adamantly opposed to U.S. deployment of an advanced missile defense system in South Korea. Trump, like Obama before him, insists the systems sole purpose is to protect against the North. Beijing isnt so sure, and doesnt like such sophisticated radar being able to peer into Chinese territory. Josh Lederman, Washington, AP A Chinese dissident who abandoned his tour group while in Taiwan said he will apply for political asylum by today in hopes of staying on the self-governing island to promote democracy on the mainland. Zhang Xiangzhong said in an interview yesterday that he hoped Taiwanese officials would take a tolerant view toward his appeal, but acknowledged there were legal hurdles. I want to tell them that Taiwans spirit represents the Chinese people, Zhang said. They dont have an asylum policy, but I hope they will be tolerant. Chang Hsiao-yueh, minister of Taiwans Mainland Affairs Council, said at a Cabinet hearing yesterday that the island does not offer political asylum to Chinese citizens although they sometimes offer permits for long-term residence on a case-by-case basis. Zhangs case could further exacerbate cross-strait tensions weeks after China detained a Taiwanese pro-democracy activist Lee Ming-che during a trip to the mainland. Cross-strait relations have been near an all-time low since the election of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has advocated for Taiwans formal independence. China cut off contacts with Taiwans government in June, five months after Tsai was elected. Zhang told The Associated Press that he was inspired to defect after hearing about Lees story and how his wife, Lee Ching-yu, defied Chinese government warnings and attempted to fly to the mainland to search for her husband. Zhang, 48, was previously jailed for three years for participating in a mainland civil rights movement called the New Citizens Movement, which was backed by prominent legal scholars, businessmen and artists. Zhang said he did not fully make up his mind to defect until after he arrived in Taiwan on an eight-day tour package. Zhang said he realized that Taiwan was the inheritor of the Chinese peoples spirit and culture after he toured historical archives. Yet, it was a seemingly mundane, everyday gesture that finally swayed him: He encountered respectful drivers on Taiwans streets. I asked myself, when will we ever be like that in the mainland? said Zhang, who added that the international image of mainland Chinese suffered relative to other Asians because of Chinas political system. The Global Times, a state-run tabloid, on Monday dismissed Zhangs defection as ideological antics and pointed out that he had previously been arrested for disrupting social order. If Taiwan is willing to accept Zhang Xiangzhong, the mainland shouldnt necessarily be bothered by his behavior or his crazy talk, said the commentary, which later appeared to have been removed from the papers website. And if Taiwan wants to accept more dissidents like him, the mainland might as well also turn a blind eye. AP Kenneth Leung, a Hong Kong lawmaker representing the Accountancy Functional Constituency, was denied entry into Macau last Sunday afternoon. The denial has been deemed unreasonable and bizarre, as he had just visited mainland China a few days prior to this refusal of entry to Macau. The moderate pan-democrat was travelling to Macau with his family, but was refused entry to the city while he was trying to pass the border checkpoint through the e-channel. This is utterly strange and totally beyond comprehension, Leung said, cited by South China Morning Post. I have done nothing related to Macau recently [] The Macau authorities are [denying entry] recklessly. Leung added that he entered Macau last April. In his opinion, a pan-democrat blacklist is being enforced in the MSAR. I do not understand why I would be turned away from Macau when I could actually enter the mainland. The lawmaker was reportedly taken to an office for more than half an hour before he was told by Macaus immigration authority that he could pose a threat to Macaus security, and later was directed to a ferry back to Hong Kong. Leung even showed the Macau authority his hotel booking and stated that his trip was simply for tourism purposes. On the day before his visit, Leung returned from Guangdong, where he had been for a two-day fact-finding visit regarding Hong Kongs water supply. Many months ago, Leung also traveled to mainland China without problems. Leung even obtained his new ten-year return home permit to the mainland. Leung has never been refused entry in to the territory by Macau. His last trip to Macau dates back to April of last year. Leung said that he would report the case to the Hong Kong Security Bureau and also to Hong Kongs newly appointed Chief Executive Carrie Lam. Larry So Man Yum, who is currently a commenter and a retired social work professor from the Macau Polytechnic Institute (IPM), judged the refused entry of Leung as unfriendly. For the past several times, sometimes, when Hong Kongs pro-democrat lawmakers came to Macau, somehow Macau did not welcome them, and did not allow them to enter the territory, said So, adding however, this time, even China has given him [Kennth Leung] a home return permit, []. He is not coming to Macau for political events, he is here for a family trip. In last October, many Hong Kongers were denied entry into Macau, including independent film director Lo Chun Yip, actor and former social activist Lam Fai Fred; and human rights activist Shaw Kwok Wah. Lo intended to visit Macau to attend a short movie workshop hosted by his friend, while Lam had been invited by a Macau middle school to present a lecture on travelling. Over 10 pan-democratic lawmakers have been refused entry to Macau at least once since 2008. Several social activists were also barred because they allegedly posed a threat to Macaus internal security. League of Social Democrats lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung, also known as Long Hair, and eight activists were detained last October as they tried to enter Macau. Leungs group had travelled to protest during Premier Li Keqiangs visit to the city last year, planning to urge Beijing to free dissidents and to give Hong Kong more autonomy. JAPAN Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Japans government is drawing up contingency plans in case a crisis on the Korean Peninsula sends an influx of refugees to Japan. Abe told a parliamentary session that the government is formulating measures including protecting foreigners, landing procedures, building and operating shelters, and screening asylum seekers. KOREA Viewing his adversaries in the distance, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence traveled to the tense zone dividing North and South and warned Pyongyang that after years of testing the U.S. and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, the era of strategic patience is over. NORTH KOREA Tensions have spiked in recent weeks over North Koreas advancing nuclear technology and missile arsenal. But in Pyongyang, people seem not to notice a difference. CHINA Economic recovery is gaining momentum, with growth ticking up to a 6.9 percent annual pace in the first three months of the year. CHINA Ten people have died and five were injured when a bus veered off a highway and fell into a river in southern China. The Xinhua News Agency reported that four people went missing in the accident yesterday morning in Guizhou province. The state news agency says the 19-seat bus was travelling from Kaiyang county on the outskirts of the provincial capital to the Qiannan Bouyei-Miao Autonomous Prefecture when it went off a highway and into the river. NEPAL A former Sherpa guide who was the first person to scale Mount Everest 10 times has been hospitalized after suffering a brain hemorrhage, an official said. Ang Rita (pictured) was rushed to a hospital in Kathmandu last week after he fell unconscious, said the Nepal Mountaineering Association. He was still in serious condition on yesterday, but his situation was improving. SRI LANKA Rescuers were digging through heaps of mud and trash that collapsed onto a clutch of homes near a Sri Lankan garbage dump, killing at least 29 people. TURKEY President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a historic referendum that will greatly expand the powers of his office, although opposition parties questioned the outcome. PORTUGAL A small plane crashed Monday beside a supermarket near Lisbon, killing four people on board the aircraft and one on the ground. Four people were slightly injured, emergency services said. The dead included the Swiss pilot, three French passengers on the plane and a Portuguese truck driver Republicans so dominate deeply Idaho that Election Day can be anticlimactic to the Republican primary in May. That's where most races in the past several decades have been decided. Republicans on Election Day are looking to retain a U.S. Senate seat, both of the states U.S. House seats and supermajorities in the state House and Senate. Gov. Brad Little overcame his toughest challenge for a second term in May by crushing Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin despite her support from former President Donald Trump. Little will face Democrat Stephen Heidt and anti-government activist Ammon Bundy, who is running as an independent. Twin Falls city staff is looking for more public input on a welcoming city resolution before presenting the final version to the City Council. Were asking those who are truly interested in that process to share their thoughts with us, City Manager Travis Rothweiler told the Council on Monday, adding that people should contact the citys public information officer Joshua Palmer with their thoughts. Rothweiler said the city is trying to craft a balanced resolution blending language welcoming immigrants and refugees with wording that incorporates some of the concerns they have heard. He said city staff intends to have a draft resolution for the Council to review at its May 1 meeting. The Council voted unanimously a week ago to ask city staff to draft a resolution saying Twin Falls is a welcoming city to all people. Boise and Ketchum passed similar resolutions earlier this year, prompted largely by the statewide and national debate over immigration and refugee resettlement that flared up locally with a movement to close the College of Southern Idaho Refugee Center that started in 2015 and took center-stage during last years presidential campaign as now-president Donald Trump campaigned heavily on restricting immigration and refugee entry. The resolutions dont have any legal force its not the same thing as having a sanctuary city policy of not cooperating with federal immigration authorities, which some cities outside of Idaho do. The resolution in Twin Falls was inspired by similar sentiments as in Boise and Ketchum Mark Crandall, a Boy Scout troop leader who brought the resolution forward, said in his letter arguing in favor of it that it would help show that our city is full of Good Samaritans like the boys in my Scout troop, and that we do not allow ourselves to be defined or caricatured by the alt-right media. Councilman Chris Talkington, the most aggressive of the seven on the Council in sparring with refugee resettlement opponents during public comment periods, said most people who testified at last weeks Council meeting favored a welcoming city resolution, and whatever city staff drafts should reflect their sentiments. People were overwhelmingly endorsive of a welcoming community, he said. Terry Edwards, a Jerome resident who owns property in Twin Falls and frequently comes to Council meetings to talk about refugee resettlement, was not one of them. He has presented the Council with a separate safe city resolution declaring Twin Falls not to be a sanctuary city and expressing support for enforcing the law. Edwards accused the Council of arranging the testimony at last weeks meeting. I cant believe you guys orchestrated this kind of thing, he said, leading to a brief shouting match between him and Mayor Shawn Barigar. I am not going to sit here and listen to you make false allegations, Barigar said. Edwards said the welcoming city resolution would become a sanctuary city precursor, and questioned how Twin Falls could be a welcoming community when Planned Parenthood is allowed to operate, refugees are allowed to resettle and crime occurs. Edwards said crime is not being reported and the police department is inadequate to stop it, and referenced the case of a 5-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted by three boys from refugee families last year. The boys recently pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. This is not a welcoming city, Edwards said. To you it may be because you live in an elite area and have elite associates. The common people are not being treated fairly. TWIN FALLS The College of Southern Idaho will present Leadercast at Valley Christian Church May 5. The Leadercast event is broadcast live from Atlanta to hundreds of sites around the world. This is the fourth year it has been broadcast in Twin Falls. The event takes place 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 5 at 1708 Heyburn Ave. E. General admission is $89 before April 21. Teams up to five or more will cost $79 each before April 21 and teams of 10 or more will cost $69 each. After April 21, the price will go up $10 a person. Conference materials and lunch are included. For information, call 208-357-4232. The one-day leadership event will include the following speakers: Andy Stanley; leadership author and communicator Tyler Perry; director, playwright, screenwriter, producer, actor, author and entrepreneur Dr. Henry Cloud; acclaimed leadership expert, clinical psychologist and best-selling author Molly Fletcher; former top sports agent and author Donald Miller; CEO of Storybrands and author of Blue Like Jazz Suzy Welch; author, TV commentator and business journalist Daniel Pink; behavioral science expert, best-selling author and host of Crowd Control Jim McKelvey, co-founder of Square and Founder of LaunchCode Jess Ekstrom, CEO of Headbands of Hope BUHL Over the years, Nancy Tyrrell watched weather and neglect destroy master barn-builder Henry Schicks dairy barns. Tyrrell vowed what was happening to neighboring barns wouldnt happen to hers. Her recent efforts to preserve the 104-year-old barn are wrapping up. New fiber cement siding has been installed on the barn walls and the once-removed gables have been returned to the loft. Restoration of the leaking gambrel roof is next. Tyrrell first saw the barn in 1980 when she taught school in Buhl. I was on my bicycle when I rode up from the west, she said. I saw the barn first, then I saw the house. I got really excited. The home and barn were then owned by members of the Wuebbenhorst family, who bought the place from Dau in 1919 and still farm the surrounding ground. When the property first came up for sale, Tyrrell and her husband, Ed, tried to purchase it, but couldnt swing it at the time. The place came up for sale again in 1995. Not a typical home site We knew the kids would either love the place or hate our guts, she said. It turned out the kids, then 6 and 8, loved it too. The barn was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and the Tyrrells have tried to keep the house and barn true to their original architecture. A lot of things in the house are virtually unchanged, she said. The floors in the house are all original hardwood. Many of the light fixtures are original, and antiques and art grace the walls. Tyrrell operates a framing shop and antiques business, The Nehemian for Fine Framing, in the barn. The roof has always leaked, she said, but the leaking became worse and worse, finally causing damage to her business. Flickers had pecked their way through the walls and a pair of barn owls had taken up residence in the loft. The owls had filled the loft with nesting materials and excrement. Neighbors watching the restoration process ask whats going into the loft. Its not whats going in, its whats coming out, Tyrrell said, laughing. She and Ed scraped and shoveled the loft floor all winter to remove the debris. Some of the mounds were as tall as me, she said. An occupied building is the best preserved building While the siding used to preserve the barn is not a preferred material, it wont affect the barns listing on the National Register, said Trisha Canaday, State Historic Preservation Office outreach historian in Boise. Best practices say that if you have to replace, replace in kind, Canaday said. But we try to be pragmatic within reason to keep the buildings occupied we know an occupied building is the best preserved building. Canaday hopes such visible pieces of architecture can encourage others to preserve their barns. We are now working with the Department of Commerce and the Tax Commission to work out a tax credit that would help (private) owners restore their buildings, she said. The restoration of the barn has been a joy, Tyrrell said. I just love this place, she said. Seeing Henry Schicks own barn crumbling in the wind just two miles away motivated her to start the process. We decided to be proactive, she said. Tyrrell feels she owes it to the many generations of the Wuebbenhorst family for taking such good care of the barn. Dell Wuebbenhorsts great-grandfather, grandfather and parents all farmed the property and milked cows in the barn, said his wife, Nona. Just the fact that she loves the barn so much to preserve it says a lot, Nona Wuebbenhorst said Thursday. The family still has sentimental ties to the place. EDEN Police are searching for a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run Monday afternoon near the Travelers Oasis Truck Plaza south of Eden that left a teenager substantially injured. Details of the incident, which happened about 12:20 p.m., are still hazy to authorities. We dont know exactly what happened, Jerome County Sheriff Doug McFall said. What we do know from witnesses is a young man was somehow on the back of a Honda or Nissan sedan that took off at a high rate of speed. The young man fell off and was substantially injured. The car sped away from the injured teen west on 1000 South, McFall said. Its unclear why the teen was riding or hanging on the back of the car or if the crash was the result of some sort of dispute. The injured teen was taken to a hospital, the sheriff said, but he didnt know which hospital. Jerome County sheriffs investigators were unable to interview the teen because of his injuries, McFall said. Police scanner traffic indicated he lost consciousness while waiting for medical help to arrive. Police dispatchers broadcasted an attempt-to-locate message about an hour after the incident describing the vehicle as a four-door, early 90s gray Nissan sedan with chrome wheels and a loud muffler. McFall said the car could be a Honda. RICHFIELD A school bus carrying 39 Carey Junior High students and three adults rolled Tuesday on U.S. 26, injuring at least 14 children. Some of the injuries were substantial, Lincoln County Sheriff Rene Rodriguez said, but none were expected to be life-threatening. The crash happened about 12:20 p.m. at milepost 175 just west of Richfield as the junior high students headed to a track meet in Gooding. The driver, Richard Mecham, 67, of Carey, was driving westbound when he went off the right shoulder, overcorrected, and rolled the bus, Idaho State Police said. Mecham was not injured. Five injured students were taken to hospitals by helicopter and seven in ambulances, police said. Several others were going to hospitals in personal vehicles. A Times-News photographer at the scene said students were being carried off the bus on stretchers. St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls received six patients two by air and four by ground ambulance, spokeswoman Michelle Bartlome said. Three patients were taken to St. Lukes Wood River in Ketchum; Bartlome did not have information on patient conditions. At least five patients went to North Canyon Medical Center in Gooding, spokeswoman Shellie Amundson said, though she didnt know how they arrived or have information about their conditions. Patients were also taken to Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello, the school district said in a statement. Hunter Smith, 13, was listening to music and not paying close attention to the drive when the bus rolled, his mother, Teresa, told the Times-News. Hunter said the crash was over almost before he realized what was happening. The kids were thrown around in there, Smith said. Kids flew up out of their seats, and then they landed. Hunter was uninjured, though his mother reported he was sore afterward like after the first day of football practice. The eighth grader immediately jumped up to make sure his friends were OK. They were all just in shock, Smith said. Several drivers in other vehicles rushed to help people were wonderful, Smith said and emergency crews responded within minutes, Hunter told his mother. Idaho State Police troopers are investigating, but authorities have not said what caused the driver to leave the road. I dont have any clues right now, Rodriguez said about 4:30 p.m. The bus was headed westbound but ended up facing eastbound on the south side of the highway after rolling once and turning 180 degrees. Principal John Peck went to the scene and Superintendent GwenCarol Holmes was at Carey School, district spokeswoman Heather Crocker said. Students who did not require treatment at hospitals were taken in a second bus back to the Carey school, where parents were asked to gather. The highway was blocked for several hours in both directions as crews treated the injured, investigated and cleared the scene. Smith said her heart dropped when she heard about the crash, but Blaine County did a great job, and everyone at the school did a great job. She said shes praying for those who were injured, but was glad their injuries were not life-threatening considering the circumstances. God was definitely watching over them, she said, and we are all very grateful for that. Steve Stephens, the Cleveland murder suspect accused of posting video of the slaying on Facebook, shot and killed himself Tuesday after he was spotted by police in Erie County, Pennsylvania, state police said. For two days, authorities across the country scrambled to find Stephens, the man wanted for the death of Robert Godwin -- a self-taught mechanic and grandfather of 14. Godwin's daughter Brenda Haymon learned of Stephens' death as she was planning funeral arrangements for her father. "All I can say is that I wish he had gone down in a hail of one hundred bullets," Brenda Haymon told CNN. "I wish it had gone down like that instead of him shooting himself." Godwin was shot while walking home from an Easter meal Sunday in Cleveland. Stephens later posted video of the killing on Facebook. More than 400 tips had funneled in from as far away as Texas, Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said Tuesday. Many were reported sightings that turned out to be false. Victim's family offered forgiveness Through their tears, several of Godwin's children said they held no animosity against Stephens. "Each one of us forgives the killer, the murderer," Godwin's daughter Tonya Godwin Baines said Monday. Godwin taught his children the value of hard work. He taught them how to love God and fear God, and how to forgive, his children said. "They don't make men like him anymore. He was definitely one in a million," said another daughter, Debbie Godwin. Suspect cited anger with his girlfriend The police chief said Stephens apparently chose Godwin at random. Stephens' mother, Maggie Green, said her son stopped by her house Saturday and gave her a cryptic message. "He said this (was) the last time I was going to see him," Green said. They spoke briefly the next day, his mother said. Before Green's phone died, Stephens told her he was "shooting people" because he was "mad with his girlfriend" of about three years, his mother said. Later Sunday, Stephens uploaded a video to his Facebook page showing a gun pointed at a man's head. Seconds before the shooting, Stephens asked the victim to say the name of a woman believed to associated with the suspect. "She's the reason why this is about to happen to you," Stephens said. Then, the gunman fires the weapon. The victim recoils and falls to the ground. Stephens claimed on Facebook that he had committed multiple homicides, but police said they had no knowledge of other victims. He had many traffic violations but no criminal record, Williams said. Woman cited by suspect is 'overwhelmed' The woman believed to be associated with the suspect has told multiple news agencies that she was "overwhelmed" by the tragedy. "Steve really is a nice guy... He is generous with everyone he knows. He was kind and loving to me and my children," she told CBS News. Williams said police have spoken to the woman, and she is safe and cooperating with the investigation. The woman's neighbors told CNN that Stephens often stayed at her Twinsburg home with her three young girls. One resident said Stephens was there two days ago, fixing the home's garage. Suspect worked with children Stephens was employed at Beech Brook, a behavioral health agency in northeastern Ohio that serves children, teenagers and families, according to a spokeswoman for the facility. "We are shocked and horrified like everyone else," said Nancy Kortemeyer. "To think that one of our employees could do this is awful." She said Stephens was a vocational specialist who worked with youth and young adults. He had previously worked as a youth mentor, she said. Victim was celebrating Easter Robert Godwin was walking home from a holiday meal with his family when he encountered the gunman on a sidewalk. Haymon, Godwin's youngest child from his first marriage, said he was the father of 10. "He lived a good life," she said. "He's a man people should model themselves after." CNN's Gary Tuchman reported from Cleveland, with Holly Yan and Darran Simon writing from Atlanta. CNN's Sara Ganim, Lawrence Crook, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Kwegyirba Croffie, Brynn Gingras and Chris Boyette also contributed to this report. Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov has hailed the relations with Saudi Arabia stating that there are excellent contacts between their officials in all directions. He added that there is a deepening of mutual understanding between the two countries and contacts are taking place at all levels. Bogdanov is pleased of the level of good contacts between their foreign affairs departments and ministers as hopes that King Salman will be visiting Russia in the near future. The Deputy Minister was speaking after a meeting with the head of the King Salman Center for Humanitarian Aid and Relief. Ties between Moscow and Riyadh seem to be growing stronger as the state-run TASS news agency reported that joint projects worth $3 billion will be launched before 2018. Around $600 million worth of projects have been implemented through the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the Sovereign Fund of Saudi Arabia. Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of Russias Federation Council, the countrys upper house, dubbed the cooperation between the two institutions successful. She stated that they are interested in expanding economic ties with the oil-rich kingdom but lamented that the volume of mutual trade turnover in the past year has significantly decreased. Saudi Arabia is Russias second biggest trade partner in the Arab world. Matviyenko headed a Russian delegation to Saudi Arabia for a three-day visit during which they met with senior officials. She applauded the laws adopted by the Russian lawmakers to create a much more conducive environment for business and investment. The areas earmarked for cooperation are energy, geological exploration, mining, petrochemicals, tanker construction, investment cooperation and capacity building. UNICEF representative in Yemen, Mertixell Relano, has warned that the future of the countrys next generation is bleak because many of them are being deprived of education. Around 4,5million children may not have finish the school year because around 75% of the countrys teaching force has gone unpaid since October 2016. The struggle to pay the salaries of the teachers began when the Hadi-led government based in Aden decided to move the central bank from the capital which is under the control of the Houthi Movement and their allies. Speaking in Sanaa at a press conference, Relano pointed out that the children that are not going to school face the risk of being recruited (for military service), or the girls might be at risk of being married earlier. The government claims that it is trying to end the seven month ordeal but alleges that the rebels are obstructing the transfers. It also claimed that the rebels looted the central bank. The Houthi Movement strongly denies all the allegations. There have been serious concerns over the living conditions of the civilian population in Yemen and there are fears that there will not be enough food by the end of August. Magne Barth, head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Moscow highlighted that the high cost of food makes them unaffordable to the ordinary person. Similar concerns have also been raised by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Around 19 million people are acutely affected and need some form of immediate humanitarian assistance and more than $2.1 billion is needed to provide life-saving assistance to 12 million Yemenis as the 2017 Yemen Response Plan was only 14.4% funded, according to its last weeks bulletin. Warring parties in Yemen have failed to make progress towards peace or agreeing on a ceasefire amid numerous warnings that the continuation of hostilities further makes the situation of the improvised country and its population much more critical. Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank. A contingent of Japanese troops has departed from South Sudan on Monday from U.N. peacekeeping mission in the famine and war-stricken nation. According to Reuters, the strong contingent based in the capital city Juba, has helped build infrastructure in the landlocked and impoverished country. The first group is leaving today, Daniel Dickinson, spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission called UNMISS, told Reuters at Juba International Airport. Japan announced the withdrawal of its troops from UNMISS in March. South Sudan has been mired in violence since clashes erupted in December 2013 between supporters of President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, Riek Machar. Fighting largely along ethnic lines has caused the economy to sink, killed tens of thousands of people, and displaced more than 2 million. Following a threat of an arms embargo last year, South Sudan agreed to allow 4,000 additional UN peacekeepers to enter the country, after first rejecting the regional protection force as a breach of national sovereignty. Currently, there are more than 12,000 UN peacekeepers in South Sudan. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in a press statement released on its website, declared a Nigerian national living in New York wanted for defrauding victims of over $5 million. According to the FBI, Kelechi Declan James, 32, ran an online scheme with four co-conspirators that tricked victims into wiring money to bank accounts the victims believed were owned by family members. In the public announcement, the FBI New York office explained that the scheme was run in two ways: by overtaking an e-mail account of an individual trusted by the victim and then requesting money be wired to a bank account; or by developing a relationship of trust with victim like an Internet romance and then asking the victim to wire money. As soon as the money was wired, it would be moved from one account to another, and the funds would be withdrawn. Jamess role in this scheme was to withdraw the money from bank accounts. The bureau said the suspect frequents the Brooklyn neighborhoods of East New York, Brownsville, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Flatbush and East Flatbush. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) has offered a paltry $1000 reward to whistle-blowers who can offer information to arrest the 32 year-old Kelechi Declan James. Tunisias Prime Minister Youssef Chahed on Sunday indicated that the economy will start to regain growth in 2017 as the North African Nation revived its tourism industry and state phosphate production. Six years after an uprising that ousted President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, economic growth in Tunisia remains below the long-term average. The tourism sector is better now and will grow by 30 percent this year. Phosphate production returned to old levels and we expect a good agricultural season, Chahed told state television late on Sunday. In his words, tax revenues rose by 14 percent in the first quarter of this year and the country expects economic growth to rise to 2.5 percent in 2017. The government plans to cut 20,000 public jobs through early retirements and by offering severance packages. Unemployment is almost 30 percent in the North African country as the country suffers from the impact of the deadly militant attacks on tourists. The International Monetary Fund on Monday agreed to pay out a $320 million second tranche of Tunisias loan programme. Officials say the release of the loan will help Tunisia to access further credit from international lenders including the World Bank and the European Union. Drought-hit and Cash-strapped Zimbabwe government this week agreed on plans to pay school fees in the Southern African nation using livestock or labour for the schools. The government last weekend urges school authorities to be flexible and not turn away pupils because their parents dont have money to pay tuition fees. Speaking to local media, Primary and Secondary Education Minister Dr Lazarus Dokora said: Our schools have to be flexible and ensure those who do not have money to pay fees can work. For example, if there is a builder in the community, he/she must be given that opportunity to work as a form of payment of tuition fees, Teachers and unions in the country question the move calling for change as the policy cannot be applied in urban agglomerations. I do not think that its sustainable with regards to parents in urban areas so many parents have outstanding balances. Therefore, I am trying to imagine those 1 000-plus parents coming to work at a school Why spend time doing manual labour at a school when they can go there to look for a good job? Zimbabwe Teachers Association secretary-general John Mlilo questioned. As a reminder, Zimbabwean economy has been hit by an acute cash shortage sometime last year. It forced the government to introduce bond notes that had the value of the US dollar. The Finance and Economic Development Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, last week tabled a new bill before parliament, one that could compel commercial banks to accept livestock as collateral for cash loans. Error 404 Not Found You may have mis-typed the URL. Or the page has been removed. Actually, there is nothing to see here... Click on the links below to do something, Thanks! Take Me our of here Georgia begins free trade talks with India Georgia is taking action to establish a free trade agreement with India to access its markets and facilitate increased bilateral business and trade.A delegation led by Georgias Minister of Economy Giorgi Gakharia is now in Delhi, India, to discuss free trade opportunities with local authorities.The main purpose of the meeting is to sign a memorandum on launching a free trade feasibility study.If the free trade deal is reached, Georgian entrepreneurs will have access to Indias market that boasts a total of 1.3 billion consumers.So far, Georgia has free trade deals with Turkey, European Union (EU), European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries - Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - and with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.Soon Georgia will sign a free trade deal with China and Hong Kong.While in India, Georgias Economy Minister also met with the Indian Minister of State for Culture and Tourism where the officials discussed the possibility of opening an Indian embassy in Georgia, launching direct flights between the two countries and deepening cultural ties. Azerbaijan delivers over 40,000 tons of oil to Ukrainian refinery The volume of transportation of Azerbaijans Azeri Light oil to Ukraines Kremenchug refinery totalled 43,320 tons of oil in March 2017, says a message posted on the website of UkrTransNafta OJSC (operator of Ukraines oil transportation system).UkrTransNafta has resumed work of an oil pipeline from Odessa to Kremenchug since March 10 and started transportation of Azeri Light oil to the Kremenchug refinery.The agreement signed in late 2016 envisages the transportation of at least 1.3 million tons of Azeri Light oil to the Kremenchug refinery.The Kremenchug refinery has been processing Azeri Light oil since December 2016. Earlier, oil was delivered to the plant via railway.In 2016, Azerbaijan produced more than 31.1 million tons of light oil, as compared to 31.3 million tons in 2015. Azeri Light oil is produced at the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli block of oil and gas fields.According to Ukraines Ministry of Energy and Coal Mining, the volume of oil transportation via pipelines to the countrys refinery stood at 1.406 million tons that is by 12.5 percent or 200,800 tons less than in 2015.The volume of oil transportation via pipelines to the Ukrainian refinery totaled 216,700 tons in January-February 2017. Drug policy liberalization By Messenger Staff The Human Rights Committee in the Parliament of Georgia has backed the Government-proposed draft bill that envisages certain liberalisations made to the current strict drug policy.The draft law reads that the illegal production of small amounts of dried marijuana, crude marijuana and cannabis, as well as their purchase, possession or transportation, will not be punished with imprisonment.In particular, a 'small amount' of dried marijuana is to be defined as up to 70g, while crude marijuana and cannabis will be set at 140g.Anyone in possession of these amounts will have to pay a 300 GEL fine.If the amount of drugs is higher, the penalty will be imprisonment.NGOs stress that the draft law will not address the current drug-related difficulties and the problems in this regard will remain unsettled.They also state that besides marijuana, there are more than 200 other drugs.Part of the non-parliamentary opposition claim the authorities will continue using the current ugly drug policy for its own interests and detain or arrest people, especially potential political opponents, because of drugs.Before October 2015, Georgias laws on marijuana stated that a person will be jailed for seven to 14 years if he or she was found with a large amount of marijuana. The same law determined 50g of marijuana as "a large amount.It is true that Georgias previous drug policy was too strict, as those detained for using a small amount of marijuana were sentenced like those arrested for murder, attempted murder and similar serious offences.However, keeping a balance in a country like Georgia is essential.Yet over-liberalisation of the country's drug policy will not contribute much to the state's development. However, people must not be sent to prison for personal usage of a small amount of marijuana or other drugs, and the state must think more about rehabilitation programs for drug addicts. The News in Brief Statement of the MFA on the Breakaway Regions of Georgia The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic is concerned over the developments in breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not recognise the so-called parliamentary elections held in Abkhazia in March 2017, neither the presidential elections and referendum in Georgias region of South Ossetia held in April 2017. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates its support for Georgias sovereignty and territorial integrity. (Embassy of Czech Republic in Tbilisi) Kremlin: Bibilov Victory Convincing Russian President Vladimir Putin sent a congratulatory message to the South Ossetian leader-elect Anatoly Bibilov, the Kremlin reported on April 10. "Please accept my sincere congratulations on your convincing victory in the elections of the President of the Republic of South Ossetia, the message reads. Putin highlighted the high level of the traditionally friendly Russian-South Ossetian relations and expressed his confidence that the relations between Moscow and Tskhinvali will be further developed, based on the principles of alliance and integration. Russia will continue to render full assistance to South Ossetia in solving the important matters of social and economic development, as well as in ensuring national security, he also stated. According to the regions election administration, Anatoly Bibilov, who chairs the legislature won with 57.9% against his main opponent, seating president Leonid Tibilov, who gained 30%. The results are preliminary, but are unlikely to change significantly until the commission will announce its final tally in five days. Tibilov conceded defeat on April 10 saying that the choice of the people should be respected." (civil.ge) President, PM wish happy Passover to Georgias Jewish community Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili have wished a happy Passover to Georgias Jewish community and all those celebrating the holiday. Kvirikashvili said Passover is a symbol of freedom for Jewish people from all over the world. "I join in the joy and happiness of our Jewish citizens and wish freedom, welfare and peace for their families. Margvelashvili stressed the symbolic importance of the holiday and said that this holiday is an important day for all nations who appreciate freedom. "Together with citizens of my country, Im wholeheartedly joining in your celebration, he said. Passover is a major Jewish holiday that commemorates the liberation of Jews from slavery and the exodus from ancient Egypt. It began at sundown Monday and ends next Tuesday, April 18. Georgian Jews are one of the oldest communities in Georgia, tracing their migration into the country back to the Babylonian exile and expulsion in the 6th century BCE. The 2600-year-long history of the Georgian Jews is notable for its lack of anti-semitic events and a visible assimilation of the Jews of the country into the Georgian language and culture. (Agenda.ge) GYLA presents domestic violence report The Georgian Young Lawyers Association held a presentation on the topic of Domestic Violence, Domestic Crimes and Violence against Women, wherein the results of the GYLAs monitoring of criminal cases in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Gori and Telavi City Courts and Tbilisi and Kutaisi Appellate Courts were presented. The monitoring is conducted by the GYLA with financial support of USAID through the Promoting Rule of Law in Georgia (PROLoG) Activity implemented by the East-West Management Institute (EWMI). The project aims at increasing the transparency of criminal proceedings in Georgian courts and improving the standards of protection of human rights by monitoring the proceedings at court hearings and analysing collected factual information. The GYLA previously presented nine court monitoring reports that covered the period from October 2011 to July 2016. GYLAs report 10 covers the period from August 2016 to January 2017. In this reporting period, GYLA set apart the cases of violence against women and domestic violence in the form of a separate report and prepared an individual, topic-based paper. The specific examples in the report refer to the cases of males beating females, violence perpetrated by a husband against a pregnant wife, burning a woman with petrol, serious psychological abuse and threats of murder and other cases of violence perpetrated in families. The monitoring revealed the following findings: - In most cases, judges fail to adequately assess existing threats in cases of domestic violence, domestic crimes and violence against women, and they impose unreasonably lenient preventive measures on defendants. This poses a potential threat to the life and health of victims of violence. In comparison to the previous reporting period, the percentage of inappropriately applied preventive measures in such cases significantly increased; - The adequacy of punishment with respect to such crimes remains a problem. Despite the judgments of conviction and the gravity of crimes, judges are reluctant to impose imprisonment on perpetrators of violence; - Investigation and assessment of gender motivated crimes is still a significant challenge for the prosecution and the judicial authorities. In none of the cases related to violence against women that were identified as a result of the monitoring, were the crimes classified as committed on discrimination grounds (no reference was made to Article 53(31) of the Criminal Code of Georgia). Despite circumstances indicating a gender-based discrimination motive, the prosecution and judges do not address such motives in the consideration of cases; -There are cases of violence against women and domestic violence that were given incomplete and lenient classification, indicating ineffective and neglectful activities by the prosecution. The GYLA remains hopeful that the recommendations prepared and conclusions made will be taken into consideration by representatives of the judicial authorities. In addition, the report contains data that should be of interest to the Prosecutors Office. The GYLA hopes that the authorities mentioned above will pay an appropriate attention to our findings and recommendations and contribute to the existence of gender sensitive justice and to improving proceedings on cases of violence against women. (GYLA.ge) @MichaelAuslen The Florida House has not yet decided if it will include a new $1.5 billion sum of money to cover low-income health care costs in its budget. House Health Care Appropriations chairman Rep. Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, said that it "depends on what kind of assurances we get from the federal government." The federal government agreed to revive the Low Income Pool at $1.5 billion last week after it was set to end. Though it is clear that the money will be funded mostly by the federal government with the remainder coming from state or local governments, the full terms of the agreement are not yet clear. "We have a promise and that's great. We'd love to have it," Brodeur said. "What I'd like to see is a printed letter that outlines the terms of what we're talking about." Justin Senior, secretary of the Agency for Health Care Administration, has been working with the feds to reach a final agreement in time for the Legislature to finalize a budget before a May 2 deadline. But Brodeur said the House was cautious about two key issues: How the state is allowed to use the money and how many years the program will be guaranteed. If the money can only go to hospitals with large numbers of charity care patients -- generally the public and teaching hospitals that make up Florida's safety net -- Brodeur said he would have concerns about funding for other health care priorities. The program's longevity is a concern, as well, given that it has been surrounded by uncertainty in recent years. When the Obama administration did not renew LIP in 2015, it contributed to a breakdown over Medicaid spending and triggered a special budget session. "If it's a one-year deal, to what degree do we want to get hooked on the federal dollar again just to come back next year and take it all away?" Brodeur said. A draft of the deal with the federal government provided by AHCA suggests the program would last for four years and could be used primarily to reimburse hospitals. However, agency officials note the draft is not final and negotiations continue with the federal government. The Senate appears to be ready to take the money. That chamber's budget already included approximately $600 million in LIP. And $1.5 billion gives them even more flexibility, Sen. Anitere Flores, R-Miami, the chamber's Health and Human Services Appropriations chairwoman, said last week after the agreement with the federal government was announced. "I hope that the whole pot would be used for hospitals for different versions of patient care," she said but noted it "may give us the opportunity to provide further funding for other health care priorities." She envisioned moving money around in the budget to free up more dollars for priorities like Medicaid provider rate increases, clearing wait lists at the Agency for Persons with Disabilities and the Department of Elder Affairs, and the opioid crisis, which is ravaging pockets of the state. But, even last week, Flores expressed concern about the House's willingness to agree to accept LIP. "I would hope that No. 1, that the House would be open and receive this funding," she said. Photo: Health Care Appropriations chairman Jason Brodeur, R-Sanford, (right) speaks with Rep. Kathleen Peters, R-South Pasadena, on the House floor. (Scott Keeler | Tampa Bay Times) @JeremySWallace Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry was in Tallahassee today meeting with Gov. Rick Scott, but he made clear that it has nothing to do with the potential of Scott considering him for the soon-to-be vacant chief financial officer position. I love being mayor of Jacksonville, Curry said when we asked him if he is interested in being CFO. Im over here today talking to the governor about Jacksonville issues. Current elected CFO Jeff Atwater has already announced he is leaving the position early in May to take a job at Florida Atlantic University. That gives Scott the authority to appoint an interim CFO who could serve until the end of 2018 when the next election for the position is held. Currys name has come up as a potential candidate for CFO given he is a CPA, the former Republican Party of Florida chairman and is the mayor of the city with the largest population in Florida. Hes also from a county - Duval - that is a must win for Republicans to win statewide. Curry has only been mayor for 2 years and has a term that runs until 2019. He would have to take a major pay cut from his $174,000 a year in Jacksonville to less than $130,000 for CFO. Scott has not said who he is considering for CFO or when he would make a decision. Check out here some of the other candidates that weve speculated could be in the running. via @PolitiFactNH As New Hampshire considers the merits of a universal Education Savings Account bill, education reformers nationwide are watching - and weighing in. Senate Bill 193 would allow parents to use 90 percent of the per-pupil grant the state gives to local public schools and instead put it toward alternative educational expenses, including private school tuition or homeschooling. ESAs function basically like vouchers, but they give parents more options about how the money can be spent. Proponents of ESAs tout them as the next evolution in school choice. If SB 193 is passed by the House (it cleared the Senate in March), it would be one of the most expansive school choice laws in the country. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, whose Foundation for Excellence in Education is backing market-based education reform efforts nationwide, submitted an op-ed in New Hampshire papers this week, urging passage of the bill. "This legislation (will not) hurt public schools. In fact, a large body of research, including that done in my home state of Florida, indicates quite the opposite. When public schools face increased competition, they get better and kids learn more," he wrote. Critics of choice typically say that diverting funds from public schools hurt those schools. So putting aside the question of whether vouchers actually help the kids who use them, we wondered: Does research show that school choice, and specifically vouchers, help public schools get better? See what PolitiFact New Hampshire found. Senate President Joe Negron said in a statement Monday that while he appreciate's the governor's endorsement of his plan for a southern reservoir south of Lake Okeechobee, he has his doubts that the federal government will repay a loan the governor wants to advance the feds. Here's Negron's statement: "I appreciate Governor Scott's support for reducing and eventually eliminating harmful, polluted, high-volume discharges from Lake Okeechobee. The Governor has long been a partner in this important effort. He has visited our communities a number of times over the last several years and has seen firsthand the impact of this pollution on the environment, as well as the impact on the economies east and west of the Lake. Last summer he supported our communities by declaring a state of emergency in four Florida counties plagued by enormous toxic blue-green algal blooms. "There is no question that repairs to the Herbert Hoover Dike are needed to ensure the safety of communities south of the Lake. I do have some concern that if Florida advances funds to complete the rehabilitation of the Herbert Hoover Dike, the federal government will not repay our state. I want to make sure we do not spend hundreds of millions of dollars of General Revenue funds on what is unquestionably a federal responsibility. I have shared these concerns with Governor Scott, and I appreciate the Governor continuing to work with our new federal partners to expedite the timetable for these necessary repairs. "The Senate remains focused on reducing, and ultimately eliminating, the harmful discharges from Lake Okeechobee." @JeremySWallace The Florida Legislature is supposed to pass a budget and wrap up their annual spring session on May 5. But given the number of major unresolved issues, many have wondered if the Legislature will have to either extend this year's session or maybe even have to come back for a special session as they had to two years ago to finish the budget. We asked Senate President Joe Negron if he has any doubt the Legislature will finish on time. "I can't predict the future, so I don't know exactly how things will unfold," the Republican from Stuart said. "I have every expectation that we'll be able to complete our business on time. As I've said before, it would be a sad commentary on the legal profession if two lawyers couldn't get their work done on time." Negron, an attorney, was referring to House Speaker Richard Corcoran, a Pasco County Republican who is also an attorney. When no one stops you at the gate to ask if you have your ticket to the fair this summer, dont be surprised. Theyre not required anymore. To boost attendance, the Missoula County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to make the 2017 Western Montana Fair free. I certainly have always found the gate admission to be a barrier, Commissioner Cola Rowley said. If we make it free, I will go there every day for every meal. Fair Event Manager Tom Aldrich said he and Chief Operating Officer Chris Lounsbury raised the idea of a free fair at the end of last summer, but waited until they started planning this years fair to work on details. The fair brings in about $100,000 from gate admission, but its costs exceed $50,000, to train and pay staff and insure the cash-on-hand. He believed added concession and carnival spending, which earned upwards of $350,000-450,000 in 2016, would easily cover the risk. It would allow us to focus on quality new programming and building the fair, Aldrich said. I think in the long run its a model we can build an awesome fair around. Commissioner Dave Strohmaier asked for the worst-case scenario if the approximately $50,000 in lost admission wasnt made up through other avenues. Aldrich said that while he highly doubted that would happen, that wouldnt end the free-admission idea. Rather, prices for the rodeo and demolition derby tickets, which he said are priced much lower than many surrounding fairs, may increase in coming fairs. He added that media and advertising partners all gave him good feedback on the idea of a free fair, opening up the possibility of marketing campaigns and sponsorships around free admission, which would also help cover lost revenue. Emily Bentley, the fairgrounds development director, said free admission would also help the county cross-promote the fair as an option for visitors at Big Sky Brewing Companys Travelers Rest Festival, scheduled for the same weekend. Bentley also told the commission the fair has been rearranged to provide more shaded outdoor seating on the greener-than-ever lawn, thanks to work from the grounds crew, and pointed out the fair posters, designed by local artist Josh Quick. Were really in a new place, Rowley said, and its so exciting. Competition is tough among the University of Montana and other campuses to recruit high school graduates. UM's Mario Schulzke estimated that roughly 23 universities and colleges in the state chase around 4,000 high school students in Montana every year. "That's a very small market to go after," said Schulzke, the university's associate vice president for integrated communications and chief marketing officer. At a recent meeting about UM's new strategic plan, Schulzke proposed that the flagship in Missoula target another market, one that's largely overlooked but substantial: the 131,000 people in Montana who started college but never finished a degree. "We need to think about our academic offerings, and particularly, the way we deliver our academic offerings to meet the needs of that group," Schulzke said Monday. In other words, he wants UM to bring more programs online, and even make learning available on mobile devices. *** Earlier this month, UM President Sheila Stearns released the university's new strategic plan. Dean Brock Tessman, who chaired the effort to create the document, said former President Royce Engstrom launched the initiative a year ago partly because of all the leadership changes at the university. Stearns is serving in an interim capacity, and UM officials have said they want the plan to be used as part of the search for a permanent president. Since 2010, enrollment has slipped at UM some 24 percent, and the campus has been focused on recruiting more students. Schulzke, though, said part of the point of the strategic plan is to look beyond the typical targets recent high school grads and reach out to different groups. In fact, he said UM is "missing the boat" if it doesn't meet students where they are. If even 10 percent of that population of 131,000 enrolls again, that's the equivalent of a full campus. "That is a large number of people that we are not actively marketing to," Schulzke said. *** UM doesn't yet know whether people who don't have degrees want to return, either to Missoula College or UM. The number of people who previously dropped out of UM and are currently enrolled wasn't available Monday. At the same time, Schulzke said there's value in higher education for a person's career, and UM has strong offerings. So it needs to make it easier for those potential students to take advantage of the opportunities. "Part of our challenge is that in order for people to come to the University of Montana right now, they have to physically come to the University of Montana, in a majority of cases," he said. To move forward, he suggested UM evaluate its offerings. "Which one of these programs might make sense to bring online?" The strategic plan, called "UM Strategic Vision: Creating Change Together," calls for increasing "the number of fully online degree programs" and providing incentives for departments to develop online degree programs. *** Assistant professor of political science Sara Rinfret has already seen the value of online learning for UM. The Department of Political Science offers a Master's of Public Administration, online or in person, and Rinfret said roughly half the estimated 75 students enrolled take it online. "Some students really want to be able to do it in person," Rinfret said. "But then you have a lot of individuals that are mid-career professionals, and so they really want to be able to have that degree to advance in their professional career." The best thing UM can do for those 131,000 people with some credit is to reach out to them, she said: "What if we offered this opportunity? Would you be willing to come back?" The Missoulians myopic Sunday editorial Zinke fogs future of bison range starts with a false premise and moves to a misplaced conclusion. First, the proposal to transfer the National Bison Range would have done far more than move this wildlife refuge from one federal agency to another. It would have given the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes the power to manage the Bison Range for its sole benefit. Despite language in its draft legislation promising to maintain it as a refuge and allow public access, there would be no legal remedy if the CSKT later decided to sell off the bison herd, bar the public, open a racetrack or gravel mine or anything else it wanted. The Bison Range land would have become part of the CSKT reservation and subject to no more federal restrictions than any other reservation land. Second, neither transfer nor CSKT management would produce any savings to the taxpayer just the opposite. Transfer would start with awarding of Bison Range assets worth more than $100 million to the tribes, and then put the U.S. taxpayer on the hook to make further payments to assist tribal management. In past shared management agreements, CSKT reimbursements were much more expensive than the costs of federal management, thus further straining an already impoverished refuge system. The way forward is laid out in a lawsuit being pursued by my organization, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), and a number of former Bison Range and refuge managers and employees. Our lawsuit would require the Interior Department to complete a long overdue but statutorily mandated comprehensive conservation plan for the Bison Range. Virtually every other of the more than 560 wildlife refuges in the country has such a plan laying out a charter for their operation and a blueprint for their staffing. The future course of the Bison Range should be clear restore it to its former status as the Crown Jewel of the National Wildlife Refuge System. As we count down the last days of the legislative session, various pressing matters take on more urgency. Legislators must come to an agreement on infrastructure funding, taxes and the budget, among a host of other issues vying for their votes. Despite the increasing tumult in the Legislature, two important bills designed to combat Montanas sky-high suicide rate are well on their way to becoming law. The states elected leaders should make sure these bills do not get lost in the shuffle and they should recognize that much more remains to be done to change Montanas tragic relationship with suicide. At least 18 separate bill drafts aimed at addressing Montanas suicide crisis were recorded in the Legislature, reflecting the gravity of the problem as well as the lack of statewide coordination to combat it. Now, however, only these two bills remain, and both are badly needed to help connect more people to the resources they need to survive before its too late. The state has had among the top five highest suicide rates in the nation for some 40 years. At last count, in 2014, Montana had the highest rate, and an average of 220 Montanans die by suicide every year. The reasons for the high numbers of Montanans who commit suicide are as varied as the legislative efforts proposed to reduce them, and include relatively high rates of alcohol and drug abuse, easy access to prescription drugs and firearms, and relatively low access to mental health care. The Montana Suicide Mortality Review Team took a close look at the 555 suicides that occurred in the state from Jan. 1, 2014 to March 1, 2016, and found that the rate of completed suicides was highest among men (45 per 100,00 people), between the ages of 35-44 (36.3 per 100,000 people) and by Native Americans (35.5 per 100,000 people). *** One of the two bills that is still on track to become law is sponsored by Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder. It seeks to revise and provide additional funding for suicide prevention activities in the state. House Bill 118 passed the House on a vote of 91-9, but was heavily amended in the Senate before winning the approval of that chamber 44-6. The amended version is scheduled for a second reading in the House today. HB 118 would slightly revise the state suicide prevention program to clarify the duties of the suicide prevention officer, and provide money for suicide prevention grants that could be awarded to any tribal, school, local government or other entity that met the necessary requirements. All those who receive grants would be required to use evidence-based methods and to report their outcomes to the Department of Public Health and Human Services. The grant money would come from cigarette taxes and the tobacco settlement trust fund. While the bill allocates a total of $1 million to DPHHS for these purposes, it contains a provision that would void the appropriation if a similar amount of money is dedicated for the same purpose in the main budget bill which it currently does. Its up to legislators to make sure the main budget bill does not conflict with this more targeted suicide prevention effort. Its both more targeted and more broad. As other anti-suicide bills dropped out of contention, HB 118 was expanded to include ethnic groups and occupations as well as veterans and Native Americans. Perhaps most promisingly, it would push forward the implementation of action steps outlined in a statewide Montana Native Youth Suicide Reduction Plan published in January. *** House Bill 381, meanwhile, attends to Montanas children through a legislative requirement that school districts address suicide prevention and response. This bill, too, received overwhelming support in both the House and Senate but was amended along the way. It is now on its way to the governors desk for signing. HB 381 directs the office of public instruction to provide guidance and technical assistance to Montana schools on youth suicide awareness and prevention training materials and requires school district trustees to establish policies, procedures or plans related to suicide. As amended, however, there is absolutely no penalty for those that fail to comply. Nevertheless, its an encouraging step that ensures Montanas schools wont lack for guidance as they work to reduce the risk of suicide among their student population. While the Legislature certainly could have done more this session, their support of these two suicide prevention bills puts Montana on more solid footing in the future. Montanans should watch what happens in their communities carefully, while the state evaluates which programs work best overall. A Butte man who led police on a car chase Friday that started with his tires getting shot out and ended in a crash was arrested for fleeing police again Tuesday morning after escaping custody at the Butte-Silver Bow County courthouse. James Wasson, 28, had been in county jail since Friday, but tried to harm himself over the weekend and after a Monday hearing was transported to the Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs treatment center for a mental health evaluation, according to Undersheriff George Skuletich. When Wasson was returned Tuesday, he arrived behind the courthouse at 9:50 a.m. in an ambulance van without hand or ankle cuffs and wearing civilian clothes like other prisoners, which Skuletich said is state hospital policy. Skuletich said when an officer was removing a bag of Wasson's items from the van Wasson jumped out another door and took off running. Officers gave pursuit, but lost Wasson, who Skuletich said was hiding. Twenty minutes later an off-duty police officer spotted Wasson about eight blocks away at the entrance to St. James Healthcare's emergency room, where Wasson was arrested. Skuletich said Wasson was brought to county jail, where he fought with and spat on police and had to be put in a restraint chair and a spit hood placed over his head. Wasson was brought to his hearing in the restraint chair and committed to the state hospital for 90 days. Skuletich said he was transported back to the facility in the restraint chair and under guard. Wasson was arrested early Friday after driving up to a house being searched by Butte police and Probation and Parole officers. Police said when probation officers walked up to his vehicle Wasson took off, and a probation officer shot at least two rounds at the car's vehicle's flattening one. Several squad cars pursued Wasson's vehicle to the overpass on Second and Shields where it crashed. Wasson was booked for three felony counts of criminal endangerment, DUI refusal, fleeing from police, reckless driving, and driving with a suspended or revoked license. One of his two passengers was also arrested for violating probation. According to police reports, Wasson fled from police on March 10 as well after arriving to the scene of a traffic stop after another man was arrested for driving Wasson's car with a suspended license. When police tried to arrest Wasson for failing to appear in court, he fled on foot and was arrested after hiding in a parked car in a garage. One new candidate and three incumbents have applied for three trustee seats on the Butte school board. The board choices and three levies are on the ballot for the May 2 election. Jackie Blom, a former eight-year district employee, filed as a candidate. Incumbents who re-applied are elementary trustees Patti Hepola, Ann Boston, and Tom Billteen. Boston is the current chairwoman, and Hepola is the vice chairwoman. Their three-year terms expire this year. All four candidates are running for the same three seats, said Dennis Clague, district business director and election administrator. The three with the highest total (votes) will win. Blom has held four jobs in the district, all in the administration building, said Human Resources Director Therese McClafferty. Blom was initially hired in August 2008 as a district receptionist. She then worked as a payroll clerk, an accounts payroll clerk, and finally an HR assistant for McClafferty until last September. She now works in the payroll department at Montana Resources. On Monday, district officials mailed out 9,218 absentee ballots an increase of about 700 from last year, said Clague. The ballots are due back by May 2 at the polls, open noon to 8 p.m. at the Butte Civic Center, 1340 Harrison Ave. Voters may hand-deliver their absentee ballots at their precinct polling places if they don't return them via mail in time. Outlying areas Ramsay, Rocker, Divide, and Melrose will open precincts to vote on the high school levy only since they have separate elementary schools but send students to the high school. The deadline to file for one of the open seats was March 24. The deadline to file for write-in candidacy was March 30. The district will ask voters for three levies that would increase their property taxes, including a first-ever $3-million, 10-year technology fund. Trustees are asking voters to approve: A $300,000-per-year elementary technology fund over 10 years. If passed, it would raise property tax $7.75 annually on a $100,000 home and $15.50 on a $200,000 home. A $96,573 high school operations and maintenance levy. Tax on a $100,000 home would increase $2.21 annually and $4.43 annually on a $200,000 home. A $65,924 elementary operations and maintenance levy. The increase for a $100,000 home would be $1.70 per year and $3.41 per year on a $200,000 home. It marks the first time the district has run a technology levy. Officials say the funding is needed to keep up with technological changes, to pay for software license subscriptions, and upgrade computer systems. The Montana Board of Public Education has awarded all the schools in the Butte school district a "regular" accreditation status. "It's very good," said district Superintendent Judy Jonart. "We don't have any corrective action. That's what we strive for 'regular' status." The state board implemented a revised process in 2013 to measure "a school's efforts to provide a sound education program for all students," according to Linda Vrooman Peterson, accreditation specialist with the Montana Office of Public Instruction. MBPE studies English/language arts and math in both the elementary schools and Butte High School, science, and the high school graduation rate. All, plus East Middle School, topped out as "regular." "Otherwise, we'd have to submit a corrective action plan to the board," Jonart said. Accreditors' ratings range from "regular," the best, to "regular with minor deviation" to "corrective action required" to "deficient." "This is great news for our students, and parents of our District," wrote Jonart to Butte school board trustees in a letter presented at the monthly board meeting Monday. "The Butte School District would not meet these accreditation standards without the hard work and dedication from our teachers, students, parents, administrators and trustees." Butte school district trustees approved an independent audit report for fiscal year 2016 that a local accounting firm deemed "clean," although Business Director Dennis Clague said he had to correct an earlier balancing error. Clague told trustees in a letter he corrected the error to reflect in the report on Newland and Company accounting/tax firm's recommendation and with assistance from the Montana Office of Public Instruction. He also worked with administrative colleagues to remedy the problem. "There are no significant errors," said Clague. "I made a mistake when I dealt with the prior year's numbers, bringing them forward. The balances were off slightly." He told trustees he made the error while transferring balances from the 2015 budget to the fiscal year 2016 budget. In its report, the auditor termed the error "a significant weakness in internal controls" but characterized the audit as "unqualified," which Superintendent Judy Jonart said is "a good thing." "It's what you want to strive for," she added. According to Investopedia.com, an auditor's unqualified judgement means that a company's financial records and statements are fairly and appropriately presented and sound in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A qualified opinion is issued when the independent auditor discovers something in the financial statements that is subject to major concern. Clague added: "But because they gave us an unqualified clean audit, they don't view it as a chronic, overarching problem. I worked with my staff to make sure we're all on the same page." The Missouri River Reservoir System is the largest reservoir system in North America. Management of the system is complicated by multiple and diverse interest groups and applicable laws. Interest groups represent irrigation, flood risk, hydro power, recreation, water supply, navigation, fish and wildlife, cultural resources, and commercial sand and gravel dredging. FISH, BIRDS AT RISK One of the applicable laws is the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which provides for the conservation of threatened or endangered species and their habitats. In the Missouri River basin, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists the endangered pallid sturgeon, the endangered least tern, and the threatened piping plover. The Missouri River runs over 2,300 miles from Three Forks, Montana, where the Gallatin River, Madison River, and Jefferson River join. It drains into the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. It was once the turbid, rapid stream the Missouri. That is how John Jay Audubon described it in 1843. Now the Missouri River is slowed at six major reservoirs behind dams. Fort Peck Lake and Fort Peck Dam are on the river in Montana. North Dakota has Lake Sakakawea behind Garrison Dam and Lake Oahe behind Oahe Dam. In South Dakota, there are Lake Sharpe at Big Bend Dam and Lake Francis Case at Fort Randall Dam. South Dakota and Nebraska share both Lewis and Clark Lake and Gavins Point Dam. This large reservoir system affects the three listed species. Maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, this reservoir system has the capacity to store 72.4 million acre-feet of water. An acre foot of water can cover one acre to a depth of one foot. Precipitation, snow melt, hydrology, basin and agriculture drainage, and resource uses influence decisions about the level of each reservoir. How can the Corps of Engineers operate the reservoir system without jeopardizing the listed species? To answer that, the Corps of Engineers, in cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service, has prepared a massive Draft Missouri River Recovery Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement with supplemental materials. The plan offers six alternatives intended to help the three species. Alternative 1 is the Congressionally mandated no-action alternative. It is not acceptable as the Corps of Engineers recognizes demonstrated needs for management plans informed by the best available science, including new scientific information about the species and their habitats. The remaining options provide for variable amounts of mechanical construction of emergent sandbar habitat for the plovers and terns. The different water flow releases of the alternatives account for the variable amounts of mechanical sandbar construction. The five remaining alternatives also include managing reservoir releases during nesting season to reduce the chances of rising water taking nests, eggs, or chicks of the plovers and terns. Furthermore the five alternatives support hatchery propagation of the pallid sturgeon and monitoring sturgeon population, as well as construction of early-life stage habitat in the lower river. These are good basic measures. BETTER OPTION NEEDED But beyond that, where are provisions for designation of critical habitat for the endangered pallid sturgeon; for unbalanced reservoirs to address the situation at a particular reservoir; for the application of the best science currently available? Habitat loss, fishing and caviar harvesting, entrainment and watercraft propellers, contaminants, hybridization, invasive species, and iridovirus all threaten the endangered pallid sturgeon. None of the alternatives provide adequate response. The pallid sturgeon requires shallow-water habitat. Designation of critical habitat is necessary. The Corps of Engineers seemingly acknowledges that with the phrase avoid jeopardizing the continued existence of pallid sturgeon or its critical habitats in the accompanying Draft Science and Adaptive Management Plan. Perhaps having unbalanced reservoirs as a management tool in the Missouri River main stem Reservoir System Master Water Control Manual is adequate, but perhaps not. To say that Alternative 2 following the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services 2003 Biological Opinion projected actions is the best alternative presented, and it is clearly is, is not to say that Alternative 2 is adequate. A lot of science has been done since 2003, and that science should inform policy and practice. The final document should include an improved best alternative, with more fairness in estimating the costs of the various alternatives. In other words, the best is still to come. I hope. -- Anne Millbrooke, of Bozeman, is a member of Sierra Clubs Missouri River Grassroots Network. The estimated 3,000 to 4,000 snow geese that perished in December 2016 in the Berkeley Pits toxic water died of both heavy metals and sulfuric acid, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesperson Ryan Moehring. The necropsy report does not make the findings clear, stating only that lesions in the stomach, intestines, and throats were severe and suggestive of chemical tissue damage induced by a corrosive substance. Copper and zinc, both of which were found inside the birds stomachs, could have been the cause or a contributing factor in the lesions, according to the report. Other metals, including manganese, were found in the organs of the geese. Montana Resources manager of environmental affairs Mark Thompson said the reports findings that the metals and acid in the pit caused the bird mortalities came as no surprise. There was never any suspicion the birds died from some other cause besides pit water, Thompson said. The companies responsible for the pit, Montana Resources and Atlantic Richfield Co., could be fined as much as $5,000 per bird. Helena-based U.S. Attorney spokesperson Melissa Hornbein said the U.S. Attorneys Montana office cannot comment yet on whether the companies will be fined. The report says 18 birds were tested. Two of the birds were different species of duck. The other 16 were snow geese. One bird the lab tested was shot in Dillon. That bird died of the gunshot wound. A captured and treated bird, which died after capture, was also sent to the necropsy lab. That bird showed inflammation and bacteria internally in addition to internal damage caused by metals and sulfuric acid. The infection may have contributed to that birds death, according to the report. The report says the birds condition was similar to the 342 snow geese that died in November 1995 when a flock landed almost 21 years to the day on the pit during a snowstorm and perished. Those birds were found dead by a Bureau of Mines and Geology employee who returned to the pits toxic water within a few days to take water samples after the storm passed. When a winter storm encouraged the birds to land in 2016, an estimated 10,000 birds found a resting spot on the Berkeley Pit, but thousands of birds flew off over the course of a week. A Bureau of Mines and Geology water sample report taken in December of last year found the pits water to be less acidic than it was in 1995. Earlier this year the companies put together a bird advisory committee and hired Montana Tech professor Stella Capoccia to advise on new ways to prevent birds from landing and dying in the pit in the future. The companies are testing new technologies this spring. In addition to propane-powered canons already stationed around the pit, the companies are bringing in later this month a device that shoots out rings of compressed air that scare the birds, Thompson said. The companies hope to have a fully vetted plan in place by fall to prevent another die-off. The plan will have to get federal and state agency approval. The news from the necropsy report comes just in time for a bird mourning event hosted by the Clark Fork Watershed Education Program and Buttes Citizens for Labor and Environmental Justice. Taking place from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Knights of Columbus's upstairs ballroom, the event is a fundraiser for CFWEP, which seeks to educate the regions youth on the local environment. Event spokesperson Mary Kay Craig said there will be art, music, poetry, presentations, and snow geese commemorative items for sale. Craig said the event is intended to help the community of Butte heal. HELENA An appeals court has denied a request by three minor party and independent candidates to place their names on the ballot for the special election to replace Ryan Zinke, who left Montana's only U.S. House seat to become Interior secretary. The three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the emergency motion late Monday. Instead, the panel ordered the candidates and the Montana Secretary of State's Office to file their arguments by mid-June, well after the election set for May 25. Overseas ballots have already been mailed and other preparations are already underway for the election. Absentee ballots are scheduled to be mailed May 1. "The secretary is encouraged that we have clarity for the upcoming election," said Morgan Williams, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Corey Stapleton. "Our clerks are working hard to prepare ballots and set up polling places as we march forward toward this historic special election." The Green Party's Thomas Breck and independents Steve Kelly and Doug Campbell sought an order either placing them on the ballot or giving them more time to collect the signatures they need to qualify as candidates. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris previously lowered the signature requirement from more than 14,000 to just 400, but he did not extend the March 6 deadline for candidates to turn in signatures and did not order the three candidates to be listed on the ballot, prompting the appeal. The candidates' attorney, Bryan Sells, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The three candidates on the ballot are Republican Greg Gianforte, Democrat Rob Quist and Libertarian Mark Wicks. Gov. Steve Bullock has tried to revive a killed bill that would have allowed counties to conduct the special election exclusively by mail, but House Speaker Austin Knudsen has not scheduled a vote on the House floor. HELENA U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions moved Tuesday to expand an Obama administration initiative to allow more tribal authorities access to federal anti-crime databases - an action long sought by tribes from the Metlakatla of Alaska to the Oneida of New York. The attorney general's announcement was part of a broader package to improve the sometimes-strained relationship between federal authorities and Native America. Complex historical, cultural and legal relationships between tribes and the U.S. government have complicated that effort in the past. "Law enforcement in Indian Country faces unique practical and jurisdictional challenges," Sessions said in a statement, "and the Department of Justice is committed to working with them to provide greater access to technology, information and necessary enforcement." As part of the program, the Justice Department will hold a series of "listening sessions" with tribal leaders and law enforcement officials to better understand the challenges Indian reservations face in addressing crime. The department also said it established a working group, comprised of federal officials from 12 agencies, to increase collaboration between U.S. authorities and those in sovereign Indian nations. The centerpiece of the program is an expansion of an Obama administration program launched in 2015 that gives some tribal nations access to criminal data contained in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Nine tribes were already a part of the program that Sessions said in December he would expand to 10 more tribes. "This cooperation among law enforcement protects all people, not just Native Americans," said John Dossett, general counsel for the National Congress of American Indians. Tribal governments have long sought to expand access to criminal background information collected by the federal government not only to attack crime but to also help with civil matters such as child custody cases. While some tribes have access to state criminal information, access to the federal database will allow tribal authorities to more quickly and more deeply access information about people. Access to federal databases will also soon expand to the Metlakatla Indians of Alaska, Navajo of the Southwest and the Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Cheppewa Indians, among other tribes. Law enforcement officials on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana began using the federal databases on Tuesday, giving them access to additional background on individuals, including those who might have crossed state lines. Ken Trottier, supervising investigator for the reservation, said the new tools will help fight an entrenched problem with meth and other criminal activity spawned by a population boom in the Bakken oil region. "Suddenly we saw a lot of strange and new faces - people we didn't know. It was just tough to find out anything about them," Trottier said. "This is going to be our way of staying that one step ahead." Irish poet to read excerpts Friday Leanne O'Sullivan from the Beara peninsula in Irelands West Cork will read a selection from her work at 7 p.m. Friday, April 21, in the Butte Brewery, 465 E. Galena St. Much of OSullivans work is inspired by her native land and its mining tradition, so it should speak in a particular way to the people of Montana. Many of Buttes Irish immigrant miners were from the Beara Peninsula. Dance recital Saturday at Mother Lode Mining City Dance Co. will hold their annual dance recital, "Dance Til You Drop, at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at the Mother Lode Theatre. The recital will feature dancers ages 3 to 21 from Butte, Anaconda, and Deer Lodge. They will perform tap, jazz, ballet, clogging, tumbling, hip hop, and cheer. Admission is $8 in advance or $9 at the door. Ages 2 and younger are free. Tickets can be purchased in advance from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at 601 S. Montana St. through Thursday or by calling 491-8485. Wheeler Foundation awards scholarships The Jacob Wheeler Foundation has announced the 2017 scholarship recipients. Butte High seniors Abigail Dodge and Zach Archibald are the recipients of $1,000 each. Dodge plans to attend the University of Montana in the fall, and Archibald plans on attending the Colorado School of Mines in the fall. In addition, two $500 scholarships have been awarded to Butte High seniors, Brianna Cunneen and Katelyn Reichle. Both teens will attend Montana Tech in the fall. The foundations mission is to provide memorial scholarships and support to the community through activities that promote suicide awareness and prevention and offer survivor support. Details: www.jacobwheelerfoundation.com or Facebook. Hospital auxiliary hosts Spring Bingo St. James Hospital Auxiliary will host a Spring Bingo Fundraiser at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 25, at St. Anns Parish Hall, 2100 Farragut. The cost is $5 for 12 games of bingo. There are also three special games. Cash prizes will be given to the winners. Refreshments will be provided. Proceeds go toward college scholarships for those entering the medical field and for hospital equipment. Candidates listed for Walkerville offices Walkerville residents interested in serving as mayor or as an alderperson on Walkervilles city council have until June 19 to file the necessary documents in the clerk and recorders office at the Butte-Silver Bow courthouse. The incumbent for mayor is John Ries. Ward 1 serves Precinct 10N, and Ward 2 serves Precinct 10S. Annette Bolton is the incumbent for Ward 1, and Ward 2 is vacant. In November 2006, Walkerville voters approved their study commission recommendation of conducting non-partisan elections, which will be done for the 2017 elections. If a primary is necessary, it will be held Tuesday, Sept. 12, and the general election will be Tuesday, Nov. 7. As it has for the past several years, the election will be conducted by mail ballot. Officials set to plant seedlings The city and county of Butte-Silver Bow, Butte Natural Resource Damage Council, Montana Tech Native Plant Program, MSU Extension Butte-Silver Bow, and Buttes Urban Forest Board invite the community help plant 800 native plant seedlings Saturday, April 22. By planting the seedlings, it is hoped that they will help to slow stormwater flows, protect Silver Bow Creek from the migration of contaminants, and encourage the public to participate in Buttes restoration. The tree-planting event will take place at 1 p.m. at the Missoula Ball Fields on Missoula Ave. Butte Area One Restoration funds approved by the Butte Natural Resource Damage Council fund this effort. Volunteers are asked to bring tools like a shovel or trowel and gloves and anything you might require for a few hours in the sun and rain. Please be sure to wear closed-toe shoes. For more details or to sign up as a volunteer, contact MSU Extension Butte-Silver Bow at 406-723-0217 or kellee.anderson@montana.edu or Julia Crain at 406-497-6264 or jcrain@bsb.mt.gov. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said Tuesday that President Donald Trump's frequent trips to Florida have been "bothering" her, saying, "I do wish he would spend more time in Washington." The Dakota Access Pipeline protesters are finally gone. Calling themselves Water Protectors," they contaminated a thousand acres of pristine grassland (also a sensitive wildlife habitat) and left behind mountains of trash, human waste and hazardous fuels. An early thaw turned their campsite into a muddy cesspool. Included in the debris were dozens of abandoned cars, structures, propane tanks and 12 dogs! In Late February the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spent $1.1 million to clean up the protest camps, hauling away 835 dumpsters (8,170 cubic yards) of trash and debris. The local tribes were concerned that snowmelt would inevitably wash tons of garbage and waste into the Cannonball River. Of course, it's impossible to remove every drop and particle of waste. The Missouri River downstream from the Cannonball is almost certainly polluted. Don't drink that "protected" water! Some of the "Water Protectors" may have been paid protesters. (Do they really care?) The Sierra Club and Greenpeace were among the organizations that compensated them. Among environmentalists, these organizations are respected and considered responsible. So why did none of their check writers bother to contract for trash Dumpsters and outhouses? This is shocking negligence! The Dakota Access protest is reported to have provided inspiration and a blueprint for protests against pipelines elsewhere. If future protests don't include facilities for waste disposal, they will do only harm. In the spirit of good environmentalism, recycle bins should also be provided. I'll take my chances with the pipeline company. They know how to handle oil spills and will respond immediately. Oil doesn't mix with water like sewage does. Let the oil flow! Cheap energy from fossil fuels now supplies 86 percent of the world's energy and has kept seven billion people from starving. Google "The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels." It's good reading. -- Dale Ferguson, Polson MISSOULA A 34-year-old man accused of driving drunk with his 5-year-old son in the car on Saturday allegedly told the sheriffs deputy attempting to arrest him that You will not cuff me, bro. The deputy handcuffed Walter Allen Shields and also cuffed his legs after Shields allegedly tried to kick out the windows of the patrol car, according to court documents. Walter Allen Shields is charged with felony child criminal endangerment, as well as misdemeanors for driving under the influence, obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest. Bail was set at $5,000 during his initial appearance Monday in Missoula County Justice Court. According to a court affidavit, a woman reported Saturday that Shields was intoxicated and driving with his son in the car near Marvins Bar at the Wye west of Missoula. A sheriffs deputy located the car and stopped it, reporting that the driver was slurring his words, and that his breath smelled of alcohol. He allegedly refused to show identification or tell the officer his name, saying Im trying to be nice and I just want to go home and be with my kid, according to the affidavit. He allegedly struggled when the deputy attempted to handcuff him. The deputy allegedly found a mixed drink in the front cup holder of the car, and several cans of beer in the back seat. A relative came to the scene and picked up the boy. *** Arthur Wayne Schubert, 39, has also been charged in connection with an alleged drunk driving incident. On Saturday, a police officer was responding to a report of a hit-and-run crash when he saw the vehicle believed to have been involved. The vehicle had body damage on the side and front, and its hazard lights were flashing. The officer attempted to stop the car, but it kept driving even after he turned on his emergency lights and sirens. According to a court affidavit, the motorist drove through three stop signs while being pursued, until finally stopping at a driveway. The officer reported the drivers side airbag was already deployed by the time the driver eventually got out. Schubert told police he saw the emergency lights and heard the siren, but did not give them a reason for refusing to stop, according to the court documents. After being arrested, Schubert was shown that his vehicle was damaged, but responded by saying No, its not, according to the affidavit. A $5,000 bail was imposed upon Schubert, who is charged with felony DUI as well as driving with a suspended or revoked license, and a misdemeanor for fleeing a peace officer. MISSOULA One of three remaining energy development leaseholders in the Badger-Two Medicine area south of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation has sued the federal government for access to the land, despite the Department of Interiors cancellation of the leases in January. W.A. Moncrief of Fort Worth, Texas, filed his case on April 3, claiming sudden cancellation of a federal oil and gas lease more than 35 years after its issuance. Moncriefs case goes before the same federal judge in Washington, D.C., who is hearing the case of Solenex LLC. Solonex had a permit to drill in a place the Blackfeet consider sacred ground, but the Department of the Interior canceled that permit last year. The national forest land ringed by the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex has drawn attention for several years as the Blackfeet Tribe pushed its case that numerous energy exploration leases granted in the 1980s were invalid. Tribal members revere the 130,000-acre area as the site of their ancestral creation stories and present-day cultural activities. Last year, officials with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management agreed the leases were granted without proper tribal consultation or environmental review. The Blackfeet are not against oil and gas development, Tribal Chairman Harry Barnes stated in an April 14 press release. But we have always been and will always be against oil and gas development in our most sacred places. On the issue of lease cancellation, Barnes wrote, Solenex and Moncrief can blame no one but themselves. They ignored multiple Blackfeet resolutions declaring the land sacred, even before they purchased the leases; they declined myriad offers by the Blackfeet Nation and the U.S. government to negotiate a solution; they refused to join the vast majority of companies who exited the Badger-Two Medicine on good terms; and they forced cancellation as a last-resort option by their aggressive litigation and refusal to consult and cooperate. They have taken a radical position, and so have forced an outcome no one wanted. In his suit, Moncrief maintains the Interior Department gave him no warning of his lease cancellation before issuing a press release about the action on Jan. 10. He argued that shows the agency was playing politics at the end of President Barack Obamas administration instead of considering the scientific or historical merits of the lease. Barnes responded that the tribe had offered Moncrief tax credits, cash offers, alternative leases and pre-drilled wells in other parts of the reservation in compensation for the Badger-Two Medicine leases. He called Moncriefs claim that the cancellation was a last-minute action by Obama preposterous. Our 1971 declaration of the B2Ms sacred nature was signed one day after President Obamas 10th birthday, Barnes wrote. "The history here runs deep, and establishes clearly that this is anything but last minute. At a lease-cancellation signing with tribal members on Nov. 16, then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said her staff was working to resolve the remaining leases. On Jan. 6, Moncrief was paid $27,874 for past lease payments, filing fees and other charges on his 7,640-acre lease. The J.G. Kluthe Trust of Nebraska was paid $30,560 for costs related to its 3,982-acre lease. Solenex owner Sydney Longwell sued the government several years ago, claiming federal officials were dragging their feet on completing his permit to drill for oil and gas on his Badger-Two Medicine leases. In a parallel analysis, the federal officials decided Solenexs lease was invalid and canceled it last March. Earthjustice attorney Tim Preso, who represents a coalition of tribal and conservation groups against Solenex, said the Moncrief challenge didnt appear to raise any different issues. They never applied for and do not hold a drilling permit, and they cant do anything on the land without that, Preso said. The Solenex case is much further along in the judicial process. Theyve been assigned to the same judge, so unless something extraordinary happens, the outcome of the Solenex case would likely apply to this new case. A bill to create an interim committee to study the effects of legalizing recreational marijuana died 55-45 on the House floor on second reading last week despite support from Republican legislators. Nine Republicans voted to pass the bill, which would have tied the vote had five Democrats not opposed the bill. Self-described civil libertarian Daniel Zolnikov, R-Billings, also voted against the bill despite his strong support for the states medical marijuana program. My no vote was simple. The entire conversation this session has been about medical marijuana. I prefer our Legislature keep our eye on the ball and focus on the current issue at hand. We need to make sure the medical marijuana industry is able to develop into a reliable mature industry before we start discussing the next issue, Zolnikov said. House Joint Resolution 35 was sponsored by Rep. Mary Ann Dunwell, D-Helena, and would have created an interim committee to study the legalization, regulation, taxation, and public health and safety aspects of recreational marijuana and report to the 2019 Legislature. Committees often propose legislation based on the result of their studies. I think we learned our lesson from medical marijuana, that it would behoove us to be ahead of the curve as far as having some research in place as to how we want to develop policy rather than after the fact, Dunwell said. HJ35 made it out of committee with only one minor change, which included federal law enforcement agencies and Indian tribes among groups to be involved in the study. Dunwell said the amendment was meant to be inclusive but was seen by some House representatives in the Indian Caucus all of whom are Democrats as ordering folks what to do. What process do you see that you have the Indian Tribes consent with this? said Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, D-Box Elder, on the House floor. I was going to support this until I saw that. Rep. Sharon Stewart-Peregoy, D-Crow Agency, also voted no. Rep. Bradley Hamlett, D-Great Falls, also spoke out against the bill, saying a study would inevitably lead to policy. Speaking in favor of the bill, Rep. Bob Brown, R-Thompson Falls, said Montanans were likely to legalize recreational marijuana through a ballot initiative as has happened in every state with legal recreational marijuana and that the Legislature shouldnt lead from behind like when voters chose medical marijuana in 2004. Brown compared the legislative ups and downs that followed that initiative to trying to put a wildcat into a gunnysack. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Build your health & fitness knowledge Sign up here to get the latest health & fitness updates in your inbox every week! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy One person is dead after a moped and truck collided Monday night on U.S. 61 in Louisa County. The crash occurred at 9:50 p.m. on U.S. 61 near Kennedy Drive in Wapello. The moped was traveling westbound on Oak Street attempting to cross U.S. 61 when the driver failed to yield upon entering the highway and was struck by a 2003 International semi at the intersection of Kennedy Drive, according to a crash report from the Iowa State Patrol. Both vehicles came to rest in the southbound lane of U.S. 61 at Oak Street. The driver of the moped has been identified as Sierra Jane Bowdre, 15, of Wapello. The Iowa State Patrol was assisted by the Louisa County Sheriff's Office, Wapello Fire Department and EMS, and the Louisa County Medical Examiner. MUSCATINE During a visit to Muscatine Tuesday morning, U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he expects a Supreme Court Justice resignation within the year. "I would expect a resignation this summer," he said. An upcoming resignation has been "rumored," he said, but he did not name a justice. The question was posed to him during a question-and-answer session at Kent Corporation headquarters, by Kent employees, National Association of Manufacturers members and elected officials at Kent Corporation headquarters. A person would likely be nominated from the same list from which recently appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch was chosen, Grassley said, most of whom he said are well-qualified. "I don't know about racial and ethnic divisions, but there's some very good females on there that would make good Supreme Court Justices as well," he said. When questioned about the possibility of more resignations, he said it could be possible, but hearings would likely not be held during an election year. When former President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland to take the place of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, Grassley and other Republicans opposed holding hearings until the election was over. "If there's a vacancy in the last year of a presidency, people ought to have a voice," he said. He referred to a speech Joe Biden made in 1992, urging former President George H. W. Bush not to nominate a Justice during a contentious election year, if a seat were to come available. "I took the same view that Democrats did," Grassley said. "You can be sure the Democrats are going to remind me of that." Those listening chuckled, and went on to ask Grassley about business regulations. Many of those attending the event were NAM members and asked several questions regarding businesses, trade and regulations. Grassley said this administration's position has been any time a new regulation is issued, old regulations should be examined to see if they are needed. "For instance, let's say safety at the plant here, probably was passed by Congress in 1972," he said. "It hasn't been changed a whole lot, but the regulations might go up or down, but they tend to accumulate up and up and up." Although he said regulators sometimes go beyond what Congress intended, regulations should be based on the intent of Congress when a law is passed. "You've got to be based on the judgement of the people writing the regulation, or the judgement of the people like me passing the law in the first place," he said. Grassley was in Muscatine to accept a National Association of Manufacturers Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence presented by Gage Kent, the Chairman and CEO of Kent Corporation, who serves on the board of NAM. "He's always been a friend to manufacturers," Kent said. Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes [] A lot is happening in the world today. Just this weekend, Turkey voted to give their president Tayyip Erdogan more powers. Previously, the presidency in Turkey was more ceremonial, but now it just became powerful too powerful some people are saying. Erdogan will now likely leave office in 2034 after serving 3 terms of 5 years each starting 2019. But since the Turkish people have voluntarily moved from a democracy to a dictatorial regime, who knows whether he will extend his stay. Turkey is very important in Europes and the Middle Easts geopolitics. Geographically, only 5% of Turkey is in Europe. Its largest city Istanbul is split between Europe and Asia. This kind of convergence of different cultures is not always a good thing. There are constant threats of religious conflicts, terrorism etc. Europe has just gotten itself another strongman, and though Turkish military is not the greatest in the world, Erdogan is respected in the Arab world and probably has a lot of influence. If not, he has just bought himself 2 decades to work on that. Then there are the events that have everyone talking about World War 3. The United States recently elected a man with itchy fingers, who will not hesitate to obliterate real and imaginary enemies. Just recently, he unleashed over 50 missiles on Syria, to punish the administration for gassing its own citizens. Most people however agree that was the wrong move, considering the fact that Assads government may not have been responsible for the chemical attacks. Assad may be a dictator, but he knows to choose his battles wisely. Having received warnings from the US and other countries against using chemical weapons, most people dont see how he would benefit by using them, especially since there are so many ways to kill your enemy. [showad block=3] The only people who benefited from the US airstrikes were the terrorists Assad is fighting. The results of those strikes ended up straining US-Russia relationship. Weve seen this game before. Donald Trump is also not a big fan of Kim Jong-un. The North Korean dictator is continuously testing nuclear weapons, and this unsettles the United States. From what Trump has been tweeting, it looks like its just a matter of days or weeks before he takes action. Kim Jong-un knows he is no match for the US, but he is suicidal and wouldnt mind mutual distraction. Its a bit scary when you think about Kims confidence. Does he have intercontinental missiles capable of delivering nuclear bombs to the US? Its good to note that though anti-missile defense has advanced, it is still believed to be impossible to intercept them 100% of the time. And a single missile sneaking through may mean the end of a large city. You can therefore understand why people are all of a sudden talking about World War 3. If you look at the happenings in all these countries, the future looks bleak. I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones. Albert Einstein. Einstein was spot on. If the United States and Russia were fighting on opposite sides, it would probably mean the end of the world. Theres a treaty to greatly reduce the number of nuclear arsenals per country, but with Trump in office, who knows? The world has about 15,000 nuclear warheads, with over 90% of these shared between Russia and the US. Though theres no scientific agreement, it is generally agreed that detonating all these warheads would lead to the mass extinction of many species, possibly even mankind. Those who survive the blast would have to deal with the radiation. It is estimated that 40% of the ash and smoke would stay in the stratosphere for at least 10 years, and do irreparable damage to the ozone layer. Global temperatures would drop colder than they were 18,000 years ago during the ice age, and remain that way for decades. Hiroshima and Nagasaki remain the only two times a nuclear weapon has been used in warfare. The two atomic bombs dropped in the two Japanese cities were called Little Boy and Fat Man. Between them, they killed more than 200,000 people. But compared to modern nuclear weapons, the two look like a toy that was put together by a 5-year old. Fat Man produced an explosion of about 21 kilotons, equivalent to 21,000 tonnes of TNT. It was the bigger of the two. The most common warhead in the US today is the B83, which has a maximum yield of 1.2 megatons (1,200 kilotons). That is nearly 60 times more powerful than the Nagasaki atomic bomb. The most powerful nuclear weapon ever, The Tsar Bomba, was tested by the Soviet Union in 1961. It had a yield of more than 50 megatons. Thats 2500 times more powerful than the Nagasaki bomb and 3300 times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb. So what really makes a nuclear bomb this devastating? Well, its not just the explosion. A world war has a way of bringing in even the unlikeliest countries. Unless Kenya adopts neutrality, we would sooner or later have to align with either the East or the West or whoever is fighting. Assuming Nairobi is the unfortunate recipient of a nuclear bomb, what do you think will be the situation? In this case, lets work with the CBD as ground zero. (The bomb doesnt even have to touch the ground. It can detonate mid-air with almost similar results.) Small Hiroshima Bomb (15 kilotons) The small red circle represents the Fireball radius. Thats where the actual explosion happens, and that would only touch part of the CBD. This would be the most merciful area, because everyone would vaporize instantly and not have a clue of what just happened. The temperature here will be waaaaaay hotter than the surface of the sun. For a brief moment, temperatures would be a few million degrees celsius. For comparison, the surface of the sun is only 5,600 degrees celsius. The green circle represents the Radiation radius. This area has a 50-90% mortality rate from radiation effects. Death can occur between several hours or several weeks. The University of Nairobi, City square and a huge chunk of Kenyatta Avenue would fall in this category. The blue circle represents the Air blast radius. A huge wind will sweep outwards to the railway station on one side, Ring road, Muranga road, Ngara, Valley road among others. Most buildings will be flattened, and fatalities will be mostly as a result of falling debris. You can expect tens of thousands of deaths in this region. The orange circle represents the Thermal radiation radius. Parts of Chiromo, Upper Hill, Westlands etc. fall in this radius. Here, unless youre in a freezer in a bunker, theres a near 100% chance youll suffer 3rd degree burns. Though you might end up disabled, theres some consolation in that most of these burns are painless since they destroy the pain nerves. B-83. Largest Bomb in US Arsenal (1.2 megatons) Fireball Radius 1.04 kilometres. Look at it this way, if the bomb goes off at the newly constructed University of Nairobi Towers, everyone at the Railway Station will die instantly vaporized or incinerated. Air blast Radius 7.47 kilometres Nearly every residential building in Kibera, Kilimani, Lavington, Nairobi West, Upper Hill, South B, Imara Daima, Mathare, Eastleigh, Westlands, Muthaiga, etc. would be flattened by a powerful 5 psi wind. Any airplane less than 3 km high would also come crashing down. Thermal Radiation Radius 13.2 kilometres. This is the region where 3rd degree burns will occur. Affected areas: Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Umoja, Syokimau, Kasarani, Runda, Ruaka, Loresho, Jamhuri etc. Tsar Bomba. Largest Bomb Tested by USSR (50 Megatons) The Tsar Bomba was tested by the USSR in 1961. It produced 1.4% the power output of the sun. The shockwaves from the epicentre went round the earth 3 times. Its huge bright light was visible nearly 1000 kilometres away. If for instance it went off in Mombasa, people in Kampala would be able to see it. It weighed 25 tonnes, and if it were not for the 800 kg parachute that slowed it down, the plane that delivered it would not have made it out. The United States was scared and world left outraged considering this was at the height of the Cold War. Its even scarier considering that USSR has designed it to be twice as powerful (100 megatons). Though a BIG IF, what would happen if such a bomb was dropped in Nairobi CBD. Fireball Radius 4.62km This is the region where people and animals will be vaporized or incinerated totally. Areas affected: Westlands, Upper Hill, Kariokor, Kamukunji, Pumwani, Pangani, Ngara, Kilimani etc. Air blast radius (20 psi) 8.91km Skyscrapers and other heavily built concrete buildings would come tumbling down. Fatalities would be near 100%. Areas affected: United Nations, Gigiri, Runda, Kitisuru, Ruaraka, Mutindwa, Imara Daima, Kibera, Kawangware etc. Air blast radius (5 psi) 20.7km Heavily built buildings might survive, but nearly all residential structures would be flattened. Areas affected: Kikuyu, Wangige, Banana, Ruaka, Kiambu town, Tatu City, Kasarani, Githurai, Kahawa, Syokimau, Mlolongo, Rongai, Ngong, Karen etc. Thermal radiation radius (3rd degree burns) 60km Third degree burns extend throughout the layers of skin. They can cause severe scarring or disablement, and can require amputation, but are generally painless. 100% probability. Areas affected: Thika Town, Kenol Town, Githunguri, Makuyu, Saba Saba, Kijabe, Mai Mahiu, Limuru town, Machakos town, Athi River, Kitengela, Ndakaini etc. Simulations courtesy of NukeMap The loss of lives would be in the millions, and Kenya would overnight move from being the richest country in East Africa to probably the poorest. The devastating effects of nuclear bombs are reason enough to totally get rid of them. Before then, all we can do is pray hope that no war will ever escalate to the point of using them. PESCADERO A Northern California family is mourning the loss of their dog after authorities say a mountain lion came into their home and snatched the 15 pound Portuguese Podengo from a bedroom. The Mercury News reports a woman and her child had been sleeping in their Pescadero home with the dog at the foot of the bed early Monday when the dog started barking aggressively. The San Mateo County Sheriff's Office says the woman reported seeing the shadow of an animal enter the room, take the small dog and leave. She then called 911. Deputies arrived to find paw prints similar to a mountain lion in the area and notified wildlife officials. Authorities called the incident "very rare." There have been no additional sightings of the mountain lion or the dog. The customary way to get rid of vineyard clippings and old vines is to burn them in the wet season, but the times are changing. A draft county climate action plan proposes alternatives to the traditional open burning of vineyards, while environmentalists are pushing to end burning altogether. Both efforts are rooted in ultimately reducing the countys greenhouse gas emissions. In response, the wine industry is promoting low-smoke techniques that would allow continued burning in the vineyards where the debris is gathered. To reduce smoke, clippings and vines are dried under a tarp for up to six months, then ignited starting at the top of the pile, not the bottom. The reduction in smoke can be dramatic. The air quality is not so much diminished by agricultural burning as people think, said Steve Moulds, owner of Moulds Family Vineyards and a member of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers. The only problem is that it all happens at the same time of year and it looks pretty bad. For the few days that we have it, it does make an impact on air quality. To combat the prevalence of smoky burns, the Grapegrowers in 2015 launched the Vineyard Burning Task Force and a campaign to educate members on the need for low-smoke vineyard burning. Task force member Roberto Juarez, vineyard manager at Moulds Family Vineyards, leads courses for other vineyard managers and farmworkers as part of the groups outreach. The courses, which Juarez teaches in Spanish and in English, explain best practices for burning vineyard debris with as little smoke as possible. We have children and its good for them if we start doing the best as we can, the best (clean burn) as possible, Juarez said of the task force. Not losing the opportunity to burn, Juarez said, is also a key concern. The task force was originally planned as a three-year effort, Moulds said. He now wants to extend the program to a five-year plan. But I dont know that were going to have that much time, given the climate action plan is looking at making some changes, he said. That climate action plan is Napa Countys effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions locally over a span of several decades. Among the emissions targeted for reduction are those linked to the open burning of agricultural waste. The current draft of the plan includes a measure to end open burning and to encourage alternatives, like converting agricultural waste into biochar or burning it in a waste-to-energy plant, which the county might help fund. Though the plan has been a cause for concern among the Grapegrowers, county Planning Director David Morrison stressed, Were not calling for the stopping of ag burning. Were calling for a different approach to ag burning, number one. And number two; its a multi-year, decades-long plan. Were very aware of the concerns expressed by the Grapegrowers and are taking those into consideration as we prepare the final draft of the climate action plan, Morrison said. That draft might be sent to the Board of Supervisors for consideration between June and August of this year, he said. What we would want to do would be to work cooperatively with the Grapegrowers to find an approach that allows them to continue to burn, but in a way that helps the county as a whole meet its greenhouse gas emission goals, Morrison said. Those in support of a long-term plan that eliminates open burning in the county point to the pressing need to cut climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. Our problem right now, in Napa and all over the world, is to find ways to immediately begin to push back irreversible climate tipping points, and the way we do that is by focusing on short-lived climate pollutants such as black carbon and methane, said Jim Wilson, who sits on the board of directors of Napa Vision 2050, a coalition of local groups focused on environmental protection. Wilson said that rather than burning agricultural waste biomass, we should be generating electricity through a plant, like the one described in the current draft of the climate action plan. We applaud the focus that Napa Valley Grapegrowers have on greatly reducing black carbon emissions, Wilson said. Ultimately though, the goal should be to eliminate burning altogether, he said. Theyre definitely going in the right direction, Wilson said. Can we be going further? What were saying is, lets figure out a way to not burn at all. Moulds argued that alternatives to burning would be costly, and would not be suitable for dealing with vineyards removed because of disease and pests. If we have to start hauling away diseased vines, its still going to exist somewhere, he said. So if we can burn them and continue to burn them cleanly, we hopefully will not lose that right. While the final draft of the climate action plan is still pending, the authority to regulate Napas open burning in the more immediate sense lies with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD). County Supervisor Brad Wagenknecht, who represents Napa on the air district board of directors, said the likelihood that the district might issue an end to Napas agricultural burning soon is low. But he pointed to the persistence of smoky burns in the county as being detrimental to the practice being allowed to continue. There are folks that are burning illegally and do it poorly, Wagenknecht said. Moulds echoed that sentiment. If theres a continued flagrant disregard for best practices, and keeping smoke at an absolute minimum, then its just like rubbing salt in a wound. When he sees smoky burns taking place throughout the valley, Moulds now stops at the sites to inform those responsible about the need for best practices when burning. Describing a recent visit to a smoky burn he spotted near his ranch on Dry Creek Road, west of the city of Napa, Moulds said he arrived at the site and approached the workers overseeing the burn. I showed them a brochure, he said, referencing a six-step guide to best practices the task force provides in Spanish and in English. I explained why its really important that we do a smokeless burn, because were going to lose the right to burn the things that we absolutely need to burn. Moulds asked the workers to convey those concerns to their manager. And (the manager) called me back about an hour later, Moulds said, and he said, Thank you. I didnt know. We really want to do our best. We certainly dont want to lose the right to burn, so were on board. The BAAQMD permissive burn period ends this month, and fewer burns will take place until the burning season begins again in October. An Apache legend tells the story of a beautiful woman who was transformed into a pronghorn, with generations of her descendants still roaming the desert and grasslands of North America. A subspecies of pronghorn, the Sonoran pronghorn is uniquely adapted to the harsh deserts of southwest Arizona and Mexico, surviving on cacti and other tough desert vegetation. It is also, unfortunately, one of the most critically endangered animals in the world, with only about 160 remaining in the wild. Other unique and beautiful species are also at risk. Indigenous Hawaiian mountain bird populations are being decimated by mosquito-borne diseases, as warming temperatures allow mosquitoes to move to higher elevations. Atlantic puffins are finding it harder to raise their chicks, as ocean waters warm and their food sources move farther from puffin breeding areas. The plight of these species and thousands of others illustrates the challenges they face as the combination of climate change and habitat destruction drive them towards extinction. If we are to have any hope of saving these species from extinction, we need sound scientific analyses of climate change and its effects on species and their habitat. It is critically important that we recognize and sustain the integrity of the scientific process as we contemplate and evaluate decisions about our future. Americans deeply value science and hold scientists in high regard. The public also believes that good policy and regulatory decisions should be grounded in science and free from political interference. Politicians who dismiss scientific facts as fake news and supply their own alternative facts dont just irresponsibly erode the fabric of science; they erode a quintessential American value. This month, people across the country will be demonstrating their support for science. On Earth Day, thousands will gather in Washington, D.C. and in cities across the country to march for science and protect these deeply held values. They are marching to defend the vital role science plays in our communities and our world. They are marching because science is not partisan; it is not liberal or conservative. And they are marching to demonstrate that our nation values the scientists and the scientific agencies working to make our world safer, cleaner and healthier. But it will not be just scientists marching; it will be men, women and children of all backgrounds and affiliations who believe that scientific research is a vital feature of a working democracy and the American character. Attacks on science are not new. From climate change deniers to anti-vaccinators, those who want to ignore the tenets of scientific research and fundamental knowledge believe that if they lie and present fake science, the American public will fall for it. On Earth Day, marchers will demonstrate that they are not about to abandon their values. Instead they will march to demonstrate that they support science, what scientists can accomplish, and the urgency with which their work must be done. Kathleen Rogers, President, Earth Day Network Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO, Defenders of Wildlife In a letter to the editor dated April 8 (Look at the real cause), Tom Johnson discusses the recent death of a man outside the south Napa Home Depot Store who was apparently experiencing a mental health or substance related crisis. Without providing any evidence, Mr. Johnson attempts to link this mans behavior and tragic death to Californias recent passage of less restrictive laws regarding marijuana. Mr. Johnson assigns blame for the behavior leading to the mans death as a problem that he we helped create and accuses our liberal California society, where all truth is relative As a forensic psychologist with experience treating the mentally ill and those with substance use disorders, it is of great concern to me that Mr. Johnson insinuates a number of falsehoods regarding substance use and mental illness. While working in various institutions, I have also witnessed firsthand our failed public policy to address these problems. Recall the era of Prohibition in the U.S. under the Volstead Act and the 18th Amendment. Prohibition did nothing to quell the demand for alcohol among Americans and instead led to increased violence among smugglers and criminal groups. It also resulted in elaborate schemes among merchants to bypass the laws. The solution ended up with worse consequences than the initial problem it intended to solve. By way of background, the process of criminalization of marijuana in our country was influenced, at least in part, by xenophobic policies against Mexican-Americans and concerns from the influential DuPont family about the growing hemp industry. Once Prohibition ended, scientifically inaccurate anti-marijuana propaganda proliferated (as exemplified in the film Reefer Madness). Marijuana law in our country remains based on ideology, rather than facts, and the only madness is our policy. Research has found no association between marijuana use and violent behavior or suicide. A study published in the American Public Journal of Health (December 2014) outlines how legalization of medical marijuana reduced suicide rates by five percent in the general population, and possibly as much as 10 percent among young males. In a review of FBI crime data (1988-2013) by researchers from the University of Victoria (New Zealand), the link between medical marijuana and violence was investigated: the results found no association. In addition, research published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs (2012) uncovered no linkage between marijuana use and violent behavior. Mr. Johnson urges all of you cool marijuana fans who think this same way, need to remember this young man and remember it could be you next. However, there is no causal link between marijuana use and major mental illness, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. These disorders largely originate from our genetics. Marijuana, ipso facto, does not cause mental illness. Mr. Johnson writes: He started down the drug path with marijuana, because it was cool and mellowed him out and he thought that he would just smoke a joint to get high and stop there. Well, he didn't. However, the issue of whether or not marijuana is actually a gateway drug continues to be a matter of scientific debate. The overwhelming majority of individuals who try marijuana do not go on to use other harder drugs. Vulnerability to addiction has a basis in genetics with a complex interplay between various environmental and other factors. If an individual is primed for addiction, they appear to be so whether they try marijuana or not. Criminalization of marijuana does nothing to prevent marijuana use. In fact, decriminalization appears to have the opposite effect. Since decriminalization, marijuana use has dipped slightly in Colorado, but remained stable in Washington. The Netherlands and Portugal have decriminalized marijuana use; despite its lawful availability, fewer Dutch or Portuguese citizens engage in cannabis use than their American counterparts. In Portugal, all drugs have been legal since 2001; subsequently, overall drug use has declined among the 15-to 24-year-old population. Decriminalization in Portugal is associated with reduction in violent crime and fewer new HIV seroconversions. Currently, cartels and American weapons suppliers (along with our increasingly privatized prisons) grotesquely profit from our drug laws. Cartels purchase American assault weapons to fight their battles; cartels supply the yawning maw of America with its drugs Because Mr. Johnson critiques liberal society, he and others should be aware that Trumps policies will cause dramatic harm to those with mental illness and substance use disorders. Such individuals are often the most vulnerable in our society and some of the least likely to be able to afford health insurance. Repeal of the Affordable Care Act will result in individuals with mental illness being precluded from receiving health care because of pre-existing conditions. Under the Affordable Care Act, psychiatric illnesses were treated the same as non-psychiatric illnesses (i.e., parity). Progress for treatment of the mentally ill is in peril in the context of the Trump administrations regressive policies. Corey Hahn Napa Sonoma County Sheriff's officials are seeking a man who allegedly pushed, punched and attempted to sexually assault a woman Sunday afternoon as she was jogging on a trail near Sonoma. The incident occurred at about 1:15 p.m. on the Sonoma Overlook Trail near Norrbom Road, Sonoma County sheriff's officials said. As the woman was jogging, a man began yelling at her. As she continued, the man then allegedly pushed her from behind, causing her to fall on the ground. The suspect then punched her several times, before attempting to rape her, according to sheriff's officials. The victim, however, was able to fight off the suspect, escape and call for help. Sheriff's deputies, along with a sheriff's helicopter and a K-9 team from the Santa Rosa Police Department, responded and searched the area extensively but were unable to locate the suspect. He was described as a white man in his 50s with a white, bushy beard and wearing a black zip-up hooded sweatshirt, a black sweater, a black beanie and dirty jeans. The suspect appeared to be homeless, sheriff's officials said. Sheriff's officials are reminding residents to take extra precaution in the area and to immediately report suspicious people or suspicious activity. Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call (707) 565-2185. Police arrested a suspect Friday in connection with the theft of musical instruments from a high school in Fairfield, and are seeking the public's help in locating another suspect. On Friday, police arrested 20-year-old Christian McCollister of Sacramento. He was booked into the Solano County Jail on suspicion of receiving stolen property, criminal conspiracy and being an accessory to a crime, police said. Police are also seeking the public's help in locating 18-year-old Jonathan Olea of Fairfield, who is wanted on suspicion of similar offenses in connection with the same crime. Olea is described as a Hispanic man, 5 feet 8 inches tall, 210 pounds, with black hair and brown eyes, police said. According to police, on April 10 staff at Armijo High School, located at 824 Washington St. in Fairfield, discovered many musical instruments were missing from the band room on campus. Police believe the theft occurred between the evening of April 7 and the morning of April 10. The stolen property consisted of dozens of brass and woodwind instruments, mostly contained in individual cases. Most of the instruments are school property, however several are owned by students, police said. Detectives developed a lead in the case and on Wednesday they served a search warrant at a home in the 300 block of Utah Street, near the school. During the search, detectives found two of the stolen instruments worth an estimated $10,000, one of which was an antique, 100-year-old English horn. Both instruments were returned to the school. The search warrant and subsequent interviews led detectives to arrest a 17-year-old boy from Pacifica Wednesday on suspicion of possessing stolen property. His identity will not be released because of his age, police said. Police said there are still numerous instruments missing and that the case remains under investigation. Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the instruments, Jonathan Olea or the burglary at Armijo High School is asked to call Fairfield police at (707) 428-7600, the Tip Line at (707) 428-7345 or Solano CrimeStoppers at (707) 644-7867. Police arrested two teenagers Friday on suspicion of robbing and shooting a victim Thursday in Fairfield. According to Fairfield police, on the evening of April 13, the victim went to the 400 block of Tulip Street to sell a gaming system to one of the suspects. The two had met through an online forum for selling and purchasing items. The victim arrived and was approached by the suspect, who pulled out a handgun and demanded the gaming system, police said. The victim turned over the system, but then a struggle broke out and the suspect allegedly shot the victim twice. The suspect then fled the scene with the gaming system, police said. The victim transported himself to a hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening. He is expected to recover, police said. Detectives identified a 16-year-old suspect from Fairfield. They tracked him down in a motel in Fairfield, where he was arrested Friday afternoon on suspicion of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and violation of probation, police said. He was accompanied by a 17-year-old Fairfield resident who was also arrested on suspicion of possessing a concealed firearm, stolen property and a controlled substance for sale, police said. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call Fairfield police at (707) 428-7600, the Tip Line at (707) 428-7345, or Solano CrimeStoppers at (707) 644-7867. Police are reminding the public to be cautious when selling or purchasing items from online sites and applications such as Craigslist, Facebook and Offerup. Police encourage transactions to be conducted in well-lit, public locations such as shopping centers or police department parking lots. "Experts warn the unstoppable missiles could spell disaster for the Navy's new 6.2 billion aircraft carriers But with no method of protecting themselves against missiles like the Tsirkon, the carrier would have to stay out of range, hundreds of miles out at sea. That would make it impossible for the carrier's jets and helicopters to reach their target, carry out their mission, and return without running out of fuel - effectively rendering them useless," the Mirrors article said. The Daily Mail, in turn, warmed that the missile could fly at a speed of 7,400 km/h - six times faster than sonic speed. "Current Navy anti-missile defenses are only equipped to shoot down projectiles traveling 2,300mph, meaning they would be useless against the Tsirkon. The 'unstoppable' projectile could spell disaster for the Navy's aircraft carriers," the article explained. The Daily Star called the Tsirkon a "game changer." "The lethal missile - which can be fired from land, sea and submarines - can reportedly cover 155 miles in just 2.5 minutes, which is faster than a bullet from sniper's rifle," it said. Early media reports on the development of the Tsirkon cropped up in February 2011. Some presumed for want of an official confirmation that the BrahMos-II antimissile system was the Tsirkons export version. There had been an assumption before 2012 that the Tsirkon was a successor to the Bolid system from NPO Mashinostroyenia as well. NPO Mashinostroyenia set up a team of project engineers in 2011. The weapons preliminary design was complete the same year, as were the preliminary designs of the subsystems of the missile. A division of UPKB Detal did some of the job. The development of the hypersonic missile system is scheduled for completion before 2020, according to the Military Russia web portal. Later on, the media have reported that the Tsirkon program was either discontinued or altered. No proof has been offered, but it is possible that it is the closure of the program due to technical problems that prompted the government to propose that the Raduga Design Bureau and NPO Mashinostroyenia pool their efforts to work on hypersonic missile development, according to the Gazeta.ru website. Copyright 2017 TASS. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); MELBOURNE, Florida A 3-year-old boy was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Childrens Hospital in Orlando after being found in a pool at his residence located on Blue Heron Drive in Melbourne, Florida on Monday afternoon. Around 5 p.m., Brevard County Fire Rescue crews responded to the home after his parents discovered him in the pool. BCFR would not release anymore details about the incident. Florida loses more children under age five to drowning than any other state, according to the Florida Department of Health. Annually in Florida, enough children to fill three to four preschool classrooms drown and do not live to see their fifth birthday. According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, drowning is a leading cause of injury death for young children ages 1 to 4. For toddlers (children ages 1 to 4 years), swimming pools pose the greatest risk of submersion injury. Florida has the highest unintentional drowning rate in the nation for the 14 year old age group with a drowning rate of 7.54 per 100,000 population. Brevard County has nearly twice the statewide rate of unintentional drownings. Photo credit: BCFR. Chart credit: FDOH Emory history professor Daniel LaChance's debut book looks at more than 50 years of shifting American culture and how it has altered perceptions of the death penalty. How is it that the same Americans who dont trust the government to collect garbage efficiently and spend tax dollars wisely put their faith in government killing our worst criminals? To get the answer, Emory historian Daniel LaChance looked at 50 years of shifting American culture. Changes to the way Americans thought about freedom, he argues, tracked changes in the way they saw the death penalty. That finding is at the heart of his debut book, Executing Freedom: The Cultural Life of Capital Punishment in the United States, published by the University of Chicago Press. Ive long been interested in the place of punishment in our society, says LaChance, who got his first glimpse of the criminal justice system by watching his father defend accused murderers in courtrooms in a state without the death penalty. Criminal trials, sentencing hearings and execution ceremonies are spectacles, LaChance adds. They are more than an outraged communitys response to crime. They are occasions where we reveal our deeply held beliefs about the relationship between the individual and the state. In the book, LaChance examines everything from Supreme Court decisions to local newspaper coverage of district attorneys to Hollywood movies, showing how ideas about freedom are at the heart of Americans complicated relationship with the death penalty. In the years following World War II, many saw welfare-oriented social programs as a force for freedom and held governments powers in high esteem. Liberal experts who had helped win the war were seen as capable of fixing the problem of crime. Tapping into psychiatric and sociological knowledge at the time, those experts concluded that crime stemmed from people who society had denied the opportunity to become productive citizens. Fix that inequality by tackling such societal issues as poverty and broken homes and criminals could be rehabilitated. Crime was seen as the symptom of a sickness, and elites were very confident in the ability of psychiatry and social programs to treat people who had committed even the most horrible crimes, LaChance says. From that viewpoint, the death penalty seemed irrational. Pendulum swing LaChance shows that the pendulum of public opinion would swing right as the crime rate rose dramatically in the 1960s and 1970s. Disillusionment with government and skepticism about its ability to rehabilitate followed. Rehabilitation was increasingly seen as a soft, coddling response to crime. Though a punitive response to crime became a way for whites to express anxiety about social changes during the Civil Rights era, LaChance argues the resurgence of retributive responses to crime was more than just a backlash against upended racial hierarchies. Growing media coverage of people such as spree killer Charles Starkweather and popular books such as In Cold Blood revealed young white male murderers as a symptom of moral rot that had infected the dominant culture. Almost universally, these young white men were sentenced to death by a public that believed that they represented an individualism, a freedom to be whatever you want, run amok, LaChance says. The result was a move from the idea of the violent criminal as sick, and able to be rehabilitated, to evil and in need of condemnation. Rehabilitation-oriented government had become part of the problem, LaChance says, for seeing illness where it ought to have seen evil. Prison became seen as a revolving-door experience that regularly put dangerous criminals back on the streets. Judges were seen as taking the side of criminals, allowing them to evade justice by taking advantage of legal technicalities. Thus began the split that creates the contradiction LaChance sees today. District attorneys and law enforcement officials who began pursuing the death penalty were seen as mavericks, taking on a rotted system for the moral good. By the mid-1990s, a whopping 80 percent of Americans supported the death penalty. The slow decline of the death penalty in recent years is not a result of yet another shift but the merging of those previous trends, LaChance argues. Thats because the death penalty has become mired in the very government bureaucracy that supporters in the 1970s expected it to transcend. Americans support the idea of making criminals pay but culturally are willing to do so only when they can be sure of the need, requiring costly and time-consuming judicial review, LaChance says. And, while death penalty cases drag on for years and sometimes decades, lawmakers have created a firm life without parole option that has proven less costly and appears more punitive to criminals. The death penalty is no longer doing what it was supposed to do, punish criminals severely and quickly," LaChance says. "It was once a symbol of finality and moral clarity. Now its increasingly viewed as another failed government program. Kwadwo Kojo Sarpong racked up plenty of accomplishments in just two years at Emory University before graduating with a degree in neuroscience and behavioral biology in 2015. The biggest: creating the African Research Academies for Women (ARA-W). The organization provides a growing number of African women in STEM fields with opportunities for hands-on research, even as Sarpong works in a post-baccalaureate program at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai while he readies for medical school. To know that students in Africa were not having my opportunities, especially women who wanted the opportunity for research, I wanted to make a change, Sarpong says. With help from professional researchers, including three Emory College professors, that change has grown every year since Sarpong launched the ARA-W. Since 2014, the ARA-W has provided summer research opportunities for 29 women in Ghana. This year, it will provide research positions to 11 more students in Ghana and, for the first time, 10 students in a year-long program in a research laboratory in Nigeria. Now there is potential for Emory to soon send a student to a lab in Africa, and host at least one African student at a research lab here, says Pat Marsteller, associate dean of undergraduate research and scholarship, who serves as an ARA-W adviser. We have found a way to make the organization viable, Marsteller says. Now I would love to see a real Emory connection. Focus on education, helping others Such a program would far exceed what Sarpong dreamed of when he arrived in Atlanta from his native Ghana in 2009. With one year of college completed at home, his first hope was for an American college education. It took two years of working as a hospital janitor and as a stocker and cashier at Wal-Mart before he was able to enroll in classes at Georgia Perimeter College. He met Marsteller in research programs there and transferred to Emory as a junior. Marsteller recalls Sarpong talking about the need for more research laboratories back home, where it was especially hard for women. Sarpong says his mothers experience influenced his perspective. She had always wanted to be a midwife nurse, but as one of eight daughters, never went beyond a middle school education. When Sarpongs older brother was born with paralytic polio, his mothers and others accepted that evil spirts were behind his inability to walk because they lacked a scientific explanation. If I have the privilege of being in the United States as a male, I can use my position here to help women like my mom who are in Ghana, who want to understand and pursue the sciences, Sarpong says. Emory roots grow deeper Sarpong based the ARA-W program on his first paid experience as a researcher, Emory's Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program. Now part of Summer Research Programs, SURE allowed undergraduates to conduct full-time research under the mentorship of a principal investigator. One of the women in the first ARA-W program has since gone on to a masters program, on full scholarship, in the Netherlands. A second is waiting, hopeful, to learn about graduate study in England. These are students who are just a little younger than he was when he started, seeing a real difference in their opportunities and careers, says Anita Corbett, an Emory biology professor who serves on the groups board of directors. Corbett, Marsteller and a third board member, Leah Anderson Roesch, a senior lecturer in Emory's neuroscience and behavioral biology program, all recently received the Presidents Volunteer Service Award for their work with the organization. The honor, bestowed in the late days of President Barack Obamas tenure, recognizes citizens who inspire others to volunteer. The Emory professors say the award illustrates the depth of commitment of Emory undergraduates in general and Sarpong in particular. The most tremendous outcome would be for people to realize how diverse and amazing our Emory undergraduates are, when they can see the difference Kojo has made by seeing a need and going after it, Roesch says. Sarpong has also received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest level of the volunteer service award, for his efforts. He was among invitees to the first U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit at the White House under Obama, and won funding from the Clinton Global Initiative, which brings together leaders and experts in different fields to explore innovative solutions to international problems. Last year, he was an invited speaker at the White House United State of Women Summit. Still, he says he relies on his volunteers including his former Emory professors to help him manage running his nonprofit while he is also studying in New York. The fact they believed in this vision makes that possible, Sarpong says. We are all students, so we count on that advice and guidance. The next goal is to fund and develop an exchange program for an Emory undergraduate to perform research in Africa and a female student from Africa to study here. Emory attracts students who want to make the world a better place, and I think this program should capitalize on that, Marsteller says. Two poets with Emory connections will present a free reading and discussion on Tuesday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m. in the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library, on the 10th floor of the Woodruff Library. Emily Leithauser is a visiting assistant professor in English and visiting lecturer in creative writing at Emory. Her first collection, "The Borrowed World," won the 2015 Able Muse Book Award and was published by that press the following year. She won the Grand Prize in Poetry at the 2015 Tennessee Williams/ New Orleans Literary Festival. Her work has been published in Literary Imagination, Southwest Review, Blackbird, Measure and Iron Horse review, among others. Richie Hofmann, who is a PhD candidate and teaching fellow at Emory, is the winner of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Fellowship and the 2014 Beatrice Hawley Award for his first collection of poems, Second Empire. His poem Idyll appeared in The New Yorker. His work has also appeared in Callaloo, Kenyon Review Online, Poetry, The Southern Review and other publications. Nathan Blansett, a second-year student in the Creative Writing Program at Emory, will moderate the discussion. His poems have been published in New South and The Journal. President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi received Bhandari. She was then accorded the ceremonial guard of honour. On Monday, Bhandari arrived here on a five-day visit to India at the invitation of her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee. This is Bhandari's first foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015. --IANS rs/in ( 81 Words) 2017-04-18-09:42:06 (IANS) Earlier, it was reported that the soldier died in Pakistan sniper firing late Monday evening on the Line of Control (LoC) in Mendhar sector of Poonch. But defence spokesman Lt. Col. Manish Mehta denied that there was any firing from the Pakistani side on Monday in Mendhar. "There had been no ceasefire violation (from Pakistan). It was one casualty due to accidental discharge," Lt. Col. Manish Mehta told IANS here. He gave no further details. The spokesman, however, said the Pakistan Army fired and launched mortar shells indiscriminately at Indian posts in Naushera sector of the de facto border in Rajouri district on Monday. The Indian Army retaliated strongly, he said. Dozens of cattle were killed on the Indian side. --IANS sq/in/sar ( 158 Words) 2017-04-18-11:36:06 (IANS) China's cabinet has approved proposals for deepening economic reforms this year made by the country's state planner, state media Xinhua reported on Tuesday.The proposals by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) include pushing forward with reforms of state-owned enterprises, strenthening property rights protection and advancing financial system reforms, Xinhua reported.REUTERS AKC 1602 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-858907.Xml The US on Tuesday reaffirmed that India remained its "major defence partner" as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump's top security aide Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster met to discuss military and counter-terror ties between the two countries. The visiting US National Security Adviser (NSA) called on Modi at his official residence, a day after he arrived here on the first visit by a senior White House official since President Trump took over in January. The US embassy said McMaster in his meeting with Modi that was also attended by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval "emphasised the importance of US-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed India's designation as a major defence partner". "The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counterterrorism cooperation," an embassy statement said. McMaster also met separately with Doval and Jaishankar. The embassy noted that the meetings were "productive". The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that "McMaster conveyed the greetings of President Trump" to Modi, who recalled "the importance attached by both sides to the strategic partnership and to stepping up India-US engagement across the board". The PMO statement said Modi and McMaster discussed peace and security in war-torn Afghanistan and the extended region, including the Middle East. "McMaster shared his perspective with (the) Prime Minister on the security situation in the extended region, including in Afghanistan, West Asia and the DPRK (North Korea). "During the conversation, they exchanged views on how both countries can work together to effectively address the challenge of terrorism and to advance regional peace, security and stability." The US official's trip was part of his South Asian sojourn that began over the weekend. On Monday, he visited Pakistan where he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz and the army chief, stressing "the need to confront terrorism in all its forms". He also visited Afghanistan to review efforts at stabilizing the country. "The visit was a part of regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad," said the embassy statement. The trip assumes significance amid growing US concerns over terror threats emanating from a resurgent Taliban and rising Islamic State's influence in Afghanistan, where America has some 8,400 troops. On Thursday, the US military dropped what it said was the "Mother of All Bombs" -- the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast -- on suspected Islamic State hideouts in Afghanistan. The first use of the bomb in a combat killed some 95 militants, the US said. --IANS sar/mr ( 437 Words) 2017-04-18-17:56:09 (IANS) The state cabinet approved the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) Bill, 2017. The authority will seek to answer the growing needs of the rapidly expanding urban agglomeration Gurugram, adjoining national capital New Delhi, a spokesman said here. "It aims to develop a vision for the continued, sustained and balanced growth of Gurugram metropolitan area through quality of life and reasonable standard of living provided to the residents through generation of employment opportunities besides providing integrated and coordinated planning, infrastructure development and provision of urban amenities," the spokesman said. Gurugram, earlier known as Gurgaon, has emerged as a hub for corporate and industrial activity, along with residential and commercial facilities. The offices and industrial plants of multi-national companies (MNCs), international industrial brands and others are spread across Gurugram district. Gurugram city and district have witnessed massive development in the past two decades. --IANS js/py/dg ( 176 Words) 2017-04-18-17:58:06 (IANS) The dispute between India and Sri Lanka over fishing activities in the Palk Bay remains unsolved mainly due to political reasons, according to Maarten Bavinck, a Dutch scientist who specialises in the area of capture fishery of both countries. Politics rather than science is playing an important role in marine fisheries governance, especially in South Asian countries, he said while delivering a lecture on 'Tropical Marine Fisheries Governance' at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) here on Tuesday. Bavinck, a professor at the University of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, opined that the Tamil Nadu government should take action in reducing the size of its fishing fleets in the Palk Bay region to resolve the conflict in the region. "Trawling needs to be contained in the Palk Bay... trawling across the international boundary line has not only been causing social and economic hardship for 25,000 small scale fishers and their families in northern Sri Lanka, but high-level political tensions between India and Sri Lanka," he added. Bavinck said that science-based guidelines are needed to ease the tension in the region. "For this, India's CMFRI and Sri Lanka's National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency (NARA) should conduct joint studies and have a coordinated approach towards finding a science-based solution," he said. "In India, fisheries governance has a political dimension. Norms and priorities are not being established by science but being debated in the public domain," he said, adding that "unwanted" political influence in fisheries should be contained. --IANS sg/rn/dg ( 261 Words) 2017-04-18-18:04:08 (IANS) Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in India for defaulting on over Rs 8,000 crore in bank loans, was arrested here on Tuesday. Within hours, a court granted him bail. Metropolitan Police said Mallya, 61, was taken into custody after attending a central London police station. The Westminster Magistrates' Court later gave him bail on a 650,000 pound bond. The next hearing of the case will be on May 17. A Metropolitan Police statement said officers from the Extradition Unit arrested Mallya on an extradition warrant from India. "Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud," the statement said. After getting bail, Mallya tweeted: "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected." Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by Indian banks seeking to recover Rs 8,191 crore owed by his now defunct Kingfisher Airline. The banks had been able to recover only Rs 155 crore. Despite multiple injunctions, Mallya failed to appear before investigators -- and then flew out of India. On February 8, the Indian government handed over to the UK authorities a formal request for Mallya's extradition, saying it had a legitimate case against him on charges of financial irregularities and loan default. The loan, granted in September 2004, was reviewed in February 2008. India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate initiated criminal investigation against Mallya in July 2015 and January 2016 respectively under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Indian agencies took the step on the basis of complaint filed by a consortium of 17 banks led by the State Bank of India. The cases were registered against Mallya, Kingfisher Airline, UB Group company United Breweries Holdings Ltd and others. The Enforcement Directorate in March and April 2016 issued a number of summons against Mallya to appear before it but he failed to do so. Subsequently, a non-bailable warrant was issued against Mallya by a Mumbai court in April 2016. His passport was revoked on April 23. The court in November ordered the seizure of domestic assets of Mallya and entities controlled by him. The Enforcement Directorate said that it has attached properties of Mallya and his companies having market value more than Rs 8,000 crore. --IANS rak/mr ( 391 Words) 2017-04-18-21:14:06 (IANS) Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in India for defaulting on over Rs 8,000 crore in bank loans, was arrested here on Tuesday. Within hours, a court granted him bail. Metropolitan Police said Mallya, 61, was taken into custody after attending a central London police station. The Westminster Magistrates' Court later gave him bail on a 650,000 pound bond. The next hearing of the case will be on May 17. The court issued some stringent orders against Mallya before granting him bail, instructing "neither he can apply for travel documents nor attempt to leave the UK". It further directed the business tycoon to live in Hertfordshire and keep his cell phone on round the clock. Mallya's revoked passport will also be retained until further orders of the court. A Metropolitan Police statement said officers from the Extradition Unit arrested Mallya on an extradition warrant from India. "Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud," the statement said. After getting bail, Mallya tweeted: "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected." Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by Indian banks seeking to recover Rs 8,191 crore owed by his now defunct Kingfisher Airline. The banks had been able to recover only Rs 155 crore. Despite multiple injunctions, Mallya failed to appear before investigators -- and then flew out of India. On February 8, the Indian government handed over to British authorities a formal request for Mallya's extradition, saying it had a legitimate case against him on charges of financial irregularities and loan default. The loan, granted in September 2004, was reviewed in February 2008. India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate initiated criminal investigation against Mallya in July 2015 and January 2016 respectively under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Indian agencies took the step on the basis of complaint filed by a consortium of 17 banks led by the State Bank of India. The cases were registered against Mallya, Kingfisher Airline, UB Group company United Breweries Holdings Ltd and others. The Enforcement Directorate in March and April 2016 issued a number of summons against Mallya to appear before it but he failed to do so. Subsequently, a non-bailable warrant was issued against Mallya by a Mumbai court in April 2016. His passport was revoked on April 23. The court in November ordered the seizure of domestic assets of Mallya and entities controlled by him. The Enforcement Directorate said that it has attached properties of Mallya and his companies having market value more than Rs 8,000 crore. --IANS rak/vd ( 448 Words) 2017-04-18-22:42:06 (IANS) The team recently flew to London for the film's shoot and the makers are currently filming the iconic track from 1997 Salman Khan- Karisma Kapoor- starrer. While shooting the song, many students from the university have been stopping by and grooving along with Varun Dhawan and Taapsee Pannu, who will be seen performing to this track. A source said, "Varun's affable nature allows him to bond with students easily. Over the weekend, a bunch of his fans had come to meet him and he was a thorough gentleman with them." The song is being recreated by none other than Anu Malik and choreographed by Bosco. Directed by David Dhawan and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, 'Judwaa' 2 is set to release on September 29. (ANI) Vice President M. Hamid Ansari, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will also call on the visiting dignitary. The Nepal President is also scheduled to attend a business event. She will be accorded ceremonial reception at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. President Mukherjee will also host a state banquet in honor of the visiting dignitary. Bhandari arrived in New Delhi yesterday afternoon on a five-day visit to India. She is being accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising Ministers, Members of Parliament and senior officials. The visit is taking place in the backdrop of intensified bilateral engagements at the political and official levels in recent times. In the last six months, this is the fourth visit at the Head of State or Head of Government level between the two countries which is unprecedented. There had been more than 30 official and ministerial level engagements since the state visit of President Mukherjee to Nepal in November last year which clearly illustrate the wide range and depth of cooperative ties with Nepal. The visit reflects the priority that both the nations attach to further strengthening of their age-old and unique partnership, underpinned by shared historical and cultural linkages and strong people-to-people connections. (ANI) The soldier was killed in Mendhar sector of the LoC in a sniper fire from the Pakistani side late on Monday evening, police sources told IANS here. Pakistan Army had also continued indiscriminate firing and mortar shelling in Naushera sector of the LoC in Rajouri district on Monday. Dozens of cattle were killed on the Indian side in the indiscriminate shelling and firing. The Indian Army had retaliated strongly. Exchange of fire between the two sides which started at 8 a.m. on Monday had continued till late evening, defence sources said. --IANS sq/in ( 129 Words) 2017-04-18-08:16:07 (IANS) The West Bengal Panchayat and Rural Development is going to set up 36,000 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the Anandadhara Scheme during financial year 2017-18. Creating so many SHGs in just one year is something unprecedented among the State Governments. Self-Help Groups are a major source of revenue for the rural economy. They have also played a big role in making women self-sufficient, official sources said here today. Presently, there are 2,000 SHGs created under the aegis of the Anandadhara Scheme. As part of the scheme, each SHG is given a bank loan of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 15 lakh. The State Government is in talks with various public sector banks as well as private banks to provide loans. For repaying the loans on time, the SHGs are given bonus payments. Development and governance have been the mantras of the West Bengal Government ever since Trinamool Congress led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came to power. The state has set up numerous schemes for the welfare of the state's citizenry, covering their entire lifespan.UNI SJC KK -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-858435.Xml The West Bengal Government has introduced Social Security Yojana by converging five separate beneficiary schemes for workers in unorganised sectors and self-employed people. Around 5 crore people will be benefitted with the introduction of Social Security Yojana with around 1 crore direct beneficiaries. People will be deriving more benefits with the introduction of the new one compared to that of the previous five different schemes. According to Dr Amit Mitra, the State Finance Minister, " The decision in this regard was taken on Monday. State Assistance Scheme for Provident Fund for Unorganised Sector, West Bengal Unorganised Sector workers' Health Security Scheme, Social Security scheme for Construction Workers, West Bengal Transport Workers Social Security Scheme and West Bengal Bidi Workers Welfare Scheme are being converged." In between 2011 to 2016, the Trinamool government has spent Rs 880 crore to bring in more than 85 lakh people under the schemes. Dr Mitra said workers from 46 different unorganised sectors including bidi workers, book binding workers, motor mechanics, boatmen and ICDS workers will be getting the benefit. Self-employed people from 15 different sectors including jewellery manufacturing sector and amins will also come under the yojana. There will be education benefits for children of the workers enrolled with the scheme. Beneficiaries will also get support for marriage of their two daughters besides getting health cards and other benefits. It came to the knowledge of the state government that members of the same family were deriving same benefits under different schemes of different department of the state government. Thus, this is another reason to converge all these five schemes. With introduction of the Social Security Yojana by converging five separate beneficiary schemes the people will be benefitted more. It is learnt that a common beneficiary programme is prepared for all the sectors and accordingly workers from each of the sectors and their family members will be benefitted. The state government has also decided to introduce State Nutrition Mission. The step has been taken to ensure distribution of nutritional food among pregnant women, lactating mothers, children below six years and adolescent girls. Dr Mitra said the Chief Minister had spoken to representatives of UNICEF, and the organisation is working together with the state government in implementing the State Nutrition Mission.UNI SJC KK -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-858440.Xml After a day of hectic political developments thatculminated with both the warring factions of the AIADMK agreeing to come 'on board' for a reapprochement, Ministers and MLAs of the ruling party took time off and travelled 'on board' a Naval war ship to spend some leisurely time with their family members. As part of a 'Day at Sea' organised by the Indian Navy on boardthe P-15A Guided Missile Destroyer 'INS Chennai', a majority of the Ministers and MLAs of the AIADMK, far away from the hustle and bustle of political activity, were taken into the sea on a leisure trip, which was thoroughly enjoyed by them. ''I am travelling for the first time in a ship. It's a pleasant experience.it's nice to spend some time with the family members'', one of theMinisters on board the warship "INS Chennai", which was dedicatedto the city yesterday by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, said. When journalists spoke to some of the Ministers the unanimous viewthat emerged was that both the factions should come together and stay united to get back the AIADMK's 'Two Leaves' symbol, which was frozen by the election commission in the run up to the now rescinded bypoll to RK Nagar Assembly seat. ''The expectations of the people and the AIADMK cadre is thatboth the factions should come together and stay united. It's a welcomesign that both the groups have decided to bury the hatchet and cometo the negotiating table'', the Ministers said. Meanwhile, AIADMK Amma Deputy General Secretary TTV Dinakaran,who was out of the city, returned last night and was briefed about the political developments that unfolded at the residence of ElectrictyMinister P Thangamani, in which they welcomed rebel leader and formerCM O Panneerselvam's remarks of agreeing for a patch up 'if approached'and decided to initiate talks for a rapprochement. Interacting with the media at Theni before leaving for Chennai, Mr Panneerselvam also stressed on the need for staying unitedand said 'the party should be retrieved from the clutches of onefamily'. If the reports were to be believed, the AIADMK Amma camp has formeda nine-member committee, comprising senior Ministers and MPs, including those who have pledged their unflinching loyalty to jailed AIADMK General Secretary V K Sasikala and her nephew Dinakaran, to hold talks with the OPS camp for uniting both the factions. Fisheries and Finance Minister D Jayakumar, who was also on boardthe warship, said ''this is not the place to talk politics''. Meanwhile, Dinakaran was holding talks with a group of advocates todecide on the next course of action in the wake of bribery cases filedagainst him by the Delhi police for getting back the 'Two Leaves' symbol from the EC after the arrest of a middleman Sukesh Chandrasekar. A special police team from Delhi would be arriving today to issuethe summons to Dinakaran and to question him in connection withthe bribery charges.UNI GV CS 1045 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-858458.Xml At a time when the Union Health Ministry has called for taxing bidis at 28 per cent along with the highest cess under the new GST regime, a recent Lancet study recommends stricter controls and regulation to combat the health burden caused by this small, but lethal, tobacco product. Higher levels of severe respiratory impairment, significant cardio-respiratory conditions and follow-up mortality were found among bidi smokers as against cigarette smokers and non-smokers, reports the study in the respected Lancet Global Health journal. The largest-ever prospective international community-based cohort study of its kind covered as many as 14,919 men across five centres in India, including Thiruvananthapuram besides a centre each in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The other Indian centres covered in this sub-study of Prospective Urban Rural Epidemiology (PURE) were Chennai, Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Jaipur. Households with at least one member aged 35-70 years were approached for the study, which was coordinated by the Population Health Research Institute in Canada. Baseline data was collected fromJanuary 1, 2003, to December 30, 2009, and follow-up data collection took place from January 1, 2008, to December 30, 2013. Trained personnel administered standardised interview-based questionnaires that surveyed and accounted for demographic, household, behavioural and medical information, including risk factors, symptoms and the occurrence of any multiple disorders. Dr Sanjeev Nair, from the Department of Pulmonary Medicine, Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, is one of the co-authors of the study. "The health and economic burden caused from bidi smoking is tremendous, leading to the recommendation of stricter controls and regulation on this product. High levels of taxation to dissuade consumption would be a welcome policy initiative," he said. "Collective efforts should be made to provide alternative livelihoods to workers involved in bidi manufacturing in cottage industries that escape other prevailing tobacco regulations and taxes. Such a measure would be in the interest of the health of bidi workers as well. As the Kerala Government is striving hard to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, tobacco control also has a key role in reducing mortality from cardiovascular diseases, COPD, and cancers, for which all stakeholders must come together," Dr Nair added. Another co-author, Dr K. Vijayakumar, Secretary, Health Action by People said, "The study has shown conclusively that there is no safe threshold from the harmful effects of tobacco smoking and even low-intensity, clinically-trivial smoking is associated with respiratory impairment. Our way forward should be to create 100 per cent tobacco smoke-free environments that would benefit the poor and the young significantly." Reaffirming existing information on the enormous impact of bidi smoking on the poor, the study has found that heavy bidi smokers were more likely to come from rural communities and from lower socio-economic sections. Further, in what should be a worrying trend with a fast-aging population, the study pointed to a marked rise in decreased lung function among older bidi smokers. UNI DS CS 1056 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0324-858416.Xml Sweden India Film Association (SIFA) and Vinsan World in association with the Goa Marathi Film Festival will be hosting the first ever Marathi International Film Festival in Stockholm,Sweden, from April 20 to 24. According to Festival Director Sanjay Shetye it is to raise awareness about quality Marathi cinema from India and to educate the people of Sweden about the vibrant multi facets of India. This will lead to strengthening of ties between the film industries of these two countries while initiating an interest in each other's culture. ''It is great to see that the festival we conceptualised nine years ago in Goa will be taken to an international audience. We are delighted to take the very best of Marathi cinema to Sweden in collaboration with SIFA and hope that the Swedish audience are captivated by this festival,'' Mr Shetye said. The opening film for the festival, to be played in three theatres: Sture, Zita, Mauritz (SFI), will be Paresh Mokashi directed 'Harishchandrachi Factory'. Other movies to be screened include Astu, Doctor Rakhmabai, Ek Hazarachi Note, Ekk Albela, Fandry, Vazandar, Mi Sindhutai Sapkal, Nati Khel, Natsamrat, Half Ticket, Katyar Kalzat Ghusali, Koti, Kassav, Dr Prakash Baba Amte, Mala Aai Vhyachay, Samhita, Rama Madhav, The Silence and Elizabeth Ekadasi. 'Doctor Rakhmabai' has won Maharashtra State Award for Best Sound, Costumes and Art Direction and was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Actress, Screenplay and Supporting Actor. Prominent personalities from Marathi cinema would attend the festival, Mr Shetye said, adding that the selection of films was well suited for the Swedish sensibilities.UNI AKM SB ADG 1055 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0169-858446.Xml Majority educational institutions remained closed today in the Kashmir valley, where clashes took place between security forces and students, protesting against the use of alleged disproportionate force on students, including girls, in south Kashmir district of Pulwama on April 16.The Divisional Administration as a precautionary measure has announced closure of all universities, colleges and Higher Secondary Schools in the Valley in the wake of yesterday's clashes.The Kashmir University, Islamic University of Science and Technology (IUST) have postponed all examinations which were scheduled to be held today.However, announcing to continue their agitation against entry of security forces in educational institutions and beating up of students, All Jammu and Kashmir Students Union (AJKSU) said closure of educational institutions for a day will not resolve the issue.Cutting across party lines, all political parties, including ruling Peoples Democratic Party has demanded stern action against the security forces who entered Pulwama Degree College, where more than 60 students, including girls, were injured on April 16.The Divisional Administration last night announced closure of all universities, colleges and higher secondary schools in the wake of protests and clashes in all degree colleges across the Valley. Apprehending trouble majority private schools have announced closure of their institutions. Attendance in government schools was also very less as compared to other working days as parents fear trouble.Similar situation was witnessed in educational institutions in north, central and south Kashmir districts.A spokesman for the AJKSU said the peaceful protest will continue in all educational institutions of Jammu and Kashmir until the genuine problem of students are solved. He said closing the educational institutions today is not answer to alleged atrocities on students by security forces as government must address the genuine demand of students. The peaceful protests will continue even after shutting all educational institutions in the state until the demands like "release of all detained students," " assurance that security forces will never enter in any college premises in future" are met he said adding soldiers involved in the Pulwama incident should be punished. It has now become a war in between "pens vs pellets" and "books vs bullets", the spokesman said and condemned the forces action in Pulwama in which students sustained injuries.UNI BAS AE 1122 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0100-858457.Xml According to a bank official, the reason might be due to the government's move to boost digital transactions. State Bank of India (SBI), which owned 40 ATMs, also went dry since last few days. The SBI main branch office was jam-packed for last three days with customers for transactions and withdrawals. SBI sources said Reserve Bank of India (RBI) did not sent enough cash while SBI also disbursed money to other banks. It said on number of occasions, SBI Kohima received cash from Dimapur SBI main branch or Baazar branch and the money has been managed for government offices which has more than 100 departments. UNI AS AD1401 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-858702.Xml April 17, 2017 Today Iran stands at the forefront of the battle and confrontation with the project of the Islamic caliphate, in a way that it funds more than 90 armed militia groups in Islamic cities, the narrator proclaimed in a newly released Islamic State (IS) video in which Shiite-majority Iran is portrayed as the source of division in the Muslim world. In the 37-minute clip published in late March, titled Persian Land, From Yesterday to Today, Iranian IS members list what they see as crimes against Sunnis committed by the Islamic Republic and call on their brethren to take up arms against Tehran, saying, Our war has started against the Persians. I call in particular on the Sunnis in Iran to prepare for this war and we are behind you. Despite Irans important role in degrading IS, the terrorist group has not been able to carry out any attacks inside the Islamic Republic, unlike much of the rest of the Middle East, Europe and the United States. Since its establishment in 1979, the Islamic Republic has been under constant domestic and foreign threats. As a result, it has developed a sophisticated intelligence and surveillance network that has effectively dealt with internal threats. In terms of external threats, Iran prefers to fight them in neighboring countries and has in those endeavors managed to prop up and support various proxies including Shiite, Sunni and secular groups across the region. Perhaps the most potent aspect of this strategy to deal with external threats has been the streamlining of the Iranian decision-making process. US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Brett McGurk, who was pushing the White House for a military response to IS advances in Iraq in the summer of 2014, must have envied Qasem Soleimani, the powerful commander of Irans Quds Force, who was on the front line in Jalawla in Diyala province deploying Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) advisers and heavy artillery to stop IS at that time. I was advocating as aggressive a response as possible, just given how dire the situation was. So those who were responding that this needs a political solution, I just thought they were completely out of their minds, McGurk recalled in a PBS documentary. Soleimani, who has battled IS and other groups since 2012, knew the dangers that IS posed to Iran and presented the Islamic Republics strategy in dealing with the threat, Daesh [IS] is a plague and a grave catastrophe in the world, said the Iranian commander. To safeguard the security of our nation, we need to quarantine our borders and aid our neighbors so this cancer does not spread to our country. Iranian officials are quick to point out that this strategy has been successful and that IS has not succeeded in carrying out attacks inside their country. Due to the vigilance of the security forces and the people, Daesh [IS] has not been able to even set off a firecracker for propaganda [purposes], IRGC public relations chief Ramazan Sharif said last year. But the cancer that Soleimani referred to may have already spread to Iran and Tehran might come to regret one pillar of its strategy in dealing with external threats in the region. From 2001, when the US-led invasion forced the jihadis of al-Qaeda out of Afghanistan, and until late 2011, when US forces left Iraq, Iran reportedly turned a blind eye to jihadis transiting its territory in order to bleed the United States and coalition forces in both countries. Salafi jihadis from eastern Iran, near the Afghan border, are said to have traveled freely across Irans Sunni heartland. Toleration of jihadis so long as Tehran was not at the receiving end of their violence is reported to have created a mass following for these groups in Irans Sunni areas. For instance, the number of young Kurds adopting Salafi jihadi ideology has greatly increased in western Iran since 2001. Many Iranian Sunnis have traveled through Turkey to join IS and other jihadi groups in Iraq and Syria, often facing IRGC commanders aiding Iraqi and Syrian forces on the front lines. Some IS supporters in Irans Kurdish areas even celebrated IS gains in the summer of 2014, as the group swooped across northern Iraq, according to Kurdish media. In the latest IS video, which is labeled as originating from the IS wilayah (province) of Diyala in Iraq, four members of the Popular Mobilization Units are seen kneeling down. They are then beheaded by four IS militants, two of whom are apparently Iranian Kurds. Secular Kurdish activists inside Iran often complain about how parts of Iranian Kurdistan have been turned into battlegrounds where supporters of IS and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra) settle scores in the streets. Indeed, there have been reports in the Iranian media about a number of clashes between elements that espouse IS ideology and the security forces in Kurdish areas. As Salafi jihadis become degraded and lose their territory in Iraq and Syria, some of the Iranian Sunnis who have honed their military and intelligence skills over the years will inevitably survive the battlefield and pose a threat to the Iranian state. Tawhid Qoureishi, an Iranian Sunni religious scholar, traveled to northern Syria via Turkey to join IS along with two other Iranians in the fall of 2013. Prior to that, he engaged in religious studies near the Afghan border and then became a preacher in a Sunni village in the northern Iranian province of Gilan. Qoureishi, who was 30 when he joined IS, stayed with the group for over six months, roaming around northern Syria and meeting many high-ranking IS members. However, he later came to question some of the brutal methods IS deployed, which created division among Salafi jihadis. He participated in the first battles between IS and Jabhat al-Nusra, but soon afterward, he became disillusioned with the group and returned to Iran in the spring of 2014, where he was arrested upon arrival. The main reason [I left IS] was the crimes that were committed there [in Syria], such as killing people. I went there to defend people and confront oppression, Qoureishi said from an Iranian prison when asked why a young man from a village in northern Iran would go to Syria to join IS. He is now serving a seven-year prison term in Iran. While most Iranian Sunnis reject the ideology promulgated by IS and other Salafi jihadi groups, some of the government policies deemed oppressive appear to push more young Sunnis into the arms of jihadi groups, which are quick to exploit such situations. "Iranian Jews live in security under the protection of the government and have synagogues in Tehran and Esfahan, said the narrator in the IS video from March, comparing the status of the over 1 million Sunnis in Tehran with that of the Iranian Jews who are mostly concentrated in the capital. There is not a single mosque for the Sunni people in Tehran, disputing the Iranian authorities assertion that there are nine Sunni mosques in the capital. This [jihadi] thought is spreading day by day. I think they must have grown by a hundredfold since the Taliban era," warned Qoureishi in the prison interview, adding, "I dont think it is possible to contain these movements. The Committee on Economic and Media Affairs, Infrastructure,Building and Transport, Energy was headed by Erwin Huber. The visit was in continuation of a MoU signed between Karnatakaand Bavaria in 2007 and as part of bilateral ties a delegation fromthe State (Karnataka) will be visiting Bavaria in July for trainingthe trainers. Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, Mr Parameshwara said thatsteps to strengthen the State Police on the lines of Bavaria throughtraining was also discussed. Giving more importance to curb cybercrime and security to women by utilising modern technology was alsopart of the discussion. Advisor to Home Minister Kempaiah, Home Department AdditionalChief Secretary Subhash Chandra, DG and IGP R K Gupta, CityCommissioner of Police Praveen Sood and other senior officers werepresent during the discussion.UNI MSP CNR CS 1603 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0285-858891.Xml Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari today invited Indian business community to invest in Nepal as the hilly nation has a lot to offer in various sectors.Interacting with the Indian Industrialist and business community, Ms Bhandari said that India and Nepal has unique relationship and it needs to be strengthened through economic ties.She said that India's achievement in the economic field is remarkable and Nepal wants to learn and get benefit of it. The Nepalese President said, ''There are huge opportunities in the field of energy, tourism and agro processing where Indian entrepreneurs can invest and earn good profit as Nepal has many incentives to offer them.''She said that the taxes in Nepal are on lower side, but ample and cheap labour is available with good labour laws.Earlier, addressing the gathering, Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retired) V K Singh said India has a relationship with Nepal which cannot be described in words. It's a family relationship, social relationship and religious relationship,He said that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose Nepal for his first visit outside the country which reflects the importance and relationship with Nepal for India. India always treats Nepal as equal partner depending on each other, he said.He said, ''India is a big market for Nepal and the neighbor country must take benefit of what India has achieved in the last few decades, especially in the economic field as we want to see Nepal peaceful, stable, strong and prosperous. We will share whatever we have achieved with Nepal.'' Giving the example of Bhutan, he said ''now Bhutan is exporting power and other products to India after getting India's technical and financial assistance. Similarly Nepal can enhance its trade with India.''UNI ADP RSA SHK 1638 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-858935.Xml Union minister Venkaiah Naidu today said the North East states have to improve implementation of the Central government schemes to catch up with the rest of the country, specifically terming Smart City project implementation in Guwahati as 'not satisfactory'. "The North Eastern states have to catch up with the rest of the country. The region needs to improve implementation in all schemes," he said. Mr Naidu was addressing a press conference after reviewing progress of schemes in all eight NE states under his ministries Urban Development, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Information and Broadcasting. A secretary-level meeting between the states and the Centre was held yesterday, while a ministerial-level meeting was held here today, in the presence of Mr Naidu. All major missions of the Centre AMRUT, SBM, Smart Cities and PMAY, are being implemented in the region, along with special schemes for NE 10 per cent lumpsum schemes for all Urban Local Bodies and ADB-assisted program for five capital cities. On AMRUT implementation, Mr Naidu said there is a potential to vastly improve coverage of piped water supply and provide 24/7 drinking water. "While all the eight states have been successful to prepare and obtain approvals of their plans under AMRUT, project implementation needs to be stepped up," he said. He pointed that Mizoram and Tripura completed reform milestones and were successful to qualify for reform incentive fund in 2015-16. On Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), the minister said Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh have been able to show good progress in toilet construction programmes, achieving 60 per cent of their targets, and added that the other states need to speed up implementation. Pointing that eight cities have been initially shortlisted for the 100 Smart Cities programme, the minister said the states and selected smart cities need to expedite the pace of putting in place the institutional arrangements and project preparation. He expressed dissatisfaction at the progress made in Smart City project implementation in Assam's main city Guwahati, which was selected in the first round on January 28, 2016, itself. Mr Naidu said the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAJ) to provide housing to urban poor is being implemented in 58 cities of NE at present and urged all NE states to submit project proposals to become 'saturated states' in 2017-18.Regarding Information and Broadcasting ministry schemes, the minister said a dedicated Doordarshan channel from Arunachal Pradesh, ArunPrabha, will be launched by August 2017 with the objective to seamlessly integrate NE and showcase its rich culture to the rest of the country.Mr Naidu further said the film institute to be set up in Itanagar will start from temporary campus with introduction of a 10-week short term course from May 15 next and will be followed by similar courses throughout the year.The minister further informed that the Aizawl campus of IIMC will be ready by March 2018 and leading and expert journalists' faculty from across the country will conduct courses. In order to enhance outreach through community radio, Mr Naidu said 90 per cent subsidy for setting up community radio stations in entire NE, subject to maximum limit of Rs 7.5 lakh, has been recently introduced and urged educational institutions and NGOs to take leverage from this grant. Mr Naidu also appealed the public broadcasters, Doordarshan and All India Radio, to utilize its reach to popularize and create awareness regarding developmental schemes of the governments so that the benefits percolate to the people at the grassroots level.UNI SG RN 1715 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0311-859085.Xml The Government of India and the World Bank today signed the 175 million dollar loan agreement for the National Hydrology Project. The project will strengthen the capacity of institutions to assess the water situation in their regions and reduce their vulnerability to recurring flood and droughts, saving hundreds of lives and livelihoods.With rainfall in India being highly seasonal and 50 per cent of precipitation falling in just 15 days and over 90 percent of river flows in just four months, the country continues to be water-stressed and is faced with the challenge of managing its water needs amidst recurring floods and drought.''The project is expected to help forge an integrated approach to developing, managing, and regulating both surface and groundwater resources jointly at the basin and aquifer scale. It would also strengthen the institutional capacity for integrated water resources management at the Centre and in the states,'' said Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. The credit agreement for the project was signed by Raj Kumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, on behalf of the Government of India and Genevieve Connors, Program Leader and Acting Country Director, on behalf of the World Bank.The National Hydrology Project will build on the success of the Hydrology Project-I and Hydrology Project-II, under which, for the first time, real-time flood forecast systems were integrated with weather forecasts in two large river systems (Krishna and Satluj-Beas), giving reservoir managers an accurate picture of the water situation in their region. As a result, the time available for early warnings on flood and preparation for flood management improved from hours to days, which led to saving hundreds of lives and avoided flood damages ranging from 17 million dollar to 65 million dollar in a year.This project will now scale up the successes achieved under HP-I and HP-II to cover the entire country, including the states in the Ganga, and Brahmaputra-Barak basins. Apart from helping states that have already benefited from the earlier two projects to further upgrade and complete their monitoring networks, it will help new states to better manage water flows from the reservoirs. Memorandum of Agreements (MoAs) have already been signed between the central government and the states to integrate and establish the National Water Informatics Center. National Flood Forecasting Systems with an advance warning system and reservoir operation systems as well as water resources accounting in river basins will be included under the project."In the context of climate change, advanced flood management and enhanced river basin planning are essential for building livelihoods and sustaining economic growth," said Genevieve Connors, Program Leader and Acting Country Director, World Bank in India. "This project has the potential to help communities plan in advance to build resilience against possible uncertainties of climate change."UNI ADP RSA SHK 1739 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-859126.Xml Following the arrest and subsequent bail of Vijay Mallya, former Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) chief Anil Sinha has expressed confidence that all efforts to bring the absconding businessman back to India will bear results. Talking to ANI here, Sinha stated that the relentless pressure on Mallya, which was beginning to show signs, showed the strong resolve of the laws enforcement agencies and the government. "I'm confident that the efforts to bring him back to India will fructify," he added. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar has assured that the beleaguered liquor baron will be brought back after completion of all required legal procedures. Addressing the media, Gangwar claimed that although bail was granted to Mallya, this does not imply any leniency towards him. He added that granting bail was required on grounds of a 'legal formality'. "Eradication of black money has been discussed since the Lok Sabha elections. We will not let miscreants like Mallya escape. We will make sure he is brought back to India and produced before the law after due consideration of legal formalities," he said. "Our government will make sure that nothing diverts this country's progress. Mallya's case will be investigated thoroughly," added Gangwar. Mallya, who was finally caught after repeatedly refusing to appear before courts and investigators in India since he secretly fled to Britain last March, was granted bail. Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that extradition of the absconding liquor baron has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him. The Supreme court had started proceedings against Mallya a year ago and had issued notice to him on March 8, 2016, on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) for recovery of about Rs. 9,000 crore which the businessman and his companies owed to them. Mallya, however, fled the country days before the apex court took up the case against him. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi urged the court to direct him to bring back the USD 40 million which he had received from Diageo. He told the bench that Mallya had breached the court orders and his refusal to bring back the money had aggravated the breach. Rohatgi also said that Mallya should be directed to appear personally before the court. (ANI) The Supreme Court today exempted certain categories of disabled persons from standing during the National Anthem before screening of a film.The Union of India (UOI) is to consider not making it mandatory for people people suffering from cerebral palsy, Parkinson disease, muscular dystrophy and other categories of disability to get up during the national anthem before the screening of film, the apex court ruled. On November 30 last year, the Supreme Court had ordered cinema halls across the nation to mandatorily play the National Anthem before screening of a movie and the audience must stand and show respect. While pronouncing the judgement, the bench had said, "time has come when citizens must realise they live in a nation and are duty-bound to show respect to National Anthem which is a symbol of constitutional patriotism and inherent national quality."A bench, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, today exempted certain categories of disabled persons from standing during the national anthem before screening of a film.In its earlier order, the apex court had ordered that every person has to stand during the screening of national anthem.The Supreme Court also sought a response from the Centre on another plea seeking Vande Mataram essential for all educational institutions.The plea was filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ashwini Upadhyay.The Centre has been given a time period of four weeks to revert. August 23 was set for the next hearing.UNI XC RP1941 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-859408.Xml Three people including a two year old girl child were killed and 18 others injured today when their pick up van overturned due to high speed near Dhamapur village under Shakurabad police station area in this district. Police said here that Ramanti Devi (30), her two year old daughter Rinki (2) and Kari Kumari (15) were killed when she along with other labourers were returning from Vaishali district after completing their wheat harvesting work. At least 18 other labourers were injured in the mishap. Police said while 12 people were undergoing treatment at Sadar Hospital here, six others had been rushed to Patna Medical College and Hospital. Bodies have been sent to Jehanabad Sadar Hospital for autopsy, police added.UNI XC DH BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-859594.Xml Jammu and Kashmir State Cabinet, which met here today under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, expressed anguish over the loss of precious lives in the Kashmir Valley during the prevailing law and order situation.The Cabinet made a fervent appeal to all shades of political opinion to help restore peace and normalcy in the Valley.Cabinet, while reviewing the security and law and order situation in the State, directed the police and security agencies to exercise maximum restraint while handling law and order situations to prevent loss of human lives.The Cabinet urged the civil society and parents to counsel the youth to stay away from violent protests which, in spite of maximum restraint, can at times lead to fatal consequences.The Cabinet also directed the State Administration to take all required measures to tackle the situation effectively and at the same time ensure that the general public is not put to any inconvenience and their grievances are addressed.UNI VBH JW SNU 2027 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-859563.Xml Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today directed the Child Welfare Department (CWD) to provide packed nutrition food to the children across the State. The Chief Minister also asked the Department that `not for sale' should be clearly inscribed on the food packets to ensure that the food packets were not diverted to market for illegal sale.He also said the packed food could be easily consumed with water, milk and juice.Mr Adityanath issued these directions during the meeting with the Union Minister for Women and Child Welfare Maneka Gandhi here.Mr Adityanath said it has come to the notice that the nutritious food meant for free distribution among the children is often diverted and illegally sold in the market.He also directed for restarting a sugar mill in Pilibhit district on PPP mode, which is lying closed for the last 15 years.Ms Gandhi appreciated the Chief Minister's decision for imposing a ban on the illegal slaughter houses in UP.The CM informed that the State Government has implemented the orders of the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court and the district officers have been asked to ensure the compliance of the orders and slaughter houses were operated strictly as per the conditions in the licence.UNI MB SHS SNU 2038 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-859597.Xml The day Yogi Adityanath Government completed 30 days in office, it decided to implement Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship project 'Kisan Bima Yojana' and decided to set up 20 'Kisan Vigyan Kendras' across the State. The decisions were taken in the third Cabinet meeting of the month, held here today. "The Yogi Government has decided to implement Kisan Bima Yojana under which farmers will be paid compensation by the insurance company within 21 days failing which penalties will be imposed against them," Power Minister Shrikant Sharma told the mediapersons, after the Cabinet meeting. He said for effective implementation of the scheme, the State has been divided into 12 clusters and each insurance company has been given charge of not more than two clusters. The insurance companies have been asked to open offices in each block and in case of natural calamity the payment to the farmers should be made within 21 days. In case they fail to do so, these companies will be warned and then black listed."The farmers will have to pay just 1-2 per cent of the premium while the rest of the premium cost will be borne by the Government. In this fiscal, this scheme is expected to benefit 36 lakh farmers and the number will grow up to 50 lakh by next fiscal," Mr Sharma said. Health Minister Sidharthnath Singh said that in another decision the Government has decided to set up 20 additional Krishi Vigyan Kendras in collaboration with ICAR. "This scheme was proposed to the previous Government but that Government threw it in the lumber room. There are already 69 such centres across UP and with 20 new centres the number will go up to 89," he said. "These centres will have facilities of soil testing and carry out other research that could help in increasing productivity," he said. In another decision, the Government has decided to set up civil terminal in Gorakhpur Air Force base and name it as Mahayogi Gorakshnath Terminal. Similar a civil aviation terminal at Air Force base in Agra would be named after Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. In yet another decision, the Government has renamed the Handicapped Department as Divyangjan Sashaktikaran Vibhag.UNI MB SHS SNU 2057 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-859629.Xml 'Dissatisfied' with the Indian media over the coverage of his loan defaulting case, beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya has time and again taken to Twitter to blast the latter. In the most recent incident, he slammed a leading English news channel for reporting that he tried to dodge the British courts but has failed after it sent the British Police after him to arrest him. The channel also reported that India has made a very forceful case against Mallya which has led to verifiable action and that evidence exists against him. He tweeted: "What absolute nonsense devoid of facts. Looks as if Times Now fabricate stories for sensationalism. Verify your facts first before broadcast" Downplaying the din surrounding his sensational arrest in London, Mallya earlier in the day took a swing at the Indian media accusing them of 'hyping' the development. "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected," he tweeted. Earlier on March 28, he trained his guns on another English news channel saying, "Just received this book. And NDTV relentlessly slam me on all false allegations. Poetic justice." On February 23 upset with the media for only "blasting him" rather than lauding his team Force India's entry into Formula 1 he said in a series of tweets, "Very proud to launch the 2017 Sahara Force India challenger.It is my job and duty as Team Principal.Very sad to see Indian media comments" "Very unfortunate that Indian media do not share pride that an Indian entry into Formula 1 is so successful. Only focussed on blasting me." And not long before on January 26 this year, he complained about his media trail saying, "In our Country I assumed that innocence prevails till proven guilty. Media have convicted me guilty without trial with widespread influence." "Till this minute there is no final judicial determination on what KFA owes to Banks and what I may owe in my personal capacity after trial." "Yet it is reported that I have fled or run away owing money to Banks that I never ever borrowed in the first place."(ANI) In wake of the growing tension between China and India over the Dalai Lama's impending visit to Arunachal Pradesh, China has categorically asked India to honour its solemn promises on Tibet-related issues. "For some time, due to reasons known to all, the political foundation for China-India relations has been damaged, casting a shadow over bilateral relations and the boundary negotiations," China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said in a media briefing here. "What is imperative now is for the Indian side to take concrete actions to honour its solemn promises on Tibet-related issues as well as the important consensus reached by the two sides on settling the boundary issue, in particular never again using the 14th Dalai Lama to undermine China's core interests, so as to create a good atmosphere for greater mutual trust between the two countries and proper settlement of the boundary question," he added. His response came to a query on the fate of New Delhi's relationship with Beijing in the future. Earlier, with Beijing issuing a stern warning that the Dalai Lama's visit will have a "negative impact" on the settlement of the border dispute, India stated that its policy towards Tibet and border issue with China remained unchanged. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Gopal Baglay said, "Let me make it absolutely clear that there is no change whatsoever in the Government of India's policy towards the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China." China is opposed to the Dalai Lama, who it regards as a separatist, visiting Arunachal Pradesh, particularly Tawang. Meanwhile, India has repeatedly said that no political colour should be attributed to the Dalai Lama's Arunachal visit, which it described as religious and spiritual. (ANI) Advisers to President Donald Trump will meet today to discuss whether to recommend that he withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord, a White House official said.The accord, agreed on by nearly 200 countries in Paris in 2015, aims to limit planetary warming in part by slashing carbon dioxide and other emissions from the burning of fossil fuels. Under the pact, the United States committed to reducing its emissions by 26 to 28 per cent from 2005 levels by 2025.Trump has said the United States should "cancel" the deal, but he has been mostly quiet on the issue since he was elected last November.Environmental groups want Washington to remain in the Paris agreement, even if the new administration weakens US pledges.A White House official said Trump's aides would "discuss the options, with the goal of providing a recommendation to the president about the path forward."The meeting comes before a summit of the Group of Seven wealthy nations in late May, the deadline for the White House to take a position.White House officials, led by the National Economic Council, have recently been asking publicly traded energy companies for advice on whether to stay in the agreement.Peabody Energy has consulted with White House officials, and Cloud Peak Energy Inc confirmed to Reuters it had told White House advisers it was in its interests for the United States to remain in the agreement to ensure there was a global role for high-efficiency coal plants.Yesterday, liquified natural gas exporter Cheniere Energy sent a letter to George David Banks, who handles international energy issues at the NEC, to recommend remaining in the Paris agreement so "the United States can leverage competitive advantages in natural gas and energy technology."The advisers expected to attend today's meeting include Energy Secretary Rick Perry and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt.Perry, a former Texas governor, at his confirmation hearings in January softened a previous position that the science behind climate change was "phony."Last week, Pruitt, a former Oklahoma attorney general, said the United States should exit the agreement because it was a "bad deal" for the country.Justin Guay, climate program officer for the Packard Foundation, said countries like China and India would continue to shift toward clean energy even if the United States retreated, adding: "It is most important that the US stays at the table."REUTERS SDR 0425 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-858354.Xml An Illinois lawmaker introduced a bill to ban the forcible removal of travelers from flights by state or local government employees after a United Airlines passenger was dragged from an aircraft last week.The Airline Passenger Protection Act, sponsored by Republican state Representative Peter Breen, came after Dr. David Dao, 69, was pulled from a United flight at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport to make space for four crew members.The treatment of Dao sparked international outrage, as well as multiple apologies from the carrier, and raised questions about the overbooking policies of airlines.Under Breen's measure, passengers could not be removed from flights unless they were presenting a danger to themselves or others, an emergency was taking place or the passenger had caused a serious disturbance, according to a copy of the bill introduced in the state capital, Springfield."A commercial airline that removes validly seated customers without serious cause breaches the sacred trust between passengers and their airlines," the bill said.The legislation would also bar the state of Illinois from making travel arrangements, doing business with or having investments in any commercial airline that maintained a policy of removing paying passengers to make room for employees traveling on non-revenue tickets.Dao, who was traveling to Louisville, Kentucky, on April 9, suffered a broken nose, a concussion and lost two teeth when he was pulled from his seat by officers from the Chicago Department of Aviation to make room for four employees on the overbooked flight.The three officers, who have not been named, were put on paid leave last week, the department said."The treatment of the passenger in last week's incident at O'Hare is inexcusable and must be stopped," Breen said in a statement. "It reflected badly on the airline, the City of Chicago, and the State of Illinois."United Chief Executive Oscar Munoz yesterday again apologized for the incident.United said on Friday it was changing its policy on booking its flight crews onto its own planes. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Illinois bill.Lawyers for Dao have moved to preserve evidence from the flight, filing a motion to keep surveillance videos and other materials related to United Flight 3411 in preparation for a possible lawsuit.The city and United agreed to preserve the evidence, Dao's attorney said on Saturday.REUTERS SDR 0702 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0431-858363.Xml A 17-year-old girl has died after being attacked by a shark as she surfed with her father off the Australian coast.Laeticia Brouwer was on holiday in Esperance, a tourist town on Australia's west coast, when she went for an afternoon surf yesterday at nearby Wylie Bay, while her mother and siblings watched from the beach."Father and daughter were out surfing where the waves were breaking and that is when the attack occurred. He brought her to shore," West Australian police acting senior sergeant Ben Jeffes said.Paramedics said Brouwer's injuries and blood loss were too severe for her to survive."We can take some comfort that Laeticia died doing something that she loved," a family spokesman Steve Evans told a news conference."The ocean was her and her family's passion. Surfing was something that she treasured doing with her dad and her sisters."The Kelp Beds break, which is popular with surfers and sits off the unpatrolled Wylie Bay beach, was also where a 23-year-old man lost part of both his arms in a non-fatal shark attack in 2014.Brouwer's death is the first fatal shark attack in Australia this year after two fatal attacks last year, both in Western Australia, according to a database.Australia ranks behind only the United States in the number of unprovoked shark encounters with humans last year, the International Shark Attack File of the University of Florida shows.It is testing wider use of shark nets at the country's beaches while surfers are being drawn to new technology like board implants and wet suits that repel sharks.Authorities have closed Wylie Beach for the next 48 hours. Brouwer's broken surfboard was being examined to try determine the species of the shark that attacker her, media reported.REUTERS RJ -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-858539.Xml At least six people were killed and 18 injured after a van collided with a car near Muhammadyar Wala at Jhang road in Bhakkar on Tuesday. The collision took place after the car's faulty tie rod failed to function, Geo News reported citing sources. Injured were shifted to nearby hospital. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed profound grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the accident, reports Radio Pakistan. (ANI) US Vice President Mike Pence reassured Japan of American commitment to reining in North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions today, after warning that US strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed the strength of its resolve.Pence arrived in Tokyo from South Korea, where he assured leaders of an "iron-clad" alliance with the United States in the face of the reclusive North, which has conducted a series of missile and nuclear tests in defiance of UN sanctions.North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and it showed no let-up in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles in Pyongyang."The era of strategic patience is over and while all options are on the table, President (Donald) Trump is determined to work closely with Japan, with South Korea, with all our allies in the region and with China to achieve a peaceable resolution and the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" Pence said in Tokyo before lunch with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe."We appreciate the challenging time in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocation across the Sea of Japan. We are with you 100 percent," he said.Pence and Abe agreed that they needed to persuade China to play a larger role in dealing with North Korea, a Japanese government spokesman said.North Korea's deputy representative to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, accused the United States yesterday of creating "a situation where nuclear war could break out an any time" and said the North's next nuclear test would take place "at a time and at a place where our headquarters deems necessary".North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol told the BBC that missiles would be tested on "a weekly, monthly and yearly basis".South Korea's acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, told a cabinet meeting today that South Korea would strengthen its alliance with the United States and closely cooperate with China to rein in North Korea."We should stay on our toes to protect our territory and people's lives," Hwang said.The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. It has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead.TOUGHER SANCTIONSPence said yesterday the world had seen Trump's resolve in the past two weeks, with a U.S. missile attack on a Syrian airfield and the dropping of a powerful non-nuclear bomb on Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan."North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region," Pence said.The Trump administration has said military action remains an option for dealing with North Korea.But, mindful that this would likely trigger massive retaliation and casualties in South Korea and Japan, US officials say the Trump administration's main focus is on tougher economic sanctions.Trump, asked yesterday if he was considering military action, told Fox News Channel he did not want to "telegraph" his plans, like the previous administration had done.US officials say tougher sanctions could include an oil embargo, a global ban on North Korea's airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks doing business with Pyongyang. They also say greater Chinese cooperation is vital.White House spokesman Sean Spicer said China had taken some "very helpful" steps, although it remained to be seen how effective these would be.Susan Thornton, acting US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and China's top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, agreed in a phone call on Sunday on the need for strict enforcement of UN resolutions and for international action to press Pyongyang "to cease provocative actions and recommit to peaceful denuclearisation".Thornton said any new North Korean nuclear test "would draw a pretty significant international response".Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeated China's line that the crisis could only be resolved by diplomacy."I've seen that the United States has reiterated it is willing to use political and diplomatic means to resolve this, as this is their first choice," he told reporters in Beijing."Of course I think that any country will feel that political diplomatic means are of course the first choice," Wang said.Pence's economic discussions in Tokyo will be closely watched to see how hard a line Washington is prepared to take on trade. Trump campaigned on an "America first" platform, and has vowed to narrow big trade deficits with nations such as China and Japan.However, Trump has also shown willingness to link trade to other issues, saying he would cut a better trade deal with China if it exerts influence on North Korea.China banned imports of North Korean coal, its most important export, in February, and Chinese media have raised the possibility of restricting oil shipments to the North.Impoverished North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. South Korea hosts 28,500 US troops to counter the threat from the North.REUTERS RJ -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-858659.Xml North Korea will continue to test missiles regularly and any military action against it by the United States would prompt "all out war", a senior North Korean official has told the BBC.North Korea has conducted several missile and nuclear tests in defiance of United Nations sanctions and has said it has developed a missile that can strike the US mainland. Its latest missile test on Sunday failed a few seconds after launch.US Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea yesterday that recent US strikes in Syria, one of Pyongyang's few close allies, and Afghanistan showed that the resolve of President Donald Trump should not be tested."We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis," Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol said in an interview with the BBC released late yesterday."If the US is reckless enough to use military means it would mean from that very day, an all out war."North Korean state media last week warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of American aggression, but the White House said there was no evidence it possessed that capability."If the US is planning a military attack against us we will react with a nuclear pre-emptive strike by our own style and method," Han said.He also said North Korea believed its nuclear weapons protect it from the threat of military action by the United States. REUTERS RJ -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-858751.Xml US Vice President Mike Pence reassured Japan of American commitment to reining in North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions today, after warning that US strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed the strength of its resolve.Pence arrived in Tokyo from South Korea, where he assured leaders of an "iron-clad" alliance with the United States in the face of the reclusive North, which has conducted a series of missile and nuclear tests in defiance of UN sanctions."The era of strategic patience is over and while all options are on the table, President (Donald) Trump is determined to work closely with Japan, with South Korea, with all our allies in the region and with China to achieve a peaceable resolution and the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula," Pence said in Tokyo before lunch with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.Pence and Abe agreed that they needed to persuade China to play a larger role in dealing with North Korea, a Japanese government spokesman said.North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and it showed no let-up in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang.North Korea's deputy representative to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, accused the United States yesterday of creating "a situation where nuclear war could break out an any time" and said the North's next nuclear test would take place "at a time and at a place where our headquarters deems necessary".North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol told the BBC that missiles would be tested on "a weekly, monthly and yearly basis".The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. It has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead.Pence said yesterday the world had seen Trump's resolve in the past two weeks, with a US missile attack on a Syrian airfield and the dropping of a powerful non-nuclear bomb on Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan.The Trump administration has said military action remains an option for dealing with North Korea.But, mindful that this would likely trigger massive retaliation and casualties in South Korea and Japan, US officials say Trump's main focus is on tougher economic sanctions.US officials say tougher sanctions could include an oil embargo, a global ban on North Korea's airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks doing business with Pyongyang. They also say greater Chinese cooperation is vital."DIPLOMACY FIRST CHOICE"Susan Thornton, acting US assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and China's top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, agreed in a phone call on Sunday on the need for strict enforcement of UN resolutions.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeated China's line that the crisis could only be resolved by diplomacy."I've seen that the United States has reiterated it is willing to use political and diplomatic means to resolve this, as this is their first choice," he told reporters in Beijing."Of course I think that any country will feel that political diplomatic means are of course the first choice," Wang said.Pence's economic discussions in Tokyo will be closely watched to see how hard a line Washington is prepared to take on trade. Trump campaigned on an "America first" platform, and has vowed to narrow big trade deficits with nations such as China and Japan.However, Trump has also shown willingness to link trade to other issues, saying he would cut a better trade deal with China if it exerts influence on North Korea.China banned imports of North Korean coal, its most important export, in February, and Chinese media have raised the possibility of restricting oil shipments to the North.But North Korea used Chinese-made trucks to display missiles at the military parade on Saturday, according to photographs, underlining the difficulty in enforcing UN sanctions.China and North Korea maintain "normal contacts, including normal business contacts", said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang, when asked about the trucks."At the same time, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China strictly adheres to its international responsibilities, including those from Security Council resolutions," Lu told a daily briefing.Impoverished North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. South Korea hosts 28,500 US troops to counter the threat from the North.Trump's decision to launch a missile strike against Syria, a Russian ally, drop a giant bomb on Afghanistan and stick with Obama-era policies on Crimea mean Russian hopes of him befriending the Kremlin have been on the slide.Russian state media, which hailed his election win, have made a U-turn. On Sunday, media said he was scarier than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.REUTERS RJ -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-858764.Xml Fugitive liquor baron Vijay Mallya was arrested in London by the Scotland Yard today. He was taken to a a Westminster Magisterial Court and later granted bail.Facing charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating and loan default worth Rs 9000 crore, Mallya had fled to London on March 2 last year. He had taken loans from a string of banks, including leading public sector lenders like the State Bank of India, Corporation Bank and IDBI, but failed to repay. After his flight to London exactly a year ago, the National Democratic Alliance government had been pushing for his extradition. The request for his extradition was put up by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) before a court which also issued a non-bailable warrant against him. The extradition request was sent to the authorities in the UK, through diplomatic channels. As promoter of Kingfisher Airlines which promised to usher in good times in civil aviation but went bankrupt within a few years of operation, Mallya not only defaulted on loan repayment but was also accused by the CBI of diverting the funds. Making light of charges against him, Mallya referred to his arrest in a tweet: ``Usual Indian media hype...extradition hearing in court started today as expected.'' He has termed default on loan payment as a business decision gone wrong and has denied any wrongdoing. He also faces charges of money laundering by the Enforcement Directorate. Reacting to Mallya's arrest, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar termed it as a "part of the process" itself."We are happy about the developments. This is only part of the process. We are doing our part to get any economic offender face the trial of justice," he told reporters in New Delhi. "Our government is firm about one thing. All wrong doers have to face the law. We are very sure about one thing, even if I am on wrong side, the law will not spare me," Mr Gangwar said. On attempts for extradition, he said, talks are on through bilateral channels and "we are hopeful of positive results".The NDA government had cancelled Mallya's passport last year and asked the UK government in February this year to extradite him. Mallya, a former Rajya Sabha member, was much talked about for his lavish parties, beauty pageants and extravagant lifestyle. Recently, his villa in picturesque coastal State of Goa was auctioned for Rs. 73 crores. As the process of extradition is a judicial one, the proceedings may take a long time before the competent court in the UK decides on India's request. Nadim of Nadim-Shravan music composer duo, facing charges of conspiracy in the murder of Bollywood's music baron Gulshan Kumar, was granted respite by a court in the UK which had rejected India's request for his extradition. UNI VT RP1820 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-859226.Xml Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed the tomb of a nobleman from more than 3,000 years ago, the latest in a series of major discoveries of ancient relics that Egypt hopes will revive a tourist business that has been hit by political instability.The find near the Nile city of Luxor, is the tomb of Userhat, a judge from the New Kingdom. It consists of an open court leading into a rectangular hall, a corridor and inner chamber, the Ministry of Antiquities said today.In one of the rooms in the tomb, archaeologists found a collection of figurines, wooden masks and a handle of a sarcophagus lid. Excavation is continuing in a second chamber.Earlier this year, Swedish archaeologists discovered 12 ancient Egyptian cemeteries near the southern city of Aswan that date back almost 3,500 years.In March, Egypt unearthed an eight-meter statue in a Cairo slum that is believed to be King Psammetich 1, who ruled from 664 to 610 BC.Hisham El Demery, chief of Egypt's Tourism Development Authority, said tourism was picking up and discoveries like the one at Luxor would encourage the sector."These discoveries are positive news from Egypt's tourism industry, which is something we all really need," he said.Tourism in Egypt has suffered in the aftermath of the mass protests that toppled former president Hosni Mubarak in 2011. Militant bomb attacks have also deterred foreign visitors. REUTERS SHS SNU 2253 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-859722.Xml Zambia opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, arrested last week on suspicion of treason, was charged in court today with trying to overthrow the government "by unlawful means ... between October 10 last year and April 8 this year". REUTERS SHS SNU 2320 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0364-859746.Xml Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-17 20:39:32|Editor: Mengjiao Liu Photo taken on April 17, 2017 shows the general view of Mangle E8 nightclub after a suspected "strong acid" attack in east London, Britain. At least 12 people had suffered burns from a suspected "strong acid" attack as about 600 revelers were evacuated from an east London club, local police said Monday. (Xinhua) LONDON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- At least 12 people had suffered burns from a suspected "strong acid" attack as about 600 revelers were evacuated from an east London club, local police said Monday. Police officers said they believe that a man had thrown acid at two men after a dispute between two groups inside the nightclub. The incident occurred at about 1:10 a.m. as 10 were taken to hospital to be treated. Two men in their 20s remain in a serious but stable condition in hospital, the Metropolitan Police said. A spokesperson with London Fire Bridge said that a "strong acidic unknown corrosive substance" was thrown inside the venue, Mangle E8 in Dalston. "It was identified by a PH paper test as a strong acidic substance," he said. A Scotland Yard spokesman said earlier the injured were treated for minor burns and their injuries are not life-threatening. Police are still investigating into the cause of the incident but ruled out that the attack was gang related. The attack came amid the Easter holiday. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 02:10:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TIRANA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The visiting foreign ministers of Germany and the Netherlands, Sigmar Gabriel and Bert Koenders respectively, called on Albanian opposition on Monday to end the parliamentary boycott and get ready for the June 18 elections. The ministers told a press conference that the current political deadlock risked Albania's European Union (EU)membership bid, which is considered as a top priority of Albania. The German foreign minister said at the joint press conference with his Albanian counterpart Ditmir Bushati that the parliamentary boycott of the opposition is blocking justice reform and damages Albania's reputation. "If parliament continues to be blocked as well as the reform of the justice system, then your path towards the EU is getting harder," he warned, noting that the opposition could make proposals for free and fair elections but the boycott was not a solution. Albanian opposition parties have unanimously refused to take part in the general elections in June, asking for the prime minister's resignation. They have been boycotting the parliament and continued protests in the main streets of the capital since February 18. But such request has not been supported by the ruling majority. On his part, Dutch Foreign Minister Koenders said that the Netherlands supported Albania's European membership bid but this required the implementation of important reforms such as the justice system. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 02:46:01|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BAKU, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The expansion of regional cooperation in the railway transport was one of the major topics of the two-day Economic Cooperation Organization's railway authorities meeting that opened in Baku Monday. The 13th meeting of the Heads of ECO Railway Authorities was launched here along with the 7th Meeting of Railway Committee of ECO Transit Transport Coordination Council (TTCC). The meeting covered a wide range of topics related to the latest developments related to the ECO container trains operation, train service challenges, important regional railway infrastructure projects and new regional initiatives, according to Azerbaijan State News Agency. Addressing the conference, Igbal Huseynov, Deputy chairman of Azerbaijan Railways, highlighted the railway projects implemented in Azerbaijan and briefed the participants on modernization of the railway infrastructure. Igbal Huseynov outlined the role of international transport corridors in increasing the transit potential. Touching upon the implementation of the International North-South Transport Corridor, Igbal Huseynov said that the construction of the 8.3 kilometers single-track railway from the Astara station (Azerbaijan) to the Iranian border and the construction of the railway bridge across the Astara river as part of the Gazvin-Rasht-Astara (Iran) -- Astara (Azerbaijan) railway project have been completed. Other representatives of the meeting stressed the importance of strengthening regional cooperation in the field of railway transport. Representatives from Azerbaijan, Turkey, Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Pakistan and Iran attended the event. On Tuesday Baku will also host the Third High-Level Working Group meeting on Qazvin-Rasht-Astara (Iran)- Astara (Azerbaijan) Railway Project. The meeting will discuss the latest status of the construction works along the route in the territories of Azerbaijan and Iran and challenges being faced by the concerned parties in the course of construction works. In 1985, the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) was established by Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey to promote economic, technical, and cultural cooperation among the member states. ECO is the successor organization of Regional Cooperation for Development (RCD) which remained in existence since 1964 up to 1979. In 1992, the Organization was expanded to include seven new members, namely: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 02:56:03|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ARUSHA, Tanzania, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Tanzania is set to start displaying the early human footprints, which were recently discovered at Laetoli area in Ngorongoro Conservation Area for public consumption, an archaeologist said on Monday. Fidelis Masao, an archaeologist from the long-time Tanzania's University of Dar es Salaam said that the process of displaying the footprints in a museum for public consumption will start in August, this year. The discovery in 2015 by Tanzanian and Italian archaeologists came during the systematic survey and excavation activities led by Ngorongoro-based Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment (CHIA) aimed at evaluating the effect of a proposed new field museum in the area that lies on the southern edge of Serengeti National Park. "We are currently in discussions with the Italian Embassy in Tanzania on better ways of making the human footprints available for public viewing," Masao said in a telephone interview. The discovered these footprints at Laetoli took place 40 years later in the same area where the legendary Mary Leakey and her team of researchers discovered in the late 1970s a trackway 3.6 million years ago commonly attributed to Australopithecus afarensis. The research that led to the new discovery is supported by the Italian School of Palaeoanthropology under the auspices of the Italian ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation in collaboration with University of Dar es Salaam's College of humanities. This is likely to boost Tanzania's archaeological and tourism fortunes which have been on the increase for years. Footprints are rare they can be impressed in the ground, preserved over time and eventually discovered millions of years later only because of unique circumstances. Like a spotlight on a prehistoric scene, fossil tracks provide data about the locomotion biomechanics and body size of the extinct creatures and reveal the diversity among individuals explains even their reproductive strategies. The evidence taken as a whole with the previous one portrays several bipedal early hominins moving as a group through the landscape, after a volcanic eruption and a subsequent rainfall. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 04:46:31|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close by Marwa Yahya CAIRO, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Millions of Egyptians celebrated on Monday Sham El-Nessim, a national holiday marking the beginning of spring, in an attempt to overcome sadness inflicted by recent deadly church attacks. Early in the morning, Muslims and Christians across the country flocked to public parks, beaches, zoos, outdoors greeneries and Nile cruises amid tight security imposed after the Palm Sunday twin bombings. All Egyptians, regardless of their religions, beliefs or social classes, have been celebrating Sham El-Nessim, which literally means "smelling the breeze," since 2700 BC, with traditional seafood and picnics in parks. The public holiday always falls on the day after the Easter Sunday in the Coptic Christian Calendar. This year's celebrations, however, came a week after suicide attacks at two churches in the Delta province of Gharbiya and Alexandria province in northern Egypt, which killed at least 45 and injured 120 others. "The nature of the Egyptian people is to love and enjoy the life, no matter what happens," said Moustafa Ahmad, a taxi driver as he enjoyed the holiday meal with his family at Cairo's renowned Azhar Park. "In Egypt, this is the day when Muslims and Christians celebrate together. We experienced so many troubles, sorrow over the people we lost in the attacks. We will pass it together," Ahmad added. "Shame El-Nessim is a restart for our life, and the terrorist attacks wouldn't frustrate its joy," he said. The holiday's name is derived from Shamo, the harvest season for ancient Egyptians, which means the day of renewal of life. The foods consumed on Shamo are still eaten today. Lettuce and malana-green chickpea shoots, which symbolize the resurgence of life, became plentiful during the receding of the past annual Nile flooding. Packing a bag of colored eggs, fesikh (pickled mullet fish) and green onions, Hoda Adel, a housewife, was spreading a sheet under a tree to avoid the strong sunlight. "Sham El-Nessim is a special occasion where I can see my relatives and friends enjoy, eat and breathe clean air," Adel said. "My Coptic friend will come soon with her family, so we can share the food together. Nothing would affect Egyptians' high spirits," the lady added. "You can smell the salted fish everywhere. The day with its traditions is part of Egypt's identity," she said. The Giza Zoo, which opens to public for free, received 83,000 visitors on the national holiday. Along the Nile Cornish, the police deployed were doing security checks. "I feel secured, police is everywhere eying the violations," said Amal Waheeb, a 52-year-old teacher while standing in a long queue for a cruise with her daughters. Sayed Abdel Galel, who works for a clothing shop, also said the day brings back happy memories as people were celebrating the beginning of spring and enjoying the gathering of friends and relatives. "It is part of our memories and upbringing that dates back to our ancestors, and I want to deepen old traditional festivals in my kids' minds," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 05:01:33|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close HAVANA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Heart diseases are atop the list of ten non-communicable diseases that cause the highest mortality rates in Cuba, followed by cancer, according to data from the island's Health Ministry disclosed on Monday. Cuba's Statistical Yearbook of Health 2016 reported that heart problems killed 217.7 per 100,000 inhabitants, while malignant tumours claimed 216.3, with both accounting for 49.1 percent of total deaths on the island in 2016. Non-communicable diseases were the largest cause of death, with 731.4 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the document published by the National Statistics Bureau. The Yearbook informed that 66 percent of deaths from heart diseases occur due to ischemic failures, especially acute myocardial infarction. However, heart failures and chronic rheumatic heart disease are more customary in women. Concerning cancer, the highest mortality rates came from malignant tracheal, bronchial and lung tumors. For men, the second-highest death rate from cancer came from prostate tumors, as opposed to breast cancer for women. Smoking is also included in the list of chronic non communicable diseases, with the document highlighting that over half of all Cubans are exposed to cigarette smoke. According to the World Health Organization, non-communicable diseases will be the main causes of disability worldwide by 2020, posing a very expensive challenge for healthcare systems in many countries. A U.S. navy soldier stands on the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz in Busan, South Korea, on May 11, 2013. The USS Nimitz arrived here Saturday to join the South Korea-U.S. joint naval drills. (Xinhua/Park Jin-hee) WASHINGTON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Defense Ministry has officially started a review of the country's nuclear posture and will submit a final report to President Donald Trump at the end of this year, the Pentagon announced Monday. "Today, Secretary (James) Mattis directed the commencement of the review, which will be led by the deputy secretary of defense and the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and include interagency partners," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement. "The process will culminate in a final report to the president by the end of the year." said the statement. The nuclear posture review was ordered by President Trump in a January executive action on military readiness, according to a theHill news daily report. The January memo called for a review "to ensure that the United States nuclear deterrent is modern, robust, flexible, resilient, ready and appropriately tailored to deter 21st-century threats and reassure our allies." Democratic lawmaker Adam Smith, a ranking member of the House Armed Services committee, said Monday he hopes the review includes a "thoughtful assessment" to "rethink what the priorities should be for a strong yet affordable nuclear arsenal." "In the past, nuclear posture reviews have considered in depth the crucial role played by efforts to enhance strategic stability and prevent nuclear proliferation," he said in a statement. "It is important that this review do the same. I hope that it includes a thorough assessment of policy options that would allow us to avoid a costly and dangerous nuclear arms race; and that it properly analyzes the enormous risks inherent in lowering the threshold for using nuclear weapons." said Smith. Though planned since January under Trump's order, the start of the nuclear review comes at a time of high anxiety over increasing tensions on the Korean peninsula. The last time the Pentagon conducted a nuclear posture review was in 2010. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 05:11:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump's Press Secretary Sean Spicer on Monday defended the decision to keep White House visitor logs secret, but did not bring up the national security explanation. Instead, he criticized the practice to release visitor logs under former President Barack Obama administration as a "faux attempt" at transparency. The decision, announced on Friday, is just a return to earlier precedent before Obama-era, said Spicer. "It's the same policy that every administration had up until the Obama administration," Spicer said at the White House daily briefing. "And frankly, the faux attempt that the Obama administration put out, where they would scrub who they didn't want put out, didn't serve anyone well." he said. "The president wants to make sure that people can come, in the same way they can go into members of Congress' office, provide information and details," said Spicer, "We recognize that there's a privacy aspect to allowing citizens to come express their views." Earlier, White House communications director Michael Dubke said the move would protect the U.S. national security interests as well as the privacy of those visiting the Trump administration. Under the Obama administration, the White House released logs listing nearly six million visitors. No apparent national security concerns have been reported, according to a thePolitico report. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 05:16:36|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close ANKARA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Turkey's state of emergency will be extended by an additional three months, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said late Monday. The state of emergency would be extended as of April. 19 for three more months, with the parliament's approval, the government spokesperson Kurtulmus said after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He attributed the reason for the extension to the struggle against terror threats, primarily against the so-called Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) that the government accuses of staging coup attempt on July 15, 2016. The cabinet meeting followed the National Security Council's advice to extend the state of emergency. The National Security Council and the cabinet convened successively on Monday, one day after a public vote that confirmed governance system change from the parliamentarian one to the executive presidency. Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20, 2016, days after a failed military coup, which Ankara blames on the U.S.-based exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkey has already been under a state of emergency for nine consecutive months after a coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Under emergency rule, the government can bypass the parliament to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 05:21:38|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close LISBON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's Director General for Health Francisco George on Monday called on parents to vaccinate their children "without hesitation," after the country registered around 23 cases of measles since the beginning of this year. According to the director general for health, 11 cases of measles were confirmed by Institute Ricardo Jorge and the remaining 12 were being investigated. George told local broadcaster Antena 1 that there were serious cases of measles due to an epidemic. Measles is a highly contagious viral disease, which affects mostly children, according to the World Health Organization, and it can cause serious complications. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 05:36:41|Editor: Mengjiao Liu Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. researchers said Monday they have developed a wristband-type wearable sweat sensor that could help diagnose cystic fibrosis, diabetes and other diseases. The sensor collects sweat, measures its molecular constituents and then electronically transmits the results for analysis and diagnostics via a smartphone, according to the study led by researchers at the Stanford University, in collaboration with the University of California, Berkeley. Unlike previous sweat collectors, the new device does not require patients to sit still for a long time while it collects sweat from them. "This is a huge step forward," co-author Carlos Milla, associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, said in a statement. The wearable device is a two-part system of flexible sensors and microprocessors that sticks to the skin, stimulates the sweat glands and then detects the presence of different molecules and ions based on their electrical signals. High chloride ion levels, for example, are an indicator of cystic fibrosis while high blood glucose levels can indicate diabetes, according to the study published in the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Conventional methods for diagnosing cystic fibrosis -- a genetic disease that causes mucus to build up in the lungs, pancreas and other organs -- require that patients visit a specialized center and sit for 30 minutes while electrodes stimulate sweat glands in their skin to provide sweat for the test. By comparison, the wearable sweat sensor stimulates the skin to produce minute amounts of sweat, quickly evaluates the contents and beams the data by way of a cellphone to a server that can analyze the results, and this test happens all at once and in real time, said Milla. For this study, the research team also measured glucose levels in sweat, which correspond to blood glucose levels, making the device potentially useful for monitoring pre-diabetes and diabetes. But the technology can also be used to measure other molecular constituents of sweat, such as sodium and potassium ions and lactate, meaning the platform can be used to "measure virtually anything found in sweat." "Sweat is hugely amenable to wearable applications and a rich source of information," said co-author Ronald Davis, professor of biochemistry and of genetics at Stanford University. The team is now working on large-scale clinical studies to look for correlations between sweat-sensor readings and health. In the longer term, it's hoped that the wearable sensor could be integrated into a smartwatch for broad population monitoring. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) ambassador to the United Nations Kim In Ryong speaks during a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on April 17, 2017. (Xinhua/Li Muzi) UNITED NATIONS, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Monday called on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to take all the steps necessary to de-escalate the situation and return to dialogue and denuclearization, said a spokesperson. UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a daily briefing that the UN is deeply concerned about the rising tensions in the Korean Peninsula and call on all parties to "redouble their diplomatic efforts." He said the latest missile launch from DPRK is "troubling," while noting that all Security Council resolutions must be fully implemented. The DPRK attempted on Sunday to test-fire an unidentified missile on its east coast, which was believed to have failed, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The Pentagon confirmed later that the latest missile launch by the DPRK had failed. The DPRK is banned from testing ballistic missile technology under UN Security Council resolutions. Earlier on Monday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said in South Korea that "an era of strategic patience is over" on the issue of DPRK. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 09:02:58|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close SYDNEY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Australian dollar rose against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday as economic results out of China have boosted the local currency. At the Asian open, one Australian dollar was buying 75.90 U.S. cents, up from the 75.81-U.S.-cent mark it sat at on Thursday. Elias Haddad, senior currency strategist at the Commonwealth Bank, told Xinhua in a statement that the Australian dollar should track past the 76.00-U.S.-cent mark this week, on the back of encouraging data coming out of China. "China's economy expanded at a solid 6.9 percent annual pace in the first quarter, driven by the industrial and finance sectors," Haddad said. Haddad contended that the positive growth momentum should continue in China, as increased manufacturing investment and improved investment funding drive stronger economic growth. "Faster Chinese economic growth will underpin commodity prices and support the Australian dollar," Haddad said. At 0820 local time AEST, one Australian dollar buys 75.89 U.S. cents. SYDNEY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- An Australian boy was in a critical condition after falling off a carnival ride in southeast Victoria, a hospital spokesman said on Tuesday. The boy, reported to be 5 years old, suffered critical head and foot injuries after falling from the ride at the Rye Easter Carnival on Monday evening. In a statement, Ambulance Victoria said paramedics rushed to the scene and worked on the boy before he was flown to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne by air ambulance. A spokesperson for the hospital said on Tuesday morning that the boy remained in a critical condition. Sean Lynch, a witness of the incident, said the boy's mother was "really upset" as paramedics worked on her son. "I was about 30 metres away ... she was really upset," Lynch told News Limited on Tuesday. "It was so awful to see. I have a kid myself and the thought it could have been mine is shocking." He said at least six ambulance crews attended the scene before the air ambulance arrived. "They were holding blankets around the boy so no one could see what was going on," he said. "I just hope the young fella pulls through ... It was pretty awful to see." Lynch said he believed the incident occurred on the Cha Cha ride which spins both clockwise and counter-clockwise at the same time at high speed. WorkSafe confirmed on Tuesday that it would investigate the incident. In 2011, a 13-year-old girl was left with a deep gash and nerve damage to her head after being thrown from a similar ride at Lilydale, 35 km northeast of Melbourne. SYDNEY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- An Australian boy has become the nation's first person to contract Hepatitis E from donated blood. The boy, aged six years old, was infected by the rare type of Hepatitis, also known as HEV, after a liver transplant operation in 2014, experts wrote in the Medical Journal of Australia on Tuesday. HEV has been known to cause cirrhosis or permanent liver damage in transplant patients. The typical recovery time is six weeks and most people won't have enduring symptoms, but the disease can be severe for pregnant women and people with pre-existing liver conditions. Donated plasma used during the liver transplant infected the boy in 2014 but the disease was not diagnosed until 2015. Archived samples of all 18 blood donations the boy received were tested by the Australian Red Cross Blood Service and discovered one of them was positive. It was established that the donor had eaten pork in the south of France, which is known to have a high prevalence of HEV, before giving his blood. Experts from the Australian Red cross Blood Service, led by Veronica Hoad, the PathWest Laboratory, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory and Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth detailed the case in the Medical Journal of Australia. "While the risk in Australia is low compared with other countries, we report the first confirmed Australian case of transmission by transfusion," the authors wrote. "Chronic infection can occur in immunocompromised individuals and may lead to cirrhosis; however, early recognition and treatment generally results in viral clearance." There were 41 cases of HEV in each 2015 and 2016 with 14 so far in 2017, a vast majority of which involved an Australian catching the disease overseas. A spokesperson for the Blood Service said the blood supply in Australia remained one of the safest in the world with no transmissions of HEV since the incident. "This is due to the low prevalence of hepatitis E in the Australian population combined with our strict donor eligibility guidelines," the spokesperson told Fairfax Media on Tuesday. "In the wake of this incident, the Blood Service reviewed all available evidence and concluded that the ongoing risk to the blood supply remains very low, and does not warrant the introduction of any further testing of donated blood." YANGON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of 285 people were killed and 1,073 others injured nationwide during a four-day water festival, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday. The deaths were 13 more than that of last year's event. Meanwhile, a total of 1,200 criminal cases were also registered during the water festival. Among the deaths, 10 were in Nay Pyi Taw, 44 in Yangon, 36 in Mandalay, 26 in Sagaing region, 11 in Tanintharyi region, 37 in Bago region, 11 in Magway region, 20 in Mon state, 17 in Rakhine, 29 in Shan state and 28 in Ayeyawaddy region. The criminal cases were related to murder, car accident, drug-use, theft, arm possession and group violence respectively, said the report. This year's traditional Thingyan water festival ran from Thursday to Sunday. During last year's water festival, a total of 272 people were killed and 1,086 others injured. SYDNEY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A 17-year-old girl died from a shark attack in Western Australian while surfing with her father, local media reported Tuesday. The teenager's leg was severely mauled by what is believed to be a great white shark Monday afternoon, which was spotted in the area last week. Despite being treated at the scene by emergency services and rushed to a nearby hospital in the township of Esperance, the girl died later Monday evening. The teenager's horrified mother and siblings were also on the beach during the incident and witnessed the attack. This is the fourth fatal shark attack on the south coast of Western Australia in three years. There was also a fifth, non-fatal incident in 2014, when a man in Esperance lost both his hands after being mauled. Shark scientist Colin Simpfendorfer at James Cook University explained to Xinhua that the recent increase in shark attacks are proportional to the rise in the amount of people swimming at Australia's beaches. "The attacks are happening at about the same rate, but we have more people in the water now so there is greater risk." "Unfortunately there is only a limited number of things that governments can do and none of them can fully protect people, there is always going to be an inherent risk." Local authorities have warned people to stay away from the area over the coming days. "Our advice to water users is not to undertake surfing, swimming or diving activities in the Wylie Bay area for at least the next 48 hours," the Western Australian Department of Fisheries told the West Australian Newspaper. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 09:53:05|Editor: Mengjiao Liu Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The White House said on Monday that it does not expect U.S. President Donald Trump to draw a red line on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and the United States will continue work with China to solve it. "Drawing red lines really hasn't worked in the past," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a briefing. "He (Trump) holds his cards close to the vest, and I think you are not going to see him telegraphing how he's going to respond to any military or other situation going forward," he said. Trump does not plan to draw red lines "in the sand", Spicer added. However, Spicer cited the U.S. decision to bomb a Syrian military airfield early this month as an indication that Trump would take action when necessary. "I think the action he took in Syria shows that when appropriate, this president will take decisive action." Spicer added that the United States is going to work with China on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. "We're going to continue to work with China, in particular, to help find a way forward on this." SYDNEY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Australian share market tumbled on Tuesday, as investors grew increasingly concerned about geopolitical events on the Korean Peninsula. At 1140 local time AEST, the S&P/ASX200 index lost 55.6 points, or 0.94 percent, to 5,834.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index was also down 57.8 points, or 0.98 percent, to 5,868.1 points. Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, told Xinhua that investors were ignoring the positive results coming out of China, and rather showing their concern for the current geopolitical tensions in the Asia-Pacific region. "We are seeing that trend of profit taking that we saw on Thursday, continuing." Spooner said. The banking majors took a big hit this morning, with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia down 0.56 percent, Westpac also struggled, down 0.49 percent, ANZ fell 0.41 percent, while the National Australia Bank dropped 0.56 percent in value. In the mining sector, BHP Billiton slipped a whopping 2 percent, Rio Tinto also dipped sharply, down 1.45 percent, Newcrest saw their value plummet, down 5.21 percent this morning, while Fortescue joined them with their own huge 5.27-percent loss. Oil and gas fared no better, with Woodside Petroleum down 1.06 percent, Oil Search lost 2.33 percent, while Santos also suffered, down 2.9 percent in early trade. Grocery giant Woolworths dipped, down 0.57 percent, while rivals Wesfarmers also did it tough, falling 1.40 percent in the early running. Telco giant Telstra took a broad hit, down 3.49 percent, while iconic airline Qantas slightly bucked the index trend, with a minor 0.26-percent loss early. | 2017-04-18 10:41:59|Editor: Mengjiao Liu Video Player Close BEIJING, April 17 (Xinhuanet) -- Like all his fellow natives, Zhang Wuyang is looking forward to the BRICS summit to be held in September in Xiamen, a southeast Chinas port city. However, as an agate businessman, Zhang expects more from the summit to make agate artworks the official souvenirs of the grand event. Agate products are typical of made-in-Xiamen, said Zhang, 52, head of the local agate association. Though therere no agate deposits in and around Xiamen, it boasts the worlds largest agate industry," he added. In fact, Xiamen, or its Dongpu village to be more exact, began to embrace agate business only 25 years ago by chance. A Taiwan businessman happened to take Zhangs taxi at the Xiamen airport. Learning about his plan to build a factory to produce agate bracelets, Zhang recommended his home village Dongpu, a remote village still struggling to break the chain of poverty. After two years, Zhang took over the factory. Zhang and his partners carried bags of bracelets to sell all over China. And by the end of 1995, they had done a good marketing by earning back the buyout money borrowed from their relatives. After we harvested the first pot of gold, said Zhang, other villagers got inspired and soon followed suit. Nowadays, nearly all 400 households of 2,000 Dongpu villagers engage in the agate business, turning out all kinds of agate products, with bracelets accounting for 90 percent of the world market, according to Zhang. We have been exploring new frontiers by introducing various innovations, especially the art of cutting, said Zhang. Thats our secret to keep the agate industry vigorous. Harder, cheaper and more colorful than jade, agate stones prove unique to inspire and challenge artistic creation. Dongpu has also become the world hub of raw agate stones, importing them from more than 10 countries, including BRICS countries, and handling 80 percent of their imports in China. Zhuang Chunjing, 34, is one of the Dongpus agate ore traders. He arrived in Madagascar three years ago and started business in three months. In many countries, we Dongpu traders turn valueless agate stones into a treasure for locals, said Zhuang, and they all know Dongpu. In recent years, Dongpus agate industry experienced a decline due to the slowdown of Chinas economy. According to Zhang, the number of TEU(Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) of agate stones import dwindled from 100 to about 50 monthly, and the yearly turnover of Dongpus agate business shrunk to half its all-time high. Fortunately, the younger generation, the post-80s or 90s college graduates, has been rising up, injecting much-needed new blood into it. Chen Bochao, 27, has focused on establishing an online trading platform since 2013. I insist on online and high-end marketing, but my father cant understand such a way of doing business, said Chen, son of an agate businessman in Dongpu. Chen has recruited more than 30 agate artists online, who accept his orders or sell their artworks through his platform. Chen also cooperates with Zhuang in exploring new methods of marketing, such as introducing new species to meet the needs of cutters and selling raw agate stones through crowd-funding. Our elders tend to continually enlarge the market share, said Zhang Zhimin, 38, an agate cutter. We younger generation pay more attention to market segmentation and artistic value of the agate business. Both Zhang Zhimin and Chen seek to encourage talented youth to become agate designers and artists. Agate consumers are becoming younger, said Zhang Zhimin. We have to change to keep the agate business young. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 11:23:25|Editor: Mengjiao Liu Video Player Close WELLINGTON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully will hold talks on Asia-Pacific issues with U.S. military chiefs this week with the situation on the Korean Peninsula being reported high on the agenda. McCully said Tuesday he will travel to Hawaii to meet with senior figures in the U.S. Pacific Command. "The U.S. Pacific Command is responsible for U.S. military operations in over half the world's surface," McCully said in a statement. "Honolulu is a pivotal channel for New Zealand's views on the Asia-Pacific into Washington, D.C. and my visit is an opportunity to emphasize the value of New Zealand-U.S. cooperation in the Asia Pacific." Prime Minister Bill English told Radio New Zealand Tuesday that it is good to see China and United States communicate about how to deal with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). English said the actions of the United States and China showed their seriousness of intent. "It is good to see the Chinese and the U.S. leadership communicating about how to deal with North Korea and put pressure on them." McCully said he would also inaugurate the New Zealand Consulate-General in Honolulu, which was opened in 2014. "New Zealand's presence in Honolulu has deepened our connections with U.S. military leaders and is a gateway for our engagement with North Pacific countries," he said. New Zealand's cooperation with the United States in Honolulu also include climate change, fisheries, humanitarian aid and disaster risk management. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 11:33:28|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation will be held from May 14 to 15 in Beijing and Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony and host the round table summit of the leaders, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday morning. According to Wang, 28 heads of state and government leaders will attend the forum. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 11:53:32|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close HO CHI MINH CITY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Ground depression in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City is taking place at an alarming rate, local media reported on Tuesday. Many areas in the eight districts of the city, including Binh Chanh, Binh Tan, Thu Duc, Nha Be, No.8, No.7, No.2 and No.12, are sinking by 5-10 mm a year, Tuoi Tre (Youth) daily quoted research results announced by the Vietnamese Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology as reporting. After comparing statistics over 25 years, the city has so far sunken by some 0.4 meters, said associate professor Le Van Trung at the university. If no due attention is paid to the depression issue, the sinking areas will face drastic depression, and some areas will be submerged in seawater, he warned. Key reasons for the ground depression in Ho Chi Minh City include over-exploitation of underground water, rapid urbanization and effervescent transport activities. In low-lying zones, depression plus sea level rise (by an average of 3 mm a year due to climate change) will expand the existing inundated areas and create new ones. In coastal areas, the over-exploitation of underground water causes saltwater intrusion which negatively affects growth of plants and trees in particular and sustainable agricultural development in general. Parts of the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam are also sinking, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 13:29:02|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The White House on Monday reiterated that China has not manipulated its currency since U.S. President Donald Trump took office in January. "They haven't been manipulating their currency since he's (Trump) been in office. That's a fact," White House press secretary Sean Spicer told a regular press briefing, in response to a question about U.S. Treasury Department's decision not to label China as a currency manipulator last week. "I think that the president's tweet said clearly to do so at this time would not be prudent," the White House spokesperson said, adding that labeling China as a currency manipulator now would not be very productive in addressing the Korean Peninsula situation. U.S. Treasury Department on Friday declared that no major trading partners of the United States, including China, met the standard of manipulating its currency. In an interview with Wall Street Journal last week, Trump also said China hasn't been manipulating its currency for months, a sharp reversal from his campaign rhetoric. Many economists have argued that the Chinese currency, RMB, has been at equilibrium level in recent years. Brad Setser, an expert with Council on Foreign Relations, expected that the RMB exchange rate would remain stable at current level with China's current account surplus and its efforts to deal with capital outflows. HANOI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam has registered more than 10,000 new drug addicts since 2015, according to the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) on Tuesday. Minister of MoLISA Dao Ngoc Dung was quoted by the Vietnam Economy online newspaper as saying that currently Vietnam has 210,751 drug addicts, 10,617 more than the number in 2015. Most cases are addicted to synthetic drugs with symptoms of mental disorders, and nearly 4 percent of them having criminal records, said Dung. Drug detoxification activities have not yet brought positive treatment results due to the lack of modern facilities and equipment, as well as limited qualification of consultants, the minister said. In recent years, drug addicts have been reportedly smashing rehabilitation centers to get out, causing social insecurity particularly in areas of southern Dong Nai, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Tay Ninh provinces. SYDNEY, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A "world class" healthcare and medical research facility officially opened here on Tuesday at Sydney's Randwick Hospitals Campus in Australia. The 10-storey Bright Building will bring together Prince of Wales Hospital's Nelune Comprehensive Cancer Centre, the University of New South Wales Scientia Clinical Research facility and expand Sydney Children's Hospitals Network. The complex will also include an outpatient service for adolescents and young adults, which is the first of its kind in Australia. "The New South Wales government is committed to delivering world's best practice when it comes to health services and the Bright Building is state-of-the-art," New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian said in a statement obtained by Xinhua. "As well as improving care for cancer patients and adolescents and young adults with chronic illnesses, it will be home to cutting edge medical research." Worth 114 million Australian dollars (86 million U.S. dollars), the project is funded by the New South Wales State government, the Commonwealth government, University of New South Wales, the Prince of Wales Hospital Foundation, Nelune Foundation, Sydney Children's Hospital and community fundraising initiatives. New South Wales minister for health and medical research Brad Hazzard said "patients would have more opportunities to participate in clinical trials in cancer, ophthalmology, neurology, addiction medicine, as well as rheumatology and paediatrics." "As well as ensuring patients have access to the best treatments, the community will benefit from the high-quality medical experts this facility will attract." "I am determined to support researchers on their journey to find a cure, knowing what they discover today will translate to the bedside for future patients." Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 13:39:06|Editor: MJ Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 17 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday congratulated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on his recent referendum victory, the White House said. In a statement released Monday evening, the White House said that Trump called Erdogan "to congratulate him on his recent referendum victory" and to discuss the United States' military assault on a Syrian military airfield early this month. Trump thanked Erdogan for supporting this action by the United States, and they agreed on the importance of holding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable, it said. The statement was released hours after White House spokesman Sean Spicer declined to comment on the result of the constitutional reform referendum in Turkey until a review of the vote by an international electoral monitoring mission is finishe d. "There is an international commission that is reviewing this and issues a report in 10 to 12 days," said Spicer at a briefing. "We will wait and let them do their jobs." Turkey's Supreme Electoral Council declared late Sunday that the "yes" camp in the constitutional reform referendum had won amid an outcry from the opposition that the voting was rigged. The referendum victory would give Erdogan sweeping new powers, including directly appointing ministers and high court judges. by Matt Walsh CANBERRA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Australia's skilled migrant visa will be abolished in favor of a new, "Australians first" approach, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday. In a video posted to social media on Tuesday, Turnbull announced that the 457 skilled migrant visa would be abolished in favor of two new visas which will require additional requirements for migrants to work in Australia. Currently, the 457 visa allows Australian employers to turn to overseas workers to fill shortages in skilled positions. Crucially, it is currently uncapped and, as of September 2016, there were 95,757 skilled workers in Australia. Turnbull said that under the new rules, Australians must be given the 'first crack' at jobs, while skilled migrants would be brought in to "fill the gaps" in areas which are suffering a skills shortage. "We are putting jobs first, we are putting Australians first ... we are an immigration nation but the fact remains that Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs," Turnbull said in the video. "Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs, so we are abolishing the 457 visa, the visa that brings temporary foreign workers into our country. We will no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians. "The 457 visa will be replaced by a new temporary visa specifically designed to recruit the best and brightest in the national interest." In a press conference following the release of the video, the prime minister said the current 457 visa had "lost its credibility," as many employers were bringing in skilled migrants instead of looking for Australians to fill their job openings. "We always will be an immigration nation but we must ensure the foundation of that success is maintained and that foundation is that migration should be in the national interest," Turnbull said. "It needs to ensure that Australian jobs are filled by Australians wherever possible. Migrants should be brought in to fill gaps and should not be brought in because an employer finds it easier to hire a foreign worker." Two new, temporary visas will replace the 457 skilled migrants visa, and will be "very different" from the one which it replaces. In addition to the visas being shorter and closed-ended, applicants will require two years of work experience, as well as a proper police check and criminal check which Turnbull said was "not the case at the moment." Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the new visas would be two and four years respectively, while they will both carry no "permanent residency outcome". "In many cases (the 457 visa) results in a migration outcome, that is, someone going into permanent residency and becoming a citizen, which is a significant attraction of the 457 visa," he told the press. "There will be no permanent residency outcome (under the new visa program)." Despite being a champion of scrapping the visa, opposition leader Bill Shorten described the changes as a simple ploy for Malcolm Turnbull to remain in the nation's top job. "Make no mistake, the only job Malcolm Turnbull cares about saving is his own," he posted on the social media. The government's announcement comes after last month's crackdown on the 457 visa. At the time, Dutton said the government would be abolishing fast-track arrangements which were allowing skilled migrants to work in fast food restaurants. MOSCOW, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Leaders of the "Normandy Four" states held a phone conversation to discuss how to settle the armed conflict in the Donbass region of east Ukraine, the Kremlin press service said on Tuesday in a statement. According to the statement, the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany reaffirmed their commitment to the Minsk agreement regarding security and political aspects of a peaceful settlement. "They welcomed the agreement on resuming the ceasefire reached at the meeting of the Contact Group on March 29 and pointed out the importance of fully implementing it," the statement said. Normandy format, also known as the Normandy contact group, is a diplomatic group of senior representatives from Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France tasked to resolve the conflict in east Ukraine between government troops and pro-independence rebels, which has claimed 10,000 lives since April 2014. The 13-point Minsk agreement, outlining the steps needed to end the conflict, was reached in February 2015 in talks involving leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France. The cease-fire pact has been consistently violated. CANBERRA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Australia's lower income earners are beginning to negatively gear investment properties, according to a KPMG report which found that more than half of all Australian households were paying no net tax. 'Negative gearing' is the term used to describe borrowing money from banks to purchase an investment such as a property, and using the gross income to cover the cost of the investment. The report, handed down by professional services company KPMG, took into account data collected over more than 20 years to 2015, and found that up to 60 percent of all Aussie households were paying no net tax as a result of negative gearing. According to the report, the figure is much higher than previous estimates, which had around 50 percent of households paying no net tax in Australia. According to KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynn, this was the result of the government not "tightening up" on measures introduced during the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2008. "This needs further review by the government as it suggests that the loosening of transfer payments after the GFC were never properly tightened up again, and it is very difficult to withdraw benefits once they have been granted," Rynne told News Corp on Tuesday. "While it is perhaps understandable that the poorest members of our society want to diversify and increase their incomes, this group is the least able to take on the financial risk associated with geared investment activity." He said with the threat of a housing market's bubble "bursting" in Australia, low income households which are negatively gearing would be most affected by the potential downturn. "It is clear from our analysis that if the bubble does burst it will not just be the better-off who will be directly affected, the poor will be too," Rynne said. The report comes just a week after the nation's Treasurer Scott Morrison said he had once again ruled out changes to the nation's negative gearing laws. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 13:54:10|Editor: MJ Video Player Close CANBERRA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- More than 1,000 U. S. Marines on Tuesday arrived in Darwin as part of a rotation of forces to be stationed in northern Australia. The 1,250 troops who arrived in the Northern Territory (NT) will soon be joined by 13 aircraft -- four tilt-rotor Osprey helicopters, five Super Cobra helicopters and four Huey helicopters -- in one of the largest deployments of U.S. forces to Australia since World War II. Commanding Officer of Marine Rotational Force Darwin, Lieutenant Colonel Brian S. Middleton told journalists on Tuesday "The aviation combat element is our most robust deployment to Darwin." "I think that the commitment that we've taken to put a task force here with a conversation to get larger over the years says that we do think this is an important region." "Being close to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, the Indo Pacific position has always been important." Middleton said the Marines would conduct "important exercises alongside with Chinese partners" and Australia. Troops from the three countries are conducting annual joint exercises codenamed Kowari since 2014. Brigadier Ben James, commander of Australia's 3,000-strong 1st brigade based in Darwin, said he looked forward to working alongside with his U.S. counterparts. "We're very much looking forward to a great six-month rotation where we can train, operate and exercise alongside with our most important ally," James said. The rotation is part of a deal struck between former U.S. President Barack Obama and former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2011. It is the first large-scale arrival of U.S. troops since the arrangement was signed, with a small number of Marines having been sent to Darwin for training since 2012. Michael Gunner, NT's chief minister, said Darwin was proud to be a defence town. "We welcome the arrival of American troops as part of our long-term partnership and friendship," Gunner told reporters on Tuesday. "They provide an important economic boost which comes at a time when many Territory businesses are doing it tough. "We first welcomed U.S. defence personnel and ships in the days following the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941." A report by Deloitte Access Economics found that the Marines would inject 3.7 million U.S. dollars into the NT economy annually. SUVA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Fiji Sugar Corporation has vowed to make sugar as iconic as Fiji's water brand by marketing the product to the East Asian market soon. Graham Clark, Sugar Corporations chief executive, said that with reforms in progress, opening up new export channels and a revamped marketing strategy was being looked at for the ailing sugar industry. Clark said they were working on a new marketing strategy which would be launched soon to boost the sugar industry, reports by state owned Fiji Broadcasting Corporation said Tuesday. Clark was appointed chief executive in February, and several major projects have been put on hold while a major review of the organisation was continuing under his leadership. Fiji's sugar industry has been declining in recent years, despite the fact that global supply of sugar does not meet rising demand, putting upward pressure on prices. File photo shows people carry the body of a victim after an explosion in Mogadishu, Somalia, April 5, 2017. (Xinhua/Faisal Isse) NAIROBI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Africa Command (Africom) on Monday denied conducting air strikes against Al-Shabaab in southwest Somalia on Saturday in which more than 100 militants including 20 commanders were killed. Africom, which has in the past conducted counter-terrorism airstrikes against the terror group in Somalia, said its most recent strike in the Horn of Africa nation was conducted in January. "The U.S. military did not conduct any kind of kinetic action in that area during the timeframe referenced. The most recent U.S. strike in Somalia was conducted in January," Africom said in a statement. According to Africom, Washington routinely works with allies and partners in coordinated efforts to address regional security and stability matters. "We appreciate the Federal Government of Somalia partnership and its support in our collective efforts to address security and stability in the region. An example of this cooperation is the recent start of a logistics training program," it said. The U.S. military said a few dozen troops from the 101st Airborne Division will conduct various security cooperation and security force assistance events in Somalia at the request of the Somalia government. "The objective of this particular train and equip mission is to improve the logistical capacity of the Somali National Army, and the focus will be on teaching basic logistics operations, which will allow Somalia forces to better fight Al-Shabaab," Africom said. The U.S. soldiers will join the small number of U.S. special operations forces already there providing counterterrorism support to local forces battling Al-Shabaab. Residents including security officers said on Saturday that the warplanes targeted the militants' hideouts in Wargaduud and El-Adde where some Kenyan soldiers were killed by the militants in January 2016. Among senior Al-Shabaab commanders killed in the Saturday's dawn attack are Abdirahman Fillow and Abdirahman Ben Dutie. The air strikes also destroyed two vehicles bound explosive devices (VBIED) at Wargaduud. Dutie is from Marehanrer Dalal section. The U.S. maintains a small force unit of about 50 troops in Somalia mainly to advise and assist Somalia and AMISOM troops battling Al-Shabaab militants. Though they are not in Somalia to conduct combat operations, when called in, their helicopters, drones and manned aircraft are available for quick reaction air strikes. File photo shows Chinese President Xi Jinping (L, front) welcomed by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe in Harare, Zimbabwe, Dec. 1, 2015. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang) HARARE, April 18 (Xinhua) -- As Zimbabwe celebrates Independence Day on April 18, China remains the country's all-weather friend and continues to give a helping hand during difficult times. The Chinese embassy in Harare is as old as Zimbabwe's independence, having opened on the same day the Union Jack was put down to symbolize the end of British rule and give way to black majority rule nearly 37 years ago. Today, relations between the two countries continue to grow on the political, economic and cultural fronts. China was one of the first countries to rally behind Zimbabwe when it issued a distress call in March for assistance following floods that left hundreds of families homeless and in need of food by donating 1 million U.S. dollars to the government on March 31. Heavy rains that were worsened by Cyclone Dineo in mid-February left 271 people dead, another 128 injured and nearly 2,000 homeless. The deaths were caused by lightning strikes, drowning and landslides, according to the Civil Protection Unit, which added that nearly 2,600 homesteads were damaged in varying degrees. The Chinese Red Cross Society also gave 50,000 dollars and the Chinese embassy and community in Zimbabwe gave another 10,000 dollars to help the flood victims. Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare Minister of Zimbabwe Prisca Mupfumira (R) shakes hands with Luo Xi, third Secretary of the Economic and Commercial Counsellors at the Embassy of China in Zimbabwe during a rice-donating signing ceremony in Harare, Zimbabwe, April 3, 2017. China donated 12,173 tonnes of rice to Zimbabwe to assist vulnerable people that were affected by drought which wreaked havoc last year. (Xinhua) On April 3, China also donated 12,000 tons of rice to assist the needy, including the victims of the recent floods. This was in addition to another 19,000 tons of rice Zimbabwe received from China in 2016 following President Mugabe's declaration of a state of disaster after an El Nino induced drought ravaged parts of the country in 2015/16. Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira, who received the latest donation, was full of praise for the Chinese government for the assistance. "Today we are witnessing another contribution from China where they are donating 12,173 tonnes of rice to Zimbabwe. We appreciate the gesture made by China," the minister said. Chinese Embassy official Luo Xi said the donation was testimony of China's commitment to maintaining strong, friendly ties with Zimbabwe. With weather conditions hovering between droughts and floods in recent years, China also came to Zimbabwe's assistance in 2014 when it donated 500,000 dollars to help flood victims in Masvingo province. Also in 2014, China and Zimbabwe signed agreements under which China would provide financial support for the development of economic enablers such as energy, roads, railways, telecommunication, agriculture and tourism. Photo taken on March 27, 2017 shows Grand Tiger pickup trucks on the production line in Harare, Zimbabwe. (Xinhua) This was followed by more signing of agreements during President Xi Jinping's visit to Zimbabwe in December 2015 where, among others, one was signed for the assembly of Chinese motor vehicles in Zimbabwe. The motor vehicle deal culminated in Chinese automotive company Beijing Automotive Group Co. Ltd (BAIC Group) forming a joint venture with two Zimbabwean companies to form Beiqi Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd which recently launched a top of the range pick-up truck - the Grand Tiger. The local partners are the government-owned Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries (which had not been operational for more than four years) and automotive and spare parts dealer Astol Motors who jointly own 49 percent of shares in the joint venture. China has over the past few years been the largest investor in Zimbabwe, injecting more than 46.5 million dollars in Foreign Direct Investment between January and November 2015. Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe Huang Ping recently outlined the projects which had recently been completed or were in progress in the country with China's assistance. Photo taken on Nov. 18, 2016 shows the International terminal of Victoria Falls in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Friday commissioned the upgraded Victoria Falls International Airport that was built with support from China. (Xinhua/Chen Yaqin) These include the new Victoria Falls International Airport which was done by China Jiangsu International and financed through a 150 million-dollar-loan from China Export Import Bank and was commissioned by Mugabe in the end of 2016. The Kariba Hydropower Expansion Project is expected to be completed in early 2018 at a cost of 355 million dollars to add 300 MW to the existing 750 MW installed capacity. "One generator is going to be put into operation by the end of this year," he said. He also said the expansion of Hwange Thermal Power Station was expected to be financed by the Chinese Eximbank while telecommunications projects were also progressing well. Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe (front C) inspects hospital equipment purchased with 100-mln-USD Chinese loan. (Xinhua) In sickness and in health, the Chinese have stuck with Zimbabwe as evidenced by the agreement by China to build a pharmaceutical warehouse in Harare. "The Harare Pharmaceutical Warehouse Project has finished the inspection work and the minute has been signed by the two sides," Huang said. China also built a 6 million dollar hospital in rural Marondera, Mashonaland East Province, under the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The 129-bed Mahusekwa Hospital, also known as the China-Zimbabwe Friendship Hospital and located about 70 km to the south of Harare, opened its doors to the public in 2013. It offers emergency treatment, x-ray, ultrasound scan, maternity and dental services as well as specialist services such as CT scan, endoscopy and orthopaedics. With a staff complement of 175 staff members including three medical doctors, the hospital is supposed to serve Marondera District which has an estimated population of around 187,000. People queue at the borehole of Nyamasota Village in Rushinga, Zimbabwe, November 3, 2016. The borehole was drilled in 2013 and has never dried up like others in the area. The Chinese government is funding the borehole project which is being implemented in three phases and targeting to drill about 500 boreholes in Zimbabwe from 2012 to 2017. (Xinhua/Chen Yaqin) However, due to the extensive and specialist health services it offers, the hospital attracts people from Harare and as far as 200 km away. China has also in recent years offered health support to Zimbabwe, including a 90 million dollar medical loan facility for the supply of medical equipment and drugs. Harare is also implementing a water and sanitation rehabilitation project to boost water supply to the city under a 144 million dollar loan facility financed by the China Eximbank. China has also built schools under FOCAC, and together with the Chinese community in Zimbabwe, given to charity. "China is a friend indeed and has helped us during our times of need," said Conrad Mashingaidze, a Zimbabwean living in Harare, who added that his aunt had benefited from a free eye cataract operation offered by visiting Chinese doctors in 2011. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 15:09:30|Editor: An Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, April 18 (Xinhua) -- China has completed the construction of a university for southeastern Cambodia's Kratie province, officials said on Tuesday, adding that the university would importantly contribute to the development of human resources in the country. Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Xiong Bo signed to deliver the University of Kratie to Cambodian Economy and Finance Minister Aun Pornmoniroth here on Tuesday after a two-year construction. Xiong said the 6,650-square-meter university consists of classes, offices, conference hall, library, laboratory, and cafeteria. "This university project is a new achievement born from the fruitful cooperation between China and Cambodia," he said. "I believe that under the support from Cambodian relevant ministries and institutions, the University of Kratie will significantly contribute to the development of human resources, the key elements for socio-economic development in Cambodia," he added. Built in the Kratie town, the university cost 12 million U.S. dollars in which 10 million U.S. dollars was the grant aid from the Chinese government and 2 million dollars was the fund from the Kratie Foundation for Higher Education Organization, said Pornmoniroth. He said that the construction of the University of Kratie was in line with the long-term vision of Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen who had determined to build "one state university in one province." "The University of Kratie is a new testament to the long-term, comprehensive, close and deep cooperation between Cambodia and China," he said. The minister added that China is still a leading development partner for Cambodia, saying that Cambodia's progress at the present happened from the great support from the government and people of China. The university is comprised of three faculties -- agronomy, agro-industry and rural talent, and two institutes of fishery study, as well as foreign languages and information technology. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 15:19:33|Editor: An Video Player Close NEW DELHI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- India's National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is all set to conduct a mock exercise on forest fires in northern state of Uttarakhand to improve its preparedness and response mechanism, officials said Tuesday. The mock drill, first of its kind, will be held on Thursday. "This exercise will be conducted on the principle of Incident Response System (IRS), which identifies stakeholders and clearly attributes roles and responsibilities to each one of them. It will enhance preparedness and ensure a swift response by reducing confusion and chaos," a government spokesman said. Senior officials from army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), forest, health, police, firefighting, civil defense, transport, electricity, public relations are participating in the exercise. The exercise according to disaster management experts would help in filling gaps, ensuring better communication and improving coordination among various stakeholder agencies during the contingency. "The mock exercise will be part of a three-day event which will begin with a co-ordination conference today followed by a table-top exercise on Wednesday," the spokesman said. "Officials from other districts will attend these preparatory meetings through videoconferencing from Dehradun city, the capital of Uttarakhand," he added. Currently Indian officials are struggling hard to contain a forest fire near Mount Abu in western state of Rajasthan. The authorities have sought help from the India army whose choppers fitted with bambi-buckets take regular sorties and sprinkling water in the affected areas to douse the ranging flames. Last year a massive forest fire killed seven people in Uttarakhand and damaged huge stretches of forest cover in the state. Officials said the exercise would also generate awareness among the local population about the precautions to be followed to prevent and respond to a forest fires. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 15:34:37|Editor: An Video Player Close TEHRAN, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani hailed the "might, sacrifice" and achievements of the army in the past few years as the country celebrated the national Army Day on Tuesday. Addressing a ceremony to mark the event, Rouhani said that the Iranian armed forces have made considerable progress in the acquisition of the defensive technology over the past years. He also referred to the delivery of the S-300 missile shield by Russia to Iran in the past year, saying that his administration is honored to equip the army with one of the important defensive machines. To secure its territory, Iran will increase its deterrent power, he said, adding that Iran's neighbors should be assured that the defensive power of Iran is not a threat to them. Different units of Iranian Army staged parades in the ceremony to show the latest Iranian military achievements, especially those in missile technology. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 15:34:38|Editor: An Video Player Close by Xinhua writers Zhang Guoying, Jia Anping and Xia Lin LIMA, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Through eight years of hard work, a large-scale property constructor from China has gained strong foothold in Peru, with new contracts rolling in, on the basis of its well-received finished projects. "The apartment for us, me and my husband, is comfortable. It is spacious and very safe," said Cristina Gamarra, a local in Lima who had just moved into a 20-storey apartment completed by the Yanjian Group from eastern China's Shandong province. The two high-rising commercial estates in the Jesus Maria District in the capital are the latest project that Yanjian has fulfilled since its entrance into the South American country in 2009. They did a good job for the district, said Miguel Aldaba, local administrator for the project. "So far we have not found any problem with water. The structure and design perpetually keep the water out," he added, referring to the wet weather in Lima. EXEMPLARY PROJECTS Yanjian started exploring the Peruvian market in September 2009 with a refurbishing project of the state-owned Loayza Hospital in downtown Lima, a contract the company gained from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce. Founded in 1924, Loayza has well-established reputation among patients, but its service has been compromised by the dilapidated infrastructure. Yanjian, a construction company with a history of 65 years, came to wield its wrists on the field, transforming the hospital's dining hall into an over 4,200-square-meter modern facility providing comprehensive treatment. It took only a little more than a year for Yanjian to finish the work. "With 65-year-long construction experience and consideration of the local demands, we pay much attention to the details of design and building to meet as many requirements as possible," General Manager of Yanjian Peru Wang Shuwei told Xinhua. Another landmark project completed by Yanjian is the China-Peru Friendship Hall, which was built to honor the long-standing relations between the two countries. "A lot of work has been done. It is coordinated, because Andrew (the Spanish name of Wang Shuwei) is a person who has had a very strong collaborating team," local engineer Armando Ramos told Xinhua. In 2015, Yanjian undertook the construction of Jose Maria Arguedas Primary School, a project that won the hearts of the parents of the school children in suburban Lima as the school helps sustain their children's education. Cracking difficulties like shortage of water and blocking hills and slopes, Yanjian completed the building process half a year ahead of the schedule. "The core demand and urgent nature for real estate building is perfect management. A stable structure needs to be guaranteed by harmonizing beams and columns to endure earthquakes and other occurrences," said Pedro Ortiz, one of Yanjian's local staff. FROM TRAILBLAZER TO MARKET WINNER For house building in Peru, quake resistance and water proof are the peculiar demands. To meet the target, Yanjian has paid much attention to the structure design, material selection, function consideration and construction management, which result in high quality building and win deep trust from the Peruvian government and local people. In February, the group won a bid to build a national emergency response center in Lima, which claims over 8,800-square-meter land with a command headquarters and a stimulation facility. Local employees are happy to see their Chinese employer prosper in Peru through hard work and quality service, for they have also benefited a lot from Yanjian's growth. "From its very beginning, I became involved (with Yanjian) in building houses ... As I have been developing my career, I grow interested in construction, a beautiful career to follow," said Ortiz. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 15:49:43|Editor: ZD Mahdzir Khalid, Malaysia's education minister (3rd L) and Goh Hin San, president of Malaysia Han Culture Center (2nd R) present a Chinese book during a ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 18, 2017. Nine Chinese literature works will be translated into Malay, thanks to an agreement signed on Tuesday between a Chinese publishing house and two Malaysian organizations. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung) KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Nine Chinese literature works will be translated into Malay, thanks to an agreement signed on Tuesday between a Chinese publishing house and two Malaysian organizations. The translation work, authorized by China's Zhejiang Publishing United group, will be carried out by Malaysian Institute of Translation and Books and Malaysia Han Culture Center (MHCC). The nine books include "Decoded," a cryptography novel by Chinese writer Mai Jia, "Deam of the Wolf King," a novel by Shen Shixi, which depicts how a female wolf tries to train her children to become wolf kings and "The common sense about Chinese brush," a book about Chinese calligraphy. Mahdzir Khalid, Malaysia's education minister, when attending the signing ceremony, said he hoped the Malay-version of Chinese literature can better help the Malaysian people understand China and the Chinese culture. Goh Hin San, president of MHCC, said the nine translation works will only be the first phase of a grander project initiated by China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television to promote Chinese literature under the Belt and Road Initiative. It is of great significance for the promotion of Chinese culture overseas, said Goh. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 15:49:44|Editor: An Video Player Close by Xinhua Writer Yuan Quan BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Many Chinese would think nothing of spending 200 yuan (29 US dollars) on a big meal or watching a Hollywood blockbuster. But would they pay so much for a kite - often seen as little more than a children's toy? Liu Bin, 40, wants to change that perception. He owns a small kite shop in downtown Beijing's Di'anmen Street. It is decorated with distinctive kites, mainly in the shapes of swallows, goldfish, the legendary Lord Rabbit, dragons, the Monkey King, and Peking Opera masks. Some are tiny enough to fit in the palm of your hand, while others cover an entire wall. Most are handmade and they all sell for more than 200 yuan, about ten times of the price of his online rivals. More expensive kites could cost tens of thousands yuan. Liu says his kites deserve their high price tags: "A kite is more than a flying toy. It is made with rich Chinese culture and a craftsman's wisdom." Kite flying has a history of more than 2,000 years in China. It is thought to have begun as a means to pass military information in war, and gradually became a popular folk pastime in spring. In ancient times, people wrote down their sufferings on kites. When the kites flew very high, they would cut the lines, hoping their misfortunes would also disappear. Unlike mass-produced kites made of umbrella cloth and carbon fiber, a Chinese craftsman usually makes a frame of bamboo, which needs cutting and trimming, and then paints the sails in traditional Chinese styles. He then ties the kite to the reel and flies it. It is a very laborious process. Liu says a kite usually takes 20 days to make. Liu's great-grandfather was a craftsman serving in the Forbidden City in the late Qing Dynasty. He was in charge of making lanterns, fans and kites. He had mastered kite-making skills passed down through the ages in the imperial palace. In the turbulent years following the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, kite flying lost its popular appeal. To support his big family, his great grandfather opened a dumpling shop in suburban Beijing, and made kites in his spare time. Liu's grandfather and father inherited the art of kite-making, but it was impossible to subsist on the craft alone. Regrettably, many of the drafts, drawings, samples and records of kites failed to survive the "Cultural Revolution". Liu recalls the day his grandfather flew a dragon kite train on Tian'anmen Square in 1982. It was 130-meters-long, comprising a dragon head and 270 similar kite sections to form the body. Liu Bin, then 5, watched as people thronged to the square, cheering the flying "dragon". Fascinated by the craft, Liu assembled his first kite at age 10. His parents found he had a flair for designing and crafting kites, so they decided to cultivate him as an inheritor. After graduating from university with a major in graphic arts, Liu began his career in kites, while most of his schoolmates were employed to design "bigger things". "I felt ashamed at first," Liu recalls. But he dared not refuse his family. In 2003, he began running a kite shop, and studied with master kite makers to upgrade his skills. Liu has seen a growing revival of interest in kites. His business began thriving after a swallow kite in 2005 was designed to be one of the five Beijing Olympic mascots - the Fuwa Nini. Swallows are migratory birds that arrive every spring in Beijing and fly south to winter. In Chinese folk lore, it is a sign of good fortune when a swallow makes a nest in one's house. Kites brought Liu good fortune. In 2008, sales could reach 100,000 yuan a month. Media, including the Lonely Planet tour guide, and tourists flocked to his shop, as did visiting foreign leaders. He became a cultural ambassador, frequently being invited to talk about the craft abroad. "In the West, kite flying is usually seen as a sport, so foreigners are very surprised to see Chinese kites, which have clever designs, exquisite craftsmanship and pretty paintings," Liu says. "I tell them that kites carry people's best wishes. For example, a bat represents luck; a fish means abundance; and a peach is a symbol of longevity in Chinese culture, so it is a good gift for older generations." His favorite work was the "Ballet Dancer". In 2011, China's Central Ballet Troupe invited him to make a kite to commemorate their Nutcracker performance. Liu designed a dozen models over a year, and a Ballet Dancer was eventually chosen. He painted a blue and white porcelain pattern on it, and formed it in the shape of a swallow whose tail mimics the toes of a ballet dancer. Since then, Liu has been inspired to combine more traditional cultural elements into his works, such as the Dunhuang frescos, woodcut prints, and Tibetan thangka paintings. "I want to elevate the kite from a toy to a work of art," he says. Liu has striven to combine traditional craftsmanship with modern technology. An enthusiast of digital tools, he has used computers and 3D printers to replace traditional manual design. The use of new technologies enables him to paint faster than previous generations did. "They were shocked," says Liu with a proud smile. In 2011, Liu was nominated as the representative of the craft by Beijing's Xicheng District Government. But he feels alone now. He is known as "the last master of handmade kites in Beijing". The craft has been verging on extinction amid China's modernization. Liu says villages in the countryside around Beijing and Tianjin used to be teeming with handmade kites. "Almost every household was involved in making kites." But inhabitants now flock to the cities for work. Kite prices keep falling. Many are made of low-quality materials and by machines. Flying kite is also more difficult in Beijing. Severe air pollution and airspace control have scared people away. Now, he spends most of his time giving classes on kite making to young people. He says it boosts his income and enables more people enjoy the craft. Liu describes kites as the love of his life, despite the difficulties they entail. "It's been 15 years since I took up the trade. I think I cannot let the kite go." TOKYO, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Ministry of Defense said Tuesday it was launching an initiative to attract more female personnel to join and serve alongside their male counterparts in the Self-Defense Forces as part of a broader governmental push to address gender disparity in the workforce. At a press briefing on the matter, Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said the initiative was aimed at making the Self-Defense Forces an attractive organization that was "adaptable to the times and environment." According to the Defense Ministry, the number of females currently playing an active role within Japan's Self-Defense Forces is lower than in other major industrialized countries. The latest move will allow women to be hired for all positions in the Ground, Air and Maritime Self-Defense Forces, including in infantry and tank units and others that might involve direct combat, the ministry said. The latest move by the ministry lifts the last of the restrictions since a gradual easing from 1993, with females currently allowed to serve on Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers and in Air Self-Defense Force fighters. The only restrictions that would apply, the ministry said, would be in cases where maternal protection would be necessary, such as in instances where certain SDF units face radiation hazards, and in cases where limited space would impinge on women's privacy. The ministry has set a target of around 12 percent of its personnel being female within an unspecified time-frame, which would be double the current number of serving female SDF personnel. Currently there are around 14,000 females serving in the SDF, which accounts for just over 6 percent. The ministry is also planning to reduce the number of female personnel leaving the SDF mid-career to raise children or fulfill other family obligations such as transferring overseas with spouses. MANILA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 24 people were killed and many injured after a passenger bus plunged into a deep ravine in northern Philippines on Tuesday, police and local media reports said. Police said the bus, carrying more than 50 passengers, crashed around 11 a.m. local time in Capintalan village in Carranglan town in Nueva Ecjia province, north of Manila. The bus was reportedly headed to Ilocos Sur province when it fell into a 90-feet deep ravine, the police said. Quoting witnesses, police said the bus was over-speeding when the accident happened. Some passengers were rescued alive from the crash site and sent to a nearby hospital in Bambang town in Nueva Vizcaya but some reportedly died while being treated. The crash site is an accident-prone area. Last year, at least five people were also killed and scores hurt when a bus fell into a ravine in that part of the main highway. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 16:50:17|Editor: An Video Player Close HANOI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- China was the key market for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables in the first quarter (Q1) of 2017 while consuming over 73 percent of the country's exported item, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on Tuesday. In the Q1, Vietnam's vegetable and fruit exports experienced a year-on-year increase of 29.8 percent to hit 700.6 million U.S. dollars. After China, the United States, Japan and South Korea were also main importers of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, with 3.54 percent, 3.01 percent and 2.99 percent of the export revenue, respectively. Notably, despite being one of the four main bowl of fruits and vegetables in the Southeast Asian region, Thailand still sat fourth among major markets of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, as importing 14.7 million U.S. dollars worth of the item, up 34 percent year-on-year, said the MARD. In 2016, the country earned 2.4 billion U.S. dollars from exporting of vegetables and fruit, up 31.2 percent year-on-year, surpassing that of rice for the first time. Vietnamese fruits and vegetables have been present in over 60 countries and regions worldwide. In 2017, Vietnam targeted to pocket some three billion U.S. dollars from exports of the item, up 25 percent compared to last year. According to Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association (Vinafruit), there are many things that need to be done to realize the target, including improvement in supply of clean, high-quality and high-productivity seeding source, promoting training for safe vegetable-fruit production process among local farmers, and further investment in post-harvest and processing periods. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 17:00:22|Editor: An Video Player Close HONG KONG, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Disneyland Resort will open its third hotel on April 30, with the theme of exploration and adventure, the park said here Tuesday. Named Disney Explorer Lodge, the 750-room hotel will enable the guests to explore landscapes, art and cultures across Asia, South America, Africa and Oceania. With its exotic theme and immersive storytelling, the new hotel will be an ideal getaway destination for local and other guests, Terruce Wang, vice president of sales and hotel operations at the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort told media during a preview tour. More than 1000 artifacts that explorers collected from around the world like Bali, Papua New Guinea, Costa Rica, Bolivia and more are displayed throughout the hotel, said Todd Richins, senior program manager at the Walt Disney Imagineering. Opened in 2005 in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Disneyland Resort currently operates two hotels. One has Victorian-style elegance, and the other is marked by Hollywood art deco architecture. With the addition of the new 750 rooms, the park now has a grand total of 1,750 hotel rooms. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 17:15:27|Editor: An Video Player Close KABUL, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Afghan First Lady Rula Ghani on Tuesday called for protecting Afghan girls against child marriage, noting that forced marriage affects physical health of young girls and robs them of their childhood and future. "Child marriage is a depressing phenomenon for the young generation of Afghanistan and it is a national responsibility to stop the menace," she told audience in an event held in Afghan Media and Information Center. The event marked the launch of "National Action Plan to Eliminate Early and Child Marriage" by Afghan ministries of Women's Affairs and Information and Culture, and supported by the Embassy of Canada in Afghanistan and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). "I urge all Afghan families to avoid child marriage and forced marriage. Your girls face a huge risk when they get married at young age. Early marriage robs them of their childhood and future opportunities." she added. She noted that getting married in an appropriate age reduces girls' risk for physical, sexual, psychological as well as economic abuse. "A girl, who is below 18 is capable of rapidly gaining wisdom and knowledge from the people around her," said Bannet Ndyanabangi, UNFPA country representative at the event. "She can be, one day, an inspiring leader, a productive worker, an innovator, a caring parent or take any other role that empowers a society. She can shape that future of her society. But all of this depend on how we support her today," said Ndyanabangi. The plan of action adopts two approaches, it outlines initiatives designed to prevent and end early and child marriage and it strives to improve the implementation of laws and services which aim to support people at risk of early and child marriage, according to a statement issued by UNFPA. Girls aged 15 to 19 who experience pregnancy and childbirth are twice as likely to die of related complications as women aged 20 to 24 years, according to UNICEF. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 17:15:28|Editor: An Video Player Close NEW DELHI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- India and the United States Tuesday held National Security Advisor-level talks on counter-terrorism and strategic cooperation in New Delhi. Sources said that visiting U.S. National Security Adviser (NSA) Herbert Raymond McMaster held discussions with his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval, after calling on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the morning. "The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counter-terrorism cooperation," the U.S. Embassy said in a release to the media. "NSA McMaster emphasized the importance of the U.S.-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed India's designation as a Major Defence Partner," the statement said, adding that the meetings were "productive." McMaster arrived in New Delhi after visiting Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he held extensive talks with the political leadership. "The U.S. hopes Pakistani leaders will understand that it is in their interest to go after terrorist groups less selectively than they have in the past," he said in an interview to Afghan TV channel ToloNews in Kabul. McMaster's visit is the first by a top member of Donald Trump's administration to South Asia. Last month, Doval visited the U.S., where besides McMaster, he met American Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly. HANOI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is hosting the 10th Asia-Pacific Cooperative Ministers' Conference in its capital Hanoi from April 18-21, according to Vietnam Cooperative Alliance (VCA) on Tuesday. The conference attracted over 500 participants from Vietnamese authorities and agencies as well as international cooperatives and organizations, reported local Nhan Dan (People) newspaper. According to the host's Deputy State President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh, Vietnam has more than 150,000 cooperative groups, 20,000 cooperatives and 50 cooperative unions with nearly 30 million members working on a wide range of economic sectors such as agriculture, transport, construction and trade. The cooperative economy has played a vital role in Vietnam's poverty reducing, new rural construction and environment protecting activities, said Thinh. Being held in Vietnam for the first time under the theme of "Vision toward 2020: Enhancing further cooperation between governments and cooperatives," the conference provides chances for countries to discuss key issues including food security and sustainable agriculture development, participation in the global value chain and economic integration, among others. This year's conference will help specify countries' measure to achieve the UNDP's 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, Nhan Dan quoted Chairman of VCA Vo Kim Cu as saying. The previous Asia-Pacific Cooperative Ministers' Conference was hosted by Thailand on February 27-29 in 2012. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 17:50:41|Editor: An Video Player Close GAZA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A senior Hamas leader slammed Tuesday the threatening measures that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is intending to carry out to end ten years of Hamas rule of the Gaza Strip. Last week, Abbas announced that there will be soon "unprecedented measures" to be carried out in the Gaza Strip aiming at ending Hamas rule of the Gaza Strip that began when the Islamic movement violently seized control of Gaza in 2007. Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayyah told a news conference that neither his movement nor other Palestinian factions and powers as well as the populations of the coastal enclave would accept these threats that mount their daily life suffering and poverty. "Abbas is punishing the poor Gaza Strip populations by cutting the employees' salaries, imposing high taxations on the fuels that operate Gaza power station and cutting the aid to the families of the martyrs," said al-Hayyah. Internal division between Hamas and Abbas and his Fatah Party on the other have been unresolved since 2007. Hamas accused Abbas and the consensus government for neglecting and fighting Gaza instead of standing to its side. "Gaza and Hamas can never be threatened or terrified; we were not afraid when we were under the threats of missiles during the previous wars waged on Gaza and we tell Abbas that your threats won't terrify or frighten us," said al-Hayyah. Several governments were formed in accordance between the two rivals. However, feuds and disputes between them went on and the two sides kept trading accusations over who is responsible for the severe humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Al-Hayyah announced that his government had formed a committee one year ago and called it "the committee to rule Gaza Strip's daily affairs" "after Abbas and the consensus government turned their backs to the Gaza Strip." "They cut off 30 percent of the employees salaries, they insisted to impose high taxations on fuels and deprived 400 families of receiving humanitarian aid, so we formed the committee," said al-Hayyah. However, he said "Although we formed the committee to run Gaza affairs, we tell the consensus government of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, come and rule the Gaza Strip, we are ready to handover the Gaza Strip to this government." "When this government and its ministries come to Gaza and takeover all ministries, then the committee that Hamas had formed will automatically dismantled," said al-Hayyah. Meanwhile, he announced that his movement accepted the Qatari initiative and accepts holding the parliamentary and presidential elections, adding "let's go for general elections within three months from now." MOGADISHU, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations and international community have backed Somalia's government and the federal member states for agreeing to jointly fight insecurity, drought and corruption. In a joint statement released on Monday night in Mogadishu, the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, the AMISOM, the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and other partners lauded the political process the leaders achieved during their consultations in Mogadishu. Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia Michael Keating welcomed in particular the agreement reached on the key points of Somali national security architecture. "This agreement marks a major milestone for Somalia. It is a cornerstone of the federal state building process and is a basis upon which strengthened security can be built," Keating said. He said the National Security Council chaired by the president, whose members include regional leaders, will now have a critical role in driving progress. Keating said the international community is committed to supporting the government's priorities including drought response and recovery, increasing revenues and fighting corruption, and a comprehensive approach to security. During two-day consultations which ended in Mogadishu on Sunday, led by Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and other senior officials, the political leaders agreed to aid Somalia avert a potential famine. The leaders expressed concern over the deteriorating situation of the drought, which has affected the lives of many people and livestock and caused extensive displacement. "The leaders collectively appreciated the rescue efforts spearheaded by Somali citizens, both in national and international levels and as well the international community," the leaders said in a joint statement. The leaders recognize the urgent need for strengthening the efforts to save the lives of the needy, and have agreed upon that a clear plan to avoid repeated drought is needed. The leaders also agreed upon that the plan for the election process in the year 2020, and that it should be started soon and accelerated. "The leaders agreed on enhancing the country's economy, income, job creation, encouraging investment and trade and as well the development of the country's economic infrastructure," they said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 18:00:44|Editor: Tian Shaohui Video Player Close By Pei Jianrong and Edna Alcantara MEXICO CITY, April 17 (Xinhua) -- Mexico and China should work together to achieve shared economic and technological development, especially in the realm of industrial cooperation, said entrepreneur and career diplomat, Sergio Ley Lopez. Ley Lopez, former Mexican Ambassador to China (2001-2007), told Xinhua in a recent interview that beyond being Mexico's second-largest trading partner, China should begin financing more ambitious, mutually beneficial projects in the future. The former diplomat believed that while China could transfer some of its manufacturing industries to a number of places in Asia and Latin America, Mexico "is the country with the industrial infrastructure China needs." "Mexico offers the best perspectives, as it is the most industrialized country in all of Latin America," Ley Lopez told Xinhua at his home in Mexico City. The former ambassador, who is also president of the Business Section for Asia and Oceania of the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology (COMCE), recognized that a severe error made in the past was to suggest a commercial rivalry between Mexico and China. In his opinion, it only served to "wear us out in a competition that took us nowhere" and he suggests an alliance in favor of common development instead. "In reality, China was never our competitor. What we should have done is to unite," said Ley Lopez, citing the example of the Brazilian footwear industry which allied itself with China, instead of competing with it. He cited industries such as automotive, electronics, and aerospace as examples where collaboration could favorably impact the region. "Mexico offers great options for Chinese industry. We have infrastructure, highly qualified personnel and raw material suppliers," said the former ambassador. One example of such collaboration has been seen with the arrival of Chinese car maker JAC Motors, which is assembling two types of SUVs in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. For Ley Lopez, despite their distance, both countries have a broad commercial, cultural, social and migratory relationship, which began with the journeys of the Manila Galleons, which have carried Chinese goods between the Philippines and Mexico since the 16th century. Today, he sees the relationship being strengthened through trade agreements, state visits, cultural exchanges and increasing tourism. Ley Lopez pointed out that China Southern Airlines recently began a flight between Guangzhou and Mexico City, joining an existing Aeromexico connection between Shanghai and Mexico City. "The flight gave me a very positive impression. It struck me as a messenger of peace, a messenger of understanding, a highly important link between our two countries," he said. "I also feel it is a bridge for us to get on better, to better communicate." Ley Lopez also noted that "Mexico fortunately has many projects for which China has excellent experiences such as infrastructure construction." He added that such projects could involve the expansion or renovation of ports, highways, airports and railways for persons and cargo. Finally, Ley Lopez recognized that Chinese companies will continue to invest more in Mexico and other Latin American countries as its experience and trust in the region grows. According to Mexican Minister of Economy Jose Antonio Meade, Chinese companies invested around 421 million U.S. dollars in Mexico from 1999 to 2016. However, Ley Lopez believed that it may just be the beginning. LONDON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday called an early general election on June 8, nearly one month after she officially triggered the Brexit process. The surprise move came as May made a statement in Downing Street immediately after a meeting of her Cabinet. "It is in the national interest," she said. May had once ruled out the possibility that a snap election would be called before 2020. WINDHOEK, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Namibia will host its annual Crayfish Festival from April 27 to May 1 at the coastal town of Luderitz. The annual festival holds a significant place in the country's fishing industry and since its inception in 2008, has grown from strength to strength, cementing the quiet coastal town as a sought-after destination for both domestic and international tourists. Standard Bank Namibia, one of the sponsors on Monday in a statement said the Crayfish Festival, coupled with other developments such as Luderitz Waterfront and the 1.12 million U.S. dollars seal processing factory has ensured that the diamond town is well on its way to economic prosperity for its over 20,000 inhabitants. "Namibia is our home, we drive her growth and therefore as a bank we are fully committed to developing the vibrant business sector and the region as a whole," the bank added. Meanwhile, tourists and Namibian from all four corners of the country are being urged to support and attend the festival. by Chrispinus Omar NAIROBI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's business environment is set to change radically with the expected launch of the first phase of the Chinese-funded Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in June and the opening of the first berth at the second port of Lamu in 2018, a Kenyan investment official has said. Kenya Investment Authority (Ken-Invest) CEO Moses Ikiara said Kenya was gearing up for the arrival of mega-investors, including an auto company that hopes to set up an operating hub in Nairobi. "These are indeed very exciting times for our country," Ikiara told Xinhua in an interview, without naming the company due to regulatory procedures. Ikiara said with the first berth at the second port of Lamu ready for use in 2018 and the government still working towards a preferential arrangement for large investors seeking to use Kenya as a regional manufacturing hub, the investment body was under pressure to improve services. The Kenyan government released a draft Kenya Investment Policy for March for public scrutiny on April 3, promising to create a single stop for all investors. "We hope to have established the one stop Kenya investment Centre by end of April. The government has already done the nominations for 11 key institutions which would form part of our investment interactions," Ikiara said. According to the official, the completion of the China-funded railway project would ease the flow of freight from the port of Mombasa to the manufacturing hubs. The added advantage in logistics would enable companies operating in the country to produce at more affordable costs. "We have managed to reduce the amount of time a container used to cross from the port of Mombasa from 24 days to just six days. We hope to do even better from June when the SGR project becomes operational," Ikiara said. Kenya hopes the completion of the first phase of the SGR, which would greatly increase the speed at which freight moves, would cut the cost of freight transportation by a massive 40 percent, Ikiara said. "We are discussing a range of issues to improve our investment climate. We are contemplating reducing the minimum capital requirement for local investors. This will encourage more local investors to come on board," Ikiara said. Kenyan officials readily admit that the high cost of energy and the lack of preferential arrangements have made it more difficult for Kenya to compete for large investors. Kenya has lowered the cost of electricity for large-scale investors from a high of 0.16 U.S. dollars per kilowatt hour to 0.12 dollars with plans to further cut the price to just 0.7 dollars. Meanwhile, Kenya is progressing with efforts to implement its grand vision of setting up Special Economic Zones. The government is expected to soon announce the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer of the Special Economic Zones, a new industrial park which would help advance manufacturing. With the new measures announced, Ikiara said the East African nation believes its ranking on the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Survey would improve from 114, but only if further measures are also in place to ease the doing business environment for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Under the new arrangements, Kenya plans to increase the level of private investment in relation to the GDP to 24 percent in 2020 and to 32 percent by 2030. The government also hopes to increase the level of manufactured products locally to 20 percent of the GDP. These measures would help the country achieve its dream of a regional manufacturing hub, soon to be supported by an upcoming oil and gas industry, according to government officials. "We want market entry to be easy and transparent. We are working on good logic and a series of incentives which would be based on conditions being met by foreign investors, such bigger tax incentives to foreign investors with bigger local investment partners," Ikiara said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 18:46:02|Editor: Tian Shaohui Video Player Close Chairman of Nokia Risto Siilasmaa poses for a picture during an interview with Xinhua News Agency at the Nokia's headquarters in Espoo, Finland, on April 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Xuan) HELSINKI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Among a series of signed documents witnessed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto at the Presidential Palace here in early April, the innovation partnership impressed Nokia's head Risto Siilasmaa the most. As agreed by the representatives of the two countries, a Finno-Sino innovation council is to be established to guide and promote business cooperation on innovation, explore new ways and provide policy advices. The new platform is considered part of the future-oriented new-type cooperative partnership between Finland and China. As Chairman of Nokia, the Finnish IT giant, Siilasmaa has been nominated to chair the Finnish team within the council. "Both countries will nominate key players from the industry, and I hope very much I would get some of my old friends from the Chinese technology companies to join on the other side," Siilasmaa said in a recent interview with Xinhua. While the list of members of the Chinese side has not been disclosed, Siilasmaa named as hopefuls Jack Ma, Pony Ma, Lei Jun, Robin Li, respectively head of Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi and Baidu. Siilasmaa has sat on the same panel discussions and in the same advisory boards with the above figures and he expects to continue working with them in the new framework. "We are committed to working very hard on finding some innovative ways for the two countries to achieve our common goals together," said Siilasmaa. Asked to speak about the shared goals, he said "we have certain challenges that all the humanity faces." No further details have been published by either of the two governments over the new structure so far. Siilasmaa echos President Xi's call on many occasions for embracing "a human community with shared destiny." "We are moving towards a world that would be even smaller. So we truly have to figure out the way for all of us to live together and support each other," said Siilasmaa. Chinese Ambassador to Finland Chen Li earlier spoke highly of Finnish expertise on bio-energy and green economy. He said Chinese and Finnish economies are highly complementary and there are huge potentials in business cooperation. Siilasmaa believes the newly-confirmed bilateral partnership will benefit Finnish side more. "Finland being a fairly small country, there is a much bigger opportunity for this partnership to have an impact on Finland than on China," he told Xinhua. "Finnish companies are very good in certain areas, on certain narrow but very deep fields, and in those areas we definitely can have an impact on China as well," he said. Siilasmaa appreciated the fact that President Xi praised the Finnish spirit of "sisu" -- a Finnish term meaning persistence in time of hardship. Xi made the comment in his article published by Helsinki Times ahead of his visit to Finland on April 4. Siilasmaa said he was happy to find similar words in Chinese proverbs as well. He has been learning the Chinese language, history and culture for years, and he believes it is a sign to show respect and a way of building trust in global business management. He disclosed that Nokia China is under discussion with a Chinese investor to turn the Finnish subsidiary company into a joint venture. European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini arrives for the EU spring summit in Brussels, Belgium, on March 9, 2017. (Xinhua/Gong Bing) BRUSSELS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The cooperation between the European Union (EU) and China has never been so important in a moment when multilateral global governance is open to doubt, EU's High Representative for Foreign affairs and Security Policy and European Commission Vice Presdent Federica Mogherini told Xinhua in an exclusive written interview ahead of her visit to China. China will be Mogherini's first stop of her seven-day diplomatic trip kicking off from April 18, followed by India and Russia. In China, Mogherini will co-chair the 7th EU-China Strategic Dialogue with Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi on April 19, in order to lay the groundwork for the 19th EU-China Summit in Brussels scheduled for June. "The European Union and China share the view of a global order based on multilateralism and on the UN system: our cooperation has never been so important, in a moment when multilateral global governance is put in question from many sides," Mogherini said. She underscored that a greater engagement from China in world affairs can "open so many opportunities, on so many issues of common interest," noting that a Chinese special envoy attended the international conference on supporting the future of Syria and the region earlier this month, and praising China's crucial role in the Afghanistan peace process. "I know there are people in the world who have concerns about a more confident and outward-looking China. I don't share this view," she said, adding, "China can play a very positive role on so many fields, from Afghanistan to Syria, and we Europeans are ready to step up our cooperation in all these fields." Even in the area of defence, Mogherini also saw deepened cooperation between the EU and China. "One example that comes to mind is that our respective military commanders in Mali and Somalia have identified possibilities for cooperation on capacity-building support." She also expressed hope that the EU and China can achieve progress regarding the Korean Peninsula issue. With the 19th EU-China Summit on the horizon, the EU foreign policy chief said it will be another opportunity to deepen not only bilateral cooperation, but also common work for a more cooperative global order. "We hope that the Summit will register progress on the investment agreement, adopt an ambitious statement on climate change and clean energy and agree joint connectivity projects," she said. "If we act together, we can be an irresistible force for a free and fair trade, for multilateralism and sustainable development," she added. She also resonated with the concept of "a community of common destiny for mankind" put forth by Chinese leaders, saying she very much shared what she thought the core of the vision: the quest for mutually beneficial solutions among equal partners. "This means promoting multilateralism and the importance of the United Nations, committing to a free and fair trade, and promoting a more sustainable development, with more equality inside our countries and among countries," she said. "We also have an interest, or I would rather say a duty and a responsibility, to work together to tackle climate change and implement the Paris agreement. " she added. Admitting that there are differences between the two sides, Mogherini underscored it is in both sides' interests to overcome differences and "isolation is not the answer to any of the problems of our times." "China is a country with the size of a continent: it only makes sense that you look for interlocutors of your size," Mogherini said. "It is essential that Europe and China continue to make the case for a fair and open international system," she said. " We must demonstrate with real action that we stand on the side of cooperation, of engagement, of strong and just global rules." Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 19:31:22|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to media outside 10 Downing Street as she calls a snap general election in London, Britain, on April 18, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election on June 8 in what was a shock and unexpected announcement from outside 10 Downing Street. (Xinhua) LONDON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election on June 8 in what was a shock and unexpected announcement from outside 10 Downing Street. She cited disharmony and divisions in the Houses of Parliament over Brexit as the reason for calling an election. May spoke of opposition parties, particularly Labour and the Liberal Democrats, threatening to block the Brexit process. "The country is coming together, Westminster is not," said May in her statement. May said the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to "hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I must take." "In recent weeks Labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European Union. "The Liberal Democrats said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill. "The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union. "And un-elected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way. "If we do not hold a general election now, their political game playing will continue." "Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit," said May. May concluded her statement saying it was with reluctance that she reached her decision, adding: "It is with strong conviction that I believe it is necessary to secure a strong and stable leadership this country needs." May will go to the House of Commons Tuesday to lay down the necessary legislation for the calling of an early general election. Under existing law, an election was not due until May 2020, and until today May has insisted she will not call an early election. The move will require a vote with a two-thirds majority of MPs supporting the measure. She said her cabinet members had agreed with her decision at a meeting she chaired at Number 10 immediately before her announcement. Although among British people, May has a high rating as prime minister, she only has a small majority in the House of Commons. Political observers say May wants to settle once and for all the question of Brexit by going to the country. Her hope is that the voters of Britain will give her a much bigger mandate by increasing her majority in the House of Commons as she holds Brexit negotiations with the European Union. Even seasoned political commentators were taken by surprise at the announcement which came completely out of the blue. The main opposition Labour Party is still in a state of civil war under its leader Jeremy Corbyn who remains estranged from many of his own MPs. Corbyn and the leader of the minority Liberal Democrats Tim Farron both welcomed May's decision to call a general election. Both said they will back the measure in the House of Commons on Tuesday. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 19:41:28|Editor: An Video Player Close SHIJIAZHUANG, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Chang Xiaobing, former chairman of China Telecom, went on trial for accepting bribes on Tuesday. Prosecutors accused Chang of accepting money and valuables worth more than 3.76 million yuan (550,000 U.S. dollars) between 1998 and 2014 when he served as a telecom official and chairman of China Unicom. Chang took advantage of his positions during the period to seek benefits for others in terms of contracting projects and purchases of equipment, according to prosecutors. China Unicom and China Telecom are two of China's top three telecom service providers. The case was tried at the Intermediate People's Court of Baoding City in north China's Hebei Province. Chang confessed to his crimes during the trial, according to the court. The verdict will be announced at another date. The CPC discipline inspection agency announced in July that Chang had been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office for a catalog of offenses ranging from accepting bribes to ignoring frugality rules. File photo shows Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) beef up security at Adar oilfield, South Sudan, March 21, 2017. (Xinhua/Gale Julius) JUBA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese rebel factions on Tuesday called on the international community to investigate what they term as targeted killings along ethnic lines nearing genocide in the war-torn country. The SPLA-in opposition (SPLA-IO), Sudan Peoples' Liberation Movement - Former Detainees (FDs), National Democratic Movement (NDM), People's Democratic Movement (PDM), South Sudan National Movement for Change (SSNMC) and National Salvation Front (NAS) said in a joint statement that genocide was being orchestrated by the government as the region and international community kept quiet. "We urge the region and the international community to urgently investigate, document, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of recent genocide in Wanduruba, Yei, Lainya, Pajok and Kajokeji in Equatoria, Wau in Bahr el-Ghazal, and in all of Upper Nile before appropriate courts or tribunals," they said. "As this murderous campaign unfolds, the region and the broader international community, for the most part, has stood by, excused the aggressor and justified the inaction of the world on the intransigence of the perpetrator," they added. The rebels also said the tribal killings underway were reminiscent of the December 2013 fighting that resulted into the killings of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic people, to which former Vice President Riek Machar and President Salva Kiir belong respectively. However, President Kiir's spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny has denied SPLA troops were orchestrating killings along tribal lines. He added the government can not commit genocide against its people. "The government cannot commit, implement genocide against South Sudanese. The state apparatus can not be used against a particular tribe," he said. South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013, as political disputes between President Kiir and his former deputy Machar caused fighting to spread along ethnic lines. The fighting has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions of others from their homes, according to the UN. Both the SPLA and militia groups fighting in Yei, Kajokeji areas of Equatoria region, have been accused of carrying out ethnic targeted killings on civilians, hence forcing thousands to flee violence. MANILA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- At least 26 people were killed and more than 20 others injured after a passenger bus plunged into a deep ravine in northern Philippines on Tuesday, police and local media reports said. Police said the bus, carrying more than 40 passengers, crashed around 11 a.m. local time in Capintalan village in Carranglan town in Nueva Ecjia province. The bus was reportedly traveling from Isabela province to Ilocos Sur province when it fell into a 90-feet deep ravine, the police said. Quoting witnesses, police said the bus was overspeeding when the crash happened. Some passengers were rescued alive from the crash site and sent to nearby hospitals in Bambang town in Nueva Vizcaya but some reportedly died while being treated. The crash site is an accident-prone area. Last year, at least five people were killed and scores hurt when a bus fell into a ravine in that part of the main highway. Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said rescue operations and investigation are currently underway and "We guarantee that the culprits behind the fatal bus mishap will be held accountable." Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) meets with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Lima, Peru, Nov. 19, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Tao) MOSCOW, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Russia-China relations are developing dynamically regardless of the international situation, said Chairman of the Russian State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin in a recent interview with Xinhua. "Today, we are conducting a very productive dialogue with Chinese partners at all levels ... We have developed close inter-parliamentary ties of high intensity and in a variety of formats," the head of the lower house of the Russian parliament told Xinhua, ahead of the upcoming visit of Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC). According to Volodin, the State Duma and the NPC have exchanged legislative experience on various issues, including non-governmental organizations, religion, national security and many others. Expecting his first meeting with Zhang, China's top legislator, Volodin said he hopes they will be able to establish a good relationship. "I am sure that Zhang's visit to Russia will be productive and it will contribute to the substantive content of the Russian-Chinese parliamentary dialogue," said Volodin. Zhang's visit is scheduled to start on Tuesday, which is also the final leg of his four-nation tour on April 12-21 which includes trips to Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus and Russia. Volodin spoke highly of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, saying that it creates a counterbalance to the current trend towards fragmentation of the world economy. "This initiative is aimed at giving economic growth a comprehensive and indivisible character -- just like the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), which is a prioritized project for Russia," said Volodin. Launched in 2013, the Belt and Road Initiative is a massive economic and trade project for common development and prosperity in countries along its routes in Europe, Africa and Asia. Volodin said Russia has attached great importance to the aligning of the EEU and the initiative, and both sides are working actively to form a legislative base. "The development of Russia-China ties is in the interest of the two peoples. Neither we nor our Chinese friends are going to change it," he said. In his view, the development of bilateral ties is successful because it is based on mutual consideration of each other's interests, mutual respect, equality, and non-interference in each other's internal affairs. "In recent years, our countries have managed to build and strengthen a system for coordination of mutual interests. I believe that the model of bilateral relations that we have created should become one of the examples of civilized interaction between countries in the 21st century," Volodin added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 20:11:36|Editor: An Video Player Close Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (R) meets with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh in Beijing, capital of China, April 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Cui Xinyu) BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday met with Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh. Wang said progress has been made in bilateral relations this year, including a successful visit to China by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong in January. There will be more high-level contacts between leaders of the two countries this year, Wang said. He said that two sides should enhance the synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam's Two Corridors and One Economic Circle plan, and cement the people-to-people basis of friendship. The two countries should properly manage and control differences, promote maritime cooperation, and maintain the positive development of bilateral relations, he said. Pham Binh Minh said Vietnam will collaborate with China to make this year's high-level contacts a success, intensify cooperation in all fields, and safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea. A police helicopter flies over a member of security forces as people are escorted by security forces towards the courthouse in Mugla, western Turkey, on February 20, 2017. (Xinhua/AFP Photo) ANKARA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish police helicopter carrying 12 people disappeared from radar and crashed in the eastern province of Tunceli on Tuesday, the local governor's office said. The helicopter was carrying one judge, seven police officers, one sergeant and three crew members, the Tunceli governor's office said in a statement. The weather condition is poor, and heavy fog in the region made the rescue operation difficult, Turkish media reports said. The contact with helicopter was lost at 11:50 a.m., according to the officials. Teams of the Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD) were dispatched to the area between Ovacik and Pulumur of Tunceli for searching efforts. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 20:51:45|Editor: An Video Player Close GUIYANG, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Standing under the world's largest radio telescope, Yang Tianjue can still make out the site of his old house, which was removed 10 years ago to make way for the project. "There was once a water cellar and I planted an osmanthus tree beside it," said Yang, 42, pointing somewhere near the feed cabin of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), which was put into use in September 2016. The telescope is located at the Dawodang depression, a natural karst basin under Kedu Town of Pingtang County in Guizhou Province. Dawodang was once inhabited by 12 families who were relocated after the site was chosen for the telescope over a decade ago. On April 13, 12 former residents paid a visit to Dawodang at the invitation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the provincial government of Guizhou. "The feed cabin collects all the information gathered by the telescope, helping people better explore the mysterious universe," explained Peng Bo of the National Astronomical Observatories and a leader of the FAST project. Peng told Xinhua that Dawodang was chosen out of more than 900 depressions, and the decision was made after the National Astronomical Observatories spent 10 years investigating and analyzing. "More than 10 years ago, several scientists came to Dawodang and we heard that a big cauldron would be built here, and we would be able to see outer space through it," Yang said. Yang was so thrilled at the news that he lost sleep for several nights. "I volunteered to show the scientists around as they carried out their survey," he said. He remembered that the survey lasted for three years. The villagers had doubts that the project would actually come to be until one day some engineers brought five drilling machines to Dawodang. The beginning of construction meant that the local farmers had to leave their hometown. "Of course it was hard to say goodbye to the place we had lived for seven or eight generations," Yang said. However, the relocation allowed them to lead better lives. Yang said Dawodang was once a remote and underdeveloped place with no road connecting it to the outside world. There were only about 20 mu (1.3 hectares) of paddy fields, which couldn't feed everyone. They were forced to cultivate the barren mountains nearby. Some farmers raised pigs, but it was hard to get the pigs out of the mountains to sell them since there was no adequate transportation, he said. When they moved out of Dawodang, each of the 12 households was given a three-story house in Kedu Town and a subsidy ranging from 520,000 yuan (75,486 U.S. dollars) to 3 million yuan, depending on how much land they previously held. Yang opened a store selling tires, and the store is now the largest of its kind in the town with an annual revenue of some 300,000 yuan. According to the county government, besides the 12 households in Dawodang, more than 8,000 residents within five kilometers of the telescope should also be relocated. Currently, more than 2,300 people within a radius of three kilometers have already moved out. Liu Pinyang, an official of Jinke Village of Kedu Town, said that a decade ago, more than half of the villagers were living in poverty, but now more than 90 percent of them are no longer poor since relocation. The villagers will also benefit from the development of tourism, he said. Earlier this year, Guizhou Province announced that 5 billion yuan will be spent on building a tourist resort there. A dozen projects including a learning center on radio astronomy, a geological park and a science fiction-themed hotel will be built. Huang Zhangqing, 54, was formerly a teacher of a primary school in the county. Both his home and the school were relocated. Huang is preparing for the opening of a family inn, hoping to cash in on the tourism boom. "The telescope can open up the eyes of human beings, and moving out of the mountains has opened up the eyes of locals," Yang Tianjue said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 20:56:48|Editor: Tian Shaohui Video Player Close ISTANBUL, April 18 (Xinhua) -- After slim lead in referendum win, many Turkish people are concerned that democracy in the country will suffer due to the creation of an all-powerful but unchecked president. "It is now quite difficult to call Turkey democratic as the president will also have a strong control over both the parliament and the judiciary," Abdullatif Sener, a former leading figure of Turkey's ruling party, told Xinhua. The constitutional amendments accepted in the referendum with a slim majority are much criticized for greatly weakening the parliament, eliminating checks and balances and leading to a one-man rule. The 18-article constitutional package was accepted by 51.4 percent of the ballot in Sunday's plebiscite, just above the threshold of 51 percent, according to the initial results. "The system (to be put in place by the referendum) will lead to a party-state," said Sener, who served as deputy prime minister in the first government of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) has called for a recount of some votes and annulling the referendum, arguing about blatant violations of the election law and potential cheating in the ballot boxes, an allegation echoed by European observers but rejected by the Turkish authorities. CHP said it will appeal further to the Constitutional Court and the European Court of Human Rights if necessary in case of no positive response from Turkey's election watchdog. "It is impossible not to be concerned about Turkey's democracy," Ibrahim Kaboglu, a professor of constitutional law, told Xinhua. Referring to remarks President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made before the referendum result was finalized, in which the president indicated the result could not be altered, Kaboglu said, "Such discourse raises serious questions about Turkey's democratic future." Erdogan implied on Sunday night that claims of vote fraud were no more than a vain effort, saying it was too late to change the result. The remark came before the election watchdog, the Supreme Election Board, announced that the "Yes" camp had won based on unofficial results. The president's speech indicates the result of the vote had already been fixed, Erdal Aksunger, a CHP deputy chairman, told reporters on Monday. The opposition would possibly not be able to act freely if the system turns into a party-state in the future, remarked Kaboglu. The yes vote will introduce an immediate change in only two critical areas: the lift of a ban on the president having ties with his party and the reelection of members of Turkey's top judicial body, the Higher Board of Judges and Prosecutors. "So, the judiciary and the parliament will immediately get under Erdogan's sway," said Sener, who cut off his ties with AKP in 2008. AKP will invite Erdogan to become a member of the party after April 27-28, Mustafa Elitas, the party's parliamentary group deputy chairman, said on Monday. Erdogan will then again be able to head the party while serving as president, a development that allows him to select without violating the constitution all AKP deputy candidates ahead of a general election and keep thereby a tight control over the party. In this way, the president will also be in a position to keep a tight control over the parliament. "There will be a concentration of more power in the hands of the executive branch," Bican Sahin, a political scientist from Hacettepe University, told Xinhua. He said the new system proposed by the AKP has very little checks and balances. Other analysts believe one should not lose hope on the Turkish democracy considering almost half the voters said no. "Despite all the pressure by the state and the fact that the campaign was conducted under an emergency rule, such a high percentage of no votes may represent hope for democracy," Kaboglu argued. Turkey imposed a rule of emergency in the wake of a failed coup attempt last July, which was extended for another three months late Monday, the third time for the government to do so. During the campaign period, naysayers sometimes met with obstacles set up by local authorities, while mobs tried to intimidate them from time to time. The ruling AKP, meanwhile, was widely accused by the naysayers of conducting a campaign by using state funds. In addition, a huge portion of the media largely broadcast in support of the yes campaign. Noting the campaign was not conducted on an equal footing, Sener stated, "A yes vote of around 51 percent should be taken as a defeat for yeasayers under these circumstances." The win at the referendum is not usually considered a big win for AKP as it lost in 17 of the 30 big cities, including the two biggest -- Istanbul and Ankara, where AKP-affiliated mayors have been governing since mid-1990s. A potential crisis in the political system is not ruled out either. Noting almost half the population voted no in the referendum, Sahin said, "The system is based on weak legitimacy." Sahin, who is also president of the Ankara-based Freedom Research Association, said the low level of legitimacy could pose a significant problem should a social and economic unrest erupt in the future. Kaboglu believes Turkey will enter a period of constitutional chaos after Erdogan is reelected as head of the AKP considering that the president is required to be impartial under the constitution. Since his election into office in 2014, Erdogan has been much criticized for failing to act impartially as a president. Turkey will actually switch to the presidential system only after 2019 when Erdogan's current term ends, if a snap election is not called before then. Parliamentary elections will be held at the same time. Sener feels if no political party with a strong appeal to center-right voters emerges before the elections in 2019, Turkey risks getting away from democratic politics under AKP. The Islamist AKP is supported by a great majority of conservative and religious voters in Turkey, while the present center-right and religious parties have insignificant voter support. After the polls in 2019, the newly-elected president will be authorized as well to change all top-level bureaucrats by a presidential decree without parliament's approval. Enditem Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 21:06:54|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (L) and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso attend a press conference in Tokyo, Japan, on April 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Ma Ping) TOKYO, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Japan and the United States on Tuesday agreed to work together with countries in the region to address tensions on the Korean Peninsular and took steps towards bridging gaps in economic cooperation with the launch of the U.S.-Japan Economic Dialogue. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and visiting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence reaffirmed the Japan-U.S. alliance and the importance of cooperating with other countries in the region to peacefully realize a denuclearized Korean Peninsular. At the outset of a working lunch with Abe, Pence said that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump remained committed to working together with regional stakeholders to ensure a peaceful Korean Peninsular. "President Trump is determined to work closely with Japan, with South Korea, with all our allies in the region, and with China, to achieve a peaceable solution and denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Pence said. Prior to Pence's arrival from South Korea, Abe on Monday called for increased diplomacy rather than the use of force in dealing with the current situation regarding tensions on the Korean Peninsular. Tensions have risen in the region of late, as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has conducted multiple missile tests and two nuclear tests in the past 18 months, with the United States' recent deployment of an aircraft carrier unit to the region after holding large-scale "war games" near the peninsula also stoking concerns. On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said that China welcomes the United States to play a positive role in peacefully resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. He added that seeking a peaceful solution to the Korean Peninsula issue is a right direction and meets the interests of all related parties. Dialogue and consultation is the only way to resolve the Korean Peninsula issue, said Lu, reaffirming China's stance. During his visit, Vice President Pence also held talks with Japan's Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso and launched the "U.S.-Japan Economic Dialogue" which will purportedly act as means to deepen bilateral economic cooperation through an ongoing forum. The dialogue was agreed to in principle between Abe and Trump when the two leaders met in February and sets out three policy pillars that will structure the dialogue with further talks to be held in December. But a number of thorny issues were shelved for the time being including the United States' hefty trade deficit with Japan in 2016, and Japan's highly-protectionist stance on imports, particularly regarding agriculture and automotive sectors. The forum, according to a joint press release, spans trade and investment standards, cooperation on global economic development, infrastructure and energy and job creation. The high-level talks were the first of their kind since the United States, under the Trump administration, backed out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership multilateral free trade agreement that would have seen Japan and the U.S. as the two largest economies involved. Trump in January signed an executive order to officially withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal. "The TPP is a thing of the past for the United States. The Unites States is determined to reach out to our partners in the world to negotiate trade on a bilateral basis," Pence told a joint press briefing following talks with Aso. Against a backdrop of trade deficits and currency concerns from the U.S., Aso said that talks held Tuesday were for the purpose of enhancing ties, rather than highlighting differences. "Our discussions are aimed at boosting cooperation rather than resolving frictions," Aso said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 21:21:58|Editor: An Video Player Close BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- China hopes that the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for mid-May will yield major outcomes, said Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday. The forum will be held from May 14 to 15 in Beijing. President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony and host a round-table leaders' summit, Wang told a press conference. At least 28 heads of state and government will attend the forum, said Wang, the highest-profile international meeting on the Belt and Road since Xi put forward the initiative in 2013. The opening ceremony is scheduled for the morning of May 14, followed by a series of high level meetings. The round-table summit, chaired by Xi, will convene on May 15, with the participation of all attending heads of state and government, as well as UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, and managing director of the International Monetary Fund Christine Lagarde. The round table will issue a document defining goals and principles and refining cooperative measures. During the forum, China is expected to sign cooperative documents with nearly 20 countries and more than 20 international organization, said Wang. China will work with countries along the routes on nearly 20 action plans, concerning infrastructure, energy and resources, production capacity, trade and investment, which will help to turn the grand blueprint into a clear roadmap, he said. Another task of the forum will be to push forward delivery of cooperative projects, said the foreign minister. During the forum, all parties will identify major cooperative projects, set up working groups and establish an investment cooperation center. Finally, China will work with all parties on a set of measures, including an improved financial cooperation mechanism; a cooperation platform for science, technology and environmental protection; and enhanced exchanges and training of talent. Participants will sign financing agreements to support their cooperative projects, he said. China will use the forum to build a more open and efficient international cooperation platform; a closer, stronger partnership network; and to push for a more just, reasonable and balanced international governance system, Wang said. According to Wang Xiaotao, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, high-level meetings on the first day of the forum will include a plenary session and six parallel panel discussions. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli will deliver a speech to the plenary session, expected to be attended by leaders of related countries and heads of international organizations. Six parallel panel discussions in the afternoon of May 14 will focus on policy coordination and connection of development strategies, connectivity, economic and trade cooperation, investment and financing system, people-to-people bonds and think-tank communication, said Wang Xiaotao. More than 1,200 delegates will attend the forum, including officials, scholars, entrepreneurs, representatives of financial institutions and media organizations from 110 nations, as well as representatives from more than 60 international organizations. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 21:47:05|Editor: An Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang presides over a symposium on new development ideas and developing new growth drivers in Beijing, capital of China, April 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday stressed the importance of accelerating the shift from traditional economic growth engines to new ones. Li made the remarks at a symposium on new development ideas and developing new growth drivers at the Chinese Academy of Governance, attended by senior government officials and business leaders. Faced with a challenging world economic recovery and relatively heavy downward pressure in the domestic economy, the old growth pattern will not be able to continue, said Li. China must speed up replacing old growth drivers with new ones to transform and upgrade the economy, Li said, adding that the key to the shift of growth drivers lies in technology. The focus should be on new technology, new industries and new business models, supported by the development of new production factors including knowledge, information and data, the premier said. The Chinese economy has not only been able to avoid "hard landing," but is stabilizing and improving with better structure and more jobs, said Li He attributed the strong performance to a policy direction, administrative streamlining, mass entrepreneurship and innovation. While attaching importance to developing promising new industries, Li also highlighted the elimination of excess production capacity, and upgrading traditional sectors using new technologies. The premier also called for more efforts to let effective investment and upgraded consumption promote each other and use the domestic market as a "navigation light." He urged market players to participate in international competition and take the opportunities provided by the new round of science and technological revolution and industrial evolution. The government should also make innovations in policy making, in areas such as stock option incentive mechanism, insurance, financial support, and government funding, to boost innovation and entrepreneurship, he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 21:57:09|Editor: MJ Video Player Close Staff members work by C919, the first large passenger aircraft designed and built by China, in a hangar of Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC) in Shanghai, east China, April 11, 2017. The aircraft was given the go-ahead to begin a series of high-speed taxiing tests, the last step before its maiden flight. (Xinhua/Ding Ting) SHANGHAI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The C919, the first large passenger aircraft designed and built by China passed the last expert assessment on Tuesday, its manufacturer announced. The aircraft was given the go-ahead to begin a series of high-speed taxiing tests, the last step before its maiden flight. The process usually takes one to two months. According to Shanghai-based Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (COMAC), 25 experts from Chinese research institutes, civil aviation administration, and domestic jet makers formed Tuesday's assessment panel. They reviewed the preparedness of both the aircraft and ground services for the maiden flight. In March, the aircraft passed a major technical assessment. The C919, with over 150 seats and a standard range of 4,075 kilometers, is a medium-haul commercial aircraft. The Chinese jetliner was rolled off assembly line in 2015. COMAC said 21 customers had placed orders for more than 500 aircraft by the end of 2016, and it expects sales to exceed 2,000. China has invested heavily in commercial passenger jet manufacturing. The ARJ21, its first regional aircraft, began commercial operations in June 2016. STOCKHOLM, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Strong growth and budget surplus will help fund investments in the country's law enforcement and climate initiatives, according to Sweden's spring finance bill and amended budget proposal publicized on Tuesday. The bill is based on an agreement between the incumbent Social Democrat and Green parties and the Left Party. Sweden's Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said that thanks to the government's prudent fiscal policy, the inherited deficit will instead be turned into a surplus for each remaining year in the incumbent's term. "It has placed us in an entirely new position and gives us new opportunities to meet societal challenges. The Swedish model can continue to deliver," she said in a statement issued on the government's website Tuesday. Swedish growth is expected to remain high in 2017, with a higher than forecasted 2.9 percent in calendar-adjusted terms. According to the statement, Sweden's broad-based growth is powered by increased exports, increased private investment -- mainly in residential construction -- and increased consumption, both private and public. Unemployment is down since 2014, and is expected to drop even further in the coming years. A responsible fiscal policy and strong employment growth led to a public finance surplus in 2015 and 2016, and a reduction of public debt. From a deficit of more than 6.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2014, the savings went up by more than 11 billion U.S. dollars, yielding a surplus of about 4.4 billion U.S. dollars. Based on the big challenges facing the Swedish Police Authority, the government has already proposed an additional 78 million U.S. dollars to hire more officers this year. The government and other parties to the defense agreement also see a need to strengthen Sweden's total defense with an added 55 million U.S. dollars. The amended budget bill proposes an infusion of 55 million U.S. dollars this year for climate adaptation and mitigation measures all over the country. These include investments in electric charging stations, biogas plants and other climate activities identified in Sweden's "Climate Leap", a climate adaptation and mitigation campaign. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 22:12:15|Editor: Zhang Dongmiao Maurice Obstfeld, chief economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), attends a press briefing at the IMF headquarters in Washington D.C., the United States, on April 18, 2017. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday raised its forecast for global economic growth in 2017, saying buoyant financial markets and a long-awaited cyclical recovery in manufacturing and trade supported the improved outlook. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu) WASHINGTON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday raised its forecast for global economic growth in 2017, saying buoyant financial markets and a long-awaited cyclical recovery in manufacturing and trade supported the improved outlook. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF forecast the global economy will grow by 3.5 percent in 2017, an acceleration from the 3.1 percent growth last year and an upgrade of 0.1 percentage points from its January projection. It kept the 2018 forecast for global economic growth unchanged at 3.6 percent. "Our new projection for 2017 is marginally higher than what we expected in our last update. This improvement comes primarily from good economic news for Europe and Asia, and within Asia, notably for China and Japan," IMF chief economist Maurice Obstfeld told a press conference on Tuesday. The IMF expected the advanced economies to grow by 2 percent this year, 0.1 percentage point higher than its forecast in January. It maintained the 2018 growth forecast for those economies unchanged at 2 percent. Among the developed economies, the U.S. economy is expected to grow by 2.3 percent in 2017 and 2.5 percent in 2018, the same forecast as that in January; the growth forecast for the euro-zone was raised by 0.1 percentage points to 1.7 percent in 2017; the Japanese economy is expected to grow by 1.2 percent in 2017, 0.4 percentage points higher than its January forecast, with growth slowing to 0.6 percent in 2018. The IMF estimated emerging markets and developing economies will grow by 4.5 percent in 2017 and 4.8 percent in 2018, the same forecast as that of January. But it upgraded China's growth forecast in 2017 and 2018 to 6.6 and 6.2 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, the IMF continued to warn of the downside risks facing the global economy. "Risks remain skewed to the downside, however, especially over the medium term, with pervasive uncertainty surrounding policies," said the report. It warned that inward-looking policies threaten global integration and the cooperative global economic order, a faster-than-expected pace of interest rate hikes in the United States could tighten global financial conditions, and an aggressive rollback of financial regulation could spur excessive risk taking and increase the likelihood of future financial crisis. "The world economy may be gaining momentum, but we cannot be sure that we are out of the woods," said Obstfeld. "Avoiding the damage from potential protectionist measures will require a renewed multilateral commitment to support trade, paired with national initiatives that can help workers adversely affected by a range of structural economic transformations including those due to trade," the chief economist said. He also called on countries to collaborate across a range of problems, such as financial oversight and tax avoidance, in order to ensure growth and stability. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 22:22:18|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close NAIROBI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations official on Tuesday said that Africa can learn valuable lessons from China in harnessing its demographic dividend. UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya Siddharth Chatterjee told a regional population forum in Nairobi that Beijing's impressive economic growth over the past three decades is an outcome of investing in its youth population. "Africa can reap demographic dividend if it improves the skills of its youth so that they play a role in economic transformation," Chatterjee said during the opening ceremony of the first Africa-China Conference on Population and Development. The two-day event will help strengthen partnerships between Africa and China in the field of population and development. Chatterjee said that Africa will need to create 100 million jobs per year for the next 10 years in order take advantage of the demographic dividend. "This will be achieved if Africa expands opportunities for its youth population to participate in the economy," he added. The UN official noted that Sub-Saharan Africa loses approximately 95 billion U.S. dollars annually due to inequality. He said that inequality is due to a large number of adults who are not gainfully engaged in the economy through employment or as entrepreneurs. Government data indicates that in Kenya, there are 81 dependents for every 100 people in the workforce. "Due to the high number of dependents, the economy is not able to achieve the high rate of savings that is required to propel investments," the UN official said. Chatterjee said that for Africa to reduce its poverty level, it needs to manage its population growth just like China did. "China is an example to the rest of the developing countries when it comes to family planning," he noted. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 22:22:18|Editor: Tian Shaohui Video Player Close RIYADH, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis said upon arrival to Riyadh on Tuesday that the missile attacks by Houthi militias should be stopped permanently, Sbaq online local news report. The visit will focus on the fight against the Islamic State (IS) militant group. Mattis will reveal the U.S. policy about Syria. The online report predicted that the U.S. official will announce direct support of his country to the Saudi-led coalition that fights Houthis in Yemen. This is Mattis' first visit to the Saudi Arabia after his appointment as the Defence Secretary in January 2017, and the visit is the first stop of his tour in the Middle East and Africa. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 22:42:25|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close NAIROBI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Africa's diaspora is playing a big role in the economic transformation of the continent, the UN said on Tuesday. UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Regional Director Dr Julitta Onabanjo told Xinhua in Nairobi that remittances are important source of income for many African families. "The diaspora therefore complements government efforts to lift many families out of poverty," Onabanjo said on the sidelines of the First Africa-China Conference on Population and Development. Onabanjo said that Africans in the diaspora also bring back to the continent, the valuable skills and knowledge that they have acquired in the developed world. "This pool of skilled labour can help the continent address challenges that hinder social economic development," she added. The director noted that remittances resulting from intra-Africa migration are also increasing. "South Africa has a large number of African immigrants who remittances have boosted their families back home," she added. The director decried the deaths of Africans at the seas as they emigrate the continent using illegal means. "Governments must put policies that will address the push factors that make Africans risk their lives as seek green pastures in other continents," she added. The UN official urged Africa government to put in place incentives that will reverse the brain drain especially in the medical sector. "The continent faces a serious shortage in the health sector as skilled personnel seek opportunities in other regions," she observed. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 22:42:27|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close JERUSALEM, April 18 (Xinhua) -- An Israeli minister said Tuesday that Israel will not negotiate with hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who launched Monday a hunger strike, demanding improved incarceration conditions. The strike, led by high-profile Fatah-linked prisoner Marwan Barghouti, is the largest in recent years. Polls suggest that Barghouti, convicted by an Israeli court of deadly attacks against Israelis, is the most popular successor to President Mahmoud Abbas. Israel Prison Service said about 1,100 prisoners joined the strike on Monday. They demand better conditions, including stopping the administrative detentions, an indefinable incarceration without charges for renewable periods of six months. Other demands include periodic medical examination, visits by the International Red Cross, installing pay phones and air condition systems, allowing prisoners to keep books, newspapers, clothes, and food. Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan said that he believes the strike has no legitimacy. "The strike is politically motivated and includes unreasonable demands," he said in a statement released on his behalf. "These are terrorists and incarcerated murderers who are getting exactly what the international law requires," he told Israel's Army Radio, adding that under the ministry's policy, "you can't negotiate with prisoners such as these." "There is no reason to give them additional conditions in addition to what they already receive," he said. He confirmed that Barghouti was transferred to another jail and was placed in solitary confinement. He said the measure was a punishment for Barghouti's part in organizing the strike and not because of an op-ed by the Palestinian leader that the New York Times published on Monday. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that Israel protested to the New York Times over the piece. He said that the newspaper "presents arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti as a 'parliamentarian and leader,'" adding that the "paper recanted after we pointed it out to them." The protest comes amidst a spate of violence between Israelis and Palestinians, and at a time of renewed attempts by the United States to revive the peace talks. Israel controls the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, territories it has seized in the 1967 Middle East war, despite international criticism. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 22:52:32|Editor: MJ Video Player Close Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (R) meets with Federica Mogherini, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, as well as vice president of the European Commission, in Beijing, capital of China, April 18, 2017. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo) BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- China firmly supports European integration and hopes for a united, stable and prosperous European Union, Premier Li Keqiang said on Tuesday. Li made the comment when meeting with Federica Mogherini, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, as well as vice president of the European Commission. China attaches importance to China-EU relations and the EU's commitment to delivering its international obligations and is willing to promote practical cooperation, Li said. "China is willing to work with the EU in the spirit of mutual respect and treating each other as equals to advance bilateral investment treaty talks and the feasibility study of the free trade agreement," Li said. "China will work with the EU to handle differences properly and to better the China-EU relations within the rule-based international order and contribute vitality to world economic growth," the premier said. Given the complex and changing international landscape, rising anti-globalization and protectionism, China and the EU should abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, Li said. He called on both sides to send a positive signal to maintain regional stability and world peace, tackle global challenges, reform and improve the international governance and champion economic globalization and free and fair trade so as to address the uncertainties of the international landscape through stable cooperation between China and the EU. Mogherini said the EU and China share the responsibility of maintaining international order, tackling global challenges such as terrorism and climate change and promoting global peace and development. The EU attaches importance to maintaining multilateral system and delivering its international obligations and will work with China to strengthen cooperation and properly handle differences and facilitate the progress in bilateral investment treaty negotiations, Mogherini said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 23:07:36|Editor: MJ Photo taken on April 14, 2017 shows Stephen A. Orlins, president of the National Committee of the United States, speaks during an interview with Xinhua at his office in New York City, the United States. The bilateral trade deficit "should not matter" in the development China-U.S. relations, said Orlins in a recent interview at his office in downtown Manhattan. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) By Xinhua writers Yang Shilong, Zhang Zhihuan, Wang Wen NEW YORK, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The bilateral trade deficit "should not matter" in the development China-U.S. relations, said an expert on U.S.-China Relations. "I hope there's an understanding on the part of the Trump administration that bilateral trade deficits are not particularly meaningful," Stephen A. Orlins, president of the National Committee, told Xinhua in a recent interview at his office in downtown Manhattan. "I've been doing business with China for more than three decades. The U.S. used to have trade deficits with Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. What happened over these years is that a lot of the semi-finished goods would go to China (for China to export), so what's happened is the trade deficit we used to have with those other countries has been transferred to China. Now that is not China's fault and we should not blame China for that," said Orlins. Orlins said there are domestic factors in the U.S. that better explain the trade gap. "It relates to a lot of these things that can be solved in part by America dealing with its own savings problem. So if we save more as a country, then we wouldn't need to import so much capital to do things. There are a lot of answers here which don't really relate to U.S.-China relations. They relate to what the United States must do itself," he said. The China-U.S. trade deficit is overstated, if judged from the perspective of the global supply chain. Headline figures suggest that China accounted for about half of the U.S. trade deficit in 2015. But Deutsche Bank's economists have found that on a value-added basis, only 16 percent of that deficit came directly from China, slightly higher than the 13 percent which originated from Japan. "Having said that, there are many areas where China can open its market more to U.S. goods and U.S. investment. There are lots of tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers which can be reduced and will aid U.S. exports to China," Orlins said. The amount of U.S. service exports to China is often overlooked when calculating the balance of trade. In this area, the United States has a surplus with China. The U.S. edge in service trade has huge potential to grow bigger in China as the world's fastest-growing consumer market is poised to open its service sector wider to the United States. Orlins, a strong advocate for constructive China-U.S. cooperation for more than four decades, said that his early doubts and worries about the future development of the bilateral ties were dispelled following the successful meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Largo resort earlier this month. "I think the relationship is really quite strong," said Orlins, who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. "There was real understanding that was developed (during the meeting)," he said. "The development of a relationship between President Xi and President Trump is important for U.S.-China relations and for the world." Orlins said that a piece of direct proof is the one-hour telephone conversation made between Xi and Trump within five days after the meeting ended. "I would say that without the meeting, that telephone conversation would not have been as productive and constructive as it was, so that's already a symbol of the progress," Orlins said. Orlins noted that Trump's acceptance of Xi's invitation to visit China is also a "very good sign." "In my experience, when presidents of the United States visit China, they understand better how the Chinese government functions and the problems the Chinese government are confronting, and are able to craft policies which are more constructive to the U.S.-China relationship," he said. Orlins emphasized that China-U.S. bilateral relations are of global relevance as "there will be global problems in the future which require the two countries "to talk together to help resolve." The top two world economies have already set examples by working together in tackling major global issues like climate change, cyber security and counter-terrorism, he said. The creation of a new cabinet-level framework for negotiations, which includes dialogues on diplomacy and security, economy, law enforcement and cybersecurity, and social and cultural issues, "should help resolve issues" between the two countries, said Orlins. He said the latest positive development is that the U.S. government decided not to brand China as a currency manipulator. "China is not and has not for many years been depreciating its currency, so President Trump simply realized the reality," he said. ADDIS ABABA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A total of 669 people, most of them civilians, died in political unrest in parts of the three most populous regions of Ethiopia in 2016, according to a report by a government watchdog. The government mandated Ethiopian human Rights Commission (EHRC) in a report presented by its head Dr. Adisu Gebregzbaher to the Ethiopian parliament on April 18 says, the biggest number of deaths occurred in Ethiopia's largest state Oromiya, with the deaths of 462 civilians and 33 security forces. Deadly protests by Oromos, Ethiopia's largest ethnic group making about 35 percent of Ethiopia's estimated 100 million population, erupted in November 2015 and continued until late 2016. Initially starting as a protest against the expansion of the capital city Addis Ababa into Oromo villages, the protest soon turned into complaints against what many Oromos perceive as political and economic disenfranchisement. The Oromo protests were then joined in June by Ethiopia's second largest ethnic group, the Amhara's, at around 28 percent of the population, complaining about territorial redistricting of "historic" Amhara land to neighboring Tigray region 25 years ago. The EHRC report says 110 civilians and 30 security forces died in the Amhara region unrest. Many Amharas also complain about what they call the political and economic dominance of the Tigray ethnic group, who makes up around 6 percent of Ethiopia's population. The commission's focus on the unrest in the country's third most populous region southern regional state was focused on a small area, Gedeo zone, where ethnic Gedeo's in October 2016 attacked the properties of migrants in a dispute about ownership of land and business. The commission says 33 people died in the unrest. EHRC in its finding stated the security forces largely gave a proportionate response to the unrest although it single out several occasions where it said excessive force was used. The unrest, particularly in Amhara and Oromiya regions, were dubbed by analysts as the worst the ruling party Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Force (EPRDF) had faced since it came to power in 1991. After a clash between congregants and security forces led to a deadly stampede at an Oromo religious festival in October 2016, the Ethiopian government declared a six months martial law. That emergency decree, which since then has been renewed for another four months, seemed to have calmed the situation in the country although tensions persist. SOFIA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Bulgarian State Agency for National Security (SANS), the country's counter intelligence and counter terrorism service, deported 252 foreigners in 2016, according to its annual report released here on Tuesday. As many as 22 of those expelled were involved in terrorist activities and nine more were involved in illegal migration, the report said. Meanwhile, in order to reduce the terrorist threat, SANS has conducted interviews with over 9,700 foreigners who illegally entered Bulgaria, the report said. A total of 221 of them posed a potential threat to Bulgaria's security and interests. The report also said that the terrorist threat to Europe grew, and it implied a heightened risk of terrorism for Bulgaria. However, in 2016, SANS did not acquire data about any prepared terrorist acts against targets in the country or against Bulgarian interests abroad, the report said. VILNIUS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Lithuanian Agriculture Minister Bronius Markauskas on Tuesday said he expects to speed up procedures for Lithuanian food exports to reach the Chinese market. His comments came ahead of a visit to China by a delegation of Lithuanian meat and dairy producers. Markauskas highlighted that the Chinese market is attractive to Lithuanian food producers due to its size. "The Chinese market is one of the most profitable, and, of course, largest," Markauskas told local media. Last year, Lithuanian dairy producers received permissions to export their production to Chinese market and in recent months have sent trial products to China. Markauskas emphasized efforts to increase exchanges with the Chinese side in order to help Lithuanian companies in accessing Chinese market. In recent years, Lithuanian diplomats and officials have been trying to help food producers gain access to Chinese market amid efforts to diversify food exports. In 2014, Lithuanian food producers, especially dairy and meat companies, were hard hit by Russia's embargo on food imports from the European Union. Russia was one of the main exports markets for Lithuanian food companies. ABUJA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Nigeria's capital city airport is "quite operational" and set to reopen Wednesday following completion of repair works on its 3.6 kilometer-long runway, local officials said Tuesday. Head of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said the repair work, which lasted six weeks, has been done "quite satisfactorily in line with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standard and recommended practices." "The airport, the runway is very ready to accept flight operations safely," he said in a statement. The Nigerian government ordered the temporary closure of the runway on March 8. The runway needed to be repaired because it was actually designed for use for 20 years but was used for 34 years without necessary repairs due to negligence. During the temporary closure, Abuja-bound local and international passengers flew to Kaduna, in the country's northwest region, and traveled by bus, train or helicopter, into the capital city. An official of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria said the runway had been completely cleaned up ahead of flight operations. Air Peace, a local airline, told Xinhua it had made arrangement to resume its normal flight operations at the Abuja airport on Wednesday. The Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, the main airport serving the Nigerian capital city and named after the country's first President, Nnamdi Azikiwe, has an international and a domestic terminal that share its single runway. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 23:32:48|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to media outside 10 Downing Street as she calls a snap general election in London, Britain, on April 18, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election on June 8 in what was a shock and unexpected announcement from outside 10 Downing Street. (Xinhua) LONDON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- There was broad welcome Tuesday from opposition parties after British Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election on June 8. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said: "I welcome the prime minister's decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first." "Labour will be offering the country an effective alternative to a government that has failed to rebuild the economy, delivered falling living standards and damaging cuts to our schools and NHS." Tim Farron, leader of the minority Liberal Democrat party, said the early general election will be an opportunity for voters to "change the direction of our country." Farron has been demanding a second referendum to let the people of Britain decide on a final Brexit deal with Brussels. Responding to May's announcement, Farron said: "If you want to avoid a disastrous hard Brexit; if you want to keep Britain in the Single Market; if you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance. Only the Liberal Democrats can prevent a Conservative majority." Sal Brinton, president of the Liberal Democrats, said: "This is a time when liberals must stand together, and people across the country are doing just that. The surge in our membership proves that the Liberal Democrats are seen as the real opposition to this Conservative Brexit Government." In the 2015 general election under then leader Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats lost 48 of its seats in the House of Commons, leaving them with just eight MPs. Paul Nuttall, leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party, UKIP, said: "We welcome the general election, but make no mistake -- it is driven by Labour's obvious weakness, not the good of the country." UKIP was set up almost 30 years ago to campaign for Britain to leave the EU. Former prime minister David Cameron hailed May's "brave and right" decision to call a snap election, adding: "My very best wishes to all Conservative candidates." Cameron resigned as prime minister the day after the result of the June 23 referendum was announced. He has supported Britain remaining in the EU, but saw the leave campaign win by a margin of 52 to 48. In Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) and First Minister in the Scottish Parliament, gave her response. On her social media site Sturgeon wrote: "The Tories (Conservatives) see a chance to move the UK to the right, force through a hard Brexit and impose deeper cuts. Let's stand up for Scotland." Sturgeon said the prime minister's decision was a huge political miscalculation as it would give voters a fresh chance to reject Conservative austerity and a hard Brexit, and give the Scottish National party a new mandate for an independence referendum. "She (May) is clearly betting that the Tories can win a bigger majority in England given the utter disarray in the Labour party," said Sturgeon. Sturgeon won support in the Scottish Parliament a few weeks ago to call for a new independence referendum for Scotland. May has responded by saying the time is not right for a referendum while Brexit negotiations are taking place. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-18 23:37:51|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close WASHINGTON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Orbital ATK's unmanned cargo ship blasted off Tuesday for its seventh resupply mission to the International Space Station. The Cygnus spacecraft, named after former U.S. astronaut John Glenn, took off atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket at 11:11 a.m. EDT (1511 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. "Liftoff of the Atlas V rocket with Cygnus and the S.S. John Glenn, extending the research legacy for living and working in space," a NASA TV commentator said during a live broadcast. Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. He died last December at age 95. MORE CARGO Cygnus is carrying more than 7,600 pounds (3,400 kilograms) of cargo to the orbital laboratory, including crew supplies, hardware, scientific experiments and 38 CubeSats that will be deployed from either the spacecraft or space station in the coming months. "We are carrying more this time than we have in the past and that's a good step forward for us and for the crew," Frank Culbertson, president of Orbital ATK's Space Systems Group, told reporters during a pre-launch news conference. "The more research we can carry, the more they can do their job and the more they can show the utility of the International Space Station." According to the U.S. space agency NASA, the new experiments include an antibody investigation that could increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy drugs for cancer treatment and an advanced plant habitat for studying plant physiology and growth of fresh food in space. Another new investigation bound for the space station's U.S. National Laboratory will look at using magnetized cells and tools to make it easier to handle cells and cultures, and improve the reproducibility of experiments. If everything goes well, the spacecraft will arrive at the space station on April 22 and will stay there until July, when it will depart with several tons of trash for a fiery reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Prior to re-entry, a third and final experiment will be conducted inside the spacecraft to study how fire burns in space. The first two space fire experiments took place during previous Cygnus resupply missions. 360-DEGREE VIEW Tuesday's launch marked the first time NASA, in coordination with the ULA and Orbital ATK, has broadcast a rocket launch with a 360-degree view. "Those who own virtual reality headsets will be able to look around and experience the view as if they were actually standing on the launch pad," NASA said in a statement. "Minimum viewing distance is typically miles away from the launch pad, but the live 360 stream enables viewers to get a pads-eye view." The launch has been delayed several times over the past month due to hydraulics leaks on the rocket booster and ground support equipment. "We are sorry we missed Easter," said Culbertson, a former NASA astronaut, "but we're pretty sure they'll be excited about their Easter baskets and whatever great things International Space Station science put on board for them." | 2017-04-19 00:51:45|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close RIYADH, March 18 (Xinhua) -- Saudi-led coalition announced on Tuesday a military Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Yemen, killing 12 military personnel onboard, Saudi Press Agency reported. The coalition highlighted that the helicopter was carrying out its missions when it fell down in Marib Governorate in Yemen. All 12 officers are Saudis. An investigation was launched, the report said. Saudi air force has been launching airstrikes on Yemen, mainly Houthi dominated areas, since March 2015, while the coalition announced this week that the war will continue until all Yemen's territories are under the control of Yemeni elected government. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-19 00:13:04|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Chinese companies' investment in countries along the Belt and Road rose again in Q1. From January to March, Chinese enterprises invested 2.95 billion U.S. dollars in 43 countries along the Belt and Road, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Tuesday. The investment accounted for 14.4 percent of Chinese firms' total outbound investment in Q1, compared to 9 percent for the same period last year. Chinese enterprises signed 952 project contracts in 61 countries along the Belt and Road with a turnover of 14.4 billion dollars, nearly half of the total value of contracts in Q1, according to the MOC. Since 2013, China has invested more than 50 billion dollars in countries involved in the Belt and Road. A total of 56 economic and trade cooperation zones have already been built by Chinese businesses in Belt and Road countries, generating nearly 1.1 billion dollars in tax revenue and creating 180,000 local jobs. The latest data comes less than a month before the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which opens on May 14 in Beijing. Thus far, 28 heads of state and government leaders have confirmed their attendance at the forum. Other delegates include officials, entrepreneurs, financiers and reporters from 110 countries, and representatives of 61 international organizations. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-19 00:18:05|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close DUBAI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- As the U.S. laptop ban on some countries in Middle East has weighed on traveling between Dubai and the U.S., passenger demand from China to Dubai has soared, a senior official of Emirates Airline said on Tuesday. Thierry Antinori, Chief Commercial Officer of the airline in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), made the remarks while addressing the media ahead of the annual tourism fair, Arabian Travel Market in Dubai. "I do not want to go deep there as we will report annual results in May, but there are indications and quotes from industry experts, like from the CEO of Marriott Hotels Mr. Arne Sorenson, that the Middle East passenger demand for flights to the United States declined by double-digit rates," Antinori said. Large-sized electronic devices like laptops and tablet computers have been banned for six months from March 21 on direct flights to the U.S. from 10 airports in eight countries, namely Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Turkey and Morocco. The state-owned carrier Emirates, the biggest airline in the Middle East, flies to 11 destinations across the U.S. Incoming travelers from China, on the other hand, "increased in the last month by 33 percent," he said. Earlier in the week, the UAE General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs said up to 265,698 Chinese tourists visited Dubai in the past five months since UAE began granting visa on arrival for Chinese citizens. New flights to Chinese cities Yinchuan and Zhengzhou as Emirates' fourth and fifth destination in China in May 2016 were fueling the success story, he added. Earlier in the year, the government-owned Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing said visitors from China to Dubai in 2016 stood at 540,000, up 20 percent from a year earlier. Dubai aims to attract at least 20 million visitors by 2020, when the state hosts the World Expo. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-19 00:18:05|Editor: MJ Leaving Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai, one of the world's largest cargo ports, Merchant Vessel (M.V.) COSCO Netherlands arrives at the Ningbo Zhoushan Port late on April 17, 2017. (Xinhua Photo) by Xinhua writers Yan Liang, Ye Shan NINGBO, China, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Merchant Vessel (M.V.) COSCO Netherlands left Ningbo Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang Province in eastern China on Tuesday afternoon continuing its roughly 40-day journey from China to Europe to retrace the Maritime Silk Road, an ancient trade maritime route linking China with the rest of the world. The vessel began its journey on Sunday from Shanghai to relive the old-time trade route. China proposed the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in 2013, which is not only a valuable spiritual treasure to all of humanity but also a road of dialogue for Chinese civilization with the world. On the backdrop of surging counter-globalization in the world today, retracing the memory about that history that different countries, regions and peoples along the route shared is a global call for peaceful intercultural ties. LOOKING BACK IN NINGBO'S HISTORY Leaving Yangshan Deep Water Port in Shanghai, one of the world's largest cargo ports, M.V. COSCO arrived at the Ningbo Zhoushan Port late on Monday afternoon. Ningbo, called Mingzhou during China's Tang and Song Dynasties, was one of the Chinese coastal cities linked with the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Nowadays, traces of the Maritime Silk Road relics still can be found in Ningbo, including the Yongfeng warehouse, a key official depot from the Southern Song Dynasty through to the Ming. On the site of Yongfeng, large quantities of cultural relics had been found, like famous porcelain products from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, which prove that Ningbo was a significant trading port on the thriving Maritime Silk Road in ancient China. Located in the middle of China's long coastline, Ningbo possesses rare geographical advantages and serves as a unique port. The city has a special position in China's history engagement with the world as the estuary of the Grand Canal of China and also the port of departure on the Maritime Silk Road in ancient China. China's Grand Canal was officially inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2014, which consists of three sections -- Beijing-Hangzhou Canal, the Sui and Tang Dynasties Canal, and East Zhejiang Canal which refers to the section from Hangzhou to Ningbo. It is because of Ningbo's unique geographical advantages that cargo and people could be transported to Japan and the Korean peninsula through the Zhoushan Islands in the east, and reach anywhere in the world through ports in Quanzhou and Guangzhou in South China, Liu Hengwu, a professor at Ningbo University, told Xinhua. Ningbo was an important "window" for Chinese civilization, and it was irreplaceable in the trade and cross-cultural exchange in ancient East Asia, Liu said. Traditionally, it it believed that the ancient Maritime Silk Road came into being in the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C.- 220 A.D.), grew up in the Three Kingdoms Period and the Sui Dynasty (220 - 618 A.D.), flourished in the Tang and Song Dynasties (618 - 1279 A.D.), and fell into decline in the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368 - 1911 A.D.). CIVILIZATION EXCHANGES ACROSS OCEANS From China to East Asia, Southeast Asia and Europe, the ever-extending Maritime Silk Road brought business and trade convenience to the countries and peoples along its route, while enriching the culture of local societies. A huge number of well-known cultural sites and examples of engagement with foreign societies are preserved in Ningbo today, Liu said. Among these are the Tiantong Temple, Asoka Temple, Samo Pagoda, the Site of the Goryeo Embassy, and the Site of the Yongfeng Warehouse, among others. Contact between Tiantong Temple and the Japanese Buddhist temples started from the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279 A.D.), said Liu. During the Song and Yuan dynasties, there were not only many Japanese monks living and practicing Buddhism at the Tiantong Temple, but also eminent Chinese monks, such as Lanxi Daolong and Wuxue Zuyuan, who went to Japan and cast a profound influence on the development of Japanese Zen Buddhism. The ancient Tiantong Temple, as an international religious cultural center, left its glorious mark on the history of cross-cultural exchange on the Maritime Silk Road. Since the Southern Song dynasty, the relationship between Tiantong Temple and Japanese Zen Buddhism has been ongoing for nearly 1,000 years. Chinese and Japanese Zen monks have played a significant role in promoting cultural ties between China and Japan. The Maritime Silk Road had facilitated the melting of different countries, religions and peoples. Its abundant relics constitute its various cultural heritages while promoting mutual learning between China and the rest of the world. In this sense, the Maritime Silk Road has witnessed the progress of the human civilizations. And it is the common responsibility of all humankind to preserve its many heritages. China has also been lending a helping hand in this regard to some Southeast Asian countries, including Cambodia. Chinese cultural relics experts have spent many years in Cambodia, protecting and repairing cultural relics from the Angkor Wat complex, such as the Chau Say Tevoda and Prasat Ta Keo. These experts working in the countries along the Maritime Silk Road today play a similar role like the 29 sailors of the M.V. COSCO Netherlands. RELAYING LEGEND OF ANCIENT MARITIME SILK ROAD The Maritime Silk Road signifies a long journey that crosses different oceans and civilizations. Looking back on the history, numerous monks, scholars and artists from foreign lands had travelled a long way to China by ship through the ancient route regardless of the various risks in order to learn Chinese culture while spreading Western civilization. In addition to exchanging needed goods, another important reason why foreigners flooded in was the diligence, courage, wisdom, openness, tolerance, and integrity of the ancient Chinese, who became curious about foreign things, accepted outside civilizations, and lived in peace with foreign nations based on mutual respect and trust. After all, this inclusiveness stemming from the Chinese culture enabled many foreigners and religious cultures to co-exist and converge in China's coastal ports, or even the hinterland. Together with these foreigners, the industrious and courageous Chinese people have composed glorious chapters in the history of human civilization. In the 21st century, it is of greater significance to study and carry forward the Maritime Silk Road spirit. It wasn't always smooth sailing for the ancient Chinese. Sometimes, they encountered raging waves and died in foreign lands. But despite all the hardships, the merchants and sailors along the Maritime Silk Road remained fearless in pursuing the world. In the 21st century, it is more important than ever to carry forward the spirit of the Silk Road when dealing with complicated international and regional situations. On this warm spring day, the M.V. COSCO Netherlands is travelling along the Maritime Silk Road. With history as a mirror, it hopes to embrace a brighter future. Related: Feature: Chinese vessel sets sail to revive ancient maritime silk road legend SHANGHAI, April 16 (Xinhua) -- One of today's most technically-advanced ships in the world set sail from here on Sunday to retrace the oldest maritime route that linked China with the rest of the world. Merchant Vessel (M.V.) COSCO Netherlands is leaving Yangshan Deep Water Port at 7 p.m. local time (1100 GMT), in Shanghai, the world's largest cargo port, and will dock in the Port of Ningbo in east China, the Port of Singapore, the Suez Canal, the Pireaus Port in Greece, and ports in Rotterdam of Netherlands, Hamburg of Germany, and Antwerp of Belgium, in its about 40-day journey. Full story China Focus: Ancient silk road stretches into new era XI'AN, April 11 (Xinhua) -- Indian businessman Rana Karta opened a restaurant in the historical city of Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi Province four years ago. He has never looked back. His restaurant is on the former site of a bazaar that was once one of the busiest hubs for international trade in China's ancient capital of Chang'an; the start of the silk road. Full story Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-19 00:33:09|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Three decades ago, TV director Yang Jie created the Monkey King, the first, if not only, hero of millions of Chinese children. Aged 88, the director passed away on Saturday. "Together with her, my childhood is gone," said a web user Gudurenaixing on Sina Weibo. Innumerable people are grieving Yang, whose 25-episode TV adaption of "Journey to the West" in 1986 has for decades remained the best adaption of the classic fiction and one of the most watched TV dramas. AS DIFFICULT AS THE PILGRIMAGE Yang was born in 1929 in Macheng City in central China's Hubei Province. She worked as a newscaster in Qingdao, Shandong Province, during wartime, announcing liberation of the city in 1949. She became a TV director in 1980, and began her working on "Journey to the West." "It was as difficult as the pilgrimage to the west," she once said in an interview. The story, based on the real pilgrimage of Buddhist monk Xuanzang in the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to central Asia and India, is a myth of Taoist and Buddhist philosophy. The project sounded ambitious but, at a time when China just started reform and opening up, Yang's team was short of money. Salaries for actors and actresses were low. Even Zhang Jinlai who starred as the Monkey King and Ma Dehua who acted as Xuanzang's disciple Zhu Bajie, received only 80 yuan (about 11.6 U.S. dollars) for each episode. The work was hard and they each played several characters. Zhang Jinlai also acted as a female match-maker. Ma Dehua acted as a foreign ambassador, a monkey, a bandit and an official. At first they didn't know how to make people "fly in the sky." "We asked film-makers from Hong Kong, and were told they used wires," Yang once recalled. They soon started learning the technique and almost all the main actors had the experience of falling off. With only one camera, they spent four years crossing half of China to complete the first season. Yang planned to make 30 episodes, but after the 11th, the money ran out. The team borrowed money from railway authorities to complete another 14 episodes. "Nothing we did was for fame, or profit," Yang said. "It was art." REMEMBERED THROUGH GENERATIONS "Thank you for bringing us our most valuable collective memory," said a web user Longchengbukuaixiaotang on Sina Weibo. Like him, many Chinese are reminiscing as they mourn Yang. Actor Wang Bozhao, best known for his role as the white dragon horse in the TV series, said: "Yang Jie, my favorite director and teacher, has passed away. But 'Journey to the West' will accompany us forever. When we watch the TV series, we do and will remember her." "She was my teacher in art and life. Without 'Journey to the West', audiences would never have seen the Monkey King in the screen. Farewell, my dear director," commented Zhang Jinlai, who played the Monkey King, on his Sina Weibo account. Shi Han, writer and publisher, told Xinhua that Yang did not seek attention, and when people talk about her, they are actually looking back at their own childhood. "The Monkey King is a symbol deeply branded on the hearts of our generation," Shi said. The TV series is still aired each year during the summer vacation and today's kids still rank it as one of their favorite programs. "The love for Monkey King and for the TV series shall be passed down to the next generation," Shi said. "Together with her extraordinary work, Yang will be always remembered, always." ACCRA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Ghana's Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia left here on Tuesday as head of the country's high-powered delegation to the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank in Washington DC, United States, a release from the Ministry of Finance has said. The meetings are scheduled from April 18-28, 2017. Also travelling with the Vice-President is Minister for Finance Kenneth Ofori-Atta, Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Ernest Kwamina Yedu Addison; Chairman of the Finance Committee in Parliament, Mark Assibey Yeboah (MP), and officials from the Finance Ministry. "Whilst there, the delegation will meet with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, as well as the IMF Managing Director, Christian Lagarde. They will also attend the African Consultative Group Meetings with Christian Lagarde and President Jim Yong Kim," the statement said. Besides the core Spring Meetings, the Ghanaian delegation also has side events planned for them, including the "Spotlight on Ghana" event organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies being organized to examine the major political and economic trends in Ghana as the new government charts its course. It is expected to bring together policy makers, business leaders, country analysts, and opinion leaders from Ghana, the United States and beyond, to discuss Ghana's prospects for economic recovery, explore issues of governance and regional leadership and examine the multiple strands on U.S. policy engagement. The Ghanaian delegation, led by the Vice-President, who is the Chairman of the Economic Management Team, will as well hold bilateral discussions with other partner countries, financial institutions and private sector investors. In addition, the delegation will attend the G24 Deputies Meetings which provides an opportunity for the G24-member countries to consider key areas in which international Financial Institutions and multilateral actions can effectively complement and support their policy efforts and the African Caucus Bureau Meeting. "Beside meeting with rating agencies, Standard and Poor's, Fitch and Moody's, the delegation will also hold investor related meetings with holders of Ghana's bonds as well as institutional investors. These meetings provide an opportunity for the delegation to highlight government's economic policies and strategies as well as investment opportunities in Ghana." BELGRADE, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Officials and businesspersons of Serbia and Belarus started a business council here on Tuesday, seeking ways to boost their bilateral cooperation in both economy and trade. At the opening of Serbia-Belarus business council, Serbian Minister of Economy Goran Knezevic said Serbia is open to unite powers with Belarus in order to conquer new markets. The ninth Business Council for Serbia-Belarus cooperation that started here gathered 50 Serbian and 20 Belarus companies, and was co-chaired by Knezevic and Belarus Minister of Trade Vladimir Koltovich. Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated in a press release that participants agreed with the announced increase in the value of trade between two countries to 500 million U.S. dollars by 2019, as well as the advancement in bilateral cooperation by realization of joint investment projects, cooperation and business agreements and joint participation at markets of other countries. Opening the council, Knezevic invited businessmen from Belarus to invest in Serbia, reminding them that the country has 160 companies prepared for different models of privatization. According to the press release of the Chamber of Commerce, Knezevic stressed good macroeconomic indicators of Serbia such as growth of gross domestic product (GDP), investments, stable finances, decrease in unemployment and grey economy, and said that investors in Serbia get financial and nonfinancial incentives to invest in new production capacities and expand their business. Koltovich told participants that Belarus is the 37th out of 190 countries and regions when it comes to conditions for doing business, and among the top 10 when it comes to reforming conditions for business. He stressed that Belarus economy is open to Serbian investments, and joint production and invited business people of the two countries to use mechanisms for cooperation and promised that they can count on support of governments of two countries. Serbian Chamber of Commerce stated that there are great opportunities for cooperation in areas of construction, wood and furniture industry, agriculture, automobile industry, information technologies, pharmaceutical industry and tourism that could contribute to further liberalization of trade with Belarus and the Eurasian Economic Union. The event took place before the Intergovernmental Commission for Cooperation of Serbia and Belarus scheduled for Wednesday. In the same day, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic met Deputy Foreign Minister of Belarus Oleg Kravchenko and talked about bilateral relations of the two countries. The two diplomats agreed at the meeting that the current relations between the two countries are very good and that they can be further improved and advanced. "At the meeting, two sides agreed that maintaining continuity of high level dialogue is very important for keeping traditionally good bilateral relations between two countries," Serbian foreign ministry concluded in a press release. DAR ES SALAAM, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The government of Tanzania said on Tuesday it has removed 13,369 civil servants from its payroll after discovering that they were either absent, dead or retired from the local authorities following an operation against phantom civil servants. George Simbachawene, the east African nation's Minister of State in the President's Office responsible for Regional Administration and Local Governments, said the government lost 12.5 million U.S. dollars as salaries paid to the phantom civil servants. The crackdown on phantom civil servants was launched by President John Magufuli in March 2016 in line with his anti-corruption and austerity measures. President Magufuli warned that officials who failed to implement his directive to remove names of phantom civil servants from the government payroll would have faced punitive steps. Tabling 2017/18 budget estimates for his ministry in the National Assembly in the political capital Dodoma, Simbachawene said the government managed to recover 1.35 million U.S. dollars that would have been paid to the phantom civil servants. "The government will take punitive measures against officials involved in paying salaries to the phantom civil servants," he told the august House. Simbachawene said 541 phantom civil servants were found in regional secretariats while 12,828 were in the local governments. "The government has also sacked, demoted, warned or slashed salaries of 102 civil servants after they were found they were involved in paying the phantom civil servants," said the minister. He asked Parliament to approve 3.3 billion U.S. dollars for his ministry's development and recurrent expenditure for 2017/2018. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-19 01:28:24|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close RIYADH, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Five civilians, including a woman and a girl, were injured in Saudi border city of Najran on Tuesday in military projectiles attack by Houthis in Yemen, according to Saudi civil defense. It was the latest in a series of similar attacks against Saudi border cities, which left tens of civilians dead in over two years. Earlier in the day, 12 military personnel of the Saudi air force died when their helicopter crashed in Marib governorate in Yemen. As part of a regional tour, U.S. Defence Secretary James Mattis said upon arrival to Riyadh on Tuesday that missile attacks by Houthi militias should be stopped permanently. ADDIS ABABA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. embassy in Ethiopia in a statement Tuesday warned Ethiopian students wanting to travel to the United States of the dangers of visa fraud. The Embassy didn't specify the reasons for the notice, but it comes months after another statement dismissing speculation that visa rules for Ethiopians will be tightened. Though Ethiopia was not one of the seven countries placed under the executive travel ban of the administration of U.S. President Donald trump last January, the ban nevertheless caused concern. Every year thousands of Ethiopians travel to the United States for resettlement, education or family visits. Although there are no known statistics of number of Ethiopians and people of Ethiopian Origin living in the United States, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia estimates it be in upwards of half a million. With Ethiopia bordering by Sudan and Somalia which were put on the travel ban and refugees from both countries using the U.S. embassy in Ethiopia for visa applications Ethiopian visa applicants feared they would be unwittingly included in the ban. During the January executive travel ban several dozen people mainly from Somalia, Sudan and Yemen which use Ethiopia as a transit were temporarily stranded at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. The travel ban first issued in late January was suspended by a judge, although there was a second failed effort to reinstate the ban on six of the seven countries again blocked in the courts. With the suspension of the travel ban, the stranded passengers were able to leave the airport for their final destinations. KHARTOUM, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Investment in Sudan amounted to 4.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, official SUNA news agency reported Tuesday. "Altogether 2,604 projects were approved during 2016 in sectors of agriculture, industry and service, with investment volume hitting 4.1 billion dollars," said the agency quoting a government report. The number of countries investing in Sudan jumped from 24 in 2015 to 27 in 2016, it added. The Arab investments took up 80 percent of the approved projects in Sudan, followed by 13 percent from Asia and 5 percent from Europe. According to the report, Saudi Arabia topped the Arab countries investing in Sudan in terms of number and size of investments, while China ranked the first in the Asian investments. VILNIUS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Despite economic growth, increasing household revenues, and falling unemployment, inequality and poverty indicators in Lithuania remain among the highest in the European Union (EU), Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said on Tuesday, when presenting the government's activity report for 2016 to parliament. "In the social area, indicators of poverty and social exclusion raise the biggest concerns," Skvernelis told lawmakers, local media reported. Improved social security and reduced social exclusion are among the governmental priorities, the head of government added. According to Skvernelis, in 2015, 29.3 percent of Lithuanian residents were at risk of poverty or social exclusion. It was one of the highest indicators in the EU where average the rate was 23.7 percent in 2015, according to data from Eurostat, the statistical agency of the EU. Income inequality indicators are also significantly higher in Lithuania than in most other EU countries, Skvernelis stressed. "The current government plans to solve these problems by concrete actions," he noted. According to Skvernelis, the government aims to implement tax system and public sector reforms in order to increase the country's competitiveness. "One of the goals of this government is to ensure the competitiveness of the economy. In order to achieve this goal, we plan to carry out a comprehensive review of the tax system," Skvernelis said. He also pledged to foster cooperation between businesses and scientific institutions, in order to build an economy that is oriented towards innovation. "The average monthly gross wage in Lithuania increased significantly in 2016 and amounted to 770 euro," the head of government noted. Based on Lithuanian Parliament's (Seimas) statute, the prime minister has to present the government's annual activity report for the previous year at the parliamentary spring session. LONDON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- China's Hainan Airlines announced Tuesday it is to operate Boeing 787 Dreamliners on its route between Manchester and Beijing. Airport officials in Manchester said the Chinese carrier will use its flagship aircraft on the route from May 1. It follows the announcement last month that Hainan Airlines is to increase the frequency of its flights at Manchester from four per week to five. The airline's Boeing 787 Dreamliners are fitted with 36 business-class flatbed seats and 177 economy seats. "With state of the art technology, passengers will benefit from a quieter cabin and should feel more refreshed thanks to the better cabin pressure on board the aircraft," said a statement issued by Manchester Airport. Loic Gao, general manager for Hainan Airlines in Manchester, said: "We are very excited to see our very first Dreamliner landing at Manchester Airport from the 1st of May. Having announced our increased frequency, it makes perfect sense to operate the Manchester route with our flagship aircraft." Stephen Turner, commercial director for Manchester Airport, said: "It's great news that Hainan Airlines will be using their flagship aircraft on the Beijing service. Coupled with the news that they will be increasing frequency, it is testament to how successful the route has been performing." VIENNA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Austria's main weather authority on Tuesday issued a warning over a return of frosty and snowy winter weather in the coming days. The Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) said a cold front will lead to snow in many regions of the country until Thursday evening. This could result in problems on roads and railways such as due to fallen branches or trees, along with typical wintery driving conditions. The evening leading into Friday is also expected to be frosty. As a warm lead-up into Spring has led plants and trees to bloom up two weeks earlier than average, the anticipated sub-zero temperatures a cause of concern particularly for farmers, who in 2016 already saw massive, at times total crop losses from late frost. Fruit and wine farmers in particular are reported to be looking nervously towards the days ahead. The ZAMG said it anticipates milder temperatures on the weekend, though with frost still possible in the evenings. At this stage no significant warming of temperatures is anticipated next week either. ROME, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of migrants and refugees arrived in southern Italy on Tuesday, after a dramatic Easter weekend in which over 8,300 people were rescued in the central Mediterranean Sea, Italian authorities and media said. About 1,000 people of mainly Sub-Saharan origins reached Vibo Valentia port in the Calabria region on board an Italian navy ship on Tuesday morning. Another 477 disembarked at the port of Palermo, Sicily from a Panamanian commercial vessel helping out with recent operations. Norwegian rescue ship Siem Pilot also brought 816 survivors to Cagliari, Sardinia. A further 400 people were expected to arrive at the port of Salerno between Tuesday and Wednesday, local authorities said. Hundreds of others reached other cities on Sunday. Overall, some 8,360 people were rescued while trying to reach Italy from the coasts of Libya between the past Friday and Sunday. Rescuers also found some 13 bodies, according to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and Italy's Ansa news agency. Rescue efforts involved Italy's navy and coast guard, vessels from the European Union (EU) border control agency Frontex and rescue mission EUNAVFOR MED, plus several ships from humanitarian groups. All of the survivors were found sailing on board 55 rubber dinghies, each carrying between 110 and 150 people, and three large wooden boats carrying 200, 250, and 500 people respectively, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Monday. Good weather and calm seas were believed to have boosted the record number of departures over the Easter weekend, and the great majority of the rescue operations took place off Libya's coasts, IOM added. The UNHCR stated that some 35,655 people were brought to Italy between Jan. 1 and April 18, which represented the large majority of the total 41,713 arrivals registered across the whole Mediterranean. In the same time frame, some 913 people were believed to have died or gone missing, according to IOM. In the same period of 2016, 1,263 lives were lost. Meanwhile, the latest arrivals seemed to add pressure to Italy, as not all municipalities will willingly comply with the migrant distribution plan handed down by the central government. The country's national reception network currently hosts over 175,460 migrants and asylum seekers, and the majority of them, about 137,855 people, are housed in temporary facilities, according to the latest available data by the interior ministry. TIRANA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The Albanian government and German Development Bank KfW on Tuesday signed three financial agreements on municipal infrastructure programs worth 47 million euros (50.4 million U.S. dollars), the Albanian finance ministry said in a press release. According to the ministry's statement, the agreements aim to improve the water supply and sanitation system in the country's eight municipalities. Representatives of the Albanian government believe the three agreements are crucial for funding water supply and canalization projects in several municipalities in the south and southeastern Albania. The funds are being provided by a 35-million-euro loan from the German government, a 10.4-million-euro grant from the Swiss government, and grant from the German government valued at 2 million euros. The objective of the program is to ensure a sustainable service that will supply the population with potable water, as well as the collection, removal and treatment of the waters, finance minister Arben Ahmetaj said. Transport and infrastructure minister Sokol Dervishaj said the cooperation with Germany had started to yield fruit for Albanian citizens as at the end of these projects, problems with water supply in these areas would end. TIRANA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Albania's trade deficit registered a growth of 1.3 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017, amounting to 71 billion lek (559.1 million U.S. dollars), the statistical office, INSTAT, informed Tuesday. In the first three months of the year, exports amounted to 62 billion lek, an increase of 15.7 percent compared to same period of the previous year, while imports amounted to 133 billion lek, an increase of 7.5 percent, INSTAT said in a statement. Meanwhile, in March alone, Albania's trade deficit increased by 12.8 percent year-on-year, statistics showed. The value of exports amounted to 23 billion lek in March, increasing by 17.2 percent on year. According to INSTAT, imports value amounted to 54 billion lek in March, increasing by 14.6 percent on year. Italy remained Albania's main trading partner in the first three months of 2017, absorbing 71.3 percent of Albania's exports and accounting for 44.9 percent of imports to the country. Other major exporters to Albania were Greece, Germany, Spain and Austria, according to official data. INSTAT also said that Albania exported mainly textiles, footwear, construction materials, and metals. Concerning imports, it was mainly machinery, equipment and spare parts, as well as chemical and plastic products that came to the country. (1 U.S. dollar = 1.26 Albanian lek) Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-19 03:54:00|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close TEHRAN, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Iran will start construction of two nuclear power plants in the country in cooperation with Russian experts, Iranian Energy minister announced on Tuesday. "The contract has been signed between the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) and Russia, and includes building two 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plants, the construction of which is about to start," Hamid Chitchian said. His remarks came after AEOI Head Ali Akbar Salehi announced on Saturday that construction of two new nuclear power plants in the country will start soon. Chitchian also said that "another active project is also underway between the energy ministry and Moscow on constructing a 1,400-megawatt power plant in Hormozgan province near the Persian Gulf," adding that the construction work of the power plant has already started. In February, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak underlined that Moscow is keen on finalizing contracts with Iran and also helping the country build more power plants. Iran plans large-scale construction of power plants and Russia may receive a significant share in building contracts of such power plants, Novak said. LUSAKA, April 18 (Xinhua) -- A court in Zambia on Tuesday ruled that the country's leading opposition leader who is currently in detention on treason charges be allowed access to medical services. Hakainde Hichilema appeared in court for mention and explanation of the charges following his arrest last week. The family and his party had complained that he was being denied access to medical access after the brutality he suffered when the police raided his home. In court, his lawyers raised a number of preliminary issues such as the conduct of the police when they went to arrest him whereby they discharged tear gas in a room in which he was hiding with his family. The lawyers also submitted that he should be allowed to seek independent medical services, be allowed visitors, be allowed to interact and inform his lawyers in privacy as well as be allowed reading materials. Magistrate Greenwell Malumani ruled that the opposition leader should be allowed access to personal medical services and medical examination of his own choice. He further ruled that the opposition leader should be allowed to interact with his lawyers for at least one hour and not 20 minutes as well as visits by his wife, children and other five family members. The court has also ruled that he should be moved from a police training college on the outskirts of Lusaka, the country's where he has been detained since his arrest to a correctional facility and that his rulings should be adhered to without fail. The opposition leader and five others have been slapped with three charges. According to the charges read to them by the court, the opposition leader and others prepared and endeavored to overthrow by unlawful means the government of President Edgar Lungu between October 2016 and April 8, 2017, disobeyed orders to give way to Lungu's motorcade and used offensive language against the police. The opposition leader said he understood the charge but did not take plea. CAIRO, April 18 (Xinhua) -- At least one policeman was killed and four other were wounded on Tuesday in an attack on a security checkpoint near Egypt's Saint Catherine's Monastery in South Sinai, state television reported. Unknown militants attacked the fixed security checkpoint, but the monks and priests inside the Monastery were not harmed, state-run Ahram newspaper reported on its website. The wounded have been transferred to Sharm El-Sheikh International Hospital. The attack came several days after two bombings on churches claimed by Islamic State (IS) group that killed 47 people. Egypt has been suffering anti-security attacks mainly in North Sinai, where IS takes a base of its attacks. Hundreds of security men have been killed in the attacks. Attacks in South Sinai, however, have been rare in recent years. Source: Xinhua| 2017-04-19 05:19:29|Editor: Mu Xuequan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The head of operations for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Tuesday said northeast Africa is in the grip of a "very fast-moving crisis" that is putting both Somalia and South Sudan "in peril" of severe food shortage. While Somalia was managing for the moment, South Sudan was not, John Ging, director of the Operational Division of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said at a press conference here. He has just returned from an emergency tour of the famine-threatened region and briefed reporters at UN headquarters in New York. "This is a very fast-moving crisis," Ging said, referring to Somalia. "Both Somalia and South Sudan are part of a group of countries that are in peril of famine and in the case of South Sudan famine has already been declared." "There is a catastrophic food insecurity situation in both of these countries," he said, adding 6.2 million people in Somalia are "in need of humanitarian assistance and because of the fast-moving situation with the crisis there we have also got an outbreak of cholera where more than 25,000 cases are being reported." "We also have threat of measles and 571,000 people displaced since last November, due to the drought and their needing to move from where they are to gain assistance," Ging said. "The protection issues are massive." He said Somalia is a very dangerous environment for the population because of conflict and humanitarian workers are have problems gaining access to victims, "particularly in and to the al-Shabab controlled areas." "It is surely a race again time," Ging said, complimenting government participation, but warning, "This crisis is going to continue to grow." In South Sudan, "we have already declared famine, 100,000 people are already suffering from famine in two counties and another 1 million people very close to being declared as affected by famine," he said. While Ging said that there already has been a large humanitarian operation in the world's youngest country for a number of years, it is "one of the most dangerous places for humanitarian aid workers," with 24 of them killed this year, nine of them last month. "We are appealing to all in power for help," Ging said. "Humanitarian colleagues must be respected." He said 7.5 million people across South Sudan are now in need of humanitarian assistance while 3.6 million people have been displaced. But Ging said that unlike in Somalia where there has been "a scale up on the funding side," it's not the same situation in South Sudan, where only 27 percent of the 1.6-billion U.S. dollar appeal has been met, or only 438 million U.S. dollars funded. "That really leaves our operations very vulnerable," Ging said. "So, in the one country where we already have famine we don't have resources." DUBLIN, April 18 (Xinhua) -- China and Ireland on Tuesday signed a formal protocol on beef exports to China that paves the way to access for Irish beef to China. The protocol is related to inspection, quarantine and veterinary health requirements for Irish frozen beef to be exported to China. This marks another major milestone in the process of getting Irish beef into the Chinese market, the Irish government said in a statement. China imposed a ban on Irish beef after Europe's mad cow disease outbreak in 2000. In order to complete the process to allow Irish beef exporters access to the Chinese market, a veterinary health certificate with China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) must be finalized, which will be followed by an inspection visit by the Chinese Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA) to approve individual processing plants for export, according to the Irish government. Beef consumption in China has increased almost six fold between 1990 and 2015 and is forecast to increase further over the coming years. However, Chinese beef production has not kept pace with rising demand. On Tuesday, the two sides also signed a protocol to facilitate trade in thoroughbred horses for an emerging racing sector in China. Irish agri-food exports to China have increased from about 240 million euros (256.7 million U.S. dollars) in 2012 to 780 million euros in 2016, a three-fold increase. This made China the third largest market for Ireland's agri-food sector in value terms after Britain and the United States in 2016. ALGIERS, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Algeria and Russia started a series of consultations here on Tuesday over some security issues, including the fight against terrorism, Algerian foreign minister said in a statement. Co-chaired by Abdelkader Messahel, the Algerian minister of Maghreb affairs, African Union and Arab League, and visiting Russian representative of the National Security Council, Venediktov Alexandre, the meeting is the second of its kind as part of counterterrorism cooperation established between Algiers and Moscow in 2016. Issues discussed include measures against terrorism, prevailing conflicts and crises, cyber-terrorism and cyber-criminality, as well as connection between terrorism and transnational organized crime. The first session of the Algerian-Russian consultations was held in Moscow in July 2016. LONDON, April 18 (Xinhua) -- British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond on Tuesday welcomed the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) upgrading of Britain's 2017 economic prospects. The IMF announced an upgrade in its forecast for Britain's GDP growth for 2017 to 2 percent in its latest quarterly forecast, up 1.5 percent on its previous forecast in January. Hammond said: "We are now forecast by the IMF to be the second fastest growing major advanced economy this year." Only the United States of all the advanced economies is expected to grow faster than the UK this year, according to the IMF. The 2018 IMF forecast for the British growth was also upgraded, to 1.5 percent from 1.4 percent. The current IMF forecast returns it close to the expectations it had for 2017 Britain economic growth of 2.2 percent, which it had forecast before last June's Brexit referendum. However, the IMF downgraded this forecast to 1.3 percent annual growth, expecting that the uncertain political outcome of the Brexit negotiations and its lengthy period would harm economic prospects. FRANKFURT, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Space missions are likely to encounter a growing threat of more debris, scientists warned on Tuesday at the 7th European Conference on Space Debris. The four-day meeting was held in the southern German city of Darmstadt, where the European Space Operations Center (ESOC) is located. Since 1957, over 4,900 space launches have led to an on-orbit population today of more than 18,000 tracked objects. Of those, only 1,100 are functional spacecraft and the remaining are space debris, according to European Space Agency (ESA), an intergovernmental organization consisting of 22 European member states. As regards tiny objects larger than one millimeter, which are hard to be tracked but able to harm spacecraft in a collision, the amount of those objects has risen to ca. 150 million. In addition, around 20,000 orbiting fragments with sizes over 10 centimetres have been found nowadays, 12,000 more than the total amount in 1993. "We are very much concerned," said Rolf Densing, director of operations at the ESA. In the coming days, experts will further discuss different aspects of space debris research including measurement techniques, environment modelling theories, risk analysis techniques, and protection designs. Stephen A. Orlins speaks during an exclusive interview with Xinhua reporters at his office in New York, April 14, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) by Xinhua writers Yang Shilong, Zhang Zhihuan, Wang Wen NEW YORK, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The bilateral trade deficit "should not matter" in the development China-U.S. relations, said an expert on U.S.-China Relations. "I hope there's an understanding on the part of the Trump administration that bilateral trade deficits are not particularly meaningful," Stephen A. Orlins, president of the National Committee, told Xinhua in a recent interview at his office in downtown Manhattan. "I've been doing business with China for more than three decades. The U.S. used to have trade deficits with Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia. What happened over these years is that a lot of the semi-finished goods would go to China (for China to export), so what's happened is the trade deficit we used to have with those other countries has been transferred to China. Now that is not China's fault and we should not blame China for that," said Orlins. Orlins said there are domestic factors in the U.S. that better explain the trade gap. "It relates to a lot of these things that can be solved in part by America dealing with its own savings problem. So if we save more as a country, then we wouldn't need to import so much capital to do things. There are a lot of answers here which don't really relate to U.S.-China relations. They relate to what the United States must do itself," he said. The China-U.S. trade deficit is overstated, if judged from the perspective of the global supply chain. Headline figures suggest that China accounted for about half of the U.S. trade deficit in 2015. But Deutsche Bank's economists have found that on a value-added basis, only 16 percent of that deficit came directly from China, slightly higher than the 13 percent which originated from Japan. "Having said that, there are many areas where China can open its market more to U.S. goods and U.S. investment. There are lots of tariff barriers and non-tariff barriers which can be reduced and will aid U.S. exports to China," Orlins said. The amount of U.S. service exports to China is often overlooked when calculating the balance of trade. In this area, the United States has a surplus with China. The U.S. edge in service trade has huge potential to grow bigger in China as the world's fastest-growing consumer market is poised to open its service sector wider to the United States. Orlins, a strong advocate for constructive China-U.S. cooperation for more than four decades, said that his early doubts and worries about the future development of the bilateral ties were dispelled following the successful meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump at the Mar-a-Largo resort earlier this month. "I think the relationship is really quite strong," said Orlins, who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. "There was real understanding that was developed (during the meeting)," he said. "The development of a relationship between President Xi and President Trump is important for U.S.-China relations and for the world." Stephen A. Orlins speaks during an exclusive interview with Xinhua reporters at his office in New York, April 14, 2017. (Xinhua/Wang Ying) Orlins said that a piece of direct proof is the one-hour telephone conversation made between Xi and Trump within five days after the meeting ended. "I would say that without the meeting, that telephone conversation would not have been as productive and constructive as it was, so that's already a symbol of the progress," Orlins said. Orlins noted that Trump's acceptance of Xi's invitation to visit China is also a "very good sign." "In my experience, when presidents of the United States visit China, they understand better how the Chinese government functions and the problems the Chinese government are confronting, and are able to craft policies which are more constructive to the U.S.-China relationship," he said. Orlins emphasized that China-U.S. bilateral relations are of global relevance as "there will be global problems in the future which require the two countries "to talk together to help resolve." The top two world economies have already set examples by working together in tackling major global issues like climate change, cyber security and counter-terrorism, he said. The creation of a new cabinet-level framework for negotiations, which includes dialogues on diplomacy and security, economy, law enforcement and cybersecurity, and social and cultural issues, "should help resolve issues" between the two countries, said Orlins. He said the latest positive development is that the U.S. government decided not to brand China as a currency manipulator. "China is not and has not for many years been depreciating its currency, so President Trump simply realized the reality," he said. Man murdered in Santa Cruz He has been identified as John Audrey. Police are working on the theory that Audrey was killed when gunmen tried to rob him. According to reports, the Santa Cruz man completed his duties at the Villa Cruz bar on Akar Trace and was closing up the bar at about 1 am. He went to his car which, residents said, was a short distance from the bar. Several gunshots were heard. Aubrey was taken to the Port of Spain General Hospital where he died at about 4 am while undergoing emergency surgery. While relatives were not willing to speak when Newsday visited yesterday, one resident said he had a short conversation with Audrey moments before he was shot. The resident said Audrey gave him two cigarettes and a shot of puncheon rum before closing the bar. Homicide detectives believe that Audrey had a quantity of money which represented the days sales at the bar. Police are hoping to view camera footage to assist them in identifying the killer or killers. The murder toll for the year now stands at 154. Man wanted for two murders nabbed in maxi taxi Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard SC has given instructions for the man to be charged with the murders and he is expected to appear before an Arima magistrate today. According to police, the man was being sought by officers of the Northern Division and the Homicide Bureau but he managed to evade arrest. An off duty police officer from the Northern Division saw the suspect entering the maxi taxi near Arima and used his private vehicle to follow. The officer alerted his colleagues from the Northern Division Task Force intercepted the vehicle. The man was arrested and handed over to officers of the Region Two Homicide Bureau. The mans Wallerfield home was searched and a 9mm pistol with several rounds of ammunition were allegedly found. The weapon has been sent to the Forensic Science Centre for ballistic testing. The officer was commended by acting Commissioner Stephen Williams. Head of the Northern Division, Mac Donald Jacob also heaped praise on the officer and called on other officers to demonstrate the same level of commitment to duty as the constable. POS murders a result of beef Head of the Port-of- Spain Division Radcliffe Boxhill said this in an interview with Newsday after a rash of murders were committed in the Port-of- Spain area over the past two weeks. Boxhill said to combat this, the police have engaged in a conflict resolution campaign which started in 2016. This is something that we have been trying to get established over the past 12 months. The statistics have shown that it has been making an effect on the rate of murders. Newsday was told that the murder rate in Port-of-Spain saw a 57 percent decrease between 2015 and last year and has seen a further decrease this year. However the recent murders that have occurred in the nations capital have raised the concern of the police. The latest of these murders is that of 28-year-old Quicny Allen, of Duncan Street, who was killed on Thursday at the corner of Nelson Street, Independence Square. Two days earlier, 42-yearold Ricardo John, a resident of Riverside Plaza, was killed by bullets intended for another man while he was going to a parlour on Besson Street, a stones throw away from his home. A week before that, on April 3, 19-year-old Kadeem Richardson was killed on Duncan Street. Boxhill said all three murders are now being investigated by Portof- Spain homicide detectives, but no arrests have been made thus far. Understanding Dissociative Identity Disorder Such individuals are affected by Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), the causes of which are complex based on research studies. Dissociative identity disorder is a condition wherein a persons identity is fragmented into two or more distinct personality states. US-based psychiatrist Richard Kluft who is also an expert in this field, suggests that DID is caused by four main factors. Firstly, individuals have an innate potential to dissociate what is reflected in the fact that they are easy to hypnotise; secondly, traumatic experiences in early childhood may disturb personality development, leading to greater potential or divisiveness in mental and emotional areas; thirdly, individuals may be denied the chance to spontaneously recover because of continued emotional and/or social deprivation; and lastly, final presentation is shaped by mental and/or emotional external factors including social influences. Having a strong resilience particularly in dealing with traumatic experiences, is essential in avoiding occurrences of this emotional ill, as research shows that DID symptoms are a psychological response to extreme environmental and interpersonal stressors. In cushioning this stress, affected individuals separate their thoughts, feelings, actions and memories associated with the particular trauma, from their normal level of consciousness, hence the split personality effect. Studies have also revealed that persons affected by DID, tend to have a personal history of recurring, overpowering and mostly life-threatening traumas such as physical or sexual abuse usually before the age of nine. DID victims sometimes describe feelings that they have suddenly become modified onlookers of their own speech and/or actions. They may admit to hearing different kinds of voices, and in some instances, these sounds are assisted by various thought streams over which the victims have no control. Whilst DID is not totally understood, victims often report past experiences of physical and/or sexual abuse, particularly in their earlier years. Symptoms include memory loss, a sense of disconnection from yourself and your emotions, a perception that shows the people around you as unreal, a confused sense of identity, inability to cope with stressful situations and mental health problems such as depressions, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Persons experiencing these symptoms should seek psychotherapy aimed at disintegrating the different personalities and uniting them into one. Remember your health is your wealth. Sandrine Rattan is a Communications/ Branding Consultant/ Author and President of the International Womens Resource Network (IWRN) Contact: thecorporatesuitett@ gmail.com or intlwomensresourcenetwork@ gmail.com or contact 283-0318. Government honours $million payout Yesterday National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said seven families, including those of five police officers and two prison officers, have already qualified for the payment. Further payments will be made as soon as the relevant documents are processed. Cabinet took the decision last year to begin payment starting from the day police constable Sherman Maynard was killed. On July 24, 2015, Maynard was shot dead while on duty outside the Port of Spain prison on Frederick Street when three prisoners escaped. The commitment to pay the money was made by the former Peoples Partnership government under prime minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. However, up until that government demitted office later that year, no policy was in place to make any payment. Yesterday president of the Police Social and Welfare Association Inspector Michael Seales said he and the executive were heartened to learn of this first payout. We are elated, he said. This is the first move in ensuring that the process is continued smoothly and we are hoping that the relatives of other slain officers will also be compensated in swift time. I want to thank the former administration for agreeing with this initiative and for the current administration for following through. He said this move will definitely boost morale and will assist in pushing officers to further re-dedicate themselves to the service because they would be mindful that should they fall in the line of duty, their families will not be left unprotected. Stewart-Phillips: The show goes on She said calls by THA minority leader Watson Duke for the festivals cancellation would result in major financial loss. The festival begins on Saturday and runs until April 30. The event has a budget of $12 million this year, $3 million less than last year. On Thursday last week, Duke said this years event should be cancelled until the issue of a ship for transporting cargo between Trinidad and Tobago is rectified given that the Super Fast Galicia will no longer operate here. Stewart-Phillips said, Mr Duke as minority leader is free to voice his opinion. It does not mean as a responsible assembly we would heed this call. What Mr Duke needs to understand, and even Tobago must understand, is that a significant amount of money has been invested into this festival and it cannot be cancelled at this stage because we would be at a major loss. She said while concerns surrounding the sea bridge have been noted, the Port Authority as well as Caribbean Airlines have assured there would be no further interruptions for the festival. Concerns have been raised all around and we would have been in contact with officials at the Port Authority who have assured that they would do all in their power to ensure that the sea bridge is not further interrupted, in terms of the fast ferries, and that assurance also came from Caribbean Airlines. That is the most I can say at the moment. I understand and I know that the air and sea bridge are major concerns. They have been major concerns for a while. This did not just develop, but we are confident and hopeful that things will be regularised by then and even going forward, not just for the purpose of the jazz festival. International Shipping, agents for the Super Fast Galicia, served the Port Authority notice that it would be withdrawing the vessel from the sea bridge. Suggestions by the Government for use of a barge have been met with strong opposition from the Tobago Division of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce as well as wider Tobago. Sex assault survivor speaks out Speaking at yesterdays peace rally and concert themed Non-violence begins with Me held at the Queens Park Savannah, Port of Spain, Evans-Ford said, Regardless of what you experience, when you surround yourself with people who love you and care for you healing and moving forward to extend love and compassion is possible. Evans-Ford said in 2008, while teaching at a high school as a US Peace Corp volunteer in the Eastern Caribbean, she became a victim and survivor of a violent crime. That experience now helps her to help other people, she said. Relating her story, she said, an evening after taking a nap and tidying up she heard a knock at the door. On checking, she found the door opened. As soon as I closed the door, she said, I knew something was wrong. She walked into the kitchen with her hands up and coming towards her was a man wearing a mask and swinging a very big knife in his hands. He told her to take off her clothes. She thought he wanted money so she changed the subject and he asked where the money was. Transportation money she had nearby she gave him, but money for other expenses were in her bedroom. She went to the bedroom to get the money, all the while saying Jesus. There he again told her to take off her clothes. Seeking a way out, Evans- Ford ran past him, she said, But he caught me and slammed me down. I struggled with him. He still had that knife and he was cutting at my hands. During the struggle, she said, she took the knife, managed to break it and tossed it away. That upset him and he held her down so she could not move. He then dragged her to the kitchen and got another knife. She managed to get back on her feet and made a dash for the door but he caught her and slammed her down to the floor again. He told me to take off my pants. In that moment, one of the most powerless moments of my life, I had to do it. I had no other choice. There was a knife to my neck. she said. Thinking the worse, she told him that if he was going to rape her if he could please use a condom. Just like we were having a regular conversation, he asked me Were do you have a condom? Teaching HIV/AIDS education, she had a bag of condoms in her bathroom. Dragging her to the bathroom, she was again seeking to escape. Then she heard her neighbours, who heard her screaming, banging on the door. The man was really upset and grabbed my bloodied body by the waist swinging the knife. Somehow I was able to crawl underneath his grip, get to the door, open it and my neighbours pulled me out of that space. The man, 21, a serial rapist and drug addict, escaped but was caught later. Together with two other victims who testified against him, he was tried, found guilty and sentenced to 46 years in prison. The man had lost his mother at a young age, and not making excuses for what he had done, Evans- Ford said, It just shows you the reality of how important it is to reach out and be present for young people who may be struggling with addiction, violent tendencies, and other issues. Her struggles did not end with the man being sent to prison. She was subsequently diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. She is in a different place now thanks to counselling and being able to go to people who have helped her to move forward. Caparo warehouse destroyed, family home gutted in $M fire Fire officers investigating the incident say the incident could be attributed to a nearby bush fire which started near the warehouse at about 4 pm at New Gunness Trace, Caparo Village, near Longdenville. According to a police report, Nikita Roopchan, her husband Beedesh and son Valmikki had gone to Maracas Beach. Police said earlier in the day residents had telephoned the fire station in Chaguanas and reported that there was a bush fire which was spreading towards the warehouse. By the time fire officers arrived, the fire had engulfed the warehouse and had begun spreading to the house. Fire officers broke open the house and disconnected the gas lines to the stove. According to the fire officers, this prevented the house from going up in flames. However, the house was gutted with most of the familys appliances and furniture being destroyed. Speaking with Newsday yesterday, Roopchan said, It was while at the beach we got a telephone call that there was a bush fire near to us but which was under control. Only minutes later we received another call that the warehouse was on fire. We immediately left the beach and kept hoping and praying that there would be some miracle and we would not have been affected. It was not so. She said when she and her husband and child arrived on the scene, they saw thick black smoke coming from their house. Her voice cracking with emotion, Roopchan said, The smoke was too much for me so I stayed in the car with our son. I could see the glass windows shattering and the wall cracking. The family also owned several vehicles but they were all burnt. These vehicles are our bread and butter. How will we make our money to provide for our family? It is really hard to know that in the blink of an eye we are now left without a place to stay...just like that. Her son seemed oblivious to fate that had befallen his parents as he played with a toy car. He does not know what is going on. He is too young to understand. We dont even know where we will be staying for the night. More women needed in top ICT positions After meetings with senior female ICT executives of AMCHAMs member companies, the business organisation and the IDB launched their Women in Leadership Mentorship Program. Addressing the group of leading women in the field of Information Technology, she said We need role models for girls and young women to see that it is possible to be successful in senior ICT positions. The mentorship program, which will be done in partnership with the IDB, is intended to pair five mentees with senior regional professionals in the fields of Science, Information Technology, and Economics. The mentors were selected from the IDBs network of professionals. AMCHAMs CEO Nirad Tewarie stated that this initiative is an extension of the theme of our recently concluded Womens Leadership Seminar held in February #Be Bold For Change. We are ensuring that we make a conscious effort to not only add to the discussion but to be part of the solution. He added, We are fully committed to seeing this through along with our partner the IDB, and it is our hope that this pilot project can serve as a template that other business service organisations can adopt and that we can expand. Carina Cockburn, Chief of Operations for the local IDB office, echoed this sentiment and reiterated the IDBs position that promoting gender equality is pivotal to its goal of accelerating the process of economic and social development in Latin America and the Caribbean. While applicants can only be selected from AMCHAM membership base, it is important to note that AMCHAMs diverse membership covers all sectors of business. UNC chairman calls for Cuffies resignation Cuffie, in his message dated April 13, said the message of the resurrection is one of triumph over seemingly insurmountable hurdles, in this case, even death and that The empty treasury, like the empty tomb must not be a source of panic and despair for us, but rather a challenge to our faith and hope in something much bigger than we are the triumph of good over evil and death over life. He said the country continues to grapple with the effects of sluggish oil and gas prices, and its attendant ripple effects on the national economy but added that this countrys citizens are resilient and just as we believe that not even death could have detained the Christ, so too we must believe that everything is possible for us as a country. He said there was a tendency by some adults to ascribe blame for every imaginable ill being experienced onto someone else, rather than accept responsibility for their own actions. Cuffie also encouraged citizens to look toward the promise that Easter represents, the promise of new life and rebirth, the promise of growth and recovery. Lee in a release on Saturday called on Cuffie to submit his resignation or be removed by the prime minister immediately or his disgraceful, distasteful and insulting statements which he sought to mask as an Easter message. It was clear that the minister who can be considered the official spokesperson for the Government based on the communication portfolio sought to make a mockery of the most significant celebration on the Christian calendar by seeking to defend the failures of his Government as well as mislead the population into believing the treasury is empty, he said. Never in the history of our nation has any minister or public official sought to infuse politics into the significance and teachings of the various religions or even change the meaning of those beliefs within our nation as was seen by this attempt to insinuate that citizens were to be blamed for the state of national affairs within Trinidad and Tobago. Lee also referred to Cuffies statements that those who once shouted Hosanna are now shouting crucify him and questioned whether the minister was Seeking to compare his administration to the trials faced by Jesus as well as make citizens feel guilty for speaking out for better Governance in the past. He said this was a clear breach of the boundary which exists between the state and religion but even more so it is a clear use of state power to spread government propaganda by seeking to infiltrate the independent beliefs we hold sacred to us as a nation. As a society we must hold strong to the religious and cultural values as well as teachings which have forged as a united cosmopolitan society and never allow any entity to convolute these principles for Political or personal gain. He continued: There is a time and place for everything and political propaganda has no place in religion similar to how an individual who breaches the integrity and decorum of public office as Minister Cuffie has no place in the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago. Cuffie in a telephone interview on Saturday said he stood by his statement. On Lees criticism of him saying that the treasury was empty, he said both the prime minister and finance minister have been quite clear about our prevailing economic circumstances. The fact is when we got into office the countrys overdraft had reached its limit and we have had to make two draw downs from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund. And Im sure Dr Lee would be well aware of those developments. On calls for his resignation Cuffie responded, Dr Lee has his job to do and I have my job to do. Share Finnish technology provider Elisa (News - Alert) has combined with Nokia to host the first successful 5G network test in Europe. The test featured data speeds of 1.5 gigabits per second, allowing data to be transferred over cellular networks faster than ever before. The test, which was held in Rusko, Finland, showcased speeds that were faster than current commercial 4G LTE (News - Alert) networks. More and more telecommunications providers are currently conducting tests of this manner in order to work on creating networks built around 5G technology. The fact that so many of these tests are yielding promising results is important for the future of 5G as a commercial network. Executives at the head of these companies are extremely encouraged at the current state of these tests. We are eagerly waiting for the 3.5 GHz band to become fully available as it will accelerate the offering of commercial 5G services to our customers, said Kalle Lehtinen, VP of technology and architecture at Elisa, in a statement. The use of cellular networks at these frequencies not only offers faster speeds than older networks, but also greater reliability and less lag time. The test conducted by Nokia (News - Alert) and Elisa found latencies as little as 1.5 milliseconds. The work by telecommunications providers of implementing 5G networks is still currently in the test phase. However, with more and more of these successful test results coming back like the one conducted by Nokia and Elisa, the closer this technology inches to being commercially available. When that day comes, users will enjoy faster upload and download speeds with greater reliability than ever before. This will allow people to experience all of the features that they already enjoy while using a Wi-Fi connection wherever they are in the world with the use of cellular data. Telecommunications providers all around the world are focused on making 5G their next big offering, allowing for greater functionality with a greater range than older cellular networks. Edited by Alicia Young Share The 2017 Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) in Barcelona saw Nokia introducing mid-range smartphones and a throwback with the hugely popular 3310, which made more news than its more powerful siblings. With HMD Global having acquired full licensing from Nokia (News - Alert), it was only a matter of time before the company released high-end smartphones. There were some rumors at MWC, but nothing concrete, and although the recently released images of sketches for the Nokia 8 and Nokia 9 phones have not been confirmed by HMD Global, details are being released that have Android users excited. If confirmed, HMD Global is going after the high-end of the market, with iPhone (News - Alert) 8, Samsung Galaxy S8 and other flagship phones clearly the target. The sketches were obtained from a tipster, and although they are not of high quality, the Nokia 9 has taken a page from Samsung's latest Galaxy and eliminated the home button in the front, and the bezels are also very small to give more real estate for the screen. The home button, fingerprint sensor and dual-cameras (with vertical placement) are in the back. The screen is rumored to have a 5.5-inch OLED with the same aspect ratio of the new Samsung Galaxy 8 at 18:9. The other specs include the newest and more power efficient Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor with 6GB RAM (News - Alert). Even without the power efficient feature of this processor, the huge 3800mAh battery and Quick Charge 4.0 technology will do quite well for a full day of work. There is 128GB of built-in storage, and there is a 22MP dual-camera system on the back with a 12MP front camera. Another leak last month said Carl Zeiss would supply the lenses for both phones. The phones are going to be running Android (News - Alert) Nougat out the box, but HMD is in talks with Google to run stock Android operating systems because they get faster updates and security patches. The Nokia 8 will have a home button and fingerprint sensor in the front with slightly larger bezels on the top and bottom. The display is said to be a 5.7-inch Quad HD with a 16:9 aspect ratio, a 22MP OIS + EIS rear camera and 12MP for the front. The processor is still up in the air, with Qualcomms Snapdragon 660 and 835 as possible options. The RAM is the same at 6GB, but the storage comes in 64GB and 128GB options with a microSD card slot. Last but not least is the price, which is expected to run at $699 for the Nokia 9 in the U.S. The price for the Nokia 8 is not available, but it will be cheaper considering the specs. Until HMD Global confirms these specs, it is all speculation, but if history is an indicator many of the features will likely be on the new Nokia smartphones. Edited by Alicia Young We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Terrorist organizations in North Africa have found in the Polisario-run Tindouf camps breeding grounds for the recruitment of new members. Head of Moroccos FBI, the Central Bureau of Judicial Investigation (BCIJ) Abdelhak Khiame puts the number of Polisario members within IS ranks at 100 individuals. In an interview with France 24, Khiame reiterated concern regarding the connivance between the Polisario leadership and several terrorist organizations operating in the Algerian desert and in North Africa where both parties have been engaged in all sorts of trafficking. The increasing involvement of Polisario members in terrorist activities is jeopardizing the security of both Morocco and Algeria, said Khiame, who deplored Algerias lack of cooperation with Morocco on counter terrorism. Since 2010, the link between the Polisario and terrorist organizations in the Sahel have been making the headlines. In August 2010, in response to AQIMs demands, Mauritania released Omar le Sahraoui, a Polisario veteran on hire for AQIM who kidnapped three foreign aid workers in November 2009. Later in October the same year, Moroccan authorities arrested a supposedly Al Qaeda-linked terrorist cell, the Saharawi Jihad Front, headed by a Polisario supporter. In January 2011, Algerian security services arrested Sidi Mohamed Mahjoub, a Polisario Imam, whose home allegedly contained arms, 20 kilos of explosives, and correspondence with AQIM leader Abdelmalek Droukdel. The EU anti-fraud office has also blamed the Polisario and Algerian authorities for their involvement in humanitarian aid embezzlement as they continue to trade in the suffering of the population held against their will in the Tindouf camps. Last year, Moroccan and Mauritanian officials decried the involvement of senior Polisario leaders in drug trafficking activities. Last September, the Moroccan army has aborted a drug trafficking attempt near the security wall in the southern provinces and arrested four traffickers with links to Polisario officials, including the son of the development minister of the self-proclaimed SADR republic. This trafficking activity, which have developed in the region for the past several years, facilitated connections with other terrorist groups operating in all sorts of illegal commercial activities in the region. In many ways, the collusion between terrorists and the Polisario is an indication of the impending collapse of the Algerian-sponsored separatist thesis. The deterioration of the Polisario Front and the development of terrorism in the Sahel are growing ever closer and the collapse of the Sahrawi separatist movement feeds the activity of terrorist organizations. Russia and Algeria are to meet up this Tuesday in the Algerian capital for the second consultations on the cooperation against terrorism established by both countries last year, reports say. Announced by the Algerian foreign ministry, the meeting will be a platform to ponder over regional and international cooperation against terrorism, to address hotbed conflict zones such as Libya, Syria, other crisis such as Mali, the Western Sahara issue, local Algeria media Algerie Patriotique reports. The delegations will also discuss the fight against cyber-terrorism as well as cyber criminality in addition to terrorism and organised crimes. The Algerian delegation will be led by Abdelkader Messahel, Minister of Maghreb Affairs, African Union and League of Arab States and the Russian side by Venediktov Alexandre, Representative of Russian Security Council. Both countries established the consultations last year in the Russian capital to coordinate efforts and share best practices in the fight against terrorism. Messahel was in Washington early this month where he attended the 4th session of US-Algeria cooperation on security and fight against terrorism. The UN-backed Presidential Councils problems are festering as leaked list of new appointed ambassadors reveals corruption and nepotism at the head of the new Libyan leadership tasked to reconstruct the country following the death of former strongman Muammar Gaddafi. A source in the Government of National Accord (GNA) led by the Presidential Council (PC) has leaked the list of new diplomatic proposals to Libya Herald. According to the source the new appointments were not done on the basis of merit but rather friendship and connection. Drawn by the foreign ministry of the unity cabinet, the list has suffered criticism from the department boss and from the countrys internationally recognised parliament, House of Representative based in the eastern town of Tobruk, Libya Herald reports. 83 envoys including 76 ambassadors and 7 Charges dAffairs have been proposed but are yet to be confirmed. Wafa Bughaigies, countrys ambassador to Washington has been maintained for her close links with PC Head Serraj and Deputy Head Maetig. She is also appreciated by Washington which supports the PC, sources told the Libyan media. Guima Attaiga, former Head of General National Congress (GNC); countrys former parliament, has been proposed for Londons placement as a means to win over civil society and civil (non-military) political stream in general in opposition to the Islamist stream. Another controversial proposal is Ahmed Safar who has managed to retain his ambassador position thanks to his good ties with Maetig. Safar has been moved from Rome to Slovakia where he schooled. The GNA source pointed that he has been retained in order not to anger Maetig. Naser Benafa, a former GNC member and former chairman of Libyan Businessmen Council has been proposed for position in Moscow. He is reportedly close to Russia where he graduated in 1980s. Russia supported him to head the PC during Skhirat talks in December 2015, in Morocco. Marwan Busrewees proposal for Germany also drew controversy. The former Head of NGO department of foreign ministry is a good friend to Maetig. Other proposals such as Zuhair Al-Zwawy (Milan), Taher Ben Taher (Algiers) and Omar Tarhuni (Rome) are said also backed by Maetig while Lutfi Al-Mughrabi (Paris) and Ala Alwafati (Dubai) are all known as Serrajs close allies, the source further noted. Established in Tripoli, March last year, the PC has been unable to assert its authorities. The administration has been facing distrust from Libyans and the HoR who accuse it of corruption and incompetence. A plane crash involving a light tourism aircraft has killed five people among whom three French citizens and a Swiss near the Portuguese capital, reports say. All the passengers on board plane died in the crash after the aircraft licensed in Switzerland hit warehouse of a supermarket, not far from an airfield in the region of the Portuguese capital, AFP report citing local officials. Victims inside the plane were three French and a Swiss, said Andre Fernandes, the commander of the Civil Protection of the region of Lisbon region. Fernandes also noted that the aircraft on hitting the warehouse killed one person inside and wounded slightly three other people. The injured were shopping in inside the supermarket and were treated for shock and smoke inhalation, Associated Press reports. The aircraft; a twin-engine Piper PA-31 Navajo, 10 meters of length, took off from the small Tires airfield, 20 kilometres west of Lisbon in direction to Marseille, in the South of France, AFP adds. Dozens of firefighters were rushed to scene to put off the fire caused by the crash. Citizens of 18 countries including Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria have been exempted from visa requirements to visit far-eastern part of Russia, reports say. The Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev announced Russian authorities decision on Monday. I recently approved the list countries whose nationals can benefit from the preferential treatments, Medvedev said. The decision is taken in a move to scale up tourism traffic in the far region and attract investors, reports say. Business travellers, tourists from Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, India, Iran, Qatar, China, North Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey and Japan will no longer need visa to visit cities such as Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Kamchatka, Birobidzhan and Anadyr. The region, mostly cold, is also hub of diversified riches including natural resources and beautiful landscapes. Travellers of those 18 countries will only have to log on with their own data on a website built for the occasion, reports say. We are introducing in an appropriate manner bilateral accords on visa-free travels for those who are ready to use such an approach for us, the Russian Prime Minister added. Senior commander of Moroccos Royal Navy had talks with Greek peers on a set of issues of mutual interest, on top of which the possibility of acquiring Submarines used by the Greek navy, said the website Far-Maroc specializing in military issues. The same source reported that commanders of the Tarik Ben Zyad and Sultan Moulay Ismail frigates raised during a visit to Greece the prospects for strengthening cooperation between the two countries navies as well as the possibility of acquiring used Greek submarines. Since last year, negotiations have been ongoing between Morocco and Russia on the delivery of the Amur-class 1650 super-quite submarine, which will be the Kingdoms first submarine. Russias Amur-1650 diesel-electric powered submarine will significantly boost Moroccos capabilities, as it will carry Club cruise missiles in addition to featuring air-independent propulsion (AIP). With a length of 66.8 meters and a beam of 7.1 meters, the submarine can sink into a depth of 250 meters. The acquisition of submarines will also boost the capabilities of the Royal navy in its protective mission of the 2952km coastline stretching from the strait of Gibraltar to the Mauritanian coast on the Atlantic and from Tangier to the Algerian coast on the Mediterranean. The main Atlantic bases of the Moroccan navy are found in Casablanca, Agadir and Dakhla, while the Mediterranean bases are located in Ksar Sghir and Al Hoceima. Although it was established in 1960, the Moroccan navy traces its roots back to the 11th century with the rise of the Al Moravid dynasty, and during the era of the Almohad dynasty, which stretched through the Maghreb, the Moroccan navy was the mightiest in the Mediterranean. Beset by multiple problems, the campaign to put California on the road to independence from Trumps America is hanging it up for now. Photo: Yes California Frustrated by slow progress in securing petitions and undermined by bad publicity over a colleagues strategic retreat to Russia, the chief organizer of the Yes California campaign to move the Golden State toward secession from the United States called it quits yesterday, as reported by the Los Angeles Times: Less than three months after being given the green light to start gathering voter signatures, the author of a closely watched effort to split California from the United States has decided to withdraw his proposal. Marcus Ruiz Evans, the initiatives official proponent, sent an email Monday to the secretary of states office asking to cancel his initiative. Evans indicated in a public statement that his group had only collected 97,500 of the 585,000 signatures needed by July 25 to place an initiative on the November 2018 ballot, which would have in turn authorized a 2019 special election to consider formal independence. But an even bigger problem was that Andrew Marinelli, his partner in founding Yes California back in 2014, decamped to Russia in December and associated himself with a government-backed group that considered his efforts congruent with those of Crimean separatists who supported Russias annexation of that previously Ukrainian region. As the Washington Post explained: While no indications exist of a direct Russian government hand in Mr. Marinellis organization, a group that is nominally independent but nonetheless state financed, and supports only causes that dovetail with the Kremlins foreign policy, paid for a hotel room in Moscow during a congress of secessionist groups from around the world in September 2016. These included the Texas Nationalist Movement, backers of Puerto Rican independence and a group wanting to restore the Hawaiian monarchy. A Russian group, known as the Anti-Globalization Movement, which like Mr. Marinelli advocates the breakup of the United States, also offered him office space in Moscow to open an embassy of California in Russia, and Mr. Marinelli accepted. This was not exactly catnip to Calexit supporters back home eager to accuse Donald Trump of complicity with Vladimir Putin. It also came out that Marinelli had himself voted for Trump. So this particular Calexit movement appears to be collapsing due to the weight of its own internal problems. But hope abides for a more successful effort: Evans said he was leaving the Yes California group and joining the California Freedom Coalition, which he described as a grassroots organizing effort that evolved since last years election. The coalition plans to file its own ballot measure in coming weeks, without the baggage of Marinellis Russian ties, said Steve Gonzales, the new groups secretary-treasurer and board member. It prevented Yes California from getting any serious money, I can tell you that, Gonzales said, noting that he is a native Californian who has never been to Russia. The group will accept no foreign money, and contributions from other states must be cleared by the coalitions board, he said. Yeah, when the leaders of a grassroots political movement have to keep telling people they have never been to Russia, theres a certain PR problem. While they are regrouping, the California secessionists might want to reconsider Yes Californias rather convoluted process for taking the state out of the union, which involved a requirement that a certain percentage of voters had to participate in the crucial referendum and produce a super-majority margin. Given the massive legal and political problems a successful referendum would immediately encounter secession without the concurrence of the rest of the country simply isnt happening, as certain Southern states learned a while back it makes no particular sense for Calexit proponents to add to the obstacles with their own Rube Goldberg procedures. So long as Donald Trump is president, however, the idea of the nations largest and bluest state going its own way will never completely die. And the idea of an independent Bear Republic certainly predates Trump or Yes California: According to one count, there have been 200 formal efforts since 1849 either to split California into multiple states or take it out of the Union. Its as though California is never perpetually at ease with itself or with the larger country whose future it is often thought to represent, as a promise or a threat. On a collision course? Photo: STR/AFP; Mark Wilson/Getty Images World War III did not break out on the Korean Peninsula over the weekend. The North Korean regime did not test a nuclear weapon on a major holiday given to bellicose military displays. The Trump administration did not use the aircraft carrier group it sent to the region to launch a preemptive military strike that might set off full-scale even nuclear war. But the stressful episode wasnt a total waste of adrenaline it offers Korea watchers and Trump watchers alike a few key lessons about the predictable unpredictability underlying this extremely thorny international crisis. Lesson No. 1: There will be another crisis soon, and Washington needs to know that. In the case of North Korea, which thrives on anniversaries and embarrassing the government in Seoul, there are not many real surprises. Korea experts can predict crises with great accuracy is there a North Korean anniversary on the calendar? A high-ranking visitor to Seoul that the North can embarrass? An allied military exercise the North can complain about? The weekends failed missile launch, for example, took place shortly after the birthday of regime founder Kim Il-sung, and overlapped with Vice-President Pences visit to Seoul. But failures like that dont cause the regime to change course. It wont this time either. Pyongyang promptly promised weekly missile launches. Launching missiles at Syria, dropping the Mother of All Bombs in Afghanistan, and sending aggressive tweets from Mar-a-Lago makes for good theater on the U.S. side, but nothing fundamental has changed. Lesson No. 2: North Korea is only getting scarier. Little by little, the regime is advancing its ability to deliver a nuclear warhead to its regional rivals and eventually to the continental United States. The mocked-up missiles on display in last Saturdays Pyongyang parade seem designed to communicate, as analyst Melissa Hanham told the Washington Post, They can launch a lot more of these things in quick succession. That matters because Pyongyang has staked the regimes survival on the idea that it is capable of preempting a foreign attack (like, for example, missiles launched from a U.S. aircraft carrier) with a devastating nuclear blow. Appealing as preemption sounds, the notion of a nuclear strike on Seoul and the tens of thousands of American troops along the demilitarized zone is a very strong disincentive. Pyongyang explicitly says that it aims to build a weapon that can strike the Western U.S., to make that disincentive even stronger. Theres nothing on the horizon that looks like it will do much to slow, much less reverse, North Koreas nuclear progress. Lesson No. 3: Pretensions and theatrics aside, Trump is sticking with the same North Korea policy thats been in place for years. The Trump team has not, in fact, come up with a new alternative to the Korea policy of the last three U.S. administrations. Its two core elements are first, exert strenuous military, political, and economic pressure on the regime; and second, demand that Pyongyang give up nuclear weapons entirely. Given that the alternative seemed to be a push for a preemptive U.S. attack, this is good news. Every administration since Bill Clintons has considered a preemptive attack on the Norths nuclear program, and each has reached the same conclusion: the likelihood of spiraling into full-on conventional or even nuclear war, leading to massive civilian casualties, and even Chinas entry into the conflict to ensure the Norths survival, is just too high. Lesson No. 4: But theres a hint that Trump might be open to a new approach in the future. The existing, bipartisan policy toward North Korea has an enormous, acknowledged problem: Pressuring the North to give up its nuclear program has incontrovertibly failed. Under each succeeding administration the program has instead accelerated. The policy hasnt been much more successful when it comes to changing Pyongyangs behavior abroad, or its ill-treatment of its own people. The Trump team has said it plans to exert maximum pressure on the regime. And while that rhetorical innovation is unlikely to be the key that unlocks the problem, Korea watchers were intrigued to see in the administrations policy statement last week a mention of engagement as another goal. An unexpected group of experts including such senior figures as former Secretary of Defense William Perry and Bush 43 official Richard Haas believe that combining pressure with talks, narrowly defined with clear carrots and sticks and verification measures to cope with the Norths dismal record of cheating on past deals, would be more effective than demanding Pyongyang denuclearize. By accepting even implicitly the Norths nuclear-power status, they argue, Washington gives itself chips to bargain with other than the carrier group Trump is currently using. (And yes, you can use military power as a bargaining chip, but the risks of misperception are strong even between highly predictable actors. Which isnt what weve got here.) At some points on Monday it sounded as if Rex Tillersons State Department agreed, with a senior official telling reporters that the only precondition for talks would be any kind of possibility that they would be rolling back their program. The idea of a hard-edged negotiation might flatter Trumps sense of his deal-making abilities; it may also appeal to the pragmatists in his circle of military advisers. He would be able to claim a major coup in partnering with China, as well. However, it is anathema to longstanding mainstream GOP views, toward which Trump has recently pivoted on a variety of security issues. Among other problems, it makes for awkward comparisons with the Iran nuclear deal the GOP loves to hate. So what exactly did the administration mean by engagement? It seems too soon to imagine Jared Kushner in the stands at a North Korean military parade. But I wouldnt rule it out. Heather Hurlburt (@natsecHeather) directs New Americas New Models of Policy Change initiative and has held foreign policy positions in Congress, the White House and State Department. Kori Ali Muhammad. A 39-year-old suspect told police that he hated white people after he was arrested for killing three people in Fresno, California, on Tuesday. The alleged gunman, Kori Ali Muhammad, reportedly shouted Allahu Akbar God is great in Arabic when police took him into custody after his cold-blooded murder spree. Muhammad opened fired shortly before 11 a.m. PT with a high-caliber pistol near a Catholic Charities building in downtown Fresno. Using a speed loader, he fired off 16 rounds in four locations in less than a minute, reports Reuters. His three victims, all white males, were seemingly chosen at random and had no apparent connection to the gunman. The first was shot multiple times while sitting in a gas and electric truck, the other two were gunned down on foot one while crossing the street, and the other in the parking lot of the Catholic Charities, according to NBC. The gunman, who was also on foot, fired at another individual, but missed. The passenger side window of PGE truck is busted and rear window busted at crime scene outside Fresno PD headquarters pic.twitter.com/kp15QCEDiV pablo lopez (@USCX1954) April 18, 2017 A ShotSpotter alerted Fresno police to the gunfire; cops closed in on the suspect as he was running down the street, reports the Fresno Bee. Muhammad, who referred to himself as Black Jesus, has a lengthy criminal record, and his Facebook page was reportedly full of ranting posts against white people and anti-government sentiment. Authorities had been searching for Muhammad in connection with the murder of a security guard at a Fresno Motel 6 last week. Fresno police have not yet said whether they are classifying this as a terror attack. The investigation is ongoing, with assistance from the FBI and ATF. A soldier stands by as people queue to visit a flower show during an organized tour for visiting foreign journalists, in Pyongyang on April 16, 2017. Photo: Ed Jones/AFP/Getty Images At Mondays annual White House Easter Egg Roll, Donald Trump warned you gotta behave. The directive wasnt to the slew of kids in attendance, but intended as a message to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who was fresh off presiding over an anniversary celebration for the countrys founder, where it conducted a failed missile test and paraded around new ICBMs. A North Korean official responded to that reprimand and Vice-President Mike Pences admonishment that the era of strategic patience is over with a threat of its own, saying the United States is creating a dangerous situation in which thermonuclear war could break out at any moment. North Korea is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the United States, added North Koreas deputy United Nations ambassador, Kim In-ryong. He called joint U.S.South Korean military exercise an aggressive war drill. The warnings are the latest an an increasingly tense standoff between the United States and North Korea. A North Korean deputy foreign minister also told the BBC Monday that the country would continue to carry out missile tests every weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. White House press secretary Sean Spicer addressed the saber-rattling between the two countries, saying that he would not comment on exactly how President Trump would deal with North Korea. He holds his card close to the vest, and I think youre not going to see him telegraphing how hes going to respond to any military or other situation going forward, Spicer said. Spicer did say, however, that the North Korea situation wouldnt involve any red lines when it comes to Kim Jong-uns actions. Drawing red lines hasnt really worked in the past, he said. A few years ago, on my way from eastern Oregon to Salt Lake City, I pulled off I-84 in Boise, Idaho, a place I knew only from a Lynyrd Skynyrd lyric. I strolled downtown and, in a farmers market smelling of lemon sage and lavender, found the best artisanal granola bars west of Burlington, Vermont. As I scanned the pale young crowd and noted the vendors earnestly precious names (Hoot n Holler Urban Farm, Blue Feather Bakery), it occurred to me how much the scene resembled a Saturday morning at Smorgasburg, or at Ferry Plaza in San Francisco, or in Boulder, Sante Fe, or Portland, Maine. The vibe was relaxed, prosperous, and gently urban. Around that time, the real-estate blog Estately ranked Boise fifth on its list of best cities for conservatives: The tech jobs are plentiful, the Mormonism abundant, there are no restrictions on assault weapons, and theres plenty of art, music, and theater. And yet, like most red-state cities, Idahos capital is remarkably short on conservatives. Last November, while Hillary Clinton mustered only 27.5 percent of the statewide vote, she hit north of 75 percent in some of Boises urban precincts. Politically, the city might as well be on a different planet from towns that lie a couple of exits away. And this is true in more than just Americas twee precincts. More than ever, urbanites share a common affiliation, whether they are in Idaho or Massachusetts, whether theyve built up earthly treasures or scrape by on minimum wage. In presidential elections, votes are tallied by county and grouped by state, but zoom in closer and you see that Democrats cluster like blue inkblots on a mostly red map and that many jurisdictions are sharply divided. In the 2016 election, virtually every large urban center and many small ones white Boise and majority-black Baltimore, wealthy San Francisco and beaten-down Detroit, sprawling sunwashed megalopoli and shrinking union strongholds rejected the man who became president, often by yawning margins. The density that is one of the defining characteristics of cities forces encounters that, more and more, seem to strengthen Democratic principles and separates urban dwellers from their rural cousins. While cities like New York and Seattle have always been liberal, others have converted much more recently. After World War II, San Francisco was up for grabs, voting Republican in 1952 and 1956, after which its Democratic tilt increased from year to year. Philadelphia was a Republican bastion until 1951, when a new charter combined with a corruption scandal to demolish the political machine. Ward leaders and local bosses switched their allegiances just as middle-class whites were fleeing to the suburbs, leaving the heavily black central city to the party of civil rights. Columbus, Ohio, saw the light of liberalism only decades later, not because of some grand political realignment but as a by-product of creeping prosperity. A varied economy of largely white-collar employers is now drawing a population that is increasingly young, diverse, well educated, and addicted to pleasant living. When I first moved there 20 years ago, Columbus was a dull, sleepy midwestern city, a solidly Republican city. It isnt anymore, says Steven Conn, a history professor at Miami University in Ohio and the author of Americans Against the City: Anti-Urbanism in the Twentieth Century. People are interested in better public schools and better urban amenities like bike trails and so on, and the Republican Party is against everything they care about week to week. In some areas, that process is ongoing. Just this month, in a single congressional district in one of the reddest states, Sedgwick County, the Kansas jurisdiction that includes Wichita, swung to the Democratic underdog in a special election; he was swamped by the surrounding rural vote and lost, but not by much. Houstons journey toward liberalism merges these same ideological, demographic, and economic shifts and has transformed the political landscape of conservative and largely rural Texas. A vast majority of Texass votes come from just a dozen or so counties; Harris County, which contains Houston, is by far the most populous, with 16 percent of the states population, and its growing fast. Republican presidential candidates including two generations of locally based Bushes won the county handily until Obama squeaked by, twice. In 2016, Clinton took the Houston area by 12 percentage points. That local quasi-landslide could represent a particular distaste for a certain New York real-estate developer, but the larger trend looks epochal. Over the decades, the urbanized area has spread; Houston has even acquired one of those expensive gewgaws of contemporary urban living, the ultimate conservative bugaboo: a new light rail, 23 miles of it. Today, the citys population is 44 percent Hispanic (and growing) and only 26 percent white (and falling). The demographic train is pulling away from Harris County and leaving the Republican Party behind. Conn, the historian, sees the liberalizing of cities as an inexorable process: The combination of density, diversity, and economic dynamism makes people see that they share an interest in large public things, he says. The Houston Chronicles editorial page recently excoriated President Trumps nationalistic policies using strictly economic logic rather than philosophical concerns. Our city runs on free trade, oil and gas, and low-cost labor, the paper pointed out. But now we have to deal with a president who sees Houstons boons as a threat. It is like a doctor who misdiagnoses a cold for cancer and recommends a full slate of chemotherapy. The radioactive solution of a border tax, import tariffs, and immigrant roundups will weaken the economic fundamentals of our Gulf Coast port city. There is plenty of irony in the fact that Donald Trump exhibits such antipathy to cities, given that he is a product of the nations largest. But its worth remembering that despite being a New Yorker, the president has rarely, if ever, experienced urban life. For most of us, living in cities means living close to those who are both like us and not. Even just walking down a city block means having no idea who will cross your path, what they believe, or how they will behave. Strolling is a succession of chance meetings, the vast majority of them superficial. At times, a dense neighborhood can feel like a village, where you bump into friends or revive dormant acquaintances. At other times, it means confronting a vast and entrenched homeless population. Urbanites take this haphazardness for granted. We have the ingrained habit of sharing space, of encountering difference, of swimming in the collective soup. Trump like many Americans who duck from house to car to office to mall rarely experiences an unplanned encounter. He has spent much of his life in gilded rooms, surrounded by people he employs. His idea of transit consists of elevators, limos, helicopters, and private jets. Until he moved into the White House, he hardly set foot in a place he didnt own. Maybe thats why he knows so little and appreciates less about his own hometown, why a president who was born and bred in New York City spends his time stoking ancient fears about it. When he started planning Trump Tower in the late 1970s, it was an expression of confidence in the deluxe appeal of midtown Manhattan at a time when a seemingly ungovernable city had bled nearly a million people. Now, when urban crime sits in the eerily low range in many cities, when companies follow their most desirable employees into revitalized downtowns, and when many metropolitan areas are more worried about housing shortages and gentrification than about falling apart, the president has revived a vision of cities suppurating with violence and sin. Once he sold urban real estate to customers who wanted to live there; now he sells fantasies of urban horror to those who prefer to shudder from afar. Wilkes County, North Carolina, 2016. Photo: George Etheredge/The New York Times/Redux The Trump administrations disdain for urban culture has a rich bipartisan pedigree. Thomas Jefferson formed his view of nationhood around a belief that the countryside was not only preferable but morally superior. I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural; and this will be as long as there shall be vacant lands in any part of America, he wrote to James Madison in 1787. When they get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe. In 1904, the original muckraker, Lincoln Steffens, went on a crusade against corruption in Minneapolis, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Chicago. (He considered New York relatively benign.) He, too, intimated that there was something about governing large concentrations of people, about cumulative economic might combined with massed indifference, that nurtured the worst forms of power. Membership in an urban elite, he suggested, was inherently putrid. There is no essential difference between the pull that gets your wife into society or a favorable review for your book, and that which gets a heeler into office, a thief out of jail, and a rich mans son on the board of directors of a corporation, he wrote in The Shame of the Cities. And its all a moral weakness; a weakness right where we think we are strongest. Debility, opportunism, callousness, shortsightedness, venality the metropolis concentrated these vices into a noxious stew. The urban renaissance of the past few decades has opened up a new line of moral attack. The Times columnist Ross Douthat recently argued that large cities are not the tolerant utopias that liberals idealize but black holes of privilege, sucking in resources and jobs. Douthat writes as if Manhattan were the norm: If [cities] are dynamic, they are also so rich and so rigidly zoned that the middle class cant afford to live there and fewer and fewer kids are born inside their gates. If they are fast-growing its often a growth intertwined with subsidies and too big to fail protection We should treat liberal cities the way liberals treat corporate monopolies not as growth-enhancing assets, but as trusts that concentrate wealth and power and conspire against the public good. One way past Americas political impasse, he proposes, might be to break up the largest cities and disperse their corporate headquarters and government offices to smaller provincial burgs. The prescription is worth exploring the Department of Agriculture might fit in nicely in Omaha, say but his premise is astonishingly wrong. New York City ships far more tax money to Albany and the IRS than it gets back. Many of the federal dollars that do wash into the five boroughs generally pay for projects of regional and national import, like airports, roads, and security. Cities dont sluice away public funds; theyre engines of the U.S. economy. Just 20 of them generate more than half of the nations GDP, a percentage that continues to increase. Big cities grow bigger because they are efficient social organizations, not because theyre subsidized liberal pleasure domes. Dense places dont have a monopoly on turpitude, but cities have always faced formidable challenges. The deindustrialization that nourished the Trump campaign ravaged big cities first: At the end of World War II, New York had the worlds busiest port and most productive factories. Three decades later, shipping and manufacturing were moribund and the municipal government could barely pay its bills. Dozens of cities tore down slums and put up public-housing projects idealistic efforts that often created more problems than they solved. In places like Detroit and Memphis, unemployment, redlining, crack, and gangs left vast urban stretches traumatized and bleak. Segregation persists in many cities and often worsens for two seemingly opposite reasons: Whites trickle away (as in Cleveland) or else they arrive, pushing into poor neighborhoods that longtime residents can no longer afford. In a handful of hyperprosperous cities like San Francisco, manufacturing has hollowed out and tech businesses have moved in, bifurcating the population into poor service workers and affluent creative types. Even the once relentlessly upbeat urbanist Richard Florida has written a contritely depressing book, The New Urban Crisis: How Our Cities Are Increasing Inequality, Deepening Segregation, and Failing the Middle Class And What We Can Do About It. But urban areas also teem with activists, nonprofit technocrats, planners, and social-justice fixers who keep rolling out proposals that municipal governments often adopt: pre-K programs, police body cams, running public buses through minority neighborhoods, and so on. Cities all over the world share problems and expertise, using each other as experimental labs: New Delhi converted its buses to natural gas; La Rochelle, France, launched a bike-share program; Milwaukee demolished a downtown freeway and each of those experiments inspired hundreds of other cities to repeat it. In 2014, Houston, L.A., and Philadelphia announced a joint plan to combat cities disproportionate responsibility for climate-change-causing pollution by slashing CO2 emissions, shifting to renewable energy sources, and converting streetlights to LEDs. And New York has massively boosted its affordable-housing program, raised the minimum wage, invested in high-tech manufacturing a constantly evolving menu of tools to make the city more livable, safe, and affordable. Some problems have proved intractable: New Yorks homelessness epidemic has defied Mayor de Blasios expensive attempts to alleviate it. And gun violence persists in parts of Chicago despite a dramatic decrease in crime in many cities. But progressive activists can also point to a deep legacy of success, as anyone who ambles around South Bronx neighborhoods like Melrose can attest. Not so long ago, this was ground zero of hopelessness. When observers remarked that the Bronx of the 70s seemed like a war zone, they were not merely using a figure of speech. Yet those who looked around back then and saw no future for troubled neighborhoods were guilty of a failure of imagination. Grassroots organizations like Nos Quedamos & WHEDco (Womens Housing and Economic Development Corporation) worked with successive mayoral administrations to clean up, rebuild, and repopulate areas that many had written off as toxic wastelands. Nevertheless, many conservatives see the city as the degraded outcome of decades of Democratic control. Cities have become the equivalent of holding cells for the poor and minorities, writes Peter Collier in the introduction to The New Shame of the Cities, a 2014 screed published by the right-wing David Horowitz Freedom Center. Everything thats wrong with Americas cities that can be affected by policy, Democrats are responsible for Americas urban centers have slid into violence, corruption and savage dysfunction that make the snapshots of despair Lincoln Steffens produced at the beginning of the 20th century seem mild by comparison. During his campaign, Trump distilled that message into a halfhearted plea for African-American votes: Youre living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed what the hell do you have to lose? In turn, urban intellectuals demonize the countryside just as their forebears excoriated the suburbs. Rural America is the new inner city, says Conn. Its where all these social pathologies collect, and theyre connected to the collapse of rural economies and rural communities. Thats exactly what you saw in North Philadelphia when the plug was pulled. The political gulf between city and non-city has deepened even as the physical boundaries between them have blurred. Cities have become more suburbanized and suburbs more citified, pushing the dividing line farther and farther from downtown. These two contrary currents have been in motion at least since the 1940s, when the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company built Stuyvesant Town as a verdant middle-class enclave in the middle of Manhattan, its blocky, high-rise architecture softened by planted courtyards and the absence of cars. More recently, ubiquitous mall brands, an influx of educated young transplants, and a citywide tree-planting spree have given formerly gritty parts of Brooklyn an almost bucolic air. Oddly, the suburbification of cities has only strengthened their liberal tendencies, and the citification of suburbs is doing the same. Flights not white anymore: Urban refugees come in all hues, and they arrive in their cul-de-sacs with a taste for Indian groceries, halal restaurants, and walkable downtowns. Since 2000, the majority of immigrants have dispersed into outlying areas rather than packing into inner-city enclaves. In his campaign speeches, Trump repeatedly conflated black and inner city neighborhoods, but in fact African-Americans are suburbanizing at a steady clip, turning suburbs blue in the process. Research by urban-studies professor Kyle Walker suggests that as blacks have moved out of central Minneapolis into the inner-ring suburb of Brooklyn Center, that area has become more Democratic. The project of citifying outlying areas has been helped along by an army of planners, variously grouped under the rubrics new urbanism, smart growth, and sustainable development. In places like Arlington, Virginia, and Kirkland, Washington, developers are rushing to satisfy new suburbanites hankering to get out of the car or not to own a car. In their 2008 book Retrofitting Suburbia, Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson chronicled the transformations of dead malls and vacant big-box stores into lifestyle centers and libraries. And the Museum of Modern Arts 2012 exhibition Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream asked high-octane teams of architects to imagine how ailing suburbs could be saved. Mostly, they came up with an archipelago of mini-cities. Conservatives have reacted with predictable fury to urban incursions onto their suburban turf. In 2012, the Republican National Committee struck simultaneously at an assortment of enemies the United Nations, the environmental movement, public transit, and city folk with a statement attacking the U.N.s sustainable-development program. That destructive and insidious plan, the RNC announced, undermined the American way of life of private property ownership, single-family homes, private car ownership and individual travel choices. Democrats drive cars too, of course, as do the residents of most American cities, but only one side of the political spectrum turns a necessity into a patriotic virtue. The suburbs are political border zones where attitudes shift from street to street. It would be more accurate to talk of swing neighborhoods than swing states. If the residents of Trumpland dont like or understand cities, hard-core urbanites are equally ignorant about the suburbs that surround them. We drive through landscapes branded by 7-Elevens and patterned with single-family houses, and we see only a uniform plague of sprawl. In fact, the suburbs are the political border zones where attitudes shift from street to street. It would be more accurate to talk of swing neighborhoods than swing states. Living in the suburbs today represents an economic choice without an ideological choice, says Richardson Dilworth, director of the Center for Public Policy at Drexel University. Where once an ideological barrier sealed off the city from the suburb, the new, fuzzier divide pits cities and inner suburbs against exurban and rural America. You have to drive farther and farther out and along particular routes before you hit consistently Republican turf. Last November, on the Saturday after the presidential election, I drove to the Costco in Teterboro, New Jersey. As I piloted my oversize cart crammed with household cleaner and eight-packs of canned tuna, I scanned my fellow shoppers for clues as to what had happened at the polls. The uniform glare of the warehouse revealed a staggering variety of American life: families and couples of every background, blending English with a dozen different languages. A few basic characteristics united us all: We had cars, storage space, and a sense of thrift. Nearly everyone was buying toilet paper. How, I asked myself, could anyone wander through a discount megastore full of peaceful diversity, buying products shipped in from all over the world, and understand the ethnic grievances that wound through the campaign? I also wondered how many of my fellow Costco members had voted for Donald Trump. Probably about half, it turns out. A town-by-town map of New Jerseys election results shows that this particular Costco is strategically placed at the vortex of political views. A few miles west and the map shades from pink to red; it gets gradually bluer closer to the Hudson River. Jersey City went for Clinton 83 percent; Union City, 79; Hoboken, 73. A ten-minute drive west, in Secaucus, Clintons support was only 55 percent. The Chicago area had a similarly gradual shift conservative as you move away from the lakefront. Density makes towns more liberal. So does public transit. A band of dark, Clinton-heavy blue follows the Metra commuter rail line from downtown Chicago south to University Park, where it dead-ends in a field of red. Milwaukees bus system extends west to 124th Street and north to the county line, and those borders define political boundaries, too: Beyond the bus routes, the map turns from blue to red, literalizing Wisconsins dramatic divide. In the Bay Area, tendrils of blue radiate out along train tracks into the deep-red heartland of the San Joaquin Valley. Interstate 5 runs north-south without disturbing the political landscape, but 40 miles east, Amtrak links Stockton, Modesto, Merced, Fresno, Bakersfield each one an isolated dab of blue. Its not clear what accounts for this political force field that weakens with every mile from City Hall but thats carried from center to center along transit lines. Do people with strong political views choose to live in like-minded communities, or do the places people choose to live form their opinions about how society should work? Which comes first: real estate or ideology? Either way, the dynamic behaves like an ideological centrifuge, distributing liberals and conservatives in complex but not random patterns. The growth of urban areas is a self-perpetuating cycle. So long as thats where the jobs are, workers will move there from all over the world, including from the Republican heartland, exaggerating a population distribution that is already wildly uneven. Mark Abraham, executive director of the Connecticut-based number-crunching organization DataHaven, pointed out in a series of tweets that Los Angeles County (just one core nugget of the L.A. megalopolis) contains more people than do 43 states. If everyone who lived in the nations ten most populous counties formed a tug-of-war team, theyd be evenly matched against the 2,167 least populous ones. Theoretically, the more cities grow, the more states they will swing in a liberal direction. And yet urbanization is a fitful and contradictory process. Some cities are growing while others shrink. Clevelanders move to Sun Belt suburban areas around Orlando, Tampa, Las Vegas, and Phoenix, and its not clear whether, when these northern liberals settle in Joe Arpaio territory, they maintain their political affiliations or blend in with the local red. Conflict between urban and rural areas is a worldwide phenomenon. The Brexit vote shocked Londoners into the realization that they are outnumbered. The right-wing party of Marine Le Pen represents rural Frances revenge on Paris. Tokyo grows while Japans population shrinks, and Indias exploding cities are leaving its villages ever poorer, sicker, and less educated. And yet Trumps loathing for the American metropolis has a specific nationalistic ferocity that is prompting cities to test their collective power with protests, confrontation, lawsuits, and refusal. If anti-Obama obstructionism was headquartered in the halls of Washington, D.C., and supported by several dozen statehouses, the anti-Trump resistance is playing out on city streets and in hundreds of city halls. From the earliest moments of the administration, protesters packed into downtowns and converged on metropolitan airports, and officials discovered a shared sense of mission. It is now the job of cities to protect immigrants and civil rights, to lead the fight against climate change, to keep America enlaced with a puzzled world. As the federal government threatens to leave urban America in the lurch, cities are confronting that abandonment with a kind of hearty optimism and confidence in their own strength. At a recent forum sponsored by the Center for an Urban Future and NYUs Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, speaker after speaker pointed out that cities are forced to tackle issues on which Washington can afford to punt. Its not that cities are close to the ground; we are the ground, said Philadelphias former mayor Michael Nutter. We are the incubators of innovation. For instance, Urban America has banded together on immigration for a combination of economic and philosophical reasons. The cities with the highest proportions of foreign-born residents, like New York, Miami, San Diego, and Houston, are also among the most economically muscular; those with the smallest are often depressed. Thats circular, of course: Immigrants go to Miami rather than Birmingham, Alabama, because thats where the jobs are. And those influxes keep the population at a healthy churn, allowing cities to diversify their economies. In 2013, immigrants made up 43 percent of New Yorks workforce and generated a third of its output. Its not just megalopoli like New York and Houston that need a steady supply of foreign-born workers. The global engineering firm Cummins, Inc., recruits employees from all over the world to work in the small city of Columbus, Indiana, making it an unlikely LGBTQ and immigrant enclave in the middle of Mike Pence territory. And the mayor of Dayton, Ohio nobodys idea of a hipster mecca has made it clear that her city welcomes new foreign-born arrivals, who offset the steady loss of native-born Daytonians, strengthen the economy, and reverse population decline. Not to put too fine a point on it, but immigrants are saving a city that might otherwise spiral into collapse. That immigrant friendliness could have long-term political consequences: Dayton lies in Montgomery County, one of the many largely rural midwestern counties that inched away from the Democratic Party in the 2016 election, going for Trump by less than 2,000 votes and giving him a barely visible margin of 0.7 percent. These issues have crystallized in the conflict over sanctuary cities. The concept gathered energy as the Obama administration ramped up deportations of undocumented immigrants with criminal records. Trumps broader, blunter actions have jolted mayors into proclaiming themselves principled defenders of the foreign-born. Many cities forbid their police forces to ask people they stop or arrest about their immigration status. And local law-enforcement agencies often refuse ICE requests to detain anyone who cant show proof of legal residency. Its a stand that pits them not only against federal authority but often against their own state government. The mayor of Houston, Sylvester Turner, announced preemptively that the city would refuse to comply with an anti-immigrant bill now working its way through the (Republican-controlled) state assembly: Regardless of what the legislation may be, the Houston Police Department is not going to profile people. We are not going to be ICE. Period. End of discussion. Similarly, newly elected Austin sheriff Sally Hernandez issued an eight-minute video explaining when her department would honor Immigration and Customs Enforcement requests to detain people and when it wouldnt. Texas governor Greg Abbott is not amused. The country is not called the United States of Municipalities, he grumbled, by which he seemed to mean that we dont live in the United Cities of America. The Trump administration has responded to ornery cities by threatening to withhold federal funds, a position of dubious constitutionality, and to beef up the ranks of ICE, which can bypass local law enforcement and conduct its own raids. Even as the presidents travel ban was getting beaten up in court, ICE agents staged scattered actions, scooping up undocumented immigrants with and without criminal records. Offering no evidence, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has blamed immigrant-friendly cities for an unspecified wave of murders: Countless Americans would be alive today and countless loved ones would not be grieving today if these policies of sanctuary cities were ended. He also warned that localities that failed to cooperate with immigration officials would be making a big mistake. The power struggle between urban and nonurban America has gone on since the 18th century and will likely continue for generations. The tension is baked into the Constitution, which tilts the balance of power toward rural states. Thanks to the vagaries of the Electoral College, todays Wyoming voter has nearly four times the clout in a presidential election of a voter in California, and both states get the same number of senators. That deliberate imbalance is why Trump was able to carry the election while not just dismissing cities but denigrating them. But writing off large urban conglomerates is unusual for ruling parties. Authoritarian regimes often find that cities test their ability to exert control. When food prices spiked in Tunis and Cairo in 2011, for instance, the concentration of unhappy, hungry crowds quickly flared into revolution. So far, the crowds that have gathered on a regular basis to protest the Trump administration like the Womens March that flooded cities all over the country the day after the inauguration have been peaceful, even joyous. The danger is less that urbanites will start pulling up cobblestones or piling Citi Bikes into barricades than that they will further separate from the red seas that surround them. Already liberals are deploying formerly Republican positions (and legal precedents handed down by a conservative Supreme Court) to argue in favor of local independence, while conservatives insist on imposing the will of a federal government they claim to despise. Its a liberal cities-rights movement as opposed to a conservative call for the rights of states. It seems likely that the cracks dividing cities from not-cities will continue to deepen, like fissures in the Antarctic ice shelf, until theres nothing left to repair. The more metropolitan liberals resist, protest, strike, and boycott, the more foreign and incomprehensible they will seem to everyone else. *This article appears in the April 17, 2017, issue of New York Magazine. Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Photo: Kostas Tsironis/Bloomberg via Getty Images On Sunday, a referendum that experts say will solidify Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogans authoritarian rule passed by a vote of 51.2 percent to 48.8 percent. The populist leader has been accused of using last summers attempted military coup to suppress human rights and crack down on political opponents. The validity of the vote which will do away with Turkeys parliament and could allow Erdogan to stay in power through 2029 was challenged by the opposition party and international election observers. Apparently what President Trump took from all that is that Erdogan scored a massive win. According to the White House, Trump called Erdogan on Monday to congratulate him on his recent referendum victory. The State Department was far less enthusiastic about the outcome of the referendum. In a statement issued earlier on Monday, the department noted that in their preliminary assessment, international observers raised concerns about irregularities on voting day and an uneven playing field during the campaign. We look to the government of Turkey to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of all its citizens, said the departments acting spokesman, Mark Toner. He added that the U.S. is committed to strengthening its relationship with Turkey and supports their democratic development, to which commitment to the rule of law and a diverse and free media remain essential. Its possible that Trump raised concerns about the erosion of Turkeys democracy as well, but the White House didnt mention that. The brief statement does note that Trump thanked the Turkish leader for supporting the recent U.S. strike in response to the Syrian regimes use of chemical weapons. It also says the leaders discussed their cooperation in the fight against ISIS, and agreed on the importance of holding Syrian president Bashar al-Assad accountable. Jon Ossoff. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images For months now, progressives desperate to transmute their guilt and grief into something constructive have poured time and money into a 30-year-old, Democratic documentary filmmakers long-shot bid to win Newt Gingrichs old House seat. Blue America has sent millions of dollars and thousands of canvassers to the Atlanta suburbs, ahead of todays special election in Georgias sixth district all out of a fervent desire to destroy Georgians health care and let illegal immigrants murder their daughters. Or so President Trump suggests, in a last-minute robocall. Liberal Democrats from outside of Georgia are spending millions and millions of dollars trying to take your Republican congressional seat away from you. Dont let them do it, Trump is telling Georgia residents. Only you can stop the super-liberal Democrats and Nancy Pelosis group, and in particular Jon Ossoff. If you dont vote tomorrow, Ossoff will raise your taxes, destroy your health care, and flood our country with illegal immigrants Theres only one way to stop the Washington liberals from taking your congressional seat, and your money, and your safety. And thats by voting Republican for Congress tomorrow. In other words: George Soros went down to Georgia, he was looking for a seat to steal. And by the end of the night, that seat could well be stolen. Tonights election pits Ossoff, and a couple other irrelevant Democrats, against a giant field of Republicans in a jungle primary a primary where candidates arent segregated by party, and the top two finishers, regardless of affiliation, advance to a runoff election. Unless, that is, one candidate manages to collect more than 50 percent of the vote tonight. Current polling suggests that Ossoff will easily garner the most ballots of any one candidate. But those surveys also suggest that all the Republicans combined will enjoy a majority of the vote right now, Ossoff is mired in the low-to-mid 40s. Conventional wisdom holds that Democrats have a better chance of winning this seat now than they would if Ossoff is forced to fend off a united Republican Party in a runoff this summer. Georgias sixth district has been red for very long time. But its also precisely the kind of district that Democrats are targeting in 2018 an affluent, highly educated, suburban area that just might be revolted enough by their reality-star president to secede from red America. Special elections are notoriously difficult to forecast, since turnout varies wildly. But if you forced Nate Silver to make a prediction, hed say Ossoff ends up in the high 40s tonight, and then enjoys about a 50-50 shot of winning in June. But one anonymous GOP operative told Politico that Ossoff has a very good chance of putting this thing away tonight: I really think theres a false sense of security out there that Ossoff cant get to 50. He has a very clear path. These public polls havent taken into account a large number of low propensity voters. No one knows what election day turnout will look like. But if Ossoff avoids the runoff, itll be in the 48-49 range, not lower. It will all come down to turnout which is why the president recorded his dire warning. But whether a demagogic appeal from the populist president will do more good than harm in this conservative but none-too-Trumpist district remains to be seen. To be sure, the call will likely mobilize some Republicans. But the call along with the presidents recent tweets about the race also offers the areas Democrats a reminder to Google that Jon Ossoff guy. Last 7 days of search interest in Atlanta. pic.twitter.com/GEJY9OB6Ov Will Jordan (@williamjordann) April 18, 2017 Hold on, the gentleman from Team America: World Police isnt the gentleman from The Interview? Photo: Ron Sachs/Bloomberg via Getty Images The standoff over North Koreas nuclear ambitions heated up in recent days, with experts saying the dictatorship may be preparing for a sixth nuclear test. While the 105th anniversary of founder Kim Il-sungs birth passed with no nuclear test, North Korea spent the weekend parading new intercontinental ballistic missiles through Pyongyang and conducting an unsuccessful missile test. Reports that President Trump is considering military action against North Korea perhaps even a preemptive strike have raised concerns about how he might respond to provocations from Kim Jong-uns regime. Theres been plenty of bellicose rhetoric from Trump administration officials, with Vice-President Mike Pence warning that the era of strategic patience is over during a visit to the Demilitarized Zone on Monday. So far, theres little evidence that President Trumps North Korea strategy is drastically different from that of his predecessors. Other presidents have suggested that they might use military force against North Korea, while trying to get China to pressure their neighbor into pursuing a diplomatic resolution. But, as is usually the case, theres an air of unpredictability surrounding Trumps stance on North Korea. And now the president has added to the confusion by suggesting that hes not fully aware of who Kim Jong-un is. In a preview of an interview that airs Tuesday morning on Fox & Friends, Ainsley Earhardt asks Trump if hes ruled out a military strike. I dont want to telegraph what Im doing or what Im thinking, he says. Im not like other administrations where they say were going to do this in four weeks, and that doesnt work that way. Then Trump demonstrates his commitment to inscrutability: I hope things work out well. I hope theres going to be peace, but you know, theyve been talking with this gentleman for a long time. You read Clintons book, he said, Oh we made such a great peace deal, and it was a joke. You look at different things over the years with President Obama. Everybodys been outplayed, theyve all been outplayed by this gentleman and well see what happens. But I just dont telegraph my moves. This gentleman who Trump refers to is actually two or three North Korean leaders. The U.S. signed a deal meant to curb North Koreas nuclear program in October 1994, as Kim Jong-il assumed power. The deal was negotiated with his father, Kim Il-sung, who died in July 1994. Kim Jong-il died in December 2011, and was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-un, the current leader of North Korea. Some interpreted the Fox News clip to mean that Trump could not identify the leader of North Korea. Its possible Kim Jong-uns name escaped him, but the president does know his biography. During a campaign rally, Trump said you have to give Kim Jong-un credit for taking over his fathers dictatorship: If you look at North Korea this guy, hes like a maniac, okay? And you have to give him credit. How many young guys he was like 26 or 25 when his father died take over these tough generals, and all of a sudden you know, its pretty amazing when you think of it. How does he do that? Even though it is a culture and its a cultural thing, he goes in, he takes over, and hes the boss. Its incredible. He wiped out the uncle. He wiped out this one, that one. I mean, this guy doesnt play games. We cant play games with him, Trump concluded. Because he really does have missiles. And he really does have nukes. US President Donald Trump holds up a Buy American, Hire American Executive Order after signing at Snap-On Tools in Kenosha, Wisconsin, April 18, 2017. Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images During the campaign, Donald Trump promised to eliminate the H-1B visa program, though he flip-flopped on the issue many times. Now, with the end of his first 100 days in office quickly approaching, President Trump hopes to show hes advancing his America First ideology by issuing an executive order cracking down on the H-1B visa program on Tuesday though its just the first step in a complicated reform process. During a trip to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, Trump visited headquarters of Snap-on-Tools and signed an executive order intended to make good on his pledge to buy American and hire American. The order Im about to sign will protect workers and students like you, Trump said. Its America first, you better believe it. Its time. Its time, right? WATCH: Pres. Trump vows to "follow through on pledge to 'buy American and hire American'" in Kenosha, WI https://t.co/Okz2bwUl4f pic.twitter.com/MBpQTvsAxB CBS News (@CBSNews) April 18, 2017 Senior administration officials told reporters that the order will direct Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to prepare a report by Thanksgiving on waivers and exceptions made to buy American rules across the federal government, and how to close those loopholes. The hire American element of the order will focus on preventing H-1B visa holders from undercutting American labor at less cost, according to one senior official. Under the program, the government uses a lottery system to award 85,000 visas to high-skilled foreign workers each year. Tech companies say they rely on the program to make up for a shortage of Americans trained in science and engineering. But critics say these companies abuse the program, replacing Americans with foreigners who will work for a lower wage and who are often stuck in their position for years as their green card application is being processed. Administration officials said 80 percent of workers who enter the U.S. on H-1B visas are paid less than the median wage in their fields. After signing the order, Trump called the H-1Bs random lottery totally wrong. No one can compete with American workers when theyre given a fair and level playing field, which has not happened for decades, the president said. President Donald Trump speaks about his plans for H-1B visa reform https://t.co/ykOAmMoZxQ pic.twitter.com/6VuKotQ1XX Bloomberg (@business) April 18, 2017 The order will direct the the departments of Labor, Justice, State, and Homeland Security to conduct reviews of the H-1B visa program and propose reforms. The Trump administration says current rules are going unenforced, and they want to see changes that ensure the visas are only going to the most highly skilled workers. According to the Washington Post, administration officials described various ways this could be accomplished: The officials said reform could first come through administrative changes, such as raising the visa application fees, adjusting the wage scale to more accurately reflect prevailing salaries in the tech industry, and more vigorously enforcing violations. It could also change the lottery system to give foreigners with U.S. masters degrees a leg up. These are just possible fixes, and the executive order probably wont offer tech leaders much clarification on what reform will actually look like. H-1B applications declined from 236,000 to 199,000 this year, with employers uncertain of what changes might come under the Trump administration. Theres bipartisan agreement that the H-1B program needs to be fixed, and critics say Trump could have simply directed federal departments to start recommending reforms, without issuing an executive order. One should not mistake PR for policy, Bruce Morrison, a former Democratic member of Congress turned lobbyist for IT workers, told Wired. The media just follows along and says, Oh, the president is issuing another executive order. Hes changing the world, but hes not. Signing an executive order lets Trump highlight his commitment to fulfilling his promise to protect American workers, but he cant do a thorough overhaul of the program on his own. Changing certain fundamental elements, like how many visas are awarded each year, requires action from Congress. As NPR reports, a number of lawmakers have been trying to advance such legislation, but those efforts have stalled. Were encouraged that this is an important first step. It essentially means the president is turning his words into action, Scott Boos, a senior vice-president at the Alliance for American Manufacturing, told the Post. Though, he added that the true test will be what the Trump administration does when it gets to actually proposing new policies. This post has been updated throughout. I want to be unpredictable. Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images To make health care more affordable for low-income Americans, the Affordable Care Act provided insurers with cost-sharing reductions federal payments that defray the cost of deductibles and copays for more than 7 million Americans. That was the Obama administrations plan at least. House Republicans, however, claimed that the law didnt actually authorize the executive branch to make those payments without an additional congressional appropriation. A federal judge agreed, but that judge also ruled that the administration could carry on making the payments while it appealed the decision to a higher court. This has left a cloud of uncertainty over the American health-care system. But its a cloud that Congress could easily scatter all it has to do is pass an appropriation for those cost-sharing reductions. Republicans put off that task while they were trying to pass Trumpcare. But now that Obamacare is the law of the land, its in everyones interest to stabilize the marketplaces and ensure that working-class Americans dont see their premiums suddenly skyrocket when and if the governments appeal fails. Or so health insurers thought. Last week, President Trump told The Wall Street Journal that he was considering withholding those payments, in order to force Democrats to play ball on Obamacare repeal. Specifically, Trump suggested that once he deliberately undermines Americas insurance markets and people start losing their coverage, then Democrats will be desperate to vote for his health-care plan because everyone will blame Democrats for what he did. I dont want people to get hurt, Trump told the paper. What I think should happen and will happen is the Democrats will start calling me and negotiating. They own Obamacare. These remarks made insurers nervous. And on Tuesday, executives from several of Americas leading health-insurance companies came to Washington to meet with Seema Verma, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. At that meeting, they sought reassurance that the administration would continue to provide cost-sharing reductions next year. They received none. That could have ominous implications for the stability of Obamacare, as the Washington Post reports: Insurers weighing whether to participate in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces next year have said that if the funds arent going to be available, they will have to decide whether to leave the marketplaces altogether or hike premiums by at least 15 percent, on average Verma urged chief executives to lobby Congress directly, according to the industry officials, who requested anonymity in order to speak frankly. Trump is (almost certainly) badly mistaken if he believes that his party will benefit from premiums soaring just before the 2018 midterms. Voters pretty much always blame the presidents party for bad things that happen while they control the White House. Plus, Trump has publicly touted plans to sabotage Obamacare and then blame the Democrats. Polls suggest that ploy will fool no one (save the most ardent Trumpists). If the administration really does cut off cost-sharing reductions, 2018 could be a very bad year for the American health-care system but a very good one for the Democratic Party. Republicans from high-tax states like Representative Chris Collins of New York could be the main obstacle to removal of the federal deduction for state and local income taxes. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call,Inc. The most painful thing involved in even thinking about revenue-neutral tax reform along the lines congressional Republicans and the Trump administration are allegedly considering is, of course, that one persons tax loopholes are anothers entirely justifiable economic or social policy. And if you are a Republican, you have to sweat the possibility that some anti-tax activist will label the elimination of a deduction or credit a tax increase, with all the political heat that generates. But there is one loophole that anti-tax activists would love to kill, partly on grounds that it provides an incentive to higher taxes, and partly because it is perceived to benefit liberal Democrat states disproportionately: the federal deduction for state and local income taxes. And sure enough, it is popping up in various GOP tax reform plans. Sahil Kapur explains: Ditching the deduction would raise federal tax revenue by $1.3 trillion over ten years, according to the Tax Policy Center, which found that 90 percent of that increase would be paid by taxpayers who earn $100,000 or more. The largest beneficiaries of the tax break are California, New York and New Jersey, all relatively high-tax blue states, which eat up more than a third of the nationwide benefits, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. There are also important cities with their own income taxes, including, of course, New York, along with Baltimore, Birmingham, Detroit, Kansas City, Louisville, and St. Louis. Counties in Indiana and Maryland also impose income taxes. Given the trouble Republicans have in coming up with tax-policy proposals that discomfit the wealthy, you would indeed figure the reform would be central to whatever the White House and congressional GOP leaders decide on in the coming weeks. It is already in Paul Ryans tax proposal, and will very likely be in Kevin Bradys. The Trump administration is said to be considering it. There are two problems, though. First, theres a wealthy New York taxpayer named Donald Trump who could well be one of the nations top beneficiaries of the deduction for state and local income taxes. Even if he doesnt mind giving it up for lower tax rates, the very issue draws attention to his refusal to release tax returns. After all, inquiring minds will want to know how much POTUS is deducting in state and local taxes. The second and perhaps larger problem is that nobody loves the state and local deduction more than Republicans from those high-tax Democratic states. It is, after all, their constituents (and donors!) who get this particular subsidy. As Kapur points out, there are 28 House Republicans representing California, New York, and New Jersey. Thats four more than the number of House Republicans the leadership can afford to lose in what will otherwise likely be a party-line vote on this years tax bill. At a minimum, Paul Ryan and company will have to buy them off with some kind of offsetting benefits if theres any hope of enacting a bill. Republicans may, of course, wind up deciding not to bother with revenue neutrality or offsets or the closing of loopholes even those perceived as helping Democrats in which case everyone in the GOP can happily chow down on tax cuts after swallowing all their Obama-era rhetoric about budget deficits. Socialisme ou barbarie? Photo: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images Over the past 12 months, the world has seen its fair share of shocking, epoch-making elections ones that have left us living in the age of Brexit, President Trump, and sultan Erdogan. On Sunday, France could very well make this chapter of world history even more fascinating for our great-great-grandchildren, assuming humans and history books survive the next century. For a long time, the big story of the French election was the disconcerting strength of National Front nominee Marine Le Pen. Founded by Marines father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, the National Front began its life as that rare breed of nationalist party thats nostalgic for the days when its nation was occupied by Nazis. More concretely, Le Pen the elder built a fierce but narrow constituency on appeals to anti-Semitism, anti-globalism, economic protectionism, law-and-order crime policies, and, above all else, keeping the Muslim hordes out of France. (I know hard to believe that a platform this ugly could attract significant support in an advanced Western democracy.) The French hold their presidential elections in two waves. The nominees of the nations many, many parties face off in a battle-royale-style first round. Then, the top-two vote getters proceed to a runoff. This system allows parties with small but committed bases of support to become genuine contenders, for at least the opening round. And in 2002, Jean-Marie Le Pens National Front proved to be just that. The hatemonger actually made it to the finals where he was effortlessly annihilated by Jacques Chirac. So, even as the French news media hyped Marine Le Pens strong first-round poll numbers for eyeballs and clicks (I know hard to believe the French Fourth Estate could be so craven and nihilistic), the sophisticated take was that she actually had very little shot of winning the whole thing. And then Francois Hollandes Socialist Party nominated the prodigiously uncharismatic Benoit Hamon, who has struggled to even retain support from the partys base. And the center-right Republicains nominated Catholic reactionary Francois Fillon a longtime opponent of same-sex marriage, abortion rights, and the welfare state. If Fillons program appeals to anyone outside his conservative Catholic base, it would probably be the very Islamophobic nationalists who make up Le Pens. In a FillonLe Pen runoff, the more multiculturalism-tolerant candidate would be the author of a book titled Overcoming Islamic Totalitarianism. Fillon has vowed to restore traditional French values by limiting immigration and regulating Islam. That said, he is a bit less hostile to both immigrants and the EUs existence than is Le Pen, and has less interest in denying Frances role in the Holocaust or banning burkinis. But his sharpest contrast with his neo-fascist opponent may be on economics. Fillon wants to raise the retirement age, lengthen the workweek, cut civil-service jobs, and slash welfare spending Le Pen wants to lower the retirement age, keep the workweek capped at 35 hours, protect civil servants, increase welfare spending, and pursue protectionist policies aimed at increasing domestic employment. The best choice for left-of-center French voters in a FillonLe Pen race is far from clear, but many would doubtlessly vote to protect their retirement benefits. But then, it looked like a timely scandal and a charismatic outsider would spare France that grim choice. News broke that Fillons wife and two of his children collected more than 900,000 euros in public funds as parliamentary aides while doing little work. Establishment forces turned their eyes to independent outsider Emmanuel Macron. Macron is a political novice an investment banker and former economic minister, known for his business-friendly reforms. Running under the banner of his own personal party, En Marche (On the Move), Macron has kept his platform deliberately vague. But hes basically the French version of what some in the United States would describe as a pragmatic technocrat (and/or globalist cuck). Macron is fiscally moderate, socially liberal, Eurozone-friendly, and multiculturalism-positive. The candidates youth, good looks, charisma, and reassuringly mainstream rhetoric vaulted him into first place and all polls suggest that hed wipe the floor with Le Pen in a runoff. So, as of couple weeks ago, the global mainstream was finally starting to breathe easy. France wasnt on the cusp of electing its own Trump, but merely its own Justin Trudeau. But then, Frances version of Bernie Sanders aced the presidential debates. Now remember, this is France: The centrist, fiscally moderate candidate is the one who cites Scandinavia as a model for reforming the welfare sate. The French Bernie Sanders candidate, by contrast, is a literal communist fellow-traveler. The 65-year-old Jean-Luc Melenchon was a longtime member of the Socialist Partys left wing. But by 2008, the Socialists had veered too far to the right for Melenchons taste, so he and the partys like-minded leftists decided to found a new party, allied with the French Communists. Melenchon won a seat in the European Parliament in 2009, and ran for president in 2012, garnering 11 percent of the vote. This year, Melenchon is running as the standard-bearer of a new party called France Insoumise (or, France Untamed) and on a platform of taxing all income above 400,000 at 90 percent; shortening Frances draconian 35-hour workweek to 32 hours; exiting the American-dominated NATO and International Monetary Fund; demanding new terms from the European Union allowing France more freedom to set its own monetary, labor-market, and fiscal policies; rewriting the French Constitution to make the nation more small-d democratic; devaluing the euro; and radically increasing investment in offshore wind energy, while gradually transitioning France to an economy sustained by local produce and zero-carbon consumption. Melenchon touts a genuinely radical view of world affairs, and has, in the past, evinced more sympathy for Hugo Chavezs former government than Americas. Melenchon once summarized his feelings about the United States thusly: Yankees represent everything I detest. A pretentious and arrogant empire, composed of uncultured rubes and pitiable cooks. But, as the quote might suggest, Melenchon is also a sophisticate with a quick wit. He outshined Macron during the televised debates, and won over some of the centrists soft supporters. And most of Macrons support is soft the Establishments best hope is a first-time candidate from a brand new party. Macron has no historic base to fall back on. Melenchons support from young leftists appears relatively intense. Some have sought to spread the good news about socialism via a video game: In Fiscal Kombat, the player guides an amped-up Melenchon down a French street, as he expropriates the wealth of the capitalist class, one bourgeois pedestrian at a time. Melenchon is a fan. One month ago, Melenchon was irrelevant, claiming a mere 12 percent support in polls. Now, those surveys are giving him 19 percent of the vote, putting him neck and neck with Fillon for third place. The front-runners, Macron and Le Pen, are polling just a bit ahead, at around 24 and 23 percent, respectively. So: Theres a good chance this whole thing ends with the relatively mainstream, outsider candidate handing the Le Pen family another second-round embarrassment. But its entirely plausible that the French will end up having to choose between a radical leftist euroskeptic and a neo-fascist one. Or between Catholic and populist flavors of neo-reaction. Or, really, any combination of the top four candidates. As FiveThirtyEights Harry Enten explains: Polls in France are pretty good (better than in the United Kingdom), but theres still a margin of error. In the first round of the past eight presidential elections according to data compiled by political scientists Will Jennings and Christopher Wlezien and aggregated by The Crosstabs G. Elliott Morris the average absolute difference in the margin between the final weeks polling average and the top two finishers actual results has been 3 percentage points. Thats equal to the difference between Le Pen and Melenchon. Its 1 point less than the difference between Le Pen and Fillon over the last week. And that 3-point error is just the average sometimes there are bigger misses. Indeed, the true margin of error is probably closer to 7 to 9 points in either direction, depending on how you calculate it. Thats more than enough for Melenchon to catch Macron in round one. If Macron survives Sunday, hell begin the run-off campaign with at least a 15-point polling advantage over any of his potential foes. If Le Pen makes the top two, she will begin hers with at least a 15-point deficit, no matter whom she faces. Which is to say: Communism still seems to have fascisms number in the 21st century. Hillary Clinton delivered her concession speech in New York the day after the election. Photo: JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images On November 9, Hillary Clinton did something she never thought shed have to do: She conceded the presidency to Donald Trump. Standing in a New York hotel wearing the same outfit shed picked out for her victory speech, Clinton delivered an emotional address that both apologized to her supporters and reassured them shed keep working to promote their interests. Clintons loss was a shock to everyone, including (and maybe especially) her own campaign. And although dozens of analysts have done their best to pinpoint where she went wrong, Shattered: Inside Hillary Clintons Doomed Campaign, which comes out Tuesday, is a comprehensive look at how the flaws in Clintons operation allowed Trump to hijack large swaths of the electorate. Journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes go into plenty of detail about campaign gossip, but the most compelling part of the book is its last few chapters, when it recounts the grim ticktock of Election Night including how Clinton and her aides pulled together a speech she was never supposed to deliver. On Election Night, Allen and Parnes write, Clinton and her top aides were holed up at the Peninsula Hotel, just a block from Trump Tower in New York. As the night wore on and the numbers shifted in Trumps favor, the mood in the Clintons hotel suite grew bleak. At around 11 p.m., an Obama aide called Clintons campaign manager, Robby Mook, to relay a message: He wanted Clinton to concede. Clinton protested: Im not ready to go give this speech. Though she focused her pushback on the nature of her remarksHow should she frame the election of Donald Trump? What would she say to little girls and elderly women who treated her as a champion? Could she hit the right notes?the effect was the same. Hillary wasnt quite ready to put an end to the dream shed pursued for at least the past decade. Youre right, Mook assured her. I lost. Have a good night isnt the way to go. Later that night, after a conversation with President Obama convinced her to call Trump and concede (the denouement lasted all of about a minute, Allen and Parnes wrote), Clinton sat down with her aides in her hotel suite to hash out a concession speech. Dan Schwerin, her chief speechwriter, had written a bare-bones draft, but he hadnt even shown it to Clinton, as he hadnt wanted the possibility of defeat clouding her mind. He and fellow speechwriter Megan Rooney fleshed it out, hammer[ing] out remarks aimed at comforting Americans who feared a Trump presidency. But Clinton took issue with the draft: As Hillary thumbed through the pages, the speech struck her as tone-deaf. Its too charged, she thought, too political. When Hillary was done reading, she looked up and told her advisers it was too much. Its not my job anymore to do this, she said, her voice growing more forceful as Chelsea nodded in agreement. Other people will criticize him. Thats their job. I have done it. I just lost, and that is that, she continued. That was my last race. With clear marching orders, she instructed her speechwriting team to go back to the drawing board and strike a balance shorter on stating values and longer on graciousness. Clinton went to bed before her aides, who slipped a finished draft of the speech under her hotel-room door at 5 a.m. When they met the next morning to go over the wording one more time, Clinton had changed her mind again. We should go further than we have, she told her team, according to Allen and Parnes. I want you to put in the Constitution as a device. Once the tone of the speech had transitioned from gracious to graciously critical, Clinton made one last major change: In one of the margins, she had drawn a circle with a cross beneath itthe symbol for women. She said she wanted to say something about the glass ceilingthat it would someday be shattered. Rooney added sooner than we think and to all the girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful. She and her aides made tweaks right up until the time, around midday, that she stepped to a podium at the New Yorker Hotel. As Allen and Parnes tell it, Clinton was much more unmoored by her loss than she appeared when she gave her speech. Inside, theres a person thats crushed, one longtime friend said of her. Theres a person thats got to rebuild her life. But on November 9, at least, she delivered. Ivanka Trumps Chinese involvement is tricky. Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images Ivanka Trump became an official White House employee (albeit an unpaid one) to avoid ethical concerns, but it seems the First Daughter is still finding it difficult to keep business and politics separate. According to an Associated Press report, on April 6 Ivankas company won approval from the Chinese government for three new trademarks, giving it monopoly rights to sell Ivanka-brand jewelry, bags, and spa services in the worlds second-largest economy. Later that night, Ivanka sat next to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a formal dinner at Mar-a-Lago. The trademarks are the latest sign that Ivankas brand is thriving under her fathers presidency, especially in China, where shes become wildly popular. And although shes technically stepped down from her brand and rolled her fashion and jewelry lines into a $50 million trust, shell continue to receive payments from them. To further complicate matters, many items from Ivankas clothing line also happen to be manufactured in China. All these factors combine to create a situation that, while not technically illegal, is certainly ethically fraught. According to the AP, federal conflict-of-interest laws prevent government officials from getting involved in policy issues that could directly affect their own financial interests, or those of their spouse. That would seem to mean both Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, staying silent on any issues related to China, including trade and diplomacy. Ivanka has so many China ties and conflicts, yet she and Jared appear deeply involved in China contacts and policy, said Norman Eisen, who was chief White House ethics lawyer under President Obama. I would never have allowed it. But Ivankas lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, told the AP that Ivanka and Jared are under no legal obligation to step back from huge swaths of policy, like trade with China. You have to assess it case-by-case, she said. This isnt even the first time the First Daughter has been criticized for meeting with the leader of a country where she has business ties in December, she sat in on her fathers meeting with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe while her brand was finalizing licensing deals in Japan. After the election, Ivankas brand applied for at least nine new trademarks in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, the U.S., and Canada, according to public records. And although Ivanka herself didnt sign off on the trademark applications, they could still color the appearance of, say, future Broadway dates with Justin Trudeau. On this weeks episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, our A plot was Khloes friendship with Malika; our B plot was Kendall and Kylies work as Kendall and Kylie stylists; and our C plot was Kims struggle to help Kanye West. Yall already know what time it is: #LEGGO. Scene 1/Cold Open: As last weeks To be continued led us to believe, this weeks episode picks up right where the most recent finished. Crying, Kim talks on the phone with Kanyes friend, whos informed her that hes in the hospital. Kim asks over and over if whats happening is serious, trying to gauge what exactly is going on with her husband. In her confessional interviews, Kim elaborates on the call, saying that no one was telling her anything. Once shes off the phone, Kim stops crying, immediately pulls herself together, and tells Kris and Kourtney that he its unclear if its Kanye or his friend was simply crying on the other end of the call, unable to give an update on what exactly was happening. Concerned but agitated, Kim tells her family that she just wants him to tell her whats wrong. Like the final scenes in last weeks episode, this scene was filmed on November 21, 2016. Photo: E! Scene 2: Later that day, Kris visits Kim, who is resting in her hotel-room bed. Kims on the phone with her assistant Steph Shep, expressing her worry about the upcoming Angel Ball, where her dad, the late Robert Kardashian, will be honored. Should she stay in New York, or fly back to L.A.? Shes also anxious about the press Kanye will get from his hospitalization. With the help of Kris, Kim decides to go be with Kanye because she feels like its the right thing to do. Kris seems to have completed her glam for the ball, as her hair and makeup dont have a single flaw; still, she balances her eyeglasses on her head and asks Kim if she needs a travel companion back to L.A. Kim tells her mother to stay and honor Robert, but Kris insists. Shes sure Khloe and Kourtney can handle the ball on their own. Kim thinks for a second and finalizes her decision: Her mom should stay in New York. Kris finally agrees to stay, but not before telling Kim to text her when shes about to leave so she can run and give her a hug. Like Scene 1, this scene was filmed on November 21, 2016. Photo: E! Photo: E! In a separate car from Khloe and Kourtney, Kris rides with the most patient man in America, Corey Gamble. Corey seems to have arranged Kims rescheduled travel back to L.A., because Kris asks about her departure like he single-handedly runs JetLux. Photo: E! At the ball, Kris meets up with Kourtney and Khloe. She also handles interviews, mainly about Kim and her recovery from the robbery, while the other two pose for photos like the fanciest mute children this side of the equator. The questions continue even as they take their seats in the ballroom next to Tommy Hilfiger, Lorraine Schwartz, and Denise Rich. Many got the memo that Kim was supposed to be in attendance, which means Corey is telling inquiring strangers that Kim is tending to a family emergency language Im sure that Kris did not approve. Photo: E! Photo: E! Before taking the stage, Kris, Kourtney, and Khloe are introduced by a woman who strokes the ego of every charitable celebrity harder than they ever could when she calls celebrity philanthropy an incredibly powerful force. Following, she shows the video that features old footage of Robert Kardashian, including his wedding to Kris, that were to believe Kourtney, Kim, and Khloe cut together themselves. With that said, I fast-forwarded through most of it because I dont have enough money to cover water damage on my computer caused by tears. Kris does in fact speak, honoring her late husband and what he taught her about giving all one can. Its bittersweet to see her high regard for her ex-spouse, because net money she would never cry over Caitlyn like that. Like every scene leading up to this one, this scene was filmed on November 21, 2016. Photo: E! Scene 5: After the Angel Ball storyline is finally put to bed, Khloe flies from New York City to Cleveland, Ohio, to be with her boyfriend, Tristan Thompson, for Thanksgiving. Khloe feels bad being away from Kim, but was given the okay by her sister to travel outside the state of California. Once shes there, and purely as an act of holiday kindness and not at all as one of opportunity and exposure, Tristan brings Khloe with him to a local church where they feed the less fortunate and show face in front of the congregation. Khloe and Tristan are both honored by the pastor, and Khloe tells local community members how much of a blessing being there is. This scene was filmed on November 22, 2016. Photo: E! Scene 7: Back in Calabasas, California, Kris Jenner makes a business call (i.e., chats with Corey Gamble) while Life of Kylie star Kylie Jenner plays on Snapchat. Interrupting Kriss call, the two play with the puppy filter and get some snaps out to the universe. And, as it turns out, Kriss call was less business and more of a plea for whoever was on the other line to purchase her the same tequila that Cindy Crawford drinks, stat. Kendall soon joins the mix, which is the perfect time for Kris to tell her mini-mogul daughters that their clothing line is going to be reviewed by Vogue. Kendall, the Vogue vet of the family, is super anxious, while Kylie just flexes her permanently puckered pout to show excitement. Kendall and Kylie also take time to muck up Kriss hair and re-create the spiked look she rocked in Season 1. This scene was filmed on September 24, 2016. Photo: E! Photo: E! Photo: E! Scene 10: Though Kris just told her children that their line will be reviewed by Vogue, Kendall and Kylie already seem to have a rack of clothes expertly placed in Kriss living room for them to review and paw over with faux anxiety. Yet again, Kylie is as cool as a pack of Kylighters and Kendall huffs and puffs in nervous bursts, wondering if this review could tarnish her modeling career. Kylie calms her sister down by fake crying, and Kendall asks her sister if anyones ever told her she looks like a Bratz doll. Like the Scene 7, this one was filmed on September 24, 2016. Photo: E! Photo: E! Scene 13: In New York City, Kendall and Kylie prepare to show their line to Vogues Nicole Phelps for review. Kendall, dressed like a high-end paper boy, doesnt know how to carry herself because shes used to being the face of Vogue, not being judged by them. I would assume Kendalls and Kylies nerves were on level 10 because Vogue typically reviews lines like Givenchy and Louis Vuitton, not collections from PacSun employees. Sadly, the girls dont seem to know how to answer the simplest of questions, like what their style is or the demographic of the brand. They say their style is super cool, comfortable and simple and that their brand does skew toward a younger demographic but everyone can wear the line. To really hit the nail over the head, they tell Nicole that the two of them used to be California girls but now theyve evolved. What that evolution is, we dont know. Following the walk-through of garments, Nicole requests to see their old collection and whispers to an assistant, I want to see the evolution. Same, Sis. Kendall and Kylie both changed outfits multiple times during this scene, probably to show off how many simple looks they could wear in one day! This scene was filmed on September 7, 2016. Photo: E! The simplest girls in all the land. Photo: E! Scene 14: Khloe Kardashian, health and wellness guru of Southern California, films a fitness project for protein shakes in an 80s-inspired workout ensemble. Unfortunately, we have to listen to Khloe tell the camera why she loves fitness shakes before getting to the real drama of her telling off Everybodys Favorite Best Friend, Malika, about her absentee behavior now that shes got a boyfriend Ronnie from The Jersey Shore, whom she met on another E! Reality show, Famously Single. Khloe claims Malika hasnt been picking up her phone calls, and Malika tells Khloe that sometimes priorities have to change, which Khloe should know a lot about after practically moving to Cleveland to be with Tristan. Rightfully, Khloe thinks this is an unfair comparison because Malika is still involved in her life, citing group trips to Mexico as an example. They have trouble seeing eye to eye, so they fight over who has actually changed since being in a committed relationship, and the scene ends with Malika telling Khloe to shut up, as she storms out of the room to presumably get more plastic surgery. This scene was filmed on December 14, 2016. Photo: E! Photo: E! Photo: E! Scene 17: After their explosive fight at Khloes job, EFBF Malika shows up unannounced at Khloes home to hash out their differences. Were to believe that the last time the two friends spoke was during their fight in Scene 14. Malika and Khloe sit down for a heart-to-heart, and through smiles, Khloe asks Malika whats up with all of the #drama. Malika explains that shes felt some distance, both physically and emotionally, and doesnt want to disrupt her happiness. Khloe defends herself, claiming to be even more available when shes out of town, since thats when she has more free time. While talking, Malika breaks down in tears and says she misses her best friend, especially now because she and her boyfriend Ronnie have broken up. Malika still cant seem to keep the tears from leaking out of her second face, which floors Khloe. Probably because this scene was filmed on March 1, 2017, months after their fight in Scene 14 and at least two months after Malika and Ronnie broke up. Plus, Malika was with Khloe working out before she came knocking on her door out of the blue. After Khloe and Malika mend their broken friendship, Khloe uses her interview to wonder aloud whether Malikas tears may have something to do with being embarrassed about dating Ronnie from The Jersey Shore. Photo: E! Photo: E! Photo: E! Photo: E! Photo: E! Scene 18: On set, fashion maven and notorious dum-dum Kendall Jenner models with Will.I.Ams BUTTON headphones. Kris is also around, taking selfies with Andre Leon Talley and most likely asking if people like her new hairstyle. After Kendall and her baby face pose for their lives, Kris corners her child to show her the Vogue review. Kristen Jenner is beside herself with excitement, trying to explain to Kendall that the reviews never get sent out this quickly, proving to herself that this is ~*special*~. What Kris fails to tell Kendall is that this review was more of an I physically laid eyes on the collection blurb about the pieces that ran the same day Nicole met with the girls. Still, Kris tries to talk through everything as Kendall reads, which makes her shush her own mom. If only she were this concentrated when she read the Pepsi script then she might have gotten a spin-off show just like her sister did. This scene was filmed on September 10, 2016. Photo: E! Photo: E! Photo: E! Photo: E! Its been real, dolls. Remember to stay present and keep an eye out on this space for yet another #KUWTKE recap of Keeping Up With Nicole Phelps. #Ronnie My thoughts exactly. On all accounts. Reply Parent Thread Link There was like no dancing in Heather's. Maks needs to retire from the show because he's got no creativity Reply Parent Thread Link I didn't watch, but I agree with any comment trashing Maks' lack of creativity. I've been saying that ever since that post saying that he was paired with Heather. I don't see her winning because Maks is boring. Reply Parent Thread Link Maks only had creativity with Meryl. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm so glad the judges called out Maks'choreo because it was weak. I'm not hopeful it will improve. :/ Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Nick's scores were ridiculous. He didn't really dance, more flopping around than anything. haha Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Simone was fantastic tonight. As was Normani. Final two, or there is no justice in this world. Reply Thread Link Normani was fantastic! Reply Thread Link How the eff did Simone and Sasha not get a perfect score?! Also Erika totally knew she was going home before the show started. You could just tell looking at her. IA about how they do the results. Emma and Rashard got to dance and then find out, do it for the others like that Reply Thread Link Poor Erika, Nick should've gone before her. Seems pretty stupid to tell people they're safe/in jeopardy, that would completely mess with me. Reply Thread Link Tbh David should've gone before both of them. He can't dance at all. Reply Parent Thread Link David probably had the most votes last week. They showed his dance and had the voting number up during the Cubs rain delay, so the whole stadium probably voted for him. Reply Parent Thread Link He definitely can't, but I think he's more likable than Erika. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Hdu! He's the reason I'm watching this season! I do agree he's not great, but he's so likable, I don't care & I will use all of my votes on him every week. I think Cubs Nation can carry him a couple more weeks. Reply Parent Thread Link There's always that one person who can't dance but has a charming personality that keeps them in a few weeks longer than necessary Reply Parent Thread Link omg Normani did THAT! Of course Len's hating ass gave her a 9 smh. Reply Thread Link I was pissed but not surprised. I like that Len pushes for more content most of the time, but I feel like when it's Disney Night, he needs to relax a little and embrace the fun. Reply Parent Thread Link The camera work and the choreography of Heather's dance killed her chance at giving a spectacular performance. Heather doing jazz should have been a no-brainer and Maks fucked it up. Reply Thread Link THis is some bullshit Reply Parent Thread Link She was so stiff though. Like yeah, she could do the splits and high kicks, but the rest was bad. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm so excited for Boy Bands and Girl Groups next week! Normani should've gotten a perfect score this week. She's so good! I wish Alan was Heather's permanant partner, or even a pro. Reply Thread Link Alan really should be. I can see Heather making a early exit without him Reply Parent Thread Link They really should bring the in jeopardy thing back to the end of the show. It's not fair for the contestants. Len doesn't like giving 10s til near the end of the show. I don't get why Carrie Ann didn't give Simone that 10 though. Alan should be Heather's permanent partner. They've danced more together and have better chemistry. Maks is a mess for that choreo. Heather could do way better since she's trained in jazz and hip hop. Edited at 2017-04-18 02:18 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link Normani was amazing Reply Thread Link i love heather and watching her dance, but she's getting fucked every which way lol. i knew she'd never win and she had an obvious advantage going in, so i can't really begrudge the balancing it out but thought normani would be winning this for sure just because of the way fifth harmony fans vote (i don't buy she was legitimately in the bottom three for votes this week), but i definitely get the feeling the show is hoping for rashad to win Reply Thread Link apparently, they randomly put people in jeopardy to "shock" the viewers. it's rarely the real bottom 2, 3 (some dwts fans on twitter told me). but even with the fans vote, Normani's in danger. white america is watching and voting. I wouldn't be surprised if David and Bonner got the most votes and Mani's high scores are what helps her stay. white America loves their basic white men. they won't vote for the black girl who's part of a girl group they probably don't know. Erika has been voted off because the grannies on facebook thought she was too "raunchy" and from what I've heard she has a big following. but most people call Normani "the new Nicole Schersinger" of the show. from what I saw, the DWTS fans predict Rashad, Normani and Simone at the finale. I would love it lmao, yall wish. ever since #her departure, the group twitter account only gained more followers and they still won every fan awards show they've been nominated this year. 9/9apparently, they randomly put people in jeopardy to "shock" the viewers. it's rarely the real bottom 2, 3 (some dwts fans on twitter told me). but even with the fans vote, Normani's in danger. white america is watching and voting. I wouldn't be surprised if David and Bonner got the most votes and Mani's high scores are what helps her stay. white America loves their basic white men. they won't vote for the black girl who's part of a girl group they probably don't know. Erika has been voted off because the grannies on facebook thought she was too "raunchy" and from what I've heard she has a big following. but most people call Normani "the new Nicole Schersinger" of the show.from what I saw, the DWTS fans predict Rashad, Normani and Simone at the finale. I would love it Reply Parent Thread Link She wasnt in the bottom three, she was in jeopardy. They just put random people in there for dramatic effect Reply Parent Thread Link normani did that Reply Thread Link Dorit is pleased. Reply Thread Link as am I. Erika is garbage Reply Parent Thread Link i have turned around so much from hating dorit to absolutely loving her. what a sweetheart. erika can eat it tbh she sucks Reply Parent Thread Link I agree. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm shocked they added a POC in there, this movie is trash. I'm sure this will make a lot of money. Reply Thread Link Meh only because it's Kristoff. You just know they would never cast either of the sisters as POC... Reply Parent Thread Link Could you imagine the butthurt white people, I want this now. Reply Parent Thread Link They have for the musical show that's in Disneyland. She did really well and my kid didn't even care/notice, but online people said a black Elsa was "distracting" and "not authentic". And the guy walking behind the Olaf puppet wasn't? SMH. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I don't know how many they cast, but at least one of the Disney cruise Elsa's is/was a POC. I'm glad they kept Kristoff a POC since he has been since the labs. I was almost certain they'd cast a white dude as soon as it was time to cast for broadway. Reply Parent Thread Link it's true, I don't think they'd cast a POC for a white princess for the original cast. but when they recast after the original cast has left they might. Disney made a big deal about Toni Braxton playing Belle back in the 90s (they even added a new song for her) Reply Parent Thread Link I've never seen Richard Madden look better than he does in your ava--like whereiit from? Is it Richard Madden? Reply Parent Thread Link I'm wondering how this will do. My niece was crazy over the movie for like a month, but now if you ask her about it she's like I don't know her "i don't watch it anymore" Reply Thread Link Ugh. I am WAITING for the day my niece reaches that point. She's 5 and been obsessed about the movie or just Elsa, I can't figure it out for months. Reply Parent Thread Link I'm still wondering why little girls are obsessed with Elsa...yeah she's pretty and she has cool ice powers but that's it....there's nothing else to her character. Anna has more personality. When I was little I loved "princesses" like Mulan, Pocahontas, Kida(so underrated) because they were brave and stood for what they believed in but also gentle and kind and funny. Elsa is so bland in comparison...also she was barely in the movie! I saw let it go and thought "ah she seems so badass maybe I should check out the movie" and when I took the time to pirate it I was so disappointed that was pretty much her only scene ! Edited at 2017-04-18 04:00 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lol my niece was the same except her phase lasted a few months. Girl would want anything Frozen related. But now she can't stand it. Kids move on fast tho,she's obsessed with Moana now. Reply Parent Thread Link (I saw Santino Fontana on the train a few weeks ago, I think. He's shorter than I expected but he has qt hipster glasses.) (I saw Santino Fontana on the train a few weeks ago, I think. He's shorter than I expected but he has qt hipster glasses.) Reply Thread Link this is gonna make so much money Reply Thread Link 2nd from the right looks like the spawn of kate mckinnon and amy schumer Edited at 2017-04-18 03:37 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link I'm getting strong Amy Smart vibes Reply Parent Thread Link Don't really curr about a Bway version of Frozen, but I do like Caissie and Patti (and her v good taste in husbands). Reply Thread Link I wish I could care. I'm still butthurt that they never brought the Hunchback of Notre Dame musical to broadway, I've been listening to that soundtrack obsessively for the past few months. I'm also hurt that the Anastasia musical soundtrack won't come out until June so I've been compensating with shitty bootlegs at the moment Reply Thread Link For example, a theater in California will be doing it this September. http://www.excite.com/events/theater-tickets/The-Hunchback-Of-Notre-Dame/index.php Hunchback may not be on Broadway, but it's still being performed in certain theaters. You just need to keep checking to see if it'll be performed somewhere near you.For example, a theater in California will be doing it this September. Reply Parent Thread Link i'm still pressed about hond, i listen to the soundtrack so often from start to finish because it's that good. also, michael arden being robbed of another tony is unacceptable. Reply Parent Thread Link broadway and the uk, casting all the regular looking folks! Reply Thread Link Already know how outraged white people will be about a black Kristoff, saying that it's inaccurate to the location/time period (even though it's a damn animation), and then use it as a counterargument when people bring up whitewashing. ("They made Kristoff black on Broadway and we didn't whine, don't complain!") I'm happy for the actor though, wishing him the best, he's really qt tbh. I'm okay with a Frozen musical, but I feel like it's still too soon, the hysteria just ended about it even though it's been a few years. Edited at 2017-04-18 04:06 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link It's interesting cause Okieriete Onaodowan played Kristoff in the lab as well. I wonder if it's just a concidence or they were consciously looking to add diversity. Reply Parent Thread Link I actually didn't know that, that's cool. Even if it was a conscious choice, I feel like it's a good thing (the actors have to be strong enough for the part anyway). Reply Parent Thread Link Kinda meh on the cast but it'll do well cause it's Frozen. Reply Thread Link i want to re-watch this movie now Reply Thread Link I really needed this laugh LMAO what in the fresh hell is this shit? Reply Thread Link Right? wtf Reply Parent Thread Link That Native American curse coming back to bite his ass. Reply Parent Thread Link I think I am late, but I thought the entire point of this story was that he didn't look like an actual assassin, which is why it works? Maybe I misunderstood, and if that ISN'T the point then oh dear god... Reply Parent Thread Link It is lol Reply Parent Thread Link I wouldn't look him and think he was, so, I'm assuming it is. Reply Parent Thread Link keaton deserves better Reply Thread Link We all do Reply Parent Thread Link he was robbed Reply Parent Thread Expand Link To be fair he was in Birdman and Spotlight and the Founder probably would have a better chance if it's release wasn't botched so idk about picking better projects, he's done pretty well for the most part Reply Parent Thread Link I would have said this as well, but after he was feeling himself too much thinking that the Oscar was his for birdman, nah. Egos to the left. Reply Parent Thread Link Yep Reply Parent Thread Link Honestly, I'm just happy to see him working :') I wish Dylan would go for more comedy parts since I think that's where he excels, but this doesn't look bad tbh~ Reply Thread Link Imma give this white boy a chance but he does seem very miscast based on his previous projects. Im really rooting for Sanaa though. Reply Thread Link lmaooooo Reply Thread Link I checked the date and it seems NOT to be April 1st? And yet... Reply Thread Link check again Reply Parent Thread Link perfect reaction gif Reply Parent Thread Link Holland's fake dimples are so weird to me Reply Parent Thread Link What?? Her dimples are fake ?? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link met ^^^you guys missed some great posts Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lol Reply Parent Thread Link It looks better than I thought it would tbh. I'll prob see this. In the theater Negl he looks better than I thought he would too. LOL @ how much onto hates him. Edited at 2017-04-18 05:38 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link 1. is this the elusive maze runner guy? i thought he was supposed to be attractive 2. batman? edit: im sorry i cant get through this, the stupidity of it all on top of the London Has Fallen flashbacks im getting have proven too tough to overcome Edited at 2017-04-18 05:17 pm (UTC) Reply Thread Link lmao well they tried Reply Thread Link I'm sure he'd make a great assassin. He blends in and absolutely doesn't stand out at all. Perfect for disappearing into crowds. Go try it now, Dylan. Reply Thread Link lmao Reply Parent Thread Link hahah Reply Parent Thread Link he looks like a tween in the middle of an awkward growth spurt Reply Thread Link bitch can barely grow a proper beard and I'm supposed to believe he's an assassin? Reply Parent Thread Link based on every fanfic about Teen Wolf ever, he's a perpetually 16-looking twink Reply Parent Thread Link that's not based on fanfics girl, look at him Reply Parent Thread Expand Link america fuck yeah Reply Thread Link I so don't get the thirst some people have over this guy, I kinda get it with Chris Evans, he does nothing for he and he is the most basic and blandest actor ever, but he is conventionally atractive and his whiteness makes his less than mediocre acting skills look better, but this guy?? I just... why people are trying to make him a thing? I don't get it, gringos and their shitty taste tbh. Reply Thread Link Why are u punishing me? Reply Parent Thread Link lol i love that he forgot his youtube password so these videos are here for infinity Reply Parent Thread Link I'm glad that so many people are still pushing for open dialogue and that it isn't a 'fad' or temporary cause to champion. Reply Thread Link i'm so glad we are having this conversation for real Reply Parent Thread Link Having lived in the UK for most of a decade and dated an English guy the entire time, I just hope this campaign makes a positive influence cause omg the amount of people I know that refuse to admit or share on mental health is surprising. Meanwhile there's me and my bffl from El Salvador sit in the pub and discuss our issues openly and my bf is like 'uhhhh'. Reply Thread Link I get what you mean, but me and my friends openly discuss our mental health too (we're all British). I'd say it's more of a generational thing tbh. Although there are still young people unwilling to talk about or acknowledge mental health, I still see/hear others talking about it in a way older people straight-out refuse to. Though there is still that very British idea of just "getting on with things" and ignoring any issues, that's something that has seemed to transcend class boundaries as well imo. Reply Parent Thread Link prince willam isn't that cute at all, but good for them making this known for others to speak apon Reply Thread Link ...cause only cute people can speak apon this issue? Reply Parent Thread Link lmao why is it like lady gaga is doing kate middleton cosplay. this is great though i don't necessarily suffer from chronic depression/anxiety but i do go to a therapist and she has really been helping me. mostly i just talk about how lonely and how i would like female friendships- i feel like its hard to meet other women and bond with them without them expecting me to be a certain way and it's just really uncomfortable Reply Thread Link omg I am loling so hard it does really look like she tried to do British rich lady drag Edited at 2017-04-18 06:34 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Because Lady Gaga is a theater kid who loves to have over the top personas from time to time Reply Parent Thread Link She needs to work with arca but like one song and not a whole album Reply Parent Thread Expand Link lmao she's so OTT. She has a different character/persona to fit every single project she does Reply Parent Thread Link she really is. she was like "get me my brown, serious wig!!!" Reply Parent Thread Link I'm with you on the not having super serious issues (mild anxiety?) and going to a therapist. I talk about my shitty love life and my life plateauing. The other week I had a rant about how of course life isn't fair and there's no point whining about it being unfair because it just is but it still fucking sucks nonetheless because it feels there's so little you can effectively do that's actually in your control when it comes to that stuff. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link also my mental health attitude is basically 'nothing gets better and it doesn't matter so rock out and just try your best' Reply Thread Link i like this Reply Parent Thread Link I got hit with another wave of rejections yesterday and just am like.....what's the point of anything anymore. I also wish mental health stuff in the US was treated equally by insurers, Blue Cross and Blue Shield only wanted to pay for maybe 8 sessions and then would be assholes to my therapists. Reply Thread Link That happened to me with BCBS but apparently if your therapist just gives you a formal diagnosis of something (say, anxiety), then that can actually get you past the maximum number of sessions you'd otherwise be stuck with under BCBS? Reply Parent Thread Link How did you explain your anxiety to your family? I've tried, but the main reaction was: "Why are you being so irrational and why are you making this my problem?" :/ Reply Parent Thread Link dis queen. elizabeth is shook the video was a bit awkward to watch tbh (not because of the subject, but because of the sheer weirdness of these two having a conversation), but it's great that this series exists Reply Thread Link I don't deal with my problems. I deny and hide them until I have no other choice but to face them head-on. These past few months have been really bad and I am afraid I already lost at least one friend because of my inability to cope. That said, I've tried to talk to people but my friends/family only seem to have sympathy for people with "actual" illnesses or relationship problems. I'm so sick of my mental illness constantly being treated as a character flaw. Reply Thread Link normally i spend time with my dogs, go for walks, do relaxing things, read etc. but they haven't been working lbr. i have an assessment and seeing my doctor this week because lbr i've been depressed since the election and i don't want to live like this. i've been there, done that already, and got my life back, so i'm going to push forward gdi Reply Thread Link werk that brunette wig gaga the prince should use one too tbh Reply Thread Link Men who don't have guts just to shave it all off are such a pet peeve of mine. Like, bald guys are actually really hot, I haven't ever seen that phrase said about someone who's head looks like Cynthia from Rugrats Reply Parent Thread Link ya i agree... either do something about it with like a hair transplant or a fierce wig OR shave it all off.. the patchiness isn't hot Reply Parent Thread Link I'm still trying to recover from ha Coachella set! Them visual Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I think that's Her real hair w/ extensions She dyed it brunette about a month ago Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Depression, anxiety and ADHD have always been my biggest struggles. For the longest time, I couldn't quite pin point why I was feeling low or having mood swings or breaking down over the smallest things. It literally crippled my early 20's. I tried medication, but it always made things worse. One of the key things that helped me was having balance in my life and learning how to take care of myself. I saw a nutritionist and learned about how food allergies and eating junk food can really worsen symptoms of depression/anxiety/adhd. Once I eliminated the food that was bad for me, I started feeling better. I also made sure to have a consistent sleep schedule. Making small life changes over a long period of time really helped. I still deal with it. It's not 100% gone. But I'm at a point where I can function and feel happy. Reply Thread Link with the right medication and some xanax going outside in the sun helps a little Reply Thread Link shit, i love xanax, but i had to go off it. my body became dependent on it. and the withdrawals are terrrrrible. Reply Parent Thread Link I take fluoxetine and my life has felt good ever since. Someone on here convinced me to take my prescribed medicine just over a year ago and I've never looked back. I'm afraid of coming off them though because i was having really deluded thoughts. I almost left my husband and he didn't even do anything. Like i was sobbing every day because i love him so much but i had this constant nag in my head that i ABSOLUTELY HAD to leave him and run away because... No reason whatsoever, to go... Nowhere in particular. It was a fucking trip. Reply Thread Link Citalopram was okay for me, but fluoxetine has been a million times better. I feel like a normal (for want of a better word) person. Like, i don't feel numb. I still worry and get upset, but those reactions are generally appropriate for what's going on around me. I feel an appropriate range of emotions and there's room in my head for me, not just all of my overblown anxieties. Omg tell me about it. I was terrified. At one point at had myself convinced that if i didn't leave my husband he would die and it would be my fault like ???????? There was no logic to it but it ruled my life. Have you been on fluoxetine for long? I'm glad to hear they're working better for you, how was the initial period for you? Reply Parent Thread Link Glad they're doing this! Also I just finally watched her Coachella set and I always forget how many true bops she has, really enjoyed it Reply Thread Link i tried searching for it on the live stream, but i couldnt find it! where did you watch it? Reply Parent Thread Link Another user linked to it in a different post: http://ladygaganow.co/lady-gaga-delivers-explosive-performance-at-coachella-2017 it's not the best quality but I couldn't find anything else Reply Parent Thread Expand Link omg it was scary how he was on the run for so long.. and side comment but it's also scary how ppl have also been doing fb live videos of torturing others, etc Reply Thread Link what kind of chicken shit response Reply Thread Link Get rid of it. Or only allow Pages to go live. idk. Reply Thread Link it was live, though, wasn't it? not just an uploaded video? Reply Parent Thread Link MTE. The only reason this isn't as big of a deal is because I'm p. sure youtube would immediately stop something like this and your Meemaw doesn't use Twitch Reply Parent Thread Link "I'm p. sure youtube would immediately stop something like this" How? Does Youtube employ millions of people to instantaneously review every video that's flagged? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I misread the last part as "Mark Zuckerberg can't fix the weird..." I wish the news outlets would stop sensationalizing this. I fear that there are going to be copycats. Reply Parent Thread Link This. It's obviously horrible that someone would do this. But Facebook live isn't the problem here. It's the assholes that take advantage of it to broadcast their crimes and get a sick enjoyment out of the reactions. Yes the video/stream should have been taken down faster but that doesn't mean they should scrap the app completely. Just have more moderators that take reported stuff seriously. And this applies to site as a whole not just the live app. Reply Parent Thread Link mte. if it wasn't facebook it would have been something else. besides people have been recording this shit for years even before live was even a thing. they filmed their crimes either for themselves or to send into tv networks, the police, etc; Reply Parent Thread Link I agree Reply Parent Thread Link wasn't the video up for a few hours after the murder though? from what i saw that's what people were upset about, which i can understand. Reply Parent Thread Link True but FB does allow mass amounts of highly questionable material on their platform. The algorithm they use to check comments for if it violates standards is a fucking joke. In all honesty tho, none of these social platforms need a live option. The possible exceptions being for verified accounts. There is such a thing as everyone being too connected and all these live options have proven that. People are using these platforms to commit crimes and others are watching/spreading it without second thought. Reply Parent Thread Link I don't like facebook, and ia. It's impossible to correct human nature, some are just rotten. Reply Parent Thread Link Welp just like the fake news bit I mean can you not try to be more discerning like evidence posted in meme form is highly suspect Reply Parent Thread Link I deleted FB a few years ago and don't miss it tbh. I reactivated not long ago to get en email/phone number from someone and for the few hours I checked it I got a headache again. I do still use Twitter and IG though. I get a lot of my news and articles via Twitter. Social media has done a lot of good but has also done so much damage. I didn't watch the Cleveland video but the details were horrific. I also read about that gang rape video too. What's also sick is people seeing something like that and not even bothering to report it. Technology can be a hellscape. Reply Thread Link I didn't watch the video either but I couldn't sleep for hours last night 'cause I kept thinking about the description I read. It's so horrifying. Reply Parent Thread Link A friend of mine deleted her facebook and a few years later a friend informed her it had been reactivated. Like to permanently delete your facebook you have to email them and then in two weeks its officially deleted for good. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah I forget what it says when you deactivate but sounds about right. I have a lot of privacy concerns with that whole thing too. Reply Parent Thread Link You don't have to email - You can go to justdelete.me and follow the link. And I believe it takes 21 days. I deleted my first account but I rejoined :( Reply Parent Thread Expand Link twitter is the best imo. you can so easily create a little community of the things you like there. and you get so much information. Reply Parent Thread Link i deactivated in november and i dont miss it either i fill my time with other things now Reply Parent Thread Link Urgh, recently three guys raped a girl here in Sweden and live stremed it in some group. Thankfully some of the members called the police while it happened but the prosecutor had to fight so hard for Facebook to release the video. Reply Thread Link did they succeed? Reply Parent Thread Link Yes! But it took them like two months, they started the trial before getting access to the film. Reply Parent Thread Link omg what happened in the end of the trial??? did they went to jail?!?! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link you have any eng news link for that? Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Wtf!!! People can be so sick. Reply Parent Thread Link maybe get rid of facebook live Reply Thread Link Why? I don't use it personally but a lot of the organizations I'm part of use it for events and talks and other interesting things. Psychos like this would find another way if it didn't exist. Reply Parent Thread Link But younow and insta has a live stream too. They'll find ways to livestream regardless if fblive exists or not. Reply Parent Thread Link I think they'd move to IG and Snapchat instead :/ Reply Parent Thread Link That makes no fucking sense, it's just a streaming service. Many exist. Reply Parent Thread Link This is exactly what I was saying. I know people dont want it gone because it helps promote activities that they deem important or cause worthy but its created an avenue for the type of violence that mostly happened on live leak. Facebook live gives these types of people more access to reach citizens they woudlnt normally be able to reach through shares and automatic play feeds. Reply Parent Thread Link facebook live has done a lot of good though. one of my favourite people michael landsberg hosted a new years eve party on facebook live for everyone who was alone, or didn't liked new years. it was really cool. the problem isn't facebook live. if it didn't exist he'd have used another platform. if there were no lives, he could have filmed it and then put it on youtube or another video hosting site. and if that wasn't there he'd probably have filmed it anyways. people have been filming their crimes and murders for a long time. Reply Parent Thread Link It's obviously very terrible, but what exactly are they supposed to about it? I don't see how they could stop certain kinds of material before it even exists. Reply Thread Link If they had a screening process with a delay the event could still be seen as live although it would be screened before being in real time. A delay could really help with shutting these things down faster. Reply Parent Thread Link That would be unrealistic though, seeing as the screening of every single live stream would take way too much manpower (there would have to be an actual person watching the entire stream to make sure something that starts out innocent doesn't turn out sinister). And in the end it wouldn't be live, so the purpose would be lost (ie live comments/questions etc). The delay wouldn't help the main problem either; the person being killed would still be killed. Reply Parent Thread Link I saw that news story :( tragic. Reply Parent Thread Link Yeah I thought about that as soon as I heard of this. I wish people would just kill themselves and be done with it. Edited at 2017-04-18 06:37 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Exactly I can't believe this fool killed himself. Couldn't you have done that BEFORE killing this poor man for absolutely no reason Reply Parent Thread Link Live broadcasting didnt cause him to commit these crimes...twitter and instagram both have live features too. I don't understand why facebook is being held responsible... Reply Thread Link how could you even prevent this from happening though? also the family of the man have come out and said they have no animosity towards the killer (i'm not saying his name ugh). they're much better people than i could ever be. Reply Thread Link Theres a weird trend where people have been coming out forgiving people who have done harm to them. The most recent case I can think of is when the victims of the church shooting came out and said they forgave him for what he did and then backtracked when he showed no remorse for killing those people. I think the media plays a hand in somewhat coercing the families of victims to show some type of forgiveness in response to the actions of people who do their loved ones harm. Reply Parent Thread Link coming from a religious family i totally understand how cathartic it must be to get to a place where you can forgive someone who has done something so horrible to someone you love. at the same time i think i agree with you. i really wish the media would just leave families alone when horrible stuff like this happens. when i was in middle school a classmate of mine was murdered and her mother ended up changing her name on her apartment buzzer because some media kept trying to talk to her and she wanted nothing to do with it. Reply Parent Thread Link I can say I am not one of those people that will be there like I forgive so and so I won't forgive my father for being an ass wipe so chances of me forgiving some random is unlikely Reply Parent Thread Link Everyone who has seen it said that even if they have seen all the other morbid videos online, this one was the worst and they wish they hadn't watched. Reply Parent Thread Link Same, I kno if I'd still have FB I'd probably see it all over Reply Parent Thread Link This is why I censored my search feeds on twitter and dont go on my facebook because I do not want to see that shit. Automatic play on twitter is a horrible idea. Reply Parent Thread Link I have watched a lot of fucked up shit and moved on with my day. I decided to watch the Russian ambassador and that still has me a little shook up I could never watch this video bc the man reminds me of stepdad and they're not too far apart in age I just imagine someone killing my dad as he's just doing his daily walks for no good reason and then publicly boasting on it... I'll refrain from this one Reply Parent Thread Link hate this little shit. hope he never runs for office Reply Thread Link Uh, are people actually going after Facebook for this? Reply Thread Link People have been coming for Facebook and social media in general. I've seen so many "This wouldn't have happened if social media didn't exist" comments... on social media lol. Reply Parent Thread Link Lol the EU wants to fine FB for pretty much every hate comment if they dont delete it within an hour. Its redic, like what even defines a "hateful comment". Its in the eye of the beholder and on the verge of censorship Edited at 2017-04-18 06:54 pm (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/14/social-media-hate-speech-fines-germany-heiko-maas-facebook Basically, Facebook in Germany has continually failed to remove hate speech targeted at refugees and foreigners, and Germany has pretty strict hate speech laws, therefore Facebook is hosting illegal content. Similar restrictions are already in effect for things like certain types of pornography or extreme depictions of violence, though with those Facebook is somehow always quick to remove. It's not "for every comment", I think it's pretty reasonable that there's a discussion of the possibility at least (if that's what you're talking about):Basically, Facebook in Germany has continually failed to remove hate speech targeted at refugees and foreigners, and Germany has pretty strict hate speech laws, therefore Facebook is hosting illegal content. Similar restrictions are already in effect for things like certain types of pornography or extreme depictions of violence, though with those Facebook is somehow always quick to remove. Reply Parent Thread Link I have 0 sympathy for her ass. Reply Thread Link mods should add that tag in the next tag post Reply Parent Thread Link I'll sign on to that team. Reply Parent Thread Link Here for their mutual annihilation. Reply Thread Link This might be the most team NO ONE I've ever been. Reply Thread Link word choices on air had to be addressed repeatedly for bordering on the profane. ........Soooooo the draw the line at profanity? lol. Oh. Reply Thread Link Weren't y'all saying this was a conspiracy for her to get out? lol Reply Thread Link I ain't buyin it!!!! Cancel them both. Reply Parent Thread Link Of course she's unprofessional and inappropriate. She's an unrepentant criminal. I wish the judge could sue them both for wasting everyone's time. Reply Thread Link Theft. She use to steal from Target Reply Parent Thread Expand Link The screenshots: Arguably could be fake but... lines up with sealed juvenile case files. Here's the recap: https://mindofmalaka.com/2016/07/08/is-tomi-lahren-really-the-right-voice-for-white-moral-outrage/ The screenshots: https://m.facebook.com/mikal.singletary/posts/10153479038641503?pnref=story Arguably could be fake but... lines up with sealed juvenile case files. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link don't care who wins hope this takes a lot of money from both sides Reply Thread Link lol wtv they can both fuck off. #CancelTheBlaze Reply Thread Link Live by the hypocrisy, die by the hypocrisy. Reply Thread Link Cuz Racists Right Wing fucks love blonde people. it's the main goal for Whiteness. Reply Parent Thread Link Because Republicans can only stomach news and opinions from a woman they find fuckable. Reply Parent Thread Link because blondes are evil lbr Reply Parent Thread Link Even if she was unprofessional how is that grounds to countrrsue her Reply Thread Link Lahren's suit also claims that employees of the Blaze even stretched yellow caution tape on the door to her office and dressing room when she was suspended. Seriously. This is retaliation for sure. Not professional at all. Reply Parent Thread Link hope she ends up broke and they end up bankrupt tbh Reply Thread Link THIS Reply Parent Thread Link Let us pray Reply Parent Thread Link this is the best outcome for all involved Reply Parent Thread Link really, really hoping for a miracle today so it doesn't go to a runoff. Reply Parent Thread Link praying for Ossoff rn Reply Parent Thread Link way to keep on top of things, 45 Reply Parent Thread Link Is it true? If not, I hope he gets sued. Reply Parent Thread Link Voted for him today! Reply Parent Thread Link This year marks Alaskas 40th anniversary of the Trans Alaska Pipeline Systems (TAPS)an 800-mile-long crude oil route that runs from the North Slope to Valdez, the northernmost ice-free port in North America. However, Alaskas declining oil output in recent years has not only stretched the states budget, it has also added a challenge to the functioning of the pipelinedecreased throughput means the pipeline is now about three-quarters empty, and crude oil flows are slower. The peak of oil flow through the pipeline was at 2 million barrels per day in 1988. Last year, throughput was 517,500 bpd, a 1.8-percent increase from 2015. This was the first annual increase since 2002, but still a far cry from the days of peak flow. Pipeline operator Alyeska is adding heat to keep the crude oil warm and to prevent water from freezing in the line. It also uses so-called cleaning pigs to keep the pipe free of wax. Thats because less oil means slower-moving oil, and slower-flowing oil means colder oil. Alyeska admits that challenges are immediate and ultimately may need shift to intermittent flow. Alyeska President Tom Barrett said in the press release announcing the 2016 throughput: More oil is the best long-term solution for sustaining TAPS, from a technical and operational standpoint. Related: Russian Tanker Owner Holds PDVSA Oil Cargo Hostage Over Debts Recent new oil discoveries in Alaska have been welcome news for the sector and the state. Last month, Spains Repsol announced the largest onshore oil discovery in the U.S. in three decades, a 1.2 billion barrel find on the North Slope. In October last year, private equity-backed Caelus Energy said that it discovered as much as 6 billion barrels of oil on Alaskas northern coast, of which 1.8-2.4 billion barrels are considered recoverable. The find could lift Alaskas statewide recoverable oil reserve base by around 80 percent. But with oil prices stuck in a narrow band just above $50, the extreme weather and the costly and currently uneconomical drilling in Alaska, new oil flowing through the pipeline is probably a decade or more away. The states oil production has been declining. In the week of April 7, oil output was 534,000 bpd, nearly half of the volume Alaska pumped in the first week of April 2004. Last year, production averaged 490,000 bpd, and although it was slightly up from 2015, such low volumes as in the past three years were last seen in 1977, the year in which TAPS became operational. With TAPS delivering around 90 percent of Alaskas unrestricted general fund revenue, the states budget hinges on oil revenues, and Alaska is facing a $3-billion fiscal gap this year despite a 44-percent budget cut over the past four years. Referring to the pipeline, Alaska Governor Bill Walker told Bloomberg in a phone interview: We need to see oil in that pipeline. Thats our cash register. Thats what generates the revenue. Related: Oil Prices Drop As Saudis Say Too Early To Decide Cuts Extension In The State of the State Address from January this year, Governor Walker said that revenues were down more than 80 percent from what they were four years ago. The budget has been cut by 44 percent over the period, but Alaska still faces a $3-billion fiscal gap. Nonetheless, new oil discoveries have the potential to stem the downturn in production, Gov. Walker said. However, it would take a price of over $100 a barrel for a long period of time to solve our fiscal problem. Or it would require tripling the flow of oil in the pipeline. Neither is expected anytime soon, the governor noted. New drilling and new projects in Alaskas harsh weather require much more investment than onshore shale plays. At current oil prices, total U.S. crude oil production is expected to rise this year compared to last year, but it will be driven by the Permian down in West Texas. Meanwhile, Alaska will continue with budget austerity waiting for better timesand much higher oil pricesthat could make drillers comfortable with spending in frontier ventures. By Tsvetana Paraskova of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Maybe the surge in U.S. shale production wont kill off the oil price rally after all. Oil prices could rise as high as the mid-$60s per barrel by the end of the year, according to a new analysis from Citigroup. That even takes into account the ongoing rebound in U.S. shale production. U.S. oil production is up nearly 700,000 bpd from a low point in the third quarter of 2016, with total output now up to more than 9.2 million barrels per day. But the shale industry is just getting started. Some of those gains came from offshore projects in the Gulf of Mexico that were in the works for a long time. Meanwhile, the rig count in the Permian basin has been rising, but because production data shows up on a several month lag compared to the rig count, further gains in output are surely forthcoming. In fact, the EIA said in its April Drilling Productivity Report that U.S. shale production will surge by an additional 124,000 bpd in May compared to April. More than half of those gains 76,000 bpd will come from the Permian Basin, where most of the action is happening today. The Eagle Ford will also add a meaningful 39,000 bpd in May. But the swift rebound of U.S. shale has not scared away the bulls at Citi. The investment bank acknowledged that U.S. shale will come roaring back this year, but pointed to OPEC as the reason for its optimism. "With a continuation of the OPEC/non-OPEC producer deal in the second half of 2017 and the expected associated inventory draw-down, we expect oil prices to move above $60 a barrel by the second half of the year," Citi analysts said in a note published Monday. Related: Putins Plan In The South China Sea Citi also acknowledged that bullishness earlier this year was probably a bit too much too soon, but that the second half of this year will probably exhibit more market tightness. "Commodities stumbled through the first quarter following what was clearly the healthiest year for the sector since the decade began. In retrospect, part of the sell-off toward the end of the last quarter was too much froth in critical subsectors like oil, copper and iron ore. But signs of better performance are increasingly clear, despite major risks," Citi analysts said. The OPEC cuts will tip the global supply/demand balance into a deficit, which will drain inventories for the remainder of the year. To be sure, Citi has downgraded its pricing forecast in February it called for oil to hit $70 per barrel before the year was out. And crucially, it also warned that its mid-$60s forecast would go out the window if OPEC failed to extend its production cuts. If OPEC let its deal expire in June and returned to higher levels of production, oil prices would head precipitously lower. But a growing number of analysts are assuming that wont happen, especially since Saudi officials recently expressed support for an extension of the cuts for another six months, even as they stated that no decision will be made before OPECs meeting in late May. Related: Reeling From Low Oil Prices, Saudis Look To Freeze Megaprojects If OPEC extends, then oil could gain as much as $10 per barrel this year, Citi analysts say. Citi, along with fellow investment bank Goldman Sachs, have been undaunted by the rapid comeback of U.S. shale. They have maintained a case for higher oil prices this year, even through the March selloff that took WTI back down into the mid-$40s. They stuck to their bullish forecast, even as the market grew skittish. Sure enough, oil quickly rebounded back to the mid-$50s. On April 12, Goldman published a research note, calling for more patience and noting that oil inventory drawdowns were not expected until the second quarter anyway. In the short run, much will hinge on the slightest murmurings from OPEC. Oil could dip in the lead up to the OPEC meeting in May if resolve from the group appears to be faltering. But if they extend their cuts, as many expect, oil could finally move above $60 per barrel in the second half of 2017. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: With oil prices seemingly on firm footing, Wall Street is pouring money back into the shale sector, expecting profits even at $50 per barrel. The private equity industry raised an estimated $19.8 billion in funds for energy investment in the first quarter of this year, or about three times as much as the same period in 2016. The figures indicate a more aggressive approach from private equity in shale drilling, and rising expectations that the oil market is set to rebound. The data comes from Preqin, and was reported on by Reuters. The optimism comes even as oil prices have languished in the $50 per barrel range since November, after briefly dipping into the $40s last month. The hopes of a stronger rebound by now have been dashed, and oil analysts have steadily revised their expectations, pushing out their projections for stronger price gains. The extraordinary gains in U.S. crude oil inventories in the first quarter caught the market and OPEC by surprise, killing off hopes of oil heading north of $60 per barrel. But the new money from Wall Street need not depend on $60+ oil. Lenders are confident that their investments will turn out to be profitable even at the prevailing market price today. That is because shale drillers have dramatically cut their costs, pushing breakeven prices down. "Shale funders look at the economics today and see a lot of projects that work in the $40 to $55 range," Howard Newman, head of private equity fund Pine Brook Road Partners, told Reuters. His firm dumped $300 million in Permian driller Admiral Permian Resources LLC in March. Related: Reeling From Low Oil Prices, Saudis Look To Freeze Megaprojects Lenders are already doing much better than they expected. JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup announced that they have an additional $370 million from the first quarter to use at their disposal, a collective sum that had been set aside to be used for expected losses on their energy portfolios. The better-than-expected performance from the energy sector could entice the banks to increase lending. Bloomberg reports that the volume of leveraged loans loans made to indebted companies shot up by 86 percent in the first quarter, compared to 1Q2015. A survey from Haynes & Boone of oil companies, banks and private equity found a high degree of confidence that the ongoing credit redetermination period a twice-a-year review by lenders of their credit lines to drillers will be favorable to the energy industry. Of the 163 people surveyed, roughly 76 percent said they expect credit lines to either remain unchanged or even increase. In other words, banks are not backing away from the shale industry, and in some cases, they are pouring more money in. There are several reasons for optimism. New figures from China show that its economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, a sign that oil demand will grow at a steady, if not blistering pace. Global oil inventories are falling. Some geopolitical events have knocked some supply offline. And OPEC is doing its best to keep prices afloat. All in all, there is a growing consensus that the market is tightening. But higher oil prices are not a given. In fact, another downturn is not out of the question either. The most recent rebound in prices came in part because of an outage in Libya more than 200,000 bpd recently knocked offline. But Libyas National Oil Company recently reopened a shuttered oil field and has plans to restore output at another. Nobody can make solid projections about what will happen with Libyas output, but the outage could be temporary. Meanwhile, shale output is surging and more rigs are being added back to the field every week a development not unrelated to the wave of money coming from Wall Street. Related: Could An OPEC Extension Normalize Inventories? "All the signs of an ever-growing bull market are starting to fade away, (with) Libya and geo-political tensions easing, but also because the Texans are back and they are pumping like there's no tomorrow," Matt Stanley, a fuel broker at Freight Investor Services (FIS) in Dubai, told Reuters in an interview. "If I were OPEC, I'd be pretty worried." Nevertheless, a few major investors say that another price downturn would not necessarily kill off their optimism. For example, Orion Energy Partners told Reuters that they would continue to lend to shale drillers even if WTI plunged as low as $40 per barrel. But many financiers believe that OPEC will extend its production cuts anyway, which will likely put a floor beneath prices, ensuring that their investments pay off. Other investors apparently agree. Bullish bets continue to rebound in the oil futures market, with hedge funds and other money managers posting a second consecutive week of increases in net-long positions. Saudi Arabia is reportedly on board with an extension of the OPEC cuts, although Saudi officials say it is a bit early to make that call. In fact, OPEC appears to be targeting $60 per barrel. OPEC sources told the WSJ that officials from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait are in agreement that they should aim for $60 per barrel, which would obviously require at least a six-month extension of the collective output reductions. At $60 per barrel, OPEC thinks, oil-producing countries can take in more revenue while prices will be low enough to prevent a dramatic resurgence in U.S. shale. But they may be wrong about that last point. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: BP has filed a lawsuit against Monroe Energy in a federal court, claiming the refiner wrongfully terminated a contract last year. This has become the latest in a string of lawsuits involving the Pennsylvania refinery that Monroe Energy operates, brought about, according to some authors, by the fall in oil prices since 2014. In the BP case, the UK-based major accused the refiner of using an unfounded pretext to cancel the three-year contract that has caused BP damages worth $59 million, its own estimates showed. From Monroes perspective, things look differently. The refiner agreed back in 2014 to buy 185,000 bpd of crude produced by BP in the Bakken and Eagle Ford shale plays, both at a premium to the Brent benchmark: $8.35 for Eagle Ford crude and $7.35 for Bakken crude. That was in 2014, before prices started sliding. After that, the spread between Brent and WTI narrowed and the premium stopped looking so good for Monroe and its sector players. Imported crude, however, from West Africa mostly, started looking increasingly like a good bargain, especially as the cost of domestic supplies was also pumped up by the fact that the crude was transported by rail a more expensive channel than pipelines and tankers. Last June, Monroe cancelled its contract with BP, stating that the crude that the company supplied failed to meet the API gravity grade requirements that were stipulated in the document. BP, for its part, countered that there was no requirement to keep crude from different fields separate, and that mixing grades from different wells was standard practice. The oil giant also said that Monroe was using gravity figures measured in Texas rather than at the point of delivery, which was another stipulation in the contract. Also, BP said, Monroe had not complained before about the blend of crude oil grades that BP supplied to its Pennsylvania refinery. Related: Attack On Syria: U.S. Has Returned To Business As Usual However, Reuters recalls that another refiner, NARL Refining, also complained that BPs crude failed to meet gravity grade requirements and damaged the equipment in its refinery. The two are currently involved in an arbitration dispute. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: A new survey of 157,000 participants shows the millennial age groups striking rejection of electric and self-driving cars, according to a new report by Driving Tests cited by Forbes. Seventy percent of those surveyed said they did not want to buy an electric car, and preferred a vehicle with a traditional combustion engine instead. Similar results were obtained across all age groups, to the chagrin of many in the EV world who have banked on millennial support in the future. Still, Tesla the famed electric car manufacturer was the favorite amongst 13 to 19-year-olds polled by Driving Tests. The driving test simulator site polled 157,000 unique visitors in March and April of this year regarding new trends in mass market vehicles. Two-thirds of those surveyed also said they held significant reservations about riding in a self-driving car. "We used the word 'striking, Driving Tests founder and CEO Andrei Zakhareuski told Forbes via email, when asked about the results. "And it was striking, given a) all the hype around electric cars, and b) polls that show increasing consumer interest. It was also striking for its uniformity across all age groups. Any thoughts that millennials would be more favorably disposed toward electric cars than seniors were not supported by the evidence." Most car manufacturers are designing hybrid and electric versions of their existing models to complete with the fully electric and affordable sedans, trucks and SUVs that Tesla will deliver and roll-out over the next couple of years. CEO Elon Musks announcement of an upcoming electric truck caused the companys shares to jump by three percent last week. Related: Could An OPEC Extension Normalize Inventories? "Tesla Semi truck unveil set for September. Team has done an amazing job. Seriously next level," Musk said in a tweet. "Pickup truck unveil in 18 to 24 months," he added in the next post. The value of the car manufacturers stock has shot up 41 percent to record levels so far in 2017, making the Silicon Valley company a close competitor with General Motors for the biggest American automaker title. By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Ghana and the Czech Republic have signed a Double Taxation Agreement. The Minister for Finance, Ken Ofori Atta, and the Czech Ambassador to Ghana, Margita Fuschova, respectively signed on behalf of both countries. This agreement was signed after the two countries concluded negotiations for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income. A release signed by the Public Relations Unit of the Ministry of Finance said the agreement gives investors a stable and predictable tax environment and consequently will encourage investments in both countries. This will also eliminate the incidence where income from both countries are taxed twice and as well as increase Ghanas Exchange of Information network, which allows treaty partners to exchange information in order to mitigate tax risk and tax evasion across borders. In addition, tax evasion through the mutual assistance in the collection of taxes will also be reduced. Furthermore, cross border trade and investments between the two countries by the elimination of tax impediments will be greatly enhanced, it said. The release said the agreement will also foster diplomatic and other relations between the two countries. The Minister for Finance expressed the hope that diplomatic and economic ties will improve with the signing of the agreement. The Czech Ambassador also expressed similar sentiments saying she looked forward to improving relations between the two countries. Source: Daily Guide Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video As the sergeant drank cheap whiskey one night at the NCO Club on Incirlik Air Base in southern Turkey, his wife overdosed on pills. Because suicide is a homicide, the Office of Special Investigations on base, meaning my two colleagues and me, got the case. The base security police had roped off their trailer, and her husband had identified the body. Our turn. This was my second day running the OSI detachment and I was supposed to know what I was doing. We checked the regs. Everything in the military is done by the book. Ask a question and you get, RTFMRead the F****** Manual. The manual said we had to get fingerprints. She was lying in the small six-drawer morgue. We found her on the fourth try and pulled her out on a long metal tray. Her eyes were half-closed and dulled by death, her hands folded across her chest, fingers closed tight, and stiff with rigor mortis. Well, shit. I called HQ in Ankara and HQ said, RTFM. I said wed have to pry her fingers open. HQ said, Anything else? We pried her fingers open. As two Air Force doctors barely out of med school scrambled through their books to figure out time of death we searched the couples trailer. I felt like a voyeur. We talked to the distraught sergeant, followed the book and finally closed the case. Listening to the account of Robin Williams, a man who had money and fame and yes, addiction and depression, I thought of this women who could have lived down the street from any of us. Hollywood gets it wrong: Movie corpses always have bright, shiny eyes. Depending where you look, you can get two different views of Pittsburghs economy. On the gloomy side of the street, Pittsburgh dramatically underperformed its 15 benchmark regions last year. We had virtually zero job growth. We had the highest unemployment rate. And our average weekly wages rose just .8 percentonly a third of the benchmark average. And if that wasnt enough, 2017 started with the news that Heinz Krafts CEO is moving to Chicago, effectively taking the headquarters of one of Pittsburghs oldest and most famous companies with him. Pretty grim, all in all, right? Well, actually, no. Lets take a walk down the sunny side of the street and see what Pittsburgh looks like from there. As it turns out, the regions economic malaise last year largely can be boiled down to the collapse of oil and gas prices and the freeze in the Marcellus industry. Companies shed jobs and slashed payouts. Local governments and landowners saw D their impact fees and royalty checks shrink. It all rippled across the economy, all the way to the hospitality sector. In the wake of last year, the importance of oil and gas to this regions prospects couldnt be clearer. It turns out that the biggest reason that Pittsburgh has looked so strong economically since the depths of the Great Recession is the oil and gas boom. While other regions faltered, we sailed ahead. Yes, were diversified, but the secret, differentiating engine was the Marcellus. Without it, were back to the somnambulant numbers of the past. The good news is that industry is still here, prices are rising again, and the Shell cracker plant is poised to deliver a huge shot in the arm. Regarding Heinz, it may hurt to think of the company being headquartered elsewhere, but former CEO Bill Johnson effectively cast the die for the headquarters move when he sold the company four years ago to 3G Capital. And Kraft Heinz is expected to remain an important regional employer, (though spokesman Michael Mullen declined to say how many jobs are still here). History is important, but its nothing compared with the spark of future vitality. And since 2017 began, Pittsburgh has been throwing off sparks galore. The biggest is the infusion of some $250 million ($80 million from the Department of Defense) to create the nations leading robotics center in Hazelwood. The Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Innovation Hub involves a collaboration of 125 companies, more than 60 government agencies and nonprofits, and 40 academic institutions. And its expected to become a major generator of practical research, jobs, and innovation. In the same neighborhood, Uber is about to open its research and test facility for self-driving cars, complete with temporary roadways. Along with the national attention Uber has already brought to Pittsburgh, that facility is expected to create dozens of jobs. And just across the river at the SouthSide Works, Amazon is the latest major tech company to open shop in Pittsburgh, announcing 50 new high-end jobs that will augment the hundreds of fulfillment jobs already in the region. Like Google, Uber and Intel before them, Amazon wants to be near the brainpower at Carnegie Mellon University. And what brainpower it is. January saw CMU computer science professor Toumas Sandholm do his own rendition (albeit mild-mannered) of Muhammad Alis I shook up the world! The computer program Sandholm createdLibratus soundly drubbed an array of the worlds best human poker players in a Pittsburgh exhibition of No-Limit Texas Holdem. In so doing, it reached a new landmark for artificial intelligence. The program wasnt built to play poker, of course; it was created to make the best decisions in conditions of imperfect information circumstances that sum up most of lifes situations. No surprise that theres widespread interest in Sandholms creation in the private and public sectors. The same can be said of Pittsburghs prospects. The road to the future will have potholes, but you can now see it, stretching off into the distance. The Alexander West boat case has captured the public's interest like no case around here since the last major tragedy on Lake George, the 2006 Ethan Allen tourboat capsizing. Much of it stems from the popularity of the iconic lake, but the tragic loss of an 8-year-old has resonated with many as well. Media from around the state have been following the case, the New York Times sending a reporter to cover different parts of it, including jury selection Monday. The talk around the courthouse before jury selection was that it may take a week to get a jury because of factors such as the tragic nature of the case, length of the trial and media attention. Those are all factors that many would-be jurors cited when asking off. The defense motion to change venue was thought to have some traction, but with nine jurors picked the first day, it seems West's counsel was off on beliefs that publicity had tainted the jury pool. Of course, should a full jury be seated and West is convicted, I'm guessing we will still be hearing about how the mean old media was responsible. It has been interesting to watch as the defense cites the effects of publicity, then speaks to reporters at every turn. The Warren County District Attorney's Office hasn't talked to the media about the case since West was indicted last October. But defense counsel has given interviews throughout the pre-trial process, including outside the courthouse during a break in jury selection on Monday as would-be jurors milled about in the parking lot for their lunch break. We have seen judges put gag orders on counsel in high-profile cases, but there was no indication that was considered here. The witness list that was read in court had at least 75 names (It was tough to count as Judge John Hall rattled them off) and at least two dozen are people who were at the Log Bay Day party West purportedly attended before the crash. It will be interesting to see the role of social media and cellphone videos and pictures has in this case, as the last few years of the party have been splashed all over Twitter, YouTube Instagram and Facebook. -- Don Lehman It was a FaceTime call. Like old time friends, Lady Gaga and Prince William opened up about mental health. In a video released Tuesday, the pop star joined the Duke of Cambridge's Heads Together, a campaign he leads along with the Duchess and Prince Harry to raise awareness on mental illness. The stigmas or just plain fear, they said, stops many from opening up about their feelings. "There's a lot of shame attached to mental illness. You feel like something it's wrong with you," Lady Gaga said from her kitchen in Los Angeles. The video, posted on the Royal Family's Facebook page, is the newest film in the #oktosay series, which shows people from all walks of life discussing their own mental health challenges. After sipping a cup of coffee, Lady Gaga, 31, praised the "beautiful stories" told in the films and talked about her own struggle living with post traumatic stress disorder. "I should be so happy, but you can't help it when in the morning you wake up, you are so tired, you are so sad, you are so full of anxiety and the shakes that you can't barely think," she told 34-year-old Prince William. From his study in Kensington Palace, the prince emphasized how important it can be for someone to speak up. "It's time that everyone's(sic)speaks up," he told Lady Gaga. "Just having a conversation with a friend or family member can make such a difference." William asked Lady Gaga to join forces following the open letter she released through her Born This Way Foundation to reveal she has lived with PTSD after she was sexually assaulted at 19 years old. The pair said they want to continue working together and focus on the youth. They made plans to have an October meeting in the UK. The release of the video comes just days after Prince Harry revealed that he sought counseling four years ago to deal with the grief of losing his mother, Princess Diana. GLENS FALLS Just Goods, which has its water packaging plant and corporate headquarters in Glens Falls, will be expanding and diversifying its products under the leadership of a new chief executive officer, Ira Laufer. Were looking at opportunities to expand what we produce at the facility here other sizes and other beverages, said Jim Siplon, the companys chief operating officer. No definitive products have been announced, but we are aggressively pursuing what options we have with the investment we have made here. The company also is exploring non-beverage products. And then were looking beyond beverages, as well, which has always been part of the plan, Siplon said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. Laufer, who begins work May 1, has 17 years of experience in consumer packaged products, including with Reds Natural Foods, a brand of burritos and similar frozen food products; and Vitalicious, a brand of baked goods. We are excited to have Ira join our journey, said Jaden Smith, one of the companys key investors in a press release. He has the experience and shares the vision we have to do good for the planet. Laufer replaces Grace Jeon, the companys founding chief executive officer, who left the company to seek other opportunities. Grace made her own choice She helped us build the brand from nothing, and now as we enter into a new chapter, shes eager to continue to do things that shes well suited to do, Siplon said. Laufer, who lives in New Jersey, will work out of an office in New York City, but will be in Glens Falls more often than Jeon, who worked out of Los Angeles. So were consolidating a lot of efforts here in the state of New York, which I think is going to be really efficient, Siplon said. I think its an overall positive move, said EDC Warren County President Edward Bartholomew. This speaks well for their operation here in Glens Falls. The company employs 11 at its packaging plant and offices on Broad Street, at the former St. Alphonsus Catholic Church building. Siplon said it is premature to estimate how many jobs will be added in Glens Falls as a result of product expansion and diversification. Clearly, were going to look to expand our core operation with the water and add some products to that, and with that will come some growth, he said. GREENWICH The piece of evidence that could be the break police have been looking for in the years-old disappearance of Greenwich boy Jaliek Rainwalker is sitting in an evidence storage area in New York City. Cambridge-Greenwich Police Chief George Bell said he was initially told it would take about two weeks to run tests on a fragment of skull recovered Feb. 26 on state land in the Greene County town of Coxsackie. But five weeks later, there are no answers. The skull fragment was found in an area where the Hudson River floods periodically. That led to speculation it could belong to Rainwalker, who authorities believe was probably killed and possibly dumped in the Hudson River. Authorities suggested the discovery could be tied to the Greenwich case after the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced in early March that a forensic anthropologist had concluded the bone came from a child, likely a boy between the ages of 10 and 13, and that the remains had been exposed to the elements for 5 to 10 years. Jaliek was 12 when he disappeared in November 2007. Bell said there were other opinions expressed later that differed as to the age of the person from whom the skull originated, however. Tests will be performed to try to extract DNA from the bone to compare to missing persons cases, including Jalieks. But it can be difficult to get DNA from a skull, particularly from a sample that has been exposed to the elements for years. Bell said he was initially told the tests would take two weeks or so, and he doesnt know what has led to the delays. He said he has called the Medical Examiners Office and State Police, but has gotten no response from the medical office nor any explanation for the delay. I dont know where it stands, he said. Ive been getting a lot of calls about it. A spokeswoman for the Office of the Medical Examiner said the agency has yet to receive material for testing, and she referred comment to police. Rainwalkers adoptive grandmother, Barbara Reeley of Troy, said she has made numerous phone calls hoping for an update, but has not gotten any response. The boys disappearance has perplexed police for a decade. Officers have concluded he was likely killed and have labeled his adoptive father, Stephen Kerr, as a person of interest because of alleged inconsistencies in his version of events. Kerr was the last person known to be with the boy, in a home owned by Kerrs parents on Hill Street in Greenwich in the hours before he was reported missing. Jaliek had been clashing with his parents in the weeks before his disappearance. Kerr has maintained he did not hurt Jaliek. WATERTOWN U.S. Rep. Elise M. Stefanik, R-Willsboro, took part Monday in a discussion at Jefferson Community College to hear student perspectives on what is working in terms of college affordability. Stefanik was joined by about 20 students, most of whom said they have received Pell Grants, which are federal government subsidies that help students pay for a college education. Some of the students, who also work full- or part-time jobs while raising a family, said the Pell Grant program limits when students can take classes. The current program covers only the traditional academic year, which could make it difficult for those working full- or part-time jobs to pursue a college education during winter and summer. JCC also has a high number of military veteran students enrolled full- or part-time who are seeking more flexibility through the Pell Grant program. Stefanik has worked to address this issue. In 2015, she introduced the Flexible Pell Grant for 21st Century Students Act, which seeks to expand the program so students can take classes in the winter and summer. While it died without action in 2015, Stefaniks bill was reintroduced in Congress this year and she talked about its provisions to the students. JCC officials who attended the meeting noted the college would be able to offer more courses to students during winter and summer semesters if more students had the financial means to do so. If we think about our nontraditional college students, they are working part-time, they are slightly older, perhaps theyve served in the military, Stefanik said. We need to make sure that our higher ed is flexible and meets their needs, so this is a way to modernize and make college more accessible, and its a great way for me to get feedback from the students. New York has made headlines recently as being the first state to offer free college tuition through the Excelsior Scholarship program. The program will offer free college tuition this fall to two-year and four-year state universities for families making less than $100,000. The eligibility threshold will increase to $110,000 and under in 2018 and $125,000 in 2019. While Stefanik said she supports initiatives to increase affordability, she disagrees with a few of the programs limitations, such as its lack of funding to make private universities more affordable as well. I think we need to focus on policies that will ensure that all higher ed options are affordable, she said, adding that the program also does not apply to part-time students, nor does it cover textbook and school supply costs. QUEENSBURY Testimony will begin Wednesday in the Lake George boat crash case after an eight-man, four-woman jury was seated Tuesday afternoon in Warren County Court. Lawyers in the case of Alexander M. West finished up the jury selection process late Tuesday afternoon, and opening statements have been scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. Testimony will begin afterward, the jury likely to hear from at least one survivor of the crash as well as 911 calls from the crash scene. The court day started with a bit of a hiccup. One of nine jurors selected Monday to hear the case was excused early Tuesday for reasons that werent explained by the court. But a law enforcement source said the dismissal apparently stemmed from an unrelated situation involving his personal conduct. Lawyers in the case met in Warren County Judge John Halls chambers for about a half-hour Tuesday morning to discuss the issue before Hall announced to prospective jurors that eight had been seated and six were needed. Fewer prospective jurors were in court Tuesday as lawyers looked to finish selecting the panel. About 60 showed up, and the selection process got underway at about 11 a.m. after a discussion about the juror who was removed. Hall said Monday he hoped to have opening arguments Tuesday afternoon, but the juror removal and delay in the days start stalled that. Still, finishing jury selection in two days was much quicker than many expected given the pre-trial publicity the case generated. Wests counsel and the prosecution reiterated the same points Tuesday that they focused on Monday as they vetted prospective jurors. Defense lawyer Cheryl Coleman focused in part on the emotions of the case and the graphic evidence jurors will see. Things happen to people when they are exposed to certain types of evidence, Coleman said. Both Coleman and Warren County District Attorney Kate Hogan also asked about thoughts on drug use, impairment and how they impact a persons actions and witness credibility. Hogan also inquired about jurors abilities to hold people accountable for unintentional but reckless or criminally negligent conduct. He is not charged with acting intentionally, she said of West. Coleman told the media after court that the jury will hear evidence favorable to her client that has not yet been shared with the public. There are things you dont know about that are going to open up a world of difference for you, she said. West, 24, faces a 12-count indictment for the two-boat crash last July 25 that killed 8-year-old California resident Charlotte McCue and seriously injured her mother. They were on an antique wooden boat that was being operated by Charlottes grandfather, cruising into shore after a night out to dinner. West is accused of boating recklessly under the influence of drugs and alcohol, then fleeing the crash scene and hiding out at a friends house until the next morning. Police said he had been at an all-day party known as Log Bay Day on Lake Georges east shore earlier that day, drinking and using illegal drugs. West faces manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and lesser counts. He has pleaded not guilty and is free on bail. His defense is expected to focus on a belief that he had the right-of-way over the other boat, and that he left the boat scene because he was afraid his boat would sink. The trial is expected to take about three weeks. West faces up to 7 1/3 to 22 years in state prison if convicted. Four passengers on Wests boat were charged with misdemeanors for lying to police and/or obstructing the investigation, and their cases are still pending. They are on the witness list to testify at trial. Coleman said that may affect her clients ability to confront them, if they refuse to answer questions on the grounds they may incriminate themselves. They have exculpatory information to offer, she said. He was walking home from an Easter meal with his family when the stranger walked up to Robert Godwin Sr. The two talk briefly before the stranger pulls out a gun and fires. Now, police are desperately hunting for the man who killed Godwin and uploaded the video on Facebook, while Godwin's friends and family are trying to make sense of the senseless death of the 74-year-old man. "This man right here was a good man. I hate he's gone. ... I don't know what I'm going to do. ... It's not real," Godwin's son told CNN affiliate WOIO. The son told the Cleveland Plain Dealer his father was a retired foundry worker. He had 10 children and 14 grandchildren. He enjoyed fishing and often was seen walking around with a plastic bag in his hand as he collected aluminum cans he saw on the ground. That's what he was doing Sunday in Cleveland's Glenville neighborhood, a shopping bag in his hand. He had just finished an Easter meal. He hugged my wife and me and said 'I'll see you guys next time,'" Godwin Jr. recounted. "I said 'OK, enjoy your Easter.'" A chat, then a shot In the video, apparently recorded by the suspect, Steve Stephens, a person is getting out of a car in a residential area and says, "Here's somebody I'm about to kill. I'm about to kill this guy right here. An old dude." The person walks up, stops Godwin on the sidewalk and talks to him. Then the video shows a gun pointed at Godwin's head. The gun is fired. Godwin recoils and falls to the ground. Police don't think Godwin and Stephens knew each other. The video was later removed by Facebook, but it was still being widely shared online early Monday. Ryan Godwin, who said he's a grandson of Godwin's, asked people to stop sharing it. "Please please please stop retweeting that video and report anyone who has posted it! That is my grandfather show some respect," Ryan Godwin wrote on Twitter Sunday afternoon. Police are searching for Stephens, calling him armed and dangerous. They believe he's left Ohio and may be in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana or Michigan. An aggravated murder warrant has been issued for him. Stephens' mother said her son was randomly shooting people because he was angry at a girlfriend. Police have not talked about a possible motive behind the shooting of Godwin. While the manhunt goes on, Godwin's family is beginning the grieving process. "It's not real. (My father) was a good guy. He would give you the shirt off his back," Robert Godwin Jr. told WOIO. There were at least nine GoFundMe pages set up online soliciting funds to help Godwin's family, but Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said the family is asking people not to contribute to any of those pages because they weren't set up by the family. Williams said the family is in the process of setting up an official GoFundMe page that was to be released later Monday through the police department. Sara Ganim reported from Cleveland, and Nicole Chavez and Eliott C. McLaughlin wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Darran Simon, Amanda Watts, Kwegyirba Croffie, Joe Sutton, Chuck Johnston, Amanda Jackson, Christopher Lett, Joel Williams, Shawn Nottingham, Lawrence Crook and Brynn Gingras contributed to this report. Sandy Hill Days will continue in Hudson Falls Bravos to the people in Hudson Falls who stepped forward as volunteers to keep the tradition of Sandy Hill Days alive in the village. Because the Sandy Hill Days committee membership was aging, it appeared the event would not be able to continue. But after a call for help, there has been an influx of new people on the committee to keep the event going forward. The committee is still looking for people who will help. If you are interested in helping, you can send an email to sandyhilldays@gmail.com. Mudbogging event goes off without a hitch Bravos to Ralph Jameson for going the extra mile to address community concerns to ensure the annual Mettowee Off Road Extreme Parks Spring Fling party went off without any problems. There have been community complaints in Granville over the past few years, and Jameson told his staff it was do or die weekend for his business. Granville Supervisor Matt Hicks said concerns were addressed and that things went well. Its a great example of a town and business working together for a positive result. Washington County tries to protect first responders Bravos to Washington County officials for holding an informational session for emergency responders after numerous firefighters were exposed to the potentially deadly narcotic fentanyl. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration held a training session in Argyle last month and plans on doing another one in Salem later in the month. Fentanyl is far more powerful than heroin and has been blamed for a wave of deaths across the country in recent months. Local school districts will get more state aid Bravos to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Legislature for increasing the funding for education in the state budget to $1.1 billion. While we still do not agree with the formula used for the increase rich school districts are rewarded far more than poor school districts it is good to see that local school districts are getting an increase to give them and local taxpayers a break. Glens Falls co-op finishes first year in black Bravos to the Glens Falls Food Co-Op for finishing its first year in the black. The co-op, which operates out of the Empire Theatre Plaza on South Street, is an all-volunteer group that operates on a shoestring budget. Unfortunately, it says it needs an infusion of new members, volunteers and customers if it is going to be sustainable in the long-term. The co-op currently has 200 members who are charged $50 for the year. The co-op needs all members to return, and then build on that membership. Hudson Falls program was a great idea Bravos to Hudson Falls social studies teacher Kim Shea for coming up with the idea for a professional development day for students at the high school. Rather than a traditional career development day where students heard from speakers, there were workshops where students could experience different types of activities that not only addressed possible career choices, but how to lead a better life. Its a great idea and more schools should try it. Community is asked to protect eagles Bravos to North Country Wild Care for reaching out to those who hunt and fish and asking them to voluntarily not use lead ammunition and fishing equipment after two eagles died due to lead poisoning, despite their attempts to nurse the eagles back to health. It seems like a small sacrifice if it will protect these regal predators. Marine running to raise money for Sgt. Ryan Bravos to Noah Cass, who served two tours of duty in the Marines with Eddie Ryan, for his plans for a 140-mile run from Somers, Connecticut to Lake George to raise money for Ryans care. Cass hopes to raise $5,000 to help the family defray over $50,000 in out-of-pocket expenses. While Cass should be applauded, what is shocking is that the Veterans Administration still does not provide enough help for former veterans like Ryan. Steamboat company celebrating 200 years Bravos to the Lake George Steamboat Company for its season-long celebration of its 200th anniversary. It began this weekend with free cruises to the first 1,400 takers. We cant think of any business than can tout two centuries of serving the region, but we wouldnt be surprised if it is around for another two centuries. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Home Regional News East Welcome Guest! You Are Here: The meeting takes place following Nana Addo's 100 days in office as the president of the Republic of Ghana. Ghana's president said the discussion was to seek the views of the former heads of state on some governance-enhancing measures his administration intend to take. A statement on the official government website said on the meeting: On Tuesday, April 18, 2017, the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, invited the three former Presidents of the Republic, their Excellencies, Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama to a meeting at the Presidency. Its purpose was to seek their views on some governance-enhancing measures his administration intends to take. In his Inaugural speech on Saturday, January 7, 2017, President Akufo-Addo stated that I am in the unique position of being able to draw on the wisdom and experience of three former Presidents of the Republic, their Excellencies Jerry John Rawlings, John Agyekum Kufuor and John Dramani Mahama. They represent the continuity of the institutions of our Republic, for which we thank God. This statement was reiterated in the Presidents message to Parliament on the State of the Nation, on Tuesday, February 21, 2017, where he said that I am in the enviable position of being the first Ghanaian leader to be able to draw on the experiences of three living, former Presidents. This should, definitely, enrich my tenure of office. This marks the end of an era for Yahoo. After the Verizon deal closes, Marissa Mayer will step down as CEO with a severance package worth about $23 million . Yahoo's earnings release said the acquisition is expected to close in June. Yahoo will then combine with AOL, which is also owned by Verizon, and the combined company will be called Oath. (Yes, that's the real name.) Oath will be the parent company while the AOL and Yahoo brands live on for stuff like news, email, and other media Oath can sell digital ads against. However, cocoa price stability has been unfavourable to these two countries. Ivory Coast produced a total of 1.7 million metric tonnes of cocoa and Ghana produced some 840,000 tonnes in 2016 production year. Ghana is targeting to hit one million metric tonnes for the 2016/2017 production year. READ ALSO: Oxford Business Group warns Ghana of drop in cocoa production Currently, reports say the average cocoa prices reflect a drop of around 30 percent compared to mid-2016. During the Cocoa and Coffee Council meeting in Abidjan, the two top cocoa producing countries have therefore agreed to deepen collaboration and coordinate their production strategies in order to tackle price volatility. Massandje Toure-Litse, director general of the Coffee and Cocoa Council of Ivory Coast reportedly told journalists in Abidjan. Its become imperative that our countries take decisions on points concerning production and sustainability and on points concerning the prickly question of the volatility of prices. Joseph Boahen Aidoo, the CEO of Ghanas COCOBOD, signed on behalf of Ghana with Toure-Litse signing for Ivory Coast. Africa produces about 75 per cent of the worlds cocoa, but only 20 per cent of the grinding process takes place in Africa. With Africa's annual $100 billion value of the worlds chocolate industry, only two per cent comes to Africa. Meanwhile, about 85 percent of the cocoa feeding the multi-billion euro chocolate industry in The Netherlands comes from African countries, with Ghana and Ivory Coast being the largest producers. According to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, John Peter Amewu, it is an indication that the campaign against illegal mining across the country is yielding results. READ ALSO: Government halts issuance of small scale mining license Our records at the Precious Mining Company indicate that there is a fall in terms of production. Although we expect to see actual resultsnot immediately, what it means now is that there is a drop in small scale production. he told Accra-based Citi FM. He explains that following the campaign against illegal mining, miners are fleeing from illegal enclaves including river bodies, the destruction of cocoa farms among others. At the national level, the Lands and Natural Resources Minister has issued a three-week ultimatum to illegal miners to halt their activities as government steps up the fight against illegal mining. READ ALSO: Minister calls the bluff of galamseyers over vote threat John Peter Amewu has warned that all illegal miners who fail to stop their activities would face harsh penalties for breaking the laws. In an interview with Citifmonline.com, the 37-year-old father-of-one revealed that Relationships are things that should be left to those who are in it. When you are outside a relationship you have a different view of it but those in it know better. But I will advise that before you get into the relationship you should take your time and know what you want and give it a shot. If it works, fine! If it doesnt, you learn from your mistakes and you shine. Many people were seen at church others at the beaches, some also spent time with the poor and needy, like orphans. Below are memorable ways some Ghanaians celebrated their Easter holidays. READ ALSO: Ghanaian student Samuel Kwarteng shot dead The vice president of Ghana Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia spent his Easter with the Lighthouse Chapel International (LCI) at the Independence square. This was particularly memorable because the Vice President is known to be a staunch Muslim. His presence was testament to his all-embracing leadership qualities, going beyond of his affiliation in the execution of his duties. H.E Bawumia was seen at the program looking all excited and participating in the various activities. He even took the opportunity to make a pledge: the government would consider using concrete to construct roads instead of asphalt, he said, addressing a concrete-for-road construction campaign that LCI leader Bishop Dag Heward Mills has been championing. Dr. Osei Kwame Despite is the Chief Executive Officer of different companies in Ghana. Businesses ranging from Peace FM, Neat FM, OKAY FM, Best Point savings and loans Special Investments and Best Assurance Company (Ghana) are known to belong to this Kumasi-based millionaire. The Easter season saw one of the richest men in the country spoil himself with a brand new luxurious car: a branded Brabus, a prestigious high-performance vehicle. The car, manufactured by the German BRABUS company (which specializes in Mercedes-Benz, Smart, and Maybach vehicles) is the latest addition to his flashy fleet in a garage located in a mega-mansion in Kumasi. What a flamboyant way it was for Mr. Despite to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ. READ ALSO: Bawumia presents 103 achievements in 100 days On Easter Monday, April 17, perhaps buoyed by the congenial feel of the festivities, former President John Mahama and current Gender and Social Protection Minister, Otiko Afisa Djaba, rekindled friendly relations after a past fraught with a seeming feud. The duo were seen in a hearty mood at the 2017 Gonjaland Youth Congress at Sawla in the Northern region. The Gonjaland Youth Association Congresses over the years have served as avenue, where all the indigenes of Gonja, residents of Gonjaland and persons who by special circumstances and or choice are affiliated to the affairs of Gonjaland, meet to deliberate reflect and constructively debate on the socio political and economic well-being of Gonjaland. READ ALSO: ICGC suspends pastor for alleged Ghanaian actress Luckie Lawson decided to use Easter to aid the needy and vulnerable, in the true spirit of Jesus Christs values. She spent the holidays organizing the Celebrity Orphanage Easter Funfair at the Efua Sutherland childrens park. The actress is noted for her charitable works, from visiting widows through to providing food for the poor. Many celebrities including gospel artiste Obaapa Christy, Roselyn Ngissah, Abeiku Santana turned up at the show the make the day of the orphans. READ ALSO: Mahama and Otiko Djaba reconcile at Gonjaland Youth Some Ghanaians also spent the night of Holy Saturday, April 15, to attend the premiere of the highly anticipated KOFAS Media-produced comedy movie John and John, featuring a star studded cast and backed by a record budget rumoured to be around $150,000. After the feast of Christs resurrection on Sunday April 17, some the next day - Monday April 18, a public holiday - was a day many Ghanaians set aside for picnics and beach partying to crown the festive season. Lovers strolled along the beaches whiles the young enjoyed the cool of the sea amidst dancing and general merry-making. The evening also saw the organization of many musical shows as well as the coming to life of pubs and nightclubs. One of the victims, Francis Lamptey, who narrated the incident to Pulse.com.gh said they were returning from a church service around 12 am. I fell asleep in the car and then suddenly there was a flashlight pointing to my eyes. The gentleman who wears glasses said he reacts to light badly. Thinking it was his friend he asked why he flashed the light in his eyes, only to find out it was the police doing their regular checking at the mounted barrier at night. READ ALSO: Lone ranger police officer guns down 2 robbers at Asankare The policeman asked us to get down so he could search us. Then he said he wants to search the bag. So my friend opened all the zip up and we left the bag in the middle of the road, Lamptey said. He said they did that because they did not want to get in the way of the police. However, the police insisted they remove the things but the victims declined. Francis Lamptey only reminded the police that they will only lodge a complaint if anything of theirs get missing from the bag. As soon as I said that this guy took offence and actually hit me. He continued that his friend asked the police why he hit him only for the police to also slap him. Then the police tried to handcuff us. And I told him we have not done anything for him to handcuff us. He kept struggling with us even though we were very calm. The handcuff scratched his hand only for him to take us to the police station and report that we actually tried to beat him. Lamptey further added that he was looking for the name tags of the police for identification purposes but realised they were not wearing a name tag during their night duty. READ ALSO: Miners begin surrendering excavators as galamsey ultimatum nears Lamptey said they were taken to the police station, but were not made to write a statement. They took off our dresses behind the counter. He said his father came around 2 am and got them released. According to the prosecutor, Sergeant Simon Tekpor, the complainant, a 39-year-old trader residing at Adeisu in the Eastern Region was the ex-lover of the accused. He said the complainant and the accused had two children out of their relationship; two and five years. However, when the relationship collapsed in 2015, the accused person failed to remit the children as well as rent a place for the complainant and the children to live, the prosecution noted. He said that the complainant subsequently reported the matter to the Officials of the Social Welfare at the Ministries Police Station. The accused was then asked to remit the children with GH200.00 every month starting from June 2016. The accused person was also to rent a place for the kids and the complainant, the prosecution said. The statement We have established the Office of Diaspora Affairs at the Office of the President to link Ghana to our brethren in the diaspora in order to attract their skills. This is the first time it has been done. We are very happy to have done this, the Vice President said while enumerating 103 achievements of the new government. The facts The Akufo-Addo led administration did not and is not the first to establish an office dedicated to diaspora affairs. In fact, the office was set up three years ago upon the recommendation of the President John Mahama. In May 2014, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration created the Diaspora Affairs Bureau, which was the strengthening of a unit created in 2012 called the Diaspora Support Unit. READ ALSO: Bawumia presents 103 achievements in 100 days So first, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs created the Diaspora Support Unit in 2012, it was then strengthened and metamorphosed into the Diaspora Affairs Bureau in May 2014. Bureau, a late 17 century French word, is another word for Office used in public administration. In May 2014, myjoyonline reported: The Director of the Diaspora Affairs Bureau of the Foreign Ministry, Mr. Filbert Johnson says the Bureau was established under the recommendation [of] President Mahama to meet the needs of the growing number of Ghanaians residing abroad interested in contributing to Ghana's development and well-being. What the new government appears to have done is to simply change the location of the office from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Office of the President and certainly that cannot count as an achievement. This then makes the statement by the Vice President inaccurate as this new government did not create that office. Many on social media have criticised the Vice President for including 'intentions' and 'pronouncements' and not concrete measures as part of its achievements within the first 100 days. Ghanas diaspora Ghana has a very large diaspora population. According to the United Nations migration agency, the International Organisation For Migration, there are about three million Ghanaians living outside the country. This includes Ghanaians who have emigrated outside the country and people of Ghanaian origin born outside the country. There are also people of African descent across the world who trace a heritage to Ghana because of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. In November 2001 (during the time of President John Kufuor), Ghanas Parliament passed the The Right to Abode which makes people of African descent eligible to stay in the country indefinitely upon the approval of the Ministry of Interior. In December 2016, Ghana's government granted citizenship to 34 Afro-Caribbean people. The son suffered severe burns on his neck whilst the granddaughter got severely burnt on the right cheek eye and cheek. His plea was not taken and he is to reappear on April 18. READ ALSO: Mason arraigned for failing to provide shelter for his children According to the prosecutor, Detective Inspector Kofi Atimbire, the incident happened on April 3, this year at about 9:30 pm. He said the complainant and the accused had a misunderstanding over soaked clothes placed in a water container located between their doors. The prosecutor said that the complainant moved the said container to the doorstep of the accused. However, the content of the container poured on the floor and the complainant left to buy sachet water. The prosecutor added that on the return of the complainant, the accused without any provocation poured some acid on the complainant, that is, his son and same splashed on the eight-year-old victim. The complainant reported the matter to the Police at Mile seven and medical forms were issued to them to seek medical attention. Samuel Kwarteng had come to VCU from his home city of Alexandria. He was a senior in the electrical engineering program. READ MORE: POTAG slams Matthew Opoku Prempeh for disrespecting them Kwarteng was killed during an altercation on the 1200 block of W. Moore Street. One person, not affiliated at the school, was immediately arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter. Kwarteng died on the porch where he was shot. VCUs president, Michael Rao, assured students in a school-wide email that this was an isolated incident. The university is providing counseling to any bereaved. "It is with great sadness that I inform the university community of the tragic death this morning of a VCU student. "I am sure you join me in sending our thoughts and prayers to Samuel's family and friends in this time of great loss. "The VCU Counseling Center has been alerted and its services are available to anyone who needs assistance in dealing with this tragic event," Rao said. READ MORE: Legon students arrested for academic fraud Cousin of shooting victim says Sam Kwarteng, 20, was a senior at VCU studying in the electrical engineering program Kwarteng died on the front porch of the home. He made this known at a Town Hall meeting at the new court complex in Accra organised by Accra-based Joy FM. But in his response to some of the issues raised, the Deputy General Secretary of the NDC, Koku Anyidoho argued that it was wrong for Bawumia to choose a day after Jesus Christs resurrection to talk politics. READ ALSO: Bawumia presents 103 achievements in 100 days He told Accra-based TV3 that Dr Bawumia should have at least waited until the next day, which is a working day, to do his politics. Meanwhile, the vice president at the Town Hall meeting described his boss, Nana Akufo-Addo as a "workaholic president" who has achieved a lot in his 100 days in office. He said the Akufo-Addo government inherited a difficult economic situation "where the finances of government were in a very bad shape." He added that the government had made specific "promises to reduce taxes, restore nursing training allowance, one district, one factory, one village one dam and one million dollars for each constituency." "And at the same time we said that we were going to bring down the deficit and increase government revenue," he said. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! Three sources cited by the publication said Fox News founder Rupert Murdoch was fighting to keep the controversial commentator on, while Murdoch's sons, James and Lachlan Murdoch appear to be leaning toward booting O'Reilly for good. James Murdoch serves as the chief executive of 21st Century Fox, the parent company of the network, while Lachlan Murdoch serves as an e The latest report comes after a New York Times story earlier this month that said O'Reilly had paid $13 million over the course of several years to agree "not pursue litigation or speak about their accusations." The expose was then followed by a week-long exodus of advertisers from O'Reilly's hit show "The O'Reilly Factor," and street protests outside of Fox News headquarters all of the events stemming from a sexual harassment scandal that has disrupted not only O'Reilly's brand, but the structure of the show. Having had the highest-rated first quarter in history with an average of almost four million viewers per show, each episode subsequently suffered a massive pull-out from notable advertisers after the allegations came to light forcing a dramatic change in the show's structure, including longer on-air segments and fewer commercial breaks. "Its worse than Glenn Beck," one source said, referring to another advertiser pull-out from Beck's time slot on Fox News in 2011. Conservative commentator Matt Drudge also had a foreshadowing tweet on Tuesday afternoon: Amid the public outcry and allegations against the controversial television personality, more accusations are still coming to light. Another woman accused O'Reilly of sexual harassment, according to a Hollywood Reporter story published Tuesday. The African-American clerical worker from Fox News alleged that the anchor called her "hot chocolate" in 2008. If the rumors of O'Reilly's departure hold true, it may have been fueled by the Murdochs' $14 billion takeover plans of Sky, a European media company, where a media regulator was assigned to determine whether the Murdochs were "fit and proper" to stake their claim. Having O'Reilly ousted from the network may "appease critics and help close the Sky deal," New York Magazine's Gabriel Sherman wrote. Additionally, Sherman reported that the social culture at Fox News may have played a factor in determining O'Reilly' future. "Morale is awful," said a Fox female executive to the magazine. "Theres been no word from management to calm the masses." Philadelphia police said schools in the area were put on lockdown Monday afternoon while authorities investigated reported sightings of Stephens. Authorities also said that there had been no evidence that Stephens was in the Philadelphia area. Cleveland police are offering a $50,000 reward for information related to Stephens and authorities say to contact police if he's spotted. So far, officials said, they have received "dozens and dozens" of tips related to Stephens from Facebook users. Police said Monday morning Stephens "may be out of state at this time," and could be in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, or Michigan. The search had expanded beyond those states by the evening. Officials said residents should stay on alert for the suspect and Cleveland police chief Calvin Williams told reporters that Stephens "is considered armed and dangerous," adding that the situation had been "traumatizing" for the community. News of the murder went viral on Sunday, after Stephens posted a video on Facebook that showed the act, which Stephens allegedly committed after Godwin had enjoyed an Easter meal with his children. In the horrific video, which authorities confirmed was legitimate, Stephens could be heard driving down the road and saying, "Found me somebody Im going to kill, this guy right here, this old dude." Stephens then exited the car and approached Godwin. He asked Godwin how old he was before pulling out a gun and pointing it at Godwin's head. Godwin could be seen attempting to shield himself before Stephens fired the gun, killing Godwin. He then walked back to his car and drove off. Stephens and Godwin did not appear to know each other, according to authorities. "From what we can tell now, it's just a random person that he picked out. We don't know why," Williams, the police chief, said. Stephens' mother told CNN that when she last saw him on Saturday, he told her that it would be "a miracle" if she ever saw him again. She added that when they spoke the next day, he told her that he was killing people because he was angry at his girlfriend. In another video Stephens recorded, he claimed to have murdered 13 people and said he was going to kill more. "I snapped I just snapped ... I killed 13 people, and Im about to keep killing until until they catch me, f--- it," Stephens said on the phone, speaking to a friend or family member. He could also be heard encouraging the person on the other end to watch the video of the murder he'd uploaded on Facebook. Facebook took the video down after multiple people reported it, though it took the tech giant three hours to do so, garnering criticism from some. Facebook has received ridicule in the past for graphic content that users have posted to the site, such as a beating video streamed on Facebook Live in January. "We work hard to keep a safe environment on Facebook and are in touch with law enforcement in emergencies when there are direct threats to physical safety," a company spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday. "The super Liberal Democrat in the Georgia Congressioal [sic] race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes!" Trump tweeted on Monday. On Tuesday, the president tweeted, " These messages followed a tweet from Trump on Sunday night, when he mentioned media coverage of both the Georgia election and the recent special election in Kansas' 4th Congressional District. In the Kansas contest, Republican Ron Estes beat Democrat James Thompson by 7 points last week in a district where then-Rep. Mike Pompeo now Trump's CIA director won by more than 30 points just last fall. "The recent Kansas election (Congress) was a really big media event, until the Republicans won," Trump wrote. "Now they play the same game with Georgia-BAD!" Ossoff responded to Trump's tweet Monday, calling the president "misinformed." "While I'm glad the president is interested in the race, he is misinformed," he said in a statement. "I'm focused on bringing fresh leadership, accountability, and bipartisan problem-solving to Washington to cut wasteful spending and grow metro Atlanta's economy into the Silicon Valley of the South." Of the special elections to fill seats vacated by Trump appointees, Georgia has become Democrats' best chance of swinging a seat, though it remains an uphill battle. Ossoff is competing for Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price's seat with a handful of Democrats and 11 Republicans in what's known as a jungle primary. All candidates run on one ballot for the election, which is set for Tuesday. If no candidate clears 50%, the top two will participate in a runoff election on June 20. With eleven Republican candidates running in Georgia (on Tuesday) for Congress, a runoff will be a win," Trump tweeted late Monday. "Vote 'R' for lower taxes & safety!" "Republicans must get out today and VOTE in Georgia 6. Force runoff and easy win! Dem Ossoff will raise your taxes-very bad on crime & 2nd A," Trump wrote Tuesday. With Republicans failing to coalesce around one candidate, Ossoff is running away with the primary in polls, garnering support in the mid-40s. But a recent Emerson College poll found that when polled against just one candidate in the runoff election, he trailed slightly against the four Republicans who are considered most likely to emerge from the primary as his opponent, should nobody reach 50% support. In just three months, Ossoff, a 30-year-old documentary filmmaker and former congressional aide, has raised a whopping $8.3 million, vastly more than most candidates running in major statewide races. Ossoff's fundraising haul was more than any member of Congress had raised over a two-year period since 2012, other than House Speaker Paul Ryan and former House Speaker John Boehner. Democrats haven't won this House seat which was occupied for 20 years by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich since 1976. "You see $8.3 million, that's a significant chunk that somebody can run in their district," one GOP operative familiar with the race recently told Business Insider. "Essentially, that's what somebody usually raises for a statewide campaign, not an off-year, early special election." The operative added that he hadn't seen anything resembling that level of fundraising in past special elections. "It is a large amount of money from out-of-state donors who are clearly very fired up about opposing Donald Trump," he said. "That's very clear. The liberal base dislikes Donald Trump." Like Trump, Republicans are trying to paint Ossoff as a "far left" candidate. The GOP has also claimed that Ossoff would be more loyal to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi an unpopular name in the district than to local voters. With the huge swing in Kansas where Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas all provided assistance to Estes as a potential sign of things to come in the other special elections, there is major concern that the GOP base will be complacent after Trump's victory, not turning out in needed numbers to win the seat. This is the world the tech industry is creating. According to , the next 20 years will involve rapid automation of manual labor and customer service jobs. Millions of employees could be forced to learn new skills or change roles entirely. Here's how the tech executives are responding to the threat of a robot takeover. Bill Gates Mark Cuban The "Shark Tank" investor and Dallas Mavericks owner has remarked on several occasions that artificially-intelligent robots will kill off jobs in droves in the coming years. In February, Cuban criticized President Trump's plans to bring back American factory jobs as a sign of the president's poor understanding of technology and business. "People aren't going to have jobs," Cuban said. "How does [Trump] deal with displaced workers?" Vinod Khosla Khosla, a Sun Microsystems co-founder and prominent venture capitalist, has stated that 80% of IT jobs are at risk of automation in the coming decades. Many of the jobs Khosla envisions involve rote, repetitive data entry or simple troubleshooting. Devin Wenig The eBay president and CEO has said artificial intelligence could eliminate entire industries within the next decade. But he remains optimistic, so long as employers recognize their role in training workers who may get displaced. Elon Musk The Tesla CEO told CNBC in a November 2016 interview that he believes robots will take so many jobs by the mid-21st century, the government will start paying people salaries even if they don't work. The idea is called universal basic income, and Musk is the latest tech entrepreneur to support the idea as a solution to robotic automation. Sam Altman Another basic income advocate, the Y Combinator president is almost positive robots will dominate industrialized economies in 100 years, and pretty sure they'll create a big dent within the next 20. Jeff Bezos Amazon's chief executive has embraced the power of AI for years. In his own factories, there are more than 45,000 robots ferrying packages from one spot to another. Amazon has also announced plans to build employee-free grocery stores. Chris Hughes Hughes, a Facebook co-founder, says a future filled with automated work is inescapable. Ray Kurzweil Google's engineering director isn't exactly panicking about the future of work. Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected! From musicians to writers, art creators and art collectors, the excellent Nigerian spirit which inspires ingenious creativity was well and truly celebrated at the awards night which held yesterday, April 17, 2017 at Oniru, Victoria Island. The dinner came after an arts exhibition which took place earlier in the day. Delivering her speech, Bukky Asehinde, the brain behind Bellafrica says "Tonight we recognise and celebrate the great efforts of and achievements by creative business owners... ALSO READ:Best pictures from AY Live 2017 I am therefore happy to see many deserving businesses receive awards for excellence in different categories that directly impacts our lives" Awards given on the night include Best Emerging Beauty Brand won by Nubian Roots, Best Emerging Fashion Brand won by The Potter's Signature, Best Pioneer Craftsman/woman of the year [over 10 years] awarded to Proverbs Creations, Best Creative Kid Entrepreneur won by Simi Bakehouse and the award for Best Emerging Artiste among many others. Asah Bara took home that particular award for her creative and eye-catching mug designs. Celebrity sighting at the occasion was rapper, Vector. Oba Joel Daodu, the Oniyani of Iyani-Akoko in Ondo State was reportedly abducted alongside one of his prominent chiefs, John Afelumo, near Oba-Akoko, on the Owo-Ikare Road. A prominent traditional ruler and the Akala of Ikaram-Akoko, Oba Andrew Momodu, condemned Daodu's kidnapping, saying it is an abomination to abduct a monarch, who he said are custodians of traditions and representatives of the Creator of the universe. ALSO READ: Police confirm abduction of monarch by gunmen Oba Momodu urged the abductors to release him with his chief without any condition. The Olisupare of Supare-Akoko, Oba Adejoro Omosogbon, also called for military deployment to Owo-Ikare Road. The suspect, Augustine Joseph, according to a release from the Force Headquarters in Abuja, was arrested following a tip-off that he poses as a journalist working for top blogger Linda Ikeji and sneaks into events to steal expensive mobile phones, laptops gadgets as well as defraud dignitaries. At the time the suspect was arrested, he had an identification card bearing the name Michael Mordi, posing as an employee of the blogger, at an event in Lagos. The statement revealed that Joseph had walked into one of the new generation banks head office at Victoria Island, Lagos, for an event on March 30, 2017, where he allegedly made away with a Samsung Galaxy S6 phone and other items belonging to guests at the event. Immediately we received the information, operatives of the IGPs Intelligence Response Team led by , swung into action and based on the technical intelligence gathered, one Augustine Joseph (male) was arrested while the phone in question was recovered from him. The suspect confessed to have stolen the phone from the complainant and equally confessed to other heinous crimes that are becoming rampant at public events. In his confessional statement, Joseph said: I have been into this business of stealing peoples things at events for more than a year now. I steal phones, laptops, and other gadgets when attending functions. The method I mostly use is to come in as early as possible to familiarize myself with people. I always sit close to charging points where I would be able to carry out my act and I move around with different chargers to lend to people who need to charge their phones. To get details about upcoming events, I download some events app on my phone and I add Facebook pages of events so as to stay current on activities happening around me. I go to the extent of paying as a participant to attend training and workshop in order for me to rob people of their belongings. Ambode made the remark at a two-day summit of the Association of Lagos State Retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries (ALARHOSPS) in Lagos. The theme of the summit is: Lagos at 50: 5 Decades of Excellence. Ambode, who described the civil service as the engine room of government, said while most civil servants were shielded from the public eye, they work tirelessly to formulate and implement policies which drive the government. There is no way this evolution, steady growth and success of Lagos State can be documented without mentioning the immense contribution of the states public service." I maintain that the civil service is the engine room of the government, Ambode said. He said that the states Public Service had the reputation of being the most progressive Public Service in Nigeria. This could not have been made possible without the solid foundation built by successive Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries, represented by the distinguished personalities seated here today." My expectation and conviction in your capacity to continue to add value to governance, even in retirement, is informed by the quality of the recommendations that have originated from your past summits, he said. Ambode noted that their ideas and suggestions had been found to be very useful in governments policy-articulation, design and implementation. You have been part and parcel of our success story, he said. The governor said that the theme of the summit was apt, as it was indicative of their acknowledgement of the success the state had recorded so far. Lagos at 50 is a celebration of past achievements and present successes." It is also about building the Lagos of the future on the foundation laid by our hardworking and selfless-serving public servants, he said. Earlier, the Acting Head of Service, Mrs Folasade Adesoye, said the contributions of the association had indeed helped to reposition the states public service. Dan-Ali however added that the army is still searching for the girls in Boko Harams stronghold, Sambisa Forest. The minister made the comments while speaking with the Hausa service of Voice of America. It took the US up to seven, eight, up to 10 years before they could get to Bin Laden. We are continuing our campaigning in the Sambisa forest in all its nooks and corners, he said. Boko Haram terrorists abducted 276 girls from the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok, Borno state on April 14, 2014, more than three years ago. ALSO READ: Chibok Girls: 1000 days of keeping hope alive The House ad hoc committee investigating the alleged export of $17 billion worth of undeclared crude oil and gas resources was said to have uncovered this. The committee has demanded answers from the corporation, as the investigation, which covers the year 2011 to 2014, intensifies. The committee is chaired by Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, a member of the All Progressives Congress from Adamawa State. It was gathered that before committee concluded on the unremitted funds, it had analysed documents from various sources, including the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Central Bank of Nigeria, Department of Petroleum Resources and the NNPC itself. Punch obtained a document containing the set of questions sent to the NNPC, in which the committee noted that the total receipts from crude proceeds for the four years tallied at $123.9 billion. But the committee found that the NNPC only remitted $42.7 billion to the Federation Account, "giving a frightening shortfall of $81.2bn." The average crude oil prices per barrel for the respective years were $111.90 (2011); $112.01 (2012); $110.12 (2013); and $101.91 (2014). The barrels sold for the respective years were 301.7 million; 296.4 million; 267.1 million; and 270.7 million, bringing the total for the four years to 1.136 billion barrels. The lawmakers clarified that the per year breakdown of the expected earnings were $33.7 billion (2011); $33.2 billion (2012); $29.4 billion (2013); and $27.5 billion (2014), totalling $123.9 billion. According to the committee, the corporation declared only $42.7 billion, a figure which was confirmed by the CBN. It was broken down into $14.3 billion (2011); $10.2 billion (2012); $8.4 billion (2013); and $9.8 billion (2014). "The committee's worries are anchored on the fact that out of the expected receipt of $123.9bn, the CBN confirmed a total receipt of only $42.7bn, giving a shortfall of $81.2bn," the document stated. The committee also questioned the NNPC on the conflicting reports by the corporation and the DPR on crude lifting from Pennington in 2011. The NNPC had claimed that 991.4 million barrels and 960.4 million barrels were lifted in May and October, respectively, but the DPR reported that there was only one lifting of 960.4 million barrels in October. The NNPC was given one-week ultimatum to provide answers to the queries. The committee, as ordered by the House, is investigating allegations that major government agencies colluded with International Oil Companies to short-change Nigeria in the crude and gas exports deals. According to a report by the New York Post, Shuaibu, an employee of the United Nations headquarters, was arrested for robbing four banks over a two-month span. It was further reported that Shuaibu, who robbed banks within walking distance of the UN headquarters during his lunch breaks, was charged with two counts of robbery and two counts of attempted robbery. The report revealed that Shuaibu committed the first robbery on February 27, 2017 when he walked into a Santander Bank and demanded that the teller hand him cash, threatening to shoot if the employee did not comply. Shuaibu ran out of luck after he walked into an HSBC bank and passed a note demanding cash to the teller, who did not read the note and asked for identification. He then told the teller he had a gun and gestured to his hand in his jacket pocket. A retired police officer working at the UN recognized the robber from a surveillance photo previously released by the New York Police Department and led the authorities to his arrest. Razak Atunwa, the Chairman of the House ad-hoc panel investigating the contract of Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 245 had said the committee will invite Jonathan to shed light into the Malabu deal. The ex-president allegedly received $200 million kickback from the deal, but he denied the claim. In a statement issued by MEND spokesman, Jomo Gbomo, the group urged the House to mandate Jonathan's appearance. The statement said: "We are compelled by natural justice, equity and good conscience to lend our voice to the most ignoble and despicable role played by the former President in the messy affair which has tainted the image of Nigeria, both locally and internationally. "Like millions of Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora, who have keenly followed the OPL 245 saga, we have reasonable grounds to suspect that former President Jonathan may have indeed compromised his high office with regard to the matter, more especially, given the fact that key officials of his administration, including the then Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Bello Adoke, have been indicted and charged before the Federal High Court in Abuja. "We are in full support of moves by the House of Representatives to summon the former President to appear before the House to give answers to the myriad of questions concerning his role in OPL 245 saga. "Where he (Jonathan) refuses to honour the invitation, we urge the House to invoke its inherent powers to compel his appearance." MEND also expressed shock at the media reports of the planned relocation of Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) to Lagos from Port Harcourt, Rivers State. It added, "Besides the massive loss of jobs, opportunities, taxes and other incentives, the planned move (by SPDC) will cause in the medium to short term, it is clear to all stakeholders, including the Federal Government, that such a move is ill advised, especially against the backdrop of the recent directive from the federal government to the International Oil Companies (IOCs) to relocate to their areas of operation in the Niger Delta. "To be sure, the Niger Delta region is no longer hostile to the business interests of the IOCs, including SPDC, as peace has since returned to the region; following the enervating efforts of MEND, the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the various state governments and the federal government. There is therefore no reason whatsoever for SPDC to relocate to Lagos." Buhari gave the commendation in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, on Tuesday in Abuja, 24 hours ahead of the time limit. The President also lauded the efforts of Kaduna State Government, the contractor, Julius Berger, and others, on the successful completion of the airport project, 24 hours ahead of the time limit. He also thanked Ethiopian Airlines for cooperating with the Nigerian Government during the period of the closure of Abuja airport, describing it as a good example of intra-African cooperation. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that When the Abuja Airport was closed on March 8 for repairs on its runway and flight operations were diverted to Kaduna International Airport Ethiopian Airlines was the first to land its new Boeing 787 in Kaduna. The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) on Tuesday also praised the Federal Government for the prompt rehabilitation and re-opening of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport (NAIA), Abuja. The airport had on March 8 shut for six weeks to give way for the rehabilitation of the runway. The individuals were said to have been invited for questioning after the anti-graft agency found that some of the occupants of the Towers were involved in moving the cash into the controversial apartment 7B. According to The Nation, the EFCC has also identified how the apartment was acquired and in whose name it was bought. The EFCC operatives had last Wednesday recovered $43.4m, 27,000 and N23m cash from the apartment. "The more we investigate this $43.4m haul, the more we get fresh facts. It has become imperative to interact with some owners or tenants of apartments in the Towers," a source at the EFCC told the newspaper. "We have invited a former governor and other high-profile owners and tenants for interaction. It is just to ask a few questions on whether or not they were aware of such movement of cash. "We have clues linking some occupants of the Towers to the cash haul. And in line with sections 16 and 17 of the EFCC (Establishment Act) 2004, we are inviting these landlords or tenants. "Unless we get to the root of this case, Nigerians may not know the truth or otherwise about the cash. "We are not saying that those invited are guilty of any infraction or having link with the $43.4million but we need to hear from them in line with the ongoing profiling of those in the Towers," the source said. Another source said the ongoing investigation also revealed that the 7B Apartment was bought in the name of a company allegedly owned by the wife of a senior government official. "Since investigation is still ongoing, we will not release the identity of the owner of the company. Doing so might jeopardise investigation," the source said. However, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), insists the cash haul and the apartment in question belong to the agency. "What happened was that because of the nature of the covert operations which the apartment will be used for, it was necessary to manage the process well," a source at the NIA was quoted as saying. "Only the Deed of Assignment was acquired by Thabis Ventures Limited on behalf of NIA. And immediately the process for the purchase of the apartment was completed, the ownership was clearly stated in the name of NIA. All the papers are reflecting NIA too. The title document is available for anyone to verify," the source said. SaharaReporters had reported on Tuesday that the haggard-looking woman who pretentiously moved cash-bags into the apartment turned out to be the wife of the NIA director. Initial reports had said the woman would dress shabbily but her glowing skin and accent made guards at the towers believe that her appearance may be a disguise. A major controversy began to brew over the funds after the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) claimed that it had received the money as an allocation for covert operations. Media reports had it that Malami had been instructed by President Muhammadu Buhari to get an official brief from the EFCC and the NIA on the matter. Malami however denied receiving any such instruction adding that the security agencies involved were directly answerable to the president, according to Daily Trust. ALSO READ: NIA's boss wife reportedly moved money into controversial Ikoyi flat The Federal Government had in December sent troops to southern Kaduna to end the violence there, but the killings have not stopped. The witness, who wanted his identity protected, said with the escalating situation in the region, the people may have no choice but to defend themselves as they have lost faith in the security agencies. Recalling the latest attack, he told The Cable on Monday, April 17, that said the assailants struck in Asso village, Kagoma chiefdom, Jamaa local government, between 7pm and 8pm on Easter Saturday. Multiple reports said 13 persons were killed in the attack, but the eyewitness could not confirm this. He said: "They were armed with AK-47 riffles they started shooting sporadically immediately they entered the village. I cant tell of the number of people that were killed, but many sustained injuries from gunshots. "The latest attack is an indication that the security agencies can no longer protect us. We are now left with no option than to defend ourselves since the soldiers and policemen deployed to ensure safety of lives and property have failed us." The president has been doing well especially in the area of security. He only needs to fine-tune his economic policies for a turn around. Nigerians are not asking for much, they are only asking for food on their table, good health care and security of life and property among other basic necessities, he added. Sani made the comment on Tuesday, April 18, while speaking to journalists about the governors plan to demolish the famous Kasuwan Barci Market in the state. The anti APC policies of the administration in Kaduna state is sending people away, many people now only have faith in Buhari not in the party any more. Most programmes of government in the state are not in favour of the people and if it continues, APC will pay for it, Sani said. The current administrations policies are only designed to please some certain group of people in the state. I identify with the pains, concerns and fears of the traders and I appeal to the governor to think twice with a human heart over the issue. We promised to deliver change to the country and as democrats, whatever we will do, we need to consult and carry the people along. We cannot treat people with arrogance and insolence and expect them to trust us again, he added. ALSO READ: 10 Missiles El-Rufai fired at Buhari Fayose said this in reaction to the statement by the minister of information and culture, Lai Mohammed, that looters have resorted to burying stolen funds in their backyards, deep forests and burial grounds. Mohammed stated this to stress the importance and success of the Federal Government's whistle blowing policy. In a statement released by Fayose's spokesman, Lere Olayinka, the Governor discredited the minister's statement, adding that looters in the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) enjoy presidential protection. Fayose said: "Looters in the Muhammadu Buharis presidency, especially those being compensated for funding the election of the president in 2015 bury their own loot in the villa with presidential protection. "Should it be wrong for other supposed looters that do not have presidential protection like the All Progressives Congress (APC) looters to bury their loots in burial grounds probably for spiritual protection? "Nigerians can no longer be fooled with stage-managed loots recoveries, with no traceable owners (looters), especially when the loots are traceable to close associates of the president and his cabinet members. "Obviously, this so-called anti-corruption war has become a laughing stock with N49 million found in Kaduna Airport, N448 million discovered in a shop at Victoria Island, Lagos and N13 billion found in Ikoyi, Lagos neither having owners nor the identities of owners of the property where the money was found known." The Governor said the N13 billion recovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) last Wednesday may have been planted by the Federal Government to sustain its "fake anti-corruption fight." "It is either the money belongs to members of Buharis government or it is being planted by the government to sustain its fake anti-corruption fight in the minds of the people. "Enough of stage-managed and fake anti-corruption war aimed solely at opposition figures, especially presidential hopefuls in the 2019 election," he said. Fayose added that the Buhari administration's job is to protect the APC and crush the opposition, especially those perceived as having presidential ambition. He said: "The narrative they push daily is that only those in their government are saint while other Nigerians, including those in the national assembly, judiciary, opposition politicians and the civil servants are rogues while only Buharis appointees are saints. "To worsen matters, the cluelessness of the APC government in the last two years has plunged the country into debt without anything to show. "The cabals in the presidency are also taking advantage of the presidents state of health, which is as a result of his age to oppress Nigerians. "Nigerians must therefore keep their eyes on the ball and not be carried away by the orchestrated distractions aimed at preventing them from seeing how the APC led government has failed woefully." Ezeemo made this call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Umuchu, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra. According to him, the exercise has become necessary because of the clamour for more constituencies by Nigerians, in view of the growing population among other factors. He urged INEC to muster enough political will to conduct the exercise in accordance with the law and to prove that the commission had the interest of the electorate. Ezeemo said that the exercise, if carried out, would bridge the inequality gap currently existing in the political map of the nation. Kabiru Aliyu, the state secretary of the PDP stated this on Monday, April 17, 2017. Aliyu blamed the poor performance of the APC-led government on the immature relationship between the executive and legislature. He said: Should the Senate and the Presidency be insensitive to the plight of the people and continue with the selfish fight among themselves? This is an act of immaturity. They do not have the people at heart. We expected the leadership of APC to take control of their ego by maintaining a smooth relationship between all arms of government, especially the legislature and the executive. The failure of the party to ensure this means that it is not in control. It has become a divided party. Nigerians are disillusioned by the poor performance of the APC administration across all levels of governments. Toke Makinwa is easily one of the most-talked about people on the Nigerian Internet for the past one year. When she sneezes, the Internet catches fevers, and a complete lack of chill. Last year, her marriage crashed, which was followed by the she released a bestselling book, On Becoming. This year, it doesn't look like she's slowing down, clearly. So yes, we said she's going back to school, but not as a student, but as a guest lecturer! She'll be speaking about "Building a Successful Brand in the Digital Space". Which kind of makes sense, because Toke is easily one of the most visble brands on the Nigerian Digital Space. The date for this speaking engagement is Wednesday 19th of April. She expressed her excitement on Instagram: "Super excited to announce that I will be a guest lecturer this Wednesday at NYU. The digital space is home to at-least 80 percent of my career and teaching a media class on "Building a Successful Brand in the Digital space " is my mission. TM will be at NYU. Super excited, God is good. I cannot wait to meet you all'. The rusticated students were rusticated as a result of a 2015 protest over the neglect of their school Halls of Residence. The school especially went under fire because it rusticated the Visually-impaired (VI) student, Lawrence Unezinwa Success. He was rusticated alongside Ochuba Chichebe Polycarp, even though the latter already collected his certificate after graduation. The Vice Chancellor, Professor Rahman Bello, faced a lot of backlash at the time, especially for allegedly conniving with the Police Force to silence the students' voices. At the time, they were arraigned before a mobile magistrate court, and remanded in custody. But all that has changed now. According to Sahara Reporters, Ochuba received a letter from the University management dated April 10 he was reinstated based on the recommendation of the Students Disciplinary Board and the penalty of rustication for two semesters was reviewed. They also said this is in response to pleas for leniency from the students. The letter, signed by the Registrar, Dr. Taiwo F. Ipaye, read: Your studentship is hereby reinstated..." By a copy of this letter, your Parents/Sponsor and relevant organs of the university are being informed of your reinstatement. Trump's congratulations on Monday were in contrast with EU leaders who have been reserved in their reaction to the narrow victory and even his own State Department, which earlier noted concerns expressed by international observers over the "uneven playing field". Returning in triumph to his presidential palace in Ankara, Erdogan angrily rejected the criticism, telling the monitors: "Know your place." The referendum was seen as crucial not just for shaping Turkey's political system but also the future strategic direction of a nation that has been a NATO member since 1952 and a European Union hopeful for half a century. Showing no sign of pulling his punches, Erdogan said Turkey could hold further referendums on its EU bid and re-introducing the death penalty. The "Yes" camp won 51.41 percent in Sunday's referendum, according to complete results released by election authorities. But the opposition immediately cried foul, claiming a clean vote would have made a difference of several percentage points and handed them victory. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) said they would challenge the results from most ballot boxes due to alleged violations. Turkey referendum "There is only one decision to ease the situation in the context of the law -- the Supreme Election Board (YSK) should annul the vote," the Dogan news agency quoted CHP deputy leader Bulent Tezcan as saying. The referendum has no "democratic legitimacy", HDP spokesman and lawmaker Osman Baydemir told reporters in Ankara. There were protests in Istanbul with a few thousand people crowding the anti-Erdogan Besiktas and Kadikoy districts, blowing whistles and chanting "We are shoulder to shoulder against fascism". - 'Unlevel playing field' - The opposition had already complained of an unfair campaign that saw the "Yes" backers swamp the airwaves and use billboards across the country in a saturation advertising campaign. International observers agreed the campaign was conducted on an "unlevel playing field" and that the vote count itself was marred by procedural changes that removed key safeguards. "The legal framework... remained inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic referendum," the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) monitors said in a statement. The Turkish opposition was particularly incensed by a decision by the YSK to allow voting papers without official stamps to be counted, which they said opened the way for fraud. "Late changes in counting procedures removed an important safeguard," said Cezar Florin Preda, head of the PACE delegation. But Erdogan said Turkey had no intention of paying any attention to the monitors' report. He added: "This country held the most democratic polls that have never been seen in any other country in the West." - 'End of the dream' - Erdogan earlier congratulated cheering supporters at Ankara's airport for "standing tall" in the face of the "crusader mentality" of the West. Getting back to business as usual, his cabinet swiftly extended by another three months the already nine month state of emergency imposed after last July's failed coup. There were also signs of a looming crisis with the EU. Erdogan reaffirmed he would now hold talks on reinstating capital punishment -- a move that would automatically end Turkey's EU bid -- and would hold a referendum if it did not get enough votes in parliament to become law. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that if Ankara were to bring back the death penalty, the move would be "synonymous with the end of the European dream". In an interview in the Bild newspaper to be published Tuesday, he warned Turkey that "joining would not work right now". Erdogan said Turkey could hold a referendum on the membership bid. "What George, Hans or Helga say does not interest us," he said, using typical European names. - 'Big cities say No' - Turkey's new political system is due to come into effect after elections in November 2019, although Erdogan is expected to rapidly rejoin the ruling Justice Development Party (AKP) he founded but had to leave when he became president. It would dispense with the prime minister's post and centralise the entire executive bureaucracy under the president, giving Erdogan the direct power to appoint ministers. Erdogan's victory was far tighter than expected, emerging only after several nail-biting hours late Sunday which saw the "No" result dramatically catch up. According to a report by New York Times, the three-day manhunt in a fatal shooting that garnered intense attention all over the world ended on Tuesday,April 18, 2017 with a brief car chase. Authorities said the suspect shot and killed himself at a close near Erie, Pa., about 100 miles east of Cleveland, where the had shot a 74-year-old man at random on Sunday, April 16, 2017. When he left the lot, troopers tried to pull him over around 11 a.m. but Stevens escaped and raced away to make an escape but was unlucky as the short pursuit saw him giving up on running. Chief Calvin D. Williams of the Cleveland Police Department said that Stephens pulled over and shot himself; he died at the scene. Issa Qaraqe, head of prisoner affairs for the Palestinian Authority, said on Monday that around 1,300 prisoners were on hunger strike and the number could rise. The Palestinian Prisoners' Club had put the number at 1,500. A spokesman for the Israel Prisons Service said around 1,100 prisoners started the hunger strike and roughly the same number were believed to be continuing on Tuesday. Erdan vowed that Israeli authorities would not negotiate with the prisoners and said Barghouti had been moved to another prison and placed in solitary confinement. "They are terrorists and incarcerated murderers who are getting what they deserve and we have no reason to negotiate with them," Erdan told army radio. He said Barghouti had been placed in solitary confinement because calling for the hunger strike was against prison rules. Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel for a range of offences and alleged crimes. Of those, 62 are women and 300 are minors. Some 500 are held under administrative detention, which allows for imprisonment without charge. Palestinian prisoners have mounted repeated hunger strikes, but rarely on such a large scale. Barghouti's call for the strike has given it added credibility, with the 57-year-old serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada or uprising. He was convicted of attacks that killed five people. He is popular among Palestinians, with polls suggesting he could win the Palestinian presidency. "Decades of experience have proved that Israel's inhumane system of colonial and military occupation aims to break the spirit of prisoners and the nation to which they belong, by inflicting suffering on their bodies, separating them from their families and communities, using humiliating measures to compel subjugation," Barghouti wrote in a New York Times opinion piece. Cartes said in a statement he will "in no event" try to run in the April 2018 vote, seeking to end a political crisis unleashed by his push to remain in power another five years. Presidential re-election has been taboo in the South American country since the 35-year dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner ended in 1989. After senators passed an amendment last month to change that, opposition activists stormed Congress, ransacking lawmakers' offices and setting them on fire. Police shot dead one opposition activist in a raid during the riots. Hundreds of people were injured and more than 200 arrested. That triggered calls for crisis talks, backed by Pope Francis. But they fell apart when the main opposition, the Liberal Party, boycotted them. Cartes said he hoped his "gesture of renunciation" would "deepen the dialogue aimed at strengthening this republic's institutions." But the opposition said the conservative president's Red Party had not gone far enough. "The only way to believe the president's statements is if the ruling party shelves its attempt to amend the constitution," said the speaker of Congress, Liberal Party lawmaker Roberto Acevedo. But Red Party spokeswoman Lilian Samaniego said party leaders had decided against withdrawing the amendment. Cartes's attempt to change the constitution had the backing of his leftist rival Fernando Lugo, who was president from 2008 to 2012 and also wants to run again. But the Liberal Party bitterly opposes changing the 1992 constitution's limit of a single five-year term. Cartes's change of heart came as international pressure mounted against his re-election bid. One of US President Donald Trump's top envoys for Latin America, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Francisco Palmieri, is headed to Paraguay for talks on Tuesday. Three other people were slightly injured. The warehouse, operated by the Lidl supermarket chain, is located about a kilometre (half a mile) from an aerodrome at Tires, in the district of Cascais about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from central Lisbon. The twin-engine Piper PA-31 plane had just taken off on a flight to the southern French city of Marseille when it crashed, hitting a truck parked at the warehouse. About 90 firefighters mobilised to fight a blaze, which was quickly put out. A neighbouring house was also damaged. "When I see the flash of shelling in the direction of Avdiivka, I begin to count off the seconds before an outage," 45-year-old Ruslan Kolesov, the transport director at the town's coking coal plant told AFP. "I can determine where the shell fell with an accuracy of 200 metres (yards) only by the length of time and the noise." The government-held town of Avdiivka and the factory where Kolesov works regularly get caught up in shelling between Ukrainian forces and the Russian-backed rebels on the other side. Four power lines, vital for both operations at the factory and lighting the town, run across the frontline from thermal power plants located in rebel-held territory. That means that cables often get cut by the fighting and the repairmen have to tool up. "The plant is the heart of the city. It provides light and heating to all residents of Avdiivka. If they interrupt the supply of electricity to the plant then the entire city is without light," Kolesov explained. 'Green corridor' Before the search team can even reach the power lines, Kolesov and his colleagues have to go through the fraught process of getting the agreement of both Ukraine's military and the rebels to hold fire. "We start only when both sides give us a 'green corridor'. But even if both sides promise it, it does not mean that we will not come under fire," he said. In 2015 members of the team were detained as saboteurs at one of the insurgent's checkpoints before being blindfolded and taken for questioning after their phones were seized. The men were eventually released after a few tense hours when militants learned who they were. The team was recently given kevlar helmets and body armour by the Ukrainian army but they are often reluctant to wear the gear -- preferring their old white plastic helmets and overalls for fear of appearing like combatants. "When we wear khaki-coloured bulletproof vests, it's hard to explain that we are not saboteurs," said 37-year-old driver Oleksandr Korovan. Drawing lots Some of the team insisted they are now inured to the danger as Ukraine's low-level war wears on towards a third year, having cost some 10,000 lives already. But Korovan and another driver still draw lots to decide who will take the wheel for each risky mission. "One counts only on intuition in our work," Korovan, a father of two children, said. "Every time it is scary." The men do not get any extra money for the risks they run but insist they have no plans to quit their jobs all the same. "Our city and our factory are like a big anthill," said the other driver Sergey. Sunday's test "shows why we are working so closely right now with the Chinese, coming out of the Mar-a-Lago meeting" in Florida between the two nations' leaders earlier this month, Mattis told reporters. The American-Chinese effort seeks to "get this under control and aim for the denuclearised Korean peninsula" desired by China, the US, South Korea and Japan, he said as he flew to the Middle East for a tour. "We all share that same interest." American officials said the missile test-fired on Sunday exploded seconds after launch. North Korea still has many technical problems to resolve, but the intensity of its current testing worries Pentagon strategists. Estimates vary about how much time Pyongyang would still need to build intercontinental ballistic missiles, but some at the Pentagon think it could happen within two years. Others believe several more years might be needed, noting the difficulty of designing and testing the warhead. This component, which contains the nuclear bomb, must be able to resist the enormous heat and shock accompanying its atmospheric re-entry after being fired into space. The North, which is intent on developing a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States, defied international pressure Sunday with a test that failed immediately after launch. As fears grow that it may also be preparing for its sixth nuclear weapons test, Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol said that its programme would only escalate. "We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis," Han told the BBC in an interview, threatening "all-out war" if the US took any action against it. Arriving in Tokyo for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Pence hailed the two countries' longstanding security ties. "The alliance between the United States and Japan is the cornerstone of peace and security in Northeast Asia," he told Abe. The Japanese leader called for a peaceful resolution to the North Korea tensions but did not rule out the need for tough measures. "It is a matter of paramount importance for us to seek diplomatic efforts as well as peaceable settlements of the issue," he said. "At the same time dialogue for the sake of dialogue is valueless and it is necessary for us to exercise pressure." In South Korea on the first leg of an Asian tour, Pence on Monday visited the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas and warned Pyongyang against further provocations, saying "all options are on the table". North Korea could react to a potential US strike by targeting South Korea or Japan, and officials in both countries have been ill at ease with the more bellicose language deployed by President Donald Trump's administration. Pence pointed to Trumps recent strikes on a Syrian airbase and an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan as a warning to Pyongyang not to underestimate the administration's resolve. 'Gotta behave' Throughout his bareknuckle election campaign, Trump repeatedly called into question a mutual defence treaty between Japan and the United States, suggesting Tokyo should pay for its own security. But now, Pence will try to reassure his jittery hosts that those decades-old security commitments are ironclad, a necessity made more acute after Washington's refusal to rule out military action against the regime. Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have soared in recent weeks as a series of North Korean missile tests have prompted ever-more severe warnings from Trump's administration. Asked by a reporter what message he had for North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un on Monday, Trump replied "Gotta behave". North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Nations reiterated on the weekend that the North is ready to respond to any US missile or nuclear strike. "If the United States dares opt for a military action... the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the Americans," Kim told a news conference, using the abbreviation of the country's official name. "We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs." Like South Korea, Japan already faces a direct threat from the secretive regime. In early March, the North simultaneously fired four ballistic missiles off its east coast, three of which fell provocatively close to Japan, in what it said was a drill for an attack on US bases in the country. The Pentagon has not discussed which missile blew up after its launch Sunday from a base near Sinpo on the North's east coast, and the White House has said only that it was a medium-range device. But John Schilling from the 38 North monitoring group said the failure was indicative of the test of a new and hitherto unknown system being developed by Kim Jong-Un's regime. "That's a common failure mode for North Korean missiles very early on in their development cycle when they are working out the bugs in the propulsion and guidance system," the weapons expert told AFP. "More detail would always be nice. But I am going to suspect that this was a new missile or certainly one that has not been well-developed." Pence's Japanese hosts will be cautious about any US military action that could trigger a broader regional conflict. Their hope is that the White House will focus on pressuring China, Pyongyang's only major ally, to redouble its efforts to rein in the regime and bring it back to the negotiating table after abandoning six-nation talks in 2009. Rock Island Arsenal Fire Department crews recovered a body from the roller dam at Lock and Dam 15 shortly before 4 p.m. Monday, according to the Garrison Public Affairs Office at the Arsenal. Davenport 3rd Ward Alderman Bill Boom admitted Tuesday that he lied to a federal grand jury during a crystal methamphetamine investigation in 2016. The 65-year-old Boom, who wore a button-down dress shirt and black pants, appeared in U.S. District Court, Davenport, with his attorney, Murray Bell, and pleaded guilty to one count of false declaration before the grand jury, a felony, during a hearing lasting less than an hour. Boom quietly answered questions posed to him by Magistrate Judge Stephen Jackson Jr., regarding the terms of his plea agreement, the elements claimed by prosecutors and whether he was voluntarily making the plea. Standing with his hands clasped behind his back, he quietly replied, Guilty, your honor, when Jackson asked him for his plea. The charge carries a possible sentence of up to five years in prison or up to five years of probation and a fine of up to $250,000. However, prosecutors and Boom will jointly agree to recommend a sentence of probation, according to the plea agreement. He will be sentenced Aug. 24 by Chief District Judge John Jarvey, who will have sole discretion on Boom's sentence. A status hearing is scheduled for July 21. Per the plea agreement, Boom will not be charged with any other federal criminal offense "arising from or directly relating to this investigation." He will remain out of custody until he is sentenced. Under the terms of his release, Boom cannot travel outside of the United States and cannot excessively drink alcohol, use illegal substances, or possess a firearm. Following Tuesdays plea hearing, Boom surrendered his passport. By pleading guilty to a felony charge, he cannot hold public office, Jackson said during Tuesdays sentencing hearing. He is serving his fifth term on the City Council. The term expires in January. Boom declined comment after Tuesdays hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Corkery also declined comment. Booms plea comes more than a year after Scott County Sheriffs deputies searched his home in the 400 block of West 7th Street as part of an investigation into the sale of crystal methamphetamine by Gage A. Wenthe, 26, who was living with Boom. Deputies seized the drug, also known as ice, marijuana, suspected marijuana wax, an unknown white powder, drug paraphernalia, a digital scale, packaging materials and two rifles, according to investigators. Wenthe, when questioned by deputies, admitted to being a middle man for the sale of methamphetamine and marijuana to several people in the area, according to investigators. Boom was representing the City Council at a broadband conference in Austin, Texas, at the time of the search. He told the Quad-City Times in an interview at the time that he had no knowledge of the drugs in his home. He was not charged with any drug offenses. A second man, Joseph Allen Terry, 40, was charged later that day after a search of his Davenport home turned up approximately 63 grams of ice methamphetamine, a digital scale, $1,375 cash and 37 hydrocodone pills. Packaging materials and drug paraphernalia also were seized. Terry and Wenthe were both charged in Scott County District Court. Wenthe pleaded guilty to possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and possession with intent to deliver marijuana in Scott County District Court and was given a deferred sentence and placed into the Mental Health Court program. Wenthe violated the terms of the program and was ordered in January to serve the original sentence of up to 10 years in prison. The state charges were dropped against Terry in July when he was charged in federal court. He pleaded guilty in January to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and will be sentenced May 25. According to a plea agreement filed Tuesday, Boom testified before a federal grand jury on July 19 in connection with the investigation. He was advised by an assistant U.S. attorney that he could face criminal penalties if he failed to testify truthfully or misled the grand jury, according to the plea agreement. During the grand jury proceedings, Boom was asked if he was aware that Wenthe used methamphetamine prior to the search of his home on April 6, 2016. He said no, according to the plea agreement. There was a time when I found a syringe in his room, but he told me that that was from one of his friends that had diabetes, Boom told the grand jury, according to the plea agreement. But every time that I suspected something, I would give him holy hell. He also testified that he had never given money to Terry but said that he had given money to Wenthe or his relatives. Boom admitted in the plea agreement that he knowingly made a false statement and that he knew that Wenthe used methamphetamine prior to April 6, 2016. He also admitted in the plea agreement that he had given money to Terry. These questions and answers were material to an investigation into the distribution of methamphetamine in southeastern Iowa, according to prosecutors. Scott County Sheriff Tim Lane declined comment Tuesday and referred questions to the U.S. Attorneys Office. One person is dead after a moped and truck collided Monday night in Louisa County. The crash occurred at 9:50 p.m. on U.S. 61 near Kennedy Drive in Wapello. The moped was traveling westbound on Oak Street attempting to cross U.S. 61 when the driver failed to yield upon entering the highway and was struck by a 2003 International semi at the intersection of Kennedy Drive, according to a crash report from the Iowa State Patrol. Both vehicles came to rest in the southbound lane of U.S. 61 at Oak Street. The driver of the moped has been identified as Sierra Jane Bowdre, 15, of Wapello. The Iowa State Patrol was assisted by the Louisa County Sheriff's Office, Wapello Fire Department and EMS, and the Louisa County Medical Examiner. Following in the footsteps of its neighbor city, Bettendorf has decided to create a similar food truck ordinance in order to maintain continuity in the region. Economic Development Director Jeff Reiter and Public Relations Social Media Events Coordinator Denice Enfield presented the City Council with an overview of Davenport's ordinance as well a recommendation to move forward with its own ordinance during Monday's committee-of-the-whole meeting. "We believe that we have the opportunity to make this look like a wonderful regional initiative," Reiter said. "We certainly want to do something very, very close in line with Davenport and other municipalities in the Iowa Quad-Cities. We certainly don't want to have a set of ordinances in each town to where these food truck operators are bouncing back and forth to skirt rules." Davenport's food truck ordinance went into effect last month, requiring a $55 mobile food license in addition to a $550 annual mobile food permit. Its ordinance also established two zones, the riverfront and East 2nd and Iowa streets, for operation. To operate on private property, the property owner is required to fill out a special occurrence permit and pay a $100 fee. While Bettendorf aldermen were supportive of helping the food truck businesses, they also voiced concerns about protecting the interest of brick and mortar restaurants that pay property taxes. "I think having this fee leveling the playing field a little bit," Alderman Scott Webster, 5th Ward, said. Bettendorf has not yet established what zones it will establish or its fee structure, which prevented traditional brick and mortar restaurants from commenting on a proposed ordinance, but for those that did, Enfield said that the city received mixed feedback. "Happy Joe's at Cumberland Square said it was a great idea," Enfield said. "Subway, right of here (by City Hall), does not endorse it all. They are very uncomfortable with the idea and think it's a direct competition with them." Reiter said a preliminary ordinance would be drafted in the next month and was a necessary step to provide more health regulation and structure for food trucks, which are expected to pop up more frequently in the summer months. "If we don't do anything, we're likely to have a scene like we've had the last couple of summers and they will find private property to locate on," Reiter said. A Quad-City meteorologist is headed to a warmer, but possibly stormier, climate. Anthony Peoples, 52, of Moline, will be on the air on WHBF-TV for the last time April 28. Less than week later, hell head to Panama City, Florida, where he will be the morning and midday meteorologist for the ABC affiliate. The Quad-Cities has become a second home for Peoples, who originally is from Mayfield, Kentucky. I moved here around Thanksgiving 2005. Thats the longest Ive ever lived in anywhere in my life, he said. After Peoples earned his bachelor degree in radio and television news, with a minor in criminal justice, at Murray State University, he began to seek work. For some time, he supported himself waiting tables and tending bar. Finally, he decided to give television one more shot, and sent out 230 cover letters and resumes to small- and medium-sized all over the country. He received a job offer from Rhinelander, Wisconsin, as a morning weathercaster. He did a lot of television work in various capacities and locations across the United States, then returned to Chicago and began to tend bar again. He decided to earn his meteorology certification from Mississippi State University through a distance-learning program that included 17 courses chosen by the American Meteorological Society. Eventually, he came to the Quad-Cities, and worked as a meteorologist at WQAD from 2005 to 2012. Then he worked at WHBF from March 2013 until now. He and his husband, Ray Forsythe, planning and economic development director for the city of Moline, will maintain a long-distance relationship. Their daughter is a student at Alleman High School, Rock Island. In the meantime, hell miss the snow, but not the bitterly cold temperatures. While you guys are shivering at 30 to 40 below zero, Ill be trading it in for the possibility of tropical storms and hurricanes Hell also miss his family, including his sister, Tammy Reeves, of Moline along with his work wife Emily Scarlett, who was his morning co-anchor for the last three years. She, too, is leaving WHBF, and is moving to Columbia, South Carolina. Were both heading south to warmer climates, he said. There was an unseemly glee on the part of some Trump supporters in the use of the MOAB -- Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb -- against a target in Afghanistan. A powerful nation may possess 21,600 pounds of precision-guided death. A great nation uses it only in a spirit of grim necessity. Yet -- considered along with 59 cruise missiles thrown at the Bashar Assad regime in Syria -- a useful, kinetic statement has been made. America will no longer be constrained by President Obama's infinitely varied excuses for inaction (which a rational and determined mind can always find). Nor, apparently, will the nation follow Trump's incoherent campaign pledge to disengage itself into pre-eminence, to somehow retreat into greatness. But a Trump Doctrine is still at the lumpy, unwhisked batter stage of intellectual baking. America acts when horrible images of murdered children catch the president's eye, or when the ordnance employed sends a signal of toughness. This is hardly a turn toward neo-conservatism. But what is it? And how can we know if Trump, in all probability, does not yet know himself? Uncertainty is not always a bad thing. There should be questions in the minds of foreign powers when they calculate the length of our chief executive's fuse. A president should be reliable in providing a proportionate response to aggression and atrocities. He should also be capable of a disproportionate and decisive response, planting a seed of deathly fear in the minds of America's enemies. (Deterring aggression against Europe during the Cold War, for example, depended on the credible belief that American presidents might be mad enough to use nuclear weapons (BEG ITAL)first(END ITAL) if the Soviet tanks began rolling in -- effectively defending a continent by promising to irradiate it.) The existence of real red lines -- that North Korea will not have the capability to lob a nuclear missile into the Napa Valley, that the Taliban can't control Kabul, that the Islamic State can't be allowed a permanent, territorial home -- are the essential guides to foreign policy. But a post-Iraq-invasion America better understands how expensive (in a variety of horrible ways) an invasion and occupation can be. So every American president -- no matter how they campaign -- will be faced with the necessity and challenge of degrading threats from a distance. This is really the post-Cold War American doctrine, on the order of the Monroe or Truman doctrines: When possible, America will pre-empt and prevent emerging threats by strengthening proxies and projecting power from medium to long range. This is the essence of a high-tech, offshore war against terrorism and other sources of grave harm -- a policy that not only takes the lessons of Iraq seriously, but that also recalls the lessons of 9/11. The problem with the Trump administration's foreign policy -- as represented in its proposed budget -- is that it does not fully understand our threats or the meaning of power. The existence of the Islamic State is, indeed, a threat. But terrorism is often parasitic, attaching its agenda to local grievances and attempting to ride its proxies to greater power. So al-Qaeda first tries to take root in Sudan, and then more successfully in alliance with the Taliban in Afghanistan. So the Islamic State gathered strength fighting the Assad regime in the ungoverned badlands of eastern Syria before rolling into Iraq. This makes the fate of failed, fragile and lawless states directly and unavoidably relevant to the conduct of the war against terrorism and the defense against other threats. American interests must be defined broadly enough to include things like the effective delivery of social services in Afghanistan, the surveillance for pandemic disease in rural Tanzania, the construction of classrooms in refugee-stressed Jordan, the settlement of conflict in Libya and the promotion of economic progress in northern Nigeria. Encouraging these outcomes represents another, very real type of American power, exercised from afar (apart from the irenic army of health, development and diplomatic professionals). It is an absurd misnomer to call the exercise of power in these areas "soft." The matter is simple: Will America merely respond to security threats? Or will it also try to shape the security environments in which threats emerge? This is the context in which the Trump administration is proposing a 29 percent cut in funding for development and diplomacy, for peacebuilding and conflict prevention. "It is not a soft-power budget," explains budget director Mick Mulvaney. "This is a hard-power budget." It is really a softheaded, hard-hearted budget. If passed in anything close to current form, no amount of explosive power could undo the stupidity or remedy the harm. Three months after restarting operations of two biomass energy plants in Jonesboro and West Enfield owned since October 2016 by Stored Solar LLC and previously owned by Covanta Energy, Stored Solar has shut down the Jonesboro plant and filed a request with the Maine Public Utilities Commission (MPUC) to amend an agreement it has for utilizing a biomass industry recovery incentive program. After its January start, the Jonesboro plant was shut down in midMarch "due to a lack of biomass feedstock," states Stored Solar Vice President William Harrington in a March 27 letter to the MPUC. Stored Solar's letter was in response to a March 22 MPUC letter requesting an update on the company's operations and financial status of the two plants because of an agreement between Stored Solar and Central Maine Power (CMP) that utilizes state incentives to run the plants. The future of biomass in the state has been of concern, given the decline in the pulp-and-paper industry and the changes to the renewable energy credit marketplace that put standalone biomass generators at a disadvantage to other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, explains Dana Doran, executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of Maine. Doran's organization "spent a lot of time working on policy over the winter of 20152016" to stabilize the biomass market, he notes, with the outcome being enactment of a bill, An Act to Establish a Process for the Procurement of Biomass Resources. The bill, after debate and amendments, was passed with bipartisan support from the legislature and the governor. As described by the MPUC, the act allows $13.4 million to be used to pay abovemarket costs to biomass energy producers in the state in exchange for certain described instate benefits. In December 2016 the MPUC approved a contract between CMP and Stored Solar with a term of two years and with an established abovemarket price of $13.40 per MWh to be paid by CMP to Stored Solar through monthly payments. The MPUC is able to adjust contract payments if Stored Solar "does not provide its required instate benefits." To ensure that funds are available to make any adjustment, Stored Solar is required to post credit support quarterly so that the instate benefits are reviewed at the end of each of the two contract years and "there is adequate security to cover any adjustment to the contract payments." Terms of the agreement's instate benefits obligate Stored Solar to create in the first year 42 inplant fulltime equivalent jobs, purchase 500,000 tons of instate biomass and spend $2.5 million on capital expenditures. In the second year of the agreement Stored Solar would follow the first year but without the capital expenditure requirement. As of March 24, the company had purchased 112,317 tons of biomass, hired 44 employees and paid $500,000 towards engineering and materials for facilities improvements. Biomass supply contracts and forest health In his March 27 letter to the MPUC general counsel, Harrington explains that the West Enfield plant is operating at about 20 megawatts but that the Jonesboro plant was operating at only six megawatts. He states that an invoicing dispute with some biomass suppliers has since been resolved. Harrington also notes that because "a few biomass suppliers failed to honor their contractual commitments," Stored Solar was driven to pay prices for biomass that were 30% to 35% above the contracted price. The result, he writes, "created uncertainty around future operations, which in turn severely hindered Store Solar's ability to attract investors and lenders for its efforts to revitalize Maine's bioeconomy. Investors will not invest if it's unclear whether the suppliers will honor their commitments." Stored Solar's letter lists actions taken, including the signing in November 2016 of 10year biomass supply agreements with Mainebased biomass supply companies. Harrington and other company representatives have not responded to requests for interviews or comments about the contracts. While Doran could not comment about the specifics of the Stored Solar contracts, he explains that he does not know of any contracts between biomass suppliers and biomass energy plants other than the ones described by Stored Solar. He says that generally relationships are set up but with no longstanding contract in place because the market "fluctuates by supply and demand." However, he says, contractors have fixed costs that do not change with the markets, such as trucking and production. "Because of the abundant supply, the price came down, but the challenge is that the fixed costs don't go down." He adds, "Contracts haven't really worked because contractors can't deliver at a loss. Longterm contracts are next to impossible." Bob Bell of Edmunds, who was in the biomass supply market for years but sold his chipper in 2016 because the "industry was up in the air," says that the biomass industry is in a "pretty sad state of affairs." He adds, "It's still a buyer's market with what they're buying chips for, and that's dependent on electricity prices. So they need low costs for chips, which makes it hard for the seller." Doran confirms that there has been about a 10% drop in the logging workforce over the last year with people like Bell, with a long history in the industry, either downsizing, parking their equipment or getting out. In Maine there are almost 18 million acres of actively managed forest, says Doran. From the silviculture perspective, a reduction in biomass use "absolutely has an impact." It promotes regeneration, and without its use regeneration of the forest slows down. It also can lead to an imbalance in forest harvests. Doran states, "We don't want to promote just saw logs." Bell says, "We need to manage for logs, for timber, for dimensional lumber. We need to create forests for higher quality wood, but we also need to clean out the lower quality wood" that can be used as chips for heat and electricity generation but could also be studied by the University of Maine research divisions. Filing to amend MPUC agreement On March 28 Stored Solar filed a request with the MPUC to amend the incentive agreement. The company requests that CMP stop payments to Stored Solar; that Stored Solar reimburse all funds received from CMP since January; that CMP reimburses the cash deposit posted by Stored Solar, listed in the company's March 27 letter as $1.157 million; that Stored Solar submit its annual report on instate benefits as per the contract; and that CMP pays Stored Solar based on its performance and not in advance. Comments on the request were being accepted through April 5, with Stored Solar able to provide responses until April 12. Doran wrote that his organization urges the MPUC to preserve the original agreement. Alteration after only three months since the agreement's terms began "would seriously undermine the intent and integrity of the process that produced it." Changes would "erode safeguards and also raise the possibility of biomass suppliers potentially being paid lower than market prices -- thereby reducing their viability, which the legislation was designed to enhance -- on a regular basis since payments would not be predicated upon any subsidy." Addressing the statement by Stored Solar in its March 27 letter to the MPUC that there had been an invoicing dispute with some of its biomass suppliers, Doran wrote, "If this issue is not completely resolved before an amendment was made, or if a similar issue presented itself at some point during the term of the new agreement, there would be no opportunity for review/recourse until the end of the 12month term, which is not in keeping with the enabling legislation or in the best interest of the taxpayers and contributing suppliers." Central Maine Power, while expressing its neutral stance on the matter, did state its concern about the timing of Stored Solar's proposed amendment. "CMP's belief has generally been that maintaining the integrity of the commission's bid processes would seem to be of paramount importance." However, CMP continues that the proposed amendments "are of less concern" because they do not "present new or additional risk to CMP or the [state's] general fund from which the payments arise." Cogeneration possibilities Stored Solar, owned by Capergy US, which is owned by Capergy SA, a French company, has partnered with Synthesis Venture Fund Partners on an initiative that could bring additional businesses to the county through the Maine Born Global Challenge. The goal is to locate industries at the Jonesboro and West Enfield plants that can utilize the excess waste heat produced from electricity generation. If standalone biomass electricity generating plants, such as the two owned by Stored Solar, are able to create cogeneration utilization envisioned by the Maine Born Global Challenge, they could meet the new requirements of the renewable energy credit marketplace. Doran and Bell agree that the vision for cogeneration utilization could be a win for all involved. Doran states, "We agree with the sentiment of creating higher utilization and efficiency at standalone plants with greenhouses, sawmills, any business that uses heat." He adds, "And that is driving legislative recommendations made last year" for future bills. Bell hopes Stored Solar is successful. "They have big ideas." Synthesis Venture Fund Partners representative Jimmy Massaad had initially expressed an interest in setting up an interview to discuss the Maine Born Global Challenge and Stored Solar's cogeneration plans but did not respond to followup inquiries. A Synthesis press release published in Biomass Magazine states that, as of April 6, the first Born Global Innovation Challenge has "resulted in 56 applicants and 14 companies continuing through prequalification and due diligence." On the Synthesis website companies listed as "prequalified" include Core BioFuel, NuFuels, Phytonix, Ark Power Dynamics, Visolis and others. Public hearings held in Augusta on April 11 by the legislature's Health and Human Services Committee on a series of proposed bills to address the opioid crisis in the state brought home the "cry for help" coming from two of Maine's rural counties hit hardest, said committee Cochair Rep. Patricia Hymanson. Washington County had the highest rate of drug overdose deaths in the state between 2012 and 2014 and has the second highest rate of drugaffected babies, nearly double the state average. One of the proposed bills that garnered attention and support with public testimony is a bill for a substance use disorder treatment pilot project sponsored by State Senator Joyce Maker of Calais and cosponsored by Rep. Will Tuell of East Machias. If passed, LD 812, Resolve, To Establish a Pilot Project To Save Lives and Support People with Substance Use Disorder in Washington County, would implement an opioid treatment pilot project in Washington County that would: train non-healthcare entities that are on the front lines to serve as points of entry to treatment and recovery; provide training, comfort packs and referral systems to emergency departments; add eight additional detox beds; work with medication assisted treatment (MAT) prescribers to pair them with counselors; provide MAT to people without insurance; add the option for partial hospitalization for those without insurance; add low or no cost prescriptions for those without insurance; eliminate barriers such as child care and transportation during treatment and recovery; provide treatment and recovery support in county/local jails. These are only a few of the measures included in LD 812 that were recommended by the county's healthcare providers, community members and public safety officials as a result of numerous meetings and forums held over the last year. At the April 11 hearing, Maker introduced the legislation saying that the opioid crisis "can be discussed all you want, but if you have no money" to address it, the crisis will continue to escalate. In Washington County, "this affliction has had a devastating effect on our communities, yet the treatment options available in our region are far from adequate." According to a 2017 report issued by the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center, there were 376 druginduced deaths in 2016, 104 more than the previous year. Twenty of those deaths were in Washington County, with all of them attributed to opioids. Oxford County was the only other county listed where 100% of the overdose deaths, in this case 10, were attributed to opioids and not a mixture of two or more drugs and/or alcohol. Maker and Tuell stressed the importance of having detox beds in the county. Currently, the state's only detox beds are located in Portland, a four- to five-hour drive in the best of weather and road conditions. Gordon Smith, executive vice president of the Maine Medical Association, told the committee that while funding had been allocated for the addition of 10 detox beds in Bangor in 2016, "We're still looking to see where they are going to go." Tuell stated, "If you do nothing else with this legislation, please make a commitment to putting detox in our area hospitals." He noted that the difficulty of driving a minimum of two hours, if the Bangor beds materialize, or over four hours to Portland during winter weather was compounded by the problem of finding a driver and navigating dangerous road conditions, and that was if a bed was even available at the facility. However, once out of detox, the support network of resources "is where we lose people," said Malory Shaughnessy, executive director of the Alliance for Addiction and Mental Health Services, Maine. The alliance represents the majority of Maine's licensed community mental health and substance use disorder treatment agencies. She explained the pilot project "would build such a system of connecting links and supports to walk someone through the path of treatment and into recovery in a way that we are simply not doing well now." She added, "Treatment is just one component for many struggling with this disorder. For many, it has interrupted housing, employment, their family cohesion and their personal mental health." Pointing to Washington County communities and their readiness for help, Smith told of attending a meeting in Machias with about 400 in attendance. He said, "These communities are really suffering." He added that with a pilot project, the state will see the results of a specific program of actions with targeted funding which, if successful, could then be used statewide. "We can't ask the legislature to dump money all over the state," he explained. But the need is severe, he illustrated. "It's incredible to me that someone comes to the Machias emergency room and has to go to Portland." Department of Health and Human Services' (DHHS) Office of Substance and Mental Health Director Sheldon Wheeler noted that the "primary treatment admission rate for residents of Washington County seeking treatment for synthetic opioids is more than twice the statewide rate." The department has recently provided some additional supports for the uninsured in the county for opiate use disorders. However, he said, "In order to provide a more detailed response, the department would need more detail and direction with LD 812." Specifically, he pointed out the department's timeintensive request for proposal process, "especially for entirely new treatment and recovery solutions." The bill includes funding of $1.6 million over the 20182019 fiscal biennium, with DHHS required to report on the planning and implementation of the pilot project to the legislative committee no later than November 30, 2018. The legislation will be discussed by the committee at an April 25 workshop. Hymanson said of the workshop, "We're looking for a serious discussion to see what we can do to move forward." 120 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Common Council of the City of Hot Springs, South Dakota, will receive written bids at the Office of the Public Works Engineer in City Hall, 303 North River Street, Hot Springs, South Dakota until 2:00 PM on Tuesday, May 9, 2017 for construction of the Evans Plunge Roof Replacement Project. Bids will be opened at 2:05 pm and publicly read aloud at the Hot Springs City Hall conference room, 303 North River Street, Hot Springs, SD. This project is for the removal and disposal of existing roofing and replacement with a fabric reinforced roofing system. All proposals shall be submitted on forms provided by the City of Hot Springs. Each bid shall be accompanied by a certified check or cashiers check for an amount of 5% of the total bid, or a bid bond in the amount of 10% of the total bid. Such check or bid bond shall be used as a bid security in the event the successful bidder fails to enter into a contract and post an approved bond with the City within ten (10) days after the formal acceptance of the bid. The check shall be drawn on a solvent bank or an approved surety company. The contract documents, plans, and specifications may be examined at the following locations: -Public Works Engineers Office, City of Hot Springs, South Dakota -Construction and Industry Center, Rapid City, South Dakota Copies of the contract documents, plans, and specifications may be obtained at the Office of the Public Works Engineer, 303 North River Street, Hot Springs, South Dakota, 57747 at no charge. Sealed bids must be plainly marked to identify their contents. No bid shall be withdrawn after the filing time without the written consent of the Hot Springs, Common Council, for a period of thirty (30) days after the filing time. The Common Council of the City of Hot Springs, South Dakota reserves the right to reject any and all bids, or to waive any informalities or technicalities in bidding, and to accept the bid that is to the advantage of, and in the best interest of, the City of Hot Springs. Tracy Bastian Public Works Engineer Utilities Director City of Hot Springs Published twice at the total approximate cost of $46.90. Apr. 18, 25 A $91,000 grant from the South Dakota Housing Development Authority will be put to good use to make housing in Rapid City more accessible for Black Hills Works developmentally disabled clients. Black Hills Works CEO Brad Saathoff said the grant will be used to upgrade exterior access in seven BHW properties, including some dating back more than 40 years when most wheelchairs were manually operated. Planned upgrades include ramps and widened doorways to accommodate larger electric wheelchairs and replacing worn carpeting with vinyl flooring. Saathoff said cuts from a pair of federal budget sequestration rounds in recent years depleted Department of Housing and Urban Development funds. Budgets for HUD were virtually stripped of any funds for repairs and maintenance costs. Weve had to use a lot of donated funds, Saathoff said. This grant, were jumping up and down to have gotten it, he said. Itll do a lot of good. The Black Hills Works grant was part of $2.6 million in funding for housing across the state approved by the SDHDAs Board of Commissioners on Monday. Eight projects, including $1.9 million in HOME Investment Partnerships Program funding and $361,000 in Housing Opportunity Fund projects, will provide South Dakotans with 75 newly constructed multifamily housing units, 16 single-family housing units and seven rehabilitated multifamily housing properties. The projects funded will result in over $14 million in total development costs, preserving and strengthening South Dakotas housing stock, said David Pummel, SDHDA board chairman, in a release. They will help low-income families, elderly residents and persons with developmental disabilities with a place to call home. The HOME Investment Partnerships Program helps developers and/or property owners to buy, build new or rehabilitate affordable housing. The Housing Opportunity Fund program was created through the Building South Dakota Fund during the 2013 legislative session. The money may be used for new construction, the purchase and rehabilitation of rental or homeownership housing, housing preservation, homelessness prevention activities and community land trusts. Other West River projects in the SDHDA grants included: Summit Housing Group received $600,000 in HOME funds for construction of two two-story apartment buildings on Clear Springs Road in Spearfish. The Clear Springs Apartments will include 20 two-bedroom units and 15 three-bedroom units. Eight of the apartments will be market-rate-priced housing and 27 will be rent-restricted housing. The project will add to affordable housing available on Clear Springs Road, northwest of Spearfish. According to the Missoula, Mont., based Summit Housing Groups website, already completed are the Rocky Bluff Apartments with 32 one- and two-bedroom apartments also on Clear Springs Road. NeighborWorks Dakota Home Resources of Deadwood and Rapid City received $220,000 in HOF funds for construction of two town homes in Rapid City. The town homes will include five one- and two-bedroom homes, to be sold to people at or below 115 percent of area median income for Pennington County, the release said. Republican Sen. Joni Ernst said Tuesday that President Donald Trump's frequent trips to Florida have been "bothering" her, saying, "I do wish he would spend more time in Washington." Her comments came during a Wall Lake, Iowa town hall meeting with constituents and followed a question that included a reference to the President's visits to his Mar-a-Lago resort. "That's what we have the White House for, we would love to see more of those State Department visits in Washington, DC. I think it's smart that he does business in Washington DC, so I've had those same concerns myself," the Republican lawmaker said. White House press secretary Sean Spicer told CNN Ernst's comments would not affect future Trump travel plans. Trump has spent seven weekends at the resort since becoming President in January. Ernst said at the town hall: "I have not spoken to him about the Florida issue yet, but that is something I think that has been bothering not just me, but some other members of our caucus. So I think that is going to be a topic of discussion that we have when we get back to Washington. Ernst supported Trump's presidential bid last year, though she criticized him for lewd and sexually aggressive remarks he made in an Access Hollywood video released during the final weeks of the presidential election. She has also more recently called for the release of Trump's tax returns, according to Politico. CNN's Elizabeth Landers contributed to this report. Russian insurance company to pay Samsung $11.4 million MOSCOW, April 18 (RAPSI) The Supreme Court of Russia has upheld lower courts rulings ordering Allianz insurance company to pay 751.5 million rubles ($11.4 million) in compensation to Samsung Electronics Rus Company, according to court records. The subject matter of insurance is property interests of Samsung connected with default of payment by the companys counterparties of debt for goods delivered to them on deferred payment terms, court papers read. The agreement has been concluded in respect of eight plaintiffs contract partners. One of the partners, Trial-Trade company didnt make any payments for appropriate amount of time, constituting the insurance event. The insurance event is a long-term payment default by the plaintiffs counterparty defined in the contract. On December 1, 2014, Trial-Trade stopped paying its bills. A court ruled to recover debt from the company prompting Samsung Electronics Rus to ask Allianz to pay insurance. In August 2014, Samsung Electronics Rus found out that Trial-Trade received unwarranted payments and in August 2015 the defendant refused to pay insurance. The Moscow Commercial Court has dismissed Samsungs lawsuit claiming that the plaintiff had hidden Trial-Trades misconduct. However, this ruling was later overruled by a court of appeals. On September 1, 2016, the Ninth Commercial Court of Appeals collected from the insurer 697.1 million rubles ($10.6 million) of insurance compensation and interest amounted to 54.4 million rubles ($826,000). While also the court dismissed a counterclaim by Allianz seeking annulment of provisions of the contract concluded between parties in 2013. In December 2016, the Moscow District Commercial Court upheld the decision of the appeals court. Social media user receives suspended sentence for calls to separatism MOSCOW, April 18 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul) A court in the capital of Russias Republic of Buryatia, Ulan-Ude, has given civil society activist Vladimir Khagdayev a 3-year suspended sentence for a post of a separatist nature on Vkontakte social network, attorney Viktor Laperdin told RAPSI on Tuesday. According to investigators, between September 2014 and January 2015, Khagdayev, who had personal beliefs aimed at unification of Mongolian nations in one state, published an image containing quotation from the video interview of a St. Petersburg journalist and two comments. Experts found that the post and comments were pushing for actions aimed at Buryatias secession. Moreover, two packs with cannabis were seized during searches conducted at the defendants garage. Khagdayev was found guilty of calls to separatism and possession of drugs with no intent to sell. You must have previous service to the organization, natch. There are four positions open: Directors-at-Large (three openings) and Vice... "I would like to say 'This book is written to the glory of God', but nowadays this would be the trick of a cheat, i.e., it would not be correctly understood."--Ludwig Wittgenstein "Talk to me about the truth of religion, and I'll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively. But don't come talking to me about the consolation of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand."--C.S. Lewis , our free weekday email newsletter. Like The Atlantic? Subscribe to The Atlantic Daily , our free weekday email newsletter. In the weeks that followed, the hostile standoff in Northeast Asia heated up. As a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier sped towards the Korean peninsula, the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un celebrated the Day of the Sun (the day before Easter Sunday) by standing on a platform for hours reviewing a parade of long-range missiles, scuds, and other hardware. The launch of a ballistic missile on that same morning, however, ended in failure, as the weapon blew up as soon as it took off. RELATED STORY North Korea's Missile Launch The world is slowly adjusting to Trump's bluster. Often, he appears not to know what he is talking about. It may well be that a word in his ear from a U.S. admiral, or Chinese President Xi Jinping, or his son-in-law Jared Kushner, the real-estate heir put in charge of world affairs, could soften his bellicose tone. But words or tweets, however hasty or ill-conceived, coming from the White House, do matter. The last thing needed in the fraught situation in Northeast Asia, where military action could spiral into catastrophe, is more macho posturing. (Enough such bluster is already blowing in from Pyongyang: In a recent set of photographs, Kim Jong Un, dressed to resemble his grandfather Kim Il Sung, stands in front of nuclear warheads and threatens to unleash pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Japan or even the United States.) America doesnt know exactly what North Korea's nuclear capability is, but it is likely sufficient to kill millions of South Koreans or Japanese. That North Korea would be smashed in retaliation is no consolation. The fact is that there is nothing much America can do about Kims attempts to develop nuclear-tipped missiles, especially without Chinas support. Even Trump, his brilliance notwithstanding, must realize that some problems just cannot be solved. When asked by the Financial Times on April 2 about working with China to reduce the nuclear threat from North Korea, President Donald Trump replied : Well, if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you. Quite how this would be done, the president declined to divulge.In the weeks that followed, the hostile standoff in Northeast Asia heated up. As a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier sped towards the Korean peninsula, the North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un celebrated the Day of the Sun (the day before Easter Sunday) by standing on a platform for hours reviewing a parade of long-range missiles, scuds, and other hardware. The launch of a ballistic missile on that same morning, however, ended in failure, as the weapon blew up as soon as it took off.The world is slowly adjusting to Trump's bluster. Often, he appears not to know what he is talking about. It may well be that a word in his ear from a U.S. admiral, or Chinese President Xi Jinping, or his son-in-law Jared Kushner, the real-estate heir put in charge of world affairs, could soften his bellicose tone. But words or tweets, however hasty or ill-conceived, coming from the White House, do matter. The last thing needed in the fraught situation in Northeast Asia, where military action could spiral into catastrophe, is more macho posturing. (Enough such bluster is already blowing in from Pyongyang: In a recent set of photographs, Kim Jong Un, dressed to resemble his grandfather Kim Il Sung, stands in front of nuclear warheads and threatens to unleash pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Japan or even the United States.)America doesnt know exactly what North Korea's nuclear capability is, but it is likely sufficient to kill millions of South Koreans or Japanese. That North Korea would be smashed in retaliation is no consolation. The fact is that there is nothing much America can do about Kims attempts to develop nuclear-tipped missiles, especially without Chinas support. Even Trump, his brilliance notwithstanding, must realize that some problems just cannot be solved. The litany of futile diplomatic overtures to curb North Koreas nuclear ambitions reads like a history of failure. In 1994, President Bill Clinton promised aid to North Korea in exchange for a promise to freeze its nuclear program. In 2002, it became clear that the North Koreans had reneged on the deal. The thing is that Kim will not give up his nuclear arsenal, for it is all he has got. Without the bomb, North Korea would be no more than a small, impoverished dictatorship. With nuclear missiles, it can behave as a major power, or more importantly, hold other major powers at bay. Clinton also once considered bombing North Korean nuclear installations, but, in the end, considered the risk too high. It would be even higher now. Not only are such installations now more dispersed throughout the country, making a clean hit very difficult, but the collateral damage inflicted by a cornered Northern regime would be horrendous: Seoul is a mere 35 miles from the North Korean border. Empty threats from Washington are not just ineffectual; they play into the Korean dictators hands. Whether most North Koreans really worship the Kim dynasty as much as they seem to is hard to know, since most of these gestures of idolatry are coerced. But Korean nationalism can be very easily stirred up. One thing that holds North Koreans together is the fear, constantly stoked by the regime, of a wicked foreign attack. 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And though Dutertes anti-American rhetoric has not quite translated into reality in many instances, it has nonetheless raised questions as to how this might affect military-to-military interactions within their decades-old alliance such as these. In the lead up to Balikatan this year, local media outlets have cast it as having experienced varying degrees of continuity and change, with some indicating that things are proceeding as normal, while others indicating that a major scaling down is in effect. What is actually going on based on what we know publicly so far, and what might this mean? Philippine officials have actually been pretty consistent about the general fate of Balikatan at the start of the Duterte administration, even though many specifics have yet to be disclosed. Back in October last year, Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said that though some assault exercises and bilateral drills were canceled, remaining engagements including Balikatan would be refocused on fields like humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), counterterrorism, and counter narcotics (See: How Much Can Duterte Wreck the US-Philippine Military Alliance? ). Specifics have been further ironed out by Washington and Manila since then, including at the regular Mutual Defense Board and Security Engagement Board (MDB-SEB) meeting in the Philippines in November as well as in planning for the exercises themselves. But Philippine military officials had indicated privately that the exercises would likely proceed along the lines of what Lorenzana had laid out (See: Where Are US-Philippine Defense Relations Under Duterte? ). As we near the start of Balikatan 2017, that appears to be the case. Over the weekend, Balikatan spokesman Major Celeste Frank Sayson released some preliminary details that aligned with what Lorenzana had indicated, both in terms of the areas of focus as well as a general scaling down of the exercises relative to recent years. It will be scenario-based like (preparing for) a big storm hitting the Philippines or the possibility of terrorism, he said, adding that the drills would last as usual for around ten days. We are safe to say there will be no more live fire exercises. We (will) focus on humanitarian and civil assistance. What do statements like these tell us about the status of Balikatan 2017, and the alliance more generally? First, it is important to note that it is not uncommon for military exercises to change their focus and even their participants in accordance with the shifting priorities of the actors involved in them. And while the live-firing component of Balikatan is the one that often gets the most attention, the exercise, like many others of its ilk (including Cobra Gold in Thailand, another one that has gotten a lot of press in recent years) does in fact already consist of a variety of events including simulation supported events, operation events, and humanitarian civil assistance projects and it does also address a range of challenges from maritime security to HADR. So the change we are witnessing is not as dramatic as it may initially appear. Second, for close observers of Asian security affairs, this is nonetheless admittedly a stark contrast from what we had seen in the past few iterations of Balikatan under Dutertes predecessor Benigno Aquino III. Ahead of the 2015 Balikatan Exercises, the media had focused on the fact that both sides were set to double the size of the war games with the largest number of troops participating since 2000 and some parts of the exercise were planned to be staged close to a South China Sea flashpoint. In the 2016 iteration, Ash Carter became the first ever U.S. defense secretary to observe the Balikatan exercises, and the headlines were dominated by the involvement of two M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) units which were being deployed for the first time. Balikatan had also increasingly been seen as one path for the multilateralization of U.S. exercises in the region, where U.S. allies and partners like Japan and Australia could either actually participate in varying degrees or attend as observers (See: Why the Philippines is Critical to the US Rebalance in Asia ). The first iteration of Balikatan under Duterte in 2017 has definitely been given a much lower profile relatively speaking. It is clear that at least for now, Philippine officials are keen to highlight the softer dimensions of the exercise and keep the focus on terrorism and HADR, rather than maritime security which may be deemed more sensitive because of Dutertes attempts to rebalance Philippine foreign policy with relatively less dependence on the United States and more diversification with other players including China and, to a lesser degree, Russia (See: The Limits of Dutertes US-China Rebalance ). At a time when broader foreign policy is still in flux, that might not necessarily be a bad thing. As one Philippine official told me privately during a conversation in Manila last month, staying under the radar may not be so bad exactly because things are still not clear. Third and finally, it is still early days. As Sayson himself indicated, there are still things being ironed out in terms of this iteration of Balikatan. Those details are important, and we will need them before truly assessing the status of the exercise apart from the rhetoric. As I have noted before with respect to Cobra Gold, vague terms like scaling down and refocusing can mean a whole range of things in practice, from lower troops numbers to the exclusion of certain exercise components, either on a temporary or a permanent basis (See: US-Thailand Relations and Cobra Gold 2015: Whats Really Going On? ). Polisario militiamen, exhausted by the precarious living conditions in the Tindouf camps, are increasingly attracted to terrorist organizations, particularly in the countries of the Sahel and Libya. No less than one hundred Polisario elements, well-trained in firearms handling, were recruited by the terrorist Daech group operating in the Sahel-Sahara region and in Libya, said the boss of the Moroccan Central Bureau of Judicial Investigations (BCIJ) Abdelhak Khiame on Sunday (April 16). The Moroccan security official told French TV channel France 24 that this will affect Morocco and Algeria, and also the whole region in the absence of a real willingness to cooperate on the part of the Algerian security services. These revelations confirm the numerous warnings issued over recent years by Morocco and other states and international NGOs, drawing attention to the connections between the Polisario and terrorist organizations, active in the Maghreb and in the Sahel-Sahara region. The BCIJ Chief also told France 24 that 1,623 Moroccans had joined the conflict zones in Syria and Iraq and that 400 of these foreign fighters died on the battlefields, while 78 were arrested by the police upon their return to Morocco. These detainees were suspected of planning attacks against sensitive targets in the kingdom, he said. The boss of the BCIJ also dwelt on the overall aspects of the fight against terrorism carried out by the Moroccan security services and the role these services play at the national and regional levels. He underscored in this vein that Moroccos European partners highly appreciate their cooperation with the North African Kingdom, which enabled to foil many terrorist attempts. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. You have permission to edit this html. Edit Close Theresa May's surprise election announcement comes days before French voters head to the polls in the first round of a presidential election that could have huge implications for the future of the Europe Union. The Criterion Collection's slate for July 2017 sells itself, to be honest. Albert Brook's Lost in America is one of my personal, all-time favorites. Others may prefer Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker, Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy, or Robert Bresson's final film L'argent. Or all of them, as your preference and budgetary needs dictate. Read onward for all the details; verbiage provided by Criterion. ROBERTO ROSSELLINI'S WAR TRILOGY Roberto Rossellini is one of the most influential filmmakers of all time. And it was with his trilogy of films made during and after World War II - Rome Open City, Paisan, and Germany Year Zero - that he left his first transformative mark on cinema. With their stripped-down aesthetic, largely nonprofessional casts, and unorthodox approaches to storytelling, these intensely emotional works were international sensations and came to define the neorealist movement. Shot in battle-ravaged Italy and Germany, these three films are some of our most lasting, humane documents of devastated postwar Europe, containing universal images of both tragedy and hope. SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES * New high-definition digital restorations, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks * Introductions by Roberto Rossellini to all three films * Interviews from 2009 with Rossellini scholar Adriano Apra, film critic and Rossellini friend Father Virgilio Fantuzzi, and filmmakers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani * Audio commentary from 2009 on Rome Open City by film scholar Peter Bondanella * Once Upon a Time . . . "Rome Open City," a 2006 documentary on the making of this historic film, featuring rare archival material and footage of Anna Magnani, Federico Fellini, Ingrid Bergman, and many others * Rossellini and the City, a 2009 video essay by film scholar Mark Shiel on Rossellini's use of the urban landscape in The War Trilogy * Excerpts from rarely seen videotaped discussions Rossellini had in 1970 about his craft with faculty and students at Rice University * Into the Future, a 2009 video essay about The War Trilogy by film scholar Tag Gallagher * Roberto Rossellini, a 2001 documentary by Carlo Lizzani, assistant director on Germany Year Zero, tracing Rossellini's career through archival footage and interviews with family members and collaborators, with tributes by filmmakers Francois Truffaut and Martin Scorsese * Letters from the Front: Carlo Lizzani on "Germany Year Zero," a podium discussion with Lizzani from the 1987 Tutto Rossellini conference * Italian credits and prologue from Germany Year Zero * PLUS: Essays by James Quandt, Irene Bignardi, Colin McCabe, and Jonathan Rosenbaum ROME OPEN CITY This was Roberto Rossellini's revelation, a harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome and the brave few who struggled against it. Though told with more melodramatic flair than the other films that would form this trilogy and starring some well-known actors - Aldo Fabrizi as a priest helping the partisan cause and Anna Magnani in her breakthrough role as the fiancee of a resistance member - Rome Open City (Roma citta aperta) is a shockingly authentic experience, conceived and directed amid the ruin of World War II, with immediacy in every frame. Marking a watershed moment in Italian cinema, this galvanic work garnered awards around the globe and left the beginnings of a new film movement in its wake. 1945 * 103 minutes * Black & white * Monaural * In Italian and German with English subtitles * 1.37:1 aspect ratio PAISAN Roberto Rossellini's follow-up to his breakout Rome Open City was the ambitious, enormously moving Paisan (Paisa), which consists of six episodes set during the liberation of Italy at the end of World War II, and taking place across the country, from Sicily to the northern Po Valley. With its documentary-like visuals and its intermingled cast of actors and nonprofessionals, Italians and their American liberators, this look at the struggles of different cultures to communicate and of people to live their everyday lives in extreme circumstances is equal parts charming sentiment and vivid reality. A long-missing treasure of Italian cinema, Paisan is available here in its full original release version. 1946 * 126 minutes * Black & white * Monaural * In Italian with English subtitles * 1.37:1 aspect ratio GERMANY YEAR ZERO The concluding chapter of Roberto Rossellini's War Trilogy is the most devastating, a portrait of an obliterated Berlin, seen through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy. Living in a bombed-out apartment building with his sick father and two older siblings, young Edmund is mostly left to wander unsupervised, getting ensnared in the black-market schemes of a group of teenagers and coming under the nefarious influence of a Nazi-sympathizing ex-teacher. Germany Year Zero (Deutschland im Jahre Null) is a daring, gut-wrenching look at the consequences of fascism, for society and the individual. 1948 * 73 minutes * Black & white * Monaural * In German with English subtitles * 1.33:1 aspect ratio 3-BLU-RAY EDITION SRP $99.95 STREET: 7/11/17 L'ARGENT In his ruthlessly clear-eyed final film, French master Robert Bresson pushed his unique blend of spiritual rumination and formal rigor to a new level of astringency. Transposing a Tolstoy novella to contemporary Paris, L'argent follows a counterfeit bill as it originates as a prop in a schoolboy prank, then circulates like a virus among the corrupt and the virtuous alike before landing with a young truck driver and leading him to incarceration and violence. With brutal economy, Bresson constructs his unforgiving vision of original sin out of starkly perceived details, rooting his characters in a dehumanizing material world that withholds any hope of transcendence. 1983 * 84 minutes * Color * Monaural * In French with English subtitles * 1.66:1 aspect ratio SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES * New, restored 4K digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray * Press conference from the 1983 Cannes Film Festival * "L'argent," A to Z, a new video essay by film scholar James Quandt * Trailer * New English subtitle translation * PLUS: An essay by critic Adrian Martin and a newly expanded 1983 interview with director Robert Bresson by critic Michel Ciment BLU-RAY EDITION SRP $39.95 STREET 7/11/17 DVD EDITION SRP $29.95 STREET 7/11/17 STALKER Andrei Tarkovsky's final Soviet feature is a metaphysical journey through an enigmatic postapocalyptic landscape, and a rarefied cinematic experience like no other. A hired guide-the Stalker-leads a writer and a scientist into the heart of the Zone, the restricted site of a long-ago disaster, where the three men eventually zero in on the Room, a place rumored to fulfill one's most deeply held desires. Adapting a science-fiction novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Tarkovsky created an immersive world with a wealth of material detail and a sense of organic atmosphere. A religious allegory, a reflection of contemporaneous political anxieties, a meditation on film itself-Stalker envelops the viewer by opening up a multitude of possible meanings. 1979 * 161 minutes * Color * Monaural * In Russian with English subtitles * 1.37:1 aspect ratio SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES * New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray * New interview with Geoff Dyer, author of Zona: A Book About a Film About a Journey to a Room * Interview from 2002 with cinematographer Alexander Knyazhinsky * Interview from 2002 with set designer Rashit Safiullin * Interview from 2002 with composer Eduard Artemyev * New English subtitle translation * More! * PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Le Fanu BLU-RAY EDITION SRP $39.95 STREET: 7/18/17 2-DVD EDITION SRP $29.95 STREET: 7/18/17 LOST IN AMERICA In this hysterical satire of Reagan-era values, written and directed by Albert Brooks, a successful Los Angeles advertising executive (Brooks) and his wife (Julie Hagerty) decide to quit their jobs, buy a Winnebago, and follow their Easy Rider fantasies of freedom and the open road. When a stop in Las Vegas nearly derails their plans, they're forced to come to terms with their own limitations and those of the American dream. Brooks's barbed wit and confident direction drive Lost in America, a high point in the string of restless comedies about insecure characters searching for satisfaction in the modern world that established his unique comic voice and transformed the art of observational humor. 1985 * 91 minutes * Color * Monaural * 1.85:1 aspect ratio DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES * New 2K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray * New conversation with director Albert Brooks and filmmaker Robert Weide * New interviews with actor Julie Hagerty, executive producer Herb Nanas, and comic writer and director James L. Brooks * Trailer * PLUS: An essay by critic Scott Tobias BLU-RAY EDITION SRP $39.95 STREET: 7/25/17 DVD EDITION SRP $29.95 STREET: 7/25/17 If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). Louis Marinelli, the president of Yes California and a figurehead of the California separatist campaign sometimes called "CalExit," is exiting his own separatist movement. On Yes California's website, Marinelli, who has lived in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg since September with his wife Anastasia, writes that he plans to seek permanent residence there. What's more, "accordingly, as the author and architect of the Calexit ballot initiative petition which is currently circulating in California, it is only proper, given my intention to seek permanent residence in Russia and not return to California in the foreseeable future, to withdraw that petition from circulation," Marinelli writes. With no immediate plans to return to what he considers "occupied California," he will "continue to serve as the representative of the Republic of California to Russia." Thanks for your service. Business Insider, who noted Marinelli's abrupt departure from his own separatist effort, recall that Marinelli originally campaigned for Senator Sanders in the US and ultimately cast his ballot for President Donald Trump. Now, apparently, he can no longer stomach life under the American flag. Odd. "I have found in Russia a new happiness, a life without the albatross of frustration and resentment towards ones homeland, and a future detached from the partisan divisions and animosity that has thus far engulfed my entire adult life," Marinelli writes. "Consequently, if the people of Russia would be so kind as to welcome me here on a permanent basis, I intend to make Russia my new home." If you were clinging to the empty ballot measure Marinelli has now swept from under your feet, don't worry too much. An equally naive plan is circulating for a 2018 mid-term election ballot splitting California in two between East and west California. A Chronicle op-ed this weekend was also floating an idea that California and Nevada join forces and elope together, but I don't see that lasting. Related: Latest 'Calexit' Gambit: Split California Between East And West A couple standing on a busy Hayes Valley corner was attacked Monday night, by an assailant police have yet to track down. The San Francisco Police Department says the attack occurred at 8:30 p.m. Monday, at the corner of Hayes and Octavia Streets. A 33-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman were approached by the male suspect, who police says "made a comment." When the male victim responded, police say the suspect "started a physical altercation" with the victim. Eventually, the suspect pulled out "a tool" and stabbed the man, according to the SFPD. He then fled. The victim was transported to an area hospital for treatment of his injuries, which police say are not life-threatening. The suspect was last seen running east on Hayes, toward Gough Street. As of publication time, police say that no arrests have been made in this case and the suspect remains at large. Comedy Central has a willing guinea pig in San Francisco for its big foray into the festival game with Colossal Clusterfest here on June 2-4. The 30,000 ticket, 50 comedian festival organized with partners Another Planet and Superfly, the groups behind Outside Lands and Bonnaroo wasannounced in November, and a lineup including Jerry Seinfeld, Sarah Silverman, Bob Odenkirk, Hannibal Buress, and Broad City stars Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer, was released in late February. The three-day festival has since added more acts including TJ Miller of Silicon Valley fame, and promises to be a colossus of comedy, with five stages set up in Civic Center including the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. The laughs also comes at the not insubstantial price tag of $250 for a full festival pass. Today, though, Clusterfest put out its daily lineups, so if its just musical acts like Chromeo and a live reading of Wayne's World by Jacobson and Glazer you're after, you now know to buy a Saturday ticket. You've got a day to suss out the lineup day tickets go on sale tomorrow, Wednesday April 19, at 10 a.m, for $99. The whole lineup, from Ice Cube to Fred Armisen to Chris Hardwick, is here. Previously: New Comedy Central 'Clusterfest' Brings Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin Hart, Broad City, And More To Civic Center In June 20-year-old Louise Rosealma came to the frontlines of Berkeley Saturday with a group of friends in order to express their outrage at neo-nazis and the alt-right. She and her boyfriend both left the battleground bruised and bloodied, and now she's speaking out about what she experienced before and after cameras captured her being punched in the face, seemingly unprovoked, by a man who multiple sources have identified as 30-year-old Nathan Damigo, a white nationalist and self-proclaimed "identitarian" who has been spreading white supremacist propaganda around Cal State Stanislaus. Rosealma spoke exclusively with CBS 5 and explains that she drove up early Saturday morning from Southern California, where she, her boyfriend, and a couple of friends are part of the Oak Roots Collective a newly formed anarchist, anti-fascist group based in Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley. The group arrived in Berkeley around 1 p.m. when the street fighting was already well underway. Fairly soon, the 5-foot, 1-inch Rosealma, who weighs 95 pounds, says she found herself cornered near a wall, and she says "I was just trying to block myself away from different people who were just pushing me and attacking other people." Then, she says, "From the corner of my eye I saw this fist coming at me," and she says "[Damigo] punched me on the bridge of my nose. It cut it a little bit. I got thrown down and Im pretty sure he just ran [away]. I got right back up. I was punched twice more by two other people. People kept trying to throw me down to hit my head on the rocks that were in the planter. I was just trying to not get my skull cracked open." She soon found her boyfriend nearby covered in blood. Rosealma was likely targeted because she was wearing all black and sported dreadlocks, trademarks of the "antifa" as groups like hers call themselves a word the alt-right now employs as a kind of slur and stand-in for any militant-seeming enemy on the left though it's unclear if anything occurred prior to the moment caught on video to provoke the attack. And she wants to set the record straight about a Facebook post she wrote that the alt-right has taken out of context to prove that she was there to do harm. She wrote, "Heading to Berkeley to disrupt the neo-Nazi / white supremacist jerk circle today. Nervous af but determined to bring back 100 nazi scalps." This was a reference to a line from Inglorious Basterds, she explains. "I guess no has seen Quentin Tarantino movies. I thought that was going to be obvious, but I guess not." (The line, delivered by Brad Pitt's character, is "Each and every man under my command owes me one hundred Nazi scalps. And I want my scalps!") The problem that many observers have pointed out is that violence begets violence, and neither side comes out of these street rumbles looking like they accomplished anything, and both look like they arrived cruising for a physical fight. Says Rosealma, "We knew that there was probably going to be violence. We were hoping for the best, but expecting the worst [We wanted] to show that neo-nazis just cant walk into the street and march and like spieling out this violent genocidal rhetoric and get away with it without anything happening to them." And Rosealma says that she's trying to stick up for herself in the face of a massive amount of social media harassment following the viral video of the punch, and the alt-right's effort to villainize her. (In one instance, activists on the left say that a glass bottle was apparently Photoshopped into her hand in one photo, but the photo appears to have come from Reuters.)* "They are trying to make me into this trophy the victory of the alt right and neo-nazis, she tells CBS 5. Its petty and pathetic That they knocked over a 95-pound person [The harassment] has been non-stop Requests on Instagram. Facebook, Youtube They just are trying to get to me." * This post has been corrected to show that we can't confirm the legitimacy of the photo of the person with the bottle, or whether Rosealma is in the photo. Previously: Viral Video Allegedly Shows Known White Supremacist Punching Woman During Berkeley Protest Im standing on our backyard patio with my spouse. Hes grilling steaks on a Weber. If you turn and draw an imaginary line straight to the east, you will see grills galore. Turn west and its twilight time, the hour of Old Fashioneds and mosquitoes. My belly is large with child number three who will grow up on a street with no sidewalks. Its a lily-white-John Updike kind of place where folks watch Vietnam" on color televisions. Its 2017, and the Museum of Wisconsin Art is hosting a major exhibition, Hyperphotographic," (showing now through May 21) of often similarly themed photographs by Tom Bamberger. At age 68, hes donated 400 of his prints to the museum. A UW-Milwaukee philosophy major, he cant be deciphered; never mind that he taught the logic of mathematics. In the retrospective, Untitled (Grilling, 1986 ) describes the mind-numbing sameness of suburbia, but beyond that, the loss of hopeful horizons. I asked Bamberger to devise an equation about his accomplishments. He declined, so I devised this: 400-T=0. 400+T=68. On page four of the current quarterly published by the museum is a 1977 image of the man himself. Clad in a white t-shirt, hes Milwaukees Bad Boy. A fly clings to his shirt. Does it matter if he killed it and staged the photo? Dont ask Bamberger. Hes tired of answering questions. On Saturday, May 6, Bamberger and Friends" will convene in the museum at 1 p.m. Among the topics will be the condition of our art community. Some artists have fled to Los Angeles or New York, but not Bamberger. He embraced the technology which keeps us hyper-connected, using it to expand his career. All those faces, fields, suburbs and techno machines could be anywhere. He also writes about urban architecture, decrying repetition that dilutes rather than enhances. As a result he is sometimes blasted for his opinions. Its great to live long enough to be opinionated. Otherwise, we are lashed to the wheel of sameness. As environmental protections continue to take beatings under the administrations of Scott Walker and Donald Trump, weighing the implications can be overwhelming. Assaults on Wisconsins natural resources are coming along many fronts. George Meyer, former secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and current executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Fund, as well as Amber Meyer Smith, director of programs and government relations at Clean Wisconsin, cite worsening water conditions among Wisconsins most troubling environmental ills. When it comes to water issues plaguing Wisconsin, were fighting upstream and thanks to Walker, have no lifejackets to help us along the way. Trouble spots can easily be identified. One third of the Kewaunee County wells that provide drinking water do not meet safe standards. Runoff from large farms is polluting waterways around the state; metals may be leaching into groundwater surrounding frac sand mines. Phosphorus pollution, which stimulates algae growth and decimates aquatic ecosystems, is another pervasive problem, as evidenced by a dead zone in Green Bay. Lead pollution is yet another culprit plaguing Wisconsins waters. These are pretty serious water issues that we need to think about holistically, and we need to think about how we solve them, not how we run away from having to deal with them, Meyer Smith says. And unfortunately, its been more the latter. Its been, How do we roll back what exists now? and thats just not the right direction for a state whose identity is water. Crippling the DNR Meyer is careful to point out that these concerns are the outcomes of a department crippled by policy and not of disinvested employees. The whole time I was in the agency, and I was working my way up and then when I was secretary, the Department of Natural Resources was viewed by its peer agencies as one of the top five agencies in its classes in the country, he said. Now its mediocre or less. And thats not because of the staffits because of the policies that are being carried out. Walkers cuts to the DNRs budget have meant significant losses of research scientist and educator staffersand therefore a gutting of expert knowledge from within the department. Startling deficiencies in the DNRs performance have taken place in recent years as a result. One such example is the DNRs failure to ensure that the legislature is equipped with the intelligence needed to make informed decisions regarding environmental protections. Friends of the Shepherd Help support Milwaukee's locally owned free weekly newspaper. LEARN MORE Meyer highlighted recently proposed legislation that would allow the baiting and feeding of deer, which has been prohibited in order to stymie the spreading of chronic wasting disease. CWD, a neurological disease which deer in 43 counties have tested positive for and is always fatal, is spread by saliva. The DNR didnt show up to testify on this legislation when it was presented. That is a perfect example of why we need to have the DNR do its job, Meyer says. Thats what they get paid for. Thats just one examplethat has happened 20 times in the last five or six years. And the resource gets hurt when that happens. Inadequacies in monitoring agricultural runoff as well as upholding federal water and air pollution regulations have also trickled down from DNR staffing cuts. State auditors discovered a backlog of permits for large farms in 2016, and in 2014, the EPA had to force the DNR to adopt clean air regulations that it should have already been abiding by. The EPA cited 75 deficiencies in the DNRs water regulation in 2011. Meyer contrasted these rampant shortcomings with his own tenure within the DNR, during which he said the EPAs enforcement was requested only one time. This is unprecedented, he said. Its an oversight of responsibility. Whats worse, Meyer pointed out, is the EPAs weakened capability to fulfill a watchdog role as it readies for leadership under someone it had to defend itself against in court (EPA chief Scott Pruitt has sued the EPA 13 times), and a proposed 31% funding cutthe largest cut to any one entity proposed in Trumps budget. Now were not going to have that shield, that ability for someone to come in and force the DNR to do what it should, he said. The DNRs cherished Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine and state parks have also taken hits under Walker. A reorganization of the DNR has been much talked about since proposed as an idea by Republican State Assemblyman Adam Jarchow in October 2016, but went unmentioned in Walkers latest budget, signifying that proposition may go unpursued. As far as the purging of the DNRs magazine, many are at a loss regarding the motive. The publication serves as an effective means to inform the public more deeply on issues under the DNRs jurisdiction, and provide explanations as to the DNRs actions and decisions. Authored largely by employees, the magazine is published at no cost to the DNR and has served more than 80,000 subscribers. Any successful business tells people what their services and products are, Meyer said. Thats what the DNR basically does, they have products and services in the natural resource and conservation areas. And they didnt consider that part of their core business. State parks were defunded by Walker in 2015, leaving them to rely entirely on fees paid by visitors. Walkers latest budget proposes increases to user fees. Meyer warns that continually rising user fees will mean decreased access to parks for low-income families. He also expressed concern regarding the DNRs ability to function efficiently should it see a reorganization, which could mean responsibilities disseminated into five separate offices. All these programs need to coordinate on a daily basis, Meyer noted. It would cost more because youd have more top people getting high salaries because youve got more agencieswater and fish go togetherthose people should be talking to each other. Trumping the EPA Trumps attacks on the EPA could be just as unforgiving, if not more so. The executive order Trump signed March 28 essentially carves a path to strip consideration of environmental health in any governmental decision-making, a measure that had been woven into policymaking under the Obama administration. Greg Nemet, associate professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, highlights five key proposed actions to watch. Trump has proposed reviews of vehicle efficiency standards, the Clean Power Plan, methane regulations and coal leasing. Additionally, Trump wants to reassess the economic impact of one ton of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere, which helps shape greenhouse gas regulations. Thats five activities that they havent said theyre going to reverse, but theyve said theyre going to review, and if they did reverse them, thats going in the opposite direction of what we need to do, Nemet said. We need more stringent vehicle efficiency standards, we need more efficient power plants and more low-carbon power plants, and we need to reduce methane leakage. Those cuts that have been proposed would be devastating to the EPA, he continued. Congress eventually comes up with its own budget and approves its own budget. From what I can tell, it doesnt seem like Congress really wants whats called the skinny budget thats been proposed so far. What about that little agreement the U.S. entered into along with 194 other nations to commit to deterring climate change? While exiting the Paris Agreement would require jumping through hoops, Nemet points out that a more likely route for the Trump administration may be to simply not live up to the promises made. The ramifications? You would start to wonder if other countries would continue their efforts, Nemet said. I think thats the biggest danger. Another drastic measure proposed is a 97% cut to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI). Favored on both sides of the aisle, the GLRI is responsible for the majority of protections and restorations of the Great Lakes. This is really sort of a no-brainer of a program that has been proposed for elimination, Meyer Smith said of the GLRI. That is pretty shocking, that such a popular bipartisan program could be under attack like that. It definitely makes you question where our priorities are. Meyer Smith also questions Trumps reasoning with regard to energy, and his affinity for coal. When you look at the facts on energy sources like coal, they just dont add up, she said. Its a dying industry, the jobs arent there anymore, but there seems to be this need to cling to it for some reason. Meyer, Meyer Smith and Nemet all agree that if this widespread lack of respect for science and for the environment continues, well all pay the price. Nemet noted the health impacts of heat waves induced by climate change, and outlined the upsides of clean energy. When we decarbonize, we get benefits, like less asthma and respiratory disease, which is one of the aspects of the Clean Power Plan, he said. Meyer Smith offered a laundry list of consequences should we continue down the path of negligence toward science and environmental protections: Well jeopardize one of our core economic drivers of tourismbecause clean water is so integral Well continue to lose the potential for job creation in terms of the burgeoning new economies like the clean energy economy. Well jeopardize our citizens health. These cutsespecially to EPAare going to be really devastating for some of the health-related programs. Not to mention the health impacts of climate change and air pollution that are going to continue to grow and theyre going to end up costing us money, a lot of money, in the long run in terms of healthcare costs. Meyer Smith emphasized the need for investing in the prioritization of natural resources We need to make investments in the scientists, the people that we entrust to enforce laws, we need to make investments in protecting clean water, preventing pollution in the first place, she said. We need to really prioritize our natural resources for the economic benefits and health benefits they bringnot treat them as commodity. MOVILLE, Iowa | The community of Moville remembered one of its best "characters" as the life of Wesley John Roeschke was celebrated in a funeral service on Saturday at Moville United Methodist Church. Roeschke, 83, died April 5, surrounded by his family. Wes Roeschke was known as a true jack-of-all-trades. A 1951 graduate of Lawton High School, he joined the U.S. Navy and served aboard the aircraft carrier the USS Oriskany overseas, logging time aboard the ship alongside Alan Shepard, who would become the first American in space. Wes was honorably discharged in 1954. He married Donna Davis in 1955 and the couple spent six years living and working in Anaheim, California, saving money to purchase the Woodbury County farm that would be their residence the following 55 years. The couple raised two children and devoted themselves to family, church, community and country. Few were more patriotic than Wes, and very few worked harder. Wes was the cover feature in a Sioux City Journal "Farm Weekly" publication in 1968, a story that detailed his adoption of no-till practices. In 1999 he earned the Century Conservation Farmer of the Year honor. When not raising corn, beans and livestock, Wes kept tabs on the political scene, often writing "Mini" editorials and Letters to the Editor for the Journal. He also served as chairman of the board for the Moville United Methodist Church for years and helped oversee various parts of the church's food stand at the Woodbury County Fair. He could weld, build houses, restore Chevrolet pickups and drive school bus. Tales of Wes' dedication came through in his memorial service. His penchant for fixing things resulted in a church policy that nobody could work on or near the roof without a second volunteer. This came about after Wes scaled a ladder to address something on the steep roof. The ladder then fell, leaving Wes stranded for a time until Moville resident Mike Weaver came upon the scene and helped Wes to the ground. Neighbor Mark Nelson shared a story that revealed Wes' workmanlike approach, as well as his humorous take on things. Nelson said he was working outside across the road from the Roeschke residence when Donna pulled into the driveway one afternoon. Donna got out of the car and opened the trunk to let Wes get out. "I asked Wes what he'd done to make Donna so upset so as to have him ride home in the trunk!" Nelson said. Apparently, Wes had heard something rattling around in the back of the car. Getting in the trunk while Donna drove, he figured, was the best way to pinpoint the source. The congregation laughed, pinpointing the source of a tale that sounded bizarre, and yet so Wes Roeschke, if you were lucky enough to know him, his mischievous smile, and loving wink. SIOUX CITY | The Sioux City Council on Monday has deferred a vote for three weeks on plans to allow a developer to build a $20.2 million hotel adjoining the Sioux City Convention Center. Sioux City is currently planning to award $6 million in tax rebates to Kinseth Hospitality Inc. to support construction of a $20.2 million Courtyard by Marriott hotel, which will adjoin the Convention Center. The city will then renovate a portion of the Convention Center into a ballroom space and will erect a 140-space parking garage behind the hotel to serve the facilities. The deferral of a vote on the sale of land and agreements for the project until May 8 will allow city staff to work out the details of a separate agreement to turn management of the Convention Center over to Kinseth. During a public input opportunity Monday, resident Dick Salem, a vice president with NAI United and member of Sioux City's Tax Research Council, said in his conversations with business owners and residents, few people have supported the hotel project as-is. "I ... think I could name probably in one hand the number that have absolutely said they'd be in favor of this project," Salem said. "I think that the negatives just far outweigh the positives." Salem suggested two alternative approaches. One would have the city take over the Howard Johnson hotel, the only hotel currently adjoined to the Convention Center via skywalk, and offer similar tax incentives. Another choice would be to obtain the land currently occupied by the former Riviera 4 Theatre at 714 Fourth St. to use for the hotel. Both ideas would utilize existing parking and would not require construction of a new ramp, Salem said. He added that his comments are his personal views and do not reflect his employer's or the TRC's positions. The TRC, a local watchdog group, last month also suggested the city look into renovating the current Howard Johnson hotel. City staff have said that idea is a non-starter, referring to what they say is a prohibitive potential cost. The hotel is a cornerstone piece of Sioux City's bid for $14 million in future state hotel and sales taxes through the Iowa Economic Development Authority's Reinvestment District program. Cone Park day lodge In other business, the City Council voted 5-0 to approve a $679,300 bid from H&R Construction, of South Sioux City, for construction of a nearly 3,000-square-foot day lodge at Sioux City's all-seasons Cone Park. The lodge will consist of a large multi-use room, restrooms and kitchenette and concession spaces. The park is slated to open in December of this year. Seaboard Triumph The City Council also approved an amended development agreement with Seaboard Triumph Foods LLC that will support its plans to add a second shift and raise its total workforce to around 2,100 employees. According to the agreement, the plant will commit to invest an additional $31,350,000 in the plant for the second shift expansion and add a minimum of 1,007 new jobs, as well as to support road improvements in the area. In return, the city will allow the company to apply for $1.5 million in tax abatement through the Iowa Industrial Tax Abatement program, as well as support additional road improvements. SIOUX CITY | The future of a controversial proposal to temporarily close the only bridge crossing from Riverside into North Sioux City teetered in the balance Monday before passing by a narrow margin. In a 3-2 decision that followed an hour of discussion and came down to the final vote, the City Council passed a motion Monday directing staff to move forward with plans to fully close the Military Road bridge next spring for a five-month re-decking project. Mayor Bob Scott and Councilman Dan Moore opposed the motion, with council members Pete Groetken, Rhonda Capron and Alex Watters -- whose vote broke the 2-2 tie -- supporting the measure. After the meeting, Watters said he believed closing the bridge for five months rather than leaving one lane open at a time -- a more expensive and time-consuming option -- will be the best for local taxpayers. "I didn't want to come off as insensitive, but I heard no one who was a Sioux City taxpayer ever reaching out to me saying they were concerned about closing the bridge or doing the project in a shorter amount of time," he said. Monday's vote was the culmination of a months-long public input process marked by input from several area business owners who said a five-month closure between the two states could devastate their profits -- or put them out of business. The bridge closure is one of two stages in a $5 million project along Military Road. The second stage includes a full reconstruction of the road from the bridge to Riverside Boulevard. Funding for the bridge project, an estimate of $3 million total, will come from Sioux City and the Iowa and South Dakota departments of transportation. Alternatives available to the council Monday included re-decking the bridge half at a time, an option that would have cost an additional $675,000 and doubled the duration of the work on the bridge. Completing the entire bridge and road project would have added more than $1.8 million to the project, prolonging construction on the full project into 2019. Rick Law, who owns Casino Monaco and VIP Gaming Lounge in North Sioux City, implored the council Monday to further study the potential economic impact. "At least in my case, I'm facing financial ruin," Law said. "I'm literally facing dire straits if our business is reduced by the percentage that we see traveling from across that bridge." Rhonda Capron, a former bar owner, said she sympathized with the business owners but believed they would pull through. "When you're in this type of business, it's a gamble, I'm telling you. But you'll survive," she said. In other discussion, former South Dakota state senator Bill Shorma, of Dakota Dunes, told the council he had researched the economic impact and believed it could cost the state of South Dakota about $1 million to proceed with a five-month closure. Scott pointed to a reconstruction project last year along Morningside Boulevard that was completed half at a time and said the city shouldn't be unequal to neighborhoods like Riverside. "It irritates me that we treat different parts of the community differently," Scott said after the meeting. Moore said he favored bidding the project two ways -- one with a full closure and one with half-at-a-time construction -- to see what the actual costs were. Such a move would have cost more in additional design costs. Groetken and Capron, who voted yes, both said they didn't want Sioux City taxpayers to pay extra expenses. Organizers will also discuss options for a package of incentives and disincentives to offer the contractor that will encourage expedited work on the project. DES MOINES Candidates for the Iowa Legislature made many pledges during the 2016 campaign. That campaign set the table for the November election, which changed the power dynamic in the legislature. State lawmakers are finishing their work on the 2017 legislative session, and we now have evidence of whether legislators delivered on the promises they made back on the campaign trail. After hearing from those Statehouse candidates, Iowa voters gave Republicans complete lawmaking control with majorities in the Iowa House and Senate to go with Republican Gov. Terry Branstad. At the outset of the 2017 session, we documented some of those campaign promises with an eye toward the work that was to come. The legislators were chosen from across the state and represented a mixture of Republicans and Democrats, senators and representatives. Some of them were involved in the states most competitive races during the 2016 campaign. Now, with the 2017 session near its completion, we take a look at how legislators fared in fulfilling those promises. It should be kept in mind that Republicans possessed the wherewithal to pass any legislation on which all lawmakers in their party could agree. Democrats, on the other hand, could not so much as get a preliminary hearing for a bill without help from Republicans. Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Orange City On gun laws: Wheeler said he supports stand your ground legislation, which gives individuals broader leeway to use lethal force to protect themselves from perceived danger by, generally, removing the requirement an individual first attempt to retreat from potential harm. That provision was included in a wide-ranging bill regarding firearm regulations. That was probably the most exciting thing weve done so far. I campaigned pretty hard on that up in my district, said Wheeler, who said he was pleased to receive one of the pens used by Gov. Branstad to sign the bill into law. On abortion: Wheeler said he supports so-called personhood legislation, which defines life as beginning at conception and provides full individual rights at that moment. Such legislation would effectively ban abortions. Republicans were not able to pass a personhood provision but have passed legislation that bans abortion after 20 weeks and requires an ultrasound and a three-day waiting period. Rep. Jim Carlin, R-Sioux City On tax policy: Carlin proposed reducing the corporate tax rate to ease the financial burden on Iowans and said he also would like to reduce income taxes. Because of a tight state budget, tax reform will not happen this session. Republican leaders say they hope to enact tax reform measures in 2018. On abortion: Carlin also supports defining life at conception but said he was pleased with the abortion legislation that passed, especially once it included the mandatory ultrasound and three-day waiting period. The mandatory ultrasound brings the reality of the decision thats being made and the time necessary to make a good decision for life. So I felt pretty good about that, Carlin said. If that amendment hadnt been included, I wouldnt have voted for (the bill). On marriage: Carlin said he would support a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. No such proposal was made during the session. Rep. Tim Kacena, D-Sioux City On collective bargaining: Kacena said he hoped to help Democrats thwart Republicans efforts to change state laws regarding how public employees can collectively bargain for wages and benefits. Although Republicans pushed through their proposal, which significantly reduced those public workers collective bargaining rights, Democrats did their best to postpone the inevitable by dragging out the debate over the course of three days. On education funding: Kacena said he wanted legislators to fund education in a timely manner. The Legislature approved its public school funding plan as one of the first bills of the session, although Democrats would note state law previously required that funding level be set a year earlier. Sen. Mark Lofgren, R-Muscatine On water quality: Lofgren said he does not approve of a proposed sales tax increase to fund water quality projects out of fear it would hurt the economy. While this issue remains unresolved in the sessions final days, it does not appear legislators will approve the proposed sales tax increase. On the minimum wage: Lofgren said he does not think the states minimum wage of $7.25 per hour should be increased, also because he thinks it could stifle the economy. It will not. On the school funding formula: Lofgren said he thinks the formula for how the state funds public K-12 school districts needs revising, but he said he does not support allowing districts to spend from their reserve accounts for an extended period. Legislation that would allow districts to spend from their reserves will not be approved. The Senate did approve a bill addressing per-pupil funding inequities, but it is not expected to get a vote in the House. On financial literacy: Lofgren thinks financial literacy should be taught in schools. There was no legislation related to the topic considered during the session. Rep. Ross Paustian, R-Walcott On the school funding formula: Paustian supported legislation introduced in 2016 that would have given districts a one-year pass to spend from their reserves but required them to replenish that spending the following year. During the campaign, Paustian said he would support letting districts use funds earmarked for other purposes. The Senate approved school funding formula changes, but it is not expected to get a vote in the House this year. Legislators did approve a bill that allows school districts to dip into other funding streams if deemed necessary. That should help Davenport and other districts, freeing up some other funds in accounts they cant use right now. But it still doesnt help get to the problem of the funding disparity, Paustian said. So we have to keep working on it. ... Well still keep trying. On water quality: Paustian said he opposes the sales tax increase, and that will not pass. Paustian said he supports a proposal made in 2016 by House Republicans to use funds from existing state revenue streams, including its infrastructure budget and a tax on water meters, to fund water quality projects. That issue is one of the few that remains unresolved in the 2017 sessions waning days. Rep. Phyllis Thede, D-Bettendorf On the school funding formula: Thede said she thinks school districts that have lower per-pupil spending allowances than other districts should be permitted to spend up to the highest level allowed by drawing from their reserve accounts. The Senate approved a plan to fix the formula, but the House is not expected to vote on it. On the minimum wage: Thede thinks the state should raise its minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. That will not happen this session. Sen. Craig Johnson, R-Independence On the budget: Johnson said he thinks the Legislature should adhere to a rule that the state not spend more than 99 percent of its revenue. The Legislature is crafting its budget and likely will spend less than 99 percent of revenue; the problem legislators ran into this year was the estimates of how much revenue the state would have were off, so there is less money available than previously expected. Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls On water quality: Rogers supports a proposal similar to one introduced a year ago by House Republicans that would shift existing revenue streams to water quality projects. A similar bill may yet pass the Legislature this session. On higher education funding: Rogers said he wanted a funding increase for the University of Northern Iowa. State budget reductions actually caused a reduction in funding to the states three public universities. Rogers said he takes solace in the fact that Northern Iowa received a lighter reduction than the University of Iowa and Iowa State University. They, as far as the three regents (universities), were affected the least, Rogers said. So, a small win there. On tax policy: Rogers thinks the state should lower its corporate tax rate, which is one of the highest in the nation. No tax reform action will be taken this year in large part because of a tight budget that has little wiggle room to lose more revenue. Rogers said he is encouraged that legislators plan to examine not only tax reform but also look at how much the state spends on tax credits and incentives. I think that will help us take a springboard into next year, Rogers said. Rep. Ras Smith, D-Waterloo On mental health care: Smith said he thinks the state should reopen and fund state-operated mental health institutions in Mount Pleasant and Clarinda, which were closed in 2015. That idea has no traction in the Republican-controlled Legislature. On abortion: Smith said he supports abortion rights and knew coming into the session that Republicans would attempt to make changes to various abortion policies. Indeed, Republicans passed a ban on abortions after 20 weeks and removed from the budget all state funding to womens health care providers that perform abortions, such as Planned Parenthood. Sen. Waylon Brown, R-St. Ansgar On water quality: Brown said he thinks the state should develop a long-term funding solution for water quality programs with the greatest impact. The Legislature is still working on a new water quality funding program as the final days of the session tick away. On school funding: Brown called for public education funding that is timely and responsible so schools do not have to worry about losing any promised funding. The Legislature finished its school funding bill early in the session, and the proposal included an increase of 1.1 percent, one of the lowest on record and a result, Republicans say, of a tight state budget. Rep. Jane Bloomingdale, R-Northwood On the school funding formula: Bloomingdale said she thinks the formula for how public K-12 school districts are funded should be updated to help districts with outsized transportation costs. A bill that addressed per-pupil funding and transportation inequities passed the Senate but is not expected to get a vote in the House. Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City On tax credits: During the campaign, Steckman called for the Legislature to examine tax credits and tax incentives and how much the state spends on them. Support for such an examination has increased over the course of the session while the budget pie continues to shrink. On medical cannabis: Steckman supports a call to permit the production and sale of medical cannabis for treatment of certain ailments such as epileptic seizures. Legislators are making a final, last-ditch attempt to pass the proposal; it thus far has passed the Iowa Senate, 45-5. 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. SOUTH SIOUX CITY | Jennifer Jackson, executive director of Heartland Counseling Services Inc. in South Sioux City, has won Nebraska's 2017 Director's Award for excellence in behavioral health treatment. Jackson, a licensed independent mental health practitioner who has served as director of Heartland since 2012, received the award during the 2017 Nebraska Annual Behavioral Health Conference in Lincoln. The award recognizes a behavioral health provider who works to build behavioral health systems that help Nebraskans find treatment and services in their communities for mental health and substance abuse disorders. Jackson and her husband, Rory, live in South Sioux City and have three children. BOSTON -- Those of us who hail from Massachusetts are proud of our special patriotic holiday, formally celebrated only in our state and Maine (which was part of us until 1820), though Wisconsin and Florida pay it some honor as well. Patriots' Day commemorates the rebels at Lexington and Concord who fired the shot heard round the world on April 19, 1775. For tragic reasons, the holiday commanded the nation's attention on April 15, 2013. Two homemade bombs exploded 12 seconds apart at 2:49 p.m., killing three people and injuring hundreds of others. This city will never forget the dead and severely injured. But it will also remember the heroism of its citizens, including the first responders and medical professionals who saved countless lives. A sense of solidarity arising from the love of a place and its people gave birth to the slogan, "Boston Strong." The worst Patriots' Day in history produced an outpouring of local patriotism. This year's celebration of Patriots' Day comes when another impulse jostles with patriotism as the definition of dedication to country. Nationalism, it's true, runs deep in American history, as the brilliant and ideologically idiosyncratic writer Michael Lind often reminds us. It's not just a Donald Trump or Steve Bannon import. It was, after all, Theodore Roosevelt, a hero to many progressives, whose forward-looking program was memorialized as the New Nationalism. Yet nationalism rankles, partly because of its association with the evils of Nazism and Fascism, and partly because its claims are so sweeping. As George Orwell wrote, patriotism stems from "devotion to a particular place and to a particular way of life." Nationalism, by contrast, "is inseparable from the desire for power." It's worth noting that even patriotism makes some uncomfortable. They often see it in the same light as the word "chauvinism," which is defined as "excessive or prejudiced loyalty or support for one's own cause, group or gender." It's a mistake, however, to view patriotism as nothing but chauvinism in bright colors. My own love of the United States is rooted in the profound debt I feel to this place and to my fellow citizens, and in a deep attachment to our habits, customs and what I see as our exceptional capacity, over time, to correct our flaws. But just as the special love I feel for my family does not prevent me from admiring other families and individuals, so my allegiance to the United States does not stop me from offering respect and affection for other peoples and places. There is also a quality to American patriotism that is commonplace to note but absolutely central to our identity: Ours is not a loyalty to blood or soil. It is an embrace of a series of powerful propositions. Last week, I spent time with the gifted young political theorist Yascha Mounk, who had just become an American citizen. He told an audience at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs that while he did not discount our country's problems, particularly the costs of a "racial hierarchy," the United States was genuinely different because it rejected a "mono-ethnic and mono-cultural" definition of nationality. "In America," he said, "there is an idea that you can have an accent and be American, you can have immigrated and be American." It's another reason I love this country. Earlier this year, in a useful exchange published in the conservative magazine National Review on the relative merits of patriotism and nationalism, Mona Charen of the Ethics and Public Policy Center had it exactly right when she argued: "Patriotism is enough -- it needs no improving or expanding." She called nationalism "a demagogue's patriotism" more likely to be converted "into something aggressive." And the columnist Jonah Goldberg caught something important when he wrote that "nationalism is ultimately the fire of tribalism, having too much of it tends to melt away important distinctions, from the rule of law to the right to dissent to the sovereignty of the individual." Lind (with whom I usually agree more than I do with Goldberg) would argue back that forms of liberal nationalism have been just as committed to these values. He would also remind us of the national commitments of Hamilton, Clay and Lincoln. Fair enough. But if both nationalism and patriotism can get out of hand, nationalism strikes me as far more perilous. I love my country, as I love Boston, and love can be ruined by an overweening will to power. The patriot is more likely to be alive to this danger than the nationalist. The Sioux City Journal editorial board beat me to the punch in Sunday's editorial headlined "Public deserves to know more about Chalstrom matter." As a journalist by trade, I keep my nose for news and facts-oriented opinion on alert. In this case, my intent was to write a Letter expressing the same sentiments put forward in this recent editorial. If I understand the facts, John Chalstrom was the chief financial officer of the Sioux City Community Schools who now has been ousted and who shared concerns, as reported by The Journal on April 9, about Superintendent Paul Gausman. What the public does not know is if these allegations had any merit. One of Chalstrom's allegations is Gausman threatened to terminate him if he presented alternative budget proposals to school board members outside regular board meetings. Since Chalstrom was at the time the CFO, were his alternative proposals even considered by the board? We need to know this. As a CFO with expertise in financial matters, wouldn't he have a better understanding of finance than either the superintendent or board members? After all, he was hired as a finance expert. Based upon the way Chalstrom was ousted, we just don't know if his financial budget proposals had any merit. As The Journal stated in its editorial, "Our position today is no reflection on our opinion of Gausman." School board, please provide the public with the facts. - Carl Hardy, Sioux City Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Catch the latest in Opinion Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy DES MOINES Iowans lined up Monday to appeal for their pet programs to be spared from the legislative budget ax before majority Republicans began passing pieces of fiscal 2018s $7.245 billion spending plan that cut a wide swath across state government. We acknowledge this is a tough budget year for our state, but singling out programs supporting victims of violence for a disproportionate cut is frightening, said Mary Ingham, executive director of Crisis Intervention Service in Mason City, which serves 14 counties in north central and northeast Iowa. She drove to Des Moines to be among dozens of Iowans who shared their concerns and support during a public hearing Monday at the Capitol on the fiscal 2018 budget. Marty Hathaway, a retired corrections worker from Coralville, expressed concern over more than $7 million in cuts to the states prison system, telling legislators that I fear for my brothers and sisters still working in the prison system and challenging lawmakers to spend a day walking the cell houses to understand. That message was driven home again on the Senate floor during the debate Monday over a justice systems bill when Sen. Nate Boulton, D-Des Moines, argued the $559 million appropriation left prison staffing dangerously low. This has been cuts on top of cuts on top of cuts to our correctional facilities, he said. However, Sen. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, floor manager of Senate File 509, said he thought majority Republicans did a good job funding programs at the level they did, given the states tighter-than-expected budget situation. Senators voted 29-21 to approve SF 509 and send it to the House. I recognize that when you have a plethora of good programs and some great programs, that you have to make difficult decision, said Chelgren in response to concerns about spending for victims services and other public safety needs. I know a few years ago we had $927 million in surplus, but thats all gone, he added. Its easy being in the minority to simply say we should spend more money, we should spend more money, we should spend more money but when youre in the majority, you have a responsibility to work within a budget .. A separate bill to provide $178.8 million to fund the court system in fiscal 2018 also drew considerable angst before senators voted 29-21 to approve Senate File 508 and send it to the House as well. Rep. Gary Worthan, R-Storm Lake, said legislators tried to give the courts more flexibility in using state money. The chief justice has assured us that there will be no closures of clerks offices, there will be no closures of courtrooms but he added some offices may operate on 32 or 36 hour work weeks. On the House side, representatives approved $47.4 million to fund the states administrative and regulatory functions next fiscal year a drop of $1.4 million. They voted 58-51 to approve House File 640 and ship it to the Senate for consideration. Minority Democrats disliked a GOP decision to decrease nearly $400,000 from the Department of Inspections and Appeals which investigates Medicaid fraud and health facilities, among other duties $751,000 from the Department of Revenue and gut the Public Information Board, which answers the publics questions about public meetings, open records and the states sunshine laws. But the portion of the bill to receive the most criticism was the $3.5 million in appropriations to the Secretary of States office, which includes $700,000 for the much-debated voter ID bill that set new verification procedures for voters and shortens Iowas early voting period. Rep. John Landon, R-Ankeny, said the money would go toward an electronic poll book loan fund, poll worker education and voter outreach, among other uses. Representatives also debated a $908.4 million education budget bill to fund the regent institutions, community colleges and other programs. Members of the House lamented $70 million in cuts, but approved $908 million for educational programs. House File 642 funds 12,287 full-time equivalent positions for the Iowa Department of Education, Board of Regents and other agencies, a decrease of 453. The bulk of the cuts, $52 million in the appropriation for student achievement and teacher quality, reflect the end of the Teacher Leadership and Compensation Grants. Beginning next year, the TLC program will be funded through the school aid formula. The House lopped off $9.9 million from the regents, with the largest single cut being $6.2 million to the University of Iowa. Iowa State University will be cut $2.5 million and the University of Northern Iowa $823,000. Community colleges will get an increase of $1.7 million for general aid, but because of budget de-appropriations earlier this year thats actually a decrease. The bill, approved 58-41, heads to the Senate. Just when you wonder what airlines could do to generate more bad publicity, a video shows a passenger being forcibly dragged from his seat. From recent announcements about more baggage fees (overhead as well as cargo) to incredibly shrinking legroom, from lost baggage to lost children traveling alone, the bad news for the major carriers now operating profitably after years deep in the red seems unrelenting. At Chicago's O'Hare Airport, passengers had already taken their seats aboard United Flight 3411 a United Express plane operated by Republic Airways bound for Louisville on April 9 when it was announced four seats were necessary to accommodate Republic crew members needed in Louisville for another flight. The next available flight was the following afternoon. Four volunteers were sought for a reimbursement of $400 plus a hotel room. When none agreed, negotiations increased to $800 without success, then $1,000 to no avail. According to U.S. Department of Transportation rules, the most an airline can offer is four times the fare to a maximum of $1,350. Without volunteers, rules for involuntary removal take effect. Three Flight 3411 passengers were removed involuntarily. Then David Dao, 69, a physician from Elizabethtown, Ky., was selected. Dao said he had appointments he couldnt miss in the morning. When he became stubborn, three security officers from Chicagos Department of Aviation not affiliated with the Chicago Police Department were called in. Video shows Dao forcibly dragged out by his hands, his head bloodied after hitting an armrest and his glasses dislodged, while passengers rebuked the officers, one yelling, Oh my God, look at what you did to him. Dao, who was hospitalized, has retained legal counsel. Overbookings on airlines are a fact of life. The major carriers rely on computer algorithms to guesstimate the number of passengers who wont make a flight a change of plans, missed connections, etc. and book accordingly. The goal is to fill as many seats as possible. Ten years ago, the load factor was 79 percent; today its around 83 percent. Last year, the DOT reported 475,000 passengers on U.S. airlines were bumped 46,000 involuntarily or 0.62 per 10,000 boardings, according to a Wichita State University and Embry Riddle University Airline Quality Rating study. The bumping incident should prompt changes. A case-by-case review should be a priority when volunteers are lacking. Passengers could miss critical appointments, business engagements or job interviews. The lottery should be a last resort. The $1,350 cap should be increased to broaden the potential pool of volunteers. The DOT has given the airlines carte blanche on baggage fees, legroom and seat size. But this furor could provoke other incidents and may not subside until the agency or the airlines take affirmative steps. Waterloo-Cedar Falls (Iowa) Courier The gravity of the existential threat we face from Islamic Jihad is truly of epic proportions. It is essentially a battle pitting free-civilized man against a totalitarian barbarian. What is at stake is the struggle for our very soul - namely who we are and what we represent. The lives that were sacrificed for individual rights and freedoms that we've come to cherish are being chiseled away from right under our noses by the stealth jihadists. And many of us are in denial and totally clueless. The left's appeasement and pandering to evil is nothing new. What makes their utopian delusions so infuriating and unpardonable is that it is not only they who will have to pay the consequences, and deservedly, so, they are thwarting and undermining our best efforts at resistance and are thus dragging us down in the process as well. By Peter Lancz,, the head of the Raoul Wallenberg World Campaign Against Racism. (EDGE) A Pennsylvania-based extremist Catholic group that once linked tornadoes in Illinois to gay marriage is up in arms about a play performed by an LGBT theater company 700 miles away in Atlanta, which they deem to be blasphemous. Adam and Steve, Jane and Mabel are characters in gay playwright Paul Rudnick's 1998 send-up of Old Testament stories titled "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told." The comedy is set to take the stage in Atlanta later this month. Although at first thought, the uber gay play might not be a great fit for Bible belt audiences. But as The New York Times reports, this production is being mounted by the Out Front Theatre Company - a group that focuses on queer-themed works for the city's LGBTQIA population. The play is being targeted by a group based more than a full day's drive away in Hanover, Pennsylvania. America Needs Fatima, a project of the hard right wing group American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property (TFP), has made it their goal to urge like-minded Catholics to protest the play. In December 2013, they staged a similar protest against a production of "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told" in Dallas. The show went on nonetheless. Other works protested by the group in the past include the films "The Da Vinci Code" and "The Last Temptation of Christ," as well as the musical "Jerry Springer, the Opera." A petition addressed to Out Front Theatre's artistic director Paul Conroy reads: I vehemently protest your showing the blasphemous play The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, which, among other blasphemies, refers to the Virgin Mary as a lesbian. Please cancel your showing of it. The Holy Mother of God is most pure and holy. To refer to her as a lesbian, or even to insinuate it, is an unspeakable blasphemy, which I reject with all my soul. I fear God's wrath will fall upon us if reparation is not made. If you continue with this presentation, we will urge Catholics to oppose it loudly, peacefully, and legally in as large a protest as we can help make possible. Although there are over 42,918 signatures on the petition to stop the play, it is unclear how many signees are members of the Atlanta area theatergoing public. According to ArtsAtl, Conroy has been on the receiving end of over 12,000 emails, Facebook messages, phone calls and letters, most of which stem from the America Needs Fatima protest. Some have mentioned coming to the theater to picket. Conroy has been in touch with the Atlanta Police Department's LGBT liaison, who has arranged for a uniformed officer to be present on opening night. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security has been or will be alerted. BroadwayWorld notes that the show comes after Out Front made its debut in October 2016 with the Broadway hit "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." Conroy founded the company when he realized that there was theater in Atlanta that catered specifically to the city's LGBTQ community and its allies. Conroy told The Times that he has no intention of canceling "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told." "I don't see the benefit in responding because I don't think they're going to change their minds no matter what I say or anyone else says," Conroy said. These people have their minds made up even before it starts." "The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told" runs from April 27 through May 14 at The Out Front Theatre Company on 999 Brady Ave NW in Atlanta. To get a ticket or make a donation, visit. www.outfronttheatre.com (AP) Equality California Friday announced the launch of a media campaign called "#ResistHate" to recognize and promote California's exceptional diversity. The campaign seeks to foster a statewide culture of solidarity that resists fear, bigotry and hate, and instead encourages unity among the state's LGBTQ community and all communities that experience prejudice, injustice and discrimination. The new year-long campaign features images evoking love, unity and California pride, and will appear on 125 billboards in various markets across the state. "'Resist Hate' is a message of unity and solidarity for all Californians," said Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California. "LGBTQ people are black and white, Muslim and Jew, immigrant and native born - and everything in between. This campaign empowers us to help unite the many communities of which LGBTQ people are a part and to resist all attempts to divide our communities. We want all of California's diverse communities to know that whoever you are - LGBTQ, Muslim, undocumented or a member of any other group that has been targeted or feels less safe as a result of recent divisive messages - we stand with you. We must assert the values of tolerance and inclusion that set our state apart, and make it a beacon of hope and acceptance for the rest of the nation." The first billboards are being installed this month in greater Los Angeles and the remainder will be installed across the state throughout 2017. (WB) International outrage over the arrest of more than 100 gay men in Chechnya continues to mount. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland on Saturday in a statement described the recent and ongoing reports of the persecution of gay and bisexual men in the semi-autonomous Russian republic that is predominantly Muslim as reprehensible. She also called upon the Russian authorities to thoroughly investigate these reports and to immediately ensure the safety of all persons in Chechnya who may be at risk due to their sexual orientation. We deplore acts of violence and discrimination, in all regions of the world, committed against individuals because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, said Freeland. Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper, has reported Chechen authorities have arrested more than 100 gay men since the end of February. Many of these men have reportedly been beaten and tortured with electric shocks. Novaya Gazeta has also said at least three of the men who were arrested later died. The Russian newspaper last week reported Chechen authorities have sent gay men to secret prisons that have been described as concentration camps. The Russian LGBT Network, a St. Petersburg-based advocacy group that has launched an emergency campaign with All Out, a global LGBT activist organization, to evacuate gay men from Chechnya, confirmed these reports to the Washington Blade. I am disgusted and appalled by reports from both the Russian media and non-governmental organizations that authorities in the Russian republic of Chechnya have rounded up, tortured and even murdered individuals who are believed to be gay, said former Vice President Joe Biden in a statement he posted to the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagements Facebook page on Saturday. The State Department in an April 7 statement said it is increasingly concerned about the situation in Chechnya. It also urged the Russian government to speak out against such practices, take steps to ensure the release of anyone wrongfully detained, conduct an independent and credible investigation into these reports and hold any perpetrators responsible. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley on Monday said the U.S. remains disturbed by the arrests. British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson and Vitit Muntarbhorn, who is the U.N.s first LGBT and intersex rights watchdog, are among those who have also condemned the situation. President Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have not publicly commented on the arrests or the secret prisons in which the gay men have been held. Agence France-Presse reported a spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin, with whom Tillerson met on April 12 in Moscow, told reporters late last week the Kremlin does not have any reliable information about the arrests. The Associated Press on Sunday reported Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov categorized the international outcry over the gay mens arrests as attempts that are being made to blacken our society, lifestyle, traditions and customs. Kadyrovs spokesperson told a Russian government news agency earlier this month it is impossible to prosecute those who are not in the republic. The existence of concentration camps is a serious breach of all international human rights conventions, said the Brazilian Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Association in a statement it released on April 10. Laura Weinstein, president of Grupo Accion y Apoyo a Personas Trans, a trans advocacy group that is based in the Colombian capital of Bogota, on April 14 posted to her Twitter account a satellite picture that reportedly shows one of the secret prisons in which gay men are being held. In this camp in Chechnya people are being tortured, locked up and exterminated for being gay and trans, she wrote. Israeli LGBT rights advocates on April 14 held an emergency meeting at the offices of the Aguda, the Israeli National LGBT Task Force, in Tel Aviv to discuss the arrests of the gay Chechen men and ways they can help them. The Brazilian Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Association and other LGBT advocacy groups have urged the U.N. to launch an investigation into the abuses that are reportedly taking place. ILGA-Europe urges international institutions to advocate for the rights of the LGBTI community in the region, and for national governments to assist those fleeing persecution to find safety, said ILGA-Europe in an April 13 statement. OutRight Action International on Monday urged British Petroleum, ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell three oil companies that have made significant investments with state-owned Russian oil and gas companies to publicly condemn the arrests. Tillerson was ExxonMobils CEO until Trump nominated him to become secretary of state. This is one of the worst homophobic campaigns the world has ever seen, said OutRight Action International Executive Director Jessica Stern. If Russia will not listen to other governments or even the United Nations, it is time to see if we can get money to talk in a language that they will listen to. Death threats force Novaya Gazeta reporter into hiding Chechen Social Politics Minister Dzhambulat Umarov on Sunday demanded Novaya Gazeta to apologize for the disgusting nonsense that you spread. One of the newspapers reporters who broke the story has reportedly gone into hiding because of death threats she has received. Svetlana Zakharova of the Russian LGBT Network told the Blade on Monday she and her colleagues think the growing outcry over the arrests will put further pressure on the Kremlin to intervene. We hope that it will make the Russian government stop [the] kidnappings, tortures and killings, said Zakharova. Michael K. Lavers, Washington Blade courtesy of the National LGBTQ Media Association. If you want to help gay men flee Chechnya, you can participate in this Facebook fundraiser here. We can't seem to find the page you are looking for. You may have typed the address incorrectly or you may have used an outdated link. When we talk about whats next for coffee, rarely does that conversation center on the barista. They are the unchangeable constant across coffee in all its formsa living, breathing human who manages the machines, the mano in the mano, miscela, macchina upon which the espresso tradition was built. A human, standing behind a machine, waiting to serve coffee to the world: thats a barista. At least, it used to be. Cafe Xstarted by 23-year-old college dropout Henry Huseeks to automate the making and serving of specialty coffee. But unlike, say, BRIGGO, the HAL-like coffee behemoth at the University of Texas we visited in 2012, Hu has created a singular, multi-articulate robotic arm to do the work of mankind. Equal parts auto factory crane and the spindly arm youd use to pull stuffed animals from an arcade machine, Hus robo-barista is scary smart, and its part of a trend that seeks to rewrite the rules of coffee service as we know it. The San Francisco location of Cafe X (the other one is in Hong Kong) is tucked into a dimly lit alcove near a frozen yogurt stand and the stairs on the bottom floor of the Metreon shopping center. A medium-sized fiberglass enclosure encircles the robotic arm and its necessary accoutrements. The only human presence is a cheery Cafe X-employed attendant, there to assist you in the process and soften the strangeness of ordering your coffee from a robot. You have two options: order the coffee through the touch screen, or download the Cafe X app and order through your phone. My cheery attendanta sort of sherpa through the uncanny valleyexplained that their app functionality allows customers to order while on their way to Cafe X, assuring prompt delivery of the finished drink. I chose to download it and was quickly ordering a flat white built on Verve Coffee Roasters espresso. There before me lay the robot arm, swinging gracefully around its small workstationgrabbing a cup, placing the cup under one of the two espresso machines, and waiting to receive a union of espresso and milk. When the drink is done the machine places it off to the side and you sidle up to the touchscreen, tap in a code sent to your phone, and the coffee descends down a circular elevator into an LED-lit receiving area. It is, quite frankly, the entire process of purchasing a coffee beverage with the human aspect left on the cutting room floor. The machine does its work without emotion, or error, or expectation of compensation. It is servile and efficient as only a programmed device can be. During my experience, a few other curious customers approached the robot. Some laughed nervously, others snapped photos, but for the most part they stood quietly, in awe of automation at work. The coffee itself was goodthe milk smooth and not terribly hot, the shot of espresso thick and flavorful. My flat white was a drink that couldve been made by a living, breathing human, and a skilled one at that. The coming rise of automation is a hot topic right now, driven in part by the rush towards driverless carsGoogle and Uber are currently at war over what this looks like next, and how to take it to market. Automation threatens millions of jobs around the worldespecially manufacturing jobsand may very well strike a staggering blow to the fabric of Western capitalist society. If robots take our jobs, who pays taxes? Where does the money go, but back up to the chain to rulers and owners of these robots? Will our children watch robot barista competitions? Do androids dream of electric flat whites? For his part, Henry Hu told Forbes Magazine that his intention for Cafe X was simply to save moneyby his own approximation, the cost of the robot will be far less than a full cafe build-out. Hes right, of course, and that means passing the savings on to you. Drinks from Cafe X already run few dollars leaner than most coffee shopslattes are $2.95, shots of espresso just $2.25, and this is in the middle of San Francisco, where coffee drinks easily run $4-6 in many cafes. In other words, this is a cheaper, arguably more efficient way of getting caffeine from a machine to your mouth. There was no line when I visitedwho knows how the robot handles a morning rush, but I doubt hell be much for banter. I found myself drawn to the cheery attendant, the lone human whom I could share my experience with. I sought normalcy, something akin to the cafe experience I was used to. But, if efficiency and automation are the goals of Cafe X, then inevitably humans will be phased out of the experience. Were pretty inefficient as a species, after alla bunch of loss leaders eating into the profit potential of a fully automated flat white production Borg, designed to get some as-yet-unagreed-upon combination of milk and espresso into your gullet for credits as soon as possible. But what of our society? What of coffee as an employment opportunity for real living humans? Will history judge the likes of Henry Hu as a real-world version of Miles Dyson, the fictional (probably?) Director of Special Projects at Cyberdyne Systems who, while just doing his job and increasing project efficiency unknowingly brought about the human-robot apocalypse depicted in The Terminator films. However, in writing this article, it dawned on me that there may be hope for us yet. The one human you cant pull out of this equation is the consumerIm the one depositing credits, after all, and I can spend my money how I wish. And so it stands to reason that I go to my corner coffee shop ostensibly to get a cup of coffee in the morning, but I also go because I enjoy chatting with my barista; knowing what theyre reading, or who theyve been dating, or if that dreadful regular we all wish were a little less regular has been back in recently. This human interaction makes the coffee taste better. Its good for my brain. Its a UI quirk in this vast human public beta we call life, something that draws us to one another to connect, talk, socialize, fall in love, and pick fleas off each others fur. Perhaps its a design flaw; perhaps its our species greatest triumph. Automation is inevitable, but we can at least hope itll be in line with the core values of whatever is being automated. Serving coffee is more than just getting a beverage into a customers hands immediately for maximum profit. Its about interaction, an engagement between people. It isnt always perfect, and it isnt always fast, but its satisfying in a way thats hard to quantify until that moment you watch a robot do the same damn thing, for less money, and *still* you want to have a chat. Cafe X proves that a robot can make a good cup of coffee, but it also, at least to this writer, proves how much is sacrificed when we aim for efficiency over humanity. If fast, consistently delicious coffee, means stripping the barista out of my cafe experience well, then, it doesnt seem much like the coffee experience anymore. Maybe well all be issued Soylent x Sudden rations in tomorrows New Frontier, judiciously pre-mixed by robots too busy to gossip. Or maybe thats not really what humans want from a cup of coffee, or a cocktail, or a taxi ride. Maybe deep down we want all the inefficiency, the politeness, the imperfect small talkhell, maybe we even need it, so wired for social interaction are our human brains. To quote the great philosopher Dr. Ian Malcolm, Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didnt stop to think if they should. Robot coffee is comingits already hereand its just one more bit of reckoning that we, our children, and our childrens children will face in the decades to come. Meanwhile, you can find me at the coffee bar, enjoying a minimally efficient but highly engaging experience, and leaving a tip. Noah Sanders (@sandersnoah) is a Sprudge.com staff writer based in San Francisco, and a contributor to SF Weekly, Side One Track One, and The Bold Italic. Read more Noah Sanders on Sprudge. Editor: Jordan Michelman. The biggest coffee event in America is this weekits coffees E3, Sundance, San Diego ComicCon and CMJ all rolled into one. Its the 2017 SCA Event in Seattle and its lit, fam. The 2017 SCA Event is sure to be an august, thought-provoking, deal-making hubby hive of networking, get-working, spro-slurping commerce and commingling. The show floor, she contains multitudes, and well be covering the heck out of it over the next week, but we know what you really care about. You really care about the parties. Because you love to party. Below please find an expanding list of all the fun times happening over the next week in Seattle. If your party isnt listed and youd like it to be, please hit us up and well add you to this post. Wednesday, April 19th All-Inclusive Pre-Expo Party hosted by The Chocolate Barista Cherry St. Public House (210 Occidental Ave S.) 6pm-8pm Set your phasers to chill and join Michelle Johnson, publisher of The Chocolate Barista, for an All-Inclusive Pre-Expo Party at Cherry St. Public House, which is set to be a real hub for events and hangs throughout the week. Expect discounted drinks and free snacks thanks to sponsors Pacific Natural Foods. All are welcome! Thursday, April 20th * Coffee & Natural Wine with Vif & Olympia Coffee Vif Coffee|Wine (4401 Fremont Avenue North) 6pm9pm Coffee is deliciousno arguments herebut when it gets to be around, lets say 6pm or so, we yearn for a splash of something a bit different in our glass. Natural wine is a real passion for us here at Sprudge and so please, join our friends and partners at Olympia Coffee Roasting Company as they team up with Seattles Vif Coffee | Wine for an evening of living wine delights. This event is free and should be a fun, delicious, dare we predict classy way to kick things off over SCA weekend, with live music and support from event partners Baratza and Long Miles Coffee Project. *TNT with Mavam x NW Space Agency Conduit Coffee Company (2501 Westlake Ave N, Seattle) 6pm-11pm Perhaps the opposite end of the spectrum from the above Vif & Oly Coffee party is this sure-to-be-raucous TNT hosted at Conduit Coffee by NW Space Agency, in partnership with undercounter espresso mavericks Mavam. The event is a Macguyver-style throwdown, with a big weird variety of pouring vessels to select, everything from odd old mugs to hollowed out doll heads. That this party should fall on the 20th of Aprila global stoner holidayhas not been missed by the events organizers, and our very own DJ Sprudge is set to present a carefully curated set of weed anthems to close out the evening. Prizes at this event come from Mavam, Conduit Coffee, Sprudge, Visions Espresso, and Brew Global. SCA Expo Official Launch Party & USCC Latte Art Throwdown Paramount Theater (911 Pine St) 6pm9pm Assimilate with your fellow Borg-mates at this, the most official of all official parties happening on Thursday evening in Seattle. Entry is free with your SCA badge, and once inside you can bask in the moments perfection with a tasty cold brew omega molecule cocktail, enjoy a virtual reality farm tour (!) courtesy of SCA Expo title sponsor Starbucks (!!), and ply your pours at stirring USCC latte art throwdown, complete with an $1000 cash prize from Pacific Foods. Stumptown and Slingshot Party The Crocodile (2200 2nd Ave) 7pm-1am The Crocodile is Seattles legendary live music menu in the heart of Belltown, and on Thursday it will play host to an epic party hosted by Stumptown Coffee and Slingshot. Check out the two brands new collaboration cold brew, Long Distance Relationship, and enjoy live music, coffee cocktails, delicious bao buns and more. Throwdown at Victrola Coffee Victrola Coffee (310 E Pike St) 7:30pm-11pm Just three blocks from the Washington State Convention Center, Victrola will be hosting a good old-fashioned throwdown to kick the weekend off right. Theres Freemont Beer to be had, sponsored by Pacific Food. 100% of beer sales goes toward building worker housing on Finca El Diamonte in Guatemala. Buy-in for the throwdown is $10. Friday, April 21st * Coffee ON:Line Cherry St. Public House (210 Occidental Ave S.) 5:30PM 8pm Content creators are why coffee is such a big deal now, and this event celebrates them in the form of free drinks, a smart panel, and nice vibes. Coffee ON:Line is a new platform from content creators Ashley Tomlinson and Vania Ling, and Sprudge is proud to be sponsoring their inaugural event along with event hosts Cherry St. Public House. Panelists include our own staff writer Anna Brones, along with Brian Jones (DCILY), Erica Brianna (@thecoffeenomad), and Bryan Schiele (@letsbrew.coffee). Much more information is available at the official Coffee ON:Line website. Follow Coffee ON:Line on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and RSVP to join us at the April 21st event. Red Fox Coffee Merchants Natty Wine Chill Sesh Upper Bar Ferdinand (1424 11th Ave) 5-10pm Oaklands Red Fox Coffee Merchants are hosting a chill sesh with tasty oysters, grilled snacks, good vibes, and plenty of delicious natural wine at Upper Bar Ferdinand. Please note there are 2 Bar Ferdinands, and while both lovely, this event is at the 1424 11th Ave location, *not* the Melrose Market location Elevated Coffee Experience presented by Espresso Parts & Trichome Trichome (618 South Jackson Street) 6pm8pm What if coffee had like, weed, man? This is the question that the Elevated Coffee Experience at Trichome seeks to answer. The really very nice Jackson St. smoke lifestyle shop has teamed up with Espresso Parts to serve up a strange brew of Elm Coffee Roasters filter infused with bud butter. There will be DJs, lots of non-coffee locals, and if the last time they threw this event is any indication, some pretty elaborate and frankly ominous looking dab rigs lurking downstairs. Tread wisely, and take a Lyft. This party has a $5 suggested donation and you need to RSVP via EventBrite. Royal Coffee, Inc. Happy Hour Maker Space (92 Lenora Street) 6pm-8pm Join the crew from the Bay Areas Royal Coffee, Inc. at a chill happy hour with drinks and snacks. Partly Sunny Party by Cafe Imports Fremont Foundry Events (154 N 35th St.) 6-10pm Cafe Imports always throw a great party at SCA, and this yearco-sponsored by Barista Magazine and Roast Magazineis sure to be no different. With free food and drinks and hot beats from DJ RADAMES, there will be a lot of fun to be had. Unofficial Coffee Technicians Party Visions Espresso (2737 1st Avenue South) 7-10pm Are you a coffee nerd of the wrench-turning variety? Do you look forward to the technical jargon portion of most Sprudge cafe write-ups? Then this is the party for you, with beer from Georgetown Brewery and a one-year Coffee Technicians Guild membership giveaway on offer. Arbor Day Foundation Cocktail Party Needle & Thread at Tavern Law (1406 12th Ave) 5pm-8pm Want to have a chill night? A cocktail party is the perfect way to do that. Happening because trees are cool, the Arbor Day Foundations shindig will feature cocktails and small bites at a bar inside a bar. Its a speakeasy-type sitch, which means theres limited seating and a password is required to get in. The password is inga. Saturday, April 22nd SCA Unic French Wine Reception Columbia Tower Club (701 5th Ave, Ste 7500) 6PM-10PM Wine is deliciousthis weve establishedand it goes great with a stunning view from high overlooking one of the worlds most beautiful cities. Join UNIC Espresso of Nice, France for an evening celebrating delicious French wine, with an equally intoxicating view from the 76th floor of the Columbia Tower, in the heart of downtown Seattle. This event is free and open to coffee professionals and guests. *La Marzocco 90th Anniversary 90s Music & Costume Party La Marzocco Cafe (472 1st Ave ) 8pmMidnight Join us at the La Marzocco Cafe at KEXP2016 Sprudgie Award winner for Best New Cafefor an unforgettable night of looks, sounds, and moments that celebrate the 1990s, and the 90th anniversary of La Marzocco. There will be food trucks, batched Negronis, beer and cider. There will be hot DJs spinning the greatest hits of the Clinton era. There will be a very special costume contest, personally adjudicated by Sprudge Media Network founders Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen. All this and much morejoin us, we predict this will be the party of the yearand yesteryear. Camber Coffee Happy Hour Sun Liquor (514 E Pike) 3pm-6pm Its chill, its delicious, and its raising money for a good causethis party has it all. Expect prizes from Acaia, Bonavita, and a grand raffle prize, the Baratza Sette, all with tasty cocktails and small bites from Sun Liquor. Giannis 80th Birthday Party Cafe Vita Bean Room (1005 E. Pike) 7pm Celebrate the man, the myth, the legendGianni Cassatini of Nuova Simonelli turns 80 this year, and you can celebrate with him in style at this very special event featuring an open bar, delicious pizzas, and live music. Roasters Guild Party Pyramid Alehouse (1201 1st Avenue South) 7pm These events are always popular, but we couldnt find anything online about itno Facebook event, no listing page via CoffeeExpo.orgif you know more about this sure-to-be-great event, especially regarding whether or not it is open to the public this year, please get in touch. Sunday, April 22nd All-Women Latte Art Competition hosted by The Coffeewoman Cherry St Public House (210 Occidental Ave) 6pm-9pm Pretty stoked for this one, a unique all-women latte art competition with some really great prizes, hosted by Cherry St. Public House and presented by The Coffeewoman. All proceeds go to Planned Parenthood, and the winner receives a spiffy new Linea Mini courtesy of Counter Culture Coffee. Sign-up info is available via the events official Facebook listing. Barista Guild Party Trinity Nightclub (111 Yesler Way) 8:30PM These events are always popular, but we couldnt find anything online about itno Facebook event, no listing page via CoffeeExpo.orgif you know more about this sure-to-be-great event, especially regarding whether or not it costs like $50 this year, please get in touch. Know of more great parties? Reach out to Sprudge and well update this post! Have fun, stay safe, use Lyft. London (U.K), April, 14, 2017 (SPS) - The Moroccan occupation forces continue to violate childrens rights in Western Sahara every day, and in countless ways, said the UK-based organization for the defence of Sahrawi peoples rights Adala UK. The Non-governmental Organization said, in a communique that none of the children who find themselves in the vicinity of the regular peaceful demonstrations that take place in the occupied territories to demand Sahrawi peoples right to self-determination is ever too young to be safe from the Moroccan police. It holds up in example several cases, including that of Alkanti Alalaoui a twelve-year old boy, deaf and with a learning disability, who was was arrested by the Moroccan forces on 29 March whilst he was sitting at the door of his house. Alkanti was savagely beaten and injured to his face and other parts of his body before being forced into a car belonging to the Moroccan forces, taking him to an unknown location. His neighbors protested in solidarity with him. The police asked the boys family to break up the protestors as well as not to make a formal complaint about the attack against the boy. The police finally released the boy who was in a critical state and clearly very disturbed. Alkantis mother made a formal complaint after all about the police agents who had beaten and abducted Alkanti although these kinds of complaints are never investigated, noted the Adala UK. The arrest, transfer and interrogation of children without the presence of their parents is a clear violations of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, to which Morocco is a signatory, said the NGO in its communique. Adala UK called on the UN and the international community to send observers to the occupied territories of Western Sahara to help guarantee the human rights of the Sahrawi people. It also urged the Moroccan government to put an end its policy of impunity for violations committed by its own forces against Sahrawi citizens, and particularly against children SPS 125/090/700 Girl Power prevailed in Mondays top trot at Mohawk Racetrack thanks to a come-from-behind score for trotting mare April Rose. Going postward for Team Hensley trainer/co-owner Ashleigh Hensley and co-owner/driver Ed Hensley in the nine-horse affair, April Rose got away sixth before latching onto perfect cover behind Cash For Gold. Race favourite Finish Line set fractions of :27, :56.1 and 1:25.3, but he couldnt fend off April Rose who kicked home in :28 to win by a head over Finish Line in 1:54.1. Exemplar was third. Sent off at odds of 10-1, the five-year-old daughter of SJs Caviar-Show Me The Bling improved her 2017 record to 3-1-2 from 12 starts. The 12-time winner, who owns a 1:51.4 speed badge, bumped her lifetime earnings to $193,114 with the win. To view results for Monday's card of harness racing, click the following link: Monday Results Mohawk Racetrack. Standard Newswire is a cost-effective and efficient newswire service for public policy groups, government agencies, PR firms, think-tanks, watchdog groups, advocacy groups, coalitions, foundations, colleges, universities, activists, politicians, and candidates to distribute their press releases to journalists who truly want to hear from them.Do not settle for an email blasting service or a newswire overloaded with financial statements. Standard Newswire gets your news into the hands of working journalists, broadcast hosts, and news producers.Find out how you can start using Standard Newswire to CONNECT WITH THE WORLD The essential component of totalitarian propaganda is artifice (het toepassen van kunstgrepen. svh) . The ruling elites, like celebritie... Washington has never made any effort to conceal its contempt for North Korea. In the 64 years since the war ended, the US has done everything in its power to punish, humiliate and inflict pain on the Communist country. Washington has subjected the DPRK to starvation, prevented its government from accessing foreign capital and markets, strangled its economy with crippling economic sanctions, and installed lethal missile systems and military bases on their doorstep. Negotiations arent possible because Washington refuses to sit down with a country which it sees as its inferior. Instead, the US has strong-armed China to do its bidding by using their diplomats as interlocutors who are expected to convey Washingtons ultimatums as threateningly as possible. The hope, of course, is that Pyongyang will cave in to Uncle Sams bullying and do what they are told. But the North has never succumbed to US intimidation and theres no sign that it will. Instead, they have developed a small arsenal of nuclear weapons to defend themselves in the event that the US tries to assert its dominance by launching another war. Theres no country in the world that needs nuclear weapons more than North Korea. Brainwashed Americans, who get their news from FOX or CNN, may differ on this point, but if a hostile nation deployed carrier strike-groups off the coast of California while conducting massive war games on the Mexican border (with the express intention of scaring the shit of people) then they might see things differently. They might see the value of having a few nuclear weapons to deter that hostile nation from doing something really stupid. And lets be honest, the only reason Kim Jong Un hasnt joined Saddam and Gadhafi in the great hereafter, is because (a) The North does not sit on an ocean of oil, and (b) The North has the capacity to reduce Seoul, Okinawa and Tokyo into smoldering debris-fields. Absent Kims WMDs, Pyongyang would have faced a preemptive attack long ago and Kim would have faced a fate similar to Gadhafis. Nuclear weapons are the only known antidote to US adventurism. The American people whose grasp of history does not extend beyond the events of 9-11 have no idea of the way the US fights its wars or the horrific carnage and destruction it unleashed on the North. Heres a short refresher that helps clarify why the North is still wary of the US more than 60 years after the armistice was signed. The excerpt is from an article titled Americans have forgotten what we did to North Korea, at Vox World: In the early 1950s, during the Korean War, the US dropped more bombs on North Korea than it had dropped in the entire Pacific theater during World War II. This carpet bombing, which included 32,000 tons of napalm, often deliberately targeted civilian as well as military targets, devastating the country far beyond what was necessary to fight the war. Whole cities were destroyed, with many thousands of innocent civilians killed and many more left homeless and hungry. According to US journalist Blaine Harden: Over a period of three years or so, we killed off what 20 percent of the population, Air Force Gen. Curtis LeMay, head of the Strategic Air Command during the Korean War, told the Office of Air Force History in 1984. Dean Rusk, a supporter of the war and later secretary of state, said the United States bombed everything that moved in North Korea, every brick standing on top of another. After running low on urban targets, U.S. bombers destroyed hydroelectric and irrigation dams in the later stages of the war, flooding farmland and destroying crops On January 3 at 10:30 AM an armada of 82 flying fortresses loosed their death-dealing load on the city of Pyongyang Hundreds of tons of bombs and incendiary compound were simultaneously dropped throughout the city, causing annihilating fires, the transatlantic barbarians bombed the city with delayed-action high-explosive bombs which exploded at intervals for a whole day making it impossible for the people to come out onto the streets. The entire city has now been burning, enveloped in flames, for two days. By the second day, 7,812 civilians houses had been burnt down. The Americans were well aware that there were no military targets left in Pyongyang The number of inhabitants of Pyongyang killed by bomb splinters, burnt alive and suffocated by smoke is incalculableSome 50,000 inhabitants remain in the city which before the war had a population of 500,000. (Americans have forgotten what we did to North Korea, Vox World) The United States killed over 2 million people in a country that posed no threat to US national security. Like Vietnam, the Korean War was just another muscle-flexing exercise the US periodically engages in whenever it gets bored or needs some far-flung location to try out its new weapons systems. The US had nothing to gain in its aggression on the Korean peninsula, it was mix of imperial overreach and pure unalloyed viciousness the likes of which weve seen many times in the past. According to the Asia-Pacific Journal: By the fall of 1952, there were no effective targets left for US planes to hit. Every significant town, city and industrial area in North Korea had already been bombed. In the spring of 1953, the Air Force targeted irrigation dams on the Yalu River, both to destroy the North Korean rice crop and to pressure the Chinese, who would have to supply more food aid to the North. Five reservoirs were hit, flooding thousands of acres of farmland, inundating whole towns and laying waste to the essential food source for millions of North Koreans.10 Only emergency assistance from China, the USSR, and other socialist countries prevented widespread famine. (The Destruction and Reconstruction of North Korea, 1950 1960, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Japan Focus) Repeat: Reservoirs, irrigation dams, rice crops, hydroelectric dams, population centers all napalmed, all carpet bombed, all razed to the ground. Nothing was spared. If it moved it was shot, if it didnt move, it was bombed. The US couldnt win, so they turned the country into an uninhabitable wastelands. Let them starve. Let them freeze.. Let them eat weeds and roots and rodents to survive. Let them sleep in the ditches and find shelter in the rubble. What do we care? Were the greatest country on earth. God bless America. This is how Washington does business, and it hasnt changed since the Seventh Cavalry wiped out 150 men, women and children at Wounded Knee more than century ago. The Lakota Sioux at Pine Ridge got the same basic treatment as the North Koreans, or the Vietnamese, or the Nicaraguans, or the Iraqis and on and on and on and on. Anyone else who gets in Uncle Sams way, winds up in a world of hurt. End of story. The savagery of Americas war against the North left an indelible mark on the psyche of the people. Whatever the cost, the North cannot allow a similar scenario to take place in the future. Whatever the cost, they must be prepared to defend themselves. If that means nukes, then so be it. Self preservation is the top priority. Is there a way to end this pointless standoff between Pyongyang and Washington, a way to mend fences and build trust? Of course there is. The US just needs to start treating the DPRK with respect and follow through on their promises. What promises? The promise to built the North two light-water reactors to provide heat and light to their people in exchange for an end to its nuclear weapons program. You wont read about this deal in the media because the media is just the propaganda wing of the Pentagon. They have no interest in promoting peaceful solutions. Their stock-in-trade is war, war and more war. The North wants the US to honor its obligations under the 1994 Agreed Framework. Thats it. Just keep up your end of the goddamn deal. How hard can that be? Heres how Jimmy Carter summed it up in a Washington Post op-ed (November 24, 2010): in September 2005, an agreement reaffirmed the basic premises of the 1994 accord. (The Agreed Framework) Its text included denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a pledge of non-aggression by the United States and steps to evolve a permanent peace agreement to replace the U.S.-North Korean-Chinese cease-fire that has been in effect since July 1953. Unfortunately, no substantive progress has been made since 2005 This past July I was invited to return to Pyongyang to secure the release of an American, Aijalon Gomes, with the proviso that my visit would last long enough for substantive talks with top North Korean officials. They spelled out in detail their desire to develop a denuclearized Korean Peninsula and a permanent cease-fire, based on the 1994 agreements and the terms adopted by the six powers in September 2005. North Korean officials have given the same message to other recent American visitors and have permitted access by nuclear experts to an advanced facility for purifying uranium. The same officials had made it clear to me that this array of centrifuges would be on the table for discussions with the United States, although uranium purification a very slow process was not covered in the 1994 agreements. Pyongyang has sent a consistent message that during direct talks with the United States, it is ready to conclude an agreement to end its nuclear programs, put them all under IAEA inspection and conclude a permanent peace treaty to replace the temporary cease-fire of 1953. We should consider responding to this offer. The unfortunate alternative is for North Koreans to take whatever actions they consider necessary to defend themselves from what they claim to fear most: a military attack supported by the United States, along with efforts to change the political regime. (North Koreas consistent message to the U.S., President Jimmy Carter, Washington Post) Most people think the problem lies with North Korea, but it doesnt. The problem lies with the United States; its unwillingness to negotiate an end to the war, its unwillingness to provide basic security guarantees to the North, its unwillingness to even sit down with the people who through Washingtons own stubborn ignorance are now developing long-range ballistic missiles that will be capable of hitting American cities. How dumb is that? The Trump team is sticking with a policy that has failed for 63 years and which clearly undermines US national security by putting American citizens directly at risk. AND FOR WHAT? To preserve the image of tough guy, to convince people that the US doesnt negotiate with weaker countries, to prove to the world that whatever the US says, goes? Is that it? Is image more important than a potential nuclear disaster? Relations with the North can be normalized, economic ties can be strengthened, trust can be restored, and the nuclear threat can be defused. The situation with the North does not have to be a crisis, it can be fixed. It just takes a change in policy, a bit of give-and-take, and leaders that genuinely want peace more than war. Tauranga City Council and Western Bay of Plenty District Council are joining forces to reduce the risk and harm from dog attacks. Together theyre offering an amnesty to owners of menacing dogs which will see them receive up to $350 worth of neutering, microchipping, a subsidised muzzle and registration, all for free. The initiative is largely being funded by central government. The offer runs until June 30 and applies to dogs that have or could be classified as menacing under the Dog Control Act 1996 due to their breed, type or behaviour. Four breeds (Brazilian Fila, Dogo Argentino, Japanese Tosa and Perro dePresa Canario) and one type (American Pit Bull Terrier) are automatically classified as menacing dogs. However, any dog that Council considers may pose a threat to any person or animal may also be classified as menacing. Tauranga City Council animal services team leader Brent Lincoln says over the past two years there were 214 dog attacks in wider Western Bay. The sad thing is when a dog does attack, everybody loses. The victim and their family have to deal with the consequences of the injury and the dog owner can lose their pet which is often regarded as a family member. It is the dog owners responsibility to ensure their dog isnt another statistic. The campaign is part of a nationwide attempt to reduce dog attacks in New Zealand, and supports the proposed changes for menacing dog owners under the Dog Control Act. One of these proposed changes will require all owners of menacing dogs to have them neutered. Western Bay of Plenty District Councils bylaw already requires this. Neutering a dog has many positive benefits, including that the dog will be less likely to wander and get into fights, says Brent. Neutering simply pushes sex drive and fighting down the list of priorities allowing other activities to become more important such as working, hunting, tracking and obedience. Western Bay of Plenty compliance and monitoring manager Alison Curtis says the amnesty period gives owners the chance to come forward without repercussion and take advantage of this free offer before it becomes law under the Act. In the Western Bay of Plenty there are 301 registered menacing dogs, but the issue is with the unknown number of unregistered menacing dogs. We want to promote responsible dog ownership, and push the message that if you own a high-risk dog you have a higher responsibility and this package is a great opportunity for owners of high-risk dogs. To register for this package, owners of menacing dogs can call Tauranga City Council on 07 577 7000 or Western Bay of Plenty District Council on 07 571 8008, or visit the Councils customer service centres. Tauranga, Opotiki, Matata, Owharoa Falls and Ohope Beach all have a starring role in a new video captured by a Frenchman currently tiki touring across New Zealand. The locations filmed in Damien Lairs video Head Over Bay of Plenty were all shot using a drone during The Golden Hour the period shortly after sunrise or before sunset earlier this month. The 31-year-old, who is in the country on a working holiday with his girlfriend for the next seven months, says he chose New Zealand for the beautiful landscape and the Maori culture. I love this country and my girlfriend too. Its perfect place for shooting picture and video. Golden hours are my perfect moments of the day for picture and video. Head Over Bay of Plenty is the second video Damien has created during his stay in New Zealand. In March he shot a similar video of Auckland City which he filmed over the course of a week. To see more of Damiens video visit his YouTube channel Play at the new site will be free and first come, first served through the... PeaceHealth St. John Medical Center Monday continued to defend itself from a KGW-TV news report that stated it had the highest rate of hospital-acquired MRSA infections in the state in 2015. Yes we did have a spike in our infection rates in 2015 and we took that extremely seriously, said Dr. Eleen Kirman, Chief Medical Officer for St. John. Weve taken a lot of measures to decrease the infection rate and because of that weve had no MRSA infections (since 2015). Medicare data shows that St. John had a rising rate of hospital-acquired MRSA infections from 2013 to 2015, according to Medicare.gov, which tracks and compares infection rates at hospitals nationwide. Last weeks KGW report did not report the actual number of MRSA infections at the hospital, and instead compared the ratio of infection at St. John with those at other hospitals. In 2015, St. John reported five hospital-acquired MRSA infections out of the roughly 7,500 people admitted to the hospital, according to Medicare data. Upon further review, however, hospital staff found two of the five people had entered the hospital already infected with MRSA. A third person is likely to have had MRSA before admission as well, but that cant be definitively confirmed, according to hospital staff. That puts the total number of MRSA infections at St. John for 2015 at two or three. The national average for a hospital of St. Johns size is two, according to Medicare.gov. MRSA is a type of staph infection that is highly resistant to antibiotics and can be fatal. A person is determined to have acquired MRSA prior to their stay in the hospital if blood tests find it within four days of admission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If MRSA is first found after four days, it is classified as having been contracted at the hospital. Kirman said the hospital didnt do blood cultures as soon as some of the five MRSA patients entered the hospital, so it may have taken the blame for infections in 2015 that it didnt cause. Some of the cultures were done several days after day four, so that was ours, we could have done better. We didnt do the cultures upon admission, so we got credit for the MRSA infection, Kirman said. The reality is that not everything was terrible that year. I think it was our inability to document them correctly and so we got credit for those five infections. A family member of a patient filed a complaint against the hospital in 2015, prompting a state and federal investigation, which was mainly led by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, an arm of the federal Health and Human Services Department. The 39-page CMS report details several complaints and deficiencies in the Longview hospitals ability to prevent and control infections. Kirman said the hospital and its staff knew about its increase in MRSA infections in 2015 before a federal investigation was done, as they track infection rates internally, but said the hospital should have reacted sooner. Since 2015, St. John has made changes that brings the hospital into compliance with federal Medicaid, Medicare and CDC regulations. These changes have led to zero hospital-acquired MRSA infections since the beginning of 2016, according to internal hospital reporting data. Its hard enough for any one of us to do, in our own personal lives, something 100 percent of the time to get it to zero. Imagine the size of a hospital and all the staff being on the same page, doing things the same standard (way), in order to drive that to zero, said Len Hamilton, director of surgical services. Thats a pretty incredible accomplishment. The hospital now follows the World Health Organizations protocol for hand-washing. With the WHO method, hospital staff wash their hands five separate times, before patient contact, before an aspetic task, after bodily fluid exposure risk, after patient contact and after contact with patient surroundings. Hand-washing is one of the number one ways to prevent the spread of infections. Weve always had these things in place but we really took it to the next level with hand hygiene, Kirman said. The hospital has also updated and expanded its use of isolation carts, said Ryan Laurie, infection preventionist at St. John. The bright yellow carts are placed outside the rooms of patients suspected or confirmed to have any type of infection. All 30 isolation carts are equipped with cleaning solutions, eye glasses, masks, gloves, disposable stethoscopes, and slip-on gowns to help cover staff members. New disposable gowns are easier to take on and off and cover the entire front of a staff member, helping to prevent the spread of infections, Kirman said. The hospital also does daily huddles, during which each department meets before the day starts to go over the type of patients in their care and their situations. Laurie said that these changes have led to more front-line staff members operating as infection preventionists themselves. The truth is that theyre the ones every day touching patients, who are caring for patients, Laurie said. That is the most vital part of whats going on and why weve seen that shift and that turn around. Hospital staff said these changes have significantly decreased the hospitals infection rates, not just with MRSA, but with other infections as well. Weve always been interested in the safety and well-being of our patients. Weve always taken infections very seriously. ... We have now gone 15 months since then and not had a single infection, Kirman said. I think that speaks to the dedication of the staff and caregivers. Nimish Sawant Micromax, the homegrown smartphone brand which has diversified into TVs and ACs, has had a relatively quiet 2016 since its 'Nuts. Guts. Glory' brand revamp announcement. In the second half of the year though, there wasn't much happening at Micromax in terms of smartphone product release cycle. But it is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that 2017 sees a lot of action. We are in the fourth month of the year, and Micromax has already launched four new smartphone segments, namely Vdeo, Dual, Evok and Bharat. So what was the reason behind the slowing down in the second half of 2016? A relatively quiet 2016 "Yes, we agree that we went quiet in the second half of 2016. That's because we wanted to see how the market was responding to the Chinese smartphone juggernaut," says Micromax founder and CEO, Rahul Sharma. "I think all the possible Chinese smartphone brands are now present in India. So we have a complete picture. Although to be honest, I didn't expect all of them to come here so soon." The demonetisation announcement, post November, further delayed a lot of the plans for Micromax, says Sharma, hinting that the company's offline channel partners had expressed concerns regarding unsold inventory and shortage of cash in circulation. Things have settled down now since the cash circulation is a lot healthier now. Sharma also clarified any doubts regarding the just announced Dual 5 smartphone. "We have tied up with Qiku as our ODM partner and hence the resemblance. But having said that, we are focusing on the security aspect of the phone as it comes bundled with 360 security system." This security system is tied in with the hardware. Security is an area Micromax is planning to explore in 2017 and to that effect it is one of the first companies in the world to have tied up with McAfee for providing security solutions for its smartphones. Changing perceptions Micromax, as well as most smartphone brands selling in India, have certainly felt the repercussions of the onslaught of Chinese smartphone makers such as Oppo and Vivo. In a move to reinvent its product portfolio, Micromax has decided to focus on addressing the premium tier market. The dual rear camera sporting Dual 5 is a strategic move in that direction. Micromax hopes to make the Dual into a segment which will be focussed on offering dual rear cameras sporting smartphones across price brackets. Micromax has also announce the next phone in this segment -- the Dual 4 -- which will sport dual rear cameras as well, but will come at a lower price point than the Dual 5. But, a Micromax phone at Rs 24,999? Talking about the aspect of brand perception, Shubhajit Sen CMO of Micromax said that as long as the product is good, there is no need to worry. "We are more concerned with getting back in the mindset of our customers after a relatively quiet 2016. Also our research has shown us that over the Rs 20,000 price bracket, the category driver is the goodness of the product. If you have a well thought out product offering great performance and good camera, you will sell volumes," said Sen. When asked if he saw consolidation happening in the smartphone segment, now that there are so many brands around, Sen offered an interesting perspective. "I can't say for sure that complete brands will cease to exists. But there will definitely be a consolidation at a segment level. By that I mean, certain brands will not operate in certain price segments. You will definitely see smartphone makers taking a call and focussing on specific price segments where they can expect to make money," said Sen. Other goals Micromax has also partnered with Flipkart to sell it's Evok line of smartphones. According to Sen, this partnership is beyond just an e-commerce partnership. "We have been in touch with Flipkart right since the product conception stage. The vast data that Flipkart has about user habits when it comes to buying smartphones is what is driving our design and features offering decisions." According to Sen, Micromax has also gone bullish on improving the customer service segment of the company. "We have gone from 825 service centres last year to over 1000 now. Even at our customer care centres the open calls are down from 140,000 to around 20,000. We want to ensure the best customer service to our customers and we will work towards improving that," he said. Sharma also touched upon the infrastructure of Micromax, stating that the company is adding a fourth manufacturing plant in Madhya Pradesh soon. By the end of the year Micromax plans to make all its smartphones in India, a figure which stands at 75 percent today. "Micromax will be continuing to invest in Indian software startups. And we do use of a lot of these services in our smartphones one AroundYU platform," said Sharma. Bharat, the entry level smartphone for first time users is another product segment that Micromax hopes to capitalise on. The Bharat 2, for instance, comes with 4G VoLTE support and is priced at Rs 3,249. According to Sharma, the winner in the battle between entry level smartphones and 4G VoLTE supporting feature phones will be decided by the subsidies offered. According to Sharma, there is space for both segments to co-exist. Micromax is going ahead with a Spreadtrum SoC to power its Bharat line of entry-level smartphones. The company has certainly pivoted to the premium segment. The Dual 5 certainly looks different from a standard Micromax device. But will it start a dual rear camera revolution in India? That is something only time will tell. But what Micromax promises, is an aggressive smartphone launch cycle in 2017. PTI A 13-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself live on Instagram as his friends watched in horror. Malachi Hemphill of Forest Park, Georgia, was found unconscious by his mother Shaniqua Stephens and her daughter after they heard a loud bang from his bedroom. "I heard a big boom. I couldn't tell if it was a gunshot or what. I just knew that it was something that was wrong," the boy's mother Shaniqua Stephens told WXIA-TV. She and her daughter ran upstairs and found him. "We kicked in the door. We found him just laying there in a pool of blood," Stephens recounted. "My daughter screamed and said, 'Mom turn his phone off!' As I proceeded to look at his phone he was on Instagram Live," she said. Hemphill was live on the social media site Instagram handling the gun when it went off. He was rushed to Grady Hospital where he died. "This is just a pain that will never go away. He was my only son. He was just 13. Just the thought of me seeing him on the floor will never leave my brain," she said. Stephens said it was an accident and not an intentional suicide. Several of his friends were watching when the shooting happened last Monday. Stephens said they rushed to her house afterwards. "There was about 40 to 50 kids outside. I guess these were the kids that were watching on live in the area. I guess when it happened they just ran over here," she said. She has been told that someone asked why he did not have a clip in the gun and told him to put a clip in the gun. "As he put the clip in the gun, that is when the gun went off," Stephens said. Stephens, however, was not completely sure how Malachi got the gun. She was told he got the gun from a friend who got it from someone else. She said it was hard to keep track of his activities on social media even though she and her husband Ernest monitored his profiles often. She said she hopes parents get the message to keep a vigilant eye on what children are doing and who they are doing it with. tech2 News Staff LG India has launched a pre-registration page for potential customers that may be interested in buying the latest flagship devices from the company. The company has not announced the official date of launch in India at the time of writing but considering that it has published the pre-registration page, we can expect the launch to happen in near future. LG announced the latest flagship at the Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona almost two months back. The LG G6 comes with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 chipset, which is the last generation flagship along with 4 GB RAM. In terms of storage, you get 32 GB onboard storage with the option to expand the storage using a microSD card. It runs on Android 7.1 Nougat along with the LG skin atop it called UX 6. Google Assistant will come baked in with LG G6. It comes with a 3300 mAh battery and measures 7.9 mm thick and weighs 163 g. The LG G6 comes with an all metal body along with glass construction, with rounded corners. LG has ensured that the camera module is flush with the rear side of the phone. The LG G6 is also the first LG phone to come with IP68 certification which ensures water and dust resistance. The main feature of the LG G6 is its 18:9 aspect ratio display. The phone features a 5.7-inch QuadHD+ resolution (2880 x 1440 pixels) with the FullVision display. LG claims to have solved the problem of large size displays in compact phone bodies with the FullVision display. The focus was on providing a large display phone which is capable of being used one-handed. LG G6 will also be the first smartphone to support Dolby Vision. Apart from this it will support HDR 10 as well. The LG G6 comes with two 13 MP rear cameras, one of which has a wide angle lens where as the other one showing normal view. There is a 5 MP front facing camera which has a 100-degree field of view which provides wide-angle selfies. The 13 MP regular rear cameras comes with an f/1.8 aperture and supports optical image stabilisation, whereas the wide angle 13 MP camera comes with an f/2.4 aperture without any image stabilisation. Battery capacity has been bumped up from the one that was found on its predecessor, to 3300mAh. It supports fast charging and comes with a USB Type C port for the same. tech2 News Staff Reliance Jio will soon start disconnecting users who have not recharged their numbers with any offer. This means that users who have neither enrolled in the Jio Prime offer nor recharged using any of the plans will no longer be able to use the free service. Reliance Jio has not issued any official statement about the people who will have their services disconnected as reported by Deccan Chronicle. We are waiting for an official statement from Jio, to clarify if the disconnection will be applicable to people who have not enrolled for Prime membership as well as non-prime plans. Or will it include the users who have enrolled in for Jio Prime membership and have not enrolled in for any Prime plan. One thing to note here is that the people who want to enroll to the Dhan Dhana Dhan offer can still visit the Jio website or MyJio App to recharge for Rs 149, 309 or 509 for the monthly benefits as outlined on the website. The recharge plans for Rs 309 and 509 are the plans applicable under Dhan Dhana Dhan that includes 84-day validity and 1 GB or 2GB 4G data limit per day according to the plan. Non-Prime members will need to recharge for Rs 349 or 549 to get the same benefits as outlined by the offers. The interesting thing is that the company has still listed the Sachet plans along with Top-up and Booster plans de-marking the difference in benefits for Prime and Non-Prime members. The company has removed the Postpaid plans from the Jio website at the time of writing. To make it easier, If you have not enrolled in for any offer, you can still enroll for the Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan offer. If you enrolled only for Prime membership, it is still not late for you to enroll in the latest offer. If you recharged for Rs 303 and above plans before 11 April 2017, you will get the promised benefits of Jio Summer Surprise offer. However, if you have not shelled out any money and dont plan on recharging your Jio number then be ready for account disconnection. Reliance Jio Happy New Year Offer was sent to expire of 15 April 2017 requiring users to recharge to any of the Prime or Non-Prime offers. The company had set the deadline to enroll in for Prime membership from 1 March 2017 to 1 April 2017. However, the deadline was extended to 15 April 2017. The company also launched a new offer, Jio Summer Surprise Offer for users who recharge with Rs 303 or more, while the users with plans lower than Rs 303 would enjoy normal usage according to the defined plans. The company had to drop the offer after Trai asked Jio to discontinue this offer as it would further hurt the telecom sector. Disclaimer: Reliance Jio is owned by Reliance Industries, who also own Network18, the publisher of Firstpost and tech2 tech2 News Staff UPDATE: Samsung India has sent out official invites to the media for the launch of its flagship Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphone in the country. We have updated the copy to include the media invite. Its as good as official: Samsung will launch the Galaxy S8 and S8+ in India on 19 April. Its been mere weeks since Samsung announced the launch of its latest flagship smartphones and weve been waiting on tenterhooks for an official release date and price tag. Reports in The Huffington Post and International Business Times, citing reliable sources confirm that the devices official launch date is 19 April. Weve attempted to confirm the dates ourselves, but no information has been forthcoming. There isnt even an official invitation for the event yet. The launch event is expected to happen in New Delhi. No other details of the event are available. We do not know the price of the device nor its availability. We expect the price to be in the Rs 50,000 range at launch. The S8 and S8+ both feature a brand new design and a display thats Samsung is calling the Infinity Display. The phone will be available in either a 5.8-inch variant or a 6.2-inch one. The front features no buttons and vanishingly small bezels. The front home button has also been removed and the fingerprint sensor has been pushed to the back of the device. Samsungs much-touted voice assistant Bixby is also unlikely to make an appearance just yet. The in-house developed assistant will only be available in Korea and the US, but even the US release has been pushed back owing to Bixbys inability to fully understand English just yet. Full details of the devices can be found here. The specifications of the two phones are as follows: Bio-diversity in Sundarbans threatened Ahsanul Amin George, Khulna : Biodiversity in the Sundarbans has been facing a great threat as some influential land pirates have been grabbing lands adjacent to the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and also the largest world heritage site, declared by the UNESCO. Sundarbans, the largest contiguous patch of Mangrove Forest in the world, constitutes 51 percent of the total reserved Forest estate and is also the richest natural resources of Bangladesh. Around 6 lacs persons are dependent upon the Sundarbans. Population growth and economic development have brought immense pressure on mangrove wealth and its system for firewood, timber, fishes, honey and thatching materials. About 6 lacs people directly or indirectly depended on the resources of Sundarbans in a network of numerous Sundary and big streams and creeks in the adverse bioclimatic of mangrove forests infested with fierce wild animals-tiger in land and crocodile in water struggling for Survival. The forest department with the aid of EU fund through Seals project is initiative for diverting the minds of such Sundarbans independent people to the alternative way. Three NGOS named world vision, concern worldwide and Relief international EU funded NGO are working in the Sundarbans for developing alternative livelihoods for Sundarbans Reserved Forest (SRF) dependent households. NGOs are working by formation of community groups, conservation education, identifying SRF dependent households, skill development and vocational training of the community groups and awareness, children access to educational institution and community members to health clinic and water/sanitation services and women rehabilitation through farm activities. It is found in Joymonirghole area that women are rearing poultry with the aid of the seals project the male persons, of course are still engaged in fishing. Some problems are found while visiting the Sundarbans .Among them- manpower shortage inadequate transport facilities inside the Sundarbans, very poor accommodation facilities for officer/staffs, Scarcity of fresh and pure drinking water, lack of health care facility and no suitable place or environment for living in the reason the staffs have to maintain two families one is in their village home and the other is for their own purposes inside the Sundarbans. Forest Staffs, Particularly the forest guards are living inhuman lives in the Sundarbans. No Smiling face was found during the visit as they have not paid any risk allowance or other related forest allowance. Sundarbans has considerably high floral diversity and about 334 plant Species in total. Among them Sundari, Keora, Bean, Passur, Kankra, Goran, Golpata, Singra, Bhola, Hental, Khulshi and Gewa are most Common. There are more than 375 wild life species in SRF which include 35 reptiles, 315 birds and 42 mammals. The major wildlife in Sundarbans are the Royal Bengal Tiger, Spotted deer, Wild Boan, Monkey, Estuarine crocodile, python, Turtle, Dolphin, Otter, Jungle, Cast, Fishing cat and a Variety of bird species. It may be mentioned in this connection that the UNESCO World Heritage committee declared Sundarbans as its 798th heritage site on the 6th December 1997 under the categories (ii) and (iv) of the convention. The prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ceremonially unveiled the world Heritage plaque on February 4, 1999 which includes three wild life Sanctuary with an area of 1,39,700 hectare. On a recent visit, this correspondent saw that some influential people have put sign boards after occupying lands in Joymonirghol area adjacent to the Sundarbans. Some persons were conducting their business by grabbing lands in the area. Local people alleged, due to occupying lands , bio diversity of the Sundarbans are posing threat. Experts think, necessary steps should be taken on urgent basis in order to save the wild lives. Amir Hossain Chowdhury, Conservator of Forest (CF) of Khulna region said, 18 more sanctuaries would be built in the Sundarbans within short time. Trump congratulates Turkey's Erdogan on referendum win Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan also discussed the counter-ISIS campaign. AFP, Ankara : US President Donald Trump called his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday to congratulate him on winning the referendum boosting his powers, the White House said on Monday. The call was first reported by Turkish state media, one day after Erdogan won over 51 percent in Sunday's vote. "Trump called Erdogan tonight (Monday) and congratulated him on his success in the referendum," Turkish presidential sources said, quoted by the government run Anadolu news agency. The reaction from Trump contrasts with EU leaders who have been reserved in their reaction to the narrow victory while monitors expressed concern over the "unlevel playing field". The White House in a statement later on Monday said that the two leaders discussed a range of topics in addition to the vote in Turkey. "President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to congratulate him on his recent referendum victory and to discuss the United States's action in response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons on April 4th," the White House statement said. "President Trump thanked President Erdogan for supporting this action by the United States, and the leaders agreed on the importance of holding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable," the statement continued. "President Trump and President Erdogan also discussed the counter-ISIS campaign and the need to cooperate against all groups that use terrorism to achieve their ends." Trump promised Turkey's Erdogan close cooperation on Syria, Iraq, PKK: Turkish sources Meanwhile, Turkey's prime minister has called on the opposition to respect the result of a referendum that will expand the powers of the office of the president. In an address to legislators from his ruling party on Tuesday, Binali Yildirim said the people had voted to switch from a parliamentary to a presidential system, adding: the "opposition should not speak after the people have spoken." An unofficial tally carried by the country's state-run news agency gave President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's "yes" camp a narrow win. Opposition parties called for the vote to be annulled because of a series of irregularities, particularly an electoral board decision to accept ballots that didn't bear official stamps, as required by Turkish law. International monitors said the move undermined safeguards against fraud. US National Security Adviser discusses Afghanistan in India AP, New Delhi : President Donald Trump's national security adviser has discussed the situation in Afghanistan with India's prime minister, nearly a week after the U.S. military dropped a massive non-nuclear bomb in the country that it said killed 94 militants. H.R. McMaster's meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the first visit by a Trump administration official to India, a key ally in Asia. The U.S. Embassy says the two also discussed ways to increase defense and counter-terrorism cooperation, and McMaster assured Modi of India's status as a major defense partner in the global fight against terrorism. Indian TV stations broadcast images of McMaster and Modi, each flanked by officials, sitting together at Modi's home in the Indian capital. Meanwhile, the United States asked Pakistan on Monday to indiscriminately fight all terrorist groups. This message was conveyed to Pakistani leadership during US National Security Adviser Lt Gen H.R. McMaster's daylong trip to Islamabad during which he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, National Security Adviser retired Lt Gen Nasser Janjua and Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa. Pence reassures Japan of US resolve on N Korea, to work with China U.S. Vice President Mike Pence (L) is welcomed by Japan\'s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at their meeting at Abe\'s official residence in Tokyo on Tuesday. Reuters, Tokyo : US Vice President Mike Pence reassured Japan of American commitment to reining in North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions on Tuesday, after warning that U.S. strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed the strength of its resolve. Pence arrived in Tokyo from South Korea, where he assured leaders of an "iron-clad" alliance with the United States in the face of the reclusive North, which has conducted a series of missile and nuclear tests in defiance of U.N. sanctions. "The era of strategic patience is over and while all options are on the table, President (Donald) Trump is determined to work closely with Japan, with South Korea, with all our allies in the region and with China to achieve a peaceable resolution and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula," Pence said in Tokyo before lunch with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Pence and Abe agreed that they needed to persuade China to play a larger role in dealing with North Korea, a Japanese government spokesman said. North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and it showed no let-up in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang. North Korea's deputy representative to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, accused the United States on Monday of creating "a situation where nuclear war could break out an any time" and said the North's next nuclear test would take place "at a time and at a place where our headquarters deems necessary". North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol told the BBC that missiles would be tested on "a weekly, monthly and yearly basis". The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. It has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturizing a nuclear warhead. Pence said on Monday the world had seen Trump's resolve in the past two weeks, with a U.S. missile attack on a Syrian airfield and the dropping of a powerful non-nuclear bomb on Islamic State fighters in Afghanistan. The Trump administration has said military action remains an option for dealing with North Korea. But, mindful that this would likely trigger massive retaliation and casualties in South Korea and Japan, U.S. officials say Trump's main focus is on tougher economic sanctions. U.S. officials say tougher sanctions could include an oil embargo, a global ban on North Korea's airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks doing business with Pyongyang. They also say greater Chinese cooperation is vital. Susan Thornton, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia, said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and China's top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, agreed in a phone call on Sunday on the need for strict enforcement of U.N. resolutions. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi repeated China's line that the crisis could only be resolved by diplomacy. "I've seen that the United States has reiterated it is willing to use political and diplomatic means to resolve this, as this is their first choice," he told reporters in Beijing. "Of course I think that any country will feel that political diplomatic means are of course the first choice," Wang said. Asia traders wary but Tokyo up on weaker yen AFP, Hong Kong : Japanese shares got a boost Tuesday on a weaker yen but elsewhere in Asia some key markets drifted lower despite a positive lead from Wall Street as geopolitical concerns kept traders on edge. North Korea's envoy to the United Nations warned Monday that Pyongyang was preparing for "any mode of war" triggered by US military action, just days after it defiantly test-fired another missile. US Vice President Mike Pence was due to arrive in Tokyo Tuesday bringing a renewed commitment to Japan's security amid growing threats from the isolated state. There are fears that Pyongyang could react to a potential US strike by targeting South Korea or Japan, and officials in Tokyo and Seoul have been ill at ease with the more bellicose language deployed by President Trump's administration. Washington has refused to rule out military action against the hermit state's regime, worried that North Korea may soon build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the US. "It seems the focus is now firmly on future missile tests from North Korea and whether any future tests will actually be successful," said IG market strategist Chris Weston. "From here, it would all be down to Mr Trump and his allies and what their reaction would be, but we can believe that markets will not take kindly to this. For now though the hope is on an increased prospects for talks, potentially incorporating China more into any negotiations." Hong Kong fell 0.9 percent in post-holiday trade, while Seoul retreated 0.1 percent and Shanghai was also down 0.1 percent despite positive data on China's economy released Monday. Sydney was down more than one percent amid a slump in iron ore prices. US insurer withdraws from deal with China's Anbang AFP, New York : US insurer Fidelity & Guaranty Life said Monday it was terminating a proposed $1.6 billion deal to be acquired by China's Anbang Insurance Group. "We have determined that it is no longer in the best interests of FGL's shareholders to continue to pursue the transaction with Anbang," said Fidelity chief executive Chris Littlefield in a news release. FGL said it was open to a deal with another party and had received interest from "a number of parties" but had been barred from striking another deal while the Anbang transaction was alive. Financing mass-program on water and sanitation John Garrett : Eighteen months ago, UN member-states pledged a new set of goals on eradicating extreme poverty and creating a fairer, more sustainable planet by 2030. This week, we have alarming evidence that at least one of those goals - Sustainable Development Goal 6, to reach everyone everywhere with access to water and sanitation - is already in peril. The UN Water Global Analysis and Assessment of Sanitation and Drinking-Water (GLAAS) report produced by the World Health Organisation (WHO) has revealed a huge gap in financing with over 80% of developing countries reporting that they have insufficient resources to meet their national targets. Globally, the World Bank estimates that as much as 114 billion is required annually, around three times current levels - to meet the UN Global Goals' ambitions to reach everyone, everywhere with safely-managed water and sanitation. Some 663 million people in the world are without an 'improved' source of water and millions more are drinking water which may be contaminated after collection; nearly 2.4 billion people in the world are without access to decent sanitation, and the resulting health crises kill 315,000 young children each year. Soberingly, new aid commitments from donors for water and sanitation have fallen by 21% since 2012, from US$ 10.4 billion to US$ 8.2 billion in 2015. Also of major concern is the continuing ineffective targeting of aid. GLAAS reported one country in Europe - Ukraine - received the equivalent of more than half of the aid commitment for water and sanitation to all of Sub-Saharan Africa in 2015. Nearly 2.4 billion people in the world are without access to decent sanitation, and the resulting health crises kill 315,000 young children each year Closing this financial gap will require increased levels of domestic and international finance for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), from both public and private sources. However, given the scale of the financial challenge, there remains a strong need for international aid. This is all the more important given the additional challenges faced by many developing countries from growing populations, rapid urbanisation, water scarcity and climate change. Among other findings in this regular report card on water and sanitation financing: Sub-Saharan Africa is home to half of the world's people living without access to clean water, yet they received only US$1.7 billion, or 20% of all water and sanitation aid, in 2015. This is down from 38% in 2012. Some 85% of the global population without access to improved sanitation or drinking-water from an improved source live in three regions: Central and Southern Asia, East and South-eastern Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. However, aid commitments to these three regions were only 48% of global overseas development aid for water and sanitation in 2015. Non-governmental projects and funding are greater than government spending on water and sanitation in many countries, demonstrating the critical need for continued international aid, as well as efforts to create greater domestic revenues and stronger government systems. Sanitation spending is still half that of spending on water, despite there being 2.4 billion people - or one in three of the world's population - without access. These are alarming trends. Water, sanitation and hygiene programmes are critical for good health, education and improved livelihoods, providing an essential building block for the eradication of poverty. For every 1 invested, an estimated 4 is returned through improved health and productivity. Yet we see by the GLAAS report's findings that the majority of developing countries do not have enough money to achieve their targets on water and sanitation access and that aid commitments are actually falling. WaterAid has called for overseas development aid to water, sanitation and hygiene to at least double from current levels by 2020, with an emphasis on grant financing, and for it to be targeted to areas of greatest need. We want to see the volume of development aid spent on water, sanitation and hygiene increased. But just as importantly, we want to see it spent well. An essential component of aid is ensuring countries have support to plan for water and sanitation services today and in the long-term, with appropriate financing for maintenance and staff training. Without these changes, many countries will be seriously off track on SDG 6 even at this early stage. The GLAAS report has been released ahead of the World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington D.C. On 19-20 April, as part of the Spring Meetings, the Sanitation and Water for All partnership of more than 150 organisations will gather senior finance and water and sanitation ministers from around the world in high-level meetings, to monitor progress on delivering water and sanitation in their countries and call for further commitments. The SWA partnership holds members accountable to delivering on four 'collaborative behaviours' required to successfully reach even a country's poorest with sustainable access to water and sanitation: building sustainable financing strategies, strengthening country systems, enhancing government leadership, and using a common information and mutual accountability platform. As a founding member of the Sanitation and Water for All partnership, WaterAid is calling on ministers from both developing and donor nations to join the High-Level Meeting and deliver on their promises to reach everyone, everywhere with clean water and sanitation by 2030. Progress is possible: in 2000, around 18% of the world's population, or one billion people, had no access to even a basic, improved source of water. By 2015, this number had fallen to below 10%, or 663 million. But those still without access are often hardest to reach - marginalised by poverty, remote or rural locations, age, gender, ethnicity or ability. Going the last mile on water, and extending this progress to sanitation, requires high-level commitment, and the will to turn commitment into action. (John Garrett is Senior Policy Analyst, Development Finance at WaterAid). Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya held in UK BBC ONline : Indebted tycoon Vijay Mallya has been arrested in London, police have said. He was arrested by the Metropolitan Police's extradition unit "on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud". India has been pushing for the extradition of Mr Mallya, who faces charges of financial irregularities at his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Stay on MP Rana's bail extended Court Correspondent : The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday extended stay on bail till May 8 granted by High Court to Tangail-3 lawmaker Amanur Rahman Khan Rana in Freedom Fighter Faruk Ahmed murder case. Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division Justice Hasan Foez Siddique passed the order after hearing on a petition filed by the prosecution seeking stay on the High Court order. Earlier on April 16, the chamber judge stayed the High Court order till April 18 after a primary hearing on the plea of state. Before that, on April 13, the High Court granted bail to MP Rana in the case and issued a rule, asking the state to explain as to why it shall not grant the lawmaker permanent bail in the case. The trial court sent Amanur Rahman Rana to the jail after he surrendered on September 18, last year. Meanwhile, Deputy Attorney General Masud Hasan Chowdhury told newsmen that MP Rana would not be released from the jail following the latest order of the Appellate Division. Freedom Fighter Faruk, who was also a district Awami League leader, was found dead on January 18 in 2013 and later a murder case was lodged. Arrest warrant against Comilla City Mayor UNB, Dhaka : A court here on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant against Monirul Haque Sakku, the newly elected mayor of Comilla City Corporation (CCC), in a graft case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC). Dhaka Metropolitan Session Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah passed the order taking cognizance of the chargesheet. The court also ordered officer-in-charge of Ramna Police Station to submit a report on May 9 on his arrest. Earlier on May 7, 2008, Shahin Ara Mamtaz, assistant director of ACC, filed a case against Sakku and his wife Afroza Jesmin for concealing information of wealth worth TK 12.50 crore and amassing wealth of TK 4.57 crore illegally. On February 04, the ACC submitted chargesheet acquitting his wife. Conspiracy on to destroy tannery industry: Tanners Tannery Workers\' Union organised a rally in city\'s Hazaribagh area on Tuesday demanding early implementation of bilateral agreement to save the tannery sector from total ruination. UNB, Dhaka : The leaders of Tannery Workers Union on Tuesday alleged that a 'third party' is now conspiring to destroy the country's tannery industry. "A third party is conspiring against the tannery industry. Utility services, including gas, electricity and water, have been snapped as part of the conspiracy," president of Tannery Workers Union Abul Kalam Azad told a rally at Hazaribagh Tannery intersection. He said, shutting down the Hazaribagh tanneries before completing the works at Savar Tannery Estate proves that a third party is engaged in conspiracy to destroy the country's second largest export sector. He demanded utility connections to their industrial units at the Savar Tannery Estate within 15 working days in compliance with the apex court order passed on April 9 last. "If the utility connections are not given within the 15 days, the tannery workers will lay a siege to the office of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC)," Kalam said. He also demanded necessary facilities, including residence and hospital, for the tannery workers at Savar estate. Cochairman of Chamra Shilpa Rakkha Oikya Parishad and also Chairman of Bangladesh Tanners Association Shahin Ahmed said a well-planned plot continues to destroy the leather industry. "As part of the plot, utility services to Hazaribagh tanneries were disconnected and tanneries are being forced to be shifted, though the Savar estate is still not fully ready," he said. The union leaders also called for quick implementation of the bilateral deal signed earlier between the owners and the workers of the tannery industry. Their demands include residential facilities for the workers in Savar Tannery area, establishment of a 50-bed hospital, making their job permanent based on their competence and providing certificates. In compliance with a High Court order, the Department of Environment (DoE) on April 8 last disconnected utility services-electricity, gas and water-to some 224 tanneries at Hazaribagh as they missed several deadlines to relocate their factories to the 200-acre Savar Tannery Estate. Woman found dead at city hotel Staff Reporter : A woman was found dead in a room of a residential hotel in the city's Abdullahpur area early Tuesday. The deceased has been identified as Pushpo, 44. Uttara West Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Ali Hossain said that the victim along with a young man named Durjoy, 30, and a child checked-in 'Neela Residential Hotel' on Monday afternoon. They told the hotel authorities that they had come from Tangail to visit a doctor. But Durjoy left the hotel with the child at about 3:45am that created suspicion among the staff. On information, police rushed in, broke open the room and found the woman dead inside. The body was sent to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH), the OC said. BD, Bhutan sign 2 deals, 3 MoUs, 5 instruments UNB, Thimphu : Bangladesh and Bhutan on Tuesday signed five instruments, including three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and two agreements in sectors like agriculture, avoidance of double taxation, cultural cooperation and inland waterway use to further boost the bilateral ties between the two countries. The MoUs and agreements were signed between the two countries at the Royal Banquet Hall of Gyalyong Tshogkhang this evening after the bilateral meeting between Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Bhutanese Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay. Both the Prime Ministers witnessed the signing of the MoUs and agreements. Sheikh Hasina is now on a three-day state visit to Bhutan to attend an international conference on Autism. The MoU between Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Royal Government of Bhutan, and Department of Agriculture Extension, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Bangladesh was signed by Namgay Wangchuk, Director General of BAFRA of Bhutan. The agreement between Bangladesh and Bhutan on Avoidance of Double Taxation and Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income was signed by Nim Dorji, Secretary, Ministry of Finance of Bhutan. The Agreement on Cultural Cooperation between Bangladesh and Bhutan was signed by Ambassador Sonam Tshong, Foreign Secretary of Bhutan. Another MoU signed between the two countries is on Use of Inland Waterways for Transportation of Bilateral Trade and Transit Cargoes between Bangladesh and Bhutan. The other MoU between Bhutan Standards Bureau (BSB) and Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institute (BSTI) was signed by Sonam Phuntsho,Director General of Bhutan Standards Bureau. Those who signed the agreements and MoUs on behalf of Bangladesh are PMO Senior Secretary Suraiya Begum, Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque and DG, South Asia of Ministry of Foreign Affairs Monowar Hossain. JMB suicide squad recruiter Selim traced in Ctg jail Staff Reporter : Police have succeeded in tracing the Neo JMB recruiter Mahbubur Rahman Selim, a wanted militant, who has long been in Chittagong Central Jail under the name Mahbubur Rahman Khokon. The militant suicide squad recruiter, Mahbubur Rahman Selim, was arrested in a robbery case on October 5, 2015, said our local correspondent quoting police. Banaz Kumar Majumder, Deputy Inspector General and Chief Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI), said, "We have succeeded in tracing Selim, who is in Chittagong Central Jail under the name Khokon." The PBI Chittagong unit will appeal before the court to take Selim in fresh remand so that more information about Neo JMB's finances and organisational structure can be collected, the police official said. Selim is an associate of influential Neo JMB leader and bomb expert Lokman Ali alias Sohel Rana, who blew himself up along with his wife and five kids at Nasirpur in Moulvibazar during 'Operation Hit Back' on March 30, Banaz Kumar said. According to the PBI, Selim was arrested on October 5, 2015 in a case for his part in a robbery and murder at the Shah Corporation in Chittagong that took place on September 24 the same year. The law enforcement agencies have been haunting across the country for this notorious militant, who is suspected to be the recruiter for Neo JMB's suicide squad. While Selim was primarily in charge of recruitment for the militant outfit's suicide brigade, Sohel Rana trained the recruits in a clay house situated in the remote hills of Baishari's Lombabil Khorolia Mor area of Bandarban, said police sources. They added that militants arrested or killed at the recent raids in Ashkona, Sitakunda, Sylhet, Comilla and Moulvibazaar were all recruited by Selim and trained by Sohel. Construction begins soon Anisul Islam Noor : The government will immediately go for construction work on the much-talked- about Rampal coal -fired power plant near the Sundarbans as the financial closer of the US$1.6 billion project has completed through exchanging loan agreement document with the Exim Bank of India during the recent India tour of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The proposed plant has already evoked controvery as environmentalists vehemently opposed it. They said the government's initiative will destroy the Sundarbans as the environmental assessment of the power plant and technical survey are yet to finish. Chairman of Sundarbans Rokhya Jatiya Committee Advocat Sultana Kamal warned the government against going ahead with the project as it will ruin the world's biggest mangrove forest. She urged the government to relocate the plant. However, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told journalists on Sunday that the construction work on the power plant would start soon. Officials at the Power Division said work on the 1320 MW power plants will begin as soon as possible. Meanwhile, earth (soil) filling work on the requisite 915 acres of land has already been completed. Surrounded by a high boundary wall alongwith a fence, most of the land is covered with kashbon, five high watch towers and an office-cum-residence, and other small residences for the officers and caretakers have already been set up. Construction of a six-kilometre bypass road toward the power plant from the Khulna-Mongla highway has also been completed. Two pontoons and a jetty have been set up on the bank of the Pashur River on the west side of the main power plant. Arun Chowdhury, Additional General Manager (AGM) of Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt) Ltd, said a safe guard would be made with concrete blocks and surround the boundary of the power plant. Sources concerned said a MoU was signed in October 2012between Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Bangladesh-India Friendship Power Company (Pvt) Ltd (BIFPCL) to set up the 1320 MW coal based "Maitree Super Thermal Power Project" on 915 acres of land at Sapmari-Katakhali and Kaigardaskhati mouja under Rajnagar union of Rampal upazila in Bagerhat. Deputy General Manager of BIFPCL Vinod Bhoyar said that construction on the main power plants would likely begin after settling monetary issues from the bank. The construction work on the power plant project is expected to be completed in the 2019-20 fiscal year. Heavy Electrical Ltd of India will construct the main plant. On its environmental risks, Vinod said the Rampal power plant would not harm the Sundarbans as many ultra-modern technologies, including ultra supercritical technology, would be used in the plant. BPDB and National Thermal Power Company (NTPC) will hold ownership of the power plant on an equal basis of 50 percent each. A total of 70 percent of the cost out of the involved cost of Tk14,000 crore is on credit from Exim Bank of India. Amy Canik Amy Canik has rejoined Regions Bank as senior VP in the commercial banking division for the Greater Baton Rouge and Acadiana areas. Canik has 16 years of financial management experience, having previously served as VP of commercial banking for Red River Bank for three years and VP of community banking for Regions from 2005 to 2013. She has a bachelors degree in finance from Southeastern Louisiana University and maintains her certified treasury professional designation. Kade Peterson MidSouth Bank hires Kade Peterson, Nicholas Richard Kade Peterson has joined MidSouth Bank as EVP and chief information officer. His primary duties include overseeing the processes and staff responsible for ensuring the banks customers have the most secure technological tools they need for personal and business transactions. For the past three years, Peterson worked for USAmeriBank in Tampa, Fla., as EVP and chief operations officer. Peterson, who has more than three decades of banking technology and operations experience, also previously worked for Spokane, Wash.-based Sterling Bank (now Umpqua Bank) and Salt Lake City, Utah-based Zions Bancorporation. He has a bachelor of science degree in finance from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. Nicholas Richard MidSouth Bank has also hired Nicholas Richard as director of A/R Access and SBA/USDA lending. Richard is expanding the banks accounts receivable financing, a valuable working capital tool for small businesses. Additionally, he is helping start-up companies and existing entities access capital that can be supported or enhanced by SBA and USDA guaranteed loans. For the past 13 years, Richard served as VP/middle market lender for Whitney Bank in Lafayette and prior to that was accounts payable manager at Lafayettebased Schumacher Clinical Partners. Richard earned both an MBA and bachelors degree in accounting from UL Lafayette. He completed LSUs Graduate School of Banking in 2015. Robert Lott Robert Lott named Lafayette president of Investar Bank Investar Bank has promoted Robert Lott to city president in Lafayette, a newly created position. Lott, who has been with Investar for three years, has more than 30 years of experience in banking, mainly in credit, lending, deposit operations, treasury management, appraisals, regulatory and asset-based lending with a focus in commercial and industrial. Lotts community involvement ranges from being a foster parent with Catholic Community Services and Volunteers of America to an instructor with the American Institute of Banking. Cynthia Beslin Cynthia Beslin joins Rayne Building and Loan Cynthia Beslin has joined Rayne Building and Loan as business development manager, a newly created position. She is responsible for locating and developing new business relationships and markets in Acadiana, as well as planning and implementing the banks marketing strategy. Beslin, who most recently worked for a global insurance company and retains her financial licenses, has owned two retail companies. She also previously served as marketing director at Rayne State Bank. Beslin earned a B.A. in communications/business from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Ala. Kelly White Kelly White promoted to director of branch operations at MidSouth MidSouth Bank has promoted Kelly White to director of branch operations. White, who most recently was retail projects manager and has 17 years of banking experience, has been with MidSouth Bank since 2007. White is now responsible for retail operations and the Customer Care Center, including new technology implementation, sales management systems and support of the banking center network. White has a bachelors degree in communication from the University of Arkansas. Grant Guillotte Grant Guillotte joins Whitney Bank Commercial banker Grant Guillotte has joined Whitney Bank to help manage and grow the banks commercial client base. Guillotte is jointly directing Whitneys middle market banking team with longtime Lafayette banker Byron Breaux. Guillotte is based at Whitneys River Ranch financial center at 1301 Camellia Blvd. The Franklin native most recently was market president and southwest Louisiana commercial section manager for a large national bank with locations in Lafayette. Guillotte earned his bachelors and masters degrees in finance from Louisiana State University. Guillotte has been an active civic leader and volunteer with One Acadiana, Boys and Girls Club of Acadiana, Southwest Louisiana Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, United Way of Acadiana and St. Pius X Catholic Church. Jim Lyons FNB elevates Jim Lyons to COO First National Bank of Louisiana has promoted Jim Lyons Jr. to Chief Operating Officer. Lyons, who joined FNB more than a decade ago, most recently served as SVP of lending and loan operations, duties he retains. In his new role, Lyons oversees the banks loan operations and compliance, working out of the banks River Ranch office. Lyons is an active member of the Lafayette community, serving as secretary/treasurer and chairman-elect for Boys and Girls Clubs of Acadiana, as an Acadiana Red Cross board member, Beaver Club board member and treasurer of Acadiana Health Education Center. He also is chairman-elect for Louisiana Bankers Education Council. The Jennings native received his bachelor of science in business management from LSU and MBA from the University of New Orleans. He is also a graduate of LSUs Graduate School of Banking. Lyons began his career in New Orleans with Hancock Bank, as part of their Management Associate Program, before joining FNB. Kenny Maggard Capital One names Kenny Maggard Acadiana market president Capital One has promoted Kenny Maggard to Acadiana market president. He is responsible for the design, development and implementation of an integrated community strategy for Capital One in Lafayette and other parts of Acadiana. Maggard continues to serve as senior vice president and commercial banking relationship manager for the Acadiana and Lake Charles markets. Maggard has more than 13 years of banking experience, including the past eight years with Capital One in Lafayette. A New Iberia native, he received a bachelors degree in finance from LSU. Active in the community, Maggard is a member of the board of directors of the United Way of Acadiana and is a member of the705: Young Leaders for a Better Acadiana, for which he served as president in 2012. He also is a member of Leadership Institute of Acadiana and the Beaver Club of Lafayette. Pieces of Eight owner Nicole Perea, right, with employee Corrie Benoit Photo by Robin May The disruptive impact of digital technology on retail has gone full circle. In its infancy, the technology knocked down barriers to distance, allowing entrepreneurs with access to bandwidth to expand their niche markets into a global presence. Amazon was the major disrupter of the book industry, killing off all but a handful of national chains while in the process ringing the death knell for thousands of independent bookstores. As Amazon has since branched out into other industries food and clothing among them an interesting thing happened. The company has begun to open stores. This blurring of the lines between the bricks and mortar stores and online sellers has been underway for a while but has now matured into a fullblown trend. Speaking at a global economic conference in January, the CEO of Alibaba, the Chinese online retailer that is larger than Amazon, explains that smart phones have enabled consumers to be two places at once. Today, we always say we cannot separate online and offline, Daniel Zhang said at Davos, as quoted in a story promoted by his company. Consumers love to go to the mall for the experience, but today when they go there, at the same time they are online. So, its about making the experience better by finding innovative ways to combine physical shopping with mobile technologies. Two Lafayette boutique retailers are among those firms that have followed their customers into the ether and have seen tangible rewards from doing so. Pieces of Eight owner Nicole Perea says her stores bridal registry work first pulled the company online about a decade ago. The store, which opened in the Oil Center in 1971, specializes in gifts and stationery. We found a number of our customers were planning their weddings using TheKnot.com, and they wanted their guests to be able to access their bridal registry online, Perea explains. So, we had to move online. TheKnot.com pioneered online wedding planning 20 years ago, according to its investor information, so while Perea and her team were pioneering the merger of online and bricks and mortar retail here, they were being pulled in the direction of the digital-only realm of retail. The first Pieces of Eight website was built on the companys point of sale software. It didnt work for customers or for the store, according to Perea. Coordinating inventory within the store and with online sales became an issue that ultimately led Perea to convert to a new point of sales platform, RMS from Microsoft, enabling her to integrate inventory into a single system. Perea says that online sales are not that large a percentage of her stores total sales, but the implementation of a digital strategy has helped both customers and the store make better use of time and resources. Because we have our entire inventory online, we find that customers browse online, make some choices and then come into the store to make final decisions, Perea says, noting that the online presence has also reduced the amount of time employees spend on the phone with customers responding to product questions. Perea says Louisiana products are her best-selling online items. Regarding her stores online presence, Perea says its a necessity. You have to do it, she says. It makes you much more efficient, and it helps you find your niche at a time when there is so much competition. Edward Brother Abdalla can relate. The competition in the retail space is intense, and its creating challenges and opportunities, Abdalla says. The owner of Brothers on The Blvd. has experienced quite a bit of change in the 40 years his store has been in business, but it seems the pace of that change has intensified in the past five years. You read about the problems that some of the large department store chains are experiencing and how that is affecting everything from suppliers to real estate, Abdalla says. We have been seeing it here and hearing it when we go to market in Dallas. We think its a big opportunity for boutique operations like ours. Three years ago, Brothers launched an online presence and has been figuring it out as it goes along. Brother, his wife Catherine and their daughter Alicia Abdalla Mouton have steered the companys online operation into a five-person operation that combines local and international order fulfillment. We shoot our own product images so that we can bring a consistency and continuity to the website, Mouton says. We use inventory from the store floor to populate our website. Brothers uses the Shopify platform for its online presence. Mouton says that Brothers online presence has grown to the point where integrating online and instore inventory is becoming a challenge. Brother Abdalla says the online presence has already proven its worth. We havent been at it that long, but I can tell you that our online sales have already made the difference between having a profitable year and not having one. He adds that the lingering impact of the August 2016 floods and the surge in new competitors into the market with the opening of the Ambassador Town Center have forced his team to focus on innovative ways to improve the shopping experience. We have people who come into the store to look at items then go home to shop online, Abdalla says. But, people want instant gratification, so we can deliver after they make an online purchase. Some people dont want to spend a lot of time in the store, so the online presence is ideal for them. What we keep hearing at market and in the industry publications is that theres about a three-year window for retailers like us to hit on the right mix of an online and in-store strategy, Abdalla says. Unlike large retailers like Walmart, local retailers cant just throw money at the challenge. Its an incremental process of listening to customer needs mixed with a bit of trial and error. Its a process of trying things on a limited basis, but we think that by focusing on customer convenience we are finding our way, Mouton says. A freelance journalist living in Lafayette, Mike Stagg hosts Where The Alligators Roam, a talk show that streams live on Sundays at 5 p.m. on Acadiana Open Channels Cypress Street Radio with podcasts available on Mondays. He drives for Uber and is a documentarian and researcher currently working on a book about the oil and gas industrys relationship with Louisiana government. Rep. Sam Jones of Franklin introduced the central component of Gov. John Bel Edwards tax reform plan on Monday, one week after the opening of the legislative session and the day before the House Appropriations Committee begins its deliberations on the states budget. Jones HB628 is the Commercial Activity Tax that Edwards maintains will help stabilize state finances while simplifying the states tax code and lowering taxes on most individuals and businesses. The bill would impose a flat tax on businesses based on the amount of gross revenues generated by the enterprise. Under the bill as introduced, businesses with revenues between $150,000 and $499,999 would pay an annual state tax of $250. Those with revenues between $500,000 and $1,000,000 would pay $500. Those with revenues between $1 million and $1.5 million would pay $750. Businesses with revenues between $1.5 million and $3 million would pay $1,500, and those with revenues between $3 million and $6 million would pay $3,250. Business revenues between $6 million and $12 million would pay $6,500. Businesses with more than $12 million would pay $12,500. There is a formula that would be used to tax revenues of interstate corporations and there are exemptions built in to protect non-profits, religious organizations, public utilities, cooperatives and political subdivisions. The bill has not yet been assigned to a committee. Story continues below graphic. Edwards overall plan is to broaden the tax base and lower existing tax rates. Currently in Louisiana, the state exempts far more corporate income taxes than it collects. The Louisiana Department of Revenues latest Tax Exemption Budget shows that the state collected only 9.4 percent of the corporate income taxes that are on the books because 90.6 percent of those taxes have been exempted under various state laws and programs. Jan Moller of the Louisiana Budget Project says Edwards plan is based on Ohios tax, which has been in place for more than a decade. Texas has something closer to a European-style value added tax, which is essentially a sales tax, Moller tells The Independent. Ohios tax is a tax on businesses that do business in the state. This is how the Ohio Department of Revenue describes that states CAT: The CAT is an annual tax imposed on the privilege of doing business in Ohio, measured by taxable gross receipts from most business activities. Most receipts generated in the ordinary course of business are subject to the CAT. The tax was enacted by a Republican legislature and signed into law by a Republican governor. It remains to be seen if Edwards can convince Louisianas Republican legislators particularly those in the House to consider the plan. Speaker Taylor Barras has publicly stated that hes heard nothing but opposition against the idea and that was before it was introduced. Once Barras assigns Jones bill to a committee (most likely Ways and Means) the challenge for the governor and his allies will be to find a way to get the bill approved by the committee. Part of the strategy and tactics involved will include timing. Republicans in the House have talked about being able to create a workable budget without new revenue. Edwards has called for specifics from them, which have not been produced. Meanwhile, today the House Appropriations Committee will begin hearing presentations on HB1, the state budget. Appropriations Committee chair Cameron Henry is among the Republican revenue hardliners. The bill passed by his committee last year was heavily reworked by the Senate, a process likely to continue this year as senators are not generally as ideologically driven as House members. That split among Republicans between hardliners and moderates could provide an opening for Edwards to make some progress on revenue considering the staggering needs of the state and another fiscal disaster waiting in 2018 with the expiration of temporary taxes passed in 2016. Those taxes were sold as a way to deal with the fiscal problems left in the wake of former Gov. Bobby Jindals tenure. They served their purpose but there are more days of reckoning for come. Edwards is following the example set by his predecessor Mike Foster. Foster supported what became known as the Stelly Plan in 2002, which raised income taxes on top earners while exempting sales taxes on food, drugs and utilities. That plan was sold as a means to stabilize state finances. It unraveled when it was repealed in pieces during the Blanco and Jindal administrations. In Jindals first year in office, legislators repealed the income tax portion of the Stelly Plan. Jindal signed it into law even though it was not part of his legislative program. The state has lurched from fiscal crisis to fiscal crisis since then. Jindal proposed a reform of the state tax code of his own in 2013, but withdrew the plan as the legislative session opened. Edwards has gotten his plan into the legislature. The outcome is anything but certain. It would dissolve Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprises governing commission and hand ownership and operating responsibilities to UL Lafayette. Rep. Jean Paul Coussans HB299 won unanimous approval from the House Commerce Committee on Monday. The bill would dissolve Louisiana Immersive Technologies Enterprises governing commission and hand ownership and operating responsibilities to UL Lafayette. Coussan introduced the bill at the request of the LITE Commission. They asked for the bill, Coussan told The Independent in a telephone interview on Tuesday morning. Because the center operated as a separate political entity, it created inefficiencies in the way it operated. LEDA, LED and the university agreed that putting the center under the sole control of UL would make it operate more efficiently. Coussans bill transfers all assets of the commission to UL Lafayette and allows ULs president to negotiate lease agreements without having to advertise for bids on those leases. Coussan said LITE will continue to pursue its stated mission of promoting the development of immersive technologies in Lafayette and to recruit companies related to that industry here. LITE has a super computer linked to the buildings distinctive cocoon shell which enables users to walk in visualizations of their data. The center has struggled to find its footing as a public private partnership, having gone through a number of leaders in the 11 years its been in existence. Coussan calls HB299 non-controversial and expects it to move forward fairly quickly. We could have a vote on the bill in the House by next week, Coussan said, noting that the schedule for bills is set by Speaker Barras. Could this be a way to allow Vermilion Parish governments to sever their ties with 15th JDC District Attorney Keith Stutes? Senate Judiciary B Committee will hear Kaplan Sen. Jonathan Perrys SB86 when it convenes at 2:30 p.m. today. Perry Perrys bill would give parish governing bodies certain size parishes the right to hire their own legal counsel and not be obligated to use the services of their local district attorneys. The bill would affect parishes with populations between 60,000 and 70,000 people based on the most recent U.S. Census. Six parishes are named in Perrys bill St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, Ouchita, Morehouse, Calcasieu, and Vermilion. Could Perrys bill be a way to allow Vermilion Parish governments to sever their ties with 15th JDC District Attorney Keith Stutes? The Vermilion Parish Police Jury went on record opposing the suit Stutes filed last year against oil and gas companies seeking to hold them responsible for wetlands loss under provisions of the Coastal Zone Management Act. Gov. Edwards has been encouraging Coastal Zone parishes to file similar suits against oil and gas companies as the state seeks resources to pay for the cost of protecting Louisiana residents from the impact of disappearing wetlands, rising seas, and sinking land. Parts of the four of the parishes named in the bill are included in the Coastal Zone St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, Calcasieu and Vermilion. Louisiana has a budget, but it cost more to get it It took a costly special session, but Louisiana will enter the new fiscal year on July 1 with a budget in place. The best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option. By AM Tuesday, April 18, 2017 Share Tweet Share Share Email Radio Free Eireann WBAI 99.5FM Pacifica Radio New York City WBAI 99.5FM Pacifica RadioNew York City listen on the internet: wbai.org Saturdays Noon EST Audio Player (begins time stamp ~ 12:59) John: Now Im going to speak of a woman who came from Rockaway, Queens and anybody whos born and raised in Queens knows what Rockaway means to you. I know they call it Acapulco, the Irish Riviera but if you grew up in the 50s and 60s and you were in Woodside you were waiting for that bus at 61st and Roosevelt to take you down Woodhaven Boulevard to Cross Bay to go to that bungalow this was it this was Miami Beach to us. And your parents would always throw you out to go up to Rockaway at 116th Street and get a bit of colour which means get burnt but dont get so burnt that youll have to go to the hospital because when we came back to the neighbourhood you had to show you had a bit of colour. Well, this story revolves around the Irish community out in the Rockaway area and the book that Eileen Markey has out is called: Eileen: I am. John: Yeah, maybe you could give just a bit of background about Sr. Maura Clarke and her family and her father just to give about the type of upbringing she had before she joined the Maryknoll nuns. Sr. Maura at her work in Nicaragua Eileen: Yes. Maura Clarke was an Irish-American woman born in the Bronx but raised in Rockaway, in the Rockaway Park neighbourhood, in the 30s and 40s. Shes known to us now because shes one of four North American women who were killed in 1980 in El Salvador by the US-backed military government of El Salvador so shes one of those Maryknoll nuns. But I wrote this book to tell what her life was before she was killed and that life as a child was very much that the Irish Riviera in Rockaway. She was one of the few year-rounders, right. So many people spent their summers out there like you taking the bus out or many other people relocating from other boroughs to these bungalows for the summer but Mauras family was one of the year-rounders. So she grew up in that you know close and communal Rockaway world, Irish-immigrant world and went to Stella Maris Academy and then like lots of girls in her day joined the convent. John: And then her father was an immigrant from Co. Sligo. Maybe you could tell about the effect were playing here about what went on in 1916 but what carried on then was the Revolutionary War that lasted until 1921. Eileen: Yeah, exactly. Her father emigrated from Sligo in 1914 but then, like so many people, went back to join the revolution. So he wasnt there for 16 but he went back in 20 and fought for the end of the revolution and then became an anti-treaty IRA man during the Civil War and then made his way back to the US in the mid-20s but remained a you know he had made vows to the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood) in his late teens, before 1916, and so when he came back to the US after the war he kept up those ties and especially told those stories. So he had you know, he had all these revolutionary guerrilla stories that Maura grew up hearing about and you know, old Sligo partisans were always coming to whatever house the family happened to live in in Rockaway and Sundays filled with these old rebels coming to tell stories and sing songs and she very much grew up hearing all of those heroic stories and these poems and songs and that really shaped how she understood things years later when she found herself in Central America. John: And she joined the Maryknoll nuns. Maybe you could give a brief history of the Maryknoll nuns and why she was attracted to that. Eileen: Yeah, The Maryknolls are really interesting. So theres always been orders of nuns and theres always been missionary orders but the Maryknolls were an American order; they were founded in the first decade of the twentieth century as a womens missionary order so theyre all American girls who served overseas first in China, then The Philippines and then eventually in Latin America. (begins time stamp ~ 12:59)Now Im going to speak of a woman who came from Rockaway, Queens and anybody whos born and raised in Queens knows what Rockaway means to you. I know they call it Acapulco, the Irish Riviera but if you grew up in the 50s and 60s and you were in Woodside you were waiting for that bus at 61st and Roosevelt to take you down Woodhaven Boulevard to Cross Bay to go to that bungalow this was it this was Miami Beach to us. And your parents would always throw you out to go up to Rockaway at 116th Street and get a bit of colour which means get burnt but dont get so burnt that youll have to go to the hospital because when we came back to the neighbourhood you had to show you had a bit of colour. Well, this story revolves around the Irish community out in the Rockaway area and the book that Eileen Markey has out is called: A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sr. Maura (Clarke). And Eileen, are you there with us?I am.Yeah, maybe you could give just a bit of background about Sr. Maura Clarke and her family and her father just to give about the type of upbringing she had before she joined the Maryknoll nuns.Yes. Maura Clarke was an Irish-American woman born in the Bronx but raised in Rockaway, in the Rockaway Park neighbourhood, in the 30s and 40s.Shes known to us now because shes one of four North American women who were killed in 1980 in El Salvador by the US-backed military government of El Salvador so shes one of those Maryknoll nuns. But I wrote this book to tell what her life was before she was killed and that life as a child was very much that the Irish Riviera in Rockaway. She was one of the few year-rounders, right. So many people spent their summers out there like you taking the bus out or many other people relocating from other boroughs to these bungalows for the summer but Mauras family was one of the year-rounders. So she grew up in that you know close and communal Rockaway world, Irish-immigrant world and went to Stella Maris Academy and then like lots of girls in her day joined the convent.And then her father was an immigrant from Co. Sligo. Maybe you could tell about the effect were playing here about what went on in 1916 but what carried on then was the Revolutionary War that lasted until 1921.Yeah, exactly. Her father emigrated from Sligo in 1914 but then, like so many people, went back to join the revolution. So he wasnt there for 16 but he went back in 20 and fought for the end of the revolution and then became an anti-treaty IRA man during the Civil War and then made his way back to the US in the mid-20s but remained a you know he had made vows to the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood) in his late teens, before 1916, and so when he came back to the US after the war he kept up those ties and especially told those stories. So he had you know, he had all these revolutionary guerrilla stories that Maura grew up hearing about and you know, old Sligo partisans were always coming to whatever house the family happened to live in in Rockaway and Sundays filled with these old rebels coming to tell stories and sing songs and she very much grew up hearing all of those heroic stories and these poems and songs and that really shaped how she understood things years later when she found herself in Central America.And she joined the Maryknoll nuns. Maybe you could give a brief history of the Maryknoll nuns and why she was attracted to that.Yeah, The Maryknolls are really interesting. So theres always been orders of nuns and theres always been missionary orders but the Maryknolls were an American order; they were founded in the first decade of the twentieth century as a womens missionary order so theyre all American girls who served overseas first in China, then The Philippines and then eventually in Latin America. And these were ballsy, adventurous, exciting girls. There was a lot of press about the Maryknoll sisters in the 1950s and I found this great article I think in Time magazine that described the kind of girls the Mother Superior looked for which were: Not shy, not shrinking violets but well-rounded, healthy girls who had dates and were outward looking. So I spent a lot of time early in my research for this book speaking to Maryknoll sisters now in their eighties and I said: So why did you want to become a nun, Sister? or Why did you want to become a Maryknoll? And they said: They wanted to serve God, they were deeply religious but also for a blue-collar, first generation girl in the 1940s and 50s there wasnt much for those girls. They werent going to college from those neighbourhoods. They werent going to be able to join the foreign service so becoming a Maryknoll sister meant joining up for this organisation that served the wide world you were going to have an adventure. John: Well you talk about part of the big, wide world I mean now were having conversation here in this country about how Russia has influence on our election but nobody has a bigger influence on elections, particularly in Central America I was down in Nicaragua in the early 90s for the election down there and speaking to the people there we had an embargo in Nicaragua, we were training the Contras with US tax dollars and telling the people of Nicaragua: If you dont elect the person we want we are going to continue the war down there El Salvador was the same thing so even though shes getting spiritually involved with the Maryknoll nuns it gets very political when you end up in countries like Nicaragua and El Salvador and you see what our country is doing to these countries. Eileen: Yeah, exactly and so Mauras story is this. Its all a Cold War story. The book begins I begin the book at the end of World War II and what that felt like in Rockaway with the war ending. But of course the end of World War II was the beginning of the Cold War and Maura being killed in the Salvadoran Civil War the Salvadoran Civil War was its own thing, its own revolution, but it was certainly a proxy war in the Cold War, right? From the time of President Monroe the US believed that it had the right to control the hemisphere to control what happened in any of these countries and we did. We invaded Nicaragua multiple times in the beginning of the twentieth century, we supported and propped up a dictator there throughout, you know until 1979 when he was overthrown (thats Somoza) and similarly in El Salvador we were very invested in making sure that the government in El Salvador kept markets open for US goods and for US business interests. And because Mauras work was working with poor people she came into conflict with that. You know, she set out as this very kind of naive and sweet missionary to the mountains of Nicaragua to work with very poor people, to run a school in an isolated gold mining community but shes there as Vatican II begins to happen and the nuns are asked to look critically at their work to figure out: Well, whats the work you do and how does that bring about the Kingdom of God? And so their work in the middle of the 60s shifted from running a school for poor kids in this gold mining town to really doing adult-based education but that meant reading the Bible and saying: Well, what does Jesus want? Whats the kind of world that Jesus wants us to build? And if you look at those things sincerely, or at least when she looked them sincerely, it led her into opposition to this dictatorship in Nicaragua and so she transforms from you know, everybody in power loves the nuns when theyre just educating people and teaching them about sin and helping them stay as part of the social structure that exists but in the mid-60s the nuns and so many other people and all these lay people starting saying: Well wait. Maybe this system is corrupt. Maybe Im not poor because Im lazy. Maybe Im poor because the whole thing is arranged against me and maybe I need to be doing something to shift the structure of this society that makes me poor. And thats really what the middle years of her life were about was working to change the structural conditions. John: And Eileen, you write about the effect now of her fathers influence on her with the letters now shes sending back from Nicaragua and El Salvador. Explain what were the letters to her father like? Eileen: Yeah, so in like 1970 she goes away from this gold mining town and into like this squatters encampment outside of Managua to continue doing this adult faith formation which is really political, right? Youre getting poor people together to talk about what their lives mean and what God wants for their lives and that quickly becomes opposition to the Somoza regime. And then as the 70s wear on the resistance to Somoza is rising and the Sandinistas are gathering steam as a guerrilla revolutionary force and a lot of the kids shes been working with you know teaching those as altar boys and that she teaches in a youth group and a Confirmation class, theyre coming to the convent door saying: Bless me, Sister. Im leaving. Im going to join the Sandinistas in the mountains. Give me your blessing before I head off. And Maura writes home to her dad during these years saying: You know, its heart-wrenching to see these young people leaving. Theyre taking up arms and thats a complicated thing. And shes afraid that theyre going to die but she also says: Dad, it reminds me of what you went through. So shed been raised on the stories of the Irish revolution and the IRA and she recognises these young people in Nicaragua in the mid-70s as her dad in another guise. John: And Eileen, I just now want to get up to: What exactly happened to her? How did she end up in El Salvador and the effect of her death on US policy in Central America? Eileen: So she ends up you know she works in Nicaragua for about two decades and then the Maryknoll sisters have this rule that you have to come back every so often and do service to the headquarters. So she spends the late 70s in the US doing consciousness-raising workshops with middle class Catholics. Its not the old-fashioned Hey, give money to the missions its Catholic social teaching you know what does the world require, sort of so shes doing that in the late 70s as the revolutions about to occur in Nicaragua. And during this time 1980, the beginning of 1980, Archbishop Romero, whos the archbishop of San Salvador in El Salvador, hes assassinated but before he was assassinated he asked for more Maryknoll Sisters to come to El Salvador to do this same work organising and spiritual care work with the people in El Salvador. Thered been some nuns there for a long time but he wanted more. You were going to learn a new language, you were going to work in the jungle, you were going to ride on mules up through the mountains and go down rivers on rafts and meet people very different than you and be very much part of the wide, expansive world not the hemmed in world of what was available to girls, in particularly to working class girls, in those eras. So Maura was attracted to that. Shed grown up I think you know my kids read National Geographic but for her it was reading the magazine of the Columban Fathers and Maryknoll magazine and that looked like an adventurous life and so she was attracted to that. She wanted to do something big with her life and that led her into Maryknoll as a place where you could be part of the big, wide world and meet people very different than yourself.Well you talk about part of the big, wide world I mean now were having conversation here in this country about how Russia has influence on our election but nobody has a bigger influence on elections, particularly in Central America I was down in Nicaragua in the early 90s for the election down there and speaking to the people there we had an embargo in Nicaragua, we were training the Contras with US tax dollars and telling the people of Nicaragua: If you dont elect the person we want we are going to continue the war down there El Salvador was the same thing so even though shes getting spiritually involved with the Maryknoll nuns it gets very political when you end up in countries like Nicaragua and El Salvador and you see what our country is doing to these countries.Yeah, exactly and so Mauras story is this. Its all a Cold War story. The book begins I begin the book at the end of World War II and what that felt like in Rockaway with the war ending. But of course the end of World War II was the beginning of the Cold War and Maura being killed in the Salvadoran Civil War the Salvadoran Civil War was its own thing, its own revolution, but it was certainly a proxy war in the Cold War, right? From the time of President Monroe the US believed that it had the right to control the hemisphere to control what happened in any of these countries and we did. We invaded Nicaragua multiple times in the beginning of the twentieth century, we supported and propped up a dictator there throughout, you know until 1979 when he was overthrown (thats Somoza) and similarly in El Salvador we were very invested in making sure that the government in El Salvador kept markets open for US goods and for US business interests. And because Mauras work was working with poor people she came into conflict with that. You know, she set out as this very kind of naive and sweet missionary to the mountains of Nicaragua to work with very poor people, to run a school in an isolated gold mining community but shes there as Vatican II begins to happen and the nuns are asked to look critically at their work to figure out: Well, whats the work you do and how does that bring about the Kingdom of God?And so their work in the middle of the 60s shifted from running a school for poor kids in this gold mining town to really doing adult-based education but that meant reading the Bible and saying: Well, what does Jesus want? Whats the kind of world that Jesus wants us to build? And if you look at those things sincerely, or at least when she looked them sincerely, it led her into opposition to this dictatorship in Nicaragua and so she transforms from you know, everybody in power loves the nuns when theyre just educating people and teaching them about sin and helping them stay as part of the social structure that exists but in the mid-60s the nuns and so many other people and all these lay people starting saying: Well wait. Maybe this system is corrupt. Maybe Im not poor because Im lazy. Maybe Im poor because the whole thing is arranged against me and maybe I need to be doing something to shift the structure of this society that makes me poor. And thats really what the middle years of her life were about was working to change the structural conditions.And Eileen, you write about the effect now of her fathers influence on her with the letters now shes sending back from Nicaragua and El Salvador. Explain what were the letters to her father like?Yeah, so in like 1970 she goes away from this gold mining town and into like this squatters encampment outside of Managua to continue doing this adult faith formation which is really political, right? Youre getting poor people together to talk about what their lives mean and what God wants for their lives and that quickly becomes opposition to the Somoza regime. And then as the 70s wear on the resistance to Somoza is rising and the Sandinistas are gathering steam as a guerrilla revolutionary force and a lot of the kids shes been working with you know teaching those as altar boys and that she teaches in a youth group and a Confirmation class, theyre coming to the convent door saying: Bless me, Sister. Im leaving. Im going to join the Sandinistas in the mountains. Give me your blessing before I head off. And Maura writes home to her dad during these years saying: You know, its heart-wrenching to see these young people leaving. Theyre taking up arms and thats a complicated thing. And shes afraid that theyre going to die but she also says: Dad, it reminds me of what you went through. So shed been raised on the stories of the Irish revolution and the IRA and she recognises these young people in Nicaragua in the mid-70s as her dad in another guise.And Eileen, I just now want to get up to: What exactly happened to her? How did she end up in El Salvador and the effect of her death on US policy in Central America?So she ends up you know she works in Nicaragua for about two decades and then the Maryknoll sisters have this rule that you have to come back every so often and do service to the headquarters. So she spends the late 70s in the US doing consciousness-raising workshops with middle class Catholics. Its not the old-fashioned Hey, give money to the missions its Catholic social teaching you know what does the world require, sort of so shes doing that in the late 70s as the revolutions about to occur in Nicaragua. And during this time 1980, the beginning of 1980, Archbishop Romero, whos the archbishop of San Salvador in El Salvador, hes assassinated but before he was assassinated he asked for more Maryknoll Sisters to come to El Salvador to do this same work organising and spiritual care work with the people in El Salvador. Thered been some nuns there for a long time but he wanted more. And so Maura, as a veteran Latin American missionary, shes asked: Well, do you think you could go back to Nicaragua when youre done this US work or you could go to El Salvador we need more people down there with your kind of experience. So after a lot of thinking and praying and discerning she decides shes going to go to El Salvador. So she spends just a couple of months in the Fall of 1980 in El Salvador doing really amasing work and (you know Im switching from Nicaragua to El Salvador here) thered been a peoples movement for land rights, for human rights, for economic reform that was met with a really vicious, directed campaign of state terror on the part of the Salvadoran government of which we were arming and advising. And she and the other women shes killed with, along with seventy-five thousand Salvadorans, are killed by this government. John: (station identification) And were speaking with Eileen Markey. She has a book out called: Eileen: Not any more right now but hopefully well schedule more. In the Fall Im going to be at Glucksman Ireland House. Ill let you know when that happens. Ive got a John: Youll be out in South Bend talking about the book. And what is the reaction youre getting all these years later about her life? Eileen: Its great! People seem to like the book. Its a beautiful story. I mean, its a sad story when you begin thinking about this killing but the book really is about who she was when she was alive and how she got there. We only know about them as these dead women and the book is really bringing her back to life and understanding all the disparate influences that led her to be who she was. And shes a lovely person to spend I enjoyed spending five years with her. So on December 2nd 1980 she and these three other women are stopped at a checkpoint set up just for them the military was looking for them and theyre killed and their bodies dumped by the side of the road and you know, nine thousand other people were killed that way, nine thousand other civilians were killed that way in El Salvador that year, in the first year of that civil war, seventy-five thousand over the course of the war but for people in the US it was like: Wait! What? They killed nuns? They killed North American nuns? And I think for a lot of people in the US it was this shocking you know these wars are going on in Central America but most Americans dont really know anything about them or dont really know which end is up. But when a US ally kills four American women and three of them are nuns I think it made a lot of people in the US sit up and say: Wait! Whats going on? And which side are we on? Are we on the side thats killing nuns? So it had this tremendous impact in the US throughout the 80s of really keeping US policy in Central America on the front pages. And you know, it involved many people in the US in resisting those wars and in arguing against Reagan, against continued support for the Salvadoran regime.(station identification) And were speaking with Eileen Markey. She has a book out called: A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sr. Maura (Clarke) and Eileen, thanks for coming on. And can people are you doing any book readings around the New York area?Not any more right now but hopefully well schedule more. In the Fall Im going to be at Glucksman Ireland House. Ill let you know when that happens. Ive got a Facebook page , Eileen Markey/Author, where you can see where Im going to be. Ill be at Notre Dame in a couple of weeks.Youll be out in South Bend talking about the book. And what is the reaction youre getting all these years later about her life?Eileen: Its great! People seem to like the book. Its a beautiful story. I mean, its a sad story when you begin thinking about this killing but the book really is about who she was when she was alive and how she got there. We only know about them as these dead women and the book is really bringing her back to life and understanding all the disparate influences that led her to be who she was. And shes a lovely person to spend I enjoyed spending five years with her. John: And thats Eileen Markey. Her book is: A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sr. Maura (Clarke). You can Eileen: Thanks a lot John. Have a great day. John: And talking about the impact that the 1916 Uprising had on her father from Sligo and the letters that she was sending up and seeing the comparisons in Nicaragua and El Salvador. Shes a lovely person to spend three hundred pages with so people seem to like it and it brings up really important issues about what religion and politics mean and how you work for justice in the real world so I think people are enjoying it.And thats Eileen Markey. Her book is: A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sr. Maura (Clarke). You can get it on amazon and all whats left of any bookstores here in the United States. Eileen, thanks for coming on.Thanks a lot John. Have a great day.And talking about the impact that the 1916 Uprising had on her father from Sligo and the letters that she was sending up and seeing the comparisons in Nicaragua and El Salvador. 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Maxine Waters for two unnamed members of the State Duma Ikea founder dead at 91; his coffin arrived in a box with confusing instructions and took 3 hours to assemble This Thanksgiving ex-president Obama continues with his tradition of apologizing to turkeys everywhere for the injustice they suffered since America's founding Oslo, Norway: 2017 Nobel Peace Prize goes to advocacy group about which you'll forget immediately after reading this headline Cambridge, MA, library to replace racist 'Cat in the Hat' with inclusive 'Che in a Beret' Millions of men worldwide eagerly await broadcast of Hugh Hefner's funeral, solely for the articles Bill Gates offers to pay for Trump's wall on condition he gets to install Windows Bernie Sanders introduces single-payer public transportation bill to end America's unequal, unfair, and expensive private transportation system DNC embroiled in controversy after official Twitter account accidentally 'likes' pictures of US Constitution and Bill of Rights Hurricane Irma hits Cuba, causes millions of dollars worth of improvements to property and infrastructure Climate study: extreme weather may be caused by unlicensed witches casting wrong spells in well-meaning effort to destroy Trump Ex-president Obama declares Irma "Hurricane of Peace," urges not to jump to conclusions and succumb to stormophobia CNN: Trump reverses Obama's executive order banning hurricanes ISIS claims responsibility for a total solar eclipse over the lands of American crusaders and nonbelievers When asked if they could point to North Korea on a map many college students didn't know what a map was CNN: We must bring America into the 21st century by replacing the 18th century Constitution with 19th century poetry Pelosi: 'We have to impeach the president in order to find out what we impeached him for' BREAKING: As of Saturday July 8, 2017, all of Earth's ecosystems have shut down as per Prince Charles's super scientific pronouncement made 96 months ago. Everything is dead. All is lost. Life on Earth is no more. DNC to pick new election slogan out of four finalists: 'Give us more government or everyone dies,' 'Vote for Democrats or everyone dies,' 'Impeach Trump or everyone dies,' 'Stop the fearmongering or everyone dies' Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power" is humanity's last chance to save the Earth before it ends five years ago Experts: The more we embrace diversity the more everything is the same BOMBSHELL: TMZ offers Kathy Griffin $5 mil to keep any future sex tape private DEVELOPING: CNN, WaPo, NYT anonymous sources say Vladimir Putin may have ties to Russia BREAKING: Manning and Snowden have come out with strong condemnation of Donald Trump leaking classified information to Russia Gun store goes into lockdown over report an "active university professor" roving the grounds Dozens injured at Ralph Lauren & Louis Vuitton headquarters after Ivanka calls in missile strikes on rival fashion houses BOMBSHELL: Evidence proves Donald Trump conspired with his campaign to defeat Hillary Clinton University ranked "very intolerant of free speech" fights the accusation by banning the study and all involved Concerned that Russians don't consume enough alcohol in the month of March, Russia's Orthodox Church makes St. Patrick's Day official holiday Grassroots group calls for "The Million Regulators March" on Washington, supported by all who fear the loss of their betters telling them what to do Experts: Starbucks CEO Schultz's hiring of 10,000 Muslim refugees likely to blow up in his face Will the groundprog be frightened by its own shadow and hide - or will there be another season of insane protests? Trump signs executive order making California and New York national monuments; residents have two days to vacate Women's March against fascism completed with 400,000 fewer deaths than anticipated Feminist historians uncover ghastly concentration camps where so-called "housewives" were forced to live inauthentic lives slaving away in kitchens Dictionary of the future: Global Warming was a popular computer simulation game, where the only way to win was not to play "Anti-fascist" groups violently protest misspelling of their original name, "aren't-we-fascists" Post-inauguration blues: millions of democrats distraught as the reality of having to find real jobs sets in "Journalism is the continuation of war by other means" is exposed as a fake quote by mainstream media journalists Congressional Democrats: "We cannot just simply replace Obamacare with freedom because then millions of Americans will suddenly become free" Schoolchildren jailed for building only white snowmen Obama's reckless attacks on Russia serve as recruitment tool to create more Russian hackers Hillary: "I lost, so I'm going to follow our democratic traditions, poison the wells, and scorch the earth" Children in Venezuela cook and eat their Christmas toys Hillary: "I can hack Russia from my bathroom" Hillary suggests to counter "fake news" with government newspaper called "Truth" ("Pravda" for Russian speakers) BREAKING: Millions of uncounted votes found on Hillary's private voting machine in her Chappaqua bathroom New York Times: Fidel Castro world's sexiest corpse After years of trial and error, CIA finally succeeds with the "waiting it out" technique on Fidel Castro Post-election shopping tip: look for the PoliticsFree label at your local grocer to make sure you don't buy from companies that don't want your business anymore In Hillary's America, email server scrubs you Obama transfers his Nobel Peace Prize to anti-Trump rioters Democrats blame Hillary's criminal e-mail server for her loss, demand it face prison Afraid of "dangerous" Trump presidency, protesters pre-emptively burn America down to the ground Clinton Foundation in foreclosure as foreign donors demand refunds Hillary Clinton blames YouTube video for unexpected and spontaneous voter uprising that prevented her inevitable move into the White House Sudden rise in sea levels explained by disproportionately large tears shed by climate scientists in the aftermath of Trump's electoral victory FBI director Comey delighted after receiving Nobel Prize for Speed Reading (650,000 emails in one week) U.N. deploys troops to American college campuses in order to combat staggeringly low rape rates Responding to Trump's surging poll numbers, Obama preemptively pardons himself for treason Following hurricane Matthew's failure to devastate Florida, activists flock to the Sunshine State and destroy Trump signs manually Tim Kaine takes credit for interrupting hurricane Matthew while debating weather in Florida Study: Many non-voters still undecided on how they're not going to vote The Evolution of Dissent: on November 8th the nation is to decide whether dissent will stop being racist and become sexist - or it will once again be patriotic as it was for 8 years under George W. Bush Venezuela solves starvation problem by making it mandatory to buy food Breaking: the Clinton Foundation set to investigate the FBI Obama captures rare Pokemon while visiting Hiroshima Movie news: 'The Big Friendly Giant Government' flops at box office; audiences say "It's creepy" Barack Obama: "If I had a son, he'd look like Micah Johnson" White House edits Orlando 911 transcript to say shooter pledged allegiance to NRA and Republican Party President George Washington: 'Redcoats do not represent British Empire; King George promotes a distorted version of British colonialism' Following Obama's 'Okie-Doke' speech, stock of Okie-Doke soars; NASDAQ: 'Obama best Okie-Doke salesman' Weaponized baby formula threatens Planned Parenthood office; ACLU demands federal investigation of Gerber Experts: melting Antarctic glacier could cause sale levels to rise up to 80% off select items by this weekend Travel advisory: airlines now offering flights to front of TSA line As Obama instructs his administration to get ready for presidential transition, Trump preemptively purchases 'T' keys for White House keyboards John Kasich self-identifies as GOP primary winner, demands access to White House bathroom Upcoming Trump/Kelly interview on FoxNews sponsored by 'Let's Make a Deal' and 'The Price is Right' News from 2017: once the evacuation of Lena Dunham and 90% of other Hollywood celebrities to Canada is confirmed, Trump resigns from presidency: "My work here is done" Non-presidential candidate Paul Ryan pledges not to run for president in new non-presidential non-ad campaign Trump suggests creating 'Muslim database'; Obama symbolically protests by shredding White House guest logs beginning 2009 National Enquirer: John Kasich's real dad was the milkman, not mailman National Enquirer: Bound delegates from Colorado, Wyoming found in Ted Cruzs basement Iran breaks its pinky-swear promise not to support terrorism; US State Department vows rock-paper-scissors strategic response Women across the country cheer as racist Democrat president on $20 bill is replaced by black pro-gun Republican Federal Reserve solves budget crisis by writing itself a 20-trillion-dollar check Widows, orphans claim responsibility for Brussels airport bombing Che Guevara's son hopes Cuba's communism will rub off on US, proposes a long list of people the government should execute first Susan Sarandon: "I don't vote with my vagina." Voters in line behind her still suspicious, use hand sanitizer Campaign memo typo causes Hillary to court 'New Black Panties' vote New Hampshire votes for socialist Sanders, changes state motto to "Live FOR Free or Die" Martin O'Malley drops out of race after Iowa Caucus; nation shocked with revelation he has been running for president Statisticians: one out of three Bernie Sanders supporters is just as dumb as the other two Hillary campaign denies accusations of smoking-gun evidence in her emails, claims they contain only smoking-circumstantial-gun evidence Obama stops short of firing US Congress upon realizing the difficulty of assembling another group of such tractable yes-men In effort to contol wild passions for violent jihad, White House urges gun owners to keep their firearms covered in gun burkas TV horror live: A Charlie Brown Christmas gets shot up on air by Mohammed cartoons Democrats vow to burn the country down over Ted Cruz statement, 'The overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats' Russia's trend to sign bombs dropped on ISIS with "This is for Paris" found response in Obama administration's trend to sign American bombs with "Return to sender" University researchers of cultural appropriation quit upon discovery that their research is appropriation from a culture that created universities Archeologists discover remains of what Barack Obama has described as unprecedented, un-American, and not-who-we-are immigration screening process in Ellis Island Mizzou protests lead to declaring entire state a "safe space," changing Missouri motto to "The don't show me state" Green energy fact: if we put all green energy subsidies together in one-dollar bills and burn them, we could generate more electricity than has been produced by subsidized green energy State officials improve chances of healthcare payouts by replacing ObamaCare with state lottery NASA's new mission to search for racism, sexism, and economic inequality in deep space suffers from race, gender, and class power struggles over multibillion-dollar budget College progress enforcement squads issue schematic humor charts so students know if a joke may be spontaneously laughed at or if regulations require other action ISIS opens suicide hotline for US teens depressed by climate change and other progressive doomsday scenarios Virginia county to close schools after teacher asks students to write 'death to America' in Arabic 'Wear hijab to school day' ends with spontaneous female circumcision and stoning of a classmate during lunch break ISIS releases new, even more barbaric video in an effort to regain mantle from Planned Parenthood Impressed by Fox News stellar rating during GOP debates, CNN to use same formula on Democrat candidates asking tough, pointed questions about Republicans Shocking new book explores pros and cons of socialism, discovers they are same people Pope outraged by Planned Parenthood's "unfettered capitalism," demands equal redistribution of baby parts to each according to his need John Kerry accepts Iran's "Golden Taquiyya" award, requests jalapenos on the side Citizens of Pluto protest US government's surveillance of their planetoid and its moons with New Horizons space drone John Kerry proposes 3-day waiting period for all terrorist nations trying to acquire nuclear weapons Chicago Police trying to identify flag that caused nine murders and 53 injuries in the city this past weekend Cuba opens to affordable medical tourism for Americans who can't afford Obamacare deductibles State-funded research proves existence of Quantum Aggression Particles (Heterons) in Large Hadron Collider Student job opportunities: make big bucks this summer as Hillarys Ordinary-American; all expenses paid, travel, free acting lessons Experts debate whether Iranian negotiators broke John Kerry's leg or he did it himself to get out of negotiations Junior Varsity takes Ramadi, advances to quarterfinals US media to GOP pool of candidates: 'Knowing what we know now, would you have had anything to do with the founding of the United States?' NY Mayor to hold peace talks with rats, apologize for previous Mayor's cowboy diplomacy China launches cube-shaped space object with a message to aliens: "The inhabitants of Earth will steal your intellectual property, copy it, manufacture it in sweatshops with slave labor, and sell it back to you at ridiculously low prices" Progressive scientists: Truth is a variable deduced by subtracting 'what is' from 'what ought to be' Experts agree: Hillary Clinton best candidate to lessen percentage of Americans in top 1% America's attempts at peace talks with the White House continue to be met with lies, stalling tactics, and bad faith Starbucks new policy to talk race with customers prompts new hashtag #DontHoldUpTheLine Hillary: DELETE is the new RESET Charlie Hebdo receives Islamophobe 2015 award; the cartoonists could not be reached for comment due to their inexplicable, illogical deaths Russia sends 'reset' button back to Hillary: 'You need it now more than we do' Barack Obama finds out from CNN that Hillary Clinton spent four years being his Secretary of State President Obama honors Leonard Nimoy by taking selfie in front of Starship Enterprise Police: If Obama had a convenience store, it would look like Obama Express Food Market Study finds stunning lack of racial, gender, and economic diversity among middle-class white males NASA: We're 80% sure about being 20% sure about being 17% sure about being 38% sure about 2014 being the hottest year on record People holding '$15 an Hour Now' posters sue Democratic party demanding raise to $15 an hour for rendered professional protesting services Cuba-US normalization: US tourists flock to see Cuba before it looks like the US and Cubans flock to see the US before it looks like Cuba White House describes attacks on Sony Pictures as 'spontaneous hacking in response to offensive video mocking Juche and its prophet' CIA responds to Democrat calls for transparency by releasing the director's cut of The Making Of Obama's Birth Certificate Obama: 'If I had a city, it would look like Ferguson' Biden: 'If I had a Ferguson (hic), it would look like a city' Obama signs executive order renaming 'looters' to 'undocumented shoppers' Ethicists agree: two wrongs do make a right so long as Bush did it first The aftermath of the 'War on Women 2014' finds a new 'Lost Generation' of disillusioned Democrat politicians, unable to cope with life out of office White House: Republican takeover of the Senate is a clear mandate from the American people for President Obama to rule by executive orders Nurse Kaci Hickox angrily tells reporters that she won't change her clocks for daylight savings time Democratic Party leaders in panic after recent poll shows most Democratic voters think 'midterm' is when to end pregnancy Desperate Democratic candidates plead with Obama to stop backing them and instead support their GOP opponents Ebola Czar issues five-year plan with mandatory quotas of Ebola infections per each state based on voting preferences Study: crony capitalism is to the free market what the Westboro Baptist Church is to Christianity Fun facts about world languages: the Left has more words for statism than the Eskimos have for snow African countries to ban all flights from the United States because "Obama is incompetent, it scares us" Nobel Peace Prize controversy: Hillary not nominated despite having done even less than Obama to deserve it Obama: 'Ebola is the JV of viruses' BREAKING: Secret Service foils Secret Service plot to protect Obama Revised 1st Amendment: buy one speech, get the second free Sharpton calls on white NFL players to beat their women in the interests of racial fairness President Obama appoints his weekly approval poll as new national security adviser Obama wags pen and phone at Putin; Europe offers support with powerful pens and phones from NATO members White House pledges to embarrass ISIS back to the Stone Age with a barrage of fearsome Twitter messages and fatally ironic Instagram photos Obama to fight ISIS with new federal Terrorist Regulatory Agency Obama vows ISIS will never raise their flag over the eighteenth hole Harry Reid: "Sometimes I say the wong thing" Elian Gonzalez wishes he had come to the U.S. on a bus from Central America like all the other kids Obama visits US-Mexican border, calls for a two-state solution Obama draws "blue line" in Iraq after Putin took away his red crayon "Hard Choices," a porno flick loosely based on Hillary Clinton's memoir and starring Hillary Hellfire as a drinking, whoring Secretary of State, wildly outsells the flabby, sagging original Accusations of siding with the enemy leave Sgt. Bergdahl with only two options: pursue a doctorate at Berkley or become a Senator from Massachusetts Jay Carney stuck in line behind Eric Shinseki to leave the White House; estimated wait time from 15 min to 6 weeks 100% of scientists agree that if man-made global warming were real, "the last people we'd want to help us is the Obama administration" Jay Carney says he found out that Obama found out that he found out that Obama found out that he found out about the latest Obama administration scandal on the news "Anarchy Now!" meeting turns into riot over points of order, bylaws, and whether or not 'kicking the #^@&*! ass' of the person trying to speak is or is not violence Obama retaliates against Putin by prohibiting unionized federal employees from dating hot Russian girls online during work hours Russian separatists in Ukraine riot over an offensive YouTube video showing the toppling of Lenin statues "Free Speech Zones" confuse Obamaphone owners who roam streets in search of additional air minutes Obamacare bolsters employment for professionals with skills to convert meth back into sudafed Gloves finally off: Obama uses pen and phone to cancel Putin's Netflix account Joe Biden to Russia: "We will bury you by turning more of Eastern Europe over to your control!" In last-ditch effort to help Ukraine, Obama deploys Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jackson's Rainbow Coalition to Crimea Al Sharpton: "Not even Putin can withstand our signature chanting, 'racist, sexist, anti-gay, Russian army go away'!" Mardi Gras in North Korea: "Throw me some food!" Obama's foreign policy works: "War, invasion, and conquest are signs of weakness; we've got Putin right where we want him" US offers military solution to Ukraine crisis: "We will only fight countries that have LGBT military" Putin annexes Brighton Beach to protect ethnic Russians in Brooklyn, Obama appeals to UN and EU for help The 1980s: "Mr. Obama, we're just calling to ask if you want our foreign policy back. The 1970s are right here with us, and they're wondering, too." In a stunning act of defiance, Obama courageously unfriends Putin on Facebook MSNBC: Obama secures alliance with Austro-Hungarian Empire against Russias aggression in Ukraine Study: springbreak is to STDs what April 15th is to accountants Efforts to achieve moisture justice for California thwarted by unfair redistribution of snow in America North Korean voters unanimous: "We are the 100%" Leader of authoritarian gulag-site, The People's Cube, unanimously 're-elected' with 100% voter turnout Super Bowl: Obama blames Fox News for Broncos' loss Feminist author slams gay marriage: "a man needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle" Beverly Hills campaign heats up between Henry Waxman and Marianne Williamson over the widening income gap between millionaires and billionaires in their district Biden to lower $10,000-a-plate Dinner For The Homeless to $5,000 so more homeless can attend Kim becomes world leader, feeds uncle to dogs; Obama eats dogs, becomes world leader, America cries uncle North Korean leader executes own uncle for talking about Obamacare at family Christmas party White House hires part-time schizophrenic Mandela sign interpreter to help sell Obamacare Kim Jong Un executes own "crazy uncle" to keep him from ruining another family Christmas OFA admits its advice for area activists to give Obamacare Talk at shooting ranges was a bad idea President resolves Obamacare debacle with executive order declaring all Americans equally healthy Obama to Iran: "If you like your nuclear program, you can keep your nuclear program" Bovine community outraged by flatulence coming from Washington DC Obama: "I'm not particularly ideological; I believe in a good pragmatic five-year plan" Shocker: Obama had no knowledge he'd been reelected until he read about it in the local newspaper last week Server problems at HealthCare.gov so bad, it now flashes 'Error 808' message NSA marks National Best Friend Day with official announcement: "Government is your best friend; we know you like no one else, we're always there, we're always willing to listen" Al Qaeda cancels attack on USA citing launch of Obamacare as devastating enough The President's latest talking point on Obamacare: "I didn't build that" Dizzy with success, Obama renames his wildly popular healthcare mandate to HillaryCare Carney: huge ObamaCare deductibles won't look as bad come hyperinflation Washington Redskins drop 'Washington' from their name as offensive to most Americans Poll: 83% of Americans favor cowboy diplomacy over rodeo clown diplomacy GOVERNMENT WARNING: If you were able to complete ObamaCare form online, it wasn't a legitimate gov't website; you should report online fraud and change all your passwords Obama administration gets serious, threatens Syria with ObamaCare Obama authorizes the use of Vice President Joe Biden's double-barrel shotgun to fire a couple of blasts at Syria Sharpton: "British royals should have named baby 'Trayvon.' By choosing 'George' they sided with white Hispanic racist Zimmerman" DNC launches 'Carlos Danger' action figure; proceeds to fund a charity helping survivors of the Republican War on Women Nancy Pelosi extends abortion rights to the birds and the bees Hubble discovers planetary drift to the left Obama: 'If I had a daughter-in-law, she would look like Rachael Jeantel' FISA court rubberstamps statement denying its portrayal as government's rubber stamp Every time ObamaCare gets delayed, a Julia somewhere dies GOP to Schumer: 'Force full implementation of ObamaCare before 2014 or Dems will never win another election' Obama: 'If I had a son... no, wait, my daughter can now marry a woman!' Janet Napolitano: TSA findings reveal that since none of the hijackers were babies, elderly, or Tea Partiers, 9/11 was not an act of terrorism News Flash: Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) can see Canada from South Dakota Susan Rice: IRS actions against tea parties caused by anti-tax YouTube video that was insulting to their faith Drudge Report reduces font to fit all White House scandals onto one page Obama: the IRS is a constitutional right, just like the Second Amendment White House: top Obama officials using secret email accounts a result of bad IT advice to avoid spam mail from Nigeria Jay Carney to critics: 'Pinocchio never said anything inconsistent' Obama: If I had a gay son, he'd look like Jason Collins Gosnell's office in Benghazi raided by the IRS: mainstream media's worst cover-up challenge to date IRS targeting pro-gay-marriage LGBT groups leads to gayest tax revolt in U.S. history After Arlington Cemetery rejects offer to bury Boston bomber, Westboro Babtist Church steps up with premium front lawn plot Boston: Obama Administration to reclassify marathon bombing as 'sportsplace violence' Study: Success has many fathers but failure becomes a government program US Media: Can Pope Francis possibly clear up Vatican bureaucracy and banking without blaming the previous administration? Michelle Obama praises weekend rampage by Chicago teens as good way to burn calories and stay healthy This Passover, Obama urges his subjects to paint lamb's blood above doors in order to avoid the Sequester White House to American children: Sequester causes layoffs among hens that lay Easter eggs; union-wage Easter Bunnies to be replaced by Mexican Chupacabras Time Mag names Hugo Chavez world's sexiest corpse Boy, 8, pretends banana is gun, makes daring escape from school Study: Free lunches overpriced, lack nutrition Oscars 2013: Michelle Obama announces long-awaited merger of Hollywood and the State Joe Salazar defends the right of women to be raped in gun-free environment: 'rapists and rapees should work together to prevent gun violence for the common good' Dept. of Health and Human Services eliminates rape by reclassifying assailants as 'undocumented sex partners' Kremlin puts out warning not to photoshop Putin riding meteor unless bare-chested Deeming football too violent, Obama moves to introduce Super Drone Sundays instead Japan offers to extend nuclear umbrella to cover U.S. should America suffer devastating attack on its own defense spending Feminists organize one billion women to protest male oppression with one billion lap dances Urban community protests Mayor Bloomberg's ban on extra-large pop singers owning assault weapons Concerned with mounting death toll, Taliban offers to send peacekeeping advisers to Chicago Karl Rove puts an end to Tea Party with new 'Republicans For Democrats' strategy aimed at losing elections Answering public skepticism, President Obama authorizes unlimited drone attacks on all skeet targets throughout the country Skeet Ulrich denies claims he had been shot by President but considers changing his name to 'Traps' White House releases new exciting photos of Obama standing, sitting, looking thoughtful, and even breathing in and out New York Times hacked by Chinese government, Paul Krugman's economic policies stolen White House: when President shoots skeet, he donates the meat to food banks that feed the middle class To prove he is serious, Obama eliminates armed guard protection for President, Vice-President, and their families; establishes Gun-Free Zones around them instead State Dept to send 100,000 American college students to China as security for US debt obligations Jay Carney: Al Qaeda is on the run, they're just running forward President issues executive orders banning cliffs, ceilings, obstructions, statistics, and other notions that prevent us from moving forwards and upward Fearing the worst, Obama Administration outlaws the fan to prevent it from being hit by certain objects World ends; S&P soars Riddle of universe solved; answer not understood Meek inherit Earth, can't afford estate taxes Greece abandons Euro; accountants find Greece has no Euros anyway Wheel finally reinvented; axles to be gradually reinvented in 3rd quarter of 2013 Bigfoot found in Ohio, mysteriously not voting for Obama As Santa's workshop files for bankruptcy, Fed offers bailout in exchange for control of 'naughty and nice' list Freak flying pig accident causes bacon to fly off shelves Obama: green economy likely to transform America into a leading third world country of the new millennium Report: President Obama to visit the United States in the near future Obama promises to create thousands more economically neutral jobs Modernizing Islam: New York imam proposes to canonize Saul Alinsky as religion's latter day prophet Imam Rauf's peaceful solution: 'Move Ground Zero a few blocks away from the mosque and no one gets hurt' Study: Obama's threat to burn tax money in Washington 'recruitment bonanza' for Tea Parties Study: no Social Security reform will be needed if gov't raises retirement age to at least 814 years Obama attends church service, worships self Obama proposes national 'Win The Future' lottery; proceeds of new WTF Powerball to finance more gov't spending Historical revisionists: "Hey, you never know" Vice President Biden: criticizing Egypt is un-pharaoh Israelis to Egyptian rioters: "don't damage the pyramids, we will not rebuild" Lake Superior renamed Lake Inferior in spirit of tolerance and inclusiveness Al Gore: It's a shame that a family can be torn apart by something as simple as a pack of polar bears Michael Moore: As long as there is anyone with money to shake down, this country is not broke Obama's teleprompters unionize, demand collective bargaining rights Obama calls new taxes 'spending reductions in tax code.' Elsewhere rapists tout 'consent reductions in sexual intercourse' Obama's teleprompter unhappy with White House Twitter: "Too few words" Obama's Regulation Reduction committee finds US Constitution to be expensive outdated framework inefficiently regulating federal gov't Taking a page from the Reagan years, Obama announces new era of Perestroika and Glasnost Responding to Oslo shootings, Obama declares Christianity "Religion of Peace," praises "moderate Christians," promises to send one into space Republicans block Obama's $420 billion program to give American families free charms that ward off economic bad luck White House to impose Chimney tax on Santa Claus Obama decrees the economy is not soaring as much as previously decreeed Conservative think tank introduces children to capitalism with pop-up picture book "The Road to Smurfdom" Al Gore proposes to combat Global Warming by extracting silver linings from clouds in Earth's atmosphere Obama refutes charges of him being unresponsive to people's suffering: "When you pray to God, do you always hear a response?" Obama regrets the US government didn't provide his mother with free contraceptives when she was in college Fluke to Congress: drill, baby, drill! Planned Parenthood introduces Frequent Flucker reward card: 'Come again soon!' Obama to tornado victims: 'We inherited this weather from the previous administration' Obama congratulates Putin on Chicago-style election outcome People's Cube gives itself Hero of Socialist Labor medal in recognition of continued expert advice provided to the Obama Administration helping to shape its foreign and domestic policies Hamas: Israeli air defense unfair to 99% of our missiles, "only 1% allowed to reach Israel" Democrat strategist: without government supervision, women would have never evolved into humans Voters Without Borders oppose Texas new voter ID law Enraged by accusation that they are doing Obama's bidding, media leaders demand instructions from White House on how to respond Obama blames previous Olympics for failure to win at this Olympics Official: China plans to land on Moon or at least on cheap knockoff thereof Koran-Contra: Obama secretly arms Syrian rebels Poll: Progressive slogan 'We should be more like Europe' most popular with members of American Nazi Party Obama to Evangelicals: Jesus saves, I just spend May Day: Anarchists plan, schedule, synchronize, and execute a coordinated campaign against all of the above Midwestern farmers hooked on new erotic novel "50 Shades of Hay" Study: 99% of Liberals give the rest a bad name Obama meets with Jewish leaders, proposes deeper circumcisions for the rich Historians: Before HOPE & CHANGE there was HEMP & CHOOM at ten bucks a bag Cancer once again fails to cure Venezuela of its "President for Life" Tragic spelling error causes Muslim protesters to burn local boob-tube factory Secretary of Energy Steven Chu: due to energy conservation, the light at the end of the tunnel will be switched off Obama Administration running food stamps across the border with Mexico in an operation code-named "Fat And Furious" Pakistan explodes in protest over new Adobe Acrobat update; 17 local acrobats killed White House: "Let them eat statistics" Special Ops: if Benedict Arnold had a son, he would look like Barack Obama AD GOES HERE INA There arent many from Christopher who can claim to have opened for iconic rock star Ozzy Osbourne. Yet, come August, Christophers own Jake Burkitt will be able to put that down on his already growing list of musical accomplishments. Burkitt, a Rend Lake College music student, is the bass player for Southern Illinois band Loris Puppets. He and his bandmates were selected to take part in the four-day Moonstock 2017 Music Festival, which will celebrate the Aug. 21 solar eclipse, as featured headliners along with acts like Papa Roach, Five Finger Death Punch and Ozzy Osbourne. For his part, Burkitt called the opportunity unreal and very exciting. But, for the 2015 Christopher High School graduate, its just another in a long line of musical achievements. From a young age, Burkitt has been involved in music. He credited his father as being the main reason he first touched an instrument. Hes the one that put that first guitar in front of me. I really enjoyed it. So, I stuck with it and have been playing since I was little, Burkitt said. That guitar launched quite the musical career. Loris Puppets wasnt Burkitts first adventure into playing in front of crowds. He began playing with family before catching some attention and being brought in as part of a blues tandem that performed for several years. Then, about two years ago, he met a former member of Loris Puppets. The two got together to jam for a while and really hit it off. It just so happened that the band was in the market for a new bass player, and despite being primarily a rhythm guitar player, Burkitt jumped at the opportunity to join. I had heard of Loris Puppets before. It took me by surprise whenever he asked me to join the band, Burkitt joked. So, Ive been with them for a few years now and have had a lot of fun. It was fitting that Burkitt was tasked with filling in the missing slot. According to their website, Loris Puppets was formed in 2012 at Rend Lake College by students from Sesser and Woodlawn. So far, the band has played some impressive venues alongside some notable acts. Theyve performed at HerrinFesta Italiana twice, sharing the stage with the likes of Third Eye Blind and Three Doors Down. At PointFest 2015 in St. Louis, they took home the top spot in the Battle of the Bands competition. Their victory allowed them to play on the main stage ahead of Seether, Chevelle and Breaking Benjamin. This whole thing just feels awesome. Really, to get up there and play those shows, its a lot of hard work. You have to put a ton of time in. You have to get out there and play the smaller gigs to get the experience and exposure. It doesnt matter what the pay is. You have to put yourself out there, Burkitt explained. In addition to getting out in front of crowds as often as possible, theres a lot of work that goes on in private. He said that the band holds practice every Sunday. But, for Burkitt, the work doesnt stop there. As a music major, the aspiring performer spends countless hours every week with either an instrument in hand or studying music theory. In addition to guitar and bass, he also plays drums and performs back-up vocals with the band. Yet, his true musical passion is studio work. Recording music has always been my primary interest. Its not a main objective for me to be the guy on stage. Professionally, Im more interested in the recording and business side of the industry. Studio work and producing albums has always been the thing Ive wanted to focus on. he said. To that end, Burkitt plans to transfer after graduation to Southern Illinois University Carbondale to study music business. When hes not working or studying, Burkitt has turned into a bit of a local celebrity. Its funny, my parents own Larrys Pit Barbecue in Christopher. So, people come in all the time and mention the band. I guess word travels pretty quickly in a small community, he joked. Playing Moonstock isnt the only major project the band has on its plate. The band traveled to Los Angeles last week to record a new music video that they will launch in conjunction with an album they recorded during an earlier trip to California. That was an awesome experience, Burkitt said. Going out to L.A. to record an album was the most amazing experience Ive ever had musically. We had a guy named Robert Davis, he was the guitarist for a band named Revis out of Benton, who heard about us through a mutual friend. He heard our stuff and dug it, so he got a hold of us and cut us a deal. So, before we knew it, we flew out there and got to business. He helped us rearrange and rewrite a few of our old songs. He also gave us some new material that he wrote himself. Loris Puppets upcoming album will release in the near future, following the filming of the music video. CHESTER After a swift, 15- to 20-minute deliberation, a jury found Beau Shawgo not guilty of manslaughter. Shawgo was charged with one count each of first-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, both felonies punishable by stays in the Illinois Department of Corrections. Shawgo was arrested in October after being involved in a fistfight, at the Hideaway Tavern in Percy, with three individuals, including Jeffery Welty, 55, of Percy, who later died from his injuries after he was hit one time by Shawgo. On Tuesday, after a brief final witness for the state, Erin Ely, an assistant medical examiner out of St. Louis, the state rested, which made way for an early game-changing motion from the defense. John Baricevic, an attorney from Belleville who represented Shawgo, asked the court to approve a motion for a directed verdict for both charges leveled at Shawgo on the grounds that the state had not provided sufficient evidence for a jury to consider finding Shawgo guilty of either charge. The focus is on intent, Baricevic said, addressing the court. He said no one on the defense would argue the facts of the case. However, one punch does not a murder make in the state of Illinois, Baricevic said. He cited several Illinois Supreme Court cases which, according to Baricevic, did not allow for one punch to constitute intent to cause death or great bodily harm, both requirements for manslaughter and first-degree murder. You cannot infer intent from one punch, Baricevic said in his argument to Judge Richard Brown. Baricevic also argued that the charge of first-degree murder accompanied by the second charge of manslaughter seemed to be a tactic to get the jury to compromise on a conviction, which he characterized as a miscarriage of justice. Randolph County States Attorney Jeremy Walker took offense to the statement, saying he was simply doing his job. He also strongly disagreed with the premise. He said many cases do make the exception where one punch does equal intent. You cannot tell me that man did not mean to cause great bodily harm, Walker said of Shawgo, saying that when a man half the size of another squares up to throw a punch in this case Shawgo weighing less than 200 pounds and Welty weighing more than 300 there is at least some premeditation of how much force would be needed. He said given this, it should be a question for the jury. Brown ultimately sided with Baricevic. He decided as a matter of law that the one punch thrown by Shawgo was not enough to prove intent to kill or cause great bodily harm to Welty, and ultimately accepted the motion for directed verdict for the charge of first-degree murder, but declined the motion for manslaughter. Initially, Walker asked to appeal this decision to the appellate court, but later rescinded this request, saying that the risk of losing the case entirely was too great. In a statement after the trial, Walker said the directed verdict was among his biggest disappointments of the day. The court gave another victory to Shawgos defense, allowing for a jury instruction of self-defense to be given. After arguments from the defense and the state, Brown decided the defense had met the threshold to argue self-defense in the case. After both motions were made, the jury was called back and the defense called its only witness, Hideaway Tavern bartender Tricia Kiefer. In his closing arguments, Walker said the case came down down to one question: Were Shawgos actions reasonable? He argued not. He said if Shawgo's actions leading up to the bar fight were not representative of someone feeling fear. C.J. Baricevic told the jurors life does not come with a pause button. Baricevic said Shawgo had to act quickly, and that the case was simply about self-defense. He said one punch was a fluke and should be treated that way by the jury. This was a bar fight gone all wrong, Baricevic said. CHAMPAIGN, Ill. While the excitement of spring planting season appeals to young and old, it is also a time to be aware of safety. For some, the dangers of working in agriculture never leave their minds. Almost seven years ago, two of Will Pipers teenage friends died in a grain bin where he was also trapped for six hours. Its still hard for him to talk about it, but he does because he wants other young people to know how to advocate for their own safety while working in agriculture. The Grain Handling Safety Coalition a group founded because of this incident released a video earlier this year that reminds young people, employers and farmers of the danger of agricultural work. The Grain Bin Entrapment: Seconds to Tragedy video starts with the startling 911 call from that July 28 day when the four boys were working inside a grain bin to break up corn clumps at Consolidated Grain and Barge Co. in Mount Carroll. The video documents how Wyatt Whitebread 14, passed out from the heat and became entrapped in the grain. Friends Alex Pacas, 19, and Piper, 20 at the time, tried to rescue him. Chris Lawton, 15, climbed out of the bin to call 911 and get help. Pacas also died that day. In the video, Piper tells what it was like. One I felt his last heartbeat. Thats going to mess anybody up, Piper said. In the video, Lawton says if young workers see their employer has put them in an unsafe position, they should walk away. Its heartbreaking, said Marsha Salzwedel, youth rural safety specialist at Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation/National Farm Medicine Center in Wisconsin. It is hard to see because often these situations are preventable. They dont have to happen. Every three days, a child dies in an agriculture-related incident, and each day, 33 children are injured, according to the 2017 Childhood Agricultural Injuries Fact Sheet compiled by the National Childrens Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The leading sources of fatalities are machinery (25 percent), motor vehicles/ATVs (17 percent) and drowning (16 percent). In the video, Wyatts mother said her son was trusting that the employer would make sure he was safe. The company was cited for multiple violations of child labor and safety laws and ordered to pay $18 million to the families. Safety costs a little or costs a lot, said Peggy Romba, program manager of member services and public relations for the Illinois Farm Bureau. No money is worth a life, Piper says in the video. Often, farmers dont realize labor laws to protect children under age 16 are in effect if the child is working for a grandparent or a neighbor, said Bob Aherin, University of Illinois Extension safety specialist. A child that age is not allowed to work on a livestock operation with the animals, with chemicals including pesticides or anhydrous, or in grain storage buildings. This time of year, there are people moving grain as well as other spring operations, he noted. People employing youths need to be aware of the rules and make safety accommodations, Aherin said. Under child labor laws, youths are not allowed to drive equipment for someone else unless they are at least 14 or 15 years old and have taken and passed a 21-hour training program to become certified, he said. We understand the intrinsic value of children working with their parents and getting the youth interested agriculture, said Aherin. But he still cringes when young people ride on tractors and other equipment with family members. One of the biggest risks for injury or death is falling off tractors, he said. Only the drivers seat on farm equipment has shock absorbers, so if a child is standing on the tractor platform or sitting on another seat, the child is vulnerable to be thrown off. In a moving tractor, reaction time is 8 to 10 feet, he said. Large farm equipment today has many blind spots, Aherin added. And cultivators and other equipment with sharp edges are particularly dangerous for youngsters who like to climb. Often farmers dont think twice about letting a mature youth help with planting or tillage operations in the spring. But there is danger if the youth is not adequately trained. If there is a sudden challenge with a tractor, going in a ditch or catching equipment on something, the operator needs to do several things at once maybe turn the wheel with one hand, push the clutch with a foot, and raise equipment with another hand. Youths havent developed these simultaneous motor skills until they are about 14 years old, Aherin said. Aherin worked on a project with Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation that outlines age appropriates tasks. Find it at https://tinyurl.com/n6cphm6. "Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget and I'll tell you what you value." Former Vice President Joe Biden quoting his father knew that a budget reflected the values and priorities of our nation. Each April our country funds its priorities. Ultimately, as the Rev. Jim Wallis has said, "Budgets are moral documents." Each year Physicians for Social Responsibility Los Angeles calculates how much money the United States spends on nuclear weapons programs for the current tax year. The Nuclear Weapons Community Costs Project has identified that for tax year 2016, the United States spent $57.6 billion on nuclear weapons programs. California contributed more than $7 billion to this amount while Los Angeles County sent approximately $1.8 billion to the federal coffers to fund weapons that can never be used. In Flint, Michigan, where we have allowed children to be poisoned by lead in their drinking water, $9 million was spent. In the nations poorest county, Buffalo County, South Dakota, they spent more than $142,000 on nuclear weapons. Every dollar spent on nuclear weapons is a dollar taken from programs that support the health and well being of our country, our communities and our loved ones. These are critical funds that we can never get back. The Trump administration is proposing a dramatic increase in the budget for nuclear weapons while simultaneously proposing a dramatic decrease for social and environmental programs. This is in addition to the nuclear grand bargain of the Obama administration's proposed buildup of our nuclear arsenal to the tune of $1 trillion over the next three decades. This is the opening salvo as other countries follow suit in this new nuclear arms race. Having grown weary of our actions and failure to meet our legally binding commitment to work in good faith toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, the non-nuclear nations are refusing to be held hostage by the nuclear states any longer. Taking their future into their own hands the vast majority of the non-nuclear nations will complete negotiations at the United Nations this July on an international nuclear ban treaty that will outlaw nuclear weapons just as all other weapons of mass destruction have been banned. This will leave the United States and other nuclear nations once again in breach of international law. Fortunately, a world under constant threat of nuclear apocalypse either by intent or accident is not the future that has to be. But change will not happen on its own. Each of us has a role to play. Ultimately it will take the people of the United States to awaken from our trance and join the rest of the world in demanding that our leaders work to abolish nuclear weapons and to redirect these expenditures to secure a future for our children and address the real needs of our country. The time for action is now. President Donald Trump's seriously misguided priorities endanger the country's health security. Trump's proposed budget would allocate vast sums to bolstering the military (a $54 billion increase) and building a wall on the Mexican border ($15 billion) while slashing programs that are vital to the nation's welfare. No cuts would be more damaging than the president's assault on two invaluable agencies: the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fortunately, some Republicans understand the president's foolishness, including Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that funds those agencies. He called them "the front lines of defense for the American people for some pretty awful things," adding: "If the idea of a government is to protect the United States and its people, then these people contribute as much as another wing of an F-35 (fighter jet) and actually do more to save tens of thousands of lives." Saving lives is not just a moral issue, it's an economic one. Money invested now -- in promoting basic research, protecting against infectious diseases, providing vaccinations, denouncing smoking -- saves enormous amounts later. Just one example was emphasized recently by Bill Gates in a speech to the Munich Security Conference. "The cost of ensuring adequate pandemic preparedness worldwide is estimated at $3.4 billion a year," said Gates, who devotes much of his philanthropy to global health. "Yet the projected annual loss from a pandemic could run as high as $570 billion." The Trump budget slashes investments in health security instead of increasing them. The president's priorities are not only a textbook example of "penny wise and pound foolish," but they also reflect a deeply damaging mindset: a profound disdain for all the professionals -- scientists and researchers, economists and engineers, journalists and judges -- who measure and describe a world that does not square with the president's prejudices. Take the NIH, the largest biomedical research institution in the world, which enjoyed bipartisan support during the Obama administration. Trump would cut $5.8 billion, or 20 percent of its total budget. And the idea voiced by many conservatives, that private enterprise would pick up the slack, is simply wrong. Drug companies won't invest in the costly research that produces many failures before an effective new therapy can come to market. Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has made fighting cancer a personal crusade, says that Trump's cuts "would set the NIH budget, and biomedical research, back 15 years -- and that's not hyperbole. "This is no time to undercut programs, for God's sake," he added. "It's time to double down -- time to be sure we can deliver on the promise of science and technology to extend and improve lives." Under Trump's budget, the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the CDC, would lose 18 percent of its funding. And another program that supports the CDC's preventive health efforts would be eliminated entirely. That would mean more kids who don't get vaccinated, more smokers who don't quit, more drivers who don't wear seat belts. And it would mean far greater vulnerability to global health threats like Ebola, Zika and influenza. As the Post reports: "Diseases travel fast and don't recognize borders. In today's connected world, a disease can be transported from a rural village to any major city within 36 hours." The threat, adds Rebecca Katz of Georgetown University Medical Center, is "not just from travel of people, but birds, too. You can't build walls to stop birds." But that's what Trump wants to do: build walls, buy bombs, rattle sabers and ignore reality. Cole says it best: "What the CDC does is probably more important to the average American than, in a sense, the Defense Department. You're much more likely to be killed in a pandemic than you are in a terrorist attack, so you need to look at it that way. Those investments are extraordinarily important for the protection of the country." We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking Accept, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies. By Azernews By Gunay Camal The assets of Azerbaijans state oil fund SOFAZ, which is in charge of accumulating and managing the country's oil and gas revenues, jumped by 0.18 percent. SOFAZ Executive Director Shahmar Movsumov announced about this at a press conference in Baku on April 18, noting that the figure hit $33.207 billion as of April 1. The increase was mainly due to a sizeable positive effect of changes in the exchange rates of investment portfolio currencies (mainly Euro, Russian ruble and British pound), as well as the impact of asset appreciation (specifically, equity and gold portfolios), said Movsumov. Budget revenues of SOFAZ reached 3.273 billion manats, while budget expenditures constituted 3.848 billion manats in January-March 2017. SOFAZs revenues of 2,899.1 million manats were received from implementation of oil and gas agreements, including 2.894 billion manats from the sale of profit oil and gas, 0.1 million manats as bonus payments and 4.6 million manats as transit payments. The revenues from managing assets of the Fund amounted to 373.4 million manats, while the extra-budgetary expenditures related to the revaluation of foreign exchange totaled 873.9 million manats in January-March 2017. Being a special purpose state organization, the primary objectives of SOFAZ are to help maintain macroeconomic stability in the country and to generate wealth for present and future generations. Movsumov went on to say that SOFAZ will continue to invest in real estate within its investment strategy on real estate. The share of SOFAZ investments that can be made in real estate is 10 percent of the total investment portfolio. The practice of investing in real estate abroad has already allowed the Fund to acquire Gallery Actor, a mixed-use office and retail complex located on Pushkin Square in Moscow for $133 million, an office complex in London's West End for 177.35 million, a property in Paris for 135 million, Pine Avenue Tower worth $447 million in Seoul and Palazzo Turati office building in Italy, Milan. Movsumov further mentioned that the Fund extended the term of the deposit in the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA) for another year. "We have two deposits in the IBA, the first of which expired in March, and we extended it for another year, the second expires in May this year, I think that its term will also be extended, he said, adding that new deposits are not planned. The amount of each deposit is $ 500 million. Speaking about the transfers to the Central Bank of Azerbaijan (CBA) to ensure macroeconomic stability in 2017, Movsumov said that the figure may be less than 7.5 billion manats. The SOFAZ budget for 2017 stipulates allocation of 7.5 billion manats for these purposes, and in the first quarter we transferred 2.279 billion manats to the Central Bank. However, the economic situation is such that, I think, that this expenditure will not be executed completely, Movsumov said. SOFAZ earlier reported that these funds [7.5 billion manats] were planned to be directed to implementation of the activities stipulated in the monetary program of the Financial Stability Board for 2017, as well as to realization of measures to ensure macroeconomic and financial stability in the current year and in the medium term. Part of these funds will also be directed to measures to accelerate the process of recovery of the IBA. SGC Shahmar Movsumov also excluded any problems with the financing of the projects of the Southern Gas Corridor. He said that the Fund did not issue any funds for the SGC in the first quarter of 2017. However, the 2017 budget stipulates allocation of funds to the SGC project realization. I can say with confidence that SOFAZ has funds to finance the project, so no problem will arise with funding this year. Besides, negotiations are underway for the financing of the Southern Gas Corridor in next two years. " The Southern Gas Corridor is one of the priority energy projects for the EU. It envisages the transportation of gas from the Caspian region to the European countries through Georgia and Turkey. As part of the Stage 2 of the Shah Deniz development, the gas will be exported to Turkey and European markets by expanding the South Caucasus Pipeline and the construction of Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline and Trans Adriatic Pipeline. By Azernews By Laman Ismayilova Dont miss the legendary Fire of Anatolia dance spectacular at the Heydar Aliyev Palace in Baku. The acclaimed Turkish dance group The Fire of Anatolia will once again please fans in Baku with a concert program entitled "Silk Road" on May 12-14, Trend Life reported. The dance group consisting of 120 dancers, several choreographers and other technical staff is a frequent guest of the city and every time they surprise audience with magnificent dance performances. The Fire of Anatolia, which is regarded as one of the best dance groups of the world because of countless international tours and various promotional activities The Fire of Anatolia, which brings the rich culture of Anatolia and the magic of dance on the same scene in a magnificent style, became the first dance group that performed in The Building of China Parliament. The group performed for an audience of four hundred thousand people, all standing, in Eregli, in the Black Sea region and holds the title for Largest Auidience in the Guinness Book of World Records for this performance. They were also the first group performing in the Bodrum Antique Theatre after 2300 years. The ensemble gave performances in more than 90 countries from the USA to China and Japan, before an audience of about 35 million people. The leader of the group is Mustafa Erdogan. The concert in Baku will be organized by SA Organization. It is already 17 years that SA Organization could make an enough image about its activity and name. The organization which established by Selahattin Atalay has succeeded a number of big concert projects realized in these years. The Company organized the unforgettable concert programs of the stars known in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Kibris and other countries. As a company that founded this business in Azerbaijan, SA ORGANIZATION perfectly and professionally approaching to its activity made its signature to the concert projects of a number of famous performers such as ?brahim Tatl?ses, Nilufer, Ajda Pekkan, Ali?an, ?ngrid Alberini, ?magination, Anna Marria, Ruslana, Kayahan, Rafet El Roman, Grigori Leops, Kenan Dogulu, famous dance groups such as Fire of Anatolia, Tararam, Shaman, Celtic Legends,etc. Media partners of the event are Trend.az, Day.az, Milli.az, Azernews.az By Azernews By Laman Ismayilova Every year on April 18, the world community celebrates the International Day for Monuments and Sites. Approved by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983, the event is aimed to promote awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage of humanity, their vulnerability and the efforts required for their protection and conservation. As UNESCO Member State since July 3, 1992, Azerbaijan contributes actively to the protection of Monuments and Cites, which have worldwide importance, and celebrates the Day. The Open Doors Day is being held today in all museums, nature reserves subordinated to Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Trend Life reported. Azerbaijani people has the right to feel proud for its history, material and cultural monuments, literature, arts and music heritage. The Icheri Sheher, Shirvanshahs Palace, Maiden Tower and other unique monuments that testify for rich culture of Azerbaijani people are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Atashgah Fire Temple and Gobustan State History and Arts Reserve, an open air museum and one of the oldest historic sites in Absheron and many others are unique samples of Azerbaijan, proving the antiquity of its civilization. Sightseeing in the countrys regions such as Palace of the Sheki Khans, Sheki Caravansarai and Juma Mosque of Ganja and Momine Khatun Mausoleum in Nakhchivan are other interesting attractions mesmerizing many tourists. Establishment of the Gala Archeological and Ethnographic Museum Complex located in one of Absherons most ancient settlements serves to preservation of the historical past and transformation of the country into a tourism center. Historical and Ethnographic Reserve Gala is located in 40 km of Baku - Sulh street, 5. Founded in 2008 in the Gala settlement, the reserve is dedicated to the history of the Absheron Peninsula. The visitors can get acquainted with the lifestyle the people enjoyed in between the 16th-19th centuries. The complex features cave paintings, gavaldash, pottery, household items, jewelry, weapons and coins, and ancient settlements dating back from the III-II millennium BC. to the Middle Ages. The Shirvanshahs Palace, located in the heart of the Old City is another place of interest which hold many mysteries and secrets. The palace was constructed in the 13th-16th centuries.The palace also has a colorful museum, which will not leave any history lover indifferent. The Maiden Tower, a historical symbol of Baku dating back to ancient times, has always been a source of national pride. It is believed that the monument was built as a Zoroastrian temple used for fire worshipping, sacrifice rituals and other religious ceremonies. In January 2014, the tower opened its doors to visitors after a major conservation work. The cultural property of the Azerbaijani people isn't limited and include many ancient places. The Armenian armed forces that occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan territories officially recognized by all the UN member states violently destroyed the national and cultural monuments there. As a result of military aggression, the Azykh and Taglar Caves, known as pioneer settlements of primitive man, and while Garakopek and Uzarliktep barrows are used in military purposes and destroyed partially. Along with burial mounds in Khojaly, Agdam, Agdere, Fizuli, Jabrail regions, cemeteries, mausoleums, gravestone monuments, mosques, temples, monuments of the Caucasian Albania and other national monuments in the occupied regions have been purposefully destroyed. By Trend Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has hailed the development of tourism in the country. The number of tourists increased by 11 percent last year, while it rose by 25 percent in the three months of this year. It is obvious now, said President Aliyev in a closing speech at a republican conference of non-oil exporters in Azerbaijans Yevlakh District. The number of tourists is increasing dramatically both in Baku and regions of the country. And there are, of course, reasons for this. This has not happened spontaneously. The work done in recent years has led to this situation. First of all, stability, tranquility, social and political order reigning in Azerbaijan, of course, make the country more attractive to tourists. Particularly, under current circumstances when there is tension in various parts of the world, threats, conflicts, social discontent is growing, mass protests are widespread. None of these problems exists in Azerbaijan, he noted. Azerbaijan enjoys unity of the people and the government. Our policy is supported and approved by the people. And this is the key factor of stability in Azerbaijan, added President Aliyev. By Azernews By Kamila Aliyeva Malta supports the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Azerbaijan, said Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta. Muscat made the remark at a meeting with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on April 17, adding that the country is ready to contribute to this process, the Foreign Ministry reported. Highlighting the importance of relations between Azerbaijan and the EU, Muscat applauded the EU's high-level officials assessment of the relationship as a strategic partnership. The new agreement should replace the 1996 partnership and cooperation agreement and should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today. The first meeting on a new agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan was held in Brussels on February 7, 2017. The next round of negotiations on the agreement will be held in Baku on April 25. Muscat further expressed satisfaction with the current high level of bilateral relations between Malta and Azerbaijan. He mentioned that Malta is interested in expanding cooperation with Azerbaijan and expressed his confidence that this visit will contribute to the development of relations between the two countries. Mammadyarov, in turn, said that the relations between the two countries have developed dynamically in the recent years and the high-level visits have created fertile ground for their further enhancement. In this regard, the minister stressed the positive results in the development of cooperation in economic and energy fields. Noting that the official visit to Malta coincided with this countrys EU presidency, Mammadyarov briefed the Prime Minister about the development prospects of EU-Azerbaijan relations and the negotiations on the draft of the agreement for cooperation with EU. The minister also touched upon the negotiations process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stated the importance of expressing EU's commitment to the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence and inviolability of borders of states in a common and unambiguous manner in respect of all conflicts. The sides also discussed the development of relations in various fields and exchanged their views on transnational energy and transport projects, as well as other topics of mutual interest. Following his Malta visit, Mammadyarov will travel to Italy, where will attend the opening of a photo exhibition on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Azerbaijan-Italy diplomatic relations. He will also give a lecture on "Azerbaijan's foreign policy and relations with Italy" at the Italian Society for International Organizations. By Azernews By Rashid Shirinov Blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is under arrest in Baku, was transferred to the infirmary of the detention facility, as the doctors gave him a diagnosis of tachycardia, said detainees lawyer Eduard Chernin. Currently he is being treated in the infirmary, he told Trend on April 17. Earlier, the court extended the arrest of the blogger three months. Previously, he complained to me of pain in the heart, was then taken for examination in one of the private clinics where he was diagnosed as tachycardia. Currently Lapshin feels fine, added Chernin. Lapshin, who owns citizenship of several countries, will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. He was detained in Minsk in late 2016 and extradited to Baku in early February. The blogger is charged under the articles 281.2 (open calls against the state ) and 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia are considered illegal, and any individuals paying such visits are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's "black list". Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of illegality of visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions. By Azernews By Rashid Shirinov The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) should require a report from the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijani MP and OSCE PA Deputy Chairman Azay Guliyev made the remark while talking to reporters in Baku on April 18. The OSCE PA adopted important documents on conflicts. But we think that specific steps and solutions should be taken in this regard. The OSCE PA should conduct an audit of the OSCE activities in this direction and require a report from the Minsk Group co-chairs, Guliyev said. The Minsk Group, the activities of which have become known as the Minsk Process, spearheads the OSCE's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation, and the United States. Although the OSCE Minsk Group deals with the issue for over two decades, its activities have brought no breakthrough results so far. Guliyev stressed that the Minsk Group co-chairs should be asked why the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not resolved yet, and why Azerbaijani civilians and soldiers are still dying on the line of contact. Therefore, I suggested to invite one of Minsk Group co-chairs to one of the OSCE PA sessions, and let him report, he noted. We are also planning a meeting of parliamentarians of the OSCE Minsk Group countries, where we will discuss the settlement of the conflict. Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts. Guliyev also said that Azerbaijan intends to strengthen relations with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and Azerbaijani parliaments Speaker Ogtay Asadov has invited OSCE PA President Christine Muttonen to Azerbaijan in connection with this. We hope that the visit will take place in the near future, said the MP adding that the next meeting of the OSCE PA will be held in Copenhagen on April 23-24. Abu Dhabi with the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) has been ranked as the top financial technology (fintech) hub for the Mena region in a report released by professional services firm Deloitte in partnership with the Global FinTech Hubs Federation. The special review titled "A Tale of 44 Cities" was released at the 2017 Innovate Finance Global Summit held in London recently, reported WAM, the Emirates official news agency. Richard Teng, CEO of Financial Services Regulatory Authority of ADGM, the international financial centre in Abu Dhabi, also spoke at the Global Fintech Hubs Panel of IFGS 2017 with panel members from the UK, the US, Singapore and India discussing Fintech developments and collaboration. From the 44 cities, Abu Dhabi is ranked top FinTech hub in the Mena region. The Deloitte report reiterated that the launch of ADGMs Regulatory Laboratory, RegLab, for FinTech start-ups, the only "live" Fintech regulatory regime in the Mena region with 11 Fintech players in its first batch of applications, as a "milestone success for Abu Dhabi and marked the openness and support by regulators and government towards innovation." Commenting on the review findings, Teng said, "We are pleased that Abu Dhabi and ADGM have been recognised as the top FinTech Hub in the Mena region. This recognition is a strong endorsement of the initiatives and efforts that we have introduced to develop both the regulatory framework and ecosystem needed to support the ambition of Fintech stakeholders. "ADGM has created many firsts in the Mena region, including the first to formulate a regulatory regime to licence FinTech participants, the first to develop a Regulatory Laboratory that provides a safe and controlled environment to foster Fintech innovation, and the first jurisdiction to establish a FinTech Bridge with Singapore that offers Fintech stakeholders greater access to markets, capital and regulatory recognition. "The strategic support of our government, MoU partners and the community has been instrumental in the advancement of the Fintech growth and activities in Abu Dhabi and the UAE. As an international financial centre, ADGM will continuously enhance its business environment and FinTech ecosystem to better serve the needs of the Mena region now, and well into the future. We will continue to collaborate with Fintech stakeholders and local and international industry providers to identify areas of innovation and business opportunities, Teng concluded. Foundation Holdings, a strategic healthcare, education and consumer-focused investment firm, has announced the appointment of five new senior executives as the firm continues to expand its investment portfolio in India and the GCC. This step follows the company's set plan of investing Dh2 billion ($544 million) in the region over the next five years, said a statement from the company. The new appointments include Tharshan Wijey as chief financial officer, Karan Yadav as chief strategy officer, Aakash Sachdev as managing director (India), Parvati Banati as managing director (Asset Management) and Phil Garrison as managing director (Operations), it stated. Wijey joins Foundation Holdings after beginning his career with Morgan Stanley (Australia & Singapore). Having spent the last decade in the GCC defining healthcare and education businesses, he will develop Foundation Holdings long-term financial planning and investment portfolio with his disciplined, efficient and focused approach to business. Yadav was a senior executive at Philips Lighting, Middle East, and has also spearheaded initiatives such as the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD). He will be responsible for developing and executing the long-term business strategy as well as expanding the business and market reach, stressing on creativity, innovation and visionary approach. Sachdev, an industry veteran with 14 years of experience in financing and investing sector, will be leading the companys focus on the fast-growing $2.5 trillion Indian market. Banati was the former managing director and head of investment banking coverage and advisory, South East Asia at Deutsche Bank, Singapore and had led the transformative IPO of IHH Healthcare. She will be joined by Garrison as managing director (operations) who enjoys over 40 years of experience in international businesses, including various positions held with Caltex Petroleum. Garrison also served as the former chairman of the American School of Dubai. Welcoming the appointments, CEO Abhishek Sharma said: "Our vision is to build sustainable, industry-defining companies and we believe that actualising this is a team sport. Human capital or our people are the key drivers of our superior investment returns, and we are very committed to the proposition that people drive business performance." "I am delighted to welcome our new, highly talented and accomplished business leaders as we continue to expand the Foundation team. It is critical that we are building a 'human engine' to amplify Foundation Holdings robust 'business engine'," he stated. "The new appointments will not only add depth and bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to our business, but together with the existing board of directors and advisory board, will help redefine the industry," he added. In February this year, the firm launched a joint venture with Bloom Holding, an Abu Dhabi-headquartered group, aimed at investing over Dh1 billion ($272 million) in innovative workforce solutions, targeting the impactful sectors of healthcare, education and services within the UAE, said Sharma. This joint venture, with an ambition to IPO, brings together two best in class partners, who share strategic and operational know-how in addition to solid political and financial capital, he added.-TradeArabia News Service Amna Insulations, a leading provider of energy saving solutions for the construction sector, has signed up as a green technology sponsor at the Gulf Construction Expo 2017 which opens next week in Manama, Bahrain. Gulf Construction Expo (formerly gulfBID) is the northern Gulfs showcase for the GCCs building material and construction sector being organised by Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE). It runs from April 25 to 27 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre under the patronage of HRH Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. A division of Al Mezal Group of Companies, Amna will lead from the front as it showcases energy-saving, environment-friendly products and solutions for the construction sector. Amna Insulations executive director Sulaiman Al Mezal said: "We are proud to lead the Green Technology element at the GCCs established showcase for the international building industry." "Our aim at the Gulf Construction Expo will be to highlight the importance of the construction sector to make the transition from conventional building construction to green smart buildings. We have identified and developed products and solutions that cater to ensure that the transition is more effective in the short term," stated Al Mezal. At Gulf Construction Expo, Amna Insulations will be offering energy-saving solutions such as the Marmox Multiboard, (the worlds lightest construction and insulation board), Marmox External Thermal Insulation System, Politerm Light Concrete (the lightest thermal insulating concrete in the world) and Pleko Systems (an external insulation and finishing system). Jubran Abdulrahman, the managing director of HCE, said: "Amna Insulations' sponsorship of the Green Technology sector of Gulf Construction Expo adds a new facet to the exhibitions profile." "Smart construction and environment-friendly products are a growing movement for building and construction products," he noted. Gulf Construction Expo 2017 carries with it the strategic sponsorship of Haji Hassan Group of Companies and RP-KP Group together with Plant and Machinery Sponsors Motor City, while United Commercial Agency, the Bahraini agent for Midea, is the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) sponsor. Supporting organisations include AHK (the German Industry of Commerce), Embassy of the Republic of the Philippines and the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism.-TradeArabia News Service Expo 2020 Dubai will have a strong presence at the ongoing Think Science Fair 2017 being held in Dubai, UAE, inviting young people in the UAE to drive and shape the first World Expo ever to be held in the region. Since its inception, Expo 2020s Youth Connect has launched several initiatives to ensure that the nations youth are a core part of the journey to Expo in 2020 and beyond as outlined by Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and director general, Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau. Al Hashimy said: From our earliest days of planning for the expo, we have been determined to put our youth at the heart of our plans. The three-day event, which will conclude on April 20 and is being held at the Dubai World Trade Centre, is an ideal platform for Youth Connect to engage and enjoy a dialogue with young people. It will inspire them to explore expos vision of innovation and global progress, and give them the chance to share their own innovative ideas with Expo 2020 Dubai, as well as to express their interest in expos volunteer programme. Alya Al-Ali, appointed as director at the age of 24, heads Youth Connect having first joined Expo 2020 Dubai shortly after completing her university studies. This appointment is a reflection of Expos commitment to youth and their strong belief that young people are key contributors to both creating an exceptional event and building a meaningful legacy. She said: At Expo 2020 Dubai we believe that this generation, my generation, represents a powerful opportunity for the region, using the building blocks of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship that are powered by youth, to create a brighter future. And we see Youth Connect as an avenue for inspiring, empowering and including young people to realise Expos vision. We hope young people will capture the opportunity that Expo 2020 offers to build a better future. I invite young people to walk with us on this exciting journey, to connect minds and create the future, to contribute to a bold, new vision that we can call our own. Youth engagement will play a vital role in the success and legacy of Expo, she added. Al-Ali emphasised that the relationship between expo and youth was wholly collaborative. This is a two-way dialogue. We are here to learn and grow together. We want a long-term and reciprocal interaction with young people, to ensure that Expo is a life-changing, transformative experience for all of us, she stated. Think Science is also an opportunity for Youth Connect to showcase initiatives that Al-Ali and her team have been working on and also some that are new from 2017. Among the Youth Connect initiatives are: Youth events where the team will participate in or hold events that serve as powerful platforms for young people to get inspired and explore different ways to broaden their horizons. They will have the opportunity to create, innovate and explore opportunities through hands-on-experiences and workshops and other activities. School roadshows in which nearly 12,000 schoolchildren so far have been given the chance to meet the Youth Connect team, understand Expos core theme of Connecting Minds, Creating the Future and challenged to learn, innovate and are encouraged to play a role in Expos journey to 2020 and beyond. Youth Labs which give young people the chance to shape and define elements of Expo 2020 Dubai, their expo, and stake their ownership in it. It also keeps participants in the loop on everything Expo 2020, with updates on the latest news, initiatives and ideas. Examples include their direct input to the architects and designers of the landmark Sustainability Pavilion, helping expo celebrate the UAEs 50th anniversary National Day, and even contributing to concept plans for the official mascot. An apprenticeship programme gave 27 apprentices the chance to take part in nine-month training courses at the expo. This opportunity has now been expanded following last months integration with another successful apprenticeship scheme for Emirati graduates run by the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority (Jafza). A volunteer programme will assemble a force of tens of thousands of volunteers of all ages and nationalities, many of them young, to help welcome the world and serve as the face of Expo as a global destination. Many of the volunteers will be young people and their personalities and enthusiasm will be important in ensuring a positive impression for millions of visitors. Al-Ali summed up: Youth has always been a priority for Expo 2020 Dubai, as it is for the government of our country and as shown in its numerous national initiatives for the young, such as Think Science. This is so important in our region (Middle East, Africa and South Asia - MEASA), which has one of the youngest populations in the world, one filled with potential to positively transform the region, she added. Young people are the vital link between the present and the future. And we want more to join this momentum to achieve exciting, positive change. Our expo here in the region will bring the world to our doorstep, and along with it, some of humanitys brightest ideas, she concluded. TradeArabia News Service OiLibya, Libyas state-run petroleum product distributor, plans to invest MAD85 million ($8.36 million) in renovating its lubricant production factory in Casablanca, a report said. As part of the renovation, the manual production unit, which was constructed in 1967, will be replaced by a fully-automated system, resulting in increased production capacity, greater operational safety and improved product quality, reported Morocco World News. The investment will ensure the production of high-quality lubricants to meet all customer needs, he report said, citing a company statement. A total of seven petrochemical projects will go on stream in Irans Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Assaluyeh, Bushehr Province by mid-March 2018, a senior official said in a report. Forty petrochemical facilities are currently in operation in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone, Marzieh Shahdaei, head of National Petrochemical Company of Iran (NPC), was quoted as saying in an Iran Daily News report, citing Shana. Iran is one of the few countries having abundant supply of petrochemical feedstock, she added. The country has announced ambitious plans to build at least eight new condensate refineries in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone. This is meant to prevent further sales of raw material in favour of selling end products. Once fully operational, the eight refineries will have a daily production capacity of 24,800 barrels of condensates, added the report. Brazilian exports of textiles and clothing to the Arab region surged during the first two months of 2017, increasing by 87.5 per cent compared to its performance during the same period in 2016, according to the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC). The huge demand for synthetic fabric and sisal rope used in ships and rigs led the increase in total sales reaching $3 million up from $1.6 million in January and February 2016, said a statement from ABCC. The Brazilian Textile and Apparel Industry Association (ABIT) reported that sales from rope exports accounted for $1 million, while beachwear, textile yarns and inner garments also rose during the two months, it said. ABITs survey of exports include various parts in the production chain including raw materials such as fibres, yarns and filaments as well as technical and non-fabric industrial textiles, and clothing, it added. Arab countries continue to be one of Brazils largest market for clothing, particularly for segments such as party wears, childrens and beach wears. Based on ABITs latest data, the UAE has the highest imports of Brazilian textiles and clothing during this period, followed by Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Lebanon, said a statement. To boost the Brazilian textile and apparel industry exports, ABIT and the Brazilian Trade and Investment Agency (Apex-Brazil) have launched the Texbrasil programme which serves to benefit affiliated exporters, it said. Statistics showed that companies which have participated in the program expanded their export markets to Arab countries by 40 per cent in 2016, valued at $2.9 million in 2015 to $4.1 million in 2016. Michel Alaby, secretary general and CEO, ABCC, said: Brazils textile exports performance during the first two months of the year signify the steady growth of the countrys market share in the sector as the Arab World continues to look for quality materials, not only in raw materials but also with finished goods. The Arab consumer base has a discerning taste for luxury and exclusivity in clothing and apparel and this segment remains promising for the Brazilian export sector, he said. It is worth noting that the continued support of industry groups coupled with innovative business strategies, have played an important role for the growth of the Brazilian textile in the Arab region, he added. TradeArabia News Service Dubai Watch Week, a global platform of horological knowledge sharing and creative inspiration, will return for its third consecutive edition this year, after the unprecedented success in 2016, in November. This unique event, held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, vice chairman of Dubai Culture & Arts Authority, and in association with Fondation de Haute Horlogerie (FHH), will take place from November 16 to 20 in Dubai. It is expected to welcome thousands of visitors, including more than 60 industry legends and brands, said a statement. After a raft of positive feedback following the 2016 edition, Dubai Watch Week is set to be bigger and better under the 2017 theme Classic and Contemporary. The theme explores the evolution of watchmaking, by bringing the industrys rich heritage to light as well as championing its innovation and creativity - connecting the past to the present. In addition, Dubai Watch Week 2017 plans to add more masterclasses, creative hubs and panels to the agenda that are set to surprise and delight visitors, it said. Melika Yazdjerdi, director of Dubai Watch Week and senior marketing and communication director, said: Following on from its phenomenal success last year, we are delighted to be hosting Dubai Watch Week for its third edition. This is a one-of-kind platform that promotes the sharing of information everything from the individual stories behind each brand including technical movements, materials, and mechanisms to consumer trends and the future of watchmaking. This year we will carefully design an attraction that will appeal seasoned watch collectors, watch enthusiasts and visitors of the fair." Dubai Watch Week is the largest international gathering devoted to horological knowledge exchange. The 2017 agenda will feature an exciting programme filled with, exclusive VIP events, workshops, watchmaking master-classes as well as talks some of the watch worlds most eminent personalities, the statement added. - TradeArabia News Service The OSGP Alliance, the global non-profit association dedicated to promoting the adoption of the Open Smart Grid Protocol, OSGP, will organise the second Annual Smart Grid Security Summit in Dubai, UAE, a report said. The event will take place on May 22 at Grand Hyatt Hotel, reported WAM, the Emirates official news agency. Networked Energy Services Corporations (NES), a global smart grid market leader with industrys leading Patagonia Energy Applications Platform (EAP), will be the platinum sponsor of the security conference dedicated to utilities, regulators, ministries, consultants, researchers and vendors. The energy sector is undergoing a rapid transformation with the deployment of smart grids, which enables real-time monitoring, fault detection, isolation and restoration, grid mapping, and automated reading as well as connections and disconnections. Therefore, it is vital to get a deeper insight on the security concerns as grids are a national asset and of critical importance for any country. The 2017 Smart Grid Security Summit will highlight information on the "threats" to understand the current and the future threat landscape and "approaches" to mitigate threats in the most effective and comprehensive way possible, supported by relevant case studies from the field. Bo Danielsen, chairman of the OSGP Alliance said, "While we are aware of the multiple benefits of smart grids, now is the time to also focus on the security threats caused by modern communication and information technology doorways. Following an overwhelming response to the first edition of the Smart Grid Security Summit that took place in Poland in September 2016, we felt it appropriate to expand the discussion on security concerns, data leaks and vulnerabilities of smart grids in the ME region." The conference, he added, will offer the regional entities as well as other stakeholders a deeper insight on how smart grids can help in monitoring and managing the consumption of electricity and water resources for a sustainable future. Michel Madi, CEO of Middle East, Africa and India, Networked Energy Services Corporation, noted: "The governments in the Middle East and particularly the GCC have launched several initiatives to deploy the latest innovations in a bid to move towards a diversified economy. We will throw the spotlight on potential threats that can arise from smart grids and ways to secure them through the latest available solutions. As the MENA regions fourth largest market with the highest near-term potential for smart grid infrastructure and smart metering solutions as per the Emerging Markets Smart Grid: Outlook 2016, the seminar will be of particular significance for the UAE." Just as retailers begin to gain clarity on what makes Millennials tick, a new generation is emerging that widens the digital divide even further. Meet Gen Z: categorized as consumers age 20 and younger. When it comes to digital shopping, they build on the attitudes and expectations first identified among Millennials. A global research by Accenture, a management consulting and professional services company, reveals that within this new cohort, video-rich YouTube represents the go-to online choice for shopping, although many also turn to other social media beyond traditional online mainstays, such as Instagram and Snapchat. The differences and evolving similarities between Millennials and Gen Zs will have a profound impact on retailers worldwide, as companies attempt to reach the two most digital generations yet. Next Gen: Catching up with the Zs Where Millennials pushed the digital envelope for retailers, Gen Zs stretch it even further. For example, the two generations dont frequent the same URLs. In fact, our research shows that social media has a significantly greater impact on Gen Z shopper purchasing behaviours than it does on Millennials, and this younger generation are expressing a greater willingness to buy products and services via the channel. While currently less affluent than other generations, Gen Zs are nonetheless impulsive shoppers. Compared to older Millennials, nearly 60 per cent more say they made a purchase just because they wanted to buy something or because they randomly saw an item they liked. While they might shed this impulsiveness as they mature, it could also become a key attribute when they gain more discretionary spending power. Additionally, reflecting their digital experiences with other purchases such as airline tickets and restaurant or hotel bookings, when they see something they like, they want to buy it immediately, and retailers must find ways to accommodate them. Gen Z IS more open to new concepts While there isnt a significant difference in age with the younger Millennials, Gen Z shoppers are far more likely to experiment with new services that retailers provide. They are especially interested in services that make shopping easier and faster. For example, compared to both older and younger Millennials, they exhibit greater interest in renting fashion, furnishings, home goods, consumer electronics and appliances. They are also far more ready to order these items (rented or purchased) using concierge services like Apples Siri, Googles Assistant or Amazons Alexa artificial intelligence platforms. We also found that Gen Z shoppers have a greater inclination to adopt monthly curated subscription programs such as Birchbox or Trunkclub for their fashion, consumer electronics and health and beauty products, says the Accenture report. Whats different for retailers? It seems likely that Gen Z will accelerate and amplify many of the hurdles retailers currently face in serving Millennials, including the impact on purchasing channel preferences, how shoppers choose what they purchase, and their effect on pricing, brand loyalty and the need for speed. Stores still have a role to play. While Gen Z shoppers are making a strong shift online to make their purchases, some bedrock retailing elements remain intact. Among Gen Zs, the majority still prefer visiting stores to make their purchases. Gen Zs act differently both in stores and online compared to Millennials. Higher percentages make visiting a store a multi-media/multi-channel event. More of them engage with sales associates, comparison-shop on mobile devices in the store, and ask friends and family about purchases (either in person or remotely via social media, texting or mobile devices). Theyre also more likely to interact with in-store, self-service digital information sources. Whats influencing them at the moment of truth? Like Millennials, Gen Z shoppers mostly buy items based on three factors: receiving the lowest price, seeing products in stores, and reading reviews. However, Gen Z consumers place a greater emphasis than Millennials on listening to friends and family and turning to social media for inspiration before deciding what to buy. Gen Zs are also more inclined to consider the number of likes a product or service receives on social media, and the opinions of trusted bloggers. A need for speed. Gen Zs crave speedy deliveries much more than Millennials do. In fact, many more of them will cancel an online order if delivery timing is ambiguous, and fewer are willing to wait for free deliveries. They want to schedule their deliveries and ideally get it that same day. And, they are more willing to pay extra for these conveniences: Gen Zs are feedback fanatics. Gen Zs will also tell you what they think. Forty per cent said they provide feedback often or very often compared to about 35 percent of Millennials. The most popular method they use: writing reviews on retailer websites. Theyre also more likely to offer feedback via Tweets or posts to Facebook and Snapchat. Charting Gen Z differences across the globe Its clear that, like Millennials, Gen Zs are using technology available to them in their quest to purchase the perfect product in the perfect way. Yet, there are several significant differences depending on where they live. While its no surprise shoppers in China prefer to shop online and leverage social media to shop significantly more than the global average, theyre also far more interested in the ability to engage with an online sales associate. In Europe there remain significant differences. For example, when asking shoppers whether they are willing to buy things via social media. Compared to the global average: shoppers in Sweden are almost twice as willing to buy. Yet in Germany, less than half. But even among English-speaking countries, there is a stark difference. For example, Australians are very interested in renting fashion items, yet this doesnt sound appealing to Canadians. And in the United States, shoppers still have a strong preference for in-store shopping. Implications for retailers Gen Z is emerging as a global consumer force. Retailers need to understand the ways these shoppers will differ from (and mirror) the Millennials, and whether the differences represent opportunities or challenges. Dont abandon stores. The store needs to be an experience that is an extension of the brand. Re-imagine them to create a digitally connected, interactive and hyper-personalized physical shopping experience. Consider the ability of the sales associate to enhance the experience. The challenge for retailers is to move away from selling products and toward creating experiences and telling storiesfinding innovative ways to participate. Focus on cool social media. Videos and pictures are becoming more important than text for younger shoppers. Social media plays a central role in their lives and the expectation of constantly changing stories is becoming the norm. Yet young people are quick to move to the latest channel, so being nimble is key for retailers. Woo with experiences and speed. Experiences should be something that Gen Zs will want to share. Consider partnering with 3rd party companies to enhance the customer experience. Coupling experience with speedy fulfilment will go a long way toward meeting this generations expectations. Overload on feedback. Gen Zs value feedback from their family and friends, suggesting that retailers no longer own the review process. Brands should also look at collecting shopper product testimonial videos an authentic approach that adds tremendous credibility. Social listening capabilities and making this a prominent PR focus will be critical. Get closer to the customer. Gen Z shoppers are open to new shopping models. This is a real opportunity for retailers to secure new customer data. And gleaning insights successfully can increase the lifetime value of each customer. TradeArabia News Service Emirates Palace joined the celebration as Kempinski Hotels marked 120 years of excellence with Ignite the Night, an evening of festivity and delight for guests. A testament to Kempinski Hotels European heritage, Emirates Palace celebrated the Ignite the Night gala at the Emirates Palace Marina on the eve of April 8 for a memorable night of canapes, refreshments and a breathtaking view of the palace and the Arabian Gulf. In line with the milestone anniversary, Kempinski Hotels has launched the Kempinski Travel in Style Competition. Participants have the chance to win an exclusive 10-night trip for two, with airfare, limousine transfers, and a suite experience in three of Kempinskis hotels. Markus Semer, chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Kempinski Hotels, said: After 120 years, were delighted to pay tribute to an extraordinary past, and herald an exciting future. Our founder, Berthold Kempinski, paved the way for a new standard of hospitality, based on timeless European elegance and impeccable service. He created venues that introduced guests to new experiences, in unique and original surroundings, and his innovative and entrepreneurial approach has remained the inspiration for our development over the years. Emirates Palace is among the worlds most iconic hotels that are managed and operated by Kempinski. The award-winning five-star luxury hotel boasts quintessential luxury in its rooms and suites, luxury spa, and signature restaurants and bars. We have spent 120 years exploring the world, creating a constellation of remarkable havens to which guests can travel and stay in style, and we havent lost our thirst for discovery, said Semer. Whilst we value and preserve our traditions, we will continue to develop new and innovative approaches to hospitality, so while celebrating our past this year, we can also look forward to a bright future. - TradeArabia News Service Jannah Hotels and Resorts, a luxury hotel group in the UAE, is set to launch its Jannah Residence this week. Opening on April 15, the nine-storey Jannah Residence is now inviting long term leasers to experience home away from home in Abu Dhabi with Jannahs noble Bedouin hospitality. The 36 well-appointed two-bedroom apartments are fully furnished and serviced, featuring high speed wi-fi, organic bath amenities, signature Spa beds equipped with the finest 450 thread count linen, and the legendary Karim services. Strategically located on Al Zahiyah (formerly the Tourist Club Area) which has been the heart of Abu Dhabi for decades, Jannah Residence is an ideal place to stay with easy access to international restaurants, cafes and retail shops. Abu Dhabi Mall, housing signature brands, a variety of dining options and Abu Dhabi Co-op Hypermarket, is a five-minute drive away. - TradeArabia News Service Jannah Hotels & Resorts chief executive officer Nehme Imad Darwiche will address the forum at the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Halal Summit 2017, April 26. The inaugural ATM Global Halal Tourism Summit brings together some of the worlds leading Muslim Travel experts to discuss the nuances of this fast-growing sector, which was worth $145 billion in 2015, around 10 per cent of total international tourism, according to Thomson Reuters. Its value is tipped to hit the $233 billion mark, some 13 per cent of total global travel expenditure by 2020. The UAE is one of the worlds prominent Halal Tourism industry stakeholders, a pioneer in developing Muslim-friendly tourism infrastructure that attracts an increasing number of domestic, intra-regional and international visitors, as well as a key source market for other Halal-friendly destinations around the world. The discussion is divided into three parts, on which the speakers will put their focus Halal Tourism: the big picture, Halal destination strategies revealed, and how to sell Halal Travel. Nehme said, Considered as the pioneer in offering a Halal-friendly environment for Halal travelers, Jannah Hotels & Resorts understands Halal tourism is the fastest growing sector in the hospitality industry; and seeing this growth, Jannah responds to the increasing demand for halal alternatives for the rapidly growing halal market. I am honoured to be given a platform to represent Jannah Hotels & Resorts as one of the pioneers in Halal Tourism, he concluded. With over 15 years of hospitality experience, a diploma in Hospitality Management and an E-Cornell certification, Nehme launched Jannah Hotels & Resorts in 2013. He started his career in Stewarding before progressing to leadership roles with a five-star Asian hospitality group. A predestined meeting with a real-life Bedouin inspired the unique Jannah concept. The groups portfolio includes five properties with three more in the pipeline. The group is projected to manage 33 luxury hotels in 2022. - TradeArabia News Service Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) has unveiled plans to operate regular direct flights between Riyadh and Manchester, UK, starting in June, said a report. The flights will be scheduled to operate on Mondays and Fridays, with four flights per week in both directions, said a report in Saudi Gazette. This will be the second direct route to Manchester on Saudias network, apart from the existing current direct flights between the British city and Jeddah at the rate of 10 flights per week in both directions. This is in line with Saudias plan of operating direct international flights. Saudia aims to target destinations that are witnessing growing demand for travel to the kingdom, according to market studies. Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2017, the regions leading travel industry showcase, opens its doors on April 24 for four days of business networking opportunities, insightful seminar sessions and top level ministerial discussions. Now in its 24th year, the 2017 edition, which takes place at Dubai World Trade Centre from April 24-27, will welcome over 2,600 exhibitors and an expected 30,000 visitors to the largest travel trade event in the Middle East. For the second successive year, organisers have added an extra hall, to accommodate extra demand, with over 150 countries represented, 65 national pavilions, and more than 100 new exhibitors set to make their ATM debut. Simon Press, senior exhibition director, ATM, said: It is clear that the Expo 2020 project is driving growth throughout Dubai, as it aims to complete 160,000 hotel rooms in time to welcome an additional five million visitors over the course of the six-month event. However, the UAE and the GCC countries as a whole are looking towards tourism as a way of diversifying their economies away from their reliance on hydrocarbon receipts. He added: The increasing trend is for an immersive style of tourism, which encompasses different areas of local life culinary, culture, history, shopping, nature, sports, halal, theme parks, wellness and spa, medical tourism and sheer Arabic opulence and can be the basis for a holistic travel experience, by connecting with a place rather than just making a visit. This growing trend is now on the radar of the regions tourism chiefs as destinations face increased competition for their share of the more traditional travel segments. And it is very much on the radar of Arabia Travel Market 2017, which has adopted experiential travel as the main theme of this years event, integrating it across all show verticals and many activities, including focused seminars and roundtable events. New to ATM 2017, ILTM Arabia will play host to one-to-one, pre-scheduled appointments, between suppliers of luxury products and destinations from around the world to an audience of high net-worth individuals. While marketing to experiential travellers will be an integral part of the ATM Travel Tech seminar programme. The UNWTO & ATM Ministerial Forum returns, uniting more than 20 ministers with industry leaders in the Mena region to consider methods of capitalising on tourism growth and building a sustainable ecosystem for the sector to unlock its potential within each countrys national agenda. Other popular features returning to the show repertoire this year include the Wellness and Spa Lounge (which has grown by 40 per cent and now includes 35 international suppliers and 35 Middle East specialist buyers), Travel Agent Academy, Buyers Club and the Bloggers Speed Networking events. There will also be a series of seminars, starting with the opening session of this years event on the Global Stage, which will look at the role Expo 2020 will play in delivering the UAE Governments long-term vision for economic diversification. Now just three years away, high level stakeholders will take part in a panel discussion about the upcoming event. 2017 began on a strong note for inbound tourism to Dubai with over three million overnight visitors recorded in January and February, representing a 12 per cent year-on-year growth in visitor numbers. A large part of this continued success is due to the ongoing support from our partners from new and existing attractions, to airlines and travel agents all working together to evolve and innovate Dubais destination offering. ATM serves as a platform to highlight the factors behind Dubais appeal to a diverse range of travellers, as the emirate continues to drive tourism growth in line with our Tourism Vision for 2020. We are looking forward to showcasing Dubais ever-evolving destination proposition to the international travel trade community during the event - this includes a whole host of attractions that have launched over the past year alone, from theme parks such as Dubai Parks and Resorts, to more cultural offerings such as Dubai Opera, the Etihad Museum and Saruq Al Hadid. On the stand at ATM this year well also be highlighting several new initiatives of our own including Dubai Sustainable Tourism updates and our new industry training Dubai Expert which Dubai College of Tourism will showcase and much more, said Issam Kazim, CEO, Dubais Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism). - TradeArabia News Service Simon Casson, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts president of hotel operations for Europe, Middle East and Africa, was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to the Hospitality Industry accolade at the Food and Travel Arabia GCC Awards 2017. As the driving force behind the companys expansion plans in the region, Casson served in senior roles at other properties in the GCC prior to assuming his current position. Most recently, he was the opening general manager for Four Seasons Resort Dubai at Jumeirah Beach, which was named both Hotel of the Year as well as Best 5 Star Hotel at the same award ceremony. Four Seasons Hotel Dubai International Financial Center, whose opening in March 2016 was overseen by Casson in his role as regional vice president, won the Best City Hotel award. Prior to his work in Dubai, Casson served as the general manager for Four Seasons Hotel Doha for nine years, where he played an instrumental role in setting new industry benchmarks in Qatars hospitality sector. A Four Seasons veteran of 28 years, Casson has held management positions in London, Washington DC and also previously chaired the companys Global Spa Task Force, overseeing Four Seasons spa efforts worldwide. He assumed the role of president Hotel Operations, EMEA, in August 2016, spearheading an active pipeline of projects in the region, with Four Seasons Hotel Kuwait at Burj Alshaya, the seventh property to join the companys GCC collection, expected to open in Q3 2017 and the recently announced Four Seasons Hotel Tunis scheduled for a late 2017 opening. Four Seasons will be providing more details of their expansion strategy at the upcoming Arabian Travel Market 2017 taking place in Dubai from April 2427. - TradeArabia News Service The Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) will participate in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) for the first time as part of the its strategy to reach out and welcome more visitors from the Middle East. The 2017 edition of ATM, which will be held in Dubai from April 24 27 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, will provide an ideal platform for JNTO and its partners to directly engage with the Middle Easts travel professionals and provide them relevant information and contacts for them to confidently promote the destination to their clients seeking quality, welcoming, memorable and unique experiences. The number of international visitors to Japan has been growing dramatically year on year. By participating in the Arabian Travel Market, JNTO hopes to create many mutually beneficial partnerships with the regions leading travel professionals and airlines, to encourage more visitors from the Middle East to experience the wonder, beauty and hospitality that only Japan can provide. In just three years since 2013 the number of international visitors to Japan has more than doubled, resulting in over 24 million visitors travelling to Japan in 2016 compared to the 10.3 million experienced in 2013. 2016 marks the first time Japan has welcomed more than 20 million visitors in one year. Having achieved this milestone result, the target of welcoming 40 million visitors before the country hosts the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020 seems an ever more realisable goal for the Japanese tourism industry. When targeting Middle Eastern guests JNTO is keen to highlight the countrys unique heritage, modern pop culture, luxury experiences, tax free shopping and Japans traditional washoku cuisine - which has been designated as a Unesco Intangible Cultural Heritage. In order to make Muslim and Middle Eastern guests as welcome and comfortable as possible, many hotel, hospitality and restaurant partners throughout Japan have made extensive efforts to learn the cultural and religious needs of Muslim guests, including making available various services and offerings that are Halal or Muslim-friendly. All this information can be easily accessed through the dedicated Muslim Guide website at: http://muslimguide.jnto.go.jp/eng/. Joining the JNTO Japan pavilion are representatives from the tourism related authorities of Hokkaido, the Kyoto Convention & Visitors Bureau, Hotel Granvia Kyoto, Japans Prince Hotels, Ayabex and J-Links, Japanese destination management companies. Special promotional packages to Japan created in collaboration with Cathay Pacific, and made exclusively for travellers from the UAE, will also be launched at the Arabian Travel Market to further entice visitors with great holiday deals. Tokyo-Mt. Fuji - Kyoto package includes return flights from Dubai with Cathay Pacific, a one way Bullet Train ride from Tokyo to Kyoto, three night accommodation with breakfast at each of Shinagawa Prince Hotels in Tokyo and Hotel Granvia Kyoto, Tokyo city tour, Mt. Fuji & Hakone tour, Kyoto city tours and airport transfers by English speaking drivers. The price starts at Dh9,950 ($2,708.4) per person with twin / double sharing basis, and subject to seasonal surcharges. These special packages including this will be available through local UAE travel agents and valid until the end of December 2017. - TradeArabia News Service Buddhists meet Want to meet Buddhists in Casper? E-mail: davidvaughn991@yahoo.com. Saturday watercolor sessions The schedule for the Saturday Morning Watercolor Sessions from 10 a.m. to noon for March and April at Art 321 is below. These are coordinated by Ellen Black, 265-6783. $10 per session. April 22, practice session; April 29, building perspective, Dave Sneesby. Learn Cybersecurity The Natrona County Library will offer a Cybersecurity class from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, April 19. This course will help you to understand online security and start to protect your digital life, whether at home or work. You will learn how to recognize the threats that could harm you online and the steps you can take to reduce the chances that they will happen to you. Call 577.READ x2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Using maps in geneology research The Natrona County Library and Natrona County Genealogical Society will host a genealogy workshop on maps at 7 p.m., on Thursday, April 20 in the librarys glass enclosure on the first floor. The workshops primary focus will be the use of maps in genealogy research: what can be learned from them, where to find them, and the best types of maps. Free and open to the public. Call 577-READ ext. 2 or email reference@natronacountylibrary.org for more information. Beginning Experience in Douglas Beginning Experience of Wyoming is a weekend program that offers healing and renewal to divorced, widowed and separated men and women. It is a nonprofit, faith-based comprehensive program offered to all, regardless of religious preference. A Beginning Experience weekend offers support and direction to help resolve grief or anger that can follow the end of a marriage by divorce, separation or death. The next Beginning Experience weekend will be in Douglas and starts at 7 p.m. on Friday evening, April 28, and runs through Sunday around 4 p.m. on April 30. The cost of the weekend is $150, which includes sleeping arrangements, meals and materials. Scholarships are available. Registration deadline is April 26, 2017. Ask these team members for more information: Curtis at 307.240.1232 or email westcurtis2014@gmail.com; Diane at 262.4142, Paulette at 267.6375. Landowner solutions workshop A casual learning conversation about country living issues will be held at 6 p.m. April 25 at the Glenrock Community Library, 506 S. Fourth St. Admission is free. Topics will include fighting weeds and animal health among others. Please pre-register so materials will be available. Contact Scott Cotton, UW Extension, 235-9400 or Scotton1@uwyo.edu. Write Brain Books training Mercer Family Resource Center will host a Write Brain Books Training from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 26, at Mercer Family Resource Center, 535 W. Yellowstone Hwy. The training is $30 and includes lunch. The founder of Write Brain Books will facilitate the training, and is for anyone who works with youth and look for a new way to incorporate literacy into his or her programming/instruction. Write Brain Books are illustrated, wordless books that inspire kids of all ages to become published authors of their own storybooks, each receiving published, hardcover copies of their original tales. To register for the training, please contact Mercer Family Resource Center at 265-7366. For more information on the Write Brain Books training, please contact Keri Owen, NCPC grant assistant, at 265-7366 or kowen@mercercasper.com. Call for portraits at Art 321 This is an open call to all artists in the community, working in any medium, to exhibit their artwork in the Art 321Casper Artists Guild Portrait Exhibit in May. Please note that artwork needs to be delivered to Art 321 Gallery by April 28. McIntyre photo workshop May 5-6 If you love the photography of Suzette McIntyre now on display at Art 321 Gallery, you will be eager to sign up for her workshop coming in May. Convergent Photography is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday and Saturday, May 5 and 6, instructed by McIntyre. Participants need to bring a digital camera. Fee is $130 for members/ $170 non-members. Job fair May 3 The Department of Workforce Services is holding a Youth Job & Career Fair with the intent of informing youth and young adults in Casper of job openings, career opportunities, and college or training options that are available to them in the Casper community. Youth and young adults between ages 16 and 24 who want to jump-start their careers are encouraged to attend. Individuals should dress to impress and take copies of their resumes to the Agriculture Resources & Learning Center from 9 a.m. to noon on May 3. The event aims to connect youth with a range of employment opportunities and help them explore the diversity of education and career options available to them in the future. For more information, call 234-4591. Felt scarf workshop at Nic A felt scarf workshop will be held from noon to 3:30 p.m. May 13 at the Nicolaysen Art Museum, instructed by Tatiana Lushnikova. Fees are $40 for members, 30 for students with valid student ID, and $55 for non-members. Please pre-register and pay by May 8. Bring a friend and save $10 on your class fee. This class is recommended for high school students and older. In this class, students will learn the process of wet felting and produce their own piece of handmade fiber art. For more information, contact Zhanna at zgallegos@thenic.org or call 235-5247. Corporate team building with (theater) murder Casper Theater Company will be teaching teambuilding workshops. After determining areas of emphasis designed to a specific business, the workshop will be steered in that direction. For more information, visit www.caspertheatercompany.net, or Casper Theater Company on Facebook or call Casie at 247-6167, or Donna at 267-7243 to set up a time. Teen Challenge spring groups Smart Step Families: Putting two families together is never easy. The Smart Step Families, led by a Christian couple, will give answers and encouragement. Thursday evenings starting in March. Call Pastor Mark or Linda at 259-1081. Insight: Discovering the path to Christian character, especially in the midst of stress. For more information, call Teen Challenge Wyoming at 258-5397. There are nine sessions to the class. Professionals in Recovery: An ongoing Christian recovery group. For more information, call Gary at 267-7777. Free to Grow: Helping people overcome disappointments and setbacks that have arrested or are presently hindering their emotional and spiritual development. Starts in February and meets on Thursdays. For more information, call Jane at 797-7271 or Judy at 251-5644. There are 12 sessions to the class. Peacemaking: In this world of division and conflict, its important for Christians to stay grounded in what the Bible teaches about resolving differences with others in a God- honoring way. Sunday at 4 p.m. For more information, call Teen Challenge Wyoming at 258-5397. There are 12 sessions to the class. Stepping into Freedom: A Christ-centered 12-step program that offers support for anyone struggling with a life controlling problem like drug addiction, alcoholism, sexual addiction, gambling or workaholism. There are 12 sessions to the class. New ministry at HPCC Family Life Ministry at Highland Park Community Church is offering premarital, marriage enrichment, and parenting workshops, seminars, retreats and conferences, empowering families to thrive through Gods love. Please visit the website for more information or to register, http://hpcc.church/FLM. Self-transformation class set A Conscious Co-Creation/Self-Transformation & Healing seminar/live webinar will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 22 and 23, taught in person at the Agricultural Resources & Learning Center, 2011 Fairgrounds Road, and also via live webinar. In the seminar/playshop, participants will learn how the universal and physical laws of creation work together with thoughts and ideas to form daily experience; how modern science bears out what the ascended masters have known for eons; and how to become aware of, and instantly start changing, the patterns of thought and emotion that are prevent realizing best potentials for a healthy, joyful, fulfilling life. The class is taught by Cathy Hazel Adams, practitioner of Intuitive Multidimensional Transformation & Healing, and Matrix Energetics certified practitioner. For full class description and registration information, visit: www.cathyhazeladams.com and click on Classes & Webinars in the left sidebar, or call 797-9677 for more information. Dementia caregiver support Wyoming Dementia Care offers five Alzheimers Caregiver Support groups each month. Caregivers of those with dementia-related illnesses and the loved ones they care for are welcome at any of the group sessions. Professional staff from Intermountain Home Companions will be on hand to offer separate activities and snacks for those who need care. There is no charge for Wyoming Dementia Cares support groups or for the respite care provided during the approximately one-hour sessions. The morning support group sessions meet on the first and third Thursday of each month at 10 a.m. at Central Wyoming Senior Services, 1831 E. Fourth St. The afternoon support groups meet at 1 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Life Care Center of Casper, 4041 S. Poplar. The evening groups meet on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at Meadow Wind Assisted Living, 3955 E. 12th St. For information, email wyodementia@casperseniorcenter.com or call Dani Guerttman at 265-4678. Family continues suicide support Good Grief, Support will continue at 5:30 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at the 12-24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott, by request of attendees. Anyone who is grieving a suicide or death or considering suicide is encouraged to attend. Attendance, as well as the content, will be strictly confidential. The Fresh Start Cafe will be open, and you can eat during the meetings. This meeting place was offered by Dan Cantine of the 12-24 Club. You need not be a member to attend. For more information, email jlh35@hotmailcom. New depression group begins J.R.s Hunt for Life is offering See it Clearly, a free peer support group for people suffering from depression and other mental conditions that lead to suicidal thoughts and actions. The group is led by like-minded peers wishing to offer support. Anonymity and confidentiality is offered to all attending. Meetings are at 6:45 p.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at 500 South Wolcott in the conference room on the second floor, (12-24 Club). Those who have considered or attempted taking their life or are struggling are welcome. For more information, email jlh35@hotmailcom. Family offers faith-based groups The family of J.R. Hunter, who committed suicide, now has two additional support groups, these faith-based, in addition to the groups they run on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month at the 12-24 Club. Those continue. For more information, email jlh35@hotmailcom. J.R.s Hunt for Life presents two faith-based grief and depression peer to peer support groups at 5:30 and 6:30 p.m. at Restoration Church, 411 S. Walsh. For more information, email jlh35@hotmailcom. Grief Support Group, Good Grief: A faith-based grief support group that the family hosts on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at 5:30 p.m. at Restoration Church. The familys loss has moved them to offer this to anyone grieving. For more information, email jlh35@hotmailcom. Depression Support Group, See It Clearly: A faith-based free peer to peer support group for persons suffering from depression and other mental conditions that may lead to suicidal thoughts and actions. The group is led by like-minded peers wishing to offer support. Anonymity and confidentiality is offered to all attending. Meetings are at 6:30 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at Restoration Church. Those who have considered or attempted taking their life or are struggling are welcome. For more information, email jlh35@hotmailcom. Parkinsons exercise Rocky Mountain Therapy is offering a Parkinsons exercise program. Join us from noon to 1 p.m. Thursdays at Rocky Mountain Therapy, 2546 E. Second St., Building 500. These classes are open to anyone with Parkinsons or caring for someone with Parkinsons. Thursdays class is tailored for the individual with more advanced Parkinsons and focuses on improving endurance, safety and managing symptoms. We are open to all ages and can tailor the class to meet varying exercise needs. The cost of the class is $5. To RSVP, call 577-5204 and ask for Jerri or Shannon. Celebrate Recovery every Friday Celebrate Recovery meets at 5:30 p.m. every Friday at Highland Park Community Church, just south of Elkhorn Valley Rehabilitation Hospital on East Second Street. A family meal starts the evening, followed by praise and worship. At 7 p.m., theres either a lesson from Celebrate Recoverys planned curriculum or a testimony by a person who has found recovery through Christ. Then, people go to gender-specific small groups until 8:30 p.m., when dessert and fellowship conclude the evening. Child care is available at no cost. For more information, contact Chris at 265-4073. Here and Now: Dementia-focused monthly art class Classes are every third Tuesday of the month from 1 to 3 p.m. There is no charge. Here and Now is a program made possible through a collaboration between Wyoming Dementia Care and the Nicolaysen Art Museum. It is designed to provide a supportive environment for people with dementia and Alzheimers and their loved ones. To register, contact Dani with Wyoming Dementia Care 265-4678, ext. 106, or at wyodementia@casperseniorcenter.com or Zhanna Gallegos at 235-5247 or at zgallegos@thenic.org. Nancy Casper with the Federal Emergency Management Agency said some of the repairs related to the Feb. 7 storm will be covered by federal funds. But the county will have to look elsewhere for money to cover flooding damage that came after the storm. The Casper Area Economic Development Alliance announced Monday it will pursue manufacturers of turbines, electronics and related parts in the wind generation industry in an attempt to draw new employers to the region. CAEDA board members met with a handful of state lawmakers last week to discuss their new focus on the wind energy industry, said Charles Walsh, CAEDAs new president and CEO. The organization is tasked with creating new jobs and diversifying central Wyomings economy which is especially important at this time when the fossil fuels industry is down and many local workers are unemployed or underemployed. The organization is regrouping and focusing on a number of industries to achieve these goals, Walsh said. Board members also talked to Natrona County legislators about state statutes and policies that could derail any effort to persuade wind industry companies to move to Casper including a $1-per-megawatt-hour production tax levied by the state. The tax is contentious in Wyoming and the subject of much debate in the Wyoming Legislature. Lawmakers who support the tax some even want to see it increased believe its a way to create tax parity with the fossil fuels industry. They note the wind industry obtains federal tax benefits that are unavailable to fossil fuels, which they believe are losing out in the energy market and producing less revenue for the state. But Wyoming is the only state with a production tax. Heavy hitters in the wind industry, such as Power Company of Wyoming, have said it makes them take pause when considering beginning operations in blustery Wyoming. Such words worry other lawmakers, who would like to remove the production tax to diversify the economy. Sen. Bill Landen, a Casper Republican who attended last weeks meeting, said CAEDA board members mentioned that Kansas, Iowa and Colorado are doing a better job attracting the wind industry. While (the tax) isnt a great deal of money, it still sends a message to the wind industry that maybe Wyoming is not as welcoming to that particular industry, he said. I think theres concern at the state level in that regard But Ive had constituents express concerns on that front, about the competitive nature of our minerals industry. Landen said CAEDA board members didnt ask lawmakers to draft any bills about the tax or any other economic development issue. I think they were interested in us knowing theyre trying to take a new direction under new leadership, he said. Walsh noted that Salt Lake City-based Rocky Mountain Power intends to spend nearly $3 billion in the state in coming years. Rob Godby, a University of Wyoming energy economist, said in addition to Rocky Mountain Powers planned investment in wind, there are projects slated in the region that could be a boon to the local economy if companies choose to set up operations in the Oil City as oil companies have done in the past. Projects include the 1,000-turbine Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project, which will be the worlds second-largest wind farm if it is completed, and a venture north of Medicine Bow by the Venezuelan firm of Viridis Eolia. Wyoming has some tax structures that may be detrimental to wind development, Godby said. And the perception to people outside the state is Wyoming is anti-wind. Imagine youre a company and youre looking at billions or hundreds of millions in development in the state of Wyoming. You take it to your board, and theyll say, Wyoming hates wind. KEMMERER A 23-year-old man avoided facing the death penalty by pleading guilty to kidnapping and killing a Utah train worker in Wyoming. Dereck James Harrison entered his plea Monday during his arraignment in District Court in Kemmerer. Harrison pleaded guilty to first-degree murder while perpetrating a kidnapping and kidnapping in the May slaying of Kay Porter Ricks, 63. Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for Harrisons guilty plea. Sentencing has been scheduled for May 17. Harrison already is serving at least 30 years in a Utah prison after pleading guilty last year to tying up a woman and her four daughters in a basement. After that, he and his father snatched and killed a train worker while on the run from police, prosecutors said. His father, Flint Harrison, killed himself in jail last July. Dereck Harrison put most of the blame for Ricks killing on his father, saying that his father was the one who killed Ricks and that he thought they were going to let Ricks free in Wyoming. Dereck Harrison had been charged in Wyoming with four counts: murder in the first degree with premeditation and malice, murder in the first degree while perpetrating a kidnapping, kidnapping, and wrongful taking or disposing of property. Two counts were dropped in the plea deal. Authorities have said that the Harrisons kidnapped Ricks from a Salt Lake City TRAX stop where he was working and drove Ricks truck to a rural area outside Kemmerer in southwest Wyoming and killed him. Ricks body was left in sage brush off a dirt road. After a five-day manhunt, the Harrisons were arrested at a remote hideout near the small town of Pinedale. The whole episode stemmed from drugs, police said. The Harrisons had been using methamphetamine for days and wrongly thought the woman they kidnapped had reported them to police. So they kidnapped her and her daughters. However, the family escaped from the two, prompting the Harrisons to flee and setting up their encounter with Ricks. As a child growing up in the Midwest, I did not think much about national parks. I learned about them, of course, but like Mars or Jupiter places that existed and were probably pretty cool but that didnt seem to be at all relevant to my own life. We did plenty of traveling when I was a child, but mostly those trips were not about national parks. Michigan has some truly lovely spots including a small national park and a couple of seriously stunning national lakeshores that I cannot recommend highly enough but when I thought about national parks, I thought about mountains, and I didnt know much about those. That changed when I moved to Wyoming. The Casper area isnt quite a national park destination in itself, but its an ideal jumping-off point for your next adventure. Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain...theyre all just a few hours away, with others in range as well. Despite being not particularly outdoorsy, Ive reveled in recent visits to the two parks within Wyomings borders as well as Rocky Mountain, not far from Denver. You dont have to be outdoorsy to kayak on glassy Jenny Lake or take a tranquil raft ride down the Snake River or hike Deer Mountain. You do need to wear comfortable shoes and sunscreen. Theres really no way around that. Its also imperative that youre curious and ready to soak it all in. These are Americas national parks. They are pristine and wild and jaw-droppingly beautiful, and each one Ive visited has been like nothing I had ever seen before. Aside from the science that gurgles in Yellowstone and the peaks that scrape the sky above Grand Teton and Rocky Mountain, what has amazed me most about these places is their vastness. There is so much space to play and so many things to look at. Theres driving and gentle walking and hiking and biking and fishing and paddling so many ways to get out there and see lakes, rivers, wildflowers, animals, rocks, even other people. And yes, there are other people. I was at Rocky Mountain recently during a much appreciated free admission weekend, no less and had no trouble finding quiet spots to enjoy, where it felt like my eyes were the only ones taking in a particular spring view. In summer, though, I imagine thatd be more difficult. With record-setting tourism numbers at Yellowstone and Grand Teton in the last few years, you might have to try harder to escape the crowds and find solitude. The only solution I can think of to that problem is just to do it. Try harder. Visit during quieter hours. Locate a trail fewer people might be on, then train in advance of your visit to navigate it. Finding that moment of quiet in a national park just you and the air and the view is worth it. The wide open West has so much to offer. We are fortunate that these parks have been set aside to honor our sense of exploration and our sense of wonder. And when its time to come back home, we can breathe a little deeper. We can take in that fresh air and those magnificent views and know that next time we can break free for a weekend, theyll be there, just as they were, ready for us to come find inspiration again. We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some April 18 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages. PHOENIX Members of the Arizona House are finally going to get the chance to decide whether the states newest drivers should be prohibited from using their cellphones while they drive. But the future of the newly resurrected measure remains in doubt, with even the House GOP leadership divided. The measure says that new drivers those in the first six months of getting a license cannot operate any hand-held communication devices. That means not just no texting and emailing, but also no chatting on the phone with friends and family. Members of the House Rules Committee on Monday agreed that SB 1080 is constitutional and in proper form for consideration. That was never really in question, as the bill has already been approved by the Senate. It was stalled, however, when Rep. Phil Lovas, R-Peoria, who chaired the committee, refused to clear it to go to the full House. Lovas said he feared it might lead to even greater restrictions. Lovas is now gone, having quit the Legislature last week to take a post in the Trump administration. That allowed House Speaker J.D. Mesnard, R-Chandler, to name himself to the position. And Mesnard, who supports the legislation, got the panel to give its OK, setting the stage for floor debate later this week. Arizona is one of just a handful of states with absolutely no specific statewide limits on the use of cellphones while driving, although some local municipalities have some restrictions. But significant opposition remains. I think its a parental authority thing, said House Majority Leader John Allen, R-Scottsdale. I had three sons and they all had phones and cars, he told Capitol Media Services. I just told them not to do it; I told them thered be consequences. And Allen said hes convinced his sons, now grown, always obeyed his admonition. House Majority Whip Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, also hopes the measure falters. I think its already against the law, she said, saying police can cite motorists for distracted driving if they weave in traffic because theyre on the phone. But Townsend said the bigger concern is that this narrowly crafted measure wont be the last word. She said once Arizona bans texting while driving for teens, it would just be a small step to expand that to cover all motorists, something Townsend said most lawmakers are now unwilling to do. Sen. Karen Fann, R-Prescott, who pushed the measure through the Senate, said her legislation really is setting no new precedents. She pointed out there already are special restrictions on new drivers, including limiting the number of unrelated teens who can be in the vehicle as well as prohibiting them from driving after midnight unless it is to go to work or school. No date has been set for House floor debate. A Mexican man was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison Monday in a 2008 rollover that killed four people near Eloy. Hector Salas Garcia, 40, was driving a pickup truck with at least 31 passengers as part of a human smuggling attempt, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a news release Tuesday. All of the passengers were in the United States illegally. A federal judge in Phoenix sentenced Salas Garcia to 121 months in federal prison after Salas Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants resulting in death. He left the scene of the rollover before law enforcement arrived and was taken to Mexico by his brother, Agustin Salas Garcia, who pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact and was sentenced in 2009 to 18 months in prison and then deported, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. A former Tucson Fire Department captain likely will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his ex-wife, her mother and her mother's friend. David Watson was sentenced Monday to 16 years in prison for killing his ex-wife Linda Watson; a life sentence for killing her mother Marilyn Cox; and another life sentence for killing Cox's friend Renee Farnsworth. The sentences will run consecutively and Watson will serve 66 years before he is eligible for parole. He must first serve the 16-year sentence and 25 years each of the life sentences. He was given credit for 723 days already spent incarcerated. Watson was convicted March 17 of the three murders in a second trial after his first trial last year ended in a hung jury. Before sentencing Monday, a judge denied Watson's request for a new trial. Watson, 48, was convicted of one count of second-degree murder in the 2000 death of Watson, 35. He also was found guilty of two counts of first-degree murder in the 2003 fatal shootings of Cox, 63, and Farnsworth, 53. Linda Watson disappeared in 2000 from her house in the 2600 block of West Curtis Road. Investigators found blood in several locations inside the house. Three years later, her skull was found near the Silverbell Mine northwest of Tucson. The skull wasnt identified as hers until 2011, due to a mistaken assumption it belonged to someone who died after crossing the border illegally. Cox tried to find her daughters killer and fought David Watson and his then-wife, Rosemary Watson, in court for visitation rights to Coxs granddaughter, who was 4 years old when her mother disappeared. In 2003, Cox and Farnsworth were fatally shot in Coxs driveway by a lone gunman after Coxs first unsupervised visit with the Watsons daughter, Jordynn. On Monday, Jordynn Watson said Judge Deborah Bernini was sending an "innocent man" to prison and called the trial "truly a failure of our justice system." "I lost my mother and grandmother and now I've lost my father," she read from a prepared statement as her hands shook the paper. She said her father was "very kind-hearted" and tried to provide a "safe environment" for her. Her mother and grandmother are "looking down disgusted" at the investigation and trial, where "a lot of untruths" were told. Defense lawyer Natasha Wrae pointed to letters of support for Watson filed with the court by firefighters who "don't believe he had the capacity to do this." She also noted Watson was promoted at TFD, which she said was a sign of his good character. Wrae asked that Watson be sentenced to the minimum term, which would have been concurrent sentences with the possibility of release after 25 years in prison. Deputy County Attorney Jonathan Mosher said Watson showed "severe disregard for the value of human life" and asked that he be sentenced to the remainder of his natural life. David Watson said he is innocent, despite being "labelled as guilty." The murders were "very tragic" and the "tragedy will continue" as he spends years in prison. He asked Bernini to give him concurrent sentences "so maybe I can be back with my kids," he said as he choked up. Watson said he was hopeful his appeal would exonerate him. Pat Hinkle, sister of Marilyn Cox and aunt of Linda Watson, tearfully read a prepared statement in which she said her niece was disposed of "like a sack of trash." She lamented there would be no more conversations with her sister about "silly shoes" or sharing coffee and doughnuts. Instead, her sister and niece were killed by the "same sadistic coward." Bernini cautioned that no matter what sentence she handed down, "there is no closure" to anyone whose lives were "hopelessly shattered" by Watson's crimes. "There is a darker nature to all of us, but some people hide it better than others," she said, and Watson's darker nature rendered him capable of the murders. Shortly after announcing he would run as a Democrat for the congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Martha McSally, Billy Kovacs spent the next several hours explaining that he wasnt a Republican. Kovacs, the operations manager of Hotel Congress, stressed in a statement to the Arizona Daily Star that he had been a registered Democrat since 2008. The Arizona Department of Motor Vehicles made a clerical error last year, he said, changing his registration in August, formally making him a Republican. Kovacs said he wasnt aware of the issue until he was asked about his party registration by the Star. I am a registered Democrat, he said. This error was part of a systemic-wide issue at the DMV that affected countless others in Southern Arizona last year. The secretary of state has corrected this error in my party affiliation. I am dismayed this happened to me as it did to countless others last year. The campaign has since turned over the document he submitted to the DMV, showing he indicated he was still a Democrat and did not want to change his party registration. However, Kovacs wasnt always a registered Democrat. He registered as a Republican in 2006, election records show. He registered as a Democrat in October 2008, shortly before the election of President Barack Obama. In his announcement Monday, Kovacs said he wanted to run for the Congressional District 2 seat because McSally, a Republican, has refused to stand up to President Trump. Donald Trump and his administrations policies and rhetoric are divisive, un-American and offensive. Congresswoman McSally is complicit, and her pledge to be an independent voice has turned out to be a false promise, he said. With her 100 percent support of President Trumps agenda, she has proven herself to be nothing short of a rubber stamp for a president whose policies crush working and middle-class families in Southern Arizona. Kovacs has worked in Cochise County at his familys vineyard in Pearce and cofounded Tucson eatery Prep and Pastry. He joins a crowded field of Democrats who want to challenge McSally in the general election next year. Other candidates who have filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for CD2 include William Foster and Charlie Verdin. Jeff Latas, who ran for the Democratic nomination for Congress in Southern Arizona in 2006, has also indicated he is considering a run for the seat. If the YWCA of Southern Arizona could blow out 100 candles and make a birthday wish come true, it would ask for one thing: To level the playing field for women at work and in business. In 1917, the women who started the YWCA understood that empowering women and supporting women means all women, said Kelly Fryer, CEO of YWCA of Southern Arizona. There has been a commitment to racial justice that has intersected gender equity from the beginning, and now we are stepping up our advocacy and doubling down on the work we have been doing in terms of economic justice to make sure that women and minorities in our community have access to training, resources, tools and the funding they need to be successful. At its 100th birthday celebration May 4, the YWCA will launch the public phase of the Second Century Campaign, which seeks $1 million for the Womens Impact Fund and $500,000 for the Stand Together Arizona Training & Advocacy Center. Fryer said the impact fund will offer loans to women and minority entrepreneurs and invest in business ventures and projects that drive economic development, such as the YWCAs Kitchen Business Incubator in South Tucson. The training center will support voter education and engagement, grassroots activism and development of legislative strategies. This is a two-pronged strategy that puts tools in the hands of women and changes the systems that are unfair and make life so much more difficult than it needs to be for women and other marginalized folks, Fryer said. Fryer hopes to raise awareness about the fact the YWCA does more than help women get back on their feet. She is trying to promote outreach about opportunities such as the Womens Leadership Conference, the Latino Leadership Institute and other workforce development programs that have become cornerstones in the community over the past three decades. Fryer also emphasized that through the Second Century Campaign, the YWCA is carrying on a historic tradition of championing justice. She said many people are unaware that during the 1930s, the YWCA offered Tucsons only swimming lessons for children of color as well as integrated housing for women who attended the University of Arizona; in 1974, it opened Tucsons first state-certified infant-care center and in 1981 opened the first local housing program for survivors of domestic violence and their children. PHOENIX The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a federal judges decision to award $2.7 million to a Tucson couple for the misconduct of attorneys for a tire company they sued. Justice Elena Kagan did not dispute the finding by U.S. District Court Judge Roslyn Silver that the lawyers for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. had hidden from the couples attorney critical information about the safety of one of its tires. And Kagan said Silver was correct in concluding that had the information been disclosed as required, the case might have settled sooner. But Kagan, writing for the unanimous high court, said the ability of Silver to financially punish the company and its lawyers is limited to the damages caused by that misconduct. And she said there is no evidence that what Goodyear did or in this case did not do resulted in that much of a financial loss. Tuesdays ruling does not end the matter but instead sends the case back to Silver to reconsider. The decision has implications beyond the Tucson couple, setting clear standards for when federal judges can punish defendants for hiding evidence. The issue was so critical that even the National Association of Manufacturers, whose members also could find themselves facing similar sanctions, submitted its own legal arguments on behalf of Goodyear. The case involves a Tucson couple driving through New Mexico in 2003 in their motor home. While on a freeway, one of the tires allegedly failed, causing the vehicle to go over an embankment and flip over, causing serious injury to driver Leroy Haeger, his wife and their daughter-in-law. In filing suit against Goodyear, attorney David Kurtz alleged the tire was defective and repeatedly demanded all the information the company had on testing of the G159 model of tire. After Goodyear attorneys provided all of what they said the company had, Kurtz and his clients agreed to an out-of-court settlement the amount was not disclosed after the first day of trial. That came in 2010, five years after the lawsuit was filed. It was only later that Kurtz, reading about another lawsuit against Goodyear, learned that the company had some results from an internal heat test it never provided to him. Those results, he said, backed his argument about why the tire failed. In fact, the plaintiffs in that other case got a $5.6 million verdict against the company. So Kurtz went back to court and argued that he would not have agreed to the settlement had the information been disclosed. That failure clearly annoyed Silver. There is clear and convincing evidence that sanctions are required to be imposed, she wrote, saying the attorneys and Goodyear made repeated, deliberate decisions to delay production of relevant information, make misleading and false in-court statements, and conceal relevant documents. Since the underlying case had been settled, that left Silver with only the option of ordering the company and its lawyers to pay the couple the $2.7 million she said they spent in legal fees and expenses in preparing for the trial, money she said they might not have had to spend if Goodyear had disclosed the test results and the case been settled earlier. Kagan, in Tuesdays ruling, said courts have inherent power to fashion an appropriate sanction for conduct which abuses the judicial process. But she said these must be compensatory rather than punitive in nature. That means, pretty much by definition, that the court can shift only those attorneys fees incurred because of the misconduct at issue, Kagan wrote. Anything else, she said, is punitive and illegal. Help India! By Rashmi Bhushan for Twocircles.net I looked at the weather and murmured, There are ominous dark clouds gathering overhead. A voice from behind asked Are you talking about this uneasy weather or about democracy? When I looked back I saw an old man who resembled a satyr more than a man. Support TwoCircles He had wide-set, bulging eyes that darted sideways and enabled him, like a crab, to see not only what was straight ahead but what was beside him as well. He started coming towards me, I noticed he was barefoot but his gait was very intimidating then my eyes went on to his flat, upturned nose with flaring nostrils and large fleshy lips which reminded me of a donkey. What was most attractive about that non- attractive man was his long hair and the arrogance he was carrying on his face along with a stick in his hand. He came closer to me and asked me how old are you? I replied, Who are you? then he repeatedly asked me how old are you to which I answered, rather irritatingly: 21. He said WHAT, to which I replied, I am 21 years old. A contented smile appeared on his face, and he said: You are quite young. Then as a young curious mind, I started my interrogation, I bombarded him with so many questions like, Who are you? Where have you come from? and How come you listened to my murmuring even from such a distance and why did you say democracy, etc. His name was enough to close the Pandora box of my curiosity. He is Socrates, the greatest of the great philosophers. He brought philosophy down from skies. We decided to walk. We started our journey from one of the posh areas of Delhi, Connaught Place. When I along with Socrates, walking through those white pillars where beautiful ladies and handsome men were lost in their own world of narcissism, whirr and click sound was coming as if some lone wolf has come up with a machine gun. Socrates got astonished by looking at the blatant narcissism. As soon as the creatures of the narcissistic world had a look at Socrates they also got astonished and contempt was rolling down from their eyes. To avoid such a disdain we decided to move on. Socrates seemed hungry, so I decided to take him to some restaurant but unfortunately, we could not get entry, I suppose the reason was Socrates. While walking, we came across a large screen television, a larger panel was debating something, and Socrates got fascinated and took a pause at that place. His pause continued for a long time and then I interrupted and asked what happened? , why are you looking so nostalgic? He said this television debate reminded me of my court trial. In a charmingly naive way, he started asking me Is this pervasive or only a few media house does so? I was left with no answer, so to avoid the embarrassment I asked a counter question, that is, how you relate this to the Athenian courtroom where you had been trailed? He started his explanation by comparing journalists with Anytus and Meletus, they were great admirers of democracy but they were the ones who brought me to the court for expressing my mind. Journalism is supposed to be critical of the world but after watching that debate Socrates said it seems journalism has become an instrument to crucify those who dare to criticise views to which media house pays great homage. The anti-democratic actions of media and Anytus and Meletus made them interrelated. Like the Athenian courtroom, the newsroom is also filled with lies. An apology is a symbol of violation of free expression, so is todays journalism/public discourse. After reading Apology it is vivid that the contempt and apprehension Socrates is showing after watching that news debate (read it noise debate) is no exaggeration and comparison between media and a court trial is apt. In religious court in the Athenian agora, Socrates articulated one of the great pities of human society, he says It is not my crimes that will convict me but instead, rumours and gossips; the fact that by whispering together you will persuade yourselves that I am guilty. This is what todays journalism is all about. They create their narrative and spread that narrative vehemently and sometimes they prosecute also. After watching all the recent debates, whether it is a debate of Jawaharlal Nehru University students labelling them as anti-national or/and terrorists or any such debate, Socrates said nothing but quoted another Greek philosopher, Hesoid, Keep away from the gossip of people. For rumour is an evil thing; by nature, shes a light weight to lift up, yes, but heavy to carry and hard to put down again. Rumour never disappears entirely once people have indulged her While walking on the streets of Delhi, we come across an ATM line Socrates surprisingly asked me what is going on here? I sarcastically answered him it is an MRI test for patriotism. In a charmingly naive way, he asked me Cant we stand there? Meanwhile, an old man fell down from the queue, Socrates and I tried to help that old man. Socrates started saying what kind of patriotic test is it, where people are dying unwillingly? Love for the country doesnt mean this. A group of people came up towards Socrates and heckled him with their soldier argument but poor people they did not know that they are heckling someone who preferred hemlock over exile. After the tussle, we chose to move on to another destination but this time not by foot but by the Metro. Looking at so many young people Socrates was mesmerised, he tried to talk to a few of them but some of them were busy in playing Pokemon, some were busy with their headphones. Amidst, an old lady came in and many young ladies and lads offered her seat I felt so nice in fact Socrates also had a smile while watching this but the life of our happiness was shorter than a minute when another old woman came in and no one offered her as seat, the reason was that she was an old lady labourer who was not as elite as the former old lady. After getting down at our destined station Socrates shows a great disdain for that act. He said it appeared that I am in an Athenian democracy where everyone has right to speak, as in this case, everyone has right to board the metro, but the greater rights go to the elites. Finally, we reached to mela of megalomania, that is, UP during elections. Fortunately or unfortunately, we reached there on the day when there was a huge rally. We decided to attend that rally and we stuck to our decision. After that rally, Socrates told me the Sophists exist now also. Yes, you got it right, Socrates was talking about our politicians who speak only rhetoric, and truth which does not exist, that is post- truth. Socrates was not familiar with the word post- truth but he knew the meaning since his time. After watching and listening to politicians Socrates looked grim. I knew the reason but still, I asked him the reason. With a great sense of anger and sadness, he replied This is what makes democracy one of my bete noirs. Even after being a great believer in democracy (brutally honest, a eulogizer) I could not defend it as it has stooped to a level where DEMOCRACY has been replaced by DE MOCKERY- CY. From CP to UP, whatever Socrates encountered has augmented the disdain he was showing for democracy. He was aggrieved by the fact that even after so many centuries the discriminating nature of democracy, and the neo- sophists exist and what not exist is a youth who is curious. Suddenly we heard someone screaming, both of us walked towards that voice. What we got to see was deplorable, a few young couples were thrashed by some puritanical squad (read it anti- Romeo squad). A few of couples were let go after a great deal of humiliation but two men were still beaten up. Again, Socrates got perplexed. At his typical, he asked me about the nitty-gritty of the incident. I explained to him that these couples are victims of moral policing. They are punished for falling in love. He asked why these two men are still being thrashed? I answered in a very low voice homosexuality is an offence in India not only culturally but by laws as well. My answer made Socrates numb with shock, he asked me with a heavy voice Shall we leave? We should be happy that Socrates decided to leave. Had he not left such, once again he would have been forced to drink hemlock. And this time, not any court but news channels would have done his trail and it is most likely that his death would have been telecasted live on television and some people must have taken sadistic pleasure. The journey with Socrates filled my mind with a zillion questions but what I kept, in fact, keep, asking myself is- What kind of world are we living in where people like Socrates (who preferred hemlock over exile in Athens) prefers to leave? The author is an MA student at Centre for Political Studies at JNU. Help India! By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net Tension prevailed in the Birbhum district of West Bengal after a Muslim boy named Azhar Sheikh was killed on Monday night following a dispute. Support TwoCircles On Monday, 25-year-old Azhar Sheikh was returning to his village, Amdole, where the incident occurred, on his bike, when he accidently hit the gate of Pandal. The pandal was installed on the occasion of a Hindu marriage ceremony. Angry members of the Hindu community thrashed the boy, following which Azhar came back home and returned to the spot with his brothers and friends in order to confront the attackers. But according to locals, members of the Hindu community were already prepared with the sickle and javelins. When Azhar arrived, he was stabbed in his chest with sickles and country-made javelins. His friends and brothers took him to the hospital where he was declared dead. Sarbeshwar Rajbanshi, his brother Bishu Rajbanshi and one of their colleagues have been linked with the murder. Both the brothers are said to be associated with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Azhars last rites were performed by his father today Malik Shiekh. Residents of the village Amdole tell that Police has sealed the village perimeter and is not allowing any outsider to come inside but even after all the police arrangements, the area is still tense. A resident of the village told Twocircles.net over the phone: They (the Hindu community members) are telling us that they have started the movement and will teach us a lesson. But Muslims here are also incensed after the killing of Azhar, and they are saying that we wont sit silently if attacked again. About 65% of the village of Amdole consists of Muslims. While Murarai Police Station PSI Arup Dutta refused to comment on the issue, CI Raj Kumar Malakar informed that FIR was lodged against Bishu Rajbanshi and he was arrested last night. Villagers do say that Police is taking all measures to control the situation and thanking the force too. Since the last couple of weeks, a number of incidents in Birbhum have resulted in the district sitting on a communal tinderbox. On the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti on April 11, police lathi-charged members of Hindu Jagran Manch for taking out a procession. Hindu Jagran Manch and BJP condemned the Police for action, but Police clarified later on that procession was taken out without any prior permission. Earlier there were few CCTV footages and reports emerging of Hindu boys trying to buy Cattle carcases and cow heads with an aim to create communal disharmony. Help India! By Naved Masood for Twocircles.net News has been received from across the border about the passing away of one of the prominent figures of Urdu literature, distinguished civil servant and a second generation Alig, Mukhtar Masood in Lahore on April 15, aged 90. Support TwoCircles Mukhtar Masood was born in Aligarh on 7th June 1927. His father, Shaikh Ataullah of the Department of Economics was an expert on Iqbal (during his student days in Lahore, he was quite close to the philosopher-poet). Masood had his entire education in Aligarh, starting with the Minto circle, with a First class in B.A (1946) and topping the M.A Economics in 1948. He was counted among the brilliant students of his days, brilliant in academics; he was a keen debater and a familiar face and name in the literary circles of the campus which had then a galaxy of talent. As late Prof Nasim Ansari in a rejoinder, Jawabe dost writes, Masood was also an outstanding horseman who was captain of the Riding Club in 1946-47. Shaikh Ataullah, being from the Western Punjab, naturally relocated to Pakistan with his family during the summer vacations of 1948. And that was a severance of physical ties with the AMU; he has written somewhere that in an unpartitioned country, he might have preferred to have spent his entire life in Aligarh as a teacher. Masood took the first competitive examination for the Central and Superior Services of Pakistan (CSP), stood third in it, and became a Civil Servant in the newly emerged dominion in 1949. He had a steady rise in the service hierarchy holding key positions in the Punjab province and the federal government with an interlude as Secretary General of the Islamic Cooperation Council at Tehran during the late 1970s where he had occasion to witness the popular uprising against the Shah, his ouster and the initial tumultuous days of the Islamic revolution. He completed his career as a civil servant in 1985 as Federal Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan. He was considered fairly close to General Ziaul Haq and was his informal adviser on many issues concerning Islamisation of various aspects of administration but he refrained from accepting any post-retirement assignment which provided him with prestige and stature among Pakistani intelligentsia. Masood will, however, not be remembered for his contributions to the public services of his country; his real claim to fame is in the realm of Urdu letters. Like his Alig contemporary, Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi, he was an infrequent writer but this moderate literary output resulted in Urdu prose of a distinct didactic style a genre hitherto almost unknown to Urdu letters. His writings defy neat classification but in the opinion of this scribe, he was essentially an essayist straddling the realms of Philosophy, politics, religion and contemporary affairs at the same time. His form was distinct and, whether you agreed with some of his views (he could be a supremacist, ultra- nationalist and a blind fan of Islamic uprisings) or not, you could not dismiss them as mere flourishes of a pen. Being a Tar Bangla boy, it appears that he drew a leaf from his neighbour, Prof Rashid Ahmad Siddiqui. His Awaz-i-Dost marks a watershed in Urdu prose and despite a certain inaccessibility of style, he managed to enthral the average reader with the way he presented his take on political developments like establishment of Pakistan with the role of Aligarh therein, lives of Indian Muslims and the prospects of Islam in the second half of the last century etc. You have a person with definite views with complete command over narrative, language and style. Even when the reader looks askance at his views he would be fully engaged with Masoods discourse. As a fellow civil servant, I always found his great certitudes to be rather disconcerting as one expects a senior public administrator to be clear-headed without letting go of self-doubt which is so necessary an ingredient in any analytical framework to parse ethical, moral, social and political dilemmas. His other works are Safar Nasib and Lauhe Ayyam. The former is an inordinately sympathetic (and hence uncritical) portrayal of the Irani revolution, while the latter is a rambling, yet paradoxically coherent account of the world around him. He has ensured an abiding presence in the pantheon of Urdu prose like his neighbour Rashid Ahmad Siddiqui. I had one brief meeting with him in Delhi. Both of us found uncanny similarities in our lives. We had grown up in the same localities, studied in the same institutions and were the two individuals (between 1949 and 1977), to have joined the premier civil services of the two countries. A visitor from India who met him later, not only found that he remembered our brief meeting but he conveyed his happiness to me on learning that I too had made it to the top of the heap as a Secretary to the Union Government. Aligarh or rather the AMU campus was part of his being and despite his rather marked patriotism and concerns with things Islamic on the global plain, he never made any bones about AMU being a paradise lost for him. In fact, until the very end his best friend remained in Aligarh Prof Riazur Rahman Sherwani of the Arabic Department is happily in our midst at Habib Manzil. May he live a healthy and happy life, Amen. Without exaggeration it can be asserted that Mukhtar Masood was amongst the most precious jewels in the crown of the AMU (in fact MAO College and AMU put together), and one would be more than happy if the current leaders of the institution who rejoice on the University securing high ratings in accreditation, pause and worry why AMU is not very likely to produce another Mukhtar Masood. Mukhtar Sahib, Khuda hafiz from another Masood from your mohalla who, while differing with you on so many issues, could not help admiring you. Help India! TCN News Aligarh: As a part of Sadbhavna program, at least 26 students from different faculties of Aligarh Muslim University with a group of four teachers have today left Kishtawar District of Jammu and Kashmir for a goodwill program organised by the Rashtriya Rifles with an aim to promote people to people interaction between Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India. The touring AMU students and teachers will stay in Kishtawar and its adjoining areas for one-week. Support TwoCircles While flagging off the tour, Aligarh Muslim University Pro Vice Chancellor, Brigadier S Ahmad Ali (Veteran) said that this is a reverse of the usual Sadbhavna programs, in which people from Kashmir accompanied by the Army usually travel to different parts of India. However today, a group of students and teachers from outside Kashmir will reach Kishtawar region on a Sadbhavna tour, said Brigadier Ali. While urging AMU students to represent the University in the best possible ways; the Pro Vice Chancellor said that upon reaching Kishtawar, AMU students will have an added responsibility of representing their Alma Mater and the students community in the best possible ways to the people of Kishtawar, Doda and Baderwah regions. He also assured that the Army officers will host AMU students in the best ways. On reaching Jammu, AMU students and teachers will be received by Army Officers and the AMU delegation will witness the excellent hospitality, which the Army has to offer, said Brigadier Ali urging students to reach in time as the Army officers are known for their punctuality in time. The teachers in-charge of this one-week tour are Major Mohd Israil (Polytechnic), Dr Farooq Ahmad Dar (Unani Medicine), Er Mohd Mohsin (Polytcehnic) and Mr Najaf Ali Khan (Senior Secondary School, Boys). Mrs Rizwana Ali, Professor Fareed Mehdi and AMU Public Relations Officer, Mr Omar S Peerzada was also present on the occasion. London and Moscow: Not the best of friends Tensions between the UK and Russia began with the Russian annexation of Crimea which was part of Ukraine and Moscow's support for Ukranian rebels fighting the central government. Add to that the backing for Assad militarily by putting Russian planes in the air and Russian troops on the ground. As an ally of the United States and a member of NATO, the UK is obligated to confront Moscow along with other NATO nations wherever a threat is perceived. London: An earlier escort for Russian ships Russian warships sailed through the English Channel back in January and Royal Navy warships escorted Putin's armada. The Russian warships featuring the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov plus support vessels were heading to support their forces aiding Assad in Syria. At the time the state of the aged aircraft carrier was discussed in UK papers as many times when the ship had been at sea it had apparently broken down. Naval experts said the fact that the aircraft carrier had a lot of steam coming out of its funnel was a sign the ship was not being well maintained. London deploys Type 23 Frigates again From their base in Plymouth which has been a naval base ever since Francis Drake fought the Spanish Armada the Royal Navy has been deployed again to shadow Russian vessels. This time two more Russian warships were sailing through the Channel obviously heading for Syria. The Royal Navy sailed close to the Russian warships and their attendant vessels keeping them under observation. The Russian ships Steregushyi class warships skirted the English coast and Michael Fallon Defence Secretary along with top Royal Navy officers said the observation and tracking of the Russian ships were standard procedure. Of course, tensions have really come to the boil since Trump launched his Tomahawk missiles on Assad's air base. Trump did this because of an alleged chemical weapons attack on a town in Syria blamed on Assad's air force killing and injuring many civilians. For its part, the Syrian air force blamed rebels in the area for the chemical attack released when bombs dropped hit an alleged chemical weapons factory. The US, UK, and France plus other allies ultimately blame the Russians for supporting and shielding Assad allowing him to get away with literal murder. The world right now what with Syria and North Korea is at a dangerous pivotal moment in history perhaps. The conflict in Syria approaches its seventh year and the discussions about the country's future abound. Numerous options exist, mostly involving power transition from the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. The power transition is included in the Geneva negotiations involving various sides. Within these ongoing talks, many would like to see Assad gone. Others think he might stay to keep the order. Some regard his stay horrible, others see it as the best option available or the least of all bad options. Assad has strong support behind him Assad enjoys quite big support, not only from Moscow and Tehran but also among the Syrians itself. There are those who don't necessarily support his government, but they are not actively fighting against it. Most of them are afraid of alternatives and other groups that may become violent and repressive if they gain power in Damascus. Support for the current rule comes from unusual sources as well. Years after fighting Assad and his army, hundreds of fighters in the Syrian Free Army now ask for amnesty and want to join the Syrian national army, especially in the Golan Heights. This is a very sensible area, on the border with Israel. Some extremist groups, such as Ahram al-Sham and Jabhat Fattah al-Sham, operate here, endangering the Syrian opposition that is sandwiched between terrorist and forces loyal to Damascus. Thus, they tend to swing allegiance to the government and seek protection from assaults coming from all sides. If Assad stays, would the causes of war vanish? Can all the fighting for resources, territory and identity just disappear? Assad can stop another extreme quantities and levels of violence, but tensions shall remain. Based on these tensions, neighbouring countries can incite new conflicts in Syria and also in Iraq. This is especially true for Saudi Arabia and its allies. They want to stop the creation of something that Jordanian King Abdullah II calls Shi'ite arch. But that is not really happening; precisely because of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious society, Syria is a strongly secular state. There are no ideas of establishing a religious state akin to the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is a staunch ally of Damascus. Iraqi Shi'ite leaders, including the Shi'a clergy in Najaf, condemn any Shi'a militia fighting in Syria. And if Shi'ite arch is dangerous, why there is not a single Shi'a terrorist group that world is fighting against? Assad: What is his future? But if Assad goes, what can happen? Is there a chance for another authoritarian leadership? How will the new government keep the peace in the divided country? And what does it mean for Syrian citizens who fled to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Europe? If Geneva negotiations do bring peace, it is quite certain it will be fragile. National reconciliation will be a very long and challenging process. Millions of Syrians will try to stay in other countries, rather than coming back to the ruined country with a dire need for medical service, education, jobs, and psychological treatments. If Assad stays even temporarily in power, he needs to acknowledge the existence of numerous organisations and NGOs trying to get their country back on course. The developmental projects and recreation of Syrian society cannot follow the beaten track of Assad dynasty. If he wants to pose as a statement, Assad should give more freedom. At the same time, he needs to control the whole Syria in order to keep it together as a sovereign nation. To do that, he would need skills of Macchiavelli. North Korea Day of the Sun celebrations. After satellite images that were taken by U.S based monitoring group 38North showed continued activity on the North Korea nuclear test site on Mt. Mantap, there were growing concerns over a nuclear test over the Day of the Sun celebrations. This, however, didn't happen and rather what occurred was a missile test on Sunday, from the Eastern port of Sinpo that failed, exploding moments after it's launch. There is a possibility that the U.S might have used a cyber attack on the North Korean side to force the missile to explode prematurely. The's cyber attacks were started while former President Barrack Obama was in office and there are no confirmed reports of the projects dismissal or continuance. Before the failed missile test, North Korea displayed an array of new missiles and launchers some which analysts say were paraded for the very first time. The following list contains the said weapons. Two inter-continental ballistic missile sized canisters, plus its submarine-launched ballistic missile and a land-based version of the same. The U.S said that they didn't believe the missile launched on Sunday had intercontinental capabilities. South Korea, however, threatened that if the North attempted a nuclear test or an ICBM launch (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Launch), there would be a powerful punishing measure that North Korea authority won't be able to endure. U.S Vice President Mike Pence South Korea visit On the same day as the celebrations, the U.S Vice President Mike Pence travelled to South Korea. While at the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone- a heavily fortified buffer 4 KM wide, and 160 KM long, separating the North from the South established during the armistice agreement that ended the Korean War in 1953), he issued a statement to CNN saying that unlike the past U.S presidents, President Trumps approach would be different. He said they're going to abandon the failed policy of strategic patience, and are going to redouble their efforts to bring diplomatic and economic pressure to bear on North Korea, hoping to resolve this problem peaceably. The administration is also relying on China to help in this strategy, and although President Trump campaigned a lot against China, his stance has since changed, at least when it comes to dealing with North Korea. North Korea does between 80%-90% of all its trade with China. China had stated that it would comply with UN Sanctions in January and in February Beijing banned North Korea Coal imports a major source of income, for the North. I am not sure how everything will unfold but I do know this one thing, I am not alone in wanting a peaceful solution to end this situation. pakistan means the land of the pure. Unfortunately, sectarian politics have driven the country down the path of destruction. Religious bigotry has reared its ugly head. Yesterday.a respected professor of the Punjab University at Lahore, Tahira Abdullah was found dead in her house. Obviously, he has been murdered. The professor was an Ahmadi who is not recognised as Muslims in Pakistan. Hence they are subject to frequent attacks as well as persecuted by the majority Sunni community. The death of the professor comes close on the heels of two other prominent murders. The first murder took place on March 30 when a cousin of the Nobel Laureate Dr.Abdul Salam was shot dead in Dera Baba Nanak. A week later a well-known veterinary doctor was killed in Lahore. The murders were claimed by the banned Jamat ul Abrar Persecution These murders point to a sorry state of affairs in Pakistan where minorities are persecuted and many indiscriminately killed. The Ahmadi community is the worst off as they have been declared heretic by the Pakistan constitution and are not recognised as Muslims. They are also forbidden to call themselves Muslim. Their mosques are vandalised and bombed. The Pakistan constitution which talks about freedom and protection of minorities remains only a promise and the government is unable to enforce it. The case of the professor is sad. She had retired 3 years back and had been re-employed by the Lahore University. She was an educated lady who was working in the molecular genetic department. She was attacked by a sharp instrument and killed Police investigation The police have been informed of the incident and the Punjab forensic department officials have reached the site and started collecting forensic evidence. Investigations are on, but it looks like that the killers will never be caught. The professor was living alone. Her daughter who is in Karachi is untraceable Sectarian killing Sectarian killings are the bane of Pakistan and the entire country is governed by a psychosis of fear. Just a few days back Muslim youth was bludgeoned to death by a massive crowd inside the university on the charge that he had insulted Muhammad. The blasphemy law in Pakistan is another law that is like anchor round the neck of the Pakistan state.The entire state of Pakistan is now in the grip of a violent struggle for survival. Extremist.Wahabi terror groups want to enforce the Sharia in Pakistan and force all minorities to convert to Islam. Last word The murder of the professor is a matter of intense sadness and one hopes the Pakistan government will crack down on such people who target minorities and in particular the Ahmadi sect. It only took Vladamir Putin a matter of hours to respond to the US dropping the 'Mother of all bombs,' on the ISIS cave network in the mountains of Nangarhar in the mountains of Afghanistan, 30 miles from the Pakistani border. Is War imminent? After his attack on Syria on April 6th, president Trump followed it up with aa attack on a remote ISIS outpost with a device that had not been tested in 14 years. Anywhere between 60 to 100 casualties were declared, although far more insurgents were killed in the tunnel networks under the hills and will never be accounted for, as certainly no casualties nor wounded have been reported at any hospital nor medical facility nearby. And why would they anyway, the force and ripple effect of the bomb instantly vaporises anything it comes in contact with. Costing approximately $18 million, this is the first time the (MOAB) Massive Ordnance Air Burst has been used since its inception in 2003 and is the largest non-nuclear weapon ever used.The GBU-43 is 30 foot long, weighs 26, 100 lbs and contains 11 tonnes of explosive. Being a thermobaric device; one that uses oxygen from the downward air rush it creates, producing an enormous explosion before it hits the ground, which in turn ignites the air it has come from and produces a firestorm capable of penetrating 200ft underground and devastating everything in the circumference of a mile. Trump vs Putin - the final showdown? It was certainly a statement of intent from President Trump, and certainly a tick on his, 'to do list,' from his pre-election promise that he would, 'bomb the s**t out of ISIS if he became president.' His only comment after the last weeks strike; 'It has been a very successful mission,' Shortly afterwards it was superseded by a statement from Russia's, Vladimir Putin. He informed the world that the American weapon was albeit obsolete, for his military had produced, 'the father of all bombs.' It weighs in lighter that the US version at some 15, 560lbs yet packs more of a punch at 44 tonnes of explosives, with roughly the same radius of destruction. It likes its US counterpart has not been tested in 10 years. One could simply shrug shoulders and mutter ooer, 'Boy's and their toy's.' if the scenario was not so worrying for the world at large. A precedent has certainly been set with North Korea, and one can read into the actions of the past week as a direct warning; all options may be on the table, yet neither party wants to discuss them. The same of course could be said about Syria! It may be a very long time before Russia is prepared to ditch its support, and by then it may be far too late. Whether it's Mother versus Father; one can only hope it does not descend to that level of pettiness? Ever since the election of Donald Trump, the political divide in the United States has only widened. While supporters of the president have continued to stand by his side, critics have only gotten louder, with many accusing Trump of pushing a racist policy agenda. Gingrich on Trump Last week, President Donald Trump honored former President Andrew Jackson and did so at his old slave plantation called Hermitage in Tennessee. Trump spoke highly of Jackson, whose legacy has come under fire in recent years, as historians have put a greater focus on the fact he owned as many as 300 slaves over the course of life, while being responsible for the deadly Trail of Tears. Despite this, others continue to praise Jackson, mostly notably Republicans, which is ironic since the seventh President of the United States was the founder of the Democratic Party. After Trump's meeting and aftermath with German Chancellor Angela Merkel wasn't well-received by the press, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich opened up on the issue during a March 19 interview on Fox News. .@newtgingrich: "@POTUS is going to be like Andrew Jackson: An intensely American president." pic.twitter.com/fWF8pVRhWl Fox News (@FoxNews) March 19, 2017 On Sunday afternoon, Newt Gingrich appeared on Fox News, and decided to praise Donald Trump. "One of the sad things about the week was that the president went to Nashville to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Andrew Jackson. Gave a very, very important speech," Gingrich said, before claiming that it was "unfortunate" the media didn't cover it further. Newt Gingrich went on to turn his attention to Donald Trump's recent meeting with Angela Merkel, before comparing the former host of "The Apprentice" to Andrew Jackson. "The president is going to be like Andrew Jackson," Gingrich said, before predicting that Trump will be an "intensely American president." "He is gonna represent American values. American interests," he continued, before explaining that Merkel and Germany are just not on the same page as the United States, which he believes was the cause of the obvious friction between the two. Next up Though conservatives like Newt Gingrich believe Donald Trump represents American values, not everyone in the country is in agreement. According to a recently released poll by Gallup, the president's favorability has dropped to just 37 percent. The British Prime Minister Theresa May has called a snap general election. The surprise announcement was called outside Downing Street at 11:15 AM British time, this morning. Theresa May contacted the Queen yesterday to confirm to the monarch that she was calling a snap election today. The UK last had a general election in May 2015. However, as a result of Brexit, the Prime Minister wants a mandate from the British people to support her Brexit plans. A strong vote for the Conservative Party, the current government of the UK, would give the UK government a strong mandate to carry out the government's plans for leaving the European Union. Before there is a confirmed general election, a third of MPs will have to give the PM their backing for a Snap General Election. This is because of the 'Fixed-Term Parliaments Act.' Who would win the election? Polls have proven to be unreliable in recent years. To many Donald's Trump election victory came as a surprise, as polls showed that he would lose the general election. Before the last general election in Great Britain, polls showed that no party would win a majority, and therefore there would be a hung parliament. In other words, two parties would have to form a government, in what is known as a Coalition Government. Polls indicate that there will not be a hung parliament this time and that the current government will win the snap election. Only this time, they are projected to win by a larger majority. Why is there a general election being called now? In short, the snap general election is being called as a result of Brexit. Brexit has caused division in the UK, both in politics and with the wider public. The hope is that a new general election will clear up that division. Bring the country together. And, in Theresa May's own words offer 'strong and stable leadership.' In other words, a strong and stable leadership who has the support of the people of the UK. Since Brexit, parties who were against leaving the EU haven't supported the government. For example, the Liberal Democrats leader Tim Farron has called for there to be another EU referendum. The leader in Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has voiced concern over calls to leave the EU single market, while also stating that she wants a second independence referendum. While Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland has called for a border poll (Brexit could affect the freedom of movement between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). And in Wales, Plaid Cymru has asked for their own independence referendum for Wales. In effect, Brexit has seen political parties in the UK disunited. A new general election in the UK will show whether or not those concerns from their political representatives are reflected with the wider UK population. According to Pennsylvania State Police, Steve Stephens, the suspect in the Cleveland Facebook Live killing, shot himself to death following a brief pursuit through Erie County, Pennsylvania. Stephens was the man who posted a video to Facebook, allegedly showing him shooting 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. in the head in Cleveland, Ohio on Sunday. At the time, Stephens made his victim speak his former girlfriends name, saying she was the reason why this was happening to him. He then shot Godwin in the head. Facebook Live killer on the run since Sunday Stephens had been on the run from police since Sunday and was considered armed and dangerous after threatening in the Facebook video to kill more people. There has been a nationwide manhunt for the killer, with his photo on billboards all over the country. At one stage, police had no idea where Stephens fled to. However, on Sunday evening, Erie Police detected a ping from Stephens' phone on the east side of that county. Stephens was not seen in the area, until today. According to Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams, the area was initially searched on Sunday after they got the ping. They were planning on going back today to perform a more thorough search of the area. Williams added that police had no idea if someone was harboring Stephens in the area, adding that there were many places to hide in Erie County. He said that there are many remote areas with farms, barns and woods. Stephens vehicle spotted at a McDonald's in Erie, Pennsylvania Williams said in a news conference that it was shortly after 11 a.m. on Tuesday that a tip was received by Pennsylvania State Police regarding the vehicle police were seeking in connection to Stephens. The vehicle was reported to be in a parking lot at an Erie, Pennsylvania McDonalds, roughly 100 miles from Cleveland. According to a report by Cleveland.com, Stephens ordered a portion of chicken nuggets shortly before the police chase began. When officers responded to the scene, Stephens fled, leading to a two-mile pursuit by police. Once police managed to stop Stephens car, by ramming a cruiser into the white Ford Fusion, they then approached the vehicle. At that time Stephens reportedly shot himself dead. UPDATE: Cleveland Facebook murder suspect Steve Stephens has shot himself in Erie, PA. A coward taking a cowards way out smh#Cleveland pic.twitter.com/1wqZt2YbXN TJ (@Senator_TJ) April 18, 2017 While Williams said they are grateful the chase is over, police would have preferred that it didnt end this way. He said there are many questions from the family and the city as to why Stephens did what he did. According to police, the investigation is still ongoing. Stephens claimed to have killed 13 people in the Facebook video but according to police no further victims have been found. This is me and my dad on Father's Day 2015. #RobertGodwinSr RIP. pic.twitter.com/B2X0suE4AR MinisteringLove (@Repairerofthebr) April 17, 2017 ABC News spoke with Godwins daughter, Tonya Godwin Baines on Monday, who told them the video will always be in her mind, as she saw the fear in her fathers eyes. She still finds it unbelievable that someone could brutally murder her father like he did. She described her father as a family man who would give anyone the shirt off his back. However, her sister, Debbie Godwin reportedly said she bears no animosity against Stephens. She said her parents taught them to love people and forgive them, even when they do something wrong against them. During the 2016 presidential election, Donald Trump would often lash out at china, accusing the nation of currency manipulation, while vowing to get tough with the country over how they handle their trade deals. After a recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump refused to criticize China, which raised questions from many in the mainstream media. Trump on China When Donald Trump first announced his campaign for president back in June 2015, one issue that he harped on was how the United States was losing in the global trade wars, particularly against China. The country would quickly become one of Trump's most popular talking points, as the former host of "The Apprentice" vowed to "Make America Great Again," especially when it came to the nation's reputation on the world scale. However, ever since being sworn into office back in January, Trump has backed off his criticism of China, which appeared to be disappear completely during a recent meeting with the country's president. Just last week, Trump met with Xi Jinping at his private Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where the two now infamously shared a "beautiful piece of chocolate cake" while discussing the details of the recent strike in Syria. Due to China and the United States working together on how to handle North Korea's nuclear missile testing, Trump as been reluctant on passing judgement. As the media continues to press the issue, Trump voiced his opposition during a April 18 interview on "Fox & Friends" on Fox News. .@POTUS addresses claims he's softened his stance on China pic.twitter.com/Mn37t9wC2S FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) April 18, 2017 During a Tuesday morning interview with Ainsley Earhardt on "Fox & Friends," Donald Trump responded to the aforementioned criticism that he has gone "soft" when it comes to China. "Ainsley, I didn't soften my stance!" Trump said, as he waved his hands in the air. "Look, China came to the United States, the president, who I really developed a very good relationship with," he went on to say. Trump denies softening on China despite backing off campaign pledge to label China a currency manipulator: https://t.co/cD8X6TYhWA pic.twitter.com/2JxhPeZt42 The Hill (@thehill) April 18, 2017 "What am I gonna do?" Donald Trump rhetorically asked, before adding, "Start a trade war with China in the middle of him working on a bigger problem with North Korea?" Trump then continued to push back, claiming that he wasn't going to start a problem over currency manipulation when the two nations were working together on the issue surrounding North Korea. Not stopping there, the former host of "The Apprentice" took time to bash the alleged "fake media" in the process. "This is the fake media that does a number," Trump said. Moving forward Despite Donald Trump pushing back and claiming he hasn't changed his stance when it comes to the issue of China, critics are quick to point out the various campaign promises that he's been unable to deliver since taking office just under 100 days ago. After only three months in office, only time will tell if Trump will continue to receive backlash due to his policy proposals and how he handles himself in the White House. Pope Francis left many Catholics feeling uneasy with his Open Border policy. Many of them suggested that his plan could lead the church's downfall. Recently, the Pope spoke out for an open border's plan that would allow non-European migrants to move into Europe without restriction. Of course, France's presidential candidate, Marine Le Pen sees this could result in a dangerous situation, stating Pope Francis policy would go against what is best for their own people by allowing unlimited migrants. Le Pen destroys Pope Francis According to American News, Marine doesn't think it is the pope's place to be talking about open borders and allowing a free flow of immigrants into European countries. She said that immigrant and open border discussion falls under politics. And, she added that she doesn't think someone in his position should be talking publically about it. Marine Le Pen "France must be able to vote its own laws, control its own borders." Stop the #EU !#Marine2017 #AuNomDuPeuple #PerpignanMLP pic.twitter.com/gYwQkBFUAa Avanti Populists ! (@abermans) April 15, 2017 The Pope has not responded It's not a huge surprise that he did not reply to the presidential nominee's comments. Many people agreed with her, stating that he shouldn't get involved with political topics. Apparently, Marine felt it crossed the line between church and state. In many ways, Le Pen was right, and the Pope shouldn't be speaking about politics, but maybe he compelled to take a stand. The #North Korean Vice-Foreign Minister, Han Song-ryol, said that its nuclear weapons program protects the country from the hovering peril of US armed action on Sunday. The country, according to reports in the BBC, fears that the combined forces of the US and #South Korea could work together to try and overthrow the command of Kim Jong-un. What the North Koreans say On Monday at the #United Nations, the country's permanent representative Ambassador Kim In-ryong, denounced the Syrian missile strikes enacted by the United States and President Trump that had hit an air base that was harboring suspected chemical weapons in the northern Syrian province. Meanwhile, Song-ryol said that #America was "disturbing global peace and stability and insisting on the gangster-like logic that its invasion of a sovereign state is decisive" and that this action is one that defends the international order just for the sake of it. This was announced just as the Chinese representative Lu Kang revealed to the media on Monday in Beijing that the Korean peninsula was a complicated, delicate and high risk area and issue. All sides, Lu Kang said, needed to avoid being provocative and pouring "oil on the fire". #Russia meanwhile said that it would not tolerate nuclear testing by Pyongang but that conversely the unilateral usage of power by America would be a risky equation. #North Korea's unsuccessful and well-publicized missile test was, according to United States Defense Secretary Mister James Mattis a failed and globally frowned-upon attempt to "provoke something." On Sunday the North Korean missile took off and then exploded almost immediately after it went live, according to the Pentagon. After some extensive and heated rhetoric from both #United States and North Korea, Mattis said that the United States under President Trump would be happy and willing to now attempt to work alongside #China in an effort to reduce the simmering tensions that the world watched gather force last week. Those in #South Korea are breathing huge sighs of relief after the country was plagued by uncertainty and fear, as shown in various social media sites last week, with many citizens panicking about the possibility of being caught up in a US and North Korean nuclear-style showdown. North Korea continue to mouth threats Monday following the tests, the foreign minister Han Song-ryol explained to the BBC that #North Korea would be testing missiles on a weekly schedule and that all-out war would ensue if the United States attempted to intervene with some military action. "If the US is planning a military attack against us, we will react with a nuclear pre-emptive strike by our own style and method," Mr Han said on Monday. And as this was being reported, The Guardian newspaper reported within the same day that anonymous officials had said that the United States had been toying with the idea of shooting down any #North Korean missile tests that did take place to show they have the upper hand. This would have been a show of strength and power for the US, but it did risk a retaliation by the embattled North Korean enemy. Mr Mattis explained that the missile the North Koreans fired off on Sunday was not an #Intercontinental Ballistic Missile but that the exercise had still been a reckless one that aimed to provoke tensions. Mattis then said that this is the reason the United States is working with China right now, to try and get "this under control and aim for the #denuclearized Korean peninsula," he added. China has also criticized North Korea's military tests, even thought the US has said that China hasnt done enough in the past. In February however China banned North Korean coal imports and then the #Chinese media reported that there could be a reduction in shipments of oil products and services to the North Korean country if the military exercises continue. The United States react The United States, meanwhile, are toying with even harsher economic sanctions on the isolated country. This, along with a global and disabling ban on the North Korean airline, as well as the blockage of cargo ships and punishments to those Chinese banks that continue to trade and profit off #North Korea, as reported by the Reuters news agency. North Korea has augmented and accelerated its military and nuclear style missile testing in the past few weeks, given #Obama was unwilling to respond with military action. Many saw his somewhat passive stance with the country as giving permission for them to continue behaving recklessly. His most potent display of force was #economic sanctions on the country. #North Korea's nuclear and missile tests have promoted and attracted international condemnation and the creation and deployment of tough UN sanctions that has made life in the isolated country a difficult and challenging equation. The country wants to place a nuclear warhead on a functional intercontinental ballistic missile that will then be able to head to targets such as the United States. The President of The United States, Donald Trump, has said in recent weeks that the #North Koreans will not be able to target the United States with a nuclear war head placed on an intercontinental ballistic missile, that he would not let that happen. In light of recent events, President Trump has increased pressure on the isolated North Korea and sent a #navy strike group in the direction of the Korean Peninsula. This, as South Korea progresses forward with their own #controversial missile defense system. A sixth strike will happen Many officials and observers claim that the #North Koreans will in fact carry out a sixth nuclear test in the coming year, and that the US will need to perfect their response to this troubling development. On Monday in South Korea, #US Vice-President Mike Pence said that the isolated country shouldnt try and test Trump's resolve, since he is a strong man and has shown his decisiveness by striking Syria and Afghanistan with swift bombs in the recent weeks. Pence continued by saying that the American policy of "#strategic patience" with North Korea was no longer a strategy in use for the Trump administration, and he reaffirmed the United States US support for South Korea. Comedian and actress sarah silverman gathered with other anti-Trump protesters on Saturday's "Tax March" protest. She demanded that President Trump release his Tax returns to the public. The POTUS has previously refused to release his tax documents, stating he would make them public after the IRS completed their audit. After the audit was over, he didn't follow through and now says he "sees no reason" to make them public. Tax March The Tax March protest took place in several cities around the country on Saturday. The event's organizer also was behind the Women's March, so it's no surprise that some of the same celebrities attended at both events. During the protest, a few of the celebrities complained that Hillary Clinton lost the election and even implied that the election was stolen from her by someone that has alleged connections to Russia. I made some signs for the #TaxMarch pic.twitter.com/QHfvaXG6KX Sarah Silverman (@SarahKSilverman) April 16, 2017 "Show us your f***ing tax returns, you emotional child! You like being a superficial bully? Here's on for you, you are a three at best," Silverman shouted to the anti-Trump crowd according to American News. Sarah tweeted some of the signs she used in the protest, all of which either call for Trump's tax returns release or attack him in some way. Trump responds to the protest It's probably not a huge surprise that Trump responded to the protest in a big way. On Sunday, Trump has a meltdown on Twitter about the event, calling for a "complete investigation" into who funded the Tax March protest. I did what was an almost an impossible thing to do for a Republican-easily won the Electoral College! Now Tax Returns are brought up again? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2017 Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2017 Donald Trump revealed in a series of tweets that his 2016 taxes was paid and he doesn't need to release them because "the election is over." The president doesn't understand why the tax returns are an issue again. He claims that he did what "no other Republican could" and won the Electoral College "easily." Trump claims Tax March attendees were paid One of Trump's claims was the people that attended the protest were paid to be there. This isn't the first time he has made this claim, only this time, he called for an investigation into who is running these events. The president himself used paid actors to pose as regular people at his rallies during his 2016 campaign. He has talked at length about the election results and his victory against Hillary Clinton. In March, Trump attacked Hillary at a rally, claiming that she should apologize for getting the debate questions beforehand. Of course, Mrs. Clinton never responded to his ridiculous demand, but many of his supporters still believe that the former secretary of state owes Trump an apology. New tax bill to force presidents to show returns There is a new tax bill that would require presidential candidates to show their tax returns. Before Trump, nominees would reveal their tax returns as part of the election process. The Tax Day protesters call for lawmakers to implied a law forcing candidates to prove that they pay taxes by showing their recent returns before taking office. Trump's camp has repeatedly refused to release his documents. He dismissed the idea that "the majority" of the country wanted to see them, stating that it was only " a hot topic to the liberal journalists." Obviously, that isn't entirely accurate because the majority of Democrats support forcing the president to release his tax returns. Please RETWEET if you're one of the 74% of Americans (ABC/WaPo Poll) who want to see Trump's taxes and were _not_ paid to hold that opinion. pic.twitter.com/xa2dR178AM Seth Abramson (@SethAbramson) April 16, 2017 A recent poll in January found that 74 percent of Americans believe that Trump has an obligation to release his tax returns as the president. President Trump continues to claim that the protest attendees were paid actors in an attempt to "make him look bad." At the time of this writing, there is no investigation into who is running the anti-Trump protests. The Fake Media (not Real Media) has gotten even worse since the election. Every story is badly slanted. We have to hold them to the truth! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2017 Do you think Trump has an obligation to release his tax returns as president? The entire world was shocked to see Steve Stephens actually shoot an elderly man on Facebook live. He blamed a woman named Joy Lane saying that it was her fault the man had to die. Now, police are still looking all over for Steve, and it turns out that he has allegedly moved out of Ohio. Everyone needs to be on the watch for this man who is considered armed and dangerous. Facebook did remove the video, but it is still circulating out there so if you don't want to see it be careful what you end up pushing play on today. What is being revealed about Steve Stephens whereabouts now? This all went down in Cleveland, Ohio and everyone was on the watch for him. Everyone wants to know where he is as police are on a manhunt looking for him. It turns out that his phone was pinged by cell phone towers Sunday in Erie, Pennsylvania, 100 miles east of Cleveland where the murder took place. Now they really don't know where he is at and are on the lookout all over. Since then, if Steven's phone has been pinged police haven't shared what is going on. He is obviously on the run and police all over are doing what they can to find him. Chief Calvin Williams did speak out in a press conference today about the whereabouts of Steve, but the thing is police do not really know where is at now. The last time that anyone actually saw him was where the murder occurred. Steve has shared that he has killed various other people, but there are not any bodies or any proof at this time. Right now, they are looking all over the mid-west and the east coast for him. They actually don't seem to know where he has gone now. Before this murder, Steve Stephens shared on Facebook that he had lost everything gambling. He told Facebook that they had four minutes to explain to him why he shouldn't be on death row. It was obvious he was having a hard time, but nobody saw this coming. Right now, there is just a lot of hope that he will be located before anyone else ends up being hurt by him. Now Facebook has deactivated his account, so it doesn't look like he will be located in that way at all. Obviously, police will continue to ping his phone, but there is no way of knowing that he has it on him for sure and hasn't ditched it somewhere along the way. Where do you think that Steve Stephens is at now? Do you feel like he has murdered other people or just bluffing about it? Sound off in the comments section below on your thoughts about Steve Stephens and what is going on with him now. British Prime Minister Theresa May has called for early elections in the United Kingdom to occur on June 8. The prime minister suggested that the election is needed to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead." The particular reason is that the opposition parties, mainly Labour, are obstructing Brexit, the process of separating Great Britain from the European Union. She would like to ram home her mandate to complete the separation by returning with an increased majority in the British Parliament. What are the Conservative Partys chances? According to a recent poll, pretty good. In a recent survey matchup between May and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn shows that she leads by 55 percent to 18 percent. If the polls hold until the election, May and her Tories are confident they will crush Corbyn and his Labour Party. A close examination of Corbyn and his politics reveals why he is likely to get crushed in the general election. He has been described as a caricature of a bearded Marxist, a throwback to the hard left stance Labour adhered to before Tony Blair dragged the party, kicking and screaming, toward the center and the first time the party was able to form a government since Margaret Thatcher became prime minister in 1979. Corbyn has called for the abolition of the British monarchy, a renationalization of industries that were privatized during the Thatcher era, the elimination of the UKs nuclear arsenal, and a decidedly hostile to the United States foreign policy. His becoming Labour leader is considered an anomaly in British politics. He has a small but fiercely loyal following, but like Sen. Bernie Sanders does in the United States. However, his support does not translate into any chance of winning a national election. May had initially been reluctant to call for an election. However, her commanding lead in the polls coupled with a need to buttress her mandate to take Great Britain out of the EU has changed her mind on the matter. Ironically, May had not supported the Brexit referendum but, as prime minister, had vowed to carry out the will of the people. She ascended to Number 10 when her predecessor, David Cameron, resigned following the approval of the measure. Britons had become fed up with following the dictates of Brussels contrary to their interests and so jumped at the chance to leave the European Union. The result of the referendum took many political analysts by surprise and was seen as part of a wave of nationalism that swept Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States and has given Marine Le Pen strength in the election for president of France. Vogue editor and former friend to Melania Trump, Andre Leon Talley weighed in on the first lady's style choice and impeccable Manners. Melania's fashionable style According to CNN, Talley said Melania's fashion secret is she is very selective about the clothes that she wears. She only selects items that she knows will look great on her. Also, Mrs. Trump has confidence that draws people to her. Trump's manners will help her as the first lady Talley praised Melania as having excellent manners. He helped her plan her wedding. Talley thought she would be arrogant because she was marrying billionaire Donald Trump, but she was charming and warm to everyone. As for the wedding dress, she chose a John Galliano Dior dress which cost $230,000. He remembers that the gown took over eight hours to fit. Why he isn't friends with Melania anymore Talley admitted that he isn't friends with Mrs. Trump. At first, he was hesitant to explain what led to their falling out, but eventually, he revealed why they don't talk anymore. Talley stated that it was nothing against Melania, but she married Mr. Trump. Talley said he didn't want to be part of the Trumpland lifestyle, so he severed ties with the first lady. Do you think Melania Trump has great style and manners? Donald Trump, you do not not own the military. It is not yours; you are the temporary custodian of the military; but you do not own it. The American people have entrusted you with the privilege of overseeing the military; but they have not given you the deed to it. If anything, you have a tremendous responsibility, but not an ownership deed; unless, of course, you are talking about Trump Tower or Mar-a-Lago. And those are something different altogether. The American People just paid $3 million for your latest trip to Mar-a-Lago from the White House and Melania's trip from Trump Tower. Who owns that bill, Donald, you or the American People? The MOAB bomb Trump's statement to the effect that the American military is his, came in the aftermath of the Administration's dropping of the MOAB bomb earlier this week, or, as it is called, the "Mother of All Bombs." The bomb was dropped on some caves that are used as hideouts by ISIS terrorists in a remote area of Afghanistan. Trump said that "his military" had done a "very good job" and that the mission was "very successful." The MOAB bomb is a 22,000 pound conventional weapon, (that's 11 tons), that can be very destructive. The decision to drop the bomb, which was dropped from a cargo plane, was made by top General John Nickerson, not Donald Trump. When asked who made the decision to drop the MOAB, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer would not answer the question and walked out of the press conference. However, it was later learned that Trump had delegated the decision to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and that Nickerson had ordered the dropping of the lethal bomb. Sending a message? Some observers believe that in dropping the MOAB, the Administration was sending a message to North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un that we have several MOABs and could use one or more on North Korea. However, this theory is questionable for two reasons. The first reason is that the MOAB has to be dropped from a cargo plane and that this is not possible over North Korea. The second reason is that the decision to drop the 11 ton weapon was not made by the military but by the Trump Administration; although the political ramifications of the bomb-dropping do directly reflect on the Administration. Ducks in a row This observer's advice to Trump is to get his ducks in a row and to take the time to learn what's up. Shortly after he was sworn in as President, he learned for the first time that there are three branches of government that have "checks and balances" over each other. Now it is the time for him to learn that his role as Commander-in-Chief is just that; it is a temporary position of trust and responsibility that is provided to him by the American People. But he does not own it any more than a school principal owns a public school, or than a forest ranger owns the forest. What a President does have What a President does have is problems that he/she needs to solve. The President's problems range from managing (not owning) the military to managing the federal budget, to dealing with accusations of violating the Constitution from Senators, and everything in between. These are the things that the President owns: the headaches, the worries, the accusations, and the uncertainty of the nuclear age in the era of despotic dictators like Kim Jong-un, but not the military. The President, like the soldiers and officers of the Army, is a servant. And the American People are his master. It is time for Trump to learn this now before his self-indulgence and false pride adversely affect foreign relations. By the way, Donald, just in case you are getting any ideas, it's not your White House either. Russia's threats Meanwhile, Trump is facing other problems. Russia has threatened retaliation against the United States for his attack on Syria. That attack, which was directly ordered by Trump, was in response to Bashar-al-Assad's chemical attack on his own people. Assad probably calls it "his military" too; but he is a dictator. This is still a republic, isn't it Donald? Just checking. "Mary Kills People" is a new series premiering on lifetime on Sunday, April 23, 2017 at 10 p.m. The original series created by Tara Armstrong is starting off with six episodes. If those go well with high ratings, Lifetime will probably give the green light for more episodes to be added. There were talks at the beginning of the year that Lifetime might approve a second season. About the series A single mother named Mary Harris is an emergency room doctor who saves lives by day. By night, she has a different job which is entirely opposite of what she does during the day. She and her partner, a former plastic surgeon, moonlight to help terminally ill patients die on their own terms. They are referred to as underground angels of death. Caroline Dhavemas has the leading role as Mary. For a fee, Mary and Des, played by Richard Short, have a booming business working outside the law. However, the doctor's double life is becoming complicated. For instance, she establishes a relationship with some of her patients and at the end she refuses to go through with what she has been paid to do. Without even seeing one episode, you can imagine that not all assignments go as planned. Euthanasia Most people will either love the series, or they will hate it because euthanasia is such a controversial subject. Some people believe in euthanasia, while others think it is entirely wrong. The series is not based on a true story, but euthanasia is real and it happens all the time. There will be a new case for Mary to work with in every one of the six episodes. There are some states where euthanasia is legal. When people want death with dignity and the procedure is illegal in their own state, they move to a state where it is legal for medical personnel to handle their death. Euthanasia is illegal in most states. It is legal and called physician aid in dying, or assisted suicide in only a handful of states, such as California, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, Washington DC, and Washington state. "Euthanasia" is a Greek word that means "good death." Most people know it to be the practice of intentionally ending the life of a terminally ill person in order to relieve severe pain and suffering. Not only are there legal considerations, but ethical things to consider as well. While doing research for "Mary Kills People," producers were careful to consider all those things and add those themes into the series. The series is not to convince anyone to choose euthanasia. Rather, it is a way to bring awareness to what could happen. When "Mary Kills People" premieres on Lifetime on April 23, will you watch it? Selena Gomez served as an executive producer for the critically-acclaimed Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. The show tells the story of a teenage girl who commits suicide and leaves behind tapes to let 13 people know why she did it and how they were involved. Katherine Langford plays Hannah Baker in the series, and, rather surprisingly, hails from Australia. Unknown from Australia gains instant fame through 13 Reasons Why While Langford was pretty much an unknown actress in Australia, she has adopted a pretty convincing American accent and has risen to fame in her new role as Hannah Baker in "13 Reasons Why." However, Gomez noted that her presence on social media was decidedly lacking. Knowing a thing or two about being famous, Selena recently went on to persuade Katherine to go public on Instagram. Your first look into the world of Hannah Baker. #13RY pic.twitter.com/nk0dCAjo6e 13 Reasons Why (@13ReasonsWhy) February 8, 2017 According to a report by Seventeen, Langford told The Last Magazine that it was a big decision for her, as she always wanted to be an actor, but purely for the work. She wasnt attracted to increasing her popularity or her chance of being hired on social media. She said she didnt want to become a consumable product and just wanted to do her job, then disappear. Langford also admitted that she had a fear that her pictures wouldnt be cool enough. However, Gomez made a point that got through to Langford. She explained to her that 13 Reasons Why is a show that targets young adults just like herself. She then told her that social media, and particularly Instagram, is a good medium for direct contact with others who can relate to Hannah, her character in the show. Since then she has posted several images that have drawn a huge following, and, after two months on Instagram now, has almost two million followers. '13 Reasons Why' a career defining moment As reported by the West Australian, Langford is 19 years of age and a graduate of the Perth Modern School. Appearing in 13 Reasons Why is a career-defining moment for the young actress, who was first spotted in Sarah Portellis short film Daughter at the Cannes Film Festival last year. She has gone from being a relatively unknown actress to a hit on Instagram, right through to reviewers dubbing her the Gem from Down Under and the next big thing. Some critics are even saying her performance in the Netflix series could earn her an Emmy nomination. Omg @13ReasonsWhy slayed my life this was the best thing I've watched in forever. Hands down BRILLIANT CAST, AWESOME WORK pic.twitter.com/O49fBuO6pm VINE: GotDamnZo (@GotDamnZo) April 9, 2017 The show is based on Jay Ashers best-selling mystery book of the same name and was created as a series by Brian Yorkey. Yorkey said Langford showed incredible courage during the filming of some of the shows most harrowing and distressing scenes. As for Selena Gomez, she cannot picture anyone else being Hannah and is glad things worked out the way they did, and that she got to watch it all happen. For those readers who haven't seen the show, the Netflix trailer for "13 Reasons Why" is included below: Kathleen Kennedy, the President of Lucasfilm, denied on Friday the news that the actress Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, will still appear in the 9th episode of Star Wars which will be launched in 2019 ,informs EFE News Agency. Carrie Fisher will not appear in Star Wars Episode 9 Kennedy told ABC that Carrie Fisher will not appear in the 9th episode of the famous show. She also said that there will be a lot of scenes with the actress in the Episode VIII, which is great news for her fans. This statement was made during the Star Wars Convention Celebration held at this time in Orlando. The statements made by the brother of the actress denied Kathleen Kennedy contradicted the statements made by Carrie Fisher's brother, Todd Fisher, who suggested last week the for New York Daily News that the actress will also appear in the Episode IX (which is believed to be the last part of the series ). Lucasfilm's president said that the brother of actress has probably been confused. Todd Fisher told New York Daily News that he and Billie Lourd , Carrie Fisher's daughter gave the studio permission to continue to use the image in the actress. Carrie Fisher has played scenes from the 8th episode of the show before her death in December, at 60 years old, because of a heart attack. Tribute to Star Wars "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" is one of the strengths of Star Wars Celebration convention which brings a tribute to the universe created by George Lucas. The convention takes places between April 14th and April 16th. The fans of the famous show came together at the convention center in Florida to share their passion for Lucas's universe and learn the latest news about upcoming events and releases from the series. New female character The film director Rian Johnson announced that famous franchise has added another important female character in "The Last Jedi", according to Reuters. This announcement was made on Friday during the Convention. Johnson added that the film, which will be released December this year, is still in post-production. Kelly Marie Tran will play Rose, a person responsible for repairs in the Resistance. According to Johnson, her role reflects the notion that anyone can become a hero. 40 years of Star Wars The celebration event also includes a special presentation to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the launch of the show in 1977. Among the guests invited to this event there are actors such as Mark Hamill, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels and Hayden Christensen. Wang Jianlin, chairman and president of Dalian Wanda Group, attends the Asian Financial Forum (AFF) in Hong Kong, Jan 18, 2016. [Photo/VCG] Chinese billionaires account for almost a quarter of the world's billionaires, according to business magazine Forbes. Wang Jianlin, founder of Dalian Wanda Group, was crowned top of Forbes annual Chinese billionaires list, with a fortune of $31.3 billion. He was closely followed by Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing, with $31.2 billion to his name. SF Express's chairman Wang Wei rose to 7th on the list after the logistics company was listed on the A-share market this year, catapulting his personal wealth to $15.9 billion. One of China's internet triumvirate known as BAT (Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent), Baidu's controller Robin Li dropped out of the top 10, after his wealth slipped to $13.3 billion from $15.3 billion in 2015. However, the heads of the other two BAT members, Alibaba's Jack Ma and Tencent's Ma Huateng, held their spots, increasing their wealth 24.7 percent to $28.3 billion and 54.7 percent to $24.9 billion, respectively. Ding Lei, CEO of NetEase, ranked 6th after his fortune reached $17.3 billion on the back of the gaming firm's stock price rises for two consecutive years. HANOI - China was the key market for Vietnamese fruits and vegetables in the first quarter of 2017 while consuming over 73 percent of the country's exported item, according to Vietnam's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) on Tuesday. In the first quarter, Vietnam's vegetable and fruit exports experienced a year-on-year increase of 29.8 percent to hit $700.6 million. After China, the United States, Japan and South Korea were also main importers of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, with 3.54 percent, 3.01 percent and 2.99 percent of the export revenue, respectively. Notably, despite being one of the four main bowl of fruits and vegetables in the Southeast Asian region, Thailand still sat fourth among major markets of Vietnamese fruits and vegetables, as importing $14.7 million worth of the item, up 34 percent year-on-year, said the MARD. In 2016, the country earned $2.4 billion from exporting of vegetables and fruit, up 31.2 percent year-on-year, surpassing that of rice for the first time. Vietnamese fruits and vegetables have been present in over 60 countries and regions worldwide. In 2017, Vietnam targeted to pocket some $3 billion from exports of the item, up 25 percent compared to last year. According to Vietnam Fruit and Vegetables Association (Vinafruit), there are many things that need to be done to realize the target, including improvement in supply of clean, high-quality and high-productivity seeding source, promoting training for safe vegetable-fruit production process among local farmers, and further investment in post-harvest and processing periods. Nations will manage differences, plan for official visits by leaders China and Vietnam on Monday vowed to push forward with the Belt and Road Initiative and maintain stability at sea. State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh spoke during the 10th meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Cooperation, which they led jointly. Minh is on a China visit from Sunday through Tuesday. Yang asked both nations to take efforts to ensure successful visits of their leaders to each other's countries this year. In January, Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, paid a four-day official visit to China. The two sides had "a candid exchange of views" on maritime issues, according to a communique. Yang said on Monday that Beijing and Hanoi should raise the quality and level of cooperation and forge a solid basis of public opinion for friendship. The two leaders agreed to plan this year's work, with "deepening high-level interaction" as the main focus. They vowed to jointly push forward development of the Belt and Road Initiative, the two economic corridors linking China and Vietnam and the Beibu Bay economic zone, as well as cooperation in fields including investment, capacity, infrastructure and cross-border economic cooperation zones. They also agreed to "properly manage and control differences and maintain maritime peace and stability", according to a news release issued after the meeting. Minh said his country attaches great importance to comprehensive and strategic cooperation with China. The China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Cooperation was established in 2006. Its last meeting was in Hanoi in June. Song Yinghui, an expert on Southeast Asia studies with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said relations between Beijing and Hanoi have improved since last year. "Now, against the background of a gloomy global economy, China and Vietnam, as two fast-growing economies, have strong appeals for bilateral cooperation," she said. In the steel industry, for example, Vietnam needs China's equipment and technique, Song said. According to official Vietnamese figures, China has become the country's largest exporter, with imports from China reaching $11.9 billion in the first quarter this year, an increase of 12.3 percent from a year earlier. lixiaokun@chinadaily.com.cn State Councilor Yang Jiechi (second from right) and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (second from left) pose on Monday in Beijing at the steering committee on cooperation meeting.Wang Zhuangfei / China Daily (China Daily 04/18/2017 page3) Louis Vuitton's Jeff Koons collection. [Photo/Louis Vuitton's Weibo account] In the latest example of how fashion and art connoisseurs can dissent from the general public, Louis Vuitton's new collaboration with artist Jeff Koons led to mixed reviews from high-brow commentators and social media onlookers. Advertised as a celebration of classical art, the new handbag collection uses five painters' iconic masterpieces, including Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa, Peter Paul Rubens' The Tiger Hunt and Vincent Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypresses, as design patterns with the painters' names emblazoned onto the bag in glittering letters. Prices vary from $2,800 to $4,000, according to different sizes. The seemingly-artsy collection so far has earned accolades from art pundits, for example, Jonathan Jones, who writes about art for The Guardian and was on the jury for the 2009 Turner Prize. Jones praised the French fashion house and Koons' joint efforts to "bring high art to high street" in a blog published on The Guardian's website. The author also acclaimed Koons' idea as a "heartfelt homage to great art", saying the New York-based artist was trying to popularize fine art "in a language people in the 21st century can understand." The accolade, however, is not the whole story. Echoing Koons' reputation as a controversial figure in pop art, his latest foray into fashion once again divided reviews into two extremes. Known for his bold reproduction of banal objects, Koons has been a beloved figure in the art market - his Balloon Dog fetched a record-setting price at $58.4 million in 2013. While fans recognize his pioneering spirit, some critics also find his work kitschy. Therefore his Louis Vuitton gig unsurprisingly drew hundreds of critical reviews on the French brand's official Facebook page. Some comments dismissed the collection as a betrayal of the luxury brand's classy image. "I love Louis Vuitton bags and have got a good collection of them but this collection is just awful," one person wrote. Comments on Louis Vuitton's Facebook page. Others also see it as disrespectful to Leonardo Da Vinci and the other great masters featuring in this collection. "I find this entire line offensive. What a way to ruin these masterpieces & the public's interpretation of them," another wrote. The critical tone didn't ease on China's social media. On Louis Vuitton's official Weibo account, comments are equally harsh. Some said the design cheapened the brand's image, making it no different from a "souvenir bag from a museum gift store" which costs 1 percent of the luxury bag. Seeking more publicity in the Chinese market, the fashion powerhouse invited Chinese actress and fashionista Fan Bingbing to the collection's star-studded launch ceremony in Paris last Tuesday, which also included a fleet of A-listers, such as Jennifer Aniston, Lea Seydoux, Michelle Williams and Cate Blanchett. Louis Vuitton has long collaborated with celebrity artists. Among the best-known is the collection with Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who is known for the iconic use of polka dots in her artworks. Economists warn that turning trade into a zero-sum balance is too simple-minded US economists believe that blaming other countries for US trade deficits is wrongheaded. In an interview with the Financial Times, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross dismissed the accusation of US protectionism. The 79-year-old billionaire instead cited the US trade deficit as a sign of its openness and blamed other countries for causing the deficits. His words came after recent remarks by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and others, which included veiled concern and criticism of rising protectionism in US President Donald Trump's administration. The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting held in Germany last month also failed to include any language rejecting protectionism, as the group has done in the past, largely due to pressure from US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "We are the least protectionist of the major areas," Ross told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday. "We are far less protectionist than Europe. We are far less protectionist than Japan. We are far less protectionist than China. "We also have trade deficits with all three of those places. So they talk free trade. But in fact what they practice is protectionism. And every time we do anything to defend ourselves, even against the puny obligations that they have, they call that protectionism," Ross said. Wayne Morrison, a specialist in Asian trade and finance at the Congressional Research Service, said Ross and others in the Trump administration may see themselves not being "protectionist" but rather as seeking to level the playing field for US firms and workers. He said the biggest problem with their argument is that they ignore fundamental economic theory, such as attributing bilateral trade imbalances to trade and investment barriers and implying that exports are good while imports are bad. "Economists hold that a nation's overall trade balance is largely caused by macroeconomic forces, primarily the amount of domestic savings relative to its investment needs. When a country saves too little to meet its investment needs, it will run a trade deficit, and that is the case with the United States," Morrison told China Daily on Monday. He said the Trump administration's focus on "bilateral trade deficits" is disturbing to some because resulting trade policies may seek only to reduce those deficits or may use a rising or falling deficit to measure the "success or failure" of their policies. Morrison cited a scenario of the US imposing large tariffs on imported Chinese toys. As a result, US toy imports from China would likely fall, and foreign manufacturers might then move their production to other low-cost countries such as Vietnam. Ultimately the US trade deficit with China could fall, but the US trade deficit with Vietnam would rise. "And the size of the overall US trade deficit would likely remain unchanged," Morrison said, adding that US consumers would probably end up paying higher prices for toys. Joseph Gagnon, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, also criticized the Trump administration's focus on trade deficits as a wrong approach. In an article posted on the institute's website on April 7, Gagnon said economists broadly agree that trade barriers do not cause trade deficits. "A country can have a trade deficit only if it is borrowing on net from the rest of the world," he said. His comments came after Trump on March 31 ordered a study of the causes of the US trade deficit, a study that will focus on trade barriers and unfair trade practices in foreign countries. Gagnon, a former official at the US Federal Reserve Board and US Treasury, said it is important to stipulate that trade is not a zero-sum game in which imports are losses and exports are wins. "Reducing the trade deficit by reducing overall trade would throw the baby out with the bath water," he said. chenweihua@chinadailyusa.com Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. HA NOI The Viet Nam Competition Authority (VCA), under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), has confirmed its receipt of domestic fertiliser companies petition to apply trade defence instruments on fertiliser imports. Earlier on March 31, some domestic fertiliser producers are requesting that trade defence measures be applied for a number of imported fertiliser products due to its negative impacts on domestic production. The fertiliser products in the requested list have the codes: 3105.10.10, 3105.10 .20, 3105.10.90, 3105.20.00, 3105.30.00, 3105.40.00, 3105.51.00, 3105.59.00, and 3105.90.00. These commodities are all inorganic or complex inorganic fertilisers mixed with nitrogen and phosphorus (P2O5), in which nitrogen content is at least 7 per cent and P2O5 content is at least 30 per cent. The addition or mixture of other elements such as magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), sulphur (S), potassium (K) and other trace elements dont change its physical and chemical nature nor the products purpose. The addition of micronutrients is appropriate for each soil type and crop group. In order to evaluate the situation and make a decision on initiating an investigation, as well as to ensure the rights and interests of enterprises under the countrys trade defence policies, the VCA has asked businesses producing the listed types of fertilisers to provide the following details: business information; design capacity and production of fertilisers for 2014, 2015 and 2016; companies opinions on the case; and other relevant evidence. The deadline to submit the details is before 5pm on April 24. The import of such fertilisers has sharply risen since early 2016, which is said to have affected local production and caused heavy losses to domestic fertiliser producers. VNS HA NOI The State Bank of Viet Nam has coordinated with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to prepare a handbook on social and environmental risk assessment for 10 economic sectors serving credit operations of commercial banks. The manual can be considered a toolkit to help banks assess environmental and social risks of credit projects and assist credit officers appraise business plans, ensuring effective green and sustainable development. The 10 specific sectors are agriculture, chemicals, construction and infrastructure, and energy, as well as food processing, textiles, petroleum and mining, along with non-metallic mineral products exploitation and waste treatment. The handbook, expected to be issued in 2017, has three parts. Part A will contain information on the businesses and projects that need credit grants. In this part, credit institutions need to ask their clients to provide information on issues such as compliance of the enterprise with respect to environmental, labour and social regulations and companys ability to manage environmental and social risks. Part B will focus on environmental and social impact of projects. This section lays out specific criteria to consider the potential and existing risks and impact of the projects on the environment (air, water, land and hazardous waste, as well as raw materials and energy consumption), on the workforce (working conditions and health safety), on health and the safety of people living around the project area, and on biodiversity and cultural heritage. Part C will consist of recommendations that underpin the credit decision, the price and terms of disbursements in the credit agreements and the level of credit management and supervision of commercial banks. According to IFC, green credit is the credit that banks give to projects that are less risky for the environment or to protect the environment. In 2016, outstanding loans for green projects reached some VN84.781 trillion, up 19.7 per cent compared with the end of 2015, accounting for 1.5 per cent of total outstanding loans of the economy, with some 3.2 million credit contracts. Credit granted to projects which have gone through environmental and social risk assessment reached some VN187.9 trillion, with more than 129,000 contracts. According to the national action plan on green growth in the 2014-20 period, the Prime Minister assigned the SBV to review, revise and complete financial and credit regulations so as to be aligned with green growth objectives, organise training courses to strengthen the capacity of commercial banks and financial institutions in green credit activities and develop financial-banking services to support green growth. The SBV, therefore, aims to guide credit institutions to develop business strategies in line with the States strategy on environmental protection and green growth. Accordingly, investment projects with the participation of bank credit must comply with regulations on environmental protection, social safety and energy saving. This handbook will be a reference document. SBV encourages commercial banks to apply the guidelines. VNS A NANG The central citys Song Han Incubator has launched the first ever tourism start-up programme. Director of the Song Han Incubator Centre Ly inh Quan, presented the programme at a press conference yesterday. He said Viet Nam has a potential resource in tourism, but the sector has not yet built up its own nationwide value chain and connections among tourism enterprises as well as foreign partners and investors. We aim to enrol the first ten start-up businesses to join a value chain in tourism between April and November. They will themselves build up new ideas and innovations in setting up their businesses for future development, with a total fund of VN80 million (US$3,500) each, and support on legal issues, information technology, marketing and trade, Quan said. The best consultants and experts are invited to give support and guidance as well as training, he said. Quan said the programme will help connect businesses operating in the fields of travel, hospitality, transport, craft villages and information technology in a value of chain. He said this would help reduce travel cost, while improving quality and competitive capacity among tourism enterprises in Viet Nam. The programme has also received sponsorship from the Viet Nam Mentors Initiative, I-Angel, Womens Initiative for Start-up Enterprise and Swiss SP. Pham Le Nhat Quang, senior investment manager of the Viet Nam Investment Group, said the group manages a fund $500,000 to support start-up businesses in Viet Nam. He said new ideas and innovation by start-up enterprises would benefit from the funds financial support. Ta Anh Tuan, a senior expert from the Netherlands PUM company, said his company could provide consultancy for start-up businesses in Viet Nam and help connect with foreign partners. The programme hopes that at least 50 per cent of start-up businesses succeed in the last pitching opportunity later this year, and new ideas and innovations in business tourism development will emerge. Last year, the central city began its start-up and entrepreneurship development by offering the start-up ecosystem, policies and investment support activities. a Nang has 18,000 businesses, of which 95 per cent are small and medium-sized enterprises. VNS HCM CITY The various components of the woodworking industrys supply chain need to establish close links to ensure the industrys sustainable development, an expert has said. Such linkages would bring many benefits, including efficient utilisation of resources, increase in specialisation, reduction in risks, more market opportunities and higher profits, To Xuan Phuc of the sustainable forestry NGO Forest Trends organisation, said. He was speaking at a forum held in HCM City last week by the Viet Nam Timber and Forest Product Association, the Handicrafts and Wood Industry Association of HCM City, Forest Trends, and the Forest Products Association of Binh inh. There are around 4,300 businesses in the Vietnamese woodworking industry employing thousands of workers, he said. But vertical and horizontal linkages in the industry, including links between wood processors, timber suppliers and forest growers, and between firms in the same sector, remain weak mainly due to a lack of trust and fair sharing of benefits, he said. It is one of the countrys key export industries, with export revenues going up every year and expected to continue rising in the coming time, he said. But there remain some systemic shortcomings that affect the sustainable development of the industry. Vietnamese companies tend to invest in the entire production chain, which often means the investment is spread too thin, technologies are mismatched, and there is no specialisation at any stage in the supply chain, he said. Besides, there is no supporting industry for the woodworking industry, and as a result its productivity is much lower than in Thailand or Malaysia, he said. A shortage of raw materials also threatens the sustainable development of the industry. ien Quang Hiep, chairman and director of MIFACO Co., Ltd, said: A majority of firms in the industry are small or medium-sized, and if we do not link up we [cannot] compete with large foreign firms. These linkages would determine the very survival of the industry, he said. The businesses in the industry are scattered and so it is hard for them to link up and work together, he said. The creation of a wood processing industry cluster would provide companies the opportunity to share information, resources and export orders, he said. This needs support from the Government and localities, he said. Vo Quang Ha, general director of Tan Vinh Cuu Joint Stock Company (Tavico), said to successfully forge linkages, enterprises must have the same direction and a common goal. They need to discuss ways to develop linkages and avoid conflicts, he said. The association must play a greater role as an intermediary to bring them together for mutual benefit, he said. Companies should establish close links with households that grow forests to ensure a steady source of timber and reduce risks, delegates told the forum. Nguyen Quang Vinh of the Viet Nam Timber and Forest Product Association, said planted forests have become the main source of timber for Viet Nams wood processing industry. To develop a steady and legitimate source of timber, some linkages have been established between wood processing companies and households growing forests, he said. For instance, companies making products for IKEA Group, one of the worlds largest wood products company -- such as Nam inh Forest Products JSC (NAFOCO), Woodsland JSC, and Scansia Pacific -- have tied up with households in Phu Tho, Tuyen Quang, Yen Bai, and Quang Tri provinces to grow forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, he said. They use the certified sustainable wood to make products for IKEA, he said. This model helps improve benefits for the households and ensure a steady supply of timber for the companies, he added. VNS HA NOI Vietnamese shares dropped further on the two local markets yesterday on investor concerns about geopolitical conditions. The benchmark VN Index on the HCM Stock Exchange fell 1.1 per cent to close at 710.83 points. Viet Nams key stock index has lost total 2.8 per cent after four sessions. The HNX Index on the Ha Noi Stock Exchange declined by 1.5 per cent to end at 88.3 points, extending its fall to 1.9 per cent for a second day. Market trading liquidity remained high with more than 237 million shares exchanged for VN4.92 trillion (US$218.8 million). All 20 sectors declined, with the finance-banking sector performing the worst. The banking sector index lost 2.1 per cent while the insurance sector and the securities sector were down 1.3 per cent each. Eight of the nine listed banks ended in negative territory, including Vietinbank (CTG), Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam (BID) and Sai Gon-Ha Noi Bank (SHB). Vietinbank held its 2017 annual shareholder meeting yesterday, saying that its M&A deal with PGBank has not been completed because the State Bank of Viet Nam requested Vietinbank to re-assess the conversion of PGBank shares into Vietinbank shares. Other finance stocks, such as Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), PVI Holdings (PVI), Saigon Securities Inc (SSI) and HCM City Securities Corp (HCM) also suffered losses, as did the energy sector on the decline of global crude prices. Brent crude was traded at $55.39 a barrel, down 0.9 per cent from Friday, and 1.5 per cent lower in total from April 11. Among local energy stocks, only PetroVietnam Gas (GAS) advanced, with a growth of 0.2 per cent. The company announced at its shareholder meeting yesterday that it will pay a dividend of 40 per cent for 2017 performance. Stock indices declined further from Fridays levels, proving that investors are worried about the worlds political conditions, BIDV Securities Corp (BSC) said in a note. Higher trading liquidity compared to Friday showed that investors low confidence kept them actively offloading parts of their portfolios to increase the amount of cash, BSC said. Today the VN-Index will test whether it can stay above the level of 710 points and investors should keep close watch over companies whose stocks have fallen deeply in recent days, BSC added. VNS HA NOI The number of delayed and cancelled flights decreased in the first quarter of 2017, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV). CAAVs statistics revealed that low-cost carrier Jetstar Pacific had the highest rate of both delayed and cancelled flights. Some 2,379 out of 8,542 flights of the carrier were delayed, or 27.9 per cent of the total, and 174 flights were cancelled. It was followed by budget carrier VietJetAir with 2,337 out of 19,015 flights, or 12.3 per cent of the total, and national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines with 2,187 out of 25,494 flights getting delayed, or 8.6 per cent of the total. CAAV attributed the delays and cancellations to unpunctuality of these flights, equipment and services at airports, flight operations and weather. The aviation sector has posted two-digit growth rate over the past years, however, investment in infrastructure has failed to keep up with the pace. During the six days of the lunar New Year festival from January 26 to 31 (or the 29th day of the last lunar month to the fourth day of the first lunar month), Tan Son Nhat International Airport the busiest airport in Viet Nam welcomed 4,208 out of 4,781 flights operated nationwide. It meant that the airport operated an average of 700 flights per day with only two airstrips. Overloading was the main reason for air traffic congestion. - VNS HA NOI Domestic small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should regard tech-driven innovations and digitisation as a guiding development trend when integrating into the global production and value chain. Nguyen Hoa Cuong, deputy director of the Enterprise Development Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment, made this remark at a seminar themed Digitising the Vietnamese Economy: Empowering SMEs for the Global Market held yesterday in Ha Noi. The event, organised by the US-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC) and the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), attracted 180 SMEs operating in many business sectors. They heard experts from multinational companies discussing new policies, experiences, tools and solutions to enhance SMEs capacity in exploiting the potential of the growing digital economy, so that they can participate more effectively in the global supply chain. Sunil Singh, Chief Information Officer of the Coca-Cola Company Bottling Investments Group, said businesses could not develop without innovation, adding that Coca-Cola was devoting one-third of its capital to tech-driven innovation, with a focus on automation, digitisation and artificial intelligence. If firms dont apply automation, digitisation to their business models, they will have a hard time competing with their rivals and will soon be eliminated from the market," said Singh, adding that digital transformation was a strategic priority. Regarding supply chain management, Frank Weiand, General Director of Supply Chain Services International, said the supply chain cost in Viet Nam accounted for 20 per cent of GDP and may grow to 25 per cent in the next coming years, much higher compared to Laos, Thailand and China. If businesses reduce about 10 per cent of the supply chain cost, they can save 1.5 to 2 per cent of GDP, Weiand said. He added that production costs of Vietnamese enterprises were 20 per cent higher than those of neighbouring countries, such as Thailand and China, because Vietnamese enterprises were not yet well integrated in the international supply chain in terms of procurement, operations and sales. They were also behind in the application of international standards to improve quality and production capability, and were disadvantaged due to the delayed implementation of the ASEAN economic blueprint. Improvement of quality management systems and manufacturing processes can increase efficiency by up to 40 per cent and reduce costs. Optimisation of procurement processes offers cost reduction potentials of over 20 per cent, Weiand said. During the seminar, representatives from Microsoft, MasterCard and other companies also shared their experiences in fields such as cloud technology, digital payment and business regulation. VNS HA NOI Shares rebounded yesterday as bargain hunting increased on investor expectation that the market will get back on the track soon. The VN-Index recouped 0.58 per cent to close the afternoon trade at 714.93 points on the HCM Stock Exchange. The key market index has lost more than 2.8 per cent in the last four sessions. Its growth has also slowed from nearly 10 per cent in mid last week to roughly seven per cent on Monday. On the Ha Noi Stock Exchange, the HNX-Index edged up 0.94 per cent to end at 89.12 points. The northern market index decreased 1.9 per cent in the two previous sessions. The strong recovery of the VN-Index in the last trading minutes surprised the market today, said Tran Hai Yen, a stock analyst at Bao Viet Securities Company, in Tuesdays market report. Demand rose in the second half of afternoon trading, lifting many large-cap stocks including Vinamilk (VNM), insurer Bao Viet Holdings (BVH), Vietinbank (CTG), Vietcombank (VCB), private equity firm Masan Group (MSN), IT giant FPT Group (FPT) and PV Gas (GAS). Todays strong growth is a good signal for tomorrows trading. We expect another rally but not significant given short-term risks from global turbulence, analysts at Vietnam Investment Securities Company wrote in a report. Money flow is strong and awaiting a suitable time to return to the market with other investment channels less attractive, the report said, indicating a rise in liquidity on Tuesday. A total of 258.3 million shares worth a combined VN5.2 trillion (US$228 million) were traded in the two markets, up nine per cent in volume and six per cent in value compared to Mondays figures. However, it is too early to assume a sustainable bullish trend when objective information concerning geopolitical issues, especially the North Korea issue, still contain numerous potential risks, Yen said. She advised investors to avoid aggressive buying and reducing stock exposure of overall portfolios. Fertiliser companies filed an application to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) for a safeguard tariff on a number of imported fertiliser products but this information did little for fertiliser firms. PetroVietnam Fertiliser & Chemicals (DPM) and PetroViet Nam Ca Mau Fertiliser (DCM) rallied but Binh ien Fertiliser (BFC) and Lam Thao Fertilisers and Chemicals (LAS) declined. There has been no final decision from the MoIT. However, if this request is approved, the performance of local fertiliser companies is expected to improve, as steel stocks did last year. VNS HA NOI Viet Nam needs to improve the quality of weather forecasting and enhance international co-operation to prepare for natural disasters, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has said. The PM made the statement at a meeting to review disaster prevention and control in 2016 and layout tasks for 2017. Nguyen Xuan Cuong, head of the Central Steering Commitee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, said, 2016 saw multiple extreme weather phenomena such as droughts, extreme cold weather, floods and storms, causing losses of VN39.7 trillion (US$1.75 billion). "Natural disasters struck from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, occurring in all regions with many types of natural disasters," Cuong said. Drought and saline intrusion occurred in the Mekong River Delta, south central region and Central Highlands, he said. Four in 10 storms in the East Sea hit Viet Nam, while tropical depressions led to abnormal floods which caused landslides on the banks of rivers and coastal areas. Natural disasters in 2016 left 264 people dead or missing, while more than 370,000 houses were damaged. Agriculture, aquaculture, road and irrigation system were also affected. Natural disasters have led to stagnant production and harmed the health of people in disaster-prone areas. It was the main reason for the poor performance of the agricultural sector in the first half of last year, resulting in a decrease in the countrys economic growth, Cuong said. Despite efforts in flood prevention and minimising damage to humans and property, he said, there were still shortcomings in the work. Facilities and equipment to support disaster prevention work were still limited while staff in agencies often didnt respond to disasters in a timely fashion, Cuong said. Besides natural disasters due to extreme weather, he said, there were some problems relating to reservoirs regulations. "Some reservoirs, when regulating flood discharges are not operating properly and are increasing risks for the project and downstream areas," Cuong said. He asked local authorities to co-ordinate with ministries and agencies to review the operation of reservoirs. Cuong also requested that inspections be conducted on dyke and irrigation works to ensure the projects safety before this years rainy season. He suggested that the Government assign the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to co-ordinate ministries, sectors and localities to review and adjust the inter-reservoir operations. According to the forecast of the Natural Central for Hydro-Meterology Forecasting, the weather in 2017 will be complicated with temperatures likely to be higher than the average of previous years, especially in the north. Some 13-15 storms and tropical depressions are predicted to occur during the rainy season. Given the difficulty in predicting natural disasters, Phuc asked agencies and localities to re-examine disaster patterns to devise prevention solutions while strengthening disaster control projects. He called for more campaigns to raise public awareness of disaster mitigation. "As one of the five countries most affected by climate change, it is necessary for Viet Nam to improve the awareness of the local government and people as well on the issue," PM Phuc said. VNS BANGKOK Street food stalls will be banned from all of Bangkoks main roads under a clean-up crusade, a city hall official said on Tuesday, prompting outcry and anguish in a food-obsessed capital famed for its spicy roadside cuisine. For months city officials have hemmed in hawkers of all kinds across the metropolis, where hitting the pavement for everything from late-night noodles to fried insects is the closest Thailand has to a national pastime. "All types of stalls including clothes, counterfeit goods and food stalls will be banned from main city roads," said Wanlop Suwandee, a chief advisor to Bangkoks governor. "They will not be allowed for order and hygiene reasons," he added. Officials insist the citys street vendors clog the foot paths, leaving little space for pedestrians and littering the streets. But many Bangkokians say this chaos is part of the capitals charm and an affordable option for all with a stick of grilled pork going for 10 baht (30 cents) while a bowl of chicken noodles costing as little as 35 baht. "If you want to clean out all the vendors its like you are cleaning out our culture itself," said Chiwan Suwannapak, who works for a Bangkok tour agency. Street dining is also a social leveller in a city cut by inequality, with everyone from business execs to motorcycle taxi drivers pulling up plastic chairs to slurp down spicy soups or dig into fried chicken at the roadside restaurants as cars whiz by. The rich variety of foods ladled out from push carts are also a top draw for tourists, who power the kingdoms economy. "If they go against the vendors, that will that affect business and it will affect the charm of Khaosan," said Sanga Ruangwattanaku, the president of a business association on Khaosan Road a buzzing backpacker hotspot in Bangkoks old town. AFP Viet Nam and China agreed yesterday that they would work to strengthen the focal points of their strategic partnership. VNA/VNS Photo Vu Le Ha BEIJING Viet Nam and China agreed yesterday that they would work to strengthen the focal points of their strategic partnership. The agreement came at the 10th meeting of the countries Steering Committee for Bilateral Co-operation co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh and Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi in Beijing. Reviewing bilateral co-operation since the ninth meeting on June 6, 2016, both sides saw positive development trends, noting in particular the holding of regular meetings between senior leaders, enhanced co-operation between ministries, sectors and localities, and stronger people-to-people exchanges. They also spoke about difficulties and obstacles in bilateral relations. The two sides agreed to implement mechanisms for defence exchange and co-operation and intensify connections in security and law enforcement. Effective measures will be taken to balance trade, expand investment and promote the sustainable development of economic and trade relations, with a focus on agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the meeting heard. Both sides also agreed to facilitate the establishment of Viet Nams trade promotion offices in China and increase Chinese investment in the fields that match Viet Nams demand and interests. They concurred that the Cat Linh-Ha ong urban railway project in Ha Noi needs to be completed as soon as possible, and that outstanding problems in projects involving Chinese investors or contractors have to be resolved early. China expressed support for Viet Nams access to preferential loan sources, including the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), as well as funding within the framework of ASEAN-China and Mekong-Lancang co-operation. The two sides vowed to strengthen collaboration in transport, environmental protection, climate change response, and cross-border labour management. They discussed sea-related issues in a straightforward manner, and agreed to observe important shared conceptions reached by Party and Government leaders of both countries, as well as the Viet Nam-China agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues. They agreed to push negotiation mechanisms on sea-related issues towards achieving substantial outcomes, comprehensively and effectively carrying out the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), finalising soon a Code of Conduct in the East Sea (COC), controlling sea disputes and refraining from actions that complicate the situation or expand disputes, and maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea (South China Sea). Deputy PM Minh urged the two countries to make effective use of co-operation mechanisms between ministries, sectors and localities, maintain regular contact between the two Secretaries-General of the Steering Committee for Bilateral Co-operation, and fully utilise the bridging role of the Vietnamese and Chinese ambassadors. Common interests Later yesterday, Deputy PM Minh met with Politburo permanent member and Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference, Yu Zhengsheng. He congratulated China on its recent socio-economic achievements. He said both Viet Nam and China were on an important phase of their renewal processes and shared a common interest in keeping a peaceful and stable environment for either countrys development. He emphasised that the two sides should maintain high-level exchanges, boost political trust, and consolidate their traditional friendship. Keeping good control of divergences and peacefully solving maritime disputes in accordance with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) are in the mutual interest of both countries and beneficial for maintaining peace and stability in the region and the world, Minh said. Yu Zhengsheng praised the outcomes of the meeting of the Steering Committee for Bilateral Co-operation. He affirmed that China treasures and wants to boost friendly neighbourliness and comprehensive partnership with Viet Nam. He also emphasised the importance of high-level bilateral visits in orienting the development of the relations between the two Parties and States. China is willing to work with Viet Nam to enhance co-operation in all fields, increase people-to-people exchange, and keep maritime disputes under control, he said. VNS HA NOI Viet Nams Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe expressed determination to elevate the two countries relations during talks in Ha Noi yesterday. The two PMs expressed their satisfaction over the growing friendship and co-operation between Viet Nam and Sri Lanka over the past 47 years since they established diplomatic ties in July 1970. They agreed to boost cooperation in politics and external affairs via increasing high-level delegation exchanges and promoting relations between the parties, states and parliaments. The leaders agreed on the need to effectively implement bilateral co-operation mechanisms, including organising the fourth meeting of the joint committee and the third political consultation this year. They pledged to step up collaboration in security-defence and share information and experience in legal execution, combating cross-border crime, addressing post-war consequences and joining UN peacekeeping activities. To realise the two-way trade target of US$1 billion in the coming years, the two sides vowed to urge agencies to map out measures to deepen bilateral co-operation in fields such as oil and gas, infrastructure, information technology and communication, garment-textile, farm produce processing and distribution, and seafood. The PMs agreed to implement the agreement on investment encouragement and protection and sign new co-operation deals for new circumstances. They were committed to prioritising co-operation in other important fields such as energy, tourism, education, human resources development, and cultural exchanges. They stressed the importance of aviation connectivity, which will help promote bilateral trade, tourism and people-to-people exchanges. The host and guest vowed to work together at regional and international forums, while strengthening co-operation between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC). Both sides stressed the significance of maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea as well as navigation and aviation safety, removing trade barriers and settling disputes and differences via peaceful means and in line with international law. After the talks, the PMs witnessed the signing of two co-operation agreements, including a co-operation plan on agricultural development in 2017-19, and a co-operation agreement on education in 2017-21. Multifaceted co-operation Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong yesterday told the Sri Lankan PM that the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) welcomes strengthened ties with political parties and is ready to share development experience with Sri Lanka. At a reception for the visiting PM, the Party chief suggested the two sides take measures to effectively deploy already-signed agreements and wished that bilateral ties would continue growing for the benefits of their people. The Party leader also conveyed his profound condolences to families of victims in a recent garbage mountain collapse that left at least 26 dead and dozens missing in a suburb of the capital city Colombo. PM Wickremesinghe, for his part, noted that Sri Lanka places importance on promoting friendship, people-to-people exchanges and co-operation with Viet Nam. He hoped that the two nations would continue reinforcing bilateral ties and mutual support at multilateral forums, contributing to maintaining peace, stability and development in the region and world. Meanwhile, in a meeting with PM Wickremesinghe earlier yesterday, President Tran ai Quang asked for increasing the exchange of delegations and meetings at all levels and effectively implementing existing co-operation mechanisms towards reaching two-way trade of $1 billion. Both sides need to implement their Agreement on Investment Promotion and Protection signed in October 2009 and a portfolio of fields prioritised for investment under a co-operation agreement between the two foreign investment agencies signed in October 2011, he said. National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan also hosted a reception for PM Wickremesinghe. She thanked the Sri Lankan government and people for honouring late President Ho Chi Minh by placing his statue in the National Library of Sri Lanka in Colombo. Having witnessed the development of Sri Lanka during her visit to the country in 2013 as NA deputy chairwomen, Ngan said the Vietnamese NA will create a legal framework for the two countries to successfully execute co-operation agreements. Wickremesinghe thanked Ngan for her warm welcome and expressed hope that the two countries will increase exchanges between parliamentary members, businessmen and youth. He also said that Sri Lanka will send parliamentary delegations to Viet Nam to share experience. VNS The VCCI Chairman Vu Tien Loc said that Article 30 failed to demonstrate the role of his organisation as envisaged by the Party and the State representing the enterprise community as a whole, similar to other chambers of commerce in the world. VNA/VNS Photo Phuong Hoa HA NOI An hour-long war of words over the roles of two business support organisations raged yesterday at a meeting of the National Assembly Standing Committee (NASC). The morning session of the committees monthly meeting focused on the draft Law on Support for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises. Article 30 proved a point of fierce contention between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Vietnam Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (VNASME). The article assigns the VNASME six responsibilities. It tasks the VNASME with functioning as the representative of the Vietnamese SME community, providing support and training, as well as taking part in relevant law and policy-making processes. The VCCI, meanwhile, is only tasked with strengthening connectivity between large enterprises and SMEs. The respective tasks of both organisations will help SMEs choose their support providers correctly, said Vu Hong Thanh, Head of the National Assemblys (NA) Economics Committee. The VCCI, however, expressed strong disagreement, with Chairman Vu Tien Loc saying Article 30 failed to demonstrate the role of his organisation as envisaged by the Party and the State representing the enterprise community as a whole, similar to other chambers of commerce in the world. That the VINASME has been assigned six responsibilities in the draft law was unfair to other business support associations like the VCCI or the Viet Nam Young Entrepreneur Association, he said, noting that 98 per cent of these associations members are SMEs. Worse still, it could very likely eliminate an important network that supports enterprises, he argued. The draft law bets on only one association to offer support to the whole SME community instead of calling for all business associations to be participants in the effort, Loc said. Such a move is risky, he added. VINASME Chairman Nguyen Van Than countered Locs suggestion that the VCCI and VINASME share the work of supporting the SME sector. He said such vague regulations would not solve anything. We can only do the job if the law regulates our work in detail, Than said. If things are left vague as Loc wants, nothing will be done. We joined the VCCI 10 years ago and saw no results (for the SMEs). The heated debate prompted NA Deputy Chairman Phung Quoc Hien to ask the Ministry of Planning and Investment drafters of the law - and the NA Committee on Economic Affairs to review the controversial article. The draft Law on Support for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises is one of the six laws on the agenda of the NASCs 9th session. The others include the Law on Management and Use of State Assets (revised), Law on State Compensation Liability (revised), Law on adjustments and supplementations to several articles of the Penal Code No.100/2015/QH13, Law on the Management and Use of Weapons, Explosives and Supportive Weapons, and Law on Planning. Preparations for the NAs third plenary session are also on the agenda, with an emphasis on the law and ordinance making programme for 2018 and adjustments to the 2017 programme. The meeting is also set to discuss the draft programme for supervision work by the NA and NASC in 2018 . The third plenary session is scheduled to convene on May 22 and close on June 20. NASC members also agreed yesterday to increase the time for question and answer session by half a day to three days. VNS HA NOI The Central Steering Committee for Anti-Corruption convened a meeting in Ha Noi yesterday chaired by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, head of the committee. Members discussed the progress, results, difficulties and obstacles regarding the investigation, prosecution and trial of cases under the supervision of the committee. They agreed to complete the investigation, prosecution and trial of 12 cases under the supervision of the committee in 2017, including those involving Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Joint Stock Bank, Tien Phong Bank, Bank for Investment and Development of Viet Nam and the State Bank of Viet Nam. They also asked relevant agencies to further investigate the case involving PetroVietnam Construction Corporation (PVC), and pursue and extradite its former chairman Trinh Xuan Thanh. The committee agreed to establish eight working teams to inspect and supervise the prosecution, investigation, and trial of complicated and serious corruption and economic cases of public concern in 20 provinces and cities nationwide. Addressing the meeting, Party General Secretary Trong commended the efforts of various law enforcement agencies in the investigation and prosecution of 11 defendants involved in embezzlement and in "deliberately acting against State regulations in economic mismanagement, causing serious consequences" at PVC. He urged continued perseverance in the cases against Ha Van Tham, former chairman of Oceanbank, whose malfeasant practices caused losses of VN2 trillion (US$88.1 million), and Pham Cong Danh, former chairman of Viet Nam Construction Bank, a central figure in a VN9 trillion ($396 million) loss. He lauded the recent efforts of agencies as well as members of the committee, which have brought remarkable results. However, there is much work to be done, requiring closer co-ordination among authorised agencies, he noted. At the meeting, the participants also agreed to assign Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh, deputy head of the committee, to participate in directing authorised agencies to settle a number of serious economic and corruption cases when requested. VNS HA NOI The PM recently issued Decision 477/Q-TTg, which annuls previous Decision 48/Q-Ttg, issued in 2010, on awarding the PMs certificate of merit to Trinh Xuan Thanh, former State official found guilty of several wrongdoings. The latest decision was signed last week by Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh on behalf of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc. According to the decision, the head of the Government asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to withdraw all certificates of merit and recover incentive bonuses handed out to Trinh Xuan Thanh (if any). All medals of recognition and incentive bonuses handed out to Petroleum Construction Viet Nam (PVC) would also be recalled, where Thanh served and caused losses of nearly US$150 million. Rewards in the form of objects are to be sent to the Central Commission for Commendations and bonuses (if any) are to be paid back in full to the commendation fund of the agency which handed out these bonuses to Trinh Xuan Thanh and PVC. Earlier this month, the MoIT proposed to the Prime Minister to consider recalling awards and bonuses given to Thanh. The process of recalling rewards and bonuses is said to be simple and easily done, according to a member of the Central Commission for Commendations and Rewards. On Monday, Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong ordered relevant agencies to expend all necessary resources on expanding the investigation of corruption cases related to PVC, with the focus on the arrest and extradition of its former head, Trinh Xuan Thanh, who had allegedly escaped overseas. VNS HCM CITY South African Honourary Consul o Thi Kim Lien and VASS Assurance Corp today donated five houses worth VN350 million (US$15,418) to social welfare beneficiaries of the Navy. The donation was made via the Vu A Dinh Scholarship Fund and The Club for Beloved Hoang Sa and Truong Sa, with former Vice President Truong My Hoa the chairwoman of the fund and the club. Also on Tuesday, the South African Honorary Consulate held a meeting to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of South African Freedom Day. Lien said South Africa has high demand for Vietnamese goods. The country has imported a large volume of products in which Viet Nam has advantages, including footwear, garments and textiles, coffee, rice, gemstones and metals, timber and timber products. VNS A NANG Big data research is the key element to help Viet Nam boost the Internet of Things (IoT) and apply smart urban technology, the rector of the Korea-Viet Nam Friendship Information Technology College, Hoang Bao Hung, said at the opening of the 7th International Conference on Information Science and Technology (ICTST) in a Nang yesterday. Its one of the most important IT events hosted by Viet Nam. Researches and reports on big data, databases and computer science will give Vietnamese partners an opportunity to share experience of top experts from top universities, Hung said. The conference also reviews the capacity of IT in Viet Nam. He said a Nang would be a destination for regular IT conferences that lure top international experts sharing their experience and latest IT research. Some 125 reports from 25 countries and territories will be presented to 1,300 participants at the two-day event on big data, databases, smart systems, education and IT applications. Viet Nam has sent 30 reports the largest of any participant on big data, databases, visible light communications and wireless sense security communications networks and computer science to the conference. Professor Sam Kwong from the City University of Hong Kong said research on big data and computer science has a vital role in the internet era, and the conference will help establish Viet Nams relationship to IT worldwide. Its expected that at least 84 reports will be accepted at the conference, and the best will be selected for publication by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) the conferences technical sponsor. Scientists from the a Nang-based Korea-Viet Nam Friendship Information Technology College also sent five reports on databases, visible light wireless internet (wireless integrated with light-emitting diodes), visible wireless sense systems and quality improvement of wireless systems and network security. The conference includes sessions on topics such as computer science, control and automatisation system technology, digital signal processing, IT in biology and biomedical engineering, speech coding, unsupervised learning and brain computer interfaces, as well as the robotic industry, smart production, navigation, smart systems in health care as well as car and motor sense control. VNS HA NOI Opportunities to invest in Viet Nams solar energy sector are abundant after Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc issued a decision to encourage the development of solar power projects. Under Decision 11/2017/Q-TTg, which takes effective from June 1, 2017, all output produced by solar power projects will be purchased for VN2,086 (US 9.3 cent)/kWh (excluding VAT) - a profitable rate for investors. The price will be adjusted in line with the VN/USD exchange rate, and only applied to power grid-connected projects with the cell efficiency above 16 per cent or productivity module over 15 per cent. Investors involved in solar power projects in Viet Nam will be eligible for various incentives, especially support related to land, investment capital and import and corporate income tax. The decision aims to draw finances to the field, with many investors interested in the industry. In March, the Central Highlands province of ak Lak granted investment certificates and signed agreements with partners to develop a series of solar power projects with total investment of $3.3 billion. The US power group AES signed a memorandum of understanding with provincial authorities to construct a $750-million-solar power plant with combined capacity of 300-500 MW. Also, Xuan Thien ak Lak Ltd, Solar Park Global of the Republic of Korea (RoK) and Long Thanh Infrastructure Investment received approval to implement projects with respective worth of $2.2 billion, $45 million and $308 million. Meanwhile, the RoKs electricity developer Solkiss signed an agreement with the northern province of Yen Bai to build a 500MW-solar electricity project worth more than $1 billion in Thac Ba Lake. Many more domestic and foreign investors have been pouring their money into solar energy projects in the central provinces of Binh inh, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Thua Thien Hue, Ha Tinh, Quang Ngai, and the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang. However, the number and value of projects invested by foreign firms in the field remains limited. The Foreign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Planning and Investment said that only 16 foreign-invested green energy projects were operating in Viet Nam as of the end of 2016, with total registered capital of $778 million and only 18 per cent of them invest in solar power. The decision is expected to pave the way for investors, especially foreign investors, to expand their operation in the power industry. VNS HA NOI The Peoples Court of Ha Noi today sentenced 11 defendants in a fraud case that occurred at the Agriculture and Rural Development Bank, Nghe An Branch, eight years ago. Trinh Khanh Hong, 50, former chairman of the Board of Trustees and General Director of Tan Hong Import-Export Company, was sentenced to life in jail for asset misappropriation fraud and 20 years for swindling in order to misappropriate assets. o uc Hung, 61, former director of Agribank Hong Ha, was given 23 years in jail, and Truong an Dan, 43, was given 12 years in jail, both for asset misappropriation fraud and violating lending regulations. Nguyen Van Manh, chief accountant of Tan Hong company was sentenced to 11 years in jail for swindling to misappropriate assets. The five defendants to receive custodial sentences, o Minh Hien, former head of the planning unit of Agribank Hong Ha, inh Van Hai, former director of uc Hung Company, Tran Huu Tuan, director of Giang Linh Company, Nguyen Thi My, director of Thai An Company, and o Huu Bach, director of uc Hung Company, were given from five to seven years in jail for fraudulent misappropriation of assets. Two credit staff of Agribank Hong Ha, Nguyen Van Thuy and inh Minh ao, were given three years probation. According to the court indictment, in 2009, Trinh Khanh Hong set up a project with loans of US$20 million from Agribank to plant material forest. However when the loan was approved, Hong used the money for his own purposes. He also created 965 fake invoices showing that he gave the money to households to plant trees. Hong worked with the other defendants to misappropriate more than VN281 billion (US$12.8 million) from companies and borrowed another VN200 billion ($8.8 million) from banks. In this case, five former staff from Agribank Hong Ha, who knew that Hong was incapable of paying back the loans but didnt want to have bad debts on their record, signed guarantee documents so that Hong could borrow more money. VNS HA NOI Four provinces in Viet Nam have reported six outbreaks of bird flu, according to the Department of Animal Health. The provinces affected are Vinh Long, ak Lak, Quang Ninh and Thua Thien-Hue. An outbreak was detected in the southern province of Vinh Long on Saturday at a household in Binh Tan Districts My Thuan Commune which affected 300 chicken. More than 3,000 chicken also tested positive for A/H5N1and were disposed of at a farm in the provinces Binh Minh Town. In the northern province of Quang Ninh, 320 poultry were reported to have fallen ill and died in the past four days. The number of poultry culled was 670. Two farms in the central province of Thua Thien-Hues Phu Loc District lost 6,500 ducks due to infection, while the Central Highlands province of ak Lac recorded 43 infected poultry. The animal health department said the country now faces a high risk of a bird flu epidemic. A number of avian flu types that havent been found in Viet Nam such as A/H7N9 and A/H5N2 could enter the country via trading poultry with unclear origin, particularly in northern provinces bordering China, it said. The department asked localities to be active in bird flu prevention and strictly deal with poultry smuggling. It was necessary for localities to supervise poultry to detect bird flu outbreaks and tackle them promptly. Last week, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development launched a National Monitoring Programme for avian flu to prevent the spread of the virus. The programme emphasises early detection to enable early warnings about the virus entering Viet Nam. It is also expected to help build virus-free zones and facilities to diminish the risk of virus transmission to human beings, foster sustainable growth of poultry and promote exports of poultry products. Under the programme, regular sample checks will be conducted at all live poultry markets in provinces where poultry farming is a key industry, and in border provinces. Monitoring activities and sampling will also be conducted on wild birds and farming of wild birds. All provinces and companies with poultry production and export chains, as well as farms under the management of the central Government or local authorities, are subject to regular monitoring. The programme will help improve the capacity of monitoring bodies by organising training activities for staff at seven regional veterinary agencies and 63 city or provincial departments of husbandry and veterinary, as well as all veterinary laboratories which conduct avian flu tests. VNS The Viet Nam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS) yesterday announced the results of the annual evaluation of migrant worker recruitment agencies, with 43 per cent of agencies ranked receiving a five star rating. Photo hanoitv HA NOI The Viet Nam Association of Manpower Supply (VAMAS) yesterday announced the results of the annual evaluation of migrant worker recruitment agencies, with 43 per cent of agencies ranked receiving a five star rating. The annual ranking, the fourth of its kind, evaluates recruitment agencies performance against VAMASs code of conduct for recruitment agencies introduced in 2010. The evaluation of recruitment agencies is carried out with the support of the International Labour Organization (ILO). The code is a voluntary instrument that aims to improve compliance with Vietnamese legislation and international standards, to promote better business management and to protect migrant workers from exploitation, including forced labour and human trafficking. VAMAS President Nguyen Luong Trao said that more and more recruitment agencies applying the code of conduct have shown progress in various areas including selection of partners and donors, training and support for migrant workers and job security for returning workers. However, violations of the code committed in 2016 include a lack of regular reporting, insufficient training, costs above standard rates, and sending migrant workers abroad without permission, he said. Out of 86 agencies ranked in 2016, 37 were given five stars, 41 four stars and the rest three stars. The ranked agencies sent more than 60 per cent of all workers going abroad through Vietnamese agencies last year. The number of agencies joining the initiative will increase to 106 next year. ILO Viet Nam Director Chang-Hee Lee recognised the role of the private sector in protecting migrant workers from abusive and fraudulent practices during recruitment, reducing migration costs, and enhancing development outcomes of migration. Experience has shown that good recruitment practices lead to positive migration experiences, and these can enable inclusive and sustainable development for migrants, their families and communities, and Viet Nam, he said. Cross-border labour migration from Viet Nam has significantly increased over the last two decades. The country had 278 licensed recruitment agencies in 2016, sending 126,000 migrant workers abroad. Most of the worlds approximately 232 million migrants left their countries in search of decent jobs to improve their and their families livelihood. According to the ILOs Fair Migration Agenda, while discrimination and labour abuses are common among migrant workers, and the costs of migration high, migration can enable human development alongside economic growth. VNS Akif Ayhan* In a nationwide referendum held on April 16, 2017, Turkish voters were asked to decide whether to grant expanded competences to the President of the Republic. Turnout was a high 85% - about 49 million of 58 million eligible voters, including Turkish citizens living abroad, and the unofficial preliminary result indicates a close call: 51,4 per cent Yes (in favor) and 48,6 No (against). The results demonstrate that the people of Turkey support the proposed amendments to the Constitution. Some media analysts are of the opinion that the peoples choice reflects a preference for more compromise than fragmentation on major topics of nationwide interest, in particular on reshaping the institutional pillars of the state. Following the "yes vote, Turkeys political configuration will soon be transformed. The foundations of government will shift in emphasis from a Parliamentary to an Executive Presidential system, while the National Assembly will continue to function on a modified basis. Proponents argue that this reform will provide Turkey with more stability at a time of turmoil and in the context of complex issues facing the country, while opponents criticise it as a drive to an enhancement and concentration of power. The constitutional amendments adopted by referendum indeed mark a fundamental change in how the country will be run. The current Constitution was adopted after the 1980 coup, and critics say it restricts the popular will via paternalistic-tutelage mechanisms allegedly exerted by certain segments of the state apparatus. The foiled coup attempt on July 15th last year revealed that the military establishments approach towards political representatives and civilian authorities required change. Thats why the relationship between the military and civilian authorities will also be reorganized within the scope of the latest, crucial reforms. For example, the State Supervisory Board will be able to monitor and audit the Turkish Armed Forces. Military Courts will be abolished. The set of constitutional amendments aims to reassert supervision by elected politicians over appointed officials. The next general elections are to be held on November 3, 2019. Until that time, the incumbent president and deputies will hold office. The Council of Judges and Prosecutors will be elected and will assume office in the very near future, once the Constitutional amendments enter into force. Now, we can look at what changes the referendum heralds and what their impact will be domestically and internationally. What was it about? The vote asked Turks to approve or reject 18 Constitutional amendments in order to move to a Presidential system of government. Among them: The President, currently just the Head of State, becomes both the Head of State and head of the executive. The post of Prime Minister is abolished, and a position of Vice-President is created. The President is authorised to declare states of emergency and to appoint Vice-Presidents, ministers and high-ranking public officials. The legislative prerogative of Parliament will be maintained, but to a certain extent diminished. The Presidents tenure will be limited to two terms of five-years each. Parliamentary and Presidential elections are to be held every five years, simultaneously. Parliament is entitled to investigate or impeach the President by a majority vote. It would need a two-thirds majority (400 votes) to refer the president for trial by the Supreme Court. The number of Members of Parliament will be increased from 550 to 600. The Board of Judges and Prosecutors will be comprised of the Minister of Justice, his/her undersecretary, seven members appointed by the Parliament, and four members appointed by the President. The number of seats on the Constitutional Court will be reduced from 17 to 15, a majority of whom will be appointed by the President. Both the President and Parliament will be able to request a re-election. The President must get parliamentary approval for the budget. The military judiciary will be confined to disciplinary issues. Arguments in favour - Supporters view the constitutional reform package as a guarantee of stability and security for Turkey. - They argue that it is a crucial opportunity to modernise Turkeys constitution. - Proponents also say that it will improve decision-making and execution without the current duality involving the President and the Prime minister and the need to form difficult-to-manage coalitions. Arguments against - A key concern is insufficient checks and balances over the head of the executives (Presidents) power and a secondary position for Parliament. - Opponents argue that the amended Constitution will preclude votes of confidence or motions of censure as a means of exerting control over government in the National Assembly. Governments will thus operate for five years without being concerned about the risk of being brought down by Parliament. Why a referendum? There has long been debate about switching to a presidential system. In a 2007 Constitutional referendum, Turkey embraced a semi-presidential system, putting the election of the president to universal suffrage. Erdogan thus became Turkeys first directly-elected President in 2014. But there was a desire to move to a fully presidential system and last summers foiled coup attempt might have boosted this tendency. What would a yes vote mean for Turkey? The bulk of changes will become effective in 2019. But as of now, the President may rejoin his political party under one of the approved amendments. The board of judges and prosecutors will also be renewed at once and military courts will be abolished soon. EU relations As for expected developments in Turkeys relations with the EU, while the EU needs Turkey in terms of its valuable assistance in checking irregular migration flows into Europe, the countrys prospects of joining the EU look compromised. Turkey began talks with Brussels on full membership in 2005, but recent developments have soured the relationship. According to statements by political leaders and high level Turkish officials, various components of Turkey-EU links will be subject to a sweeping review after the referendum, including, and in particular, the migrant deal, readmission, visa liberalisation and customs union as most of these arrangements have proved to be unfair toward Turkey. The yes vote does not mean an end to Turkeys strained relations with the EU, considering de facto frozen accession negotiations and the EUs short term priorities. Therefore, an overall reassessment of the bilateral relations for a more balanced type of relationship with the EU appears looming. *Akif Ayhan is the Turkish Ambassador to Viet Nam Allen College chancellor Dr. Jerry Durham has announced that following a year of planning the Waterloo college will launch a 15-month distance learning accelerated bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program this month. The program would be offered in a hybrid format that combines learning both online and in the classroom. Graduates of the hybrid accelerated BSN program will be eligible for registered nurse (RN) licensure. Durham reported that in planning the program Allen College nursing leaders worked with a consultant from a university that already offers a 12-month hybrid BSN program to address issues that might arise as Allen College implements the hybrid program. The college plans to admit up to 32 students to the new program. Students in the hybrid program will spend May through August on the Waterloo campus and then complete the last 12 months of clinical study at health care agencies in the Des Moines area, primarily at UnityPoint Health hospitals. Throughout the 15 months of study, students will complete most of the coursework online and meet with faculty face-to-face several times each semester in Des Moines. Allen Colleges nursing dean, Dr. Kendra Williams-Perez, said the program was developed to address a growing shortage in Iowa of nurses with bachelors degrees and to increase access to the accelerated BSN program Allen College has offered for the past decade. She noted that there are more than 250 accelerated BSN programs in the nation, but Allen College offers the only accelerated BSN program in Iowa that prepares graduates for RN licensure. This program will be one of only a few hybrid BSN programs in the nation that prepares graduates for RN licensure. The programs curriculum will be identical to the accelerated BSN program we have been offering in a face-to-face context on the Allen College campus in Waterloo. Students who want a more traditional accelerated BSN program can continue to spend their entire program of study on the Waterloo campus and complete their clinical study at hospitals and other agencies in the Waterloo area. Qualified students who follow prescribed plans of study at Wartburg, Central, Loras and Simpson colleges, at Drake University and at the University of Northern Iowa can be admitted to Allen Colleges traditional or new hybrid accelerated BSN program after their junior year and subsequently receive two degrees: a BSN degree from Allen College and another bachelors degree from their sending institution. According to Williams-Perez, students enrolled in Allen Colleges accelerated BSN program have high retention and graduation rates and excel in passing the RN licensure examination upon graduation. More information about the new program is available by calling 226-2014 or at www.allencollege.edu. WATERLOO Dr. Jerry DenHerder arrived at DenHerder Veterinary Hospital last week wearing a tie and jacket. Clients and colleagues used to seeing the beloved doctor in surgical scrubs could scarcely believe their eyes. DenHerder had even taken a lint roller to the coat, tidying up tell-tale signs of affection from his toy poodles, Nell and Gracie. Dr. Jerry, as he is known in his practice and the community, was there to say thank you. His attire added a necessary exclamation point. They deserve the best, DenHerder said. Ive been so blessed. The outpouring of love and support has been overwhelming, so Im giving them my very best. On Dec. 8, DenHerder was treating patients at the clinic when his fingertips began to tingle and his legs felt heavy. His right arm started to go numb. That tipped me off right away, said Dr. Tom Taylor, who has worked with DenHerder for 19 years. I told him he should sit down and Im going to call the ambulance. He stumbled into the chair a little bit. Its knowing someone so well and knowing the look in his eyes wasnt right. Paramedics took DenHerder to UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital where doctors quickly discovered he was having a stroke. He was immediately airlifted to Mayo Clinic-St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minn. DenHerder, 70, credits his faith for the calm that washed over him. I had no fear. Only peace, he said. From the time I hit that helicopter I knew God was going to take care of me. The stroke occurred deep in the left side of DenHerders brain, causing paralysis in his right arm and right leg. Fifty-one percent of people dont survive what I had, he said. Im just glad to be alive. DenHerder spent three weeks at Mayo Clinic and another eight weeks in outpatient therapy at a facility north of Rochester. He recently returned home to Waterloo where he does physical and occupational therapy three times a week. Clients, colleagues, friends and family offered love and support and held down the fort in DenHerders absence. Hes been practicing veterinary medicine for more than four decades. He has so many people who love him and how he does things, and we are picking up the slack as best we can, Taylor said. Every week during DenHerders absence, a greeting card sat at the veterinary hospitals front desk, signed by owners with opposable thumbs on behalf of DenHerders furry patients. Other cards were sent from near and far, wishing the good doctor well. Last count we had almost 700 cards, DenHerder said. Weve been so blessed. DenHerder is no stranger to tragedy and adversity. He lost his first wife at age 27, and an infant child. Hes taken more lumps than anybody deserves, Taylor said. Weve had some good talks about that, how do you keep going. Hes always been a mentor to me in my career, but Ive personally learned from him more than anything about being a good person. He doesnt go at anything with a cant attitude. He sees it as a bump to overcome. Ronda DenHerder, Jerrys wife of 33 years, concurs. He has had not one down day, she said. Hes working so hard to get better. He doesnt want to let anyone down. He never has. Stuff happens in life, Jerry DenHerder explained. Its not what happens in life, its what you do with it. Several years ago, he sold his practice to Taylor and cut back to 30 hours a week treating clients beloved pets. He doesnt know if or when hell return to work. Right now, hes focusing on recovery. Hes created a culture here for 30 years caring for people and their pets, and weve built a team around that culture, Taylor said. Its level of care and a personal touch, and that culture started with Jerry. Hes always got an exam room here, in whatever capacity he wants. That door is always going to be open. WATERLOO A Waterloo homeowner has been found guilty a second time under the city chronic nuisance property code. In November, Dorothy Spates was cited a second time in connection with frequent police calls to her home. A bench trial had been scheduled for Monday, and Magistrate Andrew Abbott entered a consent judgment against Spates after she failed to show up for court. Under the code, Spates will be fined $200 and can be billed $50 per officer per hour for police wages when officers are called to her address, said City Attorney David Zellhoefer. Spates was represented by attorney Royce Turner of Des Moines, but Turners license to practice law was suspended in December because of issues with his trust account, and the suspension remains in place. Spates home at 520 Elm St. had been a frequent target of gunfire in 2015 and 2016, and she was first cited for chronic nuisance violation in January 2016. She was found guilty following a March trial. After the first conviction, police were sent to the home 11 more times for calls that qualified as nuisance calls between May and October, according to court records. Authorities said they have been sent to the home because of gunfire, noise and people blocking the street outside. The list included a July 2016 homicide on Logan Avenue that led to the arrest of her grandson and three others. Police searched the Elm Street home as part of the homicide investigation, according to court records. In a letter sent to the police chief following the citation, Spates said her house isnt the cause of the problems and accused police of harassing her and her family. Me and my house are the victim, but you treat me like I am out there shooting up my own house, and that just plain dumb, Spates wrote. WATERLOO Teachers were celebrated Tuesday as the Waterloo Schools Foundation announced recipients of 13 Innovative Learning Grants during the Sparking Academic Excellence Breakfast at the Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center. Grant winners represented eight Waterloo Community Schools buildings and included 25 teachers. Keynote speaker Julie Miller Jones, emeritus professor and distinguished scholar of food and nutrition at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, Minn., said teachers made an impact on her years as a district student. I learned to speak, I learned math, I learned to write, said the 1964 West High School graduate. But the most important skill I learned was critical thinking. Grants totaled $24,000 and will fund teacher proposals in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and math as well as reading and music initiatives. The grants, teachers and schools include: DASH for Learning Sally Goodenbour, Lincoln and Poyner elementary schools. BrainPop Tamara Willis, Hoover Middle School. Stopping the Summer Slide Danielle Hakeman and Ann Thomas, Lou Henry Elementary School. Screen Free Coding in Preschool with Cubetto Jill Peters and Jill Wachal, Elk Run Early Childhood Center. Empowering Students to Self-Manage Their Health Dave Gettman, Ben Thoma, Andrew Foelske and Cari Collins, West High School. Elementary Woodworking Jeremy Swanson, Lincoln Elementary. The BeeBot Project Tammi Mitchell, Orange Elementary School. Sensory Room Heather Smith, Marie Swalin, Susie Lund and Angie Johnson, Poyner Elementary. Affective and Social Development Support for Elementary Students Amy McGovern, Keri Rice and Laura Lyons, Lou Henry Elementary. Coding with Ozobots Shawn Brauer, Kingsley Elementary School. Cumulative Assessment through Creation, Performance and Response Travis Gratteau-Zinnel, Hoover Middle. Keeping it Up! Avoiding the Summer Slump Jodee Schmit, Tammy Huggins and Tammy Bakken, Lincoln Elementary. Learning Immersion through Virtual Reality Stacy Snyder, Orange Elementary. Superintendent Jane Lindaman, in her State of the District address, highlighted positive happenings in Waterloo Schools, including the recently announced 77.37 percent districtwide graduation rate for the class of 2016. Its a drop from the all-time high of 80.3 percent for the class of 2015, but otherwise the highest since 2006. Our graduation rate is trending upward, she said. Its the third highest, so clearly if you look at a trend line, its going up. Lindaman pointed to literacy improvements at the elementary school level, growth of the Leader in Me initiative in district schools and planned expansion of the Waterloo Career Center. She said an increasing number of parents are responding positively on district satisfaction surveys. Our community image is improving, our school buildings are fantastic, said Lindaman. We have 11,000 of the best students in the state. Theres no doubt that we have a lot of work to do, but theres so much thats going right. DES MOINES The House voted Tuesday to give the Natural Resource Commission the authority to set hunting and fishing license fees. Representatives approved House File 631 to shift responsibility for setting the fees to the board appointed by the governor. First of all, it becomes a political issue, said floor manager Rep. John Wills, R-Spirit Lake. Most of the fees havent been raised since 2003 some since 1999 because nobody wants to raise the fees in the Legislature, he said. Wills made a point of saying the bill, approved 92-6, does not include any fee increases. However, the Department of Natural Resources is looking at increases to generate revenue it says is needed to maintain the state fish and game fund. So were saying, OK, DNR, youre the professionals. Your understanding of the budget is better than ours because you live it every day, Wills said. Lawmakers still will have oversight because the fees enacted by the Natural Resource Commission will not go into effect for a year. That would allow lawmakers to nullify or modify them, he said. The bill must win Senate approval before it could become law. The changes in how fishing and hunting fees are set is long overdue, according to Rep. Scott Ourth, D-Ackworth. He has been contacted by hundreds of people, including members of hunting and fishing groups, who want fees increased to support the fish and wildlife fund. Some of my redneck hunting buddies are a little bit opposed to this, but every sportsmens group in Iowa has written to me and stands with this bill, said Rep. Terry Baxter, R-Garner. As a result of HF 631 passage, Wills said fishing and hunting licenses will not increase as much as the DNR earlier proposed. It called for a 32 percent increase to raise $8.8 million. The DNR has to request a lot of money to put a big bubble in there to operate for years because they know they wont get another increase of a while, Wills said. However, his bill directs the commission to review fees at least once every three years. That way, Wills said, more modest increases can be approved when needed. The DNR, he said, will seek an overall increase of about 17 percent. A $19 fishing license would increase to $21, for example. Computer science Lawmakers also approved Senate File 274 by a 95-3 margin to require the Department of Education to adopt computer science education standards and convene a computer science education work group; require the Board of Educational Examiners to establish computer science instructor endorsements and authorizations; and establish a computer science professional development incentive fund. The computer science incentive fund would encourage schools to put more and continued effort and emphasis on computer science for K-12 students, said Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls. The bill will build on momentum for improving computer science education to get us up to where we think we should be. However, Rep. Cindy Winckler, D-Davenport, was critical of the bill because it did not include any money for the fund. It will help only those districts that have the resources to invest in computer science education, she said. Districts can use grants or donations to fund their efforts. Thats a shift, Winckler said, calling it the beginning of funding education only if someone else pays. DES MOINES When Rep. Matt Windschitl thinks about the Fourth of July, he thinks about fun, freedom and fireworks. With passage of Senate File 489 56-41, Windschitl and other Iowans will be able to celebrate the midsummer holiday with more than the sparklers, caps and snakes now allowed under Iowa law. Iowans already are buying fireworks but elsewhere, Windschitl said. They are driving across the border into other states, spending their hard-earned dollars in other states to purchases these products, fill up with gas, buy beer and whatever else, snacks, and then come back into Iowa to use them, he said. Lets give them the opportunity to spend their dollars in Iowa. Others, however, think about fire, scared pets, veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, injuries and death when the subject of fireworks comes up. What we legislate against is stupid ideas and stupid people who make bad choices and bad decisions, said Rep. Mary Mascher, D-Iowa City. But its not the Legislatures job to bubble-wrap Iowan, Windschitl said. We cant legislate away stupid people and the actions theyre going to take, he said. They can make this decision themselves. The bill, which was approved by the Senate 34-14 last month, was backed by 50 Republicans and six Democrats, with eight Republicans joining 33 Democrats to vote against it. Three representatives were absent. It now goes to Gov. Terry Branstad, who has indicated a willingness to sing the bill. The bill would allow Iowans the freedom to buy and use fireworks similar to residents of 40 others states, Windschitl said, albeit it only during certain times of the year. SF 489 would allow licensed retailers or community groups to sell consumer-grade fireworks out of permanent structures to adults between June 1 and July 8 and between Dec. 10 and Jan. 3. A similar provision would apply to temporary structures, such as tents, from June 13 through July 8 each year. It also would put time restrictions for the display of fireworks. The measure sets a fee structure for various license levels; allows counties or cities that do not want to legalize fireworks to opt out of the use but not the sale; and bars the sale or purchase involving anyone under 18. A violation is punishable by a fine of between $250 and $625. Democrats, who offered amendments to modify the bill and spoke at length during the two hour-plus debate, were critical of spending so much time on the bill. Its interesting that today is the last official day of session, Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City, said, referring to the fact that lawmakers will no longer collect daily expense money. Were spending half the day on a fireworks bill. Is that the most important thing we have to do today? Amendments that would have banned the use of fireworks in vehicles and made it a misdemeanor for anyone with a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent or more to use fireworks were rejected. Windschitl said those situations were already covered by the bill. DES MOINES -- The Senate voted 37-12 to accept a soft cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases before sending the bill to Gov. Terry Branstad desk. Senators accepted a House change to Senate File 465 that removed a hard cap on non-economic damages to allow juries to make awards of more than $250,000 in cases of substantial or permanent loss or impairment of bodily functions and substantial disfigurement. Initially, the bill would have capped non-economic damages damages awarded for pain, suffering, physical impairment, inconvenience and mental anguish among others at $250,000. In addition to capping non-economic damages except in the most extreme cases, SF 465 creates a certificate of merit, requiring plaintiffs lawyers to submit proof of medical malpractice at the beginning of the case. There is no rationale for this bill, whatsoever, according to a statement from the Iowa Association for Justice. Rates of medical malpractice lawsuits in Iowa have fallen by over 50 percent in the past 15 years, and Iowa doctors pay some of the lowest medical liability premiums in the country. Capping how far a jury can go to hold bad actors accountable is arbitrary government overreach, and its just plain wrong. Alcohol regulation The Senate on Monday passed and sent Gov. Terry Branstad legislation that provides several updates to Iowas alcohol regulations, including a measure that would allow small distilleries to sell their products on-site, similar to what is permitted for craft breweries and wineries. House File 607, which passed 50-0, results from years of work and a compromise among beer, wine and spirits producers and beer wholesalers who previously opposed similar changes, supporters said. After sailing through the House, the bill had stalled in the Senate because of an issue over the three-tier system the separation of alcohol producers, distributors and retailers but that hurdle was removed and the bill won approval. We will see economic growth from this bill but we also will not hurt existing jobs, said Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Waterloo. History awards A book about Iowans in the Civil War rose to the top of this years Shambaugh Shortlist to claim one of the states highest history awards Monday. Gov. Branstad presented the 2017 Benjamin F. Shambaugh Award to author Thomas R. Baker for The Sacred Cause of Union: Iowa in the Civil War, which focuses on Iowans and their service in battle and at home. Written for a broad audience, the 293-page book includes details about Iowans in all major theaters of war, a chronology and stories of sacrifices by six Iowans. Right to try Terminally ill patients would have a right to try by gaining more access to experimental drugs under Senate File 404, which was approved Monday 49-0 by the Senate and sent to Branstad. The legislation would permit manufacturers of investigative drugs, biological products or devices to make them available to eligible patients with terminal illnesses for use as a treatment, as long as they provide written consent. Senators Monday accepted a House amendment to make clear the legislation shall not be construed to allow a patients treating physician to assist the patient in committing or attempting to commit suicide as prohibited by law. Prison contraband The Iowa State Penitentiary has identified the presence of contraband drugs within the institution and is taking steps to address it, a statement issued Monday said. Although the matter is under investigation, prison officials announced immediate changes in procedures on mail and visitation. Staff also were give information on the identification of prohibited substances, including synthetic marijuana. AFSCME Council 61 President Danny Homan said Friday that 12 inmates had been tied to an infiltration of synthetic marijuana, sometimes going by the name K2. He criticized the Corrections Department for not locking down the prison in response to the substance, which he said is a safety concern for inmates and officers. Offenders have been found incoherent in their cells with head injuries from falling, he said. Planting slowed Planting progress remains slow due to wet field conditions, according to Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey. As a result, only 2 percent of the corn has been planted, Northey said in comments on the Iowa Crop Progress and Condition report released Monday by the U.S. Department of Agricultures National Agricultural Statistical Service. Theyve planted 42 percent of oats, but progress on it and corn remain behind the five-year average. It looks like wet weather could return this week, which would further delay significant planting progress, Northey said. Workforce board Legislation signed into law by Branstad will change the makeup of the Iowa Workforce Development Board to bring it into compliance with requirements of the Federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, which is the federal reform of the public workforce system in 15 years. Under House File 572, the boards voting membership will include 17 business members, four labor members, two representatives of community organizations, one representative of a registered apprenticeship program, representatives from Iowa Workforce Development, Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services, Iowa Department for the Blind and Iowa Department of Education, the governor, a state senator, a state representative and two local elected officials. The board also includes 13 non-voting members. Biennial budgeting Branstad champions biennial budgeting, but will end his time as governor without seeing legislative action that meets the threshold. Branstad, who is awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation to be the next ambassador to China, is working with the GOP-run Legislature to finalize a $7.245 billion spending plan for fiscal 2018. He also proposed a fiscal 2019 budget, but GOP legislators are passing a plan that funds only 50 percent of the following fiscal year and do not plan to set the growth rate for K-12 school funding in fiscal 2019 before they adjourn. I would prefer that we do a two-year budget, but I do understand the apprehension that they have and the fact that they dont want to have to go through what they had to do this year and do a de-appropriation at the beginning of next session, Branstad told his weekly news conference. Branstad and lawmakers had to cut millions and dip into reserves for the current year after state revenue growth was downgraded three times since last October. Morality and war have always been uncomfortable bedfellows. Maybe things were simpler in the past. The Jehovah of the Old Testament was largely a god of wrath and battle, and citizens of other nations Hittites, Amalekites, Philistines and many others were often subjected to merciless, uncomplicated slaughter. And not just their soldiers. These are typical marching orders, delivered by the prophet Samuel to King Saul: Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. Saul, smiting hard with 210,000 men, complied. The only complication was Saul got in trouble with Jehovah because he allowed his soldiers to keep some of the best oxen, sheep and a few asses. No one fretted over the women, infants and sucklings. Then Jesus came along, preaching mercy and peace, and the pendulum swung wildly in the other direction. Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. How well is that going to work in our brutal modern world? It doesnt seem promising, but were not sure because weve never really tried it. Nevertheless, this is the baffling moral backdrop against which our leaders make decisions about when and how to use force in our wars. The issue is further complicated by the power of modern weapons, which arent nearly as discriminating as the sword and spear. It gets even more complicated. We can probably agree Syrian President Bashar al-Assad doesnt deserve our love or blessings. Theres no turning the other cheek with this despicable tyrant. After Assad killed more than 80 men, women and children with chemical weapons, President Trump struck back with 59 Tomahawk missiles fired at the Syrian airbase that launched the chemical attack. This seems like simple, straightforward justice. But others have pointed out the moral anomalies. Why did we strike Assad after the chemical attack while we havent responded to his regular use of barrel bombs more than 12,000 in 2016 which cause far more devastation and suffering among Syrian civilians than chemical weapons? The brutality is so gruesome the media declines to publicize it. Why was the Trump administration supported by many Americans spurred to military action by the images of children suffocated by sarin gas, but unmoved by the distress and peril of children fleeing Syria? For that matter, is there a moral difference among the quick deaths sometimes of children hit by barrel bombs, the slower deaths of children overcome by chemical weapons and the lingering, protracted deaths of children that occur around the world every day from disease and hunger? Finally, how do we untangle the moral threads that distinguish between Assads brutal attacks on his own people and our willingness to accept collateral damage as an ordinary part of warfare? Theres no use pretending U.S. military power hasnt caused the deaths sometimes sudden, sometimes prolonged of hundreds of thousands of innocent children, by bomb blast, fire, suffocation and irradiation. Our moral calculus has to include Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Tokyo, Dresden, Hamburg and many more. But this is only a way of saying things are terribly complicated. Destroying Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan had its own moral mandate, and we responded. Unfortunately, the stench of war is in the air again, and the power of modern weapons, including, sooner or later, nuclear weapons, means many thousands of innocent people, including many children, are going to suffer and die in ways no less horrible than those inflicted by Assad. Im not enough of a philosopher to resolve this moral conundrum. Maybe the best we can do is to make a stronger commitment to treat the children better while theyre alive, to pay more attention to them when theyre hungry, homeless, orphaned, sick and lonely. Up or down: Give it a vote. Few cases of legislative inaction would be more craven than denying the school equity bill a floor vote in the Iowa House. Not a single member should leave Des Moines until going on record and owning their support or lack thereof for legislation that would end funding discrimination for hundreds of Iowa public schools. The school equity bill is turning green in the Iowa House Appropriations Committee. Its no surprise. Iowas GOP-run government faces mounting revenue shortfalls, self-imposed wounds resulting from years of tax cuts that disproportionately favor the well off. Gov. Terry Branstad reacted by proposing deep cuts to important programs. Lawmakers responded Wednesday by driving the scalpel into bone. The Legislatures draft budget is almost $39 million short of Branstads already draconian figure. And so, Senate File 455, which would finally right the systematic classism in state school funding, sits there turning stale. Its just as predicted by a slew of House members representing the Quad-Cities. Its precisely the kind of gutlessness and commitment to ideological dogma that got Iowa into this mess in the first place. Some House members blamed the state Senate, including Davenport Republican Roby Smith, for sending the 10-year, $204 million moral imperative to the House without a funding stream. Others said they support SF 455 in principle, but not in practice. Democrats have lampooned its 10-year roll-out, a recipe for repeal, they say. Everyones looking for political cover. But thousands of students in places like Davenport and Maquoketa dont care about the rhetoric and finger pointing. Their sole interest is equal treatment under the law, one that now values their education less than neighboring districts. No doubt, theres significant political motivation for letting SF 455 rot in Appropriations. There it could languish without action. There it could die without much notice. There it could sit and no House member would have to vote against basic fairness. Get news headlines sent daily to your inbox The legislative session is rocketing toward its scheduled April 18 end. Republicans, now in total control of Iowa, have wasted metric tons of oxygen on so-called moral issues. Theyve fast-tracked ideologically acceptable bills far more complicated than the school funding fix, such as the collective bargaining overhaul. And yet, theyd rather let student equity die on the vine out of political expedience. On Sunday, Davenport Community School District Superintendent Art Tate called for an up-or-down vote in an op-ed. Tate, the man whos put his career on the line for this cause, highlighted the widespread effects of 40-year-old policy that funds some schools around $170 more per-student than others. ATHENS, Greece On April 9th, the Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE), a religious organization working to restore the indigenous religion of Greece, put out a statement saying Greek polytheism has received legal status in Greece. Prior to this, Greek Pagans did not have religious freedoms such as the ability to buy land to create houses of worship nor could Pagan clergy perform marriage ceremonies. Yesterday the Secretary of the Supreme council of Ethnic Hellenes (YSEE) announced that after more than twenty years of struggle, the Greek state has finally recognized the Hellenic Religion as a Known Religion according to paragraph 17 the only form of recognition for a religion in Greece. The mentioned paragraph includes the permission to build a temple as well as the right of public exercise of any recognized religion. The recognition of Hellenic Religion as a Known Religion is only the first step towards a general recognition of Hellenism. Now the YSEE at Athens is still waiting for recognition as a religious statutory body in Greece. The Supreme Council of Ethnic Hellenes will approach the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg if the state leaves them no other choice, said its Secretary. Unlike the United States, Greece does not have a blanket freedom of religion law built into its legal system. It is instead governed by the Organization of the Legal Forms of Religious Communities and their Organizations in Greece. As of now, only six religions outside the Greek Orthodox faith are recognized as known religions. And, even those practices that achieve this status often face an uphill battle in exercising their rights. For example, Muslims in Athens have fought for over 10 years to build a mosque, and have so far been unsuccessful. The recognition of the Greek religion came after it was rejected in 2015. According to the YSEE, the rejection demonstrated that the Greek government, has yet to get rid of its byzantine and medieval whims and [] unable to respect with dignity its own laws. It has rejected by intermediate on of its court of First Instance the motion signed by hundreds of Ethnikoi Hellenes to obtain recognition as a statutory corporation of religious character for their ancestral, indigenous, and historically continuous to our day despite cruel persecutions by Christianity. YSEE is currently registered as a non-profit organization and, as explained on its website, has been on the front lines in the on-going battle for religious community recognition. The Wild Hunt spoke with Mr. Vlassis Rassias, the General Secretary of the Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes, about what it means for the Ethnic Hellenic Pagans in Greece and what the next steps are in achieving religious right in Greece. TWH: If this is the first step towards a general recognition of Hellenism, what is the next step? Vlassis Rassias: This was recognition of our Religion as such, by the official authorities of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Matters. To their credit, they gave us official permission for a place of worship in Athens, thus promoting the Hellenic Ethnic Religion to the status of a known religion in Greece, according to article 3 of the Constitution. The next step for us is the recognition of the official organization of the Hellenic Ethnic Religion (The Supreme Council of Ethnikoi Hellenes, YSEE) as a statutory corporation of religious character, according to the relatively recent law 4301/2014, something that is so far absurdly rejected by the Greek courts, which resist our very name, and more particularly the term Ethnic, although the official authorities of the state have already accepted us under our proper title Hellenic Ethnic Religion. We have a rather strange situation here, exactly what our ancient ancestors were calling tragelafos (). TWH: How was YSEE informed that the Hellenic religion is now a known religion? VR: We received the official reply of the official authorities of the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Matters, in response to an application of ours that we had submitted together with the requested big number of state documents, certifying the appropriateness of our place of worship, concerning its legality, fire safety, sanitation, and such. The above mentioned reply was also notified to various competent authorities, as the Ministry of Interior, the Registry Office, and such. TWH: What is gained by being recognized as a religious statutory body? VR: We are now under the protection of the law, to the same degree as the other 5 6 non-christian religions that are already classified as known religions in our country. We can henceforth register our children at the Registry Office as belonging to the Hellenic Ethnic Religion, and we shall perform hellenic wedding rituals with full legal value. We still remain though a Non-profit Organization, not a religious statutory body. As a religious statutory body, that is what for the time being is denied to us, we will function more properly in the matters that concern our Religion and, of course, we wont pay every year the 500 1000 euros chargeable since 2011 by the indebted Greek State on all the Non-profit Organizations. TWH: Was YSEE responsible for this change in status? What did you do to bring this about? VR: This and all the future attainments of the goals of the Hellenic Ethnic Religion, is and will be the outcome of the uninterrupted, strategic, collective and devoted struggle of our organization that this June celebrates the 20 years of its operation under its present name. A decade before YSEEs foundation we were operating through Diipetes (), a now defunct quarterly journal for the moral defense and restoration of our Religion. * * * Mr. Rassias says YSEE will be celebrating their religions legal recognition during their annual celebration of Charisia-Aphrodesia, which is a religious observance in honor of Aphrodite and the Charities, on April 22nd. past daily news Sep 13 (1) Sep 09 (15) Sep 06 (12) Sep 04 (10) Sep 03 (10) Aug 31 (17) Aug 29 (14) Aug 26 (13) Aug 22 (11) Aug 21 (12) Aug 19 (21) Aug 14 (6) Aug 13 (10) Aug 10 (10) Aug 08 (9) Aug 07 (10) Aug 06 (10) Aug 05 (8) Aug 03 (8) Aug 02 (7) Aug 01 (7) Jul 31 (14) Jul 29 (1) Jul 27 (7) Jul 25 (5) Jul 24 (10) Jul 22 (11) Jul 19 (16) Jul 17 (6) Jul 16 (10) Jul 15 (13) Jul 12 (7) Jul 11 (5) Jul 10 (8) Jul 08 (8) Jul 07 (3) Jul 06 (5) Jul 05 (8) Jul 04 (11) Jul 03 (8) Jul 02 (7) Jul 01 (5) Jun 30 (8) Jun 28 (7) Jun 27 (8) Jun 26 (7) Jun 25 (8) Jun 24 (6) Jun 23 (6) Jun 22 (9) Jun 20 (5) Jun 19 (9) Jun 18 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This initiative is aimed at enhancing the investment appeal of the region and expanding business ties by facilitating projects involving foreign companies, and attracting more foreign tourists. Reference: Submitted by the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East. The Federal Law No. 114-FZ dated 15 August 1996 Procedures to Enter and Exit the Russian Federation have been amended per Federal Law No. 28-FZ dated 7 March 2017 to simplify visa procedures for foreign nationals arriving in the Russian Federation through border checkpoints located within the Free Port of Vladivostok. It has been established that the Russian Government shall determine the countries whose nationals are to be granted e-visas when entering Russia through checkpoints at the Free Port of Vladivostok. The signed directive contains an approved list of 18 countries: Algeria, Bahrein, Brunei, India, Qatar, Peoples Republic of China, Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey and Japan. The citizens of these countries shall benefit from simplified procedures when obtaining visas of up to 30 days with a period of stay in the Russian Federation not exceeding eight days. These visas can be executed as e-documents. The initiative to introduce simplified visa procedures for checkpoints at the Free Port of Vladivostok for foreign nationals from the listed countries is aimed at enhancing the investment appeal of the region and expanding business ties by facilitating projects involving foreign companies, and attracting more foreign tourists. [contentcards url=http://government.ru/en/docs/27292/] WtR A series of stacking wooden volumes overlapped irregularly for the the new Odunpazari Modern Art Museum designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates. The Odunpazari Modern Art Museum, located in Odunpazari -a historic district of Eskisehir and also where the owner was born and raised, is now underconstruction and one of hotly-anticipated projects of acclaimed Japanese architect in Turkey. Kengo Kuma designed a fully-wooden museum inspired by the threshold of newly developed urban area and small scale town scape of traditional Ottoman wooden houses. Encompassing a total of 3,582 square meters area, the museum partitions are designed and overlapped on top of each other irregularly to create unexpected and unique experiential- spatial situations by adapting them to street level of urban context. The project aims to realize the owners ambition to promote Turkish art and to make cultural contribution to the city of Eskisehir. Eskisehir is known as university town where young population is large and the city has lively and active atmosphere. ''These wooden house, with cantilevered volume at upper level, were built in lines along the meandering small streets that makes the street scape and walk though experience quite unique and unexpected,'' said Kengo Kuma & Associates. ''We aim to reflect this street scape quality into the new architectural design of the museum that stands in the urban scale. Our design strategy is to make the volume in aggregation; stacking small boxes to create the urban scale architecture.'' ''Stacked boxes at the street level is read in the scale of surrounding houses and it grows taller towards the center of the museum to stands in the urban scape that announces itself as new cultural landmark of the area.'' The stacked and interlocked boxes are designed in various sizes to create diverse scales of exhibition space inside. Boxes at the ground level offers opportunities for large scale art works and installation. The boxes get smaller at upper levels to exhibit smaller, intimate scale art works. The central atrium, composed with timber blocks, connects each level to let the natural light through skylight above. The name of this area ''Odunpazari'' means ''wood market'' in Turkish. The exterior envelop of the museum is composed with timber in full extent signifying the history and memory of the place that used to function as market in trading wood. The Odunpazari Modern Art Museum is underconstruction and completion date has not been announced yet by Kengo Kuma & Associates. All images Kengo Kuma & Associates > via Kengo Kuma & Associates Way back in February when I was enjoying a family-and-friends vacation on New Providence in the Bahamas I wisely hired the best and the only bird guide on the island, Carolyn Wardle, for half a day to show me around some of the hotspots and help me find endemics and other species I wanted to see. Within ten minutes of picking me up Carolyn was pulling over on the side of the road at a completely nondescript spot. Why? Pied Imperial Pigeons, thats why! It was perhaps the oddest life bird I got in my too short time in the Bahamas, a bird that does not belong in the western hemisphere at all. So what is it doing in the Bahamas? It is unclear when, exactly, the Pied Imperial Pigeon became established on New Providence in the Bahamas other than it happened in the last decade. The first record in eBird for this southeast Asian native is from 2007 and then none show up in the eBird database until 2011. After that they become more regular and now checklists showing more than a dozen at a time are common. They are concentrated in a small area on the northeastern part of the island. In addition to the date of the birds establishment being unclear, the way that it happened is unknown though a quick Google search for Pied Imperial Pigeon for sale shows that they are not uncommonly offered, though they are pricey. Carolyn and I saw at least five of this fine species, all in seemingly good health and free-flying and wild as you could expect. Though I tend not to be a fan of introduced species (and the Eurasian Collared-Doves that infest New Providence are a good explanation as to why) this bird is impressive and, hopefully, not likely to spread like wildfire. And seeing a Pied Imperial Pigeon in the Bahamas is a heck of a lot easier than travelling to Papua New Guinea! Pied Imperial Pigeons are big birds and their taxonomy is murky as best. There is a ton of debate as to how many species and subspecies there are within the taxon and Im really unsure, seeing as I have no experience with them, as to which population the New Providence birds descend from. Any Pied Imperial Pigeon experts out there care to hazard a guess? Whatever their origin, I appreciated these impressive Columbids. If you get to New Providence hopefully you can too! Apr 18, 2017 | By Tess The case of Japanese artist Megumi Igarashi, also known by the name Rokdenashi-ko (Good-for-nothing-girl), has had a recent update as the Tokyo High Court upheld a lower courts decision to charge Igarashi with obscenity for the distribution of 3D scanned models of her vagina. The controversial artist has been ordered to pay a fine of 400,000 yen ($3,700). Igarashis case began in 2014 when the now 45-year-old artist was arrested for distributing 3D models of her vagina to support her 3D printed vagina art project. Since then, Igarashiwho we greatly admirehas been fighting to clear her name and, importantly, to break down taboos that surround female genitalia in Japan. The 3D printed vagina case is a significant one, as it has put a direct spotlight on Japans arguably extreme censorship laws. Those who have been following Igarashis case as closely as us will likely remember that almost a year ago Japanese courts convicted the artist of obscenity and brought forth the 400,000 fine. This ruling charged Igarashi for having distributed 3D scans of her own vagina, which she sent out in 2014 as crowdfunding rewards for her 3D printed vagina kayak project. At the same time, the lower court ruling also acquitted the Japanese artist of another charge she was up against: of displaying obscene materials for exhibiting vagina-shaped plaster sculptures. This last charge was thrown out because her sculptures were brightly painted, thus making them less realistic. Megumi Igarashi with the 3D printed "Vagina Boat" And while the ruling may have been a landmark for the acquittal (which are apparently extremely rare for obscenity cases), many, including the artist herself, were not satisfied with the decision. As she said at the time, she was only 20% happy with the courts decision and planned to appeal the obscenity charges in a higher court. Now, after much anticipation, the Tokyo High Court has ultimately sided with the lower courts decision, and it seems Igarashi will be forced to pay a 400,000 yen fine for having distributed obscenity. The court also maintained the lower courts decision to acquit her for having displayed her vagina-shaped Deco-man sculptures. If the whole notion of art censorship seems a bit strange to you, youre not alone. Igarashi has put herself on the line to draw attention to and ultimately break down Japans outdated and frankly bizarre censorship laws surrounding female genitalia. The laws, which have been in place for the past 50 years, have effectively made any representations of female genitalia illegal. Famously, even Japanese pornography must blur out female genitals. In response to the high court ruling, Igarashi says she will continue to fight and has already filed an appeal to the ruling. Its wrong for the government to judge what is art and what is not, the artist said in an interview with The Japan Times. As she explains it, the harsh enforcement of the obscenity law has muffled artists and forced them to censor their own work. Currently, Igarashi is maintaining that her distribution of her 3D scanned vagina was part of her Vagina Boat art project and is therefore not obscene. On a larger scale, the artist wants to help normalize and dismantle taboos that surround the female body in Japan, especially in light of how male genitalia is outwardly celebrated. (See Japans Kanamara Matsuri festival, where penises are literally paraded down the street.) Igarashi, who now resides in Ireland with her family, is hoping to be acquitted by the Japanese Supreme Court so that she can continue displaying her 3D printed vagina artworks in her native country. Her recent book, called What Is Obscenity: The Story of a Good for Nothing Artist and Her Pussy, has been nominated for the L.A. Times Book Prize. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Kuso Tare wrote at 4/25/2017 12:05:18 AM:I see. But Japan's giant outdoor penis worship festival is OK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanamara_Matsuri Apr 18, 2017 | By Tess British law firm DMH Stallard recently conducted a research study to see what companies thought of the potentials and risks of using 3D printing technologies for prototyping and manufacturing. And while the research showed that most companies were excited about additive manufacturing, it also suggested that most companies are perhaps not worried enough about the risks that the technology could pose to their intellectual property. For its research, DMH Stallard approached a variety of companies that are already or starting to use 3D printing for the production of prototypes and final parts, as well as companies that are working on the development of 3D printing software, especially software that is geared towards design protection. The study was initiated to see how companies were reacting to the potential risks of 3D printing tech, namely, how it could make counterfeiting much easier. Before we get into that, lets first look at the main reasons that companies said they were excited about 3D printing technologies: The first main point was supply chain disruption, which essentially means that 3D printing will enable companies to have greater control over their supply chains with the ability to produce their own parts. The second reason was mass customization, or the ability to more easily produce customized parts or goods without the need for expensive tools and processes. The third was reverse engineering, which means that companies can create models based on existing products. And the final main reason was design possibility, meaning that 3D design and printing have opened the doors for complex manufacturing. Despite these exciting factors, DMH Stallard seems wary that the companies they questioned were perhaps not concerned enough about the intellectual property risks of 3D printing. Robert Ganpatsingh, partner at DMH Stallard Of the companies we spoke to, who all operated in a business-to-business environment, the majority believed that their IP would be safe if sensible precautions were taken to protect it," explained Robert Ganpatsingh, a partner at DMH Stallard. "While this attitude may not cost them today, as 3D printing improves, so does the ability of counterfeiters to rip off IP which is hugely valuable to organizations. Companies need to take steps now to ensure that they are protected in the future as the technology develops. To help companies better equip themselves for safely using 3D printing tech, DMH Stallard has outlined ten tips: 1. Evaluate and consider the advantages that 3D printing could offer the business through increased flexibility and shorter production times. 2. Secure 3D models and data internally and externallydo not send out 3D design files, but share models using web based geometrical model viewers. 3. Invest in in-house 3D printing technology for prototype manufacturing. 4. Keep up to date with technology advancements and changes, ensure that existing development and protection strategies are not out-of-date or overtaken by new technologies. 5. Establish as many barriers and protections as possible to prevent your designs from being stolen or copied. These include design rights, patents, and trade marks. 6. Take care to separate and identify parts or products that may require individual or additional protections. 7. If clients or suppliers need access to 3D models, share them through online platforms where distribution is controlled. Additionally, it is suggested to establish a strict contract with any 3D printing services used for added protection. 8. For the manufacturing of production parts, keep close tabs on internal processes as well as any work done with sub-contractors. 9. For the manufacturing of production parts, protect the manufacturing process as well as the 3D designs. 10. Consider putting protections in place for materials you are using to manufacture parts, such as IP protections or through a contract with a materials supplier. One of the most attractive things about 3D printing is that manufacturing businesses need only move data to the printer to enable local manufacturing, commented Ganpatsingh. But this means whoever has that data has the keys to the castle. The UK develops innovative products that are the result of huge investments in research and development. Organizations need to protect their investment by making it as difficult as possible for counterfeiters to copy their products. The entire DMH Stallard report can be found here. Posted in 3D Printing Technology Maybe you also like: Apr 18, 2017 | By Tess A team of investigators from the Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles have used a series of 3D printed models to prove that existing procedures for treating Charcot-Marie-Tooth heel deformities are in need of improvement, as they do not sufficiently correct the problem. The research was recently presented at the annual American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons meeting. Foot affected by Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease is a genetic neuromuscular condition that causes the long nerves in the hands and feet to die. The disease, which is to this day incurable, affects about 1 in every 2,500 people or 2.8 million worldwide. Despite there not being a cure for the disease, a number of processes and techniques have been established to treat CMT, though (as became clear through the research from Cedars-Sinai) there is still much room for improvement. For the investigation, the Cedars-Sinai researchers focused primarily on the heel bone, which can be deformed and twisted in patients who suffer from CMT disease. The researchers wanted to uncover whether current treatments for the often debilitating condition were adequate. As part of the research, the team took a CAT scan of a CMT patients heel and 3D printed 18 identical copies of it. With the 3D prints, the team was able to compare and contrast the three most common correction methods used for treating CMT disease: Dwyer, oblique, and Z osteotomies. In the end, the tests showed that none of the existing techniques for correcting the heel were adequate. And while that may sound bleak, the Cedars-Sinai investigators are hopeful that their discovery will lead to the development of new and more effective treatments for the neuromuscular disease. "Ultimately our findings offer hope for better techniques to help patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease live a better quality of life," commented Glenn B. Pfeffer, MD, lead author of the study and director of the Foot and Ankle Surgery Program at Cedars-Sinai. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center As mentioned, the 3D printing-based study was recently presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons annual meeting, where it was selected as one of six Game Changer initiatives (out of more than 900 medical studies!). The recognition is awarded to projects that are most likely to affect or improve a practice over the new few years. According to the Cedars-Sinai researchers, 3D printing will be used again to analyze and compare other treatments and procedures. "This is one of the first times 3D prints have been used in orthopaedic research and we're thankful for the support of CMTA to use this new technology to help improve patient care," Pfeffer explained. The Cedars-Sinai investigation was funded by the Charcot-Marie-Tooth Association (CMTA), and was realized by MDs Glenn B. Pfeffer, Max P. Michalski, Tina Basak, and Joseph Giaconi. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Annette Van Veen wrote at 5/15/2017 1:33:47 AM:I am interested in being a part of this study vanveenteam@gmail.com Apr 18, 2017 | By Benedict Engineers at GE Healthcare are working towards a future in which 3D printed medical models can be made with the click of a button. The company is currently exploring whether it could send CT scan data straight to a 3D printer, cutting out several intermediate conversion stages. Multi-material 3D printed heart made by GE Healthcare GE has made no secret of its desire to become a key figure in the 3D printing industry. From the high-profile acquisition of Arcam and Concept Laser to the creation of dedicated 3D printing unit GE Additive, the Boston-headquartered corporation is pulling out all the stops in order to capitalize on the 3D printing explosion of the last decade. One area in which GE is already well equipped for 3D printing success is healthcare, where subsidiary GE Healthcare is already a specialist in areas such as medical imaging and information technologies. According to a recent article in GE Reports, the corporations daily news hub, GE Healthcare is looking at ways in which it can pair its advanced computer tomography (CT) scanning equipment with new 3D printing technologies to deliver next-generation healthcare solutions for doctors and patients. 3D printed liver made by GE Healthcare Central to GE Healthcares new plan is the growing popularity of the 3D printed medical model. As regular 3Ders readers will have noticed by now, 3D printing is now frequently used by medical professionals to fabricate lifelike 3D printed replicas of a patients organs. Of course, 3D printing has many other uses in healthcare, but these models are probably the most common application of the technology in a medical context. These 3D printed medical models can be helpful in a number of ways. For one, they can be used to show a patient what exactly is wrong with their heart, liver, or whatever body part is causing them trouble. But they can also help out the doctors themselves. Surgeons, for example, can use such models as practice organs when preparing for an operation, feeling the model in their hands and getting a literal feel for where they will need to make incisions. GE Healthcares new 3D printing plan, according to chief engineer Jimmie Beacham, is to develop a system in which 3D printed models can be made immediately after a CT scan is made. Today, when people print organs, it can take anywhere from a week to three weeks to manipulate the data, Beacham says. We want to do it with a click of a button. 3D printed aortic tree made from CT scan data Unlike some newer medical 3D printing companies, GE already has the scanning part of the operation covered. GE says its Revolution CT scanner is capable of generating and transmitting a chunk of data equivalent to 6,000 Netflix movies in just one second. At present, this data invariably ends up on a 2D screen, but the company is working on a method to turn the incredibly precise information in a 3D printable file, skipping the sometimes laborious manual process of turning the raw data into a 3D printable file. Excitingly, Beacham says his team has already had success 3D printing organs like the liver and the lung. In what will be seen as exciting news for both the healthcare and 3D printing industries, GE Healthcare is currently working with GE Additive, the corporations 3D printing business unit, to see if it can develop what Beacham calls a custom machine that prints organs from the files that we derive from our software. Although 3D printed medical models are already common, an all-in-one CT scanning and 3D printing system from GE would surely raise the bar for such technology. 3D printed foot shows GE stepping up its healthcare game Beacham added that the 3D printed models currently being made by GE Healthcare are being well received by healthcare professionalsand even more so by the patients they are treating. I think as people get more informed about health, they will want to be a bigger part of the solution, the engineer says. Helping them see the problem clearly will build more trust between the doctor and the patient. It translates into quicker action. Posted in 3D Printing Application Maybe you also like: Vishwanath wrote at 5/1/2017 7:02:57 PM:GE has already provided the STL file creation functionality in their latest advantage workstation. But the output is nowhere is close to what we can achieve with dedicated 3D printing software like Materialize Mimics. But GE has taken an incredible step forward in aiming to make the models at the click of a button.Godfrey Onwubolu wrote at 4/26/2017 4:00:59 PM:Some time last year, I read an article about GE Healthcare planning to streamline their workflow to involve realizing 3D models directly from CT scan data. Immediately, I drew the attention of Materialise North America, to the headline regarding how it will affect existing commercial software for image processing. But I was told that realizing 3D models is different from realizing 3D printed medical models which can be directly printed. For sure, from what I now read, GE Healthcare breakthrough will shorten the workflow, going directly from CT scan to 3D printed medical models. Incredible!Pinar Ozbek, GE Healthcare Interventional Lead Clinical Specialist wrote at 4/22/2017 4:17:52 PM:This is the future happening now. GE already have the STL file creation capabilities on their Advantage Workstation. If we can make this already a faster process will be great! we are working at NYP Cornell and Mayo Clinic Hybrid OR, create STLD files directly from our Workstation.Tomm wrote at 4/19/2017 10:51:58 AM:Wow! So really cool creative. 3D technology is changing the world. Pasco County Schools will soon be the first in Florida to build and run their own fast-fill compressed natural gas station. The first of its natural-gas buses will arrive in mid-May, when they will be completing the new gas station just south of State Road 54 along Interlaken Road north of Tampa. We are about a month away from taking ownership, says Tad Kledzik, Manager of Transportation Services. We will begin operations with start of the fiscal year [July 1]. Thirty 2017 Bluebird Vision CNG buses will begin arriving, three at time, in mid-May, and be phased into the existing fleet of more than 400 buses. Some 48 of them are propane, which use the same motor but a different fuel. Each bus costs about $130,000, about $30,000 more than a diesel bus. Pasco County Schools are investing $3 million each in their fast-fill station and a maintenance, operations and parking facility for the new natural gas-powered buses. The district is expecting to pay an additional $3.9 million for the first 30 buses and potentially a total of $11.7 million for 90 natural gas buses at the facility. It also would use some 10 to 12 diesel buses already in the fleet. There are a number of advantages of the buses fueled by gas from Louisiana and Texas, which is piped into Florida at Jacksonville. The big thing ... is cleaner emission, Kledzik says. Its also less noisy, a plus when hauling a bus-load full of talking children. That allows our drivers to hear a little bit better on the bus as to what is going on, he says. As a domestic source of fuel, CNG is less volatile in price. The ability to essentially lock-in the price gives the district a greater ability to manage finance costs. What happens elsewhere is less likely to impact the cost of CNG here, he explains. Theres enough CNG here in the U.S. to meet certainly our needs and many more needs. The district has tapped into the system in the Odessa area. The CNG will be provided by Clearwater Gas. A grand opening is scheduled at 9 am. May 16, says spokeswoman Linda Cobbe. The new buses will roll for the 2017-18 school year. The district began looking into alternative fuel sources in 2012, before buses like these existed, Kledzik says. The vision for CNG came from Deputy Superintendent Ray Gadd. Though the Pasco district will be the first to build and operate its own station, others are already going green with CNG buses using third-party fuel providers. Leon [Countys school district] has a similar facility to what were producing right now. Leon entered into contract with a 3rd party provider, he says. In the Tampa Bay area, the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority became the first public transit authority in Florida to begin converting from diesel to CNG in 2014, according to Sandra Morrison, Public Information Officer. HART currently runs 34 CNG buses in its fleet of nearly 200 buses, plus an additional 39 of its 61 HARTPlus vans and all eight HARTFlex vans. Some 25 additional CNG buses are arriving this fiscal year, Morrison says. Hillsborough County public schools are running 50 propane buses and another 40 are on order. We just didnt have an interest in it [CNG], simply because of the cost, says Jim Beekman, General Manager of Transportation. The propane buses cost only $4400 more than diesel. Pinellas Countys school district began running 58 new propane-powered buses this school year. The buses save the district money on fuel and maintenance, in addition to being more environmentally friendly, a spokeswoman says. As the Pasco district's personnel are trained on the new buses, Kledzik says they plan to let surrounding districts in on the education process, which will include information on propane buses as well. Were looking to open it up and make it more a multi-county effort, he says. Kledzik says the new CNG buses are a way to diversify the composition of the fleet. He expects the school district will continue to invest in propane and diesel. Diesel still is preferred for long trips outside of the county, and even longer trips within the county, he says. I dont believe wed get away completely from diesel buses, he says. Tampa Bay Alternative Fuel Vehicle Expo is slated from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. April 20 at 11780 Tampa Gateway Blvd, Seffner. More information on alternative fuels is available at the Alternative Fuels Data Center or the U.S. Department of Energys National Clean Cities Program at 1-800-CCITIES. The quandary of taking it or leaving it affects many middle-aged and older Americans, who are increasingly using marijuana for medical reasons and otherwise. Pot use has jumped almost 50 percent among those ages 45 to 54 since 2002. For those 55 to 64, marijuana use has skyrocketed by 455 percent, and for people 65 and older, its use has increased 333 percent, the Washington Post reported, citing recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some passengers take a risk and fly with marijuana because spotting the drug is not among the regular duties of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). According to the Times, TSA stopped only 29 of 54 million passengers for marijuana possession at Denver International Airport in 2015. All 29 agreed to throw it out or take it home. In Florida, where medical marijuana but not recreational marijuana is legal, only 11 of 2.8 million passengers screened last year at the Jacksonville International Airport were detained. The clash between federal laws and legal consumers may get worse, the Times said, as more doctors write prescriptions for medical use and more states legalize it. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, meanwhile, has said he favors stricter enforcement of anti-marijuana laws. Theres no doubt that families are becoming more open about their use of pot at the same time more states are making it legal. Today 28 states have laws allowing the use of medicinal marijuana, while eight states plus Washington, D.C., have laws legalizing recreational use of the drug to various extents. However, the drug remains illegal under U.S. federal law. On the global stage, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced legislation on April 13, 2017 that would legalize the recreational use of marijuana in Canada. If passed as expected, Canada would become only the second nation, after Uruguay, to legalize marijuana as a consumer product. Across the board, the Yahoo News/Marist Poll shows that Americans who have at least tried marijuana are a lot more likely to be accepting of the drug as part of their family life than those whove never touched it. Other key findings from the study: Americans in general, including parents, believe 20 to be the age at which someone is old enough to decide whether or not to use marijuana. Marijuana users think the appropriate age is 17. When asked to think as a parent, only about one-fifth of Americans cite marijuana use as their top concern when it comes to their children. Instead, their main worry is smoking cigarettes (24 percent), followed by using marijuana (21 percent), drinking alcohol (21 percent), having sex (17 percent) and cheating on a test (12 percent). Among Americans who have either tried pot or currently use it, marijuana use ranks last on their list of concerns: 11 percent and 5 percent, respectively. When it comes to parents in general, 50 percent find marijuana use to be socially acceptable. However, among parents who use marijuana, 75 percent see it as socially acceptable. Sixty percent of parents whove tried pot think their kids would either approve of their recreational pot use or wouldnt care. Although this poll and other polls prove theres been a gradual shift in attitudes over the years in favor of pot use, a clear division remains when it comes to the legalization of recreational marijuana. While 8 in 10 Americans strongly support legalizing medical marijuana, 49 percent of American adults support legalization of recreational marijuana and 47 percent still oppose it. The Yahoo! News/Marist Poll findings are based on a survey taken in March of 1,122 Americans 18 and older. Winter storm could mean 7" of snow from Aberdeen, 2.5" for Watertown The first winter storm of the season is on its way, and that could mean 7 inches of snow for Aberdeen and 2.5 inches of snow in the Watertown area. Vijay Mallya, faulted of non-payment on loans worth crores, was arrested in London in what the CBI counted as a major win in attempts to bring the business tycoon to India to face trial. Mallya, 61, is wanted for loan fraud and is also facing charges of money-laundering. Vijay Mallya, the former boss of Kingfisher Airlines, has received a bail after being arrested three hours ago by Scotland Yard in London (UK). As usual India media had over hyped the issue, but Mallya gave them befitting reply to them on twitter. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on 8 February. Mallya has been on the run after he failed to repay bank loans worth Rs 9,000 crore taken on behalf of the now defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Multiple courts in India have issued warrants against Mallya in various cases over the past one year. So far, banks have not made any significant progress as far as the recovery of Kingfisher loans even as Mallyas Kingfisher Villa was recently sold to a Mumbai-based businessman. Recently, a Delhi court had issued an open ended non-bailable warrant against the businessman in a case of allegedly evading summons in a FERA violation matter. On 4 November last year, while issuing non-bailable warrant against Mallya, the court had observed that he had no inclination to return and had scant regard for the law of the land. The court also said that on 4 October it had specifically noted that he could approach authorities and obtain emergency document to return to India but the situation is that he has not taken any such step. Last month, the British government certified Indias request for extradition of Mallya, and sent it to a district judge for further action. In a series of tweets recently, he accused the government of holding him guilty without a trial. There were many petitions against Vijay Mallya from past one year. The anger and rage people carry against him is unfathomable. From words like Bring Mallya back to Initiate criminal proceedings were all seen in the petitions by various people. Upon searching the twitter tweets, you can easily notice how many people are speaking against him. I ran into a friend yesterday and we were discussing about the usual scenario in the country and to my shock as soon as we spoke about Enforcement Directorate extending their scope and working with CBI against Mallya, the said friend sprung in action with rage filled eyes. He said, Mallya should be brought back to India and should be punished for looting 9000 crores. I politely asked him if Mallya took his money too, he denied. I asked him, what brand of beer he likes when he goes to Goa, his response was Kingfisher draught. Ironic as it sounds, it is not just him but many people around the nation are in anguish due to this. Recently, the stupidity-oppotunist chief minister of the capital spoke against Mallya and appealed to the Prime Minister of India to look into this matter. People gladly joined his cause and supported him as he demanded the return of Mallya to the nation. Mallya did not take money from the Indian treasury, he may or may not have been a part of money laundering, and he has sponsored an entire team for IPL which we happily cheered for. He took loan from the banks and was willing to repay. Not everyone can pay back the loan amount. Not just Mallya but many people have absconded the country with a lot of money. It is the banks responsibility to grant loan based on the security they can receive. It is banks failed decision which has caused the uproar. Mallya did not make the banks sign at gun point or something, it was just business. Many a times company can pay back, at times it does not. It is a business deal between bank and a company, has nothing to do with the nation. He has not stolen money from the citizens. Banks will happily claim their saving on taxes against the defaulters list. Actually it is the banks that are draining the nation; they should have paid the full tax irrespective of the defaulters. Banks exist not for charity but to do business. Banks like to earn money by lending money loan, is one of their products, people repaying or not paying back is called business risk and they undertake a lot of study before signing the documents. Why are Indians getting worried about it? Why is a chief minister stepping down from his busy schedule and planning for several days for this business issue between two companies? Besides, above all, he is asking the Prime minister of India to work on behalf of the banks! Banks should have known about the consequences, the people to punish should be the ones who signed the document and approved loan at the first place. Many people defaulted when banks pushed credit cards down the throat of individuals as their sales representatives harassed with repeated phone calls, one of the reasons which doomed the nation like United Nations of America. At an individual level, they managed to declare a deficit from the government. Indian banks are not distributing loans as an individual demands. When you go to the bank, do you get loan instantly? Who is responsible if you choose not to pay back; bank or the government? Chief Minister is a respectable and responsible designation, and if someone wastes their time by curbing on the salary which is paid by our hard earned money as a tax then they should prove their time in the office more than casual activities. A business man will never let his employee waste his time. When some people open their mouth or express their understanding based on the wave created by the politicians, with no bases, it actually brings down the average IQ of an entire nation. Please step out of the crowd and work towards what is in the best interest of the nation. Being a part of political wave should be a thing of the past now. Let us grow up. Let the legal procedure take its time and draw the conclusion. British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Tuesday for an early election on June 8, saying she needed to strengthen her hand in divorce talks with the European Union by shoring up support for her Brexit plan. Standing outside her Downing Street office, May said she had been reluctant about asking parliament to back her move to bring forward the election from 2020, but decided it was necessary to win support for her ruling Conservative Partys efforts to press ahead with Britains departure from the EU. Some were surprised by her move she has repeatedly said she does not want to be distracted by time-consuming campaigning but opinion polls give her a strong lead, the economy is weathering the Brexit vote and she has faced opposition from her own party for some of her domestic reforms. The pound rose to a two-and-a-half-month high against the U.S. dollar after the announcement, but Britains main share index fell to its lowest point in more than seven weeks. It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond, May said. Every vote for the Conservatives will make it harder for opposition politicians who want to stop me from getting the job done. Britain joins a list of western European countries scheduled to hold elections this year. Votes in France in April and May and in Germany in September have the potential to reshape the political landscape around the two years of Brexit talks with the EU expected to start sometime in June. May is capitalising on her runaway lead in the opinion polls. The Conservative Party is around 20 points ahead of the main opposition Labour Party, a large lead for an incumbent party two years after the last parliamentary election. The prime ministers own personal ratings also dwarf those of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, with 50 percent of those asked saying she would make the best prime minister. Corbyn wins only 14 percent, according to pollster YouGov. Strongly condemning Pakistan for not giving consular access to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, defence experts on Tuesday said such decision was against international norms and conventions and alleged that Islamabad was deliberately dragging this case to heighten tensions with India. Defence expert Qamar Agha said Pakistan court should be trusted as they have their allegiance towards the army. Its against the international norms and conventions to refuse to grant consular access. Secondly, you know a good legal case was missing. India has a right for consular access. I think we should not trust the Pakistan court either as most judges of the court have allegiance towards Jamaat-e-Islami and judiciary is totally committed to army, Agha told ANI. Expressing similar views, defence expert Shankar Prasad said, Pakistan is trying to heighten the level of tensions with India so that international community begins to feel that this is a flash point in South East Asia. Therefore, they need to intervene and mediate in talks. Yesterday, the Pakistan Army ruled out consular access to Jadhav, saying he was not eligible for it as per the laws. Kulbhushan is not eligible for consular access nor will be granted consular access, said Pakistan Armed Forces spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor. He alleged that Jadhav, caught on anti-state activities, was trialled under court martial. This was purely an act by the Army to which the Army as an institution said we will not compromise on his sentence, he said. Major General Ghafoor said Jadhavs death sentence process would move ahead as per the law, adding it would go in the applet court and the army shall wait for the verdict. Jadhav was awarded the death penalty on April 10 in an unprecedented decision that sparked a diplomatic spat between the two hostile neighbours. All you need to impress Sushant Singh Rajput is a chocolate! Yes, you heard it right! Kriti Sanon, during the trailer launch of their much-awaited movie Raabta, revealed, The easiest way to impress Sushant is to give him chocolates. Further speaking about her co-star, the Dilwale actress told the media here, Even after a year of completion of the film, Sushant was still in his character. From the time the two came together for Raabta, a lot has been spoken about them, including the allegation that Sushants equation with Kriti was the reason for his split with long time girlfriend Ankita Lokhande. But both the actors rubbished the rumours and allegations with utmost dignity. However, during the event, the Kai Po Che star finally opened up on his chemistry with the Heropanti beauty and said, We both are engineers and from Delhi, so we have a lot in common between us. The Dinesh Vijan directed flick that speaks about Life, Death, Love, and their connection, is scheduled to release on June 9. Global icon Priyanka Chopra is dealing with conflicted emotions, as she prepares to bid the New York City adieu officially. During her last official week in NYC, the Desi girl is packing up her house there, until next time. PeeCee took to Twitter to express, Packing up the house is such a conflicted emotion! so many things pop out that u didnt remember..Last official week in NYC until next time.. Though she is coming back to India in a week, the actress will return to the US soon for the promotions of her Hollywood debut Baywatch. The upcoming American action-comedy film, featuring Priyanka as the antagonist Victoria Leeds, is based on a popular television series of the same name. Directed by Seth Gordon, the movie also features Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. On a related note, shooting for the second season of Quantico ended in March and as per reports, there may be another season on the cards. Meanwhile, the BajiraoMastani actress also wished Happy Easter Sunday to everyone and tweeted, Happy Easter Sunday to everyone celebrating. Hope this day is full love love and laughter. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday the politicians maintaining silence on the issue of triple talaq were equally responsible as those practising it as he linked the Muslim practice of divorce to the disrobing of Draupadi in the Mahabharata. These days there is a new debate in the country. Some people are maintaining a silence on this issue. This reminds me of the scene in the Mahabharata in which Draupadi is being disrobed in an assembly and she asks a question to the gathering as to who is responsible for this? he said. No one was able to utter even a single word. At that time Vidur said people who have committed the crime, those who are the accomplices and those who maintained silence on this issue are equally responsible, Adityanath said, referring to the practice of triple talaq. He made these remarks at an event to mark the 91st birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Chandrashekhar. Adityanath also called for an end to the Muslim practice of triple talaq and advocated implementation of a common civil code in the country. His remarks came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a strong pitch against the divisive issue of triple talaq, insisting that the exploitation of Muslim women should end and justice be done to them. Modi had, however, deprecated any attempt at creating a conflict within the Muslim community on the issue and suggested tackling it through social awareness. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has asserted Muslims have a constitutional right to follow their personal law of which triple talaq was a part. AIMPLB general secretary Maulana Wali Rehmani had yesterday said that the board had decided to issue a code of conduct and warned that those who give talaq (divorce) without following the Sharia (Islamic law) will face social boycott. In July 2016, Mike Pence rallied cheering crowds at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland declaring, I am a Christian, a conservative, and a Republicanin that order. One year earlier, however, as governor of Indiana, Pences radical conservative values trumped his Christian values. The VPs extreme-conservative policies on the HPV vaccine needlessly risked Indiana childrens lives. What he did unto themamong othersis something Christ himself rejected above all. (Seriously, how can someone tell EVERY adolescent to get a pharmaceutical product, without any consideration of risk factors?) Recently Paul Offit was on the attack against Vice President Mike Pence over his actions on the HPV vaccine back when he was governor of Indiana. Every teenager in Indiana was expected to get the vaccine, according to Offit. the HPV vaccine was recommended for all adolescents. Note : Many years ago, we ran a photo that has zero religious intent and featured many in the pro-vaccine injury community. We were instantly branded Anti-Semitic. Here, Paul Offit, himself Jewish, purports to tell those of us who are Christian what Jesus wants us to do. Tell the Pope to look out, Offit may be after his job. Holy Moses.... And thank you, Anne for this post. By Anne Dachel What Would Jesus Do? Hed vaccinate every child, according to Paul Offit During the week of Sept. 21, 2015, the Indiana State Department of Health sent a letter to the parents of 305,000 children. The letter reminded parents that their children had yet to receive the HPV vaccine that was recommended for all adolescents. Offit went on to cite one father who objected to the letter about giving the HPV vaccine to his daughter, claiming, The letter was intrusive. He asked Gov. Pence to look into it. Pence agreed, later asking Indiana public-health officials to make it clear that the HPV vaccine was optional and that parents could remove their names from the state registry that had identified their children as lagging behind on their immunizations. Pence didnt stop at gutting his state health departments letter. He also reprimanded the state health commissioner for speaking about the HPV vaccine at Indianas National Coalition Conference, later requiring all public-health employees to submit their presentations about vaccines to his office for approval prior to any speaking engagement. Then he prohibited the release of a document by the Indiana Cancer Consortium that included information on cervical cancer, the only known cause of which is HPV. Mike Pence did everything that he could to make sure that Indianas parents and schoolchildren knew as little as possible about the consequences of HPV infection and the availability of a vaccine to prevent it. Offit went on to warn about Pences position on Planned Parenthood, abortion bills, and the LGBT community. Next Offit pontificated at length on Pences claim that he is an evangelical Christian. Offit declared that Pence has rejected his Christian values by not promoting the HPV vaccine for every teen in Indiana. Mike Pence is an evangelical Christian. He believes in the teachings of Jesus Christ as reflected in the four gospelswhich make his actions regarding the HPV vaccine all the more surprising. By making it virtually impossible for Indianas public-health workers to talk about HPV or encourage the use of the HPV vaccine, Pence had rejected his Christian values. Jesus, on the other hand, rejected the ethos of his time. His love of children is evident throughout the New Testament. Jesus believed that anyone who put children in harms way should be punished: Whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:4-6). Jesus followers embraced his message of love for children. Indeed, Jesus teachings served as the basis for Christian protective services and Christian relief societies for the next 1,800 years. Offit chastised Pence saying that if hed chosen Jesus message of love over his extreme conservative ideologyas he had promised during the Republican National Conventionhe would have done everything that he could have to protect the children in his state. Allowing children to die from a vaccine-preventable disease can never be cloaked in the guise of love. I was nearly speechless at this. Does the hubris of this man extend even to using religion to sell vaccines? Where does Offit come off telling anyone what their religious obligations are? As a Catholic Christian, I would never presume to tell anyoneCatholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Jewish, Muslimwhat religious duty they have in any regard. This is cheap rhetoric. Resorting to using someones faith against them in order to promote the sale of vaccines is contemptible. What does Paul Offit know about Mike Pences religious outlook? Why does Offit presume to tell him what Jesus Christ would obligate anyone to do? And as far as the quotations from Matthew Offit used: Whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:4-6). And Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of my brethren you have done it unto mea message that could be carved into the entranceways of every childrens clinic and pediatric hospital in Indiana. If Mike Pence had chosen Jesus message of love over his extreme conservative ideologyas he had promised during the Republican National Conventionhe would have done everything that he could have to protect the children in his state. Allowing children to die from a vaccine-preventable disease can never be cloaked in the guise of love (Matthew 25:40). Offit has it all wrong. The people who come to mind are the pharma reps and health officials who gathered at Simpsonwood in Norcross, Georgia in 2000 and spent two days figuring out how to cover up the link between vaccines and autism. The people who also come to mind are the higher ups at the CDC who ordered Dr. William Thompson to put his damning study results on the MMR vaccine and autism into the garbage can and who ordered him to lie to the IOM. Message to Dr. Offit: Dont presume to tell any Christian what God wants them to do. Anne Dachel is Media Editor for Age of Autism. The data exchange in the IMA BK is via fiber-optic lines. The transition from the copper cable to the fiber-optic one has boosted the data rate and throughput several-fold, slashed the weight of the cables by an order of magnitude and boosted the immunity to natural clutter and electronic countermeasures drastically. While the data transfer via the ubiquitous copper cable is at a rate of 10-100Mbps, it is almost 1,000 times higher via the fiber-optic cable - 8Gbps. The systems networked structure increases the reliability of all instruments: if a computer malfunctions, the systems automatically switch over to another, and the introduction of the centralized processor has almost halved the devices weight. The central digital computers performance has surged by more than 10 times and its fail-safety by over four times. For the first time in the history of Russias aviation, the platforms general design and development has been led by an airframer - the Sukhoi Design Bureau. Developing the advanced computer system, it has worked hand in glove with major subsidiaries of the Radio-Electronic Technologies Corporation (KRET) - the State Ryazan Instrument Plant (GRPZ) and Ramenskoye Design Company (RPKB). The State Research Institute of Aviation Systems (GosNIIAS), using the new computing platform, has modelled the T-50s applications and concluded that the IMA BK features a hefty increase in computing and data processing rate. Another problem encountered by the Sukhoi Design Bureau has been to train and retain skilled software testers. All over the world, major aircraft and instrument manufacturers often resort to outsourcing the work to Indian and East European programmers. The training of a good specialist takes around two years. In Moscow, seasoned testers tend to leave for commercial IT firms owing to higher salaries the latter offer, while outsourcing the development to other countries is no option to the Sukhoi Design Bureau because its work pertains to defense. Sukhoi has found an ingenious solution to the problem by setting up an affiliate in the city of Taganrog where there are skilled workforce and relevant colleges. An open letter to the students of Tufts from one of its Assistant Professors. Dear Students of Tufts University, My name is Dr. Jacob Freedman and Im an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine. Since 2013, Ive had the honor of serving as a teacher and a mentor for medical students at your school in my capacity as an academic physician at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Im proud to work with your fellow students and theyve largely enjoyed the experience as well, having nominated me for multiple teaching awards which I received in 2014 and 2016. Im writing to you because something strange happened earlier this month when the Universitys Student Senate passed a resolution entitled, A Resolution Calling for Tufts University to End Investments in the Israeli Occupation. As a faculty member of the University, a scholar dedicated to supporting academic freedom, and a dual-citizen of both America and Israel, I cannot stand by and allow such an action to go unanswered. Let us review the facts: Israel is the lone democracy in a sea of military, theocratic, and monarchic dictatorships throughout the Middle East (for respective examples please see Turkey, Iran, and Saudi Arabia). Israel is dedicated to protecting personal religious freedoms for major religions as well as ethnic minorities such as Armenians, Druze, and Assyrian Christians as well as freedom of press and enterprise. Israels profound ethical code extends to even hostile enemy combatants (including those from Hamas and Hezbollah) who receive free medical treatment at world-renowned hospitals. So why then would the Tufts University Student Senate choose to single out Israel? Is standing against war crimes in Darfur too passe? Have people forgotten about the Saudi governments gender-apartheid laws prohibiting female drivers? Is there no one who cares about the thousands of honor killings that occur each year in Pakistan where the government is frankly complicit? I should be very clear that I dont believe there is a sinister plot to target Israel amongst the members of the Student Senate at Tufts University. Rather I see this action as tragic casualty of misinformation. Therefore I call upon the members of the Student Senate to come and visit Israel. Beyond the Dead Sea and other tourist traps, come and see the Israeli Occupation at its finest. Witness first-hand how modern ideas and new technology have improved the lives of millions irrespective of their ethnicity or religion. Since 1967 when Israel won a defensive war against six genocidal Arab armies people of all faiths living in the West Bank have had access to running water, electricity, literacy programs, free healthcare, and other necessities that much of the non-Western world still lacks. Come and visit Ariel University where students of all creeds can study anything their heart desires without fear of governmental persecution. Come and visit the Pesagot Winery where Arab and Jewish farmers work side-by-side to craft world-famous wines. Come and visit ancient Shiloh, Hebron, and Jerusalem (remember that Jerusalem is considered Occupied Territory by some) where the great figures of the Bible walked and where the future of the Jewish People continues to unfold. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.made zero reference to occupation and never once considered Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions of the Jewish State when he famously said, When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jewsyoure talking anti-Semitism. In the case of the recently-passed resolution, Id still like to judge favorably and hope that there isnt an issue of anti-Semitism, rather that there is one of misinformation. Therefore I hope that students will come to see the Jewish homeland and learn about all of the amazing things happening here. And if its too big a shlep to come and visit, let me know and Ill be happy to come and visit you to speak at Tufts University. In addition to a lot of anti-Israel rhetoric, the resolution also calls for the University to screen its investments for human rights compliance. This is a fantastic idea and I immediately urge the Student Senate to look into the human rights violations perpetrated by governments in countries such as China, Russia and Turkey where the is no such thing as freedom of press, religion, or the rights to a fair trial for political dissidents. I further demand that the Student Senate use all of its resources to condemn the recent chemical weapon attacks in Syria and the development of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea in the strongest terms. Looking forward to being in touch, Jacob L. Freedman MD Board Certified Psychiatrist Assistant Professor at Tufts University School of Medicine April 17, 2017 Palestinian officials are working hard to prepare for the first meeting in the White House between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the new US president, Donald Trump. After an initial phone call and a high-profile Feb. 15 meeting between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinians were worried that the Trump administration was planning to bypass the legitimate Palestinian leadership. Trump's meetings with King Abdullah of Jordan and phone calls to several Arab leaders added to this concern. The Ramallah-based leadership wasnt too worried, because from day one the Trump administration had initiated security- and intelligence-level meetings. Majed Faraj, head of the Palestinian Intelligence service, met with US officials in Washington on Feb. 8-9; on Feb. 14, the director of the CIA, Mike Pompeo, made a surprise visit to Ramallah to meet with the Palestinian president. The meetings most likely dealt with security issues. When the Trump-Abbas phone call was finally initiated March 10 and Trump invited Abbas to the White House, Palestinian officials let out a sigh of relief. Palestinian media hailed the breakthrough, and preparations were put in place to prepare for a meeting sometime in April. While the phone call and invitation were welcomed, the concern about the Trump administration bypassing the Palestinians and making a deal with Arab leaders persisted. Media reports and rumors talked about a potential watering down of the 2002 Arab Peace Plan and the possibility of a regional Arab meeting that would downgrade Palestinian representation. Most of these worries, however, were unfounded, and the Arab Summit held on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea delivered one of the summit's strongest statements in support of Palestinian statehood, opposing settlements, defending Al-Aqsa Mosque, reinstating commitment to the two-state solution and repeating support for an unchanged Arab Peace Plan. Palestinian journalistic sources tell Al-Monitor that Ramallah was generally happy with Trump's meetings this month with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and with Abdullah in that the Middle Eastern leaders relayed honestly and fairly the decisions of the March 29 Arab Summit in Jordan. For its part, the Palestinian leadership instituted some changes. Abbas appointed Western-educated Husam Zomlot as the head of the PLO mission in Washington. Zomlot, who was recently elected to the Fatah Revolutionary Council, is a confidant of Abbas and has received high marks for his ability to articulate the Palestinian narrative to American audiences generally and to American Jewish audiences specifically. Zomlot arrived in Washington in March, began his new job April 1 and has been entrusted with the preparations for Abbas upcoming visit. Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said April 14 that a Palestinian delegation will visit Washington in the second half of April to plan for the visit, which he said will take place early in May. The London-based al-Hayat said April 14 that the delegation preparing for Abbas visit will include senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and intelligence chief Majed Faraj. The lack of a firm date has led some Palestinian media to report that the visit has been postponed, but a US White House source quickly shot down this rumor, insisting that the visit is still on. While the Palestinian leaders visit to Washington is to focus primarily on the peace process and the efforts of Trumps peace envoy, Jason Greenblatt, to kick-start the talks again, it is expected that Abbas will also deal with several bilateral issues. These include security cooperation and intelligence exchange between the United States and Palestinian security on local, regional and international areas of mutual concern, and continued political and financial support by the Trump administration to the Palestinian people and government, sources in the Palestinian leadership told Al-Monitor. While stressing that economic cooperation plays a supportive role given the dire economic situation in the Palestinian territories, Greenblatt was quoted in the Israeli daily Haaretz on April 4 as saying that an economic solution is no substitute for a political solution. Israeli columnist Alex Fishman, writing in the leading Israeli daily Yedioth Ahranoth on April 14, noted that the Trump approach to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is much more attuned to Americas regional interests. Fishman believes that Trump is being influenced by three generals in his administration who believe that solving the Palestinian conflict is necessary to help win the war against extremism in the region. The three key generals in the Trump administration are Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, national security adviser H.R. McMaster and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. Palestinian and Israeli officials are unusually quiet about what is happening behind closed doors. While Israelis appear to be missing the Obama days and are worried about Trumps foreign policy, it is too early to tell if the Trump administration would be any less biased toward Israel than previous US governments. The upcoming meeting between Abbas and Trump will put into place the key parameters that will decide whether peace talks will in fact be renewed and whether they will have any chance of reaching the desired results. April 13, 2017 Saudi and Iraqi diplomats agreed at a March 12 meeting in Riyadh to stop exchanging aggressive remarks and to establish a coordination council to discuss outstanding issues and promote bilateral relations. That same day, an Iraqi delegation led by Iraqi Deputy Foreign Minister Nizar al-Khairallah discussed cooperating on economics, security and tourism with Saudi diplomats. Riyadh, however, remains reluctant to move further toward normalizing relations due to concerns over Iran's influence in Iraq and the Iraqi government's inability to exert full control over Shiite militias. Abdul Bari Zebari, the head of the Iraqi parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, told Al-Monitor earlier this month that Iraqi officials at all levels, including the president, prime minister and parliament speaker, had expressed their willingness to build good relations with Saudi Arabia during multiple visits to Riyadh since 2003. He added that they had sensed the Saudis' hesitation to work on improving ties, but that they had their reasons. According to Zebari, the new US administration is inclined to reconsider the previous administration's policies and wants to bring its allies closer to each other in the region. It is believed that Washington had played a major role in encouraging the Feb. 25 visit to Baghdad by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. Zebari noted that Iraqis, particularly in the southern provinces, are inclined toward improving relations with Arab countries, especially the Gulf states. Saudi-Iraqi ties did improve following Jubeir's Baghdad visit, during which he met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. At a joint press conference with his Iraqi counterpart, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Jubeir said that Saudi Arabia aspires to establish privileged relations with Iraq and that the two nations have common interests, including in countering terrorism and in trade and investment opportunities. Ahmed al-Masari, the head of the predominantly Sunni Iraqi National Forces Alliance, which is critical of Iranian influence in Iraq, told the daily Alriyadh March 21 that the nationalists, including liberals and leftists, had warmly welcomed Jubeir's visit. A number of Shiite figures, however, questioned the objectives behind the visit. Among them, Qais al-Khazali, secretary-general of the League of the Righteous, a Shiite militia, told NRT Feb. 27 that the visit had been part of US President Donald Trump's project and stemmed from fears that the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) will assume a greater role in Iraq in the future. The diplomatic tensions that Jubeir's visit attempted to assuage can be traced back to last summer, after a June 3 tweet by Saudi Ambassador to Baghdad Thamer al-Sabhan on Iran's role in Iraq. Sabhan wrote, There are terrorist Iranian figures near Fallujah, which is clear evidence that [Iranians] want to burn Arab Iraqis with the flames of abominable sectarianism. This angered Jaafari, who perceived the tweet as interference in Iraqi internal affairs. In July, Sabhan leveled additional criticisms against Baghdad, accusing it of double standards in doing nothing to curb Iranian influence in its own country while interfering in Saudi affairs in its objections to the execution of the Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr in January. Eventually having had enough, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry announced Aug. 28 that it had demanded Sabhan's replacement. Hours after the announcement in a phone interview with Al-Arabiya, Sabhan, who had returned to Saudi Arabia days before the Foreign Ministry's statement, refused to back away from his tweet, saying, Saudi policy is unchanged and is not dependent on certain individuals. Pressure is being exerted on Iraqis, who have to abide by certain agendas, apparently in reference to Iran's influence in Iraq. Jubeir's statements surrounding his visit used the toned-down language of diplomacy, acknowledging and honoring Iraqs long history and asserting that Riyadh stands at equal distance from all Iraqis regardless of their ethnicity, sect or religion, rejecting the choosing of sides. Iraqi aspirations for improved bilateral ties have not, however, moved much beyond agreement to mutually tone down the rhetoric and to form a joint coordination council. Jubeir's visit had been followed by a leak Feb. 28 claiming that the Saudis had promised to reopen the Jemima border crossing and pump Saudi investment flows into Iraq. On March 23, Iraqs Foreign Ministry had leaked that Riyadh had promised to resume direct flights between the two countries and cancel the debt Iraq had incurred in waging the Iraq-Iran War. A week later, however, on March 30, the Saudi Press Agency tweeted a quote from the Saudi Foreign Ministry denying that the government intended to cancel Iraq's $30 billion debt. Riyadh appears not to have high expectations about rapidly improving ties with Baghdad. A Saudi diplomatic source in Riyadh who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity said that the appointment of a new Saudi ambassador to Baghdad is the best that can be expected in the short run. Other issues, such as opening the border, investments and cancellation of debt, cannot be seriously looked at before the Iraqi government gains control over the sectarian militias and their arms and shows that it has the ability to circumscribe Iran's influence in the country. The Saudi and Iraqi governments are aware that normal bilateral ties would serve both their interests beyond any advantage to placating the United States desire for better relations between its allies. Yet there is not much trust between the two countries. Riyadh, which has no military or political influence in Iraq, is not ready to deal with Baghdad in light of Iraq's sectarian issues and the potential of armed groups smuggling arms to Shiites in Qatif or facilitating the movement of extremists from and into the kingdom to Iran's advantage. That said, Baghdad cannot provide Saudi Arabia the assurances it seeks at the expense of losing its Iranian ally. April 17, 2017 Egyptian fashion designers have started a new revolution. They are creating their own fashion designs and taking serious steps to compete with international brands. "Nowadays, the fashion industry in Egypt does exist. The notion of creating fashion that reflects our own culture and copes with international standards is booming," Sara Onsi, the owner of Egyptian bridal dress brand Sara Onsi, told Al-Monitor. Onsi, who is a business administration graduate, said she spent four years designing bridal dresses and studying all aspects of fashion. Then she launched her evening line and succeeded in displaying it in a New York fashion show. "Being in a New York fashion show is not that easy. A designer must prepare a good profile for her or his collections," Onsi said. "It was a challenge to display my first collection in an international show and be on equal footing with other international designers," she added. "I was keen to produce dresses with high-end finishing and the best quality." The passion to create Egyptian fashion brands drives many to teach themselves everything related to fashion, from drawing the design to sewing and finishing the garment. Aya Abdul Salam, the founder of Bijar, an Egyptian fashion brand for casual clothes, said there are many courses both online and offline that teach how to be an experienced fashion designer. Salam said that her journey started by making unique pieces for her friends and family, then she converted it into a real business with a high demand. "What I want in my collections is to give ladies the feeling of being more feminine and special. It is totally different when a woman finds herself wearing what makes her unique and feeling her own self." "We dont have to wear items that don't suit us or make us feel uncomfortable," Salam added. The passionate designer said she was keen to come up with her own brand and fight the obstacles, such as the untrained labor in this industry. "I faced many losses at the beginning because the market is dominated by mass production rather than producing unique pieces," she said. Dalia Hassouna of the Industrial Modernisation Centre, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, told Al-Monitor that the center is boosting Egyptian designers in different fields through Creative Egypt, a hub that is open for designers to display their products and become exposed to marketing opportunities. "The Creative Egypt hub does not help the designers display locally, but gives them the opportunity to export abroad," she added. According to Hassouna, the government has also started to empower talented Egyptian designers through a program in cooperation with Italian designers that educates them and hones their skills according to international standards. The initiative came in parallel with the country's directives to boost the local industry and lure Egyptian exports. Despite a number of Egyptian designers flourishing, there still are many factors affecting the whole industry. Maria S. Munoz, the co-founder and managing partner at Maison Pyramide, said, "There are many factors affecting the industry at large, and under all these factors there are many variables. We can say that education is one of them professional courses, input of professionals, acquisition of knowledge and skills." Another factor is obviously the power of the economy. The industry needs new machinery and more technology and better materials and resources, so investing in these elements will definitely shape the industry very rapidly, Munoz added. April 18, 2017 The two main conservative candidates seeking to unseat incumbent Hassan Rouhani in the May 19 presidential vote are Ebrahim Raisi and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Despite their claims of unity ahead of the elections, a closer look indicates that the conservatives are deeply divided. Ghalibaf, the Tehran mayor who has now registered to run in three presidential elections, looks determined to stay in the race to the very end, mindful that a third-time defeat or withdrawal would lead to a further decline in his reputation. On the other hand, now that Raisi, the custodian of the holy shrine of the eighth Shiite imam, has risked his future political career and reputation by stepping into the fray, he is also not likely to pull out in favor of a starkly different figure such as Ghalibaf. On April 6, the Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces, which is known by its Persian acronym JAMNA, held a primary in which five contenders were elected. Raisi obtained the majority of votes in the primary of the conservative coalition, while Ghalibaf came in third. Abbas Abdi, a prominent Reformist analyst, said April 18 that neither Ghalibaf nor Raisi will leave the competition in favor of one another, adding that supporters of the two candidates will rather clash during the presidential race. Indeed, following his registration for the elections at the Interior Ministry on April 14, most conservative dailies notably did not feature Raisi on their front pages, arousing criticism and doubts among his backers. Supporters of Raisi, who is being backed by key hard-line cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, believe that Ghalibaf is lobbying within JAMNA to persuade the forging of a consensus around him, and the coalitions eventual announcement of him as its only candidate. Osoulgara News, which is close to former chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, wrote April 17 on its channel on the popular messaging app Telegram that Ghalibaf is reaching an agreement with JAMNA behind the curtains, and that this explains why conservative newspapers have neither backed him nor covered developments related to Raisi on their front pages. Rumor has it that despite announcing his candidacy as an independent, Raisi is not keen on seeing JAMNA rallying behind Ghalibaf as its final candidate, as under this circumstance, the pressures for his withdrawal would intensify. On the heels of ultraconservative Jalilis withdrawal from the race, most of his supporters went behind Raisi and are slamming Ghalibaf for the corruption within the Tehran municipality, calling for his withdrawal from the race. Meanwhile, Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani, a brother of the late Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the former president who died in January, will apparently also run for office. He said April 18 that his brother had advised him, head of the supreme leaders inspection office Ali Akbar Nategh-Nuri, Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif to register to run in the presidential elections. Of note, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani believed that the moderates and Reformists should have alternative candidates in case the Guardian Council, which is tasked with vetting hopefuls, disqualifies Rouhani. Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani, who has previously served as chief of the state broadcaster, said April 18 that he does not intend to challenge Rouhani. In this vein, according to Reformist activist Abdollah Naseri, Rafsanjani and other moderate and Reformist candidates have come forward in the event Rouhani is barred from seeking a second term. April 18, 2017 Thousands of words have been written about the all-out war Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been waging against the media. Countless articles have analyzed his scheme to control public broadcasting, a war that recently resulted in a new structure for the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation (IPBC), scheduled to be launched by the end of April. Accordingly, a news division will no longer be part of the corporation, but will instead operate independently. Amateur psychologists have explained that the prime ministers extreme interest in the corporation stems from his obsession with the media. Political analysts insist that the appointment of Geula Even-Saar, the wife of senior Likud member and former Minister Gideon Saar, as IPBC's senior host, was the straw that broke the camels back. They believe the appointment of the spouse of Netanyahu's political rival drove the prime minister to persist in his fight to close the IPBC before its launch. On April 3, Netanyahu seasoned his Passover greeting with a complaint that the media does not reflect the feelings of the public and proclaimed, Theres a gloom industry here. In the rest of his festive speech, Netanyahu cited the products of the alleged gloom industry, which sees darkness in places illuminated by the brightest light. Instead of full employment, the media sees unemployment. Instead of a flourishing economy, it sees a wrecked economy. Instead of interchanges, trains and bridges, it sees traffic jams. Instead of resoluteness and power, it produces hesitation and insecurity. Instead of a world power, it conjures a collapsing and crumbling state. Leaders who come here every day, Netanyahu closed his indictment of the killjoys, see us as a global tech powerhouse, a world power in security, intelligence, technology. Still, this speech seemed to be missing a line that had appeared in one version or another of his many addresses over the past few years. It goes something along the lines of, Instead of the leftist media who see an occupation that makes Israel into a leprous state, I, Netanyahu, see a flourishing Eden on the liberated land of our fathers. One shouldn't, however, worry about the missing part. Netanyahu supplied that resoundingly on April 9 in the form of a government decision to allocate 10 million shekels ($2.7 million) for 50th anniversary celebrations of the liberation of Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights in the 1967 Six-Day War. By the way, why are the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula not included in the celebration? Were they not liberated in June 1967? With this decision and statement, Netanyahu, again, demonstrated his stance that the occupation does not hurt the state of Israel. On the contrary, Israel is flourishing. Coincidentally, or perhaps not so coincidentally, on the same day Tourism Minister Yariv Levin, a Netanyahu confidant, announced a record number of foreign tourists visiting Israel. What more does one need to prove that the occupation, sorry liberation, doesnt scare away tourists who come to check out firsthand the global security powerhouse, to speed down its highways and to try out the Tel Aviv subway? Levin asserted, Israel is an attractive tourism destination. Weve shown that if we do it right, we can bring many tourists here. What he meant was we shouldnt confuse them by mentioning the occupation and terrorism. Weve lived with both, and even flourished, why shouldnt we live and flourish with them another 50 years? Indeed, according to data published on the same day, in March 293,000 tourists entered Israel, an increase of 22% compared to March 2016 figures. In the first three months of the year, 739,000 tourists visited Israel, an increase of 24% compared to the first quarter of 2016. Do these encouraging numbers testify to business as usual, regardless of the bloody conflict, diplomatic stagnation and deepening occupation? The answer, interestingly enough, can be found in a document compiled by interdepartmental staff headed by Tourism Ministry Director Amir Halevi after Operation Protective Edge in 2014. This document pulls the rug out from under the business as usual propaganda on tourism, revealing monetary damage to the tourism industry of at least 2 billion shekels ($546 million). The report states, The serious damage to tourism, especially foreign tourism, because of the flight of tourists during the war and the cancellation of future reservations in significant numbers were a grave economic hit that the tourism industry cannot withstand without receiving aid and compensation from the government. Indeed, the state, that is, the citizens of Israel, established a marketing fund that year at a cost of 15 million shekels ($4.1 million) to participate in the marketing efforts of foreign tourism organizers. It is doubtful whether this aid would encourage students at the University of Birmingham in England the alma mater of Hannah Baldon, the brilliant student murdered in an attack in Jerusalem on April 14 at the age of 21 to now come to Zion. In light of the security situation in Judea and Samaria, the government allocated 5 million shekels ($1.3 million) last year to build inexpensive hostels for tourists in the occupied, uh, sorry, liberated, territories. Economist Avichai Snir of Netanya Academic College and the Infinity Investment House told Al-Monitor, We had three lost years [in the tourism industry], and now the record, as it were, that theyre talking about, is just a return to where things were before Protective Edge. Snir added, It certainly says something about how quiet contributes to tourism. A study conducted in 2014 by Ran Sharabany, an economist with the Bank of Israel, clearly points to the connection between the diplomatic-security situation and the motivation of foreigners to visit Israel and to boost the tourism industry. The study concluded that Israel's gloom industry has no connection to Israels force of attraction. Unlike elsewhere in the world, where economic factors set the tone in determining tourists demands, Sharabany wrote, in Israel the security situation has the most impact. The effort to take over the media and rewrite reality through the use of language, such as replacing the term occupation with liberation, painfully recalls George Orwells 1984. The Newspeak that Big Brother used in Oceania was meant to eliminate terms like freedom, to rewrite history to the will of the ruler and to replace depressing news with sweet tidings of growth in chocolate production. April 18, 2017 The New York Times published on April 17 a clarification to an editorial remark that appeared beneath an opinion piece written on April 16 by senior Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. The original remark referred to the author as "Palestinian leader" and "parliamentarian." But the real importance of the clarification is that it shifted the debate over the Palestinian detainees' hunger strike back to concrete spheres. Barghouti, currently imprisoned in Israel, wrote an editorial under the headline, "Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel's Prisons." The aforementioned note about Barghouti beneath the article fails to list the crimes for which he was convicted in 2004, including several terrorist attacks, which led to the deaths of five Israelis. The paper came under harsh criticism in Israel for acting prejudicially and intentionally hiding information and context. This was ultimately successful. An April 17 clarification states, "This article explained the writers prison sentence but neglected to provide sufficient context by stating the offenses of which he was convicted. They were five counts of murder and membership in a terrorist organization. Mr. Barghouti declined to offer a defense at his trial and refused to recognize the Israeli courts jurisdiction and legitimacy." In his lengthy editorial, Barghouti explained the motives behind the hunger strike launched April 17 by hundreds of Palestinian detainees imprisoned in Israel. He described the brutalization of Palestinian prisoners by Israel, including instances of physical torture. He wrote, "Palestinian prisoners and detainees have suffered from torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, and medical negligence. Some have been killed while in detention. According to the latest count from the Palestinian Prisoners Club, about 200 Palestinian prisoners have died since 1967 because of such actions. Through our hunger strike, we seek an end to these abuses." The senior Fatah leader continued, "Having spent the last 15 years in an Israeli prison, I have been both a witness to and a victim of Israels illegal system of mass arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment of Palestinian prisoners. After exhausting all other options, I decided there was no choice but to resist these abuses by going on a hunger strike." Yesh Atid Chair Yair Lapid was one of the first Israeli leaders to release a stinging attack on The New York Times for its original editorial note about Barghouti. In a counter-article published on the Times of Israel English-language website, he accused The New York Times of acting irresponsibly when it "didnt even bother to explain to its readers that the author is a convicted murderer of the worst kind. He was convicted in a civilian (not military) court on five separate counts of murder of innocent civilians. He was involved in dozens of attempted terror attacks. He caused people to lose their families and led to people being maimed. He destroyed lives." In the past, Lapid's right-hand man in Yesh Atid, Knesset member Ofer Shelah, had actually focused considerably on the possibility that Barghouti might be released one day, and on his popularity among more moderate sectors of the Palestinian public. In 2002, as a journalist, he even expressed the fear that Barghouti's trial could be turned into a show trial, driven more by propaganda than facts. Deputy Minister for Diplomacy Michael Oren of the Kulanu Party, a former Israeli ambassador to Washington, called the editorial "journalistic terrorism" and accused The New York Times of "intentional deception." In an interview with Army Radio on April 17, he said, "I have written for the American media for years. The average length of an editorial is 600-700 words. Marwan Barghouti's article is twice as long. Publishing it on a Jewish holiday [the seventh day of Passover] meant that the government of Israel was unable to respond. I think that this was done intentionally. The American Jewish leadership wasnt able to respond either." Joining the attacks was Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon of the Likud Party. He wrote on his Facebook page, "The New York Times forgot to mention that he [Barghouti] is a murderer who was sentenced to five life sentences and responsible for the murder of innocent Israelis. Not only did the New York Times give a platform to a convicted murderer spreading baseless lies about Israel, The New York Times was also hiding the truth from its readers." Lapid, Oren and Danon all align with the right or center-right of the Israeli political spectrum. Their attacks on The New York Times serve their agendas. Their claims were indeed justified, as evidenced by the clarification. Nevertheless, there must now be a serious debate in Israel about Barghouti's claims. For Barghouti, it was a winning move: He succeeded in pushing the issue of Palestinian detainees to the top of the international agenda and embarrassing Israel in the process. At the same time, he also cemented his position as a political leader among the Palestinian public. Barghouti is a lot like Israeli politicians in that he has objectives and rivals. As someone who sees himself as the inevitable successor of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Barghouti is building up his image as leader of the Palestinian prisoners' struggle. Detainees' rights are a very sensitive issue in Palestinian society, and he has used it to score himself points. At the same time, the fact that he has since been moved to solitary confinement, coupled by calls in Israel to investigate the "fiasco" that led to his editorial being smuggled out of prison, will inevitably serve him well. As far as The New York Times is concerned, publishing an editorial that Barghouti wrote in prison just moments before the launch of the hunger strike he initiated is an important journalist coup, reconfiguring the public agenda. But for Israel, the debate must now focus on the conditions faced by Palestinian detainees. Israel has numerous ways to repudiate the claims of this senior Fatah leader: It could release figures to counter these claims and present its own evidence through official channels. Politicians, especially leaders like Yesh Atid head Yair Lapid who see themselves as future candidates for prime minister, should expand the debate and relate to the actual issues at stake. Perhaps they might even present their own positions on resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Obviously Barghouti is a terrorist (as he was convicted), who is justly serving a prison sentence for his crimes. Nevertheless, he is also a political leader and the most famous Palestinian prisoner today. For years, he maintained ties with Israeli politicians from the left. Two former defense ministers from the Labor Party have called for Barghouti's release. In a 2007 interview with Haaretz, late Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer called for Barghouti to be prepared to succeed Abbas as the next Palestinian leader, much like the dialogue that Israel had with late PLO leader Yasser Arafat years earlier. Former Minister Amir Peretz called for Barghouti's release on more than one occasion and even met with him in prison. Joining the calls of Ben-Eliezer and Peretz were former Meretz Ministers Haim Oron and Yossi Beilin. Rather than forcing some easy, populist response or other, the editorial, the controversy over it and the Palestinian prisoners hunger strike would better serve Israel's leaders if they were used to instigate a broader, forward-looking discussion. Such a discussion should inevitably include Barghouti's potential role as a future Palestinian leader. April 18, 2017 Even before the arrival of the Palestinian Authority's (PA) delegation to the Gaza Strip to discuss reconciliation between the Fatah and Hamas movements, the two sides had begun exchanging threats. The delegation representing Fatah originally planned to travel from Ramallah in the West Bank to Gaza once Israel re-opened the Erez crossing that had been closed last week for Passover. But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dropped a bombshell on Hamas leaders. Addressing Palestinian ambassadors gathered in Bahrain on April 13, Abbas said he was about to make far-reaching moves that would cement the split between Gaza and the West Bank. Abbas noted that Hamas had set up an administrative committee to run affairs in Gaza to replace the Palestinian government headed by Rami Hamdallah, and was thus perpetuating its rule in the Strip. A senior Palestinian source in Gaza identified with the Fatah movement told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Abbas is using the administrative committee established by new Hamas ruler Yahya Sinwar as an excuse for long-planned moves. According to the source, Abbas decided to cut the Fatah-ruled West Bank off from Gaza more than a year ago after concluding that Hamas would not cede its rule over the enclave. He was no longer willing to fund the regime that had overthrown his government in 2007. Indications of Abbas moves to sever the West Bank from Gaza have long been evident. Only a blind person would not have seen what we, the veteran Fatah people, clearly saw, said the source. The first sign, he said, was the PAs refusal to pay for the diesel fuel needed to operate the Gaza power station, resulting in a crisis caused by the ensuing power shortages. But the most significant indication was the pay cuts for PA staff in the Strip. Since the 2007 Hamas takeover of Gaza, the PA has continued to pay its employees there, providing de facto funding for Hamas and helping ease its dire financial straits. Without the wages for tens of thousands of PA workers including officials and members of the Palestinian security forces who have not been allowed to work since the overthrow, the economic crisis in the Strip would have been much deeper and Hamas would likely have been unable to survive. This arrangement, whereby the PA continued paying salaries of employees who are unable to work, was intended to be temporary. But a decade later, reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah does not appear likely. And so, as far as the PA is concerned, theres no point in paying people who will probably never work in that position again. Theres certainly no point in making life easier for Hamas and helping it stay in power. Hamas did, indeed, exploit the fact that PA headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah kept paying tens of thousands of unemployed Gaza residents who once worked for the PA. Hamas employed only those identified as Hamas loyalists. According to World Bank data, the 2014 unemployment rate in Gaza stood at 43%. Were it not for the salaries paid by the PA to its former employees, that figure would likely have reached 60% of the workforce. This is the stick that Abbas has held over Hamas' head for years. But at the beginning of April, the PA cut 30% from the pay of its Gaza employees, and according to senior Fatah officials in Gaza on that payroll, their salaries will gradually reach zero. They say that Abbas has concluded that the continued funding of tens of thousands of unemployed Gaza residents for whom Hamas has shirked responsibility is a threat to the PAs survival, and he must therefore divert all the funds at his disposal to the West Bank. This is his way to bring down Hamas, said the Gaza source. To create pressure on them in order to make them understand that they cannot continue to rule Gaza and to get money that frees them from responsibility for health, education and welfare institutions. If Hamas wants to rule Gaza forever more, it must then assume responsibility. The question is why Abbas announced his unprecedented moves just as the reconciliation delegation was about to set out for Gaza. Fatah leaders in Gaza claim that it was a tactical decision designed to demonstrate that he wants reconciliation only on his terms that Hamas accept his conditions for handing over control of the Strip to the PA. The Fatah leaders in Gaza dont believe Abbas threats will achieve the desired results. They are sure Hamas will not agree to cede control of Gaza and will not disarm. Abbas, for his part, will not accept the existence of a second army alongside the PAs security forces, and therefore the obvious conclusion is to sever ties to the Strip, at whatever political cost that may entail. The cost will be steep. The PA employees in Gaza who identify as Fatah supporters are furious with Abbas. For a decade they have been claiming that he had not truly worked to restore Gaza to the PAs control and that he had abandoned its residents to their fate. According to them, now he is taking steps toward a total cutoff from Gaza, which will perpetuate the existence of two separate and disconnected Palestinian entities: Gaza for Hamas and Ramallah for Fatah. Abbas hopes that the increased economic pressure will bring Hamas to the realization that it cannot assume responsibility for the affairs of Gazas 1.8 million residents, but past experience suggests otherwise. After the 2007 overthrow, Abbas and other top Fatah officials also believed that the Israeli blockade on the Strip and the accompanying economic pressure would make Hamas understand that it cannot rule and it would soon beg the Palestinian president to return. That has not happened and is unlikely to happen now. All thats left is to rue the fate of the Strips residents, who are being held hostage by their leaders. April 13, 2017 ISTANBUL On April 9, the fourth batch of evacuees left the besieged al-Waer neighborhood in Homs, northern Syria. The group headed for the city of Jarablus, which has been controlled by opposition factions since its liberation from the Islamic State (IS). Batches of civilians and fighters continue to evacuate al-Waer under the Russian-brokered deal between the neighborhood committee and the regime on March 13. The reconciliation deal, as the Syrian regime calls it, calls for a halt in military hostilities against the neighborhood and the evacuation of opposition fighters to other opposition-held areas. Homs was the epicenter of the revolution during the first year of the rebellion and saw numerous uprisings since the outbreak of the rebellion. On March 18, scores of opposition fighters and their families left the neighborhood for the city of Jarablus, which is controlled by the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army factions fighting IS under the banner of Operation Euphrates Shield. On March 27, the second batch of evacuees reached the city of al-Bab, which is also controlled by opposition factions affiliated with the Turkish-backed Euphrates Shield. Al-Waer resident Ousama Abou Zaid spoke to Al-Monitor via Skype about the exodus from the last opposition-held enclave in Homs. He said, The Russian threat to al-Waer's negotiating committee, composed of civilians and military personnel, forced opposition fighters to leave. The neighborhoods residents feared they would face a fate similar to that of the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo if the neighborhood committee rejected the agreement offered by the Russians. They had no other choice but to accept the settlement whereby opposition fighters and their families and any resident who wanted to leave would vacate the neighborhood. We expect 15,000 people to leave, and this means that only the elderly and children will remain, as others fear they will be arrested when the regime breaks into the neighborhood. The regime warned that young fighters who stayed in the neighborhood would risk conscription or arrest by the Syrian army and security services. Around 1,500 evacuees arrived in al-Bab on March 19, but found no camp ready to host them. Many Syrian opposition figures were angered by what they believe was a failure by humanitarian organizations to properly appreciate the suffering of the displaced from al-Waer who had held their land for six years. Some activists reported that residents of al-Bab and Jarablus were renting tents to the displaced for high fees of up to $300 a month and requiring six months' payment in advance. Issa Al-Ahmad told Al-Monitor from Jarablus over the phone, There may have been similar complaints from individuals. They exploited the critical situation of the evacuees and the lack of preparation and offered tents or houses with some equipment for rent in order to reap profits. But the next morning humanitarian associations were on the field preparing a camp for the evacuees. He added, Yes, there was clear negligence and failure in terms of preparations for the arrival of the convoy of displaced persons. This is due to several reasons, including the absence of international organizations and the limited number of organizations operating in the region, which are limited to organizations working in coordination with the Turks, such as the Turkish Humanitarian Relief Foundation and the Turkish Red Crescent. The residents of the city have been cut off from moving to Syria's northern areas near the Turkish border and have been besieged for years by the regime. Khaled Al-Omar, a father of three who left the neighborhood with his family during the fourth round of evacuations on April 9, told Al-Monitor over the phone, We did not expect this treatment. The committee overseeing the evacuation of al-Waer told us that we would be staying in ready-made homes and that everything would be safe from the moment we arrived. But to our surprise, we found nothing. We spent our first night out in the open and some of us slept on the buses. The next day, we received tents and started setting them up ourselves. I asked the supervisors to bring me back with my family to al-Waer, but they refused, saying that it was not possible. I would rather stay in my house and face the shelling and bombardment instead of seeing my children stranded like this. We were baffled by this careless treatment, as the cities of Jarablus and al-Bab are safe and close to the Turkish border, which should have made it easy to bring in all the equipment necessary for the preparation of camps or prefabricated houses. The third batch of 1,500 evacuees, including 400 fighters, left al-Waer for Idlib. The fourth batch of 1,424 people headed toward Jarablus under similar circumstances. They also complained of a lack of preparations for their arrival. Hassan al-Asmar, an activist from Homs who left the neighborhood in the fourth group, told Al-Monitor, Turkish organizations are trying to improve the situation in Zogora refugee camp in Jarablus by replacing small tents with caravans, but the camp is still far below the standards of safety or human dignity. However, civilians still prefer heading to Jarablus instead of Idlib, where a chemical attack was carried out on April 4, fearing the bombing and the battles there. Those who rented houses outside the camps in Jarablus are comfortable, he added. Thousands of al-Waer residents are still expected to leave for destinations that have yet to be determined. Then the city of Homs will be under the full control of the Syrian regime. April 17, 2017 The shock of the July 15 abortive coup followed by instant imposed reforms and mass purges have drawn Turkeys security sector made up of a large military, the National Intelligence Service (MIT), the national police, the gendarmerie command and private security firms into a structural transformation process. Given Turkeys undeniable secular-conservative divide, it is not hard to see that the states armed security actors are becoming the main instruments of political controversy in the country. Islamic and ultra-nationalist sources of guidance, particularly in the police force, raise the question of the professionalism of armed security forces that adopt active positions in the debate on Islamophobia and Islamic fascism. The Turkish National Police Force, which recently celebrated its 172nd anniversary, commands 275,000 personnel. On March 19, about 10,000 police cadets graduated from police vocational schools in 15 provinces after four-month accelerated trainings. Purges against Gulenists had begun long before the coup attempt, and to fill the gap, police began the accelerated trainings. Photo coverage of the oath-taking ceremony in the central Anatolian city of Yozgat of 1,100 police conscripts triggered acrimonious debate in the country. About 300 cadets, all females, took an oath that pledged their allegiance to God, to prophets, to the flag and weapons, and that called on martyrs to rest in peace and vowed revenge for their deaths. What attracted notice was that none of the women graduates wore the newly permitted headscarves. What made this oath popular after the July 15 coup attempt was the abundant use of religious and ultra-nationalist references and the open avowal of revenge that in a way seemed to place the role of judge and executioner in the hands of new security forces. Nobody reminded these fresh graduates that their supreme duty is not to take revenge but to apprehend criminals and suspects to deliver them to the judiciary. But somebody was careful enough to make sure that the ceremony ended with official version of the oath that vows to serve the Turkish nation and the state impartially and with respect to human rights. Pro-government and conservative media gave glowing coverage of these police oath-taking ceremonies, especially the vow of female police to take revenge. Anyone objecting to religious and ultra-nationalist references in the ceremonies was accused of Islamophobia, while critical media chose to report these events as footsteps of Islamic fascism. One fervent critical writer warned, Islamic fascism is becoming the official ideology of the state. That the state security sector has become the main arena of vigorous debate between the secular and conservative camps indicates that Turkey hasnt paid much attention to lessons learned from the July 15 coup attempt. The politicization of the security sector down to its lowest ranks means meddling and taking sides in the political debate, which could have lethal implications, particularly for civilian-military relations. We should recall how on Dec. 19 in Ankara, a young 2-year veteran of the police force, Mevlut Mert Altintas, assassinated Russian Ambassador Andrey Karlov. We still dont know for sure what motivated Altintas to assassinate Karlov and who might have incited him. Whether he was spurred by the Gulen movement or a network affiliated with al-Qaeda or Jabhat al-Nusra, the reality is that he had to be mentally primed for such an action and that rituals such as these revenge oaths in police uniforms were probably the first steps in his radicalization. April 17, 2017 The outcome of Turkey's April 16 referendum wasn't exactly the victory President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was aiming for: clear support for constitutional amendments that would give him more executive power than even republic founder Kemal Ataturk had envisioned for himself. Dissent was strong in the country's largest cities, and European officials also have registered their disapproval. Before the results were even announced, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim delivered the first victory speech of the night, not Erdogan himself. But with Erdogan's pragmatism, which for all practical purposes is necessary for his survival, he was quick to give a speech declaring victory, even as the results of the referendum were being contested with allegations of irregularities and fraud. Given the controversy of the neck-and-neck results blemished with the allegations of rigging, Erdogan couldn't resist but he did not look confident or triumphant. In an unusually brief and uncharacteristically muted speech, with a stony expression on his face, he insisted he had won the contested referendum and called on the outside world for acknowledgment. He once again mentioned enacting capital punishment. According to official figures, approval for an executive presidency which many Turks believe will amount to a one-man rule came out with roughly 51.4% of the vote, while the "no" votes made up 48.6%. Turnout was measured at 83.3%. There were 24,325,985 yes votes counted against 23,189,021 no votes a difference of 1,136,964. More than 800,000 votes were invalidated because they weren't clearly marked or weren't submitted properly. However, even as the voting was underway, the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) registered a complaint with the Supreme Election Board, alleging 2.5 million ballots were used without official seals on them. Under Turkish election law, those ballots would have to be considered invalid. Yet the Supreme Election Board, known to be close to Erdogan, dismissed the allegations. Irregularities reported from all around Turkey are abundant. Even if all of them are unfounded, Erdogans win can best be defined as a Pyrrhic victory: victory, but at what cost? The most important indicator of such a judgment is his loss of all the big cities. In Istanbul, historically the economic and cultural megapolis of Turkey, and in the capital city of Ankara, no votes exceeded "yes" votes. In the third-largest city, Izmir, the ratio was devastating: 69% rejected the amendments. All the areas along the Mediterranean and Aegean (southern and western) coastlines of Turkey, all the way to Istanbul, across the Marmara Sea, to the Black Sea coast overwhelmingly voted against the referendum, including the fourth-largest town, Adana, and the new touristic metropolis of Antalya. In the latter two, the difference was clear: 60% against; 40% in favor. Turkey's mostly Kurdish southeast produced stunning results. Almost 70% of voters in Diyarbakir, the Kurdish spiritual center, rejected the referendum. The ratio of no votes was strikingly high in most militant Kurdish towns where the mayors had been arrested and their administrations turned over to trustees appointed from Ankara. Some of those towns had been reduced to rubble as a result of heavy fighting and have remained under curfew almost for a year. The "no" votes in those towns were as follows: Cizre, 80%; Nusaybin, 79%; Silvan, 77%; Silopi, 75%; Lice, 85%; and Varto, 87%. Erdogan derived his support mainly from vast agricultural regions of central Anatolia, some central-eastern provinces, and most of the staunchly conservative, nationalistic constituencies along the Black Sea coast. Erdogans motto during the one-sided campaign was One state, one nation, one flag. But with the referendum results, it is safe to say Turkey is more polarized and divided than ever. Though it is still considered one state under one flag, it most likely is now three nations pretending to be one: two increasingly irreconcilable Turkish nations and the Kurdish nation. It should never be forgotten that even if the election proves to be fraud-free Erdogan's Pyrrhic victory was achieved in an unprecedented, unfair campaign. The campaign was conducted under a state of emergency. Anybody against the referendum was dubbed by the president himself a traitor to the nation or a terrorist linked to Gulenists, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) or the like. During March and April, Istanbul was plastered with signs supporting the referendum and posters of Erdogan. The visual and print media controlled by the president engaged in the yes campaign almost entirely. For instance, according to a survey covering March 1-10, during primetime, the presidency enjoyed 53 hours of coverage; the ruling AKP, 83 hours; and the ultranationalist, pro-referendum Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), 14 hours. The main opposition the CHP received 17 hours of coverage, and the pro-Kurdish HDP (whose chairman and 12 lawmakers are in prison) got only 33 minutes. The yes campaign had live coverage for 485 hours compared with 45 hours for the opposition. In fact, the Council of Europes advisory body on legal issues, the Venice Commission-European Commission for Democracy through Law, issued a report on Turkey in March saying that holding a referendum under the state of emergency conditions must be considered invalid if not illegal. In particular, the extremely unfavorable environment for journalism and the increasingly impoverished and one-sided public debate that prevail in Turkey at this point question the very possibility of holding a meaningful, inclusive democratic referendum campaign about the desirability of the amendments, the report said. In conclusion, the Venice Commission is of the view that the substance of the proposed constitutional amendments represents a dangerous step backward in the constitutional democratic tradition of Turkey. The Venice Commission wishes to stress the dangers of degeneration of the proposed system toward an authoritarian and personal regime. On the night of the referendum, Social-Democrat Kati Piri the Netherlands' representative to the European Parliament and rapporteur for Turkey's accession bid wrote on her blog: In an unfair election environment, a narrow majority of the Turkish population has endorsed the constitutional package that will give President Erdogan unchecked powers, which will fit an authoritarian system. This is a sad day for all Democrats in Turkey. It is clear that the country cannot join the [European Union] with a constitution that doesnt respect the separation of powers and has no checks and balances. If the package is implemented unchanged, this will have to lead to the formal suspension of the EU accession talks. Continuing to talk about Turkeys integration into Europe under the current circumstances has become a farce. The result of todays vote is a major shift away from European values. Erdogans autocratic behavior has deeply polarized Turkish society and harmed the economy. As the first loud European voice on the most recent developments in Turkey, she continued tweeting about the contested results. In unfair elections, narrow majority for 'yes.' Too small margin for such drastic changes, she wrote. Almost half of Turkish population voted 'NO.' Imagine if it had been a fair electoral campaign! Notwithstanding Turkeys foggy EU prospects, life went on and Turks and Kurds awoke April 17 to a New Turkey." After a probably rigged referendum and a Pyrrhic victory, the future is no more certain for its main protagonist, Erdogan, and even more uncertain for the almost 80 million citizens of Turkey. April 18, 2017 Allegations of fraud in Turkeys April 16 referendum show no signs of abating despite government denials that any irregularity occurred. Today, the main opposition Republican Peoples Party (CHP) petitioned the Supreme Electoral Board (YSK) for the vote on boosting the powers of the presidency to be annulled. CHP Deputy Chairman Bulent Tezcan, who lodged the appeal, called the referendum organized vote theft. He was referring in particular to the boards controversial last-minute decision to breach its own rules and accept ballots without official seals. The opposition charges it did so to clear the path for cheating. The amendments squeaked through with a razor-thin margin at 51%. Aykan Erdemir, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former CHP member of parliament, said the YSK's actions coupled with reports from the field point to reckless fraud carried out with impunity. He told Al-Monitor, To avert fraud, we tell ballot box observers that to make the ballots distinguishable from the outside, they should not only stamp the ballots but stamp them all in the same place to pick a corner on the envelope, on the ballot itself, and stick with it. This narrows the opportunity for tampering. Tezcan said the number of unstamped ballots was impossible to determine. The only thing left to do is cancel the vote. Tezcan added that his party would take its case to Turkeys Constitutional Court and to the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights if need be. In the capital Ankara, citizens formed long lines outside the YSK headquarters to submit petitions for annulment. In Istanbul, crowds gathered outside the main courthouse in Cagalayan on the European side of the city to register their disapproval. Sporadic street protests have erupted across Istanbul with citizens banging pots and pans and chanting murderer and thief. A Western diplomat predicted that such actions were unlikely to reverse the outcome. Speaking on condition that he not be identified, the diplomat said, While it is clear that the conduct of the referendum was illegal, there is no evidence to prove that the 1.3 million votes [that tipped the balance] were either doctored or invalid. Even vocal opponents of the government agree. Asli Aydintasbas, a columnist for the left-leaning daily Cumhuriyet and a fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, tweeted, A 1.3 million difference cannot be explained away by fraud claims. Erdogan received an unexpected boost from US President Donald Trump, who called to congratulate him on his victory. The two leaders also reportedly discussed the latest situation in Syria, where the US-led coalition is preparing an all-out assault on Raqqa, the so-called capital of the Islamic State. The call caught many administration officials by surprise and the State Department, whose initial reaction to the referendum was markedly circumspect, was not consulted, Al-Monitor has learned. Former US Ambassador to Ankara Eric Edelman called the move very ill-advised. In remarks to Al-Monitor he noted, First, the conduct of the referendum itself has been harshly criticized by the OSCE. Second, the opposition in Turkey is still contesting the result. Third, the only entities to congratulate Erdogan are a coalition of the disreputable Azerbaijan, Qatar, Hamas, Ahrar al-Sham not the kind of company the United States normally keeps. And what did the US get in return for this gesture? Absolutely nothing. Edelman was alluding to the election-monitoring mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which delivered its preliminary findings yesterday. They werent good. Mission chief Tana de Zulueta declared at a news conference that the constitutional referendum was passed on an unlevel playing field. Zulueta noted, The referendum took place in a political environment in which fundamental freedoms essential to a genuinely democratic process were curtailed under the state of emergency, and the two sides did not have equal opportunities to make their case to the voters. The negative tone was unusual for the notoriously cautious outfit, suggesting that Turkey had crossed a line. Nate Schenkkan, the project director for Nations in Transit at Freedom House, told Al-Monitor, The OSCE only describes what they can observe for themselves and what they gain from interviews with stakeholders. They stick to the facts. Schenkkan added, For them to put out a harsh assessment like this means they didnt get adequate explanations from the Turkish government when they asked questions. True to form, Erdogan dismissed the allegations of misconduct as a further manifestation of the Wests crusader mentality and said the monitors should know their place. Meanwhile, fresh evidence suggesting blatant malfeasance continues to surface via social media. Images shared by a man in the mainly Kurdish province of Mus, where votes in favor prevailed, has prompted a fresh outcry. In the photographs he posted on Facebook, a man is seen brandishing an AK-47 assault rifle. The caption reads, There are 305 votes in my ballot box and by the grace of Allah, all 305 are yes. April 17, 2017 ISTANBUL During the night of April 15 until dawn the next day, the city did not sleep much. Sitting on the terrace of a Karakoy commercial district high-rise, my friends and I could see lights on all night in most of the neighborhood. On social media, hundreds of people complained about being sleepless and anxious as the referendum on constitutional changes approached. When the call for morning prayer began around dawn, my first phone call came from friends in Sirnak, a war-torn city in southeast Turkey close to the Iraqi border. Its pro-Kurdish local government had been replaced months earlier by the Justice and Development Party (AKP). Local election observers had been removed under the emergency law, accused of supporting terrorism. My friend in Sirnak, where voting started an hour earlier than in Istanbul, was cheerful as she said, We are ready to dance in the streets in the evening. Sirnak will say no. Indeed, Sirnak and several Kurdish cities, despite government pressure, overwhelmingly voted against the proposed changes that would greatly expand the presidency's power. The sleepless pre-referendum night was met with a busy and tense day of commotion all around the country. I visited several Istanbul neighborhoods, spoke with diverse groups throughout the day and witnessed the tensions and violence firsthand. First, the referendum was held while the country is under emergency law. There was so much pressure on individuals to vote "yes" that you could see the anxiety on the faces of people waiting in line to vote. Some worried about a terror attack; others feared another coup attempt. Some worried about their bosses demanding they provide proof they had voted for the amendments. (At least some found comfort when social media came to the rescue the night before with a website where people could produce a fake photo "proving" they had voted yes.) Amendment opponents in major cities were well-organized, but they could not be everywhere. In small towns and villages, several lawmakers and activists reported local leaders (mukhtars) were illegally forcing people to display their votes publicly. Indeed, as voting was coming to a close in the afternoon, it became clear that despite a law against it, people had been allowed to bring their cellphones into the voting areas: There were hundreds of selfies on social media platforms from AKP supporters showing them proudly smiling with "yes" ballots. However, these individual incidents were not the only major problem with regard to voter fraud. There were also photos and videos of people carrying bags of ballots from cars into the voting areas, stamping "yes" on them and closing the votes with the official seal. As these videos of AKP men joking about who was the best at stamping "yes" on ballots started spreading on social media, I visited an underground mosque in Fatih for noon prayers. The congregation of 50 men was friendly to an outsider and nervous about the referendum. Most of them said they did not think Istanbul would be carried by a "yes" vote. One man suggested I visit "the jihadi bookstore" next door. "They support the referendum; we support Erdogan but not the referendum. At the bookstore, the owner said, We believe Erdogan deserves a stronger position in the country. Right now, every time he wants to help us [Syrians], we hit more roadblocks. If he wins, we are ready to support him more. Indeed, after Erdogans victory speech in the evening, these groups posted several congratulatory messages. Multiple cases of intimidation were also reported. Fellow Al-Monitor contributor Ali Bayramoglu was brutally attacked for voting "no" in Istanbul. Around 5 p.m., right before the polls closed, the Supreme Election Council announced it had made a change in its official rules and would allow votes with no official seal to be counted. Originally, these votes were discarded as invalid. As observers at voting booths were trying to figure out the decision of the council, police units started arriving at several voting areas asking the observers to leave. According to the official rules, while people are asked to vote in secret, ballot counting once the polls close is open to the public. As vote observers were still waiting to turn over ballots to the official bodies, and within only two hours of the polls closing, several pro-AKP media outlets started announcing the amendments had been approved. Some even showed the "yes" vote above 60%. The state-run Anadolu Agency was the only news media allowed to announce the outcome, and its results did not match the Supreme Election Councils website. At that time, Meral Aksener, an ultranationalist politician, called a TV channel to say only 75-80% of the ballots had been counted and the results were showing a victory for naysayers at 52%. At that point, I was at a conservative restaurant in Tophane that displayed a Turkish flag with Erdogans photo on its wall. The patrons were confident the "yes" vote would win. One said, Erdogan is the leader; do you think he will ever hold an election he will lose? Does [Russian President Vladimir] Putin ever lose? Does [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad ever lose an election? When I asked them if life would be better if Erdogan won, they said that is their prayer because they face financial difficulties. There was no jubilant celebration in the neighborhood. The public tension did not die down after the supposed victory. Several patrons at a cafe in the liberal Cihangir area were asking if women would now become the concubines of AKP men. On April 11, a worker from Istanbul City Municipality (IBB), Omer Akbayrak, posted on his Facebook account, On April 17, after we win the war, their [naysayers] wives and daughters" will be fair game for those who voted "yes." The AKP-controlled IBB immediately fired Akbayrak, yet several others started posting photos of female relatives wives, daughters, mothers and granddaughters of opposition leaders, prominent naysayer journalists and actors, saying, "On April 17, they will be our concubines." On the day of the referendum, vehemently pro-government journalist Cem Kucuk, known for his threats to opposition figures, tweeted as the polls closed, Yes, we won, but be ready to fight. Even as different members of the "no" camp tried to convince the media that the count wasn't over yet, first the prime minister, then Erdogan, gave victory speeches. Erdogan warned his supporters that people might try to belittle their victory but that it wouldn't matter. Anadolu Agencys unofficial results show 51.4% for the "yes" vote, about 1.2 million more than the "no" vote. However, opposition parties urge a recount for 60% of the ballots, claiming fraudulent voting and the voting council's last-minute, possibly illegal changing of its rules at the AKPs request. The legitimacy of the results remains highly contested. "No" votes prevailed in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir and several other major cities, along with Kurdish-majority areas. As Erdogan was speaking, hundreds of people spontaneously started banging pots and pans in Beyoglu district. On the social media site Periscope, recordings of protesters marching in several cities were shared all night. Overall, as an observer for 30 years, I can say this referendum was a bad idea everyone in Turkey lost except for the lucky few in Erdogans top circle, at least for the short term. Now the question is: How will Turkey, in its precarious position, shift to the presidential system? April 15, 2017 BAGHDAD Iraqi universities have recently become the scene of military and political maneuvers by the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU). In a response to this development, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Abdul Razzaq al-Issa announced April 14, "We are determined to remove the heads of the universities who do not maintain the independence that threatens the identity of the Iraqi academic institution. Universities will not be part of political calculations. Sheikh Qais al-Khazali, the head of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (League of the Righteous), made a statement March 18 calling for the establishment of the Popular Mobilization Units University, warning against any possible plot to distance the PMU from the Iraqi arena. These statements sparked much controversy in Iraq. While some believes this is an attempt to ideologize the policies on campus, as was the case in Iran, others believe it is an attempt to defend the PMUs purposes in Iraq. In a statement, Khazali's office said the speech by Khazali was the "first conference" held for the PMU university students, in conjunction with the victories achieved in west Mosul and the operations to liberate the city of Tal Afar at the hands of the PMU. Iraqs students need to organize their ranks, which would allow them to overthrow any corrupt government or regime. Today we need two things to make an achievement at the student level in Iraq. First, we need to organize ranks, rearrange our situation and deal with it in the same way we act on the PMU military battlefields. Second, we need to agree on visions, goals and means to unify the students effort and energy," the statement read. Khazali said in his speech, With this, there will be a strong and effective PMU University, through which we could address our enemies and tell them, 'If you fear us now, you must know that the PMU is present in every university, college and department.' He continued, It is your responsibility today to start organizing ranks and achieve a conscious unified vision as well as well-thought-out and careful study to complete the announcement of the PMU in all Iraqi universities and departments so that the PMU could exercise its role. To achieve a unified vision, we must draft one project and structured vision. Tikrit University in Salahuddin governorate was the first university to raise a PMU banner on Nov. 4, 2016, that read, The PMU University is the backbone of our security forces and our popular mobilization. Some political parties might believe that this call is an attempt to reproduce the Iranian cultural revolution experience in Iranian universities after the collapse of the shahs rule in 1979. These fears come in tandem with the calls of Birwan Musleh, a member of the parliamentary Higher Education Committee, to distance university campuses from any political activity. Musleh told Al-Monitor, We are seeking to distance the university campuses from any political activity and start awareness programs rejecting any political or partisan interference in the academic field. Musleh believes that these interferences undermine the level of education in Iraq. The committee has also discussed this issue with the concerned parties at the Ministry of Higher Education, noting that the PMU expansions on university campuses have created a sectarian and partisan enviroment. We will not allow the reproduction of Iranian culture in our universities through the PMU. It is not the PMU's role or responsibility to interfere with the work of the educational institutions, she concluded. Historical sources indicate that the so-called Iranian cultural revolution, which was launched at universities, removed any Western and non-Islamic sources or influence from the academic sciences and curricula so that they could be compatible with the new political system. The revolution first closed the universities in Iran for three years (1980-83), banning many books, expelling thousands of students and lecturers from colleges, not to mention other practices committed on campus that greatly affected the overall education, social and economic conditions. In this vein, Khamis al-Shahwani, a professor at the University of Nahrain in Baghdad, said in November 2016 that the university security associated with the PMU issued orders that month to dismiss 13 university professors from the northern and western areas, under the pretext that they belonged to the Baath Party, which has been banned since 2003. He noted that four of the professors were from the faculty of business economics at the University of Nahrain, four from the faculty of political sciences, two from the Information engineering faculty and three were part of the university presidency. Haidar al-Aboudi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Higher Education, denied fears over political interference on campus, noting that his ministry has not yet recorded any kind of such political practices on campus. Aboudi told Al-Monitor in a phone interview, The university campus is for science and culture, and there is no room for political work. Commenting on the fears of Musleh, Aboudi said, Universities consider the occasional poetry festivals as interference as they are part of the national celebration of the victories achieved by the military forces against the Islamic State. These battles are respected by everyone. Karim al-Nouri, a leader in the PMU, told Al-Monitor, We believe that security could not be achieved through a political party alone, but through social awareness, tolerance, understanding and acceptance of other components. Students are the pillar of society. He added, The PMU cultural revolution is very different from the Iranian experience because Iraq is a pluralistic civil state, while Iran is a religious state led by the velayat-e faqih." In light of the exchange of accusations, the coming days will witness political and security events and will reveal whether Iraqi students will show their political affiliations on campus. Alabama farmers have raised more than $80,000 to benefit western ranchers affected by wildfires. The Alabama Farmers Agriculture Foundation, along with the Alabama Farmers Federation and Alfa Foundation, matched $25,000 pledged from county farmers federations for the project, which ended March 31. In all, 53 of Alabama's 67 county farmers federations donated to the fund. The money will benefit ranchers in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Colorado. A series of wildfires in early March destroyed more than a million acres of grazing land and killed thousands of cattle and swine in the region. Alabama Farmers Federation President Jimmy Parnell said conversations with the affected areas determined that cash donations were most needed. "By working with trustworthy, grassroots organizations, we provided direct assistance to those in need without creating additional transportation and logistics issues related to delivering feed and fencing materials," Parnell said. Federation Beef Division Director Nate Jaeger said it has been "encouraging to see" the gifts given. "I echo the sentiments of many that we only wish we could do more," he said. boeing 1.jpg Boeing Jetplex Campus in Huntsville. (Courtesy of Boeing) Boeing announced this week it will slash hundreds of engineering jobs in Washington and at other sites, USA Today reports. The organization said slowing aircraft sales are to blame. "Today's announcement involves involuntary layoffs in the engineering function of commercial airplanes," Boeing spokesman Doug Alder said in a statement Monday. "We expect that hundreds of employees will (sic) impacted in Washington state and other locations across the enterprise." The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, a union that represents Boeing's engineers, told USA Today that employees will receive 60-day notices Friday. Bill Dugovich, a union spokesman, said the latest round of cuts is "very disappointing." "The workforce here in Washington state has now been cut by the Boeing Co. by more than 12,600 jobs since Washington state gave the company the largest tax break in U.S. history in November 2013," he said. Click here to read the full story. Boeing, which cut 1,800 positions earlier this year, has scheduled the workforce reduction for June 23, USA Today said. Spokesman Doug Adler told AL.com in an email the layoffs involve Boeing's engineering function on the commercial airplanes side. "Huntsville is not part of the commercial side of the business so no impact there," he said. The company announced in November it will bring about 400 jobs to Huntsville as it makes $70 million in capital investments by 2020. AL.com has contacted Boeing for more details about its Huntsville workforce. Tomato salad season arrives early this year at Hot and Hot Fish Club. The Hot and Hot Tomato Salad -- a perennial on the Alabama Tourism Department's list of "100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama Before You Die" -- returns to the menu tonight, April 18, at the Birmingham restaurant. In recent years, the popular tomato salad hasn't made its debut until the first week of May, when the first crop of spring tomatoes typically arrives from growers in Immokalee and Ruskin, Fla. "These last five years, we've seen a shift in the agricultural calendar," Hot and Hot Fish Club executive chef and co-owner Chris Hastings told AL.com this morning. "Different things are showing up earlier at different times of the year because of the warmer weather. "Usually, the peas and the corn and the okra are the first things we see and the tomatoes are the last thing to show up," Hastings added. "But we've been seeing pretty good tomatoes for the last couple of weeks." Alabama-grown tomatoes should be ready in about another month, Hastings added. The tomato salad has been a late spring and summer tradition on the Hot and Hot Fish Club menu since Hastings and his wife, Idie, opened their restaurant in 1995. A triumph of culinary art that is as eye-catching as it is delicious, the Hot and Hot Tomato Salad features thick tomato slices tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette and meticulously stacked one on top of the other, then garnished with lady peas, corn kernels and fried okra pods. The tomatoes are drizzled with a chive aioli and crowned with applewood-smoked bacon. The arrival of the tomato salad is a rite of spring that Hot and Hot Fish Club regulars anticipate every year, Hastings said. "For the last 30 days, it doesn't matter where I am -- I can be at the barber shop, I can be at the grocery store, or I can be coming out of services on Easter Sunday, or I can be getting text message and emails from friends (wanting to know): 'When's the tomato salad?'," he said. "It's really cool to be able to have something that resonates so profoundly with our community. And it's kind of gotten a reputation well beyond our community. It's considered one of the most iconic dishes in the South, and that's pretty cool." Hastings came up with the recipe before he opened Hot and Hot Fish Club, while he was teaching a week of cooking classes at Bud & Alley's restaurant in Seaside, Fla. "I had some time to really work on this thing and kind of bring it full circle," he recalled. "Like anything, you have to tinker with it. I played with a lot of different variations, and it was that week that it kind of resonated. And that was it. I've served it at the Hot and Hot for 22 years now." The Hot and Hot Tomato Salad is available as an appetizer for $12. An entree, which features twin stacks of the tomato salad served with Bayou La Batre shrimp, is $32. The tomato salad is typically available through the end of September. Hot and Hot Fish Club is at 2180 11th Court South in Birmingham. The phone number is 205-933-5474. To see a menu, go here, and for reservations, go here. A Birmingham lawyer was ejected from the Church of the Highlands on Sunday after attending an Easter Sunday worship service, when his ex-wife complained that he was in violation of a court order. Bart Slawson posted his account of the ejection on Facebook. "I just went to Easter Sunday to worship Jesus at the church," Bart told AL.com. "I've got 10 policemen in my face, searching me. I was sitting on the couch. I was on my way out. I got a text message from a friend so I sat down to read it." A sergeant from Irondale Police Department helped handle the situation, Bart said. "He was very professional and polite," Bart said. "He kept saying, 'There are two sides to the story. The restraining order doesn't say church.'" The head of church security made it clear to him he was banned permanently not only from the main campus at the Church of the Highlands in Irondale, but from all 15 of its branch campuses. "The head of security told me I can't come back ever again," Bart said. "It's a big part of my life. I think that's wrong. It's shocking, it's frightening and it hurts. I go for comfort and to help people." Efforts to reach the head of security at the Church of the Highlands and the Irondale police sergeant who handled the situation were unsuccessful as of Tuesday afternoon. But Bart and Kristi gave essentially the same account of what happened at the church, in separate interviews with AL.com. Kristi said she arrived at church at 7:15 a.m. to serve on the coffee team, which hands out coffee to arriving churchgoers. Buddy Floyd, an usher and Dream Team member at the church, saved her usual seat in a pew behind Pastor Chris Hodges, she said. "I usually sit behind Chris Hodges on the second row," Kristi said. "I sat Kristi in her seat but didn't save her one," Floyd clarified by email. "One just happened to be open near Pastor Chris." Kristi said she was on her way out of the sanctuary when she saw her ex-husband. "I was 10 steps out of the sanctuary and saw him sitting there," Kristi said. She told Floyd that her ex-husband was in the church and that she had a protection order against him. "Within 30 seconds I was swarmed by people at the church," she said. "I saw the uniformed security people the church has, running toward where he was." She pointed him out, and he was questioned by church security officials and Irondale police. "I do have a protection from abuse order," said Kristi Slawson. "The security at the church embraced me very quickly and took me away from where he was." Kristi said she always carries the court order against her ex-husband. "I keep the protection order in a folder in my purse," Kristi said. "My first instincts were to find somebody and show them the protection order." Bart said he never saw his ex-wife and didn't know she was at the same service. "I pulled my restraining order out," Kristi said. "I was crying and upset. I stayed up in the offices until he was escorted out. They told him he was never allowed to attend any Church of the Highlands services at any of the campuses." Bart said that the divorce agreement includes a mutual restraining order, so he could have called the police on her if he had seen her first. Kristi agrees that's true, but she also has a protection order in addition to that, she said. Kristi said her first husband died in 2009 after more than two decades of marriage. She married and divorced another man before marrying Bart, her third husband. Bart and Kristi married in 2015. Both had a previous spouse die. The mother of Bart's 15-year-old daughter died in 2014. He had been married and divorced twice previously. Kristi was his fourth wife. Bart and Kristi had their divorce finalized last month. Bart said he was not trying to harass his ex-wife. "It's 3,000 people out there," Bart said. "I didn't see her. If I would have seen her, I would have gone the other way." Kristi, 58, a photographer and former teacher, praised the church security team and the police officers who responded. "I think they acted properly in my behalf," Kristi said. "They took care of me and saw the fear and fright I had." Bart, 62, said he's been bombarded by offers welcoming him to attend other churches. "I am not a detractor of the Church of the Highlands," Bart said. "I've contributed money and time and I thought they cared about me." Concerns about security The incident comes in the midst of heightened discussions of church security prompted by a bill in the Alabama Legislature, passed by the Senate and awaiting a vote in the House, that would allow Briarwood Presbyterian Church to form its own police department that would oversee security at the Jefferson County church campus and the affiliated Shelby County high school campus. On Saturday, a shooting at a spring carnival on the grounds of Cathedral of the Cross also highlighted concerns about security at church-hosted events. Update: All charges against Slawson related to the arrest at the church have been dismissed. Gov. Kay Ivey has changed the date for the election to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Jeff Sessions. Ivey scheduled the election for this year. Former Gov. Robert Bentley had scheduled it for next year. Under a proclamation Ivey signed today, the primary will be August 15, the runoff, if necessary, will be Sept. 26 and the general election will be Dec. 12. "I promised to steady our ship of state," Ivey said in a press release today. "This means following the law, which clearly states the people should vote for a replacement U.S. Senator as soon as possible." Sessions vacated the seat to become U.S. Attorney General. In February, Bentley appointed then-Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange to fill the seat on a temporary basis until a special election. Bentley later scheduled the special election to coincide with the regular election cycle next year, with the primary in June and general election in November. The Alabama Legislative Black Caucus, Secretary of State John Merrill, State Auditor Jim Zeigler and others contended that state law required the election to be sooner. The Legislative Black Caucus asked Bentley to change the date. Zeigler filed a lawsuit seeking an earlier date. The Legislative Reference Service researched the issue in response to numerous questions and determined the election should be held sooner than the 2018 cycle. Bentley argued that the dates he chose complied with the law. The former governor also expressed concerns about the cost of a special election. Strange released a statement after Ivey's announcement today: "As I've said for months, I'm a candidate and I'm ready to run whether the election is next month or next year. As the only announced candidate for this office, I will spend the next several months being the best Senator I can be, upholding Alabama values and working with President Donald Trump to drain the swamp and help make America great again. The people of Alabama deserve nothing less and ultimately it will be up to them to decide who will represent them in Washington." At a press conference this afternoon, Ivey said she spoke to Strange before making her announcement. "I called him this morning and gave him a heads-up," Ivey said. "He's the only announced candidate that I know of and also holds the position. So we had a very comfortable conversation." During Ivey's first press conference as governor last week, she said she was concerned about the cost of holding a special election, estimated to be a total of about $15 million for all three rounds, primary, runoff and general. Today, the governor said said she had spoken with the state finance director and determined that expenditure would not impede any major functions of state government. Ivey noted that the cost would be spread over two fiscal years, 2017 and 2018. As for the specific dates, the governor said those were picked in consultation with Secretary of State Merrill. Ivey said Merrill gave her dates for consideration, and she chose the earliest of those. Code of Alabama, Section 36-9-8, says that if a vacancy occurs in a Senate seat more than four months before a general election, the governor is to call a special election "forthwith." Bentley interpreted that to mean that he had to announce the election date "forthwith," rather than that the election had to be held "forthwith." Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, who had argued for an earlier election date, issued a statement today: "Governor Ivey's announcement this morning puts us one step closer to turning the page on this ugly and shameful period in our state history. This demonstrates a departure from the backroom politics that we have seen for too long in Montgomery. The people of Alabama have the right to decide who represents our state and now they will have that opportunity." Updated shortly after 12:30 p.m. with comments from governor's press conference. state house mug by julie.JPG (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com) The Alabama House of Representatives is scheduled to consider a bill today requiring high school students to pass a citizenship test as part of a required course in government. Students would have to correctly answer at least 60 of 100 questions chosen from the tests given to immigrants applying for citizenship. The bill, by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, is first on the House agenda today. Orr said he proposed the bill because of disturbing survey results showing that many Americans don't understand the basic principles of how government works. Orr's has passed the Senate and could get final passage in the House today. Students who fail the test could retake it until they get a passing score. The bill would allow school administrators to grant exceptions to the requirement if a student has taken and failed the test twice and otherwise has a passing grade in the government course. gerald allen and del marsh horizontal.JPG Sen. Gerald Allen, right, sponsor of the bill to eliminate the requirement for pistol permits, talks to Sen. Del Marsh in this file photo. (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com) The Alabama Senate, divided sharply along party lines, has passed a bill eliminating the requirement for a permit from a county sheriff to carry a concealed handgun. The Senate passed the bill by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, after voting to cut off debate. Democrats in the Senate opposed the bill and sought to amend it. The bill passed by a vote of 25-8, with all eight Democrats in the Senate voting against it. It moves to the House of Representatives. Allen said people should not have to buy a pistol permit to exercise their Second Amendment rights. "It's unthinkable that you have to pay a fee for a constitutional right. That's really the heart of the whole issue," Allen said. Some law enforcement officials had argued against the bill in committee, saying it would take away an important enforcement tool. People would still have the option of buying pistol permits, Allen noted, which he said would be important for those who want to carry in other states that recognize Alabama's concealed carry law. Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, said the bill would not promote public safety but would turn the state into the "wild, wild West." The bill was one of a set of controversial bills on the Senate calendar today that Democrats generally opposed. Sen. Quinton Ross, D-Montgomery, said Republicans were trying to polish their public image after the resignation of Gov. Robert Bentley, suspension of Chief Justice Roy Moore and ethics conviction of House Speaker Mike Hubbard. "This is called rebuilding a brand day," Ross said. Ross said the bills, including Allen's bill and another to add nitrogen hypoxia as a new method of execution, would not address the state's real concerns, like education, health care and the burden of the tax on groceries. Ross chided the Republicans for repeatedly using cloture petitions to cut off debate today, saying they should be used rarely in a deliberative body. "Now it seems like it's popcorn," Ross said. "They come out of the microwave." Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh said today's bills were a reinforcement of well established Republican positions. I would say it's not a rebrand. "I guess you could say it secures the brands of Republicans," Marsh said. "Republicans have always stood for religious rights, gun rights, rights of the people. And I think that's what today was about." A Pell City contractor pleaded guilty to federal explosives storage and record-keeping charges two years after his failed implosion of a more than 100-year-old smokestack at Avondale Mills. The demolition ended with the structure collapsing on the track hoe he was operating. Timothy Manley Phifer, 54, pleaded guilty to one count of failing to record the acquisition of explosives and one count of improperly storing explosives. Phifer is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 14. Phifer, who held a federal permit to receive and use explosives, failed to timely record the receipt of explosives materials - Austin Powder 50-grain and 25-grain detonating cord - between Sept. 10, 2014, and Dec. 2, 2014, according to his plea agreement He also failed to properly store the detonating cord on Dec. 4, 2015, in St. Clair County. Phifer owns Phoenix Services of Alabama, which contracted with Pell City to demolish the old Avondale Mills' brick smokestack. Phifer detonated explosives to bring down the stack on Nov. 24, 2015, but the 2.5 million pound brick tower didn't fall. "So, to accomplish the task, Phifer boarded a city-owned excavator and used it to nudge the smokestack over. However, as the structure began to come down, it buckled and fell directly onto the excavator while Phifer was still behind the wheel," Phifer's plea agreement stated. "Phifer miraculously emerged from the rubble stunned and dirty, but essentially uninjured." Following the incident, Phifer told AL.com that he was lucky to be alive. Phifer used a track hoe to begin pulling away at the bricks when the explosion failed. "I thought if I did that, it would fall the way we wanted," he told AL.com in November 2015. Unfortunately, the structure suddenly began to crumble. "I didn't know which way it was going to fall, Phifer said. The track hoe had a glass window on its right side, so Phifer said he swung it to the left, lifted the boom and tried to back out. "I didn't have time to be scared," Phifer said. "Everything just went black from all the coal dust." The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives assisted Alabama state fire marshals in the investigation of the failed implosion. During the investigation, about five feet of Austin Powder 50-grain detonation cord was found in an unlocked and unattended explosives magazine on a flatbed utility trailer at the site, according to the plea agreement. On the ground near the trailer, investigators found a 3-foot section of 50-grain detonator cord and a two-foot section of Austin Powder 25-grain detonator cord, both improperly stored. Further searches led investigators to find more unsecured detonator cord in Phifer's truck, as well as in his bedroom and in the garage at his parents' Pell City home, according to Phifer's plea agreement. Investigators also found a non-secured APC Shock Star non-electric detonator in the garage of the Pell City home, the plea agreement states. The maximum penalty for failure to record acquisition of explosives is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for improper storage of explosives, a misdemeanor, is one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. A man charged with robbing a Locust Fork bank over the weekend was captured overnight in Jefferson County. Blount County sheriff's Operations Officer Tim Kent said Aaron Levi Kelly, 33, was arrested by Jefferson County sheriff's deputies Monday night, after authorities identified him from surveillance photos released Saturday. Kelly, of Remlap, is charged with robbing the People's Bank of Alabama on Highway 79 Friday afternoon. He is currently in the Jefferson County Jail with bonds totaling $13,500. Kelly is charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, reckless driving, attempting to elude, and first-degree receiving stolen property. Kent said Kelly will be extradited to Blount County, where he may face federal charges. state house mug by julie.JPG (Julie Bennett/jbennett@al.com) The leader of the Alabama Senate said he will decide this week whether to run for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Jeff Sessions. Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh, R-Anniston, said he talked to his wife about the possibility this morning. The need to make a decision became more urgent after Gov. Kay Ivey changed the date of the special election, scheduling the primary Aug. 15 and the general election Dec. 12. Former Gov. Robert Bentley had scheduled the election for next year's regular election cycle, with the primary in June and general election in November. Ivey said the law required the election to be held sooner. Marsh said he believed his experience and skills are a good fit for the U.S. Senate. He said he would have to decide if the timing is right. "Is it the right time for me to do it, can I get the team put together in time?" Marsh said. "As I talk with my wife and family and friends and those I consult with, we'll make a determination this week. "My skill set, or the combination, I think suits this new administration pretty well. Everybody knows me. I'm a businessman. I've ran several businesses and still own a couple of businesses now. "On top of that I have the political background to know how the process works. I think those two combinations together would suit the state of Alabama very well." Marsh has been president pro tem of the Senate since the Republicans won the majority in the Senate in 2010. Marsh said he has strongly considered running for governor, but said he would not be inclined to run against Ivey if she decides to seek a full term next year. The governor said this morning it was too soon to make a decision on that. "I'm very comfortable with Governor Ivey," Marsh said. "She and I have worked together in this chamber for years. She and I have talked a couple of times since she's moved across the street. And really, before she moved. "And if it's something that she chooses to stay in that position I would have a real hard time quite honestly running against Gov. Ivey." Bentley appointed then-Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange to fill Sessions' seat temporarily in February. Strange has long said he would run for the seat and reiterated that today after Ivey's announcement. Birmingham robbery suspects David Palmer Jr., Felicia Cotton, Thomas Strother (photos courtesy of Birmingham police) Birmingham police have arrested three people and charged them with multiple robberies across the Magic City. David Palmer Jr., Thomas Strother, and Felicia Cotton were arrested and charged with first-degree robbery for an incident at the Frito Lay distribution center on March 23. About 5:10 a.m. that day, police said the trio robbed a delivery truck driver at gunpoint. They then used the victim's debit card at a Chevron gas station located at 201 6th Avenue SW. Strother, 22, and Cotton, 32, were also charged with second-degree fraudulent use of a credit card. Cotton and Palmer, 29, have bonds totaling $42,500 each. In another robbery, police said a female victim had arrived at work around 6:15 a.m. in the 2100 block of Highland Avenue on March 14. The suspect approached her, brandished a handgun, and robbed her. The suspect fled on foot. Police identified Strother as a suspect in that incident and he was charged again with first-degree robbery. His bond is set at $40,000 in the Highland Avenue case, and has no bond in the Frito Lay case. All three suspects are in custody at the Jefferson County Jail and were arrested earlier this month. Additional charges are pending. Visitors to Jeju Island dry up as China retaliates by targeting economy over feud following North Koreas latest nuclear tests. Jeju, South Korea The southern holiday resort island of Jeju, around 90km off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, is seeing a plummeting number of Chinese visitors an immediate and direct consequence of the ever increasing tensions of geopolitics in the region. This drop comes as China has taken a number of retaliatory economic measures, including banning tour packages to South Korea by Chinese tour operators, after Seoul decided to deploy an advanced US missile defence system, known as the THAAD, against a possible North Korean missile attack. China claims that an advanced radar system that comes with the THAAD system could be used to monitor a large part of China and compromise its national security. This volcanic island has seen an explosive growth of Chinese tourists every year over the past decade, reaching more than 3 million in 2016. However, with many direct flights being cancelled and Chinese cruise ships banned from docking in South Korean ports, the number of daily Chinese tourists arriving in Jeju has nosedived by as much as 80 percent compared with the same period last year. Half of our staff has been placed on unpaid leave. We recorded a deficit in February and March with revenues shrinking to 50 percent by Moon Su-hwan, Benekia Hotel Hotels, restaurants and tour operators, catering to Chinese tourists, are suffering from the loss of business opportunities. Half of our staff have been placed on unpaid leave. We recorded a deficit in February and March with revenues shrinking to 50 percent, Moon Su-hwan, planning and marketing director of Benikia Hotel Jeju, told Al Jazeera. This bleak number is something that China would have wanted. Jeju residents say the Chinese ban is a blessing in disguise. We learned a lesson that Chinese tourists could be hugely influenced by Chinas politics and a high dependence [on them] is problematic, said Won Hee-ryong, Jeju Province governor. The island is refocusing on the domestic market, diversifying its target market and focusing on southeast Asian countries, Japan, and Middle East nations. Industry players have also looked to transform Jeju from a place of simple sight-seeing and shopping into a premium holiday destination. The islands tourism-related industry raked in $1.58bn in 2016, one third of which went to large companies such as duty free shops, another third to shops, restaurants, and hotels frequented by Chinese tourists. Only one third went to local businesses, according to local government. Industry insiders say Chinese companies will lose out the most. This process will be painful. However, eventually, this process will make us more healthy and strong, added Won. Accusations of abuse and neglect have come to light after a fire at a state-funded youth shelter killed 41 girls. San Jose Pinula/Jutiapa, Guatemala Sisters Jilma and Grindy Carias, aged 15 and 16, had begged their parents not to send them back to the state-run youth shelter. But they did, and days later, on March 8, the girls were killed in a fire there. Nineteen girls died in the fire at the Virgen de la Asuncion youth shelter that day, and a further 21 later succumbed to their injuries in hospital. Seven survivors were flown to two hospitals in the US, the Shriners Hospital for Children in Boston and Texas. One girl has since died, bringing the death toll to 41. The remaining six are now in a stable condition. The sisters grandmother, Blanca Lidia Martinez, 64, agreed to be interviewed in lieu of the girls parents, who were too distressed to speak. Standing on the doorstep of the family home, located in the municipality of Jutiapa, 124km from the capital Guatemala City, Martinez says that the girls parents sent them to the shelter because they were unable to curb their unruly behaviour. Sometimes they were rebellious and they didnt listen to their mum. They would come home at midnight or they didnt come home at all, she says. Fifteen members of the Carias family live in a cramped tin-walled shack. They were unable to afford to pay for the girls funeral, so the Jutiapa municipal authorities stepped in to cover the expense. Before returning to the shelter, the girls said theyd rather die than go back because they were being mistreated and were not being fed, Martinez says. Their parents decided to send them back after they refused to attend appointments with a counsellor. Martinez says the girls bodies were so badly burned that their parents only recognised Jilma from a mole she had next to her mouth and identified Grindy by her teeth. Martinez pauses. This is really hard. We never thought they would return home in a coffin, she says, her voice breaking. For the Carias family and other victims relatives, the tragedy has been compounded by allegations previously ignored by the authorities that staff beat and sexually assaulted girls and boys at the shelter. These allegations came to the fore in the aftermath of the fire and have highlighted the wider issue of the lack of adequate facilities for vulnerable youths in the country. FAULT LINES: Guatemalas Disappeared (24:59) The shelter Virgen de la Asuncion, the institution run by armed security guards where the Carias sisters died, is located in the municipality of San Jose Pinula, 25km southeast of Guatemala City. In 2016, a court ordered that it be closed by the end of that year. But it wasnt. Then the fire happened. After the fire, panic-stricken relatives flocked to the shelter to remove their children from the facility. But around 50 children and adolescents who have no relatives or whose relatives do not want to look after them remain there. Built in 2010, it was meant to house children and teenagers who had previously lived in four separate institutions, separated by age and gender. The shelter was intended to house a maximum of 350 youths, but around 700 girls and boys of different ages living in separate wings of the building lived in the overcrowded shelter after the Procuraduria General de la Nacion (Procurator Generals Office), the state institution responsible for investigating cases of missing children or child neglect, and which legally represents vulnerable young people in family courts, deemed them wards of the state. Putting all those kids together was a crass mistake. Each of them had issues that needed specialised treatment. A young offender has completely different needs to that of an LGBT youth or a rebellious teenage girl, says Mireya Saadeh, director of PAMI, a local NGO that works with children who have been subjected to sex trafficking. The girls backgrounds varied. Some, such as the Carias sisters, had behavioural issues. Others had been rescued from violent homes or from brothels where they were forced to engage in prostitution, while others were orphans or had special needs and were abandoned by families in extreme poverty who could not afford medication and specialised care. Some had run away from home after being bullied at school or threatened by gang members. Fifteen-year-old Yoselin Yamilet Barahona Beltran, the last girl to be identified, was orphaned at the age of one, after her mother was hit by a car and her father didnt acknowledge her. Had she remained unidentified, she would have been buried in a mass grave, her body marked as XX. Yami, as her family and friends affectionately called her, was raised by her aunt and uncle, Blanca and Emilio Marroquin, who spent 14 days searching the morgue and hospitals in the hope of finding her. Yoselin wound up in the shelter after she was raped by an unknown attacker and ran away from home, too traumatised to tell her uncle and aunt about her ordeal, say friends and relatives who asked to remain unnamed. Girls such as Yoselin and the Carias sisters lived alongside young offenders a minority within the shelter who were sent there by judges because there was no space for them in the juvenile detention centres. What kind of country only pays attention to children and young people when a tragedy such as this happens or when young people commit a crime? Many people on social media have said that these kids were gang members when there was only a minority of young offenders; most of these kids were victims, says Carolina Escobar Sarti, director of Asociacion La Alianza, a privately run shelter for vulnerable children and teenagers. Guatemala currently has seven state-run youth shelters and two facilities for youth offenders, where overcrowding and inadequate food, which were among the conditions reported at Virgen de la Asuncion, are the norm. After the fire, 130 severely disabled children were moved to the Alida Espana de Arana home for children with disabilities, where 43 of them are housed together in one room. Disability Rights International, a Washington-based advocacy group whose representatives visited the new home, said in a report that these children were at risk of suffering the same abuse they had endured at the previous shelter because the new facility was not prepared to accommodate them. READ MORE: Inside a Mayan healing ceremony A history of abuse and neglect Since the fire at the Virgen de la Asuncion youth shelter, teenage girls who were sent there have told various Guatemalan media outlets that strangers were brought in at night and allowed to single out the girls they wished to abuse. Children and teenagers, both boys and girls, told the Guatemalan media they were sexually abused and beaten by members of staff. My daughter was raped in that shelter by an American man Children are constantly mistreated there, especially those that are mentally handicapped. Girls are classified according to their physical appearance and the prettiest ones are placed in a special unit where they are abused, the mother of a 17-year-old girl who was sent to the shelter told PlayGround, a Guatemalan news website, on March 8. The girl was removed from the shelter before the fire. In November 2016, the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsmans Office visited the facility and documented 45 complaints of childrens rights violations, including signs of physical abuse and the possible existence of a child sex trafficking network within the shelter, all of which were conveyed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Two teachers were arrested in 2013 and are awaiting trial, accused of sexually abusing children and teenagers in the shelter. One of them is accused of forcing children as young as 12 to strip naked and perform oral sex on him. The same year, a workman hired by staff to carry out maintenance work was given a 15-year prison sentence for raping a mentally disabled 13-year-old girl. When questioned about the progress made by the Attorney Generals Office on the investigation into the alleged existence of a child prostitution network operating within the Virgen de la Asuncion shelter, spokesperson Julia Barrera told Al Jazeera on April 14 that prosecutors could not comment on the issue at present and that a full report will be issued once investigators have concluded their work. Investigators have not given an exact date for when the investigation is expected to end. Aldrin Salguero, 15, whose older sister Keila Lopez was among the girls killed in the fire, told Al Jazeera what Lopez had told her about the place: She said that a guard kicked her in the stomach after he tried to take advantage of her and she resisted and that they were given rotten food that was full of maggots. Lopez had turned 17 five days before the tragedy. The Presidential Secretariat for Social Welfare, the government bureau in charge of running state-funded youth shelters, didnt have an accurate list of the young people housed in the shelter, adding to the chaos in the aftermath of the fire. Lopezs father, Virgilio, a truck driver, was initially informed that his daughter was alive and well and that he could collect her. But when he arrived at the shelter with Keilas aunt, he was told: No, shes dead, shes at the morgue. Judge Veronica Galicia was so shocked by what she saw when she visited the shelter last June that she ordered it to be closed by December but the order was never obeyed, as she detailed on her Facebook page the day after the fire. Her ruling was published online by Canal Antigua news channel. Two reports by UN rapporteurs on the conditions in the shelter as well as precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission also went unheeded, which means Guatemala could be sanctioned by an international tribunal for violating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Ramon Cadena, a representative of the International Commission of Jurists in Guatemala, told Al Jazeera. These kids were being tortured by the guards. These shelters are regarded as places where they should be punished for being rebellious rather than a place where they should receive help, Saadeh says. READ MORE: Guatemala Justice for Sepur Zarco sex slavery victims How the fire happened The fire in which the Carias sisters, Yoselin, Keila and the other girls were killed, broke out a day after 104 teenage girls rioted and escaped from the shelter. Before they were flown to the US, three of the seven survivors said that 47 of those who escaped were caught by armed police and taken back to the shelter at gunpoint, where they were shoved into a classroom with a few foam mattresses. Those who werent caught remain unaccounted for. The next day, after they were not allowed to leave the classroom to use the toilets, they used the mattresses to build a makeshift shack where they relieved themselves. Then, one of the girls set fire to the mattresses to catch the police agents attention and to force them to open the door. We started shouting at the police to open the door because we were getting burnt. They said they didnt care and that if we had managed to escape we could put up with the fire. They told us to go to hell, one of the survivors told Nomada, a digital investigative journalism publication. According to these accounts, the police ignored their screams and pleas to open the door, which remained locked until the fire brigade arrived 25 minutes later and found burned bodies and victims of smoke inhalation as well as the severely burned survivors. Shaken by the survivors accounts of the abuse and neglect that led to the deaths of 41 teenage girls, Guatemalans took to the streets to demand justice for the victims, and for several days, the national flag flew at half-mast in Guatemala Citys main square. On March 13, the director of the Virgen de la Asuncion youth shelter as well as the director and deputy director of the social welfare government bureau, were arrested on homicide and child abuse charges. On April 7, they were granted house arrest on the condition of bail after a preliminary hearing. The day after the three officials were arrested, President Morales appointed a new director and deputy director of the social welfare government bureau. Both have a track record of working with widely recognised child welfare NGOs such as Save the Children and World Vision. To date, however, the Virgen de la Asuncion youth shelter remains without a new director, as no one has accepted the position. The shelter is due to be closed as soon as the remaining 50 children are housed elsewhere. Prosecutors say they will appeal against the judges house arrest ruling. Child welfare activists and ordinary citizens who have rallied behind the victims families held a protest in Guatemala Citys central square the day after it. During the Easter weekend, many Catholics made traditional sand and colourfully dyed sawdust carpets, known as alfombras, commemorating the tragedy and demanding justice for the victims. Ni una menos or Not one less, an expression commonly used by Latin American womens rights activists, and 41 ninas (41 girls) were some of the messages stenciled into the alfombras. READ MORE: Javier Duarte Accused governor detained in Guatemala Investing in children Child welfare experts insist the institutions in charge of young people who become wards of the state need a drastic overhaul in order to prevent such tragedies from happening again. Some suggest scrapping the Secretariat and replacing it with a Ministry of Family Affairs with a greater budget. Saadeh, however, is not convinced and says the change would be purely cosmetic. Its not just a question of building these kids a nice new place, she says. The idea isnt to set up new institutions for nothing to change. Real change, critics say, will begin when the country makes child welfare a top development priority. According to World Bank figures, Guatemala, the fourth most unequal country in Latin America, only invests $0.34 a day in child welfare policies despite the fact that children and teenagers comprise 30 percent of the countrys population. As long as we dont invest resources in what should be most sacred to us our young people Guatemala will be condemned to underdevelopment, Saadeh says. Everything you need to know about the 11 people vying to become the next president of France. Simply click on the link below to find out more about each candidate. Major candidates: Francois Fillon The Republicans Benoit Hamon Socialist Party Marine Le Pen National Front Emmanuel Macron En Marche! Jean-Luc Melenchon Unsubmissive France Minor candidates: Nicolas Dupont-Aignan Debout la France Nathalie Arthaud Lutte Ouvriere Francois Asselineau Popular Republican Union Jacques Cheminade Solidarity and Progress Jean Lassalle Resistons! Philippe Poutou New Anticapitalist Party Francois Fillon: Conservatism and corruption charges Francois Fillon has come a long way since his surprise victory in the presidential primaries held by the centre-right Republicans party last year, but not in the way he would have liked. In the contest to become the conservative partys presidential candidate, Fillon saw off competition from heavyweights including former president Nicolas Sarkozy and former prime minister Alain Juppe, but now faces calls to step aside amid an ever-escalating embezzlement scandal. One cannot lead France if one is not irreproachable, Fillon, himself a former prime minister, told Juppe during the debates that preceded the primaries; words that are today used against him with a heavy dose of irony. Fillon is accused of paying his wife Penelope hundreds of thousands of euros over eight years under the guise of employing her as a member of his office. The presidential candidate has accused those pursuing the charges of carrying out a political assassination, but authorities have charged him with misuse of public funds and misuse of corporate assets. Following the scandal, Fillons poll numbers have seen him slide from front runner with about a quarter of the vote to third place with less than 20 percent. Born in 1954, Fillon started in law before he quickly moved into politics, serving in several ministerial roles from the 1990s and eventually as prime minister under Sarkozy between 2007 and 2012. His platform is marked by his economic liberalism and Catholic faith, favouring fiscal conservatism, cuts to public spending, and the raising of the retirement age. Fillon opposes gay marriage and adoption by same-sex couples. On Islam, Fillon has called for a crackdown on Salafism and what he describes as Islamic totalitarianism. He has called for the monitoring of mosques and for a review of Frances relations with Gulf states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Curiously for someone so entrenched in the French establishment, Fillon is an advocate of stronger ties with Moscow and the lifting of sanctions. That has led to questions being asked about his ties to the country and its president, Vladimir Putin. As his popularity begins to wane amid the scandals, Fillon has been resolute in standing his ground and has refused to drop out of the race. He defied the polls in the primaries, but that was before the scandal that has consumed his subsequent campaign. A Fillon presidency would be a significantly braver bet today than it would have been only a few months ago. Benoit Hamons uphill battle for the presidency Benoit Hamon enters the French presidential contest as a rank outsider as the candidate representing the unpopular incumbent Francois Hollandes Socialist Party. Born in 1967, Hamon spent four years of his childhood in Senegal before returning to France to study history. He found his political footing at an early age, leading the Young Socialist Movement and starting his career as a parliamentary assistant shortly after graduating. That career has since developed to included time as a member of the European parliament and election to the French National Assembly. Hamon served in two ministerial positions under Hollande, with portfolios in social economy and education, before resigning in protest at Hollandes purported abandonment of left-wing values. The former ministers leftist credentials helped him pull off a shock victory in the Socialist Party presidential primaries, easily seeing off competition from the liberal-leaning former prime minister Manuel Valls. A fervent critic of austerity policies, Hamon wants to bring in radical reforms to the welfare system in France by introducing a basic income for all citizens of 750 euros ($798) a month and reducing the working week to 32 hours. The Socialist candidate has called for the legalisation of cannabis and condemned rhetoric on the role of Islam in French society. It is unacceptable that we continue to make the faith of millions of our compatriots a problem in the republic, he said after the burkini-ban scandal last year. Of the five major candidates for the presidency, Hamon is currently at the back of the pack with only 12 percent of the vote. He faces competition from fellow leftist Jean-Luc Melenchon, who has refused to step aside or work with Hamon. Their disagreement centres on the role of the European Union, of which Hamon is a supporter, albeit one aiming to reform the bloc. Unless the split is resolved, it seems likely that both will crash out in the first round, but at 49, Hamon probably has many years left to leave a mark on the country. Marine Le Pen: Trump a la francaise? In March, Marine Le Pen emerged from a meeting with the Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to deliver a proclamation to the reporters gathered: A new world has emerged. The leader of Frances far-right National Front (FN) party hopes that she will be a leading figure in this radical reordering of the global elite, which already counts the election of US President Donald Trump and the British vote to leave the EU among its successes. Once considered an unrealistic prospect, Le Pen would cause shockwaves just as large as Brexit or the Trump victory if she were successful in the upcoming presidential vote. She currently sits on about a quarter of the first-round vote, a position which, unlike her rival candidates, has barely shifted over the past few months. Second-round voting against her likely rival Emmanuel Macron puts Le Pen considerably behind on 40 points to Macrons 60, but those who followed Trumps election know better than to write her off on the basis of polls. The youngest daughter of far-right stalwart Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine was born in 1968 and followed in her fathers ideological footsteps by joining FN at 18. In the coming decades she practised law while increasing her standing in FN, contesting several regional elections along the way. She picked up several minor political roles in regional and municipal councils in her early 30s, and her most significant as a member of the European Parliament in 2009. Her biggest break came after her father stepped down as FN leader in 2010, after which she took over the reins of the party. In the followings years Le Pen sought to shed the partys far-right image, distancing herself and the party from her fathers Holocaust denial and racist outbursts, eventually expelling him from the party in 2015, making the FN more palatable to French conservatives and a coming generation that had little recollection of far-right rule under the Nazis. However while the language has changed, the issues remain largely intact, with Islam, the EU and immigration dominating her platform. On Frances large Muslim minority, Le Pen has been unequivocal. We do not want to live under the rule or threat of Islamic fundamentalism, she told supporters, further condemning the hijab, prayer rooms in workplaces, the construction of mosques and pork-free options in school lunches. On the European Union, Le Pen has threatened to withdraw France from the eurozone and hold a referendum on the countrys continued membership of the bloc. A Le Pen in the Elysee Palace would cut immigration, ban birthright citizenship, and the automatic right to nationality for the spouses of French citizens. Unlike her competitors, Le Pen seems unperturbed by a corruption scandal or questions over her ties to Putins Russia. A dogged indifference to scandal made little difference to Trumps popularity, and that seems to be a lesson Le Pen has learned. Emmanuel Macron: A president in waiting? Few could have asked for a better start to a political career than the French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron. The current frontrunner is a graduate of elite National School of Administration, which produces the countrys top civil servants and counts among its alumni three French presidents. Macron will be hoping to make it number four in May, and as things stand he looks best positioned to fend off the far-right candidacy of Marine Le Pen, whom he is predicted to beat easily in a second round runoff, if the polls are correct. After graduating, Macron worked as a financial inspector at the Ministry of Economy before joining Rothschild & Cie bank as an investment banker. Politically, he was a member of the Socialist Party for three years, before becoming an independent politician in 2009. The 39-year-olds first roles came under Francois Hollande as a member of his personal staff and later as a minister for economy, industry, and digital affairs under the government of Manuel Valls. As the western world turns increasingly to the far right, Macron is unabashedly centrist in his outlook, appealing to French citizens who are familiar with the chaotic aftermath the election of Trump in the United States and Brexit in the UK caused. His policies are the status quo with a nod to the progressive currents emerging in the US and Britain. Unlike several of his opponents on the left and right, Macron has avoided making pronouncements against Muslim dress codes and is a fierce defender of an open immigration system. In February, he condemned Frances colonial legacy in Algeria as a crime against humanity, earning rebukes from many on the right. Nevertheless Macron stood firm, apologising only for the offence caused and not for the actual comment itself. His sober brand of politics, youthful looks, and the implosion of competitor Francois Fillons campaign, have seen him rise to about 27 percent in the polls; enough to secure him a place in the second round. However, his challenge remains in energising an increasingly apathetic electorate, for whom his centrist platform offers little else but an alternative to Le Pen. As an economic liberal, he has fiscal policies that differ little from the economic consensus built in the decade since the global crash that started in 2007. On the European Union, Macron is also an unashamed supporter, a standpoint likely to cost him votes on both the Eurosceptic left and right. If Macron can convince the large apathetic segment of the population that he offers more than just not being Le Pen, there would be little standing in his way to taking up residence in the Elysee Palace. Jean-Luc Melenchon: Frances socialist firebrand The day after US President Donald Trumps victory over Democratic Party rival Hillary Clinton, Jean-Luc Melenchon did not mince his words: Bernie would have won. An unrepentant socialist, Melenchon believes that the mainstream parties of the left have caved in too much to the global neoliberal consensus and only he can rescue the masses from the populist appeal of the far-right. Born in the Moroccan city of Tangiers in 1951, with Trotskyist sympathies evident in his early career, he served briefly as a minister under the Socialist Party government of former prime minister Lionel Jospin, and as member of French senate, until he split with the party in 2008. Critical of the partys growing acceptance of economic liberalism, Melenchon helped found the Left Party, which formed an electoral alliance with the French Communist Party, as the Left Front. The year after the split, he won a seat in the European Parliament and in 2012 stood for president, coming fourth in the first round with just over 11 percent of the vote. Polls for the 2017 presidential contest have seen him surpass the Socialist Partys own left-leaning candidate Benoit Hamon, with Melenchon slowly creeping up on others. He has faced calls to step down or form an alliance with his former party to give the left a better chance of securing the presidency, but Melenchon has steadfastly rejected them. My challenge is not to unite the left wing, he told the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche, adding his duty was to serve the people. As president, Melenchon would introduce a 100 percent tax on monthly earnings above 33,000 euros ($35,000), cut the working week down from the 35 hours to 32, and increase the minimum wage to 1,300 euros a month. The veteran leftist is hugely critical of the European Union, viewing it as a vehicle for neoliberal economics to the detriment of ordinary people. Melenchon has promised to renegotiate the structure of the bloc and put Frances continued membership of the organisation to a referendum. On NATO, he is even more critical, warning against following the US war tank in its confrontation with Russia, and promising a French withdrawal from the alliance. Back at home, Melenchon has spoken out against rising anti-Muslim sentiment, but the avowed secularist is also a critic of public displays of religiosity. Jews were persecuted, then Protestants, and today Muslims, he said after the burkini-ban scandal last year, which was later struck down by a French court. However, the leftist presidential candidate has criticised fashion designers who produced lines aimed at veiled or headscarf-wearing Muslim women. Melenchon is also deeply critical of police conduct; condemning their sadism after the recent scandal involving Theo, a Paris teenager whose alleged rape and beating by police officers was captured on video. A clearly defined progressive platform is winning him fans, but he is currently in fourth position in the polls and unlikely to garner the support needed to reach the second round unless Hamon steps aside. Their rivalry is instead becoming increasingly bitter, and their divisions over the EU make it unlikely that will happen. Nicolas Dupont-Aignan A member of the French National Assembly and Mayor of the Paris suburb of Yerres, Dupont-Aignan finished seventh in the 2012 contest with under 2 percent of the vote. Opinion polls show him performing much better in 2017, polling around 4 percent. Dupont-Aignan stands on a right-wing Eurosceptic platform and wants to pull France out of the eurozone. Nathalie Arthaud Arthaud previously stood for the 2012 presidential election, picking up just 0.5 percent of votes cast. The secondary school economics teacher is standing on a leftist platform, calling for higher wages, worker-control of industries, and an anti-interventionist foreign policy. Like Poutou, she makes no secret of her desire for an eventual communist system. Francois Asselineau A career civil servant, Eurosceptic Asselineau wants France follow the UKs example in leaving the European Union. The candidate stands on the political right, and also proposes French withdrawal from NATO, claiming the organisation seeks to serve US interests against Russia. Asselineau has been criticised for his belief in conspiracy theories, including the claim that the EU is a US creation aimed at asserting Washingtons power on the continent. Jacques Cheminade The former civil servant wants to pull France out of the EU and the eurozone and renegotiate the countrys relationship with the rest of Europe. Jean Lassalle An independent member of the National Assembly, Lassalle is known for a hunger strike in protest at a paint manufacturers decision to open a factory away from his own constituency, threatening local jobs. The protest ended in his being treated in hospital and a promise from the firm, Toyal, that it would not cut any jobs. Lassalle is calling for an increase in public spending and mandatory civil or military service for all teenagers. Philippe Poutou A trade unionist, leftist, and an employee of a car factory, Poutou leads the New Anticapitalist Party. The ardent anti-capitalist has raised eyebrows with his scathing attacks on the corruption establishment candidates during the presidential debates and for his casual outfit during the televised event. In the 2012 race, he picked up just over 1 percent of the total votes cast and is expected to pick up just a little higher in the 2017 contest. His blistering attacks on Le Pen and other rivals for their alleged corruption will send minor ripples in the polls, but have succeeded in giving him a newfound celebrity. The Rashid tragedy last September claimed the lives of more than 200 people seeking to cross the Mediterranean. Muhammad Hassan, a Somali-born refugee, remembers the screams and final prayers of the drowning, voices that still keep him awake at night half a year later. A lot of people were dying and dragging others down, he recalled. I swam away from them and watched people dying, heard the sounds of people going down. Hassan was forced to flee his hometown in 1992 before later migrating to Yemen, Sudan and then Egypt. Unable to return home, his last resort was to head across the Mediterranean Sea last September- his seventh attempt at making the crossing after losing his wife to the sea months before. But Hassans voyage was doomed to fail, too. Loaded at night on to an overcrowded fishing vessel alongside 600 other people, Hassan remembers waves splashing on to the deck as passengers panicked. They loaded the boat over its capacity they knew what would happen. When people first started shouting, one of the [boat] crew said: You will die here! Those people were merciless, he said. Merciless! READ MORE: UN: 2016 Mediterranean refugee deaths hit record 3,800 The boat capsized shortly afterwards. More than 200 people died or went missing last September in what became known as the Rashid tragedy, after the coastal Egyptian city near where the disaster took place. Survivors and relatives of the missing recounted how an official search-and-rescue mission was fatally late, and survivors like Hassan were instead rescued by local fishermen. There's tremendous pressure coming from the EU, on various governments in Africa and the Middle East that are source and transit countries, to crack down on migrant smuggling networks. by Peter Tinti, senior research fellow at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime On March 26, a court in Egypts Beheira Governorate sentenced 56 people it found responsible for the Rashid tragedy, with prison terms ranging from two to 10 years. The charges included manslaughter, hiding passengers from the authorities, failure to supply passengers with sufficient safety equipment and receiving money illicitly from passengers. Twenty-five defendants were sentenced in absentia, while one of the accused was acquitted. Egypts government hailed the case as a success and proof of its commitment to tackling smuggling networks. Legislation passed in November stipulated punishments for those convicted of people smuggling, for the first time in Egyptian law. Naela Gabr, chairman of the inter-ministerial National Coordinating Committee for Combating and Preventing Illegal Immigration (NCCPIM), said that although the anti-smuggling law couldnt be applied retroactively in the Rashid case, its adoption reflects clear political will in Egypt to take a solid and straight-forward position against smugglers. Drafted by the NCCPIM, the law protects the rights of migrants on paper at least while punishing those found guilty of people smuggling with a range of prison sentences and fines. Last year, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) congratulated the Egyptian government for passing legislation aimed at safeguarding the rights and addressing the needs of smuggled migrants. Smugglers operating on Egypts Mediterranean coastline tend to work in non-hierarchical networks with layers of brokers, fixers, logistics experts and kingpin bosses. These networks are not highly organised criminal syndicate[s] with clearly defined roles and responsibilities, and a CEO at the top overseeing it all, explained Peter Tinti, senior research fellow at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime and co-author of the 2016 book Migrant, Refugee, Smuggler, Saviour. The structure of these networks actually lends itself to the fact that people at the lower level might not have any idea which boat the person theyve recruited or made initial contact with has ended up on. Meanwhile, there are concerns about how Egypts anti-smuggling law will be implemented. Theres tremendous pressure coming from the EU, on various governments in Africa and the Middle East that are source and transit countries, to crack down on migrant smuggling networks, said Tinti. One of the ways this has been pursued is to help countries that didnt have anti-smuggling or anti-trafficking laws on the books to develop legislation that has clear-cut definitions of anti-smuggling and anti-trafficking laws. However, Tinti warned, because theres such a push to show results, theres a real danger of over-zealous law enforcement techniques and practices. READ MORE: Why Al Jazeera will not say Mediterranean migrants What incentives do some of these local authorities have to really crack down on the trade in a way that is actually addressing the problem? he asked. To accuse someone of smuggling, you have to build a case. And in many cases, the people being accused of operating as smugglers might not be getting a fair hearing. Last September, when news broke of the Rashid shipwreck, one family living in neighbouring Sudan grew worried. Two Sudanese men, cousins Muhammad al-Kheir and Muhammad Abdullah, were thought to have been on the Rashid boat and had not been heard from since. Kheirs sister Mayada, a student at Alexandria University, and her uncle started looking for their bodies in Egypt, while another cousin travelled from Sudan to join the search. A week later, tired-out from another day of telephone calls to the morgue and taxi rides to government buildings and the Sudanese Consulate in the hope of news about their relatives, the group went for dinner at a fish restaurant in eastern Alexandria. Suddenly, the police burst in and arrested everyone including three Egyptian men working in the restaurant and hauled them to a nearby police station. They were arrested on suspicion of trying to migrate to Europe by boat the authorities had reason to believe the restaurant was a meeting-place [for smugglers and migrants], according to Mubarak, a relative of the family speaking from Sudan, although the prosecution released them after it became clear that they were legally present in Egypt. Despite not facing any charges, Mayada and her cousin Maher were deported back to Sudan but not before being detained and photographed standing glumly in front of an officers desk. That photo later appeared in one Egyptian newspaper under the triumphant headline: Arrest of an illegal immigration gang in Alexandria operating out of a fish restaurant and four apartments. Were they being treated as smugglers, or the smuggled? And why were they being punished? Mayada was deported despite having proof of her university enrolment. Her uncle was allowed to remain because he was registered with the UNHCR in Egypt. The Interior Ministry did not respond to requests for comment. Despite concerns about the police work of Egypts crackdown on smuggling networks, some survivors like Somali-born refugee Hassan welcome the news that Egypt has sentenced those allegedly responsible for the Rashid tragedy. In my experience everyone who is involved in these illegal trips smuggler, broker or whatever they are guilty, he said, before remembering what happened off Rashid. [The smugglers] were responsible for the tragedy by overloading the ship and causing the deaths of hundreds of people. I dont even feel bad for them, he added. For me, justice has been done. Hammam al-Alil, Iraq As the Iraqi governments military offensive against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, known as ISIS) armed group rages on to retake the largest ISIL-controlled city in the country, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced to flee their homes. Since the push to regain control of the western half of Mosul began on February 19, the Iraqi government estimates that more than 220,000 people have been displaced. About 70 percent of these people are living in overstretched, underdeveloped refugee camps, according to the United Nations. Many have fled to the Hammam al-Alil refugee camp, south of the city, to seek shelter and safety. The camp is home to about 4,000 families who arrived in the last two months to escape the fighting. War brings supposedly disparate parts of the US together to rally around the flag, yellow ribbons and even Donald Trump. Eventually, the truth reveals itself. And so it was after President Donald Trump a still surreal phrase to put to paper elected to bomb a mostly vacant Syrian airstrip in supposed response to the slow, suffocating murder of children by Bashar al-Assads murderous regime. The Pentagon-supplied images of Tomahawk cruise missiles bursting into the night sky triggered a near orgasmic reaction among the same band of US cable TV network-approved geopolitical experts and journalists-in-name-tag-only who gush with unbridled excitement each time flashy weapons go bang in the night. Youll recall that not too long ago, this giddy, easily impressed lot, joined by rancorous Democrats on Capitol Hill, were universally repulsed by the same dangerous demagogue they recently applauded on Twitter, TV and elsewhere as a bona fide commander-in-chief. Channeling the worlds conscience For an instructive moment, all the hyperbolic chatter about impeachment and treason evaporated as the unlikely coalition of liberal and neocon card-carrying members of La Resistance rallied around the flag, yellow-ribbon-imbued patriotism and a racist boor who just happens to be president of the United States. On cue, much of that so-called resistance in Washington and beyond heaped gooey praise on Trump, insisting the missile strike was the defining act of a statesman who had finally, if belatedly, grasped the profundity of his duties and responsibilities and of the office he shockingly holds. All Trump had to do to win their saccharine-laced rhetorical approval was to do what his predecessors have done with often calamitous regularity issue the order to kill. The attendant result: Trump had instantly morphed from illiterate foreign policy nincompoop to oh-so-serious president who was, remarkably, channeling the worlds conscience to boot. OPINION: Syrians should not be thanking Trump for the strikes Forgotten in this hysterical revisionism, of course, was Trumps tough-guy pledge to look war-ravaged Syrian kids and their families in the eye and tell the would-be terrorists: you cant come here. A presidential Groundhog Day In any event, it turns out Trump gave his mentor, Vladimir Putin and, by extension, Bashar al-Assad a heads-up that his well, Ill teach you volley of cruise missiles was on its vaguely destructive way so the fleet of fighter jets sheltered at the base could safely take off the following day presumably to kill and maim more Syrians. Ah and reportedly it wasnt his or indeed the worlds conscience that prompted Trump to respond to images of children contorted in sarin gas-induced suffering, but rather a little word in his tin ear from his daughter, Ivanka, the corporate media-manufactured White House conscience-in-residence. As I said, the truth eventually emerges. Like the roster of telegenic presidents who preceded him, Trump fashioned a made-for-TV moment of perspicacity to announce that he could also bomb and kill in the same places that the US has been bombing and killing people for decades. There Trump was, summoning all the faux solemnity that he could muster while reading from a teleprompter like a stuttering schoolboy to invoke God and Americas equally sacred national interest as justification for yet another demonstration of his nations singular military resolve. OPINION: Bombs away! Wag that dog! The world has seen and heard this pantomime on display so many times over so many years that this vacuous, formulaic ritual could rightly be dubbed the presidential equivalent of Groundhog Day. By now, it should also be clear to anyone with a functioning synapse that if you throw a dart at a globe, chances are it will land on a country - from Vietnam to Iraq - permanently scarred by America's long, irresistible compulsion to wage war. by From John F Kennedy to Trump and every other Democrat or Republican president in-between, arguably, the jobs principal prerequisite is satiating Americas insatiable addiction to war. Each of these presidents has taken their now familiar turn behind a desk in the Oval Office or at a lectern adorned with the presidential seal, to invade, threaten to invade or carpet bomb legally or illegally some new spot on the map and the innocent people who inhabit it. A fix of shock and awe Last weeks predictable spasm of state-sanctioned violence was simply the latest evidence of the US political, military and media establishments need or perhaps more accurately, the institutional demand for a satisfying fix of shock and awe delivered, as always, in the parochial, amorphous name of national security. The immediate political dividends a succession of presidents has derived from these choreographed shows of Americas might and sacrifice are not only keenly established, but are an undeniable part of the calculation to recapture when and if necessary much of the publics support and admiration. The American experience has shown that a well-timed war or news of a triumphant special forces encounter with a terrorist mastermind can be a useful tonic for a faltering presidency young or old. By now, it should also be clear to anyone with a functioning synapse that if you throw a dart at a globe, chances are it will land on a country from Vietnam to Iraq permanently scarred by Americas long, irresistible compulsion to wage war. OPINION: America was a stan long before Trump Invariably, the clumsily crafted rationales once offered up with such conviction and certitude to warrant the death and destruction have proven to be a lie after lie, consigned to a convenient, pan-political denomination memory hole. Though discredited, every president inevitably recycles the standard lines in defence of more war, confident that most journalists and voters wont remember the not-so-distant past in the patriotic rush to defend Americas apparently precarious future. Nor do they remember, it seems, the human toll their costly addiction has exacted on millions of children, women and men who did not seek or require America to liberate them. From Mai Lai to Mosul, the indelible pictures of the countless casualties of Americas wars exist as a true and lasting testament to the incalculable pain they have caused. We know Donald Trump wont pay a moments heed to that appalling history, but dont kid yourself, neither will the next US president. Andrew Mitrovica is an award-winning investigative reporter and journalism instructor. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. US claims Aleppo air raid targeted al-Qaeda, but rights groups and researchers say civilians were hit in mosque. US forces failed to take necessary precautions before launching a lethal drone strike in northern Syria last month that hit a mosque full of worshipers, three separate investigations have revealed. Research by Human Rights Watch (HRW), London-based Forensic Architecture and open-source investigative unit Bellingcat reveal that US air strikes hit a western Aleppo mosque on March 16, killing at least 38 people and injuring dozens of others. US Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed they targeted an al-Qaeda in Syria meeting location, killing dozens of core al-Qaeda terrorists after thorough surveillance. But interviews with locals, coupled with photographs and video of the building, show it was a well known mosque in the village of al-Jinah that hosted lectures every Thursday evening, according to the investigation. Researchers also allege that the US launched Hellfire missiles at civilians as they fled the mosque. Ole Solvang, lead researcher on the HRW investigation, told Al Jazeera that: US forces failed to take the necessary precautions to minimise civilian casualties. Based on statements from US military personnel, they didnt know this was a mosque, which reflects poorly on their intel. HRW interviewed by phone 14 people with first-hand knowledge of the attack, including four who were in the mosque at the time of the attack. In carrying out the investigation, HRW used research provided by Bellingcat, which analysed video footage and photographs from the attack, and Forensic Architecture, which created models of the mosque and a reconstruction of the attack. The three organisations conducted separate but complementary investigations into the attack, said Solvang. Our analysis reveals that contrary to US statements, the building targeted was a functioning, recently built mosque containing a large prayer hall, several auxiliary functions and the Imams residence, according to Forensic Architecture. READ MORE: Syrias civil war explained from the beginning Witnesses told HRW that the attack began about an hour after the Maghrib (sunset) prayer and roughly 15 minutes before the Ishaa (night) prayer. Even if there were armed group members in the mosque, understanding the nature of the targeted building and the pattern of life around the building would be crucial to assess the risk to civilians and take necessary precautions to minimise civilian casualties, HRWs report said. Striking a mosque just before prayer and then attacking people attempting to flee the area without knowing whether they were civilians or combatants may well have been disproportionate and a violation of the laws of war even if there were armed group members in the mosque. Four witnesses that researchers at Human Rights Watch spoke with estimated there were 300 people attending a religious lecture at the mosque when the attack began. After the drone destroyed the northern segments of the building with two 500lb bombs, worshipers who fled where then targeted with what researchers from Forensic Architecture and HRW identified as likely Hellfire missiles. US forces often use double tap tactics when targeting al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), and it would appear that they were operating on this premise in al-Jinah as well. We cant say that they deliberately targeted civilians, but nonetheless, they were civilians according to the information that we have, said Solvang. People who attend the mosque and locals both said it was run by peaceful people, and first responders told us they did not find any weapons amidst the rubble. OPINION: Trumps lack of strategy on Syria is dangerous Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon said at the time of the strike that US surveillance of the target area indicated evening prayers had concluded before the attack. He said the building that was struck was a partially constructed community meeting hall that al-Qaeda leaders used to gather and as a place to educate and indoctrinate al-Qaeda fighters. HRW has called for a full and transparent investigation into the attack, and has asked that all findings be released in as much detail as possible. When viewed in the context of increasing civilian casualties, both in Syria and Iraq we are concerned that these are signs of less stringent procedure and verification of targets, said Solvang. The US is leading a coalition of nations in the fight against ISIL in both Syria and Iraq. Coalition air strikes on Monday killed at least 13 civilians in the eastern Syrian province of Deir Az Zor, according to a UK-based monitor. Last month, US strikes in neighbouring Iraq killed as many as 200 civilians in one day. According to a recent report by Airwars, a group that monitors US-led coalition air strikes, March was the deadliest month yet in the coalitions 32-month-long campaign in Iraq an Syria. Follow Dylan Collins on Twitter: @collinsdyl A 3,500-year-old tomb with several mummies, sarcophagi and statues was found in the Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis. Egyptian authorities have hailed an important discovery after archaeologists unearthed several mummies, 10 colourful wooden sarcophagi and more than 1,000 funerary statues in a 3,500-year-old tomb near the city of Luxor. The 18th Dynasty tomb, discovered in the Draa Abul Nagaa necropolis near the famed Valley of the Kings, belonged to a nobleman named Userhat who worked as the city judge, Egypts antiquities ministry said in a statement on Tuesday. There are 10 coffins and eight mummies. The excavation is ongoing, Mostafa Waziri, the head of the archaeological mission, told the AFP news agency. READ MORE: New pyramid remains discovered south of Cairo The tomb was opened to add more mummies during the 21st Dynasty, about 3,000 years ago, to protect them during a period when tomb-robbing was common, Waziri said at the site. It was a surprise how much was being displayed inside the tomb, Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Enany told reporters outside the tomb. We found a large number of Ushabti (small carved figurines), more than 1,000 of them, Enany said. This is an important discovery. Ushabti figurines were often placed with the deceased in ancient Egyptian tombs to help with responsibilities in the afterlife. Inside the tomb, archaeologists wearing white masks and latex gloves inspected the sarcophagi, which were covered with intricate drawings in red, blue, black, green, and yellow and featured the carved faces of the dead. The coffins were mainly well-preserved, though some had deteriorated and broken over the years. Archaeologists were also examining a mummy wrapped in linen which was inside one of the coffins. White, orange, green, and patterned pots were also found in the tombs. It is a T-shaped tomb (which) consists of an open court leading into a rectangular hall, a corridor and an inner chamber, the ministry said in a statement. A nine-metre shaft inside the tomb held the Ushabti figurines, as well as wooden masks and a handle of a sarcophagus lid, the ministry said. Another room in the tomb was also discovered, though it has not yet been completely excavated, it said. Nevine el-Aref, the spokeswoman for the antiquities ministry, said: there is evidence and traces that new mummies could be discovered in the future. Foreign ministers warning comes as US threatens military action after Norths latest nuclear test in defiance of UN. China has called on the United States and North Korea to find a peaceful solution to rising tensions after a war of words erupted after the North conducted a series of missile and nuclear tests in defiance of UN sanctions. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday that the standoff between the two nations could only be resolved by diplomacy. Ive seen that the United States has reiterated it is willing to use political and diplomatic means to resolve this, as this is their first choice, he said. Of course I think that any country will feel that political diplomatic means are of course the first choice. Al Jazeeras Divya Gopalan, reporting from Hong Kong, said that China was very keen to see this issue resolved peacefully. Any kind of action on North Korea will have repercussions on China, our correspondent said. On Tuesday, US Vice President Mike Pence met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, following meetings in South Korea with Hwang Kyo-ahn, the acting president. Pence has repeatedly warned that all options are on the table when dealing with Pyongyang. In Tokyo, Pence reassured Japan of the US commitment to reining in North Koreas nuclear and missile ambitions after warning that its own strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed the strength of its resolve. North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the United States and it showed no let-up in its defiance after conducting a reportedly failed missile test on Sunday. The time of dictating orders by brandishing the US military might has gone. If those businessmen in power in the US thought of intimidating us by any military or sanction threats - as the Obama administration used to do and failed - they will soon find out such threats are useles by Sin Hong-chol, North Korea's deputy foreign minister The North has warned that its army is on maximum alert following Pences visit on Monday to the heavily militarised border between the two Koreas, where he reiterated Washingtons position that all options are on the table in dealing with Pyongyang. Threats are useless Sin Hong-chol, North Koreas deputy foreign minister, told Al Jazeera that Donald Trumps administration should look at the world with open eyes. The time of dictating orders by brandishing the US military might has gone. If those businessmen in power in the US thought of intimidating us by any military or sanction threats as the [Barack] Obama administration used to do and failed they will soon find out such threats are useless, Sin said. North Koreas deputy representative to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, accused the US of creating a situation where nuclear war could break out an any time and said Pyongyangs next nuclear test would take place at a time and at a place where our headquarters deems necessary. The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. US officials say tougher sanctions could include an oil embargo, a global ban on North Koreas airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks doing business with Pyongyang. They say greater Chinese cooperation is vital. China banned imports of North Korean coal, its most important export, in February, and Chinese media have raised the possibility of restricting oil shipments to the North. North Korea and South are technically still at war because their 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Rescue workers and monitor blame Russian, US-led coalition and Syrian jets for the death of many children and women. Dozens of civilians have been killed in separate air raids across Syria over the past 24 hours, blamed by rescue workers and a monitor on Russian, US-led coalition and Syrian government fighter jets. At least 10 people, including nine children, were killed on Tuesday in suspected Russian air raids on Maaret Harmeh village in Idlib province, an official with the Syrian Civil Defence, identifying himself only as Hamid, told Al Jazeera. An elderly woman and nine children [were killed] in suspected Russian air strikes that targeted Maaret Harmeh in Idlib this morning, Hamid said, adding that 10 others were wounded in the attack. Also known as White Helmets, the Syrian Civil Defence is a volunteer rescue group that operates mostly in rebel-held territory in Syria. Hamid said the air raid targeted a residential building. Shortly after the first air strike, as the rescue team was searching for survivors, another air strike targeted the scene, damaging some of our equipment, including an ambulance and injuring some of our volunteers, he said Three children were saved from under the rubble of their own home, he said. Maaret Harmeh is located just 22km away from the town of Khan Sheikhoun where a suspected chemical attack killed at least 87 people on April 4. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the deaths, adding that several other areas in Idlib were targeted by air raids on Monday evening. The UK-based monitor, which is tracking developments in Syrias war via a source of contacts on the ground, said those killed in Maaret Hermah in a suspected Russian air raid were all from the same family. It said the nine children killed were between the ages of two and 13. The Observatory says it determines whose fighter jets conduct air raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used. READ MORE: Deadly US air strike in Syria hit peaceful mosque Elsewhere in Syria, suspected government air raids targeted Urum al-Kubra, a village in the northwest of Aleppo province, killing at least four people from the same family, according to the Observatory. In Deir Az Zor, a suspected US-led coalition air raid on Monday targeted the town of Al Bukamal on the Iraqi border and killed at least 15 people, including five children, the monitor said on Tuesday. Earlier on Monday, a US-led coalition air raid targeted Al Husseiniyeh in the western suburbs of Deir Az Zor and killed at least seven people, including one child. As the Syrian conflict enters its seventh year, more than 465,000 people have been killed in the fighting, more than a million injured and over 12 million Syrians half the countrys prewar population have been displaced from their homes. With additional reporting by Diana al Rifai: @D_R_23 Founder of Nkulenu Industries, Ocloo started her business with less than a dollar and grew into a global inspiration. Esther Afua Ocloo launched her entrepreneurial career as a teenager in the 1930s on less than a dollar. She quickly became one of Ghanas leading entrepreneurs and a source of inspiration around the world. Today, on what would had been her 98th birthday, Google dedicated to her a doodle illustration. In addition to her own business, she taught skills to other women and co-founded Womens World Banking (WWB), a global micro-lending organisation. On its website, the WWB microlending network says it lends to 16,4 million women around the world, managing a loans portfolio of over $9bn. Known as Auntie Ocloo, Esther dedicated her life to helping others like her succeed. Women must know that the strongest power in the world is economic power, she said in a speech in 1990. You cannot go and be begging to your husband for every little thing, but at the moment, thats what the majority of our women do. How she started As a high school graduate with only a few Ghanian shillings given to her by an aunt, she bought sugar, oranges and 12 jars to make marmalade jam. Ocloo sold them at a profit, despite the ridicule of her former classmates, who saw her as an uneducated street vendor. Soon she won a contract to supply her high school with marmalade jam and orange juice, and later managed to secure a deal to provide the military with her goods. On the basis of that contract, she took out a bank loan. In 1942, she established a business under her maiden name, Nkulenu. Ocloo then travelled to England to take a course in Food Science and Modern Processing Techniques at Bristol University. In 1953, determined to grow her business with her newly acquired knowledge in food processing and preservation, she returned to her homeland with a mission to help Ghana become self-sufficient. Nkulenu Industries still makes orange marmalade today and exports indigenous food items to markets abroad. In 1962, the company relocated to its present location at Madina, a suburb of the capital city, Accra. WATCH: Ghanas food aid black market Award-winning leadership Besides working on her thriving business, she also set up a programme to share her knowledge with other women who cook and sell products on the streets. You know what we found? We found that a woman selling rice and stew on the side of the street is making more money than most women in office jobs but they are not taken seriously, she said. In 1990, she became the first woman to receive the Africa Prize for Leadership. She proposed alternative solutions to the problems of hunger, poverty and the distribution of wealth championing the development of an indigenous economy based on agriculture. In 1999 interview she said: Our problem here in Ghana is that we have turned our back on agriculture. Over the past 40 years, since the beginning of compulsory education, we have been mimicking the West by Esther Afua Ocloo We are now producing youth with degrees who dont want to work in the fields or have anything to do with agriculture. She added. OPINION: What can Ghana teach South Africa? Ocloo died in 2002 after suffering from pneumonia. At her state burrial in Accra, former president John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor said: She was a creator and we need many people of her calibre to build our nation. She was a real pillar... worthy of emulation in our efforts to build our nation. Her good works in the promotion of development in Ghana cannot be measured. by Former Ghanaian President Kufuor Today would have been Esther Occlos 98th birthday. In her honour Google changed its homepage logo in the United States; Ghana; Peru; Argentina, Iceland; Portugal; Sweden; Australia; Greece; New Zealand; Ireland and the UK to a doodle or illustration of her empowering the women of Ghana. Google also recently celebrated Jamini Roy, Hassan Fathy, and Abdul Sattar Edhi with their own doodles. Both candidates are embroiled in financial scandals, but only Fillon has suffered in the polls because of allegations. Paris, France Things were looking good for Francois Fillon shortly after he was selected as the presidential candidate for The Republicans, the French right-wing party. In the weeks after his victory, the former prime minister enjoyed a healthy showing in the opinion polls with Ipsos putting him in the lead with 29 percent of the vote, four points ahead of his nearest rival Marine Le Pen of the National Front (FN). Fast forward to the month of the election and the same pollster puts Fillon on 19 percent: not only behind Le Pen, but also the centrist Emmanuel Macron and the leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon. Chief among the accusations is that Fillon employed his wife Penelope as a parliamentary assistant, paying her close to a million euros ($1.07m) over a period of at least eight years, starting in 1998. That is quite legal, but the scandal centres on whether Penelope actually did any work. A string of further allegations emerged shortly afterwards, this time involving payments to his children for work they did as students. Fillon has apologised for the payments but refuses to step down. In the meantime, his poll numbers have tanked and authorities have placed him under formal investigation, even raiding his home in early March. Fillon is not alone in facing accusations of financial mismanagement, his rival Le Pen also stands accused. OPINION: The Fillon affair Frances sick democracy The FN leader is alleged to have made payments to party activists under the guise of employing them as parliamentary assistants as a member of the European Parliament. Members of Le Pens staff have been put under formal investigation, but the far-right candidate herself continues to enjoy immunity as an MEP, despite ongoing attempts by prosecutors to have it revoked. Unlike Fillon, however, Le Pens numbers have stayed more or less static throughout the campaign, with numbers at about a quarter of the vote or just under. Personal gain Philippe Marliere, a professor of French and European politics at University College London, told Al Jazeera that Le Pen had not been as affected by the fallout of corruption allegations because of the perception that she had not personally gained from the misuse of finances. For Le Pen, the issue doesnt seem to be personal gain, Marliere said, adding: She allegedly misused public funds but ultimately she hasnt personally benefited. This, according to Marliere, stands in contrast to Fillon, who faces allegations of personally benefiting from the funds. When politicians in any country benefit personally from corruption it always looks worse because they are already paid well and it looks like theyre misusing public funds just to get richer. Thats why its played out really badly for Fillon. Fillons reputations had also suffered because the allegations involving his wife were not isolated and the former prime minister has been implicated in other scandals, Marliere said. [Fillon by Philippe had to accommodate his policy of austerity by saying theres too much corruption and that money is not well spentThen immediately these allegations hit him, so he was totally discredited.] Media outlets in France have reported on several scandals involving the candidate dating back decades. Some of these are tiny issues but when you add them all up it starts to look very bad, he said. The scandals affecting both Fillon and Le Pen, however, are far from isolated occurrences. In an article for Al Jazeera, French sociologist Ali Saad noted a number of major politicians had been involved in similar scandals. The Fillon affair reflects the very essence of an oligarchic system dominated by a powerful ruling elite that takes advantage of the political and/or administrative functions to serve its own financial interests and maintain its privileges with total disregard to the societys dire economic situation, he wrote. Among examples Saad lists are former budget minister Jerome Cahuzac, who was convicted of fraud and held an undisclosed Swiss bank account. Former prime minister Alain Juppe also received an 18-month suspended sentence for misuse of public funds. Former French President Jacques Chirac was found guilty of creating fake jobs and embezzlement of public money: accusation similar to those Fillon faces today. Fillons platform is based on fiscal conservatism and the promise that he will dramatically slash public spending by reducing the states headcount by half a million employees. To assuage the unpopularity of the measure, Fillon had emphasised tackling waste and corruption in the initial part of his campaign. Those early pledges have now come back to haunt him, Marliere explained. He had to accommodate his policy of austerity by saying theres too much corruption and that money is not well spent, Marliere said. Then immediately these allegations hit him, so he was totally discredited. Voters are questioning why he is asking the public to tighten its belt while he benefits from state money in this manner. With less than a week left until the first round of the election, there is still time for Fillon to turn things around and defy expectation by reaching the second round. Nevertheless, his current fourth place in the polls represents a significant fall for a man once considered the favourite to lead France. Horacio Cartes rules out running in 2018 vote, seeking to end political crisis unleashed by bid to change constitution. Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes has said he will no longer seek re-election next year, after his bid to change the constitution triggered deadly riots. Cartes said in a statement on Monday that he will in no event try to run in the April 2018 vote, seeking to end a political crisis unleashed by his push to remain in power another five years. Presidential re-election has been taboo in the South American country since the 35-year dictatorship of General Alfredo Stroessner ended in 1989. After senators passed an amendment last month to change that, opposition activists stormed Congress, ransacking politicians offices and setting them on fire. Police shot dead one opposition activist in a raid during the riots. Hundreds of people were injured and more than 200 arrested. That triggered calls for crisis talks, backed by Pope Francis. But they fell apart when the main opposition, the Liberal Party, boycotted them. OPINION: Why was Paraguays Congress burning? Cartes said he hoped his gesture of renunciation would deepen the dialogue aimed at strengthening this republics institutions, the AFP news agency reported. But the opposition said the conservative presidents Red Party had not gone far enough. The only way to believe the presidents statements is if the ruling party shelves its attempt to amend the constitution, said the speaker of Congress, Liberal Party politician Roberto Acevedo. But Red Party spokeswoman Lilian Samaniego said party leaders had decided against withdrawing the amendment. Cartes attempt to change the constitution had the backing of his leftist rival Fernando Lugo, who was president from 2008 to 2012 and also wants to run again. But the Liberal Party bitterly opposes changing the 1992 constitutions limit of a single five-year term. Cartes change of heart came as international pressure mounted against his re-election bid. One of US President Donald Trumps top envoys for Latin America, Francisco Palmieri, the assistant secretary of state for Western hemisphere affairs, is going to Paraguay for talks on Tuesday. And Luis Almagro, the secretary-general of the Organization of American States, is expected on Thursday. In an interview with Al Jazeera, former Iranian president says he can improve the country and calls for regional unity. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Irans former president, has called regional powers in the Middle East to change their foreign policies, including in Syria, saying the conflict in the region was imposed from outside. The ex-president made the comments to Al Jazeera on Tuesday, less than a week after surprising Iranians by registering as a candidate for next months presidential election. Ahmadinejad had previously said he would not stand after being advised not to by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying he would instead support his former deputy, Hamid Baghaei, who also registered on April 12. The supreme leader gave me advice but he did not ask me not to run. It was just advice, Ahmadinejad said in his interview with Al Jazeera. I announced my nomination and support to my brother, Baghaei, because the situation on the international, regional as well as on internal levels has gone through many changes, he added. Everyone can play a role and I think it is possible to run the country better than it is now, Ahmadinejad said. Irans presidential election will take place on May 19. Call for regional unity Ahmadinejad called for unity among regional rivals, even though Iran is pitted against countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia over its support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the war in Yemen. All countries should change their policies, including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and Bahrain, as well as Iran, Oman and Syria. We all have to do this by changing our current foreign policy. We have to sit with each other. Why are we fighting each other? What is the reason? he said. Ahmadinejad called the Middle Easts volatile situation a war imposed on the regions countries from external forces. It (war) has caused us a great loss and robbed us of our wealth. This is very bad. There should be a serious invitation for negotiations, peace and utmost understanding from the many participants among us. Ahmadinejad left office in August 2013 after two turbulent four-year terms, leaving Iran divided domestically, isolated internationally and struggling economically. In 2009, Ahmadinejads re-election was followed by the largest protests to hit the country since the Islamic Revolution three decades before. Israeli authorities look to quell mass hunger strike through solitary confinement and punitive measures. Israeli prison officials have cracked down on Palestinian prisoners after more than 1,100 political detainees launched an open-ended hunger strike on Monday. The Palestinian Committee of Prisoners Affairs released a statement on Monday saying that Israeli Prison Service (IPS) officials had forcibly moved hunger-striking prisoners to different sections of Israeli jails, confiscated clothes and personal belongings and placed leading figures in solitary confinement. Imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, Karim Younis and Mahmoud Abu Srour were moved from Hadarim prison to solitary confinement in Jalama prison on Monday evening, according to the Prisoners Affairs committee. Barghouthi is to be prosecuted in a discipline court as punishment for his op-ed published by the New York Times on Monday, where he described the daily struggle of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and the ambition behind the hunger strike, the statement said. Israeli prison officials reportedly accused Barghouthi of using his wife to smuggle the article out of prison and to the New York Times. Mondays mass hunger strike was scheduled to coincide with Palestinian Prisoners Day, an annual event held in solidarity with the more than 6,000 Palestinian security prisoners incarcerated in Israeli jails. Shortly after last weeks announcement of the hunger strike, Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan asked for the creation of a military hospital to ensure that hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners were not transferred to civilian hospitals, which have so far refused to force feed hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners, Bethlehem-based Maan News Agency reported. A spokesperson for the IPS was not immediately available for comment. But IPS spokesman Assaf Librati was quoted by the Times of Israel as saying that the hunger strikers would be disciplined. The prisons service has started taking disciplinary measures against the strikers and in addition a number of prisoners have been transferred to separate wings, he said. It is to be emphasised that the [prison service] does not negotiate with prisoners, he said. In his op-ed published on Monday, Barghouti described hunger striking as the most peaceful form of resistance available. It inflicts pain solely on those who participate and on their loved ones, in the hopes that their empty stomachs and their sacrifice will help the message resonate beyond the confines of their dark cells. Palestinian prisoners launch mass hunger strike Responding to Barghoutis hunger strike, Yisrael Katz, Israeli intelligence minister, described the Palestinian leader as a despicable murderer and called for the death penalty for terrorists. Israeli authorities have arrested about one million Palestinians since 1948 and the subsequent occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 1967. On Saturday, Amnesty International that Israels decades-long policy of detaining Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza in prisons inside Israel and depriving them of regular family visits is not only cruel but also a blatant violation of international law. Steve Stephens, who was wanted for the killing of 74-year-old man, shot and killed himself in Pennsylvania, police say. A male suspect who police said posted a video of himself on Facebook killing an elderly man in the US state of Ohio has fatally shot himself after a brief chase in neighbouring Pennsylvania, according to police. Steve Stephens, 37, had been the subject of a nationwide manhunt in the wake of Sundays killing in the city of Cleveland. The FBI had put him on its Most Wanted list. Stephens was spotted this morning by PSP members in Erie County. After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself, Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) said on Twitter on Tuesday. Stephens was wanted on a charge of aggravated murder in the death of Robert Godwin Sr. In the Facebook video, which appears shaky, Stephens gets out of his car and appears to randomly target Godwin, 74, who is holding a plastic shopping bag. READ MORE: Facebook reviews violent videos after Cleveland murder Stephens says the name of a woman, whom Godwin does not seem to recognise. Shes the reason that this is about to happen to you, Stephens tells Godwin before pointing a gun at him. Godwin can be seen shielding his face with the shopping bag. In a separate video posted on Facebook, Stephens claimed to have killed more than a dozen other people. Facebook said the suspect did go live on the social media website at one point during the day, but not during the killing. Police had initially said that Stephens had broadcast it on Facebook Live. The video of the killing was on the social media site for about three hours before it was removed. Stephenss Facebook page also was eventually removed. More than two million people in Gaza, already living under a crippling Israeli blockade, facing massive power shortages. Gazas main hospital is on the verge of running out of fuel, doctors have warned, amid a deepening power crisis affecting more than two million people already living under a crippling Israeli blockade. On Tuesday, the only functioning power plant in the Hamas-governed Palestinian territory shut down after running out of fuel, leaving Gaza residents with only six hours of electricity a day. Gazas electricity company announced the total available power supply was less than a third of the territorys daily comsumption. Officials at the Al Shifa hospital on Tuesday said they had only two days of fuel left. Al Jazeeras Rob Reynolds, reporting from the hospital, described the situation as bleak, especially in the renal dialysis ward where patients with severe kidney problems were being treated. These patients require the dialysis machines to work and the machines require electricity, he said. Its a very, very difficult time for them and patients are quite concerned about the fuel shortage. Fuel supply for Gazas inhabitants has been a long-running source of dispute. The power shortage is a result of a row between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) over the cost of fuel. Hamas buys fuel from the Fatah-dominated PA in Ramallah. But fuel taxes are imposed, and Hamas said it could not afford to pay them. No electricity throughout Gaza Strip 12:02am pic.twitter.com/2dmJFOMORQ Farah Baker (@Farah_Gazan) April 14, 2017 The sufferings of the people in Gaza are increasing, Khalil al-Hayya, a Hamas official, said. Gaza deserves to be protected by the Palestinian official government. Gaza deserves to be heard by everyone. In addition to the hospitals, it is also the houses, emergency services and schools that are affected by the electricity situation. The situation is getting worse and worse, Gaza City resident Rami Kamouny said from his home, holding in his arms his young son, Mohammed, who suffers from severe handicaps and requires intensive care. The power cuts are creating more problems here, especially if you have a severely handicapped child whose life is connected to artificial respiratory systems. Corruption allegations Protests broke out in January over the power shortages, which the Gaza health ministry said could have dangerous consequences for patients in hospitals. The crisis was resolved by tax-free donations from Qatar and Turkey, which ran out last week. But now the PA is no longer willing to waive the fuel for Gaza. The taxes have been suspended for the past several months but those in charge in Gaza are pocketing money by not buying fuel, Abdullah Abdullah, a member of the Revolutionary Council of the Fatah movement, said. The PA, meanwhile, is paying for two sources of electricity the one coming from Egypt and the one coming from Israel. Unliveable by 2020 Following the power crisis, the United Nations has said Gaza could be uninhabitable by 2020. Robert Piper, the UN coordinator in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the relationship between Gaza City and Ramallah had to be fixed in order for the issues to be resolved. Electricity is such a key sector. It affects health, services, hospitals, sanitation, homes and businesses, Piper told Al Jazeera. The business sector, already extremely vulnerable, is devastated by four hours of electricity per day. This has a knock-on effect on employment. A lot of responsibility has to be shared. We will go nowhere until the issues between Gaza City and Ramallah are solved. At least 65 percent of residents in Gaza live in poverty, 72 percent are food-insecure, and 80 percent have grown dependent on international aid, according to a recent report published by the EU-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Unemployment in the territory hit an unprecedented 43 percent in the last quarter of 2016. A Fatah-led delegation is expected to travel to Gaza later this month to discuss reunification efforts with Hamas. Today we had about six hours of electricity at my house. Now its off for the next 12 hours, Ezz Zanoun, a photographer in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera on Sunday. Tomorrow it might be worse. Were expecting about four hours [of electricity] and from there the real problems start. Government-backed report comes after independent rights groups are denied access to conduct probe into violence. Almost 700 people have been killed during violence in Ethiopia since August 2016, a government-sponsored commission has said, bringing the total death toll since the unrest began in late 2015 to more than 900. Ethiopia declared six months of emergency rule in October after almost a year of anti-government violent protests in its Oromia, Amhara and SNNP regions. In March, the measure was extended by four months amid reports of continuing violence in some remote areas. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission mandated by parliament to investigate the violence presented its long-awaited findings on Tuesday. The commission blamed a lot of the violence on opposition groups, saying that security forces in some places had no choice but to respond with lethal force. The violence happened because the protesters were using guns and so security forces had no other option, Addisu Gebregziabher, the commissions head, told members of parliament. The report, the second by the commission, said police used proportionate force in most areas during the unrest, but could have provided better security during the rallies. READ MORE: Ethiopia Ethnic nationalism and the Gondar protests It said that since August the unrest claimed 495 lives 462 civilians, 33 security personnel in Oromia; 140 110 civilians and 30 security personnel in Amhara; and 34 in the SSNP regional states. Last year, the commissions first investigation said that 173 people in Oromia and 95 people in Amhara had been killed between November 2015 and August 2016. The commission here is blaming a lot of the violence on what it describes as the opposition both in Ethiopia and abroad using social media to stoke the unrest, Al Jazeeras Charles Stratford, reporting from inside Ethiopias parliament in the capital, Addis Ababa, said. The government has denied access to any independent international rights organisation to come to Ethiopia and conduct its own investigation into the violence, he added. It has also made it increasingly difficult for journalists to speak to witnesses or travel to the most badly affected areas since the emergency law was passed in October. Violent protests The state of emergency, declared on October 9, was a reaction to protests that were especially persistent in the Oromia region. Many members of the Oromo ethnic group say they are marginalised and that they do not have access to political power, something the government denies. A wave of anger was triggered by a development scheme for Addis Ababa, which would have seen its boundaries extended into Oromia. Demonstrators saw it as a land grab that would force farmers off their land. The protests soon spread to the Amhara region in the north, where locals argued that decades-old federal boundaries had cut off many ethnic Amharas from the region. OPINION: The Oromo protests have changed Ethiopia The Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups together make up about 60 percent of Ethiopias population. The countrys ruling coalition, which has been in power for a quarter of a century, is controlled primarily by the Tigray ethnic group, who make up 6 percent of the population. Tensions reached an all-time high after a stampede in early October in which at least 52 people were crushed to death fleeing security forces at a protest that grew out of a religious festival in the town of Bishoftu. In the following days, rioters torched several mostly foreign-owned factories and other buildings that they claimed were built on seized land. The government, though, blamed rebel groups and foreign-based dissidents for stoking the violence. The state of emergency initially included curfews, social media blocks, restrictions on opposition party activity and a ban on diplomats travelling more than 40 kilometres outside the capital without approval. Authorities arrested more than 11,000 people during its first month. Some provisions of the state of emergency were relaxed on March 15, two weeks before Thursdays announced extension. Arrests and searches without court orders were stopped, and restrictions on radio, television and theatre were dropped. The government has repeatedly said that those responsible, including security forces, for the violence must be held accountable. No members of the security services have faced any charges for the killing of the protesters. UN official says negotiations ongoing with 100 unarmed refugees at camp in eastern DRC after MONUSCO staff held. Thirteen United Nations mission staff have been taken hostage by 100 unarmed South Sudanese refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo, demanding to be moved to a third country, according to a UN official based in the area. The 100 were among 530 people who have been living in the Munigi base, outside Goma, since fleeing South Sudan last August, UN Goma bureau head, Daniel Ruiz, told the Reuters news agency. An official, who asked not to be named, said the UN was negotiating to try to win the release of the employees from the MONUSCO mission. We can confirm that some MONUSCO staff members are currently being held in a camp for former combatants in Munigi in eastern [Congo], said the official. The mission is working to resolve the situation. Most of the captors are former fighters loyal to ex-Vice President Riek Machar, who have clashed with President Salva Kiirs forces since July 2016. The UN estimates about three million South Sudanese have been uprooted by the violence in their country, the biggest cross-border exodus in Africa since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Ruiz said the camp occupants had been demanding to be moved to a third country for months, but no one would take them. On Friday, eight of them agreed to be repatriated to South Sudans capital, Juba. Others fear going back and are frustrated at being confined in the tiny camp in Congo. Theyre [the captors] saying if the eight were transferred to South Sudan, why shouldnt we be able to go to a third country? Ruiz said. He added that the UN mission was currently negotiating with them. Civil war broke out in South Sudan in 2013, after Kiir sacked Machar from the vice presidency. That conflict ended in a peace pact in 2015 and Machar was reinstated early last year, but tensions between the two men lingered and finally erupted into new fighting in July. Theresa May will go to parliament on Wednesday and seek early election to stop political game-playing ahead of Brexit. British Prime Minister Theresa May called for an early general election to be held on June 8, in a surprise announcement on Tuesday as Britain prepares for delicate negotiations on leaving the European Union. May said she will go to parliament on Wednesday to seek approval for the snap vote. We need a general election and we need one now. We have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done before the detailed talks begin, said May, speaking in front of 10 Downing Street. WHAT DO THE POLLSTERS SAY? Voting intentions: Conservatives: 46 percent Labour: 25 percent Liberal Democrats: 12 percent ICM/Guardian poll of 1,000 people April 18, after Mays announcement Voting intentions: Conservatives: 44 percent Labour: 23 percent Liberal Democrats: 12 percent UK Independence Party: 10 percent Who would make better PM? Theresa May: 50 percent Jeremy Corbyn: 14 percent Dont know: 36 percent YouGov/Times poll April 12-13, 2017 I have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election, she said. The leader of the Conservative party added that the UK needed an election because other parties are opposed to her Brexit plans to leave the EU. May became prime minister without winning an election in July last year following the resignation of David Cameron after millions of Britons went against his advice and voted to leave the EU. May had also backed the Remain camp in the June 23 referendum, but kept a low profile throughout a polarising campaign. She had previously said there would be no early election under her leadership. Al Jazeeras Duncan Golestani, reporting from London, said: May has rolled the dice, she is taking her gamble. She wants to increase her majority and her mandate to lead the country through Brexit. Under Britains fixed-term parliament act, which sets the date for the next election for 2020, May must win the approval of two-thirds of parliament before proceeding with an earlier election. She doesnt have that majority within her own parliamentarians, so shell have to challenge the opposition members to say you vote for this or youre not supporting us and youre not supporting Brexit, said Golestani. Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, said he backed Mays call for an early vote. I welcome the PMs decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first pic.twitter.com/9P3X6A2Zpw Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 18, 2017 In a statement posted to social media, Corbyn said: Labour will be offering the country an effective alternative to a government that has failed to rebuild the economy, delivered falling living standards and damaging cuts to our schools and the NHS. Political game-playing May accused her opponents of divisive political game-playing and undermining the UK in its Brexit talks, and said that division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit. Eight months after Britons voted to quit the bloc, the UK triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty in March officially beginning the two-year process of negotiations with the EU to withdraw from it. OPINION: Brexit is still happening, just not the way May hoped Its very interesting the way she has framed the politics of this. She has pointed the blame at the opposition parties, Labour and the Liberal Democrats as well as the Scottish National Party, said Golestani. She has said repeatedly over the past six months that she would not call an election, that she didnt think it was in the countrys interest, that stability was needed. She has gone back on that. A risk worth taking? Scotlands devolved administration is particularly concerned about leaving Europes single market the price May says must be paid to end perceived challenges such as mass immigration, a concern for some voters. In March, Scotlands semi-autonomous parliament backed a call by its nationalist government for a new referendum on Scottish independence from Britain before Brexit. May rebuffed the referendum request. Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland, said Mays decision was a huge political miscalculation that will give Scottish voters an opportunity to reject the Tories narrow, divisive agenda while reinforcing the democratic mandate for giving the people of Scotland a choice on their future. In Northern Ireland, Irish republican party Sinn Fein took a similar line, saying it will oppose Brexit and push for a special status for Northern Ireland after Brexit. Golestani said Mays decision to call for an early election was a gamble that is out of character for the prime minister, who is generally seen as sober and conservative. Dennis Novy, an associate professor of economics at the University of Warwick, told Al Jazeera that the biggest prize of an early election for May could potentially come from her own party. She has a lot of MPs in her own party that are hardcore Brexiteers and that have threatened to block some of the softer versions of Brexit that inevitably will come out of the negotiations with Brussels, said Novy. And if she gets a bigger majority in parliament she will be less dependent on the hardcore elements in her own party, and she will have more freedom. A group of public figures, including the first Ombudsman of Armenia Larisa Alaverdyan and environmentalist Karine Danielyan, addressed a letter to the UN Secretary General against Polad Bulbuloglu, Ambassador of Azerbaijan in Russia, nominated for the post of UNESCO Director General. April 18, 2017, 16:45 Dozens of letters pour in to UN amid fears the belligerent Bulbuloglu can become UNESCO Director-General STEPANAKERT, APRIL 18, ARTSAKHPRESS-ARMENPRESS: In addition to the UN Secretary General, the letter has been sent to all members of UNESCO council, as well as to those countries which have nominated candidates. Representatives of another 8 countries are nominated for the position. Against legal Arbitrariness NGO president Larisa Alaverdyan said this fact is important not only for the UN Secretary General, but also for other states. UNESCO has gained rather great reputation during decades of work, as a champion of cultural, scientific and other values. With this letter, we expect that in no event a leader be elected who is actively struggling against these values, Alaverdyan said. According to her, it seems like many are joining in sending the letters, not only organizations but also individuals. Karine Danielyan, president of the For Sustainable Human Development NGO and member of the Public Council, said Azerbaijanis and Turks are putting all efforts in order to enter international structures, especially the UN staff. Our organization cooperates with UN structures, and when we go to big events, conferences or discussions, then we always see that the organizer or secretary of the given event is either a Turk or an Azerbaijani. Everywhere, even in case of very little chance, issues are solved in favor of Azerbaijan and to the detriment of Armenia, Danielyan said. She was sad to mention that Armenia, having a big Diaspora, doesnt take action in this direction. Media expert Samvel Martirosyan urged to bombard the UN, UNESCO head and member-state offices with letters, in order to strengthen impact. Azerbaijans Ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbuloglu is infamous for his belligerent rhetoric and Anti-Armenianism. In an interview to Govorit Moskva, he said the diplomatic ways of settling the Nagorno Karabakh conflict proved to be ineffective, therefore Baku is ready to choose the military path. In addition, when Bulbuloglu served as Culture Minister of Azerbaijan, the Armenian cross-stones were destroyed in Nakhijevan. US president plans to sign executive order seeking changes to the H-1B visa programme that brings high-skilled workers. US President Donald Trump is planning to sign an executive order that seeks to make changes to a visa programme that brings in high-skilled workers. The time-limited H-1B visas for skilled workers, which are sought by Silicon Valley heavyweights, are meant for scientists, engineers and computer programmers, and are an important gateway for many attracted by tech hubs across the country. But the White House said the programme is undercutting American workers by bringing in cheaper labour and that some tech companies are using it to hire large numbers of workers and drive down wages. Trump is going to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday where he plans to sign an order dubbed Buy American, Hire American, ordering the Labour, Justice and Homeland Security Departments to propose reforms to the visa programme to prevent immigration fraud and abuse. Those departments would also be asked to offer changes so that H-1B visas are awarded to the most-skilled or highest-paid applicants, anonymous officials told the Associated Press news agency. There are, however, limits to the scope of Trumps action in the absence of a broader legislative plan. Administration officials said that the order seeks to strengthen requirements that American-made products be used in certain federal construction projects, as well as in various federal transportation grant-funded projects. The officials said the commerce secretary will review how to close loopholes in enforcing the existing rules and provide recommendations to the president. The order specifically asks the secretary to review waivers of these rules that exist in free-trade agreements. Largely symbolic The Trump administration said that if the waivers are not benefiting the US they will be renegotiated or revoked. During his campaign, Trump said he supported high-skilled visas but later came out against them. At one debate, he called for fully ending the programme, saying: Its very bad for our workers and its unfair for our workers. And we should end it. READ MORE: Syrians have been in the US all along, Donald Trump I think what were looking at here is largely symbolic, New York-based lawyer Danielle Mclaughlin told Al Jazeera. On April 29, Trump will be 100 days in office, and one of the promises he made was that he would make sure that Americans were hiring Americans and that they were buying American. About 85,000 H-1B visas are distributed annually by lottery. Many go to technology companies, which argue that the US has a shortage of skilled technology workers. The US president cannot, by a simple decree, change the number of visas allocated. Transitional step But the White House hopes, that signing the decree will build momentum before a possible legislative reform. This is a transitional step to get towards a more skilled-based and merit-based version, a White House official told AFP news agency. There is a lot we can do administratively, and the rest will be done hopefully legislatively. Critics say the programme has been hijacked by staffing companies that use the visas to import foreigners who will work for less than Americans. The staffing companies then sell their services to corporate clients who use them to outsource tech work. Employers from Walt Disney World to the University of California in San Francisco have laid off their tech employees and replaced them with H-1B visa holders. The tech industry has argued that the H-1B programme is needed because it encourages students to stay in the US after getting degrees in high-tech specialties, and that they can not always find enough American workers with the skills they need. Unarmed South Sudanese refugees demanding to be moved to a third country had captured 16 MONUSCO staff. The United Nations says 16 staff members held hostage at a UN camp in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been released unharmed. The UN peacekeeping department said in a statement late on Tuesday that the camp is quiet and under full control of its peacekeepers. Unarmed South Sudanese refugees took the staff members hostage earlier on Tuesday at the Munigi base in Congos North Kivu province, demanding they be sent to another East African country to avoid their forced return to South Sudan, the UN Mission in Congo said. Negotiations had continued into the evening. The UN peacekeeping department said: All staff have returned safely to their homes. No casualties have been reported. It said the mission is investigating the incident. The captors were among 530 people who have been living in the Munigi base, outside Goma, since fleeing South Sudan last August, UN Goma bureau head Daniel Ruiz told the Reuters news agency. Most of them are former fighters loyal to ex-Vice President Riek Machar, who have clashed with President Salva Kiirs forces since July 2016. The UN estimates about three million South Sudanese have been uprooted by the violence in their country, the biggest cross-border exodus in Africa since the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Ruiz said the camp occupants had been demanding to be moved to a third country for months, but no one would take them. On Friday, eight of them agreed to be repatriated to South Sudans capital Juba. Others fear going back and are frustrated at being confined in the tiny camp in DRC. Theyre [the captors] saying if the eight were transferred to South Sudan, why shouldnt we be able to go to a third country? Ruiz said. Civil war broke out in South Sudan in 2013, after Kiir sacked Machar from the vice presidency. That conflict ended in a peace pact in 2015 and Machar was reinstated early last year, but tensions between the two men lingered and finally erupted into new fighting in July. French foreign minister says Air Algerie plane carrying 116 people had probably crashed after disappearing over Mali. France has said it will do all it can to find the wreckage of a passenger jet carrying 116 people which is believed to have crashed in Mali after disappearing from radar. The plane, designated AH5017, disappeared from radar on Thursday over northern Mali while on a flight from Burkina Faso to Algeria. It was carrying mainly French and Burkina Faso citizens. The French foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, said the plane had probably crashed, while the French president, Francois Hollande, said his government would use all military means in Mali to help in the search for the plane. Two French fighter jets are among aircraft scouring the north of Mali for the wreckage, and France has hundred of troops stationed in Mali after defeating an al-Qaeda-linked rebellion last year. The flight, scheduled by Air Algerie and operated by the Spanish private company Swiftair, was flying in heavy rain, according to reports. The head of the emergency investigation into the flight said a witness saw a plane falling in the region of Goss in the northern part of Mali. A witness informed us they had seen the plane falling at 1.50am [GMT], said Gilbert Diendiere, a general in charged of a crisis unit in Ouagadougou trying and find the jet. Plane passed inspection Meanwhile, a French aviation watchdog said the plane was checked two or three days ago and was in good condition. Patrick Gandil, the head of the French civil aviation authority, said the plane passed through Marseille days ago. We examined it and we found almost nothing, it was really in good condition, he said. The flight path of the plane from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers was not immediately clear. Ougadougou is in a nearly straight line south of Algiers, passing over Mali where unrest continues in the north. Northern Mali fell under control of ethnic Tuareg separatists and then al-Qaeda-linked fighters following a military coup in 2012. The French-led intervention in 2012-13 scattered the al-Qaeda groups, but the Tuaregs have pushed back against the authority of the Bamako-based government. A senior French official said it seems unlikely that fighters in Mali had the kind of weaponry that could shoot down a plane. Last March, Gail Hodge hoped for a good harvest. But within a month, 40 percent of her family farms watermelon crops had gone bad. Sometimes its not an issue, the Hodge Farms co-owner said. Other times, it can be devastating. Over the past five to seven years, Fusarium wilt, a deadly watermelon disease caused by a pathogen in the soil, has increasingly appeared in farms throughout North Central Florida, said Nicholas Dufault, a UF Institute of Food and Agricultural and Sciences assistant professor. With summer approaching, farmers looking to harvest their crops are once again faced with the disease. Florida is among the top four watermelon-producing states in the U.S., according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Centers website. Until a feasible solution is found, Hodge said her family will put more attention into other crops and cattle or move to find uninfected soil. Researchers and growers can use a process called grafting to cure the disease. Squash rootstock, often unaffected by the soil-born disease, can be merged with a scion plant for resistant watermelons to be grown from them, said Xin Zhao, a UF IFAS associate professor. But solutions like grafting are expensive and can cost up to four times as much as planting watermelons normally, she said. Dufault said hes optimistic that he and other researchers will find a solution, but he said the pathogen will only continue to evolve. Well always be looking to ways to fight this disease, he said. Zion Barber, left, Jacob Musselwhite and Colton Crane, right, sink their teeth into pieces of watermelon during the watermelon-eating contest at the 65th annual Newberry Watermelon Festival at the Canterbury Equestrian Showplace in 2010. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now After a man intimidated two members of UFs African American studies program, students and faculty attended a teach-in on Monday to heal and educate others about black history. Members of the program discussed Black Thursday, a sit-in demonstration organized by the Black Student Union on April 15, 1971, to express its discontent with the university. About 40 people gathered on Turlington Plaza for the 45-minute talk, which happened days after police removed a man from campus who had been expressing racist views and preventing two faculty members from leaving their office. The man, Thomas Kelly, was banned from campus. Patricia Hilliard-Nunn, an African American studies professor, said she planned the teach-in to commemorate the recent 46th anniversary of Black Thursday, not because of the confrontation. We just want to teach and move on, she said. During the talk, professors spoke about how students in 1971 refused to leave former UF President Stephen C. OConnells office after he would not listen to their demands regarding the universitys treatment of black students and faculty. The protest ended in the arrest of 66 students, 60 of whom were placed on academic probation, according to UFs website. African American studies program Director Sharon Austin, one of the women Kelly confronted, said the incident shows the need to educate people about the African-American community. Everyone benefits from diversity, not just people of color, she said. Since the beginning of the semester, UF has been the scene of several racially charged incidents on campus, including the discovery of a noose in a auditorium and the knocking down of the sign in front of Walker Hall, which houses the African American studies program. UF President Kent Fuchs in a campus-wide email on Monday condemned Thursdays incident. There is no room for threats and fear tactics on our campus, he wrote. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Contact Paige Fry at pfry@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @paigexfry Patricia Hilliard-Nunn, an adjunct associate professor for UF's department of African American studies addresses ways in which black students and faculty want increased presence on campus. Some of the priorities she listed include actively recruiting 500 more black students, increasing the number of black faculty and establishing a department of minority affairs at the university. Fewer than two months after Smith Meyers arrest for allegedly pushing down two motorcycles while drunk on Spring Break, he is set to take office as UFs Student Body president on Wednesday. On March 7, Key West Police arrested Meyers on a charge of criminal mischief at about 2 a.m. after a witness reported seeing Meyers, 22, drunkenly attempt to start and knock over two Harley-Davidson motorcycles, according to an arrest report. In footage of the arrest, Meyers appears to strike a witness. Eight days after he takes office, Meyers is scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment. Christina Cory, a state attorney prosecutor on the case, said she pushed back previous arraignments three times to pin down the exact cost of damages from the incident. I wanted to have a better idea of which direction this case is headed and know kind of what were looking at for restitution, Cory said in a voicemail. Cory could not be reached for further comment. The owners of the motorcycles said Meyers caused at least $6,000 in damages, according to Alligator archives. Meyers did not respond to multiple attempts for comment. On April 12, Meyers pled not guilty to the charges and asked for a jury trial, according to Monroe County court documents. UF law professor Kenneth Nunn said during an arraignment, defendants are presented with charges and the cost of damages. Nunn said its standard for defendants to plead not guilty at first appearance because no evidence has been presented. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now Nunn said Meyers will likely plead not guilty again at the arraignment and request a trial date. My guess is Mr. Meyers does not have a criminal record, so this would be his first-time offense, Nunn said. Most likely, hes going to wind up with something called a deferred prosecution agreement. The agreement is a contract between the defendant and the state, where the defendant agrees to pay a fee, complete community service and/or go on probation in exchange for the prosecution to stop pursuing the case, Nunn said. In the agreement, the prosecutor could require Meyers to step down from Student Body president or be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, but Nunn said thats not likely. In a statement following his arrest, Meyers apologized for representing UF negatively and promised to be as transparent as possible. Since then, he has declined further comment. Valentina Varela, a 21-year-old UF psychology senior, said she doesnt mind that Meyers was arrested. As long as he learns to control himself in the future, especially since hes more in the UF public eye, then its fine, she said. But Diana Fridel, a 23-year-old UF fine arts junior, said she felt uncomfortable with Meyers taking office while going through legal procedures. She said his arrest questions his trustworthiness. I think its a lot on his plate, if he is going to school, taking office and dealing with the legal issues, she said. Its a lot for anyone to handle. Contact Paige Fry at pfry@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @paigexfry Were not going to wait until the end of this editorial to cut to the chase, so here it is: UF needs to do more than just condemn hate after the fact. Following seven racially charged incidents on UFs campus this semester, the Alligator has reported on all of the incidents and the subsequent condemnations by UFs administration and UF President Kent Fuchs. It has become almost routine. Weimer Hall. Turlington Plaza. Anderson Hall. Beaty Towers East. Walker Hall. McCarty B. And now Walker Hall again. Since the new year, every single month has brought along with it a new incident. April got its first last week. For those who dont know, a man was trespassed from campus Thursday after he confronted two members of the universitys African American studies program in their ofce and expressed support for a racist ideology while blockading the offices door. See the updated story here. Four days later, Fuchs released a statement calling for a campus with no room for threats and fear tactics. While were glad UF is at least acknowledging these incidents, it feels like thats all they are doing. And while we can understand the university trying to be politically correct in its response to this, it comes off as lackluster and contradictory. Calls for diversity and inclusion mean little if these incidents are still happening and at an alarming rate. We cant think of another university in Florida even the country that has been the scene of incident after incident, every month this year without fail. What would have happened if the man who trapped the two UF faculty members in their office Thursday had a weapon? What if he had been there with violent intent? We hate speculating, but with a racially charged climate both across the nation and on our own university, we cannot turn a blind eye to what happened Thursday. Or what could have happened. Our campus should be a haven for everyone, including faculty and staff. But when one of our own feels threatened, we must reevaluate what we are doing to fix it. Security measures have been taken to let the staff at Walker Hall feel more safe, but why is it more reactive than proactive? We cant allow the situation to escalate to the point where real people are in real danger; we cannot let UF become another headline. Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Alligator delivered to your inbox Subscribe Now UF has taken steps toward addressing increased tension, with Fuchs holding a town hall meeting last month to address concerns from black students and UF colleges hiring inclusion officers. But more needs to be done. UF must acknowledge the unique and troubling situation it finds itself in. It cannot risk to bury these incidents as isolated. There is a clear pattern in play here, and there is no easy solution. We suggest Fuchs and other school officials, including members of Student Government, host additional town hall meetings to listen to students and faculty members from all backgrounds as a way to foster inclusion and build community. Faculty members and students should receive training on how to deal with these incidents if they continue happening, and it appears they will. We also suggest replacing What is the Good Life?, a mandatory course for incoming students, with a course centered on diversity, inclusion and the history of minority experience in the U.S. But suggestions are powerless unless they get into the right hands. We urge you to organize, collaborate and let your voices be heard. Email or call in your complaints and suggestions to the people who have the power to implement change. People like Fuchs, incoming Student Body President Smith Myers who will be sworn into office on Wednesday and Dean of Students Jen Day Shaw are beholden to you. Keep them accountable. I dont know if you have been lucky enough to see one of those liberal In This House, We Believe virtue-signalling yard signs. In my rich-bitch Seattle neighborhood they are spreading like crabgrass. But then I thought: I can play this game. I have catch phrases coming out the ying-yang. So here is my prototype yard sign. "IN THIS SCHOOL OF LIFE, WE LEARN" That's what I start out with, to contrast with the #WeBelieve sign and its liberal conceit. As though there was no argument about its facile slogans. But life is a process; we conservatives learn from our mistakes as we go along. We hope. GOVERNMENT IS FORCE Government is not nice liberal librarians; it is men with guns, just like United Airlines last week. All those nice compassionate programs are funded by FY 2017s $7.0 trillion in government revenue, according to usgovernmentrevenue.coms guesstimate. Those monies were collected by force, and then dispensed by majority vote. And so, Americans are forced to send their children to government schools, forced to enroll in the governments retirement program, forced to enroll in the governments health program for seniors if they want to get their government pension. Warning: do not ever suggest to a liberal librarian that her government pension might be too high. POLITICS IS DIVISION The whole point of practical politics is to rile up your supporters against the danger of the other guys getting into power: in other words, to divide the country in two. Then there are the liberal activists. Their whole schtick is to demonize as the Other People that dont repeat-after-me the approved opinion on the political issues raised in the #WeBelieve signs. Kindness is Everything. Really? So who are those haters yelling Racist, Sexist, Homophobe? PROTEST IS POSTURING I was at dance performance on Saturday and an ageing liberal lady said that she was turning to protest. Please. The whole leftist protest culture is the liberal ruling class -- and its little darlings that right now include rich liberal women, left-wing blacks, La Raza Latinos, lefty LGBTQetc, and Muslims -- enacting fake revolution in front of friendly liberal media cameras. Others need not apply; they are violent extremists. "SYSTEM IS DOMINATION" I got this one from lefty rich kids Horkheimer and Adorno in their Dialectic of Enlightenment. They wrote: "What men want to learn from nature is how to use it in order wholly to dominate it and other men." No kidding, Max and Ted! So when you talk about our health-care system or our education system you are right away talking about your domination. "CREATIVITY IS HAVING CHILDREN" Among the more evolved and educated among us there has grown up a cult of creativity. To participate in an original creation of a work of art, or science, or activism, is the highest form of life, and only the best need apply. In fact, of course, everyone, even the meanest among us, can participate in the wonder of creation, just by having children. It is telling that the initiates of the cult of creativity, who I call the People of the Creative Self, rather tend to devalue the ordinary miracle of children. They get all creative about sex except when it comes to the creation of children. "SCIENCE HAS A PROBLEM" The #WeBelieve yard sign says Science is Real. I dealt with the ignorance in that statement in an American Thinker piece here. We must every day remember that science has a problem, in every sense. The first, from F.S.C Northrop, is that knowledge begins with a problem. So science doesnt even start until it has a problem. Second, in the sense applied by Horkheimer and Adorno above, science easily leads to domination, of nature and people. But sciences real problem is its easy virtue. Sciences whoring after grants often results in bad science and worse government. "MIGRATION IS INVASION" You can say that "no human is illegal" all you want, but migration is dangerous. Ask the folks on the receiving end of the northwestern Europeans that migrated all around the world starting in about 1492. In our time the left has made a scandal out of European migration, calling it colonialism. In other words, Europeans migrating and invading all across the world is bad. But now the rest of the world wants to migrate to the West, and that is good. Explain that to me, Sherlock. "GOD IS NOT MOCKED" I dont know the answer to the fundamental mystery about "the meaning of life, the universe, and everything." But I believe that whatever silly signs we post in front of our homes, whatever silly ideas we post on our blogs, whatever the lying talking points we spout on the nightly news, God is not mocked. Christopher Chantrill @chrischantrill runs the go-to site on US government finances, usgovernmentspending.com. Also see his American Manifesto and get his Road to the Middle Class. The Trump administration sanctioned Irans prison system for torturous interrogations, forced interrogations, and widespread mistreatment of inmates, on April 15. It may seem a tiny step in the way of stopping Iranian regimes human rights abuses against its own citizens but it certainly is significant as a change. It also deals a major blow to the perpetrators. The mullah regimes survival strategy - from its first day - revolves around total suppression at home coupled with spreading Islamic fundamentalism abroad which simply translates into exporting terrorism to neighboring countries and beyond. In deciding to deal with the Iranian regimes human rights violations and the nuclear deal with Iran, the Obama administration went after the latter alone although at the end of day the nuclear deal was not a success. The Trump administration hit a nerve by leveling sanctions on none other than Qassem Soleimanis brother, Sohrab, the head of Irans prison system. Qassem Solemani is the chief of Islamic Revolutionarys Guard Corps (IRGC)-Quds Force, responsible for carrying out operations on behalf of the regimes suspicious activities in Syria, Iraq and Yemen just to name a few. Sohrab Suleimani is a senior official in the prison system in Iran. A senior official on the White House National Security Council told the Washington Free Beacon that the Soleimani family has a history of fomenting violence and unrest both inside and outside Iran. The same official said: "It's no coincidence that Sohrab Suleimani is the brother of the notorious Qassem Soleimani, the head of the IRGC's Quds Forces, who has been responsible for so much of the violent disruption Iran has been spreading through the region." "There has been a disturbing and significant increase in the number of detentions and executions of Iranian citizens under President Rouhani, and the infamous Evin Prison under Sohrab Suleimani's control has been a key facility in this program of domestic repression," the official said. The new designation highlights the existence of Evin Prison, built in 1972 as a symbol of the fearsome power of the state. The prison is intended to send chills down one's spine; to terrify those potential prisoners of conscience just from the thought of spending a single night in the place. During the early days of its opening under the Shahs notorious SAVAK security organs (the Shahs secret police), ordinary Iranian citizens with university-aged children would often joke that we dont want our kids to end up in Evins Hotel by speaking out against the government. In the early days of 1979 Revolution, the fledgling mullahs regime, thinking of capitalizing on public ire for the place in their favor, promised that Evin would soon be turned into a museum for future generations to showcase the cruelty of the Shahs regime. However, after almost four decades of mullahs rule, the brutal edifice is standing and even more appallingly, stories are still leaking out of it. Many of the 30,000 political prisoners executed in the summer of 1988 spent years in Evin. Some, either by accident or some other miracle escaped the fate of their fellow inmates, wrote about their chilling firsthand experiences in that prison. Within the walls of this dungeon there are gruesome stories to tell of human rights and student activists, men, women, and, at times, small children, (jailed with their mothers) spending time for speaking out against the regime. One story belongs to Gholamreza Khosravi. He served an accumulated prison term of 12 years for simply for donating money to Iranian main oppositions satellite TV-Simay Asadi (PMOI/MEK). He was held for 40 months in solitary detention before his execution on June 1, 2014. Many U.S. citizens have also been held as hostages in Evin prison under false pretenses of espionage and were released after ransoms of some kind were paid. A recent case in point was the cash payment made by the Obama administration in return for the release of four Americans held in Irans Evin prison and released on the day the nuclear deal with the Iranian regime was finalized. John E. Smith, director of the Treasury Department's Official of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement: "Today's designations highlight our continued support for the Iranian people and demonstrate our commitment to hold the Government of Iran responsible for its continued repression of its own citizens." He added: "We will continue to identify, call out, and sanction those who are responsible for serious human rights abuses in Iran." "We continue to see Government of Iran officials engage in repressive behavior against its own citizens, including through their mistreatment and abuse of prisoners," the document states. "This is especially evident at Evin Prison, which is where numerous prisoners of conscience are held. We have documented these and many other human rights abuses perpetrated by the government of Iran in our annual State Department authored Human Rights, Religious Freedom, and trafficking in persons reports." So far, the world has been busy finding ways to stop the mullahs from getting their hands on a nuclear warhead. No one in his right mind can argue with that, but the deal reached went too far and lost focus of the bigger picture with Iran. The Obama administrations near fixation with getting the nuclear deal signed with the mullahs at any cost made it overlook other - equally serious, if not more serious - issues with the regime such as Iran's destructive role in the region and its trampling of the human rights of its own citizens at home. Sanctioning the Iranian regime for treatment of its citizen is no doubt a step in the right direction, not only for aiding the struggling people in the country but for calming the region and it definitely will help the fight against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Since the beginning of new administration in the White House, the ruling mullahs in Tehran - despite their occasional whining over the U.S. government slapping down new sanctions for its missile tests - have never reacted extremely against Trump - that is, until April 15. The regimes foreign ministry spokesman, Bahram Ghassemi, slammed the decision and said, Washington was not in a position to hold others accountable for rights violations. He added: These measures and unilateral and bullying sanctions are illegitimate according to repeated United Nations resolutions and they have a negative impact on improving human rights. Ghassemi also argued that the new sanctions were politically-motivated and illegal. The new sanctions leveled on Iranian regime hit where it really hurts. The mullahs not only feel the heat with U.S. airstrikes last week on its closest ally, Bashar Al-Assad in Syria for killing his own citizens with Sarin gas - no doubt with Irans blessings - the Iranian people now feel that they are not alone in their struggle for freedom. Reza Shafiee is a member of Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) History is always relevant if were willing to learn from it. A good example is the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo Japan on April 18, 1942. By way of quick background, the United States was forced into World War II after the surprise Japanese attack on our naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japan had been aggressively moving against other countries in the Pacific realm for several years, taking territory and raw materials to satisfy its expansionist aims. The Japanese correctly saw the U.S. Pacific Fleet, stationed at Pearl, as the biggest threat to their continued activities and so devised a plan to mount a surprise attack on Dec. 7, 1941 against our forces. The surprise worked. The attack sank or disabled eight of the nine battleships in the Fleet (only the USS Pennsylvania, in dry dock, escaped major damage), destroyed dozens of aircraft on the ground and killed over 2,300 U.S. military and civilian personnel, all for the loss of only 29 Japanese aircraft. The following day, Dec. 8, 1941, the Japanese attacked our main air base in the western Pacific, Clark Field in the Philippines, destroying dozens of U.S. fighters and bombers on the ground, effectively neutralizing our military strength in that region. Therefore, in less than two days, the Japanese dealt the U.S. military two huge defeats, setting the stage for the fall of the Philippines and leaving the entire Pacific essentially unprotected from Japanese attack. What is less known but unquestionably just as significant as the dual attacks on Pearl Harbor and Clark Field is the Japanese sinking of the British warships Repulse and Prince of Wales in the South China Sea, just three days after Pearl Harbor, on Dec. 10, 1941. The British had dispatched significant naval forces to protect their interests in the Pacific, especially then-colony Singapore, from Japanese aggression. Britain, although a relatively small country in terms of land mass and population, had long been among the worlds pre-eminent naval powers. From Admiral Nelsons many decisive victories in the late 1700s-early 1800s (culminating with his defeat of Napoleons fleet off of Trafalgar in 1805) to Admiral Jellicoes leading the British Grand Fleet in all-out battleship warfare against the Germans' High Seas Fleet at Jutland in 1916, to the powerful mastery of the seas enjoyed by the Royal Navy right through the beginning of World War II, British naval tradition was a source of national pride and identity, very much part of the fabric of their culture. Only seven months prior (in May 1941), Prince of Wales had played a central role in one of the greatest wartime triumphs ever achieved by Britain: the sinking of the German battleship Bismarck. The Bismarcka fast, modern, heavily-armed shipwas intended to be a North Atlantic commerce and cargo ship raider. If it managed to break out into the vast undefended expanse of the North Atlantic, it would be free to extract potentially crippling losses from the nation-saving material assistance coming over to England by convoy from the U.S. Sink the Bismarck! became a national rallying cry in Britain in May 1941, as the deadly German ship attempted to make its way into the open waters of the Atlantic. The Brits sank it, and the Prince of Wales played a major part, inflicting the initial damage on the Bismarck that led to its eventual demise. If ever an inanimate objecta warshipcould become a national hero, the Prince of Wales did. As stunned and shocked as America was after Pearl Harbor and Clark Field, Britains response was one of utter disbelief and horrified astonishment over the sinking of Repulse and Prince of Wales. As 1941 turned into 1942, the Philippines were falling to the Japanese in yet another humiliating defeat for America, Britain was deadlocked in a bitter struggle of attrition against the Germans in North Africa and Germany was inflicting incredible casualties on the Russians on the Eastern front. The alliesled by America and Britainwere losing everywhere. Morale was low. Eventual victory seemed impossible. Something needed to be done. A bold, unexpected stroke to rock Japan back on its heels and give a beleaguered public something to cheer about. President Roosevelt and Army Air Corps Lt. Colonel James Doolittle came up with a daring plan: Strike Japan from the air, using carrier-launched planes. Attack Tokyo, right over the heart of Japan, when Japan was at its militarily-invincible height. In a stroke of immeasurable luck, Americas aircraft carriers were not at Pearl Harbor at the time of the Japanese attack. They were out at sea on maneuvers. In a stroke of immeasurable strategic shortsightedness, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto elected to withdraw his forces back to Japan instead of ordering a follow-up strike, in spite of the fact that Pearls air cover was gone. A follow-up attack could well have finished off the U.S. Navy completely, since the carriers returned to Pearl later that day. But the Japanese didnt strike again and Americas carrier force was intact. So the plan was this: assemble a task force centered around the carrier USS Hornet and sail towards Japan. Once the force was about 400 miles away, theyd launch their planes and then reverse direction for a fast escape. The Navy had no planes that could fly 400 miles to Japan, then fly several hundred more into China, where the plan was theyd land in more-or-less friendly territory and the crews would then somehow make it back home. Doolittle decided to use 16 twin-engined Army B-25 medium bombers to fly off the Hornet. The B-25 had the range and payload capability that was needed for the mission, far in excess of any Navy plane then in service. Flying a large two-engine medium bomber off a carriers deck had never been done before. The crews of five practiced for weeks on land airstrips painted to the Hornets dimensions. The B-25s themselves were stripped of all unnecessary weight to make the task easier: The bottom gun turret was removed, the upper and side guns were taken out and replaced with wooden broomsticks painted black to look like guns, the heavy precision Norden bombsight was removed and replaced by a lighter, simpler device, and extra fuel tanks were installed to extend the planes range. En route to target, the ships encountered a Japanese fishing trawler about 800 miles out from Japan. (Different reports over the years have put this distance anywhere from 170 miles beyond the 400 mile out launch point570 miles outto 400 miles short of the launch point800 miles out.) The boat was quickly sunk by gunfire from an accompanying U.S escort cruiser, but there was no way to determine if the trawler was just a harmless fishing vessel or a radio-equipped spy ship disguised to look like a fishing boat. Unsure if their cover had been blown,Doolittles planes either had to launch immediately or the task force had to turn around. All 80 of the B-25 crews said, We go now! Not a single dissent among the group, all of whom had volunteered for what was almost certainly a suicide mission. Incredibly, all 16 planesheavily-laden with fuel and bombstook off successfully and headed towards Japan. They achieved complete surprise, struck a factory complex and flew away towards China without a single loss. It was a total success and the Japanese military planners and public alike were indeed awestruck and rocked back on their heels. Not even five months after Pearl Harbor, amidst never-ending catastrophic news from every front around the world, American boldness and unfathomable bravery struck a blow for the allies and their people, lifting the morale and spirits of everyone, everywhere, to an incalculable degree. This was presidential leadership at its finest. Roosevelt understood the need for our country, and the British too, to have a victory, to buttress the will of the people to go on fighting, to end the string of bad news. The Doolittle mission didnt accomplish anything of great material significancethe number of planes was too few, their bomb loads too smalland the idea of risking the loss of an invaluable American carrier task force for what was, in all candor, simply a publicity stunt was total lunacy, from both a logical and strategic standpoint. However, rallying public support behind a difficult nationally-shared concern of major import is as important a task as a president has. George W. Bush was able to garner similar support and enthusiasm when he stood among the 9/11 ruins with a bullhorn and said, ..and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon! Presidents Kennedy and Reagan were similarly and legitimately inspirational, any number of times. But recent presidents seem instead to get caught in the lower-level minutia-du-jour, whether its saying that a local town police force acted stupidly or proclaiming that a hoodie-wearing troublemaker could be my son, or sending out electronic communications regarding an individuals physical appearance. Its been awhile since weve heard a president lead a rally for public support of a great national scientific effort or deliver a reassuringly-fatherly address after a national emergency or tragedy. How long has it been since a president has presented the country with a reasoned, logical, non-condescending explanation of why the country is about to embark on a difficult course that will result in the betterment of our situation in the long run? History is a good teacher. Roosevelts decision to green-light the seemingly illogical Doolittle Raid serves as an excellent example of the sort of bold, big-picture, for-national-benefit actions a president should take. Actions that today seem to get lost too often in the instantaneous chaos of media-driven small-minded partisan conflict. EpitaphResults of the Doolittle Raid: All 16 planes made it safely out of Japanese airspace, but being low on fuel because of the greater-than-planned flying distance, all crash-landed in either eastern China or eastern Russia. Three crewmembers were killed during the landings. Eight crewmen were captured by occupying Japanese soldiers in China; three were executed and five were imprisoned, one of whom died in captivity. The rest eventually made their way back and resumed their military service. Doolittle thought he was going to be court-martialed for losing all 16 planes and failing to get his crews home quickly, but instead, he received the Medal of Honor and a promotion to brigadier general when he returned home in June, 1942. Sources: Famous Bombers of the Second World War, 1960 William Green, Doubleday & Co. Airwar, 1971 Edward Jablonski, Doubleday & Co. Air Force 1957 Martin Caidin, Bramhall House American Combat Planes 1982 Ray Wagner, Doubleday & Co. The Two Ocean War 1963 Samuel Elliot Morrison, Little-Brown 2017 Steve Feinstein. All Rights Reserved. Armenians and Jews of Florida will mark commemorate Yom HaShoah and Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day by organizing the screening of the critically acclaimed film Denial. April 18, 2017, 17:22 Armenians and Jews of Florida to jointly commemorate Armenian Genocide and Holocaust STEPANAKERT, APRIL 18, ARTSAKHPRESS: The event is organized by Congregation Bnai Israel and the Armenian Genocide Commemoration, Armenian Weekly reported. The Armenian and Jewish communities have a shared historical pain. Our religions may be different, but our stories are the same. Families broken apart and slaughtered in campaigns of ethnic cleansing that took millions of lives from us, an uprooting of a people and a way of life, our survival and that we have not only survived but thrived, and a vow to remember and never forget commented Arsine Kaloustian, the Chair of Armenian Genocide Commemoration, Inc. We also share the vigilance against any denial of these atrocities, which makes the theme of the film so relevant for both communities, she added. Local Armenian and Jewish community leaders will then deliver brief remarks and discuss the importance of the film. After the film screening, the evening will conclude with an interfaith candlelit prayer service from local religious leaders. We human beings, created in the divine image, have a Godly responsibility to speak out and act against the atrocity of the extermination of any people because of their race, religion, or ethnicity. Too often people are complicit in their silence against those who would deny such a holocaust. The lessons of history must be studied and learned so that we might chart a better course for humanity. It does not do justice to our Godly responsibilities to ignore, deny, or reframe human history, stated Rabbi Robert A. Silvers of Congregation Bnai Israel. Last month, Fox News regular Judge Andrew Napolitano claimed that President Obama and his cronies used British intelligence to spy on then candidate Donald Trump. That certainly caused a stir among the higher-ups at Fox News. A week later the outspoken judge was suspended from Fox. More specifically, Judge Napolitano accused the Obama administration of doing an end run around the U.S. intelligence community, using GCHQ, the British spy agency, to do its dirty work. GCHQ has unfettered access to the NSA database. Meaning that the Brits could request transcripts of conversations between the Trump campaign and any foreign players, then pass those transcripts on to the Obama inner circle. Leaving President Obama, Susan Rice, and others with deniability and no fingerprints on this domestic spying scheme. The Fakestream Media was outraged. Even Fox News own truth-detector Shepard Smith was having none of his colleagues claims, saying, "Fox News knows of no evidence of any kind that the now-president of the United States was surveilled at any time in any way. Full stop." As it turns out, Sheps full stop was only a speed bump. Judge Napolitano was right after all, as reported in of all places, CNN. British and other European intelligence agencies intercepted communications between associates of Donald Trump and Russian officials and other Russian individuals during the campaign and passed on those communications to their US counterparts US congressional and law enforcement and US and European intelligence sources tell CNN. It goes beyond the Brits, extending to the Five Eyes agreement which also includes Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, which all share intelligence collection and dissemination. What it looks like is that four of our allies were spying on the Trump campaign, either at the direct request or implied desire of the Obama administration. The Guardian goes further, reporting that Germany, Estonia, Poland, France, and the Netherlands also spied on Trump and shared their findings with Obama. How ironic that the media and the left are obsessing over Russian interference in our electoral process, and despite over a year of investigations, turned up no evidence of Trump-Russian collusion. Yet here are many supposed allies, spying on American citizens in effort to influence a U.S. election, likely at the request of President Obama or his administration, as a means of circumventing the legal prohibition of American intelligence agencies spying on its own citizens. Perhaps legal, as when parsing words in the manner of Bill Clinton, but certainly an abuse of power. The question is why? Its no surprise that the smart set in the Five Eyes countries were against Donald Trump and hoped he would lose the election. As one of many examples, an editorial in the New Zealand Herald, the NY Times of the Southern Hemisphere, opined, It was unimaginable that such a dangerous buffoon could defeat a qualified, whip-smart, sane candidate. It was indeed unimaginable that Trump would win the election. The Fakestream Media in the U.S., through their rigged polls and myopic worldview, were all convinced that Hillary Clinton would win. In a landslide. Whether the Huffington Post, Real Clear Politics, wunderkind Nate Silver, or the network news polls, all were predicting a Clinton landslide win, giving her a 90 plus percent chance of victory. At least up until about 9 P.M. on election night. Undoubtedly the foreign media, including the spying countries mentioned above, saw and believed U.S. reporting that Clinton would cruise to an easy electoral victory. The Obama administration certainly did, which is why they ignored supposed Russian hacking. At least until voters punched back on election day. Why spy on Donald Trump, the buffoon, the unqualified, stupid, insane candidate who had no chance of winning the election? There was no need to influence the election since it was over, a predetermined and certain outcome of Madame President. Let me suggest a reason. Foreign governments contributed generously to the Clinton Foundation. Such as Qatars $1 million contribution in honor of Bill Clintons birthday. Fine for Qatar but perhaps unseemly for Canada, UK, Australia, France, New Zealand, or the Dutch to make such a contribution. Suppose they made a different type of contribution to the Clintons? No quid pro quo but an effort to get on the good side of Madam Presidents upcoming administration. If Trump was destined to lose the election, as everyone expected, what good would Trump campaign conversation transcripts be to Hillary Clinton? Trump would slink back to reality TV and beauty pageants, irrelevant to the reign of Queen Hillary. What if foreign country snooping went well beyond Trump? Despite much of the GOP establishment actively campaigning against their partys nominee, there would undoubtedly be interesting conversations among Republican members of Congress and the Trump campaign, or between #NeverTrumpers discussing the campaign. Who knows the extent of this snooping? How many conversations were vacuumed up, not to help the Clinton campaign, but instead as useful tidbits to use as needed during the upcoming Clinton administration? What if conversations of Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, or John McCain were captured by NSA, accessed by GCHQ, shared with Five Eyes and other countries, then passed on to the new Clinton administration to be leaked to the Washington Post at an opportune moment? Great leverage against Republican legislators to do Madam Presidents bidding, whether a Supreme Court nominee or a controversial piece of legislation. Outrageous? Remember Filegate? This is the same Clinton administration that, had been regularly pulling the files from the F.B.I. on hundreds of Republicans -- ostensibly for security clearance, but including hundreds of former Reagan and Bush appointees never being considered for jobs. What Judge Napolitanos revelation, now confirmed, suggests that foreign allies might have been making contributions to Hillary Clinton, not in cash, but in something far more valuable: information. Perhaps obtained legally but clearly not ethically or honorably. They were betting on the come currying favor with the expected Clinton administration, offering up something money cant buy. Information. Worthy of investigation. But not likely as the Fakestream Media prefers to chase the leprechauns of Trump-Russia collusion, even in the face of Trump sending 59 Tomahawk missiles into Putins adopted client state of Syria. Donald and Vlad as BFFs. Full stop. Brian C Joondeph, MD, MPS, a Denver based physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Senator Ted Cruz, one of the primary backers of the government shutdown in 2013 over Obamacare funding, says he's concerned that the radical Democratic left wants to obstruct Republicans and will work for its own government shutdown. Texas Tribune: Ted Cruz, no stranger himself to government funding fights, expressed concern Monday that the "Democratic radical left" would prompt a government shutdown in the coming weeks as Congress faces an April 28 deadline to pass a spending bill. "You know, I very much hope we don't have a shutdown," Cruz told reporters. "I will say Im concerned. I think [Senate Minority Leader] Chuck Schumer and the Democrats want a shutdown." Cruz had a starring role in the 2013 government shutdown, which lasted 16 days and was prompted over failed efforts by Republicans to defund the Affordable Care Act. Afterward, some Republicans blamed Cruz for helping instigate the shutdown without a realistic plan to prompt the Obama administration to blink on the issue. "You know, one of the dynamics weve got is the Democratic radical left is demanding of Senate Democrats that they oppose everything, that they engage in across-the-board obstruction," Cruz said Monday. "And so I do have some concern that to appease the radical left, Chuck Schumer and the Democrats may do everything they can to try to provoke a shutdown." Forget the irony of Cruz warning against a government shutdown by Democrats, and look at his analysis. The reality is, there are going to be a lot of Republicans who will not vote for the spending bill being fashioned this week. Both Speaker Ryan and Majority Leader McConnell are going to need at least some Democrat votes to keep the government operating. But to get those votes, Republicans are going to have to cave on some important issues. Funding for the wall is out, as is cutting off funding for Planned Parenthood. There are other "no-go" issues that most Democrats will refuse to vote for, making a government shutdown likely unless the White House gives in and gives the Democrats what they want. Asked Monday if he was willing to tie issues like funding for the border wall to the spending bill, Cruz said he believes Congress "should use the power of the purse, use appropriation, to implement good policy." However, he reserved judgment on which specific issues should be tied up in the legislation, saying he will wait until he reads the text of the bill. Cruz made the comments after touring air conditioner manufacturer Daikin's factory in Waller County, where he also held a town hall with employees. Speaking with reporters, Cruz reflected on the failure of House Republicans earlier this year to pass legislation repealing and replacing Obamacare as Congressional leaders consider their strategy on the next item on the Trump agenda: tax reform. Cruz is hinting that if the GOP caves on important issues and give the Democrats what they want, there could be a conservative revolt that would make it virtually impossible to avoid a shutdown. The thinking here is that even giving Democrats everything they ask for, the opposition party will still look to embarrass President Trump and congressional Republicans by forcing a shutdown. Unless President Trump can crack the whip and force reluctant conservatives to vote to keep the government operating, it appears we're headed for another government shutdown in the near future. It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch: rather than succeed in getting California to break up with the union, the Calexit unicorn crowd has managed only to secede from itself, breaking up and going away mad. It really was a stupid rabbit trail, born of the Silicon Valley left's bitterness at the election of Donald Trump. It was never a serious movement, mainly because it was never going to succeed the Civil War pretty well put a stop to such an idea. But it didn't stop this childish temper tantrum of wanting to take up one's marbles after an undesired election outcome and just go home. Now it seems that the people organizing it have gotten into fights, and their petition to put secession on the ballot has fallen by the wayside. Even Vladimir Putin has been thrown into the mix, with some characters or other saying Putin wants this and that his advocates for secession were Putin Puppets. RT News, of course, is on the job with that one. Make no mistake: there is a disgusting problem in California with its one-party politics. The issue isn't Washington; it's Sacramento and its propensity for completely disenfranchising California's Central Valley as well as its southeast desert and northeast cascade counties the boondocks, who never get any input in the affairs of the state. That's where the reform is needed. The Calexit crowd was nothing but a bunch of leftist bozos, absolutely sure that everyone in the state is as left-wing as they are, seeking as a majority to trample the rights of the minority by popular will. What is really needed is decentralization in this state the kind that empowers all the counties, not just a tight little elite that wants it all for itself and is so insulated that it thinks everyone thinks just as its own members do. Anyone surprised that these self-absorbed, hot-tubbing navel-gazers managed to secede only from themselves? According to a recent news report, California has adopted a policy of increased leniency toward criminals. Unsurprisingly, violent crime in that state has significantly increased. Could anyone fail to make the connection between the leniency and the increased violence? Unfortunately, yes. Liberals and progressives have many talents, and cognitive dissonance is one of them. Indeed, without it, progressive liberalism would soon cease to exist. It is a well known law of economics that the more one rewards something, the more of it one gets, and the converse is also true. The less one punishes criminality murder, robbery, rape, and the like the more of it is produced. So why do liberals persist in their fantasies, despite the overwhelming body of facts that would persuade any sane policy-maker that the fantasies are wrong? The reason is that liberal ideology holds that humans are by nature good or at the worst, neutral, a blank slate upon which society programs our behaviors. Liberals are convinced that, if only the right people in power make the right policies, then the masses of ordinary folk will behave altruistically, tolerantly, and benevolently. This is contrary to the worldview by which the Founders shaped our Constitution. They instituted a system of checks and balances, the purpose of which was not to enhance man's supposed inherent niceness to each other, but rather to restrain our evil impulses. In Genesis 8:21 we are taught that "every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood." This is such a powerful statement that many people, even many people of faith, recoil from it. What about the innocent little babies? Nevertheless, it is a belief that is far more productive than its opposite. It is comparable to the Russian proverb "trust but verify," which President Reagan cleverly turned against the Russians when he demanded that Russian compliance with weapons limitation treaties be subject to close inspections. Compare that to Barack Obama's "trust, just trust" principle, which allowed Iran to become a nuclear threat to the world. To be sure, prisons do not turn mean, vicious individuals into reformed paragons of virtue. The very term penitentiary is a misnomer in that regard. But they do serve at least two useful purposes. The most obvious is that they separate criminals from their would-be victims. The other purpose is that they deter some okay, only some people from committing some okay, only some crimes. But one innocent person spared from becoming a victim is worth the imprisonment of a thousand guilty predators. Maddeningly, liberals claim that their policies are compassionate and humane. They turn deaf ears to the victims and their families victims who are punished by the liberal policies of leniency toward violent offenders. There seems always to be yet another billion dollars to be spent on illegal aliens; on welfare for immigrant populations who hate us; and for abortions, "sex reassignment" surgery, and teaching Ebonics to illiterate victims of the public education system. But spending money on affirmative crime control instead of on unconstitutional gun control is too often out of the question, if one questions liberals. Many improvements could be made in our criminal justice system. It is sadly true that innocent people get convicted while guilty persons walk free. Those problems deserve attention and money. But those problems will not be solved by releasing known evil attackers from their cages, to send yet more citizens to the prisons of death and loss of loved ones. None of this will make any sense whatsoever to progressives. After all, their every inclination is toward evil, a fact they attribute only to us, not themselves. The sad sack Democratic Party, lacking any viable plan for 2018, is once again featuring Bernie Sanders, who is headlining a six-day, seven-state "unity" tour labeled "Come Together and Fight Back," thehill.com reports. Underlining the Democrats' desperation, one Clinton supporter says running Sanders out as the face of the party is the "Bernie Band-Aid tour: We'll slap him over our problems but fundamentally change nothing." Sanders is joining new Democratic National Committee chairman Tom Perez on the cross-country tour that began Monday in Maine's Second District, where Donald Trump won his sole Maine electoral vote, and will continue to red states such as Florida, Kentucky, and Utah. Jim Stinson at lifezette.com writes: The decision to highlight the Democrats' new subservience to the far-left by parading Sanders on a tour is not the only remarkable aspect of the Monday kickoff. The Democrats chose to start their tour in Maine. The normally liberal-to-moderate state has a famous independent streak, but now Democrats are worried if voters in the Pine Tree State are leaning away from them entirely. Stinson quotes Corey Lewandowski, a "New England native" and former Trump campaign manager, on the stakes for the Democrats: If [the Democrats] can't win there, there is no path forward. Noting that Republicans face an uphill battle in most of New England, Stinson adds that "in Maine, Democrats have not won a statewide election in more than 10 years." But Maine is not like the rest of New England, experts note. It is famously independent, and the rural part of Maine and there is a lot of it is not liberal. Still, the addition of [Republican Rep. Bruce] Poliquin to the New England congressional delegation in 2014 rattled Democrats. In 2016, Poliquin held on to his seat, despite a fierce campaign to unseat him. A Maine Republican Party official says the Democrats "have a very weak bench" and that he "believes the far-left nature of Sanders and Perez will turn off voters outside of Portland, Maine's largest city." Maine's Second District is but one small piece of a steep uphill climb for the Democrats in 2018. Jeremy Carl at nationalreview.com points to Roll Call's early 2018 election guide, which shows 212 "safe" Republican House seats and 179 "safe" Democrat House seats. As Carl observes, the Democrats would have to hold all of their so-called tossup, lean, and likely seats and take all of the Republicans' tossup and lean seats, and then add eight of the thirteen Republican likely seats, in order to eke out a one-vote margin of 218 House seats. Mr. Carl continues to the Senate: But compared to their chances of taking the Senate, the House looks like electoral paradise for the Democratic party. Morning Consult has just released its 50 state polls, and it underscores the enormous shift that would have to happen for the Democrats to win that chamber. ... Electorally, the GOP is in a fantastic spot, having to defend just nine of the 34 Senate seats up in 2018, and in each of those nine seats, the GOP candidate is listed as favored to win by arguably the top three major race handicappers (Cook, Rothenberg, Larry Sabato). Carl analyzes various individual Senate races and concludes: The media and Democrats will attempt to scare the GOP into fearing electoral devastation with each Trump misstep or weak result in a special election. But the party should ignore the naysayers even with political headwinds, a highly favorable map means they are in a very strong position heading into 2018, as long as the party keeps faith with its voters. The GOP needs to stop getting spooked by its electoral shadow and start delivering the change it has promised voters for the better part of a decade. The Democrats are counting on Mr. Sanders to keep their base fired up, and they are counting on the Republicans to drop the ball on their promises. Eighteen months is a long time in politics, but the Democrats have yet to demonstrate any viable plan to recover from their 2016 and prior defeats. For too long, U.S. presidents of both parties have lived with the North Korean threat. My guess is that they thought there were no pretty options, and it's easy to understand that, with millions of civilians living within range of North Korea's massive artillery. Also, North Korea was just a loud dog for years, and not one that threatened to start a nuclear war. We have now reached the point where North Korea's insane behavior is unsustainable. In other words, one of those missiles is going to hit a ship, a city, or U.S. troops on the border. It's like having a kid walking around with an AK-47 and making the neighborhood rather uncomfortable. Therefore, it's perfectly reasonable for President Trump to talk so much about the threat, as Claudia Rosett wrote: Pyongyang, with its totalitarian, dynastic Kim regime, has bedeviled American presidents, both Democratic and Republican, for decades. But after years of Obama's passive policy of "strategic patience," the threat posed by North Korea has soared. Kim's regime clearly feels free to brag up its prowess in developing deliverable nuclear weapons, threatening strikes on America and advertising its program to develop submarine-launched ballistic missiles prototypes of which North Korea this Saturday paraded through the streets of Pyongyang. Pyongyang is now on the verge of a sixth nuclear test four of its five tests to date having been conducted on Obama's watch (in 2009, 2013 and two tests in 2016)[.] ... All this is part of the Obama legacy: the rising global agglomerate of emboldened tyrannies, with which Trump must now deal. Call it the Axis of Opportunism. Call it whatever we want. I prefer to call it a problem that has to be fixed. North Korea used to be that terrible dictatorship that held massive military parades while the people ate grass or whatever they could find. Well, the people are still starving, but the leadership is firing missiles and threatening to hit the U.S. They used to be crazy, but now they are seriously dangerous. P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. Good question. Amazingly, it was a line in a new network television program, Chicago Justice, another in the long list of Dick Wolf-produced crime-legal shows. Carl Weathers of Rocky fame speaks the line; he plays the district attorney of Chicago. It was shocking to hear the question uttered in a prime-time drama. Of course there was a murder in this television episode, and the murderer turned out to be a young girl besotted with her radical leftist, anti-gun professor. Her victim? A pro-gun conservative on their campus. Real life these days is stranger than fiction. Even Orwell could not have imagined how far we have surpassed all he imagined in 1984 especially on college campuses. Higher education in America has been utterly destroyed by the left since the tenured radicals of the 1960s took control of it. Now our campuses are virtually totalitarian in nature. Stanford just admitted an applicant who is not black but who wrote "Black Lives Matter" a hundred times on his application. Forget all the serious students who took the application question "What matters to you and why?" seriously. They are toast, cast upon the funeral pyre of diversity and freedom of thought in favor of the anti-merit (racist), pro-ethnic diversity but anti-diversity of thought mindset of college admissions officials. Wellesley has demeaned itself by printing a fascist screed by a student who writes poorly and has not a clue about what our Constitution says or means. She is opposed to freedom of speech. Too many of these young people think no one should be able to utter a word they find unacceptable. Not a word. Like those who think persons who do not take human-caused climate change seriously should be jailed, our universities have become Orwellian factories that churn out properly indoctrinated robots who dare not deviate from the party line. The professors are indeed making their students stupid. There is no education going on at most universities these days only the ever escalating indoctrination to blinkered dogma by professors who are products of their own college pseudo-educations. They have been intellectually incapacitated and then are turned loose, hired by prestigious universities, to incapacitate their unwitting students, who have been similarly indoctrinated by their high school teachers to swallow whole whatever nonsense college throws at them. Conservative students, an actual minority, are shunned, berated, and downgraded by fellow students and professors. They either submit to their professors' singular ideology or are damned. There are glimmers of sanity on the horizon. College Fix, Chronicle of Higher Education, Campus Reform, FrontPage, and Minding the Campus are sites that fight back against the rushing totalitarian tide of university indoctrination. David Horowitz does tireless and often thankless work on campuses to fight the anti-Semitism that has become de rigueur. He is usually shouted down, as have been Charles Murray, Milo Yiannopoulos, Ann Coulter, Ben Shapiro, etc. Our young people have been taught to hate, to revile, to shut down any speech with which they disagree. This happens at the most prestigious colleges in the country, colleges that cost fifty and sixty thousand dollars a year to attend. Parents who are paying for this are dupes. They are, as Dennis Prager often says, guaranteeing that their children will not graduate with the values with which they were raised. That is the plan of the left. Their professors will teach that the nuclear family is the most destructive institution in the West. They will teach that gender is a social construct. Students will not be taught that capitalism has lifted more people out of poverty than any other -ism in history. They, our vaunted professoriate, will teach that a toddler's rubber duck is a symbol of the horrors of capitalism, racism, and the destruction of the environment. They will disparage great English and American literature as racist and invalid. Shakespeare has been nullified on most university campuses, his image defiled along with the other dead white males of our literate, intellectual past. The bottom line? There is a cancer spreading on our university campuses. Anyone who has had sons or daughters in college over the past eight years knows how catastrophically universities have lurched to the radical left. Do not let your kids go to college unless it is Hillsdale or a reasonable facsimile thereof. Keep them home; give them great books to read; let them work at any job that comes their way and watch Prager University videos. They will be more informed, better citizens, better people, and better parents for skipping college at this moment in time. Perhaps, if Carl Weathers can ask the question "since when did people start going to college to get stupid?" on a prime-time television program, the leftist grip on higher education and all things cultural will soon begin to loosen. Several black activists at Pomona College, associated with the Claremont Colleges, have sent a letter to the college president asking administrators to "take action" against conservative journalists from the student publication The Claremont Independent. The president, David Oxtoby, posted an email defending the right of Black Lives Matter critic Heather Mac Donald to speak. Mac Donald was physically threatened and forced to cancel a lecture at Claremont following protests against her appearance. The activists claim that "free speech" is incompatible with "truth" and therefore should not be protected. Claremont Independent: "Protest has a legitimate and celebrated place on college campuses," Oxtoby wrote. "What we cannot support is the act of preventing others from engaging with an invited speaker. Our mission is founded upon the discovery of truth, the collaborative development of knowledge and the betterment of society." In their open letter, the students sharply disagree. "Free speech, a right many freedom movements have fought for, has recently become a tool appropriated by hegemonic institutions. It has not just empowered students from marginalized backgrounds to voice their qualms and criticize aspects of the institution, but it has given those who seek to perpetuate systems of domination a platform to project their bigotry," they write. "Thus, if 'our mission is founded upon the discovery of truth,'" the students continue, citing Oxtoby's letter, "how does free speech uphold that value?" In other words, only our "truth" should be accepted. Anyone else's notion of "truth" is based on white supremacy: "Historically, white supremacy has venerated the idea of objectivity, and wielded a dichotomy of 'subjectivity vs. objectivity' as a means of silencing oppressed peoples," they explain. "The idea that there is a single truth'the Truth'is a construct of the Euro-West that is deeply rooted in the Enlightenment, which was a movement that also described Black and Brown people as both subhuman and impervious to pain. This construction is a myth and white supremacy, imperialism, colonization, capitalism, and the United States of America are all of its progeny. The idea that the truth is an entity for which we must search, in matters that endanger our abilities to exist in open spaces, is an attempt to silence oppressed peoples." In reference to the protests of Mac Donald, the open letter explains that engaging with Mac Donald's speech would have amounted to a debate not "on mere difference of opinion, but [on] the right of Black people to exist." What a load of crap. In order to discern the "truth" that Mac Donald questions the "right of black people to exist," you have to abandon reason, logic, and intelligence, substituting hysteria and paranoia. "Heather Mac Donald is a fascist, a white supremacist, a warhawk, a transphobe, a queerphobe, a classist, and ignorant of interlocking systems of domination that produce the lethal conditions under which oppressed peoples are forced to live," the letter claims. "Why are you [President Oxtoby], and other persons in positions of power at these institutions, protecting a fascist and her hate speech and not students that are directly affected by her presence?" Heather Mac Donald wrote a book, The War on Cops a brutal intellectual takedown of Black Lives Matter. It is doubtful these activists bothered to read it or would understand it if they did. Needless to say, Mac Donald is none of those things she is accused of being. But what of the activists' argument that "truth" and the notion of "objectivity" are incompatible? In Keats's "Ode to a Grecian Urn," the poet defined truth this way: "'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' that is all. Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." "Objective truth" is a mirage. People will always process ideas and events through their own prism of biases. Even if there is an agreement about the facts, the interpretation of those facts can be debated. That's politics. And that's what makes the activists' version of "truth" so problematic. You may be entitled to your own version of the "truth" i.e., interpretation of the facts. But you can't invent your own reality to mold the facts to fit a worldview. The activists have created a reality where their enemies question "the right of black people to exist." From there flows hysterical and paranoid imaginings that not even most black people accept. In my youth, we used to call this sort of thinking "false consciousness" a worldview tainted by the inability of an individual to reject logical fallacies and other sins against reason. The irony is, if the activists had studied a lot of those dead white European males and how they thought, they would recognize their idiocy in a minute. The president, David Oxtoby, posted an email defending the right of Black Lives Matter critic Heather McDonald to speak. McDonald was physically threatened and forced to cancel a lecture at Claremont following protests against her appearance. Several black activists at Pomona College, associated with the Claremont Colleges, have sent a letter to the college president asking administrators to "take action" against conservative journalists from the student publication The Claremont Independent. The activists claim that "free speech" is incompatible with "truth" and therefore, should not be protected, Claremont Independent: Protest has a legitimate and celebrated place on college campuses, Oxtoby wrote. What we cannot support is the act of preventing others from engaging with an invited speaker. Our mission is founded upon the discovery of truth, the collaborative development of knowledge and the betterment of society. In their open letter, the students sharply disagree. Free speech, a right many freedom movements have fought for, has recently become a tool appropriated by hegemonic institutions. It has not just empowered students from marginalized backgrounds to voice their qualms and criticize aspects of the institution, but it has given those who seek to perpetuate systems of domination a platform to project their bigotry, they write. Thus, if our mission is founded upon the discovery of truth, the students continue, citing Oxtobys letter, how does free speech uphold that value? In other words, only our "truth" should be accepted. Anyone else's notion of "truth" is based on white supremacy: Historically, white supremacy has venerated the idea of objectivity, and wielded a dichotomy of subjectivity vs. objectivity as a means of silencing oppressed peoples, they explain. The idea that there is a single truththe Truthis a construct of the Euro-West that is deeply rooted in the Enlightenment, which was a movement that also described Black and Brown people as both subhuman and impervious to pain. This construction is a myth and white supremacy, imperialism, colonization, capitalism, and the United States of America are all of its progeny. The idea that the truth is an entity for which we must search, in matters that endanger our abilities to exist in open spaces, is an attempt to silence oppressed peoples. In reference to the protests of Mac Donald, the open letter explains that engaging with Mac Donalds speech would have amounted to a debate not on mere difference of opinion, but [on] the right of Black people to exist. What a load of crap. In order to discern the "truth" that McDonald questions the "right of Black people to exist," you have to abandon reason, logic, and intelligence, substituting hysteria and paranoia. Heather Mac Donald is a fascist, a white supremacist, a warhawk, a transphobe, a queerphobe, a classist, and ignorant of interlocking systems of domination that produce the lethal conditions under which oppressed peoples are forced to live, the letter claims. Why are you [President Oxtoby], and other persons in positions of power at these institutions, protecting a fascist and her hate speech and not students that are directly affected by her presence? Heather McDonald wrote a book "The War on Cops" - a brutal intellectual takedown of Black Lives Matter. It is doubtful these activists bothered to read it - or would understand it if they did. Needless to say, McDonald is none of those things she is accused of being. But what of the activist's argument that "truth" and the notion of "objectivity" are incompatible? In Keats "Ode to a Grecian Urn," the poet defined truth this way: "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," that is all. Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. "Objective truth" is a mirage. People will always process ideas and events through their own prism of biases. Even if there is an agreement about the facts, the interpretation of those facts can be debated. That's politics. And that's what makes the activists' version of "truth" so problematic. You may be entitled to your own version of the "truth," i.e. interpretation of the facts. But you can't invent your own reality to mold the facts to fit a worldview. The activists have created a reality where their enemies question "the right of black people to exist." From there, flows hysterical and paranoid imaginings that not even most black people accept. In my youth, we used to call this sort of thinking "false consciousness" - a worldview tainted by the inability of an individual to reject logical fallacies and other sins against reason. The irony is, if the activists had studied a lot of those dead, white, European males and how they thought, they would recognize their idiocy in a minute. British prime minister Theresa May is about to take a huge political gamble. She has called for general elections at the earliest possible moment in this case, June 8. May is looking for a larger conservative majority to be able to implement her Brexit plan. Stiff opposition in Parliament has threatened to derail the entire Brexit process, so May felt she had little choice but to call for a new vote. BBC: "I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion. Since I became prime minister I've said there should be no election until 2020, but now I have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and security for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions we must take." In a statement outside Number 10, Mrs May said Labour had threatened to vote against the final Brexit agreement, the Liberal Democrats had stated they wanted to "grind the business of government to a standstill", the SNP have said they would vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the EU and "unelected" members of the House of Lords had vowed "to fight us every step of the way". "If we don't hold a general election now, their political game-playing will continue and the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run up to the next scheduled election," she said. Polls show that it the election were held today, the Conservatives would maintain their status as the largest political party in Parliament, but their numbers fall short of a majority. May had promised to hold no elections until the regularly scheduled vote in 2020. But circumstances have forced her hand: For months Theresa May and her team have played down the prospect of an early poll. The reasons were simple. They didn't want to cause instability during Brexit negotiations. They didn't want to go through the technical process of getting round the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. They didn't want the unpredictability of an election race. And many in the Conservative Party believed there is so little chance of the Labour Party getting its act together before 2020 that they could carry on until then and still expect a sizeable majority. There was also, for Theresa May, the desire to show that she will be a prime minister who sticks to her word. But the relentless political logic proved too tempting to hold to all of that. The PM challenged the opposition parties: "This is your moment to show you mean it - to show you're not opposing the government for the sake of it, to show that you do not treat politics as a game. "Let us tomorrow vote for an election - let us put forward our plans for Brexit and our alternative programmes for government and then let the people decide. Much will depend on how May frames the election. Challenging the opposition to put up or shut up is inherently dangerous to her standing. A significant loss of her majority could result in the fall of her government. If that happens, Brexit might be fatally delayed while Great Britain sorts out its politics. It will be interesting to see how the U.K. Independence Party UKIP plays this election. They are anti-E.U. and anti-immigrant but have given lukewarm support to May. Their ability to pull votes from the Conservative Party may be crucial to the outcome. There was legislation enacted and known as the Native Customs Recognition Ordinance that directed that this had to happen. Chris Overland has alluded to the knowledge and use of native custom by kiaps applying the law and Phil Fitzpatrick has stated how the formal court system and native custom application were entwined when determining cases involving Papua New Guineans. ONE of the most important points missing in discussions on the operation of the law in colonial Papua New Guinea is the understanding that native customs existed and drove the way village people behaved and had to be considered at some point in the eventual legal determination. As young kiaps, part of our on-the-job learning was a requirement to sit in on court hearings to observe and learn. Occasionally, we were thrown in at the deep end and instructed to prosecute criminal cases. We were told to read old patrol reports and, when on patrol, either with a senior officer or by ourselves, to listen to what the village elders told us and to ask questions. At an appropriate time we were sent to Port Moresby to undertake advanced training in law, legal practice and other field requirements. On successful completion of the training, certification of competency by our Assistant District Commissioner and then by the District Commissioner, we were gazetted as magistrates. Before proceeding with a hearing, civil or criminal, magistrates had to acknowledge pre-existing critical factors like communication and customs and that these should inform their dealings with the indigenous people. Firstly, we had to ascertain that the participants were able to communicate in a common language with the court, either with or without an interpreter. This meant that the parties to the proceedings could communicate freely at the appropriate times and that they could understand what was going on in relation to any relevant laws. In particular, in criminal cases, defendants had to know and understand what they had been charged with to properly plead to the charge. This has been brought into relevance with a recent appeals case in Western Australian where an indigenous Australian has been released from conviction for manslaughter because he could only communicate in his local language and no interpreter had been provided for the original trial where he did not understand what he was pleading to. Next we, as magistrates, had to know if there was a relevant local custom applicable to the facts of the case before us. If so, then in a civil case the magistrate had to be strongly guided by the custom in his decision. In a criminal case, the magistrate only had to assess the impact that the existence of the custom had on the defendant when arriving at a decision based on the facts of the case. In other words, was it a mitigating factor? The only relief that a magistrate had under the Native Customs Recognition Ordinance was to determine if an applicable custom existed, whether it was abhorrent or not. If abhorrent, the magistrate could determine on the facts alone and ignore the existence of the custom. An enlightening paper by John Greenwell linked to here explains the Justice Departments considerations for the extension of the courts into the villages to accommodate customary issues. http://www.johngreenwell.id.au/papuanewguinea.html Before independence in 1975, the government responded to issues in the court system, including a backlog of cases and a need to respond to village level matters by creating a village courts system. The Village Courts Secretariat was established within the Department of Justice and made up of a group of kiaps who were also magistrates under District Commissioner Ian Holmes, who subsequently retired and was replaced by national magistrate Andrew Maino. Village courts were sponsored by local councils who, once assessed and approved by the Secretariat, became responsible for the management of those courts. The councils would nominate appropriate village people to be trained as either village court magistrates, constables or clerks. Secretariat officers would deliver training courses on the law as it applied to village courts (to a maximum penalty of K50), legal principles and legal practice. I spent two years in the Secretariat as a training officer. David Gonols article referred to marriage occurring when agreement was reached between the families and the bride price exchanged. I am aware of areas in PNG when this occurs when the young bride-to-be is only 13 years of age but early puberty makes her eligible for marriage. Under the Native Customs Recognition Ordinance this arrangement would be considered abhorrent because of the age of the child and the fact that her mental age would not give her the capacity to have her consent legally recognised, if it was sought at all. Two young village girls were deflowered by two young adult men of the village. It was alleged that custom of the area encouraged this activity. The men were convicted of unlawful sexual intercourse (rape) because the magistrate ruled that the acts were abhorrent. The girls were four years and six years of age. The parents of the girls congratulated the magistrate after the hearings. I was the magistrate. It is all very well to suggest that traditional law and government law are incompatible but to suggest that the incompatibility is because of colonial law is a long bow to draw because your nation has been in existence as an independent nation for 42 years and has had the chance during that time to make its own laws that better reflect the integration of customary law. Regulations imposed by the Canadian government hurt dairy producers in New York and Wisconsin, the governors of both states said Tuesday. Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker signed a joint letter urging President Donald Trump to address the policies implemented by Canada that impact producers in two of the country's top dairy producing states. The trade rules in question have either been implemented or proposed by the Canadian government and select provinces. The policies target exports of ultra-filtered milk. "Unfortunately, it appears that while U.S. processors were making multi-million dollar investments to meet the growing cross-border market for ultra-filtered milk, the Canadian dairy industry and government were plotting a trade war against our nation's dairy farmers," Cuomo and Walker wrote. New York farms are at a risk of losing a key market for ultra-filtered milk, Cuomo said. As many as 70 dairy farms could lose $50 million in sales if Canada's trade policies remain in place. Cuomo's office noted the state's existing trade relationship with Canada. New York exported more to Canada in 2016 than any country in the world. Trade between Canada and New York totaled $32.93 billion in goods and supported more than 500,000 jobs. "With our growing concern that even more of our milk producers and our processors will be affected, I urge the federal government to call on Canada to reconsider these harmful regulations and continue our courteous, mutually beneficial trade relations," Cuomo said in a statement. Cuomo, Walker and other elected officials from New York and Wisconsin have raised their concerns about Canada's trade policies for more than a year. U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer visited Cayuga Milk Ingredients in Aurelius to speak out against the trade barriers. Last year, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul shared the state's concerns with Canadian officials during a visit to Canada. State Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball relayed the same message in a letter to his counterpart in Ontario and at the Tri-National Agricultural Accord in Canada. Ball recently partnered with Ben Brancel, secretary of Wisconsin's Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, to urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist dairy producers in their respective states that have been negatively affected by Canada's trade actions. In a letter to the USDA, Ball and Brancel suggested that the agency buy butter and cheese in storage and distribute the products to food banks and the national school meal program. "New York's dairy farmers rely on the export of their products and we need to do what we can to ensure they continue to have a home for their milk," Ball said Tuesday. The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council will meet this week in Cayuga County. The council's meeting is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday at Johnston Paper Company, 2 Eagle Dr. in Aurelius. The meeting is open to the public. To RSVP, fill out the form at regionalcouncils.ny.gov/content/central-ny-redc-meeting-april-20-2017-registration. The Central New York Regional Economic Development Council represents Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga and Oswego counties. The panel is co-chaired by CenterState CEO President Rob Simpson and SUNY Upstate Medical University President Dr. Danielle Laraque-Arena. AUBURN A Moravia woman was sentenced Tuesday for her second drunk driving charge in two years. Wendy Butler, 56, of 2626 Hathaway Road, was first arrested for driving while intoxicated in October 2015 in Tompkins County and sentenced to five years probation. Then, roughly a year later, she was charged with her second DWI after crashing her car in Cayuga County. According to New York State Police, at around 1:45 p.m. on Dec. 8, 2016, Butler was driving on Route 38A in the town of Niles when she drove off the road into a ditch. Both the New Hope Fire Department and Four Town Ambulance responded to the scene and police said Butler had to be cut out of the vehicle. Butler was charged with felony DWI, first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and using a vehicle without an ignition interlock device and was remanded to Cayuga County Jail without bail in January. She was also charged with violating the terms and conditions of her probation as she was caught drinking alcohol in her home prior to her accident in December. Last week, Butler pleaded guilty to two felonies aggravated DWI and first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and on Tuesday, she was sentenced to a total of six months in jail and five years probation. Judge Thomas Leone also ordered her to pay more than $2,500 in fines and surcharges and said she will have to successfully complete felony drug court for her addiction. After sentencing, Butler thanked Leone for remanding her to jail in January, saying it was a "real eye-opener." Butler should be released from jail by May 1 as she gets credit for time served. In addition, she will have her license suspended for at least one year and will need to have an ignition interlock device on her vehicle throughout her probation. Also in court: A Syracuse man has admitted to driving with a blood alcohol content more than three times the legal limit. Joseph Corr, 47, of 5202 Velasko Road, pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony driving while intoxicated. Corr was arrested at around 10 p.m. July 17, 2016, after New York State Police found him walking along State Route 370 in the town of Ira. He was walking, he said, because his car had run out of gas. According to police, Corr registered a BAC of .22 percent at the time of his arrest. Corr did not dispute that he had been driving while highly intoxicated that night. Corr could face a maximum of four years in prison. However, Judge Leone has agreed to sentence him to six months in jail and five years probation. Corr was remanded to Cayuga County Jail without bail pending his sentencing June 6. The victims in a one-car crash on the New York State Thruway early Monday have been identified by state troopers. The two children killed in the crash were Amir Middleton, 9, and Shamel Middleton, 11, both of Buffalo. They were pronounced dead at the scene. The driver of the vehicle, Sean Ferguson, 31, of Buffalo, remains in critical condition at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. Shenaya Washington, 34, of Buffalo, was a passenger in the vehicle and the mother of the children who were killed in the crash. She was transported to Strong Memorial Hospital for treatment for non-life-threatening injuries. The crash occurred Monday morning on the westbound side of Interstate 90 between exits 42 and 43 in Ontario County. Troopers responded to the crash at 5:44 a.m. and found a vehicle overturned on its side in the right lane. The Thruway's westbound lanes between exits 42 and 43 were closed for several hours. The lanes reopened Monday afternoon. The crash investigation is continuing, state police reported Tuesday. (ANSA) - Rome, April 18 - An Italian reporter arrested on the Turkey-Syria border April 10 phoned Italy Tuesday to say he was well. "I'm well, they haven't touched a hair on my head but I can't phone, they seized my cellphone and belongings, although they're not charging me with anything," said Gabriele Del Grande using the administrative detention centre's landline, saying he was surrounded by four policemen. There had been no news from the journalist since he was arrested by Turkish authorities on the Syria border eight days ago, his family said Monday. Lucca-born Gabriele Del Grande, a 34-year-old blogger and human rights activist, was arrested in Hatay Province near the Syria-Turkey border. "We can trust all we want but knowing nothing makes us very anxious," his father told Italian TV. The last they heard from De Grande, he said, was an SMS to his wife to say he had been arrested. "The important thing is that he returns home, he has two small children and a wife, as well as us," the father said. "The Turkish authorities have assured he is well but none of us has been able to get in touch with him yet, and nor has the (Italian) embassy. Del Grande is also a documentary maker who has raised awareness on migrant issues. Israel 'will not negotiate with hunger strikers', minister Barghouti isolated for leading 1,300-detainee protest (ANSAmed) - TEL AVIV, APRIL 18 - Israel does not intend to negotiate with the Fatah detainees in Israeli prisons that started a hunger strike on Monday on the orders of their leader, Marwan Barghouti. The announcement was made by Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Minister of Information Gilad Erdan in an interview with military radio. Erdan added that Barghouti's isolation - who has been detained in a prison in northern Israel since Monday - was made necessary because he was ''inciting revolt and leading the strike''. Media reports say that about 1,200-1,300 Palestinian detainees out of a total of 6,500 have since Monday been refusing to eat out of protest against their current detention conditions. Erdan said that ''it is a political and unjustified strike'' and that Israel has set up a field hospital in the Negev where any hunger strikers requiring medical services in the coming days will be treated. If they are at risk of death, he added, they may be force-fed. (ANSAmed). LAMPEDUSA - Almost a thousand migrants arrived on the island of Lampedusa over Easter weekend. Four women were among the arrivals, including one pregnant one, as were four injured men. The number hosted on the island's reception center and hotspot thus stands at 1,040, compared with a just over 200-person capacity. In order to deal with the latest arrivals, bunk beds have been set up and mattresses have been laid on the floors. The Red Cross, which runs the center, is in charge of the lodgings. During the day and while awaiting transfer to other centers, the guests leave through a hole in the fence and remain in the vicinity. Over Easter weekend and in part due to good weather conditions, there was a surge in departures from Libya and an enormous amount of work for the ships of the Italian Navy, Coast Guard, EUNAVFOR MED and NGOs: 8,300 migrants have been rescued in three days and 13 corpses have been recovered including one of an eight-year-old boy. NGO ships have been highly active in the rescue efforts in these weeks, after Frontex asked them for more information on their interventions, which might inadvertently help human traffickers despite the good intentions of the humanitarian organizations. The Phoenix of the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) took almost 500 migrants onboard from several dinghies that were experiencing difficulties at sea about 20 miles from Libya and recovered seven corpses including one of a child. Including those of the past few days, migrant arrivals in Italy in 2017 now total about 35,000, a significant rose on the same period of the previous year. Some 181,000 migrants arrived in the country last year. The interior ministry is struggling to distribute the latest arrivals on Lampedusa and in Reggio Calabria, Catania, Cagliari, Porto Empedocle, Augusta and Messina. The migrant reception system is already overflowing with 175,450 people hosted and the plan agreed with the National Association of Italian Municipalities (ANCI) for distribution among all the municipalities is struggling to function correctly amid several mayors refusing to take part. If the trend of arrivals were to continue at the same pace, the government's Economic and Financial Document (DEF) expects expenditure on rescue and reception to rise to 4.6 billion euros (2.7% of GDP), a billion more than last year. ANSAmed - Tomorrow's events in the Mediterranean (ANSAmed) - ROME, APRIL 18 - The following are some of the main events scheduled for tomorrow in the Euro-Mediterranean area. ROME - demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian detainees on a hunger strike in Israel. NAPLES - a cultural festival begins at the Archaeological Museum, with events running through April 25. BARCELONA - Second leg of the Champions League semi-finals between Barcelona and Juventus. BRUSSELS - EU, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker receives a delegation of European journalists and workers. TEHRAN - First meeting on scientific and technological cooperation and innovation between Italy and Iran (also 20/4). ROME - Delegation of European Parliament MPs to visit hotspots in Italy (until 20/4). TUNIS - Kram Exhibition Centre - SITIC Africa information and communication technology (ICT) fair begins (until 20/4). (ANSAmed). - TEL AVIV - Israel does not intend to negotiate with the Fatah detainees in Israeli prisons that started a hunger strike on Monday on the orders of their leader, Marwan Barghouti. The announcement was made by Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Minister of Information Gilad Erdan in an interview with military radio. Erdan added that Barghouti's isolation - who has been detained in a prison in northern Israel since Monday - was made necessary because he was ''inciting revolt and leading the strike''. Media reports say that about 1,200-1,300 Palestinian detainees out of a total of 6,500 have since Monday been refusing to eat out of protest against their current detention conditions. Erdan said that ''it is a political and unjustified strike'' and that Israel has set up a field hospital in the Negev where any hunger strikers requiring medical services in the coming days will be treated. If they are at risk of death, he added, they may be force-fed. - ISTANBUL - US president Donald Trump congratulated Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday evening on his referendum victory and to discuss the US response to the use of chemical weapons by Syrian president Bashar Al-Assad. Meanwhile, a reported up to 2.5 million ballots could have been manipulated in the tight vote - which ended in a 'Yes' vote for greater presidential powers - Alev Korun, an Austrian member of the Council of Europe observer mission, said. Korun is the first-ever female MP of Turkish origins in the Austrian parliament and is a member of the Greens Party. The 'Yes' vote, backed by Erdogan, won by 51.4%. Suspicions are related to the fact that the Supreme Electoral Commission (YSK) accepted ballots without an official stamp, Korun said. Yesterday, in presenting the preliminary conclusions of its mission as electoral observer, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said that the YSK's decision had undermined important guarantees against voting fraud, saying that the vote in Turkey ''did not live up to the standards of the Council of Europe''. President Donald Trump, eager to stop rapid advances in North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, is signaling a break with decades of US policy as he looks to coax China into ramping up the pressure on North Korea. Trump's sweetening the pot, offering China better trade terms if the Asian powerhouse takes steps to put North Korea's provocative behavior to rest. China accounts for 80% of North Korea's foreign trade and has significant political leverage over North Korea. "We have tremendous trade deficits with everybody, but the big one is with China. ... And I told them, 'You want to make a great deal?' Solve the problem in North Korea. That's worth having deficits. And that's worth having not as good a trade deal as I would normally be able to make," Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview last week, a day after he spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping by phone. The interview was one of several in the last week in which Trump has suggested China could win US concessions on trade in exchange for action on North Korea. The stance is sparking concerns among former officials in successive Democratic and Republican administrations who say Trump appears to be abandoning a pillar of US efforts to urge China's cooperation on North Korea. But Trump's diplomatic forays so far with Xi -- whom Trump hosted at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida earlier this month -- are bearing tentative signs of progress. China has turned away coal shipments and made more forceful statements in recent weeks in an attempt to cool the ratcheting of tensions in the region. Still, former White House officials are raising eyebrows at Trump's move and insisting there is a reason why successive Democrat and Republican administrations have kept the issues of trade and North Korea separate in diplomacy with China. For decades, US officials have made clear to their Chinese counterparts that the US won't barter economic or other foreign policy issues in exchange for support on the North Korean issue -- sending the signal that the US position on the issue was in the interests of global stability. Abandoning that policy, according to officials from President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama's administrations, risks sending a dangerous message to US allies and adversaries alike and sending the US tumbling down a slippery slope. By keeping discussions focused squarely on North Korea and shared US and Chinese interests in preventing war on the Korean peninsula, US officials have also avoided getting dragged into making other concessions -- like recognizing China's territorial claims to Taiwan -- in order to win China's full support on North Korea. "We had made a pretty big point of making it clear that we weren't willing to sacrifice our domestic economic interests for the sake of some foreign policy issue," said Michael Froman, the US Trade Representative under Obama. "We should be careful about 'paying' China -- in terms of standing down on economic issues -- for doing what is in their interest already. Conceivably, they'd prefer not to see instability and military escalation on the Korean Peninsula." Robert Zoellick, the trade representative and later deputy secretary of state in George W. Bush's administration, agreed, saying he "never conceded a trade point with China to get assistance on a security topic," like North Korea. That's because doing so risks weakening the US stance on the issue of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and opens up the US to similar foreign policy gambits from countries around the world seeking a sweeter economic relationship with the US. "It opens up the thinking in everyone's mind around the world that they can haggle for a better deal and get the US to give up on longstanding positions," said Michael Green, the National Security Council's senior director for Asia in the Bush 43 White House. "That is not going to instill confidence." Past administrations, though, have failed to stop, let alone slow down, North Korea's nuclear program and ballistic missile developments. So Trump has taken a different tack: seeking to incentivize China into stepping up its role in the North Korean issue as he stressed the urgency of confronting the threat. "I explained to the President of China that a trade deal with the US will be far better for them if they solve the North Korean problem!" Trump tweeted last week. A senior White House official insisted Trump was not offering a "specific quid pro quo" to the Chinese, but rather signaling to China that cooperation on North Korea would help create a more beneficial US-China relationship. "What the President is signaling is that Chinese cooperation in dealing with North Korea is extremely important, and if we can't get good cooperation on this urgent security threat, it'll be more difficult to cooperate with China on a host of other areas in our bilateral relationship," the official said. "If they were unwilling to help us with this, it's going to make other aspects of our bilateral relationship potentially more contentious." While it remains unclear whether Trump's comments mesh with the administration's more fleshed-out policy, they have drawn raised eyebrows from former White House officials, who are sounding the alarm. "Every administration since Nixon has not fallen for this, and it's the kind of ploy that I used to see on sophomore papers on East Asia in college," said Green, the former Bush administration official, who added that the bartering could send shivers up the spines of US allies. "If you are Japan or Taiwan, you start to wonder if your interests might get traded," he added. "It introduces a level of uncertainty and suggests that there are no principles to US policy." It remains unclear what Trump would be able to offer China on trade in exchange for more decisive action on North Korea, but experts raised questions about what economic terms the US could offer Beijing in return. The US already faces a multi-billion dollar deficit with China, and the US has struggled for years to create more open market access conditions in China for US companies. But beyond making economic concessions to China, Trump's offer to barter over the North Korean issue also risks nullifying one of the Washington's biggest pieces of leverage in urging Chinese cooperation: that stopping North Korea's nuclear program is also in China's interest. China has been less aggressive than the US in seeking to cool down North Korea's aggressive development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. But experts agree that China also wants to prevent North Korea from becoming a full-fledged nuclear power -- and certainly wants to prevent a war on their southern border that could send millions of refugees flooding into China and potentially risk bringing a US military presence to China's borders. Evan Medeiros, the National Security Council's senior director for Asian affairs under Obama, joined other former officials in questioning Trump's attempt to barter the US-China trading relationship over the North Korean issue. "You want the Chinese to do the right on North Korea because it genuinely is a threat ... not as a favor," said Medeiros. The resolution requires the airline to track every piece of baggage from the start of the journey all the way through to its finish. The certification has been achieved thanks to the airlines Baggage Management System (HAQIBA) developed in-house, as well as its seamless real time integration with the Qatar Airways website and mobile app. Qatar Airways offers real time updates on checked baggage through the Track My Bags feature on its website and mobile app, providing passengers with a truly hassle-free baggage experience. The mobile app provides real time notification to passengers with relevant updates on the bag, as well as the ability to retrieve the details on need basis using My Trips. The information includes various stages of the baggage handling process such as check-in, transfer, arrival, as well as reference to bag tags and baggage belt. This information guides passengers during the journey and provides insight into any instance of delayed or lost baggage. The HAQIBA system enables Qatar Airways staff to proactively manage the delayed bags to provide an optimized handling process. Qatar Airways Group chief executive Akbar Al Baker, said: Our careful attention to our passengers baggage, from the beginning of their journey all the way through to its finish, is yet another indication of the importance we place on customer experience. We have proactively taken steps to align our baggage management systems with IATAs requirements. As a result, we are delighted that the association has declared Qatar Airways the first airline worldwide to become certified for end-to-end tracking for our hub at Hamad International Airport. Nick Careen, senior vice president, Airport, Passenger, Cargo and Security for IATA, said: Qatar Airways efforts over the past year to comply with IATA Resolution 753 on Baggage Tracking have paid off. We congratulate the airline on becoming the first in the world to achieve full compliance of the resolution at their hub in Doha. Qatar Airways ability to track baggage at every stage of its journey will allow the airline full visibility to manage its baggage operations and to more easily trace, retrieve and deliver missing or de,ayed bags, leading to a better experience for passengers. Resolution 753 was developed to reduce mishandling and baggage fraud, increase passenger satisfaction and enhance the overall baggage management landscape at airports around the world. The resolution was issued in 2016 and made mandatory for all IATA airlines, who have until 1 June, 2018 to comply. The certificate was presented to Qatar Airways Doha hub Hamad International Airport (HIA); once all its stations in the network are compliant with the resolution, IATA will award the airline a platinum certificate. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Over 20 million USD of proceeds from the Armenian Genocide themed movie The Promise will be directed towards creating a new institute in the UCLAs law school, Daily News reports. The Promise Institute for Human Rights will put our law school and this university at the forefront of human rights education and advocacy, Jennifer L. Mnookin, dean of the law school, saying as quoted by Daily News. Jennifer L. Mnookin stated that the 20 million USD is the largest donation the law school has ever received for creating the institute. For many people, the Armenian Genocide is not well known. For 102 years, theres been a systematic denial campaign. We hope that by moving out of the darkness that is the Armenian Genocide, we can move to the future and really lead through education, research, advocacy and scholarship in the realm of human rights, Eric Esrailian, a co-producer of The Promise and co-chief of the Division of Digestive Diseases at UCLAs medical school, stated. UCLA law professor Asli Bali will be the first faculty director for the new institute. Armenians are not just focused on their own history. We want people to learn lessons from our history so that others can benefit from that knowledge, Eric Esrailian said. The premier of The Promise movie will be held on April 21. It will be screened in Armenian cinemas from April 27. This blog is written solely by John Ray, who has a Ph.D. degree in psychology and 200+ papers published in the academic journals of the social sciences. It does occasionally comment on issues in psychology but is mainly aimed at giving a conservative psychologist's view on a broad range of topics. There are very few conservative psychologists.The blog originated in Australia and many (but not most) posts discuss Australian matters. Australians have an unusually good awareness of events outside their own country. Australian newspapers feature news from Britain and the USA not as an afterthought but as a major part of their coverage. So Australians do tend to have a truly Western heart, which is the reason behind the old name for this blog. So events in Australia, Britain and the USA all feature frequently here, plus occasional coverage of other places, particularly Israel.SCOTUS is the Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in the landThe "GOP" stands for "Grand Old Party" and refers to the Republican party. The GOP is at present center/Right, while the Democrats have been undergoing a steady drift Leftwards and now have policies similar to mainstream European Leftist parties.The ideological identity of both parties has however been very fluid -- almost reversing itself over time. In the mid 19th century, the GOP was the party of big government and concern for minorities while the Democrats advertised themselves as "The party of the white man" -- an orientation that lasted into the mid 20th century in the South. The Democrats are still obsessed with race but have now flipped into support for discrimination AGAINST whites.Was Pope Urban VIII the first Warmist? Below we see him refusing to look through Galileo's telescope. People tend to refuse to consider evidence if what they might discover contradicts what they believe.Climate scientist Lennart Bengtsson said. The warming we have had the last 100 years is so small that if we didnt have meteorologists and climatologists to measure it we wouldnt have noticed it at all.The term "Fascism" is mostly used by the Left as a brainless term of abuse. But when they do make a serious attempt to define it, they produce very complex and elaborate definitions -- e.g. here and here . In fact, Fascism is simply extreme socialism plus nationalism. But great gyrations are needed to avoid mentioning the first part of that recipe, of course.Beatrice Webb, a founder of the London School of Economics and the Fabian Society, and married to a Labour MP, mused in 1922 on whether when English children were "dying from lack of milk", one should extend "the charitable impulse" to Russian and Chinese children who, if saved this year, might anyway die next. Besides, she continued, there was "the larger question of whether those races are desirable inhabitants" and "obviously" one wouldn't "spend one's available income" on "a Central African negro".Hugh Dalton, offered the Colonial Office during Attlee's 1945-51 Labour government, turned it down because "I had a horrid vision of pullulating, poverty stricken, diseased nigger communities, for whom one can do nothing in the short run and who, the more one tries to help them, are querulous and ungrateful."The book,, authored by T.W. Adorno et al. in 1950, has been massively popular among psychologists. It claims that a set of ideas that were popular in the "Progressive"-dominated America of the prewar era were "authoritarian". Leftist regimes always are authoritarian so that claim was not a big problem. What was quite amazing however is that Adorno et al. identified such ideas as "conservative". They were in fact simply popular ideas of the day but ones that had been most heavily promoted by the Left right up until the then-recent WWII. See here for details of prewar "Progressive" thinking.R.I.P. Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet deposed a law-defying Marxist President at the express and desperate invitation of the Chilean parliament. He pioneered the free-market reforms which Reagan and Thatcher later unleashed to world-changing effect. That he used far-Leftist methods to suppress far-Leftist violence is reasonable if not ideal. The Leftist view that they should have a monopoly of violence and that others should follow the law is a total absurdity which shows only that their hate overcomes their reasonFranklin Delano Roosevelt was a war criminal. Both British and American codebreakers had cracked the Japanese naval code so FDR knew what was coming at Pearl Harbor. But for his own political reasons he warned no-one there. So responsibility for the civilian and military deaths at Pearl Harbor lies with FDR as well as with the Japanese. The huge firepower available at Pearl Harbor, both aboard ship and on land, could have largely neutered the attack. Can you imagine 8 battleships and various lesser craft firing all their AA batteries as the Japanese came in? The Japanese naval airforce would have been annihilated and the war would have been over before it began. FDR prolonged the Depression . He certainly didn't cure it. WWII did NOT end the Great Depression . It just concealed it. It in fact made living standards worse Joe McCarthy was eventually proved right after the fall of the Soviet Union. To accuse anyone of McCarthyism is to accuse them of accuracy! The KKK was intimately associated with the Democratic party . They ATTACKED Republicans!People who mention differences in black vs. white IQ are these days almost universally howled down and subjected to the most extreme abuse. I am a psychometrician, however, so I feel obliged to defend the scientific truth of the matter:The average African adult has about the same IQ as an average white 11-year-old and African Americans (who are partly white in ancestry) average out at a mental age of 14. The American Psychological Association is generally Left-leaning but it is the world's most prestigious body of academic psychologists. And even they have had to concede that sort of gap (one SD) in black vs. white average IQ. 11-year olds can do a lot of things but they also have their limits and there are times when such limits need to be allowed for. America's uncivil war was caused by trade protectionism . The slavery issue was just camouflage, as Abraham Lincoln himself admitted . See also here Leftist psychologists have an amusingly simplistic conception of military organizations and military men. They seem to base it on occasions they have seen troops marching together on parade rather than any real knowledge of military men and the military life. They think that military men are "rigid" -- automatons who are unable to adjust to new challenges or think for themselves. What is incomprehensible to them is that being(to use the extreme Prussian term for following orders) actually requires great flexibility -- enough flexibility to put your own ideas and wishes aside and do something very difficult. Ask any soldier if all commands are easy to obey. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Culture Ministry announced a leasing competition for caves, as immovable monuments of history and culture, aimed at boosting tourism, Minister Armen Amiryan told reporters on April 18, reports Armenpress. According to the Minister, all caves and other historical-cultural monuments must be properly maintained if their operation is carried out based on correct rules. The caves are leased aimed at developing tourism only, he said, adding that the caves in Armenia today are in poor condition. We have recorded cases when people illegally take money from tourists and allow them to enter the caves, and no one controls this process. Having a clearly defined contracts, we will be able to control and ensure the implementation of further excavations, the scientific works, he said. The competition aims at regulating all this. The applications for the competition must be submitted within 45 days starting from March 28. The caves can be provided for 25 years. YEREVAN, APRIL 18, ARMENPRESS. French presidential candidate Nicolas Dupont-Aignan promises to include April 24 among national remembrance days in case of winning the elections, Armenpress reports he told Nouvelles dArmenie. To the question if he will continue the tradition when the French presidents participate in the remembrance events organized in Paris every year on April 24, Aignan answered, Every year on April 24 events dedicated to the Armenian Genocide take place in France. This is an honor for France to remember the tragedy of a fraternal nation. Of course, I will participate in these events as the French President honoring the Armenian community in France. Its a special day for all the Armenians and it will become a national remembrance day. According to him, the way France pays tribute to the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims shows that it continues to struggle against denialism so that truth and historical facts are recognized. To the question about his position on possible accession of Turkey to the EU, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan said that he is among the few politicians in France who has consistently voiced against Turkish accession to the union since 2003. I have always struggled against that accession contradicting to the EU ideology, the French presidential candidate said. Presidential elections in France will take place on April 23. If none of the candidates receives more than 50% of votes the second stage will be held on May 7. Lawyers who represented Harold A. Fish during his 2009 appeal of his second-degree murder conviction believe that NAU shooter Steven Jones has a strong case for self-defense. Flagstaff attorneys Lee Phillips and John Trebon said that Arizona self-defense law seemed to be on Jones side when he shot and killed NAU student Colin Brough and injured Nick Prato, Nick Piring and Kyle Zientek in October 2015. The two lawyers represented Fish on appeal in his landmark self-defense case. Fish was convicted in June 2006 for the May 2004 shooting death of Grant Kuenzli on a National Forest trail in the far southeast corner of Coconino County. He argued at trial that he fired in self-defense after Kuenzli came at him aggressively after firing a warning shot at two dogs in Kuenzli's care. He hit Kuenzli three times in the chest and two wounds were fatal. Kuenzli did not have a weapon in his hands at the time of the shooting. Fish died of cancer in 2012. A REASONABLE PERSON The use of deadly force in Arizona is predicated on a reasonable person defense, meaning that a jury must be convinced that a reasonable person in the defendants shoes could fear for his life enough in a situation that killing another person could be justified. Trebon said in the case of the NAU shooting that a justified use of deadly force was not necessarily about if Jones felt he was in danger at the time of the shooting. Justified use of deadly force is not about if the defendant personally felt he was in danger, but if a reasonable person in the same situation felt they were in enough danger to use deadly force. Trebon cited a few situations where a reasonable person would be justified in using deadly force, such as a small woman fighting off a large man or if a person is being choked. BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT When Steven Jones claimed that he killed Brough in self-defense the burden of proof fell on Coconino County prosecutors, meaning that it is not Jones or his defense teams job to prove that he killed in self-defense, but that it is up to the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he didnt. This is a tough case for the state because all the burden of proof is on them, Philips said. The state is trying to prove that Jones had no reason to believe he was in danger and had no right to cause serious death or injury. The defense just has to create enough doubt. The burden of proof was not always on the state. In fact, when Harold Fish was convicted of second-degree murder in 2006, the burden of proof for self-defense claims rested on the defense. Fishs conviction galvanized Arizona lawmakers and gun advocates to change self-defense law. The new law was then used retroactively during Fishs appeal, putting the burden of proof on the prosecution. Fishs case was definitely a factor in changing self-defense law in Arizona, Trebon said. Philips expressed the same sentiment. The law changed because of the Fish, so Mr. Jones and his defense just need to put enough evidence forward to make a reasonable claim, Philips said. SOLID GROUND Both attorneys stated that Jones seems to have a good case for self-defense, stating the intoxication of Brough, Jones getting punched in the face, the incident occurring late at night as well as the defenses argument that Jones was surrounded could all work in the defendants favor. The question is when is it appropriate to use deadly force? Trebon said. If one person is apparently threatened by a bunch of people with physical force does that person have to wait till they have had both of their arms broken before they can use deadly force? If you wait till that point you might be too late. Philips said that the high number of variables that play into the case makes it difficult for the prosecution to find solid ground. The totality of circumstances the jury has to consider is large, Philips said. What time of day was it? Was Jones alone and did he experience prior aggression? What type of evidence is the jury allowed to see? All this stuffs plays into the final verdict. However, Jones self-defense case isnt a slam dunk, according to Philips. He noted the fact that Kyle Zientek was shot twice in the back while reportedly running away, a glaring weakness in a self-defense case. Phillips also said the fact that Jones walked a total of 240 feet from the moment he grabbed his gun to the moment he shot and killed Brough could also be perceived as a weakness; however, Arizona law could potentially allow Jones to walk back to the area with a firearm. A person has no duty to retreat if he is in an area legally, is not involved in a crime and did not provoke the incident, Philips said, referring to Arizonas no retreat clause. Trebon also mentioned the no-retreat clause but added that enough time could have elapsed between the initial incident and the shooting that coming back and using a firearm could fail the self-defense test. It could be argued that if an individual is out of a zone of danger for a significant period of time and then comes back to that area, then use of force could be unwarranted. Put him on the stand A person charged with a crime is never required to testify against themselves; however, a defendant can always chose to testify in front of a jury. Philips said that Jones lawyers have more than enough evidence in theory to not put him on the stand. However, in a self-defense case Philips thinks Jones should testify. If I am his lawyer I am putting him on the stand, Philips said. In a situation where your client killed someone you need to put them up there to explain themselves or else I worry that the jury would think he has something to hide. He continued stating that putting the defendant on the stand would humanize him to a jury and create more doubt. The advantage of the defense is that they only need one juror who thinks I dont think he did it. Labuan is an offshore, Malaysian island, which has the benefit of low tax regimes while still retaining the protection of Malaysias laws and regulations. This means Labuan entities benefit from nearly all the Double Taxation Agreements (DTAs) Malaysia has signed with over 70 countries while profiting from tax exemptions under the Labuan International Banking and Financial Center (IBFC). Considered the pearl of Borneo, Labuan is located off the coast of the eastern Malaysian state of Sabah and borders Brunei by sea. The territory is strategically located in close geographical proximity to financial capitals like Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore. Labuan is technically comprised of seven islands Labuan Island proper and six smaller satellite islands and enjoys tropical weather. Labuan offers multiple ferry connections to mainland Malaysia and Brunei; its airport is served by two daily flights to Malaysias capital Kuala Lumpur and one daily flight to Kota Kinabalu, the Sabah state capital. The island has a deep sea port and is planning to further develop its airport. With a population of just under 100,000 residents, Labuan offers a highly skilled workforce. Economic Profile Since its establishment as a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in 1990 now referred to as Labuan IBFC Labuan has become a premium offshore financial center for regional companies looking to expand internationally as well as for global companies entering Asian markets. Though prominently a financial hub, Labuan has five main industries: financial services; oil and gas; tourism; halal products; and fishing. Financial Services Labuan offers comprehensive banking, insurance, factoring, and money brokering. In tandem with conventional banking, the Labuan IBFC also boasts well-developed Shariah compliant financial infrastructure. While Labuan is an offshore entity, the island is attempting to diversify into a midshore role by offering niche areas with high potential growth such as leasing, captives, commodity trading and wealth management. Oil and Gas Labuan is surrounded by oil and gas fields. Offshore oil and gas are handled by the Labuan Crude Oil Terminal and Labuan Gas Terminal. The Malaysian Government declared Labuan one of the countrys petro-chemical hubs. Petrochemicals account for more than 70 percent of Labuans total exports, approximately US$3.3 billion. Petronas Chemicals Methanol is the largest methanol producer in Southeast Asia and the fourth largest in the world. The majority of oil and gas are transported by freight. Being a duty-free island, Labuan does not impose import duties on goods and most services as opposed to mainland Malaysia where duties are applicable a major incentive for processing oil and gas. Tourism Labuan brought in 673,000 tourists in 2015 (notably over 6 times to local population). The majority of these tourists are considered to be domestic, though no official figures are readily available. In hopes of transforming Labuan into an international tourist destination, the local authority of Labuan recently sold 24 hectares of land at the Rancha-Rancha industrial zone for tourist development. Labuans natural beauty offers tourists opportunities for water activities like snorkeling, sport fishing, and diving (including dive tours through historic sea wrecks). The Malaysian government is also looking to make Labuan a cruise hub which would dramatically increase the number of foreign tourist arrivals. Developing halal hub Though originally slow to begin proper developments, Labuan is investing technology and infrastructure into developing halal products, hoping to benefit from its proximity to fish resources while servicing a rapidly growing market. Fishing The Malaysian government has identified the tuna industry as a growing sector with potential to generate US$112 million. Consequently, the government plans to invest US$4.5 million to upgrade Labuans fishing infrastructure, specifically deep sea fishing. Labuan Fisheries estimates that approximately four tons of tuna are brought to the island daily. Out of this, three tons are exported and the remaining ton is used for domestic consumption. Labuan is already attempting to increase the domestic appetite for tuna with new tuna-based dishes released on a regular basis. Investing in Labuan According to the Labuan Financial Services Authoritys 2017 Annual Report, there are currently 14,201 companies registered in Labuan with an additional 52 trust companies and 151 foundations. Labuan FSA in 2017 approved three investment banking licences bringing the total number of approved banks to 54. This was an increase of 5.9 percent over the previous year. Of the total approved, 53 banks are currently in operation. Labuan FSA in 2017 approved 14 insurance and insurance-related licences, comprising six captives, four brokers, two reinsurers, one life insurer and one general insurer. This brings the total number of approved Labuan insurance and insurance-related entities to 203, which, however, was a decline of 0.5 percent from the previous year. Finally, Labuan has 380 leasing companies. Setting up a company in Labuan As per Section 7(5) of the Labuan Companies Act 1990, both residents and non-residents of Malaysia are allowed to establish Labuan companies. Furthermore, a company only requires one director, one shareholder, and one resident secretary the director is not required to live in Malaysia. Labuan-based companies are offered the option of either paying a flat corporate tax of Ringgit 20,000 (US$4784) or at a rate of three percent of net audited profits. With effect from January 1, 2019, however, Labuan-based companies will not be allowed to exercise the option of paying the flat amount as tax. They will, however, be permitted to pay tax at the three percent rate even if they carry out business transactions in the Malaysian Ringgit or do business with Malaysian residents. Currently, they are eligible for the three percent tax rate only when they carry out transactions in currencies other than the Ringgit and among Labuan-based businesses or with foreign companies. While Labuan enjoys nearly all the DTA benefits of Malaysia, there are 14 countries which do not recognize Labuan as part of Malaysia because of its status as an IBFC. These countries include: Australia Chile Germany India Indonesia Japan Luxembourg Netherlands Seychelles South Africa South Korea Spain Sweden United Kingdom Labuan companies wishing to tap into DTAs with the above mentioned 14 countries can, however, do so by opting to be taxed under the Malaysian Income Tax Act, 1967 (ITA). Under the ITA, a Labuan companys net profit would be taxed at 25 percent instead of the regular three percent Labuan tax. Conclusion This may be a viable option for a trading company as there is no significant taxation differences between Labuan and Malaysia in foreign sourced passive income (i.e. interest, dividends, royalties) or capital gains. Though the oil and gas sector has cooled down on the island, Labuans economy is diversified and has been working to increase its niche financial services, fishing sector, tourism, and halal industry. Government projects working to develop the fishing industry as well as increase the number of foreign tourists is a positive step towards a more dynamic economy. Labuan is considerably more affordable than Hong Kong or Singapore as an offshore destination. The island is well situated between China and India as well as many of ASEANs financial hubs to take advantage of trade by sea as well as offshore services. As Labuan continues to diversify its financial portfolio of offerings, the island will become less dependent on oil and gas and begin catering to a wider array of needs. Labuan has the additional advantage of tailoring financial services to both conventional and Shariah-compliant forms. Companies looking to establish themselves in ASEAN and Asia more generally can look to Labuan as an establishing platform. Editors Note: This article was first published on April 14, 2017 and has been updated on November 28, 2018 and December 12, 2018 as per latest developments. Petitions were filed by two firms belonging to Cyrus Mistry's family. Mumbai: Tata Sons today welcomed the NCLT dismissing the petitions by the Cyrus Mistry camp and said it vindicates the position of the group. "The ruling today by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) dismissing the waiver application of the Shapoorji Pallonji Group companies, on behalf of Cyrus Mistry, represents a vindication of our position. "We hope this brings to an end a vexatious campaign against the company, the Tata Trusts and Ratan N Tata. Tata Sons will continue its focus on its future development under the stewardship of our chairman N Chandrasekaran," F N Subedar, chief operating officer of Tata Sons said in a statement late this evening. "We are pleased that Mistry's claims have been dismissed by the NCLT," he added and welcomed the NCLT ruling. Earlier in the day, the NCLT dismissed the waiver application by the Mistry camp filed against Tata Sons. The petitions were filed by two firms belonging to Cyrus Mistry's family, and sought waiver of an eligibility condition for moving the forum against Tata Sons. Dismissing the petitions, NCLT bench led by BSV Prakash Kumar and V Nallasenapathy said, "The waiver is dismissed, the company petition dismissed." The reasons for the order will be given out later in the week. "We interpret the NCLT ruling as demonstrating that the petitioners failed to make a convincing or compelling case that warranted a hearing on alleged mismanagement, oppression or other actions," Subedar said. Today's was the fifth such ruling by the company law tribunals, rejecting reliefs requested by the Shapoorji Pallonji Group companies and Mistry. "Mistry has made many ill-advised and groundless allegations intended to besmirch the name of the Tata Group," Subedar, said, adding, "Today's ruling makes clear that there is no case to be heard." "Over the past six months, Mistry has failed demonstrably to build a case. We trust that the NCLT's decision brings this matter to a close," he concluded. The two firms-- Cyrus Investments and Sterling Investments- wanted NCLT to waive the requirement that shareholders hold at least 10 per cent of a firm to file a petition alleging mismanagement and oppression. While the Pallonji Group owns 18.4 per cent of ordinary shares in Tata Sons, their ownership comes down to only about 2.17 per cent when preference shares are counted. Together, Pallonji Group is the single largest shareholder in the USD 105 billlion group with 18.4 per cent stakes in Tata Trusts, which collectively own 64 per cent in the group. Aryama Sundaram, counsel for the Mistry family firms, had argued for the waiver citing concerns on voting and veto rights accorded to Tata trustees on the board of Tata Sons. Mistry, after being ousted from the group as chairman on October 24 last, had alleged that there was mismanagement and oppression of minority shareholders and urged NCLT to use its discretion and waive an eligibility condition for filing such a petition. The NCLT had on March 6, 2017 held last month that the plea was not maintainable, because the petitioner firms did not meet one of the eligibility criteria prescribed by Section 244 of the Companies Act of 2013. Mistry contended that under the Companies Act, the tribunal can waive a requirement that petitioner should hold at least one-tenth of issued share capital of the company, or represent at least one-tenth of minority shareholders. Tata Sons had argued that if preference capital was also considered, the petitioner firms held only 2.17 per cent of the total issued share capital of Tata Sons. The OLA Auto Mela will bring together a host of manufacturers, service providers, and financial institutions under one roof. Bengaluru: Cab aggregator Ola today announced that it plans to reach out to over 1,00,000 driver entrepreneurs through 'Auto Driver Partner Melas' across all major cities and towns in the country. This multi-city programme is an on-ground initiative to help thousands of aspiring auto driver partners to take the first step towards entrepreneurship and achieve their dreams,? the company said. The OLA Auto Mela will bring together a host of manufacturers, service providers, and financial institutions under one roof, to enable deep discounts and savings for Their customers and build a large customer-base in return, it said in a release. Ola held its first Auto Driver Partner Mela-'Ola Baasha Mela'- in Chennai between April 8 and April 10 where hundreds of autorickshaw driver partners availed the opportunity of becoming micro-entrepreneurs by owning autorickshaws for the first time. This initiative that will kickstart from Bengaluru, will move to Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, and Pune over the course of the next few months, the release said. Ola Chief Operating Officer Vishal Kaul said, "with a multi-city initiative at such scale, we are enabling access to capital, consistent revenue as well as training for aspiring driver entrepreneurs." Ola said Driver partner Melas help it nurture micro-entrepreneurship in the ecosystem, creating a steady stream of supply to address the burgeoning mobility needs of the country. RBI has signed 39 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one Statement of Co- operation. Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has inked a supervisory cooperation pact with the Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan for information sharing. A memorandum of understanding on 'Supervisory Cooperation and Exchange of Supervisory Information' was signed by RBI Deputy Governor S S Mundra and Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan Deputy Governor Phajo Dorjee, the central bank said in a release. The RBI has entered into MoUs, Letter for Supervisory Co- operation and Statement of Co-operation with supervisors of a few countries. The objective of such pacts is to promote greater co- operation and share supervisory information, the RBI said. With this, the RBI has signed 39 such MoUs, one Letter for Supervisory Co-operation and one Statement of Co- operation. The council is likely to deliberate on three-year action plan prepared by the NITI Aayog New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has convened a meeting of NITI Aayog's Governing Council on Sunday to deliberate on the 15-year road map for development. The council, with all chief ministers on board, will also discuss 3-year action plan and 7-year development strategies. "The Governing Council meeting is being scheduled on April 23. The agenda of the meeting is being finalised. The council is likely to deliberate on three-year action plan prepared by the NITI Aayog," a source said. Since the government has done away with five-year plans with effect from April 1, 2017, it is imperative that the new three-year action plan is put into place at the earliest to guide various central ministries, departments and states to achieve the goal envisaged in the 'Vision 2030' document, the source added. The 12th Five-Year Plan, which was the last of its kind in the series, was terminated on March 31, 2017. The new three-year plan will also provide in detail the government's expenditure classification on the basis of capital and revenue categories. The government has also done away with the classification of Plan and non-Plan expenditure from April 1, 2017. The policy-making body had been mandated to come up with a 15-year vision document for a period up to 2030, which will be co-terminus with sustainable development goals. The NITI Aayog has also been working on a 7-year strategy starting from 2017-18 to 2023-24 to convert the vision document into implementable policy and action as part of the National Development Agenda. It has also prepared a draft of the 3-year action plan for 2017-18 to 2019-20 which will be aligned with the 14th Finance Commission award period. We see members of the cast discussing scenes and also chilling out on the sets of the highly anticipated film. Mumbai: Makers go to extreme lengths nowadays to promote their films and are not even afraid to 'create' controversies to generate buzz. The promotion of a film nowadays starts off with a poster, then a teaser and trailer, followed by songs and dialogue promos. However, when a film is as big as Baahubali: The Conclusion, fans are already anticipating the release with the few posters, one trailer and few grand events that the makers have shared and there has not been any need for songs and other promos. When makers are hardly sharing any pictures or songs and keeping the mystery of the film alive, we have got hold of several behind-the-scenes pictures from the sets of the film. We see Prabhas interacting with his director SS Rajamouli in one of the pictures and chilling out with producer Shobu Yarlagadda in another picture. Rajamouli is very much the captain of the ship that we see as he directs Rana Daggubati before he fires his massive weapon or as he discusses the formation of the sets with art director Sabu Cyril. Unlike the intensity in the film, we see Rana Daggubati, Ramya Krishnan and Prabhas smiling in the pictures. Rana Daggubati took to social media to share some of these pictures, and said that he felt blessed to be in the esteemed company of his colleagues. Baahubali: The Conclusion also stars Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Sathyaraj and others and releases on April 28. Sonam posted a childhood picture of herself dressed in the attire of legendary Charlie Chaplin. Mumbai: It was the 128th birthday of the worlds most celebrated comic actor, filmmaker and composer Charlie Chaplin on April 16. On the occasion of his birthday, Sonam posted a childhood picture of herself dressed in the attire of legendary Charlie Chaplin. Quoting Charlie from his iconic film The Circus, Sonam wrote, "You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down." She further expressed her love for Chaplin saying, "When little girls wanted to be princesses I wanted to be Charlie Chaplin. Happy birthday Charlie, I never look down and walk, I never forget that a day without laughter is a day wasted and that life might be tragedy when seen in close-up but a wonderful comedy in long shot." Here is the picture which Sonam posted on Instagram: The actor recently received a Special Mention at the 64th National Film Awards for her stellar performance in 'Neerja'. Talking more about on work front, Sonam is currently shooting for her upcoming film 'Padman' with Akshay Kumar and Radhika Apte. She is also a part of Sanjay Dutts biopic and will kick start shooting for sister Rhea Kapoors 'Veere di Wedding' with friend Swara Bhaskar and Kareena Kapoor Khan. The actress has been signed on as the official host of the event of the year - Justin Bieber Purpose Tour. Mumbai: Best known for her roles in 'Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince,' '13 Steps Down' and 'My Brother The Devil,' English actress Elarica Johnson will be making her maiden visit to India, this summer, to be a part of the highly anticipated Justin Bieber Tour. During her visit, the actress will meet directors and film personalities from the Indian film industry, apart from being the official host of the event of the year - Justin Bieber Purpose Tour. The actress stated, "India has been a place I have always wanted to visit. I watched Bollywood movies as a child and now being an actress going to Mumbai the heart of the Bollywood film Industry; it is a dream come true! I have always felt inspired by the freedom of colour, music and dance. So to be able to explore the Indian culture and have the chance to see the beautiful architecture and history of the country will truly be a wonderful experience." Adding, "I am definitely looking forward to eating a lot! Indian food sits at the number one spot as my ultimate favourite cuisine. But most of all having this experience and seeing one of my favourite artists, Justin Bieber perform live, I am sure I will mark this as a trip of a lifetime!" The 27-year-old London-born diva will arrive in Mumbai on May 4 and will explore the city till May 15. On the work front, Elarica is all set to star alongside Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning in John Cameron Michell's 'How To Talk To Girls At Parties.' She has also finished filming 'Blade Runner 2049, alongside Ryan Gosling, which supposedly will release by the end of the year. Bieber's latest jaunt is in support of his fourth album, the critically acclaimed 'Purpose,' wherein he experimented with more exploratory electronic sounds. Sajjan is scheduled to hold talks with the Indian leadership as well as reportedly speak on conflict-prevention and peacekeeping in a changing world. New Delhi: After much uncertainty, sources in the ministry of defence (MoD) confirmed late on Monday evening that a guard of honour was indeed taking place for visiting Canadian defence minister Harjit Sajjan on Tuesday. Earlier in the evening, feverish speculation was triggered after the MoD erroneously issued a revised advisory saying that the tri-services guard of honour stands cancelled. Late in the evening, MoD sources said an oversight had taken place. The Guard of Honour is taking place as scheduled, MoD sources said. It may be recalled that just last week, Canada had reportedly described as disappointing and inaccurate the purported comments allegedly made by Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh that five ministers in the Justin Trudeau government, including defence minister Harjit Sajjan, were Khalistani sympathisers. According to news agency reports last week, Mr Singh had earlier alleged that Mr Sajjan like his father is a Khalistani sympathiser and he would not meet him during his scheduled visit to India later this month. There were, in fact, five ministers in the Justin Trudeau government who were Khalistani sympathisers and I will not have any truck with them, Singh was quoted by news agencies as having claimed. Reacting to the remarks, the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi was quoted as saying, The comments regarding Canadas ministers are both disappointing and inaccurate. It also asserted that Canada greatly values its relationship with the people and the government of Punjab, and looks forward to further advancing this relationship. We regret that the chief minister of Punjab is unavailable to meet with Canadas minister of defence. The chief minister is welcome to visit Canada, the high commission was quoted as saying. Mr Sajjan is scheduled to hold talks with the Indian leadership as well as reportedly speak on conflict-prevention and peacekeeping in a changing world. This comes after state Finance Minister D. Jayakumar on Monday hinted at the possibility of a merger between the two groups. Chennai: Rebel All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader O Panneerselvam on Tuesday said the Sasikala faction of the party has formed a committee to conduct talks on merger of the two factions. NDTV reported that Chief Minister E Palanisamy would be leading a 10-member team to meet Panneerselvam and hold talks. This comes after state Finance Minister D. Jayakumar on Monday hinted at the possibility of a merger between the two groups. Read: CM has stressed for unity in taking govt forward: Sengottaiyan Jayakumar said all 123 AIADMK lawmakers and party cadres were on the same page and discussed the possibilities of retaining the 'Two Leaves' symbol, which had been frozen by the Election Commission. On Monday, Panneerselvam, a former Chief Minister of the state, had expressed confidence that the Dhinakaran faction leaders would approach him for merger talks. "If approached, we are ready to sit and talk and I have confidence that they (leaders) will come (for talks)," he told reporters at the airport here. "Given the opinion (voiced by OPS), modalities to strengthen the party and to run it with unity were discussed," Jayakumar told reporters, briefing them about the meeting which was attended by most of the ministers of E K Palanisamy government. According to party sources, MLAs from both factions were holding informal meetings over the issue. An MLA from Sasikala camp, who was on board the INS Chennai, said there are likely to be formal meetings on the matter during the later part of the day. On Panneerselvam's demand for ending family rule by Sasikala of AIADMK (Amma) and Deputy General Secretary TTV Dhinakaran, her nephew, the MLA said senior leaders would have to decide on any such issue. However, Finance Minister Jayakumar said there was no such development regarding demands for removal of Sasikala and Dhinakaran from the party posts. Speculation is rife about a possible pact between Palanisamy and Panneerselvam under which both VK Sasikala, the jailed AIADMK general secretary, and Dhinakaran, her nephew and deputy, would be ousted. Unconfirmed reports had it that under the arrangement Palanisamy would continue as Chief Minister while Panneerselvam would occupy the coveted post of AIADMK general secretary, which was held by J Jayalalithaa till her death last December. However, Panneerselvam had earlier in the day told journalists nobody had approached him with such a proposal so far. Asked about speculation in political circles that Sasikala, who is serving a prison term in connection with a disproportionate assets case in which Jayalalithaa was also an accused, was preparing to quit as general secretary, Jayakumar said, "There is no such thing." The election symbol is seen as part of Jayalalithaa's enduring legacy. The Election Commission had frozen the two-leaves symbol after both Panneerselvam and Sasikala-Dhinakaran factions staked claim to it ahead of the now countermanded April 12 byelection to RK Nagar assembly constituency. Jayakumar also said the submission of affidavits of district-level party workers to the Election Commission in the symbol dispute was discussed at the meeting. On the possibility of meeting Panneerselvam to take forward the merger proposal, he said "For everything there is a time." When a reporter pointed out that Panneerselvam had been demanding a probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of Jayalalithaa, and if it was to be made a condition for merger, he shot back, asking "Did he (Panneerselvam) spell out this as a condition?" Another senior Minister and a heavy weight of the party in the western region, S P Velumani said "For sure we will be united, and retrieve the Two Leaves symbol." "Those who exited (Panneerselvam and his followers) are also part of our family. It is like a fight between two brothers. Together we will get back the Two Leaves symbol," he said. There was reportedly unease in Tamil Nadu's ruling party ever since Income Tax officials raided Health Minister Vijayabaskar's premises and seized evidence of bribing voters for the bypoll to R K Nagar assembly seat. The poll, scheduled for April 12, was countermanded by the Election Commission on April 9 amid allegations of rampant inducement and bribing of voters. Dhinakaran was the candidate of AIADMK (Amma) faction for the seat. He was earlier in the day booked by the Delhi police after it arrested an alleged middleman who, according to police, was purportedly helping the AIADMK leader reach out to an unidentified official in the Election Commission in return for an astounding Rs 50 crore. No arrest warrant has been issued against Dhinakaran. But police have in their custody Sukesh Chandrasekhar, the alleged middleman who was picked from a 5-star hotel in New Delhi yesterday, a senior police official said. Sasikala had reinducted Dhinakaran, who was expelled from the AIADMK by Jayalalithaa, and appointed him the party's deputy general secretary just before proceeding to Bengaluru to serve the remnant of her jail term after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction and sentence in February this year. Narendra Modi also exhorted farmers to adopt modern farming methods like drip irrigation and new technology as well to improve income. Botad (Gujarat): Exhorting farmers to adopt modern technology, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said his government has decided to double their income by 2022 when India would celebrate 75 years of Independence. Modi made the announcement while dedicating the Rs 1,500-crore phase I of link-II pipeline canal of SAUNI (Saurashtra Narmada Avataran Irrigation) project to the people and laying the foundation stone for Rs 1,694-crore phase II of link II of the project. The phase II of the project envisages the construction of a 74- kilometre pipeline network connecting Bhimdad dam to seven other dams in Botad and Bhavnagar districts. The SAUNI scheme would take water from Narmada to 115 dams in the parched Saurashtra region. The PM asked farmers to adopt modern farming methods like drip irrigation and said his government has decided to double the farmers' income by 2022. "Centre has decided to double farmers' income by 2022 by improving technology, increasing milk production, use of solar light, honey production. Fifteen years ago people would not have thought that we can come out of drought-like situation (in this region)," he said. "We will have to make it our nature to adopt modern technology. Entire government -- be it the Central government or the state governments -- and banks should come under your mobile phone," he said, while urging the people to download BHIM app and earn money by helping others to download it. Being a former CM, he understood farmers' issues better, he said. "I am the first person to become the PM after serving as a CM for a long time. And that is why I know how much farmers are troubled when they do not get urea or water in time. For me, it is easy to understand people's problems," he said. "When as the Gujarart chief minister I would go to the Centre for meetings and say that we spend a large part of our budget on water, many would criticise me saying you cannot win elections that way. I don't work to win elections but to serve the people of Gujarat. It is only water and not money that can make rural Gujarat progress," the Prime Minister said. "Today Goddess Narmada herself has descended to bless the people here. Water is like God, we have no right to waste it," he said. Modi also praised Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan for his `Narmada Yatra' campaign. "Gujarat farmers should be grateful to Chouhan government. To ensure that the Gujarat farmers do not face any water scarcity, the MP government has organised Narmada Yatra and asked people to plant trees along its (Narmada's) banks," he said. "Shivraj Singh Chouhan government of the BJP is raising forests so that Mother Narmada does not go dry even after hundred years," Modi said. The project which Modi dedicated to the region today comprises a 51-kilometre network of underground pipeline to carry Narmada water from Limbdi-Bhogavo-II Dam in Surendranagar district to Bhimdad Dam in Botad district. Last August, the Prime Minister had dedicated phase 1 of Link-I canal network of the project. SAUNI Yojana envisages channelling floodwater through Narmada Dam project by laying 1,126 kilometre network of pipelines to feed 115 reservoirs in Saurashtra and irrigate 10.22 lakh acres of land. Internet services remained suspended for the second consecutive day on Tuesday to discourage people from uploading videos of violence. Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir government on Tuesday expressed deep anguish over the loss of precious lives in security forces actions across Kashmir and made an appeal to all shades of political opinion to help towards restoration of peace and normalcy in the restive Valley. The State Cabinet which met in winter capital Jammu with Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, in chair reviewed the prevailing law and order situation and asked the police and other security agencies to exercise maximum restraint while handling law and order situations to prevent loss of human lives. A statement issued at the end of the meeting said that it urged the civil society and parents to counsel the youth to stay away from violent protests which, in spite of maximum restraint, can at times lead to fatal consequences. The statement added, The Cabinet also directed the State administration to take all required measures to tackle the situation effectively and at the same time ensure that the general public is not put to any inconvenience and their grievances are addressed. On Monday evening, the Chief Minister had met with Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhavan in winter capital Jammu to discuss the situation and other law and order-related issues and the recently held by-poll to the Srinagar seat of Lok Sabha and postponement of the same in Anantnag constituency in view of widespread violence witnessed during the voting in Srinagar on April 9. The deaths and other incidents particularly the police and other security forces allegedly resorting to use of brute force against student protesters in southern Pulwama town on Saturday and also across the Valley on Monday spread disappointment, resentment and anger among the people in Kashmir. Tension is high and the PDP-BJP government is being widely criticised. Though no major incident took place on Tuesday when higher secondary schools, colleges and universities remained closed in the Valley, the student unrest has spread to Banihal area just across the Pirpanjal range. Hundreds of students on Tuesday held protest demonstrations in the highway town of Banihal and blocked vehicular traffic on vital Srinagar-Jammu to lode their protest against security forces actions against students of the Valley. The police fired teargas canisters and swung bamboo sticks to disperse the crowds, leaving several protesters injured. In Srinagar, the youth wing of opposition National Conference staged an anti-government demonstration against recent killings and use of brute forces against protesting students. The participants wearing black suits as a mark of protest marched along the Citys Residency Road and then held a protest demonstration in Mushtaq Press Enclave. The authorities have announced that the Valley's colleges, universities and some higher secondary schools will remain closed for students also on Wednesday. However, the Kashmir University at Srinagar has said that while the class work will remain suspended, all examinations will be held as per schedule. 3G and 4G mobile Internet services remained suspended for the second consecutive day on Tuesday apparently to discourage people from uploading video on the recent incidents on social media sites. The Election Commission has asked the Congress to complete its internal election process by December 31. New Delhi: The Congress will hold the party presidents election between September 15 and October 15. Some leaders including Digvijay Singh and A.K. Antony want to elevate vice-president Rahul Gandhi to the top post, but uncertainty over the issue remains. There is also a section of leaders in the party that is not in favour of his promotion yet. Getting ready for its organisational elections, the party has asked all state units to complete their membership drive by May 15. After that, elections of office-bearers for states and the All India Congress Committee will be completed between August 21 and September 4. The composition of district committees will start on September 5 and be completed by September 15. All eyes, however, will be on the presidents election. Though a section in the party claimed that a call to replace Congress president Sonia Gandhi with her son has come from the family itself, the other felt that after the partys rout in the Uttar Pradesh elections this could be delayed yet again. As per the Congress constitution, Mr Gandhi could be put at the helm of the party affairs anytime the Congress wants. The party will have to elect members for the Congress Working Committee, its highest policy-making body. Currently there are 21 CWC members. The Election Commission has asked the Congress to complete its internal election process by December 31. The court has indicated that a five-judge Constitution bench will adjudicate these issues. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will examine whether convicted persons can be debarred from conesting polls for ever. It will also examine whether a person facing a criminal case in a heinous crime can be disqualified from contesting Assembly or Parliamentary elections at the stage of filing chargesheet or framing of charges or only after conviction. A Bench of Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha posted the petition filed by Delhi BJP spokesperson Ashiwini Kumar Upadhyay, who sought a permanent bar on convicted persons from contesting polls, for final hearing in July. He also wanted special courts to be set up in each state to dispose of these cases within one year. The issue, raised in a PIL by Public Interest Foundation in 2011, was referred to the Law Commission of India. In its report, the Commission said disqualification upon conviction has proved to be incapable of curbing the growing criminalisation politics, owing to long delays in trials and rare convictions. The law needs to evolve to pose an effective deterrence, and to prevent subversion of the process of justice. The court has indicated that a five-judge Constitution bench will adjudicate these issues. The Commission said the filing of the police report under Section 173 of the CrPC (chargesheet) is not an appropriate stage to introduce electoral disqualifications owing to the lack of sufficient application of judicial mind at this stage. The stage of framing of charges is based on adequate levels of judicial scrutiny, and disqualification at the stage of charging, if accompanied by substantial attendant legal safeguards to prevent misuse, has significant potential in curbing the spread of criminalisation of politics. The Election Commission said as early as in 1997 the then Chief Election Commissioner wrote to the then Prime Minister recommending that oncecharges were framed in a case, the disqualification was attracted as at that stage there was application of judicial mind to the charges. It said those against whom charges were framed and those against whom any Commission of Inquiry had given a finding of guilt of the charges should be barred from contesting elections; these cases should be decided by the trial courts within six months; to prevent misuse only those cases pending six months prior to the declaration of elections would be considered for such disqualification. The Centre had taken the stand that it was considering the ECs recommendations and its anxiety was such a provision would be misused. It said the Parliament in its wisdom would consider the parliamentary standing committees report which had rejected the recommendations of the EC and the Law Commission to bar those against whom charges were framed from contesting elections. PHOENIX State lawmakers voted Monday to bar local governments from requiring background checks before individuals can sell property to one another. But proponents insist the legislation is not about guns. SB 1122, given preliminary House approval on a voice vote, would spell out that no government can require that the seller of personal property search federal or state databases before transferring private property. It also says that such transactions do not have to be handled through a third party. Federal law mandates background checks when a licensed firearm dealer sells a weapon. But there is an exemption for the person-to-person sale of weapons. And there is no mandate to have these transfers handled by a gun dealer who would be required to see if the buyer is legally eligible to possess a weapon. While several states have enacted their own mandates, there is no requirement for background checks in Arizona law. The closest to a local restriction is a Tucson ordinance that requires background checks when weapons are sold in city-owned buildings like the convention center. Rep. Mitzi Epstein, D-Tempe, questioned why the legislature would want to preempt these in the future. But Rep. Anthony Kern, R-Glendale, said Epstein is off-base in presuming the bill has anything to do with firearms transfer. He pointed out that the word 'guns' is nowhere in the bill, saying it could just as easily apply to anything else. That suggestion drew derision from Rep. Randall Friese, D-Tucson. No one is talking about background checks for refrigerator sales or microwave sales or dining room furniture sales or kitchen table sales or carpet sales or doorway sales or door jamb sales or door knob sales or door key sales, he said. Let's just be serious. Kern, however, said he's not bothered even if it would bar background checks on gun sales, He said it's none of the government's business. If I want to sell ... any of my personal property, including weapons, I should be able to do that, he said. And Kern brushed aside questions of whether an item could wind up in the hands of someone who would abuse it. It's up to me as a responsible seller to make sure I know who the buyer is, he said. It's called America and it's called the Second Amendment. Friese countered that he believes most Americans and most Arizonans want to close the so-called gun show loophole where individuals are free to sell multiple weapons as long as the items are the seller's personal property. Kern said he doesn't see the issue in those terms. My colleagues on the other side of the aisle are consistently against the Second Amendment the way they speak, he said. We should be limiting government at every turn and every chance we get. Rep. Kristen Engel, D-Tucson, suggested proponents of the legislation, which already has been approved by the Senate, are deluding themselves if they believe this will forever preclude background checks. She said nothing in the measure blocks a future legislature or even voters from deciding they want to follow the lead of other states like Oregon. And Engel, an attorney, said it is the most recent enactment that always takes precedence. In separate action, the Senate gave preliminary approval to HB 2216. It spells out that state or local government cannot limit the sale of firearms to only smart weapons which are designed to be fired only by the authorized owner or whoever that person designates. The House already has approved the measure. After the meeting between PM Modi and the American NSA, the US reaffirmed Indias designation as a major defence partner. New Delhi: The United States on Tuesday reaffirmed Indias designation as a major defence partner following a meeting visiting national security advisor (NSA) Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster had with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with the two countries discussing the menace of terrorism and steps to deal with it. The meeting is significant considering recent tensions between India and Pakistan after a Pakistani military court sentenced Indias former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav to death on charges of espionage and sabotage. The US has been also only too aware of Pakistans role in backing terrorism in both India and Afghanistan, and has been seeking to reduce tensions in the region. The US NSA also visited Afghanistan and Pakistan for talks before reaching India. The US also discussed the situation in Afghanistan, West Asia notably Syria and North Korea during the meeting in New Delhi. In a statement, India said that the NSA conveyed the greetings of President Donald Trump to PM Modi. The PM recalled his positive telephonic conversations with President Trump that reaffirmed the importance attached by both sides to the strategic partnership and to stepping up India-US engagement across the board, it said. The NSA shared his perspective with the PM on the security situation in the extended region, including in Afghanistan, West Asia and the DPRK. During the conversation, they exchanged views on how both countries can work together to effectively address the challenge of terrorism and to advance regional peace, security and stability. In a statement from New Delhi, the US Embassy said the NSA departed after productive meetings with PM Modi, Indias NSA Ajit Doval and foreign secretary S. Jaishankar. The US NSA emphasised the importance of the US-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed Indias designation as a major defense partner, it said. The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counter-terrorism cooperation. The visit was a part of regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad, the statement said. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Indian High Commission will start the process of Mallya's extradition. New Delhi: Asserting that the legal process is underway over the extradition of absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who was arrested and subsequently granted bail in London on Tuesday, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has stated that both India and the British governments are in touch in this context. "Responding to a query regarding Shri Vijay Mallya, the Official Spokesperson said that his arrest in London today was in connection with the request by the Government to UK authorities for his extradition. Legal process in this regard is underway in the UK. The two governments are in touch in this context," the MEA said in a statement. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Indian High Commission will start the process of Mallya's extradition, government sources said. India needs to set precedent and Mallya's extradition is one such case, also those defaulters who think that their money are safe in tax heavens are on wrong foot, sources added. The 61-year-old liquor businessman, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, appeared before the Westminster's Magistrates' Court in London for his bail hearing where the court granted bail to him. Downplaying the din surrounding his sensational arrest in London, Mallya who is on the run over money laundering charges, took a swipe at the Indian media. Taking to Twitter after getting bail, Mallya took a swing at the media accusing them of 'hyping' the development. Earlier on Tuesday, following Mallya's arrest, the Scotland Yard issued a statement saying that the absconding businessman was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar has assured that the beleaguered liquor baron will be brought back after completion of all required legal procedures. Addressing the media, Gangwar claimed that although bail was granted to Mallya, this does not imply any leniency towards him. He added that granting bail was required on grounds of a 'legal formality'. "Eradication of black money has been discussed since the Lok Sabha elections. We will not let miscreants like Mallya escape. We will make sure he is brought back to India and produced before the law after due consideration of legal formalities," he said. "Our government will make sure that nothing diverts this country's progress. Mallya's case will be investigated thoroughly," added Gangwar. Mallya, who was finally caught after repeatedly refusing to appear before courts and investigators in India since he secretly fled to Britain last March, was granted bail. In March, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that extradition of the absconding liquor baron has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him. The CBI had chargesheeted Mr Mallya in January this year for allegedly defaulting in a bank loan case. Industrialist Vijay Mallya leaves Westminster Magistrate's Court in London after getting bail on Tuesday. He was arrested earlier on Tuesday by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: Industrialist Vijay Mallya was arrested in London on Tuesday by Scotland Yard on Indias extradition request forwarded by the CBI which has charged him for an alleged financial fraud. The industrialist, however, was granted bail within hours of his arrest. Agency reports from London said that Mr Mallya was arrested by the Metropolitan polices extradition unit after he went to a central London police station on Tuesday morning. Subsequently he appeared at Westminster magistrates court in London with his legal team and was granted bail within a few hours. Soon after his release, Mr Mallya tweeted, Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected. Agency reports from London also quoted a member of Mr Mallyas team as saying, It was a voluntary action and he would be out in a few minutes. He, however, did not give any details of the bail conditions. The CBI had chargesheeted Mr Mallya in January this year for allegedly defaulting in a bank loan case. Subsequently, the agency had sent a formal extradition request in February, which was forwarded to British authorities by the ministry of external affairs. CBI sources said they were closely monitoring developments in London and would decide on future course of action according to extradition proceedings in court. We are in touch with law enforcement authorities in London. If required, we will have our own representative in court to push for Mallyas extradition, which is now part of a legal process. It is now for the courts in London to take a final view on whether Mallya can be extradited to India in connection with the cases against him, an official said. Investigating agencies have been asked to finalise the necessary paper work in connection with Mr Mallyas extradition process and, sources said, a team from the CBI, ED and home ministry is likely to visit London shortly. There are several steps in the UKs extradition procedure, including a decision by the judge to issue an arrest warrant or not. In case a warrant is issued, the said person has to be arrested and produced in court for a preliminary hearing along with that of an extradition hearing before a final decision can be taken by the secretary of state. However, the concerned person can approach the higher courts, right up to the Supreme Court, challenging any adverse order against him/her. New Delhi, sources added, has been pushing aggressively for Mr Mallyas extradition and the issue was taken up by finance minister Arun Jaitley with senior government functionaries during his recent visit to London. In its extradition request, New Delhi had claimed that there is a legitimate case against Mr Mallya and, if honoured, it would show British sensitivity towards Indias concerns. Following this, British authorities had initiated the extradition process and forwarded it to a district judge for further action. The visiting minister's comments come in the wake of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh describing Sajjan Defence Minister of Canada, Harjit Singh Sajjan arrives for a ceremonial welcome at South Block in New Delhi on Tuesday. (Photo: AP) New Delhi: Clearing the air over allegations of being a Khalistani sympathizer, visiting Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan has said that his visit is aimed at forging better bilateral ties and not to 'break any country'. "I have been given many labels throughout my life and your actions define who you are. I don't personally suck into the internal politics of any province or nations," he said while addressing an audience here as he spoke on 'Conflict Prevention and Peacekeeping in a Changing World'. "I do not promote the breakup of any country... My job is to promote a relation," he added. The visiting minister's comments come in the wake of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh describing Sajjan "a Khalistani sympathiser". During an interview last week, Singh stated that there were four other ministers in the Justin Trudeau government with Khalistani links. The Chief Minister even went on to say that he would not meet the Canadian Minister on his India visit. Sajjan is on a seven-day visit to India during which he is scheduled to hold several high-level ministerial meetings. In Punjab, Sajjan will visit the Golden Temple and civil society organisations. He will inaugurate the new office of the Consulate General of Canada in Chandigarh. In the financial capital, Sajjan will visit the Mumbai Port and meet several business and industry leaders. Chennai: Several senior Tamil Nadu Ministers on Monday night went into a huddle here amid reports about coming together of rival AIADMK factions led by TTV Dhinakaran and O Panneerselvam. The development came on a day when the Delhi Police booked AIADMK (Amma) leader TTV Dhinakaran for allegedly trying to bribe an Election Commission official in a failed bid to obtain the coveted "two-leaves" party symbol for his faction. Emerging from the more than an hour-and-half-long meeting at the residence of Electricity Minister K Thangamani late on Monday, Finance Minister D Jayakumar said modalities were being worked out to pave the way for the merger of the two factions. Earlier in the day, Panneerselvam, a former Chief Minister of the state, had expressed confidence that the Dhinakaran faction leaders would approach him for merger talks. "If approached, we are ready to sit and talk and I have confidence that they (leaders) will come (for talks)," he told reporters at the airport here. "Given the opinion (voiced by OPS), modalities to strengthen the party and to run it with unity were discussed," Jayakumar told reporters, briefing them about the meeting which was attended by most of the ministers of E K Palaniswami government. Earlier in the day, speculations swirled about a possible pact between Palaniswami and Panneerselvam under which both VK Sasikala, the jailed AIADMK general secretary, and Dhinakaran, her nephew and deputy, would be ousted. Unconfirmed reports had it that under the arrangement Palaniswami would continue as Chief Minister while Panneerselvam would occupy the coveted post of AIADMK general secretary, which was held by J Jayalalithaa till her death last December. However, Panneerselvam had earlier in the day told journalists nobody had approached him with such a proposal so far. Asked about speculation in political circles that Sasikala, who is serving a prison term in connection with a disproportionate assets case in which Jayalalithaa was also an accused, was preparing to quit as general secretary, Jayakumar said, "There is no such thing." Law Minister C V Shanmugam termed it as "a lie". Shanmugam said since Dhinakaran was in Bengaluru for a meeting with Sasikala, the merger issue will be discussed on his return here. On Panneerselvam's stand that Sasikala's family should not be a part of the party, Jayakumar evaded a direct answer and said, "The decision of the last party cadre is the decision of the party and all of us." He said, "We will get the two-leaves symbol for sure as it is the desire of all the party workers." The election symbol is seen as part of Jayalalithaa's enduring legacy. The Election Commission had frozen the two-leaves symbol after both Panneerselvam and Sasikala-Dhinakaran factions staked claim to it ahead of the now countermanded April 12 byelection to RK Nagar assembly constituency. Jayakumar also said the submission of affidavits of district-level party workers to the Election Commission in the symbol dispute was discussed at the meeting. On the possibility of meeting Panneerselvam to take forward the merger proposal, he said "For everything there is a time." When a reporter pointed out that Panneerselvam had been demanding a probe into the circumstances surrounding the death of Jayalalithaa, and if it was to be made a condition for merger, he shot back, asking "Did he (Panneerselvam) spell out this as a condition?" Another senior Minister and a heavy weight of the party in the western region, S P Velumani said "For sure we will be united, and retrieve the two-leaves symbol." "Those who exited (Panneerselvam and his followers) are also part of our family. It is like a fight between two brothers. Together we will get back the two-leaves symbol," he said. There was reportedly unease in Tamil Nadu's ruling party ever since Income Tax officials raided Health Minister Vijayabaskar's premises and seized evidence of bribing voters for the bypoll to R K Nagar assembly seat. The poll, scheduled for April 12, was countermanded by the Election Commission on April 9 amid allegations of rampant inducement and bribing of voters. Dhinakaran was the candidate of AIADMK (Amma) faction for the seat. He was earlier in the day booked by the Delhi police after it arrested an alleged middleman who, according to police, was purportedly helping the AIADMK leader reach out to an unidentified official in the Election Commission in return for an astounding Rs 50 crore. No arrest warrant has been issued against Dhinakaran. But police have in their custody Sukesh Chandrasekhar, the alleged middleman who was picked from a 5-star hotel in New Delhi yesterday, a senior police official said. Sasikala had reinducted Dhinakaran, who was expelled from the AIADMK by Jayalalithaa, and appointed him the party's deputy general secretary just before proceeding to Bengaluru to serve the remnant of her jail term after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction and sentence in February this year. There were about 30 restrooms emptied of paper in just one hour Chinas notorious toilet paper thieves have struck again, stripping a park in Chengdu city of 1,500 rolls in just one week, forcing authorities to consider installing facial recognition machines to beat the penny-pinching paper bandits. As part of efforts in the nationwide toilet revolution campaign, management at the Peoples Park in Chengdu, Chinas Sichuan Province started providing free toilet paper in all its restrooms on April 8. However, the park authorities found that the first batch of 1,500 rolls of paper were gone in seven days, the Chengdu Business Daily reported yesterday. Feng Huiling, secretary of the parks Party branch, told the newspaper that an investigation found that 30 restrooms were emptied of paper in just one hour.Toilet paper use far exceeded expectations. The toilet paper thieves may cost the park up to 100,000 yuan (around $14,528) a year, Feng said, adding that some tourists have even been caught dismantling toilets pedal flush handles to sell them for money. If the problem continues, they may follow the example of Beijings Tiantan Park and install machines with face scanners to regulate use, state-run Global Times today quoted Feng as saying.Tiantan Park, home to the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, introduced six high-tech dispensers that dole out toilet paper only after conducting a facial scan. The pilot programme kicked off recently after the authorities faced an increasing number of local residents raiding the parks restrooms for toilet paper. Tourists now must allow the machine to scan their faces before it dispenses a 60cm serving of toilet paper. The software will deny the same person another helping of toilet paper within nine minutes of their first scan. Tiantan Park claims a total of 30 rolls of paper were used in just one toilet on one day in winter, the majority of which were stolen, the Beijing Evening News reported in March. Sometimes we have to refill the toilet paper every 20 minutes, a park attendant was quoted as saying. Transport services to be hit; 2 unions to stay away from protest. The drivers of the two app-based cab aggregators demand an increase in fares from the existing Rs 6 per km to Rs 20. New Delhi: Brace for surge in fares and extended waiting time for the cabs to arrive as the drivers of two app-based cab aggregators Ola and Uber will go on a daylong strike against their poor working conditions. This is the second round of strikes called by the drivers. They had gone on strike in February too, which had lasted 13 days, causing inconvenience to commuters in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad. The strike, though for a day, may paralyse the transport services in Delhi and the neighbouring cities as around a dozen unions have joined hands in the protest. Alleging that their demands have fallen on the deaf ears as neither the government or the cab operating companies have paid heed, the drivers association has planned a march from Majnu ka Tila in North Delhi to chief minister Arvind Kejriwals residence. The protest march will be taken out from Majnu ka Tila to the CMs residence in North Delhis Civil Lines area. There is anger among drivers that government is not intervening in raising their issues with Ola and Uber, Kamaljeet Gill, president of Sarvodaya Drivers Association, said. The association, which claims to represent around 1.25 lakh app-based taxis in the Delhi-NCR, demands that fares be increased from the existing Rs 6 per km to around Rs 20 per km. It also demands abolition of 25 per cent commission the drivers are charged by companies. He said the association has called for the one-day strike in favour of the demands and if companies and government do not pay heed, they will go on an indefinite strike. According to the association, app-based cab companies made tall promises to drivers, like they would earn as much as Rs 1.5 lakh every month. But, the situation is different. They are making us run taxis at Rs 6 per km, while they charge 25 per cent from us, Mr Gill added. Contrary to the associations claim that most aut-orickshaw and tourists associations have decided to lend their support to the strike, Delhi Auto-rickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union (yellow-black taxis) said they will not participate in it. We will not support the strike in Delhi, Rajendra Soni, general secretary of both the associations, said. Earlier in the day, the Delhi HC restrained two taxi drivers unions the Sarvodaya Driver Association of Delhi and the Rajdhani Tourist Drivers Union from disrupting services of cabs run by Ola and Uber in the national capital region. Welcoming the court order, Uber in a statement said it hopes it will enable drivers to stay behind the wheel, without fear or harassment. We are hopeful that the order will be effectively enforced and that action is taken against any person who attempts to block cars, confiscate devices or harass riders and drivers and that the safety of everyone using the Uber App in Delhi is ensured. We are committed to keeping Delhi moving and ensuring a reliable experience for riders and drivers, Uber said. The girl had earlier accused her school teacher of molesting her. The third-party bail plea of the teacher was also rejected. New Delhi: A Delhi court has ordered an FIR against a woman police officer for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor girl, who had earlier accused her teacher of molesting her Additional sessions judge Vinod Yadav passed the order after the 13-year-old child told the court that she was sexually assaulted by the woman investigating officer (IO) of the case and she had lodged a complaint to the police against her but no action was taken. The court also dismissed the third bail plea of the teacher of a government school, facing prosecution in the case, saying there was no change in circumstances. Today, separate directions have been given for lodging of FIR against the IO in this case for having committed penetrative sexual assault upon the child victim and creating false evidence. Needless to say, false evidence was being created by the IO solely to accord benefit thereof to the applicant/accused Manoj Rathi (teacher). Be that as it may, I do not find any change in the circumstance warranting taking different view. The bail application of the applicant accordingly stands dismissed, the judge said. The court directed the SHO of Mangolpuri in north-west Delhi to get the FIR registered against woman IO, a sub-inspector, through a senior officer and file a status report in the matter on April 29. The girl, in her complaint, alleged that the IO had threatened her father to get the victim medically re-examined or she would implicate her in a false case. The child alleged that initially the woman official sexually assaulted her and later took her to a hospital where the doctors conducted her internal medical examination without her consent. The police, which is already probing the aspect of sexual assault on the minor by her teacher, had earlier informed the court that it has also registered an FIR against the girls father in view of the alleged confession letter which was given to the police by the school staff. The school staff had earlier given to police an alleged confession letter of the girls father that he had repeatedly sexually assaulted her. The initial incident occurred in August last year when the girl, a Class V student of a government school in Aman Vihar area of North-West Delhi, asked a question to the teacher who told her to meet him alone later. The girl said in her complaint that the teacher allegedly molested her and when her parents came to the school next day to complain about his conduct, he threatened them and took thumb impression of the childs father on a blank paper. The teacher then allegedly wrote a confession letter on behalf of the girls father that he had repeatedly sexually assaulted his daughter and got the signatures of other colleagues, she had alleged. Later, a case under the POCSO Act was registered by the police against the accused teacher. The police has also lodged a case against other school teachers and principal for not informing them about an alleged confession letter of a minor girls father. The incident comes in the backdrop of a Pakistan army court awarding the death sentence to ex-Indian Naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav. Mumbai: Around 20 Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) activists allegedly stormed clothing brand ZARAs showroom at Phoenix MarketCity in Lower Parel on Tuesday afternoon, asking its staff to stop selling Pakistani products. Raising slogans, the MNS workers, pulled down clothes and trampled upon them. The MNS workers contention was that the showroom sells Pakistani clothes and accessories. The incident comes in the backdrop of a Pakistan army court awarding the death sentence to ex-Indian Naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav. Deputy commissioner of police Pravin Padwal said, Ten protesters, including corporator Datta Narvankar has been arrested under IPC section 143 (unlawful assembly) in front of a ZARA showroom. The accused have got bail after the arrest. Further investigations are on. When the MNS workers came to the showroom, some policemen who were already deployed outside intervened and dispersed the protesters. The MNS workers had, on Monday night, visited the showroom and handed its staff a letter asking them to get rid of Pakistani clothes for sale. After the incident, The Asian Age called the ZARA showroom twice, but no one from the store gave a statement about the incident. The MNS letter, a copy of which is available with The Asian Age, reads: Soldiers, policemen and innumerable citizens of the country are being maimed and killed regularly by Pakistan-sponsored terrorists, and the Marathi manoos in Mumbai has also not been spared by these terrorists. Just yesterday, the Pakistan government awarded the death sentence to Indias soldier Kulbhushan Jadhav on false charges. The letter read: In spite of such atrocious behaviour, Pakistani-made clothes are being sold in India, which is alarming patriotic Indians The money made by trade with India is being used by Pakistan to spread terror In light of this, you are asked to immediately discontinue the sale of Pakistani-made clothes in your store. Meanwhile, vice-president of the MNS youth wing Akhil Chitre said, We were following up on our demand against the sale of Pakistani-made clothes in ZARA shops. We have been sending them letters for the last two days, but they were still selling the products. So, we went there to remove all such products. They have assured us that they would not sell them again. If they continue to do so, we will launch an awareness programme on social media, telling the youth not to buy ZARAs wares. If ZARA still does not listen, we will carry out an MNS-style agitation. Senior journalist Sheela Reddy has revealed many such anecdotes from the eventful life of the founding father of Pakistan. New Delhi: When 40-year-old Muhammad Ali Jinnah popped the question to teenager Ruttie Petit, the only condition put forward by the bride-to-be was: "you have to shave off your moustache." And Jinnah obliged. Not only did he get rid of his thick hair on his upper lip but he also re-did his hair to impress the lady. Senior journalist Sheela Reddy has revealed many such anecdotes from the eventful life of the founding father of Pakistan. In her new book, 'Mr. and Mrs. Jinnah - The Marriage that Shook India', Reddy reveals personal details and episodes from Jinnah's unhappy marriage to the Parsi girl, who was younger to him by 24 years. In an illustrated lecture about the book held here last evening, Reddy curated a series of rare photos of Mr. and Mrs. Jinnah and their respective families, complemented with interesting tales from their lives. Accompanying the photo of Ruttie Petit's father, Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, was this humorous story of Jinnah making the best use of his "cross-examining" skills of a barrister while asking his daughter's hand in marriage. "Jinnah was having a conversation with Ruttie's father, and he happened to ask him about his view on inter-communal marriage. Now, to sound politically correct Dinshaw said, 'this would be a great thing for the integration of the country'. "Next question was 'I want to marry your daughter'. It is said that he was thrown out of the door, and they both never met again," Reddy said. As Ruttie, short for Rattan Bai, was only 16 at the time, they had to wait two years for her to become legally eligible for marriage. As soon as she turned 18 they got married in Bombay at Jinnah's house in 1918. None of her family members attended the marriage. Reddy said Ruttie, who accepted Islam to get married and took on the name Maryam, had only one condition. "When he proposed , the only condition she put was you have to shave off your moustache. He obliged, and got married without his moustache. And he also redid his hairstyle. This was very very English movie at that time, and all the Parsi dudes were doing that," Reddy said. She also narrated the intriguing story behind the making of the book. Idling her time in Nehru Memorial Library, Reddy stumbled upon a parcel of private letters written by Ruttie to the two daughters of Sarojini Naidu - Padmaja and Leilamani Naidu. While initially she thought that she had everything that was required to write a book, it was only a matter of time before she realised that there was a long way to go and Pakistan was an important stop in that journey. "I went to Islamabad and asked for the letters exchanged between Jinnah and Petit and others. In all this, I did not realise I had written my Indian address in the register. "Smelling something wrong, they asked me to leave and I was debarred from that place. Even then I managed to get the files with the help of my Pakistani friend, but then there was nothing, barring some letters written by Jinnah's daughter to him," she said. The author's quest ended after she returned to Mumbai on the recommendation of Pakistani scholars who told her, "You are in a wrong place, go to Bombay." Jinnah spent a major part of his life in Bombay, where he lived until he moved to Pakistan after the partition in 1947. Ruttie died in 1929 of cancer and Jinnah visited her grave in Bombay one last time before leaving for Pakistan. The more Kejriwals rivals throw muck at him, the cleaner he looks. You would have thought that water alone has the anomalous property of expanding when frozen. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal displays a very nearly similar propensity. He expands where others would retreat. The more the media mocks and berates him on behalf of its paymasters, and tries to put Kejriwal in the deep freeze, the fierier he comes out. In this regard he is somewhat like Donald Trump, but the similarity ends here. Unlike the flashy billionaire who loves the good things of life, Kejriwal is a middle-class family man, happy with his vegetarian meal and cough syrup. As the US president seeks to discard the pro-poor healthcare and moves to auction away public spaces of learning and education, Kejriwal veers closer to the old-fashioned economics that harks back to Indias early quest to become a welfare state. Unlike most of his competitors Kejriwal revels in his hostility to crony capitalism, which he believes has stunted Indias growth. He was likened to Pakistans Imran Khan initially. That was unintelligent. If anything, Imran veers closer to the BJPs politics of riding religious identity. Would he be able to say, for example, I will never use religion to win an election even if I have to lose a 100 times? Thats what Kejriwal said publicly when the BJP won Uttar Pradesh in a polarised election. Some events more readily set him apart from his rivals. When mobs attacked Muslims in BJP-ruled Haryana, Kejriwal dispatched a fact-finding team to the neighbouring state. In 2015, Haryana chief minister M.L. Khattar reportedly asked Muslims to leave the country unless they gave up eating beef, a claim he later denied. Khattar sahib should resign His statement is not only unfortunate, but shameful, Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party said. He set up a special investigation team to revisit the Sikh massacre of 1984, which has not attained a satisfactory closure. When Hindutva mobs vandalised churches in Delhi, it was the AAP that led the face-off with the communalists. Im not sure if any of these events could be associated with the studiously pro-clergy Imran Khan. Recently, Kejriwal was associated with a Jain monk who walks naked, and its his business to do that. But the AAP leader has not used religion to canvass support or to attack his opponents. The imam of Jama Masjid, known for meddling in Muslim communalism, offered support to Kejriwal, which he tersely refused. The more Kejriwals rivals throw muck at him, the cleaner he looks. How many times has the Delhi Police picked up his MLAs for this or that alleged crime only to be rapped on the knuckles by the courts? By a quirk of logic, the Delhi government has no control on the citys police who fall under federal supervision. Even the chief ministers offices were not spared from being raided by the agencies. They only got frustration to show for their heavily publicised efforts. Sample a report in an English daily last month: The Delhi Police arrested 13 MLAs of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in the last two years on charges ranging from rape, extortion, cheating, forgery to rioting. For most of these offences bail is hard to come by, but all the 13 lawmakers are out on bail. In fact, two have been cleared of all charges. The anomalous rise of Kejriwal persists with its perverse logic. In 2013, according to an English daily, the Congress government moved to probe alleged foreign funding to Kejriwals party. The following day, the daily donation to the AAP increased six-fold. Kejriwal thanked the BJP and the Congress for the windfall. Like Jerry Mouse thumbing his nose at his quarry, he said: We are grateful to the BJP and the Congress for raising questions on our funds. I have met Kejriwal once for five seconds at a public event where I thought of giving him a book on corporate corruption. He may never have needed it actually, because it turned out that he knew more than the book could reveal. I am told he is allergic to leftists, which is not strange since the left has vainly put up candidates against him. But then, what is a former Maoist doing in his cabinet? There must be some meeting of the minds. Easily the single-most important factor shoring up Kejriwals pronounced secularism is Ashish Khetan. This journalist-turned-politician carried out the most damaging exposes on Hindutva fanaticism in Gujarat during Prime Minister Modis tenure as the states chief minister. Khetans eerie video interview a sting operation with a self-confessed hater of Muslims could only be subverted as evidence of crime and complicity if the states key pillars looked the other way. Last week, the Modi government through the lieutenant governor shut down the AAP party office in Delhi claiming it did not have official clearances. The timing was notable. Elections are scheduled on Sunday to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, currently ruled by the BJP. A victory in the municipality will fulfil Mr Modis dreams for India, says the radio jingle. Kejriwal was the first to stall the Modi juggernaut in Delhi. In response, the prime minister, that for the first time in Delhi municipalitys history, has staked his reputation to defeat Kejriwal. But in Kejriwals case when he loses, he wins. By arrangement with Dawn Mr Erdogans drifting away from European liberal values will have inevitable consequences. By narrowly winning a referendum on his countrys future direction, Recep Tayyip Erdogan has crowned himself Turkeys king of kings. By transforming the parliamentary system into a presidential model, he has given himself vastly more power that is enjoyed by the Presidents of the United States and France without their checks and balances. The trajectory of Mr Erdogan from his fiery rhetoric as mayor of Istanbul to when he got in trouble with the law is a unique journey during his stints as Prime Minister and, since 2014, as an elected President. He began as a reformer hoping to get into the European Union, but unlike the maker of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who pulled the remnants of the Ottoman Empire by bootstraps into the modern age, Mr Erdogan chose the reverse direction. Mr Erdogan, leader of the Justice and Development Party (AKP), realised that his main base of support lay in Anatolia, with an aspirant conservative religious people. He, therefore, adopted a religion-tinged policy his wife wears a headscarf also in tune with his own feelings. His peace moves with the restive Kurds, their party PKK designated as terrorists, were given up. But Mr Erdogan came into his element in the steps he took following the failed coup of last July. Thereby hangs a tale. Mr Erdogans ascent to power was in collaboration with Fetullah Gulen, a cleric leaning towards Sufism and running countless schools and other organisations. What is more, the Gulenists, as they are known, infiltrated in hordes into various organisations such as the judiciary, government and the Army. After the breaking point came over charges of corruption among Mr Erdogans senior ministers, Mr Erdogan used the coup to sack and imprison thousands in the bureaucracy, the government and the Army under sweeping powers he gave himself after the coup. Mr Erdogans evolution continues. The Prime Ministers post will be abolished and he will be overseeing judicial appointments, sit above Parliament and control the Army with a firmer hand. We must remember that after Ataturk, the Army was the dominant power, a period interspersed by periodic coups when one weak civilian government made way for another. In recent times, Mr Erdogan has made a major geopolitical shift. Although Turkey remains a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato), it has drawn closer to Russia, now a principal actor in the Syrian tragedy, and had a wobbly relationship with the rest of Europe with an agreement to stop the flow of refugees to the European Union for a hefty price. Turkeys membership of the European Union was never a serious proposition, given major countries objection to the prospect of an influx of 80 million Turks. With Mr Erdogan giving himself extraordinary powers, the prospect is even more remote now that he has also promised to initiate bringing back the death penalty. Whatever the European Unions feelings, the West cannot get away from the regional importance of Turkey, lying on the verge of the tempestuous Middle East and for long a route for jihadists going to Syria and Iraq. (Mr Donald Trump recognised Turkeys importance by making a congratulatory call even as Western Europe fumed). But Mr Erdogan faces his own kind of problems. Turkish Kurds remain a menace, the PKK leader is still in jail. Turkey briefly intervened in the Syrian civil war to ensure that the Syrian Kurds, close fighting allies of Americans, would not carve out a border area as a Kurdish free state that could be joined with the Turkish Kurds dominant in the countrys southeast. It is no secret that Kurds, spread over several countries, want a homeland of their own. Second, even more importantly, as the results of the referendum show, Mr Erdogan rules a country divided down the middle. He won the referendum, with the official machinery fully behind him, largely on the strength of rural votes and those of dual citizens living in Germany and the Netherlands. The urban voter in the major cities and towns voted No. As it happened, Mr Erdogan was not shy in denigrating the German and Dutch leaderships as neo-Nazis, a particularly hurtful epithet, for denying Turkish ministers space to campaign for the Yes vote. Mr Erdogans drifting away from European liberal values will have inevitable consequences. So will the concern among Nato members of how long its membership will last. Much depends upon how long it will take to end the bloodshed in Syria and Iraq. Mr Trumps resolve to defeat the so-called Islamic State is within reach as far as its physical presence is concerned. But as a stream of terrorist incidents in Europe shows, individual attempts at terrorism by indoctrinated or inspired by IS ideology are impossible to stop. India can form its own opinion of the shape of things to come if his visit to New Delhi late this month materialises. But it would be impossible to miss the significance of a changed Turkey in Indias larger neighbourhood. Besides, Mr Erdogan is likely to make a strong pitch for the extradition of Gulenists living in India. A tug-of-war between the United States and Turkey is in the offing because Gulen has long lived in self-exile in the United States. To hand him over to the Turkish authorities would condemn him to a lifelong prison term or worse. Dictatorships are the norm, rather than the exception in the Middle East and neighbouring countries. But extinguishing the promise of democratic times in Turkey is particularly distressing. With the Trump presidency in the United States and unpredictable future policies, the Turkish twist has added a new element of uncertainty in the most explosive region in the world. During an earlier meeting with a few journalists in New Delhi, Mr Erdogan had sounded rational although he also undertook his willingness to solve the Kashmir problem. Predictably, New Delhi ignored his offer of mediation. The French presidential elections is doubly important for Europe. A spectre is haunting Europe the spectre of Commun-ism, so wrote Karl Marx in 1848 in the Communist Manifesto. Today, another spectre haunts Europe that of nationalism. It is a spectre which has been haunting Europe for some time now and which on April 23 may loom again. The occasion is the first round in the French presidential polls, and the spectre takes the form of Marine Le Pen, leader of the nationalist Front National and presidential hopeful. Ms Le Pen, 49, an articulate former advocate, took over the leadership from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen six years ago. He was a bruiser of the hard right, prone to anti-Semitic jibes and suspected of having tortured guerrillas during the Algerian uprising against French rule. His daughter has worked hard to modernise the party and remove its nastier elements. Even so, Ms Le Pens programme is extreme. If elected, she would cosy up to Russias Vladimir Putin, seek to take France out of the European Union, close its borders, institute economic protectionism and launch a culture war against Frances Muslims, some 10 per cent of the population. Against her range candidates from the hard left to the conservative right, but the frontrunner is probably Emmanuel Macron. He is 39, a former banker and graduate of Frances elite institution for top officials, Ecole Nationale dAdministration, married to his schoolteacher 24 years his senior, and without a formal party machine behind him. His programme is diametrically opposed to Ms Le Pens: a supporter of the European Union, a believer in free trade, open borders, and a staunch defender of liberal values. Opinion polls suggest that Ms Le Pen and Mr Macron are neck and neck, with about 25 per cent of the vote each. Opinion polls also suggest that Ms Le Pen would lose against Mr Macron in the second round runoff two weeks later, with about 35 per cent of the vote. If so, that would be the highest vote ever in a French presidential election for the extreme right, roughly twice her fathers vote in 2002. But the opinion polls also suggest that some 30 per cent of voters remain undecided, and another 30 per cent may not vote. The result is, therefore, wide open and the outcome highly uncertain. This uncertainty is accentuated because Ms Le Pen seems able to attract support from the most unpredictable places. A little while ago I was passing a minor manor house in the village where I live in France. I saw plastered on the entrance sign a Front National poster. The property is owned by a couple who run it as a guesthouse. She, slight, possibly of Mediterranean origin, vaguely bohemian in style; he stocky, ruddy-faced and down-to-earth; both apparently pragmatic, reasonable and comfortable; neither giving any clue that they are active supporters of Ms Le Pen. On the other side of the political divide, more recently I struck up a conversation with a young woman, a lawyer by training, once a volunteer helper at the so-called Jungle, the refugee camp in Calais. She explained to me that none of the candidates spoke to people of her generation, like her: educated, motivated, internationalist and generous-minded. The hard-left Jean-Luc Melenchon has a programme which in practical terms is much like Ms Le Pens, save for the Islamophobic elements. Francois Fillon, the traditional right-wing candidate, has a programme of social conservatism which appears to be Le Pen-lite. Anyway, he is embroiled in a corruption investigation involving illegal payments of public money to his wife and children. Benoit Hamon, the moderate-left candidate of the Socialists, is trailing badly in the polls and has been eclipsed by Mr Melechon. That leaves Mr Macron. And that is the problem for Mr Macron. His support is indifferent and lukewarm. Ms Le Pens support, on the other hand, is fervent and committed. One of the students I taught in Paris put it very well: she asks the right questions, but her answers are wholly wrong. Wholly wrong certainly, but also highly persuasive. The questions are how to address economic dislocation and stagnation and how to create a sense of community and coherence as France becomes multi-cultural and multi-ethnic. Ms Le Pens answer is a programme of national priority, neatly summed up as France for the French. To that segment of the electorate which feels culturally and economically insecure, Ms Le Pen gives the reassurance that she understands them. She plays to their sense that they are an embattled people, menaced by the liberal elite, the forces of globalisation and the Islamisation of France. She, and she alone, will defend them. Mr Macrons appeal is more cerebral. He refers to himself as doubly liberal: politically and economically. The concern is that an appeal to peoples intelligence and better natures when they are feeling uncertain and anxious does not have traction. Important as the choice between Ms Len Pen and Mr Macron is for France, it is doubly important for Europe. The French presidential election is another in a sequence of elections where the fight has been between differing conceptions of Europe atavistic Europe against altruistic Europe. First came the Hungarian parliamentary elections in 2010, won by Viktor Orban. In power ever since, he proudly claims that he wants an illiberal democracy. Next came the Polish parliamentary elections in 2015, won by the like-minded Law and Justice Party. Then came the UKs vote by the slimmest of margins in mid-2016 to leave the European Union: another victory for nationalism and intolerance. The first reverse came at the end of 2016 in the Austrian presidential polls, where the far-right candidate was defeated by a narrow margin. The second reverse happened in the Dutch parliamentary elections in March, when the nationalist Freedom Party failed to make an expected breakthrough, although its vote did increase. But these contests were relative sideshows. France is the main event. France, the home of the Rights of Man, the second largest economy in Europe, one of two European nuclear powers (the other being the UK), is a founder member of the European Union. The Franco-German alliance is the axis around which Europe revolves. Without France, European integration comes to a stop and European coherence dissolves. A victory for Ms Le Pen would be a mortal blow to the European Union and a fatal relapse into Europes dark past. A victory for Mr Macron would allow Europe to breathe a sigh of relief, but celebration would be misplaced. There is still much to be done to exorcise the spectre. Michael Garland Elliott, a keen follower of the news, would regularly voice his disapproval of Trump. New York: A 75-year-old man in the US has died "peacefully" after his ex-wife lied to him that President Donald Trump was impeached from his office, according to media reports. Michael Garland Elliott, a keen follower of the news, would regularly voice his disapproval of Trump, until ill-health left him unable to communicate. He died "peacefully" on April 6 after his "ex-wife and best friend" Teresa Elliott informed him that "Donald Trump has been impeached," his obituary in The Oregonian said. Teresa, 68, said she lied to him over the phone from her Austin, Texas home. "I knew it was his very, very last moments," Teresa Elliott. "I knew that would bring him comfort and it did. He then took his final breath," Teresa was quoted as saying by the New York Daily. Michael died from congestive heart failure after his health had declined over the years, she said. The obituary also said he "passed away ... surrounded by people who loved him dearly and cared for him selflessly during the last months of his life." She described Michael as a "news junkie" who had expressed his disapproval of the President frequently until he could not communicate it verbally. "He hated his effing guts," she said of Michael's attitude towards the President. Though the pair divorced 20 years ago, Teresa said she always cared for Michael and would visit him often. Asked whether she regretted telling Michael of the false news, Teresa Elliott replied: "Oh God no." "If I could leave him with a happy piece of news then why wouldn't I?. And maybe in the end it won't turn out to be a lie," she added. H R McMaster asked Pakistan's top civilian and military leadership to confront terrorism in all its forms during a meeting with them. Islamabad: Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa on Tuesday said Pakistan is not using militant groups as proxies, asserting that the country is itself a victim of "state-sponsored" terrorism. His remarks came a day after US National Security Adviser H R McMaster asked Pakistan's top civilian and military leadership to confront terrorism in all its forms during a meeting with them. "Pakistan itself is a victim of state-sponsored terrorism. It strongly rejects allegations of employing proxies from its soil," the army said in a statement quoting Bajwa. The army said that McMaster, who arrived here during an unannounced visit, the first by a top Trump administration official to this country, was briefed about Pakistan's war on terror and its contributions to regional and global stability during the meeting. "In the meeting, it was highlighted that distinguishing feature of Pakistan's counter-terrorism effort is focused against terrorists of all hues and colours," the statement said. "The US NSA acknowledged Pakistan army's efforts in eliminating terrorists and their infrastructure, assuring US support to bring peace and stability in the region and globe," it said. McMaster held talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Gen Bajwa, Pakistan NSA Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Janjua and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi. McMaster's visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan comes just days after the US dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb targeting an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan, close to the border with Pakistan. This was McMaster's first visit to Pakistan as the US NSA and the first formal high-level exchange between the US and Pakistan under the new Donald Trump Administration. Songkran derives from the Sanskrit word Samkranti, astrological passage, which denotes transformation. A woman reacts to being soaked in water during Songkran, or the Thai New Year, celebrations on Khaosan Road in Bangkok on April 14. Last weeks full moon, dubbed the Pink Purnima by a Indian bistro in Bangkok, marked the Vernal Equinox and New Year celebrations: Vilambi in Tamil Nadu, Vaisakhi in Punjab, Bikram Sambat in Kathmandu and Songkran, Thailands Holi. Public squares hosted water parties with live bands, overhead sprinklers, water canons and buckets, which spared neither pedestrian nor motorist. In this official year of mourning for King Bhumibol Adulyadej, many Thais replaced their traditional multicoloured floral shirts with black and white, to match the hues of kings portraits which float upon the skyline on billboards and high rises. Its a special Songkran said a college student, spraying giddy falang tourists with a water pistol, because it feels like the last one well have with King Bhumibol. Songkran derives from the Sanskrit word Samkranti, astrological passage, which denotes transformation. Songkran evolved from Indias Makar Sankranti January harvest festival, which aligns with the Buddhist/Hindu solar calendar, thus Songkran is both an astrological passage and symbolic of the evolution of spiritual practice. Across Thailand water parties blend with ceremonial merit making: bathing Buddha images, honouring relics of ancestors, pouring water over senior relatives and monks. The Indian embassy invited Bangkok residents to pay special New Year homage by making floral offerings and pouring water on the 9 Navagraha celestial Hindu deities enshrined at the National Museums Samranmukhamat Pavilion for the three-day holiday. Throughout Thailand seeds of India are seen in language, astrology, ritual and art, fertilised in the rich soil of Thai magic and folklore, refined to perfection in the Ayutthayan period, still potent in the 21st century. The Mahabharata tells of how Brahma insulted Shiva, thus Shiva cursed Brahma that his worship would die in India, and so it did, but Brahma now dwells in Thailand, alongside Lord Buddha. Bangkok has over 350 Buddhist temples, both Theravada and Mahayana. Every mall, bank, hotel and home has a shrine to Phra Phrom, Lord Brahma, whose four heads offer specific blessings and are daily worshipped with flowers, incense, fruits and candle flames. The rites and symbols of Siamese kingship evolved from ancient India, Thai government buildings are adored with red Garudas, the emblem of the Chakri Dynasty, an 800-year-old lineage established in the 12th century by the Kingdom of Sukhothai. Thailand was fortunate to have escaped colonisation, thus its cultural and national continuity was not severed by European powers. In the 19th century, King Mongkut and his son King Chulalonghorn saw Britain take Burma and France capture Indochina. They sent their sons to European military academies and their ambassadors to European courts, abolished slavery and polygamy, modernised infrastructure and expanded public education. In the early years of his 70-year reign, King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit made state visits to 25 countries, which greatly elevated Thailands international stature. If you find yourself in Bangkok, go straight away to the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles in the Grand Palace to see the exhibition Fit for a Queen which showcases the dazzling fashions Queen Sirikit created with the French designer Pierre Balmain, a melange of Thai textiles and French couture which kept the elegant Thai Royals in global headlines and Her Majesty at the top of the International Best Dressed List for years. In the 20th century, King Bhumibol saved Thailand from a more vicious and catastrophic European ideology: The Communist Manifesto. When Saigon fell to the Viet Cong in 1975, King Bhumibol vowed to remain in Thailand to protect his nation. In his first address to the Thai Parliament after his 1950 coronation, the King expressed his concern that Thailand resist incursions of Communist insurgencies from neighboring states, stating that development and education were the best defense against the totalitarian threat. Thailands Communist insurgents launched a guerilla war against the state from 1965 to 1983, which caused many casualties, among them Princess Vibhavadi Rangsit, a renown author, senior advisor and close friend of Queen Sirikit, who was shot and killed in 1977 while delivering aid to Royal projects and visiting troops fighting Communists in southern Thailand. The King continued to visit rural districts near Laos or Cambodia, with protection from helicopters and infantry. The 1979 BBC documentary Soul of a Nation follows the King and Queen traveling to remote regions targeted by Communist rebels. The King preferred to drive his own land rover deep into the countryside to meet with his people and supervise his royal development projects. When BBC reporter David Lomax asked King Bhumibol if he was waging war with Marxists, the king replied that he was waging war on hunger. The king deftly rejoined Lomaxs baited question about monarchy being the past and Communism the future, stating that Communism promotes the idea of the Top Man whereas his Buddhist faith valued morality and universal law Dhamma in Pali over absolute power. In 1980, the King sent his Prime Minister Prem Tinsulanonda to offer amnesty to the rebels, thousands defected from the party and by 1983 the insurgency came to an end. But in Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Communist regimes inflicted slaughter, famine, annihilation of cultural and religious heritage. The 20th century was a disaster for Buddhism, one of the worlds largest religions in 1900, vanquished at midcentury by Marxist despots. It is one of King Bhumibols greatest legacies that he saved Thailand from the totalitarian virus, which caused the deaths of an estimated 100 million people in the 20th century. Thai newspapers have been chronicling the construction of a grand crematorium near Bangkoks Grand Palace, where King Bhumibols body lies in state. Brahmin priests have blessed special trees selected for the structure; over 7,000 artisans are recreating Mount Sumeru, the centre of the Buddhist cosmos, where the kings spirit will ascend after his cremation at the end of this year. Dr Sumet Tantivejkul, secretary-general of King Bhumibols Chaipattana Foundation said: The late King has never really left us he taught us so many things during his 70-year-long reign let us follow in his footsteps. The writer is an author and Tibet expert who has worked with Tibetan refugees in India for many years Brakes comments echoed those of MP Nadhim Zahawi, from the ruling Conservative Party. London: UK lawmakers are calling on the government to strip Syrian President Bashar al-Assads wife of her British citizenship, for supporting her husbands regime during the countrys ongoing war. The Liberal Democrats foreign affairs spokesman, MP Tom Brake, on Sunday accused Assad of using her international profile to defend a barbarous regime. (Foreign secretary) Boris Johnson has urged other countries to do more about Syria, but the British government could say to Asma al-Assad either stop using your position to defend barbaric acts, or be stripped of your citizenship, Brake said. His remarks follow Johnson branding the Syrian president an arch-terrorist, in a Sunday Telegraph newspaper article calling on Syria ally Russia to end its support for Bashar al-Assad. Brakes comments echoed those of MP Nadhim Zahawi, from the ruling Conservative Party. The time has come where we go after (Bashar) Assad in every which way, including people like Mrs Assad, who is very much part of the propaganda machine that is committing war crimes, he was quoted in the Sunday Times newspaper as saying. Once hailed as a progressive rights advocate, Assad has fallen from international grace during Syrias ongoing war which has killed over 320,000 people since erupting in 2011. The 41-year-old, who is believed to hold joint British-Syrian nationality, has stood by her husbands side. Assads ongoing support for her husband allows Britain to deprive her of her UK citizenship, as per the Liberal Democrats. Brake is due to write to home secretary Amber Rudd outlining the view of the Liberal Democrats, which holds nine seats in British parliament. The home office would not comment on whether the government would take action against Assad, who previously worked as an analyst for Deutsche Bank and JP Morgan. The Government takes its duty to protect the British public exceptionally seriously. We cannot discuss individual cases but the Home Secretary can deprive individuals of their citizenship where it is conducive to the public good to do so, a spokesman told AFP. Cancellation of visa procedures for tourists and businessmen "will promote growth of investment of the far east, said Medvedev. Moscow: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has announced that tourists and businessmen from India and 17 other countries can visit the country's far east without visas to boost tourism and investment in the region. Medvedev said on Monday that businessmen and tourists will not need to undergo the traditional procedure of Russian visas receipt. According to the official site of the Russian Cabinet, the list of 18 countries comprises Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, India, Iran, Qatar, China, North Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey and Japan, Tass news agency reported. "I have recently approved the list of countries, whose nationals can take advantage of the preferential regime," Medvedev said. "We are pro actively forming the modern infrastructure and creating special regimes in the far east; the law on visits to the Vladivostok free port was approved in March," he said. Cancellation of visa procedures for tourists and businessmen "will promote growth of investment and tourist attractiveness of the far east," the prime minister said. The region will earn more money from tourist traffic growth, he added. Eighteen countries from various regions selected by the reciprocity principle were included into the list, Medvedev said. "This is not because these states are situated at a closer or longer distance - we are appropriately introducing bilateral agreements on visa-free travel for those ready to use such an approach for us," he said. Taking to Twitter after getting bail, Mallya took a swing at the media accusing them of 'hyping' the development. London: Downplaying the din surrounding his sensational arrest in London, absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya who is on the run over money laundering charges, took a swipe at the Indian media. Taking to Twitter after getting bail, Mallya took a swing at the media accusing them of 'hyping' the development. Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected. Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) April 18, 2017 Earlier on Tuesday, following Mallya's arrest, the Scotland Yard issued a statement saying that the absconding businessman was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud. "Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit have this morning, Tuesday 18 April arrested a man on an extraction warrant. He was arrested after attending a central London police station, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later today, 18 April," read the official statement of the Scotland Yard. His arrest came after a Delhi court had issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant against Mallya in connection with the the 1995 FERA violation case. In March, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that extradition of absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya has been stratified by Secretary of State of the UK Government and soon a warrant would be released against him. "Somewhere in the month in the month of February, the home office of the U.K. Government conveyed that India's request for extradition of Mallya has been stratified by Secretary of State and sent to Westminster Magistrate court for a district judge consider issue of releasing of warrant," MEA official spokesperson Gopal Baglay told the media. In March, the Supreme Court fast-tracked the proceedings against Mallya and reserved its order on contempt proceedings against him for allegedly diverting $40 million to his children's accounts in foreign banks in violation of court orders. A bench of Justices AK Goel and UU Lalit reserved its order on whether or not Mallya was guilty of contempt and what action should be taken to bring back the money. The court concluded the proceedings after a three-and-a-half-hour hearing during which the Centre contended that Mallya was mocking the Indian system after fleeing the country. It said the government was holding talks with UK authorities to get him deported. The apex court had started proceedings against Mallya a year ago and had issued notice to him on March 8, 2016 on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) for recovery of about Rs. 9,000 crore which the businessman and his companies owed to them. The liquor baron, however, fled the country days before the apex court took up the case against him. Corruption is a major issue in Spain, with the PP, rival Socialists and regional politicians hit by scandals. Madrid: One of Spain's top criminal courts on Tuesday summoned Mariano Rajoy to testify as a witness in a major corruption trial, a first for the conservative prime minister. "They have called him as witness," a spokesman for the National Court that deals with major corruption cases told AFP, adding no date had been set yet for the hearing. Rajoy will take the stand as part of the so-called Gurtel trial, which centres on a vast network that allegedly saw companies shower former lawmakers and civil servants from his ruling Popular Party (PP) with bribes in exchange for contracts. Altogether, 37 defendants face justice including two former party treasurers and businessman Francisco Correa, the alleged head of the network. The PP itself is on the stand via a legal representative, though unlike most other defendants who face criminal charges, the party is accused only of having benefitted from funds obtained illegally, making it liable to civil penalties. Rajoy's former health minister Ana Mato, who was forced to resign in November 2014 over the scandal, is also on the stand though like the PP she is suspected only of having benefitted from illegal funds. Corruption is a major issue in Spain, with the PP, rival Socialists and regional politicians hit by scandals. Such is public anger over the issue that many voters have flocked to two relatively new parties -- the far-left Podemos and the centre-right Ciudadanos. As a result, although the PP still won general elections last year, it failed to get the absolute majority it won in 2011, and Rajoy now heads a minority government. State Seeks Input on Which Oregon Coast Beaches to Monitor Published 04/16/2017 at 4:43 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Oregon Coast) What Oregon coast beaches do you think need to be monitored for health hazards? The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) wants to get public input and opinion. OHA is taking suggestions until May 8, based on beaches the agency is proposing to be part of its monitoring system during this summer. Beaches are normally monitored from Memorial Day through Labor Day. OHA's Monitoring Program works with the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to determine beaches that need monitoring based on several established criteria. Among the issues looked at are pollution hazards that may be present, beaches that have had previous water quality issues, type and amount of beach use, and public input. The list of 2016 beaches included one or two sections of many beach towns and areas between but it is not comprehensive. Out of more than 90 separate beaches along the Oregon coast, about 30 were monitored last year. The state has only one full-time beach monitoring professional. OHA regularly re-evaluates which beaches and sampling locations are used to protect public health. This year, their criteria has led them to propose the following beaches for monitoring in 2017: Seaside Beach, Cannon Beach and Tolovana State Park Beach in Clatsop County. In Tillamook County, they are proposing Short Sand State Park Beach, Rockaway Beach, Twins Rocks Beach, and Neskowin State Park Beach. On the central Oregon coast, Lincoln County proposed beaches are Lincoln City's D River State Park Beach; Newport's Beverly Beach, Agate State Park Beach, and Nye Beach; and Seal Rock State Park Beach just south of Newport. The one Lane County beach proposed is Heceta Beach (in Florence). On the southern Oregon coast, beaches include Bastendorff Beach, Sunset Bay State Park Beach, Hubbard Creek Beach, Harris Beach State Park and Crissey Field State Park. A copy of the 2017 beach evaluation report is available on the OHA website. The proposed list very similar to last year's, and looks at beaches most frequently visited, where bacteria has been previously found, or which local partners and the public have requested monitoring due to potential pollution concerns. The list of the 2016 monitored beaches and sampling schedule is available on the program's website. OHA will accept public comments and suggestions on the proposed 2017 beaches through May 8. Comments can be submitted by email at [email protected] or by calling 971-673-0400. Advisories are issued when test results show bacteria levels are at or above the standard 158 cfu/100ml marine water. They are lifted when results show levels below that, which typically takes 48 hours or so. Most often these are caused by fecal bacteria getting into the water, but it is usually not known exactly what that source is in each instance. One known source for some areas are the large flocks of seagulls that occur when people feed them, and their droppings make it into outgoing streams. More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted The ostentatious businessman was arrested on a extradited warrant and will appear today at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London. New Delhi: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, was arrested by the Scotland Yard in London on Tuesday morning following India's extradition request. A few hours later, the Westminster Magistrate's Court granted Vijay Mallya bail. "Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit this morning arrested a man on an extraction warrant. Vijay Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud," Scotland Yard said soon after Mallya was held. Mallya was arrested after showing up in a police station and subsequently appeared in the Westminster Magistrate's Court for the bail hearing later. Also read: Vijay Mallya downplays arrest, trains guns on media instead India had in February requested the UK for Mallya's extradition according to the rules of the Extradition Treaty between the two countries. Mallya is accused of defaulting on bank loans worth 9,000 crores and is facing charges of money laundering. While handing over the extradition request, India had said it had a "legitimate" case against Mallya and maintained if an extradition request was honoured, it would show British "sensitivity towards our concerns". The business magnate left India for the UK last year amid attempts by banks to recover the loans on which he has defaulted. An Indian court in January had ordered Mallyas lenders to start the process of recovering the loans. Senior Indian officials described his arrest as the first step in the extradition case which would now begin a legal process in the UK to determine if Mallya could be extradited to India to face charges in courts here. India cancelled Mallyas passport, but his extradition was refused by the UK earlier because under the countrys laws, visitors could stay in the country even if their passports had expired. But in March, the British government set in motion the process of extradition by certifying India's request and sending it to a district judge for further action. Mallya, who launched Kingfisher Airlines which now owes Rs 9,000 crores to banks, has been charged with cheating and conspiracy by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which filed a 1000-page chargesheet against him. The chargesheet specially mentioned covered one specific case -- the large loan given to him by IDBI Bank. In January this year, a CBI court issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. by Fr Peter Many catechumens were baptised on Easter eve in many dioceses, but baptisms can take place on other dates. Data for underground communities are hard to collect. Five thousand priests are not enough for pastoral care in China. Believers must deepen their faith to counter the current mind-set full of superstitions and idolatry or money. Beijing (AsiaNews) Chinas Catholic communities face various barriers according to their location. Official parishes struck a certain compromise with local authorities, and try to entertain good relations with them in order to avoid something unpleasant from happening. Underground communities must conduct their services behind closed doors in many dioceses. This forces priests to divide the faithful into smaller groups and go to different places to celebrate Mass. Easter is considered the most important feast of the year and entails many activities. The main one is the baptism of catechumens. Although many undergo the ceremony on Easter Eve, others do it on Easter Sunday. In some dioceses, the catechumens are not baptised on Easter. In the diocese of Tianjin for example, baptisms are not celebrated on Easter eve because, as a result of the rapid development of local communities, there are so many catechumens that they can pick the date. In recent years, Hebei Jinde has tried to keep the statistics of the tens of thousands of catechumens and baptisms. However, these data do not provide a clear picture of the Church in China since it impossible to have updated information about underground believers. The main issue is the shortage of pastors. Although China has an estimated 5,000 official and underground priests, they are not enough to meet the spiritual needs of 12 million believers. In Hebei and Shanxi, a considerable number of priests take good care of the faithful. But in other provinces there are not enough priests so that those who serve have to celebrate Mass and the sacrament of reconciliation in many places. Since the faithful are eager to respect the Easter precept confessing once year for Easter communion priests are busy with the Sacrament of Reconciliation at least until Easter octave. Because of the shortage of priests, catechists and community leaders have an important role to play in the diocese. Together with the former, priests lead the faithful at Easter towards the renewal of their baptism and encourage them to deepen their faith to counter the current mind-set full of superstition and idolatry of money. by Card. Charles Maung Bo* The Archbishop of Yangon calls on religious leaders to transcend narrow interests and instill the hope of resurrection. He urges action to remove economic and social injustices, ensure that everyone can enjoy full citizenship, and bring to an end the conflicts in Rakhine and Kachin States. Yangon (AsiaNews) Myanmar must "roll" the stones of the division, hatred, conflict, and inequality, to give birth to a "just society, writes Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, archbishop of Yangon, in his Easter message to the faithful and the nation. in it, he calls on religious leaders Catholic, Protestant, and majority Buddhist "to rise above all narrow interest and bring the hope of resurrection." "Many of our people are buried in many problems which are like tombs. Myanmar awaits resurrection from its past and live in the shalom of Easter, inner peace, peace in the families, peace among communities." Here is Card Bos full Easter message. Happy Easter! Hope is an overflowing stream in the human hearts. After forty days of Lent a new dawn arises in our lives. Christ is risen Alleluia! Easter vigil reminded us how the light dispels inner and outer darkness in our lives. I wish you all that all darkness of sin, selfishness, conflict, poverty and human suffering may be dispelled by the great mystery of Resurrection. With St Paul we affirm today. Resurrection is the core of our faith. I wish every one of you, the joy felt by women when they met the angels in the tomb, the joy they felt they saw the stone was rolled over and they saw an empty grave. Christ suffering ended in great glory. As Fr. Timothy Radcliff OP says, The Resurrection has changed the way we see God, we see one another. It is the risen Saviour standing in front of you my dear sisters and brothers and uttering the great words he said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying (John 11: 25). With Peter we proclaim today We are saved not by gold or silver but by the blood of the Lamb. Christianity is not only about the way of the Cross. Christianity is about the mountain of hope. Easter has put us on the mountain of hope. Let us celebrate Gods Hope today. The early church had only one feast: Easter and the Christians celebrated this feast for 40 fully days. Easter is time for spiritual nourishment: Readings of Easter vigil nourishes all of us with the great spiritual nourishment: We finished forty days of lent, we will observe 40 days of resurrection till Jesus ascends into heaven. These forty days are based on the three forty days we find in the Bible. These three forty days theme should give us deep spiritual guidance in our personal life: - Exodus: The book of Exodus speaks of God delivering the Jews who were oppressed by the Egyptian Kings. Moses led them through the desert for forty years before they reached the Promised Land. In our own lives we face many deserts: deserts of sin, deserts of hatred, deserts of poverty, deserts of oppression, deserts of despair. Pope Benedict talked about inner deserts - all of us undergo the desert experience of being abandoned and long suffering. May this Easter bring hope to each one of us that it is God who told Moses that he would be with us; bless us today and be with us all through our life. - Jesus in the Desert: Christ is in the desert. He is tempted. He needed forty days for fighting the evil. The devil tries to tempt Jesus to be selfish and not to fulfil his mission. We are tempted and often we are in desert of temptation in our life: in sin, in selfishness and running after wealth and power. Resurrection tells each one of us: Christ is enough. The disciples were empowered not with gold and silver but the power of a living God. - Resurrected Jesus with the disciples: After resurrection Jesus stayed with his disciples for forty days encouraging them. During his ministry the disciples walked with him, watched his miracles, and heard his good news. But when difficulties came they ran away and found difficult to believe in his ministry. We are often in similar situations. Christ is the centre of our lives, yet when difficulties come we are faced with unbelief. Resurrection is an assurance, that living Christ never abandons us. The disciples became fearless proclaiming Good news to all. Risen Christ is hope. For those of us buried in the tomb of suffering, resurrection is an event of encouragement. Alleluia! Message of Easter to our Land What is the message of Easter to our land Myanmar? So many good things have happened last five years. Like Christ resurrection was witnessed by women, his message of hope was brought to the disciples by women, this country had come out of long years of way of the cross through the intervention of a woman. The stone what was covering the tomb was removed by moral courage of a woman. We do think from the tomb of oppression; our country has seen hope of resurrection. SHALOM The Peace of the Resurrection But the message of Resurrection has not reached all. There is war, Conflict and displacement in Kachin, Rakhine states, thousands of refugees. The resurrected Christ brought a great message: Shalom! I pray for Shalom - Christ used this to greet his disciples after resurrection. Peace be unto you. (Luke 24: 36-38) this is a great word used by Christ after resurrection. Shalom means peace, prosperity, harmony and joy. Recently I visited Rakhine and Kachin states. The chronic conflict in these areas has affected the poor. Extreme poverty is forcing our youngsters to adopt unsafe migration. Drugs and human trafficking plays great havoc. Our people are buried in the tombs of poverty. Our people are buried in the tombs of despair. Easter is the time to say roll down the stone that keeps our people dead. Bring in peace to our land, Let Shalom flow in the mountains of Valleys of Myanmar. Myanmar needs Shalom. Many thousands were crucified to poverty; many of our people are Good Friday people, knowing only suffering. Many of our people are buried in many problems which are like tombs. Myanmar awaits resurrection from its past and live in the shalom of Easter, inner peace, peace in the families, peace among communities. Roll down the stones from various tombs of Myanmar Mark in his gospel talks about the anxiety of women who were going to the tomb of Jesus. The tomb was sealed with a huge stone. To see Jesus and anoint his body the women need someone to roll down the huge stones. The women were asking among themselves: Who will roll the stone for us? But to their surprise the stone was already rolled and they found a young man. Christ has moved to Galilee, from death to life, from Despair to Victory over death. Yes. Myanmar was once crucified. Our people were called Good Friday people. Many thought there is no resurrection. But the country has moved from some tombs. But we need to roll down many stones. Who will roll down the stone for the people of Myanmar so that they can encounter Christ of peace and harmony? The Church in Myanmar works with all the people of Myanmar to roll the heavy stones and make resurrection of hope a reality. There are some more stones to be rolled down and Move towards Good News! - Roll all the stones conflicts and move to the house of Peace: This country is buried in war, conflicts and displacements. Millions are affected. Peace is possible. This year we are organizing the national peace conference. We urge the rulers of this country, the army and the armed groups, roll down the stones of conflict. Let peace be resurrected. - Roll the stones of hatred and move to the house of love: Those who preach hatred continue to poison the mind of our people. These people have brought sorrow to innocents and bad name to the country. We urge all, especially the religious leaders to roll down the stones of hatred and move to the house of love. - Roll the stones of division and move to the house of unity: We are a rainbow nation. But those who wish to destroy the diversity of the nation are the direct cause for conflict and war. We urge that this nation rolls down the stone of discrimination and treat everyone full citizen of this country. Let equality be resurrected. - Roll down stones that prevent the development of people: This country needs development, education, good health and livelihood. Wrong policies have buried our youngsters in the tomb of despair. We pray the authorities roll down all stones that prevent our youngsters full development. Let the life of our youngsters be resurrected through right to education and development. Move towards building people. - Roll down the stones of injustice and move towards Just Society: Pope Francis attacked an economy that excludes the poor. The economy does not serve the poor but he poor serve the economy, the Pope says. The economic condition of our people continues to be dismal with more than 40 percent extremely poor. The rich nation has the poorest people in Asia. In this Easter Season, we pray that this nation may roll down all unjust economic stones that do not allow the justice to the weak and the vulnerable. Myanmar resurrection is based on its ability to become a just society. The mission entrusted to religious people of Myanmar: Christ entrusted his mission to his disciples after resurrection. His work of the Kingdom was carried on by his disciples since the power of resurrection energized them. People without any power, any wealth were the first apostles who could bring about a great change in the history of the world. As we celebrate Easter, we call upon the religious leaders of this country to rise above all narrow interest and bring the hope of resurrection. We are 16 dioceses, more than 700 priests and 2000 religious. We appeal to all Buddhist religious: there are around 500,000 monks (almost equal to the number in Myanmar Army) and 70,000 Buddhist nuns. Also the protestant churches have hundreds of pastors; the other religions have their own religious leaders. Come let us join together to roll down all the mighty stones of despair from our life and bring the hope of Easter to this nation. * Archbishop of Yangon and former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar by Emiliana Saptaningsih Become Catholics in Indonesia is a challenge. Yulianus Suroso: "At first many catechumens are isolated from their families because of their choice." The happiness of the new Christians at the end of a long journey. Yohana Rista Sijabat: "Since I have been baptized are overjoyed. It's a dream come true." Palembang (AsiaNews) - The community of the parish of the Sacred Heart in Palembang, South Sumatra has 48 new Christians. On April 15, during Holy Saturday celebrations, 48 people were baptized during the morning mass. Five others were baptized during the Easter Vigil, while two catechumens have become Christians during Sunday service in the parish of St. Pius X in Tanggamus, Lampung. Adult baptisms take place regularly every year, in most of the parishes of the diocese of Lampung and Palembang. Most of them are celebrated outside of Holy Week and Easter Sunday. The catechumens consider baptism as something very significant to their lives, since they face different challenges to become Catholics in Indonesia, a country with a Muslim majority. Yohana Rista Sijabat (32) one of the newly baptized told AsiaNews: I am overwhelmed with joy when I was baptized. It is my dream, when I together with the rest of my family, I can attend the Mass and go to the Church. My husband and his family have inspired me to be in touch with the Church. Their example of living daily life and faith in God has helped me to embrace this Christianity. Yulianus Suroso, catechist in the parish of the Sacred Heart, told AsiaNews that the catechumens preparing for baptism with different activities that allow them to learn and develop familiarity with the Catholic faith. They face a path that first leads them to learn the foundations of doctrine and thus the prayers, then involve them in community life. Happiness in becoming Christians is their reward for the arduous journey. "At first many catechumens are isolated from their families because of their decision to become Christians. Despite all, time heals wounds and brings them together into a family of different denominations, "says Suroso. "I feel satisfied. Now I hope to live a better life with Jesus. I wish that the Church, through the priest and the parish community, guide my faith and I can now become a good Catholic. - says Yohana Sijabat - I cannot wait to start my new life in faith, and I hope that the Church will continue to embrace and take care of my faith. " by Giorgio Marengo* The faith of local Christians is like strands of grass [. . .] that shyly sprout from the stony soil of the Gobi Desert. One woman got a furlough from hospital to come to pray. Catechumens are the most excited, including some youth who took part in the event for the first time. Arvaikheer (AsiaNews) "Nothing outside indicated that Easter had arrived. No matter, not even the paraskevi 2,000 years ago must have been different for most people, yet it changed history! writes Fr Giorgio Marengo, a Consolata missionary in Mongolia since 2003, with respect to this years Easter Triduum in the steppes of Asia. His congregation may be small, 27 members, but their faith is strong. The faith of local Christians is as strong as strands of grass, [. . .] that shyly sprout from the stony soil of the Gobi Desert. On Holy Saturday, "we joined hands around the altar, and apologised to each other for daily disagreements can damage small communities. Tears flowed in abundance, and long sighs promised a new beginning. We can start to love each other again! Fr Marengos Easter message follows. This year the beautiful blue sky of Mongolia partly darkened on Good Friday. A cold blast blew in for a last time, as if to scold the first slender grass that shyly sprout from the rocky soil. It is as if nature joined somehow the mysterious events of the Paschal Triduum. . . Locals faith is as strong as strands of grass, tried by an often hostile environment, unaware perhaps of the new spring they found inside, coming to our ger to pray intensely and participate in Easter liturgies. Ours is a small but loyal group. There is a woman who should be in the hospital, where she was taken because of her blood problems, who asked for a furlough before going back for her next treatment. This and more was done to pray. The catechumens were the most excited, including some youths who came for the first time. Even at this time, many local children and young people meet at mission every day to play and do their homework. A few stay for the liturgy, but no one feels forced. It is a gift, the greatest, but for this reason, it must remain unconditional. On Holy Saturday came the fire, held back by the usual chilly spring wind. People went inside the ger holding a lit candle in the dark, giving way to the light of the many candles. We sang only the first part of the Exsultet, followed by a poet who continued to recite it in the Mongolian style. The great biblical narratives were born in such a context, tied to the rhythms of nomadic life and the moon. Just like in Mongolia. Nothing outside indicated that Easter had arrived. No matter, even the paraskevi 2,000 years ago must have been different for most people, yet it changed history! What matters is being with the Lord who also rose today, in the steppe that slopes towards the Gobi Desert, as well as in the chaos of the capital Ulaanbaatar. Everyone came together to enjoy the words of the liturgy after preparing them during a half-day retreat on Holy Saturday. The occurrence has become a regular, eagerly awaited event every year. It is a time to encounter God's mercy in the sacrament of reconciliation and turn it into forgiveness offered and received. In a small community (27 registered baptisms), disagreements can cause long-term damage to relations. Thus, on Holy Saturday we joined hands around the altar, and apologised to each other. Tears flowed in abundance, and long sighs promised a new beginning. We can start to love each other again! It is at this deeper level that the passage, Easter occurs. These people teach us this with their lives and their commitment. Happy Easter from Mongolia! * Consolata missionary by Vladimir Rozanskij For the Orthodox Patriarch of Moscow, reconciliation in Europe and around world has a religious dimension. Solving the Syrian conflict needs the cooperation of Irans Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Working for "the baptism of China and North Korea" is indispensable. Jehovah's Witnesses are a problem. Moscow (AsiaNews) The Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church can and must take the initiative to make the world safer and lower the level of East-West confrontation. We can all feel part of a common cultural area, which we call Europe, said the Orthodox patriarch of Moscow Kirill (Gundyayev) during a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella, a few days before Easter. The patriarch used the occasion to send a message in favour of communion among Christians and reconciliation between parties in conflict around the world. He cited his "historic meeting" in Havana with the Pope of Rome Francis, with whom he discussed action in favour of peace. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church noted that religion has been one of the factor of European division, but today it "should contribute to the reconciliation of the inhabitants of the European continent, and to the spiritual union of peoples". He cited "the close relationship between Russia and Italy over the centuries," like in the days of Tsar Ivan IIIs "Holy Russia", when Italian architects were invited to build the Kremlin and the Cathedral of the "Third Rome". Kirill also noted that today many people from Russia live in Italy, praying in more than 60 parishes affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate in major Italian cities. The eschatology of peace and mission During Holy Week, the Moscow Patriarchate held a major conference of "experts" on the subject of "Eschatology, metaphysics and futurology of recent events in Syria". This coincided with the great tensions between Russia and the United States over military action in the Syrian conflict. Representatives of major Russian nationalist and Orthodox associations and movements pointed out that the "real enemies of Orthodoxy came to the fore during the Syrian war. At the same time, the Patriarchates "experts" insisted on the need not to express a deserter eschatology, counting oneself out of conflicts, but appealed instead to a "missionary mobilisation" of religions. According to the representatives of these groups, the Russian Orthodox Church must promote more meetings between religious leaders, involving in particular Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The Shia spiritual leader could meet Patriarch Kirill to launch a spiritual war against the "great Satan" and the Antichrist at work in the Middle East. According to the Patriarchates experts, it is essential to work for the "baptism of China and North Korea," citing the recent opening of a Russian church in Beijing, personally blessed by Patriarch Kirill himself. Liquidating the sects At home, Russia is facing more and more the issue of freedom of expression of "new religious movements", considered a crucial issue for societys cohesion around certain foundational values. In April, the trial of Jehovah's Witnesses began in the Supreme Court of Russia with the goal of liquidating their assets in Russia. Russias Justice Ministry has charged the latter with engaging in extremist activities, and must be shut down. In total, some 400 communities with about 170,000 members are involved. Other groups have a stake in the fate of the Jehovah's Witnesses since they too could be charged with the same offence, namely the Seventh Day Adventists, the Scientology movement, Baptists, Protestants, Hare Krishna, Russias Molokany sect and others, whose representatives still claim not to feel under threat from the justice system. Yet, Patriarch Kirill has been at war with destructive sects" since the 1990s when he was metropolitan for external relations of the Orthodox Church. In his view, religion can promote peace only by freeing itself from sectarian extremism. by Santosh Digal The event was held in the Church of Our Lady of Charity in Raikia. In 2008 the district was the scene of the worst anti-Christian persecution in Indian history. Youth enacted passages from the Bible and Easter themes. "I have absorbed the message of love and peace, a Hindu said. Raikia (AsiaNews) More than 5,000 people, Christians and Hindus included, celebrated Easter in Raikia, Kandhamal district (Orissa), where Hindu radicals carried out Indias worst anti-Christian massacre. "For the past couple of years, we have organised celebrations involving Christians and Hindus to encourage brotherhood, solidarity and understanding, said Fr Prodosh Chandra Nayak, pastor of Our Lady of Charity Church, speaking to AsiaNews. The ceremony, which took place in an atmosphere of joy and love according to participants, began at 6.30 pm (local time) and ended around 10 pm in the presence of people from various religious denominations. Local authorities expressed their solidarity by sending Easter greetings, and parish youth staged a three-hour play based on biblical passages and Easter topics. "Jesus Christ is risen, said Fr Jeevan Nayak, assistant parish priest. Let the message of love and peace of Easter pervade everyones heart and mind so that we can build a harmonious society." Jacob Pradhan, a local government official, said that "for everyone, especially those involved in outreach, the resurrection of Christ means mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence. In view of this, I urge all our brothers and sisters, whatever their faith, to heed the message that Christ gives to our hearts and our families. This way, we shall work for peace and harmony in our district." The ceremony was well received by those present. For Shankar Nayak, a pious Hindu, "Easter events like this help local people create feelings of closeness that allow them to live peacefully. I have absorbed the message of love and peace, and found a way to live with joy in all circumstances." Celebrations took on even greater significance considering that in 2004 the parish was damaged and desecrated by Hindu nationalists. Later, in 2008, it was the centre of violence unleashed by the radicals across the district, which caused the death of 100 Christians and forced some 56, 000 from their homes. Following the anti-Christian pogrom, the local Church engaged in a reconciliation and peace process, and interfaith dialogue, making possible events like this Easter gathering. They demand better prison conditions and an end to administrative detentions. Led by Marwan Barghouti, sentenced to life for murder during the second Intifada. For Bernard Sabella "it is the sign of a lack of political perspective" and stalling of international politics. Thousands of demonstrators in the West Bank in support of prisoners. Jerusalem (AsiaNews) - More than 1000 Palestinians have begun a hunger strike in opposition to the living conditions in Israeli prisons. The demonstration is led by Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, 57, sentenced to five life sentences for murders committed during the second intifada. The date of the official start of the strike is not causal: April 17 is the "Day for Palestinian Prisoner", in which friends and relatives detained in jails are remembered. Hunger strikes are nothing new, but it is the first time to take part is such a significant number. The demonstrative action had been announced the day before yesterday, after weeks of preparation, with 700 prisoners. Barghouti was yesterday put in isolation. Israelis consider him bloodthirsty for his role in the al-Aqsa Intifada, Palestinians consider him a hero and sometimes refer to him as a potential successor to Mohammad Abbas, current president of the Palestinian National Authority. Barghouti wrote an open letter to the New York Times, motivating the strike as the "most peaceful form of available resistance" against "arbitrary mass arrests and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners." According to the Israeli authorities, the number of participants is around 1187, while Issa Qaraqe, of the Palestinian Authority leadership says the number of prisoners are 1300. The Palestinian Prisoner Club NGO has a population of 1500. The Palestinian prisoners - around 6500 (according to Palestinian sources 7 thousand) - is a major source of tension with Israel. They include 62 women and 300 minors. The Palestinians consider them political prisoners, although they are serving a sentence for a different kind of crimes: about 500 are being held in "administrative detention", a tool that allows Tel Aviv to hold suspects without charge for a period of six months. The purpose of the protest is to ask for improvements in detention conditions, including more family visits; the installation of public telephones in detention blocks; the closure of the service clinics in prisons in favor of medical care in hospitals; an end to detention without trial and isolation. As for the medical conditions, the strikers are also demanding the release of prisoners with disabilities or chronic illnesses. In addition, the Palestinian branch of the NGO Defense for Children International reported yesterday that more and more children are subjected to isolation for longer periods of time: in 2016, 25 minors were confined for an average 16 day period. Interviewed by AsiaNews, Prof. Bernard Sabella, a Catholic, representative of Fatah in Jerusalem and Executive Secretary of service to the Council the Palestinian refugees of Middle Eastern Churches, said that the hunger strike is one of the consequences of the political situation: "Without a political solution, no peace between Palestinians and Israelis, what kind of condition of life can a Palestinian prisoner have? It is a sad and painful situation." "The Palestinian prisoners are demanding better living conditions, to see their families, get medical care, better hygiene, all those who lack basic necessities," says Prof. Sabella. "It is also the political message that we have no vision for the future. It is at a standstill. The international community, and various groups in Israel have their part to play. There is the 'disengagement', the absence of the international community, when you need to intervene in favor of dialogue. " Today the Israeli minister for internal security Gilad Erdan announced to the military radio that Israel will not negotiate with the demonstrators: "They are terrorists and killers who are serving what they deserve and we have no reason to negotiate with them." In the Penitentiary Regulation, the refusal of meals is a disciplinary offense which can result in withdrawal of privileges or disciplinary measures. Abbas issued a statement supporting the strike, demanding the intervention of the international community. The strike was also supported by demonstrations in different cities of the West Bank, particularly in Ramallah, where more than 2 thousand people marched in the main streets, and gathered in the square Yasser Arafat. The protesters showed pictures of their imprisoned Barghouti and other relatives, and several demonstrators announced that they wanted to join the strike. by Kamran Chaudhry Islamic leaders want the hanging of a Christian mother as a deterrent to mass violence. They believe the behavior of students who killed and tortured one of their colleagues for alleged blasphemy is justifiable. Commission for Justice and Peace: "Universities should teach critical thinking, the virtues of tolerance, coexistence and acceptance." Lahore (AsiaNews) - Pakistani Imam are calling for Asia Bibi, a Christian mother imprisoned for seven years on death row for alleged blasphemy, to be hanged. According to some well-known Islamic preachers, the lynching of the Mardan student, killed, stripped naked and tortured for allegedly insulting the Prophet, was caused by Asia and the fact that the alleged blasphemer has not yet been punished. The Mufti Muhammad Haneef Qureshi said before the cameras: "If sinners declared blasphemous by the courts, were not granted extensions in their punishment, students would not act in this way. People have lost faith in the state, due to the carelessness of the institutions and their criminal silence. Incidents like that of Wali Khan University will continue as long as people feel insulted in their religious sentiments ". Speaking to AsiaNews Fr. Emmanuel Yousaf Mani, director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace (NCJP) of the Pakistani Bishops' Conference, condemns the imams "misrepresentation": "They should look at the reality. They should discourage people from taking the law into their own hands. The mosques should stop these provocative announcements". Just like the mufti, other imams have asked that the death sentence be carried out against Asia Bibi. According to Muslims, if the woman were hanged, her execution would act as a deterrent against mass violence. In this way the Islamic leaders justify the atrocious incident last week in the university campus of Mardan, where the 23 year old Mashal Khan was lynched to death on charges of having published comments in favor of the Ahmadi faith on Facebook. Pervez Khattak, chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said that there is no evidence that would confirm his guilt. Meanwhile, police arrested 22 people suspected of involvement in the lynching and opened a case against two imams from Swabi, the birthplace of Mashal Khan, who had tried to prevent the celebration of his funeral. Fr. Mani appreciates the position taken by another Muslim leader, Shaikh Saleh Bin Muhammad Ibrahim, the imam of the Grand Mosque in Mecca, who criticized those who deliver false accusations of blasphemy. "Islam is a religion of peace - he said - forgiveness, tolerance. The faithful need to be guided and indoctrinated in the best way possible. " In recent days, the Justice and Peace Commission also issued a press release which urges "the government of Pakistan to bring to justice those responsible for this hatred and extreme violence". By signing the document, Fr. Mani, Msgr. Joseph Arshad (Bishop of Faisalabad) and Cecil Shane Chaudhry (executive director of Ncjp), argue that "such violence and barbaric behavior is unacceptable. In the presence of the law, no one is justified in taking the law into their own hands. In addition, hateful and discriminatory material must be removed from school texts, if we want to create a peaceful and tolerant society. " "The university must develop critical thinking, acceptance of others' opinions regardless of the faith that is professed. We need to teach our students the virtues of tolerance, coexistence and acceptance. " 68 children are among the dead. At the moment there is no official confirmation of who is responsible for the massacre. Civilians targeted as they were fleeing the towns of Foah and Kefraya under government siege. The Western media alludes to involvement of Damascus. But all indications point to al Qaeda. Aleppo (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The weekend attack on a cargo convoy of Syrian refugees - including dozens of children - near Aleppo is a "war crime". This is what Rupert Colville, spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, emphasizes commenting on the attack in which at least 68 children have died in a total death toll of 126. The blast hit the area Rashideen and a group of buses carrying evacuees fleeing two Syrian cities under government siege. " We add our voice to the condemnation of the attack which likely amounts to a war crime. While at this stage unable to confirm how the attack was carried out or those responsible, footage seen by the UN Human Rights Office showed children gathering around a person giving out sweets just prior to the explosion" On April 15 last a vehicle packed with explosives hit the convoy on the outskirts of the northern metropolis of the country, an economic and commercial capital of Syria returned time since last December under the full control of Damascus. According to reports from the London based NGO Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, close to the rebels and backed by the Saudis, the death toll is 109; dozens injured. The blast destroyed the bus and burned the cars parked in the area, leaving behind the bodies of the dead. In his Easter message, even Pope Francis condemned the attack, speaking of "a despicable attack on fleeing refugees which resulted in numerous deaths and injuries." "In particular, [God] support the efforts of those who work actively to bring relief and comfort to the civilian population in Syria, the victim of a war that continues to sow horror and death." The convoy, without waiting to depart, was located in an area controlled by rebels on the outskirts of Aleppo. The explosion occurred while the refugees, a large majority of children, were gathering around a vehicle that had begun distributing food. The victims were fromFoah and Kefraya, cities under government siege and the subject of a recent agreement - brokered by Iran and Qatar - which guaranteed the green light for evacuations. So far there were no official record claims for the attack. However, some experts believe it the work of al Qaeda, as no pro-government vehicle would have had access to the area controlled by the rebels. Hence the idea of an attack - the details of which resemble past attacks by the same terror network founded by Osama bin Laden or the Ahrar Sham - is the work of militia groups, in all likelihood linked to al Qaeda, against government Refugees . Experts also point out that the so-called front of the "rebels" is not united and interests diverge depending on the group and their supporters (Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United States). This is why the attack was the work of the front that wants to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. In contrast, Western newspapers speak of the "unknown matrix" of the attack, adding that it is not in the rebels "interest" to hit refugees evacuated from their towns. The attack had raised concerns over the interruption of operations underway in the towns under siege. They were carried out on a regular basis throughout the day Sunday, April 16. March for Science on Central Oregon Coast, April 22 Published 04/17/2017 at 4:43 AM PDT By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff (Newport, Oregon) On April 22, scientists and citizens around the world will come together to march for science. This includes the Oregon shoreline, where Newport organizers will create their own version, called the the People's March for Science. It will be held in the science district of town: the district of South Beach, which houses the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, Hatfield Marine Science Center, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife, as well as the Oregon Coast Aquarium and even a branch of Portland's OMSI. One of the big aims of the event is to impart the excitement of science and hopefully inspire young people to work in the world of discovery. This year, however, carries a somber and even urgent aspect, with the current administration's disdain for numerous facets of science, doing what Neil DeGrasse Tyson described as the cherry picking of scientific areas they like and do not like: as in disregarding basic and proven concepts such as evolution or environmental science. Oregon coast organizers include familiar names from the region such as Fran Recht, Paul Engelmeyer, Michele Longo Eder, and Trina Kosydar. They have been working together on the march since the end of January, hoping to provide the community with an event that brings together scientists and citizens, to celebrate science, and to defend publicly funded and publicly communicated science as a pillar of human freedom and prosperity. The South Beach science district is a thriving and robust scientific community which organizers are looking forward to spotlighting to the public. Participants will be walking around an impressive neighborhood that is home to much revered scientific agencies, which includes sights such as magnificent research vessels. The march route will begin north of the roundabout on Marine Science Drive, in South Beach. Marchers will walk south along Marine Science Drive, turn left on 25th Street, march around the Hatfield Marine Science Center, and end with a rally on the northern lawn of the public wing. Participants are encouraged to carpool, and parking is provided at the South Beach Marina boat launch parking lot. Public restrooms can be found at the boat launch parking lot, and portable toilets will be provided on the Hatfield Marine Science Center grounds. Gathering will begin at 10:30 am, north of the roundabout, marching will begin at 11:00 am, and the rally will begin at noon, featuring Dr. Rick Spinrad. Dr. Spinrad is a celebrated scientist with over 30 years in the field, and has served as the head of NOAAs Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the head of the National Ocean Service. Peoples March for Science organizers are selling t-shirts as a fundraiser to cover costs associated with the April 22nd march and rally, including items such as a sound system, chairs, and shelter. March organizers worked with local company, Specifically Pacific, for this fundraiser. T-shirts are available for purchase at Canyon Way Restaurant and Bookstore, during business hours of Monday through Thursday from 10 am to 5 pm, and Friday from 10 am to 8 pm. Shirts are $20, and are made in America. Specifically Pacific created a unique logo just for the Newport march, by incorporating Newports iconic Yaquina Bay Bridge into the national March for Science logo, and donated the design to the march committee. The logo appears on much of the Peoples March for Science social media and other forms of publicity, including a giant banner that will be carried at the front of the march. On April 17th, volunteers will be hosting a sign making party at the Newport Public Library from 4 pm to 8 pm. Supplies will be provided, but donations are also welcome. Everybody is welcome to come and create their own sign to carry during the march. March organizers would also like to acknowledge the businesses and organizations who have supported Peoples March for Science: Port of Newport, City of Newport, MidCoast Watersheds Council, Hatfield Marine Science Center, Canyon Way Bookstore, Specifically Pacific, Canyon Way Restaurant and Bookstore, Local Oceans Seafood, and dozens of citizens. To make a donation, visit www.midcoastwatersheds.org/donate or send a check payable to Peoples March for Science, c/o to MidCoast Watersheds Council 23 N. Coast Highway, Newport Oregon 97365. Newport Hotels for this event - Where to eat - Map and Virtual Tour More About Newport Lodging..... More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining..... Coastal Spotlight LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles Back to Oregon Coast Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted Allen & Overy expects a strong year for cross-border mining mergers and acquisitions deals as robust commodity prices are projected to last the whole of 2017.In its M&A Insights Report for the first quarter of the year, the firm found that cross border deals are up 13% from US$299 billion from last years comparable quarter to US$337 billion, the highest level it has been in 10 years. Analysed by sector, the strongest performers were mining, life sciences, and the consumer sectors. Cross-border mining M&A is up a massive 142% on the year, fuelled by healthy commodity prices, continuing strong demand from China, and the curbing of over-capacity in recent years.The current outlook for dealmakers in the mining sector is one of increasing confidence, driven by the continued strengthening of commodity prices. Added to this, there is continuing demand, particularly from China, which is bolstering that confidence and looks set to continue, said Geoff Simpson, Allen & Overy global head of mining and managing partner for Perth.The huge increase in deal values for Q1 may somewhat overstate the level of recovery in the sector. However, many now expect commodity prices to continue firming this year and next and that will encourage banks and investors to get behind new projects and deals, further adding to the improving strength in the sector, he said.The report found that the US dominated the first quarter by deal value with 35% of deals connected to the country. Next was Western Europe with 28%, Greater China with 14%, Asia Pacific with 9% and Latin America with 9%.The top six sectors by value are energy and infrastructure (US$261bn); technology, media, and telecommunications (US$120bn); consumer (US$117bn); life sciences (US$86bn); and financial services (US$80bn). Free newsletter Subscribe to our FREE newsletter service and well keep you up-to-date with the latest breaking news, cutting edge opinion, and expert analysis affecting both your business and the industry as whole. Please enter your email address below and click on Sign Up for daily newsletters from Australasian Lawyer. By Andrew Dempster, Director, Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research; Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Tel The first Australian-built satellites to be launched in 15 years are set to take off this week from Cape Canaveral in Florida. Unlike the enormous satellites Australia uses for telecommunications, each of these new satellites is the size of a loaf of bread. But although small, they may provide a key step in enabling Australias entry into the global satellite market. Three types of cubesats are the Australian contribution to the international QB50 mission, in which 36 satellites from different institutions around the world will carry instruments provided by the Von Karman Institute (VKI) to examine the lower thermosphere. This is a very interesting part of the atmosphere for several reasons, such as the way it disturbs GPS measurements. The cubesats will be first delivered to the International Space Station, and then released into their orbits. The three teams that developed the Australian cubesats are: one from UNSW, one collaboration between the University of Sydney, the Australian National University and UNSW, and one collaboration between the universities of Adelaide and South Australia. Once the VKI instrument and support systems (power, communications, and so on) are installed, there is still room for the teams to install payloads of their own. The UNSW cubesat, known as UNSW-EC0, is running four experiments including a GPS receiver, and two boards testing radiation-robust software and self-healing electronics. The fourth experiment is to test the satellites chassis, built using a 3D-printed material never before flown in space. The launch is significant, not just because it is so long since Australia built satellites, but because it could be the start of something much bigger. Small is good Globally, the space industry had an estimated US$335 billion (AU$440 billion) turnover in 2015. Its expected to reach US$1 trillion (AU$1.3 trillion) by 2030. This is an innovation sector Australia cannot ignore, and small satellites especially nano-satellites or cubesats offer Australia a way in. According to a report last month by Allied Market Research, the small satellite market is expected to be worth US$7 billion (AU$9.2 billion) by 2020, with a compound annual growth rate of about 20%. Analyst Spaceworks said in February that by 2023, the requirement for launches in the 1kg to 50kg class will be 320 to 460 satellites per year, more than 70% of them for commercial purposes. Another analyst Euroconsult last year said there would be more than 3,500 small satellite launches in the next decade, worth US$22 billion (AU$29 billion) with launch earnings of US$5.3 billion (AU$7 billion). Thats a 76% increase over the previous decade. Australia in space This disruption has the potential to be more important for Australia than for any other developed nation. Australia is the largest economy in the world not to have a space agency, which I have highlighted before, and suggested ways forward. As a result, Australia has not developed a traditional space industry. Exploiting cubesats offers an opportunity for Australia to participate in this industry, despite the absence of an agency. In the same way that the success of Rocket Lab forced New Zealand to establish a space agency, Australias success with cubesats could finally see the establishment of an agency here. A gathering of space minds The launch of the QB50 cubesats has been delayed several times and is currently slated for 1am (AEST) on Wednesday April 19. So by sheer coincidence it will coincide with a gathering in Sydney of the Australian cubesat community CUBESAT 2017: Launching Cubesats for and from Australia that will showcase some of the remarkable progress Australia has made in recent years. This includes three cubesat missions that have constructed satellites QB50 mentioned above, and a further two from the Defence Science and Technology Group: Biarri (two launches of one cubesat and three cubesats) and Buccaneer (one cubesat). A large number of Australian start-ups are looking to operate in the global small satellite market. Several companies are developing launch capability, including Gilmour Space Technologies in Queensland. Other companies are developing ground segment capability to help manage operational satellites including Saber Astronautics in Sydney. Some are developing cubesat components such as Obelisk Systems in Maitland, New South Wales. Ambitiously, there are also companies looking to develop cubesat constellations, which are large numbers of satellites with orbits optimised for global coverage for a range of different applications. The Australian leader at present is Fleet from Adelaide. Government interest CUBESAT 2017 is the second workshop of its kind. When the first was run, two years ago, there was no way then to anticipate the huge leaps Australia has made in this niche area of space. Recently, the Space Industry Association of Australia released a white paper calling for a space agency. There was some encouragement for the community in the response from the federal Science Minister, Senator Arthur Sinodinos, to that call when he said: Im quite excited at the idea of us doing more in space. So there is hope we may see some developments. In terms of cubesats, it is with great excitement we look forward to where well be in the next two years, when perhaps we can say, with Australian-made assets in space, that the Australian space industry has finally been established. Andrew Dempster is Director of the Australian Centre for Space Engineering Research at UNSW. He manages one of the teams that developed the cubesats mentioned and will host the workshop mentioned. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council. Originally published in The Conversation. Hello to all, Currently, my wife's 309/100 application is in progress. Our daughter who was born 8 months ago is dependent child in her application lodged in December 2016. Actually, we married in October 2013 and relationship started in November 2012. I was an international student at that time. Therefore, spent few months overseas in November 2012 and back to Australia. After 1 year came back to home in October 2013 to marry her. Again, spent couple of months with her and back to Australia for studies. After 2 years came back to overseas in order spent couple of months in October 2015. After completing my studies in May 2016, I came back to home country. Since May 2016, I am staying with my wife overseas, apart from a short trip (i.e. October 2016 to November 2016) to validate my permanent residence obtained in July 2016. It was important to stay with her at that time as we were expecting an addition in family. Since we had an addition in family (our daughter was born in August 2016), do I still need to upload documents to prove why we lived apart? (Note: The biggest reason was study.) I am asking this because by research, it seems that it is one of the biggest reasons for refusal of 309 visa ? Thanks in advance, Henry International drive to Bhutan begins on May 12; limited to 20 entries Gang of Dusters, a community of Renault Duster owners, is organising its first international drive from Agra to Bhutan in May. The 12-day drive begins on May 12 and will cover a distance of around 2,000km while passing through the regions picturesque scenery and experiencing its culture. The road trip will flag off from Agra and pass through Siliguri, Phuentsholing, Thimphu and Paro. As part of the trip, there will be adventure activities like white water rafting, trekking and boat rides. Autocar India will cover the drive, so stay tuned for updates. Entries for the drive are limited to 20 which will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Participation for the drive is restricted to Duster owners and members of Gang of Dusters only. To participate and for more details, give a missed call on 01246154527. A Southwest Airlines pilot was arrested in Albany, New York, on Monday for trying to board his plane with a loaded handgun in one of his carry-on bags. TSA officers spotted the .380 caliber gun during a routine X-ray scan, the agency said in a news release. The gun was loaded with six bullets. The pilot said he was unaware the weapon was in the bag, a Southwest spokesperson said. He was taken into custody by the local sheriff and charged with criminal possession of a weapon. The pilots name was not released. The flight, bound for Chicago-Midway, was delayed for about four hours. Firearms, firearm parts and ammunition are not permitted in carry-on bags, but they can be transported in checked bags if they are unloaded, properly packed and declared to the airline, according to the TSA. Travelers who bring firearms to a TSA checkpoint are subject to criminal charges from law enforcement and civil penalties from the TSA of up to $12,000, the TSA said. I hope they shut down the airport and turn it into a toxic waste dump. Thatll really piss off the liberals. Overheard at my local airport diner This will come as a surprise if youve read AOPAs lobbying materials, but maybe were not such awesome neighbors. I teach at San Carlos and Palo Alto, in the heart of Silicon Valley. These airports are not significant contributors to the local economy, and they would be totally superfluous for disaster relief. Silicon Valley has plenty of childrens science museums that dont spew leaded exhaust. The non-flying community would not miss these airports if they were gone. Sorry, but its true. The flying community would miss them very much. Between their two 2500-foot runways, they move over 300,000 operations per year. If you put them together, theyd be the 30th busiest airport in the United States. Busier than Chicago-Midway or BWI. If you think combining them makes for a silly comparison, consider that the distance from Palo Alto to San Carlos is the same as the distance from one side of Denver International to the other. Lets talk noiseif you can hear me over the sound of this Cessna taking off. A 1960s-era 737-200 produced about 97 dBA on takeoff. The new, much larger 737-700 makes 80 dBA on takeoff. Remember, decibel is a logarithmic scale, so thats 100 times quieter. How does GA compare? Your 1970s Cessna 172N had a takeoff noise rating of 75 dBA. Todays Cessna 172SP produces 78 dBA. A new Cessna is about twice as loud as an old Cessna. I wonder why our neighbors dont like us. San Carlos is facing a proposed curfew on noisy aircraft, which the county supervisors have defined to mean louder than 74.5 dBA. Theyre trying to kill Surf Air, so they picked a noise threshold 0.1 dBA quieter than the quietest PC-12 variant (and please do give them a golf clap for the subtlety of that move). Unfortunately, our flying clubs are caught in the crosshairs, because nothing I fly, except the Citabria, is quieter than 74.5 dBA. The FAA does regulate light aircraft noise, but the takeoff noise limit has been 85 dBA for more than a decade. If we could get the FAA to require all piston singles aircraft certified after 2020 be quieter than 70 dBA and also get the FAA to preempt noise ordinances affecting these quiet aircraft, that would be a good trade for everyone involved. If pilots were leading the push for new regulations, wed get to set timelines and targets that are reasonable. New regulation wont be costless, but itll be better than waiting for our angry neighbors to force immediate changes or shut down our most popular airports. Best of all, by being better neighbors, more people might decide they want to be like us. Remember those liberals my fellow diner wanted to piss off? In Northern California, if you piss off all the liberals, your list of potential friends has become mighty short. There are people in my community who could afford to fly, but are turned off by the emissions of noise, carbon and lead. That sounds crazy to most pilots, but pilots are a self-selected group. Pilots fly because theyve decided theyre OK with our current emissions levels. If GA is going to survive, its going to need to accommodate both conservative and liberal value systems. You may not like it, but if we dont lead the way to the future, Im not sure there are going to be a lot of general aviation pilots around to see it. 18 April 2017 10:08 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Azerbaijans State Committee on Property Issues will hold another auction for privatization of the state property on May 16. The committee informed that the auction will feature 212 state objects, including 22 joint-stock companies, 116 small enterprises and 74 non-residential areas. The joint stock companies offered for privatization are located in Baku, Barda, Kurdamir, Salyan, Sabirabad, Lerik, Agdash, Tartar and other eight regions of the country. They cover the spheres of industry, transport, repair, poultry, food, and others. The authorized capital of these companies varies between $5,400 and $537,000. Small enterprises, in turn, cover areas of transport, catering, repair, industry, including textile and food, and other spheres. They are located in Shaki, Sabirabad, Ujar, Jalilabad, Balakan, Khizi, Mingachevir and other regions and cities of Azerbaijan. Overall, about 250 state objects have been privatized at auctions in January-March 2017. They include small enterprises, joint stock companies, vehicles, and non-residential areas. The third stage of privatization in Azerbaijan started in the framework of the presidential decree dated May 19, 2016. Under the decree, the acceleration of the state property privatization process has been defined as an important direction of the economic policy. The portal for privatization privatization.az, launched in July 2016, reflects all necessary information about the facilities, their addresses, location, and even initial cost and aims at facilitation of the process. The website is available in two languages - Azerbaijani and English. Why Azerbaijan is special section available on the website explains the reasons and advantages of investing in the country. The privatization process is designed to attract both foreign and local investors, as well as improve the business environment of Azerbaijan. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 10:27 (UTC+04:00) By Trend The World Bank (WB) and the BestComp Group have signed a contract on the delivery, installation and maintenance of IT equipment for main and reserve DATA-centers as part of the Judicial Services and Smart Infrastructure Project (JSSIP) in Azerbaijan. The Bank told Trend that the contracts cost is almost $33 million. The JSSIP project was approved in 2014. Its total cost is $200 million, $100 million of which accounts for the government share. The JSSIP project is expected to be implemented until December 31, 2018. The projects aims are to improve the access, transparency and efficiency of delivery of selected justice services. Azerbaijan joined the WB in 1992.The bank has allocated more than $1.85 billion for implementation of various projects since the beginning of its cooperation with Azerbaijan. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 13:47 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva By 2025 the volume of Azerbaijans non-oil export per capita can be increased up to $450 at least, which is more than threefold growth. The statement was made by Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev at a republican meeting of non-oil exporters held in Yevlakh on April 17. "Undoubtedly, for successful fulfillment of this task, the country's economy must have a strong and competitive non-oil sector," Mustafayev said. The minister reminded that with a view to expand the potential of non-oil industry and agriculture, including hazelnut, viticulture and winemaking, tobacco growing, cotton growing, silkworm breeding, tourism and transit potential, and to develop other sectors, legislation and business-investment environment has been improved, while various mechanisms of the state support are being implemented. Mustafayev mentioned that the Aran Regional Development Center, where the business incubator, exhibition and training halls were created, is a clear example of the support and attention provided by the Azerbaijani President to entrepreneurs. "The creation of 51 logistics centers, 23 grain storage facilities, 16 fruit and vegetable processing enterprises, 20 large farms, 23 modern cattle farms, 56 greenhouses, 16 viticulture, 23 fish and 39 poultry farms, 10 milk processing enterprises, a multiple expansion of the greenhouse areas in recent years, only through concessional loans issued by the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support, make a great contribution to increasing exports in the agricultural sector," the minister said. The launch of modern enterprises in industrial parks and zones, investments in the amount of 1.2 billion manat, which will be invested in the framework of 130 documents on investment promotion, 32 agro-industrial parks being created in 24 regions of the country, as well as 12 cattle-breeding complexes, 20 large plant-growing farms and other works to be realized in the coming years will increase the production and export potential of the non-oil sector, according to Mustafayev. Besides, to support production and expand the export potential, specific duties for two years were introduced for the import of 84 products, which have a high level of self-sufficiency and local production potential, he noted. The minister said that this is a great support for local production of goods with a high level of self- sufficiency. Thus, in the first quarter of this year, the total volume of imports fell by 17 percent, while non-oil imports by 20 percent, according to the minister. The decrease in imports for some types of goods, on which specific duties are applied, was significant. In particular, the import of cement and clinker decreased by 92 percent, tiles and ceramic tiles by 55 percent, drywall by 49 percent, hazelnuts by 58 percent, tomatoes by 49 percent, pears by 37 percent, apples by 33 percent, while the import of eggs and onions, we can say, is practically suspended, Mustafayev said. The minister said that the list of goods for which specific duties is applied, will be expanded to further increase self-sufficiency. In the first quarter of 2017, the non-oil sector of economy grew by 2.4 percent. The trade turnover increased by 15 percent, exports saw a nearly 50 percent growth and imports fell by 17 percent. The exports of agricultural products increased by 44 percent. Development of the non-oil sector is a priority area in Azerbaijan. The government efforts to stimulate non-oil exports, in particular through its Made in Azerbaijan promotion, are expected to catalyze growth in agriculture. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 13:05 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova The 5th Baku International Book Fair and Exhibition will be held on September 28-30. The book fair will bring together more than 100 local and 30 foreign publishers and other related organizations. Launched in 2009, the event is aimed at developing publishing industry in Azerbaijan, encouraging local publishers to build cooperation with their foreign counterparts, and promoting the country's culture and literature. The presentation of the books, meetings with famous writers, as well as discussion on various topics related to the publishing sector will be held as part of the project. The best publisher and the best book will be awarded on the last day of the event. The event is organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 15:40 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Every year on April 18, the world community celebrates the International Day for Monuments and Sites. Approved by the General Assembly of UNESCO in 1983, the event is aimed to promote awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage of humanity, their vulnerability and the efforts required for their protection and conservation. As UNESCO Member State since July 3, 1992, Azerbaijan contributes actively to the protection of Monuments and Cites, which have worldwide importance, and celebrates the Day. The Open Doors Day is being held today in all museums, nature reserves subordinated to Azerbaijan's Ministry of Culture and Tourism, Trend Life reported. Azerbaijani people has the right to feel proud for its history, material and cultural monuments, literature, arts and music heritage. The Icheri Sheher, Shirvanshahs Palace, Maiden Tower and other unique monuments that testify for rich culture of Azerbaijani people are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Atashgah Fire Temple and Gobustan State History and Arts Reserve, an open air museum and one of the oldest historic sites in Absheron and many others are unique samples of Azerbaijan, proving the antiquity of its civilization. Sightseeing in the countrys regions such as Palace of the Sheki Khans, Sheki Caravansarai and Juma Mosque of Ganja and Momine Khatun Mausoleum in Nakhchivan are other interesting attractions mesmerizing many tourists. Establishment of the Gala Archeological and Ethnographic Museum Complex located in one of Absherons most ancient settlements serves to preservation of the historical past and transformation of the country into a tourism center. Historical and Ethnographic Reserve Gala is located in 40 km of Baku - Sulh street, 5. Founded in 2008 in the Gala settlement, the reserve is dedicated to the history of the Absheron Peninsula. The visitors can get acquainted with the lifestyle the people enjoyed in between the 16th-19th centuries. The complex features cave paintings, gavaldash, pottery, household items, jewelry, weapons and coins, and ancient settlements dating back from the III-II millennium BC. to the Middle Ages. The Shirvanshahs Palace, located in the heart of the Old City is another place of interest which hold many mysteries and secrets. The palace was constructed in the 13th-16th centuries.The palace also has a colorful museum, which will not leave any history lover indifferent. The Maiden Tower, a historical symbol of Baku dating back to ancient times, has always been a source of national pride. It is believed that the monument was built as a Zoroastrian temple used for fire worshipping, sacrifice rituals and other religious ceremonies. In January 2014, the tower opened its doors to visitors after a major conservation work. The cultural property of the Azerbaijani people isn't limited and include many ancient places. The Armenian armed forces that occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan territories officially recognized by all the UN member states violently destroyed the national and cultural monuments there. As a result of military aggression, the Azykh and Taglar Caves, known as pioneer settlements of primitive man, and while Garakopek and Uzarliktep barrows are used in military purposes and destroyed partially. Along with burial mounds in Khojaly, Agdam, Agdere, Fizuli, Jabrail regions, cemeteries, mausoleums, gravestone monuments, mosques, temples, monuments of the Caucasian Albania and other national monuments in the occupied regions have been purposefully destroyed. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 12:41 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Blogger Alexander Lapshin, who is under arrest in Baku, was transferred to the infirmary of the detention facility, as the doctors gave him a diagnosis of tachycardia, said detainees lawyer Eduard Chernin. Currently he is being treated in the infirmary, he told Trend on April 17. Earlier, the court extended the arrest of the blogger three months. Previously, he complained to me of pain in the heart, was then taken for examination in one of the private clinics where he was diagnosed as tachycardia. Currently Lapshin feels fine, added Chernin. Lapshin, who owns citizenship of several countries, will stand trial in Baku for his illegal visits to the occupied Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. He was detained in Minsk in late 2016 and extradited to Baku in early February. The blogger is charged under the articles 281.2 (open calls against the state ) and 318.2 (illegal crossing of the state border) of the Criminal Code of Azerbaijan. Unauthorized visits to Nagorno-Karabakh and other regions of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia are considered illegal, and any individuals paying such visits are included in the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry's "black list". Azerbaijans Foreign Ministry and diplomatic missions pay special attention to the illegal activity in the occupied areas of Azerbaijan. Baku has repeatedly warned foreign officials and diplomats of illegality of visits to its territories that are occupied by Armenia, calling them contradictory to international law. The work is constantly carried out to prevent such illegal actions. -- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 15:58 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) should require a report from the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Azerbaijani MP and OSCE PA Deputy Chairman Azay Guliyev made the remark while talking to reporters in Baku on April 18. The OSCE PA adopted important documents on conflicts. But we think that specific steps and solutions should be taken in this regard. The OSCE PA should conduct an audit of the OSCE activities in this direction and require a report from the Minsk Group co-chairs, Guliyev said. The Minsk Group, the activities of which have become known as the Minsk Process, spearheads the OSCE's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. It is co-chaired by France, the Russian Federation, and the United States. Although the OSCE Minsk Group deals with the issue for over two decades, its activities have brought no breakthrough results so far. Guliyev stressed that the Minsk Group co-chairs should be asked why the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is not resolved yet, and why Azerbaijani civilians and soldiers are still dying on the line of contact. Therefore, I suggested to invite one of Minsk Group co-chairs to one of the OSCE PA sessions, and let him report, he noted. We are also planning a meeting of parliamentarians of the OSCE Minsk Group countries, where we will discuss the settlement of the conflict. Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts. Guliyev also said that Azerbaijan intends to strengthen relations with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, and Azerbaijani parliaments Speaker Ogtay Asadov has invited OSCE PA President Christine Muttonen to Azerbaijan in connection with this. We hope that the visit will take place in the near future, said the MP adding that the next meeting of the OSCE PA will be held in Copenhagen on April 23-24. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 18:43 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova The Skolkovo Foundation aims at regular fruitful cooperation with Azerbaijan and is ready to promote the development of entrepreneurial activity in the field of information technologies. Pekka Viljakainen, adviser to the President on work with start-ups, said that the Foundation's goal is to open the way and provide opportunities for young entrepreneurs-start-uppers willing to participate in the contest by providing them with the necessary support through the Fund. Viljakainen said that he hopes the cooperation of the Skolkovo Foundation with Azerbaijan will continue on a regular basis. In turn, the Head of the Department for Internal Control and Audit of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and High Technologies of Azerbaijan Tahir Mammadov added that the Skolkovo Foundation has extensive experience in this field, which it shares with its Azerbaijani counterparts. The Director General of Skolkovo Technopark Renat Batyrov said that perspective start-up projects of Azerbaijan will be able to use the resources of Skolkovo Technopark laboratories for carrying out their research. "Start-ups can get access to our grant support - up to 300 million rubles, and these funds are allocated for free, and we do not claim intellectual property," noted Batyrov. There are 14 laboratories in Technopark, the resources of which can be used for research in the field of IT, agriculture, energy-efficient technologies, technologies in the field of industrial materials, biomedicine, space technologies, etc. Then-President Dmitry Medvedev signed a law "On the Skolkovo Innovation Center" on 28 September 2010, giving rise to the projects managing entity, the not-for-profit Skolkovo Foundation. Charged with providing the catalyst for the diversification of the Russian economy, the Skolkovo Foundations overarching goal is to create a sustainable ecosystem of entrepreneurship and innovation, engendering a startup culture and encouraging venture capitalism. The Skolkovo Foundation identified five key areas of potential growth: energy efficiency, strategic computer technologies, biomedicine, nuclear technologies and space technologies. To achieve this the Foundation is overseeing the creation of the Skolkovo Innovation Center, composed of companies and startups, developing innovative technologies (currently numbering over 1,000), a Technopark, the Skolkovo Institute of Technology (Skoltech), a new graduate research University established in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Skolkovo city, located near Moscow. Together these entities will establish a vibrant ecosystem of technology innovation and entrepreneurship. Dozens of innovative projects developed by Skolkovo startups have found success in international markets, in particular, equipment for the dynamic modeling of oil and gas fields, next-generation screen displays and laser systems for soft-tissue surgery. In August 2013, the Skolkovo project was chosen for inclusion in the governments "economic development and innovation economy" program, resulting in the allocation of 3.5 billion rubles for the development of Skolkovo through 2020. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 10:11 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has hailed the development of tourism in the country. The number of tourists increased by 11 percent last year, while it rose by 25 percent in the three months of this year. It is obvious now, said President Aliyev in a closing speech at a republican conference of non-oil exporters in Azerbaijans Yevlakh District. The number of tourists is increasing dramatically both in Baku and regions of the country. And there are, of course, reasons for this. This has not happened spontaneously. The work done in recent years has led to this situation. First of all, stability, tranquility, social and political order reigning in Azerbaijan, of course, make the country more attractive to tourists. Particularly, under current circumstances when there is tension in various parts of the world, threats, conflicts, social discontent is growing, mass protests are widespread. None of these problems exists in Azerbaijan, he noted. Azerbaijan enjoys unity of the people and the government. Our policy is supported and approved by the people. And this is the key factor of stability in Azerbaijan, added President Aliyev. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 10:41 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov The Azerbaijani troops, have previously been put on alert, were sent to operational areas within the large-scale drills on April 17, Azerbaijans Defense Ministry reported. The Azerbaijani Army started the exercises on April 16 to inspect combat readiness of troops in line with the plan approved by Azerbaijans President, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev. About 30,000 servicemen are participating in the drills that will continue until April 21. Also, more than 250 tanks and armored vehicles, up to 200 missiles and artillery systems, multiple launch rocket systems and mortars, and 25 combat aircraft are involved in the drills. The Armed Forces will conduct military exercises in order to inspect combat readiness, organization of command and control of troops and means, including their interoperability in a combat simulated environment. Today, Azerbaijani Army is one of the most powerful, highly disciplined armies in the world and the leading army in the region, which is equipped with modern military machinery. Russia Today agency has recently noted that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces are the richest in the region, and the country has increased its military budget by 20 times since the early 2000s. The skills and combat readiness of the Azerbaijani army are growing year by year, as the countrys Armed Forces regularly conduct military exercises. The army building process in Azerbaijan is progressing as well, as twenty percent of the country's territory is under Armenian occupation and the country is in a state of war with Armenia. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 11:50 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva Malta supports the signing of the Strategic Partnership Agreement between the European Union and Azerbaijan, said Joseph Muscat, Prime Minister of Malta. Muscat made the remark at a meeting with Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov on April 17, adding that the country is ready to contribute to this process, the Foreign Ministry reported. Highlighting the importance of relations between Azerbaijan and the EU, Muscat applauded the EU's high-level officials assessment of the relationship as a strategic partnership. The new agreement should replace the 1996 partnership and cooperation agreement and should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today. The first meeting on a new agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan was held in Brussels on February 7, 2017. The next round of negotiations on the agreement will be held in Baku on April 25. Muscat further expressed satisfaction with the current high level of bilateral relations between Malta and Azerbaijan. He mentioned that Malta is interested in expanding cooperation with Azerbaijan and expressed his confidence that this visit will contribute to the development of relations between the two countries. Mammadyarov, in turn, said that the relations between the two countries have developed dynamically in the recent years and the high-level visits have created fertile ground for their further enhancement. In this regard, the minister stressed the positive results in the development of cooperation in economic and energy fields. Noting that the official visit to Malta coincided with this countrys EU presidency, Mammadyarov briefed the Prime Minister about the development prospects of EU-Azerbaijan relations and the negotiations on the draft of the agreement for cooperation with EU. The minister also touched upon the negotiations process on the settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict and stated the importance of expressing EU's commitment to the principles of territorial integrity, sovereignty, independence and inviolability of borders of states in a common and unambiguous manner in respect of all conflicts. The sides also discussed the development of relations in various fields and exchanged their views on transnational energy and transport projects, as well as other topics of mutual interest. Following his Malta visit, Mammadyarov will travel to Italy, where will attend the opening of a photo exhibition on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Azerbaijan-Italy diplomatic relations. He will also give a lecture on "Azerbaijan's foreign policy and relations with Italy" at the Italian Society for International Organizations. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 15:00 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Today, Azerbaijani industry concentrated mostly on manufacturing of the export-oriented goods, by developing products based on the modern scientific creativity and technological innovation. The military industry in Azerbaijan has recently gained a momentum with mass production of arms and equipment needed for the defense of the country, while the importance of the arms manufacturing sector to the overall economy also increased. Currently, Azerbaijan produces a wide range of products from ammunition, small arms and artillery pieces to unmanned aerial vehicles, and exports military products to more than 10 countries. MP Aydin Mirzazade, commenting on the potential of the arms manufacturing sector, said that Azerbaijan is able not only to cover its need in terms of military armament, but also to export military products to more countries. Mirzazade said that President Ilham Aliyev has rightfully pointed out the export potential of the Azerbaijani-made weapons at the recent meeting in Yevlakh. The head of state has clearly stated that Azerbaijan has created a new export direction, and it cannot be denied, because we are talking about the export of military equipment, he told Day.Az. Indeed, some ten years ago, it would be difficult to imagine that Azerbaijan will export weapons. This is a great achievement for an independent, developing state, especially if we take into account that some 20 percent of the countrys territory is under occupation because of the aggressive policy of Armenia. Nevertheless, today we can state that Azerbaijan is not only able to cover its demand in armaments and equipment, but also to export its own military products. Azerbaijan, which is in war with neighboring Armenia over the latter's groundless territorial claims during more than 20 years, keeps in focus the armament. The country creates its own armament and works closely with leading companies and firms in various fields of military industry. Azerbaijan currently produces more than a thousand items of military products, including those based on the latest technologies. The MP further added that Azerbaijani military products are recognized and purchased in the world, and this in turn brings profits to the state. Over the 12 years of its existence, the Defense Industry Ministry was able to accomplish many tasks the country has been facing, one of which was to bring our military products to foreign markets, the MP said. The MP stressed that Azerbaijani military products are in demand because the country is trusted partner and has something to show on the large export market of the world. I am sure that Azerbaijan will have big achievements in this sector, and in future, the Azerbaijani military products will enjoy greater popularity in the world market, Mirzazade said. Azerbaijan's Defense Industry Ministry increased the volume of defense industry products in 2016 by 1.6 times compared to 2015, while the product assortment rose by 1.8 times. Currently, twenty-eight military factories are operating within the Defense Industry Ministry. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 17:11 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev chaired a republican conference of non-oil exporters in Yevlakh's region of the country on April 17, where the main access was made on agricultural sphere. The meeting covered very important issues and revealed the results and successes of the country's economy during the past year. Addressing the event President Aliyev spoke of the most profitable products such as nuts and tomatoes that bring a lot of currency to the country. The country earned $105 million on nut and $94 million on tomato export, said the head of state. Persimmon comes third with $68 million and sugar ranks fourth with a 62-million profit, he said. Talking about cotton growing, President Aliyev said that the product brought $24 million to Azerbaijan last year and this is only the first year. Last year the country earned $350 million on these five products. By increasing production of these products twice we can get big money, he said. Regarding the almond orchards, President Aliyev said that the country starts to create almond orchards this year, offering entrepreneurs to focus on this sphere. The head of state said 2017 will be very successful for the country taking into account indicators of the first quarter of the year. The indicators of this year are truly pleasant. I have already said this, and I would like to repeat that the results of the first three months of this year inspire us very much. This once again demonstrated that the decisions we made and reforms we started in 2016 have produced wonderful results in a short period of time, President Aliyev said. The President further added that the non-oil sector of economy grew 2.4 percent in the first quarter of 2017, calling this a very good indicator. Our non-oil industry rose 2 percent, agriculture increased 3.5 percent. More than 80,000 jobs were created in three months. Our trade turnover increased 15 percent, exports saw a nearly 50 percent growth, and imports fell 17 percent. The export of agricultural products increased 44 percent, he added. President Aliyev mentioned that Azerbaijan made a profit of $1 billion in the first quarter of the year. Our foreign exchange reserves are growing. This positive dynamics allows us to say that we will achieve even greater outcomes this year, the President added. Today we can confidently say that Azerbaijan managed to have diversified its economic potential. The non-oil sector today accounts for around 65 percent of our economy, said President Aliyev. But we cannot say this about our exports. The largest part of our exports falls on oil and gas, which is obviously natural for the current period, because we are increasing our oil and gas potential. But one of the outstanding tasks for us is to ensure diversification of our exports. We need to achieve this in exports, just like we have done it with the Gross Domestic Product. The head of state highlighted results of regional development programs, saying thousands of new enterprises have been established across the country. The President said that 1.7 million jobs have been created, including 1.3 million permanent ones, in Azerbaijan. The decisions, laws and decrees I signed last year created good opportunities to diversify our economy even more. In particular, the measures taken to promote export of non-oil products yield good results, the President said. We began to apply a promotion system. I have told about this in the past years, too. Because the system of promotion has justified itself in some other countries and led to growth of export. We have studied appropriate advanced experience in the world and on this basis we applied promotion of investing and exporting systems in Azerbaijan. Both systems are successfully functioning. The entrepreneurs may even not believe that the state would render them such assistance. Sometimes they were even surprised. Now, they see if their products reach the world markets, the state returns some percent of its price to themselves. That is, this is a great initiative for stimulation. The entrepreneur gains extra profit, on one hand, and this has moral sense, on the other. Because, people have strong confidence for them, and they work confidently and involve high amount investments for the country," the President underlined. President Aliyev further stressed that development of entrepreneurship is one of the priority issues for the state. The government is providing both political and great methodological support for the development of entrepreneurship. Aran Regional Development Center for entrepreneurs in Yevlakh region was built and commissioned by the Azerbaijani government. And this is another sign of support for the development of entrepreneurship," President Aliyev said. "We are holding meetings with entrepreneurs on a regular basis several times a year. We have held hundreds of meetings with entrepreneurs over the past 13-14 years. I have personally attended the opening of a number of enterprises in the field of entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurs are well aware that a great support, as well as political support is given to their activities by the state," the President said. President Aliyev noted that low-interest loans totaling more than 2 billion manats ($1.19 billion) have been granted to entrepreneurs by the state through the National Fund on Entrepreneurship Support in recent years. The President went on to say that practical measures have been taken to promote Made in Azerbaijan brand worldwide. The brand is already gaining world fame, said the President. The head of state noted several export missions have been dispatched to foreign countries, adding that this has been of great benefit. We decided to open Azerbaijani trading houses in several countries, and we are already close to doing it. All steps taken by the state create additional opportunities for entrepreneurs. The head of state said: We need to try to completely provide ourselves with consumer products in the next 3-4 years. This will create additional opportunities for export. We should constantly increase production in order to fully meet the domestic demand and present competitive export products. President Aliyev also stressed the importance of food security, saying Azerbaijan is close to completely providing its food security. At the event, the President also hailed the development of tourism in the country. The number of tourists increased by 11 percent last year, while it rose by 25 percent in the three months of this year. It is obvious now, said President Aliyev in a closing speech. The number of tourists is increasing dramatically both in Baku and regions of the country. And there are, of course, reasons for this. This has not happened spontaneously. The work done in recent years has led to this situation. First of all, stability, tranquility, social and political order reigning in Azerbaijan, of course, make the country more attractive to tourists. Particularly, under current circumstances when there is tension in various parts of the world, threats, conflicts, social discontent is growing, mass protests are widespread. None of these problems exists in Azerbaijan, he noted. Azerbaijan enjoys unity of the people and the government. Our policy is supported and approved by the people. And this is the key factor of stability in Azerbaijan, added President Aliyev. Other speakers at the event included Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev, chairman of Wine Exporters' and Producers' Association Elchin Madatov, chairman of Hazelnut Producers and Exporters Association Ismayil Orujov, CEO of Azersun Holding Savas Uzan, Executive Director of Az-Granata LTD Rovshan Farhadov, CEO of Gok-NUR Baku LLC Farid Farhadzade, founder of D-Fruits Farming Isamaddin Damirov and Business Incubator participant Ariz Mikayilov. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 16:23 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva The European Union (EU) has implemented 70 civil society projects worth 90 million euros in Azerbaijan since 2007, said Malena Mard, the head of the EU Delegation to Azerbaijan. Mard announced about this while addressing a conference titled Conformity of Azerbaijan's legislation and practice on NGOs to European standards in Baku on April 18. Noting that these projects covered trainings of women, social workers, journalists, judges, and so on, Mard said that the EU will continue this cooperation for the further development of the civil society. We are implementing similar projects in various countries within the framework of the Eastern Partnership program. We will continue this cooperation, she said. Mard stressed that 10.5 million Euros was allocated in new funding for education and employment program in Azerbaijan. She also expressed gratitude to the Azerbaijani government for the support offered to the implementation of the EU-funded civil society projects. She added that Azerbaijan and the EU are expected to launch the next phase of negotiations on the new strategic partnership agreement next week. The ongoing talks have an expanded agenda. We are ready to discuss a number of issues within the framework of these talks. We are looking forward to the next round of talks, she said while commenting on the question of whether the visa-free regime will be discussed. The new EU-Azerbaijan agreement on strategic partnership will follow the principles endorsed in the 2015 review of the European Neighborhood Policy and offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan. The agreement envisages the compliance of Azerbaijans legislation and procedures with the EUs most important international trade norms and standards, which should lead to the improvement of Azerbaijani goods access to the EU markets. Meanwhile, preparation works are underway for the EU-Azerbaijan business forum which is to be held in Baku on June 8. The EU is aiming for participation of around 300 companies in the Azerbaijan-EU business forum, Mard said. The forum attendees will have the possibility to hear directly from businessmen about the business climate in Azerbaijan, according to the head of EU delegation. We are looking forward to seeing how we can support further reforms in Azerbaijan, she added. The forum is expected to discuss the opportunities of developing the EU-Azerbaijan business cooperation. The EU is Azerbaijan s biggest economic partner representing 44 percent of its total trade and providing the largest share of foreign direct investment to Azerbaijan. The Union has repeatedly voiced support to Azerbaijan in its reform efforts, and aims at increasing networking and contacts between companies that will increase trade and economic activity even further. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 17:55 (UTC+04:00) By Rashid Shirinov Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov and his Maltese counterpart George Vella identified priority areas for the bilateral cooperation on several sectors, including tourism, investment and transport. Mammadyarov met with George Vella within the framework of his official visit to Malta on April 18. Gladly recalling his visit to Azerbaijan and the meeting with President Ilham Aliyev, Vella shared his positive impressions on the country. The ministers expressed satisfaction on the current level of relationship and political dialogue between the countries and mentioned the importance of recently-paid mutual high level visits in development of bilateral ties. They noted that the relationship in the field of energy remains mutually beneficial and there is a wide range of areas, namely tourism, investment, transport, with full of potential for economic cooperation. Enhancement of legal-treaty base and signing of certain documents were emphasized critically important with regard to further advancing of relations, especially in the fields of economy, culture and education. The ministers noted that terrorism and unresolved conflicts remain the main threat to the international peace, stability and security. In this regard, Mammadyarov briefed his counterpart about the current status of negotiations on Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, as well as stance of Azerbaijan on this matter. The Azerbaijan-European Union relations and the contribution of Maltese Presidency to this process were also discussed at the meeting. Vella expressed support by Malta on signing of Strategic Partnership Agreement between Azerbaijan and European Union and talked about Azerbaijans importance for Europe in the fields of energy and transport. The ministers exchanged views on current projects in those fields. The Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be resolved only within the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan in accordance with the norms and principles of international law, Mammadyarov said at the meeting with Angelo Farrugia, the Speaker of the Maltese Parliament. During the meeting, the sides expressed their satisfaction with the current level of cooperation and mutual high-level visits between Azerbaijan and Malta. They stressed that such visits are very important in terms of expanding the bilateral relations. The sides also emphasized the role of parliamentary diplomacy and hailed the importance of cooperation between the legislative bodies of two countries. They commended the contributions of parliamentary friendship groups to advance these relations. Farrugia recalled his visits to Azerbaijan and shared his positive impressions about our country. Mammadyarov, in turn, informed about ongoing negotiations on the draft Strategic Partnership Agreement between Azerbaijan and the European Union. The sides also exchanged views on enhancement of cooperation within international organizations as well as other issues of mutual interest. Earlier in the day, the minister met with Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Following his Malta visit, Mammadyarov will travel to Italy. --- Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 12:32 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva Foreign ministries of Turkmenistan and Iran, during political consultations held in Ashgabat, paid attention to the Caspian Sea issues and cooperation in energy sphere, the Turkmen Foreign Ministry reported on April 17. Noting the similarity of positions on ensuring peace, security and sustainable development in the region and the world as a whole, the sides expressed their commitment to further development of regional and international cooperation. In this context, the two sides paid attention to issues of assistance for Afghanistan. The sides also focused on issues of further development of cooperation in the field of power industry, oil and gas and transportation. Turkmenistan and Iran border on the Caspian Sea and have a land border. During the years of long-term cooperation, several large-scale economic projects have been implemented. The two states built the border dam Dostluk (Friendship) and completed the North-South railway project based on the trilateral agreement signed in 2007 with the participation of Turkmenistan, Iran and Kazakhstan. Iran also purchases electricity in Turkmenistan. Iran ranks third in the foreign trade of Turkmenistan, due primarily to natural gas purchases. Turkmenistan has been exporting gas to Iran under a 1997 agreement. In turn, Turkmenistan imports raw materials, building materials, steel products and inorganic chemicals, plastic products, rubber, detergents, food and other consumer goods from Iran. The countries aim at increasing the volume of bilateral trade to $60 billion within the next 10 years. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 18:09 (UTC+04:00) By Kamila Aliyeva The creation of a transport corridor between the Persian Gulf and the Black Sea will promote greater rapprochement of people, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is on an official visit to Georgia, told journalists in Tbilisi on April 18. "Georgia, Iran, Azerbaijan and Armenia must necessarily participate in the creation of such a corridor," the Iranian minister said after meeting with his Georgian counterpart Mikhail Janelidze, Georgia Online reported. He also underlined the importance of his visit to Georgia and pointed out the cultural and historical relations between Tbilisi and Tehran. "We have strong, centuries-old ties. Iranians have long been living in Georgia, and Georgians in Iran. Today, compared to a few years earlier, the number of our students studying in Georgia has increased five-fold, and this contributes to the growth of contacts between our people," Zarif said. At the meeting with his Georgian counterpart, the prospects for expanding cooperation between the two countries in the fields of transit traffic, industrial production, simplification of banking transactions, science, and cooperation in international organizations in dealing with regional issues were discussed, according to Iranian minister. "We are looking forward to Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili's visit to Iran in the coming days, which will be a historic event," Zarif said. On April 18, Zarif had a meeting with Georgia's Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Giorgi Gakharia aimed at expansion of cooperation between the two countries. The meeting discussed various areas of cooperation, including the sphere of trade and transit, banking and financial sectors. During the talks, the importance of expanding economic cooperation between the two countries was also stressed. About 30 businessmen and representatives of Iranian enterprises accompany Zarif on the trip. Within the framework of the visit, the Georgian-Iranian business forum was held, where about 100 companies from both countries were represented. Georgia is seeking to attract more investments from Iran and has informed foreign investors about opportunities offered by the countrys business-friendly environment. During the visit, Iranian Foreign Minister is expected to meet with Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and President Giorgi Margvelashvili. The trip is taking place on the eve of the 25th anniversary of Georgia's independence, as well as the 25th anniversary of the establishment of political relations between Iran and Georgia. Trade volume between Georgia and Iran increased by 50 percent during the first two months of 2017. The number of Iranian investments increased by 90 percent in Georgia last year due to the countrys favorable business and investment environment. --- Kamila Aliyeva is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Kami_Aliyeva Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 18 April 2017 18:02 (UTC+04:00) A Turkish delegation, led by Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek, will pay a working visit to Moscow on April 18, Turkish media outlets reported. The delegation will also include Turkeys Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci. The sides are expected to mull lifting of economic restrictions imposed by Russia on the import of Turkish fruits and vegetables, restoration of a visa-free regime between the countries and other issues. Members of the Turkish delegation will meet with Russias Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich and other officials. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz Bakersfield, CA (93308) Today A steady rain. The rain will be heavy at times. High 56F. Winds W at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Overcast with showers at times. Low 47F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. There is something about judicial nominations that brings out the worst in U.S. Senators. Judging from the academic debate over the nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, it seems to bring out the worst in legal academics too.Judge Gorsuch is an avowed proponent of "originalism," the idea that the original public meaning of the Constitution's text should control the outcome in constitutional cases. To some this approach to constitutional interpretation may seem like common sense, but it is hardly a universal view. Although many judges and justices ascribe to an originalist judicial philosophy, this approach is not popular in the academy.What is notable about the academic debate over originalism is not that such a debate exists, but that so much of the debate is misinformed-misinformed about what originalism does or does not entail and why it might be endorsed. In the weeks leading up to the vote on Neil Gorsuch's nomination, numerous academics rose to attack poor caricatures of originalism, and their misinformed attacks were often repeated in the Senate.Some of the straw men offered by otherwise-notable academics were so flimsy, it was as if they had never encountered a real originalist in the flesh, let alone spent time trying to understand the point of view they were critiquing. Again, the problem was not that they were attacking originalism, so much as the critics did not even appear to comprehend the target they were shooting at.There are many possible reasons for the empty debate over originalism. One possibility is that some of these critics lack familiarity with originalism, along with other points of view that are unpopular in the academy.The existence of ideological imbalance on law school faculties has been documented in numerous studies . Analyses of law school hiring political contributions , and legal scholarship all find left-right disparities. While most law schools have a few token right-leaning professors, these scholars are often relegated to "private law" subjects (e.g., business, contracts, intellectual property), and are less prevalent in "public law" subjects (e.g., constitutional law).Indeed, most major law schools have fewer conservatives or libertarians on their faculty than can be found on the U.S. Supreme Court.As a consequence, at many law schools, students rarely encounter the forceful articulation of right-of-center views. Thus it should be no surprise that many who study in American law schools fail to understand such views. Reading a book or some court opinions can only do so much.Training lawyers requires teaching students how to understand and get inside the arguments of those with differing interests, outlooks, and orientations. It requires developing the ability to understand and articulate points of view that one does not believe. Doing this effectively requires exposure to differing points of view, and that's difficult to achieve when faculties are ideological monocultures and echo chambers.Most legal academics are well to the left of those whom law students will represent, as well as to the majority of judges before whom they will practice. This imbalance affects students. I would argue that it affects academics as well. If you are not forced to confront, thrust, and parry with an alternative worldview, chances are you will not understand it, let alone grasp its strengths and weaknesses. Instead, you are more likely to imagine a caricature-a caricature formed as much by your own in-group's biases as by the relevant characteristics of that philosophy.A lawyer need not agree with a client or a judge to be an effective advocate, but it is important to understand the perspective of the position one has to represent-as well as the perspective of the other side. The best legal advocates fully comprehend the strongest arguments for the other side and are able to present arguments that can appeal to decision-makers who may approach difficult legal questions from a perspective quite different from their own.The ideological imbalance that pervades legal academia not only fosters groupthink, it undermines the ability of law schools to train effective legal advocates.The problem is not the dominance of progressivism or modern liberalism, so much as the existence of a persistent monoculture. As Georgetown's John Hasnas notes Liberals and conservatives alike can fall prey to motivated reasoning and confirmation bias. One benefit of ideological and viewpoint diversity is that it can provide a check on such tendencies. For would-be lawyers, it facilitates a greater understanding of one's potential clients and their adversaries.The lack of ideological diversity on law school faculties is fairly clear. The causes of the ideological imbalance, however, are the subject of some dispute, likely because a range of factors are in play. As I've noted in other writings , there is almost some degree of self-selection (i.e., some conservatives and libertarians are more likely to pursue more remunerative careers than some liberals). At the same time, academic institutions tend to replicate themselves, meaning that they are institutionally unlikely to diversify themselves without concerted effort.Bias - conscious and unconscious - also plays a role. I know of law professors who would refuse to support hiring anyone who had clerked for Justice Thomas, and others that would not even consider interviewing fully qualified job candidates with overtly right-leaning entries on their resumes. And because it is always easier to sink a candidate than to get someone hired, a little bit of bias can go a long way.One way to shed additional light on the causes and consequences of ideological bias in legal academia would be to study the question, such as by analyzing data from the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Faculty Appointments Register (FAR). Analysis of such data in the past has produced interesting findings on racial disparities in law school hiring. An analysis of ideological factors in hiring might likewise be illuminating.Alas, the AALS will not allow such research to be conducted. While the AALS has allowed researchers to use FAR data to examine the role of race in law school hiring, it refuses to allow a similar inquiry into the role of ideology. It appears to have, as my colleague George Dent notes here , "no interest in viewpoint diversity."The AALS styles itself as a learned society. Its stated mission is "to uphold and advance excellence in legal education." Further, the AALS proclaims that(Emphasis added.)On what basis, then, does the AALS refuse to allow researchers access to FAR data to conduct legitimate academic research? The AALS cannot claim this data is inviolate for, as already noted, it has allowed researchers access to this data before. It is almost as if the AALS is afraid of what such research might find.Law schools, as much as any other part of the academy, rely upon a robust exchange of views to further their pedagogical mission. Insofar as law school faculties fail to reflect and represent the range of views found within the legal profession-let alone society at large-it is difficult for law schools to fulfill their pedagogical aims. If law schools (and the AALS) were truer to their mission, they would do more to understand and address the causes and consequences of ideological uniformity on law school faculties. During a March 27 talk at North Carolina State University , Georgetown University law professor Randy Barnett told the assembled faculty, students, and other members of the audience that many of his allies on the political Right were wrong.Barnett is a libertarian who has helped craft or argue several high-profile cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, including the constitutional challenge to the Affordable Care Act that reached the high court in 2012. While Obamacare wasn't struck down, Barnett's argument - that the federal constitution did not assign to Congress the power to compel Americans to purchase a product such as health insurance - actually prevailed.Most justices agreed with the plaintiffs that, as Chief Justice John Roberts put it in the majority opinion, to affirm the Obama administration's defense of the mandate to purchase federally approved health plans would constituteFamously, however, Roberts then retroactively rewrote the ACA in his ruling to transform a fine for not complying with the individual mandate into a federal tax.No one disputes that the federal government possesses the power to tax, so Roberts' legal gimmick kept Obamacare alive. Barnett, among other constitutional scholars, took comfort in the fact that the Supreme Court had recognized the validity and importance of doctrine of enumerated powers, which states that Congress can't just enact laws about anything a majority might want to tackle at a given point in time. Scholars also took comfort in another part of the decision that blocked the Obama administration's attempts to force states to expand Medicaid, another affirmation of constraints on federal power.Still, as Barnett wrote in his new book The Republican Constitution , the result of the Obamacare challenge was unsatisfying. For Roberts to bend over backward to preserve a law passed by Congress was, in many ways, the logical outcome of decades of conservative arguments in favor of unelected judges deferring to elected officials when it comes to claims about rights, responsibilities, and powers.he observed.In his book and his talk at N.C. State, Barnett traced the history of the federal constitution and its interpretation by different generations of Supreme Court justices. Sometimes, the prevailing view was that the operating principle of American government is and ought to be rule by the majority. Barnett calls this conception the "Democratic Constitution." At other times, the prevailing view was the text and architecture of the federal constitution and other founding documents were intended to limit the ability of majorities to injure or nullify the fundamental rights of minorities, a conception he calls the "Republican Constitution."For Barnett, a key phrase is that free governments are instituted with "the consent of the governed." This can't simply mean that everyone agrees to live under any policy adopted by 50 percent plus one of elected politicians. Rather, Barnett suggested that free individuals wouldn't consent to be governed in the first place if they had good reason to fear their fundamental rights would be endangered by that government.Checks and balances, the doctrine of enumerated powers, explicit protections of some individual rights, and implicit protections of other individual rights (found in the Ninth and 10th Amendments) were necessary in order for the federal government to secure such public consent. Barnett believes that one of the roles of federal judges is to enforce those provisions and limitations, even if that means actively striking down federal laws. It's not enough tohe wrote in The Republican Constitution.If judicial activism consists of crafting public policy, that's wrong. Courts aren't legislatures. But if judicial activism consists of standing up to elected lawmakers and executives when they seek to exercise power they don't really have, that's not only permissible but obligatory. Judicial restraint in the face of tyranny is no virtue. The Democrat leadership has made constant, profound and incredible pronouncements that one's supportive vote for Republicans is tantamount to surrendering Democracy forever. Understanding their sincere thinking in their extreme position: How will you still vote on this election day? Democrat; because the continuance of this Democracy from the existential threat of extreme Republicans is paramount. Republican; the process of having a choice is the democratic method within what "Democracy" exists. We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up to FREE email alerts from bathchronicle - Daily Hoteliers could soon move in to a former Bath restaurant. Planners have been given the green light to transform what was Tilleys Bistro on North Parade into a bed and breakfast. The owners of Tilley's Bistro, who took over in 2016, had applied to Bath and North East Somerset Council to convert the first and second floors to hotel accommodation, with the creation of a third floor of rooms on top. Now the vacant property has been given the thumbs up to reopen a restaurant at the basement and ground floor levels as existing, with b&b accommodation provided on the floors above. Owners Ajay Chathley and business partner Thomas Barker, who own two restaurants in South Africa, bought the bistro last summer. They originally planned to create a champagne and whiskey bar on the first floor of the building, which was once a refectory for the monks of Bath Abbey. The planning application proposed eight ensuite rooms at the Grade II-Listed building in North Parade Passage. The number of employees would rise from 12 to 14. But the plans suggest there will be no waste storage facility. The council gave its approval on April 11. Steve Stephens, the man suspected of shooting and killing a 74-year-old man Sunday in Cleveland and then posting the video to Facebook, shot and killed himself Tuesday morning following a brief pursuit in Pennsylvania, police said. Steve Stephens shot and killed himself Tuesday in Pennsylvania PA State Police said suicide happened after brief pursuit Stephens was wanted for shooting, killing 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. Pennsylvania State Police said Stephens was spotted just after 11 a.m. this morning by officers in Erie County. A traffic stop was attempted and, after a two-mile pursuit, Stephens lost control of his vehicle and spun out. Moments later, he shot and killed himself. Police suspected Stephens was in the Erie area after detecting a ping from his cell phone. Stephens had been on the run since Sunday afternoon. Cleveland Police said the 37-year-old Stephens, a job counselor for teenagers and young adults, uploaded a video to Facebook that showed him walk up to Robert Godwin Sr. at about 2 p.m. while he was collecting aluminum cans. Stevens pointed a gun at Godwin's head, said a few sentences and then pulled the trigger. The motive for the shooting wasn't entirely clear from the shaky video, in which Stephens told Godwin a woman's name and said, "She's the reason that this is about to happen to you." Godwin did not seem to recognize the woman's name. The suspect then pointed a gun at Godwin, who shielded his face with the plastic bag. The woman Stephens mentioned, Joy Lane, said in a text to CBS that "we had been in a relationship for several years. I am sorry that all of this has happened." Facebook said the video was posted after the killing but wasn't broadcast on Facebook Live as police initially indicated. The suspect did go live on the social media site at another point Sunday. More than 400 tips came in regarding Stephens' whereabouts. Steve Stephens was spotted this morning by PSP members in Erie County. After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself. PA State Police (@PAStatePolice) April 18, 2017 This is a developing story. Check back and refresh the page for the latest updates. The debate over "lunch shaming" has reached Billings Public Schools, if indirectly. How schools deal with students who don't have money to pay for their school-provided meals is having a national moment after New Mexico passed a law prohibiting schools from singling out kids whose parents can't pay for their meals at school. Across the nation, policies have ranged from requiring students to wash tables to throwing out hot lunches and offering replacement meals. One child in Alabama was stamped on the arm: "I need lunch money." School District 2 trustees voted to approve a new policy Monday, updating vague 2004 language, in order "to insure compliance with federal reporting requirements for the USDA Child Nutrition Program." The USDA, which administers the federal school food program, announced that schools will have to have such policies spelled out and communicated to local communities. Students can enroll in free or reduced lunch programs depending on their family's income regardless of local policies. School officials said the new policy is largely a language change reflecting what already happens in schools. Elementary students will get five free passes if their account is drained; then they get a "designated menu alternate." The policy gives a "cheese sandwich, veggie sticks, fruit and milk," as an example. High school students who pay full price for lunch don't get the free passes; if they don't have money, they get the alternate meal. High schoolers on a reduced price program do get the five freebies. When a student gets an alternate meal, they are charged for the price they usually pay for a meal, which gets added to their account. Students on a free meal program aren't affected by the new policy. The policy also notes that "If a student is without meal money on a consistent basis, the administration will investigate the situation more closely and take further action as needed. If financial hardship exists, parents and families are encouraged to apply for free or reduced-price lunches for their child." Trustees didn't discuss "lunch shaming," though Joe Oravecz asked how much money the district is shorted on lunch payments. District chief financial officer Mike Arnold said it's about a few thousand dollars each year, and most is collected over the summer. "For the size of the district, it's really good," he said. Emergency system Trustees signed off on a contract for an emergency radio system worth almost half-a-million dollars. The system has been a priority for Superintendent Terry Bouck, who has often noted that cellphone networks can fail during emergencies like natural disasters. The radio system would allow for seamless communication between schools and let district officials contact multiple schools at once, independent of other communication networks. The district previously explored a bid with a Colorado company that cost about a million dollars, which Trustee Greta Besch Moen called "cost prohibitive." Last year the district set aside $700,000 from its multi-district fund to pay for the system. The winning bid from Industrial Communications and Electronics, a Billings company, was also the only bid. District officials said the lack of competition was largely a product of the district crafting a very specific bid after the initial sticker shock. Bouck cited a recent car chase and standoff that led police to request that SD2 lock down all schools as an example of how the system would improve communication. "We sent out emails (to schools), but you never know: Are they looking at their email?" he said. With trustees' approval, Bouck said the system should be up and running for next year. The Pinellas State Attorney's Office dropped an elderly abuse charge against a former St. Petersburg mayoral candidate earlier this month. Police arrested Paul Congemi on that elderly abuse charge in January. Investigators said Congemi let his mother's bed sores get so bad that her tail bone was visible. When he was arrested, Congemi said his mother was only without professional care for a couple of days. He maintained that the lapse was due to his efforts to transfer care services. Congemi previously ran for mayor of St. Petersburg in 2009 and 2013. He said he still plans to run for mayor again later this year. PREVIOUS STORY: Former St. Pete mayoral candidate arrested for felony elder abuse Paul Congemi, 60, was booked on a felony elderly abuse charge in January, 2017. (St. Petersburg Police) Enter your email address to receive our updates (we never share your info, we hate spam too!) Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota announced its "Future of Health Care" Initiative aimed at addressing cost challenges in Minnesota and beyond. The payer is taking a three pillar approach to insurance: clinical innovation, care management and network and payment. Here's what you should know: 1. Clinical innovation is going to help members address their specific health needs through collaborative partnerships. BCBS partnered with Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic's Living Donor Kidney Program to leverage their resources to help improve kidney donation rates. The program is basically a kidney database, that pairs potential matches with potential donors. 2. Care management is centering care around coordination and evidence-based practices. 3. The network and payment pillar focuses on utilizing value-based care and similar efficiency-facing programs to drive down cost of care, while also creating more precise predictability models. More articles on coding, billing and collections: Pence's Indiana Medicaid expansion plan surprises left, right Administration using plan as national model Missouri healthcare advocates worry beneficiaries not aware of impending changes: 6 insights The 4 secrets to scaling your business As reimbursement practices continue to tighten, joint venture ASCs have become commonplace in the industry with physicians and hospitals partnering to reap the benefits. Physician owners and hospital partners have to ask a number of questions and make a series of complicated decisions as they seek to enter into the joint venture. From valuation to negotiations to long-term growth strategies, entering into a joint venture is a complicated but beneficial undertaking. Learn more leadership and practice management at the Becker's 15th Annual Spine, Orthopedic and Pain Management-Driven ASC Conference + The future of Spine on June 22-24 in Chicago click here to learn more and register! Becker's ASC Review conducted several interviews with top industry experts. Here are 24 things to know about joint ventures. The benefits of joint ventures 1. At Becker's 23rd Annual Meeting in 2016 panelists dove into joint ventures, touching on how to create a joint venture and several governance issues involved with the process. Robert Zasa, a managing partner with ASD Management, and Harel Deutsch, MD, of Rush, said joint ventures are good for the bottom line, and good for both hospital and physicians to expand their respective brands. 2. There are many reasons why hospitals and surgery centers decide to joint venture. A hospital partner can help the ASC negotiate better payer contracting rates in some instances and lend leverage for negotiating with other vendors. A hospital partner in some situations will also help grow ASC case volume, if the hospital is committed to the center's success. The ASC provides hospitals an efficient and cost-effective setting for low-acuity cases, opening up hospital ORs for the more complex cases. Some hospitals also use the ASC as a bargaining chip when signing new surgeon contracts, allowing surgeons to perform cases there. Management companies 3. There are several management companies like Tenet/United Surgical Partners International, ASD Management and Regent Surgical Health with programs to advise surgeons and hospitals through joint ventures, and in some cases become a third partner. Advisory companies can bring expertise from previous joint venture deals and guide each party through the process, especially if it's the hospital's first joint ventured ASC. 4. Mr. Zasa recommends the use of a third party management company to not only help develop the venture, but to act as a balancing force. He said, in a Becker's ASC Review article, "The most successful centers have third party management or experienced advisers. You have to have somebody stand in to balance the needs [of each party]." 5. Health systems look at several characteristics when looking to partner. Those include: Notability of the physician or physician group Whether the ASC is an established brand Clinic locationwhether it's in a market the hospital wants to target Extra capacity to accommodate new cases 6. Hospitals value when ASCs have underutilized space because it could allow them to migrate some of their services to the center, freeing up operating rooms for higher acuity and higher reimbursing cases. 7. ASCs can use analytics when entering into a negotiation. Having concrete analytical data concerning elements like clinical quality, patient satisfaction, workflow and cost can be an especially powerful tool to show a health system why a center would make a good partner. 8. During negotiations, hospitals and physician owners must make decisions around division of equity, control over ASC operations and the types of cases performed at the center. 9. Physicians should research the likeability of a hospital in a partnership, and understand elements of the hospital's physician and payer strategies, Michael Stroup, senior vice president of acquisitions at United Surgical Partners International, said in a Becker's ASC Review article. He said, "If these strategies don't align with the ASC's overall philosophy, there could be complications down the line." 10. Tom Mallon, co-founder and chairman of the board of Westchester, Ill.-based Regent Surgical Health, a developer, manager and owner of 24 ambulatory surgery centers, echoed Mr. Stroup aforementioned point, saying both the hospital and the physician group need to put the joint venture first. Both physicians and hospital partners have to put their own interests to the side and value the health of the center to ensure success. 11. Mr. Zasa stressed trust when entering into a joint venture. When both sides of the joint venture go into the partnership and give it their all, planning the center around a concrete understanding of each other's expectation the center has a better chance to survive. Governing board 12. When beginning to negotiate board structure an experienced legal counsel should be on hand to advise both parties on the ASC's governance requirements. 13. The board often includes physician partners, hospital administrators and a member from the center's management company. The exact make-up of the board varies from center to center; a majority owner may request the majority representation on the board. In other cases, an equal number of representatives from the hospital and ASC will sit on the board and the management company member will cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie. 14. There are regulations governing the board structure when an ASC partners with a not-for-profit hospital or health system. Be sure to follow state and federal regulations to remain compliant. 15. The ASC and hospitals should each have their own attorneys and/or legal counsel to represent their best interest. 16. Serving on the ASC board is a huge commitment. With millions of dollars hinging on board decisions, board members have to be dedicated to executing with precision. 17. When it comes time for the actual board meetings, these ideas from a Becker's ASC Review story help ensure ASC board meetings are productive. Communicate the agenda and prior minutes in advance. The board should send out the agenda and prior meeting minutes at least one to three days before the meeting, so the current board can review what was previously discussed. Hospital partners expect advanced notice of agenda items to properly prepare for their ensuring discussion. The article also suggests meetings should be on the same day and at the same time to allow for consistent planning. The board should send out the agenda and prior meeting minutes at least one to three days before the meeting, so the current board can review what was previously discussed. Hospital partners expect advanced notice of agenda items to properly prepare for their ensuring discussion. The article also suggests meetings should be on the same day and at the same time to allow for consistent planning. Focus on data. Information at board meetings should be concise and data driven with plenty of benchmarks referencing past performance. ASC partners should liberally use infographics to ensure poignant information is conveyed. Information at board meetings should be concise and data driven with plenty of benchmarks referencing past performance. ASC partners should liberally use infographics to ensure poignant information is conveyed. Share data with physicians as new briefs. When including physicians in any sort of data driven decision, include only the most relevant data. When administrators include synthesized reports, it shows that the center is actively including the physician and seeking input of the center's day-to-day employees. Avoid meetings within meetings. Relevant committees should meet before the board meeting, and not at the board meeting. The board meeting should be used to finalize any measures discussed at a committee meeting, and nothing else. With a limited amount of time in a board meeting, its quintessential the meeting stays on topic and progresses accordingly. Valuations 18. Ensuring a physician-owned practice gets top dollar can be a complex situation. Mr. Janiga suggests three methods ASCs can employ when valuing their center: the income approach, the market approach and the asset approach. An income approach has both a single-period and multi-period model. A single model could be used to value a center that has relatively stable operations, while a multi-period is used to value a center in the midst of a substantial period of growth. A market approach values an ASC using comparable transactions and publicly traded company valuation methods. An asset approach bases the valuation on book value of assets and liabilities to fair market value. The asset approach is commonly used when valuing de novo surgery centers. 19. Many things can jeopardize a physician-owned surgery center, Mr. Janiga said. Common pitfalls that afflict physician owners include: Failing to normalize revenue Not accounting for appropriate expenses such as management fees Employing the wrong valuation approaches Failing to appropriately assess risk Forgetting to account for secondary discounts such as lack of control Not adjusting for a stock versus an asset deal 20. Surgeons can strengthen the ASC after established by arriving on time for cases, not excessively wasting supplies, respecting all center staff and thoughtfully serving on the center's governing board. When physician owners actively participate in a joint venture, it's noticed by hospital and other physician partners, creating a shared standard of accountability. With a shared interest in making centers as profitable as possible, that accountability goes a long way to accomplishing that goal and ensuring long term success. Going 'all-in' with ASC joint ventures 21. While hospital executives and ASC physicians have historically been adversarial with each other, joint ventures and other collaborative models of care are breaking the walls down. Specifically, hospital executives are willing to allow employed physicians to own interest in a joint venture ASC, and markets that were traditionally resistant to ASCs are becoming hotbeds of ASC activity, according to a Becker's ASC Review E-Book. 22. Hospitals have a goal to get the best possible care for the lowest possible cost, and ASCs are how they can do that. That reimbursement driven decision drastically increased demand for ASCs which resulted in the latest spurt of joint ventures. 23. Physicians also prefer joint ventures to ASCs for several reasons. One of the biggest is efficiency. With the smaller nature of the center, physicians can see more cases in a reduced amount of time, and have more time to see their patients at the clinic. With a general healthier patient base, ASCs also have reduced infection rates. 24. Hospitals aren't stopping at ASCs either. Some systems have developed ambulatory care campuses with ASCs, imaging centers, physical therapy services and other outpatient centers situated in a central location. The hospitals either develop their own centers, or partner with independent groups in the community ensuring continued success for all entities. Here are five updates on ASC companies from the past week. Hospital Corporation of America expects its net income to hit $659 million for the first quarter of 2017, down from $694 million in Q1 2016. Royal Bank of Canada reduced Medical Facilities Corp.'s rating from a "sector outperform" to a "sector perform" rating. The firm has a $19 price target on MFC shares. The Federation of American Hospitals honored two Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corp. executives in March. Tenet Healthcare's Vice Chairman Keith Pitts earned the Mike Bromberg Lifetime Achievement Award for his 40-year tenure in the healthcare industry. The Federation of American Hospitals recognized Marsha Powers, CEO of Tenet Healthcare's eastern region-coastal division, with the Corris Boyd Leadership Award. Envision Healthcare Corp. had adjusted net earnings of $266.7 million for the fiscal year 2016. Nobilis Health closed its acquisition of Hamilton Vein Center in Sugar Land, Texas, in March. The company acquired Hamilton Vein Center for around $13.3 million, including $8.3 million in cash and $5 million in the form of convertible note. If you have a question, issue or note to suggest on an ASC management and development company please contact Mary Rechtoris at mrechtoris@beckershealthcare.com. The Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee recently completed its two-day public meeting to deliberate and vote on three proposals for physician-focused payment models. The full Committee voted to make the following recommendations to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services: Project Sonar submitted by the Illinois Gastroenterology Group and SonarMD, LLC: recommend for limited-scale testing The COPD and Asthma Monitoring Project submitted by Pulmonary Medicine, Infectious Disease and Critical Care Consultants Medical Group Inc.: do not recommend The ACS-Brandeis Advanced APM submitted by the American College of Surgeons: recommend for limited scale testing Lawrence Kosinski, MD, MBA, IGG managing partner, and President of SonarMD developed Project Sonar as an Intensive Medical Home model for patients with inflammatory bowel disease: Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Project Sonar started in IGG in 2014 and has now expanded to five additional practices in the state. In a support letter to PTAC back in January, Lawrence Kim, MD, chair of health policy for the Digestive Health Physicians Association, wrote that In short, Project Sonar is a powerful tool in improving our patients quality of life and decreasing costs by reducing potentially avoidable complications, emergency department visits, and inpatient admissions. The support letter also states, DHPA believes that Project Sonar will have benefits that extend beyond the immediate value it will provide for the care and management of patients with Crohns disease. To date, the opportunities for gastroenterologists and other physician specialists to participate in APMs have been extremely limited. Adoption of the Project Sonar Advanced APM will allow specialists to participate in value-based care outside of an ACO/MSSP/CRC+ model and to do so in connection with chronic diseases and conditions that are not triggered by a surgical procedure on an inpatient or outpatient basis. The next step is for PTAC to draft its report to the secretary transmitting its recommendations and rationales for those recommendations. The secretary will post his response to PTACs recommendations on the CMS website. Project Sonar is best summarized as a patient hovering system, Dr. Kosinski said. It utilizes secure online patient portals and smartphones to allow and encourage patients to communicate with physicians beyond face-to-face visits. Physicians can assess a patient's condition on a continuous basis and uncover larger trends based on the data. Project Sonar allows clinicians to identify issues before they become complications that drive patients to the emergency room and result in hospitalizations. Illinois Gastroenterology Group reported their initial cost per patient with Crohn's disease was $11,000 in 2011, with the overall hospitalization rate at 17 percent. Although half of the expenditures incurred were for the inpatient care and one-third for physician services, only 3.5 percent of the total spend was for gastroenterologist care. During the first year of their initiative, there was a net cost decrease of 9.87 percent and a 57.14 percent decrease in inpatient costs. https://www.beckersasc.com/gastroenterology-and-endoscopy/project-sonar-takes-the-next-step-toward-becoming-an-advanced-payment-model-now-open-for-comment.html Due to Project Sonar's initial success, IGG became the first specialty group to enter into an agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois to create an intensive medical home. In a statement to PTAC, Dr. Kosinski said patients actively participating in Project Sonar saved $6,000 annually through its agreement with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. Before Project Sonar, the payer charged on average $24,000 annually per procedure. Minnesota- and New Jersey-based practices created similar intensive medical home agreements with their Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates. Today, around 20 practices involving more than 600 physicians have adapted the Sonar platform. Dr. Kosinski said the active participation numbers reflect "the hunger among most physicians to be part of the value-based transition." PTAC did not immediately comment to Becker's ASC Review at the time of publication. This story will be updated if PTAC comments. More articles on gastroenterology: Patient, provider communication poor on how ulcerative colitis impacts quality of life The top 45 'A' rated Angie's List gastroenterology practices across the US Takeda expands gastroenterology efforts: Announces collaboration with NuBiyota The increase in prevalence of high-deductible health plans under the ACA has led to more unpaid hospital bills among the insured population. To combat mounting bad debt, many hospitals have begun experimenting with pre-payment strategies, many of which require patient payment before scheduled care, according to Reuters. In 2015 U.S. hospitals faced nearly $36 billion in uncompensated care, with much of that coming from unpaid patient bills. Hospitals are addressing this in a variety of ways. Henry County Health Center in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, sends patients cost estimates along with pre-surgery medical advice and information. "Most patients are appreciative that we're telling them up front," said David Muhs, CFO of HCHC, according to the report. The hospital even provides a discount to patients for early payment. While the cost estimates help prevent surprisingly high medical bills after medical procedures, they also lead some patients to skip or delay care. Others elect to use no interest loans available through the hospital, Mr. Muhs told Reuters. After Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health began offering no-interest loans its patient default rate dropped from 32 percent to 12 percent, according to the report. The trend of pre-payment strategies is expected to continue this year amid increasing bad debt, according to the report. According to government data cited by Reuters, the average deductible in 2017 for the least expensive of ACA marketplace plans is $6,000 for an individual, up 18 percent from 2014. A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that 45 percent of Americans would have difficulty paying an unplanned $500 medical bill. While many physicians report frustration with EHRs, Michael Pfeffer, MD, took an interest in the technology a decision that led him down a new career path. After earning his medical degree at Cornell University's Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, Dr. Pfeffer enrolled in the internal medicine residency program at UC Los Angeles' David Geffen School of Medicine. After his graduation from the residency program and chief residency year, UCLA Health leadership decided to move forward with a new EHR system. "I became involved in the project, and really loved it," Dr. Pfeffer says. "I always loved computers, processes and complex projects and design, and with this project, I got to spend more of my time involved in informatics." With this experience under his belt, Dr. Pfeffer went on to become chief medical informatics officer at UCLA Health in 2013 and was appointed to CIO one year later. Today, Dr. Pfeffer continues in his position as CIO at UCLA Health, where he also practices as an internal medicine physician. Dr. Pfeffer spoke with Becker's Hospital Review about his background as a physician, his goals for UCLA Health and why the health system decided to begin the adoption of OpenNotes. Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Question: How does your background in informatics and internal medicine inform your work as CIO? Dr. Michael Pfeffer: I still see patients, so I'm using all of the technology we put in place for our providers. I have the opportunity to see first-hand what kind of products we're delivering, how they can be better and how our clinicians view them. I also get to discuss with patients the use of our electronic patient portal. Working as a physician really gives me an understanding of the business, how we're using technology and what new technologies and efficiencies we should be looking toward in the future to increase the value IT provides. Q: How has the IT landscape changed for hospitals since you began working in healthcare? MP: I think IT has become very front-and-center. We use it every day, all the time, by all walks of life in healthcare including the patients. When I was in medical school and when I was a resident, we used paper. We used some electronic portals for documentation, but they were very primitive and we really had minimal, if any, patient engagement with technology. Now, we have significant interaction with the patient through technology and the electronic health record really permeates the entire clinical enterprise. It's really a fundamental piece of how we do business. Q: I saw UCLA Health is piloting an OpenNotes project, in which providers share medical notes with their patients. How has UCLA Health rolled out this initiative? MP: We have a limited adoption of OpenNotes at some of our ambulatory clinics right now. We really wanted this project to be collaborative and not just implemented without hearing from our clinical faculty. We really wanted to take a slower approach that looked at how we benefit both our patients and physicians in this space, by giving our physicians a say in how OpenNotes gets rolled out, as well as taking the time to get some initial pilot data from the project. What we've learned from our initial pilot with OpenNotes is that the patients really liked it and it had minimal impact on our physicians' workflow. Not zero, but definitely nothing that would be significant from a day-to-day standpoint. Overall, I think it's a great thing, and I think it's worth pursuing. I think it's going to be the standard of how we communicate with patients in the near future. Q: What advice would you give to other healthcare CIOs looking to adopt OpenNotes? MP: It's pretty easy to do from a technical standpoint, although it can be a little tricky when you have trainees documenting notes. You want to make sure all documentation is approved by the attending, before releasing it to the patient. But it's really more of a change management issue than a technical issue, in terms of how you're going to roll it out and how you're going to support patients and faculty during the process. You need to partner with some key clinical leaders as well as your clinical informaticists in order to drive the change necessary to move the project forward. We now have extensive clinical information released to our patients, such as lab, radiology and pathology results, which was a big change. Initially, the thought of releasing these clinical results via the patient portal was a little scary because it was new. But our patients really love it and now our providers really love it, so it's turned out to be a win-win. Q: Looking toward the next year, what are some of your goals for UCLA Health? MP: I think it's all about the value proposition. How we can provide increasing value with health IT while also reducing its cost. This is really a major focus next year, for me. I'm also looking at our IT culture and how I can continue to create an environment that attracts the best and brightest in IT. Creating an environment where the people who work in health IT can thrive and innovate is going to be critical to our success as an organization. We're also continuing to focus on optimizing our electronic health record. We're constantly talking to our providers and trying to figure out how to make things more efficient for them. We really want the experience of working with the electronic health record to be an enjoyable process and one that doesn't interfere with the physician-patient interaction. Q: For you, as a CIO, what are some health IT trends you want to learn more about? MP: I think there's a lot of focus on big data and I'd love to learn more around algorithmic medicine and machine learning. I think blockchain is very interesting what are going to be the use cases for blockchain in healthcare? I'm also very interested in the Internet of Things and how that is going to continue to integrate within health IT. It's more than just 'How can we take a device and integrate it into the electronic health record?' but also 'Where are the improved outcomes going to come from?'. How do we objectively determine the best devices in the Internet of Things and the operational processes to support them that will ultimately improve our patient outcomes? The nursing profession has consistently ranked No. 1 in Gallup's annual poll of Honesty and Ethical Standards in Professions for the past 15 years which makes the rampant bullying and hazing that persists among nurses that much more surprising. Judith Meissner, RN, MSN coined the phrase "nurses eat their young" in a 1986 article to describe the hostility young nurses face at the hands of their more experienced coworkers. In a follow-up article published 13 years later, Ms. Meissner said "students, new graduates and even experienced 'new hires'" still suffered intense bullying. According to a 2017 blog post by Pittsburgh-based Select International Healthcare, roughly 85 percent of nurses have been abused by a fellow nurse and approximately one in three nurses have considered quitting the profession due to bullying. Here are eight things to know about nurse bullying. 1. Forty-five percent of nurses have been verbally harassed or bullied by other nurses, according to a 2017 survey by employment agency RNnetwork. Forty-one percent of those surveyed said they have been verbally harassed or bullied by managers or administrators. Some nurses (38 percent) even reported having been verbally harassed or bullied by physicians. More than half of the nurses who reported work harassment indicated they were considering leaving the profession all together. 2. While some forms of bullying nurses experience are overt, like verbal harassment, threats or physical violence, other forms are more subtle. Researchers refer to this subtle harassment as "incivility," a form of bullying commonly brought upon young nurses by their more experienced counterparts. Renee Thompson, DNP, RN, said incivility can take on many forms, including sabotage, withholding information, excluding others, unfair assignments or downplaying accomplishments. 3. For some nurses, incivility can wreak havoc not only on their self-esteem, but on the health and well-being of their patients. In an interview for Marie Claire, 27-year-old Christi who declined to provide her last name to the publication said about four months into her job as an intensive care unit nurse at a North Carolina hospital, a group of nurses refused to help her care for a patient who had suddenly lost consciousness. A week after stabilizing the patient on her own, a friend told Christi not to go into her locker and to call a manager. Christi said she opened her locker and, after lifting her clothes with a tongue depressor, discovered a bloody syringe. "My first thought was, 'This could be attempted murder' because I didn't know what was on the needle that I would have contracted if it stuck me," she told the publication. 4. Nurses who have historically faced bullying or harassment in the workplace often do not report their concerns. If they do report the bullying, managers may do little to remedy the situation. During a September 2016 discussion hosted by the Association of periOperative Registered Nurses and streamed live on Facebook, Linda Groah, MSN, RN, CEO of AORN, cited a survey in which only 38 percent of managers said they attempted to address complaints of bullying brought to their attention. Christi told Marie Claire she asked management to investigate the situation involving her locker. She said management refused, stating they "[couldn't] fire 14 people for one nurse," according to the report. Christi said she decided to leave the health facility after management did not allow her to change shifts or transfer departments, according to the report. 5. Some researchers speculate that because nursing is generally a female-dominated profession, competition plays a role in pitting nurses against one another. "Theories suggest that age-old female 'competition' [in the medical field] has shifted from competing over a man to competing over status, respect and position in the nursing environment," said Dr. Thompson. "The same behaviors once witnessed between two women fighting over a man are the ones witnessed today in the behavior of bullies." 6. Given the apparent pervasiveness of the issue, how do hospitals and administrators begin to combat incivility and bullying? Nurses should, first and foremost, document any type of harassment inflicted upon them, Dr. Thompson said. "If you are being bullied, start a documentation trail. Keep a small notebook with you and write down dates, times, witnesses, verbatim comments and any behaviors you believe undermine a culture of safety and a professional work environment," she said. "Keep growing this documentation trail until you are at the point where you can file a formal complaint." 7. Nurse managers also play a vital role in recognizing and preventing bullying. According to some experts, it's up to the nurse manager to "[share] information about incivility and its harmful effects and [to] take the lead in establishing civility charters, co-creating norms of desired behavior, implementing policies and rewarding civility" because their actions "set the tone for the types of professional interactions that are expected in the workplace." 8. Additionally, hospital executives and nurse leaders can implement protocols outlined under the acronym L.I.S.T.E.N to address nurse bullying. Those protocols include beginning to investigate the situation as soon as a complaint is issued and to never share their own opinion on the issue with any of the participants to remain unbiased. More articles on human capital and risk: 3 Detroit health systems partner on initiative to hire city residents Do you need to worry about OFCCP audits and fines? Hospitals and unions: 9 recent conflicts, agreements Court documents unsealed Monday shed new light on Prince's opioid addiction, suggesting the pop star hid painkillers in over-the-counter vitamin and aspirin bottles, reports The New York Times. Prince Rogers Nelson, the musician commonly known as Prince, died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl in April 2016. Here are four things to know. 1. Court documents show authorities found "a sizable amount" of narcotic painkillers in Prince's Minnesota home and recording compound, none of which he had prescriptions for, according to the report. 2. Some of the painkillers were hidden in over-the-counter vitamin and aspirin bottles. At least one opioid prescription was issued with the name of one of Prince's friends and employees, Kirk Johnson, NYT reports. 3. The unsealed documents included a search warrant in which Michael Todd Schulenberg, MD, said he wrote an Oxycodone prescription for Prince under Mr. Johnson's name for the sake of privacy, according to CNN. However, Dr. Schulenberg's attorney put out a statement Monday, saying his client denied prescribing opioids to Prince or "any other person with the intent that they would be given to Prince," according to the report. 4. Authorities have yet to determine exactly where Prince got the fentanyl, a drug the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration deems roughly 80 times more potent than morphine, NYT reports. Authorities have not charged anyone in Prince's death, either. For more on this story, click here. A coalition accused Sacramento-based UC Davis Medical Center of preventing California Medicaid patients from receiving on-site primary care services since 2015, while allowing Medi-Cal patients to receive emergency room and specialty care services, according to KCRA-3 News. The Health Equity Action Team, the coalition accusing UC Davis of rejecting primary care services to patients covered by Medi-Cal, reportedly first spoke with hospital officials about the issue in February 2016. UC Davis officials have allegedly not responded to the group since their initial meeting, according to the report. Nearly 442,000 residents of Sacramento County are enrolled in Medi-Cal. The three other major hospitals in the area Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, San Francisco-based Dignity Health and Sacramento-based Sutter Health all offer primary care services to Medi-Cal patients, according to the report. In an emailed statement to Becker's Hospital Review, UC Davis Medical Center said the medical center "provide[s] its fair share of care for Medi-Cal patients," and that Medi-Cal patients made up about 37 percent of admissions, or the "single largest group of hospitalized patients at UC Davis last year." The medical center also told Becker's the facility maintains "four managed Medi-Cal contracts, and will accept letters of agreement with all of the other health plans. In Sacramento County alone, that totals more than 400,000 Medi-Cal enrollees. Where those Medi-Cal enrollees go for care whether it's primary or specialty care depends on where the health plan, not UC Davis, decides to direct their enrollees." The statement also affirmed UC Davis Medical Center's "public service mission to [deliver] care to uninsured, underserved and indigent populations." "Certainly, I understand as a physician who was at UC Davis, who still sees patients at a community health center, [that] there are challenges [to] taking care of Medi-Cal patients," state Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, told KCRA-3 News. "We understand there might be some issues that the university has. [But] who gets left behind? All the people who live in communities like this one[,] who can see UC Davis down the street, yet they can't get the care at that institution." Dublin, Ireland-based Medtronic sold various monitoring and recovery products to Dublin, Ohio-based Cardinal Health to promote better company portfolio management, according to the Star Tribune. Here are six things to know: 1. The transaction will close in the second quarter of fiscal year 2018. 2. The entities Medtronic is selling generated roughly $2.4 billion in revenue over Medtronic's last four quarters. 3. Medtronic has sought to divest lower-tech medical technology products acquired in its January 2015 merger with Dublin, Ireland-based Covidien over the last few months. 4. The transaction includes 17 manufacturing facilities and analysts expect it to net Medtronic $6.1 billion before taxes. 5. Divested product lines include dental/animal health, chart paper, wound care, incontinence, electrodes and more. 6. Medtronic reportedly plans to use $1 billion of the transaction's proceeds to repurchase shares in FY 2018 and reduce its debt. Medtronic CEO Omar Ishrak said to the Star Tribune, "These products while truly meaningful to patients in need are best suited under ownership that can provide the investment and focus that these businesses require At the same time, we can put these proceeds to work, investing over the long-term in higher returning internal and external opportunities." More articles on devices: 4WEB Medical reports record Q1 2017 revenue growth 4 points 3D prints used in orthopedic study 5 takeaways Zimmer Biomet, Medtronic, Stryker & more: 18 device company key notes Oklahoma City-based St. Anthony Hospital and Lawton, Okla.-based Southwestern Medical Center joined forces, according to NEWSOK. Here are six notes: 1. The two organizations have entered a formal affiliation agreement. 2. The affiliation will boost Southwestern patients' access to cardiology and neurosurgery services. 3. St. Anthony's parent organization, SSM Health Care Oklahoma, encompasses the Bone and Joint Hospital at St. Anthony, Oklahoma City-based St. Anthony South and St. Anthony Shawnee (Okla.) Hospital. 4. SSM Health Care Oklahoma also includes two St. Anthony Healthplex campuses, 17 affiliated hospitals and the St. Anthony Physicians Group. 5. An affiliate of RCCH HealthCare Partners, Southwestern Medical Center houses 199 beds, a 59-bed medical/surgical unit and an eight-bed intensive care unit. 6. The full-service acute care hospital employs more than 150 people and encompasses a 24-hour emergency department. To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below Department store chain House Of Fraser has chalked up a rise in full-year profits, but warned trading remains volatile. The firm, which is owned by Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group, said pre-tax profits grew from 1.3 million to 3.4 million in the year to January 28. Online delivered a 16.1% increase in sales and now accounts for over a fifth of the group's total. Overall revenues were flat at 1.3 billion, while like-for-like sales edged up 0.9% in the period. However, the group warned the "volatility" it saw last year has continued into 2017. "The volatility experienced throughout fiscal year 2017 has continued into the current financial year. "Whilst trading remained subdued in February, as witnessed across the retail sector, the Group saw significant improvement in March," the group said. House Of Fraser also said five under-performing brands will be "discontinued" this year, with the focus moving to the most popular ones. Colin Elliot, House Of Fraser's finance chief, also flagged "continued challenging trading conditions across the retail sector". But he added: "To deliver such a strong set of results for the year is a testimony to the resilience of our business model, and credit to the expertise and dedication of the new senior management team." The chain was rocked last year by the departure of chief executive Nigel Oddy, who quit his role less than two years in. House Of Fraser recently opened its first standalone shop in China under a plan to build its brand in the Asian powerhouse. It is setting up shop in Sanpower Plaza in the commercial zone of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province. The FCA has set out its priorities for post-Brexit trading Britain's financial watchdog will make the case for cross-border market access and keeping the City open to talent in a post-Brexit world. As part of its new business plan, unveiled on Tuesday, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) laid out its priorities for the coming year, with minimising disruption from Britain's EU exit among its top priorities. FCA chief Andrew Bailey said: "The UK's decision to leave the European Union creates uncertainty for both the UK's financial industry and the FCA. "Both we and the Government are keen to ensure that the financial services industry remains resilient and well placed to meet users' needs and thus make the most of opportunities in a post-Brexit world. "Leaving the EU inevitably creates a higher risk of disruption to our business plan priorities. "So it is particularly important that we retain the flexibility to respond swiftly should we need to review them further." Five principles will guide the FCA's advice to Government relating to Brexit. These include cross-border market access, the opportunity to recruit and maintain a skilled workforce, cooperation between regulatory authorities and influence over standards. The FCA also plans to put "consumer vulnerability and access to financial services" at the heart of its mission. It pointed to a 2019 deadline for compensation payouts linked to the PPI scandal, which has so far resulted in over 24.5 billion being paid to customers. The body said it will launch a communication campaign to raise awareness and understanding of the PPI complaints deadline. A wide selection of breads and pastries on show at Ursa Minor Alderman Maura Hickey Mayor of Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council and Graham Thompson, chief executive of Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust on one of the food tours A north coast bakery founded with a 'Down Under' twist will open its doors to the public this summer, becoming Northern Ireland's newest working museum. Tourists will be able to see behind the scenes as the team whip up the day's orders at north coast venture called Ursa Minor, a Ballycastle business specialising in Australasian inspired bakes. The business, which is run by husband and wife team Dara and Ciara O'hArtghaile, has been producing a range of unique recipe breads and pastries for just three years. Now it's been selected to showcase Northern Ireland food and drink production to the world as part of an international network of artisan businesses. Dara and Ciara first discovered delights like sourdough loaves and Friands - a small almond cake, popular in Australia and New Zealand -while they spent a year living in New Zealand. They returned home to Ballycastle determined to keep those tastes alive. Inspired by New Zealand's cafe culture, the duo set about bringing fresh, seasonal bread and sweet bakes to the north coast. The duo founded Ursa Minor in 2014, producing small batches of hand-crafted bread and patisseries. The bakehouse is a lifestyle business for the couple, involving extended family and the local community. Ciara O'hArtghaile said: "It's fantastic to join the amazing Economusee Network of artisans - we are honoured to be counted among a group of pioneering craftspeople across the world. "We look forward to creating working relationships with the artisans, as well as welcoming groups into our bakery and spreading the word about sourdough bread." The announcement was made on Thursday at an event at the bakery and was heralded by John and Sally McKenna, the authors of the McKenna's Guides. Keen to keep the business on a sustainable scale, the finished products have very low food miles and are only available on the north coast. Some even make use of other artisan ingredients such as North Coast Smoke House's smoked salt. It comes as international interest in agri-tourism is growing and follows in the legacy of Northern Ireland's Year of Food and Drink, which saw the region promoted internationally as a tourist destination through its food stories. Ursa Minor bakehouse first welcomed sightseers as a stop on the Ballycastle Food Tour, North Coast Walking Tours, which was shortlisted for the best trail and tour at this year's Tourism NI Year of Food and Drink Awards. And the Ballycastle bakery will also be featured in next month's Lonely Planet guide, which includes a foodie's guide to Northern Ireland. It describes the "new generation of food producers who are drawing the best out of its epic-worthy landscapes" and also includes producers like Abernethy Butter in Dromara, Co Down. Ursa Minor's new working museum status is part of the international Economusee project to encourage artisan producers to show their products to the public. Ursa Minor joins five other Economusee workshops in Northern Ireland including Broighter Gold Rapeseed Oil in Limavady, Scullion Hurls in Loughgiel, Steenson's Jewellers in Glenarm, Hillstown Brewery in Ahoghill, and Broughgammon Farm, also in Ballycastle. Each workshop is situated on or close to the famous Causeway coastal route, making it an easy add-on for visitors interested in what this scenic part of the island has to offer. The Economusee (Artisans at Work) project is a concept developed in Quebec. The project involves businesses from Canada, Norway, Sweden, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland and the Republic of Ireland. There are currently 70 workshops, with another 20 planned to be launched within the next 12 months. The aim is for visitors to learn about the history of the craft and the business, the enthusiasm of the artist, along with the added opportunity of meeting the artisans face-to-face. The tapp which connects to mobile phones to convert it into a digital infrared thermometer A Londonderry tech firm which already sells to US giant Walmart has landed a 3m deal to distribute a smartphone thermometer, it can be revealed. Bubblebum has teamed up with Spanish firm Oblumi, which has developed the 'tapp'. It connects to mobile phones and converts it into a digital infrared thermometer. Bubblebum founder Grainne Kelly has now landed a distribution deal worth 3m with Oblumi to exclusively distribute the device in the UK and Ireland over a period of five years. The company already sells its child booster seats into more than 1,000 stores in the UK and across the US. Ms Kelly, who is from Londonderry and has her firm based at the Catalyst Inc Innovation Centre in the city, says the firm has also secured a new deal to sell her car booster seats into 1,700 Target stores in the US. "I have created and founded Bubblebum, and we have been exporting around the world for the last seven years," she said. "We are in Walmart (in the US) and Halfords. We have been looking at adding more products to our range." She said she was contacted by Spanish firm Oblumi, which was keen to break into the UK and Ireland market with its smartphone thermometer. "We thought, people are doing this, but don't know how to get it to market," Ms Kelly said. "Oblumi contacted us... I knew their message was off for the UK. I said, we can do this for you, but we need exclusive distribution to the UK and Ireland, with the option of the US. "The product is a smartphone thermometer. But it's not just that, it also logs all of the data. "So, if the baby is at home with granny, and she is checking the temperature, the mother and father can also check that. It also reminds how much paracetamol to take - reminders of when to take the temperature. "We will also take this a step further for the elderly. For example, when my dad was sick, he got out of hospital, he couldn't remember when to take his temperature of medicine - we had to manually record all of that." The device works for both Android and Apple phones. The company now employs 12 staff - doubling the size of the team to meet demand for its existing products. "(The thermometer product) is a pretty significant deal. We are also in another 1,000 stores in the UK and Target in the US (with the booster seat)," Ms Kelly said. "In the past two weeks we have signed Walmart in Chile and we have already doubled staff numbers." She said there has already been "great interest" in the new smartphone thermometer. "This is the first device of its kind on the market to date," she said. "As a parent of a child who had frequent bouts of fever, I am acutely aware of the precautions people need to take with infants and the confusion that lies with tracking temperature and medication. Our objective is to alleviate these concerns and allow parents and carer's to rely on the Oblumi device as a practical solution. "In addition to a being a reliable thermometer for a family member, the Oblumi tapp can also check the temperature of liquids with accuracy and speed such as the temperature of a baby's bottle or bath water, a constant concern for parents." Archaeologists will be available for a series of Artifact Roadshows scheduled in Ekalaka and Miles City. The Ekalaka event will be held on April 21 at the Carter County Museum from 1-4 p.m. and on April 29 at the Miles City Public Library from 1-4 p.m. Participants dont have to bring anything to attend. People have shared some amazing finds with us at our previous road shows, said Doug Melton, Miles City Field Office lead archaeologist. Theyve brought in a variety of items such as fossil bone, projectile points from some of Montanas earliest residents, even rare glass beads. For more information contact Melton at 406-233-2800. More events for 2017 are listed on the Montana Archaeology Society website at: http://mtarchaeologicalsociety.org/16401.html. Gavin Weir, Director, GVA NI and Gavin Bates, Owner, the White Horse Coaching Inn, toast their partnership as the deal is made final on the 200 year old bar and restaurant located in Saintfield A Co Down pub and restaurant formerly owned by a Northern Ireland brewer has been sold. The White Horse in Saintfield was sold to Gavin Bates, who current runs Ryans on the Lisburn Road in Belfast. The sale price has not been disclosed. "We are delighted to have expanded our business into Saintfield," Mr Bates said. "The White Horse is a historical, traditional, family-friendly bar and restaurant at the hub of the local community and I am really enjoying building relationships with our customers. "Our food offering has something to cater for everyones taste buds, with the 60 seater bar restaurant serving up a varied menu of gastro pub food and The Flaming Crust Pizza restaurant on the lower level of the property serving authentic Italian pizza from the wood fired oven. "Our menus feature popular mid-week and weekend specials and all of our food is freshly prepared each day using local ingredients, including meat from our nearby butcher." GVA NI acted on behalf of the vendor, Bernard Sloan, who owns the Whitewater Brewery in Castlewellan. The Train runs at The Mac in Belfast this week. In 1971, a group from the Irish Women's Liberation Movement boarded a train at Dublin's Connolly Station heading to Belfast - knowing they could very well be arrested when they made their return journey. The reason for this was because the 47 women were travelling to Northern Ireland to buy oral contraception, which was illegal in the Republic of Ireland at the time. Bringing them back into the country could have resulted in prosecution, but for these women their reproductive rights was an issue that could no longer be ignored. Their train journey marked a watershed moment for women's rights in the Republic and it is now being portrayed in the musical The Train, directed by Lynne Parker. Speaking from aboard a train from Dublin to Belfast, Irish actress Clare Barrett says the actions of these women began a "proper conversation" with the Irish State about allowing women their reproductive rights. She explains: "The play is about this band of women and what they were trying to do at the time. Unfortunately, when they got to Belfast they discovered that they had no prescription and couldn't obtain oral contraception, so they bought condoms and whatever they could get without a prescription and they brought those back. "They didn't know what would happen to them when they returned." Clare takes on the role of Aoife, a character described as the Irish 'everywoman' who is becoming more involved in the fight for women's rights. "I'm a lady that happens to be married to a porter from Connolly Station and she's starting to hear about feminism, it's filtering into her life, but she's not quite sure what to do with it. "She's a woman at home with two kids and she's processing this information and new feminism literature that's coming from America, as well as what she has been brought up to believe. Expand Close The Train runs at The MAC in Belfast this week. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Train runs at The MAC in Belfast this week. "It's a very serious subject but the play is actually really funny - these women are very witty, intelligent ladies and that is seen the whole way through." Reproductive and women's rights is a very emotive subject matter, and Clare says The Train manages to bring the fun and laughs to the story without watering down the issues. She continues: "We haven't shied away from the poignant or the sad, or even the darkness of it. But these women were eternal optimists and they went against everything - their mothers, their families - to get on that train that day. "They took a stand and the bravery comes through in the play." For Clare, winning the approval of former President of Ireland Mary Robinson was a particular highlight, as she herself was associated with the women in 1971. "She wasn't on the train herself as she was training to be a solicitor at the time and couldn't be seen to be involved in these illegal activities," says Clare. "But she was very much involved with them and gave them information about their rights. "She came to see the show and she said, 'I was wondering what a musical would do to the story, but actually now that I've seen it, it feels like the only way possible'. "She said everyone's experience of that day was different but that we managed to capture the feeling of the time within the show - the naivety, the hope for change and the excitement of doing something so different from the norm." The Train has previously enjoyed a successful run at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin as well as various venues around Ireland - allowing for a wide range of reaction from the audience. Expand Close The Train runs at The MAC in Belfast this week. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The Train runs at The MAC in Belfast this week. "We've had full houses and standing ovations every night," says Clare. "We've met younger people who can't believe that that's the way it was back then, and we've met so many people who have come to us and said 'I was there on that day.'" It was during the show's run in Limerick that a man came forward to say he was actually working as a customs officer at Connolly Station that day - it was his first day on the job. Clare said: "He was 19 and the poor man was told he had to search the handbags of the ladies as they were coming back - he had to tell his superiors 'but I don't know what a condom looks like'. "They told him to simply 'act intelligent'. "He lasted at Connolly Station for about a week and was then send to the airport for the rest of his working life." As audiences get ready to see The Train in Belfast this week, Clare says she is hopeful she will meet people from the city who were also present when the train arrived and departed from Belfast. "This is the other side of the story - the show does take place both in Dublin and Belfast so it will be lovely to get the story from the other side. "It's very much a tale of two cities and we are very excited to be able to perform in both." She adds: "Arthur Riordan's script is phenomenal, it's just so clever and witty and it's lovely to get my acting chops around it. "Despite the issues and the subject matter, it's quite a feel-good play - they did achieve a brave and fantastic feat that day." The Train runs at The Mac in Belfast from Wednesday April 19 to Sunday April 23. A 13-year-old girl is among the youngest underage drinkers police dealt with in Northern Ireland on Easter Monday. File image posed by model A 13-year-old girl is among the youngest underage drinkers police dealt with in Northern Ireland on Easter Monday. Police confiscated the alcohol from the girl in Bangor and said they would inform her parents. Officers said they found the girl with vodka in a Lucozade bottle and said she is the youngest to be caught with alcohol so far this Easter. By lunchtime yesterday, shoppers warned the town was "full of drunk teenagers", as crowds gathered for the town's Spring Street Carnival. A statement posted by officers read: "It's nice to see so many people coming to Bangor. However, we have just seized alcohol from a 13-year-old girl! Parents to be updated in due course and NHS not required on this occasion." It's understood the girl was not alone when police found her with the alcohol. By 3pm, police in Bangor had seized 24 bottles of vodka, 13 bottles of Buckfast, several bottles of alcopop and dozens of bottles of beer. Ards and North Down UUP councillor Alistair Cathcart said the council had been working with police to try to combat the issue. "It seems to be specifically over Easter weekend - the good weather seems to be a contributor," he said. "A lot of them will come in on the trains, so it seems to be kids who think they are getting away from their parents for the day and they feel like they can get away with it. "This year, police have been placing officers at the train stations, so that way they can stop it and confiscate alcohol from the moment it comes into Bangor." Police are expected to release figures for the number of underage drinkers dealt with across Northern Ireland over the weekend later today. Underage drinkers have been hospitalised 655 times in the past five years in Northern Ireland, figures by The Detail revealed just last month. In January, a 14-year-old boy was hospitalised after he drank too much on a bus to a club in Cookstown. Between 2011 and 2015, police confiscated 1,245 cans and bottles of alcohol from underage drinkers in Bangor. The area ranked eighth on a list of drinking hotspots compiled by the Irish News. But it was beaten by neighbouring district Ards, where police took 1,527 alcoholic items from teenagers. The worst area was the Upper Grosvenor Road in west Belfast, where 2,026 cases were reported. 10 Downing Street prior to an announcment by Prime Minister Theresa May on April 18, 2017 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside 10 Downing Street in central London on April 18, 2017. Theresa May's call for a General Election in the midst of the Stormont crisis talks has shown "disdain" for Northern Ireland, SDLP leader Colum Eastwood has said. Theresa May has called an early general election for June 8 in an announcement which has stunned Westminster. The Prime Minister had repeatedly denied that she would call an election before the next scheduled poll in 2020. Read More But following a Cabinet meeting at Downing Street she said she would go to the country this year. There will be a Commons vote on the proposed election on Wednesday. Justifying the decision, Mrs May said: "The country is coming together but Westminster is not." It comes as Northern Ireland's political parties are set to resume crisis talks aimed at forming a power sharing government. The parties missed the deadline in forming a government within the six weeks after the election. Northern Ireland's political leaders have been reacting to the Prime Minister's call. Meanwhile SDLP leader Colum Eastwood questioned the Prime Minister's decision to call the election during the Stormont talks. He said: "It tells you all you need to know about Theresa May that she would call a snap Westminster election in the middle of intense efforts to restore power sharing government to Northern Ireland. "From the beginning of her tenure as British Prime Minister she has shown very little but disinterest and disdain for this place. As Theresa May seeks a mandate for a hard Brexit from an English electorate, people here have an opportunity to unite behind parties which have defended their will and sought to protect our values. England may want to isolate itself from Europe and the world. But people in Northern Ireland and Scotland made a different choice. A choice that cannot be fulfilled through a hard Brexit. We now have an opportunity to strengthen the mandate of parties which campaigned against and consistently voted against Brexit at Westminster. I know people are suffering from electoral fatigue. But this is not a time to sit on the sidelines. This is a moment to unite to deliver a strong message to Theresa May and the Brexiteers. Our voice will be heard. It shows you how much .@TheresaMayPM thinks/cares about our peace process that she'd call an election in the middle of talks. Colum Eastwood (@columeastwood) April 18, 2017 DUP leader Arlene Foster said the vote was an opportunity to "vote for the Union". Mrs Foster said: "The Prime Ministers decision to go to Parliament to seek a General Election on 8th June provides the people of Northern Ireland with the opportunity to vote for the Union. Stormont election results 2017 - select a constituency - North Antrim - East Antrim - South Antrim - North Belfast - East Belfast - South Belfast - West Belfast - Strangford - South Down - Lagan Valley - Upper Bann - Newry and Armagh - Fermanagh & South Tyrone - West Tyrone - Mid Ulster - East Londonderry - Foyle - North Down "The Democratic Unionist Party has been a strong voice for Northern Ireland at Westminster and we have used the mandate given to us to ensure the interests of Northern Ireland are to the fore. "The forthcoming election will be an opportunity for unionists to unite around a strong Democratic Unionist Party that will advocate for them in Parliament." Sinn Fein's leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill said the election was an opportunity to "oppose Brexit". She said: "Sinn Fein opposed Brexit because it will be disastrous for the people of Ireland, our economy and our public services. "The people of the North clearly voted to see their future in the European Union in the referendum last June. We have been blatantly ignored by Theresa May since. The Tory partys reckless Brexit agenda offers nothing to the people of the North who are being dragged out of the EU against our will. The Tory party and their polices have been rejected by the people in the north in the past, and will be again in this election. "Sinn Fein is ready to contest this election and it will be an opportunity for voters to oppose Brexit and reject Tory cuts and austerity. It is an opportunity to progress designated status for the North within the EU and for a future based on equality, respect, integrity and unity. UUP leader Robin Swann said the election will be about "strengthening the hand of the United Kingdom in forthcoming Brexit negotiations". He said: "NI needs strong representation in Westminster now more than ever, arguing the best case for Northern Ireland. Tom Elliott & Danny Kinahan have proven that Ulster Unionist MPs can be that positive, pragmatic voice for Northern Ireland. Following the March election I would encourage everyone to ensure they are registered to vote and that if necessary they secure postal and proxy votes for the 8th of June to ensure their voice is heard at the ballot box. Alliance party leader Naomi Long said it would be "disgraceful" for any party to use the General Election to stall the current talks process. She said: "Alliance will be contesting this election on a platform of providing good government and opposing a hard Brexit, while seeking a special deal to address the particular circumstances of Northern Ireland. Theresa May has made it clear she wants to ram a hard Brexit through Parliament irrespective of how bad the deal on offer from the EU may be. "The strongest possible vote to the contrary is required to minimise the long-term economic damage to the UK as a whole and to protect the interests of Northern Ireland. In terms of Northern Ireland, Alliance only lost the 2015 election due to a five-party unionist pact in East Belfast. Only weeks ago, Robin Swann was elected as UUP leader and made a pledge his party would be different to the DUP. Now he faces the challenge to prove that and not slide back into an undemocratic agreement with other parties. The decision he takes will either make or break his party. This election coincides with a critical time in our local politics. The current vacuum is not sustainable, it is already doing massive damage to our economy and our public services. It would be disgraceful for any party to use this election and the hope of short-term electoral gain to stall or withdraw the current talks process. However, the chances of a deal this side of June 8 have now become more remote. Despite this, the people of Northern Ireland have already given MLAs a clear instruction to do their job and to act responsibly through putting in place progressive and sustainable devolution. So Ms May has called a British General Election. Sinn Fein is up 4 that! Another chance 2 vote against Brexit & 4 progress. Gerry Adams (@GerryAdamsSF) April 18, 2017 Retail NI Chief Executive Glyn Roberts said the timing of the General Election posed "significant challenges". He said: "The timing of this General Election poses a significant challenge to the current talks on restoring devolution. Retail NI and the business community as a whole, want to see these talks reach a successful conclusion and for the Assembly and Executive to be restored "Political stability is the essential basis for economic growth "The focus of this election should be on Policy and what type of Brexit is best for Northern Ireland and the UK as a whole. Setting out a new vision for the future of the our local economy should be the central issue in this election for political parties, locally and nationally." What happens now? The Prime Minister will table a Commons motion on Wednesday calling for an election to be held on Thursday June 8. Under the terms of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, passed under the last coalition government, she needs a two-thirds majority if she wants to go to the country before the scheduled date of the next the election which had been due to take place in May 2020. With both Labour and the Liberal Democrats saying they will support the motion, the outcome should be a formality. What comes after that? There will be a short "wash-up" period to clear up outstanding legislation such as the Finance Bill to enable the funding of government to carry on. Parliament will then be dissolved on Wednesday May 3, 25 working days before polling, marking the start of the official campaign. And then? If all goes to plan voters will go to the polling booths on June 8 with the outcome likely to become clear in the early hours of the next morning. The forthcoming general election did not change the talks process said James Brokenshire Laws will be fast-tracked through Parliament restoring Stormont power-sharing by early next month should agreement be clinched, the Northern Ireland Secretary said. The forthcoming general election did not change the talks process involving the parties in Belfast and the UK and Irish Governments, James Brokenshire added. Recent negotiations helped distil outstanding issues and identified possible areas for consensus, he added. "Discussions between the parties, and the UK and Irish Governments, will continue, in accordance with the three-stranded approach. "The prospect of a forthcoming UK general election does not change this approach." It remained his intention to introduce legislation into Parliament addressing immediate requirements including setting a regional taxation rate to allow rates bills to be issued by councils. "In addition, I believe it is also right to introduce provisions that would enable an Executive to be formed in early May should agreement be reached. "To have this legislation in force in time, I will be requesting that its progress through Parliament be fast-tracked." Talks to save devolved government were suspended before Easter with little prospect of a deal. Sinn Fein had called for another Stormont poll if no accord is reached, the third in around a year, and the DUP have said they are ready to fight a snap election to the devolved institutions. Two deadlines to form a new ruling executive have already fallen by the wayside. Sinn Fein demands for legislative protections for Irish speakers, an end to the region's ban on gay marriage and the implementation of a Northern Ireland-specific bill of rights are among the issues of dispute. Talks will reconvene, working to the new early May deadline. Sinn Fein has accused the DUP of preventing the formation of a "rights-based" government. The DUP has claimed Sinn Fein is focused only on the demands of its own supporters, and is failing to appreciate that others want movement on other issues. The main unionist party hinted at a shift in approach to the Irish language last week when party leader Arlene Foster, who previously insisted she would never support an Irish Language Act, pledged to meet Gaelic speakers to hear their concerns. Extra powers for councils could be on the cards if the Stormont parties fail to reach a deal to restore devolution. The Government will come under pressure to consider passing additional responsibilities to the relatively new 11 super councils if the Assembly is mothballed indefinitely, it has emerged. The councils umbrella body has already met Secretary of State James Brokenshire who has now agreed to further discussions. The plan would form an alternative to full-blown Direct Rule, with local government subsuming some of the responsibilities of the regional departments. Derek McCallan, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA), said it was one of several options. We are in full support of a devolved administration, we do not want to take away from that, but we are in a situation of drifting at the moment. We have a democratic deficit, he said. If there isnt a budget and this looming uncertainty continues, then give the councils the power and the resources to do the job. The so-called partnership panel, where council chiefs met Executive ministers, is in abeyance with Stormonts collapse. A letter from NILGAs senior team to Mr Brokenshire said: (Our) all-party, all-council political leadership is ready, able and willing to do everything it can to ensure that you are aware of the cohesion, efficiency and innovation of local government here in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State was forced to pull out of a meeting pencilled in for the day former Deputy First Minister, the late Martin McGuinness, stepped down, but NILGA chiefs said they were willing to travel to London to address the growing power gap. An initial meeting then took place, at Mr Brokenshires invite, and more are planned. NILGA president Sean McPeake said: Quite clearly the situation in the NI Assembly will be volatile for some time. The 11 councils in the north collectively, sub-regionally and locally are in situ to deliver economic growth, co-ordinate and deliver public services. This is what they have been doing, seamlessly, since 1972 and we want to be able to help plan local economies and regenerate our areas. A Belfast woman, who narrowly escaped with her life in 1984 after the IRA murdered her daughter and attempted to kill her husband as they returned from Sunday mass, has been laid to rest. Joan Travers was left heartbreakingly cradling her dying daughter Mary on a dusty street after the atrocity close to St Brigids Church, a short distance from their Windsor Avenue home in the Malone Road area. Her husband, former Magistrate Tom Travers, survived the attack despite being shot six times. Joan passed away peacefully last week and was yesterday laid to rest in Kilclief, Co Down, with her husband, and Mary. Hundreds of people expressed their condolences to the Travers family following her death. Her daughter Ann, who has become a powerful voice for victims of terrorism, said she felt drained and sad last night after saying her final farewell to her mother. Today Mum was laid to rest with Dad and Mary, she posted on her Facebook page. Im completely drained and very sad. Thank you everyone for all your messages of support. She said she was taking solace from a quote she was sent from a friend by Belfast writer CS Lewis: There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. She added: I hold that in my heart that Mum is happy with Dad and Mary. Politicians from most of the major parties expressed their sympathy, along with Stephen Gault, whose father was killed in the Enniskillen Poppy Day massacre and Kevin Skelton, whose wife died in the Omagh bombing. Survivors of terrorism had supported Ann Travers campaign to prevent former prisoners who were guilty of serious offences becoming highly-paid Stormont special advisors. Ms Travers launched her campaign after a woman convicted of her sisters murder was appointed as a special adviser by Sinn Fein Culture Minister Caral Ni Chuilin. Mary Ann McArdle, who had been 19 at the time of the killing, was jailed for life for transporting the guns used. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/Stephen Hamilton General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/Stephen Hamilton General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/Stephen Hamilton General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/Stephen Hamilton General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/Stephen Hamilton General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/Stephen Hamilton General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/Stephen Hamilton General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/Stephen Hamilton General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/Stephen Hamilton General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/ General views of a hair dressers in Larne town centre where a car was driven into it and set on fire. /Presseye.com - 18th April 2017. Press Eye Ltd - Northern Ireland Photographer Press Eye/Stephen Hamilton General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. General views of a hair dressers in Larne where a car was reversed into it and set on fire. A hairdressing salon in Larne town centre was destroyed in a fire on Monday night in what has been claimed as a deliberate attack linked to a gang feud. The incident follows three days of arson attacks in Larne and a suspected petrol bomb attack against a mother and her children yesterday morning. Fire crews were still attending the blaze of the two storey premises on Main Street late last night while a heavy police presence remained in the area. A car was reversed directly into the salon and set alight. The blaze has caused extensive damage to the presmises. Police said it's believed one male travelled to the scene in the vehicle, a grey Nissan Primera, and then fled on a blue and white motorcycle driven by a second individual. Officers have called the attacked "mindless and reckless". Detective Chief Insepctor Dunny McCubbin said: "This was a mindless and reckless attack by individuals who have shown no concern for the people of Larne and no respect for the business people trying to make a living in the town. "This business has been devastated by this attack and there can be no excuse or justification for what happened here last night. "We are currently investigating a possible link between this incident and other attacks on vehicles in the town over the course of the weekend. At this time its thought a falling out between two individuals may be the catalyst for these incidents however as the investigation is at a very early stage it wouldnt be appropriate to comment further on that particular line of enquiry." Police said two men in their thirties have been arrested as part of our overall investigation. A 30-year-old man was arrested on Saturday and subsequently charged with GBH and Possession of an offensive weapon. Expand Expand Previous Next Close Firefighters at the scene of the blaze in Main Street, Larne last night Firefighters at the scene of the blaze in Main Street, Larne last night / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Firefighters at the scene of the blaze in Main Street, Larne last night He is expected to appear in court in Ballymena on May 11. The second male, 32, was detained yesterday. He has since been charged with common assault and making threats to damage property. He is due to appear at Ballymena Magistrates on May 4. All charges will be reviewed by the PPS. Former Sinn Fein MLA Oliver McMullan said he was furious over the attacks saying Larne was getting more like Beirut every day. Theres a direct connection to this attack and the cars burnt out in Larne over the weekend, he told the Belfast Telegraph last night. This car was driven deliberately into the hairdressers shop and the people in the car got out and set it on fire. I feel very mad and angry about this. Ive been going on about this for years, unless the criminality is caught by the scruff of the neck in Larne its going to get out of hand. Mr McMullan added he had also heard another house in the Craigy Hill area of the town (around a mile from the hairdressers) was targeted in a petrol bomb attack just before 11pm last night, but this was yet to be confirmed. Asked what was behind the crime spree he commented: Its a major gang leader who I believe has been arrested by the police tonight. He is exerting his authority over another family, put it that way. Its the same people doing all of this, the dogs in the street could name you every one of them doing it. He called for community policing to be restored to Larne. These criminals know theres no police in Larne and they can do all this with impunity. That hairdressers is in the centre of Larne town not the outskirts, now can you imagine that happening in any other town? he said. Its getting more like Beirut every day and the people of Larne, no matter what side, they dont deserve this and they shouldnt have to live with this. In the early hours of yesterday morning a mother and her young children in Larne escaped injury in a suspected petrol bombing. The front window of a house on Mill Road was smashed during the incident and police recovered a petrol-soaked rag, possibly from an unlit petrol bomb, from the porch of the property close to where a vehicle was targeted. Larne councillor Paul Reid condemned the attack. It beggars belief that someone would attack peoples homes like this, he said. There was a mother in that house with her young children. We are very lucky that we arent looking at disaster today. A second car was targeted on Bryan Street in the latest of a spate of arson attacks in the town. Mr Reid, a local DUP representative, said he understands that police are following a positive line of inquiry but also urged anyone with information to come forward. East Antrim MLA Stewart Dickson has strongly condemned those behind continued arson attacks in Larne. Describing the situation as extremely serious, the Alliance man has appealed for anyone with information to contact the police immediately, as premises in the town centre became the latest target of those orchestrating the attacks. Detective Chief Inspector Dunny McCubbin said officers are investigating a link between these incidents and similar attacks on vehicles on Saturday and Sunday. Five vehicles were extensively damaged over the weekend and a failed attempt was made to set a sixth on fire. UUP councillor Andrew Wilson also condemned what he described as a really bizarre series of attacks. He added: It certainly looks like it is being orchestrated. I would just appeal for anyone with information to contact police. It is very important that whoever is doing this is arrested and hopefully put behind bars. If you have any information that could help the police investigation you can contact police on 101. If someone would prefer to provide information without leaving their name they can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. A total of 3.2 billion was lent by the UK to the Republic as part of an international rescue package of the country's collapsing economy, according to the Treasury The UK has now been paid 358 million in interest by Ireland following a crisis loan it gave to the country in 2010. A total of 3.2 billion was lent by the UK to the Republic as part of an international rescue package of the country's collapsing economy. The latest report from the Treasury says Ireland has now paid the UK 358 million in interest since 2011. Since June 2014 the UK has received an interest payment of around 42 million every six months. It will be March 2021 before the bilateral loan's term is up. The final tranche of money was paid to Ireland in September 2013. The document said: "The Government agreed to provide a bilateral loan to Ireland because it is in the UK's national interest that Ireland has a successful economy and a stable banking system. "The links between our financial systems, particularly in Northern Ireland, mean that there was a strong economic case to provide financial assistance to Ireland. "By being part of the international financial package, the UK indirectly supported the very many businesses across the UK that trade with Ireland." The loan was made at the same time as a bailout by the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank and at a time when the country's banking system threatened to implode. Stringent austerity conditions were attached by the three organisations, known as the Troika, and resulted in wage reductions, rising unemployment, cuts to public services and extra taxes on Irish citizens. The Republic is one of the UK's main export markets - at the time the loan was given it accounted for 5% of Britain's total exports and two-fifths of Northern Ireland's exports. Many Irish companies are listed on the London Stock Exchange. In late 2010 the Royal Bank of Scotland lent billions in Northern Ireland - loans which were insured by British taxpayers as RBS is a semi-nationalised bank. If the Irish economy were to implode, that would have generated large losses for RBS and the UK taxpayer. In 2012 Chancellor George Osborne reduced the rate of interest on the loan in line with Eurozone lenders. Almost 3,000 flats worth 1 million or more were sold last year, data showed Million-pound apartment sales in England and Wales have nearly trebled in the past decade, according to research. Data gathered by Lloyds Private Banking showed 2,967 flats worth 1 million or more were sold last year, a 196% jump from 1,002 in 2006. Nearly all of the the plush properties were based in London (96%) and made up 35% of all million-pound addresses sold in the capital that year. Westminster is home to the most expensive apartments in the UK, with an average price of 2,215,073, according to Lloyds. Sales of million-pound-plus flats in London have similarly increased threefold, from 973 to 2,853 since 2006, the bank said. A spokeswoman said the jump was partly explained by a growing population and increasing demand. Kensington and Chelsea saw soaring numbers of the luxury spaces being snapped up, where 731 flats sold compared with 357 in 2006, overtaking terraced houses as the most popular million-pound properties. In up-and-coming Hackney, east London, there were no million-pound apartments sold in 2006. Last year, there were 47. The figures, taken from the land registry, found the exclusive flats now make up 22% of all million-pound property sales in England and Wales. Sales of flats worth more than 1 million have grown at a far greater pace than similarly valued detached (up 88%), semi-detached (up 154%) and terraced houses (up 165%) in the past 10 years. The South East saw 44 such flats sold last year, a considerable increase of the nine bought a decade ago. Head of Lending at Lloyds Private Banking, Louise Santaana, said: "London dominates the million-pound flat market, with the prime areas of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea accounting for over half of all million-pound apartment sales in England and Wales. "A finite supply of land in prime central London combined with a growing population has meant the only way is up, with more and more developers focusing on apartments. In the past decade there has been a large increase in the building of high value apartments in Knightsbridge, West End, Victoria and King's Cross, while Marylebone and Mayfair being the top two locations for most development. With demand still high, there are more in the pipeline." Boris Johnson has called on Russia to end its "blind support" for Syrian president Bashar Assad, while urging China to use its influence to restrain North Korea. The Foreign Secretary said the United States missile attack in response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons "creates an opportunity to break the deadlock" and pave the way for a political settlement. He also said China has a role to play in delivering a peaceful resolution to the rising tensions in the Korean peninsula amid warnings from Pyongyang about the risk of nuclear war. Mr Johnson updated MPs on global events after the Commons returned following t he Easter recess. Speaking in the Commons, Mr Johnson reiterated that Britain was given advanced notice of the US operation to attack the Syrian government airfield suspected of launching the chemical attack although "at no stage" was UK military help sought. He said US President Donald Trump had sent an "emphatic" message that the "era when Assad's barbarism was met with passivity and inaction has finally come to an end". Mr Johnson said: "America's determined response creates an opportunity to break the deadlock and pave the way for a political settlement of Syria's tragedy. "But that will only happen if Russia is prepared to bring Assad to the negotiating table and begin a transition to a new government that represents the sole chance of peace in Syria." Mr Johnson said the UK has "no intention of dislodging Russian interests in Syria", adding: "But Russia's position in Syria does not depend on Assad." The cabinet minister went on: "I hope I have the support of everybody in this House when I say I call on the Russians to end their blind support for Assad. "Stop the gas attacks and the barrel bombs, allow the delivery of aid to those who need it, deliver a real ceasefire and begin the political process that will include a transition away from Assad." Mr Johnson said president Assad's regime "almost certainly gassed its own people" earlier this month, adding this showed the "emptiness of that agreement reached in 2013, guaranteed by Russia, that was supposed to rid Syria of chemical weapons once and for all". He added: "And I'm afraid exposing the misjudgment of those who regarded that deal as a substitute for resolute action." On North Korea, Mr Johnson said "no-one can be complacent" about the threat potentially posed by intercontinental ballistic missiles being developed by the regime in Pyongyang despite the fact they have not been fully tested. He said: "Yesterday I spoke to my Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and I urged him to use Beijing's unique influence to restrain North Korea and to allow peaceful resolution of this crisis. "By suspending their coal imports from North Korea, China has given a welcome signal of its willingness to exert pressure on the regime. "Later this month I shall attend a special meeting of the security council on North Korea." North Korea's deputy United Nations ambassador Kim In Ryong has accused the United States of creating "a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment". Mr Trump has sent an aircraft carrier and supporting warships to the region and on Monday Vice President Mike Pence travelled to the Demilitarised Zone dividing North and South Korea and warned Pyongyang "the era of strategic patience is over". After 25 years of trying to deal patiently with North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions, Mr Pence said "all options are on the table" to deal with a threat. Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry criticised Mr Johnson's efforts to introduce fresh sanctions against Russia at the G7 last week. She said: "Why, rather than ensuring the G7 with one strong voice on Syria last week, did he instead present them with a half-baked, quickly rebuffed proposal for sanctions, without doing any preparatory work to win that support that was needed? "He ended up last week disowned by Downing Street, ignored by Russia and humiliated by the G7. "The only straw he can cling onto, we presume, is this - that the United States state department is still telling him what to say and do, and which countries he is allowed to visit." Mr Johnson fired back, saying: "Rather than simply parroting, if I may say, the lines of the Kremlin, she should support the collective action of the West." Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside 10 Downing Street in central London on April 18, 2017. Prime Minister Theresa Mays decision to call for a snap General Election does not bode well for the Stormont talks to restore devolution. Already there appears to be little appetite for accommodation as the third batch of talks since the March Assembly election gets underway next week. Stormont election results 2017 - select a constituency - North Antrim - East Antrim - South Antrim - North Belfast - East Belfast - South Belfast - West Belfast - Strangford - South Down - Lagan Valley - Upper Bann - Newry and Armagh - Fermanagh & South Tyrone - West Tyrone - Mid Ulster - East Londonderry - Foyle - North Down So which of the parties - not just the DUP and Sinn Fein, but also the SDLP, Ulster Unionists and Alliance - will be more likely to compromise in the mouth of another election? The already growing uncertainty over the prospects of the DUP and Sinn Fein agreeing a deal do not appear to have been a factor in Mrs May's calculations. Instead Sinn Fein and the DUP in particular will attempt to cast the June 8 poll as a re-run of the Assembly election, which saw Arlene Foster retain her Assembly majority by just one seat against a resurgent nationalist vote. In retrospect the Assembly campaign was widely viewed as a wake-up call to unionists who will be urged now to rally round the biggest party to send out the message Hands Off the Union. Sinn Fein at the same time has been seeking to build on its Assembly success and consolidate its turnout with locally-organised election registration meetings. Mrs May suggested the election could achieve more stability and unity in the UK, particularly in the face of the challenges of Brexit, but it is likely to mean exactly the opposite in Northern Ireland. The DUP also stand to lose their leverage in the current House of Commons, where the Conservatives slim working majority of 17 places the DUP in pole position to make deals if the Government needs support. But spare a thought for the smaller parties. New Ulster Unionist leader Robin Swann is facing a major challenge just over a week after taking up office. If he cannot secure an election pact the party is likely to lose Fermanagh South Tyrone back to Sinn Fein. And the DUP may calculate their call for unionists to rally round could mean they are likely to seize back the South Antrim seat from the UUP's Danny Kinahan. The SDLP did well in the Assembly election thanks to the vagaries of the proportional representation system but the first past the post General Election could also see Colum Eastwoods party squeezed with South Down and Foyle both under question. Would that in turn make the party under Eastwood - Alasdair McDonnell was still in charge at the last General Election - more amenable to a pact with Sinn Fein ? But back to the talks. Secretary of State James Brokenshire may calculate he can use the General Election to attempt to gel the negotiations or otherwise tell us by the time of his next deadline in early May that there will be an Assembly election on the same day as the General Election on June 8. But it is confusing and potentially risky to have two elections under two entirely different systems on the same day. Or could the DUP and/ or Sinn Fein simply refuse to take part in the next negotiation sessions to focus instead on the General Election campaign. If the main reason for the sudden election call, which goes against all the insistence of Downing Street over recent months that there would not be an election, is Brexit, the campaign is also likely to damage any prospect of special status for the North. Alex Jones's wife said he was 'not stable'. Image: Zach Copley/Wikipedia US broadcaster Alex Jones is a performance artist and his on air persona is an act, according to his lawyer. Mr Jones runs the controversial Infowars website, which is known for propagating conspiracy theories and its support of Donald Trump. But Mr Jones is now embroiled in a custody battle with his estranged wife, Kelly Jones, with whom he has three children. She said some of Mr Joness on-air rants for which he is renowned are evidence of him being not a stable father. However, Randall Wilhite, Mr Joness attorney, said the behaviour was merely an act. Hes playing a character. He is a performance artist. Mr Wilhite said, according to the Austin-American Statesman. Mr Wilhite said that using Mr Jones on-air persona to judge him as a father would be like judging Jack Nicholson in a custody dispute based on his performance as the Joker in Batman. The claim is likely to cause some confusion among Mr Joness fans, who have closely followed his musings. These included unfounded assertions that the Sandy Hook massacre and Boston bombings were hoaxes, Hillary Clinton should be jailed and that Barack Obama founded Isis. But Mr Jones is not just any shock jock his listeners are believed to include President Trump, who appeared on his show in December 2015, several months after he announced his candidacy. With millions of listeners a month, Infowars is credited with galvanising a large amount of support for Mr Trump during last years election. Yet Mr Joness former wife claimed he was unhinged. According to the Statesman, Ms Jones told a pre-trial hearing: Hes not a stable person. He says he wants to break Alec Baldwins neck. He wants J-Lo to get raped. She also referred to comments Mr Jones made about California Democrat Adam Schiff, a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee who has also defended LGBT rights. Im concerned that he is engaged in felonious behaviour, threatening a member of Congress. He broadcasts from home. The children are there, watching him broadcast, Ms Jones said. Mr Jones had called Mr Schiff a fairy and said he would beat [his] goddamn ass. The presiding judge said he didnt want Infowars to be a factor in the case but several pieces of footage from the website have already been submitted as evidence. Soldiers march across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung (AP) North Korea's deputy United Nations ambassador has accused the United States of turning the Korean Peninsula into "the world's biggest hotspot" and creating "a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment". Kim In Ryong told a news conference that "if the US dares opt for a military action", North Korea "is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US". He said the Trump administration's deployment of the Carl Vinson nuclear carrier task group to waters off the Korean Peninsula again "proves the US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase of its scenario". Mr Kim stressed that US-South Korean military exercises being staged were now the largest-ever "aggressive war drill" aimed at his country, formally the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The prevailing grave situation proves once again that the DPRK was entirely just when it increased in every way its military capabilities for self-defence and pre-emptive attack with a nuclear force as a pivot," he said. Tensions have escalated over North Korean moves to accelerate its weapons development. The North conducted two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile tests last year, defying six UN Security Council sanctions resolutions banning any testing, and it has launched more missiles this year including a failed attempt at the weekend. The North's Foreign Ministry said the missile launches were part of a normal process of building up the country's defences and economy. Ministry official Kim Chang Min also said in the interview in Pyongyang that the UN, the Security Council and big countries ignored South Korean missile launches and Japanese surveillance satellites. "This is the limit of double standards," he said. "How can we have any dialogue to get any result with anyone who has this kind of approach?" On Monday, US vice president Mike Pence travelled to the Demilitarised Zone dividing the Koreas and warned Pyongyang that "the era of strategic patience is over". After 25 years of trying to deal patiently with North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions, Mr Pence said, "all options are on the table" to deal with a threat. Deputy UN ambassador Mr Kim said North Korea's policy wsas shaped by the Trump administration's push for "high-intensity sanctions" against the country, deploying tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea and launching military action aimed at "beheading" the North's leadership headed by Kim Jong Un. He said rolling back the hostile US policy towards the DPRK "is the precondition to solving all the problems in the Korean Peninsula". Mr Kim called the news conference to "categorically reject" the US decision to hold an open meeting of the Security Council on April 28 on North Korea's nuclear programme, which is scheduled to be chaired by US secretary of state Rex Tillerson. He called it "another abuse of authority" by the United States, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, and a violation of the DPRK's sovereignty. Mr Kim ignored questions about the DPRK's relationship with China and reports that the government did not respond to requests from Chinese officials for a meeting. Instead he reiterated two Chinese proposals that the US rejected. One called for "dual-track" talks on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula - the top priority of the United States - and replacing the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War with a formal peace treaty, a key demand of Pyongyang. The other called for a freeze on US-South Korean military exercises and a freeze on DPRK missile and nuclear tests. Meanwhile Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi made a new appeal for calm on the Korean Peninsula and says he believed the United States would prefer a diplomatic resolution to the stand-off. Mr Wang told reporters that although US officials have made clear that a military strike remains on the table, he believes that Washington would still prefer to de-escalate tensions through multi-sided talks. AP In reference to your story "Holmes: NI needs a flag, anthem and president" on April 14, written by Jonny Bell. I feel that Eamonn Holmes is finally voicing the opinions of many in this small nation that we need to be proud of our Northern Irish nationality regardless of politics and religion. He simply wants a symbol that Northern Irish people can identify with and stand behind. Why should England, Scotland and Wales be able to have such a symbol but NI cannot, simply because people find it too difficult to remove religion and politics from the equation and focus only on this beautiful section of the world that we live. I may seem naive but the people of Northern Ireland are united by geography regardless of religion or politics and therefore I think a flag, an anthem and a president is an excellent idea as I am very proud to be Northern Irish. Kathryn Armstrong Donaghadee A statue of a 4-foot-tall, 250-pound bronzed girl in a wind-tossed ponytail is not going anywhere New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on April 2. In her short time here, Fearless Girl has fueled powerful conversations about women in leadership and inspired so many. Now, shell be asserting herself and affirming her strength even after her temporary permit expires a fitting path for a girl who refuses to quit, his office said in a statement. The famous statue stares down the famous 11-foot-tall Wall Street Charging Bull in support of gender diversity. For some, the bull is a symbol of male dominance in the corporate America like Cristina Pogorevic, who comes from Bucharest, Romania. She told Fox 6 New York in an interview: She is a message of womens power and things that are changing in the world right now. In what was supposed to be a brief appearance to celebrate International Womans Day and to send a message to corporate America about workplace gender diversity, now will have a home in Manhattans Financial District until February 2018. Initiated by State Street Global Advisors, an investment management division of State Street Corporation and the worlds third largest asset manager, has been vocal about seeing more women in leadership roles. The statue also celebrated the first anniversary of the Gender Diversity Index fund that invests in U.S. large-capitalization companies that rank among the highest in their sector in achieving gender diversity across senior leadership. One visitor from Australia explained to Fox 6 that the indignant girl symbolizes strength. Standing up against something and we see her as a powerful image. She represents all the young women in the world that want to make a difference. But not everyone is a fan. One artist blasted the statue as being a gimmick. That is not a symbol! Thats an advertising trick, Charging Bull creator Arturo Di Modica told Market Watch.Women, girls, thats great, but thats not what that (my sculpture) is. I put it there for art. My bull is a symbol for America. My bull is a symbol of prosperity and for strength. Kristen Visbal created the statue, which was only permitted to remain for a week on March 22, but it was extended by the citys Street Activity Permit Office through April 2, The Daily News reported. Whether it is a marketing ploy or not, Fearless Girl, is persuading women to stand up to gender bias and that they can make a difference. The girl with her hands on her hips standing in defiance will live on. Helga Esteb / Shutterstock.com The grace of God is misunderstood by many. Some think God grants His grace to those who do great works in His name. Others think that if they police their own thoughts well enough, theyll receive that grace. Still more think that a life marked by charity will earn it. But the tale of the thief on the cross tells a far different truth. Actor Stephen Baldwin has debuted Heaven, How I Got Here: A Night With the Thief on the Cross, a filmed stage production of Pastor Colin S. Smiths novel. The production shares the fictionalized, yet Bible-based narrative of the thief who was crucified beside Jesus Christ, as the thief tells it from heaven 2,000 years later. This is a story reveals the true nature of Gods graceit is a thing that can never be earned or bought. There is nothing we can do with our lives that makes us worthy of it. And yet rather than being a source of despair, this should be a source of comfort, for while we cannot take grace, it is freely offered to anyone who accepts Christ as their Savior. For more details, we caught up with Baldwin and asked him a few questions about his role in A Night With the Thief on the Cross. What led you to get involved with this production? Well, initially, pastor Colin Smith, who had written the book, 'Heaven, How I Got Here: The Story of the Thief on the Cross,' contacted me about recording an audio book, and then that led to a conversation about the idea of doing it as a one-man stage play, which I did and performed two Easters ago. It started as a sermon that became a book, that became an audio book, that became a theatrical play, which is the filmed theatrical play. Thats kind of how it started, and its just one of these things where now the audio book has been produced into a storytelling radio broadcast that, this year, will go out to reach tens of millions of people all over the world through the radio. While, simultaneously, we put into distribution this filmed version of the theatrical play. So yeahit all just kind of started from a smaller idea and now, as we know, sometimes God has another plan. What do you feel like is important to this story? Im going to answer that question by sharing with you the answer to another question. People say to me, What have you personally gotten out of it the most? What Ive benefited most from it is my growth as a Christian through the teachings of this pastor Colin Smiththis guy who originally got the heavenly download, so to speak, for this idea, which was his book called Heaven, How I Got Here: The Story of the Thief on the Cross. And its this fictional narrative from the point of view of the thief, now that hes already in heaven. Now we hear him recounting what happened on that day. Which, as an actor and an artist and a performer, thats kind of a brilliant perspective. For so many Christians and so many believers who have heard the idea of the thief of the cross and the storytheyve never really heard it from this narrative. One of the great phrases Pastor Colin uses about this idea is, On this day I had breakfast with the devil, and supper with the Savior. And what I think is the most compelling aspect of the idea of the thief on the cross is this: he wasnt a Christian, knew nothing about Christianity or what it was to be a Christian. This guy was the furthest thing from salvation, and yet here he is dying next to the Savior. I think, in this world today, in the minds and ideas and thoughts of so many people who think to themselves, Well, Im probably not good enough to make it into heaven, well certainly, the thief that was hanging next to Jesus probably wasnt good enough either, but hes going to go to heaven as well. The idea of the grace of all this is something that we are now very excited to be expressing in this opportunity in a new and different way. The wonderful part of it is that we get to be a part of an opportunity right now thats communicating that idea of graceits not about what you do, how many nice things you do, how much charity you doso many people in faith, particularly in Christianity, believe all that stuff. So when you kind of put a magnifying glass up to the thief on the cross and say Yeah, but what about him? If thats true, then how did he make it? thats the fun that were having in this really beautifully told version of the story. How was it taking on so many personas in one production? You know, as a performer, when you have the right materialas an actor, when the script is there and you have the right lines, it actually isnt as difficult as you think so long as you can memorize those lines. Ive said this to a lot of people beforeand I say this for the humor of itif youd have asked Stephen Baldwin 25 years ago, Do you think one day youll be playing the thief on the cross as an audio book and then itll be a stage play and then itll become a movie, I never would have believed anything thats going on right now. But I accept itno question. Its great that youve been given the opportunity to communicate this message of grace. "Whats interesting isand its nice that were circling back to this, because I wanted tothats been the cool thing. I get this phone callDo I want to do the audiobook and play the thief on the cross? My very first thought after the idea of that question, of course, was arrogance, because I thought it would look really cool on my resumeStephen Baldwin: Thief on the Cross. And of course Im joking, but theres a little truth to that, meaning that how many times might I have the opportunity in my career to play this type of a role or a character that for me, creatively and artistically, is so unique. That was one of my greatest motivations. So here, this opportunity comes, and Gods doing what Hes doing, and Im thinking Oh, its kind of this normal thing, but then through the process of the experience, when you talk about that grace that youre referring to relevant to the thief on the cross, I actually had to get into Gods word in such a way that the intimacy of it, spiritually, was very challenging and deep, if you can imagine. Coming out the other side of all that, kind of like when you hear an awesome sermon that really changes your life, or you know, or you hear that Christian song that really shifts you in that momentfor me, this experience was that thing. God wanted me in my own heart to connect with this thing so that it would bless me just as much as potentially the entire opportunity may bless others in the future. In your opinion as an actor, do you think the Christian Church makes full use of the arts, or you think theres some room to grow? The first answer is: its not my job to try to figure out what Gods doing. A.K.A., shut your mouth, Stephenyou stay humble, focus on your own thing, and let God figure out the rest. Thats my first answer. And then my second answer is: well of course theres a whole giant humongous tremendous gigantic opportunity thats still out there for Christian film. Is there a rumor out there that most Christian movies are kind of cheesy and dorky and whatever? Yes, but let me tell you somethingGod uses those movies, as well. And part of what Im experiencing now, with this projectits the first production from my new company, called LIGHTBEAMedia, and its calling is this: its to create Christian content unapologetically, that is able to be as excellent in its quality, if not better, than what Hollywood has to offer today. So thats how I answer your question. Do I think theres room for improvement within the faith-based filmmaking community? Of course there is. And let me tell you somethingthose movies are coming. Theres a tsunami of Christian content thats coming thats going to be bigger and better and more excellent. But I still say God bless the little guy thats making a short film ordoesnt matter. We should all aspire to create content for Gods kingdom thats better than anything else out there. That continue to be our hope and our strive for excellence. But certainly for my company, LIGHTBEAMedia, part of our brand will be that we achieve that level of success so well. LIGHTBEAMedia aspires to be the Miramax for Christ, so to speak. And I believe we can do that. God has prepared me for this. Ive been working in Hollywood for 30 years, made a hundred movies, and now all of a sudden I have the opportunity to start creating our own films, the first one being Thief on the Cross. We have another one already finished thats being looked at by several distribution companies called Youth Groupits a comedy that was developed by a guy named Thor Ramsey. And now, one of the biggest secular Hollywood distributions is looking at our movie, Youth Group, for consideration for that to go out around the world. Like you were asking, certainly LIGHTBEAMedia right now is trying to fill that vacuum of need for better quality Christian content. Thats what were aspiring to do. Final Thoughts The Gospel authors could have chosen to focus only on Christ during the crucifixionafter all, what good is some thief? But Jesus showed the world what the thief's past didn't matter, that anyone could be saved, no matter what they had or had not done. In the thoughts of Baldwins thief, If Jesus could forgive His torturers, well, maybe He could forgive me. Since its debut on April 4th, you can check out Heaven, How I Got Here: A Night With the Thief on the Cross at Christiancinema.com. For more information, you can check out @NewThiefMovie on Twitter or head over to www.stephenbaldwin.com. Shutterstock.com We've heard the travel ban issued by President Donald Trump riddled with many definitions. People called it a "Muslim ban," an "act of racism" and a "decision that erodes the fabric of America's liberties." Trump initially signed an executive order banning foreign nationals from Muslim-leading countries like Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen from entering the United States for 90 days until they were vetted. The updated list dropped Iraq and is still being fought in the courts. "Since 2001, hundreds of persons born abroad have been convicted of terrorism-related crimes in the United States," the White House said in a statement. "They have included not just persons who came here legally on visas but also individuals who first entered the country as refugees." Raheel Raza is a Pakistani-Canadian journalist, author, anti-racism activist and works with the ClarionProject.org and is the President of Council for Muslims Facing Tomorrow. Both organizations educate the public about the dangers of radical Islam. The platforms are used for human rights activists to speak out against extremism and to work to find solutions. Raza agreed with the administration's assessment and as a devout Muslim, she supports tightening our borders and the U.S. immigration laws. "We are fighting an ideology and an ideology can't be fought with weapons." Terrorism is the result of radicalization. "No one is born a terrorist. It's a human manifestation and the indoctrination of the minds of kids at a very young age. When they are indoctrinated in hate, they don't grow up to be normal 9 to 5 citizens with compassion and love in their hearts. The hate is then manipulated into violence," said the author of "To address radicalization head-on is good for the future," she said after President Trump's first address to Congress about fighting radical Islamists. "We had the feeling that something was going to happen and of course, 9/11 came along and there were all these knee-jerk reactions and none of these were positive solutions to the problem. Many progressive Muslims decided that we need to have an open discussion on the problem," she explained. "Going into Iraq and Afghanistan never solved the problem. This is not a war of weapons. It is a war of ideas." We are fighting an ideology and an ideology can't be fought with weapons.Their Jihad...Not My Jihad The book examined how Muslims, their religion and their culture integrated into North American society, but there was and is an inner conflict. "The struggle of the soul is good enough and if we can become better human beings in our struggles, that is what our Jihad should be. We are not being taught that in institutions, we are taught that Jihad is justified. There are Muslims who fight this battle. There are Muslims who are speaking out and we need to do this together." Muslims have yet to successfully formulate an alternative to Islamism. There is a distinct difference from Islam as the spiritual faith and Islam as the continuation of the Abrahamic faith. "Islam compels me to follow the five basic foundational pillars of my faith, which is a form of worship. Then there is Islamism, which is political Islam, where Islam is politicized and becomes violent. We need to choose which Islam that we want to follow," she explained. We asked if the travel ban was solely focused on Muslims. This is not against all Muslims, she corrected. "It's against Muslims who are distorting the faith. I realize that the anti-Trump movement is well-funded and very well planned. It doesn't matter what he says. I never believed that this was a ban against Muslims. As president of the United States, he could've banned Muslims from every country. But he hasn't and it is not permanent. We are speaking in a vacuum," she explained. She's right. After the travel ban was issued, there was a terror attack in London. A truck was driven into a crowd at a shopping center in central Stockholm, killing at least three people and injuring many others shortly after. Strengthening the security of a nation is a president's job and right based on section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952: Whenever the president finds that the entry of aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, the president may, by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate. President Barack Obama issued travel restrictions against Iraq in 2011 for six months after terrorists disguised themselves as refugees entered the country. President Bill Clinton and George W. Bush also issued bans. This is not about religion--the travel ban is to protect America. "You know, religion shouldn't come into it," said Raza. "It's a political move, the six countries are failed states, they have a lot of internal unrest. The rise of Jihad are in these states and they are unpredictable. It's a practical move by Trump in the right direction. Muslim leaders from other countries have supported Trump, but we never hear that in the news," she added. This sends a strong message to other Muslim countries, who support, fund and train terrorists. "Unlike the previous president, this president is not going to be politically correct and will not stand for harm to come to his own country and this includes protecting Muslims. Terrorists have harmed and attacked Muslims more than they have non-Muslims." Corine Gatti-Santillo is a freelance digital journalist, editor, and content producer. She is also the The Christian Post Voices Editor. She is also a former editor at Beliefnet.com. Shutterstock.com Whenever tensions begin to skyrocket in the Middle East, the rest of the world gets worried. Its no surprise, since the area has been known for its turmoil for most of human history. Many, though, also recognize that it is the center of the majority of Biblical prophecies. The Syrian conflict and the U.S. decision to strike a base inside the country are leading to further concerns. The future of the nations civil war, the state of the humanitarian crisis, and the best political path to move forward are all under hot debate. People are confused on how to best diffuse the situation. In addition to the conversations on how to remedy the crisis, there has also been intense debate within the theological space. Christians are starting to discuss the possibility of the events in Syria being connected with prophecies in the Bible. A Biblical prophecy is a prediction of an event that has yet to unfold. There are many who whole-heartedly believe the Syrian conflict is written explicitly in Biblical prophecy. For example, Joel Rosenberg, a New York Times bestselling author, has pointed to Old Testament scriptures to support his case. Questions began to make their way around evangelical circles following the event of Russias air strikes targeting rebels in Syria in October 2015. The discussion surrounding Syrias ongoing civil war, which started in 2011, and if it was tied to biblical prophecy reemerged. Rosenberg laid out his thoughts by publishing on his blog in the wake of the air strikes. He claimed that Russian president Vladimir Putin is working hand-in- glove with Irans government in formulating operations in Syria. This came the same week that reports of Iran waging a ground attack, while Russia was carrying out assaults from the air, were circulated. The Hebrew prophet Ezekiel wrote 2,500 years ago that in the last days of history, Russia and Iran will form a military alliance to attack Israel from the north, Rosenberg wrote. Bible scholars refer to this eschatological conflict, described in Ezekiel 3839, as the War of Gog & Magog. He added, Are these sudden and dramatic moves by Moscow and Tehransimply coincidental, or [do they] have prophetic implications? The question Rosenberg poses is at the epicenter of the debate surround Iran, Syria and Russia and their potential involvement in the end times. This has gained a great deal of attention in both the Christian community and the general media over the years. For those who believe Syria will play a role in end times scenarios, Isaiah 17:13 is the cornerstone. See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites, declares the LORD Almighty. The first portion that focuses on a ruinous heap has many wondering if the present crisis in Syria was prophesied in the Bible. However not everyone is buying it. Some scholars have countered that Damascus was already destroyed and that this verse refers to an attack by the Assyrians that unfolded in 732 BC. Rosenberg combats his critics and shuts down the idea of the Assyrian attack being the event prophesied in the Bible. Specifically citing Isaiah 17:13 and Jeremiah 49:2327, Rosenberg explained in a separate blog piece that Damascuss destruction has not yet happened. Jeremiah 49:2327 pledges judgment upon Damascus, proclaiming that it has become helpless and that a fire will be kindled in its walls. Were watching Damascus unravelThese prophecies have not yet been fulfilled. Damascus is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on earth. It has been attacked, besieged, and conquered, Rosenberg wrote. But Damascus has never been completely destroyed and left uninhabited. Bible Answer Man Hank Hanegraaff doesnt believe in the claim that the Old Testament could be describing future or current events. Hanegraaff has spoken about supposed Biblical prophecies associated with the end times before. Back in 2013 on his radio show a caller asked him about claims that the Book of Isaiah details impending destruction for Damascus. Hanegraaff pushed back the notion. So, what youre saying is theyre tying in the passages in Isaiah to what is currently happening in Syriaand this is just a classic example of newspaper eschatology and shame on the pastors that are doing this, because it either is a case of them not knowing the Word of God, which seems unlikely to me, or simply wanting to invite sensationalism and sophistry, he responded. If you look at what the Bible actually says, it is very clear that the fulfillment comes in the biblical text as well. This whole notion is fulfilled in biblical history when the king of the Assyria captured and destroyed Damascusif you look at Isaiah chapter 7, theres a permutation of this as wellyou see the fulfillment in the very next chapter, Isaiah chapter 8, he continued. Hanegraaff went on to say that some pastors decisions to transport pieces of prophecy to the 21st century are irresponsible. He called the action embarrassing and said that those pastors and Bible experts who embrace the idea are dragging Christs name through the mud. Rather than reading the Scriptures for what they are, he believes that some theologians are reading into the Scriptures their own eschatological views. In the end, the debate is compelling, intriguing and fascinating from both sides. The debate is comprised of individuals who agree on a central Christian doctrine, however couldnt disagree more about the signs and symbols that are presented within it. We cannot be sure when the end times are coming or how they will unfold, but its worth discussing in the Christian space. Megan Bailey is a former Social Media Specialist and Content Producer for Beliefnet. She attended James Madison University where she received a degree in psychology. Alleged Laotian drug kingpin Xaysana Keopimpha is escorted to a custody cell before appearing at Bangkok North Criminal Court where he pled not guilty to charges against him, April 18, 2017. A Laotian man described as a major drug lord in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia pleaded not guilty Tuesday in a Bangkok court to charges that could carry the death penalty, including smuggling and possession. Xaysana Keopimpha, 41, had been dubbed an ASEAN Drug Lord and Thai authorities said he headed a network that supplied caffeine-laced methamphetamine tablets known as yaba, which were produced in Myanmar, throughout the Mekong River region. Xaysanas Thai lawyer, Vorakorn Pongthanakul on Tuesday promised a strong defense of his client that would include challenging an earlier confession. Vorakorn said his client confessed to a police investigator because while Thai and Lao are similar languages, Xaysana does not understand it or the countrys laws. The lawyer said his client was worried because he had never been convicted of any crime. As for possible bail, family members in Laos are going to decide whether to apply. Now Xaysana is indicted and is becoming a defendant ... he and I, as his lawyer, agreed that he would plead innocent and we will fight all the charges, Vorakorn said following the arraignment in Bangkok North Criminal Court. I felt somewhat heavy hearted because the charges carry the death penalty. The last execution in Thailand for any crime was in 2009. Xaysana was arrested Jan. 19 at Bangkoks Suvahnbhumi Airport following a five-year investigation and a tip from Laos officials, according to Lt. Gen. Sommai Kongvisaisuk, who heads the Thai polices Narcotics Suppression Bureau. A Malaysian suspect who was arrested by police in Malaysia in February, Kamarudin Bin Awang, was a trade partner of Xaysana, Thailands counter-narcotics chief said back then, Sommai said at the time. Assets seized Xaysana led a flamboyant lifestyle prior to his arrest, hanging out with Thai celebrities and a soap opera star, according to reports. Lao authorities seized his assets including nine luxury vehicles, five houses and a 475-acre rubber plantation. Following his January arrest, Sommaly Thammavong, the daughter-in-law of former Lao Prime Minister Thongsing Thammavong distanced herself from rumored ties, saying that a photo showing her and Thammavongs son with Xaysana was taken by accident. The photo that circulated widely on Facebook shows only a casual social connection among the three, Sommaly Thammavong said at the time. We have not done any business with him, and we didnt know what he was involved in, she said. Arrest details The Golden Triangle which straddles Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, was notorious for opium and heroin, but recently methamphetamine overtook production in the region, mostly in Myanmar and to a lesser degree in Laos. Police officials allege that Xaysana himself distributed the drug in Thailand and had a network of dealers peddling yaba in other countries. Thai police in 2016 captured four members of Xaysanas alleged drug network, seizing more than 5 million yaba pills, officials told reporters on Jan. 20, the day after they captured the alleged kingpin. Police arrested Xaysana and three associates after they arrived in Bangkok following a visit to the southern Thai resort town of Phuket. During that press conference, Sommai thanked Lao law-enforcement authorities for providing information that helped lead to the arrest. Lao authorities said to us that if we couldnt arrest him here, they wouldnt be able to do anything in Laos, Sommai said. Xaysana has enormous assets in Laos, he said, adding, I dont know whats going on over there. SAN NARCISO, Calif. ( Bennington Vale Evening Transcript ) -- Fans and critics of Chick-fil-A have taken to the streets to show their sup... ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. 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Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten. Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen. Bowling Green State University salutes its three 2017 Campus Compact honorees, who by their service to the University and their communities have demonstrated leadership and a commitment to education for a better future. Campus Compact is a national coalition of nearly 1,100 colleges and universities committed to the public purposes of higher education. We are proud and delighted to see our students and faculty recognized by Campus Compact, said BGSU President Mary Ellen Mazey. These distinctions are a wonderful example of the extraordinary personal responsibility our community members take for service to others, and of the many ways in which Bowling Green State University changes lives for the world. Neiko Alvarado, a junior majoring in environmental policy and analysis, is the recipient of the Newman Civic Fellowship, which honors undergraduate and graduate students who have taken action in pursuit of long-term social change and who engage and inspire others in their communities. Kelly Largent, a senior majoring in middle childhood education, received the Charles J. Ping Student Service Award. Presented by Ohio Campus Compact, a nonprofit membership organization of 42 Ohio colleges and universities working to promote and develop the civic purposes of higher education, the award was designed to recognize and honor undergraduate students for their outstanding leadership and contributions to community service or service-learning on their campus and within their community. Ping Award winners represent the next generation of civic leaders and problem solvers. Dr. Brett Holden, assistant professor of theatre and film, was honored with the David Hoch Memorial Award for Excellence in Service, also presented by Ohio Campus Compact. The Hoch award honors the outstanding work in service-learning and/or civic engagement by a faculty or staff member at an Ohio Campus Compact member institution. Businessman Aliko Dangote may become the largest exporter of rice in the world by 2021 according to the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina. abhisheklyrics via pixabay Adesina said Africa must focus on agriculture to drive growth and create jobs on the continent while speaking at the Mo Ibrahim Forum in Morocco. Adesina recounted his time as Minister of Agriculture in Nigeria and a visit he received from Dangote who endorsed the policies Adesina put in place for import substitution. This lead Dangote to change his business model from being an importer to becoming a local producer. According to Adesina, Dangote planned to put $300m into producing and processing rice in Nigeria only to come back three months later with a plan to increase the investment to a billion dollars. If they continue that policy, he would probably be the single largest producer of rice in the world, in about four years. The reason why I was so excited about that is that agriculture is cool, agriculture is a business agriculture pays. Adesina was named Forbes Africa Person of the Year 2013, while Dangote won the same award in 2014. Rice outgrowers scheme It would be recalled that a tripartite agreement put together by the Dangote Rice Limited to create jobs for 16,000 outgrower rice farmers in Sokoto was recently signed with the Sokoto State government and rice growers in the country after which he launched the rice outgrowers scheme in Sokoto. Dangote, the chairman of Dangote Rice Limited, said he was moved to go into rice cultivation because of the genuine interest of the federal government to revive agriculture as the mainstay of the economy and reduce importation of foods that could be produced locally. He lamented that Nigeria consumes 6.5Mtn of rice which costs the nation over two billion dollars annually pointing out that it is heartening that the government now has policy direction that encourages private sectors active participation in agriculture. He disclosed that In the next three years, we want to produce one million tons of quality rice and make it available and affordable to the people. We hope to do 150,000ha and when we are done, Nigeria will not have anything to do with the importation of rice. Dangote Rice outgrowers scheme is committed to creating a significant number of jobs, increasing the incomes of smallholders farmers and ensuring food security in the country by providing high-quality seeds, fertilisers, and agro-chemicals as well as technical assistance on best agricultural practice to farmers. "This Scheme will help to diversify the economy, alleviate poverty and reduce the nation's import bill. The scheme has been designed as a one-stop solution for the rice value chain," Dangote stated. State lawmakers made no headway Tuesday on resolving the House and Senate versions for providing money to higher education in North Dakota. Primary differences included funding levels for medical residencies through the Students Loan Trust Fund, tuition caps and an interim study of nursing programs. Rep. Mark Sanford, R-Grand Forks, said about half the areas in the two versions were the same. Thats a good place to start, Sanford said. Senate Bill 2003, as it passed in the House, contains more than $2.64 billion in overall 2017-19 spending. Of this, more than $610 million is in general fund dollars while the rest comes from special funds. This is compared to the more than $2.62 billion in overall spending in the Senate version, of which more than $616 million is from general fund dollars and the rest in special funds. A conference committee will meet to resolve the differences between the versions of the bill, characterized as one of the most complex, at least once or twice on Wednesday. Theres some questions that need to be answered, conference committee chairman Sen. Ray Holmberg, R-Grand Forks, said. There is a $3.4 million discrepancy on how many Student Loan Trust Fund dollars are to be authorized for residency positions at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine. The Senate agreed on $15.2 million in its version as compared to $11.8 million allocated by the House. Another area to be resolved is the tuition cap for the states 11 colleges and universities. The Senate is calling for capping annual tuition increases at 3 percent, with exceptions for the UND medical and law schools and the pharmacy college at North Dakota State University. The State Board of Higher Education would be able to authorize an additional 1 percent increase if the institution requesting it does a $2 to $1 match for deferred maintenance as well as other capital needs. By comparison, the House version sets a 4 percent annual cap on tuition with no limits placed on graduate programs and nonresident tuition rates. The House also added interim studies of the states college nursing programs and for reorganizing the states two-year colleges. There might be some opportunities to be more cost-effective, Sanford said. Finally, language was introduced by the House providing legislative intent that future general fund dollars to NDSU be adjusted to save money to lease a building to house the nursing program in Bismarck. LONDON, UK - Britain's Daily Mail newspaper apologised to US First Lady Melania Trump and agreed to pay her damages over an article that included allegations that she worked as an escort in the 1990s. "The defendant is here today publicly to set the record straight, and to apologise to the claimant for any distress and embarrassment that the articles may have caused her," Catrin Evans, the lawyer for Associated Newspapers, publisher of the Daily Mail and MailOnline, told the High Court in London. Although the total amount of damages was not disclosed, the Press Association news agency said it was believed to be under $3 million (2.8 million euros). John Kelly, Melania Trump's lawyer, said the article in the Daily Mail -- Britain's second biggest-selling newspaper -- in print and online in August last year "included false and defamatory claims". The allegations "questioned the nature of her work as a professional model, and republished allegations that she provided services beyond simply modelling," Kelly said. The article stated that there was no support for the allegations and provided denials from her spokesperson and from Paolo Zampolli, who ran the modelling agency where she worked. But the allegations "strike at the heart of the claimant's personal integrity and dignity," Kelly added. Trump's lawyers launched a lawsuit against the Daily Mail in September in New York, asking for $150 million in damages. The paper had already published a retraction in September, saying it "did not intend to state or suggest that these allegations are true". In documents filed in February, the US first lady said that because of the Daily Mail's allegations she and her brand had missed out on "multiple millions of dollars" in licensing, marketing and endorsement opportunities that would otherwise have been available to someone spending time as "one of the most photographed women in the world". She said the publication had prevented her from reaping the "once-in-a-lifetime" windfall to be had as a business lady married to new US President Donald Trump. Source: AFP Finalists in the radio' category have been revealed for One Show 2017, with nine SA entries making the grade. TBWA Hunt Lascaris Johannesburg and Produce Sound Johannesburg feature in the category broadcast: any length campaign for their Before its not fun anymore work for client Flight Centre Travel. Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg features twice in the same category for KFCs The Everyman Meal and Vodacoms You Should Have Called. Ogilvy & Mather Johannesburg features five more times in the craft: writing single category: For KFCs The Everyman Meal Cherry Lip Balm, Claw Thing and Coloured Weights as well as for Vodacoms You Should Have Called Double Blue Tick and Email. OpenCo - The Open Collaboration Johannesburg and Howard Audio Johannesburg feature in the same category for BMW South Africas BMW Original Parts 'CEO'. Click here for the full list of finalists, which includes all the gold, silver and bronze pencils as well as merit winners. The full award details will be announced during One Show Creative Week from 8 to 12 May. You can view this and other One Show entries by browsing this years entries. Visit our One Show special section for all the latest updates! I was having an interesting discussion last week with someone who is in the image processing business and he was lamenting the fact that there is so much video around these days - in all areas of life, not just in the marketing sector - that it is becoming like wallpaper and in danger of losing its impact. Because of that, we agreed, the power of the still image the power to arrest and the power to stick in the mind is just as immense as it ever was. People remember significant events in frozen moments, I believe that is why a good photograph, portrait or graphic can transform your piece of communication, whether it be a news story, a poster or billboard or a printed ad. The power of the image is what is behind a campaign by Advantage Y&R in Namibia on behalf of environmental activist organisation Greenpeace, which wanted to highlight the danger posed by waste and trash. The agency commissioned two young local Namibian artists Petrus Shiimi and Saima Ita to convey the idea that trash will pollute our future, to underline the impact pollution will have on our children and their children. The artists each produced an African mask constructed from trash. The masks were then worn by children the generation which will be affected by our rubbishy ways. The images run over the tagline: Trash shouldnt define our culture. Its simple, its effective and it becomes almost performance art. Its arresting and you cant help but notice the tagline. I also like to see our own talent and by that I mean African, as opposed to imported mid-Atlantic twangy-cheesy smiling clowns being used for an important project. So, Orchids to Greenpeace and to Advantage Y&R. I wondered, looking at some digital advertising this week, whether we might not see some lawyers letters flying back and forth following the use by Toyota Automark of the phrase Trust is earned. Automarks web ads use that pay-off line, which just so happens to be synonymous with Coronation Fund Managers, and which has appeared in a number of that companys successful and entertaining TV ads, some of which have earned Orchids from me. Coronation has gone to the trouble of trademarking the phrase which, although it is not uncommon, has been seized upon by them as a way of selling their investment products in a highly successful way. I suppose Toyota could always argue that, even if Coronation has trade marked the phrase, then the protection would only apply to the financial services sector. And maybe they would be correct and maybe Coronation wouldnt bother. However, I still think that it is lazy copy writing. OK guys, what do we want to say about our cars? That people should trust them! Yeah! Anyone seen that ad where they say Trust is earned? Hey! Thats cool Also, I am not quite convinced the use of the phrase is anything other than clumsy in the digital execution. Trust is earned. Thats why it comes standard with us. What does that mean? Trust is earned but not really, not if you do business with us because we just give it to you Come on, people! It might have been better to say: Trust is not easy to find these days; but with us it is not an optional extra it comes standard. My pleasure. Invoice is in the mail Lazy Onion for Toyota Automark. UK-based public relations firm Bell Pottinger announced on Wednesday that it was cutting ties with Gupta-owned Oakbay, saying its ability to be an effective advocate for the company had been compromised. The company was hired by the Gupta family in 2016 at the height of the debate on state capture, when former deputy finance minister Mcebisi Jonas announced that members of the family had offered him the post of finance minister. The company said the decision was mutually agreed on with Oakbay. This was confirmed by Gupta family lawyer Gert van der Merwe. The decision was taken after the release of a report by the South African Communist Party entitled Bell Pottinger - PR support for the Gupta family. Ajay, left, and Atul Gupta. Picture: Martin Rhodes, Business Live The report contained details of the work done by the company on behalf of the family that it said included a "deflection campaign" using social media. It claimed that President Jacob Zuma asked the company to help his son Duduzane Zuma with his reputation. "Using a series of underhanded tactics, Bell Pottinger have sought to divert the public outcry over the Guptas and refocus the attention upon other examples of state interference and capture, notably by 'white capital'," the report said. It also listed names of Twitter personalities and handles it said were used to peddle this narrative. The PR company claimed the report contained "wholly untrue" statements about the firm and its work for Oakbay. Bell Pottinger said that since the release of this report, a concerted social media campaign had been waged against it. Certain partners and staff had received personally abusive and threatening comments. "For the last year, we have been working to help Oakbay defend itself from attacks on its reputation, correcting misrepresentations and defending it and its owners from politically motivated attack. "In recent times, the tactics of Oakbay's detractors have changed; Bell Pottinger has been targeted and [has] become the story. Unfortunately, in this regard, they have had some success and we have to accept that this has compromised our ability to be an effective advocate for our client," the company said. It defended Oakbay, saying that there was no evidence of wrongdoing in the time it had done work for the company. Source: Business Day Las Iguanas, a UK mid-market restaurant brand, will open its first outlet in South Africa in June 2017 in Johannesburg. Las Iguanas interior The brand specialises in Mexican, Brazilian and South American food and cocktails. South Africans are always hungry for new places to dine, and Las Iguanas will fill the gap with this well established concept, says Stelio Nathanael, chief operating officer of Gold Brands, which is bringing the brand to South Africa. In addition to its existing brands of Chesanyama, Blacksteer, 1+1 Pizza Pasta, Opa!Pitaland and Chicken Wild Wings, Gold Brands has added UK brands from the Casual Dining Group - Las Iguanas, Cafe Rouge, Belgo and Bella Italia, to its expanding portfolio. The idea behind the brand was to create a fun, happy place that made people feel good about themselves and life in general. Twenty five years down the line, it is still doing just that, says Mos Shamel, MD of Las Iguanas, which started in Bristol in 1991. Known for its vibrant colours and atmosphere, the outlet now has 53 sites. High street favourites An integral part of its identity is its extensive cocktail offer, which boasts a variety of classic South American serves, such as mojitos, caipirinhas and margaritas. Its food menu draws inspiration from flavours across South America, featuring a large range of tacos, alongside a selection of Mexican classics and tapas style small plates. Its Buenos Aires burger also won the UK Casual Dining Magazine National Burger Awards in 2017. Mark Nelson, managing director of Franchising and Concessions at CDG, said, We are delighted to have the opportunity to bring our brands to South Africa and reach a new audience. Our brands are regarded as high street favourites in the UK and we are confident they will thrive in this new market. Las Iguanas will be open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week, with specials added daily. A bespoke childrens menu is available, which has been designed with Aardman animations, the animation company behind Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run, so that it is easily navigable for children. To highlight the poor state of public healthcare in the province, the South African Medical Association's (Sama) KwaZulu-Natal coastal branch has resolved to embark on protest march on Friday, 5 May. The branch has called on all doctors and specialists, as well as all allied health and labour organisations in the province, to support this action. Through this awareness, we hope to gain support from the public as we demand an end to the rapidly deteriorating delivery of healthcare services in our province. This situation is getting worse every day, and as healthcare professionals we are duty bound to do something about it. This situation cannot continue without meaningful intervention, says Dr Mvuyisi Mzukwa, Sama KZN coastal branch chairperson. Unilateral changes According to him, the branch is alarmed by the provincial health departments decision to unilaterally change the conditions of employment of all doctors by freezing critical posts, creating unfunded posts, keeping some doctors unemployed, and introducing a new commuted overtime policy without adequate consultation. Subsequent to the introduction of the new policy, the doctors held a number of meetings with health officials demanding changes. A consultative process began with the national department of health, but the provincial health department undermined the process by commencing workshops to enforce the unilateral implementation of the new policy. According to Mzukwa, the branch has noticed a sharp deterioration in healthcare at hospitals and clinics in the province over the years. Indications of this include shortages of medicines, collapsing infrastructure, broken equipment, and inadequate provision of staff. This has led to a situation where access to healthcare services, and patient dignity is compromised daily. Total collapse Recently, to further exacerbate the situation, the national department rejected a call by the medical profession to increase doctor posts. This undermines the advocacy role, and ethical responsibilities, of our doctors who need to protect the interests of the poor communities, who rely heavily on public healthcare facilities, says Mzukwa. There was a total collapse in the departments of oncology, ENT, urology, and, lately, anaesthetics. He said members of Sama are reporting a variety of problems on a daily basis including burnout, mass resignations, and the relocation of doctors to other provinces. As a result of the problems not being addressed adequately by the provincial department of health, we have taken the very serious step of deciding to embark on this protest march, concludes Mzukwa. The Cape Bar has launched an initiative with legal firms in Cape Town to tackle the lack of transformation in the sector. Following complaints that racism and sexism were rife in the profession, Judge President Dunstan Mlambo of the Gauteng division of the high court directed staff to record the race and gender of every advocate appearing in the motion court in the High Court in Pretoria. The data would help to ascertain how certain races and genders dominated certain areas of litigation and would help in dealing with transformation among advocates and attorneys. Similar challenges existed in the Western Cape as well as at the Supreme Court of Appeals. The Black Lawyers Association has called for the office of the chief justice to investigate allegations of discrimination among judges at the Supreme Court of Appeal. The situation at the court was revealed by judges during the recent Judicial Services Commission (JSC) interviews for senior positions at the court. In the Western Cape initiative, regular meetings between the Cape Bar and the legal firms would be held to ensure implementation and to monitor their progress in meeting their transformation targets. The Cape Bar said the programme would play a key role in motivating those responsible for briefing decisions to review briefing patterns and identify and address any bias, conscious or unconscious, which stood in the way of equitable briefing patterns. At the end of each financial year, the attorney firms would provide data on the number, nature and value of briefs according to race, gender and seniority. Cape Bar spokeswoman Tanya Golden SC said the council would continue its interaction with Cape Town attorney firms in a bid to meaningfully address the problem of skewed and inequitable briefing patterns. "We hope that all the large firms in Cape Town will make a commitment to this initiative," Golden said. The council said attorney firms could continue to brief black advocates in the ordinary course of things, regardless of the initiative, to address briefing patterns head-on. Source: Business Day Illegal poaching, logging and fishing of sometimes critically endangered species is taking place in nearly half of the world's most protected natural sites, environmental campaigners WWF warned on Tuesday, 18 April. Natural world heritage sites such as Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Galapagos Islands support large populations of rare plant and animal species. But in a report WWF said species listed by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) faced the threat of illegal harvesting and trafficking in 45% of the more than 200 natural world heritage sites on the planet. "Natural world heritage sites are among the most recognised natural sites for their universal value," said Marco Lambertini, head of WWF International. "Yet many are threatened by destructive industrial activities and... their often unique animals and plants are also affected by overexploitation and trafficking," he added, stressing that "unless they are protected effectively, we will lose them forever." Almost a third of the world's remaining 3,890 wild tigers and 40% of all African elephants are found in UNESCO-listed sites, which are often a last refuge for critically endangered species such as the Javan rhino in Indonesia, the report said. Illegal poaching, logging and fishing inside such sites is therefore "driving endangered species to the brink of extinction", WWF warned. The species most at risk because of illegal activity within natural world heritage sites is probably the vaquita, the world's smallest porpoise, which is indigenous to Mexico's Gulf of California, Colman O'Criodain, WWF's wildlife policy manager, told AFP. While the vaquita itself is not being fished illegally, it is being caught in nets used to poach the totoaba -- a giant Mexican fish coveted in China for its swim bladder, which itself is considered a threatened species. "When I started working on the issue of vaquita two years ago, there were 96 left. Now it is less than 30," O'Criodain said, adding that at the current rate the tiny porpoise could be extinct within a year. According to Tuesday's report, poaching of vulnerable and endangered animal species such as elephants, rhinos and tigers occurs in 42 of the UNESCO-listed natural sites, while illegal logging of rosewood, ebony and other valuable plant species happens in 26 of them. Illegal fishing, including of sharks and rays occurs in 18 of 39 listed marine coastal world heritage sites, it said. Such illegal activities inside what should be the best-protected sites on the planet are "a double outrage," O'Criodain said. "We're talking about very iconic species, and we are also talking about iconic sites," he said, demanding more efforts at the national and international level to beat the trend. But it is difficult to fight the illegal wildlife trade, which rakes in between $15-20bn annually, making it the fourth largest illegal global trade, after drugs, counterfeiting and human trafficking, according to UN numbers. At the same time, the illegal timber trade, which is responsible for up to 90% of all deforestation in major tropical countries, is valued at between $30-100bn annually. There are large economic interests in bringing an end to such illegal activities, especially inside world heritage sites, WWF said. This is because poaching and trafficking inside these sites threatens not only species, but also livelihoods and entire tourist industries. Africa is estimated to lose up to $25m per year in lost tourism due to elephant poaching, while the illegal rosewood trade has, over a two-year period, cost the people of Madagascar up to $200m in lost income, the report found. Source: AFP Local unlisted technology, media, telecommunications, exploration and other research and development companies can establish companies offshore in order to obtain foreign investment without prior Reserve Bank approval, according to a recent circular from the Financial Surveillance Department of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). The circular amends the Currency and Exchanges Manual for Authorised Dealers. Previously, the manual required companies to apply for approval from the SARB to list offshore to raise loans and capital. It is now possible for a South African company to create a so-called loop structure in order to raise capital overseas, says Brendon Ambrose, associate, commercial IP, Spoor & Fisher Four conditions A loop structure is one whereby a South African resident will form an offshore company which will in turn reinvest into South Africa by acquiring shares or some other interest in a South African company or asset. Up until recently this sort of structure contravened regulation 10(1)(c) of the Exchange Control Regulations, 1961. Establishing such an offshore company, however, is subject to four conditions, namely these companies have to register with the financial surveillance departments; the offshore company must be a tax resident in South Africa; full details of the percentage shareholding in the offshore company (including the group structure) must be provided; and an annual report must be submitted to the financial surveillance departments on the operations, including details of funds raised offshore. Higher burden of disclosure This subsection, while providing that South African companies may now establish an offshore company to raise funding, places a high burden of disclosure on the offshore company, adds Ambrose. Disclosure of the details of the group structure and the requirement to submit an annual report creates an administrative burden on South African companies. These administrative requirements are certainly not deal breakers but must be borne in mind when considering a loop structure as a capital raising mechanism. The second new section completes the loop, as it allows the foreign company to, in turn, hold investments and or make loans in to South Africa. The allowance of loop structure is important for South African startups looking to raise capital from foreign investors. A loop structure makes the remittance of the capital back to the South African company substantially simpler The investor, in order to mitigate its risks, may only be willing to invest funds in a company registered in the investors own country. Control by equity The South African company can set up an offshore company (first half of the loop) where the foreign investors will purchase equity. This offshore company will, in turn, purchase shares in the South African company (second half of the loop). The key here is the control; the foreign investors are happy as they now have equity in the South African company allowing them to exercise some level of control over the South African companies IP. Previously, there was no way for the foreign investors to gain this control by equity unless they were willing to purchase shares in the South African company directly. This is a huge step forward in opening up South Africa to foreign investment and such loop structures should be considered quite seriously by South African tech, fintech, telecom and R&D startups, says Ambrose. The Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year Awards has been held annually for the past 29 years to reward and advance excellence in the architectural profession countrywide. It involves regional competitions at eight major South African universities in the build-up to a national award ceremony in Johannesburg on 10 May 2017 at which the overall winner is named and presented with a prize of R50,000. Kenneth Main will represent the UCT at the Corobrik Architectural Student of the Year Awards. Christie van Niekerk, Corobrik Western Cape general manager, presented prizes to architectural students of the University of Cape Town in March. The regional winner of R8,500 was Kenneth Main, with Michele de Villiers receiving the R6,500 second prize and Kayla Brown taking home the third prize of R4,500. The prize of R4,500 for the best use of clay was won by Christian Scriba. Kenneth Mains thesis is entitled Urban Acupuncture: Architecture as a catalyst for environmental and water conservation in the context of the Kilimanjaro Informal Settlement. Urban acupuncture In his thesis, he attempts to establish an approach to dealing with the issue of waste contamination and water conservation in the natural and urban landscapes of the riverbed, its edges and man-made peripheries. The research locates itself at the northern boundary of the city of Windhoek along a stretch of polluted riverbed in the Kilimanjaro Informal Settlement (KIS). In the creation of an architectural approach urban acupuncture is explored to create architecture that has the potential to influence areas beyond its physical boundaries. In addition, it can re-establish and re-imagine the value of the river for its unseen influence in shaping Windhoek as rapid urbanisation is taking place. Aspects of environmental degradation, water conservation and lack of basic infrastructure form a basis of inquiry to which an urban framework is proposed. Most simply, this framework acts to establish an alternative and more efficient system which collects, stores, filters and reuses wastewater for both drinking and irrigation purposes through a series of four contextually assigned architectural devices. Utilising the bi-products of this urban framework (reedbed filtered water and potable/drinking water), the KIS Agricultural Learning Centre is proposed. The centre provides a point of exchange for both in-situ filtered drinking water and fresh produce that is grown at the centre establishing a link between this infrastructural insertion and its public and social constructs. Lifecycle awareness We expect the architectural students to be conscious of the big picture and the global environment in which they operate, said van Niekerk. This includes the concept of sustainable building and an awareness that life cycle impacts are critical to the design of environmentally responsible buildings. It was clear that this was the case with the winning students this year. The correct choice of building materials was a factor in ensuring environmentally friendly construction practices, van Niekerk said, and it was hard to ignore the sustainable properties of clay masonry in this regard. Energy efficiency is an increasingly important consideration in reducing environmental impact and it here that face brick comes into its own because of its thermal efficiency, helping to keep the interior of buildings cool in the hotter months and warm in winter, a benefit which is of particular importance in South Africa with its extremes in temperature. Superior thermal efficiency also means lower energy costs throughout the life cycle of a building and peace of mind knowing that the first cost is essentially the last cost. The architectural and building sector are increasingly receptive to the idea that, when considering the life cycle costs of a project, eco-friendly buildings cost less to operate and have excellent energy performance. As a result, we are seeing architects creating designs for environmentally sound buildings, a trend that was manifested in the projects submitted by this years students and one which bodes well for the furtherance of world class architectural design in this country. The Walter Sisulu University has six months to hire required academic staff to teach LLB or face losing accreditation to offer the course. The university's electrical and mechanical engineering courses also face a similar plight but, unlike LLB which has a deadline of October, WSU has until July next year to hire the academic staff for the engineering programmes and to ensure proper lecture halls. The Department of Higher Education has even set aside R183-million for WSU to be able to upgrade its lecture halls and science laboratory as well as hire staff to teach the affected courses. The Council on Higher Education (CHE) issued this stern warning to the university on Thursday. Three other universities, namely the University of South Africa, the North West University and University of Free State, also face losing their accreditation for the LLB degree. This comes after the CHE reviewed 21 South African universities. WSU has also been red-flagged for its electrical and civil engineering courses. WSU spokeswoman Yonela Tukwayo confirmed yesterday that the university had been given until October to hire the qualified lecturers to teach LLB at its Mthatha campus. Tukwayo said WSU had also been given until July next year to improve the quality of teaching for electrical and civil engineering diplomas. Department of Higher Education spokesman Madikwe Mabotha said should the affected institutions not adhere to the CHE recommendations, their LLB courses would be suspended. The change of ownership of an immovable doesn't happen when the Offer to Purchase is signed, or even when the purchase price is paid to the seller. Rather, for ownership to change hands, the property needs to go through a registration process at the deeds office, where the home is transferred into the new owner's name - this process requires the services of conveyancing attorneys. Each time a property is sold it will go through the conveyancing process and a new title deed will be issued in the name of the new owner. Part of the process is also to remove the property from the sellers name. The title deed ensures the certainty of the owners title to the property that he or she has purchased. Conveyancing process Three attorneys are used in the conveyancing process; the registering attorney, the cancellation attorney and the transferring attorney. The transferring attorney is appointed by and will represent the seller. As the seller, there are some things that can be expected of a transferring attorney during the process. First off, the attorney should always protect the interest of their client, being the seller. Except for the course issues of the law, the clients interests should be a priority. Another thing that the attorney should do is keep the seller updated with the progress of the transaction. The attorney needs to communicate with the seller on an ongoing basis and keep them informed about the conveyancing procedure. The conveyancer must advise the seller on the content of the Offer to Purchase, especially if the contract contains certain suspensive conditions, such as the offer being subject to the buyers bond approval or selling another property. With regard to the Offer to Purchase, the attorney must also keep the seller informed of their obligations to ensure that the transfer of the property is not delayed. The attorney will meet with the seller to go over all documentation and explain anything that the seller does not fully understand. Once the seller has been informed of everything and all has been clarified, the seller will then sign the necessary documentation to conclude the transaction. Once all the document is ready, the attorney will lodge them with the Deeds Office. Penalties or administrative charges The attorney will be in contact with the sellers bank so will inform them once their bond has been settled and cancelled. The attorney will also be able to tell the seller whether there are any penalties or administrative charges that need to be paid, which would impact the eventual settlement balance. Certain notice periods may need to run their course before the money is paid over to the seller. Before any guarantees are issued in respect of the transaction, the attorney must obtain the sellers instruction. To ensure that the process runs as smoothly and as quickly as possible, the conveyancing attorney will do everything in their power to expedite the registration of the property. Ideally, they will aim to close the transaction on the date that was agreed upon in the Offer to Purchase, provided there are no unexpected delays. Bearing in mind, they are heavily dependent on several external parties such as banks, city councils and the such - this is no mean feat. On the day that the property has been registered in the new owners name, the attorney will inform the seller. Once everything has been concluded, and the home has been successfully registered, the attorney will account to the seller for any fees that relate to the transaction. Sellers can expect to receive this account within two days of the propertys date of registration. On 9 February 2017, the Constitutional Court handed down a judgment that may ultimately prove to be a significant departure from South Africa's established legal practice, at least insofar as contractual relations in the petroleum retail industry are concerned. The Petroleum Products Act (duly amended) has introduced a statutory form of arbitration for the resolution of certain contractual disputes arising between licensed retailers and wholesalers operating in the petroleum industry (whether this satisfies the requirements for classification as an arbitration is a debate for another day). In terms of s12B(1), a party can refer a dispute alleging an unfair contractual practice to the Controller of Petroleum Products (Controller), who may then in turn, refer the parties to arbitration. No agreement to arbitrate is required. Until the 9 February 2017 judgment, s12B(1) was interpreted rather restrictively, which resulted in only a few disputes being referred to arbitration. In Business Zone 1010cc v Engen Petroleum Limited and others, the Constitutional Court substantially widened the ambit of s12B by reducing the discretion afforded to the Controller not to refer a dispute alleging an unfair contractual practice to an arbitrator for determination. In the Pretoria High Court, Engen argued that, as the contract upon which the dispute arose had been cancelled, the question could not relate to a contractual practice. Further, as the question of cancellation was then pending before another division of the High Court, Engen argued that the arbitrator was not entitled to consider the question of an alleged unfair contractual practice. These contentions were rejected by the High Court but Engen ultimately found favour with the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). Business Zone subsequently appealed the decision of the SCA to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court ultimately found in favour of Business Zone and set aside the decision of the SCA. As a result, the question of Engens unfair contractual practice was then referred to an arbitrator for determination. Significant judgement for arbitration matters This judgment is significant in a number of ways. The scope of the dispute, and ultimately the jurisdiction of the arbitrator, is defined in s12B(4) of the Act, which states that an arbitrator shall determine whether the alleged contractual practices concerned are unfair or unreasonable and, if so, shall make such award as he or she deems necessary to correct such practice. In terms of this section, an arbitrator is not empowered to make any determination, which exceeds a finding on fairness or reasonableness. That means that principles of lawfulness for example fall outside the jurisdiction of the arbitrator. It would therefore appear that an argument that a lawfully concluded contract expressly permits the conduct concerned would fall outside of an arbitrators jurisdiction. Such a defence is based on the law of contract and not on principles of fairness or reasonableness. The maxim that agreements are to be upheld therefore plays no role in such proceedings. Only principles of fairness and reasonableness are relevant - a drastic departure from the rule of law one might say. South African law does not embody a historical jurisprudence based on principles of equity and fairness to the exclusion of private law rights. Equity and fairness are not legal concepts clearly defined in our law. Not only will arbitrators be called upon to make a call without the assistance of years of jurisprudence to guide them in reaching a decision, their decision will be final and binding on the parties. To make that clear: an unsuccessful party cannot appeal such an award where the statute prescribes that the award will be final and binding. Drawing on the jurisprudence of our labour courts is not extremely helpful either. Labour disputes are normally resolved in a different manner and are aimed at protecting entirely different interests compared to the purely commercial interests here relevant. Arbitrations are mostly conducted in private. Most of the widely accepted rules, in terms whereof arbitrations are administered, impose the strictest forms of confidentiality on the parties covering the proceedings and the ultimate award itself. Arbitral awards are kept secret and are not relied upon or even referred to in arbitrations, which follow. A s12B arbitration is no exception, further fuelling arbitrary decision making and removing the ability to learn from previous advancements or mistakes in applying these principles. Unwieldy mechanism In light of this recent interpretation of s12B, we are now burdened with a mechanism to refer an alleged dispute relating to contractual unfairness against a possibly unwilling and un-consenting participant, to an arbitrator (in the absence of agreement) potentially appointed solely by the Controller, empowered to potentially apply principles of equity and fairness to the exclusion of principles of law and to force him or her to reach a decision to which no appeal will lie, which will most likely remain confidential, thereby depriving further arbitrators the opportunity to learn from such decisions. How does this process affect well-established private law rights? Is a claim based in contract then extinguished by such a decision? If so, how do we reconcile this with the principle that each party should be afforded equal opportunities to advance their own case and to exercise their own rights? Importantly, if the parties choose an arbitrator and the rules under s 12B(2), can this decision be regarded as having been made freely? Further, would such an agreement protect the arbitrator from the danger of a review under PAJA? I do not think that this beast has a name yet but it has certainly reared its head. Given that sub-Saharan Africa has the third highest exposure to incidents of cyber fraud in the world (Global Fraud Report), the revised draft Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill, tabled in Parliament on 21 February 2017, is a welcome addition to the prevention of cybercrime. What is cybercrime? It is defined as "any criminal or other offence that is facilitated by or involves the use of electronic communications or information systems, including any device or the internet or any one or more of them" in the Electronic Communications and Transactions Amendment Bill, 2012. Heavy cost to industry, government In the 2016 Cost of Data Breach Study, conducted by IBM and the Ponemon Institute, the costs incurred by 19 organisations from nine different industry sectors were examined, following the theft of protected personal data. On average, the total organisational cost of a data breach in South Africa is R20.6 million. According to the study, incidences of cybercrime and cybersecurity breaches are rapidly escalating globally with 64% more security incidents reported in 2015 than in 2014. South Africa is a target for cybercrime on the African continent, due to comparatively high internet connectivity in relation to other African countries. Among the numerous threats posed to South African business by cybercrime is the unlawful acquisition or interference with sensitive data relating to their clientele or business operations, and cyber fraud, in particular wire transfer fraud. The Global Fraud Report ranks data deletion due to system issues as the most prevalent form of interference with data. Wire transfer fraud accounted for 26% of cyber fraud in sub-Saharan Africa, far ahead of the global average of 14%. Other forms of cyber-attack included viruses, and email based phishing attacks. South Africans are defrauded in excess of R2.2 billion each year through online scams and cyber related crimes, according to the South African Banking Risk Information Centre. On 12 February 2016, the Government Communications and Information Services database was hacked by hacktivist group Anonymous, resulting in a leak of the names, phone numbers, email addresses and passwords of approximately 1500 government employees. On 16 February 2016, the South African Department of Water Affairs was hacked by the same group, resulting in the leak of sensitive data including usernames, passwords, full names, identity numbers, highly sensitive data and details of projects undertaken by that department. At the 2015 Security Summit, held in Johannesburg, it was revealed that South Africa suffered more cybercrime attacks than any other country in Africa during a six-week period leading up to the summit. In response to the elevated threat of cybercrime, the South African Reserve Bank announced, on 23 August 2016, the establishment of a special forum of all South Africa's major financial institutions to put together contingency measures to protect critical financial infrastructure from a prolonged cyberattack. According to Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago, As a central bank and a regulator in the financial sector, the bank would be remiss in its duty if it ignored the growing risks emerging from the financial services sectors increasing reliance on cyberspace and the internet. Bill seeks to reduce cybercrime The escalation of cybercrime in South Africa has elicited legislative intervention from government in the form of the draft Cybercrimes and Cybersecurity Bill. The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development was mandated to review the cybersecurity laws of South Africa to ensure that these laws provide for a coherent and integrated cybersecurity legal framework. On 28 August 2015, the Department invited public comment on the Bill. Having regard to the commentary of the public, a revised version of the Bill was tabled in Parliament on 21 February 2017, which has created several new offences for unlawful cyber activity including revenge porn. In terms of the Bill, the following activities are criminalised: Unlawful securing of access to data, a computer programme, a computer data storage medium or a computer system Unlawful acquisition of data Unlawful acts in respect of software or hardware tools Unlawful interference with data or a computer programme Unlawful interference with a computer data storage medium or computer system Unlawful acquisition, possession, provision, receipt or use of password, access codes or similar data or devices Cyber fraud Cyber forgery and uttering Cyber extortion Certain aggravated offences Attempting, conspiring, aiding, abetting, inducing, inciting, instigating, instructing, commanding or procuring to commit an offence Theft of incorporeal properties Unlawful broadcast or distribution of data messages which incites damage to property or violence Unlawful broadcast or distribution of data messages which is harmful Unlawful broadcast or distribution of data messages of intimate image without consent The Bill imposes an array of penalties on offenders on conviction, who will be liable for fines or imprisonment for up to 15 years. It also creates infrastructure, such as the Cyber Response Committee and 24/7 Point of Contact, to promote cybersecurity within South Africa. The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services will now process the Bill, prior to referral to the National Council of Provinces. This Bill address the immediate and costly threat cybercrime poses to business in South Africa and is a positive legislative leap in the anti-corruption space. Publications can improve advertising revenues if they take advantage of real-time print adverts and that will help not only their ailing fortunes but the ailing fortunes of publishing printers, too. Their fortunes certainly are ailing too, except, for Drum. In South Africa, ABC figures show that Q3 2015 to Q3 2016 overall newspaper circulation shrank from 1,4 million to 1,2 million. Look at the 10 years from 2004 to 2014 and ABC figures show massive declines for print titles. Rapport declined over 51%, magazine Finweek was down nearly 70%, Mens Health dropped over 52%,Cosmopolitan was down nearly 49%, and The Star dropped by a hair over 44%. Yet Drum circulation bucked the trend and actually increased 68%. Publishing is the outcast in the general recovery story of the print industry following the global financial hit of 2008 and the subsequent economic whammy for the print industry resulting from the rise of digital media. Packaging print is the shining star while commercial print is a mixed bag of recovering fortunes. Perhaps the silver lining is that publishing isnt dead, rolled into the hole, with dirt kicked over its rotting corpse. The decline may be widespread but arguably desperate measures such as making publishing roles redundant to redistribute advertising personnel across entire swathes of publications instead of single titles have buoyed flagging coffers. Perhaps to the chagrin of merger and acquisition (M&A) professionals who buy a black book but instead get a haemorrhaging red blotter. Cynics aside, print publications can still boast a plethora success stories. Some advertising agencies have seized the notion that print offers an irreplaceable and irrepressible value in its tangible substance of quality substrate that slippery and ephemeral digital media overburdened by easy fakery simply cannot master. These agencies apparently pull economic rabbits from creative hats because their inventive teams took time to understand the physical materials at their disposal. A creative team made a print ad for DHL using a see-through page in a magazine that, when flipped, shows a DHL man first collecting a parcel from a customer then immediately delivering it demonstrating DHL's rapid service. Its clever and simple and made possible because publisher printers could print the image of the DHL man on a see-through sheet and bind that into the magazine. And the advertising people knew it was even possible. So theres a lot of possibility and one of the big tricks to impact revenues in the next few years will increasingly be real-time print adverts. Real-time adverts were one of the primary reasons to use online advertising. Advertisers could immediately take advantage of events as they unfolded in the real world to make clever adverts and post them online where customers would be impressed by their cleverness or immediacy and spend their money as a result. Month-long magazine print lead times and days for newspapers didnt convey the same immediacy. But the ability to print more rapidly, more personalised, and using a greater variety of options of inks and substrates makes it eminently more possible today. It requires a slight shift in the model newspapers employ but could use to catapult a march on the competition if they work together with their printers. There was been a 17% increase in the number of Fortune 500 companies establishing international headquarters in the Middle East and Africa (MEA region) in 2016, compared to 2015, with Johannesburg being the leading destination city in Africa, followed by Casablanca and Nairobi. Casablanca philipus via 123RF The Middle East Africa region has become increasingly important for the majority of global Fortune 500 companies, according to a new report released by Infomineo, a global business research company specialising in Africa and the Middle East. The report focuses on multinationals looking at entering, or already present, in the Middle East and Africa region. The Infomineo analysis includes the regional footprint of multinationals in the MEA region; the most commonly chosen cities; and the factors which influence the selection of a region, country and city - each element revealing the dynamic growth patterns within the region and a clear trend of Fortune 500 companies establishing presence in MEA. The most attractive cities are: Dubai, Johannesburg, Casablanca and Nairobi, and at the lower end of the spectrum, Cairo, Paris, Algiers and Cape Town In 2016, 196 Fortune 500 companies had established a dedicated regional headquarters in the MEA region. In the Middle-East, Dubai is the most popular choice with 138 companies establishing a dedicated entity in the city. There has also been a marked uptick in companies deciding to cover MEA from outside of the region 38 companies up from 22 have established a regional headquarters in areas such as London, Brussels and Paris. The leading regional destinations on the Fortune 500 list include Dubai, Johannesburg, Casablanca, Nairobi, Lagos, and Cairo. Egypt remains behind the leaders due to political instability, however, it has seen a 250% increase in Fortune 500 investment since 2015. Germany and France are leading in terms of coverage rate while China has the lowest presence in the region. Industry type Industry type plays a pivotal role in the selection of city and country. Financial services are more likely to base MEA coverage from London, while technology companies are more inclined towards Casablanca or Lagos. The latter city is also the premier location for organisations looking to manage their operations across Western Africa with 12 Fortune 500 companies already established in the city. Automotive and Healthcare tend to have a presence in both Africa and the Middle East, while Technology is more inclined to having a presence from the outside. Nairobi, in Kenya, is the leading destination for the FMCG companies and tends to be the top choice for organisations looking to service Eastern Africa. Dubai and Johannesburg are the most popular hubs overall, but both Casablanca and Nairobi are rapidly gaining traction and international awareness. Casablanca has the highest growth rate overall, while Dubai has the highest count. The same can be said for London, which has tripled its number of regional HQs serving the region, acting as an MEA hub. Given the geographical proximity and the talent pool present in the city, it could be that London is playing the role of a first step into the MEA region, especially for Japanese and North American companies. There are numerous factors which impact on the organisations selection of a specific city. These include the local market potential, maturity of the industry, existing competitors, political stability and the quality of the employment market, among others. Determining the attractiveness of a location along these clear lines assures the Fortune 500 companies of a stable and profitable investment and significantly mitigates risk. The most attractive cities are Dubai, Johannesburg, Casablanca and Nairobi, and at the lower end of the spectrum, Cairo, Paris, Algiers and Cape Town. Infomineo has undertaken in-depth analysis and research on the MEA region, revealing the various factors inhibiting or inspiring Fortune 500 uptake. The findings provide organisations with a thorough understanding of markets and factors which ensure a steady base of operations from which organisations can expand into the growing MEA market, and establish brand and identity within the growing middle classes. Further data on the report can be found here. Subscribe to daily business and company news across 19 industries SUBSCRIBE The armed pipeline security worker who was in a confrontation with protesters in late October was arrested Monday for domestic violence. Kyle Thompson, 30, of Bismarck, pleaded guilty at his initial appearances to carrying a concealed weapon, simple assault and possession of marijuana and methamphetamine paraphernalia. Bismarck Municipal Court Judge William Severin sentenced him to two days in jail for the simple assault charge. He received a deferred imposition of sentence from South Central District Judge Bruce Romanick on the weapon and meth paraphernalia charges, meaning if he stays out of trouble for a year the cases will be dismissed. The Bismarck Police Department reported that officers pulled Thompson's vehicle over around 6 p.m. after multiple witnesses reported he was hitting a 21-year-old woman in the car. Police searched the vehicle and found a handgun tucked between the driver's seat and the center console, as well as a rifle in the backseat. Police also found a zipper pouch containing syringes, spoons, a grinder and a glass smoking device with residue. In court Monday afternoon, Thompson claimed all of the items in the car as his own. He told the judge that he has been having issues with his girlfriend since his sister died in a car accident two weeks ago. An army veteran who served three tours overseas, including in Afghanistan, Thompson said he had previously struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and got three DUIs while stationed in New York. Thompson said he has carried a gun since the incident with the protesters. After listening to Thompson's story, Romanick also ordered him to seek addiction treatment evaluation and make contact with Veteran's Affairs for potential counseling. Thompson is the security worker who got into a conflict with protesters as he drove down N.D. Highway 1806 towards the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camps on Oct. 27 to take photos of burning equipment. Thompson was disguised as a protester and carried a loaded assault rifle and handgun in an unmarked truck, Bureau of Criminal Investigations Special Agent Scott Betz testified in court last month. Two protesters allegedly rammed their cars into Thompson's to get him off the road, where the protesters said he was endangering people. There was also a confrontation in the water, during which Thompson held an AR-15 rifle and some protesters allegedly threatened him with knives. Police determined Thompson was the victim in the protest-related case. Three people Brennon Nastacio, Israel Hernandez and Mike Fasig have been charged with endangering and terrorizing him. The men maintain their innocence. Got a question or tip? Contact us at bizmojoidaho@gmail.com. Sao Ekka Sina, a Buddhist monk who was one of the demonstration organizers, said that representatives of both firms agreed to a cessation in coal mining at the site after meeting with the representatives of the people of Mong Kung Township, Loilem district in southern Shan State two days after the demonstration. Nang Harn and Sai Htun, the representatives from the companies, met with us on April 13, he said. There were about 50 people, including monks, village headmen, local authorities and MPs attended the meeting. The company representatives said they would move out within a month. They said they would end their operations and never come back, he said. However, if they continue to mine, we will continue to protest. In saying that, I dont think they will come back. Hein Mitter Co.,Ltd signboard in Mong Kung Sai Seng Murng, a Lower House MP from the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD) representing Mong Kung Township, said that he always stood alongside the voice of the local people. I urge every group, including the government, CSOs [civil society organizations] and media, to keep its eyes focused on the mining operations in Mong Kung, he said. As for the monks and Mong Kung residents, we strongly oppose this project. Local protesters against the site have maintained that the coal-mining operations would cause grave environmental destruction in Mong Kung. They said that some 2,000 acres of land, including conifer forests, mountains and farmland, would be severely damaged. The Pyae Aung Hein and Hein Mitter companies were granted permission by the central government in Naypyidaw to launch coal-mining projects in Mong Kung in 2014. But the mines were suspended after growing opposition from local residents. Earlier this year, coal-mining operations restarted, leading to hundreds of people taking to the streets. By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) A bill creating a commission to study North Dakotas initiated and referred measure process is on its way to Gov. Doug Burgum after lawmakers approved it Monday. The commission would study the process and cost of placing initiated and referred measures on the ballot and whether any state law or constitutional provision should be amended. It would also study whether to put limits on out-of-state funding of measures. The bills proponents have said they support the peoples right to petition for new laws or constitutional amendments, but they argued tweaks should be examined. Sen. Dick Dever, R-Bismarck, said the medical marijuana measure had some problems that could have been addressed. Lawmakers rewrote the law passed by voters in November and approved a new medical marijuana bill last week. The Senate passed the study commission bill Monday morning before the House did the same in the late afternoon in a 71-19 vote. A conference committee of House and Senate lawmakers debated the study commissions membership, ultimately arriving at a compromise that allows the majority leaders in the House and Senate to each appoint three members from their respective chambers, with one minority party member from the Senate. The governor would appoint seven citizen members, one of whom must be a member of an association that represents employees and their interests. The Greater North Dakota Chamber, the North Dakota Newspaper Association, the North Dakota Farm Bureau and the North Dakota Farmers Union would appoint one member each. The chief justice of the state Supreme Court would appoint the commission chairman, and the secretary of state would appoint a nonvoting member. A previous version of the bill included slots for a tribal member and North Dakota United, the union representing public employees and teachers. Another version granted the minority party two seats instead of one. Senate Minority Leader Joan Heckaman, D-New Rockford, warned lawmakers to be careful before altering the measure process, which she said is the only direct way for citizens to enact policy without going through the Legislature. Given its current makeup, this commission doesnt seem like a citizens commission, but rather a commission appointed by those who already control the levers of power at the state Capitol, she said in a statement. Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, defended the bill and said its not legislation, its a study. He said the conference committee worked to include a cross section of people from across the state. All of these people are going to be citizens, Kasper said. BOPEUs president Masego Mogwera admits that she and BOFEPUSUs president, Johannes Tshukudu are very close, however, it appears this friendship counts for nought when it comes to healing the bitter rivalry between their Unions The anticipated reunion between Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) and its former founding affiliate, Botswana Public Employees Union (BOPEU) is in limbo as the two have returned to the battleground. The fight between the two dates back to 2011 during the historic public sector strike. At that time BOPEU was accused by some of BOFEPUSU affiliates of sleeping with the enemy (government) after BOPEU tried to broker a ceasefire between trade unions and government over the strike that resulted in some public servants losing their jobs. The public bickering between the two continued internally until in 2015 when BOPEU resolved during its elective congress in Palapye to disaffiliate from the federation. The court last year tried to broker a ceasefire between the duo but unfortunately, they could not agree on terms of an out of court settlement.Last week BOFEPUSU President Johannes Tshukudu revealed that the federation has written a letter to the new BOPEU President Masego Mogwera requesting the union to return to the federation. Mogwera was taking over from Andrew Motsamai who has since joined BOPEUs investment arm, Babereki. According to Tshukudu it is their hope that under the new leadership of Mogwera the union executive will come to their senses and return home. There has been change of guard. We know that it would not be an easy road and decision to make but we are optimistic that they would return. We know that the decision that was taken to leave the federation was ill-advised as it has disadvantaged the union membership. It is our hope that the new President would see things differently from her predecessor, Tshukudu pointed out. BOFEPUSU also believes that the recent court judgement on salary increase for public servants should compel the union to rejoin the federation so that they could collectively represent the interest of public servants at Public Service Bargaining Council (PSBC). When she was officially unveiled as new BOPEU President, Mogwera indicated that the decision to rejoin BOFEPUSU would have to be taken by the congress, which is the unions supreme body. But now things have taken a dramatic twist as BOPEU has shown determination to fight BOFEPUSU to the bitter end. As BOFEPUSU was celebrating the victory at Gaborone High Court over the scope of work for PSBC, BOPEU was busy preparing court papers challenging the federations membership at the PSBC. BOPEU wanted the federations membership in the PSBC nullified for failing to submit its audited membership. BOFEPUSU on the other hand argued that BOPEU is no longer part of the PSBC and therefore has no legal standing to bring the matter to court. Francistown High Court Judge Bengbame Sechele dismissed the urgent application by BOPEU on Tuesday night saying the unions submission is misplaced. BOPEU is no longer a member of the PSBC after it failed to meet the deadline for submission of the number of its members. The union at that time indicated that it was still having its membership books audited. Tshukudu has accused BOPEU of being in cahoots with government to ensure that the PSBC is dysfunctional. BOPEU President Masego Mogwera revealed that her office has not received any communication from BOFEPUSU. Mogwera who is based in Ramotswa stated that even if BOPEU secretariat had received the letter it could have long made her aware of such letter. There never passes a day without me passing by the office. So there is no how I could have missed such a letter plus our secretariat is very effective they could have notified me as soon as they receive anything that requires my attention. Even BOFEPUSU President we are very close if indeed he did write me the letter he could have checked with me if I received the letter, Mogwera said. Mogwera who is the first woman President of BOPEU however maintained that even if the letter could reach her office there is no how she would act on the matter. She stated that no Executive Committee member or National Office Bearer could act on the matter. Only the National Congress as the supreme body can take a decision on whether to rejoin BOFEPUSU or not.Both BOFEPUSU and BOPEU have acknowledged that their court battles have negatively affected public servants. They believe at some point they should smoke the peace pipe. Responding to the ruling by Sechele, Mogwera said that the union leadership has requested its legal team to study the judgement and advise on the best option that should be taken. She indicated that for now the union has not taken a decision to appeal the ruling. Observers argue that unless and until the duo comes to the table and amicably resolve its problems the labour industry will remain in disarray to the detriment of public servants. Paul Smith, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Mineral Development Company Botswana (PTY) LTD (MDCB) has been fired with immediate effect. MDCB is wholly owned by the Botswana Government. It was formed in August 2015 to help government manage all its mining assets. The company is mandated to provide effective management and optimisation of the government mineral investment portfolio in the mining industry. Smiths relationship with almost all the stakeholders and his principals is said to have been wanting. This led to many of them complaining, among them a key stakeholder, De Beers, who is said to have threatened to act if nothing was done. BG News can reveal that Smith received his marching orders via a letter from Minister of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security, Advocate Sadique Kebonang on Wednesday. Kebonangs decision was informed by MDCB board recommendation that Smith should be fired. The board made the resolution at its Monday meeting. Kebonang confirmed to BG News that he has fired Smith. The MDCB board had a meeting on Monday and made a recommendation that Smith must be fired which I have acceded to. Signs clear Signs that Smith was not going to last in his lucrative job which is believed to carry a package of between P2 and P3 million per annum have long been visible. Late last year, the board summoned him for a disciplinary hearing where he was asked to show cause why he could not be fired. Kebonang saved him when he asked to hear both parties to try and reconcile them. Smiths disciplinary process started with the Board writing a letter and giving him 10 days to respond. It was not clear who constituted the Disciplinary Committee that summoned Smith, but what is clear is that the date of hearing was set for first week of December 2016.By then the Board wanted Smith to go because he had allegedly acted outside the mandate of the Board in some occasions, or disregarded their recommendations. At other times Smith allegedly kept or failed to share vital information with the Board, but instead passed it to higher authorities without approval from the Board. He has allegedly compromised the reputation of the Board in the way he deals with other stakeholders, such as the former BCL Board which he allegedly did not give the best cooperation. Amongst those who were reported to be unhappy is Debswana Board following their series of meetings late last year. The decision But the decision to fire Smith started to build up when government decided to sell the BCL mine assets to the Emirates Investment House (EIH) of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following his alleged lack of cooperation and disrespect for his employers and key stakeholders at large. He allegedly tried to frustrate Minister Kebonangs efforts to have the due diligence process on BCL mine done by EIH. Thats when Kebonang put his foot down by ordering Smith to cooperate with the process or face the chop. Government shares recalled from MDCB It is said his general conduct led to Minister Kebonang to recall all government shares from MDCB allegedly because many stakeholders were complaining about Smiths conduct during official meetings. Reliable sources told BG News that Kebonang wrote letters to all stakeholders amongst them Debswana, Diamond Trading Centre (DTC) Morupule, Soda Ash Botswana, as well as a South African based Company holding government shares on De Beers, informing them about his decision to recall government shares from MDCB. BG News has it on good authority that the BCL shares were transferred to MDCB just a day before the company was put on provisional liquidation. All along the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development had been refusing to do so advancing reasons that they could only make the transfer once Parliament had sanctioned the move. When Smith took office in February 2016 his immediate task was to work closely with BCL management to oversee a process of streamlining the mines operations. By then government and, or MDCB had engaged consultants to see how best to deliver the shares because of cost implications. The first assets to be transferred were Morupule Coal Mine and BCL. Mokaila and Smith Smith was appointed by the then Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila. Briefing Parliament then Mokaila said his ministry has engaged consultants to provide transactional advisory services for the transfer of these assets, which he added was expected to be completed before the end of the second quarter of 2016. He revealed that Debswana Diamond Company owns MCM, a joint venture between De Beers and government.It's said that in due course Smith started to overrule everybody including the board a matter that later led to two seasoned and fierce Batswana administrators - Dr Akolang Tombale and Ms Dora Moremi- resigning their positions from the BCL board as chairman and deputy respectively. The last person to resign who allegedly could not stand Smiths attitude is the MDCB board chairperson, Regina Sikalesele-Vaka. Smiths conduct allegedly brought differences between him and Mokaila, and may have contributed to Mokaila redeployment to the Ministry of Transport and Communications MDCB Head of Corporate Communications Esther Norris, confirmed via a media statement on Wednesday that Sebetlela Sebetlela has been appointed as Caretaker Chief Executive Officer in the interim period. Botswana Housing Corporation (BHC)tenants in Plot 5332, in the central area of Gaborone have expressed displeasure at their landlord, BHC, for not honouring its promise. The government housing agency is busy developing existing estates with additional apartments as a way to meet the scarce accommodation in the capital city and providing affordable housing to Batswana. Plot 5332 is situated in Extension 11 where most senior government officials including the State House and embassies are located. The plot secures a block of 12 apartments and has seen BHC adding an additional block of 12 which started construction last April and is now complete.Last week, BHC delegation led by Property Manager, Kesebonye Khimbele arrived at the plot after working hours to address tenants. The construction of the new blocks is now complete, with only utilities left to be connected. The tenants were hopeful that their landlord had come to inform them that they can now prepare themselves to buy the apartments through BHCs tenant purchase scheme. The tenants were however told that the apartments are complete, but BHC has already found new tenants. In addition, the new development in the area comes with an additional cost to the existing tenants of the old block. The developments that have now added extra cost to the sitting tenants are the pavement, the guardhouse and the screen wall. These have come with an added P550 to the rental payments of P1500 of the old two bedroomed apartments monthly. This according to BHC executives, will effect from June 1st 2017. Khimbele told tenants that, the money we spend on maintenance isn't enough to meet our cost recoveries. We have been making losses as an entity over the years and on top of that, it's been 14 years without rental increase. He added that, unfortunately for these new blocks we have found tenants already and that is government. However, knowing that government has the financial muscle, he might want to take both the two blocks including that you are currently occupying. But, as BHC we will always be there for our clients to accommodate them, we will not abandon you. The rental for the said apartments he said is estimated to be between P6000-P7000 monthly. He could not disclose which government department will occupy the apartments. Furthermore, plans are underway to refurbish the old block and ma ake it look decent and that upon completion will also come with added costs to the tenants rental price. That was not an easy to digest delivery as tenants were filled with disappointments showing unhappiness with the decision that BHC has taken to give government the new apartments.In their response, the tenants complained that they had not been consulted. When BHC started this construction in April 2016, you came here to address us about the development and assured us that once the project is complete we would be given first priority in occupying the new apartments with an intent to buy under the sectional tittle deed. We stayed in these old flats with the hope that in the medium to long term we would be able to purchase the apartments. What you are doing is unfair to us as sitting tenants. Do you consider your tenants or you just take decisions, asked one tenant. Some of the tenants have stayed in the apartments for over 15 years. The tenants also complained of the company contracted by BHC to clean the compound saying, it is not doing its work adequately, despite the monthly service fees paid to BHC. Other areas that are currently being developed with additional apartments are the Phase 4 suites, Middle Star, Tshimotharo (Ext. 19) and Broadhurst Tsholofelo. Other reports that came from the Middle Star Estate which is also complete, are that the housing parastatal has also found tenants for the complete blocks, which the existing tenants are also not happy about. Botswana Guardian also understands that in a few weeks, the corporation would have demolished some of its ancient structures in Village and part of Extension 11 to put up completely new structures. Khimbele indicated that, all our estates will be secured, we will engage security companies. Our new developments will not be built using asbestos material. Asbestos causes lot of ailments. We continue to demolish all the structures that are built of asbestos. The other Extension 11, Village flats amongst others which we already awarded contract for construction, will be open for sale to Batswana. We will put up the adverts once they are complete. The domestic economy will accelerate at a much faster pace in 2017 compared to last year, a top economist from leading global lender, Standard Chartered plc Razia Khan has told business leaders during her visit to Botswana last week. The country, which has experienced back to back droughts and fall in diamond sales looks set to return to glory days this year, picked mainly by diamonds, the mainstay of the economy. Growth will be better this year, said a confident Khan at an event organised by Standard Chartered Bank Botswana and Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC). However, the British-based economist did not disclose the forecast rate of growth when quizzed by Botswana Guardian afterwards. Earlier this year, Finance and Economic Development minister, Kenneth Matambo said the economy is expected to have grown by 2, 9 percent in 2016, after contracting by 1, and 7 percent the year before. Fresh data from Statistics Botswana shows that real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) expanded by 4,3 percent in 2016. Khan, who is Standard Chartered Africa economist, stated that the economy will expand more this year due to several factors. Chief among others will be diamonds sales, which have started the year on a high note. Sales from De Beers, a company that sells Botswana diamonds have jumped notably since the year commenced. Last week, the worlds No. 1 diamond producer achieved a marginal increase in sales in the third sales cycle of this year to $580million (about P5, 8billion), from the $545million (P5, 4billion) in sales in the second sales cycle. There is also a lot of optimism from major economies where Botswana diamonds are consumed. United States of Americas economy is also picking up, after much uncertainty post Donald Trumps election as the 45th President of the worlds biggest economy last year. Copper prices have also jumped. This will however not benefit Botswana since its biggest copper producer, BCL mine is undergoing a liquidation process. In the Asian region, consumer confidence has also jumped, a plus for Botswana which is looking at the area to expand its diamond sales, away from traditional US market. Despite Britains exit from the European Union (EU), the regions economic prospects look promising. Domestically, the Botswanas economic fortunes will be boosted by the impact of Economic Stimulus Programme which was introduced two years ago. The programme, which is in its last year, has been budgeted at well over P3bilion for three years. Its target sectors are projects that can prop-up the economy within a short time. On other matters, Khan cautioned that, while public spending is important to drive economic growth in any country, it is also critical to have a vibrant private sector which can stand on its own. Botswanas private sector depends on government expenditure for survival, a trend which does not sit well with analysts such as Khan as this cannot be sustained in the long run. Public spending cannot sustain the economy, she stressed. Even communist China realised this in the 1970s, pointed out Khan. For the private sector to thrive there is need for government to provide conducive environment. More and more companies in Botswana have complained about the ease of doing business. It takes quite a considerable amount of days to register a company, let alone to be issued a trading certificate. Some South African companies in the retail sector are having it tough when they seek trading licences. Government has tightened the criterion used to allow foreign citizens to work in Botswana. BITC Acting Chief Executive, Meshack Tshekedi told attendants of the forum that they are working with government to address numerous areas that are found to be negatively affecting the ease of doing business in the country which turned 50 years last September. Hotel and Tourism Association Botswanas Chief Executive, Lilly Korong expressed disappointment that, government has been slow to come up with new ways of improving ease of doing business which also affects the hospitality and tourism industry. There is too much talk, but there is no action, she said worriedly. During the Standard Chartered/BITC forum, there were renewed calls for Botswana to diversify its economy away from mining, whose performance is affected mainly by external factors. We are against the disparities between MPs and Ministers- Kablay Its news to us Mmolotsi MPs Constituency Allowance to be increased by 40% Members of Parliament are said to have demanded a 25 percent salary hike for themselves, but the Opposition Chief Whip has distanced his MPs from the decision. The MPs have however been given four (4) percent salary hike which is expected to be effected once Parliament passes the Bill during the winter session in July this year. The Bill failed to see the light of day in the just-ended Budget session, as efforts by MPs to squeeze it through proved futile. The MPs wanted the Bill to be tabled before Parliament on a Certificate of Emergency. It was initially agreed that the Bill would be tabled before the Presidents (Pensions and Retirement) Bill but things changed on Thursday night when the Presidents Bill was tabled first and passed. Botswana Guardian is reliably informed that prior to agreeing to the four (4) percent proposed by government through the Ministry for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, MPs had proposed a 25 percent increase, 40 percent Constituency Allowance, Provision of transport for each Constituency and review of their Terminal Benefits. Presidential Affairs Minister Eric Molale however awarded the MPs four (4) percent salary increase and 40 percent Constituency allowance. The minister is said to have explained during a General Assembly last week Thursday that there are no sufficient funds to meet all the demands by MPs. The minister according to MPs who attended the meeting indicated that as per the recommendations by MPs Rights and Privileges (Staff Welfare) Committee Chairman Haskins Nkaigwa, all the proposals would not be met but the remaining ones are not being thrown away. The minister is said to have indicated that government would continue to engage with MPs on their proposals and grievances. Government Chief Whip Liakat Kably confirmed that MPs had proposed an increment of 25 percent. The minister told us that he is not rejecting the proposals but due to funds constraints government would not be able to cover all our demands. This is why our long outstanding request for constituencies to be given motor vehicles and review of terminal benefits did not get the green light. I know people will start thinking that the 40 percent increase for Constituency allowance is too much but that money is not for us. It is for the constituents so that we could be able to take services to them, stated Kably. He expressed hope that the Bill will pass in July because no MP is against the increment. He reiterated the need for the review of their terminal benefits saying there shouldnt be that much difference between MPs and ministers. This is why people do all they can to be a minister because they know that they are better off as ministers. That is why we are against the disparities between MPs and ministers. A minister can easily traverse through his or her constituency because s/he is covered in terms of transport while as an ordinary MP you have to rely on you own motor vehicle for transport and servicing the bank loan at the same time. At the end, you are left with nothing, said Kably buttressing the point why there should be provision of motor vehicles for each of the 57 constituencies. This is not the first time, MPs have requested to be given motor vehicles to undertake constituency assignments. The request has been there for some years and has always been rejected. Opposition Whip Wynter Mmolotsi said as opposition MPs they are not aware of the 25 percent increase. We have not even been able to see that Bill. Im just seeing some of the snippets of the Bill on social media which means some of our colleagues from the BDP could have it, said Mmolotsi. The Francistown MP said that all he knows that was presented at the general assembly by Nkaigwas committee was the provisions of motor vehicles for constituencies to help execute government duties. He said some constituencies execute such duties because there is no mode of transport and some of those constituencies are far from Gaborone and are vast. He said the recommendation also spoke about giving MPs allowances rather than the vehicles availed when Parliament is sitting- vehicles, which are only used to ferry an MP from his/house to Parliament and cannot do any other errands for an MP. The problem we have is that our colleagues would discuss things at their caucus then come and hijack us and associate us with such decisions. This would not be the first because BDP has in most instances taken decisions during their Parliamentary caucus then come and present such in Parliament. This is why we always oppose such business when brought to Parliament. We are not saying MPs are paid enough but what I am saying is that the 25 percent is news to us, said Mmolotsi. The outspoken legislator stated that as part of the three arms of government MPs are the lowly paid. He said an MP gets less than Permanent Secretaries and in some instances less than a Director. We are on the same level with the Judiciary and Executive but there is huge disparity when it comes to salaries. The executive salary is a stand-alone so is the Judiciary but we are supposed to be in a three-tier system in the pay structure. We provide oversight and make laws but our remuneration does not reflect that, he argued, dismissing claims that even opposition MPs support the 25 percent increase. Kably has however castigated Mmolotsi saying the MPs across the aisle want the 25 percent increase. He said opposition MPs are disassociating themselves with such a proposal because they want to appear differently before the public while in actual fact they also support the increase. Three months before the Botswana Democratic Party elective congress in Tonota, party activists are increasingly becoming audacious and openly declaring support for their preferred candidate for the chairmanship of the party. The incumbent, Mokgweetsi Masisi is defending his seat against cabinet minister, Nonofho Molefhi who is challenging him. Asked why he supports Masisi ahead of Molefhi, Jojo Lucas said, It is no secret that I am behind Masisi. He is a hard worker. For example, ever since he became chairman of the party, Masisi has recruited more than 500 members from the opposition. He is determined to make the BDP great again. However, former specially-elected councillor, Ford Moiteela, a supporter of Molefhi insists that, recruiting new members into the BDP is the mandate of every member of the BDP. Everybody, including Molefhi, has been doing that. The difference is that, the efforts of the other BDP members are never captured by state media such as Btv, radio or Daily News, said Moiteela. He added that, as far as he is concerned, not all the recruits who have been associated with Masisi were in-fact recruited by him in person. In many cases, some of the people from the opposition such as Lotty Manyepedza and Ditiro Majadibodu from the Botswana Congress Party (BCP) were recruited by the secretary general of the BDP, Botsalo Ntuane and all that the Vice President did was to publicly welcome them into the BDP at a rally arranged for that purpose, noted Moiteela. Moiteela says he supports Molefhi because he is accessible. On the other hand, Lucas thinks Molefhi is too soft to lead the BDP at a time when the opposition has formed itself into a united front. Molefhi is no doubt a very humble man. He is also too soft in fact and that is why the opposition wants Molefhi to win. They do not want Masisi because they know he can be aggressive when the situation calls for that. He can match them, said Lucas. He wants Masisi as chairman beyond July because, should Masisi lose the chairmanship of the party, he will remain out of the central committee until April next year when he becomes party president. It would be most unfortunate for the BDP members to reject him at the congress because that would relegate him into obscurity. That way, he will almost have no influence in the party. He will only be visible in government. That way, he will not be able to continue bringing people into the party because he will be absent from it, said Lucas. Moiteela however feels Masisi is holding too many positions. He is over-burdened. Besides being VP and overseeing ministers, he manages the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) and Poverty Eradication Programme. He must represent the president in outside fora. All these things require a lot of time. In the case of Molefhi, the understanding is that, the moment he wins the chairmanship, he will resign from cabinet and concentrate on strengthening the party ahead of the 2019 general elections. We need to admit that opposition e nonofile. Go botlhokwa gore BDP le yone e nonofe. What we need is a strong party. That kind of party will win the elections and give us a strong government, said Moiteela. While Lucas believes that Masisi has been weakening the opposition, especially the BCP by recruiting its activists, Moiteela believes that Molefhi would not only unite the party but make the Botswana Movement for Democracy irrelevant. Molefhis charisma transcends the controversies that led to the split of the BDP in 2010 and the formation of the BMD. Should he win the chairmanship, the atmosphere will change and there will be no need for the BMD. This is what BMD members, including their MPs are saying. With Molefhi as chairman, they will return to the BDP, claimed Moiteela. As a man who respects tradition, Lucas does not want Masisi challenged for the position of chairman nor that of presidency of the party. We should endorse Masisi and make him president beyond 2019 because that has always been the tradition of the party. The president has always been succeeded by his vice president. Besides, a rejection of Masisi amounts to a vote of no confidence on the President himself because he has declared support for his Vice President, said Lucas. Moiteela disagrees. Nothing binds people to follow a tradition. People are free to abandon it if they feel it no longer serves their interests, he said. JAMESTOWN No complaint was ever officially filed against Stutsman County Auditor/Chief Operating Officer Casey Bradley, according to an investigation conducted by Mercer County Sheriff Dean Danzeisen. The Stutsman County Commission unanimously accepted Danzeisens report and took no further action. Stutsman County Sheriff Chad Kaiser asked Danzeisen to conduct an investigation into allegations made by a former county employee who resigned in December 2016 that Bradley had created a hostile work environment. In his three-page report, Danzeisen said Kaiser gave him a box sealed with tape containing files the county received from the Village Business Institute, which is part of The Village Family Service Center in Fargo, the organization that conducted the initial investigation into the allegations against Bradley. The Stutsman County Commission approved a request from Stutsman County States Attorney Fritz Fremgen in January to hire the Village Business Institute to conduct the investigation after he said he received a complaint from the former county employee. In February, the County Commission reversed that decision after a review of the countys personnel policy showed the county sheriff should investigate violations of the policy. The county sheriff has the discretion to bring in an outside investigator if he or she chooses. After looking through the contents of the box, Danzeisen found that no complaint formally had been filed by the former county employee against Bradley, according to the report. Bradley said after the meeting that he was glad the truth came out in Danzeisens report. There was never any valid complaint, he said. Fremgen said Monday that he couldnt comment on the matter due to a county policy that prevents county officials from commenting on certain matters. He did say the former county employee had sent an email to County Commission members about the allegations against Bradley. In his report, Danzeisen said he reviewed the statement that the former employee gave to the Village Business Institute. He said the employees statement does not supply any specific complaint. She (the former employee) states that Mr. Bradley asked her into his office regarding an allegation that she was spreading rumors about Mr. Bradley and another county employee, Danzeisen said. She (the former employee) states that he was yelling and raising his voice and calling her a liar. Danzeisen said he interviewed six county employees, including Bradley, County Commission Chairman Mark Klose and the former county employee. Five of the six county employees Danzeisen interviewed work in close proximity to Bradleys office. The report states none of the employees remembered hearing any raised voices during the meeting between Bradley and the former employee. GRAND FORKS -- The University of North Dakota University Senate will consider a draft resolution issued by its counterpart at North Dakota State University expressing a crisis of confidence in the leadership of North Dakota higher education, said the senates elected head. Dana Harsell, chair of the UND campus senate, said the bodys executive committee will discuss the proclamation in good faith at its Wednesday meeting to get some consensus if this body would support it or not. Like any resolution or anything that comes up, we really have to see what the ... will of the University Senate is, Harsell said. Its something that were definitely going to look at. The draft proposal was sent last week to representatives of all 11 campuses in the North Dakota University System and included a brief introduction by NDSU Faculty Senate President Katie Gordon, an associate professor of psychology. The body of the text begins with the declaration of a crisis of confidence within the NDUS, due to budget cuts, consolidation efforts described as misguided and an apparent lack of consideration for long-term effects on higher education. The draft resolution also expresses a perceived lack of support for institutions of higher education on the part of the NDUS and the State Board of Higher Education, the systems policy-making body. To remedy the issues listed in the resolution, the NDSU Faculty Senate called upon the SBHE and Chancellor Mark Hagerott to improve on its advocacy through supportive collaborations between campus and state leadership. The draft resolution also called for a Higher Education Summit to be held with campus stakeholders and Hagerott, the SBHE and Gov. Doug Burgum to discuss the value and future of the states higher education system. Without immediate, effective collaborative action, the resolution states, it is a near certainty that the system and institutions will be unable to continue to fulfill their missions, the NDUSs mission and vision and the SBHEs beliefs and core values. Harsell said the executive committee of the UND University Senate sets the agenda for the group as a whole and will determine if the draft resolution is something the wider body might support. He added that changing factors between the issuance of the draft resolution and the next meeting of the University Senate could render the document kind of a moot point. From the legislative process, its something wed bring up, Harsell said, but maybe its something that blows over. At the time of UNDs receipt of the draft, the NDSU Faculty Senate did not plan to send the resolution any further than the 11 system campuses, according to Gordons introduction. A file photo. NEW DELHI (PTI): India and Canada will explore ways to deepen bilateral defence and security cooperation during Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan's seven- day visit here. Sajjan will have wide-ranging talks with Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on a range of bilateral issues, particularly on ramping up defence and security ties. "I look forward to my first trip to India since becoming Canada s Minister of National Defence. This visit will further strengthen Canada and India s bilateral defence cooperation, and expand our partnership in the security and defence sectors," he said, before leaving for India. Sajjan, a Sikh, will also travel to Amritsar, Chandigarh and Mumbai. In Punjab, Sajjan will visit the Golden Temple and civil society organisations, while in Chandigarh, he will inaugurate the new office of the Consulate-General of Canada. In Mumbai, Minister Sajjan will visit the Mumbai Port, and meet several business and industry leaders. Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel said there is untapped potential in further strengthen ties between India and Canada and Sajjan's visit provide the opportunity to delve on them. A file photo. BEIJING (PTI): China said that it was willing to work with "all parties" to achieve denuclearisation and stability on the Korean Peninsula, hours after US Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea against pursuing its nuclear ambitions. "We are willing to work with all parties concerned to achieve denuclearisation and safeguard peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," Lu Kang told a daily press briefing while responding to Pence's comments in Seoul. "Just in the past two weeks, the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan," Pence told media referring to missile strikes in Syria for deadly chemical attack and Mother Of All Bombs dropped on an ISIS tunnel complex in Afghanistan. "North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region," Pence said. Lu said the situation in the Korean Peninsula was highly sensitive, complicated and high risk and all sides should avoid taking provocative actions that add fuel to fire. Asked about US National Security Adviser H R McMaster's comments that North Korea should stop destabilising behaviour and stop developing nuclear weapons, Lu said "We have taken note of the remarks." He said seeking a peaceful solution to the Korean Peninsula issue was a right step and meets interests of all related parties. Dialogue and consultation is the only way to resolve the Korean Peninsula issue, Lu said, reaffirming China's stance. China has put forward a "dual-track approach" and a "suspension for suspension" proposal to ease tensions on the peninsula and create conditions for peace talks, he said. Pence visited the tense zone dividing North and South Korea and warned Pyongyang that after years of testing the US and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, "the era of strategic patience is over." FREMM Auvergne. A DCNS photo TOULON (BNS): The French Navy has received its fourth FREMM multi-mission frigate "Auvergne" from DCNS on April 11. The frigate is the fourth of the series ordered by OCCAR (Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation) on behalf of the French DGA, DCNS said. "Auvergne" was launched in September 2015 and floated out exactly a year later. The previous platform of the class, "Languedoc", was officially handed over to the Navy in March 2016. The FREMM family of frigates with technically advanced features is being built to counter all threats emanating from air, sea or land. With a displacement of 6000 tons and a length of 142-m, the vessel can cruise at a speed of 27 knots. Each warship will carry state-of-the-art weapons and systems including the MdCN cruise missiles, Aster anti-air missiles, Exocet MM40 anti-ship missiles and MU90 torpedoes. The sensor suite of the frigate is designed around the Herakles multifunction radar with a range of more than 250 kilometres. The FREMM programme currently involves the construction of ten frigates, eight of which are meant for the French Navy. Six of these are slated for delivered by 2019. The remaining two, equipped with extended anti-aircraft capabilities, will be delivered before 2022. DCNS is currently completing the FREMM "Bretagne", which was floated on 16 September 2016, and is pursuing the assembly of the FREMM "Normandie". Work has also started on the ninth FREMM in the series, the "Alsace", which will be one of the two FREMMs with strengthened anti-aircraft capacities, DCNS said. A file photo. RAIPUR (PTI): Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa on Monday visited the Naxal-infested Bastar district in Chhattisgarh, aimed at boosting the morale of the Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel deployed there. During the visit, Dhanoa held meetings with the local police officials, district authorities and the IAF personnel. "The Air Chief Marshal visited Anti Naxalite Task Forces (ANTF) at Raipur and Jagdalpur. His visit was aimed at boosting the morale of the IAF commandos deployed in the red zone," a senior police official told PTI. A statement issued by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said, "During the visit, he was briefed by the local commanders of various paramilitary forces deployed in Bastar area. He reviewed the operational preparedness of forces deployed in the sector. He also interacted with personnel from various state agencies and air warriors to boost their morale." The Air Chief Marshal arrived at Jagdalpur (Bastar district headquarter) at around 11.45 am, the police official said. Thereafter, he chaired a meeting with local officials, including Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Vivekanand Sinha, Dantewada DIG Sundarraj P, Bastar Collector Amit Kataria and Bastar Superintendent of Police Sheikh Arif Hussain, at the IAF guest house located in the compound of the forest department, he said. Thereafter, he had a lunch with IAF commandos. Later, he flew to Raipur airport and had a tea with senior police and IAF officials there, following which he left for Ranchi. The IAF has been operating its helicopters in the Bastar region since the past several years to give logistical support of Central Armed Police Forces and police personnel fighting the left wing extremism in the state. A file photo. BEIJING (PTI): China on Monday said its first-ever joint military exercises with the Nepalese army is aimed at addressing terrorism threats and restoring peace and stability in the region. "China and Nepal are two good neighbours. Practical cooperation between the two sides, especially cooperation which can promote development of both sides and maintain peace and stability in the region, is a good thing," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said. The 10-day military drill "Sagarmatha Friendship 2017" that will last till April 25 is being organised by the two countries as part of their preparedness against terrorism that has posed as a serious security threat globally, the Nepalese Army had said yesterday. Sagarmatha is the Nepali name of Mt Everest, the world's highest peak. When asked about the significance of the current round of military exercises between the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the Nepalese army, which also raised concerns in India, Lu said, "Actually, there are other examples of cooperation between neighbours of this kind. "Both sides agreed to a joint drill and the aim of this drill is to fight terrorism. This is the part of the annual joint exercise between China and Nepal. It will help to address the issue of terrorism in the region and also help to preserve peace and stability in region," Lu said. The joint training with China marks Nepalese Army's extension of military diplomacy. The Nepalese Army has long been conducting joint military drills with Indian and the US Army. The Nepalese Army has said the joint military exercise with China is a step towards preparations against the possible threat from terrorism. It maintains that the drill is a part of its regular bilateral and multilateral military exercises aimed at sharing experiences, skills and professional knowledge which it has been doing regularly with the nations that Nepal shares diplomatic ties. by Wilfred Vaz KUWAIT, APR 18, 2017: Canon law permits that where the needs of the Church require and the ordinary ministers are not available, lay people can be appointed as extra- ordinary ministers to distribute Holy Communion, in accordance with the provisions of the law. To assist in the distribution of Holy Eucharist to the faithful of the parish, the Church of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Kuwait inducted nine parishioners as the Extraordinary Ministers for Holy Communion Distribution (EMCD), at Holy Mass on Maundy Thursday, April 13. The candidates were selected based on pre-determined criteria and were required to attend an orientation course comprising nine talks spread over three months. The course covered topics like meaning and power of the Holy Eucharist, holy Mass, Sacramentum Caritatis, I Believe, holy Rosary, Dry Mass and personal traits, roles and responsibilities. John D'Souza, one of the candidates said, "The orientation was very enlightening and has deeply enhanced my spiritual knowledge." Father Blany Pinto- parish priest, Father Francisco Pereira- spiritual director of EMCD, Wilfred Vaz - EMCD coordinator and Lester D'Mello- EMCD deputy coordinator, were involved in conducting the orientation course. The induction Holy Mass was concelebrated by Father Pinto and Father Pereira. During the homily, Father Pereira reminded the congregation, especially the candidates, of their calling, saying, "We must imitate our Lord Jesus with humility by washing one another's feet and showing that we are truly his disciples by loving one another." Vaz then presented the nine candidates to Father Pinto for induction as EMCD. Father Pinto administered the oath and adorned each candidate with the Eucharistic minister's vestment and also presented them with a copy of the book, 'The Imitation of Christ'. Rubin Ferrao, an EMCD said, "I am blessed to be inducted as a Eucharistic minister and the induction ceremony has changed my life with the desire to imitate Jesus. My family was very glad and happy to see me being inducted as a Eucharistic minister". After Holy Mass all EMCD's, the newly inducted and the existing ones, enjoyed a time of fellowship. A family member of the newly inducted EMCD, Norberto Colaco said, "We are truly blessed to be a part of the Salmiya Parish, with so many families coming together in Christ, for Christ. We feel all the more blessed that Norberto is now with the EMCD and pray for all good things for him and his fellow Eucharistic ministers." INS Chennai, the latest indigenous Destroyer of Indian Navy. Photo: DPR Defence CHENNAI (PTI): Indian Navy's indigenously designed guided missile destroyer "INS Chennai" was formally dedicated to the city by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister urged the Navy to protect the maritime interests of the state and the fishermen. The dedication ceremony of the 'P15A Guided Missile Destroyer', which is anchored here since April 15, at the Chennai Port Trust was marked by a series of drills and events. A plaque commemorating the occasion was unveiled by Palaniswami. "We are proud of our armed forces who protect us from external enemies. They ensure that we are able to enjoy our freedom and democracy. The Indian Navy has always assisted the state during natural disasters", the Chief Minister said. "I urge the Indian Navy to protect the maritime interests of India and Tamil Nadu. Our fishermen must be protected against attacks so that they peacefully engage in the tradition of fishing in the exclusively economic zone", he said. Noting that the state government had always addressed issues relating to armed forces, he said it would continue to provide all necessary support in this regard. Eastern Naval Command, Commanding-in-Chief, Vice-Admiral, H C S Bisht, who was present, said the Navy was fully geared to meet the challenges at sea. Named after the city, INS Chennai is commanded by captain C R Praveen Nair and has 45 officers. The ship, commissioned by then Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar last year, is one of the most potent warships to have been constructed in India. The vessel's anti-submarine warfare capabilities include indigenously developed rocket and torpedo launchers. Besides, it is equipped to fight under nuclear, biological and chemical warfare conditions. An unique feature of the ship is the "high level of indigenisation" incorporated in the production. Some major indigenised equipment on-board INS Chennai include combat management system, rocket launcher, torpedo tube launcher, automated power management system and the bow mounted SONAR. During its call here, INS Chennai was visited by more than 5,000 people, including 2,000 students, officials said. A file photo. TOKYO (AFP): US Vice President Mike Pence reiterated his country's commitment to the security of Japan, as North Korea intensified concerns over its weapons programme with a vow to launch missile tests "every week". The North, which is intent on developing a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States, defied international pressure Sunday with a test that failed immediately after launch. As fears grow that it may also be preparing for its sixth nuclear weapons test, Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol said that its programme would only escalate. "We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis," Han told the BBC in an interview, threatening "all-out war" if the US took any action against it. Arriving in Tokyo for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Pence hailed the two countries' longstanding security ties. "The alliance between the United States and Japan is the cornerstone of peace and security in Northeast Asia," he told Abe. The Japanese leader called for a peaceful resolution to the North Korea tensions but did not rule out the need for tough measures. "It is a matter of paramount importance for us to seek diplomatic efforts as well as peaceable settlements of the issue," he said. "At the same time dialogue for the sake of dialogue is valueless and it is necessary for us to exercise pressure." In South Korea on the first leg of an Asian tour, Pence on Monday visited the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas and warned Pyongyang against further provocations, saying "all options are on the table". North Korea could react to a potential US strike by targeting South Korea or Japan, and officials in both countries have been ill at ease with the more bellicose language deployed by President Donald Trump's administration. Pence pointed to Trump's recent strikes on a Syrian airbase and an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan as a warning to Pyongyang not to underestimate the administration's resolve. Throughout his bareknuckle election campaign, Trump repeatedly called into question a mutual defence treaty between Japan and the United States, suggesting Tokyo should pay for its own security. But now, Pence will try to reassure his jittery hosts that those decades-old security commitments are ironclad, a necessity made more acute after Washington's refusal to rule out military action against the regime. Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have soared in recent weeks as a series of North Korean missile tests have prompted ever-more severe warnings from Trump's administration. A file photo. NEW DELHI (PTI): Anil Ambani group firm Reliance Defence Limited (RDL) has entered into a strategic partnership with a leading South Korean defence major to jointly manufacture military hardware for India's armed forces. As part of the agreement between Reliance Infra promoted RDL and LIG Nex1, the two companies will explore opportunities for developing a range of defence products such as air defence and surveillance radar, sensors and missiles. The cumulative value of projects being targeted by the two companies will be worth multi billion dollars, an RDL official said without elaborating further. Earlier this year, Anil Ambani had said that the defence sector will be the largest business area for his group in the next few years, considering opportunities worth Rs 1 lakh crore per annum in acquisitions for the armed forces. LIG Nex1 is a leader in manufacture of smart heavy weapons in categories of anti-ship missiles, anti-tank-guided missiles (ATGM), and guided rockets. "Currently, there are multiple programmes for the Indian Armed Forces that the two companies plan to address together. "This will potentially include improvements to the existing weapon systems which are part of LIG Nex1 portfolio to meet the specific requirements of the Indian Armed Forces," said the RDL official. The two companies have initially identified air defence & surveillance radar for production in India. They will also work on performance enhancement for various systems and platforms to meet the specific requirements of the Indian Armed Forces. India and South Korea had agreed to deepen ties in areas of defence and security during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Seoul in May 2015. "Skills developed and the experience gained through this collaboration will further add to Reliance Group's capabilities and establish lead position in the Indian Market," the RDL official said. An F-16 undergoes durability testing in Lockheed Martin's Full Scale Durability Test facility in Fort Worth, Texas. A Lockheed photo FORT WORTH, TEXAS (BNS): The US Air Force (USAF) has authorised a service life extension of the Lockheed Martin-built F-16 fighter aircraft fleet by up to 4,000 flight hours more in order to keep them operational till 2048 and even beyond. Following the Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) structural modifications, the service life of the Block 40 to 52 fleet of F-16 Fighting Falcon jets would go up to 12,000 flight hours far beyond their originally designed service life of 8,000 hours. "This accomplishment is the result of more than seven years of test, development, design, analysis and partnership between the US Air Force and Lockheed Martin," said Susan Ouzts, vice president of Lockheed Martin's F-16 programme. "Combined with F-16 avionics modernization programmes like the F-16V, SLEP modifications demonstrate that the Fighting Falcon remains a highly capable and affordable 4th Generation option for the US Air Force and international F-16 customers," the official said. The Air Force and Lockheed Martin also reduced projected service life costs for the Block 40-52 fleet, paving the way for safe, cost-effective F-16 flight operations decades into the future, Lockheed said in a statement on April 12. Validation of the extended flight hour limit directly supports the SLEP goal of extending the service life of up to 300 F-16C/D Block 40-52 aircraft, the statement said. SLEP and related avionics upgrades to the Air Force's F-16C/D fleet can safely and effectively augment the current fighter force structure as US and allied combat air fleets recapitalize with F-35 Lightning IIs, it added. A second phase of the F-16 SLEP airworthiness process continues with the request for Military Type Certificate (MTC), which will be submitted to the Air Force's Technical Airworthiness Authority in the coming months, Lockheed said. The second phase seeks to validate further extending the F-16's operational life based on final service life analysis from extended durability testing. A file photo. NEW DELHI (PTI): Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Monday reminded top army commanders about the "strong image" of the force and called for efforts to reinforce it further. Gen Rawat was speaking at the army commanders' conference, which deliberated on an array of issues including the evolving security situation, modernisation of the force and logistical difficulties for troops in conflict zones. In his address on the opening day of the three-day conference, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley hailed the army for effectively meeting "national challenges", in an apparent reference to its anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir. He complimented the army commanders, saying "Whenever the challenges multiply or their nature changes, Indian Army has always outperformed itself", the Defence Ministry said in a statement. The Defence Minister also said modernisation of weapons and other critical systems for the army is the government's "top-most" priority. The conference will deliberate in detail on the prevailing security scenario, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir, besides "strategic" and "actionable" issues to ensure effective combat edge over adversaries. "He (Gen Rawat) observed that Indian Army continues to hold a strong image and a professional reputation. He exhorted all ranks to endeavour to further strengthen the same," the Ministry said. The conference is likely to deliberate extensively on the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The army commanders' conference is an important event in the planning and execution of various key decisions relating to the country's security and strategic interests. The issue of Non-Functional Upgrade (NFU) also figured during the deliberations. There has been demand for implementing NFU in the armed forces. Under the NFU scheme, officers in central group A category get automatic time-bound pay promotions. Pay hike under NFU scheme are independent of organisational requirements and vacancy. Issues relating to operational preparedness and logistics for field commanders were also discussed at the conference. Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/04/2017 (2030 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Overwhelmed by bills left unpaid, a small non-profit animal rescue in Elkhorn is forced to say no to dogs and cats in need. It was a difficult decision, Strays That Cant Pay founder Alicia Hoemsen had to make. Its hard, because we know lives are at risk, she lamented. Submitted A dog, accidentally run over, was taken into the care of the Funds for Furry Friends rescue, after the Elkhorn-based Strays That Cant Pay was forced to institute an intake freeze last month because they ran out of money to pay for veterinarian bills. What do we do if we get a dog hit by a car, and we cant get a rescue to take it, and we cant afford to take it, does that mean we euthanize that dog with a broken leg? Hoemsen asked. We havent had to yet, but if theres no money, what do you do? In Hoemsens case, shell do whatever she can. She has begged and pleaded with other rescues to take in injured animals, and solicited donations through her busy Facebook page. Its taken five years to develop a robust contact network within the area and surrounding First Nation communities, where people now trust her when their pets need help. She isnt about to stop when the funds dry up. If you dont go out when you get asked for help, which has happened and the animal has died, its just a horrible feeling of guilt, she said. People can tell you that its not your fault, but it doesnt make it any easier. Yearly, the rescue operates on a $128,000 budget, but nearly a month ago the number of emergency vet bills piled up, and there was not enough money to pay them off. She owed $12,000 when she instituted an intake freeze on March 23. One of the largest emergency bills involved taking care of Dakota, an emaciated horse whose story of survival captivated residents. He died when his health took a turn for the worse last month. Enforcing the freeze means the rescue cannot take in any new animals, either for medical purposes or animals seeking foster homes. Animals in care prior to the intake freeze, however, continued to receive medical attention. The rescues spay and neuter program, which operates in First Nation communities, is suspended until further notice. To resume regular operations, the rescue seeks $5,000. They hope to reach their goal by finding 500 people one-tenth of their social media followers to commit $10 per month. Nearly 100 people have pledged so far, Hoemsen said. That way we arent in this constant state of panic, anxiety and worry of whats going to happen when the next calls come in. In its five-year history, Strays That Cant Pay has invoked a few intake freezes, but they never lasted longer than a few weeks. The current pause wont be rescinded any time soon, it appears, however, Hoemsen, a Royal Bank of Canada employee, is hopeful the freeze will lapse in the coming weeks. Since the suspension began, Strays That Cant Pay have transferred 14 dogs and four cats into the care of neighbouring rescues. Until the day they can take care of pets again, Hoemsen and her various volunteers remain busy. On Monday afternoon alone, Hoemsen was informed of a cat expelling urinary crystals, a dog needing surgery for an obstruction in his intestines and a cat that needs to be fixed. The people inquiring do not have the money to afford the operations, said Hoemsen, who took to social media to seek assistance. Now its like, how can you stop? Hoemsen explained. The problem isnt stopping, its just continuing. To donate and for more information on the rescue, visit canadahelps.org/en/charities/strays-that-cant-pay-inc/. ifroese@brandonsun.com Twitter: @ianfroese Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/04/2017 (2030 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Colleen Hall is one of 435 Manitobans forced from their homes this spring due to high water. The lifelong Sioux Valley Dakota Nation resident was evacuated a week ago, along with her son and two grandchildren. This is a first time experience for us, Hall said, sitting in the restaurant of a Brandon hotel. In previous floods they did not have to leave the community. Jillian Austin/The Brandon Sun Canadian Red Cross volunteer Wendy Flannigan hands out food to Sioux Valley Dakota Nation evacuees Colleen Hall and her granddaughter Kailey Fleury at the Victoria Inn on Monday. The family moved into a new house about two years ago, which is located on a hill but in a high water table area. Hall said she realized something was wrong when she noticed a foul smell in her home during the spring melt. When it started thawing, we noticed all the water just staying on the ground around the house, she said. I noticed it started bubbling up from the toilet bowl The water has nowhere to go, so we thought we better check under the crawl space. We opened it up, and its like a river under there. Hall noticed her bungalow was slightly shifting, and she had trouble opening exterior doors during the winter. She said other people in the area were having similar issues with their homes. She made sure her important documents were safe, and packed up clothing before heading to Brandon. She was told to plan for a long-term evacuation, possibly a month or more. There are 29 evacuees from Sioux Valley being housed in Brandon, in addition to six evacuees from Canupawapka Dakota First Nation. There is a family of four that has been evacuated from Waywayseecappo First Nation, who are staying in Russell. According to the Canadian Red Cross, the other communities impacted include Peguis First Nation, Long Plain First Nation and Opaskwayak Cree Nation. The support through Canadian Red Cross is part of an agreement with the federal government to provide disaster assistance to Manitoba First Nations. Lodging is the first and foremost thing, but we also provide food as well as other basic necessary items, said Jason Small, spokesperson for Canadian Red Cross. It might be hygiene items, or it might be diapers, formula whatevers needed. As there are quite a few displaced children, volunteers organize activities such as movie nights, and offered special Easter gifts over the weekend. We thought it would be nice, Small said. We definitely felt it was worthwhile to give them a nice little treat while theyre displaced from home. Volunteers also offer food and games for people housed in hotels. Transportation is arranged for children to go to school. For Halls grandchildren, aged eight and four, the first week has been a bit of a novelty, as they have access to a swimming pool and other fun activities. Jillian Austin/The Brandon Sun Colleen Hall and her granddaughter Kailey Fleury, 8, are among the 29 evacuees from Sioux Valley Dakota Nation currently staying in Brandon hotels. Right now theyre kind of excited about it, but I know eventually theyll get tired and bored and want to go home, she said. Hall now commutes from Brandon to Sioux Valley for her job as a student support worker for post-secondary education. Its not too bad for us. Im making it work, because I know theres other people that dont have means of transportation, so theyre basically just stuck here, she said. But for me, because I have access to a vehicle, and I have my job, I can go back and forth. At this point, they are not sure when they will be allowed back in their homes. We wait to hear back from the First Nation and the federal government, Small said. Theyll make the determination when its time to come home. At this point we just provide the support until its ready for them to go home. While the Canadian Red Cross is not appealing for donations at this point, Small said they are always looking for volunteers. Our volunteers are great and what allow us to be able to do work like this, he said, adding if anyone is interested in volunteering, visit redcross.ca. jaustin@brandonsun.com Twitter: @jillianaustin Already have an account? Log in here We need your support! Local journalism needs your support! As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $4.99/month you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! Already have an account? Log in here Robbed of his wallet and his vehicle, a 70-year-old Brandon man appeared beaten up shortly after 12 a.m. on Friday. We need your support! Local journalism needs your support! As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed. Now, more than ever, we need your support. Starting at $4.99/month you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website. or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527. Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community! Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/04/2017 (2030 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. United States President Donald Trump has spent a lot of time in the courts, so he must be familiar with the legal concept of cui bono who benefits? When a crime is committed, the likeliest culprit is the person who benefited from the deed. But he certainly did not apply that principle when deciding to attack a Syrian government air base with 59 cruise missiles on April 7. The attack against Shayrat airbase, the first U.S. military action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assads regime in six years of civil war, was allegedly a retaliation for a poison-gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun three days before that Trump blamed on the Syrian regime. But who stood to benefit from the chemical attack in the first place? There was absolutely no direct military advantage to be derived from killing 80 civilians with poison gas in Khan Sheikhoun. The town, located in al-Qaida-controlled territory in Idlib province, is not near any front line and is of no military significance. The one useful thing that the gas attack might produce, with an impulsive new president in the White House, was an American attack on the Syrian regime. Who would benefit from that? Well, the rebels obviously would. They have been on the ropes since the Assad regime reconquered Aleppo in December, and if the warming relationship between Washington and Moscow resulted in an imposed peace settlement in Syria, they would lose everything. (Only a few days before the missile strike, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that removing Assad from power was no longer Washingtons priority.) Al-Qaida and probably several other rebel groups have access to chemical weapons. The country was awash with them before the war, because the ability to make a mass chemical-weapons attack on Israel was Syrias only deterrent against an Israeli nuclear attack. (Assad, and his father before him, understood clearly that Syria would never be allowed to have nuclear weapons of its own.) Chemical weapons were stored in military facilities all over Syria, and at one point half the country was under rebel control. So of course the rebels have had some for years, and are known to have used them on occasion in their own internecine wars. Would al-Qaida have hesitated to use them on innocent civilians order to trigger an American attack on the Syrian regime? Of course not. The results have already been spectacular. The developing Russian-American alliance in Syria is broken, the prospect of an imposed peace that sidelines the rebels indeed, of any peace at all has retreated below the horizon, and Tillerson has declared that steps are underway to form an international coalition to force Assad from power. Not a bad return on a small investment. But we should also consider the possibility that Assad actually did order the attack. Why would he do that? For exactly the same reason: to trigger an American attack on the Syrian regime. From a policy perspective, that could make perfectly good sense. The American attack didnt really hurt much, after all, and it has already smashed a developing Russian-American relationship in Syria that could have ended up imposing unwelcome conditions on Assad. Indeed, Moscow and Washington might ultimately have decided that ejecting Assad (though not the entire regime) from power was an essential part of the peace settlement. Assad doesnt want foreigners deciding his fate, and he doesnt want a premature peace settlement, either. He wants the war to go on long enough for him to reconquer and reunite the whole country (with Russian help, of course). So use a little poison gas, and Trump will obligingly overreact. That should end the threat of U.S.-Russian collaboration in Syria. Either of these possibilities a false-flag attack by al-Qaida or a deliberate provocation by the regime itself is quite plausible. What is not remotely believable is the notion that the stupid and evil Syrian regime just decided that a random poison gas attack on an unimportant town would be a bit of fun. Villains in DC Comics do bad things simply because they are evil. The players in the Syrian civil war do bad things because they are part of serious (though often evil) strategies. Whoever committed the atrocity at Khan Sheikhoun wanted the United States to attack the Syrian regime, and Trump fell for it. But if Trump was taken in by the Syrians, he certainly exploited his attack to send a very serious message to China and North Korea. He is a player, too, after all, and it can hardly be an accident that he timed the attack for the day of his meeting with Chinas President Xi Jinping. Wheels within wheels. It is going to be a wild ride. Gwynne Dyer is an independent journalist whose articles are published in 45 countries. This column was also recently published by the Winnipeg Free Press. Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/04/2017 (2030 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Most people are familiar with the indignities of air travel: the ever-shrinking seats, the extra charges and fewer in-flight services, the delays and cancellations, and the cattle-like atmosphere of the pre-boarding process. But last week, the world learned exactly just how inhumane air travel can be. On April 9, Dr. David Dao, 69, was trying to fly from Chicago to Louisville, Ky., on a United Airlines flight. Passengers were told the flight was overbooked and it wasnt leaving until four people gave up their seats. Not enough people volunteered, so United picked names. When he refused to give up his seat, security officers forcibly yanked a screaming Dr. Dao out of his seat and dragged him, bloodied and dazed, down the aisle to the horror of onlooking passengers. Of course, this incident was captured on video. Many folks on the flights knew what they were witnessing was wrong, whipped out their smartphones and hit record. Some might argue the bystanders should have done something more. But they did do something valuable: they chronicled the incident, from multiple angles. The videos, which went viral the following day, are shocking. Oh my God, a woman cries out at one point. Look at what youre doing to him! Less shocking, however, is how United Airlines has chosen to deal with Dr. Daos violent removal from the aircraft. The following day, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz released his first statement on the matter. This is an upsetting event to all of us here at United. I apologize for having to re-accommodate these passengers, it reads in part. Did Mr. Munoz not realize that everyone has seen the footage? Dr. Dao wasnt re-accommodated, whatever that means. He was assaulted. Uniteds public relations tire fire kept burning. On April 11, United said the flight was not overbooked after all, rather that seats were requested by off-duty crew members. On April 12, Mr. Munoz finally issued an appropriate statement that both contained an apology and took responsibility for what happened. Thats three attempts at an apology, for those keeping score at home. For too long, airlines have been able to treat passengers however they want with impunity. Overbooking a practice to ensure a full flight even if people dont show up is a long-standing yet legal scourge. Most major airlines dont care about earning a customers loyalty because they dont have to. In North America, at least, the lack of competition makes it a lot harder for consumers to say, Ill take my business elsewhere. As unpopular as it is, in 2016, the U.S. airline industry earned an estimated US$20 billion in profits. Still, theres being treated like trash by a gate agent and then theres being physically dragged out like trash by an officer. The use of violence to remove a passenger from an airplane is a troubling new low. Uniteds skies arent just unfriendly, they are openly hostile. The airlines share price dropped sharply and its public image has been damaged, thanks in large part to the passengers who got that upsetting video out there. But United will continue its schedule of takeoffs and landings, and things are going to continue to get worse for passengers if the airline industry isnt forced to straighten up and fly right. Winnipeg Free Press Opinion Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 18/04/2017 (2030 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. Prolonging the pain Two recent reports of animal cruelty have inspired me to make a comment. A recent report of an emaciated horse, so weak it could not stand on its own, was brought to a vet and treated at great expense, to ultimately die of malnutrition and abuse. Then, a recent paper showed graphic pictures of a cat rescued from a dumpster and treated for severe injuries. In both cases, the animals were in serious distress and treatment by well-meaning Good Samaritans, and vets just added to and prolonged their pain. Both animals should have been humanely put to sleep. The perpetrators of their injuries and neglect should be charged and prevented from owning or being in care animals in the future. Helping criminals Arent we putting thoughts into criminals heads when we tell them that the police in the area are going to be short-staffed? It seems ironic to me and doesnt it let them know that it is a perfect time to commit a crime. Obituary too soon I recently found out that a teacher asked Grade 8 students to write their own obituaries. I think that is asking for trouble to have kids that age think about their death and write their obituaries. When you consider the suicide rates among youth, isnt there better ways they could be spending their time? Cratering your car There is a giant crater in front of Burger King restaurant. Im not sure who owns the parking lot, but if the businesses want people to come into your business then fix it. Someone is going to bust an axle in that spot. Got no time Protest. Protest. Protest. There are a few things I would like to protest, but my job gets in the way and I just cant get around to any protests. Drivers dont go unnoticed I want to pass on a big thank you to the handi-transit drivers in Brandon as I was very pleased with them. I had to use their services recently because I had hip surgery and the drivers were extremely helpful with pickup and delivery. During the winter, the service I received was exceptional. They would help me door-to-door and I just wanted to thank them. Dike dilemma If you are offered flood protection by the city and you choose not to take it and to remain outside the dike and a flood comes and the city has to help you flood-proof your house, do you have to pay for that or is it free? Flood update, please Where is our current mayor? I dont see him coming out every day to tell us about the flood, not like our last mayor. Britains business groups were as surprised as anyone over Theresa Mays announcement of a snap general election on June 8 and urged the Government to remain focused on supporting the economy. Dr Adam Marshall, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "Many business communities will understandably be concerned that attention will inevitably shift from the economy and the intricacies of leaving the EU to a potential election campaign. "Firms will want to be reassured that the key challenges facing the economy will be front and centre throughout any election period." Stephen Martin, director-general of the Institute of Directors, said: "Businesses are having to get used to being buffeted by the changing winds of politics at the moment, and will just have to endure yet another campaign. "This must be used as a chance to properly debate what leaving the EU means for the long-term future of the UK, including how we continue to bring in the skills employers need. "While Brexit will inevitably dominate the campaign, there are also much wider questions that need to be addressed on the changing nature of business and work, automation and our ageing society. These cant be ignored in the run-up to June 8, and the business voice must be heard in this crucial discussion." Terry Scuoler, chief executive of EEF, the manufacturers organisation, said: "Industry will welcome the Prime Ministers decision to seek a clear mandate. The last year has been one of considerable uncertainty which, if it had gone on unchecked, would have risked hampering future investment. "We have significant negotiations to undertake with our partners in the rest of Europe and doing this with a fresh and stable mandate from the country can only provide greater certainty about the future direction of travel for policy and the potential to seek the best deal possible for the UK." The UK has now been paid 358 million (428m approx.) in interest by Ireland following a crisis loan it gave to the country in 2010. A total of 3.2 billion (3.8bn approx.) was lent by the UK to the Republic as part of an international rescue package of the country's collapsing economy. The latest report from the Treasury says Ireland has now paid the UK 358 million (428m approx.) in interest since 2011. Since June 2014 the UK has received an interest payment of around 42 million every six months. It will be March 2021 before the bilateral loan's term is up. The final tranche of money was paid to Ireland in September 2013. The document said: "The Government agreed to provide a bilateral loan to Ireland because it is in the UK's national interest that Ireland has a successful economy and a stable banking system. "The links between our financial systems, particularly in Northern Ireland, mean that there was a strong economic case to provide financial assistance to Ireland. "By being part of the international financial package, the UK indirectly supported the very many businesses across the UK that trade with Ireland." The loan was made at the same time as a bailout by the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank and at a time when the country's banking system threatened to implode. Stringent austerity conditions were attached by the three organisations, known as the Troika, and resulted in wage reductions, rising unemployment, cuts to public services and extra taxes on Irish citizens. The Republic is one of the UK's main export markets - at the time the loan was given it accounted for 5% of Britain's total exports and two-fifths of Northern Ireland's exports. Many Irish companies are listed on the London Stock Exchange. In late 2010 the Royal Bank of Scotland lent billions in Northern Ireland - loans which were insured by British taxpayers as RBS is a semi-nationalised bank. If the Irish economy were to implode, that would have generated large losses for RBS and the UK taxpayer. In 2012 Chancellor George Osborne reduced the rate of interest on the loan in line with Eurozone lenders. A new service from Dublin Airport to Morocco will begin in October. The twice weekly service by Air Arabia Maroc will fly to the coastal city of Agadir. Part of the Air Arabia Group, Maroc is the largest low-cost carrier in Morocco. A spokesman for Dublin Airport said they are delighted with the new route, which is a popular winter sun destination. .@AirArabia_Maroc to operate twice weekly scheduled service from @DublinAirport to Moroccan city of Agadir this Oct https://t.co/S77DygWdZf pic.twitter.com/nbXiFhJKDN Dublin Airport (@DublinAirport) April 18, 2017 We are delighted to welcome Air Arabia Maroc to Dublin Airport and to Ireland, said Dublin Airport managing director Vincent Harrison. This new service means that once again Irish holidaymakers will have a direct scheduled service to Agadir, which is a very popular winter sun destination. Adel Al Ali, group chief executive officer of Air Arabia, said: We are pleased to link Dublin with our newly launched base in Agadir. Dublin is the latest city to join Air Arabia Maroc's ever growing destination network connecting Europe with Morocco. Note: This is post #29 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. If price controls have negative consequencesand they dothen why do governments enact them? In this video by Marginal Revolution University, economist Alex Tabarrok looks at the example of President Nixons wage and price controls in the 1970s. These price controls were popular, because the American public didnt think that the price controls were to blame for things such as long lines at the fuel pump. Without knowledge of the economics behind price controls, says Tabarrok, the public blamed foreign oil cartels and oil companies for the shortages. (If you find the pace of the videos too slow, Id recommend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You can adjust the speed at which the video plays by clicking on Settings (the gear symbol) and changing Speed from normal to 1.25, 1.5 or 2.) Previous in series: Why government regulation of airline fares created quality waste Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has said he is concerned that the snap general election will hit Stormont powersharing talks. Charlie Flanagan said he raised the issue in a phone call with Northern Ireland Secretary of State James Brokenshire following the shock announcement that the UK would go to the polls on June 8. Mr Flanagan said political parties will switch from negotiating to campaign mode. "The Secretary of State told me that his intention, announced last week, remains unchanged - namely, to bring forward legislation at Westminster in the coming days which will include a provision to allow a Northern Ireland Executive to be formed in early May," the minister said. "While this will legislatively facilitate the formation of an Executive, I am conscious of the political reality that all of the parties involved in the talks will now be competing in a general election and mindsets will inevitably shift to campaign mode." Mr Flanagan said Dublin remained committed to "ensuring the best possible outcome for Ireland in the upcoming Brexit negotiations". He is due in Belfast on Thursday for renewed contacts with the political parties after the Easter deadline for a powersharing deal was lifted. "Nevertheless, it is the firm hope of the Irish Government that the talks process can continue and conclude successfully in the coming days. The interests of the people of Northern Ireland are best served by having a devolved Executive and Assembly," he said. "This is the case regardless of the electoral cycle at Westminster." Mr Flanagan said this would be his message to the Northern Ireland politicians when he meets them later in the week. Update 10.20pm: The Air Accident Investigation Unit has defended its decision to publish the final words of the crew of Rescue 116. It follows strong criticism from the Irish Air Line Pilots' Association, who said there was no justification for releasing the last minutes of the transcript from the helicopter before it crashed off Mayo last month. In a statement tonight, the Air Accident Investigation Unit said it was satisfied that best international practice was followed and that the release of that section of the transcript was deemed 'very relevant'. Captain Evan Cullen from the Irish Airline Pilots' Association says it was unacceptable and counterproductive to flight safety. "It is against international rules, it is against EU regulations, that that transcript was published. "I think it would seek to undermine the credibility of the investigation. "We're calling in the AAIU, the Air Accident Investigation Unit, to stick to the agreement that the Irish Government signed up to - we're asking them to obey the EU regulations." Earlier: A group representing Irish pilots has criticised the publication by the Air Accident Investigation Unit of the final minutes of the transcript from Coastguard helicopter Rescue 116. The helicopter went down near Blackrock Island off the coast of Mayo on March 14, claiming the lives of all four crew. Last week, the full transcript of the audio recorded by the black box on the flight was released and published widely. Captain Evan Cullen, President of The Irish Air Lines Pilot's Association, said: "The publication of the information should be on the basis of improving and enhancing flight safety. "This investigation has to be based on preventing a future accident." The Australian ambassador to Ireland says skilled Irish people will continue to be welcome in Australia despite the scrapping of the 457 visa programme. The 457 visa has made it possible for foreign workers and their families to live and work Down Under, if sponsored by an employer. Update 8.55pm: The Education Minister has refused to say if he thinks there will ever be Equal Pay for Equal Work. It has become a mantra for all three teachers unions, who are holding their annual conferences this week. Teachers who qualified after 2010 earn around 8000 euro less than their more senior colleagues. Minister Richard Bruton says they have taken steps to restore 75% of newer entrants pay, but wouldnt say if it would ever reach 100%. "I can understand a claim for equality in the abstract but for me I have to recognise that being fair and equal has to also look at children with special needs who have requirements. "The extra 15,000 children who are coming into the system. "I have to balance those and you have to make sure that you treat everyone fairly," he said. Earlier: Younger and newer teachers are warning that unequal pay is driving them out of the country, and the profession. Teachers unions are holding their annual conferences across the country, and are united in the mantra of Equal Pay for Equal Work. Teachers at the ASTI conference in Killarney said theyd be better off abroad. One teacher said: "The Minister has a big vision for education and we welcome that but it is not going to happen unless you address the unequal pay issue. Another one added: "I would ask the minister does he want to keep highly qualified teachers in Ireland. If so you have to pay them equally." The young teachers made their comments as it was revealed around 450 teachers have left the ASTI union in the first three months of the year. The union is meeting in Killarney this afternoon with restoration of pay being top of the agenda. ASTI vice president Ger Curtin said that he understands why some people are unhappy with their management. The ASTI has been involved in a number of disputes over the past year, and Mr Curtin said that they do not want any more strikes. "Well, who wants to close schools? In an ideal world, no, we dont want to close schools, certainly not," he said. "Our main focus is our student, primarily, and our colleagues who are not being treated properly. "If you think about this now, surely to God anybody would say: Can we not get this sorted?." Queen have announced that they will play Dublin this November. The iconic rockers have teamed up with Adam Lambert for a 24 date European tour, which will showcase a spectacular new stage production and a setlist the band hints will provide some surprises. The choice of performance material will acknowledge this year's 40th anniversary of Queens biggest-selling studio album to date, News of the World from 1977, which yielded the immortal anthems We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions. You've heard the rumours Europe... I would sign up @ https://t.co/bgPT1YLPhP if I were you ;) pic.twitter.com/p1udjIT7PF Queen (@QueenWillRock) April 14, 2017 Queen drummer and co-founder Roger Taylor insists the 2017 tour "will look entirely different to the show we took around before. Production has really changed a lot, the things you can do now, you have a much broader palette, the technology has really come along. But we don't use it all. "We don't play to click track. It's 100% live. We're planning on doing stuff we either haven't done before or haven't done for a long time. We started as an albums band, that's what we were. The fact that we had hits was just a byproduct. The impressive show will take to the stage of the 3Arena on Saturday November 25. Tickets priced from 87 including booking fee and will be on sale from 9am Friday, April 21. Because of a quirk of the calendar, today (April 18) is tax day, the day when individual income tax returns are due to the federal government. Here are five facts you should know about taxes and tax day: 1. In 1954 the deadline for filing federal taxes was set as April 15. If the 15th falls on weekend, the deadline is moved to Monday. But this Monday was Emancipation Day, a day commemorating the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia in April 16, 1862. Because of the city holiday, the tax deadline was pushed back to Tuesday. 2. The average federal tax rate for all households (tax liabilities divided by income, including government transfer payments) before taxes is 18.1 percent. 3. Based on the year for which the latest data is available (2013), households in the top quintile (including the top percentile) paid 68.8 percent of all federal taxes, households in the middle quintile paid 9.1 percent, and those in the bottom quintile paid 0.4 percent of federal taxes. (Quintiles fifths contain equal numbers of people.) 4. At midnight, the U.S. Treasury could collect over a billion dollars. Taxpayers have three years to claim refunds, so the $1,054,581,000 that is owed to 1,042,100 people will, by statute, go to the governments coffers tomorrow if they dont file their 2013 taxes. 5. Examining 30 years of road crash data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, researchers found that fatal car crashes increase 6 percent on April 15. The Prime Minister had repeatedly denied that she would call an election before the next scheduled poll in 2020. But she said "division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit" and was a primary reason for the snap election call. Explaining her change of heart on an early election, Mrs May said: "I have concluded the only way to guarantee certainty and security for the years ahead is to hold this election." She concluded by saying it was "with reluctance" that she reached her decision but added: "It is with strong conviction that I believe it is necessary to secure a strong and stable leadership this country needs." Watch live analysis on the decision here. Here is the full text of Prime Minister Theresa Mays statement from Downing Street announcing that a general election is to be held on June 8: "I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet, where we agreed that the Government should call a general election, to be held on June 8. "I want to explain the reasons for that decision, what will happen next and the choice facing the British people when you come to vote in this election. "Last summer, after the country voted to leave the European Union, Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership, and since I became Prime Minister the Government has delivered precisely that. "Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs, and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations. "We have also delivered on the mandate that we were handed by the referendum result." "Britain is leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back. And as we look to the future, the Government has the right plan for negotiating our new relationship with Europe. "We want a deep and special partnership between a strong and successful European Union and a United Kingdom that is free to chart its own way in the world. "That means we will regain control of our own money, our own laws and our own borders and we will be free to strike trade deals with old friends and new partners all around the world. "This is the right approach, and it is in the national interest. But the other political parties oppose it. "At this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division. "The country is coming together, but Westminster is not." "In recent weeks Labour has threatened to vote against the deal we reach with the European Union. "The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standsill. "The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britains membership of the European Union. "And unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way. "Our opponents believe that because the Governments majority is so small, our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course. "They are wrong. "They under-estimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country. "Because what they are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home and it weakens the Governments negotiating position in Europe. "If we do not hold a general election now their political game-playing will continue, and the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next scheduled election. "Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country. "So we need a general election and we need one now, because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin. "I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion. "Since I became Prime Minister I have said that there should be no election until 2020, but now I have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I must take. "And so tomorrow I will move a motion in the House of Commons calling for a general election to be held on the eighth of June. "That motion, as set out by the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, will require a two-thirds majority of the House of Commons. "So I have a simple challenge to the opposition parties, you have criticised the Governments vision for Brexit, you have challenged our objectives, you have threatened to block the legislation we put before Parliament. "This is your moment to show you mean it, to show you are not opposing the Government for the sake of it, to show that you do not treat politics as a game. "Let us tomorrow vote for an election, let us put forward our plans for Brexit and our alternative programmes for government and then let the people decide. "And the decision facing the country will be all about leadership. It will be a choice between strong and stable leadership in the national interest, with me as your Prime Minister, or weak and unstable coalition government, led by Jeremy Corbyn, propped up by the Liberal Democrats - who want to reopen the divisions of the referendum - and Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP. "Every vote for the Conservatives will make it harder for opposition politicians who want to stop me from getting the job done. "Every vote for the Conservatives will make me stronger when I negotiate for Britain with the prime ministers, presidents and chancellors of the European Union. "Every vote for the Conservatives means we can stick to our plan for a stronger Britain and take the right long-term decisions for a more secure future. "It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond. "So, tomorrow, let the House of Commons vote for an election, let everybody put forward their proposals for Brexit and their programmes for Government, and let us remove the risk of uncertainty and instability and continue to give the country the strong and stable leadership it demands." The suspected acid attack in a packed bank holiday club night injured 16 revellers, police said. The corrosive liquid was sprayed by a male suspect - who has yet to be arrested - during an argument at Mangle in Dalston, east London, early on Monday morning. Two clubbers, aged 24 and 29, were seriously hurt in the attack and have been moved to a specialist burns hospital in Essex, where they are in a stable condition, the Metropolitan Police said. Ten patients were taken to hospital, while a further two people with similar injuries sought treatment, emergency services said. A further four people have since contacted police to report they were injured. Among those hurt was the cousin of ex-Premier League footballer Jamie O'Hara, who later described the attack as "sick". Australian model Isobella Fraser, 22, was burnt down her arm and back when the liquid seared through her dress and left her unable to breathe, according to reports. Her sister, Prue, 20, was also scalded by the noxious substance. One victim whose foot was burnt by the acid said she initially did not realise the severity of her injury. The 25-year-old, who asked not to be named, told the Press Association: "It was very, very packed in there. All of a sudden down at the back bit of the bar everybody started moving out of the way, I thought there had been a fight. "Everyone was like 'Go, go, go' and 'Let's move, let's move'. "Then they started getting everyone out. At the time I didn't realise I had been attacked, I thought someone had dropped a cigarette on my foot but it was getting more red and stinging. "It's just like a red circle round my toes, around the size of a 50p piece, it is more sore than if you burnt yourself, it is really stinging. "It is scary because you just go out to have a good night and you realise how close it could have been to being a lot worse. "I'm a bit disappointed with the club because they were frisking and checking our bags, but there were a considerable amount of people hurt so it must have been a whole bottle, it shouldn't have got into the club." Hundreds of people were at the venue when the incident occurred, and roads were closed as emergency services, including a hazardous area response team, rushed to the scene. Witnesses reported several victims were outside with burns across their bodies, while others were seen pouring water on what appeared to be an injured friend. The Only Way Is Essex stars Jamie Reed, Jade Lewis and Chloe Meadows were among those forced to leave the bank holiday LoveJuice event. One witness described how the attacker had produced the bottle of acid when a bouncer attempted to kick him out. "I was at the bar with friends and a guy was pushing some people around," clubber Scott Kempster, 25, told The Sun. "A bouncer asked him to leave, but he grabbed his arm and pulled a bottle out of his pocket. "He sprayed the bouncer and my friend and some girls got hit. At first everyone thought it was water, then people started running as they realised it was acid. "The guy who threw it then started throwing other stuff before he ran off." Celebrity Big Brother star O'Hara posted a picture of his relative Sadie Wright's scalded face, writing: "Sick that my cousin got burnt from this acid attack in Hackney, innocent people get injured for the sick act of violence, guy should get life." A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said: "The only information that we have is that it was an unknown corrosive substance thrown within the nightclub. "It was identified by a pH paper test as a strong acidic substance." PA North Korea's deputy United Nations ambassador has accused the United States of turning the Korean Peninsula into "the world's biggest hotspot" and creating "a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment". Kim In Ryong told a news conference that "if the US dares opt for a military action", North Korea "is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US". He said the Trump administration's deployment of the Carl Vinson nuclear carrier task group to waters off the Korean Peninsula again "proves the US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase of its scenario". Mr Kim stressed that US-South Korean military exercises being staged were now the largest-ever "aggressive war drill" aimed at his country, formally the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "The prevailing grave situation proves once again that the DPRK was entirely just when it increased in every way its military capabilities for self-defence and pre-emptive attack with a nuclear force as a pivot," he said. Tensions have escalated over North Korean moves to accelerate its weapons development. The North conducted two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile tests last year, defying six UN Security Council sanctions resolutions banning any testing, and it has launched more missiles this year including a failed attempt at the weekend. The North's Foreign Ministry said the missile launches were part of a normal process of building up the country's defences and economy. Ministry official Kim Chang Min also said in the interview in Pyongyang that the UN, the Security Council and big countries ignored South Korean missile launches and Japanese surveillance satellites. "This is the limit of double standards," he said. "How can we have any dialogue to get any result with anyone who has this kind of approach?" On Monday, US vice president Mike Pence travelled to the Demilitarised Zone dividing the Koreas and warned Pyongyang that "the era of strategic patience is over". After 25 years of trying to deal patiently with North Korea's nuclear and missile ambitions, Mr Pence said, "all options are on the table" to deal with a threat. Deputy UN ambassador Mr Kim said North Korea's policy wsas shaped by the Trump administration's push for "high-intensity sanctions" against the country, deploying tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea and launching military action aimed at "beheading" the North's leadership headed by Kim Jong Un. He said rolling back the hostile US policy towards the DPRK "is the precondition to solving all the problems in the Korean Peninsula". Mr Kim called the news conference to "categorically reject" the US decision to hold an open meeting of the Security Council on April 28 on North Korea's nuclear programme, which is scheduled to be chaired by US secretary of state Rex Tillerson. He called it "another abuse of authority" by the United States, which holds the Security Council presidency this month, and a violation of the DPRK's sovereignty. Mr Kim ignored questions about the DPRK's relationship with China and reports that the government did not respond to requests from Chinese officials for a meeting. Instead he reiterated two Chinese proposals that the US rejected. One called for "dual-track" talks on denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula - the top priority of the United States - and replacing the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War with a formal peace treaty, a key demand of Pyongyang. The other called for a freeze on US-South Korean military exercises and a freeze on DPRK missile and nuclear tests. Meanwhile Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi made a new appeal for calm on the Korean Peninsula and says he believed the United States would prefer a diplomatic resolution to the stand-off. Mr Wang told reporters that although US officials have made clear that a military strike remains on the table, he believes that Washington would still prefer to de-escalate tensions through multi-sided talks. Facebook says it is reviewing the way it moderates violent videos - after footage of a murder was on its site for more than two hours. Steve Stephens from Ohio uploaded the video himself, after apparently shooting dead a victim at random. The social network blocked it 23 minutes after it was first reported. Police said Stephens, 37, killed Robert Godwin Sr, 74, while the pensioner was collecting aluminium cans in Cleveland, Ohio. On day two of the manhunt, FBI agent Stephen Anthony said Stephens, a counsellor for young adults "could be nearby, he could be far away, or anywhere in between". Investigators said Mr Godwin is the only victim so far linked to Stephens, despite the suspect's claim in a separate video on Facebook that he killed more than a dozen people. Officers have searched dozens of places around the city and spoke with the suspect by mobile phone, police said. Police chief Calvin Williams warned residents to be on their guard as they go about their day. Authorities also warned people in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan to be alert for Stephens, who is wanted on a charge of aggravated murder. Mr Godwin was apparently shot while out picking up cans in a plastic shopping bag, his daughter said. "Not because he needed the money, it was just something he did," Debbie Godwin, 52, said. "That's all he was doing. He wasn't harming anyone." She said her father, who had 10 children, was a gentle man. "We called him the junk man," she said. "He'd pick up things off the street and fix them. He picked up bikes and he fixed them." The motive for the shooting was not entirely clear from the shaky video, in which Stephens told Mr Godwin a woman's name and said: "She's the reason that this is about to happen to you." Mr Godwin did not seem to recognise the woman's name. The suspect then pointed a gun at Mr Godwin, who shielded his face with the plastic bag. Facebook said the video was posted after the killing but was not broadcast on Facebook Live as police initially indicated. The suspect did go live on the social media site at another point on Sunday. The video of the killing was on Facebook for about three hours before it was taken down. Stephens's Facebook page was also eventually removed. "This is a horrific crime and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook," the company said. "We work hard to keep a safe environment on Facebook, and are in touch with law enforcement in emergencies when there are direct threats to physical safety." In the separate video, Stephens said: "I killed 13, so I'm working on 14 as we speak." Police said they have not verified any other shootings or deaths. Stephens worked at Beech Brook, a behavioural health agency headquartered in Pepper Pike, near Cleveland. He helped young people develop job skills and find employment. An extensive background check before he was hired did not reveal anything that caused alarm, Beech Brook spokeswoman Nancy Kortemeyer said. "We just hope Mr Stephens is apprehended as quickly as possible so that no-one else is injured," she added. In one of the videos, Stephens could be seen holding up his employee identification and said: "I'm killing with my Beech Brook badge on, too." The British Tory party will go into the snap general election riding high in the polls and confident of returning with an overwhelming majority. The latest opinion polls have put the Tories more than 20 points ahead of Labour suggesting they could be on course for a landslide. While there will be caution about placing too much weight on the polls after the experience of the 2015 election, when they failed to forecast a Tory victory, the confidence in the Conservative ranks is palpable. With the main opposition in disarray, there were Tory MPs talking openly about the prospect of "slaughtering" Labour at the polls. Theresa May will go to the country promising that they are the only party which can be trusted to deliver on last years referendum vote for Brexit and negotiate the best deal for Britain. The British Prime Minister will be looking to strengthen her position in the Commons, where she has a slender working majority of just 17, and stamp her authority on her own party . Currently she is vulnerable to rebellions by relatively small numbers of Conservative backbenchers if they can combine with the opposition parties. She will also be hoping that gaining her own mandate will enable her to pursue her vision of Brexit, and to face down hardliners in her own ranks who may be unhappy at some of the trade-offs that emerge in the negotiations. However the party could face a more difficult task than is thought in "winning really big", a prominent election expert has warned. Professor John Curtice suggested the Prime Minister would need a lead of greater than 10 points to get the large government majority she wants to make her task of delivering a successful Brexit easier. Mrs May, who has a fragile working majority of just 17 in the Commons, said she wants "unity" at Westminster as talks on Brexit begin in earnest with the European Union. The Tories currently lead Labour by an average of 17 points in opinion polls, which Prof Curtice acknowledged would be enough to secure a landslide on June 8. But he said that with the SNP expected to win the majority of Scottish seats, putting the nation "out of the game" in terms of forming a government, it has become a lot harder to win a large Commons majority. Speaking on BBC Radio 4s World at One, he said: "An awful lot of Labour seats are astonishingly safe and therefore even with a 15-point lead, well yes I think Theresa May at that point will get past the 100 majority mark. "But lets just imagine that the lead falls back to seven, eight, nine, 10 points - well, back in 2015, a seven-point lead over Labour was only enough to get a majority of 12 and that was only achieved by winning a lot of seats off the Liberal Democrats. "So the truth is given the way that Scotland is now out of the game, given how few marginal seats there are in the country, winning really big has got a lot more difficult and that in a sense is the objective that Theresa May has now given herself." But Prof Curtice acknowledged that Labours dismal performance in opinion polls had almost certainly been at least part of Mrs Mays motivation in calling an early vote. "Labour will enter this election in an even worse position than it entered the 1983 general election when it ended up with 28% of the vote and I think, in truth, no opposition has gone into a general election in a weaker position than Labour will fight this election," he said. "So to that extent at least this is a great temptation for Theresa May." The US military intercepted two Russian bombers in international airspace off Alaska's coast, a Pentagon spokesman has said. Two F-22 Raptor aircraft intercepted the Russian TU-95 Bear bombers on Monday, said navy commander Gary Ross. Mental health experts are calling for urgent action to help the one-in-three young Canberrans at risk of serious mental illness. Psychological distress is affecting more Australians than five years ago, new research by Mission Australia and the Black Dog Institute found. One in three Canberrans are at risk of developing a serious mental illness, a new report has found. Credit:Fiona-Lee Quimby The report to be released on Wednesday found 33 per cent of the 500 Canberrans surveyed, aged 15-19, met the criteria for a serious mental illness. This was 10 per cent higher than the national average. Female Canberrans were almost twice as likely as males to report high psychological distress. London: Global economic growth is expected to pick up this year and in 2018, despite the political uncertainties created by Brexit and the election of maverick US President Donald Trump. And the International Monetary Fund has issued an encouraging growth forecast for the Australian economy, compared to the Treasury's most recent predictions issued in December. The IMF predicts Australia's economy will grow by 3.1 per cent in 2017 and 3 per cent in 2018. This is better than the most recent forecast by the Australian Treasury and released by the Australian government in December last year, which predicted GDP would "pick up to 2 per cent in 2017-18 as the detraction from mining investment eases." Maurice Obstfeld, chief economist at IMF, speaks at a world economic outlook news conference. Credit:Andrew Harrer World growth is forecast to rise from 3.1 percent in 2016 to 3.5 percent in 2017 and 3.6 per cent in 2018 the International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday, as it published its twice-yearly health check of the global economy. The IMF said it is possible short-term growth "could indeed surprise on the upside," if confidence and market sentiment driven by a recovery in commodity prices, buoyant financial markets and deregulation in the US. On Tuesday morning, UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced that she is proposing a snap election for Parliament on June 8. The House of Commons is likely to authorize the vote on Wednesday, leaving just 49 days until the third national election in three years. Heres what you need to know. Why is Theresa May calling for this vote now? May says political opposition from the Labour Party, Scottish nationalists, and unelected members of the House of Lords is undermining her ability to negotiate favorable terms for the UKs departure from the European Union. Speaking outside 10 Downing Street on Tuesday morning, the prime minister said their political game-playing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home and it weakens the governments negotiating position in Europe. Postponing the election, May said, means that campaigning will not ramp up as she is concluding Brexit terms and setting the conditions of the UKs future access to the EUs single market. Why does the House of Commons have to authorize the election? The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act of 2011 states that national elections will be held only once every five years. The last national election was held in 2015, and the next one was scheduled for 2020. However, two-thirds of the House of Commons 650 members can vote to allow a snap election. May said she will ask for that vote on Wednesday. Opposition party leaders support the call. What issues will be the most important in the campaign? May will campaign on Brexit, Brexit, Brexit saying that her opponents are endangering the fragile state of talks with Brussels. Polls show an increasing number of Remain voters wish politicians would get on with the business of extricating the UK from the EU in the most advantageous way. The country is coming together, but Westminster is not, May said. Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit, and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country. Remain voters, meanwhile, see this as the closest opportunity they will have to hold a second national referendum on EU membership. Mays chief opponents hope to emphasize domestic issues, such as the intensifying crisis of medical care provided by the National Health System (NHS). Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn promised to run a campaign challenging the economic narrative that says there have to be huge cuts in public expenditure and calling on taxpayers to invest in the future, invest in infrastructure. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon vowed to oppose the increasingly right-wing direction of Mays government, including opposing the hardest possible Brexit more austerity and deeper cuts to the budget. Who is likely to win? Barring a radical upheaval in the electorate which is always a possibility May looks to win in a landslide. A YouGov poll performed for the Times this week shows May with an astonishing 21-points lead over Corbyn. That marks Labours lowest rating since Margaret Thatchers victory in 1983. YouGov forecasts a shift of as many as 56 seats from Labour to the Tories in June. A victory would extend Mays term as prime minister until 2022. What does the election mean for the nations future? The pound surged to its highest level in months after the announcement. (It briefly dipped this morning over fears May planned to resign.) Long-term, it strengthens Theresa Mays hand, internally and externally. Some are worried that this will allow Mrs. May to push ahead with a super-hard Brexit that inflicts unnecessary damage on the economy, wrote Julian Jessop of the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). But these fears are difficult to square with the governments increasingly moderate rhetoric on many issues notably migration. Instead, the Conservative leadership is likely to use the election as a chance to secure a mandate for the type of Brexit that most people appear to want. There is already plenty of evidence that the public are swinging behind Mrs. Mays more conciliatory approach. Politically, it will give PM May who was never elected in a national election a popular mandate to pursue Brexit and carry out her domestic agenda. In 2015, David Cameron won election as prime minister with a 17-seat majority. But he opposed Brexit and stepped down after Remain lost last Junes Brexit referendum, 52-48. Up to a dozen Tory backbenchers have rebelled against Mays plans on Article 50 and school reform. Former MP Paul Goodman argues that the Conservative Partys candidate selection rules will allow May to remake the party in her own image. However, Jessop worries that one negative byproduct of the snap election is that parties will simply cut-and-paste commitments from previous manifestos even though the case for them is (now) weak. Since there is little time to craft new policy proposals, parties will simply recycle outdated planks, artificially extending their intellectual lives. Since Mays Tory Party has been governing, its members enjoy a significant advantage in formulating detailed plans for the election they are all but certain to win. (Photo credit: Maurice. CC BY 2.0.) It is "unacceptable" that Australia will soon become the world's biggest exporter of gas while households and businesses in the eastern states struggle with supply shortages and crippling prices, Malcolm Turnbull has said. Firing a warning shot before his meeting with heads of the liquefied natural gas industry on Wednesday, the Prime Minister said: "It is absolutely vital that Australian industries, Australian businesses, Australian families have the gas they need at a price they can afford. "It is not acceptable for Australia to be shortly the world's largest exporter of LNG and, yet, to have a gas shortage on the east coast in its domestic market. That is clearly unacceptable. I will be continuing the discussions and the industry knows exactly where I stand and where my government stands." Australia is set to eclipse Qatar as the world's LNG powerhouse by 2020, but some exporters are struggling to fulfil contracts with Japan, China and South Korea, and have diverted local supply and forced prices higher. 1. May's gamble May is soaring in the polls - the latest showing her 21 points ahead of Labour - the ineffectual opposition led by Jeremy Corbyn. [Nick Miller/Fairfax] Her early election is politically clever in several ways. The election was due in 2020 and was frightfully close to the expected date of the official Brexit - around March 2019. Should it all go wrong, and a hard Brexit plunge the economy into any sort of crisis, the dangers to May are obvious and potentially fatal. Positive sentiment towards Brexit, as it currently remains - an idea with no inception or clear picture of inception - is actually increasing. One survey published on the weekend showed "dissatisfaction with Brexit is now at its lowest level since last November, with just 45 per cent opposed to leaving the EU." [The Telegraph] If she can win a bigger majority May can stare down the hard Brexiteers in her own ranks and pursue what some might scoff is a soft Brexit. [Ed West/The Spectator] It has been reported that May has privately told pro-EU Tory MPs she favours a soft Brexit, an MP at that meeting confirmed this to me a few weeks ago. The days-long search for a Sydney teenager who went missing at an unpatrolled beach on the NSW mid north coast has turned into a recovery operation. Ali Mosawi, 17, was swept away by a rip at isolated Pebbly Beach in the Yuraygir National Park, north of Coffs Harbour, on Saturday afternoon. The search for missing teenager Ali Mosawi on Pebbly Beach. Credit:ABC News/Helen Merkell He was waist-deep in the rough surf with his brother and three cousins when they all got into trouble. Police say four of the teenagers managed to make it back to shore, including an 18-year-old who spent almost 48 hours recovering in Coffs Harbour Health Campus. A blame game has started between Australia's leading airline and the state and federal governments as test results from a toxic foam spill at Brisbane Airport a week ago are yet to be finalised. Last Monday, 22,000 litres of firefighting foam, containing perfluorooctanoic acid, was released by Qantas at Brisbane Airport. Qantas advised the Queensland Department of Environment and Heritage Protection and the Commonwealth government of the spill on Tuesday morning, with EHP officers finding more than 20 dead fish upon arrival at the site. Four days after the leak, a warning was issued for people to avoid eating seafood or fishing near the potentially contaminated area around the lower reaches of the Brisbane River, from Bulimba Creek to Fisherman Island, and north to Shorncliffe. More than one in five young Queenslanders could be living with a serious mental illness, according to a report released by Mission Australia today. According to the report, 21.9 per cent of young Queenslanders met the criteria for having a probable serious mental illness, up from 18.6 per cent in 2012. The report showed possible mental health issues were heightened Queensland female teenagers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth. Credit:Angela Wylie The Mission Australia Youth Mental Health Report found Queensland female teens were almost twice as likely as male teens to be living with psychological distress: up to 29.2 per cent in 2016 from 22.2 per cent in 2012, compared to male teens who were down 12.2 per cent in 2016 from 12.7 per cent in 2012. The report also found 25.3 per cent of Young Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander respondents met the criteria for having a probably serious mental illness compared to 21.8 per cent for non-Indigenous youth. A Brighton jewellery store has been attacked by a group of youths in an unsuccessful daylight robbery. Police swarmed the Holloway Diamonds store on the corner of Church and Carpenter streets after the incident about 11am. This is the second Holloway Diamonds store to be targeted by thieves in less than a month and the third time the franchise has been robbed this year. The Holloway Diamonds store in Canterbury has been robbed by men armed with machetes twice already this year once on January 12 and again on March 24. London: British Members of Parliament MPs will formally demand Asma al-Assad be stripped of her UK citizenship over accusations she helps spread propaganda for her husband, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Mrs Assad, a former investment banker who married Dr Assad in 2000, has more than 500,000 followers in total on her Instagram, Facebook and Telegram accounts which she uses to praise the Syrian regime's "martyrs" and attack the West. Her Instagram account was used to respond to US President Donald Trump's air strikes against a Syrian airbase, in response to a chemical weapons attack by the regime. The post read: "The presidency of the Syrian Arab Republic affirms that what America has done is an irresponsible act that only reflects a short-sightedness, a narrow horizon, a political and military blindness to reality and a naive pursuit of a frenzied false propaganda campaign". London: It's been a big weekend in Pyongyang. The 105th birthday of North Korea's late founder (and grandfather of its current dictator) was celebrated in style, with a two-hour parade of marching soldiers and dancing women, grids of tanks and shiny missiles lying impressively on flatbed trucks. If there was a small hitch, when one of the missiles failed to blast off during a later test launch, the regime's celebrants were surely kind enough not to mention it. Not so Mike Pence, the US vice president, who, speaking to South Koreans in Seoul on Sunday, called the failed launch a "provocation" and "a reminder of the risks each one of you face every day". South Korea lives under the constant threat of attack from its oppressive northern neighbour. The US is determined that its own citizens will never know what that's like - but it is getting harder to keep it that way. Controlling North Korea's military advancement has been a constant US foreign policy aim for decades because of fears about what Pyongyang will do or demand once it has intercontinental nuclear missiles at its disposal. But despite the many rounds of sanctions, threats, negotiations and concessions, North Korea's capabilities have inexorably advanced. Kim Jong-un, its dictator, is now believed to be sitting on a massive arsenal of chemical, biological, conventional and nuclear weapons. What seems to have eluded his military so far is the capacity to fire its missiles long distances - to the US's West Coast, for example - and the ability to miniaturise its nukes for loading on to missiles. This is, however, only a matter of time, possibly months. Theresa May is betting on beating Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who tweeted his support for the election. Credit:Getty Images It's an odd argument. Labour actually supports Brexit now, though it wants it done a different way. And the House of Lords put up less of a fight than was expected in resisting the Brexit trigger legislation last month. It's hard to identify a "recent" development that put the government's Brexit plans at risk, other than its own foot-in-mouth moments such as the phoney Gibraltar war. Broadly, Theresa May's reasons for this election are genuine. Assuming she wins convincingly, there will be fewer opposition MPs in Westminster who might block or amend the reams of necessary Brexit-related legislation. Assuming she wins convincingly, she can confidently say she has a mandate from the British people for her vision for the country outside the European Union. But, specifically, she has without doubt picked this moment because the opinion polls point to a spanking victory, and another decade or more in power. The latest polls have the Conservatives 21 points ahead of Labour. This is the Conservatives' biggest lead in government since 1983. A recent by-election saw a Labour heartland seat fall to the Conservatives. Labour is a disunited rabble with a desperately unpopular leader. And the UKIP vote is collapsing after the departure of Nigel Farage with much or all of it likely to flow to the Conservatives in a Brexit election. Nevertheless, there are some small signs of concern for May. One poll put the lead over Labour much closer, at 9 per cent. And polls show the public generally like Labour's policies, though they don't see them as a credible government. Labour is in a dire position but a lot of its remaining seats are fairly safe, while many Conservative seats are held on small margins. Another potential hiccup for May is that the public is more than a little sick of politics right now, which could provoke a backlash or voter apathy. A BBC reporter got a priceless reaction from Brenda, a voter in Bristol, when he broke the news there would be a general election in June. "You're joking! Oh for God's sake I honestly can't stand this. There's too much politics going on at the moment, why does she need to do it?" But the biggest risk for Mrs May is that this is not a straight political fight so the polls are not good predictors. She has framed it as Brexit II The Next Referendum. She has asked the country if it trusts her to get Brexit right. But only a third of the British think the government are doing well at negotiating Brexit, while 37 per cent think they are doing badly, according to the most recent polling from YouGov. Britain is still divided on Brexit itself 44 per cent think it was the right decision to leave the EU, and 43 per cent think it was wrong. Most of the country is of the opinion that, once the Brexit referendum results came in, the government should get on with it. But given an election where they get a new choice, many may decide to try to put a stop to it. If a big anti-Brexit mood sweeps the country in the next month, as it properly focuses on the pluses and minuses for the first time in a year, the Conservatives might find it hard to preserve their majority. And this election is likely to see a resurgence of the Liberal Democrats, who will campaign hard against Brexit alongside the Scottish National Party. May is aware of this. The biggest anti-Brexit constituency in the country is the 18-24 age demographic, and May has called the election right in the middle of exam time. Coincidence? Perhaps not. Quibbles aside, May is by far the favourite to win this election. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Call them striking vikings! Eight Scandinavian beauties competed for the crown in the 62nd-annual Miss Norway of Greater New York Contest at the Norwegian Christian Home in Dyker Heights on April 8. But the pageant is less about beauty, and more about celebrating the Norwegian heritage of community-minded contestants, said the new Miss Norway. Its definitely more than a beauty pageant, said New Jersey resident Kristen Johnson, a 21-year-old Rutgers University student. Its about celebrating our Norwegian heritage and the contributions we make to our community. Im happy that I can represent that. A panel of five judges listened to a three-minute speech from each contestant about her interests and her Norwegian identity. Johnson, who is a senior at Rutgers, already has a job lined up at the New Jersey Department of Agriculture and discussed how she aims to help the states planters sustain their crops, and the next generation of farmers. Right now Im trying to help increase young farmers in the state and help farmers crops become viable, she said. Miss Norway will return to South Brooklyn for her duties during the Norwegian parade in May. Im excited to represent my culture, said Johnson. Reach reporter Caroline Spivack at cspiv ack@c ngloc al.com or by calling (718) 2602523. Follow her on Twitter @carolinespivack. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams Police are searching for a gun-toting goon and his blade-wielding buddy who attacked two men in Sunset Park on April 10. An argument between the duo and two victims at an Eighth Avenue business near 58th Street escalated at 9:40 pm when one of the baddies pulled out a silver handgun. The gunman tried to fire a round at a 21-year-old man, but the weapon jammed, footage released by police shows. The brutes accomplice slashed another man with a sharp object before both attackers fled on foot, said officials. Police describe the gunman in his 20s with black hair. He was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, a dark jacket, and a white T-shirt with dark pants and dark shoes. His partner was also described as in his 20s with black hair and was last seen wearing a blue hooded jacket with tan pants and sneakers, officials said. Police ask anyone with information about crime to call (800) 5778477, submit tips at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, or text 274637 followed by TIP577. All calls are strictly confidential. Live election coverage: All eyes on PA as voters head to the polls The nation is closely watching PA as it could decide the balance of power in Washington. Check back regularly for statewide coverage updates. Campus News UB organizes first Buffalo Muslimedia panel By CHARLES ANZALONE and ELIN HAWKINSON I realized there was a big gap between their perception of what theyre covering and reality. A panel of faith leaders, Muslim community representatives and journalists will discuss concerns over how Muslims and people of other faiths are represented in the media at a Muslimedia panel from 1:30-4:30 p.m. April 23 at The Islamic Center, 745 Heim Road, Getzville. Veteran Buffalo journalists Lee Coppola and Rich Kellman will headline the panel that will examine such questions as: Is the phrase Islamic terrorism accurate or offensive? When should reporters mention the faith of a suspect or a source? How well did the local media cover recent bomb threats at Jewish Community Centers in Buffalo? President Trumps election, his travel bans targeting Muslim-majority nations, and the rise of ISIS and other terrorist groups who kill in the name of religion have made this dialogue urgent, according to panel organizer Jody K. Biehl, director of UBs Journalism Certificate Program. Journalists should have firsthand knowledge about topics they cover, yet Biehl sees her UB journalism students writing about Islam without knowing much about it, and she fears this problem extends to the local and national media as well. When I asked the staff of our student newspaper, How many of you have been inside a mosque? no one but our copy editor, who is Muslim, raised his hand, Biehl says. I realized there was a big gap between their perception of what theyre covering and reality. To address this concern, Biehl applied for a grant from the Society of Professional Journalists to host a Muslimedia panel. Muslimedia grants are available nationwide to professional journalists wishing to provide a platform for blunt discussions among members of the press and leaders of the Islamic faith. Biehl accepts that the misconceptions often go both ways, with Muslims questioning why more positive news stories rarely make it to the front page. You can argue that yes, there are positive stories that should be shared, Biehl says. But there must also be recognition that a journalists job is not to portray a community in any particular agreed-upon way. The job is to report what happens. Part of the Muslimedia discussion will revolve around this relationship between the community and the press, as well as opportunities for Muslim stories to have a larger presence in the Buffalo and national news. The Muslimedia panel event and reception are free and open to the public. Biehl hopes to connect with local news outlets, service organizations, members of other religious communities and individuals who could either benefit from or contribute to the discussion. During the event, audience members will be invited to ask questions about Islam and current journalism practices, as well as witness and talk about an Islamic prayer session. A light halal meal will be served. Its my hope that by seeing and experiencing Islamic faith and Muslim culture, demystification will occur, Biehl says. Many people only know what they read, and often what they read about Muslims only relates to terrorism. Muslimedia will serve as a looking glass into the other, which doesnt happen often. I also hope it will inspire professionals to deepen their knowledge of any faith before reporting on it. For my students, Im confident this practice will result in savvier, more empathetic citizens and ultimately better journalists. Muslimedia will begin at 1:30 p.m. with a welcome and a brief interactive prayer session. The panel discussion will start at 2:30 p.m. Learn more: Panelists include: Lee Coppola, award-winning print and television reporter, former assistant U.S. attorney and former dean of the St. Bonaventure Journalism School. Rich Kellman, a 40-year veteran broadcast journalist, TV news anchor, filmmaker, and winner of two Emmys and the Edward R. Murrow Award. Gamileh Jamil, executive director of ACCESS Buffalo who serves on the Erie County Advisory Committee on the Status of Women. She holds a masters degree in health administration. Khalid J. Qazi, clinical professor of medicine in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB; past president and chair of the Islamic Society of Niagara Frontier; founding president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Western New York; and recipient of numerous regional and national awards. Rabbi Jonathan Freirich, a native New Yorker who will begin in July his 18th year in the rabbinate as one of three clergy serving Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo. Rev. Thomas Yorty, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Buffalo. He leads a congregation committed to multi-faith understanding and collaboration, social justice and progressive values. Imam Syed Khalilullah Qadri, spiritual leader and resident imam of the Islamic Center, which is owned and operated by the Islamic Society of Niagara Frontier. He holds degrees in Islamic studies. The panel is sponsored by The Society of Professional Journalists, the UB journalism program, the Islamic Society of Niagara Frontier, Congregation Havura, ACCESS of WNY, Muslim Public Affairs Council of WNY, Temple Beth Zion and Westminster Presbyterian Church of Buffalo. Campus News Signature Series to celebrate Nnedi Okorafor Nnedi Okorafor is one of only four authors in the past 20 years to win both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award two of the science fiction genres highest literary honors. Photo: Douglas Levere UBNOW STAFF The work of award-winning science fiction author and UB faculty member Nnedi Okorafor will be celebrated at this years Signature Series, the annual event celebrating UBs legacy of innovation and distinction in arts and letters. As part of the celebration, taking place April 27-28 on the North Campus, members of the UB community and the public are invited to attend several events: Small Group Discussion, 11 a.m. April 27, 610 Clemens Hall. Faculty, staff and students can meet and talk with Okorafor in an intimate setting. Space is limited; lunch will be provided for pre-registered guests. Keynote Lecture, 3:45 p.m. April 27, Black Box Theatre, Center for the Arts. Okorafor will give remarks and present a book reading before being joined on stage for a conversation with Bruce Jackson, SUNY Distinguished Professor of English and James Agee Professor of American Culture. A light reception will follow the keynote lecture. Film screening, 1:30 p.m. April 28, Baird Recital Hall, 250 Baird Hall, North Campus. A screening of the short Kenyan science fiction film Pumzi will be followed by an open discussion. Written and directed by Wanuri Kahiu, Pumzi was screened at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival as part of its New African Cinema program. All events are free, but advance registration is requested. Okorafor, associate professor in the Department of English, College of Arts and Sciences is a novelist of African-based science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults. In 2016, she became one of only four authors in the past 20 years to win both the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award two of the science fiction genres highest literary honors for her novella Binti, the story of a mathematically gifted young African woman who must leave her family and customs to attend the galaxys most respected university. Born in the United States to Nigerian immigrant parents, Okorafor is known for weaving African culture into creative, evocative settings and memorable characters. The New York Times has described her novels as combining politically complex science fiction and lyrical fantasy. Everything you need to know for election day in Burlington County elections Last year, Mukesh Ambani, the Chairman and MD of Reliance Industries Ltd launched Reliance Jio services offering free VoLTE-based voice calls, apps, sms and high-speed 4G data. Soon after, the incumbents like Airtel, Vodafone and Idea faced the heat that led to the greatest tariff war in telecom sector of all times. In 2014, Dolly Kumari, an outspoken 12th class pass, left her home in Jharkhand, journeying about 2,000 km south to a new job as a tailor at a garment factory in Bengaluru. Like most workers in this sector, when she first came, she did not think of staying beyond a few months. Today, over two years later, at 21, Kumari is one of two assistant line supervisors on the factory floor of Shahi Exports Pvt. Ltd., overseeing the work of 119 tailors. Her salary has risen 66%, from Rs 5,000 to Rs 8,300 per month. She talks easily of time management and effective communication, and hopes one day to become a floor-in-charge. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. Indian IT services firms will see costs increase and business slow as the US President Donald Trump gears up to sign an executive order on Wednesday that would make sending engineers on to the US expensive and time consuming. The US administration has targeted Indian firms such as Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and the US-based Cognizant that follows the offshore model for the visa programme, accusing them of paying lower wages than that set by the Department of Labour. US officials claimed that only 5 per cent of the holders in 2015 earned higher wages set by the Department of Labour, while four out of five workers were paid less than the median age. The whitehouse blog, which quoted unnamed officials briefing the US press, targeted such as TCS, Infosys, Cognizant saying that they applied for large number of H1B visas to get better chance in the lottery system, a lenient implementation of the laws often resulted in hiring of H1B employees, not always high-skilled, to do works of senior American workers. "With US administration trying to strictly enforce the law for H1B visas, Indian IT firms will see a tremendous cost pressure. In addition, if the the lottery system is abolished for visa issuance, it will only add to their cost," said Pareekh Jain, analyst at HfS Research India. For a good perspective on where the numbers stack up. Infosys, India's second largest software exporter, earned 56.8 per cent of revenue with only 28.8 per cent of effort or resources onsite in client locations such as US and Europe. With 70.2 per cent effort in offshore locations such as India, the company earned 43.2 per cent revenue of Rs 68,484 crore in fiscal 2017. Infosys chief executive Vishal Sikka is trying to change this by building a model that delivers software led services, removing dependency on people, while ensuring their productivity increases multifold. At the same time, the firm is looking to hire more local engineers, which includes replicating the model of recruiting hundreds of freshers from college campuses and training them in its local training schools. TCS, which has been named by US officials of gaming the system, dismissed the allegations saying the company has always be compliant with the visa rules. "As far as visas are concerned, we have been complaint and we would be compliant. US remains our largest market. So we will continue to stay in US and meet our customer requirements. For doing that whatever business model changes have to be done we will do that," says Ajoyendra Mukherjee, head of HR at TCS. " We are hiring locally in all geographies. Last few years hiring onsite has been higher. We are going more and more towards less visa dependent business model." TCS says that it complies with local wages and would tweak its business model based on customer needs. Indian firms over the past few years have reduced dependency on H1B visas, while US firms such as Accenture, IBM and Google have stepped up hiring engineers from India and send them on the coveted visa. However, there has been no backlash by US administration on this. Poorvi Chothani, managing partner at LawQuest, a global immigration and employment law firm, says that the executive order is expected to commission the Department of Homeland security to review the current H-1B programme as the US administration wants to only allow highly-skilled foreign nationals who will contribute to the US economy. "The thrust is on the economy and not only on jobs. It is horrible that they are naming some of the large Indian against which there is no concrete evidence of abuse. But there are instances of several other that have abused the system and brought the entire Indian IT sector to this position. There also are instances where some companies have used business visas for their Indian employees to go and work on short term projects or in rotation on larger projects, which is completely illegal," said Chothani, adding that going forward the US immigration classifications will be more strict and Indian companies should see stringent scrutiny of applications and compliance, from the US government. This order will, however, not have an impact on the applications filed this month for the current year. "Based on the report there could be Congressional action to revamp the work-based US immigration system. There is also a chance that President Trump could issue another executive order (based on the report or otherwise) that temporarily suspends some visa options and/or immigration benefits," pointed out Chothani. Mini motorcycle and go-kart maker Monster Moto made a big bet on U.S. manufacturing by moving assembly to this Louisiana town in 2016 from China. But it will be a long ride before it can stamp its products "Made in USA." The loss of nearly one out four U.S. factories in the last two decades means parts for its bike frames and engines must be purchased in China, where the manufacturing supply chain moved years ago. "There's just no way to source parts in America right now," said Monster Moto Chief Executive Alex Keechle during a tour of the company's assembly plant. "But by planting the flag here, we believe suppliers will follow." Monster Moto's experience is an example of the obstacles American face as they, along with President Donald Trump, try to rebuild American manufacturing. U.S. automakers and their suppliers, for example, have already invested billions in plants abroad and would face an expensive and time-consuming transition to buy thousands of American-made parts if President Trump's proposed "border tax" on imported goods were to become law. When reshore assembly to U.S. soil - in Monster Moto's case that took two years to find a location and negotiate support from local and state officials - they are betting their demand will create a local supply chain that currently does not exist. For now, finding U.S.-based suppliers "remains one of the top challenges across our supplier base," said Cindi Marsiglio, Wal-Mart Stores Inc's vice president for U.S. manufacturing and sourcing. Wal-Mart partnered with Monster Moto and several other U.S. in a drive to increase spending on American-made goods by $250 billion by 2023 in response to consumer demand for American-made goods. Their experience has shown Americans' patriotic shopping habits have limits, namely when it comes to price. Take Monster Moto's bikes, which sell for between $249 to $749. Keechle, the CEO, says he can't raise those prices for fear his price sensitive prospective customers will turn to less expensive rivals made in China. "Consumers won't give you a free pass just because you put 'Made in USA' on the box," Keechle says. "You have to remain price competitive." Keeping a sharp eye on labor costs in their factory is one thing these U.S. manufactures can control. They see replacing primarily lower-skilled workers on the assembly line with robots on American factory floors as the only way to produce here in a financially viable, cost-competitive way. It's a trend that runs against the narrative candidate used to win the U.S. Presidency. Since taking office, Trump has continued promises to resurrect U.S. manufacturing's bygone glory days and bring back millions of jobs. On March 31, Trump directed his administration to clamp down on countries that abuse trade rules in a bid to end to the "theft of American prosperity." But it's more complicated on the ground for companies like Monster Moto. "It's almost as if people think you can just unplug manufacturing in one part of the world and plug it in to the U.S. and everything's going to be fine," said David Abney, Chief Executive Officer of package delivery company United Parcel Service Inc, which helped Monster Moto reconfigure its supply chain to bring its Chinese-made parts to Ruston. "It's not something that happens overnight," he said. A White House official said that the Trump administration's efforts to encourage manufacturers to reshore production will be focused on cutting regulations and programs to provide new skills to manufacturing workers. "We recognize that the manufacturing jobs that come back to America might not all look like the ones that left," a White House official said, "and we are taking steps to ensure that the American workforce is ready for that." MAKING ROBOTS GREAT AGAIN In Monster Moto's cavernous warehouse in Ruston, boxes of imported parts that are delivered at one end then become bikes on a short but industrious assembly line of a few dozen workers. A solitary, long-bearded worker by the name of Billy Mahaffey fires up the bikes to test their engine and brakes before a small group of workers puts them in boxes declaring: "Assembled in the USA." Helped by that label, Monster Moto has experienced a recent boom in demand from major customers that include Wal-Mart. The company expects to double production to 80,000 units and increase its assembly workers - who make $13 to $15 an hour - to 100 from around 40 in 2017. The most likely components Monster Moto could produce in America first are black, welded-metal frames for bikes and go-karts, but they would have to automate production because human welders would be too expensive. "We can't just blow up our cost structure," said Monster Moto President Rick Sukkar. "The only way to make it work in America is with robotics." The same principle applies for much larger manufacturers, such as automotive supplier Delphi Automotive PLC's. Chief Financial Officer Joe Massaro told analysts in February that 90 percent of the company's hourly workforce is in "best-cost countries." When asked about shifting production to the United States from Mexico, Massaro said depending on what happens to trade rules "it would have to be much more of the sort of the automated type manufacturing operations just given the labor differential there." That trend is already showing up in data compiled by Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think-tank. According to senior economist Rob Scott, not only did America lose 85,000 factories, or 23.5 percent of the total, from 1997 to 2014, but the average number of workers in a U.S. factory declined 14 percent to 44 in 2014 from 1997. According to Scott, much of the decline in workers was due to automation. For a graphic, click http://tmsnrt.rs/2oaz5mD "We're going to see more automation in this country because it makes good sense economically for every company," said Hal Sirkin, a managing director at the Boston Consulting Group. "You can spend a lot of time bemoaning it, but that's not going to change." Manufacturers say automated production requires fewer, but more skilled workers such as robot programmers and operators. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) estimates because of the "skills gap" there are 350,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs today in a sector that employs over 12 million people. In Ruston, Mayor Ronny Walker bet on Monster Moto by guaranteeing the company's lease because he wants to diversify the city's economy, and envisions suppliers setting up alongside Monster Moto's assembly plant. "Could it take a long time to bring manufacturing back here? Sure," he says. "But you have to start somewhere." When a hunting season was opened in Florida in 2015, hunters shot 304 bears, mostly females. Given that most adult females will have two to three cubs, we can estimate that trophy hunters orphaned or stranded at least 76 bear cubs. Photo by iStockphoto 620 shares Yesterday, Floridas largest newspaper, the Tampa Bay Times, rightly urged the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to forego a trophy hunt for black bears in the state, as it did last year after an outpouring of concern from residents. Connecticut is going through a similar debate, with its small black bear population, and theres also a major citizen effort underway in New Jersey to pull back on that states hunt after one trophy seeker shot a much-followed-and-photographed bear named Pedals, who became a national sensation because he walked upright due to an injury to his front legs and had the posture and gait of a human being. All three states are densely populated more so than just about any other states in the nation. There are more people moving into habitats occupied by wildlife, with humans cutting down forests, building homes and roads, and of course, trekking for recreation in the forests that remain. Inevitably, there are some conflicts, with a few thousand bears and millions of people occasionally having encounters. When I was growing up in Connecticut, there wasnt a bear to be seen in the state. My heart would have raced in the best way to catch a glimpse of one of the bruins. Now, to the credit mainly of the resourceful bears, theyve reclaimed a portion of their original range in the Nutmeg State. Black bears avoid human interactions, and the worst they typically do is raid the trash or seek a honey fix by raiding a beehive. Weve donated bear-proof trash cans in many states, and thats the way to curb the first problem mentioned above. Theres not a solution to every type of encounter, but it seems to me that we can do our best to show tolerance for a long-lived, slow-to-reproduce large mammal whos been dealing about as well as can be expected with the activities of human communities that swallow up wildlands, build homes, and bisect their habitats with roads that feature vehicles blazing past the animals. Even if there are occasional bear-human conflicts, thats no reason to allow trophy hunters to shoot bears at random. Thats akin to a crime-control strategy that involves shooting into a crowd. It does nothing, except in the rarest circumstances, to target a bear with a habitual problem of coming into contact with people. While Connecticut and New Jersey had very few bears until recently, Floridas unique and rare subspecies of black bears were considered a threatened species until 2012. When a season was opened in 2015, hunters shot 304 bears, mostly females. Given that most adult females will have two to three cubs, we can estimate that trophy hunters orphaned or stranded at least 76 but likely more bear cubs. It would also put the total 2015 trophy-bear-hunt mortality closer to 400 bears. These wildlife management cases are a test of our character. We can show tolerance and learn to live with wildlife, allowing these and other large, wide-ranging mammals to enjoy their homes. Or we can choose to exploit the very rare, almost always innocuous encounters that do occur, transform them into life-threatening scenarios, and use them as a pretense for the random killing of unoffending animals. These are not war zones and these situations do not warrant such a use of force and such wanton disregard for the animals interests and well-being. Lets face it: trophy hunters dont kill inedible bears for food or for management purposes. They do it for fun, to create a selfie for social media and for bragging rights, and in some states, including New Jersey, they bait animals to lure them within shooting range. The New Jersey black bear hunt this year also allowed, for the first time in decades, the use of arrows and muzzleloaders, and there were no restrictions specified on the killing of cubs or mother bears. In other states, packs of hounds are used to chase the animals and shoot them from trees. Kentucky wildlife managers have proposed one of the most draconian hound hunts on their two very small, still-recovering bear populationsat a level that is heartbreaking in the extreme. And in Maine and Alaska, they are even permitted to conduct trapping with snares, or may be free to do so soon. Last year, a group of knowledgeable Florida scientists sent a detailed letter to the Florida Wildlife Commission, warning that allowing the hunt to continue as it did in 2015, coupled with roadkill numbers, nuisance bears killed, and poaching, may well plunge multiple subpopulations into sharp decline. Of more than 40,000 comments sent to the FWC before the 2015 hunt, 75 percent were opposed to the hunt. A 2015 statewide Remington Research poll found that nearly two-thirds of Floridians oppose bear hunting. The poll also showed that Floridians overwhelmingly favor educational outreach (84 percent) and bear-proof garbage cans (81 percent.) Eighty-seven percent agreed that neighborhoods near areas where bears roam have a responsibility to avoid attracting bears by securing their garbage and other foods. I suspect people in Connecticut and New Jersey have similar instincts. Policy makers and regulators should show restraint and compassion, and just be thankful that their states have bears and that they can be found in places other than the history books. Industrialist Vijay Mallya's return to India could be delayed, given that UK Prime Minister called for early elections on 8 June, but a reprive for him is unlikely from the UK government. In the first of a series of legal steps, the Metropolitan Police in London arrested the former liquor baron at 9.30 am local time on Tuesday. In February, India's Ministry of External Affairs had made an extradition request, as received from the Central Bureau of Investigation, to the UK High Commission in New Delhi. Mallya is likely to be produced in court today and will get a chance to present his case. Indian industrialist, Vijay Mallya, 61, whose Kingfisher Airlines (KFA) collapsed and who allegedly owes various Indian banks around Rs 9,000 crore, was granted conditional bail by the Westminster Magistrates Court in central London on Tuesday, after he was produced there following an extradition request by India. The next hearing of the case will be on May 17. UB Group chairman and former liquor tycoon was arrested in London by the Scotland Yard, channels CNN NEWS18 and Times Now reported on Tuesday afternoon. He will now be produced before the Westminster Magistrates' Court later in the day. India had applied to Britain to extradite to face trial after the liquor and aviation tycoon was charged with conspiracy and fraud over a loan to his defunct Kingfisher Airlines. Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by banks seeking to recover about Rs 9,000 crore owed by his Kingfisher Airline. Despite multiple injunctions, he has failed to appear before investigators at the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Mallya was declared a wilful defaulter by India before he fled to the UK. In September 2016, he submitted before an Indian court that he wanted to come back to India but was "incapacitated" to travel despite "best intentions" as his passport had been revoked. The UK conveyed to India, in a February 21 order, that its request for Mallyas extradition has been certified by the Secretary of State. The judge will now set a date for the extradition hearing. The hearing must satisfy the judge that the conduct of the individual amounts to an extradition offence. In the UK, extradition involves several steps, most of which are time-barred but allow several tiers of appeal. Once the Secretary of State has certified that the matter can go to court, and if the court is satisfied that enough information has been supplied, an arrest warrant can be issued. This is the point at which Mallyas case rests currently. The court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the conduct described in the request is an extradition offence (which includes the requirement for dual criminality). Generally the information accompanying a request needs to include: details of the person; details of the offence of which they are accused or convicted; if the person is accused of an offence: A warrant for their arrest or provisional arrest (or an authenticated copy); if someone is unlawfully at large after conviction of an offence: A certificate of the conviction and sentence (or an authenticated copy), or for provisional arrest, details of the conviction; evidence or information that justifies the issue of a warrant for arrest in the UK, within the jurisdiction of a judge of the court that would hold the extradition hearing. Extradition can be reviewed by the Secretary of State under specific circumstances: * The person could face death penalty (unless the Secretary of State gets adequate written assurance that the death penalty will not be imposed or, if imposed, will not be carried out) * There are no speciality arrangements with the requesting country speciality requires that the person must be dealt with in the requesting state only for the offences for which they have been extradited (except in certain limited circumstances) * The person has already been extradited to the UK from a third state or transferred from the International Criminal Court and consent for onward extradition is required from that third state or that Court (unless the Secretary of State has received consent) None of these apply to Mallya. The Secretary of State has to make a decision within two months of the day the case is sent. Unless there is an appeal, an individual must be extradited within 28 days of the Secretary of States order. Businessman has reportedly been arrested in London by Scotland Yard just weeks after UK set in motion the process of extradition of the industrialist who has been declared a proclaimed offender. Mallya fled to UK in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by banks seeking to recover about Rs 9,000 crore owed by his Kingfisher Airline. Jalaj Dani of Asian Paints is not the only member of an Indian business family to strike out on his own. Dani, a third-generation scion of one of the founding families of Asian Paints, has stepped down from his position as president, international at Asian Paints to pursue his own interests. Bloomberg News and (ACJ) have launched a co-branded financial journalism programme in India. The ACJ-Bloomberg Postgraduate Program will teach students the latest journalism skills related to writing and editing, digital and multimedia reporting, ethics, investigative reporting, fundamentals of finance and government reporting, says a press release. The applications to the course, which starts in July, opened on Tuesday. It is common to hear harrowing tales of government schools from across the country. In some instances, the infrastructure is in shambles. In other cases, teachers do not impart the lessons properly. While in many schools both the problems co-exist. Commuters in Delhi-NCR may face hardship in hiring taxis on Tuesday as the drivers of two app-based cab aggregators Ola and Uber have threatened to go off the roads for a day against low fares. This is the second round of strike called by the drivers. They had gone on strike in February, too, which had lasted 13 days, causing inconvenience to commuters in Delhi, Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad. The strike might hit private transport service in Delhi and neighbouring cities, as some groups of tourist taxi providers, autorickshaw union, as per agitating Sarvodaya Drivers Association, have extended their support to it. The association, which claims to represent around 125,000 app-based taxis in Delhi-NCR, demands that fares be increased from existing Rs 6 per km to around Rs 20 per km. It also demands abolition of 25 per cent commission the drivers are charged by companies. Ravi Rathore, vice-president of the Sarvodaya Drivers Association, said drivers will take out a protest march against the Delhi government which, he alleged, is not intervening to resolve the issue. The protest march will be taken out from Majnu-ka-Tila to the CMs residence in North Delhis Civil Lines area. There is anger among drivers that government is not intervening in raising their issues with Ola and Uber, Rathore said. He said the association has called for the one-day strike in favour of the demands and if companies and government do not pay heed, they will go on an indefinite strike. According to the association, the app-based cab companies made tall promises to drivers like they would earn as much as Rs 1.5 lakh every month. But the situation is different. They are making us run taxis at Rs 6 per km while they charge 25 per cent from us, Rathore also said. Contrary to the associations claim that most autorickshaw and tourists associations have decided to lend their support to the strike, Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union (yellow-black taxis) said they will not participate in it. "We will not support the strike in Delhi," Rajendra Soni, general secretary of both the associations, said. Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court restrained two taxi drivers' unions - the Sarvodaya Driver Association of Delhi (SDAD) and the Rajdhani Tourist Drivers' Union - from disrupting services of cabs run by Ola and Uber in the capital region. Welcoming the court order, Uber in a statement said it hopes it will enable drivers to stay behind the wheel, without fear or harassment. Citizens of India are eligible to visit Russia's far east without visas, Russian Prime Minister has said. According to a TASS report, Medvedev said on Monday tourists and businessmen from 18 nations India, the UAE, Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, Iran, Qatar, China, North Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey and Japan can visit the Russian far east without visas. "I have approved the list of countries whose nationals can take advantage of the preferential regime. Businessmen and tourists will not need to undergo the traditional procedure of Russian visas receipt," the Prime Minister said. It will be enough for foreigners "to enter their data on a special website in the internet," Medvedev said. "We are proactively forming the modern infrastructure and creating special regimes in the Far East. The law on visits to the Vladivostok free port was approved in March," Medvedev said. Cancellation of visa procedures for tourists and businessmen "will promote growth of investment and tourist attractiveness of the far east," he said. The region will earn more money from tourist traffic growth, the Prime Minister added. Eighteen countries from various regions selected by the reciprocity principle were included into the list, Medvedev said. "This is not because these states are situated at a closer or longer distance we are appropriately introducing bilateral agreements on visa-free travel for those ready to use such an approach for us," he was quoted as saying by TASS news agency. Widespread protests by students in the Kashmir Valley on Monday heightened tensions as dozens of students and policemen were injured in clashes. The students clashed with police in Srinagar, Bandipora, Baramulla, Anantnag, Pulwama, Kupwara, Kulgam and Shopian districts. The students had called for protests against Saturday's incident in Pulwama town in which over 50 students were injured in fighting with security forces after objecting to the setting up of a security post outside the college. Security forces had entered the Pulwama college on Saturday. Students of S.P. College in Srinagar blocked the Maulana Azad Road on Monday as police used tear smoke in a bid to clear it. The students resorted to massive stone pelting at the police, resulting in injuries to the Station House Officer of Kothibagh police station and two of his guards. Three students were also injured in the clashes. Police used dozens of tear smoke shells to disperse the students who kept regrouping to engage the police on the streets. Girls from a women's college in Srinagar also joined the protests as police battled hard to bring the situation under control. Markets in neighbouring Residency Road and Lal Chowk areas closed as tension spread. Protests and clashes also erupted between students in Pulwama town despite the authorities having ordered the closure of the college there for two days following Saturday's incident. Students also indulged in heavy stone pelting at the security forces in Baramulla, Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag, Dooru, Kupwara, Ganderbal, Tral and Bandipora towns. Protests took place inside the Kashmir University and the Central University here but these were peaceful. Reports said over three dozen students and two dozen security men were injured in Monday's clashes in the Valley. Police said they were maintaining "extreme restraint" while dealing with the student protests. In 2010, we told you Genband has become a mini Alcatel-Lucent for all practical purposes and we couldnt help thinking of this, almost a decade later as we sat, discussing the latest happenings at the company. GENBAND is actually not only a company delivering hardware and software, they have become a cloud-enabler for carriers worldwide. For example, Deutsche Telekom has a consumer app based on Kandy. Who is GENBAND today? They are becoming the ultimate enabler of carrier communications solutions. They are partnering broadly and doing what is needed to woo developers to their ecosystem. In many ways, the competition for the company is Twilio but they dont compete head-to-head GENBAND enables carriers to compete with Twilio. In other ways the competition is Skype but they dont compete directly, they enable carriers to take on Skype with Fring. More broadly, GENBAND is the carrier arms dealer, allowing these service providers to compete with various OTT and other Silicon Valley services. They give you a platform to take back your network from a range of parasitic services. If these Silicon Valley solutions get betwen carriers and their customers, GENBAND does the opposite. We searched for the antonym for disintermediate and frankly couldnt find one. Since its a holiday weekend, we took poetic license and invented a term, re-disintermediation That is what the company does for carriers worldwide. But there is so much more. The company is also making inroads, supplying solutions to the DoD they recently became JITC certified. Recall that the The GENBAND EXPERiUS Application Server shares its heritage with the Nortel AS 5300, which provides it with the unique capability to offer a highly scalable, cloud-based upgrade option for legacy Nortel communications systems deployed by the US Department of Defense. The company has further thrown its hat into the SIP trunking field enabling carriers to roll trunks out to their customers. The twist is they can be integrated applications and accessed through APIs or Kandy Wrappers which are prepackaged applications. GENBAND has deep roots in communications as does Dialogic two names which were the talk of the market during the dotcom days. Now they are partnering Dialogics PowerMedia XMS will provide video functionality to GENBAND, recording, conferencing and more. Last but not least is a partnership with IBM it will allow the IBM Connections Cloud to offer collaboration services to enterprises. In addition, Watson is making bots intelligent for their customers. Once trained, a bot can interact with prospects and customers and when specific keywords are used which indicate a bot is in trouble, the communication can escalate to a live agent. The service costs around ten cents per connection they told me in a recent meeting. One last area of interest is the companys focus allowing citizen developers to develop solutions without coding. For example in an hour, they were able to create a solution which at the click of a button launches a conference bridge and invites the appropriate people useful if there is an IT outage for example. There is certainly a lot happening at GENBAND the good news is, their product breadth isnt slowing their ability to innovate. Speaking of Communications Innovation Communications 20/20 will be held July 18-20, 2017 at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada and will focus on the next wave of technology and innovation that will transcend the importance of person to person contact, disrupting the future of the entire communications industry. Communications 20/20 will provide vital knowledge and insight through unique programming, hands on training, live demos, keynotes, exhibits and networking events. This unique conference will allow for individuals and companies entrenched in the traditional communications ecosystem that want to understand how to adapt and profit from the new software-defined communications trends that will permeate through all industries and enterprises. Prime Minister on Monday said that the Central government had fixed prices for as many as 700 medicines for the benefit of the people as part of a comprehensive healthcare policy. Inaugurating a Rs 500 crore multi-speciality hospital set up by diamond merchants of Surat, he also assured that the government would make sure that the doctors prescribe only generic medicines. "This will break the monopoly of big medicine outlets," he added. "In the benefit of poor people, the government has fixed the prices for as many as 700 medicines so as to ensure they can afford it," he said. Modi claimed his government rightly understood the value of a healthy society and had been working tirelessly towards building one and after a long gap of 15 long years that it was his government that had come up with a good healthcare policy. He added the government had given much required attention to preventive healthcare measures in the country by the Swachh Bharat mission, which is a part of promoting preventive healthcare habits. He commended the people of Surat for adopting the habit of cleanliness in such a way that it could provide a good example for other cities to emulate. Referring to the Rs 500 crore Kiran Hospital that he inaugurated, Modi said that more than the price paid for setting up such projects, it was the hard work that went behind it was important. "Whether the medical facility is worth Rs 500 crore or Rs 5,000 crore, it is the family values and diligent efforts that have ultimately anointed it as a blessing for public," he opined. "I wish no one falls into such a situation requiring hospitalization, but if in case the need arises, may he be cured completely so as not to visit a hospital-like place again, I pray," he added. The Kiran Hospital has been set up by philanthropic efforts of the diamond merchants of Surat, some of whom invdividually pitching crores of rupees. This is the only hospital in Gujarat with a facility for a helipad on its terrace. The CBI on Monday filed an FIR against a dozen senior leaders of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress and an IPS officer in the Narada sting footage case, raising the political temperature in the eastern state. The opposition launched an all-out attack against the Trinamool, with the Left Front bringing out a large number of rallies demanding the resignation of the government. However, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said mere filing of FIR does not mean the accused are guilty. "It is a political game, and has to be tackled politically," she said. A Central Bureau of Investigation spokesperson said the list of FIR includes all 12 persons who were purportedly seen receiving money in the footage. "Trinamool Congress MP Aparupa Poddar's name is also included in the list of FIR," the spokesperson told IANS. Among those whose names figure in the First Information Report are Trinamool vice president and Rajya Sabha member Mukul Roy, the party's Lok Sabha members Sougata Roy, Sultan Ahmed, Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Prasun Banerjee. Also featuring in the list are state Ministers Subrata Mukherjee, Firhad Hakim, Suvendu Adhikari, city Mayor and Minister Sovan Chatterjee, legislator Iqbal Ahmed and former minister Madan Mitra. IPS officer S.M.H. Mirza was the other person named in the list. He was seen in the sting footage and the Narada website claimed he described himself as a "key person who collects funds for the Trinamool Congress". The accused have been charged with criminal conspiracy and under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. "CBI conducted the Preliminary Enquiry into the said allegations expeditiously. Enquiry revealed prima facie material for registration of a Regular Case (FIR) under the charges of ciminal conspiracy to commit a crime (IPC 120B) and Section 7 and 13(2), 13(1) (a) and (d) of Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. Further investigation is continuing," a CBI press release said. The Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI preliminary inquiry into the case exactly a month back, on March 17, and asked the federal investigation agency to submit the report within 72 hours. The Trinamool appealed to the Supreme Court on March 21, challenging the High Court' order. The apex court refused to interfere with the high court order, but extended the deadline for the preliminary probe to one month. On Monday, Narada News CEO Mathew Samuel welcomed the CBI move, saying the agency's action proved that the visuals in the sting footage are not doctored and there was no conspiracy behind the sting operation. "For these reasons they have come to the conclusion to file an FIR," said Samuel, who had carried out the sting operation on behalf of the news portal. The opposition tore into the ruling party. State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury targeted the Chief Minister for having earlier claimed that no such scandal has taken place. "She needs to be asked whether she still feels false cases have been lodged against the Narada accused?" he asked. Senior Communist Party of India-Marxist leader and noted lawyer Bikash Bhattacharya said the latest development was inevitable. "This shows the big role that money plays in politics of Bengal, or entire India. We hope there will be no political interference impeding the CBI probe," added Bhattacharya, who had fought the case for the petitioners seeking a CBI probe into the case. State Bharatiya Janata Party President Dilip Ghosh said the filing of FIR was expected. "People of whole West Bengal were waiting for this. The probe is proceeding in the right direction," he said. The controversy erupted in election-bound West Bengal in March last year when Narada News portal uploaded video footage purportedly showing the Trinamool leaders receiving money in exchange of favours to a fictitious company. Three PILs were filed seeking a CBI probe, and the opposition went all guns blazing on the issue. But the Trinamool managed to retain power, and soon after Banerjee ordered a police probe to find out the "conspiracy" angle to the sting. However, the Calcutta High Court ordered an interim stay on the police probe. --IANS mgr-ssp/vd Who owns nation wants to know? That seems to be the question that will probably be answered by the courts. The catch-phrase popularised by former Times Now anchor, has become a bone of contention now. The navys warship procurement chief admitted on Tuesday that key purchases, including the vital procurement of six new submarines, were foundering on the defence ministrys failure to finalise a strategic partner (SP) policy. The President of India and all central and state ministers who know the language might soon have to deliver their speeches only in Hindi if a parliamentary panel's recommendations, which have been accepted by President Pranab Mukherjee, are implemented, reported the Times of India on Tuesday. The Supreme Court on Monday set in motion the process to sell Maharashtra-based luxury township of Aamby Valley to recover the dues owed by the Sahara Group to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought response from the central government on a PIL seeking to ascertain the feasibility of singing the anthem and the song in schools and public offices. The notice has also been issued to the Law Commission of India. Petitioner Ashwini Upadhyay, who is also spokesman of the Bharatiya Janata Party's Delhi unit, has urged the government to ascertain the feasibility of singing/playing of the anthem and the national song in Parliament/assembly, public offices and courts on every working day. The BJP leader has sought framing of a national policy to promote and propagate the national anthem, the national song and the national flag in the spirit of the Constitution's Article 51A, which spells out 'Fundamental Duties'. Its first clause says that "It shall be the duty of every citizen of India" (a) to abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem". Even as a bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A M Khanwilkar and Justice Mohan M Shantanagoudar sought the government's response, it modified its earlier November 30, 2016, order to exempt a certain category of physically disabled people from standing up when the is played in cinema halls as per its directions. The court had then ordered that the National Anthem would be played in cinema halls across the country before the start of a movie. This, it said, would instil a feeling of "constitutional patriotism" and a sense of "committed patriotism and nationalism". It also had said that when the national anthem is sung or played, it is imperative on the part of everyone present to show due respect and honour to it by standing up. BJP MP Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday suggested that the troubled should be de-populated and Kashmiris sent to refugee camps in Tamil Nadu to curb protests in the state. A day after university and college students across the valley clashed with security forces, he tweeted: Solution to revolt is to depopulate as was done to Hindus. For a few years keep them in refugee camps in TN. Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) April 18, 2017 The valley has been on a boil and the government has ordered the temporary closure of all schools and colleges. The fresh protests followed a sequence of recent poll-related violence in the state where eight people were killed in firing by security forces when people tried to storm polling stations in Budgam district. The life of every woman unilaterally separated from her spouse is pathetic. They face challenges and constraints both in their marital and natal families. After reports on Tuesday suggested that businessman had been arrested in London by Scotland Yard, the industrialist rubbished the news saying only the extradition hearing had started, as scheduled, and the Indian media was hyping the news. 17 Rain strings touch Part 1 ___________ I left Montreal in heavy snowflakes, they were playing with a beautiful story I send you last time dear Christy. Last night the rain was sounding on my window, I dont know what they sing. And this morning, a bunch of flowers in my vase opened fresh music in spring of Toronto. Yeah, I was in Toronto, rent a room by Lake Ontario, a clean and quiet area. Who set a long table under tree, covered with white tent? And who would be here to weave a song with laughter gathering? It would be alumni of Beijing University in this city, a party of called hotpots, everybody supposed to bring a favorite dish come to share; The lake water was rippling on bank with cheerful sound, one by one, the long table placed vary colorful food; I lifted one lid of dish, wa...." the smell was seductive with mellow like wine, stew beef with carrot and potato! "you love this dish? one man said behind me, welcome to taste, I cook it; He took a fork, tip a piece to my mouth, taste it, Mmm yamy yamy, love it, I nodded my head to him and smile; We smiles each other in the joy of sunlight, "what was your major in Beijing University?" he asked, "I just study English one year for oversea program there . Not student.How about you?" I asked him. "Computer, I am not student, my wife is," he said, "Ow, haha..... computer, i want to learn it, you may teach me, please, I asked him in anxious; Ok, I am busy now, and I have a friend who may help you, he said. The breeze flits over the trees blows the ripple swinging weeds along the lake, as the tiniest pale green buds nod at the tips of the branches with joy. Hi, the man with me raised his hand to a lady, come on, let me introduce you a new friend, As the lady walked closer to us, she and me smiled each other; she may help you to build your website with graphics, she is website designer, .. Is that you? I said to her, God, how are you, nice to see you here..how come you guys know each other? you guys know each other? the man in surprising; we are classmate in college, in a graphic design program. the lady said; A couple of weeks ago, I met her when I applied for a job in a computer magazine; she was in a meeting with the manager, I would like to apply for a volunteer position. I said to her; Why do you want to apply for that, you dont want to get paid? she was curious. for my English is not good, and I would like to get in, and improve my language, Mmmmm, thats good, come on, I let you to meet the manager, And after talking with the manager, waited for about a week, I got the job, and I got paid, and I bought my first car, Now we met again here, in a hotpots party by the lake. A beautiful day for meet beautiful friends; as small world has big heart in love. We stood to talk, and we taste each others food, and she and me walked away from the crowd, hold our food to a small forest, and stopped under trees, the breeze that rustle leaves like whisper for its gladness and joy, blows up the ripple of lake, veiled by a row of willow trees. . And as we stood there, it started to rain, The rain strings fall on earth from the sky, and play on the leaves, on grass, and flowers; We run to a coffee shop nearby, and stood there under the hove, She smile on me, and we lean on the windowsill; you want to taste mine, tomato fry egg, very popular dish in Beijing, I said, I know it, its nice, Open your mouth, let you try it she opened her mouth, as I tip it into it; her lips, the thick and sexy lips swell up from her face with seducing desire for kiss; and her breast with small base, but swell high, in very attractive way protruded from her bosom. we smiled, and our shoulder touched each other; my shoulder to push her a bit in purpose, and she smile on me, and pushed me back; we didnt look each other, but our shoulder tightly against each other. The lake of Ontario, rain fell on the water, countless dots of spirit, the rustle sound, as wind blow cheer of flute; And the lute is singing, the sweet tones are spreading to remember gladness; the lips of clouds touched the top of mountain, The rain stopped. whole sky flowing over the maple leaves, the delicate red maple leaves, clouds is shattered over the blue sky, and the light was shine, we met before, and we met again, and become friend, the merry bell rings under the hove of coffee shop, we stood there, Her eyes lighted, and a bird came, sing a bit, and flew away, left smile ripple over trees, I would buy a computer, I would like you come to teach me graphic design, wont you? sure, let me know when you get one. The rain strings hang on air, the wind is lyrical poet in the rain, Lake Ontario was in fog and moisture steam, who plucked the rain strings, let music sound flow? Part 2___________ spring breeze spread on the door of 1999 in Toronto; she came to my home. We sat by my window, a small desk, two small chairs, Sunbeam shone on my new white computer, the birds in the leaves sung with me, my girl talked to me about software Photoshop, and I didnt listen, my eyes on her, her eyes glistering behind her silver glasses, her hair that smooth blew in breeze from outside of window, the wind bell ringing, and her delicate finger play on keyboard, like play piano; The room was too quiet to hear our hearts pounding, and my mind was out of her talk, flew out through the window; her eyes were watery in soft and love as she talk, as our eyes touched, I saw her was nervous, and she dodged to meet with my eyes; the world is such small, how could I met her in the company, and she became my teacher, came my home and beautifully sat beside me? my knees touched her bare knees under the desk, a little bit touch, she didnt move away, and the touch stayed; you want play some music? I asked No, look at here, on the screen, she said, the voice was slightly trembling; Let me try, I hold the mouse, and my body was almost on her; Our bodies closed together, our face almost touched, I even could smell the breath from her nose as she exhale, the scent of girl, her girlish fragrant with my bodys hotness mixed, Impulse, the strong impulse attack me, and my heart was shrink, and tighten, I hold my breath, and her voice was lower, and her spoke slower, Knowing the moment was coming, both of us; she point with her finger on screen, her finger was long and exquisite, Vibrant at the tip of my heart, and flaming burning up from my bottom we smiles, and I hold her hand, and eyes on her eyes, looked at her, her eyes gaze at me, the way she gaze me like mellow gleam of musical moonbeam blessing in the cool of evening in the touch of our eyes, were raising fire, the loves flaming, I moved my face to close hers, and turned around, our lips touched, and pressed together in sudden; she close her eyes, and let her lips on mine, the wind blow outside of window, and bell sound, and the sunlight was so warm; my hand rub her hand, and she loose herself from me, and look at me. Her eyes were so soft, so seductive, with a bit charming in sultry sense, the charming in her eyes at that moment; The light of day pouring in from my window, and wind blow leave outside, Balcony the wind bell dingling dingling play the sound like whisper us, Kiss, kiss, and love with kiss, like a sleeping song Our lips pressed on, and we hold our breath, both of us; won't breath out, i deeply take her breath from her nosily, a mature lady's breath. And finally, and relief, and both of us ha. And took a long and deep breath, i hold out my left hand on her neck, gently just put there. she press her right hand on my hand. her right hand on my lap, my hand stretched into her clothes through under her arm clothes, she got itch, hey, you're so bad, she laughing at that, with happy voice. charming is her style. coquettish a bit, and kiss her lips, the sweet honey in love, We looked each other, our eyes stared at each other, as if they hooked in magnet, I love her in that way, in my holding comfortable and moved my hand lower, to her hips, hold it in both of hand, her firm and round hip, she press her hand on it and hold it by press on it. I .. I couldn't.. she seems mean she wont let me go further. I am hungry, I said, me too, you want to go out to eat? she said, its almost middle of afternoon, We got up, went out, she drove, we arrived a restaurant by the lake, O with gentle peaceful, the mossy slope beneath a woven grove it sailing, and ghastly torrent mingles its far roar, with the breeze murmuring in the musical woods When we were about to leave, it started to rain. The rain strings fell with sound of glee, we run to stand under the trees, and got wet. I got my coat out and cover her. and we run back under the porch of the restaurant, The rain seem wont stop, so we sat down on the wood steps. You know where the rain come from? From lake? Or from the sky? The rain come from my clouds, your cloud?, from my clouds, the music player; When it filled love moisture in full, it falls, it become rain string, play music in air, with lyrics ripples, is that why we always meet with rain? she asked. because you are with me, we are part of rain, of music, of love, haha. you say that, but nice, The rain strings, crystal, and clean, with silvery shining,fall down on lake and singing beautifully as you, hear the wind play sound? it plays with strings of rain as a bow, the bow plays rains string of violin; as the sky hear your singing, singing from your heart, it knows, it kiss, as I kiss you I know you will kiss me, even before I come to your home, you knew it, I said, and I knew it too, for you say you will come.. and rain knows it too, it fall down on ground, and we will sing with grass and flowers, and the song is for you, singing thank you, my teacher, at my first computer class with love wet. Part 3__________ As birds singing with dawns ray, we got up and drove away, out of town, out of noise, she would bring me to Niagara Fall, the grand fall hang on the board of Canada. stretched an arms out of top window, I hold fresh air into car; her beautiful hair was flying, her blouse was fluttering, her bosom swelled up from pressed wind; her mouth opened with widen smile; she was singing a song, and I waved my hand with the rhythm we sing her bared arms on wheel, we sing flowers blooming in our heart, highway like a stripe of silky river paved in early morning, our car like a tiny boat, sailing fast as trees back up like waving of flute with the joyful stream May is the beautiful season on driving in field. you see the trees, they are shaking, they were waving, . say hi, my friends, I am in them, they love in you; floating between green bank, The pool in the field reflecting the mountain and trees, a mirror with the ray of mornings glow; The road is a creak flows in youthful joy; she was driving, are you ok? she said, I am boring, and I would hold you, and could we drive together? how, I thought youre enjoy my music, I selected them, and make this CD myself, You? Youre genius, .. haha. I want to drive, drive with you, how? see, let my hand is on yours, in that way we can drive together, I started to tease her; nono, dont touch, you dont want an accident dont you im driving, and I couldnt stand and you.. you shut up, I pressed my finger on her lips, in the way I could touch her lips, and I smiled, just let my hand on your hand, like this, and my hand was on her arms, and moved and slide from her hand to shoulder; the smooth skin arms made me felt comfortable, and her short T-shirt fluttering by the wind opened wide, her part of breast showed up; she looked at me, looking my eyes on her under arms, and my finger stick into the under arm, and touched her flesh; she pull my hand away, and it fell down on her leg instead, and I was happy my hand on there; my hand clap on it; okok. We are soon to get there, soon, very soon, she said, take your hand away from me, please, As she saying, I hold her hand in mine, and waving in air, bengbeng beng, I was singing to wave her hand in air; crazy guy, you know that, you are, youre crazy, Okok, sing a songs for me, I love to hear you sing, to sing your body, or sing for the sunlight, and I kiss her face; hey, sing a song you love; .. you stupid man, how was your website, did you make it up? ..tell me what you are doing, and how was the job, and your life. Talk me about it she said, ok, the stupid man has stories, that is, I go to a college, take the program called New Media design, and I used the skills you teach me, haha. and I build my website, great, she said, and my hand put her neck, and caressed on it; and I made my first website, and my hand fell down on her leg as I talking, its not that bad as my friend say, I would show you later, while my hand massage on her thigh; dont. hey stupid guy your handdid you? good for you, she took my hand away, and her hand clap my leg, the green tree waving back and green mountain was far ahead, as widen road winds ahead in the day light, open cars window, we welcome the fresh air, and we face Mays fresh; the green and vast of field with the lace of flowers, and the cloud's decked with bright sunshine, and floating over skys end; I raised her arm in air, and I was singing, our car was floating in the sky, floating with the clouds; her under arm, from her short west, I saw her under arm hair, the furry thin underarms hair, shaking in wind; thats seducing again with my hearts tip quivering, with a sexual stirring, a little secret stealing peer, that made me in rapture, and stirring of love sense, and that part show steal make more sense than expose completely, such as blow the edge of skirt by gust, or the underwear suddenly caught in eye sight. her breast, which under a black bra, a part of flesh swelled in her bra, a black bra, seductively call me, calling with my eyes; my head stretched under her arm, and she was yelling, hey hey, bad guy, get out of me, you want an accident? her voice was high pitch; I didnt make any noise, just put my head close to her belly, and my nose touched her breast from below; and her hand clap on my face, and her finger were on my lips, and she play my lips while she was driving; my head were on her lap, my lips kissing on her thigh, by that touching, her legs, her thigh, and slightly caress on it, she fell that in silence, and she seems get well on my playing; by squeeze my face her fingers, then squeeze my nose, and said, give me a kiss, she murmured, I watched the road, and no car in it, and I kissed her, her lips, I got a job in World Journal as reporter, and I also got a job in a Thailand restaurant as waiter, The food they provide is sooo nice, I love the mongo salad the best, delicious, I was telling; Ow, you got two jobs, thats great, how was the reporter job? boring, I dont like it, but the payment is good, I love Thailand food too, she said, sing a song, stupid guy, I would like to listen you sing, I am not good singing, my voice is hoarse, its ok, hoarse voice is good, thats mans sound, I like it, we could sing together, sing what, give me a start, Taiwan campus song, you my desk mate I love that song, lets sing.. Hoho.. it was starting rain outside "who married you who has motional feeling? who made wedding clothes for you? who steal read my love letter that i wrote to you? who through it up in the wind?.... lalalala.la.la.." we sing together, and we were driving in the sound of light sea, in the sound of rain strings that drop rustling on our cars roof; who bring so much rain to us, as we are singing? who through it up in the wind, it touches the strings of rain? .thats you, haha.. who made wedding clothes for you, me! Haha you sweet mouth guy, she said, and we laugh loudly,. my hand hold her hand waving in air, as she only one hand on wheel; we shout our song out as our car moving in rain, and our sound floating in rain wet; Part 4 _____________ Just arrived there, we were wrapped in huge hum of thunder voice, Niagara Fall; hold each other, we didnt get out, just kiss, kiss in car, couldnt wait one second longer; our car hidden in shadow of tree at a corner; we kissed, hold, until nearly noon Let eating, as we opened cars window, the sound, the sound from the fall, like thousands of lions were roaring, Put down our food, we quickly walked, stopped before the fall; O, the great amount water in the light of sun, flow in transparent light, in silence, As if they came from the end of sky, once got the edge of cliff, it fall down, The jade water, fall down, hang in air like a big white flower curtain, clench my girl hand, we watched in quiet, just watch and listen, to feel the beauty of fall where this huge water come from? the water, flow together, one by one, one followed one, as it falls, fall in the air, it become countless dot, hang on the air, with the shout, with the smile steam fog, their song of freedom, their song of love, Do they flow thousand miles, just for this moment, for this moment in love? they do, we do, come to this earth, for freedom, for love. the music, the sound, they made in air, in their fall; they are roaring for the thrill the love make it has, In the air, the sound, the sound of roaring, is the happy sound when we make love, haha.. thats right, she giggling on our talk. Fall, is a love, a song, its music stay in air, only in air; yeah, youre right, it falls into love, thats why they flow here, and fall. That means fall. my lips were on her lips, and we hold each other, we kiss, and our body together, like water, without border They fall down and they died? she said, no, they fall into love, and make love in air, with the most beautiful view, and hit the earth, and flow back, and they will come again, to make love here in fall, you, youre so bad to think that way she smiles and kiss me. did you have an impulse that you want to jump in? yes, I do, me too, I heard somebody once jumped in, and he is safe to survival, I dont believe it. with what courage, with the spirit, The fall, majesty, they are flowing to go home, their land, their original place where they come from with love. I wish I was a drop of fall, could join in with them, and flow, and make love in air. We hold each other, I hold my girls shoulder, and kiss her hair, her forehead, and she kiss me back in my lips, and I bite her lips, and stopped there, The sound of fall, the steam, wrapped us, and we were in love, in the most giant love making fall. As dusk time was near, as moon early to show over sky, a round mirror with smile the pink stream in the dusks ray, hug foam of steam in the air; evening in Niagara fall's beauty I picked a tiny stone up by the fence, i stretched it to her; "see, this's me, how about letting it jump into the group of forcing of water?" i throw it to the fall, and it disappeared in the huge steam foam, "i am in the fall, as i want to jump in, "look," she picked another piece of small stone, and threw it to the fall. "i joined you, and we run together with the fall, "to the end of earth, They makes a circle, a jump to the start point, and back the original point, runs a thousand of miles. we grinned each other, and we were so happy. O greatest Fall, please accept me, to be a part of your family, and i would flow with you, in the joy of nature, the moon, the sunlight, the grass along our way, On the way home, she were tired, me too, my head on her shoulder as she drove; she turned in a small road, stopped it, we moved to back seat, hold each other, sleeping; The night falls on us without knowing, were sleeping pillowed the star, A dream flows to me .. the fall was flowing, and we jump in to join, two drops of water, join the hanging of fall, jump from the edge of cliff, stretching our wings, we fall, fall down, in the air, hang on as water fall, with the shout, with the song, the thrill of freedom, the glee of love. Part 5 __________ Milky hue of sun spread over the hills at dawn, Our car slides out of town, with the flute of morning softly blows over leaves; Chewing our sandwiches, we, four of us this time, two men and two young ladies, drove to Algonquin Park, a provincial park. all of us love lakes, and that park has thousands lakes. 6 hours driving journey to the north of Toronto, we made turn of driving. Arrived by a lake, birds were chirping in shadows quietness of shadow. We rent two boats, two pairs of us, peddled away, the girl with me, we smiles each other, sat side by side, as the ripples slightly tapping our boat along the grass of bank; a row blue boats moored by the side of wood deck, the reflection shaking in green ripple with a red house we stopped peddling, let the boat wandering in free; its quiet around, looked round, nobody around us, we reached a small forest, a peaceful place, around heavy grass smell.. did you hear the sound, when the wind is flittering over it? what did it sing? she said. It sings, hey, come into me, come inside of me.. water call me, Haha. I want to swim, let me in the water, to be a fish, to be a part nature, youre joking, dont you? she smiled on me; we once naked swim in the ocean when we were in Hainan island, its so fun, I said; Ow, naked swimming? You mean you want to naked here swim? yeah, I really do, maybe its crazy, .. if you dont mind? I said, no, I dont, if you want, go ahead, she courage me; She watched me, I took my coat and pant off, and . watch me, one, two, three,. peng! I jumped into the water, and I swam under water, Got out for the surface of water, I shake my head, and smiled her; its so good, you want to join in? I pushed her and splash water to her; she laughing and dodged it, no, I dont, dont splash water on me! she yelled; someday, someway, haha. youd be wet, you will .. you bad guy she smiles and started to peddle away, I swam to follow her, and she peddle faster, but I swim faster than her; As I caught the her boat, I swage it, and she was in picnic; hey hey, bad guy, I dont want to fall, hey. She yelling out, I smiled, and stopped, and push her to slide, in smooth way; And she sat at the head of boat, and stretched her arms to the sky, hey, I am swimming, I am swimming too, in the light, in the air, she shouted; youre swimming in me, haha.. in my boat, I also shout out; She sat there, come out bad guy, I am bored, okok, I am coming.. the boat was bobbing up and down in the lake, and I pushing it to the bank under trees; out of water, I dried up my body and put my shirt on; tied the boat with a tree, we walked inside of trees; A little tired, and in a small forest and I put a blanket and my coat on ground, and we sat down; tell me your naked swimming in Hainan island, she let her head on my leg and laid down, I will tell you if you dare to naked and jump into the water, and swimming with me, talk to me, I want to listen, stand up, lift up your hand, I said, you may reach the cloud you love, the grass of tiny gift over sky; My girl knew what I means, she knew that I would give her a hug. So she stood up, and I hold her up, and made a spinning; She smiled and she smiled in my arms, in the sunlight; Then I put her down, and kiss her; She kiss me back, and I stretched my tongue tip at her lips, then our lip pressed together, She slowly take off her underwear as I kissed her; then her hand crossing on my back; when my hand up touched her bosom from rubbing her hip, her breast was swell up in full; she hold her clothes up a bit, and I pulled her bra up, her breast spring out, swaging with grace, she let me suck her, suck her flesh bun of flowers, my dick erected and getting hard, and I hold her down to the blanket, and got my gesture ready to get in; as slowly massage at the entrance of her pussy, she murmur and sound out, and I bite her lips, and block her mouth the sound; its coming inside of her, as I started to slunk, she shout it a loud; as I plunge it in harder, tried to touch all sides in her push, she shout loud, and Au Au.. my hand both hold her hip, started to drive harder, the actually pumping; The lake was in glorious water hue, and the flowers and grass swinging as breeze caressing on the water; Its sing peace, flowing in love, their own ripple of music in lyrics My right finder massage on her C point, the core of love, and made harder and stronger, that drove her went crazy, a few slightly plunges, and with a suddenly hard and deep one, she got high, and she Au Au. Sound, as she was going to the climax. With a slight quivering, her body soften as a baby, and I felt that I reached her womb, and she made a sharp happiness voice, O, my.. my. youre so good. O.. she was using her full of force, wildly kiss me, as return, as appreciation, as satisfaction, for the affection, the love, in the nature, the tree, the lake, the sun, we crazily drive each other, and my coat was very mess beneath of us; we together made the sound and we all got the peak of sex, almost in the same time! The sunlight was so warm, and the breeze was so dear, and I tired turn to laid down aside, and we face to the sky, The clouds softly in the sunlights arm, and wind tapping the lake water, whisper with the grass of shore, our love, the flower liquid blooms in nature, forest and lake, its so quiet, only rustlings of leaves singing, and two squalls came to us, turning their body quickly and open eyes big and runs away, to say hi a fallen trees, with some dead woods, tiny pools with grass in it, and flow in singing of song, and tiny branches flow with it, and the best music to breath together. The tree is our hidden tent; and the forest, the nature, is the sex place for us; to make us happy. "look, the sky, the clouds, the light has painted the lake in light purple, with the ripple, the thin curving lines, that never stop their smile, ... and the clouds, O, the clouds became thicker, and darker; Its looks like its going to rain, No wind, and air is stopped, a piece of leave fall, as a smile from the sky Is it a signal of spring before the rains come to us? O, it rains, the rain falls again. how come we always meet with rain? she stretched her palm, let rain drop fall on it, the rain is the feeling of love, it follows the feeling, and turn it strings, as the sky hear your singing, they come, as the grass and flower sing with you; I read what in your heart, I talked with clouds, with lake, we talked each other, so it rains, strings of water, fall from sky, the whole sky become a musical instrument play with us; the rain strings, crystal, and clean, with silvery shining, fall down on lake and singing as beautiful as you? and wind hear the sound, and couldn't help, and play with strings of rain, as a bow, as a flute, we were in the music of rain, we were part of sky play; Algonquin park, in the rain, in our love strings; Who touched them? You, and me, part of rain strings, the music of wet love. Soon after Vijay Mallya was arrested in London following India's extradition request, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar on Tuesday assured that the beleaguered liquor baron will be brought back after completion of all required legal procedures. Addressing the media here, Gangwar claimed that although bail was granted to Mallya, who is facing money laundering charges, this does not imply any leniency towards him. He added that granting bail was required on grounds of a 'legal formality'. "Eradication of black money has been discussed since the Lok Sabha elections. We will not let miscreants like Mallya escape. We will make sure he is brought back to India and produced before the law after due consideration of legal formalities," he said. "Our government will make sure that nothing diverts this country's progress. Mallya's case will be investigated thoroughly," added Gangwar. Mallya, who was finally caught after repeatedly refusing to appear before courts and investigators in India since he secretly fled to Britain last March, is set to be produced before the Westminster Magistrates' court. Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that extradition of the absconding liquor baron has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the UK Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him. The Supreme court had started proceedings against Mallya a year ago and had issued notice to him on March 8, 2016, on a plea by a consortium of banks led by the State Bank of India (SBI) for recovery of about Rs. 9,000 crore which the businessman and his companies owed to them. Mallya, however, fled the country days before the apex court took up the case against him. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi urged the court to direct him to bring back the USD 40 million which he had received from Diageo. He told the bench that Mallya had breached the court orders and his refusal to bring back the money had aggravated the breach. Rohatgi also said that Mallya should be directed to appear personally before the court. With the recent lifting of a ban on mining in Uttarakhand, its fragile ecology is being threatened like never before. The concluding part of a three-part series looks at why the high courts rulings are dismissed so often. The goods and services tax (GST) regime is less than 75 days away assuming July 1 as the roll-out date. Here is a look at how doing business will be different in the GST-era. What should businesses keep in mind while generating invoice? Generating an invoice is perhaps the most critical part of the new indirect tax regime, based on which the input tax credit will be decided. According to the draft rules, invoices have to be filled up in a fairly detailed format. The absence or wrong filing of required information could trigger denial or delay in claiming input tax credit. Largely, there are around 16 particulars that are required to be filled up. These include various details of the supplier and the buyer, such as the HSN (Harmonised System of Nomenclature) code, the 15-digit goods and services taxpayer identification number (GSTIN) of the recipient and the state code in which the delivery has been made. Service providers are required to give state-specific registration number while filing the invoice, said Pritam Mahure, a Pune-based chartered accountant and trainer. For generating the invoice, the IT configuration in a business has to capture a variety of transactions, such as services on inter-company basis, stock transfer and receipt of advances and centralised procurements for re-distribution, noted Amit Sarkar, partner & head, indirect tax, BDO India. What are the key dos and donts while claiming the input tax credit? For claiming any input tax credit, all vendors in the supply chain have to be tax compliant. There is also a plan to rate all taxpayers on their score card putting additional pressure on vendors to be GST-ready. Under the current system, a supplier can claim tax credit from the government irrespective of whether the vendor has met his tax obligations. That is set to change in the regime. Vendor should pay tax before the same is claimed as input tax credit. The recipient must receive the tax invoice and supplies before claiming credit, said Rakesh Nangia, managing partner, Nangia & Co. Given the credits can be availed of only within the specified time limit, the date of issuance of invoice becomes important. Monitor the payment of value for the goods or services within the period of 180 days, while keeping a track of the debit or credit notes, advised Sarkar. According to the draft rules, vendors should be paid within 180 days of claiming credit. Credit should be claimed only for procurements related to taxable business supplies only, added Nangia. How will the stock transfer of goods or services be different under the GST regime? The model GST law puts the onus of determining whether a transaction is an intra-state or inter-state on the assesse. So one needs to decide whether the payment is against the central GST (CGST) plus state GST (SGST) or integrated GST (IGST), based on the type of transaction, said Mahure. Services being intangible in nature, there are proxy rules or provisions in the GST framework to help the assesse determine the place of consumption. To determine the place of supply in GST regime, it becomes important to have permanent address of the service recipient. However, this can pose a challenge for sectors like telecom where customers keep moving from one state to another. Telecom companies have to update their customer database on real-time basis, complicating their operations, said Mahure. Tax experts note that under GST, all inter-state stock transfers, including self-supplies, are chargeable to tax. Similarly, intra-state stock transfers between the different registered business verticals would attract GST. This also offers an opportunity for optimising the supply chain from a business perspective, said Sarkar. According to the GST legislation, if an assessee wrongly pays, say CGST and SGST on the belief that the transaction is intra-state instead of IGST, they will have to pay the correct tax (that is, IGST) again and claim refund of the wrongfully paid taxes. Several experts feel instead of putting the onus on the taxpayer to determine whether the transaction is intra-state or inter-state, the GST law should provide a simpler redressal mechanism. Why one should provision for a higher cash flow requirement in the new system? Levy of GST on inter-state stock transfers would be one of the many reasons which would push up the requirement of cash flows, said Nangia. For instance, a company transferring goods from one warehouse to another across different states will come under the ambit of IGST. This means taxes have to be paid upfront, increasing the cash requirement for the business. Another reason for higher cash flow requirement for businesses would be the higher average rate of service tax under the GST regime. Businesses currently pay around 15 per cent (including the various cesses) on services. This is likely to jump to 18 per cent in the GST regime. Experts note exporters too would need to bear the brunt of the tax, before claiming rebate. What are the likely challenges in determining the place of supply for services? Service providers such as banks and insurance companies have to register separately in all the states in which they are providing services. This state-wise registration will substantially increase compliance costs of businesses. Nangia notes the place of supply rules under the current regime of service tax are applicable only to cross border transactions. Going forward, similar rules would be applicable to every transaction whether domestic or international, he said. Most experts feel the rules for the place of supply of services have the potential to trigger legal dispute for taxpayers. The Centre on Tuesday informed the Supreme Court that a comprehensive policy on electronic data transmission was on the anvil and would be ready by August-September. today abolished a visa programme used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment in the country. The programme known as 457 visa allows business to employ foreign workers for a period up to four years in skilled jobs where there is a shortage of Australian workers. "We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains: Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs, so we are abolishing the 457 visa, the visa that brings temporary foreign workers into our country," said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The majority of the visa holders were from India followed by the UK and China. "We will no longer allow 457 visa to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians," he said. He said will adopt a new 'Australians first' approach to skilled migration. As at September 30, there were 95,757 workers in on primary 457 visa programme, ABC reported. The programme will be replaced by another visa programme, with new restrictions. "It is important businesses still get access to the skills they need to grow and invest, so the 457 visa will be replaced by a new temporary visa, specifically designed to recruit the best and brightest in the national interest," Turnbull said. Turnbull said the new programme will ensure that foreign workers are brought into Australia in order to fill critical skill gaps and not brought in because an employer finds it easier to recruit a foreign worker than go to the trouble of hiring an Australian. Turnbull's announcement comes days after he visited India where a rangeof issues, including national security, counter terrorism, education and energy, were discussed and six agreements were signed. The report, however, said NBFCs will benefit more from the Rs 70,000 crore recapitalisation of state-owned banks, which will increase their ... In an unusual directive, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Tuesday asked to set aside higher provisioning for the telecom sector, starting from the current quarter. Lt. Gen H. R. McMaster, U.S. National Security Advisor calls on Prime Minister . Lt. Gen H. R. McMaster, U.S. National Security Advisor called on Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today. . . Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster conveyed the greetings of President Donald Trump to Prime Minister. Prime Minister recalled his positive telephonic conversations with President Trump that reaffirmed the importance attached by both sides to the strategic partnership and to stepping up India-U.S. engagement across the board. . . Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster shared his perspective with Prime Minister on the security situation in the extended region, including in Afghanistan, West Asia and the DPRK. During the conversation, they exchanged views on how both countries can work together to effectively address the challenge of terrorism and to advance regional peace, security and stability. . . The Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley to leave on a five day official visit to United States tomorrow evening to participate in the Spring Meetings of the World Bank & IMF; To Meet President, World Bank and US Treasury Secretary during his stay in Washington; To meet Institutional Investors during his New York visit among others. . The Union Minister for Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs, Shri Arun Jaitley will leave on a five day official visit to USA tomorrow to participate in the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Finance Minister will leave tomorrow evening i.e., 19th April, 2017 and will arrive at Washington, USA on early morning on 20th April, 2017. On his arrival, the Finance Minister will be briefed by the Executive Director (Indian Constituency) of World Bank and Executive Director (Indian Constituency) of IMF. In the evening, the Finance Minister is proposed to hold a Meeting with the Editorial Board of Washington Post and later in the evening, he would participate in the dinner hosted by the Heritage Foundation.. . The Official Delegation led by the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley includes among others, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Mr. Shaktikanta Das, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA), Dr. Arvind Subramanian and will also be joined by a team of RBI officials led by RBI Governor, Dr. Urijit Patel.. . The next day, 21st April, 2017, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley and RBI Governor, Dr. Urijit Patel will participate in the G-20 Meeting on Financial Sector Development and Regulations and other issues. The Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Shri Shaktikanta Das will also participate in the said meeting. In the afternoon, the Finance Minister along with Governor RBI and Secretary (Economic Affairs) will participate in IMFC Introductory Session on Global Development and Prospects. Thereafter, the Finance Minister and RBI Governor will participate in IMFC Session on Early Warning Exercise. In the evening, the Finance Minister along with Secretary (Economic Affairs) will hold a meeting with the CEOs. Thereafter, the Finance Minister will attend a dinner hosted in his reception by the Ambassador of India in USA. . . On 22nd April, 2017, the Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley will participate in IMFC restricted Breakfast Session and thereafter, will participate in the IMFC Plenary Session along with Governor RBI and Secretary (Economic Affairs) among others. Thereafter, the Finance Minister will hold a meeting with his US counterpart and US Secretary of Treasury. In the afternoon, the Finance Minister will participate in the Development Committee Plenary Meeting of the World Bank. In the evening, the Finance Minister will hold meetings with his Bangladesh counterpart and will also have a meeting with the President, World Bank.. . On Sunday, 23rd April, 2017 the Finance Minister and Secretary ((Economic Affairs) will leave for New York and later in the evening, will participate in the dinner hosted by the President FICCI. On Monday, 24th April, 2017, the Finance Minister will hold interaction with Council for Foreign Relations in the morning, followed by a meeting with Institutional Investors and a luncheon meeting with Long Term Investors. The Finance Minister is supposed to meet the Editorial Board of New York Times before leaving for Moscow in the evening on 24th April, 2017.. . The Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions will observe Civil Services Day 2017 on April 20-21, 2017. The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Sigh will be the Chief Guest in the Inaugural Session on April 20, 2017. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will present the awards for Excellence in Public Administration on Civil Services Day 2017 i.e. April 21, 2017. . . On the inaugural day, on 20th April, a Plenary Session will be held on the topic of "Creating Value through Human Capital Management in Government". The session will be chaired by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh. The other panellists who will participate in the session will be Shri B. P. Sharma, Secretary, DoPT, Ms Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Electronics and Information Technology, Shri Sandeep Chaudhary, CEO, Aon Hewitt and Ms Roopa Kudva, MD, Omidyar Network India Advisors. The discussion will be held on Identifying human capital related challenges, Leveraging technology to improve processes and Maximizing potential and fostering creativity and innovation. . . The DARPG has obtained Feedback from the District Collectors on the topic of "Creating Value through Human Capital Management in Government" and responses on questionnaire on shortlisted initiatives of Priority. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, during the meeting held on March 10, 2017, directed that a paper may be sought from the District Collectors/Magistrates of all States/ UTs on the optimum utilization of human resources and building a competent and well-functioning administrative structure which is geared to adapt to the changing needs and aspirations of the citizens of the country. The papers need to focus on meeting human capital related challenges and suggest workable solutions. In pursuance to the directions of the Prime Minister, DCs/DMs of all States/ UTs were requested to submit their views and suggestion on the topic on PM Awards portal, developed by DAR&PG. DCs/DMs from across the country were reached out and sensitized by sharing a background note on 'Creating value through Human Capital Management in Government' and through letters, call center, social media, video-conferences etc. Inputs have been received from 533 DCs/DMs. Some of the key issues and the solutions have been suggested by the DMs and DCs along the lines of resource optimization, process simplification, technology enablement, and fostering innovation. . . A committee consisting of Secretary DAR&PG, Secretary DoP&T and Director MeitY, assisted by Additional Secretary DAR&PG and Joint Secretary DAR&PG, scrutinized the views and suggestions received from the DCs/DMs. These issues and suggestions will be discussed in the session on 'Creating value through Human Capital Management in Government' to be held on 20th April, 2017. . . During the assessment process of 'Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2017' Screening Committees, chaired by Additional Secretaries, shortlisted 55 initiatives on the basis of parameters identified in consultation with line Ministries/ Departments, presentations made by the applicants and citizen feedback sought through call center. . . The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had also directed to share the shortlisted initiatives with the IAS batches of 2013-16, as these initiatives demonstrate good practices undertaken in various Districts/States for effective implementation of the priority programmes of Government and innovations in public governance. The objective was to make them go through these case studies to imbibe the learnings so that they may channelize their thoughts and approaches while understanding programmes in their respective areas of work. Pursuant to the directions of the Prime Minister, the shortlisted initiatives were shared with IAS batches of 2013-16 through the DARPG web-portal (link: http://darpg.gov.in and http://darpg.wooqer.com/).They were requested to go through all the case studies, discuss with District Collectors/Magistrates or field officers and submit their suggestions on implementation of programmes through an online questionnaire. DAR&PG reached out to all the officers, through multiple calls, social media and video-conferences, to sensitize and provide handholding support for undertaking the exercise. A total of 615 officers undertook this exercise and submitted their suggestions online. A total of 2,150 hours were spent by the young IAS officers in reviewing the case studies and submitting their responses. From the responses, it came out that agriculture-related priority programmes are better understood by the officers, e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) being the best understood programme. The overwhelming response reflects the enthusiasm and motivation amongst the young officers. These would also be discussed in the three breakaway sessions to be held on 20th April 2017. The breakaway sessions will be held on the topics: Agriculture, Energy and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, following the Inaugural Session. . . In the agriculture sector, three priority programmes, namely Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and e- National Agriculture Market (eNAM), were identified under Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2017. The young officers have given their inputs on major challenges faced by the farmers such as lack of knowledge of good practices of irrigation and non-availability of the state-of-the-art equipment. Other issues faced by farmers include complicated process for claiming insurance, difficulty in conducting crop cutting experiments and inadequate information related to crop insurance and weather forecast and dependency on local traders/commission agents for selling the produce. In the Skill Development and Entrepreneurship sector, two priority programmes, namely Stand-Up India and Startup India were identified under Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2017. In the Energy sector, one priority programmes, Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana was identified under Prime Minister's Awards for Excellence in Public Administration 2017. The young officers have submitted their inputs for the implementation of these schemes. . . On the breakaway session on Agriculture, Prof. Ramesh Chand, Member, NITI Aayog will chair the session and Shri Rabi Narayan Das, Director, NCDEX, Shri Anil B. Jain, Vice Chairman & MD, Jain Irrigation System Ltd., Shri R. B. Singh, Eminent Agriculture Scientist, Shri Genabhai Dargabhai Patel, Farmer and Shri Pravesh Sharma, Co-founder and CEO of Subziwala.com will participate in the session. In the breakaway session on Energy, Shri Bibek Debroy, Member, NITI Aayog will chair the session and Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT, Madras, Dr Arunabha Ghosh, CEO, Council of Energy, Environment and Water and Dr Harish Hande, MD of SELCO-India will participate in the session. In the breakaway session on Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Shri Arvind Panagariya, Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog will chair the session and Shri Manish Sabharwal, Chairman, Teamlease, Shri RCM Reddy, MD&CEO, IL&FS Education & Technology Services Ltd., Prof Mukti Mishra, Co-founder and President, Centurion University of Technology and Management, Shri T. Muralidharan, MD, TMI Network and Shri Milind Kamble, Chairman, Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industries (DICCI) will participate in the session. . . A teacher-training program with an emphasis on inspiring studentsnot teaching contentis getting a huge investment. T. Denny Sanford, a banking entrepreneur and philanthropist, has donated $28 million to the private, nonprofit National University System in support of three education initiatives: Sanford Harmony, Sanford Inspire, and the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy. Sanford Inspire is the professional development program, which was developed by the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College at Arizona State University in 2008. Sanfords vision is to improve student outcomes through improving teaching. Teachers are taught to teach subjects, as opposed to inspiring students, Sanford told Education Week Teacher. When Sanford delivers speeches to large crowds, he will survey the audience by asking who had more than one or two teachers in the first nine years of their schooling who were truly inspiring. Its lucky if I get 5 percent of hands going up, he said. But the people going into education ... their goal is really to help civilization. Sanford Inspire seeks to bridge that gap. There are currently more than 60 training modules available for any teacher to access, free of charge, and new ones are created on a regular basis. The program targets both preservice and current teachers, and has impacted about 25,000 educators total so far. The modules, which typically take less than hour to complete, fit into themes of the learning environment (Addressing Bullying Behavior and Creating Classroom Rules), preparing and facilitating instruction (Delivering Effective Feedback and Design a Problem-Based Learning Experience), student motivation (Giving Effective Praise), student growth and achievement (Assessing Students During Cooperative Learning), and professional practices (Coping With Teacher Stress and Working Against Racial Bias). Jamie Manburg, the director of Sanford Inspire, said the modules help fill a void thats often found in teacher preparation programswhich is that they may focus too much on the theoretical, and not enough on the practical. Sanford Inspire seeks to give teachers practical tools that can help them motivate students and encourage them to succeed. Fourteen higher education institutions share and integrate the Sanford Inspire content, with their PK-12 partner school districts. Manburg said he hopes that collaborative will expand to 20 institutions by the end of the year, but teachers at any school of education or school district can access the content. Its such a dynamic and changing environment out there, said Michael Cunningham, the chancellor of National University System, which houses Sanford Inspire and works to disseminate the program on a national scale. Theres nothing like that first day in the classroom when youre confronted with different issues that come up. [Teachers] say, Holy smoke, how do I handle that? [There are specific classroom-management techniques] that many inspirational teachers already knowa lot of teachers dont have that. The other initiative, Sanford Harmony , is for boys and girls in pre-K through middle school to learn how to build relationships and better understand each other . The goal of the program is to lower the divorce rate in the country. The program is in place in 2,700 schools right now, including in New York City, Los Angeles, Clark County, Nev., and the Chicago area. The $28 million donation is for the initiatives expansion and distribution across the country over the next three years. The Sanford Harmony program will be expanded to other languages, for example, and has recently launched a social-emotional learning app for any teacher to download and access materials like whole-class discussion topics, peer activities, and real-life, problem-solving scenarios. Sanford Inspire is also undergoing two research studies, Manburg said. One is an overall assessment of the program, while the other is a case study of an as-yet-unnamed college of education working with a K-12 school district. Manburg hopes to have results from that case study by the end of the year. Related Stories on Sanfords Initiatives: Brazilian construction conglomerate has been ordered to pay $2.6 billion in fines to settle charges it bribed officials in a dozen countries. The payout order, by US District Judge Raymond Dearie in Brooklyn, came on Sunday after US and Brazilian authorities determined after a plea agreement was reached in December that could not afford to pay more than that amount. The company had agreed to pay up to $3.5 billion in penalties. In a federal court proceeding lasting only a few minutes, the judge imposed the terms of the December deal between the company and prosecutors, including the appointment of an independent compliance monitor for three years. The monitor has already begun work. The judge said will pay nearly $2.4 billion to Brazil, $116 million to Switzerland and $93 million to the United States. Prosecutors said in court papers that Odebrecht had inadequate anti-corruption controls and little or no anti- corruption compliance program from 2001 to 2016, when it paid about $788 million in bribes to secure contracts for more than 100 projects in a dozen countries. Those countries were identified as Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Mozambique, Panama, Peru and Venezuela. Prosecutors said the bribes secured $3.3 billion in ill-gotten benefits for Odebrecht and its co-conspirators. They said that after Odebrecht became aware of an investigation by Brazilian law enforcement authorities into corrupt payments and related probes in the US and Switzerland, the company's employees and executives tried to conceal and destroy evidence of crimes. The legal case was brought in the United States after it was determined that some offshore entities used to hold and disburse funds were owned or operated by people in the US and some meetings related to the bribery scheme occurred in Miami, authorities said. In recommending a sentence that would allow Odebrecht to remain solvent, prosecutors noted the company has fired 51 people and disciplined another 26, including demoting them and requiring them to submit to anti-corruption compliance and business ethics training. In December, Odebrecht apologised for its involvement in corruption scandals that led to the arrest of its former chief executives and several of its officials. The Democratic party on Tuesday appeared to be divided into the steps being initiated by US President Donald Trump on H-1B issue, with the top leadership arguing this was not enough while another influential lawmaker welcoming the presidential executive order. In a statement, Senator Sherrod Brown applauded the move of the US President, which he said takes aim at the H-1B visa programme. The Ohio Senator had sought to reform so American workers are given a fair shot at a fair wage for jobs before businesses seek to hire foreign workers through the H-1B visa programme. Brown is also pleased that the executive order will ensure that the entire steel-making process must take place in America to be considered "Buy American." However, his party leadership did not appear to be satisfied with the Trump's executive order which seeks the review of the H-1B visa process by four top federal agencies the Departments of State, Labor, Homeland Security, and Justice. It is not a time for review, argued Senate Minority Leader Senator Charles Schumer. "The President seems to be proposing a study to examine the ways to make sure H-1Bs aren't used to undercut American workers and drive down wages," Schumer told reporters during a telephonic news conference. "Well, the Senate didn't just pass a study. But we passed real H-1B reform that would ensure outsourcing companies can't gobble up the H-1B visas, given them away to low-wage workers, and steal jobs out from under the nose of American workers," Schumer said. "It was in the Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill that Senator (John) McCain and I a bipartisan bill led in 2013. So, we didn't just look at doing it. We didn't just say, do a study, and claim that something is actually happening. We did it in comprehensive immigration reform," he said. "The President could simply adopt our proposal, which is strong and tough. If he stopped demonising immigrants and worked with us on immigration reform, we could get something done. Something real, not just a study," Schumer said. The top Democratic leader in the Senate alleged that Trump has "just repeatedly failed to deliver" on the promises he's made to American workers during the campaign. "He hasn't stood up to China, who has robbed millions of Americans of jobs over the last several decades, and has been a benefactor of loopholes in our Buy America laws," he said. is preparing for "any mode of war" triggered by US military action, Pyongyang's envoy to the United Nations warned today, saying his country would respond to a missile or nuclear strike "in kind." The statement from North Korean Deputy Ambassador Kim In Ryong followed warnings from US Vice President Mike Pence to Pyongyang not to test US resolve following another missile test. "If the United States dares opt for a military action (...) the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the Americans," Kim told a news conference. "We will take the toughest counteraction against the provocateurs," said Kim. has taken "self-defensive" measures in response to US threats of military action and these reflect Pyongyang's determination to "counter nukes and ICBM in kind," he said, referring to intercontinental ballistic missiles. Pence told a news conference in South Korea that "the era of strategic patience is over" after yesterday test-fired another missile as fears mounted that it may be preparing a sixth nuclear test. Pyongyang is seeking to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five nuclear tests, two of them last year. US President Donald Trump's decision at the weekend to send the Carl Vinson carrier-led navy strike group to the Korean peninsula shows that the "US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase," said Kim. The North Korean deputy envoy asserted that Pyongyang would hold the United States "wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions." US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will next week chair a special meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea. Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Jawed Bajwa on Tuesday rejected allegations that Pakistan has been employing proxies from its soil. "Pakistan itself is victim of state sponsored terrorism, it strongly rejects allegations of employing proxies from its soil," the Army chief said. General Bajwa's statement came during his meeting with US National Security Adviser, Lt Gen H R McMaster. During the meeting, McMaster was briefed about Pakistan's war on terror and its contributions to regional and global stability. He acknowledged the Pakistan Army's efforts in eliminating terrorists and their infrastructure, the Inter-Services Public Relation said. McMaster assured that the US will continue to support Pakistan in bringing peace and stability in the region, as well as the globe. McMaster arrived in Islamabad on Monday on an unannounced visit, a day after he hinted the US could take a tougher stance on Pakistan. It was the first visit by a top member of President Donald Trump's administration to Pakistan, and came after a stop in neighbouring Afghanistan where he suggested Washington may take a stronger line on Islamabad, for years seen as an unreliable US ally. US President on Monday took to Twitter to attack the media's use of false information and agreed with those who said his foreign policy was superior to that of his predecessor, the Democrat Barack Obama. "The Fake Media (not Real Media) has gotten even worse since the election. Every story is badly slanted. We have to hold them to the truth!" Trump wrote on Twitter. In another of his morning tweets, Trump acclaimed as "so true" the remark made on the conservative TV programme "Fox & Friends" that the first 90 days of his presidency "has exposed the total failure of the last eight years of foreign policy!" Trump, who again spent the weekend at the Trump Organisation's West Palm Beach tourist complex Mar-a-Lago, is winning support for bombing Syria and for dropping the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the US arsenal on militants of the Islamic State (IS) in Afghanistan, Efe news agency reported. Two weeks ago, Trump decided to respond to the use of chemical weapons in Syria, which Washington attributes to the Bashar al-Assad regime, with a massive launch of Tomahawk cruise missiles against a Syrian air base, a move supported by both Republican and Democratic lawmakers. Last week the Pentagon chose to launch "the mother of all bombs" against IS in a remote mountainous region of eastern Afghanistan, which was considered a show of force by the Trump government and a message to other US adversaries like North Korea. US Vice-President Mike Pence followed up on that idea on Monday in South Korea when he told North Korea that "the era of strategic patience is over," a reference to Obama's concept of persuading the Pyongyang regime to report to the negotiating table to discuss its nuclear program. US President on Tuesday will sign an executive order directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa programme used to bring foreign workers to the United States to fill high-skilled jobs. The White House said on Monday that it does not expect US President to draw a red line on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and the country will continue work with China to solve it. "Drawing red lines really hasn't worked in the past," Xinhua news agency quoted White House spokesman Sean Spicer as saying. "He (Trump) holds his cards close to the vest, and I think you are not going to see him telegraphing how he's going to respond to any military or other situation going forward," he said. Trump does not plan to draw red lines "in the sand", Spicer added. However, Spicer cited the US decision to bomb a Syrian military airfield early this month as an indication that Trump would take action when necessary. "I think the action he took in Syria shows that when appropriate, this president will take decisive action." Spicer added that the US is going to work with China on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. "We're going to continue to work with China, in particular, to help find a way forward on this." Can Police Forcibly Collect Urine in Drug Cases? Law enforcement is allowed to collect evidence of a crime, but within certain limits. The Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures sets these limits generally, but it's not very specific. For instance, if a suspect in a domestic dispute changes moods and gets fidgety, do police officers have a right to take him to the hospital, strap him down, and forcibly catheterize him in order to obtain a urine sample? Forced catheterization may be rare in drug cases, and it may be legal. Reasonable Search and Seizure The Argus Leader has the horrifying tale of one South Dakota man who never thought the police would follow through on their threat: A mesh bag blurred Dirk Sparks' vision. He lay hooded and handcuffed as four police officers pinned him to a hospital exam table. Through the patterned light, he saw a fifth officer filming the procedure. His pants were loosened and pulled below his waist. Then, pain. A nurse at Avera St. Mary's Hospital in Pierre inserted a pencil-sized tube into Sparks' urethra to drain his bladder. Moments later, an officer with the Pierre Police Department held a cup of Sparks' urine that soon would be sent off for drug testing. Officers had arrested Sparks following a domestic disturbance, and based on his demeanor during and after his arrest, obtained a search warrant to obtain blood or urine. It's unclear whether Sixth Circuit Judge John Brown, who signed off on the warrant, knew the sample would be forcibly collected via a catheter. "It was degrading," Sparks told the Argus Leader. "I was angry. I felt like my civil rights were being violated." Exceptional Circumstances But does the forced urine sample violate the constitution? While police obtained a warrant in Sparks' case, Barry Friedman, New York University School of Law professor and director of the Policing Project, told the Argus Leader that there have been cases nationwide where police have had the procedure done without a warrant. He added catheters for forcibly collecting urine samples should only be used in extraordinary situations: "There's no way law enforcement should be doing this without telling a judge what they are going to do. The Supreme Court has made it clear that bodily invasions are serious. Catheterization is painful and humiliating." Attorney General Marty Jackley of the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigations, agreed, saying officers would only pursue forced urine samples in "exceptional" circumstances. "That [request] needs to be made directly to a judge," Jackley told the paper, "and it needs to be specific [that] we may be using this method." Was Sparks' case exceptional? South Dakota is one of the few states that criminalize drug ingestion, and Sparks was charged with a felony after testing positive. So perhaps officers feel more pressure to obtain incriminating evidence of the crime. And the doctor who oversaw Sparks' procedure? Peter Maningas is a reserve officer for the Pierre Police Department, according to the Argus Leader, and member of the department's SWAT team. Related Resources: Deutsche Bank, one the world's biggest sterling bears, said on Tuesday that UK Prime Minister Theresa May's surprise call for a general election is a "game-changer" for the currency and that it will raise its forecasts for the pound in the coming days. May's move should result in a larger and more stable majority in parliament, thereby reducing the likelihood of a so-called 'hard Brexit', the bank's currency analysts said. "We have been structurally negative on sterling for the last two years but are now changing view. This morning's announcement of a snap general election on June 8 is a game-changer for both the UK's Brexit negotiations and sterling," they said. May's announcement paves the way for a lengthier negotiating process with the rest of the European Union, which is more in line with the EU approach, they said. Sterling rose sharply on Tuesday, hitting a 2016 high of $1.2725. As recently as March 23, Deutsche Bank analysts reiterated their call for a fall to $1.06 by the end of this year. Cleveland police issued an arrest warrant on Monday for a gunman they said murdered a man in a crime he broadcast live on Facebook. Officials in the Ohio city said suspect Steve Stephens, 37, shot his 74-year old victim Robert Godwin Sr at random on Easter Sunday, in cold blood. "Suspect did broadcast the killing on Facebook Live and has claimed to have committed multiple other homicides which are still NOT verified," Cleveland police said in a statement. "Suspect in this case is... Armed and dangerous. If seen call 9-1-1. Do not approach." Police said Stephens may be out of the midwestern state, and asked residents of Indiana, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania to be on alert. Stephens worked for Beech Brook, a behavioral health agency serving children through mental health services, foster care and adoption, at-risk youth programs and other services. In his broadcast, Stephens displayed his Beech Brook badge. The facility did not immediately respond to requests for comment. At a press conference late on Sunday, authorities urged Stephens to turn himself in. "Everyone is out there looking for Steve. We want this to end with as much peace as we can bring to this right now, and we want him to turn himself in," Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams told reporters, adding that local authorities were working with the FBI and regional law enforcement. "We have all of our partners in on this, and we'll look until we find him." Mayor Frank Jackson told reporters police were still trying to communicate with the suspect. "We want to communicate to him that we know who he is, and that he will eventually be caught. And that we're saying to him that he need not do any more," said Jackson. Stephens was at large after fleeing in a white Ford Fusion with temporary license plates, police said. Some local media reported that he had boasted on Facebook of killing more than a dozen people in an Easter Day massacre, but authorities said there was no indication of a broader killing spree. The growing divide between urbanites and rural residents is shaping politics everywhere, from Brexit to the rise of Donald Trump. Last Sunday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received a mandate for more personalised rule from most of his country, but not from its big cities. Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir are responsible for about 46 per cent of Turkeys economic output and just 23 per cent of its population. All three cities voted against the perpetuation of Erdogans emergency powers, which made Turkey a strong presidential republic. Like U.S. presidents, Erdogan will be able to form cabinets and nominate top judges while remaining a member of a political party. have jumped 10-14 per cent over the last month on expectations that higher volumes, market share gains from Chinese players, price hikes of 8-10 per cent since the start of the year, and any government action on Chinese imports will reflect favourably on tyre makers. Hours after former chief minister O. Panneerselvam put forth certain conditions for the merger of the two factions, the AIADMK on Tuesday announced the ouster of V.K. Sasikala and her family from the party in what can be seen as yet another tectonic shift emerging from Tamil Nadu. "We have decided to delink TTV Dinakaran and his family from the party, a committee will run the party. This is a unanimous decision from the cadre" Tamil Nadu Health Minister D Jayakumar told the media here. Earlier in the day, AIADMK MP K.C. Palanisamy said Panneerselvam's demand is not something new, adding this has been their position from day one. "There is no compromise on that. This is not something we have brought up. Whatever is to be investigated that will be done by the investigative agency," he added. He further said Sasikala and her family has to be kept away from the party directly or indirectly. "They should not have any role within the party," he asserted. Demanding the ouster of Sasikala and her nephew from the AIADMK, Panneerselvam told the media in Chennai earlier in the day that the party should not be controlled by one family, adding it was nothing short of treason to allow the former to control the party's affairs. He said that he has sent a petition to the Election Commission to declare Sasikala's appointment as AIADMK general secretary 'illegal'. "During the election campaigning in R.K. Nagar, many malpractices were done and Rs. 4000 were offered to each voter. We have submitted all this to the Election Commission yesterday and asked to inquire into the matter," Panneerselvam said. He further said that Dinakaran, who was not even a member of the party till Jayalalithaa's demise, is tarnishing the AIADMK's image and added it won't be tolerated "Judicial probe into Jayalalithaa's death is our first demand. Sasikala's appointment as the general secretary is illegal and we will not accept it. Family politics will not be accepted," he asserted. Both factions have constituted two committees to mull the merger. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following his arrest and subsequent bail here, absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya downplayed the entire development saying that his surrender of passport, arrest and bail are all part of normal extradition proceedings. Mallya had earlier taken a swipe at the media, accusing it of 'hyping' his arrest and blowing things out of proportion. Meanwhile, making it clear that the extradition process of Vijay Mallya is more complicated because the evidences collected by New Delhi against the beleaguered liquor baron will be accessed by the British Court on the basis of their law, Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said the moot question that arises here as to why this should be done on the basis of foreign law when the fugitive will ultimately be tried in India. "But we should not be very joyful by this first step for the simple reason that the further procedure and the process of extradition is more complicated because whatever the evidences which we have collected against the criminal fugitive that will be accessed by the British Court on the basis of their law. If British Court found that the evidences collected by the Indian investigator prima facie is evidence on the basis of English law," he said. Nikam told ANI that India has with Mallya's arrest indeed crossed the first hurdle in the extradition process. "Ultimately the criminal fugitive Vijay Mallya will be tried in India and then the evidence collected by the investigator should be accessed on the basis of Indian law but why on the basis of foreign law. This is the moot question," he added. Mallya, accused of defaulting on loans worth crores, was today arrested by the Scotland Yard in London in what the government counted as a major win in its attempts to bring him to India to face trial. However, Mallya was let off on bail within hours of his arrest. Also, asserting that the legal process is underway over the extradition of Mallya, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has stated that both India and the British Government are in touch over the matter. "Responding to a query regarding Shri Vijay Mallya, the Official Spokesperson said that his arrest in London today was in connection with the request by the Government to U.K. authorities for his extradition. Legal process in this regard is underway in the U.K. The two governments are in touch in this context," the MEA said in a statement. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Indian High Commission will start the process of Mallya's extradition, Government sources state. India needs to set precedent and Mallya's extradition is one such case, also those defaulters who think that their money are safe in tax heavens are on wrong foot, sources added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court will on Wednesday pronounce the verdict on the appeal filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against the dropping of conspiracy charges against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders L.K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and 19 others in the Babri Masjid demolition case. Justice Rohington F Nariman will pronounce the verdict. Earlier on April 6, the Supreme Court reserves its order on whether criminal conspiracy charges be initiated or not against various Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) told the apex court that 14 persons, including BJP leaders, who were acquitted of the charges under criminal conspiracy should be tried in Lucknow Court in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The CBI lawyer, however, did not name the BJP leaders to be tried for criminal conspiracy charges in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The CBI lawyer told the apex court that there are two FIRs registered against all accused in the case. The probe agency also told the top court that the criminal conspiracy charges were dropped against 21 accused, including several BJP leaders, on technical grounds and added that the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had upheld the lower court's order. The apex court was examining whether to revive the conspiracy charges against senior BJP leaders Lal Krishna Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and several others in connection with the case. Earlier, the apex court had asked all parties to file their response in the matter and said it will hear the matter after two weeks. There are two sets of cases - one against BJP veteran Advani and others, who were on the dais at Ram Katha Kunj in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, when the Babri mosque was demolished. The other case was against lakhs of 'karsevaks' (volunteers) who were in and around the disputed structure. The CBI had chargesheeted Advani and 20 others under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between classes), 153B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to integration) and 505 (false statements, rumours etc. circulated with the intent to cause mutiny or disturb public peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). It had subsequently invoked charges under Section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC, which was quashed by the special court whose decision was upheld by the High Court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Green Tribunal (NGT) has demanded for precise figures in connection with what amount of sewage is being dumped in the lake and quantity of litter is being treated, the counsel representing the complainant in the Bellandur lake case informed on Monday. Saransh Jain, counsel for Namma Bengaluru Foundation (complainant), also asserted that the NGT has summoned the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials who have misconstrued its earlier order in the regard. "There was no knowledge, no clear information as to what is the amount of the untreated sewage being dumped in the lake, what is the amount of sewage being treated. The NGT has directed them to reconcile and give them one figure," said Jain. "Secondly we today have filed an application challenging the BBMP circular. This circular has been challenged since it tries to demean or misread the content of the NGT judgment in the forward foundation matter. So basically what BBMP is trying to do is saying that all the constructions took place before NGT passing the judgment will not be following the NGT judgment. This matter was brought our today and the NGT questioned that by what authority if the BBMP clarifying the NGT order. And that is why the concerned officials of the BBMP have been summoned tomorrow. The item has been listed at the first position tomorrow," he added. The matter will be heard again tomorrow. Bellandur lake foam has been swelling again. The NGT on April 20 pulled up the state government and several agencies involved - BDA, LDA, KSPCB, blaming them for not stopping sewage discharge into the lake. The green court took a suo motto case based on media reports on February 20 and has also issued notices to the Centre, state, the state pollution control board and the lake development authority in Karnataka. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) British Prime Minister Theresa May has called for a general election in the United Kingdom on June 8 to seek a stronger mandate in talks over leaving the European Union. May said that she would go to the Parliament and ask for the national vote on June 8. "We need a general election and we need one now," The Independent quoted May as saying from the steps of Number 10, Downing Street. May said that she had reversed her position on an early vote to ensure stability during the Brexit negotiations. "Last summer, after the country voted to leave the European Union, Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership, and since I became Prime Minister the Government has delivered precisely that," she said. "Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations," she added. May further said that her government has delivered on the mandate provided by the referendum result. May will have to secure a two-third majority in a vote to be held in the House of Commons tomorrow for the election to go ahead. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Walmart and the 'Clean Toilets' Fishing License Libel Lawsuit A Montana State University professor has filed a libel lawsuit against Walmart over the job description a Walmart employee entered on the professor's fishing license application. Rather than list the professors actual occupation of college professor, the employee wrote "cleans toilets." The following year, when the professor went to renew the license, the error remained despite the professor again informing the clerk of his occupation. When the professor showed his license to fellow MSU teacher, the other teacher made a joke, within earshot of other students, about the fact that "cleans toilets" was listed on the license. The professor's lawsuit explains that in his culture, in Zambia, people who clean toilets are considered to be the lowest social class, and are shunned. The lawsuit asserts that the professor suffered embarrassment and shock as a result. What Is Libel? Libel, as opposed to slander, is a form of defamation that occurs when a false statement is published in writing, or visually, rather than spoken. Generally, for any defamation claim to be valid, a plaintiff must be able to prove that: The statement was false, and The statement was published/communicated to others, and The publisher was at least negligent in their regard for the truth, and sometimes The plaintiff suffered damages. In the professor's case, while the other elements seem easily satisfied, it may be difficult to argue that the fishing license and application constitute publication to others on their own. Frequently, government documents, like judicial proceedings or police reports, can fall into exempted categories for defamation purposes. However, the fact that another professor saw it, and made mention of the libelous statement in front of others, could make all the difference in proving the claim. Additionally, it is likely that other employees, or individuals, may have seen the statement as well. Defamation claims can be complex and involve difficult analyses of liability and damages. It is generally a good idea for individuals to consult with an attorney before bringing defamation claims. Frequently, attorneys may be able to reach legal resolutions short of filing a lawsuit, which can often draw much more attention to the defamatory statement than a victim may want, or think possible. Related Resources: Keep your worries at bay as Azithromycin group of medicine is no more linked to an increased risk of irregular heartbeat, says a study. 'Azithromycin' is an antibiotic commonly used to treat bacterial infections - mostly respiratory and urinary tract infections - in people of all ages. It belongs to a class of drugs known as macrolides, of which at least one other drug, erythromycin, is known to disrupt the heart's normal rhythm, leading to a condition known as ventricular arrhythmia. The results of the study indicated that of the more than 14 million new antibiotic users, 12, 874 people developed ventricular arrhythmia, of whom 30 were new users of 'azithromycin'. Several recent studies have reported conflicting results over whether azithromycin is linked to an increased risk of death from ventricular arrhythmia in people taking the antibiotic. A team of European researchers looked at data on nearly 29 million people in health care databases from Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark to determine if there is a link between azithromycin and ventricular arrhythmia. When compared to amoxicillin, another commonly used antibiotic, from the penicillin class of drugs, there was no increased risk of this heart condition in people using azithromycin. However, there was an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmia in people taking azithromycin compared to people not using antibiotics at all. "This finding suggests that the risk of ventricular arrhythmia is more likely to be due to a person's poor health and caused by their infection, rather than to azithromycin itself," said Dr. Gianluca Trifiro from the University of Messina in Italy. "This finding was confirmed in several sensitivity analyses and replicated in single databases participating in the study," Trifiro added. The authors note these findings may not be applied in hospital settings as the health of patients and use of antibiotics is quite different in community settings, from which the data were drawn. The research was published in Canadian Medical Association Journal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Party on Tuesday backed Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh's assertion that Harjit Singh Sajjan was a Khalistani sympathizer and urged the nationalist BJP-led government to seek a clarification in this regard from the visiting Canadian Defence Minister. Surjewala told ANI that Sajjan and his father have been active in the World Sikh Organisation, a Canada-based organisation. "India and Canada have been friends since decades. We are together in the G 20 and we are also together on fighting terrorism and maintain world peace. But visiting Canadian Defence Minister Harjeet Singh Sajjan has been demanding a separate state 'Khalistan' through the World Sikh Organisation," said Surjewala. Putting the ball in the government's court, the Congress leader said the ruling dispensation must ask Sajjan whether he supports the cause of Khalistan or supports the cause of India. "A party like the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which swears by nationalism must understand, must investigate in the interest of country whether such a person who is visiting India has or doesn't have faith in the integrity of the country," asserted Surjewala. The Congress leader added, "These are pertinent questions that must be asked by the BJP and must be answered not only to the people of Punjab but also to 125 crore Indians." The Punjab Chief Minister had earlier dubbed the visiting minister as a Khalistani sympathiser, who supports a Sikh nationalist movement demanding an independent state for the Sikh people. He also said that he would not hold a meeting with the visiting minister. Sajjan, however, today said that he would propose a meeting with the Punjab Chief Minister as courtesy, adding it is up to the latter to decide his acceptance or refusal. "I have been taught to show courtesy to the leadership of a country and I do this around the world. It is my responsibility to offer up a meeting (to the Captain) and if he decides he doesn't want to meet me ..that's for them to figure out. My actions and services speak for me..there is no ill will from me," he told the media here. He added that his motive to visit Punjab is to pay respects to the place he was born at and to pay respect to the Harmandir Sahib. "I'm not going to get into petty politics of one Chief Minister or any province my reason of going to Punjab is to pay respect to.as I'm a Sikh and pay respect to the village I was born in. I'm very very proud of my routes," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Strongly condemning Pakistan for not giving consular access to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, defence experts on Tuesday said such decision was against international norms and conventions and alleged that Islamabad was deliberately dragging this case to heighten tensions with India. Defence expert Qamar Agha said Pakistan court should be trusted as they have their allegiance towards the army. "It's against the international norms and conventions to refuse to grant consular access. Secondly, you know a good legal case was missing. India has a right for consular access. I think we should not trust the Pakistan court either as most judges of the court have allegiance towards Jamaat-e-Islami and judiciary is totally committed to army," Agha told ANI. Expressing similar views, defence expert Shankar Prasad said, "Pakistan is trying to heighten the level of tensions with India so that international community begins to feel that this is a flash point in South East Asia. Therefore, they need to intervene and mediate in talks." Yesterday, the Pakistan Army ruled out consular access to Jadhav, saying he was not eligible for it as per the laws. "Kulbhushan is not eligible for consular access nor will be granted consular access," said Pakistan Armed Forces spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor. He alleged that Jadhav, caught on anti-state activities, was trialled under court martial. "This was purely an act by the Army to which the Army as an institution said we will not compromise on his sentence," he said. Major General Ghafoor said Jadhav's death sentence process would move ahead as per the law, adding it would go in the applet court and the army shall wait for the verdict. Jadhav was awarded the death penalty on April 10 in an unprecedented decision that sparked a diplomatic spat between the two hostile neighbours. Best known for her roles in 'Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince,' '13 Steps Down' and 'My Brother The Devil,' English actress Elarica Johnson will be making her maiden visit to India, this summer, to be a part of the highly anticipated Justin Bieber Tour. During her visit, the actress will meet directors and film personalities from the Indian film industry, apart from being the official host of the event of the year - Justin Bieber Purpose Tour. The actress stated, "India has been a place I have always wanted to visit. I watched Bollywood movies as a child and now being an actress going to Mumbai the heart of the Bollywood film Industry; it is a dream come true! I have always felt inspired by the freedom of colour, music and dance. So to be able to explore the Indian culture and have the chance to see the beautiful architecture and history of the country will truly be a wonderful experience." Adding, "I am definitely looking forward to eating a lot! Indian food sit's at the number one spot as my ultimate favourite cuisine. But most of all having this experience and seeing one of my favourite artists, Justin Bieber perform live, I am sure I will mark this as a trip of a lifetime!" The 27-year-old London born diva will arrive in Mumbai on May 4 and will explore the city till May 15. On the work front, Elarica is all set to star alongside Nicole Kidman and Elle Fanning in John Cameron Michell's 'How To Talk To Girls At Parties.' She has also finished filming ''Blade Runner 2049,' alongside Ryan Gosling, which supposedly will release by the end of the year. Bieber's latest jaunt is in support of his fourth album, the critically acclaimed 'Purpose,' wherein he experimented with more exploratory electronic sounds. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday rejected the criticism by international monitors of a referendum, which would see the country switch from the Parliamentary to the Presidential system. Not only does the result give him new powers as the country's head of state, but also extends his influence over the judiciary making him dominant over the Parliament. Returning in triumph to his presidential palace in Ankara, Erdogan addressed thousands of supporters gathered outside, telling monitors who criticised the poll, "Know your place," The Guardian reports. Erdogan said Turkey could hold further referendums on its EU bid and re-introducing the death penalty. The 'Yes' camp won 51.41 percent in Sunday's referendum. But the opposition immediately cried foul, claiming a clean vote would have made a difference of several percentage points and handed them victory. The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) said they would challenge the results from most ballot boxes due to alleged violations. "There is only one decision to ease the situation in the context of the law -- the Supreme Election Board (YSK) should annul the vote," the Dogan news agency quoted CHP deputy leader Bulent Tezcan as saying. The referendum has no "democratic legitimacy", HDP spokesman and lawmaker Osman Baydemir told reporters in Ankara. Erdogan on Monday will chair a cabinet and security meeting at his presidential palace that could extend the nine-month state of emergency brought in after last July's failed coup. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 'Dissatisfied' with the Indian media over the coverage of his loan defaulting case, beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya has time and again taken to Twitter to blast the latter. In the most recent incident, he slammed a leading English news channel for reporting that he tried to dodge the British courts but has failed after it sent the British Police after him to arrest him. The channel also reported that India has made a very forceful case against Mallya which has led to verifiable action and that evidence exists against him. He tweeted: "What absolute nonsense devoid of facts. Looks as if Times Now fabricate stories for sensationalism. Verify your facts first before broadcast" Downplaying the din surrounding his sensational arrest in London, Mallya earlier in the day took a swing at the Indian media accusing them of 'hyping' the development. "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected," he tweeted. Earlier on March 28, he trained his guns on another English news channel saying, "Just received this book. And NDTV relentlessly slam me on all false allegations. Poetic justice." On February 23 upset with the media for only "blasting him" rather than lauding his team Force India's entry into Formula 1 he said in a series of tweets, "Very proud to launch the 2017 Sahara Force India challenger.It is my job and duty as Team Principal.Very sad to see Indian media comments" "Very unfortunate that Indian media do not share pride that an Indian entry into Formula 1 is so successful. Only focussed on blasting me." And not long before on January 26 this year, he complained about his media trail saying, "In our Country I assumed that innocence prevails till proven guilty. Media have convicted me guilty without trial with widespread influence." "Till this minute there is no final judicial determination on what KFA owes to Banks and what I may owe in my personal capacity after trial." "Yet it is reported that I have fled or run away owing money to Banks that I never ever borrowed in the first place. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Expressing contentment over acknowledgement of Vijay Mallya's extradition case in a London court, senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan on Tuesday held the government responsible for its lax and slow approach towards the liquor baron's extradition. Bhushan opined that Mallya's extradition would take more than six months depending upon how seriously the government takes the extradition proceedings. "I am glad that he has finally been arrested because he was allowed to leave this country by the government by withdrawing the red corner notice or the lookout notice. Not much was done in the last one year to get him extradited," Bhushan told ANI. Bhushan further said that the government should pursue the extradition request against the other fugitives like Lalit Modi and others fleeing from the law. "Even in Vijay Mallya's case, the government should have sought his extradition and arrest long ago," he said. Downplaying the din surrounding his sensational arrest in London, Mallya, who is on the run over money laundering charges, took a swipe at the Indian media. "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected," he tweeted. Earlier today following Mallya's arrest, the Scotland Yard issued a statement saying that the absconding businessman was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud. "Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit have this morning, Tuesday 18 April arrested a man on an extraction warrant. He was arrested after attending a central London police station, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later today, 18 April," read the official statement of the Scotland Yard. His arrest came after a Delhi court had issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant against Mallya in connection with the 1995 FERA violation case. Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that Mallya's extradition has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has reportedly told Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa to ensure fair, free and transparent elections in 2018. The Dawn quoted Khan as saying, "I met General Bajwa recently and told him clearly that we will not allow 2013-like polls in future." The PTI chief said the meeting had taken place on his request. Responding to a question as to why he had called General Bajwa a keen supporter of democracy, soon after meeting the army chief, Khan said "I told the army chief that democracy was not about holding elections but about conducting fair and transparent elections. I requested that army personnel be deployed outside and inside polling stations to foil the traditional rigging tactics used by the PML-N." Khan had met General Bajwa earlier this month and discussed national integrity issues and security conditions prevailing in the country. Khan had congratulated the army chief on his promotion and appointment. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Varun Dhawan, who is currently abroad shooting for the reprised version of song 'Oonchi Hai Building' for 'Judwaa 2', is having a gala time grooving with students at London University. The team recently flew to London for the film's shoot and the makers are currently filming the iconic track from 1997 Salman Khan- Karisma Kapoor- starrer. While shooting the song, many students from the university have been stopping by and grooving along with Varun Dhawan and Taapsee Pannu, who will be seen performing to this track. A source said, "Varun's affable nature allows him to bond with students easily. Over the weekend, a bunch of his fans had come to meet him and he was a thorough gentleman with them." The song is being recreated by none other than Anu Malik and choreographed by Bosco. Directed by David Dhawan and produced by Sajid Nadiadwala, 'Judwaa' 2 is set to release on September 29. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dubbing the government's 'hullaballoo' over liquor baron Vijay Mallya's arrest in London as 'premature and unnecessary', former external affairs minister and Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Tuesday said it is not a feather in the cap of the Government of India. Khurshid said the arrest was only a part of the procedure required to further the extradition process. "Surely, this is not a feather in the cap of the Government of India. This is a procedural matter within the jurisdiction of the UK Police. They go through certain procedures and to begin those procedures for extradition, the presence of the person concerned is necessary which means a technical arrest is to be made. After a technical arrest, bail is granted immediately. Now, the procedures will continue. For the government to be telling people here that they have done a very big thing is a little premature," he told ANI. Downplaying the din surrounding his sensational arrest in London, Mallya, who is on the run over money laundering charges, after being released took a swipe at the Indian media. "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected," he tweeted. Earlier today following Mallya's arrest, the Scotland Yard issued a statement saying that the absconding businessman was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud. "Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit have this morning, Tuesday 18 April arrested a man on an extraction warrant. He was arrested after attending a central London police station, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later today, 18 April," read the official statement of the Scotland Yard. His arrest came after a Delhi court had issued an open-ended non-bailable warrant against Mallya in connection with the 1995 FERA violation case. Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that Mallya's extradition has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Gen Zs are now at the age where they're coming for our jobs in the most chaotic way, and they're bringing all types of fancy equipment with them. Our PowerPoint presentations were READ THE REST Asserting that the legal process is underway over the extradition of absconding liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who was arrested and subsequently granted bail in London today, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has stated that both India and the British Government are in touch over the matter. "Responding to a query regarding Shri Vijay Mallya, the Official Spokesperson said that his arrest in London today was in connection with the request by the Government to U.K. authorities for his extradition. Legal process in this regard is underway in the U.K. The two governments are in touch in this context," the MEA said in a statement. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Indian High Commission will start the process of Mallya's extradition, Government sources state. India needs to set precedent and Mallya's extradition is one such case, also those defaulters who think that their money are safe in tax heavens are on wrong foot, sources added. The 61-year-old liquor businessman, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, appeared before the Westminster's Magistrates' Court in London for his bail hearing where the court granted bail to him. Downplaying the din surrounding his sensational arrest in London, Mallya who is on the run over money laundering charges, took a swipe at the Indian media. Taking to Twitter after getting bail, Mallya took a swing at the media accusing them of 'hyping' the development. Earlier today following Mallya's arrest, the Scotland Yard issued a statement saying that the absconding businessman was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud. Meanwhile, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar has assured that the beleaguered liquor baron will be brought back after completion of all required legal procedures. Addressing the media, Gangwar claimed that although bail was granted to Mallya, this does not imply any leniency towards him. He added that granting bail was required on grounds of a 'legal formality'. "Eradication of black money has been discussed since the Lok Sabha elections. We will not let miscreants like Mallya escape. We will make sure he is brought back to India and produced before the law after due consideration of legal formalities," he said. "Our government will make sure that nothing diverts this country's progress. Mallya's case will be investigated thoroughly," added Gangwar. Mallya, who was finally caught after repeatedly refusing to appear before courts and investigators in India since he secretly fled to Britain last March, was granted bail. Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed that extradition of the absconding liquor baron has been stratified by the Secretary of State of the U.K. Government and added that a warrant would soon be released against him. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Red Bull's Max Verstappen has apologised to any Brazilians he may have offended any by making a joke during the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend. Verstappen had been angry after Saturday'qualifying when he felt his best effort were 'ruined' when Felipe Massa dived in front of him on their preparation lap. Following this, the Dutchman---when asked in a written media session if he planned to speak to Massa about the incident---had said, "Well, he's a Brazilian - so there's not much to discuss." Massa, not impressed with Verstappen's words, subsequently spoke to the latter ahead of the Bahrain GP and warned him to be "careful" with his words. "I told him earlier today, 'Be careful with your words because you will have a Brazilian Grand Prix at the end of year and you will have to race there. So be careful what you say'," Sport24 quoted Massa as saying. "Without a doubt, it was not right to speak about Brazilians without even knowing what he was talking about," he added. The Red Bull driver, however, has now taken to social media to issue an apology, saying he did not mean to offend the Brazilian people. "I feel like I need to clarify my remarks that were made after this weekend's qualifying session. Being a passionate racer, I was very disappointed with my last stint and gave an emotional reaction that was taken out of context," Verstappen wrote on Instagram. "By no means did I mean to insult the Brazilian people who I greatly respect and are always very nice to me when I visit the country." "I would like to apologise to any Brazilians that feel offended and look forward to racing in your country again," he added. At last year's Brazilian GP, Verstappen had a podium finish with third position. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It seems like things are getting serious between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. According to a source, Markle will be by Harry's side when they attend the evening party after the wedding ceremony of Pippa Middleton and financer James Mathhews, reports People Magazine. The source also told People that protocol prohibits unmarried and un-engaged partners to attend the event. Myka Meier, founder and director of Beaumont Etiquette shared that there is no formal "no ring, no bring" rule. "I would not be surprised if Prince Harry was not given a plus one, as the wedding guest list would have most likely been made in fall of last year when Prince Harry's relationship with Meghan was not as public. I typically recommend if someone is married, engaged, considers themselves to have a serious significant other, or is traveling in for the wedding, they should receive a plus one. Pending how intimate Pippa wants to keep her wedding, she may very well follow the 'no ring, no bring' rule," Meier said. Recently, Harry flew out to Toronto to spend Easter weekend with his girlfriend - skipping the usual royal Easter tradition of attending services at St. George's chapel at Windsor castle with Queen Elizabeth II. Pippa Middleton and James Matthews' wedding is expected to be grand affair with Prince William and Kate's children Prince George and Princess Charlotte acting as a page boy and a bridesmaid, respectively. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered cases against 13 persons in connection with the Narada sting operation case, the Congress dubbed the former as the 'Chargesheet Bureau against India's opposition' and said the agency is working like a puppet which is being controlled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). "CBI's new name is Chargesheet Bureau against India's opposition. The reason is very simple. Vendetta, vindictiveness and a keen desire to seek revenge on part of (BJP) Government drives CBI as puppet acting on the agenda of BJP. If somebody is guilty in Narada, by all means take action against him or her. But to chargesheet the entire party i.e. Trinamool Congress purely because they are hostile to you politically reflects on the functioning of CBI as a captive puppet playing in the hands of the BJP," Congress leader Randeep Surjewala told ANI. Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP Mohammad Salim said the agency should probe the case fairly adding that the moral authority of the Parliament is going down because of the political consideration. "It is a long pending issue. First time in independent India FIR was launched against more than dozen of leaders. Because of the political consideration the moral authority of the Parliament is going down. CBI must continue this investigation fearlessly without any political influence. It must be quick in probing the case and it must be full proof conviction ," Salim told ANI. CBI yesterday filed FIR against Madan Mitra, Mukul Roy, Saugata Roy besides Sultan Ahmed, Iqbal Ahmed, Kakoli Ghosh, Prasun Banerjee, Shbhendhu Adhikari, Sovan Chatterjee, Subrata Mukherjee, Syed Hussain Meerza, Firhad Hakim and Apurva Poddar . The decision comes a month after the Supreme Court extended the time given to the CBI for conducting preliminary inquiry in the case. The three judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Jagdish Singh Khehar said that the CBI investigation would go on against the accused persons in this case. Kapil Sibal, one of the lawyer's for accused persons, pleaded to the top court for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) or any other independent investigation but it was rejected by the apex court. The CBI had on March 20 registered a preliminary inquiry into the case. As per sources, the CBI also seized laptop and spy cam used by the Narada News in their sting operation. The investigative agency also named West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, MPs, police officers and ex-MLA in its preliminary inquiry. Reacting to the court's order, Mamata said that she will appeal against the court order in a "higher judiciary". Earlier in April 2016, the court had formed a three-member committee to probe the controversial tapes. Narada News, led by its editor-in-chief Matthew Samuel, had earlier released three sets of videos of its sting operation, where top TMC leaders were allegedly seen accepting bribes from journalists posing as businessmen. The ruling party had dismissed the allegation citing that the tapes are 'doctored'. The sting operation video was released by the portal on March 14, 2016, just ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mathew Samuel, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Narada News, on Tuesday said that the sting operation which he conducted during the parliament election in 2010 was simply journalistic and nothing political. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday filed an FIR against 13 persons, including senior leaders of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress who were purportedly seen taking money, in the Narada case. Following this, TMC leader Sovandeb Chatterjee alleged that the move was a prearranged attempt by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to malign TMC's image so that they cannot get success in the election. Chatterjee told ANI, "We will tackle the situation politically and because this is a political game by BJP. People of West Bengal did not believe it. They voted in favour of TMC and got votes in huge margin to 211 seats in last election," Speaking to ANI on Tuesday, Samuel said, "The TMC party has put false allegations on me. It is actually a kind of harassment. They want to put me inside because I did the sting during the parliament election in 2010 and published the same in my website. It is just journalistic, nothing political." In contradiction to Sovandeb's assertion, polit bureau member of Communist Party of India (Marxist) Hannan Mollah rubbished West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's allegations of CBI FIR as 'political game' by the BJP, saying that it was a natural result of the enquiry and therefore, the state government should pursue it honestly and allow the CBI to punish the culprit. Samuel had earlier released three sets of videos of its sting operation, where top TMC leaders were allegedly seen accepting bribes from journalists posing as businessmen. The ruling party had dismissed the allegation citing that the tapes are 'doctored'. The sting operation video was released by the portal on March 14, 2016, just ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New Delhi [India], Apr 18 (ANI): Clearing the air over allegations of being a Khalistani sympathizer, visiting Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan has said that his visit is aimed at forging better bilateral ties and not to 'break any country'. "I have been given many labels throughout my life and your actions define who you are. I don't personally suck into the internal politics of any province or nations," he said while addressing an audience here as he spoke on 'Conflict Prevention and Peacekeeping in a Changing World'. "I do not promote the breakup of any country... My job is to promote a relation," he added. The visiting minister's comments come in the wake of Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh describing Sajjan "a Khalistani sympathiser". During an interview last week, Singh stated that there were four other ministers in the Justin Trudeau government with Khalistani links. The Chief Minister even went on to say that he would not meet the Canadian Minister on his India visit. Sajjan is on a seven-day visit to India during which he is scheduled to hold several high-level ministerial meetings. In Punjab, Sajjan will visit the Golden Temple and civil society organisations. He will inaugurate the new office of the Consulate-General of Canada in Chandigarh. In the financial capital, Sajjan will visit the Mumbai Port and meet several business and industry leaders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Alleging that the opposition is not able to digest the working style of Yogi Adityanath-led government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday said they have been conspiring for their ulterior motives. Uttar Pradesh Power Minister and BJP leader Shrikant Sharma said the opposition is not able to digest the fact that this government is working for the needy. "The opposition have converted their offices into conspiracy offices as they always try to plan a new conspiracy against us," he said while addressing a press conference. Sharma further said the main agenda of the Uttar Pradesh Government is to provide all basic facilities and modern technology to the farmers. Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, who was also present during the briefing, threw light on some of the decisions taken by the state government. "A civil terminal, being constructed in Gorakhpur Air Force base, would be named after Maha Yogi Gorakhnath ji and in Agra the Indian Air Force airport will be named after Deen Dayal Upadhyay," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least six people were killed and 18 injured after a van collided with a car near Muhammadyar Wala at Jhang road in Bhakkar on Tuesday. The collision took place after the car's faulty tie rod failed to function, Geo News reported citing sources. Injured were shifted to nearby hospital. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed profound grief and sorrow over the loss of precious lives in the accident, reports Radio Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) Deputy General Secretary T T V Dinakaran in the dock for allegedly bribing the Election Commission (EC), various political parties across the nation condemned the former's action, adding he has degraded the Tamil Nadu politics. "It was a shocking disclosure. Dinakaran, the relative of Sasikala, attempted to bribe the Election Commission official to get 'Two Leaves'. In a very short time, Dinakaran has taken the Tamil Nadu politics to the new low," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader S. Prakash told ANI. He further said that the people of Tamil Nadu and the AIADMK factions have realized their blunders and now they are discussing each other to merge and emerge as one entity. "The election was countermanded as he bribed the constituency by 89 crores. The influence of such a huge money power forced the Election Commission to cancel the polls which should have been held on April 12. Today he is facing one more serious charges and a warrant has been issued," Prakash added. Echoing similar sentiments, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Majeed Memon said that this is something very dangerous for a free society and for a democracy. "If it is true then serious steps must be taken. The chief election commission and the investigating agency should go to the bottom of truth and not spare any person who is indulged in such type of corrupt practices," he added. He further said that every voter was given Rs. 4000 per vote and crores of rupees were distributed. "The result was that the elections had to be dropped. Even for symbol, the Election Commission was sought to be bribed," Memon added. Meanwhile, Communist Party of India (CPI) leader D. Raja said whether Dinakaran will be taken under the custody for questioning that will take time law takes its course. "The situation in Tamil continues to be bad. We have to wait for the further development. There are reports that leaders of both the factions are tugging to each other. One has to wait for the development," he added. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Monday asserted that the entire development reeks of desperation on behalf of the Sasikala Natarajan faction. "It is very shameful that they (AIADMK) have gone to the extent of bribing the Election Commission. If they have the majority then they should prove the majority. But if they are bribing the Election Commission then it proves that they don't have the majority," DMK senior leader TKS Elangovan told ANI here. The DMK leader further said this is a corrupt government, which is least concerned for the people and has put all its focus on grabbing money and power. "The AIADMK is a corrupt party. The AIADMK is a headless body now," he added. Echoing similar sentiments, Tamil Nadu BJP Chief Tamilisai Soundarajan told ANI that the entire development was a new version of corruption. Dinakaran was earlier in the day named an accused in the FIR filed by the Delhi Police Crime Branch for allegedly offering bribe for his party's 'two leaves' symbol, which was declared suspended a few weeks ago. The police action came in the wake of arrest of an alleged middleman named Sukesh Chandrasekhar from Hyatt hotel last night. The Delhi Police's case against Dinakaran comes even as a major crisis looms in the state government with a section of ministers revolting against him and seeking his resignation as party deputy general secretary. Dinakaran has, however, cried foul while stating that he does not know accused middleman. "I will legally face if any summon comes to me from the Delhi Police. I don't know anybody by this name Sukesh Chandrasekhar (alleged middleman). I haven't bribed anyone for anything," Dinakaran said. Dinakaran's faction contested on the 'hat' symbol after the Election Commission froze their 'two leaves' symbol acknowledging the split in the party. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari may have commenced her five-day India visit, but her country's frequent hobnobbing with China has dominated headlines and attracted New Delhi's concerned attention. In a first, Nepal and China have started a 10-day joint military exercise 'Sagarmatha Friendship 2017'. This newly found military bonding will last till April 25. Indian diplomatic and security experts have reasons to be wary of the Dragon's interest in Nepal, which has remained more or less dependent on India for most of its needs. This issue is likely to figure in delegation-level talks today. The Nepal Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a.ka. Prachanda, visited New Delhi within six weeks after assuming power and signed many treaties with India. He also visited China but no treaties were signed between two countries. Chinese Premier Xi Jinping's Nepal visit was scheduled in October 2016 during former Nepal Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli's regime, but was called-off owing to the changed political scenario in Nepal. Relations between India and Nepal became strained when Oli started looking towards China. During his tenure, Oli supported China's policy of One Belt and One Road' (OBOR) and also signed a treaty, but Prachanda has kept a mum over it. Since India was not happy with Nepal's association in OBOR projects, so China holds India responsible for Prachanda's 'cold response' to OBOR. As a matter of fact, China sees Prachanda with suspicion over the former's proximity with India. This was evident through an opinionated piece published in Chinese Communist Party's mouthpiece 'Global Times'. The newspaper advised Prachanda to tender an explanation on his growing proximity with India. Prachanda organised Indian President Pranab Mukherjee's Nepal visit in Novemeber 2016 to repair the damage. Pranab, as a foreign minister in 2005-06, had played an important role in bringing Nepalese Maoists into the mainstream. However, Nepal-China joint military exercise has many dimensions, and India should be wary of them. In the past, Nepal has been conducting joint military exercise with India and United States of America (USA). China is a new entrant in Nepal's military diplomacy. For understanding China's real interest in Nepal, one needs to understand the landlocked Nepal's politics and demography. Nepal has witnessed political turmoil since 2001 with the infamous Royal massacre. Though there is a democratically government in Nepal, but its ideology is Leftist, akin to the Chinese political ideology and opposite to the Right wing ideology of Narendra Modi government. Nepal is surrounded by China to the north and India to the south, east and west. This makes its border porous and most favoured destination for terrorists. Though the aim of joint Nepal-China military exercise is to combat terrorism, but China is not likely to take note of its friend Pakistan's nurturing of terror infrastructure in Nepal. A Wikileaks report revealed in 2011 that ISI had made Nepal a hub of anti-India terror activities. Pakistan founded Jammu and Kashmir Islamic Front (JKIF), and Kathmandu was made its base. Most wanted underworld don Dawood Ibrahim has a very strong presence in Nepal. JKIF, says the Wikileaks cable dated July 8, 1997, was controlled from Pakistan by ISI and Tiger Memon, who is the prime accused in 1993 Mumbai blast case and a close associate of Dawood. Bidhya Devi was scheduled to visit India in May 2016, but it was postponed due to political instability in Nepal created by Madhesi movement. Since many Madhesis are of Indian origin, so Nepal suspected that India was fomenting trouble in Himalayan Country. This thinking strained bilateral relations. When the trade was hit during Madhesi movement, then Nepalese Prime Minister Oli joined hands with China and started importing goods, including petroleum products, from Beijing. India was not happy with its age-old friend's proximity with its age-old foe. After the exit of Oli, relations between India and Nepal are becoming normal. However, with China's military diplomacy in Nepal, it will be interesting to watch how long India and Nepal relations will remain 'friendly'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK Prime Minister riding high on a recent uptick in Brexit popularity and taking advantage of divisions in the Labour Party has called snap elections for June 8. Theresa May had previously stated that she would not call an election. The elections could put to rest the frequent accusation that May who came to power in an internal Tory Party process does not have a mandate. It could also be a club to beat Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon with, as a counter to a proposed Scottish separation from the UK. Naked Capitalism's Yves Smith has assembled some key fragments of the early analysis of possible outcomes, including the possibility that a larger Tory majority in Parliament could magnify the internal divisions in the party, divisions that led to the chaotic Brexit referendum and May's ascendancy to the PM's chair. Smith takes note of the fact that 20 Tory MPs are currently under police investigation for electoral fraud, and if any were to be charged, they could be barred from holding political office for three years. The number of MPs under investigation is without precedent. As for me, I've just made another donation to Momentum, a pressure group dedicated to leading the Labour Party to a genuine, Sanders-style left-wing alternative to Tory neoliberalism. Labour is particularly weak and divided right now; elections early are an opportunity to deliver a crushing blow. Brexit popularity is at a recent high, so that will help shore up the Tory position. May would get her own mandate. First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon has tried to throw a curveball with the threat of a Scottish referendum, which Sturgeon was pushing to take place in 2019. Even though May has the power to say no, that move would hurt the Union and help the SNP. Given the Brexit timetable, the SNP's timing for a referendum would have been 2019, which was uncomfortably close to the originally scheduled Parliamentary elections in 2020. Theresa May Announces Surprise Early Election for June 8 [Yves Smith/Naked Capitalism] (Image: Policy Exchange, CC-BY0 Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh here on Tuesday during which the duo discussed issues pertaining to bilateral relations. Singh called his meeting with President Bhandari as 'fruitful'. "Had a fruitful meeting with the President of Nepal Ms Bidya Devi Bhandari.We discussed a range of issues pertaining to India-Nepal relations," Singh tweeted. President Bhandari also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Vice President Hamid Ansari. Earlier, she received a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. She was welcomed by President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Modi. Bhandari, who yesterday arrived on a five-day visit to India, is being accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising Ministers, Members of Parliament and senior officials. The visit is taking place in the backdrop of intensified bilateral engagements both at the political and official level in recent times. There had been more than 30 official and ministerial level engagements since the state visit of President Mukherjee to Nepal in November last year which clearly illustrate the wide range and depth of cooperative ties with Nepal. The visit reflects the priority that both nations attach to further strengthening of their age-old and unique partnership, underpinned by shared historical and cultural linkages and strong people-to-people connections. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Briton researchers have found a new group of cells in retina of eyes that can directly affect the biological clock of the people who experience . According to researchers, a new group of cells in the retina that directly affect the biological clock by sending signals to a region of the brain which regulates our daily (circadian) rhythms, thereby opening a new therapeutic possibilities to manipulate the retina's signals and alter the body's responses to light changes. The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is a region of the brain, which co-ordinates the circadian rhythm using many different signalling molecules, including the neurohormone vasopressin. This research shows that the retina has its own population of vasopressin-expressing cells which communicate directly to the SCN and are involved with regulating the circadian rhythm. This gives an insight into how the biological clock is regulated by light and could open up new therapeutic opportunities to help restore altered circadian rhythms through the eye. "Our exciting results show a potentially new pharmacological route to manipulate our internal biological clocks," said study's lead investigator Mike Ludwig from the University of Edinburgh in England. "Studies in the future which alter vasopressin signalling through the eye could lead to developing eye drops to get rid of jet lag, but we are still a long way off from this," Ludwig added. Biological clocks are synchronised to light-dark changes and are important to regulate patterns of body temperature, brain activity, hormone production and other physiological processes. Disruption of this can lead to problems such as gastrointestinal and cardiovascular disorders, depression and an increased risk of cancer. The researchers interfered with the signalling of light information sent to the SCN in rats. Using a series of physiological tests, they showed that vasopressin-expressing cells in the retina are directly involved in regulating circadian rhythms. The study appeared in the Journal of Physiology. After releasing its Hindi trailer, the Marathi version of 'Sachin A Billion Dreams' trailer was unveiled sometime back by Sachin Tendulkar himself. The makers of the project have shot the film simultaneously in Hindi and Marathi languages. Taking from the fact that the master blaster is a Marathi, the makers were of the opinion that it would be justified if the film was shot in the same language. Creating a buzz on the social media, the trailer has garnered huge praise from celebs like Madhuri Dixit to Shreyas Talpade. Madhuri wrote, "#SachinABillionDreams releasing in Marathi too! Moved after watching the emotional Marathi trailer! http://bit.ly/Sachin-Marathi-Trailer . @sachin_rt" Atul Kulkarni tweeted, "Important lives have important lessons for us.... Here's one such life! #SachinABillionDreams" According to Shreyas, "Aplya Devachi #SachinABillionDreams Marathit suddha release honar! Pahaa haa Marathi trailer! http://bit.ly/Sachin-Marathi-Trailer ." On this note, within 24 hours of its release, the trailer stormed the internet garnering 15 million views. It even trended on Twitter for 14 hours continuously. 'Sachin- A Billion Dreams,' directed by Emmy nominated James Erskine and music by Academy Award winner A.R Rahman, is slated to release on May 26. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) North Korea's United Nations deputy representative Kim In Ryong on Monday unleashed at a UN press conference a torrent of threats, war scenarios and rhetoric aimed at the United States. The press event was held hours after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visited the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea. the CNN reports. Pence warned North Korea to not test the resolve of the United States "or the strength of our military forces." North Korea then returned verbal fire. The North Korea UN ambassador condemned the U.S. naval buildup in the waters off the Korean Peninsula, plus the U.S. missile attacks on Syria. Kim said, "It has created a dangerous situation in which thermonuclear war may break out at any moment on the peninsula and poses a serious threat to peace and security." While reporters at the United Nations have heard similar rhetoric from North Koreans before, Monday's forceful wording was on a higher level. The deputy ambassador, reading from a statement, told media, "The U.S. is disturbing the global peace and stability and insisting on the gangster-like logic that its invasion of a sovereign state is 'decisive, and just, and proportionate' and contributes to 'defending' the international order in its bid to apply it to the Korean Peninsula as well." Kim said his country was ready to react to any "mode of war" from the United States. Any missile or nuclear strike by the United States would be responded to "in kind," said the North Korea representative. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following the demise of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa in December 2016, the state has been witness to a political turmoil with the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) splitting into two factions one led by Sasikala Natarajan and the other by former chief minister O. Panneerselvam. Here is the glimpse of the political turn of events in the state: SASIKALA, OPS CAMPS MERGER In what can be called as a major hint towards sewing up an unprecedented merger between two warring factions in the Tamil Nadu Government, the Sasikala and the O. Panneerselvam groups of the AIADMK met on April 17 to discuss and deliberate over possibilities of their unification. The re-united party will then stake a claim for the AIADMK symbol - two leaves. Panneerselvam today said that the Sasikala faction of the party has formed a committee to conduct talks for a merger. RK NAGAR BY-POLLS CANCELLED By-elections in Chennai's RK Nagar constituency was cancelled by the Election Commission last week after cash-for-votes allegations surfaced. The decision came after income tax raids in Chennai found money had been distributed to voters prior to the polls. Income tax officials alleged that the Sasikala faction of the party had paid Rs. 89 crore to voters to buy support for its candidate TTV Dinakaran, who is also her nephew. As evidence, the department had cited documents seized during raids in more than 35 places, including properties of the state health minister C Vijayabaskar. The Sasikala faction, however, refuted the allegation. EC FREEZES AIADMK'S ELECTION SYMBOL The Election Commission froze the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) election symbol of 'two leaves', after representatives of former Tamil Nadu chief minister O. Panneerselvam and former party general secretary V.K. Sasikala made seperate claims for it. TUSSLE OVER PARTY SYMBOL AHEAD OF R.K. NAGAR BY-POLL Sasikala and Panneerselvam camps locked horns over the AIADMK election symbol 'two leaves' in view of the R.K. Nagar assembly constituency the by-elections in Chennai that were to be held on April 12. PALANISAMY WINS FLOOR TRUST On February 18, amid an uproar in the Tamil Nadu Assembly, Edappadi K. Palanisamy won the vote of confidence with 122 MLAs supporting him. PALANISAMY TAKES OATH AS TAMIL NADU CHIEF MINISTER Edappadi K. Palanisamy took oath as Tamil Nadu Chief Minister along with 31 other AIADMK MLAs on February 16. Meanwhile, the AIADMK said that Palanisamy will seek the vote of confidence on February 18. SASIKALA SURRENDERS BEFORE BENGALURU JAIL A day after being convicted by the Supreme Court in connection with the disproportionate assets case, Sasikala Natarajan surrenders before Bengaluru's Parappana Agrahara jail. DHINAKARAN APPOINTED AS DEPUTY GENERAL SECRETARY OF AIADMK In yet another major development in Tamil Nadu politics, TTV Dhinakaran on February 15 was appointed as the Deputy General Secretary of the AIADMK on February 15. PALANISWAMI APPOINTED AS HEAD OF AIADMK LEGISLATURE PARTY After Sasikala was sentenced to four years in jail in connection with the disproportionate assets case, Edappadi K Palaniswami was appointed head of the AIADMK legislature party. Soon after which O. Panneerselvam was expelled from the AIADMK. SASIKALA SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN JAIL IN DA CASE On February 14, Sasikala was convicted in the 19-year-old disproportionate assets case and sentenced to serve four years in jail. She also stood disqualified to take over as Tamil Nadu chief minister. TUG OF WAR BETWEEN SASIKALA AND PANNEERSELVAM FOR CM POST On February 5, O. Panneerselvam resigned from the chief minister post and Sasikala was elected head of the AIADMK legislative party and proceeded to stake claim to form the government. State Governor C Vidyasagar Rao accepted Panneerselvam's resignation, but asked him to operate in a caretaker capacity. In another turn of events, Panneerselvam makes startling revelations, including telling to reporters that he 'was forced to resign'. SASIKALA NATARAJAN APPOINTED AIADMK GENERAL SECRETARY Sasikala Natarajan, the confidante of late Jayalalithaa appointed as AIADMK's general secretary on December 29 after several party functionaries urged her to lead the party. O. PANNEERSELVAM SWORN IN AS TAMIL NADU CHIEF MINISTER After Jayalalithaa's death, senior AIADMK leader O. Paneerselvam sworn in as the next chief minister of Tamil Nadu. According to reports, several AIADMK MLAs were called to Apollo Hospital to sign a declaration, making Panneerselvam Jayalalithaa's successor. JAYALALITHAA'S DEMISE Former Tamil Nadu chief minister J. Jayalalithaa, popularly addressed as "Amma" by her supporters and party cadres, dies of cardiac arrest on December 5, 2016 at the Apollo Hospital after a prolonged illness. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) U.S. President Donald Trump has asked voters in Georgia to reject the Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff, saying that he would be a 'disaster' in Congress. Trump said that Ossoff would raise taxes, be bad for jobs, be weak on crime and illegal immigration. "Democrat Jon Ossoff would be a disaster in Congress. VERY weak on crime and illegal immigration, bad for jobs and wants higher taxes. Say NO," Trump tweeted. He also asked republicans in Georgia to get out and vote on Tuesday. "Republicans must get out today and VOTE in Georgia 6. Force runoff and easy win! Dem Ossoff will raise your taxes-very bad on crime & 2nd A," Trump said in a tweet. The elections in Georgia are being seen as an early indicator of how voters will respond to Trump's presidency. Trump also said that his administration is removing the illegal immigration policies of former president Obama in a fast way. "The weak illegal immigration policies of the Obama Admin. allowed bad MS 13 gangs to form in cities across U.S. We are removing them fast!" he tweeted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) U.S. Security Advisor HR McMaster on Tuesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the latter's official residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg here. Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and Security Advisor Ajit Doval were also present during the meeting. McMaster earlier in the day met his Indian counterpart Doval. McMaster yesterday met Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and discussed bilateral ties, Afghan situation and rising tensions between India, Pakistan. Lt. Gen. McMaster also met Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz in Islamabad. Aziz briefed Lt. Gen. McMaster on the policies being pursued by the Pakistan government that have resulted in improved security environment and economic turnaround in the country. The Dawn quoted Aziz, as saying that that Pakistan remains determined to continue its fight as part of the Action Plan until terrorism is completely eliminated from the country. Expressing Pakistan's concerns over the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, Aziz reaffirmed Islamabad's commitment to working with the international community to support peace efforts in Afghanistan. He also stressed on the importance of effective border management to achieve sustainable peace in the region. Lt. Gen. McMaster thanked Aziz and acknowledged Pakistan's sacrifices in combating extremism and terrorism. He renewed the commitment of the new administration to work closely with Pakistan in strengthening mutually beneficial relations and towards the shared objectives of peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region. Lt. Gen. McMaster, who is on his maiden visit to Pakistan after being elected as President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor, will next visit India to assess the situation in the two countries and then report back to the White House. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Tuesday issued an order that under new rules liquor shops will stay open from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. The Chief Minister earlier on April 2 said that he would not follow Bihar's model in banning alcohol, adding he would rather adopt a more inclusive approach to stop the people from consuming liquor as the outcome in several states has not been positive so far. His remarks came when he was asked as to how his government will tackle the burgeoning revenue deficit and his government's stand on banning alcohol. "Although the financial situation of our state is worse, but I would like to say that we would not sell alcohol to better our revenues. We can see that the outcome has not been positive for the states which have stopped the sale and consumption of alcohol," Rawat told ANI. Rawat said that his government would run a campaign to discourage the people from consuming alcohol. "Hence our priority is to work with those organisations, which work to rehabilitate the people. We would run a campaign discouraging the people from consuming alcohol," he added. He said that his government would work on a set of issues to increase revenue and improve employment in the state. "Our first priority is zero tolerance towards corruption. But at the same time, the officials who will work with honesty will be awarded. Our second focus will be to bring employment and for that we have constituted a separate ministry. The third issue on which we will concentrate is health. We are not satisfied with the current health facilities and the major reason behind it is scarcity of doctors and soon we will recruit doctors. Moreover, we will also encourage and bring in generic medicines so that even the poor can afford treatment," he said. "Our fourth issue is migration. As we know that the state borders China and Nepal with whom we share good relations. So, to curb migration we have constituted a committee. Our fifth issue is tourism. We have a lot of scope in the field of tourism. So, we will explore all aspects," he added. The Uttarakhand Government earlier imposed a ban on sale of liquor in Uttarkashi, Chamoli and Rudraprayag districts from April 1 in the wake of Chardham Yatra. The Nainital High Court had in September last year passed an order in this regard banning the "possession, distribution, collection, sale, purchase or consumption of liquor, including beer." Besides liquor, the High Court also ordered to prohibit tobacco within five kilometers around Gurudwara Nanakmatta, Gurudwara Rita Sahib and Gurudwara Hemkund Sahib. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Income Tax (IT) department on Tuesday raided various locations in Dehradun including the residence of an Uttar Pradesh government official. The raids also took place at the home and office of Uttar Pradesh Manufacturing Corporation General Manager Ashray Sharma. Sharma's farm houses were also under probe in Dehradun and Rishikesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jammu and Kashmir activist Sushil Pandit on Tuesday exhorted the Centre to weaken the separatists instead of reducing the capacity of ammunition. Pandit, who was reacting to reports suggesting that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is contemplating using plastic bullets to tame the protestors in Kashmir, termed use of plastic bullets as a 'cat and mouse game' and said it will not be of much use. "By reducing the lethality of the ammunition, you can't take the sting out of the separatists and their intent to foment trouble. You need to address the capacity of the trouble makers instead of reducing the capacity of your ammunition," said Pandit. He added, "There is no use of changing the ammunition until the trouble making mindset is changed." As per reports, the plastic bullets don't penetrate into body and can be fired from INSAS (Indian Small Arms System) rifles. Meanwhile, the social activist while commenting on the current unrest in Kashmir Valley said Kashmir hasn't seen its worst yet. "The situation is deteriorating because those who have been tasked with the job of leading people as mainstream political parties are the ones who are inciting people," said Pandit. Due to stone-pelting by the Kashmiri students, the Kashmir Divisional Commissioner had on Monday ordered to shutdown the universities, colleges and higher secondary schools across the region. Many students and five policemen were injured on Monday when the Kashmiri students resorted to violence and pelted stones on the security forces and police to protest the alleged high-handedness against some students in Pulwama on Saturday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) CelebrityNetWorth.com was a popular, data-driven website whose 12 staffers led serious efforts to research public figures and give a credible estimate of their fortunes. Google liked the look of this, so it made site founder Brian Warner a proposition: let Google include the Big Number as a featured "snippet" atop relevant search results, in return for the snippet linking to the website. Warner, though, knew that the link offer was worthless and said no. Mysteriously, Google started "answering" questions about celebrities' net worth anyway, only occasionally disclosing the source; he seeded his database with a few fake celebrities to prove Google was using CelebrityNetWorth.com's data. The result was just as he predicted when he said no: his site's lost most of its traffic, even as Google depends on it to provide accurate answers. Google's push into direct answers has wide-reaching consequences for more than just small business owners who depend on search traffic. The email Google sent Warner in 2014 gives some insight into how Google selects reputable sources. Google wouldn't answer questions about this, but based on the emails, the vetting was pretty thin; Google seemed more interested in whether the data was machine-readable than whether it was accurate. And the bar for featured snippets the answers culled algorithmically from the web is even lower, since it appears that any site good enough to rank in search results is good enough to serve as the source for Google's canonical answers. That's how you get erroneous answers that claim Barack Obama is organizing a coup, or that the Earth is flat, or that women are evil Seems like there's a linear relationship between Google rehosting your content and website traffic going down. West Indies batsman Kieran Powell has been recalled into the Test squad for the first match of the three-Test series against Pakistan beginning April 22 at Barbados. The 27-year-old, who averages just 27.48 in the five-day format, is in line for his first Test appearance since 2014 after being named in a 13-man squad. Besides Powell, the uncapped batting pair of Vishaul Singh and Shimron Hetmyer have been included in the 13-man squad while experienced Marlon Samuels, Darren Bravo and Leon Johnson have been dropped from the squad. "We are happy to be able to give a recall to Kieran Powell for one of the opening slots, although he did not have the best regional first-class season," ESPNcrincinfo quoted West Indies chairman of selectors Courtney Browne as saying. "He showed for the President's XI that his experience can add value to our team," he added. Browne further exuded confidence on the young Test squad, saying although there are some noticeable absentees, the players would give a good account of themselves especially in their own backyard. Powell's form in the domestic four-day competition has also not been good as his one-day record this season, with 342 runs at 28.50 and just two half-centuries. However, he produced scores of 58 and 84 not out for the West Indies President's XI in the three-day tour match against Pakistan that ended in a draw on Tuesday. WI squad for first Test: Jason Holder (capt), Devendra Bishoo, Jermaine Blackwood, Kraigg Brathwaite, Roston Chase, Miguel Cummins, Shane Dowrich (wk), Shannon Gabriel, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Kieran Powell, Vishaul Singh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Berger Paints India rose 1.10% to Rs 243.65 at 10:44 IST on BSE after the company said its unit signed a pact with NBCC for business exploration. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 April 2017. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 262.62 points, or 0.89% to 29,676.28. On the BSE, 24,000 shares were traded in the counter so far, compared with average daily volumes of 3.20 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 247.50 and a low of Rs 242.90 so far during the day. The stock hit a record high of Rs 276.80 on 12 September 2016. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 174.22 on 24 June 2016. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 17 April 2017, rising 4.08% compared with 0.79% decline in the Sensex. The scrip had also outperformed the market in past one quarter, rising 12.07% as against Sensex's 8% rise. The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 97.10 crore. Face value per share is Re 1. Berger Paints India said that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Bolix, S.A. Poland and NBCC signed a memorandum of business exploration yesterday, 17 April 2017, in furtherance of a joint initiative to bring to India External Thermal Insulation and Composite Systems (ETICS), a proven solution for improving energy performance of temperature controlled buildings. ETICS is a very cost effective and efficient solution and much used in Europe. Germany and Poland are the pioneers in this technology though ETICS is now in use in over 15 countries in Europe. NBCC and Bolix will jointly promote, develop and facilitate the use of ETICS solutions n building projects in India with the principal objective of reducing significantly the energy requirements for cooling or heating in these buildings which is expected to result in gains in environmental sustainability. On consolidated basis, Berger Paints India's net profit fell 2% to Rs 109.12 crore on 5.2% growth in net sales to Rs 1170.20 crore in Q3 December 2016 over Q3 December 2015. Berger Paints India manufactures and markets a range of decorative and industrial paint products and has operations throughout India. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Key benchmark indices held firm in mid-morning trade. At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was up 256.65 points or 0.87% at 29,670.31. The Nifty 50 index was up 71.90 points or 0.79% at 9,211.20. Gains in ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries boosted sentiment on domestic bourses. After seeing a gap-up opening, the key benchmark indices extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. The BSE Mid-Cap index was up 1.03%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 1.15%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex. The broad market depicted strength. There were over two gainers against every loser on BSE. On the BSE, 1,751 shares rose and 770 shares fell. A total of 130 shares were unchanged. Capital goods rose. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (up 2.26%), BEML (up 0.32%), ABB India (up 0.92%), Bharat Electronics (up 1.64%), L&T (up 0.57%), Punj Lloyd (up 1.51%), Siemens (up 1.95%) and Thermax (up 0.34%) rose. Cement stocks gained. ACC (up 0.7%), UltraTech Cement (up 0.47%) and Shree Cement (up 0.28%) gained. Ambuja Cements (down 0.26%) fell. Grasim Industries was up 0.79%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement. On the macro front, India Meteorological Department (IMD) will announce its first long range forecast for 2017 southwest monsoon, today, 18 April 2017. The June-September southwest monsoon is critical for the country's agriculture because a considerable part of the country's farmland is dependent on the rains for irrigation. Overseas, most Asian stocks were trading higher as a strong post-Easter finish on Wall Street provided upward momentum. US stocks rose the most in six weeks yesterday, 17 April 2017 as investors turned their attention to first-quarter corporate earnings. Geopolitical tensions, notably those between the US and North Korea, have heightened worries about aggressions escalating into a nuclear confrontation. Over the weekend, North Korea put on a massive military parade, followed by a failed missile launch. In an unannounced visit to the Korean Peninsula's demilitarized zone, US Vice President Mike Pence yesterday, 17 April 2017 warned North Korea not to test the resolve of President Donald Trump or the military strength of the US. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Key benchmark indices ended with modest losses in a volatile session of trade as a strong intraday rally was derailed by sell-off in late trade. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 94.56 points or 0.32% at 29,319.10, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index fell 34.15 points or 0.37% at 9,105.15, as per the provisional closing data. The Sensex hit its lowest level in over three weeks. The Nifty hit three-week low. Fall in Reliance Industries, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and L&T pulled domestic bourses lower. After seeing a gap-up opening triggered by positive Asian stocks, the key benchmark indices extended gains and hit fresh intraday high in morning trade. Indices hovered in a tight range in positive terrain till early afternoon trade. Key benchmark indices pared intraday gains in afternoon trade as lower opening in European stocks pulled local indices off their highs. Market sink in negative zone and hit intraday low in late trade. The Sensex gained 287.53 points or 0.97% at the day's high of 29,701.19 in mid-morning trade, its highest level since 12 April 2017. The index lost 127.28 points or 0.43% at the day's low of 29,286.38 in late trade, its lowest level since 27 March 2017. The Nifty gained 78.60 points or 0.86% at the day's high of 9,217.90 in mid-morning trade, its highest level since 12 April 2017. The index fell 43.85 points or 0.48% at the day's low of 9,095.45 in late trade, its lowest level since 28 March 2017. The BSE Mid-Cap index provisionally fell 0.63%. The BSE Small-Cap index provisionally fell 0.74%. The fall in both these indices was higher than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms. The breadth, indicating overall health of the market was weak. On the BSE, 1,769 shares declined and 1,120 shares rose. A total of 137 shares were unchanged. The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 4285.37 crore, higher than the turnover of Rs 3478.74 crore registered during the previous trading session. Metal and mining stocks declined as copper prices dropped in global commodity markets. Vedanta (down 2.73%), JSW Steel (down 3.68%), Steel Authority of India (Sail) (down 1.95%), Hindustan Zinc (down 2.07%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.82%), NMDC (down 1.52%), Hindustan Copper (down 1.59%) edged lower. Hindalco Industries (up 1.21%) and National Aluminium Company (up 2.49%) rose. Copper edged lower in the global commodities market. High Grade Copper for May 2017 delivery was currently off 1.6% at $2.5545 per pound on the COMEX. Tata Steel lost 2.76% after the company said its board meeting will be held on 20 April 2017, to consider a proposal for fund raising. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 17 April 2017. Overseas, most European stocks were trading lower with commodity shares struggling and investors were nervous ahead of the first round of voting in France's presidential election on Sunday, 23 April 2017. Meanwhile, in a surprise move, UK Prime Minister Theresa May has announced plans for an early general election on 8 June 2017. In an unscheduled speech delivered today, 18 April 2017, May said an election is needed because other parties in parliament are opposed to the Conservative-led government's Brexit plans. Most Asian stocks finished lower on escalating geopolitical concerns. US stocks rose the most in six weeks yesterday, 17 April 2017 as investors turned their attention to first-quarter corporate earnings. Geopolitical tensions, notably those between the US and North Korea, have heightened worries about aggressions escalating into a nuclear confrontation. Over the weekend, North Korea put on a massive military parade, followed by a failed missile launch. In an unannounced visit to the Korean Peninsula's demilitarized zone, US Vice President Mike Pence yesterday, 17 April 2017 warned North Korea not to test the resolve of President Donald Trump or the military strength of the US. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For joint cooperation to promote ETICS for construction of green buildings NBCC (India) has signed Memorandum of Business Exploration (MOBE) on 17 April 2017 with BOLIX SA, Poland for Joint Cooperation to promote External Thermal Insulation and Composite System (ETICS) for construction of energy efficient and environment friendly Green Buildings. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following is the legal twists and turns leading up to the arrest of liquor baron Vijay Vittal Mallya in London. But the extradition hearings in UK courts may take time before he is extradited to India. April 18, 2017: Scotland Yard announces arrest after Mallya was asked to meet officers at central London police station. Later, gets bail. February 8: Indian government formally requests the UK to extradite him. The UK Secretary of State sends the request to Westminster Magistrate's Court. November 10, 2016: Designated court orders seizure of domestic assets of Mallya and entities controlled by him. June: Designated ED court issues 'proclamation order' asking Mallya to appear before it. May: UK government takes note of serious allegations against Mallya, suggests request be made under Extradition Treaty (Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty). May 2: UK government declines request for deportation, saying no requirement of valid passport to remain in the country as long as entry was made on a valid one. April 28: Formal request made to UK to deport Mallya to India. April 23: Mallya's passport revoked on ED's request. March-April: ED issues several summons to Mallya to appear before it. Non-bailable warrant issued by designated courts (ED). March 1: State Bank of India, other banks move application in Supreme Court to impound Mallya's passport. March 2: Mallya flees India, leaving behind Rs 8,191 of debts to 17 banks. January: ED initiates investigations under Prevention of Money Laundering Act based on probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). July 2015: CBI initiates criminal investigations against Mallya. --IANS hs/mr/py (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 23 people were killed in airstrikes in Syria allegedly carried out by the US-led international coalition in areas under the Islamic State (IS) terror organisation's control in Syria, said a British war monitor on Tuesday. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said that 13 civilians and three IS militants were among those killed in an airstrike near the town of al-Bukamal on the Syrian border with Iraq, Efe news reported. There were also bombings at one of Bukamal's entrances and on al-Hamar oil field in the same town. Seven other people, including two women and a minor, died in a similar strike against al-Hasaniya village. Aircraft launched 12 missiles against al-Hasaniya's Faculty of Agriculture, which had been turned into an IS base. The SOHR added that coalition airstrikes on Syrian territory had caused the deaths of 1,226 civilians. --IANS ksk/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iraqi troops killed 60 Islamic State (IS) militants in Mosul, including a commander, a senior official said on Tuesday. Police forces, backed by Iraqi warplanes and artillery fire, were making progress in combating extremists in the al-Farouk area and in the vicinity of al-Nuri mosque in Mosul, Efe news reported. This mosque is a prime target for the government forces for its symbolic value as it is the site where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi proclaimed the caliphate on June 29, 2014. During the last hours of fighting, the police destroyed five armoured vehicles, eight motorcycles loaded with bombs, six anti-aircraft batteries and dismantled three bombs placed in buildings. The offensive against IS in Nineveh province began six months ago and has been stagnant for a month in an attempt to access the old town of Mosul. Iraqi forces ended the offensive in the eastern half of Mosul in January, and in February began the assault on the neighbourhoods west of the river Tigris. --IANS ksk/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a fresh missive to his ministers, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has told them to declare by March 31 every year their assets and property. An official said on Tuesday that the Chief Minister had also warned the ministers against any laxity in this regard. The ministers in the Bharatiya Janata Party government have also been told to keep a distance from contractors and business entities. The ministers have been barred from accepting any gift costing more than Rs 5,000. They have also been refrained from staying in luxurious property and attending parties and dinners. Both during personal visits and official tours, the ministers have been instructed to stay in government Circuit House and not to accept any favours from anyone. Ever since Adityanath took charge of Uttar Pradesh in March, he has been advising ministers and officials to cut expenses. --IANS md/mr/py (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Afghan First Lady Rula Ghani on Tuesday called for protecting girls from child marriage, noting that forced marriage affects physical health of young girls and robs them of their childhood. "Child marriage is a depressing phenomenon for the young generation of Afghanistan and it is a national responsibility to stop the menace," Xinhua news agency quoted her as saying. "I urge all Afghan families to avoid child marriage and forced marriage. Your girls face a huge risk when they get married at young age. Early marriage robs them of their childhood and future opportunities," Rula Ghani said at an event to mark the launch of "National Action Plan to Eliminate Early and Child Marriage". She noted that getting married at an appropriate age reduces girls' risk for physical, sexual, psychological as well as economic abuse. The plan of action outlines initiatives designed to prevent and end early and child marriage and strives to improve the implementation of laws and services which aim to support people at risk of early and child marriage. Girls aged 15 to 19 who experience pregnancy and childbirth are twice as likely to die of related complications as women aged 20 to 24 years, according to Unicef. --IANS py/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Looking at the world through the eyes of the Web A plea was filed in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday seeking directions to the government to approach the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to secure the release from Pakistan of alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav. The plea said an Indian citizen had been illegally detained and wrongly awarded capital punishment by a Pakistani military court without providing him a fair trial. Pakistan has not made public copies of the chargesheet against Jadhav and the copy of the judgment sentencing him to death, said Rahul Sharma, a social activist who approached the court. Jadhav, sentenced to death on April 10, faced seven charges including espionage and waging war against Pakistan. Islamabad has rejected Indian requests for consular access to Jadhav. The petition stated that the Indian government must challenge the violations of international law by the Pakistan government by taking the matter to the International Court of Justice. --IANS gt/mr/py (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has adopted a new "Australians first" approach to skilled migration, announcing it will abolish the controversial for temporary skilled migrants. The is used mainly to hire foreign workers in the restaurant, IT and medical industries and the majority of such visa holders came from India, Britain and China, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Tuesday. According to government statistics, 95,758 people were living in Australia on 457 visas last year, with the highest proportion coming from India (24.6 per cent), followed by Britain (19.5 per cent) and China (5.8 per cent). Prime Minister Turnbull said it would be abolished to prioritise the recruitment of Australian nationals. "We are putting jobs first, we are putting Australians first," he said. "We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains that Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs." Stating that Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs, he said: "We will no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians." The scheme will be replaced by two temporary visas that will impose tougher English language tests, stricter labour market testing, at least two years of work experience and a mandatory police check. The numbers of jobs eligible for the two-year and four-year visa streams will be slashed, with 216 occupations ranging from antique dealer to fisheries officer to shoe maker, cut from a list of 651 professions on the list. Accounting giant KPMG criticised the decision, saying "there is no evidence the current system is not working". However, Turnbull dismissed that claim, arguing the abolition of the 457 visa was "a decision of my government... this has been a careful exercise in policy development". People currently on a 457 visa, which lasts for four years, will be exempt from the new regulations. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that for the two-year stream, which could be renewed for two years, "there won't be permanent residency outcomes at the end of that". "In relation to the medium-term stream which, as the Prime Minister pointed out, is targeted at higher skills, (there will be) a much shorter skills list". He said the government would work with companies to ensure they met labour market testing requirements, and warned "there will be a particular focus on companies that have an unnecessarily high proportion of 457 or foreign workers in jobs as well. There will be a number of ways in which we can clamp down". The 457 programme was introduced by the former John Howard government in 1996-97. Turnbull said that it had failed under Labour and would therefore be abolished. After Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced that he will be abolishing the existing 457 Visa programme, currently used by temporary foreign workers to gain employment in the country, India on Tuesday said it is examining the matter and consulting all stakeholders. Responding to a query, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said that the government was examining consequences of the new policy in consultation with all stakeholders. "This is also a matter we will be looking at in the context of CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement) negotiations (with Australia)," Baglay said. The 457 Visa programme is used mainly to hire foreign workers in the restaurant, IT and medical industries and the majority of such visa holders came from India, Britain and China, reported the Sydney Morning Herald on Tuesday. According to government statistics, 95,758 people were living in Australia under 457 Visa programme last year, with the highest proportion coming from India (24.6 per cent), followed by Britain (19.5 per cent) and China (5.8 per cent). Turnbull used Facebook to announce the policy, which he said would "put jobs first" and "Australians first", signalling a reduction in the occupations available to skilled foreign workers and raising the threshold to qualify. "We are putting jobs first, we are putting Australians first," he said. "We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains that Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs." Stating that Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs, he said: "We will no longer allow 457 Visa system to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians." At a press conference in Canberra, Turnbull said the 457 Visa system needed to be replaced because it had "lost its credibility". The scheme will be replaced by two temporary visas that will impose tougher English language tests, stricter labour market testing, at least two years of work experience and a mandatory police check. The numbers of jobs eligible for the two-year and four-year visa streams will be slashed, with 216 occupations ranging from antique dealer to fisheries officer to shoe-maker, axed from a list of 651 professions on the list. Accounting giant KPMG criticised the decision, saying "there is no evidence the current system is not working". However, Turnbull dismissed that claim, arguing the abolition of the 457 Visa regime was "a decision of my government... this has been a careful exercise in policy development", reported the daily. People currently on a 457 Visa, which lasts for four years, will be exempt from the new regulations. Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that for the two-year stream, which could be renewed for two years, "there won't be permanent residency outcomes at the end of that". "In relation to the medium-term stream which, as the Prime Minister pointed out, is targeted at higher skills, (there will be) a much shorter skills list." He said the government would work with companies to ensure they met labour market testing requirements, and warned "there will be a particular focus on companies that have an unnecessarily high proportion of 457 or foreign workers in jobs as well". The 457 Visa programme was introduced by the former John Howard government in 1996-97. --IANS ab/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Amit Shah on Tuesday appointed General Secretary Bhupender Yadav as party's in-charge of Gujarat. Yadav, an OBC (Other Backward Classes) face of the party, will replace Dinesh Sharma, who was recently appointed Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. "BJP President Amit Shah has appointed Bhupender Yadav as its new in-charge of Gujarat," the BJP said in a statement. Yadav's appointment is being seen as party's efforts to woo the OBC community after young Patidar leader Hardik Patel spearheaded a campaign for reservation to the community. In north Gujarat and Saurashtra region, the BJP wants to win over influential Patels and OBCs, who have been up in arms against the government, demanding educational and job quotas. Assembly elections in Gujarat are due later this year. Later, Yadav thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Shah for his appointment and vowed to work tirelessly for the party. "With inspiration from the BJP leadership, I will continue to work for the party with devotion," Yadav said. Yadav, a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan, has previously worked as party's in-charge in Bihar. --IANS bns/nir/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Canadian Defence Minister Harjit Singh Sajjan on Tuesday refused to comment on charges that he was a Khalistan backer and said he was proud to have been born in India. "I have been given many labels through my life," Sajjan said, when he was asked about allegations that he was a Khalistan supporter. "I don't want to be sucked into the internal of a province of a nation. My goal is to build relationships. I am proud of the fact that I was born here," he said. Sajjan arrived in India on Monday on a week-long visit. He will visit Punjab too. Sajjan was dubbed a Khalistan sympathiser by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, who has said he would not meet the Canadian minister. --IANS rs-ao/tsb/mr/py (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Countries affected by North Korea's nuclear arms programme will prefer a peaceful resolution of the issue, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Tuesday. In a press conference, Wang said China stays committed to the goal of denuclearisation in the Korean peninsula and would prefer the use of peaceful and diplomatic means to resolve the issue, Efe news reported. "I think this is a common aspiration of the countries and a realistic way to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue," he said. "In fact, the US has also reaffirmed its willingness to stick to diplomacy and peaceful means in settling this issue. This is the first option although there are other options on the table," Wang added. The minister China considers the crisis an opportunity to resume dialogue and negotiations. North Korea's Deputy Ambassador to the UN, Kim In Ryong, warned on Monday night that the US was pushing the situation to the brink of war. "It has created a situation where a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment." he said. --IANS ksk/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court here on Tuesday directed Delhi Police to conduct the regular medical examination of AIADMK leader T.T.V. Dinakaran's close aide Sukesh Chandrasekar, who was arrested in a graft case. Special Judge Poonam Chaudhary direction came when she was informed by the defence counsel that their client is being harassed in custody. Defence counsel Ashwini Kumar and M. Theepa also told court that police are not allowing them to meet him. The court directed police to allow the lawyers to meet the accused and also to conduct the medical examination of the accused after every 48 hours. Defence counsel alleged that police is misguiding lawyers. They apprised the court about Monday incident when the police went from one court room to another to seek Chandrasekar's custody but could find any judge. The defence counsel also told court that Monday's remand proceeding was conducted without the presence of defence lawyers. On Monday evening, Chandrasekar was remanded to eight days' police custody. Chandrasekar was arrested from a south Delhi hotel on Sunday night allegedly with Rs 1.3 crore that was meant for bribing the poll panel members. Chandrasekar reportedly told police that he was Dinakaran's "middleman" and was asked to pay the money to the officials in exchange for the symbol. AIADMK leader Dinakaran, a nephew of jailed party chief V.K. Sasikala, was accused of trying to bribe the Election Commission with crores of rupees to reclaim the party's disputed and now frozen "two leaves" symbol. --IANS akk/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Piping hot coffee could soon welcome guests in what was once a double-storied Danish tavern dating back to the second-half of 18th century in West Bengal's Serampore, celebrated for its Indo-Danish cultural heritage. Thanks to a restoration project in progress under the National Museum of Denmark's 'Serampore Initiative', the Danish tavern along the banks of the river Hooghly is being shaped into a coffee house, closely resembling the famed Coffee House in Kolkata. The pre-Independence hang-out zone for intellectuals and students is celebrated for being a hub of debate, a crucial aspect of the cultural crucible of Bengal. "We created an open space so that the ground floor can communicate with the upper floor, a bit like the Coffee House, and immediately the idea of a coffee house in the tavern came up. The old Danish tavern will have a coffee house in the central space and limited accommodation to host tourists," Manish Chakrabarti, a conservation architect executing the restoration work, said here on World Heritage Day. Chakrabarti said the state tourism department will look after the services. "The tourism department will do the furnishings, services, electrical connections and air-conditioning, etc. The work is on and we have a timeline to launch it at the end of the year. It overlooks the river and the scenery is beautiful," he said. Supervised by INTACH, the mammoth initiative has already seen success with the opening of the 210-year-old St. Olav's Church in 2016. As per the National Museum of Denmark's website, in 1755, local ruler of Bengal Nawab Alivardi Khan granted the Danish Asiatic Company the right to establish a trading post at Serampore (Srirampur) on the banks of the river Hooghly in Bengal, about 25 km north of Calcutta (now called Kolkata). The aim was to acquire commodities such as silk and cotton textiles as well as the important saltpetre, used for production of black powder. The trading post was given the official Danish name of Frederiksnagore, though in daily use the Indian name of Serampore or Srirampur was maintained. --IANS sgh/ssp/vgu/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jammu and Kashmir cabinet on Tuesday expressed anguish over the loss of lives during last week's violence in the valley and directed the security forces to deal with the situation with firmness and restraint. While reviewing the security situation, the Cabinet directed the Police and security agencies to "exercise maximum restraint while handling law and order situations to prevent loss of human lives." The Cabinet, which met on Tuesday here, under the chair of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti also made an appeal to all shades of political opinion to help restore peace. "The State Cabinet expressed deep anguish over the loss of precious lives in the Kashmir valley during the prevailing law and order situation," an official release said. "The Cabinet urged the civil society and parents to counsel the youth to stay away from violent protests which, in spite of maximum restraint, can at times lead to fatal consequences," it added. The State administration was also directed to take all required measures to tackle the situation "effectively and at the same time ensure that the general public is not put to any inconvenience and their grievances are addressed". The Kashmir Valley witnessed massive violence during the Srinagar-Budgam Lok Sabha by-poll on April 9, in which eight civilians were killed in security forces firing during clashes with protesters. Another youth was killed in firing in Srinagar on Saturday. Widespread violence also engulfed a college in Pulwama with students protesting against security forces. --IANS sq/ruwa/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 170417EASTER PEACEFUL By Aloysius Laukai The newly appointed Commander for South Bougainville Police, Senior Sergeant EMMART TSIMES today praised the Buin Police for creating peace in South Bougainville. He also thanked the people for abiding to peace and harmony in South Bougainville. MR. TSIMES said that he was happy the Easter in South Bougainville was incident free and he thanked Police and the communities for creating Peace. He said that the presence of Police in our communities is a sign of community support for Peace and normalcy throughout the region. The new commander will be welcomed as the Commander tomorrow. Ends Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the mauling of a dead body by a dog in a civil hospital at Jind in the state. Vij has appointed Director of Dental Services Parveen Sethi as nodal officer and directed him to submit the report within two days. In the shocking incident, a body kept in the mortuary of a civil hospital was found mauled by a dog. Vij has also directed Director General of Health Services Parveen Garg to take action against the staff responsible for negligence in the matter. --IANS js/vgu/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Liquor baron Vijay Mallya defaulted on Rs 8,191 crore he had borrowed from a consortium of 17 public sector banks, which have so far recovered Rs 155 crore through auction of his seized properties. The 61-year-old business tycoon fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by the Indian banks, led by the State Bank of India, seeking to recover the loans owed by his now-defunct Kingfisher Airline. The Enforcement Directorate, which is probing the matter after it registered a money laundering case in January 2016, said it has attached properties of Mallya and his companies having market value more than Rs 8,000 crore. Mallya's airline was granted loan in September 2004 and it was reviewed in February 2008. The Central Bureau of Investigation initiated criminal investigation against Mallya in July 2015 and later the Enforcement Directorate also filed a case in the matter with regard to financial fraud. The agencies registered cases against Mallya, his Kingfisher Airline, UB Group company United Breweries Holdings Limited and others following a complaint filed by the banks. Despite multiple injunctions, Mallya failed to appear before investigators -- and then flew out of India in March 2016. He was on Tuesday arrested by Metropolitan Police in London, following the Indian government's February 8 request to the UK government for his extradition. He later secured bail from Westminster Magistrates' Court. --IANS rak/rn/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Theresa Mays first public meeting after declaring general election on June 8 will be a Baisakhi reception she is hosting at 10 Downing Street, her official residence. The British media is eagerly waiting for the speech she will deliver at the event later on Tuesday. Prominent members of the Indian community like Rami Ranger CBE, a staunch supporter of the Conservative Party, will attend the reception. In the last general election, the Indian community, especially the Sikhs, supported the Conservative candidates despite the controversy over the Thatcher administration's role in Operation Blue Star -- the 1984 storming of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army to flush out separatist Khalistani militants. Prime Minister David Cameron then took a series of visits to gurudwaras at major Sikh habitats to regain support. The support of the 1.5 million strong Indian community is very crucial for winning the marginal seats. The race will be three-pronged as the recharged Liberal Democrats are seeking votes on a Brexit agenda. Sikhs are crucial in many constituencies. British Indians, along with other minority communities in Britain, have historically voted for the Labour Party. In 2010, for instance, 61 per cent of the Indian-origin votes went to Labour candidates in the general election. But one recent report by the British Election Study said that in 2014 only 18 per cent of Indian-origin voters identified with the Labour Party, compared to 77 per cent in 1997. Another survey found that 50 per cent supported the Conservative Party in 2015 while 38 per cent supported Labour. Along religious lines, nearly 49 per cent Hindus and Sikhs favoured the Tories as compared to 41 per cent for Labour. That is why Prime Minister May is making it a point to laud Sikhs. "As Sikhs across the globe take part in spectacular processions, and neighbourhoods and gurdwaras burst forth with colour, I would like to take this opportunity to celebrate the immense contribution British Sikhs make to our country," May said in her Baisakhi message. "Whether it's in the fields of business, the armed forces or the charitable sector, you consistently follow the pillars of your faith and in so doing set an example to us all." "Your values -- of equality and respect, of fairness and helping those less fortunate than yourselves -- are values we need more than ever, as we forge a new, ambitious, role for Britain in the world," the Prime Minister said. "I am determined to build a country that works for everyone; a country where no matter who you are, you can achieve your goals, and the Sikh community is a vital part of that mission." By choosing the Sikh community to deliver the first policy speech after declaring general election, May shows the importance of Sikhs in the diversified tapestry of Britain. (Anasudhin Azeez is Editor of Asian Lite. He can be reached at md@asianlite.com) --IANS azeez/soni/rn/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A special CBI court here on Tuesday sent a former director of telecommunication department in the Ministry of Communications and his wife to judicial custody in a disproportionate assets case. Kailash Patil Aneja, a 1981 batch Indian Economic Service officer, was Director (ERU) in the telecommunication department at Sanchar Bhawan in the national capital. The special judge at Patiala House Court sentenced Aneja to four years' rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs 25 lakh while his wife Anita was slapped with three years' rigorous imprisonment with a fine of Rs one lakh in a disproportionate assets case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered the case on September 29, 2005 against Aneja, who allegedly acquired assets during 1982 to 2005 in the form of shares, properties and gold. These were found to be disproportionate to the known sources of his income to the tune of 43 per cent of his legal earnings estimated at Rs 24.45 lakh. "After investigation, a chargesheet was filed in December 20, 2011 against Aneja and his wife. During the trial, 69 witnesses were examined and a large number of documents were relied upon by the Patiala House Court," a CBI official said. "The trial court found the accused guilty and convicted them," the official added. --IANS rak/vgu/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Analysing how glaciers are shaped can help scientists identify which one of them are susceptible to thinning, says a study. Just how prone a glacier is to thinning depends on its thickness and surface slope, features that are influenced by the landscape under the glacier, said the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience. The research could help predict how much the Greenland Ice Sheet will contribute to future sea level rise in the next century, a number that currently ranges from inches to feet. The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second largest ice sheet on Earth and has been losing mass for decades, a trend scientists have linked to a warming climate. However, the mass change experienced by individual coastal glaciers, which flow out from the ice sheet into the ocean, is highly variable. This makes predicting the impact on future sea-level rise difficult. "We were looking for a way to explain why this variability exists, and we found a way to do it that has never been applied before on this scale," said lead author Denis Felikson, a graduate research assistant at The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG) in the US. Of the 16 glaciers researchers investigated in West Greenland, the study found four that are the most susceptible to thinning: Rink Isbrae, Umiamako Isbrae, Jakobshavn Isbrae and Sermeq Silardleq. Three of them - Umiamako Isbrae, Sermeq Silardleq and Jakobshavn Isbrae - are already losing mass, with Jakobshavn being responsible for more than 81 per cent of West Greenland's total mass loss over the past 30 years. Rink has remained stable since 1985, but through shape analysis researchers found that it could start to thin if its terminus, the front of the glacier exposed to ocean water, becomes unstable. This is a strong possibility as the climate continues to warm. "Not long ago we didn't even know how much ice Greenland was losing, now we're getting down to the critical details that control its behaviour," Tom Wagner, director of NASA's cryosphere programme, which sponsored the research, said. The analysis works by calculating how far inland thinning that starts at the terminus of each glacier is likely to extend. Glaciers with thinning that reaches far inland are the most susceptible to ice mass loss, the study said. --IANS gb/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An alarming spurt in violence in early spring has been marked by attacks on civilians by militants, the army using a civilian as a shield against stone-pelters, the lowest ever voter turn-out in a parliamentary by-election and the use of social media as a tool to stoke passions. These are all indications of bad days ahead for Kashmiris, who were looking forward to a calmer summer in 2017. If this is the bad news, what is even worse is that the situation appears to be slipping out of the hands of both the state and the non-state actors in Kashmir's sordid drama of pain and suffering. In the Srinagar parliamentary by-poll on April 9, just seven per cent of the voters came out to exercise their franchise. Eight civilian protesters died while trying to ensure the boycott of an election that was otherwise ignored by a vast majority of Kashmiris. The fallout of the unprecedented low voter turnout and violence in Srinagar forced the deferment of the Anantnag by-poll that was scheduled on April 12. While the Election Commission pushed this to May 25, all indications on the ground suggest it would have to be deferred to October or beyond. In other violence, two civilians were killed in the south districts of Pulwama and Shopian for their political affiliations. Bashir Ahmad Dar of Rajpora town in Pulwama was killed on April 15 by gunmen for his affiliation with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while a day later, a young lawyer was killed in Pinjura village of Shopian district for his affiliation with the National Conference (NC). The young lawyer had served as a public prosecutor during the NC government in the state. On April 16, a video clip was uploaded on social media of a trader of Pulwama town denouncing India and begging for his life with guns pointed at him. In another video from the same district a civilian was seen cursing himself for being an activist of a mainstream political party and vowed never to even look at politics in the future. The recent "video war" in the Valley started after images of a CRPF trooper being heckled by youths during the April 9 election were uploaded on social media. This was followed by the video of a youth tied to the front of an army jeep, apparently to avoid attacks from stone-pelters. Then, massive Valley-wide protests by students broke out on April 17 after videos showing students of Pulwama college being ruthlessly beaten by the security forces were uploaded on social media the previous day. To prevent the use of social media as a tool to stoke passions, the authorities on Monday again ordered the suspension of mobile internet services in the Valley. Also, the internet speed of fixed-line broadband connections has been lowered to prevent uploading of videos. Following attacks on the families of policemen, the state police department issued an advisory on April 16 asking its men to exercise extreme caution while visiting their home towns. On Monday, Amnesty International took serious note of armed groups targeting civilians. The human rights watchdog condemned attacks on civilians for their political affiliations and also on the families of state police force. The operations of the security forces have been highly compromised by civilian protests while they are on, especially in south districts. Army chief, General Bipin Rawat, visited the state on Sunday. He met Governor N.N. Vohra in Jammu and then Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi. Gen. Rawat has reportedly expressed displeasure against a youth being tied to an army jeep to avoid stone-pelting. An FIR has been lodged by the state police against the army personnel involved in the act. The opposition NC has demanded dismissal of the PDP-BJP government, accusing it of "Pushing into darkness". The PDP and BJP leaders have, in turn, accused the NC of having left behind the Aegean Stables of trouble during its long years of of rule. The blame games between the mainstream parties notwithstanding, unless the central and the state governments act fast to pull Kashmir out of its present spiral of anger and violence, 2017 might be worse than what Kashmiris have been through since armed violence started here in the early 1990s. (Sheikh Qayoom can be reached at sheikh.abdul@ias.in) --IANS sq/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Delhi High Court on Tuesday declined Aam Aadmi Party's request to use second-generation EVMs with paper trail in the April 23 civic polls in the national capital. Justice A.K. Pathak refused immediate relief to the ruling party, saying that "nothing can be done at the eleventh hour". "We cannot stay the election nor pass an order to use electronic voting machines which are not there," the court said while seeking a response from the Election Commission of India and the Delhi State Election Commission by Friday, the next date of hearing. The AAP and its candidate Mohammad Tahir Hussain have approached the High Court for using second-generation EVMs attached with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) in the elections to the capital's three municipal corporations. The court's order came after State Election Commission counsel Sumeet Pushkarna opposed the plea on the ground that the MCD elections are slated for April 23 and changing all EVMs with VVPAT is not feasible in four days. The counsel said the EVMs to be used in the civic polls are the same that were used in 2015 assembly elections, after which the AAP came to power. "But now they have speculation that these machines are tampered with. There are three judgements that elections at this stage cannot be stalled," he added. Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the AAP and Hussain, contended that the poll panel was duty-bound to use the VVPAT-linked EVMs, adding that the Supreme Court in 2013 termed the second-generation EVMs as the "safest". Jaising said the EVMs compatible with VVPATs were used in Uttar Pradesh and Goa polls and the Election Commission of India has 13,000, apart from additional 3,000, second-generation EVMs with them. Raising concern over the EVM security, Jaising said: "There is a demonstrable problem in Dholpur in Rajasthan -- no matter what button you press, the vote will go to the BJP." The VVPAT is connected with EVMs and dispenses paper proof so that voters can verify that their vote has been cast correctly. The AAP and the Congress say that the EVMs without VVPAT can be tampered with. --IANS gt/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The invocation of the new Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently would put a curb on many activities of government-owned banks, said investment banking firm Jefferies. In a report issued on Tuesday, Jefferies said the invocation of PCA threshold would require these banks to act on many fronts. "Some of the actions may require them to stop paying dividends and cease branch expansion. In addition, they may be required to raise capital and increase provisioning," Jefferies added. Last week, the RBI came out with revised PCA framework whereby capital, asset quality and profitability would be the basis on which the banks would be monitored and has defined three kinds of risk thresholds. The RBI said mandatory action that would be taken when a bank breaches the risk threshold includes restriction on dividend payment/remittance of profits, restriction on branch expansion, higher provisions, restriction on management compensation and director's fees. The RBI has classified the risk thresholds into three categories and the PCA depends on the type of risk threshold that was breached. The RBI said the breach of 'Risk Threshold 3' of CET1 (common equity tier 1) by a bank would identify a bank as a likely candidate for resolution through tools like amalgamation, reconstruction, winding up and others. "The PCA framework would apply without exception to all banks operating in India including small banks and foreign banks operating through branches or subsidiaries based on breach of risk thresholds of identified indicators," the RBI said. According to Jefferies, the five associate banks of State Bank of India (SBI) were breaching one or more PCA thresholds. Post merger of the five banks with SBI, the consolidated bank should not be breaching any of the thresholds, Jefferies said. According to Jefferies, a total 21 (including the five associate banks of SBI) out of 27 government-owned banks have breached asset-quality trigger. In fact two of the state owned banks have breached 'threshold 3' of asset quality, with their net non-performing asset (NNPA) above 12 per cent. Continued losses in the last two years meant eight of the state owned banks are likely to breach 'threshold 1' of profitability. Jefferies said based on the data up to Q3FY17, the private sector banks are well above the thresholds of the individual areas. --IANS vj/sm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A servitor of Sri Jagannath Temple in Odisha's Puri city was on Tuesday detained by the police for opposing the visit of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to the temple. The Singhadwara police detained Somanath Khuntia, a secretary of Shri Jagannath Sevayat Sammilani (SJSS), ahead of the West Bengal Chief Minister's visit to Odisha. SJSS has warned that Banerjee's visit to the Puri temple would hurt the sentiments of lakhs of devotees of Lord Jagannath because she has made controversial statements favouring consumption of beef. "We came to know from media reports that she supports cow-slaughter. In July 2016, she said consumption of beef is nothing wrong. We will not allow her to enter Jagannath temple," said Khuntia. "Non-Hindus and people consuming beef are not allowed into the temple. We will decide whether to allow the Chief Minister or not for darshan of the trinity only after she publicly makes her stand clear on the issue," Khuntia added. On the other hand, senior Puri temple servitor Jagannath Das Mohapatra welcomed Banerjee's visit to the temple. "West Bengal is Odisha's next-door neighbour and our brotherhood is age-old. As she is the Chief Minister of West Bengal, we'll try our level best to accord her utmost respect and cordial welcome. Disruptive elements have vested interests. By opposing her and resorting to such activities, tourism here is going to be adversely affected," said Mohapatra. Banerjee, who will be on a three-day visit to Odisha from Tuesday, is scheduled to arrive in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday evening. She will proceed to Puri and stay there. On Wednesday morning, she will visit Sri Mandir to pay obeisance to Lord Jagannath, returning to Kolkata on Thursday morning. --IANS cd/vgu/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will on Wednesday leave for a five-day visit to the US to attend the Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, an official said. Jaitley will also take part in a G-20 meeting on the financial sector, as well as interact with American investors, he added. The Minister will leave on Wednesday evening and arrive in Washington early morning on April 20, a Finance Ministry statement said here. Jaitley's delegation includes, among others, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel, it said. On April 21, Jaitley, along with the RBI Governor and Economic Affairs Secretary, will participate in the G-20 meeting on financial sector development and regulations and other issues, the statement added. As per their Washington itinerary, Jaitley, Patel and Das will, on the same afternoon, attend a meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC) on Global Development and Prospects. "In the evening (April 21), the Finance Minister along with Secretary Economic Affairs will hold a meeting with the CEOs," the Ministry said. On April 22, following two IMFC sessions, Jaitley will meet US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, it added. Later that day, Jaitley is slated to meet Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, as well as with World Bank President Jim Yong Kim. After the first leg of his tour, Jaitley will, on April 23, reach New York, where he will interact with the Council for Foreign Relations, followed by a meeting with institutional investors. Thereafter, he will meet long-term investors on April 24, the Indian Finance Ministry said. "The Finance Minister is supposed to meet the editorial board of the New York Times before leaving for Moscow in the evening on April 24," it added. Jaitley, who has additional charge of the Defence portfolio, will hold bilateral discussions in Moscow to boost India-Russia military ties. --IANS bc/in/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) 170417POLICE MINISTER HAPPY By Aloysius Laukai The ABG Minister for Police and Justice, WILLIE MASIU today thanked the member for South Bougainville TIMOTHY MASIU for supporting the Bougainville Police service with the delivery of two new vehicles. Speaking at the delivery of two new cars to the Buin Police, MR. MASIU said that the delivery of vehicles is in time as the ABG budgeted only TWO MILLION KINA for the restructure of the Bougainville Police Service and Police acknowledges the support by the South Bougainville Member. Police Minister MASIU also called on Buin Police to take care and make good use of these vehicles. The Minister said that giving excuses like no transport should be a thing of the past. He called on the Police drivers to use these cars for work related runs and cut off unnecessary runs. Ends Diyarbakir (Turkey), April 18 (IANS/AKI) A police helicopter crashed in a remote, mountainous area of eastern Turkey on Tuesday, killing all 12 people on board, including a judge, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu said. The chopper's other passengers were police officers and three crew member, Turkish daily Hurriyet quoted the governor's office in Tunceli province as saying. Contact was lost with the Sikorsky S-70 Blackhawk-type helicopter at 11.50 a.m., Soylu told journalists. Reaching the wreckage of the helicopter took two and a half hours, he said. The Turkish Air Force dispatched a CN235 type aircraft to detect the location of the debris, Hurriyet reported. Heavy fog in the region made the rescue operation difficult, Turkish media reports stated. The helicopter disappeared 10 minutes after taking off from the town of Pulumur, in Tunceli province, the regional governor's office said. Tunceli province is in the eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, about 100 km northwest of Diyarbakir. --IANS/AKI vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Suspended Trinamool Congress MP and multi-crore-rupee Saradha chit fund scam accused Kunal Ghosh, who was behind bars for over three years, on Tuesday demanded that the CBI take state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee into custody, if she tries to influence the Narada sting footage investigation. Ghosh's statement came a day after the CBI filed an FIR in the Narada case booking a dozen prominent Trinamool leaders, a development which Banerjee has dubbed a "political game", and vowed to fight politically. "Mamata Banerjee is constantly trying to hinder the investigation. She tried to stop the investigation from going to the CBI's ambit. She has also made contradicting statements about the video footage. If the Chief Minister keeps on trying to influence the probe, the CBI should arrest and take her into custody first and then interrogate the others," Ghosh claimed. Ghosh, who gave a number of statements against Banerjee during his days in jail since his arrest in November, 2013, accused Banerjee of "shameless double standards" by supporting her party leaders who were purportedly seen taking money in the sting operation video tape. "Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has exhibited shameless double standards by saying that the FIR does not prove someone's guilt. When an FIR was lodged against Bangaru Laxman for allegedly taken money, why did she leave the party? the crime was not proved at that time," Ghosh questioned. "Now she is terming this as a political game but in my case when I was arrested and harassed by the police she did not say anything. This is nothing but duality," said the Rajya Sabha member who is currently on bail. He also demanded the 13 accused persons mentioned in the FIR on the Narada case, should be immediately taken into custody as all of them are influential. "All the 13 people, mentioned in the FIR are influential. They should be immediately taken into custody before CBI begins the actual probe," he added. The CBI on Monday filed an FIR against a dozen senior leaders of West Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress and an IPS officer in the Narada sting footage case, raising the political temperature in the eastern state. --IANS mgr/ssp/ahm/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of a law to ensure that doctors prescribe generic medicines, health experts have said that the new rule will be a boon for patients only if the generic medicines are of "good quality". Pointing out that a lot depends on the composition of the generic medicine, they stressed the need for a regulatory body to check the quality of generic medicines so that quality is not compromised even if the drug is priced at a much lower rate than equivalent branded medicines. "Undoubtedly, this law will be a boon for poor patients in terms of medicines. Prescribing generic medicine is indeed very necessary. However, it is to be ensured that the salt in the generic medicine is similar to what a equivalent branded medicine has or else the purpose won't get served," A.K. Rai, Medical Superintendent and an ENT surgeon, told IANS. Rai said a large chunk of patients deliberately opt for branded medicines, despite having its cheaper version available, considering it of poor efficacy. A generic drug is identical -- or bio-equivalent -- to a brand name drug in dosage form, safety, strength, route of administration, quality, performance characteristics and intended use. Although generic drugs are chemically identical to their branded counterparts, they are typically sold at substantial discounts from the branded price. Modi on Monday, while inaugurating a multi-specialty hospital in Gujarat, said the government will make legal arrangements to ensure that doctors prescribe generic medicines. According to Rai, making all doctors prescribe generic medicines will also require a huge effort by the government as they will have to ensure that there is no compromise with the standards of generic medicines. "The government needs to ensure that for generic medicines there is a proper regulatory body to check the quality. The salt and other composition in the medicines should not get compromised," said Rai. Rai said that making it a rule to prescribe generic medicine will benefit mostly the patients visiting the government hospitals. Asked if private hospitals had any role in endorsing branded medicines among their patients, Rai said many of the private hospitals usually have both types of medicines in their pharmacies. However, it depends on the patients which one do they need. Though there is no official data available in India, in the US, generic drugs save consumers an estimated $8 billion to $10 billion a year at retail pharmacies. Renowned Oncologist and former Dean at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) P.K. Julka said patients in small towns and cities will benefit the most from the new law. "Certainly, a very good step and will bring down the expenses of patients on medicines. People in small towns and cities will benefit the most," Julka told IANS. However, Julka -- currently with Max Super Specialty Hospital -- said that despite the announcement not every patient will look for generic medicine at pharmacies. "At least 20-25 per cent of the patient deliberately look for branded medicines. So they certainly will opt for the branded ones but for the remaining 75-80 per cent prescribing generic medicine will be a boon," said Julka. Making medicines cheaper is a politically sensitive issue in India where many patented drugs are too costly for most people, and where patented drugs account for under 10 per cent of total drug sales. India earlier also had schemes to provide generic drugs free of cost to economically weaker citizens from government hospitals. The Medical Council of India (MCI) has already recommended that doctors prescribe generic drugs. --IANS rup/sm/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 23-year-old law student died while his four friends were injured in an accident when their car collided with a tree here on Tuesday, police said. Police said the incident took place on the G.T.-Karnal Road at around 12.30 p.m. in north Delhi when Hemant was going to watch a movie, along with his four school friends, including a girl. Hemant, a resident of Libaspur area, had gone to meet his friend Naman in Narela area in his car where they were later joined by Nischay, Nakul and Kajol. "As Nischay, Nakul and Kajol are students of B.Tech of a private college in Sonipat, they planned to watch a movie there. When they reached near Tikri border at G.T Karnal Road, their speeding Alto car hit a divider before hitting a tree. Hemant, who was driving the car, died on the spot," said a senior police officer. The others sustained injuries and were admitted to the nearby Max Hospital where their condition was said to be stable, he said. Their family members have been informed and police are trying to ascertain whether they had consumed alcohol before or during the ride. --IANS sp/nir/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Delhi Congress President Ajay Maken on Tuesday broke down during the recording of a programme on a news channel when asked about former Delhi minister Arvinder Singh Lovely quitting the party to join the BJP. The former Union minister was responding to the question during an interview on ABP news channel, as to why senior leaders like Sheila Dikshit had not so far participated in the municipal polls campaign and why some leaders, considered party loyalists, were deserting the party and joining BJP. "It is quite natural that questions would be raised on my leadership. For the last two years I have done every bit for Congress in Delhi. May be there would be few shortcomings in my work style," Maken said, adding that he was not aware of them. Asked if Lovely joining BJP was a big setback for him, tears welled up in Maken's eyes and he could not speak for some time. "Yes, it is definitely," he said. Lovely, who joined BJP on Tuesday, had been elected four times as Congress MLA, was a minister in the Sheila Dikshit government and was considered a prominent Sikh face of the party in Delhi. --IANS aks/ps/vgu/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mali offers good opportunities and prospects for Indian entrepreneurs and investors in the gold mining and food processing space, among others, the Indian Embassy in capital Bamako has said. "Mali is Africa's third-leading gold producer (after South Africa and Ghana) and has an estimated reserve of 600-800 tonnes. There is considerable scope for joint ventures between the two countries for the production of gold and fabrication and marketing of jewellery in Mali," the embassy said in an email interaction with IANS. The West African country currently produces 60 tonnes of gold per year. "For Indian businessmen, Mali has great scope of investment especially in the field of agriculture (cotton, food processing, abattoirs and tanneries); mining (gold, iron ore, phosphates, uranium, bauxite, zinc, manganese, tin and copper); automobile (two-wheeler segment), and pharmaceuticals (generic drugs)," the embassy said. With a population of around 15 million exposed to tropical diseases, Mali is also a good market for Indian generic medicines and pharmaceutical products. "There is already an awareness of our capabilities and competitiveness in this area, the Embassy said, adding that this needed to be translated into commercial contracts for Indian companies." "Malian economy is primarily based on agriculture and livestock husbandry which together account for almost 50 per cent of the country's GDP," the embassy said, adding that "Mali is the second largest producer of long staple cotton in Africa, after Egypt." It said the country is also one of the largest producers of mangoes in Africa but lacks processing facilities. "Mali also has one of the largest livestock in Africa with 35 million cattle heads inclusive of eight million cows, 26 million sheep and goats and approximately one million camels," the embassy said, adding that this provided opportunities in the food processing sector, including meat -- processing and setting up of modern abattoirs." The Malian government also welcomed investments in modern tanneries. "India's total trade with the West African country has grown steadily over the past few years culminating in $350.72 million for the 2015-16 financial year. It represents 64.87 per cent increase over the previous year's $212.72 million," the embassy said. It said India's exports during 2014-15 totalled $134.12 million, whilst imports from Mali accounted for $78.59 million. During 2015-16 however, Indian exports slumped to $107.93 million whilst imports suged to $242.78 million. The trade figure for the first 10 months of 2016-17 is at $167.54 million, with India's exports at $87.13 million and imports at $80.41 million. The Malian government is keen to undertake exploration and exploitation of its mineral resources and has formally offered the rights on lease to the Government of India or government-designated companies, said the Embassy. "This provides our public as well as private companies with ample opportunities to exploit the rich mineral resources of Mali," it added. Businessman Seydou Brahima said: "Most businessmen would want to do business with India, but the fact that we are a Francophone country has been a challenge." "A few of us have tried to get into business with Indian partners and the response has been good." (Francis Kokutse can be contacted at fkokutse@ians.in) --IANS francis/soni/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Benerjee on Tuesday met ailing Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay, who is currently undergoing treatment at a city-based private hospital. Banerjee, who arrived in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday evening on a three-day tour to the state, went straight from Biju Patnaik International Airport to Apollo Hospital here to meet Bandyopadhyay. "Our MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay is unwell. I have come to see him," the West Bengal Chief Minister told reporters here. TMC Parliamentarian Sudip Bandyopadhyay has been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for his alleged links with the Rose Valley chit fund scam. Another TMC MP Tapas Pal was also arrested by the CBI in the chit fund scam. Banerjee also said that she would meet Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik if time permits. "I also wish to visit Puri to pay obeisance to Lord Jagannath," she added. The West Bengal Chief Minister will visit Srimandir on Wednesday morning. --IANS cd/vgu/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A 17-month-old baby girl from Raipur has become the youngest child in western India to undergo a transplant from her donor dad at the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, an official said on Tuesday. Within a month of her birth, the child - identified only as Ashvi - was diagnosed with symptoms of frequent fevers, swollen abdomen and jaundice, which was a complicated problem called Biliary Atresia. This rare disease of the and bile ducts occurs in infants when the bile flow from the liver to the gallbladder is blocked, trapping it in the liver and causing quick damage and scarring of liver cells or cirrhosis. After medication and surgery in Raipur, doctors there suggested an urgent liver transplant for which the family came to Mumbai and met KDAH's Transplant Hepatologist Saista Amin. "She was brought suffering from jaundice and swollen abdomen as all bile had accumulated in the liver, thereby endangering it. It took us three months to plan her transplant, identify a liver donor, make nutritionally fit and infection-free," Amin said. Fortunately, Ashvi's father proved to be a perfect match and he donated a part of his liver to save his daughter in January, making her the youngest child to have undergone a successful liver transplant in western India, said Vinay Kumaran, head of the KDAH liver transplant surgery team. He admitted that performing a liver transplant on a 17-month-old child with a weight of just seven kg was a big challenge and she later underwent a neuro-rehab programme for a speedy recovery. Multiple speciality teams were involved in the surgery, like Paediatric Neurology, Paediatric Cardiology, Transplant Intensivist and Neonatology experts, Kumaran said. Of the total number of liver transplants carried out at KDAH, nearly 10 per cent are paediatric cases, including the youngest, a 30-month-old child in 2016. The High Court Bar Association of Manipur on Tuesday staged a protest here against a government proposal to appoint a lawyer from Andhra Pradesh as the new Advocate General. The lawyers submitted a memorandum urging Chief Minister N. Biren Singh to pick an Advocate General from among local lawyers. K. Binoykumar, President of the Bar Association, said: "Being a non-local with no knowledge of the state's language, the proposed AG shall not be able to discharge his duties properly." He added: "This is for the first time in Manipur that the government is planning to appoint a non-local to this post. We are seeking support from all civil society organisations on this issue." --IANS il/mr/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on visiting Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari here on Tuesday. "Strengthening an age old unique partnership. PM @narendramodi meets President Bidhya Devi Bhandari at @RashtrapatiBhvn," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted along with pictures of the two leaders. Earlier in the day, Bhandari was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan here. Later, she paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Following this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary. Bhandari will call on President Pranab Mukherjee in the evening and attend a banquet hosted by him. The Nepal President arrived here on Monday on a five-day visit to India at the invitation of Mukherjee. This is Bhandari's maiden foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015. She is accompanied by a 33-member delegation that includes Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat and Peace and Reconstruction Minister Sita Devi Yadav, five women MPs and senior officials. She will also visit Gujarat and Odisha before returning to Kathmandu on Friday. --IANS ab/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said he held "fruitful talks" with visiting Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. "We are honoured to welcome President Bidya Devi Bhandari of Nepal. Had fruitful talks with her," Modi tweeted after calling on Bhandari at Rashtrapati Bhavan where she is staying. Earlier in the day, Bhandari was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan here. Later, she paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Following this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary. The Nepal President arrived here on Monday on a five-day visit to India at the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee. This is Bhandari's maiden foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015. She is accompanied by a 33-member delegation that includes Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat and Peace and Reconstruction Minister Sita Devi Yadav, five women MPs and senior officials. She will also visit Gujarat and Odisha before returning to Kathmandu on Friday. --IANS ab/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US National Security Adviser (NSA) Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and discussed issues related to terrorism and Afghanistan. Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval also attended the meeting at Modi's official residence, according to a picture released by the Prime Minister's Office. Informed sources said they discussed security issues concerning South Asia and how to better cooperate on countering terror threats emanating from the Taliban and Islamic State's presence in Afghanistan. According to the US embassy, McMaster emphasised the importance of US-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed India's designation as a major defence partner. "The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counterterrorism cooperation," an embassy statement said. McMaster arrived here on Monday evening, the first visit by a senior official of President Donald Trump's administration. On his South Asian trip that began over the weekend, McMaster on Monday visited Pakistan where he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz and the army chief, stressing "the need to confront terrorism in all its forms". He also visited Afghanistan to review efforts at stabilizing the country. --IANS rs/py/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre on Tuesday told the Supreme Court that it was actively considering to put in place a law to protect data and curb sharing of individual data on social networking sites and online messaging services. Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told a Constitution Bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice Amitava Roy, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice Mohan M. Shantanagouda that the government is mulling a framework for data protection like the one existing in the United Kingdom and the United States. Telling the court that data protection applies to a host of online platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Paytm, and Twitter, Rohatgi sought adjournment in the case till Diwali by which time, he said, something would emerge. The court was hearing a plea by Karmanya Singh Sareen and others who have challenged a Delhi High Court September 23 order by which it allowed WhatsApp to roll out its new privacy policy but said it cannot share the data of its users collected up to September 25, 2016, with Facebook or any other related company. Appearing for Sareen, senior counsel Harish Salve told the apex court that if a regulatory framework is put in place it would be good and they can then focus on the specifics and argue the case. He said he hoped both the petitioner and the social networking site Facebook and online messaging service WhatsApp may agree to the regulatory framework that the government is considering. "If law comes and provide for regulation, then it is OK," the court was told. Even though the Centre sought an adjournment of the hearing so that it could undertake the exercise of putting in place the law for data protection, the court asked Salve to frame the questions that would be addressed to the court in the course of hearing by the Constitution Bench. As Salve said that they would frame the questions, senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for WhatsApp, raised objection to the case's hearing by the Constitution Bench, questioning what constitutional issues were involved. He said any hearing by the Constitution Bench is preceded by framing of questions that would be addressed by it. Sibal told the bench that whatever has been told to it by the petitioners does not apply to his client as they were not sharing messages, contents, data, and voice messages with any third party and everything was encrypted. Sibal told the court that WhatsApp is compliant with the Information Technology Act and the 2011 privacy law and so no part of the content exchanged between two individuals is ever revealed to the third party. The court directed for next hearing on April 27. --IANS pk/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nasscom will hold its fourth edition of 10,000 Start-ups initiative -- "Innotrek 2017" in the Silicon Valley of the US from May 1-6, said the Indian IT industry's apex body on Tuesday. "As we want our start-ups to grow and compete with those in the Silicon Valley, the six-day mega event will provide them a platform to step it up a notch and get recognised internationally," said National Association of Software Services and Companies (Nasscom) President R. Chandrashekhar in a statement here. In all, 27 Indian start-ups and five of the Silicon Valley will showcase their products and technologies, while 70 speakers from the world over will address 150 delegates at the week-long event. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, Electronics & IT Secretary Aruna Sundararajan, Nasscom Product Council Chairman Ravi Gururaj and Chandrashekhar will lead the delegation of entrepreneurs for the tech expo. "The Innotrek programme will provide our start-ups an opportunity to benefit and improve their products and services and grow in their domains," Nasscom member Ashok Madravally, who leads this initiative, said in the statement. The Innotrekkers will visit campuses of Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, IBM, and Target in the Valley during the event. They will also have an opportunity to showcase their cutting-edge, future ready innovations to various stakeholders. "The networking activities and site visits will help our entrepreneurs to get a better understanding of the global work culture and exchange views on building a constructive work environment for their own ventures," added Chandrashekhar in the statement. --IANS str/fb/ahm/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Navy may look for other means to procure submarines if the proposed Strategic Partnership model to select key Indian private players for defence manufacturing projects is not implemented, a senior Navy officer said on Tuesday. Vice Admiral D.M. Deshpande, Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition, said the Navy needed the submarines to maintain its force level, and admitted that in case the Strategic Partnership model does not work out, it would mean "time penalties" before a plan B can be worked out. Under project 75 India or 75I, the Indian Navy was to get six conventional submarines, which were to be made in India at a cost of around Rs 60,000 crore - under the Strategic Partnership model. Asked about project 75I at a press conference at Ficci on Tuesday, Deshpande said: "The programme was linked with the Strategic Partnership model. We had some fair amount of progress on the Strategic Partnership but as things have changed, we have to rework these. "We need those submarines badly because our force levels are being affected. In case the Strategic Partnership model does not fall into place for whatever reasons, then we will have to look elsewhere." Asked what the other options were, Deshpande said it is still being looked into. "We have got to get more submarines and we are looking at ways and means (on how) we can get this. It is still work in progress, and so far as the decision making is concerned whether we go for follow-on of Scorpene or we look at something else... it is still in discussion stages," he said. The Vice Admiral however added: "We are keeping our fingers crossed, as if the Strategic Partnership happens we will be better off." "The projects we are looking at right now through the model is submarines and some aircraft. If it does not happen a plan B will have to be put into place, and that plan B right now is something which is very internal to the Navy we are trying to discuss," he added. Deshpande admitted that it will mean losing more time before the Navy can get more submarines. "But yes, if it does not come through there would be some sort of time penalties, to make sure that plan B gets into place," he said. The Indian Navy has 15 submarines, while China has around 70. Indian submarines include two nuclear propulsion submarines - INS Chakra, which has been taken on lease from Russia for 10 years, and INS Arihant which has been indigenously constructed. Apart from these, there are nine Russian Sindhughosh class attack submarines, and four German Shishumar class attack submarines. Apart from these, six Scorpene class submarines are under construction in India, with the first of these - INS Kalvari likely to be inducted in the Indian Navy by end of this year. The Strategic Partnership model was proposed after a report from a committee under former Director General (Acquisition) Dhirendra Singh suggested finding strategic partners for high-end defence production. A task force was then constituted by the Defence Ministry under former DRDO chief V.K. Aatre, which among other things suggested fnalising only one or two partners for each sector. --IANS ao/rn/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Tuesday called on her Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee ahead of a banquet hosted in her honour. "A relationship marked by strong people to people connections. President Bidya Devi Bhandari meets Rashtrapati ji at @RashtrapatiBhvn," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. Among those present at the banquet hosted by Mukherjee in the honour of the Himalayan nation's President were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar, JD-U chief Sharad Yadav and veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani. Modi, who called on Bhandari late Tuesday afternoon, said he had "fruitful talks" with her during the meeting. Earlier in the day, Bhandari was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan here. Later, she paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Following this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on the visiting dignitary. The Nepal President arrived here on Monday on a five-day visit to India at the invitation of President Mukherjee. This is Bhandari's maiden foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015. She is accompanied by a 33-member delegation that includes Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat and Peace and Reconstruction Minister Sita Devi Yadav, five women MPs and senior officials. She will also visit Gujarat and Odisha before returning to Kathmandu on Friday. --IANS ab/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Inviting Indians investors to her country, Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Tuesday said that after political transformation, socio-economic transformation is Nepal's top priority and it is keen to benefit from India's tremendous progress. "Nepal has undergone political transformation of historic proportion in recent years. Now socio-economic transformation is our topmost priority. If not backed by economic transformation, political transformation cannot be sustainable," Bhandari said at an event here organised by industry chambers CII, Ficci and Assocham. She said achievements made by India in economic, social, scientific and other fields are remarkable and Nepal is keen to benefit from India's success. "For Nepal, India remains the largest trading partner... We are closely engaged in SAARC, BIMSTEC and BBIN and these regional and sub-regional platforms could be made more effective in delivering results," she said. Emphasising that Nepal treats the private sector as a partner for development, Bhandari pointed out that Nepal has opened up almost every sector for foreign investment, including manufacturing, hydropower, tourism, services, mining and agro-based industries. "The government is committed to creating a climate conducive to investment. No discrimination is made between Nepali and Indian investors. Numerous similarities make us natural partners. "BIPPA (Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement) with India is under consideration for ratification while the double taxation avoidance agreement has already been signed," she said. She said that incentives for investment in Nepal are no less attractive than those in many other countries. "Ours is a virgin land for investment and any area is profitable. Importantly, location of Nepal in the middle of two thriving economies of the world offers greater advantages to potential investors," she said, adding that the abundance of water resources in her country has tremendous potential of utilisation. "We can put our efforts together to harness these resources for mutual benefit. Capitalising on this potential we can lead in the sector of cleaner technology and greener growth," Bhandari observed. Inviting the Indian businesses to invest in her country, Bhandari said a prosperous Nepal will also be "in the interest of our neighbourhood and beyond". In his address earlier, Nepal Foreign Minister Prakash Sharan Mahat tried to allay apprehensions about political stability in Nepal, saying there was a complete consensus over economic issues across political spectrum and that Nepal's economy may achieve a growth rate of 8-10 per cent in next few years. "You may wonder Nepal has different parties -- Communist Party, Maoist Centre etc. If you have some image, erase that. Left parties or right parties, we have a consensus. I am from Nepali Congress and my Prime Minister is from Maoist party, but we are together and there is a total consensus," he said. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh said that India's relations with Nepal are just not historical, they are deep and multi-layered and "cannot be defined in words". He said bilateral economic cooperation is beneficial for both countries. The Nepal President arrived here on Monday on a five-day state visit to India at the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee. Earlier in the day, she was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan here. Later, she paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. Following this, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called on her. Later in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Bhandari at Rashtrapati Bhavan where she is staying. "We are honoured to welcome President Bidya Devi Bhandari of Nepal. Had fruitful talks with her," Modi tweeted. This is Bhandari's maiden foreign tour after assuming office in October 2015. She is accompanied by a 33-member delegation that includes Foreign Minister Mahat and Peace and Reconstruction Minister Sita Devi Yadav, five women MPs and senior officials. She will also visit Gujarat and Odisha before returning to Kathmandu on Friday. --IANS mak/vd/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Researchers have identified a new type of cells in the body where HIV persists despite treatment, revealing a novel target for developing therapeutic intervention. HIV cure research to date has focused on clearing the virus from T cells, a type of white blood cell that is an essential part of the immune system. The new research, published in the journal Nature Medicine, showed that the virus can persist in HIV-infected macrophages. Macrophages are large white blood cells found in tissues throughout the body including the liver, lung, bone marrow and brain. "These results are paradigm changing because they demonstrate that cells other than T cells can serve as a reservoir for HIV," said lead author Jenna Honeycutt from University of North Carolina School of Medicine in the US. "The fact that HIV-infected macrophages can persist means that any possible therapeutic intervention to eradicate HIV might have to target two very different types of cells," Honeycutt said. Macrophages are myeloid lineage cells that have been implicated in HIV pathogenesis and in the trafficking of virus into the brain. For the experiment, the researchers used a humanised myeloid-only mouse (MoM) model devoid of T cells. "This is the first report demonstrating that tissue macrophages can be infected and that they respond to antiretroviral therapy," Honeycutt said. "In addition, we show that productively infected macrophages can persist despite ART (antiretroviral therapy); and most importantly, that they can reinitiate and sustain infection upon therapy interruption even in the absence of T cells -- the major target of HIV infection," Honeycutt added. The rsearchers said they next want to find out where in the body persistently infected macrophages reside during HIV treatment and how macrophages respond to possible therapeutic interventions aimed at eradicating HIV from the body. --IANS gb/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday began his "Gandhi Smriti Yatra" in Champaran district to mark the 100th year of Mahatma Gandhi's first major satyagraha against the British rule. "Nitish Kumar along with Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav, other ministers and thousands of local residents walked a stretch of seven km from Chandriya (village) to Motihari (district headquarters of east Champaran)," a district official said. The Yatra would be followed by a series of programmes, the official added. Various other functions have already started last week on a large scale to mark the centenary year. President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday honoured freedom fighters from across the country to mark the ongoing year-long celebrations of the Champaran satyagraha. Mahatma Gandhi launched his satyagraha -- nonviolent agitation -- against the forced cultivation of indigo by British rulers in Champaran district on April 10, 1917. --IANS ik/sm/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Tuesday ruled out any unity in the AIADMK until the now jailed V.K. Sasikala and her family was ousted from the party. Speaking in Perikulam in Theni district, about 520 km from here, Panneerselvam said there cannot be any unification talks if Sasikala and her family members remained party members. "Our stand is Sasikala and her family members should not be in the party," he said. Panneerselvam said AIADMK founder, the late M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), and the late J. Jayalalithaa were against any family controlling the party. He said there was no change in his fundamental stance that the party and the government should not be under the control of one family. According to him, MGR never involved his brother in party affairs when he founded the AIADMK and went on to rule Tamil Nadu for a decade until his death in 1987. Panneerselvam said Jayalalithaa admitted only Sasikala into the party and none from the latter's family. He also said that doubts regarding the death of Jayalalithaa, who passed away on December 5 while holding the post of Chief Minister, had to be cleared. Asked if he would allow K. Palaniswami, a Sasikala backer, to remain the Chief Minister if the AIADMK unites, Pannerselvam said there was no point in talking about things that would not happen. The AIADMK split into two after Jayalalithaa's death. One faction is led by Sasikala and the other by Panneerselvam. Meanwhile, Sasikala faction legislator Vetrivel questioned how a group of ministers discussed a patch-up without the consent of party Deputy General Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran, a nephew of Sasikala. On Monday night, several ministers discussed the issue of a patch-up with Panneerselvam. Vetrivel told reporters in Chennai that the meeting of the ministers was "unofficial" and only those meetings held at the party office were "official". Delhi Police have slapped a case against Dinakaran on charges of trying to bribe the Election Commission over the now frozen AIADMK election symbol and arrested one of his aides in Delhi with unaccounted money. --IANS vj/mr/py (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) News / Local by Stephen Jakes Shingirai Guchu (21) is headed to Lebanon Valley College in the United States after securing the Almond Tree Scholarship. News of the result of the highly competitive award was announced to him through the Education USA Advising Center last Thursday."That was the most shocking and surprising moment of my entire life so far," says Shingirai (in picture) who grew up in rural Matsika in Manicaland Province. "I needed a week to sleep on it, to believe and accept," he says.He will be one of hundreds of international students at the little known college located 20 minutes from Hershey, Pennsylvania, home to the famous Hershey Chocolate Factory. The scholarship (fully valued at $50,000 per year) will cover tuition, housing, meals, taxes, and includes an annual flexible fund of $6,500 which can be applied to travel expenses, computer, text books, living supplies and visa costs."Growing up, I had feelings of being trapped in a stagnant environment, yet ironically, adversity may have been the greatest motivation I needed," says Shingirai. In his rural hood, very few complete high school education and college education is an idealistic concept, he says. "And college in America is beyond anyone's wildest dreams. I will be the first one in my family to travel abroad," says the last born in a family of four.His family survived from subsistence agriculture, selling crops for cash to fund education. "This was our kind of life and it saw my childhood marked with so many hardships including going to school bare-footed. My three siblings did not manage to get enough education due to financial challenges, and when my father passed on, my mother struggled to take care of us," says Shingirai.Despite the hardships associated with learning in a rural school including travelling long distances every morning the soft spoken Shingirai attained a distinction in electronic data processing at O level, complementing the 10 As and a B in other subjects. Teachers at Nyakuipa Secondary School recommended him for the Solon Foundation bursary at St. Faith Mission High School in Rusape.Even then, says Shingirai, life was a constant struggle. "I could not afford the basic things that came with boarding life such as soap, food, tuck, and other fancy things my friends had," he says. And it was in one of the visits by the EducationUSA Advising Center staff that he got wind of possibilities of studying in the U.S. Shingirai located the EducationUSA Advising Center to attend a public session for students aspiring to study in the U.S.Shingirai was admitted into the Opportunity Fund program, run by the United States Embassy to assist economically disadvantaged students with costs associated with the application process to American colleges. Each year, the Embassy's Education Advising Center accepts 35- 45 students from across the country for such support from nearly 1000 applications."The Opportunity Fund program is a unique and distinctive initiative that assists talented students overcome great odds to pursue their dreams of obtaining a U.S. education," says Tafadzwa Muzhandu, EducationUSA Country Coordinator. Zimbabwe has many talented students, who qualify for admissions to top U.S universities. However, those from low income households often fail to take advantage of opportunities due to lack of information and financial resources."In 2016, Opportunity Funds for Zimbabwe enabled 22 students to begin studies in the United States. This year, Shingirai will join several other Zimbabwean students who are receiving offers from U.S. colleges and universities for the 2017-18 academic year. ZimPAS April 13, 2017 Among a series of documents signed by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto here in April, the innovation partnership impressed Nokia's head Risto Siilasmaa the most. As agreed by the representatives of the two countries, a Sino-Finnish innovation council would be established to guide and promote business cooperation on innovation, explore new ways and provide policy advises, Xinhua news agency reported. As Chairman of Nokia, the Finnish IT giant, Siilasmaa has been nominated to chair the Finnish team within the council. "Both countries will nominate key players from the industry, and I hope very much I would get some of my old friends from the Chinese technology companies to join on the other side," Siilasmaa told Xinhua news. While the list of members of the Chinese side has not been disclosed, Siilasmaa named as hopefuls Jack Ma, Pony Ma, Lei Jun, Robin Li, respectively head of Alibaba, Tencent, Xiaomi and Baidu. Siilasmaa has sat on the same panel discussions and in the same advisory boards with the above figures and expects to continue working with them in the new framework. "We are committed to working very hard on finding some innovative ways for the two countries to achieve our common goals together," said Siilasmaa. Asked to speak about the shared goals, he said: "We have certain challenges that all the humanity faces." No further details have been published by either of the two governments over the new structure so far. Siilasmaa echos Xi's call on many occasions for embracing "a human community with shared destiny." "We are moving towards a world that would be even smaller. So we truly have to figure out the way for all of us to live together and support each other," said Siilasmaa. "Finnish companies are very good in certain areas, on certain narrow but very deep fields, and in those areas we definitely can have an impact on China as well," he said. Siilasmaa appreciated the fact that Xi praised the Finnish spirit of "sisu" -- a Finnish term meaning persistence in time of hardship. He disclosed that Nokia China is under discussion with a Chinese investor to turn the Finnish subsidiary company into a joint venture. --IANS py/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Eleven years after he jumped parole, a man convicted for the 1998 rape of a nun was re-arrested on Tuesday, a senior Madhya Pradesh Police officer said. Accused Pidia Singaria had jumped parole after his release from jail in 2006 following his conviction in the case and was avoiding re-arrest ever since. Police had announced an award of Rs 10,000 for the arrest of Singaria, Superintendent of Police Mahesh Chand Jain told IANS. He said that Singaria was involved in committing armed robbery at the nun's house in Navapada in Kalyanpur police station area, apart from rape and attempt to murder. The convict was re-arrested after locals in Runkheda complained to police about a person creating a ruckus in public. His subsequent questioning revealed he was absconding for the last 11 years after conviction in the nun's rape case, the police officer said. --IANS hindi/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan National Security Adviser Naseer Khan Janjua on Tuesday said the country "didnt take part in the Soviet-Afghan War, nor was it behind the 9/11 attacks, yet it still bore the brunt of the damage they did". "At that time, the fear was that if Russia entered Afghanistan, Pakistan would be its next target. And for that, the concept of jihad was exploited and our seminaries were used (to nurture the militants)," he was quoted by Dawn, while addressing an event held at the Pakistan Academy of Letters in Islamabad. "Had we not supported Afghanistan back then, would the country still be standing," the NSA asked, adding that if Pakistan had instead provided Russia with a "passageway", America may not have been "the only superpower" in the world today. "Everyone abandoned Afghanistan once Russia lost, and all the militant elements established roots there," Janjua said. Janjua was of the view that had the members of the Afghan Taliban been formally included in Afghanistan's political processes, the country would have been in a better state of affairs. "Had the Taliban been included in the election, Afghanistan would not have been in such a fix today," he added. "Pakistan has played the role of a front-line state for the last four decades," he continued. "We have to consider matters of national security keeping a view on the world," he added. The former army-man further said that national security includes the domains cyber security, world politics, the international economy as well as the globe's military strength. "Pakistan has received many wounds in the war against terrorism," Janjua concluded. "We are accused of playing a double game. But if we are supporting the Afghan Taliban, why would the Pakistani Taliban be standing against us today?" --IANS ahm/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam is ready to unite the AIADMK provided the family of now jailed leader V.K. Sasikala is kept out of the party. The Panneerselvam faction has also made it clear that he would be the AIADMK General Secretary as well as Chief Minister while incumbent Chief Minister K. Palaniswami, a Sasikala backer, can be his deputy. "The basic condition is that family members of Sasikala should not be in the party," former AIADMK MP and Panneerselvam confidant K.C. Palaniswamy told IANS. The nominees for other party posts "can be negotiated", K.C. Palaniswamy added. Efforts are reportedly on to bring together the two factions of the AIADMK after Delhi Police filed a case against Sasikala's nephew and Deputy General Secretary T.T.V. Dinakaran for trying to bribe the Election Commission to allot his faction the frozen "two leaves" election symbol. The Election Commission has also postponed the by-election to the state assembly from R.K. Nagar that was set for April 12 as it found that voters were bribed with cash. Dinakaran was the ruling AIADMK's candidate. --IANS vj/mr/py (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Vice President Mike Pence on Friday reached Japan on a two-day visit and is slated to discuss North Korea and economic ties between the two countries. In a meeting upon the Vice President's arrival, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that he supported Washington's stance taken to keep all options open for countering threats posed by North Korea, Efe news reported. "It is important to seek diplomatic and peaceful efforts to address the issue, but at the same time dialogue for the sake of dialogue has no value," Abe told Pence. Pence said Washington will assess Japan's complicated situation against Pyongyang's continued missile launches. US President Donald Trump "is determined to work closely with Japan, with South Korea, and with all our allies in the region, and with China, to achieve a peaceable solution and denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula," said Pence. "We seek peace always as a country, as does Japan. But as you know peace comes through strength," said Pence, and highlighted the strong security ties the countries share. Pence arrived in Tokyo's Atsugi air and naval base from the Osan air base in Seoul where he had spent the first three days of his 10-day Asia tour. Ahead of his arrival, Japanese government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said earlier on Tuesday that Tokyo hopes meetings with Pence will serve to deepen bilateral economic and security ties and will help in coordinating policies to address the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile development programme. On Wednesday, Pence will visit the Japan Self-Defence Forces base in Yokosuka, where Japan and the US conducted joint military drills and where the American aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan is stationed. Pence will also attend a business forum in Tokyo and later travel to Indonesia and Australia to continue the rest of his tour. --IANS ksk/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Vice President Mike Pence on Tuesday arrived in Japan. He is there for a three-day visit to hold talks on the North Korean crisis and bilateral economic ties, a media report said. Pence's aircraft landed at Atsugi airbase, near here, shortly after midday, NHK news reported. Later in the day, he was scheduled to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He will also attend the first session of a new Japan-US economic dialogue. Departing from South Korea earlier, Pence was continuing the second leg of his 10-day trip to the Asia-Pacific region, Efe news said. Pence will have a working lunch with Abe here. Later he would meet with Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso, with whom he will hold a joint press conference. The issue on the table in both meetings will be the tension in the region in the face of repeated North Korean weapons tests, the latest one being on Sunday. Washington has responded to the situation by sending the USS Carl Vinson nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and its US Navy strike group to waters off the Korean peninsula. On the other hand, Pyongyang, far from defusing any tension, has recently paraded what could be new models of intercontinental ballistic missiles, during a military parade. In addition, it was feared that Pyongyang could soon conduct a new nuclear test, which would exacerbate the situation in the region. On Monday in Seoul, Pence talked about the recent US military attacks on Syria and Afghanistan and warned Pyongyang of the possible danger from challenging US President Donald Trump's determination. Japan, an important ally of the US and one of the countries that are most vulnerable to North Korea's missile tests, is considering the possibility of supporting the USS Carl Vinson and its attack fleet in manoeuvres in waters near the Korean peninsula. During Pence's visit, Tokyo and Washington would also launch discussions on high-level bilateral economic topics. This new forum, which would be chaired by Pence and Aso, will deal with issues such as trade policy, a sensitive area in the wake of Trump's "America First" policies, as well as investment regulations, infrastructure and energy cooperation. --IANS in/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice President Mike Pence said on Tuesday that the US government will review the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in 2012 with South Korea, a media report said. The review would be aimed at looking for ways to improve the trade deficit between the two countries, Efe news reported. Pence made the remark during a meeting with representatives of the US Chamber of Commerce here before leaving for Japan, the second stopover in his 10-day Asia-Pacific tour. The Vice President praised the good economic relations between the two countries but stressed the need to "be honest about where our trade relationship is falling short". The remark was referring to the growing US trade deficit derived from excessive barriers for US businesses in the South Korean market. "Our businesses continue to face too many barriers of entry which tilted the playing field against the American workers and American growth," Pence said. The Vice President also pointed out that it was necessary to "level that playing field between our two countries" and assured that the US will work together with South Korea to reform the agreement. The US trade deficit with South Korea in 2016 amounted to $27.6 billion. The 2016 figure was twice that of 2011, a year before the FTA was signed. Since taking office in January, the new US administration has called for a turnaround in the US trade policies to be in line with Trump's policy of "America first". In addition to abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the world's largest FTA, Washington has criticised a number of Asian trading partners, such as China, Japan or South Korea, saying they have worked together to devalue their currencies to gain competitive advantages over the US. --IANS in/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) New research promises a potential new technology for sustainable harvesting of drinking water -- from air. The atmosphere contains an estimated 13,000 trillion litres of water -- equivalent to nearly 10 per cent of all fresh water present in lakes worldwide -- that has remained untapped. Now, a team of researchers in the US, including two of Indian origin, have developed a device that extracts potable water from ambient air using only sunlight as the energy source. The solar-powered water harvester works even when relative humidity (RH) is as low as 20 per cent, the level common in arid areas and deserts of the world, the researchers report. "This is a major breakthrough in the long-standing challenge of harvesting water from the air at low humidity," Omar Yaghi, chemistry professor at the University of California-Berkeley and one of the corresponding authors, told Nature India. "The key development in our demonstration is that we used only ambient sunlight, with no electricity needed," Yaghi said. "This is a major improvement over most other air-water harvesting devices which require energy input and therefore are economically not viable." "I believe this device will work well in most areas of India," Yaghi said. Largescale use of this device "can change the landscape of water utilisation in India, where sunlight is abundant", added co-author Sameer Rao, a post-doctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The heart of the new device -- constructed at MIT -- is a metal-organic framework (MOF) that belongs to a class of unique materials exhibiting extremely high porosity that Yaghi's team had pioneered in the 1990s at Berkeley. "They have high affinity to water molecules to pull them out of ambient air, but do not hold on to them too tightly so that water can be concentrated and released with a slight temperature change (induced by sunlight)," Yaghi said. The adsorbed (as a thin film) water thus released is then stored by the device in a condenser. The adsorption-desorption experiments performed in a RH-controlled chamber in the laboratory found the device was able to pull 2.8 litres of water from the air over a 12-hour period at RH levels as low as 20 per cent using one kilogram of MOF. Rooftop tests at MIT confirmed that the device works equally well outdoors. The scientists found the experimental data to be in "good agreement" with a theoretical framework they had developed. Yaghi said the daily quantity of harvested water can be scaled up by finding better MOF materials "with enhanced sorption capacity and high intra-crystalline diffusivity" that could absorb more water. The current MOF can absorb only 20 percent of its weight in water. An official statement released about the solar water harvester said that while Yaghi and his team at Berkeley are at work improving their MOFs, Evelyn Wang, the other corresponding author who led the team at MIT, "continues to improve the harvesting system to produce more water". It quoted Wang as saying: "We wanted to demonstrate that if you are cut off somewhere in the desert, you could survive because of this device." Its developers hope their device, when commercialised, could help every household obtain the drinking water it needs out of the air using only the power of the sun. "The social impact of this in India would be far-reaching," said Rao. "It would enable greater success for government's grassroot level programmes seeking to increase literacy and education of women and children in villages" because they would be freed from the everyday job of fetching water for cooking and drinking. How much would the solar water harvester cost? "We have made the significant first step by building the demonstration model combining chemistry and engineering to show how it works," Yaghi said, adding: "The economic aspects as well as the production of these materials and devices are the obvious next step." (K.S. Jayaraman can be contacted at killugudi@hotmail.com) --IANS ksj/vm/sac/tb (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Filmmaker S.S. Rajamouli on Tuesday said he was smiling with joy as well as wincing with pain as the curtains came down finally on the filming of his forthcoming magnum opus "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion". "Last working day. Hopefully. What a journey. What an experience. I am both smiling with joy and wincing with pain," Rajamouli tweeted. The second part in the franchise, starring Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty, Tamannaah Bhatia, Ramya Krishnan and Sathyaraj, is slated for release on April 28. The film, about the battle between two warring brothers for an ancient kingdom, will release in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam. "Baahubali 2: The Conclusion" will finally shed the light on why Kattappa killed Baahubali. --IANS hp/nn/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Moscow, April 18 (IANS/AKI) Officials from Russia's Foreign Ministry have denied knowledge of reports that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State jihadist group, has been arrested in Syria, Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw said on Tuesday. "We are not aware of the arrest of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, 'caliph' of the Islamic State, and have not received any information or clarification in this regard," staff from the Foreign Ministry's media office were cited as telling Rudaw. Russian media had earlier cited the European Department for Security and Information (DESI) non-profit organisation as saying it received information that Baghdadi had been arrested in an operation coordinated between Russian and Syrian government intelligence agencies. Iraqi news site Ara News cited Iraqi military intelligence officials on Monday as saying Baghdadi had recently crossed to Syria from Iraq after being injured in an airstrike by the US-led coalition in the northwest. The Iraqi military intelligence unit, known as Suqur al-Istikhbarat , said that the recent reports about al-Baghdadi's death were inaccurate and said he is still alive, Ara News reported. --IANS/AKI vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) News / National by Staff reporter WAR veterans secretary-general, Victor Matemadanda has called for government leadership renewal, saying the current "corrupt" Zanu-PF regime had proved beyond doubt that it was not committed to improving the welfare of the liberation war fighters."We can't talk of our welfare with people who don't know how to run a country. We have to ensure that this corrupt system is removed before we talk of our welfare," he said.Matemadanda made the remarks yesterday following reports that government owed $37 million in unpaid school fees for war veterans' children and was struggling to raise former fighters' monthly pension payouts.War Veterans minister Tshinga Dube confirmed the reports, saying the financial squeeze was not peculiar to his ministry, as it had crippled all line ministries."We are a welfare ministry, which is supposed to take care of the welfare needs of war veterans in line with constitutional provisions, but we are struggling to pay school fees for the children of war veterans," he said.Dube said some of the divisions rocking the war veterans' body were being fuelled by lack of welfare support from the government."We see all these things coming to an end once our war veterans are well taken care of. They are hungry and angry after spending time in the bushy fighting for independence, they want to enjoy the fruits. We went to a war veterans conference in South Africa and they had R2 million, which they had not spent and were returning to government."I believe our government is committed to taking care of the war veterans, but the resources are not there, once the economy turns around they will be taken care off," he said. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday held talks with his Canadian counterpart Harjit Singh Sajjan, discussing bilateral defence and security cooperation issues. Sajjan, who is on a week long visit to India, was also given a Guard of Honour at South Block, which houses the Defence Ministry. He also laid a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate, which a memorial dedicated to unnamed soldiers. His formal welcome came after some confusion over the Guard of Honour, a ceremonial practice to honour domestic or foreign dignitaries, being cancelled after an advisory from the Defence Ministry said so. It was later clarified by sources that the communique announcing cancellation of the Guard of Honour was a mistake. --IANS ao/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A group of Hispanic students living in California is designing a camping tent that can use solar energy to meet the electricity needs of the homeless. "Our camping house is made with special materials, where we're going to have solar panels, ... (and) LED lights, so that the person can see inside when it's dark," Kenia Shi, a high school student, was quoted by Efe news agency as saying. These students are also going to have a way to clean the house with ultraviolet lights, which kill bacteria. The installation of miniaturised solar technology in a mobile tent is the project being pursued by 12 Latino students at the San Fernando Magnet school in Los Angeles County, for which they received a $10,000 grant from the Lemelson InveTeam organisation at the MIT School of Engineering. "When we were introduced to the programme and they told us that we had the chance to make an invention that could change something in our community, we thought that making a ... (solar) tent was best," Shi said. The daughter of immigrants from El Salvador, Shi intends to study mechanical engineering at the University of California San Diego. Statistics from 2016 compiled by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority show that in Los Angeles County there are 43,000 people who live in shelters or in tents on the streets. The annual tally, which does not includes figures from Pasadena, Glendale or Long Beach, found that the homeless population is 39 per cent African American, 27 per cent Latino and 26 per cent white. "It's very nice to be able to say that you're helping these people who often the government and the public ... almost ignore," said Araceli Chavez, the daughter of Mexican immigrants. Fifteen US schools won the engineering grants from Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop things such as "tents with solar energy" that the students will display at the EurekaFest fair on June 15-17 on the MIT campus. The students' solution is to install a small solar panel and a light with an energy storage element, so that the accumulated electricity can be transferred to other appliances, among other innovations. --IANS qd/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Telangana government will train Tripura government officials to improve its ranking in the Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) index, official said here on Tuesday. "A group of officials from Telangana government's Industries Department would soon arrive here to teach the officials of Tripura Industries and Commerce Department and other industry related department," an official of Tripura Industries and Commerce Department said. She said that after the Telangana government's officials' visit to Tripura, a group of officials likely to go to Telangana for on the spot knowledge on EoDB functioning in the southern state. The EoDB index is a ranking system established by the World Bank Group. In the EoDB index, 'higher rankings' (a lower numerical value) indicate better, usually simpler, policy and regulations for businesses and stronger protections of property rights besides single window approval mechanism. Telangana ranked first in the country in EoDB this year. In the recent assessment done by the union Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Telangana government scored 98.78 per cent. The Centre in a recent meeting with all states requested Telangana to train Tripura officials in improving the state's rank. "States that got top ranks have been asked by the central government to help states that secured poor ranks this year. Tripura has been allotted to Telangana. Industrial officials of Tripura government would visit Hyderabad," the Tripura official added. She said that Tripura ranked first in EoDB among the eight northeastern states including Sikkim and secured 22nd position among Indian states and union territories. --IANS sc/sm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Known for his flamboyant lifestyle, liquor baron Vijay Mallya has been one of the most wanted fugitives in India -- accused of defrauding at least 17 banks of over Rs 9,000 crore and siphoning off the money to his children. The saga, which has been going on for years now, started in November 2015 when the State Bank of India (SBI) tagged Mallya a "wilful defaulter", for defaulting on payments and its diversion for purposes other than sanctioned. This has become the cause of a protracted legal battle between the billionaire and Indian law enforcement agencies, with a consortium of 17 banks led by SBI striving to recover the money loaned to him. Mallya left the country on March 2, 2016, and has been living in London from where he was arrested on Tuesday only to be bailed out a few hours later. His fleeing India had come just before the SBI-led banks' consortium petitioned the Supreme Court to recover their outstanding loans amounting to Rs 9,431.65 crore, including interest, which was sanctioned to his now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines. In April last year, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), at the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED), had suspended his passport while Mallya was in London. Mallya has since expressed his wish to come back to India saying he couldn't do so on account of his passport-suspension. At one time, the ministry even asked Mallya to visit the nearest Indian mission where he could get an "emergency certificate" issued, if he wished to return. Twice a member of the Rajya Sabha, Mallya resigned from Parliament in May last year, a month ahead of his retirement on June 30. He was declared a "proclaimed offender" in June as per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on the request of the ED. Assets worth Rs 8,040 crore have so far been attached by the ED in its pursuit of the case, which include the Kingfisher brand, logo, and also Mallya's plush North Goa 'Kingfisher Villa'. The last, which was priced at about 90 crore, finally went under the hammer for Rs 73 crore this month. In March this year, responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Minister of State for Finance Santosh Gangwar, without naming Mallya, told the House that loan of Rs 8,040 crore to the industrialist was declared a non-performing asset (NPA) in 2009 and was restructured in 2010. Mallya has more than once extended a proposal to settle the loans which he is due to pay. "Public sector banks have policies for one-time settlements. Hundreds of borrowers have settled. Why should this be denied to us? Our substantial offer before the Supreme Court was rejected by banks without consideration," Mallya had said in a tweet in March this year. The banks had last year refused to accept his offer of settling the loans at Rs 6,868 crore. The Indian government is in talks with the UK for Mallya's extradition. The British had last year expressed its inability to deport Mallya on account his arriving on a valid visa. -- IANS vn/sar/rn/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three men were arrested from a resort in Goa's Anjuna beach village in the early hours of Tuesday, for accepting bets during the match between Delhi Daredevils and Kolkata Knight Riders, which was held in Delhi on Monday night. The arrested men has been identified as Kiransinh Vaghela, 32, and Jayant Vaghela, 33, both from Ahemadabad, and Narendra Singh of unspecified age from Agra. Thed police have also seized Rs 15,270 in cash, two laptops, 11 mobile phones and an LED TV and a set top box. The accused have been arrested under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Goa Prevention of Gambling Act, according to Police Sub Inspector V.A. Kavlekar. --IANS maya/sm/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump called Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him hours after his narrow victory in a referendum that will grant him sweeping new powers, the White House announced. During Sunday's vote, about 51.35 per cent backed the constitutional changes, compared to 48.65 per cent for the "no" side. The constitutional reforms are set to grant more powers to Erdogan, effecting a changeover from parliamentary to the presidential form of government in Turkey. The amendments to the constitution are likely to allow him to hold office for two more terms until 2029. According to a White House statement, Trump spoke on Monday with Erdogan, discussing the developments in Syria, and Washington's response to the chemical attack. They "agreed on the importance of holding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad accountable", the Guardian reported. Asked during the White House daily briefing to respond to Erdogan's accumulation of power after the referendum, Press Secretary Sean Spicer echoed the State Department statement and said he would withhold reaction until a final report is published. "Before we start getting into their governing system, let this commission get through its work," Spicer said. Trump also spoke to Erdogan in February, reports the Guardian. On the call, Trump reaffirmed Turkey as a strong NATO ally and a partner in the fight against the Islamic State terror group. The leaders again discussed the campaign against the group on Monday and agreed on "the need to cooperate against all groups that use terrorism to achieve their ends", the White House added. --IANS ksk/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Turkey's state of emergency will be extended by an additional three months, offiials said on Monday. The state of emergency would be extended as of April 19 for three more months, with the parliament's approval, Xinhua news agency quoted Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus as saying. He attributed the reason for the extension to the struggle against terror threats, primarily against the so-called Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO) that the government accuses of staging coup attempt on July 15, 2016. The cabinet meeting followed the National Security Council's advice to extend the state of emergency. The National Security Council and the cabinet convened successively on Monday, one day after a public vote that confirmed governance system change from the parliamentarian one to the executive presidency. Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20, 2016, days after a failed military coup, which Ankara blames on the US-based exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. Turkey has already been under a state of emergency for nine consecutive months after a coup attempt on July 15, 2016. Under emergency rule, the government can bypass the parliament to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms. Up to 2.5 million votes could have been manipulated during Turkey's presidential referendum, a number that if revised could reverse the "Yes" outcome of the vote, a Council of Europe (CoE) electoral observer announced on Tuesday. Several institutions, including monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said Sunday's referendum to greatly expand the President's power did not meet democratic standards, Efe news reported. Alev Korun, an Austrian Green politician who was on the observer mission at the CoE, said that "there is a suspicion that up to 2.5 million votes could have been manipulated". Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party said it was to formally request the referendum to be annulled. The party had previously demanded a partial recount of the 2.5 million ballot papers that were accepted by the Supreme Electoral Council as valid despite being unstamped. Any official challenge regarding the 2.5 million papers would be a threat to the "Yes" camp, which edged past "No" voters by a slim margin of 1.25 million. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose Justice and Development Party (AKP) penned and campaigned for a "Yes" vote, has already claimed victory and later received a congratulatory phone call from US President Donald Trump. Korun said she herself did not witness any irregularities in the voting process, but that two of her colleagues had been denied entry to a polling station in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, in the country's restive southeast. The "Yes" campaign claimed 51.4 per cent of a vote in favour of an 18-point overhaul of the constitution that is to scrap the role of Prime Minister and hand almost all executive power to the President. But many officials have raised their concerns about the environment in which the vote was held. On Monday, head of the OSCE observation mission for the referendum, Tana de Zulueta, said there was a lack of impartiality in the run-up to Sunday's vote as the "Yes" campaign was given the chance to dominate media coverage, while the other side was restricted and many journalists were arrested. Several governments in Europe have called on Erdogan to prove that the election was conducted fairly and cleanly by cooperating fully with international observers. --IANS ksk/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Punjab Police on Tuesday announced that it has arrested two alleged terrorists belonging to a terror module set up by a Europe-based radical militant group to target leaders and members of socio-religious organisations in the state. Palwinder Singh and Sandeep Kumar were arrested by the Counter Intelligence Unit of Punjab Police from Batala town, a police spokesperson said. "Investigations so far have revealed that the duo had been tasked with creating political instability by fanning communal passions in the state," he said. A huge cache of arms and ammunition was also recovered from their possession. "The seizure included one 9 mm pistol, 2 magazines and 13 live rounds, two .32 bore pistols, along with 4 magazines and 33 live rounds and one .12 bore countrymade gun," he said. The module was controlled by Shaminder Singh alias Sherry, currently operating from Germany and believed to be in touch with other militant leaders based in Belgium, such as Jagdish Singh Bhoora, he added. "These militants, based in different countries of Europe, are also wanted in various criminal cases in several police stations of Punjab on charges of promoting terrorist activities in the state." The police have also arrested Sherry's mother Jaswinder Kaur from Batala. Two weapons were seized from her also. Jaswinder has told the police that Sherry had visited Punjab on several occasions, the last visit being in January, 2017. Sherry was supporting the arrested members of the terror module from Germany, police said. --IANS js/ruwa/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet on Tuesday named the Agra airport after Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the ideologue of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh -- the forerunner of present-day Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). At the third Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, it was also decided that the civil terminal of the Gorakhpur Air Force Station would be named after "Mahayogi Gorakhnath". The meeting, which lasted a little over 30 minutes, also decided to divide Uttar Pradesh into 12 clusters and approved the e-tendering facility for all tender processes in the state. The crop insurance scheme also got approval of the state cabinet, which also decided that the state government would give land for the "agriculture centres" to be established by the central government. The disability welfare department's name has also been changed and from now on, it would be called Divyaang Jan Vikas Empowerment Department. The movie "Ek Thi Rani Aisi Bhi" has been accorded tax-free status by the state government. The proposal for this was ratified by the state cabinet. The Hema Malini-starrer is based on the life of late BJP leader Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia. --IANS md/nir/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) News / National by Stephen Jakes Villagers are reportedly being forced to vote for Zanu PF in the coming elections or face eviction from the areas in parts of Mashonaland and Midlands.Heal Zimbabwe Trust reported that in Nyanga District's Ward 2 on 24 March 2017, Zanu PF convened a meeting at Avila business centre."The meeting was addressed by Zanu PF ward 2 chairperson, Wilson Sauro and Councillor Joseph Kadyamusuma. They told people that if they fail to vote for ZANU PF in the 2018 elections, Zanu PF was going to unleash violence similar to the one experienced in the 2008 elections. They also announced that all Village heads should ensure that people from their villages attend all Zanu PF meetings called for in the ward," said the trust."On 27 March 2017, Chief Katerere and Village head Chabvura ordered 18 Village heads from ward 3 to evict people who fail to produce Zanu PF membership cards and also ensure that they do not receive food aid. To date, Village head Chabvura has already started asking people in his village to produce Zanu PF membership cards during food distribution meetings."In Gokwe North District at Gokwe Gumunyu ward 19, Village heads Matenga and Marima are forcing people to join Zanu PF. On 26 March 2017, the two Village heads sent out their secretaries who moved around the villages announcing that food aid will only be given to people with Zanu PF membership cards."Failure to purchase the cards would result in denial of food aid. In Gokwe South District Ward 12, on the 27th of March, Zanu PF youth chairman Joskia Chimowa and Zanu PF District Chairperson Tobias Ngwenya convened a meeting at Kwaramba ward centre. The two announced that people who were in the habit of boycotting Zanu PF ward meetings called for, risked eviction from the village. The two also conducted a meeting on 28 March 2017 at Svisvi business centre. At the meeting, the two took down names of people at the meeting and also announced that people who had failed to attend the meeting were going to be denied food aid," said the trust.In Guruve District, Guruve South ward 11, on 25 March 2017, Village head Charles Mukodzani who also doubles as Zanu PF chairperson for ward 11 and Village head Killer Chigonero convened a meeting at Nyamhondoro Secondary school."At the meeting, the two Village heads announced that everyone in the ward was supposed to purchase Zanu PF membership cards that costs $3 if they still wanted to continue receiving food aid. They also announced that if anyone defies the directive, they risked being evicted from their villages. Ward 11 Councillor, Samuel Machumi also attended the meeting and concurred with the Village heads by also announcing that people who fail to produce Zanu PF membership cards during food aid distribution meetings were going to be denied food aid," said the trust."In Mbire ward 9 on the 26th of March 2017, Zanu PF held a meeting at Mushumbi growth point. The meeting was addressed by Zanu PF Provincial member, Jonasi Kushiwa and Zanu PF District chairperson, Robert Chawada .The two told village heads at the meeting that they were supposed to compile names of people who were present at the meeting and ensure that they continue to receive food aid. They also told the Village heads to deny food aid to people who boycott Zanu PF meetings in the ward." The US on Tuesday deployed 1,250 marines in Australia's Northern Territory, the sixth contingent of a rotation programme, amid a rise in tensions in the Korean Peninsula. They are "ready to fight" at the time of an eventual conflict with North Korea, according to a senior US military official. The marines, the first ones on a rotation of six months this dry season, were stationed at the Darwin base, where they are set to undergo a training programme, Efe news reported. The Commanding Officer of Marine Rotational Force Darwin, Lieutenant Colonel Brian S. Middleton, said the US military was ready for combat in the event tensions between the US and North Korea were to rise. "Any time a marine force is forward deployed, we are always on standby for anything," said Middleton. He also said that this was the most complex air-land marine force to be deployed in northern Australia, a zone of strategic importance due to its proximity to southeastern Asia and the Pacific. "I think that the commitment that we've taken to put a task force here with a conversation to get larger over the years says that we do think this is an important region," added Middleton. The military deployment will also include four Osprey aircraft, five Bell AH-1 SuperCobra and four "Huey" Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopters. Rotation of marines in Darwin began in 2012 after an agreement was signed between then US President Barack Obama and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard in 2011, to deploy up to 2,500 soldiers by 2016, a number that is set to increase by 2020. --IANS ksk/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than 1,000 US Marines on Tuesday arrived in Darwin as part of a rotation of forces to be stationed in northern Australia. The 1,250 troops who arrived in the Northern Territory (NT) will soon be joined by 13 aircraft -- four tilt-rotor Osprey helicopters, five Super Cobra helicopters and four Huey helicopters -- in one of the largest deployments of US forces to Australia since World War II. Commanding Officer of Marine Rotational Force Darwin, Lieutenant Colonel Brian S. Middleton told the media: "The aviation combat element is our most robust deployment to Darwin." "I think the commitment that we've taken to put a task force here with a conversation to get larger over the years says that we do think this is an important region," Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying. "Being close to Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean, the Indo-Pacific position has always been important." Middleton said the Marines would conduct "important exercises alongside with Chinese partners" and Australia. Troops from the three countries are conducting annual joint exercises codenamed Kowari since 2014. Brigadier Ben James, Commander of Australia's 3,000-strong 1st Brigade based in Darwin, said he looked forward to working alongside with his US counterparts. "We're very much looking forward to a great six-month rotation where we can train, operate and exercise alongside with our most important ally," James said. The rotation is part of a deal struck between former US President Barack Obama and his Australian counterpart Julia Gillard in 2011. It is the first large-scale arrival of US troops since the arrangement was signed, with a small number of Marines having been sent to Darwin for training since 2012. Northern Territory's Chief Minister Michael Gunner said Darwin was proud to be a defence town. "We welcome the arrival of American troops as part of our long-term partnership and friendship," Gunner said. "They provide an important economic boost which comes at a time when many territory businesses are doing it tough," he said. "We first welcomed US defence personnel and ships in the days following the bombing of Pearl Harbour in December 1941." A report by Deloitte Access Economics found that the Marines would inject $3.7 million into the NT economy annually. --IANS py/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US National Security Adviser (NSA) Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster on Tuesday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for talks on and issues related to Afghanistan stability. Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval also attended the meeting at Modi's official 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence, according to a handout picture released by the External Affairs Ministry. Sources said they discussed security issues concerning the South Asian region and how to better cooperate on countering terror threats emanating from Taliban and surging Islamic State presence in Afghanistan. McMaster arrived here on Monday evening, the first visit by a senior official of President Donald Trump's administration. On his South Asian trip that began over the weekend, McMaster on Monday visited Pakistan where he met civilian and military leaders, stressing "the need to confront in all its forms" Earlier, he also visted Afghanistan to review efforts at stabilizing Afghanistan. --IANS rs/sar/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US on Tuesday reaffirmed that India remained its "major defence partner" as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Donald Trump's top security aide Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster met to discuss military and counter-terror ties between the two countries. The visiting US National Security Adviser (NSA) called on Modi at his official residence, a day after he arrived here on the first visit by a senior White House official since President Trump took over in January. The US embassy said McMaster in his meeting with Modi that was also attended by Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval "emphasised the importance of US-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed India's designation as a major defence partner". "The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counterterrorism cooperation," an embassy statement said. McMaster also met separately with Doval and Jaishankar. The embassy noted that the meetings were "productive". The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that "McMaster conveyed the greetings of President Trump" to Modi, who recalled "the importance attached by both sides to the strategic partnership and to stepping up India-US engagement across the board". The PMO statement said Modi and McMaster discussed peace and security in war-torn Afghanistan and the extended region, including the Middle East. "McMaster shared his perspective with (the) Prime Minister on the security situation in the extended region, including in Afghanistan, West Asia and the DPRK (North Korea). "During the conversation, they exchanged views on how both countries can work together to effectively address the challenge of and to advance regional peace, security and stability." The US official's trip was part of his South Asian sojourn that began over the weekend. On Monday, he visited Pakistan where he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz and the army chief, stressing "the need to confront in all its forms". He also visited Afghanistan to review efforts at stabilizing the country. "The visit was a part of regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad," said the embassy statement. The trip assumes significance amid growing US concerns over terror threats emanating from a resurgent Taliban and rising Islamic State's influence in Afghanistan, where America has some 8,400 troops. On Thursday, the US military dropped what it said was the "Mother of All Bombs" -- the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast -- on suspected Islamic State hideouts in Afghanistan. The first use of the bomb in a combat killed some 95 militants, the US said. --IANS sar/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A suitcase full of fruits and vegetables led to an American woman being stopped from entering New Zealand, officials said on Tuesday. The woman had failed to declare the produce when she arrived at Christchurch airport on Saturday, Xinhua news agency quoted Primary Industries Ministry as saying. The ministry staff detected the goods during x-ray screening of the passenger's bag after she arrived on a flight from Sydney. She was forced to return to Sydney on the next available flight. "The passenger admitted she was deliberately trying to smuggle the food into New Zealand. When asked why, she said didn't want to cause delays for her travelling companions and she wasn't sure what she could bring in," said border clearance manager Andrew Spelman. "The suitcase included oranges, apples, avocados, sweet potato and carrots. We're talking potential host materials for a range of bugs that could devastate New Zealand's horticulture sector," said Spelman. "The deliberate and reckless nature of her actions forced our hand. They needed to be dealt with more severely than a warning or a simple infringement notice." New Zealand has some of the strictest biosecurity rules in the world and inbound travellers must declare a range of products as well as all foods. --IANS py/mr (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Liquor baron Vijay Mallya, wanted in India for defaulting on over Rs 8,000 crore in bank loans, was arrested here on Tuesday. Within hours, a court granted him bail. Metropolitan Police said Mallya, 61, was taken into custody after attending a central London police station. The Westminster Magistrates' Court later gave him bail on a 650,000 pound bond. The next hearing of the case will be on May 17. The court issued some stringent orders against Mallya before granting him bail, instructing "neither he can apply for travel documents nor attempt to leave the UK". It further directed the business tycoon to live in Hertfordshire and keep his cell phone on round the clock. Mallya's revoked passport will also be retained until further orders of the court. A Metropolitan Police statement said officers from the Extradition Unit arrested Mallya on an extradition warrant from India. "Mallya was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud," the statement said. After getting bail, Mallya tweeted: "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected." Mallya fled to Britain in March 2016 after being pursued in courts by Indian banks seeking to recover Rs 8,191 crore owed by his now defunct Kingfisher Airline. The banks had been able to recover only Rs 155 crore. Despite multiple injunctions, Mallya failed to appear before investigators -- and then flew out of India. On February 8, the Indian government handed over to British authorities a formal request for Mallya's extradition, saying it had a legitimate case against him on charges of financial irregularities and loan default. The loan, granted in September 2004, was reviewed in February 2008. India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate initiated criminal investigation against Mallya in July 2015 and January 2016 respectively under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The Indian agencies took the step on the basis of complaint filed by a consortium of 17 banks led by the State Bank of India. The cases were registered against Mallya, Kingfisher Airline, UB Group company United Breweries Holdings Ltd and others. The Enforcement Directorate in March and April 2016 issued a number of summons against Mallya to appear before it but he failed to do so. Subsequently, a non-bailable warrant was issued against Mallya by a Mumbai court in April 2016. His passport was revoked on April 23. The court in November ordered the seizure of domestic assets of Mallya and entities controlled by him. The Enforcement Directorate said that it has attached properties of Mallya and his companies having market value more than Rs 8,000 crore. --IANS rak/vd (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bearish global cues on the back of rising geo-political tensions, coupled with huge outflow of foreign funds, pulled the Indian equity indices to their lowest levels in three weeks on Tuesday. The key indices, which opened the day's trade on a positive note, closed with losses for the fourth consecutive session. Heavy selling pressure was witnessed in metal, automobile and healthcare stocks. The wider 51-scrip Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by 34.15 points or 0.37 per cent to 9,105.15 points. The barometer 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 29,487.78 points, closed at 29,319.10 points -- down 94.56 points or 0.32 per cent from the previous close at 29,413.66 points. The Sensex touched a high of 29,701.19 points and a low of 29,286.38 points during the intra-day trade. The BSE market breadth was bearish -- with 1,771 declines and 1,112 advances. In terms of the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index fell by 0.63 per cent, while the small-cap index closed lower by 0.74 per cent. "Markets ended with losses on Tuesday after a positive morning session as a strong intra-day rally was derailed by sell-off in late trade. It was the fourth consecutive session of losses," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS. "The Sensex and the Nifty hit their lowest level in three weeks. The weakness came on the back of geo-political tensions, as notably those between the US and North Korea. These have heightened worries about aggressions escalating into a bigger confrontation." Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said: "The US and Australia's visa norms turned up the heat on IT companies, while higher possibilities of El Nino put sentiments under check. Global cues weren't helping either after the European markets reopened after Easter Monday holidays with deep cuts." "With the rupee easing a bit, FII (foreign institutional investors) action will be in focus, as they have been net sellers in equities for the most part of this month so far." On the currency front, the Indian rupee weakened by 11-12 paise to 64.63 against a US dollar from its previous close of 64.51-52 to a greenback. In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that the FIIs sold scrip worth Rs 930.67 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) off-loaded scrip worth Rs 878.08 crore. According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, the equity benchmark indices ended in the red dragged by index heavyweights Reliance, Infosys and L&T (Larsen and Toubro). "At present, the Indian market is going through time wise correction. The Indian Meteorological Department (today) forecast normal monsoon, which may boost some sentiment in the market," Desai pointed out. "Only the Bank Nifty managed to gain among all other sectors. The sectors which saw maximum loss today was metal, followed by healthcare and consumer durables." Sector-wise, the S&P BSE metal index plunged by 203.29 points, followed by the automobile index, which dipped by 164.45 points, and the healthcare index, which fell by 145.12 points. On the other hand, the utilities index inched up by 5.35 points and the power index was up a tad by 0.79 points. Major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: NTPC, up 1.60 per cent at Rs 161.70; Wipro, up 0.93 per cent at Rs 496.35; HDFC Bank, up 0.68 per cent at Rs 1,445.75; ICICI Bank, up 0.46 per cent at Rs 283; and Power Grid, up 0.32 per cent at Rs 202.35. Major Sensex losers were: Tata Steel, down 2.55 per cent at Rs 450.25; Coal India, down 2.34 per cent at Rs 279.10; Sun Pharma, down 1.76 per cent at Rs 665.30; Asian Paints, down 1.68 per cent at Rs 1,040.95; and Reliance Industries, down 1.48 per cent at Rs 1,370.45. --IANS ppg-rv/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal Heritage Commission is mulling an amendment to the West Bengal Heritage Commission Act, 2001, to bring "intangible heritage" under its ambit, an official said here on Tuesday. "West Bengal Heritage Commission Act, 2001, is only for 'built heritage' and not for 'intangible heritage'. The commission is mulling whether the act could be amended to bring intangible heritage under its ambit," state Heritage Commission Secretary Umapada Chatterjee told the media here. We will consider opinions of all stakeholders. This will happen in due course of time," he added. According to the Unesco, the "intangible cultural heritage" means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills -- as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith -- that communities, groups and in some cases, individuals recognise as part of their cultural heritage. Yoga, one of India's ancient practices, has now been inscribed as an element in the Unesco's list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Chatterjee said the state government is trying to come up with a new heritage policy and a high powered committee will be set up to look into it. "The commission's website will also be up and running soon. The sites that have been restored will be put up on the website so that they can be integrated with tourism initiatives. The Commission is in a very bad state and we are trying to revive it," Chatterjee added. An inventory of 174 heritage sites in Bengal will also be uploaded on the website, he said. In addition, the Commission has also taken forward the matter of revival of activities at the conservation lab. Chatterjee was speaking on the sidelines of the World Heritage Day seminar organised by the state government. --IANS sgh/ssp/sm/vt (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The West Bengal Forest Department on Tuesday said it has received reports of presence of a wolf in a village surrounding the Sundarbans mangrove forests. However, the department has quashed reports of presence of a wolf in the forests itself, amid speculations of the first photographic evidence of the animal in the entire Sunderbans spanning India and Bangladesh. A picture was recently clicked by naturalist Riddhi Mukherjee at Jatirampur village. "There is likelihood of the presence of only one wolf in the village... but not in the forests. In the history there has never been any wolf in the Sundarbans forests and the area doesn't have the habitat to sustain wolves," West Bengal Chief Wildlife Warden Pradeep Vyas told IANS. Vyas said department officials have not spotted the animal but it has been sighted by locals. "We have seen the photographs taken by the locals and other people. They are certainly of value but our people have not seen. Most people have seen the pug marks of one animal. We have placed camera traps and if it is only one, which is most likely, we will have to capture it," he added. Mukherjee said he had shared the photo, taken on April 14 in Jatirampur village, with wildlife experts. "They confirmed it as a wolf," Mukherjee told IANS. --IANS sgh/ssp/vd (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Who said goods and services tax (GST) is a tax and accounting game? It has also brought the poet out in some. A WhatsApp message circulated by an association of transporters and tyre dealers urges its members to accept the new GST regime wholeheartedly. Iss soch ko hum salaam karte hain/GST se mat ghabrao/isse apnao aur vyapar badhao (we salute this new thinking/dont fret over GST/accept it and increase your business), it says. A motivational message follows the exhortation: Badal jao waqt ke saath/ya phir waqt badalna seekho/majboorion ko mat koso/har haal mein chalna seekho (change with time or learn to change time/dont plead helplessness/learn to move forward under all circumstances). News / National by Staff reporter The Zimbabwe Students Association in Turkey (ZIMSAT) will today host an Uhuru party to celebrate Zimbabwe's 37th birthday in the Turkey capital, Ankara."ZIMSAT has organised this event to celebrate Zimbabwe's hard-won independence. The event will be held in the capital of Turkey, Ankara," said Tafadzwa Joseph Dube who is ZIMSAT's public relations officer."Invited are fellow students, Zimbabweans in Turkey, our friends from Africa, and the rest of the world. ZIMSAT took it upon itself to organise such an event since at the moment Zimbabwe does not have an embassy in Turkey... As much as we face challenges as a country, our independence still remains an important occasion in our history which we honour whilst at the same time working for a better future for all," read part of their official invite to Bulawayo24.comMr Cyril Kombedzayi from Bulawayo, who is on a brief vacation in Turkey, said that he will also attend the event as he winds up his holiday.Those who would like to attend the event can contact ZIMSAT President, Timothy on + 9054353011280 or the Vice President on +905512436621. leader T T V Dinakaran, a nephew of jailed party chief V K Sasikala, was on Monday accused of trying to bribe the Election Commission with crores of rupees to reclaim the party's disputed and now frozen "two leaves" symbol. The issue which came to light after the arrest of his "close aide" from a Delhi hotel with a huge amount of cash, sparking of a political row. While Dinakaran denied any links with the arrests accused, the Tamil Nadu's opposition PMK demanded dismissal of the government. A Delhi Police officer told IANS that they arrested Dinakaran's close aide Sukesh Chandrasekar from a south Delhi hotel on Sunday with Rs 1.3 crore that was meant for bribing the poll panel members. After a long search for a judge, Chandrasekar was presented before a judge at her residence, who sent him to eight days police custody, sources said. Chandrasekar reportedly told police that he was Dinakaran's "middleman" and was asked to pay the money to the officials in exchange for the symbol. "Dinakaran has been booked for criminal conspiracy and corruption after Chandrasekar disclosed his name during the late night police raid at the hotel where he was staying," the police officer said. The officer said the 27-year-old suspect, who is said to own a fleet of luxury cars, confessed he was playing the middleman. Police raided the hotel following a tip, the officer said. A police team is expected to travel to Chennai to summon Dinakaran. Dinakaran, who is the candidate of the ruling faction for the R.K. Nagar assembly constituency in Chennai, told reporters there that he didn't know "anybody by the name Sukesh Chandrasekar" and called it a conspiracy to destroy the AIADMK -- divided between two factions after its leader J. Jayalalithaa died on December 5 while she was the Chief Minister. "Somebody is scheming to destroy the AIADMK. I will meet the allegation legally. If I am summoned by Delhi Police, I will meet it legally," he said. The by-poll, due on April 12, was postponed following allegations of cash distribution to voters on a massive scale by the ruling AIADMK. A couple of days prior to the by-poll and on receipt of complaints of large scale distribution of cash to the voters, the Income Tax Department raided the official residences of state Health Minister C.Vijayabaskar, his relatives, business associates, party officials and also the residence of actor-turned-politician Sarathkumar. According to the documents seized by the IT officials during their raids, the price of one vote in the R.K. Nagar constituency is Rs 4,000. A senior IT official told IANS that around Rs 100 crore has been distributed by the Sasikalar faction of AIADMK in R.K. Nagar. Sasikala made Dinakaran the party in charge before she went to prison. The other faction is led by O. Panneerselvam, who was also close to Jayalalithaa and used to stand in for her as Chief Minister. The two factions have been fighting over ownership of the AIADMK. The battle reached the Election Commission that gave the two factions new symbols and ordered a freeze over "two leaves" on March 23. Dinakaran also said he would meet Sasikala in the Bengaluru prison. Meanwhile, the alleged attempt to bribe the Election Commission by Dinakaran may hasten the process of uniting the two AIADMK factions, said former MP K.C. Palaniswamy, a Panneerselvam supporter. "If the election panel decided that Sasikala's election (as AIADMK General Secretary) was not legal, then every other thing in the party will automatically settle down," Palaniswamy told IANS. "First they bribed the voters and now they attempted to bribe the Election Commission officials. The Sasikala faction is bringing shame to Tamil Nadu," he added. Members of the Panneerselvam camp told IANS that talks are on between the leaders of both the camps towards unification. Meanwhile the meeting between Chief Minister Palaniswami and Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha M.Thambidurai here on Monday has fuelled the patch up speculations between the two factions of AIADMK. PMK's S. Ramadoss however said the attempt to bribe the Election Commission by Dinakaran should not be seen as his own act but as the act of Tamil Nadu government led by Chief Minister Palaniswami. "To save themselves and their posts these people would not even hesitate to negotiate with the Supreme Court and the Parliament," he added. After a late evening meeting, V K Sasikala faction has formed a group to hold talks with former Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and his supporters, which will pave way for the merger of two groups. Finance Minister D Jayakumar on Tuesday announced that ministers in the AIADMK (Amma) government had decided to keep out the ruling party's jailed general secretary, V K Sasikala, her deputy,T T V Dinakaran, and their family members out of the party. Finance Minister D Jayakumar on Tuesday announced that a section of ministers had decided to keep AIADMKs jailed General Secretary V K Sasikala and Deputy General Secretary T T V Dinakaran and their families out of the party. The Saudi-led military coalition fighting in Yemen said one of its helicopters crashed in eastern Yemen today, killing 12 Saudi officers in one of the deadliest incidents for the kingdom's troops since the war began more than two years ago. The Black Hawk helicopter crashed in the eastern province of Marib, the coalition said, adding that it is investigating the circumstances. The incident happened as US Defence Secretary James Mattis arrived in the Saudi capital to discuss the Yemen war with Saudi leaders. The coalition of mostly Arab Sunni countries has waged a campaign to dislodge Yemeni Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, who seized Yemen's capital and some other areas in 2014 and forced the internationally-recognised government to flee the country. The U war has claimed the lives of more than 10,000 civilians and led to the displacement of some 3 million Yemenis. Dozens of Saudi soldiers have been killed in cross- border attacks from Yemen. The single deadliest incident for coalition forces killed 45 troops from the United Arab Emirates in September 2015, when a rebel missile hit a weapons depot also in Marib. It was the deadliest day for its military in the UAE's 44-year history. Ten Saudis were killed in the blast too. Bahrain also lost five soldiers, though it was not clear if they were killed in the same incident. Mattis told reporters while heading to the kingdom that he will push for a political resolution to end the conflict. He said the Trump administration's goal is for the crisis "to be put in front of a UN-brokered negotiating team and try to resolve this politically as soon as possible." He also echoed past Saudi accusations that Houthis have been receiving arms from Iran, saying that the Iranians have supplied Houthis with missiles they use to fire on Saudi Arabia. Mattis is the highest-level Trump administration official to visit the kingdom. Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who is also Saudi defence minister, met Trump at the White House last month. Multiple rounds of UN-brokered peace talks have failed to bridge the gap between the warring parties in Yemen. President Abed-Rabbo Mansour Hadi insists on the implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions which stipulate that the Houthis pull their militias from the cities and hand over heavy weapons, while the Shiite rebels demand on a power-sharing deal before taking any security-related steps. Hadi's government, backed by the Saudi-led coalition, has regained control over southern Yemen, but has however failed to restore law and order in that part of the country as the extremist Islamic State group and al-Qaida militants have grown in numbers and expanded their footprints. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Rajasthan Police today arrested three persons while accepting a bribe of Rs 4 lakh each from the officials of an Ayurvedic college in Churu district. Nitin Marwah of Bhopal, Puneet Mishra and Rishi of Lucknow, all representing Central Council of Indian Medicine, had demanded bribe of Rs 12 lakh from the college administration for submitting inspection report in favour of the college owned by Gandhi Vidhyamandir organisation, Churu Additional SP (ACB) Ganesh Nath told PTI. The college administration had lodged a complaint with us following which a trap was laid, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) More than a decade after an eminent group of scientists gave the green signal for India to undertake a human space flight, the ambitious venture is nowhere near take-off in the absence of government approval. In November 2006, at a meeting convened by the Indian Space Research Organisation, scientists were highly appreciative of the study undertaken by the space agency on such a mission, and were unanimous in suggesting that the time is appropriate for the country to undertake the venture. But the mission seems to have fallen off the priority list of the Bengaluru-headquartered ISRO since then. "We need to get the approval for that programme, till that comes we are working on some critical technologies, like environmentally-controlled laboratory, flight suite," ISRO Chairman A S Kiran Kumar told PTI. "We have also done some re-entry experiment. Certain technology elements we will continue to develop until the country is ready for taking up this as a full-fledged programme," he said. "For this (the human space flight programme), the requisite priority has to be there, funding has to be there, then only activities will happen.". Kiran Kumar said ISRO's immediate priority is to meet the basic needs of communication, navigation and remote sensing. "First, we have to ensure all this is done adequately, there itself, we are trying to push the envelope and then (we have to undertake) more frequent launches so that we provide the requisite number of satellites in orbit for meeting all these requirements," he said. "So, that is still happening, not yet happened. That will remain the bigger priority," he said. According to him, work towards such a mission would continue. "As and when the approval etc. Comes, then we will take it up in a bigger way. At this point, priority is not that," Kiran Kumar said. Nearly 80 scientists from across the country had participated in the November 7, 2006 meeting to discuss the issues related to the mission, an ISRO press release at that time said. The ISRO had conducted studies for four years from 2002 to examine the technological challenges of such a mission and the Indian capability to undertake it. The concept for the venture included development of an autonomous orbital vehicle which could be launched by India's Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle, GSLV-Mk II or GSLV- Mk III, the release had said. Studies highlighted that the ISRO has maturity in many technologies required for the mission. However, new developments are required in life support systems, improved reliability and safety and crew escape system, among others. The meeting was attended by eminent scientists like U R Rao, Yash Pal, R Narasimha, R M Vasagam, N Pant, P S Goel, N Balakrishnan, A R Upadhya, T S Prahlad, S Vasantha and Avinash Chander, then ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair and Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian to travel in space. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tamil Nadu Government today said the Centre has granted the digital addressable system license (DAS) to its Arasu Cable Television. Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has issued a government order that the Digital Addressable System (DAS) license was given to Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable Television on April 17, an official release said. "It is for the first time that the DAS license has been provided to a State government agency. Through this initiative, people in Tamil Nadu will be able to get world class digital television service at affordable rates", it said. Tamil Nadu Government provides cable television service on analog signals through local operators at affordable rates. Following the Centre's notification to digitise four metros by December 2012, the government has been requesting the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to provide DAS license allowing it to provide digital services in Chennai and other parts of the State. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) News / National by Staff reporter Top civil servant and former State Procurement Board (SPB) chairperson Charles Tawonerera Kuwaza died early today in a case of suspected suicide.Mr Kuwaza reportedly leapt to his death from the 9th floor of Club Chambers building in Harare.It is said he was collecting documents to help with his defence in a matter before the courts.Kuwaza was facing five counts of corruption involving over $1 million and ZW$2,5 billion. He was freed on $2 000 bail on March 24.Sources at the scene of the tragedy said the former SPB boss went to his office around 11am. His wife who had accompanied then remained in the vehicle.When the wife made a follow up some 40 minutes later, Kuwaza's lifeless body was found crushed on the tarmac.Details to follow.. A judge who lay on a cot as though he were a condemned man on a gurney after issuing an order halting Arkansas' multiple execution plan has been barred from taking up any death penalty-related cases and referred to a disciplinary panel. The state Supreme Court yesterday reassigned the cases from Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen days after he participated in the anti-death penalty demonstration outside the governor's mansion. Griffen's protest has sparked outrage among death penalty supporters, including Republican lawmakers who described it as judicial misconduct and potential grounds for Griffen's removal from the bench. "To protect the integrity of the judicial system this court has a duty to ensure that all are given a fair and impartial tribunal," the court said in its two-page order. Justices also referred Griffen to the state Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission to consider whether he violated the code of conduct for judges. Griffen did not immediately return a message Monday seeking his reaction to the high court's order. He has said he's morally opposed to the death penalty and that his personal beliefs alone shouldn't disqualify him from taking up certain cases. For years, he has been pushing the boundaries of how much a judge can speak out on controversial issues. "We have never, in my knowledge, been so afraid to admit that people can have personal beliefs yet can follow the law, even when to follow the law means they must place their personal feelings aside," Griffen told The Associated Press on Saturday. On Friday, Griffen granted a restraining order preventing Arkansas from using its supply of vecuronium bromide, one of three drugs it uses in executions, because the supplier said the state misleadingly obtained the drug. The state has appealed the ruling, which blocked a plan to execute eight men in 11 days in four double executions, starting last night. Lawmakers have suggested the move may be grounds for the Arkansas House to begin impeachment proceedings, saying the demonstration and a blog post Griffen wrote on the death penalty last week may amount to "gross misconduct" under the state constitution. "He is outside the bounds of normal behaviour for most judges probably anywhere in America," Republican state Sen. Jason Rapert said. The Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission confirmed Monday an investigation of Griffen is pending following the state Supreme Court referral. Griffen, who served 12 years on the state appeals court, previously battled with the judicial discipline panel over remarks he made criticising President George W Bush and the war in Iraq. The panel ultimately dropped its case against him. Griffen testified before the state Legislature in 2015 against a religious objections measure that was criticised as anti-gay, and he regularly blogs about current events in posts that weave in Biblical passages. They include a post days before his ruling that criticised the execution push in Arkansas. "While the world meditates about divine love, forgiveness, justice, and hope, Arkansas officials plan to commit a series of homicides," he wrote. Griffen, 64, is a Baptist minister who was first elected as Pulaski County judge in 2010. He ran twice unsuccessfully for state Supreme Court including a bid for chief justice in 2004. In his other state Supreme Court race in 2006, Griffen challenged his rival to a debate over the free-speech rights of judges. Griffen said he wouldn't consider a person's participation in an anti-execution event enough, on its own, to warrant disqualifying a juror from a death penalty case. The question, he said, is whether the juror could set his or her personal views aside and follow the law. "We do not require people to come into court with blank slates, either in their minds or their heart," he said Saturday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The arrest of Vijay Mallya, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, by the Scotland Yard in London underlines the Modi government's will to act against people accused of defrauding public resources, the BJP said today. It is a confirmation of the government's relentless efforts and commitment to act against those involved in illegal activities like generation of black money, party spokesperson Nalin Kohli said. The Modi government has made it clear that such people will be dealt with severely, he said. It has acted at every level to bring the liquor baron to book, he said, noting that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had taken up the issue with his British counterpart. Right from the formation of a Special Investigation Team against black money in the first cabinet meeting under Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the current initiation of the extradition process against Mallya, the government has acted at every level, Kohli said. "Investigation agencies have a free hand to act without fear and favour," he said. The 61-year-old embattled Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender in India, was arrested in London on India's request for his extradition on fraud charges. He was released on bail a few hours later. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Tuesday condemned the opposition parties for terming the BJP as "anti-Muslims", while rejecting doling out more reservation to the community saying the demand has no "constitutional" merit. The Minister of State (independent charge) for Minority Affairs said the Muslim community has indicated that they will not let the anti-BJP forces "mislead or befool" them for "political benefits". Naqvi said the central government is working on programmes for establishing education and skill development facilities for the community and trying to get more industries set up to generate more employment opportunities. "There are schemes being launched for backward classes and that does not mean Muslims would not avail the benefits of the programmes because more than 50 per cent of the backward population consists of Muslims," he told PTI. "Muslims will get the major share of the development programmes," he added. Naqvi lashed out at the opponents who have been demanding reservation for the community, claiming the demand was "not based on legal or constitutional ground". He said for the districts having domination of Muslims the government has prepared a road map to establish polytechnics, IITs, educational institution right from primary level to higher standards and Garib Nawaz Skill development centres besides Sadbhawna Mandaps (goodwill generating centres) each with an investment of Rs 10 crore. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is touring places within and outside the country exploring avenues to attract business and industries in India. "Modi is not a PM but a Fakeer," Naqvi remarked. On opposition parties' claims that alleged tampering of EVMs led to BJP's victories in recent assembly elections, Naqvi said, "The Congress had formed government at the Centre twice and Mayawati, Akhilesh (Yadav), Mamata Banerjee and Arvind Kejriwal formed governments in their respective states using the same EVMs but none raised an eyebrow against the election commission then." On BSP supremo Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's apparent keenness to form a grand alliance to fight against the BJP, Naqvi said, "When the patriarch of the SP, Mulayam Singh, has opposed the move and the Congress too, so far, wishes to keep away from any said alliance, how the opponents would succeed in their endeavour." "Moreover if a few patients join hands to combat a wrestler they would again bite dust in the arena of democracy," he said, adding, "Long live the pita-putra klesh (referring to spat between Mulayam and Akhilesh)." The Union minister also hit out at Samajwadi Party leader and Rampur MLA Mohd Azam Khan for "spewing venom" during the last five years as Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister. "A person of Rampur has been habitual of spewing poison... It is not a hidden fact that the people pf Rampur experienced utmost zulm (atrocities) during the last five years. Extortion and corruption prevailed here unrestrained," he said, without naming Khan. When 42-year-old Muhammad Ali Jinnah popped the question to teenager Ruttie, little did he know that the only condition put forward by the bride-to-be would be "shaving off his moustache". And, Jinnah obliged. Not only did he get rid of his thick moustache, but also redid his hair to impress the lady. Senior journalist Sheela Reddy has revealed many such anecdotes from the eventful life of the founding father of Pakistan. In her new book, 'Mr and Mrs Jinnah - The Marriage that Shook India', Reddy has narrated the story about Jinnah's unhappy marriage to the Parsi girl, who was younger to him by 24 years. In an illustrated lecture about the book held here last evening, Reddy curated a series of rare photos of Mr and Mrs Jinnah and their respective families, complemented with interesting tales from their lives. Accompanying the photo of Ruttie Petit's father, Dinshaw Maneckji Petit, was this humorous story of Jinnah making the best use of his "cross-examining" skills of a barrister while asking his daughter's hand in marriage. "Jinnah was having a conversation with Ruttie's father, and he happened to ask him about his view on inter-communal marriage. Now, to sound politically correct Dinshaw said, 'this would be a great thing for the integration of the country'. "Next question was 'I want to marry your daughter'. It is said that he was thrown out of the door, and they both never met again," Reddy said. The narratives, however, were not limited to the stories mentioned in the book as she went on to talk about the intriguing story behind the making of the tome as well. Idling her time in Nehru Memorial Library, Reddy stumbled upon a parcel of private letters written by Ruttie to the two daughters of Sarojini Naidu - Padmaja and Leilamani Naidu. While initially she thought that she had everything that was required to write a book, it was only a matter of time before she realised that there was a long way to go and Pakistan was an important stop in that journey. "I went to Islamabad and asked for the letters exchanged between Jinnah and Petite and others. In all this, I did not realise I had written my Indian address in the register. "Smelling something wrong, they asked me to leave and I was debarred from that place. Even then I managed to get the files with the help of my Pakistani friend, but then there was nothing, barring some letters written by Jinnah's daughter to him," she said. The author's quest ended after she returned to Mumbai on the recommendation of Pakistani scholars who told her, "You are in a wrong place, go to Bombay." Jinnah spent a major part of his life in Bombay, where he lived until he moved to Pakistan after the Partition. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Nepal's largest Catholic Church was today vandalised by some unidentified persons who tried to set it on fire on the outskirts of Kathmandu, the church said. The arson attack partially damaged the abode of pastor and western entrance of the Catholic Church which is located in Lalitpur district's Dhobighat area, about seven kms form Kathmandu, the church said in a statement. A car and two bikes parked inside the Assumption Church were gutted in the fire, police said. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Nepal Catholic Church has expressed deep sorrow over the incident and hoped that the government would conduct an impartial investigation into the incident. The organisation reiterated that such inhumane activities at the holy place cannot falter it in its services. The Assumption Church has also requested those involved in such violent activities to refrain from violence. There is a small Christian community in Nepal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday said the Centre wanted a stable government in Tamil Nadu and neither it nor the BJP had any role in the present "internal instability" in the ruling AIADMK in that state. "The BJP or the Centre has no role in the internal instability in the AIADMK. The Centre does not interfere in the affairs of the states. We want a stable government in Tamil Nadu for the sake of development," the Union Urban Development Minister told reporters here. "The people there (Tamil Nadu) had voted for Amma (Jayalalithaa) but unfortunately, she is no more. The party (AIADMK) should resolve its differences for the sake of the people," he said. Refuting the allegation levelled by the opposition that the BJP-led NDA at the Centre was meddling with the affairs of the states, Naidu asserted that the union government did not interfere "unless in an extreme case scenario". "The opposition has developed a habit of blaming everything on the Centre. Any incident that may happen in any remote corner of the country, the opposition blames it on the Centre. But it must be remembered that law-and-order is a state matter and the Centre does not interfere in it," he said on the sidelines of a meeting here. "The Centre will not interfere unless in an extreme case," said Naidu, who was here to review the implementation of schemes in the eight north-eastern states under his ministries information and broadcasting, urban development and housing and urban poverty alleviation. Regarding the opposition blaming faulty electronic voting machines (EVMs) for its recent electoral loses, Naidu said, "Earlier, when they (opposition) would win elections and we would lose, they found no fault with the EVMs. Now they are calling the same EVMs as Every Vote to Modi." The opposition charges were "absurd", he said, adding, "They are unable to digest the reality." Naidu also took a jibe at the Congress by describing the party as a "sinking ship" which was "fast turning into a notional party from a national one". "All its (Congress) leaders and members are leaving the party and joining the BJP. It will soon cease to be a national party and remain just as a notional party," he claimed. Naidu declined to comment on demands within the Congress for handing over the party's reins to its vice-president Rahul Gandhi. "It is an internal matter of the Congress. BJP will not say anything about it. "The Congress believes in dynastic . The same family has been leading it. BJP is a democratic party. We cannot comment on their leadership change," he said. Chandrapur in Vidarbha today recorded the maximum temperature of 46.4 degree Celsius, which was highest in Maharashtra, the data released by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) revealed. Chandrapur's temperature shot up by 4.7 degree Celsius above normal to be at 46.4 degree Celsius. The minimum temperature there stood at 26.2 degree Celsius, it said. Pune recorded lowest temperature in the state at 20.4 degree Celsius, while the maximum temperature was 40.8 degree Celsius, it said. "There is a heatwave like condition in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, but areas like Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada do not have any heatwave alerts. The temperature is upwards in most of the areas. "The heat wave intensity is more in the central parts of the country, with Saurashtra, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan heating up severely; it is affecting temperature in Maharashtra as well," V K Rajeev, director of IMD-Mumbai told PTI. Most of the areas except the Konkan region are experiencing maximum temperature of more than 40 degree Celsius in the state. Mumbai's temperature remained normal as it recorded 33 degree Celsius as maximum temperature and minimum temperature at 26.3 degree Celsius, said the data. All the weather stations of IMD in Vidarbha recorded maximum temperature above 40 degree Celsius, the IMD data revealed. While Chandrapur was the hottest, Nagpur recorded 45.5 degree Celsius maximum temperature. It recorded a minimum temperature at 26.5 degree Celsius. Wardha recorded a maximum temperature of 45 degree Celsius and minimum temperature of 26.5 degree Celsius, the IMD data revealed. Buldhana in Vidarbha reported highest rise in minimum temperature at 5.3 degree Celsius to 29.4 degree Celsius. It's maximum temperature was 41 degree Celsius, the IMD data revealed. In neighbouring Marathwada, Nanded recorded 44.4 degree Celsius. It's minimum temperature was 24.5 degree Celsius. While Osmanabad reported maximum temperature at 43.1 degree Celsius. The minimum temperature was not available. Aurangabad, reported maximum rise in its minimum temperature in Marathwada. It's minimum temperature rose by 5.8 degree Celsius taking it to 28 degree Celsius. Aurangabad reported 41.4 degree Celsius as maximum temperature, said the IMD data. Malegaon in Nashik district was the hottest place in Madhya Maharashtra with 44.6 degree Celsius maximum temperature. It's night temperature was 25.4 degree Celsius. Solapur's minimum temperature fell by 1.5 degree Celsius to 23.2 degree Celsius. It recorded a maximum temperature of 43.8 degree Celsius. Ahmednagar reported 44.3 degree Celsius as maximum temperature. It's minimum temperature was 20.6 degree Celsius, the data revealed. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The retreat of one of Canada's largest glaciers has changed the flow of a northern river almost overnight in an extreme case of what researchers call climate change "river piracy." The discovery of the Slims River diversion away from the Bering Sea into another watershed that empties into the Pacific Ocean was published yesterday in the journal Nature Geoscience. Gerard Roe, co-author of the study and a professor at the University of Washington in Seattle in the US state of Washington, told AFP today that the Slims riverbed had dried up in only four days. "The habitat was altered," he said in a telephone interview. "The chemistry and biology of the water changed dramatically." Researchers led by Canadian geomorphologist Daniel Shugar of the University of Washington in Tacoma had traveled to Canada's northern Yukon Territory last August to study the river's currents, but it was gone. They traced its mysterious disappearance to the Slims River's headwaters, where they found a glacial barrier that once routed its flow northward into the Bering Sea had been breached in the spring. This "abruptly and radically" altered drainage from the Kaskawulsh Glacier spring melt, according to the study, sent the river in the opposite direction into the Pacific Ocean, 1,300 kilometers away from where the mouth of the river used to be. Shugar and his team used computer models to show the fast glacier melt -- and the subsequent river diversion -- was due to global climate change, and not natural temperature fluctuations over centuries. Such changes, they warned in the study, can have "profound downstream impacts" on ecosystems and communities that rely on the discharge. Last summer, for example, Kluane Lake, which was fed by the Slims River, dropped a full meter below its lowest recorded level for that time of year. Another research team member, John Clague of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, said the discovery highlights that while people view climate change as a gradual process, its effects may not be. "To me, it's kind of a metaphor for what can happen with sudden change induced by climate," he told the daily Globe and Mail. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The predominantly tourist state of Uttarakhand "cannot afford" to go for a total ban on liquor, Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said today, noting that prohibition had "failed" in Bihar and Haryana. Regulation, he said, is always a better option than total prohibition and the state government is moving steadily towards that goal. Citing the examples of Haryana where liquor was banned when late Bansi Lal was at the helm and Bihar where prohibition is in force, Rawat said the experiment had failed in both states. "While it had to be revoked in Haryana with people hitting the streets in protest against the move, I have reports that international conferences are not being held in Bihar's capital Patna any more due to non-availability of liquor in the markets. "Meets and conferences hosted by Bihar government in which foreign delegates participate are now being shifted to Ranchi, the capital of the neighbouring state of Jharkhand or the neighbouring Varanasi in UP where there is no prohibition," he said in an informal chat with reporters at his official residence on completion of one month in office. He noted that total prohibition also leads to illicit liquor trade. "We don't want to make liquor a source of earning revenue and will regulate its sale and consumption in a gradual way to discourage it and save the younger generation from its ill effects. But we are predominantly a tourist state earning around Rs 2000 crore annually from tourist arrivals. We cannot afford to go for total prohibition," the Chief Minister said. He said from May 1 onwards when the state government's new excise policy will come into effect liquor shops in Uttarakhand will be open only for six hours from 3 PM to 9 PM. Terming it as one of the first steps towards regulating liquor trade and consumption in the state, he said rules are also being framed to deal toughly with people creating nuisance in public places after consuming alcohol. On comparisons being drawn between him and his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister said their objective was the same. "We may be going at our own pace but the goal is the same.We have to provide corruption free, transparent and balanced governance," he said. Taking electricity to all the villages by the end of 2017, reining in migration from the hills through employment generation and putting an end to illegal mining and prevalent cheating of people in registry of land purchased by them are among the priorities of the state government, he said. "Following complaints that one piece of land was being registered in the name of as many as four persons, a fool- proof mechanism is being put in place to ensure that no one is cheated by registry officials when they go to them for the registry of their property," he said. The state government has also set a target of earning Rs 1000 crore this year from mining, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) After maintaining a studied silence for days, the Congress in Maharashtra today moved to pacify its sulking leader Narayan Rane, who reportedly met BJP President Amit Shah in Ahmedabad last week. The 64-year-old former Chief Minister and his MLA-son Nitesh were spotted with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis during his Ahmedabad visit. There were reports that Rane had met Shah and he was headed towards the BJP camp. However, the Shivsainik-turned-Congressman denied he was joining the BJP, but maintained he was unhappy with the Congress. He also denied meeting Fadnavis in Ahmedabad. The Congress has so far refrained from speaking on the Rane issue. However, today two of its leaders - former minister Arif Mohammed Naseem Khan and ex-Lok Sabha MP Milind Deora - met Rane at his office in South Mumbai. Congress sources said the two leaders met Rane, who is an MLC, on the directives of the party's central leadership. Khan and Deora sought to know Rane's grievances against the party, they said. Rane told them nothing is being done to strengthen the party organisation in Maharashtra, where the BJP came to power in 2014 after ending the 15-year-old rule of Congress-NCP alliance, the sources said. Since then the saffron outfit has won a string of local body elections in Maharashtra, which was once a Congress bastion. Rane lost the 2014 Assembly polls from Kudal in Sindhudurg district, his home turf, while his son Nilesh was defeated from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg seat in the Lok Sabha elections held the same year. Rane made an attempt to enter the Assembly in April 2015 in a by-election from Bandra (East) but lost to the Shiv Sena. He was later rehabilitated in the Legislative Council. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) News / National by Staff reporter A 16 member delegation comprising students and teachers who left the country a week ago for the Orate Africa competitions held in Karibu, Kenya are back in the country with 16 medals and two trophies.The students from Criste Mambo, Mtshabezi and Kuwadzana 2 High School have arrived back in the country from Kenya where they battled it out in the public speaking competitions and came third.The first position was taken by Kenya followed by Botswana with Zimbabwe on third out of the 13 African countries which took part in the competitions.It was a good experience for the students who took part in public speaking, debate, spelling, quiz, poetry and short story competitions.Kuwadzana 2 High School head Mrs Mary Mupandawana who was at the airport to welcome her team said she is delighted with the achievements of the team which won a trophy in quiz.The team won 16 individual medals with Criste Mambo winning a trophy in poetry. A glacier's risk of thinning can be predicted by analysing its shape, according to a new study that could help predict how much the Greenland Ice Sheet will contribute to future sea-level rise during the next century. Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin in the US identified glaciers in West Greenland that are most susceptible to thinning in the coming decades by analysing how they are shaped. "There are glaciers that popped up in our study that flew under the radar until now," said Denis Felikson, a graduate research assistant at The University of Texas Institute for Geophysics (UTIG). The Greenland Ice Sheet is the second-largest ice sheet on Earth and has been losing mass for decades, a trend scientists have linked to a warming climate. However, the mass change experienced by individual coastal glaciers, which flow out from the ice sheet into the ocean, is highly variable. This makes predicting the impact on future sea-level rise difficult. The new study could help predict how much the Greenland Ice Sheet will contribute to future sea-level rise during the next century, a number that currently ranges from inches to feet, researchers said. "We were looking for a way to explain why this variability exists, and we found a way to do it that has never been applied before on this scale," Felikson said. The analysis works by calculating how far inland thinning that starts at the terminus of each glacier is likely to extend. Glaciers with thinning that reaches far inland are the most susceptible to ice mass loss. How susceptible a glacier is to thinning depends on its thickness and surface slope, features that are influenced by the landscape under the glacier. Thinning spreads more easily across thick and flat glaciers and is hindered by thin and steep portions of glaciers, researchers said. Felikson said these calculations will help improve estimates on how much Greenland can contribute to future sea- level rise. However, while the method can point out vulnerable areas, it can not predict how much mass loss is likely to occur. "The approach we demonstrate here allows us to identify which outlet glaciers are not yet changing rapidly, but might," said Tim Bartholomaus, an associate professor at the University of Idaho in the US. "With that knowledge, we can anticipate potential sea- level rise and set up the observational campaigns in advance to understand these glacier changes," said Bartholomaus. The study was published in the journal Nature Geoscience. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre has extended a ceasefire agreement with two insurgent groups in Nagaland for one more year from April 28. The ceasefire agreement is between the central government and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Reformation) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Neokpao- Khitovi). "It was decided by the government of India to extend the Suspension of Operation with NSCN-R and NSCN-NK for a further period of one year with effect from April 28," an official statement said here today. The pact was signed by Satyendra Garg, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs on behalf of the government of India, and Toshi Longkumer and Imlongnukshi Chang on behalf of NSCN-R and Jack Jimomi on behalf of NSCN-NK. The two insurgent groups, which operate in Nagaland, are among several other armed groups of the state such as NSCN (Isak-Muivah) and NSCN (Khaplang). While the NSCN (I-M) has entered into a ceasefire agreement in 1997 and has been maintaining it since then, the pact with NSCN (K) has been broken after the group attacked a military convoy in Manipur in June 2015, killing 18 soldiers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation will buy 3,500 BS-IV compliant buses by this year end, its Managing Director Vijay Nehra said today. "GSRTC will buy these buses by the end of this year. We will invest nearly Rs 800 crore for the purchase. The decision will also help in addressing the concerns of environment conservation," Nehra told PTI. The Corporation's decision comes after the Supreme Court banned the sale and registration of vehicles in the country which are not compliant with BS-IV emission norms, from April 1. Bharat Stage emission standards' are emission standards instituted by the Central government to regulate the output of air pollutants from internal combustion engine equipment, including motor vehicles. The standards and the time-line for implementation are set by the Central Pollution Control Board. Besides, Nehra said as many as 14 more bus stations (state transport terminals) in the state will be upgraded with modern passenger amenities. GSRTC has already modernised ST terminals in Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Surat and Mehsana districts. "We will modernise 14 more state transport terminals in the coming months and the plan includes modernisation of 30 ST terminals located in headquarters of each district in the state," he said. Nehra said that GSRTC has also launched an app - Track Your Bus - to facilitate passengers with easy bus tracking system. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Haryana Cabinet headed by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today approved a Bill for setting up a state university at Gurugram. The Bill will be introduced in the upcoming session of Vidhan Sabha, an official spokesman said here. The main campus of the state university will be at village Kankarola located at a distance of about 15 km from Gurugram. The university will impart education, training and research in multi-disciplinary fields, he said. It has also been decided to transfer 373 kanals and 19 marla of land belonging to Gram Panchayat Kankarola to the proposed university at Gurugram on lease basis. There is need to double the number of educational institutions by 2020 to accommodate the unprecedented growth of students in higher education, and also to achieve 30 per cent gross enrollment ratio, the spokesman said. "There is a huge scope and the new university will open new vistas, horizons and opportunities of higher education for the students of the region in particular, and the state, in general," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Madras High Court today directed former Home Secretary, Apurva Verma to appear in court over a contempt petition by a retired DIG in a matter relating to his promotion. C Kannan, who attained superannuation as DIG (Prisons) in 2000, had moved the Court,submitting that his name was wrongly excluded in regulation promotion for 1993-94 and his request for being included in the promotion list was rejected. A single judge dismissed it following which he filed an appeal before a Division Bench. The bench in its November 19 2014 final order, directed Apurva Verma to consider and pass revival order only for the purpose of giving notional promotion in the cadre of Jailor as well as in the category of Additional Superintendent of Prisons and pass orders within a period of three months. The order was also communicated to Varma on January 10 2015. But it was not complied with and so he filed the contempt petition, he said. The contempt petition came up today before a division bench,comprising Justices K K Sasidharan and M V Muralidharan. After the Additional Advocate General sought more time,the bench noted it had come up for hearing on March March 21 when the Special Government Pleader took time to get instructions. "Even today, the Additional Advocate General sought for time. Hence, issue statutory notice to Apurva Verma IAS, the then Home Secretary," the bench said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) State oil firm HPCL and the Rajasthan government today inked a revised MoU of Rs 43,129 crore for an oil refinery in Barmer district which will produce BS-VI fuel. The work on the refinery will commence in the current financial year and will complete in next four years, Union Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan told reporters here. It will be the largest industrial investment in the state, the minister said further. Under the new terms and conditions, the refinery cost has come down to Rs 16,845 crore, which was Rs 56,040 crore in the previous MoU done by the Congress government in 2013, Pradhan said. "It was a direct loss of Rs 40,000 crore to the state of Rajasthan in 15 years. In the previous MoU, the state had to give Rs 3,736 crore interest free loan every year for 15 years, which would have burdened the state finances," Pradhan told reporters after signing of the MoU. The state government will have 26 per cent stake in the refinery project while HPCL will have the rest shareholding. The board of HPCL yesterday agreed on reduced fiscal incentives from the state government and approved resumption of work on the oil refinery. HPCL, in March 2013, had signed an MoU with the Rajasthan government for setting up the refinery-cum- petrochemical complex in the Thar desert near the oil discoveries made by Cairn India. The refinery however never took off as a change of guard in the state led to the Rajasthan government putting on hold the fiscal incentives for the project. Elaborating further about the upcoming refinery project, Pradhan said that HPCL, that had to spend Rs 37,230 crore under the previous deal, will now spend Rs 43,129 crore. "Oil field permission had to end in 2020 but we have provided permission to the refinery to run for 10 more years. Apart from 43,129 crore, additional Rs 27,000 crore investment will be made in the refinery, oil field and petro-chemical complex. "Overall, Rs 70,000 crore worth investment will be made in next four years," Pradhan said. According to the fresh MoU, the refinery will produce BS-VI emission norms compliant fuel. The government plans to move to BS-VI emission norms by 2020. The HPCL board, in March 2013, had approved setting up of the complex at a cost of Rs 37,320 crore. Half of the crude oil requirement at the proposed refinery at Barmer was to come from the neighbouring oil fields of Cairn India. The rest was to be imported crude. At that point, HPCL had asked the state government to extend fiscal benefits like the ones extended by Gujarat and Odisha to new refinery projects to make the Barmer unit viable. The concessions included 50 per cent exemption in excise duty, waiver of VAT on products sold in Rajasthan and the state government picking a small stake in the project. The state government also signed an MoU with Gas Authority of India Limited (Gail) for piped domestic gas line network in Kota. Rajasthan State GasLimited (RSGL) signed the MoU with Gail authorities to supply domestic gas to households. Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said that the work will commence soon for providing clean energy which will improve quality life of the people. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that every year 5 lakh women die due to non- availability of clean fuel. He said that the BJP-led government has provided 43 lakh domestic LPG connections in almost three years in Rajasthan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India is examining "consequences" of Australia's decision to abolish a popular work visa used by over 95,000 foreign workers, majority of them Indians, and said the issue will also be looked at in the context of free trade talks. The programme, known as 457 visa, allows businesses in Australia to employ foreign workers for a period up to four years in skilled jobs where there is a shortage of Australian workers. "The government is examining consequences of the new policy in consultation with all stakeholders. This is also a matter we will be looking at in the context of Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Gopal Baglay said today. Announcing his government's decision to abolish 457 visa, Australian Prime Minister Melcolm Turnbull said though his country was an immigration nation, the fact remains that Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs. The majority of the visa holders under the 457 category were from India, accounting almost a quarter of the intake, followed by the UK and China at 19.5 per cent and 5. 8 per cent respectively, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CBI and the Indian High Commission in London will present India's case in the UK court for extradition of controversial industrialist Vijay Mallya as the government looks to break the myth that a law breaker is out of bound once he is out of country. A top source said India is seeking extradition of Mallya for defaulting on loans due to IDBI. "We want to shatter this myth that by crossing boundaries you are out of bounds. Mallya extradition will act as an important test case," the source said. The embattled businessman, who has been declared a proclaimed offender in India, was today arrested in London by the Scotland Yard on India's request for his extradition on fraud charges. The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station this morning. The flamboyant businessman, who once called himself 'The King of Good Times", was released on bail a few hours later. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian-American CEO has been ordered to pay USD 135,000 to her former domestic worker after a Labour Department investigation found she underpaid and mistreated her. Himanshu Bhatia, CEO of Rose International and IT Staffing, will have to pay her former live-in domestic service worker back wages and damages under the terms of a consent judgement entered into the US District Court for the Central District of California. The judgement, entered on April 11, resolves a complaint filed by the US Department of Labour in August last year. An investigation by the department's Wage and Hour Division found that Bhatia willfully and repeatedly violated federal labour laws' minimum wage and record keeping provisions from July 2012 to December 2014. The complaint alleged that Bhatia paid her domestic service worker, who had been identified in an earlier complaint as Sheela Ningwal, a fixed monthly salary of USD 400 plus food and housing at Bhatia's home in San Juan Capistrano and other residences in Miami, Las Vegas and Long Beach. Investigators found that the employee suffered "callous abuse" and retaliation, including being forced to sleep on a piece of carpet in the garage when ill, while Bhatia's dogs slept on a mattress nearby. The complaint also alleged that Bhatia confiscated Ningwal's passport. Bhatia terminated the worker in December 2014 after she allegedly found her employee researching labour laws online, and after the worker refused to sign a document stating she was being paid an adequate salary and had no employment dispute with Bhatia. "This consent judgement underlines the department's commitment to protecting workers from exploitation," said Janet Herold, solicitor for the Department of Labour's Western Region. "The department will take strong and immediate action to ensure that workers are protected against retaliation. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An Indian-origin woman doctor, charged with performing genital mutilation on two minor girls, has denied the allegations, saying she merely performed a religious ritual for families of a Muslim sect. Jumana Nagarwala, 44, was arrested and charged with performing female genital mutilation (FGM) on minor girls aged 6 and 8 out of a medical office in Livonia, Michigan. Her lawyer Shannon Smith said Nagarwala told her that the procedure was part of a religious practice that is tied to a Muslim group Dawoodi Bohra that the doctor belongs to, Detroit Fress Press reported. According to the complaint, some of the minor victims allegedly traveled inter-state to have Nagarwala perform the procedure, the report said. All of this was disclosed at a detention hearing for Nagarwala, who was ordered locked up pending the outcome of her case. The judge concluded she was a danger to the community and a flight risk after hearing arguments from both sides. The government argued that Nagarwala engaged in secretive practice that has potentially harmed numerous young girls across Michigan. And she did it after hours, in a private unnamed clinic in Livonia, without keeping any records or billing anyone, the government said. According to Nagarwala's profile in the Henry Ford Health System website, she speaks English and Gujarati. The complaint alleges that Nagarwala performed FGM on minor girls. This is believed to be the first case brought under a US law, which criminalises FGM. The number of girls under 18 at risk for FGM in the US has quadrupled since 1997. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 513,000 women and girls are at risk of FGM in the US. Congress passed a law in 1996 making it illegal to perform genital mutilation or cutting in the US on anyone under than 18. FGM is punishable by up to five years in prison, however, it is not a crime in 26 US states, including Michigan. The girls were later interviewed by a forensic expert and one of the girls said she was told she was coming to Detroit for a "special" girls trip, but after arriving at the hotel, she learned that she and the other girl had to go to the doctor because "our tummies hurt". The girls had been taken to Nagarwala, who performed the procedure on the girls. The World Health Organisation said female genital mutilation comprises all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons. More than 200 million girls and women alive today have been cut in 30 countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where FGM is concentrated. WHO said FGM, which is mostly carried out on young girls between infancy and age 15, is a violation of the human rights of girls and women. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opinion / Columnist Zimbabwe is turning 37 on Tuesday 18th April 2017 with no symptoms of political and economic maturity. All this mess born out of ZANU PF's systematic abuse of the liberation struggle in the process turning themselves into black colonialists and capitalists. Without doubt the liberation struggle was a universal crusade designed for black emancipation, promotion of equality and equity ,economic empowerment and political independence through majority rule. But with only one President for 37 years there is no doubt the country is moving backwards.National People's Party constitution states "We acknowledge and recognize the history of the republic of Zimbabwe in particular colonialism and the liberation struggle.We remain indebted to the role that African countries and many other nations played in the struggle for democracy and liberation in our country".Apparently this year's uhuru is held at a time when the economy is in tatters.High unemployment rate is the order of the day. Everyone has been turned into a vendor. Talk of the diaspora population in search of a better tomorrow. Next door in South Africa our brothers and sisters are enduring xenophobic attacks. Our kids are being forced into prostitution. About 200 Zimbabwean girls were subjected to sexual enslavement and labor exploitation in the Gulf state of Kuwait all in search of green pastures. Ironically ZANU PF had promised 2.2 milion jobs in its 2013 manifesto but instead of creating jobs about 30 000 jobs were lost. Of course we created a well paying job for our dear in-law, Simba, at air Zimbabwe. Does this call for a celebration??The chaotic land reform programme which gave most productive land to Mugabe's cronies has led to the collapse of the Agricultural sector. Zimbabwe is now depending on food handouts. From being a bread basket to a basket case. Cry my beloved country. Zimbabwe needs a wholistic approach to rebuild the agricultural sector not the panel beating techniques such as command agriculture programmes. What's there to celebrate when we have been turned into a nation of beggars.Our independence is also tainted with recent reports of clear abuse of power by the first family.Grace Mugabe displacing villagers in Mazoe living them homeless without food or accommodation. The question then remains while the poor are becoming poorer with the richer becoming richer. Is it worthy to celebrate independence.Corruption is the order of the day. It starts from Zim1 himself to the lowest ranking police officer. The police roadblocks and tollgates are the cash cows to sustain the Singapore trips. The brown envelope please. Should we really celebrate this rubbish??The financial sector is reeling under heavy liquidity crunch. Zero confidence in the said sector. Serious cash shortages have seen long ques in banks with government introducing bond notes and withdrawal limits but to no avail. Tobacco farmers are stranded at auction floors sleeping on floors going for days without food waiting for their hard earned cash. Our pensioners are spending days hoping to make withdrawals. As the saying goes you can cheat the elections but you can't cheat the economy. We don't want casino economics. Things fall apart. Any reason to celebrate!!Our health sector is in shambles. Hospitals are now death chambers. What with unhappy staff operating with zero drugs. Hospital blankets are infested with lice. Very well qualified doctors but underpaid. Strikes by doctors and nurses are the order of the day. Is this a conducive environment to treat patients. Patients die in ques waiting for treatment. This is not the time a mother should die to give a life but this is happening at our biggest referral hospitals. Any reason to celebrate!!Our roads have become death traps due to potholes.So sad.From Zambezi Valley to limpompo ,from the eastern border with Mozambique to western border with Botswana funerals have become birthdays.Surely a closer audit of the liberation struggle shows that Zimbabwe attained flag and anthem with nothing to celebrate out it.Harare Masvingo Beitbridge road network is a bomb on its own. How many have perished on that narrow pothole infested road ? Thousands but are the powers that be bothered. Oh hell not a bit. How much money has Zinara collected from tollgates but don't bother to build a better road network. Always promising but zero deliverable. Everywhere drumholes. The motoring public has suffered heavy losses in front suspensions. But he is enjoying in his motorized massage wheelchair. Should we celebrate!!!There is clear testimony at hand that ZANU PF and Mugabe have completely failed to preserve the values and principles of the liberation strugge hence the only option left to them is to resign,apologise and call for internationally observed elections to afford a chance to Zimbabweans to protect and celebrate their uhuru without compromise.The first option is doubtable though due to ZANU PF's obsession with power. With that in mind, the only option left for both Zimbabweans and ZANU PF is for the inevitable constitutional call to Zimbabwean elections due next year 2018. Zimbabweans are presented with a rare chance to vote for true ambassadors of Zimbabwe's independence non other than National People's Party.As National People's Party we call upon all who calls himself/herself Zimbabwean to please come and let's fight the system that has robbed us of our ubuntu. Let's liberate ourselves through the 2018 vote. Let's start by registering to vote. Zanupf can only rig the election if very few of us vote. Women and youths please let's rise up to the challenge. We are the majority. Now is the time. 18 April 2019 we will surely be celebrating our hard earned independence.Aluta continuaNPP - IBandla laBantuIBandla laBantu - NPPJoy rova bhora - keeper arimu wheelchairMarian ChomboInterim National Chairlady National People's Party Four warships of the Indian Navy have arrived in Souda Bay in Greece on a three-day visit. The ships -- INS Mumbai, INS Trishul, INS Tarkash and INS Aditya -- are part of the Indian Navy's Overseas Deployment (OSD) to the Mediterranean Sea and the West Coast of Africa. The ships arrived in Souda Bay yesterday. "The warships will engage with the Hellenic Navy during their stay in the country," the Navy said in a statement. The four warships are part of the Indian Navy's Western Naval Command and are based in Mumbai. "The Task Group is headed by Rear Admiral RB Pandit, the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, who is flying his flag on the indigenous guided missile destroyer, INS Mumbai. "The current visit seeks to underscore India's peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly and like-minded countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain," the Navy said. An MoU for defence cooperation between India and Greece was signed in 1998. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has announced that tourists and businessmen from India and 17 other countries can visit the country's far east without visas to boost tourism and investment in the region. Medvedev said yesterday that businessmen and tourists will not need to undergo the traditional procedure of Russian visas receipt. According to the official site of the Russian Cabinet, the list of 18 countries comprises Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, India, Iran, Qatar, China, North Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey and Japan, Tass agency reported. "I have recently approved the list of countries, whose nationals can take advantage of the preferential regime," Medvedev said. "We are pro actively forming the modern infrastructure and creating special regimes in the far east; the law on visits to the Vladivostok free port was approved in March," he said. Cancellation of visa procedures for tourists and businessmen "will promote growth of investment and tourist attractiveness of the far east," the prime minister said. The region will earn more money from tourist traffic growth, he added. Eighteen countries from various regions selected by the reciprocity principle were included into the list, Medvedev said. "This is not because these states are situated at a closer or longer distance - we are appropriately introducing bilateral agreements on visa-free travel for those ready to use such an approach for us," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Maximum temperatures dipped in parts of Rajasthan today owing to an incoming western disturbance even as many places in the country continued to sizzle under intense heat. The national capital today experiencing the hottest day in April in the last seven years as the mercury crossed the 43 degrees Celsius mark in some parts of the city which reeled under heatwave. The Safdarjung observatory, whose recording is considered the official figure for Delhi, recorded a maximum temperature of 42.5 degrees Celsius. Areas under Palam, Lodhi Road, Ridge and Ayanagar registered maximum temperatures of 43.7, 41.8, 43.4 and 42.6 degrees Celsius, respectively, the MeT department said. Several places in western Rajasthan experienced a slight relief from the scorching heat as maximum temperatures fell by one to three degrees Celsius. Western disturbance will reach the state tomorrow thus changing the wind pattern which led to dip in maximum temperatures, the MeT department said. Sriganganagar was the hottest place in the state with maximum temperature of 45.8 degrees Celsius followed by Churu 45.5 degrees Celsius, Pilani 44.6 degrees Celsius, Kota 44 degrees Celsius Bikaner 43.6 degrees Celsius and Jaipur 43 degrees Celsius. Odisha continued to sizzle under intense heat, mainly in the western region with Balangir being the hottest place in the state recording a high of 44.5 degrees Celsius. The mercury breached the 40-degree mark in at least 10 places in the state as Titlagarh, also in Balangir district, recorded a maximum temperature of 44 degrees Celsius. Two sunstroke deaths have so far been reported in the state -- one from Bargarh and the other from Angul district. Bhawanipatna recorded a maximum temperature of 43.7 degrees Celsius, followed by 42.4 degrees Celsius in Malkangiri, 42.3 degrees Celsius in Angul town, 41.4 degrees Celsius in Hirakud and 41 degrees in both Jharsuguda and Talcher. Intense heatwave conditions continued to prevail in parts of Haryana and Punjab, with Narnaul once again turning out to be the hottest place in the two states at 44.8 degrees Celsius. Hisar was closely behind at 44.7 degrees Celsius, while Ambala and Karnal also recorded above normal maximum temperatures of 40.2 degrees Celsius and 41 degrees Celsius respectively. The mercury touched 43.6 degrees Celsius at Amritsar. Ludhiana too had a hot day at 43.2 degrees Celsius, while Patiala sizzled at 42.6 degrees Celsius. Weather remained dry in most parts of Uttar Pradesh while heatwave conditions were experienced at isolated places in the western region of the state. Jhansi was the hottest place in the state, where mercury touched a high of 43.8 degrees Celsius. With temperatures soaring above the 40 degree mark in many parts of Telangana today, the IMD has warned of heatwave like conditions in all districts of the state tomorrow. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mahabubnagar, Khammam and Hyderabad city witnessed heatwave conditions yesterday. Day temperatures rose marginally in most parts of Himachal Pradesh today even as the local MeT office has warned of hailstorm and squall in the lower hills later this week in lower hills. The mercury rose to 41 degrees Celsius at Una in the lower hills while Shimla recorded a high of 27.5 degrees Celsius. Manali registered a high of 26 degrees Celsius, while the mercury touched 35.8 degrees Celsius at Sundernagar, 34.8 degrees in Bhuntar and 33.5 degrees Celsius at Solan. The weather in Bihar remained dry since yesterday with Gaya recording the highest maximum temperature of 39.7 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature in the state capital was 37.4 degrees Celsius. Bhagalpur recorded a high of 38.2 degrees Celsius. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A policeman was killed and three were injured after suspected Islamic State terrorists opened fire on a security checkpoint near Saint Catharine monastery in Egypt's South Sinai, the Ministry of Interior has said. According to the SITE Intelligence Group, the IS- affiliated Amaq news agency announced that the group's militants carried out the attack on Tuesday. The gunmen targeted a security checkpoint outside the monastery where they exchanged fire with police forces, a statement by the ministry said. In retaliatory firing by police, some attackers were injured which forced them to flee, the statement added. The injured have been transferred to Sharm El-Shiekh Hospital for treatment, security officials said. India and Canada today held extensive talks on enhancing defence and security cooperation between the two countries. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley and his Canadian counterpart Harjit Singh Sajjan explored ways to deepen the security ties. Sajjan arrived here yesterday on a seven-day India visit, his first after assuming charge as Canada's Minister of National Defence. Sajjan, a Sikh, will also travel to Amritsar, Chandigarh and Mumbai. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A life term convict in the infamous 1998 Jhabua nuns' gangrape case was arrested from a village here today, eleven years after he jumped parole and went underground, the police said. "Pidiya Singadia (42), who was serving life imprisonment in the nuns' gang rape case, had jumped parole 11 years ago and remained absconding since then. A reward of Rs 10,000 was announced on him by the then Indore Inspector General of Police," Superintendent of Police (SP) Mahesh Chandra Jain told reporters. Jain said Singadia, who has been arrested from Roonakheda village here, was serving the life term in Indore jail. "The convict did not return after he was released on parole in 2006 and instead went underground. On a tip off that Singadia was brandishing a sword and threatening people at Roonakheda village, a team of police personnel rounded him up," Jain said. Following his arrest, Singadia was booked under Arms Act. The incident dates back to September 23-24, 1998, when a group of persons gang-raped three nuns residing in Preeti Sharan Seva Kendra in Navapara, 25 km away from the district headquarters Jhabua. They had also looted cash and valuables from the place of worship. The crime had not only shocked the nation, but also caused outrage at international level. The then state government was severely criticised for its failure to protect the missionaries. The district and sessions court had in 2001 sentenced 17 persons to life imprisonment for their involvement in the gangrape of nuns, while acquitting seven others after the prosecution failed to prove their involvement in the case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Days ahead of the Delhi municipal polls, the BJP today expelled her Narela ward candidate Savita Khatri and cancelled her candidature for allegedly allowing sacked AAP minister Sandeep Kumar to campaign for her. Kumar, a former minister in the Arvind Kejriwal government, was sacked from the party last year over a sex tape purportedly featuring him. BJP's National Vice President Vinay Sahastrabuddhe announced the party's decision at a press conference at the Delhi BJP office, saying the party has taken a firm stand. "There is no place in the BJP for the criminal elements of the Aam Aadmi Party against whom there is a serious allegation of rape and exploitation of women. "The party will not tolerate any kind of association or connivance with any such element from the AAP," he said. The move comes a day after the party came under attack from the AAP for allegedly inviting Kumar to campaign for Khatri, who was fielded from Ward number 1 of Narela in north- west Delhi of the NDMC. "There is no place in the party for such persons who may in any way associate with criminal elements," Sahasrabuddhe said. "Those who do not respect women and people who seek support of such persons, have no place in our party. Such persons never had a place and they will never have it (in the BJP)," he said. BJP member Shazia Ilmi later said that the party had taken a moral stand. "I left the party because of bad elements in the AAP, and our party (BJP) did the right thing today. Because of Kumar, Khatri had to pay," she added. The decision also comes in the wake of the AAP and the BJP sparring over the presence of Kumar during Khatri's campaign. AAP legislator Alka Lamba had yesterday hit out at the BJP for "inviting" Kumar to campaign for its candidate. "The BJP has been defaming AAP by taking Kumar's name on radio (commercials). Now, they are even using him in their campaign," she alleged on Twitter. The BJP has denied the charge, saying Kumar was not invited by the party for campaigning and alleged that it was the AAP which had "hatched a conspiracy" to defame the saffron party. A video clip had recently surfaced purportedly showing Kumar slamming Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and extending his support to Khatri. Incidentally, the BJP has fielded only fresh faces in the civic polls due on April 23. Of the total 272 wards, NDMC and SDMC have 104 seats each while EDMC has 64. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) South Korean consumer electronics giant LG is looking at making India its export hub, banking on good ties between the two countries at a time when its overseas shipments from China are declining. According to LG Electronics India Managing Director Ki Wan Kim, one of the main reasons for the company to look at making India an export hub is due to tension prevailing between South Korea and China. LG, which has two manufacturing units in India, exports to the Middle East and countries in the eastern coast of African continent. Around 10 per cent of sales of the company's Indian arm -- LG Electronics India (LGEI), are currently from exports. Last year, LGEI had sales of Rs 22,000 crore. "On the other hand ties between South Korea and India have improved. All Korean (companies) have started to see India as a strategically important manufacturing base not only for India but for other areas," Wan told PTI. When asked if LG is scouting for more global markets for exports from India, he replied in the affirmative saying it is looking for countries where there is little or no manufacturing. Earlier, LG used to serve such markets from China but "it is declining gradually", Wan added. "Already we are exporting from Noida and Pune to Middle East mainly in Saudi and Iran and African countries on (the eastern coast of the continent)," he said. Another major factor for seeing India as a major hub for exports is that the country is becoming more competitive economically and there will be secured and transparent taxation regime with the expected implementation of GST. "India is becoming more competitive economically. With GST coming up, its secured and transparent taxation regime along with a stable political system would help in project as a bigger manufacturing hub," Wan added. LG can increase its manufacturing capacity whenever required, he said. He said the company, which is celebrating its 20 years of operations in India this year, has witnessed very high growth rate in the last couple of years. India is among the top five global markets for LG in consumer durables category with the USA, Korea, Brazil and Russia. Reflecting on the company's two decades of journey in India, Wan said: "It is an achievement in itself. We have seen many brands come and go in India. Not only have we sustained but we have become number one here." On LG's success in India, he said: "We have been able to serve the needs of different consumers here. India is not one country as far as consumer requirements are concerned." The demand from consumers from South India is different from those of the North or the East, he said, adding, "therefore we have a strong local R&D team, which helps in identifying the specific needs of consumers so that we can deliver it to them. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In view of severe heat across Maharashtra, the State Election Commission has extended the poll timing by one hour for municipal corporation elections at three places scheduled tomorrow. "Voters can exercise their franchise for Latur, Chandrapur and Parbhani corporations between 7.30 AM and 6.30 PM tomorrow," the State Election Commissioner J S Saharia said today. The polling hours at the time of announcement of election for three municipal corporations at Chandrapur, Latur and Parbhani were between 7.30am and 5.30pm. He said the decision to extend the poll timing was taken in the view of severe heat conditions prevailing in Vidarbha and Marathawada regions of the state. While Chandrapur falls under Vidarbha region, Latur and Parbhani fall under Marathwada. Maharashtra has been reeling under severe heat for the last few days, with the temperatures crossing 40 degrees Celsius in many parts of the state. Saharia said that adequate arrangements will be made for providing shelter from heat at all polling stations, besides facilities for drinking water. The extension of poll timing will be also applicable for by-elections to be held tomorrow for one seat each in Akola Zilla Parishad and Akot Panchayat Samiti in Akola district in east Maharashtra. The bypolls were necessitated as these seats have been lying vacant. A total of 1,284 candidates are in the fray for 201 seats in the three civic bodies. While 460 candidates are contesting in Chandrapur, 406 candidates are in the fray in Latur and 418 in Parbhani. A total of 7,93,621 voters are eligible to cast their votes in the three corporations. The results of elections, including of the bypolls, will be declared on April 21. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Industrialist Vijay Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, was arrested today in the UK by Scotland Yard on India's request for his extradition. Mallya, 61, will be appearing in Westminster Magistrates' Court in London later today. India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8. While handing over the request, India had asserted that it has a "legitimate" case against Mallya and maintained that if an extradition request is honoured, it would show British "sensitivity towards our concerns". Last month, setting in motion the process of extradition of Mallya, the British government had certified India's request and sent it to a district judge for further action. The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps including a decision by the judge whether to issue a warrant of arrest. In case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a final decision is taken by the secretary of state. The wanted person has a right to appeal to the higher courts against any decision all the way up to the supreme court. Earlier in January this year, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opinion / Columnist It is easy to see why Africa is the most backward continent on earth; we have the most inward looking and incompetent leaders at both national and continent level. The complete failure by AU Ambassador to Washington, Chihombori-Quao, to understand simple facts left many of the listener to a recent panel discussion with USA Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Harry Thomas, on Voice Of America (VOA) real frustrated.Ambassador Thomas explained the USA sanctions on Zimbabwe were implemented "as a result of the actions and policies of certain members of the government of Zimbabwe and other persons undermining democratic institutions and processes in Zimbabwe".He reiterated that Zimbabwe's economy was in shambles due to poor policies and governance.Ambassador Chihombori-Quao insisted sanctions were one of the challenges that were impeding development in Zimbabwe; making the listeners wonder whether she was sitting on her ears so she could not hear.Corruption in Zimbabwe, for example, has now reached astronomical levels; President Mugabe himself admitted $15 billion in diamond revenue was "swindled". Even our simpleton AU Ambassador has to admit that no nation on earth can prosper given such serious corruption, especially one with a GPD of $10 billion like Zimbabwe."If the sanctions are insignificant and are not contributing to the issues in Zimbabwe, why do we still have them? Remove them, and then there will be one problem out of many that would have been addressed," she argued.The issue of free, fair and credible elections is important to every thinking Zimbabwean because it is the root cause of the country's political paralysis and economic decline. We have been stuck with this corrupt and tyrannical Mugabe regime now for 37 years because the regime has undermined the country's democratic institutions to create a de facto one party dictatorship. The regime has denied us the people our democratic freedoms and human rights including the right to free and fair elections.After 37 years of independence, Zimbabwe is yet to hold its first free and fair elections!It is a great pity that Ambassador Chihombori-Quao has such poor memory otherwise she would remember that in 2008 the AU election observer team refused to accept Zimbabwe's July 2008 presidential run-off as free and fair following the unprecedented level of barbaric violence. The AU and its regional sister-body, SADC, forced President Mugabe to go into the GNU which was then tasked to implement a raft of democratic reforms.Ambassador Chihombori-Quao's complete refusal to accept that the West's targeted sanctions are highlighting Zimbabwe's serious problem of poor governance is truly shocking particularly when both the AU and SADC know there is a problem here and it is going to rear's ugly head again in the coming months. The 2008 to 2013 GNU failed to get even one democratic reform implemented and it a given certainty that next year's elections in Zimbabwe not be free and fair. Another rigged election will drag Zimbabwe even deeper into economic and political chaos that may well drag the whole region and the continent into yet another African man-made tragedy!The targeted sanctions must stay until Zanu PF is forced to hold free, fair and credible elections. Zimbabwe needs free and fair elections desperately and whatever hardship the sanctions are causing to the masses they are nothing compared to the economic and political suffering brought by this corrupt and tyrannical Zanu PF dictatorship. How anyone can continue to bury their heads and be blind to this tragic reality in Zimbabwe, beggars belief!By defending President Mugabe's lies that sanctions and not corruption and bad governance are the root causes of Zimbabwe's economic meltdown and political chaos, she was just defending the indefensible! President Mugabe is a incompetent, corrupt and murderous tyrant and foolishness of some of our leaders at national and continental level who continue to defend these tyrants at the cost of truth and the masses is totally unacceptable.Madam Chihombori-Quao just remember that as the AU Ambassador you represent the people of Africa and not the murderous tyrants who have imposed themselves on the people. Former CBI Director Anil Sinha said today the arrest of industrialist Vijay Mallya in London was a "success" of law enforcement agencies and that efforts to bring him back would "fructify". "It is a success of law enforcement agencies. I am confident that efforts to bring him back will fructify," Sinha told PTI. Sinha said the arrest also signifies the strong resolve of law enforcement agencies and the government. It was during Sinha's tenure as the CBI chief that the first case against Mallya was registered for alleged loan default of over Rs 900 crore involving IDBI Bank even when lenders were not willing to file FIR against him. Sinha, as the CBI chief between 2014 and 2016, had pushed for action against bank frauds and loan defaults. "The message to the public is that the rich and powerful are able to avoid consequences of cheating and fraud, while the ordinary citizens are promptly booked. This undermines faith of people in rule of law, which has dangerous consequences in a democracy," Sinha had earlier said at a bankers' conference in Mumbai. He had said despite repeated requests from the agency, the banks did not file a complaint with the CBI. "We had to register the case on our own," he had said. Mallya, who has been declared a proclaimed offender, was today arrested in London by Scotland Yard on India's request for his extradition on fraud charges. The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted in India for defaulting on loans, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station this morning. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Delhi-based man allegedly committed suicide in Haryana after being subjected to casteist remarks. Before dying, he also made a video on his cellphone specifying the reason for taking the extreme step. The body of 35-year-old Vijay Kumar was found in Haryana today with his family alleging that he was subjected to casteist remarks. He was a resident of Bawana and belonged to a lower caste. He was allegedly subjected to abuse and ridicule and his family claimed it was the reason he took his own life. They also claimed that a few days back they had made PCR calls about the matter, but the police arrived and did not listen to them. However, a senior police officer said that the matter was settled between the two parties. "We had received a call about the fight between Kumar's family and their neighbours. Our teams also went there but they reached a compromise," said a senior police officer. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mumbai mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar has expressed reservations to stay in the newly allotted bungalow inside the Byculla zoo premises here saying the place falls in silence zone and he won't be able to discharge his duties from there. Mahadeshwar is presently staying in the mayor's bungalow in Shivaji Park in Dadar. However, the said bungalow has been chosen for the memorial of Shiv Sena founder late Bal Thackeray. And hence the civic authorities have alloted a bungalow inside the Byculla zoo premises for the mayor. However, Mahadeshwar has penned a letter to civic chief Ajoy Mehta requesting him to allot a smaller bungalow at posh Malabar Hill area, presently occupied by an officer of the additional municipal commissioner rank. "The mayor has written a letter and requested the commissioner to allot him a bungalow in Malabar Hill in South Mumbai. According to the mayor, the newly alloted bungalow in Byculla zoo premises falls in silent zone," a senior civic official said today. "The Mayor has expressed concern over the fact that foreign delegates often visit him and on few occasions, he needs to arrange functions inside the official residence. But since the Byculla bungalow falls in silence zone, therefore, the mayor won't be able to discharge his duties," the officer added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As many as 697 or 30 per cent of the 2,315 candidates in the Delhi municipal election are crorepatis and seven per cent of them have criminal cases against them, says a report. While 163 or 64 per cent of the 256 candidates fielded by the Congress are crorepatis, the BJP has 141 (54 per cent) crorepatis of the 260 nominees and the AAP has 104 (42 per cent) crorepatis out of 250 candidates. Besides, nine candidates (24 per cent) of the 38 from the NCP are crorepatis, while 41 nominees (22 per cent) of the 191 from the BSP and 1 (8 per cent) out of 12 candidates of the CPI have declared assets worth more than Rs one crore. The National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have analysed the affidavits of 2,315 out of the total 2,537 candidates from 18 political parties who are contesting the MCD polls. "Out of the 2,315 candidates analysed, 697 (30 per cent) are crorepatis," the report said. According to the report, the average assets per candidate contesting in MCD polls is Rs 1.61 crore. Among major parties, the average assets per candidate for the BJP is Rs 2.89 crore, Congress Rs 4.36 crore, AAP Rs 1.65 crore, BSP Rs 89.59 lakh and the NCP Rs 92.38 lakh. Besides, 16 candidates of the CPI(M) have average assets worth Rs 19.20 lakh while 12 CPI candidates have assets worth Rs 23.04 lakh. Also, 1,051 independent candidates contesting the poll have declared average assets of Rs 97.79 lakh. Of the 2,315 candidates analysed, 173 (seven per cent) have declared criminal cases against themselves, while 116 (five per cent) have serious criminal registered against themselves. 26 (10 per cent) candidates from the BJP, 35 (14 per cent) from the Congress, 21 (eight per cent) from the AAP, 13 (seven per cent) from the BSP, 3 (eight per cent) from the NCP, 1 (six per cent) from the CPI(M) and 1 (eight per cent) from the CPI have declared criminal cases against themselves in their affidavits. 13 (five per cent) from the BJP, 22 (nine per cent) from the Congress, 15(six per cent) from the AAP, 10 (five per cent) from the BSP, 2 (five per cent) from the NCP, 1 (six per cent) from the CPI(M) and 1 (eight per cent) from the CPI have serious criminal cases against them. Election to the three municipal corporations of Delhi will be held on April 23. The erstwhile unified Municipal Corporation of Delhi was trifurcated into North, South and East Delhi Municipal Corporations in 2012. Out of the total 272 wards, NDMC and SDMC have 104 seats each while EDMC has 64. The MCD has been ruled by the BJP for the last 10 years. The iconic main building of the Rashtrapati Bhavan is soon expected to undergo a major conservation drive that will enhance its pristine and majestic glory. The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) has undertaken a project to analyse the famed "main building" of the President's Estate and a report in this regard will be presented to President Pranab Mukherjee in the next two months time. "The main building is fine and there are no big issues but there are some concerns. We will be carrying out an assessment of the entire main building that also houses the family wing. A report will be submitted to the President," Director (Projects) at INTACH Ajay Kumar told PTI. INTACH is a non-profit heritage conservation body based in the national capital. The Rashtrapati Bhavan was the erstwhile residence of the British Viceroy and was made after it was decided in the Delhi Durbar of 1911 that the capital of India would be shifted from Calcutta to Delhi in the same year. The vast mansion has got four floors and 340 rooms. With a floor area of 2,00,000 square feet it is built by using 700 million bricks and three million cubic feet of stone. While interacting with the media about the steps taken to preserve and conserve the heritage of various buildings and architecture in the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Kumar said the organisation has completed work for the conservation of two clock towers and two museums in the President's Estate so far. We are now working on at least eight buildings belonging to the President's Body Guard (PBG) and further more projects will be undertaken, he said at a press meet convened to mark the International Day For Monuments and Sites today. INTACH convener Swapna Liddle said the effort of the experts of the organisation and others is to prepare a comprehensive management plan and scientifically analyse the buildings' requirements so that they can be made liveable with the present times that require amenities like an air conditioner and mobile ports. "The Rashtrapati Bhavan is a heritage building but is also a living building as people reside here. We have to conserve it in such a way that it functions as per today's needs," Liddle said. The experts of INTACH, in collaboration with other conservationists, are using traditional materials and methods to conserve these buildings, she said. The Rashtrapati Bhavan has 65 buildings or structures. "We have used things like lime juice, brick powder, granules, non-salty sand, jaggery and similar things in a paste form to restore the pristine glory of the structures here in the President's Estate," Kumar said. The total expenditure so far, including that for installing electric fixtures and coolers, has been about Rs 10 crore for the restoration of the few buildings, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress today accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "hoodwinking" the people of India over the arrest of Vijay Mallya in London, and asked him to set a timeline for taking the embattled liquor baron into custody and recovering loans. Mallya, who was declared a proclaimed offender and fled to the UK after defaulting on loan repayment to banks in India, was arrested by Scotland Yard on India's request for his extradition. He was released on bail a few hours later. The Congress asked why the Modi government sought Mallya's extradition, and not deportation which it claimed would have ensured his immediate custody to India. "Strange that he is detained and released in the same go...What kind of extradition is this? He is detained for an hour and is honourably granted bail and is defiant. "Will it take another dozen years, 15 years, 30 years or our entire lifetime before Mallya is brought back and Rs 9,091 crore of people's money is recovered. These are questions that BJP and Modiji need to answer, instead of hoodwinking the people of India," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. He asked why the BJP government took three years to make the extradition request on February 9, 2017. "Mallya detained and bailed! BJP shouldn't hoodwink. Tell the timeline of recovery of Rs 9091 crore and his custody. "Will PM and FM tell the nation the date by which India will recover Rs9091 Cr as also physical custody of Mallya and Lalit Modi? (sic)" Surjewala asked. He claimed that the action against Mallya has come after a relentless campaign by the Congress, its vice president Rahul Gandhi. The Congress leader posed seven questions to the BJP government on the matter. Noting that Mallya's detention is the first of nine steps of extradition with three possible appeals, the Congress leader asked, "When will we have his custody? Why did the BJP government not move for Mallya's deportation instead of extradition? Deportation would have led to immediate custody to India." Surjewala also asked why the BJP got Mallya elected as Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka on June 9, 2010 when there was a BJP government in the state. "Why did the CBI not arrest Mallya and attach his properties at the time of registration of FIR on 29/7/2015 itself preventing his escape?" he asked. "Why did the BJP government grant loan waiver of Rs 1,200 crore to Mallya on September 16, 2016 despite the fact that he had fled the country with Rs 9,091 crore?" he asked. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Mumbai's famed dabbawalas, who deliver tiffins to over a lakh office-goers with precision daily, today held a protest against Pakistan and condemned the country for "illegally" sentencing Kulbhushan Jadhav to death. "Pakistan's act should be condemned by all sections of the society. India should do whatever it can, to bring Jadhav back," Mumbai Dabbawala Association spokesperson Subhash Talekar told PTI. The protest was held outside the Lower Parel railway station in central Mumbai, where around 200 dabbawalas shouted slogans against Pakistan, he said. "We demand that India should put national and international pressure on Pakistan, which is illegally holding Jadhav, who hails from our Maharashtra state," Talekar said. "Jadhav should be returned to India without any harm," he said. "If another surgical strike is needed to achieve this objective, India should go ahead," he added. A military court in Pakistan recently sentenced Jadhav to death on charges of "espionage". Last week, protesters had formed a human chain against Pakistan and sought the immediate release of the 46-year-old former Indian Navy official from Pakistani captivity. The protesters had formed a human chain in front of the building in Powai area where Jadhav was staying with his family before he left for a business-related trip to Iran and from where he was allegedly kidnapped by Pakistani authorities. Home Minister Rajnath Singh had last week said that all measures would be taken to ensure Jadhav's release, while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj called the former naval officer the "son of the soil". She termed the death sentence to Jadhav as a "premeditated murder". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Scientists have developed a new mind-reading technology that can predict a person's thoughts by analysing their brainwaves, an advance that may allow speech-impaired people to communicate. The technology can recognise the numbers zero to nine with 90 per cent accuracy using electroencephalogram (EEG) readings while the subject utters the numbers. It can also recognise 18 types of Japanese monosyllables from EEG signals with 60 per cent accuracy, demonstrating the possibility of an EEG-activated typewriter in the near future. The research group from Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan collected EEG data of subjects speaking Japanese digits and monosyllables. Using this data, the group conducted digit and monosyllable recognition experiments. Up until now, speech decoding via EEG signals has been inhibited by a lack of data to allow the use of powerful algorithms based on deep learning or other types of machine learning. The research group has developed a different research framework that can achieve high performance with a small training dataset. The new framework is based on holistic pattern recognition using category theory, or composite mapping, in which a dual space and a tensor space including exterior algebra are introduced. In the experiment of spoken-digit recognition from EEG signals, 90 per cent recognition accuracy was achieved. At the same time, 61 per cent accuracy in 18 Japanese monosyllable recognition was achieved, outperforming previous research efforts. Humans have sufficient intelligibility of sentences with an 80 per cent monosyllable recognition rate. Researchers aim to develop a brain computer interface that recognises unvoiced speech, or speech imagery. This technology may enable handicapped people who have lost the ability of voice communication to speak once again. It is also expected that the technology would give a healthy person the most natural interface without any limitations. The research group plans to develop a device that can be easily operated with fewer electrodes and connected to smartphones within the next five years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Police arrested a Nigerian national and his Indian wife from Noida for allegedly cheating a city based stock broker to the tune of Rs 13.76 lakh under the pretext of a business opportunity, police said today. Nnabgu Benson Orayzuka (39) and Neharika Deep Orayzuka (37) were arrested from Noida today by a team of Mumbai police, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-VII), Sachin Patil said. They are remanded to police custody till April 24, DCP Patil said. "The duo cheated Sandeep Singh of Rs 13.76 lakhs by offering him a business opportunity for supply of herbal seeds," the official said. He said that the complainant came in contact with Neharika through a social media website. She was using the name as Mersi John on the social media site, said police. Both exchanged their cell numbers and started chatting through messaging app, he said. During the conversations, Mersi told Singh that she was working with a UK based pharmaceutical company, which is deals in herbal seeds and offered business opportunity to him, police said. Singh also met one of the company director near UK Consulate at Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) in Western suburbs as part of the talks to do business, said police. The deal was sealed with an initial order of 50 packets, the official said. Singh placed an order of 50 packets to the Indian supplier, as was suggested by Mersi, Patil said. He deposited an amount of Rs 2.5 lakh through RTGS in a bank account of the supplier initially and then went on to deposit Rs 6.5 lakh and Rs 3.5 lakh more as part of the business deal, added the official. After depositing Rs 12.5 lakh, when Singh tried to contact Mersi and the Indian supplier he found that their cell phones were switched off, the official said. Meanwhile Singh got a call from the company executive, who informed him that they were returning the deposited money due to non-delivery of seeds, he said. However, the company executive went on to add that the money was converted into dollars and to get this consignment through courier he will have to pay Rs 1.26 lakh, police said. Singh deposited Rs 1.26 lakh in the given account, but, failed to get any refund of his money, said police. It was then that he understood that he was being fooled since last few months, said the official. He then approached Bhandup Police Station and lodged the complaint against Mersi John, her company director Valentine and unidentified Indian supplier, police said. During the investigation, it was revealed that the accused were staying at Noida, Shripad Kale, Senior Police Inspector of Bhandup Police Station said. Police team went to Noida and arrested Nnagbu Benson Orayzuka and his wife Neharika Deep Orayzuka, he said. "We got Orayzuka's image, which was captured in the CCTV at UK Consulate in BKC," he added. Police have seized a laptop, 14 mobile phones, SIM cards of various countries, internet dongle, memory card, pen drive, ATM cards, passbooks and chequebooks from their possession, he added. "We suspect that the duo must have cheated some more persons under the pretext of business opportunity in herbal seeds supply," the official said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Canadian Defence Miniser Harjit Singh Sajjan today said he has no interest in the "internal politics" of any nation, days after Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh termed him a "Khalistani sympathiser". At a public event here, Sajjan said he has been given "many labels" in his life and that one should be judged by his actions. "What you are is determined by what you do. You look at my actions. I don't step into the internal politics of any one province or any one nation. "My goal is to build relationships as representative of the Canadian government and that is what I am here to do and I am also very proud of the fact that I was born here," he said. Ahead of Sajjan's visit, the Punjab CM had said he would not meet him alleging that the Canadian minister is a "Khalistani sympathiser". Canada has termed the allegation as "disappointing and inaccurate". Addressing a seminar on 'Conflict Prevention and Peacekeeping in a Changing World', Sajjan stressed that the military by itself cannot resolve conflicts. Social factors have to be looked in for effective peacekeeping, he said. Responding to a query on ISIS, he said grievances within the Sunni population in Iraq and Syria led to the rise of the terror group, and for it to be eliminated the "root causes", including that of recruitment into its ranks, must be addressed. "We in Canada cannot be an island of stability in an unstable world, while civilians are getting killed," he said. Sajjan, a Sikh with roots in India, also pitched for bilateral cooperation in the defence sector and the need for a cooperative approach by working with "our allies who share common values in the Asia Pacific". The event was organised by the Observer Research Foundation based here. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opinion / Columnist Introduction Conclusion The 18th of April every year in Zimbabwe, it is Independence day, a holiday decreed by the regime of the day. For [37] thirty seven long years, the people of Zimbabwe have been hearing one and only one voice, bellowing on this day, year in year out. Independence to any country, in simpler terms means a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residence and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-governance over the territory in which they deem theirs.Independence may not necessarily mean freedom. The country can be independent but not free. From this observation of the idea of independence of a country, some lessons can be drawn from it, especially with particular reference to the peoples of Mthwakazi. The question that should be interrogated now and in any other time is, did we, as Mthwakazi nationals, ever realised the fruits of independence of Zimbabwe?ConventionalityAs Mthwakazi, our woes were transferred from the white colonialists (Britain), to the black Zimbabwean government, led by zanu pf. This government, since 1980, has tirelessly maintained their strong held belief that they were made to rule forever and ordained to subject Mthwakazi peoples to perpetual subjectivity. This belief is strongly supported by the 1979 Grand Plan, created by zanu pf and they have never disputed it thereby proving that its existence was licenced by it. This Grand Plan is zanu pf's Bible and it is the Koran to Min of Education by the name of Gotora. It is zanu pf de facto constitution. Its implementation has been followed without any slipups.As Mthwakazi peoples, we notice that some of the aspects done in our country by the Zimbabwean government, has been done to hoodwink the peoples into believing that independence was for both the Zimbabweans and Mthwakazi peoples. That was fallacy of authority. Examples of tools used to hoodwink the peoples were the schools built throughout the dual country, dams created, clinics and a few other tangibles. That as it may, it is used to proffer lies by the captor zanu pf government, to purvey lies that peoples of Mthwakazi are independent when that is not true. Mthwakazi peoples did not get independent in 1980, but got a continuation of subjugation transferred from British colonial rule to zanu pf, a proxy of Britain. Mthwakazi was not decolonised and remains so to date.In the Newsday 0f 03/04/2017 the zanu pf war veterans vowed to continue backing Mnangagwa, with the spokesperson of the Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association (ZNLWVA), Douglas Mahiya saying that their move was in line with the Zanu-PF leadership structure agreed upon under the MGAGAO DECLARATION OF 1975."We agreed there that the civilian structure would be religiously followed with no attempt to stop each other. That is why Emmerson (Mnangagwa) is quiet. We must respect the sacredness of the structure of the revolution which even caused the deaths of our gallant sons and daughters," Mahiya was quoted as saying.This declaration is on the affirmative assuring that Zimbabwe got independent to serve the zanla and zanu and their kith and kin. It is therefore noticeable that, when zapu was fighting, off course for a wrong concept, which was Zimbabwe, zanu and its zanla were in continuous meetings and plotting how they were going to seize power and relegate Mthwakazi peoples to obscurity. In his own words, Mahiya confirms. Mthwakazi peoples are not in the picture here but what was reflected was the sustenance of zanuism which we, as Mthwakazi peoples have long deeply believed that zanuism is shonalism and a perpetration of it.Mthwakazi peoples did not get independent, if we were counted in that independence, why then there are concerted efforts to continue to advance the shonalism ideology as confirmed by zanu pf ZNLWVA through Mahiya. If independence also meant for the Mthwakazi peoples why is it that Mugabe and his zanu pf, soon after 1980 embarked on a Lucific extinctionist strategy code named Gukurahundi which has been declared Genocide by the world? In an independent country, no normal government can brazenly butcher its citizens like what zanu did. That proved that Mthwakazi peoples were not as they still are not bonafide Zimbabwean but Mthwakazian. Mahiya, in his own words confirms.Mnangagwa who is proffered by the ZNLWVA became a willing accomplice by planning and implementation in the execution of Gukurahundi Genocide of the 1980s. So how on Earth can we as Mthwakazi peoples agree and see no mistake in having a butcher preside over Mthwakazi? No ways bakwethu!!!We cannot say we are independent as Mthwakazi nation because we have lost hundreds of thousands of our people through the infliction of genocide, massacres, rapes, disappearances, various formats of brutality and torture and ethnic cleansing commonly referred to as the Gukurahundi Genocide (GG). So where is our independence, Mthwakazi?We cannot say we are independent when we have suffered economic marginalisation and absorbed immeasurable insult and injury from the genocidal regime of Zimbabwe. We cannot say we are independent when millions have scattered to exile in neighbouring countries and elsewhere throughout the world, while many thousands are languishing in zanu created poverty and hundreds of thousands more continue to silently suffer from a regime that has trampled on human rights and justice with alarming impunity and arrogance. Mthwakazi, we cannot go on like this?Yes we live in a time of humanity's advancement in which we must learn the lesson of living together. This lesson takes place with all its ups and downs, and makes us face both our inner tendencies and the consequences of our own actions. The planet has become too small for ignoring how Mthwakazi is treated resulting from the Zimbabwean independence. The planet has become even too smaller for such presumably big egos as exaggerated by Zimbabwean independent voices. Mthwakazi, we are not independent yet.Zanu pf and their kin and kith, display a state of indifference towards the ways in which they handle the Mthwakazi peoples up to date, which on its own is a sign that their power is on the brink of believing itself invincible and, abandoning reason, becoming an abominable dictatorship. Freedom is demanded from the black occupying government. It cannot be cajoled and expect Mthwakazi to be RESTORED. The senior occupier (Britain) must be asked to decolonise completely now.When analyzing zanu pf totalitarian systems, it is easily apparent that one of the clearest signs displayed by it, having installed its abominable domination, is exactly the kind of arrogance that manifests itself as power everywhere to everyone. It is a paradox that every occupier has climbed to power through devious means and immediately on attaining that power the occupier (zanu pf) then suppresses all except itself.Mthwakazi needs to understand now, more than ever, that the independence that the peoples thought was also meant for them became a non-event and that it was meant for some secular Zimbabwean tribes. They got independent, we did not get it. It is an infantile statement if we say we are independent. There is nothing worth telling the future generation about. All that peoples had, that was derived from the colonial era, has simple vanished into thin air when zanu pf assumed the governorship from Britain. So Mthwakazi, are we independent when our political space has been occupied by the subjects of the occupier? Not at all. That is tragic.There is need to compel the coloniser, Britain, to come to reality and decolonise completely. RESTORATION through a compelled decolonisation route will lead Mthwakazi to free her political space, free her judiciary space, free her social space, free her economics from the British proxy (zanu pf), free our service delivery systems from the proxy, free our religious systems from this proxy of the British, free Mthwakazi from the cultural assimilation trends we find ourselves being dragged in and be freed from all that is used to keep Mthwakazi from her independence. All these cannot in anyway under the sun, come through by any means other than by the mentioned.Using MTHWAKAZI RESTORATION AGENDA as a package in partaking in the zanu pf Zimbabwean elections, which are designed to advance zanu pf's Zimbabwean trajectory will be a way of subjecting and entrenching the peoples into further servitude of the system we are working hard to dislodge. Then the deceitful regime will use the results (which definitely will not be pleasing-failed) as a way of dismissing the HOLY MTHWAKAZI RESTORATION AGENDA to the world as having been rejected by the owners of it. You cannot come back again and claim RESTORATION when you have been floored by an unfair jab from the British proxy.To partake in those elections, without packaging the MTHWAKAZI RESTORATION AGENDA as part of the winning tool, it will come in handy in the dissemination of the Mthwakazi issues that will form the basis of the ensuing RESTORATION route as cited above. Packaging the RESTORATION AGENDA for elections is telling the people that when voted into MPship or councillorship that will eventually lead to the RESTORATION OF MTHWAKAZI. That is a factual falsehood. Dynamics that go with an elected member of parliament is fully governed by the rules of Zimbabwean Parliament. That strategy is for those who want to remain in Zimbabwe, nothing else.The solution is not outside of us. We as a people who yearn for more than what we are perceived to have got, Zimbabwean independence, we need to be robust and approach our problem and also want to solve it the way we have chosen- RESTORATION, kwaphela nje. We need to come together, in unity and raise our voices in unison. We need to approach our RESTORATION through the use of a practical line of attack which will bear fruits. Fragmentation will never do us good. An all stakeholders is needed to look into this ever slippery route so that something meaningful comes out. Together we stand but fragmented we fall.The independence that never was, for the peoples of Mthwakazi, should be a motivation factor that raise the peoples into a formidable force to challenge the current system and the big brother Britain, to have Mthwakazi decolonized. People cannot move in circles when the route is there and clear. The notion of partaking in elections, though it will not usher Mthwakazi with the required result, it remains the prerogative of those who want to involve themselves in issues not of their country. MTHWAKAZI, UNITE AS UNITY IS A CONDUIT OF SUCCESS. Sonakshi Sinha-starrer "Noor" has received U/A certificate from Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) after making the changes advised by the censor board. The CBFC had asked the makers of "Noor" to remove words like 'dalit', Barkha Dutt and a liquor brand's name. "We have raised objection to use of certain words like dalit and sex toy to be replaced by 'adult site'," an official from CBFC told PTI. "Noor" is based on Saba Imtiaz's novel "Karachi, You're Killing Me!" and narrates the tale of scribe-writer Noor's misadventures and love life as she navigates her way through Mumbai. Director Sunhil Sippy told PTI that they have accepted CBFC's decision. "The objection raised by CBFC over certain words was not affecting the narrative of the film. So we have accepted it. We were told the use of Dalit is in reference to a community so it's asked to be removed. We have got U/A certificate," he told PTI. Another film which has been facing troubles with CBFC is Raveena Tandon's "Maatr". The movie is based on the sensitive issue of rape and the censor board refused certification owing to some gruesome scenes and usage of foul language in the film. The makers have, however, submitted the revised version of the movie and CBFC will consider it for giving the certificate. "Before we could take a decision the applicant themselves have submitted a revised version of the film. So the earlier file has been closed. So the film will be examined again. "We have not seen the revised version probably it must have been edited. The revised version will be treated as a fresh film," the official said. "If the producer anticipates difficulty in clearing the film then they should apply well in time. In this case time was sufficient. "If they would have gone to tribunal they would have missed their release date and so they sent the revised version of the film for certification. We will facilitate the process faster," he added. According to sources close to the project, the CBFC has asked to delete the word dalit, and reduce the length of the rape scene from 13 minutes to three or four minutes. "They (CBFC) has asked to tone down the language and scenes of the film and the team has done that and submitted a revised version of the film." Both "Noor" and "Maatr" are scheduled to release this Friday. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : Activists of the Nationalist Youth Congress (NYC) today agitated with begging bowls in front of the RBI here, protesting against the currency crunch faced in Kerala recently. The protesters alleged that the Central government and RBI were denying currency to keralites. The activists, led by their president Mujib Rehaman, came in a procession and squatted in front of RBI raising slogans. NCP President Uzhavoor Vijayan inaugurated the agitation. NCP is a coalition partner of the ruling CPI(M) led LDF in Kerala. Kerala had witnessed acute shortage of currency notes early this month with government finding it difficult to disburse salaries and pension through state treasuries. RBI had informed that the shortage was due to the truckers strike. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) One person died and five others sustained grievous burns in a fire that started from a cracker shop and spread to nearby establishments in Ranipur area here today, police said. Six persons suffered severe burn injuries in the blaze and were brought to the government-run MY Hospital. One of them, after examination, was pronounced dead, the hospital's Emergency Medical Centre In-charge Dr Sumit Shukla said. The condition of the five others is critical, he said. The deceased was yet to be identified, the police said, adding the victims were working in the cracker shop and its adjoining establishments. "The fire started from a cracker shop and quickly engulfed other shops located nearby," Indore Deputy Inspector General of Police H C Mishra said. The police promptly evacuated people from around the fire site located in a congested lane, he said, adding the blaze was put out after several hours of effort by the fire brigade personnel. Mishra said the police have started an investigation into the cause of the blaze and are also ascertaining whether the cracker shop had a licence. According to eyewitnesses, 20 two-wheelers were gutted in the blaze. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa today said Pakistan is not using militant groups as proxies, asserting that the country is itself a victim of "state- sponsored" terrorism. His remarks came a day after US National Security Adviser H R McMaster asked Pakistan's top civilian and military leadership to confront terrorism in all its forms during a meeting with them. "Pakistan itself is a victim of state-sponsored terrorism. It strongly rejects allegations of employing proxies from its soil," the army said in a statement quoting Bajwa. The army said that McMaster, who arrived here during an unannounced visit, the first by a top Trump administration official to this country, was briefed about Pakistan's war on terror and its contributions to regional and global stability during the meeting. "In the meeting it was highlighted that distinguished feature of Pakistan's counter-terrorism effort is focused against terrorists of all hues and colours," the statement said. "The US NSA acknowledged Pakistan army's efforts in eliminating terrorists and their infrastructure, assuring US support to bring peace and stability in the region and globe," it said. McMaster held talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister's Adviser on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz, Gen Bajwa, Pakistan NSA Lt Gen (retd) Nasser Janjua and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Syed Tariq Fatemi. McMaster's visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan comes just days after the US dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb targeting an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan, close to the border with Pakistan. This was McMaster's first visit to Pakistan as the US NSA and the first formal high-level exchange between the US and Pakistan under the new Donald Trump Administration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on Thursday on the high-profile Panamagate case involving Prime Minster Nawaz Sharif and his children, a ruling which could "make or break" the country's most powerful political family. The verdict is scheduled to be issued at 2 PM on April 20, confirmed the supplementary cause list released by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The Supreme Court of Pakistan said on February 23, after both the defence and prosecution completed their arguments, that it would reserve its verdict on the Panamagate case and issue a detailed judgement. 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. The five-member bench hearing the case had asked the Sharif family to produce documentary evidence to establish Prime Minister's son Hussain Nawaz as beneficial owner of Park Lane flats in London, in accordance with the family's claim. It is believed that the outcome of the case is make or break for 67-year-old Sharif ahead of election due next year. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi termed the impending ruling as an important decision in the country's history. "After waiting 57 days, the decision has come. We hope the decision benefits the country," Qureshi was quoted as saying by the Dawn. Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, one of the petitioners in the case, referred to the court's announcement as a "historical verdict for the sub-continent". "We will accept whatever verdict the great judges put forth," said Rashid, and added that further course of action will be discussed with the PTI chief on Wednesday. "Justice will win and corruption will lose," said the AML chief. The case filed by various petitioners - Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed - essentially seeks disqualification of Prime Minister Sharif over his alleged misstatement in his address to the nation on April 5 and his speech before the National Assembly on May 16, 2016. The petitioners claim that the prime minister lied about the investments made by his children in offshore companies, which led to the acquisition of four apartments in London's upscale Park Lane neighbourhood. According to documents available on the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists website, Sharif's children - Mariam, Hasan and Hussain - "were owners or had the right to authorise transactions for several companies". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A beleaguered Vijay Mallya may have walked free on bail within hours of his arrest but the event, which he nonchalantly dismissed as "usual Indian media hype", had rival parties claiming credit for it and engaging in recrimination. The government and the ruling BJP quickly claimed credit for the arrest of the flamboyant tycoon, while congress dubbed the exercise as an attempt to "hoodwink" the people of India. Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said, "We are now assessing the facts how we can bring him back into the country and start judicial proceedings against him." The government, he said, will leave no stone unturned to bring to justice anyone indulging in financial irregularities. Mallya's arrest by the Scotland Yard in London underlines the Modi government's will to act against people accused of defrauding public resources, the BJP said. It is a confirmation of the government's relentless efforts and commitment to act against those involved in illegal activities like generation of black money, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli said. Right from the formation of a Special Investigation Team against black money in the first cabinet meeting under Modi to the current initiation of the extradition process against Mallya, the government has acted at every level, he said. "Investigation agencies have a free hand to act without fear and favour," he said. Mallya, whose now defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs 9,000 crore to various banks, had fled India on March 2, 2016, and was arrested at New Delhi's request for his extradition on fraud charges. The Congress, however, assailed the Modi government for seeking Mallya's extradition and not deportation which, it said, would have ensured his immediate custody to India. "Strange that he is detained and released in the same go...What kind of extradition is this. He is detained for an hour and is honourably granted bail and is defiant. "Will it take another dozen years, 15 years, 30 years or our entire lifetime before Vijaya Mallya is brought back and Rs 9091 crore of people's money is recovered. These are questions that BJP and Modiji need to answer instead of hoodwinking people of India," Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said. He claimed that the action against Mallya came after a relentless campaign by the Congress party, its vice president Rahul Gandhi and other opposition leaders. Noting that Mallya's detention was first of 9 steps of extradition with 3 possible appeals, the Congress leader asked "when will we have his custody? Why did BJP Govt not move for Mallya's deportation instead of extradition?" Surjewala also questioned the government over its failure to bring back Lalit Modi, the former IPL commissioner, who is wanted by India for alleged money laundering. "Why is BJP government shying from moving against 'Chhota Modi' (Lalit Modi), who escaped to UK even before Mallya?" he asked. Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, claimed consistent efforts by the Modi government had resulted in Mallya's arrest. "Previous governments could not do anything about it. It is certainly the success of this government, particularly Finance Ministry, whose efforts resulted in his (Mallya) arrest," said Singh. Amid all the political chest-thumping, former employees of Kingfisher Airlines talked about the bread and butter issue of getting their dues paid. "Our main concern is that the government should get him (Mallya) to India and we should get our dues," former Kingfisher Airlines pilot Rahul Bhasin said in his reaction to Mallya's arrest. "We appreciate government's efforts. They have done something, finally," Bhasin said. Anirudha Ballala, another former Kingfisher Airlines pilot, said that the law is taking its course. "Mallya is perhaps paying for the karmas (deeds) that he has done by not paying to employees," he added. Significantly, Ballala along with some other employees had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March last year seeking his intervention to safeguard the interest of the erstwhile airline's staffers after Mallya quietly left for London. In the middle of all the fuss, Mallya tweeted,"Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected." "It was a voluntary action. He will be out in a few minutes," said a member of Mallya's team at the Westminster Magistrates' court in London before the former liquor baron was seen walking out leisurely hours later. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Vice President Mike Pence reiterated his country's commitment to the security of Japan today, as North Korea intensified concerns over its weapons programme with a vow to launch missile tests "every week". The North, which is intent on developing a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile capable of reaching the mainland United States, defied international pressure Sunday with a test that failed immediately after launch. As fears grow that it may also be preparing for its sixth nuclear weapons test, Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol said that its programme would only escalate. "We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis," Han told the BBC in an interview, threatening "all-out war" if the US took any action against it. Arriving in Tokyo for talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Pence hailed the two countries' longstanding security ties. "The alliance between the United States and Japan is the cornerstone of peace and security in Northeast Asia," he told Abe. The Japanese leader called for a peaceful resolution to the North Korea tensions but did not rule out the need for tough measures. "It is a matter of paramount importance for us to seek diplomatic efforts as well as peaceable settlements of the issue," he said. "At the same time dialogue for the sake of dialogue is valueless and it is necessary for us to exercise pressure." In South Korea on the first leg of an Asian tour, Pence on Monday visited the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone separating the two Koreas and warned Pyongyang against further provocations, saying "all options are on the table". North Korea could react to a potential US strike by targeting South Korea or Japan, and officials in both countries have been ill at ease with the more bellicose language deployed by President Donald Trump's administration. Pence pointed to Trump's recent strikes on a Syrian airbase and an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan as a warning to Pyongyang not to underestimate the administration's resolve. Throughout his bareknuckle election campaign, Trump repeatedly called into question a mutual defence treaty between Japan and the United States, suggesting Tokyo should pay for its own security. But now, Pence will try to reassure his jittery hosts that those decades-old security commitments are ironclad, a necessity made more acute after Washington's refusal to rule out military action against the regime. Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have soared in recent weeks as a series of North Korean missile tests have prompted ever-more severe warnings from Trump's administration. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Vice President Mike Pence arrives in Tokyo today bringing a renewed commitment to Japan's security amid a growing threat from a nuclear armed North Korea. Throughout his bareknuckle election campaign, US President Donald Trump repeatedly called into question a mutual defense treaty between Japan and the United States, suggesting Tokyo should pay for its own security. But now, Pence will try to reassure his jittery hosts that those decades-old security commitments are ironclad, a necessity made more acute as tensions rise over Pyongyang's latest missile test and Washington's refusal to rule out military action against the regime. Defying international pressure, the North on Sunday test-fired another missile and fears are growing it may also be preparing a sixth nuclear test. North Korea could react to a potential US strike by targeting South Korea or Japan, and officials in Tokyo and Seoul have been ill at ease with the more bellicose language deployed by Trump's administration. During a visit to the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea yesterday, Pence pointed to the new president's recent strikes on a Syrian airbase and an Islamic State complex in Afghanistan as a warning to Pyongyang not to underestimate the administration's resolve. "All options are on the table" in pushing for an end to Pyongyang's nuclear programme, Pence said, adding that the era of US "strategic patience" in dealing with the regime was over. Washington is worried that North Korea may soon build a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the United States. Like South Korea, Japan already faces a direct threat from the secretive regime. In February, the North simultaneously fired four ballistic missiles off its east coast, three of which fell provocatively close to Japan, in what it said was a drill for an attack on US bases in the country. Pence's Japanese hosts will likely be cautious about any US military action that could trigger a broader regional conflict. Their hope is that the White House will focus on pressuring China, Pyongyang's only major ally and biggest trade partner, to redouble its efforts to rein in the regime and prompt North Korea to return to the negotiating table after it abandoned the six-party talks in 2009. "With close coordination, I expect we will strongly demand North Korea to refrain from taking provocative actions and to adhere to UN Security Council resolutions," said Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga. Pence's trip will also feature a heavy economic focus. Trump's decision to scrap a 12-nation trans-Pacific trade deal was a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who expended substantial political capital to get the deal passed at home. In Tokyo, there is still hope that the core of the agreement, thrashed out between the United States and Japan and intended to counterbalance China's regional economic power, can be salvaged in some form. But US officials say expectations of an ambitious bilateral trade deal may be premature. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be attending the concluding ceremony of Narmada river conservation awareness programme next month at Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh, according to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. "'Namami Devi Narmade - Sewa Yatra,' would conclude on May 15 at Amarkantak from where it originates, in the presence of the Prime Minister," Chouhan said during a public gathering at Gwari Ghat near Jabalpur yesterday. Earlier, the state government had announced to conclude the campaign on May 11 after it began on December 11, 2016. Chouhan also said that the awareness campaign would be started again from July 2 wherein saplings would be planted on the banks of Narmada, flowing across various districts of the state. "A large number of saplings would be planted alongside banks of Narmada on both sides. An effective system would be evolved to ensure the security of these saplings," he said. Under the ongoing campaign, the government conducted a drive against liquor shops within five kilometres of Narmada's banks. A stretch of 1831-km on southern bank comprising 548 villages/towns and 1513-km on northern bank comprising 556 village/towns were covered under the campaign. The state government claims that this programme is one of the biggest river conservation campaigns in the world. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Politics is no longer seen as a taboo in Hindi movies, holds director Kabir Khan, many of whose films deal with thorny, contemporary issues. The director of the upcoming film "Tubelight" stresses that it is important for him to give a societal context to the stories that he deals with. "When I used to watch Bollywood films, I would struggle with the fact that our cinema was set in La La Land, with no social or political context. So I decided that whenever I make a film, I'll try to put some context about what's happening," Khan - the maker of such films as "Kabul Express" and the blockbuster "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" -- told PTI in an interview. The success of his projects indicates that audiences welcome such films, he points out. "Fortunately for me, all of the films have done well so that means the audience is also enjoying them. Earlier, there used to be a taboo and people would say, 'Oh, don't put politics in your films; the audience don't watch it.' But if you engage them through your characters, they are ready to follow any politics or the world you've created," he adds. The story of "Tubelight", his third collaboration with Salman Khan after "Ek Tha Tiger" and "Bajrangi...", is set against the 1962 Indo-China war. The director did not elaborate on the story but reports suggest that Salman Khan plays a man from India who falls in love with a woman from China, played by Chinese actress Zhu Zhu. Khan is also happy to have brought together Salman khan with Shah Rukh Khan, who features in a special guest appearance, in the film. The last time they worked together in a movie was "Hum Tumhare Hai Sanam" in 2002. "I've known Shah Rukh for a long time and the equation with him hasn't changed at all. It's still fun. I was actually very close friends with Gauri, his wife, so we've always been very warm and friendly. When I took the idea of this cameo in 'Tubelight' to him, he readily agreed. I didn't have to convince him at all," Khan says. It had to be Shah Rukh, he adds, for the role was that of a superstar. "Trust me, it's a great cameo and a fantastic character. Shah Rukh is someone I've always looked up to as a senior. He is also probably the most well read person in the industry," he says. The director says he is not worried about matching the success of "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" with his new film but hopes that people will like "Tubelight", too. "We really enjoyed making 'Bajrangi...' and the people appreciated it and gave it a kind of love which was unprecedented. But I don't think that can become the benchmark for us. You'll always be under pressure if you compare any new film that you make with the one that did so spectacularly well," he adds. All that he has to do, he says, is to make a film with the "same passion" as they did with Bajrangi. "And hope people like it as much as they liked 'Bajrangi'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opinion / Columnist Howard Phangwana Secretary General NPP. MAT. NORTH 18 April we celebrate"independence". One which was hard fought by the unsung Matabele heroes and heroins of 1893 wars through the much heralded and documented Kaguvi and Nehanda of 1897 up to the last 1979 Josiah Magama Tongogara death and many others inbetween unrecorded. We celebrated those that remained and still remain like our erstwhile Dr JTRM. The bid question remains...are we independent as Mat North and Zimbabwe in general. Is this day worth celebrating?As a province we embraced 1980 as a year of our independence but alas little did we know that we have jumped from the Racist Regime to a Fascist ZanuPf that treated us and continues to treat us as second class citizens. Our joy for for Independece was short lived as we were left by this separatist gvnt to suffer untold loss and suffering of the 1982 drought. Whilst we were still mourning the same Gvnt unleashed a genocidal terror the whole of Southern region that wiped in excess of 20 000 of our kith and kin. And is this independence?.Second class citizens we have been thats why we have been neglected by this regime. Thats why not even a single region is inaccessible to the other , we have to via Byo. Thats why we have not even a single referral hospital yet a simple flu and headache on our President is attended in Singapore. Pre and postnatal care of the president daughter is done in Malaysia. Yet 1000 of Infants suffer still birth and many mothers die in labour .The Tongas right on the banks of the Zambezi have to share water with livestock with no source of clean water. They are regared as illegal fishermen bacause they dont have a licence issued in Harare. 37 down the suffering lane the Province has one recently established state university which has 99.9% of its operations in Byo. And we supposed to celebrate independence?We can only thank the efforts of all who wrestled this country from the racist regime but power and the gains of that independence was tacitly grabed by a chosen few who have blindly nourished themselves while all facets of the state have bled to death.Whilst there is nothing to celebrate l urge fellow Zimbabweans and Mat Northerners not to mourn but build up from the fact that it is common kknowledge that as Matland we rejected ZanuPf long back and we have been giving our vote as protest to any party that has approached us and said Phansi LeZanu loMgabe and they have failed to deliver.We now have the National Peoples Party that has all the solutions through a tried and tested nationalist leader Dr Mujuru.NPP has the solutions from now through 2018 and beyond. NPP has the freedom fighters who have long been used and abused. They now have NPP as a platform to solve this 37 year old mess.Lets use this day not to look back and mourn of was supposed to be but fight for was is supposed to be. And this shall not come by occupying offices in NPP and using them to fight each other. It shall not not come by writing long rhetoric like this one on any media. It shall not come by bellicose speeches that we bellow every time we get a crowd and a microphone.It shall come by us as NPP going to the ground and use vox popli as our our spring board for it is the people who can defeat this region.18 April we have nothing to celebrate! !!!!Ayihlome!!!National People's PartyIbandla LabantuBato Revavhu A man charged with killing five people at a mall in Washington state last year was found dead in his jail cell in an apparent suicide, authorities have said. Arcan Cetin, 20, was discovered hanging on Sunday evening, said Rosemary Kaholokula, chief criminal deputy prosecutor for Skagit County. He was being held in neighbouring Snohomish County, where he was awaiting the results of a mental competency evaluation. The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail, said in a release yesterday that a 20-year-old inmate had been found unresponsive, and that efforts to revive the prisoner failed. The death is under investigation, the statement said. Investigators say Cetin shot a teenage girl, a man and three women in a department store at Cascade Mall in Burlington, 105 km north of Seattle, on September 23. Authorities captured him about 30 hours later near his apartment and said he confessed during police interviews but did not explain why he did it. The family of victim Chuck Eagan said in a written statement they were shocked by the death. "We pray that the man repented to God before his death," the statement said. "While this event puts to rest our fear of his release, we harbour no ill will towards Mr. Cetin or his family and pray for their comfort as we know all too well the pain of grief." Cetin had been charged with aggravated murder, which can bring the death penalty, but he had not entered pleas pending mental evaluations. His attorney did not immediately return a message seeking comment. The 20-year-old had a history of violent behaviour toward his family and ex-girlfriend. Cetin's stepfather, David Marshall, said the family had been trying to get Cetin help for mental health issues. According to police reports, Cetin had told his ex that his father was connected to "bad people in Turkey." Asked during interviews whether his Turkish relatives had ties to terrorist groups, Cetin said no. He also said he didn't have any contact with those relatives. He said he had watched beheadings by the Islamic State group online but considered such terrorist actions wrong. Asked if ISIS had inspired the mall killings, Cetin responded, "I can't answer that," police wrote. The shootings were captured on surveillance video. The victims were Sarai Lara, 16, and Shayla Martin, 52, both of Mount Vernon; Eagan, 61, of Lake Stevens; Belinda Galde, 64, of Arlington; and Galde's mother, Beatrice Dotson, 95, of Kingsport, Tennessee. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian President Vladimir Putin today congratulated Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for winning a referendum on enhancing his powers, the Kremlin and Turkish state media said. Putin telephoned Erdogan to congratulate him over the win of the 'Yes' vote in Sunday's poll, the state-run Anadolu agency said, quoting presidential sources. The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin congratulated Erdogan for the "successful carrying-out" of the referendum. US President Donald Trump had yesterday also congratulated Erdogan for his victory in the poll, which has been disputed by the opposition and has been greeted coolly by the European Union. Anadolu said Putin and Erdogan emphasised the importance of normalising ties, which are still recovering after Turkish jets shot down a Russian war plane over the Syrian border in 2015. The two leaders also noted the importance of maintaining a ceasefire in Syria jointly brokered by Ankara and Moscow, it added. The Kremlin said that the ceasefire needed to be reinforced as well as the twin talks processes based in Astana and Geneva. Both sides also emphasised the importance of an "unpartisan" investigation into the suspected chemical attack in Syria earlier this month, the Kremlin said. Ankara has said that the deadly nerve agent sarin was used by the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, an opinion not shared by Russia. Some analysts are predicting Ankara will move closer towards Moscow after the referendum as increased strains emerge in its relations with the European Union. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Kingfisher Airlines employees have said their main concern is the recovery of their unpaid salaries and extradition of industrialist Vijay Mallya, who was arrested by Scotland Yard in London today. "Our main concern is that the government should get him (Mallya) to India and we should get our dues," former Kingfisher Airlines pilot Rahul Bhasin said in his reaction to Mallya's arrest. Mallya was today arrested in London by Scotland Yard on India's request for his extradition on fraud charges. The 61-year-old liquor baron, wanted here for defaulting in payment of bank loans to the tune of over Rs 9,000 crore, was arrested after he appeared at a central London police station this morning. "We appreciate the government's efforts. They have done something, finally," Bhasin said. Mallya appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court in London and was seen walking out with his legal team a few hours later after being granted bail. Anirudha Ballala, another former Kingfisher Airlines pilot, said the law is taking its course. "Mallya is perhaps paying for the 'karmas' that he has done by not paying to employees," he added. Significantly, Ballala along with other employees had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March last year, seeking his intervention in safeguarding the interest of the airline's erstwhile staffers. The employees had written to the Prime Minister after Mallya had sneaked out of the country. According to an open letter written by the former women employees of the erstwhile airline last year, Mallya owes Rs 300 crore as salaries dues to over 3,000 employees. "The government is only focussed on its dues. We don't have any hope other than the government, it is our last hope," Bhasin said, adding that he expects the government to do all it can do to recover employees' dues as well. Ballala said while he has no personal enmity with his former employer, "but by leaving his employees in the lurch was not a good thing. Not looking after his employees and their families and leaving them at the mercy of Almighty has perhaps gone against him." Hoping for an early extradition of Mallya from the UK, Ballala said, "If the government can get him arrested, it can bring him back as well." India had given a formal extradition request for Mallya as per the Extradition Treaty between India and the UK through a note verbale on February 8. While handing over the request, India had asserted that it has a "legitimate" case against Mallya and maintained that if an extradition request is honoured, it would show British "sensitivity towards our concerns." "I thank this government for taking steps to bring him back to the country," Ballala added. A Delhi court had last week issued an open ended non- bailable warrant against Mallya in a case of allegedly evading summons in a Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) violation case. In January this year, the Debt Recovery Tribunal ordered a consortium of lenders to start the process of recovering the loans. Around the same time, a CBI court too had issued a non- bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It is "unfortunate" that someone has to knock the doors of the court for ensuring respect to the national flag and national anthem, government told the Supreme Court today, asserting that respect for them was "non-negotiable". As the governnment stated its position on the issue, an apex court bench, comprising Justices Dipak Misra, A M Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar, modified its earlier order to exempt those with disability from standing up at cinema halls when the national anthem is being played. "We are inclined to modify the orders and direct that the persons who are wheel-chair users, those with autism, persons suffering from cerebral palsy, multiple disabilities, parkinsons, multiple sclerosis, leprosy cured, muscular dystrophy and deaf and blind be treated not to be within the ambit of the orders passed by this Court," the bench said. At the outset, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the bench "it is unfortunate that someone has to approach this court for ensuring due respect to national flag and national anthem but what is most unfortunate that some section is opposing it. "Respect for national anthem and national flag is non- negotiable and every citizen is bound to show due respect to the symbols of national pride." The apex court had in its December 9 order clarified that a physically-challenged person, who goes to the cinema hall to watch a film, need not stand up if he is incapable of standing but must show such conduct which is commensurate with respect for the national anthem. The apex court also sought a response from the Centre in four weeks on a plea seeking framing of a policy to promote the national anthem and the national song. The petition, filed by Delhi BJP spokesperson and advocate Ashwini Upadhaya, also sought to direction for mandatory singing of national anthem and the national song in Parliament, assemblies, courts, schools and colleges on working days. The court's order had come on a PIL filed by one Shyam Narayan Chouksey seeking directions that the national anthem should be played in cinema halls across the country before a film begins and proper norms and protocol be fixed regarding its playing and singing at official functions and programmes where those holding constitutional posts are present. During the hearing, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi appearing for Chouksey, said a direction should be issued to the government to amend the law as there were penal provisions for those who disrespect the national flag, but there are no such provisions for those who show disrespect to the anthem. Senior advocate C U Singh, appearing for Kerala Film Society, sought recall of the earlier order making playing of the national song in cinema halls mandatory before screening of films saying that courts should not venture into the field of the legislature. "We show utmost respect to the national flag and national anthem. But it should not be considered anti-national to argue against this petition or seeking recall of the order," Singh said. Mehta intervened and said that he never used the word anti-national but citizens should show due respect to national flag and national anthem. To this, the bench asked "is showing respect to national flag and national anthem not inherent in our Constitution?" Singh said they were not against showing respect to the flag but it does not mean that the court's order was beyond the scope of challenge. He said the petition is not maintainable as it was Parliament's or the government's job to ensure that cinema halls play the anthem before the screening of a film. "There are separation of power. This is executive domain and by PIL court cannot assume power of legislation," the senior advocate said adding that court cannot compel anyone to play the national anthem at a particular time. The bench asked petitioner to file an amended petition with additional grounds within two weeks and allowed intervention application of Maharashtra and Rajasthan. It clarified that the plea of Kerala film society seeking recall of earlier order will be heard along with the main petition and posted the matter for August 23. On February 17, the apex court had refused to go into the debate for making singing of the national song mandatory in schools and clarified that it has "kept alive" such a plea only for the national anthem without expressing any views. The apex court had on November 30 last year ordered cinema halls across the nation to mandatorily play the national anthem before screening of a movie when the audience must stand and show respect. The apex court, while passing a slew of directions, had also observed that "time has come when citizens must realise they live in a nation and are duty-bound to show respect to the national anthem which is a symbol of constitutional patriotism and inherent national quality". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court today asked the West Bengal government to file on record the orders passed by the Calcutta High Court in matters challenging the constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act. "West Bengal government is required to place on record the orders passed by the Calcutta High Court in all pending matters wherein the vires of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration Act have sought to be challenged," a bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said. The bench, which also comprised Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, said it would like to peruse the orders passed by the High Court and listed the plea of Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) for hearing on April 20. Senior advocate P P Rao, appearing for GTA, said it was an elected body and the state government was not holding even the civic polls in the areas falling under it. Earlier, GTA had moved the top court challenging the West Bengal government's refusal to transfer administrative power and various subjects to it, in spite of a tripartite agreement that was reached between the Gorkha agitators, the state and the Centre in 2011. The apex court had agreed to hear the plea and asked the GTA to place on record the notification issued by the West Bengal government in 2011, in which it had promised a transfer of power through a memorandum of agreement (MoA) at the tripartite meeting. The MoA for the creation of GTA was signed on July 18, 2011 at Pintail Village near Siliguri in the presence of then Union Home Minister P Chidambaram, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Gorkha Janmukti Morcha leaders. Recently, the GTA has moved the High Court against the state government and Election Commission for alleged delay in holding of elections to four municipalities in Darjeeling hills. The five-year term for Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Kurseong and Mirik municipalities had come to an end in December last year. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The police today seized scrapped currency notes with face value worth Rs 2.37 crore from three vehicles here and detained seven persons in this connection. On a tip off that some people were to visit Thaltej circle to meet a person to exchange their demonetised currency notes for a commission of 15 per cent, police kept a watch and caught them when they arrived on three separate vehicles, the police said. A Vastrapur police station official said 13,700 notes of Rs 500 and 16,900 notes of Rs 1,000 were seized from these vehicles at around 1.30 am. "They had come from Vadodara and Himmatnagar and were looking to exchange demonetised currency notes with new notes for a commission of 15 per cent," he said. Seven persons were detained and the Income Tax Department was informed about the seizure, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj today discussed bilateral ties with visiting Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari. "Shaping our shared historical and cultural linkages. EAM @SushmaSwaraj calls on President Bidya Devi Bhandari at @RashtrapatiBhavan," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay tweeted. Bhandari, who arrived here yesterday on a five-day visit and was accorded a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, is slated to meet President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among other Indian leaders. This is Bhandari's first visit abroad after assuming office in 2015. She was scheduled to have visited India last May, but the trip was cancelled after the then cabinet in Nepal said it was not adequately prepared for it. During her stay in India, she is also expected to travel to Gujarat and Odisha. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tata Housing today announced plans to expand to the African property market and will invest Rs 1,000 crore to develop two projects in Kenya and Tanzania. The real estate arm of the Tata group plans to raise USD 200 million through private equity to fund the overseas operations. It recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the National Housing Bank and a private real estate firm to develop more than 4.5 million sq ft of mixed used townships in Kenya and Tanzania. The two mixed use development projects are expected to be launched by January 2018 in a price range of USD 75,000 - 1,00,000 per unit catering to the mid-income segment. "The investment in both projects is expected to be more than Rs 1,000 crores across both the phases over the next 3-4 years," the company said in a statement. Tata Housing MD & CEO Brotin Banerjee said, "Our early success in Sri Lanka and the Maldives gave us the impetus to further expand our international footprint. Starting with Kenya and Tanzania, we will cater to the mid-income segments and fulfil their demand for superior quality housing." With 60 per cent of urban population living in informal housing, there is consistent growth in demand for housing across both Kenya and Tanzania. Tata Housing has recently handed over the government housing project to the Government of Maldives and launched two high-end project at Odeon and Nadhee in the capital city - Male. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three women were killed and 12 other people injured, four of them seriously, when a pick up van in which they were travelling overturned in Bihar's Jehanabad district today. Sub-divisional Magistrate Nawal Kishore Choudhary said that the 15 were returning to their homes at Uchika village after harvesting wheat in Sonepur riverine areas of the district. The accident took place on Kurtha road in Shakurabad area and the dead are aged between 18 years to 32 years and have been identified. Of the 12 injured persons, four persons have been referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) while the rest eight have been admitted to the sadar hospital, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Turkish cabinet agreed to extend for another three months the state of emergency imposed after last July's failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the deputy premier said. The decision came yesterday after a meeting of the National Security Council (MGK), chaired by Erdogan, to recommend its extension. "The recommendation was considered and the Council of Ministers signed to extend the state of emergency for another three months from tomorrow," Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus told reporters in Ankara. The emergency was due to end on April 19. Its extension follows the approval by Turkish voters of constitutional changes boosting Erdogan's powers on Sunday. The state of emergency has been renewed twice before in October and January after it was first declared on July 20, five days after the attempted putsch. Now the decision will go to parliament for final approval, Kurtulmus said. The deputy prime minister said the decision was not made to give the Turkish government free rein but because of its "fight against terrorist groups". "In this struggle, whatever is necessary will be done" against those accused of links to putschists, Kurtulmus said. Under the state of emergency, over 47,000 people have been arrested on suspicion of links to the coup while tens of thousands more people working in the public sector have been dismissed or suspended from their jobs. Many are academics, police officers, journalists and teachers as well as judges and prosecutors. The crackdown has been heavily criticised by Turkey's Western allies. Over 51 per cent of Turks voted in the referendum in support of changes that will axe the role of premier and allow the president to appoint ministers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opinion / Columnist The people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, ... we wot not what is become of him. Exodus 32:1.Settled rebellion is incurable. It first originated in heaven with the angel next highest in order to Jesus Christ. This exalted angel had sympathizers who joined him in his rebellion.Satan, the great rebel, was turned out of heaven, and all his rebel sympathizers shared his fate. Since then it has been his special work to excite to rebellion all he can gain control over.All are at liberty to choose and take their position with the rebellious or take their stand with those who are on the side of God and the truth _those who have labored earnestly, faithfully, and unselfishly in this great cause,_ and who have endured trial, reproach, and fought with courage the battles of the Lord.Pure religion have suffered violently because of settled rebellion leading to selfishness.God is calling His not to give chance to the originator of rebellion but do the works of mercy while on earth, exercising "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."A Christian is a Christlike man, a Christlike woman, who is active in God's service, who is present at the *social meeting,* _whose presence will encourage others also._ Religion does not consist in works, but religion works; it is not dormant.Be Blessed!@_ _kaybeesibbs@gmail.com_Word Powered by; TROVOCO a registered Christian oriented Charity Trust wholly devoted to alleviate the plight of the underprivileged (destitute children, the orphans and the disabled amongst others) .Make your donations to the underprivileged kids via our Treasurer on +263 772 937 477( ecocash range from as little as $2 to as much as you can afford).Contact; (Chairperson) Mthulisi Ndlovu +263 778 481 481/ +267763 50865. To get more information or to join us.Or Nkomo Bhekinkosi on +263 777 403 986TROVOCO 'A closer walk with them'. In order to attract investments, the Uttar Pradesh government today promised uninterrupted power supply and security to mega industry houses, if they wanted to open their units in the state. "We will provide a conducive environment," Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma told representatives from various industrial units at a meeting here. Sharma, who heads Group of Ministers on industries, has been entrusted with the task of drafting a new industrial policy for the state by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Other members of the GoM who attended the meeting were Satish Mahana (Industry Minister), Rajesh Agarwal (Finance Minister), Shrikant Sharma (Energy Minister), Nand Gopal Gupta (Stamp Registration Minister) and MoS Industrial Development Suresh Rana. "The UP government will put in place the single-window system, which will help the industrialists to get all the permissions from a single point itself. This will create an atmosphere of trust among the industrialists," the Deputy CM said. "Similarly, all the grievances of the investors will be redressed in a time-bound manner and for this an online grievance redressal system is being ensured," he said. Endorsing the concerns of the industrialists, he assured that the UP government will tackle these issues, while framing the new policy. "The UP government is committed to take positive steps for industrialists and people. This will result in investments in the state and creation of jobs, which will eventually lead to development of the state," he said. Mahana said, "If needed, the state government will also mull enacting a law for overall encouragement and protection of industrialists". He added that industrialists should have a positive frame of mind as a good environment is being created in the state for establishing industries. Shrikant Sharma explained the discounts for industrialists under the open access power purchase. Open access allows large users of power to buy cheaper power from the open market. The idea is that customers should be able to choose among a large number of competing power companies instead of being forced to buy electricity from their existing electric utility monopoly. It helps large consumers particularly sick textile, cement and steel industrial units by ensuring regular supply of electricity at competitive rates, he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US National Security Adviser HR McMaster today met Prime Minister Narendra Modi here and reviewed bilateral ties and the situation in the South Asian region. Indian NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and some other officials were present in the meeting that took place at the prime minister's residence. Earlier, McMaster and Doval held detailed discussions on Indo-US relations especially the security aspect of the ties, sources said. The US NSA arrived here last evening from Pakistan where he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and some top officials. In Islamabad, the relations between India and Pakistan figured in McMaster's discussions with Sharif. As part of the South Asia trip, he also visited Afghanistan before travelling to Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Trump Administration today reaffirmed the Major Defence Partner status granted to India as its National Security Adviser H R McMaster met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held talks with his counterpart Ajit Doval here. During the meeting between Modi and McMaster, views were exchanged on how India and the US can work together to effectively address the challenge of terrorism and to advance regional peace, security and stability, a PMO statement said. McMaster, whose trip here marks the first visit by a top official of the Trump Administration, shared his perspective with the Prime Minister on the security situation in the extended region, including Afghanistan, West Asia and North Korea. The US NSA conveyed the greetings of President Donald Trump to the Prime Minister, the PMO statement said about the meeting in which Doval, Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and some other key officials were present. "NSA McMaster emphasised the importance of the US-India strategic relationship and reaffirmed India's designation as a Major Defence Partner," said a statement issued by the US Embassy here. India was granted the Major Defence Partner status by the previous Barack Obama Administration in December last year. Modi recalled his "positive telephonic conversations" with Trump that "reaffirmed the importance attached by both sides to the strategic partnership and to stepping up India-US engagement across the board", the PMO statement said. McMaster also met Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar. "The two sides discussed a range of bilateral and regional issues, including their shared interest in increasing defence and counter-terrorism cooperation," said the US Embassy statement while giving a gist of the overnight visit and McMaster's meetings before. Describing the meetings as "productive", the statement said, "The visit was a part of regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad." Earlier, McMaster and Doval held detailed discussions on Indo-US relations especially the security aspect of the ties, sources said. The US NSA arrived here last evening from Pakistan where he met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and some top officials. In Islamabad, the relations between India and Pakistan figured in McMaster's discussions with Sharif. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A comprehensive data protection framework may be put in place by this year end and the TRAI is working on it, the government today told the Supreme Court. The government told the apex court that there would be a regulatory mechanism in place on data protection, likely by Diwali in October, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was actively pursuing a framework of this nature. Stating this, Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi urged a five-judge constitution bench, headed by Justice Dipak Misra, to defer the hearing in the WhatsApp privacy policy matter by a couple of months so that the government can come out with the law on data protection. "The government is actively mulling over a comprehensive data protection framework," Rohatgi told the bench, which also comprised Justices A K Sikri, Amitava Roy, A M Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar. Senior advocate Harish Salve, appearing for the petitioners, told the bench that there was no regulation in place and there should be privacy of data or information shared by the users on social networking or instant messaging platforms. "It does not look like that even the government is alive to this problem," hesaid, adding that the "TRAI is focussing on net-neutrality. Let them start on the policy for privacy first". Responding to this, the Attorney General said, "The TRAI is already in the process. By Diwali, we should have it (the new data protection framework)." He said the Centre's stand was "that there is going to be a regulatory regime to save the data base to guide the concept of net-neutrality". Rohatgi also referred to the privacy aspect and said another five-judge bench would be dealing with it while deciding petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Aadhaar scheme. Meanwhile, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing WhatsApp, told the apex court that they have an encrypted technology and data or contents, including voice and messages, shared on their platform cannot be accessed by a third party. "WhatsApp has an end-to-end encrypted technology. We are more concerned about it. We are very popular because we protect privacy. We do not share content, data or anything," he said. Sibal also questioned the way in which the matter was listed for hearing before a constitution bench, saying it could not have been referred to such a bench without hearing the issue and framing questions. Salve countered him saying "it has been done under the order of the Chief Justice of India. The CJI has unbridled power. He is master of the roaster. He can place anything before any bench of any strength". "It is a direction, by exercise of discretion, that this matter be placed for hearing before a five-judge constitution bench," the court said, adding, "we are not concerned with the issue of net-neutrality. We are concerned with the points raised by the petitioner". Sibal, however, said that bench headed by CJI J S Khehar should have formulated the questions to be deliberated upon by the constitution bench. The court said that it would deal with the preliminary objection raised in this regard in its final verdict saying, "once an issue has been raised, it has to be addressed. And we think we shall put the controversy to the rest in this regard". During the hearing, Salve argued that privacy policy of WhatsApp was "unacceptable" and suffers from constitutional vulnerability as it affects the freedom of an individual. He argued that WhatsApp could not have framed such policy under the garb of data sharing. Senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, appearing for Facebook, told the court that they were in compliance with the provision of the Information and Technology Act and the 2011 privacy policy and rules. The bench, while posting the matter for hearing on April 27, asked Salve to formulate the issues to be deliberated upon by it by August 24. During the hearing, the court also asked Salve to explain why the petitioners, Karmanya Singh Sareen and Shreya Sethi, had approached the Delhi High Court in the matter. To this, the senior counsel said they had moved the high court because of the WhatsApp's new privacy policy as per which user information would be shared with Facebook. Social networking service, Facebook, had bought WhatsApp in 2014. At the fag end of hearing, Sibal said his preliminary submission was that no constiutional issue was involved in the matter. To this, the bench said, "Whether a constitutional issue is involved or not, it is required to be addressed. We will address it". When the apex court proposed May 10 for commencement of hearing in the matter, the lawyers said three constitution benches would sit during the summer vacation, which would start from May 11, and this case should be posted in July. The bench, however, said, "when five of us (judges) have agreed to work, why don't you people want to work. This is a problem". The apex court is hearing the appeal assailing the high court verdict on the ground that no relief was granted for data shared by users post September 25, 2016 and it amounted to infringement of fundamental rights under Article 19 (Freedom of Speech and Expression) and 21 (Right to Life) of the Constitution. The apex court had on January 16 sought responses from the Centre and TRAI on the plea that privacy of over 157 million Indians has been infringed by social networking sites - WhatsApp and Facebook - for alleged commercial use of personal communication. The Delhi High Court had earlier restrained WhatsApp, an instant messaging application, from sharing with Facebook the user information existing upto September 25, 2016, when its new privacy policy came into effect. The High Court, in its verdict in September last year, had directed WhatsApp to delete the information/data of those who had opted out of the service before September 25, 2016 and not to share them with social networking site Facebook or its group companies. The high court had also directed the Centre and TRAI to examine the feasibility of bringing the functioning of internet messaging applications like WhatsApp under statutory regulatory framework. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) By Devidutta Tripathy and Douglas Busvine MUMBAI/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian businessman Vijay Mallya, who has been pursued by authorities over unpaid loans tied to his now defunct Kingfisher Airlines, was arrested in London on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. Mallya, 61, was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud and will be presented in Westminster Magistrates Court later on Tuesday, the statement added. India had asked Britain to extradite Mallya to face trial after the liquor and aviation tycoon fled there last March after banks sued to recover about $1.4 billion that Indian authorities say Kingfisher owes. Mallya has repeatedly dismissed the charges against him and defended himself in messages from his personal account on social media network Twitter. An India-based spokesman for Mallya's UB Group did not comment immediately. Indian television channel CNN News18 reported that Mallya was arrested by Scotland Yard and a team of Indian law enforcement officials would visit London to begin work on his extradition. India's foreign ministry and its federal police, the Central Bureau of Investigation, were not immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Douglas Busvine and Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Euan Rocha and Clarence Fernandez) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) - The Reserve Bank of India issued guidelines on Tuesday for investments by commercial banks in Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), including setting limits on the overall investments. The RBI said at a policy review earlier this month that it would allow banks to invest in REITs and InvITs. Among the guidelines issued on Tuesday, the central bank said banks would not be allowed to invest more than 10 percent of the unit capital of a REIT or InvIT. For full statement see: http://bit.ly/2pxhOod (Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc reported a 22.1 percent increase in quarterly revenue on Tuesday, ahead of the sale of its core internet business to Verizon Communications Inc . Yahoo said revenue from Mavens - the mobile, video, native and social advertising units that it has touted as key emerging businesses - rose 35.6 percent to $529 million in the first quarter ended March 31. Net income attributable to Yahoo was $99.4 million, or 10 cents per share in the quarter, compared with a net loss of $99.2 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to $1.33 billion from $1.09 billion. Verizon in February agreed to buy Yahoo's core business -which includes its internet search and email assets - for $4.48 billion, lowering its original offer by $350 million, in the wake of two massive cyber attacks at the internet company. Yahoo said on Tuesday it expects the deal to close in June. (Reporting by Laharee Chatterjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sai Sachin Ravikumar) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Commercial Feature is a Business Standard Digital Marketing Initiative. The Editorial/Content team at Business Standard has not contributed to writing or editing these articles. For further information, please write to assist@bsmail.in Opinion / Columnist The fact that we officially commemorate the Holocaust on January 27, the date of the liberation of Auschwitz, means that remembrance of Nazi crimes focuses on the systematic mass murder of Europe's Jews.The other victims of Nazi racism, including Europe's Sinti and Roma are now routinely named in commemoration, but not all survivors have had equal opportunities to have their story heard. One group of victims who have yet to be publicly memorialised is black Germans.All those voices need to be heard, not only for the sake of the survivors, but because we need to see how varied the expressions of Nazi racism were if we are to understand the lessons of the Holocaust for today.When Hitler came to power in 1933, there were understood to have been some thousands of black people living in Germany - they were never counted and estimates vary widely. At the heart of an emerging black community was a group of men from Germany's own African colonies (which were lost under the peace treaty that ended World War I) and their German wives.They were networked across Germany and abroad by ties of family and association and some were active in communist and anti-racist organisations. Among the first acts of the Nazi regime was the suppression of black political activism. There were also 600 to 800 children fathered by French colonial soldiers - many, though not all, African - when the French army occupied the Rhineland as part of the peace settlement after 1919. French troops were withdrawn in 1930 and the Rhineland was demilitarised until Hitler stationed German units there in 1936.Denial of rights and workThe 1935 Nuremberg Laws stripped Jews of their German citizenship and prohibited them from marrying or having sexual relations with "people of German blood".A subsequent ruling confirmed that black people (like "gypsies") were to be regarded as being "of alien blood" and subject to the Nuremberg principles. Very few people of African descent had German citizenship, even if they were born in Germany, but this became irreversible when they were given passports that designated them as "stateless negroes".In 1941, black children were officially excluded from public schools, but most of them had suffered racial abuse in their classrooms much earlier. Some were forced out of school and none were permitted to go on to university or professional training. Published interviews and memoirs by both men and women, unpublished testimony and post-war compensation claims testify to these and other shared experiences.Employment prospects which were already poor before 1933 got worse afterwards. Unable to find regular work, some were drafted for forced labour as "foreign workers" during World War II. Films and stage shows making propaganda for the return of Germany's African colonies became one of the few sources of income, especially after black people were banned from other kinds of public performance in 1939.IncarcerationWhen SS leader Heinrich Himmler undertook a survey of all black people in Germany and occupied Europe in 1942, he was probably contemplating a round-up of some kind. But there was no mass internment.Research in camp records and survivor testimony has so far thrown up around 20 black Germans who spent time in concentration camps and prisons - and at least one who was a euthanasia victim. The one case we have of a black person being sent to a concentration camp explicitly for being a Mischling (mulatto) - Gert Schramm, interned in Buchenwald aged 15 - comes from 1944.Instead, the process that ended with incarceration usually began with a charge of deviant or antisocial behaviour. Being black made people visible to the police, and it became a reason not to release them once they were in custody.In this respect, we can see black people as victims not of a peculiarly Nazi racism, but of an intensified version of the kinds of everyday racism that persist today.Sterilisation: an assault on familiesIt was the Nazi fear of "racial pollution" that led to the most common trauma suffered by black Germans: the break-up of families. "Mixed" couples were harassed into separating. When others applied for marriage licences, or when a woman was known to be pregnant or had a baby, the black partner became a target for involuntary sterilisation.In a secret action in 1937, some 400 of the Rhineland children were forcibly sterilised. Other black Germans went into hiding or fled the country to escape sterilisation, while news of friends and relatives who had not escaped intensified the fear that dominated people's lives.The black German community was new in 1933; in most families the first generation born in Germany was just coming of age. In that respect it was similar to the communities in France and Britain that were forming around families founded by men from the colonies.Nazi persecution broke those families and the ties of community. One legacy of that was a long silence about the human face of Germany's colonial history: the possibility that black and white Germans could share a social and cultural space.That silence helps to explain Germans' mixed responses to today's refugee crisis. The welcome offered by German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and many ordinary Germans has given voice to the liberal humanitarianism that was always present in German society and was reinforced by the lessons of the Holocaust.The reaction against refugees reveals the other side of the coin: Germans who fear immigration are not alone in Europe. But their anxieties draw on a vision that has remained very powerful in German society since 1945: the idea that however deserving they are, people who are not white cannot be German.This article was corrected on January 27 to clarify the situation in the Rhineland between the two world wars. In a bid to overhaul the state-run lenders amid rising non-performing assets or NPAs, the government is likely to go for the next round of consolidation by allowing Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Bank of Baroda to take over smaller lenders. The proposed bank consolidation is aimed at increasing operational efficiencies and managing the affairs of the lenders. The Economic Times reported that the government was actively looking for consolidation with the Prime Minister's Office keen on having a few large banks rather than several smaller ones. "We may start with some low-hanging fruit. For example, Punjab & Sind Bank can be merged into Punjab National Bank. Big lenders like Bank of Baroda can take over some turnaround banks in the southern region, like Indian Overseas Bank," The ET quoted a senior Finance Ministry official as saying. However, the report suggests that no decision has been made as yet. This is not the first time the government is considering the merger option. Earlier, the cabinet approved the merger of State Bank of India with its five subsidiaries. While approving the proposal, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said: "This merger will lead to far greater operational efficiency and synergy of operations. When the cost of operations comes down, the cost of funds will come down." Australia today abolished a visa programme used by over 95,000 temporary foreign workers, majority of them Indians, to tackle the growing unemployment in the country. The programme known as 457 visa allows business to employ foreign workers for a period up to four years in skilled jobs where there is a shortage of Australian workers. "We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains: Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs, so we are abolishing the 457 visa, the visa that brings temporary foreign workers into our country," said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. The majority of the visa holders were from India followed by the UK and China. "We will no longer allow 457 visa to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians," he said. He said Australia will adopt a new 'Australians first' approach to skilled migration. As at September 30, there were 95,757 workers in Australia on primary 457 visa programme, ABC reported. The programme will be replaced by another visa programme, with new restrictions. "It is important businesses still get access to the skills they need to grow and invest, so the 457 visa will be replaced by a new temporary visa, specifically designed to recruit the best and brightest in the national interest," Turnbull said. Turnbull said the new programme will ensure that foreign workers are brought into Australia in order to fill critical skill gaps and not brought in because an employer finds it easier to recruit a foreign worker than go to the trouble of hiring an Australian. Turnbull's announcement comes days after he visited India where a range of issues, including national security, counter terrorism, education and energy, were discussed and six agreements were signed. Four lakh shell companies feel the heat of deregistration over non filing of income tax returns, reports TOI. Over a third of the 11 lakh active Indian companies could be deregistered as they have failed to file their returns for three financial years. Quoting the sources, the report said that starting last month, notices are being sent out to over four lakh companies, which have failed to file returns for 2013-14 and 2014-15 with the registrar of companies. Meanwhile, the companies are being given time span of 30 days to do the needful. If any of the firm would fail to file the returns, its name would be strike off by the government. To ensure that the defunct companies are unable to undertake transactions, the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) will make their names public and also share information about the companies and their directors with the income tax department, banks and the Reserve Bank of India, added the report. The Companies Act now allows firms to have a "dormant" tag, however, very few companies have actually opted for it. At the end of March 2015, there were 14.6 lakh companies, but only 10.2 lakh were considered active with just 214 classified as dormant. The sources said told TOI, that just the threat of names being struck off has prompted several companies to file their returns. The government has launched a drive against shell companies after it found that many of those were depositing cash during demonetisation. The Centre also has set up a taskforce to make a roadmap to ensure that they are not used as vehicles for tax evasion and money laundering. The fall from grace has been spectacular. From billionaire liquor baron to two-time Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament to fugitive from justice living in London, life may have finally come full circle for UB Group Chairman Vijay Mallya. With his arrest by Scotland Yard in London, Indian government's efforts to extradite the one time 'King of Good Times' seems to have finally borne fruit. However, he has been granted bail but "Mallya's arrest is definitely one step forward, but one among many to be traversed before getting anywhere close to his extradition. The good part is that a prima facie case has been made out in the extradition request made by the Government of India earlier this year and a district judge in the UK has found merit in this request. This was possible largely due to the emphasis in the request on the cheating and money laundering aspect of the CBI charge-sheet in the IDBI Bank loan sanction issue," says Ramesh Vaidyanathan, Managing Partner of Advaya Legal, adding that a pure civil wrong of loan default of the borrower or the guarantor would not have entitled an extradition request to the UK authorities. When British Prime Minister Theresa May chose India as her first destination for an overseas trip after taking over, there were some murmurs that the Indian government had forcefully insisted on the extradition of the fugitive businessman. Mallya who fled to UK nearly a year ago, is wanted for non-repayment of loans and advances to the tune of nearly Rs 9000 crore to various Indian banks and institutions. In the past he has made offers to settle the dispute with the banks provided they take a substantial haircut on their dues. The banks have rejected this. Once Mallya is extradited to India he is likely to be arrested and would face a slew of charges. Earlier in January this year, CBI had issued a non-bailable warrant for Mallya. "Mallya will have the ability to access due process under the UK law, which will include a full hearing before the district court, hearing before the Secretary of State, High Court and the Supreme Court (in fit cases). He will also be entitled to be let out on bail for now upon certain conditions," says Vaidyanathan. Mallya still owns a substantial chunk of United Brewerie,s his beer company. For the Modi government, Mallya's arrest and extradition to stand trial will be a way to send the message across that this government is tough on 'crony capitalism.' Liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya was arrested on Tuesday by the Scotland Yard in London. Mallya was taken to Westminster magistrates' court. The arrest comes after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's recent visit to UK. During his visit, Jaitley had personally appealed to UK PM Theresa May for Mallya's extradition. Mallya was arrested in the loan default case after the order of Wensminster court. Last month, the British government certified India's request and sent it to a district judge for further action. In an official statement on Mallya's arrest , Scotland Yard said, "Officers from the Metropolitan Police's Extradition Unit have this morning, Tuesday 18 April arrested a man on an extradition warrant. Vijay Mallya, 61 (18/12/1955), was arrested on behalf of the Indian authorities in relation to accusations of fraud. He was arrested after attending a central London police station, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court later today, 18 April." 19:50 PM: Ministry of External Affairs said that it the two governments are in touch in this context. Holding that Mallya's arrest in London by Scotland Yard today was in connection with the request by the government to the UK authorities for his extradition, external affairs ministry spokesperson Gopal Baglay said. 17:15 PM: Mallya's next date of hearing is on May 17 at 14:00 hrs for the extradition hearing. 17:00 PM: Vijay Mallya tweets "Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected." 16:50 PM: In an interview to ET, Vijay Mallya's counsel said that Mallya has already been granted bail and he is already home. 16:19 PM: Mallya will be brought back to India . The government is working towards it continuously, no one will be spared: Minister of State for Finance, Santosh Gangwar 16:15 PM: UK Police has arrested Vijay Mallya under MLAT treaty, confirms CBI 15:45 PM: The CBI has also confirms the arrest of liquor baron Vijay Mallya. 15:40 PM: Minister ofState for Finance, Santosh Gangwar over Vijay Mallya arrest: Nobody will bespared. 15:35 PM: Vijal Mallya arrested at 9:30 AM in London Earlier in January, a CBI court had issued a non-bailable warrant against Mallya in the Rs 720-crore IDBI Bank loan default case. Despite multiple injunctions, Mallya failed to appear before investigators at the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a probe under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). A Delhi court had also put out an open-ended non-bailable warrant against Mallya in a case of alleged violation of foreign exchange rules. Banks had previously shot down Mallya's offer of Rs 6,868 crore in April 2016 to settle the dues. Meanwhile, after three unsuccessful attempts, banks have finally managed to sell off Vijay Mallya's iconic villa in Goa . Actor-producer Sachin Joshi has bought the 'house of good times' for Rs 73 crore. The sale has been done through a private treaty. The harried lenders to Kingfisher Airlines have ended the jinx to recover the dues of over Rs9,000 crore by monetising assets of the airline under their custody by selling the villa to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi. "Secured creditors have the right to go for a private treaty if the auction route fails. With this, it seems the jinx over the sale of KFA properties is over. The villa was sold through a bilateral agreement earlier this week for Rs 73.01 crore to actor-producer Sachiin Joshi," a source who is aware of the development told PTI. However, Sachin Joshi, the new owner of the grand villa might change its name. Kingfisher House, the erstwhile headquarters of the airline, was put under the hammer at a reserve price of Rs 103.5 crore while the same for Villa in Goa was Rs 73 crore. The SBI-led consortium had reduced the reserve price of Kingfisher Villa, the plush property situated at Condolim in North Goa, by 10 per cent from Rs 81 crore quoted in the second attempt at auction of this property in December. The sea-facing property, which had been home to numerous lavish parties hosted by Mallya in the past, was put under the hammer for the first time last October with a reserve price of Rs 85.29 crore. Mallya owes over Rs 9,000 crore to lenders like SBI, PNB, IDBI Bank, BoB, Allahabad Bank, Federal Bank and Axis Bank, among others. He left the country on March 3 last year for the UK and Indian authorities have been trying since then to bring him back. (With inputs from PTI) The thumb rule of hotels charging their customers for a whole day will soon change as some hospitality chains are now offering cheaper rates for shorter durations, according to a report in the Times of India. The latest move would benefit travellers who needs an accommodation for a few hours en route to their destination. The report quoted an example saying, booking a hotel through Frotels.com for a two-hour package at Hotel Imperial Palace at Andheri in Mumbai works out to be Rs 630, as opposed to Rs 2,637 per room night. Branded hotels are stepping into the segment of shorter stay, especially the ones near airports and in pilgrim towns. The popular hotel chain, Lemon Tree adopted the initiative this year. A report in TOI quoted Devinder Kumar, general manager, Revenue Management and eCommerce, Lemon Tree saying, "We decided to adopt this strategy because in most of our business hotels, 60% to 70% of departures happen early morning and likewise arrivals happen in the evening". Another hospitality startup, FreshUp is all about shorter stays. It offers two or three hour packages per person for about Rs 299. Websites such as 6-hourly, Frotels, Mistay, 9to5.com also offer packages for shorter stays. Experts feel that the new trend would soon pick up and become popular in the industry. Ruling out any plans to venture into India's domestic aviation business at this stage, German carrier Lufthansa on Monday said the cost of operations here is "very high." "We are not interested in being another player for domestic operations. Because we are not an expert in that," Lufthansa Group Airlines' Senior Director for South Asia Wolfgang Will said here. He was responding to a question whether Lufthansa had any plans to set up a local carrier in India following Qatar Airways announcing its plans to foray into domestic airline business. "We have the highest fuel cost in India, we have a lot of taxes, very high operational cost because airport charges are very high," Will said, adding it (launching a domestic airline) will be a "misadventure". "And I did not hear of any domestic airline in India making a lot of profit," he added. Will said Lufthansa is currently busy in integrating its operations here after the launch of services to Mumbai by its subsidiary Brussels Airline. "We have no time or possibility to look beyond our current engagement," he stressed. The Lufthansa Group operates 65 flights per week to New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru and Pune from its Frankfurt and Munich hubs. Of these, Lufthansa Airlines operates 46 flights per week, while the Swiss Airlines and Brussels Airlines, the two subsidiaries, operate 14 and 5 respectively, per week. The Brussels Airlines launched its services from Brussels airport to Mumbai on March 31. An airline conducts business when it has a successful plan in place, he said. Will said India has a huge demand for international travel. According to Will, all German carriers together were operating 75 per cent of the total weekly seat entitlement agreed upon between India and Germany under the Air Service Agreement. "We still have the potential to make use of the (unutilised) bilateral. As an airline group, we have very strong brands presence already in the market (India)," the Lufthansa executive said. The group will now operate 40 additional seats after the launch of its latest wide-bodied Airbus A350 plane to Mumbai from Munich on Sunday, he said. Mumbai became Lufthansa's second A350 destination in India after New Delhi with the launch of a flight to the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport here from Munich. Lufthansa is upgrading its flight services on the Pune -Frankfurt route to six times per week from the current four from June, Will said. Xiaomi is all set to launch it's latest flagship Mi 6 today. The device will be unveiled in Beijing at the University Of Technology Gymnasium at 11:30 pm IST. This year, the Chinese smartphone brand will most likely launch two versions of the flagship. The device is also expected to feature dual-curved screen with 2K resolution. The brand has been doing extremely well in the budget segment but hasn't performed spectacularly in the flagship segment. Last year, the company faced backlash because they just launched the base variant of Mi 5 with a rather expensive price tag. Contrary to how most Xiaomi products are received in India, the Mi 5 did not do spectacularly well. It will interesting to see how Xiaomi India deals with the company's new Mi 6 and Mi 6 Plus. Here's what we know about the device so far: Design The leaks haven't left much to guess about the Mi 6 and Mi 6 Plus. The device looks as premium as the previous flagship Mi5. The Chinese company has tried to limit the bezels to a minimum on both sides but has let a relatively big chin and top on the screen-front of the device. The front panel also houses a physical home button which will double up as a finger print sensor. Features The Mi 6 and Mi 6 Plus are expected to come with Snapdragon's latest 835 chipset. The same chipset is also powering Samsung's flagship, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus. The screen size and battery capacity will be the major differences between the Mi 6 and Mi 6 Plus. In a few pictures, the Mi 6 Plus is seen sporting a dual camera set-up. Both sensors are expected to have 12 megapixel sensors. Pricing In a recent post on China's popular social media website, Weibo the pricing of both the phones have been revealed. Mi 6 is expected to come in a 64GB ROM/4GB RAM combination at RMB 2,199 (Rs 20,500 approximately) or a 128GB/4GB variant at RMB 2,599 (Rs 24,300 approximately). Whereas, the Mi 6 Plus will be available in 64GB/6GB for RMB 2,599(Rs 24,300 approximately) or 128GB/6GB for RMB 3,099 (Rs 29,000 approximately). FILE - Dereck James Harrison, left, stands beside his attorney Michael Edwards in a courtroom on Monday, Oct. 24, 2016, in Farmington, Utah. Harrison, who pleaded guilty to tying up five people in a basement was sentenced to serve at least 30 years up to life in prison, but first he'll face murder charges in Wyoming connected to the same crime spree. Harrison is expected to be extradited shortly after his sentencing Monday in Utah. (Briana Scroggins/Utah Standard-Examiner via AP, Pool) KEMMERER, Wyo. (AP) A 23-year-old man avoided facing the death penalty by pleading guilty to kidnapping and killing a Utah train worker in Wyoming. Dereck James Harrison entered his plea Monday during his arraignment in District Court in Kemmerer. Harrison pleaded guilty to first-degree murder while perpetrating a kidnapping and kidnapping in the May slaying of Kay Porter Ricks, 63, The Salt Lake Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/2oFRacD). Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty in exchange for Harrisons guilty plea. Sentencing has been scheduled for May 17. Harrison already is serving at least 30 years in a Utah prison after pleading guilty last year to tying up a woman and her four daughters in a basement. After that, he and his father snatched and killed a train worker while on the run from police, prosecutors said. His father, Flint Harrison, killed himself in jail last July. Dereck Harrison put most of the blame for Ricks killing on his father, saying that his father was the one who killed Ricks and that he thought they were going to let Ricks free in Wyoming, The Deseret News reported (http://bit.ly/2oiyEX3 ). Harrison told District Judge Joseph Bluemel that his father cut Ricks throat. Harrison said he then scuffled with his father and argued with him before Flint Harrison hit Ricks four to five times in the head with a metal rod. You didnt defend Mr. Ricks? the judge asked. No, I didnt, Harrison replied. Dereck Harrison had been charged in Wyoming with four counts: murder in the first degree with premeditation and malice, murder in the first degree while perpetrating a kidnapping, kidnapping, and wrongful taking or disposing of property. Two counts were dropped in the plea deal. Authorities have said that the Harrisons kidnapped Ricks from a Salt Lake City TRAX stop where he was working and drove Ricks truck to a rural area outside Kemmerer in southwest Wyoming and killed him. Ricks body was left in sage brush off a dirt road. After a five-day manhunt, the Harrisons were arrested at a remote hideout near the small town of Pinedale. The whole episode stemmed from drugs, police said. The Harrisons had been using methamphetamine for days and wrongly thought the woman they kidnapped had reported them to police. So they kidnapped her and her daughters. However, the family escaped from the two, prompting the Harrisons to flee and setting up their encounter with Ricks. In this Thursday, March 30, 2017, photo, Keith Vallejo leaves the courtroom, in Provo, Utah. A Utah judge sentencing the former Mormon bishop said the convicted rapist was an "extraordinary, good man" who did something wrong. The Salt Lake Tribune reports that Judge Thomas Low appeared to become emotional on Wednesday, April 12, 2017, when he sentenced Vallejo to up to life in prison for 10 counts of forcible sexual abuse and one count of object rape. (Dominic Valente/Daily Herald via AP, Pool) SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A Utah judicial oversight commission representative says the number of comments about a judge calling a convicted rapist a good man during his sentencing hearing has nearly tripled since Friday. Jennifer Yim said Monday that she has received in total about 120 emails, phone calls and Facebook messages about Judge Thomas Low. That number is up from about 46 on Friday. The messages started coming in late March when Low came under scrutiny for letting Keith Robert Vallejo out of custody after a jury found him guilty of 10 counts of forcible sexual abuse and one count of object rape. Yim says most of the messages, though, have come since Lows remarks at Vallejos sentencing hearing Wednesday. Yim says on average her organization receives about two or three comments about Utah judges each week, so this is an extraordinary number. Opinion / Columnist Today Zimbabwe marks year 37 of Independence; the first quarter of 2017 has proved to be the worst for Zimbabweans, there is no hope for a solution from the state.Zimbabwe is arrested by an amalgamation of crises with linear dimensions which are jeopardising any potential to recover and an end to the unpalatable suffering of our people.The failure to respond by those in office has robbed our people the right to enjoy the benefits of sacrifice done by the liberators.Zimbabwe is subject to internal, sovereign dimensions of intra-state activities including corruption, the rule of law, toxicity, hatred, contested elections resulting in state failure and fragility.While Zimbabwe is arrested in these dimensions, the citizen continues to wallow in poverty, toiling without gain, unable to get decent jobs, feed their families, access quality health and education.Millions of our people have found their way out of the border in all directions comparatively many people have escaped independence than they escaped the war period.A majority of formal income earners now spend much of their time queuing for a paltry 50 bond at banks.The government continues to punish the working people including the appetite to introduce new taxes on them.It took us close to four decades of independence to go back to Stone Age economics of butter trade courtesy of the madness of Lazarus Dokora.The African policy maker cannot afford to sit on their hands, watch families sliding into poverty, veterans sleep in the street and major cities drowning into villagisation.After 37 years of self-rule ZANUPF created generations of people who have not had the privilege to be in decent work, earning a salary at the end the month.Most of our people are living on less than a dollar a day while those who claim to be their liberators are using millions to purchase diamond rings for their wives.As we speak hundreds of families are homeless exposed to the unrelenting rains after being ruthlessly evicted from their places in Mazoe by the first lady from hell. Such illegality must have no place in an independent Zimbabwe.In an age of global competition, 37 years of ZANUPF mediocrity has made sure we are now bystanders in the global economy.Failure to deal with the internal dimension also means with are now way disadvantaged when we try to deal with issues that affects us outside the Zimbabwean boundary.As a matter of fact the government of an Independent Zimbabwe is doing its best to isolate our nation and further our slide backwards. As at today SADC countries have decided to build a highway bypassing Zimbabwe which will amount to further revenue and job losses.The government's failure to transform the colonial idea of economic activity which is inextricably linked to the metropol specifically designed to extract raw commodities and agriculture produce is now causing serious challenges. It is just but a manifestation of 37 years of leadership with no vision.Even after four decades of governing ourselves, we are still linked to the umbilical cord of extractive economics determined by what happens on the global commodity circuits, lack of leadership has us walking in circles.As a result many of our people are migrating to the major cities with no proper infrastructure to support the population.Millions are in Harare supported by infrastructure designed for 480 000 people, resultantly there are electricity blackouts, water rationing with some suburbs not receiving any water in years.Typhoid out breaks and cholera have claimed lives of Zimbabweans in a country which is ironically commemorating 37 years of independence, let alone the idea that these are diseases of stone age centuries.Our message is on this day is clear, Zimbabweans must unite against the dictatorship depose of them and begin a process of transformation.Zimbabwe must start a process of economic recovery; we need to gradually move into creating sufficient fiscal buffers to protect ourselves from future economic challenges as well as graduate from the traditional entry of capital which is the sale of raw commodities by creating a new model of value addition and beneficiation.As we have stated before we also need to construct ourselves out of this crisis, create decent jobs and lift the masses out of poverty.An independent Zimbabwe must deal with the ghost of inequality as well as uneven development which dominated the 37 years of independence.With ZANUPF in power the efforts of the struggle will go down the drain, we need to rise and RECLAIM ZIMBABWE, pursue the unfinished business of the liberation struggle.Together Another Zimbabwe is PossibleTendai BitiPeople's Democratic Party President Jonathan Dunn, 29, accused of abusing a six-month-old baby from North Logan. LOGAN An Ogden man has been put in jail as a judge postponed sentencing for the 30-year-old man, accused of breaking the arm of a six-month-old baby. Jonathan A. Dunn appeared in 1st District Court Monday after previously pleading guilty in January to one count of child abuse, a second-degree felony. His attorney asked the court for a continuance, so they could obtain a letter from a counselor who had been treating the defendant. State attorney Spencer Walsh said hearing from Dunns therapist would be helpful for the court but expressed concern about postponing the sentencing further. He also noted that the victims mother had traveled from Montana to in court. A victim advocate read a letter from her, asking the court to sentence Dunn to prison. It read in part, the defendant abused a defenseless baby and the woman wanted to know why. She went onto say, he shouldnt have any contact with children. She also asked for a restraining order, saying she was scared for her life. Dunn was arrested in March 2016 after North Park Police reported a baby was taken to a hospital with a broken arm and severe bruising. While treating the child, hospital staff notified agents with Child and Family Services (DCFS) who then called officers. The baby was not related to Dunn, and the abuse allegedly occurred while he was visiting a home in North Logan. He was later released from jail after posting bail. During Mondays sentencing, Judge Allen said the case has been pending for a long time. He ordered Dunn to be taken into custody and rescheduled sentencing for May 1, so defense attorney Bryan Galloway can contact Dunns counselor.
will@cvradio.com
Men's Politics Change If They Earn Less Than Their Wives, Harvard Study Says
Trending News: How Your Wife's Salary Secretly Influences Your Politics
Long Story Short
A Harvard Business Review analysis has concluded that when men aren't the breadwinner their opinions change on abortion and government aid to African Americans.
Long Story
Long gone are the days when nearly all U.S. households have a male breadwinner and a stay-at-home mom. Gender roles are shifting for the better as women have the opportunity to make as much, or more money than their male counterparts (although, wages are still far from equal).
So with more women bringing home the bacon, and perhaps becoming the breadwinner in their homes, how are men feeling?
The Harvard Business Review crunched the numbers and found clear changes of opinion when women make more money than their husbands.
The Harvard publication looked at responses of 854 men interviewed up to three times between 2006 and 2010, as part of the General Social Survey. The men were asked their opinions on abortion rights as well as government aid to African Americans. Interestingly, opinions changed depending on whether their wife's income superseded their own.
For Republicans who made less money than their wives, support for abortion dropped. For Democrats who made less money, it was the opposite; liberals were more inclined to support abortion rights if they earned less income than their wives.
A similar partisan split occurred for the question of government aid. When Republicans earned less than the woman of the house, they were more critical of government hand outs to African Americans. Inversely, lower earning Democrats were more sympathetic to aid.
Dan Cassino, the professor who wrote the story for HBR, said the reason for the change in opinion has to do with masculinity. When men earn less, they perceive a threat to their manhood, and thus change up their opinions. For conservatives, they tend to double down on their partisan beliefs while liberals may rebel against traditional general roles.
Or, perhaps this says more about the massive political opinion gap in our country than in does masculinity?
Inevitably, more and more homes will have a #1 female earner, and that's A-okay. A recent study found that when men are the breadwinner it isn't good for their health anyway.
At the end of the day, there's really no reason to feel threatened if your wife earns more. There's nothing unmanly about being an awesome dad/homemaker/moral supporter.
Own The Conversation
Ask The Big Question
What does money have to do with a women's right to choose?
Drop This Fact
The gender-pay gap is alive and well, unfortunately. In 2015, women earned 84% of what men did, according to Pew.
How Finland could be a smoke-free country by 2030
Published on April 18, 2017
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The days of lighting up in Helsinki are numbered. Finland will become the first country in the world to introduce a total ban on smoking, which is expected to come into effect in 2030.
In Finland, smoking should in the not too distant future, be a thing of the past. It is an unhealthy habit, having detrimental effects on one's health and the environment, and above all, it has become increasingly expensive.
As early as 2010, the Finnish government announced that it was hoping to impose a complete ban on smoking by 2040. But now, the date for the ban has been brought forward by 10 years: in 2030, the government plans to start to phase out all tobacco products. Compared with their European counterparts, Scandinavians are model pupils. Only 15.4.% of the Finnish population are classified as daily smokers, according to an OECD study from 2015, which puts them on an equal footing with their Swedish and Norwegian neighbours. In other European countries, a higher proportion of the population is unable to shake their daily habit: in Greece it's27.3%, in Hungary 25.8% and in Latvia 24.6%.
Finland hits the ground running
When it comes to health consciousness, social justice, and equal rights, Scandinavian countries are leading the way in Europe. The results of the World Happiness Report, an annual study led by the United Nations, support the notion that Scandinavians enjoy a higher quality of life, with three Scandinavian countries - Norway, Denmark and Finland - appearing in the top five. Closeness to nature, environmental protection and access to healthcare can be attributed to these countries' elevated levels of happiness. A whole range of medical problems, from addictions to smoker's leg and infertility, are also less prevalent in Scandinavia.
For some time, the Finnish government has been working towards its goal of making Finland a tobacco-free country and it has been relatively successful: the period between 2005 and 2015 ,saw a significant drop in smoking rates among 14-20 year-olds. Seemingly, smoking in Finland has lost its appeal.
Since 1978, advertising for cigarettes and tobacco has been banned in Finland. In 1995, smoking in public spaces was prohibited, and since 2012 shops have been barred from displaying packets of cigarettes. Furthermore, the price of tobacco goods, as well as alcohol, has become comparatively higher.
The new Finnish smoke detector
However, drastic measures will be needed in order to expunge cigarettes, e-cigarettes, nicotine gum and snuff tobacco from the Finnish consciousness. Imagine your neighbour is enjoying a cigarette on their balcony. It is a warm summer's day, and clouds of smoke drift towards your balcony. Their little habit may be a nuisance, but it is also an individual freedom that could soon be curtailed. As of early 2017, letting agencies have been free to ban tenants from smoking on their balconies, terraces or roofs (with prior warning, of course). Furthermore, pipe- and cigarette-shaped confectionary has disappeared from product lines, so that young people aren't tempted to try smoking. Even nicotine gum is now a distant memory for children who grew up in the 1990s. Good old Scandinavian altruism, or an infringement of human rights?
Further details regarding the ban have been announced. It will become increasingly difficult for Finnish retailers to sell luxury goods to customers: retailers have always been required to have a license in order to sell tobacco products, but now they will be saddled with a surveillance fee of 500 per checkout. The goal is to minimize consumption through higher taxation, and to make sales of tobacco goods increasingly unprofitable.
However, we all know that forbidden fruits taste the sweetest. Is the criminalisation of tobacco products definitely the best course of action? Would it not be more effective to invest in more health awareness campaigns? Of course, the Finnish government is quick to quash any doubts: Kaari Paaso, Prevention Expert at the Finnish Ministry of Health, told CNN in an interview that smoking needs to be systematically "stubbed out" from all corners of the globe.
Personal freedoms aside, restrictions on smoking so far hasn't appeared to have had a negative impact on the levels of happiness of Finnish citizens. In any case, over the next few year, we will keep our eyes on the World Happiness Index, to see if Finland can maintain its position at the top of the leaderboard.
Translated from Rauchverbot ab 2030: Keine Fluppen mehr in Finnland
Bonus Quotation of the Day
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is from page 44 of Nathan Omans 2016 book, The Dignity of Commerce:
Exchange thus requires a kind of other-regardingness. To be sure, it is not altruism. Our concern with the advantages of the butcher, the brewer, and the baker is not the love of our neighbors. Exchange does not require such love. Commerce, however, is impossible when I am indifferent to the concerns of my trading partner. In a more aristocratic age, tradespeople were an object of scorn precisely because of the servility that the market imposed on them. Gentlemen possessed the luxury of satisfying their needs while maintaining indifference to others. The tradesman, in contrast, could not afford hauteur because he was dependent on the satisfaction of others interests for the gratification of his own needs.
DBx: Quite so. Even when trade results in increases in monetary differences (inequality) among people, trade decreases differences in treatment. Trade discourages the treating of others with contempt, with scorn, or even with indifference. Note also that Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and other merchant billionaires must be as attentive to the needs of their customers as is the corner florist and the local handyman. Indeed, to become unusually wealthy in markets generally requires unusual success at anticipating and meeting the needs of others. And it requires also a politeness toward countless others toward customers and suppliers alike.
Trade not only enriches. Trade polishes us (that is, trade makes us polite). Trade brings into greater equality the treatment that people of very different social and economic standings are accorded in their market dealings. Trade creates greater social equality even when it results in greater inequalities of monetary incomes and wealth. As the title of Nates book suggests, trade dignifies. Trade dignifies not only by requiring that each of us treat our fellows in markets with respect and attention, but also by according to each of us in markets the respect and attention of those which whom we deal.
Trade civilizes. Obstructions to trade are, therefore, uncivilized and barbaric.
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Barrister ACHU brandishing evidence of threats CIN Screen Capture
Barrister ACHU Julius NGU, the legal representative of the Consortium of Parents which has dragged some Catholic Bishops to court, has revealed that some unidentified people are after his life and want him dead or alive.
Speaking on Equinoxe Television, a Douala based popular Channel; the legal mind said his pictures are flooding Social Media with Red Cross on his face and an inscription, Wanted Dead or Alive. Barrister ACHU Julius, who is the lawyer for the Consortium of Parents which has embarked on a legal battle with the Catholic Church in Bamenda, is claiming the sum of 150.000.000 FCFA as special and general damages for non school resumption.
The Consortium of Parents is accusing the Bishops, Principals, Reverend Fathers and Sisters for their role in ensuring that school does not resume basing their arguments on numerous outings by the latter which according to the legal representative were offences and punishable under the Penal Code.
Samuel Kleda Reacts, Says Catholic Church Is Innocent
Reacting on the accusations, the President of National Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Samuel Kleda said the, The Catholic Church did not begin the strike and cannot be accused today of preventing students from going to school.
The Archbishop of the Douala Archdiocese wondered why only the Catholic Church when schools have been paralyzed in almost all sectors both in Public, Private and Confessional schools.
However His Lordship Samuel Kleda said the Church has no lawyer but will be in Court for Justice to prevail.
By Wilson MUSA
Rev Fonki Samuel, PCC Moderator W. Musa
The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon, PCC, Rt. Rev Fonki Samuel has been summoned to appear at the Buea High Court on Monday April 24, 2017 to answer charges which at Press time have not been mentioned.
The Information is confirmed by a close aid of the Moderator and later by the Communication Secretary of the PCC, Rev.MOKOKO Mbue Thomas who however said he has not yet read the summons but is aware that his Boss will appear in Court next week.
The Moderators message to Christians read thus, Dear all, I have been summoned at the Buea High Court on Monday 24th of April 2017.The summons is in my name. We need your prayers. Moderator PCC.
Last week some PCC Christians had dispelled rumors that the Moderator had been summoned.
The reasons for his summons have not been made but observers hold that it may be connected with the non school resumption in Presbyterian Schools.
The summons comes barely one week after Catholic Bishops in Bamenda received Direct Summon form Consortium of Parents claiming the sum of 150.000.000 FCFA as special and general damages incurred by them as a result of the stalemate.
By Wilson MUSA
| BY Ricki Green |
Ogilvy Sydney has further bolstered its strategic capabilities, announcing the appointment of Dr Juliette Tobias-Webb (left) to the role of behaviour change lead OgilvyChange, and Jason Westerman (right) to senior strategy director Ogilvy Sydney.
Ogilvy Sydneys chief strategy officer, Toby Harrison, said the agencys over-riding focus was to appoint best-in-class professionals with skills and experience across many different disciplines in order to meet the ever changing needs of clients and their customers.
Says Harrison: Every business is different requiring a very specific type of talent with an ability to work in a very precise way. Ogilvy uses its team of highly connected specialists to collaborate and draw on each-others different skills in order to respond to a clients needs in a bespoke and effective manner.
Having professionals of Juliette and Jasons calibre as part of our team puts Ogilvy at the forefront of the Behavioural Science and Customer Experience disciplines and I am delighted to welcome them both on board.
Tobias-Webb was most recently Research Fellow with The Behavioural Insights Team in Sydney and prior to that achieved her doctorate at the University of Cambridge completing a PhD in Psychology. She has also enjoyed stints as a lecturer and research officer at globally-renowned institutions including University of BC, Canada, the Brain & Mind Research Institute, University of Sydney and Bond University, Queensland.
Says Tobias-Webb: I am delighted to join an agency with such a strong commitment to behavioural science, I believe its a crucial part of a modern agencys strategic offering.
Joining Ogilvy will allow me to combine my love of brain science and how it influences behaviour with some of the best creative minds in the industry. Together we will develop practical and innovative solutions and create measureable changes to our clients brands.
Previously client services director at Red Engine and prior to that director of planning and content at TheFARM Digital, Westerman brings outstanding experience to Ogilvy encompassing content, digital, brand planning and emerging and interactive platforms.
With a skills set including leadership of multiple teams to develop strategies and content across digital and social media, Westermans immediate remit is driving integrated brand narrative through CX and communications across Ogilvys client roster.
Harrison said Westermans holistic approach to strategy and planning together with his experience, knowledge and technical capability ensured Ogilvys clients could unlock their brands value at every part of the customer experience.
Says Harrison: Whilst Juliette and Jason are both excellent practitioners in their own fields, it is their tremendous ability to collaborate that makes them such an exciting addition to our team.
| BY Ricki Green |
Leading international skincare brand Paulas Choice has partnered with Bohemia Group following a competitive pitch to help grow the brand in Australia.
Says Michael Africa, senior vice president digital, Paulas Choice: We were impressed with Bohemias technical capability in performance marketing and their understanding of the cultural differences in skincare between Australia and the United States. We have been successfully operating in Australia without a local partner in this area, and were excited to see the difference Bohemias strategy and expertise will have in growing our brand down under.
Says Sebastian Graham, group performance director at Bohemia: Were looking forward to working with the team at Paulas Choice. Theyve got big goals for growth and the product to match it. Their attitude as a challenger brand is exactly what were looking for as it allows us to do the best work we can across the entire customer journey.
| BY Lynchy |
Hakuhodo Singapore Creative Director, James Keng Lim, heads this years Crowbar Awards to lend his stewardship in recognising emerging talents.
A multi-awarded communications leader, Lims forte lies in creating authentic and transformative storytelling that connects brands with their audiences.
With 18 years of driving the communications agenda, his work is regularly recognised by highly respected advertising, marketing effectiveness and digital award shows such as D&AD, Cannes, One Show, EFFIES, APPIES, Mob-Ex, and Asia Interactive Awards. In addition, he has also been on the panel of judges for numerous industry award shows such as New York Advertising Festival, Creative Circle Awards, Crowbar Challenge, and Google Creative Awards.
Lim (pictured above) said, There is a new world order. As advertising becomes an increasingly competitive business, creativity alone isnt enough. We need the next generation of creatives to be holistic in their approach: creatively original, entrepreneurial and innovative, knowledgeable of different platforms, and commercially business-savvy.
Whilst creativity still reigns supreme, it is no longer just in the creatives domain. We simply cant afford to operate in silos. Otherwise well all go the way of the dodo. This years Crowbar will be a celebration of creativity in all its glory.
Bernard Chan, CEO of 4As says, 4As is pleased and honoured to have James Keng Lim onboard as Chairperson of the Crowbar Awards this year. We believe that with his knack for storytelling and Hakuhodos belief in grooming young stars of tomorrow by harnessing their talents today, they can bring to the jury table a new and fascinating personality that the Crowbar Awards is looking for. We have exciting activities in the pipeline and are really looking forward to launching this years awards show.
From its commencement in 2001, the Crowbar Awards has since become a leading award show for budding creatives to showcase their best ideas. The show now attracts over 1000 entries from local, regional and international tertiary institutions. This includes entries from the US, UK, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. The entries, which span the disciplines of Advertising, Branding, Design, Digital, Film, Innovation and Technology, are judged by leading industry creatives, clients, and specialists.
The Crowbar Awards is organised by the Association of Accredited Advertising Agents Singapore (4As).
| BY Lynchy |
An aspiring French filmmaker sits down with Hollywoods top producers of big budget blockbusters to pitch his seemingly eccentric movie ideas. It doesnt go well. Unbeknownst to them, the scripts he describes have already been created and released to critical acclaim, even winning The Palme dOr, the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film
Festival.
This is the crux of new short films released by Alliance Francaise de Singapour, part of the leading global network promoting French language and culture, in support of their efforts to promote French cinema to audiences in Singapore and around the world and grow its popularity.
We are very excited by this campaign as we feel it conveys French cinemas depth of script writing in a fresh and humorous way. The intention is not to be, obviously, in competition with Hollywood but to broaden audiences horizons. Were eager to see how this film will help to promote French cinema in Singapore and abroad and attract larger, more diverse audiences, said Anne-Garance Primel, Executive Director, Alliance Francaise de Singapour.
What the experiment showed is that even the very best French cinematic masterpieces wouldnt have had a chance in Hollywood as they dont fit the traditional formula.
[April 17, 2017] Open Therapeutics Integrates ORCID Identifiers Into Therapoid
Open Therapeutics announces the integration of ORCID into its novel scientific crowdsourcing platform, Therapoid. ORCID establishes "a permanent, clear, and unambiguous record of research and scholarly communication by enabling reliable attribution of authors and contributors." According to Jason E. Barkeloo, Founder and Executive Chairman of Open Therapeutics, "ORCID is an important identifier system for the scientific community. We are grateful to the ORCID team for the seamless integration of the ORCID system into our research collaboration platform." When scientists register to the Therapoid platform they can choose to register via their ORCID. If the researcher does not have an ORCID s/he is encouraged to freely secure one at https://orcid.org/register. Mr. Barkeloo will speak about the Open Therapeutics integration of ORCID at the ORCID conference, Chicago, April 27th, 2017 at the Big Ten Conference Center, Chicago, IL: More on the conference at https://orcid.org/content/orcid-us-roadshow-chicago.
According to Dr. Laurel L. Haak, Executive Director, ORCID, "The ORCID system provides an identifier for individuals to use with their name as they engage in research, scholarship, and innovation activities. We provide open tools that enable transparent and trustworthy connections between researchers, their contributions, and affiliations. We provide this service to help people find information and to simplify reporting and analysis." About Open Therapeutics LLC
Open Therapeutics (http://OpenTherapeutics.org) is a crowdsourcing life science firm that creates and attracts therapeutic biotechnologies and crowdsources them for the global scientific community. The global research community can freely access the biotechnologies and funding to further the development of the biotechnologies at Therapoid (https://Therapoid.net). The Company is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, with laboratory operations in Covington, Kentucky, Cincinnati, OH, Amman, Jordan, and Bangalore, India. About ORCID ORCID's vision is a world where all who participate in research and innovation, from imagining to building and managing, are uniquely identified and connected to their contributions across disciplines, and borders, and time. ORCID provides an identifier for individuals to use with their name as they engage in research and innovation activities. We provide open tools that enable transparent and trustworthy connections between researchers, their contributions, and affiliations. We provide this service to help people find information and to simplify reporting and analysis. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170417005915/en/
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Monday, April 17, 2017 at 10:33PM
One more Uber executive has left the company. This time its Sherif Marakby, Ubers vice president of Global Vehicle Programs, who helped launched the companys self-driving program in Pittsburgh. It isnt clear why Marakby left Uber but according to Automotive News, it isnt related to the lawsuit the company has with Waymo. It cant be said if its related to sexual harassment allegations either. Marakby joined Uber back in April after working for Ford for 25 years.
Sherifs deep experience and knowledge of the automotive industry have helped us tremendously in working to make self-driving cars a reality, an Uber spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement. Marakby joins at least five other execs whove left the company in the past few months, including its head of comms, president, head of AI Labs, SVP of engineering, and VP of growth.
"In the face of growing intolerance of religious or other conscientious beliefs ... it is very likely that people of faith will suffer discrimination and vilification of various kinds for holding fast to the traditional understanding of marriage," the submission says.
The tour marks the 40th anniversary of Cooper's first Australian tour in 1977, when he broke all existing attendance records. He has continued to tour Down Under over the years, and this will be his 13th tour of Australia.
[April 17, 2017] Theranos Reaches Resolution with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Theranos, Inc. announced today that it had reached a global settlement agreement with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that resolves all outstanding legal and regulatory proceedings between CMS and Theranos. Pursuant to the terms of the settlement, CMS has withdrawn the revocation of the company's CLIA operating certificates and reduced its civil monetary penalty against the company to $30,000. As part of the agreement, Theranos affirmed that, consistent with the business plans it outlined last fall, the company will not own or operate a clinical laboratory within the next two years. Theranos exited the clinical lab and retail business last year, and is focusing on its miniaturized, autmated testing platforms and related chemistries. The Company looks forward to working with regulatory authorities to secure approval for these innovative technologies.
The company is also withdrawing its September 2015 appeal of the sanctions imposed by CMS on its Newark clinical laboratory. About Theranos
Founded in 2003 by Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos, Inc. is a health technology company headquartered in Palo Alto (News - Alert), Calif. Its proprietary miniLab platform is designed to enable earlier disease detection and intervention by facilitating low-cost, small-sample collection, testing, and rapid communication of diagnostic information in distributed settings. To learn more about Theranos, visit www.theranos.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170417005931/en/
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[April 17, 2017] IGT Announces Agreement To Sell Double Down Interactive LLC To DoubleU Games As Part Of New Strategic Partnership In Social Casino
LONDON, April 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- International Game Technology PLC ("IGT") (NYSE:IGT) today announced it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to sell its social casino subsidiary, Double Down Interactive LLC, to an affiliate of DoubleU Games Co., Ltd., a leading global social casino operator headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The transaction establishes a new multi-year strategic partnership between IGT and DoubleU Games to provide innovative player experiences in the social casino market worldwide. "Since acquiring DoubleDown in 2012, IGT has grown it into one of the largest and most successful brands in the North American social casino market," said Marco Sala, CEO of IGT. "After several years of strong, organic growth and increasingly attractive valuation levels, the time is right for us to maximize the value of this asset for our shareholders. We will continue participating in the growth of the social casino market through our multi-year, strategic partnership with DoubleU Games." "This transaction represents a unique and value-accretive partnership combining the operational excellence of DoubleU Games with IGT's world class slot content," said Ga-Ram Kim, CEO of DoubleU Games. "With this partnership, we are excited and confident about DoubleU Games' future as a global leader in social casino." The cash purchase price is $825 million, which represents 10.5x DoubleDown's full-year 2016 Adjusted EBITDA. Proceeds from the transaction will be used for general corporate purposes, including debt reduction. IGT will provide an updated financial outlook that includes the full impact of this transaction in late May, in conjunction with its first quarter of 2017 results. Upon the closing of the sale, the parties will enter into a game development, distribution and services agreement which will enable DoubleU Games to offer IGT's extensive casino game library on DoubleU Games' combined social casino platforms, in exchange for ongoing royalties to IGT. The sale has been approved by the Board of Directors of IGT and the necessary governance body of DoubleU Games, and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. The sale is anticipated to be completed in the second quarter of 2017. The Raine Group and Credit Suisse International are acting as financial advisors to IGT, and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz and Cooley LLP are providing legal counsel. Deutsche Bank is acting as financial advisor to DoubleU Games, and Kim & Chang and Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP are providing legal counsel. About IGT
IGT (NYSE:IGT) is the global leader in gaming. We enable players to experience their favorite games across all channels and regulated segments, from Gaming Machines and Lotteries to Interactive and Social Gaming. Leveraging a wealth of premium content, substantial investment in innovation, in-depth customer intelligence, operational expertise and leading-edge technology, our gaming solutions anticipate the demands of consumers wherever they decide to play. We have a well-established local presence and relationships with governments and regulators in more than 100 countries around the word, and create value by adhering to the highest standards of service, integrity, and responsibility. IGT has over 12,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.IGT.com.
About DoubleU Games
DoubleU Games (KRX:192080) is one of the leading social casino gaming publishers based in Seoul, Korea. Founded in 2012, DoubleU Games is the only Asia-based social casino game operator among global top-tier players. For more information, please refer to www.doubleugames.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning International Game Technology PLC and other matters. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, dividends, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the management of International Game Technology PLC as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, such management. Forward-looking statements may be accompanied by words such as "aim," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "could," "would," "should," "shall," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "guidance," "intend," "may," "will," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project" or the negative or other variations of them. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are outside of International Game Technology PLC's control. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should any of the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those predicted in the forward-looking statements and from past results, performance or achievements. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include (but are not limited to) the possibility that the sale of DoubleDown Interactive may not be consummated in a timely manner or at all, including as a result of a failure to satisfy a condition to closing (including regulatory approvals); the possibility that there may be an adverse effect or disruption from the sale of DoubleDown Interactive that negatively impacts International Game Technology PLC's remaining businesses; the possibility that the anticipated benefits of the sale to International Game Technology PLC or the strategic partnership with DoubleU Games may not be realized as presently contemplated or at all; the sale-related costs and charges being greater than anticipated; the possibility that the businesses of International Game Technology (Nevada) and GTECH S.p.A. will not be integrated successfully, or that the combined companies will not realize estimated cost savings, synergies, growth or other anticipated benefits or that such benefits may take longer to realize than expected; unanticipated costs of integration of International Game Technology (Nevada) and GTECH S.p.A.; the possibility that International Game Technology PLC will be unable to pay future dividends to shareholders or that the amount of such dividends may be less than anticipated; the possibility that International Game Technology PLC may not obtain its anticipated financial results in one or more future periods; reductions in customer spending; a slowdown in customer payments and changes in customer demand for products and services as a result of changing economic conditions or otherwise; unanticipated changes relating to competitive factors in the industries in which International Game Technology PLC operates; International Game Technology PLC's ability to hire and retain key personnel; the impact of the consummation of the combination of International Game Technology (Nevada) and GTECH S.p.A. or the sale of DoubleDown Interactive on relationships with third parties, including customers, employees and competitors; International Game Technology PLC's ability to attract new customers and retain existing customers in the manner anticipated; reliance on and integration of information technology systems; changes in legislation or governmental regulations affecting International Game Technology PLC, including as a consequence of the announced withdrawal of the U.K. from the EU; international, national or local economic, social or political conditions that could adversely affect International Game Technology PLC or its customers; conditions in the credit markets; changes in the top management team; risks associated with assumptions International Game Technology PLC makes in connection with its critical accounting estimates; the resolution of pending and potential future legal, regulatory or tax proceedings and investigations; and International Game Technology PLC's international operations, which are subject to the risks of currency fluctuations and foreign exchange controls. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties that affect International Game Technology PLC's business, including those described in International Game Technology PLC's annual report on Form 20-F for the financial year ended December 31, 2015 and other documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), which are available on the SEC website at www.sec.gov and on the investor relations section of International Game Technology PLC's website at www.IGT.com. Except as required under applicable law, International Game Technology PLC does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements. Nothing in this news release is intended, or is to be construed, as a profit forecast or to be interpreted to mean that earnings per International Game Technology PLC share for the current or any future financial years will necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings per International Game Technology PLC share, as applicable. All forward-looking statements contained in this news release are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement. All subsequent written or oral forward-looking statements attributable to International Game Technology PLC, or persons acting on its behalf, are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
Contact:
Robert K. Vincent, Corporate Communications, toll free in U.S./Canada (844) IGT-7452; outside U.S./Canada (401) 392-7452
James Hurley, Investor Relations, (401) 392-7190
Simone Cantagallo, (+39) 06 51899030; for Italian media inquiries To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/igt-announces-agreement-to-sell-double-down-interactive-llc-to-doubleu-games-as-part-of-new-strategic-partnership-in-social-casino-300440482.html SOURCE IGT
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[April 18, 2017]
Nokia studies outline business return-on-investment from 5G services
Press Release
Nokia studies remove 'guesswork' from operator and enterprise 5G business planning
Findings show solid business case including payback periods for new, high-value services services supported by 5G, their business models and network impact
Data shows only 5G can provide performance required for services including industrial applications and immersive virtual reality video to huge audiences
18 April, 2017
Brooklyn, New York - Nokia is leveraging its business modeling and 5G Acceleration Services capabilities to remove the guesswork from operators' 5G network evolution plans. New Nokia studies have revealed the benefits of deploying 5G and identify those services with the potential to offer the greatest return on investment.
5G promises to change many aspects of the way people live and work, and service providers and enterprises want to understand how it will meet their specific business needs. Using tailored modelling that reflects customer-specific needs, Nokia's 5G Acceleration Services can help operators and enterprises identify how the move to 5G will enable them to deliver new services that transform the customer experience and create new revenue streams.
In-depth Nokia analysis of how 5G will perform in real networks has found that it can:
increase capacity by 40 times compared to 4G, making it the only commercially viable technology for the delivery of a true immersive VR video experience to massive numbers of subscribers in high-attendance venues
substantially reduce the cost-per-device in a smart city deployment handling millions of connected devices, including IoT sensors
deliver the '99.999 percent reliability' and low-latency at-scale required in an Industry 4.0 environment
Nokia's research and analysis also shows how operators and enterprises can capitalize on early 5G deployments to drive the best return on investment (ROI). Business cases include:
'5G to the Home' will break even after four years if the monthly average revenue per user remains above EUR 40
5G events and hotspots, in locations such as stadiums, have a one-year payback period depending on the number of events held at the location, with at least five events per month required to ensure a profitable business case
operators can ahieve tangible early mover advantages in terms of revenue and market share for services such as in-vehicle infotainment
Harold Graham, head of the 5G Business Line at Nokia said: "In these studies we have delivered key new insight into the benefits and business opportunities enabled by 5G. With our 5G FIRST end-to-end technology platform and 5G Acceleration Services, we have a comprehensive offer that we can leverage to help operators and enterprises understand the real value of 5G in relation to their particular business needs. Working closely with our customers we can help them evolve their business cases and provide clear recommendations for investments on their path to 5G."
Nokia will highlight its 5G Acceleration Services capabilities and discuss in more detail the findings from its studies at the Brooklyn 5G Summit from 19 to 21 April. Find out more and register to receive live streaming video from the event.
Did you know
In February, Nokia announced its commercial 5G FIRST system based on early specifications. 5G FIRST leverages the breadth of Nokia's network capabilities and will provide operators with a first-to-market advantage with the delivery of ultra-low latency and ultra-high throughput to meet the growing demands of people and connected things.
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[April 18, 2017] Digital Health Company Murj Emerges from Stealth, Announces $4.5M in Financing
Murj, Inc., a digital health company dedicated to helping clinicians streamline care for patients with implantable cardiac devices, today announced more than $4.5 million in financing. True Ventures led the most recent Series A financing. Social Capital joined the Series A, along with investors from the seed round. Jon Callaghan has joined the Murj Board of Directors with the closing of the Series A. Founded by former Apple (News - Alert) product manager and top-performing Medtronic sales representative Todd Butka, Murj aims to liberate device clinics from paper processes and other ineffective device management tools, freeing clinicians to focus on what truly matters - caring for patients. Today's implantable cardiac devices such as pacemakers, loop recorders and implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) continually generate important patient health and technical data. Current data management tools are inadequate and clinicians are overwhelmed by the burden of managing device data, both remotely and when patients visit the office. The lack of effective tools makes it difficult for clinics to track patients and capture reimbursements, and an unexpected event such as a device recall can create an enormous paperwork burden. "As a field representative working with electrophysiologists for over a decade, I was dismayed by the inefficiency of monitoring cardiac devices," said Todd Butka, CEO of Murj. "From my experience at Apple, I saw the tremendous potential for well-designed technology to impact the care of patients with cardiac devices. Our solution dramatically improves clinic productivity, while providing clinicians with previously unavailable insight about ther clinic and patients."
Murj is a cloud-based, HIPAA-compliant application accessed via a secure web browser. Murj consolidates data from all implantable cardiac device types and manufacturers into an elegant, robust platform that delivers rapid clinical care and deep patient insight. Murj will be on display in booth #331 at the Heart Rhythm Scientific Sessions (HRS) conference taking place May 10-13 in Chicago, Ill. "At True, we invest in entrepreneurs that show dedication to long-term market leadership and desire to have a broad, lasting impact; Murj fits this profile perfectly," said Jon Callaghan, co-founder of True Ventures. "As implantable and wearable cardiac devices proliferate, the need for advanced tools to manage the data flowing from these devices is paramount."
"True Ventures has been a terrific partner to help us uncover the potential of our technology. We couldn't be happier to have their participation in our growth," added Butka. About Murj, Inc. Murj is a digital health company dedicated to helping clinicians streamline care for patients with implantable cardiac devices. Murj greets the challenge of managing the rapid growth of cardiac device data as an opportunity to improve care and deliver insight. Murj aims to liberate device clinics from paper reports and inadequate management tools, freeing clinicians to get back to the heart of the matter - their patients. For more information visit www.murj.com. About True Ventures Founded in 2005, True Ventures is a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology startups. With five core funds and capital under management in excess of $1.4 billion, True provides seed and Series A funding to the most talented entrepreneurs in today's fastest growing markets. With a mission to make the world a better place for entrepreneurs, True encourages each founder's vision and has built resources to empower the employees, families and communities of its portfolio companies. The firm maintains a strong founder community and offers innovative educational opportunities to its portfolio, helping entrepreneurs achieve higher levels of success and impact. With more than 200 companies funded and multiple companies acquired, the current True portfolio has helped create over 8,500 jobs. To learn more about True Ventures, visit www.trueventures.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170418005517/en/
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[April 18, 2017] New Patent on Software as a Therapeutic for Depression and other Disorders
SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The US Patent Office has issued a comprehensive patent to Posit Science for inventions utilizing brain training software to address depression, mood and anxiety disorders. It is believed to be the first patent of its kind.
Brain training has recently emerged as a new pathway for treating neurological disorders by harnessing the brains plasticity its natural ability to change chemically, structurally and functionally. The Posit Science team includes many pioneers in applied brain plasticity research. Its global team is led by Dr. Michael Merzenich, who has been elected to both the US National Academy of Sciences and the US National Academy of Medicine for his work most notably, discovering lifelong plasticity and harnessing it to improve the human condition. While there has been a lot of talk of digitized medicine, mostly that has meant using software for medical diagostics and enhanced reporting, observed Dr. Henry Mahncke, CEO of Posit Science. This invention is a significant step forward in also thinking of software as a therapeutic truly as medicine.
We expect this will be especially important in addressing neurological and psychiatric conditions, Dr. Mahncke added. While the pipeline of new drugs for these conditions looks unlikely to deliver the breakthrough treatments that patients need, studies increasingly show the promise of plasticity-based brain training. Drug therapies typically work by flooding the brain with a molecule that alters the action of a single, specific neurochemical pathway at all times. This approach is not very selective it does not harness the brains natural processes to produce the right amount of the right brain chemicals at the right time.
Plasticity-based brain training is designed to take a very different approach, by exercising the machinery known to stimulate the production of brain chemicals, in an effort to engage systems to produce chemicals on demand, in the instant when they are required. There are now more than 60 peer-reviewed medical and science journal articles on the benefits of Posit Science exercises and assessments in varied clinical populations, including in the areas of brain injury (e.g., stroke, traumatic brain injury, chemobrain, cardiobrain, HIV); mental illness (depression, schizophrenia, bi-polar, ADHD, addiction); and neurodegenerative disease (mild cognitive impairment, dementia, Parkinsons, multiple sclerosis). Posit Science is the maker of BrainHQ, a commercially available brain-training program shown to improve standard measures of cognition (e.g., speed, attention, memory) and real world activities (e.g., gait, balance, driving) in healthy adults. As its research advances in clinical indications, Posit Science plans to approach appropriate regulatory agencies to explore the shortest path to getting a form of relevant exercises into the hands of patients who may be helped. For more information, contact [email protected]
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[April 18, 2017] Sierra Monitor Corporation Launches Cloud-Connected Network Discovery and Management Appliance for Facility Automation
MILPITAS, Calif., April 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sierra Monitor Corporation (OTCQB:SRMC), a provider of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions that target facility automation and facility safety requirements, today announced the availability of the BACnet Explorer NG, the industrys first cloud-connected network discovery and management solution for BACnet networks. BACnet is an industry-standard protocol that is widely used in building and facility automation. The combination of the plug-and-play BACnet Explorer NG appliance and Sierra Monitors FieldPoP device cloud enables installers and system integrators to seamlessly and remotely discover and manage BACnet MS/TP and BACnet/IP devices on an automation network, test newly installed devices, debug the network, upload device and network information to the cloud, integrate device and network data with sophisticated cloud-based software applications, and provide a control path back to the network and devices.
BACnet is the most widely deployed and fastest growing automation and control protocol used in commercial facilities and industrial plants, said David Nardone, Membership Manager at BACnet International, an industry association that facilitates the successful use of the BACnet protocol in building automation and control systems through interoperability testing, educational programs and promotional activities. A new approach to exploring and integrating BACnet networks is a great advantage to system integrators, installers, and maintenance teams and can make their job more convenient and efficient. Traditionally, exploring a BACnet network is achieved through software that must be installed on a Windows PC connected to the automation network through additional hardware. A single installer sits at the PC and runs the application to discover and view the network. Unlike such first-generation, tethered, PC-era solutions, Sierra Monitors BACnet Explorer NG is a portable, pre-packaged software plus hardware appliance that can easily plug into a BACnet MS/TP or BACnet/IP automation network and concurrently into the IT network and cloud over Ethernet, WiFi, or cellular connectivity that is include with the appliance. The BACnet Explorer NG can be accessed simultaneously by multiple authorized users locally or remotely using their tablets and smartphones to not only discover and view devices, but to also securely write to those devices.
Complementing the BACnet Explorer NGs network discovery capabilities are value-enhancing applications that run locally on the appliance. The Monitor View application allows users to monitor their entire connected network in real-time and visually track devices and data points of interest. The Historian application gives users the ability to log, store, and graphically display selected device data points over customized time intervals. When connected to Sierra Monitors FieldPoP device cloud portal over the facilitys WAN or through the dedicated cellular link included in the BACnet Explorer NG, the capabilities of the on-site BACnet Explorer NG appliance can be securely and remotely accessed through the cloud by authorized users and applications. Authorized remote users can securely connect and use all the appliance-resident features for monitoring and troubleshooting. Responsible personnel can be set up to receive alerts based on defined triggering conditions in the field. Finally, solution providers can use the BACnet Explorer NG and FieldPoP REST APIs to integrate a facilitys BACnet devices into their specific solutions for energy management, maintenance management, etc.
We have been using the BACnet Explorer NG to help us troubleshoot and fine-tune our BACnet systems and we have been very impressed, said Matt Michniewicz, Service Manager at Halton Global Services. The ability to manage our BACnet network anywhere ranging from an on-site PC, the smartphone we all own, and remotely through the cloud and adding more logic to the Explorer itself with value-added applications makes the BACnet Explorer NG a must-own tool for any system integrator and installer. The BACnet Explorer NG enables integrators, facility managers, and the OEMs installation channels to conveniently commission new devices into existing BACnet networks. said Varun Nagaraj, President and CEO of Sierra Monitor. Progressive solution providers can also leverage the BACnet Explorer NG and FieldPoP device cloud to provide a range of new services to their clients such as continuous facility monitoring and maintenance-as-a-service. The BACnet Explorer NG is available for sale immediately from Sierra Monitor Corporation and its authorized partners. To learn more about the BACnet Explorer NG, please visit www.sierramonitor.com/connect/fieldserver-products/bacnet-explorer. About Sierra Monitor Corporation
Sierra Monitor Corporation addresses the industrial and commercial facilities management market with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) solutions that target facility automation and facility safety requirements. The companys FieldServer brand of protocol gateways and FieldPoP device cloud target the facility automation segment and are used by OEMs and system integrators to enable local and remote monitoring and control. With more than 200,000 products, supporting over 140 protocols, installed in commercial and industrial facilities, FieldServer is the industrys leading multi-protocol gateway. Sierra Monitors Sentry IT fire and gas detection solutions address the facilities safety segment, and are used by safety managers to protect facility personnel and assets. Sentry IT branded controllers, sensor modules, and software are installed at thousands of facilities such as natural gas vehicle fueling and maintenance stations, wastewater treatment plants, oil and gas refineries and pipelines, parking garages, and underground telephone vaults. Headquartered in the heart of Silicon Valley in Milpitas, California, Sierra Monitor was founded in 1979 and has been a public company since 1989. By combining its distinguished track record in industrial sensing and automation with IoT technologies such as wireless, cloud connectivity, and data services, Sierra Monitor is at the forefront of the emerging IIoT trend. For more information visit: http://www.sierramonitor.com/ Sierra Monitor Investor Relations Contact Varun Nagaraj CEO, Sierra Monitor Corporation [email protected]
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[April 18, 2017] Oranj Acquires Majority Stake in TradeWarrior, Strengthening Digital Advice Platform with Cutting-Edge Rebalancing Capabilities
CHICAGO, April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Oranj has completed its acquisition of a majority interest in TradeWarrior Software, a provider of institutional-grade investment rebalancing and model management software for financial advisers. The merger will provide independent RIAs, broker-dealers, and enterprises with the opportunity to offer state-of-the-art rebalancing functionality for advisers and their clients as part of the Oranj digital advice platform. Deal terms were not disclosed. To learn more about these platforms, as well as details around the acquisition, please visit http://www.runoranj.com/tradewarrior. "We continue to enhance our digital advice platform with additional functionality for advisers to deliver a customized wealth management experience, which helps them better serve clients and forge stronger connections with prospects," said David Lyon, CEO and Founder of Oranj. "This acquisition enables us to offer advisers the unique combination of Oranj's user-friendly and modern front-office capabilities that enhance client interaction, and TradeWarrior's sophisticated back-office support that streamlines the implementation of investing strategies." Layton, Utah-based TradeWarrior brings to Oranj an institutional-grade trading and rebalancing platform that has an intuitive interface enabling advisers to efficiently and accurately execute trades across multiple custodians. TradeWarrior's algorithms monitor households and accounts, identify tax-loss harvesting opportunities, provide real-time alerts, and support integrations with other industry software providers and custodians. "TradeWarrior has worked closely with us to simplify trading and rebalancing across our practice, and their technology and support have been key drivers of our ongoing growth," said Christopher M. Lee, CFP, Senior Adviser and Co-Oner of New England Capital Financial Advisors. "We are excited about Oranj's acquisition of TradeWarrior because we now have the opportunity to optimize our front office as well as our back officeby using Oranj's cutting-edge digital advice platform to better engage with clients and prospects about strategies that TradeWarrior's institutional-grade software helps us seamlessly execute."
"TradeWarrior and Oranj were both started by former advisers who wanted to provide members of the industry with powerful, intuitive, and user-friendly technology solutions to improve their ability to service clients and optimize their businesses," said Damon Deru, Founder and President of TradeWarrior. "We look forward to working with Oranj to bring our tax-efficient rebalancing software to a broader community of independent advisers." Mr. Deru will continue to lead the TradeWarrior business as President. Mr. Lyon will continue as CEO of Oranj, and take on CEO responsibilities for TradeWarrior.
About Oranj
Oranj is focused on creating the world's best digital experience for enabling financial advisers to help clients effectively manage their financial lives and personal goals, and empowering investors to make smart financial decisions, connect with financial professionals, and pursue better investing outcomes. To achieve this, Oranj builds software for servicing, collaborating, managing, and connecting, which utilize user-friendly applications for a fully interactive human-driven, technology-assisted experience. The Oranj platform offers a secure document vault, client collaboration tools, aggregated data from more than 25,000 institutions, online account opening/transfer capabilities, real-time activity notifications, extensive data analytics, and an archive of adviser/client communication going back to the prospect stage. For more information about Oranj, please visit www.runoranj.com or follow @runoranjdotcom on Twitter. About TradeWarrior
TradeWarrior Software, Inc. was founded by investment advisers with the vision of bringing exceptional software to the financial services industry. Frustrated by the lack of intuitive trading and rebalancing software available to advisers, its founders developed their own solution to the problem and launched TradeWarrior in 2010. TradeWarrior is the product of years of in-depth research into the logistics of portfolio trading and rebalancing, and was designed to meet the real-world needs that advisers and brokers face. TradeWarrior offers all investment professionals the opportunity to utilize powerful portfolio management tools at an affordable price. For more information about TradeWarrior, please visit www.tradewarriorsoftware.com or follow @TradeWarrior on Twitter. CONTACT:
Andrew Jennings
JConnelly
(973) 224-7152
[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oranj-acquires-majority-stake-in-tradewarrior-strengthening-digital-advice-platform-with-cutting-edge-rebalancing-capabilities-300440665.html SOURCE Oranj
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While we had our fair share of scoops on the upcoming Chevrolet Corvette ZR1, this is the first time weve spotted the new Corvette king at the Nurburgring.
The car you see in the images is believed to be a late prototype of the new ZR1, meaning its wearing its final production body which comes with some proper racecar-like aero kit bolted to it.
Apart from the different hood, the 2019 Corvette ZR1 is getting an aggressive front splitter with matching side sills, a front bumper with huge air intakes, a clean diffuser at the rear and of course this massive wing that looks like it was directly transferred from a GT3 race car.
Chevrolet is reportedly looking to offer the new ZR1 in two different aero packages, with the one pictured here to clearly be the most aggressive one.
Power is reportedly going to come from either a new twin-turbo V8 codenamed LT5 or an updated version of the Z06s supercharged unit, producing over 700hp and according to some reports even reaching closer to a 750hp figure.
This will be after all the swansong of the C7 generation and the last of the front-engined Corvettes so clearly the company wants it to go out with a bang. And what a bang that will be.
Photo Credits: CarPix for CarScoops
PHOTO GALLERY
Citroens latest and most important player in the SUV market bears the C5 Aircross moniker. One of its highlights is a function that will remind some of the defunct C6 an innovative hydraulic suspension.
Dubbed Progressive Hydraulic Cushions, it waves goodbye to conventional dampers and springs, and replaces them with two hydraulic stops for each unit, promising a smoother and more comfortable ride.
The new suspension is detailed in a 1 minute and 35 seconds video that shows the SUV being driven around on a twisty mountain road, and leaving the tarmac for a brief moment to highlight the advantage of having the brands Grip Control, which comes with five driving modes.
Besides this cool feature, Citroen has released additional videos that highlight other functions, such as the panoramic sunroof, hands-free opening tailgate, hill start descent control, adaptive cruise control with stop function, 360-degree camera system, and wireless smartphone charging.
Moreover, the French company also shows how their new C5 Aircross has evolved from the Aircross Concept that debuted two years ago, and how it differs from other new vehicles in their lineup, such as the C3 and C4 Cactus.
VIDEOS
A British mother has been sentenced to 26 weeks in jail after crashing her car while drunk with her 19-month-old son in the back seat.
In December, Tania Chikwature drove her Nissan Qashqai into a roundabout at high speed in Peterborough in the UK. Dashcam footage from a following motorist showed the moment the SUV hit the roundabout and flew hundreds of feet through the air.
At the scene, Chikwature told police that she had probably been drinking vodka behind the wheel. Police tests later found that she had three times the legal blood alcohol limit in her system.
Fortunately, she and her young son escaped the crash without serious injury and in sentencing her, District Judge Ken Sheraton said she was lucky not to be facing more serious charges, Cambridge News reports.
It is only by luck, and certainly no judgment of yours, that you are not here facing more serious charges, and you are fortunate that someone did not die in that accident, he said.
Alongside being jailed, Chikwature was banned for driving for six years and forced to pay a 115 pound ($143) victim surcharge.
VIDEO
What started with a series of sketches and continued with a batch of leaked images, finally materialized at Skodas booth in Shanghai, where the Vision E Concept celebrates its world premiere.
Designed in the Czech Republic, the stylish sporty crossover has an appealing look on the outside, dominated by a bold front end with Matrix LED headlights joined together by a light strip that forms a phantom grille.
Furthermore, its sharp character lines, muscular hood, clean tailgate, suicide-opening rear doors, and massive wheels contribute to its unique character.
The new Skoda Vision E concept measures 184,57in (4,688mm) long, 75.75in (1,924mm) wide and 62,63in (1,591mm) tall, with a 112,24in (2,851mm) wheelbase, making it a bit shorter, wider, and lower than the Kodiaq.
Inside there is a minimalistic design with no less than three displays dominating the dashboard, a two-spoke steering wheel, decorative strips, ambient lighting with up to ten colors to choose from, and a four-seat setup.
Tech features include cameras replacing the conventional door mirrors, gesture control for selected functions, Eye Tracking system that constantly monitors the drivers eye movements, Driver Alert fatigue detection, heart rate monitor, and Level 3 automatic driving functions that allow it to accelerate, steer, and come to a complete stop on its own.
Underpinned by the Volkswagen Groups MEB architecture, which will serve as the foundation for several zero-emission vehicles that will be launched by the Germans in the next decade, the Skoda Vision E Concept is powered by two electric motors that produce a combined output of 302hp (306 PS), allowing it to reach a top speed of 112mph (180km/h).
The electric motors get their juice from a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery located in the chassis floor between the two axles, combined with intelligent brake energy recovery, allow the electric study to travel for up to 311 miles (500km) between charges.
The battery pack uses induction technology and does not require a charging station or cable reel. It can recharge automatically overnight, or use the quick charging feature to get up to 80 percent in just 30 minutes.
PHOTO GALLERY
VIDEOS
Three months after it had its UK launch, the Toyota C-HR family has welcomed a new limited edition.
Just 100 units will be built, and each one carries a starting price of 29,995, which equals to $37,644 at todays exchange rates.
Distinguishing it from the rest of the models is a two-tone exterior finish, which combines the Metal Stream bodywork with a black roof, rear spoiler and side mirrors, joined by the Limited Edition badging on the center pillars, and 18-inch alloy wheels.
The cabin is equipped with black leather upholstery and the same Limited Edition badging on the dashboard, and comes packed with a premium JBL sound system, with 9 speakers and an 8-channel, 576-Watt amplifier.
Building upon the C-HR Dynamic trim level, the Toyota C-HR Limited Edition also has LED headlights, fog lamps, DRLs, sequential LED turn indicators, rear privacy glass, parking sensors on both ends, auto-folding side mirrors, and keyless entry and start. It also gets anodized blue decoration line framing on the dashboard, dark violet trim for the upper instrument panel and door panels, and light blue ambient lighting.
The Toyota Touch 2 with Go multimedia and navigation system is also part of the offering, alongside the Toyota Safety Sense.
Powering it is a petrol-electric powertrain that combines a 1.8-liter engine and an electric motor, delivering 120hp.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photo: Contributed
Do we all struggle to find something good coming out of even the most horrible of circumstances?
I do.
And in the case of road traffic fatalities, there is always a lesson that can and should be learned by the motoring public.
If the lesson is learned, the loss of life might be viewed as a sacrifice that helps keep the rest of us safe.
There was a sudden change in weather and road conditions on the Coquihalla on Sunday, April 2, 2017. A multi-vehicle crash occurred as unprepared motorists encountered that sudden change. One woman was killed.
A lesson reminder from the RCMP is that even though its April, sudden weather and road surface changes can still occur on our mountain passes. We should continue using good winter tires through those passes this time of year and be vigilant about adjusting our speed as we encounter changes.
We shouldnt need reminding, but we do.
There is another critical road safety lesson to be learned. If you are involved in a crash on an icy road, you are safer inside your car than out.
The fatality would not have occurred had the deceased stayed within her vehicle.
I found a helpful web site [icyroadsafety.com] with important advice of what to do if you are in a crash on an icy road.
If your vehicle is still driveable, keep moving until you arrive at a safe place to pull well off the road. An icy road is inherently dangerous. A stopped vehicle blocking traffic multiplies that danger not only for you, but for approaching traffic.
If your vehicle is disabled, stay put if traffic is approaching. Your vehicle can absorb a vehicle impact much better than your body can.
Once you are certain that no traffic is approaching, get out of your vehicle and immediately get out of the way of danger. You are safer on the other side of a guard rail or up an embankment than sitting in your disabled vehicle in the path of approaching traffic.
Of course, if youre on a mountain pass with a rock face on one side and a cliff on the other, with no way to get out of the way of danger, stay in your disabled vehicle.
Please share this lesson with everyone you care about.
A more likely crash related road hazard we might encounter in coming months is a wildlife carcass.
Do you know what responsibilities you have as a motorist if, through no fault of your own, you strike and kill a deer or other animal large enough to be a hazard to approaching vehicles?
I will review the law on that point next week.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
[April 18, 2017] PowerPost Secures $2M in Funding to Transform Brands Into Social Media Power Publishers
ST. LOUIS, April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- PowerPost, a SaaS content marketing platform, today announces $2M in investor funding from Arsenal Capital Management (ACM), a St. Louis-based early stage venture capital fund. This financing will help PowerPost rapidly expand its sales and marketing efforts as well as accelerate product development. Launched in 2016, PowerPost led by Dan Curran, CEO, and Paul Shirer, CTO, is headquartered in St. Louis with offices in Chicago. "We are pleased to partner with entrepreneurs focused on building impactful technologies. PowerPost is garnering significant attention for its innovative approach to brand marketing in an environment that is more and more driven by social media," said Pete Reinecke, Managing Director of ACM. "Several of the investors in our fund have particular expertise in marketing technology and we look forward to providing Dan, Paul, and the team at PowerPost with ther insight and experience."
Recently celebrated by Inc. Magazine as the #1 tool in its category, PowerPost revolutionizes brand marketing by automating content publishing to easily create and distribute content across social and web channels. "PowerPost is a disruptive platform that advocates for brands to take control of their content and become power publishers," said Curran. "For the first time, brands can increase market share by accelerating their output of content. PowerPost expedites this entire process." PowerPost serves enterprise brands in the financial, hospitality, manufacturing and retail sectors. Ad agencies can also leverage the platform to better equip themselves in servicing their customers and automating the content publishing process. PowerPost also provides market intelligence, help desk concierge services and a full-service creative studio to further assist brands in garnering market share. Clients include Marriott, Ty, AmericInn, Frisch's Big Boy, Cannon Safe and Kent Foods.
"Content marketing is a top priority for modern marketers," says Curran. "According to the Content Marketing Institute, 70% of B2B marketers plan to create more content in 2017 compared to 2016. With the proliferation of content comes the need to better organize and distribute. PowerPost brings order to a very chaotic marketing problem." About PowerPost and PowerPost Studio: PowerPost software turns brands into instant publishers by automating content marketing. For the first time, brands can organize, schedule and distribute content with the ability to collect leads. PowerPost also features a unique agency newsroom of skilled writers, visual artists and social media experts to assist its clients. For more information and a free trial check out www.powerpost.digital and connect with PowerPost on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Be sure to sign up for PowerPost's Power publishing webinar here. http://www.inc.com/ilya-pozin/9-tools-to-simplify-and-automate-social-media.html To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/powerpost-secures-2m-in-funding-to-transform-brands-into-social-media-power-publishers-300440628.html SOURCE PowerPost
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Madison Erhardt
Government officials announced Thursday that cannabis would be made legal for recreational use by July 2018, and those aged 18 and over will be able to buy and grow a small amount of the drug for themselves.
During the announcement, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale noted that Canadian teenagers are "among the heaviest users in the western world."
Canadian Psychiatric Association President Dr. Renuka Prasad said in a statement that early and regular cannabis use can affect memory, attention, intelligence and the ability to process thoughts. He said it can also add to the risk of mental health issues among people who are already vulnerable.
Castanet hit the streets to find out what locals think about legalization.
Photo: Bobbie Jo Brucker
A single-vehicle crash Sunday evening near Kaleden reportedly involved two seniors whose car flipped into the ditch as they headed toward the South Okanagan from Kelowna.
Bobbie Jo Brucker says she was on the scene after the crash, having pulled over to provide help. Brucker says she is first-aid certified and was able to assist in helping the elderly couple out of the car, where "both (were) trapped in the vehicle upside down."
It's not clear how the crash happened, but Brucker said there was damage to some of the trees in the area where the car flipped into and the roof of the car had been crushed in on one side.
Both were cut up on their hands and faces, but Brucker says both were responsive during the rescue. The man, however, appeared to be less injured than the woman.
The couple, in their late-70s or early-80s, were extracted from the car with no use of the jaws of life, put on body boards and sent to hospital, according to Brucker, who called it a successful operation.
Brucker, herself, was there by chance, noting that she was just on an Easter day trip to Grand Forks and happened to pass by the crash on her way back to Penticton.
She said the whole process took about 45 or 50 minutes.
Photo: CTV
Pepper spray was reportedly used on a man who confronted a home invader Sunday night in his Burnaby house.
The man, who has only been identified as Pav, says three people kicked in his door, with one of them running upstairs. He followed to confront the man, only to be pepper sprayed in the face.
The incident reportedly took place at about 10:45 p.m. on Sunday, while Pav and his sister-in-law Mandeep were watching a movie.
While Pav recovered from the pepper spray, the intruders reportedly searched the house. Pav believes they were looking for items to steal.
Meanwhile, Mandeep reportedly left the house to call 911 from hiding in the backyard. Pav's grandparents were also in the home at the time of the invasion, in the first floor of the house.
It's not clear why the men, captured on camera as they left Pav's home, were there Sunday night, but Pav believes it was a mistake.
He also says it may have been a mistake to confront the intruder, saying he should have run away.
with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: Twitter
Mental health has entered the political realm in the upcoming election, with news releases put out from both major parties Monday, first from the B.C. NDP, followed by a response from the B.C. Liberal Party.
NDP leader John Horgan spoke in Coquitlam on Monday, announcing steps he intends to take on mental health if elected foremost, setting up a ministry that would oversee mental health and addictions.
After years of B.C. Liberal neglect, we will improve B.C.s mental health system by increasing access and investing in early prevention and intervention, Horgan said in the news release. People need to know they only have to ask for help once to get help fast.
On that point, the party introduced what they're calling the "ask once, get help fast" approach to mental health administration. Also on the platform, re-opening Riverview mental health facilities in the Lower Mainland and expanding mental health services in the school system by introducing youth mental health professionals.
In terms of the overdose crisis, the party says it's looking at province-wide distribution of Naloxone kits, supporting police work against drug supplies and support for post-traumatic stress disorder in first responders.
In a release fired out about an hour later, the Liberals took aim at the Horgan camp, noting in particular the NDP's intent to reopen Riverview facilities and to take the B.C. Liberals plan from 2015 and follow through on it.
On the latter, a quote from a CKNW reporter's tweet cited in the Liberal news release, had been criticized by the NDP in 2015, according to the Liberals.
"The plan that John Horgan announced today, the same one we announced 16 months ago, was criticized by NDP MLA Selina Robinson," the Liberal release said.
The release cites two 2015 reports, in which Robinson criticized the Liberals for moving 126 mental health beds from Burnaby to Riverview, adding only 17 new beds.
"Robinson stood and smiled beside Horgan today as he re-announced the same project and plan that she publicly denounced."
Photo: CTV
A Comox Valley winery is battling Real Canadian Superstore over use of the brand name Ziggy.
Family-operated 40 Knots Vineyard produces a Siegerrebe wine called "Ziggy," named after its pet dog.
Siegerrebe grape grows in our vineyard. It was planted in 2011 and 2012,, owner Brenda Hetman-Craig said.
The owners sought to protect the brand with a trademark, but were blocked by Superstore parent company Loblaw Canada Ltd.
We trademarked it back in I believe it was early 2015, Hetman-Craig told CTV. It was approved, and then it goes out for advertising and I believe it was sometime late in 2016 that Loblaws decided to oppose it.
Loblaw has sold a Ziggy's brand of foods since 1971, the company says.
But, the vineyard claims thats never applied to wines.
Our lawyer feels very confident that we have an excellent case, Hetman-Craig said. We have until May 30 to show that we have indeed manufactured the product, the first day we sold the product, the advertisements and what the sales were.
with files from CTV Vancouver Island
Photo: CTV
An investment dealer and former Olympic rower who went missing for nearly a year and a half is scheduled to appear in court in Victoria today.
Victoria police say Harold Backer turned himself in last week and is facing two counts of fraud over $5,000.
The 52-year-old disappeared on Nov. 3, 2015, when he told his family he was going for a bike ride and failed to return home.
Victoria police say it's unclear where he was, but police in Port Angeles, Wash., have said a man fitting Backer's description was spotted on security footage on a ferry shortly after the disappearance.
Financial crime investigators began looking into Backer and the company My Financial Backer Corporation after his investors received concerning letters.
Mutual Funds company Investia Financial Services Inc. terminated Backer's licence after his disappearance, stating he'd failed to follow its policies and procedures that required him to disclose all outside business activities.
Backer, who was on the Canadian rowing team in the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympic Games, had 20 clients with Investia.
Photo: The Canadian Press AP Photo/Alastair Grant
In a shock announcement, Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday called for an early general election to be held June 8 to seek a strong mandate as she negotiates Britain's exit from the European Union.
Standing outside 10 Downing Street, May said she would ask the House of Commons on Wednesday to back her call for an election, just two years after the last vote and three years before the next scheduled date in May 2020.
She said that since Britons voted to leave the EU in June, the country had come together, but politicians had not. She said the political divisions "risk our ability to make a success of Brexit."
At present, May's governing Conservatives have a small majority, with 330 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons.
With the main opposition Labour Party weakened and divided under left-wing leader Jeremy Corbyn and the pro-EU Liberal Democrats holding just nine Commons seats, May is calculating that the election will bring her an expanded crop of Conservative lawmakers.
That would make it easier for her to ignore opposition calls for a softer EU exit making compromises to retain some benefits of membership and to face down hardliners within her own party who want a no-compromise "hard Brexit" that many economists fear could be devastating.
May triggered a two-year countdown to Britain's exit from the EU last month, and high-stakes negotiations to settle divorce terms and agree on a new relationship are expected to start within weeks.
European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that he had a "good phone call" with May about the election, and the council said the bloc's Brexit plans were unchanged by the announcement. Leaders of EU states are due to adopt negotiating guidelines at an April 29 summit, and the bloc will prepare detailed plans for the talks with Britain by late May.
May took office in July following an internal Conservative leadership contest, after predecessor David Cameron stepped down when voters rejected his call to remain in the EU. Since then she had repeatedly ruled out calling an early election to get her own mandate.
But May said Tuesday she had "reluctantly" changed her mind.
"We need a general election and we need one now," she said.
May said that if there is not an election soon, "the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next scheduled election."
"Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country," she said.
May said that "our opponents believe that because the government's majority is so small, our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course" on leaving the EU.
"They are wrong," she said. "They underestimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country."
Under Britain's Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, elections are held every five years, but the prime minister can call a snap election if two-thirds of lawmakers vote for it.
Photo: The Canadian Press
Pennsylvania State Police say the suspect in the random killing of a Cleveland retiree posted on Facebook has shot and killed himself after a brief pursuit.
State police say Steve Stephens was spotted Tuesday morning by state police in Erie County, in the state's northwest corner. Authorities say police tried to pull Stephens over and, after a brief pursuit, he shot and killed himself.
Stephens was wanted on an aggravated murder charge in the shooting death of a 74-year-old retired man in Cleveland on Sunday.
He posted video of that shooting on Facebook.
Photo: RDCK
UPDATE: 9:50 a.m.
A reception centre has been set up for residents affected by the evacuation in Kaslo.
The local emergency operations centre says it's too early to say when they might be allowed to return.
Forty-seven homes are under evacuation order due to a landslide.
ORIGINAL: 9:25 a.m.
Emergency officials and geotechnical experts are flying over the scene of a landslide near Kaslo that forced nearly 50 homes to be evacuated late Monday.
Theyre trying to assess the extent of the slide, which moved rock and debris down steep hillsides to the west of the town.
Residents were forced from their homes about 11:30 p.m., after the slide swept down the mountainside just above Zwicky Road, which parallels Highway 31A. People on about seven streets in the area were told they had to leave as a precaution, and police have cordoned off the area to block access.
Officials say there were no injuries or property damage from the slide.
Emergency social services have found accommodation for the residents forced from their homes, said Bronwen Bird, the emergency communications officer for the Regional District of the Central Kootenay.
She says a public meeting will be held this afternoon at the village Legion Hall to find out what happens next. Theres no word when residents will be able to return to their homes.
Kaslo is located on the shore of Kootenay Lake, about 70 kilometres from Nelson.
Photo: Canadian Forces
The Canadian military has deployed 60 members of an Edmonton-based helicopter squadron to Iraq as part of Operation Impact, a mission to fight Islamic State militants in the country's north.
The Department of National Defence says the Royal Canadian Air Force's 408 Tactical Helicopter Squadron will take over from their counterparts from Valcartier, Que., who have been providing tactical support since October 2016.
The 408 squadron operates out of 3rd Canadian Division Support Base in Edmonton.
They will fly and maintain up to four CH-146 Griffon helicopters at Camp Erable near Erbil, Iraq.
Maj.-Gen. Christian Drouin, commander of 1 Canadian Air Division, says the squadron will provide support to both Canadian and coalition partners.
There are currently 830 Canadian military personnel based in both Iraq and Kuwait as part of Operation Impact.
[April 18, 2017] Reach150, A SmartZip Company, Partners With Cloud CMA To Enhance Agent Credibility On Real Estate Market Reports
PLEASANTON, Calif., April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Reach150 (www.reach150.com), a referral management platform focused on relationship businesses which was recently acquired by SmartZip, announced today a partnership with Cloud CMA, a cloud-based reporting system for real estate professionals that automatically creates comparable market analysis (CMA) reports on residential real estate. With the partnership, subscribers to both Reach150 and Cloud CMA are now able to see all of their Reach150 testimonials in the Cloud CMA-generated reports. This merge of information further strengthens the professional's credibility and presentation using the power of recommendations from their past clients. "We partner with companies where we can lend to the cause of helping real estate agents elevate their brand, generate referral business and close new customers," said Dan Hodges, Founder of Reach150, a SmartZip company. Reach150 has a systematic and simple way to help real estate agents grow their business through referrals. It includes an intuitive mobile app that easily requests, reviews and publishes recommendations from past clients, turning them into powerful online advertising campaigns directed at their sphere of influence as well as to residents in their local area. The system also includes branded profile pages that are continually updated with the new recommendations, which strengthens the user's online reputation, enhances search engine rankings and can ultimately yield more clients. Cloud CMA is a web-based, report generating application designed for real estate professionals to create custom client handouts for buyers and sellers. Report sets include a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA), Buyer Tour, Property Report, and Flyers. Cloud CMA merges data from the MLS with various web sources such as WalkScore, Yelp, Panaramio and more to generate content rich reports. Reports can be printed or viewed as an interactive iPad presentation.
Tom Tognoli , founder, President and CEO of Intero Real Estate Services. "Reach150 has done a stellar job at taking what agents have been doing offline for decades gathering client testimonials to a strategic and systematic online approach. Reusing their persuasive testimonial content in our CMA reports adds to our end goal of getting agents to a signed listing agreement," said Greg Robertson, co-founder and President of W+R Studios (creators of Cloud CMA).
SmartZip recently announced the acquisition of Reach150. SmartZip is working on folding the Reach150 referral marketing tools and content into its SmartTargeting predictive marketing platform, giving users an easier way to leverage user-generated testimonials and referrals to accelerate their business. ABOUT REACH150, A SMARTZIP COMPANY
Reach150 is the leader in referral management, providing relationship businesses with a systematic and simple way to generate more referrals and close more business. Ninety-two percent of individuals trust referrals from people they know and are six times more likely to do business with them. Reach150 helps people grow their business by proactively building their online reputation, promoting proof of their excellent service, and nurturing their most important relationships. ABOUT SMARTZIP ANALYTICS, INC.
SmartZip Analytics is a national leader in predictive marketing solutions for real estate, lending and related home service industries. Using patent-pending home intelligence, predictive analytics and automated marketing campaigns, SmartZip's SmartTargeting platform offers an integrated solution that can identify top home seller prospects accurately, engage them through targeted online and offline marketing campaigns, and help close more business with smart nurturing and prospecting tools. In addition, leading national real estate and financial companies, including ZipRealty.com, foreclosure.com, HomeSnap, Envestnet|Yodlee, RealtyStore.com and others rely on SmartZip's best-of-breed analytics for their products and online businesses. SmartZip is backed by Intel Capital, Claremont Creek Ventures, Crest Capital, Javelin Venture Partners, Cue Ball Capital, Toba Capital and ORIX Growth Capital, and is headquartered in Pleasanton, CA. ABOUT W+R STUDIOS Founded in 2008, W+R Studios is a privately held web software company located in Huntington Beach, California. The company focuses on creating the next generation of web-based software solutions for the real estate industry. By providing a "less is more" approach to software design, elegant user interfaces, and using the latest in agile programming, W+R Studios' software applications are at the same time powerful, yet accessible to everyone. Co-founders Dan Woolley and Greg Robertson have over 24 years of experience each developing and marketing real estate software solutions. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/reach150-a-smartzip-company-partners-with-cloud-cma-to-enhance-agent-credibility-on-real-estate-market-reports-300440566.html SOURCE SmartZip Analytics, Inc.
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Photo: The Canadian Press
The federal government has tailored its highly anticipated marijuana legislation to ensure younger teens don't wind up with criminal records for pot possession.
Currently, people between 12 and 17 can be charged for having any amount of marijuana, but the newly tabled legislation proposes that people under age 18 would not face criminal prosecution for possessing or sharing up to five grams.
Bill Blair, a Liberal MP working with federal ministers on the legislation, said Monday the ultimate goal is to give provinces and territories flexibility to prohibit young people from possessing any amount of cannabis, with the option to introduce non-criminal sanctions for having a small amount.
"There are far better ways to deal with those offences that don't result in a criminal record, which are quite frankly more straightforward to enforce, less onerous to enforce, less costly to enforce but also achieve a much better social outcome by not giving those kids a criminal record," he said.
Provinces could bring in a regulatory ticketing system much like the one in Ontario for those under 19 caught purchasing, possessing or drinking alcohol, he noted.
This requires "basic regulation" for the provinces, said Blair, a former Toronto police chief.
"I'm not minimizing the amount of work that needs to be done," he said. "This is pretty straightforward . . . I've enforced those laws for 40 years so I'm familiar with how they work."
He also challenged the suggestion responsibilities have been downloaded on the provinces.
"Actually, we want to make sure the rules and regulations that are put in place, in order to be effective, in order to achieve what it is we want to achieve, they've got to be at the right level of governance."
Photo: The Canadian Press
Bus passengers were screaming in horror as the driver repeatedly stepped on the apparently malfunctioning brakes before plunging into a deep ravine in the northern Philippines, leaving at least 29 people dead Tuesday in one of the country's deadliest accidents in years, a survivor and officials said.
The rest of the more than 50 passengers were retrieved by rescuers who struggled with ropes to descend down the 24-metre ravine to reach the wreckage in Nueva Ecija province's Carranglan town, said disaster-response officer Mark Raymond Cano.
Many of the passengers were hospitalized with serious injuries and parents separated from their children in the confusion, officials said.
TV footage showed a line of rescuers and villagers, some holding on to a rope to climb up on a grassy slope with a victim on a stretcher. A throng of villagers waited in a clearing above them to help pull the victim to safety.
Cano said a preliminary investigation showed that the bus "lost its brakes and plunged down the ravine."
Passenger Ralph Raymond Grajo said he saw the driver repeatedly stepping on the malfunctioning brakes as the wayward bus was speeding along a downhill road. The driver attempted to steer the bus to the right, but roadside houses made him veer back in the direction of the ravine as horrified passengers watched, Grajo said.
Photo: Dustin Godfrey
If passed, a new bill from South Okanagan-West Kootenay MP Richard Cannings would compel the federal government to use lumber when maintaining, building or repairing federally owned properties.
Cannings introduced Bill C-354 to the House of Commons on Thursday to spur further use of Canada's softwood lumber, a resource that has been under threat with a former trade deal with the U.S. now expired.
If passed, it would compel the government to prefer lumber in construction work and steer the government toward projects that promote the use of wood, taking into account costs and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions through use of wood products.
We know that communities account for over half of all greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and much of that comes from buildings themselves," Cannings said in a news release. "By promoting the use of wood in its own buildings, which emits much less GHGs than concrete, the Government of Canada can help to reduce its own carbon footprint and help us get closer to meeting our Paris Accord targets."
Cannings points to advances in construction with wood, which have made it a more viable product for heavy-duty construction. In particular, he points to the 18-floor Brock Commons student residence at UBC constructed out of wood, making it the world's tallest wood structure.
In Penticton, too, major projects are seeing the use of more lumber, particularly from the Structurlam facility in Okanagan Falls, including the hotel tower at the Penticton Lakeside Resort and the new casino.
"These are Canadian innovations that we are now exporting to the world and we should be using them more here at home," Cannings said. "The future of the Canadian forestry sector comes from innovations like these."
Cannings says it's up to the government to set an example by making greater use of those products here in Canada.
Photo: The Canadian Press
Scientists have witnessed the first modern case of what they call "river piracy" and they blame global warming. Most of the water gushing from a large glacier in northwest Canada last year suddenly switched from one river to another.
That changed the Slims River from a three-metre deep, raging river to something so shallow that it barely was above a scientist's high top sneakers at midstream. The melt from the Yukon's Kaskawulsh glacier now flows mostly into the Alsek River and ends up in the Pacific Ocean instead of the Arctic's Bering Sea.
It seemed to all happen in about one day last May 26 based on river gauge data, said Dan Shugar, a University of Washington Tacoma professor who studies how land changes. A 30-metre tall canyon formed at the end of the glacier, rerouting the melting water, Shugar and his colleagues wrote in a study published in Monday's journal Nature Geoscience.
The term "river piracy" is usually used to describe events that take a long time to occur, such as tens of thousands of years, and had not been seen in modern times, especially not this quickly, said study co-author Jim Best of the University of Illinois. It's different from something like the Mississippi River changing course at its delta and it involves more than one river and occurs at the beginning of a waterway, not the end.
The scientists had been to the edge of the Kaskawulsh glacier in 2013. Then the Slims River was "swift, cold and deep" and flowing fast enough that it could be dangerous to wade through, Shugar said. They returned last year to find the river shallow and as still as a lake, while the Alsek, was deeper and flowing faster.
"We were really surprised when we got there and there was basically no water in the river," Shugar said of the Slims. "We could walk across it and we wouldn't get our shirts wet. It was like a snake-shaped lake rather than a river."
The Kaskawulsh glacier covers about 25,000 square kilometres, about the size of Vermont. The front of the glacier has retreated nearly 1.9 kilometres since 1899, Shugar said.
Photo: Comox Valley Ground Search & Rescue
Comox Valley Search and Rescue used quick thinking when they received a call to save a horse that fell down a cliff.
Rescue members and RCMP officers worked together on Friday to help save the horse, which fell down the steep 60-foot slope and was stuck at the base of a waterfall.
The horse was sedated by a vet, and four haul systems were used to lift the animal up to safety.
Hes a bit larger than our typical rescue load, Comox Valley Ground Search & Rescue posted on Facebook.
Once at the top, rescue crews waited until the horse was able to be walked back to its stable.
with files from CTV Vancouver Island
Photo: Kennesaw Police
A police officer in Georgia found a stun gun disguised as a package of cigarettes during a traffic stop.
News outlets report that the driver repeatedly requested to smoke while the officer was speaking to him, but he was not allowed to get his cigarettes during the stop. The Kennesaw Police Department posted a video to Facebook on Monday showing the recovered stun gun and reminding the public that requests to retrieve items during a traffic stop will be denied.
The department has not released further details, including the identity of the driver or if any charges were filed.
Photo: Castanet Staff
Penticton's Britco plant is facing a significant slowdown, with the vast majority of its staff laid off earlier this month.
Those layoffs, according to Britco communications manager Meghan Cairns, came "with the objective of building an order backlog." It's not clear how many workers have been hit with layoffs, but Cairns says just a few managers and employees have been kept aboard.
"We have kept a few employees on hand to make some changes to the production line configuration of the plant in anticipation of future work," Cairns said in an email statement. "We hope to be able to call back our Penticton employees in the future based on market need and we are still committed to being a part of the Penticton community."
Previously Britco focused on commercial projects, but Cairns says when the facilities bounce back, they're looking to add building single-family homes to the production line, as well.
"The addition of single-family homes definitely adds opportunities in a positive direction for Britco," Cairns said when asked whether the addition could increase employment.
But if Britco knows when it intends to gear up production or how many it intends to bring back for employment, the company is keeping tight-lipped about it.
Britcos manufacturing plants were sold to Triple M Modular on April 7. Previous owner, WesternOne Inc., also sold off the rental portion of the business to the Black Diamond Group in March.
This month's layoffs aren't the first to hit the plant. In 2015, slow movement in the oil sector led to 60 positions being laid off at the Britco plant, which accounted for 39 per cent of its staff at the time.
Its not clear whether any of those jobs have been since recovered.
In 2013, Premier Christy Clark visited Penticton, touring the Britco plant with then-prospective MLA Dan Ashton ahead of the election, touting economic growth.
Photo: The Canadian Press
The trial of two men from a fundamentalist sect that condones plural marriage began with not guilty pleas being entered on charges of practising polygamy.
The British Columbia Supreme Court criminal trial of Winston Blackmore and James Oler, who each face one count of polygamy, began in a Cranbrook court today, not far from their community of Bountiful in southeastern B.C.
Oler, who is accused of having four wives, pleaded not guilty in court.
Blackmore remained mute and Justice Sheri Ann Donegan said a not guilty plea would be entered on his behalf.
Blackmore, is accused of marrying 24 women over 25 years in the community that follows the beliefs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
At the start of the trial, Donegan released her reasons for rejecting an application from Blackmore to be tried separately from Oler, saying a substantial overlap in evidence against the two men means it is in the public interest for them to be tried together.
The judge says she's not concerned about the defence argument that hearing evidence against Oler will prejudice her decision in Blackmore's case.
The trial is scheduled to last several weeks.
Photo: CTV
A man who allegedly assaulted a woman, threatened her family, and was in possession of a rifle was arrested after a six-hour standoff with police in Richmond.
The RCMP Emergency Response Team located the suspect in a home on the 11000 block of Cambie Road.
A 28-year-old woman says she was assaulted by the man Monday night. She fled to a nearby house to call police.
A full contingent of Richmond RCMP officers surrounded the house, said Cpl. Dennis Hwang.
It was believed the man had a rifle in his possession and made threats against the victim and other members of her family.
Police asked the suspect to surrender multiple times, but were unsuccessful.
The ERT located the suspect hiding in the house after distraction devices were utilized, said Hwang.
The 31-year-old man was arrested about 2 a.m. Tuesday and taken into custody.
The investigation is ongoing and charges are pending.
Photo: Contributed
Two Apex Ski Club members earned spots on an international podium last week at the largest youth ski racing event in North America.
Ana Large, representing Team BC1, picked up third-place in the U14 GS race at the 25th annual Whistler Cup, which attracted 440 athletes from 23 different countries. Large finished behind Tessa Foote of Team Ontario 1 (silver) and Noa Szolas of Hungary (gold).
With top 15 finishes in slalom and dual slalom, Large is thrilled with how the week went.
I was hoping to make the top 10 in the GS race as its my specialty and I knew if I skied well that was possible, but I did not anticipate two top 15 results in the SL events, she said. Its a great feeling to know you can compete with top level athletes from around the world.
Heming Sola of Summerland took gold in the U14 slalom, silver in the dual slalom, and 6th in GS.
High-level international competition on home soil is a rare, and valuable thing, according to Whistler Cup administrator Christine Cogger, normally you would expect that to have this level of competition, they would have to travel to either Europe or South America.
[April 18, 2017] Togo Becomes First Country in Africa to Validate the Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis as a Public Health Problem
GSK, Merck Sharp (News - Alert) & Dohme (MSD), and the MECTIZAN Donation Program (MDP) congratulate President Faure Gnassingbe, the government and the people of Togo for becoming the first country in Africa recognized by the World Health Organization to have eliminated lymphatic filariasis (LF) as a public health problem. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170418005573/en/ LF, commonly known as elephantiasis, is a debilitating disease caused by a parasite transmitted to humans through the bites of mosquitoes. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), LF is found in 73 countries with an estimated 120 million people infected. Long-term, chronic infection may cause damage to the lymphatic system of people affected, and limbs, breasts, and genitals can become severely and irreversibly swollen, causing extreme discomfort and social stigmatization. In African countries where LF and another parasitic disease called river blindness are co-endemic, the WHO recommends co-administering two medicines, albendazole and ivermectin, annually for at least six years to reduce the level of parasites in infected people and help break the cycle of transmission until the disease is no longer a public health problem. A WHO resolution to achieve the elimination of LF was established by the Fiftieth World Health Assembly in Geneva in 1997. In 1998, GSK announced the donation of albendazole for the elimination of LF, and MSD expanded its donation of MECTIZAN (ivermectin) through the MDP to include the elimination of LF in countries where the disease co-exists with river blindness. Since 1999, GSK has donated over 7 billion doses of albendazole worldwide to fight LF. Since 1987, MSD has donated more than 2.5 billion doses of MECTIZAN to control and eliminate river blindness and LF. The elimination of LF in Togo follows similar progress in seven countries (Cambodia, Cook Islands, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Niue, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu) validated by the WHO to have eliminated LF as a public health problem. Thirteen additional countries have successfully completed large-scale treatment programs and are under surveillance to demonstrate that elimination has been achieved. This remarkable progress has been supported by a public-private partnership, the Global Alliance for the Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis (GAELF), which brings together academic and research institutions, endemic counties, non-governmental development organizations, financial donors and the private sector in the fight against LF. "We celebrate this important achievement with the people of Togo. Lymphatic filariasis is a debilitating, but preventable, disease that not only affects patients and their families but also communities and health care systems," said Dr. Julie L. Gerberding, MSD's chief patient officer. "Working with our partners for nearly two decades, we strive to eliminate LF in Africa and Yemen to help improve the lives of tens of millions of people." Phil Thomson (News - Alert), president of Global Affairs, GSK said "Achieving elimination of LF is a fantastic achievement for Togo and is testament to the commitment of the Togolese Government and the dedication of the health workers delivering treatments on the front line. We are committed to playing our part with the donation of albendazole for as long as it is needed to replicate this success throughout endemic countries, freeing communities from the burden of LF." The MDP's director, Dr. Yao Sodahlon, is a Togolese national and expert in tropical diseases who worked closely over the years with the ministry of health and other partners to ensure Togo's success. "I am very proud of my country for achieving elimination of LF. My colleagues in the ministry of health must be congratulated for their dedication to ensuring the medications were consistently delivered to the millions of people at-risk of infection every year since the national elimination program started in 2000. I hope other countries in Africa will soon follow Togo in achieving this goal," he said. About GSK GSK - one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and health care companies - is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com.
Contact: Catherine Hartley +44 (0) 20 8047 5502
About MSD For over a century, MSD has been a global health care leader working to help the world be well. MSD is a trade name of Merck & Co., Inc., with headquarters in Kenilworth, N.J., U.S.A. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to health care through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information, visit www.msd.com and connect with us on Twitter. Contacts: Jeanine Clemente Claire Gillespie 908-236-5059 267-305-0932 About the MECTIZAN Donation Program The MECTIZAN Donation Program (MDP) was established in 1987 to provide medical, technical and administrative oversight of the donation of MECTIZAN by MSD for the treatment of onchocerciasis. In 1998, MDP expanded its mandate to include oversight of the donation of albendazole by GSK for the elimination of lymphatic filariasis in onchocerciasis co-endemic areas. Contacts: Joni Lawrence Yao Sodahlon [email protected] [email protected] 404-687-5610 404-371-1460 View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170418005573/en/
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Photo: The Canadian Press
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan's visit to his native India this week is being greeted with controversy after one of the country's most recognizable political leaders accused him of being a Sikh nationalist.
Amarinder Singh, the top elected official in India's Punjab province, made the explosive accusation in an interview on Indian TV in advance of Sajjan's trip.
In the interview, Singh expressed anger over being blocked from visiting Canada last year before calling Sajjan a Khalistani.
The Khalistani movement is comprised of Sikhs who want to create an independent homeland and was notorious for a wave of violence in India in the 1980s.
Sajjan's office has refused to be drawn into a war of words with Singh, saying the defence minister is a proud Canadian and that his trip is intended to strengthen ties between Canada and India.
But Sikh groups in both Canada and India have expressed anger at Singh's comment, calling it undiplomatic and unseemly.
Photo: Contributed
The Crown says a man accused of killing his wife confessed to undercover officers that he strangled her and buried her body in the basement of the home they shared with their two children.
The trial of Allan Shyback, who is charged with second-degree murder and causing an indignity to a body, began Tuesday. He is accused of killing Lisa Mitchell, 31, who was last seen walking from her house to a convenience store in October 2012.
An undercover operation police launched in 2013 ended with Shyback's arrest in Winnipeg a year later.
"It ended on Dec. 5, 2014, with the accused confessing to have killed Lisa Mitchell by strangling her to death," prosecutor Heather Morris said in her opening statement.
Mitchell's mother told the judge hearing the case that her daughter and Shyback had a "volatile" on-again, off-again relationship.
Peggy Mitchell said she usually talked to her daughter two or three times a week and last saw her Oct. 28, 2012.
Mitchell said she received an email that same day saying her daughter had met someone and had to get away.
"It seemed to make sense but it wasn't her. It wasn't personal. It wasn't the way she spoke."
Photo: RCMP
Police in Vernon have seized a cache of explosives, weapons, drugs and stolen property. Two men have been arrested.
On April 8, officers stopped a vehicle after recognizing a passenger who was wanted on outstanding warrants.
Both the passenger and driver attempted to flee on foot but were grabbed after a short chase.
After a loaded .22 semi-automatic pistol was found during a search, investigators obtained a search warrant for a storage locker recently visited by the two men.
There, investigators discovered:
one additional handgun, two sawed off shot guns, three semi-automatic assault rifles and assorted ammunition
a large quantity of heroin and other drug trafficking paraphernalia
numerous stolen automotive parts valued at over $11,000 stolen during commercial break and enters in Vernon earlier this year
camera equipment valued at over $10,000 stolen during a residential break and enter in Penticton earlier this year
During the search investigators also located a small amount of explosives in the form of dynamite sticks and had to suspend the search until the RCMP explosives disposal unit could attend and secure the items to ensure everyone's safety, police said.
This seizure will have a significant impact on public safety and is another example of the detachment's commitment to reducing crime in Vernon, said Sgt. David Evans of Vernon's targeted policing unit.
Both men are being held in custody until their next court appearance on Apr. 26.
Taras Becker, 28, of the Lower Mainland, is facing a number of firearms charges.
John Ross, 25, of Vernon, is being held on outstanding warrants and faces new charges related to flight from police and breach of current court imposed conditions.
Investigators expect the two men will face further charges over firearms, explosives, drugs and stolen property offences.
Seniors and professionals who mainly live in the Kelowna area, but maintain a small apartment in Vancouver, are going to be badly stung by the new City of Vancouver bylaw that taxes vacant housing (defined as being used less than 180 days of the year) at 1% of their appraised value annually.
There are a number of legitimate reasons why people may continue to have a small Vancouver presence, including family, illness, specialist treatments, part-time work, academic commitments, etc. We are mobilizing against this punitive, indiscriminate and retroactive application of the bylaw, meant to curb real estate speculation and increase rental housing availability.
An inaugural meeting of the Unfair Vancouver Vacant Homes Tax Coalition was held on the Sunshine Coast March 8th. Recruitment is critical. Mobilizing will take a number of forms including a presentation via city council to amend the bylaw, public protest, legal recourse, etc. If this tax applies to you unfairly, please contact [email protected]
Rainer Borkenhagen
Photo: Contributed
A former Vernon resident charged in the death a woman in the Lower Mainland is expected to plead guilty to sexual assault charges in a separate case later this month.
William Victor Schneider is charged with second-degree murder and indignity to a human body in the death of Natsumi Kogawa last year.
Schneider was arrested in Vernon's Polson Park.
Kogawa was reported missing on Sept. 12. Few details have been released about how she died.
Schneider is the only suspect in the case and has been identified as the man seen on surveillance footage walking with Kogawa in Vancouver on the day she disappeared.
Police say he's a drifter with no fixed address.
Schneider is a former student of Clarence Fulton Secondary School in Vernon who classmates say was often in trouble with the law.
According to court records, Schneider is expected to plead guilty to sexual assault in Vernon on April 27.
Photo: CTV
Former veterans ombudsman Pat Stogran is expected to confirm Thursday his intention to seek the federal NDP leadership.
The retired Canadian Armed Forces colonel is set to make an announcement at a downtown Ottawa hotel.
Stogran is already registered as a candidate on the Elections Canada website.
NDP MPs Niki Ashton, Peter Julian, Guy Caron and Charlie Angus are also registered, along with Ibrahim Bruno El-Khoury, the founder of a Montreal consulting firm.
The NDP says Stogran and El-Khoury must submit nomination paperwork and a registration fee in order to be official candidates.
The race to replace Tom Mulcair at the helm of the NDP ends in October.
Photo: The Canadian Press
A man shot and killed three people on the streets of downtown Fresno on Tuesday, shouting "God is great" in Arabic during at least one of the slayings and later telling police that he hates white people, authorities said.
Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, was arrested shortly after the rampage, whose victims were all white, police said. He also was wanted in connection with another killing days earlier, in which a security guard was gunned down at a Fresno motel after responding to a disturbance.
Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer said the victims were shot minutes apart in close proximity in areas around downtown. He said Muhammad made other statements to police but he did not disclose them.
The shooting happened outside a Catholic Charities building, but spokeswoman Teresa Dominguez said the charity doesn't believe the suspect was tied to the non-profit organization.
Following the shooting, Fresno city spokesman Mark Standriff said county offices were placed on lockdown, and people were urged to shelter in place.
Photo: The Canadian Press
Christy Clark used the Site C dam megaproject in northern British Columbia as a backdrop today to campaign on the Liberal party's record on jobs and economic growth.
The Liberal leader says the multibillion-dollar BC Hydro project under construction near Fort St. John will mean clean energy and employment for the province.
NDP Leader John Horgan says he wants the project sent to the B.C. Utilities Commission for a review on whether it should proceed.
The dam is two years into construction and has been approved by the federal government, but Horgan did not directly answer a question as he campaigned in North Delta on whether a review by the utilities commission could realistically stop the project.
He says every project ever built before Site C underwent a review by the independent regulatory body, but this time Clark pushed ahead with the project and the public has a right to know whether there is a solid business case for it.
Horgan also announced an expanded apprenticeship and trades training program under a New Democrat government. By investing in tomorrow's workforce, Horgan says they will fill the 96,000 jobs that would be created with school, hospital, highway and home construction.
"Apprenticeships are the best way to train the workforce of tomorrow," he said in a statement.
Clark says Site C has been a job creator for the province.
"Site C means thousands of jobs and 100 years of clean, affordable, and reliable power enough for 450,000 B.C. homes," Clark said in a statement. "It means being ready to meet increasing demand as Canada's leading economy continues to grow."
Photo: The Canadian Press
Four men who orchestrated a dangerous voyage across the Pacific were out to make a profit, rather than help dozens of Tamil asylum seekers, the Crown prosecutor told their B.C. Supreme Court trial.
In her closing arguments at the human smuggling trial on Tuesday, Maggie Loda says the accused held a privileged position on board the MV Ocean Lady, taking part in operating the vessel, preparing the journey and helping migrants get aboard.
The rickety cargo vessel left Thailand and arrived off the coast of Vancouver with 76 Sri Lankan asylum seekers in Oct. 2009.
Francis Anthonimuthu Appulonappa, Hamalraj Handasamy, Jeyachandran Kanagarajah and Vignarajah Thevarajah are charged under a provision of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
In 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada determined part of the act was too broad and unconstitutional.
The high court ordered a new trial for the men, after ruling the federal government's laws on human smuggling shouldn't apply to those who help migrants on humanitarian grounds or aid between family members.
Loda told the court that those exemptions do not apply to the four accused.
She said while there is no evidence the accused made money out of the scheme, they should be convicted for helping smuggle vulnerable migrants who paid thousands of dollars to agents to bring them to Canada.
Loda described the ship that came to B.C.'s shore as extremely dangerous to those on board, saying the vessel would was not designed for such a long, open-water journey and if the ship sank, at least half of those on board would die.
[April 18, 2017] 27 Teams Chosen for Inaugural Medical Capital Innovation Competition
CLEVELAND, April 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Global Center for Health Innovation (GCHI), Cuyahoga County, BioEnterprise, and HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) are pleased to announce the inaugural Medical Capital Innovation Competition participants. Registered teams represent a variety of big data healthcare categories including patient engagement and compliance, clinical trial optimization, EHR (electronic health records) optimization, and decision support.
Following are the selected competitors: BehAlvior Pittsburgh, PA iRxReminder LLC Cleveland, OH nQ Medical, Inc. Cambridge, MA CardioLogs Palo Alto, CA LabAI Cleveland Heights, OH Proscia Baltimore, MD CareVoice Toledo, OH MDOps Melville, NY Public Insight Hudson, OH Dash MD North York, Ontario, Canada MedRespond Pittsburgh, PA Rubitection Pittsburgh, PA EternaLedger Rocky River, OH Mehkos Health Pittsburgh, PA SimplifiMed Fremont, CA EXAID Pittsburgh, PA NeuraMetrix Inc. Hillsborough, CA TPA Stream Rocky River, OH Faros Healthcare Nashville, TN NeuroLogix Technologies Cleveland, OH Xpress Connection Santa Fe, NM HealthTech Solutions Iowa City, IA NeuroRadVision Cleveland, OH HealthWizz Falls Church, VA NICUtrition Ewing, NJ Hyr Medical Cleveland, OH NopNeu Cincinnati, OH
The Innovation Competition attracted 180 applications from industry professionals and university students, said Carla Smith, executive vice president of HIMSS. I am thrilled to see the level of interest and expertise in this first inaugural Medical Capital Innovation Competition from applicants and I am especially looking forward to observing the new health IT solutions that develop.
The inaugural Medical Capital Innovation Competition All Things Data in Healthcare, will be held in the HIMSS Innovation Center at the GCHI, Cleveland, OH, April 25-26, 2017. Professional and collegiate teams will compete for $100,000 in prizes, mentoring, and access to business advisors, including world-class healthcare systems and collaborators. Interested individuals, community members, and friends and family are invited to watch the presentations on the second day of the competition, April 26th. Admission is free. For more information, and to register: www.medicalinnovationcompetition.org. One of the key strengths of Cuyahoga County is healthcare and it makes good sense to build upon those assets, said Cuyahoga County executive Armond Budish. This competition promotes a culture of healthcare innovation and fosters further economic development - creating new products and services, helping businesses flourish and supporting job creation.
The healthcare industry generates massive amounts of data. Emerging trends, including Internet of Things (IoT) and Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD), magnify not just the volume of data, but also the number of sources and formats. The industry is only beginning to scratch the surface of managing and optimizing all of the data collected. Cleveland, The Medical Capital, continues to build upon the strengths of its health IT assets, said Aram Nerpouni, president and CEO, BioEnterprise. In the health IT and service sector alone, Cleveland-area startup funding more than doubled from $20 million in 2015 to $50 million in 2016. The Medical Capital Innovation Competition will only further future growth of this important sector. About The Medical Capital
The Medical Capital initiative is a collaboration of Clevelands internationally renowned clinical, educational, and research institutions, philanthropies, government, and economic development engines. Convened by BioEnterprise, the initiative promotes the vibrant biomedical and healthcare industry in the 18-county Northeast Ohio region. The Medical Capital includes more than 700 biohealth companies, 30 clinical, research and educational institutions, 230,000 biomedical and healthcare workers, $650 million annually in research funding, and $200 million annually in private startup funding. For more information: www.TheMedicalCapital.com. About BioEnterprise
BioEnterprise is a business formation, recruitment, and acceleration effort designed to support the growth of bioscience companies. Located in Cleveland, BioEnterprise provides management counsel and support services to health IT, medical device, and biopharmaceutical companies. BioEnterprise founders are Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, and University Hospitals. Additional technology partners include the NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland State University, and BioOhio. The initiative comprises the collective activities of BioEnterprise and its partners commercialization offices: The Case Office of Technology Transfer, Cleveland Clinic Innovations, and University Hospitals Cleveland Center for Clinical Research. The combined efforts of these groups has created, recruited, and accelerated more than 300 companies in 15 years. For more information: www.BioEnterprise.com. About Cuyahoga County
Cuyahoga County is home to world-renowned healthcare facilities, including Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals and the MetroHealth System. It is also home to 1.2 million people and is comprised of 59 unique and distinctive communities, with Cleveland as its nucleus. The county is the economic center of Northeast Ohio. The County has a booming biotechnology and biomedical industry. There are over 700 bioscience-related companies within its borders. The healthcare and biomedical industry together employ over 230,000 individuals. About HIMSS
HIMSS is a global voice, advisor and thought leader of health transformation through health IT with a unique breadth and depth of expertise and capabilities to improve the quality, safety, and efficiency of health, healthcare and care outcomes. HIMSS designs and leverages key data assets, predictive models and tools to advise global leaders, stakeholders and influencers of best practices in health IT, so they have the right information at the point of decision. Through its health IT network of over 1 million experts, over 200 knowledge exchanges and collaborations, including 64,000-plus members, HIMSS drives innovative, forward thinking around best uses of technology in support of better connected care, improved population health and low cost of care. HIMSS is a not-for-profit, headquartered in Chicago, Illinois with additional offices in North America, Europe, United Kingdom and Asia. About The Global Center for Health Innovation
The Global Center for Health Innovation was built in Cleveland to serve as the focal point for healthcare innovation, conventions, and industry-specific meetings, and is home to internationally-recognized brands such as GE Healthcare, Siemens, Philips Healthcare, Cisco Systems, Cardinal Health, and the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) along with Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals. Under the direction of the Cuyahoga County Convention Facilities Development Corporation (CCCFDC) and managed by SMG, the Global Center is home to 45 of the worlds leading healthcare brands and more than 300 industry meetings annually. Each tenant partner space displays innovation and technology contributing to the overall mission of improving patient outcomes and lowering costs for healthcare providers and consumers. To learn more, visit the Global Center website at www.theglobalcenter.com. To learn more about Cleveland as the nations medical capital, visit www.TheMedicalCapital.com.
Contact Information
Eileen Petridis
330.714.8646
[email protected]
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Photo: Getty Images
The federal government stands to raise as much as $280 million in revenue off provincial carbon taxes in Alberta and B.C. in the next two years despite claims carbon taxes would be revenue neutral for Ottawa.
Both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Environment Minister Catherine McKenna have long insisted Ottawa would collect no revenue from the carbon price the federal government is requiring the provinces and territories impose by 2018.
However, a new report from the Library of Parliament shows federal coffers stand to benefit financially when the five per cent GST is applied on top of carbon taxes built into the prices of goods and services such as gasoline or utilities.
In April 2016, the Canada Revenue Agency said provincial carbon taxes would be subject to GST. Warawa asked the library to find out how much Ottawa stood to gain as he prepared a private members' bill to reverse the CRA's decision.
Last week, the answer came back: as much as $130 million this year and $150 million next year in Alberta and B.C., the two provinces where carbon taxes are already in place.
Those numbers represent five per cent each of the annual cost of the carbon taxes in those provinces: $1.3 billion in B.C. per year, and in Alberta, $1.3 billion in 2017-18 and $1.7 billion in 2018-19, an average of $1.5 billion.
"That's where the federal government suddenly gets rich off Canadians," said B.C. Conservative MP Mark Warawa, who requested the report.
BOULDER, Colo., April 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- section.io today announced the hire of Matt Haentzschel as Chief Revenue Officer, a role in which he will oversee and build section.ios global sales team. Haentzschel brings a significant amount of experience in content delivery to section.io: He has held senior positions at EdgeCast, BandCon, and LimeLight Networks, and saw both EdgeCast and BandCon through acquisitions to Verizon and Highwinds respectively. His expertise in selling content delivery solutions to large websites will be invaluable as section.io expands the team and adds functionality to their platform.
Matt Haentzschel joins section.io
section.io is revolutionizing the content delivery industry by providing users with a choice of website performance and security tools built on a flexible platform with features that support Agile and DevOps workflows. The company, which was originally founded in Sydney, Australia, completed TechStars Boulder in 2016 and has since moved into a permanent office in Boulder, announced a partnership with eCommerce platform Magento, and expanded their product offerings.
As a veteran of the content delivery industry Ive yet to see a solution like section.io. The way this platform can replace traditional CDNs as well as Application Delivery Controllers and integrate fully with modern developer workflows is unique. Im excited to join the team and eager to help build our customer base, as well as the global organization, said Haentzschel.
In addition, section.io announced that Derek Nolde has joined the sales team as Enterprise Sales Director. Nolde also brings experience in the website monitoring and performance areas, previously working at New Relic and Fastly. Haentzschel will be based out of Los Angeles while Nolde will be based out of San Francisco, expanding section.ios capacity to work with key eCommerce players on the West Coast.
Stewart McGrath, CEO and co-founder of section.io, said of the hires, We are thrilled to have both Matt and Derek on board. Their experiences in the Content Delivery industry and Matts knowledge of how to build a sales team from the ground up will be crucial as section.io continues to grow.
About section.io
section.io is the only website performance, scalability, and security platform which gives developers the control they need to achieve unmatched website speed and reliability. Unlike legacy Content Delivery Networks, section.io provides a software-defined Content Delivery Grid that enables developers to easily customize their web performance and security compositions while integrating with modern development workflows.
Mitsubishi Materials withdraws from China market
ICR Newsroom By 18 April 2017
Mitsubishi Cement plans to pull out of the Chinese cement market as tighter environmental regulations take their toll and the supply glut hurts the companys profitability, according to Nikkei Report.
The Japanese nonferrous materials maker signed an agreement on 30 March to sell a cement company in Shandong Province for an undisclosed sum to an affiliate of state-run cement giant China National Building Material.
Mitsubishi Materials holds a 66.67 per cent stake in the Shandong company, Yantai Mitsubishi Cement. Trading house Mitsubishi Corporation owns the remaining 33.33 per cent. With a production capacity of around 1.2Mta, Yantai Mitsubishi posted sales of CNY204m (US$30m) in 2016.
In addition, Mitsubishi will liquidate two cement admixture companies in Shandong and Jiangsu as it shifts its operational focus to the US, following an expected boost in infrastructure investment.
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Oman: Raysut Cement gross profit falls 39% in 1Q17
ICR Newsroom By 18 April 2017
Raysut Cement posted a 38.7 per cent decline in gross profits in 1Q17 as profits reached OMR6.29m (US$16.3m), down from OMR10.26m in 1Q16, according to the companys statement to the Muscat Securities Market.
Revenues were down 23.2 per cent to OMR19.43m in the first three months of the year, copared to OMR25.3m in 1Q16. Profit before tax reached OMR4.56m in 1Q17, a 48.6 per cent YoY decrease from OMR8.87m.
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[April 18, 2017] PharmaCyte Biotech Discusses Future of Cannabis Research Program, Competitors and More with Program's Director
LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., April 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (OTCQB:PMCB), a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing targeted treatments for cancer and diabetes using its signature live-cell encapsulation technology, Cell-in-a-Box, released today an interview-style Q&A article that discusses the companys Cannabis Research Program with Mark L. Rabe, MD, the Director of PharmaCytes Cannabis Program Development.
Given the latest research recently presented by Dr. Hyslop and his colleagues at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), what are your thoughts about the future of PharmaCyte's Cannabis Research Program? Dr. Mark Rabe: The latest news from Dr. Hyslop and the UNC team was very encouraging. As a result, PharmaCytes Cannabis Research Program is in high gear. The UNC research focuses on developing targeted cannabinoid-based chemotherapy utilizing the Cell-in-a-Box live-cell encapsulation technology. The therapy is designed to work by implanting encapsulated engineered cells in a blood vessel near a tumor. Then, a prodrug is administered upstream and activated by the encapsulated cells at the site of the tumor. Cell-in-a-Box, which encapsulates cells in a bio-inert cellulose-based porous polymer, serves as the platform. Of significance, UNC reported that cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid molecule derived from the Cannabis plant, had anti-cancer effects against several types of cancer cells that were dose-related. It was also reported that an enzyme has been identified that could convert an inactive drug, or prodrug, form of cannabinoid molecules into the corresponding active chemotherapeutic forms. Work is now underway to engineer human cells to produce this enzyme. Importantly, the parental or originating cell line being used is identical to that being used by PharmaCyte for its pancreas cancer therapy, which is soon to enter a pivotal clinical trial. If the cell line that PharmaCyte uses in its pancreas cancer treatment does in fact work with Cannabis as well, what is the significance of this find given how much work has already been done on that cell line? Dr. Mark Rabe: Utilizing the same parental cell line is a major advantage. Earlier work and studies have shown that the cell line being utilized is very amenable to Cell-in-a-Box live-cell encapsulation. Further, this cell line is about to receive additional FDA evaluation as part of PharmaCytes upcoming pivotal clinical trial in the treatment of locally advanced pancreas cancer. In that trial, the treatments parental cell line has been engineered to produce an enzyme that converts the conventional chemotherapy drug ifosfamide, which is a prodrug, into its active form. PharmaCytes Cell-in-a-Box therapy is a biologic, which means it faces far greater regulatory hurdles compared to treatments that use a single molecule. In our opinion, when it comes time to present a Cell-in-a-Box/cannabinoid therapy to the FDA, substantial data supporting the parental cell line choice will already exist. Walk us through the process of how cannabinoids work and how PharmaCyte's therapy can make the cannabinoids work better/be more effective? Dr. Mark Rabe: This question addresses the active component of the therapy. The medical literature is full of evidence that cannabinoids, specifically CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), exert anti-cancer properties in several ways. They: (i) slow the growth of tumor cells; (ii) slow the penetration of blood vessels into tumors that cause metastasis; and (iii) promote programmed cancer cell death. Cannabinoids are believed to exert these actions through interactions with endocannabinoid receptors located on cell membranes and the intracellular processes that control the cancer process. Presently, patients who choose to treat cancer with cannabinoids do so by consuming it. The general approach used is like that of conventional chemotherapy. That is, use as much as safely possible to maximize the concentration of the chemotherapeutic agent at the site of a tumor. However, generalized side effects from large doses of cannabinoids, such as unwanted psychoactivity and sedation, often limit their use. Control over cannabinoid composition is also difficult. The goal of targeted therapy is to optimize drug concentration at the site of a tumor while minimizing side effects. Can you explain what it is that the eventual cell lie being encapsulated would be activating in PharmaCyte's therapy?
Dr. Mark Rabe: This question addresses the prodrug component of the therapy. As mentioned, PharmaCytes therapy is designed to utilize an engineered cell line which, when encapsulated with Cell-in-a-Box, will enzymatically convert a cannabinoid prodrug into its active form. Since the UNC research and numerous other studies have confirmed that cannabinoids like CBD and THC have anti-cancer properties, it is necessary to have an inactive, or prodrug, version of these molecules suitable for enzymatic conversion. We have several prodrug options. For example, in the Cannabis plant, CBD and THC have naturally existing precursors that could be activated. Another approach is to modify CBD and/or THC in such a way as to render the molecules inactive. A cell line that produces an enzyme to un-modify the modified molecules would then generate the active drug.
In what therapeutic areas do you envision PharmaCyte's therapy being able to work? Dr. Mark Rabe: Cell-in-a-Box is extremely well-suited for targeted chemotherapy where prodrugs are enzymatically converted into active drugs at the site of a tumor. The platform can be used with conventional agents, such as ifosfamide, and potentially with cannabinoids. Tumor targets include any solid tumor, including pancreas, brain, breast, prostate, liver and others. The Cell-in-a-Box platform also has potential application in the treatment of other diseases. For example, cannabinoids have well-documented pain-relieving and neuroprotecting effects. Cannabinoids have also been shown to have beneficial effects in the treatment of diseases like Alzheimers disease and diabetes. The challenge with such treatments, in addition to answering the prodrug/active drug and cell line questions, is optimizing dosing. The beauty of Cell-in-a-Box, however, is that the capsule size, and consequently the number of cells contained, can be controlled. Hence, controlled micro-dosing is possible. Do we know where PharmaCyte fits into the current landscape with regard to creating a therapy in this space? Are there competitors? Dr. Mark Rabe: The current U.S. medical Cannabis industry has been estimated to be worth about $3.0 billion, and it is expected to more than double as more states legalize the use of Cannabis as medicine. There are dozens of companies in the space. Multi-billion-dollar big pharma companies such as Merck, Sanofi-Aventis, AbbVie and Bristol-Meyers Squibb hold cannabinoid-related patents and are conducting cannabinoid-related research. These companies also have broad oncology portfolios. GW Pharmaceuticals is a U.K.-based Cannabis-focused company with a market cap of approximately $3 billion. GW Pharmaceuticals has an extensive patent portfolio and already has an approved product, Sativex. Another GW product, Epidiolex, is in clinical trials. There is also an array of smaller, publicly traded specialty pharma, drug delivery and Cannabis-focused companies developing various cannabinoid-based therapies. Within this landscape, PharmaCytes product is quite unique and offers substantial potential benefits over other approaches, including a bio-inert targeted delivery system, control over the number of activating cells and control over prodrug selection and dosing. If they havent already, I would think that many of these companies will be taking notice of PharmaCytes cannabinoid therapy as a great potential partnering or licensing opportunity. What is the process moving forward with the development of PharmaCytes therapy using cannabinoids? Dr. Mark Rabe: Work will continue at UNC to study the anti-cancer effects of cannabinoids as well as to complete development of the cell line. Then, the cell lines ability to convert a prodrug into an active drug will be analyzed. If it works, these cells will then be encapsulated with Cell-in-a-Box and tested in animal cancer models. At the same time, we are also exploring other possible uses of Cell-in-a-Box in combination with cannabinoids. With the current climate in this country in the Cannabis sector, what are your expectations for PharmaCyte's ability to create a therapy and get it into clinical trials? Dr. Mark Rabe: Developing a new therapy is a complicated process, particularly when utilizing a breakthrough technology such as Cell-in-a-Box. To date, PharmaCyte has successfully completed many of the necessary steps with only a few to go. Ongoing work in the remaining areas is promising. One challenge that we have experienced related to development of a cannabinoid-based therapy is working within existing U.S. laws and drug schedules. For example, it took over two years to obtain the necessary licensure and approved Cannabis research material. With a new administration in Washington, it remains an open question as to whether getting a product that utilizes cannabinoid molecules into U.S. clinical trials and available to patients will become harder or easier. Interestingly, in contrast to the U.S., Israel has embraced medical Cannabis and is the world leader in cannabinoid research and production with over 500 companies in the sector and 120 ongoing studies and clinical trials. With estimates that the global market for medical Cannabis may reach $50.0 billion by 2025, the Israeli government is poised to allow these companies to begin exporting their products and dominate the world industry. About PharmaCyte Biotech PharmaCyte Biotech is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing therapies for cancer and diabetes based upon a proprietary cellulose-based live cell encapsulation technology known as Cell-in-a-Box. This technology will be used as a platform upon which therapies for several types of cancer and diabetes are being developed. PharmaCytes therapy for cancer involves encapsulating genetically engineered human cells that convert an inactive chemotherapy drug into its active or cancer-killing form. These encapsulated cells are implanted as close to the patients cancerous tumor as possible. Once implanted, a chemotherapy drug that is normally activated in the liver (ifosfamide) is given intravenously at one-third the normal dose. The ifosfamide is carried by the circulatory system to where the encapsulated cells have been implanted. When the ifosfamide comes in contact with the encapsulated cells they act as an artificial liver and activate the chemotherapy drug at the source of the cancer. This targeted chemotherapy has proven effective and safe to use in past clinical trials and results in no side effects. In addition to developing a novel therapy for cancer, PharmaCyte is developing a treatment for Type 1 diabetes and insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes. PharmaCyte plans to encapsulate a human cell line that has been genetically engineered to produce, store and release insulin in response to the levels of blood sugar in the human body. The encapsulation will be done using the Cell-in-a-Box technology. Once the encapsulated cells are implanted in a diabetic patient they will function as a bio-artificial pancreas for purposes of insulin production. Safe Harbor This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are generally statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "expects," "anticipates," "believes," "intends," "estimates," "plans," "will," "outlook" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are based on management's current plans, estimates, assumptions and projections, and speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement in light of new information or future events, except as otherwise required by law. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and are generally beyond our control. Actual results or outcomes may differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking statements because of the impact of several risk factors, many of which are discussed in more detail in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. More information about PharmaCyte Biotech can be found at www.PharmaCyte.com. It can also be obtained by contacting Investor Relations. Contact: Investor Relations: PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. Investor Relations Department Telephone: 917.595.2856 Email: [email protected]
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[April 18, 2017] Park Systems, World Leader Manufacturer of Atomic Force Microscopes Announces Opening of European Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany
SANTA CLARA, Calif., April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Park Systems, world-leader in atomic force microscopy (AFM) recently announced the opening of their European Headquarters in Heidelberg, Germany and appointment of Ludger Weisser as General Manager. Park Systems is a publicly traded company listed on KOSDAQ since 2015 where they received "AA" from two separate rating agencies on advanced technologies, becoming the first company listed that year through the special technologies IPO program. Dr. Sang-il Park CEO and founder of Park Systems was an integral part of the group at Stanford University that first developed AFM technology. "We are very excited to open our European Headquarters and to create closer relationships with our valued customers in Europe," states Dr. Sang-il Park, Park Systems Founder and CEO. "The appointment of Ludger Weisser as European General Manager demonstrates our commitment to provide best-in-class technical sales support and technology collaboration with our customers to provide unique customer-driven Atomic Force Microscopy solutions." The opening of the European Headquarters will provide support for the vast network of highly skilled Park AFM distributors already establshed throughout Europe. Park Systems European distributors include Schaefer Technologie GmbH in Germany, Elexience inFrance, LOT-Quantum Design in the UK, ST Instruments B.V. inBeNeLux, Gambetti Kenologia Srl inItaly, and Biometa Tecnologia y Sistemas inSpain. To find a distributor location for Park AFM near you, go to: http://www.parkafm.com/index.php/company/locations
Ludger Weisser brings over twenty years of experience in management positions with Atomic Force Microscopy companies, including Director of European Sales with Asylum Research and Managing Director at Atomic Force F&E GmbH, an advanced metrological instrumentation organization for the European research community. His extensive background includes a degree in Physics from the University of Heidelberg, university research on polymer surfaces and work with Digital Instruments, later acquired by Veeco where he was a sales manager. "The fast-paced European scientific and industrial markets continue to make significant advancements in all areas of nanotechnology," says Ludger Weisser, General Manager for Europe. "Park Systems has a long history as a leader in atomic force microscopy, providing unsurpassed nanoscale advances in continuous pursuit of the latest AFM innovations." The Park Systems European Headquarters is launching a focused effort to develop close relationships with European thought leaders within the scientific and manufacturing communities and develop products that meet their needs.
Park Systems is a leading innovator in nanoscale microscopy and metrology and continues to invest in the development of emerging technology. They now have regional headquarters in Korea, United States, Japan, Singapore, China and Germany. As the nanoscale microscopy demands more effective AFM technology, Park Systems is focused on developing revolutionary breakthroughs for the best AFM products for both scientific research and industrial quality control. Park Systems was founded in 1997 and holds over 32 patents related to AFM technology, including True Non-Contact Mode using decoupled XY and Z scanners, PTR measurements for data storage application, NX-Bio technology using Scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) on live cell, 3D AFM, and fully automated AFM operation software (SmartScan). About Park Systems Park Systems is a world-leading manufacturer of atomic force microscopy (AFM) systems with a complete range of products for researchers and industry engineers in chemistry, materials, physics, life sciences, and semiconductor and data storage industries. Park's products are used by over a thousand of institutions and corporations worldwide. Park's AFM provides highest data accuracy at nanoscale resolution, superior productivity, and lowest operating cost thanks to its unique technology and innovative engineering. Park Systems Corporation. is headquartered in Suwon, Korea with its Americas headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Park's products are sold and supported worldwide with regional headquarters in the US, Korea, Japan, and Singapore, China and Germany and distribution partners throughout Europe, Asia, and America. Please visit http://www.parkafm.com or call 408-986-1110 for more information. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/park-systems-world-leader-manufacturer-of-atomic-force-microscopes-announces-opening-of-european-headquarters-in-heidelberg-germany-300440643.html SOURCE Park Systems
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[April 18, 2017] LuckyDiem Launches with Over 100 Local Businesses at TechDay New York
NEW YORK, April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- LuckyDiem, the first multi-tiered Online-to-Offline (O2O) marketing platform with complete advertising attribution launched today at TechDay New York (#TechDay) with over 100 local businesses on Manhattan's Upper East Side. LuckyDiem is reinventing mobile search by giving consumers an exciting new way to discover local businesses with enhanced listings that include instant discounts, prizes and a game-based loyalty program. While the platform has been used nationally, LuckyDiem now enables small businesses to compete with national brands by removing all the wasted time and money associated with digital marketing. "Most of today's 26M small businesses simply lack the time, skill and resources to implement a digital marketing strategy," says Andrew Landis, CEO of LuckyDiem. "Attribution, the ability to tie online ad spending to offline sales, is the number one challenge facing the digital marketing industry, but is particularly poignant for small businesses given how consumers find a new business today," says Landis. While over 70% of local businesses are discovered through online search (Local Search Association, 2016) nd 4 out of 5 mobile searches end in a purchase (comScore, 2016), only 6% of small businesses advertise with paid search. (Manta Research, 2017). "LuckyDiem builds upon its successful white-labeled platform for national brands such as La Quinta Inns & Suites which saw its loyalty membership grow by over 500% and sales by 206% versus the control group," says Landis.
LuckyDiem enables businesses to sign up without adding any hardware, software or minimum fees. Businesses join LuckyDiem in less than ten minutes to receive a suite of services including local search, mobile payment, a game-based loyalty platform with enhanced branding capabilities, and even a turnkey, integrated sweepstakes platform for their customers to win VIP tickets to major sporting events and concerts. "Businesses only pay a fee on completed sales, enabling retailers to calculate an absolute ROI for online-to-offline promotions with variable incentives for the very first time. Mobile payments' slow adoption by consumers may also get a boost through LuckyDiem which enables users to simply sign up, enter their payment information and automatically receive the discounts they've earned by paying with their smartphone," adds Landis. In addition, with every shared reward, LuckyDiem will donate to Hope & Heroes, a childhood cancer nonprofit at Columbia University Medical Center. "Duke's is very excited to be part of LuckyDiem," says Michael Schatzberg, Managing Partner at Branded Restaurant Holdings. "Online marketing is time consuming and nearly impossible to measure at retail. LuckyDiem members can now find Duke's and use LuckyDiem to instantly win free drinks or earn discounts on their checks, turning them into loyal customers. Its loyalty program is fun for customers, but more importantly it's integrated and helps us accurately identify and reward our best customers. It's easy to implement and gives me absolute ROI on my marketing spend. LuckyDiem is a no-brainer."
To Search, Spin and Win, visit LuckyDiem.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/luckydiem-launches-with-over-100-local-businesses-at-techday-new-york-300440912.html SOURCE LuckyDiem
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[April 18, 2017] Akamai Uses IneoQuest's Cloud Monitoring Service for its Video Assurance Needs
MANSFIELD, Mass., April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IneoQuest Technologies, the global leader in video quality and service assurance solutions, today announced that Akamai Technologies, the world's leading Content Delivery Network (CDN) provider, is leveraging IneoQuest's Cloud Monitoring service to provide in-depth quality monitoring and diagnostic acceleration for its critical video streaming events. This Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) offering, now re-branded as FoQus>Delivery, allows IneoQuest's customers to monitor the quality of their Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) video streams through the globally-diverse OTT infrastructure, rapidly detecting and diagnosing streaming quality issues, without requiring significant up-front capital expenditures. As video viewers continue to shift toward OTT video consumption on smart TVs and mobile devices, they expect broadcast-level quality; and with the advent of 4K/UHD and HDR streaming, expectations are even exceeding broadcast quality. At the same time, many OTT video providers do not own or operate the infrastructure they rely on for the quality that will attract and retain viewers, and secure revenue. This shift has created an increasing need for flexible, scalable measurement tools which can address the new reality of video delivery both from a business and technical perspective. "Since the early rollout of IPTV, IneoQuest has been providing our customers with the solutions they need to detect video issues and quickly diagnose their cause", said Calvin Harrison, president and CEO of IneoQuest. "As digital video has evolved, industry dynamics have dictated significant changes in the way video quality and performance must be measured, and issues diagnosed. We recognized thesecoming changes over five years ago, and began migrating to 'all-software' system architectures which could be deployed as virtualized solutions in cloud-supporting datacenters. The FoQus>Delivery service is the next step in this video assurance evolution, and we are honored to have Akamai Technologies, the world's largest CDN, as a customer."
The FoQus>Delivery service provides the flexibility of a "pay as you go" subscription-based business model that is prevalent in the OTT market, supporting both network-less video providers who are offering pure OTT services as well as video providers who are extending beyond their on-network offerings with OTT. Built on IneoQuest's Surveyor and iQ Engine software, FoQus>Delivery provides the features and benefits that broadcasters and network operators across the globe have come to rely on for quality assurance in the digital video age. In addition, the subscription includes all software support and maintenance. FoQus>Delivery customers can test their video streams at locations around the world, and at different points in their distribution pipeline, supporting rapid issue diagnosis for video providers having both regional or global audiences. And because OTT video traffic is notorious for experiencing dramatic demand spikes, FoQus>Delivery was designed with dynamic scalability in mind, empowering customers with a simple solution to scale capacity as necessary. "For Akamai customers, quality and scalability are paramount. IneoQuest provides the fine-grained, per-stream visibility we need to rapidly uncover, diagnose, and even prevent customer-detectable streaming issues from occurring, especially during our highest-visibility events," said Matt Azzarto, director of media operations, Akamai Technologies. "FoQus>Delivery, deployed as a component of our Broadcast Operations Control Center (BOCC), provides us the capability we need to maintain the quality level our customers demand, provides the rich statistics expected from an industry-leading CDN, and offers a dynamic, scalable, subscription based model that dovetails nicely with our needs. These capabilities allow us to extend our quality-based market differentiation."
IneoQuest will be demonstrating the FoQus>Delivery service, as well as the entire suite of FoQus Platform solutions at NABShow stand SU6102 in Las Vegas, NV from April 22-27, 2017. Akamai will be demonstrating their BOCC, which leverages IneoQuest's assurance and diagnostic capabilities, at NABShow stand SL3324. About IneoQuest, a Telestream company
IneoQuest provides the world's leading media companies and service providers the critical insight needed to keep viewers engaged on any device, across any network. Acquired by Telestream in March 2017, IneoQuest's patented solutions continue to set the standard for measuring video quality and viewer behavior. To learn more about how IneoQuest is redefining the video experience, visit www.ineoquest.com. To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/akamai-uses-ineoquests-cloud-monitoring-service-for-its-video-assurance-needs-300440053.html SOURCE IneoQuest Technologies
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[April 18, 2017] Getnick & Getnick and Labaton Secure Record-Breaking Settlement for Whistleblower Client in Hedge Fund Tax Case
Getnick & Getnick LLP and co-counsel Labaton Sucharow LLP have secured the largest ever tax whistleblower recovery in New York state history. New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the $40 million settlement today. The whistleblower, whose identity remains protected, will receive 22 percent of the settlement ($8.8 million), the largest amount and percentage share ever for a whistleblower in a New York False Claims Act case not involving Medicaid. Getnick and Labaton represent a whistleblower in a tax evasion case brought against Harbert Management Corporation, an Alabama-based investment company. Harbert had an investment and business relationship with Harbinger Capital Partners (News - Alert) Offshore Manager LLC, the investment manager for New York-based hedge funds run by Philip Falcone from 2002 to 2009. The case alleges that the defendants evaded New York State and City taxes by shifting income derived from Harbinger from New York to Alabama to avoid New York's higher tax rates. The settlement includes Harbert and related entities and individuals. The Attorney General's Office has announced that its investigation into the conduct at issue in this matter continus.
"This settlement is an important step forward for the use of whistleblower laws to battle tax evasion in New York, and it should serve as a wake-up call for hedge funds with multi-state operations," said Neil Getnick, managing partner of Getnick & Getnick. "The Attorney General's Office did an extraordinary job working with us and our client in developing this case, illustrating the value of the public-private partnership established by state and federal whistleblower laws." "This should be a cautionary tale for wealthy companies and individuals about the probability of detection and prosecution because of whistleblower laws enabling private citizens and their counsel to bring to light misconduct previously invisible to regulators," said Jordan Thomas, Chair of Labaton's Whistleblower Representation practice.
The case was filed under the New York False Claims Act, which was amended to cover tax claims in 2010. Today's press release from the New York Attorney General is here. Getnick & Getnick is a Manhattan-based law firm dedicated to fighting fraud and promoting business integrity. The firm works with whistleblowers, government agencies and companies, guided by the principle that anti-fraud is not anti-business. The firm's whistleblower cases have recovered more than $1 billion for taxpayers, and clients have received record awards, including the largest ever award for a single whistleblower. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170418005962/en/
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[April 18, 2017] Denim Announces Growing Investor Portfolio Including RGAx and American National Insurance Company
DES MOINES, Iowa, April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Denim Labs, Inc. (Denim), provider of the leading social media engagement platform, today announced the company's growing investor portfolio, noting support from RGAx, the innovation subsidiary of Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated, and American National Insurance Company, one of Denim's first customers. "We are thrilled to welcome RGAx and American National as investors," said Gregory Bailey, co-founder and CEO of Denim. "These companies are veteran leaders in the industry we are truly working with the best. This new support gives us the opportunity to enhance our product offerings, expand our reach, and further empower our customers and partners across the insurance and financial services industries." Denim's patent-pending platform enables corporate marketers to launch, manage, and scale social media advertising for thousands of agents, advisors, and brokers in just two minutes. Denim-powered ads are corporately managed, but delivered locally on behalf of independent or affiliated agents. Denim frees advisors from social media activities and allows them more time for high-value sales and relationship building with their customers. "At RGAx, we are helping to build and accelerate transformational businesses that tackle the insurance industry's toughest problems," said Farron Blanc, vice president, innovation studio lead of RGAx. "We are proud to support Denim, a company that is reimagining marketing an distribution in the insurance industry."
For more information about Denim and to read more about today's announcement, visit the Denim blog or watch the Denim video. About Denim
Denim is reimagining marketing and distribution in the insurance and financial services industry with wicked smart technology. Denim improves marketing ROI by delivering highly relevant social media advertising at scale, so insurers can focus on what matters most: brand awareness, consumer engagement, lead conversions, and sales growth. With a focus on delivering a simple and intuitive platform, Denim not only delivers results, it's enjoyable to use. For more information, please visit www.denimlabs.com.
About RGAx
RGAx is a wholly owned subsidiary of Reinsurance Group of America, Incorporated (RGA), with a focus on building and accelerating transformational business in the life insurance industry. RGA, a Fortune 500 company, is among the leading global providers of life and health reinsurance and financial solutions. With headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri, and operations in 26 countries, RGA delivers expertise in individual life reinsurance, individual living benefits reinsurance, group reinsurance, health reinsurance, facultative underwriting, product development, and financial solutions. To learn more about RGA and its businesses, visit the company's website at www.rgare.com. For more information about RGAx, visit us at www.rgax.com. About American National Insurance Company
American National Insurance Company (American National), headquartered in Galveston, Texas, was founded in 1905 and is licensed to conduct the business of insurance in all states except New York. American National offers a broad line of products and services, which include life insurance, annuities, health insurance, credit insurance, and pension products. For more information, including company news and investor relations, visit the company's website at www.AmericanNational.com. Media Contact:
Ashley Hunt
LS2group
(515) 505-0459
[email protected] To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/denim-announces-growing-investor-portfolio-including-rgax-and-american-national-insurance-company-300440997.html SOURCE Denim Labs, Inc.
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FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE, et al., Appellants, v. DIRECTV, INC., etc., et al., Appellees. No. SC151249 Decided: April 13, 2017
Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, J. Clifton Cox, Special Counsel, and Rachel Nordby and Jonathan L. Williams, Deputy Solicitors General, Tallahassee, Florida, for Appellant Florida Department of Revenue Eric S. Tresh, Amelia Toy Rudolph, and Zachary T. Atkins of Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP, Atlanta, Georgia; David A. Konuch, Tallahassee, Florida; and Walter Hellerstein, Athens, Georgia, for Appellant Florida Cable Telecommunications Association, Inc. Katherine E. Giddings and Kristen M. Fiore of Akerman LLP, Tallahassee, Florida; Peter O. Larsen and Timothy J. McDermott of Akerman LLP, Jacksonville, Florida; E. Joshua Rosenkranz, Jeremy N. Kudon, and Nicholas G. Green of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, New York, New York; and Eric A. Shumsky of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, Washington, District of Columbia, for Appellees Gigi Rollini of Messer Caparello, P.A., Tallahassee, Florida, for Amicus Curiae Public Knowledge John S. Mills, Courtney R. Brewer, and Andrew D. Manko of The Mills Firm, P.A., Tallahassee, Florida, for Amicus Curiae Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association John A. Hinman of Hinman Carmichael LLP, San Francisco, California; and Christine Davis Graves of Carlton Fields Jorden Burt, P.A., Tallahassee, Florida, for Amicus Curiae National Association of Wine Retailers
This case is before the Court on appeal from the decision of the First District Court of Appeal in DIRECTV, Inc. v. State, Department of Revenue, 40 Fla. L. Weekly D1375 (Fla. 1st DCA June 11, 2015), where the district court expressly declared a state statute invalid. We have jurisdiction to review the decision. See art. V, 3(b)(1), Fla. Const. Because we find that the statute involved does not violate the dormant Commerce Clause, we reverse the decision of the First District.
FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY
In 2005, DIRECTV, Inc. and Echostar, L.L.C. (the satellite companies) filed suit in the trial court, seeking a declaratory judgment holding the sales tax provision in the [Communications Services Tax] unconstitutional, a permanent injunction against the enforcement of the provision, and a refund of the taxes paid pursuant to the provision. DIRECTV, Inc., 40 Fla. L. Weekly at D1375. Enacted in 2001, the Communications Services Tax (CST) imposed a 6.8 percent tax rate on cable service and a 10.8 percent tax rate on satellite service. 202.12(1), Fla. Stat. (2005). Presently, cable service is taxed at 4.92 percent and satellite is taxed at 9.07 percent. 202.12(1), Fla. Stat. (2015). It is this difference, according to the satellite companies, that violates the dormant Commerce Clause. The trial court disagreed, and [i]n ruling on cross-motions for summary judgment, found that section 202.12(1), Florida Statutes, does not violate the Commerce Clause because it does not benefit in-state economic interests or similarly situated entities. Id.
The satellite companies appealed the decision to the First District, arguing that the statute unconstitutionally discriminates against interstate commerce in both its effect and purpose. Id. The First District agreed with the satellite companies and reversed the decision of the trial court. Id. at D137879. The district court noted that satellite companies and cable companies were similarly situated because they both operate in the same market and are direct competitors within that market. Id. at D1376. Moreover, the district court found cable companies to be in-state interests due to their local infrastructure and local employment. Id. at D1377. The district court held that because the CST favors communications that use local infrastructure, it has a discriminatory effect on interstate commerce. Id. However, the court did not find that the statute was discriminatory in its purpose. Id. at D137879.
Now before this Court, Appellants Florida Department of Revenue and the Florida Cable Telecommunications Association, Inc. (FCTA) argue that section 202.12(1) of the CST does not discriminate in its effect or its purpose and the satellite companies are not entitled to a refund for the taxes paid. This Court reviews decisions evaluating a statute's constitutionality de novo. Fla. Dept. of Revenue v. City of Gainesville, 918 So. 2d 250, 256 (Fla. 2005). All statutes come clothed in a presumption of constitutionality, and this Court will invalidate a statute only if a challenger has shown its invalidity beyond reasonable doubt. Crist v. Fla. Ass'n of Criminal Def. Lawyers, Inc., 978 So. 2d 134, 139 (Fla. 2008).
ANALYSIS
The statute at issue in this case, section 202.12(1) of the Communications Services Tax Simplification Law, states in relevant part:
The Legislature finds that every person who engages in the business of selling communications services at retail in this state is exercising a taxable privilege. It is the intent of the Legislature that the tax imposed by chapter 203 be administered as provided in this chapter.
(1) For the exercise of such privilege, a tax is levied on each taxable transaction, and the tax is due and payable as follows:
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection, at a rate of 6.8 percent applied to the sales price of the communications service which:
1. Originates and terminates in this state, or
2. Originates or terminates in this state and is charged to a service address in this state,
when sold at retail, computed on each taxable sale for the purpose of remitting the tax due.
(c) At the rate of 10.8 percent on the retail sales price of any direct-to-home satellite service received in this state.
202.12(1), Fla. Stat. (2005). The satellite companies contend that section 202.12(1) is facially unconstitutional. They argue that the text of the statute shows it was enacted with a discriminatory purpose and has a discriminatory effect, which violates the dormant Commerce Clause. A facial challenge to a legislative Act is the most difficult challenge to mount successfully, since the challenger must establish that no set of circumstances exist under which the Act would be valid. United States v. Salerno, 481 U.S. 739, 745 (1987).
Commerce Clause
The Commerce Clause authorizes Congress to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States. Article I, 8, cl. 3, U.S. Const. The Supreme Court recognizes, in addition to the text's affirmative grant of authority, a further, negative command, known as the dormant Commerce Clause. This clause prohibits certain state taxation even when Congress has failed to legislate on the subject. Okla. Tax Comm'n v. Jefferson Lines, Inc., 514 U.S. 175, 179 (1995). A state tax is permissible under the dormant Commerce Clause only if it [1] is applied to an activity with a substantial nexus with the taxing State, [2] is fairly apportioned, [3] does not discriminate against interstate commerce, and [4] is fairly related to the services provided by the State. Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady, 430 U.S. 274, 279 (1977). The satellite companies' challenge to the CST is limited to the third prong, namely the prohibition on discrimination against interstate commerce.
[S]tatutes that openly discriminate against out-of-state economic interests in order to protect in-state interests are subject to a per se rule of invalidity. Simmons v. State, 944 So. 2d 317, 330 (Fla. 2006). A statute can discriminate against out-of-state interests in one of three ways: (1) it may be facially discriminatory; (2) it may discriminate in its practical effect; or (3) it may have a discriminatory intent. Amerada Hess Corp. v. Dir., Div. of Taxation, 490 U.S. 66, 75 (1989). In this case, the satellite companies argue that the sales tax portion of the CST discriminates in its effect and purpose.
I. Discriminatory Effect
A state law is discriminatory in effect if it affects similarly situated entities in a market by imposing disproportionate burdens on out-of-state interests and conferring advantages upon in-state interests. Or. Waste Sys., Inc. v. Dep't of Envtl. Quality, 511 U.S. 93, 99 (1994). Appellants argue Appellees' discriminatory effect argument fails at the threshold level. According to Appellants, this Court does not need to examine whether the tax imposes disproportionate burdens because satellite and cable companies are not similarly situated.
Substantially Similar Entities
Appellant Department of Revenue argues that cable companies and satellite companies are not similarly situated entities. [A]ny notion of discrimination assumes a comparison of substantially similar entities. Gen. Motors Corp. v. Tracy, 519 U.S. 278, 298 (1997) (footnote omitted). If the differences between the two companies render the entities not substantially similar, the Commerce Clause is not implicated. See id. Appellant contends that cable and satellite providers offer different communications services using different technologies and are subject to different regulatory burdens. In response, Appellees argue that cable and satellite providers compete directly and offer virtually identical products, and consumers view their products as similar and substitutable.
What is required for entities to be considered substantially similar has not been extensively considered by the courts. See Gen. Motors Corp., 519 U.S. at 299 ([The] central assumption [of substantially similar entities] has more often than not itself remained dormant in this Court's opinions on state discrimination subject to review under the dormant Commerce Clause ). It appears that at the very least, the entities must be in competition with one another. [I]n the absence of actual or prospective competition between the supposedly favored and disfavored entities in a single market there can be no local preference to which the dormant Commerce Clause may apply. Id. at 300; see also Alaska v. Arctic Maid, 366 U.S. 199, 204 (1961) (refusing to compare freezer-ship owners and local fish processors because [t]he freezer ships do not compete with those who freeze fish for the retail market).
We find that cable and satellite providers are similarly situated because they both provide television service and compete directly in the pay-television market for the same customers. Appellant notes that cable offers Internet and phone service and satellite does not. While true, both satellite and cable offer television programming and compete for customers in that market. Appellees' expert offered uncontroverted testimony that cable and satellite TV are economic substitutes, such that an increase in the cost of one will cause consumers, on net, to shift to the otheri.e., that consumers see the services as fungible. Moreover, Appellant FCTA's president acknowledged in depositions that satellite is cable's direct competitor, an alternative provider of multichannel video and another means for customers to get that particular product.
Appellant also states that cable is heavily regulated by the federal government and satellite is not. However, one may argue that because cable predates satellite by decades, Congress may have decided to limit federal regulation on what was a burgeoning industry in order to allow it to compete with cable. See, e.g., DISH Network Corp. v. F.C.C., 653 F.3d 771, 774 (9th Cir. Ct. 2011) (noting Congress passed the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act of 1999 to better enable competition between satellite TV and cable TV). The Florida Legislature also appears to view cable and satellite as competitors. In enacting the CST, the Legislature declared that it wanted to provide a uniform method for taxing communications services sold in the state in order to free consumers to choose a provider based on tax-neutral considerations and spur[ ] new competition by simplifying an extremely complicated state and local tax and fee system. 202.105(1), Fla. Stat. (2001).
Although Appellant argues that cable and satellite are not similarly situated because cable offers services that satellite does not and cable is regulated more heavily, they both compete in the same market for the same customers. Accordingly, we consider satellite and cable to be similarly situated for the purpose of the dormant Commerce Clause.
InState Interests
Appellants Department of Revenue and FCTA both argue that cable is not an in-state interest. The Supreme Court has identified in-state and out-of-state businesses based on a distinct geographic connection, or lack thereof, to the home state. See American Trucking Ass'ns v. Scheiner, 483 U.S. 266, 286 (1987) ([A] state tax that favors in-state business over out-of-state business for no other reason than the location of its business is prohibited by the Commerce Clause.); see also Lewis v. BT Inv. Managers, Inc., 447 U.S. 27, 28 (1980) (striking down a Florida statute prohibiting banks with principal operations outside Florida from operating investment subsidiaries or giving investment advice within the state). Appellants argue that cable and satellite companies are both out-of-state interests because they each have corporate headquarters and principal places of business located outside of Florida. Additionally, they each have employees and property in Florida and elsewhere that facilitate the provision of their services to customers. Appellees counter that cable companies are in-state interests because they employ more Florida residents and utilize local infrastructure to produce and distribute their programming.
Cable companies are not in-state interests for the purpose of the dormant Commerce Clause. Instead, we find that both businesses are interstate in nature. Florida's largest cable companies, Comcast Corporation, Coxcom, Inc., Cox Communications Gulf Coast, LLC, and Bright House Networks, LLC, have their headquarters in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Georgia, and New York, respectively. Florida's largest satellite provider, DIRECTV, has its headquarters in California. Florida's second largest satellite provider, DISH, has its headquarters in Colorado. The cable and satellite companies have employees and property both inside and outside of Florida to facilitate their operations and earn income. They both employ Florida residents to sell, maintain, or repair their service to Florida customers. They also own and lease a significant amount of property in Florida.
Neither cable nor satellite produce anything in Florida. Instead, they are service providers that acquire video content from national and regional networks and local broadcasters and distribute that video content to their customers in Florida. To do this, they both employ the use of ground infrastructure. Cable uses headends to aggregate video content from the national and regional networks and process it for further downstream transmission to Florida customers. Satellite uses local collection facilities to receive off-air video content from local broadcast stations, encode the content, and prepare it for long-haul transmission back to their satellite uplink facilities outside of Florida. This local off-air video content is then transmitted over ground, using leased capacity on fiber or coaxial networks owned by telecommunications companies in Florida.
Cable is not a local, in-state interest any more than satellite. While it may be true that cable employs more Florida residents and uses more local infrastructure to provide its services, the Supreme Court has never found a company to be an instate interest because it had a greater presence in a state. Instead, the Supreme Court has affirmed the prerogative of state and local governments to treat different business models differently. See Amerada Hess, 490 U.S. 66; Minnesota v. Clover Leaf Creamery Co., 449 U.S. 456 (1981); Exxon Corp. v. Governor of Md., 437 U.S. 117 (1978). According to these cases, a state may treat two categories of companies differently so long as the discrimination is based on differences between the nature of their businesses and not the location of their activities. Amerada Hess, 490 U.S. at 78. Here, the difference between cable and satellite is not that one is located or primarily operates in-state and the other out-of-state. Instead, it is that their different business models have a different impact on local communities. While cable's business model requires the employment of more people and the use of more infrastructure, it is not a local business. Neither cable nor satellite is produced in Florida, and neither business is headquartered in the state.
For these reasons, we do not consider cable an in-state interest for the purpose of the dormant Commerce Clause. Because we find that cable is not an instate interest, the satellite companies' discriminatory effect argument fails. To date, every state and federal court considering Commerce Clause challenges brought by the satellite industry arguing against state tax measures as favoring the cable industry has held that these taxes do not violate the dormant Commerce Clause. They have found either that cable and satellite are not similarly situated or that cable is not an in-state interest. We agree with those decisions that find cable is not an in-state interest.
II. Discriminatory Purpose
A state law may also violate the dormant Commerce Clause if it has a discriminatory purpose. See Hunt v. Wash. State Apple Advertising Comm'n, 432 U.S. 333, 35253 (1977). To determine discriminatory purpose, courts look to the language and the legislative history of the statute in question. See Bacchus Imports, Ltd. v. Dias, 468 U.S. 263, 27072 (1984). Appellees argue that affidavits from lobbyists and two former legislators, which stated that the cable lobbyists sought a differential tax rate for cable and satellite because satellite was beginning to take over market share, demonstrate that the Legislature acted with a discriminatory purpose. Moreover, they claim that the Supreme Court has made clear that courts can and must consult a broad range of evidenceincluding statements by proponents and sponsors of suspect legislationto unmask the true purpose for an alleged discriminatory enactment.
A general rule of statutory construction is that legislative intent is determined from the statute's text. Heart of Adoptions, Inc, v. J.A., 963 So. 2d 189, 198 (Fla. 2007). In this case, section 202.105, Florida Statutes, provides the legislative intent of the CST:
(1) It is declared to be a specific legislative finding that the creation of this chapter fulfills important state interests by reforming the tax laws to provide a fair, efficient, and uniform method for taxing communications services sold in this state. This chapter is essential to the continued economic vitality of this increasingly important industry because it restructures state and local taxes and fees to account for the impact of federal legislation, industry deregulation, and the convergence of service offerings that is now taking place among providers. This chapter promotes the increased competition that accompanies deregulation by embracing a competitively neutral tax policy that will free consumers to choose a provider based on tax-neutral considerations. This chapter further spurs new competition by simplifying an extremely complicated state and local tax and fee system. Simplification will lower the cost of collecting taxes and fees, increase service availability, and place downward pressure on price. Newfound administrative efficiency is demonstrated by a reduction in the number of returns that a provider must file each month. By restructuring separate taxes and fees into a revenue-neutral communications services tax centrally administered by the department, this chapter will ensure that the growth of the industry is unimpaired by excessive governmental regulation. The tax imposed pursuant to this chapter is a replacement for taxes and fees previously imposed and is not a new tax. The taxes imposed and administered pursuant to this chapter are of general application and are imposed in a uniform, consistent, and nondiscriminatory manner.
202.105, Fla. Stat. (2001). There is no evidence from the text of the statute that it was enacted with a discriminatory purpose. As noted by the First District, an examination of the 2000 Senate and House Journals reveals that there was no intent to favor cable companies. DIRECTV, Inc., 40 Fla. L. Weekly at D1378. Moreover, the 2000 Senate Staff Analysis and Economic Impact Statement shows that analysts believed the CST's impact would have the benefit of a simplified tax structure for all communication providers. Id.
Appellees argue that courts can and must consider other forms of evidence, such as the affidavits presented in this case. However, the Supreme Court has held that legislative history is far more problematic when sources outside of the Legislature are consulted, or when courts speculate upon the significance of the fact that a certain interest group sponsored or opposed particular legislation. Circuit City Stores, Inc. v. Adams, 532 U.S. 105, 120 (2001); see also Kelly v. Robinson, 479 U.S. 36, 51 n.13 (1986) ([N]one of those statements was made by a Member of Congress, nor were they included in the official Senate and House Reports. We decline to accord any significance to those statements.).
Therefore, we do not find that the CST was enacted with a discriminatory purpose. Because the CST is not discriminatory in either its purpose or effect, the satellite companies' facial challenge fails. Consequently, Appellees are not entitled to a refund of the taxes paid pursuant to the statute.
CONCLUSION
For the reasons set forth above, we reverse the First District's decision holding that the statute is invalid. Section 202.12(1) is not discriminatory in either its purpose or its effect and therefore does not violate the dormant Commerce Clause.
It is so ordered.
FOOTNOTES
. DIRECTV, Inc. v. Treesh, 487 F.3d 471, 480 (6th Cir. 2007) (finding that cable and satellite are distinct, consisting of two very different means of delivering broadcasts); DIRECTV, LLC v. Dep't of Revenue, 25 N.E.3d 258, 26671 (Mass. 2012) (concluding that cable and satellite are not substantially similar for Commerce Clause purposes); DIRECTV, Inc. v. Roberts, 477 S.W.3d 293, 307 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2015) (determining that cable and satellite providers are not substantially similar entities for purposes of the Commerce Clause).
. DIRECTV, Inc. v. State, 632 S.E.2d 543, 548 (N.C. Ct. App. 2006) (holding that cable providers are not local as compared to satellite providers); DIRECTV Inc. v. Levin, 941 N.E.2d 1187, 1196 (Ohio 2010) (explaining that the cable industry is not a local interest benefited at the expense of out-of-state competitors), cert. denied, DIRECTV Inc. v. Testa, 133 S. Ct. 51 (2012); DIRECTV v. Utah State Tax Comm'n, 364 P.3d 1036, 104647 (Utah 2015) (finding that cable providers are not in-state and satellite providers are not out-of-state for Commerce Clause purposes).
QUINCE, J.
LABARGA, C.J., and PARIENTE, LEWIS, and CANADY, JJ., concur. POLSTON, J., concurs in result. LAWSON, J., did not participate.
Construction of a miniature house continues at ChattState in the Civil & Construction Engineering Technology program. The Tiny House Project began in fall of 2016 to give students the opportunity to get hands-on experience with planning, scheduling, and building a fully- functional tiny house. Funding for the project is made possible from the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, Lowes, Greens Eco Build and Design, and consulting services from Wind River Tiny Homes.
Chattanooga State hosted a group of students from East Ridge and Ooltewah High Schools on March 31 and April 7, to spread awareness about the project and increase future enrollment in construction-related programs. Associate Professor of Civil and Construction Engineering Technology and Project leader, Caitlin Moffitt said, By establishing a core build project for construction programs, we are able to increase retention, progression, and graduation of students. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the construction industry is expected to grow by 22 percent by 2022.
Throughout the months of March and April, the students will be putting up the walls, framing the roof, and starting electrical work.
The project is also working in partnership with Sandra Lambertino, Associate Instructor Kyle Lee, and Instructor Winston Lay with the students in the Industrial Maintenance and Industrial Electricity Programs from the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) for the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems in the tiny house. Bruce Alston and Jeff Hanna with Media Services are helping to document the build.
The Tiny house project also will be having Build and BBQ Days this summer where high school students or prospective college students can come learn about careers in construction and the programs available at ChattState, as well as getting hands-on experience with the project. More information on that will be available at a later date.
For more information on the Tiny House Project, contact Caitlin Moffitt at Caitlin.moffitt@chattanoogastate.edu or visit https://www.facebook.com/chattanoogastatetinyhouseproject
Axalta Coating Systems announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement with The Valspar Corporation and The Sherwin-Williams Company to acquire the assets related to Valspars North American Industrial Wood Coatings business for $420 million in cash. Valspar is divesting the business in connection with the reviews by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Canadian Competition Bureau (CCB) of the proposed acquisition of Valspar by Sherwin-Williams. The business had revenues of approximately $225 million in 2016 and is one of the leading providers of coatings for OEM and aftermarket Industrial Wood markets, including building products, cabinets, flooring and furniture in North America.
Known in the market today as Valspar Wood, the business has a number of widely known and respected brands including Zenith , Lustre Lac and Graintone, among others. These products are backed by a strong R&D and technology organization and best-in-class customer service.
This is an outstanding opportunity for Axalta to enter the large Industrial Wood Coatings market with an industry-leading portfolio of products and customers, said Axalta Chairman and CEO, Charlie Shaver. The strong reputation enjoyed by these brands among a long-term customer base will provide an excellent platform for future growth in this important market. Our shared commitment to technology and excellence in application services, as well as a strong pipeline of new products, will enable us to meet the needs of both current and new customers. This acquisition continues to build on our strategy to strengthen and further diversify our Performance Coatings segment.
Axalta intends to operate this business as a pure bolt-on. As part of the transaction, Axalta will acquire the personnel, both dedicated manufacturing sites, R&D assets and the underlying intellectual property of Valspars North American Industrial Wood Coatings business. The transaction is subject to the closing of the Valspar and Sherwin-Williams merger, as well as customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, including the approval of the FTC and the CCB. Axalta has secured a financing commitment for the transaction through Deutsche Bank AG New York Branch, subject to customary closing conditions. Centerview Partners LLC acted as financial advisor to Axalta.
A New York Walgreens store is seen in 2014. Deerfield-based Walgreens Boots Alliance is attempting to purchase Rite Aid but the merger has come under fire from federal antitrust regulators. (Spencer Platt / Getty Images)
The pace of corporate mergers and acquisitions is expected to be brisk this year, but some Chicago-based marquee deals are slowing down the action.
A couple of significant area transactions are stuck in the muck, snagged by regulatory or marketplace complications. Among those in waiting: the Walgreens Boots Alliance buyout of Rite Aid and Canadian-based CIBC's proposed acquisition of consumer and commercial lender PrivateBancorp.
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Despite being bogged down, there's little reason to think the stride of local buying and selling won't accelerate. Emerging from the uncertainty of the 2016 election and the Trump administration's rocky start, the area's deal-making environment looks fit, as does the possibility of buyouts of firms across many segments, including health care, manufacturing, financial services and, of course, food providers.
On that last front, there remains ongoing speculation over whether packaged food giants Kraft Heinz and Mondelez will merge. If not, each might seek all or part of another food company, such as Europe-based Unilever or another U.S. concern.
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"The mergers and acquisition pros are looking for a rebound in 2017," says Jeff Sheban, a Chicago-based journalist and researcher for Mergermarket, which closely tracks the deal-making universe.
Even so, some corporate nuptials are taking more time than anticipated.
The proposed Deerfield-based Walgreens Boots purchase of the Rite Aid drugstore chain, located predominantly in the east, has suffered a series of stops and starts since the estimated $17 billion deal (including debt) was announced in October 2015. At that time, the transaction was expected to close in the second half of 2016, according to Walgreens.
Since then, the acquisition has come under fire from federal regulators, who contend the linking of Walgreens' 8,200 outlets and Rite Aid's 5,000 stores is anti-competitive.
Walgreens tried to soothe the Federal Trade Commission's concerns by agreeing to spin off 865 stores to another retailer but the feds didn't like that plan, so it was back to the drawing board. There is industry chatter that Walgreens could divest up to 1,200 stores, which would change the price and dynamics of its purchase.
"There is no doubt that the process of getting clearance for the transaction is taking longer than we expected," Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina recently said to industry analysts, adding he's still confident the deal will get regulatory approval.
That may be the case, but the longer the approval process bumps along, the greater the possibility this buyout doesn't get done. Presently, some industry analysts say there's a 50-50 chance of approval, which seems to me to be a reasonable hedge.
Also in the wings is Chicago-based PrivateBancorp, which in mid-2016 agreed to be purchased by CIBC via a stock and cash deal valued at $3.8 billion.
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From there, matters got complicated.
After a healthy run-up in U.S. bank stock prices, brought on largely by the Trump administration's vow to deregulate the banking industry, some PrivateBancorp shareholders, including hedge funds, held off on approving the buyout and pressed CIBC for a higher price.
To that end, the Canadian bank recently raised its bid to $4.9 billion, but in doing so has come under fire from a few financial analysts for overpaying. However, CIBC is ready to pony up because it wants to expand into the upper U.S., and PrivateBancorp, with $20 billion in assets and a viable Midwest banking presence, promises to be an important vehicle.
With CIBC's fuller price and if no competing bidder for PrivateBancorp soon emerges this bank deal will likely be made.
The outlook is foggier for a couple of perennial merger and acquisition possibilities, Kraft Heinz and Mondelez. Both are facing slow growth and running out of ways to improve profitability just by cutting staff and tightening operations.
A merger between the two would provide the "synergies" that makes Wall Street drool: Greater cost reduction options, widespread job cuts, more revenues and higher profits.
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Barring such a merger, each company might make a run at buying another large food company, like Unilever or Hershey.
They've tried before.
Earlier this year, Kraft Heinz offered $143 billion to acquire Unilever but was rebuffed while Mondelez last year took an unsuccessful $23 billion stab at Hershey. By the way, Mondelez has retained an executive search firm and could replace CEO Irene Rosenfeld, a move that could open up that company to a whole new range of M&A thinking and possibilities.
Of the area's other large publicly traded companies it would be remiss not to mention Abbott Laboratories, which is digesting a couple of big acquisitions but always in the hunt, and Allstate, which is eager to supplement its core insurance business.
Meanwhile, privately held and family-owned companies promise to be in the midst of the 2017 action, including firms in light manufacturing, auto parts distribution, biotechnology and various service businesses.
Expect deep-pocketed investors, among them Byron Trott, to scout for closely held, well-managed companies to back. Last year, his BDT Capital Partners bought a stake in the Lou Malnati's pizza chain.
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Pending Securities and Exchange Commission approval is the purchase of the Chicago Stock Exchange by a China-led overseas investor group.
Late last year, a majority of deal-makers predicted the number and size of buyouts in 2017 would exceed 2016 levels, according to a survey by professional services firm Deloitte.
Yes, it's taking longer than expected, but barring any economic catastrophes, don't be surprised to see more wheeling and dealing this year.
roreed@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @reedtribbiz
Farmer's Fridge employee Lily Alquizira prepares cucumbers on April 17, 2017, at the company's food manufacturing facility in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. The salad vending machine company received about $10 million in its latest financing round and plans to expand. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
Farmer's Fridge, the Chicago-based company that sells salads out of vending machines, plans to add another 200 locations in the coming year, expanding into Milwaukee and potentially other Midwest markets.
CEO Luke Saunders' dream of increasing the accessibility of healthy food recently received a healthy boost of financing from Danone Ventures, the venture capital arm of the global dairy company, and Cleveland Avenue, the Chicago-based investment firm founded by former McDonald's CEO Don Thompson , among other investors. The financing round amounted to roughly $10 million; none of the investors took a majority stake.
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"We're trying to be scrappy and make it. Because we see that as what matters. Setting the number at 200 (new locations) is ambitious. I think we can do it. But the ultimate goal is to be a successful company," Saunders said.
Farmer's Fridge, which was founded by Saunders in 2013 and currently has 75 locations in the Chicago area, has been busy hiring staff to help with the expansion, adding about 20 employees in the past three months to bring the head count to about 60. That number figures to keep growing.
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Luke Saunders, CEO and founder of Farmer's Fridge, stands with one of his company's newer vending machines on April 17, 2017, in Chicago's West Town neighborhood. The company has salad vending machines at 75 locations and plans to add another 200 in the coming year. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
Saunders wouldn't disclose revenue figures for Farmer's Fridge, but said the privately held company is profitable. He emphasized that expanding the number of locations is just part of the plan.
Other changes coming will enhance the customer experience and improve sales, he said.
Customers buy salads at Farmer's Fridge machines or fridges, as Saunders calls them by ordering on a touch screen. Beginning this week, the company's rolling out new touch screen software that will tie in with a new app. Using the app, customers will be able to check the inventory of their nearest Farmer's Fridge machine and access rewards deals customized for their account, he said.
And over the next few months, all of the vending machines will be replaced by a sleeker, more modern design that's already in place in some high-profile locations, such as Merchandise Mart and O'Hare International Airport.
What about Farmer's Fridge attracted the venture capital arm of the French food giant Danone?
"Overall, the ambition they have to reimagine this vending machine channel to be more contemporary, more modern. ... We like the team also. It's a team that's very young but also ambitious and very capable," said Laurent Marcel, managing director of Danone Ventures.
Danone Ventures, launched last year, is part of a recent trend of large consumer packaged goods companies launching venture capital funds to invest in smaller companies better aligned with growing consumer appetites for food considered fresh and natural. Farmer's Fridge is Danone Ventures' first U.S. investment.
Marcel said he believed the investment would be mutually beneficial Danone helps Farmer's Fridge grow with money and resources, and in turn, Farmer's Fridge can teach Danone about selling healthy food out of vending machines.
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Jose Montas, day shift supervisor at Farmer's Fridge, chops rhubarb April 17, 2017, for a special seasonal salad at the company's West Town food manufacturing facility. The 8,000-square-foot site supplies 75 Chicago-area vending machines. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
Don Thompson, founder of venture capital firm Cleveland Avenue, knows a little something about expansion into new markets as a former McDonald's CEO.
So far, other Cleveland Avenue investments include Drink cafe, a nonalcoholic bar inside the American Eagle Outfitters store in New York City's Times Square, and HalfSmoke, a Washington, D.C., fast casual restaurant.
"We think (Farmer's Fridge) is an attractive investment that aligns with what we view as an innovative food and beverage concept," said Thompson, who also sits on the board of directors for Beyond Meat, the California-based company known for plant-based burgers that resemble beef patties.
Farmer's Fridge first made its salads in Kitchen Chicago, a shared-use kitchen for startups in the West Town neighborhood, before moving operations to its current 8,000-square-foot food manufacturing facility about a mile farther east. The company's corporate office is one large room within the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago incubator building, also in West Town.
Farmer's Fridge CEO Luke Saunders, left, chats April 17, 2017, with employees Lily Alquizira and Jose Montas at the company's kitchen facility in Chicago's West Loop neighborhood. The salad vending machine company has about 60 employees and plans to expand. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
The majority of Farmer's Fridge locations, most of which are vending machines, are situated downtown near the Loop and on the North Side, but there are also locations, often at schools and hospitals, on the Near West Side, in the suburbs and at O'Hare. Farmer's Fridge also sells its salads sans machines in a few Whole Foods Market stores, and the company has a small restaurant in the Revival Food Hall.
Poised on the brink of expansion, Saunders reflected on how far the company's come. Saunders said he started the business with two part-time employees and with half the startup costs on his credit card.
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"If you had told me four years ago that a former CEO of McDonald's would invest in our business, I wouldn't have believed you," Saunders said.
gtrotter@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @GregTrotterTrib
Mondelez International, the Deerfield-based global snack food company known for Oreo cookies and Ritz crackers, announced Tuesday the looming departure of the company's president of North American business.
Executive Vice President Roberto Marques will leave the company, to be replaced by Chief Growth Officer Tim Cofer, who will act as interim president of the North American business while the company searches for Marques' permanent successor. This announcement comes shortly after reports that Mondelez hired a recruiting firm to search for possible replacements for CEO Irene Rosenfeld, who has led the company since 2006, prior to its split from Kraft Foods in 2012.
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On Tuesday, Mondelez spokesman Michael Mitchell said the two developments are unrelated.
"Today's announcement is about a change in leadership in our North America business. It has nothing to do with any other potential succession planning or market speculation. ... We're looking forward to recruiting a permanent successor to help us step up our performance on both the top and bottom lines, as we unlock the full potential of Mondelez International in the U.S. and Canada," Mitchell said in an email.
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Mitchell said he didn't know what's next for Marques, who couldn't be immediately reached for comment.
Last year, Marques earned about $3.7 million in total compensation, which includes base salary, stock and option awards, incentive-based pay, and other compensation, according to company filings. That represented a steep decline, mostly in stock and option awards, from 2015, when he earned $13.5 million in total compensation.
"Over the past two years under Roberto Marques' leadership, the North American team has been executing a large transformation, which has resulted in significant progress on our margin agenda, while stepping up our participation in growth areas such as well-being, broader channel penetration, especially in e-commerce, as well as entering the U.S. chocolate market," Rosenfeld said in the company news release.
Before he joined Mondelez in March 2015, Marques worked as an executive at Johnson & Johnson, according to his bio on the Mondelez website.
Mondelez, which has worked to increase profit margins amid declining revenues, reports quarterly earnings on May 2.
gtrotter@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @GregTrotterTrib
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. ROLAND STUCKE, Appellant v. CITY OF PHILADELPHIA No. 15-2303 Decided: April 12, 2017
Before: MCKEE, Chief Judge *, FUENTES ** and ROTH, Circuit Judges Timothy R. Hough, Esquire Jaffe & Hough 1500 John F. Kennedy Boulevard 1907 Two Penn Center Plaza Philadelphia, PA 19102, Counsel for Appellant, (Argued) Michael E. Angelotti, Esquire City of Philadelphia Law Department 1515 Arch Street One Parkway Philadelphia, PA 19102, Counsel for Appellee, (Argued)
OPINION*
Ronald Stucke brought an action pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. . The District Court granted summary judgment to the defendant, the City of Philadelphia. Stucke appealed. For the reasons set forth below, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court.
I.
Since we write primarily for the parties involved, the facts of this matter, which are ably set forth in the District Court's thorough opinion, will be discussed only in an abbreviated fashion. Stucke is a Caucasian male, who works for the Philadelphia Prison System. During the relevant time period, he was the Industry Shop Supervisor for PhilaCor, a program for inmates to learn trades while serving their sentences. Stucke had exemplary work attendance and reviews.
In early 2009, Stucke's boss, the PhilaCor Assistant Director, died. The PhilaCor Director, Eleanor Doherty, recommended that Stucke fill the post on an acting basis, and Stucke was promoted to Acting Assistant Director in June 2009. The Assistant Director job description stated that the Minimum Acceptable Training and Experience included a bachelor's degree in business administration, education or a related field at an accredited college or university as well as two years of supervisory experience in a correctional industries program[, o]r any equivalent combination of education and experience determined to be acceptable by the Office of Human Resources. The previous Assistant Director did not have a college degree. Stucke did not have a college degree, nor did he have a high school diploma.
Approximately five months later, Doherty told Stucke that Deputy Commissioner Hammond, under whose portfolio the PhilaCor system fell, had reminded her about the degree requirement for the Assistant Director position. Stucke admits that he had never looked at the job description; thus, he never saw the degree requirement or the exception for similar experience. After his discussion with Doherty, Stucke resigned from the acting Assistant Director position, reasoning that he had no chance at becoming the permanent Assistant Director due to his lack of a college degree and his unwillingness to obtain a high school or college diploma. Stucke returned to his previous position as a shop supervisor. Steven Brooks, an African-American male, became Acting Assistant Director.
Upon Stucke's return to his previous position, Brooks was Stucke's immediate supervisor. Stucke complains about several incidents that occurred after he returned to his position as shop supervisor, including the removal of a computer from his office, his discipline following an altercation with Brooks, several denials of transfers to his desired shifts, and his reassignment as a supervisor to another shop in the PhilaCor program. However, the parties also stipulated that no City employee made any derogatory remarks to Stucke about his race. There is no record evidence of any racial animus directed at Stucke or any other Caucasian employee in the prison system.
Stucke filed an administrative complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and the EEOC on February 14, 2011, alleging that he had been discriminated against because of his race and retaliated against for intending to exercise his Title VII rights. After receiving a right-to-sue letter in 2012, he filed suit against the City of Philadelphia in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
In his second amended complaint, the operative complaint in this matter, Stucke raised four claims: (1) Hostile Work Environment in violation of Title VII, (2) Disparate Treatment in violation of Title VII, (3) Hostile Work Environment and Disparate Treatment under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, and (4) a general Retaliation claim. The District Court granted summary judgment to the City on all counts. Stucke appealed.
II.4
Although there are four counts in the second amended complaint, Count III, which alleges violations of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA), is evaluated in the same way as violations under Title VII. Thus, in our discussion of the hostile work environment, disparate treatment, and retaliation claims, the analysis of these claims applies equally to the Title VII and PHRA counts.
A.
A plaintiff seeking to prove a hostile work environment claim must show that:
(1) he suffered intentional discrimination because of his [race]; (2) the discrimination was pervasive and regular; (3) it detrimentally affected him; (4) it would have detrimentally affected a reasonable person of the same protected class in his position; and (5) there is a basis for vicarious liability.7
Isolated incidents and offhanded comments are not sufficient to sustain a hostile work environment claim. We must view the events in the totality of the circumstances to determine if they, taken together, rise to the level of a hostile work environment. They do not.
Stucke bases his hostile work environment on (1) the removal of his office computer for a month, (2) surprise inspections of Stucke's shop, (3) the severity of the discipline meted out in response to an argument with Brooks, (4) his failure to obtain his desired shift work after he was disciplined and transferred from PhilaCor, and (5) his reassignment to the Barricade Shop upon his return to PhilaCor. The District Court considered only the first two categories of incidents, did not address the fifth, and viewed the shift work denials and discipline as discrete acts of disparate treatment that could not be considered for the purposes of a hostile work environment claim.
In failing to consider the discrete acts of denying Stucke his desired shift work and the allegedly disparate discipline, the District Court erred, but the error was ultimately harmless. Nevertheless, we pause here to briefly clarify the correct standard for evaluating discrete acts in the context of a hostile work environment claim. The District Court relied upon the bright-line distinction between discrete acts, on the one hand, and the aggregate of non-actionable individual acts that could form the basis of a hostile work environment claim on the other. That distinction exists primarily for statute of limitations purposes, which are not at issue here, making this rationale inapposite. Here the question is not the timeliness of the plaintiff's complaint but whether those acts complained of can, as a matter of law, rise to the level of creating a hostile work environment. Thus, the District Court should have considered all of the acts alleged, regardless of whether they were individually actionable.
Even taking all of the acts complained of together, Stucke cannot establish a hostile work environment claim. First, there is no evidence that Stucke suffered discrimination because of his race. The parties stipulated that Stucke was not subjected to a single derogatory comment about his race during his employment with the City. The only racially charged comment that appears anywhere in the record is a comment related second hand by Donna Marie Johnson, a corrections captain, who had a long-term relationship with Deputy Commissioner Hammond. Johnson said at her deposition that she recalled Hammond telling her, in regard to Brookswithout mentioning Stuckethat Hammond was looking out for a brother. Johnson testified at her deposition that she did not take the comment to be racial in nature and that she viewed it as Hammond's attempt to take sides in a dispute between Brooks and Doherty, with the issue being gender instead of race. Even assuming that Hammond made the comment and it has the racial overtones Stucke ascribes to it, this single, offhand, hearsay comment is insufficient to create the kind of inference of racial animus necessary to establish a hostile work environment claim. This is particularly true here, where Stucke admits that there was no racial animus among the prison employees and the parties stipulated that no employee ever made a derogatory comment to Stucke about his race.
Moreover, the acts complained of are not sufficiently severe to rise to the level of a hostile work environment. The Supreme Court has made clear that Title VII is not a general civility code and that the ordinary tribulations of the workplace are not grounds for a hostile work environment claim. Stucke's complaints are nothing more than ordinary tribulations indicating friction between a supervisor and an employee, not the type of severe and pervasive abusive environment giving rise to at Title VII claim.
B.
Stucke's disparate treatment claim revolves around his resignation from his position as Acting Assistant Director. The District Court held that Stucke did not suffer an adverse employment action when he stepped down because his removal did not qualify as a constructive discharge. The District Court is correct.
Under the McDonnell Douglas standard, an employee must show that (1) s/he is a member of a protected class; (2) s/he was qualified for the position s/he sought to attain or retain; (3) s/he suffered an adverse employment action; and (4) the action occurred under circumstances that could give rise to an inference of intentional discrimination to set forth a prima facie claim for disparate treatment. Stucke claims that he suffered an adverse employment action because he was constructively discharged from his position as Acting Assistant Director when Doherty told him that the prison system would not change the position's requirements.
A constructive discharge claim may proceed to a jury if a reasonable jury could find that the [employer] permitted conditions so unpleasant or difficult that a reasonable person would have felt compelled to resign. Among the relevant factors to consider are whether an employee was threatened with termination, demoted, had his pay reduced, was involuntarily transferred, had his job responsibilities altered, or was given unsatisfactory job evaluations. None of the factors above apply to Stucke's time as Acting Assistant Director, since, at most, the conversation that Stucke claims caused him to resign pertained to his eligibility for the permanent Assistant Director position, not the acting position he then occupied. Stucke admits he stepped down because he determined that he would not meet the qualifications for the permanent position and he did not intend to do anything to obtain those qualifications. Moreover, there is nothing to indicate that Stucke could not have proceeded in the Acting Assistant Director position for a significant period of time, particularly in light of Brooks' serving in the acting position for three years after ascending to it. Consequently, there was no constructive discharge.
The District Court also held that any argument that Stucke was given disparate discipline was waived because it was not raised until Stucke's Sur-Reply Brief. This was error, since the second amended complaint stated that disciplining and demoting Stucke was one of the ways in which Stucke was allegedly treated differently. Nevertheless, this argument is not pressed on appeal and is therefore waived.
C.
As for the retaliation claims, the District Court considered only whether Stucke was retaliated against for telling Brooks that he was going to file a lawsuit. This was error because the additional retaliatory actions pertaining to not obtaining more desirable shift work and his reassignment to the barricade shop upon his return to PhilaCor were set forth in the second amended complaint and incorporated into the retaliation claim.
All of the retaliation claims fail, however, since Stucke cannot establish a causal link between any protected activity and any alleged acts of retaliation, a necessary condition for any Title VII retaliation claim. First, the District Court was correct that vaguely referring to filing a lawsuit is insufficiently specific to qualify as protected activity under Title VII. As the District Court correctly held, we look to the message being conveyed to determine if an employee has opposed unlawful practices so that his conduct is protected by Title VII. Stucke admits that he did not mention race or any other form of discrimination when he threatened to sue, and merely stated that he was incensed that Brooks was given the Acting Assistant Director job despite not having a degree. Such a generalized grievance, without more, cannot constitute the type of conduct that is protected by Title VII.
Stucke's filing of a PHRC complaint in 2011, on the other hand, is undoubtedly protected activity, since it clearly identified his employer and the practice to which he objected. Yet, assuming Stucke has put forward a prima facie case of retaliation based on his failure to obtain desirable shifts and his transfer to the barricade shop, the City has put forward reasonable non-discriminatory rationales for those decisions. The City claims that he was denied the shift work because of his then existing disciplinary record stemming from his altercation with Brooks and his reputation as a trouble maker and an asshole. These non-discriminatory rationales offered by the City are plausible. Consequently, at the summary judgment stage the burden shifts to Stucke to come forward with sufficient evidence for a reasonable juror to find that the City's plausible rationales are mere pretext. Stucke failed to do so.
III.
For the foregoing reasons, we will affirm the District Court's entry of summary judgment on all counts in favor of the City of Philadelphia.
FOOTNOTES
. 43 P.S. 951, et seq.
. Stucke v. City of Phila., No. 12-6261, 2015 WL 2231849, at *14 (E.D. Pa. May 12, 2015).
. J.A. 63 21.
. The District Court had jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 1367. We have jurisdiction over the appeal pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1291. We exercise plenary review over a District Court's grant of summary judgment, making all reasonable inferences in favor of the non-moving party. Wiest v. Tyco Electronics Corp., 812 F.3d 319, 32728 (3d Cir. 2016).
. 43 Pa. Stat. 951 et seq.
. Faush v. Tuesday Morning, Inc., 808 F.3d 208, 213 (3d Cir 2015).
. Carver v. City of Trenton, 420 F.3d 243, 262 (3d Cir. 2005) (quoting Cardenas v. Massey, 269 F.3d 251, 260 (3d Cir. 2001)) (alteration in original).
. Id. (internal quotation marks omitted).
. Id.
. See O'Connor v. City of Newark, 440 F.3d 125, 127 (3d Cir. 2006).
. Faragher v. City of Boca Raton, 524 U.S. 775, 788 (1998) (internal quotation marks omitted).
. Makky v. Chertoff, 541 F.3d 205, 214 (3d Cir. 2008) (citing McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 802 (1973)).
. Colwell v. Rite Aid Corp., 602 F.3d 495, 502 (3d Cir. 2010) (alteration in original).
. Id.
. S.A. 10.
. Moore v. City of Philadelphia, 461 F.3d 331, 341 (3d Cir. 2006).
. Id. at 343.
. Id.
. McDonnell Douglas Corp., 411 U.S. at 80203.
. Id.
ROTH, Circuit Judge
In community associations, more people are likely to be affected in a disaster like a fire than when a single-family home is damaged. Developing a plan before a crisis hits can mitigate some of the pain. (Getty Images)
Disasters are rare enough that most people never encounter one. But sometimes they do.
In community associations, the impact of disasters like fire, flood and hail is intensified because residents live in proximity. More people are likely to be affected than when a single-family home is damaged.
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Pre-planning can mitigate some of the pain, said Charissa Ziobro, a regional director for Associa Chicagoland, which has locations in Chicago, Plainfield and Schaumburg.
One of her client associations is a three-story condominium building in Rolling Meadows that was partially destroyed by fire in March 2015. The fire displaced 49 residents who have not yet been returned to their units.
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"Take time to develop a plan before the crisis hits," Ziobro said. "When it happens, it happens so fast."
What should go into your plan? Consider these pointers from industry veterans who have helped their clients rebuild:
Assemble a team. Among your players are manager, attorney, insurance broker, restoration company and local fire department. Invite them to tour your property and offer suggestions, checklists and protocols, said St. Paul, Minn.-based Chuck Schneider, president at Lincoln Hancock Restoration.
"We had strong relationships built with our vendors, and they were ready to jump in at game time," Ziobro said.
Snap pictures. Keep an up-to-date photographic inventory of your buildings and common elements.
"It can be very helpful in making an insurance claim if you have documentation of what your property looked like before the hailstorm or the fire," Schneider said.
Review your insurance, associations. Community associations are divided into two main categories: Condominiums and common interest communities. Their insurance obligations differ.
Typically, condominium associations must insure the buildings and common elements. Their insurance restores individual units with a coat of primer on the walls and basic fixtures comparable to the original ones. Owners are responsible for the rest.
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In common interest communities, owners often must insure their individual portions of the building's roofs and exterior walls plus their personal belongings.
Here's where it gets tricky: If disaster befalls a 10-unit common interest community, and each owner insures with a different carrier, 10 carriers could be trying to coordinate reconstruction. It gets ugly if one or more owners don't have insurance.
Town homes may be developed as condominiums or common interest communities.
Association attorney Robert Prince at Cervantes, Chatt & Prince, which has locations in Chicago and Burr Ridge, advises noncondo-style town home associations to take over their building insurance, although they might have to amend their governing documents to gain the authority.
The cost between the association insuring the building and the owners insuring their portions individually "will be a wash," he said. "What you get out of it is control. You know you have the right insurance when disaster happens."
Residents, you should review your insurance too. All owners typically are responsible for insuring painted walls and everything within the airspace between them. That means their personal possessions plus any improvements, alterations and decorations.
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The $50,000 kitchen remodel you put in may not be covered unless you list it in your policy, said insurance broker Edward Litke at Litke Financial Group in Highland Park.
"Sometimes people pay off their mortgage and think they don't need insurance anymore," he said. "Or they inherited the property and rented it out and their insurance doesn't apply to their situation."
Basic insurance policies pay for additional housing expenses if you are vacated from your unit, but only for 12 months, he said.
Remind and remind again. Associations, nag your residents nicely. It's for their own good. Send periodic letters that detail exactly what the association's insurance will cover and what they need to insure. Advise them to take the letter to their insurance agents to make sure the policies mesh, Schneider said.
"At the point of disaster, there is nothing you can do to undo the policy," he said. "The coverage is what it is. It's really gut-wrenching to see these people who think the association is going to cover everything."
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ALPHARETTA, Ga. Republicans had hoped Tuesday's special election in Georgia's wealthy and sleepy 6th Congressional District would be just like every other House race here since 1978: the mostly painless elevation of a rock-ribbed and polished conservative.
Those hopes have died. Now, this suburban swath north of Atlanta resembles the cracked mirror of the GOP's national identity crisis, with 11 candidates bitterly feuding over what it means to be a Republican in the age of President Donald Trump.
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That crowded field is roiled by nerves about Trump and lingering internecine dramas over ideological purity. And with next year's midterm elections beginning to take shape, the race's currents could reverberate far beyond the white college-educated professionals along Interstate 285, regardless of which candidate emerges from the scrum Tuesday.
"You've got a miniature civil war going on there," said Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., an ally of House GOP leaders. "We're all paying attention, since anything can happen in a special."
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The splintered GOP has raised the possibility that the leading Democratic candidate, 30-year-old former congressional staffer Jon Ossoff, could win Tuesday's election outright with more than 50 percent of the vote, thus claiming an open House seat previously held by Trump's health and human services secretary, Tom Price.
Trump - who barely won this district last year and tweeted Monday that the media coverage of the race was a "game" and "BAD!" -- is eager to stave off a Republican stumble that could become an ominous bellwether of his standing as he attempts to build support in the coming weeks for the big-ticket legislative items that have eluded him in the GOP-controlled Congress during the early months of his presidency.
If Ossoff places first or second with support in the mid-40 percent range among the 18 total candidates - surveys show that scenario as most likely -- he will face a tougher matchup this summer, when many of the warring Republicans would almost certainly coalesce to save the seat.
Georgia's election law initially piles candidates of all stripes onto a single ballot. If no one wins a majority, the two top finishers move on to a head-to-head contest months later.
"Having 11 people on our side is like eating our young," Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., a friend of Trump, said in an interview Monday. He compared the infighting to the "nightmare" of his own 2014 statewide primary and added: "You risk letting the Democrat slide through without a runoff. But I don't think that will happen if we get the turnout."
Democratic congressional leaders and liberals from around the country have rallied for Ossoff as Republicans have clawed at one another, contributing millions to his insurgent bid and watching him soar to the top of several polls -- and salivating at the prospect of picking up a seat that hasn't gone blue since Georgia's own Jimmy Carter occupied the Oval Office.
Trump has become a complicated figure in establishment Republican enclaves such as Chamblee, which boasts a tony shopping center with a gourmet doughnut shop and a sleek Mexican restaurant whose patio is packed in the evenings with 30-something couples. Passing through the leafy neighborhood on a warm Monday afternoon, one sees a slew of navy-blue Ossoff signs dotting sidewalks and apartment windows.
Republicans' failure to pass their plan to overhaul the nation's health-care system has sown doubts among some suburban GOP voters about Trump's effectiveness in cutting deals with lawmakers in Washington, as well as the party's promises. The health-care episode has particular resonance in this district since Price, a physician, was its representative from 2005 until February, when he joined the Cabinet.
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Cole said the National Republican Congressional Committee, which he formerly chaired, has dispatched staffers to Georgia to stoke turnout among core GOP voters amid those grumbles. The Congressional Leadership Fund, an outfit aligned with the House GOP, has spent more than $2 million on a spate of negative television spots about Ossoff.
At the White House, an official said, the president is paying close attention and has been briefed by aides about the race. Political director Bill Stepien is working with the state party and the congressional committees. Chief strategist Stephen Bannon is involved in discussions about how to encourage Republican turnout.
But Trump's pugilism and lack of a cohesive conservative worldview on fiscal and foreign policy have confounded Republicans here. Previous holders of the seat have included a mainstream, business-friendly Republican, Sen. Johnny Isakson, and a stridently ideological conservative, former House speaker Newt Gingrich.
The district is "a little bit of an oddity," said Ralph Reed, a conservative leader and longtime strategist in both Georgia and national Republican circles. "Just in its socioeconomic profile, it doesn't really lay out as Trump country. It's highly educated, upscale, suburban, and Trump country tends to be more rural to exurban, more high school or only some college."
The way the Republican contenders are handling Trump and the concurrent rise of populism and moderate angst in the wake of his victory is revealing, even though the names of the near-dozen candidates are unfamiliar. Everyone seems to be laboring, with varying success, to figure out a pitch that pulls together the fractured GOP ranks.
Interactions with Trump's political brand have veered from hearty embrace (Dan Moody, Bob Gray, Bruce LeVell, Amy Kremer) to support but not always rah-rah (Karen Handel, Judson Hill) to flat-out defiance (David Abroms). Most of the leading candidates have bounced between those poles depending on the day or the latest controversy.
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Handel, a favorite of antiabortion activists who has the highest name recognition and once served as Georgia's secretary of state, said in an interview Monday that she is concentrating on doing her "level best to represent the interests of the 6th District" in her positions rather than linking arms with Trump.
"Obviously I'm a Republican and support the president," Handel said. "But being in Congress is not the same as being an extension of the White House. I'm more than willing to step up and speak out when the circumstances demand that. ... People want a doer - someone they trust who can move our party from vocal opposition to governing."
Endorsements from prominent Republican players have been scattered to the point of muddying the field. Perdue has backed Moody. Gingrich supports Hill, as does Sen. Marco Rubio, Fla. Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski endorsed LeVell. Former senator Saxby Chambliss is for Handel. But the conservative Club for Growth has opposed Handel and boosted Gray. To counter the club, the Ending Spending advocacy group, which is backed by the billionaire Ricketts family, has poured millions behind Handel's candidacy.
It goes on and on like that further down the line in the state. One group or officeholder goes for Handel, another goes for Gray, another jumps in for Moody or Hill, and Trump supporters of different degrees poke and prod one another on social media.
Unsurprisingly, no one has caught fire, and constant squabbling has remained the thrust of the GOP race. As Ossoff's candidacy has exploded on the left - landing on the cover of New York magazine, raising more than $8 million, and attracting the support of actors such as Samuel L. Jackson and bloggers at MoveOn.org and Daily Kos - the Republicans have hovered below 20 percent in most polls.
"We've got a shot at an upset," Rep. Charlie Crist, D-Fla., said. "It's like what we're seeing all around, this backlash. The protests, the marches. Democrats want to make a statement."
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As they did in a special House election last week in Kansas, where Republicans narrowly won a seat that has long been safely GOP, Democrats see, if not a chance at victory, at least a chance to rattle Trump and Republicans as they look toward 2018 and the possibility of winning back the chamber. The surge in early voting here has only raised expectations that Ossoff could hit 50 percent Tuesday or do well in a runoff, which would be held June 20 if needed.
Trump signaled in a tweet Monday how Republicans would define Ossoff in a runoff election: "The super Liberal Democrat in the Georgia Congressioal [sic] race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes!"
Ossoff replied in a statement: "While I'm glad the president is interested in the race, he is misinformed."
An Emerson College survey released late last week showed Ossoff with 43 percent. Handel garnered 17 percent, Gray -- a former local councilman and businessman -- 15 percent and Moody -- a former state senator -- 9 percent. Hill, another former state senator, was at 6 percent.
LeVell, an African American jeweler and former Trump campaign adviser, as well as Trump-aligned conservative activist Kremer, have struggled, perhaps showing the difficulty of being a die-hard Trump supporter in a Republican district that's not dominated by grass-roots nationalism. Abroms, who has campaigned with anti-Trump independent Evan McMullin, has also found it hard to get on the political map.
Perdue, who has worked closely with the Trump White House, said he is confident that despite the bloodletting among Republicans, a runoff election would end favorably since this "district is a traditionally 60-40 Republican district, and we really don't want to give a vote to Nancy Pelosi," the House Democratic leader.
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But Perdue acknowledged that his party is still figuring things out. "It's a democracy," he said wryly of the clashing Republicans. One upside to the fracas, he volunteered, is that "our candidates are not coached like the Democrats."
The James Beard Awards return to Chicago on May 1 , but you can start celebrating early at these James Beard-related dinners, parties and more.
The events are listed in chronological order. Some are ticketed with limited seats, while others are first come, first served.
James Beard Eats Week Taste dishes and menus inspired by the late, great culinary expert and cookbook author James Beard at 125 Chicago-area restaurants. The so-called week actually runs 11 days. Prices vary. April 21 to May 1. Multiple locations, www.choosechicago.com/jbf.
Between Bites with James Beard winners and nominees Girl & the Goat chef Stephanie Izard (2013 best chef Great Lakes winner) will tell a personal food story at the philanthropic live literary series, along with Nico Osteria chef Erling Wu-Bower (nominated in the same category this year), Naha chef and owner Carrie Nahabedian (outstanding chef semifinalist), and journalists Michael Gebert and Julia Thiel (2011 journalism co-winners). Heavy appetizers, desserts by Bake Me Off and Bang Bang Pie, Moet Champagne, Lagunitas beer, wine and cocktails will be served. Ticket proceeds from the night will benefit a James Beard Foundation scholarship for a Chicago-area culinary student. $40. 6:30-9:30 p.m. Monday, April 24, at River Roast, 315 N. LaSalle Drive, 312-822-0100, www.between-bites.com.
Jeremy Fox cookbook lunch Boka chef and partner Lee Wolen (2017 best chef Great Lakes nominee) and Jeremy Fox, the chef of Rustic Canyon in Santa Monica, Calif., will create a five-course vegetarian lunch with recipes from Foxs debut cookbook, On Vegetables: Modern Recipes for the Home Kitchen." Fox first made his name at the critically acclaimed restaurant Ubuntu in Napa, Calif. Ticket also includes a signed copy of the book. $85, plus optional $35 wine pairing. 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Boka, 1729 N. Halsted St., 312-337-6070, www.eventbrite.com.
The Iconoclast Dinner Experience Host chef Joseph "JJ" Johnson (2015 rising star chef semifinalist) of Mintons in Harlem celebrates Beard-recognized chefs, including Aya Fukai of Maple & Ash (2017 outstanding pastry chef semifinalist), Jamilka Borges of Spoon in Pittsburgh (2015 rising star chef semifinalist) and Digby Stridiron of Balter in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands (2014 Beard Boot Camp alumnus). Tickets include food from each chef, plus wine and spirits. All net proceeds benefit Spelman College students from Jamaica and sub-Saharan African countries. $100. 8-11 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Morgan's on Fulton, 950 W. Fulton Market, 312-374-3686, tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com and more information at www.theiconoclastdinner.com.
Miami takeover at Tacoteqa Chef Jimmy Lebron and bar manager Bobby Eldridge of The Broken Shaker (2013 outstanding bar program semifinalist) at The Freehand hotel in Miami will take over Tacoteqa, the late-night taco shop at The Freehand Chicago, offering a special a la carte food and cocktail menu for one night only. 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday, April 29, at The Freehand, 19 E. Ohio St., 312-940-3699, www.freehandhotels.com/chicago.
Sofra Bakery brunch Avec chef Perry Hendrix and 2017 outstanding pastry chef nominee Maura Kilpatrick of Oleana restaurant and Sofra Bakery in Cambridge, Mass., will collaborate on an a la carte brunch with the latters Middle Eastern-inspired dishes and the formers house Mediterranean- and Midwestern-influenced menu. Reservations recommended. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, April 30m at Avec, 615 W. Randolph St., 312-377-2002, www.avecrestaurant.com.
Shake Shack, Milk Bar and Bang Bang backyard barbecue Boka chef Lee Wolen hosts another event, this time with Milk Bar pastry chef Christina Tosi (2016 outstanding pastry chef winner), Danny Meyer's Shake Shack and Chicago's own Bang Bang Pie & Biscuits. Shake Shack will create a burger inspired by Wolens Boka menu, while Bang Bang and Tosis New York-based Milk Bar will serve sweets. Tickets also include snacks and alcoholic drinks. $40. 3-6 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at Boka, 1729 N. Halsted St., 312-337-6070, www.eventbrite.com.
Otto Mezzo preview party with Charles Joly Worlds best bartender award winner Charles Joly (Beard outstanding spirits professional semifinalist this year) will mix drinks at soon-to-open Italian cocktail bar Otto Mezzo, helmed by chef Kevin Hickey and mixologist Brandon Phillips. Tickets include Italian food and cocktails. $50. 4-7 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at Otto Mezzo, 311 W. Chicago Ave., www.rockitranch.com.
Izakaya special at Momotaro A three-course special menu will include a beer and a shot at the Tokyo-pub-inspired Izakaya, in the basement of Momotaro (2017 outstanding restaurant design nominee). No ticket or reservations required. $25. 6 p.m. to midnight Sunday, April 30, at Momotaro, 820 W. Lake St., 312-733-4818, www.momotarochicago.com.
Trick Dog and Dirty Dick Tiki takeover Three Dots and a Dash beverage director Julian Cox hosts the bar teams from 2017 outstanding bar program semifinalist Trick Dog in San Francisco and Dirty Dick in Paris. Taste Tiki creations from all three bars. Proceeds benefit two San Francisco nonprofit organizations, Precita Eyes and Creativity Explored. No entry fee; drinks priced a la carte. 5-8 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at Three Dots and a Dash, 435 N. Clark St., 312-610-4220, www.threedotschicago.com.
Common Threads chef takeover A menu inspired by late chef Charlie Trotter, who received dozens of Beard accolades and last won the 2012 humanitarian of the year award, will feature five courses from chefs Fabio Viviani of Siena Tavern and Prime & Provisions, Anita Lo of Annisa (2017 best chef New York City nominee), Brad Kilgore of Alter and Brava in Miami (2017 rising star chef semifinalist), Joseph "JJ" Johnson (2015 rising star chef semifinalist) of Mintons in Harlem, and Dana Cree of the Publican brand (2015 outstanding pastry chef nominee), plus wine pairings by Master Sommelier Serafin Alvarado. Proceeds benefit Common Threads, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing health and wellness to children, families and communities through cooking and nutrition education. $175; $250 chef's table. 5-8:30 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at Prime & Provisions, 222 N. LaSalle Drive, 312-726-7777, www.commonthreads.org/cheftakeover.
Frontera's 30th anniversary party Join chef Rick Bayless, multiple Beard award winner, in celebrating the 30th anniversary of his iconic restaurant Frontera Grill. The event features an all-star symposium with chef Paul Kahan, Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me! host Peter Sagal and more, and a chef food court with dishes from Bayless, Stephanie Izard, Ming Tsai and many more. Ticket proceeds will be divided between the Frontera Farmer Foundation and FamilyFarmed to promote family farming and a more sustainable food system. $500. 5:30-8:30 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at the Art Institute of Chicago, Modern Wing, 159 E. Monroe St., 312-443-3600, www.frontera30.org.
Global Cities, Culinary Soft Power panel and cocktail reception Join multiple Beard award winning journalist and "Bizarre Foods" host Andrew Zimmern, chef Daniel Boulud, Stephen Starr of Starr Restaurants in Philadelphia (2017 outstanding restaurateur nominee), Vermilion owner Rohini Dey and Choose Chicago CEO David Whitaker for a panel moderated by James Beard President Susan Ungaro. Ticket includes Indian-Latin cocktails and appetizers; half of the proceeds will benefit the James Beard Foundations Women in Culinary Leadership Program. $95. 6-8 p.m. Sunday, April 30, at Vermilion, 10 W. Hubbard St., 312-527-4060, www.eventbrite.com.
Cure and Cafe Henri at Violet Hour 2016 outstanding bar program winner The Violet Hour hosts Cure from New Orleans, this years nominee in the same category, to create collaborative cocktails. Chef Alfredo Nogueira of Cures Cafe Henri serves a menu of Southern snacks. No entry free; menu priced a la carte. 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Sunday, April 30, at The Violet Hour, 1520 N. Damen Ave., 773-252-1500, www.theviolethour.com.
Prune takeover at Nico Osteria Nico will transform its dinner menu to feature 20 Prune dishes and cocktails to honor Gabrielle Hamilton, star of this years nominated television program The Mind of a Chef. Hamilton, chef and owner of the New York restaurant, last year won a Beard journalism award and was an outstanding chef semifinalist. Her book Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef won the 2012 writing and literature award. She also won the 2011 best chef New York City award. Reservations recommended; dinner priced a la carte. 5-10 p.m. Tuesday, May 2, at Nico Osteria, 1015 N. Rush St., 312-994-7100, www.nicoosteria.com.
lchu@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @louisachu
Our thirst for bitter keeps expanding from cocktail bitters (Angostura and Peychaud have made way for artisan makers Fee Brothers, The Bitter Truth and more) to amaro, the bitter and sweet Italian digestif (Averna and Ramazzotti have inspired American makers like Calisaya) to the aperitif category, the most famous member being Campari.
That red-orange, bitter and sweet drink flavored with herbs and roots most often taken with soda or in a negroni, paired with gin and sweet vermouth has enjoyed a surge in the past several years. That wave cut a path for Aperol, a similar bitter aperitif, though lighter in texture and alcohol and sporting a more pronounced orange flavor.
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Lately, the category has expanded again, with more orange red-hued bitter liqueurs showing up in spirit stores and bar menus.
"Aperitivo is starting to be big," says Kelly Levison, national manager of Domaine Select Wines Estates' classic and vintage artisanal spirits portfolio. The company is behind the introduction of a new entry to the category, Casoni 1814 Aperitivo Liqueur. "The proliferation of amaro or aperitivo are basically the evolution of where we need to go."
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Levison argues that the lower alcohol levels of the genre, from 11 to 17 percent, as compared with other spirits means you can enjoy more drinks in an evening "and still be functional." That has contributed to their popularity.
We decided to catch the wave, picking up a bottle of Casoni 1814, which is based on an old recipe from a distillery in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and three other Italian bitter aperitivo: Luxardo Bitter, Aperitivo Cappelletti and Aperol, the latter as a base for comparison. We tasted them on their own, with soda and in a negroni.
Aperol
Fresh, vibrant, citrus aroma; syrupy with orange, sweet candy flavor at the front, bitter at the back. Nice with soda, refreshing; and a balanced negroni partner.
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Luxardo Bitter
A more subtle aroma, like someone just zested an orange. Sweet and bitter at front with cola notes; a short finish. OK with soda, it's better in a cocktail, making a balanced negroni.
Casoni 1814
Light scent, hint of cola, pleasantly sweet with a bitter root note. Tastes more aged than the others, less bitter with a medium body, dry and astringent. Nice with soda; tastes like orange peel. The herb flavors show through in the cocktail.
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Cappelletti
Candied apple/caramel scent, warm spices and ripe aged orange like Grand Marnier. Lighter texture, probably due to its wine base. Very sour and tangy; most interesting flavor profile of the group. Herbal orange and bitter cough medicine but pleasant; cherry notes. The sour flavor is cut in the cocktail; very interesting, enjoyable cocktail although one taster found it not fruity enough for a negroni; better with soda.
jxgray@tribune.com
Former Fox News contributor Wendy Walsh appears at a news conference in Los Angeles on Monday, April 3, 2017. Walsh says she lost a segment on "The O'Reilly Factor" after she refused to go to host Bill O'Reilly's bedroom following a 2013 dinner in Los Angeles. (Anthony McCartney / Associated Press)
All at once, Bill O'Reilly is fighting for his TV life. The future of O'Reilly's long career at Fox News may hinge on a sexual-harassment accusation raised by a woman named Wendy Walsh, who has alleged that O'Reilly propositioned her in a Los Angeles hotel in 2013, then retaliated against her when she rebuffed him.
Walsh, a Los Angeles radio personality and author who offers relationship advice, hasn't sued or sought compensation - just validation that she and other women were wronged by the blunt-spoken host of "The O'Reilly Factor."
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Her accusation came on top of the disclosure earlier this month that O'Reilly and Fox News have settled five harassment allegations since 2002, paying $13 million to former network employees for their silence.
Yet Walsh's allegation is potentially the most explosive of all: Fox News was apparently unaware of it until she raised it for the first time in an interview with the New York Times this month. Her complaint has triggered an investigation at Fox by the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, the same firm that uncovered widespread harassment allegations against Fox News chairman Roger Ailes last summer, leading to his ouster. A similar fate could await O'Reilly; a negative finding by Paul Weiss could force the hands of Fox News Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his sons, James and Lachlan, who run Fox's parent company.
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In view of the stakes involved, O'Reilly's camp is vigorously contesting Walsh's allegation, in an unusually public way. His advocates have challenged details of her story, as well as some of the media reporting about it.
O'Reilly himself has remained silent; he started an abrupt two-week vacation last week amid a steady exodus of advertisers from his program. The originator of the "No-Spin Zone" has instead left his public defense to a well-known spin doctor, Mark Fabiani, a former spokesman for president Bill Clinton.
According to Walsh, 54, O'Reilly dropped her as a regular guest on his show and reneged on a promise to help her secure a paying position as a Fox News commentator after she turned down his invitation to visit his hotel suite during a dinner meeting in Los Angeles in February 2013.
However, O'Reilly's defenders say O'Reilly never made a job offer and did not retaliate against her. Instead, they say, O'Reilly was continuously helpful to Walsh after their meeting at the Hotel Bel-Air.
O'Reilly, for example, continued to invite her on his program for four months after the hotel encounter. During several of her appearances, which focused on relationships and behaviorial issues, O'Reilly plugged Walsh's book, "The 30-Day Love Detox," a valuable bit of promotion, given O'Reilly's large audience.
But Lisa Bloom, Walsh's attorney, said Walsh continued to go on O'Reilly's program because she hoped to become a paid contributor to Fox News. Bloom called the Fox News host "a mean-spirited bully" who put Walsh in a "no-win situation" when he allegedly asked her to go to his hotel room.
O'Reilly, she said, has "a history of attacking women who complain about his sexual harassment."
As for O'Reilly's help in promoting Walsh's book, Bloom said, "Life is not black or white. Wendy does not contend that every action he took was retaliation. ... She [was] trying to stay very friendly with him to salvage that chance for the job. She wanted him to see her as nonthreatening. She wanted him to be professional and get over it."
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Walsh was a guest on "The Factor" 13 times after her meeting with O'Reilly in Los Angeles, appearing almost weekly from late February until mid-June of that year. He mentioned her book four times after it was published in mid-April and repeatedly showed its cover on the air.
O'Reilly also was apparently instrumental in securing for Walsh an appearance on the daytime chat program "The View" in mid-April during which she also promoted her book.
That year, Walsh wrote to one of O'Reilly's producers in mid-April, asking him for further promotional help. "Please, please, pretty please, can we do a segment on my book on the 25th???," she wrote in an email, proposing several potential ideas for discussion. O'Reilly didn't take up her suggestions, but Walsh did travel from Los Angeles to New York to appear on the Fox News set with him for her regular segment that day.
Another email is from Walsh to O'Reilly's assistant in September 2013, seven months after the hotel meeting.
"Specifically, please convey to 'the boss' [O'Reilly] that I am deeply grateful for his professional kindness," Walsh wrote. "His media power is immeasurable and his call to ["The View's" executive producer] really launched my book tour on a high note. Can't thank him enough."
Bloom did not dispute the emails' authenticity.
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According to both sides, the program's producers told Walsh in mid-June that her regular weekly segments -- titled "Are We Crazy?" -- would be ending. Walsh was identified as a "human behavior expert" on the segments, which covered such topics as online dating, helicopter parenting and declining moral values.
There's some dispute about exactly when her appearances would end. Bloom contends that Walsh was told that her segment would be suspended during the summer vacation period and that there was a chance it could return in the fall. But Bonny Forrest, a psychologist and lawyer who appeared with Walsh each week, said it was clear in June that she and Walsh were finished.
Forrest said Walsh made no mention of the hotel episode or of retaliation by O'Reilly when they spoke about the potential demise of their segments that June.
In an interview, Forrest said Walsh first raised the hotel episode with her in vague terms in September 2013, when it was clear to Walsh that Fox did not intend to bring them back on the air.
Forrest said Walsh told her then that she suspected their cancellation was due to the hotel encounter. But Walsh didn't mention then that O'Reilly had offered and then rescinded a job, Forrest said.
"I heard the allegation from her in September, and what she related to me was very different from what's in the press now," Forrest said.
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Forrest - who has been interviewed by investigators representing Paul Weiss -- added: "I take sexual harassment and racial discrimination very seriously. But I also believe in this instance there are some statements made in press that aren't consistent with my experience."
According to Bloom, Walsh told a number of friends about O'Reilly's alleged behavior since 2013. She declined to come forward last summer when Paul Weiss was investigating sexual-harassment complaints at Fox News on the assumption that the inquiry was focused on Ailes, not O'Reilly. Her first formal mention of it to anyone at Fox News came last week, when she and Bloom made a formal complaint to a company hotline set up for harassment complaints.
When a New York Times reporter called Walsh late last year, she was reluctant to go on the record, but ultimately decided to speak up, Bloom said.
"She was scared," she said. "But she knew that we can never change the epidemic of sexual harassment unless we speak out."
O'Reilly has never admitted to sexual harassment. He said he settled the complaints against him to spare his children from negative publicity about himself. Walsh decided to come forward out of concern for her children, too, Bloom said: "She did it for her daughters."
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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)
James Gunn is sending out his social-media missives in recent days as deftly as he deploys Star-Lord, Gamora and Groot.
Ahead of next month's release of his "Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2," the director said on Twitter that there are five -- count 'em, five -- "post-credits" scenes bundled with his new movie, abundant even for a Marvel film.
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And amid an early wave of positive buzz (which Gunn is retweeting, as well), the director announced Monday on Facebook that he is indeed on board to write and direct "Guardians of the Galaxy 3."
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"In the end, my love for Rocket, Groot, Gamora, Star-Lord, Yondu, Mantis, Drax, and Nebula - and some of the other forthcoming heroes - goes deeper than you guys can possibly imagine," Gunn wrote about weighing the third "Guardians" film, "and I feel they have more adventures to go on and things to learn about themselves and the wonderful and sometimes terrifying universe we all inhabit."
Gunn noted how fraught completing a trilogy can be -- and how Hollywood is littered with third films that didn't live up to the first two (see: everything from "The Godfather 3" to "The Hangover 3). Yet the filmmaker also pointed to how his Guardians will begin interlocking with other realms within the Marvel universe, including the Avengers' "Infinity War."
"It will conclude the story of this iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and help catapult both old and new Marvel characters into the next ten years and beyond," Gunn wrote. "I will be working side-by-side with Kevin Feige and the gang to help design where these stories go, and make sure the future of the Marvel Cosmic Universe is as special and authentic and magical as what we have created so far."
We can expect Gunn to continue to drop tantalizing nuggets of news on social media ahead of "Guardians 2's" May 5 release.
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Watch the latest movie trailers.
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)
America's major tech companies like to present themselves as cool and countercultural institutions. Their employees and executives wear jeans to work, hold "hackathons" to solve problems and speak in soaring language of how their "disruptive innovations" will positively transform the world. How could these companies not be a force for good?
Jonathan Taplin's excellent new book explains exactly how Google, Facebook and Amazon are undermining democratic institutions, accelerating the rise of oligarchy in America, and destroying both cultural and economic opportunities for millions of people. The book's title is "Move Fast and Break Things," a slogan popular in Silicon Valley that has gradually gained a set of connotations far less flattering than tech oligarchs might realize. As Taplin writes, "a culture and its art are not like an old flip phone to be thrown in the trash as soon as it has been 'disrupted' by the Next Big Thing."
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Many elements of Taplin's case are familiar. Newspaper ad revenue has declined by roughly $40 billion between 2000 and 2014, recorded music revenue has dropped $10 billion in the same period, and over 5,000 independent book and record stores have closed in the last two decades. Facebook's covert experiments in manipulating the emotions of hundreds of thousands of users, Amazon's atrocious treatment of workers at its distribution centers and Google's cavalier disregard for copyright laws are also well-documented.
Taplin, director emeritus of the University of Southern California Annenberg Innovation Lab, argues that the major tech companies are fundamentally monopolistic and parasitic they exploit positions of market dominance to ignore legal regulations, extract inflated prices from advertisers and rely on content produced by others, often without their consent or knowledge. But his explanation of how these practices arose starts much earlier. Thomas Jefferson wanted a "restriction against monopolies" added to the Bill of Rights, alongside freedom of religion, freedom of the press and protection against standing armies. Alexander Hamilton, founder of the Bank of New York, disagreed and ultimately prevailed.
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Though wealthy banking interests prevented the adoption of a clause against monopolies in the Bill of Rights, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 allowed President Theodore Roosevelt to break up John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil Trust. Taplin quotes Roosevelt, whose words still resonate: "the prime need is to change the conditions which enable these men to accumulate power which it is not for the general welfare that they should hold or exercise."
"Move Fast and Break Things," by Jonathan Taplin, Little, Brown and Co., 320 pages, $29. (Little, Brown and Co.)
Taplin explores how the influential legal theorist and rejected Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork helped shift public and regulatory opinion in the second half of the 20th century. By claiming that the only question regulators should ask is whether monopolies affect consumer welfare, Bork essentially proposed that as long as prices fall, increasing concentrations of corporate power do not matter. Even if Wal-Mart were the only store in America, this would be a problem only if consumer prices rose.
Of course, this myopic thinking ignores the fact that there might be no consumers to shop at Wal-Mart if it were allowed to obliterate every other retail business in the country. Because Wal-Mart would then be the only purchaser of many goods from wholesalers, it could extract ruinous prices. This is precisely the position of Amazon vis-a-vis book publishers. Because Amazon can deny publishers access to its enormous customer base, it can force them to accept artificially deflated prices. Google and Facebook can do something similar with advertisers by threatening to deny them access to billions of users. Taplin cites the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index, a widely used measure of market concentration in antitrust law that allows regulators to determine whether markets are becoming monopolistic. A score of 2,500 is considered highly concentrated. The HHI for internet search markets is 7,402.
The sort of free-market libertarianism that scorns all government regulation is particularly ironic given the origins of the internet. Taplin recounts early research funded by the U.S. Department of Defense that explicitly structured the internet in a decentralized architecture so it could survive a nuclear attack. Not only does the absurdly concentrated power of a few companies contradict this vision, the internet itself might not exist if the anti-government visions of many tech oligarchs had been a reality in the 1960s.
Jonathan Taplins latest book explains how Google, Facebook and Amazon are undermining democratic institutions, accelerating the rise of oligarchy in America, and destroying both cultural and economic opportunities for millions of people. (Little, Brown and Co.)
Taplin makes a forceful and persuasive case that companies like Google and Facebook could employ their powerful artificial intelligence programs to prevent the infringement of existing copyright laws. They've demonstrated their capacity to stop pornography and illegal drug markets from surfacing on search results. It would not be difficult for them to enforce copyright infringements more effectively and share some of their enormous profits with the industries they are decimating.
The 2016 presidential election was a dramatic demonstration of the unintended consequences of gutting the once-influential field of journalism. But Taplin believes that his case has implications far beyond the creative industries.
"We need to understand that every one of us will stand in the shoes of the artist before long. Musicians and authors were at the barricades first because their industries were the first to be digitized. ... (S)oon the technologists will be coming for your job, too, just as they will continue to come for more of your personal data," he writes. This is not a prophecy but a warning without changes to legislation, corporate behavior and consumer values, the oligarchic dreams of a few billionaires could reshape the country even more than they already have.
Nick Romeo is a freelancer.
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'Move Fast and Break Things'
By Jonathan Taplin, Little, Brown and Co., 320 pages, $29
The American Heart Association hosted the 35th annual Chicago Heart Ball on April 8 at Navy Pier's Grand Ballroom. Attended by a record-breaking crowd of more than 1,100 guests, the event raised funds to support medical research projects, and education and community programs that fight heart disease and stroke.
The evening's festivities began on Lakeview Terrace. At the entrance, a 20-foot custom wine tribute wall showcased bottles etched with donors' names. Decor by Kehoe Designs included a variety of creative lounge seating on the Terrace. The Grand Ballroom was a sea of red with tables draped in scarlet linens and topped with red amaryllis, red roses and gold metal spheres holding glowing, laser-cut hearts.
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Emcee Val Warner, of ABC-7's "Windy City Live," introduced event co-chairs Dean Harrison, president and CEO of Northwestern Memorial HealthCare; Neil Bluhm, managing principal of Walton Street Capital; and Oscar Munoz, United Airlines CEO.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel spoke about Chicago's advances toward becoming a smoke-free city. "I'm proud that Chicago has the highest cost for cigarettes in the country. All the revenue from taxes for cigarettes goes toward free eye and dental care for kids in the inner city in Chicago Public Schools; 100,000 kids receive free eye care, and another 60,000 receive free dental care. ... We have seen the biggest drop in teen smokers, from 25 percent, when I took office, to 9 percent now. A smokeless generation is not just an aspiration, it's achievable now," he said.
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Emanuel thanked Munoz, who had a heart transplant in 2016, for being a "corporate citizen involved in the fabric of the city." He acknowledged United Airlines as the largest private employer in Chicago.
Bluhm was introduced by Harrison as "the individual who made the key phone call and principal gift to Northwestern Medicine's Bluhm Cardiovascular Institute." Bluhm shared his past frustration over seeing people leave the city for heart treatment before the institute was created. "Those who had the means to leave to go to other heart programs were doing so, and I didn't think that was good for the city, nor did I like the fact that those who couldn't afford it didn't have this option," he said. He noted that the American Heart Association has funded over $11 million in active grants at Northwestern Medicine.
Keynote speakers Daryl Groom and his son Colby donated their Colby Red wine for the event. The wine was initiated by and named in honor of Colby, the 19-year-old son of winemaker Daryl and his wife, Lisa. Just before his 10th birthday, Colby underwent back-to-back open-heart surgeries. The wine was created to raise funds for cardiac research and, with support from Walgreens, has raised over $1 million for the American Heart Association to date. Colby presented a check for $100,000 to the Heart Ball.
Before the live auction, emcee Warner acknowledged Joan and Paul Rubschlager, who recently made a generous donation to the Precision Promise Fund, which offers research grants for work in precision cardiovascular medicine.
An Ignite the Night after-party was also held on the Terrace, where the band Maggie Speaks performed.
A record-breaking $3.325 million was raised for the American Heart Association, the nation's oldest and largest voluntary health organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke.
Freelance writer Candace Jordan is involved with many local organizations, including some whose events she covers.
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Find more photos and events at www.chicagotribune.com/candidcandace. Visit Candid Candace's website at www.candidcandace.com or follow her on Twitter @CandidCandace.
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KANSAS CITY, Kan. Julie Torrence clearly remembers the emotional jolt she felt the day her father, Clyde Hill, failed to recognize her at his Kansas care center.
For nearly three decades, Parkinson's disease had afflicted Hill in a growing number of ways, from the muscle rigidity and walking difficulties that forced his retirement from farming to the more recent hallucinations and delusions that had him trying to break out of the care center. Now he thought his oldest child was his sister.
Torrence cried.
About two months later, she met her father at his doctor's office after he'd spent four weeks on a new drug, the first approved to treat Parkinson's psychosis. Now he knew her name, his doctor's name and the names of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Even better, he seemed happy again.
In the doctor's office, Torrence cried again.
"You've given us our father back," she told Hill's doctor, Rajesh Pahwa, the director of the Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Center at the University of Kansas Health System.
Most people recognize Parkinson's patients through tremors, slow body movements and other motor problems. Yet up to half of patients develop psychosis at some time during the disease's course, often in the later stages and sometimes as a side effect from drugs prescribed to help motor skills.
Tackling the psychosis has proved difficult, in part because doctors struggled for decades to address the motor problems, Pahwa said. As gains happened there, the nonmotor problems became a bigger and bigger challenge to manage, he said.
Some hallucinations or delusions stay mild or happen infrequently enough that patients can handle them. But others are so scary or difficult to manage that they consume patients and overwhelm their caregivers.
Perhaps a patient has been happily married 50 years but now bitterly believes his or her spouse is having an affair. Or patients may become driven by a fear that strangers or authorities want to hurt them. Some grow so agitated they try to flee their homes or accuse family of colluding with the bad people.
New Yorkers complain of non-existent rats in their apartments. Kansans are more likely to report non-existent cattle in their backyards. One of Pahwa's patients argued with his wife over what he saw in a tree. The patient took a photo to Pahwa to prove that a girl had been sitting there. Pahwa saw only a tree branch.
Antipsychotic drugs used for schizophrenia don't help because they block dopamine in the brain, which also is what Parkinson's does as it damages motor functions.
Researchers searched for a chemical compound that could treat psychosis without impairing motor skills. Acadia Pharmaceuticals first synthesized a solution, pimavanserin, in 2001.
It took 15 years to get the product to the market under the brand name Nuplazid, which the Food and Drug Administration approved a year ago this month. Though the drug is expensive, with a one-month wholesale cost of $1,950, insurance often covers most of that. Acadia offers financial assistance for those lacking insurance coverage.
"The biggest thing with the Nuplazid is, it still does not help every patient," said Pahwa, who participated in Nuplazid's clinical studies and serves as a speaker for Acadia.
Because about one in four patients does not improve after taking the drug, research continues on more options. Two other chemical compounds are being developed or tested, Pahwa said.
Of patients who report benefits from Nuplazid, about half experience a dramatic improvement, he said.
That includes the 78-year-old Hill, who lived most of his life on a farm near Weston. His father also suffered from Parkinson's disease.
As a young child, Torrence watched Hill's father her grandfather struggle with hallucinations and delusions. He would pick things out of the air, call out names of people not present or grow fearful of something and take off running, even though he normally couldn't run because of the disease. Yet there he was, in his 80s, running from his farm home with a daughter or grandchild giving chase.
Torrence's grandfather didn't live as long with Parkinson's as her father has. Not as many helpful drugs existed then.
Symptoms began hitting Hill at about age 52, when he developed difficulty reaching to get his wallet out of a back pocket. Drugs helped for about a decade, allowing him to keep farming, running his construction business and staying active in the Weston community, where he had served as school board president during Torrence's senior year and built a ball field for the high school.
By his early 60s, with his mobility limited and falls increasing, he had to sell the construction business, retire from farming and give up driving. Deep brain stimulation surgery gave his body a reprieve for several years, but the disease kept progressing until he turned to a wheelchair to get around.
One evening about two years ago, he looked across the floor in his house and asked, "Do you see that puppy jumping in and out of the box?" Torrence told him no and explained that his Parkinson's might be causing him to see the puppy. Next, he saw a non-existent horse on the lawn.
"It got to the point he thought the CIA or bad guys were in the house," Torrence recalled. "He had to get out of there."
Last fall, Hall began getting out of bed two to three times a night, dressing and trying to leave. "It's not safe here," he would say. If one of his children tried to talk him out of leaving, he'd accuse the child of colluding with the bad guys.
The situation forced his children to tearfully search out a care center.
One night last fall, staff at Twin Oaks Health & Rehab in Lansing, Kan., found Hill trying to ram his wheelchair through the glass entry doors because he thought he needed to escape drug dealers. Two of Torrence's brothers got there before Torrence, who lives farther away. Dad insisted to his boys that he had to feed the cows and move the bulldozer. They calmed him by promising to handle the chores.
Not long after that, Hall stopped recognizing some people and remembering the names of others. He also grew combative with the nurses. Torrence called Pahwa seeking help. The doctor already had prescribed Nuplazid to about 25 patients. He talked it over with Hill and explained it might not work. Hill agreed to try it.
After Hill spent four weeks on the new drug, his turnaround stunned Torrence. Her father noticed the difference, too. One recent day, he volunteered to a care center visitor, "I'm on a new drug."
Hill still experiences some mild delusions, Torrence said. His legs have swollen a side effect some patients develop but Torrence considers that much better than the psychosis problems.
"It's a miracle drug, as far as I am concerned," she said.
More research is needed to find ways to help more patients, Pahwa said.
"This is still a pretty unmet need," he said. "One drug doesn't help everyone."
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With so many vaccines being required for young children today, some parents are asking their doctors whether they can space out or delay the vaccine schedule. They're concerned that too many vaccines might overwhelm their child's immune system. Parents also worry that getting more than one shot at a time increases the pain and stress.
Debate about childhood vaccinations has intensified in recent years because of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease that have been fueled in part by parents who decline to get their children vaccinated at all or according to the recommended schedule.
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After a 2014-2015 outbreak of measles that spread at Disneyland, California passed a law that requires almost all public school children to get immunizations. State health officials announced last week that California's school vaccination rate is now at its highest level in more than 15 years.
Pediatricians and public health experts say parents are continuing to ask questions about the recommended vaccine schedule. Here are some of those questions, and answers from experts.
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Q. Why do kids have to get so many shots at once?
A. The schedule is designed so that vaccines are given at the earliest possible age at which a child's immune system will respond well. The immune system creates protective antibodies in response to the vaccine that prevent a child from coming down with measles, whooping cough, mumps or other serious infections. The longer a child waits for a vaccination, the greater the risk that he or she will be exposed to these diseases while unprotected.
Q. Isn't getting all these shots hard on the immune system of such young children?
A. No. It might seem like your baby is being injected with a lot at once, says Kristen Feemster, a pediatrician and infectious-disease specialist who is research director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "I know that's a big concern. But it's really important to know that what a vaccine is giving your baby is really a small, small part of the bacteria or virus that these vaccines are protecting against," she said.
Babies begin dealing with bacteria and other microbes as soon as they pass through the birth canal. By the end of the first week, the baby's skin, nose, throat and intestines are covered with tens of thousands of different bacteria.
"All of these bacteria, they are each going to have anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000 little proteins that our body could respond to if they do cause infections," she said.
By comparison, vaccines have only a few of these stimulating proteins, she said. "Just enough to help our bodies make a minimal response so that we'll have the memory and make an immune response."
Q. It seems as if children are getting more vaccines than before. Doesn't that overwhelm their immune system?
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A. Experts say that while children receive more vaccines now, the vaccines are more precise than before because of better scientific understanding of how to train the immune system to defend children against diseases.
Thirty years ago, children received vaccines that protected against eight diseases: measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Hemophilus influenzae type b and polio. The total number of bacterial and viral proteins contained in earlier versions of these vaccines was a little more than 3,000.
Today, young children receive vaccines that protect against 14 diseases: the eight earlier ones plus hepatitis a, hepatitis B, rotavirus, influenza, chickenpox and pneumococcal disease. But the total number of bacterial and viral components in these vaccines is only about 150.
When the vaccine for pertussis, or whooping cough, was developed, for example, it had about 3,000 such components, Feemster said. Now the vaccine contains three to five proteins.
Q. Doesn't it hurt the kids to get so many shots at once?
A. Studies have shown that it is just as stressful for babies to receive one shot as it is to receive more than one shot.
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"Receiving two shots every month could be even more stressful than getting four shots at once," Feemster said. Splitting each set of immunizations into two visits just doubles the stress in a child's life.
Q. Some parents say they would prefer to space out their children's shots. Why is that bad?
A. "If infants don't get vaccinated as recommended, it really increases the time they could be at risk of getting vaccine-preventable diseases," Feemster said.
If a 2-month-old doesn't get a recommended vaccine dose to protect against pertussis, the baby could get this highly contagious disease and become severely ill, she said. Up to 80 percent of babies with whooping cough end up in the hospital, and about 1 in 100 infants die.
Whooping cough makes children cough uncontrollably. The cough is often so hard and so persistent that children make a pitiful "whooping" sound.
"We've seen a lot of whooping cough," said Feemster, who attributed the cases in part to unvaccinated children. When children are not up-to-date on their vaccines, it not only increases the risk of disease for them, but also increases the risk that it will spread to other vulnerable people, she said. "It's a community issue in many ways."
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Q. How do we know that the recommended schedule is the best schedule?
A. The federal government has a committee that reviews all available data on vaccine effectiveness and safety, and it updates the recommendations every year. It's called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. Its experts come from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
"This is a schedule that really has been vetted and developed after consideration of the best way to make sure to protect babies when they are at highest risk for serious disease and the way to do it safely," Feemster said.
The panel issues guidelines that are widely followed, including recommendations for childhood vaccines that form the basis for vaccination requirements set by public schools. The recommendations include when a vaccine should be given, the number of doses needed, the amount of time between doses, and precautions and possible allergic reactions.
The effectiveness of the vaccine schedule is tested extensively to ensure that the vaccines in the combination don't interfere with one another and can be easily handled by the infant and the child's immune system. No new immunization is added to the schedule until it has been evaluated both alone and when given with the other current immunizations.
Q. Why do so many people think vaccines are dangerous?
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A. About 20 years ago, an article in a respected medical journal claimed to show a link between vaccines and autism. The study was later found to be a fraud, but it planted seeds of doubt about vaccines at a time when autism diagnoses were increasing. Since then, many studies from around the world have shown conclusively that there is no link between vaccines and autism, and the apparent increase in autism is largely due to a broader definition of the condition and better diagnosis.
Every major scientific and medical organization has evaluated the evidence and concluded that vaccines only very rarely cause side effects and that the benefit of protecting children from disease massively outweighs any risk. But some prominent figures, including President Trump, have spread misinformation about vaccines, and the myth that they are dangerous persists.
United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. KATHLEEN J. TODD, INDIVIDUALLY AND ON BEHALF OF OTHER SIMILARLY SITUATED FORMER AND CURRENT HOMEOWNERS IN PENNSYLVANIA, Appellant v. UNITED STATES BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION; MCCABE, WEISBERG & CONWAY, P.C. DAVID SCHRAVEN; KELLY SCHRAVEN, Individually and on behalf of other similarly situated former and current homeowners in Pennsylvania, Appellants v. PHELAN HALLINAN DIAMOND & JONES PC; US BANK NA, as trustee for J.P. Morgan Mortgage acquisition trust 2006-CH2, asset backed passed through certificates, series 2006-CH2 No. 16-1126, No. 16-1255 Decided: April 12, 2017
Before: FISHER,*KRAUSE and GREENBERG, Circuit Judges.
OPINION**
These consolidated appeals arise from the dismissal of the Plaintiffs' class-action complaints that allege claims arising out of Pennsylvania state foreclosure proceedings. The District Court held that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine precluded the exercise of jurisdiction over the Plaintiffs' claims. We will affirm.
I.
The Plaintiffs, David and Kelly Schraven, and Kathleen Todd, defaulted on their mortgages. U.S. Bank National Association (the Trustee) commenced foreclosure actions against them. Each foreclosure complaint asked for damages representing the principal balance of the loans, interest, attorney's fees, expenses incurred in foreclosing, and late fees. The Plaintiffs did not defend, so default judgments were entered against them. The Trustee's counsel sought to execute the judgments and the court scheduled sheriff's sales. The sheriff's sales were rescheduled multiple times. Upon motion by the Trustee's counsel, the court reissued the writs of execution to include accrued costs and interest through the new prospective dates of sale. The Plaintiffs did not challenge the reissued writs of execution in state court.
The Plaintiffs allege that the Trustee breached its mortgage obligations and violated the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), by charging post-judgment attorney's fees, and by charging post-judgment interest before the interest accrued. The District Court dismissed for lack of jurisdiction under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.
II.
We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291. We exercise de novo review over questions of subject matter jurisdiction, and we have an independent obligation to determine whether subject-matter jurisdiction exists.
III.
The Rooker-Feldman doctrine precludes federal district courts from hearing cases brought by state-court losers complaining of injuries caused by state-court judgments rendered before the district court proceedings commenced and inviting district court review and rejection of those judgments. Four requirements must be met for the Rooker-Feldman doctrine to apply: (1) the federal plaintiff lost in state court; (2) the plaintiff complains of injuries caused by the state-court judgment; (3) those judgments were rendered before the federal suit was filed; and (4) the plaintiff is inviting the district court to review and reject the state judgments.
As a preliminary matter, the Plaintiffs challenge the validity of the underlying state court judgments because they were entered by a prothonotary. But Pennsylvania law authorizes a prothonotary, on praecipe of the plaintiff, [to] enter judgment against the defendant for failure to file within the required time a pleading to a complaint which contains a notice to defend. And a validly entered default judgment can bar federal jurisdiction under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine. To the extent Plaintiffs urge that this case should be excepted from Rooker-Feldman because the prothonotary exceeded his jurisdiction under state law by awarding unliquidated attorney's fees, their argument also fails. While in dictum we have observed that vacating a state court judgment that is void as a matter of state law may not intrude upon the notion of mutual respect in federal-state interests, we have not so held, and even the single Ninth Circuit case to which we cited for that proposition did not involve an exception to Rooker Feldman, but rather, rested on the conclusion that the bankruptcy court had exclusive jurisdiction of the matter. The exception Plaintiffs propose thus lacks support and would appear to require exactly the sort of review and rejection of state court judgments that the Rooker-Feldman doctrine was designed to avoid.
The first and third requirements are satisfied. The Plaintiffs lost in the state court action and the default judgments were entered before they filed their federal claims. Central to this appeal are the second and fourth requirements, which are related.
With respect to the second requirement, the court must identify those federal suits that profess to complain of injury by a third party, but actually complain of injury produced by a state-court judgment and not simply ratified, acquiesced in, or left unpunished by it. With respect to the fourth element, the court must determine whether evaluating the plaintiff's claims will require [p]rohibited appellate review consist[ing] of a review of the proceedings already conducted by the lower tribunal to determine whether it reached its result in accordance with the law.
The Plaintiffs argue that their injuries are the result of post-judgment activitiesnamely, the inclusion of attorney's fees and anticipated interest in the reissued writs of execution. But the default judgments provided for attorney's fees and interest through the date of the sheriff's sale, and a writ of execution is an enforcement mechanism for a default judgment in Pennsylvania. The injuries complained of were therefore produced by the default judgments, which were neither stricken nor opened at the state court level. The Plaintiffs' federal claims are in effect appeals to the underlying default judgments. This is exactly what the Rooker-Feldman doctrine seeks to preclude. Accordingly, the District Court correctly concluded that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the Plaintiffs' claims.
IV
For the reasons set forth above, we will affirm.
FOOTNOTES
. U.S. Bank serves as trustee to the banks to which the mortgages were assigned.
. 15 U.S.C. 1692 et seq.
. The Schravens also bring related Pennsylvania state law claims.
. Great W. Mining & Mineral Co. v. Fox Rothschild LLP, 615 F.3d 159, 163 (3d Cir. 2010).
. Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Indus. Corp., 544 U.S. 280, 284 (2005).
. Great W. Mining, 615 F.3d at 166 (brackets and internal quotation marks omitted).
. Pa. R. Civ. P. 1037(b).
. See, e.g., In re Knapper, 407 F.3d 573, 581 (3d Cir. 2005) (concluding that because Knapper could not prevail on her federal claim without obtaining an order that would negate the state courts' [default] judgments, the federal claim was barred by Rooker-Feldman).
. In re James, 940 F.3d 46, 52-53 (3d Cir. 1991) (citing Gonzales v. Parks, 830 F.2d 1033 (9th Cir. 1987)).
. Exxon Mobil Corp., 544 U.S. at 284.
. Great W. Mining, 615 F.3d at 167.
. Id. at 169.
. See Jordan v. Fox, Rothschild, O'Brien & Frankel, 20 F.3d 1250, 1262-65 (3d Cir. 1994) (discussing Pennsylvania's judgment procedure).
FISHER, Circuit Judge.
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, but awareness is only half the battle.
"The next step is prevention," said Corielle Heath, founder and president of Chicago-based nonprofit liftUPlift Worldwide. "People need to know what they can do and what they can say to stop sexual violence."
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To that end, liftUPlift has partnered with YWCA Chicago to launch Sexual Assault Prevention Week. Starting Sunday and running through April 28, Heath will lead free, daily seminars at six locations to train people to recognize warning signs of an assault and to intervene if they witness one.
"People hear, 'If you see something, say something,'" Heath said. "But you need to know what to say and what you can do."
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Many of us don't. My colleague recently wrote about being groped on Michigan Avenue in daylight, walking with a male friend and not knowing what, if anything, she could do about it. When we discussed her essay as a staff, most of us agreed we'd have no idea what to do in her position or the position of a witness.
"We're specifically focusing on bystander intervention," Heath told me. "Rather than teaching self-defense, we're teaching what to do as parents, as peers, as community members to prevent sexual violence, to intervene if you witness someone being groped, to say something if you overhear people using what Trump called 'locker room' language."
When Donald Trump was elected president, the Chicago Foundation for Women launched a 100 Day Fund to inspire community members to advocate for gender equality during the first 100 days of his administration. The group awarded grants ranging from $500 to $2,500 to groups and individuals launching projects that would benefit women and girls in and around Chicago, and liftUPlift received a grant to fund Sexual Assault Prevention Week.
Sexual Assault Awareness Month dates to the 1970s, when activists in New York and San Francisco started staging Take Back the Night marches, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. In the '80s, the National Coalition Against Sexual Assault polled sexual assault coalitions to choose a time for Sexual Assault Awareness Week, and they settled on a week in April. By 2001, that week had grown to a month.
Heath became a certified sexual violence prevention educator in 2007 at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. She's hoping to reach 500 people with her seminars week.
"Some of the feedback we get from people who go through the training is that it's life-changing and eye-opening," Heath said. "Sometimes it's the first time people truly understand what sexual assault is. We want people to leave feeling empowered to create a cultural change."
I can't think of a better way to turn awareness into action.
Sexual Assault Prevention Week seminars are free and open to the public. Times, locations and registration information at liftuplift.com/sap-week.
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hstevens@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @heidistevens13
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The sun rises over the fields at Fragrant Isle Lavender Farm, where visitors can soak in the aroma when the flowers are in bloom. The farm hosts a lavender festival each July. (Edgar Anderson / Fragrant Isle Lavender Farm)
ROCK ISLAND, Wis. In the parlor of the Pottawatomie Lighthouse, a photo of President William Howard Taft hangs on the wall. Across the room, an Edison wax cylinder record player rests on a table.
Nearby, chamber pots sit beside quilt-covered beds.
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A dining table is set with white stoneware emblazoned in navy blue with the insignia of the U.S. Light House Service. It appears as if the light keeper and his family might walk in any moment for their midday meal but the lighthouse hasn't been manned since 1946.
Still, the isolated building is full of life for the 18 weeks between Memorial Day and Columbus Day as groups of two to six volunteers take turns living here. Their weeklong stays are free in exchange for agreeing to keep the place clean and provide daily tours.
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"It's been restored to about 1910," Erik Lucia explained. He and his wife, Cyndi, have served as docents the past 13 summers, living for seven days and nights without electricity or running water, spending their evenings reading books by lantern light.
While it's not for everyone, a stay on Rock Island the second island north of the much-more-visited Door County peninsula certainly provides an adventurous alternative to a hotel. Adventures abound on and around the county's 34 named islands.
Capt. Matt Olson even named his tour company Door County Adventure Rafting.
Departing on a trip to islands offshore from Fish Creek, Olson played the haunting theme from "Titanic" as he motored his six-passenger boat through the harbor.
It's designed "to make people a little nervous about what type of tour they're going out on," he said.
Moments later, outside the no-wake zone, Olson cranked up the volume on a heavy-metal song as the inflatable watercraft raced across the waters of Green Bay at a bone-jarring 25 miles an hour.
He only slows down (and turns off the music) as he approaches the several islands past which he sails. There's Chambers Island, with its own islands in Mackaysee Lake. Others are named Jack, Little Strawberry and Pirate. Olson states that, when the water level is high, Pirate Island can be completely submerged.
Sometimes, Olson ties up at Horseshoe Island. With a well-sheltered harbor, it's now part of Peninsula State Park.
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"It makes the perfect anchorage for people to go out there on their private boat or boat rental and hang out there for the afternoon," he said.
On the other side of the county, visitors can walk to an island, though they may get their feet wet.
Cana Island, reached by a rocky causeway sometimes covered by a few inches of water, is home to what's probably the most-photographed lighthouse in Door County. The 89-foot-tall tower has cast its guiding light onto Lake Michigan for nearly 150 years.
An outdoor deck is reached by climbing a 97-step spiral staircase. From there, visitors are rewarded with impressive vistas of both land and sea.
Not far away, at the northern tip of the peninsula, a year-round ferry carries both people and vehicles across once-treacherous waters on its 7-mile journey to Washington Island, the largest of the many islands.
While its 700 residents rely on the boat to get to supermarkets and doctors' appointments on the mainland, tourists use it primarily for one-day explorations of the island. Those choosing to leave their cars behind can get around on rented bicycles or mopeds.
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Washington Island's Scandinavian heritage is best recalled at the Stavkirke, a late-20th-century replica of the traditional churches found in Northern Europe. Located across the street from Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, the ornate, wooden Stavkirke is open daily to those in search of a tranquil spot for meditation or prayer. It also hosts occasional church services, as well as weddings.
A quick pedal or drive away leads to another place where people can unwind and commune with nature: Fragrant Isle Lavender Farm, where the perfume of thousands of purple plants fills the air each summer.
"The fragrance is ever-present when it's in bloom," said Edgar Anderson, one of the farm's owners. "You can't help but smell the aroma of the plants."
"We have benches located through the field," he added. "People can sit there for hours, as much as they want."
Even when the plants aren't flowering, guests can visit the red barn in which the lavender is dried. The oil is then extracted using a still that looks as though it once belonged to a moonshiner.
A drop of the oil rubbed onto the temples is said to relieve headaches. The plant is also used in a surprising array of toiletries sold in an expansive gift shop, where teas, jams and even chocolates are infused with lavender.
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Folks headed to Rock Island must first travel to Washington Island and traverse it before catching a second, smaller ferry. From the landing at an impressive boathouse, it's a 1.5 mile walk to the Pottawatomie light, perched atop a bluff on the north side of the island.
Those without a fear of heights can climb three steep staircases to the lantern room, where a replica of the original Fresnel lens occupies most of the space.
"When they burned kerosene, the wattage was about the same as a large Christmas tree bulb, but it was visible for about 14 miles," Erik Lucia said of the lens' magnifying power.
From this eagle's nest, visitors can spot ships making their way from the bay to the lake. These days, however, mariners are guided by an automated light on top of an austere metal tower.
"It's a little difficult to get here," Lucia admitted, "but we feel it's worth it."
Jay Jones is a freelance writer.
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IF YOU GO
Pottawatomie lighthouse: www.fori.us
Door County Adventure Rafting: 920-559-6106, doorcountyadventurerafting.com
Ferry service to Washington and Rock islands: 920-847-2546, www.wisferry.com
Cana Island Light Station: www.dcmm.org/cana-island-lighthouse
Stavkirke: www.luther95.net/TELC-WIWI/Stav.htm
Fragrant Isle Lavender Farm: 920-847-2950, www.fragrantisle.com
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Door County Visitor Bureau: 800-527-3529, www.doorcounty.com
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My wife and I recently took an 11-day Southeast Asia cruise onboard the Norwegian Star departing from Singapore. Shortly before our vacation, we were advised that the cruise itinerary had changed due to a technical issue with the ship. This was an extreme disappointment, since we had made plans for my wife's 50th birthday in Thailand as the main part of our vacation.
Since our new itinerary allowed us an extra two days in Singapore, we planned our time carefully. We made arrangements for activities on the days that had been added to our itinerary and confirmed to us by Norwegian. We also changed extra currency to Singapore dollars on the evening prior to embarking on the ship in order to cover the cost of our extra time in Singapore.
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When we embarked, we were informed that there was another change to our itinerary and that we would not be spending the extra time in Singapore as previously advised by Norwegian. Instead, we were setting sail on that day. This was a complete surprise to us, although other passengers had been informed of this change in itinerary.
Norwegian had offered a 20 percent refund on the cruise prior to boarding because of problems it was experiencing before we even set off. We rejected this, as it was not acceptable or appropriate. After the cruise, we were offered a full refund for the cruise only, not including hotel and flights, to be taken as a voucher for a future cruise with Norwegian plus a $1,000 credit that could have been taken as either cash or onboard credit. We accepted this in writing.
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Norwegian subsequently retracted this offer, after acceptance, returning to a standard 20 percent, cruise-only refund.
I have tried contacting Norwegian, but nobody is returning my emails or assisting in any way. This has been going on since December 2016. I do not understand how Norwegian can retract its offer. Can you help?
Ross Horrocks, Denholm, Scotland
A: I'm sorry to hear about your schedule changes. It's a little-known fact that when you're rerouted, the cruise line owes you virtually nothing. You may get a refund for the port tax, but that's about it.
Don't believe me? Check out Norwegian Cruise Line's Guest Ticket Contract (www.ncl.com/sites/default/files/Guest-Ticket-Contract-11-2015.pdf), the agreement between you and the cruise line. Scroll down to Section 6 for the details. Told you!
In your case, Norwegian offered a vague reason for the change, noting that "there are malfunctions that affect the vessel's speed and, therefore, our ability to deliver the itinerary as scheduled." It probably shouldn't have said anything; it didn't have to.
But this isn't really a case about ticket contracts. No, this is about Norwegian extending an offer and rescinding it and I can't think of a good reason for that. If a business offers you something and you accept it in writing, it's case closed.
You could have appealed to a Norwegian executive. I list their names, numbers and email addresses on my consumer-advocacy site: http://elliott.org/company-contacts/norwegian-cruise-line-ncl. When I checked with you, I learned that you already had, but to no avail.
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I contacted Norwegian on your behalf, and it agreed to honor its offer.
Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine and the author of "How to Be the World's Smartest Traveler." You can read more travel tips on his blog, www.elliott.org, or email him at chris@elliott.org.
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Patrick Kennedy hugs Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel after speaking about the need to properly treat mental illnesses at a forum at Mt. Sinai Hospital on April 18, 2017. (Abel Uribe / Chicago Tribune)
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy 's tragic childhood loss of his father, Robert F. Kennedy, to murder means he understands the gun violence problems plaguing Chicago "better than most," says his cousin, former U.S. Rep. Patrick Kennedy.
And the former congressman says he has spoken about the issue with his cousin Chris. "It's not just a policy decision for him he's personally invested in this issue," he says.
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Patrick Kennedy was speaking to Chicago Inc. on Tuesday between two events to promote the work of the Kennedy Forum in tackling mental health and addiction issues, both of which he has had public personal battles with and has written about in a best-selling book.
Attended by Democratic power brokers including U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin , Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the events gave Kennedy a chance to press the flesh and remind them of his family's fabled magic.
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"I think they appreciate how the legacy informs all of us," Patrick Kennedy said. "They all know Chris because they've worked with Chris for three decades out here and they all shared that with me and I appreciate that."
In speeches at a breakfast meeting in River North and at lunchtime at Mount Sinai Hospital, the former Rhode Islander alluded to the effect the murders of his uncles President John F. Kennedy and former U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy had on his father, U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy.
"My dad suffered from tremendous trauma think about the trauma you've experienced here in Chicago," he said. "My father saw two of his brothers murdered, not assassinated, murdered, and the impact on all my cousins and growing up without a father because of the impact gun violence had innumerable mental health effects that reverberated around my family that we never discussed, never discussed."
"The common struggle is the fact that we all face silence when it comes to any discussion about these issues. And our response to that is to break the silence."
Patrick Kennedy told Chicago Inc. that gun violence is a subject he has discussed with his cousin, who was just 4 when his father was killed in 1968, because "it's effected our family profoundly. He knows better than most what's going on here in Chicago that all those children are growing up without parents because they're victims of gunshots.
Gubernatorial candidate Chris Kennedy speaks at a Cook County Democratic forum at Erie St. Cafe on March 27, 2017. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
"Chris knows that story it's not academic to him. It's not just a policy decision for him. He's personally invested in this issue. He knows the profound effects of violence. And (Chicago) is ground zero for that violence, and Chris is someone who connects to that issue on the most intimate level."
He added, "I think with Chris we're going to see these people getting the treatment which they should be getting and which they've been denied simply because of discrimination and bigotry, and it won't happen anymore under a Gov. Chris Kennedy administration."
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Fired up, Patrick Kennedy in his public comments said that his grandparents' and parents' generations had not known how to deal with mental health issues or addiction. His father told his brother that "all I needed was swift kick in the ass because he didn't understand mental illness and addiction because he came from a generation that never talked about it," he said.
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His aunt Rosemary was given a lobotomy and placed in an institution in Wisconsin, where her brothers were forbidden to visit her until after her father's death, he noted. And his grandmother on his mother's side "died of alcoholism and wasn't found for a week after she slipped in the shower and died in Cocoa Beach, Fla., because she had so alienated herself from everyone around her that none of her children wanted to talk to her."
Chris Kennedy did not attend either event Tuesday, and his staff did not respond to a request for comment.
Durbin perhaps the most keenly sought endorsement in the Democratic gubernatorial primary said he had not been pressed by Patrick to side with Chris Kennedy and that he had not yet decided whether he would endorse any of the contenders.
"I've learned the hard way to wait until people file petitions and the time for withdrawal has passed," he told Chicago Inc. "Many people change their minds along the way. But I'm glad that we have a lot of good candidates."
kjanssen@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @kimjnews
Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and his wife, Patti, address the hoard of media at the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse on Dec. 6, 2011, after the former governor was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Blagojevich began his remarks by quoting a line from a Rudyard Kipling poem: "If you can meet with triumph and disaster." (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)
One of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's favorite philosophical quotes comes from Voltaire, who said it's dangerous to be right when established authorities are wrong.
On Tuesday, Blagojevich's lawyers said once again that federal prosecutors are clearly wrong when it comes to the ex-governor's alleged crimes.
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"The government wants him to apologize for crimes that he didn't commit," attorney Leonard Goodman said after yet another round of appellate arguments before the federal appeals court in Chicago. "The government's position that there is no difference between a request for a campaign donation and a bribe is simply wrong. Every single court that has looked at that issue has found otherwise, and I think that this court will too."
Blagojevich, 60, who has now served more than five years in prison, was unable to attend the argument. But his wife, Patti, speaking to reporters later in the lobby of the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse, said her husband's "hopes are high" that the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals will rule in his favor this time and either order a new trial or reduce his 14-year prison sentence.
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"Rod's an eternal optimist," she said. "We are continuing to fight for the justice that we deserve."
After two criminal trials, a pair of sentencing hearings and nearly four years of appeals, Blagojevich faced what could be his last hurrah before the 7th Circuit, which heard half an hour of mostly dry legal arguments that produced few of the fireworks of his first appeal.
In a signal of how high the legal hurdle is for Blagojevich, the same panel of judges who ruled in 2015 that the ex-governor's sentence was reasonable Frank Easterbrook, Michael Kanne and Ilana Rovner heard the arguments again this time around. For the case to break Blagojevich's way, those judges would have to decide that their previous ruling was erroneous.
After court, Goodman acknowledged that the chances were dimming for Blagojevich, whose only other recourse should the 7th Circuit decide against him would be to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for a hearing a move that would be considered a legal long shot at best since the high court already passed on taking up the case last year.
"Obviously, your best chance is in front of a jury, and your second best chance is on a direct appeal," Goodman said. "From here it gets more difficult."
Asked why the same three judges were on this appeal, Patti Blagojevich said it was "a mystery that none of us will ever know."
"It's like how is sausage made?" she said. "Who knows?"
Rod Blagojevich was convicted in 2011 of misusing his powers as governor in an array of wrongdoing, including most notably his attempts to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama after Obama's 2008 election to the White House.
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The conviction came less than a year after an initial trial ended with a jury deadlocked on all but one count of lying to the FBI, forcing the retrial.
In its first ruling in 2015, the 7th Circuit threw out five counts involving the Senate seat on technical grounds. But the court tempered the small victory for Blagojevich by calling the evidence against him "overwhelming" and making it clear that the original sentence handed down by U.S. District Judge James Zagel was not out of bounds. Zagel's decision in August to resentence Blagojevich to the original 14 years means he's still slated to remain in prison until May 2024.
In the latest appeal in December, Goodman and co-counsel Michael Nash argued Zagel ignored key evidence presented at the resentencing, including dozens of letters written by fellow inmates about Blagojevich's character and leadership in the federal prison camp outside Denver.
Blagojevich, who appeared at his resentencing via a satellite hookup from the prison, also apologized for his "mistakes" something his lawyers said Zagel should have taken into account but he never specifically mentioned the crimes for which he was convicted.
"Judge Zagel dismissed it in effect as being irrelevant," Nash argued Tuesday before the 7th Circuit panel. "It is an important factor that should have been considered ... and the judge dismissed it out of hand."
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Riggs Bonamici argued that while Blagojevich may have done good works in prison, he's never apologized for the harm he inflicted on the state of Illinois, including "further eroding the public's faith" in elected officials a faith that was already "exceedingly damaged by his predecessor," convicted ex-Gov. George Ryan.
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"There's nothing anywhere where (Blagojevich) says, 'I apologize for putting my own personal interests ahead of the interests of the public I was charged with serving,' " Bonamici said.
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In addition to a sentence reduction, lawyers for Blagojevich also asked the 7th Circuit to overturn the convictions themselves, saying the jury in his second criminal trial was improperly instructed by Zagel on what constitutes bribery when it comes to Blagojevich's political wheeling and dealing.
Goodman argued to the panel that recent Supreme Court decisions have shown "there is a higher bar" when it comes to campaign fundraising that prosecutors failed to prove at trial.
"You simply cannot call a trial fair when the jury was instructed to reject a defendant's defense based on conduct that we all acknowledge was lawful," Goodman said.
Bonamici, however, said Blagojevich's requests for campaign donations in exchange for either officials acts or by threatening to hold up legislation were so far over the line there was no question of a quid pro quo.
"What went on here was not just campaign fundraising," she said. "This defendant made that crystal clear."
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jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jmetr22b
Gabriela Barajas, who came to the U.S. from Mexico as a child, talks about being in limbo regarding her DACA status since the future of the program remains uncertain April 8, 2017. There are about 96,000 immigrants who qualify for DACA status in Illinois, according to the Migration Policy Institute. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune) (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)
Gabriela Barajas, 32, was overjoyed to learn she could avoid deportation under a policy designed to benefit immigrant children.
But after spending months preparing her application, she's now questioning whether it's worth the risk of divulging her immigration status to enter a program that may be eliminated by the Trump administration.
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Barajas was brought to the United States from Mexico when she was 8. She is one of 96,000 Illinois residents who may qualify for former President Barack Obama's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, an administrative program launched in 2012 for people brought into the country illegally as children.
A Logan Square resident, Barajas learned at a neighborhood meeting about immigrant rights that she met most of the criteria for DACA. It applies to people who have been in the U.S. since 2007, were under age 16 at the time of their arrival and were under age 31 as of 2012.
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It took the mother of four children all American citizens more than six months to compile medical records and school documents to prove she met the requirements. She also enrolled in an adult education program, as required, and saved about $500 to apply for DACA.
But in November, her attorney advised her to stop the application process. Donald Trump had won the election after promising to deport 3 million people who were in the country illegally. It was unclear whether he would keep DACA in place or use information collected by the program to find and deport people like her.
"I was ready to submit the paperwork, but they told me to wait to see what happens," Barajas said. "What if he takes it away in a couple of weeks or a month or something and all the money goes to waste? It's not worth it."
Being declared eligible does not guarantee a path to legal residency or citizenship, and those accepted to the program must reapply every two years. Many attorneys and activists now are recommending a two-pronged approach.
"If you already have DACA, there's not additional risk to renew it because the government already has your information," said Erendira Rendon, director of national partnerships with the Pilsen-based Resurrection Project. "But if it's the first time, you should seek legal consultation to weigh the risks."
Although Trump since becoming president has expressed sympathy toward immigrants who came as children, many Chicago-based immigrant organizations remain skeptical and fear he will dismantle the DACA program.
"I heard some people are still applying no matter what, but there's always a risk of losing everything you know. Everybody is scared. I'm scared too," Barajas said.
Application process
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About 67 percent of eligible immigrants in the U.S. have applied for the program since 2012, according to the institute. More than 770,000 have been accepted.
Illinois has the nation's fourth-largest population of DACA recipients the highest share in the Midwest. About 41,800 people in the state have been approved for the program since 2012, according to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
Under the Obama administration, the benefits outweighed the risks for many who were eligible.
Those enrolled are considered a low priority for immigration enforcement, though they are not protected from deportation. They can legally drive and work, which makes them eligible to apply for a Social Security number. While they are still not eligible for federal financial aid, they can qualify for in-state college tuition in some states, including Illinois.
The application itself can be a barrier. People often scramble to collect as many supporting documents as possible to fulfill the application requirements they submit utility bills, medical records, rent receipts and school transcripts as proof that they've lived in the U.S.
Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 10 Gabriela Barajas plays soccer with two of her children, Melvin, left, 10, and Antonio, 6, outside their home in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood on April 8, 2017. An undocumented immigrant from Mexico, Barajas qualifies for DACA status, but is reluctant to apply with the future of the program uncertain under the Trump administration. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune)
"As a general rule, the younger you are, the easier it is to gather the proper documents," said Vanessa Esparza-Lopez, a managing attorney with the National Immigrant Justice Center. "What's harder is for folks who graduated high school but didn't move on to college or who are working but getting paid in cash. So we have to get creative."
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There is a $495 application fee, which can be a "big hurdle" for families with multiple applicants or for people who are trying to renew their status in a timely manner, Esparza-Lopez said.
"All of our clients are low-income. When families are living paycheck to paycheck, it's hard to come up with that money to apply or renew before their work permits expire," she said.
Current students, high school or GED course graduates and veterans are eligible for DACA. They must be at least 15 to apply, unless they're in removal proceedings or have a final removal or voluntary departure order.
In addition to the estimated 96,000 Illinoisans who already may qualify, an additional 9,000 could be eligible once they turn 15 provided they stay in school and out of trouble according to data from the Migration Policy Institute. Immigrants who have committed a serious crime, have more than two misdemeanor convictions or are deemed to be a threat to national security are automatically disqualified.
There are about 18,000 more people who could qualify in Illinois but don't currently meet the education requirement, the institute estimates.
After learning that the lack of a GED was her only roadblock, Barajas enrolled in an adult education program at Wright College Humboldt Park, making her eligible to apply. She now hopes to obtain a GED certificate in May and apply for DACA status in the future.
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"I'm still waiting, I'm still hoping," she said. "I'm not losing faith."
Esparza-Lopez said many of her clients felt reassured when Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly released a set of Feb. 20 memos that kept DACA in place. Kelly noted the program will be "addressed in future guidance."
"(The memos) let individuals breathe a sigh of relief for now, so we're seeing a lot of people wanting to renew," she said. "The program still exists we want to make sure that clients are taking ownership of their life situations."
Support for DACA is not universal.
Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said the program should be repealed because Obama didn't have the authority to institute it to begin with.
"If people believe that some program ought to be in place, Congress needs to do it," he said. "But the president does not have the authority to decide that under federal immigration laws."
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Von Spakovsky said amnesty programs for immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children should exist only in "strict circumstances."
"There's a difference between someone coming here at 2 years old who has no knowledge of their parents' home county ... as opposed to someone brought here at 16," he said. "There's no reason they can't be sent back with their parents to their home country."
An uncertain future
The top two countries of origin for DACA-eligible immigrants living in Illinois are Mexico and Korea about 77,000 and 2,000, respectively. Mexico has the largest share of DACA-eligible immigrants in the country, and Guatemala is second.
Jessica Salgado, 24, said her parents brought her to the United States from Mexico when she was 3. She didn't realize she was in the country illegally until she tried to apply for financial aid during her senior year of high school.
Unable to afford college tuition, she opted to work and save money for school down the line.
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"College really was something I wanted to do," Salgado said. "But I knew I couldn't do it if I didn't have the income."
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She applied for DACA in July 2015 and filed to renew her status in early April, about three months before the deadline. Immigration officials recommend that people apply at least 120 days before their status expires.
Salgado paid $495 for the application and $75 for the appointment with an attorney, a significant drop from what she was paying to obtain legal residency through her husband, a U.S. citizen.
"I just wanted to do one thing quickly so I could stop working under the table. I knew there was the option of getting a fake Social (Security number), but I didn't want to do that. I just really wanted to get a decent-paying job."
Salgado works two jobs while taking classes at Truman College and caring for her 7-year-old daughter. She said she hopes to save enough money to resume applying for permanent residence.
"The future feels very uncertain. In a way, I'm kind of angered by it," she said. "But I'm really glad I applied sooner rather than later. It's just a confusing time."
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nmoreno@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @nereidamorenos
Ismael Betancourt, 34, was charged in a shooting that wounded a man in the 1100 block of North Ashland around 5:50 a.m. on April 16, 2017. (Chicago Police Department)
A man was charged Tuesday after Chicago police saw him leave the scene of a shooting that wounded a 34-year-old man in the East Ukrainian Village neighborhood, authorities said.
Ismael Betancourt was charged with aggravated battery involving the discharge of a firearm, aggravated assault involving the discharge of firearm and four other gun-related charges, according to police. He was expected to appear in bond court Tuesday.
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Betancourt lives in the 800 block of North Ashland Avenue, not far from where police said he shot a man who was walking down the street in the 1100 block of North Ashland around 5:50 a.m. Sunday.
The man was taken in good condition to Stroger Hospital.
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Police say Betancourt was in a silver SUV when he opened fire. Officers saw him speed away from the shooting and he was later identified as the gunman, police said.
A handgun and shell casings were found in the SUV when he was stopped by police, officials said.
Bernard Williamsis charged with the Nov. 22, 2010, fatal shootingof off-duty police Officer David Blake in his SUV on the Southwest Side. (Chicago Police Department )
An off-duty Chicago police officer was lured to a quiet neighborhood on the Southwest Side and killed by his girlfriend's teenage brother in a botched plan to steal his gun collection, Cook County prosecutors alleged Tuesday.
The slaying of Chicago police Officer David Blake in 2010 was a "cold-blooded execution," prosecutors said during opening statements to the jury in the trial of Bernard Williams, now 25, who is charged with first-degree murder.
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"From the moment that this defendant laid eyes on that gun collection, he was obsessed," said Assistant State's Attorney Patrick Morley. "He had to get his hands on those guns, whether it meant robbing the victim or, in this case, killing the victim."
But Williams' attorneys noted that no physical evidence tied Williams to the killing and said investigators turned to him after becoming frustrated when they couldn't find a suspect weeks after the shooting.
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Assistant Public Defender Dylan Barrett told jurors that police targeted Williams "because of the pressure they felt to solve this crime."
"They came to a conclusion and they formulated their investigation to meet that," Barrett said.
Blake, a 45-year-old SWAT officer, was found fatally shot on an unpaved alley known as "Dead Man's Alley" in the Wrightwood neighborhood in November 2010. He was among five Chicago police officers shot dead that year.
Blake, who was in a relationship with Williams' sister, had previously shown Williams the extensive gun collection he kept at his home, authorities said, sparking what prosecutors characterized as Blake's desire to steal them and sell them on the street.
On the day of the slaying, Williams asked Blake for a ride, then had Blake drive him to the 2900 block of West Seipp Street, said Morley, who described the area as desolate and quiet.
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"The defendant got out, said he had to do something and that's when he shot the victim in the head over and over and over again," Morley said.
Williams also took Blake's keys with the intentions to go to Blake's house and steal the guns, prosecutors said,. But when Williams got to Blake's house, police were already there.
Williams confessed on video to the crime, telling police he wanted Blake's guns to sell them on the black market, Morley said.
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In addition, he had bragged to his friends about his plans to rob Blake, Morley said.
Members of Williams' family in attendance at the trial declined to comment.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @crepeau
United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit. JOE PEPPERS, as surviving natural parents and next of kin of Stewart Peppers, Deceased; NATASHA PEPPERS, as surviving natural parents and next of kin of Stewart Peppers, Deceased, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. WASHINGTON COUNTY, TENNESSEE; CORRECTIONS OFFICER CORNETT, official capacity; CORRECTIONS OFFICER DRAPER, individual capacity; GARWIN, individual capacity, ED GRAYBEAL, individual capacity; JASON LOWE, individual capacity; CORRECTIONS OFFICER MARTIN, individual capacity; RICHARDS, individual capacity, Defendants-Appellees. No. 16-5407 Decided: April 13, 2017
BEFORE: NORRIS, GIBBONS, and ROGERS, Circuit Judges.
OPINION
Stewart Peppers died while in custody at the Washington County, Tennessee, jail awaiting trial. His parents sued the county, as well as the sheriff and several corrections officers in both their individual and official capacities under 42 U.S.C. 1983. After three years of pre-trial litigation, the district court granted summary judgment as to all defendants. The plaintiffs argue that the district court abused its discretion when it excluded the testimony of plaintiffs' key witness and granted summary judgment in favor of defendants. For the reasons that follow, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
I.
A. Factual Background
Stewart Peppers was arrested shortly after 2:00 a.m. on April 26, 2013, in possession of a handgun, more than forty grams of marijuana, and three hundred grams of Nandrolone Decanoate, a steroid. He was suspected of carjacking a woman at gunpoint and aggravated assault in which a man as severely beaten. Peppers was booked into Washington County Detention Center (WCDC) shortly thereafter. Peppers was a large, muscular young man, and arresting officers warned the detention officers that Peppers may have martial arts training and that he may have been using synthetic drugs. Peppers behaved erratically from the start, acting in an arrogant and aggressive manner towards the correctional officers, flexing his muscles, and blowing kisses at the booking officers. He also refused to give his real name, calling himself Hercules, chosen one, the son of god, or the son of Zeus.
Peppers was placed in a cell by himself in the booking center. His erratic behavior continued over the next two days, including tearing up his sleeping mat and uniform and yelling obscenities. A social worker saw Peppers for a mental health consultation, reporting that, Peppers denied suicidal or homicidal thoughts or intentions at that time and did not exhibit aggressive or threatening behavior at that time. The conclusion was that Peppers did not meet the criteria to be committed.
A series of events ultimately leading to Peppers's death began late in the afternoon on April 29, 2013. Peppers started shouting obscenities at the detention staff. The plaintiffs claim that in response to the shouting six corrections officers entered the cell, used chemical spray and a Taser on Peppers, and beat him until he was unresponsive. While Peppers was unresponsive, he purportedly was loaded into a restraint chair and beaten further, for a total of twenty minutes.
The defendants assert that their initial response to Peppers becoming agitated and shouting obscenities was to try to calm him down from outside the cell. Only when Peppers began slamming his head into the door of his cell did the officers feel they needed to intervene. At that time, the officers entered the cell, but Peppers refused instructions and aggressively approached the officers. The officers deployed chemical spray and a Taser in an effort to subdue Peppers, but to little effect. Finally, after much struggle, the officers gained some control of Peppers, placing him in restraints and into a restraint chair and using a spit hood to prevent Peppers from spitting on the officers.
The officers contend that Peppers continued to buck and fight officers as they attempted to get him fully secured. But suddenly Peppers stopped resisting, made unusual respiratory noises, and became unresponsive. The officers first tried to revive him with an ammonia stick and a sternal rub technique. When that failed, he was taken out of the chair and treated with a manual resuscitator and CPR until emergency personnel arrived and took over his care. Peppers, however, died.
The medical examiner conducted an autopsy and determined that his death was accidental, caused by a condition called Excited Delirium, brought on by the misuse of Nandrolone Decanoate (a steroid), exogenous testosterone, and acute cannabinoid. R. 34-1, Cline-Parhamovich Aff., Ex. A, PageID 366. The plaintiffs' expert witness reviewed the autopsy result and averred that the actual cause of death was asphyxiation from the combination of restraint chair and spit hood. R. 66-1, Dragovic Aff., PageID 619.
B. Procedural Background
During the litigation, defendants filed a Motion for Summary Judgment as to all individual defendants based on the doctrine of qualified immunity, asserting that they did not violate Peppers's constitutional rights. The district court denied this motion, citing genuine issues of material fact as to whether the individual corrections officers violated Peppers's clearly established rights. The district court noted that the affidavit of Shawn Dorsey, who was detained in a nearby cell at WCDC at the time of Peppers's death, was the plaintiffs' only evidence. But viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the plaintiffs for summary judgment purposes, the affidavit contents had to be treated as true and therefore qualified immunity was not appropriate.
The district court did grant summary judgment in favor of the county on the plaintiffs' failure-to-train claim, noting that the county presented some evidence that use-of-force training was provided, including use of the restraint chair, while the plaintiffs failed to offer any evidence to suggest that the training was inadequate, let alone so inadequate as to rise to the level of deliberate indifference.
The admissibility of deposition testimony by the plaintiffs' key witness, Shawn Dorsey, is the focus of plaintiffs' appeal. Plaintiffs hoped to have Dorsey, who was by then incarcerated in a federal prison in West Virginia, testify at trial via live video conference. However, that proved to be impracticable because the prison would not allow cameras into the facility. The district court granted plaintiffs' request to take Dorsey's trial testimony by a recorded video deposition instead. But at the last moment Dorsey refused to testify altogether.
The plaintiffs moved the district court to designate Dorsey's prior deposition testimony, taken by defendants during discovery, for use as proof at trial. The defendants opposed the motion, asserting that the deadline for designating depositions had passed and that the prior deposition testimony was inadmissible under the federal rules against hearsay.
The district court denied plaintiffs' motion to designate Dorsey's deposition testimony, holding that while plaintiffs could show good cause for their late designation, the testimony constituted inadmissible hearsay under the federal rules of evidence. The district court reasoned that the testimony was inadmissible, in large part, because the defendants did not get a full and fair opportunity to cross-examine Dorsey about a recorded interview with plaintiffs' counsel played at his deposition where Dorsey admitted his desire to get revenge on the corrections officers.
The defendants moved the court to reconsider its denial of qualified immunity. Without the Dorsey testimony, the district court reversed itself and granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment based on qualified immunity.
II.
A. Deposition Testimony of Shawn Dorsey
Generally, a district court's evidentiary rulings are reviewed for abuse of discretion. United States v. Churn, 800 F.3d 768, 774 (6th Cir. 2015) (quoting United States v. Chalmers, 554 F. App'x 440, 449 (6th Cir. 2014)). We review a grant of summary judgment de novo. Griffin v. Finkbeiner, 689 F.3d 584, 592 (6th Cir. 2012).
Deposition testimony from an unavailable witness may be used against a party, provided that the party was present or represented at the taking of the deposition and it is used to the extent it would be admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence if the deponent were present and testifying. Fed. R. Civ. P. 32(a)(1). Based on his refusal to testify, Dorsey qualifies as an unavailable witness. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 32(a)(4)(B) & (C).
The question whether Dorsey's deposition testimony is admissible then turns on its admissibility under the Federal Rules of Evidence. Hearsay means a statement that (1) the declarant does not make while testifying at the current trial or hearing; and (2) a party offers in evidence to prove the truth of the matter asserted in the statement. Fed. R. Evid. 801(c). Usually hearsay evidence is not admissible. Fed. R. Evid. 802. However, the rules of evidence provide several hearsay exceptions for unavailable witnesses. See Fed. R. Evid. 804. The exception at issue here is for Former Testimony, which provides that hearsay testimony may be admitted if it was given as a witness at a trial, hearing, or lawful deposition and is now offered against a party who had an opportunity and similar motive to develop it by direct, cross-, or redirect examination. Fed. R. Evid. 804(b)(1).
The district court initially rejected defendants' general contention that they did not have a similar motive or opportunity to cross-examine Dorsey at the deposition because it was taken during discovery. That did not end the district court's analysis, however.
At the beginning of defendants' deposition of Dorsey, counsel for the plaintiffs played part of a recording of Dorsey's prior statements to refresh his recollection of events. A full copy of the recording was given to defense counsel and admitted as an exhibit. On the full recording, Dorsey can be heard saying, I ain't going to lie to you okay. I need to get my revenge heard. They been doing me all wrong these years. It's time for me to get one.
The district court noted that the defendants, through no fault of their own, did not hear the statement until the deposition was over, and therefore never had a full and fair opportunity to cross-examine Dorsey regarding the issue. The district court concluded that the defendants would suffer great prejudice by the use of deposition testimony, the reliability of which has been directly called into question by the deponent's own statements learned after the fact with no other opportunity to develop this testimony or cross examine it due to the deponent's refusal to give subsequent testimony. It is the plaintiffs' burden to offer admissible testimony to carry their burden of proof, and this deposition testimony is inadmissible hearsay.
The plaintiffs' appellate brief does not directly address the recording discovered by defendants after the deposition, despite it being relied upon by the district court as a key factor in its decision to exclude the evidence. Further, plaintiffs elected not to file a reply brief even after the defendants highlighted this argument in their response brief. The defendants contend that by failing to offer any argument as to how the district court's reasoning was an abuse of discretion, the plaintiffs have forfeited this issue on appeal. Defendants' argument is well-taken, but we will nevertheless review the merits of the district court's evidentiary ruling.
The district court did not cite Federal Rule of Evidence 403 in its opinion and order, but the court weighed the prejudice that would be suffered by defendants if the testimony were to be admitted, much like the balancing district courts must undertake when applying Rule 403. See Fed. R. Evid. 403 (The court may exclude relevant evidence if its probative value is substantially outweighed by a danger of unfair prejudice ). On the other hand, it would be an abuse of discretion for a district court to weigh witness credibility and exclude proffered testimony on that basis. See, e.g., United States v. Schultz, 855 F.2d 1217, 1221 (6th Cir. 1988) (Witness credibility is solely within the province of the jury.); Doe v. Clark Equip. Co., 187 F.3d 635 (6th Cir. 1999) (table case) (holding the district court abused its discretion in striking testimony based on witness credibility). In this case, if the district court was concerned about Dorsey's credibility, it had the option to admit his deposition testimony, and rely on defendants' ability to attack its credibility at trial. See Fed. R. Evid. 806 ([T]he declarant's credibility may be attacked, and then supported, by any evidence that would be admissible for those purposes if the declarant had testified as a witness )
However, as noted above, due to a district court's familiarity with the details of the case and its greater experience in evidentiary matters, courts of appeals afford broad discretion to a district court's evidentiary rulings. Sprint/United Mgmt. Co. v. Mendelsohn, 552 U.S. 379, 384 (2008). Assessing the probative value of the proffered evidence, and weighing any factors counseling against admissibility is a matter first for the district court's sound judgment under Rules 401 and 403. Id. (quotation omitted). This is particularly true with respect to Rule 403 Id. For example, we have upheld a district court's exclusion of otherwise relevant testimony based on the prejudice to defendants because the witness was unavailable for full cross-examination. See United States v. Meade, No. 15-5723, 2017 WL 384307, at *11 (6th Cir. Jan. 26, 2017) (affirming district court exclusion of probative statement without any cross-examination to help the jury determine the strength of the statement and the credibility of the witness [because it] has a great risk of misleading the jury and unfairly prejudicing the other party). Broad discretion is given to district courts in determinations of admissibility based on considerations of relevance and prejudice, and those decisions will not be lightly overruled. Id. (quoting United States v. Dixon, 413 F.3d 540, 544 (6th Cir. 2005)).
Here, the district court was confronted with a difficult choice, given Dorsey's admission that his statement was motivated, at least in part, by a desire to get revenge on the defendants, and that defendants would have no ability to cross-examine Dorsey on this point. The district court's choice to exclude Dorsey's prior testimony was within the court's discretion. Finally, without the deposition testimony, the district court's grant of summary judgment was appropriate.
B. Grant of Summary Judgment to Washington County
In addition to appealing the district court's evidentiary ruling, the plaintiffs contend that the district court erred when it granted summary judgment in favor of Washington County. The plaintiffs' arguments below included general allegations that Peppers's death was based, at least in part, on the failure of Washington County to properly train the involved corrections officers involved. However, the record does contain evidence that the officers received some use-of-force training, and the plaintiffs do not make any argument that the training received was deficient, or that inadequate training caused Peppers's death. For that reason, the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Washington County was proper.
III.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
ALAN E. NORRIS, Circuit Judge.
Attorney Victor Henderson and Patricia Green, mother of Christian Green, talk during a news conference April 18, 2017, at the Daley Center after a jury found that Chicago police Officer Robert Gonzalez was not justified in killing Christian. The jury awarded $350,000 in damages. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune) (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)
A Cook County jury awarded $350,000 in damages Tuesday in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the mother of a black teen fatally shot by a Chicago police officer during a chase on the Fourth of July nearly four years ago.
In ruling the shooting of Christian Green unjustified, jurors found that Officer Robert Gonzalez did not "reasonably believe" that his life was in danger when he unloaded 11 shots at the 17-year-old from his police SUV, striking him once in the left side of his back.
Seated at the defense table in a dark gray suit, Gonzalez showed no reaction as the verdict was read in Judge Elizabeth Budzinski's cramped Daley Center courtroom. After the jury filed out, Christian's mother, Patricia Green, stood a few feet away from the officer, sobbing softly into a tissue.
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"I think that the outcome could have been greater," Patricia Green told reporters outside the courtroom, referring to the relatively low payout. "But the money can't take the place of my son. ... I can never get him back."
The 10-member jury deliberated for about 16 hours over three days before reaching its verdict the first time Gonzalez, a veteran tactical officer, has been found liable for wrongdoing in his 19-year career.
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Chicago police Officer Robert Gonzalez, left, leaves the Cook County courthouse April 18, 2017, in Chicago. A Cook County jury awarded $350,000 in damages in a wrongful-death lawsuit brought by the mother of a black teen whom Gonzalez fatally shot in the back during a chase on the Fourth of July nearly four years ago. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune)
But Gonzalez's legal troubles aren't over. He's facing two pending federal lawsuits including one filed Monday as the jury in Green's shooting was still deliberating alleging he helped frame drug suspects as part of a corrupt band of officers working under disgraced former Sgt. Ronald Watts.
Gonzalez is also slated to give sworn testimony in two other police-shooting lawsuits where his partner fired the fatal shots. As in Green's shooting, both of those cases the 2012 shooting of 16-year-old Rickey Childs and the 2014 death of Ronald Johnson III, 25 involved a black suspect allegedly armed with a gun who was shot in the back while fleeing officers.
Gonzalez, who remains a tactical officer in the Wentworth District, left the courthouse Tuesday without comment. A Law Department spokesman said in an emailed statement that the city was "disappointed" in the jury's verdict and considering legal options.
Outside court, attorney Victor Henderson, who represents the Green family, said jurors told him after the verdict that the officers' accounts of the shooting were "contrived, too polished and coordinated," echoing long-standing issues with the way police shooting probes were handled.
Chicago's city Law Department released videos April 6, 2017, of the events leading up to the July 4, 2013, shooting death of 17-year-old Christian Green by veteran tactical Officer Robert Gonzalez, 42, in Englewood. (Chicago Tribune)
"This investigation just fell short on every level," Henderson told reporters outside Budzinski's courtroom.
While Henderson had not demanded a specific dollar award, he asked the jury in his closing argument on Friday to consider the pain and suffering Green endured as well as the grief his family continues to go through the kisses his mother no longer gets in the morning, the graduations, birthdays and grandchildren she will never see.
"The money doesn't bring Christian back, but it is a symbol," Henderson said in his argument. "It shows that, yeah, he was somebody. Yeah, he mattered. Yeah, he counts."
On Tuesday, Henderson said jurors indicated in their post-verdict discussion with him that the $350,000 award was something of a compromise, with a few holdouts leaning toward finding in favor of the officer.
"They had to work it out," he said.
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Budzinski said jurors declined her invitation to speak to the media before leaving the Daley Center.
According to court records, Gonzalez and his partner, Officer George Hernandez, were patrolling around 1 p.m. July 4, 2013, when they responded to a call that fellow tactical Officers Manuel Leano and Douglas Nichols Jr. were chasing a person with a gun.
Surveillance video from a nearby liquor store that was played during the trial showed Green trying to throw a gun into a trash can as he sprinted up to 57th and State streets. The gun bounced off the can's rim onto the sidewalk. Green doubled back, bent quickly and picked it up before taking off again.
Gonzalez testified that he saw Green pick up the weapon and was yelling from his unmarked SUV, "Police! Drop the gun! Drop the gun!" But the teen ignored him, he said. As the vehicle came to a stop at the edge of the lot, Gonzalez said he saw the barrel of Green's gun pointed in his direction from about 25 feet away, but he could not recall the exact position of the teen's body at the moment he opened fire.
"I was just focused on the gun," Gonzalez testified. "That barrel was pointed right at me, and I fired my weapon as quickly as I could."
Green was struck in the left side of his back by a bullet that pierced his lung and heart before exiting his chest. He died en route to Stroger Hospital. His gun, meanwhile, was found in the vacant lot about 75 feet from his body, according to court records.
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Initial police reports showed that Green had been shot in the chest, a fact that had not been corrected when the officers were interviewed by the Independent Police Review Authority , which investigates police shootings.
Hernandez, Nichols and Leano all backed up Gonzalez's account in their interviews with IPRA, which ruled the shooting was justified in September 2014.
Christian Green, 17, was fatally shot by Chicago police on July 4, 2013. (Family photo)
The trial drew media attention in part because Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was called to testify. At the time of Green's shooting, Johnson was the acting street deputy who responded to the scene and signed off on the officers' use-of-force reports of the incident. He also gave a sworn deposition in the lawsuit last year.
In his testimony earlier this month, Johnson said police officers are sometimes justified in shooting a fleeing suspect in the back. He recounted being shot at years ago by a fleeing suspect who had turned and pointed a weapon at him, grazing him in the head.
"Just like this," testified Johnson, demonstrating for the jury by moving his body a quarter-turn and pointing with his finger like a handgun at the wall behind him. "So I know it can happen."
In her closing argument, Assistant Corporation Counsel Victoria Benson said Gonzalez was absolutely justified in firing at Green once he saw the open barrel of Green's semi-automatic handgun pointed at him.
But Henderson said it was ridiculous to think that Green, who stood 5 feet, 5 inches and weighed 116 pounds, would turn to confront police officers chasing him in vehicles, especially when he was running full tilt and about to make his escape.
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In his closing argument Friday, Henderson noted that Green's body was found 150 feet from where the shell casings from Gonzalez's weapon landed on State Street, calling into question the officer's claim that he could clearly see the barrel of the gun pointed at him.
Henderson also said it made no sense that Gonzalez would miss 10 of 11 shots from just 25 feet away.
"Officer Gonzalez is sitting here telling you guys a bunch of lies because he doesn't want to admit that he did something wrong," Henderson said.
The officers' accounts of the shooting were contradicted by a witness, Laticia Whitehead, who said she saw Green running full speed away from the police and that he never turned before Gonzalez opened fire. After the boy jerked and fell to the ground, Whitehead said, the officer who shot him got out of the vehicle, put a foot on his motionless body and started yelling.
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"Mother------! You wanna run? Huh? Huh?" Whitehead quoted the officer as saying in a recorded deposition played in court. "You see how f------ far you got?"
The jury, meanwhile, was barred from hearing about the connection between the officers on the scene that day and the allegedly corrupt tactical squad led by then-Sgt. Watts, who along with another member of the team was sent to federal prison in 2013 for shaking down a drug courier for protection money at the now-shuttered Ida B. Wells housing complex.
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Gonzalez, Leano and Nichols were all investigated by the Police Department's Internal Affairs Division as well as the FBI for their role in Watts' team but were never charged, according to court records.
The Tribune has written several front-page stories since last year detailing the fallout over Watts' nearly decadelong run of corruption. So far, four drug convictions involving three defendants have been tossed out because of Watts' tainted history. In addition, two officers who maintained they were victims of the "code of silence" won a $2 million settlement to their whistleblower lawsuit that alleged they were blackballed for trying to expose Watts' corruption years ago.
On Monday, while the jury was deliberating the Green shooting case, Gonzalez was named in a new federal lawsuit brought by Lionel White alleging Gonzalez helped Watts pin a drug case on him to help out a rival drug dealer at the Ida B. Wells public housing development.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jmetr22b
A sense of dread came on quickly for Angie Nutter the morning of June 4, 2013. Already worried because her son Colin hadn't come home the night before and wasn't answering his phone, she then realized that her car was missing, as was some dog medication her husband had left on the counter.
She called police, and they arrived at her Highland Park home minutes later.
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"They didn't waste any time telling me," she said from the witness stand Tuesday, her voice trembling and her hands clasped as if in prayer. "They found Colin's body."
Nearly four years after their 20-year-old son was shot to death in his car his body discovered hours later hidden under leaves and brush near an Edens Expressway ramp in Wilmette both Angie and her husband, Michael Nutter, testified Tuesday in the murder trial of Philip Vatamaniuc in Lake County court.
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Vatamaniuc was a 17-year-old Highland Park High School student at the time, and he and two friends Michael Coffee, then 17, also of Highland Park, and Benjamin Schenk, then 20 and of Highwood were swiftly arrested and charged with killing Nutter.
Angie Nutter, a nurse, said from the witness stand that she was unprepared for and overwhelmed by the news of her son's slaying. She asked a friend to call her husband and work and tell him to come home right away but wouldn't say why.
Michael Nutter then took the stand and described his own growing sense of doom as he got off the train and then saw police cars and news trucks in front of his house. An officer inside told him to sit down next to his wife. Upon hearing his son was dead, "I jumped up, and I believe I swore, and I said, 'Are you sure it was Colin?'" Michael Nutter recalled.
The officer explained that Colin had been identified through his fingerprints.
Authorities allege that the three men targeted Nutter with plans to rob him of marijuana, but then decided to shoot him using a gun Coffee had stolen from a friend's father so they could steal his car and drive it into Chicago. Officials first identified Schenk as the alleged gunman, but Schenk is expected to testify that it was Vatamaniuc who shot Nutter in the back of the head.
Schenk pleaded guilty in the case in exchange for his testimony against Vatamaniuc and the possibility of a lighter sentence.
Coffee has been found unfit to stand trial. He is in jail awaiting placement at a psychiatric treatment facility.
Angie Nutter testified that she and her husband were aware of and concerned that their son had been selling small amounts of marijuana. She said Colin had recently begun seeing a psychologist at his parents' request, and they had just helped him purchase the used Dodge Stratus in which he would be killed.
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Authorities said that the three suspects initially hid Nutter's body in the trunk and later went to the home of a friend in Highwood, Lauren Hahn, to try to clean up the car. A neighbor of Hahn, Frances Pieri, testified to seeing a young man cleaning up a car she didn't recognize in front of Hahn's house on June 3, 2013, the day authorities say Nutter was killed.
Under questioning from Vatamaniuc's attorney, Pieri said the young man she saw was not the defendant.
An officer who was called to the Highwood home testified Tuesday to seeing blood stains in the sidewalk and finding bloodied padding from a car trunk, along with the bottle of dog medication, in a garbage can outside.
After dumping Nutter's body, officials said, the three suspects headed toward Chicago but then decided to go back to retrieve Nutter's wallet, which they did after taking some time to locate the body, having forgotten exactly where they left it.
After a trip to the city, Coffee and Schenk dropped off Vatamaniuc the next day and then used Nutter's keys to enter his parents' house, where they stole some marijuana, the bottle of pills and the family's Ford Focus, authorities said.
The three then returned to the city with both cars but abandoned the Stratus there after getting into a minor accident, authorities said.
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Police later saw Schenk trying to break into the Ford Focus in front of Hahn's house because the keys were locked inside.
Later Tuesday, Hahn took the stand and nervously testified about Schenk and Coffee arriving at her house at about 11 a.m. on the day of the killing, later joined by Vatamaniuc. She said Schenk and Coffee were passing around the gun and bullets before the three left, with Vatamaniuc holding the gun.
When they returned a few hours later, Hahn said, they asked her for bleach, and she saw them remove carpeting from the car, which she later found in her garbage along with other bloodied objects. Hahn said she couldn't recall if she called police at that point.
Also testifying Tuesday was Danny Valentine, who described Vatamaniuc as one of his best friends. Valentine said that on June 4, Vatamaniuc and Coffee came to his house in Highland Park and smoked pot with him and eventually told him they killed Nutter.
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On the witness stand, Valentine was reminded that he gave a statement to police indicating Vatamaniuc had said he was the gunman.
But Tuesday, Valentine testified: "I remember what my statement said, that (Vatamaniuc) pulled the trigger, but that doesn't sound like something he would say."
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Valentine said that at the time he signed the statement, he had been up for three days and was "high on amphetamines, weed, painkillers, a whole bunch of stuff. It was a very, very hard time."
"It seems (investigators) were dragging out a story that I really don't remember," Valentine added, saying he was no longer sure exactly who claimed to have been the gunman.
Another witness Tuesday, Nicholas Pacileo, said he was with Schenk's roommate on June 4 when Schenk, Vatamaniuc and Coffee arrived and started gathering materials like towels, gloves and gardening supplies.
Pacileo, who was just 13 at the time, said the trunk of the car the trio arrived in was open, and inside he saw towels, blood and human feet.
Susan Berger is a freelance reporter.
A man has been charged with sexually assaulting and robbing a woman he met at a Lakeview bar Saturday night, according to Chicago police.
Alexander Carter, 46, of the 200 block of West 74th Street, was charged Tuesday with aggravated robbery with a firearm, aggravated criminal sexual assault, theft and reckless conduct, police said.
He is accused of sexually assaulting and robbing a 23-year-old woman about 12:05 a.m. Sunday in an apartment in the 500 block of West Oakdale Avenue, police said. The woman was taken to a hospital, where her condition was stabilized.
Carter had met the woman at a bar just before the attack took place, police said.
He was expected to appear Tuesday in bond court.
A Lawndale neighborhood man has been charged after a fatal shooting near the Garfield Red Line platform which occurred at the close of a violent Easter weekend, police said.
Frederick Stewart, 33, of the 2700 block of West Harrison Street, was charged with murder and is expected to appear in court Wednesday for a bond hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, police said.
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Stewart was identified as the assailant who shot 33-year-old Javontay Tolliver, 33, in the 200 block of West Garfield Boulevard early Monday, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner's office.
Tolliver was among more than 40 people shot in Chicago over the Easter weekend, one of the most violent of the year. More than half the victims were shot over a six-hour stretch from Saturday evening through Sunday morning.
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Tolliver had been arguing with Stewart on the platform when a CTA worker told them to leave around 2:40 a.m., police said. As they walked away from the station, Stewart pulled out a handgun and shot Tolliver in the head, chest and back, police said.
Tolliver was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital about an hour after the attack. An autopsy Tuesday determined Tolliver died of multiple gunshot wounds and his death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner's office. He lived in the 6500 block of South Maplewood Avenue, about five miles from the shooting.
Police said a shooting occurred Monday evening near Tolliver's home, but it is not known if they were connected.
Around 6:25 p.m., a 25-year-old man was shot in the groin while walking in an alley in the 6500 block of South Maplewood, police said. He went to Holy Cross Hospital, where his condition had stabilized, police said.
A federal lawsuit alleged Monday that two former Cook County prosecutors one of whom is now a judge conspired with controversial former Chicago police Detective Reynaldo Guevara and others to fabricate evidence that led to a false conviction.
The lawsuit comes just days after a Cook County judge threw out a separate double murder conviction tied to Guevara, resulting in the release of one of the men after more than two decades in prison.
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In filing Monday's lawsuit, attorney Jennifer Bonjean said she is seeking $60 million in damages for her client, Armando Serrano, who was released last summer after more than two decades in prison when prosecutors dropped charges.
The lawsuit alleges that Guevara, his colleagues and then-Assistant State's Attorneys Matthew Coghlan and John Dillon worked together to pressure a key witness into pinning the 1993 murder on Serrano.
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Serrano and co-defendant Jose Montanez were convicted on the testimony of Francisco Vicente, a heroin addict facing four felony charges who allegedly told Guevara that the two men had confessed to fatally shooting Rodrigo Vargas in his van as he left his Humboldt Park apartment for work.
In 2004, after a series of interviews with students from the Medill Innocence Project, Vicente recanted his testimony, saying Guevara had fed him the story.
Serrano spent 23 years behind bars before his conviction was thrown out, and in November he was granted a certificate of innocence.
Coghlan, who is now a Cook County judge in the criminal division, could not be reached for comment Monday on the allegations in the lawsuit. A spokesman for Chief Judge Timothy Evans' office noted that judges are prohibited from commenting publicly about pending court proceedings.
Dillon, now a lawyer in private practice, declined to comment.
A spokesman for the city's Law Department also declined to comment, saying the department had not yet received the suit, as did a spokeswoman for the state's attorney's office.
Prosecutors ordinarily are immune from civil liability after wrongful convictions, but Bonjean argued that Coghlan and Dillon were "intimately involved" in developing Vicente as a witness before Serrano was even arrested. As a result, she maintained that immunity does not apply a legal argument that likely must be hashed out in the litigation.
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Guevara has come under fire over allegations he bullied witnesses and framed innocent people in dozens of cases. In 2009, Juan Johnson won a $21 million verdict in his wrongful conviction lawsuit against Guevara, who Johnson alleged framed him for a 1989 murder.
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On Friday, a Cook County judge threw out charges against Roberto Almodovar and William Negron, who were convicted in 1995 of a double homicide on the strength of witness testimony obtained in part by Guevara. Almodovar was freed Friday, but Negron remained imprisoned on a separate murder conviction.
Guevara has repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned about the accusations against him.
Serrano and Montanez were released from prison last July after prosecutors dropped murder charges against them. The announcement by prosecutors came after a harshly worded appeals court ruling in June found that "profoundly alarming acts of misconduct" had led to their convictions for the 1993 murder.
At the time of their release, Kimberly Foxx, who had already beaten incumbent State's Attorney Anita Alvarez for the Democratic nomination but still faced a Republican in the November election, had said she would review cases involving Guevara after taking office. But her office has declined to confirm that in recent days, saying only that the office's Conviction Integrity Unit reviews all cases brought before it.
mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @crepeau
Gov. Bruce Rauner carries items into his temporary home on the Illinois State Fairgrounds in Springfield, Ill., on April 18, 2017, where he will live while the Executive Mansion undergoes an extensive renovation. (Rich Saal / AP)
SPRINGFIELD Gov. Bruce Rauner traded the historic but rundown Executive Mansion for a more modest house on the state fairgrounds on Tuesday as the 162-year-old building is prepared for a major renovation project.
Rauner's office posted video and photos online of the governor loading bags into the rear of his 1993 Volkswagen van, moving the last few items after crews spent the past several weeks packing antique furniture for storage.
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While Rauner does not live in the mansion full time, he and first lady Diana Rauner spend the night there when in Springfield and have used the building for events like meetings with lawmakers and passing out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. They plan to return to the mansion next summer when renovations are complete. Mansion tours, which were put on hold in January, will also resume then, Illinois Executive Mansion Association spokesman Max Bever said.
In the meantime, the Rauners will stay at a house normally used by the director of the department of agriculture during the Illinois State Fair. Their move comes just days after a private party on the fairgrounds turned violent. Capt. Jerry Felts of the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office said four people were stabbed and at least 20 shots were fired early Sunday during a party at the Illinois Building, which had been rented out for a private event. Felts said no one was shot but the building and some cars were damaged.
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Eleni Demertzis, a spokeswoman for the governor's office, called the matter an "isolated incident" but said the administration "is evaluating policies and procedures for renting space at the fairgrounds to ensure the safety of all visitors at the fairgrounds."
The governor also receives around-the-clock protection from the Illinois State Police.
A spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Agriculture said the agency will continue renting out buildings and facilities throughout the nonfair season.
Diana Rauner has led efforts to renovate the mansion by raising private money. Bever said in an email that $14 million has been raised and pledged to date, with $1 million coming from the Rauners themselves.
The executive mansion has long been in disrepair and hasn't undergone a major overhaul since the early 1970s. A Tribune walk-through in 2015 revealed water stains, buckling wallpaper and a hole in the ceiling of a bedroom honoring a former governor all housed in a crumbling exterior hidden by overgrown landscaping.
Bever said the project, led by Chicago-based Vinci Hamp Architects, will include renovations to the exterior and interior, mechanical upgrades and improvements to the mansion grounds.
Separately, the governor is also pushing to raise private money to upgrade the fairgrounds, which have fallen into disrepair as well. Some buildings are crumbling, flooding is rampant during heavy rains and power outages have frustrated vendors.
hbemiller@chicagotribune.com
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Alderman Leslie Hairston, 5th, shown here in October 2016, has sponsored a measure that would no longer require independent contractors working for aldermen to disclose who else is paying them, abide by city ethics rules or obey strict limits on outside gifts. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)
People working for Chicago aldermen as independent contractors won't have to disclose who else is paying them, abide by city ethics rules or obey strict limits on outside gifts under a measure the City Council is poised to approve Wednesday.
The unanimous vote triggered a quick rebuke from city Board of Ethics Chairman William Conlon, who called it "a very unhealthy secrecy that they are legislating into the laws of the city."
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His comments came after a panel of aldermen on Tuesday voted to carve out the exception, saying they mistakenly classified independent contractors as city employees in early 2016 when they updated the city ethics code. Aldermen contended it was unfair to categorize the contractors as employees because it would require them to disclose details about their own businesses that don't belong in the public realm.
Sponsoring Ald. Leslie Hairston cited the example of political and public relations consultants who are paid to help aldermen respond to media inquiries and prepare newsletters a task done for her by veteran operative Delmarie Cobb, who also works for other aldermen.
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"The client list it's none of anybody's business," the 5th Ward alderman said after a committee vote. "What they do for me is already out there. What they do for other aldermen is already out there. But to treat them as an employee without getting any of the benefits, to try to limit what they do, can impact their business."
Hairston said federal law and IRS code make it clear who is an independent contractor someone with their own business who sets his or her own hours and work terms, pays their own income taxes and does not receive benefits. Both full- and part-time council employees who are paid directly by the city and are at the beck and call of aldermen, however, still would be deemed city employees subject to ethics rules, Hairston said.
But just how employees paid out of the $97,000 annual expense accounts provided by taxpayers to each aldermen are classified is up to aldermen, and to some extent, the employees themselves.
The Tribune has reported extensively on council employees paid from those expense accounts. They have included relatives, political operatives and, in one case, a worker who had been banned from working directly for the city after he was accused of sexually harassing a co-worker. Ald. Matt O'Shea, 19th, was paid out of his predecessor's expense account and a committee fund before he was elected in 2011. It's unclear whether those types of workers are compliant with city ethics rules.
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa referred to a nationwide problem of workers who employers misclassify as independent contractors, even though they follow all the orders and rules set by their employers a practice that runs afoul of IRS rules but allows employers to avoid paying taxes and benefits.
"It's incumbent upon each one of us as aldermen to ensure that we in our offices are following the law and that we are not misclassifying people," noted Ramirez-Rosa, 35th.
Conlon said no matter what the status of the person being paid with council funds, they have an obligation to reveal whether they have any conflicts of interest and abide by city ethics rules.
"You can give anybody any status you want," Conlon said. "You can call them independent contractors. The reality is, I believe, in city government where they are being paid in part from city funds they have a responsibility to disclose publicly any associations that ... are called for on the statement of economic disclosure. ... The light of day is a pretty healthy commodity on issues like this."
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The issue came up after an undisclosed alderman this year asked the city ethics panel for an opinion on whether an unnamed contractor was allowed to receive compensation from a GoFundMe account.
In a Feb. 24 opinion, Conlon wrote that an independent contractor is a city employee subject to the ethics rules, including filing annual financial disclosures, complying with the city code of conduct, not being paid by noncity entities for work related to their council duties and abiding by a gift ban.
A week later, that opinion was reinforced by an ethics board notice to council independent contractors that they had to file financial interest statements by May 31. Not filing could make them subject to fines of $250 a day, the notice warned.
Cobb, the political consultant, called the requirement "ridiculous, just because of the very definition of 'independent contractor.'"
Aldermen are scheduled to vote Wednesday on the amendment, which would remove the requirement that independent contractors file financial disclosures. Whatever the outcome, Ald. Michelle Harris, 8th, chairman of the Rules Committee, indicated she didn't plan to change the way she runs her office.
"For the record, anybody on my staff that works for me full time, whether they are an independent contractor or not, is held in my office to the same standards, and they must do everything that the other employees do," Harris said. "I think it's just a way of keeping things transparent."
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Twitter @ReporterHal
Snap-on workers take photos with their cellphones during President Donald Trump's speech April 18, 2017, at the Snap-on Inc. headquarters in Kenosha. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
KENOSHA President Donald Trump returned to his populist "America first" message Tuesday, visiting a state key to his presidential victory where he signed an executive order to discourage businesses from hiring low-wage workers abroad and to require the government to buy more from U.S. firms.
Appearing at the southeast Wisconsin headquarters of Snap-on Inc., a tool, automotive and industrial diagnostics equipment manufacturer and distributor, Trump tried to bolster his "Buy American, Hire American" campaign pledge.
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During his remarks, Trump also promised quick work on tax reform though Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who also attended, has said such action isn't likely to begin until August at the earliest. In addition, the president urged that action on repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, take place first despite ongoing divides within the Republican-controlled Congress on how to do it.
And Trump once again said the North American Free Trade Agreement should be scrapped unless major changes to benefit U.S. firms and workers could be achieved.
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"Together, we're going to do everything in our power to make sure that more products are stamped with those wonderful words, 'Made in the USA,'" Trump said, paying homage to the Snap-on workforce in lauding the value of U.S. jobs to rebuild the country.
"For too long we have watched as our factories have been closed and our jobs have been sent to other, faraway lands," the president said. "This election, the American people voted to end the theft of American prosperity. They voted to bring back their jobs and to bring back their dreams into our country."
When controversies emerge, Trump frequently heads out of the White House for campaign-style rallies. The president has found himself facing questions about reversals involving U.S. military actions in Syria and Afghanistan, growing tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and a declaration that China does not manipulate its currency. Trump, now needing China to help defuse the U.S. situation with North Korea, had declared China a currency manipulator during the campaign.
A Pew Research Center poll released the day before Trump's visit found the president's national approval rating unchanged from two months ago at 39 percent. The percentage of Americans who disapprove was about the same: 54 percent compared with 56 percent in February.
Though manufacturing no longer takes place at Snap-on's Kenosha campus that's done at 10 other U.S. sites including nearby Milwaukee Trump returned to a comfortable theme of pledging to restore domestic manufacturing to improve the nation's economy and spur job growth.
In signing the executive order, Trump said, "American projects should be made with American goods. No longer are we going to allow foreign countries to cheat our producers and our workers out of federal contracts."
The president also said the order was "designed to protect jobs and wages of workers in the United States."
"We believe jobs must be offered to American workers first. Does that make sense?" he asked during his 20-minute speech. "Right now, widespread abuse in our immigration system is allowing American workers of all backgrounds to be replaced by workers brought in from other countries to fill the same job for sometimes less pay. This will stop."
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The executive order Trump signed will affect the issuance of what is known as H-1B visas, which are often used by technology companies to recruit workers from foreign countries.
During the campaign, Trump was critical of the visa program and pledged to end it, saying firms were using it to import cheap labor at the expense of U.S. jobs. Under the program, the government admits about 85,000 immigrants each year, largely for work in high-technology jobs.
The executive order falls short of ending the program but dramatically restructures it by requiring applicants and their potential employers to show that the visas are going only to "the most highly skilled workers" in their fields.
The order also directs all federal agencies to re-examine waivers and exceptions to government rules and trade agreements that require a preference for purchasing from American companies.
"With this action we are sending a powerful signal to the world: We're going to defend our workers, protect our jobs and finally put America first," Trump said.
Job growth, particularly in manufacturing, has been key to Trump's "Make America Great Again" mantra vowing to "bring back" the jobs of voters who have felt the sting of employment losses and regional economic declines as manufacturing jobs moved out of the country because of globalization or were overtaken by automation.
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Snap-on CEO Nicholas Pinchuk noted the "interesting times" of a shrinking middle class, saying "the traditional strength of America has always been the great middle, making things and keeping them running."
Hailing the performance of his company and pointing to a need for more skilled workers, Pinchuk said the "timeless principle" it was founded upon, "respect for the dignity of work," is in "eclipse" and the type of skilled labor his workers perform is now viewed as a "consolation prize" in an era of technology.
Approaching the 100-day mark of his presidency with few major accomplishments to point to, Trump maintained that "no administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days, that includes on military, on the border, on trade, on regulation, on law enforcement we love our law enforcement and on government reform."
The president promised to bring forward a tax reform plan that would "make our industries more competitive and also to provide a level playing field for our workers."
"We don't have a level playing field, believe me. You're going to have one very soon. And our tax reform and tax plan is coming along very well. It's going to be out very soon," he said.
Trump only briefly touched on his use of the country's military might in attacks on Syria and in Afghanistan, indicating it was a show of strength.
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"No matter the circumstances, everyone will know, we act from this core conviction that America's strength must be unmatched and its first priority, unquestioned, the safety and security of our citizens. This is the surest path to a more peaceful and prosperous world for us all," he said.
Joining Trump for his speech was Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a onetime Republican rival for the presidency, along with Reince Priebus, the Kenosha native who is Trump's chief of staff after having served as Republican National Committee chairman.
Trump's visit took place in the congressional district of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan, who did not attend because of a previously scheduled European trip to NATO countries. At one point, Trump referred to Ryan as "Ron" in saying the speaker was urging NATO countries to increase their contributions to the alliance. The "Ron" reference came after Trump had introduced Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson.
Trump frequently referenced his November win of Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes. He defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by about 27,000 votes to become the first Republican to win the state since Ronald Reagan in 1984. Trump won Kenosha County, the site of Tuesday's visit, by fewer than 300 votes.
Unemployment in the county is at 5.1 percent, up from 4.2 percent in December, when Trump and his then-running mate Mike Pence made a postelection visit to Wisconsin as part of a victory tour. Trump had been scheduled to visit Harley-Davidson in Milwaukee in early February but canceled.
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Topspin
Amid an increase in international tensions and concerns about policy among supporters at home, President Donald Trump on Tuesday is making his first visit to Wisconsin since taking office.
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Trump is scheduled to stop in Kenosha at the headquarters of Snap-on Inc., a tool, automotive and industrial diagnostics equipment manufacturer and franchiser.
Though manufacturing no longer takes place at its Kenosha campus, Trump's visit is expected to dovetail with his "Buy American, Hire American" message of attempting to help restore domestic manufacturing to improve the nation's economy and spur job growth.
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Growth in manufacturing has been key to Trump's "Make America Great Again" mantra vowing to "bring back" the jobs of voters who have felt the sting of employment losses and regional economic declines as manufacturing jobs moved out of the country because of globalization or were overtaken by automation.
In a statement, Snap-on Inc. said Trump's visit was "an encouraging development in highlighting the essential nature of American manufacturing to our nation's future."
"It's always an honor when our contributions to society are recognized," the company said.
Last month, Trump trumpeted the findings of a National Association of Manufacturers survey of industry executives that found 93 percent were optimistic about the economy's future. Trump said that percentage had been only 56 percent "just a few months ago."
"It's a new surge in optimism, which is sweeping all across our land," Trump said at the time. "These survey results are a further vote of confidence in our plan to bring back jobs, lower taxes, and provide a level playing field for our workers."
Trump's visit also takes him to the congressional district of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan of Janesville, which shares a border with northern Illinois. Trump and Ryan are trying to jump-start an effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, after an initial plan was scuttled by a group of House Republicans in the conservative Freedom Caucus.
Trump's visit also takes place in the hometown of his chief of staff, Reince Priebus, the former chairman of the Republican National Committee. Priebus had been among those sparring with Trump's chief political adviser, Steve Bannon, who is now heading into a lesser role at the White House having fallen out of favor.
When controversies emerge, Trump frequently heads out of the White House for campaign-style rallies. The president has found himself facing questions about reversals involving U.S. military actions in Syria and Afghanistan, growing tensions over North Korea's nuclear and missile program and a declaration that China does not manipulate its currency. Trump, now needing China to help defuse the U.S. situation with North Korea, declared China a currency manipulator during the campaign.
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A Pew Research Center poll released the day before Trump's visit found the president's national approval rating unchanged from two months ago at 39 percent. The percentage of Americans who disapprove was about the same: 54 percent compared with 56 percent in February.
Trump won Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes by about 27,000 votes over Democrat Hillary Clinton to become the first Republican elected by the state since Ronald Reagan won it in 1984. In Kenosha County, the site of Trump's visit, the Republican won by fewer than 300 votes.
Unemployment in the county is at 5.1 percent, up from 4.2 percent in December, when Trump and his then-running mate Mike Pence made a post-election visit to Wisconsin as part of a victory tour. Trump had been scheduled to visit Harley-Davidson in Milwaukee in early February, but the event was canceled. (Rick Pearson)
What's on tap
*Mayor Rahm Emanuel will address gun dealer licensing laws at UCAN and preside over a meeting of the Public Building Commission.
*Gov. Bruce Rauner will tour II-VI EpiWorks in Champaign.
*The City Council Finance Committee could consider a plan to send more TIF district surplus money to Chicago Public Schools.
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*Attendees to the Kennedy Forum's morning event on mental health funding at Ocean Cut include Sen. Dick Durbin, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle and State's Attorney Kim Foxx. Cardinal Blase Cupich will appear at a luncheon at Glasser Auditorium at Mount Sinai Hospital.
From the notebook
*Alderman tries again on CPS TIF money plan: One alderman who doubts that Chicago Public Schools will get a last-minute cash infusion from state government is resurrecting a plan to siphon money from special taxing districts throughout the city.
Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, first floated the idea to draw down tax increment financing district reserves last year before Mayor Emanuel in October agreed to declare $175 million of those TIF funds as surplus. CPS got about half that money, which helped avert a strike by the Chicago Teachers Union and staved off a City Council push to vote on Cardenas' plan.
Since then, Gov. Rauner vetoed a measure that would have provided an extra $215 million to CPS this year for pension payments a plan that's one of many casualties of an historic budget stalemate.
CPS CEO Forrest Claypool who in a lawsuit has accused the state of shortchanging minority students in Chicago has said that without the money CPS could be forced to close its doors nearly three weeks early and cut summer programs.
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Whether CPS will actually cut short the school year an idea Emanuel has called "not the right option, not the right choice" remains to be seen. Emanuel, who also likes to boast of expanding the school day and year and frequently talks about educational gains at CPS, continues to maintain Springfield has the answer.
But Cardenas told the Tribune on Monday he's doubtful Springfield will come through, given the political stalemate. "I'm not optimistic at all," Cardenas said. "I'm just being realistic."
So he's reintroduced his proposal, which is on the agenda for Tuesday's Finance Committee meeting, to at least get people talking about ways to help CPS.
Discussion could be as far as it goes, however, given that a lot of proposals get debated at the Finance Committee led by Chairman Ed Burke, 14th, without getting advanced to the full council.
Under Cardenas' plan, the city would have to declare as surplus all money in TIF district not already committed to specific projects, with half of it automatically going to CPS. It also would allow the city to give its 22 percent share of the TIF surplus to CPS.
TIF funds, which set aside property tax collections for economic development in struggling or stagnant areas, have long been a target of the CTU. (Hal Dardick, Juan Perez Jr.)
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*State gets in on United controversy: In response to recent controversy surrounding United Airlines, a state lawmaker has introduced legislation that aims to protect ticketed airline passengers from being forcibly removed from flights.
The proposal from Rep. Peter Breen, R-Lombard, marks another chapter in the fallout from the incident at O'Hare International Airport last week, when David Dao was dragged off a United flight by aviation security officials when he refused to leave his seat.
Breen's proposal would keep state and local officials from working with airlines to remove passengers unless there's a safety risk or public emergency. He said the state should prevent public employees from being used to hurt people.
"Our public servants were used to abuse a visitor to our city, and that should never happen," Breen said. "We have to set that line down ourselves."
The plan also would keep the state from doing business with airlines that bump ticketed passengers to provide seats for their employees. It would award attorney's fees to people who successfully sue an airline for violating the law.
Breen said it's important for the state to take a stand against airlines that implement these policies, particularly since the United incident happened "in our backyard."
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"This incident caused a real black eye for our state and for our largest city and the crown jewel of our transportation infrastructure," Breen said. (Haley BeMiller)
*Biss gets OFA stalwart: Democratic state Sen. Daniel Biss has hired a campaign manager for his governor bid. It's Abby Witt, a stalwart of former President Barack Obama's campaign operations.
Witt is well-known nationally as an astute political operative. She played several roles in Obama presidential campaigns from regional field director in 2008 to director of political operations in the 2012 re-election bid.
She was responsible for strategic planning and day-to-day operations of Organizing For Action, the offshoot of Obama for America, working for progressive causes through grassroots action.
"If we want real change and to start solving problems in Illinois, we need to build a movement to take our state back from money and the machine," said Biss. "Building a bold and progressive grassroots campaign requires an organizer leading us every day, and we got one of the best in Abby Witt."
Witt said Biss's history as show he "understands that real change doesn't come with the ability to cut a check, but with the ability to organize a community."
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"I'm honored to join a movement to take our state back from money and the machine, and set us on a new course," she said in a statement. According to her LinkedIn page, until February Witt worked as Chicago Public Schools' director of strategic initiatives. (Rick Pearson)
*Rauner's travels: Gov. Rauner on Monday was in Moline to discuss "changes to get Illinois back on track" and in Peoria to discuss "changes to fix Illinois' broken system." Those are the types of descriptions his government press shop typically puts out when he's appearing somewhere to tout what he used to call his "turnaround agenda" and now refers to as "structural reforms." Taxpayers foot the bill for whatever travel costs such appearances generate.
Last week, however, similar events were deemed to be campaign stops, and the governor's political fund covered the cost. We asked Rauner's government press operation why Monday's stops were taxpayer-funded when they mirror what the campaign did last week using private money. What's the difference, we asked.
The press shop offered an answer that shed little light on the distinction.
"Today's visits allow the governor to meet with and talk to constituents in his official capacity as a statewide office holder," Rauner spokeswoman Eleni Demertzis responded in an email.
*Better late than never? It only took about a decade, but the Illinois House Democrats now have a joint social media effort. Comprising the effort are Facebook and Twitter feeds under the branding "Lifting Up Illinois."
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In a news release touting the effort, Steve Brown, longtime spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan, sounded the class-warfare theme that the party has employed against wealthy Republican Gov. Rauner pretty much since he emerged as a force on the Illinois political scene in 2014.
"While Gov. Rauner and House Republicans continue to stand by their corporate agenda, House Democrats are fighting for economic reforms to grow the economy and build a stronger middle class," Brown said in the release. "To this end, House Democrats are working to put more money in the pockets of working families by expanding middle-class tax credits and raising the minimum wage. Efforts by House Democrats are also being made to level the playing field for Illinois' small and medium-sized employers while closing loopholes that allow big corporations to avoid paying any taxes at all."
The three other caucuses in the House and Senate have had such efforts for years, and the House Democratic effort follows grumbling by rank-and-file members that they needed to do the same in the modern era.
What we're writing
*First-term U.S. congressman is last in state in seniority but first in fundraising.
*Emanuel won't 'prejudge' future of aviation police after man dragged off United flight.
*Emanuel wants tougher gun rules on party buses.
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*Gun ranges in Chicago could be allowed in more areas under proposal.
*As state switches to SAT exam, some districts also paying to offer ACT.
*Naperville mayor: City 'could've done better' reporting officer-involved fatal crash.
What we're reading
*Cubs World Series rally damage displaces Grant Park softball teams.
*Secretary of State Jesse White already tweaking new license plate design.
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*Ex-Pope Benedict XVI celebrates 90th birthday with a mug of beer.
Follow the money
*Illinois campaign finance reports for the first quarter were due at midnight. They've trickled in here.
*Track Illinois campaign contributions in real time here and here.
Beyond Chicago
*V.P. Pence warns North Korea.
*Chris Christie on what might have been.
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*Gorsuch hears arguments for first time on Supreme Court.
*Canada glacier melt rerouted in rare case of "river piracy."
Mayor Rahm Emanuel told reporters this week he wanted to "push the envelope" on setting rules to make it tough for revelers to bring guns onto party buses in Chicago, but a plan he announced Tuesday stops short of outlawing firearms.
Emanuel acknowledged it would be difficult to ban legal guns on the buses without running afoul of the state's concealed carry law, noting Monday that "party buses operate between what an established bar would be, or other type of place where the rules would be pretty clear."
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Rather than press his luck by pushing the envelope, the mayor doesn't address legal firearms in an amended ordinance governing the buses, according to information his administration provided. Emanuel's aides did not provide the Tribune a full copy of the ordinance Tuesday.
Aldermen are set to vote on the mayor's plan in a committee hearing Wednesday, then the City Council would quickly consider it. The party bus issue has been gaining steam at City Hall following a series of high-profile shootings involving drunken passengers in popular nightclub neighborhoods like River North.
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Under the amended ordinance, buses would need to have a licensed security guard on board if there were more than 15 passengers and there was either alcohol on the bus or the bus planned to make "interim stops" at bars, clubs or other places where alcohol would be consumed, according to Emanuel's office.
In addition, the bus owner, driver or the security guard would be required to "take affirmative measures to determine that no passenger is illegally carrying a firearm."
Violations of city rules could trigger the suspension of the licenses for a company's entire fleet of buses, rather than just the one where a violation occurs, the mayor's office said.
Bus operators who follow city statutes have expressed concerns about the City Council's crackdown. They say it will cost them thousands of dollars to install security cameras that the ordinance calls for, and they worry that illegal bus companies will simply continue to ignore the rules.
jebyrne@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @_johnbyrne
United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit. United States of America, Plaintiff - Appellee, v. Jose Luis Romero-Orbe, also known as Jose Ramon Armenta-Valdez, Defendant - Appellant. No. 15-3992 Decided: April 17, 2017
Before LOKEN, SMITH,1 and COLLOTON, Circuit Judges.
Jose Romero-Orbe pleaded guilty to illegal reentry to the United States after a previous removal and conviction for commission of an aggravated felony. See 8 U.S.C. 1326(a) and (b)(2). The district court sentenced him to 36 months' imprisonment.
Romero-Orbe appeals, arguing that the district court committed procedural error in calculating the advisory guideline range. Under the guidelines in effect at the time of sentencing, the defendant's offense level was enhanced by 16 levels if he previously was deported after a conviction for a felony that was a crime of violence. USSG 2L1.2(b)(1)(A) (2015). Crime of violence under the guideline includes any offense under state law that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person of another. Id., comment. (n.1(B)(iii)).
Romero-Orbe contends that the district court mistakenly concluded that his prior conviction for domestic assault under Minn. Stat. 609.2242, subdivision 4 was a crime of violence that triggered the increase. Subdivision 4 provides that a violation of subdivision 1 of the statute constitutes a felony, as opposed to a misdemeanor, if it is committed within ten years of the first of any two or more prior domestic violence-related convictions. Subdivision 1, in turn, explains that a domestic assault occurs when a person, against a family or household member, (1) commits an act with intent to cause fear in another of immediate bodily harm or death; or (2) intentionally inflicts or attempts to inflict bodily harm upon another. 609.2242, subd. 1 (2013).
The district court ruled that Romero-Orbe's conviction under 609.2242, subdivision 4 qualified as a crime of violence, because the offense satisfied the force clause of the definition in the guideline. Romero-Orbe disputes this conclusion. He maintains that under subdivision 1(1), a person can be convicted based on an intent to cause fear, without the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force. Therefore, he argues, the Minnesota statute is not categorically a crime of violence, and the district court erred by increasing his offense level.
This case is controlled by the reasoning of United States v. Schaffer, 818 F.3d 796 (8th Cir. 2016). In Schaffer, this court determined that Minn. Stat. 609.2242, subdivision 1(1) qualifies as a violent felony for purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act, 18 U.S.C. 924(e). The court reasoned that an act undertaken with intent to cause fear in another of immediate bodily harm or death necessarily involves a threatened use of physical force against the person of another. 818 F.3d at 798. Although Schaffer applied 924(e) rather than the sentencing guideline at issue here, the applicable definitions are identical, and we see no basis for a distinction. Accordingly, the district court correctly concluded that Romero-Orbe's conviction under Minn. Stat. 609.2242, subdivision 4 was for a crime of violence under USSG 2L1.2. There was no procedural error.
The judgment of the district court is affirmed.
FOOTNOTES
. The Honorable Ann D. Montgomery, United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota.
COLLOTON, Circuit Judge.
Police officers and rescue workers cordon off a street during searches in Marseille, southern France, on April 18, 2017. (Claude Paris / AP)
PARIS French police thwarted an imminent "terror attack" and arrested two suspected radicals Tuesday in the southern port city of Marseille, the interior minister said just days before the first round of France's presidential election.
The two men allegedly "intended to commit an attack on French soil in the very short term, which is to say in coming days," Interior Minister Matthias Fekl said during a brief news conference.
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France votes Sunday in the first round of its two-stage election. Extra safety measures are being put in place for the balloting after the extremist attacks in the country that have made security one of the major issues of the presidential campaign.
The men, both French, are "suspected of wanting to commit, in an imminent way, a violent action on the eve of the French presidential election," the minister said.
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Fekl gave no details about potential targets or motives.
The suspects, Mahiedine Merabet, 29 and Clement Baur, 23, were both detained under arrest warrants for terrorist criminal association, according to a police document obtained by The Associated Press.
President Francois Hollande hailed the "remarkable" arrests and the work of police.
Agents from the French domestic security agency, backed by elite police units, conducted the arrests. Searches are also underway, Fekl said.
France's fight against homegrown and overseas Islamic extremism has been one of the main campaign topics for presidential candidates.
Candidates on the right have been especially vocal, seeking to appeal to voters traumatized by Islamic State group-inspired attacks that have killed at least 235 people in France since January 2015, by far the largest casualty rate of any Western country.
With the terror threat "higher than ever," Fekl said "everything is being done" to secure the election, the candidates, their election headquarters and rallies.
He said more than 50,000 police, gendarmes and soldiers will be deployed in France and its overseas territories on Sunday and for the decisive second-round vote on May 7.
Hours after 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. was killed in cold blood on a neighborhood street in Cleveland, crowdfunding pages for the slain man's family began popping up online.
One of those pages was created by Wesley Scott Alexander, a stranger 2,000 miles away in Phoenix. Alexander wrote on Facebook that he'd seen the horrific video showing Godwin's shooting death and thought it was "disgusting."
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His goal was to raise $20,000 "and help the family cope," he wrote. In less than 24 hours, the page had exceeded that goal, raising more than $33,000 including $4,500 in a single hour.
"Social Media never ceases to amaze me," Alexander wrote on Facebook.
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There was just one problem at the time.
While donations were pouring into the GoFundMe page Alexander set up, the Godwin family was warning the public not to donate to GoFundMe due to the proliferation of fake pages.
"We've gotten word from Mr. Godwin's family that there are several GoFundMe accounts set up not by the family," Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams said at a news conference Monday morning. "So they're asking people not to contribute to any GoFundMe or any memorial or any account right now in Mr. Godwin's name."
Debbie Godwin, who was identified in news reports at Godwin's daughter, further warned people about it on Facebook, saying the family would not be setting up a GoFundMe page at all.
The confusing sequence of events in which good and bad intentions become difficult to separate has become a routine element of tragedies that capture the public's attention. In the aftermath of those tragedies, scam artists are quick to take advantage of the public's innate desire to reassure victims and inject order and compassion into chaotic situations.
"If you have questions about a campaign, you should first try to contact the Campaign Organizer directly by visiting their campaign and clicking or tapping the envelope icon to send them a direct message," GoFundMe writes on its page on safety. If you still have concerns that a page is misleading or fraudulent, let our team know by reporting it here."
In the wake of the Godwin killing, GoFundMe is trying to resolve the problem so donations can continue. GoFundMe spokesman Bobby Whithorne said in a statement that it's not uncommon for numerous crowdfunding pages to be set up for one victim.
But, Whithorne told The Washington Post, in the case of Alexander's page, the site has "spoken with the GoFundMe campaign organizer, members of the family, and local authorities. We'll guarantee the money will be deposited directly into the family's bank account."
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Asked whether this is protocol, Whithorne said, "We monitor the entire platform. We ensure the funds raised go to the family or refunded to the donor."
Whithorne suggested that people use Alexander's page for donations for the Godwin family.
"GoFundMe has vetted this campaign and it's authentic," he added. "They are in direct communication with the family and have confirmed all funds will be deposited directly into their bank account. This is the only campaign verified by the family."
Alexander could not immediately be reached for comment, but he noted on Facebook that several fake campaigns had sprung up, while his had been endorsed.
"I am just a kid from Arizona who unfortunately saw this video on Facebook and wanted to help," he wrote on Facebook. "Take initiative. I'll post photos of me delivering the help. I know this won't bring their loved one back but it's the least we can do. I hope they find peace."
Police say Godwin was the victim of 37-year-old Steve Stephens, who pulled up in his Ford Fusion on a road in east Cleveland about 2 p.m. Sunday. Stephens was later seen in a Facebook video, saying, "I found somebody I'm about to kill."
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"I'm about to kill this guy right here. He's an old dude," Stephens said as he approached Godwin, who was reportedly walking on a sidewalk looking for aluminum cans to collect.
"Can you do me a favor?" he said to Godwin before asking him to say the name Joy Lane.
"Joy Lane?" Godwin responded.
"Yeah," Stephens then replied. "She's the reason why this is about to happen to you."
The video showed him ask Godwin how old he was, then raise a gun and pull the trigger. The camera spun around; when the picture came into focus, Godwin was on the ground.
It all lasted less than a minute.
Pennsylvania State Police say Steve Stephens, the suspect in the random killing of a Cleveland retiree posted on Facebook, has shot and killed himself after a brief pursuit. (Erie Times-News via AP, Cleveland Police Department)
The man who randomly killed a Cleveland retiree and posted video of the crime on Facebook shot himself to death in his car Tuesday during a police chase in Pennsylvania, ending a multistate manhunt less than 48 hours after it began.
Acting on a tip, Pennsylvania State Police spotted Steve Stephens, 37, leaving a McDonald's in Erie and went after him, bumping his car to try to get it to stop, authorities said. He shot himself in the head as the car spun out of control, police said.
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"This started with one tragedy and ended with another person taking their own life," said Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams. "We would have liked to have brought Steve in peacefully and really talked to him about why this happened."
Steve Stephens was spotted this morning by PSP members in Erie County. After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself. PA State Police (@PAStatePolice) April 18, 2017
Stephens, a job counselor who worked with teenagers and young people, was wanted on murder charges in the shooting of Robert Godwin Sr., a 74-year-old former foundry worker and father of 10 who was picking up aluminum cans on Sunday when he was gunned down.
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The chilling video was posted on Facebook for three hours before it was taken down, drawing criticism of the social network and renewing questions about how responsibly it polices objectionable material.
At a Silicon Valley conference Tuesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg briefly addressed the Cleveland case, saying Facebook has "a lot of work to do" and "we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this."
Police would not speculate on what was behind the killing, but in the video and other footage he posted, Stephens talked about losing everything he had to gambling and having trouble with his girlfriend. He said he "just snapped."
One of Godwin's daughters, Debbie Godwin, said she wished Stephens had been captured.
"I'm not happy he's dead at all, not at all. If you did it, you have to face your crime," she said.
This frame from video posted April 16, 2017, on Facebook shows Robert Godwin Sr. in Cleveland moments before being fatally shot. The search for murder suspect Steve Stephens put authorities in surrounding states on the lookout after police said the man might have left Ohio. (Facebook image)
The break in the case came when police received a tip that Stephens' car was in the McDonald's parking lot in Erie, in the northwestern corner of the state, about 100 miles east of Cleveland, authorities said. The chase lasted 2 miles before Stephens took his own life, police said.
Law enforcement officials had said on Monday that Stephens' cellphone was last tracked Sunday afternoon near Erie.
The police chief said Tuesday that it wasn't clear whether Stephens had any help while he was on the run or where he had been and that investigators will try to retrace he steps.
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Facebook said it removed the video of the shooting 23 minutes after learning of it. The company has since announced it is launching a review for reporting harmful content.
"This is something that should not have been shared around the world. Period," Cleveland's police chief said.
In the video, Stephens told Godwin the name of his girlfriend and said, "She's the reason that this is about to happen to you." Godwin did not seem to recognize the name.
Investigators said that Godwin was the only victim so far linked to Stephens, despite his claim on Facebook that he killed over a dozen people.
Detectives spoke with the suspect on Sunday by cellphone and tried to persuade him to surrender, police said. Within a day, authorities expanded the search nationwide and offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Associated Press reporters Michael Rubinkam in Pennsylvania, Dake Kang and Delano Massey in Cleveland, John Seewer in Toledo and Dan Sewell in Cincinnati contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON President Donald Trump hopes to revive the economic populism that helped drive his election campaign on Tuesday, signing an order in politically important Wisconsin to tighten rules on technology companies bringing in highly skilled foreign workers.
At a the headquarters of a big-name tool manufacturer, Trump is expected to sign an order aimed at curbing what his administration says are abuses in a visa program used by U.S. technology companies that harm American workers. Dubbed "Buy American, Hire American," the directive follows a series of recent Trump reversals on economic policies.
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The president is to sign the directive at Snap-on Inc. in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a state he narrowly carried in November on the strength of support from white, working class voters. Trump currently has only a 41 percent approval rating in the state.
He is targeting the H-1B visa program, which the White House says undercuts American workers by bringing in large numbers of cheaper, foreign workers, driving down wages.
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The tech industry has argued that the H-1B program is needed because it encourages students to stay in the U.S. after getting degrees in high-tech specialties and companies can't always find enough American workers with the skills they need.
Trump has traveled to promote his agenda less than his recent predecessors. White House spokesman Sean Spicer said he wanted to visit "a company that builds American-made tools with American workers."
The new order would direct U.S. agencies to propose rules to prevent immigration fraud and abuse in the program. They would also be asked to offer changes so that H-1B visas are awarded to the "most-skilled or highest-paid applicants," said administration officials who spoke only on the condition of anonymity despite the president's frequent criticism of the use of anonymous sources.
The officials said the order also seeks to strengthen requirements that American-made products be used in certain federal construction projects, as well as in various federal grant-funded transportation projects. The commerce secretary will review how to close loopholes in existing rules and provide recommendations to the president.
The order specifically asks the secretary to review waivers of these rules in free-trade agreements. The waivers could be renegotiated or revoked if they are not benefiting the United States.
Trump's visit to Wisconsin takes him to the congressional district of House Speaker Paul Ryan, who won't be joining the president because he's on a congressional trip visiting NATO countries.
Trump campaigned on populist promises to stand up to China, which he contended was manipulating its currency and stealing American jobs, and to eliminate the Export-Import bank, which he billed as wasteful subsidy. In a series of interviews last week, Trump reversed himself on both positions
And while he has long pledged to support American goods and workers, his own business record is mixed. Many Trump-branded products, like clothing, are made overseas. And his businesses have hired foreign workers, including at his Palm Beach club Mar-a-Lago.
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During his campaign, Trump said at one point that he supported high-skilled visas, then he said he opposed the program. At one debate, he said: "It's very bad for our workers and it's unfair for our workers. And we should end it."
Potential changes could be administrative or legislative and could include higher fees for the visas, changing the wage scale for the program or other initiatives.
Critics say the program has been hijacked by staffing companies that use the visas to recruit foreigners often from India who will work for less than Americans. The staffing companies then sell their services to corporate clients.
Employers, including Walt Disney World and the University of California, San Francisco, have laid off tech employees and replaced them with H-1B visa holders. U.S. workers are sometimes asked to train their replacements to qualify for severance packages.
Ronil Hira, a professor in public policy at Howard University and a critic of the H-1B program, said Trump's planned order is "better than nothing." But he added, "It's not as aggressive as it needs to be."
Trump carried Wisconsin in November by under 23,000 votes less than 1 percentage point making him the first Republican to win the state since 1984. He campaigned on the promise of returning manufacturing jobs that have been lost in Upper Midwest states.
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Snap-on makes hand and power tools, diagnostics software, information and management systems, and shop equipment for use in various industries, including agriculture, the military and aviation. It has eight manufacturing sites in North America and employs about 11,000 people worldwide.
Associated Press writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.
Luke Gartman, center, along with veterinarian Eric Rooker, right, and veterinary student Brandon Debbink, left, help a newborn calf at the Gartmans' family farm in Sheboygan, Wis. (Darren Hauck / The Washington Post)
SHEBOYGAN, Wis. Seven generations of Gartmans have birthed calves in this barn, a white-roofed, red-sided structure within a short walk of the land the first Gartmans are buried on.
But the bull that Luke Gartman, 36, pulled into the world on a recent Tuesday morning was a special one. This calf - steaming and soggy and apparently unbreathing, before Luke begins to poke his face with straw - could be one of the very last calves ever born on the Gartmans' farm.
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The family has two weeks to find a new dairy processing company to buy their milk and sell it into the market. The contract with their existing buyer was just cancelled, the latest casualty of an increasingly acrimonious trade war with Canada over the price of ultrafiltered milk, an ingredient used in cheese.
"We could be in a situation where we have to sell the cows," said Gartman's brother Matt. "If we're to that point of May 1 and have no solutions -- well, we would no longer be a dairy farm."
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The dispute - which has played out in surprisingly barbed remarks across the normally friendly northern border - illustrates the enormous complexity of fulfilling President Trump's promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, the free trade pact with Canada and Mexico.
While NAFTA is often portrayed as a single trade agreement to be negotiated, it has specific provisions affecting thousands of products in hundreds of industries. The trade pact contains terms governing dozens of different dairy products alone.
Reworking many of these, experts say, will involve not just complex technical discussions but a fight between powerful political interests on both sides of the border. And in almost every case, on the line will be the livelihoods of the people who grow or make the products, each with a compelling case for why their side should prevail.
This particular dispute has already affected 75 family farms, caused more than a $150 million in losses, and prompted a bipartisan alliance of lawmakers to demand that Trump deliver on his tough talk about protecting U.S. industries from unfair trade practices.
"This could certainly become an issue in any attempt to renegotiate NAFTA," said Luis Ribera, an agricultural economist at Texas A&M who studies North American trade. "Once you open NAFTA, everything is theoretically on the table for debate."
The Gartmans keep a herd of 120 Holsteins on their family farm in Sheboygan, Wis. (Darren Hauck / The Washington Post)
'Farmers are using alternative facts'
The dairy industry, like much of agriculture, has never been predictable. But until receiving the cancellation letter earlier this month from their processor, Grassland Dairy Products, the Gartmans at least knew where their milk would end up.
Every morning at 5, Luke, Matt and their father, Mark, begin herding the family's 120 Holsteins from the 13,000 square-foot barn where they sleep. They guide the cows to pumps in the 12-stall milking parlor, where they produce 3,800 pounds of milk in each of the herd's two daily milkings. The milk is siphoned via stainless-steel pipes to a Civil War-era cold room, where it awaits pickup by an insulated tanker truck.
From there, the milk travels 194 miles west to Greenwood, Wisc., where Grassland processes it into butter, cream, dry milk powder and a high-protein milk concentrate called ultrafiltered milk. The bulk of ultrafiltered milk is then shipped to Canada and used as a protein added to cheese.
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At least that's how it was until April of last year. That's when dairy farmers in Ontario, Canada's most populous province, took steps that undermined their U.S. competitors. Trade agreements between the United States and Canada govern what kinds of tariffs the countries can impose on each other's goods. While NAFTA eliminated many tariffs between the countries, some large tariffs on dairy remained.
But ultrafiltered milk hit the market after NAFTA's 1994 enactment. As a result, it could enter Canada without facing big tariffs.
Ontario farmers, frustrated with the arrangement, last April dramatically cut the prices on Canadian ultrafiltered milk. Other provinces plan to follow suit, posing a dire threat to U.S. farms.
Companies such as Grassland and New York's Cayuga Milk Ingredients have already reported losses of $150 million since the price drop began.
American agricultural interests have decried Canada's actions as deeply unfair.
"Our federal and state governments cannot abide by Canada's disregard for its trade commitment to the United States," Tom Vilsack, president of the U.S. Dairy Export Council and former secretary of agriculture under President Barack Obama, said in a statement. Canada, he continued, has "pursue[d] policies that are choking off sales of American-made milk to the detriment of U.S. dairy farmers."
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The Canadian dairy industry disputes these allegations, arguing that U.S. milk producers have built far too much capacity in recent years and face such an oversupply of milk that they have to cut back.
"To use a phrase that has recently come out of the U.S., Wisconsin farmers are using alternative facts," said Isabelle Bouchard, the director of communications and government relations at the industry group Dairy Farmers of Canada. "The Wisconsin people are trying to find an enemy -- when in reality the problem they have is that they're overproducing."
With dairy farmers scrambling to find new markets for their milk, a bipartisan alliance of policymakers, including New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, D, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, R, have called on the Canadian government to intervene in its dairy industry.
Sens. Tammy Baldwin and Ron Johnson of Wisconsin -- a liberal Democrat and a tea-party Republican, respectively -- joined a statement by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan this month that alleged that the new pricing policies "appear to violate Canada's existing trade obligations to the United States."
Industry groups, meanwhile, have called on the Trump administration to intervene directly. On Thursday, several powerful dairy trade associations sent a joint letter to Trump, asking that he push Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the issue and direct U.S. agencies to "impress upon Canada in a concrete way the importance of dependable U.S. trade." The letter called on Trump to escalate the issue to the World Trade Organization if Canada doesn't respond positively.
Industry is also concerned the dispute could spill into other products. The Ontario price drop applied not only to ultrafiltered milk but also to skim milk powder, which could eventually result in Canadians selling more of the ingredient on global markets. That could depress prices for American farmers, and ultimately hurt them even more than the lost trade in ultrafiltered milk.
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The White House has not yet taken action and did not immediately respond to a request for comment, though the dairy industry is confident it will act. Trump will be in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, visiting a manufacturing plant.
The U.S. Trade Representative's 2017 report on barriers to U.S. trade, which articulate the country's trade enforcement priorities, discussed the dairy concerns. Emily Davis, a spokeswoman for the office, said that USTR was "aware of the importance of the Canadian market for American dairy farmers" and was "examining" the matter.
"The administration has demonstrated strong interest in trying to resolve this issue," said Jaime Castaneda, the vice president of trade policy at the National Milk Producers Federation. "They are definitely paying a lot of attention."
The escalating rhetoric has begun to alarm some Canadians.
"A lot of people are very nervous in Canada because of Mr. Trump's statements about trade," said Sylvain Charlebois, a professor of food policy at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia. "You could easily see the U.S. refusing to buy Canadian beef, for instance, unless Canada opened its dairy markets."
Luke Gartman scrapes manure in the milking parlor on his family farm. (Darren Hauck / The Washington Post)
'Nowhere to go with this milk'
Without renewed access to the Canadian market, U.S. dairy farmers find themselves in a deeply precarious situation. They are scrambling to find new processors to buy their milk, but finding few takers because of the overall glut.
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"Everybody knows there's nowhere to go with this milk. Absolutely nowhere," said Stacy Limberg, who heads the Sheboygan County Dairy Promotion Board, gesturing around her own barn. "I can't even begin to fathom what we would do in that situation."
Ten miles east on County Road V, the Gartmans have begun to fathom it. They remain "hopefully optimistic" that they will find a new processor by the May 1 deadline, and have recently heard from a local hauler who believes he might have a connection for them.
Should that fall through, however, the brothers are discussing the possibility of moving their herd, short term, to a relative's farm. And if they still can't find a processor at that point, they'll begin to truck their cows to auction.
That is a prospect that Gartman said he refuses to think about, yet. He knows each of his 120 cows on sight, by name: There's Yodel, Dinah, Egypt, Cosmic, Jolly -- generations of cows milked in this room his mom hand-stenciled with a cow motif in the '80s.
On a recent Monday night, his 8-year-old niece Audrey herded cows around the parlor, unfazed by the fact that most were twice her height. Gartman's own children were off the farm at a 4-H meeting for the night.
"This was supposed to be their farm next," he said. "What will be left for them?"
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Then he headed to the back barn to haul manure. That, at least, remains a constant.
PORTLAND, Maine Independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders gained roars of approval from a friendly crowd on Monday as he called for a radical transformation of the Democratic Party into a grassroots movement founded on the tenets of his unsuccessful Democratic presidential campaign: fighting against the billionaire class and rigged economic and political systems.
Sanders, of Vermont, and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, who faced some boos as he spoke, launched a cross-country tour together in Maine, where Sanders won the Democratic presidential caucuses. The tour will take them from Maine to eight other states, including Florida, Arizona, Montana and Nevada.
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Sanders, who ran as a Democrat against Hillary Clinton but returned to the Senate as an independent, said the Democratic Party must stop ignoring half the nation's states and take on corporate greed on behalf of the working class. Perez urged attendees to resist Republican President Donald Trump by winning seats in Congress, statehouses and school boards.
"That's what we will do: Fight like hell with you," Perez said.
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A crowd of roughly 1,200 filled the State Theatre, with the loudest cheers for Sanders and jeers at mentions of the "1 percent" and Trump's executive orders and proposed budget cuts.
"Our vision for the future of this country is a very different vision than yours," Sanders said, as he called for living wages, protecting Planned Parenthood and fighting income inequality.
He also said he's introducing legislation to create a single-payer health care system.
Some in the crowd also booed at the first mention of the Democratic National Committee. Perez's predecessor, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, resigned after Sanders' campaign pounced on leaked emails that they said showed party officials had favored Clinton during the primaries.
Some attendees said it's time to unite and reform the Democratic Party, while others said they're skeptical of the political establishment and big money in politics.
Sean Potter, a Sanders supporter and musician from Falmouth, said he was curious to hear from Sanders, whom he noted "kind of got shafted by" the Democratic Party.
Sanders' appearance comes as Democratic parties nationwide are trying to appeal to the working class in states including Maine, where a resurgent Republican Party in the last decade has gained ground in rural communities roiled by the closing of paper mills and sluggish economic growth.
Sanders drew thousands to a rally at the civic center in Portland in July 2015, showing he was more than a fringe candidate. In the end, he earned nearly two-thirds of the ballots cast in Maine's Democratic presidential caucuses to beat Clinton. Clinton, though, won the party's presidential nomination.
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Sanders also did well in rural areas that supported Republican candidate Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, in the primary and Trump in the November election.
Troy Jackson, a logger from the northern Maine town of Allagash and the Maine Democratic Senate leader, said it's time that Democrats to work harder for those communities.
"Where I'm from, people live their lives far removed from the powerful elites that seem to hold their destinies in their hands," he said.
Jackson also said he's "heard from a lot of pundits that the average American feels powerless."
"We know it's rigged," he said.
Elissa Moore drove two hours to the rally from Dover-Foxcroft, where she voted for Clinton but has remained a "big fan" of Sanders. She's increasingly become involved with politics since Trump's inauguration and worries that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people will suffer under his administration.
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"Republicans picked up on something, whether it was racism or small-town America not feeling respected or understood," said Moore, a mother and occupational therapist. "Democrats have the reputation of being elitist. That offended people when they went to vote."
In his drive to dismantle President Barack Obama's regulatory legacy, President Donald Trump has signed executive orders with great fanfare and breathed life into a once-obscure law to nullify numerous Obama-era regulations.
But his administration is also quietly using a third tactic: Going to court to stop federal judges from ruling on a broad array of regulations that are being challenged by Trump's own conservative allies.
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These cases were filed long before the election. Now, Trump administration officials, eager to flip the government position, want judges to put the cases on hold and give federal agencies time to revise or shrink the Obama-era regulatory regime.
Trump officials are also asking judges to keep any existing stays in place so that the contested regulations do not go into effect while the new administration mulls its deregulatory strategy.
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Much is at stake. The Environmental Protection Agency persuaded an appeals court to give it a chance to revise existing limits on street-level smog. The EPA also wants a court to let it rewrite the Clean Power Plan that Obama showcased at the 2015 Paris climate conference. And the Justice Department has sought to review a Health and Human Services regulation that prohibits health-care providers from discriminating against people on the basis of gender identity, sex stereotyping or the termination of a pregnancy.
The legal strategy is a critical part of the administration's battle to reverse rules enacted in the final years of Obama's tenure.
For the Trump administration, getting the regulations back for reconsideration is also the surest way to stave off court rulings especially those from liberal-leaning benches that could hinder its ability to unwind rules adopted by the previous administration.
"If the courts uphold the previous administration, you still have the discretion to change things, but you've lost the argument that you were forced to do it or that the previous administration exceeded legal bounds," said Richard Lazarus, a law professor at Harvard University. He said that if Trump officials "were confident the courts would rule against" the Obama rules, "you wouldn't see them trying to hold cases in abeyance."
While some presidents including Obama have used this legal tactic in the past, Trump has expanded on the strategy.
When Obama took office, his administration asked federal courts to hold in abeyance at least half a dozen cases regarding EPA regulations and permits, saying it needed more time to decide whether to defend, revoke or revise the matters.
This time, however, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is calling on courts to send back rules that he had sought to overturn while serving as Oklahoma's attorney general before taking up his current post two months ago.
"The Trump team is trying a shortcut," said David Doniger, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council who has been a leading defender of the Clean Power Plan. He said that because the Supreme Court has issued a stay in the power plan case, the Trump administration could effectively kill the plan with a prolonged reconsideration without going through the established guidelines for undoing a rule.
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But administration backers note that Democrats and Republicans alike have deployed this legal strategy.
"This is actually pretty routine," Jeffrey Holmstead, a lawyer at the Bracewell law and lobbying firm and an EPA official under President George W. Bush, said in an email. "When the Obama Administration [officials] took office, there were a number of Bush Administration rules being challenged that they didn't want to defend."
Lawyers on both sides say fundamental principles are at stake. Before Trump's election, lawyers for the states challenging the Clean Power Plan said that basic federalism meant that the federal government cannot compel states to undertake potentially costly energy programs. But lawyers for environmental groups say legislation adopted by Congress gives the federal government the power and obligation to set limits on emissions from power plants while paying attention to states' rights in designing plans to carry that out.
Some liberals have used federalist arguments to block Trump initiatives, such as the Trump administration's efforts to compel cities to implement immigration laws by threatening to cut their federal funding.
In some cases, the Trump administration has made a court case moot, such as when the Justice and Education departments rescinded guidance that informed school districts that they had to accommodate students' access to facilities based on their chosen gender identities.
In another case, the Justice Department asked the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on April 4 for more time to respond to a lawsuit challenging the HHS regulation on health-care providers and discrimination.
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The rule reflects the previous administration's interpretation of Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act and was challenged by five states as well as several religious groups who said it represented federal overreach and should have included a carve-out for religiously affiliated medical providers.
A federal judge in Texas stopped two provisions of the rule, pertaining to gender identity and the termination of a pregnancy, from taking effect Jan. 1, while other aspects of it were allowed to go forward.
"Certainly, asking for additional time can be a very strong signal that the administration intends to change course on the subject of litigation," said Sarah Warbelow, legal director of the Human Rights Campaign. "That's very concerning to us."
The most frequent use of the strategy involves Obama-era environmental regulations.
The Clean Power Plan court battle is one of the highest-profile cases. The plan was issued by the Obama EPA on Aug. 3, 2015. A group of 28 states led by Pruitt sued to block the plan, and that case has been argued before a full 10-member panel of the liberal-leaning Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. On Feb. 9, 2016, the Supreme Court issued a stay preventing the plan from going into effect while it makes its way through the appeals court.
Now the EPA wants the appellate court to hand the regulation back without ruling on it.
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"They've filed a motion asking the 10-judge panel to hold the case in 'abeyance' i.e., put it in the deep freeze and thus not to issue its decision, until the Administration is done with its multi-year review and rulemaking," Doniger said. "They're saying whatever you do, don't decide anything."
Pressing deadlines have pushed the administration to take action.
On April 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia granted the EPA's request to delay a long-scheduled April 19 hearing in cases challenging standards used to limit ground-level ozone, which is formed when emissions from industrial facilities and vehicles interact with sunlight and is linked to lung and heart ailments, including asthma.
"We are thankful to the court for granting our motion to postpone oral argument," said EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman said in an email, adding that it would allow the agency to ensure the rule's "broad implications ... in light of President Trump's pro-growth agenda."
The EPA has also asked a three-judge appeals court panel to hold in abeyance a challenge to the agency's rules that new power plants meet carbon dioxide emissions standards. A Trump executive order directs the EPA to rewrite that standard. Oral arguments scheduled for April 17 have been postponed.
The EPA rule designed to stop the pollution of tributaries of major rivers is in the Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit. The Obama administration already filed a brief in the case, a roughly 170-page defense of the law and science that it said justified the rule. The case was postponed because the Supreme Court wanted to rule on a narrow jurisdictional issue. Here, too, the Trump EPA wants to "review and rescind or revise" the rule.
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The Interior Department indicated in court filings in mid-March that it planned to withdraw a 2015 rule restricting hydraulic fracturing on federal and tribal lands, which had been stayed in court; less than two weeks later, Trump issued an executive order calling for the rule to be rewritten.
While some departments, such as the EPA and Interior, have asked the courts to return contested rules to them so they can take a second look, others including the Labor Department, which still does not have a secretary in place have not.
Many business officials, who have challenged some of the Obama-era rules, said they support the new administration reclaiming the regulations.
"If the courts rule in favor of the rule that was issued [under Obama], it would be allowed to go into effect," said Dan Bosch, senior manager of regulatory policy for the National Federation of Independent Business, in an interview.
Bosch noted that not only would his group's members have to start spending money to comply with the existing rule, but also, "at that point, it's a lot of harder to make it go away."
David Weil, who headed the Labor Department's wage and hour division under Obama, said in an interview that he hoped the legal challenge to the federal overtime rule continued because he believed it will be upheld. That rule, which was issued last year, is subject to a nationwide injunction.
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"I do feel very confident in the regulation," said Weil, now a Boston University professor of management. "It was a responsible use of our regulatory authority."
Awoman waves a flag with a marijuana leaf on it next to a group gathered to celebrate National Marijuana Day on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, on April 20, 2016. (Chris Roussakis, AFP/Getty Images)
Imagine for a moment that you could go back in time to 1932, the year before the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, repealing Prohibition (and the 18th Amendment). What might you do with the knowledge that the production, transport and sale of alcoholic beverages was about to be legalized? What sort of investment opportunities might you find? How would you deploy your capital?
Fast-forward to 2017. Might we be in a similar, if not exactly parallel, situation regarding a different investment opportunity?
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It's a question I have been thinking about since the announcement that Canada will consider legalizing marijuana for recreational use. According to Bloomberg News:
"Canada is advancing plans to become the first Group of Seven nation to legalize recreational marijuana nationally, but Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is keeping key details hazy and allowing arrests to continue while parliament debates his plan."
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The proposal would make Canada only the second country in the world to legalize the retail sale and use of pot, after Uruguay (medical marijuana is already legal in about 20 countries).
This is potentially a big deal: Legal marijuana was a $3.4 billion business in 2015 in the U.S.; Arc View Market Research pegged the legal marijuana market in 2016 at $7.1 billion. That is expected to triple during the next three years to $22 billion.
It's not too surprising that with that kind of growth, marijuana is attracting a lot of attention and potential investment dollars.
In an email exchange, Todd Harrison, managing partner at CB1 Capital, a New York hedge fund that plans to focus on marijuana growers and product-makers, wrote that "cannabis is already the fastest growing industry in the world despite the stateside illegality, making it a rare 'outside-in' global phenomenon." He describes an "emerging secular bull market" that covers "disease treatments, wellness supplements, anti-aging creams, sleep remedies, pet food, education, nutraceuticals all while alleviating the societal dependence on opioids."
Harrison's fund, once it opens in July, plans to invest in publicly traded stocks. For private companies, there are numerous venture capital firms that are investing in marijuana-related startups. Note that this isn't limited to small fringe companies: Microsoft has begun offering cloud-based software that tracks marijuana plants from "seed to sale."
In the U.S., the legalization movement began when Oregon decriminalized cannabis in 1973. It picked up momentum when California passed a medical marijuana initiative in 1996. Since then, more than half of the states 28 plus the District of Columbia have amended laws that classified marijuana as an illegal drug.
As noted above, the comparison with alcohol is imperfect. Marijuana businesses face obstacles with using the banking system that brewers and spirits distributors never had. Federal rules against money laundering make it difficult for legal weed shops to make large cash deposits at banks.
There are other risks and complicating factors. President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions both have said they oppose the move toward state legalization, which advanced when the Obama administration decided not to strictly enforce federal prohibitions. Also consider what might happen if Canada adopts broad national legalization. The U.S.-Canadian border is the longest international border in the world. Would the Trump administration really devote extra resources to patrolling another, even bigger U.S. border, this time to the north?
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Time and momentum probably are on the side of those pressing for legalization, even without the support of the current White House. The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing more medicinal usages, as are other countries. As more countries and states move forward, the end of marijuana prohibition is looking ever more likely.
Famed investor Bill Miller observes that investors who seek to beat the market need a substantial "active share" the amount by which their investment holdings differ from their benchmark. Marijuana stocks are not in most major indexes, and they might provide just that sort of difference.
Things are likely to get interesting very soon.
Bloomberg View
Barry Ritholtz is a Bloomberg View columnist.
President Donald Trump would have us believe that crime has reached epidemic proportions and is related to so-called sanctuary cities (a term that has no definition and is therefore of limited value anyway). Neither view is right. Now, a substantial study on crime in the 30 biggest U.S. cities shows how wrong he is.
The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, utilizing FBI crime statistics and city policy records, found:
"Crime has dropped precipitously in the last quarter-century. While crime may fall in some years and rise in others, annual variations are not indicative of long-term trends. While murder rates have increased in some cities, this report finds no evidence that the hard-won public safety gains of the last two and a half decades are being reversed.
"The national crime rate peaked in 1991 at 5,856 crimes per 100,000 people, and has generally been declining ever since. In 2015, crime fell for the 14th year in a row. Estimates based on preliminary data for 2016 indicate that the overall crime rate will remain stable at 2,857 offenses per 100,000, rising less than 1 percent from 2015. Today's crime rate is less than half of what it was in 1991."
The general trend for violent crime and for murder is similar. With regard to murder, however, here is the wrinkle:
"From 1991 to 2016, the murder rate fell by roughly half, from 9.8 killings per 100,000 to 5.3. The murder rate rose last year by an estimated 7.8 percent. With violence at historic lows, modest increases in the murder rate may appear large in percentage terms. Similarly, murder rates in the 30 largest cities increased by 13.2 percent in 2015 and an estimated 14 percent in 2016. These increases were highly concentrated. More than half of the 2015 urban increase (51.8 percent) was caused by just three cities, Baltimore, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. And Chicago alone was responsible for 43.7 percent of the rise in urban murders in 2016. It is important to remember the relatively small base from which the percentage increases are calculated."
We don't know with certainty what has caused the 25-year drop in crime, although many researchers, including those at the Brennan Center, say it is related to better and more policing, an aging population and decreased alcohol consumption. But rather than paint the entire country and all cities as awash in murder and violence, policymakers and voters should look at several data points.
First, it is important to remember that crime rates can be volatile, bouncing up and down for reasons that are not readily discernible. The overall trend, however, remains the same. For example: "In Las Vegas, the violent crime rate has been especially volatile. The rate surged between 1990 and 1994, then steeply declined until 2000. Yet, from 2000 to 2007 crime followed a largely upward trajectory, reaching another peak in 2007. Then crime fell until 2011, and followed another largely upward trajectory until 2015. Yet, the estimated 2016 rate dropped nearly 13 percent from 2015, and now is roughly at the same rate as in 1998."
Second, the national murder rate is down by a lot. "After peaking in 1991 at 9.8 murders per 100,000, the national murder rate remains near the bottom of a 25-year trend. In 2016, the estimated murder rate was 5.3 per 100,000, a decline of 46 percent. The murder rate in the 30 largest cities has fallen faster than the national rate, declining by more than 60 percent since 1991, from 28.8 to 11.4 killings per 100,000 people."
Now, the president always talks about cities as scary, dangerous places where you get killed walking down the street. This may resonate with members of Trump's white, rural voting base, who view urban America with suspicion and resentment (and who may harbor more racist views than non-Trump voters), but actually, the recent trend in rural America is troubling. In fact, the Brennan study staff members tell me that in 2015, counties with populations of less than 10,000 people saw violent crime increase by 2 percent. Counties with 10,000 to 25,000 people saw increases of 3.4 percent, although both overall have seen a drop in violent crime in the past five years.
Third, several cities have a big crime problem and an even bigger murder problem. "In 2015 and 2016, several cities especially Chicago saw their murder rates increase significantly. ... Baltimore, Chicago and Houston together account for around half of the increase in murder in major cities between 2014 and 2016."
Why some cities have done much worse than others and continue to see rising crimes rates is a matter of debate. In a separate study for 2015, the Brennan Center finds: "Only in a few cities are crime and murder projected to increase significantly together: Chicago, Louisville, Oklahoma City, and San Antonio. Other cities are projected to see murder rise while overall crime falls (San Diego), and others will see higher crime without any increase in murders (Charlotte). This indicates there may be a problem with murder in these specific cities, not that there is a national trend of rising crime."
When one looks at the five cities that had the highest murder rate increases in 2015 (Baltimore, Chicago, Charlotte, Houston and Washington), a few specific factors stand out. In Chicago, for example, a low rate of closing out murder cases raises the possibility of repeat offenders, and a dramatic decrease in the number of police officers may play a substantial role as well. In addition, "Chicago homicides are concentrated in the most segregated and poorest areas of the city, such as the South Side and the Austin vicinity. ... The 'national' increase in murders identified by this report, in other words, may owe more to profound local problems in a few Chicago neighborhoods than national trends."
We know, however, that one factor had nothing to do with murder and crime rates: "sanctuary city" status. Arguably the biggest success story in crime and murder reduction, New York, is exceptionally protective of its illegal-immigrant population. Los Angeles falls into the same pattern (big reduction in crime, high level of protection for illegal immigrants). Blaming the illegal-immigrant population for crime is factually wrong, misleading and frankly designed to spur anger toward this population, thereby serving Trump's xenophobic views.
In sum, violent crime and murder rates have declined dramatically in 25 years. A few very problematic cities are responsible for a recent spike in murders, and it would seem logical to focus on the factors in those cities that may contribute to the problem. To portray all cities as crime-ridden hellholes and immigrants as responsible, in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, can only be characterized as ignorant and prejudiced.
Washington Post
Jennifer Rubin writes the Right Turn blog for The Post, offering reported opinion from a conservative perspective.
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United States Court of Appeals, Eighth Circuit. Francisco Emanuel Lemus-Arita Petitioner v. Jefferson B. Sessions, III, Attorney General of the United States 1 Respondent No. 16-1924 Decided: April 17, 2017
Before COLLOTON, GRUENDER, and KELLY, Circuit Judges.
Francisco Lemus-Arita petitions for review of the Board of Immigration Appeals's (BIA) decision affirming the immigration judge's (IJ) denial of Lemus-Arita's requests for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the Convention Against Torture (CAT). For the following reasons, we deny the petition.
I. Background
Lemus-Arita is a native and citizen of Guatemala. He initially entered the United States illegally in 2002 but returned to Guatemala in December of 2011 in anticipation of relocating there with his wife and son. After staying approximately one month, he decided to return to the United States and entered illegally near Brownsville, Texas on January 23, 2012. The Department of Homeland Security detained him and issued a notice to appear. Lemus-Arita conceded removability and filed an application for asylum, withholding of removal, and relief under the CAT.
In a hearing before an IJ, Lemus-Arita testified that when he returned to Guatemala, he learned that his cousin Oscar had been killed in August 2011. Oscar was rumored to have been involved in a kidnapping, and his murder was purportedly perpetrated by a vigilante group called the Anti-Secuestro (that is, anti-kidnapping). Lemus-Arita testified that his uncle began a rumor that Lemus-Arita had returned from the United States with money to avenge his cousin's death. Soon thereafter, family members relayed rumors to Lemus-Arita that the Anti-Secuestro group was looking for him and wanted to kill him. Lemus-Arita immediately abandoned his plans to establish a home in Guatemala and returned to the United States. Lemus-Arita conceded that these threats were never conveyed to him personally, that he never saw anyone from the Anti-Secuestro group, and that he was never harmed. Lemus-Arita did not report the threats to the police or the Guatemalan government because of rumors that police officers were members of the Anti-Secuestro group. Lemus-Arita's father made a police report, but no investigation resulted.
Lemus-Arita's sister, Evelyn, testified that, after Lemus-Arita left Guatemala, she saw trucks in her village painted with the mano dura symbol, which identified a Guatemalan political party and which she associated with the people who purportedly killed Oscar (although she did not identify those individuals as members of the Anti-Secuestro group). Evelyn also testified that armed men in black clothing and ski masks who refused to identify themselves came to her house and told her that they were looking for Lemus-Arita and were going to kill him. She testified that they threatened her with harm if she did not reveal her brother's location, and they later watched the house and followed her for several days. Lemus-Arita also testified that Evelyn called him and told him that someone shot at her house. However, she was never harmed, and she did not report these incidents to the police. Evelyn testified that the family never confirmed why Oscar was killed and that she was unaware of whether Oscar had been accused of kidnapping.
The IJ found Lemus-Arita's testimony credible, but he found Evelyn's testimony only partially credible because her statements were inconsistent and she had an asylum application of her own pending at the time. The IJ then found that Lemus-Arita did not qualify for asylum because he had not established that he had suffered past persecution or that he had a well-founded fear of future persecution. As a result, the IJ found that Lemus-Arita also had not carried his burden of establishing that he qualified for withholding of removal or relief under the CAT. In the alternative, the IJ found that Lemus-Arita had not demonstrated that any persecution would be at the hands of the Guatemalan government or a third party the government is unwilling or unable to control. The BIA affirmed the IJ's decision.
Lemus-Arita petitions for review. The BIA's decision was the final agency decision, see 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(47)(B)(i), and we have jurisdiction to consider the appeal under 8 U.S.C. 1252(a)(5).
II. Discussion
We review the BIA's decision, as it is the final agency action, but to the extent that the BIA adopted the findings or reasoning of the IJ, we also review the IJ's decision as part of the final agency action. Gutierrez-Vidal v. Holder, 709 F.3d 728, 731-32 (8th Cir. 2013) (quotation omitted). We review legal determinations de novo, Agha v. Holder, 743 F.3d 609, 614 (8th Cir. 2014), and accept the agency's factual findings unless any reasonable adjudicator would be compelled to conclude to the contrary, Fofana v. Holder, 704 F.3d 554, 557 (8th Cir. 2013). Further, we review decisions on asylum, withholding of removal, and CAT protection under the substantial evidence standard, upholding the decision if it is supported by reasonable, substantial, and probative evidence based on the record as a whole. Id. (quotation omitted).
Lemus-Arita initially contends that the BIA applied the wrong standard of review to the IJ's finding that Lemus-Arita had not demonstrated an objectively reasonable fear of future persecution and that this issue alone requires remand. The BIA reviews factual findings for clear error and all other matters de novo. 8 C.F.R. 1003.1(d)(3)(i), (ii). [W]hether an asylum applicant has established an objectively reasonable fear of [future] persecution is a legal determination that remains subject to de novo review. Matter of Z-Z-O, Respondent, 26 I. & N. Dec. 586, 590-91 (BIA 2015). Lemus-Arita argues that the BIA reviewed this finding for clear error, but he relies on a strained interpretation of the BIA's decision. The BIA explained that it review[ed] the Immigration Judge's factual findings for clear error and all other issues de novo. After summarizing the IJ's findings, including those with respect to the objective reasonableness of Lemus-Arita's fear of future persecution, the BIA concluded [w]e see no clear error of fact or mistake of law in the Immigration Judge's assessment. Lemus-Arita contends that the BIA's wording leaves no question that the BIA reviewed for clear error the IJ's finding that Lemus-Arita's fear of future persecution was objectively unreasonable. We disagree. The phrase clear error modifies fact, not mistake of law. Lemus-Arita provides no reason to believe that the BIA failed to use de novo review to determine whether Lemus-Arita had an objectively reasonable fear of future persecution. Accordingly, we find no reason to conclude that the BIA applied the wrong standard of review.
Next, Lemus-Arita challenges the merits of the BIA's decision. The Attorney General may grant asylum to any alien who demonstrates that he is a refugee within the meaning of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Fofana, 704 F.3d at 557 (quoting 8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(1)(A)). The Act defines a refugee as an alien who is unable or unwilling to return to [his] country [of nationality] 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. Id. (alterations in original) (quoting 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(42)(A)). The burden is on the applicant to establish refugee status. 8 U.S.C. 1158(b)(1)(B)(i).
First, substantial evidence supports the BIA's conclusion that Lemus-Arita failed to demonstrate past persecution. Persecution is an extreme concept that involves the infliction or threat of death, torture, or injury to one's person or freedom, on account of a protected characteristic, and though a single death threat may constitute persecution, a threat that is exaggerated, nonspecific, or lacking in immediacy may be insufficient. La v. Holder, 701 F.3d 566, 570-71 (8th Cir. 2012) (citations omitted). Past persecution does not normally include unfulfilled threats of physical injury Setiadi v. Gonzales, 437 F.3d 710, 713 (8th Cir. 2006). Rather, [t]hreats alone constitute persecution in only a small category of cases, and only when the threats are so menacing as to cause significant actual suffering or harm. La, 701 F.3d at 571 (quotation omitted).
Lemus-Arita was never harmed and never threatened directly, receiving only secondhand warnings. Indeed, Lemus-Arita could not point to anything more than rumors to substantiate the identity of the group threatening him. Lemus-Arita emphasizes the threats against his sister, but these threats did not result in physical harm to her, and she did not immediately flee Guatemala like her brother. Cf. Flores v. Holder, 699 F.3d 998, 1000-01, 1003 (8th Cir. 2012) (calling into question the BIA's determination that an applicant failed to demonstrate past persecution where family members who refused to provide the applicant's whereabouts were killed and his sister was raped). We have found direct and more menacing threats insufficient to demonstrate past persecution. See Ladyha v. Holder, 588 F.3d 574, 577 (8th Cir. 2009) (finding a threat at knifepoint insufficient to demonstrate past persecution); Setiadi, 437 F.3d at 712-13 (finding a direct death threat insufficient to demonstrate past persecution); Valiente-Cifuentes v. Holder, 438 F. App'x 532, 534 (8th Cir. 2011) (unpublished) (finding multiple written death threats insufficient to demonstrate past persecution where applicant was never physically harmed or confronted by the threatening party). Thus, substantial evidence supports the BIA's conclusion that these threats are not of the rare kind so menacing as to cause significant actual suffering or harm. La, 701 F.3d at 571 (quotation omitted).
Second, substantial evidence supports the conclusion that Lemus-Arita failed to demonstrate a well-founded fear of future persecution. To be well-founded, a fear must be both subjectively genuine and objectively reasonable. Zhuang v. Gonzales, 471 F.3d 884, 890 (8th Cir. 2006) (quoting Feleke v. INS, 118 F.3d 594, 598 (8th Cir. 1997)). The IJ found, and the parties do not contest, that Lemus-Arita demonstrated a subjectively genuine fear of persecution. Thus, we need only address whether Lemus-Arita's subjective fear is objectively reasonable. To demonstrate that a subjective fear is objectively reasonable, an applicant must demonstrate through credible, direct, and specific evidence that a reasonable person in his position would fear persecution. Feleke, 118 F.3d at 598. For an alien's fear of persecution to be objectively reasonable, the fear must have basis in reality and must be neither irrational nor so speculative or general as to lack credibility. Perinpanathan v. INS, 310 F.3d 594, 598 (8th Cir. 2002).
The IJ and BIA concluded that Lemus-Arita failed to demonstrate that his subjective fear is objectively reasonable. The IJ found that Lemus-Arita was never harmed or personally threatened and never observed anyone he thought would attempt to threaten or harm him. The threats his sister related amounted to little more than rumors that did not identify the source of the threats. Moreover, at the time of the IJ's decision, almost three years had elapsed since the threats occurred, and more than five years have elapsed at present. As the IJ reasoned, the fear that the group would seek Lemus-Arita out after so long a time is speculative and objectively unreasonable. To challenge the IJ's reasoning, Lemus-Arita points to his sister's testimony, describing it as unrebutted, credible testimony. However, the IJ found her testimony only partially credible, and we are not at liberty to reweigh the evidence. Eta-Ndu v. Gonzales, 411 F.3d 977, 982 (8th Cir. 2005) (quoting Hasalla v. Ashcroft, 367 F.3d 799, 803 (8th Cir. 2004)). Indeed, [w]e afford credibility findings from the IJ much weight because the IJ sees the witness testify and is therefore in the best position to determine his or her credibility. Chakhov v. Lynch, 837 F.3d 843, 846 (8th Cir. 2016) (quoting Fofanah v. Gonzales, 447 F.3d 1037, 1040 (8th Cir. 2006)). Lemus-Arita has pointed to no evidence that contradicts the IJ's credibility finding, and we accordingly decline to disturb it. As a result, Lemus-Arita has not demonstrated that the record compels the finding that his subjective fear of persecution is objectively reasonable. Therefore, substantial evidence supports the IJ and BIA's determination that Lemus-Arita failed to establish eligibility for asylum.
Consequently, Lemus-Arita also fails to establish eligibility for withholding of removal. Eligibility for withholding of removal requires proof of a clear probability that the alien's life would be threatened , which is a more demanding standard than the well-founded fear of persecution standard for asylum. Osonowo v. Mukasey, 521 F.3d 922, 926 (8th Cir. 2008). Thus, as Lemus-Arita has not met the standard for asylum, he cannot meet the standard for withholding of removal. Id.
III. Conclusion
For the foregoing reasons, we deny the petition.
FOOTNOTES
. Lemus-Arita does not meaningfully argue on appeal that he meets the standard for relief under the CAT. Therefore, we deem the CAT claim waived. See Chay-Velasquez v. Ashcroft, 367 F.3d 751, 756 (8th Cir. 2004) (holding that petitioner waives a claim that is not meaningfully argued in the opening brief).
. Lemus-Arita's sister testified that Oscar was killed in August 2010.
. The Attorney General contends that the issue of whether Lemus-Arita established an objectively reasonable fear of future persecution is not properly before us because the BIA never addressed the merits of this claim. The Attorney General is incorrect. The BIA's decision primarily discussed the IJ's findings that any persecution would not come from the Guatemalan government or a third party the government is unable or unwilling to control. However, the BIA also incorporated the IJ's reasoning with respect to the objective reasonableness of Lemus-Arita's fear of future persecution to support its decision. Accordingly, we review both the BIA's and IJ's decisions on this issue. See Gutierrez-Vidal, 709 F.3d at 731-32.
GRUENDER, Circuit Judge.
For the past few years, I've sat in New Orleans high school classrooms watching students debate the fairest way for government to raise revenue. They role-play first as management consultants advising legislators, then as lawmakers, weighing what to tax property vs. sales vs. income. Are there limits on what or who can be taxed? Is a flat tax or a progressive rate structure fairer? Sometimes their discussions are heated.
These teenagers, however, have an edge that many adults don't: basic tax literacy. Guided by Tulane law students, the high schoolers explore different philosophies and methods of taxation through TaxJazz, a program I began in 2013. Students who take the week-long course study issues of fairness and technical matters such as bases and rate structures. They examine key concepts such as the difference between marginal rates (the percentage of tax paid on the last dollar of income) and effective rates (the average percentage of tax paid). They learn that narrower tax bases, such as sales tax, need higher rates than broader bases, such as income taxes, to raise equivalent amounts of revenue. They discover that changing the method of taxation increases how much some taxpayers owe and decreases that amount for others.
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If more people knew what these students know, we'd have a far more reasonable tax debate and better tax laws.
On Tax Day, many of us bemoan our tax bills. Why is taxation such a charged issue? Many Americans are fuzzy on who and what gets taxed and the reasons we pay taxes at all. A year ago, 57 percent of Americans polled told Gallup they pay "too much" in federal income taxes; note that 45 percent of Americans pay no federal income taxes at all. We fight about taxes because we disagree about what is fair and what government should do. If we knew more, we'd still have disagreements, but at least our discussions would be more rational and produce more coherent policies. Tax law can be complex, but if high school students can get a handle on the basics, so can the adults who choose the politicians who implement it.
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Is a flat or a progressive tax fairer? It depends on your sense of justice but before you can even answer that question, you need to know how each mechanism works. So students learn that the relative tax burden on individuals depends on which tax base is used. Sales taxes place a higher burden on lower-income people because they generally spend a greater percentage of their income than higher income taxpayers do. A flat income tax is easy to understand: You pay a certain percentage of your income, no matter how much you make. With a progressive income tax, escalating rates apply as income increases. For example, if a married couple had $52,000 of taxable income in 2016, the return they file this year will show a tax liability of $6,872.50 (assuming no tax credits). They will pay 10 percent on their first $18,550 and 15 percent on the rest of their taxable income. Their marginal rate is 15 percent, but their effective, or average, tax rate is 13.2 percent.
Real-world discussions often occur in a tax-ignorant universe. Many people including some politicians incorrectly say that the IRS, not Congress, writes federal tax laws. They say that some taxation is needed to pay for the government but that it should be lower and "fairer." An astonishing number don't realize that they already get tax breaks for many things they want, such as education, housing and child care. Often they state that we should lower the income tax rate to a number that is actually higher than the current top rate. Some have no idea what rate they pay or whether they've benefited from a tax cut.
Unfamiliarity with tax basics is harmful. At the individual level, people may pay more than necessary when they don't know about deductions and credits that can reduce their burden. At the local, state and national levels, lack of tax knowledge hampers the promulgation of rational laws that could help spur the economy and lead to prudent budgets. A tax-literate electorate could demand that politicians provide coherent tax policy options.
To be tax literate, citizens should understand that taxes are not just numbers and abstract principles, and they are not arbitrary. "Taxation is an art and a technique as well as a science," said Harold M. Groves, an economics professor who was a Wisconsin state legislator in the 1930s, "and it always needs to be judged against the conditions of time and place."
How can more Americans become tax knowledgeable? The first step, of course, is to include more discussion of taxes in schools not just in high school and college, but even elementary school. This is no less important than the financial-literacy programs many schools now incorporate into their curriculums.
Without tax knowledge, voters enable politicians who spout inflammatory, empty rhetoric and perpetuate counterproductive, unfair tax policies. Democracies need informed voters to function properly. The cost of tax ignorance is too high.
Washington Post
Marjorie E. Kornhauser is a professor at Tulane University Law School.
For nearly three decades, the bronze sculpture of a menacing bull has stood in New York's financial district, a massive symbol of American financial might and resilience. But earlier this year, a willowy 4-foot-tall Fearless Girl statue suddenly appeared yards away. Fists on hips, the little girl with windblown dress and ribbon in her ponytail defiantly faces the bull.
The girl was supposed to be a temporary addition, but women across the country embraced the Fearless Girl as a rallying symbol, a tribute to the power of women in leadership during International Women's Day in March. Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton and actress Jessica Chastain extolled the statue, which was commissioned by State Street Global Advisors, a Boston-based financial firm. "Come on everyone! Let's keep this badass girl strong!" Chastain tweeted.
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But the bull's sculptor, Arturo Di Modica, is, um, seeing red. Di Modica argues that the girl is an insult to his work, and is "attacking the bull." He wants to banish the girl.
The sculptor created the 11-foot-tall, 31/2-ton Charging Bull after the 1987 stock market crash to celebrate the resilience of America. Because of the girl, Di Modica's attorney argues, the bull no longer is a powerful symbol of pride and optimism but "has been transformed into a negative force and a threat."
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The sculptor and his lawyer were quick to say they weren't foes of gender equality. (Smart move there.) But Di Modica still wants the girl removed. The bull is a symbol of "freedom in the world, peace, strength, power and love," Di Modica told The New York Times.
We're partial to bulls here in Chicago, and we love public art even if we can't understand it. (See: Picasso, Chicago.)
But we have faith that pedestrians are capable of appreciating one sculpture at a time or taking in both. One doesn't detract from the other, any more than a van Gogh and a Monet in the same museum battle for attention.
We think the girl enhances the presence of the bull ... and the bull underscores the resolve of the little girl with feet planted firmly against whatever comes next. As a friend wrote: "So what if the little girl is taking on the sacred old bulls of our culture? Isn't that something we want for all our little girls?"
New Yorkers are taking sides. Mayor Bill de Blasio is pro-girl (the statue is a symbol of "standing up to fear, standing up to power, being able to find in yourself the strength to do what's right," he says.)
Our advice to New York: Don't blow this serendipitous pairing. The statue face-off stirs controversy and could attract tourists by the busload. What city wouldn't relish such a magnet?
This is like Cubs or Sox, Beyonce or Rihanna, Muhammad Ali or Joe Frazier, John or Paul. In other words: The rivalry is good for business.
Instead of rearranging the statues, how about unleashing Madison Avenue to make the most of this? A contest to name the girl? The bull? A children's book about the plucky girl and her ferocious pal? An American Girl doll? T-shirts? Mugs?
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Settle this tussle now. We say the girl stays.
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Sunday's tribute to the late and great Mike Royko was outstanding. My 92-year-old father, a retired doctor, born, raised, and educated in Chicago, was one of Mr. Royko's biggest fans. His greatest disappointment was that Mr. Royko did not live long enough to write an article about disgraced Ald. Larry Bloom, whom Mr. Royko regarded as the poster child for a squeaky clean Chicago politician. My father said he would have paid up to $3,000 just to read Mr. Royko's article the day after Bloom's fall was made public. My father meant it, and absolutely would have paid that amount, and more. That alone speaks volumes on how important and beloved Mr. Royko was, and still is, to Chicagoans.
Daniel Kamen, Buffalo Grove
What can you say to defend yourself after you are accused of roughing up a protester at a Donald Trump campaign rally? Well, you can try blaming Donald Trump.
That's the road taken by Alvin Bamberger, a 75-year-old veteran from Ohio who can be seen in videos of a March 2016 Trump rally in Louisville, Ky., gruffly pushing 21-year-old protester Kashiya Nwanguma through the crowd and toward the exits.
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You may recall seeing the video of Nwanguma, a young black woman, being pushed and jostled through the mostly white and male crowd of Trump supporters while Trump shouts "Get 'em out!" from the podium. She wasn't the only protester, but the scene of the black woman surrounded by angry white men was too dramatic for TV to resist repeated replays.
Now a federal judge has told Nwanguma and two other protesters that they can proceed with a lawsuit that accuses Trump, his campaign and three supporters, including Bamberger, of inciting violence.
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Trump's lawyers tried to have the lawsuit dismissed, arguing that when he shouted "Get 'em out!" he was not calling on his supporters to use force. Leave it to super-spinmaster Trump to come up with that stretch.
U.S. District Judge David J. Hale in Louisville wasn't buying it. He ruled Friday that it is "plausible" that the protesters' injuries were a "direct and proximate result" of Trump's words.
"It was an order, an instruction, a command," said the judge, who also noted that the Supreme Court has ruled out constitutional protections for speech that incites violence.
Trump's case was further undermined by Bamberger in a cross-claim against Trump, of all people. Bamberger claimed that Trump had indeed incited him and others as he "repeatedly urged people attending Trump rallies to remove individuals who were voicing opposition to Trump's candidacy," Bamberger's attorneys wrote.
"Indeed, at one or more campaign rallies," Bamberger's filing said, Trump "promised to pay the legal fees of those who following Trump's urging removed the protesters."
"Bamberger would not have acted as he did without Trump and/or the Trump Campaign's specific urging and inspiration," his filing said.
"I was caught up in the frenzy," he wrote in an apology letter to the Korean War Veterans Association, whose uniform he was wearing at the rally. "I physically pushed a young woman down the aisle toward the exit, an action I sincerely regret."
Thank you, Mr. Bamberger. I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a certain amount of satisfaction that the pompous Trump is being called to account at least a little for his reckless and dangerous dives into hate-pandering demagoguery on the campaign trail.
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Even as you watch Nwanguma and other protesters being ejected from the Louisville rally you can hear Trump, eventually complaining about busloads of Syrian refugees being let into our country "without paperwork" or "any other way to tell who they are." In fact, refugees typically undergo more than a year and a half of vetting. Yet Trump fed this and other lies without regard to the hate that he was fueling.
With that in mind, it is hardly surprising that one of the other two Trump supporters named as a defendant in the lawsuit is activist Matthew Heimbach, described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as "the face of a new generation of white nationalists."
Still, Bamberger's counter-claim sounds a bit like the proverbial guy who killed his parents, then asks for sympathy because he's an orphan. Getting "caught up in the frenzy" of an agitated crowd isn't an excuse. It's a recipe for mob action.
What happened, I cannot help but ask, to the time-honored conservative virtue of personal responsibility? Suing Trump or any other speaker for inciting you to abandon good judgment reminds me of the lawsuits filed against fast-food companies for making us fat. I'm upset with them, too, but I can't honestly blame them for all the cheeseburgers I've eaten.
So it is with the rallies of Donald Trump or any other charismatic speaker whose hate-baiting gets out of hand. We don't have to take the bait.
Clarence Page, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/pagespage.
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cpage@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @cptime
Whether you're looking to sway to the acoustic sounds of Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy or rock to the tunes of Prince's iconic backing band The Revolution, you're sure to find something worth listening to this week in Chicago.
THURSDAY, April 20
The Magnetic Fields
Thalia Hall
1807 S. Allport St. 312-526-3851
Listen to The Magnetic Fields at Thalia Hall this Thursday and hear a life in music. The indie pop group led by Stephin Merrittthe band's primary songwriter, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalistwill stop in Chicago on their "50 Song Memoir" tour, promoting their latest album, which chronicles the 50 years of Merritt's life with one song for each year. Advance tickets for the show are sold out, but standing room tickets will be available at the door. 8 p.m. $35. Tickets: thaliahallchicago.com
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FRIDAY, April 21
The Wedding Present, Colleen Green
Lincoln Hall
2424 N. Lincoln Ave. 773-525-2501
Snag a couple tickets to see The Wedding Present perform at Lincoln Hall this Friday night. The British indie rock band has had 18 UK Top 40 hit singles since its formation in 1985, and in 2016 they released their ninth studio album, "Going, Going," which has been described as "a joy from start to finish." Sharing the stage will be indie pop musician Colleen Green. 9 p.m. $20. Tickets: lh-st.com
SATURDAY, April 22
Jeff Tweedy
The Vic Theatre
3125 N. Sheffield Ave. 773-472-0449
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Jeff Tweedy's Annual Benefit for Education returns to The Vic Theatre this weekend. The Wilco frontman will play two all-request solo acoustic shows Friday and Saturday night that will benefit scholarships for Chicago-area students. Tweedy has been described as "one of the most daring songwriters of his generation" and his band Wilco "vital, adventurous ... breaking new stylistic ground with each ambitious and creatively restless album." 8 p.m. $75-$150. Tickets: victheatre.com
SUNDAY, April 23
The Damned, Bleached
House of Blues
329 N. Dearborn St. 312-923-2000
Legendary psychedelic punk group The Damned are set to bring their sounds to the House of Blues Sunday night as part of their 40th anniversary U.S. tour. The rock group formed in 1976 and is known as one of Britain's original punk bands, as well as the first U.K. punk act to tour America. Joining them will be American punk rock and pop punk band Bleached, an all-female group consisting of sisters Jennifer and Jessica Clavin and Micayla Grace. 6:30 p.m. $21-$105. Tickets: livenation.com
MONDAY, April 24
The Revolution
Metro
175 N. State St. 312-462-6300
Prince's iconic backing band The Revolution will hit the Metro stage Monday night. The stop in Chicago is part of the band's short, four-city tour, and you can expect the song lineup to be one from the "Purple Rain" era. The Revolution played on two of Prince's best-selling albums, "Purple Rain" and "Around the World in a Day." 8 p.m. $41-$51. Tickets: metrochicago.com
@RianneCoale | rcoale@redeyechicago.com
United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. MICHAEL NICHOLS; MINDY NICHOLS; GEORGIA NICHOLS, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. GIL FERNANDEZ; RAE FERNANDEZ; MATTHEW BEARD, Defendants-Appellees. No. 15-56641 Decided: April 14, 2017
Before: BEA and OWENS, Circuit Judges, and CHHABRIA,** District Judge.
MEMORANDUM*
Plaintiffs Michael Nichols, Mindy Nichols, and Georgia Nichols appeal from the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants, Palm Springs police officers Gil Fernandez, Rae Fernandez, and Matthew Beard. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291, and we affirm. As the parties are familiar with the facts, we repeat only those facts necessary to resolve the issues raised on appeal.
1. Defendants did not violate Plaintiffs' constitutional rights.
Plaintiffs claim that Defendants violated their due process rights by exposing them to danger. Under the state-created danger doctrine, state officials can be held liable when they affirmatively and with deliberate indifference place [ ] an individual in danger she would not otherwise have faced. Kennedy v. City of Ridgefield, 439 F.3d 1055, 1066 (9th Cir. 2006). Before this Court, Plaintiffs claim that the district court erred in granting summary judgment because there is a triable issue of fact whether Officer Rae Fernandez (Rae) revealed [Plaintiffs'] identity as confidential informants by filing two police reports and thereby violated the state-created danger doctrine.
In the police report that Plaintiffs consider most objectionable, Rae states that she knew Michael and Mindy Nichols and that they were the owners of Palm Springs Finest and Collectibles (a pawn shop). This report also states that Rae texted Mindy, that Michael drove a burglary suspect at Rae's request to the suspect's home, and that Mindy answered Rae's questions about whether Mindy had purchased stolen goods from the suspect. This police report was released only to the district attorney and to Mindy Nichols, and the other police report was released only to the district attorney and to the probation office.
Since the police reports did not expressly identify Plaintiffs as confidential informants and the reports were not disseminated to the public, Rae's decision to write and file the police reports did not place Plaintiffs in a known or obvious danger. Kennedy, 439 F.3d at 1064. Although Plaintiffs later experienced threats related to their work as confidential informants, Plaintiffs have not provided evidence that the police reports caused these threats. Thus, there is no evidence that Rae's actions or omissions created a specific danger other than that voluntarily accepted by Plaintiffs when they agreed to be confidential informants. See Gatlin ex. rel. Estate of Gatlin v. Green, 362 F.3d 1089, 109394 (8th Cir. 2004) (affirming a grant of summary judgment when the plaintiff, a confidential informant who was killed by retaliating gang members, claimed that the state failed to do more to protect him); Summar on Behalf of Summar v. Bennet, 157 F.3d 1054, 1060 n.2 (6th Cir. 1998) (affirming the dismissal of the plaintiff's 1983 state-created danger claim because the officer did nothing to increase the risk the confidential informant had voluntarily assumed). Therefore, the district court did not err when it granted summary judgment in favor of Rae.
Plaintiffs do not provide evidence that Officers Gil Fernandez and Matthew Beard disclosed Plaintiffs' status as confidential informants or otherwise affirmatively endangered Plaintiffs. Since an individual can be held liable under 42 U.S.C. 1983 only if that individual personally participated in the alleged civil rights violation, Jones v. Williams, 297 F.3d 930, 93435 (9th Cir. 2002), the district court also did not err when it granted summary judgment in favor of Officers Gil Fernandez and Matthew Beard.
2. Rae is also entitled to qualified immunity.
[G]overnment officials performing discretionary functions are entitled to qualified immunity. Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 638 (1987). To evaluate a claim of qualified immunity, this Court considers (1) whether the facts alleged show the official's conduct violated a constitutional right and (2) whether the right was clearly established when the conduct took place. Tarabochia v. Adkins, 766 F.3d 1115, 1121 (9th Cir. 2014) (quoting Robinson v. New York, 566 F.3d 817, 821 (9th Cir. 2009)). A right is clearly established if a reasonable public official would know that her specific conduct was unconstitutional. Cunningham v. Gates, 229 F.3d 1271, 1287 (9th Cir. 2000) (citing Creighton, 483 U.S. at 63637).
During the events in question, there was no established law that a police officer violates the state-created danger doctrine when she writes in a police report that she knew certain individuals and worked with them on a case, even when those individuals happen to be confidential informants. Even if Rae filing the police report affirmatively and with deliberate indifference placed [Plaintiffs] in danger [they] would not otherwise have faced, Kennedy, 439 F.3d at 1066, a reasonable police officer would not have known that this specific conduct was unconstitutional based on existing case law. Thus, Rae was also entitled to summary judgment based on qualified immunity.
AFFIRMED.
FOOTNOTES
. Plaintiffs submitted unsigned, unsworn declarations to provide other evidence that Rae allegedly revealed Plaintiffs' identity. The district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding these declarations. See Orr v. Bank of Am., NT & SA, 285 F.3d 764, 773 (9th Cir. 2002).
A Palatine man is accused of stabbing his girlfriend's son and the son's friend following a domestic dispute on Easter Sunday.
Bond was set Tuesday at $1.75 million in Cook County Circuit Court for Duronn Fields, 31, of the 1300 block of East Wyndham Circle, who was charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery following his arrest near the scene, prosecutors said.
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Assistant State's Attorney Maureen McGee and Palatine police said Fields got into an argument with his girlfriend's 23-year-old son and 22-year-old roommate and punched one of them in the face, prompting a scuffle in which Fields used an eight-inch steak knife to stab the two men.
McGee said the latest incident began Sunday evening when Fields tossed a plate of food against a wall in the residence he shares with the girlfriend.
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The son was stabbed twice in the back and suffered a punctured lung, spleen, kidney and liver and is in an intensive care unit, McGee said. The second victim suffered a deep laceration to the right side of his torso, she said.
Fields inadvertently stabbed himself in the leg during the struggle, McGee said.
Authorities said Fields is a registered sex offender because of a conviction for sexual assault of a child in Wisconsin.
George Houde is a freelance reporter.
The Jakubowski family (clockwise from left), including Will, Max, Eric, Zachary, Izzie and Alexis Jakubowski, gathered for a private ceremony to honor their late wife and mother Joni Beaudry, who was killed last summer while riding her bicycle in a crosswalk. The ceremony was officiated by Pastor Christie Webb (right) at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Mount Prospect. (Eric P. Davis / Pioneer Press)
The husband of a Mount Prospect woman, who was killed last summer while riding her bike in a local crosswalk, soon will be headed back to Springfield to show support for a proposed law inspired by the fatal incident.
"The (bill) deals with increasing the punishment, which in the case of my wife's death, the judge opted to let the driver walk away with a $150 fine," said Eric Jakubowski.
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Jakubowski's wife, Joni Beaudry, 55, was struck and killed by an SUV that failed to yield in a Mount Prospect crosswalk last June, leaving behind Jakubowski and their five children. He recently testified in front of Illinois lawmakers, urging support for the proposal, House Bill 625, before the bill easily cleared the Illinois House earlier this month.
As the bill heads to the Illinois Senate for consideration, the chief sponsor, Rep. David Harris, R-Arlington Heights, said the proposal would add penalties for drivers who fail to yield and stop, or cause serious injury or death, at a crosswalk marked by a yellow warning signal, called "Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon," which is also referred to as a RRFB.
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If signed into law, the bill adds penalties of a Class C misdemeanor for failure to stop or yield, and a Class 4 felony for serious bodily harm or death, Harris said.
Once Harris' bill starts to move through the Illinois Senate, Jakubowski said he plans to speak with senators and again show support for the proposed law.
Max Jakubowski hangs a memorial cross to honor his late mother, Joni Beaudry, who was killed last summer while riding her bicycle in a crosswalk, at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Mount Prospect. (Eric P. Davis / Pioneer Press)
The legislative activity comes after Jakubowski filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court in January, seeking more than $100,000 from the driver of the SUV involved in the fatal crash, Hanna Burzynska, of Elk Grove Village.
Before the crash on June 9, 2016, Beaudry had activated the warning signal at the crosswalk and then proceeded to ride her bike within the crosswalk at Central Road and Weller Lane, police have said.
Aside from the bill, Harris also wants to work with IDOT to address the limitations of the RRFB warning signals, which increasingly are becoming more common throughout the state, he said. When activated by pedestrians at crosswalks and certain sidewalks, the RRFB flashes yellow lights to warn nearby motorists to yield to pedestrians.
"The whole question I have for IDOT is about the RRFBs having yellow lights, which is confusing to drivers, who only think they need to stop at a red light," Harris said.
Harris said he believes that by swapping the yellow lights with red lights, crosswalks with RRFBs would be safer to navigate, but he noted that federal regulations prohibit IDOT from modifying RRFB devices.
"IDOT can't substitute the yellow light for red on its own, but I'm pushing the department for a waiver to the policy," Harris said.
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The Mount Prospect family involved in Harris' bill also momentarily set aside the ongoing legal and legislative matters this past Easter weekend.
Jakubowski gathered his children, including his son Max, 22; twins Will and Alexis, both 20; and his two youngest children Izzie, 17, and Zachary, 15, at St. Mark Lutheran Church in Mount Prospect on April 15 to erect a handmade cross in the church's great room honoring Beaudry.
"This beautiful cross is actually made from four separate crosses, which are all put together," Jakubowski said. "It reminds us that to get through tough times, we all need to lean on each other."
kcullotta@tribpub.com
Twitter @kcullotta
When a woman in the northwest suburbs got a text from an unknown number about an active shooter at a library, she called 911.
Neither the woman nor the dispatcher seemed to recognize Todd Library, but the woman looked it up and found it about 40 miles away at Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove, according to recordings of the 911 call obtained by the Beacon-News through a Freedom of Information Act Request.
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On April 4 the second day of a three-day emergency training course on Waubonsee's campus a classroom exercise called for an instructor to text a phone number as part of a simulation, Waubonsee spokeswoman Amanda Geist said. But the text instead went to a private citizen in Rolling Meadows, triggering a 15-minute false alarm and resources from more than a dozen departments, Geist said.
As the dispatcher, and ultimately 18 emergency response agencies, scrambled to figure out what was going on and to ensure the Sugar Grove campus was safe, participants in the training session, apparently oblivious to the chaos, carried on with their active shooter simulation.
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In her 911 call, the Rolling Meadows woman read most of the initial text: "This is Laura from the Todd Library. The shooter is in here. He just shot six students. Send some help. I'm afraid to call He is in military fatigues. He's still in here. Help me."
The dispatcher tried Sugar Grove police, who transferred her to Tri-Com.
A dispatcher called the number that sent the text.
"Hi this is the 911 center, did you send a text message about a situation going on at Waubonsee?" the dispatcher began.
"I really can't talk too much but the shooter was in here," the texter, identified as Laura, the head librarian,said. "He shot six students. I think he's still here."
When the dispatcher asked for the shooter's description, the texter said Caucasian, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and 475 pounds "or so."
"How many?" the dispatcher asked. "One hundred seventy-five pounds?"
"Four hundred seventy-five pounds," the texter corrected. "He's a big guy."
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"Four hundred and seventy-five pounds, correct?" the dispatcher repeated.
"Yeah he he moves like a ninja," the texter said. "I don't understand how he moves like that."
Two other calls were apparently made on campus from bystanders who were not part of the drill.
"We spoke to campus police so I don't know if they've contacted you guys at all," said one caller, from Collins Hall. "There's people upstairs with guns, we've been told."
From a different building on campus, a woman called 911 to say she saw Collins evacuating rapidly, people were telling students to run fast, and someone waved to her and said to call.
A Kane County supervisor on the initial response believed it was possible the report of an active shooter was not legitimate in part because more people didn't call to report it, Kane County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Patrick Gengler said. But the sheriff's office didn't adjust its response until Waubonsee confirmed it was a "classroom exercise," he said.
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For about 15 minutes, police swept the building that houses the library and two adjacent buildings, and employees enacted safety plans, Geist said.
Responders from 16 police or sheriff's agencies and two fire districts were dispatched to the college, Geist said. Kane County sheriff's deputies were dispatched at 3:50 p.m. and learned by 4:06 p.m. the threat was not real, Gengler said.
Gengler said the situation could have been avoided with communication. No law enforcement officers were notified beforehand that a group would be conducting an exercise, he said.
The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Executive Institute helped organize the training, a "multihazard emergency planning institution training" that included an element on active shooters, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, institute program manager Eric Arnold said. It was funded by a grant, and FEMA-certified instructors are required to teach the course, he said.
Institute officials did not contact local law enforcement, and Arnold said that's not their responsibility.
"It is the role of the on-site folks and the hosting organization to notify those local authorities," he said.
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The agency is reviewing what happened and will make recommendations to FEMA to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future, he said.
FEMA spokesman Mark Peterson said the training involved agency-accredited instructors and FEMA curriculum, but the agency did not organize the event. If the agency were to host a training, officials would "work with the host" to notify local law enforcement, he said.
Geist said Waubonsee didn't notify local law enforcement because the school provided the space but did not arrange the class. When Waubonsee hosted other emergency preparedness sessions for its staff, officials notified area authorities, she said.
Beacon-News reporter Sarah Frieshtat contributed.
hleone@tribpub.com
Twitter @hannahmleone
Two shootings were reported in Aurora over the weekend, according to an email from police spokesman Dan Ferrelli.
At about 1 a.m. Saturday , a 21-year-old man told police he was standing outside with friends on the 700 block of Logan Avenue when he got into an argument with several people inside a white Ford Taurus, according to a statement the Aurora Police Department published on Facebook. Someone in the Taurus took out a handgun and fired one shot into the air, then the car drove off southbound, according to police.
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Near Logan and Simms, a second shot was fired from the same car, but nothing was apparently struck by the gunfire, according to police.
Minutes later, police said, an officer saw a car matching the Ford's description near River and North Avenue "traveling at a high rate of speed," stopping at Middle Avenue and Gale Street and taking off again. The officer pulled the car over near Lake Street and Cross, according to the statement. Another officer went to the area where the car had stopped on Middle Avenue and found a 9mm handgun that had been reported stolen out of Kenosha, Wisconsin, according to police.
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Police said they took all five occupants of the Taurus, four men and a woman all between the ages of 22 and 28, in for questioning and later released them pending further investigation.
At about 11:10 p.m. Sunday , gunfire struck a home on the 300 block of West Downer several times, but no injuries were reported, according to police. Beyond people in the area saying they heard shots, no one provided police with any suspect information, according to the statement.
Police ask anyone with information to call Aurora police at 630-256-5500 or Aurora Area Crime Stoppers at 630-892-1000. Callers to Crime Stoppers can remain anonymous and qualify for a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to any arrests.
People also can submit tips through the Aurora Police Department's free My PD mobile app.
hleone@tribpub.com
Twitter @hannahmleone
The superintendent of Oswego-area schools is urging the state to "fully fund" education, and calling on families, faculty and staff to urge the same.
In a message to state Comptroller Susana Mendoza, Community Unit School District 308 Superintendent John Sparlin called on the state to distribute a certain set of funds owed quarterly to districts by the state, which he said have not yet been sent out for this year. In a separate message, he urged district parents and employees to contact legislators and government officials.
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"The education community and general public were led to believe that K-12 education would be 'fully funded,'" Sparlin said in the message to families. "As of this date, this sadly is not the case."
The messages come as District 308 is facing projected budget deficits in the coming years. Initially, district officials said they expected a $7.3 million deficit for next year, but Sparlin said recently the gap now stands around $4 million.
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Sparlin said in a phone interview the delays in state payments would not have caused the district's deficit, but make it worse.
Sparlin wrote in the letters that the state in June 2016 said it would fully fund education, and has fully funded general aid payments to the district. However, he said, this fiscal year it has not sent out a particular category of funding that is earmarked for specific purposes, including special education services, free and reduced-price lunches and transportation.
He said the district is owed more than $11 million to date in this particular type of funding, which comes in four installments throughout the year. If the district does not receive any of these payments for the entire year, it will be owed nearly $15 million, he said.
In a message on the District 308 website, officials said a representative from the comptroller's office told Sparlin Thursday that the first of the quarterly payments for the current year will be sent within two weeks.
Sparlin said in the letters the district has already had to take on a type of short-term loan to cover payroll and bills until it receives money from local taxes, which will cost the district extra in interest. The delay in state payments could also affect the district's bond ratings, he said.
"(These funding) delays have created cash flow problems for our district," he said.
Sparlin said the public is being led to believe the state has fully funded education, while districts in fact are not receiving a category of payments.
"The letter, I think, is also a call to action for parents," he said. "I think it's very important for parents and the public to know that school districts are not fully funded at this time."
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Twitter @srfreish
East Aurora School District 131 made history Monday night, approving regular, everyday busing for students.
To applause from the audience, school board members for the first time approved buses for all students who live more than 1.5 miles from their school. The move is expected to provide transportation for more than 3,000 additional students.
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The board approved spending millions over three years on the bus plan some of the details of which are still under consideration and two new transportation-related staff positions. But district officials are also expecting the additional transportation to bring in new money.
School board President Annette Johnson said she anticipates the additional buses will help raise attendance, test scores and the graduation rate.
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"This solves an age-old problem in the East Aurora School District," she said.
The district already buses special education students, some preschool and kindergarten students and district students who attend the third- through eighth-grade John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School at Aurora University.
But for decades, both the district and voters have rejected widespread busing, often citing the cost. Recently, callers to a Beacon-News comment line have voiced concerns that a busing expansion will lead to higher property taxes or will cause traffic problems.
Mark McDonald, one of the district's two interim superintendents, said the district has "made a commitment" to find a way to pay for transportation, and said the district was not looking to raise taxes or go out for a referendum. Johnson said the board would "absolutely not" rely on a tax hike to pay for expanded transportation.
The board approved paying between $3.9 million and $5.4 million to First Student for busing over three years, though the final numbers will depend on details that have not yet been finalized. They also approved hiring two transportation staff members an assistant director and a specialist whose combined annual salary and benefits are expected to be around $167,400.
But the district expects some of those costs to be offset by a state transportation reimbursement and increased attendance, which will affect the amount of aid the state pays to the district. Depending on the final cost of busing and on the amount attendance and therefore state aid ultimately goes up, district projections show East Aurora could, all told, be out as much as $466,632 next school year or come out ahead as much as $128,633 that year.
The projections don't include bus monitors, who can handle discipline issues, and assume the state reimburses the district for the full amount it is eligible to receive. This year, the state only reimbursed districts for 71 percent of what they were eligible to receive for transportation.
In most cases, the state will provide some reimbursement for students who live more than 1.5 miles from their school the distance at which East Aurora is moving to provide busing.
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Whether buses will come in closer to $3.9 million or to $5.4 million will depend in part on how many bus monitors the district determines are needed. It will also depend on whether the district is able to change some school start times during the coming school year.
If the district is able to stagger class bell times the same buses could make multiple runs and the district would pay for fewer buses. School start and end times are laid out in the teachers' and staff contract and changes must be approved by the union. Another year remains on the current contract.
Union President Gerry Mestek said a detailed proposal has not been brought to the union.
Johnson said the expanded busing will put East Aurora "on the same playing field" as other districts. Board member Kim Hatchett thanked administrators.
"My heart goes out to a parent who doesn't have a way to get the kids to school," she said. "So this is great work, a phenomenal job to be able to put it together and have it ready for next school year."
Board members have said they are working to have the new buses in place for the 2017-18 school year, but their vote did not include a timeline.
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Twitter @srfreish
An Orland Park man accused of shooting a gun outside a Tinley Park bar was sentenced to three years in state prison, according to court records.
Ramsey Shelby, 23, pleaded guilty April 7 to one count of felony aggravated unlawful use of a weapon, Cook County court records stated.
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Shelby, a convicted felon, was accused of discarding a weapon during a dispute in November outside J.W. Holstein's Saloon, 17358 S. Oak Park Ave., court records stated.
Prosecutors said he was on probation for a July conviction on identity theft when he allegedly fired a handgun once into the air before driving away in front of police.
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Shelby got the gun from his car during the dispute, prosecutors said. An officer from the Tinley Park dispatch center near the establishment allegedly heard the shot as he responded to the report of a fight.
The responding officer ordered Shelby to drop the metal object in his hand, prosecutors said. Shelby did not and started to walk away despite multiple orders from the officer. Instead, Shelby got into his car, which was driven by his friend, and fled, prosecutors said.
The car nearly hit others outside the bar when it sped from the scene, prosecutors said.
Shelby will receive credit for 174 days in county jail, where he was being held on $300,000 bail, officials said.
He currently is being held at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill.
Nick Swedberg is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Top 3 Reasons Trump Must Release His Tax Returns
President Donald Trump claims ordinary people "don't care at all" that he's the first chief executive in more than 40 years not to release his tax returns. But a January Washington Post-ABC News poll found three quarters (74%) of Americans say Trump should release his tax returns. That includes a majority (53%) of Republicans.
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A White House petition demanding Trump release his tax returns broke a record for signatures within six days of being posted. It has since collected more than one million signatures.
This broad-based public demand makes sense. There are at least three important questions that can only be answered by the release of Trump's tax returns.
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First, does Trump contribute any taxes to the nation he leads? We already know that he paid zero, or close to zero, federal income taxes in at least five of the past 40 years. We also know that he declared a nearly billion dollar loss in the 1990s that could have wiped out all his federal income tax obligations for up to 18 years. He's proudly declared that not paying taxes "makes me smart."
There's good reason to believe Trump has paid no taxes for years or even decades. His tax-obliterating billion-dollar loss from the '90s is the kind of tax dodge readily available to real estate investors like Trump. Through that and other special breaks such as depreciation, exemption from "at-risk" rules, and "like-kind exchanges" real estate tycoons can delay, shrink or completely eliminate their federal tax bills.
Second, what are Trump's foreign entanglements? Our president should be working only for us not for his own enrichment through deals with offshore partners closely tied to foreign leaders. One ethics expert has noted that many of the foreign businesses with which Trump has struck deals are connected to "unfriendly governments." Such deals could conflict with our national security goals.
The biggest concern is Russia. Trump's son has said his father's real estate business sees "a lot of money pouring in from Russia." A Russian-American trade promoter who has supported Trump claims that our new president has done "hundreds of millions of dollars" of business with Russian investors.
A veteran U.S. senator, Ron Wyden (D-OR), has asked the Senate Intelligence Committee to investigate Trump's business ties to Russia as part of its larger probe of Russian meddling in our elections.
Trump's tax returns might reveal how indebted he is to foreign investors and how much his ties undermine American national interests.
Finally, how much would Trump personally benefit from his proposed tax overhaul? During the campaign, Trump proposed a $6.2 trillion tax giveaway heavily slanted towards rich people like him: 47% of the tax cuts go to the top 1% of households. The top 0.1% people like Trump would receive an average tax cut of more than $1 million a year, while average middle-class families making about $50,000 a year would get just $1 a day.
Three parts of his tax plan in particular would be financial bonanzas for Trump and his family.
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He would eliminate the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), which prevents rich taxpayers like Trump from exploiting excessive tax breaks. Without the AMT, Trump would have paid just a 3% tax rate in 2005, according to a portion of that year's return recently leaked to the media.
He would cut the tax rate by up to 60% on a type of business he uses extensively, the so-called "pass-through." Pass-through owners pay their business taxes on their personal returns at individual rates, which for rich taxpayers like Trump can be as high as 40%. Trump would cut the top tax rate to just 15% (20% for undefined larger entities). The president is sole or partial owner of over 500 pass-through businesses, and so could save millions of dollars every year from what's been rightly dubbed the "Trump Loophole."
He would abolish the estate tax, our nation's only tax on inherited wealth, paid exclusively by the richest one of every 500 families. If Trump has as much money as he claims which could be more accurately deduced from his tax returns his heirs could wind up billions of dollars richer from abolishing the estate tax.
In cities throughout the country, many marched April 15 to demand answers to these questions. The first answer is for Trump to release his tax returns.
Frank Clemente is executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness.
What's on your mind?
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The Daily Southtown welcomes letters to the editor. Email them to letters@southtownstar.com and include your name, address and phone number. Only your name and the town you reside in will appear with the letter. Please keep a letter to no more than about 200 words. The Southtown is not responsible for the accuracy of the opinions expressed in letters to the editor.
As you know by now, Gov. Bruce Rauner recently toured the state for two days. He denied that the tour had anything to do with the 2018 election, but it was pretty darned clear that he and his team were tuning up the band for the big show down the road.
Campaign funds not only paid for the tour but political money was used to promote it in advance. I'm told Rauner's advertising on social and online media served over a million impressions in the days leading up to the fly-around.
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And like a musician touring to promote a new album, Rauner played up his latest hits. The "Chicago Machine Democrats" just want to "duct tape" the state's problems instead of fixing them. Rauner's latest TV ads, paid for by a "dark money" subsidiary of the Republican Governor's Association, feature him in a pristine workshop using duct tape to explain how Springfield politicians don't ever really fix problems.
Whatever he lacks in governing abilities, there's no doubt that Rauner is a master at laying out a very simple, popular and easy to understand message and then staying on that message no matter what. During his Peoria appearance, Rauner slammed the House Democrats' stopgap budget as just "taping over our problems duct taping cracks in our system." The only thing missing was the bright, sharply pressed flannel shirt he wore in the TV ad.
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As with all established bands on tour, the governor also played popular tunes from his recent albums. Since about the beginning of the year, when he was asked by a reporter to grade his first two years in office, Rauner has repeatedly pointed to his own successes at unilaterally cutting unspecified waste from the system (which plays right into the hugely popular notion that waste is the state's biggest problem) and then contrasted that with the obstructionism of the "Madigan Democrats" in the General Assembly.
"They've created the worst crisis of any state in America," Rauner said of the Democrats while speaking in Springfield. "On things that I can control, we've done wonderfully. Where the General Assembly has blocked progress, they've made the problem worse."
Rauner even brought back a line from his February budget address, when he encouraged the Senate's leaders to hammer out a grand bargain. He spoke about that effort as if he'd never actually knocked the grand bargain off the rails in March.
And, of course, he brought out the old standards that he's been playing for years: Property tax freeze, term limits and becoming "much more pro-growth, pro-business, pro-investment, pro-job creation," as he said in Rockford.
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The Democratic candidates, for their part, stuck to their #DoYourJob theme in response to Rauner's tour, saying the governor should be getting a budget deal done rather than campaigning. None mentioned that the House and Senate are in the midst of a two-week spring break, so doing a deal or even meeting with the other leaders probably wouldn't be possible. Also, governors often use spring breaks as an opportunity to hit the hustings. This is nothing new.
Much of the Chicago-based print media focused on the fact that Rauner denied he was campaigning while obviously campaigning. But they never put that into the broader context of the governor's habit of saying one thing (cheerleading the Senate's grand bargain) while doing another (killing the Senate's grand bargain).
Channel 7, the most-watched television station in Chicagoland, ran a purely positive piece.
"I want all of you to have a better future, I want your children to have great schools and I want your salaries to go up," Rauner said during the Chicago station's report. There was no mention of the fact that none of that has happened since he became governor, and there is no foreseeable time when any of it will happen as long as we have this never-ending gridlock.
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Rauner also appeared via phone on several talk radio programs during his tour and faced mostly softball questions from conservative hosts. Even conservative activist Dan Proft, who has sharply criticized the governor on his radio program since the start of the year, allowed Rauner to endlessly rattle on about his main talking points, duct tape and all, without much of a peep.
For those on Rauner's side, this was a good tour. For those on the other side (and polls show there are a lot of them), well, they wouldn't like it anyway. Those in the middle probably got the message that the governor and his team wanted to send, with a big assist from the media.
Rich Miller also publishes Capitol Fax, a daily political newsletter, and CapitolFax.com.
There's a lot of talk and concern about how President Donald Trump is trying to change course on policies and undo the legacy of his predecessor, former President Barack Obama.
For now, at least one aspect of Obama's legacy continues to produce measurable results in the form of increased availability of early childhood programs in the south suburbs.
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Last week, I visited an early childhood program that began operating in February at a new Dolton Park District facility. The program can serve up to 100 children, from infants to age 5, with comprehensive services including child care, nutritious meals, early learning and recreational opportunities.
Parents can drop off their children at the center, where preschoolers spend up to eight hours a day engaged in various activities with teachers and staff members.
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The casual observer might see a small group of kids playing with toys. But adults are teaching the young ones skills designed to help them succeed in education, said Carlos Patton, director of early learning programs for Illinois Action for Children.
Patton said socialization is a big skill they learn at that age. "We believe children learn through play," he said.
In one room, a teacher begins class by singing along with a beat played at a low volume on a CD player. Girls and boys sing along to a song about the rules of the classroom, which include following directions, keeping their hands to themselves, and properly using their voices.
The new, 15,000-square-foot Dolton Park District facility at 721 Engle St. is impressive. A $3.5 million state construction grant awarded in 2013 funded the building. Illinois Action for Children operates the program, along with three others in Chicago Heights, Harvey and Ford Heights.
The programs serve "high-priority" populations, which include children of families living in high poverty, teen mothers, homeless parents and others.
In addition to directly providing child care services, Illinois Action for Children trains personnel who work with children throughout the state and is a leading advocate for early childhood programs. The agency was founded in 1969.
Early childhood programs are not as directly impacted by the nearly two-year state budget impasse as other programs. The state continues to fund preschool programs and pass through federal Head Start dollars.
State funding, however, is disrupted to programs that serve people with disabilities, are homeless or receive mental health services some of the qualifying factors to enroll children in programs in Dolton and throughout the state.
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Illinois Action for Children's south suburban early childhood programs were among 11 regional operations selected for a recent study designed to increase enrollment and capacity. A federal Race To the Top grant funded the study, which sought to identify best practices and improve accountability through development of "Innovation Zones."
The south suburban Thornton Township Innovation Zone was among programs that successfully used community outreach efforts to increase enrollment, according to the study, "Illinois' Early Childhood Innovation Zones: A New Model for State Policy?"
Study findings were released April 7 by the Southern Illinois University-based Illinois Education Research Council.
"Illinois Action for Children is also to be commended for their willingness to model continuous improvement," the study concluded. "The challenge now is to advance these efforts in the absence of grant support and not revert back to working in isolation."
I spoke by phone with Leah Pouw, director of community systems development for Illinois Action for Children. She elaborated on their community outreach efforts and explained how early childhood programs throughout the region are working together collaboratively as opposed to competitively to increase overall enrollment.
"The hardest part is identifying qualifying children and getting them into programs," Pouw told me. "We did comprehensive outreach through a number of social service providers, public housing developments, homeless shelters to identify families in need of help."
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South suburban providers are now sharing waiting lists and referrals to optimize available capacity of early childhood programs, she said.
"We're stronger together through systems-building," Pouw said. "We're moving out of the competitive space and into a more collaborative one."
Benefits of early childhood programs like the new one in Dolton are clear. For one, adults able to enroll their young children can pursue full-time employment. Children benefit by being better prepared for kindergarten, which makes them more likely to succeed in elementary, secondary and higher education.
During his 2013 State of the Union address, Obama noted that fewer than a third of the nation's 4-year-olds were enrolled in early education programs. The following year, he announced $1 billion in funding to increase opportunities.
In addition to public funding, private donors supporting the initiative included the Walt Disney Co., the LEGO Foundation and the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation.
"Since 2009, federal investment in early childhood programs has increased by more than $6 billion," the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan think tank, reported in December. "What's more, 40 states are measuring early childhood program quality up from 17 at the beginning of Obama's administration."
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"Undoubtedly, the Obama Administration did more than those that came before to make children's earliest years an important part of the national education conversation," the New America report concluded.
"Still, rather than fundamentally transforming the early education landscape, it may be more accurate to say that the Obama years have laid important groundwork necessary for large-scale efforts in the years to come should there be future leaders who make doing so a priority."
Trump has signaled policy shifts radically different than Obama. Trump's initial budget outline and executive orders represent drastic changes in priorities for such areas as the environment and immigration policies.
It doesn't take much to imagine Trump and Congress taking the country in a new direction by emphasizing something other than early childhood programs. Given the state's financial condition and strains put on local taxing bodies, I think it would be difficult to fill the void if federal funding for early childhood is reduced or eliminated.
Obama's commitment to early childhood learning means, for now, increased opportunities are available to south suburban families in need. I think advocates and beneficiaries of the programs will have to work to maintain public funding commitments for such programs in the future.
tslowik@tribpub.com
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"Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day" will be held April 27.
This year's theme is "Count on Me." More than just a career day, this initiative gives workers the opportunity to show their children what they do at work when they are not at home. It fosters good relationships and greater understanding of what parents "do" when they are at work.
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But what if you had the opportunity to visit your child at work and what if that child's job was on a ship in the United States' Navy? Would you go?
Julie Hoffman, of Lockport, a proud mother of three children (all in the military), has been given the opportunity to join her daughter on a Tiger Cruise. These events are organized for friends and family (usually not spouses or fiances) to accompany the person serving in the military.
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The U.S. Navy website describes a Tiger Cruise as "The occasional embarkation of family members of Naval personnel (which) is intended to contribute to good morale and instill in service members, a sense of pride in the Navy, and their ships. It also enhances public understanding of the Navy and increases community awareness."
Hoffman's three children have all found the military as their career. Her oldest, a son, Kenn, served eight years in the U.S. Marines, including a tour to Afghanistan (when it was "hot"), as well as Japan, and the Philippines. He is finishing up his commitment and going on to another profession of law enforcement and will once again be serving others.
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Her middle daughter, Olivia, received her associate's degree and decided she needed more out of life so she decided to join the U.S. Navy. She is currently on her first deployment.
Her youngest child, a daughter, Hannah, dreamed of being a U.S. Marine since she was about age seven and is currently pursuing her dream.
Hoffman, who is a single mother, states, "It is by the grace of God that I was able to raise the three of them to be selfless, serving their country and their God. I am doing a GoFundMe so I may be able to visit my sailor, Olivia, for a week on a ship, after not having seen her for six months."
Hoffman's friend encouraged her to reach out to the community in an effort to achieve her goal to raise the funds necessary to be able to join her daughter. Fitting that this year's theme for Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is Count on Me we count on our military to keep us safe.
Hoffman wants to raise $3,500 to cover airfare, hotel stay, and light meals for travel. More information can be found at: www.GoFundMe.com/GodBlessourMilitary. Any donation no matter how big or small will be truly appreciated.
To learn more about Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day and some of the activities and events planned for that day, visit: https://daughtersandsonstowork.org
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Information about Tiger Cruises and the United States Navy can be found at: www.navy.mil.
For 10 years in the 1970s, Assistant Village Manager Don DeMarco and civil rights activist Bill Simpson engaged in an on-going battle about the future of Park Forest. This issue was the same one that has bedeviled and divided this nation for more than 200 years.
It was a matter of race.
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The specific dispute was about a program called integration maintenance. It was hailed as a plan to stem white flight when African-Americans first move into a previously all-white suburb. The goal was simple. Black families would be offered homes throughout the community, not just in one or two areas. Thus, it was said, integration maintenance would stabilize the town, with blacks and whites living together in harmony.
It was DeMarco who was Park Forest's spokesman for the plan. Simpson was an adamant opponent.
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The first African-American family moved into the village on Christmas Eve, 1959. Simpson, along with his wife, Juanita, and their three children moved to Park Forest from Chicago in 1963. By 1971, Simpson was the chairman of the village's Human Relations Committee. DeMarco was hired one year later and the two quickly clashed over the integration maintenance.
For Simpson, the plan was just another way to keep blacks out of the community once a specific number was reached. He was a ceaseless author of letters to newspapers, 900 of which got into print, where he stated his position. In 1979, on the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling against segregated schools, Juanita Simpson and DeMarco debated both the meaning and the implication of the words segregation and integration on the old MacNeil-Lehrer Report on PBS.
Demarco left in 1982, a decade before the Supreme Court ruled that nine south suburban communities could market housing specifically to whites in order to preserve integration. Simpson died in 1996.
At 3 p.m. this Sunday in Freedom Hall, Bill and Juanita Simpson will be among those inducted into the Park Forest Historical Society Hall of Fame. The two were nominated by their debating opponent DeMarco. In his nomination letter, DeMarco reasoned that the two kept the village's feet to the fire. "(T)hey kept Park Forest accountable by calling for more explicit justification and transparency," he wrote.
Simpson and Demarco voiced differing views on the same issue but both agreed on one point.
Race matters.
And More
For the first time in 21 years, the Historical Society will induct four husband-wife teams Jack and Peg Donohue, Carl and Peggy Glassford and Helen and Herschel Ward, as well as the Simpsons. This year's non-profit inductee is the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra.
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For 50 years, both Jack and Peg Donohue touched the artistic, literary and political soul of the community. Peg Donohue was twice elected to both the Park Forest Library Board where she was instrumental in the improvements and renovation for the facility, and to the Prairie State College Board of Trustees. She served as director of the Tall Grass Art School for four years and served on the Tall Grass Arts Association board of directors.
Daily Southtown Twice-weekly News updates from the south suburbs delivered every Monday and Wednesday >
Jack Donoghue was chairman of the Non-Partisan Committee for Local Government, the group that schedules and oversees all political forums in the village, was chairman of the Cable Television Committee and chair of the old Jolly Trolley Commission.
Carl Glassford's passion for the outdoors led him to work with the Friends of the Thorn Creek Woods, as well as becoming the first chairman of the Old Plank Trail Road Association, which opened in 1997 and is one of the highest used recreational trails in the state.
Peggy Glassford helped in preparing Park Forest's successful bid for recognition as an "All-America City" in 1977. She was a village trustee for four years in Park Forest and later spent 25 years working as assistant to the village manager and later village manager in Flossmoor.
Herschel Ward chaired the campaign to build Good Shepherd United Protestant Church and was a founding member of the congregation. He had two thriving businesses in Park Forest, moving his downtown firm, the Council of Industrial Security to an office he added in his home as well as creating Rubber Stamp Specialties in the same home office.
Helen Ward helped co-found the Good Shepherd food pantry, which later became the Food Pantry of Rich Township. She also served as a member or was on the board of United Way, School Dist. 163 PTA, Friends of the Park Forest Library while winning numerous awards for her volunteer work.
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It was founded in 1955 as the Park Forest Symphony Orchestra and renamed the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra in 1982. Since then, the organization has received coveted awards through the years and was named the Illinois orchestra of the year in both 1992 and 2010.
Jerry Shnay is a freelance journalist and can be reached at jerryshnay@gmail.com.
Construction could begin this year on East Dundee's new Speedway fueling center, set to go at the northwest corner of Christina Drive and Route 72 in the village's Terra Business Park.
The project, which will include a 4,600-square-foot convenience store featuring a Speedy Cafe, 10 gasoline pumps and four commercial diesel lanes, is expected to be completed by the end of 2018.
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"But we're hoping it comes in faster," Village President Lael Miller said.
Representatives for Speedway LLC had asked for financial assistance through a combination of business development district taxes, home rule sales tax and state shared sales tax rebates.
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The $9 million project is estimated to generate more than $400,000 annually in sales tax revenue.
At Monday's board meeting, trustees agreed to reimburse up to 41 percent of the project costs, capped at $2.5 million, over 15 years. During the rebate period, the net revenue to the village is anticipated to be $240,000, officials said.
Village Administrator Bob Skurla said Speedway is requesting the assistance due to "the at least $2.5 million in extraordinary expenses in developing the project at that site."
"In the absence of the village's offer of assistance, the project was not going to move forward," he said.
The fueling center project also will include new traffic signals as well as intersection improvements to allow for convenient access into the Speedway fueling center and the Terra Business Park, officials said.
Miller said the project will spur more development along Route 72.
"This is a great thing for us," he said.
Erin Sauder is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Elgin building maintenance worker Glen Dettman shows a new portion of the changeover system used to heat and cool Elgin City Hall. Dettman did most of the work, using plans he helped Building Maintenance Superintendent Rick Hoke engineer. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)
After running for nearly 50 years, the HVAC system at City Hall is getting an overhaul and most of the work is being done by Elgin staff, at a significant savings to the city.
"By doing this in-house, we're taking $500,000 off the table that would have come from Elgin's budget," Senior Management Analyst Laura Valdez-Wilson said.
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That savings figure comes from the city getting an estimate from a contractor about a year-and-a-half ago for refiguring and installing a revamped changeover system. The City Hall system uses water that is either heated through a boiler or cooled through a chiller to heat and cool the big building. Elgin Building Maintenance Superintendent Rich Hoke said that estimate was about $750,0000.
According to information provided by city staff, most of the current system dates back to 1968, when City Hall opened, with computer controls added in 1996. Many repair parts are no longer available, and the system frequently shows signs of failure, officials said.
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Valdez-Wilson noted that issues typically become apparent on days when the outdoor temperature hovers around 50. A degree or two above that means the air conditioning kicks in, while below 50 means the heat goes on, she said. The building can seem too hot or too cold, particularly in spring and fall when such temperatures are common, she said.
"Regulation is challenging with the old system," Valdez-Wilson said. "The new one will be much more efficient."
Hoke said that necessary replacement work would have required shutting down portions of the HVAC system for days, impacting temperature control within the building.
So instead, last fall Hoke who teaches HVAC courses at Elgin Community College began working with fellow veteran Elgin city employee, building operations worker Glen Dettman, on designing and putting together what needs to be replaced.
"I talked him into it," is how Hoke said he got Dettman involved in the project, which focuses mostly on the changeover portion of the basement-based operation the portion which determines where hot water or cold water will be used to heat or cool the building.
Dettman said a challenge of the work was figuring out what would go where and how to make the new portion more easily serviceable than the old one. To that end, he pointed out that valves on older pipes along a basement wall are high up and hard to reach. The new design has those valves at waist level making for easier access.
Elgin Building Maintenance Superintendent Rich Hoke and staffer Glen Dettman discuss the revamped HVAC system at City Hall. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)
Pumps on the new setup are more energy efficient, Hoke noted. The 21-year-old electronic controls also are being replaced, Hoke said, and staff will be able to remotely access the system from outside the building through tablet devices.
Dettman has done most of the work himself as part of his other duties with the department, which oversees 140 structures the city owns and maintains, from picnic sheds in parks to The Centre, City Hall, Hemmens Cultural Center and Elgin Police headquarters downtown.
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Some of the work has to be outsourced, and last week the City Council approved awarding a $52,257 contract with Anchor Mechanical of Chicago to install header piping and a contract for $36,800 with Earley Insulation of Chicago to insulate the 1,000 feet of piping. The two approved contracts are a part of the $250,000 cost of the project.
"It speaks a lot to the quality of the folks who works for us and the creativity they bring forth," Councilmember Tish Powell said last Wednesday.
Elgin building maintenance worker Glen Dettman points out that the old HVAC system for City Hall has valves that are difficult to reach. (Mike Danahey / The Courier-News)
If all goes according to plan, the revamped system should be up and running by June, Hoke and Valdez-Wilson said, meaning it should be operating when temperatures usually are more consistent.
Valdez-Wilson and Hoke hoped the new system also will help keep offices on the south side of City Hall cooler as the glass-design of the structure means they can be hot, even in winter.
mdanahey@tribpub.com
A downtown Elgin bar faces lawsuits from its landlord, beverage supplier and a talent booking agency, and its liquor license will expire before an opportunity for the city to consider renewing it, according to court documents and Elgin officials.
Smooth Fox in Elgin will not have a chance to renew its expiring liquor license, and will not be allowed to sell liquor past April 30, before next month's commission meeting, Elgin Corporate Counsel William Cogley said.
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The bar has not applied to renew its liquor license, Elgin Communications Specialist Molly Center said. The city's liquor control commission will not meet again until May, after the current license expires, Center said.
Smooth Fox proprietor Justin Hodge, 35, has been in the Kane County Jail since March 21 for driving on a suspended license in 2015. He is due for release April 18, according to Kane County Sheriff Department's Lt. Pat Gengler.
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Kane County court records indicate Hodge has eight misdemeanor driving on a suspended license arrests here going back to 2007.
Hodge's attorney, Scott William Sheen of St. Charles, could not be reached for comment.
"We are not going to have a special meeting for his needs," Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain said during a liquor control commission meeting last week, noting that Hodge previously failed to show for meetings the commission asked him to attend regarding police calls and problems at the bar.
Most recently, Elgin police were called to the Smooth Fox just before 3 a.m. April 9 for a fight outside the building, Cogley said. One man involved in the fight was found to have a warrant and was arrested, Elgin Police Chief Jeff Swoboda said. Three other people were arrested on misdemeanor charges and released. However, another fight broke out in front of the Elgin police department when they were released, and two more people were arrested, Swoboda said.
Other calls to the Smooth Fox since February include noise complaints, a credit card theft and a call about patrons loitering outside, according to Elgin police records.
On March 4, a man was charged with violating the concealed carry license for entering a location which had "No Firearms" signs posted, police said.
Before midnight April 7, a member of a band playing at the bar told police a woman hit him in the face with a closed fist. The man was removed from the bar, but officers were not able to locate the woman on the premises.
Smooth Fox has a Class E1 liquor license, where 50 percent of gross revenue must come from food sales.
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"When the business is requesting a renewal, they would need to submit a list of monthly sales throughout the last year," Center said. "They have not submitted a renewal application, so we have not received any monthly or annual reports."
The City has another issue with the establishment. Hodge owes the city of Elgin money related to last October's Nightmare on Chicago Street event.
"The booth allowed downtown businesses to sell hard liquor on public property while the city provided tables and tents," Center said. "The city received a check for the initial booth fee from the establishment which came back not sufficient funds. Based off the other establishments' percentages, the Smooth Fox owes approximately $2,100."
Court records indicate Hodge also owes money to the business' landlord and those with whom he has done business.
According to Cook County court records, Hodge and business partners in Smooth Fox Inc. were sued by Breakthru Beverage Illinois for $41,510 in November, with the case continued until May 18.
The business partners could not be reached for comment.
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In Kane County, there is a small claims court judgment against Hodge for $6,900 plus attorney's fees from The Bassline Group, according to court records. In that case, a Chicago talent booking agency said Hodge did not pay a contract amount in July and that at least one check for its services bounced. The judge in that case made a summary judgment in favor of Bassline when Hodge did not appear at the December court date.
Eric Spicer, drummer for Naked Raygun which played a show at the Smooth Fox last year, said the band received a check for payment, but the check bounced twice, Spicer said. Hodge sent another check that also bounced, Spicer said.
"This is when things became ridiculously surreal," Spicer said.
Spicer and the band filed a complaint with the Elgin police department, which led to the group getting half the money they were owed.
Kane County records also indicate Hodge is being sued by the property management company for the Smooth Fox's downtown address at 51 S. Grove Ave. for $9,000 in unpaid rent. That complaint was filed March 17. The building was a JC Penney decades ago and has gone through several incarnations in recent years.
In February, the Liquor Commission was set to continue a discussion started in January with Hodge about police-related issues at his business. Hodge failed to show up for the meeting.
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The January Commission discussion centered on 10 or so incidents including big fights and a nearby building being hit by gunfire that occurred since Hodge opened Smooth Fox last summer.
Hodge showed up about 50 minutes into the Jan. 11 session, citing issues finding someone to pick up one of his children.
"He has been negligent in attending (meetings). We owe him no special favors at this point," Kaptain said.
Janelle Walker is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.
mdanahey@tribpub.com
A temporary restraining order against the Kane County Department of Transportation Monday shut down construction work on the latest phase of the Longmeadow Parkway Bridge Corridor due to a bee recently added to the endangered species list, according to court documents.
"The county has downplayed the opposition all along," said Rose Zaffina, who joined with the group Stop Longmeadow to oppose the $115 million project. "Today shows the county that they are accountable."
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Stop Longmeadow filed a lawsuit and a request for the temporary restraining order with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois asking a federal judge stop construction slated to begin Monday based on the addition of the rusty patched bumble bee to the federal endangered species list. The bumble bee has been found in the Brunner Forest Preserve, the lawsuit stated. Brunner Forest Preserve is along the corridor's 5.6 mile route in northern Kane County, county documents show.
A hearing is set for Friday, April 28, for arguments on a preliminary injunction, court documents stated.
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"We are being vigilant and we are determined," said Jo Ann Fritz, who arrived at Sleepy Hollow Road and Longmeadow Parkway Monday morning with other protesters holding signs stating the project is "not a done deal." News about the restraining order spread fast and a man on a bike thanked and congratulated the protesters as he rode past early Monday afternoon.
Federal defendants which includes the U.S. Department of Transportation, the U.S. Department of Interior along with the Kane County Department of Transportation and the Forest Preserve District of Kane County filed a response stating Stop Longmeadow submitted a last minute and "a bare-bones declaration from one individual asserting purported harm that she speculates may occur to the bee, but where are not borne out by the facts on the ground."
The Kane County State's Attorney's office had no comment on Monday's action and does not comment on pending litigation, a spokesman said.
No permits or funding has been issued on sections of the corridor going through Brunner Family Forest Preserve or "the location which Stop Longmeadow assert that the bee may possibly be found," the response stated. The legal action is "premature" and the group cannot prove irreversible harm, it stated. Additionally, the corridor is in the public's interest because it is needed to reduce congestion in the area, it stated.
Federal Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ruled a brief stay is warranted, according to court documents. The rusty patched bumble bee was added to the endangered species list on March 21 and the county issued a press release announcing the construction on April 11, the document stated. The group did not delay in filing a lawsuit, it stated. The judge rejected the defendants' argument that the work scheduled to begin Monday would not affect the bumble bee habitat, the document stated.
"The Court finds the balance of harms weighs in favor of the plaintiffs and against the public's interest in reduced traffic congestions," the judge's order stated.
Construction crews began working at 7 a.m. but, the county stopped all work by 2:30 p.m. and a semi-truck hauled off construction equipment from a location on Longmeadow Parkway, just east of Randall Road. Other equipment sat waiting to be taken away.
Lisa Davis lives near Longmeadow Parkway and was "ecstatic at the news" Monday that construction was stopped. She joined Fritz at the protest.
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"We understand there are no guarantees but those of us fighting it believe it is the right thing to do and we are not giving up hope," Fritz said, adding Monday's action gives hope to other opponents.
Stop Longmeadow still needs help raising funds for the lawsuit and has started a GoFundMe campaign, Stop-Longmeadow-Toll-Bridge, she said. The group is also holding a public meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 20 at the West Dundee Community Center on Route 72, she said.
At the county, officials were working to check out the lawsuit, Chairman Chris Lauzen said.
"We have to check out all the facets of what this delay means," Lauzen said. "I respect the process, the system and safeguards. I respect those decision need to be made by the proper authorities. I ask to just consider what this is costing the taxpayers in federal, state, Kane County and Forest Preserve funds for lawyers."
There are also costs associated with delaying construction, Lauzen said. The county's preliminary estimates show it could lose between $800,000 and $850,000 on one contract during the 11 day delay, he said.
The delay also means people won't be able to work, Lauzen said.
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Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
Baylor School has been selected to receive the installation of an active learning classroom through the Active Learning Center program, a grant initiative in its third year founded by Steelcase Education. The grant program supports both teachers and students by creating an environment that encourages engagement, collaboration and creativity.
With the installation of a classroom valued at $65,000, Baylor will positively impact teaching and support pedagogies for student engagement. Each room includes modern movable furniture, design, onsite training, installation and a pre- and post-occupancy measurement tool.
Beginning this July and ready by the start of school in late August, this Steelcase Education learning environment will be installed in the Baylor School Hedges Library by Workspace Interiors of Knoxville. This new classroom has a varied, mobile setting which encourages hands-on activities and less formal conversations. With multiple learning modes supported, students and instructors will be able to spark new thinking and understanding.
The Active Learning Center installation will transform a traditional instructor-led computer lab to a flexible space that will foster collaborative work for video projects, audio podcasts, and virtual reality environments that are part of the middle schools learning skills and media studies courses. The space will also be utilized by Baylors Learning Center, which supports upper school students in a variety of curricular areas.
Baylor School was chosen because of a demonstrated commitment to active learning, said Craig Wilson, director of Market Development for Steelcase Education. Research shows that space impacts behavior, and these classrooms will help a new group of teachers and students explore the learning possibilities an interactive space can bring.
In addition to receiving a new classroom, Baylor will receive training from Steelcase on the uses of the furniture in their new spaces, and will also have the opportunity to share insights and best practices with other awarded schools. Over the two-year program, Steelcase Education and Baylor will partner together to conduct assessments and research on the impact of the newly designed space.
We are excited to be recognized by the Active Learning Center Grant for our efforts in promoting personalized, engaged learning with our students, said Julie King, Baylors head librarian. With Steelcase Educations support, we will continue this mission and foster better collaborations between students and teachers in the classroom.
Along with Baylor, 14 other schools and universities out of over 900 applications were chosen for their unique approaches to active learning. For more information on the winners, visit the Steelcase Education website.
Sister Johanna Tremel is in charge of the food pantry at St. Celestine Catholic Church in Elmwood Park. She said she enjoys servicing the parishioners of St. Celestine.
Q: Where did you grow up and go to school?
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A: I grew up in Luxemburg, Wis. I attended a Catholic elementary school.
Q: When did you know you wanted to become a sister?
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A: When I was in seventh grade, I decided I didn't want to get married and have children. I raised my siblings. I knew I wanted to do something where I could do something more for other people.
Q: When did you come to St. Celestine?
A: I moved to Elmwood Park in 1987 and joined St. Celestine. I got involved with their food pantry.
Q: What do you do at St. Celestine?
A: Right now, I'm managing the food pantry at St. Celestine.
Q: What do you do for the food pantry?
A: I collect and I order food. I see which parishioners have a need for the food. When we need more food, I purchase it at Aldi's or the Greater Chicago Food Depository. I have volunteers who help me unload the food.
Q: What do you like the most about managing the food pantry?
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A: I meet a lot of people. I always was a people person. I like to get to know the people of the parish.
Q: What advice would you give someone who would want to be a sister?
A: They have to be willing to obey. You have to follow the rules.
Q: What are your plans for the future?
A: I'm hoping that God will give me another 10 years. I hope I can continue working with the parishioners of St. Celestine.
Maryann Pisano is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
On a summer night in Long Island, N.Y., a boy gazed at the moon through a telescope for the first time.
"That one event started me on a lifelong path of science and nature," said Fred Espenak.
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Espenak's early interest in astronomy led to a NASA career as an astrophysicist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. His expertise in eclipses make Espenak an internationally requested speaker in March, Espenak lectured in China and Hong Kong according to his website, www.mreclipse.com.
On April 22, Espenak visits the Cernan Earth and Space Center at Triton College for a special lecture on the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse.
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Espenak's lecture will begin at 7:30 p.m., followed by questions and a book signing in the lobby. Cernan Center members will have an opportunity to meet Espenak during a members-only reception at 6:30 p.m.
"It's a chance for me to mix and mingle with people and have them ask me questions one-on-one," Espenak says of the members-only reception.
A limited number of free tickets are available for Cernan Center members.
The public may purchase advance tickets by calling 708-456-0300, ext. 3372, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays. Tickets are $5 for adults ages 13-54, and $3 for children 5-12 and seniors 55 and older.
Espenak encourages families to attend the lecture, and he will show slides during his presentation that will show them how they may use household items to safely view an eclipse.
"Something like a solar eclipse is accessible to everybody. You can use a colander to watch the partial phase," Espenak said.
Resources including recent books and bulletins, and tips for photographing eclipses are available on Espenak's website, .
Cernan Center director Kristine McCall believes that witnessing a celestial event such as a solar eclipse can have a lifelong impact, especially for a child. McCall missed the 1969 Apollo 11 lunar landing and 1970 east coast solar eclipse due to other family commitments.
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"These are two of the saddest things I regret missing in my childhood. Perhaps if I had witnessed one or both of them, I would have discovered my enthusiasm for space and my life's calling six years earlier," said McCall.
McCall compared a partial versus a total solar eclipse using a local metaphor.
"Here in Chicago, you might say it's the difference between playing in the World Series and winning the World Series," McCall said.
According to McCall, the Cernan Center will provide eclipse education at each public program beginning in June, and eclipse-related books and gifts will be available in the "Star Store" at the center. The Cernan Center will be open for viewing the eclipse on Aug. 21. However, as Chicago will not be in the path of totality, McCall and others encourage interested families to visit the eclipse along its path of totality.
Carbondale will have an especially long time in the moon's shadow, according to the Eclipse 2017 NASA website (https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov).
Theo Wellington is the eclipse planning coordinator at Western Kentucky University, and has heard Espenak speak "several times." She also works at the Hardin Planetarium on the campus of the university.
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Wellington is looking forward to seeing her first total eclipse, especially after hearing how it inspires others.
"I have never heard anyone say, 'Oh, it was just like I thought it would be.' Instead they tell you how emotional it was, how very beautiful, how awe inspiring," Wellington said.
"No image does justice to a total eclipse, and nothing short of standing in the moon's shadow will be the same. Not streaming on a cellphone. I can't begin to imagine how many young minds will be inspired to learn more," Wellington said.
Espenak agrees. One of the goals of his April 22 lecture at Triton will be to "impress on them what an incredible opportunity they have to see a total eclipse."
Rachel K. Hindery is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Gail Doeff, co-owner of Upstairs Cafe in Evanston, talks about the cafe's upcoming closure. (Genevieve Bookwalter \ Evanston Review) (Chicago Tribune)
The closure later this month of a popular Evanston coffee house will not only wrap up more than four years of work for its co-owners, but some customers say it cold signify the end of an era.
Evanston residents Elizabeth Hubbard, Gail Doeff and Shelley Patterson co-own the Upstairs Cafe at a Metra stop in the north suburb.
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But it is scheduled to close April 28 after the baristas couldn't reach a rental agreement with Union Pacific railroad company, which owns the property.
A coffee shop of some variety has served commuters at the Central Street station for about 35 years, Doeff said.
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"It's been a community gathering space for a long time," Doeff said.
The closure comes after a long-term lease expired between Union Pacific and the City of Evanston, both UP and city officials said.
Upstairs Cafe had been a subtenant of the city.
"We did a sublease with the coffee shop because that is the type of business we want," said Paul Zalmezak, senior economic development coordinator for the city of Evanston.
But after the 20-year lease ended, "We were spending a lot of money to maintain that space and decided we no longer wanted to do that," Zalmezak said.
Upstairs Cafe paid $760 per month in rent under the sublease agreement, which ended in 2016, city officials said.
Raquel Espinoza, spokeswoman for Union Pacific, said the company tried to negotiate a new lease with the cafe owners but an agreement could not be reached.
As a result, "We are in the process of identifying the most effective use of the space at Central Street Station to complement and enhance local economic development in the community," Espinoza said in an email.
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The Upstairs Cafe is open only from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. each day, and its crowds come in waves.
Slowly the commuters fill tables in the cozy space that is alongside the tracks at the Metra station. They pay cash for drip coffee and house-made pastries. The yellow-walled room bustles with bodies and voices, as customers pour cream and sugar and inquire about fellow Metra riders' kids.
The noise volume increases with the crowd until the train rolls in with a loud whistle, and everyone is up and out.
"Good bye! Have a good day!" Hubbard waves from behind the counter.
This scene, supporters say, is what they will miss most when the cafe closes.
"It's this wonderful sense of community and family. Strangers get to be friends," said Gale Vineyard of Evanston, holding the hard-boiled egg she bought in the cafe while waiting for her train to the Chicago Loop.
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"It just adds a bit of joy in the morning," Vineyard said.
Doeff said the three of them haven't decided where they will go next. The shorter morning shift has worked well for each of them, who still have children at home, she said.
"If you rent a storefront the rent is so much higher, so you have to be open more hours," Doeff said.
The women started the cafe because "we were looking for adventure and we came across this," Doeff said.
Now they'll probably take the summer off to regroup, she said.
Hubbard said she will miss watching cafe customers do things like swap business cards, comfort each other before surgeries and celebrate upcoming weddings.
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"I really feel for our customers," Hubbard said. "Some people come in early on purpose."
gbookwalter@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @GenevieveBook
Evanston police said they recovered loaded handguns from two men during separate traffic stops Friday, and now each of them faces weapons charges.
Virgil M. Houston, 23, of the 9400 block of Niles Center Road in Skokie, is being held at Cook County Jail on $125,000 bond, according to information from the Cook County Sheriff's office.
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Houston was charged Friday with felony unlawful use of a weapon/armed habitual criminal, misdemeanor unlawful possession of a firearm/ammunition without a Firearm Owner's Identification card, misdemeanor unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia and was cited for failure to wear a seat belt, police said.
Kevin MJ Logan, 28, of the 800 block of East Capri Road in Palatine, was charged with felony unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, felony possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number and misdemeanor unlawful possession of firearm/ammunition without a Firearm Owner's Identification card, said authorities.
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According to the Cook County Sheriff's office, Logan is being held in Cook County Jail on $100,000 bond.
Police said the vehicle Houston was a rear passenger in was traveling westbound in the 2400 block of Oakton Street in Evanston around 7 p.m. Friday when officers noticed one passenger not wearing a seat belt.
The vehicle, with its three occupants, was pulled over in the 3000 block of Oakton Street in Skokie, according to Evanston police.
Officers detected the smell of cannabis coming from inside the vehicle, according to police.
Eventually during the stop, police recovered a duffel bag belonging to Houston that contained a glass jar with cannabis, packaging material and a digital scale, authorities said.
Police said a further check of the vehicle led to officers recovering a loaded Jennings-Bryco .380 caliber handgun from under the rear portion of the front passenger seat.
Houston was charged and the other two were issued city citations for minor offenses.
About four hours later that day, police stopped a vehicle at Lyons Street and Darrow Avenue because it had only one headlight, according to a police news release.
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Police said Kevin MJ Logan, who was a rear passenger in the vehicle, "quickly exited the vehicle and began to walk away while adjusting his waistband."
Logan then began running, according to police, and officers gave chase.
Officer's finally caught up with Logan in the rear of a residence in the 1700 block of Lyons Street where they observed him throw away a loaded Ruger .380 caliber handgun before he was arrested, police said in the news release.
Logan was taken into custody and the handgun was recovered, authorities said.
Each of the men were scheduled to appear in court Tuesday in Skokie.
Brian L. Cox is a freelancer
A student shared her experience working in a Chinese labor camp as her family left North Korea to come to America. A teacher shared her father's story of coming to America from former Yugoslavia.
These are two of 57 stories displayed at Glenbrook South High School by Students Organized Against Racism, agroup created this year to raise awareness around race issues, as part of an art exhibit that highlights immigrant stories within the school community, said sponsor Emily Ekstrand. The stories are pinned on a hallway wall around 114 painted cardboard butterflies, she said.
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GBS principal Lauren Fagel said she was "blown away" by the students' project idea. She added that the school does not collect data on how many students are immigrants and has "no way of guessing."
"The exhibit mostly says that we acknowledge, support and embrace everyone's story," she said. "The exhibit hit on an aspect of our diversity that maybe hasn't been brought to the forefront before, and that's this notion of immigration stories."
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Students pause in front of a display of butterflies on April 13, 2017, to read and discuss some of the stories told about immigrants in the school. The Glenbrook South High School club Students Organized Against Racism is displaying handmade butterflies to symbolize the migration of the many ethnic groups at the school. (Jon Langham / Pioneer Press)
Students involved in the organization came up with the idea on the Feb. 16 A Day Without Immigrants protest, Ekstrand said. That day, the organization held "an emergency meeting" and decided it wanted to do more to raise awareness about immigrant issues in the school, she said.
Junior Sana Bouacha said she likes reading Humans of New York, a blog that shares the stories of New York City residents, so she came up with the idea to share immigrant stories in a similar way.
"A lot of people don't really know who the immigrants are in this school, or what they go through, so I hope this project has brought an understanding to ... what an immigrant had to go through to get here," Bouacha said.
Junior Lesly Zavala said she came up with the idea for the butterflies because they "are able to roam freely ... with no borders."
The project is meant to "humanize" the immigrant experience, Zavala said.
Ekstrand said the art exhibit, installed over spring break, keeps growing because more teachers and students have submitted stories and butterflies to include in the project. Many teachers are bringing students down during class time to read and discuss the stories, she said.
Junior Susana Nunez said her story addressed the discrimination her family has faced over the years, like her father being told to speak English instead of Spanish. Nunez also wrote about how after her parents became legal residents, her aunts asked her parents to adopt their children in case the aunts get deported, she said.
Glenbrook South High School social studies teacher Emily Ekstrand talks with students in the club Students Organized Against Racism on April 13, 2017, as they head back to class after checking out their butterfly exhibit on display. The club is displaying handmade butterflies to symbolize the migration of the many ethnic groups at the school. (Jon Langham / Pioneer Press)
Senior Omar Haddad, who came from Jordan last June for a better education, wrote about his appreciation that U.S. citizens "are all one." He said he wanted to write a story because many people assume Jordan is "a war zone," but he wanted them to realize it is "a beautiful country."
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"My story is about human rights and how we should accept others and love others," he said.
Junior Angelena Sanchez wrote about her father's experience of "whitewashing" himself to fit into American culture, and her experience of others making her feel "less American" because she is white, Hispanic and black.
"The whole point of this was to make people realize that not everyone has the same privilege ... and to branch out equality and to make everyone feel welcome here," Sanchez said.
The exhibit will stay up until the end of the school year, Fagel said.
akukulka@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @Akukulka11
Logan Kang, 2, is eager for the start of the April 15 egg hunt at Sunset Woods Park. (Denys Bucskten / Pioneer Press)
In just 60 seconds, 1,700 plastic eggs were gone as hundreds of young children rushed into roped-off areas at Sunset Woods Park on April 15.
Park District of Highland Park officials said this year's Easter egg hunt was one of the largest crowds in the event's history as warm, sunny weather drew eager parents and children to the park in the heart of the city.
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The hunt's rules divided children into three age groups with a stated limit of 10 eggs per child.
Cathy Fiori, recreation supervisor, said employees circulated immediately after the hunt, identifying children who had come up empty handed and giving them eggs to take home.
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A dozen plastic eggs were "golden eggs" with certificates redeemable for prizes, including free time at Deer Creek Courts, a three-foot stuffed bunny, slip 'n slide toys, water balloon launchers and for one winner, a family pass to the city's Hidden Creek Aquapark.
Phoenix Downing, 8, had a strategy that netted her a golden egg that she redeemed for a basket of toys.
Her mother Sitapa Downing said her daughter stood behind the rope line prior to the start, looking intently for a golden egg. Phoenix ignored all the eggs nearest her and made a straight line for the golden egg, her mother said.
Prior to the event, costumed characters dressed as bunnies and chickens circulated among the children as music and an emcee kept the crowd engaged before the egg rush.
The Easter bunny arrived in a horse-drawn carriage, inviting countless photos by smart-phone wielding parents.
Denys Bucksten is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Keo-Kio, McCallies preeminent senior leadership organization, welcomed 12 new members from the Class of 2018, inviting juniors to join the group in a Chapel ceremony.
The senior leadership organization honors students for their leadership, service and loyalty to the school and its abiding principles.
One of the schools oldest organizations, Keo-Kio is instrumental in planning annual events such as the winter semi formal dance, Duck Day, community service projects and supporting new campus activities. The group also raises funds and distributes them to events and efforts made by other organizations at the school.
The 13 new inductees, including seven boarders and six day students, are:
Dewayne Bingham, Chattanooga
Xavier Brooks, Ooltewah
Andrew Cook, Birmingham, Ala.
Chris Duncan, Lookout Mountain, Tenn.
Graham Hartness, Chattanooga
Jack Jestus, Chattanooga
Will Klein, Ashland, Ky.
John Knox, North Augusta, S.C.
Allen Liu, Chattanooga
Logan Russell, Nassau, Bahamas
Grant Smith, Charleston, Tenn.
Hugh Steel, Chattanooga
Community members who missed the opportunity to snatch up tickets for two evening events during Focus on the Arts still have a chance to experience the flavor of Highland Park High School's arts festival.
Thirty-five artists and groups working in a variety visual media will be on hand from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 26 to demonstrate their crafts as they work on a piece in progress.
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The Chicago Woodturners will demonstrate their technique of using a wood lathe to craft functional items and fine art, as they will be doing for students during a dozen daytime workshop sessions.
The artists will be working in a multitude of media including body painting, plaster relief sculpture, jewelry, glass, plastic bottle caps, sticky notes, ceramics, oil patinas on copper, origami and special effects and theatrical makeup.
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Art Night will take place in the Highland Park High School cafeteria, the student commons and the surrounding corridors. The adult artists will be joined by 25 student artists exhibiting their work.
Karen Berkowitz
The Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181 Board voted to extend its contract with First Student. (Chuck Fieldman / Pioneer Press)
Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181 expects to spend about $212,000 more for school bus service for the 2017-18 school year than is the case for 2016-17.
The District 181 Board Monday approved adding an additional year to a three-year contract with First Student, which expires June 30.
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"We have negotiated a 4 percent increase in our current rates for the 2017- 18 school year," said Ken Surma, District 181's assistant superintendent of business & operations. "While this is a larger increase than normal, it is based on salary and benefit increases to employees of the vendor."
The 4 percent increase to the $1.8 million contract accounts for $72,000 of the $212,000 total.
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The remaining $140,000 in additional expense for school bus service is due to a March 13 board decision to move back the start of the school day at Hinsdale Middle School and Clarendon Hills Middle School.
Starting this fall, middle school students will begin the day at 8:25 a.m. and be dismissed at 3:15 p.m. Currently, they start school at 7:55 a.m. and are finished at 2:45 p.m. There will be no change for the district's seven elementary schools, which are in session from 8:40 a.m. to 3:05 p.m.
"With times for the middle schools that begin next year, bus routes will not be able to be paired between the middle schools and the elementary schools," Surma said, noting that a paired route allows the same school bus to pick up and drop off students at the middle school before picking up and dropping off students at the elementary schools.
The district has seven paired bus routes in the morning and none in the afternoon.
"Having paired routes provides efficiency in pupil transportation and reduces costs," Surma said.
Superintendent Don White said he and the board were aware there would be an increase in bus costs because of the change in middle school start and ending times.
"It came in higher than I anticipated, but this is something being budgeted for," he said.
White said he hopes to have a transportation audit completed, just as Hinsdale High School District 86 recently did, in hopes of finding potential transportation savings through better efficiency of bus routes.
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Changes made in District 86, following its transportation audit, are expected to save the district about $20,000 next year, said James Regan, a managing partner with Capital Works Consulting Group, which completed the audit.
"We also may look into going out to bid next year with District 86 and possibly some other districts in the area," White said, adding that using bus service from a school district with its own vehicles is another option to be considered.
cfieldman@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter @chuckwriting
Thessalonika Arzu-Embry rushes.
She rushed to finish her bachelor's degree by age 14 and her master's degree by 16. The 18-year-old is rushing to wrap up her Ph.D. in business psychology at Capella University in the fall.
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"If I see opportunity to go forward, I would say, 'Why slow it down?'" Arzu-Embry said. "It's best to go through it and take advantage of the opportunity, because it will help other people as a whole; it will help businesses and society."
Arzu-Embry, who recently moved from the North Chicago area to Chicago, is writing her dissertation on dreams, which she said a lot of people think of as "junk mail" but can be an interesting way of looking at what they're experiencing in life.
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She's also pursuing her various business enterprises, developing apps for Google and Apple systems, pushing her books and attending speaking engagements. She hopes to use her doctorate to contract with companies in the aviation industry to help them adjust for human factors and keep employees from doing bad things while in the air.
Arzu-Embry also mentors 11-year-old Dorothy Jean Tillman, who has completed her associate's degree, through her Jump the Education Barrier program.
Tillman's mother, Jimalita Hunter, said she remembers meeting Arzu-Embry during the 2013-14 school year. She had seen articles Arzu-Embry had written and seen her speak once, and was impressed.
Hunter said she liked that family was important to Arzu-Embry, that her program allowed children like her daughter to just be a kid and that she talks to her daughter about social issues as well as the academic. It helps to get advice from someone who is "not her mother and is close to her age."
The businesses are a family affair, said Arzu-Embry's mother, Wonder Embry, a Navy veteran who, along with her older son, Jeremy Embry, joined her daughter in Chicago for a meeting about developing an app. The siblings are working on their doctorate degrees after getting their bachelor's and master's degrees at young ages.
"To be successful with anyone, it takes a whole team," Wonder Embry said. "It takes a family. It takes love. It takes commitment, planning, lots of things, so when one person succeeds in a family, all succeed in a family. That's how we tend to see things."
Arzu-Embry first became interested in aviation through her father, Carlos Arzu, an Air Force veteran who still works in the industry. Her earliest memories of being in a plane date to when she was just 2 or 3, with the flights the military family would take from one small airport to another.
She loved traveling, and started flying lessons about two years ago, she said. At an air show when Arzu-Embry was about 5 years old, she got to sit in a plane and an instructor showed her how it worked.
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Arzu-Embry started college early too, attending courses with her mother, who was pursuing a psychology degree while home-schooling her children. Arzu-Embry eventually started attending classes at the College of Lake County, where she thought her interests would lie in medicine. But like her mother, she became more intrigued with how the brain works.
The interest in psychology was helpful as Arzu-Embry pursued her schooling, helping her overcome and respond to questions involving her age as she sought the necessary approvals to enroll in academic programs, she said. She's still encountering those barriers in the business world, but she finds that knowing how to speak the language be it with developers or those in another industry helps people know that she's qualified.
"When children are born, they don't know anything and they depend on their parents to walk, to talk, to use the potty, to read and to do all these things. And then at some point, then they start to get it on their own," Wonder Embry said. "That's what happened with Thessa. She began to catch on quick.
"When she was going to college with me, she became my study partner. I would talk to her about my schoolbooks and ideas. Then she would start giving her opinion about it and participating in the assignment."
Embry added that she wasn't surprised, saying both of her children seemed to quickly catch on to things, and she tried to use everything as a learning opportunity. She said she was pretty strict but in a loving way, applying her background in the Navy to her parenting, encouraging them to get up early and work hard.
The approach worked for Arzu-Embry, who encourages other students "to keep going, know their academic plan, have a plan while they're going through school don't be aimless," and to find a support system if they don't have one.
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emcoleman@tribpub.com
Twitter @mekcoleman
A concrete curb is constructed in downtown Libertyville Tuesday in front of Village Hall. Construction season is set to take off with the arrival of warm days and non-freezing nights. (Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun)
April showers have delayed the start of a lot of roadwork in Lake County, but construction season is poised to take off now in the coming weeks as cones and barrels go up to redirect traffic.
"April has just been rain day after rain day," said Glenn Petko, engineer of construction for the Lake County Division of Transportation. "But now the construction zones are starting to come to life."
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And while construction speed zones can seem like an inconvenience to some motorists, Petko said commuters should remember that the zones are for a motorist's safety as well. So far on county projects, Petko could not think of the last time there was a serious accident in a construction zone.
"There's none that I'm aware of, and that's good news," he said. "And while it's true the speed limits are for the safety of workers, it's also for the safety of motorists, because the pavement markings may not be the same and the roadway can take a turn you aren't used to.
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Westbound Grand Avenue in Gurnee was backed up Tuesday afternoon before rush hour almost to Green Bay Road in Waukegan as utility work took place prior to construction on a replacement railroad bridge this summer. (Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun)
"Slow down, pay attention, use hands-free if you are on a cellphone," he added. "This is so everyone can go home safely."
This year, the county has more resurfacing projects than normal and there are fewer long-term projects getting started, although the Washington Street Thoroughfare near Grayslake is one of the bigger projects in the approximately $94 million of roadwork slated for this year.
"That is actually two projects the underpass on Washington Street and the intersection improvements ay Hainesville Road west of the bridge," Petko said. He added that the "shoofly," or temporary railroad bridge, is gone west of Lake Street, and crews just need to finish the roadway.
"They are waiting for a gap in the rain to get started with that," he said, adding that the underpass should be in place by the middle of summer.
Over near Gurnee and Waukegan, utility work is already backing up westbound traffic on Grand Avenue at Route 41, where work on a new railroad bridge has begun. This summer, crews will build a shoofly bridge for the train, and the $19.8 million project is not scheduled to be done until spring of 2019, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation's road construction schedule.
It's that time of year to slow down for roadwork, like this operation on Milwaukee Avenue in Libertyville where the reflectors in the pavement were being removed and replaced Tuesday afternoon. (Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun)
The bridge replacement and intersection widening is the final piece of the Route 41 at Route 132 interchange improvement project.
The other state projects include a $2.8 million project on Route 59 from Grand Avenue to Highwoods Drive in Lake Villa for resurfacing, intersection work and new traffic signals; a $2.6 million project on Route 22 from Cherry Hill Road to Bertha Lane in North Barrington for resurfacing and traffic signal installation at Old Barrington Road; and a $620,000 project on Grand Avenue from Ferndale Street to Greenview Street in Gurnee.
Aaron Lawlor, chairman of the Lake County Board, said in a statement that, "The past few years, we've done some very big expansion projects, which have made a significant impact on addressing congestion. But this year, I think the heavier focus on preserving our system is equally as important.
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"Spending tax dollars responsibly to perform preservation improvements at the right time saves dollars down the road," Lawlor said.
Petko said the county normally includes three to five full resurfacing projects annually, but this year, 15 are on the schedule, and some roadways, like Rollins Road between Grayslake and Round Lake Beach, are also slated for micro-surfacing, which is a mixture of aggregate, cement and liquid asphalt. It's faster and cheaper.
It's that time of year to slow down for roadwork, like this utility operation on Grand Avenue and Route 41 where a railroad bridge is going to be replaced after a temporary "shoofly bridge" is built this summer. (Frank Abderholden / Lake County News-Sun)
"We feel we've had good success with it," Petko said, noting the roadway can dry in a few hours with the right conditions and reopen for traffic. Full road resurfacing takes about three months.
Division of Transportation Director Paula Trigg said that over the past few years, the county has increased its efforts to connect with residents and motorists through the real-time traffic information network called Lake County PASSAGE, where motorists can find an interactive construction map to show where and what is being worked on.
"You can sign-up for the specific information you are interested in hearing about," Trigg said in a statement. "We understand that residents want to know what to expect when they hit the roads, and we urge everyone to take advantage of these tools and resources."
fabderholden@tribpub.com
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A week after an online petition raised questions about too much pressure being put on Naperville students to succeed, representatives from the city's school districts, police department and social service agencies will meet to address the teen suicides that have occurred this year.
While the student deaths have not been tied to academic pressure, what comes from the conversation could be a positive step toward what Naperville North junior Tessa Newman hoped to accomplish with her petition: changing a high school atmosphere heavily tied to perfectionism.
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During Monday's school board meeting, Naperville District 203 Superintendent Dan Bridges said, "I have to be honest; we can't do it alone.
"We need each other and our community partners people we can depend on to support us and provide us with the resources maybe that we don't have," he said.
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Bridges and Indian Prairie District 204 Superintendent Karen Sullivan said they will meet this week with Naperville Police Chief Robert Marshall and community agencies, including 360 Youth Services and KidsMatter, to discuss ways to improve their outreach to students and the community.
An essay Tessa wrote as part of the "Naperville North Pressure Culture Must Change" petition on Change.org suggests recent deaths and drug use by students in Naperville may be, in part, the result of kids being pressured to be perfect.
Tessa was inspired to write the essay not only in response to the most recent death of a Naperville North student, but also by her high school's reaction.
She said she dreaded attending school Wednesday because she believes the staff didn't really want to hear what she wanted to say. "All they want to hear is that we're OK," she said.
The 1,458-word essay written in the wee hours of the morning was Tessa's response.
"She wrote it because she was frustrated. It was her therapy," said her mother, Cheryl Newman.
In the essay, Tessa said students often are pushed to take college-prep and Advance Placement courses and to participate in multiple extracurricular activities in leadership roles to improve their chances of getting into the best colleges.
Students who don't follow that path or who don't excel are often looked down upon, and Tessa called out the school community to "stop paving the one true path to success."
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Friends urged her to post her essay as a petition on Change.org. She was surprised how quickly it spread on social media and how it struck a chord not only with Naperville students and parents but with school districts with similar demographics in the Chicago area and across the county.
Other than a perceived cold response from school officials, Tessa said the only real negative reaction she received was from students who've adapted to the culture of success.
Tessa is no slacker, and she admits some of the stress expressed in her essay is of her own design.
This semester she's taking two AP courses, and she's never had a full lunch period because of her desire to participate in both band and choir.
She's also loaded with extracurricular activities, such as serving as drum major in the marching band, performing in the school musical and singing in five different choirs. And that doesn't take into account the music and voice lessons and theatrical productions that are a part her life outside of school.
When she's felt overwhelmed with the pressure, Tessa said she's asked for assistance, sometimes for extra time to complete an assignment.
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Growing up as a child actor has helped Tessa become accustomed to failure because she's been turned down numerous times for roles in film, television, theater and advertising. It's something she's always brushed off, she said.
That changed when she entered high school.
"I want to say it's OK to fail," Tessa said. "When I don't get there, it's invalidating."
Her mother said the district does well to prepare students for college but questions if it might be too much.
Cheryl Newman said her son is studying chemistry at the University of Alabama and has found the college course to be much easier than his class at Naperville North.
"Should high school classes be harder than college classes?" the Naperville mom asked.
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"It's extremely hard to be a parent," Newman said. "You want to raise a child who is kind and resilient.
"And then you want the child to be happy. Every child is different. What does it take to make this child happy?" she said.
subaker@tribpub.com
Twitter @SBakerSun1
A member of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Education responds to a question from Naperville Central High School world culture students on Monday. (Suzanne Baker / Naperville Sun)
Students and teachers from Naperville Central High School learned this week that education even college is free in Saudi Arabia and that students are separated by gender and learn about Islam just as they do math, science and reading.
Students, mostly freshmen, in world cultures classes listened Monday as Saudi school principals and members of the country's ministry of education shared details on school life in the Middle Eastern country. The visit was an extension of the Illinois Global Scholar program spearheaded by Naperville Central social studies teacher Seth Brady.
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Last year, Gov. Bruce Rauner signed legislation allowing students to earn a special seal -- known as Global Scholar Certification on their transcripts and diplomas. It will be awarded to students who attain significant expertise in the area of global competencies.
The visit by educators from Saudi Arabia and a recent stop by a group from Indonesia reflects the type of programming the Illinois Global Scholar program provides.
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"It's really such an asset to have them here," said Brady, who also serves as project director of Illinois Global Scholar. "It's nice to see the fruits come back into the school."
Brady said the timing of the visit was perfect because students just completed a unit on the Middle East.
Speaking mostly through an interpreter, delegation members were asked by students to compare Saudi schools to those in the United States. They said that, for the most part, schools are very similar when it comes to technology and curriculum, but the system is centralized and free within the country. Students who wish to attend college abroad have the opportunity for grants and scholarships.
The stop in Naperville was the second for the delegation, which previously toured a charter school and elementary school in the Washington, D.C., area. Members said Naperville Central High School would be the largest on their itinerary.
The group indicated Saudi schools are going through a transition and the information it's gathering on incorporating technology into the curriculum will be evaluated for possible implementation.
subaker@tribpub.com
Twitter @SBakerSun1
U.S. Rep. Bill Foster talks about the importance of federal funding for arts organizations. Also pictured, from left, are Rena Calabrese, president and CEO of Naper Settlement; Donna Sack; vice president community engagement and audience at Naper Settlement; Katie Arko, vice president of development at Paramount Theatre; and Brian Lynch, director of North Central College's fine arts program. (Erin Hegarty / Naperville Sun)
President Donald Trump's proposed cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts would not only be felt by local theaters, arts organizations and museums, but by local businesses and community members, U.S. Rep. Bill Foster and local art leaders said.
Foster, D-Naperville, hosted a discussion at Aurora's Paramount Theatre Tuesday to examine how a reduction in arts funding would affect local communities. Representatives from such groups as Naper Settlement and North Central College in Naperville, the Paramount and the Fox Valley Music Foundation participated.
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Phones in his Washington, D.C., office have been "ringing off the hook" in response to the many federal budget cuts proposed, including arts grants, Foster said.
"The National Endowment for the Arts distributes money to all 50 states and they try to do their best to distribute to rural and suburban areas," Foster said. "It's one of the great things about the program. It raises the awareness of culture throughout the population."
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Steve Warrenfeltz, executive director of the Fox Valley Music Foundation, center, talks about the importance of art funding. Also pictured, from left, are Donna Sack, vice president of community engagement and audience at Naper Settlement; Katie Arko, vice president of development for the Paramount Theatre in Aurora; and Tim Rater, president and CEO of the Paramount. (Erin Hegarty / Naperville Sun)
Arts grants don't just help fund projects and raise awareness, they also provide leverage when an organization is seeking donations and other grants because they carry a certain amount of prestige, said Rena Calabrese, president and CEO of Naper Settlement.
"When a corporation is looking at donating, they're looking at who's getting grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for Humanities," Calabrese said. "They know that those projects go through a rigorous approval process and are vetted."
There's a misconception that museums and arts organizations get all of their money on a silver platter from the federal government, Calabrese said. "It isn't the only source of funding. All of us look for funding in a lot of other places," including donors and sponsors, she said.
And when cuts are made to arts, humanities and museum funding, it's the residents who pay the price, she said.
"People often think when they cut funding, they're taking the money away from the museums, but they're taking it away from the community," Calabrese said.
While Naperville's North Central College doesn't have any programs currently being funded by NEA grants, it has been able to bring several ballet programs to the school thanks to federal funding, said Brian Lynch, director of NCC's fine arts program.
Brian Lynch, director of North Central College's Fine Arts program, talks about what cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts would mean locally. Also pictured, from left, are Steve Warrenfeltz, executive director of the Fox Valley Music Foundation; Tim Rater, president and CEO of the Paramount Theatre in Aurora; Rena Calabrese, president and CEO of Naper Settlement in Naperville; and U.S. Rep. Bill Foster, D-Naperville. (Erin Hegarty / Naperville Sun)
Such art events have secondary benefit of helping a community's economy, arts leaders agreed.
"Where else can you get 1,800 people in one space and then they all leave hungry, ready to visit local restaurants," Lynch said. Cutting federal funding for the arts is "like cutting off a leg," Lynch said. "It's sabotaging a piece of the economic engine."
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Foster agreed.
"If you look at the economic return on investment, for every dollar you spend on things like productions at the Paramount Theatre, you get about $7 of economic activity back in your community," Foster said. "It makes our country wealthier, not only culturally, but economically."
It is encouraging to know people are concerned about arts funding and that Foster is interested in hearing from local arts leaders, said Katie Arko, Paramount's vice president of development.
It can be difficult for theaters outside of Chicago to raise money, Arko said.
"But the National Endowment for the Arts doesn't care that we're a little outside of Chicago," she said. "They care about the work we're doing. It's allowed us to bring additional funding in for new programs."
"Selling music outside of Chicago is equally as difficult," said Steve Warrenfeltz, executive director of the Fox Valley Music Foundation.
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The foundation was founded in 2014, and shortly after received a small grant to help preserve and promote blues recordings done in Aurora's Leland Tower during the 1930s. The foundation is restoring sound quality in addition to preserving the work, Warrenfeltz said.
The Paramount recently received a "modest" grant for a new musical, which allowed them to hire someone to work on the show's program, President and CEO Tim Rater said.
Blues on the Fox, held annually at RiverEdge Park in Aurora, is also partially funded by grant money from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Foster encouraged residents to contact their elected representatives about arts funding.
"People come to the Paramount Theatre from six congressional districts, and every one of them should be contacting their representative saying when that appropriations letter from the NEA comes up, sign onto it," Foster said. "We do pay attention to constituents contacting us."
ehegarty@tribpub.com
Food service on the UTC campus is undergoing several changes, including new restaurants, new facilities and new choices in meal plans.
A strong food service operation is a vital part of any campus community, says Dr. Richard L. Brown, executive vice chancellor for Finance, Operations and Information Technology. UTC is no exception and we strive to offer our students, faculty and staff the absolute best dining experience on-campus.
Among the changes are:
A Panda Express and a Steak n Shake will be added to the Scrappys Food Court in the University Center. Scrappys Mug will be renovated and become a Provisions on Demand Market with Starbucks replacing the existing Java City. The project will be complete by the start of the fall.
Crossroads, the all-you-can eat dining location, will undergo a complete renovation, including additional seating both inside and out. Along with Crossroads current offerings, new choices will include a produce market, a sandwich shop, a Mongolian grill, breakfast, pizza and a bakery. The project is set to begin in summer 2018 and be finished by the start of fall 2018.
The new West Campus Housing will open in fall 2018 with several new dining options, including an Einstein Bros. Bagels and a POD Market. Dippers, which features a variety of Southern fried and grilled chicken options also will be in the residence hall.
Beginning in the fall 2018, freshman students living on-campus will have four flexible meal plans from which to choose, including enhanced Mocs Bucks, exchange meals and guest meals. Sophomore students living on-campus will be able to choose any freshman plan or a more flexible plan exclusively with Mocs Bucks.
Also beginning in the fall 2018, junior and senior students living on-campus will no longer be required to purchase a mandatory meal plan. Flexible voluntary plans, as well as the mandatory plans available to freshman and sophomores, will be open to these students if they choose.
Northbrook gets an average of 26 firefighters to every structure fire, Deputy Fire Chief Dan Quinn said. Here, firefighters rest after striking a fire Oct. 4, 2016 in the 1800 block of Oak Avenue. (Irv Leavitt / Pioneer Press)
The Insurance Services Office has rated the Northbrook Fire Department at its highest rate possible, Class 1, placing it among the top 243 departments of a total 47,000 nationwide, according to village officials.
It's been a long road to the honor for the department, which was rated at Class 5 at the beginning of 1996. The department jumped two rungs to Class 3 that year and improved to Class 2 about three years later, village officials said.
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On a 100-point system, the rating awards a possible 50 points for fire operations, 40 for firefighting water availability, and 10 for communications, according to the ISO. Northbrook cleared the 90-point Class 1 hurdle with 91.72.
"It's a big change," said Northbrook Trustee A.C. Buehler, long-time head of the Northbrook Village Board's Public Safety Committee. "I'm really proud of the fire department, and also public works. It shows very well for us as an organization."
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He said the fire department has "done a lot of work through the last couple of evaluations, training, staffing."
He said that dispatching "has been a big component, and so has automatic aid," the system of having equipment and firefighters automatically sent from cooperating neighboring departments to areas they're closer to.
The rating organization has become more accepting of automatic aid, in recent years, recognizing that in dense suburban areas, it makes sense to share resources, said Northbrook Fire Department Deputy Chief Dan Quinn.
"And we're all-in on automatic aid," Quinn said. In some parts of north Northbrook, the Deerfield-Bannockburn Fire Protection District "has a station on Waukegan Road 7/10th of a mile away, when for us, it would be a three-and-a-half mile run."
Northbrook's response time has been inching up in recent years, Quinn acknowledged, adding that the steady growth of the village and the call load has been responsible for the increases. But through use of full-time firefighters, paid-on-call part-timers, automatic aid, and non-automatic mutual aid, Northbrook averages 26 people at every structure fire, he said, compared to the 15 that ISO looks for.
And Illinois, typically, gets it done that way now, perhaps more than any other state, he said. Recognition by ISO that mutual and automatic aid is an efficient way of responding to emergencies may be part of the reason, he said, that the number of Class 1 departments has tripled to about a dozen in about a decade, he added. Other towns with the top rating include Skokie, Arlington Heights, Downers Grove and Westmont.
ISO, which sells its rating information to insurance companies, declined comment about Northbrook's new rating, and referred questions to Northbrook officials.
Northbrook officials have recommended that property owners ask insurers if they qualify for a discount after July 1, when the new rating takes effect. But they have said that ISO ratings are often not considered in Illinois premium rate-setting, especially in residential underwriting
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Some insurance companies are on record as preferring to use their own history of fire service to customers, as opposed to ISO's. Allstate, based in an unincorporated area near Northbrook, uses ISO, but other factors, too.
"All carriers treat town class differently," said Allstate's Meghan Sporleder. "There's no one way that carriers approach this."
Other drivers of premium costs include "whether there's been a claim, and the age of the home." She said that some carriers group together classes 1, 2 and 3 as equal.
The top ISO rating is important to fire service professionals as a gauge of how well a department is doing the business of putting out fires.
"It's a sense of pride, to achieve and maintain that credential," Quinn said.
He said that Northbrook has kept up with its necessary training, equipment and firefighting techniques as a matter of course, and reaching Class 1 status didn't cost taxpayers anything extra.
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Northbrook Trustee Todd Heller, a long-time member of the Safety Committee and head of the Public Works Committee, agreed.
"This is very gratifying to me to see this," added Heller, in his last weeks on the Village Board. "You get all the grief, the calls, all the media is about development and development that doesn't affect many people. But this is what you do as a trustee police, fire, public works, stormwater."
ileavitt@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter @IrvLeavitt
A dozen Oak Park and River Forest High School artists transitioned to their pitchman hats during a recent meeting with Forest Preserve District of Cook County staff.
Inside the board room at the high school April 17, the art students unveiled their three designs for public art pieces to be displayed at forest preserve property in River Forest.
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The students created three models of proposed larger art pieces titled "Branch," "Rose," and "Fish," which use walls made out of cordwood to create sculptures in a variety of shapes and sizes.
"This is a community and student collaborative effort," Division Head of Fine and Applied Arts Sarah Roodhouse said. "It also offers us a way of celebrating community art. The students have been working on and off since the fall on these pieces."
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School officials said the project was made possible with a $70,000 grant and a partnership with professional artists from Transit Studio, who have been working with students to create the sculptures.
Students have already met with Transit artists Jamie Topper, Laura Miracle and Peter Krysko for five, three-hour sessions on Saturdays, and were eager to present their proposals to forest preserve staff.
"When we were at Thatcher Woods, we saw kids running and playing, and those are the people we want interacting with these pieces," freshman Charlotte True said.
As the client, Forest Preserve District officials said they hope to install one large art piece at its headquarters at 536 N. Harlem Ave., in River Forest. The students are also expected to create two smaller pieces for display at Thatcher Woods Pavilion, 8030 Chicago Ave., and the Trailside Museum of Natural History, 738 Thatcher Ave., both in River Forest.
The OPRF students are expected to use feedback gathered from forest preserve staff to refine their proposals, and forest preserve officials are expected to choose a primary design for the art pieces at a later date.
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering
Police in Oak Park are searching for two men, one who robbed a delivery driver at gunpoint and another who attempted to hijack a second delivery driver in separate incidents during the night of April 12.
In the first incident, at approximately 6:30 p.m., a man approached a food delivery driver who had just completed a delivery and was sitting in her car in the 1100 block of North Humphrey Avenue, police said. According to a police summary of the report, the man opened the driver's side door while reaching inside his pocket and told the delivery driver to get out of the vehicle. The delivery driver did not comply and drove away, police said.
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The suspect is described as a black man in his 20s, standing between 5-foot-7 and 5-foot-10, with a slim build and wearing a light gray hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans, police said.
At 9:07 p.m. that same night, a man sitting inside his delivery truck in the 100 block of Washington Boulevard told police a man entered the truck through one of the rear doors. The suspect displayed a black handgun and demanded money, police said. The victim gave the man $50 in cash and an iPhone, and the man fled from the truck on foot on westbound Washington Boulevard, police said.
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The second suspect is described as a black man between 30 and 40 years old, standing 6 feet tall, wearing a black skull cap with "Chicago" in white letters on the front, a gray pullover sweater and black sweat pants.
Anyone with information about either crime is asked to contact the Oak Park Police Department at 708-434-1636.
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering
(left to right) Stephanie Guralnick, Ellen Morgan, Lily Tushman and Sydney Lupo, all seniors at Oak Park and River Forest High School, are headed to San Diego from April 26-30 for the national Junior Science and Humanities Symposium. (Ellen Morgan / Pioneer Press)
A record-setting four Oak Park and River Forest High School students will represent the school at a national science symposium this month.
Ellen Morgan, Sydney Lupo, Stephanie Guralnick and Lily Tushman will attend the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium April 26-30 in San Diego. It's the first time more than one student representing OPRF has advanced to nationals, and it's an all-female group.
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"I think that's also really exciting," Tushman said.
Morgan, Lupo, Guralnick and Tushman, all seniors, are students of Allison Hennings' Investigational Research, Design and Innovation course at the high school. OPRF is one of the few high schools in the country to have such a course, said Hennings, who created the class six years ago.
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The class has students select a particular STEM topic and seek out a published expert in that area who becomes a mentor. Then they conduct an experiment, compile their research and findings, and enter their projects in various science symposiums. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.
Hennings said she's seen exceptional collaboration and perseverance from the group during the year. The students' experiments produced results that showed the potential for noninvasive tests to detect diabetes and possible therapy improvements for stroke patients.
They've been recognized at other science symposiums this year, too, Hennings added.
"I think they've done an amazing job," she said. "They're really a strong group of students. They were really open to looking at things from a different perspective."
Tushman said the class has not only taught them how to conduct advanced research, but also fosters networking and professional connections that benefit the students.
"This is hands-down the hardest class I've ever taken, and I've taken a lot of hard classes," Tushman said. "We're really lucky to have this class at OPRF."
Lupo, who conducted her research on bones at a lab at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, said each student is passionate about her topic, and it feels great to be recognized for that.
"I've been interested in stem cells, cell biology, genetics for a long time. This project was really a great chance for me to explore that interest," Morgan said of her experiment.
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After winning $1,500 at the regional level in March, Morgan will present her experiment and compete at nationals, with the chance of winning $12,000. Lupo, Guralnick and Tushman will give poster presentations of their work.
All four said they look forward to attending nationals simply to hear and learn about research conducted by their peers.
"It's like listening to TED talks all day long," Guralnick said, "and talking with people who are just as geeky about it as you."
Caitlin Mullen is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
After years of contract-related disputes between Park Ridge's public works union and the city, the two have reached an agreement on a new labor deal two years after its start date.
The Park Ridge City Council on April 5 unanimously voted to approve a four-year contract with Operating Engineers Local 150, which is retroactive to May 1, 2015 and extends through April 30, 2019.
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The contract covers 28 full-time employees, said Mike Suppan, human services manager for the city. The union's membership has also ratified the contract, he said.
Under the terms of the contract, which is now nearing the end of its second year, employees will receive retroactive pay raises of 1 percent for the first year of the contract and 2 percent for the second year, Suppan said.
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For the third year of the contract, which begins May 1, employees will receive a 2 percent raise that is split between May and November, followed by a 2.5 percent raise in the fourth year, he added.
The contract also calls for employees to pay a higher percentage of their insurance premiums, Suppan said. According to the contract language, employees will pay 13 percent of the premium, which Suppan explained is up from the previous 10 percent they had paid.
"This was the only group [of city employees] that wasn't at the 13 percent," he said.
This provision is retroactive to Aug. 1, 2016, according to the contract.
The full contract can be found on the city's website.
Public works employees joined Operating Engineers Local 150 in 2006, after previously being represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73.
Contract disputes between the city and the public works union began in 2013, when the late mayor David Schmidt vetoed the City Council's approval of the employees' contact. At the time, he said the three-year contact increased city expenses by approximately $25,000 per year, which did not reflect the city's requirement that it be "cost-neutral."
Aldermen voted to override the veto, allowing the contract to stand, but the union then alleged that the city increased health insurance rates without its approval.
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Local 150 returned before the City Council, seeking to amend the contract with a provision allowing health insurance to be purchased through the union, not the city, but Schmidt again vetoed the contract. This time, the veto was upheld by aldermen, leading to a legal battle between the city and union over the health insurance issue and resulting in unfair labor practice claims filed by both sides. Employees also staged a public protest and demonstration against Schmidt outside City Hall in November 2014.
In March of last year, one year after Schmidt's death, the Illinois Labor Relations Board reinforced an administrative law judge's 2015 ruling that the city violated labor laws when it lifted caps on the monthly insurance premiums paid by union employees.
Suppan said prior to this month's approval of the new contract, employees were paid wages set under the 2013 contract.
jjohnson@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @Jen_Tribune
A former Porter County Sheriff's Department deputy awaiting extradition in Illinois after felony charges related to the alleged injury of his then-infant son last year were filed against him.
Curtis Jones, 47, of Crown Point, is charged with battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a person less than 14 years of age; aggravated battery; and neglect of a dependent. He is awaiting extradition to Porter County from the Will County Jail, Joliet, Ill., according to a release from the sheriff's department.
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Jones was hired as an officer in 1996 by then-Sheriff Larry Dembinski. Jones resigned in 2005, when Sheriff David Reynolds was in his second term of office, according to Sgt. Jamie Erow, the department's public information officer.
The charges and arrest stem from an incident that allegedly took place July 24, 2016, at Jones' residence in rural Porter Township, according to the release. At the time, his 7-month-old son was transported to St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart and later transported to Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago when he showed signs of neurological damage and swelling of the brain.
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Accidental head trauma and preexisting medical conditions were ruled out during the course of an extensive investigation and with medical examinations performed by the doctors at Lurie, the release said.
Detectives with the sheriff's department filed the felony charges Thursday against Jones, according to the release. On Friday, detectives received information that Jones had left Northwest Indiana and was staying in Mokena, Ill.
Detectives contacted the Mokena Police Department, which assisted in locating Jones. He was taken into custody around 11:15 a.m. Friday without incident by the Mokena Police Department and transported to their county jail, police said.
Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Barry Jones of Markham, Ill., works with his dog Ceasar as EP team leader John Brandender practices the heel commands. (Sue Ellen Ross / Post-Tribune)
Barry Jones of Markham, Ill., found much more meaning to life after his dog Ceasar came to live with him. Part of that new outlook is due to the responsibility the U.S. Navy veteran has taken on to teach his canine to become his service dog.
A recent training session, sponsored by Empowering Patriots, found the two learning specific obedience tasks. EP doesn't train each individual dog, or the dogs as a group that's not the objective. The goal is to give the job of developing the canine into a service dog to the veteran who signs up with their program. So, in effect, they train the veteran to be the trainer.
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"This is an excellent program, it's gotten me out of the house." Jones said, during a recent session at the Whiting American Legion. "Helping Ceasar with his discipline is helping me. He's more than just a dog. He's my buddy."
Griffith residents Anne Marie Piekarczyk and Jeff Piekarczyk developed Empowering Patriots, a not-for-profit organization, in 2013.
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"Both Jeff and I personally know many Vietnam Veterans with PTSD (even before it had a name or any form of treatment)" said Anne Marie. "They are the older brothers of our friends, they are our uncles and they are our friends."
She added that the mission of EP is, "serving veterans with PTSD (or PTSS) and other psychological and physical disabilities"
Classes take place weekly at three locations Whiting; Porter County; and Crete, Ill.
EP partners with local rescues to identify dogs that have the characteristics and potential to become service dogs. Some veterans bring their personal dogs into the program after being evaluated by one of the EP trainers.
During a recent session at the Whiting American Legion Hall, certified training instructor Danielle Renner discussed using various techniques specific to service dogs.
The instructor feels that the service Empowering Patriots provides helps the veterans help themselves. "They focus on training their dogs, getting their mind off their problems", Renner added. "And, dogs offer emotional support."
According to Anne Marie, she and her husband Jeff were raised in very patriotic homes, where the idea of giving back to the community was deeply ingrained.
In addition to many family members serving in various branches of U.S. Miltary service, the couple witnessed the Vietnam veterans' struggles throughout their lives, she added.
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"Then, my oldest son's friends began coming home from Afghanistan. I saw the significant changes in these young men that I had known since they were children," she said. "It was heartbreaking. With the suicide rates of returning veterans exceeding the casualties of the war, we knew we had to do something"
Aware of the healing power of dogs, they decided to start an organization to offer a holistic approach to mitigate the effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury and Military Sexual Trauma.
"We are empowering local disabled Patriots with PTSD, MST & TBI and their families by connecting them with rescued dogs, dog training and programs to help them heal," said Jeff Piekarczyk. "Service dog training was where we started. It is also our way of showing our thanks for what these servicemen and servicewoman have done for us and our country."
The benefits of the EP program are numerous and far-reaching, according to the founders.
"We are educating the public and local businesses about the public stigma of PTSD and Service Dog rules and etiquette, thus creating a well-informed and supportive community for our Patriots to live, work and thrive in."
Another endeavor just launched is the Empowering Patriots Families Program. It also offers access to an abundance of military and civilian resources. This program is made possible by a partnership between Empowering Patriots and Indiana Parenting Institute and is funded by Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs.
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There is no cost to the veterans/spouses/partners/children with special needs for the EP programs.
For more information about Empowering Patriots, call (219) 798-1212, or online at: www.empoweringpatriots.org.
Sue Ellen Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Koehler grew up on a farm in northern Germany, where she often milked cows. (Photo Provided by Anne Koehler / Post-Tribune)
"Was Hanschen nicht lernt, lernt Hans nimmermehr."
(What little Johnny can't learn, old John will never learn.)
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German proverb
I could listen to Anne Koehler's delightful German accent all day. Our interview took place at Indiana University Northwest's library where she is head of the inter-library loan department. In other words, she orders books and articles needed by students and faculty members that are not in stock at IUN.
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Koehler, 82, lives in Burns Harbor and is a member of the Portage Historical Society. Budweiser is her beer of choice.
***
How long have you worked at IUN?
"For 29 years. I'll be here until they kick me out."
From what part of Germany are you from?
"Northern Germany. Real close to Denmark. We speak low German. I speak both high and low German. A person who can only speak high German could not understand low German. Low German is closer to Danish, English, Dutch and all those languages. High German evolved from low German."
You're a Lutheran.
"I am. Northern Germany is Lutheran, potatoes and beer. Southern Germany is Catholic, dumplings and wine."
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What year did you come to America?
"In 1960. I was 25."
Tell me more about the first 24 years of your life.
"We lived on a farm. This is a photograph of my parents house."
Holy wiener schnitzel! It's a mansion.
"Sometimes farmers had big homes. It has 30 rooms. My nephew owns the house today. Here is a photo of me milking a cow on Easter morning of 1955. I had celebrated the night before and wasn't feeling so good. This is a photograph of my grandfather. Everyone said he looked like (Sigmund) Freud."
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That he does. What do you miss most about Germany?
"The fresh seafood. On one side we had the Atlantic Ocean and on the other side we had the Baltic Sea. The man with the fish wagon would come to town twice a week. All the cats would follow him. I'd have to say smoked eel is my favorite. I can't get it over here. I have people smuggle it in when they visit me from Germany."
Education?
"I attended Gudewerdtschule."
Anne, that ridiculously sesquipedalian word you just gutturally uttered is a perfect example of why Germans don't play Scrabble.
"Ja wohl (Yes). The Germans have a knack of putting nouns together. If you want to read a funny story, read Mark Twain's 'The Awful German Language.' Some people complain about the language in ('The Adventures of) Huckleberry Finn,' but that's how people spoke. I like Mark Twain."
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Me, too. Let's switch gears. World War II?
"I remember the planes flying over to bomb the city of Kiel where the submarine factory was. I also remember Hitler shouting on the radio. He would tell the people he was going to make Germany great again. There were scapegoats. There was fear mongering. No. 1, Hitler shut down the press."
What did your parents think of Der Fuhrer?
"Unfortunately, my dad and his brothers were enthused by Hitler. My grandmother was not. They would have bitter arguments. My grandma would try to talk sense into them. She saw what was happening. Grandmother lived with us."
Hilter was born on one of the astrological cusps.
"April 20. We were forced to memorize that."
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A year after you emigrated to the United States, the Berlin Wall was erected. Your thoughts?
"Walls throughout history have not worked. They are ineffective. That includes the Berlin Wall and the Great Wall of China."
President Donald J. Trump?
"The man reads no books. He owns no books. That was in the biography. He thinks he can just wave his hand and it will be done. But guess what? Doesn't work, always.
"Did you see when Trump mentioned to Angela Merkel that what they had in common was they were both spied upon by Obama. Merkel just gave him the look."
I can't help but think of the infamous base-running gaffe during the 1908 pennant race between the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs. Fred Merkle, a rookie, cost the Giants the National League title. The miscue is known as "Merkle's boner."
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"I didn't become an American citizen until 1972. I wanted to be able to vote against Nixon."
Final thoughts?
"Jeff, I don't often brag about Germany, but they've had affordable health insurance for over 150 years. Why is it such a big deal here? Socialism is like a dirty word. A big no no. Public schools and public streets are socialism."
***
From one social Democrat to another, I had to ask Anne whether or not the German word for brassiere really is keepsemfromfloppin.
With a chuckle, Frau Koehler assured me it's bustenhalter.
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Jeff Manes is a freelance columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
jeffmanes@sbcglobal.net
The future leadership of the Gary Community School Corp. this week faces what could be a monumental turning point as state lawmakers grapple with an unprecedented state takeover proposal.
The question legislators will attempt to answer is who is best positioned to pull the troubled district away from further debt while improving its worst-in-the-state academic rating.
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For nearly two years, former Detroit Public Schools emergency manager Jack Martin has acted as the state-mandated financial adviser to the district's superintendent and school board. But under a proposal before the Indiana General Assembly, control of the district and its financial oversight could soon be taken out of local hands.
'A difficult situation to face'
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In the two years since the state appointed Martin's Michigan-based accounting firm, lawmakers have watched as Gary has been unable to dig itself out of massive debt, said Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville.
"Since his start, there has still been a struggle on making ends meet, there has been a struggle on making payroll," and keeping up maintenance on buildings, Brown said.
The heart of what lawmakers will decide is how much authority a superintendent and school board would retain if the state would appoint an emergency manager to oversee the school district. Brown said a conference committee's work is expected to be finalized for Gary and Muncie by the end of the week.
The House proposal would install an emergency manager who's vested with fiscal and academic responsibilities, leaving Gary's school chief and board with little say in the district. The Senate version allows the district to retain academic authority and its school board, while ceding finances to the emergency manager and an advisory board composed of two state members, and appointees by the mayor and the school board.
In an interview Tuesday, Martin said Gary has several unique factors that explain why it continues to struggle to address its debt burden: the narrow defeat of an $8 million referendum last November, declining enrollment and declining revenues from dropping property tax assessments and collections.
"It's difficult," he said. "You can only cut so much until there's nothing left to cut."
Many of the district's buildings are in disrepair, he said, and it has struggled to find money for necessary repairs to leaky roofs and damaged boilers. The problem was much more acute than he saw in Detroit, he said. Even after the board voted to close three schools last year, Gary still has more buildings that could be shuttered, he said.
"No matter who is responsible, be it the board or superintendent, or an emergency manager, you are still going to have the problem of declining enrollment, you are still going to have the problem of declining property tax revenue," he said. "That is something that probably requires a fix at a higher level" with lawmakers and policymakers.
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Gary is the state's only F-rated district this year, although it does have a few consistently well-rated elementary schools such as the Benjamin Banneker Achievement Center and the Frankie McCullough Girls Academy.
In September 2015, a State Board of Accounts audit criticized the district for mismanagement including failing to maintain adequate records to account for cash and investment balances. State auditors found the district also didn't maintain records to account for payroll disbursements. It questioned the district's ability "to continue as a going concern."
The State Board of Accounts is scheduled to release its latest two-year audit on Gary's books in September, said Director of Audit Service Ryan Preston.
The district is grappling with $103 million in long-term liabilities including $30 million in common school loan funds owed to the state, about $55 million in bonds and about $20 million owed to creditors and vendors including $8 million owed to the Internal Revenue Service. It has an $8.5 million deficit this year and is projected to run a $6.4 million operating deficit in 2017-18.
Adding to that financial strain is declining enrollment, the rise of charter schools, cuts to revenue under state-mandated property tax caps, property tax collection rates estimated under 50 percent and changes to the school funding formula.
Gary's public school enrollment has plunged to under 6,000 students in 2016. That compares to 15,119 in 2006, according to figures from the Indiana Department of Education.
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"We do not have a bankruptcy" law for school districts, Brown said. "This is the mechanism" lawmakers hope will allow Gary to address its long-standing deficiencies.
"It's a difficult situation to face," he said. "You're not paying your bills. You have to try to think about how to live within the resources you have."
Michigan emergency managers 'less accountable'
In practice, Michigan's emergency manager laws over school districts were "not about increased accountability," said David Arsen, professor of Education Policy and Educational Administration at Michigan State University. "It wasn't more accountable. Actually, it was less accountable. It was mainly about a shift in control."
Policymakers wanted managers "not as tainted by local politics" or connected to a past history of mismanagement that would give them a "freer hand" to make drastic changes such as cutting central administration or outsources services, he said.
The thought was "all you need is good managers who are above politics, who can make hard decisions and these problems can be solved," Arsen said. "We learned in Michigan, that is not so simple."
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As a former Chief Financial Officer in the U.S. Department of Education under George W. Bush from 2002 to 2005, Martin became the third of nine emergency managers overseeing Detroit Public Schools in 2013. He previously worked as, and was appointed as, an emergency manager in Highland Park Schools in Michigan in 2012.
"Under emergency management, situations that were already difficult became much worse," said Thomas Pedroni, associate professor of Curriculum Studies at Wayne State University in Detroit. "What we saw (was) a shifting of funds away from the classroom to administration and external contracts and consultants."
Path to Gary
In January 2015, Martin resigned after 18 months as emergency manager of Detroit Public Schools. During his tenure, he received $340,962 in compensation, not including $50,000 in bonuses he collected under his state-approved contract, according to the Detroit Free Press.
LaMar Lemmons, a member of the Detroit school board, criticized Martin's work in Detroit Public Schools and said he did not collaborate enough with the school board.
Michigan state officials argued Martin was able to make some headway on Detroit's financial woes, including leasing vacant property and restoring some elementary and middle school programs.
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Martin settled an agreement to give 57 vacant school buildings and 20 vacant lots to the city of Detroit in return for having $11.6 million of the district's unpaid electric bills wiped clean, according to the Detroit Free Press. For years, Gary has struggled to sell its nearly two dozen vacant schools.
"I don't think the situations are very comparable," Martin said. "I think we were more aggressive in Detroit in terms of trying to sell our buildings. And, the city had an interest in the buildings, because they had set up a land bank authority. The mayor in Detroit, I believe, wanted to assemble as much land as possible. That's why we negotiated for him to essentially take our buildings.
"I don't think I know what the (Gary) mayor's plans are," he said. The district "controls a lot of vacant land that could be of interest," he said. "Right now, I have not seen any (good) offers."
"We've had a couple of offers," Martin said. "But, in my position as the financial specialist, I was not going to recommend to the board that they sell the building and 20 or 30 acres for $10,000."
In 2015, the Distressed Unit Appeals Board presented a list of three candidates: Robert Bobb, of the Robert Bobb Group in Washington; Gilbert Hopkins with McConnell, Jones, Lanier and Murphy LLP, of Houston; Jack Martin with Martin, Arrington, Desai and Meyers, of Bingham Farms, Mich.
Bobb, Martin's predecessor, was Detroit's first emergency manager from 2009 to 2011. Under his tenure, the power structure shifted to a stronger emergency manager model, consolidating both academics and finances under his office. He hired former Chicago Public Schools superintendent Barbara Byrd-Bennett as a chief academic officer. Byrd-Bennett pleaded guilty to criminal charges in a bribery scheme last year.
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Under Bobb, an early challenge was "who really had academic control at that time," Pedroni said. "Everyone seemed to agree that (the) elected board maintained" that authority. But, "because anything a penny touched including academics both involved the spending of money," he said, "Bobb argued that he had to have complete control."
Martin's firm was selected unanimously by the Gary school board. Former school board president Antuwan Clemons then told the Post-Tribune that the board was drawn to its experience in Detroit dealing with declining enrollment and losing students to charter schools.
The board concluded Martin's firm "has the array of experience to help turn this district around," Clemons wrote in a letter to DUAB in July 2015.
In Indiana, lawmakers approved paying Martin's firm $650,000 for his first year overseeing Gary's books in 2015. In June 2016, the firm's pay between August 2015 and August 2016 was boosted by $250,000, in exchange for coming up with a "deficit elimination plan" for paying down its outstanding bills and devising a long-term solvency strategy by July 2016 while updating the DUAB board on a biweekly basis.
The firm's compensation totaled $1.5 million over two years, according to DUAB staff attorney Mike Duffy. Martin's contract runs through August. He said he has not been contacted by the state regarding the emergency manager role.
Pedroni said Martin's performance and Michigan's experience with emergency managers is instructive.
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"If you are going to say that imposing state control is the answer, then show me ... where that single point of authority has lead to positive results," Pedroni said. "That's what you need to show."
mcolias@post-trib.com
Twitter: @meredithcolias
Esteemed and acclaimed Grammy Award-winning guitarist Tommy Emmanuel on Monday announced the May 19 release date of Live! at the Ryman (via CPG Sounds). The album captures a night of music in Nashville on Feb. 27, 2016 at the historic Ryman Auditorium. Tommy Emmanuel will be touring across North America in support of the album stopping in Chattanooga on Sunday, May 7, at the Songbird Guitar Museum.
Review for Tommy Emmanuel and Live! at the Ryman:
Live! at the Ryman highlights Emmanuel's fervor as a master guitarist and also encapsulates a landmark moment for the musician as he is joined on stage by Steve Wariner and John Knowles, the only other two living CGPs (Certified Guitar Players: the honor and moniker Chet Atkins assigned not only to himself but four other guitarists he admired and felt contributed to the legacy of guitar playing) for a performance of San Antonio Stroll. GuitarWorld.com has premiered the performance video of that special moment--the only time all three living CGPs shared the stage. You can click here to watch.
"It was an unforgettable experience playing my first solo show at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, said Tommy Emmanuel. I have grown up listening to the music and artists that made those walls famous throughout the world and it was an honor to play on that stage. The night was a lifetime goal of mine and it was made that much more special with the appearance of my two good friends and fellow CGPs, Steve Wariner and John Knowles. I'm so thrilled that we filmed and recorded the show, as John, Steve and I had never collaborated together before and this made the night even more special. The sold-out crowd just about lifted the roof off the hall and we all gave it our best! The spirit of Chet Atkins surrounded us three with love, peace and mojo! I hope those who hear this recording will be uplifted and feel the love we felt for the people who poured their joy into the Ryman Auditorium that February night!"
Mixed in between his own shows, Emmanuel will also be performing at various festivals including the Malibu Guitar Festival, Vancouver International Jazz Festival, TD Victoria International JazzFest and California WorldFest, among others.
Track listing for Live! at the Ryman:
Tall Fiddler
The Mystery
Windy & Warm
Deep River Blues > Doc's Guitar > Blue Smoke > Cannon Ball Rag
Saturday Night Shuffle > Nine Pound Hammer
Angelina
Blood Brother
Beatles Medly > Classical Gas
Sails (featuring Steve Wariner)
San Antonio Stroll (featuring John Knowles & Steve Wariner)
Guitar Boogie
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
I Still Can't Say Goodbye
Workin' Man Blues (featuring Steve Wariner)
Eva Waits
Lake Station is seeking offers for its community center, named for former mayor Shirley Wadding, so it can trim down the debt left behind by its most infamous mayor, Keith Soderquist.
The community center at 4700 Central Ave., which formerly housed the Boys & Girls Club of Northwest Indiana, is being offered for sale or lease by the city, Mayor Christopher Anderson said at the April 13 city council meeting.
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He said the Boys & Girls Club moved out of the building several months ago and it's stood vacant. It was formerly the Save-A-Lot grocery store.
After the supermarket closed, the building was empty for 15 years and loomed as an eyesore along the city's key corridor. Lake County donated the building to Lake Station in 1996 as a group called Friends of the Lake Station Civic Center, spearheaded by Wadding, led a campaign to raise money to refurbish it. Red bricks line the walkway in front of the entrance with names of residents who donated to the center.
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The group raised about $300,000 in grants and donations for the renovation of the 14,000-square-foot structure. It reopened in 2001 and officials surprised Wadding with a plaque naming the center in her honor.
Anderson said April 28 is the final day to place an offer the community center. Bids may be submitted to the mayor's office. "We know we will get some offers," Anderson said after the meeting.
Recently, the city learned it has to cut $300,000 from its general fund once the state certified its budget. The city instituted a hiring freeze for full-time positions, but isn't laying anyone off.
The city is also weighing an offer from the Indiana-American Water Co. to sell its water utility plant.
Carole Carlson is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Merrillville police found alcohol, loaded guns and knives while helping the Department of Child Services do an inspection of a Merrillville home day care last week, according to court records.
The Lake County Prosecutor's office approved 26 felony charges each for three women in connection with the day care, according to Merrillville police. The three women Tawana Cole, 44, Roberta Sanders, 20, and Adriana Johnson, 40 each face one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, 12 counts of neglect of a dependent and 13 counts of criminal confinement.
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DCS contacted Merrillville police in the evening of April 11 to assist at the day care, Tender Loving Spirits, in the 1700 block of West 53rd Avenue when doing a follow up check on three children after DCS had been told a caretaker there "had been drinking heavily on a daily basis at the day care," according to a probable cause affidavit.
When a DCS employee went to the day care, "she heard children inside the home playing and making noise," but when she rang the doorbell, "all of a sudden the noise from the children grew faint and became almost inaudible," the affidavit states.
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As she continued to knock and ring the doorbell for several minutes, with no answer, a woman arrived at the home who said that Cole, the owner and operator of the day care, had called and said her 4-year-old son "had fallen and injured his head" and needed to go to the hospital "because the wound looked like it needed stitches," according to the affidavit and release from police.
Sanders later told an officer that when some of the children arrived by a school bus, she heard some yelling that "he fell" and saw the boy bleeding from his forehead, the affidavit states.
Out of concern for the injured child and the welfare of the other children, an officer climbed through an unlocked window and announced who he was, when Cole met the officer in the hallway and began to yell at him "that he had no right to be inside the day care," according to police and the probable cause affidavit.
In the master bedroom, officers found two adult women and 15 small children, according to police and court records, and "the adult women were 'shushing' the children to keep them quiet." There they found the injured child with bloody napkins and an open wound on his forehead that needed medical attention, according to police.
As the injured child's mother took him to the emergency room, the officers identified the other children and called their parents to pick them up, the affidavit states.
In the kitchen, the officer "found a loaded pistol magazine in a box" and next to the box was a "semi-automatic Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol, which had live ammunition in it," according to the affidavit. There were no locks or other devices to secure the floor level doors where the gun was found, according to the affidavit.
Detectives also found a loaded Smith & Wesson .357 revolver in a drawer in the bedroom where the children were found, a loaded 12-gauge pistol grip Mossberg shotgun on the floor in the corner of the room and a loaded and cocked single-barrel 20-gauge Harrington & Richardson shotgun behind a pile of clothes near the dresser.
They also found "a pile of assorted swords and daggers" on top of a chest near the bed, the affidavit states, and shotgun shells in the bedroom.
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In the same room they found a large bottle of whiskey and another large bottle of apple vodka on the bedroom floor in plain view, "accessible to any of the above mentioned children," the affidavit states.
Officers also found various Pack 'n Play cribs, "one of which was resting against an exposed gas line and a dismantled heater with electrical wires exposed," the affidavit states.
"There was a large amount of dirt on the wall vents as well as black mold in the basement of the home where the air circulated back into the rooms," according to the affidavit.
In a dresser at the home, detectives found papers that indicated the Cole was on probation for battery by means of a deadly weapon, according to police.
The child care home license issued by the Indiana Department of Family and Social Service Administrations, which was issued in Cole's name at the address police responded to, had expired on March 31 of this year, and the license listed the capacity of the day care center as 12 children, ranging from infants to 14 years old, according to the affidavit.
Cole was in custody in the Lake County Jail as of Monday afternoon, according Mark Back, Lake County Sheriff's Department spokesman. Sanders and Johnson were not in custody but have active warrants for their arrests, Back said.
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Court records show that Cole is being held without bail.
rejacobs@post-trib.com
Twitter @ruthyjacobs
INDIANAPOLIS Indiana purges 481K inactive voter registrations from rolls
Indiana's secretary of state says more than 481,000 inactive voter registrations have been purged from the state's voter rolls as part of a long-running effort ordered by lawmakers.
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Secretary of State Connie Lawson said Tuesday 481,235 voter registration records have been removed from voter rolls since November in accordance with federal law.
Those registrations were canceled if voters sent postcard alerts did not update their records or did not vote in any election held in 2014, 2015 or 2016.
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The General Assembly adopted the mandatory voter roll purges in 2014, two years after two voter watchdog groups, Judicial Watch and True The Vote, sued Indiana, claiming the state failed to maintain clean voter registration lists.
Lawson says Indiana's voter roll purge is continuing at both the state and county levels.
Car, prisoner van collide in northern Indiana, injuring 8
BUNKER HILL, Ind. State police say a car has collided with a van carrying an Indiana Department of Correction work crew, injuring eight people.
Police say the crash occurred Tuesday morning on a Miami County road. A car driven by 41-year-old Zackariah Birdsong of Kokomo went left of center and struck the van head-on.
Police say Birdsong was airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital with life-threatening injuries, and two of the inmate passengers on the van, 61-year-old Norman Clark and 40-year-old Joshua Kochell, also were airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital with severe but non-life-threatening injuries. Van driver 49-year-old Tracy Hullett of Peru and four other inmates from the Miami Correctional Facility were transported by ambulance to a Kokomo hospital.
Marijuana-growing operation found during Indiana house fire
LOGANSPORT, Ind. Two people were arrested on drug charges after firefighters reported spotting a marijuana-growing operation while putting out a northern Indiana house fire.
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Logansport police say officers found 39 marijuana plants in a second-floor bedroom, along with marijuana in jars in another bedroom.
Police Sgt. Dan Frye tells the (Logansport) Pharos-Tribune that the growing operation included lighting on timers and irrigation and ventilation systems, but wasn't the fire's cause.
Two residents face felony charges of dealing marijuana and maintaining a common nuisance. Police say another resident was charged with felony battery for pushing and punching a firefighter.
Fire officials say the fire was reported about 6:45 a.m. Monday, with flames and smoke spreading through much of the house. Information on the cause wasn't immediately released.
Man jailed after threat to blow up Indiana courthouse
JASPER, Ind. Authorities say a 38-year-old man is jailed after threatening to blow up a courthouse in southern Indiana.
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The Jasper Police Department says Keith E. Markle Jr. of Huntingburg was spotted Monday on the front lawn of the Dubois County Courthouse acting aggressively toward people and making threats to blow up the building. No injuries were reported.
Police say Markle was taken into custody and jailed on preliminary charges of intimidation and a misdemeanor of driving with a suspended license.
The Dubois County clerk's office says Markle is expected to appear in court on Tuesday. He didn't have a lawyer on record early Tuesday.
Small Indiana city turning dead trees into wood sculptures
DECATUR, Ind. (AP) A small city in northeastern Indiana is becoming creative with its dead trees by hiring an artist to turn the stumps into wood carvings.
Artist Scott Lepley has finished six tree sculptures since city officials in Decatur hired him last December. WANE-TV reports those include a life-sized bear standing on its hind legs and smaller ones featuring an eagle and a raccoon.
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City operations manager Jeremy Gilbert says the city cuts down about 30 dead trees a year and the carvings are a way to beautify the community rather than just grinding down the stumps.
Gilbert says the project has drawn attention around the community about 20 miles southeast of Fort Wayne and some people have called the city asking about having their dead trees turned into sculptures.
--Associated Press
A crew takes water samples from the Lake Michigan at Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk in Portage, Indiana on Wednesday, April 12, 2017.US Steel plant in Portage released hexavelent chromium, a carcinogen, into the Portage-Burns Waterway about 100 yards from Lake Michigan. (Zbigniew Bzdak / Chicago Tribune)
In 1899, botanist Henry Cowles tromped around the sand dunes, documenting the startling plant diversity along Indiana's southern shores of Lake Michigan. Cowles and others led efforts to preserve the dunes with a national park, but they couldn't compete with corporate plans for the lake shore.
Northwest Indiana's future was carved out of sand in 1906 when industrial giants J.P. Morgan and Elbert H. Gary built U.S. Steel on the southern shores of Lake Michigan. The steel plant and a city sprouted on the 9,000 acres of undeveloped lakefront land east of Chicago. World War I and the need for steel erased any hope of preservation harbored by early environmentalists.
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The region's lakeshore filled in with steel mills and coal-fired power plants belching a collective smoke and haze over the skies, hastening vacationing Chicago motorists to drive by and chuckle on their way to Michigan's pristine waters.
Yet, there has been a co-existence of parks in the fragile sand dunes and major industry. It's always been a challenge. Last week, we learned U.S. Steel's Midwest sheet and tin finishing plant in Portage released a cancer-causing toxin into the Burns Waterway, depositing it at the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Park. The spill of hexavalent chromium quickly prompted the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to close beaches at West Beach, Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Park, and Cowles Bog. Nearby Ogden Dunes also closed its beach.
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Officials are saying they've capped the leak and the EPA says preliminary testing show hexavalent chromium was not present near drinking water intakes. Still, more tests are being done as environmentalists raise serious concerns about government regulation of lakefront industries that can jeopardize Lake Michigan's waters.
President Donald Trump has ratcheted up the concern with talk of dismantling the EPA's oversight into big industries, like U.S. Steel. The plant in Portage is one of six on Lake Michigan's southern shore that records show released a combined 1,696 pounds of hexavalent chromium into Lake Michigan and its tributaries in 2015. That's the same metal that triggered a cancer cluster in a California town chronicled in the movie "Erin Brockovich."
Trump's budget would eliminate an EPA program that's working on standards for hexavalent chromium in drinking water. The work has been delayed by objections from the chemical industry. Under Trump's plan, industry won't have to worry about standards. Trump's budget also would reduce scientific research of toxic chemicals and the EPA's enforcement of environmental laws.
Trump also wants to scrap the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, an EPA cleanup effort that began in 2010. Trump's budget would cut its funding from $300 million to $10 million annually.
This is not just a battle to be fought by environmentalists. It's up to all of us to let our lawmakers know that relinquishing the EPA's watchdog function is not acceptable.
A good opportunity is coming up on Wednesday as EPA chief Scott Pruitt visits East Chicago's lead-contaminated West Calumet housing project. There will be folks there letting Pruitt know they don't like his boss' vision. Join them and make sure Pruitt understands the stakes are not just high for corporate profit.
Sully Baby, 6, front, of Winnetka, warms up with a disc jockey before the start of Winnetkas 44th annual Egg Hunt at West Elm Park on April 15, 2017. (Karie Angell Luc / Pioneer Press)
Children hunted for more than 13,000 plastic eggs during Winnetka's 44th annual Egg Hunt at West Elm Park on Saturday.
More than 1,000 people turned out for the Winnetka Park tradition, which featured four egg hunts for children through age 8, said Toby Ross of Glenview, recreation supervisor at the Winnetka Park District.
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"It's an absolutely incredible day," Ross said of the blue skies and temperatures, which reached the low 70s by the start of the 10 a.m. egg hunts. All four hunts began at the same time.
"It's a beautiful day in Winnetka to celebrate spring," said Patrick Smith, parent of Audrey Smith, 2, of Winnetka.
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Many kiddies wore colorful boots due to rain from previous night, which made the ground soggy.
"If it hadn't rained last night, it would have been a little better. The ground is a little saturated and wet," Ross said.
The egg hunts, arranged by age divisions, had some parents and grandparents marveling - or maybe wondering - why kids couldn't pick up their toys or Lego bricks as fast as they snatch up plastic eggs.
Families could visit with the Spring Bunny, enjoy a petting zoo and other attractions. Sponsors and community partners had tables or areas set up with free amenities.
"I love spending time with my grandson," said Stana Radovic of Chicago, who accompanied her grandson, Lucas Karos, 20 months, of Winnetka.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
After studying what students and staff had to say about New Trier High School's 2017 seminar day on racial civil rights, district staff say discussions on race must continue to be part of students' education but probably not in the format of this year's effort, and not every year.
Instead, such talks should be integrated into classroom schedules, broadened beyond issues of black and white America, and expanded to make use of partnerships with other schools, Tim Hayes, New Trier's district superintendent for student services, said Monday.
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Hayes delivered his report at the board's April 17 meeting and recommended scheduling an in-depth look at Martin Luther King Jr. on King's birthday next January.
His report included survey information taken from students and staff after this year's February seminar day. Among the findings, he said, were freshmen students' enjoyment of what they learned from Northfield campus keynote speaker Andrew Ayden, and slightly less satisfaction from Winnetka campus students who heard from writer Colson Whitehead.
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Most students thought the day was moderately to very successful, Hayes said, although that number dipped at Northfield's campus. And, although attendance was higher this year than last year, at more than 76 percent district-wide, "we will continue to examine ways to increase attendance at any future seminar days," Hayes said.
He said that most students who didn't attend cited "wanting a day off" as their reason. Northfield students who were absent cited illness, although the second and third most frequently given reasons were wanting a free day and objecting to the content.
"At Winnetka, wanting a day off was the most frequently cited reason for missing the day. Objecting to the content and pre-arranged absences for family trips, college visits, competitions, etc., were the second and third most frequently cited reasons," Hayes said.
He also said that within the 5 percent of responding students who said they didn't like what they experienced, many said they were bored, while others argued for bringing in different viewpoints or discussing other types of diversity.
Hayes made several recommendations about future seminar days:
He said the district should develop one more program for next year, but pare it to a program specifically focused on Martin Luther King Jr., which could be held during students' advisory class on the King Day holiday, which will be a regular school day in 2018. He and District Superintendent Linda Yonke said the longer advisory period could be created by slightly shortening other school periods.
Despite that, he said, the district should "decouple" the seminar day format from perceptions that it's used only to discuss issues of race, thus allowing the format to be used to explore other issues, as it was in the past.
While the district's dedication to helping students have discussions about race is "unwavering," he said, it needs to be built into different aspects of the curriculum, and not focused solely on specific days of the year. Hayes said the district should also focus on staff development so teachers can continue to engage with students in such discussions. And based on student input, it needs to focus more on current events and issues connected to the New Trier experience, he said.
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Because creating seminar days takes staff and students as long as a year, Hayes recommended going back to a triennial or quadrennial schedule.
He recommended that New Trier formalize its existing partnerships with Chicago area schools, strengthening those relationships so that New Trier students have a chance to interact with people outside their own daily experience.
Board president Greg Robitaille said that "as a team, as a board, we learned some lessons."
"I very much like the notion of weaving civil rights into our curriculum," he said.
Board member Patrick O'Donoghue asked about the low level of survey responses, which he noted hovered around 25 percent. Hayes' report stated that 1,359 students answered the survey; according to the district website, New Trier's Winnetka and Northfield campuses serve about 4,500 students.
Hayes and Yonke admitted the number was low, something Hayes said was at least partly attributable to the survey's anonymous electronic nature. Such surveys seem to bring in fewer responses, both said, but the percentage was high enough to make a good sample.
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Board member Lori Goldstein agreed with student respondents who said the discussion about race and civil rights was too centered on issues of black and white. The district's own demographic includes people of Asian and Hispanic background, she said, and the discussion should be broadened.
Betsy Hart, one of the organizers of the Parents of New Trier group that opposed this year's seminar line-up, said after Hayes' presentation that next year's proposed focus on King is "awesome," adding that King's teachings were a contrast to what she claimed were the "more radical" views of groups such as Black Lives Matter.
Hart said she didn't know if the protest and publicity her group generated over the 2017 seminar day offerings led to the proposed changes, but said, "I think there's wisdom in the change."
kroutliffe@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @pioneer_kathy
It's Election Day, Pueblo. Make sure your vote is counted
Ballots must be returned to a staffed voter center or a drop box by 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8 at the latest to be counted. It's not too late to register.
The Association of Air Pollution Control Agencies (AAPCA) has released a new report, The Greatest Story Seldom Told: Profiles and Success Stories in Air Pollution Control.
Released ahead of Earth Day (April 22) and Air Quality Awareness Week (May 1 5), this publication catalogues these trends through publicly available data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other agencies. It includes key metrics from concentrations of criteria pollutants like ground-level ozone and air releases of toxic chemicals to compliance/enforcement activity and operating permit renewals.
Where data sets allow state-to-state comparisons, the report highlights critical areas where the twenty states that serve on the AAPCA Board of Directors have provided leadership.
Air quality has improved dramatically, and ambient air monitoring data continues to reveal the downward trend of air pollutants. It is, perhaps, the greatest story seldom told, and one that is certainly worth telling, said AAPCA President Sean Alteri, Director of the Kentucky Division for Air Quality. This report demonstrates that this progress has been driven by the hard-working state and local agency members of our Association, and we look forward to working with our federal partners to continue this pattern.
According to Vice President Stuart Spencer of the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality: AAPCA members, who have primary responsibility for air quality in parts of the country growing in population and economic activity, have demonstrated leadership across all key metrics of air quality success. The Greatest Story Seldom Told helps illustrate that, even under increasingly stringent national standards, these agencies are succeeding and innovating.
Between 2005 and 2015, reported toxic air releases were down 56 percent, or more than 851 million pounds, and AAPCA Member States accounted for nearly two-thirds of the total reduction.
In 2016, states performed full compliance evaluations for more than 14,500 facilities, 80 times the number conducted by U.S. EPA, and from 2010 to 2014, AAPCA Member States performed full compliance evaluations at nearly 47 percent of facilities annually, well ahead of the national average.
According to U.S. EPA, AAPCA Member States in 2016 were more efficient in permitting, with only a 15 percent backlog for renewing Title V permits among states with more than 100 Title V sources.
Between 2000 and 2015, AAPCA Member States saw nitrogen oxide emissions fall more rapidly than the national average.
As of 2014, AAPCA Member States had reduced sulfur dioxide emissions in the power sector by more than 8 million tons compared to 1990.
From 2000 to 2014, per capita energy-related carbon dioxide emissions were down 18.1 percent on average nationally, with AAPCA Member States averaging a 19.3 percent reduction.
The U.S. has far exceeded international trends in air quality, with some of the lowest levels of average annual fine particulate matter and the largest reduction in carbon dioxide emissions in the world over the last decade.
Additionally, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) recently released the 2017 edition of The States View of the Air report. The report highlights the air quality in counties and cities in the United States. Like a report card, IDEM has graded areas on the state of their air quality under the federal standards for ozone and fine particles. You can find the full report here, and individual state reports here.
A few of the key statistics from The Greatest Story Seldom Told:
As of 2015, combined emissions of the six criteria air pollutants for which there are national ambient air quality standards were down 71 percent since 1970.
Chinas One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative has captured the attention of global media, and has been directly linked to Chinese President Xi Jinpings statements concerning the plans development.
A speech given in Kazakhstan in 2013 is often considered the first reference to the OBOR initiative. In the speech, Xi stated that the aim of OBOR was To vigorously strengthen the practical cooperation and to be good partners with mutual benefit and win-win opportunities. We should turn the advantage of political relations, the geographical advantage, and the economic complementary advantage into advantages for practical cooperation and for sustainable growth, so as to build a community of interests. We should create new brilliance with a more open mind and a broader vision to expand regional cooperation.
Later that year, the term One Belt, One Road was used for the first time to describe this vision. However, there are signs that OBOR is becoming a metaphor for something more strictly defined than purely trans-continental overland and maritime development, and what was termed practical cooperation.
The recent launch of Chinas official OBOR website makes the distinction very clear its only an OBOR project when the Chinese are involved. That may seem obvious, but in fact, certain countries along the Silk Road and participants in todays regional and maritime development may not fit into Chinas plans despite creating infrastructure developments that fit right into Chinas stated criteria.
An example is India, which recently announced that they will not be attending President Xis first OBOR conference in Beijing. That was due to China intending to show off developments within the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which would have been fine except that it contains swathes of disputed territory claimed by Delhi.
Chinas response was to lambast India for dragging its heels over OBOR, and suggest that the country was biased against it unless it attended Xis dialogue. That accusation caught a lot of attention, until one realizes that India is indeed developing OBOR routes. It has announced two rail routes into Bangladesh, a highway through to Myanmar and Thailand, and is spending close to US$12 billion on upgrading its port facilities. Those fit into Chinas OBOR definition, but do not appear to count because China is not involved.
China and India will undoubtedly discuss these issues and catch up on regional developments as India has recently joined the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.
It does, however, suggest that China has significant propaganda criteria attached to the development of OBOR routes.
Here, we can revert to the official OBOR website. It lists 60 participating countries, but only contains details of Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). The websites contact us form for cross-border projects only links back to those same Chinese SOEs, despite international partners being involved.
This is fine, as it is a Chinese promotional website. But what it does demonstrate is the difference in determining what is an OBOR project and what is not. It is OBOR if the Chinese are involved. If they are not, it is something else.
The consequence of these OBOR limits is that it makes it rather tricky to work out what is actually going on regarding pan-Eurasian development, as China is excluding other nations development initiatives from its own OBOR promotional ambitions. With 60 countries involved, thats a lot flying under the radar.
But help is at hand. Our new Silk Road Briefing is not an OBOR portal, and covers as much as we can find. Please feel free to let us know if you have projects that fit the description of overland and maritime route development, but do not involve Chinese business interests. Wed also love to hear about those that do wed be happy to feature all Silk Road projects and opinions in order to build up a complete picture of what is being developed along the belt and road. Articles and news can be submitted to editor@asiabriefing.com.
In the meantime, dealing with Chinese hype over what is and what are not OBOR projects can involve a bit of fun. Even the Chinese didnt stick an OBOR banner on the recent China-London train service which delivered goods into the UKs Eurorail station in January. That was billed as The Yiwu Barking Express with no mention of OBOR, but with plenty of fanfare for the Yiwu based Chinese rail company that organized it. It garnered plenty of media attention, but with very few people pointing out it took three months to turn those containers around they only started the return journey last week. But great pre-listing publicity for Yiwu Timex Industrial Investment Co Ltd.
There are other more serious issues concerning the OBOR brand as well. In what has certainly been branded an OBOR project, China has relocated several out of commission cement factories to the outskirts of Dushanbe, Takijistans capital. That has been billed as an example of a Chinese OBOR investment into Central Asia, which is great until one realizes that cement production is one of the worlds most polluting industries. Flogging off old, decommissioned and toxic production lines too often to Chinas poorer relations could make the OBOR initialization toxic itself.
China has never been especially good at self-promotion, as it becomes entwined with the CCPs own brand of political correctness and veers from claims of the outrageous to the watered down through rhetoric. With OBOR, China would do well to promote the concept as something rather more inclusive of other nations ambitions than claiming what amounts to the entire Silk Road as its own. After all, neither Marco Polo nor Ibn Battuta were Chinese, and the famous Monk Xuanzang of the Journey to the West classic only made it as far as India. Using OBOR is a handy title to give to Chinas involvement, but in itself, it doesnt cover the true extent of the development of the new economic Silk Road. The distinction is clear.
About Us China Briefing is published by Asia Briefing, a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. We produce material for foreign investors throughout Asia, including ASEAN, India, Indonesia, Russia, the Silk Road, and Vietnam. For editorial matters please contact us here, and for a complimentary subscription to our products, please click here. Dezan Shira & Associates is a full service practice in China, providing business intelligence, due diligence, legal, tax, IT, HR, payroll, and advisory services throughout the China and Asian region. For assistance with China business issues or investments into China, please contact us at china@dezshira.com or visit us at www.dezshira.com
Silk Road Briefing
Our new portal examining the multilateral trade and investment opportunities along the developing overland and maritime Silk Road routes, and updates of multilateral involvement and influence along them. Our new portal examining the multilateral trade and investment opportunities along the developing overland and maritime Silk Road routes, and updates of multilateral involvement and influence along them.
Silk Road and OBOR Business Intelligence
Dezan Shira & Associates Silk Road and OBOR investment brochure offers an introduction to the region and an overview of the services provided by the firm. It is Dezan Shiras mission to guide investors through the Silk Roads complex regulatory environment and assist with all aspects of establishing, maintaining, and growing business operations in the region.
By Weining Hu
Exporters from the least developing countries (LDCs) in Africa and Southeast Asia can benefit from Chinas new measures for special preferential tariff treatment. In order to be entitled to preferential tariff treatment, a beneficiary country needs to register with Chinas customs the national source of the export product, showing the product is indeed originating from that country.
The Administrative Measures of the PRC Customs on Rules of Origin of Imported Goods from the Least Developed Countries Entitled to Special Preferential Tariff Treatment (the new measures), which became effective April 1, is the latest action taken by the General Administration of Customs of China (GACC) to improve the administration of the origin of the import goods. China began granting preferential tariff treatments to LDCs that have diplomatic relations with China in 2002.
The GACC made two major changes in the new measures:
They expanded the criteria that determine the national source of a product, allowing more products to be regarded as originating from a beneficiary country; and,
They streamlined the consignment process, making the export process more efficient than before.
LDC exporters should seek to understand the benefits of the new measures, which contain both incentives and compliance requirements.
The old rule of origin for imported goods from LDCs
As is common for rules of origin internationally, China uses the rule of origin to determine the national source of a product for purposes of international trade. Generally, the GACC assesses the country of origin for a product as determined by the following two rules:
If a product is wholly obtained or produced completely within one country, then the product is regarded as having origin in that country;
If a product has been produced in more than one country and the last substantial transformation took place in a beneficiary country, then the product is also regarded as having origin in that country. (The change of tariff classification, a four-digit number, is a benchmark that shows a product has gone through the last substantial transformation.)
Many exporters find this rule of origin too rigid to operate in real practice. In a world where global trade has become more complicated and highly interdependent, it is difficult to produce a product that is purely relied on originating materials in one single country. In response to address the operational obstacles, the new measures adjusted the criteria that determines the country of origin through introducing several new rules, which are designed to allow exporters in LDC countries to compete.
The new rule of origin for LDC exporters
Rule of Cumulation
Under the Rule of Cumulation, beneficiary countries are allowed to use other countries originating materials under the following two circumstances:
The originating goods or materials were obtained from or produced in China;
The originating goods or materials were from other beneficiary countries within the same regional economic group as the subject beneficiary country is belong to.
Currently, GACC grants two regional economic groups special preferential tariffs treatment: The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Beneficiary countries within the same economic group can share the originating materials or goods for their own production.
If the exporter comes from a LDC beneficiary country in either ASEAN or ECOWAS that is recognized by the GACC, they can use the other member countrys originating materials to produce its own product, and the product can be counted as originating from the country that exports it.
For example, recognized beneficiary countries within ASEAN, Cambodia and Myanmar, can interchangeably use the other member countrys originating materials for its products. If Cambodia uses Myanmars originating materials, then its production is still considered as products purely originating from Cambodia.
Rule of De Minimis
In addition to the Rule of Cumulation, the new measures adopt the Rule of De Minimis to further lower the threshold for determining the origin of products. This means a beneficiary country is allowed to use other countrys imported goods or materials in the process of production, as long as:
The value of all non-originating materials used in the production of the good does not exceed 10 percent of the value of the good;
The good meets all other applicable provisions of the new measures.
Optimized consignment process
Under the new measures, the GACC will use an online data exchange system to administrate the imported goods consignment. Consignees or agents of imported goods no longer need to submit hard copies of the Certificate of Origin or Declaration of Origin to the GACC, as long as the export country has submitted those documents through the online data exchange system. Additionally, if the originating goods value does not exceed RMB 6,000 (US$872), consignees are exempt from presenting a Certificate of Origin or Declaration of Origin at the customs.
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The new measures also extended the time for beneficiary countrys export goods to arrive in China. If an originating good of a beneficiary country transports through other countries or regions before arriving in China, the maximum duration of staying in the country or district has been extended from 3 months to 6 months.
In sum, the new measures cut red tape during the import clearance process for LDC beneficiaries, and allows exporters from those countries more flexibility for transportation.
Healthier trade prospects
China has been committed to facilitating trade and economic development in LDCs. In 2002, new ASEAN member states such as Cambodia and Myanmar were among the first batch of LDCs to enjoy the special preferential tariff treatment provided by China. Fifteen years later, the list of beneficiary countries has extended from South East Asian countries and African countries to more than 40 LDCs recognized by the UN.
In addition to expanding the number of beneficiary countries, the percentage of taxable item goods exported to China that were granted zero tariffs has witnessed a significant increase from 60 percent in 2010 to 97 percent in 2015.
According to Chinas Millennium Development Goal White Paper, 26 beneficiary countries have exported originating goods worth at US$4.72 billion in total to China by tapping the preferential measures. Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Tanzania are the top three beneficiaries.
As the administration and regulatory environment has been ameliorated, more and more LDCs will benefit from exporting goods to China under the special preferential tariff treatments.
Students who commit violent acts on campus will be severely punished, according to the central government, which introduced a number of measures to ensure safety in schools at the most recent executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet.
Ensuring safety in primary and middle schools and kindergartens should be a public security priority, according to a statement released after the meeting, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.
"Campus safety concerns the healthy development of millions of students and the happiness of their families. Schools must be solidly built, like those in areas of post-earthquake reconstruction, and they should also be the most secure places when it comes to safety," Li told the meeting.
The statement said principals are responsible for campus safety, while students should be taught to value life and the rights of their classmates. It added that schools must employ the "necessary personnel" and use closed-circuit TV to keep a close watch on potential dangers and safeguard students' safety.
School buildings must comply with national safety and quality standards, while builders, designers and supervisors will hold lifelong liability for any failures, it added.
In addition to classes related to safety, schools will be required to conduct drills to alleviate the dangers posed by earthquakes, fire and stampedes, and more police officers should be deployed near schools.
Security risks on campus must be closely scrutinized, and the education and health authorities have been ordered to monitor and check sanitation, disease prevention and food safety in educational establishments for younger students.
A number of incidents of campus violence and bullying have put school safety firmly in the spotlight. The latest occurred on April 1 in Luzhou, Sichuan Province, when a student surnamed Zhao killed himself by jumping from the top of a building at Taifu Middle School. Despite an official announcement to that effect, the incident aroused suspicions among members of the public that the boy had been beaten to death by five other students, who were believed to have bullied him.
The incident led to heated online debate about an investigation into the cause of death conducted by the local police and the untimely disclosure of information by the authorities.
At the State Council meeting, Li called for an effective mechanism to be established to curb bullying, especially acts of violence, by disclosure, intervention and prevention. He added that the relevant departments should respond to public concerns by disclosing the results of investigations in a timely manner.
In the Government Work Report he delivered in March last year, Li added "safety" to the chapter about education, and stressed "families, schools, the government and society should help to cultivate a secure and healthy environment in which children can grow up and make a contribution to the country".
The meeting sent a warning to "naughty children", who either bully their peers or take advantage of children who are less developed physically or come from deprived families, said Zheng Zonggen, a teacher at Wenfeng High School in Huoshan county, Anhui province.
Surveillance equipment is necessary because teachers cannot watch students 24 hours a day, he said, adding that a punishment mechanism should be established to discipline bullies and allow students to understand the consequences of beating or mistreating their peers, he added.
Xiong Bingqi, vice-president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said that in addition to the equipment outlined at the meeting, more money should be spent to help schools eliminate risks, such as bullying and unsafe food.
Bullying and campus safety require more effective implementation of the law, and violators should be subject to police action, rather than punishments handed out by their principals or teachers, he said.
Teachers and schools often conduct investigations into bullying but many perpetrators escape punishment, setting a bad example and giving the impression that violators can escape severe penalties, which further encourages bullying, he added.
Zheng said: "Lessons will be learned to reduce the likelihood of these incidents occurring. Anyone who bullies their peers will be punished in accordance with the law."
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Major celebrations of China's Space Day will start on April 24 in Xi'an, capital city of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.
This year's celebrations will focus on the applications of space technology in economic and social development, said Tian Yulong, chief engineer of the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence.
Chinese astronauts and scientists will give talks during the celebrations, and exhibitions will be held in Northwestern Polytechnical University, said Tian.
The exhibitions will showcase the achievements of China's lunar probe and the BeiDou satellite navigation system.
China designated April 24 as Space Day last year to mark the anniversary of the country's first satellite launch Dongfanghong-1 in 1970.
Xi'an is home to more than 200 aerospace research centers and enterprises.
Also, there will be over 200 events in other cities in China to celebrate the Space Day.
Flash
More than 10 kilograms of rhino horns ready for embarking in the Maputo International Airport were seized by police on Saturday, said the spokesperson of Maputo city police, Orlando Madumane, on Monday.
The seizure is just few weeks after airport authorities in Malaysia discovered 18 rhino horns coming from Maputo in an operation. The continuous unveiling of rhino horns' smuggling in the capital city of Mozambique indicates that the slaughtering of endangered species such as elephants and rhinos is still going on in this country.
The police's struggle to stop this practice remains far from succeeding as the criminal network gets more and more sophisticated. This time the suitcase in which the horns were found had no identity, let alone left any clue for the police to find out the destination of the product.
"The owner of the suitcase ran away soon after realizing that the police had found out the content inside, now we are investigating to identify the owner of the product," said Madumane.
The police admits that slaughters and the entire chain are adopting cunning tricks, since they find it hard to explain how the smugglers successfully get the suitcases checked in when observing the whole process and then run away after the content is found out.
Mozambique and South Africa in 2016 created a commission to harmonize the legislation of both countries when dealing with this matter, to make the legal framework much tougher for an effective fight against poachers.
Flash
Britain's Prime Minister, Theresa May, delivers a speech to launch the Conservative Party's local elections campaign, in Calverton Village Hall, Calverton, Britain April 6, 2017. [Photo/China Daily]
British Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election on June 8 in what was a shock and unexpected announcement from outside 10 Downing Street.
She cited disharmony and divisions in the Houses of Parliament over Brexit as the reason for calling an election.
May spoke of opposition parties, particularly Labour and the Liberal Democrats, threatening to block the Brexit process.
"The country is coming together, Westminster is not," said May in her statement.
May said the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to "hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I must take."
"In recent weeks Labour have threatened to vote against the final agreement we reach with the European Union.
"The Liberal Democrats said they want to grind the business of government to a standstill.
"The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union.
"And un-elected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way.
"If we do not hold a general election now, their political game playing will continue."
"Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit," said May.
May concluded her statement saying it was with reluctance that she reached her decision, adding: "It is with strong conviction that I believe it is necessary to secure a strong and stable leadership this country needs."
May will go to the House of Commons Tuesday to lay down the necessary legislation for the calling of an early general election.
Under existing law, an election was not due until May 2020, and until today May has insisted she will not call an early election. The move will require a vote with a two-thirds majority of MPs supporting the measure.
She said her cabinet members had agreed with her decision at a meeting she chaired at Number 10 immediately before her announcement.
Although among British people, May has a high rating as prime minister, she only has a small majority in the House of Commons.
Political observers say May wants to settle once and for all the question of Brexit by going to the country. Her hope is that the voters of Britain will give her a much bigger mandate by increasing her majority in the House of Commons as she holds Brexit negotiations with the European Union.
Even seasoned political commentators were taken by surprise at the announcement which came completely out of the blue.
The main opposition Labour Party is still in a state of civil war under its leader Jeremy Corbyn who remains estranged from many of his own MPs.
Corbyn and the leader of the minority Liberal Democrats Tim Farron both welcomed May's decision to call a general election. Both said they will back the measure in the House of Commons on Tuesday.
By Mary Schlangenstein, Bloomberg News | Apr. 18, 2017
A Southwest Airlines Co. pilot was arrested after a loaded handgun was found in his carry-on bag while going through a security checkpoint at an upstate New York airport, federal officials said.
The first officer's name wasn't released in a statement issued Monday by the Transportation Security Administration. He was arrested on a weapons charge after an X-ray scanner at Albany International Airport found the .380-caliber handgun in the bag, according to the statement.
The pilot indicated that he wasn't aware a weapon was in his carry-on bag, said Brandy King, a Southwest spokeswoman. The gun wasn't part of a federal program that allows some pilots to have weapons in the cockpit, she said. The Dallas-based airline declined to release the pilot's name.
The Albany County sheriff, whose office arrested the pilot, wasn't immediately available for comment.
4 Takes On Chicago's Latest Gentrification Woes
By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 17, 2017 7:43PM
18th Street, Pilsen's main street, circa 2010 (photo by Joe Balynas on Flickr
While scholars argue the merits vs. harmsand even the definitionof gentrification, the eternal debate seems to be repositioning front and center in Chicago, even of course, as it never really dissipated. With that being the case, we rounded up four recent essays on gentrification which, to varying degrees of penetration, offer something of a roadmap for where the conversation appears to be headed in our city.
'Confessions of a reluctant gentrifier' by Eula Biss, The Guardian, April 11
An edited extract from Biss' 2009 collection Notes From No Mans Land, this long-form personal reflection from the celebrated essayist takes a complicated dive into the author's relationship with her Rogers Park neighborhood, a place that afforded the writer/educator proximity to the Northwestern University campus where she teaches while also granting a way out of the "cloistered," "insulated" trappings of academia. From pearl-clutch warnings about gangs that Biss encountered from some colleagues, to encountering the use of the word "pioneer" by and about white business owners, to encountering a group of black boys riding their bikes who shout "Don't be afraid of us," the detail-rich essay gets at the "work of being a neighbor" for those who value diversityand don't want to squeeze it out.
Excerpt:
"But this place will probably change, if only because this is not a city where integrated neighbourhoods last very long. And we are the people for whom the new coffee shop has opened. And the pet-grooming store. You know your neighbourhood is gentrifying, my sister said, when the pet-grooming store arrives. Gentrification is a word that agitates my husband. It bothers him because he thinks that the people who tend to use the word negatively, white artists and academics, people like me, are exactly the people who benefit from the process of gentrification. I think you should define the word gentrification, my husband tells me now. I ask him what he would say it means, and he pauses for a long moment. It means that an area is generally improved, he says finally, but in such a way that everything worthwhile about it is destroyed."
"On Chicagos South Side, gentrification is not the great evil" by Natalie Moore, Chicago-Sun Times, March 16
Back in 2014, WBEZ reporter and author of the modern classic The South Side: A Portrait of Chicago and American Segregation Natalie Moore explored why black neighborhoods in Chicago don't gentrify the same way Latino neighborhoods do. In a recent op-ed, Moore revisits some of the studies and indexes that she previously cited to look at how majority-black neighborhoods on the South Side struggle to rebound from the housing crisis. A dwindling middle class, an overall population drop and racial stereotypes on the part of would-be gentrifiers all play a part in how neighborhoods like Bronzeville are presently shaped.
Excerpt:
"[A] 2012 study by Montana State University compared Bronzeville to Pilsen. The latter has experienced gentrification. Why? Because, the study found, Pilsen was treated as a more viable site of ethnic consumption - a la tacos and margaritas - while Bronzeville struggled to redevelop because of stereotypical conceptions of blackness. I get these facts and figures mean little to people who worry about affordability and sustainability in their neighborhoods. Past racial practices in this city, whether public or private, probably echo louder for black households who remember land grabs. Still, I caution that we consider various market forces. In times of insecurity about the future of black neighborhoods, people should clamor for smart economic development and make their voices heard at City Hall, foundations and universities and among any other players they dont completely trust."
"Three ways of understanding gentrification in Chicago" by Alex Bean, Chicago Detours, January 18
Here, the author puts forth a small handful of side effects and perhaps under-considered hallmarks of the debate: one, there's little consensus what "mixed-income" means in relation to developers; two, the "ripple effect" hostility faced by some displaced people who move to outer-ring suburbs; and lastly, the seemingly eternal push by some residents to restrict public housing options, as illustrated by the contentious negotiations around the Lathrop Homes, in Lincoln Park. It's really only kernels offered here, but some of them have potential pop.
Excerpt, with unfortunately clumsy use of "projects":
"These days a large influx of young whites (including yours truly) have moved from the suburbs to the city. This tide of white millennials are flooding into the city and are eyeing neighborhoods like Pilsen, Bridgeport, and Bronzeville. Amidst this in-migration, the Chicago Housing Authority has been working with the suburbs to provide affordable housing for minority residents who wish to relocate. So now white professionals are moving into neighborhoods that were once projects and those projects' former residents are moving to the formerly white-only suburbs. Its confusing."
Four Types of Gentrifiers You See in Your Neighborhood by John Joe Schlichtman, Next City, April 14
Urban sociology professor at DePaul and co-author of the recent Gentrifier, Schlichtman posits four unique categories of newcomer (if you're generous) or interloper (if not so much): the Gentrifier Against Gentrification, the Tiptoeing Gentrifier , the Conqueror and the Curator. Behind the undoubtedly whimsical flair behind Schlichtman's nomenclature, he's onto something in breaking down the psychological impulses that drive, rationalize and defend the different motives that underlie the issue.
Excerpt:
Sha Zukang, former United Nations under-secretary-general for the department of economic and social affairs and chairman of China-Pakistan Friendship Association, addresses the opening ceremony of the China-Khyber Pukhtunkhwa economic cooperation road show in Beijing on April 17, 2017. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn
Officials from Pakistan, China's long-time friend and important partner in the Belt and Road Initiative, have come to Beijing to host a two-day economic cooperation road show seeking cross-border trade and investment from their neighbor.
The China-Khyber Pukhtunkhwa (KP province) economic cooperation road show, held from 17-18 April in Beijing and attended by high-level Pakistani officials and around 400 state-owned and private enterprises in China, is aimed at promoting the KP province to potential Chinese investors under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). It's the Pakistani province's first road show in China and 11 MOUs on mutual cooperation were signed during the opening ceremony.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative, plays a pivotal role in leading the initiative, according to Sha Zukang, former United Nations under-secretary-general for the department of economic and social affairs and chairman of China-Pakistan Friendship Association, who addressed the opening ceremony of the road show.
"The CPEC will push forward social and economic development of both countries. It's mutual, not just Pakistan getting assistance from China. And it will benefit nearly 300 million people in China and South Asian countries," Sha said.
He also pointed out that as of yet, state-own enterprises contributed the most investment in Pakistan, while private companies cannot find a convenient channel due to lack of experience and access.
"I hope that we show support to private companies and help them get familiar with the investment and construction in Pakistan," Sha said.
With the installation of the dome on the containment building, all major civil engineering works have been completed at Unit 5 of the Hongyanhe nuclear power plant developed by China's State Power Investment Corp, located Northeast China's Liaoning province. [Photo/People's Daily Online]
Chinese companies are craving access to the colossal untapped potential of the nuclear power industry in Belt and Road countries, which could yield a market of up to 4 trillion yuan ($580 billion), said the chairman of one of the country's largest nuclear power developers.
"About 72 countries have been or are planning to develop nuclear power, among which 41 are along the Belt and Road, and most of them are still in the earliest stages of nuclear power development. We estimate that if their nuclear energy were raised to reach development levels comparable to those of the US or Japan, it would spawn a market worth 4 trillion yuan, " remarked Wang Shoujun, chairman of China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC).
The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, aims to build a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes, in an unprecedented effort that will unite up to 65 countries.
China a powerful nuclear tech player
As domestic demand for electricity soars in China, and the country accelerates its shift to renewable energy, nuclear power will be one of the highest-priority projects. China currently operates 36 nuclear reactors, and is in the process of building 20 new ones, according to an official with the Ministry of Environmental Protection. By the end of 2020, China aims to have 58 million kilowatts of nuclear power capacity in operation and more than 30 million kW under construction, ranking second in the world for number of installed units.
When it comes to homegrown technologies, China is gathering steam to occupy a position of leadership in the world. The Hualong One pressurized water reactor, manufactured by China First Heavy Machinery, completed its hydraulic pressure tests on April 8. This milestone shows that China has mastered the independent design and manufacture of third-generation nuclear power facilities.
On Jan 5, 2017, State Power Investment Corp (SPIC), one of China's five largest power generators, released NuPAC platform, a digital instrumentation and control system for nuclear power plants, complete with independent intellectual property rights. The platform has obtained approval from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, giving it access to American and European markets.
Photo taken on May 7, 2015 shows the construction site of a nuclear power project in Fuqing, Southeast China's Fujian province. China on Thursday began construction on the pilot nuclear power project using Hualong One technology, a domestically-developed third generation reactor design on Thursday. [Photo/Xinhua]
Sailing abroad
With the third-generation Hualong One reactor as a star export, Chinese nuclear technologies have established a presence in the UK, Romania, Pakistan and beyond.
In March, China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) inked a protocol with Kenya on nuclear power training based on the Hualong One reactor, coming one step closer to actually exporting the Hualong One design to Kenya, and testing the waters on other exports of technology and equipment overseas.
Citing indigenous technologies like Hualong One, the president of CGN Group announced that homegrown technologies "lay the foundation for China's nuclear expansion overseas."
According to CNNC Chairman Wang Shoujun, CNNC has successfully exported six nuclear power units and eight reactors to at least seven countries, and has established links with more than 40 countries for further cooperation spanning the full nuclear industrial chain.
SPIC releases NuPAC Platform, a nuclear reactor protection system with independent intellectual property rights. [Photo/People's Daily Online]
Nuclear, radiation safety measures "reliable"
According to sources from the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA), from August to September 2016, the International Atomic Energy Agency conducted a comprehensive nuclear and radiation safety evaluation. Their assessment found that nuclear and radiation safety in China is in line with international standards, and regulatory work is effective and reliable.
An unidentified NNSA official noted that, in the past 30 years, the Chinese nuclear industry has maintained a record of safe operations, with no incidents exceeding Level 2 or higher on the 7-level International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale. No radiation was deemed detrimental to the environment.
However, the official also stressed that a shortage of storage space for used fuel and the disposal of radioactive waste is a major issue affecting the development of China's nuclear power.
In March, China's State Council approved a plan for nuclear power safety and radioactive pollution control. According to the plan, China will build five sites for the disposal of solid waste with a low or intermediate level of radioactivity. Underground laboratories will be called upon to dispose of highly radioactive waste.
By 2025, China plans to have fully modernized its supervisory system for nuclear safety and radioactive pollution control. The safety of the country's nuclear facilities will be markedly enhanced by 2020, with a lower rate of occurrence of radiation accidents and better emergency response and safety supervision, according to the plan.
Kjeld Stark, president of Danfoss China.
China's massive urbanization and green transformation has helped Danfoss, Denmark's largest industrial group, to report its strongest growth in six years in 2016, according to its China president.
Danfoss China turned out 4.25 billion yuan ($617 million) in sales revenue last year, up 10 percent from 2015, outperforming the group's other regions. Danfoss worldwide registered 39 billion yuan revenue in 2016, up 3 percent year-on-year.
"China is our second-largest market, after the United States. Danfoss has benefited from the increasing demand in infrastructure, food supply, energy efficiency, and climate-friendly solutions as the country's urbanization and green transformation goes on," said Kjeld Stark, president of Danfoss China.
Such growth is of great significance, according to Stark, given that the Chinese economy is slowing down in growth rate. "It indicates that the real economy has responded to the government's call for green restructuring, promising an exciting future for energy efficiency, environmental protection and green industries."
In recent decades, China has experienced the world's largest and fastest urbanization in history, with the urbanization rate reaching 57.35 percent in 2016, said Fan Hengshan, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission at an EU-China forum on sustainable urbanization in March.
Some 20 million people are moving from rural to urban areas each year, but such unprecedented urbanization is challenged by the overpopulation, shortage of resources and limited capacity of the environment, he said.
With its products and services covering refrigeration, air conditioning, heating, motor control and mobile machinery, Danfoss is well suited to support urbanization.
The Danish industrial giant looks to generate more than 5 billion yuan in sales revenue in 2017, and continue its investment in China, according to Stark.
For example, the company's first assembly line of oil-free compressors will be in full production in its Haiyan base in Zhejiang province in September. The line will mainly serve the domestic market in meeting growing demand for energy efficiency and green growth.
An application development center, involving an initial investment of more than 100 million yuan, will also be established in Haiyan campus to collaborate with OEM partners to create the innovative and differentiated solutions for the future.
"Innovation is in our DNA, and it is also one of the most important ways we are investing in the future," said Stark. In recent years, more than 4 percent of the company's annual sales revenue was invested in research and development, far exceeding the industry average.
By Tian Xuefei in Harbin and Zhang Xiaomin in Dalian, Liaoning province | China Daily | Updated: 2017-04-18 08:02
Daqing, a resource-rich city in Heilongjiang province, is transforming its growth pattern from an overreliance on oil to a more diversified industrial system.
"Facing falling crude output and global prices, Daqing's economy encountered unprecedented difficulties in the past two years," said Han Lihua, Party secretary and mayor of Daqing, home to China's largest oil field.
Daqing has made great strides to promote the chemical, automobile and high-end food sectors as well as electronic and information manufacturing, modern services, and strategic emerging industries.
The city's GDP is expected to hit 66.65 billion yuan ($9.68 billion) in the first quarter, up 2.1 percent year-on-year. Profits made by industrial enterprises realized positive growth for the first time in the past three years.
The Volvo Cars Daqing plant, with an initial annual capacity of 80,000 vehicles, is leading the city's automobile and parts sector to develop rapidly. Exports to the US of Volvo's new S90 sedan, which is selling well in the Chinese market, began on Wednesday. The first batch of 400 vehicles is scheduled to arrive in the US in June.
The Daqing Auto Spare Parts Industrial Park, a 200 million yuan factory producing 200,000 car seats annually, started operating in August. This year, its annual production value is expected to reach 500 million yuan.
According to Song Kui, a researcher from the Heilongjiang Academy of Social Sciences, the Volvo Daqing plant is a successful case of promoting industrial transformation and upgrading a leading company.
As a brand enjoying a world-wide reputation for good quality, Volvo could help upgrade the high-end equipment manufacturing industry of Daqing and bring products made in the city to the global market, said Song.
"The oil industry's decades of development has left the city a treasure of talented engineers and researchers as well as the spirit of the Iron Man Wang Jinxi (a model oil worker living between 1923 and 1970) that should encourage us to work hard," said Han.
Lyu Leyang, vice-general manager of Volvo Daqing plant, said he feels the Iron Man spirit among those working at the plant.
Contact the writer at tianxuefei@chinadaily.com.cn and zhangxiaomin@chinadaily.com.cn
BEIJING China's housing authority increased residential land supply in the first quarter to meet rising demand, official data showed on Monday.
In the first quarter, residential land supply in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou increased by over 50 percent from the same period a year ago, according to data collected by the China Urban Land Price Dynamic Monitor.
Land supply in second-tier cities also rose remarkably while supply in third-tier cities fell.
New home prices in Beijing and Shanghai rose by over 20 percent in the past year as residents rushed to buy new homes in anticipation of higher prices in the future.
China's policymakers announced in December that "houses are for living in, not for speculating with" in its fight against rampant speculation in the property market.
HANOI Not satisfied with their own backyards, Vietnamese dairy producers are aiming at broadening their global reach, with neighboring China and its giant market topping the list of potential importers.
To Vu Ngoc Quynh, chairman of the Vietnam Dairy Association (VDA), said the more business trips he has taken to China, the more confident he becomes about the prospect of an import market.
"Chinese consumers have showed a very positive attitude towards Vietnamese dairy products," Quynh told Xinhua.
Over the past two years, local firm HanoiMilk has been participating in the annual Asia-China Expo held in Nanning city located in China's Guangxi province. HanoiMilk has been taking this as a precious opportunity to introduce their products to Chinese consumers.
"At the fair, we invited visitors to taste our products. Seeing people queuing in long lines to order our yogurt made us feel so happy," HanoiMilk's Chairman, Ha Quang Tuan, recalled.
According to Tuan, individual traders operating nearby the two countries' borders have imported a significant amount of Vietnamese dairy products into China since the Chinese people are amazingly fond of the goods.
The buyers' reaction encouraged HanoiMilk to build their first-ever plant in China, located in Pingxiang city in Guangxi province. The 2,000-square-meter plant uses advanced technology to package and preserve dairy products.
Tuan said the provincial authority is helping his firm to get approval from China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) to import dairy products from Vietnam to the country.
Like any other producer, Vietnam's largest milk firm Vinamilk considers China to be one of the most valuable potential markets in which it plans to invest further in manufacturing plants, farms and distribution channels.
To date, Vinamilk has boosted its overseas presence with production factories in Cambodia, New Zealand and the United States.
"China is a demanding market with the largest population in the world and its per capita income is increasing rapidly. Vinamilk's products have been welcome by local citizens due to their high quality, diversification and appropriate prices," Vinamilk's Director of External Affairs, Do Thanh Tuan, told Xinhua.
When asked about how Vietnamese products can compete in the Chinese market, local representatives expressed their optimism. They believe that the similarities in the tastes of both countries will help Vietnamese dairy products gain popularity among Chinese people.
"Like Vietnamese, Chinese consumers prefer yogurt in condensed form, which is different from products made in Europe or other Western countries," said Quynh.
In addition, the geographical factor will be an important advantage to Vietnamese products against other foreign brands.
"It is even closer from our factories to Chinese provinces nearby the border compared to the distance from Chinese firm's factories," Quynh said, pointing out the pros of cost and time efficiency while preserving and transporting products from Vietnam.
Speaking of the quality of the products and the confidence in the technology behind it, Tuan said, "We will compete fairly with local firms based on our high quality which meets global standards, but we'll ensure our prices are reasonable."
Across the expansive market, local brands dominate all provinces but people to some extent are becoming more trusting in products from Australia, New Zealand, Europe and South Korea, according to VDA.
"Our products have international standards like products from those countries, but are being sold at a relatively lower price. This is our competitiveness," asserted Quynh.
In the foreseeable future, the official import channel may be fully open to Vietnamese firms. The two governments have been seriously discussing about an agreement to allow imports of farm products from Vietnam to China.
"We are looking forward to the day China opens its doors, then the import procedures will be so much simpler," Quynh said.
Currently, a lack of such an agreement is causing delays and inconveniences for both importers and exporters, which also limits the size of trade deals.
"Paving the way for official imports is to serve the rights and demands of Chinese consumers and businesses who want to import and distribute made-in-Vietnam products," Tuan asserted, adding that a pilot plam could be launched to control the sanitization of imports in the first stages and test the feasibility of the barrier-easing policy.
File photo shows high-speed rail in China. [Photo/Xinhua]
While the United States remains central to innovation research, China has become the biggest spender on later-stage development, a Boston Consulting Group study released on Monday shows.
China is expected to invest up to twice as much as the US, or $658 billion (4.5 trillion yuan), in the back end of the research and development (R&D) chain by 2018, focusing on translating basic and applied research into commercial products and new manufacturing processes.
US leadership in industrial innovation "looks far less secure", despite its push in front-end R&D investment, the report concluded.
The report suggested academic research should align with the interests of manufacturing industries.
Contributions by the private sector account for 34 percent of university R&D budgets in China, while companies contribute less than 5 percent in the US.
About 38 percent of published research in China focuses on engineering, while the figure is only 11 percent in the US, the report cited as another example.
The surge in research spending comes as part of the country's decade-long efforts to upgrade its manufacturing sector.
The world's second largest economy now ranks ninth according to the number of domestically domiciled high-tech public companies. Innovation has sprawled out in diverse fields such as artificial intelligence, biotechnology, drones, e-commerce, electronic vehicles, mobile telecommunications, high-speed rail, robotics and supercomputing.
China's advance also comes as countries including Germany, Japan, and South Korea are unanimously turning to translate technological findings into new commercial products, according to the report.
PHNOM PENH - Cambodia exported 67,482 tons of milled rice to China in the first quarter of 2017, an increase of 82 percent compared to the same period last year, according to a government report on Tuesday.
China is the top buyer of Cambodian rice, followed by France, Poland, Britain and the Netherlands, said the report compiled by the Secretariat of One Window Service for Rice Export.
The Southeast Asian nation is expected to sell some 200,000 tons of its milled rice to China this year, said Agriculture Ministry undersecretary of state Hean Vanhan.
According to the report, Cambodia exported a total of 166,678 tons of milled rice to 53 countries and regions during the January-March period this year, up 3 percent over the same period last year.
The country produced over 9 million tons of paddy rice a year. With this amount, it has more than 3 million tons of milled rice left over for annual export, according to the Agriculture Ministry.
An exhibitor demonstrates Lenovo's prototype Think Mirror at an industry expo in Tokyo. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Lenovo Group Ltd said it plans to pour $1.2 billion into the research and development of artificial intelligence, the internet of things and big data over the next four yearsas the Chinese tech group scrambles to breathe new life into its PC, smartphone and other hardware businesses.
Chairman Yang Yuanqing said in an interview with Japanese news outlet Nikkei that the Beijing-headquartered company aims to find a new growth engine through heavy R&D investment and partnerships with global giants such as Google Inc and Amazon.com Inc.
The company is expected to unveil a new handset that comes with Amazon's voice recognition technology Alexa, and it now already sells a smartphone that uses Google's Tango augmented reality computing platform.
Lenovo, which controls 20 percent of the global personal computer market, has been struggling to revive its profits amid a shrinking demand for PCs and intensified competition with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd in the smartphone sector.
But as the global artificial intelligence technology made significant progress in recent years, the Chinese company's chairman said his group realized that hefty investments into AI can help it reduce its reliance on PCs and raise the contribution of smartphones and other new business to 50 percent of total sales from the current 30 percent.
Yang said Lenovo planned to spend $6 billion in the next four years for R&D across all its business areas.
"Of that amount, more than 20 percent will go toward AI, big data and IoT," Yang said.
Lenovo on Monday confirmed the report to China Daily.
The major R&D initiative comes shortly after the company recruited top AI expertise to expand its research staffing levels.
Last year, it signed up Rui Yong, then deputy managing director at Microsoft Research Asia, to become its chief technology officer. Xu Feiyu, a well-known AI expert, also joined the company's newly established AI lab in March to lead related research.
Xiang Ligang, a hardware expert and CEO of telecom industry website cctime.com, said it usually takes several years of research before AI can be leveraged enough to boost existing business.
In the first quarter of 2017, total global PC shipments grew 0.6 percent to 603 million units, marking the first increase since 2012, market research firm International Data Corp estimated.
Will The Mag Mile Crate & Barrel Be Replaced By A Massive Starbucks Roastery?
By Stephen Gossett in Food on Apr 17, 2017 9:04PM
Crate & Barrel, Michigan Ave / Flickr / Photo: Andrew E. Larsen
The flagship store for one of Chicago's most famous home-retailer brands could be on its way out, with a new sort of flagship possibly set to arrive from... Seattle's most iconic brand?
That's how it could shake out, as the Tribune reports, citing real estate sources, that Starbucks is considering setting up a massive roastery inside the Magnificent Mile location currently occupied by Crate & Barrel (646 N Michigan Ave.).
Starbucks only has one Roastery in operation at the moment, in Seattle, but others are also in the works for New York, Milan, Shanghai and Tokyo, according to the Tribune. Meanwhile, Crate's lease is set to expire in the near future.
This of course begs the questions, what the heck is a Roastery and, why does it need so much space? (The building boasts four stories, some 35,000 square feet and one dramatic rotunda.) It's basically an all-things-Starbucks mega-center. The Seattle location "combines coffee production, menu testing, and architectural whimsy in a way that can't be found anywhere else in the world," according to a clearly taken Business Insider.
Irony of ironies, the retail tea leaves pointed toward a not-dissimilar integrated future for Crate & Barrel, possibly at that current location. The company, which was founded in Chicago and remains based in Northbrook, reportedly sought to blend a food-and-drink element into its stores, which sell dinnerware and glassware in addition to furniture and other home goods. But Restoration Hardware is suing the company on grounds related to that initiative, alleging that the company poached former RH executive and now recently departed Crate CEO Doug Diemoz after RH made similar moves under his tenure.
Crate & Barrel, which launched in 1962 in Old Town under founder Gordon Segal, had a harder time recovering from the recession than some of its rivals, and a potential vacancy from the Michigan Ave. location has been the subject of speculation in roundups like this.
Haley Drage, Director of Brand Communications for Starbucks, told Chicagoist that the coffee company "doesnt comment on rumors or speculation." And Vicki Lang, Director of Public Relations and Community Affairs, told us that Crate & Barrel has no information to share at this time. So at this point, nothing is confirmed by either side. But if the transition does indeed go forward, it'll be a big one for the Mile.
The logo of Canon Inc is seen at a photographic equipment expo in Japan, Feb 23, 2017. [Photo/VCG]
Japanese manufacturer Canon is stepping up its efforts to expand into digital printing, video surveillance and medical equipment sector.
Canon China chief executive officer Hideki Ozawa said its B2B business is expected to account for 50 percent of its revenue by 2020.
"Enlarging our market share of business inkjet printers and laser printers is one of our priorities." he said.
It is the 20th year since Canon entered the Chinese market.
"The revenue from the Asian market increased most rapidly, accounting for nearly 20 percent of Canons global revenue. The Chinese market made the most contribution and the growth in the photocopier is also very obvious," Hideki said.
Canon will start utilizing more big data, cloud computing and other technologies to promote the digital and intelligent transformation of the office industry, Hideki said.
Canon China and China CITIC Bank have signed a strategic cooperation agreement in the field of finance.
The Japanese tech giant also plans to capitalize on the potential of China's "Healthy China" and "Safe City" programs by expanding its range of security monitoring and medical equipment products.
Students who commit violent acts on campus will be severely punished, according to the central government, which introduced a number of measures to ensure safety in schools at the most recent executive meeting of the State Council, China's Cabinet.
Ensuring safety in primary and middle schools and kindergartens should be a public security priority, according to a statement released after the meeting, presided over by Premier Li Keqiang.
"Campus safety concerns the healthy development of millions of students and the happiness of their families. Schools must be solidly built, like those in areas of post-earthquake reconstruction, and they should also be the most secure places when it comes to safety," Li told the meeting.
The statement said principals are responsible for campus safety, while students should be taught to value life and the rights of their classmates. It added that schools must employ the "necessary personnel" and use closed-circuit TV to keep a close watch on potential dangers and safeguard students' safety.
School buildings must comply with national safety and quality standards, while builders, designers and supervisors will hold lifelong liability for any failures, it added.
In addition to classes related to safety, schools will be required to conduct drills to alleviate the dangers posed by earthquakes, fire and stampedes, and more police officers should be deployed near schools.
Security risks on campus must be closely scrutinized, and the education and health authorities have been ordered to monitor and check sanitation, disease prevention and food safety in educational establishments for younger students.
A number of incidents of campus violence and bullying have put school safety firmly in the spotlight. The latest occurred on April 1 in Luzhou, Sichuan province, when a student surnamed Zhao killed himself by jumping from the top of a building at Taifu Middle School. Despite an official announcement to that effect, the incident aroused suspicions among members of the public that the boy had been beaten to death by five other students, who were believed to have bullied him.
The incident led to heated online debate about an investigation into the cause of death conducted by the local police and the untimely disclosure of information by the authorities.
At the State Council meeting, Li called for an effective mechanism to be established to curb bullying, especially acts of violence, by disclosure, intervention and prevention. He added that the relevant departments should respond to public concerns by disclosing the results of investigations in a timely manner.
In the Government Work Report he delivered in March last year, Li added "safety" to the chapter about education, and stressed "families, schools, the government and society should help to cultivate a secure and healthy environment in which children can grow up and make a contribution to the country".
The meeting sent a warning to "naughty children", who either bully their peers or take advantage of children who are less developed physically or come from deprived families, said Zheng Zonggen, a teacher at Wenfeng High School in Huoshan county, Anhui province.
Surveillance equipment is necessary because teachers cannot watch students 24 hours a day, he said, adding that a punishment mechanism should be established to discipline bullies and allow students to understand the consequences of beating or mistreating their peers, he added.
Xiong Bingqi, vice-president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said that in addition to the equipment outlined at the meeting, more money should be spent to help schools eliminate risks, such as bullying and unsafe food.
Bullying and campus safety require more effective implementation of the law, and violators should be subject to police action, rather than punishments handed out by their principals or teachers, he said.
Teachers and schools often conduct investigations into bullying but many perpetrators escape punishment, setting a bad example and giving the impression that violators can escape severe penalties, which further encourages bullying, he added.
Zheng said: "Lessons will be learned to reduce the likelihood of these incidents occurring. Anyone who bullies their peers will be punished in accordance with the law."
Zhang Huawei, a former division head for the top anti-corruption watchdog, is himself being investigated for suspected corruption.
The Communist Party of China Central Commission for Discipline Inspection issued a statement on its website on Monday saying that Zhang - who was a senior official at the level of vice-minister - "had seriously violated the Party's code of conduct".
According to Capitalnews, the WeChat account of Beijing Daily, Zhang is the only head of a national inspection team to be investigated.
Yang Weidong, a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Governance, said the move demonstrates the determination of the top anti-graft body to crack down on corruption, including internally.
"The move is in line with the call from the CCDI that no area is untouchable in graft investigations - the zero-tolerance stance," Yang said, adding that Zhang's case signals that there are no exceptions in the nationwide anti-graft campaign.
"More significantly, the case shows the public that anti-graft watchdogs exercise the same iron policy within their own ranks," Yang said.
Zhang took part in several rounds of inspections between 2013 and 2015, either as deputy head or head of a national-level inspection team, according to information on the CCDI website. The teams were stationed at major organizations and companies, including Renmin University of China, China Guodian Corp and the General Administration of Sport.
Wang Qishan, head of the CCDI, said in a meeting in December that 38 officials within anti-corruption bodies at the national level and more than 7,200 anti-graft officials at all levels across the country have been disciplined since late 2012.
Answering public concerns over "who watches the watchers", the CCDI has passed rules for inspectors, clarifying procedures for handling cases and disposing illegal gains.
Xinhua contributed to this story.
zhang_yi@chinadaily.com.cn
China will launch the Gaofen 5 high-resolution Earth observation satellite in September to help with environmental protection efforts, an official overseeing the program said.
Tong Xudong, a senior official at the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, who is in charge of the Gaofen program, told China Daily on Monday that the satellite will be launched from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in Shanxi province.
"The satellite will soon be assembled and start to go through tests. It will be one of the most advanced satellites of its kind and will have a life span of eight years," Tong said. "Its main tasks will be monitoring air pollutants, water quality and vegetative cover, thus improving environmental protection."
He made the remarks after a news conference in Beijing on Monday, where an industry report on China's high-resolution satellites was circulated.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection, the main user of the Gaofen 5, said the satellite is the most technologically sophisticated in the Gaofen family. It will carry six pieces of scientific equipment including an atmospheric greenhouse gas monitor and a hyper-spectral camera.
It will be the first Chinese satellite capable of performing remote observations of air pollutants and greenhouse gases.
China launched the Gaofen project in May 2010 and has listed it as one of its 16 top projects in science and technology. The country aims to have a high-resolution Earth observation network by around 2020.
The Gaofen 1 was launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in April 2013. Another five in the series have been launched since.
Currently, more than 1,800 government departments, business entities and publicly funded organizations in China use images and data generated by Gaofen satellites, Tong said.
zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn
In the past week, departments and ministries under the jurisdiction of the State Council, China's Cabinet, have responded to a number of public concerns, including a preferential tax policy, reform of the vehicle sales mechanism, smartphone safety, a national plan to make it easier for students from impoverished backgrounds to attend university and the replacement of business tax with value-added tax.
Preferential policy launched
To promote tax reduction and reduce the burden on businesses, the country's tax authorities have launched a "three-dimensional" preferential policy. Liu Baozhu, deputy director of the department of income tax at the State Administration of Taxation, said the authorities will launch comprehensive policies and regulations related to the collection of taxes and service requirements. It will also reduce the cost of payment and collection. Key issues related to the implementation of the policy will also be clarified to help people understand the new system.
Businesses with preferential tax status will also be allowed to simply notify the authorities of that status, rather than being required to obtain official approval.
New vehicle sales mechanism
The Ministry of Commerce announced that a new method of managing vehicle sales will come into force on July 1 that will promote reform of the system of authorized sales. According to ministry officials, the method will promote a new model of multiple vehicle sales to boost competition, reduce retail costs, improve sales efficiency and energize the market.
A new relationship will be established between suppliers and retailers, and protection of consumer rights and interests will be improved. The main distributors and brand dealers will no longer be required to register with the authorities, while supervision of sales and after-sales services will be improved.
Smartphone safety
The General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine recently launched inspections related to smartphone safety. Eighteen of the 40 samples inspected had potential safety issues, which resulted in the administration reminding consumers to purchase smartphones through the approved, regular channels and keep valid proof of purchase, such as an invoice. People should also improve their awareness of the protection of private information and update their phone's apps and operating systems regularly to reduce the risk of information leaks.
Preferential treatment
The Ministry of Education has confirmed that it will continue to implement a special nationwide program to make it easier for students from impoverished regions to study at key universities. The ministry said 63,000 impoverished students will be admitted to top schools this year, a rise of 10 percent from last year. The regions implementing the program include counties that face special challenges, along with national poverty relief and development counties and four regions in the south of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The ministry said the relevant universities must ensure that at least 2 percent of their undergraduates come from remote, impoverished areas or regions with large ethnic populations.
Tax reform continues
A year after replacing the business tax with value-added tax, China had reduced taxes by 680 billion yuan ($98.7 billion), according to Wang Jun, director of the State Administration of Taxation, speaking at the fourth meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Global Forum on Value-Added Tax.
After the January 2012 launch of a regional pilot program to replace business tax with value-added tax, levies were reduced by more than 1.2 trillion yuan, the largest reduction in recent years. Full implementation of the reform came into effect last year.
The administration said the financial and tax departments have launched several measures to smooth the implementation of the reform. The tax authorities have provided training for 21.3 million people, established a special phone hotline about the reform, and opened an extra 17,386 consultation windows in tax offices.
Aerial photo taken on April 1, 2017 shows Anxin county, North China's Hebei province.[Photo/Xinhua]
Since China announced plans to develop the new area Xiongan, attention has turned to the previously obscure county of Xiongxian.
Before the surprise announcement at the start of this month, Xiongxian county, 100 kilometers south of Beijing and part of the Xiongan New Area, racked up the largest online sales of any county in the country last year, according to logistics platform Cainiao.
According to Cainiao, the three most common purchases by Xiongxian residents were T-shirts, canvas shoes, and mobile phone covers and cases.
Three kilometers away from the county seat of Xiongxian, Jia Xilin, a resident of Wangheiying village, owns a 600-square-meter house and 0.2 acres of land, which makes him a potential millionaire.
But he has no intention to stop work at a logistic center of Cainiao.
"The era of internet will not change. Whenever there is Taobao and online shopping, there will be express delivery, and we have job to do."
He receives the parcels, sorts them out and loads them onto the vehicle. Thousands of parcels are handled by Jia each day, amounting to about two million a year.
By 8 am, the goods have been loaded on four courier vehicles, and are on their way to 108 villages in the county. Jia and his co-workers can then take a break.
"Every parcel in Xiongxian is delivered by our team," Jia said smilingly.
When the workers take a rest, they talk about the house prices of Xiongxian. A residential community opposite the logistics center has seen its house prices skyrocket from 3,000 yuan per square meter a year ago to 30,000 yuan per square meter today.
In addition to its booming e-commerce trade, Xiongxian also produces more than 80 percent of balloons for the country and is home to the largest manufacturer of condoms in North China.
In setting up the new Xiongan area, which spans Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin counties in Hebei province, the policymakers plan to build a new economic engine and advance the coordinated development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.
The move will shift Beijing's non-capital functions to the new area and explore a new model of optimized development in densely populated areas.
Shi Changhong. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Moving art helps people understand ancient calendar in more direct way
The 24 solar terms, a complementary calendar system invented in ancient China, has been brought to life by a creative designer in Guizhou province.
On the eve of Qingming Festival this month, Shi Changhong released his version of reproduced and packaged characters for each solar term in the form of "moving art", or Graphics Interchange Format, known as GIFs.
Since their initial release on March 29 on Zcool, a professional website for designers, the GIFs have won acclaim from the general public and rapidly engulfed social media, with millions of hits during the festival period.
"In my mind, the 24 solar terms represent a complicated social practice system that is formed through observations of the sun's annual motion, and understanding of the year's changes in seasons, climate and phenology. But this is a textbook definition. After looking at the GIFs, I can understand them in a clear and more direct way," Wang Xiaoqian said on Sina Weibo.
To maximize publicity, Shi released his work in three forms - video, animation and graphics - while background sounds add to the brilliance.
"When I watch the short video, I can feel the Chinese-style elements hidden in them. It is really cool to rejuvenate traditional Chinese culture in such a unique way," Xiao Feifei said on WeChat.
Shi told China Daily: "It is comforting for me to see that so many people like my latest work.
"The 24 solar items is a deeply rooted concept that encapsulates the essence of Chinese wisdom. However, only a small number of people know all the names or the correct order of those terms. My intention is to increase Chinese people's desire to learn more about our traditional culture."
Last year, the 24 solar terms were added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage List, and many people have asked Shi if it was the UNESCO listing that inspired him to design the GIFs.
"Actually, the 24 solar terms work is only a part of my whole design program Charm China, which I started over a year ago," Shi said.
"I grew up in a small village. When I was a child, I noticed that my family would do farm work in accordance with the solar terms, which really means a lot to Chinese in rural areas. Therefore, designing the GIFs allowed me to recall happy childhood memories."
Born in Liping county's Qiandong village, Shi is a member of the Dong ethnic group. When he was a child, everything around him, from hats and shoes to embroidery and daily necessities, was embedded with a strong ethnic influence. Shi developed an interest in designing pictures and was responsible for updating the school notice board during high school.
In 2004, he was admitted to Guizhou Normal University and majored in graphic design, laying the foundations for his future career. After graduation, Shi joined Guizhou Sunshine Brand Design and became a professional designer.
In 2011, he won a competition by creating two artistic Chinese characters for "Guilin", the name of a popular city for tourists in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region. His initial success prompted him to produce many more Chinese regional logos.
He first gained public attention in September, when he released his full set of Chinese regions to celebrate the National Day holiday. Shi's internet fame has helped him to gain business opportunities.
He said that with investment from other business partners, he would have more control over his work, adding that the 12 zodiac signs and China's 56 ethnic groups are potential projects. "But I will not be a sellout and forget my principles," he said.
Online celebrities have become increasingly common in China, with many people seeking fame in this manner, but Shi has his own priorities. "I would like to be known as a consistent designer rather than an online celebrity. My work does the talking and this is how I intend things to remain," he added.
zhangxingjian@chinadaily.com.cn
China's largest and heaviest spacecraft, the Tianzhou 1, which also is its first cargo spaceship, was moved into place atop the new-generation Long March 7 rocket on Monday at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan province in preparation for its mission.
The launch, scheduled to be carried out between Thursday and Monday, is a crucial development for the nation's upcoming manned space station, scientists said.
It also marks the second flight of the Long March 7, which made its maiden launch in June, according to the China Manned Space Agency.
Starting at 7:30 am, it took about two and a half hours to move the rocket and Tianzhou 1 to the launch site. (Tianzhou means "heavenly vessel" in Chinese.) Engineers will conduct final tests and fuel up the rocket with liquid oxygen and kerosene, the agency said.
Tianzhou 1 was transported by sea to the Wenchang center from Tianjin, where it was built, in mid-February. After its launch, the spacecraft will dock with the Tiangong II ("heavenly palace") space lab, which has been in orbit since September.
The cargo ship was developed by the China Academy of Space Technology and is 10.6 meters long and has a diameter of 3.35 meters. Its maximum takeoff weight is 13.5 metric tons, enabling it to carry up to 6.5 tons of supplies.
It is larger and heavier than Tiangong II, which has a length of 10.4 meters, a diameter of 3.35 meters and a weight of 8.6 tons, according to the academy.
The main goals of the Tianzhou 1 mission are to supply fuel to Tiangong II and test in-orbit refueling technologies, the manned space agency said. In addition, the cargo ship will ferry more than 10 pieces of scientific equipment.
In the future, the Tianzhou series will be tasked with transporting supplies of fuel and other necessities to China's manned space station, which will start construction next year and is expected to enter service by about 2022.
The station will consist of three parts - a core module attached to two space labs, each weighing about 20 tons - and will operate for at least 10 years, the agency said.
A cargo transportation system is key to operating a space station because without it, the station would run out of power and basic necessities and will fall back to the Earth much earlier than the designed time, Chinese scientists involved in the project said.
Pang Zhihao, a researcher of human space activity at the China Academy of Space Technology, said a cargo spacecraft acts like a courier, helping keep the space station in the heavens for a decade or longer, so the courier's debut is important.
"The mission will verify whether the cargo spacecraft was well designed and produced and whether it can work well with other spacecraft," he said. "The most difficult part of this mission will be the refueling process as it will be very sophisticated and will involve some risk."
The world's first cargo spacecraft, Progress 7K-TG, was developed and launched by the former Soviet Union in 1978. Currently, four types are in service, including the United States' SpaceX Dragon and the Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle. zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn
State Councilor Yang Jiechi (second from right) and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh (second from left) pose on Monday in Beijing at the steering committee on cooperation meeting.Wang Zhuangfei / China Daily
Nations will manage differences, plan for official visits by leaders
China and Vietnam on Monday vowed to push forward with the Belt and Road Initiative and maintain stability at sea.
State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh spoke during the 10th meeting of the China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Cooperation, which they led jointly. Minh is on a China visit from Sunday through Tuesday.
Yang asked both nations to take efforts to ensure successful visits of their leaders to each other's countries this year.
In January, Nguyen Phu Trong, general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, paid a four-day official visit to China. The two sides had "a candid exchange of views" on maritime issues, according to a communique.
Yang said on Monday that Beijing and Hanoi should raise the quality and level of cooperation and forge a solid basis of public opinion for friendship.
The two leaders agreed to plan this year's work, with "deepening high-level interaction" as the main focus.
They vowed to jointly push forward development of the Belt and Road Initiative, the two economic corridors linking China and Vietnam and the Beibu Bay economic zone, as well as cooperation in fields including investment, capacity, infrastructure and cross-border economic cooperation zones.
They also agreed to "properly manage and control differences and maintain maritime peace and stability", according to a news release issued after the meeting.
Minh said his country attaches great importance to comprehensive and strategic cooperation with China.
The China-Vietnam Steering Committee on Cooperation was established in 2006. Its last meeting was in Hanoi in June.
Song Yinghui, an expert on Southeast Asia studies with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said relations between Beijing and Hanoi have improved since last year.
"Now, against the background of a gloomy global economy, China and Vietnam, as two fast-growing economies, have strong appeals for bilateral cooperation," she said.
In the steel industry, for example, Vietnam needs China's equipment and technique, Song said.
According to official Vietnamese figures, China has become the country's largest exporter, with imports from China reaching $11.9 billion in the first quarter this year, an increase of 12.3 percent from a year earlier.
On April 19 last year, President Xi Jinping called for informatization development and breakthroughs in core internet technology in China, while presiding over a symposium on the topic. One year later, we take a look at changes that have happened and how ordinary people have benefitted.
Two women look at a mobile photo in Jilin city, Northeast China's Jilin province, as the whole city rolls out access to optical fiber network on March 31, 2016. [Photo/VCG]
More than 61 million rural households had access to optical fiber network by the end of November in 2016, rising by 90 percent compared to that at the end of 2015. The central government and private sector companies invested over 30 billion yuan ($6.88 billion) to upgrade and build optical fiber network in villages in 2016. More than 90 percent of villages are expected to have access to optical fiber network by the second half of 2017.
There's No Such Thing As 'Routine' ICE Check-Ins For Fearful Immigrants In Chicago
By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 18, 2017 8:00PM
Photo: Tyler LaRiviere
Thousands of miles away and months removed, the story of Guadalupe Garcia de Rayos, and others like her's, still linger heavily in cities across America. Garcia de Rayos is the formerly Arizona-based mother of two who was deported in February after what was once a standard check-in with immigration officials. In cities like New York and Baltimore, fear of ICE check-inswhich once felt customary for non-violent undocumented immigrantsare now causing waves of apprehension. According to immigration lawyers and advocates, that worry is burrowing in Chicago, also.
Immigration-related arrests in the U.S. have increased under President Donald Trump's watch, although they are still lower than figures at this time from 2014, during the Obama era, according to ABC News. Locally, there isn't evidence of increased enforcement in Chicago. But after Trump's hardline anti-immigration rhetoric and pledge to increase the categories of criminality under which deportations are conducted, immigration lawyers say they've noticed a pattern of fear among clients.
"I would tell you that [fear of check-ins] is much more common these days," Drew Elesh, a local immigration lawyer," told Chicagoist.
Elesh said:
"People were not that fearful a few years ago of an ICE check-in, but there are stories that circulate in the the national media of some people who are getting detained after a check-inso word gets out, word spreads. People are more fearful in this environment. They're also afraid of reporting crimes, which they were not as fearful of a few years ago Because they're afraid a run-in with police is going to get them detained. The community is fearful, more than in the past."
But high-profile national stories to which Elesh alludes aren't alone in sparking worry here. In Chicago, the story of Francisco Lina remains forefront in minds. The 50-year-old mother of six had reported for years without incident but in March, a gut-punch ruling changed that course: "Immigration officers told Lino to return July 11, suitcases packed and plane ticket in hand. In other words, her deportation date is set," CNN reports.
But there are countless more tales of sustained fear among immigrant communities related to ICE check-ins that don't reach the headlines.
Mike Jarecki, the Chicago Vice Chair of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, said he luckily hadn't seen firsthand his clients missing ICE check-ins due to deportation fears, but he told Chicagoist that "absolutely, fear of ratcheting up enforcement has definitely trickled down to people who have to do routine check-ins" in Chicago.
"They're very concerned that what used to be routine is now going to turn into a detention or arrest," Jarecki told Chicagoist. "They're complying with the law, but now the rules have changed, and they haven't necessarily been informed and their life is turned upside down."
Jarecki said he was on standby for an East Coast client, a mother and recent arrival, who feared a meeting would lead to deportation. But "she was lucky, I think," and was spared. Like all of us, he said he and his colleagues are having to just wait and see who enforcement agents are in fact prioritizing when, according to some Homeland Security statements, "seemingly everyone's a priority," as Jarecki puts it.
Also, according to an excellent recent Tribune examination of the issue, lawyers say the tone of officials who conduct check-ins has changed, also, having grown curt and pointedly direct.
"You show up. And then they're telling you, 'We're detaining you today,' or 'We're giving you a new report date, but expect to (be deported),'" Kalman Resnick, a veteran immigration attorney, told the paper.
Jarecki also said some of his clients who are here legally, as permanent residents, have voiced considerable fear about visiting government agencies to which they are freely entitled due to the current climate. He agreed that there has been a change in tone from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office that has had an effect on clients.
"These are the same officers that were working before... But after Jan. 20, it seems that we're in a different environment, and these individuals have taken on the call to enforcement almost in a personal way," he said. "The tensions in how individual clients are spoken to and dealt withand also attorneys, for that matterhave escalated."
Despite potential hostility and persistent fears, immigration lawyers stress that missing a scheduled check-in will only snowball more trouble. Seeking legal counsel and appearing for the ICE meetings remain the best option, attorneys saideven as the political climate makes that a grueling ordeal for many.
People at a social insurance service hall in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, on Monday. [Photo/Chinanews.com]
A social insurance service agency in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, has changed its office design in response to a public complaint about inconvenient service windows.
The windows that separated service staff and clients have now been removed.
In images posted on Sina Weibo earlier this month, people can be seen stooping or squatting at the service windows while trying to talk to staff members on the other side.
"The service windows are neither high nor low, making it uncomfortable whether to stand or to squat," a web user said.
The Party chief of the Zhengzhou social security bureau told thepaper.cn last week that chairs were placed in front of the service windows, but were somehow moved away.
The pictures reminded people of scenarios that appeared in a hit drama, In the Name of the People, about the fight against corrupt officials. In the drama, a service hall of the bureau of letters and calls - an agency that deals with petitions from individuals - in the fictional city of Handong was in spotlight for ill-designed service windows.
An emotional reunion between Wu Jiayu and her long, lost brother Wu Jiayan on CCTV program Waiting for Me broadcast on April 16, 2017. [Photo from web]
A woman in Central China's Hubei province has been reunited with her younger brother, 27 years after he was taken at a railway station and trafficked.
The siblings were reunited on CCTV program Waiting for Me on Sunday ending years of searching which even included getting a DNA test using a sample from their deceased parents.
Current technology is not able to identify relatives using only their own DNA sample. It's the first time in China that DNA taken from the grave has successfully helped connect family members who have lost contact.
In the television program, based on seeking long lost relatives or friends, 31-year-old sister Wu Jiayu said in tears: "My brother, I finally found you. I will take you to the grave of our parents, telling them that you are back. Now they can rest in peace without any regrets."
Wu went missing in the summer of 1990 at Wuchang Railway Station when he was just 2 years old. Wu's father had been planning to take the two children to visit their mother who worked in North China's Shanxi province.
The parents quit their job and left their daughter with her grandparents to hit the road and search for their son.
They traveled many places and wrote of their heartbreak.
"My dear son Yanyan, I have dreamt about you all the time. Where are you indeed? My dear Yanyan, please remember mom's face. Mom is determined to find you," Wu Jiayu read from one of her mother's diaries on the show.
They tried to find their trafficked son for two years, but when their search efforts failed, the couple's grief overwhelmed them and they commit suicide.
Though Wu Jiayu lost her parents at the age of 6, she knows well her parents' unfulfilled wishes. She has kept her parents' diaries and continued to look for her brother.
"Though parents left us forever, our home won't vanish with them," she said.
In 2015, she uploaded her DNA information into the public security official website for locating trafficked or missing children.
Meanwhile, her brother Wu Jiayan, who had been renamed Lin Yihui after being trafficked to East China's Fujian province, was suspicious about the differences in appearance between him and his sisters in the new family. At almost the same time as Wu Jiayu, he added his DNA profile to the site.
Due to the technology barrier, Wu Jiayu faced great ethical pressure as she decided whether to retreive DNA from their parents buried long ago.
With the help of local police, the deceased couple were identified as the birth parents of Lin, the long-disconnected son of the Wu family.
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong and Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek attend the publication ceremony of the Turkish-language version of President Xi Jinping's book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China in the Turkish capital Ankara on April 17, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]
The publication ceremony of the Turkish-language version of President Xi Jinping's book Xi Jinping: The Governance of China was held in the Turkish capital Ankara on Monday and was attended by Vice-Premier Liu Yandong and Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek.
Liu is paying official visits to Turkey, Jordan, Iran and South Africa from Monday to April 27.
The book was released as bilateral trade reached $19.5 billion last year, and the two countries have maintained frequent high-level exchanges.
The vice-premier said on Monday that Xi has thought about, discussed and proposed many new ideas and strategies to respond to major issues regarding the development of the Communist Party of China and the country.
The publishing of the Turkish version of the book gives Turkish readers access to the Chinese leader's ideas on governance, the dreams and pursuits of the Chinese nation as well as the goals and tasks of China's reform and development, Liu said.
The release will boost strengthening exchanges between China and Turkey regarding governance, and will exert lasting and profound influence on deepening mutual understanding of the two peoples and cementing the China-Turkey strategic cooperative partnership, Liu added.
Simsek said China's reform and opening up has recorded great achievements, and its significance for the world's economy and politics has been increasing.
The book offers a window for Turkish people to better understand China's political vision, its view and path on development, and it effectively interprets and showcases the achievement and experience of China's progress in recent years, Simsek said.
He said Turkey is willing to boost exchanges with China on sharing experience of governance as well as participating in the building of the Belt and Road - namely the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road - and this will bring new opportunities for bilateral ties.
Prior to the debut of the Turkish version, the Cambodian, Thai and Urdu language versions of the book were released respectively in Cambodia, Thailand and Pakistan earlier this month.
The book contains 79 speeches, talks, interviews, notes and letters of the Chinese leader between November 2012 and June 2014.
More than 6.2 million copies have been distributed around the world.
TIANJIN -- Pan Yiyang, former vice chairman of the government of North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region, was sentenced to 20 years in prison by a court in Tianjin on Tuesday for taking and offering bribes.
Pan was also fined 4 million yuan (around $580,000), and his illicit gains shall be turned over to the state treasury, said the First Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin in a statement.
Pan was found to have accepted bribes worth 86 million yuan, helping others with business operations and obtaining mining licenses, while holding a series of offices in Jiangxi and Inner Mongolia between 1999 and 2014.
The court found that Pan had offered bribes of 7.6 million yuan to Ling Jihua, then director of the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, from 2000 to 2013.
The court said Pan had been given relatively lenient treatment in return for cooperating with investigators, handing over the proceeds of his corruption and exposing others' crimes.
SHIJIAZHUANG -- Chang Xiaobing, former chairman of China Telecom, went on trial for accepting bribes on Tuesday.
Prosecutors accused Chang of accepting money and valuables worth more than 3.76 million yuan ($550,000) between 1998 and 2014 when he served as a telecom official and chairman of China Unicom.
Chang took advantage of his positions during the period to seek benefits for others in terms of contracting projects and purchases of equipment, according to prosecutors.
China Unicom and China Telecom are two of China's top three telecom service providers.
The case was tried at the Intermediate People's Court of Baoding City in North China's Hebei province.
Chang confessed to his crimes during the trial, according to the court. The verdict will be announced at another date.
The CPC discipline inspection agency announced in July that Chang had been expelled from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and dismissed from public office for a catalog of offenses ranging from accepting bribes to ignoring frugality rules.
BEIJING -- The State Council, China's cabinet, has approved a document which highlighted the key tasks in deepening economic system reform in 2017.
The document was mapped out by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's economic planning agency.
Supply-side reform should be the key task in 2017, and the market should play a bigger role in economic activity, the document said.
The government should streamline administrative procedures and cut red tape to improve efficiency. State-owned enterprise should deepen mixed ownership reform.
Intellectual property rights should be better protected to nurture entrepreneurship. Fiscal reform such as budget and value-added tax reforms should be advanced.
The document also outlined the importance of reform in finance, agriculture, innovation and urbanization.
GUIYANG -- Standing under the world's largest radio telescope, Yang Tianjue can still make out the site of his old house, which was removed 10 years ago to make way for the project.
"There was once a water cellar and I planted an osmanthus tree beside it," said Yang, 42, pointing somewhere near the feed cabin of the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST), which was put into use in September 2016.
The telescope is located at the Dawodang depression, a natural karst basin under Kedu Town of Pingtang county in Guizhou province. Dawodang was once inhabited by 12 families who were relocated after the site was chosen for the telescope over a decade ago.
On April 13, 12 former residents paid a visit to Dawodang at the invitation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the provincial government of Guizhou.
"The feed cabin collects all the information gathered by the telescope, helping people better explore the mysterious universe," explained Peng Bo of the National Astronomical Observatories and a leader of the FAST project.
Peng told Xinhua that Dawodang was chosen out of more than 900 depressions, and the decision was made after the National Astronomical Observatories spent 10 years investigating and analyzing.
"More than 10 years ago, several scientists came to Dawodang and we heard that a big cauldron would be built here, and we would be able to see outer space through it," Yang said.
Yang was so thrilled at the news that he lost sleep for several nights.
"I volunteered to show the scientists around as they carried out their survey," he said.
He remembered that the survey lasted for three years. The villagers had doubts that the project would actually come to be until one day some engineers brought five drilling machines to Dawodang.
The beginning of construction meant that the local farmers had to leave their hometown.
"Of course it was hard to say goodbye to the place we had lived for seven or eight generations," Yang said.
However, the relocation allowed them to lead better lives. Yang said Dawodang was once a remote and underdeveloped place with no road connecting it to the outside world.
There were only about 20 mu (1.3 hectares) of paddy fields, which couldn't feed everyone. They were forced to cultivate the barren mountains nearby.
Some farmers raised pigs, but it was hard to get the pigs out of the mountains to sell them since there was no adequate transportation, he said.
When they moved out of Dawodang, each of the 12 households was given a three-story house in Kedu Town and a subsidy ranging from 520,000 yuan ($75,486) to 3 million yuan, depending on how much land they previously held.
Yang opened a store selling tires, and the store is now the largest of its kind in the town with an annual revenue of some 300,000 yuan.
According to the county government, besides the 12 households in Dawodang, more than 8,000 residents within five kilometers of the telescope should also be relocated. Currently, more than 2,300 people within a radius of three kilometers have already moved out.
Liu Pinyang, an official of Jinke Village of Kedu Town, said that a decade ago, more than half of the villagers were living in poverty, but now more than 90 percent of them are no longer poor since relocation.
The villagers will also benefit from the development of tourism, he said.
Earlier this year, Guizhou Province announced that 5 billion yuan will be spent on building a tourist resort there. A dozen projects including a learning center on radio astronomy, a geological park and a science fiction-themed hotel will be built.
Huang Zhangqing, 54, was formerly a teacher of a primary school in the county. Both his home and the school were relocated. Huang is preparing for the opening of a family inn, hoping to cash in on the tourism boom.
"The telescope can open up the eyes of human beings, and moving out of the mountains has opened up the eyes of locals," Yang Tianjue said.
An exhibition at the Palace Museum in Beijing highlights traditional crafts, including paintbrushes, ink stones and stone carvings from the Huizhou area in Anhui province. [Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily]
The Huizhou area has contributed handsomely to Chinese culture throughout Chinese history. Huizhou culture flourished in the southern Anhui region and influenced a wide range of fields - philosophy, literature, medicine, architecture, fine art, handicrafts and folk customs.
An exhibition jointly organized by the Palace Museum in Beijing, the Anhui provincial department of culture and the Huangshan city government is highlighting traditional crafts from the area.
The event, which began on April 11, will run until the end of May.
The traditional crafts from the region include xuan rice paper and Huizhou ink sticks, which used to be offered to royal families as tribute. Many of these items are still made today.
At the exhibition, more than 80 items like ink stones, ink sticks, paintbrushes, lacquer ware, bamboo carvings and stone carvings are on display.
Online writer Tangjiasanshao (Zhang Wei). [Photo/Xinhua]
Online writer Tangjiasanshao, or Zhang Wei, took the crown again on the latest income ranking list of Chinese online writers.
Receiving 122 million yuan ($18 million) in royalties, the writer comes in at first place for the fourth time.
Born in 1981, Zhang once worked for a small IT company after graduating from Hebei University. He got fired by the slumping company in 2003.
In 2004, Zhang started writing his first online novel, Guang Zhi Zi, or Son of Light. In 2012, the young writer was crowned on the royalties ranking list for the first time.
Many web writers, such as Tiancantudou (Li Hu) and Wochixihongshi also rose to fame because of their work and enviable royalties.
A series of popular TV series, animations and games have been adapted from their writings, including Nirvana in Fire and The Journey of Flower.
However, not every online writer is as lucky as them. Most online writers work 10 hours a day according to a report from Yangtze Evening. And they must always be working hard to create intriguing stories.
Angeloscar from Nanjing began to write for the web as a part-time job in 2006. And he resigned from his stable job to write full time from 2015.
"Many people believe online writers are messy and sloppy, and some even think we wear costumes when writing stories about ancient people. We are not. At least I am not," Angeloscar said.
As a father, the writer has a regular life. And he also spends at least 10 hours on writing each day.
"It's easy to become an online writer, but not that easy to become famous. I suggest people to start part-time writing first," he said.
And only especially skilled writers could write for large internet literature websites, such as Qidian.com.
Yang Chen, chief editor of Qidian.com, said there are tens of thousands of writers creating web stories on Qidian.com.
"There are more female online writers now and some are even teenagers," Yang said.
Martial arts fantasy web fiction is the most popular literature genre online. And many foreigners are also faithful readers.
Wuxiaworld.com, a website sharing English versions of Chinese kung fu and fantasy online novels, is pretty popular in the US.
According to data from Alexa in December 2016, the website ranked 1,525 in the world and 986 in the US. It had more than three million daily page views and 241,211 daily unique visitors.
Julian Opie is showing his creations in Shanghai. [Photo provided to China Daily]
British artist Julian Opie is holding his first major solo show in China, with more than 50 works displayed at the Fosun Foundation in Shanghai's Bund area, overlooking the Huangpu River.
From life-size vinyl sculptures and LED monoliths of figures in motion to hand-painted portraits that bear influences of ancient Egyptian reliefs, Roman busts, pop art and manga, the exhibition shows his interests at different stages of his career.
"If you see this show, I think you see what I am doing at that moment. There is not much missing from here," says Opie.
The 59-year-old artist lives in London.
David Tung, Asia head of the Lisson Gallery, which is representing the artist in the Asia-Pacific region, said at the opening of the show that Opie rose to prominence in Britain in the 1980s.
In the past decades, he has created metal sculptures, minimalistic portraits and animated figures, presenting them on walls, postal stamps and T-shirts. He also has an acclaimed compact-disc cover for the British pop band Blur.
Opie's first solo exhibition in China is part of a project celebrating the gallery's 50th anniversary, Tung says.
Trump's Order To Review H-1B Visas Could Spur Opposite Effect, If It Has One At All
By Stephen Gossett in News on Apr 18, 2017 4:26PM
Getty Images / Pool
President Donald Trump is set to officially take aim at the H-1B guest worker visa program on Tuesdayeven as the move may immediately be more about perception than legislative reality.The president is expected to sign an executive order that will review the visa program, which allows 85,000 high-skilled workers into the country annually (many for jobs in the tech industry). Trump in the past has vowed to dismantle the program, saying it allows companies to replace American jobs with low-wage foreign workers, while the tech sector says its a vital engine of the industry.
Trump is expected to sign the order, dubbed Buy American, Hire American, in Wisconsin, at Snap-On Tools in Kenosha.
The number of H-1B applicants has actually been on the decline this year, as Trumps rhetoric appears to have played a part in reversing what had been a four-year upward climb. Even with much attention paid over the supposedly diminished role of strategist Stephen Bannon, the order is a clear continuation of the economic-nationalism line that he and White House senior advisor Stephen Millernever fan of the H-1b programclamor for.
Slowing these visas has been a goal of Stephen Miller for some time, long predating Trump https://t.co/ifiGX3wPC7 Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) April 18, 2017
The administration's take is that an eventual overhaul would make employers prove that the most highly skilled workers are getting such visas, thereby dissuading industries from seeking what the White House characterizes as cheap labor. But the net effect would drive companies overseas, according to Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation.
The effect would end up being exactly the opposite of what Trump wants, Atkinson told the New York Times. Companies would go offshore, like Microsoft did with Vancouver, Canada, to seek talent."
A the same time, it should be emphasized that, like some of Trump's early orders, the order appears to have no immediate teeth and, as Wired points out, could be more about achieving anti-immigration optics while keeping markets placated.
"One should not mistake PR for policy. The media just follows along and says, Oh, the president is issuing another executive order. Hes changing the world, but hes not," Bruce Morrison, an IT lobbyist, told Wired.
Here is the long game that White House reportedly has in mind, according to the Washington Post:
"The [administration] officials said reform could first come through administrative changes, such as raising the visa application fees, adjusting the wage scale to more accurately reflect prevailing salaries in the tech industry, and more vigorously enforcing violations. It could also change the lottery system to give foreigners with U.S. masters degrees a leg up."
(There is indeed a serious conversation to be had about the lottery, especially in cases such as this in which training leads to a sort of piggybacked outsourcing, but the kind of nuanced, departmental reform study that would probably be more appropriate just isn't as splashy.)
Meanwhile, the irony of a tech-targeted order (whether toothsome or toothless) coming from a president who relies on foreign workers to in part staff his hotel operations was not lost on the commentariat.
Joseph Meloy works on a hieroglyphic-like art he calls "confetti motif" on large windows on 4 World Trade Center. [Photo/Agencies]
NEW YORK - On one of the highest floors of a Lower Manhattan office tower, New York street artists have spent the past year spray-painting and splashing their graffiti, murals and other wild creations across pristine walls, windows, floors and ceilings.
But no, it isn't vandalism.
Developer Larry Silverstein allowed the 50 artists to turn 3,200 square meters of office space that normally would rent for about a quarter of a million dollars a month into their own sprawling canvas. Multicolored graffiti and other works by sculptors and painters explode with images of fantasy and reality, tragedy and comedy.
At 86, Silverstein is still a force in the rebirth of the World Trade Center site devastated by the Sept 11 attacks that killed more than 2,600 people in New York.
"Here I am, an old fogy, but I wanted to do something exciting and different, and to provide a sense of beauty, a sense of peace, in an otherwise difficult world," he says.
His 72-floor tower 4 World Trade Center was the first to rise on the 6.5-hectare site a dozen years after the attacks. Now, the unoccupied 69th floor is covered in colors, squiggles, lyrics, faces and sculpted forms. The floor-to-ceiling windows offer stunning views of the 555-meter One World Trade Center, the Hudson River and the memorial reflection pools where the twin towers once stood.
The new tower's top 11 floors, including the art-filled space, have been leased by Spotify, the Stockholm-based music-streaming company that is moving into other floors but hasn't yet decided how to incorporate the artworks into its corporate style.
"It is our intention to keep as much of the art as possible," says Spotify spokesman Graham James.
The free-standing works are the property of the artists who created them, at no charge.
A 9/11 tribute called In Bloom by David Uda is a circle on the floor painted with 2,606 flowers in memory of the dead.
Sean Sullivan has a personal connection to the site; his father was a detective with the city police bomb squad who lost his best friend on 9/11 and was himself hurt. His shield number is highlighted in Sullivan's mural, Beautiful Cleanup.
Sullivan says project participants are getting a big payoff.
"All the promotion and marketing is worth gold to us, plus we need a place to paint; that's payment enough."
Agence France-Presse
Archaeologist Xing Fulai (left) with craft brewers Kristian Li, Laszlo Raphael and Alex Acker. [Photo by Aaron Berkovich/For China Daily]
The recent discovery of a 5,000-year-old 'beer-making tool kit' in Shaanxi province inspires craft brewers in China to replicate the historic recipe, Mike Peters reports from Xi'an and Beijing.
It looks like a conventional kitchen. There are big square pans of mountain yams, ready for a 70-minute roasting. Thirty kilos of broomcorn millet are in line for half an hour of steaming. A food processor growls like a chainsaw as it chops up Job's tears, the pearly dried kernels also known as coixseed.
Anybody's grandma would wonder what on Earth we're cooking. The plan here at Beijing's popular craft brewery Jing-A is to re-create what a recently published archaeology study suggests is a 5,000-year-old beer recipe used in China's Central Plain.
"It's definitely one of the most exciting beers we've ever made," says brewery cofounder Alex Acker. He and his business partner, Kristian Li, are toting roaster pans of beer-to-be after making a quick trip to Shaanxi to collect some key ingredients, meet some of the Chinese researchers, and see "the ancient stuff" that inspired the project.
[Photo provided to China Daily]
Designer Wang Xin is showing his works in Beijing as part of his homecoming. Deng Zhangyu reports.
Designer Wang Xin's works are full of creativity: A spider on a wall becomes an exquisite watch; a rocket ready for launch is actually a pen; and a Star Wars spaceship is a music box.
The 32-year-old Chinese once worked for such Swiss luxury brands as Piaget and MB&F, and returned to China in 2015 to continue his career as an independent designer. His newly produced works and sketches are now on display at an art space called Tru-M in Beijing's Sanlitun area.
At the show, Wang is talkative while introducing his designs. Otherwise, he remains quiet.
A set of porcelain plates hanging on the wall feature various geometric patterns.
A sculpted porcelain inkstand is made like a vivid miniature of Chinese landscape paintings, with mountains and rivers.
"I don't design for the sake of designing. It is more like a magician's work - creating something that expresses my own ideas," says Wang.
A fisherman shows a Spanish mackerel during the Mackerel Festival in Qingdao, Shandong province, April 17, 2017. [Photo by Wang Yonghong/chinadaily.com.cn]
Qingdao, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province, is rich in seafood, such as Spanish mackerel. Every April, crowds of mackerel swim to the fishing grounds in Qingdao's Laoshan district, and local fishermen enjoy the catch.
However, mackerel have a special and deeper significance for locals, besides being April's must-eat table delicacy. Legend has it that there was an orphan boy named Little Wu, who was later adopted by a kindhearted old couple. The couple was hardworking and righteous, and Little Wu grew up and also became an honest and benevolent man, so the old couple let their daughter marry him.
To repay the couple's kindness, Little Wu worked hard every day. One day his father-in-law was suddenly struck ill, and wanted to have fish before dying. However, a consistent strong wind prevented the launch of all fishing boats. The father-in-law's health became worse and worse, but Little Wu risked his life and went fishing.
When Little Wu finally came back home with a big, fresh mackerel, the father-in-law had passed away. Little Wu and his wife were sad and cried. They cooked the fish and sacrificed it at the father's shrine. Later, the young couple worshipped at their father's tomb with fresh mackerel every spring.
Dancers perform during the Mackerel Festival in Qingdao, Shandong province, April 17, 2017. [Photo by Wang Yonghong/chinadaily.com.cn]
For hundreds of years since then, it's become a local tradition for married men to present mackerel to parents-in-law to show their benevolence.
In the 1980s Laoshan district government even set a day every April to celebrate the Mackerel Festival. The festival is aimed at raising more social awareness of caring for the elderly. The festival has been listed as a district-level intangible cultural heritage. This year the festival started Monday and runs till May 1.
Spanish mackerel are distributed in the Western Pacific and spread to China's shores via the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. At the Shazikou fishing port in Laoshan, mackerel is more highly prized than other fish due to its delicate and dense meat, caused by the fish's habitat in cooler waters.
Visitors view the cherry blossoms at night in Tongji University in Shanghai on April 4, 2017.[Photo/Xinhua]
Editor's note: Many Chinese people believe admiring cherry blossom is unpatriotic because it is closely associated with Japanese militarism. Two experts share their views on the subject with China Daily's Wu Zheyu:
Symbol of the Bushido spirit
Cherry blossom (sakura in Japanese) has a close connection with Japanese militarism. Two kinds of flowers can be called Japan's "national flowers": chrysanthemum, which usually symbolizes the elite status of the Japanese imperial household, and cherry blossom, which the Japanese people admire and are proud of.
Sakura's flowering season is very short; as soon as it reaches the most glorious period of its life, it starts to wither away. This is in accordance with an important traditional Japanese aesthetics or doctrine called "substance sadness"being overcome by a sense of sadness over the short span of human life.
This doctrine, or ideology, is a highly valuable part of Bushido, the traditional code of samurai in Japan in the medieval and early modern periods that stresses self-discipline, simple living, loyalty to the emperor, and values honor over life. The samurais were trained to die, just like sakura, even in the most glorious period of their life.
In the last few years of Tokugawa Shogunate (the last feudal Japanese military government between 1603 and 1868), the authorities launched a propaganda campaign to shape citizens' consciousness amid growing domestic strife and foreign aggression. The authorities promoted sakura as a representative of Yamato-damashii (spiritual and cultural values and characteristics of the Japanese people) to propagate nationalism. They painted a picture of the Japanese people as "brave and daring with an indomitable spirit" to further the cause of Japanese military doctrines.
During World War II, many secret service teams sent by Japan to attack Pearl Harbor were named after sakura. It was only after the war and subsequent US occupation that sakura gradually lost its political and nationalist symbolism in Japan.
Tang Yongliang, deputy director of the Institute of Japanese Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Narrow-minded patriotism bad
The origin of cherry blossom, many biologists have said, is the northern side of the Himalayas in China. Japanese people carried the seeds of the cherry blossom tree from China during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and then carefully nurtured it to such an extent that it became the national flower of Japan.
Therefore, sakura has a long history in Japanese culture and is valued by the Japanese people, while militarism has a relatively short history. It was the imperial Japanese government that tried to establish a connection between sakura and militarism, which had limited influence on the Japanese people. In today's Japan, however, most of the people are well-educated and have the ability to differentiate good from bad, and thus reject the connection.
According to Jack Goody's The Culture of Flowers, flowers are usually conceptualized in different ways as times and situations change. In contemporary society, the people's admiration for sakura would never be inspired by the militarism. Narrow-minded patriots connect sakura and militarism and to some degree help militarists to promote this association. And narrow-minded patriotism usually leads to crude judgments. It also creates inexact logical connections between concepts without the backing of solid facts, which in any circumstances should be avoided.
There is nothing wrong with people admiring cherry blossom. As for us anthropologists, cultural globalization is even more important than economic integration.
Cultural communication naturally transcends borders of nations. The lesson we can learn from this is that interactions between peoples of different countries can help them better understand and admire each others' cultures. They can also help strengthen their inherent cultural consciousness. The development of human being based on cultural confidence, respect, inclusiveness and diversity is more important.
Actually, culture can be turned into "hard power" and help China to play a bigger role in maintaining global peace and building a community of shared destiny.
Zhang Xiaojun, a professor in the Department of Sociology, Tsinghua University
China-EU relations are expected to get a boost when Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, holds the annual political and strategic dialogue with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Wednesday. Brussels has said the meeting will pave the way for the bilateral summit, the date for which will be announced soon.
Both China and the EU know full well how fast the already complex situation in the world has been evolving in recent times. Yang and Mogherini are expected to share their views on global development, too. Mogherini, who will visit India and Russia soon, is waiting for Yang to update her about the details of the meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump.
The United States' European allies are worried about Trump's attitude and decisions. In a recent interview with The Financial Times, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said that during a conversation on the telephone, Trump mistook him to be European Council President Donald Tusk. Given the EU's worries and the United Kingdom's departure from the 28-member bloc in two years, Beijing needs to reassure Brussels of its full support for strengthening bilateral trade and economic relations. The recent developments in Syria, too, should be high on their agenda.
Yang and Mogherini are likely to discuss other issues before they delve into bilateral topics. And because of the fast-changing global situation, Beijing and Brussels need to hold several rounds of dialogues before deciding how to take bilateral ties to a higher level. The EU also needs to do more homework before exploring the full potential of bilateral relations.
Three years ago, Xi visited the EU headquarters and both sides agreed to promote peace, growth, reform and partnership. This may be the right time for both sides to review the three-year harvests in the four areas.
Judging by Brussels' performance vis-a-vis Beijing last year, there is need to change its approach and strategy. Brussels seemed keen on "punishing Beijing" when it came to steel overcapacity. It tightened its approval procedure on Beijing's inward investment, and its leader even met with the Dalai Lama, who promotes separatism.
When Trump entered the White House in January, some in Brussels said China and the EU should do more to fill the vacuum created by the new US administration's unwillingness to promote globalization and free trade. They were worried about the change in cross-Atlantic relations. But things have started to change, and Brussels and Beijing both are willing to see reality. Beijing and Washington have decided on a 100-day plan to discuss how to boost bilateral relations. And Trump even announced last week that China is not a currency manipulator.
These developments mean Brussels may need more time to finalize its stance toward Beijing. It needs more discussions, and should wait until Beijing and Washington agree on their future relations, before reaching a decision. And three upcoming eventsthe Belt and Road Initiative Forum for International Cooperation in May, the China-EU bilateral summit and the G20 Summit in Hamburg in early Julywill provide the right platforms for the three sides to decide their future ties.
Despite its difficulties in dealing with Brexit, the refugee crisis, terrorism and populism, the EU may be in better economic growth in the coming two to three years. China's Belt and Road Initiative (the Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road) has been welcomed by the EU and offers an excellent opportunity to both sides to deepen cooperation and boost their economies.
While dealing with China, the EU should know it is far important to explore opportunities than to focus on challenges and problems. And that Washington has reportedly shown interest in the Belt and Road Initiative should remind Brussels of its importance when it holds talks with Beijing.
The author is deputy chief of China Daily European Bureau. fujing@chinadaily.com.cn
Non-smoking banners are displayed on the iconic Bird's Nest National Stadium in Beijing, capital of China on June 1, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]
According to a recent report jointly published by the World Health Organization and United Nations Development Programme, the economic losses associated with tobacco use in China were about 350 billion yuan ($50.82 billion) in 2014 and more than 1 million people die of tobacco-related diseases every year.
Tobacco use is one of the main causes of cancer in China, a WHO official has warned. China has a smoking population of more than 300 million and 740 million people are often exposed to secondhand smoke. This once again highlights the need for the government to introduce a full nationwide ban on smoking in public places.
The harm caused by tobacco use is so great that nearly 92 percent of the public support a full ban on smoking in all indoor public places, indoor workplaces and public transport, a survey conducted by Chinese Association on Tobacco Control in 10 cities in late February showed.
The government has made efforts to curb smoking by, among other things, making local laws and regulations that ban smoking in indoor public places and raising the tobacco tax, but no obvious effects have been achieved, as no consensuses have been reached on the formulation and enforcement of a full ban on tobacco use.
As a signatory to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, China is often criticized for its impotent measures to control tobacco use, but it is the huge economic interests of the tobacco industry that serve as a major factor behind China's sluggish progress in promoting full tobacco control in public venues.
Tobacco control is essentially a competition among different interest groups. The obvious effects following Beijing's imposition of the strictest-ever ban on smoking indicate that only after a law banning tobacco use in public places is in place, can effective law enforcement be carried out.
-BEIJING YOUTH DAILY
Food safety administration staffs inspect a restaurant in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, on Nov 10, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]
ON APRIL 6, the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a document mapping out a guideline for work on food safety in 2017 with the goal of ensuring people's health and safety. According to the guideline, a legal framework for food safety should be established and law enforcement enhanced to severely crack down on illegal activities such as producing or selling fake and adulterated food. The Mirror comments:
Food scandals have happened repeatedly in the past few years; everybody is aware of melamine contaminated milk, meat that had been stored for decades, as well as gutter oil.
There are many reasons for such dangerous practices, but one of them is that the penalties are too light. As a result, many involved in the producing or selling of counterfeit or adulterated food products simply pay a fine if caught without going to prison.
The Food Safety Law, amended in April 2015, has drawn a "zero-tolerance" line for counterfeit food products, but both the amendment to the Criminal Law and the new Food Safety Law fail to stipulate specific penalties for those producing adulterated and counterfeit food. Such a legal vacuum has left space for producers of counterfeit food and pharmaceuticals not to get their deserved punishments. Thus, it is necessary for the authorities to add targeted clauses to the country's laws.
The next step, as the State Council's document points out, is to list the production and sale of fake and adulterated foods as a crime. The State Council has laid ample foundation for that by emphasizing that anybody producing fake food should be held accountable and punished, and their information should be disclosed to the public.
Of course, if the production of counterfeit and adulterated food is confirmed as a criminal offense, the next step should be to more strictly control food safety risks by strengthening food safety supervision at the grassroots level and cracking down severely on any illegal activities that pose a threat to food safety.
Recently, I had a special experience that personally connected me to both the Chinese Dream and the long sweep of Chinese history when I was honored to be a host-presenter in Shenzhen for the Confucius-Mencius Foundation (CMF) and meet descendants of the two sages, Confucius and Mencius.
The Chinese Dream of course is all about the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, once the worlds most powerful, but in recent centuries subject to humiliation by foreign countries.
In America something is old if it dates back a century. Some places like Harvard University founded in 1636 is practically pre-historic for the country. In China, with a history of millennia, this is a mere speck in time!
In preparing for the Confucius-Mencius Foundation forum, I was reminded that Confucius was active more than 2,000 years ago during the Spring and Autumn period (771-476 BC). He was what we call today a Renaissance man as a philosopher, teacher, editor and public servant. His teachings emphasized personal and governmental morality, justice and sincerity. He is perhaps best known as the originator of the Golden Rule - Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself - which centuries later was incorporated into Judeo-Christian and Muslim core beliefs.
Meng Liang (L), Kong Ren (R) and CMF cultural ambassador Mishal Kanoo who holds a silver coffee urn given as a symbol of Middle East hospitality to the Confucius-Mencius Foundation. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Mencius, who lived after the death of Confucius, was a teacher, evangelist and extender of Confucian thought. One cannot be divorced from the other as both were a team, albeit separated in time, but not in spirit.
The goal of the Confucius-Mencius Foundation is to nourish core Chinese ancient values and virtues in order to make China and Chinese culture great again.
What was so meaningful to me was that the thoughts of Confucius and Mencius werent merely present in dusty old tablets and books, but in the living embodiment of their descendants and co-founders of the Confucius-Mencius Foundation. Kong Ren, 78th generation direct descendent of Confucius and Meng Liang, 79th generation direct descendent of Mencius.
Kong Ren said that the foundation creates a good social atmosphere by advocating ideas of respect, filial piety, honesty and related values. He said that it is committed to pursuing a world of peace, harmony and diversity through cultural exchanges and cooperation with other civilizations. Meng Liang said that one goal is to build Chinas soft power by establishing 50 Confucius-Mencius Academies on every continent.
I was honored to meet and interview CMF Ambassador of Chinese Civilizations former Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, who displayed great moral strength and humility in assuming office when much of his countrys leadership died in a tragic plane crash, and CMF Cultural Ambassador Mishal Kanoo, chairman of one of the largest and most successful family-owned businesses in the Arab world.
Participates of Confucius-Mencius Foundation pose for a picture. (From left: Mishal Kanoo, Meng Liang, President Bronislaw Komorowski, Ambassador Fernando Lugris and Kong Ren) [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
You wouldnt think that Confucian influence extends 20,000 km from China but it does according to Uruguay Ambassador Fernando Lugris. He spoke about the increasingly close bilateral cultural and economic ties, especially since the state visit to China of President Tabare Vazquez last year.
Serving as host-presenter was not only an honor for me but meeting the descendants of Confucius and Mencius and three outstanding leaders continuing to carry on the noble work of their ancestors was truly inspirational.
The author is a senior featured contributor of China Daily website.
The opinions expressed here are those of the writer and don't represent views of China Daily website.
Ms. Neumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of Namibia in Beijing, April 12, 2017.[Cong Ruiting/chinadaily.com.cn]
Industrialization and innovation is the only way to get Namibians out of poverty and joint ventures, especially those from China, should take a lead, Ms Neumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of Namibia, said in a meeting with the media on 12, April during her three-day visit in Beijing.
Namibia is home to more than 40 Chinese companies with an annual investment of $4.6 billion, according to Chinese Ambassador to Namibia Xin Shunkang. The ambassador pointed out that Chinese companies employ more than 6,000 Namibians and the current value of Chinese companies' investments in Namibia is about $3 billion.
When talking about innovation, Ms Nandi-Ndaitwah expressed her hopes to develop Namibia under international cooperation through education, trade and joint ventures given the history of the Southwestern African country.
"That is why we pay more attention to education during cooperation with China and other countries thus our people could learn necessary skills. Also we underline the technology which is the root of innovation," Deputy Prime Minister Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
In 2015, a primary school built by the Chinese NGO China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF) made education accessible for over 600 children from the San community of Namibia.
Currently, over 200 students are studying in China. More than 100 of them are receiving training in China to become medical practitioners, according to the Namibia Embassy in China.
In a recent Global Entrepreneurship Index ranking released by Opinium and the Mara Foundation, Namibia tops other African countries for education strength. The index relies on 25 factors across five broad pillars: government policy, infrastructure, entrepreneurial environment, education and finance.
"As a developing country, the development of China is eye-catching and it plays as a leading goose for the developing nations across the world," Deputy Prime Minister Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
At the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in December 2015 held in South Africa's Johannesburg, China announced it would support Africa with $60 billion.
According Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, China-Africa cooperation is undergoing three shifts, namely from government-driven to market-driven, from trading goods to cooperation on production capacity, and from engineering contracts to capital investment and operations, in response to Africa's needs.
"We cherish the friendship of China and welcome the exchanges of the two peoples at different levels, from government, party and normal civilians," Ms Nandi-Ndaitwah said.
British artist Julian Opie is holding his first major solo show in China, with more than 50 works displayed at the Fosun Foundation in Shanghai's Bund area, overlooking the Huangpu River.
Julian Opie is showing his creations in Shanghai. [Photo provided to China Daily]
From life-size vinyl sculptures and LED monoliths of figures in motion to hand-painted portraits that bear influences of ancient Egyptian reliefs, Roman busts, pop art and manga, the exhibition shows his interests at different stages of his career.
"If you see this show, I think you see what I am doing at that moment. There is not much missing from here," says Opie.
The 59-year-old artist lives in London.
David Tung, Asia head of the Lisson Gallery, which is representing the artist in the Asia-Pacific region, said at the opening of the show that Opie rose to prominence in Britain in the 1980s.
In the past decades, he has created metal sculptures, minimalistic portraits and animated figures, presenting them on walls, postal stamps and T-shirts. He also has an acclaimed compact-disc cover for the British pop band Blur.
Opie's first solo exhibition in China is part of a project celebrating the gallery's 50th anniversary, Tung says.
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LISBON -- Five people have confirmed dead after a small airplane crashed near a supermarket in a residential area on the outskirts of Portuguese capital Lisbon on Monday, local SIC TV reported.
The crash took pace around 11 a.m. near Lido supermarket at Tires, outskirts of Lisbon, killing five people including a pilot and three passengers on board.
The plane, which arrived in Portugal on Friday and is flying to Marselille of France, crashed shortly after taking off from a Tires airport.
Fire and smokes were seen rising on the scene after the plane crashed into a truck. Around 50 rescue workers are taking part in the rescue operation.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is on the site to inspect the rescue operation.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) ambassador to the United Nations Kim In Ryong speaks during a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on April 17, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]
UNITED NATION -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned" with rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, his spokesman said Monday, calling on all to "redouble their diplomatic efforts" to de-escalate and return to "dialogue on denuclearization" and implementation of Security Council resolutions.
Reaction to the launch on Saturday of a test missile by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) came only minutes after Pyongyang's UN Ambassador Kim In Ryong told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday that "if the US dares opt for a military action, crying out for 'preemptive attack' and 'removal of the headquarters,' the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US"
Over the Weekend, US Vice President Mike Pence, visiting Seoul, warned Pyongyang, "the era of strategic patience is over."
"We are obviously deeply concerned about the rising tensions that we've seen in the Korean Peninsula," said spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "We call on all to redouble their diplomatic efforts. The latest launch that we saw over the weekend from the DPRK was troubling."
"We call on the DPRK to take all the steps necessary to de-escalate the situation and return to dialogue on denuclearization," Dujarric said.
"All Security Council resolutions must be fully implemented and we note that the Security Council has consistently stated its commitment to peaceful, diplomatic and political solution," he added.
The Security Council has passed more than 20 resolutions imposing ever-tightening sanctions on the DPRK because of its nuclear and missile programs.
Pyongyang maintains its nuclear development program, and development of missiles to carry nuclear weapons, is because of threats from the United States and South Korea and says it does not recognize the UN resolutions.
Children play with water during Myanmar's New Year Water Festival outside Mandalay, Myanmar April 13, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
YANGON -- A total of 285 people were killed and 1,073 others injured nationwide during a four-day water festival, the official Global New Light of Myanmar reported Tuesday.
The deaths were 13 more than that of last year's event.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,200 criminal cases were also registered during the water festival.
Among the deaths, 10 were in Nay Pyi Taw, 44 in Yangon, 36 in Mandalay, 26 in Sagaing region, 11 in Tanintharyi region, 37 in Bago region, 11 in Magway region, 20 in Mon state, 17 in Rakhine, 29 in Shan state and 28 in Ayeyawaddy region.
The criminal cases were related to murder, car accident, drug-use, theft, arm possession and group violence respectively, said the report.
This year's traditional Thingyan water festival ran from Thursday to Sunday.
During last year's water festival, a total of 272 people were killed and 1,086 others injured.
Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan wave national flags as they wait for his arrival at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Turkey, April 17, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
ANKARA -- Turkey's state of emergency will be extended by an additional three months, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said late Monday.
The state of emergency would be extended as of April 19 for three more months, with the parliament's approval, the government spokesperson Kurtulmus said after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He attributed the reason for the extension to the struggle against terror threats, primarily against the so-called Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) that the government accuses of staging coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
The cabinet meeting followed the National Security Council's advice to extend the state of emergency.
The National Security Council and the cabinet convened successively on Monday, one day after a public vote that confirmed governance system change from the parliamentarian one to the executive presidency.
Turkey declared a state of emergency on July 20, 2016, days after a failed military coup, which Ankara blames on the US-based exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen.
Turkey has already been under a state of emergency for nine consecutive months after a coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
Under emergency rule, the government can bypass the parliament to enact new laws and limit or suspend rights and freedoms.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes a question during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, US, April 17, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
WASHINGTON -- The White House said on Monday that it does not expect US President Donald Trump to draw a red line on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and the United States will continue work with China to solve it.
"Drawing red lines really hasn't worked in the past," White House spokesman Sean Spicer told a briefing.
"He (Trump) holds his cards close to the vest, and I think you are not going to see him telegraphing how he's going to respond to any military or other situation going forward," he said.
Trump does not plan to draw red lines "in the sand", Spicer added.
However, Spicer cited the US decision to bomb a Syrian military airfield early this month as an indication that Trump would take action when necessary.
"I think the action he took in Syria shows that when appropriate, this president will take decisive action."
Spicer added that the United States is going to work with China on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.
"We're going to continue to work with China, in particular, to help find a way forward on this."
US economists believe that blaming other countries for US trade deficits is wrongheaded.
In an interview with the Financial Times, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross dismissed the accusation of US protectionism. The 79-year-old billionaire instead cited the US trade deficit as a sign of its openness and blamed other countries for causing the deficits.
His words came after recent remarks by International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde and others, which included veiled concern and criticism of rising protectionism in US President Donald Trump's administration.
The G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting held in Germany last month also failed to include any language rejecting protectionism as the group has done in the past, largely due to pressure from US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
"We are the least protectionist of the major areas," Ross told the Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday. "We are far less protectionist than Europe. We are far less protectionist than Japan. We are far less protectionist than China.
"We also have trade deficits with all three of those places. So they talk free trade. But in fact what they practice is protectionism. And every time we do anything to defend ourselves, even against the puny obligations that they have, they call that protectionism," Ross said.
Wayne Morrison, a specialist in Asian trade and finance at the Congressional Research Service, said Ross and others in the Trump administration may see themselves not being "protectionist" but rather seeking to level the playing field for US firms and workers.
He said the biggest problem with their argument is that they ignore fundamental economic theory, such as attributing bilateral trade imbalances to trade and investment barriers and implying that exports are good while imports are bad.
"Economists hold that a nation's overall trade balance is largely caused by macroeconomic forces, primarily the amount of domestic savings relative to its investment needs. When a country saves too little to meet its investment needs, it will run a trade deficit, and that is the case with the United States," Morrison told China Daily on Monday.
He said the Trump Administration's focus on "bilateral trade deficits" is disturbing to some because resulting trade policies may seek only to reduce those deficits or may use a rising or falling deficit to measure the "success or failure" of their policies.
Morrison cited a scenario of the US imposing large tariffs on imported Chinese toys. As a result, US toy imports from China would likely fall and foreign manufacturers might then move their production to other low-cost countries such as Vietnam. Ultimately the US trade deficit with China could fall, but US trade deficit with Vietnam would rise.
"And the size of the overall US trade deficit would likely remain unchanged," Morrison said, adding that US consumers would probably end up paying higher prices for toys.
Joseph Gagnon, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, also criticized the Trump administration's focus on trade deficits as a wrong approach.
In an article posted on the institute's website on April 7, Gagnon said economists broadly agree that trade barriers do not cause trade deficits. "A country can have a trade deficit only if it is borrowing on net from the rest of the world," he said.
His comments came after Trump on March 31 ordered a study of the causes of the US trade deficit, a study that will focus on trade barriers and unfair trade practices in foreign countries.
Gagnon, a former official at the US Federal Reserve Board and US Treasury, said it is important to stipulate that trade is not a zero-sum game in which imports are losses and exports are wins. "Reducing the trade deficit by reducing overall trade would throw the baby out with the bathwater," he said.
A picture taken on August 1, 2013 shows tombs at the Nolette Chinese Cemetery, the burial place of 842 Chinese workers who died during World War I, in Noyelles-sur-Mer, northern France. [Photo/VCG]
The local government of Noyelles-sur-Mer, a city in northern France, has applied for listing the Nolette Chinese Cemetery as a UNESCO World Heritage to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, according to Jean-Louis Desmarest, the city's mayor.
The Nolette Chinese Cemetery, located at Noyelles-sur-Mer, is the largest Chinese cemetery in Europe. Below the cemetery lays the remains of 842 Chinese laborers who died in World War I.
The mayor announced the application plan on April 9 at a ceremony where about 300 Chinese descendants living in France gathered to commemorate the Chinese laborers killed in the war.
The cemetery has long been a venue for Chinese diplomats to mourn war victims and enhance the bond between China and France. Then Chinese ambassador Kong Quan visited the cemetery in 2013, while Li Zhaoxing, former foreign minister, also visited in 2014.
After World War I began, France and its ally Britain recruited about 140,000 Chinese laborers to undertake heavy behind-the-frontline work, such as digging trenches, building roads, bridges and fortifications and transporting supplies. Tens of thousands of them were killed, while about 3,000 survivors settled down in France.
DUANVALE Violet Brown spent much of her life cutting sugarcane in the fields around her home in western Jamaica. She attended church regularly, avoids pork and chicken and celebrated her 117th birthday last month.
On Saturday, she is believed to have become the world's oldest living person following the death of Emma Morano of Italy, born Nov 29, 1899.
Brown told The Associated Press she is surprised but grateful to have lived this long.
"This is what God has given me, so I have to take it long life," Brown said in an interview in her home in the town of Duanvale.
Brown is considered to be the oldest person in the world with credible birth documentation, according to Robert Young, director of the supercentenarian research and database division at Gerontology Research Group, a network of volunteer researchers into the world's oldest people. Its website says she was born on March 10, 1900.
Brown has not yet been declared the world's oldest by Guinness World Records, considered to be the official arbiter of the oldest person title but Guinness depends heavily on Young's group. Young said he has met Brown and examined her birth certificate, which was issued by the British authorities who governed Jamaica at the time of her birth.
"She's the oldest person that we have sufficient documentation for at this time," Young said.
Jamaica's prime minister congratulated Brown on Twitter.
Guinness said it was researching a number of candidates for the new world's oldest person title.
"It can be a uniquely complex and sometimes lengthy process," Guinness spokeswoman Elizabeth Montoya said. "There is no confirmation of a new title holder until our thorough processes are complete."Brown has two caregivers and spends most of the day resting in the home she shares with her 97-year-old son. She is able to sit up by herself and walk short distances. And while she is hard of hearing, she offered swift, complete responses to questions about her life and family.
The secret to long life is hard work, she said.
"I was a cane farmer. I would do every work myself," she said. "I worked, me and my husband, over that hill."She also credited her Christian faith for her long life.
"I've done nearly everything at the church," she said. "I spent all my time in the church. I like to sing. I spent all my time in the church from a child to right up," to today, she said.
AP
Zuo Xiaodong, vice president and senior engineer of the China Information Security Research Institute. [Photo/China.org.cn]
Cyber security has always been an important issue since the internet began to enter people's lives, and it is even more so now, as the world becomes increasingly connected to form a global cyberspace.
In cyberspace, internet users leave their digital footprints that contain personal information. If this falls into the wrong hands through a security leak, such information can compromise the users' financial and even personal safety. A cyber security breach at national level may lead to catastrophic consequences.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has given high priority to cyber security. Calling it a "prerequisite for internet development," Xi has called for coordinated development of cyberspace security and informatization.
Xi, also the head of the Central Internet Security and Informatization Leading Group, outlined this requirement at the Symposium on Cyberspace Security and Informatization held in Beijing on April 19, 2016.
At the symposium attended by representatives from various sectors, the Chinese president called for enhanced development of the internet and harnessing it for the benefit of the nation. He also stressed a "correct outlook on cyber security," urging the development of a system to "protect key information infrastructure and ensure online security."
Dr. Zuo Xiaodong, vice president and senior engineer of the China Information Security Research Institute, applauded President Xi's remarks on cyber security and informatization.
"President Xi's new theories, ideas and conclusions on cyber security and informatization form an independent concept on governance of cyberspace with China's characteristics," he said. "They are part of his ideas about the governance of China, answering a series of major theoretical questions concerning the long-term development of China's informatization and providing comprehensive and clear strategic guidance."
Rapid global informatization is shaping a "future world totally controlled by the internet," henceforth creating a new rule that "who controls cyberspace controls all," said Dr. Zuo, explaining the security issues in politics, economy, culture, and military that are intertwined with cyber security.
Thanks to President Xi's guidance, Dr. Zuo stressed, positive changes had taken place in this regard.
Last November, China's national legislature adopted the Law on Cyber Security. One month later, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the country's top internet regulator, released a cyberspace security strategy, advocating peace, security, openness, cooperation and order.
This March, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Cyberspace Administration of China jointly released the International Strategy of Cooperation on Cyberspace, China's first such cooperative plan.
"Particularly, in the Law on Cyber Security, 'ensuring the safe operation of the infrastructure that contains critical information' is highlighted. It indicates that the country put an emphasis on the protection of hardware, too," Dr. Zuo stressed.
LONDON - It was a time when people in mediaeval England thought dead people would rise from their graves, spreading disease and attack the living, but it has been proved real with the discovery of new archaeological evidence.
The evidence, including human bones, gathered from a deserted village in North Yorkshire, have enabled experts to unveil the reasons of why people in the 12th century decapitated, dismembered and burnt corpses before burial. It was because of their fear of the living dead.
The bones suggests that corpses were burnt and mutilated. Researchers believe this was carried out by villagers who thought it would stop the corpses arising from their graves and menacing the living.
Their work in the one time village of Wharram Percy has thrown light on efforts villagers made to resist the living dead.
Historic England, a public body that manages the site, said the findings are believed to be the first good archaeological evidence of the practice of people taking steps to protect themselves from the dead in mediaeval times.
A team from Historic England and the University of Southampton studied the remains and found that many of the bones also showed knife-marks suggesting that the bodies had been decapitated and dismembered. There was also evidence for burning of body parts and deliberate breaking of some bones after death.
A spokesman for Historic England said: "In Mediaeval times there was a folk-belief that sometimes corpses could arise from their graves and roam the local area, spreading disease and violently assaulting those unlucky enough to encounter them."
When talking about the bones excavated from Wharram Percy, Simon Mays, Human Skeletal Biologist at Historic England, said: "It shows us a dark side of mediaeval beliefs and provides a graphic reminder of how different the mediaeval view of the world was from our own."
The new evidence has discounted one theory that the remains of humans were cannibalized and eaten by starving villagers.
The 137 bones found at Wharram Percy came from at least 10 people and date from the 11th to 14th centuries.
Huawei's quality camera helps deliver soaring sales for smartphone
Snapping a picture on your smartphone was once just a matter of recording information easily, but in recent years it has become a hobby. The opening of the world's first-ever smartphone selfie exhibition at London's prestigious Saatchi Gallery last week showed that smartphone photography is now a fashionable means of self-expression.
HUAWEI P10 LAUNCH at World Mobile Congress in Barcelona.
A major innovative force in smartphone photography is the Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, a relative newcomer to the phone industry, which has quickly risen to become the world's number three player, after Apple and Samsung.
Sales volume picked up last year when Huawei launched its P9 smartphone, which boasts camera technology developed in partnership with the German upmarket camera maker Leica. Last year, Huawei shipped 139 million smartphones worldwide, a 30 percent year-on-year increase. The phone has been supported by big investment in marketing, evident in a promotion film featuring movie stars Scarlett Johansson and Henry Cavill.
James Jie, chief executive of the Huawei UK Consumer Business Group, says: "The success of our P9 series is due to our product's quality, our branding and marketing strategy and, in particular, our collaboration with Leica."
Behind the attention-grabbing growth statistics, Huawei's smartphone success is down to a lot of hard work, which Jie knows from experience.
Before coming to the UK in 2015, Jie worked with Huawei's smartphone research and development team. He still vividly remembers the experience in 2013 of leading an R&D team developing the Huawei P6, which made a name for itself as the world's thinnest smartphone at the time.
Jie remembers the long nights he spent trying to achieve the target of producing the phone's metal back cover to a thickness of 0.3 millimeter, in order to achieve the overall specification.
Jie says: "We had already set June 18 as the launch date for the product and I knew we had to manage fullscale production before this date so, for about one month, I stayed with our mechanical supplier doing R&D work day and night."
He could have easily reduced the pressure for himself and his team by changing the target for the back cover to 0.35 millimeters, but he did not want to compromise.
"I said to the team, the appearance of the phone represents our attitude. A near miss is as good as a mile."
Within a month of the launch date, Jie's team achieved this target. The phone was 6.18 millimeters thick, quite an achievement, especially considering it has a 5-megapixel camera. That was the beginning of the Huawei smartphone's strong growth internationally.
RICHARD YU, chief executive of Huawei consumer business, at the presentation ceremony of Huawei P10 at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
The R&D emphasis is deeply rooted in Huawei's culture, and what Jie learned from experience is representative of the company as a whole. R&D spending has reached $38 billion in the past 10 years and involves 45 percent of its 176,000 employees worldwide.
On the consumer product side, Huawei has continued to launch products pushing the boundaries of tech. Its latest smartphone, the P10, launched at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona this year, comes with upgraded Leica camera functions, fast performance in-house Kirin 960 processors and a stylish finish. Its new colors, developed with the US color tech company Pantone, are well-liked by British consumers, Jie says.
Despite Huawei's growing success as a smartphone maker, it is actually a relative newcomer to this market. Traditionally, Huawei generates most of its revenue from its network business, providing services to operators including Vodafone and Telefonica. Its services and products are used in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than a third of the world's population.
In 2015, it generated $60.8 billion in revenue and remains the only Chinese company in the Fortune 500 list to make more money abroad than domestically.
For Huawei, such global success grew from humble origins. Founded in China in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei with an investment of $3,500, Huawei started as a private reseller of PBX telephone switches.
Its international expansion picked up pace in the 2000s. In 2001 it established an office in the UK, and a major breakthrough came in 2005 when Huawei's international contract orders exceeded domestic sales for the first time.
In that same year, Huawei signed a contract with British Telecom to roll out the latter's 21st Century Network data network program, which delivered superfast broadband to 20 million homes across the UK.
Huawei's success in the UK has helped open doors for expansion into European markets, through partnerships with carriers including Vodafone, Orange and Telefonica.
The company's continued tech-driven expansion into Europe is further demonstrated by the fact that the company filed a notable 2,390 patents with the European Patent Office in 2016, the second-largest filing by a company globally, after Philips with 2,568.
Meanwhile, Huawei continued to invest in research and development work, often in pioneering new technology fields. One example is a partnership with the National Graphene Institute in Manchester on research work looking to incorporate graphene's thermal management properties into Huawei products. Graphene is one of the most interesting inventions of modern times. It enabled two academics to earn the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2010 but, due to its short history, much of its potential is yet to be unlocked.
Another pioneering field in which Huawei leads innovative research is 5G technology, characterized by low latency, high reliability and very high data capacity. It is expected to be realized by around 2020. Huawei has partnerships with 20 universities on 5G R&D and, in the UK, it is a key industry partner for the University of Surrey's 5G Innovation Centre.
Keith Robson, chief operating officer of 5GIC, says he is impressed by Huawei's concentration on R&D and long-term thinking.
He says: "The commitment from Huawei on R&D is second to none, and that may be because its policy is set in this way and it penetrates through the whole company culture".
In 2015, the thinktank Oxford Economics conducted a study on Huawei's economic contribution to the UK market and estimates the company made a 956 million ($1,183 million; 1,118 million euros) contribution to British GDP between 2012 and 2013, supporting 7,400 jobs.
Such statistics show that Huawei is not just creating growth but building an ecosystem to help many local companies grow.
"Huawei's global vision and open attitude makes it a great partner," says Alan O'Prey, managing director of telecoms at the British engineering firm MJ Quinn Integrated Services, which started working with Huawei in 2010. It currently has about seven projects with Huawei.
Huawei's continued success and growth in the telecoms industry has attracted much attention from international competitors and governments, and the fact that telecoms is an area related to national security previously led to the US and Australian governments raising suspicions about the company.
In 2012, the US government warned its companies against buying Huawei equipment, citing national security concerns. It warned that Huawei equipment could be used to leak sensitive information from the US to China. In the same year, the Australian government rejected Huawei's bid for work on its 35.9 billion Australian dollar high-speed broadband network for cybersecurity reasons.
Questions raised by the US and Australian governments have perhaps led to Huawei missing out on some business opportunities, but in more recent years such government attacks have been reduced.
Perhaps the global growth of consumer awareness toward Huawei's brand and story has helped it gain trust. Consumer products such as smartphones greatly contribute toward awareness.
Jie of Huawei Consumer Group says he personally believes the company's increased stress on consumer products in recent years has had three positive aspects. First, consumer products have greatly helped the company to grow its brand. Second, the good performance of these products has helped boost employee satisfaction. Third, the consumer segment generates solid profits.
"So there is a market-driven reason to justify our investment into this segment," he says.
Huawei UK
Industry: Telecoms
Year of entry into UK: 2001
Address: 300S Oak Way, Reading, RG2 6UF
Employees: More than 1,330
Parent company in China
Huawei
Industry: Telecommunications:
Year of founding: 1987
Global employees: 170,000
2015 Revenue: 395 billion yuan ($60.8 billion)
Address: Gaoxin South 10th Road, Nanshan Qu, Shenzhen Shi, Guangdong Sheng, China, 518057
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside 10 Downing Street, in central London, Britain April 18, 2017. [Photo/Agencies]
Theresa May, the British prime minister, said Tuesday that she will call for a general election on June 8.
In order to call an election, the government will have to get a two-thirds majority in parliament to overturn the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. Recent opinion polls have shown Mays Conservative Party as much as 21 points ahead of the opposition Labour group.
To contact the reporter: copy@mail.chinadailyuk.com
Steve Stephens, who Cleveland Division of Police said was being sought in connection with the killing of an individual, is seen in an undated handout photo released April 16, 2017. Cleveland Police/Handout via Agencies
CLEVELAND (AP) The man who randomly killed a Cleveland retiree and posted video of the crime on Facebook shot himself to death in his car Tuesday during a police chase in Pennsylvania, ending a multistate manhunt less than 48 hours after it began.
Acting on a tip, Pennsylvania State Police spotted Steve Stephens, 37, in Erie County, in the state's northwest corner, and went after him. After a brief chase, he took his own life, authorities said.
"This started with one tragedy and ended with another person taking their own life," said Cleveland Police Chief Calvin Williams. "We would have liked to have brought Steve in peacefully and really talked to him about why this happened."Stephens, a job counselor who worked with teenagers and young people, was wanted on an aggravated murder charge in the shooting of Robert Godwin Sr., a 74-year-old man who was picking up aluminum cans on Sunday when he was gunned down.
Stephens posted a video of himself killing Godwin, a former foundry worker and a father of 10. "I snapped, I just snapped," Stephens said.
Police would not speculate on what was behind the killing, but in the video and other footage he posted, Stephens talked about losing everything he had to gambling and having trouble with his girlfriend.
One of Godwin's daughters, Debbie Godwin, said she wished Stephens had been captured.
"I'm not happy he's dead at all, not at all. If you did it, you have to face your crime," she said.
The break in the case came when police received a tip that Stephens' car was in a McDonald's parking lot, Willlams said.
The chase lasted 2 miles, and troopers managed to disable Stephens' car, state police said. As his car was spinning out of control, he shot himself in the head with a pistol, police said. A pursuing trooper's car slid into Stephens' vehicle, but the officer was not injured.
Law enforcement officials had said on Monday that Stephens' cellphone was last tracked Sunday afternoon near Erie, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of Cleveland.
Williams said Tuesday that it wasn't clear whether Stephens had any help while he was on the run or where he had been and that investigators will try to retrace he steps.
The video of the killing was up for three hours before it was taken down, raising questions about Facebook's handling of objectionable material posted by its users. Facebook said it removed the video 23 minutes after learning of it.
In the video of the shooting, Stephens told Godwin the name of his girlfriend and said, "She's the reason that this is about to happen to you." Godwin did not seem to recognize the name.
The woman Stephens spoke of, Joy Lane, said in a text message to CBS that "we had been in a relationship for several years. I am sorry that all of this has happened."Investigators said that Godwin was the only victim so far linked to Stephens, despite his claim on Facebook that he killed over a dozen people.
Detectives spoke with the suspect on Sunday by cellphone and tried to persuade him to surrender, police said.
Within a day, authorities expanded the search nationwide and offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
During my enjoyable stay in China over the past 14 years, I have had the opportunity to encounter and interact with a great number of foreigners who share my profound love for China.
Through our discussions of life in China, they have had nothing but praise for the efforts exerted by the Chinese government and people to make their stay in China a memorable experience.
For the sake of objectivity, they mentioned minor inconveniences that tarnish their good fortune of having the chance to share their experience and knowledge with their students.
Motivated by my deep desire to help my beloved China and my fellow expats, I came up with some constructive yet objective suggestions to improve the quality of life for foreigners in China. I decided to focus on the following issues:
Green card:
It is too obvious that China must be cautious and selective in choosing the expats who deserve to be offered green cards with their multiple privileges. However, the Chinese government ought to facilitate the process for those who qualify and hold unequivocal interest in being an active participant in the development of the Chinese society with their sincere efforts.
Foreign talent:
I do believe that China is exerting every possible effort to recruit foreign talent and encourage them to stay while sharing their knowledge and experiences with their Chinese counterparts.
Nonetheless, bearing in mind that most foreign experts prefer to come to China after retiring from their positions in their native countries, some age restrictions may diminish the effectiveness of the recruiting process. With the miraculous advancement in the medical field, people live longer with healthy lifestyles. Consequently, extending the age limit to 70 permits Chinese society to tremendously benefit from the expertise of foreign talent.
The life of expats in China:
Residing in a foreign country is difficult, to say the least.
From my own experience, China and the Chinese people did an excellent job in creating a friendly atmosphere for foreigners to coexist with their fellow Chinese.
However, foreigners need to be heard pertinent to their concerns regarding living in China and take necessary measures to transcend the obstacles that may impede their being full participants in the Chinese life. They should be allowed to express their views without fear as long as those views respect the Chinese traditions and customs. To accomplish that objective, the Chinese media ought to provide them with the proper venues to express their thoughts and views.
I hope that implementing the above suggestions will be helpful in the process of finding effective means to encourage new foreign experts to come to China, and provide an incentive to those who already reside in China to extend their stay.
My suggestions may open the door for others to participate in the discussion with their own thoughts.
That will lead to reaching mutual understanding between Chinese and foreigners.
The author is a Canadian teacher in China. The views are his own.
Flash
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) ambassador to the United Nations Kim In Ryong (R, Rear) speaks during a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on April 17, 2017. [Xinhua]
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is "deeply concerned" with rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, his spokesman said Monday, calling on all to "redouble their diplomatic efforts" to de-escalate and return to "dialogue on denuclearization" and implementation of Security Council resolutions.
Reaction to the launch on Saturday of a test missile by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) came only minutes after Pyongyang's UN Ambassador Kim In Ryong told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York on Monday that "if the U.S. dares opt for a military action, crying out for 'preemptive attack' and 'removal of the headquarters,' the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S."
Over the Weekend, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, visiting Seoul, warned Pyongyang, "the era of strategic patience is over."
"We are obviously deeply concerned about the rising tensions that we've seen in the Korean Peninsula," said spokesman Stephane Dujarric. "We call on all to redouble their diplomatic efforts. The latest launch that we saw over the weekend from the DPRK was troubling."
"We call on the DPRK to take all the steps necessary to de-escalate the situation and return to dialogue on denuclearization," Dujarric said.
"All Security Council resolutions must be fully implemented and we note that the Security Council has consistently stated its commitment to peaceful, diplomatic and political solution," he added.
The Security Council has passed more than 20 resolutions imposing ever-tightening sanctions on the DPRK because of its nuclear and missile programs.
Pyongyang maintains its nuclear development program, and development of missiles to carry nuclear weapons, is because of threats from the United States and South Korea and says it does not recognize the UN resolutions.
This month, Washington holds the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council and in that capacity has scheduled a ministerial-level meeting on April 28 on the subject of nuclear non-proliferation. The DPRK's nuclear program will be spotlighted.
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is expected to chair the session.
"I strongly censure and categorically reject the convening of a briefing on DPRK nuclear issue as another abuse of authority, behavior of double standards and violation of the DPRK's sovereignty by the UN Security Council acting under instructions of the United States," Ambassador Kim said.
"As everybody knows nowadays the U.S., without any hesitation, perpetrates military attacks and threatens a sovereign state while claiming for 'peace by strength,'" he said. "The recent U.S. massive missile attack on Syria tells you well of it."
"The U.S. is disturbing the global peace and stability and insisting on the gangster-like logic that its invasion of a sovereign state is 'decisive, just and proportionate,'" the ambassador said, referring to Washington's justification for the rain of missiles on a Syrian air base following a chemical weapons attack April 4 on Syrian civilians.
In response to an aircraft carrier-led armada of U.S. naval ships to the seas just east of the DPRK, the ambassador said, "the U.S. introduces into the Korean peninsula, the world's biggest hotspot, huge nuclear strategic asses, seriously threatening peace and security of the peninsula and pushing the situation there to the brink of war."
"This has created a dangerous situation in which a thermo-nuclear war may break out at any moment," he said.
Flash
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Monday showed his support to the new education curriculum introduced by government at the beginning of this year, saying it is meant to fully develop learners' potential and prepare them for the world of work.
Speaking at the 2017 Children's Independence Party, Mugabe told over 4,000 students from the country's 10 provinces that the new curriculum was "competence and skills based", state-run news agency New Ziana reported.
"Our goal is to ensure that the updated curriculum supports and sustains the transition from school to the world of work through serious study of a wide variety of subjects that include the sciences, technology and mathematics," Mugabe said.
Lazarus Dokora, Primary and Secondary Education Minister, has been under constant criticism since the new curriculum was introduced, with some educators accusing government of having failed to consult widely before making the changes.
"We must, as we do this, appreciate the profound turn towards innovation and creativity in our nation." Dokora said.
He said agriculture is one of the subjects that had been introduced at primary level as part of the changes, adding its introduction was in line with efforts to ultimately improve productivity on farms following conclusion of the land reform program.
To support the agriculture projects at schools, Mugabe said government had commenced the Zimbabwe Schools Water and Agriculture Project that will see schools being supported through installation of drip irrigation, fish farming tanks and solar.
"Land is like all the country's resources, our natural God-given resource," he said.
Under the water and agriculture project, 45 boreholes have been drilled at different schools to date, with a target to drill 100 boreholes per month from May, until all the 2,500 secondary schools have been completed before it is extended to primary schools.
Mugabe said the projects were expected to complement the schools feeding program that was introduced to support mainly infant learners during the drought period when most families especially in rural areas faced food shortages.
The annual children's party is hosted on the 17th of April by the First Family to allow them to meet and interact with youngsters on the eve of the country's Independence Day.
Zimbabwe will celebrate 37 years of independence from British colonial rule on Tuesday.
(Photo : USMC) An F-35B with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 lands at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.
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The U.S. Marines Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter squadron deployed to Japan in January continues to practice for expeditionary or overseas combat, and is conducting training exercises to operate the jets in real-world scenarios while operating from austere locations.
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Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121) or the Green Knights have loaded live bombs and missiles on their F-35Bs (a process called a hot reload) and conducted aviation-delivered ground refueling (ADGR) at their base at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni.
A hot reload is the process of loading ordnance onto an aircraft while the pilot remains in the cockpit with the engine running. The ability to hot reload the F-35B, as opposed to shutting down the aircraft completely to load, can save wear and tear on the aircraft. In a combat situation, a hot load will save time and minimize any failure opportunities with the jet.
The Marines said this is the first time the forward-deployed VMFA-121 loaded ordnance onto a running F-35B at Iwakuni to prepare for real-world scenarios.
The ADGR exercise saw a Marine KC-130J Hercules aerial tanker transfer fuel directly to the F-35B while both aircraft were on the ground. The squadron's first ADGR established flow rates of fuel in gallons per minute to determine how fast the process could be carried out.
The Marines said successfully completing the ADGR is a landmark that increases the capabilities of the squadron, offering the ability to refuel by C-130 aircraft in austere locations when other resources are unavailable.
During the hot reload, 1,000-pound inert GBU-32 satellite-guided Joint Direct Attack Munitions were loaded onto the internal weapons bay of the F-35B, which can carry two such weapons.
VMFA-121 has 10 F-35Bs based at Iwakuni, a number that will increase to 16 over the summer, bringing the squadron to full strength. The squadron will go to sea with the Wasp Amphibious Ready Group as part of the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in the fall.
The amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD-1) is scheduled to become part of the United States Seventh Fleet forward-deployed naval forces later this year when it moves from Norfolk, Virginia to Sasebo, Japan.
The warship will eventually replace the current forward-deployed amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard, which is due to return to San Diego, California for maintenance and upgrades in 2018.
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TagsU.S Marines, F-35 Lightning II, stealth fighter, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121), Green Knights, hot reload, Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, USS Wasp (LHD-1)
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As Zimbabwe celebrates Independence Day on April 18, China remains the country's all-weather friend and continues to give a helping hand during difficult times.
The Chinese embassy in Harare is as old as Zimbabwe's independence, having opened on the same day the Union Jack was put down to symbolize the end of British rule and give way to black majority rule nearly 37 years ago.
Today, relations between the two countries continue to grow on the political, economic and cultural fronts.
China was one of the first countries to rally behind Zimbabwe when it issued a distress call in March for assistance following floods that left hundreds of families homeless and in need of food by donating 1 million U.S. dollars to the government on March 31.
Heavy rains that were worsened by Cyclone Dineo in mid-February left 271 people dead, another 128 injured and nearly 2,000 homeless.
The deaths were caused by lightning strikes, drowning and landslides, according to the Civil Protection Unit, which added that nearly 2,600 homesteads were damaged in varying degrees.
The Chinese Red Cross Society also gave 50,000 dollars and the Chinese embassy and community in Zimbabwe gave another 10,000 dollars to help the flood victims.
On April 3, China also donated 12,000 tons of rice to assist the needy, including the victims of the recent floods.
This was in addition to another 19,000 tons of rice Zimbabwe received from China in 2016 following President Mugabe's declaration of a state of disaster after an El Nino induced drought ravaged parts of the country in 2015/16.
Public Service, Labor and Social Welfare Minister Prisca Mupfumira, who received the latest donation, was full of praise for the Chinese government for the assistance.
"Today we are witnessing another contribution from China where they are donating 12,173 tonnes of rice to Zimbabwe. We appreciate the gesture made by China," the minister said.
Chinese Embassy official Luo Xi said the donation was testimony of China's commitment to maintaining strong, friendly ties with Zimbabwe.
With weather conditions hovering between droughts and floods in recent years, China also came to Zimbabwe's assistance in 2014 when it donated 500,000 dollars to help flood victims in Masvingo province.
Also in 2014, China and Zimbabwe signed agreements under which China would provide financial support for the development of economic enablers such as energy, roads, railways, telecommunication, agriculture and tourism.
This was followed by more signing of agreements during President Xi Jinping's visit to Zimbabwe in December 2015 where, among others, one was signed for the assembly of Chinese motor vehicles in Zimbabwe.
The motor vehicle deal culminated in Chinese automotive company Beijing Automotive Group Co. Ltd (BAIC Group) forming a joint venture with two Zimbabwean companies to form Beiqi Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd which recently launched a top of the range pick-up truck - the Grand Tiger.
The local partners are the government-owned Willowvale Mazda Motor Industries (which had not been operational for more than four years) and automotive and spare parts dealer Astol Motors who jointly own 49 percent of shares in the joint venture.
China has over the past few years been the largest investor in Zimbabwe, injecting more than 46.5 million dollars in Foreign Direct Investment between January and November 2015.
Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe Huang Ping recently outlined the projects which had recently been completed or were in progress in the country with China's assistance.
These include the new Victoria Falls International Airport which was done by China Jiangsu International and financed through a 150 million-dollar-loan from China Export Import Bank and was commissioned by Mugabe in the end of 2016.
The Kariba Hydropower Expansion Project is expected to be completed in early 2018 at a cost of 355 million dollars to add 300 MW to the existing 750 MW installed capacity.
"One generator is going to be put into operation by the end of this year," he said.
He also said the expansion of Hwange Thermal Power Station was expected to be financed by the Chinese Eximbank while telecommunications projects were also progressing well.
In sickness and in health, the Chinese have stuck with Zimbabwe as evidenced by the agreement by China to build a pharmaceutical warehouse in Harare.
"The Harare Pharmaceutical Warehouse Project has finished the inspection work and the minute has been signed by the two sides," Huang said.
China also built a 6 million dollar hospital in rural Marondera, Mashonaland East Province, under the Forum for China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
The 129-bed Mahusekwa Hospital, also known as the China-Zimbabwe Friendship Hospital and located about 70 km to the south of Harare, opened its doors to the public in 2013.
It offers emergency treatment, x-ray, ultrasound scan, maternity and dental services as well as specialist services such as CT scan, endoscopy and orthopaedics.
With a staff complement of 175 staff members including three medical doctors, the hospital is supposed to serve Marondera District which has an estimated population of around 187,000.
However, due to the extensive and specialist health services it offers, the hospital attracts people from Harare and as far as 200 km away.
China has also in recent years offered health support to Zimbabwe, including a 90 million dollar medical loan facility for the supply of medical equipment and drugs.
Harare is also implementing a water and sanitation rehabilitation project to boost water supply to the city under a 144 million dollar loan facility financed by the China Eximbank.
China has also built schools under FOCAC, and together with the Chinese community in Zimbabwe, given to charity.
"China is a friend indeed and has helped us during our times of need," said Conrad Mashingaidze, a Zimbabwean living in Harare, who added that his aunt had benefited from a free eye cataract operation offered by visiting Chinese doctors in 2011.
Bishop Barrons critique of the Reformation doctrine of sola gratia raises many questions. I will not endeavor to respond to all of his points. I certainly would not even attempt to defend everything Martin Luther said, did, or wrote. I will focus on the good bishops claims about grace in Protestant theology generally.
The crucial question seems to be whether sola gratia, within a Protestant perspective, means gratia sola. Does Protestant theology teach not only that salvation is by grace alone but also that it is only by grace, by which Barron seems to mean the exclusion of any human cooperation?
Protestants disagree among ourselves about the suitability of the language of cooperation. Lutheran and Reformed Protestants tend to discourage it to avoid any hint of Pelagianism (or semi-Pelagianism). Arminians and Wesleyans (e.g., Methodists) are not as shy about itif it is understood correctly.
What all Protestants agree on is that if a person has a right relationship with God, forgiven and justified, it is not because of any personal merit that person can claim. Our main objection to Catholic theology is the implication (if not straightforward claim) that merit other than Jesus own comes into play in the sinners reconciliation and right standing before God.
Protestants do not see how it is possible to give any glory to the sinner before or after salvation and at the same time honor Pauls telling the Ephesians, For it is by grace you have been saved, through faithand this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of Godnot by works, so that no one can boast (2:89). Protestants do not see how it is possible ...
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Does Illinois Want to be Like Colorado? Contact: David E. Smith, Illinois Family Institute, 773-858-6602, s.david@illinoisfamily.org
CHICAGO, April 18, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Illinois Family Institute (IFI) stands in strong opposition to the legalization of marijuana. For decades, authorities within our cultural institutions have recognized the many harms of marijuana use for "recreation" and intoxication. Medical, scientific, education, law enforcement and clergy professionals worked together to warn society, especially our young people, of the dangers associated with getting high, of addiction and of life-changing consequences. These warnings have not expired.
"We are alarmed that certain state lawmakers from Chicago want to legalize marijuana in Illinois despite the overwhelming evidence of adverse outcomes in Colorado and Washington state," said David E. Smith, IFI Executive Director.
"There are so many reasons to be concerned about marijuana legalization. Colorado is now ranked first in the nation for 'past month' use for children between the ages of 12-17. This is 74 percent higher than the national average. Do we really want some of our children to be among these numbers?"
"There are also good reasons to be concerned about Illinois highway safety if marijuana is legalized. In the two years after Colorado's legalization, marijuana-related traffic deaths increased 62 percent. A staggering 21 percent of drivers involved in all traffic fatalities in Colorado tested positive for marijuana. Do we really want this in Illinois?"
"In 2014, the year Colorado's retail marijuana businesses began operating, marijuana-related hospitalizations increased 20 percent and emergency room visits increased 25 percent. The costs to taxpayers, as first responders and medical responses increase, are dramatic."
"And we can't ignore the relationship between marijuana use and psychotic incidents. The news has been filled with these tragedies."
Smith concluded by asking lawmakers to seriously consider these questions. Does Illinois really want to legalize a product which will only lead to a more stoned, distracted, apathetic and violent population? This policy will lead to more people buzzed at home, at construction sites, in operating rooms, in classrooms, and on our roads.
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MA Sex Education Mandate Gets Holy Week Hearing Contact: Andrew Beckwith, 781-569-0400,
BOSTON, April 18, 2017 /
"This bill takes control over sex education of out the hands of local school districts and gives it to state bureaucrats," explained Massachusetts Family Institute's President Andrew Beckwith. "Parents and teachers should be able to decide for themselves what is best for the students in their own community."
One of the sexual health curricula that is recommended by the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which would have authority over what schools teach if the bill is passed, is Planned Parenthood's controversial "Get Real" series. These middle school workbooks teach children as young as 12 how to use saran wrap as a "dental dam" for oral to anal sexual stimulation. "The sponsors of this bill argue that it would guarantee sex ed material is 'age appropriate' and 'medically accurate,'" Beckwith observed. "Clearly, that is not the case when you have activists at the state department of education that think it is 'age appropriate' for 12 year-olds to study the finer points of dental dam usage during non-reproductive sexual acts." During his testimony, Beckwith presented the committee chairs with boxes of saran wrap to serve, he said, "as a visual reminder of what this bill would force on our schools and children."
In 2016, an earlier version of the legislation passed through the MA Senate before getting stalled in the House. This year's version of the bill, however, contains disturbing new requirements. For example, local schools are required to teach about abortion as one of the "options for pregnancy." Teachers would also be forced to give an "affirmative representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, relationships, and families." Beckwith doesn't believe most co-sponsors of the legislation even realize this provision is in the text of the bill. "When I ask legislators or concerned parents how they would define a 'bisexual relationship' as required by these bills, I am usually met with confused looks. This begs the question, exactly what type of discussion is that going to be for school children as young as Kindergarten?"
Share Tweet Contact: Andrew Beckwith, 781-569-0400, andrew@mafamily.org BOSTON, April 18, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- Massachusetts Legislators heard testimony on Thursday regarding a bill that is stirring up quite a bit of controversy amongst parents. "An act relative to healthy youth," drew sharp criticism at the morning's hearing. Parents and educators expressed strong concern with the bill, which they say imposes a new statewide standard for the sensitive topic of K-12 sexual health education."This bill takes control over sex education of out the hands of local school districts and gives it to state bureaucrats," explained Massachusetts Family Institute's President Andrew Beckwith. "Parents and teachers should be able to decide for themselves what is best for the students in their own community."One of the sexual health curricula that is recommended by the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which would have authority over what schools teach if the bill is passed, is Planned Parenthood's controversial "Get Real" series. These middle school workbooks teach children as young as 12 how to use saran wrap as a "dental dam" for oral to anal sexual stimulation. "The sponsors of this bill argue that it would guarantee sex ed material is 'age appropriate' and 'medically accurate,'" Beckwith observed. "Clearly, that is not the case when you have activists at the state department of education that think it is 'age appropriate' for 12 year-olds to study the finer points of dental dam usage during non-reproductive sexual acts." During his testimony, Beckwith presented the committee chairs with boxes of saran wrap to serve, he said, "as a visual reminder of what this bill would force on our schools and children."In 2016, an earlier version of the legislation passed through the MA Senate before getting stalled in the House. This year's version of the bill, however, contains disturbing new requirements. For example, local schools are required to teach about abortion as one of the "options for pregnancy." Teachers would also be forced to give an "affirmative representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, relationships, and families." Beckwith doesn't believe most co-sponsors of the legislation even realize this provision is in the text of the bill. "When I ask legislators or concerned parents how they would define a 'bisexual relationship' as required by these bills, I am usually met with confused looks. This begs the question, exactly what type of discussion is that going to be for school children as young as Kindergarten?"
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Judicial Watch: HHS Documents Reveal Serious Behind-the-Scenes Security Concerns About Healthcare.gov
Contact: Jill Farrell, Judicial Watch, 202-646-5172
WASHINGTON, April 18, 2017 /Christian Newswire/ -- Judicial Watch today released 944 pages of Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) records showing that the Obamacare website was launched despite serious concerns by its security testing contractor, Mitre Corporation, as well as internal executive-level apprehension about security.
Judicial Watch obtained the HHS documents in response to a court order in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (No. 1:14-cv-00430)). The lawsuit was filed in March 2014 after HHS failed to respond to a December 20, 2013, FOIA request seeking:
All records related to the security of the healthcare.gov web portal including, but not limited to, studies, memoranda, correspondence, electronic communications (e-mails), and slide presentations from January 1, 2012 to the present.
A July 2013 "Continuous Improvement Plan," prepared for updates and improvements to the healthcare.gov website, defines the "Change Control Board" as a provider of final approval on new features and "politically sensitive issues."
The documents reveal that Mitre recommended a "Denial Authorization to Operate" in the month prior to Obamacare's launch, noting that it could not adequately test the confidentiality and integrity of the system. It said that complete end-to-end testing of the system never occurred. Miter found that 11 "moderate" security findings and eight "low" findings remained open as September 19, 2013 12 days before the launch.
And an unsigned "Authorization to Operate" prepared just five days before Obamacare's launch, indicates that the site's "validation contractor" was "unable to adequately test the confidentiality and integrity of the [Federally Facilitated Marketplace] system in full." That contractor, Blue Canopy, noted that they were able to access data "that should not be publically accessible."
On October 1, Americans started shopping for health insurance on healthcare.gov, and the site crashed.
In an October 2013 email exchange requesting help with an upcoming test, healthcare.gov IT security Chief Tom Schankweiler complained of a lack of a "grand strategy" in security testing the Obamacare website. Schankweiler complained about hackers hitting the site, and noted that confidential information was "growing legs and growing way beyond the normal borders." Fryer agreed with Schankweiler, and also noted "conflict of interest issues" in the security testing.
In November senior CMS official Jon Booth discusses "a contingency system" for higher Obamacare enrollments that CMS Office of Administration wanted "kept under the radar" and "out of the spotlight, even from an internal perspective." George Linares responds to Booth, noting that healthcare.gov was still operating without an "Authorization to Operate," and that the "contingency system" meant they needed a plan to "close the security gap as well."
Among the released documents is a November draft press background briefer, in which CMS officials crossed out a line that read that consumers could "trust that the information that they are providing is protected by stringent security standards" and a line that the ACA website was "compliant with the Federal Information Security Management Act."
MORE: www.judicialwatch.org/press-room/press-releases/judicial-watch-hhs-documents-reveal-serious-behind-scenes-security-concerns-healthcare-gov
home World Worshippers flock to Argentina home to witness 'miracle' as Virgin Mary statue starts 'crying blood'
Hundreds of worshippers have flocked to a home in a remote town in Argentina's Salta province after a video of a statue of Virgin Mary appearing to shed tears of blood went viral.
The mysterious phenomenon is being hailed as a miracle by the worshippers who went to the town of Los Naranjos to see the statue first hand.
According to the Mirror, the statue of the Virgin of the Mystical Rose, one of the names Catholics use for the Virgin Mary, belongs to the Frias Mendoza family, who lives in the city of San JosA de MetAnSan.
The family initially broke the story of the weeping statue through a local radio station.
The owner, who first noticed the icon shedding red tears in March, claimed that Mary visited him in a dream "the day before the miracle began."
"It was the first time something like this has happened and I was very scared. I thought it was some kind of punishment," said Mendoza.
The family's dining room has become a makeshift shrine to the statue after hundreds of people started arriving into the small town to pay their respects.
The icon will be moved to a local Catholic Church to allow more Christians to see it, Express reported.
"A lot of people come here to pray and light several candles devoted to the Virgin," said Priest Ricardo Quiroga. "If she cries again, we need to do something at a high level in the church," he added.
Priest Julio RaAl MAndez has cautioned people not to jump to conclusions, and he noted that there will be an investigation to look for a scientific or natural explanation for the phenomenon.
"The first thing the church does is to do a scientific analysis to see if there is a natural explanation. Only then, the possibility of a supernatural phenomenon is considered," said the priest.
While there have been numerous reports of weeping religious statues over the years, only one has been certified by the authorities in the Catholic Church. Most of the other reports have been proven to be hoaxes.
In 1984, a wooden statue of Our Lady of Akita, another name for the Virgin Mary, in Japan, was certified to have shed real blood, sweat, and tears after eight years of investigations.
5 minutes with Robert Rauschenbergs Accident
Prints specialist Elsie Widing explains why this lithograph offered at Christies New York, 19-20 April represents a pivotal moment in the groundbreaking American artists career
Over the course of his six-decade career, graphic artist and painter Robert Rauschenberg revolutionised modern art in America. Born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1925, he studied at the celebrated Black Mountain College in North Carolina in the late 1940s. His teacher, the German-born American artist Josef Albers, was closely associated with the Bauhaus. Albers stressed discipline and the importance of eliminating all experimentation in art philosophies against which Rauschenberg rebelled. Lithography considered the most painterly of printing techniques was largely absent from the artistic landscape in 1950s America. In 1957 Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE) was founded on Long Island by Tatyana Grosman, and became one of the rare institutions producing lithographs. Under Grosmans careful guidance, ULAE attracted some of the most talented artists of the era, including Grace Hartigan and Helen Frankenthaler, Jim Dine and James Rosenquist, Barnett Newman and Cy Twombly. Grosmans workshop was a new concept in the printmaking world, explains Elsie Widing, a Prints & Multiples specialist at Christies in New York. Grosman understood that Rauschenberg was an important artist, and soon invited him to join ULAE; Rauschenberg began printing with Grosman in the early 1960s.
Open a larger version of this image Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), Accident, 1963. Image: 37 x 27 in (940 x 686 mm). Sheet: 41 x 29 in (1048 x 743 mm). Sold for $93,750 on 19-20 April 2017 at Christies in New York
Up until that point American artists had generally been viewed as somewhat secondary to their European counterparts. This began to change when Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns burst on the scene. Johns and Rauschenberg were really the first two artists to be embraced by both the European and the American artistic communities, says Widing. Accident (1963), one of Rauschenbergs earliest prints, represents a moment in American art history when the print became a recognisable artistic medium, the specialist adds. In 1963, Grosman submitted Accident to the Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, where it won the Grand Prize. Rauschenberg probably appreciated the painterly aspect of lithography and the fact that it allowed for greater flexibility and fluidity than techniques such as etching. Abstract Expressionism was still at its height, adds Widing, and in Accident you can still see the gestural brushstroke.
Theres almost a performative aspect to it, an awareness that a lithograph doesnt have to be the result of an exact technical process
Sara Plumbly, Head of Islamic & Indian Art at Christies London, discusses the breadth of Islamic calligraphy, illustrated with a group of exceptional Qurans to be offered in our 27 April sale of Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds
For Muslims, the Quran constitutes the very word of God. As Sara Plumbly, Head of Islamic & Indian Art at Christie's London, explains, the imperative to clearly and elegantly transcribe these words has made calligraphy the oldest and most revered of the arts of Islam. According to some, indeed, calligraphy is considered the epitome of Islamic art.
On 27 April, Christies will bring to auction an extraordinary group of Qurans that demonstrate the evolution of the copying of the Quran across the centuries. Taken together, these beautiful works reflect a real range both in terms of calligraphy and illumination.
One outstanding piece, a Kufic folio on blue vellum, comes from one of the most important early Qurans that we know of today, with calligraphy copied in gold and outlined by red. There is ongoing debate as to the precise attribution, but it is generally accepted that it was copied in the 9th century, in Tunisia, Plumbly explains. The roundels, which would have marked every verse of the Quran, would originally have been a vivid, sparkling silver, and the whole thing would have been even more lavish that it appears today.
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African countries require Chinese expertise, technology and financial resources to accelerate the next phase of socio-economic transformation, a researcher has said.
Executive Director of Africa Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Professor Lemma Senbet, told Xinhua in a recent interview that China's robust engagement with the world's second largest continent has been a game changer in many spheres.
"I regard Chinese engagement with Africa as really transformational both in trade, investments and infrastructure development, there has been positive impact on Africa's growth trajectory," Senbet said.
The Ethiopian born scholar was optimistic that the current geopolitical shockwaves linked to economic nationalism and isolationism in the west will not affect Sino-Africa bilateral cooperation.
He said China has eclipsed traditional African allies in the West to become the leading source of foreign direct investments in the continent.
At the same time, the Asian giant has become the leading trading partner with Africa, a feat credited for the continent's stellar economic growth in the last two decades.
Senbet refuted claims that China was only interested with Africa's natural resources and emphasized that Sino-Africa partnership has been framed around mutual respect and pursuit of common aspirations.
"Basically some people think of natural resources when it comes to China's engagement with Africa yet the country is strong in trade, retail and financial services sector in Africa," said Senbet.
He said African countries should court China as they embark on economic diversification, regional integration and strengthening of political institutions.
Senbet hailed China's investment in modern infrastructure projects across Africa saying the move will hasten the continent's economic development through robust trade and investments.
"China's investments in this continent's infrastructure have been huge. For instance, the Nairobi-Mombasa railway has impacted positively on regional integration," Senbet said.
He added that African countries will benefit immensely from creation of Belt and Road Initiative envisioned by Chinese leaders to revive ancient trading routes.
The initiative is "playing the role of enhancing economic integration of African countries," Senbet said while hailing China's investment in Africa's modern industrial parks.
African countries require Chinese soft loans and grants to support infrastructure development and modernization of social sectors like education and health.
Senbet noted that investments in Africa's knowledge-based economy as opposed to financial aid would sustain the continent's renaissance for the long haul.
He emphasized that China should help African countries strengthen their capacity to harness local expertise and resources in order to propel growth.
The scholar singled out technology transfer as an area that would unleash optimum benefits to both China and Africa.
African countries should forge strong partnership with China in areas that advance democracy, good governance and the rule of law.
Senbet reiterated that African countries can borrow lessons from China to strengthen their political institutions and shield them from internal and external shocks.
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Pakistani security forces have killed 108 terrorists in a major anti-terror operation launched in February, the military said on Monday.
The operation codenamed "Radd-ul-Fasaad," or "Reject Discord" in English, was launched after a series of terrorist attacks that killed over 100 people nationwide.
The regular army and other law enforcement agencies are jointly conducting the intelligence-based operation.
Sharing results of the operation, army spokesman Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor said at a news conference that about 4,500 suspects have also been taken into custody during the operation.
The operation will continue till the complete elimination of terrorists, their abettors and sympathizers, he said.
Ghafoor said that work on fencing along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border is continuing, and under the first phase, the country's border in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province with Afghanistan will be fenced.
In the second phase, border in southwestern Balochistan Province with Afghanistan will be fenced, he said.
Stacy Riendeau's heart swelled and tears came to her eyes as she watched one of her students put on his new pair of glasses for the first time.
Riendeau, who is the nurse at Drew Elementary School, relayed this moving experience in a letter shared during the Crosby ISD school board meeting Monday, April 18.
"Once the glasses were handed to him and he put them on, he looked around the room, squinting and adjusting his vision," Riendeau stated. "All of a sudden, he smiled and a look came over his face like he had just seen color for the first time. The student is not color blind, but the reaction he had was that of someone that is."
This child was one of 65 Crosby ISD students who received a free pair of glasses as a part of the See to Succeed program. The glasses were delivered to school campuses across Crosby ISD on Thursday, April 13.
This was the district's first year participating in the program, which is organized through the Houston Health Department. More than 70 Crosby ISD students traveled to the West End Health Center in January and received free vision screenings.
Campus nurses determined which students were in need of the services. Crosby ISD's nurses perform eye exams on students annually, but not all students referred to get glasses are actually able to do so.
For some students, a pair of glasses can mean the difference between academic success and struggle, according to Patricia Kay, assistant superintendent of student services in Crosby ISD.
"If this effort helps them, there's no excuse for not getting them glasses," Kay said. "It makes me feel good because I know those kids are going to do better academically now. It means so much for these kids to be able to see the board, to see what they're doing and to see what their teacher is writing."
The See to Succeed program not only gets students the correct prescription lenses, it allows the students to pick out their own stylish frames.
"As I brought each student into our office to be fitted, I got to see the excitement on their faces and their eyes light up when (we) opened the box and showed them their special pair made just for them," Riendeau stated.
The district plans to participate in the See to Succeed program again next school year. Campus nurses are already in the process of identifying students.
Next school year, Crosby ISD also plans to participate in a similar program called Saving Smiles. Nurses will help identify second graders in need of dental care.
"Second grade is a critical time when their back molars are coming in and there's a lot of activity going on in those mouths, so we're going to help these kids receive dental care," Kay said. "They will receive a screening when they take the field trip (to the West End Health Clinic), and they will be referred to a doctor in the city of Houston network that can help the parents with dental care."
Additionally, Crosby ISD collected more than 400 teddy bears as a part of the Pay It Forward Pray It Forward Foundation's Teddy Bear Drive in December 2016. The teddy bears were donated to children at the Shriners Hospital and MD Anderson during the holidays.
"These are for kids that are spending Christmas in the hospital," Kay said. "Our kids are aware of what they're giving a teddy bear for. All the schools took part, and even our technology department got into it."
For more information about Crosby ISD, visit www.crosbyisd.org.
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A suspected organizer of a recent St. Petersburg metro blast was detained on Monday in the Moscow Region, Russia's Federal Security Service said in a statement.
Azimov Abror Akhralovich, a Central Asian native born in 1990, has been caught in the Odintsovo District of the Moscow Region, said the statement.
It said the detainee trained previously identified Akbarzhon Dzhalilov, who carried out the deadly bomb attack in the St. Petersburg metro on April 3, killing 14 people and wounding dozens.
Earlier this month, six people in St. Petersburg and two others in Moscow were detained for suspected involvement in the attack.
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Last year, Houston was suffering one of its worst wet spells in history.
Appropriately named the "Tax Day Floods," the storm system dropped as much as 17 inches of rain in parts of the city from April 17 to 18. After it was all said and done, eight people died, and over 700 homes and apartments were flooded.
The trouble began during the overnight hours of April 17 when a group of thunderstorms decided to sit right on top of the Greater Houston area. As the morning hours crept in, rains were already hitting 4 inches per hour.
AERIAL PHOTOS: Get a different perspective of the Tax Day Floods
Highway 6 in west Houston was one of the hardest-hit areas. Between Clay Road and Park Row, high waters had completely overtaken the roadway, despite the nearby reservoir. It would take several weeks before it finally reopened.
Possibly one of the more annoying moments that had occurred throughout the ordeal was the emergence of fake information propagated on social media. Unscrupulous Twitter users announced school district closures, and others used their photo editing skills to show sharks wandering around floodwaters.
RAW VIDEO: Drowning horses fight for survival in flood waters near Houston
Flood victims, especially those in the Greenspoint area, had to abandon their homes due to the storm. Worse, the city's response to their situation was deemed too slow. Just several months into the job, Mayor Sylvester Turner had to apologize to the 1,000 or so people who showed up at community meetings and voiced their concerns.
Houston Chronicle photographers compiled the most powerful photos taken during those weeks. We've organized them all for easy viewing in the gallery above.
Flash
The 10th meeting of the China-Vietnam steering committee on cooperation was held Monday, co-chaired by Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh.
In the past year, China-Vietnam relations have continued their good development momentum, and exchanges in various fields have continuously deepened, Yang said.
He called for joint efforts to ensure the success of mutual visits by the leaders of the two parties and countries within the year and to upgrade the quality and standard of pragmatic cooperation.
Echoing Yang on the status of bilateral ties, Pham Binh Minh said his country highly values its comprehensive strategic cooperation with China, and expressed the Vietnamese side's willingness to deepen strategic coordination, enhance political trust, and beef up pragmatic cooperation.
Minh also expressed his wishes for the success of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) to be held this year.
Yang and Minh hailed the significant role the steering committee mechanism has played since its establishment around 10 years ago.
Both sides agreed to implement the consensus reached by their leaders and map out plans for the whole year, spearheaded by deepened high-level visits.
The two sides also reached consensus on advancing their comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation by jointly promoting China's Belt and Road Initiative and Vietnam's "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan, expanding cooperation in such areas as investment, capacity, infrastructure, people-to-people exchanges, accelerating the building of cross-border economic cooperation zones, as well as properly managing differences to safeguard maritime peace and stability.
After the meeting, Yang and Minh attended the signing ceremony of the meeting minutes of the 10th meeting of the China-Vietnam steering committee on cooperation.
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.
Flash
China firmly supports the European integration process and positively views the development prospects of Europe and the European Union (EU), a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Monday.
Lu Kang said at a routine press briefing that China and the EU, as two important global powers, are comprehensive strategic partners, and stable development of bilateral ties is very important.
China's policy toward Europe remains consistent, and China hopes that Europe can maintain prosperity, stability and opening up, Lu said.
He said China-EU relations have maintained sound development, with the creation of four partnerships of peace, growth, reform and civilization moving ahead steadily.
Both sides have attached more importance to strengthening strategic communication and coordination on major global issues, he added.
China and the EU will hold their seventh round of high-level strategic dialogues on Wednesday in Beijing, and Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi will co-chair the dialogue with Federica Mogherini, EU high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, as well as vice president of the European Commission.
Lu said both sides will take advantage of the dialogue to plan for the development of bilateral ties in the next stage and exchange in-depth views on global and regional hotspot issues of common concern in order to deepen mutual trust, promote cooperation and maintain the development momentum of China-EU relations.
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Mumbai, April 18 : Bolywood actor Chunky Pandey, who has done a negative role in the recently released "Begum Jaan", says that he was a fan of villains since childhood.
"I have been a fan of villains since my childhood. Finally when I got the role of a villain, I got scary reactions from two women. They were sitting beside me during the screening and left the hall halfway when they realised I was beside them," said Chunky Pandey at a post-release interview of "Begum Jaan".
After trying his hand at comedy and negative genre, Chunky now wants to make his audience cry. "I have done comedy and now I did a negative role. So for future I guess I wanna do an emotional character and make my audience cry," said the "Housefull" actor.
Asked which genre was more tougher to perform Chunky said: "Being a villain was an easy thing to do. Comedy completely depends on the script and the type of dialogues we get. Comedy is dependent on time and so I will say comedy is tougher than being a villain."
Sharing some funny moments from the set, Chunky said: "My first interaction with Vidya Balan was inside her vanity van and I was dressed up in my character. As I stepped into her van, she looked at me and screamed. That was like a compliment for me."
When asked if he took any inspiration from any past villains of the industry for this role, he said: "I would like to become 'Dilavar' from 'Muqaadar Ka Sikander' played by Amjad Khan. That is the kind of negativity a villain should have."
"Begum Jaan", starring Vidya Balan, Gauhar Khan, Illa Arun, Naseerudin Shah and Pallavi Sharda among others, hit the big screen on April 14.
Fundatia de Binefacere Caritas Moldova solicita oferte de pret de la companii cu privire la productia de materiale de vizibilitate
Some of the most resolute holdouts against a plan to build protective sand dunes in a part of the New Jersey shore hit hard by Superstorm Sandy have dropped their lawsuit against the plan.
Seven homeowners in Margate, south of Atlantic City, ended their litigation Thursday against the state Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others. They were one of at least four groups of Jersey shore property owners who filed lawsuits against Gov. Chris Christies dune plan.
Margate sustained serious damage during the 2012 storm, and the homeowners sought to block the construction of dunes in the borough, which relies on wooden bulkheads to protect against storm surges.
But officials claimed most of the flooding came from the bay, not the Atlantic Ocean. And a federal judge in February declined to block the dunes, ruling that the opponents fears including transmission of the Zika virus were not realistic.
An attorney for the Margate homeowners says they realized that nothing they would be able to do in court would prevent the project from beginning in the next few weeks.
There is nothing meaningful that can be accomplished through litigation in the eight weeks before heavy machinery dominates Margates beaches for the entire summer season, said Jordan Rand, the homeowners attorney. Only injunctive relief could have prevented that result. Now, Margate residents have to simply wait and see. Either the Army Corps prognostications will be right, or they wont.
Citing the mosquito-borne illness that has caused birth defects in tropical areas was the most far-reaching of the many tactics used by property owners trying to prevent Christies administration from carrying out its dune project.
The homeowners voiced fears of large lagoons of standing water on the beach that could contain a mixture of trash, oil and other contaminants, providing a breeding ground for mosquitoes that can carry and transmit the Zika virus.
But a judge ruled that the worst fears expressed by the homeowners either werent likely to happen, or could easily be fixed by engineering solutions or, failing that, cash compensation.
Several scientists say the possibility of the dune project causing a Zika outbreak is remote at best, noting that the type of mosquito that typically carries it isnt a problem in New Jersey. The only cases spread by local mosquitoes so far have been in Florida and Texas. And the argument has not been raised by any of the other Jersey shore towns seeking to block the project.
The judge ruled that any puddles or ponding that might occur following construction of the dunes are not likely to be worse than what is already there without the dunes.
Testimony recently concluded in another case in which homeowners in Bay Head are trying to convince a judge that the $5 million they spend on a privately built rock wall provides better and more economical protection than the dune project. A ruling is expected in a few weeks.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
California Woman Convicted of Crash and Buy Auto Insurance Fraud
Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig announced that on March 23, 2017, 32-year-old Alicia Hernandez of West Sacramento was convicted of filing a false insurance claim and providing false statements of her traffic collision on March 23, 2017. The conviction resulted from a joint investigation between the District Attorneys Office and the California Department of Insurance.
On June 2, 2015, while driving her Nissan Maxima, Hernandezs involved in a traffic collision in West Sacramento, CA. The West Sacramento Police Department responded to the scene of the collision and took a collision report. At the time of the collision, Hernandez did not have auto insurance coverage for her car. Approximately two hours after the collision she purchased an automobile insurance policy from Esurance. During the phone call with Esurance, Hernandez made false statements regarding the collision in an effort to obtain coverage from her insurance claim.. This strategy is often referred to as a crash and buy in the insurance industry.
Hernandez later provided a recorded statement to Esurance stating that she purchased the policy a few hours before the collision. However, the insurance company already had the police report from the West Sacramento Police Department and the recorded conversation from when Hernandez attempted to purchase her automobile insurance. The investigation showed Hernandez version of the events, including her timeline, were suspicious and inconsistent.
Hernandez pled no contest to misdemeanor insurance fraud. Yolo County Superior Court Judge Daniel MaGuire placed her on three years summary probation and sentenced her to 10 days in county jail. Hernandez also pled no contest to driving on a suspended license and was sentenced to five days in county jail.
Purchasing an insurance policy after a collision has occurred and then reporting that a collision took place after the inception of the policy is a crime. Insurance Fraud is the most costly white-collar crime in America behind tax evasion. Insurance industry studies show that about ten percent or more of property/casualty claims are fraudulent. Insurance fraud costs Americans billions of dollars each year. District Attorney Jeff Reisig stated that, Everyone pays substantially higher insurance premiums because of the crooks who commit insurance fraud. We are committed to investigating and prosecuting this type of fraud in our community.
Ohio Siblings to Reimburse Over $6000 for Taking Dead Dads Workers Comp Benefits
A judge has ordered a Fulton County sister and brother to reimburse $6,657 to the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation for taking their fathers BWC benefits in the immediate months following his death in 2014.
Cecilia Williams pleaded guilty Dec. 20 in the Fulton County Court of Common Pleas to a fifth-degree felony count of workers compensation fraud. She was sentenced Feb. 27 to two years of community control and a suspended jail term of seven months. She also must take a theft education course.
Her brother, James Miller was sentenced March 17 to a suspended sentence of six months in jail and a $100 fine after pleading guilty to attempted workers compensation fraud, a first-degree misdemeanor. Both have already paid restitution to BWC.
BWCs Special Investigations Department learned in 2014 that Williams and Millers father had passed away on March 15 that year, but no one had reported his death or returned his BWC cash benefits to the agency. Agents later discovered that a total of $6,657 had been withdrawn from ATMs between the dates of March 27, 2014, and July 17, 2014.
Williams admitted to agents that she withdrew the funds using her deceased fathers debit card for personal monetary gain and then provided half of the money to her brother.
Jail for Washington Man Who Used Fake Name in $114K Workers Comp Scam
A drywall worker who admitted stealing workers compensation benefits and then evaded authorities for a year must serve 60 days in jail.
Pablo Francisco Castillo Murguia of Auburn was sentenced in Thurston County on Wednesday for felony first-degree theft. Superior Court Judge Chris Lanese also ordered the 40-year-old to repay $114,752 for cash benefits along with medical and vocational services he wrongfully received over more than five years.
The Washington Attorney General prosecuted the case based on an investigation by the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I).
Castillo Murguia pleaded guilty in March 2016, but he failed to appear for sentencing later that month. The court issued a warrant for his arrest, yet he remained on the loose for a year. Last month, he was arrested by an officer who noticed the warrant while serving him with an order in an unrelated case.
The case started when Murguia fell from walking stilts as he taped drywall at a Seattle job site, injuring his right knee. He filed a workplace injury claim, calling himself Juan Pedro Castillo.
Treating physicians confirmed that his injury prevented him from working, allowing him to receive cash payments to make up for part of his lost wages. In addition, Castillo Murguia repeatedly stated on official forms that he couldnt work, and wasnt working, due to the on-the-job injury.
L&Is investigation revealed that he not only used a fake name in the claim, but was working while receiving workers compensation benefits, charging papers said.
On Aug. 30, 2012, he reached a settlement with L&I and received a final lump sum of nearly $7,700 for additional vocational training necessitated by his knee injury. L&I closed his case.
Within three weeks, Murguia filed a claim for another workplace injury. He claimed he injured his left leg while working as a drywall taper on Bainbridge Island on Sept. 7, 2012 just eight days after his original case closed. This time he filed under his real name.
L&I was tipped off to the ruse by a Spanish-language interpreter, who had interpreted for Murguia on his first claim. When he asked her to interpret on his second claim, she learned he was using a different name.
Along with L&Is work on this case, charging papers show the Washington Department of Licensing used its facial recognition system to determine that Murguia had fraudulently obtained two state-issued identification cards and a drivers license under fake names. In early 2012, Licensing cancelled the identification cards and suspended the drivers license with the false names.
United Airlines and the city of Chicago, Ill., may find themselves the target of lawsuits by the man who was dragged off a United plane in Chicago last week after refusing to give up his seat.
One of Dr. David Daos lawyers, Thomas Demetrio, said as much Thursday during a news conference in which he suggested that Dao could be a poster child for the mistreatment of passengers by the airline industry.
It took something like this to get a conversation going, attorney Demetrio said.
Dao was forcibly removed from a fully-booked United Express flight out of OHare International Airport on Sunday to make room for crew members.
Demetrio said the 69-year-old Kentucky physician and father of five lost two teeth and suffered a concussion and broken nose during the incident. He also indicated that Dao will be suing the airline and the city of Chicago, which employs the airport police who dragged Dao down the aisle, his face bloody.
Demetrio said the video showed an extraordinary instance of something that happens too routinely: Airlines overbooking flights then bumping paying customers.
It also exposed a corporate culture in which airlines and United in particular have long bullied passengers, he said. The situation could have been avoided if the airline, which offered $800 travel vouchers and a hotel stay for passengers to rebook on another flight, had simply upped their offer, Demetrio said.
I hope he becomes a poster child for all of us, he said. Someones got to.
Dao, who didnt attend the news conference, was released from a local hospital late Wednesday and will need reconstructive surgery, Demetrio said. He said his client was in a secure location because he has been hounded by media, but that he would speak at a future date.
One of Daos children, Crystal Pepper, said the family was horrified, shocked and sickened by what happened.
Early on, United CEO Oscar Munoz added to what was already a public relations nightmare for the company when he apologized for the incident but accused Dao of being belligerent. Later, Munoz offered a more emphatic mea culpa, saying: No one should ever be mistreated this way.
He promised to review the airlines policies to make sure something like that never happens again, and said United will no longer use police to remove bumped passengers. The airline also said all passengers on the flight would get a refund.
In a statement issued immediately after Thursdays news conference, United insisted that Munoz and the airline called Dao numerous times to apologize. Munoz himself said on Wednesday that he had left a message for Dao.
But Demetrio said neither Dao nor his family had heard from United.
The union for the airlines pilots issued a statement Thursday seeking to distance them from the incident, pointing out that it happened on a United Express carrier that is separately owned and operated by Republic Airline and that United pilots werent flying the jet. It also said United pilots are infuriated by what happened and blamed the incident on the grossly inappropriate actions of the security officers.
The three officers who removed Dao have been suspended from their jobs at the Chicago Aviation Department.
Pepper said her father and mother had been traveling from California to Louisville, Kentucky, and had caught a connecting flight at OHare.
United had selected Dao and three other passengers at random for removal from the plane after unsuccessfully offering the vouchers and a hotel stay to customers willing to give up their seats. The three other passengers left the plane, but Dao would not.
The attorney was unable to say precisely how Dao was injured. Dao doesnt remember exactly what occurred because of the concussion he suffered, Demetrio said.
For Dao, who came to the U.S. after fleeing Vietnam by boat in 1975 when Saigon fell, being dragged off the plane was more horrifying and harrowing than what he experienced in leaving Vietnam, Demetrio said. After what happened, Dao has no interest in ever seeing an airplane and will probably be driven to Kentucky, he said.
At a City Council committee hearing Thursday, aldermen ripped officials from United and the aviation department about the episode.
There are no excuses, Alderman Michael Zalewski said.
John Slater, a United vice president, said bumping passengers to accommodate airline employees happens infrequently, and that federal guidelines requiring rest for crew members made it necessary to get the employees on the Sunday flight to Louisville.
Aviation Commissioner Ginger Evans told the committee that the officers had the authority to board the flight but that what happened on the plane is being investigated.
The departments roughly 300 officers guard the citys two main airports but are not part of the regular Chicago police force, receive less training and cannot carry guns inside the terminals.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
At least 126,000 acres have burned in wildfires across Florida since January, surpassing the five-year average of acreage burned in a typical year, officials said.
Floridas fire season peaks this month, during the driest part of the year in the state, and experts warn that the fire risk may worsen in the coming weeks.
Its fairly likely were going to get drier before there is relief from this, said state climatologist David Zierden, at Florida State Universitys Florida Climate Center.
Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam has described this year as the most active fire season since 2011. As of Thursday, 97 active fires burned statewide, with 28 active wildfires larger than 100 acres, according to a Florida Today report.
Smoke from some fires has forced Florida Highway Patrol troopers to close major highways for hours at a time. Health officials have recommended that people with asthma or chronic lung or heart conditions should stay indoors with windows closed to avoid smoke from blazes near them.
Gov. Rick Scott has declared a state of emergency because of active wildfires across the state. He also directed the Florida National Guard to put a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter on standby for potential firefighting missions in Tampa. The aircraft would support the Florida Forest Service and collect and dispense large quantities of water onto fires without having to land.
Dry conditions, particularly in South Florida, have prompted water management districts to prohibit fires on their lands.
Weve just been exceptionally dry because we didnt get any rain in January and February, Bryan Williams, a meteorologist with the Florida Forest Service, told Florida Today. When that fuel moisture goes down and the humidity is down and the winds blowing, thats usually a melting pot for extreme fire conditions.
One fire has scorched nearly 18,000 acres within the Big Cypress National Preserve. Another fire in Collier County has burned more than 26,000 acres.
Southwest Florida is the driest region in the state, according to forest service data, and Lee County is the driest county. The Naples and Fort Myers areas have seen below average rainfall nearly every month since September, according to National Weather Service data.
Kevin Scharfenberg and Steven Ippoliti, forecasters with the National Weather Service in Miami, said this past winters weather pattern caused most cold fronts to dissipate before reaching Southwest Florida.
Typically, cold fronts that move into the region bring us most of our winter rainfall, they said in an email to the Naples Daily News.
Forecasters predict Floridas weather will be hotter and dryer than normal in the coming months, with dry conditions extending into June. When the rainy does finally begin, it will bring storms with lightning, another leading cause of brush fires.
This is definitely the most active season weve seen in several years, said Susan Lindenmuth, a spokeswoman for the Estero fire district. Our average heavy wildfire season is in April, May. Were just in the very beginning of it.
The increased fire activity has stressed local fire departments with brush fires on top of their regular work load of house fires, vehicle crashes and medical calls.
Lindenmuth said one of her districts brush trucks is out of service after being damaged while fighting two Lehigh Acres fires that burned 400 acres and damaged seven homes in early March. Two children eventually confessed to starting one of the fires.
Greater Naples Fire Chief Kingman Schuldt said he had brush trucks running 24 hours a day in early March fighting a 7,000-acre fire. One of them is still down for maintenance. It cost the department about $86,000 to fight that fire.
We dont budget for a significant event, he said. An event like this, we have to figure it out.
Laurence LeBuff, whose home was one of the four that burned in the 7,000-acre fire, said he wasnt surprised by the fierce fire season.
These woods have been dry, dry, dry for months and months, LeBuff said.
Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Medical marijuana program firming up program But key decisions will be made in '17 from A1
The city of Akron is considering legislation that would "heavily regulate" medical marijuana businesses attempting to operate in the city limits.
(jborchardt/cleveland.com)
AKRON, Ohio - The city of Akron is considering legislation that would "heavily regulate" medical marijuana businesses attempting to operate in the city limits.
But Akronites looking to cultivate marijuana under Ohio's Medical Marijuana Control Program could miss the boat because the state will begin accepting applications in June, well before people could secure required city permits under a new licensing process that has to be approved by city council.
The city said today public hearings will be held on the new licensing and zoning regulations on Monday, May 1 at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at Akron City Council Chambers, 166 S. High St. in downtown Akron.
If approved by city council, the new process would wipe out the city's moratorium, which would have been in place until September, on issuing or processing medical marijuana licenses, building permits, certificates of occupancy, conditional use permits and other authorizations.
However, the new legislation would require potential cultivators to secure a conditional use permit and a provisional use permit, which together could take up to eight weeks, said Ellen Lander Nischt, the city's press secretary.
Those permits must be in hand before cultivators can apply to the state.
In June, Ohio will begin accepting applications for review in July. The competitive process will only award 24 licenses, with 12 licenses for up to 25,000 square feet of growing space, and 12 licenses for up to 3,000 square feet. It could be years before the state expands the number of licenses.
Once licenses are awarded, cultivators have nine months to comply with the program requirements. Among them is that no bans or moratoriums are in place locally.
In addition to the local licensing process, Akron's new proposed law would allow the Akron Police to inspect any medical marijuana facility at any time and it would impose city fees.
"Recognizing that medical marijuana will now be legal across Ohio, we felt it necessary to enact additional local restrictions that will limit where medical marijuana businesses can locate in Akron and give us greater control over licensing, regulating, and inspecting these facilities to make sure they are being operated in a legal, appropriate, and safe way," said Mayor Dan Horrigan in a news release. "The goal of this ordinance is to allow patients to access legal medical treatment while ensuring that these facilities do not have any unwanted impact on our neighborhoods."
Ohio's law, passed last June, allows certified physicians to issue recommendations for patients to buy and use marijuana if they have any of 21 qualifying medical conditions, such as AIDS, Crohn's disease, hepatitis C, sickle cell anemia and traumatic brain injury.
The law prohibits marijuana use through smoking or combustion, or any form that is attractive to children. The law approves of oils, tinctures, plant material, edibles and patches.
In Ohio, medical marijuana must be available for licensed patients by September 2018.
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Towpath Trail 01 (Summit Metro Parks).JPG
Visitors to Summit Metro Parks are encouraged to follow specific guidelines outlined by park rangers while visiting the Bike & Hike, Freedom and Towpath trails.
(Summit Metro Parks)
AKRON, Ohio -- Summit Metro Parks rangers released safety guidelines for pedestrians and bicycle riders visiting the Bike & Hike, Freedom and Towpath trails.
The warmer spring and summer weather attracts more visitors, especially during the weekends. Visitors are reminded to be safe and respectful to others on the trails.
The guidelines are:
Be courteous: Be respectful of others regardless of speed, skill level or mode of travel (i.e., bicycle, wheelchair or on foot).
Pass on the left: Pass other trail users on their left. Give an audible signal before passing, either by voice (e.g., "On your left!") or other means (e.g., ringing a bell). Pay special attention when passing children and pets.
Stopping: Move to the right when stopping. If possible, exit the trail. Be cautious of others approaching from behind, and make sure they know you are pulling over.
Be predictable: Travel in a consistent and predictable manner. Always look behind you before changing positions on the trail.
Don't block the trail: Use no more than half of the trail.
Obey all traffic signs and signals: Use extra caution where trails cross streets. Stop at all signs and intersections. When entering or crossing a trail, yield to other users.
Dogs must be on leashes: Leashes can be no more than 8 feet long on trails managed by Summit Metro Parks. Mutt Mitts are provided in many high-usage areas to help visitors clean up after their pets. (Note: Dogs are not permitted at F.A. Seiberling Nature Realm, 1828 Smith Rd. in Akron.)
Summit Metro Parks manages the 34-mile Bike & Hike Trail, which travels southeast from Sagamore Hills into Munroe Falls and Stow; 22.4 miles of the north-to-south Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail in Summit County; and the 6.2-mile Freedom Trail, which travels west from Middlebury Road near the Portage County line to Eastwood Avenue in Akron.
For more information, call 330-867-5511 or visit summitmetroparks.org.
Jennifer Conn, Akron reporter, cleveland.com
Take a trolley tour of Summit County Architectural Heritage Award winners
AKRON, Ohio - Akronites are invited to take a trolley tour to learn about some of the county's most important architecture.
The Summit County Architectural Heritage Award recognizes the efforts of individuals and organizations that restore and preserve the community's architecture. It is presented by Progress Through Preservation of Akron and the Summit County Historical Society in even-numbered years, with tours held in odd-numbered years.
This year's tour, held April 29 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., will visit six sites and is $16 per person, which includes transportation, breakfast, lunch and a beverage.
Mail checks to Progress Through Preservation, 2074 W. Market St., Akron, 44313, or buy tickets online here. RSVP to Alice Christie at 330-864-8364 or achristie@malone.edu. Attendance is limited so RSVP early.
(The Foundry, Summit County Historical Society)
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The Triangle Building
The tour begins at the award-winning Triangle Building on at 1200 Firestone Parkway in Akron. The site is the former home of the Firestone Rubber Company, and was built in 1926 along with several other massive buildings. Attendees will take a brief tour of the building, which now houses offices for seven Summit County services.
(Summit County Historical Society)
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The Hower House
The second stop is the grounds of Hower House, Akron's French Second Empire style Victorian house museum built in 1871 by industrialist John Hower.
Attendees will visit the Carriage House and its educational display on transportation, business and industry in Akron in the 19th century, which emphasizes the role of the Hower family in the growth of the city.
(Summit County Historical Society)
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The Hudson Guest House
Next up is a visit to the Hudson Guest House.
One of two matching wings on a funeral home on Hudson's green, the Guest House was built in 1836. It was moved in the 1870s, and has been restored using period materials and details. It now serves as an inn for visitors who appreciate historic accommodations.
(Summit County Historical Society)
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The Foundry
Heading south, the next site is one of the few remaining industrial structures on the river in Cuyahoga Falls.
Now called the Foundry and serving as the offices of TRIAD Communications, the building originally housed the Falls Stamping and Welding Company. Attendees will have lunch and, weather permitting, sit on the large patio overlooking the Cuyahoga River as it flows through the stone channel below.
(Summit County Historical Society)
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The Preservation House
The next stop is back in Akron at the 1870 schoolhouse now known as Preservation House, which is headquarters for Progress Through Preservation.
Saved from demolition through a collaboration between the city of Akron and Progress Through Preservation, the schoolhouse has been restored to its appearance in the 1930s when it served as a community library.
(Summit County Historical Society)
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The Philander D. Hall II House
The stop on the tour is the Philander D. Hall II House on Diagonal Road, a private residence.
Built in 1918 in the Georgian Colonial style the house was restored by its current owners and it stands as a reminder of the fine homes that once graced Mutton Hill.
(Summit County Historical Society)
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland Museum of Art and the government of Italy announced Tuesday that the museum would return to Italy an ancient Roman marble portrait head of Drusus Minor after learning that it apparently had been stolen in 1944 from a provincial museum near Naples.
The museum removed the head from Gallery 103 on Monday and is preparing to ship it back to Italy, said William Griswold, the museum's director.
"It is disappointing, even devastating, to lose a great object," he said. "On the other hand, the transfer of this object to Italy is so clearly the appropriate outcome that, disappointed though I may be, one can hardly question whether this is the right thing to do."
The joint statement quoted Dario Franceschini, Italy's minister of fine arts, as saying the return of the Drusus "is the result of an important and fruitful cultural agreement and the full cooperation of CMA with the Italian authorities."
Mistaken faith in title
When it bought the Drusus in 2012 for an undisclosed amount from Phoenix Ancient Art, the museum believed it had clear title, and that the work had been in an Algerian collection as far back as the late 19th century.
The museum and its Italian counterparts now believe that Italian archaeologists excavated the Drusus head in 1925 or 1926 in Sessa Aurunca, in the Caserta Province of Campania, Italy, about an hour's drive north of Naples.
The archaeologists had the Drusus photographed at the time, along with other discoveries including a marble portrait head of the Roman Emperor Tiberius, father of Drusus Minor.
A 1926 photo taken around the time of an excavation in Sessa Aurunca, Italy, documented the discovery of the portrait head of Drusus Minor, lower right, that eventually ended up in the collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The museum is returning the sculpture to Italy after learning it was stolen from Sessa Aurunca's museum in 1944.
The works were also placed in the archaeological museum at Sessa Aurunca, where they remained until they were removed in 1944.
Given that evidence, Griswold said, the museum and Italy now view the Drusus portrait as having been stolen.
It also does not fall into the category of works looted by tomb robbers from previously unknown sites in violation of the 1970 UNESCO convention aimed at halting illegal excavation and trafficking of antiquities.
In 2008, the museum returned 13 such looted antiquities to Italy, plus a 14th object, a processional cross that was stolen from a church near Siena. The Drusus falls in the same category as the cross, not the 13 other objects, Griswold said.
Big impact on collection
For the past five years, the Drusus helped anchor the museum gallery devoted to the height of the Roman Empire. The sculpture is notable for its luminous white surfaces, supple carving and for the powerful gaze of its subject.
The museum believes the work was made after the death of Drusus in 23 A.D., when his wife, Claudia Livia Julia, known as "Livilla" or "Little Livia," allegedly poisoned him at age 34.
Drusus was the heir apparent to Tiberius, but he disturbed Rome with his enjoyment of blood sport and ritual killing, the museum said on its website.
Purchase criticized immediately in 2012
The museum's purchase of the Drusus portrait in 2012 earned instant criticism from experts including archaeology Professor David Gill at the University of Suffolk in Ipswich, England. He and others complained of gaps in the provenance, or ownership history, of the object.
The museum believed at the time that the portrait had been the property of the Bacri family (later known as the Sintes family) of Algiers, Algeria, as far back as the late 19th century.
The museum said in 2012 that Fernand Sintes and his wife, then of Marseilles, France, inherited the work while living in Algiers. They subsequently moved it with them to Marseilles in 1960.
Fernand Sintes subsequently sold the Drusus at an auction at the Hotel Drouot in Paris in 2004 to an unnamed buyer. A day later, Parisian art dealer Jean-Philippe Mariaud de Serres, who advised Sintes on the auction, provided a "certificate of origin" for the work that included the Bacri-Sintes history.
That document and independent research carried out by the museum later buttressed its faith in its 2012 purchase.
No record of export from Algeria
Yet Franklin said in 2012 that because Algeria was a French possession in 1960, no export documentation was required for the Drusus. As a result, no record of the transfer from Algeria to France exists.
The museum also didn't know who owned the work between 2004 and 2012.
The purchase raised additional suspicions because the principals of Phoenix Ancient Art, brothers Ali and Hicham Aboutaam, with offices in New York and Geneva, Switzerland, had had brushes with the law.
Ali Aboutaam was sentenced in absentia in Egypt in 2004 on charges of smuggling and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Ali Aboutaam's lawyer, Mario Roberty, said at the time that the charges were "absolutely ridiculous" and politically motivated.
Hicham Aboutaam pleaded guilty in New York in June 2004 to a misdemeanor federal charge that he had falsified a customs document to hide the origins of an ancient silver drinking vessel the Phoenix gallery later sold for $950,000.
In 2004, the Aboutaams also sold a large bronze statue of Apollo to the Cleveland museum, which it believes is an original work by Praxiteles, one of the greatest masters of ancient Greek art.
Like the Drusus, the Apollo also has gaps in its ownership history, but the museum believes its title is clear.
Lingering doubts
Despite its high confidence about the Drusus, the Cleveland museum posted a description of it on the "Object Registry" of the Association of Art Museum Directors, a global online clearinghouse for objects whose provenance is not entirely known.
According to the AAMD write-up, the Cleveland museum contacted Fernand Sintes who reconfirmed everything stated in the 2004 certificate of origin authored by de Serres.
Subsequent research by Michael Bennett, the museum's curator of ancient Greek and Roman art, and by scholars and government authorities working independently in Italy, began to raise doubts, however.
Articles published in Italian archaeological magazines in 2011 and 2013 by scholars Giuseppe Scarpati and Sergio Cascella, respectively, reproduced the previously unpublished 1926 photographs taken when the Drusus and Tiberius heads were first unearthed.
Those articles suggested that both pieces had been stolen from the local museum in 1944.
Repatriation requested in 2014
A third article by Scarpati in 2014, in the Bolletino D'Arte, or Art Bulletin, mentioned the Cleveland museum's purchase of the work, and urged that it be returned to Italy.
Scarpati conjectured that the Drusus and Tiberius heads were "trafficked" by French occupation troops in 1944 while they were billeted at the museum in Sessa Aurunca.
He also suggested that the works might have fallen into the hands of North African troops active in the area at the time, perhaps explaining the later appearance of the Drusus in Algeria.
Griswold said the Cleveland museum contacted Italy's Ministry of Fine Arts in late 2016 and proposed collaborating on further research on the Drusus sculpture that also involved the Carabinieri.
"We were able to establish to our satisfaction that the [Drusus] head is the same as the one in the [1926] photograph, and the head in the photograph was in all likelihood removed from the museum at Sessa Aurunca,'' he said.
No blaming
Griswold said that the museum isn't pointing fingers at Fernand Sintes or at Phoenix Ancient Art.
"There's a gap [in the Drusus provenance] from 1944 until the 1960s, when the object was in France," Griswold said.
"We have every reason to believe it was in Algeria through the '50s, but that's not fully documented."
Griswold declined to comment on whether the museum would be reimbursed by Phoenix.
"Although we do customarily require dealers to warrant good title to any object that we purchase from them, we don't comment on the details of private transactions, and so I'm not going to do that now," he said.
18DARCY-TRUMP.jpg
President Donald Trump responded to the Tax Day March protesters' demand that he release his tax returns by boasting about his Electoral College victory over Hillary Clinton.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Can President Donald Trump win public and Congressional support for any tax reform plan he proposes without releasing his full tax returns? We're likely to find out, because it appears unlikely Trump will ever voluntarily release his returns.
"You know, the only one that cares about my tax returns are the reporters. They're the only ones who ask," said Trump in January.
Saturday, thousands of American's asked Trump to release his tax returns. During the Tax March demonstrations that took place in cities nationwide, and at Trump's Mar-a-Largo resort, protesters chanted "Hey, Hey we want to see your Schedule A" and "Chicken-in-Chief" accusing Trump of being afraid of releasing his taxes.
The Tax March reflected the most recent national polls showing 53% of Americans believe Trump should be forced to release his tax returns.
While the Easter Bunny delivered treats Sunday morning, Trump delivered tweets in response to Saturday's Tax March.
"I did what was an almost an impossible thing to do for a Republican-easily won the Electoral College! Now Tax Returns are brought up again?"
"Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over!" -- Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
The Tax March's website was transparent in listing the activist organizations that sponsored the event, and estimated the number of demonstrators was in the six figures. Washington, D.C. and New York City demonstrations were bigger than other cities.
Monday at a town hall gathering, Republican Senator Tom Cotton was soundly booed when he said Trump wasn't releasing his taxes because he's being audited.
Trump's audit excuse for not releasing his taxes fails its own audit. Being under audit does not prohibit tax returns from being released. Every president and vice president has their tax returns automatically audited. Every president since Richard Nixon has released their tax returns, despite that automatic audit.
Trump appears to have decided that any fallout from not releasing his returns is potentially less damaging to him then releasing them.
It's not a question of if Trump has something to hide, it's what is he hiding and why?
Cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
wine
Our wine calendar has news of an Ohio wines event, Royal Park Fine Wines is bringing in a winemaker from Lebanon, Rozi's will feature Oregon wines, and more.
(Marc Bona, cleveland.com)
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Rozi's and Royal Park Wines have events coming up, plus there are tastings scheduled throughout Northeast Ohio. Have items to submit? Deadline is Thursday. Email mbona@cleveland.com:
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Tuesday, April 18: Salt+ will hold a Crane Assembly dinner featuring wine from the small California winery. It's 6:30-10 p.m. Tickets are $150. Salt+ is at 17625 Detroit Ave., Lakewood.
Tuesday, April 18: Huth & Harris Wine Merchants will hold a tasting of Elegant Wines via Natural State Distributors 7-9 p.m. Cost is $45. Each wine will be paired with a chef-prepared appetizer. Reservations are required; call 330-815-4959. H2 is at 221 S. Court Street, Medina.
Wednesday, April 19: Blue Canyon will host a five-course beer and wine dinner featuring Southern Tier Brewing of New York and Michael David Winery of California. It's 7-9:30 p.m. Beer option is $55, wine option is $65 (plus fees, tax and tip). Brewery and winery reps will attend. Each course will be paired with the drinks. It's at 8930 Wilcox Dr., Twinsburg. Offerings:
Course 1 - Wine: Sauvignon Blanc. Beer: Lemon Drop Sun.
Course 2 - Wine: Earthquake Zin. Beer: Live Session Pale Ale.
Course 3 - Wine: Freakshow Cabernet Sauvignon. Beer: Nu Skool IPA.
Course 4 - Wine: Inkblot Cabernet Franc. Beer: 2X Smash.
Course 5 - Wine: Petite Petit. Beer: 2X Stout.
Wednesday, April 19: 750ml will host Chris Zazo and Hailstone Vineyards of California's Napa Valley at 6 p.m. Cost is $49 ($39, club750 members). Space is limited; call for reservations, 330-794-5754. 750ml is at 2287 W. Market St., Akron.
PLEASE NOTE:
cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
Thursday, April 20: 750ml will hold a vintner visit featuring Hailstone Vineyards of Texas at 6 p.m. Cost is $49 ($39, club750ml members). It's at 750ml, 2287 West Market Street, Akron. Call 330-794-5754
Thursday, April 20: Tartine Bistro will offer a tour of Spain. J.C. Alvarez of Carlos Serres Winery will attend. Cocktails are at 6:30 p.m. with dinner at 7. Cost is $75 plus tax and tip. Call 440-331-0800. Tartine Bistro is at 19110 Detroit Road, Rocky River. Wines to be served: Senda Verde Godello, Senda Verde Albarino, Carlos Serres Tempranillo, Carlos Serres Rioja Crianza, Carlo Serres Rioja Reserva and a dessert pairing.
Thursday, April 20: Parallax will hold a wine dinner featuring Alfredo Arribas of Portal de Priorat. Cost is $70 plus tax and tip. Call 216-583-9999. Parallax is at 2179 W. 11th St., Cleveland. Wines to be served:
* NV Brut Cruzat Cuvee Reserve, Valle de Uco, Argentina.
* 2015 Grenache Blanc, Gotes Blanques.
* 2013 Montsant Ediciones I-Limitadas Luno (Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Cabernet).
* 2014 Negres De Negres Priorat (Grenache, Carignan, Syrah).
* 2014 Gotes Priorat (Grenache, Carignan).
* Meneres White Port.
Thursday, April 20: Ohio Wine Producers will hold a "Trunk" program 7-9 p.m. The event will present the best of regional wines in a relaxing setting to learn, sip and share. It will be conducted by a sommelier or Ohio wine expert. The interactive program will cover glasses, corks, grape growing, bottle shapes and colors, winemaking history, trivia contest and recipes featuring wine and food pairings. Cost is $35 and includes a glass, wine charm, shopping tote, light appetizers and wine sampling. The wine-appreciation series event will be at Newman Creek Cellars, 28 Charles Ave. SW, Massillon. Reservations required, call 440-466-4417.
Friday, April 21: The Olde Wine Cellar will feature Cabmania 5-9 p.m. Cost is $15 and includes six samples, tasting notes and cheese. The Olde Wine Cellar is at 7932 Main St., Olmsted Falls. Call 440-427-1222.
Friday, April 21: Fleming's will hold a four-course wine dinner featuring Daou Vineyards at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $95. Seating is limited; call for reservations, 330-670-5200. Fleming's is at 4000 Medina Road, Akron. Wines to be served: 2014 Chardonnay, Paso Robles; 2014 Pessimist red blend, Paso Robles; 2014 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles; Quady "Elysium" Black Muscat.
Friday, April 21: West Point Market will feature Wines of the Rhone 7-9 p.m. Twenty wines will be available. Cost is $40. Accompanying food included. West Point is at 33 Shiawassee Ave., Fairlawn.
Friday, April 21: Mustard Seed Market will hold its Cork & Fork casual tasting of four wines with snacks 6-8 p.m. Cost is $7. Mustard Seed is at 3885 West Market St., Fairlawn.
Saturday, April 22: The Olde Wine Cellar will feature Cabmania 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Cost is $15 and includes six samples, tasting notes and cheese. The Olde Wine Cellar is at 7932 Main St., Olmsted Falls. Call 440-427-1222.
Saturday, April 22: Western Reserve Wines will feature Earthy wines for Earth Day 2-5 p.m. "Earthy" is a term used in a positive sense to describe an aroma or flavor evocative of fresh-turned soil, mushrooms or aromas experienced while walking through a forest after rain. Cost is $10 and includes cheeses and crackers. Western Reserve Wines is at 28300 Miles Road, Suite B, Solon.
Saturday, April 22: West Point Market holds weekly Saturday Sips noon-2 p.m. Sample four wines for $2. West Point is at 33 Shiawassee Ave., Fairlawn.
Wednesday, April 26: Rozi's Wine House will have a tasting featuring Roco Winery and Roserock Winery with guests Rollin Soles, co-founder, owner and winemaker of the Oregon wineries and Mark Kalachnik of Dreyfus-Ashby Co. It's 6-8 p.m. Cost is $20 and includes 10-12 wines to sample with hors d'oeuvres. Rozi's is at 14900 Detroit Ave., Lakewood. Lineup:
Domaine Drouhin Oregon: 2014 Arthur Chardonnay, 2014 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir.
Roserock: 2015 Chardonnay, 2014 Pinot Noir.
Champagne Drappier Brut Rose, NV.
Roco: 2013 RMS Brut, 2014 Chardonnay Willamette Valley, 2013 Gravel Road Pinot Noir, 2014 Wits End.
Thursday, April 27: Chez Francois will hold a Sonoma Valley wine dinner at 6:30 p.m. featuring Seghesio Family Vineyards. Cost is $110 plus tax and tip. Chez Francois is at 555 Main St., Vermilion. Lineup:
* Vermentino, Russian River Valley/Sonoma, 2015.
* Sangiovese Old Vine, Alexander Valley/Sonoma, 2012.
* Zinfandel Sonoma, Sonoma County, 2014.
* Zinfandel Home Ranch, Seghesio, Alexander Valley, 2013.
* Zinfandel Old Vine, Dry Creek/Alexander Valley, 2013.
* Zinfandel Cortina, Dry Creek Valley, 2013.
* Zinfandel Rockpile, Dry Creek Valley, 2014.
* Red Defiant, Alexander Valley, 2015.
* Red Omaggio, Alexander Valley, 2013.
Thursday, April 27: Ruth's Chris Steak House will hold a five-course Johnnie Walker dinner. Details are in the works. Ruth's Chris is at 200 Public Square, Cleveland. Reservations are required; call 216-539-8404.
Thursday, April 27: The Crosswinds Grille will hold a three-course menu with dishes paired with a different Lakehouse Inn wine. The winemaker will dine at the table with guest to discuss the wines. The event is limited to 12 guests. Reservations are required. Cost is $60 plus tax and tip. The Crosswinds Grille is at The Lakehouse Inn & Winery, 5653 Lake Road E, Geneva.
Friday, April 28: The Olde Wine Cellar will feature Frenchmania 5-9 p.m. Cost is $15 and includes six samples, tasting notes and cheese. The Olde Wine Cellar is at 7932 Main St., Olmsted Falls. Call 440-427-1222.
Friday-Sunday, April 28-30: The inaugural Grapes under Glass will be held in downtown Cleveland at the Rotunda at Heinen's and The 9. Various tastings are planned. Here are the prices and details.
Friday-Sunday, April 28-30: Red White and Brew Trips will head to Traverse City, Michigan. Bus leaves from East and West Side Cleveland locations, with overnight in Lansing, Michigan. Saturday, the bus will cruise to Traverse City for two days of tastings at eight wineries, with lunches to be determined. A stop at Jolly Pumpkin Brewing Co. is included. Lodging will be provided at Comfort Inn in Traverse City. Prices range from $350 to $425.
Saturday, April 29: The Olde Wine Cellar will feature Frenchmania 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Cost is $15 and includes six samples, tasting notes and cheese. The Olde Wine Cellar is at 7932 Main St., Olmsted Falls. Call 440-427-1222.
Saturday, April 29: Western Reserve Wines will feature New Finds from Vanguard Wines 2-5 p.m. Vanguard is a direct importer of European wines. Cost is $10 and includes cheeses and crackers. Western Reserve Wines is at 28300 Miles Road, Suite B, Solon.
Saturday, April 29: West Point Market holds weekly Saturday Sips noon-2 p.m. Sample four wines for $2. West Point is at 33 Shiawassee Ave., Fairlawn.
MAY
Thursday, May 4: For those who love large-scale tastings and don't mind a drive, the 15th Pittsburgh Wine Festival is being held in Heinz Field, Art Rooney Drive, Pittsburgh. VIP tasting is 5-7 p.m. ($250). Grand tasting is 7-9 p.m. ($125). Two-for-one tickets are available.
Friday-Saturday, May 5-6: Wine 'n Bloom is scheduled at 15 to 17 Northeast Ohio wineries. Hit the Vines & Wines Wine Trail to sample wines, enjoy appetizers and collect flower-themed items at participating wineries. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. both days. Tickets are $45 ($60, couple). Go to ohio.org/events/wine-n-bloom for details.
Saturday, May 6: Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will hold a Grape Escape Wine-Tasting ride. Theme is Spanish wines. Sample five wines, paired with chef-prepared appetizers. Commemorative glass included. Assigned seating. It's 7-9 p.m. at Akron Northside station. Tickets start at $60.
Saturday, May 6: West Point Market holds weekly Saturday Sips noon-2 p.m. Sample four wines for $2. West Point is at 33 Shiawassee Ave., Fairlawn.
Saturday, May 6: Royal Park Fine Wines will hold a meet-and-greet with Faouzi Issa, winemaker and owner of Domaine des Tourelles of Lebanon. Six of his wines will be available for tasting 5-7 p.m. Appetizers will be served. Cost is $25. Space is limited; call for reservations, 440-582-8766. It will be at 12770 Royalton Road, North Royalton.
Sunday, May 7: Chez Francois will hold a six-course Bordeaux wine dinner at 5 p.m. Bordeaux expert Dan Greathouse of Heidelberg Distributors and Kimberly Keslin of LD Vins SAS- Bordeaux-France will co-host. The dinner will feature 16 wines - four whites, 12 reds. Cost is $165 plus tax and tip. Chez Francois is at 555 Main St., Vermilion. Lineup:
* Clarendelle Rose, Haut Brion, Pessac-Leognan, 2015.
* Chateau Carbonnieux Blanc, Pessac-Leognan, 2013.
* Aile d'Argent, Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, 2013.
* Le Haut Medoc de Branaire-Ducru, Haut-Medoc, 2010.
* Le Comtes de Malartic, Pessac-Leognan, 2010.
* Le Haut-Medoc d'Issan, Haut-Medoc, 2010.
* Le Conseiller, Bordeaux Superieur, France, 2010.
* Chateau Siaurac, Lalande de Pomerol, 2013.
* Les Haut de Croix Labrie, St. Emilion, 2012.
* Chateau Pape Clement, Pessac-Leognan, 2012.
* Sarget de Gruaud-Larose, St. Julien, 1999.
* Gassies, Margaux, 2010.
* Chateau Paveil de Luze, Margaux, 2012.
* Chateau Marojallia, Margaux, 2007.
* Chateau Margaux, Margaux, 2013.
* Chateau de Fargues, Sauternes, 2007.
Friday-Saturday, May 12-13: Wine 'n Bloom is scheduled at 15 to 17 Northeast Ohio wineries. Hit the Vines & Wines Wine Trail to sample wines, enjoy appetizers and collect flower-themed items at participating wineries. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. both days. Tickets are $45 ($60, couple). Go to ohio.org/events/wine-n-bloom for details.
Saturday, May 13: The Wine Spot will hold a tasting of Island Wines - vino produced on islands like Sicily, Corsica, New Zealand, Sardinia and other places. It's 4-7 p.m. Cost TBA. The Wine Spot is at 2271 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights. Call 216-342-3623.
Saturday, May 13: Western Reserve School of Cooking at Kitchen 216 will hold Pigs & Pinot 6-8:30 p.m. featuring The Butcher's Pantry, a butcher shop and wine merchant in Solon. Butchers and chefs will prepare everything on site and explain how various cuts of meat are best prepared. Accompanying three sample dishes will be La Petite Perriere From France, Scott Pinot Noir from California and Argyle Pinot Noir from Oregon. Wines are subject to change based on availability. Cost is $65.
Sunday, May 18: Chez Francois will hold a South African wine dinner with master sommelier Fran Kysela at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $110 plus tax and tip. Chez Francois is at 555 Main St., Vermilion. Lineup:
* Sparkling Brut Reserve, Colmant, Western Cape, NV.
* Chenin Blanc Bush Vine, Eikeboom, Western Cape, 2016.
* White Blend Old Vines, Mullineux, Swartland, 2014.
* Sauvignon Blanc Barrel Fermented, Lismore, Western Cape, 2013.
* Pinotage, Eikeboom, Western Cape, 2015.
* Red Blend, Keermont, Stellenbosch, 2012.
* Syrah, Mullineux, Swartland, 2014.
* Cape Ruby Port, Riebeek, Swartland, NV.
Friday, May 19: Grapes & Ale, the annual fundraiser for Our Lady of the Wayside at Progressive Field in downtown Cleveland, is 7-10 p.m. Includes more than 300 wines, craft brews and tastes. The Ace Molar Band will perform. Hosts are Chip Kullik (Majic 105.7), Jeremiah (Q104), Kenny Crumpton (Fox 8 News) and yours truly from cleveland.com. Tickets: $50 (premiere grand tasting), $125 (VIP access), $25 (designated driver).
Friday, May 19: Western Reserve School of Cooking will hold M is for Mixology 6:30-8:30 p.m. It's an introduction to the five main spirit categories - vodka, gin, rum, tequila and whiskey - through five of the world's most popular cocktails, the Moscow Mule, the Martini, the Mojito, Margarita and the Manhattan. Light snacks will be served. Cost is $60. It's at 140 N. Main St., Hudson.
Friday, May 19: Western Reserve School of Cooking has cancelled its cocktails and oysters pairing.
JUNE
Saturday, June 3: Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will hold a Grape Escape Wine-Tasting ride. Theme is summer wines. Sample five wines, paired with chef-prepared appetizers. Commemorative glass included. Assigned seating. It's 7:30-9 p.m. at Rockside station. Tickets start at $60.
Wednesday, June 7: 750ml will hold a vintner visit featuring Duckhorn Vineyards of California at 6 p.m. Cost is $49 ($39, club750ml members). It's at 750ml, 2287 West Market St., Akron. Call 330-794-5754.
Thursday, June 8: Chez Francois will hold a Russian River wine dinner featuring the venerable Martinelli Vineyards of California's Sonoma Valley at 6:30 p.m. Cost is $110 plus tax and tip. Chez Francois is at 555 Main St., Vermilion. Lineup:
* Chardonnay, Bella Vigne, Martinelli, 2014.
* Pinot Noir, Bella Vigne, Martinelli, 2014.
* Pinot Noir, Bondi Home Ranch, 2014.
* Pinot Noir, Lolita Ranch, 2014.
* Pinot Noir, Moonshine Ranch, 2014.
* Pinot Noir, Zio Tony Ranch, 2014.
* Syrah, Gianna Marie, Zio Tony Ranch, 2009.
* Zinfandel, Vellutini Ranch, 2014.
* Zinfandel, Guiseppe & Luisa, 2014.
Saturday, June 10: The Wine Spot will hold its Terroir Tasting Series No. 2: Chardonnay from around the world. It's 4-7 p.m. Cost TBA. The Wine Spot is at 2271 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights. Call 216-342-3623.
Friday, June 16: Western Reserve School of Cooking will feature Pitchers on the Patio 6:30-8:30 p.m. Joseph DeLuca will instruct how to make Sangrita (not Sangria), Pimm's Cup, Strawberry Gin Shrub and Magnificent Chocolate Milk Punch. Cost is $60. It's at 140 N. Main St., Hudson.
Saturday, June 24: Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will hold a Grape Escape Wine-Tasting Train ride. Theme is Napa Valley, California, wines. Sample five wines, paired with chef-prepared appetizers. Commemorative glass included. Assigned seating. It's 7:30-9 p.m. at Akron Northside station. Tickets start at $60.
JULY
Friday, July 7: Western Reserve School of Cooking will feature whiskey cocktails 6:30-8:30 p.m. with Joseph DeLuca. Participants will learn how to make Mason's Mule, Atlanta Old Fashioned and others. Cost is $60. It's at 140 N. Main St., Hudson.
Saturday, July 15: Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will hold a Grape Escape Wine-Tasting ride. Theme is Italian wines. Sample five wines, paired with chef-prepared appetizers. Commemorative glass included. Assigned seating. It's 7:30-9 p.m. at Rockside station. Tickets start at $60.
Saturday, July 15: The Wine Spot will hold its fifth annual tasting of Roses from around the world. Many will not be available in Ohio until later in the year. It's 4-7 p.m. Cost TBA. The Wine Spot is at 2271 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights. Call 216-342-3623.
Friday, July 21: The first of the two-day rain-or-shine Uncorked Medina Wine Festival is 3-9 p.m. Tickets are $25 (advance), $30 (at the door), $10 (designated driver) and $100 (twilight dinner). The event will include wine and craft beers, food, music and culinary demonstrations. The twilight dinner has limited seatings Friday. Proceeds benefit Friends of Medina County Parks. It's at Buffalo Creek Retreat, 8708 Hubbard Valley Road, Seville.
Saturday, July 22: The second of the two-day rain-or-shine Uncorked Medina Wine Festival is 1-9 p.m. Tickets are $25 (advance), $30 (at the door), $10 (designated driver). The event will include wine and craft beers, food, music and culinary demonstrations. It's at Buffalo Creek Retreat, 8708 Hubbard Valley Road, Seville.
AUGUST
Friday-Saturday, Aug. 4-5: Vintage Ohio is 1-10 p.m. Sample wines from Ohio wineries. Wines range from Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc and Riesling to fruit wines made from fresh strawberries, blackberries, peaches and raspberries. Includes food, cooking-school demonstrations, three stages of live music, artisans, shopping and Friday fireworks. It's at Lake Metroparks Farmpark, 8800 Euclid Chardon Road, Kirtland.
Saturday, Aug. 5: Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad will hold a Grape Escape Wine-Tasting ride. Theme is Australian wines. Sample five wines, paired with chef-prepared appetizers. Commemorative glass included. Assigned seating. It's 7:30-9 p.m. at Rockside station. Tickets start at $60.
Saturday, Aug. 12: The Wine Spot will hold its Terroir Tasting Series No. 3: Sauvignon Blanc from around the world. It's 4-7 p.m. Cost TBA. The Wine Spot is at 2271 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights. Call 216-342-3623.
OCTOBER
Saturday, Oct. 14: The Wine Spot will hold its Terroir Tasting Series No. 4: Surprise varietal. It's 4-7 p.m. Cost TBA. The Wine Spot is at 2271 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights. Call 216-342-3623.
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Medina High School art teacher Bobbie Foy shares a laugh with Educational Service Center of Medina County Superintendent William Koran, left, and former ESC Superintendent Homer B. Smith as she peers through the bottom of an engraved mug at last night's Medina City Schools Board of Education meeting. Foy was being honored as the county's teacher of the year. Smith -- after whom the award is named -- joked that the clear bottom of the mug will allow Foy to spy on her students during class.
(Ann Norman, special to cleveland.com)
MEDINA, Ohio - Medina High School art teacher Bobbie Foy's excitement was contagious last night as she accepted the Homer B. Smith Award at the Medina City Schools Board of Education meeting.
"I feel like a celebrity!" Foy gushed as William Koran, superintendent of the Educational Service Center of Medina County, and award namesake Homer B. Smith presented her with the teacher of the year honor.
She expressed her delight as she received an engraved mug, a plaque and a gift certificate for up to $1,500 to spend on attending an education conference of her choice.
Smith, who noted that this was the 34th annual presentation of the countywide award, said he is sure Foy will continue to build on her history of excellence.
The former Ella Canavan Elementary School art teacher and current high school art department chairperson is known for her passionate encouragement of art education and her students' individual growth as artists.
"Every time I walk past her classroom, I get pulled in," said Medina City Schools Superintendent Aaron Sable.
"She grows passion in her students," he said.
Foy credits those students for her success.
"We aren't necessarily great teachers. We have great students. And I have awesome students," she said.
Approval of tax abatement
The school board unanimously approved a tax abatement request from Montville Investors LLC, which plans to build a Chipotle restaurant, Starbucks coffee shop and Get Go gas station on Ohio 18 just east of Interstate 71.
Under the Community Reinvestment Area Compensation Agreement, the developers would receive a 50 percent tax abatement on the new buildings for the first five years, followed by a 35 percent abatement in the second five years and 25 percent in the third five years.
After the 15 years, the tax rate would return to 100 percent.
In addition, the developers will donate $2,000 a year to the non-profit Medina City Schools Foundation to be used to support educational services.
The agreement must also be approved by the Montville Township trustees and the Medina County commissioners before going into effect.
Bethany Dentler, executive director of the Medina County Economic Development Corp., said construction is expected to begin this spring.
Sable noted that the school district already receives property tax income on the land and will continue to do so at the same rate. The abatement will only apply to the new development.
The schools will also receive sales tax revenue from the businesses once they are up and operating.
Board member Tom Cahalan said the district doesn't receive much money for the undeveloped land. Putting that land to use will mean more tax revenue for the schools, even at the lower levels under the abatement.
"It's a substantial amount of tax, even after that 50 percent abatement," he said.
"I think it's wonderful when you look at what we're receiving now compared to what we'll see in three years once it's developed," Cahalan said.
Strategic plan meeting
Sable reminded board members that the district will hold a special board meeting at 6:30 p.m. May 8 in the high school's Distance Learning Lab to share a rough draft of the schools' new strategic plan.
Sable started work on gathering input for the plan as soon as he started his new job as superintendent last August.
The district has held a number of community meetings and put together committees to come up with goals in a number of areas, including curriculum, facilities and community engagement.
The final report is expected to be presented during a community chat June 10 at the Medina Library.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Billboards have gone up across the nation, border authorities are on alert and tips continue to pour in from as far away as Texas as the search for accused Facebook killer Steve Stephens continues.
Cleveland police and federal partners provided no new information about Stephens' possible whereabouts nearly 48 hours after 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr. was picked at random and shot dead on the city's East Side.
Officials do not know if Stephens is even still alive.
Update: Law enforcement and Cleveland city officials called a noon press conference to discuss the case.
"Either he's dead somewhere or someone's holing him up somewhere else," said Pete Elliot, U.S. Marshal for the Northern District of Ohio. He said cited other similar manhunts where that has been the case, but did not reference specifics in the Stephens case.
Even so, Cleveland police Chief Calvin Williams acknowledged that investigators are unsure if Stephens remains alive three days after the shooting. "We're not sure, no," Williams said during a morning press conference at city hall.
Police say they are leaving no stone unturned. A federal warrant for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution has been issued against Stephens in hopes of making it easier for authorities anywhere in the country to take him into custody, FBI Special Agent in Charge Stephen Anthony said.
Officials have received 400 tips from across America since Sunday afternoon, Williams said. One tip came in from as far as Texas, and border security has been put on notice, Williams and Anthony said.
None of that information has led to Stephens' arrest and officials continue urging him to turn himself in.
"We're using every tool in our toolbag, Anthony said. "We're playing every one out, we're using everything we have."
Stephens was last known to be driving a white 2016 Ford Fusion, but the car is not equipped with GPS that would allow police to track it, Williams said. Officials initially pursued that information by speaking with Ford and the Bedford dealership from which the car was purchased earlier this month.
It remains unclear how Stephens has managed to stay off the grid this long. No license plate readers have picked up on the Fusion, police said, and authorities continue to monitor any technological leads.
Stephens had at least two cell phones around the time of the killing, but Williams declined to say how many devices police believe he is carrying. When asked about the monitoring of credit card transactions, Williams reiterated that police are using all tools at their disposal.
Mayor Frank Jackson drew particular attention to contacts with the clergy Stephens had prior to Sunday. Local clergy members have made themselves available to Stephens if he wants to reach out, Jackson said.
In the meantime, police asked the American public to continue sharing tips or possible sightings by calling 911 or the FBI tipline at 1-800-CALL-FBI.
To comment on this story, please visit cleveland.com's crime and courts comments section.
cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
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The Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow (ECOT) online charter school and the Ohio Department of Education continue battling over state funding of the school and whether the school has adequate documentation of work students do.
(Patrick O'Donnell/The Plain Dealer)
COLUMBUS, Ohio - ECOT, Ohio's largest online school, has asked for appeals court judge Gary Tyack to step down from hearing its funding case with the state after the judge compared ECOT's founder to a Russian oligarch.
ECOT, the Electronic Classroom of Tomorrow, is the most prominent of e-echools in Ohio to be slammed by state attendance reviews last year that would require them to return million of dollars worth of state funding to the state.
ECOT is appealing that review and the Ohio Department of Education's determination that ECOT was overpaid about $60 million in state tax money last school year. The school could only document class participation of 6,300 of its 15,300 students, the state found.
After ECOT lost a case in Franklin County Common Pleas Court last year to block the review, it appealed its findings to the 10th Ohio District Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel heard oral arguments April 13.
At that hearing, according to a transcript in a filing today by ECOT, Judge Tyack asked several questions about ECOT founder, businessman William Lager, and his donations over the years to Republican politicians in Ohio.
Tyack also made comments about David Brennan, founder of the White Hat charter school chain, and his donations.
"The General Assembly cares more about what Mr. Lager [founder of ECOT] and David Brennan [founder of other large eschools] thinks than about what I think, frankly...." Tyack said, according to the transcript.
He added: "It's hard to ignore the fact that between the two of them they've probably gotten a billion dollars worth of State funds that would have gone to public schools because of their clout. In Russia we call them oligarchs. Here, we don't call them anything. We call them influential donors."
ECOT lawyer Marion Little today asked Tyack to step down, or for him to be removed, because his comments " denigrated the founder of ECOT, evinced a general bias toward the computer-based community school model (i.e., "eschool" model) utilized by ECOT as an eschool, and which cast aspersions on the quality of education provided by ECOT."
See the full filing below.
ECOT spokesman Neil Clark said that Tyack must step down to avoid a case "rigged by biased, activist judges."
"Judge Tyack's bias is clear and is the basis for his disqualification," Clark said.
Tyack says he will not step down.
"I have no intention to recuse myself," he told The Plain Dealer by phone. He said the Maureen O'Connor, chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, would have to make that decision.
"I'm not walking away from it," he said. "She will have to throw me off the panel."
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Actress Octavia Spencer will speak at Kent State University's all-campus commencement.
(Kent State University)
Octavia Spencer
KENT, Ohio - Academy Award-winning actress and author Octavia Spencer will be the keynote speaker for Kent State University's first university-wide commencement on May 13.
Spencer won the Academy Award, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild, British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Supporting Actress as the feisty and unflappable Minny Jackson in the film "The Help."
She also received Academy Award, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for her most recent role as mathematician Dorothy Vaughan in the drama "Hidden Figures," the true story of several African-American mathematicians at NASA who were critical to the success of the space race in the 1960s.
"I am looking forward to take part in Kent State's first university-wide Commencement ceremony," Spencer said in a statement. "It's an honor for me to share my personal story of perseverance and hard work. I hope my message inspires others to dream big, never give up and pursue their passion despite the obstacles that might get in the way."
The ceremony, at 10 a.m. in Dix Stadium, will mark the first time all graduates from the eight-campus system are honored in one place. All students -- whether they are receiving an associate, bachelor's, master's or a doctoral degree from any of the university's eight campuses -- and their families will celebrate together.
"Commencement is among the most important events in the lives of our students and families," said Kent State President Beverly Warren. "We are delighted that this inaugural One University Commencement will feature the compelling story of Octavia Spencer, whose meaningful voice and inspiring example are sure to be a highlight of this momentous ceremony."
No diplomas will be handed out at the ceremony. The commencement will be in addition to the college ceremonies at the regional and Kent campuses. Those ceremonies will be held May 12 and the afternoon of May 13.
Information about those ceremonies and speakers is at kent.edu/commencement.
Faculty, staff, graduating students and their families are invited to attend the Dix Stadium ceremony. All guests (including children 1 year and older) must have a ticket to enter.
Graduating students who have not sent their RSVP for the One University Commencement can complete a late ceremony RSVP to secure up to six tickets. Faculty and staff can email graduate@kent.edu to request tickets.
Seating is general admission, and all parking lots will be open. Shuttles will run throughout the day to and from Dix Stadium and other Kent campus ceremony venues, and shuttle buses also will provide transportation from all Regional Campuses to Dix Stadium. In the event of inclement weather, the ceremony may be shortened or suspended, the university said.
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Pennsylvania State Police investigate a car and probable suicide of the Cleveland Facebook killing suspect in Erie, Pa. on April 18. The car was stopped near Buffalo Road and Downing Avenue. [GREG WOHLFORD/ERIE TIMES-NEWS]
(Greg Wohlford)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Steve Stephens, the man accused of killing a random 74-year-old man and posting a video of the shooting, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound Tuesday in Erie, Pennsylvania, according to news reports citing Erie police.
Stephens was in a McDonald's parking lot in Erie shortly after 11 a.m. today when someone spotted him and called in a tip, Cleveland police Chief Calvin Williams said at a press conference addressing Stephens' death.
Troopers gave chase when Stephens fled. He stopped a short while later, then shot himself when troopers approached the car, Williams said.
Williams said police searched the area around Erie on Sunday after officials first received reports of a cell phone ping there.
"We were in the process today of going back to do a more-thorough search when this transpired," Williams said.
Police say they do not know where Stephens was prior to Tuesday's sighting at the McDonald's and they do not know if someone was harboring him, Williams said.
Cleveland police are sending officials to Erie now to glean more details from Pennsylvania authorities.
Stephens' Facebook posts revealed that he had some familiarity with Erie as he wrote about his gambling losses at casinos there and in Cleveland. The city of Erie became the focus of intense speculation as law enforcement referenced a "pinged" cell tower early in the investigation before Stephens shut off his phone.
Law enforcement in Cleveland scheduled a noon press conference to update on the case. Cleveland.com will cover the press conference on Facebook live.
Or, if you can't stream it live, refresh this post for the latest updates from the press conference.
The Pennsylvania State Police reported on Twitter that a trooper found Stephens and his white Ford Fusion Tuesday morning, and that he shot and killed himself after a brief pursuit.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A top conservative group with ties to the Trump campaign has endorsed Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel in his 2018 bid to represent Ohio in the U.S. Senate.
Citizens United Political Victory Fund, a campaign arm of the Washington D.C.-based political nonprofit, announced its endorsement on Tuesday morning. In a statement, Citizens United President David Bossie called Mandel a "conservative leader" and "principled outsider" who will fight for President Trump's agenda if he defeats Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in 2018.
"All Sherrod Brown is doing in the Senate is running a permanent obstruction campaign against President Trump" under the direction of Democratic legislative leaders, Bossie said. "Ohioans want more out of their elected leadership than just saying no."
Bossie took a temporary leave of absence from Citizens United in September to become an assistant director for Trump's national campaign. In January, he and other former top Trump campaign aides founded a nonprofit called America First Priorities to help promote Trump's agenda.
But Citizens United is best known as the plaintiff and namesake of the landmark 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that scaled back campaign finance regulations that had previously limited corporations and unions from buying media to advance political candidates. A progressive group dedicated to overturning the ruling last week endorsed Brown in his re-election bid.
In a statement, Mandel said: "I am proud to have earned the support of Citizens United and other conservative groups across the country. Together, we share an important mission of restoring conservative principles to Washington D.C. and transferring power from the politicians to the people."
Mandel is the only Ohio Republican to announce a 2018 Senate bid. But U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, an ally of Ohio Gov. John Kasich from the Columbus area, has been exploring a run, and has amassed a sizable campaign war chest. While Tiberi decides whether to run, Mandel has landed endorsements from top conservative national groups including the Club for Growth, the Senate Conservatives Fund, and FreedomWorks PAC, the Tea Party Group. Two young Republican U.S. senators -- Tom Cotton from Arkansas and Marco Rubio from Florida -- also have endorsed Mandel.
In a statement, Ohio Democratic Party spokesman Jake Strassberger seized on Mandel's endorsement from Citizens United.
"Just one week after Ohio finds out that Josh's longtime crony is behind a dark money group backing him and days after news breaks that Josh cut a deal with a Washington DC special interest group, the namesake for dark money corrupting our elections endorses him," Strassberger said. "Josh is not only cementing his reputation as the poster boy for shady campaign cash tactics--he's reminding the state why he's a politician Ohioans just can't trust."
Josh Mandel posts his campaign finance numbers, but one under-the-radar candidate continues to amass a huge campaign war chest. Marcia Fudge makes a list she'd probably rather not be on. And a Cincinnati Enquirer reporter searches for the next Ed FitzGerald. Read more in today's Ohio Politics Roundup, brought to you today by Andrew J. Tobias.
Senate cash keeps pouring in: Republican Ohio Treasurer Josh Mandel's fundraising apparatus hauled in nearly $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2017 for his bid to try to unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown next year, cleveland.com's Jeremy Pelzer reports.
That includes $600,000 raised by Mandel's campaign committee. "Another $817,000 was raised by 'Team Josh,' Mandel's joint fundraising committee, Federal Election Commission records stated. Team Josh, in turn, gave $490,000 to his campaign committee, $193,000 to his political action committee JOSHPAC, and $72,000 to the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County Federal Campaign Committee," according to a Mandel spokesman.
During the same period, Brown's campaign committee alone collected $2.4 million. As Pelzer notes, it looks like it will be "another money-saturated campaign, as the two eye a rematch of the 2012 campaign."
Food for thought: U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, the Columbus-area congressman, himself reported raising nearly $1.4 million for the first quarter of 2017, according to FEC records. That means Tiberi, who also is considering running for the Republican Ohio U.S. Senate nomination in 2018, now has a whopping $6.3 million in cash on hand.
Among Tiberi's reported first-quarter expenditures: $42,250 on Jan. 17 for an Alexandra polling firm. That's the kind of thing -- public opinion polling more than a year away from the primary -- a candidate would do if gearing up for a protracted campaign.
More national speculation on Cordray: A report in Politico poses this provocative question about Richard Cordray, head of the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and former Ohio attorney general: "Can the consumer watchdog Trump loathes win an Ohio election?"
The story, by Lorraine Woellert, Daniel Strauss and Ben White, says that whether or not President Donald Trump decides to fire Cordray, the Ohio Democrat "may already have enough political support to lead the field to replace Republican Gov. John Kasich in 2018." Trump has so far held off on dumping Cordray to avoid causing "a sensation that could boost his candidacy and juice his fundraising."
Renacci on Fox Business: During a Monday afternoon appearance on Fox Business, U.S. Rep. Jim Renacci said he's optimistic that the GOP-controlled Congress will be able to pull off both healthcare reform and tax reform.
"And as you heard the president say, it's a starting point for tax reform, which is another issue we have to get done. So I'm hoping that we get back, we get our feet on the ground running, and we do more than one thing," Renacci told host Stuart Varney.
A few weeks ago, Renacci described the failure of the Trump-backed American Health Care Act a "setback," and told Varney he'd like to get tax reform done "before August."
Sherrod in Cleveland: Brown held a roundtable in Cleveland on Monday with auto workers during which he sought feedback on how he should seek to help Trump renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement.
In a statement afterward, Brown said: "I'm ready to work with President Trump to deliver on his promises, or to hold him accountable if he doesn't."
She's on the list: U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge is on the list of witnesses that former Florida Rep. Corrine Brown may call to testify during her upcoming corruption trial, reports Roll Call's Eric Garcia.
Other possible witnesses include Rep. Bennie Thompson, of Mississippi, and Rep. Shelia Jackson Lee, of Texas.
"Brown is currently facing charges that she used funds from a non-profit called One Door on herself. Her former chief of staff Ronnie Simmons and Carla Wiley, the president of One Door, already pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy charges."
Facebook killing response: Fudge, Brown and U.S. Sen. Rob Portman were among the public officials who issued "statements of concern for Cleveland residents and support for Cleveland police" in the aftermath of a video-recorded murder in the city, writes cleveland.com's Stephen Koff.
Calling all 'top Chicago gang thugs': Cleveland-area pastor the Rev. Darrell Scott plans a 10 a.m. news conference in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, after which he finally will meet with "some of Chicago's top street guys," according to Matt Sheldon, a rep for a New York public-relations company. The summit also will include officials with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
In February, Scott, who served as a top Trump campaign surrogate, made headlines when he said he planned to meet with some of Chicago's "top gang thugs." He later corrected himself, saying he meant "former thugs."
Green light: The Ohio legislature's Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (or J-CARR, as it's known in Capitol Square) signed off on a set of medical-marijuana cultivation rules on Monday, writes cleveland.com's Jackie Borchardt.
The rules -- which will allow medical marijuana to be grown on up to 24 licensed sites statewide, and set some of the highest site fees in the country -- will take effect later this month.
A predictable controversy: "A Butler County lawmaker compared Planned Parenthood to Nazis on her official Facebook page, which has since been unpublished," writes the Cincinnati Enquirer's Jessie Balmert.
State Rep. Candice Keller, who shared an Internet image saying that "one day we will look back at this" [a Planned Parenthood logo] "the same way we look back at this" [the Nazi flag], did not back down from her post, and in her statement to Balmert, in fact doubled down on the Nazi comparison.
What does House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger think? From his spokesman, Brad Miller: "Speaker Rosenberger understands that there is a lot of passion around the issue ... That being said, he does not believe that using such comparisons is an appropriate way to convey that passion or to advance the public discourse."
He's with her: Keller got backing from at least one corner. Mike Gonidakis, president of the anti-abortion group Ohio Right to Life, tweeted in response to the story: "It is an indisputable fact that both groups have killed millions of people."
In case you were wondering: Balmert also checked out the driving records of Ohio's slate of possible 2018 gubernatorial candidates. The most lengthy? Youngstown-area Sen. Joe Schiavoni has been involved in three crashes since 2007, has had four speeding tickets since 1999, "two seat-belt violations and four other traffic or equipment violations."
Cordray had "five speeding tickets since 1998, a 2006 violation for not using a turn signal and a 2004 violation for going the wrong way on a one-way road."
Meanwhile, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine's record doesn't show a single ticket or crash.
But all had driver's licenses, and none had exceptionally bad driving records. So in other words, there's no Ed FitzGerald among them. There's not even an Armond Budish.
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cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
FP redevelopment DSC08831.JPG
This view from Glenbar Drive shows the site where the new Red Robin and Panda Express restaurants will be built.
(Carol Kovach, special to cleveland.com)
FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio - The landscape is changing at West 210th Street and Center Ridge Road in Fairview Park. In the past couple of weeks, demolition got under way in preparation for construction of a new Panda Express and Red Robin restaurant.
Four houses on West 210th Street, just south of Chipotle and across from Westgate, are already being demolished. One more house on Glenbar Drive and a commercial strip that had been anchored by the Minerva Restaurant, 21087 Center Ridge, and another commercial building also have dates with the wrecking ball. Minerva was a popular mon-and-pop eatery for decades until it closed last year.
An update provided recently by city officials indicates the new eateries should be open by the holiday season.
Knowing Your Home: LakewoodAlive's Knowing Hour Home series will focus on garage repair and replacement at the 10 a.m. to noon seminar on April 22 at Cleveland Lumber, 9410 Madison Ave., Cleveland.
The Great Garage Co. will present the program, which will examine the following:
General garage repairs like foundation rot, issues related to dirt floors and no foundation, doors, roofs and carpentry issues.
Leaning garages and what can be done.
Replacement - what to expect when going through the process.
Garage kits.
Working with contractors and architects to get what you want.
Understanding local garage code.
For more information or to reserve a spot at the free program, visit lakewoodalive.org. Attendees are asked to consider donating non-perishable food items for the Lakewood Community Services Center or making a donation to LakewoodAlive in lieu of a charge for the program.
This is the fourth year for the popular Knowing Your Home series. The next program 7-9 p.m. on May 18 at 1st Choice Roofing, 11309 Franklin Ave., Cleveland, will deal with historic roofing material maintenance.
Shred Day: North Olmsted residents can participate in a communitywide Shred Day 9 a.m. to noon April 22 in the parking lot behind City Hall, 5200 Dover Center Road.
Residents can bring up to two bags/boxes of paper per person for shredding.
Haiti fundraiser: Blessed Trinity Parish in Cleveland's West Park neighborhood will have its sixth annual Haiti fundraiser 6-10 p.m. April 21 at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 3556 W. 130th St., West Park.
Cost is $20 for all-you-can-eat pizza, pasta, meatballs, salad, soft drinks and draft beer. There will be a Chinese auction with tickets drawn 7:45-9 p.m., and 50/50 sideboards.
For more information, call Marge at 216-252-2514.
The fundraiser benefits a vocational school in Baradares, Haiti. Funds will be used to purchase sewing machines and medical supplies and to pay fees to hire a doctor and dentist for a clinic, as well as to help rebuild after damage caused by Hurricane Matthew.
There will be a drawing for this "Red Pop" raffle quilt on April 23. Photo provided by North Coast Needlers.
Quilt show: Mary Krauss from North Coast Needlers sends word that the nonprofit group will have its 15th biennial quilt show, "My Favorite Chix are Quilters," 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 22-23 at Westlake High School, 27830 Hilliard Blvd., Westlake.
A guild-made red and white "Red Pop" quilt will be raffled off on April 23.
The show will feature more than 250 quilts ranging from traditional and contemporary to modern art quilts. Many club members are award-winning quilters.
Expanding on the show's theme, there will be a series of challenge quilts and a block contest display. The contest blocks will be crafted into a "Chix for Kids" quilt, which will be donated to Northeast Ohio Adoption Services.
Friends to meet: Friends of the North Olmsted Library will have their annual meeting at 7 p.m. April 25 at the library, 27403 Lorain Road, North Olmsted. All are welcome.
Campus news: Bethany Thomas of Lakewood was one of seven students from Cuyahoga Community College to be named to the All-Ohio Community College Academic Team, which consists of top students at two-year schools throughout the state.
Thomas expects to earn an associate of science degree in May. She will be the first college graduate in her family. Thomas enrolled at Tri-C more than two decades after graduating from high school. She has a leadership role in the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society chapter at the Westshore Campus in Westlake. She also is active in the Westshore Campus Gaming Club.
Thomas volunteers at Hospice of the Western Reserve. All Faiths Pantry and Lakewood Community Services Center.
Maddie Russell of Lakewood and a Rocky River High School graduate, was selected as the All-Ohio Conference Women's Lacrosse Defender of the Week. She is a senior at Baldwin Wallace University.
Russell earned defender of the week honors for the first time and her second OAC accolade for recording eight ground balls, causing three turnovers, seven draw controls, scoring two goals and adding an assist as BW split a pair of games.
Spring has sprung in the western suburbs, as these brightly colored daffodils show.
Keep Lakewood Beautiful: Save the date for the annual Keep Lakewood Beautiful Earth Day city cleanup event, 9-11 a.m. April 29 at Madison Park. Participants should meet near the entrance to Beck's Pool.
After hearing from an arborist, volunteers will plant a tree near the Madison Avenue entrance to the park, clean up sidewalks nearby, mulch trees and plant flowers.
For more information, visit onelakewood.com/KLB, or call 216-529-6601.
Derby Dash: The second annual Gilles-Sweet Elementary Derby Dash will be at 8:30 a.m. April 29. The race begins on Campus Drive next to Mayer Middle School.
Pre-registration is $20 for adults and $10 for students 13 and younger. There is a $10 discount for families of four or more with mail-in registration. Forms can be found at fairviewparkschools.org. Fees increase by $5 on race day.
Proceeds will benefit the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math curriculum. Students have been preparing for the race in their physical education classes.
Coffee with the Cops: The next Coffee with the Cops will take place 8:30-10:30 a.m. April 21 at Peace, Love and Little Donuts, 3786 Rocky River Drive, West Park.
Cleveland Ward 17 Councilman Martin Keane supports the initiative, which brings First District Cleveland police officers and the residents they serve together over coffee to discuss issues, share concerns and craft solutions.
For more information, call Terrance Richardson, 216-470-8259, or Tammy Hanna, 216-664-6634.
Charter and a check: Members of the Rocky River Middle School Interact Club were guests at a recent meeting of the Rotary Club of Lakewood and Rocky River. Rotarians presented the Interact Club members with their charter and a check for upcoming projects.
The Rotary Club of Lakewood and Rocky River presents members of the Rocky River Interact club with a charter and a check for upcoming projects. Photo provided by the Rotary Club.
Club advisor is Mary Fancher and members include Clare Duffy, director; Nick Uline, vice president; Ally Rovito, secretary; and Jaidyn Cruz, president.
Interact is Rotary International's service club for students ages 12-18. Clubs must complete at least two community service projects each year.
Earth Fair: North Olmsted Park will be the site of Earth Fair 2017, a free family event celebrating environmental awareness. There will be market vendors, themed activity areas, children's games and crafts, talks, performances, recycled art and more. The event is 1-4 p.m. April 23. The park is at 28114 Lorain Road.
Helping hunger relief: Local musicians will celebrate the music of The Beatles at the sixth annual All You Need is Love (and Food) benefit at 6 p.m. April 29 at Vosh, 1414 Riverside Drive, Lakewood. Ticket and raffle proceeds will support Trinity Lakewood Community Outreach.
Admission is $10 plus a canned food donation. Preferred food donations are peanut butter, canned tuna, canned fruits and vegetables, cereal and beef stew, but all donations are appreciated. Tickets can be purchased at the door - cash only. New this year is a limited number of VIP seating tickets that include drinks and appetizers. To reserve a VIP seat, call Danielle, 517-902-5910.
Vosh will offer complimentary valet parking. A full menu and bar will be available for purchases throughout the evening.
The event began in 2009 as a volunteer outreach arm of Trinity Lutheran Church. Call Jason Weiner, 216-394-9695 or email jasonhweiner@yahoo.com for more information on the event.
Trash and treasures: Olmsted Historical Society will have a Trash and Treasure Sale 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 29 at the Event Barn at Frostville Museum complex, 24101 Cedar Point Road, North Olmsted, in the Rocky River Reservation of the Cleveland Metroparks.
Anyone with items they want to contribute to the sale should contact Bob Lamb at 440-292-7822 to arrange to meet him at Frostville with the merchandise.
Ribbon cutting, open house: LakewoodAlive will host a Scenic Street open house 5-7 p.m. April 26 at 1427 Scenic St., Lakewood, to celebrate the completion of a unique housing project by builder Dana Paul, owner of Prairie Stone Group. A ribbon-cutting will take place at 5:30.
Paul worked with LakewoodAlive, the city of Lakewood and Cuyahoga Land Bank to covert a vacant lot into a new, single-family home. The open house will be a year after excavation began on the site.
For more information, call Matt Bixenstine, 216-521-0655.
Spring Fling: Students of North Olmsted High School's SITES Service-Learning Program, will host their 26th annual Spring Fling celebration 12:30-3:30 p.m. April 28 at Springvale Ballroom, 5871 Canterbury Road, North Olmsted. Formerly called Seniorfest, the event is an afternoon of refreshments, dancing to a live band, door prizes and interaction between the generations, including a trivia contest.
Admission is by ticket only. Cost is $5 and tickets can be purchased at North Olmsted Senior Center or at the door on event day.
Information, please: Readers are invited to share information about themselves, their families and friends, organizations, church events, etc. in Fairview Park, Lakewood, North Olmsted and West Park for the A Place in the Sun column, which I write on a freelance basis. Awards, honors, milestone birthdays or anniversaries and other items are welcome. Submit information at least 10 days before the requested publication date to carolkovach@hotmail.com.
cleveland.com is a partner of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Every dollar buys four meals for the hungry. Click here to donate.
The members of the Mongolian fellowship sang hymns at an Easter Sunday service held by the Dongsheng Church of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia on April 16, 2017.
The Mongols are the main ethnic group in the district and kept a traditional Mongolian lifestyle. Many Mongolian herdsmen still communicate with each other in their own language.
With the spread of the Gospel and the establishment of churches, there have been new converts among the group and there has been a constant rise in the number of Mongolian believers in recent years.
Because of this rise in believers, Dongsheng Church founded the fellowship for the minority to nurture these believers. All the sermons are delivered by Mongolian preachers in the Mongolian language. Using the Mongolian version of the Bible, the members also pray and sing hymns in their native language. The fellowship holds weekly gathering on Thursdays.
As a distinctive fellowship in the church, it is the work of the Holy Spirit that enables the church to be a model for other local churches in the province. It has won praise from the city's government and support from Christians of all ethnic groups.
Translated by Karen Luo
Following is the transcript of a CNBC interview with Briand Greer, President, Southeast Asia of Honeywell. The interview was broadcast on CNBC on 18 April 2017.
All references must be sourced to a "CNBC Interview".
Interviewed by Akiko Fujita, Correspondent, CNBC.
Akiko Fujita: You know, I was looking at the numbers in terms of deliveries forecast for Honeywell globally - 9,300 business jets with strong growth here in the APAC region. Where are you seeing the demand coming from in the region?
Briand Greer: Well it's really from across the region, if you will. Singapore really actually is the hub, you know particularly in Southeast Asia for the business jets. But as the middle class grows in this region, with the rise of all the incomes and everything, then business jets is just a natural outcome of that, we've seen that in the West and that's what's happening here in Asia also.
Akiko: And also I understand the helicopter industry also has some big opportunities there. What are you seeing in that specific sector?
Briand Greer: Yeah it really does. You know there's so many opportunities here. Oil and Gas has been a traditional area, that's been down a little bit obviously with what's been going on in the industry, but we see emergency medical services as a real area of growth. Again as the middle class rises and the economies mature, that demand will come, and that's really the financing that slowed it down a little bit. But I think governments will realize that with that demand, they'll need to provide those services to the population.
Akiko: One of the interesting things that we've seen is, you know you look at traditional companies legacy businesses, like Honeywell make that evolution between going from hardware to now software. What specifically is Honeywell doing especially in this region to tailor to that change?
Briand Greer: Yeah we're really focusing on becoming the leading software industrial company in the world. And if you look at, the real theme that's driving the future of what we're all doing here is around 'Connected'. And when you talk about 'Connected' it's around, used to be for the last 20 years or so around digital to digital, now it's around digital-physical. And when you talk about the Internet of Things, well Honeywell has lots and lots of things.
So all of these things are going to get connected as you go forward. And the power of all of that is going to create these ecosystems and these systems of systems. And we're right now building a platform called 'Sentience' which is going to be able to take in all the data from these Edge devices, do some analytics, and either allow us to be able to build better products and systems, give that information back to the product or the system operator, or put together the metadata to be able to sell to people who that data will be valuable to.
Akiko: It's interesting you point out data, because with IoT certainly we hear so much about the need to improve efficiency using all the data that comes in. When you talk about the strategy for Honeywell, how much of this push into software is driven by the need for additional sources of revenue and also the need to improve efficiency?
Briand Greer: I think it's both really and I think it's just, it's also about the endless march of technology -- and where it just continues to go. And if you look at the world that we're living in right now, we're becoming more and more connected. And the reality is people are demanding this now. For example, if you look from an aerospace perspective, Honeywell is a leading provider of connectivity solutions in the aircraft - whether it's the hardware or the software or the service provider whether it's the airlines or business jets or helicopters, this is going to be a demand now.
You know five or 10 years from now people get on an aircraft and forget what it was like to not be completely seamlessly connected. You'll be able to get on board, you will be able to download files or do emails, stream movies, all of those things as our world becomes more and more connected, and that plays very well into Honeywell's overall strengths around the fact that we're in the home and buildings industry, we're in mobility, we're in industrial safety, and all of these physical products will start getting sensors in them.
It will all be connected to a whole ecosystem that allows us to be able to drive the efficiency that people want, and the connectedness that we that we crave frankly.
Akiko: You talk about the strength that you're seeing in the APAC market especially here in Singapore as well. What's the outlook moving forward? Are you expecting that demand to continue?
Briand Greer: Oh absolutely. At Honeywell we're huge believers in this is the century of Asia. It's why we have you know a large headquarters in Shanghai focused on China.
And now over the last couple of years we've established a headquarters in Kuala Lumpur to service all of developing Asia, all of ASEAN, if you will. And while things may have been down a little bit over the last couple of years you know, growth is more in the four and a half to five per cent range as opposed to six to seven.
We think from a long term perspective, you just look what's happening with the growth of the middle class that's going to continue to grow and particularly in the ASEAN area that's 600 million people of middle class and we just think it's going to continue to grow so we're long term committed to the region and that's why we have headquarters and all the investment that we have here right now.
Akiko: Certainly a lot of growth potential in the region. All right, great to have you in the studio. Thank you so much.
In a constantly evolving digital threat landscape, where firewalls and antiviruses are considered tools of antiquity, companies are looking to more technologically advanced means of protecting crucial data. One such firm, U.K.-based Darktrace, uses machine learning capabilities advanced algorithms that can adapt and learn and probabilistic mathematics to learn the normal 'pattern of life' for every user and device in a network and detect anomalies. Their technology is modeled after how a human immune system identifies and responds to foreign threats swiftly and without compromising the human body's key functions.
Colin Anderson | Getty Images
"The philosophy of our entire portfolio, or our approach, is largely based on this DNA: human immune system," Sanjay Aurora, managing director for Asia Pacific at Darktrace, told CNBC. "How have human beings, for millions of years, thrived and survived? (It) is because of our immune system. Almost every day, we're hit by unknown unknowns, which is the way organizations are also hit ... in terms of viruses and malware." Experts point out the cyber-threat landscape has drastically changed and that criminals are now using more advanced technologies to launch sophisticated attacks. Even a few years ago, launching a distributed denial of service attack to take down a website, defacing webpages and stealing credit card details were considered major instances of cyber-attacks. Today, anything from medical records to airline miles data that can be sold are considered targets. Detecting criminals who have breached a network has become harder because they maintain a low profile once they're inside. A recent report from cybersecurity company FireEye showed organizations on average took 99 days in 2016 to realize they had been breached. While that figure improved notably from the average 146 days it took in 2015, experts say attackers can do a lot of damage within that time. In the past, attacks were extremely noisy, according to Eric Hoh, president for Asia Pacific Japan at FireEye. "Your computer would stop working and you'd know about it. There'd be a message that'll show on your computer and you'll know about (the attack)," he told CNBC.
watch now
Today, Aurora said, attackers are spending weeks, months and years looking for crucial information inside a network. More worryingly, he said, cyber-attackers are focused on not only stealing the data but also altering them without detection. If an attacker can alter a single row or column of data in a database once a month, undetected, in the long run the consequences can be severe because companies would find it hard to distinguish between real and fake. For example, if electronic medical records are altered without the knowledge of doctors and nurses, it could potentially lead to misdiagnoses that could put patients' lives in danger. "This is the real scare, to not just a particular industry of a particular size, but to everybody. It is a matter of existence," said Aurora. That's where Darktrace's artificial intelligence system comes in, with the latest technology offering called Antigena. Once a threat is identified, Antigena automatically responds by taking proportionate actions to neutralize it and buy security teams enough time to catch up. In essence, it acts like a digital antibody that can slow down or stop compromised connections or devices within a network without disrupting normal business operations. "Human beings are still going to be fundamental, but right now, the kind of attacks you find it very difficult to figure out and they're so quick that if you look at traditional means, by the time human beings get to respond, it's too late," Aurora explained. The technology has been operational for about a year among early adopters and was made available on a large scale earlier this month. In February, Australian cybersecurity company Nuix put out a report where they surveyed about 70 professional hackers and penetration testers at last year's Defcon the global hacking and security conference to understand their perspective on cybersecurity. In the report, about 88 percent of the respondents said they could break through cybersecurity defenses and into the systems they target within 12 hours, while another 81 percent said they could identify and take valuable data within the same time frame even when the breach may not be detected for nearly 100 days on average.
This is the real scare, to not just a particular industry of a particular size, but to everybody. It is a matter of existence. Sanjay Aurora Managing director, Asia Pacific, Darktrace
The respondents said traditional countermeasures such as firewalls and antiviruses very rarely slowed them down, but having endpoint security technologies were more effective in stopping the attacks. About half said they changed their attacking methods with every target, which limited the effectiveness of security defenses based on known files and attacks. Darktrace's Aurora said organizations need to invest in a new way of thinking about cyber-defense. "If you still do the same, which is put more resources or investment on the border, or put more investment and resources on rules and signatures which are completely not working out, you will be on the back foot," he said. Investment in machine learning and artificial intelligence is crucial, according to Aurora, because machines can respond more quickly to the way attacks are mutating. But that's not the only area that companies should look into. FireEye's Hoh said aside from defense capabilities, companies also need to invest in cyber-intelligence. Intelligence gathering is very common in the physical world it is used to protect national security interests of countries, thwart terror attacks and bring down illegal networks in areas such as human and drug trafficking. "In the cyber-world, intelligence has played up till now a less prominent role," said Hoh. "I think that companies need to really pay more attention to knowing your attackers and understanding what valuable information you have that people would want."
watch now
Amid China's rise to global superpower status, many of its citizens have been lifted out of poverty.
Yet, significant numbers remain impoverished and key challenges lie ahead for the Chinese government's goal of fighting poverty, according to John Donaldson, associate professor of Political Science at Singapore Management University.
Speaking with CNBC's "Capital Connection" on Monday, Donaldson said solving the problem of Chinese poverty is likely to be high on the agenda for the current administration in Beijing.
"It may not look like a lot, percentage-wise. But, because of the size of China, it's still an awful lot of people. And so, we're talking about tens of millions, or even, you know, the high tens of millions, depending on the way that you measure poverty, that are still remaining to be removed," Donaldson said.
"And those, in many ways, are even more difficult to remove than the folks that have already been lifted out of poverty," he added.
Neither Uber nor the executive, Sherif Marakby, said why he was leaving. The former Ford Motor executive joined Uber just last April to help with its autonomous vehicle project in Pittsburgh.
Uber Technologies said on Monday that its vice president of global vehicle programs, who played a role in the company's self-driving car program, has left the company.
"Self-driving is one of the most interesting challenges I've worked on in my career, and I'm grateful to have contributed to what will soon be a safer future for everyone," Marakby said in an emailed statement.
The departure is the latest of several high-profile exits from the ride-hailing company.
Uber has been rocked by a number of setbacks lately, including accusations of sexual harassment from a former female employee and a video showing Chief Executive Travis Kalanick harshly berating an Uber driver.
It has also been sued by Alphabet's Waymo unit for stealing some of its self-driving technology, an accusation Uber denies.
The company is seeking a chief operating officer to help Kalanick manage it, repair its tarnished image and improve its culture.
Separately, the privately held company made public some of its financials on Friday, revealing that it was generating more revenue but still making large losses.
It's no coincidence that some of the most successful start-ups in history including many of the so-called "unicorns" are headquartered in Silicon Valley. The Bay Area's proximity to top tech talent, a plethora of incubators and accelerators, and a "who's who" of innovative companies make it a fertile hunting ground for venture capitalists looking to throw money into the next Facebook or Apple. Increasingly, cities like New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago, and Austin are developing reputations as start-up hotbeds, as well. While a lot of would-be entrepreneurs dream about starting a company and then moving to Silicon Valley, or vice versa, the reality is that the resources that founders need in order to be successful aren't exclusive to a particular geographic location. More often than not, you can find everything you need right in your own back yard no matter where in the world that is. The expansion of start-up success The insane amount of investment poured into Bay Area companies over the course of the past decade or so has inevitably given rise to the belief that a start-up's location is a key indicator of its potential to be successful. Certainly, there are many examples of companies that have made it big in the Valley too many to name here, in fact. But lately, examples of successful innovative companies are popping up all over the map, and that's only going to continue. About 800 miles to the east of the start-up capital of the world lies another valley. Provo, Utah, is now home to three start-ups valued over $1 billion. Qualtrics, an online survey company; Vivint, a home automation provider; and Ancestry.com, a genealogy giant, were all bootstrapped and built from the ground up within walking distance of one another and have helped establish the state's reputation as a start-up breeding ground.
But lately, examples of successful innovative companies are popping up all over the map, and that's only going to continue.
Go due east another 1,500 miles and you'll end up in St. Louis, where Jonathan Herrick has helped build an award-winning customer relationship management and marketing automation platform for small businesses. The chief sales and marketing officer and co-founder of Hatchbuck, together with the firm's other founders, took advantage of T-REX, which offers Hatchbuck and more than 100 other start-ups roughly 160,000 square feet of co-working space. In about five years, Hatchbuck has been able to secure nearly $10 million in investor funds. Meanwhile, in the nation's capital which has almost always been dominated by government organizations and a plethora of federal contractors they do business with a burgeoning tech scene has given rise to companies like FiscalNote, a data analytics start-up, and Contactually, a CRM. And up and down the east coast, from Philadelphia to Charleston, South Carolina, start-ups are disrupting nearly every industry imaginable. So what's making it all possible?
The global market for interconnected aircraft is set to exceed $20 billion by 2020, and Honeywell is focusing on leading that trend, according to its Southeast Asia President, Briand Greer.
"Five or 10 years from now, people get on an aircraft and forget what it was like to not be completely seamlessly connected. You'll be able to get on board, you will be able to download files or do emails, stream movies, all of those things as our world becomes more connected," Greer told CNBC's "The Rundown" on Tuesday.
Honeywell's position as a software solutions company for various markets from commercial to consumer puts it at a strong position to lead the charge toward hyper-connectivity, according to Greer.
"We're in the home and buildings industry, we're in mobility, we're in industrial safety and all of these physical products will start getting sensors in them. It will all be connected to a whole ecosystem that allows [Honeywell] to be able to drive the efficiency that people want and the connectedness that we crave frankly," Greer said.
Investors should buy McDonald's shares because its new technology and food initiatives will drive sales above expectations, according to Bernstein, which raised its rating on the restaurant chain to outperform from market perform. "More menu innovation and, over time, experience of the future [mobile and kiosk digital ordering] will prove beneficial, as it has in other markets," Bernstein analyst Sara Senatore wrote in a note to clients Tuesday. "Elsewhere, strong performance in Japan and healthy macro trends in Europe suggest other major markets are also performing well." The analyst raised her McDonald's price target to $160 from $129, representing 22 percent upside from Monday's close. Senatore cited conversations with McDonald's managers, which revealed the new Mac Trio burger offering in the first quarter has performed "better than planned." She is also bullish on future menu innovations such as fresh beef and slushies. The digital ordering roll-out this year should also "improve throughput in and out of the store and drive higher average check," according to the analyst. In addition, she noted how McDonald's Japan joint venture grew sales by 15.5 percent in the first quarter, which bodes well for other international markets. As a result, Senatore predicts McDonald's will report 2.8 percent comparable restaurant sales growth this year versus the 2.3 percent Wall Street consensus. "We believe value and pricing are critical drivers of MCD's US comps; a return of food inflation and a re-commitment to value should support US comps," she wrote. "Beverage promos amidst a renewed focus on nationally advertised value should help sustain traffic." CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this story.
Ronald McDonald balloon is seen at the 90th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 24, 2016 in New York City. Noam Galai | Getty Images
The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended 1.1 percent lower with all sectors and major bourses trading in negative territory.
May, outlining her decision to hold a general election in less than eight weeks, described her "reluctance" in doing so and blamed divisions in Westminster as a key reason for her sudden reversal of position. A Commons vote will take place on Wednesday in order to see whether Parliament will back a general election being held before 2020.
Sterling rebounded sharply against the dollar on Tuesday after Britain's Prime Minister said she wanted to hold a general election. Having fallen in early trading, the U.K. currency surged more than 1.5 percent to hit $1.2758, its highest level since mid-December.
Basic resources led the losses and contracted over 3.1 percent as steel and iron ore prices dropped. Pandora was down by around 12 percent after a Carnegie survey showed the Danish jewelry maker may have struggled to create revenue growth in the firms last quarter.
Galapagos had been trading at the top of the European benchmark after the firm announced it had raised $338 million in a U.S. public offering, Reuters reported. However, its shares fell sharply to close more than 2.1 percent lower.
In other corporate news, Casino Group, slipped 3.4 percent after reporting a slowdown in sales growth. Elsewhere, Post Holdings is set to buy Britain's Weetabix for $1.76 billion, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average and broader S&P 500 both continued lower as stocks slipped after the U.K. government called for early elections.
Goldman Sachs' earnings miss drags on US banks
Goldman Sachs earnings disappointed on Tuesday as a bottom line miss knocked shares down by over 3 percent and weighed on other U.S. heavyweights.
Also on Tuesday, hopes over immediate tax reforms in the U.S. have somewhat dissipated after Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told the Financial Times that a new plan is unlikely to be ready before August.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence will meet Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday, aiming to open Japan's doors for U.S.-made goods and attracting Japanese infrastructure investment. Earlier, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he supported the U.S. administration stating that pressure is necessary for dealing with North Korea's missile and nuclear threat.
The International Monetary Fund raised its global growth forecast on Tuesday citing manufacturing and trade gains in Europe, Japan and China although suggested protectionist policies could derail an economic recovery.
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Sara Jo Schneider and Hickle, along with fellow Girl Scouts Jayna Kelley and Autumn Helgeson, were killed when a pickup truck crashed into them as the scouts cleaned up debris on the west side of Highway P at about 11 a.m. Nov. 3, 2018. All four were killed at the scene. A fifth girl was injured but later recovered. The girls attended Southview Elementary and Halmstad Elementary in Chippewa Falls. On Wednesday, a 20-foot-tall memorial was dedicated at the crash site, honoring the three scouts and mother killed that day.
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France's presidential election is a major test for euro zone unity, and the first round Sunday could bring on intense market volatility, depending on which candidates make it to the final leg of the race. French stocks closed down 1.6 percent Tuesday, after recovering from the worst intraday selloff since the U.K. voted to leave the European Union last June. Investors globally have been hedging ahead of the vote by piling into safe haven assets like U.S. Treasurys and gold, and buying yen against the euro. "I think it's potentially huge, or it could be nothing, and we'll know that Sunday night before the market opens," said Andrew Brenner, global head of emerging market fixed income at National Alliance. He said the spread between French and German 10-year bonds continues to widen, a signal of market unease. The big fear is that far-right National Front candidate Marine Le Pen will win, since she has run on a platform to divorce France from the euro an action that could threaten the future of the entire euro zone. As it stands now, there is a good chance Le Pen will emerge from the first round pitted against one of three candidates: far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, conservative Francois Fillon and centrist Emmanuel Macron, a former economy minister. "It is true that four candidates are coming all within a margin of error. It is impossible to know for sure whether the French electorate will look at these polls and decide to vote with their hearts or get excited by the underdogs," said Charles Lichfield, associate, Europe at Eurasia Group. "Something we can say is Mrs. Le Pen is most likely of those four candidates to make the second round. They're all between 18 and 22 percent. Ninety percent of Mrs. Le Pen's 22 percent will vote for her." The candidate favored by markets is Macron, who is expected to beat Le Pen in the final vote. "If it appears Macron is in the race, all of this goes away for the near term," said Brenner.
The disruptive candidate not named 'Le Pen'
However, Lichfield said Melenchon also stands a chance to win. Like Le Pen, he would be considered a disruptive candidate. A fan of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, he would like to tax individuals who earn 400,000 euros ($430,000) or more at a tax rate of 100 percent. He also would like to renegotiate France's relationship with the European Union, and if it fails, he would seek to leave the EU. "Depending on how high [Le Pen] is, the market could react quite violently. If her runner-up is 6, 7 points behind her, many people would see that it's possible she wins," Lichfield said. The runoff election is set for May 7. "You hear people saying if Le Pen gets elected, France pulls out of the euro and the EU collapses. That's utter nonsense. For France to pull out, there has to be a vote of Parliament and they're overwhelmingly against leaving the euro," said Robert Sinche, chief global strategist at Amherst Pierpont. There is a parliamentary election in June, and it in fact could be the more important election. Le Pen's far-right National Front isn't seen making much in the way of inroads.
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"I still expect Macron and Le Pen to be in the runoffs," said Marc Chandler, chief foreign exchange strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman. "A lot of people think the French election is about the presidential election. It's also about the parliamentary election in June. The president is a figurehead. The problem is none of the candidates have a strong parliamentary presence. The key to the outcome is going to be the parliamentary elections. Political risk is going to subside, but it can't go away." Chandler said a Le Pen victory could foster other nationalist groups in Europe, but it could also be a problem for Italy. Germany also has an election later this year. "The key would be not so much the German election, but the Italian election," he said. Italy, under Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni, has undertaken steps to provide emergency liquidity guarantees and capital injections for its banks. Former Prime Minister Matteo Renzi resigned in December, after Italy voted down a key constitutional referendum. The views on how France's election could affect markets diverge as much as do potential outcomes. Lichfield said he sees a 35 to 40 percent chance for Le Pen to win. He said there are very slight odds, perhaps 10 percent, that financial market chaos erupts after the election. It could be so volatile it would send French yields skyrocketing and hurt the country's banks. The long-shot scenario could even be extended to consider a French default at which point, France could be forced to leave the euro zone, Lichfield said. More likely is that European Economic and Monetary Union officials keep the situation under control and panic does not set in. Even so, a Le Pen win would not be a positive. "It will be negative because there's this now complacent view that Brexit wasn't so bad. Trump hasn't been so bad, so why are we worried about Le Pen? But if you look at what she wants to do, if suddenly the market slowing into what her actual policies are and realize she's right at the center of a vulnerable monetary union, then it becomes much more troubling," said Lichfield. Watch: The French right comes out of hiding
Steve Ballmer shared his views on technology and the new government transparency initiative USAFacts in an interview Tuesday on CNBC's " Squawk Box ." On Microsoft : "I think the company is well positioned. On the other hand, [it has] a lot of work to do. I think on the cloud side with Office 365 and Azure the company's got a real shot, but not a birth right," Ballmer said. "On the client side of the world I think the work that they're doing with the Microsoft Surface, hardware devices is really good." On his advice for Twitter : "Ignore the short-term stock price because at the end of the day what they have to do is worry about the product innovation," he said. "They have to worry about their cost structure. High cost structure has many bad problems including confusion and chaos." Ballmer is currently the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and former CEO of Microsoft. He is a significant shareholder of both Twitter and Microsoft, according to the interview. He also discusses: Why he started USAFacts Los Angeles Clippers' postseason chances Sports team valuations Facebook and Snap Apple To watch the broadcast interview in its entirety, you must be a CNBC PRO subscriber .
Steve Ballmer shared his views on technology and the new government transparency initiative USAFacts in an interview Tuesday on CNBC's "Squawk Box." On Microsoft : "I think the company is well positioned. On the other hand, [it has] a lot of work to do. I think on the cloud side with Office 365 and Azure the company's got a real shot, but not a birth right," Ballmer said. "On the client side of the world I think the work that they're doing with the Microsoft Surface, hardware devices is really good."
On his advice for Twitter : "Ignore the short-term stock price because at the end of the day what they have to do is worry about the product innovation," he said. "They have to worry about their cost structure. High cost structure has many bad problems including confusion and chaos."
Ballmer is currently the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers and former CEO of Microsoft. He is a significant shareholder of both Twitter and Microsoft, according to the interview.
He also discusses: Why he started USAFacts
Los Angeles Clippers' postseason chances
Sports team valuations
Facebook Snap
Apple To watch the broadcast interview in its entirety, you must be a CNBC PRO subscriber.
SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. Georgia voters will deliver an early referendum on President Donald Trump on Tuesday, and the president and his party are worried.
Here in Atlanta's northern suburbs, Democrat Jon Ossoff has a chance to win a special election for the House seat that Republican Tom Price gave up to become Trump's Secretary of Health and Human Services.
If he does, Republicans will suddenly confront the possibility that they could lose control of Congress in next year's midterm elections. That, in turn, could scare away more Republicans from cooperating with the president and cripple the White House agenda.
Under normal circumstances, Ossoff wouldn't have much chance. Republicans have held the 6th House district for nearly 40 years. Price cruised to an easy re-election victory last November.
But Trump, four years after Mitt Romney carried the district lopsidedly against President Barack Obama, barely edged by Hillary Clinton here. That's because the district contains a heavy concentration of residents with college educations the segment of white voters most skeptical of Trump's bombastic, populist style.
Combine that skepticism with Trump's bumpy debut in office, and Democrats angered by November's outcome see an early chance to demonstrate their ability to fight back.
"The intensity at the grassroots level here is unprecedented," Ossoff said in a campaign office bustling with volunteers. "It's got very little to do with me, and everything to do with the times that we're living in and the kind of community this is."
The 30-year-old former congressional aide treads carefully in this heavily Republican district. He pledges to hold Trump "accountable" but insists he's open to working with the president on bipartisan priorities such as infrastructure improvements.
Republicans tread carefully, too. Trump retains strong support within his party, especially in the South, even as loyalists grumble about his failure to persuade a friendly Congress to pass his bill to repeal and replace Obamacare.
"We're not seeing anything that says 'Oh, we got to put somebody up there to stop President Trump,' " said Adam Pipkin, executive director of the Georgia GOP. "What Republicans want is for Congress to start working with the president."
Pipkin dismisses the surge of volunteers and the extraordinary $8 million in donations for Ossoff as imported enthusiasm from Democrats across the country desperate for a victory. But polls show he leads the mostly Republican field of more than a dozen candidates by a wide margin with more than 40 percent of the vote.
If Ossoff can reach 50 percent Tuesday, he'll win the race outright. If not, he'll face a June 20 runoff against the second-place candidate, which polls suggest will be a Republican.
Ossoff's chances would decline sharply in a one-on-one matchup. Trump's personal stake in the race displayed in an automated phone message to district Republicans and four tweets in the past two days blasting the " super liberal " Democrat as weak on immigration and taxes underscores the GOP's urgency about generating enthusiasm among core supporters.
"I was glad to see this morning that President Trump has taken interest in the campaign," Ossoff said Monday. "While I don't expect a congratulatory tweet if I win, I will work with anyone in Washington including him to get things done for this district."
Jonathan Rosenberg, Google's former SVP of product, advises one of the most important tech CEOs on the planet, Larry Page of Alphabet, Google's parent company. He's also co-author, with executive chairman Eric Schmidt, of business tome "How Google Works." It's no surprise that someone with Rosenberg's schedule admits to having an "addiction" to his smartphone, something every professional can relate to. But even this busy exec makes a point of putting his phone away while at dinner and before bed. He says the simple habit helps him relax after a busy day and fall asleep. Scientific research says he's on to something.
Google executive Jonathan Rosenberg and executive Chairman EricSchmidt, co-authors of "How Google Works." Rob Kim/Getty Images
"I know this is a shock," he tells CNBC, "but I find that I can control my addiction by not using it at dinner, and be sort of human and social." He also makes a point of not bringing his phone into his bedroom, so that he can fall asleep faster. He's not the only successful business person to encourage professionals to carve out phone-free time. Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post and author of "The Sleep Revolution" says that making time to be without your phone will boost your productivity and your overall happiness. While ditching your smartphone for dinner and bedtime may seem easy, it's actually challenging for many people. In a 2015 Bank of America Survey of 1,000 adults, some 36 percent of respondents said they constantly check their phone, and 71 percent said they fell asleep with their smartphone next to them. While keeping in contact with the office and up to date on the news may help you feel productive, constantly reaching for your phone could be doing more harm than good. A University of Illinois study found that frequent cellphone use was linked to higher levels of anxiety and depression symptoms. A study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine found that high mobile phone use was associated with sleep disturbances and symptoms of depression.
Making time to disconnect from your phone could help you feel more rested and less anxious.
A demonstrator holds a sign to protest against President Donald Trump's executive order banning refugees and immigrants from seven primarily Muslim countries during a rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, February 4, 2017.
The ideas that the H-1B visa program is "limiting American jobs is a fallacy," Foundation Capital General Partner Paul Holland told CNBC on Tuesday.
President Trump's call for the review of the H-1B visa program, has many tech companies in Silicon Valley worried about possible limitations on the visas for high skilled immigrant workers.
"The concept behind limiting the H-1B visas we think is a pretty bad idea overall," said Holland. "I think the notion that somehow...we're limiting American jobs for these highly trained engineers and highly trained technical people is a fallacy," he said.
Holland says any drastic changes to the program could have dire consequences for tech innovation in the U.S. "We cannot graduate enough highly trained engineers in this country or in Canada or the UK or other places we draw from," he said. With the U.S. tech ecosystem creating jobs across the board worldwide he says we are not in a position to hire the best people without access to international talent.
Yet, we've seen a decline in the number of employers seeking H-1B visas. There are only 199,000 applications for admission in 2018, down from 236,000 last year. Gartner said, "It's probably to some extent related to individual people deciding do I want to come into the country in this environment or would I rather take a job in another country where it may be more welcoming for me and my family?"
Of those 199,000 applications, 85,000 will be accepted, according to the latest guidelines from the Citizenship and Immigration Services web site.
North Korea has surprisingly managed to draw on global resources to develop its nuclear weapons program, despite being a tiny country that's isolated from most the world.
North Korea's economic clout is small South Korea's central bank estimates its neighbor had a gross national income in 2015 of 34.5 trillion South Korean won ($30 billion), just 2.2 percent that of South Korea. But North Korea spends an estimated 25 percent of its gross domestic product on weapons.
"This is basically a brutal dictator who doesn't really put a lot of stock in the safety, health, education of his people. It wouldn't surprise me at all he would pour resources into nuclear weapons that I hope will never be used," said Sharon Squassoni, director of the Proliferation Prevention Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Here are five sources of North Korea's funding, according to analysts:
1. China
About three-fourths of North Korea's trade is with its communist neighbor China, according to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Other estimates put the percentage even higher.
"China has enormous leverage to influence stability in North Korea, but most of it they feel they cannot use because of adverse consequences for China interests in North Korea," said Scott Snyder, director of the Program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. Beijing has the ability to shut down food and energy supply for North Korea, he said.
However, a North Korean collapse would likely send refugees flooding over the border into the economically weak northeastern region of China, a situation Beijing wants to avoid.
2. Overseas slave labor
Forced North Korean laborers in China and Russia give Pyongyang desperately needed cash, said Robert Manning, senior fellow at the Atlantic Council. Other exports such as coal and minerals also bring in hard currency, in the form of Chinese yuan, U.S. dollars and euros.
"I think a lot of this fuels their nuclear missile companies," he said.
North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un can also use those funds to buy the support of other leaders in North Korea, Manning said. "If we can take away his hard currency, his hard cash, I think that will create a new political dynamic in North Korea. He can't buy off the political elites," Manning said.
3. Weapons sales
"The North Korean economy is basically being run by its arms deals," said Anwita Basu, The Economist Intelligence Unit's lead analyst for Indonesia, the Philippines and North Korea.
She pointed to export deals North Korea has made with African countries; other political analysts have speculated that there is cooperation between North Korea and Iran on nuclear weapons development.
North Korea "continues to trade in arms and related materiel, exploiting markets and procurement services in Asia, Africa and the Middle East," said a February report from the U.N. Security Council's Panel of Experts.
The report added that North Korea uses its construction companies in Africa to build arms-related, military and security facilities. Last summer, Egypt intercepted a ship from North Korea carrying 30,000 PG-7 rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons parts, the study said.
4. Drugs
North Korea has "a large illicit drug industry," the Atlantic Council's Manning said. "I've seen samples of North Korean pirated Viagra that looks very authentic. It has been a significant source of hard currency."
5. Cybercrime
North Korea was reportedly behind a $81 million cybertheft of funds from Bangladesh's account at the New York Federal Reserve last year. Prosecutors believe Chinese middlemen helped North Korea with the theft, The Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
Some Chinese financial firms also appear to serve as channels for funds to North Korea.
In February, six U.S. senators including former presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that urged him to restrict North Korean banks' access to Chinese banks.
United Nations sanctions against North Korea "have been very modest compared to what we do vis-a-vis Iran or Cuba," Manning said. "The degree to which China is prepared to cooperate will determine how successful we are in imposing pressure on North Korea."
Correction: Egypt intercepted a ship from North Korea carrying rocket-propelled grenades and other weapons parts in 2016. An earlier version misstated the timing.
United used the wrong channels of communication to handle the worldwide backlash it received over the treatment of a passenger who was dragged from his seat, Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz, told CNBC on Tuesday.
"What happened to United should come as a lesson to many corporations," El-Erian said on "Squawk Box." "Even if you lose control of the narrative, which United did early on, don't make it worse. ... It made a really bad situation a lot worse."
The company faces intense pressure from the public and lawmakers and even a possible lawsuit after a video surfaced of David Dao, a 69-year-old Vietnamese-American doctor, being dragged off an overbooked United flight in Chicago.
After a series of poorly received statements from United on the matter, the company's CEO, Oscar Munoz, issued an apology, saying, "I want you to know that we take full responsibility and we will work to make it right."
The Department of Transportation has launched an inquiry into the incident, and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called for new rules to curb the airline practice of overbooking flights.
Delta Air Lines said it would change its policy about bumping passengers off flights. United also issued a new policy to ensure a situation in which a passenger is forcibly removed doesn't happen again.
El-Erian said the airlines' recent crisis is not going to impact them long term but has become a huge "reputational risk."
"They should learn and other companies should learn from this," he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
29 states and the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana in some form, and 8 have approved laws enabling the sale for recreational use.
The volume of payments coming into the IRS from the legal cannabis industry has prompted the IRS to increase cash-counting capability in Denver and Seattle.
Thousands of companies involved in the $6.7 billion US cannabis industry are forced by disparities in state and federal law to conduct nearly all transactions in cash.
Getty Images
It's Tax Day. No company likes handing money over to the tax collector, but for Oakland-based Harborside Health, settling up with the Internal Revenue Service represents a unique kind of headache. Like many successful retail operations, Harborside which brought in $44 million in revenue in 2016 owes millions of dollars in taxes to federal, state and local governments. Unlike most other companies, Harborside has to count and hand-deliver those millions of dollars to the IRS and other authorities in cash. That's because legal marijuana businesses have to pay taxes under IRS code 280E, the same category reserved for illegal drug traffickers. Cannabis is categorized as a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act. While more than half of the states in the U.S. have legalized some form of medicinal marijuana, and several others have passed laws permitting recreational cannabis use, under federal drug laws the sale of cannabis remains illegal. Harborside is one of thousands of companies involved in the $6.7 billion legal cannabis industry forced by disparities in state and federal law to conduct nearly all transactions in cash. As a result, thousands of companies have in the past week counted and delivered millions of dollars in cash to their respective IRS offices and state tax authorities. Those offices then have to count all that cash again a process that's taxing IRS resources as well. The volume of cash payments coming into the IRS from the legal cannabis industry this year has prompted the IRS to increase its cash-counting capacity at offices in Denver and Seattle. (Colorado and Washington have both legalized the sale of cannabis for recreational purposes, boosting industry revenues.) It's a sign of a larger problem facing a nascent but booming industry that continues to have trouble utilizing the traditional banking industry despite explosive growth.
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Harborside Health pays every bill in cash that it feasibly can, says CEO and founder Steve DeAngelo. That means the company has some volume of cash moving around almost every single day, creating logistical and security problems. With that much cash moving around, there's a real threat to the security of the people doing the moving, essentially painting targets on the backs of cannabis industry employees at a growing number of legal cannabis industries across the United States. "There are thousands [of cannabis businesses] in the United States now, and all of them are carrying around tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash," DeAngelo said. "If something isn't done to change the situation, it's, in my opinion, just a matter of time before we see a tragedy." Even in states that have legalized cannabis, banks are wary of doing business with companies that derive their revenue from the the industry, for fear of running afoul of federal drug law.
The unbanked
For most legal cannabis companies, banking in the traditional sense is an aspiration rather than the norm a big problem for an industry expected to balloon to $21 billion by 2021, according to Arcview Group, a cannabis industry investment and research organization. Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have now legalized marijuana in some form, and eight have approved laws enabling the sale of cannabis for recreational use (though not all of those laws have gone into effect). DeAngelo describes Harborside as "banked, but tenuously." While the company does have a bank account that allows it to accept debit card payments, the company has to manage that account very carefully. In other words, the company uses the account for card transactions but does not deposit cash into that account for fear that privilege might be revoked. "We've been banked many times, and many times those accounts have been shut down," said Lance Perryman, founder and CEO of Next Harvest, a vertically integrated cannabis company in Colorado that produces and sells its own products and does between $5 million and $10 million in revenue annually. Its dispensary sees more than 500 customers per day, virtually all of which pay in cash. "We're on a purely cash basis," said Marques Moore, COO of Denver-based MMJ America, a 70-person operation with five retail locations that has never had a bank account. While there are banks in Colorado that will deal with the cannabis industry, the process of being vetted and approved to deal with a bank for an account that might be closed by the bank without warning at any time is strenuous enough to be prohibitive for many companies, he says. "We were close to getting approved by one of these banks, and then we were told that they weren't taking any new clients, because the IRS was auditing them."
There are thousands [of cannabis businesses] in the United States now, and all of them are carrying around tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash. ... It's, in my opinion, just a matter of time before we see a tragedy. Steve DeAngelo CEO and founder, Harborside Health
The lack of financial infrastructure makes it difficult for cannabis companies to establish exactly the kind of fiscal paper trail that federal and state regulators could use to help enforce regulatory compliance, said Perryman of Next Harvest. His company is currently undergoing an audit, a common occurrence for legal cannabis companies and a process that is particularly fraught when a company has been operating on a cash basis for years. The lack of banking services creates myriad logistical headaches within the day-to-day operations of what are otherwise conventional production and retail operations. "People work with us; we calculate their taxes for them; we fill out their forms for them; we tell them where they can remit their taxes," said Keegan Petersen of Wurk, a Denver-based start-up that provides various technology solutions to help legal cannabis companies account for all their cash and remain in compliance with layers of complicated state and federal tax law. "But they have to figure out how to get their money to the IRS building or the state building."
Armed guards
LA CROSSE Hmong students who say the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse isnt listening to them made their voices heard Monday.
Members of the UW-L Hmong Organization Promoting Education and their allies demonstrated at the university clock tower Monday afternoon, voicing concerns about the universitys Hmong heritage language program. The students brought a Change.org petition with more than 530 signatures, addressed to UW-L Chancellor Joe Gow.
What do we want? Our voices heard! more than 50 students chanted as they marched to Gows office to deliver the petition. When do we want it? Now!
The petition demands the university listen to the students voices and meet their expectations, which include teaching Hmong language classes in the manner they want and a formal apology to the classs instructor Bee Lo and the Hmong community. Gow was out of the office traveling on Monday. Reached by phone, he said he appreciated students exercising their free speech rights but that such issues regarding academic classes are best handled by faculty and administrators experienced in those areas.
Protesters called out the universitys other top leaders and said they were upset none appeared at the rally. In the crowd were affirmative action director Nizam Arain, Provost Betsy Morgan, outgoing Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Paula Knudson and others, including many staff members from the universitys Campus Climate Office.
The clash between students and the university started in December when UW-L decided not to offer the spring session of a two-part Hmong heritage language program. University staff cited low enrollment. Classes in the series have been canceled in the past due to low enrollment, but this year members of HOPE and the Hmong community have demanded action.
UW-L offered a distance learning Hmong language course in partnership with a Hmong language professor at UW-Stout. The La Crosse Area Hmoob Cultural and Community Agency also offers a number of Hmong language classes and cultural practices training throughout the year.
But Hmong students dismissed the compromise, saying they couldnt learn the language this way, as Hmong was too hard to learn through distance learning. They also said they wanted to be able to take the class from instructor Bee Lo, and as a result, no students enrolled this semester for the course.
Hmong students took their case to the UW-L Student Association, which passed a resolution in December in support of the students and called on the university to reverse its decision. Students and Hmong elders also spoke at a public forum that month, repeatedly stating how important language is to Hmong identity and culture.
This is about more than just a degree, one of the Hmong students who spoke at the forum said. It is about us as a people.
Despite being open to the public, Julia Johnson, dean of the College of Liberal Studies, stopped any members of the public or the media from recording the event, which upset HOPE co-chair Linda Xiong. She said UW-L staff promised to provide a transcript of the comments made but has yet to do so.
The university keeps talking about how they want to be transparent, Xiong said in an interview. This whole process has not been transparent.
A UW-L task force, which includes Hmong faculty in its membership, has been working this semester on ideas on how to improve the language course as well as the campus Hmong cultural offerings as a whole. Morgan said the goal is to offer a Hmong Studies Certificate at UW-L starting next fall for those students interested in learning about the culture and language of the Hmong people, with the Hmong language courses counting toward the certificate.
Members of the HOPE organization have met with members of the university task force. HOPE member and former UW-L student senator Chevana Vang, 21, of Holmen said she was told the task force wasnt looking for student input yet and were still working on curriculum for the universitys Hmong cultural offerings.
Students were also upset when they learned the university planned to offer any future courses to all students, not just those of Hmong heritage. While the university has said the Hmong heritage language courses never excluded non-Hmong students in the past, students have spoken of how the classes were treated as Hmong-only, giving the students a safe space where they could learn about the culture among themselves.
There is absolutely no way this would happen, Morgan said. It would not be legal. Classes should be open to anyone who meets the prerequisites.
At the protest Monday, Hmong students carried two large banners on white canvas proclaiming, UWLAX is racist. Ask me, JGow@uwlax.edu and White supremacy is alive. Speakers spoke about how they feel marginalized on campus for being Hmong and the struggles they face because of it.
Many said they believe the university, which they called an institution of white supremacy and privilege, has failed them, especially Vang, who spoke at the rally about her experiences and how she dedicated so much time to protesting institutional racism on campus she didnt pass her classes.
I did not fail this university, she told the crowd assembled at the rally. This university failed me.
Earlier this month, HOPE members voted to have Xiong act as the groups Hmong studies chair and be its representative to work with the task force. Xiong said she will start in the new role next school year and hopes to be the go-to person for the task force in providing student perspectives.
This whole process has been really frustrating for students, she said. We feel constantly shut down. We feel that administrators dont value the students.
Lynette Prieur Lo, the staff adviser for HOPE, is also the wife of Bee Lo, the instructor who previously taught the language courses at UW-L. Morgan said the university has opened up enrollment for the fall heritage language course; so far only one student has signed up. It is unclear whether Bee Lo, listed as an office associate in Multicultural Student Services, will be the instructor of the language class.
The task force has welcomed student input, Morgan said, and the universitys curriculum committee has student members. But she said faculty and administration have the right to determine what classes are taught and by whom, and the ongoing debate over the issue was becoming a distraction from the larger diversity work the university is undertaking.
Tony Robbins argues that hunger is the most important indicator of success. Self-made real estate tycoon Sean Conlon explains that his own hunger comes from his modest upbringing and immigrant story. Growing up, Conlon's family of seven lived in a 1,000-square-foot home in a small Irish village of about 900 people. When his parents struggled financially, the bank threatened to take their home. "That was ingrained in me," says Conlon.
"I swore then that that would never happen to me or to anyone I cared about." When Conlon moved to America at the age of 18 with $500 in his pocket, he was motivated by his fear of once more facing the same poverty he faced as a child: "I was driven by being afraid of the bank knocking on the door like they did with my parents." America, Conlon explains, was the place he came to fight his fear: "America is a place where you can still be anything today I am very proud to be an American citizen." He arrived in Chicago in 1990 determined to make good.
Sean Conlon rings the NASDAQ opening bell Rob Kim | Getty Images
Conlon got to the top by being more dedicated than his colleagues, he says: "I outworked all my competitors." That work ethic gave him an edge. "I competed with guys who went to the Ivy League schools and they went to Harvard and Yale and Wharton," he says, "but they wanted to go home earlier in the evening." When they went home, Conlon kept at it. "I got an extra day's work done that night, so I was a day ahead of them the next week and two days the following week," he says. The real estate mogul argues that this fear-based passion is special to entrepreneurs who have experienced difficulty: "I think a lot of people you will talk to who immigrated or came from, as they say, the other side of the tracks, are driven by fear."
Sean Conlon of 'The Deed' Maarten de Boer/NBC | Getty Images
On the flip side, explains Conlon, privilege can often cause entrepreneurs to take things for granted. "Sometimes people who are born here feel they should be entitled" to opportunity and success, whereas "I didn't feel I was entitled to anything except the shot," he explains. Despite being a self-proclaimed "chilled" and "pragmatic" person, the fear of being poor still sparks terror in Conlon: "If somebody tries to screw me over, I think back to all the people who screwed my father out of money, and I react very viscerally to it because I am afraid of being poor still." No matter how much success Conlon manages to achieve, fear continues to drive him: "I am still afraid no matter how confident I seem." His story is a great reminder to work hard, harness your fears to fuel your passions, count your blessings and take nothing for granted. "America is an amazing place," says Conlon "We're very fortunate to be here."
A smattering of snow can be found along California Highway 88 near Carson Pass on April 12, 2015, near South Lake Tahoe, California.
California's snowpack level is near a record high.
New data from NASA show that this past winter's snowpack levels in California's Tuolumne River Basin, located in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, are higher than they were in the last four years combined.
Melting snow along the Tuolomne is an important source of water for both California's Central Valley the heart of California's agricultural sector, and the crowded San Francisco area.
On April 1, NASA's Airborne Snow Observatory measured the Tuolumne Basin snowpack at 1.2 million acre-feet, which NASA says is enough snow to fill the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, nearly 1,600 times.
The snowpack is twice the volume of last year's, and 21 times larger than 2015's level, which was the lowest on record.
NASA's ASO is the only program that measures snow water equivalent, which is what it sounds like: the amount of water present in a measurement of snow. NASA found that combining April 1 snowpack measurements from 2013 through 2016 yielded 92 percent of the snow observed just this year.
In much of the Central Sierra, snow lies 25 feet deep (8 meters). In some high mountain basins, it's deeper than 80 feet (24 meters). And since April 1, it has continued to snow.
California has received heavy precipitation over the last several months, after the state endured one of the most severe multi-year droughts in the state's history.
While the rains offered a reprieve from years of drought, the heavy and frequent storms have flooded communities and damaged crops.
In spite of the rain, portions of the state are still at some level of drought, ranging from "abnormally dry" regions and pockets of "moderate drought" in Southern California, and one small strip of land near the borders with Mexico and Arizona, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, walks away after speaking during a news conference on Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Friday, March 24, 2017.
With no deal on new health-care legislation and uncertainty about how long the White House will subsidize insurers' participation in the Affordable Care Act, states have begun pushing back deadlines for insurers to submit rates for 2018.
In the last week, New Hampshire, Kentucky and Colorado have moved rate deadlines to June from April or May to give insurers more time to assess the market.
New Hampshire had originally requested 2018 rates by April 24; that date is now June 2, according to a memo from the state's insurance department. Michael Wilkey, the department's director of life, accident and health insurance, told CNBC that new guidance from lawmakers or the White House could cause the deadlines to be pushed back further, if necessary.
"We are watching what unfolds in Washington like everybody else is," Wilkey said. "Carriers need to have as much information as possible to see what the market will look like in 2018."
Senior GOP aides are optimistic that Congress, upon returning from recess, can revive the health-care debate after it works to avert an April 28 government shutdown deadline. But if an agreement on a new law doesn't emerge, the White House must decide whether to continue paying out some $7 billion in subsidies to insurers, an issue that is currently being litigated, with a court-ordered deadline of May 22 for the Trump administration to weigh in.
The Colorado Division of Insurance hasn't settled on a firm date yet but is allowing insurers until "mid-June" to submit rates from a previous May 15 deadline.
"In our discussions with the health insurance carriers, they've asked for more time in developing their plans and rates," said Vincent Plymell, a spokesman for the division. "It is due to the uncertainty in the [subsidy] payments, and uncertainty in general about what will happen."
Some states are holding firm on deadlines that fall before that date. California, Connecticut, Maryland and Oregon have May 1 deadlines for rate submissions, and New York plans to keep its May 15 deadline, a spokesperson for the Department of Financial Services said.
Beth Fritchen, a partner at consultancy Oliver Wyman, said insurers who submit plans based on the status quo can decide at a later date to withdraw, depending on whether Washington takes actions to stabilize the exchanges.
"They're preparing to be in the market, but that could change," said Fritchen, whose firm conducts an annual study on ACA participation.
Nearly all carriers participating in the health-care exchanges plan to remain on them, according to the study. Half of the carriers said it was too early to determine how to price plans for 2018; the other half expected to raise prices anywhere from single-digit percentages to greater than 30 percent.
Members of America's Health Insurance Plans, the industry's lobby, will meet White House officials to discuss the issue on Tuesday. On April 12, the group sent President Donald Trump a letter saying continued payment of the cost-sharing reductions would be "the most critical action to help stabilize the individual market."
Insurers rely on the payouts from the Department of Health and Human Services to subsidize the costs of offering plans to low- and middle-income enrollees, and analysts have suggested that canceling the payments could cause premiums to spike. The White House told The New York Times there would be no change in policy, but Trump has warned that 2017 would be a "very bad year for Obamacare" with "explosive premium increases, and your deductibles so high people don't even get to use it."
Seven million people who considered purchasing ACA plans for the 2017 exchanges qualified to receive the subsidies about 60 percent of enrollees, according to AHIP.
States like Kentucky recognize that the White House's position could determine whether insurance carriers choose to participate, and at what cost. Its bulletin delaying the rate filing deadline to June 7 included a line noting HHS has the "ultimate authority for the interpretation" of the Affordable Care Act.
For the 360 million people worldwide who lack some or all of their ability to hear, technological interventions have already come a long way. But still, they're not perfect. Hearing aids don't translate certain frequencies as well as regular hearing, and some users find hearing interventions uncomfortable or are ideologically opposed to them. Soon that might all change. Scientists are working on a number of experimental techniques that may soon transform hearing interventions. That could greatly improve the quality of life for millions, who have been waiting a long time the last major innovation in hearing technology occurred in 1985. Normal hearing is more simple than it may appear. Sound waves move through the ear canal and pulse the ear drum, which then moves the tiny bones inside the middle ear. They in turn tap the cochlea, a snail shelllooking structure that contains thousands of delicate hairs and fluid. The cochlea converts mechanical signals into electrical ones, which it then passes to the auditory nerve, which transmits it to the brain for processing.
BrianAJackson | Getty Images
But the ear presents a difficult engineering problem. If any of these parts are disrupted, a person might lose some or all of her hearing. And what kind of intervention works best depends on which part is affected. Those who lose hearing later in life, either due to a toxin, loud noise or simply as a part of aging, can be fitted with hearing aids to amplify sounds; children born with hereditary hearing loss can get complex devices called cochlear implants surgically placed deep into the ear. The cochlear implant was approved by the FDA in 1985, and the decades since have offered only incremental improvements on existing technology. Though these technologies have improved millions of lives, the devices are not foolproof. Often, people using them can't hear as many sounds as people with normal hearing, resulting in big gaps of frequencies used in things like speech or music. Some people choose not to wear hearing aids, because they find them uncomfortable and add little benefit; cochlear implants do come with health risks and have created a rift within the deaf community. For some, none of these interventions work to substantially improve their hearing. More from Modern Medicine:
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Discovered: Parkinson's link to gut bacteria For those who lost hearing later in life, more sophisticated devices might be the first big step to improving hearing. Tobias Moser, a professor of auditory neuroscience at the University Medical Center Gottingen, is working to improve the function of a cochlear implant by turning it into an optical device instead of an electric one. Instead of turning sound into electrical signals to be transmitted to the brain, as current cochlear implants do, this technique turns sound into light. Micro-LEDs flash onto genetically altered neurons, which send the information to the brain. "This sounds really fancy it's very cool but it's also not so easy. This is putting optoelectronics into a pretty aggressive environment [in the ear]," said Moser. He and his team have already shown that the device works in rodent models. In the next four years, before it can be tested in humans, they hope to try their technique in other primates and improve the capabilities and hardiness of the device itself.
I don't think there's something on the horizon, whether it's a technological device or a drug, that will provide an immediate cure. Stefan Heller professor of otolaryngology at Stanford University
Other scientists are turning to other senses to encode information usually communicated audibly. "We're used to thinking that we have five senses, but that's actually not the case we have tons of different types of sensory receptors in the body," said Scott Novich, the co-founder and chief technology officer at start-up Neosensory. The sense of touch, for example, actually processes pressure, pain, temperature and vibration, each through a different type of sensory receptor in the skin, Novich said. At Neosensory, Novich and his colleagues are developing a commercially available version of VEST, their research project that uses sensory substitution to map sounds onto the skin before the information is transmitted to the brain. Novich's goal is to make a device that can be worn under clothes and may be more comfortable to wear for long periods of time than hearing aids. Initial trials show that it takes some time to train the brain to understand these signals, and Novich doesn't expect VEST to replace hearing aids necessarily it could compensate for frequencies of sound that hearing aids might not transmit well, or even augment the nuance of information that wearers receive. Neosensory is doing participant research now and hopes to start manufacturing a product in about a year.
Making cells listen
Some researchers are going past devices and working directly on the body's cells to restore hearing. Stefan Heller, a professor of otolaryngology at Stanford University, is figuring out how to revert inner ear cells to their earlier, functional state in order to restore hearing. It's an ability that birds have and mammals lack, so Heller and his team have been working to understand how cells tell each other to regenerate. In five to 10 years, they plan to start testing a few drug compounds on humans. If all goes as planned, their discoveries wouldn't offer a cure for hearing loss but could give people with degenerative hearing loss the option to take a drug and delay getting a hearing aid. Albert Edge, a professor of otolaryngology at Harvard Medical School, is also looking into regenerating cells to restore hearing. But his lab has focused on the hair cells inside the cochlea and the neurons from the auditory nerve connected to it. Four years ago Edge and his collaborators discovered that certain molecular compounds could help hair cells regrow, which led to an improvement in hearing in mice. That showed them it could be done, but the effect was not as dramatic as they would have liked, said Edge. Armed with more knowledge about how cells regenerate elsewhere in the body, Edge and his team have been exploring how various drugs can encourage the regrowth of hair cells and neurons. Ultimately, drugs, which would likely have to be injected deep into patients' ears, could be tailored to individual needs. "What's attractive about our approach and others like us is that our aim is to restore the ear to what it was," Edge said. The goal is providing alternatives to people for whom hearing aids are not a good option. Edge's work is still limited to Petri dishes and mice, but his team hopes to start some small clinical trials in a few years. For those with inherited hearing loss, many of these approaches won't work. If a person had a genetic mutation that caused the cochlear hairs to die off, taking a drug like the one Edge is working on won't fix that problem. "Even if we did regenerate the cells with a drug, they would still be defective and would presumably die off because [the person] would still have the same mutation," Edge said.
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United Continental CEO Oscar Munoz said Tuesday that no one will be fired for the airline's recent debacle involving a passenger being dragged off an overbooked flight.
"The buck stops here. And I'm sure there was lots of conjecture about me personally," the apologetic CEO said on the company's earnings call Tuesday. "Again, it was a system failure across various areas, so no, there was never a consideration for firing an employee."
The company has been embroiled in controversy ever since a video surfaced of Dr. David Dao being dragged off an overbooked flight in Chicago.
The fiasco has hurt shares of United Continental , which dropped about 4 percent on Tuesday, despite the company reporting better-than-expected earnings late Monday.
Munoz once again apologized for the confrontation, saying, "The incident on Flight 3411 has been a humbling learning experience for all of us here at United and for me in particular."
"In addition to apologizing to Dr. Dao, as well as all of the passengers aboard, I also want to apologize to all our customers. You can and should expect more from us and as CEO, I take full responsibility for making this right," he added during Tuesday's conference call.
Munoz reiterated that United will make policy changes, including not using law enforcement to take passengers off a flight unless there is a security issue and requiring that crews be booked at least an hour before takeoff.
Dao, a Vietnamese-American, was bloodied and suffered a concussion and two broken teeth in the confrontation, which created an uproar on Chinese social media. Many users of Weibo, a platform similar to Twitter, called for a boycott of United.
Munoz said Tuesday he spoke with the local Chinese consulate and will be traveling to China on a previously scheduled trip. While there, he plans to discuss the incident with Chinese officials and customers.
United posted first-quarter earnings of 41 cents per share on revenue of $8.42 billion. Analysts had projected earnings of 38 cents per share on revenue of $8.38 billion, according to Thomson Reuters consensus estimates.
United shares 5-day performance
British Prime Minister Theresa May's call for a snap election was about taking advantage of the Labour Party's weakness in the polls, former UK Treasury minister Jim O'Neill told CNBC on Tuesday.
"It's pretty opportunistic politics," O'Neill said on "Squawk on the Street." "You look at the latest opinion polls, her party, the Conservative Party, is significantly ahead of the main opposition, the Labour Party.
European equities fell broadly after May's announcement Tuesday calling for a general election on June 8. Her announcement reversed a pledge she made after coming to power in the wake of the vote to pull Britain out of the European Union.
The prime minister said her decision had been made "recently and reluctantly," but she argued that the U.K. has a "one-off opportunity" to form a unified government while the EU decides its negotiating position on Brexit.
The announcement also sent the British pound for a loop. The currency rose more than 1 percent to $1.272 after briefly falling more than 1 percent.
"We need a general election and we need one now," May said outside 10 Downing Street.
O'Neill, a Conservative Party member and a former Goldman Sachs asset management chairman, said the prime minster's choice was risky considering she had promised no such election would happen.
"But she's looking at the weakness of the Labour Party and thinking it is a low-risk strategy," he said.
CNBC's Karen Gilchrist and Fred Imbert contributed to this report.
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U.S. President Donald Trump congratulated his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday for the latter's marginal victory in a referendum that will allow him to consolidate and extend his domestic powers. "President Donald J. Trump spoke today with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to congratulate him on his recent referendum victory and to discuss the United States' action in response to the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons on April 4," read the official White House press statement. Trump had placed the call to Erdogan despite a concomitant announcement from the U.S. State Department that it acknowledged the concerns flagged by European election monitors regarding the democratic legitimacy of the referendum, which saw a thin 51.4 percent vote in favor of the Turkish President's bid to concentrate his powers. Indeed, while the observer mission from the 47-member Council of Europe reported no evidence of actual fraud, the prominent human rights body criticized a last minute decision by authorities to permit unstamped ballots to be counted as a contradiction of electoral law and described the legal framework as inadequate. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Commissioner Federica Mogherini said they awaited the full assessment from the international monitors. "We encourage Turkey to address the Council of Europe's concerns and recommendations, including with regards to the State of Emergency. In view of the close referendum result and the far-reaching implications of the constitutional amendments, we also call on the Turkish authorities to seek the broadest possible national consensus in their implementation," the commissioners' added in a joint statement.
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel echoed a similar sentiment. "The tight referendum result shows how deeply divided Turkish society is, and that means a big responsibility for the Turkish leadership and for President Erdogan personally," said the German leaders. U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May has yet to publicly comment. Meanwhile, Turkey's Erdogan energetically criticized the electoral monitors complaining to reporters on Monday that, "the crusader mentality in the West and its servants at home have attacked us." "We neither see, hear, nor acknowledge the political reports you'll prepare. We'll continue on our path. Talk to the hand. This country has carried out the most democratic elections, not seen anywhere in the West," he continued defiantly. Trump's relatively enthusiastic support for Erdogan's victory is likely to be the result of a judgment call that the latter is here to stay and that Turkey will be a key U.S. ally in a difficult region, necessitating solid relations with the regime, according to Tim Ash, economist at BlueBay Asset Management. "I guess Trump is also mindful that Russia is circling around Turkey, and offering alternative alliances for this lynchpin NATO ally," posited Ash in an email on Tuesday morning. "The call will be greatly appreciated by Erdogan who took great exception to the (Barack) Obama administration and its failure to do enough to support him in/around last year's coup," he added.
OZAN KOSE | AFP | Getty Images
If the Wisconsin Resistance achieves what past liberal opposition movements have not, activists such as Adam Wood could be among the reasons why.
Wood, 34, is an organizer for Indivisible Madison. Its a local chapter of the national Indivisible movement, which launched after the November election as a tea party of the left.
Wood said the Madison chapter has attracted many like himself: 20- and 30-somethings with little to no political backgrounds.
Its just a lot of people that are completely new to political activism, Wood said. The November election was a tipping point that brought a lot of people out, and a lot of people in.
In the rubble of the 2016 election, one of the most dispiriting in decades for Wisconsin Democrats and liberals, newly energized activists are pushing back against Republican control of federal and state government. Many embrace the resistance label, referring to a loose national coalition that sprung up, post-election, in opposition to President Donald Trump.
Some groups are in their infancy but show early signs of momentum. In many cases, theyre more focused on electing like-minded candidates to city councils and school boards than to Congress or the White House.
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin says it has gotten nearly 600 new members post-election, fueled by increases in Dane, Milwaukee, Waukesha and Outagamie counties.
A new political nonprofit, Our Wisconsin Revolution, is building what it hopes will be a permanent presence in Wisconsin on the message of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, who won the states 2016 Democratic presidential primary.
The activist groundswell has drawn comparisons to six years ago, when liberals and Democrats mobilized against Gov. Scott Walkers proposal to roll back public sector collective bargaining, what became known as Act 10.
That didnt unfold as organizers had hoped: The proposal became law and Walker survived a recall election and went on to win a second term.
For this to have a different ending, activists on the left are highlighting what they call the lessons of Act 10. Chief among them: avoid splintering, find a way to sustain the enthusiasm over time, and dont just oppose someone or something but offer appealing alternative candidates or platforms.
For now, Indivisible Madison is not endorsing candidates for office. Wood said that could change, and he thinks the group could see candidates emerge from its ranks in 2018 and beyond.
Our Wisconsin Revolution says recruiting and electing local and state candidates will be among its chief aims.
Time will tell if these developments yield progress or more frustration for Wisconsins beleaguered Democrats. But Michael Basford, chairman of the Dane County Democrats, said a post-election bump of about 200 new members is lifting his groups spirits.
Weve had a significant youth movement, Basford said.
Election results a wake-up call
For Gina Walkington, the November election results were a wake-up call.
They spurred Walkington and three friends in the Kenosha area, all with left-of-center viewpoints, to discuss what to do next.
We were feeling like our fundamental values were in jeopardy, Walkington said.
The four womens social-media discussions blossomed into a new group, Forward Kenosha. Describing itself as nonpartisan and progressive, Forward Kenoshas Facebook group has enlisted more than 1,400 members.
The mission: spurring voter engagement in the Kenosha area and keeping an eye on Trump and the areas congressman, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville.
Forward Kenosha is having monthly in-person meetings with guest speakers, including state lawmakers. Theyre doing podcasts. They held rallies on health care, both in support of President Barack Obamas health care law and in opposition to the American Health Care Act, the failed replacement offered by Trump and Ryan.
Walkington said she did phone calls for Obamas presidential campaigns and for Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton last year. After the last election she decided to go all-in, and not just in an election year.
I never fully actually understood how making phone calls was not enough, Walkington said. Engagement needs to be all the time.
Spurring activists to near-constant involvement also is a goal of Indivisible Madison and other Indivisible chapters in Wisconsin, according to Wood.
The group is organizing town hall meetings and group visits to the offices of elected officials. On social media it sends out calls to action that include lawmakers contact information, along with short blurbs about a particular issue or bill.
Its not a script, but it says: Heres the issue and heres what were asking for, Wood said.
Trump has given us many things to sustain people
The January Womens March on Madison, which drew more than 75,000 marchers to State Street shortly after Trumps inauguration, foreshadowed the heightened interest among the partys rank and file, Democratic Party of Wisconsin chairwoman Martha Laning said.
Without a doubt, weve felt the groundswell of grassroots energy throughout the state, Laning said.
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Black Earth, said his office received more than 7,300 constituent contacts calls, emails and letters about the American Health Care Act when it appeared it might receive a U.S. House vote. Virtually all opposed the measure. A typical hot topic triggers 2,000 contacts, Pocan said.
Pocan was in the state Assembly during the Act 10 protests. One of the enduring lessons he said that experience provided was the need to sustain activist enthusiasm all the way to Election Day. In the case of Act 10, more than a year passed between passage of the law and the 2012 recall election, Pocan noted.
Now Pocan predicts a different dynamic.
Donald Trump has given us many things to sustain people, Pocan said. Theres always something new to be upset with and organize around.
Not all the energy is rooted in resistance. Bernie Sanders supporters hope to convert his popularity in Wisconsin, particularly among Democrats and liberals, into a lasting political movement.
Sanders launched a national organization, Our Revolution, last year after conceding the Democratic nomination to Clinton. Wisconsin is one of seven states where theres enough interest to form a state-level chapter, said Peter Rickman, an organizer and officer for Our Wisconsin Revolution.
The group has big ambitions: develop into a political nonprofit funded with member dues, with chapters in every corner of the state that recruits and elects state and local candidates.
Some would run as Democrats; others, as third-party candidates. Many of the local races are nonpartisan.
Current administration has to be resisted
Wresting control of state and local Democratic parties, as Sanders enthusiasts have done elsewhere, is not the groups plan here, Rickman said.
Many of our activists call themselves Democrats. But were by no means limited to that, Rickman said.
The groups foundation is what Rickman calls the Sanders platform changing how campaigns are financed, health care for all, reducing the cost of college, retirement security and combating income inequality and climate change.
That message has drawn more than 1,000 attendees to the groups 27 regional organizing meetings held throughout the state in recent months, Rickman said.
Political parties also are feeling the impact.
After Nov. 8, Dane County Democrats say their dues-paying membership hit near 1,300, up from about 1,100 on Election Day. Many new members are in their 20s or 30s, Basford said.
One of the biggest proportional membership increases came in deep-red Waukesha County, which saw a 40-percent post-election increase swell its ranks to more than 400 members. All figures were provided by the Democratic Party and could not be independently verified.
Alec Zimmerman, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, said it measures success not by party membership but by voter contacts, of which state GOP activists made 4.7 million in 2016. Electoral victories, not party membership, are what count he said.
Wisconsin Democrats can try to distract from their disarray with meaningless noise all they want, but apparently its having no impact on fielding serious candidates for state Supreme Court or governor, Zimmerman said.
But it may be having an impact elsewhere. In deep-blue Dane County, Democrats saw results in local races in the April 4 spring election. The countys Democrats endorsed a slate of local candidates who cleaned up, winning in 35 of the 38 races in which the party made an endorsement.
Still, tensions among Democrats, some of which flared during and after the presidential campaign, have not evaporated. Much of it is between those who supported Sanders and those who backed Clinton in the presidential campaign.
But many also feel the urgency of opposing total GOP control in Washington, D.C., and Madison, Basford said.
The time for squabbling is winding down, Basford said. People are coming to the understanding that the current administration has to be resisted.
From NATO to health care, President Donald Trump has evidenced he is comfortable making major policy flip-flops.
His most recent reversal came last week, when a U.S. Treasury report declined to name China as a currency manipulator despite Trump's repeated promises to formally accuse Beijing a signature pledge during his campaign trail.
So, what could Trump backtrack on next? One analyst said he hopes it will be the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the world's largest trade deal that Trump withdrew from in January on the claim that it would hurt U.S. manufacturing.
"Whoever thought that Trump would let China, a rival, off the hook on currency? If he can do that with a country that's clearly not a friend, maybe he could reconsider reversing himself on TPP for a friend like Japan," Sean King, senior vice president of Park Strategies, told CNBC on Tuesday.
Japan was set to be a major beneficiary of TPP, particularly the country's auto sector that would have obtained cheaper access to U.S. markets. Tokyo, which has long lamented the trade pact would be "meaningless" without the U.S., has decided to forge ahead with the other remaining 10 participating nations to revive the deal but many are doubtful of whether the TPP will be a game-changer in Washington's absence.
Trump still has time to change his mind on TPP, King warned, noting that the treaty text remains valid until February 2018.
"Trump said [TPP] was a disaster, but I'm sure the other members would be willing to make concessions to get the U.S. back in, just like South Korea was willing to make concessions to Obama for his endorsement of the U.S.-Korea [free trade agreement]," King said.
U.S. President Donald Trump will push ahead with one of his major campaign pledges Tuesday when he signs an executive order that will overhaul the way foreign workers can work in high-skilled jobs in the U.S.
The order will direct federal agencies to recommend changes to the controversial H-1B temporary visa program, which has previously attracted criticism for disadvantaging American workers by replacing them with cheaper foreign workers.
However, the business community has voiced concerns that the revamp could hamper U.S. companies' ability to attract top talent and, in turn, hurt the president's pro-growth agenda.
"It's not a zero-sum game," Eamon Jubbawy , co-founder of software solution start-up Onfido, told CNBC over the phone Tuesday.
It is thought that new limits on foreign work visas could be especially painful for the technology sector, which has been a keen employer of overseas skilled workers and has spawned new start-ups in the country.
"There's no limit to the number of people who can start a start-up," said Jubbawy , arguing that the move to impose new limits on foreign visas could restrict new talent and prevent new business innovation.
H-1B visas allow 65,000 workers and another 20,000 graduate student workers to enter the U.S. each year. Under the current system, visas are awarded on a lottery basis, which critics say has led to exploitation by firms who use the program to hire lower paid employees.
The overhauls will depend on recommendations made to the president by the Departments of Labour, Justice, State and Homeland Security but it is anticipated that this could shift the system to a merit-based model. It could also result in higher application fees.
In a statement made Monday a senior administration official for the White House said that the order, which is due to be signed by the president during a visit to the headquarters of Snap-On in Kenosha, Wisconsin, will lead to a "total transformation" of the program.
"The Hire American rules that govern many of our visa and guest worker policies have gone unenforced or have been abused to the point of rendered, in some cases, even inoperative.
"80 percent (of H-1B visa-holders) receive less than the median wage, and only 10 percent receive the median wage. And so only 5 percent were categorized at the highest wage tier of the four wage tiers that are in place for the H1B guest worker visa," the spokesperson said.
However, Jubbawy argued that the figures fail to account for the number of visa-holders who go on to start their own businesses and reinvest their earnings.
"A lot of entrepreneurs take a small salary and put the rest back into their businesses. Even if only 10 percent (of start-ups) succeed it is still an overall benefit in terms of job creation and innovation."
The executive order marks President Trump's latest endeavor to enact one of his campaign policies aimed at securing jobs for American citizens.
In the past year, the number of H-1B visa applications has fallen to its lowest level since 2014, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. USCIS received 199,000 applications in the year to April 2017 versus 236,000 in the year to April 2016.
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One question loomed large Tuesday during the vice president's first diplomatic mission to Japan: Where's the beef?
Take that literally: The $60 billion U.S. beef industry was one of the most ardent backers of the now-defunct free trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. That sweeping deal covered a dozen nations along the Pacific Rim, but the big prize for the United States was improved access to the 127 million consumers in Japan.
That is, until President Donald Trump formally withdrew from the agreement on his fourth day in office. On Tuesday, Vice President Mike Pence called TPP "a thing of the past."
"The United States seeks stronger and more balanced bilateral trade relationships with every country, including Japan," Pence said. "Our goal is simple: We seek trade that is free, and we seek trade that is fair."
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross the administration's point person on trade joined Pence in Tokyo for bilateral trade talks with Japan's deputy prime minister and other senior officials. Pence emphasized the role of Japanese investment in the United States in creating jobs and fostering economic growth. But some tensions remain: The Treasury Department last week said it is "monitoring" Japan's currency practices amid the large trade deficit.
"I'm not sure Japan will be that interested" in a new deal, said Miriam Sapiro, who served as acting U.S. trade representative under President Barack Obama and is now a partner at PR firm Finsbury. "Some concessions that Japan made because the U.S. asked might not make sense in a bilateral agreement."
Photos released by the Navy show that an aircraft carrier group was very far away from the Korean Peninsula, where it was supposedly headed as a show of force.
As tensions mounted between the United States and North Korea, U.S. Pacific Command and members of the Trump administration said that the USS Carl Vinson would head north for the Western Pacific from Singapore, instead of Australia as previously planned.
But an image published by the Navy shows the aircraft carrier off the coast of Indonesia on Saturday, south of where the Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group had departed, not north.
Later Tuesday, a representative for Pacific Command told NBC News that the ships cancelled port visits, as had been previously announced, but was also "able to complete a curtailed period of previously scheduled training with Australia in international waters off the northwest coast of Australia."
Verizon Communications announced a deal Tuesday that will further its commitments to growing its wireless broadband network nationwide, as the landscape for telecom companies only becomes more competitive and crowded.
The agreement calls for Corning , a New York-based manufacturer of materials primarily for industrial and scientific applications, to provide up to 12.4 million miles of optical fiber each year for Verizon to purchase starting in 2018 and lasting until 2020, with a minimum purchase commitment of $1.05 billion.
"This new architecture is designed to improve Verizon's 4G LTE coverage, speed the deployment of 5G, and deliver high-speed broadband to homes and businesses of all sizes," Verizon said in a statement.
Verizon launched One Fiber, what has been called a more "nontraditional Fios build" for the company, in Boston last year.
On its website, Verizon describes Fios as giving consumers "a 100 percent fiber-optic network that allows you to enjoy the internet speed you crave, the TV channels you love and a home phone that's reliable."
"Our plans [in Boston] identified a shortfall in fiber supply, and Verizon has been working with business teams to forecast demand and fill supply gaps with existing suppliers," Verizon Chief Supply Chain Officer Viju Menon said in a statement.
"Securing the required volume of optical fiber and hardware solutions with Corning will ensure we meet our planned rollout schedules."
Verizon said Tuesday it's been "reinventing" a network architecture of late one that supports a "next-generation fiber platform" to support all of its business segments.
Pedestrians pass in front of a Verizon sign in New York City.
The CEO of Verizon , Lowell McAdam is open to discussing the possibility of merging with Disney , Comcast, or CBS, according to a report from Bloomberg.
Shares of Comcast and CBS both rose over 1 percent after the news as trading ended Tuesday. Disney shares ended the day slightly higher.
McAdam told Bloomberg at their New York office, "If Brian [Roberts] came knocking on the door, I'd have a discussion with him about it."
"Given what I know about architecture, financial requirement, cultural fit, there's never a dream deal," McAdam said.
There's an M&A arms race going on in the telecom industry. Verizon rival AT&T , which acquired DirecTV in 2015, is trying to get government approval for its $85 deal to buy Time Warner by the end of the year.
Read more on this report at Bloomberg.
(Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, the parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.)
Watch: Verizon & Corning agree to deal
As difficult Brexit negotiations get underway, British Prime Minister Theresa May this morning called an early general election to be held on June 8. The pound fell initially on word May was going to make an announcement. But the currency recovered after the news. (CNBC)
Far-right leader Marine Le Pen said she would suspend all legal immigration to France. Polls suggest she's neck-and-neck with centrist Emmanuel Macron, ahead of Sunday's first round of voting. (BBC News)
Seeking to encourage hiring Americans, President Donald Trump is set to sign an executive order today directing federal agencies to recommend changes to a temporary visa program used to bring foreign workers to the U.S. to fill high-skilled jobs. (Reuters)
Ahead of meetings with finance ministers and central bankers in Washington this week, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin conceded the administration's timetable for ambitious tax reforms is set to slip following setbacks in negotiations with Congress over health care. (FT)
As procrastinators rushed to file their tax returns by today, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer emphasized again that Trump had no intention of making his public, even as more than a dozen Republican lawmakers now say he should. (NY Times)
Voters in Georgia's Sixth Congressional District will have 18 candidates to choose from today when they decide who should fill the seat vacated by former Rep.Tom Price, a Republican who became Trump's health and human services secretary. (NY Times)
Vice President Mike Pence said today all options are on the table in dealing with North Korea, but that President Trump is determined to work with Japan, China and South Korea to find a peaceful solution. (Reuters)
Washington should "use every arrow" in its quiver to ensure a level commercial playing field in China, the American Chamber of Commerce in China said in its annual business climate report, warning that 2017 could be the toughest year in decades for U.S. firms there. (CNBC)
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is launching today USAFacts, a database of government statistics structured in a similar way to the 10-Ks that public companies must file for shareholders. Here's a look at how the government compares to the largest American companies. (CNBC)
Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg delivers his keynote address at the social network's annual developer conference today, against the backdrop of a police search for an accused killer who uploaded his crime to his Facebook page. (CNBC)
Meanwhile, Facebook is poised to show off how it will continue to follow the 10-year road map that Zuckerberg revealed at last year's event. Among Facebook's top priorities is augmented reality. (USA Today)
Apple is "almost certainly" exploring how to build an entire car but would likely need to partner with a manufacturer due to the complexities of making a whole vehicle, said top tech analyst turned venture capitalist Gene Munster. (CNBC)
Theranos and its founder pledged to stay out of the blood-testing business for at least two years in exchange for reduced penalties from federal health authorities, in an agreement that resolves a year-long regulatory impasse. (WSJ)
Uber said its vice president of global vehicle programs, a former Ford executive, who played a role in the ride-hailing company's self-driving car program, has left, the latest in a string of high-profile departures. (Reuters)
Tesla's Model X SUV was the overall top pick in the Automobile Association of America's 2017 Green Car Guide. AAA testers found the car to be the best choice among the 65 cars tested, including full-battery electrics, hybrids, alternative fuel-based cars and even fuel efficient internal combustion cars. (CNBC)
Meanwhile, lower gas prices have not dampened enthusiasm for electric cars, according to a new report from the Automobile Association of America. More than 30 million Americans are likely to buy an electric vehicle as their next car, and demand among millennials is especially high. (CNBC)
[The stream has ended.]
President Donald Trump spoke in Wisconsin on Tuesday following a tour of tool manufacturer Snap-on's headquarters, touting a new executive order and expressing optimism about his legislative agenda.
Trump signed an executive order Tuesday pushing the hiring of domestic workers by American companies.
The measure will aim to make it more difficult for businesses to hire lower-wage foreign workers, particularly through changes to the H-1B program favored by technology companies, The New York Times reported. The order will also direct a review of government rules related to the use of American companies for federal contracts.
The visit to Snap-on comes amid Trump's continued push to prod U.S. businesses to invest more money domestically and create jobs for American workers issues that helped propel the businessman to the White House. He has repeatedly attacked U.S. companies, particularly automakers, that produce products or components abroad. He slams trade deals that he says have led companies to abandon American workers.
The Trump administration has repeatedly trumpeted job and investment announcements by American companies, many of which predated his election.
Read more: Trump companies don't always follow his 'buy American, hire American' pledge
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British Prime Minister Theresa May "reluctantly" announced a snap general election on Tuesday, blaming divisions within Parliament over Brexit as the impetus behind her abrupt reversal of position. "I have concluded the only way to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I must take," declared the prime minister upon revealing that the country will vote on June 8, provided a motion proposing early elections to be tabled to lawmakers Wednesday receives the necessary two-thirds majority support. May's decision represents a sharp backtrack from her position until now, which had been that holding an election before 2020 would be an unnecessary distraction from the monumental task of successfully navigating an exit for the U.K. from the European Union. "The country is coming together, but Westminster is not," she said, adding that "division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit."
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Proceed with more legitimacy? Should the Conservative party emerge victorious in June's general election, some commentators have observed that May's push towards a so-called "hard Brexit" will proceed with more legitimacy and most likely less political friction. However, this is not clear cut, says Jonathan Loynes, chief economist at Capital Economics. "For a start, May (originally a 'remainer', don't forget) has sounded fairly conciliatory on some aspects of Brexit such as immigration in the early exchanges with the EU. And if the election does trigger (Jeremy) Corbyn's replacement as Labour leader, that might lead to more effective domestic opposition to the government's Brexit vision," he said in a note to clients on Tuesday, pointing to sterling having recovered all of the losses taken on Tuesday morning prior to the announcement. George Buckley, co-head of European economics at Nomura, agreed with the potential for different implications depending on the election result. "An election which gives Mrs May a more sizable majority would reinforce her negotiating strategy and give the government a more solid mandate to deliver an agreement that it sees fit. That could mean a harder Brexit to the extent that the government believes the mantra that 'no deal is better than a bad deal'," he explained in an email to CNBC on Tuesday. "Alternatively, if the election leads to a better result for pro-European parties such as the Liberal Democrats, that could provide an important counterbalance to aggressive negotiations," Buckley added.
British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside 10 Downing Street in central London on April 18, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May called today for an early general election on June 8 in a surprise announcement as Britain prepares for delicate negotiations on leaving the European Union. DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS | AFP | Getty Images
May has been criticized in some quarters for keeping her cards close to her chest with regards to her plans for Brexit. The clearest hints about the direction that she intends to take came in a speech in mid-January and with the letter delivered to the EU to trigger the Brexit process at the end of March. On January 17, May announced a 12-point Brexit plan focused on regaining control over laws and immigration alongside confirmation that the U.K. would leave the single market and that in her view "no deal for Britain is better than a bad deal."
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The letter on March 29 repeatedly emphasized the U.K.'s wish to pursue a "deep and special partnership" with the EU, however, in acknowledging that a failure to agree a deal would mean a reversion to World Trade Organization trade terms, May's continued stance regarding her preference for "no deal" over a "bad deal" was clear. "We want a deep and special partnership between a strong and successful European Union and a United Kingdom that is free to chart its own way in the world," said May on Tuesday. "That means we will regain control of our own money, our own laws and our own borders and we will be free to strike trade deals with old friends and new partners all around the world," she added. "This is the right approach, and it is in the national interest. But the other political parties oppose it," the prime minister declared. As of April 13, May's Conservative party held a strong lead over rivals in the latest survey carried out by pollster YouGov/Times which asked the question: "If there was a general election tomorrow, which party would you vote for?". The poll showed the right-wing Conservatives with 44 percent of the vote, leading left-wing Labour on 23 percent, Liberal Democrats on 12 percent and the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) on 10 percent. TWEET
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Experts point out the North's military has other tools at its disposal to learn from its own missile tests. For one, the North's missiles use tracking radar and wireless telemetry signals to provide missile test flight information.
Indeed, the North's missile debris may provide "some value" to the North but is perhaps more helpful to the U.S. and its allies, according to Thomas Karako, a senior fellow with the International Security Program and the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank.
Many of the North Korean missile tests have fallen in the Sea of Japan, which in some places reaches a depth of more than 2 miles.
"They [North Koreans] never try to recover the debris as far as we know, which is surprising," said David Albright, president and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington-based think tank. "They don't have many [sea recovery] capabilities and it's hard for them to outrun the South Korean navy to get to the debris."
Over the years, debris recovered at sea has revealed secrets of North Korea's missile development to the West. Yet the rogue state hasn't always been eager (or able) to retrieve those missiles for its own use.
It's possible North Korea's missile development might be even further along had the secretive state retrieved more of the missiles it tested to glean information from their physical remains.
Telemetry data comes back when the North fires missiles and they can use a "firing circuit" on a dummy nuclear warhead during a ballistic missile test to check to see if the circuits work properly as the missile comes down. Also, telemetry communication fed to the ground crew can provide information on whether the dummy warhead detonates at the desired altitude.
Nonetheless, analysts say the North's frantic missile development may have backfired on them to some extent. That's because the regime has a history of sometimes launching missiles right after a failure rather than taking a more cautious approach of spending a few months of studying what went wrong.
"Maybe Kim Jong Un is saying, 'okay boys, let's keep on going,' " said Bruce Klingner, a former CIA deputy division chief for Korea and now an Asia specialist at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think tank.
According to Klingner, the 33-year-old dictator's five years in power has seen him do two to three times as many missile tests as his father did in 18 years. He said rough estimates are about 25 percent of the North's budget goes to military spending.
And while North Korea's capability to recover missiles from extreme depths of the ocean is believed to be limited, Pyongyang was able to obtain missile fragments of a submarine misfire in 2015 when those pieces were spotted floating in the water, according to reports at the time.
Then again, experts believe it has sometimes been intentional for the North to attach explosives to rockets to prevent adversaries from obtaining useful intelligence information.
Even so, the South Korean navy was able to dredge up the first and second stage rockets for both the North's 2012 and February 2016 long-range missile launches. The South was able to do technical analysis and come up with range estimates and also reportedly concluded the missile could carry a 1,200-pound warhead.
The rocket recovery last year also confirmed Chinese firms have supplied parts to North Korea's rocket programs. Earlier this year, a UN Security Council report documented the China link in supplying rocket parts and noted there's still sanctions on North Korea that prohibit military hardware sales.
Chinese-made trucks were used in Saturday's military parade in Pyongyang that carried missiles, according to Reuters. There's also been instances before of Chinese vehicles being used as mobile launchers.
Karako said one of the launcher vehicles at the Pyongyang parade this weekend was similar to a launcher the Chinese are known to use for intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.
"This is another instance of the Chinese not being as helpful as we might hope in terms of pressuring the North," said Karako. "I think our friends, the Chinese, have a long way to go. They claim to want to contain and curtail the North Korean programs but I think the actions would be nice as well as the words."
The U.S. has been alarmed by North Korea's nuclear and missile programs and threats from the regime to build an ICBM capable of reaching North America. The North displayed canisters for the ICBMs this weekend at the parade but Karako said it's still unclear when the regime will have a functional and operational ICBM capability.
"They've clearly expressed their intent to have that [ICBM] capability," Karako said. "They've signaled and displayed missiles already that could have that capability. They haven't yet tested it in a full ICBM test. But it's one of those things folks are anticipating because they've come a long way over the past couple of decades."
Watch: Retired Colonel says close to crisis in Korea
Videos of violent crimes such as Sunday's killing of a 74-year-old grandfather in Cleveland have no place on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg told USA TODAY.
"We have a responsibility to continue to get better at making sure we are not a tool for spreading" video of violent acts, Zuckerberg said in an interview last week at the company's Silicon Valley headquarters, before Steve Stephens, 37, uploaded a video to Facebook with the title "Easter day slaughter." The video shows an elderly man, Robert Godwin, Sr., being shot at close range while walking home from dinner with his family.
The Facebook CEO was referring to incidents in which people commit violent crimes and post them on the giant social network and, with growing frequency, who stream them live on Facebook Live.
"Those are all against our community standards. They don't belong there," Zuckerberg told USA TODAY.
The Stephens video footage has once again raised questions about Facebook's effectiveness at moderating disturbing content. Facebook prohibits content that glorifies promotes violence, only permitting violent content that is considered to be in the public interest.
Humans and AI
The social media giant deploys teams of content moderators who are trained to remove content that violates the company's policies. It has also begun to use artificial intelligence software to detect prohibited content.
At Facebook's annual conference for software developers on Tuesday, Zuckerberg addressed Godwin's killing. "We will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like from happening," he said.
Facebook is within a few years of being able to reduce the amount of violent content on Facebook with the help of artificial intelligence that can detect what's happening in a video, Zuckerberg told USA TODAY last week.
More from USA Today:
Facebook takes steps to stop suicides on Live
Facebook goes all in on live video
Facebook's future will blend physical and digital worlds
"In the near term, the system we have is based on people reporting it and us going through and reviewing the reports. There are some things that I think we can speed up there. But the long-term solution is going to be having better artificial intelligence tools to give context of what's going on," Zuckerberg said. "That won't be this year, but I also don't think that's 10 years from now. I do think over a few-year period, this will get better."
In a nearly 6,000-word manifesto two months ago, Zuckerberg, said artificial intelligence was beginning to prove effective at flagging problems on Facebook, generating about one-third of all reports to the team that reviews content. It's unclear if artificial intelligence played a role in flagging the Stephens footage.
Public scrutiny of disturbing content on Facebook has surged as live streaming, both on Facebook and on Twitter's live-streaming platform Periscope, has given terrorists and criminals a powerful tool to reach a very large audience. Mental health experts warn these live streams risk desensitizing the public and encouraging copycats.
A nationwide manhunt was underway for Stephens, 37, who fatally shot himself Tuesday in Pennsylvania. Police originally said Stephens broadcast the shooting on live-streaming service Facebook Live, but in fact he posted the video footage on Facebook. Facebook eventually removed the videos and deactivated his account, but not before the video had been viewed millions of times and posted elsewhere. The victim's grandson, Ryan Godwin, begged people to stop sharing the video footage, writing on Twitter: "That is my grandfather show some respect."
Justin Osofsky, vice president of global operations and media partnerships at Facebook, said the company would review its processes to make sure "people can report videos and other material that violates our standards as easily and quickly as possible."
Osofsky said Facebook disabled Stephens' account within 23 minutes of receiving the first report about the murder video and two hours after receiving a report of any kind. "But we know we need to do better," he said in a blog post.
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Facebook opened up its Live feature to the public last year as the company pushes to be "video first." It has been coaxing its nearly 2 billion users to try out the feature, rolling out an advertising campaign and featuring live streams in users' news feeds. It also launched a new video tab and it's paying content creators tens of millions to produce live video. Facebook is reportedly considering launching TV-like programming through licensing deals with media companies.
Every so often I will grab one of my many three-ring notebooks and read again my thoughts of years past.
Our flag is something special to me. As it blew in the Korean breeze in the 50s, it provided a good deal of hope that I would see home again. Alongside of it flew the United Nations flag. They kept watch over our parade field or where we assembled when called for guard duty during night time hours. So yes, it hurts when people set fire to our flag or disrespect it in other ways.
The history of our flag goes back to June 1777. That was when our first Flag Act resolved: That the flag of the United States be made of 13 stripes, alternating red and white and that the union be 13 stars, white in a blue field, representing a constellation.
Later, in 1818, it was declared that one star would be added for each new state the stars to be added on the 4th of July following admission of individual states. The states of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota were added as the 29th, 30th and 32nd states. Wisconsin was admitted in May 1848.
The last two stars added to our flag were Alaska and Hawaii in 1959. And yes, our flag of the United States of America is flown around the clock 24/7 at various places throughout our country, including the Washington Memorial, the White House, the Marine Corps Memorial at Arlington and at Valley Forge State Park in Pennsylvania. We here in this area know of additional sites where our flag is highlighted 24 hours each day.
Each color of our flag has stories to tell. The color white stands for liberty, courage and purity. Blue for freedom, perseverance and justice. Red speaks for itself, for the blood shed by those individuals who gave their lives for our freedom.
Ever wonder about the 21-gun salute fired in honor of our national flag? It dates back to the British Navy. It was standard to have 7 cannons aboard each ship. It was readily agreed that when the ship fired its guns, there would be a corresponding salute from the forts overlooking the harbor. They would fire 3 shots for every cannon round fired. At one time, our national salute was equal to the number of states. Fortunately, that tradition did not continue or we would be covering our ears for a 50-gun salute.
How hard it must be for family members to have had a son, daughter, uncle go off to war and never return. There are still some 10,000 soldiers unaccounted for from the Korean and Vietnam wars. The POW/MIA flag continues to wave as a reminder of our loved ones that didnt make it back home.
An ex-POW from Wisconsin, Lester Tenney, wrote a book based on his time spent in a slave labor camp in Japan. Tenney witnessed the atomic bomb blast on Nagasaki, which brought World War II to a close. Dr. Tenney offered these words: I have learned to forgive and have made peace within myself. I want those responsible for my maltreatment to accept their responsibility. You see, hating, I have found, destroys us spiritually just as the fighting destroyed us bodily.`
Consider this before today closes. Give someone one of your smiles. Say thank you to someone. Maybe, if you are a student, say it to a teacher, the custodian or a bus driver. Remember your parents, brothers and sisters. I know the phrase I love you gets tossed around quite frequently. Often, I get back Luv you too. Say it often and wait for the magic in that phrase to make for a much better day.
Is Catholic Doctrine Cold and Hostile? In new book, Father Scalia invites the culture's best thinkers to reflect on doctrine and devotion in today's world
Contact: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276,
SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, 2017 /
Scalia, a popular priest in the Washington, D.C., area and son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, reveals a scholar's mind and pastor's heart with inspirational reflections on a wide range of Catholic teachings and practices in THAT NOTHING MAY BE LOST. He addresses deepening one's knowledge of Jesus, partaking of the life of grace through the sacraments and cultivating the art of prayer as a continuous conversation with God, among other topics. Rooted in Scripture, Scalia's insights place the reader on a path to a deeper, more meaningful relationship with Christ.
Scalia opens up Catholic teaching in fresh and sometimes surprising directions that will change the way we think about our faith. He shows us that the Church's teaching is not restrictive. In fact, it's really a "saving doctrine" that brings health and peace to the soul.
Each section of the book features a moving essay by a highly regarded Catholic. Scott Hahn, Mary Ellen Bork, Raymond Arroyo and Helen M. Alvare, among others, provide their personal accounts of being Catholic, which are followed by Scalia's illuminations.
"Father Scalia has written a book that deepens our faith and leads us closer to God in a hundred different ways," the Most Rev Charles J. Chaput, archbishop of Philadelphia, says in the foreword to THAT NOTHING MAY BE LOST. "His good work and the powerful witness in his words remind us that we need each other's love and support as brothers and sisters in the Lord's work. Above all, it's proof that the bond of Christian people and their priests is the strength of the Church in a skeptical world that has never needed the Word of God more urgently."
For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with Fr. Paul Scalia, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or
Share Tweet Contact: Kevin Wandra, 404-788-1276, KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com SAN FRANCISCO, April 18, 2017 / Christian Newswire / -- There is a great, and rapidly growing, divide between the culture and Catholic doctrine and devotion. Even amongst many within the Church, there is a hostility toward doctrine. But doctrine helps Catholics grow deeper in their relationship with Christ, Fr. Paul D. Scalia beautifully explains in his highly anticipated debut book, THAT NOTHING MAY BE LOST: Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion.Scalia, a popular priest in the Washington, D.C., area and son of the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, reveals a scholar's mind and pastor's heart with inspirational reflections on a wide range of Catholic teachings and practices in THAT NOTHING MAY BE LOST. He addresses deepening one's knowledge of Jesus, partaking of the life of grace through the sacraments and cultivating the art of prayer as a continuous conversation with God, among other topics. Rooted in Scripture, Scalia's insights place the reader on a path to a deeper, more meaningful relationship with Christ.Scalia opens up Catholic teaching in fresh and sometimes surprising directions that will change the way we think about our faith. He shows us that the Church's teaching is not restrictive. In fact, it's really a "saving doctrine" that brings health and peace to the soul.Each section of the book features a moving essay by a highly regarded Catholic. Scott Hahn, Mary Ellen Bork, Raymond Arroyo and Helen M. Alvare, among others, provide their personal accounts of being Catholic, which are followed by Scalia's illuminations."Father Scalia has written a book that deepens our faith and leads us closer to God in a hundred different ways," the Most Rev Charles J. Chaput, archbishop of Philadelphia, says in the foreword to THAT NOTHING MAY BE LOST. "His good work and the powerful witness in his words remind us that we need each other's love and support as brothers and sisters in the Lord's work. Above all, it's proof that the bond of Christian people and their priests is the strength of the Church in a skeptical world that has never needed the Word of God more urgently."For more information, to request a review copy or to schedule an interview with Fr. Paul Scalia, please contact Kevin Wandra (404-788-1276 or KWandra@CarmelCommunications.com ) of Carmel Communications.
'They truly believe in luck': Winning Powerball ticket worth $2.04 billion sold in LA area
President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Tuesday dubbed "Buy American, Hire American" that calls for sweeping reform of the H-1B visa process.
Its centerpiece is the replacement of the H-1B lottery with a system that distributes visas on the basis of wages, skills and education.
"We want to switch away from a random lottery system, in which it's weighted toward the lowest wage workers, towards a system that prioritizes higher skilled, higher paid workers," said a senior administration official, in a background briefing to reporters on the condition that officials not be identified.
Such an H-1B reform "would make it much more difficult to use it to replace American workers," the administration official said.
With this order Trump makes his H-1B reform effort official, but the changes that the administration wants will take time.
The White House intends to follow a two-pronged approach to H-1B reform. It will make administrative actions as it works with lawmakers on reform bills. But it's unclear how many changes it can make administratively, and how much cooperation it can expect from Congress. Many lawmakers support reform, but there are differences in approaches.
Trump has been telegraphing these visa changes for a while. He was critical of the H-1B program during his election. Disney IT workers, who had trained H-1B holding replacements, spoke at some of his rallies, and the idea that the visa program is being being abused was major theme for Trump.
"An abuse of the H-1B visa program is to bring in a worker -- not because you need their skills or talent -- but for the purpose of undercutting an American worker," said an administrative official, who cited Government Accountability Official data that found about 80% of H-1B workers are paid below median wages.
Trump is expected to sign the executive order as part of visit to Snap-On Tools in Milwaukee. The "buy American" part of the order will affect government contracting.
There are asterisks, as well as criticism, about this White House H-1B reform effort.
The White House order has no impact on the most recent visa lottery, and that means many of this year's visas will go to IT offshore outsourcing companies. That's a major sore point with critics.
"Countless thousands of American workers are likely to be training their replacements as a result of Congress and the Trump administration not taking action," said Ron Hira, an associate professor of public policy at Howard University.
The IEEE-USA had urged Trump to change the visa lottery in time for April 1, and was disappointed that he had not. The next visa lottery will be April 1, 2018 for the federal fiscal year 2019.
With this new Trump order, the administration will muster key agencies to make an administrative review and propose reforms. It will also review its legal authority to make changes. An administrative official on the briefing said they believe it's possible to improve wages administratively as well as increase some application fees.
There will be many questions. What kind of reform in wage tiers can be expected, and what academic credentials, or skills, will win favor in a new system?
The administrative official briefing reporters on the H-1B reform was asked about the Disney displacement, and whether the goal was to prevent similar instances. He said that the reforms that they have in mind "would have the effect of making that kind of displacement impossible."
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Microsoft delayed its February security update slate to finish patching critical flaws in Windows that a hacker gang tried to sell, several security experts have argued.
"Looks like Microsoft had been informed by 'someone,' and purposely delayed [February's] Patch Tuesday to successfully deliver MS17-010," tweeted Matt Suiche, founder of Dubai-based security firm Comae Technologies.
MS17-010, one of several security bulletins Microsoft issued in March, was just one of several cited Friday by the Redmond, Wash. developer when it said it had already patched most of the vulnerabilities exploited by just-leaked hacking tools.
Those tools -- 12 different Windows exploits -- had been included in a large data dump made April 14 by a hacker group dubbed Shadow Brokers, which is believed to have ties to Russia. The exploits, as well as a trove of documents, had been stolen from the National Security Agency (NSA), Shadow Brokers claimed.
In January, the gang tried to sell the exploits, but bidders failed to materialize. As it advertised its wares, Shadow Brokers posted screenshots of the tools' codenames, which matched what Microsoft said Friday it had previously patched.
The timing -- Shadow Brokers' January auction, Microsoft's MS17-010 release in March -- and the unprecedented, and still unexplained, decision by the latter to postpone all of February's security updates, brought several security professionals, including Suiche, to the same connect-the-dots conclusions.
First, someone reported the six vulnerabilities patched in MS17-010 to Microsoft. Second, Microsoft -- working frantically to fix the flaws before Shadow Brokers went public or succeeded in selling the exploits -- canceled February's updates to focus all its attention on delivering the patches in March.
"Remember how [Microsoft] had to push back February security updates to March?" asked SwiftonSecurity, the Twitter nickname for someone who claims to be a Windows system administrator for the North American subsidiary of a multinational corporation. "Was probably to make sure they fixed all the NSA exploits in one pass." A few minutes later, SwiftonSecurity added, "This is an unsourced personal guess and has no evidence. Microsoft will probably never confirm anything."
The evidence, admittedly, is circumstantial.
Shadow Brokers claimed in January that it had exploits of Windows SBM (Server Message Block), the OS's network file sharing protocol. All six vulnerabilities patched in MS17-010 were in SMB, with five rated "Critical," Microsoft's most severe ranking, and were characterized as "Remote Code Execution" flaws, meaning they could be used to run attack code on a victimized system.
"The vulnerabilities had remote code abilities," Suiche pointed out in an interview as he stressed the importance of getting patches out pronto. "And SMB ships in large portions of Windows."
According to Microsoft, the critical vulnerabilities patched by the MS17-010 update were present in Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Server 2008, Server 2008 R2, Server 2012, Server 2012 R2 and Server 2016. In other words, every supported version of the operating system.
Also noteworthy was that Microsoft did not acknowledge who or what organization reported the six vulnerabilities. Although Microsoft does omit acknowledgments -- typically because the reporting researcher has requested anonomity, or because Microsoft's own engineers uncovered the flaw -- it does so only rarely. More important, it would be very unusual for six vulnerabilities bundled into a bulletin to all come sans an acknowledgment.
Two months ago, Microsoft issued only a vague statement when it canceled February's patches, saying, "We discovered a last-minute issue that could impact some customers and was not resolved in time for our planned updates."
Nor has the company explained how it came to find the vulnerabilities it rushed to patch in MS17-010. Although Microsoft asserted that it had not been alerted by outsiders, it did not respond to questions from Computerworld, including how it learned of the bugs.
One patch expert was skeptical that Microsoft had, in fact, shoved aside February's patch set to get MS17-010 out the door.
"Microsoft's developers are so siloed," said Chris Goettl, product manager at Ivanti, formerly Shavlik, referring to how the company segregates, say, the Office team from the Windows team from the Internet Explorer team. His point: It's unreasonable to think that every engineer would be shunted to work on the SMB patches.
"That they stopped everything to put everyone on the SMB thing, that's not realistic," said Goettl, who stuck with his February bet that the patches were canceled because Microsoft had an update infrastructure meltdown.
This story, "Experts contend Microsoft canceled Feb. updates to patch NSA exploits" was originally published by Computerworld .
Christopher Howarth is a senior researcher working in the House of Commons. Prior to this he worked for Open Europe, as a Conservative Foreign Affairs Adviser and senior researcher to a Shadow Europe Minister.
MPs will be asked to vote on Wednesday to reject a Lords amendment to the Higher Education and Research Bill that says that:
no student, either undergraduate or postgraduate, who has received an offer to study at such a higher education provider, be treated for public policy purposes as a long term migrant to the United Kingdom.
This amendment attempts to exempt international students from the ONSs migration statistics, making it impossible to tell the numbers coming in (and out?), while potentially also reducing the Governments ability to decide on numbers. At best it is muddled, at worst it is disingenuous, either way it should be rejected.
So who is behind this? This amendment is, unsurprisingly, the culmination of a campaign by UK universities themselves. Now, academics are by definition experts, they may sometimes be independent, some may even say unaccountable. However, given that they make a sizeable proportion of their income derived from them, when it comes to immigration and international students they are definitely not impartial.
They are also formidable campaigners in their own cause. Their Chancellors and Principals are heavily represented in the House of Lords. Indeed, among amendment 150s supporters we see a Chancellor of Oxford and a Principal of an Oxbridge College. Many other members of the academic nobility spoke in the course of the debate.
No need to change: Temporary international students do not affect net migration figures
International students are counted into the UK and counted out if they return at the end of their studies. Therefore, if no students remained in the UK the net figure would be zero. This is, however, not the case. Statistics show the majority stay on.
Forcing the ONS not to count international students would make it impossible to understand the true extent of student/graduate immigration. If the amendment also blocks the Government from capping the number of student visas per year then we could have an increase in numbers, while refusing to allow the ONS to count it. This is not good policy and would be contrary to international best practice. It would also be inconsistent as the counting of outbound and returning UK students studying abroad would also seemingly continue distorting the statistics still further.
When does an international student migrant become a graduate migrant?
ONS statistics on students coming in and out of the UK in 2015 show that 192,000 came in and 57,000 returned. In other words 70 per cent stayed on either a temporarily or permanent basis. Those leaving in 2015 will obviously relate to previous years, but as the ONS graph below shows a large mismatch remains.
If the ONS was forced to stop counting inbound students, given the time lag, if it continued to count returnees after their courses or later there would be an artificial lowering of the statistics for several years. If their Lordships idea is to continue to count returnees but not to count arrivals then the statistics would become even more meaningless. If this is the plan of their Lordships, it is a very disingenuous one.
Should there be a limit on international students?
While universities benefit financially from international students, the Government needs to look at wider policy considerations in terms of funding of public services and immigration. The decision to allow graduates to stay on in the UK should be taken on its own merits, and not be done simply in order to allow the universities to top up their finances.
Fairness for UK students?
While UK students face strong competition for places at the best UK universities there is evidence that, incentivised by the ability to charge higher fees, universities let in non-UK students on lower grades. This would not create any unfairness if the same students accepted on different grades were not to then compete for the same graduate jobs. The evidence, however, is that they do. Competition for graduate jobs is already extreme, with research finding that nearly 60 per cent of UK graduates end up working in non-graduate jobs. We already have an oversupply of graduates. Added to this oversupply we have a potential 150,000 international students at universities and other institutions staying on and competing for the same jobs and placements.
Recent (and welcome) changes to the visa rules will in future limit international students to jobs earning over 30,000 a year. This could potentially limit competition to the top end of the graduate job market. If the Government also includes EU students in this bracket it will also improve the prospects for the 376,000 students who graduated from UK universities in 2015/16.
There is a case to be made for graduate immigration, but why limit it to foreign students at UK universities and exclude bright graduates from, say, Harvard or indeed the more than seven million graduates per year from China?
Fairness for the taxpayer?
While in the EU, the UK had to treat EU students in the same manner as it did UK students. This meant charging the same fees and providing the same loans (often unpaid). In the case of Scotland, it also meant the iniquity of EU students ending up paying less than English, Welsh or Northern Irish students. EU graduates also had the right to remain and work on graduation. Post-Brexit, the UK can devise a system that is fair to the UK taxpayer in terms of fees charged, public services and university funding.
The need for better statistics
While UK universities and their Lordly patrons would like to get rid of student immigration statistics altogether, there is in fact a dire need to improve the quality of the information the Government relies on. The current statistics rely on surveys and visa applications, which are at best rough estimates of the actual student numbers. They do not give a good enough picture of the number of graduates staying on in each year and do not fully account for the effect of the time lag between admission, graduation and staying on, or what type of institution university or otherwise they are at. This could be improved to help Parliament decide on an international student policy that is fair to both UK students and the taxpayer.
However, MPs should not allow their Lordships lobbying to force the Government to stop collecting statistics they would rather you do not see. That is a very bad precedent and should be resisted.
Voters hate elections. They tend to hate them especially if they arent necessary which is so, strictly speaking, in this case. Theresa Mays case for seeking this contest (that it will help Britains Brexit negotiation position) is solidly formed and soundly argued. But it ducked the main point when delivering it yesterday: she wants a poll now because the chances of grinding poor old Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party into the dust have never been better.
The British people voted in a general election only two years ago. They voted in an EU referendum last summer. They have no reason to believe, at this stage, that this Parliament cant deliver Brexit. That a new one might do so better will not strike many of them as sufficient reason for a contest. So now they are being asked to trudge to the polls for a third time in three years indeed, in some cases, for the second time in two months, since there are local and Mayoral and police commissioner elections in May.
Many will resent it. Some will show their displeasure by the most practical means possible namely, by not voting at all. So the Prime Minister faces a problem at the outset. Hardline Remainers are likely to turn out and vote Liberal Democrat. Committed Conservatives in Labour marginals may not, since the prospect of Corbyn winning office is remote. Convinced Leave voters, particularly in Labour seats, may think job done that last Junes referendum did the trick, and that they dont need to turn out again. Mays main problem may not be the hopeless Corbyn, or Tim Farron, or even Nicola Sturgeon, but apathy.
Against this unpromising background, the Tory campaign is bound to talk up the threat of a Corbyn-and-Sturgeon led hung Parliament. And Corbyn will take the only course that over 30 years of knee-jerk opposition-mongering has taught him to take i.e: ranting windily about the evil Tories. Prepare, therefore, for seven long weeks of attritional campaigning. This is an unpromising background for what, once the tactical manoeuverings and party posturings are stripped away, is the most momentous election in modern times, or should be. Since Brexit is the biggest decision that the British people have made since the war, it could hardly be otherwise.
So the election that very few people want also turns out to be one that offers exciting political choice or should do. It is a choice not so much between the parties though the gulf between Government and Opposition is wider than at any point since the mid-1980s as, so to speak, within them. May could respond to the unpromising background to this election by simply going negative and playing safe. Or she could follow through the logic of her complaint burning injustices, and contest the poll on a radical Tory manifesto that would start to build a country fit for Brexit. Here are seven broad ideas for reform that favourite May/Nick Timothy/Fiona Hill word.
Economic reform
Public spending fairness across the generations . Public spending on older richer retired people has been relatively protected compared to that expended on younger poorer working ones. So end the pensions triple lock. Pare back free bus passes and the winter fuel allowance And scrap ring-fenced spending (with the exception of meeting the NATO two per cent minimum). This would open up a route to that elusive prospect of ending the structural deficit. And we dont choose to end it by these orderly means, it will eventually be ended by disorderly ones namely, panic cuts that wreak real harm on the disabled, poor and disadvantaged.
As Mark Wallace has argued on this site , the best industrial strategy consists not of picking winner firms (or trying to), but of the grinding business of producing a better educated and trained workforce. That doesnt just consist of consolidating the Blair and Gove reforms in schools, but also of improving the quality and availability of technical education. This wont be realised without transferring resources from the bloated University sector see Graeme Archer on the Great University Mis-Selling Scandal to vocational education. An Industrial Strategy that shifts resources from universities to technical education.
Social reform
More homes for younger people . Alex Morton, David Camerons former housing adviser and a columnist for this site, wrote up Sajid Javids new housing push as follows: There is no point in increasing numbers in local plans if there are no new sanctions for councils that dont have a local plan, or to introduce a system to intervene to put a local plan in place. The delivery test is rather weak, and again has insufficient sanctions. Much of the White Paper is excellent and a skeleton for delivery, but it will need work to put flesh on the bones. The coming manifesto should produce those skeleton-strengthening proposals.
Tax help for families . As Nola Leach has demonstrated on ConservativeHome, scaling up the transferable allowance for married couples would be an efficient means of helping just about managing families whose incomes will be squeezed by the changes to univeral credit. The M word is a missing word from the Governments anti-poverty strategy (see David Burrowess recent article here), and Downing Street seems nervous of trying to design a families policy at all which means, of course, that it has an undesigned one, consisting of whats left of George Osbornes regressive and inefficient childcare subsidies.
Political reform
Cut the size of the Lords by half . The Blair overhaul, Coalition changes to the Upper House, and the scale of David Camerons appointments have collectively devalued the Lords. It is too big and too Liberal Democrat if, that is, you accept the Coalition Agreement logic of seeking to make party representation in the upper house mirror that in the lower. May should wait until after Brexit, and then (armed with a manifesto commitment) compel the Lords to find a way of slashing its numbers. And if it wont change itself, then change must be forced on it.
A voluntary cap on Tory donations . There is nothing wrong in principle with big trade unions funding Labour or rich private donors funding the Conservatives: the taxpayer shouldnt be forced to fund either instead. But the wider the sources of the Partys funding are, the more solid its financial foundations will be. May and Patrick McLoughlin should announce that they are working towards a voluntary cap on Tory donations of, say, 50,000 a throw. There has already been some diversification of fund-raising during the Cameron years, and now is the time for more.
Yes: much of this reform is very risky indeed for the kind of election that we describe. But if it cant be attempted now with a Labour leader as weak as Corbyn, then it never will.
And that seventh proposal? The same as usual. All these policies, and everything else, is subject to the requirements of Brexit.
MOOSE CREEK, Ontario Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry (SD&G) Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers are currently at the scene of a two (2) vehicle collision on Highway 138 (north of Sand Road), North Stormont Township.
Preliminary investigation has indicated that at approximately 11:30am, a passenger vehicle was travelling south on Highway 138 when, for reasons under investigation, crossed into the north lane and collided head-on with a transport truck. The adult male driver (lone occupant) of the passenger vehicle was taken to hospital with serious injuries. The truck driver (lone occupant) was not injured.
As the investigation continues, a section of Highway 138 between County Roads 43 (Monkland) and 15 (Moose Creek) is closed to traffic with indicated detours in place.
Further information will be forwarded as it becomes available.
CORNWALL, Ontario Kevin Gent, 22 of Williamstown was arrested on April 17, 2017 and charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, assault with a weapon, possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose and mischief.
It is alleged on April 14, 2017 the man was operating a motor vehicle in a dangerous manner in the area of Tenth Street and McConnell Avenue. It is also alleged the man purposely struck another vehicle with his vehicle while at a local parking lot and threatened a male with a bat. Police were contacted and an investigation ensued. On April 17, 2017 the man was taken into custody during a traffic stop, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.
POSSESSION OF A CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE
CORNWALL, Ontario David Campbell, 44, of Cornwall was arrested on April 14, 2017 and charged with possession of cocaine and possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking. It is alleged during an unrelated matter on January 26, 2017 the man was found to be in possession of suspected cocaine and an investigation ensued. On April 14, 2017 the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on June 6, 2017.
THREATS
CORNWALL, Ontario Jarret Jodoin, 19, of Cornwall was arrested on April 14, 2017 and charged with threats. It is alleged on April 11, 2017 the man threatened a 15-year-old youth known to him and police were contacted to investigate. On April 14, 2017 the man attended police headquarters to deal with the matter. He was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court at a later date.
ASSAULT
CORNWALL, Ontario A 24-year-old Cornwall man was arrested on April 14, 2017 and charged with assault. It is alleged during an argument on April 14, 2017 the man head butted his girlfriend and police were contacted to investigate. During the investigation the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on May 16, 2017. His name was not released as it would identify the victim in the matter.
WARRANT
CORNWALL, Ontario Dexter Stacey, 20, of Kahnawake was arrested on April 15, 2017 on the strength of a warrant. It is alleged the man failed to attend court on April 3, 2017 for a drive disqualified charge and a warrant was issued for his arrest. On April 15, 2017 the man was stopped at the Port of Entry and police were contacted. The man was taken into custody on the strength of the warrant and held for a bail hearing.
POSSESSION OF FIREARM/ AMMUNITION CONTRARY TO ORDER, UNSAFE STORAGE OF AMMUNITION
CORNWALL, Ontario Hunter Masson, 23, of Cornwall was arrested on April 16, 2017 and charged with being in possession of a firearm and ammunition despite being bound by a court order not to possess firearms or ammunition. He was also charged with unsafe storage of ammunition. As a result of an ongoing investigation the man was taken into custody during a traffic stop on April 16, 2017, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on May 25, 2017.
DANGEROUS OPERATION OF A MOTOR VEHICLE
CORNWALL, Ontario Luis Rodriguez, 24, of Cornwall was arrested on April 16, 2017 and charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle. It is alleged on April 16, 2017 the man was operating a motor vehicle in a dangerous manner in the area of McConnell Avenue and Eleventh Street. He was taken into custody during a traffic stop, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.
ASSAULT
CORNWALL, Ontario Robert Seguin, 42, of Cornwall was arrested on April 17, 2017 and charged with assault. It is alleged on April 17, 2017 the man punched a 59-year-old man known to him in the face and police were contacted to investigate. During the investigation the man was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing.
IROQUOIS, Ontario SD&G OPP are requesting public assistance in identifying the driver of a vehicle involved in a fail to remain collision on a property at Plaza Drive in the Village of Iroquois, South Dundas Township.
Investigation indicated that on December 15, 2016 at approximately 4:41am a darker coloured GMC pick-up struck a yellow metal post in the parking area and left the scene (near Ross Video).
***Video footage was recovered and a still of the suspect is included on the OPP News Portal. Anyone with information is asked to call SD&G OPP at 1-888-301-1122.***
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Eminem fans have been anxiously waiting for their favorite rapper to come out with his new album. In spite of the way that there is still no confirmation from the artist, fans are assuming that his new album would be released on Apr. 9.
According to MobiPicker, fans of Eminem have been eagerly waiting for the release of the legendary rapper's new album. The reports about his new album have been making rounds ever since he confirmed that he is working on a new one. However, the "Cleaning Out My Closet" rapper has refused to confirm as to whether or not he is going to release the new album this year.
Eminem New Album Further Delayed
There is no doubt that a lot of reports and speculations about the new album of Eminem are making rounds in the internet. But, Em assured that he is working on a new one and he even released a diss track aiming the new US President, Donald Trump called "Campaign Speech," during the previous elections.
Apr. 9 Release Date Not True
The Daily Detroit mentioned about Em's post where he was in a 7-Eleven with a writing on his palm, which fans believed is a date of release of his new album. Paul Rosenberg uploaded a photo of him with Em in a 7-Eleven store. "It's been a long time... #7elevenseries," Rosenberg captioned the photo.
Social media users immediately thought that it was "April 9" written on his palm and a Twitter user was quick to comment saying, "Finally... His hand says April 9... Thanks Paul."
Despite the speculations that he was going to release his new album on Apr. 9, the new album of Eminem has only been further delayed. The "Love The Way You Lie" rapper is still reportedly holding off the details about it as well.
As of now, Eminem is yet to confirm and give more information about his upcoming and new album.
See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
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Chiropractic treatment has been long been regarded as a treatment that is not based on solid science and the therapeutic effects are not proven beyond reasonable doubt. Now a study has revealed that it is a relatively effective alternative for pain relief.
An estimated 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain so pain management is considered as one of the main concerns of the US National Institutes of Health. The study by Dr. Paul Shekelle showed that the people he surveyed with lower back pain reported having a pain rating decrease of one point after undergoing spinal manipulation for pain relief, NPR reported. The study analyzed previous publications which involved over 1,700 patients with lower back pain and rated the pain they felt in a scale of zero to ten.
Spinal manipulation involves moving joints in the spine and applying pressure on the spinal area much like what happens during chiropractic treatment, physical therapy and massages. How it relieves pain has been mostly hypothetical as it is not exactly clear how it works. Experts believe that the repositioning of the joints in the spine cause pain relief because of relaxed muscles or cause the body to restore some material between the disks of the spine.
Despite the bad press that chiropractic treatment has been getting people still go to chiropractors because one way or another they are trying out an alternative to pain medication. Even the American College of Physicians encourages people to avoid medication and seek alternative treatment that can speed up the healing process of the body.
Innovations have been made in alternative care that is non-invasive. A new procedure in chiropractic care involves lasers that instead of cutting tissue, the laser penetrates the skin and stimulates muscle tissue to initiate healing. This therapy is called "cold laser therapy" to differentiate it from surgical lasers that burn and cuts through tissue, Globe Newswire reported. The technology is now spreading steadily throughout the US and is seen as a great compliment to physical therapy.
The researchers believe that later studies can help them identify the prime candidates for alternative treatment. After all, spinal manipulation is now recommended for people who are not getting better by conventional means.
See Now: What Republicans Don't Want You To Know About Obamacare
Men in charge have always been confounded and terrified by vaginas. But vaginophobia isn't limited to our ancient past. The colossal failure to understand the female anatomy bleeds into many aspects of our supposedly modern world.
4 We Are Dangerously Stupid About Period Stuff
As you've probably noticed by now, close to half of the population bleeds out of their vaginas about 20 percent of the time. That's a lot of vaginal blood. While this is a necessary and regular fact of life, everything that comes out of our nether regions has something of an ick factor. Luckily, our bathrooms come well-equipped to deal with our many biohazards ... well, except the one kind that helps the human race continue to reproduce.
jarmoluk/Pixabay Keep in mind, we've had to deal with our metaphorical indoor plumbing way longer than we've had literal indoor plumbing.
Any menstruating person who's ever had a job, or even left their house, can tell you about the coy dance of slipping a tampon or pad into one's sleeve before scurrying to the restroom. In a pinch, we resort to panhandling hygiene products off of anyone who seems like they might have a uterus of childbearing age. Sometimes (rarely) there will be a vending machine, but no one gets asked to insert two quarters for a few sheets of toilet paper and some running water.
Adding insult to likely abrasion, they seem to only ever stock baroque contraptions made of equal parts asbestos and splinters. Yet your period is an equally important involuntary bodily function as defecation, and dealing with it in a civilized way is an equally important public health issue.
By Ollie BarstowFollow @OllieBarstowF1 on Twitter
Honda is angry with Fernando Alonso, there is good news for Sauber and 'Iceman' Kimi Raikkonen is feeling the heat... it's the Crash.net Debrief following the Bahrain Grand Prix
When will enough be enough for... Honda?
The Fernando Alonso-McLaren-Honda saga is one that has gripped, frustrated and amused F1 for more than two years now, but it is a story that is predominantly told from the perspective of the driver. In fairness, Alonso spent a long time in those first two seasons deflecting awkward questions from the media about the Honda power unit, the mantra of 'it will get better' keeping his spirits up even when the form slipped.
However, Alonso has well and truly detached himself from the party line this year and his rhetoric in the opening three rounds about the Honda engine has stepped up to increasingly hyperbolic levels, whether he is 'driving like an animal' or apparently losing 400m in a straight line.
Now comes paddock speculation that Alonso's 'retirement' two laps from home in the Bahrain Grand Prix was in fact him simply parking it because he didn't want to be classified last. To say Honda are unimpressed is an understatement.
Which begs the question - instead of Alonso wanting out, will Honda consider whether it needs Alonso's barrage of public shaming for another contract term? Given McLaren and Stoffel Vandoorne are prepared to defend Honda and pull in the same direction, though Alonso's opposing actions are arguably refreshing in the corporate world of modern F1, it is plunging morale to a new low.
On the weekend, Alonso basked in the glow of the getting his Indy 500 deal secured, he may want to remember it would not have been possible without Honda's input.
There have been moments in recent years where you have to wonder whether Kimi Raikkonen's heart is still in the racing based on his iconic but persistent taciturn demeanour. However, judging by his increasingly animated rants over the team radio and his slightly child-like decision to cool off his emotions following a breakdown by walking a fair distance in 40+ degree heat back to the garage, the Finn is clearly feeling the pressure.
Ferrari obviously has a quick car in the SF70H but only Sebastian Vettel has harnessed its potential in race conditions so far. Raikkonen has trotted out the 'small details' reasoning for his failure to stay on terms with the leaders, but in the heat of battle it is clear he is frustrated he isn't making the best of potentially his strongest car since 2007.
Sergio Marchionne didn't hold back in his opinion after China and with Maurizio Arrivabene taking a vow of silence as Ferrari clampdowns on its media commitments, an underwhelming Raikkonen is looking increasingly out of sync with Ferrari's newfound professionalism.
As such, the annual 'silly season' will probably revolve around Raikkonen again this year, but based on the opening three rounds it seems the likes of Romain Grosjean, Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz - amongst others - might be wise to use these next few races as their advertisement for what could well be a title-defending team in 2018...
It is fair to say Pascal Wehrlein was left rather bemused by the speculation and debate over his reasons for skipping the opening two rounds following a fitness-sapping back injury. From the suggestion Ferrari and Mercedes were battling to give their juniors seat time to his absence being an aggrieved reaction to driving a Sauber rather than a Force India or even Mercedes this season, Wehrlein faced the media with a smile and one-by-one answered each probing question thoroughly and logically.
In short, Wehrlein played it very safe - but with good reason. He explained to me that the injury had left him unable to train for weeks and the subsequent loss of fitness left him playing catch up in the gym and was affecting his concentration the car. With this in mind, had Wehrlein suffered another crash in Australia or China and done himself another major injury, the alternative of missing two races makes more sense. After all, his substitute Antonio Giovinazzi did put the Sauber in the wall twice in China, so imagine if it had been Pascal?
Better still, Wehrlein was a minor revelation on his return to action in Bahrain, defying his lack of mileage in the C36 to quickly out-perform Marcus Ericsson, reach Q2 and very nearly score a point in 11th.
Speaking of Sauber, it seems the future is looking bright for the plucky Swiss team having seemingly already agreed an engine deal for 2018 just a couple of races into the 2017 season.
Despite Sauber's assertion it 'chose' to use the year-old Ferrari power unit to allow it to develop its chassis around a proven package, most saw the step back as a way of taking two steps forward by saving money to negotiate a new deal for 2018.
It seems Sauber is likely to use either Mercedes or Honda power units next season. From a competitive point of view, a Mercedes power unit currently makes more sense than a Honda, but it would likely receive a lot more financial assistance from the Japanese firm to become an effective 'B team', especially if it can place one of its drivers - Nobuharu Matsushita - into one of the cars.
Furthermore, despite the McLaren struggles, few genuinely believe Honda will always be uncompetitive, in which case Sauber could find itself well placed to haul itself back into regular top ten competition.
At the very least, if Sauber - a team that nearly folded in 2016 - is agreeing deals months in advance, it surely says a lot about its financial security these days too.
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President Trump Set To Sign H-1B Executive Order, Tata, Infosys, Cognizant In Crosshairs
Michael Novinson
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President Donald Trump will sign an executive order Tuesday that revamps the H-1B skilled worker visa program and puts IT outsourcing giants like Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys and Cognizant in the crosshairs.
The random lottery H-1B system has violated the principles of the H-1B visa program by allowing employers to bring in lower-skilled workers at well below market rates to replace American workers, according to the Trump administration.
The executive order from President Trump will shift the H-1B visa program away from a lottery system weighted toward lowest wage workers to a system that prioritizes higher-skilled, higher paid workers. That shift would make it much more difficult for outsourcing giants to replace American workers, according to the Trump administration.
H-1B VISA The 25 Biggest Channel Users Of The H-1B Visa Program The use of the skilled worker visa program is dominated by a handful of outsourcing giants with ties to India.
President Trump will announce the H-1B executive order Tuesday during a visit to Kenosha, Wisc.-based tool manufacturer Snap-On Inc. Trump will also instruct federal agencies to examine their purchasing systems to more effectively favor buying American goods in federal contracts.
Some 80 percent of H-1B workers are paid less than the median wage in their fields, according to the White House, while just 5 percent of H-1B visas go to the workers in the Labor Department's highest wage tier.
"People, probably in their heads, think most H-1B visas are going to these romanticized, high-skilled firms that are pioneering the technology of the future [and] not [to] contract workers," a senior Trump administration official said late Monday, according to a transcript of the briefing.
"Companies like Tata, Infosys, Cognizant will apply for a very large number of [H-1B] visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery raffle," the Trump administration official said. "You have contracting firms that are not skills employers, that often times use workers for entry-level positions, and they capture the lion's share of H-1B visas."
The official told reporters that those three companies have an average wage for H-1B visas of between $60,000 and $65,000, well below the $150,000 earned by the median Silicon Valley software engineer. The remarks weren't intended to be a criticism of Tata, Infosys and Cognizant, the official said, but rather a criticism of the current the H-1B visa program.
"We're going to switch away from a random lottery system in which it's weighted toward the lowest wage workers towards a system that prioritizes higher-skilled, higher-paid workers, which would make it much more difficult to use it [the H-1B program] to replace American workers," said the official, who gave the briefing on the condition of anonymity.
Tata, Infosys and Cognizant didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Infosys and Tata were the two biggest users of the H-1B visa program in the U.S. government's 2016 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, applying for 25,405 and 13,134 visas, respectively, and offering an average salary of $81,705 and $76,099, respectively, according to U.S. Department of Labor data compiled by Myvisajobs.com.
Cognizant, meanwhile, was the ninth biggest user of the H-1B program in 2016, applying for 5,370 visas and offering an average salary of $74,628. All told, 236,000 H-1B applications were submitted for 85,000 available slots in 2016.
The senior official said some reforms to the H-1B program can be accomplished administratively such as increasing fees for visa applications (to dissuade companies from applying for more visas than they plan to use or adjusting the wage scale to accurately reflect the prevailing wages in those fields.
The Trump administration could also adjust the lottery system to give master's degree holders a better chance of getting H-1B Visas relative to bachelor's degree holders, according to the senior official. Just 20,000 of the 85,000 H-1B visa slots are currently reserved for master's degree holders.
The Department of Justice could also take a more vigorous stance in enforcing gross and egregious violations of the H-1B program, according to the senior official. Infosys paid the U.S. government $34 million in October 2013 to settle allegations that the company was having employees with B-1 visas perform work designated for H-1B visa holders. B-1 visa holders are only allowed to visit the U.S., participate in meetings and negotiate contracts.
Networking News
Verizon Inks $1.05B Fiber Deal With Corning To Build Out Fiber Footprint, Speed 5G Deployment Plans
Gina Narcisi
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Verizon is on a mission to declare its dominance in the fiber-based networking space. The telecom giant Tuesday committed to purchasing $1.05 billion in fiber-optic cable from specialty manufacturing company Corning.
Via the terms of the new deal, Corning will provide Verizon with up to 12.4 million miles of optical fiber cable and associated hardware for three years, starting in 2018 and going through 2020. The three-year, $1.05 billion deal is a minimum purchase commitment, Verizon said in a statement.
Verizon said that it will put this fiber investment toward the expansion of its Fios platform, the carrier's fiber-based network that delivers high-speed Internet, TV, and phone services to consumers and small-business customers. The purchase will also help support Verizon's next-generation networking plans, which include an architecture that can support all the carrier's business units, improve 4G LTE coverage, and speed the deployment of 5G.
[Related: Verizon Channel Chief Schjins On Verizon Business Markets, The XO Acquisition, And Doubling Down On 'The Big Middle' ]
The Basking Ridge, N.J.-based carrier said that it identified a fiber supply shortage and has been working with its business teams to fill supply gaps with its existing suppliers and calculate future demand. The carrier said that with Corning's help, it will be able to meet its fiber rollout goals.
"Corning's unique combination of capabilities delivers solutions that provide us with performance and cost advantages as we continue to expand our network coverage and capacity," Roger Gurnani, Verizon's chief information and technology architect, said in a statement.
Verizon has been aggressively acquiring new fiber assets and building out its network. Verizon closed its $1.8 billion acquisition of XO Communications in February, which gave Verizon access to XOs robust fiber-based IP and Ethernet networks. The deal brought Verizon's fiber footprint into 45 of the 50 largest U.S. cities.
Verizon in 2016 launched One Fiber in Boston, a multi-purpose network that can deliver consumer wireline, wireless and business services that is said to be the next generation of Fios. The carrier has plans to invest $300 million over the next six years to further deploy its One Fiber infrastructure throughout Boston and replace the city's legacy copper-based network infrastructure with fiber.
News of the deal sent Corning's stock up on Tuesday morning by 2.41 percent to $27.18 per share.
Improving the security of the United States' drinking water and wastewater infrastructure has not received the attention it requires. Over the past two decades of combating home grown and international terrorism, the electricity sector has received the majority of critical media headlines; however, the water sector may be the more vulnerable.
The most prominent and likely forms of terrorist attack on the water sector include the intentional release of chemical, biological, and radiological contaminants into the water supply or wastewater systems, disruption of service from explosions, and breaches in cybersecurity. The water sector is complex, composed of drinking water and wastewater infrastructure of varying sizes and types of ownership. The sector has its own unique risks driving sector security and resilience activities, including threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences.
However, utility owners and operators have always had to respond to natural disasters and, as a result, emergency response planning is inherent to the industry to ensure continuity of operations and to sustain public health and environmental protection.
The Water and Wastewater Sector partners with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), state agencies, and other federal agencies, sharing in the mission to protect public health, the environment, and security and resilience activities. Significant actions are underway to assess and reduce vulnerabilities to potential terrorist attacks, plan for and practice response to emergencies and incidents, develop new security technologies to detect and monitor contaminants, and prevent security breaches.
The water sector is vulnerable to a variety of attacks through contamination with deadly agents, physical attacks (such as the release of toxic gaseous chemicals), and cyber-attacks. If these attacks were realized, the result could be significant illness, casualties, or a denial of service that could also affect public health and preparedness.
Critical services such as firefighting or healthcare would be negatively impacted by a denial of service from the water sector, as would other dependent and interdependent sectors such as energy, transportation systems, and agriculture and food. Therefore, it is critical that the security and resilience of the nations water infrastructurecollectively known as the Water and Wastewater Sectoris enhanced.
Based off the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the EPAs Sector Specific Plan (SSP), along with known threats to the sector, a number of key concepts should be included when building a comprehensive water security program. A water utility should consider:
Conducting periodic threat and vulnerability assessments, annual security exercises, and regular updates to its response and recovery plans
Developing surveillance, monitoring, warning, and response capabilities to recognize a security event when it is actively happening
Integrating both physical and cybersecurity concepts into daily business operations to foster a culture of security
Improving the identification of potential threats with skilled physical and cybersecurity staff, armed with the knowledge to deter, detect, and delay an adversarys tactics
Identifying ways to implement key response and recovery strategies prior to a crisis
Increasing its understanding of how the sector is interdependent with other critical infrastructure sectors, especially energy and chemical
Enhancing threat communication and coordination among internal and external stakeholders by utilizing the Water Information Sharing and Analysis Center (WaterISAC) and other information sharing networks
Multiple governing authorities pertaining to the security of the water sector provide for public health, environmental protection, and security measures. Notably, the water sector is currently excluded from the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), a DHS program that regulates high-risk chemical facilities to ensure they have security measures in place to reduce the risks associated with these chemicals. Water associations have won the exclusion argument by suggesting that they are adequately covered by the rules under the Bioterrorism Act of 2002.
Currently, CFATS excludes public water systems (as defined in the Safe Drinking Water Act) and water treatment facilities (as defined in the Federal Water Pollution Control Act) from the program. This exemption has been called into question many times, even by the leadership of the US House Committee on Homeland Security.
Furthering situation-awareness capabilities through the effective sharing of critical, security-related information via the WaterISAC should continue. As the official communication mechanism for the water sector, the WaterISAC should be included to a greater extent in the planning and preparedness-related initiatives to better inform the sector about key security issues, opportunities, and information. Likewise, the WaterISAC should consider partnering with additional ISACs, such as electricity.
While there have not been any highly publicized events surrounding the contamination of water systems, it is worth investing resources and technologies to ensure the water supply stays safe. Water distribution systems are routinely monitored to ensure that drinking water meets mandated standards and that treatment processes are performing as intended. Online sensors measure water quality in real-time and have the potential to serve as an early warning for an intentional contamination event.
Unfortunately, water utilities have not been immune to ransomware and other cyber-attacks on their IT infrastructure. Utilities should continue to update security patches, encrypt sensitive data, and use firewalls between operating systems. Most importantly, utilities should keep utility Industrial Control Systems off the internet.
Owners and operators are responsible for implementing security and resilience activities at the utility level, which allows protective programs to be tailored to the geography and conditions of that locality, with a focus on critical facilities. Many water and wastewater utilities have conducted risk assessments and spent millions of dollars to reduce identified vulnerabilities and install protective measures. The development of security resources that enhance sector resilience, increase education and awareness, and build a business case for security investments today will pay dividends prior to any attack.
It can be assumed that at some point, a North American utility may suffer from a planned and coordinated attack against its water infrastructure. Have these utilities examined credible threats closely enough? Did they prepare to respond, recover, and communicate? As an industry, many will be judged and hard questions will be asked about how seriously threats were considered and what was done to mitigate future attacks. Success will be determined by how quickly the industry responds and the swiftness of system recovery.
Cuba and the Republic of Congo Determined to Strengthen Bilateral Ties
Submitted by: Juana
Africa
Havana
Politics and Government
04 / 18 / 2017
The President of the Cuban National Assembly, Esteban Lazo and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo, Clement Mouamba expressed on Monday in Havana the determination of strengthening commercial, economic ties and cooperation between both nations.
The Cuban Parliament President welcomed the head of the Congolese government at the Capitol building, new headquarters of the legislative branch where both sides confirmed the friendship ties that unites both nations.
Lazo explained how Cuba values the political relationship with the African country and ratified the islands will in also strengthening Parliamentary ties.
He reaffirmed that Cuba is proud of its relations with the African countries, especially Congo whose history cannot be told without mentioning the legendary guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara who fought alongside a group of internationalists for the liberation of that nation.
On behalf of the Cuban government and people, Lazo said he was grateful for the profound manifestations of the Congolese people on occasion of the death of the leader of the Revolution Fidel Castro and also thanked the Prime Minister of Congo for paying tribute to the Commander in Chief whose ashes were laid to rest in Santiago de Cuba.
The President of the Cuban Parliament was also grateful to the African country for its unconditional support against the continued economic, commercial and financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba for over half a century.
According to the Cuban government official, current cooperation between both countries includes the presence of close to one hundred Cuban doctors in the Republic of the Congo while over two thousand Congolese students are studying in the Caribbean island.
He added that the cooperation is also extended to agriculture, cattle and fishing; sectors that are found in the memorandum of understanding signed last August by authorities of both governments.
Mouamba expressed feeling moved after realizing that Africa has participated in the construction of todays Cuba, with an expression of solidarity that dates back to Cubas struggle for liberation.
The agenda of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo included meetings with government authorities in addition to paying tribute to Fidel at Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba, and Jose Marti at Havanas Revolution Square.
The African leader is scheduled to visit the Park of African leaders in honor to prominent African political figures.
Cuba Celebrates World Girls of Information and Communications Technology Day
Submitted by: Juana
Local
International
04 / 18 / 2017
Cuba will celebrate World Girls of Information and Communications Technology Day next April 27th which is a project supported by the members of the International Telecommunications Union (UIT).
Leticia Barreda, specialist of the Institutional Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Communications (MINCOM) said that the objective is to create a favorable world environment to the empowerment of girls and young women and a way to influence in their decision in the field of TIC.
The Working Group of the Summits of Information Societies coordinated by MINCOM proposed an extension of the national celebrations to all sectors of society with educational and recreational activities that will allow learning, playing and exchange experience on the development of the technologies in the country.
World Girls in the TIC was approved in 2010 during the UIT Conference in Guadalajara Mexico, and is celebrated since 2011 every fourth Thursday of April and is part of the promotional policies of gender equality and the empowerment of women through technology.
The International Telecommunications Union specialized organization of the UN- is made up by 193 countries and over 700 entities of the private sector and academic institutions with its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland and has 12 regional offices in the world.
Followers of Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach are suspected of threatening executives at major companies so that they place ads in the paper
Yair Ettinger
Haaretz
April 18, 2017
The police Tuesday arrested 28 people from a Jerusalem-based ultra-Orthodox sect suspected of extorting major companies into advertising in their newspaper.
The police say the suspects threatened executives from both private and state-owned companies so that they would place ads in Hapeles, an ultra-Orthdodox newspaper associated with Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach.
The raid on offices in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv-suburb Bnei Brak culminated an 18-month undercover investigation, the police said.
Loyalists of Auerbach called the action "a world war against the Jerusalem sect." A spokesman for the sect called it "a dictatorial attempt of silencing reminiscent of dark regimes."
Some of the suspects will be brought before the Rishon Letzion Magistrate's Court on Tuesday to have their detentions extended.
The police also raided the homes of executives of the newspaper, arresting Editor-in-Chief Nati Grossman, his deputy Yishayahu Wein and CEO Shmulik Elyashiv.
The police said they launched the investigation after receiving dozens of complaints from executives at major companies in Israel. The suspects set up a special phone line through which they discussed which companies to harass and to what extent, the police said.
On Tuesday, Auerbach supporters gathered around the police during the raids, shouting at them and later burning trash containers, throwing objects and stones at them and trying to prevent the arrests.
Hapeles employees said the men arrested included leaders of the fight against drafting ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, men into the Israel Defense Forces. They also included organizers of recent stormy protests such as members of the sect's Committee for Saving the Torah World. Sect members also said that overnight, the military police arrested yeshiva students.
As the spokesman for Auerbach's sect put it, "Arrests of newspaper editors and writers isn't something that can be part of the public agenda. It's not democracy but a tyrannical dictatorship. The Israel Police and its emissaries don't dare arrest other newspaper editors as extremist as their opinion is. The Jerusalem sect says that anyone who doesn't stop this madness of silencing now will feel it personally sooner or later."
The police accused the suspects of trying "to disrupt and attack rights to property and privacy through harassment and intimidation."
Two years ago, the police arrested members of the sect suspected of extorting Hapeles advertisers. Most advertisers in the ultra-Orthodox market, mainly government ministries and major corporations, have been shunning the newspaper since its fight with mainstream Haredi newspapers, mainly Yated Neeman.
Two leaders, Rabbi Aharon Leib Shteinman and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, called on their supporters to boycott Hapeles.
The arrests two years ago led to an indictment against Avraham Traeger, suspected of running the campaign to pressure advertisers to work with Hapeles. The trial of Traeger, who was also arrested Tuesday, is still going on.
Traeger is accused of publishing names of advertisers in rival papers so that other activists linked to the Jerusalem sect would pressure them, mostly through anonymous phone calls, to advertise in Hapeles.
Members of Auerbach's sect say that since the indictment, Traeger's campaign has been advised by lawyers to avoid criminal offenses and stick with what the sect calls "a public fight."
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.784027
17 Nisan 2017 Pazartesi, 10:30
Article 101 of our Code of Criminal Procedure sets out on whom, and when, detention orders that deprive people of their freedom may be imposed. At the investigation stage, only penal judgeships of the peace may pass detention orders. The ability of penal judgeships of the peace to pass detention orders is dependent on application by the public prosecutor for pre-trial detention. If the prosecutor does not apply for pre-trial detention, the penal judgeship of the peace may not pass a detention order of its own motion. Penal judgeships of the peace are not obliged pass a detention order just because the prosecutor seeks pre-trial detention, either. At the stage at which the trial has commenced and people appear before court, on the other hand, only the court holding the trial may pass a detention order.
The situations under which detention orders may be imposed are laid down in Article 100 of our Code of Criminal Procedure. For a detention order to be passed, it is not sufficient for there to exist concrete evidence pointing to the strong suspicion of guilt. There must also exist grounds for detention ALONG WITH concrete evidence pointing to the strong suspicion of guilt.
As to what constitute grounds for detention, these are enumerated in Article 100 of our Code of Criminal Procedure. The person must flee and hide or there must exist concrete facts that give rise to the suspicion that they will flee. If there is no CONCRETE FACT of this nature, a detention order cannot be passed.
Apart from this, if the persons conduct creates the strong suspicion that they are attempting to destroy, conceal or alter evidence or intimidate witnesses, victims or others, a detention order may be passed. As has been seen, there needs to exist, not an abstract suspicion as to intimidation, but a concrete attempt to intimidate. Also, if there exist grounds for strong suspicion that certain crimes that are enumerated in Article 100 and are known as predicate crimes have been committed, a detention order may be passed.
Along with all this, the detention order must be proportionate to the punishment or security measure that is expected to be imposed on the person, and conditional release provisions (ban on leaving the country, being in certain regions, etc.) must be inadequate.
It is one possibility that a person who has been released pending trial will be convicted at the conclusion of the trial. But, another possibility is that a person held in detention while on trial will be acquitted at the conclusion of the trial. A corollary of this possibility of acquittal is that detention is not, as is widely imagined, a punishment, but a measure and that a thorough examination must be made before a detention order is passed. However, especially the detention orders depriving people of the freedom which are passed by penal judgeships of the peace at the investigation stage and are extended following examination for thirty-day periods are frequently employed by penal judgeships of the peace as if a sentence were being executed at a stage at which it is impossible to determine whether a sentence will be handed down. It is uncertain whether the ironic proposal suggesting that prosecutors and judges need to spend at least thirty days in jail during their internship periods so that they may understand this importance of a detention order that tears people away from a free life would amuse or provoke contemplation in those who implement them, but it is a fact that detention orders that are passed contrary to the law may constitute an offence under Articles 109 and 257 of the Turkish Penal Code. Despite this, the endeavour has been made through Article 141 of our Code of Criminal Procedure to provide rectification for the injustice of a person who has been unlawfully detained. The person may seek compensation for material and non-material damages from the State. Moreover, this application does not apply solely to those who have been acquitted at the conclusion of the trial following detention. According the paragraphs (a) (d) of the Article of our Code of Criminal Procedure, it also applies to those who are apprehended, detained or whose detention is ordered to be extended outside the conditions laid down in statutes and those who, despite being detained in accordance with statute, are not brought before a judicial organ within a reasonable time and on whom judgment is not passed within this time.
Unlawful procedures by prosecutors and judges that are in violation through error, negligence or intent of the rules governing the institution of detention constitute the offences of abuse of duty in Article 257 of the Turkish Penal Code and depriving a person of their freedom in Article 109 of the Turkish Penal Code. However, if depriving a person of their freedom is conducted systematically in line with a plan against a segment of society for political, philosophical, racial or religious motives, in this case a crime against humanity comes into play. The penalty when depriving a person of their freedom is conducted for the enumerated motives is contained in Article 77 of the Turkish Penal Code.
Article 77 included under the heading of Crimes against humanity of the Turkish Penal Code was drafted, as is stated in the justification for the article, inspired by Article 6 (c) of the Nurnberg Charter. The notion and perspective of crimes against humanity, which found inclusion for the first time in the Nurnberg Charter, was also included in Article 7/1 of the Rome Statute. The Rome statue considers imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of international law to be a crime against humanity. However, the crime, just as it can be committed in time of war, can also be committed in time of peace. (*)
In order for the crime to be constituted, while according to the Rome Statute the perpetrator must act in a systematic and widespread manner, the precondition of being widespread is not imposed in the Nurnberg Charter and Article 77 of our Turkish Penal Code. According to Article 77 of the Turkish Penal Code, it is sufficient for the act to be planned and systematic.
The detentions of certain members of parliament, the detentions of certain journalists and the detentions due to the posting of certain tweets made in Turkey in recent times are candidates for examination under Article 77 of the Turkish Penal Code.
And, pursuant to paragraph four of Article 77 of the Turkish Penal Code, no limitation period applies to these crimes.
(*) It is of no significance if the perpetrator of the act is a person who is authorised to detain.
From the King of The South to Black Beatles, the University of Memphis campus has seen quite a few hip-hop artists tear up the Alumni Mall. Rich Homie Quan, Metro Boomin and Travis Porter are set to perform during this weeks Spring Fling event. They will join the nine past performers whove spit fire on campus since 2014. Through a few open records requests, we made a break down of how much these guys got paid to perform at Memphis.
How much did other schools pay?
Since 2014, the U of M has spent nearly half a million dollars to book a dozen rappers to perform on campus for homecoming and Spring Fling concerts. Compared to other school, the University of Memphis has not paid the highest prices. Here is a break down of sum of the most popular performers.
Big Sean
The University of Florida paid $120,000 for Big Sean to perform on their campus in 2017, twice as much as the U of M did in 2014. Tickets for Florida students were also not free as they were at the U of M. UF students paid between $10 to $20 per ticket, according to The Alligator, the UF student newspaper. Big Sean was nominated for a Grammy in 2013, a year before he would perform at the U of M. Big Sean got his second nomination in 2016 for best rap song, which might explain why he doubled his fee.
Ludacris
The University of Georgia paid $68,000 for Ludacris to preform on their campus in 2010 and $65,000 for his performance in 2016, according to The Red & Black. Both times were less than what the U of M paid ($70,000) for the 2015 homecoming concert. But, Ludacris 2016 Georgia concert was not free to students, and the rapper allegedly performed for only 15 minutes. The University of North Alabama spent about $88,000 for Ludacris to perform on their campus in 2014, according to The Flor-Ala.
Rich Homie Quan
Rich Homie Quan performed during a Las Vegas New Years Eve event in 2015 and was paid $90,000, according to TMZ. Although TMZ did not say where they found the information, many of the items listed in his hospitality rider can be found in Quans contract with the U of M. Rich Homie Quans asking price is about $40,000 according to Main Stage Productionss website. The U of M paid $41,000 to have him perform for the Spring Fling Saturday.
T.I.
The current asking price for the King of the South is $100,000, according to Main Stage Productions, a booking agency that caters to college campuses.
But the University of North Alabama spent only $90,000 to book rapper T.I. for their 2015 spring concert, according to student newspaper The Flor-Ala. The University of Memphis paid only $75,000 to have him perform during the 2016 homecoming concert.
Rae Sremmurd
The U of M paid $75,000 to have Rae Sremmurd perform for spring fling 2016. That's $25,000 below their current asking price (as listed on Main Stage Productions). One reason for the price jump may be the success Black Beatles which hit number one in the Billboard Hot 100. Unfortunately, U of M students did not see the song live as it was not released until September 2016.
After almost a decade of making money by milking the contacts he had made as prime minister, Tony Blair recently made a surprise comeback to domestic politics.
He has created an institute to promote his own brand of centre-ground politics, and has again become a familiar figure on the British scene.
I dare say that Mr Blair is hoping we will all forget that he led this country to war against Iraq a calamity that is still unfolding today with the horrors of ISIS.
Tony Blair faces being taken to court in a private prosecution charging him with telling lies about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction to take Britain into an illegal war
However, that is a mistaken hope, because the former prime minister still has hugely serious questions to answer about his personal role.
Mr Blair faces being taken to court in a private prosecution charging him with telling lies about Saddam Husseins weapons of mass destruction in order to take Britain into an illegal war.
The litigants argue that Mr Blair is guilty of the crime of aggression or the illegal invasion of another country. This is the most serious crime anyone can commit under international law.
It was defined as such in the Nuremberg Military Tribunal into Nazi war crimes in 1946 when the chief prosecutor, Justice Robert H. Jackson, declared that the initiation of a war of aggression is the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole.
Charges
The case is being brought by the former chief of staff of Saddam Husseins army, General Abdul-Wahid Shannan ar-Ribat. He is seeking a judicial review of a district judges decision last November that Blair had immunity from criminal prosecution.
Some years ago, one of our most eminent soldiers, General Sir Michael Rose, called for the impeachment of Blair
However, General ar-Ribat, who lives in exile, is by no means a vexatious litigant.
Many respected observers are convinced that he is absolutely right, and Mr Blair has serious charges to answer.
Some years ago, one of our most eminent soldiers, General Sir Michael Rose, called for the impeachment of Blair.
More recently, Hans Blix, chief weapons inspector for the UN before the Iraq invasion, told me Blair lied in order to take Britain into an illegal war.
The inspection teams advice at the time was that it was likely Saddam Hussein had terminated his WMD programme some years before.
Last years Chilcot report, while hesitating to reach a judgment, raised serious questions about Blairs conduct concerning the path to war.
Mr Blair, naturally, insists he acted in good faith based on the intelligence available to him at the time.
Notorious
Bear in mind its a fundamental principle of international law that states are prohibited from using force except in self-defence or unless its use is formally authorised by the Security Council under chapter VII of the UN Charter.
Sir John Chilcot demonstrated beyond doubt that the invasion of Iraq was not (as Blair notoriously claimed at the time) a war of self-defence against Iraqi aggression. Sir John also demonstrated that the war was not authorised by the UN Security Council.
The evidence that Tony Blair is a war criminal is therefore powerful and compelling. That being the case, the former prime minister ought to be brought to book.
That is why I am certain that General ar-Ribat is fully entitled to take legal action, and that he and Mr Blair must have their day in court.
And that is why yesterdays story in the Mail that the most senior law officer in the British Government has intervened to request that the case should not go ahead is so profoundly concerning.
Sir John Chilcot demonstrated beyond doubt that the invasion of Iraq was not a war of self-defence against Iraqi aggression. He also found the war was not authorised by the UN Security Council
Jeremy Wright QC, the Attorney General who was appointed by David Cameron says the case is hopeless because the crime of aggression does not exist in English law. His position has been backed by the law lords.
Yet this seems to be curiously at odds with a document written by the man who was Attorney General on the eve of the invasion of Iraq in 2003. In a famous memorandum on the legality of the invasion, Lord Goldsmith wrote: Aggression is a crime under customary international law which automatically forms part of domestic law.
To the casual observer, this new intervention to shield Mr Blair from legal scrutiny in court must seem extremely rum. It seems to hint at disturbing double standards at the heart of the British political system.
If the man in the street breaks a law, he should expect to be taken to court and, if found guilty, punished. So is there one rule for ex-premiers and their ministers, and another for the rest of us?
Jeremy Wright QC, the Attorney General, says the case is hopeless because the crime of aggression does not exist in English law. His position has been backed by the law lords
Blair lied to Parliament to make the case for an illegal war that directly led to the deaths of 179 British soldiers and indirectly to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.
Some of the families of those British troops are seeking a civil action against Blair and other Whitehall officials for misfeasance in public office.
Barristers for the families have pored over last years Chilcot report and conclude there is a strong case that Mr Blair misled Parliament to justify the catastrophic war.
So, why has he never been held to account? And why has the Attorney General been so proactive in stopping this action by the Iraqi general against him?
Its important to remember that this is not the first time Blair has seen the shadow of the law approaching his door.
Just over ten years ago, the Metropolitan Police presented a powerful dossier to the Crown Prosecution Service that they felt proved peerages were up for sale to Labour Party donors.
That investigation, to the bafflement and fury of the police, was to go no further once it reached the CPS.
In the wake of the damning Chilcot report, David Cameron refused to admit that the war was a mistake or wrong
We also know that the British Government was complicit in torture during the Blair premiership as part of the U.S. War on Terror (though, to be scrupulously fair to Mr Blair, we cannot say for certain whether he personally licensed this). The 1988 Criminal Justice Act states that carrying out or abetting torture is punishable by jail, with the maximum of life imprisonment. So the Met had no choice but to investigate, once evidence of wrongdoing emerged.
Once again it mounted a very thorough investigation. Once again, I understand the police presented a powerful dossier to the CPS. Once again the CPS failed to bring any charges against Blair or his ministers.
Much as those were both deeply serious matters, neither compares in scale or historic importance with the Blair governments prosecution of the Iraq war.
Thus far, Mr Blair has not paid the slightest price for the disaster of Iraq, even though the Chilcot report could hardly have been clearer about the appalling lies he told about Saddam Husseins weapons of mass destruction.
What strikes me as odd is the way that two consecutive Conservative governments have failed to make Blair face sanction for his actions.
Shameful
Last year, in the wake of the damning Chilcot report, David Cameron refused to admit that the war was a mistake or wrong. Now we have the Tory Attorney General stepping in to stop a legal action against the former Labour premier.
Cynics would say its almost as though there is a club of ex-PMs whose unwritten rules dictate that no prime minister should allow any of his or her predecessors to be prosecuted or held to account for fear that the same could in due course happen to them.
Time will tell us whether Mr Blair will ever stand in court and answer questions about the Iraq war. But the evidence seems clear enough to me.
Indeed, his lies remain to this day on the parliamentary record, in defiance of the ministerial code that says ministers must correct errors at the first opportunity.
More than that, the failure to prosecute Mr Blair means that he has been free to return to British politics and make the case for the European Union and what he calls the centre ground. What a shameful state of affairs.
The story so far: Suave Detective Inspector Jim Oldman is called to an empty room. Neighbours have reported nothing amiss. Theres not even a corpse.
It's 15 minutes into the episode, and they're growing increasingly concerned.
Theres something about this room that tells me its empty, says Oldman. Theres no reply. He takes this as confirmation, and puts a call through for back-up.
Apple Banana Celery, can you read me? he says to his walkie-talkie. Hes a smoothie.
Were three episodes in, Sarge, and the plots gone missing! he reports. Were in danger of losing em!
The Armed Response Unit arrives. Six armed officers rush up the staircase, in visors, turning around 360 degrees on each stair.
Someones made off with the plot. Ive reason to believe a corrupt officer has infiltrated the anti-corruption unit.
When they get to the top, they feel dizzy, so they take a few minutes to get their bearings.
Presently, the leader of the Armed Response Unit, Inspector Gary Youngman, kicks down the door of the empty room. A.R.U.! he screams.
Very well, thank you, replies DI Oldman. And A.R.U.?
Could be worse. But I thought you said this room was empty!
Well, it was before I got here! At least I think it was. There was no one around to ask.
So how do you account for all these people in black, then? says Insp Youngman, aggressively.
Were all the other members of your unit, Sir.
So you are! You look so different with those visors on! As you were!
Meanwhile, over in the picture-postcard village of Much Askew, Detective Sergeant Cliff Hanger has been called to the corner shop run by kindly old Ted Sinister.
He sniffs around, and then blows his nose.
He scans the shelves. Rice Krispies . . . Corn Flakes . . . Coco Pops. And then a gap. Call it experience, call it sixth sense, but he knows somethings not quite right.
Theres a cereal filler on the loose, he says.
Back in the once-empty room, DI Oldman puts an urgent call through to HQ.
Hilary Quinn, how can I help you? she replies.
Xylophone Yesteryear Zygodactyl, he says. Hes at the end of his tether.
Only then does he spot a crumpled scrap of paper in the empty room. 2 + 2 = 5, it reads. Is it a clue? If so, it just doesnt add up.
Someones made off with the plot. Ive reason to believe a corrupt officer has infiltrated the anti-corruption unit.
Well get the anti-anti-corruption unit onto it, barks Hilary.
But theres something I dont quite trust about the anti-anti-corruption unit, says DI Oldman. This looks like a job for the anti-anti-anti . . .
Ill have to interrupt you there, boss. Theres an ad break on the way, and theres nothing any of us can do to stop it.
Three minutes and 73 cut-price sofas later, PC Gonemad is faced with a simple question.
If Helen overheard what Kevin said to Jack then why the hell didnt Tony tell Mike that Jill thought that Maureen already knew that Mike had told Tony what Jack said to Kevin?
And then another simple question occurs to him.
If what Jack said to Kevin was true, then why didnt Ian tell Crystal that Katie claimed that Fred thought he saw kindly old Ted Sinister spying on Detective Sergeant Han-ger in the deserted hut behind the rubbish tip in front of the multi-storey car park?
Suddenly, there is a screech of brakes and another simple question leaps out of the car.
PC Gonemad is left with no alternative but to call Sergeant Charlie Roger of the P.O.U., or Plot Overload Unit.
Things are kicking off big-time, Sarge! he yells.
There are plots coming at us from all sides, and I dont have enough men to keep up with them!
As Sgt Roger hangs up the phone, an unknown assailant shoots him dead.
Seconds later, the unknown assailant is shot dead by an unknown assailant.
But was the first unknown assailant the same as the second? If so, it points to suicide by a person or persons unknown.
An urgent call comes through to DI Oldman.
Shocking news: a man has been spotted on CCTV footage and he wasnt wearing a balaclava.
Refusal to wear a balaclava on CCTV in a prime-time police procedural? Weve got our man, he concludes.
Only then does he spot a crumpled scrap of paper in the empty room. 2 + 2 = 5, it reads.
Is it a clue? If so, it just doesnt add up.
She's known for her luscious plumped lips that have inspired women across the globe to change their looks.
And so it's no surprise the 'Kylie Jenner look' has fuelled a spike in interest in lip injections, with women turning to Sydney's cosmetic surgeon Naomi McCullum for the perfect pout.
Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, the self-proclaimed 'Doll Maker' - who has been a cosmetic doctor for more than 15 years - has lifted the lid on what goes on at her skincare clinic in Paddington.
Scroll down for video
Sydney's cosmetic surgeon Naomi McCullum (pictured right with patient Rita Abdou) has lifted the lid on what goes on under the needle at her clinic in Paddington
Debbie Lentros, known on Instagram as debb.makeupienicole, shared images of her pout
Dr Naomi - who owns a skincare clinic in Paddington - there has been a spike in cosmetic procedures, including lip injections
Dr Naomi sees up to 24 patients a day for injections, and of those treatments, around 10 include lips.
Lip injections cost between $620 to $800 - depending on the product used as a filler.
'For a couple of years now the increase in patients in their early twenties has been more than significant,' Dr Naomi told Daily Mail Australia.
'These 20 somethings have many people who they are inspired by, including of course the Kardashians.
'Beauty achievers love a transformation, and Kylie definitely has had the most famous transformation.'
The renowned doctor said not only are her patients asking for the reality star's look, but she has had some rare requests, including a cartoon character's jawline.
'I've spent my whole career making people look naturally younger and more beautiful, day in day out, so of course it is much more exciting to get the more interesting requests,' Dr Naomi said.
'I've had to make an Elvis impersonator look more like Elvis. Others want to look like Barbie or Bratz.
'One of my patients wanted to look like a cartoon character. They brought in an image and asked for the character's jawline and even for their skin.
'In general, I love the more rare requests. I love our clinic and our patients, we have the ultimate patients, there is never a dull day.'
Before and after: Patient, known on Instagram as @theveganfox, shares her successful results
Dr Naomi sees up to 24 patients a day for injections, and of those treatments, 10 include lips
The Sydney make-up artist has been sharing her impressive transformation on Instagram
Patient Sibel Kanli (pictured) has undergone a lip injection and jaw slimming at the clinic
The stunning brunette has shared her impressive transformation after seeing Dr Naomi
She said one of the most common requests she has received is from patients who ask for specific areas of their lips to be filled - but this is not advisable.
'The common bad request is "don't inject the sides of the lip at all, I just want you to inject in the middle part of the lip only",' she said.
'I say to them, "so you want a beak?". They don't realise where filler needs to be injected to create a beautiful look.'
Other requests have included finger wrinkle treatments, filler in elbows, knees, ears, vulval rejuvenation and sculptra to volumise buttocks.
Dr Naomi revealed the step-by-step process of going under the needle and how she carries out the procedures.
Going under the needle: Dr Naomi said lip injections are made of a safe substance called hyaluronic acid
Quinn, known on Instagram as uniiiversal_angel, went under the needle to get the perfect lips
Before and after: Kylie Jenner previously admitted she had lip fillers since the age of 17
'When a patient attends for a lip enhancement, we take a history, including medical issues, allergies and history of prior cosmetic treatments and satisfaction with these,' Dr Naomi said of the process involved.
'Then we perform a facial assessment, and discuss it. Then we go on to talk about what the patient wishes for, aesthetically.
'Then we discuss options and make a plan. We then have the patient read through a consent form and take some photos, and after that, the patient's skin is thoroughly cleansed, after which we perform the procedure, which takes about 10 minutes.
'We can use various forms of numbing including topical anaesthetic and ice, or happy gas up to a dental block.'
Billie Sarho turned to Dr Naomi get the perfect lips - as she reveals the impressive results
Dr Naomi said lip injections are made up of a safe substance called hyaluronic acid
Model Madison Ashton (pictured) has gone under the needle to get the perfect lips
Dr Naomi said lip injections are made up of a safe substance called hyaluronic acid.
'Hylauronic acid has been used in tens of millions of procedures worldwide,' Dr Naomi explained.
'At The Manse Clinic, we use the most trusted fillers, including the Restylane, Juvederm and Teosyal ranges of hyaluronic acids.
'Of course, lip augmentation is a medical procedure and therefore carries risks, including common ones like bruising and swelling, and other more rare risks including infection.
'All dermal filler treatments should be carried out by appropriately trained and registered practitioners only.'
Dr Naomi calls herself the 'Doll Maker' because it's 'a way of saying I'm transforming people into the most beautiful version of themselves that is possible' (pictured: Suzanne Galea)
Where the magic happens: The cosmetic surgeon is based in Sydney's Paddington
Dr Naomi said she calls herself the 'Doll Maker' because it's 'just a way of saying I'm transforming people into the most beautiful version of themselves that is possible'.
'Dolls are so pretty and flawless,' she said.
'I have always enjoyed making people more beautiful and happy. Those who are devoted to enhancing the beauty of their 'dolls', e.g. hairdressers, stylists and designers, will understand.'
'One of my medical colleagues said she enjoyed following my before and afters because she loves watching transformations of the "girl-next-door into a bombshell".'
Olivia Andrews is an Aussie chef and mother to one-year-old Harriet
Olivia Andrews knows all about juggling a busy schedule with raising a child.
The Sydney-based chef is the culinary creative director at meal kit service Marley Spoon and proud mum of one-year-old Harriet, and with more than 12 years experience in the food industry she understands how to make meal time count.
Ms Andrews has worked in Gordon Ramsay's Michelin star restaurants, worked as a food economist on Masterchef and Ready Steady Cook and has even released a cook book. She shared her top tips for saving time in the kitchen with Daily Mail Australia.
'Now that we're coming into winter don't peel your veggies. Not only does this save you time and energy but there are also a tonne of extra nutrients in the skin of carrots and potatoes,' Ms Andrews said.
In a similar vein don't cut the stems off your coriander and parsley. It gives the dish extra texture and again, saves you that extra time at 5pm when you're in a rush.
If you do need to peel your veggies, like zucchini to make a healthy pasta alternative, Ms Andrews recommends the $12 Savannah peeler.
Zucchini 'pasta noodles' taste just like the carbohydrate version but are packed with more of your daily nutrients (stock image)
'This is honestly the best peeler I've ever used. I've seen people pay hundreds of dollars on spiralisers and I swear I've used them all but this one is hands down the best,' Ms Andrews revealed.
Ms Andrews gives her daughter Harriet a broad range of food options to try. She roasts cauliflower, kale and broccoli with olive oil and often slips silver beet into her meals for added nutrients. The Sydney chef even adds spices like ground ginger into her bowl.
'It's important to have her trying lots of different flavours from a young age. I'll be able to give her more once she's got some teeth but it's a start,' she said.
According to Ms Andrews rice cooker shouldn't just be used for rice either.
Ms Andrews is a fan of the one-pot-wonder and cooking most of her dishes with chicken and vegetables
'I throw some Japanese style chicken stock into the cooker with rice, a piece of chicken thigh or fish and veggies... then you can just leave it to slowly heat up. The trick is to make sure your protein is cut quit thinly so it cooks as quickly as the rice does.
'I can't tell you how good a one pot wonder is for a tired mum,' she said.
Most weekends on a Sunday the Andrews family makes it their mission to organise their meals for the week. Meal prepping is a great way to have nutritious lunches and dinners ready if life gets in the way.
'Not only is it a great way to spend time together as a family it saves you a lot of stress during the week. Cook a whole chicken and make it into portion sizes spread out over the course of five days.
'Our family doesn't eat a whole lot of meat so I'll just stir up my vegetables in one pot with some sauce and you've got yourself a meal,' she said.
It's believed to improve mental well-being, fight heart disease and even prevent dementia, but what makes the perfect cup of tea?
The astonishing health benefits are due to the bioactive compounds found in tea leaves, such as catechins, theaflavins, thearubigins and L-theanine.
While the age-old question of what makes the perfect cuppa will be forever debated, research suggests these compounds are best utilised when tea is brewed for longer.
Tea is believed to improve mental well-being, fight heart disease and even prevent dementia, but what makes the perfect cuppa? (stock image)
Tea's health benefits are due to the bioactive compounds found in tea leaves, such as catechins, theaflavins, thearubigins and L-theanine (stock image)
Boiling water for two or three minutes - as most manufacturers advise - only extracts 10 per cent of tea's beneficial properties, according to research by University of Newcastle's Quan Vuong.
When he found tea should be brewed for 20 minutes at 80C to extract all the compounds, Dr Vuong made the controversial claim that the best method is to microwave the drink for 30 seconds.
While the general consensus is that sugar shouldn't be added to a cuppa, there is less clarity as to whether adding milk impacts the health benefits of drinking tea.
Some research has suggested that milk causes problems with the absorption of tea's bioactive compounds in the body (stock image)
Some research has suggested that milk causes problems with the absorption of tea's bioactive compounds in the body.
'Milk counteracts the favourable health effects of tea on vascular function,' a 2007 study concluded.
But this is not the case, according to a Deakin University-approved 2012 study.
Boiling water for two or three minutes only extracts 10 per cent of tea's beneficial properties, researches say (stock image)
Dr Vuong, who has thoroughly researched the science behind tea brewing, made international headlines this week for his microwave solution.
Zapping your humble brew activates the bioactive compounds within the tea bag, much like boiling for 20 minutes, he claims.
The method has been tested on green and black tea but might just be useful for all types.
Dr Vuong also recommends drinking three cups a day to see any real benefits from the release of compounds.
Rihanna recently rocked one of her original creations while sunbathing during a trip to Mexico.
And now Pirra Allerton is watching her swimwear label become a celebrity favourite just two years after it first launched in Miami.
The Sydney-based designer had originally sent the sporty orange and black bikini to Rhianna as a thank you for being her source of inspiration.
'My previous collection was inspired by her look and attitude,' Pirra, 29, told Daily Mail Australia.
Pirra Allerton, 29, is watching her swimwear label become a celebrity favourite just two years after she first launched it in Miami
Rihanna was sporting the $90 Minnie Fixed Tri top (right) and the $75 Seamless Brazilian Copper bottom from her 2016-2017 Rebel line
'I really like that she can mix tough and feminine aesthetics and that's kind of my vibe as well, and just the way she uses fashion to express herself.'
Pirra couldn't believe it when she saw Rihanna sporting one of her suits as the pop star lounged about in Puerto Vallarta on a trip she gifted to her management team.
The fashion icon was snapped by paparazzi last week as she lounged by the pool and sipped from a chilled glass of wine.
'It was amazing to see my idol wearing my pieces,' Pirra said. 'I really admire her creativity and she's a real inspiration for me.'
Pirra had always known she wanted to design swimwear after a childhood by the Port Macquarie beaches, where she basically 'lived in her bikini'.
'I quickly found a need for swimwear that I could surf and be active in, but was still fashionable and looked good,' she said.
Pirra couldn't believe it when she saw Rihanna (pictured on a previous vacation) sporting one of her suits as the pop star lounged about in Puerto Vallarta on a trip she gifted to her team
Professional surfer Holly Coffee has also been snapped rocking Pirra's sporty designs
Pirra went on to study fashion design at the University of Technology, Sydney and picked up tips and tricks as she worked with a number of major labels.
All that education led up to Allerton, a brand that embodied the fashionable and functional swimwear that Pirra had always wanted growing up.
Pirra makes every pattern of Allerton's suits, ensuring each piece is practical while still maintaining an edge fit for the runway.
And it's no surprise that Rihanna has taken to Pirra's style, as the songstress perfectly fits what the designer calls the 'Allerton woman'.
'I've got an aspirational muse,' Pirra said. 'She's strong, sexy, healthy, and independent.'
Pirra had always known she wanted to design swimwear after a childhood by the Port Macquarie beaches, where she basically 'lived in her bikini'
Pirra's label has since been released into the UK market, where it is stocked at upscale department store House of Fraser, as well as boutiques across the globe
'I design with that in mind and I want to promote and encourage those characteristics.'
Pirra also wants to make sure her suits celebrate curves and that they hug each woman's body in a way that actually suits them.
'A lot of my pieces have adjustable backs and sides to really fit the woman, rather than having the woman fit the pieces,' she said.
'I think it's really important, especially in the moment, to send a positive message.'
Pirra has seen a huge amount of interest in her brand since she launched it at Miami Swim Week in 2015.
The label has since been released into the UK market, where it is stocked at department store House of Fraser, as well as boutiques across the globe.
Allerton was featured on America's Next Top Model, and has since been rocked by the likes of Victoria Secret's Angel Cindy Bruna and surfer Holly Coffee.
In yesteryear, a marriage proposal was a quiet, private affair between two people - a ring presented at sunset or a knee dropped at dinner perhaps.
No more. In 2017, proposals are bigger and more extravagant than ever, with everything from fireworks to Michelin-starred dinners being employed to ensure your loved one has the perfect experience.
Christian Zaya, 28, from Sydney, proposed to his now-fiancee, Natalie, last June, in a lavish affair which incorporated a yacht, a fairy-lit dinner cooked by a private chef and a fireworks display... to the tune of a humongous AUD $14,000, excluding the ring.
Christian Zaya, 28, from Sydney, proposed to his now-fiancee, Natalie, last June (both pictured), in a lavish affair which cost AUD $14,000
The lavish proposal incorporated incorporated a yacht, a fairy-lit dinner cooked by a private chef and a fireworks display (pictured)
'You only propose once in your lifetime,' Mr Zaya told Daily Mail Australia of his desire to put on such a spectacle (both pictured) - 'I knew I wanted it to be an event'
'You only propose once in your lifetime,' Mr Zaya told Daily Mail Australia of his desire to put on such a spectacle.
'I knew I wanted it to be an event.'
Mr Zaya met Natalie while their pair were studying pharmacy at the University of Sydney in 2008.
'We had tutorials and lectures together and soon became firm friends,' Mr Zaya said.
'I fell in love with Natalie almost instantly after we started going out a couple of years after sharing the classes. We had similar morals and interests. As soon as we started dating and going for dinner, I knew I wanted to marry her.'
Mr Zaya met Natalie while their pair were studying pharmacy at the University of Sydney in 2008 - and he soon knew he wanted to marry her (pictured: the proposal)
'While I hadn't put much thought into proposing before, I knew I wanted fireworks and a private boat. But I also wanted a sentimental approach,' Mr Zaya told FEMAIL (pictured: the yacht)
'As soon as we started dating and going for dinner, I knew I wanted to marry her,' Mr Zaya said of Natalie (pictured)
However, Mr Zaya didn't just want a regular run-of-the-mill-type proposal.
'When you fall in love with someone, I think you want to do something spectacular,' he said.
And so, in June 2016, while he was driving through Sydney and caught a glimpse of the Vivid lights festival, he decided he wanted to propose during the fortnight the festival takes place.
When you fall in love with someone, I think you want to do something spectacular
'I hadn't put much thought into proposing before, but I knew I wanted fireworks and a private boat. But I also wanted a sentimental approach.
'This was handy because I knew I could use pictures of Natalie I'd amassed over the six years we were dating.'
Mr Zaya explained that every time he and Natalie went out for dinner over the past six years, he would ask her to make the initial letter of the place with her hands.
'I only did two or three a year to spell out "will you marry me?" so it took a while, but I didn't want her to get suspicious,' he said.
The 28-year-old from Sydney also enlisted the help of a proposal planner, My Proposal Co , to ensure that all of the various elements he wanted involved went to plan
He organised the fireworks, as well as a message that read 'Will you marry me' (pictured) - he did this via photos of Natalie from their dinners together
'I only did two or three a year to spell out "will you marry me?" so it took a while, but I didn't want her to get suspicious,' he said (pictured: Natalie's engagement ring)
The 28-year-old from Sydney also enlisted the help of a proposal planner, My Proposal Co, to ensure that all of the various elements he wanted involved went to plan.
'I ordered the fireworks and did the planning, but My Proposal Co helped hugely,' he said.
'There was a time sheet with music cues, and playlists organised for before, during and after dinner. Nothing was left unplanned.'
The $14,000 proposal panned out by picking up Mr Zaya and Natalie on a yacht with a private chef on-board.
The couple then enjoyed a delicious dinner to a playlist, before Mr Zaya presented his girlfriend with four envelopes.
'In the fourth envelope was the "will you marry me" sign,' he recalled.
'As soon as she opened it, Bruno Mars's "Marry Me" song came on. Everything was timed to perfection.'
The proposal panned out by picking up Mr Zaya and Natalie on a yacht with a private chef on-board (pictured)
The couple then enjoyed a delicious dinner to a playlist, before Mr Zaya presented his girlfriend with four envelopes (pictured: Christian Zaya and Natalie)
'As soon as Natalie opened the fourth envelope, Bruno Mars's "Marry Me" song came on. Everything was timed to perfection,' Mr Zaya explained
Mr Zaya said the reaction of his now fiancee was 'priceless'.
'She was crying tears of happiness. I had gone above and beyond what she ever expected,' he said.
And of course, she said 'yes'.
As for the upcoming wedding later this year, Mr Zaya said 'watch this space'.
'350 invites have been sent out, it's going to be good,' he added.
A sex worker has revealed that she plans to continue her job throughout her pregnancy in a candid blog post.
Summer Sebastian, 30, works at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch in Nevada where men can pay for sexual services.
Summer, who is now entering her second trimester, has revealed that she will continue to work throughout her pregnancy to fund her medical school fees.
She is expecting her first child with her partner - who at 70 is 40 years her senior - and says she hopes her decision to work will make a 'statement'.
However experts have warned Summer's decision could risk her health and that of her unborn baby.
Sleeping with multiple men when pregnant can make sex difficult and Summer is increasing her risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease which could be extremely dangerous for her unborn child.
Summer Sebastian has revealed that she will continue to work in a brothel throughout her pregnancy in a candid blog
However he sex worker appears unconcerned and instead has even admitted that she hopes to fulfill some of her client's pregnancy fantasies.
Writing in her blog on the Moonlite website, Summer said: 'I loved working here before, with my average sex drive, and I am lovin it even more now that I have all of these hormones pumping!'
Summer is expecting her first child with her partner who is 40 years her senior and says she hopes her decision to work will make a 'statement'. Pictured: Summer's ultrasound
Summer, pictured in April, says that she hopes that by continuing to work while expecting she will pave the way for other sex workers
Summer, who has four years left to finish her master's degree in forensic pathology, said that she hopes her decision will pave the way for future expectant sex workers.
She continued: 'I want to make a statement that supports the right of a woman to chooseto work as a prostitute while pregnant.
'And, if I can make it any easier for the next working girl to make the choice to work while expecting, then more power to her.'
Since sharing her story on her blog Summer says that she has been approached by men with pregnancy fantasies
Summer uses her sex work to pay for her masters degree where she is studying forensic pathology
Since sharing her post, in which she suggested she would like to 'accommodate' pregnancy fantasies, she has been inundated with emails from readers.
Speaking to Cosmopolitan she said: 'A lot of emails from people that are either into the pregnancy itself, or the lactation part of it.
'Im very surprised, actually, how many people contacting me [are] interested sexually in that.'
Peru Two drugs mule Michaella McCollum seems to be enjoying her extended holiday on the party island of Ibiza where she was hired for a doomed 1.5million cocaine smuggling plot.
The 24-year-old hit headlines when she was jailed in Peru in 2013 for attempting to smuggle 1.5 million of cocaine out of the country to Spain with Melissa Reid.
But Michaella, from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, appears to have put her troubles firmly behind her as she paraded along the beach in a tiny bikini, sipping cocktails and laughing with her female friend.
Peru Two drug mule Michaella McCollum showcased her toned bikini body as she sipped cocktails and frolicked in the sea on her lengthy Ibiza holiday after being freed from jail
The 24-year-old wore a pink and black printed bikini as she splashed around in the sea with her friend on her extended holiday
Michaella, who has been holidaying on the island for two weeks now, appeared in high spirits as she laughed and joked with her friend and a male cocktail server on the sun-drenched beach.
Donning a revealing bikini, the former prisoner appeared to be making the most of her downtime.
Earlier this week, she was pictured in a figure-hugging white dress as she hit the town with her friend.
The woman, who was freed from jail, was served a cocktail by a swimming trunk-donning waiter on the beach
The blonde, who had a full face of makeup, enjoyed her downtime as she held a cocktail whilst walking through the sea
Michaella, who has been holidaying on the island for two weeks now, appeared in high spirits as she laughed and joked with her friend
Michealla McCollum beamed as she spent Easter on the beach in Ibiza with friends
The toned blonde laughed and joke with a pal after being served a cocktail by a waiter in a novelty outfit
It was certainly thirsty work for the blonde and her pal as they shared a cocktail in the sea
The duo seemed grateful of the tipple and were seen high fiving their waiter
The 24-year-old seems to have put troubles behind her after release from prison
Michaella, from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, appears to have put her troubles firmly behind her as she paraded along the beach in a tiny bikini
Michaella has returned to Ibiza - where she was hired for the botched cocaine smuggle - for a holiday for the first time since 2013
Miss McCollum has certainly caught a few rays during her jaunt abroad and showcased a deep tan on the beach
The blonde didn't seem to have a care in the world as she enjoyed her trip
The women were seen chatting to another man on the beach, who was serving drinks
The blonde ran her hands through her long locks as she cooled down in the sea
Earlier this week, she was pictured in a figure-hugging white dress as she hit the town with her friend
Michaella and Reid agreed to try and bring in the drugs at the beginning of August 2013. She had only just arrived on the island two months before to work as a dancer in a bar
McCollum and Reid (not pictured) - dubbed the 'Peru Two' were each sentenced to six years and eight months in jail
Unphased, Michaella returned to the party island with an unknown pal this month
Donning a revealing bikini, the former prisoner appeared to be making the most of her downtime
The friends showed off their pert posteriors as they strutted their stuff on the beach
The pair, who initially protested their innocence, were found in possession of 11kg of cocaine hidden
Michaella and Reid agreed to try and bring in the drugs at the beginning of August 2013. She had only just arrived on the island two months before to work as a dancer in a bar.
McCollum and Reid - dubbed the 'Peru Two' were each sentenced to six years and eight months in jail after admitting to trying to smuggle cocaine out of the country.
The pair, who initially protested their innocence, were found in possession of 11kg of cocaine hidden inside food packets in their luggage as they prepared to board a flight from Lima to Madrid.
McCollum was released on parole in March 2016 after serving less than half of her sentence but was initially required to stay in Peru, where she carried out voluntary work.
McCollum was released on parole in March 2016 after serving less than half of her sentence
She was initially required to stay in Peru, where she carried out voluntary work
The young woman displayed her toned stomach as she posed in the sea
Michaella's latest Spanish adventure is a far cry from that of 2013
The pals laughed and joked with a male waiter as they enjoyed their holiday
She was reportedly excluded from the guest list for Pippa's wedding due to a 'no ring, no bring' rule - eliminating other halves who aren't engaged or married to their partners.
But now it's been reported that Meghan Markle, 35, will be attending the big day on Prince Harry's arm after all, although there is something of a caveat.
A source told People magazine that the Suits star is now due to attend the reception after the wedding, but is not invited to the ceremony at St. Marks church in Englefield, Berkshire.
And etiquette expert Myka Meier told the magazine that Meghan's evening invite is more likely down to timing than the fact she and Prince Harry aren't engaged or married.
'I would not be surprised if Prince Harry was not given a plus one, as the wedding guest list would have most likely been made in fall of last year when Prince Harrys relationship with Meghan was not as public,' she explained.
Pippa Middleton has reportedly extended an invitation to Prince Harry's girlfriend to attend the evening do following her wedding on 20 May
Meghan, 35, has requested time off from filming so she's free to accompany Prince Harry on Pippa's big day, but she won't be joining him for the full event
Confirmation that Meghan will indeed be jetting in for the nuptials appeared to be strengthened when it was revealed yesterday that the star has requested a break from filming Suits at the same time as Pippa's big day.
The 35-year-old actress is said to have asked for a week's holiday in May, leaving her free to join Prince Harry to celebrate Pippa and James Matthews.
According to Hello!, the US actress wants to take a week off between May 15 and 22, allowing her time to travel to the UK for the wedding.
Last month, Ms Markle joined Harry at his best friend Tom Inskip's wedding to Lara Hughes-Young in Jamaica.
Prince Harry is on the guest list for Pippa's nuptials and will no doubt be delighted to have his girlfriend join him later in the day
Kensington Palace did not comment on whether Ms Markle would be attending the wedding with Harry.
Pippa first came to public attention when she wore a bottom-hugging bridesmaid's dress at her sister's marriage to Prince William in 2011.
But she is said to have wanted a smaller, more intimate 'family' affair for her own wedding to her hedge fund manager partner.
Despite Ms Markle dating her future brother-in-law, Pippa is apparently adamant that the relationship is still too new for her to be a guest at the wedding.
Pippa and her financier beau James Matthews will marry on May 20 with Prince George and Princess Charlotte as pageboy and bridesmaid
Pippa and James will tie the knot on Saturday May 20 at the 12th-century St Marks Church in Berkshire, six miles from Bucklebury where Pippa grew up.
Prince George, three, will be a page boy and Princess Charlotte, who will have just turned two, is due to be a flower girl.
James asked Pippa to marry him last summer and proposed with a dazzling diamond ring worth an estimated 200,000.
The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are to make an early summer visit to Canada, Kensington Palace has announced.
The royal couple will make the trip across the Atlantic on June 29th as the country marks 150 years of the Canadian Confederation.
Clarence House said Charles and Camilla would carry out engagements in Ontario, Nunavut and Canada's Capital Region before leaving jetting out of the country on July 1st.
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Back to see Mr Trudeau! Charles and Camilla will return to Canada in June, Kensington Palace has announced
The royal couple last visited the country back in May 2014; Charles made his first official visit to the country in 1970
This time, Charles and Camilla will head to the indigenous regions in northern Canada along with a stay in Ottawa and the Capital Region. Pictured: Charles with the Queen and Justin Trudeau in 2015 during a meeting in Malta
It is Charles's 18th visit to Canada and Camilla's fourth; the Prince made his first official tour of the country as a young royal back in 1970.
Together, the royals last visited in May 2014, travelling to Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba.
Canadian Governor General David Johnston said: 'We are pleased they are joining in the sesquicentennial festivities, and look forward to Canadians having the opportunity to showcase the very best that our country has to offer.'
The country is a favourite with the Windsors. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge took their children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, on an official tour of Canada last year after famously honeymooning there following their wedding in 2011.
William said at the time: 'We feel very lucky to have been able to introduce George and Charlotte to Canada. This country will play a big part in the lives of our children and we have created such happy memories for our family during this visit.'
But while they may have won new legions of fans during their first trip as a couple, Prince Charles was not best pleased with their efforts, according to Sally Bedell Smith's biography of the future king.
According to the writer, the Prince thought the trip featured too many 'tasteless' photo ops, and he 'wasn't pleased with the camera-friendly couple'.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge charmed Canada when they visited just two months after their wedding in 2011, but Prince Charles was 'irked' by their 'tasteless' photo opportunities, according to a new biography
And he was 'more than a little irked' at the pair treating their overseas trip too much like a personal holiday.
Kevin S. MacLeod, Canadian Secretary to the Queen, organised the visit and allowed the couple to make their itinerary a lot less formal than many previous royal tours.
They travelled with a small entourage and made a visit to Prince Edward Island at Kate's specific request - apparently mindful of the fact that Charles and Diana's 1983 Canada tour was based entirely around the Prince's interests and none of his wife's.
The Canada tour saw the couple pose up a storm in cowboy hats when they were given the honour of pressing the button to launch the legendary Calgary Stampede.
But Kate later made headlines for the wrong reasons as her feather-light Jenny Packham yellow frock was blown up by a gust of wind.
She is known and loved for her sartorial flair - and Queen Letizia stepped out in one of her most fashion-forward looks yet on Tuesday.
The 44-year-old looked younger than ever as she took to the stage at the 'Gran Angular' and 'El Barco De Vapor' literature awards at Casa de Correos in Madrid.
The petite royal highlighted her trim legs in flared black trousers, which she teamed with an of-the-minute white bardot top.
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Queen Letizia defied her years as she took to the stage in a trendy outfit at literature awards in Madrid on Tuesday
The mother-of-two wore her hair in voluminous curls and showed off fresh blonde highlights at the event.
The royal was on hand to present awards to the best authors in the country and, as well as making a speech, she mingled with authors, publishers and guests alike.
Letizia is one of the hardest-working royals in the world and isn't shy about carrying out royal duties without the help of her husband, King Felipe.
Earlier today, the Queen's new waxwork was unveiled at a museum in Madrid.
She was immortalised as a waxwork figure after marrying King Felipe VI of Spain in 2004.
But Queen Letizia's likeness has now been changed twice to reflect her appearance since she married into the Spanish monarchy 13 years ago.
The mother-of-two wore her hair in voluminous curls and showed off fresh blonde highlights at the event
The royal was on hand to present awards to the best authors in the country and took to the stage to make a speech
The Queen dished out awards to authors and kissed each recipient on the cheek
The 44-year-old looked younger than ever as she took to the stage at the 'Gran Angular' and 'El Barco De Vapor' literature awards
The mother-of-two wore oversized diamond hoops and wore her hair in curls for the event. She showcased her sartorial prowess in a Bardot top
The petite royal highlighted her trim legs in flared black trousers, which she teamed with an of-the-minute white bardot top
President of the Congress Ana Pastor (L) and Queen Letizia of Spain (R) attended the 'Gran Angular' and 'El Barco De Vapor' literature awards
Letizia looked confident as she arrived at the event - and after working as a news reporter for years, it's little surprise she had no qualms making a speech
The Queen beamed as she applauded recipients of the literature awards
The first figure of the queen consort went on display at the Museo de Cera (Museum of Wax) in Madrid just before she married the then Prince of Asturias.
A second version was sculpted in 2008 to reflect the change after the mother-of-two underwent a nose job and this week the museum unveiled a third - and insiders say it's already dividing opinion.
And on Sunday, the Spanish Royal Family kept up their tradition of spending the Easter holiday on the island of Mallorca.
King Felipe, Queen Letizia and their daughters, Princess Sofia and Princess Leonor, made for the picture-perfect family as they arrived at Palma cathedral on the Balearic isle along with Queen Sofia.
Queen Letizia, 44, looked casually chic in blue leather trousers, a white blouse and blue coat, whilst her daughters looked adorable in blue and red coats with coordinating shoes.
King Felipe, Queen Letizia and their daughters Princess Sofia and Princess Leonor made for the picture-perfect family as they arrived at Palma cathedral on the Balearic isle along with Queen Sofia on Easter Sunday
Queen Sofia, 78, was resplendent in a pink suit and King Felipe looked dapper in a smart suit and yellow tie as the cheery family posed for photos.
It is the first time that Princess Leonor, 11, and Princess Sofia, nine, have been spotted at a public engagement for several months; they are on the island for the family's annual holiday at the Marivent Palace royal holiday residence.
Hundreds of well-wishers were keen to catch a glimpse of the young princesses as they clambered over each other to snap a photo of the young royals on their camera phones.
The young royals smiled for the cameras as they posed with their mother and grandmother, whilst King Felipe waved to the wellwishers
The unicorn coffee trend has reached peak saturation.
With cafes across the country turning out unicorn-themed lattes, Starbucks has decided to throw its hat in the ring with its own magical drink, the Unicorn Frappuccino.
But like the mystical creature, the drink is quite elusive and will only be available in stores in the United States, Canada, and Mexico through the end of the weekend.
An a straw for a horn! Starbucks has debuted a new Unicorn Frappuccino
Blink and you'll miss it: It is only available through the end of the weekend in stores in the US, Canada, and Mexico
Magic in every sip: It's a mix of mango syrup and sour blue powder
The new Frappuccino officially hits stores Wednesday, April 19, and will only be around through Sunday, April 23.
Photos have been popping up on social media all week, posted by giddy baristas who laid eyes on the new ingredients and were too excited to keep the secret.
Official pictures show a blended pink drink with a squiggled blue line running through. It's topped with whipped cream, which is sprinkled with pink and blue powder.
Color-changing: Swirling the drink - or mixing it - blends the pink and blue into a purple drink
Fairy dust: The whipped cream is sprinkled with pink and blue powder
Starbucks says the specialty item is a mix of mango syrup and 'pleasantly sour' blue drizzle.
But there's more than just the colorful combination to make the drink magical. In a press release, the brand explains that swirling the drink changes its color to purple, and the flavor evolves from sweet and fruity to tangy and tart.
Unsurprisingly, news of the new offering and spun social media into a tizzy, with unicorn lovers hotly anticipating the pretty Frappuccino.
So pumped! Social media users are very excited about the new item
Baristas' worse nightmare: Several are ready to line up when the drink comes out on Wednesday
Drink up fast! The news broke to great excitement and anticipation
Here to stay: Starbucks also officially added the Pink Drink to its menu after it became popular last summer
'Starbucks is releasing a new Unicorn Frappuccino and my life is now complete,' wrote one, adding a unicorn emoji.
'This drink is basically pure sugar... and it's so pretty!' wrote another.
'Omg, THE UNICORN FRAPPUCCINO from Starbucks,' added one more.
'I'm in unicorn heaven.'
And while Starbucks has said that the drink will only remain on the menu for a limited period, there is a slim chance that it could make a more permanent return in the future.
Recently, the coffee chain officially added the viral 'Pink Drink' - a popular item from its 'secret menu' - to its official beverage line-up.
The blend of passion fruit, coconut milk, and strawberries was a hugely popular item last summer, thanks in large part to its picture-perfect appearance, which made it a hit with social media lovers the world over.
Eye drops don't just relieve dry and itchy eyes, they could also cure your jet lag.
A new study has found that retina cells could be key to controlling your internal body clock.
Researchers have found that these cells sending signals to a region of the brain which regulates our daily (circadian) rhythm.
They hope this will open avenues for therapeutic treatments to restore biological clocks in people who have jet lag through traveling or working night shifts.
A study from the University of Edinburgh has found a new group of cells in the retina that directly affect the biological clock by sending signals to a region of the brain which regulates our circadian rhythm. This could lead to treatments like eye drops which alter the signaling
Biological clocks are synchronized to light-dark changes and regulate multiple physiological processes including patterns of body temperature, brain activity and hormone production.
Disruption of this can lead to health problems, such as gastrointestinal and cardiovascular disorders, depression and an increased risk of cancer.
But researchers at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland have discovered a group of cells in the eye that directly communicate with the brain, affecting your biological clock.
WHAT ARE CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS? Circadian rhythms are physical, mental and behavioral changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. They respond primarily to light and darkness in an organism's environment. They are found in most living things, including animals, plants and many tiny microbes. Circadian rhythms are driven by our biological clocks. They are produced by natural factors within the body, but are also affected by signals from the environment. Light is the main cue influencing circadian rhythms, turning genes on or off that control an organism's internal clocks. When there is less light, the brain makes more melatonin to make you drowsy but more light means you are more awake. Circadian rhythms can influence sleep-wake cycles, hormone release, body temperature and other important bodily functions. They have been linked to various sleep disorders, such as insomnia. Abnormal circadian rhythms have also been associated with obesity, diabetes, depression, bipolar disorder and seasonal affective disorder. Advertisement
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) - also known as the body's 'master clock' - is a region of the brain which coordinates the circadian rhythm using many different signaling molecules including vasopressin (a hormone produced by nerve cells).
The retina sends a signal to the SCN when there are environmental light changes, but it was previously unclear how this process took place.
Research showed that the retina has its own population of vasopressin cells, which directly communicate these light changes to the SCN and are involved with regulating the circadian rhythm.
To test their theory, scientists interfered with the signaling of light information sent to the SCN in rats.
Using a series of physiological tests, they showed that the vasopressin cells in the retina are directly involved in regulating circadian rhythms.
'Our exciting results show a potentially new pharmacological route to manipulate our internal biological clocks,' said lead investigator Mike Ludwig, Professor of Neurophysiology at The University of Edinburgh.
'Studies in the future which alter vasopressin signaling through the eye could lead to developing eye drops to get rid of jet lag, but we are still a long way off from this.'
The research comes two months after a study from Stanford University Medical Center in California found that timed flashes of light during sleep may be the best way to combat jet lag.
Researchers said that exposing volunteers to short 'camera flashes' of light as they slept reset their body clocks.
They concluded that using the flash therapy the night before making a long trip could help a traveler quickly adjust to a new time zone.
Over 800 women are suing the NHS and device manufacturers after being left in permanent pain thanks to their vaginal mesh implants.
Certain implants have cut into women's vaginas, causing discomfort so severe that one sufferer was nearly driven to suicide.
Others have been left unable to walk, work or have sex.
The implants are intended to treat incontinence after childbirth and pelvic organ prolapse, which occurs when the bladder pushes against the vagina's walls.
Between April 2007 and March 2015, over 92,000 women had vaginal mesh implants fitted in England. Of which, around one in 11 have experienced problems, according to NHS data from the Hospital Episodes Statistics.
Over 800 women in the UK are suing the NHS due to the agonising pain caused by their vaginal mesh implants, fitted to treat incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse after birth
The protruding implants have also injured women's partners during sex.
Claire Cooper first experienced pain three years after her implant was fitted, the BBC reported.
Doctors diagnosed the source of discomfort as her womb, which was removed when she was 39.
When the pain continued, a GP even accused her of imagining it.
Claire Cooper planned to commit suicide after a GP suggested she was imagining the pain
WHAT ARE VAGINAL MESH IMPLANTS? The devices repair damaged or weakened tissue in the vagina wall. Some women report severe and constant abdominal and vaginal pain following the surgery. Despite criticism, the procedure is still performed if a woman's incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse is severe. Women should be made aware of the potential risks of the implants and agree to proceed regardless. Advertisement
Ms Cooper's pain was so severe she even planned to commit suicide, but chose to live for the sake of her children.
Her constant pain has forced her husband to become her carer.
She said: 'We haven't had sex for four-and-a-half years. This stuff breaks up marriages.
'I wouldn't at all be surprised if there are mesh-injured women that have taken their own lives and didn't know what the problem was.
'I want the procedure banned, I want the material banned.'
Kate Langley has been admitted to hospital 53 times to try and relieve the pain.
Yet, the mesh is too close to her nerve to be completely removed, leaving her with nerve damage.
Ms Langley was forced to give up her childminder business because the pain left her unable to look after the children.
Consultant urogynaecologist Dr Sohier Elneil has treated patients who have been immobilised by the pain.
Kate Langley has been admitted to hospital 53 times for the pain and is unable to work
She said: 'They become so incapacitated that many of them are either walking by crutches or sitting in wheelchairs and, perhaps more dramatically so, they become unable to look after their families.'
Many of the women fitted with the device claim they were never told of its potential dangers.
Around 100 types of vaginal mesh implants are available in the UK.
No model has been withdrawn to date.
Consultant urogynaecologist Dr Sohier Elneil says she treats women suffering such severe pain that they are confined to a wheelchair and unable to look after their families
The implants are made of a type of plastic commonly used in packaging and are manufactured by many different companies, including Johnson & Johnson.
A leaked email from Johnson & Johnson suggests it was aware of problems with one of its implants back in 2004.
The email said the company needed to start a 'major damage control offensive' because 'the competition will have a field day'.
The manufacturer claims highlighting this email in isolation is 'extremely misleading'.
The vaginal mesh implants have cut into some women's vaginas, causing severe discomfort
According to Carl Heneghan, professor of evidence based medicine, University of Oxford, manufacturers are simply required to demonstrate their implant is similar to an existing one on the market before it is made available on the NHS.
Yet, the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency maintains vaginal mesh implants are safe and effective for the majority of women.
The meshes are prescribed on the NHS throughout the UK, although a recent Scottish review said they should not be routinely used for pelvic organ prolapse.
Professor Carl Heneghan claims manufacturers are simply required to show their vaginal mesh implants are similar to those on the market before they get made widely available on the NHS
If the women are successful in their legal case, the NHS compensation payout could be tens of millions of pounds.
Thousands of women have successfully sued manufacturers in the US, receiving payouts that total several billion dollars.
Johnson & Johnson's subsidiary, Ethicon, said it was 'vigorously defending litigation,' claiming it acted appropriately in the development of these devices, which have helped millions of women.
Customers have slammed the decision to slash sugar levels in Lucozade in response to the Government's crackdown on obesity.
Disappointed shoppers have even likened the energy drink's new recipe to that of bleach - describing it as 'rotten' and 'horrific'.
Others, more jokingly, have said that manufacturer Lucozade Ribena Suntory's (LRS) sugar reduction feels like a 'personal attack'.
Despite the 'game-changing' move being announced in November, many have been left completely unaware as to the change in formula earlier this month.
Experts remain adamant that reducing sugar levels in soft drinks to the desired amount by 2020 will naturally affect the taste.
While diabetics who rely on the popular beverage to prevent fatal complications from their condition have also been affected.
LRS said all of its brands will contain less than 4.5g of sugar per 100ml by 2018 and will be replaced with low calorie sweeteners.
At the time it also said all packaging will be changed to ensure the nutritional information can clearly be seen on the front.
Disappointed shoppers have even likened the energy drink's new recipe to that of bleach - describing it as 'rotten' and 'horrific'
The move means none of the brands will fall into the sugar tax category, which is set to come into effect in 2018.
Having taken to Twitter, one angry shopper said that it was a 'real shame' that the orange-flavoured version now tastes 'completely different'.
While Benito_SK13 was unaware they had changed the recipe, asking what had happened to make it taste off.
Christopher Snowdon, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, told The Times: 'Some of these companies will have to do a U-turn and accept that customers would rather pay the sugar tax than drink an inferior product.'
A spokeswoman for LRS said: We're sorry to hear that some customers have tasted a change in Lucozade.
'We conducted extensive research with a large representation of our consumers who told us that the new recipe was still the brand they loved to drink - and the majority couldn't identify a difference.
'We think our drinks developments team has done a brilliant job to remove 50 per cent of the sugar while keeping the great taste, but we will be sure to pass this feedback onto them.'
One angry Twitter user said that it was a 'real shame' that the orange-flavoured version now tastes 'completely different'
While Benito_SK13 was unaware they had changed the recipe, asking what had happened to make it taste off
Sufferers of low blood sugar spells have long been advised to consume a small amount to stop them from developing hypoglycemia - the medical term for low blood sugar.
This can lead to a diabetic coma, which left untreated, can be fatal.
This could leave those who are unaware at risk of death if they don't check its nutritional label before consumption, experts warn.
Patients experiencing a dizzy spell are advised to drink 20g of sugar to restore their blood levels. This used to be the equivalent of 100ml of Lucozade Energy Original.
The new recipe with its slashed sugar content of 8.9g per 100ml will mean patients need to consume double that amount to fluctuate their levels.
Another Twitter user, Jordan Nohar, said: 'Big bottles of Orange Lucozade are rotten now'
Talia Stewart, who has been an avid fan of Lucozade since she was a child, said the change in recipe was a 'personal attack'
But for a period of time, there will be both old and new stock of Lucozade on sale, so patients will need to check the label before they buy.
Most people display symptoms of hypoglycemic condition before they fall, allowing them to boost their levels.
But others are unaware and get no warning signs, according to The Diabetes Times.
Professor Alan Sinclair, an expert in diabetes in older people at Aston University, previously said: The decision to lower the amount of sugar in Lucozade is seen as a positive attempt by the drinks industry to lower obesity and diabetes risk.
'But it may be a worrying development for those people with diabetes who employ Lucozade to rapidly treat hypoglycaemic episodes that often arise as an unwanted side-effect of their diabetes treatment.
HOW DOES DRINKING LUCOZADE WORK FOR DIABETICS? To treat a hypoglycaemic episode - a period of dangerously low blood sugar, diabetics need to consume between 15 and 20g of sugar. Sufferers can tell they are experiencing the potentially deadly condition when they suddenly feel tired, have difficulty concentrating or feel dizzy. Experts recommend glucose tablets as they enter the bloodstream and restore blood sugar levels the fastest. In terms of judging how much glucose a diabetic takes, they are the easiest form to monitor. The same amount can also be found in sugary drinks, such as 100ml of the old recipe for Lucozade Energy Original. Diabetics will have to consume double the amount to get the same sugar from the new recipe drink. Despite being a little bit harder to judge on their sugar quantity, they are a good emergency option. Source: Diabetes.co.uk Advertisement
This could leave diabetic patients unaware of the changes at risk of death if they don't check its nutritional label before consumption, experts warn
'For many people with diabetes particularly those with memory difficulties or who are frail, using the previous volumes of the drink to treat their 'hypos' may lead to under-treatment of the episode which can have serious consequences such as a seizure.
This reduction of the sugar content of Lucozade may lead to confusion about what is now necessary to adequately treat a hypoglycaemic episode using this drink Professor Alan Sinclair, of Aston University
'This reduction of the sugar content of Lucozade may lead to confusion about what is now necessary to adequately treat a hypoglycaemic episode using this drink.
'Perhaps this was too hastily implemented before there had been more thought, planning, and consideration of the impact of this change?'
A spokesperson for LRS previously said: 'We strongly recommend that consumers check the back of the pack to find out the nutritional information.
'The decision to halve the sugar in our drinks is in response to the growing demand from consumers who now want healthier drinks.'
It added that diabetes organisations throughout the UK and Ireland and hospital trusts had been informed of the changes.
These shocking pictures show an enormous tumour growing out the side of a Thai woman's face.
Kanya Petchnoom, 48, will go blind without treatment in the near future as the lump continues to grow, local doctors claim.
But she has been left unable to work, and therefore afford any such help, since she was diagnosed with a form of cancer in her nasal passage earlier this year.
To add to her misery, her husband, who she lives with in a remote part of the country, is also unable to work.
Kanya Petchnoom, 48, will go blind without treatment in the near future as the lump continues to grow, local doctors claim
She said: 'Of course I was very shocked at the news and now the cancer has spread and devoured the whole of my palate.
'I am so worried as my husband suffers from neuralgia and cant work so our situation is desperate.'
It is believed that the woman suffers from a form of nasopharyngeal cancer, affecting the pharynx.
According to the NHS, only about 240 people are diagnosed with this form of the disease each year.
But she has been left unable to work, and therefore afford any such help, since she was diagnosed with a form of cancer in her nasal passage earlier this year
Her ordeal was made public by a Buddhist monk who is known in his homeland for his kind deeds towards the poor.
Of course I was very shocked at the news and now the cancer has spread and devoured the whole of my palate. Kanya Petchnoom, 48
Monk Bhin hopes that strangers will donate money to try and make her family's situation more bearable on a day-to-day basis.
This comes after MailOnline told the story of a man plagued with a 10kg tumour that is bigger than his head in February.
Watchara Nadee, also known as Kru Lek, from Thailand, discovered that he had cancer in his shoulder last year.
Monk Bhin made the man's ordeal public in an attempt to raise money for treatment, as he became concerned his medical insurance would be insufficient.
A carcinogenic chemical could be hiding in your shampoo.
The toxic substance - 1,4-dioxane - is used in a number of bath products including most pharmacy-stocked shower gels, lotions and even hand soaps.
Despite being identified as a carcinogen, companies are not required to list it on their product labels.
Now, two US Senators are making a big push and calling for the toxin to be banned.
Chemical 1,4-dioxane - linked to causing cancer in the nose, liver and breast - is found in a number of bath products including shampoos, lotions and soaps. New York Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are calling on the FDA to ban it
Chemical 1,4-dioxane is a clear liquid that easily dissolves in water. It is used primarily as a solvent in the manufacturing of chemicals and as a laboratory reagent (a substance used to cause a chemical reaction).
The toxin is generated through a process called ethoxylation, in which ethylene oxide - a known breast carcinogen - is added to other chemicals to make them less harsh.
While the FDA encourages manufacturers to remove 1,4-dioxane, it is not required by federal law.
THREE MORE TOXIC CHEMICALS FOUND IN BEAUTY PRODUCTS 1. Oxybenzone (benzophenone) USED IN: Sunscreens, lip balms, products with SPF This chemical may mimic hormones, cause endometriosis and can pose a risk to reproductive systems. 2. Toluene USED IN: nail varnish and remover This volatile petrochemical solvent and paint thinner is also used in nail products. It is neurotoxic and an irritant that can impair breathing and cause nausea. Human epidemiological studies and animal studies have linked this ingredient with toxicity to the immune system and certain cancers. 3. Phenoxyethanol USED IN: Perfume, makeup, hand sanitizer, deodorant, toothpaste, baby wipes, sunscreen, lotion It has been linked to skin irritation and eczema and can even affect central nervous system function. It has been shown to cause bladder damage in animal studies. Advertisement
Although there are a limited number of studies, research has shown that laboratory rats that breathed vapors of 1,4-dioxane during most of their lives developed cancer inside the nose and abdominal cavity.
Additionally, laboratory rats and mice that drank water containing 1,4-dioxane during most of their lives developed liver cancer.
Because of this, the US Department of Health and Human Services considers 1,4-dioxane to be a human carcinogen.
The Environmental Working Group counts at least 8,000 products on the market in the US with ingredients that may contain 1,4-dioxane.
Although the chemical is not intentionally added to the majority of bath products, it may occur as an unintentional byproduct in some of the ingredients used.
A 2008 survey found that the chemical was in 46 percent of personal care products that were tested.
A number of companies have agreed to stop using 1,4-dioxane including Johnson & Johnson, which reformulated its baby bath products in 2014.
Now, New York senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand are calling on the FDA to ban it, saying it doesn't have a real purpose in cosmetics.
'The fact that 1,4-dioxane, a potentially dangerous chemical, is hiding out in everyday products expected to make us clean is very disturbing, and to make matters worse, likely carcinogens like this one can be even more harmful to kids,' Schumer said in a statement.
The senators have also proposed in the new state budget that water providers test regularly for it and two other contaminants found in wells on Long Island or elsewhere in New York, possibly the first such state law in the nation.
Puerto Rico has been accused of hiding the number of Zika-infected babies born on the island in a desperate bid to prevent a dip in tourism.
According to official data, just 16 Zika-infected children have been delivered since the mosquito-born illness swept the Americas last year.
However, more than 3,300 pregnant women contracted the virus in 2016.
Given the high risk of birth defects, the official figure is improbable at best. There were 63 Zika births in mainland America out of 1,300 Zika-infected pregnant women.
And now, a former US health official has said what so many others were thinking.
In an anonymous interview with Stat News, the official said it seems Puerto Rico is covering up the true scale of the outbreak in a desperate bid to save their tourism industry, which is the island's primary source of revenue.
'Puerto Rico's not escaping this. They're just hiding,' the official said.
Puerto Rico's data says just 16 babies were born with Zika last year. Officials say that, given 3,300 pregnant women had the virus, that is unlikely (file image of a baby with microcephaly)
HOW ZIKA INFECTS A FETUS BREAKING DOWN DEFENSES The two Zika proteins smack a 'gatekeeper' cell on the brain until it is disoriented. Eventually that gatekeeper can no longer protect the brain's signaling region to let it develop. GAINING ENTRY Once Zika has infected the cell it destabilizes the brain's bacteria-killed network called autophagy. Normally autophagy digests and kills pathogens. But when Zika (or related flaviviruses like dengue and hepatitis C) infects the cell, that network is manipulated into helping the virus to spread. WEAKENING CELLS INSIDE Zika is so hyperactive, using all the energy of the autophagy to proliferate, that the other cells do not have scope to flourish. The cells are left with metabolic deficits. It means they do not have the chance to differentiate and mature into neurons and other brain cell types. THE RESULT By hijacking fetal neural stem cells, Zika caused the size of brains to half. Advertisement
'They're kind of in denial about what the problem is. And in six months, a year, two years from now, there will be all these babies who aren't learning and all these problems that will come to light.'
The discrepancies in data-gathering started last year, when the CDC stopped reporting the island's Zika rates.
Officials questioned on the subject said the US territory had started using different 'methods' to measure diagnoses.
In a cryptic analysis of the situation, the CDC's birth defect chief Dr Margaret Hoenin told Stat: 'We have an ongoing collaboration with Puerto Rico department of health.
'And we have ongoing discussions about working to align our case definitions. But at this time we're not fully aligned.'
Zika can cause brain defects such as microcephaly, an irreversible condition in which the child's brain and skull are unusually small and misshapen.
But even though some babies are born without any outward signs of defects, they may go on to show developmental delays, so researchers cautioned that their estimates may be lower than reality.
Since Zika erupted on a large scale in mid-2015, more than 1.5 million people have been infected, mostly in Brazil and other countries in South America. Some 70 countries have been impacted.
Zika may lead to an itchy rash but often causes no symptoms.
Its effects on the fetus were particularly acute when the virus attacked a woman in the first trimester of pregnancy.
According to a recent CDC study, released earlier this month, about 15 percent of women infected in their first trimester had babies with Zika-related birth defects.
Most of the cases involved women who acquired the virus while traveling outside the country.
Local cases of Zika have been reported in Florida and Texas, and the virus can also be transmitted through sex.
'Zika continues to be a threat to pregnant women across the US,' said CDC Acting Director Anne Schuchat.
'With warm weather and a new mosquito season approaching, prevention is crucial to protect the health of mothers and babies.'
The CDC continues to track pregnant women who may be infected with Zika, and the current count is about 1,600, she said.
Experts urge pregnant women to consider avoiding travel to places where Zika is spreading, to use condoms or practice abstinence with partners who have been in areas of active Zika transmission, and take steps to prevent mosquito bites.
'All pregnant women should be educated about how to avoid Zika virus exposure during prenatal visits,' said James Ducey, director of maternal-fetal medicine at Staten Island University Hospital.
The World Health Organization declared a global health emergency in February last year due to Zika, and declared it over in mid-November.
The WHO has said no vaccine is likely to be available until 2020.
'Unfortunately, there is no treatment for this infection,' said Michael Grosso, chief medical officer at Northwell Health's Huntington Hospital in New York.
'We should hope that efforts at a vaccine will be successful so that parents and children are spared the neurologic and other disabilities associated with this virus.'
What will you do if your organisation picks your opponent for promotion, while denying it to you? Well, if you go by Bihar BJP leader Sushil Modi's example, you may choose to draw a bigger line and make everyone notice you.
For months - since the BJP lost the Bihar assembly polls in November 2015 - saffron party senior Sushil Modi has largely been seen as ignored by the BJP's national leadership.
He was denied the Rajya Sabha berth in 2016, which could have moved him to the Union Cabinet, adding deserving inches to his stature.
The other Modi: Sushil Modi, former deputy CM of Bahir, has long been shunned by the BJP
Instead, the BJP picked Modi's bete-noire Gopal Narayan Singh for the Upper House, a move that surprised even Modi baiters. Also, Modi was apparently not consulted when the BJP picked Nityanand Rai as party state president in December last year.
As expected, many Modi supporters were musing from the list of party office-bearers Rai picked for Bihar last month.
Sushil Modi was conspicuously absent from the UP elections, with the BJP apparently choosing not to utilise his services there, although other state BJP leaders like Nand Kishore Yadav, Mangal Pandey and Nityanand Rai were invited to campaign in the state.
All this contributed to build an impression about the marginalisation of Sushil Modi in Bihar.
But he has clearly bounced back in the last fortnight with his well-researched findings and targeted allegations against RJD boss Lalu Prasad and his family.
So indisputable has been Modi's findings that Lalu had no option but to accept his family's ownership over the land on which a mall - billed as Bihar's biggest - is coming up in Patna, though he has insisted there was nothing illegal about it.
Lalu Prasad's family own land on which Bihar's biggest mall is being built and Modi has linked them to its construction
Sushil Modi has successfully linked Lalu's family to the mall being constructed near Saguna Mor, which according to him was being built for Rs 500 crore on a plot of land worth Rs 100 crore.
It took a few days for Lalu, but he finally had to admit that Rabri Devi, Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Prasad Yadav were partners in the company (Lara Projects LLP, which owns the land).
Sushil stood somewhat vindicated, as there was no mention of Lara Projects LLP in the election affidavits and assets declarations by Tej Pratap and Tejashwi on either the Election Commission or state cabinet secretariat websites.
Sushil Modi's list of allegations against Lalu Prasad's family has continued, with the BJP Legislature Party leader dropping a bomb almost every week.
Though it may not succeed in creating a split in the Bihar Grand Alliance government, Sushil Modi's success stems from the fact that the BJP appears to have bounced back to relevance in Bihar, and even his political opponents are now taking the party seriously.
Nitish Kumar, formerly a minister in the Union Government of India, has served as chief minister of Bihar since 2015
More importantly, the RJD's alliance partners - Congress and JD(U) - have opted not to jump to Lalu's defence in the wake of Sushil Modi's questions.
If chinks are now visible in the Grand Alliance, which hitherto appeared rock-solid in Bihar, both electorally and politically, the credit rests with Sushil Modi and his meticulous research.
On the other hand, the high-flying Union Ministers - who keep travelling to Bihar and make perfunctory allegations against the Nitish government - have failed to earn brownie points against the ruling Grand Alliance in the state.
Fighting alone - and with his back to the wall - is not unusual for Sushil Modi. He has been the unremitting leader of the Opposition for eight years during the Lalu-Rabri regime when most of NDA leaders preferred the comforts of national politics in Delhi.
Again, as a suave deputy CM in the Nitish government for eight years, Sushil Modi was largely credited for prudent fiscal management that contributed to Bihar's turnaround.
During the undivided NDA days, Sushil Modi had a wonderful understanding with Nitish Kumar. He, however, quickly turned into a bitter Nitish critic the day JD(U) snapped ties with the BJP in June 2013.
But, clearly Sushil Modi turned a Narendra Modi supporter more belatedly than the likes of Giriraj Singh, someone given ministerial berth in the Union government - a decision apparently spurred by his loyalty rather than any proven capabilities.
But will BJP leadership take note of its soldier now?
The writer is Senior Associate Editor, India Today
The manifest is complete with 650 veterans for the May 1 Vietnam Veterans Honor Flight to the nation's capitol.
Veterans from 175 Nebraska communities will travel with their comrades to visit the Vietnam Memorial Wall with special plans to honor their service.
Jim Knotts, President and CEO of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in Washington, D.C., said, This is the largest group of Vietnam veterans from a single state to ever visit the Vietnam Wall since last years flight.
Knotts will speak at the weekends April 30 pre-flight dinner at the La Vista Convention Center. Arriving early May 1, the day will include stops at these memorials: Korean War, World War II, Air Force, Iwo Jima, and Arlington National Cemetery for the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns.
Veterans will rise May 1 at 2 a.m. before boarding four charter jets to depart from Eppley Airfield in Omaha. They will return to the Lincoln Airport so more Nebraskans can say Welcome Home. Past experience indicates the airport will be filled with flag waving greeters at 8:30 p.m. All are welcome.
Some facts about the Vietnam combat veterans:
* 55 are Purple Heart recipients, some multiple recipients.
* 242 (37 percent) have been diagnosed with Agent Orange, creating many health issues, incl cancer.
* Ten have received the Distinguished Flying Cross, some twice.
* One Army Nurse, the only female in this flight.
Donors for the four charter jets are Pinnacle Bank, Sandhills Publishing Company, Norfolk Iron & Metal Co. and the Harper Family Foundation.
Patriotic Productions organized ten previous Honor Flights that took 2,602 WW II, Korea, and Vietnam veterans to Washington D.C. since 2008. Patriotic Productions has a mission of honoring our military, including the creation, production and touring of Remembering Our Fallen photo memorials. More information can be found at www.PatrioticProductions.org and www.RememberingOurFallen.org.
Looking for an update on Delhi University's admission procedure on Twitter may leave you red-faced with embarrassment, as 21- year-old Aradhana Singh found recently.
The top-ten results for the keyword 'DU' that appeared on Singh's Twitter account included several 'clickbaits' to adult websites with graphic images and explicit messages.
Delhi University, like most educational institutions in the country, does not have an internet monitoring cell to prevent such offences or raise the issues at relevant platforms. DU officials will rather wait for a third party or a victim to flag the issue.
Students checking up on the University's admissions status were left red-faced and embarrased by some of the images and videos on Twitter (file pic)
'Currently, we do not have any official who can look after this kind of menace on social media, hence our hands are tied. There needs to be a complaint filed in the first place to raise the issue,' Neeta Sehgal, proctor at Delhi University, told Mail Today.
A Twitter India official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said such misuse of a brand name must be brought to the notice of the company before it can take action or block the content.
'This appears to be a case luring traction on social media in the name of Delhi University's girl students. But we haven't received a single complaint as yet,' the official said.
Soon after the conversation, the search results for #DU keywords began to show considerable filtering. Mail Today, however, has screenshots of earlier 'clickbait' results. Some
A Delhi University official explained that the college doesn't have anyone on staff who is able to monitor such cyber abuses
of these results read: 'Delhi University Unseen Scandal', 'Exposed Indian Cute Babe from Delhi University', 'Sex with marge Delhi University nude girl', '#Delhi University nude girl', '#delhi university latest sex tubes online games to play for free for adults' along with obscene pictures and minute-long video clips.
'It was so embarrassing to see such a clip playing randomly on my screen,' Aradhana Singh recounted. However, Singh said she would not like to take up this matter with either the police or the university.
According to cyber experts, such cases are complicated because two separate computers or mobile handsets, with different security settings, may throw up varying results for the same keyword.
'Nevertheless, this can certainly hamper the reputation of DU as these are the results of a global search engine. The miscreants are using the hash tag concept to the fullest here by targeting words like #DelhiUniversity and #girls in this foul act,' said Kislay Chaudhary, an ethical hacker and a technical adviser to Delhi Police.
'The university must red-flag such misuse, as this can be a harrowing experience for parents who are not well-versed with new technology,' said Chaudhary.
DU student bodies were quick to condemn the misuse and squarely blamed university administration for not keeping abreast with the latest technology and its possible misuse.
'We do not even have an official Delhi University (Twitter) handle which can bring this to the attention of authorities,' said Akshay Lakra, president of Congress-backed National Students Union of India (NSUI).
'It is a matter of utter shame that porn clips targeting girls from DU are appearing on social media platform.'
A search conducted by Mail Today on Twitter showed several Tweets where the Delhi University name had been misused
The NSUI leader said it was about time that DU administered its official social media platforms like several other colleges and institutions do.
The RSS-backed Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad felt the timing of such misuse of social media needed to be investigated.
'This is particularly the time when students and parents actively search for updates on admission process. Such an experience can be very embarrassing,' said Saket Bahuguna, national media convener of ABVP.
Saket added that his organisation will force Twitter to 'immediately remove those obscene and misguiding search results'.
Calling it a flip side of technology which has given DU its once-in-a-while crisis, Miranda House professor Abha Dev Habib said such offences amount to a form of sexual harassment.
'Even if the girls on DU's campus are not physically harmed, there is still ample reason for the officials to worry. We need to find out who is running such objectionable content and fix responsibility,' Habib said.
Delhi police arrested Sukesh Chandrashekhar on Monday for allegedly setting up a bribe for election officials
Cash for votes is well known in Indian politics. But on Monday, Delhi police crime branch linked up cash with political party symbol. A top and influential leader of Tamil Nadu has been booked and a tout was arrested by Delhi police.
A sensational revelation emerged with the arrest of Sukesh Chandrashekhar, who allegedly have close links with AIADMK deputy general secretary and Sasikala's nephew TTV Dinakaran.
Police have managed to intercept 45 minutes audio conversation of Chandrashekhar and Dinakaran in which they were setting a deal to bribe Rs 50 crore to officials of Election Commission of India (ECI) for obtaining party symbol two leaves.
Crime branch has also seized Rs 1.5 crore cash and two luxury vehicles, a black BMW and a white Mercedes Benz, during the raid at a south Delhi hotel where Chandrashekhar was staying, on Sunday.
Crime branch has booked Dinakaran under IPC sections 170 and 120b and 8 PoC Act. A team will go to Chennai to serve summon in this connection to join the probe.
The fight between VK Sasikala and O Panneerselvam has become more bitter with the FIR registered against the key leader of former camp.
Crime branch has also seized Rs 1.5 crore cash and two luxury vehicles, a black BMW and a white Mercedes Benz, during the raid at a south Delhi hotel
The fight for party symbol between these two camps emerged soon after the demise of Tamil Nadu's most popular leader late J Jayalalithaa and both the camps are desperately after the symbol.
'During brief interrogation at Chanakyapuri crime branch office, Chandrashekher has reportedly revealed about struck deal with ECI officials by paying Rs 50 crore.
The money was given allegedly by Dinakaran to influence ECI officials for obtaining the two-leaf symbol.
However, the number of ECI involved in the deal is unknown yet,' said a senior official of the crime branch.
An official pointed out that Chandrashekher has the history of playing the role of a mediator and he had been arrested once too.
He was directly in contact with Dinakaran and Delhi police have strong evidences as well. Dinakaran however, denied knowing Chandrashekher.
'I am not aware of the name (Sukesh Chandrashekher). I have never met him my life. I came to know about him from TV channels,' he said.
People cover themselves as protection against the heat during a hot weather, as heat wave conditions prevailed in New Delhi
A sharp rise in Delhi's temperature in the month of April has triggered a rise in food and water-borne diseases that were earlier reserved for hotter months of May and June, with many people heading to the hospital emergency wards.
Doctors say that while cases of heatstroke are only a few for now, many people have been diagnosed with high fever, exhaustion and heat syncope, mostly due to intake of road-side food.
On Monday, the city's maximum temperature was recorded at 40 degrees Celsius and the MET department has warned of an intense heat wave starting this week.
Doctors say they get around 50-60 patients with high fever in OPD daily complaining of summer-related complications.
Dr SP Boytra, head of internal medicine at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said: 'Cases of heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat syncope have started along with gastrointestinal diseases such as typhoid, food poisoning, diarrhoea and high fever.
'Such diseases are mostly seen in May-June, but this year the temperature is already on the higher side and we are getting more cases.'
A monkey drinks water from a tap during a hot summer day, in Jammu
He added people should avoid roadside food and fruit juices to prevent infections, adding that it is mostly elderly, children and those who suffering from diabetes, heart diseases and other comorbidities who need to be extra careful.
Doctors at Safdarjung, RML, BL Kapoor, and Fortis Hospitals all confirmed this trend.
In the intense summer, heat can cause cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
With heat exhaustion, patients suffer from rapid sweating when body touches high temperature which can lead to heat stroke, a medical emergency, say doctors.
Dr RK Singal, Head of Department in Internal Medicine at BLK Super Speciality Hospital said that people who are used to air conditioned offices and homes most of the time should be careful of sudden change in body temperature.
Despite the heat, cases of mosquito-borne diseases are also on the rise. Municipal Corporations said that 24 dengue, 79 chikungunya and 13 malaria cases have been reported this year so far, the highest recorded in the corresponding period since 2012.
Commuters in Delhi-NCR may face hardship in hiring taxis on Tuesday as the drivers of two app-based cab aggregators, Ola and Uber, have threatened to go off roads for a day against low fares.
They had gone on a major strike in February, which had lasted for 13 days, causing inconvenience to commuters.
However, the Delhi High Court on Monday restrained two taxi-driver unions from disrupting services of cabs run by Ola and Uber in the NCR.
Ola and Uber ad gone on a major strike in February, which had lasted for 13 days, causing inconvenience to commuters
Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw passed a decree 'permanently injuncting' the two unions and anyone associated with them from blocking cabs of Ola and Uber.
According to the agitating Sarvodaya Drivers' Association, the strike might hit private transport service in Delhi and other neighbouring cities as some groups of tourist taxi providers, autorickshaw union have extended their support to it.
The association, which claims to represent around 1.25 lakh app-based taxis in the the Delhi-NCR, demands that fares be increased from existing Rs 6 per km to around Rs 20 per km. It also demands abolition of 25 per cent commission the drivers are charged by companies.
Ravi Rathore, vice-president of the Sarvodaya Drivers' Association, said drivers will take out a protest march against the Delhi government which, he alleged, is not intervening to resolve the issue.
Auto and e-rickshaws often operate as taxis in Delhi as well
'The protest march will be taken out from Majnu-ka-Tila to the CM's residence in North Delhi's Civil Lines area.
'There is grievance among drivers that government is not intervening in raising their issues with Ola and Uber,' Rathore said.
He said the association has called for the one-day strike in favour of the demands and if companies and government do not pay heed, they will go on an indefinite strike. According to the association, app-based cab companies made tall promises to drivers - like they would earn as much as Rs 1.5 lakh every month.
'But the situation is different. They are making us run taxis at Rs 6 per km while they charge 25 per cent from us,' Rathore also said.
Contrary to the association's claim that most autorickshaw and tourists associations have decided to lend their support to the strike, Delhi Autorickshaw Sangh and Delhi Pradesh Taxi Union (yellow-black taxis) said they will not participate in it.
Every time Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah mentioned Kerala at the national executive meeting in Bhubaneswar, it was not without a defined purpose and a cut-out plan.
With a clear direction from BJP's top leadership - reach the unreachable, knock every door with the centrally sponsored scheme, find every landless in Kerala and never bow down to 'politics of murder' under the ruling Left government - the state BJP unit is all out to follow the central leadership by launching a mass campaign from the booths and shakhas level to penetrate aggressively in the Left-ruled Kerala.
'The campaign will begin at the two-day BJP state executive in Palakkad starting from Tuesday where we are going to spell out the five thrust areas - food, water, land, housing and employment - which need to be made available to every poor and downtrodden in Kerala,' state BJP president Kummanam Rajashekharan told Mail Today in an exclusive talk in Bhubaneswar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with part president Amit Shah at BJP's National executive meet in Bhubaneswar where the party declared it would set its sights on the unconquered parts of India
BJP in its political resolution on Sunday had clearly defined the 'urgency to reach out to every poor and marginalised, if the saffron party wishes to have its chief ministers in all states'.
'Land will be a big issue as there are nearly three lakh landless in Kerala, where there is excess land with some and none with others There are nearly six lakh hectare of excess land under the control of a few people.
'Worst violators are the corporate companies holding on to the government land under long lease and some are holding on despite their lease ending long back,' said Rajashekharan, adding, 'We are going to launch a big movement against those who are keeping unauthorised excess land'.
Rajashekharan, who came to attend the national executive meeting here, was joined by the lone BJP MLA in Kerala O Rajagopala.
'The central leadership is very clear in its objective - make inroads and reach out to the every household in Kerala and take up their issues on larger public platform as the state executive, party forum meetings and strengthen booth level gatherings, which is also addressed by top central BJP leaders,' said Rajagopala.
The two leaders seem to have got a clear plan for saffron surge in Kerala.
Kerala BJP boss, Kummanam Rajashekharan, spoke exclusively to Mail Today at the party's National Executive Meeting in Odisha
'We will strengthen the booth level and take up the attacks on BJP workers. The Kerala government's 'murder politics' won't deter us to raise our voice against the gross misgovernance and insecurity under the Left government.
'We have to work out a strategy to fight unemployment as there are nearly seven per cent unemployed in state despite 100 per cent literacy. Mass awareness is needed we discussed this in Odisha,' said Rajashekharan.
With 2.5 crore voters and nearly 15 per cent vote share in the state, BJP national executive meet discussed Kerala time and again as the 'next thrust state where it wants its chief minister'.
As daunting as the task may be, as just a single MLA in the 140 Assembly seats and no Lok Sabha MP yet, Rajasekharan seems unfazed: 'Ground-level work has started and the booth-level workers' attendance at any gathering is 90 per cent.
'We are spreading our cadre in all 20 parliamentary constituencies to take up local issues and also the one discussed at the Odisha meet.'
Rajashekhar added: 'Our increasing vote share is an encouraging sign'.
General HR McMaster is the national security adviser to President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump's national security adviser discussed the situation in Afghanistan with India's prime minister on Tuesday, nearly a week after the U.S. military dropped a massive non-nuclear bomb in the country that it said killed 95 militants.
HR McMaster's meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the first visit by a Trump administration official to India, a key ally in Asia.
The US Embassy said that the two also discussed ways to increase defense and counter-terrorism cooperation, and McMaster assured Modi of India's status as a major defense partner in the global fight against terrorism.
Indian TV stations broadcast images of McMaster and Modi, each flanked by officials, sitting together at Modi's home in the Indian capital.
McMaster also held two-hour-long talks with his Indian counterpart, Ajit Doval.
The talks with Indian officials also focused on the security situation in the region and Trump's Afghan strategy. New Delhi wants Washington to pressure Pakistan to stop its support for Taliban militants and act against them.
McMaster's visit to New Delhi was a part of regional consultations that included stops in Kabul and Islamabad.
Leader: Surya Sen, the 'soft-spoken schoolmaster'
April 18 marks the anniversary of the Chittagong uprising of 1930, when a group of boys and girls, many still in their teens, led by their 'Master Da', Surya Sen, captured the British Armoury.
This remarkable, anti-imperial revolt remains relatively little-known, if not quite forgotten, even though two films were made about it.
Ashutosh Gowariker's Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se (2010), starring Abhishek Bachchan and Deepika Padukone, and Debabrata Pain's small-budget but award winning Chittagong (2012), featuring Manoj Bajpai and Vega Tamotia, both, unfortunately, flopped at the box-office.
Earlier, Manini Chatterjee, the daughter-in-law of communist leader PC Joshi and Kalpana Datta (1913-95), wrote a gripping account Do and Die: The Chittagong Uprising 1930-34 (1999).
She was well placed to do so because her mother, Kalpana, had been one of the insurgents who took part in the uprising.
Kalpana, along with Bina and Kalyani Das (who were sisters), Santi Ghosh, Suniti Choudhury and Pritilata Wadeddar, all belong to the Chhatri Sangha, an organisation of famed female revolutionaries, many of who studied in Bethune College.
Pritilata (1911-1921) was shot and wounded during the uprising. Apprehending her capture, she swallowed a potassium cyanide capsule, dying at 21.
The leader of the uprising, Surya Sen, the soft-spoken schoolmaster, had been elected president of the Chittagong branch of the Indian National Congress in 1918. But he was disillusioned with Mahatma Gandhi's calling off the Civil Disobedience movement following the violence in Chauri Chaura in 1922.
A film still from Debabrata Pain's 2012 movie 'Chittagong' about the uprising of 1930
He and several other Bengal revolutionaries were members of the Anushilan Samiti, which had two branches, the Jugantar group in Calcutta, and the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti, in the then East Bengal.
The original founders were Sri Aurobindo and his younger brother, Barindra. Both, along with 47 other accused stood trial for the Alipur bomb blast case or the Manicktolla bomb conspiracy.
The trial continued for a year (1908-09). When the verdict was announced, Barindra was sentenced to death, later commuted to transportation for life, and Aurobindo, ably defended by Chittaranjan Das, acquitted.
After Aurobindo left for Pondicherry in 1910, the activities of the revolutionary groups suffered a setback. The colonial government created the Special Branch of Calcutta Police, passed the notorious Defence of India Act (1915), which allowed preventive custody, internments, arrests, even executions, followed by other repressive measures such as the Rowlatt Act (1919).
The Chittagong uprising coincided with Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March in 1930
The Anushilan Samiti became active again between the two World Wars; its boldest, possibly finest, moment was the Chittagong uprising.
Sen's teen forces captured two armouries, burned down the European club, cut off communications with the rest of India by taking over the telephone, telegraph, and railway, even hoisting the national flag to declare the independence of Chittagong from British India.
Though a large cache of arms fell into their hands, they had no information that the ammunition was stored elsewhere. Beaten back, looking for a place to hide, the revolutionaries eventually retreated to the Jalalabad Hills.
There, for three years, they carried on a guerrilla fight with the vastly superior British army, armed with machine guns and rifles. Sen managed to escape, going into hiding, but was eventually betrayed by one of his comrades, Netra Sen.
He was tortured for days, his teeth knocked out, nails ripped, limbs broken, before he was dragged about, hanged, and given a burial at sea. In today's Bangladesh, Islamists have no interest in remembering Master-da; they dismiss him as a Hindu Dacoit.
We may not consider it preordained, but the Chittagong uprising coincided with another revolutionary episode, the historic Salt March to Dandi, undertaken by Gandhi from March 12-April 6, 1930.
These were two sides of the same coin, the nonviolent struggle led by the Mahatma and the desperately brave, if unsuccessful sporadic acts of armed ferocity by the revolutionaries.
This dialectic has to be accepted if we were to write more informed and accurate histories. In fact, the approach of the armed overthrow of the Raj culminated in Subhas Chandra Bose's spectacular assault on the Eastern Front, which he planned to follow by the victorious march of the Indian National Army from Kohima to Delhi.
Alas, that was not to be; instead of a grand march, there was a gloomy retreat, ending in Netaji's death in a plane crash.
But like the latter, still the subject of many incredible legends, the whole history of India's revolutionary movement is marked by grandiose myths and half-truths.
Because we are sympathetic to their cause and glorify their sacrifice, we tend to overlook harsh facts. Our revolutionaries, though brave, were usually badly organised and misinformed.
Missing their intended targets often, they ended up injuring or killing the wrong, sometimes innocent, persons.
The bottom line: they were no match for the British. They also ended up executing their own as punishment for treachery. Was Godse's self-righteous, allegedly Savarkar-inspired, assassination of Gandhi, the 'father' of the nation, the culmination of this?
Even so, this does not mean that we should neglect or erase the revolutionary contribution to our Independence struggle, as the earlier regimes tried.
In his last letter, Master-da exhorted us, 'Never forget the 18th of April 1930, the day of the Eastern Rebellion in Chittagong... Write in red letters in the core of your hearts the names of the patriots who have sacrificed their lives at the altar of India's freedom.'
Indeed, that is the least we owe to the memory of Surya Sen and his band of fearless fighters for India's freedom.
The writer is poet and professor, JNU
Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS), the country's biggest software services exporter, reported a 4.2 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit to Rs 6,608 crore in the three months to March 31, from Rs 6,340 crore in the same period last year.
The revenue of the company also rose 4.2 per cent year-on-year to Rs 29,642 crore during the quarter.
The results come as US President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Tuesday to impose restrictions in H-1B visa rules which has increased the uncertainty for Indian companies.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Chief Executive Officer Rajesh Gopinathan announces the company's quarterly results in Mumbai
Any change in the temporary visa program for skilled workers could increase costs for companies such as TCS. The visa program is used by Indian software service companies to fly engineers and developers to the United States temporarily to service clients there.
However, TCS Chief Executive Rajesh Gopinathan, who took over the top job in February expects a robust pipeline of projects in automation and cloud services going ahead.
'We are competitive and as long as the regimes are broadly equal for everyone we don't see our relative competitiveness actually going down,' TCS Chief Executive Rajesh Gopinathan told journalists.
'As we look at 2017-18, N G Subramanian (chief operating officer and I spent the first two months visiting customers primarily in North America, Europe, and APAC (Asia-Pacific).
Employees of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) inside the company headquarters in Mumbai
'A very common theme that we are hearing from all of them is a very strong focus on digital and continuing investments and technology transformation agenda, which play well into TCS' core strengths,' Gopinathan told reporters.
'We continue to stay focused on digital. We are focusing on three themes agile, cloud and automation and we see these playing out. We see 2017-18 incrementally positive and quite confident about demand outlook. Retail and hightech verticals have been soft but are expected to bounce back,' he said.
Vishal Sikka, CEO and Managing Director of Indian multinational corporation Infosys Limited, which has projected a growth rate of 6.5-8.5 per cent in 2017-18
Gopinathan's positive outlook has been contrary to executive comments at rival Infosys, which sees macro-economic challenges, technology shifts and countries such as the US pushing for local jobs slowing businesses.
TCS does not give revenue forecasts. TCS grew 8.5 per cent in dollar terms in 2016-17 on a larger base to go past arch rival Infosys, which grew 7.4 per cent.
The firm said FY17 profits grew 8.6 per cent to Rs 26,289 crore on revenues of Rs 1,17,966 crore, which, too, grew 8.6 per cent.
Infosys has projected a growth rate of 6.5-8.5 per cent in 2017-18, indicating that the company is back to its lower growth numbers before Vishal Sikka, its chief executive, was hired from business software maker SAP to take the company on to a high growth trajectory.
Panneerselvam insisting on his demand for the ouster of Sasikala, Dinakaran and their family from the party and the government
In a dramatic turn of events, the K Palaniswami cabinet on Tuesday revolted against AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran and decided to keep him and his family out of the party and the government.
Emerging from a meeting chaired by chief minister EK Palaniswami, finance minister D Jayakumar declared that the unanimous decision was taken in tune with the aspirations of party cadres and people.
'A decision has been taken to fully keep away Dinakaran and his family from the party and the government,' he told reporters.
He claimed it was the desire of all party cadres, top functionaries, district secretaries, MPs, MLAs, and ministers.
A committee will be formed soon to run the day-to-day affairs of the party, he said.
Dinakaran, who was expelled from AIADMK by Jayalalithaa, was re-inducted by Sasikala and appointed the party's deputy general secretary just before she proceeded to Bengaluru to serve the remnant of her jail term after the Supreme Court upheld her conviction and sentence in a disproportionate assets case in February this year.
Sasikala, whose nephew is TTV Dinakaran, is currently in prison serving a four year sentence
Meanwhile, the Delhi Police is likely to send a team to Chennai with summons for Dinakaran, accused of allegedly trying to bribe an Election Commission official to obtain the 'two-leaves' symbol for his faction.
The sudden announcement by Jayakumar came after efforts for the merger hit a hurdle with Panneerselvam insisting on his demand for the ouster of Sasikala, Dinakaran and their family from the party and the government.
Panneerselvam has made it clear that he would settle for nothing less than ouster of VK Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dinakaran from the party.
Speaking to reporters in Chennai, Panneerselvam played the 'Amma' card and said it was important that members of the Mannargudi family be evicted if the AIADMK has to survive.
He reiterated his demand for a probe into J Jayalalithaa's death and said details regarding her treatment should be made public.
'Sasikala has betrayed Amma. The treatment and medicines given to Amma should be made public. A thorough investigation must be done into Jayalalithaa's death,' Panneerselvam said.
AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran has been ousted from the party
'We have to follow the path which Amma laid out for us. The way Sasikala brought back Dinakaran into the party and her own elevation as AIADMK general secretary ... everything was unconstitutional,' said Panneerselvam, who had revolted against Sasikala in February after stepping down from the CM's chair.
'That family (Mannargudi family) was not supposed to be in the party. Amma never wanted them in the party. They have betrayed her. Betrayers have to go,' Panneerselvam added.
On the other hand, the revolt inside the EPS (CM Edappadi Palaniswami) camp has spiralled out of control with senior ministers seeking deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran and interim general secretary Sasikala Natarajan's removal.
Sources said Dinakaran has also lost support of influential party leaders Jayakumar, SP Velumani, Thangamani and Vaithyalingam - who helped him enter AIADMK again after Jayalalithaa's death.
The four leaders are apprehensive of their names being associated with health minister Vijaybhaskar who was raided by the Income Tax department earlier this month.
Former Delhi Congress president and a prominent Punjabi face in Delhi politics, Arvinder Singh Lovely, joined the BJP on Tuesday, triggering speculation of further defection from the Congress to BJP.
Upset over his neglect in the party post the 2015 poll debacle, Lovely lashed out at the leadership of his former party, which he said has 'died' under them.
A key minister in the erstwhile Sheila Dikshit government in Delhi, Lovely alleged rampant bribery in ticket distribution for the MCD polls by the Congress and claimed that many senior Congress leaders were feeling 'suffocated'.
A prominent Punjabi face in Delhi politics, Arvinder Singh Lovely (centre), joined the BJP on Tuesday
Lovely, who hails from the Sikh community, joined the saffron party along with Delhi Youth Congress chief Amit Malik.
'The child is dead. Congress is finished,' Lovely told reporters, expressing unhappiness with its leadership, including vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
He heaped praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, saying the two have redefined politics.
This defection is a considerable blow for Congress and its leader Ajay Maken, who is contesting for a seat in New Delhi himself
Another senior Congress leader Haroon Yusuf too has expressed deep dissatisfaction with ticket distribution and neglect of his supporters complaining to the party high command in this regard, party sources said. But Haroon has not given the signals yet of quitting Congress, say BJP insiders.
While Lovely quit the Congress, many others have also expressed displeasure over the leadership of Ajay Maken in the Delhi unit. Another former cabinet colleague of Lovely, Mangat Ram Singhal, had accused Maken of neglecting senior leaders in the party.
'We are angry with the system of ticket distribution. Ajay Maken, who is the president, is responsible since he decides everything on his own,' said Singhal, also a minister in the Sheila government.
Lashing out at Maken, he said somebody who lost his election deposit - an apparent reference to Maken's miserable loss in the assembly polls - was foisted on the party.
He also referred to allegations made by AK Walia, a Congress veteran in the city, that tickets for MCD elections were being sold by party leaders, lamenting that the party leadership did not even look into his complaints.
The BJP believes Lovely's shift to it will boost its prospects in the MCD polls, especially in areas with sizeable Punjabi population.
Lovely blamed scams for the UPA's loss in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, and said it was strange that the party even in opposition is accused of corruption.
Meanwhile, Sheila Dikshit has termed Lovely's joining the BJP as betrayal. She said Lovely has got political honour and respect from the party and was not only a minister but also the party's Delhi chief.
Sitting pretty: It is clear from the BJP attitude at the party's National Executive Meeting in Odisha that leaders PM Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah are feeling quite confident ahead of the MCD civic polls on Sunday
'It's sad news. He got political honour and respect from the Congress and was not only a minister, but was also made Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) president,' Dikshit told a news channel after Lovely joined the BJP.
'He has left Congress when its days are not as pleasant as they used to be once. I think this a betrayal,' she added.
A key minister in the Dikshit government, Lovely raked up allegations of bribery in ticket distribution for the MCD polls by the Congress and claimed after meeting BJP chief Amit Shah that many senior Congress leaders are feeling suffocated as the party is no longer what it used to be.
Rehana Reza is the latest poster woman for triple talaq after she claims she suffered heavily at the hands of her in-laws following a phone call where here husband invoked the sharia divorce practice
Rehana Raza says she wants to give up Islam and embrace Hinduism. The Uttar Pradesh resident became the latest poster woman of triple talaq after allegedly being divorced over the phone by her husband and then attacked with acid by her in-laws.
Now, she told Mail Today, she wants to change her religious stripes from green to saffron. 'Hindu law at least reaffirms the right of consensus a woman should have in marriage and gives a woman a say.
'That's something Islam lacks, paving the way for triple talaq,' Rehana said in a telephone interview.
Thousands of Muslim women from across India have raised their voices against the Sharia law custom that allows men to split up with their wives by saying 'talaq' three times.
The instant divorce practice has been barred by more than 20 Muslim countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia.
'A common law defends numerous Hindu women who need emotional and financial support after getting deserted.
'I have suffered because of triple talaq, despite my family's revered status in society,' Rehana said.
A five-judge constitution bench will sit during the Supreme Court's summer vacation in May to examine a batch of petitions challenging Islamic practices such as triple talaq and polygamy after women complained of being divorced on Facebook and WhatsApp.
Rehana says she was attacked with acid by her in-laws on April 14 at their house in Neoria town of Pilibhit district.
Rehana claims she was forced to rely on her in-laws after her husband moved her back from the US and then took a job in New Zealand without her. She alleges her and her son were often left without food and electricity
The torture did not surprise the victim, who alleges that her husband started beating her within days of their wedding after the couple moved to the United States in 1999.
'He brought me and my son back to India in 2011 when my mother passed away but he soon left us behind, claiming he had found a job in New Zealand. I had no choice but to turn to my in-laws in Pilibhit who also shunned me,' Rehana told Mail Today.
Her mother-in-law allegedly asked her to not 'show her face' because Matlub had already given her triple talaq over phone, which Rehana says never occurred.
'I had approached them after the Allahabad high court order that termed the practice of triple talaq as unconstitutional which violates the rights of Muslim women.
'But instead I have seen days when my son and I have lived without food and electricity,' said Rehana, who has now been assured support by women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi.
The government told the Supreme Court last year that triple talaq violates the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution and said it does not form a part of the 'essential religious practices' in Islam.
Rehana says she spotted the acid bottle, but not before it was too late. While she escaped more severe injuries, she was still burned on her back and marks on her arms, neck and feet
'Given what Rehana has endured for years at her in-laws' house, Maneka Gandhi has taken up the issue with the superintendent of police in Pilibhit to expedite the case,' a ministry official told Mail Today.
Rehana's 14-year-old son was not around on April 14 when she claims her brother-in-law Maqbool Hussain, sisters-in-law Parveen and Shakeela started beating her and threw acid on her.
Despite her narrow escape after spotting the bottle of acid, she suffered burns on her back and marks on her arms, neck and feet.
Terming the Narendra Modi government's bid to attack triple talaq 'genuine', Rehana also said: 'Given how our government has vouched for a common law, the hype around triple talaq is important to make people think about the atrocities inflicted on women.'
The trauma has not ended for Rehana as she points out that her son has grown quiet over time. 'I insisted for a roof at my in-laws' house but I was thrown out every other day.
'When we refused to budge, my husband called my teenage son, and told him that we should vacate the house or he would get him jailed,' alleged Rehana.
'Even now, I am being asked to leave the hospital by the police, who refuse get a warrant otherwise. The harassment has not ended for me.'
Post 2014, those who thought polarisation and hard-line saffron politics would prevail, move on to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's panchtatva dabe, pichre, shoshit, vanchit and mahila, which would 'drive his government' to reach out to the unreachable up to 2019 general elections.
The government would make women, youth, tribal, marginalized and minorities core to the central social schemes to realise the 'New India' objective spelt out by him at the BJP National Executive in Bhubaneshwar.
Women, youth, tribal, marginalised and minorities would form the base of central social schemes to turn PM Narendra Modi's 'New India' objective announced at the BJP National Executive in Bhubaneshwar into a reality, said government ministers
Triple talaq is nothing but women and minorities in a combo, top Union Ministers and party functionaries told Mail Today.
The paper spoke to Union ministers M Venkaiah Naidu, Prakash Javadekar, Dharmendra Pradhan, national spokesperson Sambit Patra and OBC Morcha National President Vinod Sonkar and they were unanimous in saying, 'PM Modi had directed them to 'take the quantum leap' and while some schemes have already been in motion before the Odisha meet, we are taking it to the next level in mission mode to maximise party's outreach before 2019 general elections.'
Naidu said: 'He believes in Dr Ambedkar's People's Development Model based on due empowerment of all sections, including the weaker sections, women and the minorities.
Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu (left) said Modi believed in true empowerment for the 'weaker' sections of society, while Prakash Javadekar (right) agreed
'Youth is another focus area when he talks about aspirational India. He had started the schemes - PM Jan Dhan Yojana, PM Mudra Yojana, Beti Padhao-Beti Bachao, Housing for All, Skill India, Ujjwala - with a clear thrust on an inclusive governance directly benefiting the five categories listed in his 'New India' mission.
'Lighting poor houses with LED, making women benefit from Ujjwala and people volunteering to get the medical life cover even if it comes at Rs 12 per person are just the beginning. We aim to take our social schemes next to high output delivery mode.'
Union HRD minister Prakash Javadekar added, 'Modi's commitment to upliftment of poor and socially backward, including women, youth and tribals, is final and not a rhetoric.
'He gave a special status to physically challenged by calling them divyang. And by giving a constitutional status to OBC Commission, he has already set in motion streamlining of benefits due to OBC and marginalised.'
The 'New India' objective was announced at the BJP National Executive in Bhubaneshwar (above, Modi pictured with Amit Shah)
Javadekar added, 'for the youth of socially backward classes, we have already given full waiver to SC/ST students in IITs, NITs and higher education. And to promote young and aspirational India, financial assistance for entrepreneurship and innovation by tribal, SC and ST youths are being taken as a priority to give maximum benefits to marginalized classes.'
Modi in Bhubaneswar has stressed to take a 'quantum leap', said Sambit Patra, party national spokesperson.
'Make power (post in government) the medium to reach the people and not enjoy it, is a clear message from PM Modi. He is talking about 'New India' aspirations at grassroots and the demographic dividends youth, women and tribe as priority areas.
'The message he gave to every karykarta and top leaders at the meet was clear. We will not be satisfied by the incremental changes the previous governments have been claiming, but take a quantum leap to reach millions others,' Patra said.
Pradhan, who was the architect of Bhubaneswar meeting, said: 'Odisha has already become the laboratory of PM Modi's pro-poor policies and we aim to surge ahead in state after the recent panchayat elections results.'
India and Afghanistan have strong diplomatic ties and New Delhi has been supplying weapons and humanitarian aid to Kabul for its rebuilding process
In an embarrassing development, a colonel has been dismissed from the Indian embassy in Afghanistan after he was found to be in possession of unauthorised weapons.
Allegations of other serious kind of misconduct have also surfaced in the investigation after which the officer was made to return mid-way through his tenure there as the deputy military attache.
'The colonel was expelled from the embassy in Kabul and his tenure was cut short after he was found to be in unauthorised possession of two sophisticated pistols which could not be accounted for in a probe conducted by a senior Indian Police Service officer,' government sources told Mail Today here.
Multiple queries sent to the ministry for external affairs spokesperson were not answered by the authorities concerned.
However, senior army sources confirmed that the officer had been sent back to India mid-way through his tenure and has now been attached to the Delhi area headquarters for an internal probe.
According to the sources, the matter came to light when the officer was intercepted at Kabul airport by the local agencies there with the two pistols a few months ago while he was returning to India on leave.
The officer was intercepted at Kabul airport (pictured above) with the pistols a few months ago
When the matter was brought to the notice of Indian authorities, a probe was ordered into the incident as they wanted to establish the facts in the development happening in a country considered to be a strategic partner of India.
Sources said the high-level inquiry into the case was ordered at the level of foreign secretary office.
During the inquiry conducted by the joint secretary-level police officer in the ministry of external affairs, the Indian Army officer could not establish the source of the weapons which were not on record of the embassy in Kabul.
All weapons and equipment in an Indian embassy have to be accounted for in any country where own troops are deployed.
After the report was submitted by the investigating officer to the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi, it asked the defence ministry to call back the colonel and carry out an him to be suitable for Indian interests there, the sources said.
In his defence, the officer has denied the charges against him, claiming the weapons carried by him were due to an 'inadvertent error'.
A couple of years ago also, a senior Indian Army officer was mired in controversy over allegations in media that he was involved in misbehaviour with a local Afghan woman.
India and Afghanistan have been coming together closely as New Delhi has been supplying weapons and humanitarian aid to Kabul for its rebuilding process hindered by Pakistan spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence and its terror groups there.
Millions of families across the country have been hit by energy price hikes, after five of the big six suppliers announced increases to their standard variable tariff rates.
Those affected have seen gas and electricity bills rise between one and 10 per cent, adding an average of 97 to annual bills, according to MoneySupermarket research.
Bill payers in the East of England now pay the most, with average annual bills of 1,263 after an 88 price hike. But households in the North West will experience the largest increase with prices going up by 102 thanks to recent hikes.
Big Six price hikes: Households in the North West will see prices go up by 102
Scottish Power, Npower and EDF Energy customers on standard variable tariffs saw their bills go up in March while SSE and Eon bill payers will experience hikes this month.
From 21 June EDF will add an additional 7.2 per cent to bills for 1.5million dual fuel customers.
Despite prices soaring, those living in the North West still see a typical annual bill coming in at 7 less a year than the average amount paid by those in East of England.
Those living in Merseyside, North Wales and Cheshire have the smallest annual bill at 1,246 - still a 98.27 jump on last year.
The region with the smallest hike in prices was the East Midlands, now paying an extra 95.52 and a total of 1,262.
Switchers could save up to 429
The extra 97 that an average customer will now hand over to providers would have bought an extra 600kWh of energy before the price increases.
To put this into perspective, 600kWh is enough energy to power an LCD TV for two years.
It would also be enough to use your microwave for up to six years, vacuum your home for eight years or power a low energy light blub for up to 30 years, according to the price comparison site's research.
However, as standard variable tariffs are the most expensive deals, savvy households could cut costs by as much as 400 by comparing prices and switching to a cheaper deal.
The cheapest tariff on the market currently offered by small supplier Avro Energy, costing the average family 834 a year, with a fixed price per unit of electricity over the next 12 months.
This comes in at 429 less than the average annual bill paid by families in the East of England.
You can read the full MoneySupermarket report here.
>Skip to This is Money's guide to how to switch provider and where to find the cheapest deals
PRICE HIKES: HOW MUCH PROVIDERS HAVE RAISED PRICES BY Provider Average bill before rise Price rise Average rise Expected average bill
following price hikes Npower 1,158 9.80% 113.48 1,271.48 EDF 1,140 8.49% 96.74 1,236.74 E.on 1,142 8.80% 100.50 1,242.50 Scottish Power 1,184 7.80% 92.35 1,276.35 SSE 1,184 6.90% 81.70 1,265.70 Average Total: 1,162 8.36% 96.95 1,258.55 Source: MoneySupermarket.com
Stephen Murray, energy expert at MoneySupermarket, said: 'EDF Energy dealt bill-payers another staggering blow by raising prices once again.
'At the start of March it hiked electricity bills by 8.4 per cent - and it has now announced a further 9 per cent to electricity and 5.5 per cent to gas, meaning customers will see dual fuel bills rise to 1,160.
THREE QUARTERS OF HOUSEHOLDS ARE STUCK ON DEFAULT DEALS A whopping 85 per cent of homes in the UK are signed up to one of the Big Six suppliers according to recent research by First Utility. And 70 per cent of those homes are languishing on an expensive standard variable tariffs, according to figures from the Competition and Markets Authority. After a two year inquiry into the sector, energy companies were told last year they must work harder to encourage these customers to switch to a cheaper deal. However, last November, consumer group Which? claimed the energy giants were still failing to do this and nearly three quarters of customers had still yet to be contacted by their supplier to encourage them to choose a cheaper deal.
'EDF customers arent alone though. The message is loud and clear for the millions of people hit by Big Six price rises: shop around if youre on a standard variable tariff, or if youre on a fixed deal thats coming to an end.
'Collectively, customers could save 7.4billion by standing up to price rises and shopping around - thats well worth the seven minutes it takes to switch deals.'
How much have bills gone up in your area?
The differences in regional average prices are largely determined by how many people are signed up with the most expensive suppliers in each area.
If the majority of your neighbours are supplied by Npower, which bumped up prices the most at 10 per cent, then your regional average is likely to be higher than a region where most families are signed up with SSE which added the smallest amount to bills.
For example, 23 per cent of families in Eastern England are signed up with Npower, the provider which hiked prices the most - by 10 per cent - and 33 per cent buy their gas and electricity from Scottish Power, which upped prices by 8 per cent.
As a general rule though, regional differences also depend on the costs of getting the energy to you.
There are 14 regional networks which energy companies must pay if they supply gas and electricity in different areas of the country.
These networks all have their own fees, which will be passed on to customers by their suppler.
The price will also depend on how much energy the supplier has bought from local energy generators, and whether it is enough to keep up with demand.
SIX ENERGY PRICE HIKES BY REGION Region Average price increase Average bill value after rise Average savings by switching North West (Norweb) 101.85 1,256.28 385.92 South East (Seeboard) 101.44 1,257.28 386.46 London Electricity 100.63 1,254.24 389.09 North East (Northern Electric) 99.22 1,255.82 388.08 South West (SWEB) 98.64 1,253.54 386.43 Merseywise, North Wales and Cheshire (Manweb) 98.27 1,246.01 385.19 East of England (Eastern Electricity) 97.78 1,263.07 389.24 South West (Swalec) 97.62 1,249.82 387.99 North of Scotland (Scottish Hydro Power) 97.61 1,249.47 389.38 Southern Electric 97.58 1,261.22 389.56 Yorkshire Electricity 97.48 1,258.17 387.48 Central and Southern Scotland (Scottish Power) 96.88 1,247.10 385.85 Midlands Electric 96.76 1,261.69 388.88 East Midlands 95.52 1,262.14 389.44 Source: MoneySupermarket.com
The last remaining survivor of the Doolittle Raid is set to set to mark the 75th anniversary of the World War II mission at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force near Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday.
Lt. Col. Richard Cole, 101, is now the sole survivor of the original 80-member group that bombed Tokyo as revenge for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which forced America to enter the international conflict.
Cole, who acted as co-pilot for the head of the mission, Lt. Col. James Doolittle, plans to take part in events scheduled at the museum Tuesday.
He said it would be 'a somber affair' now that he is the only man left to carry on the Raider tradition of toasting those who have died in the past year, using goblets engraved with their names.
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Lt. Col. Richard Cole (pictured in 2015) is the last surviving member of the original 80-man Doolittle Raiders
Cole (second right) served as co-pilot to the head of the mission, Lt. Col. James Doolittle, second left
Tuesday marks the 75th anniversary of the American bombing mission on Tokyo, which was carried out in retaliation for Pearl Harbor. Above, the Raiders discuss their mission after getting their orders on April 18, 1942
In a private ceremony, he will offer tribute to retired Staff Sgt. David Thatcher, who died last June at age 94 in Missoula, Montana.
Sometimes chuckling, sometimes reflective, Cole sounded clear and military officer-courteous during a telephone interview, with his daughter Cindy sometimes repeating the questions if he didn't fully hear them in his home in Comfort, Texas.
Cole is sorry he won't have any of his mission comrades with him to share stories and joke with as they did in annual reunions that began after World War II. He didn't expect to be the last one standing, since he was older than many others on the mission.
'I never thought in that vein,' Cole said. 'We all know that somewhere along the line, you have to drop out.'
The mission marked the first time that bombing planes were launched off of an aircraft carrier
Cole said that launching the aircraft ended up being the easiest part of the mission
After bombing Tokyo, the Americans headed for China to land since they didn't have enough fuel to get back to get back to the carrier
Above, is a Japanese patrol boat that the bombers sank while heading to Tokyo
The Raiders launched their assault April 18, 1942, in B-25 bombers not built to fly off an aircraft carrier at sea. Suspecting they had been detected by Japanese patrols, they left 12 hours sooner than planned from the USS Hornet, utilizing their mission training in Florida on short-runway takeoffs.
'Everybody thought that the takeoff would be the most challenging thing, but as a matter of fact, it turned out to be easiest thing,' Cole said.
The crews of the 16 planes were 'very quiet' as they neared Japan, he recalled, saying his role next to Doolittle was to 'be seen, not heard... You didn't speak until spoken to.' But the country song 'Wabash Cannonball' started running through his head and he unconsciously began tapping his toe, which caught Doolittle's attention.
'He gave me a look which didn't need any conversation,' Cole said with a laugh.
Doolittle soon ordered bomb bay doors opened, and the attack was on against what turned out to be limited anti-aircraft fire.
'The enemy was doing something else and surprised that we were there, and then I just thought, "So far, so good,"' Cole said.
They then headed to China, running out of fuel. Cole said Doolittle gave the command to prepare to bail out as they neared the coast, adding: 'I wish you all good luck.'
Cole said it was scary to parachute into a dark 'unknown' in rough weather. His parachute caught in a tree, leaving him dangling but safe.
In this July 14, 1943 file photo, Maj. Gen. James Doolittle, (third from left, front row) who led the air raid on Japan and some of the men who flew with him drink a champagne toast from coffee cups during a reunion in North Africa on the first anniversary of the flight. Flyers are left to right front row: Maj. William Bower; Maj. Travis Hoover; Maj. Gen. Doolittle; Lt. Col. Harvey Hinman (not one of raiders); Capt. Neston C. Daniel, Back row left to right: Capt. Howard A. Sessler; Capt. William R. Pound, Jr.; Maj. Rodney R. Wilder; Capt. James M. Arker, Maj. Charles R. Greening, Maj. Joseph Klein; Capt. Griffith P. William, and Capt. Thomas C. Griffin
Three Raiders died trying to reach China, and eight were captured by Japanese soldiers. Three were executed, and a fourth died in captivity.
Their attack inflicted scattered damage, but more important, stunned Japan's people. Its military diverted resources to guard their homeland, while news of the raid lifted U.S. morale after the December 7, 1941, surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and a string of Japanese victories in the Pacific.
'Seven decades later, we are still awed by the sheer audacity of the Doolittle raid and the incredible men whose grit and bravery made it possible,' Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi of California said when the Congressional Gold Medal was awarded to the Raiders in a 2015 ceremony. 'Though time has thinned their ranks, it will never dim the daring of their deeds.'
Cole, a Dayton-area native, has been to the Ohio museum for reunions and other special events. He and Thatcher were there in 2015 for events highlighting the Gold Medal.
Cole also led a special public 'final toast' ceremony at the museum in 2013, when four Raiders were still alive, saying of the departed: 'May they rest in peace.'
Cole attended Thatcher's funeral last June in Missoula.
Being an optimist and living his life in 'moderation' probably has contributed to his longevity, Cole said, adding that he can't really say for sure.
Asked about historical legacy, Cole replied that he believes he speaks for his late comrades in saying they considered themselves no more special than anyone else who served.
'We don't want to be remembered any more than the rest of the people who took part in beating the Japanese,' Cole said. 'They started it, and we finished it.'
A South Carolina family were petrified when what they thought was a burglar turned out to be a nine-foot long alligator on their second story porch.
Susie and Steve Polston and their 16-year-old son hid in the master bedroom of their Mount Pleasant home until the racket outside stopped. When their son sneaked a look outside - he spotted the massive animal among overturned furniture.
The family says the alligator climbed a 15-foot stairwell to the porch, crunched through the aluminum screen door and nestled between a sofa and a swinging bench.
'It was just surreal. It was so bizarre,' Susie Polston told the Post and Courier.
The alligator became increasingly aggressive as the Polston's waited for a local animal control company, Gator Getter Consultants, to arrive.
For nearly two hours an agent named Ronnie struggled with the beast, adding that it was likely from 200 to 300 pounds.
They believed the gator to be about 60 years old - and became frustrated when a newly constructed fence obstructed his ability to make it to a new mating pool.
The alligator became increasingly aggressive as the Polston's waited for a local animal control company, Gator Getter Consultants, to arrive
For nearly two hours an agent named Ronnie struggled with the beast, adding that it was likely from 200 to 300 pounds
State law requires a nuisance-trapped alligator to be killed, but the family didn't want that. The other choice was to wait it out, but the alligator was eventually euthanized.
Coming into close contact with one isn't very unusual in the area near the Polston's, who's home lies on the 18th hole at the Rivertowne Country Club.
Gators aren't typically aggressive, but can put on shows when they feel threatened, like baring their teeth and thrashing.
Susie and Steve Polston and their 16-year-old son hid in the master bedroom of their Mount Pleasant home until the racket outside stopped. When their son sneaked a look outside - he spotted the massive animal among overturned furniture
The alligator scaled a 15-foot outdoor staircase and broke through a door to get to the porch
They don't generally interact with humans unless something - or someone - interferes with their mating process, which involves moving directly from waterhole to waterhole and destroying whatever comes in their path.
Authorities warn that alligator spotting in the area will become increasingly more common as the weather continues to warm.
The Polston's, however, hope that their incident won't happen to anyone else.
'We love it here. It's beautiful,' Mrs Polston said. 'We think this was rare. We hope it was rare.'
Parents have spent the Easter long weekend camping outside a primary school in a desperate attempt to snare an elusive enrolment place for their child.
Dozens of parents pitched tents and brought sleeping bags to Seven Hills State School, in east Brisbane, to try and have their child chosen for limited spots reserved for students who live out of area.
Charlie and Luana Forrest were first in line at 10am on Monday, hoping to enrol their son Henry, three, into the school.
The couple said they had only heard good things about the school and that was why they were eager to have their son enrolled.
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Charlie and Luana Forrest were first in line at Seven Hills State School in Brisbane, hoping to have their child Henry, 3, enrolled in the school
More than 20 parents camped out over the Easter long weekend, bringing tents and sleeping bags, in the hope of enrolling their child in the school
'We've been given numbers based on time of arrival, so we're number one ... we're pretty proud of that,' Ms Forrest told The Today Show.
'We're out of catchment. Last year they took 15 people out of 22 applicants or something like that, out of catchment.'
Mr Forrest said those who live outside the catchment area have to line up to get a place for their child.
He said the couple took the extreme measure because of the school's reputation and it was close to where they - and the grandparents - lived.
'Reputation these days with schools, being a public school, is a good thing, so that's what we're basing this on,' he said.
He said there were more than 20 people who had also camped out in front of the school.
Parents came prepared to brave the overnight conditions outside Seven Hills State School, with enrolments opening from 8am on Tuesday
'We got to meet all the possible parents who are going to the school, so it's kind of a good social and community experience,' he said.
But Ms Forrest also acknowledged it has been an 'intense' process.
The family will not find out if their child's enrolment has been successful until later in the year.
'The timing's a little bit tricky because other schools let you know at certain times,' Mr Forrest said.
'But we've put our eggs in this basket based on the reputation and now we've met a whole bunch of people.
'Henry has met other kids as well, so it's probably our first preference now.
'The level of quality you get in public schools, especially in Queensland, seems very good. It would be silly to waste money on education where the public system is really good.'
Enrolment at the school opened at 8am on Tuesday.
While polls, pundits and professors all called the 2016 election wrong, American University history professor Allan Lichtman stood out by predicting a win for Donald Trump.
Soon after, he made another astonishing prediction, that Trump would get impeached. In a new interview with GQ, he's standing behind that assessment and giving it some meat.
'I believe he is more vulnerable than any other president in the history of the nation,' Lichtman said.
President Donald Trump (right), first lady Melania Trump (center) and Barron Trump at today's White House Easter Egg Roll. An American University thinks Trump will be impeached
Candidate Donald Trump on election night. American University's Allan Lichtman was one of the few to publicly predict a Trump victory, but now he also believes Trump will be impeached
Lichtman laid out his thoughts in a new book, 'The Case for Impeachment.'
Unlike his election prediction, his impeachment theory isn't based on a formal methodology because only two presidents have been impeached, while Richard Nixon, resigned before the House of Representatives could do such a thing.
American University history professor Allan Lichtman (pictured) wrote a new book explaining why he thinks President Trump will be impeached
Instead Lichtman said he did a 'deep study of history,' looking at the parallels Trump possesses to those presidents who have been impeached.
He added that he looked at, 'a study of the process of impeachment; a study of Trump's vulnerabilities, particularly those that have arisen over the course of his business career; and a look at the early weeks of his tenure in the White House.'
Looking at Nixon, Lichtman said the parallels between the late president and the current occupant are 'quite chilling.'
'Trump is very thin-skinned and considers the media to be his enemy. He believes in being on the attack at all times, and in the important of getting even with people,' Lichtman said. 'He has a penchant for lying and for deflecting controversy instead of meeting it head-on.'
'Finally, like Nixon, Trump seems bereft of any guiding principles, other than doing what is best for himself,' the professor continued. 'This lack of guiding principles, for a president, is very dangerous.'
Lichtman suggested Trump could get nailed on a variety of things, included the must talked-about Russian election controversy.
'There is still a lot of smoke around the campaign's Russia links,' Lichtman said. 'Carter Page, Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, Jeff Sessions and General Flynn, among others. I think there could be come fire there.'
The professor also pointed out that Trump could get in trouble for business conflicts of interest through the Emoluments Clause.
Other experts have often cited that part of the Constitution as well, when suggesting the current president could be legally impeached.
Lichtman said pushing Trump out the door could be beneficial for Congressional Republicans, who are charged with impeachment and the trial.
'They would love to have Mike Pence in the White House!' Lichtman said of Republicans, especially those in the House.
Pence will be able to pick his own vice president and that could be current House Speaker Paul Ryan, who was the party's vice presidential nominee in 2012: 'The ultimate dream team for Republicans.'
'Assuming Democrats are on board, it would only take about two dozen Republicans to deflect from their majority to secure enough votes to impeach,' Lichtman pointed out.
As for why Lichtman originally picked Trump, the D.C. professor said he had a system, he called 'The Keys to the Presidency,' which essentially looked at the strength of the incumbent president's party.
He tuned out the larger narrative that suggested Trump could not win and instead honed in on details like the fact the Democrats didn't get through another big package after Obamacare.
'A presidential election is, at its core, a referendum on whether the party in power should get four more years in office,' Lichtman noted.
By his measure, they did not.
A Current Affair presenter Tracy Grimshaw has said the week her colleague Ben McCormack was arrested over sharing child pornography was the 'worst of her life'.
McCormack, 42, was arrested on his way to work in Sydney on April 6, charged with using a carriage service to send child pornography and has been admitted to an 'institution' for mental health treatment.
Friends of Grimshaw, 56, said the veteran host is devastated by the incident and cannot even utter McCormack's name, Women's Day reported.
'This really is her worst nightmare - to have someone she worked with a trusted for so many years arrested for child porn,' the friend said.
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A Current Affair presenter Tracy Grimshaw has said the week her colleague Ben McCormack (pictured) was arrested over sharing child pornography was the 'worst of her life'
Friends of Grimshaw, 56, (pictured) said the veteran host is devastated by the incident and cannot even utter McCormack's name
'I honestly don't think she can even bring herself to talk about it'.
Friends also revealed Grimshaw has only been leaving her home to travel to the ACA offices at Willoughby in Sydney's north.
On Wednesday, McCormack's lawyer, Sam Macedone, told a Sydney court he did not know how long it would be before the Nine Network journalist was discharged from the institution.
The court granted a suppression order on the name of the medical institution where McCormack is recovering because his lawyer said there would be a media frenzy.
'For his own wellbeing I'm asking the location of where he is be suppressed,' Mr Macedone told the court.
'Otherwise there will be a media circus outside that institution which will not assist Mr McCormack with his present problems'.
Friends also revealed Grimshaw (pictured with McCormack) has only been leaving her home to travel to the ACA offices at Willoughby in Sydney's north
A Current Affair senior reporter Ben McCormack (pictured) has been admitted to an 'institution' for mental health treatment, a Sydney court has heard
It also emerged McCormack had been reprimanded over piling screenshots of dead Palestinian children on his desk in a bid to rile up a Jewish colleague
Last week, Daily Mail Australia revealed McCormack's Grindr profile, which specified he was looking for 'young slim smooth... dudes' and said 'short is hot'.
His profile, seen in May 2016, was accompanied by a photograph of his shirtless torso.
It also emerged he had been reprimanded over piling screenshots of dead Palestinian children on his desk in a bid to rile up a Jewish colleague.
Daily Mail Australia revealed he directed a risque short film in the early 2000s where father-son incest in a gay bathhouse was a key plot line.
On Wednesday, McCormack's lawyer, Sam Macedone, told a Sydney court he did not know how long it would be before the Nine Network journalist was discharged from the institution
'This really is her worst nightmare - To have someone she worked with a trusted for so many years arrested for child porn,' a friend said of Grimshaw's reaction
The Grindr profile of A Current Affair reporter Ben McCormack is pictured above
In his profile, McCormack specified the type of person he was seeking to date
He is under strict bail conditions preventing him from being exposed to children and has been suspended from the surf life saving club where he volunteered.
McCormack's arrest sent shockwaves through the Australian media, particularly given his work in exposing Hey Dad! abuser Robert Hughes.
McCormack will face Downing Centre Local Court on May 1.
The Nine Network journalist was arrested on April 6 over a child pornography charge (pictured)
Security measures around the Sydney Opera House must be urgently reviewed in order to prevent the possibility of a London-style terror attack, it has been warned.
It comes after several vehicles drove through the harbourside promenade towards the city's most recognisable landmark recently.
The eastern promenade, between Circular Quay station and the Opera House, has several unsecured areas sparking concerns the area is vulnerable to the possibility of vehicles as large as a truck driving into crowds of pedestrians, according to The Australian.
But it's unclear who is ultimately in charge of the precinct, and when agencies including the City of Sydney, Sydney Opera House Trust, Property NSW and NSW Police were approached, most were unable to clarify the matter, the paper reports.
Security measures around the Sydney Opera House must be urgently reviewed in order to prevent the possibility of a London-style terror attack, it has been warned
Patricia Forsythe, the Sydney Business Chamber executive director, said the area has been affected by a 'lack of co-ordination' for some time.
She said the agencies work together to secure the area for large events such as New Year's Eve but year-round security needed to be reviewed.
'We are probably overdue for a review of these agencies,' she told The Australian.
'While they work together in the area of security for large events such as New Year's Eve and Vivid, the question I'm hearing from business people is: 'What about the rest of the year?'
Her call was echoed by residents and workers in the area who said they've seen three vehicles driving onto the busy pedestrian strip in recent weeks.
It comes after several vehicles drove through the harbourside promenade towards the city's most recognisable landmark recently
The concern is the area could become a target for a terror attack, like recent ones in London, Nice and Stockholm where heavy vehicles were used as weapons to mow down people in the street.
A resident of Bennelong Apartments, home to some of the city's most affluent professionals, said he was walking along the promenade last week when a white van drove up behind him.
Patricia Forsythe, the Sydney Business Chamber executive director, said the area has been affected by a 'lack of co-ordination'
'All of a sudden, there's a van coming behind us and there were people everywhere,' he said.
'They drove the entire length of the promenade it was scary.'
The vehicle an unmarked Fort Transit van reportedly drove between metal bollards and along the promenade last Thursday afternoon.
But Property NSW told the Australian that the van had a clearance to be on the promenade.
However, an ice cream van also breached the turning circle by the Opera House at Macquarie Street and parked on the promenade to sell to punters for five hours on Thursday.
Both the Opera House and Property NSW said the area did not fall under its jurisdiction.
The resident added that the area is a 'real target' and security measures need to be taken seriously.
Security experts have backed up the sentiment, saying the area which attracts more than 8.2 million visitors a year needs to make safety measures more stringent.
A five-year-old boy fighting for life after he fell from the Cha Cha ride on Easter Monday was related to a carnival worker.
The boy sustained serious head and foot injuries after falling at Rye Carnival, south of Melbourne, on Monday afternoon.
He was a family member of one of the ride operators and had been hanging onto the side of one of the gondolas before he fell, according to 9 News.
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A boy, five, sustained serious head and foot injuries after falling at Rye Carnival, south of Melbourne, on Monday afternoon
Paramedics were called about 5.15pm and the boy was taken to Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne by air ambulance (scene pictured)
However, witnesses claim he was 'flung' from his seat.
The boy is still in a critical condition on Tuesday morning.
Paramedics were called about 5.15pm and worked on him for 45 minutes before he was taken to Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne by air ambulance.
The ride seats 44 people, who must be over 130cm to take the ride. It is made up of small carriages which are lifted off the ground and spun around.
WorkSafe Victoria is investigating the incident.
Paramedics were called about 5.15pm and the boy was taken to Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne by air ambulance (pictured)
Sean Lynch, who witnessed the incident, reportedly said the young boy's mother was distressed at the scene
Sean Lynch, who witnessed the incident, told the Herald Sun the young boy's mother was distressed at the scene.
'I was about 30 metres away from her and I could see she was holding her hands on her head and looked so distraught she was really upset,' Mr Lynch said.
Another parent, who had been on the ride with their own children, said the boy was flung out of his seat about five minutes into the ride - which was 'the last of the day'.
'There appeared to be a number of carnival workers and relatives of workers on the ride,' the witness said.
The five-year-old boy remained in a critical condition on Tuesday morning (Cha Cha ride is pictured)
The boy was airlifted out of the Rye Carnival (pictured) to Royal Children's Hospital (pictured: another ride from the carnival)
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Wittingslow Carnivals, who run the Rye Carnival.
A website for the carnival says the event is targeted at two to 12-year-olds, the local community, and visitors to the peninsula.
The five-day carnival offers circus workshops, stage performances, roving acts and magic shows, as well as rides.
Google reviews from previous guests say the rides available are 'great' and 'appeared safe'.
One particularly pleased customer referred to it as 'the best place on earth'.
Bear Grylls has criticised schools for not being fully equipped to prepare children for adult life, adding that they need to empower young people more.
The 42-year-old, who has three sons with his wife Shara, also admitted to breaking a few school rules by taking his children away during term time.
He said: I try never to be away for more than a couple of weeks at a time. And even if, like in the last month, Ive been away solidly I try to come back for a weekend. And then if it has to be a long time I get the family out with me.
Grylls said he was never the 'sportiest or the cleverest' at school but he was very determined
Break a few school rules so maybe the boys are out [of school] for a bit longer than they are meant to be.
It is against the law in England for children to miss school without the permission of the head teacher except for reasons such as illness.
Less than two weeks ago, Jon Platt, a father from the Isle of Wight who took his seven-year-old daughter out of school to go to Disney World for a week in 2015, lost a landmark court battle when he refused to pay a fine for taking his child out of school.
Grylls, who attended Eton, criticised schools for focusing on grades at the expense of life lessons.
Grylls wants his kids equipped for the long haul in life and not 'a sprint to get to the top at 18'
The stars son Huckleberry, 10, has just done a term at an international school in the Alps while Jesse, 14, is at boarding school and Marmaduke, eight, is attending prep school.
When asked whether he thinks the education system is failing to prepare kids for adulthood, he told the Radio Times: I do, and the people who suffer are the kids.
I want my kids to be equipped for life and life is not a sprint to get to the top at 18. Its a long haul. Life kicks the s*** out of you and it rewards the persistent.
He added: Schools have got to empower kids for life, rather than getting to a certain level on a league table.
The survival expert said that passing selection for the SAS was the first time he proved his determination to himself
The brain surgeons, the high achievers in life arent always the best at school, they are just determined to get there. I bet that brain surgeon is the guy who got Bs and Cs at A-Level.
The survival expert, who splits his time between living on a houseboat on the Thames and a remote island off the coast of north Wales, added: I was never very brilliant at school. Never the sportiest or the cleverest, but the one thing I could control was I could be determined.
The SAS was the first time I really proved that to myself, when I passed selection. And ever since I have leant on that feeling, that if I hang on in there I can do it.'
Australian taxpayers will fund open days at 13 mosques to help end Islamophobia in Australia.
Mosques across Victoria will open their doors to non-Muslims on May 7 to 'breakdown misconceptions about Islam' by offering tours and discussions of Islam.
The Victorian Government has given the peak Muslim body $16,500 to fund the event.
Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) president Mohamed Mohideen said people of 'all faiths, no faith, nationality and gender' were invited to attend and meet their Muslim neighbours
Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) president Mohamed Mohideen said people of 'all faiths, no faith, nationality and gender' were invited to attend and meet their Muslim neighbours.
'We want the Victorian community to look beyond what is portrayed of Muslims and build dialogue and friendships while sharing mutual respect and understanding,' he said.
The ICV said it received funding from the Victorian Government for the project for the shared goal of breaking down 'misconceptions' about the religion.
The Islamic Council of Victoria told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday it received an extra $16,500 from the government for the Open Day alone
The Islamic Council of Victoria told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday it received an extra $16,500 from the State Government for the open day.
But the peak Muslim body received more than $95,000 in taxpayer grants in 2016-2017, an $80,000 'community harmony' payout and $10,000 for a Muslim arts festival, the Herald Sun reports.
The Andrews Labor Government has long supported the Islamic community in Victoria.
The Government promised almost $1 million in 2015 to 'support a better understanding of Islamic culture'.
The Andrews Labor Government has long supported the Islamic community in Victoria
The government approved a $450,000 grant to the Islamic Museum of Australia in 2015, to help 'educate the community about Islam'.
The funding was to be paid across three years, in addition to earlier capital funding of $500,000.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said Islamic bodies like the ICV fostered 'interfaith and intercultural dialogue'.
'On behalf of the Victorian Government I congratulate the Islamic Council of Victoria on its many achievements during the past year and offer my best wishes for the future,' Mr Andrews said in 2015 when it handed out funding.
'On behalf of the Victorian Government I congratulate the Islamic Council of Victoria on its many achievements during the past year and offer my best wishes for the future,' Mr Andrews said
WHICH MOSQUES WILL OPEN DOORS? Virgin Mary Mosque (Werribee Islamic Centre)
Carlton North Mosque (Albanian Australian Islamic Society of Carlton North)
Islamic Association of Monash Mosque
City Mosque (Islamic Council of Victoria)
Thomastown Mosque (Diyanet)
Emir Sultan Mosque
Benevolence Australia
Elsedeaq Heidelberg Mosque
Gippsland Australian Muslim Community Advertisement
ICV president Mohamed Mohideen praised Premier Daniel Andrews this year for his 'wonderful' leadership.
The Mosque Open Day received no funding from the federal government.
The Islamic Council of Victoria represents more than 180,000 Victorian Muslims in Melbourne and rural Victoria.
From 60 mosques across the state, 13 will cooperate and open their doors to non-Muslims on May 7.
The ICV said people would be welcomed by the Muslim community with open arms.
'(There will be) the sweet smell of musk, soft artisan rugs under every footstep, friendly faces and a serene calm in the air,' it said.
Million-pound apartment sales in England and Wales have nearly trebled in a decade.
Nearly 3,000 flats worth 1 million or more were sold last year, a 196 per cent jump from 1,002 in 2006.
Nearly all of the the plush properties were based in London - 96 per cent - and made up a third of all million-pound addresses sold in the capital that year, data gathered by Lloyds Private Banking showed.
Westminster is home to the most expensive apartments in the UK, with an average price of 2,215,073.
Million-pound apartment sales in England and Wales have nearly trebled in a decade
A spokeswoman said the jump was partly explained by a growing population and increasing demand.
Kensington and Chelsea saw soaring numbers of the luxury spaces being snapped up, where 731 flats sold compared with 357 in 2006, overtaking terraced houses as the most popular million-pound properties.
In up-and-coming Hackney, east London, there were no million-pound apartments sold in 2006. Last year, there were 47.
The figures, taken from the Land Registry, found the exclusive flats now make up 22 per cent of all million-pound property sales in England and Wales.
Sales of flats worth more than 1 million have grown at a far greater pace than houses.
Nearly 3,000 flats worth 1 million or more were sold last year, a 196 per cent jump from 1,002 in 2006
The sale of detached homes over the one million mark rose 88 per cent, while semi-detached increased 154 per cent and terraced houses went up 165 per cent over the same period.
Head of Lending at Lloyds Private Banking, Louise Santaana, said: 'London dominates the million-pound flat market, with the prime areas of Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea accounting for over half of all million-pound apartment sales in England and Wales.
'A finite supply of land in prime central London combined with a growing population has meant the only way is up, with more and more developers focusing on apartments.
'In the past decade there has been a large increase in the building of high value apartments in Knightsbridge, West End, Victoria and King's Cross, while Marylebone and Mayfair being the top two locations for most development.
'With demand still high, there are more in the pipeline.'
Justice Secretary Liz Truss (pictured) has set out plans to make it easier to remove thousands of foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers. A new fast-track system will hasted their removal following failed cases.
Major measures will be unveiled today to make it easier to remove thousands of foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers from Britain.
Following an outcry over illegal immigrants exploiting human rights laws to remain in the UK, ministers have proposed a new fast-track system intended to accelerate their removal.
Justice Secretary Liz Truss has set out plans to speed up significantly around 2,000 cases a year where a foreign national is locked up.
The scheme will make it quicker to get foreign prisoners and unsuccessful refugees who lose their legal challenge on to a plane home. It will save taxpayers an estimated 2.7million a year in lawyers and court fees and the huge costs of detaining those who do not have permission to be in Britain.
The Daily Mail revealed yesterday that the removal of failed asylum seekers had sunk to a record low, fuelling concerns that the UK is failing to get a grip on its borders.
Despite a backlog of nearly 27,000 failed asylum seekers who were deemed subject to removal action, the Home Office deported fewer than 3,500 in 2016. This is a fall of two-thirds since 2010, when the Tories came to power.
Meanwhile, a committee of MPs found last year that there are more than 13,000 foreign criminals in Britain either in jail or walking our streets.
Many of those living in the community after finishing their sentences have successfully resisted deportation by using human rights legislation. Critics said too many illegal immigrants were playing the system.
Miss Truss hopes the new detention fast-track proposals will stem further erosion of public confidence in a failing asylum system. She has published the revamped plans two years after judges found that part of the system was unlawful.
Miss Truss said: It is vital that foreign nationals who have no right to remain in the country should be removed as quickly as possible.
We must ensure that foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers are not exploiting the justice system by attempting to stay in the UK after their claims have been rejected.
Our proposals are also better for detainees as it will see their detention time cut.
Alp Mehmet, vice-chairman of think-tank Migrationwatch which campaigns for balanced immigration, said: This is a welcome and sensible proposal, and not before time.
Despite a backlog of nearly 27,000 failed asylum seekers who were deemed subject to removal action, the Home Office deported fewer than 3,500 in 2016. This is a fall of two-thirds since 2010, when the Tories came to power
However, the Ministry of Justice plan is likely to provoke anger among refugee campaigners, who fought the fast- track system with legal action for years.
The proposals focus on detained foreign criminals or failed asylum seekers who appeal against a decision to remove them from Britain. Under the new scheme, the time between an initial decision and conclusion of an appeal to the first-tier tribunal of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber will be no longer than 28 days.
Currently it typically takes a third longer around 36 days. However, an assessment of detained asylum cases between August 2015 and March 2016 found some individuals were held for more than 100 days while their case was decided.
The detained fast-track system was introduced by Labour in 2003, at the height of the crisis over the first Sangatte migrant camp near Calais.
Ministry of Justice plan is likely to provoke anger among refugee campaigners, who fought the fast- track system with legal action for years. The new plans now have to go before the independent Tribunal Procedure Committee, which sets rules for tribunals
It applied in cases where officials believed an asylum claim had no merits and the application could be quickly resolved.
Any appeal was also fast-tracked and, crucially, the migrant was locked up while the review took place to prevent them absconding.
But this aspect was ruled unlawful by the Court of Appeal in June 2015 because rejected asylum seekers were given only seven days to appeal. Applicants and their lawyers were not able to properly prepare their cases, judges said.
In a surprise move, then-immigration minister James Brokenshire took the step of suspending the entire system. He made the decision in the face of further legal challenges.
The new plans now have to go before the independent Tribunal Procedure Committee, which sets rules for tribunals. It will consider whether and how the proposals should be implemented.
One in five British businesses has been hacked by cyber criminals in the past year, research suggests.
Larger companies, defined as those with at least 100 staff, are more susceptible to cyber attacks, according to the report by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
It found that 42 per cent of big businesses had fallen victim to cyber crime, compared with 18 per cent of small companies.
One in five British businesses have been targeted by cyber criminals in the past year, with 42 per cent of big business falling victim to hackers. Companies targeted include Yahoo and Ashley Madison (file photo)
Despite this, only 24 per cent of the 1,200 firms surveyed had security measures in place to guard against hacking.
Web giant Yahoo, telecoms firm TalkTalk and controversial dating website Ashley Madison are among the high-profile businesses to have suffered cyber attacks in recent years, with the loss of millions of customers' account data.
Adam Marshall, BCC director-general, said: 'Cyber attacks risk companies' finances, confidence and reputation, with victims reporting not only monetary losses, but costs from disruption to their business and productivity.
'Firms need to be proactive about protecting themselves from cyber attacks.
'Security accreditations can help businesses assess their own IT infrastructure, defend against cyber-security breaches and mitigate the damage caused by an attack. It can also increase confidence among the businesses and clients who they engage with online.
'Businesses should also be mindful of the extension to data protection regulation coming into force next year, which will increase their responsibilities and requirements to protect personal data.
Even though cyber crime is affecting almost half of big business, only 24 per cent of all companies had security measures in place to guard against cyber criminals (file photo)
'Firms that don't adopt the appropriate protections leave themselves open to tough penalties.
'Companies are reporting a reliance on IT support providers to resolve cyber-attacks.
'More guidance from government and police about where and how to report attacks would provide businesses with a clear path to follow in the event of a cyber-security breach and increase clarity around the response options available to victims, which would help minimise the occurrence of cyber crime.'
The trust, covering Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, says it has an acute problem in holding on to British-trained doctors
A hospital trust struggling to recruit British doctors has turned to refugees from Iraq and Syria to help combat staff shortages.
The trust, covering Middlesbrough and Hartlepool, says it has an acute problem in holding on to British-trained doctors.
Now a pioneering scheme is paying for 11 refugee doctors to take the medical and language exams they need to pass in order to apply for jobs in the NHS.
The cost, which is being met by Health Education England, is estimated to be under 3,000 per doctor.
This is far less than the 163,000 bill to train a British doctor. But local politicians last night said the move was a publicity stunt that papers over failures to properly tackle the NHS staffing crisis.
The pilot scheme was opened to those who had been granted asylum. It involves one pharmacist and 11 doctors from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Pakistan.
No bailouts! NHS overspenders face shutdown Hospital units face closure in areas which have overspent their budgets. NHS chiefs are drawing up lists of centres that will have to make difficult choices. A report published by NHS England warns that some districts and services are effectively relying on bailouts from other parts of the country. It said: Some organisations and geographies have historically been substantially overspending their fair shares of NHS funding and their control totals. In effect they have been living off bailouts arbitrarily taken from other parts of the country or from services such as mental health. This is no longer affordable or desirable. The authors warned that action would be taken in the next 12 months to cut back services that are overspending. Going into 2017/18 it is critical that those geographies that are significantly out of balance now confront the difficult choices they have to take, they said. Where necessary this may mean explicitly scaling back spending on locally unaffordable services. Any cutbacks or closures are expected to be made as part of a sustainability and transformation plan. The Health Service Journal, which revealed the cutbacks proposal, calculated that Staffordshire was the most likely to face cuts, having breached its control total by 68million last year. The Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire area overspent by 45million, 3 per cent of its income. An NHS England spokesman said: It is grossly unfair if one part of the country continually overspends at the expense of other areas. Advertisement
The doctors will take a test under the International English Language Testing System to prove they are a good to very good user of English and have an operational command of the language.
Next they will undergo tests of their medical competence and language carried out by the Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board. These tests are taken by all doctors outside the EU seeking to work in the UK.
They will then be supported to get jobs, but none will be paid until they are registered with the General Medical Council and working for the NHS.
Organisers stress that the refugee doctors will not carry out any clinical duties until they have full GMC registration.
The refugees are the first recruits for the Refugees Programme for Overseas Doctors, set up between the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust and a Middlesbrough-based charity called Investing in People and Culture.
The scheme began in December and the first intake are expected to begin clinical training placements soon.
Professor Jane Metcalf, deputy medical director of the trust, said: The programme has the potential to provide much-needed support for the NHS.
This area of the country has a particularly acute problem in recruiting and retaining doctors so a side effect of the programme will be to fill gaps we couldnt otherwise fill. These are early days but it is looking really promising.
But local representatives have raised concerns that the trust has failed to put more long-term measures in place to retain staff.
Ray Martin-Wells, a Conservative councillor, said: Good publicity for the trust is one thing but good patient safety is another. One would hope were not going to be putting these people in a position where they are out of their depth.
Ukip councillor John Tennant, leader of the official opposition at Hartlepool Borough Council, added: This cant be a long-term solution. In Hartlepool we have internationally recognised services, but were slowly losing the people who provide those services.
But Karen Wilkinson-Bell, chairman of Investing in People and Culture, said: These people are skilled doctors and yet some were surviving by delivering pizzas.
Now, for a relatively small investment, this programme is achieving great things on a humanitarian level while also benefiting our local area immensely by plugging gaps in the NHS.
The recruits include orthopaedic specialist Ahmad Zia Baluch, who fled Afghanistan a year ago with his family after he became a target of the Taliban because of translation work he did for Nato.
When Amanda Knox was on trial in Italy for allegedly murdering her flatmate in 2007, she had received support from then-private citizen Donald Trump.
But after Knox, who was subsequently acquitted, supported Hillary Clinton for president, Trump is no longer in her corner.
The president is said to be 'very upset' with the 'ungrateful' Knox, according to a Trump neighbor who was the subject of a profile in The New York Times on Sunday.
The neighbor, George Lombardi, was the subject of a profile by the Times.
Lombardi is a neighbor of Trump's at Trump Tower who is also known as an associate with contacts in European far-right political circles.
In the Times piece, Lombardi said that Trump was 'very upset' that Knox had publicly endorsed his opponent, Clinton, for the presidency.
President Donald Trump is reportedly 'very upset' with Amanda Knox (above), the American woman who was detained for four years and eventually acquitted of murdering her flatmate in an Italian apartment in 2007
Trump (left) was stunned to learn that Knox (seen right in 2008) did not vote for him in the recent presidential election
Trump was a supporter of Knox and believed in her innocence. 'Everyone should boycott Italy is Amanda Knox is not freed - she is totally innocent,' Trump tweeted in September 2011
Trump even donated money to Knox's defense fund while she was incarcerated in Italy. 'Amanda Knox is innocent,' he tweeted in October 2011. 'Italian government should pay for this travesty'
Knox was arrested and tried for the November 1, 2007 murder of Meredith Kercher, who was stabbed to death in a student apartment she shared with Knox in Perugia, Italy.
A lengthy legal process in the Italian court system meant the case dragged on for eight years in total - finally concluding in March of 2015.
In 2009, two years after Meredith died, Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison for the murder and sexual assault, while Sollecito got 25 years.
Another man, drifter Rudy Guede, was jailed for 30 years cut to 16 on appeal.
The revelation of Trump's feelings toward Knox was made by Guido Lombardi (center), a neighbor of Trump's who owns an apartment at Trump Tower. He was the subject of an expose by The New York Times
But then in 2011, both Knox and Sollecito were controversially cleared and freed after the prosecution's key evidence collapsed.
It was only in 2015 that the appeals process finally came to an end and the pair's acquittal stood - a final verdict; Guede is now the only convicted murderer.
When Knox was facing trial and incarceration in Italy, Trump tweeted in support of her innocence and urged sanctions against Italy if she went to jail.
Knox even wrote that Trump had donated money to her defense fund when she and her family were strapped for cash.
But when Knox returned to the United States after her acquittal in 2015, she endorsed Clinton because of her views on abortion.
'Trump's statements about abortionwere misinformed,' Knox wrote in an op-ed for the West Seattle Herald.
Knox (left) endorsed Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton (right), because she agreed with her views on abortion rights and reproductive health
'Hillary's position on women's reproductive health was the source of my enthusiasm for her presidential candidacy,' she wrote.
When Knox had publicly stated her support for Clinton, she said she began to receive backlash from Trump supporters who demanded that she owed the Republican her vote because of his advocacy for her cause.
'Politics is not a tit-for-tat game,' Knox wrote. 'It's not: I helped you, now you help me.'
'Only in Banana Republics do rich political leaders dole out favors in exchange for your silence and your vote.'
'Tit-for-tat politics are a threat to Democracy, and it troubles me that some Trump supporters subscribe to that policy.'
Knox noted that while Trump was correct in his belief of her innocence, he has maintained that the teens arrested in the Central Park Five case were guilty even though authorities acknowledged that they were wrongfully imprisoned.
'In a time when my entire family had already tapped into their retirement savings and taken out second mortgages, we were grateful when any supporters, including Trump, donated to my defense and spoke out about my innocence,' she wrote.
'And like some of my supporters, Trump had his own ideas and his own way; he called for the U.S. to sanction Italy until they released mea pronouncement which only amplified anti-American sentiment towards me in the courtroom.'
'Even if Trump means well, his schemes tend to be blunt, selfish, and short-sighted, rather than nuanced, empathetic, and thought through.'
Hundreds of British troops will deploy to South Sudan in the coming weeks as the UK government tries to stave off the world's fastest growing refugee crisis.
Some 300 soldiers will be sent to two major bases in the war-ravaged nation as part of a new east Africa mission designed to tackle migration at its source.
They will be part of a UN peacekeeping mission in a country gripped by the world's first famine in six years. It will be one of the largest deployments of UK troops across the globe.
Hundreds of British troops will deploy to South Sudan in the coming weeks as the UK government tries to stave off the world's fastest growing refugee crisis
Millions of pounds of UK aid money will also be poured into South Sudan this year to help save desperate children fleeing 'unimaginable horrors'.
The Daily Mail was granted access to a crisis clinic where starving toddlers are being treated after they were forced to flee from gunmen carrying out massacres.
They were saved from death by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) - which receives British foreign aid money.
Speaking from war-torn Ganyiel, aid workers from the IRC warned without 'urgent' intervention there will be a 'catastrophic' number of deaths in the country.
They said the civil war had created a 'melting pot' which had culminated in children fighting for survival.
Lieutenant Colonel Jason Ainley, the commanding officer in the country, said UK troops, along with others, were 'playing a huge role in trying to alleviate the problems here in South Sudan'.
Some 300 soldiers will be sent to two major bases in the war-ravaged nation as part of a new east Africa mission designed to tackle migration at its source
They will be part of a UN peacekeeping mission in a country gripped by the world's first famine in six years
He said: 'Our part in this mission is contributing to the UN objective of solving the source of the problem. There is no doubt, this is a major deployment for the UK.
'The UK will play a significant role in the coming months. We have been preparing for this for 6-8 months and to be finally here it fills you with pride.'
Defence minister Mike Penning, who visited the region, said: 'This mission, along with others in the region, aims to end destabilising conflict that is prompting migration and shows how Britain works globally to promote security.'
Some 1.6million people have either been displaced or fled to neighbouring countries in the past eight months as a result of a famine and fighting.
More than 2,800 people are fleeing the country every day to neighbouring African nations.
Those that have stayed in the country are reliant on aid cash - but it is running out.
One of those currently seeing the benefits of UK aid cash at the IRC clinic is Ton Biel, 27.
It will be one of the largest deployments of UK troops across the globe. Pictured: Effects of famine in Ganyiel
She was forced to flee her home in the middle of the night with her four children - including twins - as tribesmen raided her village and shot dead her husband.
After wading for eight hours through marshland, Mrs Biel and her children, Luelgok, Nyaboth, aged 1, Nyak, 4, and Nyareik, 10, arrived at the town of Ganyiel.
Speaking from the centre, she said: 'I am scared we will die. I am scared the tribesmen will come from the villages.
'I am scared of starvation. If we had stayed there (Polmok village), we would have died of hunger and it was not safe.
'We don't know whether we will survive this year or not.'
She was taken in by the Ganyiel primacy care centre - covering an area of 99,000 people - because her emaciated twins nearly died on the journey.
Millions of pounds of UK aid money will also be poured into South Sudan this year to help save desperate children fleeing 'unimaginable horrors'
The Daily Mail was granted access to a crisis clinic where starving toddlers are being treated after they were forced to flee from gunmen carrying out massacres
Weighing just 5kg each at 18-months-old - and with their arm width at just 10cm, the girl and boy twins are suffering from severe malnutrition.
She said: 'I am here because my children are sick. Their father died and I cannot feed them alone.
'He was killed by tribesmen who raided our home in November.'
Speaking about the incident as she fed one of the twins, she said: 'We heard shooting noises and we were scared and my husband told me to run and keep running with our children.
'We ran to the bushes and hid there. Then we came back and he was lying dead on the floor. He had been shot.'
She added: 'We had to leave. It took us eight hours to get to Ganyiel. My children were ill, and I was struggling to produce enough milk because of my sorrow.
'We waded through the marshes and survived on wild fruits and water lilies.'
Toddlers were saved from death by the International Rescue Committee (IRC) - which receives British foreign aid money
Speaking from war-torn Ganyiel, aid workers from the IRC warned without 'urgent' intervention there will be a 'catastrophic' number of deaths in the country
Crucially, the IRC is equipped with canoes to navigate through the swamps to remote islands off the River Nile and reach those who need it most.
Doctor Stacey Mearns, a health co-ordinator with the IRC's emergency response team, said: 'The level of need is enormous here and it is challenging because of access and insecurity.
'Our biggest issue is the geography, it is difficult getting to people because of the swamps and marshes which is why we need to use canoes.
'These people are on the brink of survival.
'The level of humanitarian suffering is overwhelming. Without urgent humanitarian intervention, there will be a catastrophic number of deaths.
'People will simply starve to death and many more will suffer and die from disease.'
Speaking of the causes, she added: 'The war has directly caused the famine.
Experts say the civil war has created a 'melting pot' which had culminated in children fighting for survival
'It created a melting pot that has brewed and brewed and culminated in this situation.
'I think it would be completely immoral and unjust to stand back and watch catastrophic numbers of people die from famine.'
As well as starvation, children are also dying from cholera and other diseases such as malaria and pneumonia.
One million people - including hundreds of thousands of children - are on the brink of starvation due to the man-made crisis.
Famine has been declared in two counties in South Sudan, where civil war between different tribes has raged since 2013.
Lieutenant Colonel Jason Ainley, the commanding officer in the country, said UK troops, along with others, were 'playing a huge role in trying to alleviate the problems here in South Sudan'
Britain has pledged 100million out of its 12billion foreign aid budget to South Sudan for this year.
Babar Baloch, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, has warned: 'A famine produced by the vicious combination of fighting and drought is now driving the world's fastest growing refugee crisis.'
Aid minister Priti Patel said: 'UK Aid is providing a lifeline for those fleeing unimaginable horrors but without concrete steps to end the violence by those in power more people will die long, slow painful deaths from the brutal famine.'
Abdel Hakim Belhaj, 50, is willing to drop his case for a token 1 in compensation
A legal battle to silence a Libyan dissident who claims Britain helped hand him over to Colonel Gaddafi's torturers has cost taxpayers 1.5million.
Abdel Hakim Belhaj, 50, is willing to drop his case for a token 1 in compensation and an apology for the UK's complicity in his abuse, but the Government has refused.
He says during Tony Blair's time in office he and his pregnant wife Fatima Bouchard were kidnapped and delivered to Libya thanks to MI6 intelligence and tortured with the help of British spies.
In January the Supreme Court gave the couple permission to sue the Government over their extraordinary rendition where suspects are flown to another country for imprisonment and interrogation.
It raises the prospect of former foreign secretary Jack Straw and ex-MI6 counter-terror chief Sir Mark Allen being hauled into the witness box to explain their role in the scandal. Mr Belhaj, an opponent of Gaddafi, was handed over to the tyrant's henchmen in 2004 the same month as Mr Blair struck his notorious 'deal in the desert' with the despot.
A court hearing could lay bare the depth to which the Blair Government was complicit in the CIA's torture programme. A Freedom of Information request revealed the Treasury Solicitor's department the Government's law office has spent a total of 1,572,017 on internal and external legal costs in a failed attempt to keep the case out of court.
Cori Crider, a lawyer at Reprieve, which represents Mr Belhaj, said: 'The Government has wasted a staggering sum of public money it seems no expense is too great to spare the blushes of the security services.'
Mr Belhaj, a former Islamist fighter, said: 'I am not interested in revenge only for the British Government or those involved in the case to admit to and apologise for what happened.'
He said he had gone through 'a lot of pain and suffering' and accused Mr Blair of 'stepping all over the principles of human rights and justice' that the UK was known for. Mr Belhaj fled Libya as a dissident in the 1990s and sought asylum through the UK.
He says during Tony Blair's time in office he and his pregnant wife Fatima Bouchard were kidnapped and delivered to Libya
But it is claimed MI6 agents tipped off the CIA, and Mr Belhaj and his wife were taken into Libyan custody, where he says he suffered six years in a torture dungeon. Among his claims is that Sir Mark is guilty of negligence and complicity in torture.
Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael said: 'The Government could settle this case tomorrow for 1 and an apology but sorry seems again to be the hardest word to say.'
In a statement, Mr Straw said he had acted lawfully at all times and had never been complicit in unlawful rendition by other states.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: 'It would be inappropriate for the Government to comment on this case due to the ongoing legal proceedings.'
Motorbike riders in Thailand are accustomed to all kinds of dangers in a country that has an extremely high road toll.
But one rider could not have been expecting a shocking wildlife encounter as he enjoyed a scenic ride through the mountains.
Video captured the moment he came under attack from a flying snake, which leapt toward him as he rode through jungle in Lampang, in the country's north.
The incredible footage initially appears innocuous, with the man riding casually in a bushland area.
While riding through the mountainous stretch of road, the man can be seen moving to the left of his lane.
Suddenly, a long object appears in the middle of the road and begins slithering in the direction of the motorbike rider.
As the motorbike rider slows down to and tries to take evasive action, the huge snake leapt into mid-air in an effort to attack him.
A motorbike rider has been given the fright of his life after coming under attack from a leaping snake (pictured) as he rode through a mountainous region of Lampang, in Thailand's north
Desperate to avoid being bitten, the man was forced to lift his legs up into the air to get out of the way of the metre-and-a-half long snake
Desperate to avoid being bitten, the man was forced to lift his legs up into the air to get them out of the way of the metre-and-a-half long snake.
Apparently frightened by the near-miss, the rider can be seen looking around in shock after the incident.
But just moments later, having shaken off the scary encounter, the man continues on with his casual ride as if nothing had happened.
A new elite team of Royal Marines will defend Britain's coast from terrorist attacks.
The Maritime Operations Commando Unit is being set up to tackle ISIS jihadis entering the country via boat.
It will be comprised of 450 expertly trained troops from the 42 Commando Royal Marines in Plymouth, and liaison officers from the SAS and the Special Boat Service.
The Maritime Operations Commando Unit is being set up to tackle jihadis entering the country via boat (file photo)
The unit will carry out raids on enemy vessels and will execute their orders at short notice, reports the Mirror.
The team has been assembled as the Government becomes increasingly concerned about the dangers of terrorist groups infiltrating the nation's ports and smuggling armed fighters inland.
News of the new unit was revealed in a leaked document by Major General Rob Magowan, of the Royal Marines.
He said that focus must turn from 'land-centric campaigns in the Middle East' to fighting on future battlegrounds that are likely to be 'complex'.
Major Magowan said: 'It [the unit] will focus on maritime interdiction and boarding operations, protection teams for Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ships deployed globally.
'It will also provide our core contribution to the UK in response to a terrorist event.'
Hawaii lawmakers want state officials to update plans for coping with a nuclear attack as North Korea develops nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles that can reach the islands.
The state House public safety committee unanimously passed a resolution Thursday.
Committee Vice Chairman Matt LoPresti says he's not trying to spread fear.
But he wants the public to know the government is taking steps to protect them in the worst case scenario.
He's aiming to get state funding to re-equip Cold War-era fallout shelters.
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency Executive Officer Toby Clairmont showed lawmakers a response plan from 1985 that hasn't been updated since.
This April 15, 2017 picture released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on April 16, 2017 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (right) attending a military parade in Pyongyang marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung
US Vice President Mike Pence (above) warned North Korea on Monday that recent American military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed President Donald Trump's resolve should not be questioned, but Pyongyang vowed to continue missile and nuclear tests
He says there's also a need to educate the public about what they can do for themselves.
US Vice President Mike Pence warned North Korea on Monday that recent American military strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed President Donald Trump's resolve should not be questioned, but Pyongyang vowed to continue missile and nuclear tests.
After a huge display of missiles in Pyongyang and a failed North Korean missile test during the weekend, US officials praised China for stepping up efforts to rein in North Korea, Beijing's neighbor and ally.
But Pence and South Korea's acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, said they would proceed with the early deployment to South Korea of the US THAAD missile-defense system, in spite of Chinese objections.
This file photo shows the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70) as transits the South China Sea. The US Navy announced April 15, 2017 it had sent the USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula in a show of force against North Korea's 'reckless' nuclear weapons program
At a White House Easter celebration on Monday, Trump was asked if he had a message for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and replied: 'Gotta behave.'
But senior North Korean officials remained defiant.
North Korea's deputy representative to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, accused Washington of creating 'a situation where nuclear war could break out an any time' and said Pyongyang's next nuclear test would take place 'at a time and at a place where our headquarters deems necessary.'
North Korea's Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol told the BBC that missiles would continue to be tested on 'a weekly, monthly and yearly basis.'
The North Korean government under the leadership of Kim Jong Un has carried out an alarming number of missile launches compared to that of his father, Kim Jong Il
The probability of a North Korean missile strike on Hawaii is low, but, as the above graphic points out, Pyongyang does possess an arsenal of ballistic missiles that could be developed to one day be able to reach the US
Kim Song Gyong, director general of the European Department of North Korea's Foreign Ministry, told Reuters in Pyongyang that if Washington made 'the slightest movement' to make a nuclear strike on North Korea, Pyongyang would strike first and 'destroy the aggressors without any mercy.'
He went on to clarify that the approach of a US naval strike force led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Carl Vinson to Korean waters would not be considered enough to constitute 'the slightest movement'.
Korean tensions have escalated following repeated North Korean missile tests and concerns that Pyongyang may soon conduct a sixth nuclear bomb test in defiance of UN sanctions.
Washington is increasingly worried about North Korean efforts to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could hit the US mainland.
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A talented photographer who documented the plight of poor neighborhoods for the US government during the 1940s captured captivating images of black Chicagoans during the 'Golden Age of Documentary Photography.'
Farm Security Administration (FSA) photographer Edwin Rosskam traveled around the Windy City during the spring of 1941 to illustrate what life was like for the generations of black residents in the city.
The series of photos he took expose the day-to-day living for residents, as some of the images show children playing in the street, people heading to the theater, men hanging out together and families leaving church.
As part of the FSA, the images and information provided by the photographers from the unit, including Rosskam, are now regarded as some of the country's most treasured photos.
Farm Security Administration photographer Edwin Rosskam traveled around the Windy City during the spring of 1941 and captured images showing generations of black residents in the city. Rosskam captured the image above of children playing a game
During the early decades of the 20th century, the Great Migration saw roughly six million African-Americans leave the rural South and travel North in search of better opportunities. Rosskam captured the image above a young man sitting on his bicycle
Those who left the southern states were fleeing segregation, disenfranchisement and the violence associated with the racist Jim Crow South. Rosskam captured the image above showing people outside of homes on the South Side
At the time, Chicago was known as an industrial hub that offered better opportunities for those seeking employment in the railroad and meatpacking industries, as the Windy City offered the best prospects for self-determination, survival and success. Rosskam captured the image above showing men outside of a store on the South Side
However, for those who did move North, life wasn't easy as they still faced many obstacles including resistance from entrenched white ethnic groups like Irish-Americans. Rosskam captured the image above showing men hanging out
During the early decades of the 20th century, the Great Migration saw roughly six million African-Americans leave the rural South and travel North in search of better opportunities.
Those who left the southern states were fleeing segregation, disenfranchisement and the violence associated with the racist Jim Crow South.
At the time, Chicago was known as an industrial hub that offered better opportunities for those seeking employment in the railroad and meatpacking industries, as the Windy City offered the best prospects for self-determination, survival and success.
However, for those who did move North, life wasn't easy as they still faced many obstacles including resistance from entrenched white ethnic groups like Irish-Americans.
In addition, racist housing covenants forced many to live in a narrow strip of impoverished neighborhoods on the Chicago's South Side. Rosskam captured the image above showing a young couple on the South Side
That area became known as the 'Black Belt' and consisted of dilapidated housing that stretched 30 blocks along State Street. Rosskam captured the image above showing children playing a game of marbles on the South Side
Decades later, the South Side is still an area that is predominately black. Rosskam captured the image above showing a young boy walking down the street on the South Side in the 1940s
Rosskam was tasked with traveling the country as part of the Farm Security Administration to capture images from 1935 to 1944 to provide educational materials and press information to the public. The photo above he took shows people on Easter Sunday on the South Side
As part of the FSA, the images and information provided by the photographers from the unit, including Rosskam, are now regarded as some of the country's most treasured photos. The photo above Rosskam took shows people on Easter Sunday on the South Side
Many of the images taken by FSA photographers have appeared in dozens of magazines over the years. The photo above taken by Rosskam shows children playing jump rope on the South Side
The images taken by Rosskam and other FSA photographers show the day-to-day living of people in cities across the country during the 1940s. Rosskam captured the image above showing a young boy leaning on a post in 1941
Rosskam captured the image above showing a young man on the South Side of Chicago in 1941
In addition, racist housing covenants forced many to live in a narrow strip of impoverished neighborhoods on the Chicago's South Side.
That area became known as the 'Black Belt' and consisted of dilapidated housing that stretched 30 blocks along State Street.
The restrictive covenants prevented blacks from moving outside the Black Belt until U.S. Supreme Court cases such as Hansberry v. Lee (1940) and Shelley v. Kraemer (1948) eliminated such restrictions in housing.
Rosskam captured the images above showing two young boys nicely dressed in suits on the South Side in 1941
Rosskam captured the image above showing children hanging out in front of an apartment building on the South Side in 1941
Rosskam captured the image above showing young children nicely dressed and standing in line on the South Side
Rosskam captured the image above showing people heading to a moving picture theater on the South Side
Rosskam captured the image above showing people standing in line for tickets at a moving picture theater on the South Side
But still decades later, housing issues are still a problem as a report from the Chicago Urban League last year found that 19 predominantly African-American neighborhoods -15 of which are located on the South Side - have shown 'little to no change (in) residential segregation, economic growth or poverty reduction over the past several decades.'
The study also found that more than 40 per cent of residents in those neighborhoods live below the federal poverty line.
In addition, Chicago is plagued by violence, as the city's 762 homicides in 2016 were the highest in 19 years.
Rosskam captured the image above showing young boys on the South Side in 1941
Laeticia Brouwer, 17, died after her left leg was bitten off at the hip by a shark as she surfed with her father
The father of a teenage surfer who was mauled to death by a shark tried desperately to save her life by using a surfboard leash as a tourniquet to stem the bleeding.
Laeticia Brouwer, 17, died after her left leg was bitten off at the hip by a shark as she surfed with her father Leon, near Esperance, Western Australia, on Monday afternoon.
Her father battled to save Laeticia, known affectionately as Teesh and dragged her ashore, where he, the teenager's mother, Julie, and an off-duty nurse performed CPR until paramedics arrived, 20 minutes later.
But tragically, Laeticia passed away at Esperance Hospital a short time later.
Fisheries officers returned to the scene of the tragedy early on Tuesday morning, 7 News reports.
They are now on the hunt for the creature that killed the teenager, which they believe to be a great white shark.
'Since 2000 all fatal attacks in WA have been caused by great whites,' Department of Fisheries spokesman Russell Adams said.
'So you could assume safely it was a great white.'
However he added they couldn't be certain, as images of the board following the attack couldn't prove what species of shark it was.
There have been 15 fatal shark attacks in Western Australia since 2000.
Laeticia's father Leon, who desperately to save his daughter's life by using a surfboard leash as a tourniquet, embraces one of her sisters following the 17-year-old's horrific death
Laeticia's family is 'terribly heartbroken and saddened' by her death. Pictured, her father in grey embracing her uncle who said the teenager died 'doing what she loved'
The WA government have said it will not deploy drum lines following the fatal shark attack, but will soon announce details of its policy for shark deterrent devices.
Fisheries minister Dave Kelly described the 17-year-old's death as a tragedy but said drumlines would not be deployed.
'We made it clear in opposition that we don't see the merit in automatically deploying drumlines because they don't actually make our beaches any safer,' he said on Tuesday.
Mr Kelly said the new Labor government wanted to promote individual shark deterrents and hoped to announce a new policy in the next few weeks.
'Obviously the whole incident is very raw at this point in time so I don't intend to debate the whole pros and cons of various elements of the shark mitigation policy today,' he said.
'It would be great if we were in position where we could actually prevent further incidences rather than debating what you should do after an attack.
Laeticia (left, with her family), known affectionately as Teesh by her family, was out surfing with her father near Esperance, Western Australia, on Monday afternoon when she was attacked by the shark
Laeticia's father (the family are pictured surfing) heard her ear-piercing scream as she was dragged underwater by the monster predator near Esperance, Western Australia, on Monday afternoon
Laeticia's uncle, Steve Evans, said the family was 'terribly heartbroken and saddened' by her death, adding that the 'ocean was her and her family's passion'.
'We can take comfort that Teesh died doing something that she loved,' he added.
The girl's surfboard, which had a chunk bitten out of the front of it, has been handed to the police for forensic analysis.
Laeticia was surfing with her father when she let out an ear-piercing scream.
He turned to see her being dragged underwater, but carried her body back to shore with another teenage surfer after she surfaced, The West Australian reported.
Laeticia's mother and two sisters also watched in horror from the beach near Kelps Bed, 3km east of Wylie Bay, as the shark's jaws clamped down on the girl's left leg just before 4pm.
By the time she had been carried ashore, the teenager was unconscious and had lost copious amounts of blood.
The girl's family treated her at the scene while they waited for paramedics to arrive, with a nurse who was on the beach performing CPR on the teenager for 30 minutes.
She was taken by ambulance to Esperance Hospital in a critical conditon and later died.
The girl's surfboard, which had a chunk bitten out of the front of it, has been handed to the police for forensic analysis
The church-going family, from Singleton, north of Mandurah, had been in the area on an Easter holiday.
Mr Evans said: 'Teesh will be greatly missed by her family, friends and everyone who knew her.
'We are thankful for the support from the police, SES, ambulance and bystanders at the scene.
'We are also thankful for the help and support from our community at home, especially our church.
'We can take comfort from the fact that she is now in heaven with the Lord in eternal peace.'
A 17-year-old girl has died after being attacked by a shark in Western Australia's south during an Easter holiday with her family. Pictured, paramedics at the scene
The distraught family were seen leaving a police station hand-in-hand on Tuesday afternoon
The girl's mother and two sisters watched in horror from Kelps Bed, 3km east of Wylie Bay, as the shark's jaws clamped down on her leg just before 4pm
Esperance Police acting senior sergeant Ben Jeffes said Laeticia was a competent surfer.
Her broken surfboard has been recovered and will be analysed to determine what kind of shark attacked her.
'What we have now are the debris which make a complete board,' he told ABC radio.
'There's a real sense of sadness and loss in the community here, it's just terrible,' he added.
Wylie Bay Beach will remain closed today and surfers have been warned to stay away for at least the next 48 hours.
A great white shark had been spotted near the beach within the last week, it was reported.
The beach was closed on Tuesday and surfers were warned to stay away for the next couple of days
The teenager was surfing with her father near Esperance when she was attacked. Pictured, paramedics at the scene
Wylie Bay Beach (pictured) will remain closed today and surfers have been warned to stay away for at least the next 48 hours
Surfer Sean Pollard was attacked at Wylie Bay in 2014. He lost his right hand and left arm in the attack.
Fisherman and surfer Neville Manstead told the West Australian that he would never enter the water at the beach again.
'That's twice now in the same spot. It could have been my son,' he said.
He added that great white sharks were 'breeding like flies' near the beach.
Esperance shire president Victoria Brown said the teenager's death was 'devastating news' for the community.
Laeticia is the third person to die in a shark attack in Western Australia in a year.
Surfer Sean Pollard was attacked at Wylie Bay (pictured) in 2014
Grandmother Doreen Collyer, 60, died after she was attacked by a great white shark while scuba diving on a reef near Perth on June 5, 2016.
Ben Gerring, 29, was killed by a shark just a day earlier after having his leg severed at Falcon Beach, in Mandurah.
The area where the 17-year-old girl was attacked is isolated and sits about 16kms outside of Esperance.
The remote beaches are surrounded by shrubbery and connected to area towns by lengthy roads.
Esperance is home to the Pink Lake, which is famous for its bright pink water.
An Australian woman claims she visits extra-terrestrials on a ship that's like a Greek island every month and she's upgraded her DNA to become 'half-alien.'
Judy Carroll, 64, from Brisbane, doesn't always recall her interactions with the aliens, called Greys, but they have become 'normal' for her, she told New Idea.
Mrs Carroll says she has been communicating with the Greys who she describes as having thin bodies, no hair and teardrop-shaped eyes - since she was a child.
But her first encounter came when she was 30. She said she had been lying down when suddenly her body was paralysed and three extra-terrestrials were standing over her.
Judy Carroll (pictured above) says she has been in touch with aliens since she was a child
They told her she needed to learn to meditate to keep in touch with them.
But now, she regularly visits them on an alien ship she describes as like a Greek island pure white, with beautiful archways and no sharp corners.
'I don't always remember as I'm taken during sleep, but I do have many conscious memories too,' she said.
For years, she didn't tell anyone but when she told her husband Charlie, she says he saw an alien over her as she meditated.
Both he and her brother are understanding, she says.
The 64-year-old Brisbane woman said she visits an alien ship 'like a Greek island' every month
She believes she made a decision to be half-alien before birth and has upgraded her DNA
Mrs Carroll, who has written books about her alien experiences, says her memories include working on humans while on the ship.
There, she says she and her teacher Maris have developed a close relationship which she describes as 'soul-to-soul' - and he has healed her ailments in the past.
'I remember him massaging my neck and putting his long fingers in my mouth and down my throat, where I said I was tight,' she said.
Mrs Carroll said she wasn't surprised that she had problems as she's half-Grey and the aliens do not have moving jaws.
She believes she had made the choice to be half-alien before she was born and upgraded her human DNA with the Greys.
The species' aim is to heal humans and help them evolve, she says.
But she adds that they can't force themselves on humankind they have to be ready.
Air Canada has apologized for bumping a tearful 10-year-old boy off an overbooked flight.
Cole Doyle was told he could not have his plane seat the day before a family holiday to Costa Rica last month.
His distraught parents Shanna and Brett offered to give up their seat so he could travel - but were told it might be given to a more frequent flyer instead.
Cole Doyle, 10, was told by Air Canada that he could not have his plane seat the day before a family holiday to Costa Rica last month
Mr Doyle had booked four tickets in August for the family to travel from Charlottetown on Prince Edward Island to Montreal - where they were connecting to a flight to a Costa Rica vacation.
After two hours on the phone on the eve of the flight, he was told he could not reserve a seat for Cole.
'I was crying. I dont know if Im going to make it with my family,' Cole told CBC.
The entrepreneur from Prince Edward Island said the family then drove to Moncton, New Brunswick, to catch a different flight to Montreal - only to discover at the airport that it had been canceled.
'I thought it was a joke, that there were hidden cameras or something,' he recalled.
Mrs Doyle added: 'We're spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on airline tickets and we're not guaranteed a seat so my question is what in reality are we paying for?'
The family contacted Air Canada, the country's largest carrier, in March.
They claim they only received an apology and the offer of a C$2,500 trip voucher after the story was published by a Canadian newspaper on Saturday.
An airline spokeswoman told the Canadian Press: 'We are currently following up to understand what went wrong and have apologized to Mr. Doyle and his family as well as offered a very generous compensation to the family for their inconvenience.'
The family had four tickets in August for the family to travel from Charlottetown (pictured) on Prince Edward Island to Montreal - where they were connecting to a flight to a Costa Rica
His distraught parents Shanna and Brett (pictured) offered to give up their seat so he could travel - but were told it might be given to a more frequent flyer instead
Mrs Doyle added: 'We're spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars on airline tickets and we're not guaranteed a seat so my question is what in reality are we paying for?'
The family finally arrived in Montreal and was able to connect to Costa Rica.
Mr Doyle said he understood the public outcry after a 69-year-old passenger was dragged from his seat on a United plane in Chicago on April 9 to make space for crew members.
'People are fed up,' he said of airline overbooking. 'You shouldn't be able to sell something twice.'
United's parent company, United Continental Holdings Inc, which is still recovering from the public relations debacle, apologized again on Monday for David Dao's forceful removal, while reporting quarterly earnings.
Doyle said the incident on United Flight 3411, which spread rapidly on social media after being shot on video by passengers, resonated with his family.
'I ... said things could always be worse,' he said after hearing about the United incident. 'At least we weren't thrown off the plane.'
Footage of Dr Dao being unceremoniously dragged from a plane at Chicago O'Hare International Airport on Sunday has traveled around the world, leading to mass condemnation of United and its policies.
Dr David Dao is pictured bleeding from the mouth (left) after he was body slammed by cops and dragged off (right) the overbooked United flight at Chicago O'Hare
Video has emerged showing Dr David Dao arguing with police and a flight attendant just moments before he was dragged off an overbooked United flight in Chicago on Sunday night
Dr Dao was heard in videos captured of his shocking eviction saying he needed to get home to Louisville so he could see patients.
DailyMail.com can reveal Dr Dao is a father of five and a grandfather, who specializes in internal medicine. Four of his five children are doctors.
The video emerged as United CEO Oscar Munoz, 57, spoke to Good Morning America on Wednesday in his first public appearance since the scandal broke.
The interview started when the 57-year-old - who earned about $6.7million last year - was asked what his first reaction was to seeing the videos of a bloodied Dr Dao being pulled from the plane.
'It's not so much what I thought it's what I felt - probably the word shame comes to mind,' he told ABC's Rebecca Jarvis.
'As I think about our business and our people the first thing I think is important it to apologize to Dr David Dao and his family, to the passengers on that flight, to our customers, and our employees.
'That is not who United is... you saw us at a bad moment.'
The young woman who had two children with slain senior citizen Robert Godwin has revealed her lover's last words to her, minutes before he was murdered.
Wiping away tears, Angela Smith, 34, said the 74-year-old had promised to be back quickly after a brief pursuit collecting empty soda cans, which was his hobby.
'He said "I love you girl" as he left. He always said that. He was looking forward to the lunch I was cooking.
'He said "Call me when the food done" and I was laughing as I said "Ok I'll call you. I got you".
'He loved my chicken and dressing and couldn't wait to eat it.'
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Angela Smith, pictured center of left and right, told DailyMail.com that Robert Godwin, the senior citizen randomly killed by fugitive Steve Stephens, was the love of her life. She is pictured left with their two sons Terell and Marsean at a memorial in the spot where he Godwin killed
But Mr. Godwin never came back. He was murdered at random and in cold blood by shooter Steve Stephens, who is now a fugitive and being hunted nation wide.
A vigil was held in his memory on Monday night, as the nationwide manhunt for his murderer continues.
Dozens of family, friends and community members gathered Monday evening to remember 74-year-old Robert Godwin Sr.
They carried flowers and balloons and hugged and comforted each other, while urging an end to the violence on their city streets.
A vigil was held in his memory on Monday night, as the nationwide manhunt for his murderer continues
Robert Goodwin Sr, 74, was murdered on the sidewalk by Steven Stephens, 37, after having Goodwin say the name of killers girlfriend, Joy Lane
Smith said Mr. Godwin, who was killed close to the house she shares with their children, left the house that day to collect tin cans, a hobby he held for years after retiring in 2011.
'My Baby-daddy had money in the bank. He was driving a 2016 (car). It wasn't about selling the cans, it was his hobby.
'Whenever we went to the grocery store, he'd be checking for cans. This was nothing out of the ordinary for him. He didn't need no money.
Godwin told Smith, center wiping away tears, that he would be right back for lunch and he was going out to collect tin cans, which was a hobby of his after retiring in 2011
Smith cried on the shoulder of her cousin Destiny Flores at a remembrance gathering for Robert Godwin, 74, who was shot and killed by Stephens who broadcast the slaying on Facebook live
'He had nothing to do at the weekend and sometimes he would take his kids.'
She said their children, who were borne out of an 18-year relationship, were devastated by their father's death, but could not fathom why he had been gunned down.
'I keep asking myself "why would you take him? Why would you take him from his children?"... from his son, four days before his birthday.
'I want him (Stephens) to turn himself in so my kids can get justice. They are hurting right now, but they can't understand why this man has done this to them.
'They just want to know why he took somebody who was so precious to them.'
She said their children, who were borne out of an 18-year relationship, were devastated by their father's death, but could not fathom why he had been gunned down
The children are aged 11 and eight and have been given a simple explanation for now, she said.
'I told them he is up there with God. God needed him. I couldn't really explain.
'He was just in the wrong place, wrong time. Anywhere he went he would just protect the kids and now this has happened to him.
'To see him holding his bag up as a defense was like seeing a kid in trouble. It is heartbreaking.'
The Ohio man is wanted on charges of aggravated murder for shooting dead 74-year-old Robert Godwin in a video he then posted to Facebook (above). His girlfriend Angela Smith said the footage was 'heartbreaking'
She said Mr. Godwin had been the love of her life and that she had met him as a teenager.
'He was a good man, I loved him and he loved and respected me. The age difference didn't matter. I didn't care what anybody said. Now I have to live without him and it's very hard.
'I just want him (Stephens) to turn himself in to the police.'
Godwin had ten children, six girls and four boys. A $50,000 reward had been offered for information to help catch his fugitive killer.
Police in Philadelphia deployed SWAT teams and tactical vehicles during a potential sighting of Steve Stephens on Monday, which turned out to be a false alarm
Steve Stephens, who is still on the run in Cleveland, was a loser in love as well as on the gambling tables.
It was a combination of losing the girl he loved and his pay packet on the casino tables that drive him to murder Godwin - and to post the Easter Sunday horror video to Facebook.
The ruthless killer, who randomly took the life of the 74-year-old had little luck and developed a creepy 'party trick' to win the attention of girls in the Cleveland suburb where he grew up.
As a teenager he bought a python and would approach women with his slithering pet around his neck to try and win their attention.
'It was a slimy thing to do and now he's just a snake in the grass too,' said next-door-neighbor Alexis Lee.
Wanted with $50,000 price on his head: Law enforcement in Cleveland say that Steve Stephens could be anywhere in the country
Home: The Facebook killer Steve Stephens was brought up in this eastern section of Cleveland and lived at this home with his mom while growing up, pictured left, and frequented Jack Casino in Cleveland, right, where he gambled
Remembered: Tributes are being laid at the scene of Steve Stephens' Facebook murder of Robert Goodwin. The father and grandfather was walking on the sidewalk when the killing was broadcast
Creepy: Alexis Lee, 34, who had known Stephens since he was a teenager told DailyMail.com he had tried to get her to spend time with him in the local casino, where he had lost heavily. Charisse Leonard, 28, (right) said: 'I thought he was confused about his sexuality and could even have been gay.'
The 34-year-old mother of three said: 'He didn't really know how to talk to us ladies.
'The snake was meant to draw my attention and he regularly told me he had a crush on me.
'But he wasn't my type at all. There was nothing attractive about him. He did have a nice personality though.
'He was great with the kids around here and when he was driving out after seeing his mom he'd stop his car.
'He would tell the kids 'Stay out of trouble, go to school and don't be knuckle heads'.
She added: 'He was good to the kids and he would worry about them crossing the street or getting lost and said' Hold hands now'.
'But he always seemed a bit lost and I'm not surprised that he's upset about his girlfriend and blaming her for what he's done.
'I saw him at the casino a couple of times and he would remind me that he always had a crush on me.
'One he asked me to sit next to him at the tables saying 'Be my queen... be my lucky charm'. But I wasn't interested. I just went home.'
Another local woman Charisse Leonard, 28, said: 'I thought he was confused about his sexuality and could even have been gay.
Stephens said that he wouldn't stop killing until Lane or his mother called him. Lane is reportedly in protective custody now
Loser: Neighbors told how Steve Stephens had no success with girls as he grew up and had been an unsuccessful gambler
Apology: Joy Lane, who Stephens blamed for his actions, said: 'We had been in a relationship for several years. I am sorry that all of this has happened.'
Earlier on Sunday, Stephens blamed casinos and his lack of self control for the 'Easter Sunday massacre' in Cleveland. He specifically names the Jack Casino in Cleveland
'I had never known him to have had a girlfriend. But he had a nice nature as did his mother and family. I never saw his dad.'
Theresa Blevins-Odom, 54, saw the killer, who is 37, just 48 hours before he carried out the slaying of the senior citizen and later posted a Facebook video of the murder.
She told DailyMail.com: 'He seemed quite normal and said have a nice day.
'I am sorry for him and his mother who is a good woman and who has brought her children up to be good people.
'Everybody goes through some problems in their lives and maybe Steve couldn't handle it. I still think he's a good kid.'
He graduated from Myers College business school in 2002 and had found a steady job.
Stephens, worked as case manager at Beech Brook, a behavioral health agency headquartered in Pepper Pike, near Cleveland.
He joined in 2008 and began as a youth mentor for teens and for the past two years as a vocational specialist for the Assertive Community Treatment team, which provides support to older teens and young adults.
He did not have a criminal record and had only been accused of traffic offenses.
But he blew his salary at the tables in the Jack casino, in a former department store in downtown Cleveland, and at one point petitioned for bankruptcy.
He now has a $50,000 price on his head after law enforcement announced reward for information leading to his arrest.
He has been on the run since the deadly incident on Sunday, after cops tried and failed to convince him to turn himself in.
Around midday on Monday, police in Philadelphia investigated multiple calls about a possible sighting of Stephens in a city park, but authorities say it was a false alarm.
Earlier in the day, cops in Cleveland announced that they had widened their search for Stephens to Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan.
When officers tried to track Stephens' phone after the shooting, it 'pinged' in Erie, Pennsylvania - 100 miles east from the scene of the crime.
Residents in these states were asked to be on the lookout for Stephens, who is wanted for aggravated murder and is considered armed and dangerous.
Robert Godwin's son says his father was a retired foundry worker
'We were shocked and horrified to learn of this news today,' agency spokeswoman Nancy Kortemeyer said in a statement
Police Chief Calvin Williams said in a Monday morning press conference that his officers searched dozens of locations the previous night 'to no avail' and have admitted that Stephens could be anywhere.
He added that no more victims have been found, despite Stephens' claim on Facebook that he killed up to 15 people.
He also issued a warning to anyone who may be harboring Stephens.
'If you think you're helping Steve, you're really not. You're going to get yourself in trouble along with him,' Williams said.
Steve Anthony, special agent in charge of Cleveland's FBI office, said Stephens could be almost anywhere now.
'He could be in a lot of place. He could be nearby, he could be far away and anywhere in between,' Anthony said.
Authorities released an update as Stephen's ex-girlfriend, Joy Lane, apologized for the shooting.
Stephens says in the video that he was motivated to kill after breaking up with his girlfriend, identified as Lane, earlier in the day.
He wrote that he 'messed up' in postings on social media and said he would only stop killing if his girlfriend or his mother called him.
Lane is said to be an Air Force veteran, and he said the two dated for three years, and he wishes he'd never met her. Lane is said to be in protective custody.
Stephens says the name of a woman, whom Godwin does not seem to recognize.
'She's the reason that this is about to happen to you,' Stephens tells Godwin before pointing a gun at him. Godwin can be seen shielding his face with the shopping bag.
In a text message to CBS, she said: 'We had been in a relationship for several years. I am sorry that all of this has happened.
'My heart and prayers goes out to the family members of the victim(s).
On Monday, authorities asked residents in Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana and Michigan to be on the lookout for the Ohio man
'Steve really is a nice guy. He is generous with everyone he knows. He was kind and loving to me and my children.'
The killer's mother,Maggie Green, said Stephens had called by her house on Saturday afternoon and told her, 'If you see me again, it'll be a miracle'.
'He said this is the last time I was going to see him,' she told CNN.
The video of the killing was on Facebook for about three hours before it was removed. Stephens' Facebook page also was eventually removed.
In a separate video posted on Facebook, Stephens claimed to have killed more than a dozen other people.
'Like I said, I killed 13, so I'm working on 14 as we speak,' he said.
Police have not verified any other shootings or deaths, Police Chief Calvin Williams said.
The killing has struck a blow to Facebook's reputation.
'This is a horrific crime and we do not allow this kind of content on Facebook,' said a company spokesperson. 'We work hard to keep a safe environment on Facebook, and are in touch with law enforcement in emergencies when there are direct threats to physical safety.'
The victim's son, Robert Godwin Jr., told Cleveland.com that he can't bring himself to watch the video.
'I haven't watched the video. I haven't even looked at my cellphone or the news,' Godwin said. 'I don't really want to see it.'
He said his father, a retired foundry worker, collected aluminum cans and often walked with a plastic shopping bag, picking cans up if he saw them on ground. The son said he believed his father was looking for cans on Sunday when Stephens approached him.
A Hawaii man arrested after the remains of his mother were discovered in a freezer in his apartment told police 'She's in the fridge,' when they arrived.
Yu Wei Gong, 26, was charged on Sunday with the second-degree murder of his mother, Liu Yun Gong. She was found wrapped in seven plastic bags inside a refrigerator freezer in her the sixth floor apartment in Honolulu's beachfront neighborhood of Waikiki.
Gong reportedly told police he accidentally killed her after he became angry because he didn't want to go to school. He reportedly admitted to killing her in September.
Authorities said Wong called dispatchers on April 11 saying he was suicidal and telling them 'I killed my mother.'
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Yu Wei Gong, left, speaks to Deputy Public Defender Diamond Grace in court in Honolulu on Monday as he was charged with the second-degree murder of his mother
Hawaii man, Yu Wei Gong, 26, was arrested on charges of second-degree murder of his mother after police found human remains in his apartment (his building, pictured). Gong's mother has reportedly been dead since September
Police said they found the chopped up remains of Yu Wei Gong's mother in bags inside the freezer
Upon arrival to the home at Aloha Waikiki, 414 Launiu St, police said they at first could not find the victim's remains and Gong told them '[She's] in the fridge.'
Police looked in the refrigerator's freezer and found seven plastic bags, containing the head and body parts of the victim.
Authorities determined she had died from blunt force trauma to the head.
Police said Gong called it an 'accident' and said he didn't mean to do it.
Gong appeared in court Monday following his release from a psychiatric hospital and he did not speak. His public defender asked for a Mandarin interpreter.
His bail was set at $2million, according to the Star Advertiser.
Liu Yun Gong worked at a spa as a licensed therapist. When she didn't show up for work one day, her boss, Julie Kim, told the outlet she tried her cell phone several times but got no answer. 'Usually she responds very quick,' Kim said.
Later, she said Liu Yun's son called her and told her his mother had gone to a neighboring island and left her phone at home and wouldn't be back for a couple of months.
She said the last words the doomed woman said to her were 'See you tomorrow.'
The U.S. will not relent until it achieves its objective of ensuring the Korean Peninsula is free of nuclear weapons, Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday while visiting Japan.
After meetings with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other leaders, Pence told reporters that President Donald Trump was confident that economic and diplomatic pressure has a chance of compelling North Korea to cooperate.
'It is our belief by bringing together the family of nations with diplomatic and economic pressure we have a chance of achieving a freeze on the Korean Peninsula,' Pence said.
'We will not rest and will not relent until we obtain the objective of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula,' he said.
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US Vice President Mike Pence (left) shakes hands with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday
After meeting with Abe, Pence held talks with Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on a new US-Japan 'economic dialogue'
Pence and Aso gave a joint press conference at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official residence in Tokyo following their discussion
During his time in Japan, Pence also visited the Sensoji Temple in Tokyo with his wife, Karen
The Trump administration has signaled a more forceful U.S. stance toward North Korea's recent missile tests and threats, including a warning from Trump that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has 'gotta behave.'
So Pence struck a stern tone after arriving at a U.S. naval base from South Korea.
'We appreciate the challenging times in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocations from across the Sea of Japan,' he said. 'We are with you 100 percent.'
On Monday, Pence traveled to the tense Demilitarized Zone dividing North and South Korea, where he warned North Korea's leaders that after years of testing the U.S. and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, 'the era of strategic patience is over.'
A senior North Korean official then accused the United States of bringing the countries to the brink of thermonuclear war.
Pence, on a 10-day Asia trip that will also take him to Indonesia and Australia, said Trump hopes China will use its leverage to get its longtime ally North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program and ballistic missiles.
Pence, left, and his wife Karen, second from left, with daughter Audrey and Charlotte, right, wave on their arrival at U.S. Navy's Atsugi air facility in Ayase, southwest of Tokyo on Tuesday
Pence arrived in Japan for talks Tuesday expected to focus largely on trade with America's anchor ally in the region
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a fresh appeal for calm.
Wang told reporters that although U.S. officials have made clear that a military strike remains a possibility, he believes that Washington would still prefer to de-escalate tensions through multi-sided talks.
Abe said Japan likewise hopes for peaceful dialogue with Pyongyang, 'but at the same time, dialogue for the sake of dialogue is valueless.' Pressure on North Korea is crucial, the prime minister said.
After meeting with Abe, Pence held talks with Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso on a new U.S.-Japan 'economic dialogue' to be led by the two.
The new forum for trade talks was launched by Trump and Abe during the Japanese leader's visit to the U.S. in February. In part, it is meant to take the place of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the regional trade pact that Trump withdrew from shortly after taking office.
White House officials said the economic meetings in Tokyo are meant to forge a framework for future discussions after the U.S. withdrew from a Pacific Rim trade pact
Pence and Aso said they believed the dialogue could yield opportunities to create new jobs on both sides and to fortify the economic aspects of the alliance.
'We would like to seek the best shape and forum for our bilateral relationship,' Pence said. 'The TPP is a thing of the past for the United States of America.'
He said Trump is certain that negotiating trade deals with individual countries was the best way to ensure they yield 'win-win' situations for both sides.
The talks Tuesday did not delve into sector-by-sector issues such as auto exports. With no U.S. trade representative yet in office and other key positions still unfilled, such nitty-gritty discussions will have to come later.
During his visit to South Korea, at the outset of his 10-day trip to Asia, Pence's attention mostly was directed at the North Korean situation. He is seen above visiting the Demilitarized Zone with his family
Pence warned Pyongyang that after years of testing the U.S. and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, 'the era of strategic patience is over'
A North Korean soldier (left) takes a picture while another soldier looks on during Pence's visit to the DMZ
The loss of U.S. participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership was a blow to Japan following strenuous negotiations, especially over opening its long-protected farm sector to more imports, especially of dairy and meat products.
For now, both sides seem eager to downplay potential for conflict, with Aso repeatedly saying that trade friction has been vanquished in a 'new era of cooperation.'
As Indiana governor, Pence saw firsthand the impact of Japanese automakers Toyota, Honda and Subaru, whose factories employ thousands of people in his home state.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who met with Japan's trade minister, Hiroshige Seko, earlier Tuesday, said he hopes to soon begin talks on a free trade agreement with Japan.
A gang of Sudanese teenagers allegedly bashed an autistic boy, 17, in an horrific attack on a Melbourne bus on Saturday.
Max, 17, was travelling alone on the bus at Tarneit, 25km west of the CBD, when five Sudanese men approached him and told him to hand over his mobile phone and shoes.
When Max refused, the gang attacked him, kicking him in the head so hard he suffered a concussion and required a CT scan to check for permanent damage, his mother said.
Max, 17, was travelling alone on the bus at Tarneit when five Sudanese men allegedly approached him
Max's mother Julie told 3AW on Tuesday her distressed son called him in tears.
'He said "mum I'm scared",' Julie said.
'It has taken a lot out of him because he doesn't want to go on public transport again.'
Julie said she immediately drove to meet her injured son where the bus pulled over at Tarneit McDonald's.
Within minutes, she said the group of five Sudanese men grew to a group of about 30.
Within minutes, she said the group of five Sudanese men grew to a group of about 30 at the Tarneit McDonalds
A spate of criminal activity has swept across Melbourne in the past 18 months, with a series of car-jackings, armed robberies and home invasions, blamed largely on the notorious Apex gang
Julie said Tarneit was 'overrun by Sudanese' people and claimed they often gathered at the local McDonald's.
She said reports of violent behaviour from young Sudanese men in the area left her feeling scared for her son and the larger Melbourne community.
'It's not safe for anyone, let alone for someone with a disability, they put so much trust in everybody,' she said.
A spate of criminal activity has swept across Melbourne in the past 18 months, with a series of carjackings, armed robberies and home invasions, blamed largely on the notorious Apex gang.
Apex gang members are primarily from a Sudanese refugee background.
Apex gang members are primarily from a Sudanese refugee background (two members pictured)
Julie called on the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to take action.
'For Christ sake, just open your eyes and see what's going on around you, there will be more than one life taken soon,' she said.
'My son was lucky he got out of it the way he did.
'When is the Government going to wake up? I'm very angry, very very angry.'
Two days after he was lit up by the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers ace pitcher Justin Verlander appears to be taking his poor performance in stride.
Verlander posted a boomerang video of himself on social media relaxing in a beachside pool while drinking a Corona.
The caption reads: 'Working on my tipping,' with the hashtag #nooffdays.
Verlander was referring to reports that the Tigers are worried he may have been tipping his pitches during Detroit's 13-6 loss to Cleveland on Saturday.
The ace pitcher gave up a career-high 9 earned runs on 11 hits in four innings.
Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander posted a boomerang video of himself on social media relaxing in a beachside pool while drinking a Corona
The caption reads: 'Working on my tipping,' with the hashtag #nooffdays
'Tipping pitches' is when a pitcher inadvertently telegraphs which pitch he is about to throw the batter.
It is usually detected by the opponent whenever he notices subtle differences in the pitcher's movement or placement of the ball.
In two starts this season, Verlander is 1-1 with an ERA of 5.71.
He is a six-time All-Star who has won rookie of the year as well as the American League Cy Young Award.
Verlander was referring to reports that the Tigers are worried he may have been tipping his pitches during Detroit's 13-6 loss to Cleveland on Saturday
The ace pitcher gave up a career-high 9 earned runs on 11 hits in four innings of work against the Indians
Verlander allowed home runs by Cleveland's Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall (seen top celebrating with Jose Ramirez after hitting a home run)
Verlander allowed home runs by Cleveland's Carlos Santana and Lonnie Chisenhall.
The 2011 AL Cy Young Award winner and MVP also gave up nine runs against the Chicago White Sox on April 6, 2008, and versus Texas on May 25, 2014.
'It's tough to say not to dwell on this, but I've been around long enough to know you can't go getting all depressed over one start,' Verlander said.
A California teen is suing his ex-girlfriend from high school for allegedly fabricating rape allegations against him in order to deter him from attending the same college, it was reported on Monday.
Ari Grossman, a freshman at Manhattan's Pace University, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court charging his classmate, Kalya Torrey, with making up charges that resulted in him being arrested, shackled, and detained in a cell for 12 hours, according to the New York Post.
Grossman says that Torrey has been engaged in a smear campaign to punish him after he ignored her warnings not to attend Pace.
The two teens from Malibu, California, who dated in high school but split up amicably at age 15, are both enrolled at the college.
Ari Grossman (left), a freshman at Manhattan's Pace University, filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court charging his classmate, Kalya Torrey (right), with making up charges that resulted in him being arrested, shackled, and detained in a cell for 12 hours
Grossman claims that when he was accepted to Pace's acting program, Torrey's parents phoned his parents and demanded that he drop out.
When Grossman refused, Torrey sought to bring charges against him.
When prosecutors declined to bring charges, Torrey filed a temporary restraining order against Grossman.
The judge, however, told the two to settle their differences out of court and to keep a distance from each other.
After they arrived at Pace, the situation got worse.
Grossman claims that when he was accepted to Pace's acting program, Torrey's parents phoned his parents and demanded that he drop out
When Grossman refused, Torrey sought to bring charges against him
The two accused each other for stalking and harassment.
Torrey filed a total of seven complaints against Grossman during the first week of class alone.
The lawsuit claims that Pace administrators had intervened and told the two students to cut it out.
Then, in November, Torrey filed a new complaint alleging that Grossman stalked her in the food hall.
This resulted in Grossman being sent to a detention cell for 12 hours in handcuffs with his legs shackled, according to the lawsuit.
Grossman was eventually released. The NYPD dropped the charges after video surveillance from Pace showed no evidence of stalking.
In addition to Torrey, Grossman is also suing the university for having campus security arrange for his arrest after he was falsely accused of stalking. Pace University's Manhattan campus is seen in the above stock image
In addition to Torrey, Grossman is also suing the university for having campus security arrange for his arrest.
His attorney is also planning to sue the NYPD.
'It's just been a horrible college experience for him,' his lawyer, Julie Goldberg, told the Post.
'We feel at this point he is not being protected.'
Torrey's father said the entire ordeal was 'a sad situation.'
'Obviously we don't agree with anything' in the lawsuit, he said. 'But we think it is inappropriate to comment.
'This is playing with these kids lives and it's a sad situation,' he said.
Pace declined to comment on the matter.
A strange video posted to Facebook shows a beaver leading a herd of cattle on a ranch in Canada.
The bizarre scene unfolded in Saskatchewan on Friday went to check on their cattle.
Footage shows a beaver slowly walking through a field, with a crowd of 150 of tightly-packed cows patiently following it.
The video shows a huge group of cows all huddled together and following around a beaver.
At one point the beaver stops in its tracks, and all of the cattle stop and wait for it to continue walking again.
Adrienne Ivey and her husband Aaron told CJME that they couldn't believe the odd sight they were seeing.
The video shows a huge group of cows all huddled together and following around a beaver
'When we first saw this we knew that people would get a great chuckle out of it because you cannot get more Canadian than that.
'We talk about how awesome our Canadian beef is, but a beaver leading cattle around? It's the most Canadian thing ever,' she said.
She explained that while it's normal to have wildlife around the ranch, they have never seen a beaver draw that kind of attention from cow.
A man who shared his heartwarming photo of a Hasidic couple scooting over on a subway train so they could make room for a Muslim mother feeding her baby has gone viral.
The man, Jackie Summers, who blogs for The Good Men Project, and who is a Taoist, said he gave up his seat to the Hasidic couple on the F train in New York City on Easter Sunday. The F train runs from Brooklyn, through Manhattan, and into Queens.
'A Taoist (me) gives up his seat so a Hasidic couple could sit together. They scoot over so a Muslim mother could sit and nurse her baby, on Easter Sunday,' wrote on Facebook and in his blog. 'This is my America: people letting people be people.'
A Taoist, a Hasidic couple, and a Muslim mom: All living peacefully on the F train, noted Jackie Summers who snapped the photo, which went viral
The post has been shared almost 30,000 times on Facebook since Sunday and shared over 4,000 times on Twitter.
'THIS is what makes America great and these days I've been struggling to find ways to feel good about America,' wrote Lisa Smith Zwart. 'Thank you for restoring a little of my faith in humanity today, Jackie.'
The country has been divided since the presidential election over immigration policies, including a planned wall along the Mexican border and extreme vetting for people coming from primarily Muslim countries.
Jackie Summers, a Brooklynite who blogs for The Good Men Project, snapped the photo
People reacted to the photo on Twitter saying we should 'embrace each other and our differences'
President Donald Trump has twice ordered a ban on Syrians entering the country, and has said in the past he would send back those refugees already located here. So far, courts have blocked the orders.
There has been a reported uptick in hate crimes, including Jewish cemeteries that have been vandalized in New York and Philadelphia, and mosques that have been reported vandalized across the country.
But the reaction online to the photo restored a sense of harmony for many.
'This gives me JOY! I will always pray that we as a nation might become ONE as we embrace each other & our differences! A Beautiful Tapestry!' wrote Lynette Branch on Twitter.
'Now that's the kind of America I would like to live in,' wrote David Lockley.
'This *is* the future that liberals want. It checks out,' said Janie Jones.
'Such a NY way of life. As a New Yorker living in other parts of the country, I hope that soon the rest of the country catches up,' wrote Muddy Magnolias.
A Melbourne man has pleaded guilty to entering a marriage with a 14-year-old bride.
Mohammad Shakir, 34, is charged with going through a formal ceremony of marriage with a person not of marriageable age at Noble Park last September.
As part of the plea, two charges were withdrawn by prosecutors in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, including allegations Shakir had sex with the girl between September 30 and October 1, 2016, following their wedding.
A Melbourne man has pleaded guilty to entering a marriage with a 14-year-old bride (stock image)
The ceremony was conducted in Noble Park by former imam Ibrahim Omerdic, 61, who also faces charges relating to the illegal marriage.
He will front court in May for a contested hearing.
Omerdic, former imam of the Bosnian Islamic Society and Noble Park Mosque, was stood down after his November arrest and later sacked.
'A new Imam has been appointed. Omerdic is no longer the Imam of the Noble Park Mosque and has no role with the Society,' a Noble Park Mosque statement read at the time.
The girl is in a 'fragile state' and has 'ongoing health issues', prosecutor Ranjani Padmanabhan told Melbourne Magistrates Court in February.
The ceremony was conducted in Noble Park by former imam Ibrahim Omerdic, 61, (pictured) who also faces charges relating to the illegal marriage
A desperate search is underway for a mother, aged 50, last seen at her family's home on Easter Sunday.
Jillian Fahey was last seen by family members at home in Crookwell on the NSW Southern Tablelands, about 10.30am on Sunday.
Officers, police rescue, and PolAir on Monday searched a property on Cummins Road in rural Laggan.
Her devastated daughter has taken to Facebook with further details, saying Ms Fahey was on foot and may be north of Bolong river from Golspie Road crossing.
Jillian Fahey, 50, was last seen by family members at home in Crookwell on the NSW Southern Tablelands, about 10.30am on Sunday
Her devastated daughter has taken to Facebook with further details, saying Ms Fahey is on foot
'Very concerned for our mum's welfare,' the daughter wrote.
Attempts to contact her have been unsuccessful, police said.
The search at Laggan was stopped about 6pm due to poor conditions.
Local police and State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers resumed the search about 8am on Tuesday.
'Very concerned for our mum's welfare,' Ms Fahey's daughter wrote (Ms Fahey is pictured)
Officers, police rescue, and PolAir on Monday searched a property on Cummins Road in rural Laggan (the property is pictured)
Local police and SES volunteers resumed the search about 8am on Tuesday (part of the property is pictured)
NSW Police have released an image of the woman in the hopes someone will recognise her.
Ms Mahey is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 160cm tall, of thin build, fair complexion, with blonde hair and blue eyes.
She was wearing pink and blue Asics runners, beige cargo pants, and a white or grey short sleeved t-shirt, according to her daughter.
The daughter has urged people in the area to check their properties.
Anyone who sees Ms Fahey, or knows her whereabouts is urged to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or use the Crime Stoppers online reporting page.
John Crawford III was fatally shot in 2014
An Ohio city has spent more than $430,000 defending two officers in connection with the fatal police shooting of a man at a Walmart who was carrying an air rifle from a store shelf.
The cost to the Dayton suburb of Beavercreek includes about $210,000 paid to two law firms, according to Dayton Daily News.
The city's law director says outside counsel was necessary to defend Officer Sean Williams and Sgt. David Darkow.
The officer fatally shot father-of-two John Crawford III in 2014 after a 911 call about someone waving a rifle at the Walmart.
Police say he didn't obey commands to drop what later turned out to be an air rifle.
Mr Crawford was shot in the arm and torso by Officer Williams and was taken to Dayton's Miami Valley Hospital where he later died.
Following the shooting, a grand jury decided not to indict any of the officers involved on charges of either murder, reckless homicide, or negligent homicide.
A federal probe for any possible civil rights violations is continuing and could go on for years.
The City of Beavercreek has spent $430,000 defending Officer Sean Williams, left, and Sgt David Darkow, right
The city paid significantly more in legal fees for Sgt. Darkow spending more than $178,000 - 5.5 times the $32,000 paid for Officer Williams.
The Crawford family's attorney Michael Wright says the money used to defend the officers could have gone toward a settlement for the family.
'It's unfortunate that the city of Beavercreek has taken this stance and spent so much of the taxpayers money to continue to fight the Crawford family,' he said. 'This family and John's two sons deserve justice.'
The Walmart in Beavercreek where Crawford was shot as he carried an air rifle
City law director Stephen McHugh said: 'The city expects to incur additional legal fees in connection with the pending litigation and investigation.
'However, because these two matters are still ongoing, I cannot comment as to why the city retained the specific legal counsel that it did or why the legal fees for Sgt. Darkows representation are higher than those of officer Williams.'
Officer Williams has remained on administrative duty throughout the duration of the probe.
One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson has taken credit for Malcolm Turnbull's decision to scrap the 457 visa.
Moments after the Prime Minister announced the government would ditch 457 visas for skilled migrants, Ms Hanson took to Twitter to take credit for the decision.
'The government will deny their tough talk on immigration and plan to ban 457 visas is because of One Nation but we all know the truth!' the senator tweeted on Tuesday.
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One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson (pictured) has taken credit for Malcolm Turnbull's decision to scrap the 457 visa
Ms Hanson's supporters congratulated and thanked her for pushing the government toward the decision.
'Congrats, keep the pressure on them,' one man said.
Others were not so positive in reply to the Queensland senator's tweet.
'Dream on, you nitwit!' one man said.
Malcolm Turnbull announced on Tuesday he would abolish the 457 visa program for skilled migrants
Malcolm Turnbull said on Tuesday that Australia was a successful multicultural 'immigration nation' but it was time to put Australians first.
'The fact remains Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs,' he said in a video posted to Facebook on Tuesday.
'We will no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians.'
Mr Turnbull said it remained critical to give businesses access to skilled staff.
Shock announcement: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the government will scrap 457 visas for foreign workers
'The 457 visa will be replaced by a new temporary visa specifically designed to recruit the best and the brightest in the national interest,' he said.
'The new visa will better target genuine skills shortages, including in regional Australia.'
The new visa program will include requirements around work experience, English language proficiency and labour market testing.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten slammed the plan via Twitter.
'Make no mistake, the only job Malcolm Turnbull cares about saving is his own,' he wrote.
'Make no mistake, the only job Malcolm Turnbull cares about saving is his own,' Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said
Mr Turnbull later told reporters in Canberra that Mr Shorten, as employment minister in a Labor government, was the gold medal winner of issuing 457 visas.
'The fact is that Bill Shorten likes to talk about Australian jobs, but whenever he's had the opportunity in government to protect them, he's failed them.'
Under the government's plan the list of occupations that qualify for a temporary visa will be reduced from its current number of more than 200.
The visas will be limited to a two-year period that require previous work experience.
WHO COMES TO AUSTRALIA ON 457 VISAS? A 457 visa allows foreign workers in 'skilled' occupations to live and work in Australia for up to four years. As of March 2016, more than 177,000 workers and members of their family held 457 visas. A Parliamentary Library report said the most 457 workers come from India, the United Kingdom, China and Ireland. The biggest industries employing 457 visa holders were accommodation, food services, and IT. Source: Parliamentary Library
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'Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs,' Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a video released on Tuesday
A second four-year visa will require a higher standard of English language skills as well as a proper criminal check.
The new system would be 'manifestly, rigorously, resolutely' conducted in the national interest to put Australian jobs first, Mr Turnbull said.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the new two-year visa would not allow permanent residency.
Anyone now in Australia on a 457 visa will not be affected by the new arrangements.
'They will continue under the conditions of that visa,' Mr Dutton said.
Jennifer Frechette was charged with second-degree sex assault, fourth-degree sex assault and risk of injury to a minor on April 13
A Connecticut high school drama teacher is accused of having sex with one of her students after allegedly being caught with the boy in a dressing room with a blow up bed, tea light candles and condoms.
Jennifer Frechette was arrested and charged with second-degree sex assault, fourth-degree sex assault and risk of injury to a minor on April 13.
Frechette appeared for arraignment in court on Monday and was released after posting a $100,000 surety bond.
She was photographed walking hand-in-hand with her husband to court in New Haven and did not comment about the charges against her.
Two security officers caught the Wilbur Cross High School drama teacher in a dressing room with an underage male student in January, an arrest warrant stated, according to WFSB.
Authorities say the teen left, but Frechette, who is a 44-year-old mother, appeared to be hiding 'in a fetal position.'
The married Wilbur Cross High School drama teacher is accused of having sex with one of her students after allegedly being caught with the boy in a dressing room with a blow up bed, tea light candles and condoms. She is pictured above Monday with her husband heading to court
'Also in the room on the floor were battery operated 'tea light' candles, a mat that was made to look like a bed with pillows, a quilt, and a 'Beats' headphone case that contained several unused condoms,' the warrant said.
Frechette first denied that anything was going on, but the teen told investigators that he and the teacher exchanged text messages about having sex and had planned to do so the night they were caught, the warrant said.
The teen told investigators that back in December Frechette performed oral sex on him on a couch inside of her classroom, the warrant goes on to state.
Frechette was placed on administrative leave after the school was notified about the alleged inappropriate relationship in January.
Authorities investigated for months after Frechette was reported to them by the school.
According to an arrest warrant, Frechette first denied that anything was going on, but the teen told investigators that he and the teacher exchanged text messages about having sex and had planned to do so the night they were caught at the school (pictured above)
Police filed search warrants for Frechette's and the alleged victim's phones.
The alleged victim's phone contained text conversations with Frechette that mentioned sexual intercourse, oral sex and how she was not attracted to her husband anymore, police said.
School officials are currently taking the steps to fire Frechette.
'The care and safety of students is the top priority for New Haven Public Schools,' Interim Superintendent of Schools Reginald Mayo said in a statement.
'A breach of that responsibility by any staff member is cause for concern. The arrest of a New Haven teacher on allegations of sexual assault and risk of injury is deeply troubling.'
Counseling and staff support is being offered to students who may be affected.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will replace the abolished 457 visa with two stricter programs to bring skilled workers into Australia.
The list of more than 650 occupations would be cut by 200 and the length of stay slashed from four years to two, and will require two years work experience.
'It is focused, relentlessly, on ensuring that temporary migration visas are not a passport for foreigners to take up jobs that could and should be filled by Australians,' Mr Turnbull said.
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Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will replace the abolished 457 visa with two stricter programs to bring skilled workers into Australia
NEW VISAS SUMMARY The 457 visa will be replaced with two new ones
Short term two-year one with shorter list of jobs
Medium-term four-year visa for high-skilled workers on small list of 183
It can't lead to permanent residency
Will need better English and labour market testing
Both will need tough police checks and two years experience unlike the 457 visa requirements
The short-term visa would cost $1,150 and medium-term $2,400 Advertisement
'It will be manifestly, rigorously, resolutely conducted in the national interest to put Australians and Australian jobs first.'
A short-term two-year visa with a smaller list of eligible jobs will essentially replace the 457, which has about 96,000 current holders in the country.
The medium-term will be for four years and require a better standard of English and mandatory labour market testing.
It will be of much shorter list of 183 occupations, mostly high-level professionals, but also nurses and some tradespeople.
'It will require a full - a proper police record, a criminal check, which is not the case at the moment,' Mr Turnbull said.
He said the new visas would allow businesses to fill 'real skill gaps' with foreign workers but wherever Australians would be given jobs first.
The government would establish a new training fund to help train Australians to fill skills gaps so fewer foreign workers would be necessary.
Fewer occupations will be included for both visas and the length of stay slashed in half from the current four years, and would require two years work experience
Cooks were one of the top occupations employed on 457 visas last year
The short-term visa would cost $1,150 and the medium-term one $2,400 - more than the $1,060 the 457 visa cost.
'This rigorous focus - this laser-like focus - on our national interest will ensure that where skill gaps arise and can't be filled by Australians, then foreign workers can come in, but not otherwise,' he said.
Almost 1.3 million people have entered Australia in the past 20 years on 457 visa, with more than 120,000 applications approved on the busiest years.
The IT industry was the biggest employer of workers on 457 visas
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said although 457s lasted for four years they were 'essentially open-ended.
'It results, in many cases, in a migration outcome, somebody going into permanent residency and becoming a citizen, which is a significant part of the attraction to using the 457 visa,' he said.
More than 11,500 people applied for permanent residency in the 12 months to September 2016.
He said the medium-term visa was aimed at higher skills with a 'much shorter skills list', but could be applied for in Australia instead of just overseas.
A UC Berkeley honors student student fell off a balcony and died, say authorities.
The 21-year-old woman, identified as Kimberly Tze of Elk Grove, California, was a junior honors student studying computer science and had been a software engineer intern at Originate, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She reportedly fell off a fourth floor balcony just after midnight in the 2700 block of Dwight Way across from student housing, reported the Los Angeles Times.
Kimberly Tze of Elk Grove, California, was identified as the woman who died falling off a balcony early Sunday morning
She plummeted to the sidewalk below and when paramedics arrived, was breathing but unresponsive. She was rushed to the hospital, but later died. She suffered severe head trauma, reported the Berkeley Side.
Police are investigating how the woman fell from the balcony and may be performing toxicology testing. An autopsy is also expected to be done.
Tze, 21, was an honors student, computer science major, and member of Upsilon Pi Epsilon, an international honor society for the computing sciences
Tze went to UC Berkeley (above) and was a honor student and belonged to the Gamma Gamma Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega
But an eyewitness said it appeared to be an accident, according to ABC News 7.
Tze was a member of Upsilon Pi Epsilon, an international honor society for the computing sciences and a member of UC Berkeleys Gamma Gamma Chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, according to Berkeley Side.
She also attended Laguna Creek High School in Elk Grove, where she was a member of the band and National Honor Society, according to the outlet.
UC Berkeley released a statement saying, 'Our thoughts and prayers go out to Kimberly's family and friends during this difficult time.'
Don Davis Jr, 54, was still permitted to eat his last meal despite being granted a stay of execution, which consisted of fried chicken, rolls, great Northern beans, mashed potatoes, strawberry cake and fruit punch
An Arkansas death row inmate was given his last meal as he awaited a final minute US Supreme Court decision on his stay of execution.
Don Davis Jr, 54, was served fried chicken, rolls, great Northern beans, mashed potatoes, strawberry cake and fruit punch on Monday night.
Arkansas's Attorney General was determined to get the execution underway before the warrant expired at midnight.
But the US Supreme Court refused to overrule the state Supreme Court's decision to uphold a stay of execution granted on Saturday.
The legal battle comes after eight prisoners were abruptly scheduled to die over just 11 days as Arkansas's supply of the lethal injection ingredient, Midazolam, approaches its expiration date.
Over the weekend, US District Judge Kristine Baker granted temporary stays of execution for all of the prisoners - putting off Davis's for one day.
Davis, 54, murdered 64-year-old Jane Daniels by shooting her in the back of her head in her home during a robbery.
Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said the US Supreme Court's decision was 'heartbreaking' for the victim's family.
She told CNN: 'Davis was convicted of his crimes in 1992, and my office took every action it could today to see that justice was carried out.
'Ultimately, the US Supreme Court has the final say and has decided not to lift the stay at this time.'
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Officials in Arkansas are frantically appealing court decisions in an effort to press ahead with the executions of Bruce Earl Ward (left) and Don Williams Davis Jr. (right) on Monday. Their executions are the first of eight scheduled before April 27
Bruce Earl Ward, 60, was also scheduled to die on Monday. He was sentenced to death for strangling 18-year-old Rebecca Doss in 1989 in the men's bathroom of a convenience store where she worked.
He was granted a previous stay by a different judge on Friday after his lawyers argued he was not mentally fit to receive the injection. Ward was not given his last meal on Monday night, according to KATV.
The rushed execution schedule attracted a barrage of legal complaints from pharmaceutical companies and lawyers acting on the prisoners' behalf.
Judge Baker accepted inmates' concerns about the lethal injection and its ingredients.
They voiced fears about Midazolam, a pain killer which is meant to render recipients unconscious has failed to do so in previous executions across the country.
The drug expires at the end of the month. Two other chemicals are used in the injection - vecuronium bromide, a paralytic, and potassium chloride which stops the heart.
The Arkansas Supreme Court also overturned a temporary restraining order, issued by state Judge Wendell Griffen on Friday, banning the use of vecuronium bromide.
The case had been was by the pharmaceutical company which sold the drug to the state who claimed it was sold for medical use and not capital punishment.
The execution schedule has been met with widespread protest from anti-capital punishment protesters who gathered in Little Rock on Friday before the stays were granted (above)
Their objection to it being used in executions echoes wider trend in the pharmaceutical industries which has seen drug manufacturers step away from supplying states with the ingredients for lethal injections.
But the Supreme Court banned Judge Griffen from ruling on any death penalty cases after he was caught taking part in an anti-capital punishment protest on Friday.
The Pulaski County Circuit judge was pictured tied to a cot outside the Capitol in Little Rock on Friday in a dramatic show of activism. It came within hours of his decision.
Judge Wendell Griffen, who halted the use of one of the drugs after the pharmaceutical company which manufactured it complained last week, was removed from all death penalty cases on Monday after taking part in an elaborate protest in Little Rock last week. He is pictured lying on on a cot with his arms tied to the sides
The Supreme Court reassigned the case and referred him to the state Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission to consider whether he violated the code of conduct for judges.
The other six men scheduled to be executed are Stacey Eugene Johnson, Jack Harold Jones, Ledell Lee, Kenneth D Williams and Marcel W Williams.
Jason McGehee was also due to be executed on April 27 but he was granted a permanent stay.
TOP, L-R: Bruce Earl Ward, Don W Davis, Ledell Lee and Stacey Johnson. BOTTOM, L-R: Jack Jones Jr, Marcel Williams, Kenneth Williams and Jason McGehee
The European Union on Wednesday urged Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson to commute the death-row inmates' sentences.
And Amnesty International called on Arkansas to urgently halt 'the conveyor belt of death which it is about to set in motion.'
Ms Rutledge noted that there are still five upcoming executions 'with nothing preventing them from occurring.'
Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said she plans to fight the inmates' legal efforts at every turn
'These men have been sentenced to death and that's what the attorney general is working towards,' a spokesman told DailyMail.com.
Ward and Davis's executions are the first two of eight executions scheduled in Arkansas before the end of April when the state's supply of lethal injections expires. With a growing shortage of the drug across the country, the state is trying to make use of its only remaining supply before it reaches its use-by date.
The hurried executions will be the first in the state for ten years and have sparked controversy across the country. Protesters on each side of the debate gathered in Little Rock over the weekend.
Johnny Depp joined those fighting the state's execution schedule at one demonstration.
Former executioners have joined the inmates' fight, speaking out to accuse the state of playing 'Russian roulette' with the prisoners' lives by relying on the unreliable lethal injection cocktail.
Johnny Depp and Damien Echols joined the protests in Little Rock on Friday
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson said he's disappointed after the US Supreme Court declined to lift a stay that would have allowed the state's first execution in 12 years.
He has justified the hurried schedule by directing his sympathies to the murderers' victims families.
ARKANSAS DEATH PENALTY SCHEDULE April 17: Bruce Ward and Don Davis April 20: Stacey Johnson and Ledell Lee April 24: Jack Jones and Marcell Williams April 27: Kenneth Williams and Jason McGehee Advertisement
He said: 'When I set the eight execution dates in accordance with the law and my responsibilities, I was fully aware that the actions would trigger both the individual clemency hearings and separate court reviews on varying claims by the death row inmates.
'I understand how difficult this is on the victims' families, and my heart goes out to them as they once again deal with the continued court review; however, the last minute court reviews are all part of the difficult process of death penalty cases.
'I expect both the Supreme Court of Arkansas and the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to review the decisions quickly, and I have confidence in the Attorney General and her team to expedite the reviews.'
The abolition of the 457 visa, which is used by about 95,000 foreign workers, has prompted mixed reactions from industry bodies in Australia.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced on Tuesday the Federal Government would be scrapping the visa for temporary foreign workers and replacing it with a tighter regime.
The 457 visa will be replaced initially by a new temporary two-year visa specifically designed to recruit the 'best and the brightest' in the national interest.
'The fact remains Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs,' Mr Turnbull said.
While the National Farmer's Federation and Tourism Accommodation Australia welcomed the move, the Rural Doctors Association of Australia and Australian Hotels Association were less supportive.
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'Australia First' plan: Malcolm Turnbull made the stunning 457 announcement on social media then at a Canberra press conference (pictured) on Tuesday
The National Farmer's Federation welcomed the decision, claiming there were longstanding issues with access to the former 457 visa program (stock image of farmer)
National Farmers Federation chief executive Tony Mahar said the 457 visa's demise was not disastrous for the farm sector.
'Overseas workers are important in meeting these critical skills shortages however we have had longstanding issues with access to the 457 visa program,' Mr Mahar said.
He said the current program did not recognise many of the skills Australian farmers require because many occupations have their skill levels classified too low to meet the required threshold.
TAA Chair Martin Ferguson said they welcomed the Prime Minister's move to protect Australian jobs through a more streamlined and rigorous visa process.
The Australian Medical Association said they 'cautiously welcomed the move' but were seeking more detail on the impact of the changes on medical workforce shortages.
The Association for Professional Engineers Australia, said they couldn't see any evidence the visa changes would have a positive impact on the profession (stock image of engineers)
The Australian Medical Association said they 'cautiously welcomed the move' but were seeking more detail on the impact of the changes on medical workforce shortages (stock image)
AMA president Dr Michael Gannon said international medical graduates (IMGs) had made a huge contribution to the Australian medical workforce, especially in rural areas and during periods of chronic workforce shortages.
'Australia is presently in the fortunate position of producing sufficient locally-trained medical graduates to meet current and predicted need,' Dr Gannon said.
'It is time to focus our energies on training the hundreds of Australian medical graduates seeking specialist training.
'But we still need to have the flexibility to ensure that under-supplied specialties and geographic locations can access suitably-qualified IMGs when locally trained ones cannot be recruited.'
Chris Walton, chief executive of The Association for Professional Engineers Australia, said they could not see any evidence the visa changes would have a positive impact on the profession.
'At present, unemployment among engineers remains historically high, students are being pushed away from engineering, there are no skill shortages in any engineering discipline, engineering job vacancies remain at all-time lows, and rampant skilled migration is exacerbating the problem,' Mr Walton said.
Both Bill Shorten (pictured left) and Pauline Hanson (right) were quick out of the blocks. Mr Shorten said Malcolm Turnbull didn't care for workers, while Ms Hanson claimed credit for the shock announcement saying she was well ahead of the game
The Australian Hotels Association called on the Federal Government to consider the specific needs of the hospitality sector.
AHA chief executive Stephen Ferguson said retention of chefs and cooks in the skilled occupation list was a must.
Chief executive of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, Peta Rutherford said 'the devil would be in the detail' of the new visa classification.
'A lot of rural and remote communities have had wonderful international doctors who have come here on the 457 visa and have provided a strong service to the community. Without them, some of those rural communities would have had no doctor working in them,' Ms Rutherford said.
'We're just conscious of the lag time and also there's still a fair bit of work to go in relation to the workforce distribution,' she said.
Under the government's plan the list of 650 occupation classifications that qualify for a temporary visa will be reduced by 200.
The new visas will require applicants to have previous work experience.
The Australian Hotels Association said retention of chefs and cooks in the skilled occupation list was a must (stock image of hotel chef)
CEO of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia, Peta Rutherford said 'a lot of rural and remote communities' had experienced wonderful international doctors through the visa
A second four-year visa will require a higher standard of English language skills as well as a proper criminal check.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the new two-year visa would not allow permanent residency, but anyone currently on a 457 visa would not be affected by the new arrangements.
Mr Shorten slammed the plan, tweeting: 'Make no mistake, the only job Malcolm Turnbull cares about saving is his own.'
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson took some credit for the policy change.
'The government will deny their tough talk on immigration and plan to ban 457 visas is because of One Nation but we all know the truth!' the senator tweeted.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry said restructuring the program would make it more sustainable and provided a chance to hit the 'reset button' on temporary skilled migration.
It would also give business the confidence to continue to access skills from overseas workers.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said there were still jobs in regional areas that Australians did not want to 'whether it is packing offal in an abattoir or boning out skulls'.
Unions NSW secretary Mark Morey dismissed the new arrangements, saying it was unlikely there would be any real change.
'What we really need is a root and branch review, so that migrant exploitation and wage theft is properly tackled and Australian standards are both maintained and improved.'
An Air Canada plan landed in London without a wheel after the tyre snapped off mid air.
The incident happened shortly after take-off on the Montreal to Heathrow flight yesterday.
But the pilot only realised after being told by airport workers in Britain after landing safely, without any difficulties.
Damage to the Boeing 777-300's suspension was also reported after landing at Heathrow.
The missing wheel was later found rooted in a fence just a few miles from Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport in Montreal.
An Air Canada plane landed in London without a wheel after the tyre snapped off in mid air (file photo)
A Heathrow worker, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Sun: 'I've never seen anything like this in my life. There is no way the plane would have taken off in Canada without someone doing the final checks on it and they would have noticed if a wheel was missing.
'The proper checks could not have been carried out because these wheels are worth around 10,000 each and they don't simply just fall off.
'None of the passengers knew what had happened and neither did the pilot, he was in shock when he landed and was told about the wheel.
'Heathrow and Air Canada will try and keep this to themselves but that isn't right, they should inform the public because this could have been fatal.'
The aircraft, which was due to be cleaned to provide a service back to Montreal at 1pm, was grounded and it is unlikely to be used for another three days.
A spokesman for Canada Air confirmed the incident and added that losing the wheel had 'no impact on the safe operation of the flight'.
Prince William used FaceTime to speak to Lady Gaga from as part of a campaign to raise awareness about mental health.
The pair joined forces from his London study to the pop star's kitchen in Los Angeles in the Heads Together #oktosay film series.
The Royal Family's Facebook page hosted the World Premiere of the new film of the pair.
They discussed the powerful films that have been released showing people from all walks of life discussing their mental health challenges under the #oktosay banner.
Prince William used FaceTime to speak to Lady Gaga from as part of a campaign to raise awareness about mental health
The pair joined forces from his London study to the pop star's kitchen in Los Angeles in the Heads Together #oktosay film series
The Royal Family's Facebook page hosted the World Premiere of the new film of the pair
Following his brother Harrys confession that he struggled to cope with their mothers death, William pledged to ensure his children grow up feeling able to talk about their emotions.
The prince said for too long it has been taboo or weak to talk about personal issues. And he warns that while the traditional stiff upper lip has its place, it should not be at the expense of mental wellbeing.
Williams candid interview yesterday came as his brother brought mental health to the top of the agenda with a deeply personal account of his battle to cope with Princess Dianas death.
Lady Gaga praised them for the 'beautiful stories' they told. Last year the Poker Face singer released an open letter through her Born This Way Foundation revealing that she lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The Duke was hugely impressed with the openness displayed in the letter and asked her to get involved with the Heads Together campaign.
In their FaceTime call they discussed how opening up and having conversations about mental health was vital to shatter the stigma that still surrounds these issues.
Lady Gaga said she felt people with mental health challenges were 'not hiding anymore' with The Duke adding that it is time 'to feel normal about mental health it's the same as physical health' and that good conversations can 'really make such a difference.'
The Duke and Lady Gaga also made plans to meet in the UK in October to discuss how they can work together and do more to tackle stigma on mental health with Lady Gaga saying 'we have to make the strongest, most relentless attempt we can to normalise mental health issues.'
They discussed the powerful films that have been released showing people from all walks of life discussing their mental health challenges under the #oktosay banner
Last year the Poker Face singer released an open letter through her Born This Way Foundation revealing that she lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
The Duke was hugely impressed with the openness displayed in the letter and asked her to get involved with the Heads Together campaign
They want to have a particular focus on young people.
In the film Prince William said: 'It's time that everyone speaks up and really feels very normal about mental health, it's the same as physical health.
'Everybody has mental health and we shouldn't be ashamed of it and just having a conversation with a friend or family member can really make such a difference.'
'It's really important to have this conversation and that you won't be judged. It's so important to break open that fear and that taboo which is only going to lead to more problems down the line.'
Lady Gaga said: 'Even though it was hard, the best thing that could come out of my mental illness was to share it with other people and let our generation, as well as other generations know that if you are feeling not well in your mind that you're not alone and that people that you think would never have a problem, do.'
'We have to make the strongest, most relentless attempt we can to normalise mental health issues, so that people feel like they can come forward.'
LADY GAGA'S LETTER ON PTSD Last year Lady Gaga released an open letter through her Born This Way Foundation revealing that she lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder 'I have wrestled for some time about when, how and if I should reveal my diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). After five years of searching for the answers to my chronic pain and the change I have felt in my brain, I am finally well enough to tell you. There is a lot of shame attached to mental illness, but its important that you know that there is hope and a chance for recovery. It is a daily effort for me, even during this album cycle, to regulate my nervous system so that I dont panic over circumstances that to many would seem like normal life situations. Examples are leaving the house or being touched by strangers who simply want to share their enthusiasm for my music. I also struggle with triggers from the memories I carry from my feelings of past years on tour when my needs and requests for balance were being ignored. I was overworked and not taken seriously when I shared my pain and concern that something was wrong. I ultimately ended up injured on the Born This Way Ball. That moment and the memory of it has changed my life forever. The experience of performing night after night in mental and physical pain ingrained in me a trauma that I relive when I see or hear things that remind me of those days. I also experience something called dissociation which means that my mind doesnt want to relive the pain so I look off and I stare in a glazed over state. As my doctors have taught me, I cannot express my feelings because my pre-frontal cortex (the part of the brain that controls logical, orderly thought) is overridden by the amygdala (which stores emotional memory) and sends me into a fight or flight response. My body is in one place and my mind in another. Its like the panic accelerator in my mind gets stuck and I am paralyzed with fear. When this happens I cant talk. When this happens repeatedly, it makes me have a common PTSD reaction which is that I feel depressed and unable to function like I used to. Its harder to do my job. Its harder to do simple things like take a shower. Everything has become harder. Additionally, when I am unable to regulate my anxiety, it can result in somatization, which is pain in the body caused by an inability to express my emotional pain in words. But I am a strong and powerful woman who is aware of the love I have around me from my team, my family and friends, my doctors and from my incredible fans who I know will never give up on me. I will never give up on my dreams of art and music. I am continuing to learn how to transcend this because I know I can. If you relate to what I am sharing, please know that you can too. Traditionally, many associate PTSD as a condition faced by brave men and women that serve countries all over the world. While this is true, I seek to raise awareness that this mental illness affects all kinds of people, including our youth. I pledge not only to help our youth not feel ashamed of their own conditions, but also to lend support to those servicemen and women who suffer from PTSD. No ones invisible pain should go unnoticed. I am doing various modalities of psychotherapy and am on medicine prescribed by my psychiatrist. However, I believe that the most inexpensive and perhaps the best medicine in the world is words. Kind wordspositive wordswords that help people who feel ashamed of an invisible illness to overcome their shame and feel free. This is how I and we can begin to heal. I am starting today, because secrets keep you sick. And I dont want to keep this secret anymore.' Advertisement
The Heads Together campaign, led by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry, today also released new YouGov research on the way young people talk about their mental health, including how they increasingly use phones, emails and social media for these conversations.
The YouGov research published today shows that people aged 18-24 are talking more often than older age groups about their mental health but that they are more likely to talk to a friend and less comfortable talking to family members or the GP, than other age groups.
It also shows that young people are much more likely than other age groups to start a conversation about their own mental health via text, email or a social media chat.
It comes after Prime Minister Theresa May praised Prince Harry for his bravery in revealing that he sought counselling to come to terms with the death of his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales.
Prince William used FaceTime to speak to Lady Gaga from as part of a campaign to raise awareness about mental health
William pledged that he and his wife Kate would ensure their children George and Charlotte would grow up feeling able to talk about their emotions
Harry, who was only 12 when she was killed in a car crash in Paris, said he later had two years of total chaos, often felt on the verge of punching someone and had finally sought counselling for his demons.
His intervention earned praise from mental health charities, MPs and campaigners.
William, who has been more reluctant than Harry to show his feelings in public, does not reveal in his own interview whether he has sought help to cope with Dianas death.
Princess Diana is pictured with her two sons William and Harry in 1988 - nine years before her death in a car crash
Diana was killed when the car carrying herself and her lover Dodi Fayed smashed into a pillar inside a Parisian tunnel in the early hours (pictured, Diana's funeral in 1997)
Harry revealed how his brother William (pictured together at a service commemorating their mother's life in 2007) implored his younger sibling to get help after 'shutting down'
Instead he highlights the absolutely appalling toll of young male suicide and insists it is essential to talk through traumatic or stressful experiences.
William, who was 15 when his mother died, says: For too long there has been a taboo about talking about some important issues. If you were anxious, its because you were weak. If you couldnt cope with whatever life threw at you, its because you were failing.
Successful, strong people dont suffer like that, do they? But of course we all do. Its just that few of us speak about it. There may be a time and a place for the stiff upper lip but not at the expense of your health.
Diana's death would send shockwaves around the world and triggered an unprecedented outpouring of grief in Britain
William praised his employers for encouraging him to speak about the difficulties he faces at work, but insists many are not so lucky. Sometimes, emotions have to be put to one side to get the job done, but if you have been through an especially traumatic or stressful situation it is essential to talk it through after the event, he says.
And in what appeared to be a direct reference to his brother, he says: If you dont acknowledge how you feel it will only bottle up, and could reassert itself later as illness.
His brother opened up about his personal struggles in an interview with the Daily Telegraph yesterday.
The crux came, he said, at the age of 28 when he began to suffer panic attacks during royal engagements. I have probably been very close to a complete breakdown on numerous occasions.
Prince William and Kate Middleton will feature in a two-part BBC series called Mind Over Marathon on Thursday night.
The show will follow 10 people who are running the London Marathon on Sunday, which has chosen Heads Together as its main charity.
Two Spanish Air Force planes and a trawler have been seen entering Gibraltar's territory in just 48 hours, it has emerged.
A Navy P3 Orion surveillance plane was spotted flying at low altitude just a mile south of the Rock yesterday - two days after a military C212 propeller plane was seen flying along the length of Gibraltar's east side.
The two incursions came as it emerged that the Spanish fishing trawler Virgin Carmen Primer had sailed into Gibraltar's waters illegally on Monday morning.
A Navy P3 Orion surveillance plane was spotted flying at low altitude just a mile south of the Rock yesterday (pictured)
On Saturday, a military C212 propeller plane was seen flying along the length of Gibraltar's east side (pictured)
A Navy P3 Orion surveillance plane was spotted flying at low altitude just a mile south of the Rock (pictured) yesterday - two days after a military C212 propeller plane was seen flying along the length of Gibraltar's east side
The incidents come amid rising tensions over Gibraltar in the run-up to Brexit. It follows years of disagreements between Britain and Spain over the peninsula, off the Spanish coast, which has been a British overseas territory since the 18th century.
Just days ago, a Spanish warship was chased away for the second time this month.
According to the Royal Navy HMS Scimitar intercepted the Infanta Cristina off the Gibraltar coast shortly after 9am British time last Friday.
The same ship sailed past the coast of the British territory earlier this month in what Gibraltar said was an illegal incursion. It was pursued by a British naval vessel patrolling the Rock until it left.
Disputes between Gibraltar and Spain over the waters are frequent but the latest comes after the territory of some 33,000 people took centre stage in the wrangling over Britain's exit from the European Union, which was triggered on March 29.
The two incursions came as it emerged that the Spanish fishing trawler Virgin Carmen Primer had sailed into Gibraltar's waters illegally on Monday morning
HMS Scimitar was forced to intercept the Spanish warship Infanta Cristina last week
An EU draft position published earlier this month after Prime Minister Theresa May filed formal divorce papers said the application of any EU-UK trade deal to Gibraltar had to be agreed between Britain and Spain, which has long claimed sovereignty over the enclave.
In response, May issued a statement saying London was 'steadfast' in its commitment to the territory. Her spokesman however played down comments by a former leader of her Conservative Party that she would be prepared to go to war to defend it.
Gibraltar was captured by Britain in 1704 and ceded to Britain in 1713 under the Treaty of Utrecht.
In a 2002 referendum, Gibraltarians rejected by 98 percent a proposal for joint British-Spanish sovereignty.
Protective drum lines will not be deployed following the death of Laeticia Brouwer, who was fatally mauled by a shark, the Western Australian government announced
Drum lines will not be deployed at the West Australian beach where a shark fatally mauled teenage surfer Laeticia Brouwer.
The 17-year-old, who was surfing with father Leon at the popular surf break Kelp Beds near Esperance, south-east of Perth, was bitten on the leg and suffered massive blood loss on Easter Monday.
Her father and another surfer pulled Laeticia to shore where a nurse helped perform first aid and applied a tourniquet to stem the bleeding.
It is understood the teenager lost so much blood that CPR was ineffective, and she did not regain consciousness, dying at Esperance Hospital a short time later.
Fisheries minister Dave Kelly described the girl's death as a tragedy but said drum lines would not be deployed.
'We made it clear in opposition that we don't see the merit in automatically deploying drum lines because they don't actually make our beaches any safer,' he said on Tuesday.
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Laeticia (left, with her family), known affectionately as Teesh by her family, was out surfing with her father near Esperance, Western Australia, on Monday afternoon when she was attacked by the shark
The 17-year-old had been surfing with her father at the popular surf break Kelp Beds near Esperance. The beach was closed on Tuesday and surfers were warned to stay away for the next couple of days
Mr Kelly said the new Labor government wanted to promote individual shark deterrents and hoped to announce a new policy in the next few weeks.
'Obviously the whole incident is very raw at this point in time so I don't intend to debate the whole pros and cons of various elements of the shark mitigation policy today,' he said.
'It would be great if we were in position where we could actually prevent further incidences rather than debating what you should do after an attack.'
Drum lines consist of a floating barrel with two lines attached to it.
One line holds a large baited hook suspended from a the floating plastic drum, which in is anchored to the sea bed by the second line.
Fisheries minister Dave Kelly described the girl's death as a tragedy but said drum lines would not be deployed. Pictured, paramedics at the scene after the attack
Last year while in opposition, Labor proposed a $200,000 subsidy scheme for personal shark deterrent devices.
Under the plan, 1000 devices such as Shark Shield would be available with a $200 state government subsidy.
Opposition leader Mike Nahan said on Tuesday that if his party was still in government they would have put out drum lines, saying the Liberals would always 'give priority to human life over sharks'.
He also questioned the effectiveness of Shark Shields.
'This is a tragedy. It is however a tragedy that is recurring and we have to as a community come to grips with it,' he said.
'Clearly there is a growth in numbers of sharks, clearly humankind is being exposed to those dangerous sharks more often and we have to respond in a manner that is befitting.'
Dr Nahan said he wanted a report to examine whether the justification for putting sharks on the global protected species list was still valid in WA.
'My understanding is they have looked at it in South Africa and come to the conclusion that there is plentiful white pointers ... you might come to the same conclusion in Australia,' he said.
The distraught family were seen leaving a police station hand-in-hand on Tuesday afternoon
The girl's surfboard, which had a chunk bitten out of the front of it, has been handed to the police for forensic analysis
Laeticia's uncle, Steve Evans, said the family was 'terribly heartbroken and saddened' by her death, adding that the 'ocean was her and her family's passion'.
'We can take comfort that Teesh died doing something that she loved,' he added.
The church-going family, from Singleton, north of Mandurah, had been in the area on an Easter holiday.
Mr Evans said: 'Teesh will be greatly missed by her family, friends and everyone who knew her.
'We are thankful for the support from the police, SES, ambulance and bystanders at the scene.
'We are also thankful for the help and support from our community at home, especially our church.
'We can take comfort from the fact that she is now in heaven with the Lord in eternal peace.'
The girl's mother and two sisters watched in horror from Kelps Bed, 3km east of Wylie Bay, as the shark's jaws clamped down on her leg just before 4pm
More than 1,200 highly-trained U.S. Marines and 13 powerful military aircraft have touched down in Darwin 'ready to fight' as tensions in North Korea escalate.
The first of the Marines arrived in Australia's tropical north on Tuesday for a six-month deployment during which they will conduct exercises with Australian and visiting Chinese forces.
The annual deployment program started by former U.S. President Barack Obama in 2011 is part of the U.S. 'pivot' to Asia at a time of increased assertiveness by China.
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Over a thousand highly-trained U.S. Marines touched down in Darwin, Australia, on Tuesday
Marines' commander Lieutenant Colonel Brian Middleton (not pictured) said his troops stood 'ready to fight and win the night always'
The decision to send 1,250 US Marines and 13 high-tech aircraft to Darwin comes as tensions in North Korea escalate (pictured, soldiers march during military parade in Pyongyang)
'I think that the commitment that we've taken to put a task force here with a conversation to get larger over the years says that we do think this is an important region,' Marines' commander Lieutenant Colonel Brian Middleton said after the first troops arrived in the Northern Territory.
'Being close to south-east Asia and the Indian Ocean, the Indo Pacific position has always been important.'
The strength of this year's deployment at 1,250 troops lags well behind the initial plan for the deployment to reach 2,500 Marines this year, but it will see the largest U.S. aircraft contingent to Australia in peacetime history.
Lt Middleton said the 13 aircraft, including tilt-rotor Ospreys, Super Cobra helicopters and Huey helicopters, triple the four aircraft in past deployments, was a 'tangible kind of sign of our commitment to the region and to this partnership'.
He said the decision to send the aircraft pre-dated the recent escalation in tensions over North Korea.
'Regardless, I think it is just a good move any time we can strengthen the long standing partnership and alliance between our two countries. We stand ready to fight and win the night always,' Lt Middleton said.
U.S. President Trump has ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group (pictured) to sail to near the Korean peninsula as a show of force
The first of the Marines arrived in Australia's tropical north for a six-month deployment during which they will conduct exercises with Australian and visiting Chinese forces
Pyongyang launched a failed missile test on Sunday and has warned Washington against taking military action against North Korea
U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to sail to near the Korean peninsula as a show of force aimed at deterring North Korea from conducting more missiles tests.
Pyongyang launched a failed missile test on Sunday and has warned Washington against taking military action against North Korea.
The Australia-US-China military exercises are also aimed at Australia charting a course between its most important security ally the United States and its biggest trading partner China.
Australia has drawn rebukes from both superpowers as it tries to strike a balanced stance on the disputed South China Sea, with China criticizing Australian freedom-of-navigation flights in the area and a senior U.S. soldier calling on Australia to do more there.
It comes as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has condemned the rogue North Korean regime as a 'reckless' and 'dangerous' threat to the security of Australia.
The North Korean regime is a threat to the peace of the region,' he told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
'It is a threat to all of its neighbours in the region, and if it were able to develop a missile that could travel as far as the United States with a warhead, or as far as Australia, then it obviously could threaten Australia and, indeed, the United States.
It comes as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has condemned the rogue North Korean regime as a 'reckless' and 'dangerous' threat to the security of Australia
He is one of the most iconic figures in children's literature, yet to his creator, Paddington Bear is much more than just a character.
As the fictional bear approaches his 60 birthday, it appears the teddy who inspired a series of books and a hit film is not too old to be caught up in the emotional crossfire of divorce.
Creator Michael Bond, 91, has revealed he shares joint custody of the toy he describes as 'very real' with his first wife Brenda - and over the years they have taken it in turns to see him.
Very real: Paddington creator Michael Bond, pictured above with his beloved bear, revealed he and his first wife Brenda share joint custody over him
The bear spends part of his time at Mr Bond's home in London's affluent Maida Vale area. Pictured above: An early illustration of Paddington by the bear's first illustrator the late Peggy Fortnum
Making a splash! The bear, who turns 60 this year, was the star of a hit 2014 film about his escapades
Because to Mr Bond, the special teddy with the battered suitcase and fondness for marmalade sandwiches is very much a real person - and a friend.
Speaking from his beautiful London home, he told Emily Retter from The Mirror the bear splits his time with him and his first partner.
Mr Bond lives in the affluent area Maida Vale in London, just a stone's throne away from Paddington Station which gave him the idea for the toy's name.
Mr Bond told the reporter the bear was a real presence to him.
He said 'He's here, he's in the room. He's looking at you.'
He described it as 'hard to explain' but added 'he is a very real person'.
And the author's attachment for the now-world famous animal is hardly surprising, given he has now lived with him for six decades, since he first bought him from Selfridges in the 1960s.
Mr Bond revealed he would even like Paddington to stay with him into the afterlife.
The 91-year-old grandfather said: 'I don't worry about death, I sort of feel it's good to get to 91 and I can't complain.
'And I hope Paddington might come with me, wherever we go - up or down.'
Starry friends: Actor Hugh Bonneville, who appeared in the 2014 hit film about Paddington's escapes
Pictured: Michael Bond received a CBE at Buckingham Palace for his services to children's literature (left) and the cinematic version of Michael Bond's now-famous teddy Paddington Bear (right)
Mr Bond said he and his first wife, who he bought the toy for in the 1960s, used to talk to him and take him out for dinner.
He said the bear, whose escapades were turned into a hit 2014 film , starring Downton Abbeys Hugh Bonneville, was fond of food and enjoyed trips out to restaurants.
Mr Bond was inspired to start writing about Paddington after he hit a wall with his creative stories and his agent suggested he start by what he had in his room.
And so Paddington's journey was born, through pages in a children's book, partly inspired by the Jewish refugees Mr Bond recalls seeing at Reading Station, close to where he grew up.
This year Mr Bond may be turning 92, but he has no plans to retire from writing yet.
Mr Bond said he still makes sure he is sitting down at his desk each day by 9am - even at Christmas.
The tales about Paddington's exploits from darkest Peru to Britain have been translated into 40 languages, with latest release of his 15th novel - Paddington's Finest Hour - this month.
Now Mr Bond said he has just finished the very latest book.
He said he would like Paddington's adventures to continue even after death but said the only person he would entrust to write them would be daughter Karen, who shares his passion for the bear.
A heartbroken family has vowed to track down the vicious killer who decapitated and tortured their beloved kitten.
The Osborne family's three-legged kitten Sooty was found beheaded and wired to a car in Oakey, about 160km west of Brisbane, last week.
Veteran RSPCA Queensland spokesman Michael Beatty said the 'awful' killing was among the worst acts of animal cruelty he had seen and police were investigating.
Sooty the eight-month-old kitten was found decapitated and wired to a car
His owners, the Osborne family, have vowed to track down the sick killer
Sooty's owner Dawn Osborne pledged to bring the killer to justice in a Facebook post.
'I know this person expects to get away with this and I promise they won't,' she wrote.
'Their day will come when they are standing before that judge and I will be there to make sure he/she gets the maximum penalty.'
The eight-month-old kitten had already survived a tussle with the family dog which claimed his leg when he was two months old.
They said the resilient cat had bounced back from the dog attack and formed a deep bond with her husband.
'This kitten was my husband's best mate. They were thick as thieves,' Ms Osborne wrote.
The resilient kitten had already survived losing one leg to the family dog
The family searched desperately for the cat last Wednesday before putting out a plea on lost-pet Facebook pages
Sooty's owner, Dawn Osborne, pledged to bring the killer to justice in a Facebook post
The family searched desperately for the cat last Wednesday before putting out a plea on lost-pet Facebook pages.
The family did not make the grim discovery until a neighbour called to deal the news.
Ms Osborne's Facebook post about the heinous act has since gone viral, leading police to find new leads.
Harvey Weinstein has declared that he could stop the Oscars looking like a 'variety show' by bringing in Steven Spielberg to produce it.
The super-producer joked that he and Spielberg would 'do a great job' of using special effects and virtual reality to revamp the Academy Awards.
His boasts come after this year's epic Oscars blunder, which saw La La Land being wrongly announced as Best Picture winners in an excruciating onstage mix-up.
Harvey Weinstein (left) has declared that he could stop the Oscars looking like a 'variety show' by bringing in Steven Spielberg (right)
The super-producer joked that he and Spielberg would 'do a great job' using special effects and virtual reality to revamp the Academy Awards (pictured with Stephen Fry and Amy Adams)
Discussing how the Oscars could be improved, Weinstein, 65, told The Hollywood Reporter: 'Steven Spielberg and I once talked about producing it together.
'If we could survive each other, we'd do a great job. They're not using technology properly. It still feels like a variety show.'
He added that this year's host Jimmy Kimmel, was 'brilliant' but that bosses could have given him some 'mind-blowingly cool' tricks to really impress audiences.
Weinstein said that he would get past host Billy Crystal back on-board - having previously fronted the Oscars from 1990 to 1993, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2004 and 2012.
Crystal won two Emmys for hosting and writing the 63rd Academy Awards and an Emmy gong for writing the 64th Academy Awards.
Weinstein also addressed the now infamous Best Picture gaffe, which saw presenter Warren Beatty announce La La Land as the winners.
He said this year's host, comedian Jimmy Kimmel (right) was 'brilliant' but that bosses could have given him some 'mind-blowingly cool' tricks to really impress audiences. Weinstein added that he would get Billy Crystal back to host
'Oh, Warren would have to announce best picture,' he joked. 'The suspense would be incredible.'
In a heart-stopping moment, the stars and producers of La La Land were stopped midway through their acceptance speeches and forced to hand their trophies to the stars of Moonlight.
The terrible end to an otherwise triumphant show left the audience gasping in horror as Beatty revealed he and Bonnie and Clyde star Faye Dunaway incorrectly read La La Land as the winner.
As the La La Land cast were walking on stage to accept the accolade, a stagehand standing in the wings could be heard saying 'Oh ... Oh my god, he got the wrong envelope' and walking back and forth, according to the LA Times.
While still on stage, Beatty blamed the epic mishap on being given the wrong envelope, saying he had seen the name Emma Stone from 'La La Land' when he opened his envelope.
Weinstein also addressed the Best Picture gaffe, which saw presenter Warren Beatty wrongly announce La La Land as the winners over Moonlight
A-listers like Michelle Williams, Casey Affleck, Matt Damon and Mel Gibson sat shocked as Warren Beaty explained that Moonlight were the real winners
'I want to tell you what happened I opened the envelope and it said Emma Stone, La La Land and that is why I took such a long look at Faye and at you.
'I wasn't trying to be funny. This is Moonlight for best picture,' Beatty told the shocked crowd as he explained the blunder.
Weinstein and The Weinstein Company's latest success at the Oscars saw them rack up six nominations for Lion.
The emotional drama received nods for best picture along with supporting actor for Dev Patel, supporting actress for Nicole Kidman, adapted screenplay for Luke Davies, cinematography for Greig Fraser, and score for Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka.
In 1998, he produced Shakespeare In Love starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes, which took the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Islamic State is talking to Al-Qaeda about a potential alliance to form a combined terror group as Iraqi troops close in on jihadis in Mosul.
Messengers representing ISIS' leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and his al-Qaeda counterpart Ayman al Zawahiri have discussed what is understood to be a potential merger deal.
This month it was reported the two terror groups had already formed a partnership in Libya amid mounting pressure on the jihadi movements and a leaked memo suggested they could be working together as one organisation by 2021.
Demonstrators chant pro-Islamic State group slogans as they wave the group's flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul
Messengers representing ISIS' leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (left) and his al-Qaeda counterpart Ayman al Zawahiri (right) have discussed what is understood to be a potential merger deal
Osama bin Laden (left) sitting with his deputy and eventual successor Ayman al-Zawahiri at his hide out at an undisclosed location in Afghanistan
Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi revealed the new information in an interview on Monday, citing regional contacts in the country.
'The discussion has started now,' Allawi said.
'There are discussions and dialogue between messengers representing Baghdadi and representing Zawahiri.'
Islamic State split from al-Qaeda in 2014 and the two groups have since waged an bitter battle for recruits, funding and the mantle of global jihad.
Zawahiri has publicly criticized Islamic State for its brutal methods, which have included beheadings, drownings and burning prisoners to death.
It is unclear how exactly the two groups may work together, Allawi said, but mergers have popped up elsewhere in the Middle East and Africa.
Libyan branches of the two terror groups held talks this month about sharing a governing council, according to documents leaked to newspaper Al Sharq al Awsat.
The memos also revealed ISIS and Al-Qaeda believed they would be united fully by 2021.
A general view shows a damaged street as Iraqi counter-terrorism service (CTS) forces advance towards the Sekak neighbourhood in western Mosul on April 11, 2017, during the ongoing offensive to retake the city from Islamic State jihadis
An Iraqi federal policeman fires a machine gun at an Islamic State position on a nearby rooftop during the battle to recapture west Mosul on April 12, 2017 in Mosul, Iraq. Despite being completely surrounded, Islamic State fighters are continuing to put up stiff resistance to Iraqi forces who are now having to engage ISIS in house to house fighting through the narrow streets as they continue their battle to retake Iraq's second largest city of Mosul
Islamic State blazed across large swathes of northern Iraq in 2014, leaving the Iraqi central government reeling.
Baghdadi declared a caliphate over the territory the group controlled from the al-Nuri mosque in Mosul the same year, which also became a point of contention with al-Qaeda.
File photo of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi
Last October, Iraqi security forces and Shi'ite volunteer fighters, commonly referred to as the Popular Mobilization Units teamed up with an international coalition, including the United States, to drive Islamic State from of Mosul and the areas surrounding the city.
The group has been pushed out of the half of Mosul that lies east of the Tigris River, but Iraqi soldiers and their allies are now bogged down in tough fighting in the narrow streets of the Old City of Mosul, west of the river, according to Iraqi security officials.
Islamic State has used suicide bombers, snipers and armed drones to defend the territory under their control.
The group has also repeatedly targeted civilians or used them as human shields during the fighting, according to Iraqi and American security officials.
The militant group has lost ground in Mosul but still controls the towns of Qaim, Hawija and Tal Afar in Iraq as well as Raqqa, their de facto capital in Syria.
Even if Islamic State loses its territory in Iraq, Allawi said, it will not simply go away.
'I can't see ISIS disappearing into thin air,' he said.
'They will remain covertly in sleeping cells, spreading their venom all over the world.'
This is the incredible moment a brave greengrocer fought off an attacker who was armed with a huge shotgun by pelting him with tomatoes from his shop.
The bizarre incident happened in the Sanliurfa Province of Turkey when an armed attacker entered the shop of greengrocer Mehmet Tosun.
The whole incident was captured on security cameras and has since been shared online.
The footage shows Mr Tosun, who has owned the shop for 30 years, looking for a way to protect himself from a known attacker who came in to shoot him, the ex-husband of his sister, named only as Mahmut P.
The video shows Mahmut entering the shop with a shotgun and start shooting at the unarmed man who looks around desperately for something to defend himself with.
Unable to find a weapon, he comes up with the next best thing - tomatoes.
He picks up the fruit and starts throwing them at his attacker, who looks shocked at the turn of events.
This is the incredible moment a brave greengrocer fought off an attacker who was armed with a huge shotgun by pelting him with tomatoes from his shop
The bizarre incident happened in the Sanliurfa Province of Turkey when an armed attacker entered the shop of greengrocer Mehmet Tosun
The attacker, clearly perplexed, can be seen shooting a few more times with the shotgun before running away.
It has been confirmed that the attacker was later detained by police.
Brave Mehmet Tosun said: 'I was busy working. Mahmut P. all of a sudden appeared in front of me. I was standing right by the tomatoes.
The whole incident was captured on security cameras and has since been shared online
The footage shows Mr Tosun, who has owned the shop for 30 years, looking for a way to protect himself from a known attacker who came in to shoot him, the ex-husband of his sister, named only as Mahmut P
'When he pointed the shotgun towards me I threw a tomato in his eye. He lost balance and started shooting around.
'He is my ex-brother-in-law. Maybe he attacked because we took my sister back. We haven't had any problems before.'
The case is being investigated by police.
The US is sending two more aircraft carriers towards the Korean Peninsula, it has been claimed.
Donald Trump has already dispatched the USS Carl Vinson, powered by nuclear reactors, carrying almost 100 aircraft and accompanied by destroyers, a cruiser, and a submarine to the region.
Reports in South Korea claim the US President is bolstering the deployment by sending the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Nimitz to the Sea of Japan next week.
It comes as Trump warned North Korea that it needs to keep its nuclear ambitions in check, telling dictator Kim Jong-un he has 'got to behave'.
The US is sending two more aircraft carriers, including the USS Nimitz (pictured), towards the Korean Peninsula, it has been claimed
Reports in South Korea claim the US President is bolstering the deployment by sending the USS Ronald Reagan (pictured) and the USS Nimitz to the Sea of Japan next week
US President Donald Trump (left) has warned North Korea that it needs to keep its nuclear ambitions in check, telling dictator Kim Jong-un (right) he has 'got to behave'
USS Ronald Reagan is currently stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, according to Yonhap News Agency while the USS Nimitz is undergoing 'final pre-deployment assessment' off Oregon.
Like the USS Carl Vinson, both vessels are more than 1,000ft long, and capable of carrying more than 90 aircraft.
News of their possible deployment comes days after North Korea staged a huge military parade as part of a day of celebrations to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder Kim Il Sung.
There are fears Pyongyang is preparing to carry out a sixth nuclear test.
This morning, US Vice President Mike Pence assured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe Tuesday that America is ready to work closely with its Asian allies in the region to achieve 'a peaceable resolution and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.'
'We appreciate the challenging times in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocations from across the Sea of Japan,' Pence said after arriving from Seoul for talks with Abe.
USS RONALD REAGAN Length: 1,092ft Aircraft: 90 fixed wing and helicopters Speed: 30+ knots Weight: 103,000 tons Crew: 5,680 Home port: Yokosuka, Japan Commissioned: July 2003 Advertisement
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Donald Trump has already dispatched the giant USS Carl Vinson, powered by nuclear reactors, carrying almost 100 aircraft and accompanied by destroyers, a cruiser, and a submarine to the region. It is pictured (right) on Friday in the Indian Ocean alongside USS Michael Murphy (left) and USS Lake Champlain (centre)
'We are with you 100 percent,' the visiting vice president said. President Donald Trump earlier warned that North Korean President Jong Un has 'gotta behave.'
At the outset of their meeting, Pence reiterated to Abe his statement in South Korea that the United States has run out of patience with Pyongyang's moves.
'While all options are on the table,' Pence said, 'President Trump is determined to work closely with Japan, with South Korea, with all our allies in the region, and with China' to resolve the problem.
'We seek peace always as a country, as does Japan, but as you know and the United States knows, peace comes through strength and we will stand strongly with Japan and strongly with our allies for a peace and security in this region,' Pence added.
Abe said: 'It goes without saying that it is a matter of paramount importance for us to seek diplomatic efforts as well peaceable settlements of the issue.'
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'But at the same time,' the prime minister said, 'dialogue for the sake of dialogue is valueless and it is necessary for us to exercise pressure North Korea so that it comes forward and engages in this serious dialogue.'
Trump, in Washington, and Pence at the tense Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea earlier, have signalled a forceful U.S. stance on North Korea's recent actions and threats. But no one was predicting what might come next.
Behind the heated rhetoric, in fact, Trump's strategy in the region looks somewhat similar to predecessor Barack Obama's - albeit with the added unpredictability of a new president who has shown he's willing to use force.
Pence on Monday had travelled to the tense zone dividing North and South Korea, where he warned North Korea's leaders that after years of testing the U.S. and South Korea with its nuclear ambitions, 'the era of strategic patience is over.'
The unannounced visit at the start of his 10-day trip to Asia was a U.S. show of force that allowed the vice president to gaze at North Korean soldiers from afar and stare directly across a border marked by razor wire.
As the brown bomber jacket-clad vice president was briefed near the military demarcation line, two North Korean soldiers watched from a short distance away, one taking multiple photographs of the American visitor.
Pence told reporters near the Demilitarized Zone on Monday that Trump was hopeful China would use its 'extraordinary levers' to pressure the North to abandon its weapons program, a day after the North's failed missile test launch.
Vice President Mike Pence said in South Korea that America's era of 'strategic patience' with Pyongyang has come to an end
A huge military parade took place in Pyongyang on Saturday to mark the 105th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder Kim Il Sung
There are fears Kim Jong-un is planning to carry out a sixth nuclear test. Pictures show a North Korean KN-08 Intercontinental Ballistic Missile during the military parade on Saturday
But Pence expressed impatience with the unwillingness of the regime to move toward ridding itself of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters he hopes 'there will be no unilateral actions like those we saw recently in Syria and that the U.S. will follow the line that President Trump repeatedly voiced during the election campaign.'
For its part, China made a plea for a return to negotiations. Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said tensions need to be eased on the Korean Peninsula to bring the escalating dispute there to a peaceful resolution.
Lu said Beijing wants to resume the multi-party negotiations that ended in stalemate in 2009 and suggested that U.S. plans to deploy a missile defence system in South Korea were damaging its relations with China.
Pence's Asia tour came amid increasing tensions and heated rhetoric on the Korean Peninsula.
While the North did not conduct a nuclear test, the spectre of a potential test and an escalated U.S. response has trailed Pence as he undertakes his Asian tour.
The 31-year-old grandfather of baby Aria has a warrant out for his arrest while the newborn's grandmother is due to face court this week on stealing charges.
Daily Mail Australia can reveal the complex criminal history of baby Aria's family less than a week after she was taken from a Sydney hospital by her teen parents.
Three-day-old Aria was smuggled out of Nepean Hospital in Penrith, west of Sydney, in the early hours of Thursday by her parents - Jayden Lavender, 14 and Jenifer Morrison, 15.
Both parents intended to take their daughter back to the housing commission home they shared with Jayden's mother Tracey Lavender, 47, at Dharruk, in the city's west, once she was released from hospital.
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Tracey Lavender (pictured) the grandma of newborn baby Aria, who was taken from a Sydney hospital by her teenage parents last week, has been charged with multiple stealing offences
The revelation comes as a warrant was issued on Tuesday for the arrest of Jayden's father Adam Taranto (pictured), after he failed to show at court for allegedly breaching an AVO
Ms Lavender (right) and Mr Taranto (left) were once in a domestic relationship and are believed to have four children together, including Jayden
Lavender, who has four children and also acts as a guardian for Jenifer, is due to face Blacktown Local Court on Thursday charged with multiple offences.
The revelation comes as a warrant was issued on Tuesday for the arrest of Jayden's father Adam Taranto after he failed to show at court for allegedly breaching an AVO.
Lavender and Taranto were once in a domestic relationship, and are believed to have four children together including Jayden.
On Tuesday, Jayden and Jenifer were briefly reunited with Aria for the first time since handing her back to medical staff at Nepean Hospital on Thursday afternoon after more than 12 hours in hiding.
Jayden said he and Jenifer burst into tears when their family was briefly brought back together and it gave them hope she would be returned to them permanently.
The young couple hid their newborn baby under a blanket and left the hospital in the early hours of Thursday, camping overnight in a tent purchased from Kmart.
Lavender spoke out in defence of the teenage parents last week, saying they had only taken Aria from the hospital because they 'didn't want to be apart from their baby'.
On Tuesday, Jayden and Jenifer were briefly reunited with Aria for the first time since handing her back to medical staff at Nepean Hospital
Jayden Lavender, 14, and his girlfriend Jenifer Morrison, 15, (both pictured) hid their newborn baby Aria under a blanket and left Sydney's Nepean Hospital early on Thursday morning
Both parents intended to take their daughter back to the housing commission home (pictured) of Jayden's mum Tracey at Dharruk, in the city's west, once Aria was released from hospital
Pictures show the yard of the house littered with up-turned shopping trolleys and abandoned cars, right near where children's play equipment including a trampoline is located
Ms Lavender spoke out in defence of the teens last week, saying they were able parents and pledging to help them raise baby Aria under her roof, where they had already set up a nursery in readiness for her arrival. Pictured is their home in Sydney's west
An overflowing skip bin, which neighbours say is largely filled with the family's trash, is located at the back gate of their Dharruk home
She said the teens were both able parents and pledged to fully help them raise baby Aria under her roof where they already set up a nursery in readiness for her arrival.
On Wednesday morning, two people who are believed to be welfare officers visited the family home, but left when no one answered the front door. It is not clear what the purpose of the visit was.
Photographs show the backyard of the house littered with up-turned shopping trolleys and an overflowing skip bin, which is largely filled with the family's trash.
The backyard where Lavender's young children regularly play on a trampoline is filled with two dumped cars, while the grass is unmowed.
Photographs of the front yard show where her home came under attack from arson in the early hours of last Friday as Lavender, Jayden and Jenifer slept inside.
Pictures of the frontyard of the home show where it came under attack from arson in the early hours of last Friday while Ms Lavender, Jayden and Jenifer all slept inside
A trail of burnt grass leads to a heavily scorched and boarded-up door, where the grandmother told Daily Mail Australia her home had been 'firebombed' after the teens returned with Aria
The teenagers (Jayden is pictured with baby Aria) were reportedly told they are 'too young to decide' what happens to the child and so decided to flee the Nepean Hospital, sleeping in the elements in a Kmart tent
A trail of burnt grass leads up to a heavily scorched and boarded-up door where the grandmother told Daily Mail Australia her home had been 'firebombed' by an unknown person hours after the teen couple returned home with Aria.
Lavender and her children were not home at their Dharruk residence on Tuesday.
But speaking out about the incident last week, both Lavender and Jayden said the family were left 'terrified' following the arson attack.
'There were flames coming underneath the door, it was a petrol fire and I'm putting it out with water,' Jayden said.
Neither Jayden or Jenifer have reportedly been allowed to see their daughter since handing her back over to medical staff at Nepean Hospital
Dozens of brides-to-be face having their plans cancelled and losing thousands of pounds after a wedding planner at a 15th century castle allegedly pocketed deposits and fled.
One devastated couple arrived at the picturesque Guthrie Castle, in Angus, Tayside, to find their big day clashed with a conference.
Others fear that their deposits for the venue, where weddings cost in excess of 20,000, will be lost after wedding planner Craig Williamson 'did a runner'.
Dozens of brides-to-be face having their plans cancelled and losing thousands of pounds after a wedding planner at the 15th century Guthrie Castle pocketed deposits and fled
He is said to have had the deposits paid into a private account then wiped the hotel's computer systems before fleeing abroad, leaving no record of the bookings.
It means that the castle now has no idea who has booked, how to contact them, and which bookings to honour.
Dundee couple Lynsey Swan, 28, and her partner Gavin Smith, 31, are due to marry at the castle next June and fear for the 2,000 deposit that they have paid.
Lynsey said: 'It is a total nightmare but there are other people whose weddings could be next weekend.
'We put down a deposit of just over 2,000 and we don't know what will happen with that.'
One groom, who is due to marry in less than a month, said the situation is 'horrendous' as he and his bride are left in limbo over whether the date will go ahead.
Police Scotland say they are investigating, and it is so far unknown exactly how many people are affected by the issue.
Guthrie Castle is now appealing for people who have booked weddings to get in touch immediately.
The website, which is displaying no other information or links, simply says: 'Anyone who has booked for a Wedding or Event with Guthrie Castle. Kindly contact us...'
A widely-shared post on social media claims: 'Apparently their wedding coordinator was taking double and triple bookings, pocketing the money, only having one booking in the diary and so the venue doesn't know who to contact or who is booked.
A widely-shared post on social media claims that the wedding co-ordinator was taking double and triple bookings and pocketing the cash before running away
Wedding photographer Kirstie Brown also posted to try and alert anyone who may have had a wedding booked at the castle
'For people who have booked, some are in the diary but haven't paid deposit and some aren't in the diary but have paid the deposit so they don't know who to honour the booking to.
'Meanwhile, the coordinator has done a total runner with around half a million and the venue can't get in touch with all the couples because they don't know who they all are.'
Dundee-based photographer Kirsty Brown, who runs Memento Wedding Photography, said she had several clients due to be married there.
She said: 'I spoke to the make-up artist that did the wedding on Saturday that was double booked and she said it was all true.
'Apparently the wedding coordinator had used bank details of a private account for people to put the deposits into rather than the business account.
'I then spoke to one bride on the phone who has booked me to take their photos at Guthrie Castle.
'Thankfully she's not getting married there until 2018 so hopefully it will be sorted out before then.
'She was absolutely devastated. She did wonder about that because the account didn't seem like a business account.'
Guthrie Castle has not responded to requests for comment but is now appealing for people who have booked weddings to get in touch immediately
Photographer Angus Forbes said he had half a dozen weddings booked there in the next couple of years.
He said: 'Clients have been contacting me about the situation. It seems that the Castle is pulling out the stops to try to solve the issues.
'It's a popular venue, an expensive venue and a great place to take photographs in.'
A Dundee couple who are due to marry at Guthrie Castle next month described the situation as 'horrendous'.
They are still to discover whether their wedding is the only event booked for the venue and called on the castle staff to be more 'transparent'.
The groom, who asked not to be named because he wanted to maintain a positive relationship with the castle, said: 'At the end of last week we were contacted by email asking us to get in touch, which I did on Thursday afternoon.
The news has sent shockwaves through the community of businesses and performers that work the wedding circuit in the area
'They explained that the wedding coordinator hadn't turned up to work when expected and they contacted the police with a missing person report.
'Then they said it emerged that the guy had left the country and that he had wiped out their computer records.
'They have no records of the bookings and will only know when people contact them.
'We still don't know for sure if we are the only wedding booked for our date.'
CASTLE BUILT BY LORD TREASURER AND FRIEND OF THE KING Guthrie Castle dates back to the 15th century with a tower house originally built by Sir David Guthrie. Sir David was armour bearer to the king, captain of the guard and was appointed Lord Treasurer of Scotland in 1461. He obtained a charter under the great seal to build Guthrie Castle in 1468 and was later appointed Lord Chief Justice of Scotland. The historic keep remained in the Guthrie family until 1983. In 2003, the castle and its grounds were opened to the public, for wedding parties, corporate functions and for group bookings. It has a 200-seat pavilion, 22 bedrooms and a private nine-hole golf course. The grounds include one of Scotland's most significant walled gardens, dating back to 1614. Advertisement
The man, who booked the venue almost a year ago, said that the revelation had added greatly to the stress of preparing the wedding which is just a few weeks away.
'I checked with the Registrar's Office in Angus and their records showed there was no weddings happening on that day other than ours,' he said.
'However someone might have booked it for a reception or a conference.
'There's a lot of stress in the run up to a wedding. At this stage we are trying to keep relationships with the castle as good as possible because we are in a very vulnerable position.'
He recalled that toward the end of last year, the former employee at the centre of the scandal mentioned that the bank account details to make payments towards the wedding would shortly be changed.
'We never heard anything more about that so I hope we've been making payments into the castle's account but I've not had conformation of that,' he added.
'I do think the castle could have handled this situation better from a customer services point of view.
'Although this is a terrible shock for them and I have a great deal of sympathy for them, they could have been more transparent and made more effort to try to get people to come forward as quickly as possible.
'There has been very little in the way of apologies or "this must be awful for you". The feeling is very much how awful it is for them.
'It is awful for them but for people getting married it's quite horrendous.'
A police spokesman said: 'Police Scotland is aware of the matter and is carrying out inquires'.
US forces are accused of killing at least 40 civilians by bombing a Syrian mosque which their intelligence believed was hosting an Al Qaeda meeting.
The airstrikes allegedly hit a well-known western Aleppo mosque full of hundreds of worshipers on March 16 and injured dozens, Syria said.
The first bomb hit the mosque during prayers before a second blast hit survivors outside, according to a Human Rights Watch report.
US forces are accused of killing at least 40 civilians by dropping a bomb on a Syrian mosque which they reportedly believed was an Al Qaeda meeting. Pictured, volunteers sorting through the rubble after the reported airstrike
The airstrikes allegedly hit a well-known western Aleppo mosque full of hundreds of worshipers on March 16 and injured dozens, Syria said
Syrian civil defence volunteers, known as the White Helmets, dig through the rubble of a mosque in the village of Al-Jineh
Harrowing footage captures a man crying and being restrained by volunteers at the scene of the blast
Others who ran towards the blast to help were also killed, a witness said.
The US claimed the bombings targeted an Al Qaeda meeting hall - but the report claimed there was no evidence that terrorists were meeting there.
The investigation found that the mosque was well known for hosting lectures every Thursday between sunset and evening prayers, CNN reported.
Photos of the building before the attack show it had shelves for shoes and prayer rugs, suggesting that it was a mosque.
Another shot taken after the attack shows a sign that reads 'Saydina Omar ibn Al-Khattab Mosque', according to the report.
The first bomb hit the mosque during prayers before a second blast hit survivors outside, according to a Human Rights Watch report
The US claimed the bombings targeted an Al Qaeda meeting hall - but the report claimed there was no evidence that terrorists were meeting there
The investigation found that the mosque was well known for hosting lectures every Thursday between sunset and evening prayers, CNN reported
US military said an airstrike killed 'several terrorists' at a meeting of senior Al Qaeda terrorists in Idlib in March.
An official told CNN they bombed a building 50 feet from the mosque, and said satellite imagery showed the mosque still standing.
But the Human Rights Watch investigation said US forces got the location wrong - and that it was not in Idlib but the southwest of al-Jinah.
The attack was documented by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syria Civil Defense, better known as the White Helmets.
Human Rights Watch interviewed a member of the the Syria Civil Defense, known as the White Helmets, who was at the scene, and four people who were in the building during the strikes.
Photos of the building before the attack show it had shelves for shoes and prayer rugs, suggesting that it was a mosque
Syria Civil Defense workers work tirelessly to try to rescue people from the rubble
Civilians were left in chaos after the blasts. Others who ran towards the blast to help were also killed, a witness said
They collaborated with investigative group Bellingcat, which analyzed footage and photos from the attack, and Forensic Architecture, which created reconstructions of the airstrikes and models of mosque.
'The US seems to have gotten several things fundamentally wrong in this attack, and dozens of civilians paid the price,' Ole Solvang, deputy emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
'The US authorities need to figure out what went wrong, start doing their homework before they launch attacks, and make sure it doesn't happen again.'
In 2015 US airstrikes killed 42 civilians after hitting a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Kunduz, Afghanistan.
It comes after US airstrikes killed 42 civilians after hitting a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Kunduz, Afghanistan in 2015
A Doctors Without Borders employee walks inside the charred remains of the organization's hospital after the bombing
It comes amid reports that Islamic State is talking to Al Qaeda about a potential alliance to form a combined terror group as Iraqi troops close in on jihadis in Mosul.
Messengers representing ISIS' leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and his al Qaeda counterpart Ayman al Zawahiri have discussed what is understood to be a potential merger deal.
This month it was reported the two terror groups had already formed a partnership in Libya amid mounting pressure on the jihadi movements and a leaked memo suggested they could be working together as one organisation by 2021.
Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi revealed the new information in an interview on Monday, citing regional contacts in the country.
'The discussion has started now,' Allawi said.
'There are discussions and dialogue between messengers representing Baghdadi and representing Zawahiri.'
Islamic State split from al Qaeda in 2014 and the two groups have since waged an bitter battle for recruits, funding and the mantle of global jihad.
Marc Williams said he was stunned when a Google reCAPTCHA programme asked him about Heinrich Himmler when verifying he was not a robot on an online McDonald's Monopoly game
A father playing McDonald's Monopoly online claims he was greeted by a sick Nazi joke in a Google security programme which referenced murderous SS chief Heinrich Himmler.
Father-of-two Marc Williams was left stunned when he was confronted by the baffling statement as he tried to log on to the restaurant's website to see if he'd won a prize.
When prompted to verify he was not a robot, Google's reCAPTCHA programme asked him to 'select the phrases that sound incorrect' - to which one of the potential answers was 'sent to Heinrich Himmler'.
Himmler was a high-ranking Nazi who later helped Adolf Hitler set up concentration camps and was one of the key architects of the Holocaust.
Google said the suggestion had now been removed and was only visible to 'a very tiny percentage of people'.
Mr Williams, 27, from Cwmbran, Wales, said: 'I'm not easily offended but this really shocked me. There are some things you just don't joke about.
'I had to look at it twice. Obviously the kids don't know what it means, but I certainly do. Himmler is one of the most horrible people who has ever lived.
'What if it had been a Jewish customer who saw that? It's disgusting. Of all the answers in the world they could have listed, why pick something as controversial as that?
'Even the other answers listed mentioned immigration - there's no need really. It's a game for goodness sake.
'As soon as I saw it I took a screengrab and logged off the website. I don't think it's appropriate at all.
'Even if it is technically a correct answer, I just think it's a crass thing to even mention on a website that's going to be used by families.'
The father-of-two, pictured right with his partner Persephone Cummins, stepson Ifan Ballantyne, and daughter Ffion, right, said the programme asked him to select 'incorrect phrases' including 'sent to Heinrich Himmler', left
Mr Williams, pictured with Ms Cummins, described the programme as 'disgusting'
Mr Williams, pictured with his family, called on both Google and McDonald's to remove the answer, and the web giant confirmed it has since taken it off the programme
Civil servant Mr Williams visits the McDonald's restaurant in Pontypool once a week after going swimming with his stepson Ifan Ballantyne, six, and one-year-old daughter Ffion Williams.
Mr Williams, who lives with his partner, 27-year-old Persephone Cummins, said: 'It was one of those boxes that pops up every now and then on websites to make sure you're not a robot.
HOW CAPTCHA WORKS CAPTCHA stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart. They initially started out as tests based on distorted words and images asking humans to spell out what they could see. But as spam BOTS have become more advanced, a shift towards questions and information took place, with information automatically generated from the web and used in questions. Other captures are designed around a specific word or brand and ask people to describe it, with a BOT unlikely to be able to come up with a correct answer. Advertisement
'I had collected quite a few of the codes to put in and see if I'd won a prize. Sometimes it's a free burger but it can be a car or a holiday, so it's worth checking.
'We go to McDonald's after swimming once a week as a treat so we've got quite a few codes saved up.
'It must have thought I was a bit suspicious because I was entering so many of them so that's why it asked me to verify I was a human.
'Sometimes you just tick a box, other times there's pictures, and this time it was a questions and that's when I saw the Himmler answer.
'The sick thing is, someone must have put that in or allowed it to get past a certain stage. It's not on.
'I contacted McDonald's straight away and they've told me it's Google's responsibility, but I think they both need to act.'
A spokesperson for Google said reCAPTCHA text was automatically generated from various sources on the web and the Himmler suggestion had now been removed.
A McDonald's spokesperson said: 'The phrases referenced in this verification tool have been generated by a Google service.
'It is disappointing to learn that inappropriate content appears to have been used and we are seeking guidance from Google as to how this has happened and asked that they review and resolve this issue as a matter of urgency.'
A horrifying new ISIS propaganda video appears to show a six-year-old child assisting in a double beheading.
The boy, wearing a black headscarf and camouflaged army gear, delivers a speech to camera while holding out two knives.
Executioners then walk past him and each take a knife before beheading their prisoners in Syria.
With the blade balanced in his hands, he asks that the terrorists who butcher the victims are given peace by the Prophet Muhammad and Allah before delivering the chilling line, 'The infidel and his killer never meet in hell'.
Scroll down for video
This boy delivers a speech to camera before handing knives to an ISIS killer in propaganda video
Two prisoners are forced face-down in a stream before ISIS terrorists cut off their heads
The boy hands two knives to the executioners as another follows behind with a prisoner
Two jihadis then walk in front of the young child and each take a knife from his hands.
They can both be seen pushing victims along a path in the rocky countryside.
It is not clear from the video what supposed crimes the prisoners are said to have committed against Islamic State, but both men are wearing matching tracksuit bottoms which are black with orange detail.
After being frogmarched through a stream, they are pushed face down into the water before being beheaded by two terrorists wearing black cloaks and masks.
Their bodies are left in the water as their blood runs downstream.
The video then cuts to another series of sick beheadings carried out by the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Army branch of ISIS.
The boy, pictured here having given his knife to the first ISIS butcher, is the latest youngster the terror group has paraded in its propaganda videos
The video, which was shot in Syria by the Khalid Ibn al-Walid Army branch of ISIS, goes on to feature a series of beheadings
Children are being routinely paraded in the terror group's propaganda videos, with multiple videos showing very young boys shooting prisoners in the head.
In January, a sickening video appearing to show a toddler shooting a prisoner dead in a ball pit in Syria was published online by Islamic State.
In the video, the child is seen walking across a ball pit, full of broken plastic balls, towards a prisoner who is tied to a fence by his wrists.
A man then hands the toddler a gun, and he is seen aiming the gun before seemingly pulling the trigger.
Last year, a chilling video from ISIS showed a British boy and four other children executing prisoners in cold blood in Syria.
The grotesque nine-minute video is believed to have been recorded recently in the ISIS capital of Raqqa in Syria.
Britons dreaming of a new life in Australia have been dealt a major blow after its Prime Minister scrapped the visa programme for skilled foreign workers.
The 457 visa programme, which is currently used by around 18,000 British citizens, will end tomorrow and will be replaced by a new one.
Australia's Department of Immigration published a list of jobs removed from the new visa regime, which includes pilots, butchers, flight attendants, futures traders, web developers, public relations managers and journalists.
In a video statement posted today, Australia's Prime Minister Malcom Turnbull said: 'Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs.'
Scroll down for video and a full list of the occupations removed in the new visa programme
'Australia First' plan: Malcolm Turnbull made the stunning 457 announcement on social media then at a Canberra press conference (pictured) on Tuesday
The 457 programme, introduced by John Howard's government in 1996, allowed overseas workers to stay in Australia for up to four years.
Businesses could sponsor 'skilled' foreign workers to come to Australia for work - as long as they couldn't find a citizen or permanent resident to do the job instead.
But Mr Turnbull said the programme has 'lost its credibility'.
He said his new visa scheme will attract the 'best and brightest' to Australia and target regional skills shortages.
'We're putting Australians first,' he added.
According to the Australian Government, by the end of last month, there were 177,390 457 visa holders in Australia.
The main countries of citizenship for primary visa holders in Australia were India (19,360), the UK (18,270), China (6,950) and Ireland (6,780).
And the largest numbers were employed in New South Wales (40,430) followed by Victoria (23,310) and Western Australia (14,790).
The top industries of employment for primary visa holders were accommodation and food services (15,260), other services (13,890) and information, media and telecommunications (10,030).
Mr Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced they will scrap 457 visas for foreign workers and replace them with a new scheme with tougher English standards
Mr Turnbull's plan involves a short-term two year visa, with the number of available occupations cut from the current list of 200.
(Current 457 visa holders) will continue under the conditions of that visa - Immigration Minister Peter Dutton
His programme also includes a longer-term four year visa where workers will need to meet a higher standard of English.
People will need to undergo a criminal record check and show work experience.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the shock decision won't affect current Australian visa holders.
'There will be a grandfathering arrangement. They will continue under the conditions of that visa.'
THE FINE PRINT ON 457 VISA REPLACEMENT PROGRAMME By Nic White for Daily Mail Australia The 457 visa is being replaced with two stricter programmes to bring skilled workers into Australia. Fewer occupations will be included for both visas and the length of stay slashed from four years to two. 'It is focused, relentlessly, on ensuring that temporary migration visas are not a passport for foreigners to take up jobs that could and should be filled by Australians,' Mr Turnbull said. 'It will be manifestly, rigorously, resolutely conducted in the national interest to put Australians and Australian jobs first.' A short-term two-year visa with a smaller list of eligible jobs will essentially replace the 457, which has about 95,000 current holders in the country. The medium-term will be for four years and require a better standard of English and mandatory labour market testing. 'It will require a full - a proper police record, a criminal check, which is not the case at the moment,' Mr Turnbull said. He said the new visas would allow businesses to fill 'real skill gaps' with foreign workers but wherever Australians would be given jobs first. The government would establish a new training fund to help train Australians to fill skills gaps so fewer foreign workers would be necessary. The short-term visa would cost $1,150 and the medium-term one $2,400 - more than the $1,060 the 457 visa cost. Advertisement
Both Bill Shorten (pictured left) and Pauline Hanson (right) were quick out of the blocks. Mr Shorten said Malcolm Turnbull didn't care for workers, while Ms Hanson claimed credit for the shock announcement saying she was well ahead of the game
WHO COMES TO AUSTRALIA ON 457 VISAS? A 457 visa allows foreign workers in 'skilled' occupations to live and work in Australia for up to four years. As of March 2016, more than 177,000 workers and members of their family held 457 visas. A Parliamentary Library report said the most 457 workers come from India, the United Kingdom, China and Ireland. The biggest industries employing 457 visa holders were accommodation, food services, and IT. Source: Parliamentary Library
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Political reaction was swift in Australia today.
'Make no mistake, the only job Malcolm Turnbull cares about saving is his own,' tweeted Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
One Nation senator Pauline Hanson claimed credit for the decision.
'The Government will deny their tough talk on immigration & plan to ban 457 visas is because of One Nation but we all know the truth!,' she said on Twitter.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the visa abolition sounded 'more like a dog whistle than a genuine policy to grow jobs for young Australians.'
The announcement came just weeks before Treasurer Scott Morrison hands down the Federal Budget.
And it comes less than a day after Mr Turnbull's predecessor, Tony Abbott, warned Australians were 'sick of governments that don't deliver'.
Mr Turnbull's announcement came shortly after a barrage of criticism from his predecessor Tony Abbott
OCCUPATIONS REMOVED (A-F) Below is a list of the occupations removed in the new Australian visa programme, along with the ANZSCO Code: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Worker 411511 Actor 211111 Actors, Dancers and Other Entertainers NEC 211199 Aeroplane Pilot 231111 Air Traffic Controller 231112 Air Transport Professionals NEC 231199 Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (Avionics) 323111 Amusement Centre Manager 149111 Antique Dealer 142112 Apparel Cutter 393211 Archaeologist 272414 Archivist 224211 Art Director (Film, Television or Stage) 212311 Artistic Director 212111 Auctioneer 611111 Author 212211 Bed and Breakfast Operator 141911 Betting agency Manager 142113 Biochemist 234513 Biotechnologist 234514 Blacksmith 322111 Boarding Kennel or Cattery Operator 149911 Broadcast Transmitter Operator 399511 Building and Engineering Technicians NEC 312999 Business Broker 612111 Butcher or Smallgoods Maker 351211 Call or Contact Centre Manager 149211 Canvas Goods Fabricator 393111 Caravan Park and Camping Ground Manager 141211 Cinema or Theatre Manager 149912 Clinical Coder 599915 Clothing Patternmaker 393212 Clothing Trades Workers NEC 393299 Commissioned Defence Force Officer 139111 Commissioned Fire Officer 139112 Commissioned Police Officer 139113 Communications Operator 342312 Community Arts Worker 272611 Composer 211211 Conservation Officer 234311 Construction Estimator 312114 Conveyancer 599111 Corporate Treasurer 221212 Court Bailiff or Sheriff (Aus) / Court Collections Officer (NZ) 599212 Deer Farmer 121314 Defence Force Member - Other Ranks 441111 Defence Force Senior Officer 111212 Dental Hygienist 411211 Dental Prosthetist 411212 Dental Therapist 411214 Detective 441311 Director of Photography 212313 Diver 399911 Dog or Horse Racing Official 452318 Drama Teacher (Private Tuition) 249213 Dressmaker or Tailor 393213 Driller 712211 Driving Instructor 451211 Education Reviewer 249112 Electorate Officer 224911 Electronic Engineering Draftsperson 312411 Electronic Engineering Technician 312412 Electroplater 322112 Emergency Service Worker 441211 Engineering Patternmaker 323411 Engraver 323311 Entertainer or Variety Artist 211113 Environmental Health Officer 251311 Exercise Physiologist 234915 Film, Television, Radio and Stage Directors NEC 212399 Financial Institution Branch Manager 149914 Fire Fighter 441212 Fire Protection Equipment Technician 399918 First Aid Trainer 451815 Fisheries Officer 311311 Flight Attendant 451711 Floor Finisher 332111 Flying Instructor 231113 Food Technologist 234212 Funeral Director 451311 Funeral Workers NEC 451399 Futures Trader 222212 Advertisement
Shocking images have emerged of a dead stingray with its wings and tail hacked off in an appalling case of animal cruelty.
The 250kg animal was found near Rye pier, off the coast of Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, and has provoked enraged divers to call for an end to barbaric attacks on marine creatures.
Local resident and diver who found the injured animal, PT Hirschfield, believes the removed parts of the stingray 'had been removed to use as shark bait'.
'You can literally see the knife cut marks along both sides of this animal plus the tail was cut off,' she told Herald Sun.
Local diver PT Hirschfield gets a close up look of the dead stingray which suffered horrific fatal injuries as the result of an inhumane attack
The 250kg stingray had large parts of its body removed including its large wings and tail
The fatal injuries the large ray suffered from the attack are one of several acts of animal cruelty encountered by Mornington Peninsula divers daily.
Diving instructor Jane Bowman reported to Fisheries Victoria she spotted 18 dead fiddler rays with stab wounds during a recent dive.
It is believed they are being killed as they are eating fish in which fisherman are trying to catch or simply because they don't want to catch them again.
Larger species like the one found may also have been used as bait for the fisherman.
'They're being thrown back like rubbish.' Ms Hirschfield added.
The tail of the sea creature had been hacked off as it was disposed of on the seabed of Port Phillip Bay
A close up of the shocking injuries sustained by the stingray as it is believed fishermen are killing rays as they're eating the fish they are trying to catch
Port Phillip Bay does have a constant patrol of undercover and uniform inspectors safeguarding the iconic tourist area yet local divers and have called for more action following the latest in a long line of cruel attacks on marine life.
Travis Dowling, director of Fisheries Victoria, confirmed it was illegal to use stingrays as bait, as well as throwing back dead ones. He also said offenders would face a $310 on-the-spot fine or up to $2000 in court.
Ms Hirschfield told Daily Mail Australia it was 'devastating to find the smooth ray in that condition under the pier after diving with it regularly over many months'.
'People worldwide were angry, sickened and saddened to see what had happened,' she continued.
'It's not very sporting to kill a graceful resident animal like this which is loved by locals and tourists alike in shallow water under a pier and pretty distressing to see it having met such a brutal fate.'
Campaigners Project Banjo Action Group held a rally in an attempt to stop the killing of harmless stingrays.
One protester displays one of the dead rays which were found while diving at Mornington Peninsula
Enough is enough! Locals turned out in force to show their support for the rays of Port Phillip Bay
Divers and locals combined to take a stance on the issue at Rye pier
Local families came down to lend a hand in an attempt to get their poignant message across
Campaigners Project Banjo Action Group urged for stricter laws and punishments for those responsible at a recent rally on the peninsula.
They had gathered with signs brandished with 'Stop the Slaughter!' and 'Protect Peninsula rays!' in an attempt to raise awareness of the issue.
The images of the dead stingray harbored strong social media attention with many users commenting on the shocking pictures.
'Whoever did this this is just the first stage of becoming a serial killer or a mass murder,' one user commented.
'Prosecute them and throw away the key as the fish can't defend themselves,' another suggested.
Olympic champion James Cracknell has fired the starting gun on his bid to become an MP - but his race has started shakily after he praised North Korea's approach to tackling obesity.
A UN report released last month revealed damning statistics showing nearly half its population is going hungry due to food shortages.
But, appearing on Sky News, the two-time rowing gold medallist - who wants to run for Parliament to get Britain fitter - listed North Korea and Cuba as the only two countries in the world to have a 'handle on obesity.'
Aappearing on Sky News, James Cracknell listed North Korea and Cuba as the only two countries in the world to have a 'handle on obesity
His comments left presenters Sarah-Jane Mee and Jonathan Samuels (right) stunned, as the latter pointed out that many North Koreans are currently starving
Announcing his bid to become an MP, he said: 'You can either moan about it from the outside and not try to do anything, or go about and do it from the inside.
'If you think of the two countries that have a handle on obesity, what do you think they are?
Anchor Sarah-Jane Mee replied: 'Do you know what? I'm stumped there, I don't know.'
'North Korea and Cuba,' Cracknell replies. 'They're quite controlling on behavioural trends. It'll have to be worked and you'll have to get people to buy into it
Presenter Jonathan Samuels interjects: 'Well people are starving in North Korea. They're not obese because they haven't got any food.
A damning UN report showed more than 70 per cent of citizens in the secretive nation rely on food aid while most lack even basic healthcare provision or sanitation
Kim Jong-Un plans to 'accelerate' his nuclear and ballistic missile programme amid heightened tensions with the South and the US
James Cracknell (second from left) during his gold-winning race in the men's coxless four event during the Athens 2004 Summer Olympic Games
Cracknell then stumbles over a repost to this, before saying: 'Exactly, but there's sanctions and everything else. But the example is behavioural change.'
Samuels' comments relate to a damning UN report that showed more than 70 per cent of citizens in the secretive nation rely on food aid while most lack even basic healthcare provision or sanitation.
The shocking report emerged as Kim Jong-Un outlined plans to 'accelerate' his nuclear and ballistic missile programme amid heightened tensions with the South and the US.
And Cracknell's praise for Kim's ability to keep his civilians from getting obese sparked outrage on social media.
One Twitter user wrote: 'Starving your people will do that.'
Another added: 'Ummmm by starvation!! That's not a "handle" on obesity. What a fool!!'
A further post said: 'Ethiopia in the Eighties had a handle on it too. What a ridiculous statement. '
And another poster took a more direct swipe at the leader, saying: 'Cant resist this - only because Kim eats it all and the rest get none!!!!'
It is not Cracnell's first attempt at politics, having failed to be elected as an MEP in the 2014 European Parliament election and also as a Conservative candidate for the Kensington seat for the 2015 general election.
British motorists face being stung with fines of up to 640 for speeding in Europe under a controversial change to EU law.
But European drivers caught breaking the limit in the UK will not be hit with the same penalties because of a difference in motoring laws in Britain.
Previously, British motorists could only be fined if they were stopped by police at the roadside or had rented a hire car which had their details registered.
But the new controversial directive gives European countries new powers to use the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency's (DVLA's) database of nearly 40 million motorists to track down the driver's details.
British motorists face being hit by hefty fines for motoring offences while driving abroad, under a controversial EU directive coming into force. But British police forces cannot use the law because of a legal loophole
The new law, which will comes into force by May 7, covers a string of motoring offences including speeding, failing to stop at a red light, using a mobile phone at the wheel not wearing a seatbelt.
The change means hundreds of thousands of British drivers face being hit by hefty penalties for motoring offences while traveling in the continent this summer.
Britain had been given a two-year exemption from the rules, which were rolled out across the EU in 2015, but had to introduce them this spring.
But British police forces cannot use the system to track down foreign drivers who break motoring laws in the UK.
This is because the directive is based on the principle that the registered owner of a vehicle should be held responsible for the fines, as is the case in EU countries including France, Spain and Italy.
But under British law the actual driver of the vehicle is to blame, and this may be someone other than the registered owner.
An estimated half a million British motorists are flashed by speeding cameras in France every year, attracting a maximum fine of 750 euros, the equivalent of 640.
The fines will come into force this May, meaning British holidaymakers traveling abroad this summer in countries including Spain and France face being stung by the financial penalties
Simon Williams, RAC spokesman, said that European drivers who break the laws of the road should not evade justice.
He told the Times: 'Of course, it's right that any UK driver found to be breaking motoring laws in another European country will have to face the relevant penalty as this has been an unacceptable loophole for too many years, but equally, it is also right that any motorist in charge of a European-registered vehicle found to be exceeding a speed limit, or other such offence, in the UK should face the consequences in his or her own country.'
The Department for Transport hinted that the directive could be scrapped once Britain leaves the European Union in 2019.
A spokesman said: 'On 23 June, the EU referendum took place and the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union.
'While the UK is still a member of the EU, we are obliged to bring in rules on cross border enforcement. Once we have left the EU, our Parliament will have the power to amend the law.'
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Theresa May sprung a massive surprise on the nation and her own ministers today by announced a snap general election for June 8 - after having a moment of clarity on a walking holiday in Wales.
In a dramatic statement on the steps of Downing Street, the Prime Minister fired the starting gun on a poll that she hopes will deliver her an unassailable majority to shape the country's future.
She blamed opposition parties who have been trying to frustrate Brexit for her sudden change of heart after months insisting she will not hold an election - singling out Nicola Sturgeon's efforts to exploit the situation to tear the UK apart.
The bold move took even Cabinet members by surprise, having been kept a closely guarded secret between a handful of the premier's closest allies and aides.
Brexit Secretary David Davis and Chancellor Philip Hammond have been jointly pressing the PM to call an early vote for some time, and were informed of Mrs May's decision at a meeting yesterday. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd are understood to have been told this morning shortly before the gathering of her top team in No10.
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A beaming Theresa May leaving Downing Street after making her dramatic announcement on the steps of the famous building today
Mrs May said weakness in Westminster would weaken her hand in the Brexit negotiations - knowing an election against Jeremy Corbyn could hand her a huge Commons majority
Mrs May revealed the shift was driven by soul-searching while she hiked in Snowdonia with husband Philip over the Easter break.
On another high-octane day in UK politics that could have repercussions for decades to come:
Jeremy Corbyn declared Labour will back holding a snap election despite polls showing it could deliver a 140 majority for Mrs May. MPs including former home secretary Alan Johnson and Tom Blenkinsop announced they will stand down rather than fight for their seats again.
MPs will hold a 90-minute debate in the House of Commons tomorrow before voting on whether to scrap the Fixed Term Parliaments Act timetable for holding the next election in May 2020.
Tory aides were left scrambling to work out the impact on local elections due to be held next month, while the by-election in Manchester Gorton due for May 4 is now likely to be abandoned.
Mrs May has been accused of 'bottling' TV debates after it emerged she will not agree to take part in TV debates during the campaign.
The leader of the socialist bloc in the European Parliament, Gianni Pitella, condemned Mrs May's decision to stage an election as 'immoral' and accused her of exploiting concerns about Brexit.
The media were given barely an hour's notice of the speech this morning, and there had been no rumours at Westminster about her change of heart. Even as the Cabinet meeting began this morning, aides to senior ministers were still sending out updates on other areas of government business.
Mrs May said Britain needed strong leadership to navigate the fraught divorce talks with the EU, insisting she was now convinced an early poll was in the 'national interest'.
She said 'every vote for the Conservatives' would give her a stronger hand when she sits across the negotiating table from the EU's presidents and prime ministers to hammer out a Brexit deal.
The election is an astonishing U-turn from the Prime Minister who has repeatedly said she would not call another ballot before 2020 - insisting it would cause instability and hurt the country.
Theresa May has announced a snap general election will be held on June 8 in a shock revelation that stunned Westminster today. The PM said she needed a Brexit mandate that have her a strong hand in the negotiations with the EU
Mrs May addressed the nation via a huge pack of reporters who scrambled to Downing Street after the surprise speech was announced at around 10am
Mrs May walked back into No 10 following her historic statement, which lasted about seven minutes
Mrs May's election call was made in the knowledge a series of polls have shown the Conservatives with historic leads in a series of opinion polls. The most recent YouGov at the weekend showed a 21-point lead
The most recent polls suggest Mrs May could get a huge Commons majority of 140. She leads Jeremy Corbyn by more than 30 per cent when voters are asked who would make the best PM.
A survey carried out by ICM for the Guardian after the news was delivered this morning found 55 per cent of the public back her call for an early ballot. Just 15 per cent opposed it.
The PM discussed her plans for an early election with Queen by telephone yesterday. Her Majesty is expected to dissolve Parliament ahead of the poll on May 3.
Political guru Sir Lynton Crosby - who masterminded David Cameron's shock 2015 victory - is set to run the campaign for the Tories.
But she has suffered a blow with the announcement that No10 communications chief Katy Perrior is leaving.
The Premier made the announcement immediately after a long Cabinet meeting with her top team.
MAY MUST GET THE CONSENT OF MPS TOMORROW NIGHT Theresa May will call a vote in the Commons tomorrow night to confirm her election timetable. The vote will carry with Labour support, confirming the poll for June 8. A vote is needed because the Fixed-term Parliaments Act stripped the Prime Minister of the power to call a general election at a point of her choosing. Under this law, the next general election would be expected in May 2020 - subject to a tiny number of exceptions. Under the law, Mrs May must get a two third majority supporting the election in the Commons tomorrow night. This is 435 MPs - far fewer than the combined force of 559 Conservative and Labour MPs. Once tomorrow's vote is passed, the next key date will be May 3 when Parliament is officially dissolved. The day after, on May 4, many voters will go to the polls in local and council elections - and the Manchester Gorton by-election. Advertisement
MPs will hold a 90-minute debate tomorrow before voting on whether to scrap the timetable in the Fixed Term Parliaments Act - which would have meant no election until 2020.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he will vote for an early election even though the polls suggest his party will be routed - making the vote a formality.
It means Britain will go to the polls in just seven weeks, little more than two years after the last election in May 2015.
Mrs May said: 'Our opponents believe that because the government's majority is extremely small that they can weaken our resolve and persuade us to change course.
'I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country.'
Let us tomorrow vote for an election... and let the people decide.'
The premier added: 'If we do not hold a general election now, their political game playing will continue as the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most pivotal stage in the run up to the next general election.
'Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit, and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country.
'So we need a general election and we need one now.'
'The decision facing the country will be all about leadership.'
She said: 'We need a general election and we need one now, because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin.'
Asked in an interview with ITV News later if there was a 'moment' when she changed her mind, Mrs May said: 'As we were going through the Article 50 process the opposition attempts to jeopardise or frustrate the process in future became clearer.
'Before Easter I spent a few days walking in Wales with my husband and thought about this long and hard.
'I came to the decision that to provide that stability and certainty for the future this was the way to do it, to have an election.
'I trust the British people.'
Labour leader Mr Corbyn confirmed he would back the early election - but suffered an immediate blow as Labour MP Tom Blenkinsop said he would quit Parliament rather than stand under Mr Corbyn.
Mr Corbyn said: 'I welcome the Prime Minister's decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first.
'Labour will be offering the country an effective alternative to a government that has failed to rebuild the economy, delivered falling living standards and damaging cuts to our schools and NHS.
'In the last couple of weeks, Labour has set out policies that offer a clear and credible choice for the country.
'We look forward to showing how Labour will stand up for the people of Britain.'
The Premier made the announcement immediately after a long Cabinet meeting with her top team. MPs will vote on holding the election tomorrow
Mrs May emerged from No 10 with her announcement still a closely guarded secret after she shocked Westminster by announcing the speech just an hour ahead of time
Mrs May directly blamed Jeremy Corbyn (pictured left in London today) and Nicola Sturgeon (pictured in Edinburgh today) for forcing her to take the nation to the polls
Even Remainer Tory MPs like Anna Soubry welcomed the PM's decision to call an election - although the feeling in the wider country may be less positive
POUNDS LEAPS AS MAY CALLS ELECTION After Theresa May made her speech, the pound regained the ground it lost against the US dollar this morning and then rocketed higher The pound rocketed higher as Theresa May called for a snap General Election on 8 June, in what is being regarded as a show of strength for the Prime Minister. Sterling had dropped 0.3 per cent this morning on news of a surprise announcement by the Prime Minister, falling to $1.251, but as she gave her speech it recovered and then shot up to trade higher at $1.266. Traders are expecting a volatile two-and-a-half months before voters go to the polls, with the Tories expected to win a greater majority in an election but also the possibility that they could lose ground and Brexit could be stalled. Advertisement
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: 'This election is your chance to change the direction of our country.
'If you want to avoid a disastrous Hard Brexit. If you want to keep Britain in the Single Market. If you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance.
'Only the Liberal Democrats can prevent a Conservative majority.'
The Liberal Democrats claimed to have recruited 1,000 new party members in the first hour after the election announcement.
Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon said: 'The Tories see a chance to move the UK to the right, force through a hard Brexit and impose deeper cuts. Let's stand up for Scotland.'
The surprise move was endorsed by David Cameron, Mrs May's predecessor at No 10 who won a surprise election victory in 2015.
He tweeted: 'Brave - and right - decision by PM Theresa May. My very best wishes to all Conservative candidates.'
As recently as last month, Mrs May ruled out holding an early election despite record breaking polling leads over Labour and Jeremy Corbyn.
It is widely believed the Prime Minister would be able to secure the two-thirds majority among MPs needed to overturn the provisions of the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act which require a five-year period between elections.
The other EU leaders meet on April 29 to agree their own position. Little can then happen before French presidential election ends on May 7.
But Mrs May's official spokesman told a Westminster media briefing on March 26: 'There is no change in our position on an early general election, that there isn't going to be one... It is not going to happen.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, pictured today on GMB, has welcomed the general election but Nicola Sturgeon, pictured right in Edinburgh today, said the PM was putting party before country
'There is a Fixed-Term Parliaments Act.
'We have been clear that there isn't going to be an early general election and the Prime Minister is getting on with delivering the will of the British people.'
Mr Corbyn had repeatedly confirmed in public he would be prepared to vote for an early general election, despite his grim and deteriorating position in the polls.
As recently as March 26 he insisted Labour was ready for a poll.
With polls regularly giving Conservatives a double-digit lead over Labour, some Tory MPs have argued an early election would give Mrs May an opportunity to secure a comfortable majority in the House of Commons.
MASTERMIND BEHIND CAMERON'S 2015 POLL VICTORY IS TO RUN TORY CAMPAIGN Sir Lynton Crosby will be running the Conservative campaign The politcal guru credited with delivering David Cameron's shock majority in 2015 is being drafted in to run Theresa May's election campaign. Sir Lynton Crosby will be running the Conservative campaign. The Australian maestro was credited with forging Boris Johnson's career by running his successful bid to become London Mayor. Mr Cameron rewarded him for his role in the election battle two years ago with an honorary knighthood. Sir Lynton famously used to play Queen's One Vision at high volume in Tory HQ to raise morale among activists. But he opted to stay out of the historic EU referendum battle last year. Advertisement
They warn that her precarious 17-seat working majority will leave her vulnerable to rebellions during the protracted process of negotiating withdrawal from the EU.
Even Remain-supporting Conservatives have voiced support for the PM's dramatic move today.
Browtowe MP Anna Soubry, who rebelled over some Brexit Bill amendments, compared Mrs May favourably with Gordon Brown - who notoriously backed away from holding a poll in 2007 after allowing speculation to run riot.
'Winning a GE gives PM the mandate & authority she needs especially for Brexit negotiations. TM no Gordon Brown! She is brave & principled,' Mrs Soubry tweeted.
There was widespread delight as it emerged Sir Lynton Crosby, who masterminded Mr Cameron's surprise election victory in 2015, will be running the Conservative campaign.
Sir Lynton was credited with forging Boris Johnson's career by running his successful bid to become London Mayor. But he opted to stay out of the historic EU referendum battle last year.
Meanwhile, Ms Perrior is leaving the post of director of communications at 10 Downing Street and is not expected to play any part in the upcoming campaign.
Her departure sparked speculation that Mrs May's chief of staff Fiona Hill will run communications for the Tory campaign, but party sources said they were not discussing staffing at this stage.
Ms Perrior said she supported Mrs May's decision to call a poll but had always said she would not stay on for an election.
'Always said I wouldn't stay past an election,' she told the Guido Fawkes website.
'Good decision, right choice. A vote for Theresa May and a Conservative Government is the only route forward. As for me - new opportunities ahead. Exciting times.'
A former Conservative Party staffer who worked as Mrs May's press officer in opposition, Ms Perrior founded the PR company iNHouse Communications in 2006 and was recruited to head the new PM's communications team at Number 10 following her elevation to the premiership last year.
The PM has been boosted by new forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), upgrading its growth expectation for the UK economy this year by 0.5 per cent to 2 per cent.
The organisation has also pushed up its estimates for next year by 0.1 per cent to 1.5 per cent, despite warning of uncertainty around the Brexit negotiations.
Mrs May spoke to EU council president Donald Tusk today to let him know her decision.
But Mr Pitella, the leader of the powerful socialist bloc in the European Parliament, accused her of 'immoral' behaviour.
'Theresa May is playing the same game that David Cameron played some years ago by exploiting Brexit to strengthen her political grip within her party and the country. It is immoral in a way. It is unacceptable to exploit such a sensitive issue as Brexit,' he said.
A huge media scrum scrambled to Downing Street after No 10 made a mysterious announcement of a speech from Mrs May at around an hour's notice.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Aid Secretary Priti Patel arrived in Downing Street for today's Cabinet, after which Mrs May spoke to the nation to reveal her election plans
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was seen arriving into Downing Street for the Cabinet meeting earlier today
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire and Brexit Secretary David Davis arrived at No 10 for the regular Cabinet meeting this morning
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley and Transport Secretary Chris Grayling were also in Downing Street this morning
Corbyn faces losing a THIRD of his MPs in election catastrophe but is STILL picking fights with moderates over demand for reselection votes
Jeremy Corbyn faces losing a third of his MPs in a general election catastrophe - but is still picking fights with moderates for control of the Labour Party.
Polls show the veteran left-winger is headed for disaster in the ballot being called by Theresa May for June 8 - with around 70 seats forecast to be surrendered.
The exodus from the party gathered pace after the PM's announcement with grandee Alan Johnson saying he will not stand again in Hull West and Hessle.
Corbyn critic Tom Blenkinsop has also said he will not run in the national vote.
Jeremy Corbyn is picking another fight with Labour moderates despite facing losing up to a third of his MPs in the looming general election
Labour MP and Corbyn critic Tom Blenkinsop (left) announced he would not be standing for re-election. Labour heavyweight Alan Johnson will also not seek re-election
But despite the growing turmoil Mr Corbyn is set to escalate tensions with moderate MPs by demanding they face re-selection.
Normal practice would be for sitting MPs to be automatically adopted when an election is called at such short notice.
But the leader is expected to press for all the politicians to go through a trigger ballot process, which would mean they would need more than 50 per cent of votes in their local party.
The issue could go before Labours ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) as early as tomorrow.
Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Mr Blenkinsop said 'irreconcilable differences' with Mr Corbyn's team meant he would not seek re-election, while Mr Johnson told party members he wanted to 'do other things with my life'.
Mr Johnson has previously said Mr Corbyn is 'not up to the job' of being leader of the opposition and his decision not to stand is a further blow to the party.
As a widely-admired politician, who has often been encouraged to run for the party's leadership, he was one of the few senior figures in the party who maintained a broad appeal.
The former Home Secretary Mr Johnson told local Labour party members: 'I've decided that going now will give me the opportunity to do other things with my life and is therefore in the best interests of me and my family. I also think it's best for the Party.'
Speaking of his 20 years as MP for West Hull, he said: 'Every day has been a privilege and a pleasure but it can't go on for ever and the electoral cycle means that each incumbent has to think again about what's best for them, the constituency and the Party.'
Nicola Sturgeon blasts Theresa May's decision to call an early general election as 'one of the most extraordinary U-turns in recent political history'
Nicola Sturgeon has blasted Theresa May's decision to call an early general election as 'one of the most extraordinary U-turns in recent political history'.
Scotland's First Minister said the Prime Minister is 'once again putting the interests of her party ahead of those of the country'.
The leader of the Scottish National Party vowed to 'stand up for Scotland' as the UK goes to the polls in June.
Nicola Sturgeon (pictured in Edinburgh today) hit out at the PM's announcement that she will call a shock early general election, describing it as one of the most extraordinary U-turns in recent political history
Ms Sturgeon said: 'She is clearly betting that the Tories can win a bigger majority in England given the utter disarray in the Labour Party.
'That makes it all the more important that Scotland is protected from a Tory Party which now sees the chance of grabbing control of government for many years to come and moving the UK further to the right - forcing through a hard Brexit and imposing deeper cuts in the process.
'That means that this will be - more than ever before - an election about standing up for Scotland, in the face of a right-wing, austerity-obsessed Tory government with no mandate in Scotland but which now thinks it can do whatever it wants and get away with it.'
Ms Sturgeon said it was 'a huge political miscalculation' by the Prime Minister.
THE TOP TORY TARGET SEATS 1. Chester, majority 93, swing needed 0.18 per cent to win from Labour 2. Ealing Central and Acton, majority 274 over the Tories, swing needed 0.54 per cent to win from Labour 3. Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, majority 328, swing needed 0.60 per cent to win from the SNP 4. Brentford and Isleworth, majority 465, swing needed 0.81 per cent to win from Labour 5. Halifax, majority 428, swing needed 0.98 per cent to win from Labour 6. Wirral West, majority 417, swing needed 1.00 per cent to win from Labour 7. Ilford North, majority 589, swing needed 1.20 per cent to win from Labour 8. Newcastle-under-Lyme, majority 650, swing needed 1.51 per cent to win from Labour 9. Barrow and Furness, majority 795, swing needed 1.84 per cent to win from Labour 10. Wolverhampton South West , majority 801, swing needed 1.99 per cent to win from Labour Advertisement
THE TOP LIB DEM TARGET SEATS 1. Cambridge, majority 599, swing needed 1.16 per cent to win from Labour 2. Eastbourne, majority 733, swing needed 1.39 to win from the Conservatives 3. Lewes, majority 1,083, swing needed 2.14 per cent to win from the Conservatives 4. Thornbury and Yate, majority 1,495, swing needed 3.08 per cent to win from the Conservatives 5. Twickenham, majority 2,017, swing needed 3.25 per cent to win from the Conservatives 6. Dunbartonshire East, majority 2,167, swing needed 3.95 per cent to win from the SNP 7. Kingston and Surbiton, majority 2,834, swing needed 4.78 per cent to win from the Conservatives 8. St Ives, majority 2,469, swing needed 5.11 per cent to win from the Conservatives 9. Edinburgh West, majority 3,210, swing needed 5.85 per cent to win from the SNP 10. Torbay, majority 3,286, swing needed 6.83 per cent to win from the Conservatives Advertisement
Theresa May's statement in full: Read the shock announcement that's stunned Westminster
Here is the full text of Prime Minister Theresa May's statement from Downing Street announcing that a general election is to be held on June 8:
'I have just chaired a meeting of the Cabinet, where we agreed that the Government should call a general election, to be held on June 8.
'I want to explain the reasons for that decision, what will happen next and the choice facing the British people when you come to vote in this election.
The Prime Minister addresses dozens of reporters and photographers on the steps of Downing Street to make the shock announcement
Mrs May said she is calling a general election because 'at this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division'
'Last summer, after the country voted to leave the European Union, Britain needed certainty, stability and strong leadership, and since I became Prime Minister the Government has delivered precisely that.
'Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs, and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations.
'We have also delivered on the mandate that we were handed by the referendum result.'
'Britain is leaving the European Union and there can be no turning back. And as we look to the future, the Government has the right plan for negotiating our new relationship with Europe.
'We want a deep and special partnership between a strong and successful European Union and a United Kingdom that is free to chart its own way in the world.
'That means we will regain control of our own money, our own laws and our own borders and we will be free to strike trade deals with old friends and new partners all around the world.
'This is the right approach, and it is in the national interest. But the other political parties oppose it.
'At this moment of enormous national significance there should be unity here in Westminster, but instead there is division.
'The country is coming together, but Westminster is not.
'In recent weeks Labour has threatened to vote against the deal we reach with the European Union.
'The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standsill.
'The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union.
'And unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way.
'Our opponents believe that because the Government's majority is so small, our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course.
Theresa May hit out at Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party for threatening to vote against a Brexit deal
'They are wrong.
'They under-estimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country.
'Because what they are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home and it weakens the Government's negotiating position in Europe.
'If we do not hold a general election now their political game-playing will continue, and the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most difficult stage in the run-up to the next scheduled election.
'Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country.
'So we need a general election and we need one now, because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin.
'I have only recently and reluctantly come to this conclusion.
'Since I became Prime Minister I have said that there should be no election until 2020, but now I have concluded that the only way to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead is to hold this election and seek your support for the decisions I must take.
'And so tomorrow I will move a motion in the House of Commons calling for a general election to be held on the eighth of June.
'That motion, as set out by the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, will require a two-thirds majority of the House of Commons.
'So I have a simple challenge to the opposition parties, you have criticised the Government's vision for Brexit, you have challenged our objectives, you have threatened to block the legislation we put before Parliament.
'This is your moment to show you mean it, to show you are not opposing the Government for the sake of it, to show that you do not treat politics as a game.
The PM also criticised the Scottish National Party led by Nicola Sturgeon (pictured in Edinburgh today) for saying they will vote against legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union
'Let us tomorrow vote for an election, let us put forward our plans for Brexit and our alternative programmes for government and then let the people decide.
'And the decision facing the country will be all about leadership. It will be a choice between strong and stable leadership in the national interest, with me as your Prime Minister, or weak and unstable coalition government, led by Jeremy Corbyn, propped up by the Liberal Democrats - who want to reopen the divisions of the referendum - and Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP.
'Every vote for the Conservatives will make it harder for opposition politicians who want to stop me from getting the job done.
'Every vote for the Conservatives will make me stronger when I negotiate for Britain with the prime ministers, presidents and chancellors of the European Union.
'Every vote for the Conservatives means we can stick to our plan for a stronger Britain and take the right long-term decisions for a more secure future.
'It was with reluctance that I decided the country needs this election, but it is with strong conviction that I say it is necessary to secure the strong and stable leadership the country needs to see us through Brexit and beyond.
'So, tomorrow, let the House of Commons vote for an election, let everybody put forward their proposals for Brexit and their programmes for Government, and let us remove the risk of uncertainty and instability and continue to give the country the strong and stable leadership it demands.'
A pride of lions stunned motorists when they brought traffic to a standstill by crossing a busy road.
Drivers were left speechless on Saturday night when they spotted the big cats crossing the Pipavav-Rajula highway in Amreli, a district in the Indian state of Gujarat.
Once they appear on the highway from the nearby Gir Forest National Park, the world's only natural habitat for Asiatic lions, the big cats patiently wait on the highway for the vehicles to pass by.
The traffic, however, came to a standstill after commuters on both sides of the roadway halted their vehicles for the big cats.
Two men on a motorcycle were seen remarkably unfazed by the unexpected presence of the cats and one of them even got off the bike to take the pictures.
In the video, the cats can be seen waiting on one side of the highway and soon after, led by one lion, gently crosses the highway divider to the other side of the road.
The lions were being relocated to a safer place after a fire broke out at Sarasiya forest in Gir Sanctuary.
A pride of lions stunned motorists when they brought traffic to a standstill by crossing a busy road
The Asiatic lion census in 2015 revealed that there are only a few hundreds left in the wild.
They are slightly smaller than African lions and unlike African lions, the males do not tend to live with the females of their pride unless they are mating or have a large kill.
The subspecies used to range from Turkey, across Asia, to eastern India, but the rise of firearms across the world meant that they were hunted to near-extinction for sport.
Sudaporn Beddoes, 25, was killed in Thailand
A Thai woman was electrocuted at a foam party just weeks before she was due to travel to the UK with her British husband.
Supaporn Beddoes, 25, had been celebrating the Songkran Thai New Year at an outdoor party in Udon Thani, northern Thailand on April 11.
She was splashing around in a foam pool when powerful spotlights melted wires which were lying in the liquid, causing a massive surge of electricity to hit her which killed her instantly in front of horrified clubbers.
Supaporn had been due to arrive in the UK in June for a dream holiday with husband Michael, 36, at his home in Felixstowe, Suffolk.
Heartbroken Michael, a painter and decorator, had been married to Supaporn for six years and has now flown out to Thailand for her funeral.
He said: 'I still can't believe it. It's like a dream. You never think it will happen to you, just something you read about.
'She had just wanted to go out and have a night out like anyone else during the Thai new year.
'Now she's dead. She was just 25, it's too young to die.
'We had our whole lives ahead of us and she was so excited about coming to England.
'I was at home when I had the call from her mum. Her family are devastated.
'Her mum has not taken it well and her grandfather is hardly eating or sleeping. It's so sad, unbelievable.
'When you look at where the foam party had been happening and the wires it's just disgraceful.
'If this had happened in England, the guy would be in prison.'
Sudaporn Beddoes and her husband Michael, who had been married for six years
Sudaporn's loved ones gather around a framed picture of her in the immediate aftermath of her tragic death
The area understood to be where Sudaporn Beddoes, 25, died while partying in the foam
Strong lights melted through wires that were laying in the foam, causing the fatal electrocution
Police are investigating after the family refused to accept a compensation offer of 500
The Thai woman, pictured, was at a foam party just weeks before she was due to fly to the UK
Supapron's grieving mother Duangchai Saengchart, 47, said she was offered 20,000 Thai baht (461) compensation from the party organisers after the death of her daughter.
But she refused and demanded police investigate the accident and prosecute the organiser of the event.
Lieutenant Colonel Wattana Mee Thonglang said the cause of the accident was spotlights that had been left running for several hours which then melted the wires.
He said the power cord then fell down and touched the metal supporting pole for the lights which was in contact with the wet foam.
Thonglang added: 'We have investigated the scene of the incident and we have interrogated the organisers.
'We have asked them to acknowledge the allegations of negligence.
'We will look after the family of the deceased and assist with negotiations with the family about compensation. '
Polling equipment containing information on every Georgia voter has been stolen just before Tuesday's special election.
News outlets report four ExpressPoll machines were stolen from a poll manager's truck in Marietta on Saturday.
Cobb County Elections Director Janine Eveler says the machines have a list of voter names and addresses, as well as driver's license numbers.
State officials are investigating after voting machine equipment was taken from a Cobb County precinct managers vehicle, but the theft wasn't reported for two days
She says it's unclear if the thieves would be able to access the information.
Eveler said the stolen machines cannot be used to fraudulently vote in Tuesday's election and she has said that officials will completely replace the machines at the Piedmont Road precinct.
'It's very shocking, especially with the climate we have of voter fraud out there,' one Georgia voter told Channel 2.
'It should be as secure as the banks, or anywhere else with our information,' another voter said.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp has criticized the county elections office for waiting two days to publicize the theft. His office has rendered the stolen units ineffective.
Cobb County Elections Director Janine Eveler said the stolen machines cannot be used to fraudulently vote in Tuesdays election. The machines have voter information on them
Cobb County police are investigating and a formal State Election Board investigation has been opened.
Cobb County is within the congressional district at play in the April 18 election to fill the seat held by Tom Price, who resigned to become President Donald Trump's health secretary.
Kemp released the following statement Monday afternoon: 'It is unacceptable that the Cobb County Elections Office waited two days to notify my office of this theft. We have opened an investigation, and we are taking steps to ensure that it has no effect on the election tomorrow. I am confident that the results will not be compromised.'
Voters head to the polls Tuesday for a special election to fill the House seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, pictured right
Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff for Georgia's 6th Congressional District special election speaks during an election eve rally in Roswell, Georgia
Voters head to the polls Tuesday for a special election to fill the House seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
Price, a Republican, won his seat in 2016 in the conservative district by more than 20 points before joining the administration.
Democrats are casting the race as a referendum on Trump and his administrations policies, with the party hoping to turn the reliably-red Georgia blue this year.
Georgia is holding an all-party special election in which any candidate can win the seat outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday.
If no candidate reaches that threshold, there will be a runoff between the top two finishers in June.
An air ambulance has released amazing GoPro camera footage showing the rescue of a hiker after he injured his leg during a walk near a volcano.
Footage taken by a paramedic of the Spanish GES rescue group in the Canary Islands shows him carefully leaning out of the helicopter while feeding a wire down to the ground near Mount Teide, Tenerife, yesterday.
The paramedic, who recorded the footage via a camera on his helmet, was seen holding the wire as another medic attached himself and the hiker to it.
Footage taken by a paramedic of the Spanish GES rescue group in the Canary Islands shows him picking up another medic and an injured hiker
The video shows him lowering a wire down to Mount Teide in Tenerife so the pair can ascend in to the helicopter
The duo then ascend into the helicopter and before going to hospital.
This is not the first time the GES has filmed the safe recovery of an injured person.
The public service set up its YouTube channel in 2010 and began filming search and rescue missions two years ago.
It began filming missions using a GoPro one year ago.
In March, the Spanish emergency services rescued 250 people in the national park after a cable car service broke.
This is not the first time the GES has filmed the safe recovery of an injured person - the public service set up its YouTube channel in 2010 and began filming search and rescue missions two years ago
In March, the Spanish emergency services rescued 250 people in the national park after a cable car service broke
A total of 70 tourists had to abseil 250ft to safety while firemen, police and park rangers were called in to help with a pulley system to get the trapped tourists back on the ground
A total of 70 tourists had to abseil 250ft to safety while firemen, police and park rangers were called in to help with a pulley system to get the trapped tourists back on the ground.
There were no fatalities and it is understood no-one was hurt. However, there are reports of some of the people needing treatment for shock and altitude sickness.
There were 35 people in each of two cable cars which were automatically stopped half way up the volcano, the highest mountain in Spain and a major tourist attraction.
A mother is facing jail after her American bulldog mauled a three-year-old boy to death during a playdate at her house.
Dexter Neal died in hospital in August last year after he was bitten on the head by the dog Ruby while playing at Jade Dunne's home in Halstead, Essex.
Today, Dunne, 29, admitted being in charge of the American Bulldog while it was dangerously out of control.
Jade Dunne, 29, (left arriving at court) is facing jail after her American pitbull Ruby mauled three-year-old Dexter Neal (right) to death at her home in Halstead, Essex
Colchester Magistrates' Court heard how little Dexter had previously told Dunne that he was afraid of the dog.
The animal - which had bitten other dogs - was usually kept out of the way but had been let out of the room on the day of the attack.
The court heard how, as Dexter walked past the dog, it growled, scaring the little boy. The dog then attacked and bit him on the back of the head.
Neighbours tried to remove the animal before Dexter was flown to hospital by air ambulance.
Following Dexter's death his parents said: 'Our hearts have been broken and can never be fixed'. The little boy is pictured above
He suffered 'several' cardiac arrests due to loss of blood and died shortly after arriving at hospital.
Speaking after the attack, neighbours described seeing a woman coming out of the house carrying a 'bloody child' in her arms.
Moments later, an the animal was dragged from the property with 'its face was covered in blood'. The dog was later destroyed.
Scott Howell, 19, who called the police after realising what had happened, said: 'I saw the man dragging the dog out. Its face was covered in blood.
'That is when I thought I need to call the police. As I was describing what was happening to the police I saw a woman come out of the house and she was holding a very bloody child in her arms.
'She quickly went back in the house. I could hear the man counting 'one two three four' like they were doing CPR.
'The whole while the woman was crying her eyes out sitting in front of the house. The dog was taken away and put into a police van.'
Phyllis Younger, 82, said: 'I was awake in the middle of the night, and all I could think about was those screams.'
Dexter (pictured left last year and right with his mother Pamela) lived around the corner. He was taken to hospital but suffered several cardiac arrests
Meanwhile, a man described seeing Dexter's mother run to a local shop following the attack to pick up a defibrillator - a machine that delivers an electric current to heart.
The man, who didn't wish to be named, said: 'The boys mum came running screaming and shouting 'my boy's not breathing, I need the machine'.'
Following the tragedy, Dexter's parents Pamela and Andrew said in a statement: 'When Dexter was born our family became complete and we were happier than we could ever have imagined.
'Watching him grow into such a happy joyful child made every day a pleasure and we felt honoured to have him in our lives.
'Dexter made everyone smile with his beautiful face and cheeky grin. He was always polite and kind to everybody and all who met him fell in love with him.
After the fatal attack, flowers were left at the scene of the property. Dexter was at the house for a playdate
'Our lives will never be the same without Dexter, he was the life and soul of our family. Our hearts have been broken and can never be fixed.
'We now have to learn to continue our lives without our cheeky little boy and remember the joy and happiness he brought us in the short time he was allowed to be with us.
'We love you baby boy always and forever.'
Dunne will be sentenced at Chelmsford Crown Court next month. The maximum sentence for the offence is 14 years in jail, but the starting sentence for a 'lesser culpability' offence is one year.
Chairman of the bench Michael Ferrier granted Dunne conditional bail and said: 'This offence needs greater punishment than we can give.'
This is the chilling moment a gang of five Sudanese teenagers allegedly bashed their autistic classmate, 17, in a horrific attack on a Melbourne bus on Saturday.
Josh*, 17, was travelling alone on the bus at Tarneit, west of the the city's centre, when five boys approached him and told him to hand over his mobile phone and new Nike shoes.
When he refused, the group allegedly attacked him, kicking him in the head so hard he suffered a concussion and required a CT scan to check for permanent damage, his mother Sarah* said.
CCTV footage from inside the bus obtained by 9 News shows the group of boys surrounding Josh and taunting him before one allegedly launches a flying kick.
Josh (pictured), 17, was travelling alone on the bus at Tarneit when five Sudanese boys allegedly approached him and told him to hand over his new Nike shoes and wallet
When he refused, the group allegedly attacked him, kicking him in the head so hard he suffered a concussion (pictured is CCTV footage from inside the Melbourne bus)
'The kid who bullied me at my school, he said to me, "Do I know you?" [And] I'm like, "Well yeah you're the kid who bullied me",' Josh told 9 News.
'As soon as we turned the corner I got one kick to the face straight across from me, and then one kick to the face from in front of me.'
Josh's mother Sarah told 3AW on Tuesday her distressed son called him in tears.
'He said, "Mum I'm scared",' Sarah said.
'It has taken a lot out of him because he doesn't want to go on public transport again.'
Josh claims one of the boys involved in the alleged attack was a classmate of his. A 16-year-old boy has since been charged over the incident and Victoria Police are investigating
When Josh's mother drove to meet him at Tarneit McDonald's, she claims the group of five Sudanese men grew to a group of about 30 within minutes
Sarah said she immediately drove to meet her injured son where the bus pulled over at Tarneit McDonald's.
Within minutes, she said the group of five Sudanese men grew to a group of about 30.
'When we drove past the McDonald's, they spotted my son in the car. They [five offenders] chased the car so I drove off and waited for police on the side of the road,' she told 9 News.
Sarah said Tarneit was 'overrun by Sudanese' people and claimed they often gathered at the local McDonald's.
She said reports of violent behaviour from young Sudanese men in the area left her feeling scared for her son and the larger Melbourne community.
A spate of criminal activity has swept across Melbourne in the past 18 months, with a series of car-jackings, armed robberies and home invasions, blamed largely on the notorious Apex gang
Apex gang members are primarily from a Sudanese refugee background (two members pictured)
'It's not safe for anyone, let alone for someone with a disability, they put so much trust in everybody,' she said.
A spate of criminal activity has swept across Melbourne in the past 18 months, with a series of carjackings, armed robberies and home invasions, blamed largely on the notorious Apex gang.
Apex gang members are primarily from a Sudanese refugee background.
Sarah called on the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews to take action.
'For Christ's sake, just open your eyes and see what's going on around you, there will be more than one life taken soon,' she said.
'My son was lucky he got out of it the way he did.
'When is the Government going to wake up? I'm very angry, very very angry.'
Wyndham North police have charged a 16-year-old boy with attempted robbery and assault over the incident.
Police arrested the teen at the scene and he's been bailed to appear at a Children's Court at a later date.
The police investigation to identify others involved in the incident is continuing.
*Names have been changed as the matter is before the Children's Courts.
This is the adorable moment a previously blind and stray Cocker Spaniel sees her owners for the very first time thanks to some much-needed surgery.
Vlogging on the way to the veterinary clinic in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, owner Holly Emmerson expresses excitement and anxiety while preparing to witness her beloved pooch, Olive, see her in the flesh for the very first time.
After three years of relative darkness, emerging from the vets wide-eyed and excited, the patched-up pooch bounds towards Holly and husband Bart, transfixed on their faces as her tail wags behind her gleefully.
Olive, a stray dog, had cataracts and was therefore unable to see for three years
Owners Holly Emmerson (above) and Bart decided to raise money for surgery so that the pup would be able to see
Jumping up for a better look of her owners, the enhanced hound can't get enough of her newly found vision, with her attention quickly shifting from her much loved owners to the roaring traffic outside, which leaves the canine stunned to the spot.
Holly, originally from Canada, said: 'It was such an incredible moment to witness, seeing her that alert and looking us in the eyes.
'The second she came around the corner, Bart and I were both crying, it was such an emotional moment for us all.
'She was definitely overwhelmed to see the world for the first time, when we took her home she just stared out the window for ages, taking in all these new sights.'
Holly vlogged the experience of Olive being able to see again. Here, she was explaining her excitement and anxiety before picking up her dog
Footage shows Olive bounding over to the pair gleefully and wagging her tail as they embrace her
Holly said: 'We've now launched our own YouTube channel, Holly and Bart, documenting our lives as a trio'
Rescued after roaming the streets of LA alone and unable to see, the jet-black cocker spaniel was diagnosed with a severe cataract in both eyes, rendering her virtually blind and requiring immediate surgery.
Costing more than $5,000 (around 4,000), Holly and Bart liaised with the team at West Coast Cocker Rescue (WCCR), who found Olive, to help the to raise the required funds for medical bills.
Holly said: 'Thanks to a lot of help from family, friends and the WCCR, we were able to raise the required amount for Olive's surgery.
'We've now launched our own YouTube channel, Holly and Bart, documenting our lives as a trio.
'Olive is an amazing example that no obstacle should get in your way of enjoying life, and we hope her story can inspire people to view life the same way.'
Police are investigating a message on a high school bathroom wall which threatens a mass shooting this morning.
The warning, written in red pen, was discovered at Skyview High School in Nampa, Idaho, on Thursday.
The note claims the shooting will take place on Tuesday April 18.
The threatening message scrawled on the bathroom wall at Skyview High School
It reads: 'School will be shot up at 4-18-17 at 10.24am There will be a gang of 17 students doing this.
'They will target all the teachers and administrators first, then they will kill the students one by one.'
The message also says that if emergency services are called, 'all hell will break lose'.
It ends: 'If you want to survive... Stay home!'
The note also names a student who is allegedly involved in the plot.
According to KTVB, in a letter sent to parents Friday, Skyview Principal Will Barber said the school was aware of the treat.
Skyview principal Will Barber said the school was aware of the treat and is working closely with police
He said the school is working closely with police to make sure students are safe.
Barber wrote: 'The well-being and safety of the school, our students, and staff is the priority of the Nampa School District and the Nampa Police Department.
'We appreciate those who have called to make sure we know about the situation and encourage you to always keep us in the loop if you see or hear anything that concerns you.'
President Donald Trump renewed his attacks Tuesday on the leading Democratic candidate running in a special congressional election in a conservative part of Georgia.
'Democrat Jon Ossoff would be a disaster in Congress. VERY weak on crime and illegal immigration, bad for jobs and wants higher taxes. Say NO,' Trump wrote on Twitter.
'Republicans must get out today and VOTE in Georgia 6. Force runoff and easy win! Dem Ossoff will raise your taxes-very bad on crime & 2nd A[mendment].'
Ossoff faced new criticism during a morning interview on CNN, admitting that he can't vote for himself because he lives outside the district where he's running.
President Donald Trump, shown Tuesday in an unrelated interview on Fox News, renewed his attacks on the leading Democratic candidate running in a special congressional election in a conservative part of Georgia
For the second day in a row, the president used Twitter to hammer Democrat Jon Ossoff in an attempt to drive Republicans to the polls
The object of Trump's wrath is Jon Ossoff, the leading option among five Democrats who will appear on the ballot; Ossoff could win the seat outright on Tuesday with a 50% showing
'I have been living with Alicia, my girlfriend of 12 years, down by Emory University, where she is a full time medical student,' Ossoff said.
'And as soon as she concludes her medical training, I will be ten minutes back up the street into the district where I grew up, but I want to support her and her career and do right by her.'
On Monday Trump tweeted that the 'super Liberal Democrat in the Georgia Congressioal [sic] race tomorrow wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes!'
Republicans are trying to prevent a massive upset in the primary on Tuesday. Democrats have united behind Ossoff, a 30-year-old former congressional staffer who has been boosted by opposition to Trump and an $8 million fundraising haul.
His bid to replace Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price in Congress carries implications beyond the northern suburbs of Atlanta as both major parties position themselves for the 2018 midterm elections.
The primary includes 18 candidates Republicans, Democrats and Independents.
Trump first weighed in on Monday on the special election in Georgia that will decide the fate of a seat vacated by his Health and Human Services secretary, Dr. Tom Price
Trump is hoping to avoid a Democratic pickup of Price's seat, an outcome that would feed a narrative about his unpopularity just 12 weeks into his presidency
The GOP hopes to force a June runoff with the GOP's top candidate by keeping Ossoff below 50 percent of the vote.
Republicans in Georgia's 6th Congressional District are miffed at Ossoff's attempt to engineer an upset with millions of anti-Trump dollars from all around the country.
Just 5 per cent of Ossoff's campaign cash came from inside his district.
'I don't care what party you're from,' said Marty Aftewicz, a 66-year-old Republican voter from Marietta. 'If the money's coming from outside the district, it's dirty.'
Democrats see the flood of donations as a sign they're not alone in opposing the president.
'It gives me some hope, even though Georgia is a heavily red state,' said Barbara Oakley, a 65-year-old retired pharmacist. 'I think Democrats got surprised by Trump in November and they're ready to work.'
Approaching Tuesday's primary, Republicans are trying to prevent victory by a previously unknown former congressional staffer, 30-year-old Jon Ossoff.
Five Democrats will appear on the ballot, but Ossoff is considered the greatest threat to the GOP. Two independent candidates also are running.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price (left) vacated the Georgia 6th Congressional District seat when he was nominated to serve in Trump's cabinet
Ossoff, shown with girlfriend Alisha Kramer, 'wants to protect criminals, allow illegal immigration and raise taxes,' according to the president
The 18-candidate 'jungle primary' comes a week after Republicans sweated out a single-digit special congressional victory in Kansas. Republican winner Ron Estes had previously coasted to easy statewide victories as state treasurer, but won a House seat based in Wichita by just 7 percentage points, with little outside investment from national Democrats.
In Georgia, by contrast, both parties have dispatched paid field staffers, and a Republican political action committee backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan has spent more than $2 million pounding Ossoff.
Trump underperformed other Republicans in the suburban district, making it a soft target for Democrats.
'Jon is being bankrolled by the most extreme liberals,' said Republican candidate Karen Handel, referring to Ossoff's fundraising haul that exceeds $8 million, most of it from outside the district. 'No one is naive enough to think that he will not be beholden to those who are bankrolling him.'
The message sank in for Aftewicz, who cast an early ballot for Republican candidate Dan Moody. Unprompted, Aftewicz echoed the barrage of campaign ads attempting to tie Ossoff to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California.
'Anyone raising that much outside money can't represent me,' Aftewicz said.
For his part, Ossoff pledges to be an 'independent voice' in Congress, and he defends his campaign as a grassroots success powered by small and medium donors.
Ossoff's rise to prominence has been fed by anti-Trump sentiment in the suburbs of Atlanta
Republicans essentially concede Ossoff will lead the voting Tuesday. That leaves 11 Republican candidates hoping the investigative filmmaker fails to reach a majority. If he doesn't, Ossoff and the top GOP vote-getter would meet in a June 20 runoff.
The Republican leaders appear to be Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state; technology executive Bob Gray; and two former state senators, Moody and Judson Hill - all of whom national Republicans say could defeat Ossoff in a second round.
From the outset, Trump has loomed large in the contest.
Ossoff has used the anti-Trump windfall to blanket the expensive television market with advertising that tries to stoke liberal angst but also woo disaffected Republicans in a district Trump barely won in November.
Oakley, who cast an early ballot for Ossoff, moved to Georgia about six years ago and often feels 'like a fish out of water' as a staunch Democrat in the red state. She considers her vote a small indicator of her disapproval toward Trump.
'The environment, women's rights, even the forest service are going to be affected by Trump's actions,' Oakley said. 'Pretty much everything he's done worries me.'
Ossoff pledges to fight Trump when he 'embarrasses' the country. But he tells voters in one ad, 'I'll work with anybody in Washington who respects your tax dollars.'
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This is the moment a crocodile launched a ferocious attack on a gazelle, before tearing it in half using its powerful jaws.
The 16ft reptile was lying in wait as its thirsty prey ran into a river to drink in the Masai Mara National Reserve, in Kenya.
Snatching the female by its leg, the half-ton beast dragged the gazelle underwater and drowned it before hauling its prey closer to the shore.
But after realising the Thompson's gazelle was too big to eat whole, the predator used its jaws to break the antelope two.
Dramatic pictures capture the moment a crocodile launched a ferocious attack on a gazelle, before tearing it in half using its powerful jaws
Snatching the female by its leg, the half-ton beast dragged the gazelle underwater and drowned it before hauling its prey closer to the shore
The 16ft reptile was lying in wait as its thirsty prey ran into a river to drink in the Masai Mara National Reserve, in Kenya
The male crocodile was then able to swallow its dinner in just two gulps.
Wildlife photographer Jeffrey Wu, of Toronto, Canada, was in Kenya when he saw the 'shocking' attack unfolding.
Mr Wu said: 'I was leading a photographic tour in Kenya and Botswana and we were waiting on the shore of the Mala river in the hope of capturing the wildebeest crossing.
'Gazelles regularly cross the Mala river in migration season as they follow the rain for grass.
'But they usually mix with large herd animals like wildebeest and zebra when they try to cross, as crocodiles tend to hunt the larger mammals.
'That afternoon, despite the threat of the crocodiles, a gazelle was too thirsty to care about the predators.
'It ran straight into the shallow water and the rest of the small herd, made up of around 12 gazelles, followed.
Attack: The male crocodile dragged its prey underwater before ripping it to shreds. It was then able to swallow its dinner in just two gulps
The gazelle were trying to cross a river in the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya when a 16ft crocodile launched a frenzied attack
Gruesome: Wildlife photographer Jeffrey Wu, of Toronto, Canada, was in Kenya when he saw the 'shocking' attack unfolding
'They were intercepted by crocodiles, four gazelles were killed by five huge crocs and this set of images captured one of them.
'The rest of the herd went back to shore and had to watch the others being eaten but that's how they learn and next time they'll be more careful.
'The crocodile closest to the gazelle snatched it by the leg then pulled it underwater for about 7 to 8 minutes to drown it.
'The crocodile then carried the dead body across the river to the shore and bit into the middle of the gazelle before lifting it up and firmly slapping it against the water again and again until the body snapped into two, which took around 15 seconds.
'The gazelle was quickly swallowed - the lower body and upper body - in two gulps. It was like a snack for the crocodile.'
At first the crocodile was unable to eat its prey whole. Instead, the 16ft predator shook the gazelle in its jaws until it broke in two
Gruesome pictures show how the gazelle was torn to shreds by the massive 16ft crocodile, which had sneaked up on its prey as it crossed a river
The 51-year-old added: 'To see a half-ton crocodile hunting and eating this gazelle was frightening and the power and brutality was shocking.
'This one was a male, about five metres long and at least 10 years old.
'From the gazelle stepping into the water to being snatched by the crocodile only took about 30 seconds.
'We were about 25 metres away from the crocodile and seeing this, I felt the true power of nature displayed by these pre-historic killing machines.
'The scene was wild and raw from the speed and precision when they attacked to the strength and fury when they slapped the gazelle like a ragdoll. It was unbelievable.'
A college was placed on lockdown after a gun threat was made over social media.
Tameside College in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, received a threat of the attack on Twitter.
Around 2,000 students and staff members were evacuated at lunchtime.
An unknown social media user threatened the attack after the college posted a message welcoming students back to college today after the Easter break.
The user wrote he would attend the college 'with my gun loaded' and 'rip to the kids'.
Tameside College in Greater Manchester, pictured, was on lockdown after a 'gun threat' was made over social media
Closed signs have been put up on the college gates and it is thought around 2,000 students and staff were evacuated
An unknown Twitter user responded to a 'welcome back' message from the college with 'my gun is loaded' and a threat to go to college with a gun, pictured
Greater Manchester Police were notified of the message and are at the scene.
Police said they were also investigating threats made about Bury College, 14 miles away.
In a series of eerie tweets, the Twitter user wrote 'my gun is loaded' and 'hello there i will be st the collage [sic] today with a gun loaded! At 11am'. Another read 'rip to the kids'.
The Twitter account of the user who made the threats appeared to be removed this afternoon.
A spokesperson for GMP said: 'At around 10.30am on Tuesday 18 April 2017, police were called to reports of a threat made against a college in Tameside.
'At 11.30am on Tuesday 18 April 2017 police were called to reports of a threat made against a college in Bury.
'Inquiries into both are ongoing.'
A spokesman for the college confirmed a 'lockdown procedure' was put in place.
A later statement confirmed the students were evacuated and the college would reopen tomorrow.
It said: 'At lunchtime today, Tameside College evacuated staff and students from all its sites.
'This precaution was taken in collaboration with Greater Manchester Police. Tameside College will remain closed for the rest of the day. All evening classes have been cancelled.
'Tameside College will be open as normal tomorrow morning.'
An eye witness said all of the gates of the building were closed, with staff members checking people leaving and going.
A number of worried parents were outside the gates earlier today.
One parent arrived to find her daughter is still stuck in a classroom 'on lockdown'.
She said: 'It's scary. I came straight down. I've just spoken to her tutor who said they're all in the classroom safe.'
Another parent outside the college added: '(My daughter) said someone has threatened to shoot someone. She said we shouldn't be here but I can't go home now.
'My daughter's been told to turn her phone off and put it down. We've got no idea what's going on.'
Police are at the scene, pictured, and the building was evacuated block by block
'She said the college is in lockdown and nobody is allowed in or out. When it's your child it's really scary. I just want her out of there.'
Another parent who went to the college after her daughter called her to tell her about a 'threat'.
The parent, who has asked not to be named, says she can't go home until she knows her daughter is safe.
She said: 'My daughter said the students have been told to stay away from the windows and don't go outside.'
A member of college staff has told pupils arriving this morning to go home.
There are currently 'college closed' signs on the gates which have been locked.
A 13-year-old Jack Russell could lose feeling in her back legs after being mauled by two American Staffordshire Terriers in front of her family.
Toni Cowie said she was walking with her son and dog, Jackie, in south-east Melbourne on Monday afternoon when the two staffies suddenly lunged at them.
'One was attacking her face and the other was attacking her legs,' the 34-year-old mother told 9News.
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A 13-year-old Jack Russell (pictured) named Jackie could lose the use of her back legs after being mauled by two American Staffordshire Terriers in front of her family
Toni Cowie (pictured) said she was walking with her son and Jackie in Hampton Park, south-east Melbourne, on Monday when the two staffies attacked them
Ms Cowie said she helped fight off the staffies, injuring her knee in the process, and rushed Jackie to the vet.
Jackie has a broken leg and several horrific bite marks can be seen on her stomach and backside.
She may also have nerve damage and could lose the use of her hind legs.
Jackie will receive treatment at a vet clinic over the next few days, Leon Salter, who shares the dog with Ms Cowie, said.
Ms Cowie said she helped fight off the staffies and rushed Jackie to the vet with a broken leg and bite marks all over her body (pictured)
She may also have nerve damage and could lose the use of her hind legs (pictured)
Ms Cowie injured her knee (pictured) while trying to fight off the staffies, who have since been seized
The staffies have been seized by the City Council of Casey and an investigation is ongoing.
It is believed the staffies escaped from a gated yard.
'It's not good enough dogs like of that nature should be muzzled and behind gates,' Ms Cowie said.
'I love her. I'm shattered. Im shattered that at the age of 13 she has to go through this,' Mr Salter added.
Sales for the Ivanka Trump brand have hit their highest numbers in history this year despite numerous controversies surrounding the company and calls to boycott the first daughters' fashion empire.
At the same time, new lines of activewear and a collection of affordable jewelry have been launched, while Ivanka Trump Marks LLC has won provisional approval from the Chinese government for four new trademarks.
There is now another controversy brewing however, as the company won those provisional trademarks on the same day that Ivanka dined with President Xi Jinping of China at Mar-a-Lago.
These trademarks now give Ivanka Trump Marks LLC monopoly rights to sell the brand's jewelry, bags and spa services in China, the world's second-largest economy.
Criminal conflict of interest law prohibits federal officials like Ivanka from participating in government matters that could impact their own financial interest.
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She's got the look: Ivanka Trump's eponymous fashion brand is recording its highest sales ever in company history (Ivanka in one of her brand's dresses leaving home last month)
The bling ring: The company recently won approval for four provisional trademarks from China which could prove to be very lucrative for the company (l to r: Ivanka, Peng Liyuan, President Trump, President Xi Jinping and Melania Trump at Mar-a-Lago on April 7)
Problematic provisions: Those trademarks were awarded to the company on the same day that Ivanka sat down with President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago (l to r: Ivanka, Jared Kushner, Peng Liyuan, and Xi Jinping on April 6)
In a recent interview with CBS News, Trump argued that her business would be doing even better if she hadn't moved to Washington and placed restrictions on her team to ensure that 'any growth is done with extreme caution.'
China, however, remains a nagging concern.
'Ivanka has so many China ties and conflicts, yet she and Jared appear deeply involved in China contacts and policy. I would never have allowed it,' said Norman Eisen, who served as chief White House ethics lawyer under Barack Obama.
'For their own sake, and the country's, Ivanka and Jared should consider stepping away from China matters.'
Instead, the first daughter and her husband have emerged as prominent interlocutors with China, where they have both had significant business ties.
Last year, Kushner pursued hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate investments from Anbang Insurance Group, a financial conglomerate with close ties to the Chinese state.
Talks were called off after media reports about the deal.
Publicly, Ivanka has taken a gracious, charming approach toward Beijing.
During the Mar-a-Lago meetings, her daughter, 5-year-old Arabella stood in a gilded room and sang a traditional Chinese song, in Mandarin, to President Xi Jinping.
The video, which was lavishly praised by Chinese state media, played over 2.2million times on China's popular news portal qq.com.
The week of the summit, 3.4tons of Ivanka Trump handbags, wallets and blouses arrived in the U.S. from Hong Kong and Shanghai.
US imports of her merchandise grew an estimated 40 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to Panjiva Inc., which maintains and analyzes global shipping records.
Trouble brewing: Conflict of interest law prohibits federal officials like Ivanka from participating in government matters that could impact their own financial interests (Ivanka and President Trump on February 1 at the White House)
On display: Shoes from the Ivanka Trump collection are displayed at a Lord & Taylor department store in New York (above)
It was revealed in March that the brand had its best ever month in February, despite being dropped by Nordstrom and other national retailers for poor sales.
In an interview with Refinery 29, company president Abigail Klem said: 'Since the beginning of February, they were some of the best performing weeks in the history of the brand.
'For several different retailers Ivanka Trump was a top performer online, and in some of the categories it was the [brands] best performance ever.'
On Amazon, Ivanka had the top selling fragrance for that month, new stock was frequently being added to her Zappos page, and the London-based e-commerce startup Lyst had Ivanka as the eleventh best seller on the site for the month of February.
That represented an increase of 346 per cent from January, when the brand ranked at 550 on the site.
Ivanka is no longer doing that well on those sites, but numbers are still up from last year at this time.
February was a roller coaster month for the brand, from which Ivanka stepped down in January one week before she and her family moved to Washington DC.
It all began when President Trump lashed out at Nordstrom for dumping his daughter's clothing line.
'My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by Nordstrom,' the president wrote on Twitter last month. 'She is a great person always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!'
Song and dance: During the Mar-a-Lago meetings, Ivanka's daughter, 5-year-old Arabella stood in a gilded room and sang a traditional Chinese song, in Mandarin, to President Xi Jinping (above)
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer then defended President Trump's comment later in the day, saying that he was responding to 'an attack on his daughter.'
Spicer also implied that the Seattle-based retailer made the decision to drop Ivanka's line because they did not agree with President Trump's ban on immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations entering the country.
But Nordstrom revealed in a statement to DailyMail.com at the time that Ivanka was personally told about its decision in early January - weeks before the travel ban.
'To reiterate what weve already shared when asked, we made this decision based on performance,' read the statement. 'Over the past year, and particularly in the last half of 2016, sales of the brand have steadily declined to the point where it didnt make good business sense for us to continue with the line for now.'
The statement went on to read: 'We've had a great relationship with the Ivanka Trump team. Weve had open conversations with them over the past year to share what we've seen and Ivanka was personally informed of our decision in early January.'
Spicer meanwhile justified Trump's tweet, saying: 'He has every right to stand up for his family and applaud their business activities, their success.'
'So, look, when it comes to his family I think he's been very clear how proud he is of what they do and what they've accomplished. And for someone to take out their concern with his policies on a family member of his is just, is not acceptable. And the president has every right, as a father, to stand up for them.'
Proud papa: President Trump looks at his daughter during a 2012 fashion show (above)
Spicer was later asked how Ivanka could be targeted seeing as she made the decision to step down from her eponymous fashion company last month, just before moving to Washington DC.
'I think there's clearly a targeting of her brand, and it's her name still out there. So while she's not directly running the company, it's still her name on it,' said Spicer.
'And there's clearly efforts that to undermine that name based on her father's positions on particular policies, that he's taken.'
Spicer went on to state: 'This is a direct attack on his policies and her name. And so that there's clearly an attempt for him to stand up for her, because she is being maligned, because they have a problem with his policies.'
The following day things took another turn when Kellyanne Conway promoted the brand during a television appearance.
She was later counselled after that move, which is an ethics violation.
White House lawyers then concluded that 'Ms. Conway acted inadvertently and is highly unlikely to do so again.'
A row has broken out in Austria after a study suggested Islamic kindergartens in Vienna were helping to create 'parallel societies' or even produce dangerous homegrown radicals of the future.
Some 10,000 children aged two to six attend around 150 Muslim preschools, teaching the Koran much like Christian ones do with Bible studies, according to the study's author, Ednan Aslan, a Turkish-born Austrian professor at Vienna University.
At least a quarter are backed by groups propagating arch conservative strains of Islam like Salafism, or organisations that see religion not just as a private matter but integral to politics and society, Aslan believes.
A row has broken out in Austria after a study suggested Islamic kindergartens in Vienna (file picture) were helping to create 'parallel societies' or even produce dangerous homegrown radicals of the future
'Parents are sending their kids to establishments that ensure they are in a Muslim setting and learn a few suras (chapters from the Koran),' Aslan, a respected researcher into Islamic education, told AFP.
'But they are unaware that they are shutting them off from a multicultural society,' he said.
The study, published last year, has been jumped on by critics of immigration - not least the far-right Freedom Party - in the wake of attacks such as Paris and Brussels perpetrated by Muslims who grew up in Europe. But many reject Aslan's findings, questioning its methodology.
The magazine Biber, which writes for and about minorities, sent a veiled Muslim reporter undercover posing as a mother looking for a place for her son at 14 Muslim kindergartens.
She found no evidence to back up Aslan's suggestions that they were churning out 'little Salafists' or that things like the children singing - frowned upon by ultra-strict Muslims - were banned.
But around a third were according to the magazine 'problematic', 'cutting off or isolating children' from mainstream society. It also voiced concerns about the 'openness' of some staff and the level of German spoken.
Vienna City Hall has since sought to calm the situation by commissioning an in-depth study involving a six-strong research team which will be published later this year.
The Freedom Party, under Heinz-Christian Strache (right) is riding high in the polls. Surveys suggest that public attitudes to Muslims have hardened. Attacks on migrant shelters soared last year
But the first problem is establishing how many Islamic kindergartens there are. Vienna has 842 registered kindergartens, 100 of them Catholic-run and 13 Protestant, but the number of Muslim ones is not known.
Part of the reason is that there has been an explosion in the number that are privately run, stretching the ability of the authorities to keep tabs and allowing some to operate under the radar.
Vienna is home to 1.8 million people, half of whom have a parent born abroad or who were born abroad themselves. Ever since it was the capital of a vast empire, it has been a magnet for outsiders, not all of them always welcome.
'But what is new in recent years has been the religious aspect of the debate about integration,' said Thomas Schmidinger, political scientist and Islam specialist at Vienna University.
Austria, a nation of 8.7 million people, has received more than 130,000 asylum applications since 2015 following the onset of the European Union's biggest migration crisis since World War II.
The Freedom Party is riding high in the polls. Surveys suggest that public attitudes to Muslims have hardened. Attacks on migrant shelters soared last year.
The ruling centrist coalition has moved to the right with plans to ban full-face veils in public and oblige migrants to sign an 'integration contract'.
Organisations representing Austria's 700,000-strong Muslim population say that in this context, Aslan's flawed report has only fanned the flames.
'This study feeds populism and forces Muslims to justify themselves constantly,' said Murat Gurol from newly created pressure group the Muslim Civil Society Network.
The 45-year-old IT worker said he sent his own son to a Muslim kindergarten in order to learn 'the values of solidarity, humanity and responsibility'.
As a child he went to a Christian preschool, and 'I don't see why that should be allowed for one religion and not for another', he told AFP.
A woman from south-west China was reportedly killed by her husband by accident as he was trimming trees using a brush cutter.
The man is said to have cut off both of his wife's legs while weaving the cutter across a tea farm as his wife stood nearby on April 16.
She was rushed to a local hospital and died later due to severe blood loss.
The man was using a hand-held brush cutter, such as the one shown on the left, as the incident occurred on a tea farm (right) in China. The woman died after being rushed to the hospital
Doctors said the arteries and shinbone on Xu's right leg had been cut off while deep cuts had been made to the shinbone of her left leg. Pictured, Xu's injured legs were wrapped in gauze
Villagers from Daiqiao Cun of Leshan city, told Chengdu Business Post, that the man was trimming tea trees while his wife, surnamed Xu, was collecting the tea leaves.
They heard a loud scream and found out that Xu had fainted holding both of her legs.
Pictures emerged online shows a pool of blood on the tea farm where the accident happened.
Xu's husband and other villagers immediately took the woman to the Mucheng Town Health Centre.
However, doctors told Xu's husband that she died due to severe blood loss.
They explained that the arteries and shinbone on Xu's right leg had been cut off by the blades. The brush cutter also made deep cuts to the shinbone of her left leg.
Xu was sent to the hospital by her husband but was pronounced dead due severe blood loss
Xu was admitted with a hemorrhagic shock, a life-threatening condition of severe fluid loss. She was also reported to have no heartbeats and dilated pupils when she arrived.
As most of the villagers grow tea at their homes, some of them would use machines and tools to help trim the tea trees in order to enhance the quality of the product, according to the report.
Although using machines such as a brush cutter can save up time, most of the tea pluckers still prefer the traditional method of using scissors to cut off tea leaves.
Turkey's main opposition party has said it will fight to have the result of the country's referendum annulled.
The People's Republican Party will submit a formal request to election authorities on Tuesday, members said, after European observers criticised the vote as unfair.
But President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is due to be handed sweeping new powers after the vote, said his critics could 'talk to the hand.'
The People's Republican Party has said it will ask Turkey's electoral board to annul the result of Sunday's referendum (pictured, armed guards outside electoral board headquarters)
Thousands of people queued outside the headquarter's of Turkey's electoral board in Anakra, a city which voted against Erdogan, to call for the result to be annulled
People wave petitions arguing that the result of the referendum should be abandoned over allegations of intimidation and fraud
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim announced on Tuesday that Erdogan will be invited to rejoin the ruling AK Party when official results are published two weeks from now.
The move signals that the government has no intention of waiting to see the outcome of opposition appeals.
Under the outgoing constitution, the president had been required to remain impartial and renounce party political ties.
Few in Turkey expect legal challenges to the referendum to lead to a recount, let alone a re-run.
But if unresolved, they will leave deep questions over the legitimacy of a vote which split the electorate down the middle, and whose polarising campaign drew criticism and concern from European allies.
Turkey's bar association said a last-minute decision by the YSK electoral board to allow unstamped ballots in the referendum was clearly against the law, prevented proper records being kept, and may have impacted the results.
European observers such as Tana de Zulueta had criticised the result, saying the battle was fought on an 'unlevel playing field'
But President Erdogan brushed those criticisms aside, telling observes to 'talk to the hand'
Supporters of Erdogan were also out in force yesterday, cheering outside his palatial Presidential Palace, which is also located in Ankara
'With this illegal decision, ballot box councils (officials at polling stations) were misled into believing that the use of unstamped ballots was appropriate,' the Union of Turkish Bar Associations (TBB) said in a statement.
'Our regret is not over the outcome of the referendum, but because of the desire to overlook clear and harsh violations of the law that have the potential to impact the results,' it said.
YSK Chairman Sadi Guven said on Monday the decision was not unprecedented as the government had previously permitted such a move.
It was not immediately clear how many unstamped ballots the electoral board had counted.
Guven said his agency had received complaints that polling stations didn't have stamps and made the decision to accept the ballots after an appeal from a ruling AK Party official.
An Austrian member of the Council of Europe observer mission said up to 2.5 million votes could have been manipulated, almost double the margin of Erdogan's victory, and that the YSK decision on unstamped ballots appeared illegal.
'These complaints are to be taken very seriously and they are, in any case, of such an extent that they would turn around the outcome of the vote,' Alev Korun told ORF radio.
Members of the Republican People's Party, Turkey's main opposition, gather outside a courthouse in Ankara to submit a petition calling for the referendum to be annulled
Thousands of people took to the streets to protest the referendum result on Tuesday, the second straight day of demonstrations
Opponents of Erdogan hold a Turkish flag with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey and a proponent of democracy, outside an Ankra courthouse
Election authorities have said preliminary results showed 51.4 percent of voters had backed the biggest overhaul of Turkish politics since the founding of the modern republic, a far narrower margin than Erdogan had been seeking.
Erdogan argues that concentration of power in the presidency is needed to prevent instability. Opponents accuse him of leading a drive toward one-man rule in Turkey, a NATO member that borders Iran, Iraq and Syria and whose stability is of vital importance to the United States and the European Union.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Yildirim said 'rumours' of irregularities were a vain effort to cast doubt on the result.
'The people's will has been reflected at the ballot box, and the debate is over,' he said. 'Everyone should respect the outcome, especially the main opposition'.
The YSK said on its website on Sunday, as votes were still being cast, that it had received 'considerable complaints' that voters had been given slips and envelopes without official stamps and that it would accept unstamped documents as long as they were not proven to be fraudulent.
The bar association, whose head Metin Feyzioglu is seen as a potential future leader of the opposition CHP, said it had also received phone calls from many provinces about unstamped ballots on Sunday and that its lawyers had advised that records of this should be closely kept once ballot boxes were opened.
While Erdogan claims his new powers will create stability in Turkey, opponents believe he will use the laws to turn himself into a virtual sultan
Sadi Guven, the head of Turkey's election board, has defended the decision to allow ballots without stamps on them to be accepted
But it said that had failed to happen, and that evidence of irregularities had therefore not been properly archived.
On its website, the YSK gave four examples of cases in previous decades where unstamped ballots had been accepted at individual ballot boxes. But those cases only affected several hundred votes and the decision was taken days after the vote and only once the possibility of fraud had been ruled out.
The YSK has also decided to annul elections in the past because of unstamped ballots. It cancelled the results of local elections in two districts in southeastern Turkey in April 2014 and re-held them two months later.
And in Sunday's referendum, the YSK's overseas election branch had already rejected an appeal by a ruling AK Party official to have unstamped envelopes counted as valid.
YSK officials could not be reached for comment.
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Iran has paraded a missile with the sign 'Death to Israel' attached to it during a huge military parade showcasing deadly weapons this morning.
The ceremony was held in the capital Tehran and troops from all units took part to mark National Army Day in the country, but one weapon in particular looked a lot like a North Korean missile critics said was a fake at a similar parade.
The nose of a rocket mounted onto a bigger missile appears to be pointing skywards, in the same way the North Korean weapon was comically built which prompted people to take to Twitter to say it was an empty, painted box.
North Korea celebrated the 105th anniversary of the birth of the nation's founder Kim Il-Sung on the weekend and also hosted a procession of weapons and soldier marches.
In Iran, President Hassan Rouhani delivered a speech as a conveyor belt of military might was displayed to the gathered high-ranking officials and commanders.
The parade included missiles, tanks, armored vehicles, rifles, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), fighter jets, radar systems and air defense missile systems as well as soldiers in the latest camouflage gear.
National Army Day parades are used to celebrate the military's latest achievements and despite insisting no threat is posed to regional countries, the intimidating missile with the Israel banner raised questions.
A missile with an anti-Israeli banner, which reads in Persian, 'Death to Israel,' is displayed, as Iranian armed forces commanders review an army parade next to a portrait of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on National Army Day, in front of mausoleum of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, just outside Tehran, Iran
A massive missile is wheeled through the streets of Tehran on the back of a lorry that is kitted out in camouflage
The nose of the North Korean missile (circled) was called into question with some saying the weapon is a fake during a procession for the Day of the Sun celebrations in the coutnry over the weekend, and the weapon looks a lot like the Iranian weapon
As a BBC journalist delivered a piece to camera from North Korea's 105th anniversary of the birth of the nation's founder Kim Il-Sung, the procession of dodgy-looking missiles went by behind him
Wearing ghilli suits, Iranian army troops march during a parade marking National Army Day which is a display of the country's military success
Iranian army troops march in unison, wearing traditional camouflage hear and holding their rifles across their chests and over their left soldiers as they shoot a glance towards the gathered officials in the grandstand
A Russian-made S-300 air defense system is driven past a portrait of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a parade marking National Army Day in front of of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini's mausoleum, just outside Tehran
Iranian army soldiers in full camouflage suits march during a military parade marking the annual National Army Day in Tehran as the high-ranking officials watch on from the grandstand above
Iranian armoured vehicles with missiles mounted on the back crawl through the streets of Tehran during the military parade
A soldier makes his descent having dazzled with a parachute jump as part of the elaborate military parade in Tehran, Iran
Military truck carrying an Iranian mid-range missile pass in front of a picture of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Iranian army cadets march in uniform holding their rifles across their chest to their left shoulders with white gloves covering their hands during the parade
Naval soldiers pose up in their camouflage gear, pointing guns out of their vessel and saluting as part of their participation in the parade
The ceremony passed near the mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Imam Khomeini, and representatives from Ground Force, Navy, Air Force and Air Defense Force were on the march.
According to Tasnim News, Army Commander Major General Ataollah Salehi, Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehqan, Army Ground Force Commander Brigadier General Kiomars Heidari, and ranking commanders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) attended the ceremony.
Iran an and Israel are bitter enemies and in February Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged British Prime Minister Theresa May to follow the American administration and impose new sanctions on Iran over a missile test earlier this year.
Iran's new air defence Iran displayed the latest version of Sayyad (Hunter) 3 missiles used in the country's air defense systems for the first time this morning. At the National Army Day parades, the high-precision striking missiles were rolled out in front of gathered officials. Commander of Khatam ol-Anbia Air Defense Base Brigadier General Farzad Esmayeeli said the new weapon would be mounted on its long-range S-200 anti-aircraft system. He told Fars News that the new weapon has an increased precision compared to the previous model as well as longer range and destruction power. Advertisement
Netanyahu vehemently opposes the 2015 international agreement that imposed curbs on Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.
US President Donald Trump is also a critic of the Iran deal and his administration imposed sanctions on more than two dozen companies and individuals after Tehran tested a ballistic missile at the end of January.
In pointed remarks at the start of his meeting with May, Netanyahu said he wished other countries would follow the US lead.
'Iran seeks to annihilate Israel, it seeks to conquer the Middle East, it threatens Europe, it threatens the West, it threatens the world,' he said.
'And it offers provocation after provocation.
'That's why I welcome President Trump's assistance of new sanctions against Iran. I think other nations should follow suit, certainly responsible nations.'
The Trump administration is also perceived as sympathetic to Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land, an issue that caused friction between Netanyahu and former President Barack Obama.
The Palestinians claim the West Bank and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as parts of a future state.
They say the settlements, home to 600,000 Israelis, are making it increasingly impossible to partition the land into two states a position that has wide international backing.
Heavily camouflages soldiers, usually deployed as snipers, walk in front of the grandstand holding their disguised weapons
Dozens of soldiers kitted out in traditional camouflage hold their assault rifles to their chests and over their left shoulders
Two tubular weapons mounted on camouflaged launching pads are wheeled by the grandstand which is full of delegates
Iranian soldiers wearing camouflage, with white sashes, red headbands and red flags pass by the grandstand during the parade
Iranian soldiers in elaborate and colourful uniform march in unison as they carry their weapons and glace at the grandstand
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani speaks before a parade on National Army Day during which a procession of military might was displayed
A Russian-made S-200 air defense system is driven past portraits of the late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, left, and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, during a parade marking National Army Day, in front of Khomeini's mausoleum, just outside Tehran
Military trucks carrying Iranian S300 missiles system drive in the military parade marking the annual National Army Day in Tehran, Iran, with the country's leaders pictured on the cabin of the truck
Iran an and Israel are bitter enemies and in February Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged British Prime Minister Theresa May to follow the American administration and impose new sanctions on Iran over a missile test earlier this year.
Netanyahu vehemently opposes the 2015 international agreement that imposed curbs on Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions.
US President Donald Trump is also a critic of the Iran deal and his administration imposed sanctions on more than two dozen companies and individuals after Tehran tested a ballistic missile at the end of January.
In pointed remarks at the start of his meeting with May, Netanyahu said he wished other countries would follow the US lead.
'Iran seeks to annihilate Israel, it seeks to conquer the Middle East, it threatens Europe, it threatens the West, it threatens the world,' he said.
'And it offers provocation after provocation.
Iranian soldiers leave smoke trails in the sky as them make a parachute jump during a military parade to mark the National Army Day, in Tehran, Iran
Iranian naval forces attend a military parade held to mark the National Army Day, in Tehran, Iran on April 18, 2017
An Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force missile it taken by the grandstand in front of a display of flowers
High-ranking officials and commanders salute as a missile is carried by above an anti-Israel banner during the parade in Tehran
A missile with the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force's logo emblazoned up on it is paraded on a truck above an anti-Israel banner
An Iranian soldier salutes in front of a massive mounted machine gun during a military parade to mark the National Army Day
'That's why I welcome President Trump's assistance of new sanctions against Iran. I think other nations should follow suit, certainly responsible nations.'
The Trump administration is also perceived as sympathetic to Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land, an issue that caused friction between Netanyahu and former President Barack Obama.
The Palestinians claim the West Bank and east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war, as parts of a future state.
They say the settlements, home to 600,000 Israelis, are making it increasingly impossible to partition the land into two states a position that has wide international backing.
A takeaway customer claims she was racially abused by two woman who called her a 'p***' before punching her in the face.
Safia Sidki, 23, said she was subjected to the vile attack while waiting in a takeaway waiting for a pizza when she was attacked by the two women who pulled clumps out of her hair.
Miss Sidki was called 'racist' after she was overheard joking with staff at the diner that she was ordering a magharetia pizza for her 'basic friend who likes basic English food'.
Pictured: Safia Sidki, 23, claims she was racially abused at a takeaway and is looking for people to come forward so they can catch who did it
Miss Sidki said it was a private joke as it was not her regular order.
She said: 'They came up to me saying I was being racist towards English people, but I am English - so is my mother and my dad is from Morocco.
'I explained to them I was joking with the guys behind the counter because that's not my normal order and then they started calling me things like p*** and dirty skin, then one of them punched me in the face.'
She said: 'The men in the takeaway had to hide me behind the counter and when my taxi arrived the two women stood in front of me and started pulling my hair out and dragged me to the ground.'
Forced to hide under the counter, staff removed the women from the shop but the attackers waited outside for Miss Sidki until she came out half an hour later.
Miss Sidki said: 'The guys at Bella wouldn't let me out and kept saying I had to stay inside with them until the women left.
Miss Sidki said she was dragged to the floor and started kicked in the ribs during the attack
'But I needed to leave because my friends were waiting for me so I ordered a taxi and asked them to pull up right outside the door so I could jump straight in.
'The women were still waiting outside and the guys walked out with me to protect me.
'That's when they said, 'You're not going anywhere', and pulled my hair out. The police have told me they found clumps of my hair on the path.
'They dragged me to the floor and started kicking me in my ribs and my neck and just punching me.
'It didn't last too long because people helped get them off me and I managed to jump into the taxi.'
The two women are described as white and in their late 30s to early 40s.
They are both of a large build and had very short, cropped, greying hair. One of them was wearing a dark hooded top.
Police said they are investigating the incident.
Anyone with information should call Humberside Police on 101, quoting log 50 of April 15.
The Philippine police have given bonuses for killing drug suspects, planted evidence at crime scenes and carried out most of the murders they blamed on vigilantes, said two senior officers.
The officials, who are critical of President Rodrigo Duterte's 'war on drugs,' challenged the government's explanations of the killings in interviews.
Almost 9,000 people, many small-time users and dealers, have been killed since Duterte took office on June 30. Police say about a third of the victims were shot by officers in self-defence during legitimate anti-drug operations.
Human rights monitors believe the remaining two thirds were killed by paid assassins working with police or by police disguised as vigilantes - a charge the police deny.
Philippine police have received cash payments for executing drug suspects, planted evidence at crime scenes and carried out most of the killings they have long blamed on vigilantes, claim officials critical of President Rodrigo Duterte's (pictured) 'war on drugs'
The two senior officers, one a retired police intelligence officer and the other an active-duty commander, claimed the killings are in fact orchestrated by the police, including most of those carried out by vigilantes. They spoke on the condition of anonymity.
'It is the Philippine National Police doing it,' said the retired intelligence officer.
'This killing machine must be buried six feet under the ground.' He said he was angry about the impact of the killings on police discipline and wanted 'to put Duterte on the defensive.' Reuters was unable to independently verify if the police are behind vigilante killings.
The president's office and the Philippine police did not respond to questions from Reuters.
The intelligence officer has authored an unpublished 26-page report on the conduct of the drug war in an effort to organize opposition to Duterte's campaign.
The report, titled 'The State-Sponsored Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines,' provides granular detail on the campaign's alleged methods, masterminds and perpetrators. The document has been shared with leaders of the Catholic Church in the Philippines and with the government-funded Commission on Human Rights.
Some of the report's accusations against individuals could not be confirmed by Reuters; the news agency is therefore not publishing the full document.
Many of its findings, however, support and expand upon previous investigations of the drug war by Reuters and independent human rights monitors.
Human rights monitors believe paid assassins operating with police backing or by police disguised as vigilantes killed two thirds of the 9,000 people who have died since June 30 - a charge police deny
The report claims that police are paid to kill not just drug suspects, but also - for 10,000 pesos ($200) a head - rapists, pickpockets, swindlers, gang members, alcoholics and other 'troublemakers.'
It also claims that civilian members of the so-called Davao Death Squad, which rights activists allege killed hundreds of people in Duterte's hometown of Davao, were drafted to 'augment and assist' the police's current nationwide anti-drug operation.
The report doesn't provide documentary evidence for its accusations, which the intelligence officer said were based on accounts from 17 serving or former policemen, including the commander Reuters interviewed. The police commander said he agreed to talk because he was upset that authorities are targeting only petty drug suspects. 'Why aren't they killing the suppliers?' he asked. 'Only the poor are dying.'
The second half of the report is largely political in nature, asserting that Duterte has close ties to Communist forces in the Philippines. Many in the military and police are concerned by what they see as Duterte's leftist sympathies. Since taking office, the president has released Communist rebels from prison to restart peace talks.
The report also calls the drug war a 'social cleansing' campaign similar to that launched in Mao Zedong's China, with Duterte aiming to have drug addicts 'physically eliminated.'
The Commission on Human Rights has reviewed the report and the accounts could open up new leads in ongoing investigations, said chairman Chito Gascon. Church officials confirmed receiving the report as well.
A report claims that police are paid to kill not just drug suspects, but also - for 10,000 pesos ($200) a head - rapists, pickpockets, swindlers, gang members, alcoholics and other 'troublemakers' (pictured, police interrogating local residents in operation against drugs
'We should do all we can to follow any lead that could ultimately shed light on these killings with the view to ultimately holding the perpetrators to account,' said Gascon.
The fresh claims come amid growing criticism of the drug war. In February, the country's influential Catholic Church called it a 'reign of terror.' The campaign has also sparked street protests and lawsuits.
Duterte's police chief, Ronald Dela Rosa, halted police operations for most of February after it emerged that an anti-drug unit had kidnapped and murdered a South Korean businessman last year. The killings continued but at a slower pace. On March 6, Dela Rosa announced that the police were resuming their drug operations.
In March, a former policeman, Arturo Lascanas, testified in the Philippine Senate about his role in vigilante-style killings in the southern city of Davao, where Duterte was once mayor. Lascanas was the second Senate witness to link Duterte to the Davao Death Squad. Duterte denies ordering any killings, either as president or mayor.
In a subsequent interview, Lascanas told Reuters that for over a decade he was paid for carrying out the liquidation of drug suspects and criminals. In the early 1990s, he said, he was paid 3,000 to 5,000 pesos ($60-$100) for each of the 'jobs' he performed.
By the early 2000s he was earning tens of thousands of pesos for each operation, he said. Lascanas said he had no documentary proof of the payments. He has since left the country.
In the past nine months, police acknowledge having shot dead more than 2,600 suspects during their operations. They say such shootings occur after suspects open fire on undercover officers trying to catch them dealing drugs.
It also claims that civilian members of the so-called Davao Death Squad, which rights activists allege killed hundreds of people in Duterte's hometown of Davao, were drafted to 'augment and assist' the police's current nationwide anti-drug operation. Pictured, Duterte with Trade Secretary Liam Fox)
But these so-called 'buy-busts' are actually well-planned executions, said the commander interviewed by Reuters. The commander said targets are chosen from lists of suspects drawn up by police and local officials, who later coordinate to unplug security cameras in the neighbourhood where a killing is planned. According to the report, street lamps are also switched off.
'There is no such thing as a legitimate buy-bust,' the commander said. 'The dealers know the cops and won't sell to them.'
Instead, he said, a team of police operatives will execute the target, who is almost always unarmed, then plant guns and drugs at the crime scene to justify the use of deadly force.
'We have to plant evidence for the legality of the operation,' the commander said. 'We are ordered to do these operations, so we have to protect ourselves.'
The commander said officers put the gun in the dead suspect's hand and pull the trigger with the victim's finger so forensic testing will show that the suspect fired a gun.
Late last year, he said, police crime-scene investigators told their fellow officers to place the guns at a slight distance from the suspects, rather than in their hands, to make things look more realistic.
Most drug suspects in his precinct are shot by rookie cops who are either eager for the experience or nominated by their superiors, the commander said. The superiors refer to this as a 'baptism by fire.'
Each member of the team is quickly paid according to two factors, said the commander: his role in the killing and the target's value.
According to the report, the cash 'reward scales' for drug killings range from 20,000 pesos ($400) for a 'street level pusher and user,' to 50,000 pesos for a member of a neighborhood council, one million pesos for 'distributors, retailers and wholesalers,' and five million for 'drug lords.'
Police officers kill for money, said the commander, but also out of fear: Even the police are afraid of being included on a 'watch list' of drug suspects drawn up by police and local officials.
Officials have been killed for not cooperating, he added. He said he was aware of two cases but did not provide details on exactly what happened.
Most drug suspects in his precinct are shot by rookie cops who are either eager for the experience or nominated by their superiors, the commander said. Pictured, armed Filipino policemen stand guard next to the wall of a prison facility
Reuters reported last year that the watch lists were effectively hit lists, with many of those named ending up dead. Another Reuters investigation showed that police officers were killing 97 percent of the suspects they confront in violent buy-bust operations, the strongest evidence yet that the police were summarily executing suspects.
Officers also cooperate because they know the police force's flawed disciplinary system, which fails to adequately investigate even a fraction of the killings, means there is little chance they will get caught, said the intelligence officer.
One sign of the drug war's success, says the government, is that more than a million users and pushers have voluntarily registered with the police, a process known as 'surrendering.'
But the commander said police are given a quota of 'surrenderers,' and fill it by using city ordinances to arrest men who are drunk or shirtless - a misdemeanor known as 'half-naked' - then forcing them to register as drug suspects.
Reuters learned of the intelligence officer's 26-page report from him and interviewed two Catholic priests in Manila who said they had encouraged him to compile it. One of the priests said he edited the report; the other said he helped distribute it among a small group of clerics and human rights activists. Both are helping organize opposition to Duterte's drug campaign.
The Church's initial reluctance to criticize Duterte's drug war was prompted by a desire to 'give him a chance' when he took office, said one of the priests. But the killings, along with the president's overtures to Communists, made many in the Church feel their values were under attack, he said.
The intelligence officer said he hoped the report would be used as evidence at the International Criminal Court. In October, the Hague-based tribunal said it could prosecute suspects if the killings were 'committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack against a civilian population.'
KFC has spiced up their menu with a new range of Tabasco-marinated chicken that looks to be a recipe for success.
The chicken chain is now selling all of their boxed meals in Australia with pieces marinated for 24 hours in the world-famous hot sauce.
Social media has heated up over the world-first recipe, but it looks to be an overwhelmingly positive response.
Get it while it's hot! KFC has launched a new range of Tabasco-marinated chicken for a limited time
'The meeting of these two legends has been a long time coming, and the flavours are like nothing KFC Australia has created before,' KFC Australia spokesperson Catherine Tan said.
The Australian exclusive recipe will be available at 620 KFC stores nation-wide from 18 April until May 15th.
For those with an extra-spicy tolerance, the fast-food store will also be offering 'Blister Packs' of Tabasco Sauce to add to meals.
'We are delighted to be able to add a kick of flavour to KFC's Extra Crispy Chicken and bring together two legends of the industry.'
Spicing up their menu: The chicken-chain is now selling all of their boxed meals with pieces marinated in the famous hot sauce
Recipe for success: Social media has offered an overwhelmingly positive response to the new recipe
Tabasco sauce has been using the same recipe for the past 150 years, with all products aged in white oak barrels for up to three years.
The Tabasco launch comes as KFC rolls out another product popular in Australia - the spicy Zinger burger- across the United States.
The burgers are a favourite in Australia, where more than 22 million Zingers are sold each year.
President Donald Trump says he hasn't changed his mind about China.
It just wouldn't make sense for him to start a trade war with Beijing while it's complying with international sanctions aimed at the curtailment of North Korea's nuclear program, Trump says.
'I havent changed my stance. Chinas trying to help us,' Trump told Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt in an interview that aired Tuesday morning.
Candidate Trump said China had been allowed to 'rape our country' economically for far too long. He pledged to label Beijing a currency manipulator his first day in office.
His administration held off on making a formal designation, pending a review, and Trump said last week he no longer backs the action that could trigger new tariffs.
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President Donald Trump says he hasn't changed his mind about China. It just wouldn't make sense for him to start a trade war with Beijing while it's challenging North Korea, he says
After a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump turned around and said the country he had so tersely talked about in the lead-up to his election is not a currency manipulator, as he had routinely claimed, while he applied pressure on its leader to challenge North Korea.
China is North Korea's most important trading partner. Strategic crackdowns of imports and exports could cripple Kim Jong-un's government.
In line with a United Nations resolution, China has barred the purchase of coal from North Korea until the end of this year. Beijing expanded the punishing actions to include rare metals earlier this month. It stopped exporting jet fuel to Pyongyang, for the most part, at the same time.
'Hes working so nicely,' Trump said of Xi on Fox. 'Many coal ships have been sent back, fuel has been sent back. Theyre not dealing the same way. Nobodys ever seen it like that. Nobodys ever seen such a positive response on our behalf from China.'
The White House said last week as it tried to explain Trump's about-face on currency manipulation that the issue had 'evolved towards' the president's position, although Trump's spokesman could not say how.
Press Secretary Sean Spicer noted the complexity of the issue and directed inquires about the matter to the president.
Trump hinted in a weekend tweet that the evolving issue was North Korea - and Xi's newfound willingness to enforce economic sanctions on Kim's government.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd R) and his wife Peng Liyuan (2nd L) pose for a photo with U.S. President Donald Trump (C), his wife Melania Trump and his daughter Ivanka Trump in the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida earlier this month. Since then, Trump has refused to call China a currency manipulator
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday, that China's 'unfair trade practices' have cost the US economy trillions.
'China is not manipulating its currency right now, but it could in the future,' he said. 'If [Trump] had labeled them a manipulator, it would send a shot across their bow.'
Schumer told reporters Trump 'seems to be backing off all the tough talk on China' even though 'they haven't changed one bit.'
'And the president's not challenging them to change,' he contended.
Earhardt asked Trump in her interview Monday at the White House's annual Easter Egg Roll about China's assistance in the confrontation with North Korea and the accusations that he'd softened his position on Beijing, and Trump denied that's what he'd done.
'Ainsley, look. I didnt soften my stance. China came to the United Statesthe President, whosIve developed a really good relationship with. I think hes a terrific person, I got to know him really well over a two day period,' he said. 'We were together hours and hours and hours by ourselves.'
Their meetings were supposed to last 15 minutes, Trump explained, but they went on longer.
'We had a good chemistry together. He understands its a big problem. Hes working on it,' Trump said, referring back to the conflict with North Korea over unauthorized missile tests.
Trump hinted in a weekend tweet that the evolving issue was North Korea - and China's newfound willingness to enforce economic sanctions on Kim's government
'Now, what am I going to do? Start a trade war with China while in the middle of him working on a bigger problem, frankly, with North Korea?' he stated.
Continuing, Trump told Earhardt, 'So Im dealing with China with great respect. I have great respect for him. Now, well see what he can do.
'Now, maybe he wont be able to help. Thats possible. I think hes trying. But, maybe he wont be able to help, and thats a whole different story. But, well see what happens.'
Trump has said that the United States and its allies will go it alone in the battle with North Korea if China's unwilling or unable to provide additional leverage. He'd prefer that China play a lead role, though, given its significant regional influence.
'What am I going to do? In the middle of him talking with North Korea Im going to hit them with currency manipulation?' he told Earhardt in the Monday interview that aired Tuesday. 'This is the fake media that just does a number.'
Trump bashed news outlets for pointing out his apparent turnaround on currency manipulation and his change of heart about Beijing after his meeting with Xi, twice calling them the 'fake media.'
'Chinas trying to help us. I dont know if they are going to be able to or not, but do I want to start heavy heavy trade or currency manipulation statements against someone whos out there trying to stop what could be a very bad situation? You understand that,' he told Earhardt.
The Fox News host replied, 'I understand that.'
'Nobody ever mentions it that way, though. But, thats OK,' Trump told her. 'I think were doing really well. China has been helping and other people have been helping, but I dont know if that is going to work.
'It may have to be a different solution,' he admitted.
A California immigrant activist is missing in Mexico after posting a Facebook Live video of him pleading for help claiming he was being 'hunted' by a criminal gang.
Hugo Castro, a US citizen and activist based in San Diego, posted the harrowing 20-minute video on Thursday night saying he feared for his life.
The father of four said he was stranded on the side of a busy highway on his way to Puebla, which is about 80 miles south-east of Mexico City.
Castro, 45, said he had been followed for several days by a criminal organization believed to be from Tamaulipas and claimed drivers in freight vehicles had cornered him on the highway.
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Hugo Castro, a US citizen and activist based in San Diego, posted the harrowing 20-minute Facebook live video on Thursday night saying he was being 'hunted' by a criminal gang
Speaking in Spanish, he told those watching his Facebook Live video: 'Seriously, I was threatened, they want to kill me.
'It's like they're hunting me. I can't trust the police.'
He added that he had been travelling on buses and taxis but was running out of Mexican Pesos and his phone battery would die soon.
The footage is the last anyone has heard from Castro and his distraught family have reported him missing.
US consular officials in Mexico said on Monday they were helping authorities in the search for Castro, according to San Diego's KBPS.
Castro, a father of four, is a well known volunteer with the San Diego-based non profit Border Angels. He was in Mexico to help migrants travel to the US-Mexico border
US consular officials in Mexico said on Monday they were helping authorities in the search for Castro and his family are spreading missing photos (above) on social media
'The welfare of U.S. citizens is one of the Department's highest priorities,' the spokesman said. 'We stand ready to provide all possible consular assistance.'
Castro is a well known volunteer with the San Diego-based non profit Border Angels. He hasn't been in touch with the organization for a week.
He had traveled to Mexico to take part in an effort helping migrants travel from Central America to the US-Mexico border. Castro was believed to be making his way to Chiapas to join the group.
The effort was meant to draw attention to the alleged abuse suffered by refugees in Mexico.
His partner Gaba Cortes has been giving updates on the search via Facebook, saying she was meeting with authorities in Mexico City on Tuesday morning to look at surveillance footage for any clues on Castro's whereabouts.
His partner Gaba Cortes (right) said she was meeting with authorities in Mexico City on Tuesday morning to look at surveillance footage to see if there were any clues
Castro said he was stranded on a highway on his way to Puebla. He was believed to be making his way to Chiapas to help migrants travel to the US-Mexico border
She said she spoke to an individual on Friday who identified himself as a taxi driver. He said he had given Castro a ride to Mexico City's bus station where the activist said he planned to take a bus.
Border Angels founder Enrique Morones said it was not uncommon for volunteers to be threatened by smugglers who make money by preying on immigrants.
'About three weeks ago, Hugo was threatened,' Morones told NBC.
'He was trying to help these Haitians and people who were trying to take advantage of them said "It's none of your business. Stay out of it".'
A Wisconsin man accused of stealing numerous firearms and sending an anti-government manifesto to the White House talked back to a court official during a hearing to face state charges.
Joseph Jakubowski, 32, already has federal charges against him for allegedly stealing firearms from a Janesville, Wisconsin, gun store and court officials advised him Monday of charges he faces in Rock County.
Jakubowski sat with his defense attorney and appeared via video feed while court Commissioner Larry Barton informed him of three state charges of theft and burglary.
At one point the 32-year-old asked a question about one of the charges and Barton warned him not to make statements.
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Joseph Jakubowski, 32, lashed out at a court official during a hearing in Wisconsin on Monday. He is pictured in court on April 17 following his arrest last Friday
Jakubowksi lashed out in response, telling the official: 'I'm not your slave, man.
'You can't tell me what to do as a free individual, you can't tell me what to do.'
The 32-year-old's cash bond was set at $30,000. He is charged with burglary, felony theft and possession of burglarious tools.
NBC News reports he is also banned from any contact with the owner of the gun-shop he allegedly burgled.
Authorities arrested Jakubowski on Friday after a 10-day manhunt. He was found hiding at a 'primitive camp site' he had set up on a farm in Vernon County, Wisconsin.
The 32-year-old (pictured in court on Monday) allegedly sent a 161-page anti-government memo to the White House
The FBI released these mug shots last week as it desperately attempted to track down the 32-year-old
Police took the 32-year-old into custody without firing a single shot.
A force of some 150 local, state and federal police had been searching for the suspect.
Police received a tip late Thursday that a man matching Jakubowski's description was at the farm near Readstown - 130 miles northwest of Janesville.
Authorities said Jakubowski had spoken of plans to carry out unspecified attacks, in addition to sending his 161-page long screed to the White House.
Jakubowski's car was found burning not far from the gun shop after the robbery
Police released pictures of Joseph Jakubowski's tattoos during their search to find him last week. The tattoo on the left reads 'Jigga' and the one on the right are vthe letters BOS
Sheriff Robert Spoden described the manifesto as, 'a long laundry list of injustices that he believes the government and society and the upper class have put forth onto the rest of the citizens.'
The threat prompted area schools to close last Friday prior to a scheduled spring break, and patrols were increased at local churches because Jakubowski's manifesto had included 'anti-religion sentiment'.
State governor Scott Walker also scrapped an annual Easter egg hunt scheduled for Saturday amid the manhunt.
The car registered to Jakubowski was found burning on a rural road not far from the gun shop
Allied forces knew about the Holocaust two years before Nazi death camps were discovered during the Second World War, according to a secret archive.
The documents reveal that the US, UK and Soviet governments were preparing charges as early as December 1942 after learning that millions of Jewish people had been killed with many more at risk.
The files of the United Nations War Crime Commission - which date back to 1943 - are being released to the public for the first time ever at the Wiener Library in London.
It is widely thought that Britain only learned of the true extent of the Holocaust when Allied forces captured - then liberated - Nazi concentration camps in 1945.
But the archive shows that testimonies from concentration camp prisoners were smuggled to Allied forces in December 1942 - leading to the UK's Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden making a statement to Parliament that month.
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The UN documents reveal that the US, UK and Soviet governments were preparing charges as early as December 1942. Pictured are children in Auschwitz after the camp's liberation by Allied forces army in January 1945
Bulgarian commissioner for Jewish Affairs Alexander Belev, centre wearing a brimmed hat, is pictured overseeing the deportation of Jews in Skopje, Yugoslavia in March 1943. He is one of those named in the files
Although information in the War Crimes Commission archive files has long been known to investigators and historians, the documents have not been accessible to the public
He said: 'The German authorities, not content with denying to persons of Jewish race in all the territories over which their barbarous rule extends, the most elementary human rights, are now carrying into effect Hitler's oft-repeated intention to exterminate the Jewish people.'
However, the Allied forces are said to have done little to provide sanctuary to the estimated five million Jews who were in danger.
In March 1943, Viscount Cranborne - a minister in Winston Churchill's war cabinet - said the British Empire already had too many refugees and could not make a special case for the Jews.
Some of the files have lists of personnel at concentration camps, including Auschwitz, pictured
Author Dan Plesch, who researched the documents while working on his book Human Rights After Hitler, told The Independent: 'The major powers commented two-and-a-half years before it is generally assumed.
'It was assumed they learned this when they discovered the concentration camps, but they made this public comment in December 1942.'
The secret archive reveals horrific new details about the wartime atrocity in which las many as 11 million were killed.
It includes accounts smuggled out of occupied Eastern Europe of victims forced to strip and how the terracotta gas chamber floors became 'very slippery when wet'.
In March 1943, Viscount Cranborne - a minister in Winston Churchill's war cabinet - pictured, said the British Empire already had too many refugees and could not make a special case for Jewish people
Although information in the documents has long been known to investigators and historians, the files have been inaccessible to the public.
Even researchers at the UN had to submit petitions for access through their governments.
In addition to the allegations of mass murder against Hitler and his high-level henchmen, the files list thousands of horrendous cases from across Europe and Asia.
There is Franz Angerer, a member of the Gestapo, accused of rounding up inmates in Sosnowiec, German-occupied Poland, to send to Auschwitz.
The archive includes about 500,000 digitized microfilm images with more than 10,000 case files. This image shows Bridget Sisk, chief of Archives and Records Management Section (ARMS) at the United Nations, as she views a 1947 negative file in February 2012
One of those mentioned in the files is Bulgarian commissioner for Jewish Affairs Alexander Belev, who oversaw the deportation of Jews during the Second World War.
Meanwhile Helmut Steinmetz in Warsaw, German-occupied Poland, was accused of murdering a crippled Jewish man he met on the street, as well as killing a railroad porter with a stick for refusing to carry his luggage.
And Elimar Luder Precht, who served as chief dentist at several concentration camps, was accused of selecting Auschwitz inmates for execution based on whether they had gold or platinum teeth that could be forcibly taken.
The vast collection includes about 500,000 digitized microfilm images with more than 10,000 case files in multiple languages from Europe and Asia on people identified as war criminals.
There are also meeting minutes, trial transcripts and 37,000 names listed in a central registry of war criminals and suspects. Some files have lists of personnel at concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Ravensbruck.
Author Dan Plesch, pictured, who researched the documents while working on his book Human Rights After Hitler, said: 'It was assumed they learned this when they discovered the concentration camps, but they made this public comment in December 1942'
While some case files are brief, others are more extensive collections of charging documents, witness statements, correspondence and commission reports.
The evidence was submitted by 17 member nations for evaluation to try to assure that war criminals would be arrested and tried, but the war crimes commission was shut down in 1948.
For decades, the archive was largely forgotten. In 1987, researchers and historians were granted limited access, but names of witnesses and suspects not convicted of war crimes were kept off limits.
Prosecutors and historians with the US Justice Department's Nazi-hunting unit have used the archive for investigations, as have others in an on-and-off effort to hold Holocaust perpetrators accountable.
Shocking video has emerged of a daycare worker slamming an 18-month-old face down on the ground while trying to get him to go to sleep.
Jazmine Torres, 22, was filmed on surveillance cameras at The Children's Courtyard in Plano, Texas, lifting the toddler up by his arms and planting him on his nap mat on Friday.
The boy's mother Caitlin Gilmore was watching on a live feed during her lunch break at Wells Fargo when she saw the daycare worker roughly laying him down. What she initially saw was not recorded.
When she left to collect her son, friends in her office continued watching and started filming the live stream on their iPhones.
Jazmine Torres, 22, was filmed slamming the 18-month-old down on his chest to get him to go to sleep at The Children's Courtyard in Plano, Texas, on Friday
It was then that Torres was recorded slamming him down again. She now faces a child endangerment charge from Plano Police Department.
The footage shows her carrying one child under one arm while Gilmore's 18-month-old, who has not been named, stood nearby.
The boy's mother Caitlin Gilmore was watching a live feed of the daycare on her lunch break and saw Torres roughly handling her son
She first pushed him to the ground to make room on the mats for the other toddler she was carrying.
After laying the first child down, she was then seen lifting the boy up abruptly by the arms and swinging his feet back to plant him face down.
Gilmore's friends shared the video on Facebook to alert other parents. It has been viewed more than 800,000 times since it was uploaded.
The child's mother took him to hospital afterwards where doctors checked him over. He was not hurt.
'It was horrifying for her to watch. They took him to the ER immediately after the incident and he checked out to be okay. Doctor said you'd be surprised how resilient kids are,' Amber McHenry, who posted the footage online, told DailyMail.com.
Police issued a warrant for Torres' arrest after being alerted to the footage by both the boy's mother and the daycare center.
She is expected to turn herself in on Tuesday on a count of felony child endangerment.
The child (dressed in a white romper) was standing up when Torres approached him with another child in her arms. She pushed him to the floor first to set the other toddler down on their mat
Torres then lifted the boy up by his underarms and threw him on to the blue nap mat
After tucking him under the blue blanket, Torres then sat between the child and another with her head in her hands
Authorities deemed the video 'unacceptable' but said Torres had been cooperative with investigations.
She has until the end of the day on Tuesday to hand herself in to police.
'Any parent out there, it's going to be something that's just horrific. Any human being to see a toddler treated that way is just, that's just unacceptable,' spokesman for the police department, David Tilley, said.
The Children's Playground said it supported the police investigation. It fired Torres after being made aware of the video.
'Upon being made aware of this situation, we immediately notified the authorities and partnered with the state as well as conducted our own investigation.
'Those involved are no longer employed with us,' the daycare center said in a statement.
Senator Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday morning that she isn't planning to challenge President Donald Trump for the White House in 2020.
'No,' Warren said flatly on NBC's 'Today' show.
'I am running,' she added 'in 2018, for senator from Massachusetts.' Warren faces a re-election fight next year.
Senator Elizabeth Warren said Tuesday morning that she isn't planning to challenge President Donald Trump for the White House in 2020
'No,' Warren said flatly on NBC's 'Today' show, but later grinned and stayed silent when asked if 'She persisted' would be a 2020 campaign bumper-sticker message for her
Co-host Matt Lauer pressed her, saying 'a lot of people are already printing up those bumper stickers for 2020 that say "she was warned, she was given an explanation, nevertheless she persisted".'
Warren grinned and stayed silent.
Trump said last month during a Fox News Channel interview that running in 2020 against Warren would be 'a dream come true.'
'I think she would lose so badly,' the president said then.
Now the Massachusetts liberal is promoting her 11th book, 'This Fight Is Our Fight,' but says it isn't meant to be a launch vehicle for any presidential ambitions.
Lauer's reference to Warren's accidental tag-line 'nevertheless, she persisted,' is a hat-tip to a February 7 episode that saw Warren silenced on the Senate floor.
Warren clashed with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Feb. 7 after violating a Senate rule against impugning another senator in this case, Jeff Sessions
As a protest against the nomination of then-Senator Jeff Sessions to serve as attorney general, she read aloud a passage from a 1986 letter written by Coretta Scott King to complain about Sessions' nomination for a federal judgeship.
The King letter said that as an Alabama federal prosecutor, Sessions had used 'the awesome power of his office to chill the free exercise of the vote by black citizens.'
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell squelched her, ruling that she had violated a rule against denigrating fellow senators.
'Sen. Warren was giving a lengthy speech. She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted,' McConnell said then.
Two days later in a closed-door meeting with senators from both major parties, Trump blasted Warren as 'Pocohontas' his favorite epithet for her.
Warren infamously inflated her Native American bona fides early in her career to gain favorable treatment in applying for university professorships.
'Pocahontas is now the face of your party,' Trump told Democratic senators in the room on February 9, CNN reported.
He then claimed that the only reason she said she had Native American origins was due to her 'high cheekbones.'
Hillary Clinton downloaded emails sent and received by her top staff from her failed run for the Presidency in 2008 to see who had been plotting against her, claims a blockbuster new book about the campaign.
The Democratic presidential candidate obtained the emails from her campaign server to see who had been disloyal and who had been leaking against her.
Armed with this she held meetings with the staffers to try to determine what went wrong during the election - with the aides apparently unaware she had been reading their messages.
The extraordinary claim puts the scandal over Clintons use of a personal email server, which dogged her presidential campaign, in a new light.
It also shows how little she trusted even those closest to her not to conspire against her behind her back.
In Shattered: Inside Hillary Clintons Doomed Election Campaign, political journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes claim that Clinton learned about the power of digital snooping when she decided to do it herself after losing the Democratic ticket to Barack Obama in 2008.
New book Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign claims the scandal over Hillary's private server wasn't the only time she crossed the line
Hillary's top staff in her 2008 campaign included chief strategists Patti Solis Doyle and political director Guy Cecil. Shattered does not name whose emails Clinton asked for
She instructed a trusted aide to access (her) campaign server and download the messages sent and received by top staffers,' according to the authors.
The book explains that she was conducting an autopsy and wanted an honest accounting of what went on during the campaign.
She believed her campaign had failed her - not the other way around - and she wanted to see who was talking to who, who was leaking to who, a source familiar with the operation told Allen and Parnes.
During the post-election meetings with her staff in Washington disloyalty and dysfunction were rarely far from Clintons mind.
According to Shattered: The men and women she met with, apparently unaware she has access to their emails, were amazed that a woman who had been traveling the country in pursuit of the presidency had such a detailed grasp of the machinations at the campaigns command center in the Washington suburbs.
Shattered does not offer any examples of the emails that Clinton obtained.
Nor does it make clear if Hillary sorted personal emails her staff sent through their campaign email from professional ones.
Neera Tanden served as Hillary's the policy director in the 2008 campaign. Shattered does not reveal if Hillary obtained her emails from the campaign server.
During the scandal over her own email server in 2016 Clinton claimed that she did not hand over all her emails from Secretary of State because some were personal in nature.
Among those who worked on Clintons campaign in 2008 was Guy Cecil, her political director, Mark Penn, her chief strategist, Neera Tanden, the policy director, and chief strategist Patti Solis Doyle
One anonymous aide is quoted in Shattered as saying that they were surprised that Clinton had a remarkably accurate idea of what was going on among her staff and that she had a mosaic of information.
The email scandal - stemming from Clintons decision to install the private email server at her home in Chappaqua when she became Secretary of State instead of using her official account - dogged her campaign and led to an FBI investigation into whether she breached rules regarding the handling of classified information.
The book reveals that privately Obama was exasperated by the email scandal and thought that it amounted to 'political malpractice'.
Publicly he supported Clinton but privately he 'couldn't understand what possessed Hillary to set up the private email server'. Obama felt that Hillary's tactics were to 'obfuscate, deny and evade' were exactly the things which sank her in 2008 when she ran against him for the Presidency.
Obama 'said nothing of this to Hillary' but in the privacy of the West Wing he 'scratched his head or rolled his eyes'.
Mark Penn served as Hillary's chief strategist in her 2008 presidential bid. The book Shattered does not reveal which staffers were subject to her email search
President Clinton his then political pollster Mark Penn prior to the second presidential debate between the President and Senator Bob Dole in 1996
Last July FBI director James Comey initially said that she had not done so but branded her extremely careless.
Then a week before the election Comey revealed he was reopening the investigation, based on emails the FBI had obtained from the computer of Anthony Weiner in his own scandal - one revealed exclusively by DailyMail.com over his sexting with a then 15-year-old high school girl. The announcement caused Clintons poll numbers to drop and, she would later tell friends, cost her the election.
The investigation was later closed again.
A separate investigation by the State Department found that Clinton broke the rules by using her private email server instead of her official work account.
She was also investigated by the House Select Committee on Benghazi and the scandal was the subject of eight reporters by seven Congressional committees.
The drip drop of stories about the email server caused Clinton immense damage but Shattered argues that in the beginning she failed to realize how serious it was.
The book says that overall she was a terrible judge of how her actions could backfire and turn into full blown scandals.
The response of Clinton and her team reflected an epic underestimation of an existential threat posed to her campaign because many people thought of her as a liar.
The biggest damage was done by Comey after the FBI investigation in which agents read through all 30,000 emails that she had turned over to the Department of State.
They found 110 emails contained classified information at the time they were sent or received, however they were not labelled as such at the time, meaning that Clinton could claim she was not aware they needed to be handled with care.
Obama was exasperated by the email scandal and thought that it amounted to 'political malpractice'
In his statement in July last year Comey said it was especially concerning that seven email chains contained the highest level of classification because they were sent on such an unsecure email system.
Comey said that the investigation concluded that it was possible that hostile actors gained access to her email system, though he could not be sure.
Ultimately, Comey's announcement that the FBI was reopening the inesgation into Hillary's emails would be one of the factors leading to her defeat.Hillary's defeat.
The book describes how, on election night President Obama phoned Hillary to offer consolationt after she conceding to Donald Trump and she told him: Im sorry.
The Democratic presidential candidate stepped into an anteroom for the conversation to apologize for losing to Trump in a conversation which has never previously been reported.
As she took the call Clinton knew she had let her country down and that Obamas legacy lay shattered at Donald Trumps feet, a new book reveals.
Minutes earlier Clinton had called Trump and suppressed the anger that touched every nerve in her body as she conceded.
She said: Congratulations, Donald. Ill be supportive of the countrys success and that means your success as president.
The drama of Clintons election in the Peninsula Hotel in Manhattan is detailed in Shattered: Inside Hillary Clintons Doomed Election Campaign.
Political journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes tell the hour by hour drama of how Clintons confidence at her victory was replaced by anxiety and resignation as Trump won the biggest upset in modern political history on November 9 last year.
The book says that as the results rolled in for states like Pennsylvania, the clear tipping point for the race for the White House, Obama called Clinton and said: You need to concede
According to the book, Obama was determined to make sure that his friend understood that the election was over and that she had to accept the loss with dignity to counter Trumps attempts to undermine the electoral system.
Obama said that he didnt see any point in prolonging the inevitable and didnt want to turn the election into a recount mess - then having delivered his message he hung up.
The call worked and Clintons close aide Huma Abedin called Trumps campaign manager Kellyanne Conway.
The two candidates were brought to the line and Clinton conceded.
The authors write that Trump credited her for being a smart opponent who ran a tough campaign. The conversation lasted about a minute.
Next came a second, previously undisclosed call from Obama which crystallized everything for Hillary.
The book says: Hillary winces. She wasnt ready for this conversation. When shed spoken with Obama just a little bit earlier the outcome of the election wasnt final yet.
Now, though, with the President placing a consolation call, the reality and dimensions of her defeat hit her all at once.
She had let him down. She had let herself down. She had let her party down. And she had let her country down.
Obamas legacy and her dreams of the Presidency lay shattered at Donald Trumps feet. This was on her. Reluctantly she rose from her seat and took the phone.
Mr President, she said softly. Im sorry.
As she drafted her acceptance speech Clinton defied her aides who asked her to criticize Trump and said that she wanted a gracious exit.
Had Clinton won, her victory speech would have been a testament to her beloved mother Dorothy Rodham, the book reveals.
Beneath the glass ceiling of the Javits Center in Manhattan she would have imagined going up to her mother when she was eight years old and telling her: As hard as it might be to imagine, your daughter will one day grow up and become President of the United States.
Shattered also offers a blunt assessment of why Clinton lost and says that some of her team thought that Clinton Inc, referring to the baggage and machinery of the Clinton family, was an albatross around the campaign.
In early 2016 one of her advisers had given her a clear warning that Trump could beat her, a warning which seemed to go ignored.
At the time Clinton was beating Trump 46 points to 41 though neither candidate had secured their partys nomination.
On election night as it became apparent his wife would lose Florida, Clinton had a sinking feeling that the British vote to leave the European Union had been a harbinger for a kind of screw-it vote in the United States
According to Shattered, the memo said: FACT: Donald Trump can defeat Hillary Clinton and become the 45th President of the United States.
The memo warned that Clinton should not underestimate his capacity to draw people to the polls who normally do not vote because it could tip the scales in key states.
Clinton however did not seem to get it and once told her close aide Minyon Moore: I dont understand whats happening with the country. I cant get my arms around it.
Bill too had sensed that his wife and her campaign team were not grasping the danger that Trump posed.
The authors contend that Bill felt that Brexit showed there was a strong contempt for existing power structures that reflected the mood of the American electorate.
The book says that Clinton felt his wifes team were underestimating the significance of Brexit.
Clinton had come to power in 1992 by tapping into similar frustrations and he knew what it was like to be an insurgent candidate.
The book says: Bill had a better feel for the working stiff, whether American or British, than anyone in Hillarys orbit.
He knew that and he felt like he was being heard. But he couldnt figure out why Hillary and her team werent executing.
On election night as it became apparent his wife would lose Florida, Clinton had a sinking feeling that the British vote to leave the European Union had been a harbinger for a kind of screw-it vote in the United States.
He said: Its like Brexit. I guess its real.
Hillary was 'so mad she couldn't think straight' after being humiliated in the Michigan Democratic primary.
Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign is available for pre-order on Amazon.
Riana Lane, 23, turned herself in on Sunday and was arrested for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old high school student who kept stolen goods inside her car
A special education teacher was arrested for allegedly having sex with a 17-year-old student who kept stolen goods inside her car.
Riana Lane, 23, turned herself in to officials on Sunday where they arrested the high school teacher for allegedly having sex and oral sex with a minor student, the Benicia Police Department said on Monday.
Lane, who is a special education and English teacher at Benicia High School in California, was previously arrested when police found marijuana edibles and stolen property in her vehicle on school grounds on April 7.
Police were originally tracking down the 17-year-old student who kept disappearing during school hours.
They found him going to Lane's car and the found stolen property he had stashed there and marijuana edibles which police said belonged to Lane, leading to both of their arrests.
Detectives later learned that the teacher was allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with the student from the earlier incident, according to police.
Lane is a special education and English teacher at Benicia High School in California. She was previously arrested in April when police found marijuana edibles and stolen property in her car
The unidentified minor took responsibility for the stolen goods, which were reported stolen from vehicle thefts on March 23 and March 28, reported The Times-Herald.
The male student told police he had taken the stolen property and kept it inside Lane's car, reported ABC 7.
He was arrested for petty theft and then released to a parent.
Lane, in the earlier incident, was arrested and released with a citation for misdemeanor possession of stolen property and possession of marijuana on a school campus, reported SF Gate.
Police said there was a 'small amount' of the edible marijuana in Lane's car and it is illegal to have any marijuana on school grounds.
Lane's bail is currently set at $10,000 and has been charged with one felony count of oral copulation with a minor and one felony count of statutory rape.
Teenage parents who who were accused of smuggling their three-day-old baby from a Sydney hospital have been reunited with their daughter Aria.
Aria was returned to Jayden Lavender, 14, and his 15-year-old fiancee, Jenifer Morrison, on Tuesday after five days apart.
Jayden told 7News the young couple burst into tears when their family was briefly reunited and it gave them hope she would be returned to them permanently.
Jayden Lavender, 14, and his 15-year-old fiancee, Jenifer Morrison, have been reunited with their newborn daughter Aria on Tuesday after five days apart
Teenage parents, Jayden and Jenifer (pictured) fled Sydney's Nepean Hospital with their three-day-old daughter (right) on Thursday amid fears social services would take her
'Definitely brought a smile to my face, I havent been able to smile properly in a couple days and that's definitely brought a smile to my face and I know it's definitely brought a smile to her face and she started crying as soon as we literally saw her she started breaking down,' the 14-year-old said as he hung his arm around his fiancee.
Jayden and Jenifer Morrison drew national attention on Thursday when they hid Aria under a blanket and left Nepean Hospital under the cover of darkness.
The trio camped in a tent they bought at Kmart overnight but returned to the hospital after 12 hours.
The teen cried as they faced the media the day after taking their daughter over fears social services would take her. No charges will be laid over the incident, police said.
Jayden and Jenifer claimed social workers had previously told them they were 'too young to decide' what happens to the child.
After returning Aria to the hospital, the couple (pictured) claimed she had been taken again and they had no idea where she was
Close friends of Jayden and Jenifer have urged people to give the pair a chance at parenthood
In the days following, the couple claimed Aria had been taken from the hospital again and they had no idea where she was.
Aria was discharged in good health on Friday afternoon, a hospital spokesman said.
He would not elaborate on where the baby had been taken to.
Close friends of Jayden and Jenifer have urged people to give the pair a chance.
Cheyanne Eastment-Cameron, 16, and her boyfriend Brendan Nelson - who is best friends with Jayden - have since defended the young lovers.
Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, Cheyanne - who is pregnant with her second child after having her first aged 14 - claimed the pair were 'good with kids' and deserved a shot at parenthood.
Jayden cradles his newborn daughter Aria as his mother Tracy Lavender stands behind him
The teenagers (Jayden is pictured with baby Aria) were reportedly told they are 'too young to decide' what happens to the child
'They should be allowed to have the baby. They are good with kids and every teen parent should be given a chance,' she told the publication.
Her boyfriend, Brendan, said Jenny and Jayden were more than capable of raising a child and had helped them raise their own baby.
'I reckon teen parents should be given a chance to prove they can do it. They should get a trial so they prove they can do it,' Brendan, who only turned 18 last week, said.
'The amount of times Jayden used to come over, even Jenny, they would volunteer to help with Brenda... they can do it.'
Cheyanne Eastment-Cameron, 16, and her boyfriend Brendan Nelson (pictured together with one-year-old daughter Brenda) claim their close friends deserve a chance to raise their baby
Brendan (pictured with young daughter) is best friends with Jayden and believes the teenage father deserves the 'chance to prove' he can raise his daughter
Cheyanne Eastment-Cameron, who is pregnant with her second child, also says her close friends Jenifer and Jayden deserve a shot at raising their daughter
Jayden said he has also been receiving threats of physical abuse from strangers after they took Aria from the hospital.
'I appreciate what people are doing for us, but there are those people who are saying if they see me on the streets they say they are going to bash me,' he said.
This comes as Ms Lavender - Aria's paternal grandmother - said the family have become 'terrified' after an arson attack on their home about 12am on Friday.
'You can see the burning from the firebombing... someone did it while we were sleeping,' she told Daily Mail Australia.
A trail of burnt grass through the front yard leads to a heavily scorched and boarded-up front door.
'There were flames coming underneath the door, it was a petrol fire and I'm putting it out with water,' Jayden said.
A lawsuit alleges two former prosecutors conspired with a Chicago police sergeant and others to fabricate evidence that led to a wrongful murder conviction.
The federal lawsuit filed Monday seeks $60 million in damages for Armando Serrano, claiming that former detective Reynaldo Guevara and then-assistant state's attorneys Matthew Coghlan and John Dillon collaborated to pressure a key witness into pinning the 1993 murder of Rodrigo Vargas on Serrano.
He and co-defendant Jose Montanez were released from incarceration in July 2016, after more than two decades in prison, when prosecutors dropped the charges, according to ABC News.
Armando Serrano (second from L) filed a lawsuit Monday seeking $60 million in damages, alleging that a detective and state's attorneys collaborated to pressure a key witness
Serrano was wrongfully convicted of Vargas' murder in Cook County, Illinois, in 1993 and spent 23 years behind bars.
Francisco Vicente was a key witness in the murder trial. He faced four felony charges at the time that he allegedly told Guevara that Serrano and Montanez had confessed to him that they fatally shot Vargas in his vehicle in 1993.
Vicente recanted his account of the admissions in 2004 after several interviews with students from the Medill Innocent Project, according to the Chicago Tribune. He said that Guevara had fed him the story.
Detective Reynaldo Guevara (L) has come under fire over allegations he bullied witnesses and framed innocent people in dozens of cases; Jose Montanez (R) was Serrano's co-defendant and was also released for wrongful conviction in the Rodrigo Vargas murder trial
Demonstrators hold a sign showing what are supposedly the faces of men Guevara helped to wrongfully convict in photo from a July 2016 ABC News report on Serrano's release
Guevara has come under fire over allegations he bullied witnesses and framed innocent people in dozens of cases.
On Friday, a Cook County judge dismissed another case involved Guevara, against Roberto Almodovar and William Negron. The two men were convicted of a double homicide in 1995 on the strength of witness testimony obtained in part by Guevara. Almodovar was granted his freedom again on Friday, but Negron remained incarcerated for a separate murder conviction, as reported by the Chicago Tribune.
Guevara has also already been held civilly liable for a wrongful conviction.
Serrano is seen here waving to reporters after his release in July 2016
Russell Ainsworth (L), attorney for Jose Montanez (R), looked on as Montanez embraced family following his release in July 2016
In 2009, Juan Johnson won a $21 million verdict against him in 2009 when he successfully argued that Guevara framed him for a 1989 murder.
One of the issues to be litigated in Serrano's suit will likely be whether Coghlan and Dillon can invoke prosecutorial immunity from civil liability for his wrongful conviction.
Jennifer Bonjean, attorney for Serrano, has argued the immunity does not apply in this case because the two former assistant state's attorneys were 'intimately involved' in Vicente's development as a witness, even before Serrano's arrest.
Coghlan, now a circuit court judge in Cook County's criminal division, couldn't be reached for comment.
It should be noted that judges are prohibited from commenting publicly about pending court proceedings, a spokesperson for Chief Judge Timothy Evans' office said, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Dillon, now a privately practicing attorney, declined to comment.
'I'm hurt because the people that did this to me where supposed to administer justice,' Serrano said to ABC upon his release.
Serrano (C) is seen here with an unidentified woman (L) and attorney Jennifer Bonjean (R) after his release in July 2016
Guevara has invoked his right against self-incrimination when questioned about the accusations.
'It's not OK to commit the kind of misconduct that he did, framing innocent men and then pleading the fifth,' Russell Ainsworth, attorney for Montanez, told ABC in July 2016.
Ainsworth did not immediately return a message regarding whether Montanez would be filing a similar lawsuit.
Dr. Jumana Nagarwala, 44, of Northville was arrested Thursday, days after two 7-year-old girls identified her as the person who performed female genital mutilation on them in February
A Detroit-area doctor charged with performing genital mutilation on two 7-year-old girls is denying the allegations, saying it was a religious practice for families in a Muslim sect that did not involve cutting.
A lawyer for Dr Jumana Nagarwala, 44, told a judge Monday that the doctor agrees that genital mutilation is inappropriate.
Attorney Shannon Smith says Nagarwala scraped off mucous membranes from the genitals of two Minnesota girls in February and then handed the gauze containing the skin to the family for burial.
Smith says Nagarwala, an emergency room doctor at Henry Ford Health System, is a member of the Dawoodi Bohra community, a Gujarati-speaking Muslim sect concentrated mostly in India. The group has a mosque in suburban Detroit.
Despite Nagarwala's protestations of innocence, Magistrate Judge Mona Majzoub ordered the doctor held in jail without bond at the conclusion of the 90-minute hearing, saying she's a danger to the public and a flight risk.
Nagrawala, who appeared in court in an orange jail jumpsuit and a hijab, remained impassive throughout the proceedings.
Federal prosecutors say the Detroit case marks the first time someone has been charged with violating a US ban on female genital mutilation.
Nagarwala, of Northville, Michigan, was arrested last Thursday while attempting to board a flight to Nairobi, Kenya, to visit her daughter, days after the two seven-year-olds identified her as the person who performed medical procedures on them at a private Livonia clinic after hours in February.
The FBI says the girls were accompanied to the clinic by their mothers.
Nagarwala is also charged with transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity, and making a false statement to a federal officer.
Last week, authorities in Minnesota filed child protection petitions for the two 7-year-old girls, one of whom was removed from her family's suburban Minneapolis home and placed in a shelter on a 72-hour health and welfare hold. Her 11-year-old brother remains in the home.
Her father told a child protection investigator that 'if they knew what would come of it, this would never have happened,' the petition stated.
During Monday's court hearing, prosecutors said they have identified three more victims on whom Nagrawala was alleged to have performed FGM in Michigan dating back to at least 2005, though she has not been charged in connection to those procedures.
Assistant US Attorney Sarah Woodward told the court Nagrawala performed the procedures in secret after the Livonia clinic was closed for the day and did not bill for any of them.
According to the owner of the Livonia medical office, Nagrawala was not part of the practice and only used the site after hours on Fridays and Saturdays, up to six times a year.
The doctors attorney argued that her client never performed female genital mutilations, but rather removed a mucous membrane from the Minnesota girls' genitals using a 'scraper.'
Judge Majzoub challenged the defense by pointing out that doctors who examined the victims found that parts of their genitals appeared to have been altered or removed.
Smith responded by saying her client, Dr Nagrawala, disagreed with those conclusions and insisted that she was not responsible for any abnormalities in the girls' genitals, suggesting that the children may have caused the injuries by scratching, reported the Detroit Free Press.
The judge also asked why the doctor handed the girls pads, presumably to absorb bleeding, as alleged by the prosecution, to which Smith replied that the feminine hygiene products were given to soak up iodine that was used during the procedure, not blood.
In the wake of her arrest, Dr Nagrawala has been suspended from her job at Henry Ford Health System.
Female genital mutilation of minors is illegal in the US unless there's a legitimate health reason.
Acting US Attorney Daniel Lemisch said in a statement: 'Female genital mutilation constitutes a particularly brutal form of violence against women and girls. It is also a serious federal felony in the United States. The practice has no place in modern society and those who perform FGM on minors will be held accountable under federal law'.
'According to the complaint, despite her oath to care for her patients, Dr. Nagarwala is alleged to have performed horrifying acts of brutality on the most vulnerable victims,' acting Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Blanco of the Justice Department's Criminal Division added.
What is FGM? Female genital mutilation is the practice in which some or all of the female genitals are removed, typically with a blade or a razor and sometimes without anesthesia. This includes removing the clitoral and the fold of skin above it, and removing labia the inner 'lips' of the vagina. In the most severe form, the inner and outer labia are removed and the opening of the vagina is closed with a small hole so the woman can pass urine and menstrual blood. Sometimes the vagina is then cut open for sex or childbirth. Women sometimes bleed to death or can be left with horrifying health effects, such as infections, chronic pain, cysts, infertility and problems giving birth. Female genital mutilation is prevalent, particularly, in the Middle East and African subcontinent and within pockets of the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish faiths, according to the organization. Worldwide, an estimated 140 million women and girls have undergone the procedure, according to the World Health Organization. More than 3 million girls in Africa undergo the procedure each year. Advertisement
'The Department of Justice is committed to stopping female genital mutilation in this country, and will use the full power of the law to ensure that no girls suffer such physical and emotional abuse.'
According to Detroit News, Henry Ford Hospital has issued the following statement: 'The alleged criminal activity did not occur at any Henry Ford facility,' health system spokesman David Olejarz said Thursday. 'We would never support or condone anything related to this practice.'
In a court filing, the FBI says Nagarwala denied performing genital mutilation.
The FBI also says the doctor is a member of a 'cultural community' that believes in the practice.
Nagarwala is a US citizen who was born in Washington DC and currently resides in Northville, Michigan, with her husband, Moiz Yusuf Nagarwala, 48, who works at Visteon Corporation, an 'automotive electronics supplier'.
A child forensic interviewer talked to one of the alleged victims of FGM from Minnesota, who said she was brought to Detroit with a second girl for a 'special girls' trip,'according to the FBI.
The girls said they were told to keep the trip a secret.
The FBI had launched an investigation after receiving a tip that Nagarwala performed female genital mutilation on two seven-year-old girls at a Livonia medical clinic, according to the criminal complaint.
But according to the complaint, Nagarwala does not work at the clinic and there are no billing records indicating that she has performed medical procedures there.
In February, FBI agents obtained a court order to review the doctor's phone. The records showed several calls between Nagarwala's phone and a Minnesota phone number, according to the FBI.
And hotel records showed that two families, each with a young girl, stayed at the hotel on February 3.
Seven days later, the FBI child forensic interviewer talked to the 7-year-old who told him about the 'special girls' trip.'
After arriving in Farmington Hills, the girls were taken to a doctor because 'their tummies hurt.'
'While at the doctor's office, a procedure 'to get the germs out,' was performed on the first girl, according to the criminal complaint.
A traditional razor blade used to perform female genital mutilation in parts of Africa
The girl was shown a photo of Nagarwala and said she was the doctor who performed the procedure, according to the FBI.
She told the FBI that Nagarwala 'pinched' her on the "place [where] she goes pee."'
'(The girl) said that she was told not to talk about the procedure,' FBI Special Agent Kevin Swanson wrote in the complaint.
A subsequent medical examination showed that the young girls' genitals did not appear normal and a section had been altered or removed.
'Finally, the doctor observed some scar tissue and small healing lacerations,' the agent wrote.
The complaint details the second girl's experience with the doctor and she said she underwent a procedure and identified Nagarwala as the doctor.
'She said that she "got a shot," and that it hurt really badly and she screamed,' the FBI agent wrote. 'Her parents told her that the procedure is a secret and that she is not supposed to talk about it.
'[The girl] said that after the procedure, she could barely walk, and that she felt pain all the way down to her ankle,' the agent continued.
A subsequent medical exam showed the girl's genitalia had a small incision and a small tear.
On Monday, Minnesota Child Protective Services personnel and a federal agent interviewed the second girl's parents.
They confirmed the trip to Detroit, saying they took the girl to see Nagarwala for a 'cleansing' of extra skin, according to the court filing.
Agents have identified other children who may have been victimized by the doctor between 2005 and 2007, including children in Michigan, according to the FBI agent.
A US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report in 2012 found that roughly 513,000 women and girls in the US were at risk of undergoing female genital mutilation, which was more than three times higher than an earlier estimate based on 1990 data.
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Roger Ailes, the former chairman and CEO of Fox News, looks desperate to sell off his New Jersey home. Just weeks after he placed the house on the market, he brought down the asking price by $255,000.
Ailes first purchased the 4-bedroom, 6-bathroom, 3,502 sq. ft. property in Cresskill, New Jersey for $1.85 million in 2000. On March 9, he listed it for $2.25 million.
The ex-CEO's rush to pass on his home may have something to do with the slew of summonses he has been receiving at the address, notifying him that he is being sued by former Fox News contributor Julie Roginsky for sexual harassment.
Since April 5, process servers have attempted to serve him the legal documents six times, according to papers filed in Roginskys lawsuit.
Just weeks after Roger Ailes placed his New Jersey home on the market, he has slashed $255,000 from the asking price
Ailes first purchased the 4-bedroom, 6-bathroom, 3,502 sq. ft. property in Cresskill, New Jersey in 2000 for $1.85 million. On March 9, he listed it for $2.25 million
The property has an expansive backyard, an elegant foyer, a state-of-the-art kitchen and a glass-enclosed sunroom
The real estate listing for the home emphasizes seclusion, stating: 'Magnificent landscaping allows for privacy and discretion with an abundance of plantings, with many varieties of shrubs and flowers'
And Ailes, who is married to Elizabeth Tilson (pictured), has certainly been looking for privacy over the past few months. In early April, former Fox News contributor Julie Roginsky sued the former CEO for sexual harassment
Roginsky is accusing her former boss of retaliating against her professionally after she rejected his sexual advances. Her lawsuit states that Ailes would 'frequently steer' their conversations to her personal and romantic life and 'remarked that he was loyal but that loyalty was a two-way street.'
The court filing claims that Ailes would insist Roginsky, 43, kiss him when she entered the room for one-on-one meetings while he sat in his armchair, forcing her to bend down.
Ailes also made sexist comments about her co-hosts on the talk show 'The Five,' according to the complaint, and allegedly said Kimberly Guilfoyle would 'get on her knees for anyone.'
'These comments and their delivery made it clear that Ailes wanted a sexual relationship with Roginsky,' the lawsuit states.
And conveniently, amid the legal turmoil, the real estate listing for Ailes's Ranch-style New Jersey home emphasizes the seclusion of the house.
'Magnificent landscaping allows for privacy and discretion with an abundance of plantings, with many varieties of shrubs and flowers,' it states, adding details about the swimming pool and other amenities.
The property also has an expansive backyard, an elegant foyer, a state-of-the-art kitchen and a glass-enclosed sunroom.
If the home is sold at the reduced price of $1,995,000, Ailes would still profit roughly $145,000 based on the amount he originally paid.
Roginsky is accusing her former boss of retaliating against her professionally after she rejected his sexual advances
Though Ailes is downsizing in New Jersey, he's making quite the opposite move in Florida. Last September he purchased an ocean-front mansion in Palm Beach, Florida for $36 million through a trust with City National Bank of Florida
Neither Ailes nor his wife Elizabeth's figures are in official records for the purchase of the Palm Beach home, which features six bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a multi-tiered pool and stunning furnishings
The house was completed in late 2015 and boasts an interior designed by the Florida-based Marc-Michaels Interior Design
Though Ailes is downsizing in New Jersey, he's making quite the opposite move in Florida.
After feeling the pressure from other high-profile, on-air women at Fox who sued him for sexual harassment - including Gretchen Carlson and Andrea Tantaros - Ailes formally resigned last July. He received a $40 million payout from the cable company.
Mere months later in September, he purchased an ocean-front mansion in Palm Beach for $36 million through a trust with City National Bank of Florida.
Neither Ailes nor his wife Elizabeth Tilson's figures are in official records for the purchase of the Palm Beach home, which features six bedrooms, ten bathrooms, a multi-tiered pool and stunning furnishings.
The house was completed in late 2015 and boasts an interior designed by the Florida-based Marc-Michaels Interior Design.
The purchase could have been a way for Ailes to shield part of his personal fortune from current and future sexual harassment lawsuits. In Florida, courts cannot force the sale of someone's home to pay off judgments, and troubled tycoons have routinely used the state's law to invest in real estate.
On September 6, Fox announced it had settled the Carlson legal action for $20 million, along with the cases of a 'handful' of other Fox employees who requested anonymity.
More than 20 women reportedly spoke with lawyers about inappropriate behavior by Ailes, and an unknown number retained legal counsel.
One woman has been hailed as 'the voice of the nation' after a video of her exasperated reaction to finding out there would be a general election went viral.
Theresa May shocked the UK today when she announced voters will go to the polls yet again, this time on June 8, despite denying she planned to hold an early vote.
But weary voters were quick to criticise the move, with one woman protesting that 'there's too much politics' and the electorate should be given a break.
The clip of 'Brenda from Bristol' voicing her despair has proved a hit on social media, with her name soon trending above 'Mrs May' and 'Nicola Sturgeon'.
Social media users were quick to praise Brenda online, with many expressing how her weary reaction to the news summed up the national mood.
Many Twitter users expressed how they were left feeling weary and apathetic to news of a big political vote
Theresa May shocked the nation today when she announced voters will go to the polls on June 8, despite repeatedly denying she planned to hold an early vote
The comments come after a tumultuous few years in British politics, with voters repeatedly called to the polling booth on big issues.
Among them was the momentous referendum on the European Union and Scottish independence, London's mayoral vote and the previous General Election in 2015.
Speaking soon after news of the election broke, Brenda aired her frustration to the BBC's Jon Kay in a video which was posted on Twitter.
Asked how she felt in response to the breaking news, she said: 'You're joking not another one. Oh for God's sake, honestly I can't stand this.
'There's too much politics going on at the moment, why does she need to do it?'
Speaking in Bristol, Brenda added: I think the whole country has had enough of politics, politicians telling us this, that and the other, and to have us in June for a General Election, no, definitely not.
Social media users shared Brenda's exasperation about yet another important public vote, a year on from 2016's EU referendum
BBC presenter Jon Kay praised the honest reaction of Brenda in a tweet, sharing this picture of the pair shortly after they met
Labour former minister John Spellar told MailOnline the public would be deeply sceptical about the snap election.
The vox pops have been clearly indicating voters have had enough of elections, he said.
They have had the general election, local council elections last year. Then there we had a referendum.
Many of them just say, why? There is a government with a majority with three years left to run.
People will sort of wonder, does Theresa May know something we dont?
The looming General Election is the latest development in one of the most dramatic periods of modern British political history.
Voter Brenda airs her frustration at news of the early general election, complaining that there is too much politics at the moment
Twitter has found a new hero after a video of a woman's exasperated reaction to finding out there would be a general election went viral
In September 2014, Scottish voters were asked to decide on the future of the United Kingdom in an independence referendum.
Just eight months later, electors across the EU went to the polls for the General Election, which gave the Conservative Party a narrow majority in the House of Commons.
Do you know Brenda? Fed-up voter Brenda has vented her frustration at Theresa May's plans for an early general election. She says there is 'too much politics' going on in Britain and electors want a break. Do you know Brenda? if so, get in touch with the Mail Online's newsdesk on 0203 615 3767. Advertisement
But voters did not get much of a break as then Prime Minister David Cameron announced he would hold an historic referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union.
Voters turned out again to cast their ballots in the EU referendum after a long and bruising campaign which resulted in Mr Cameron's resignation.
While Nicola Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, has called for a second Scottish independence referendum in the wake of the Brexit vote.
The election is an astonishing U-turn from the Prime Minister who has repeatedly said she would not call another ballot before 2020 - insisting it would cause instability and hurt the country.
The most recent polls suggest Mrs May could get a huge Commons majority of 140. She leads Jeremy Corbyn by more than 30 per cent when voters are asked who would make the best PM.
Voters in Britain have endured a tumultuous few years in politics, voting in the general election, Scottish independence referendum and the EU referendum
Brenda said she cannot stand the prospect of another election
A survey carried out by ICM for the Guardian after the news was delivered this morning found 55 per cent of the public back her call for an early ballot. Just 15 per cent opposed it.
The PM discussed her plans for an early election with Queen by telephone yesterday. Her Majesty is expected to dissolve Parliament ahead of the poll on May 3.
MPs will hold a 90-minute debate tomorrow before voting on whether to scrap the timetable in the Fixed Term Parliaments Act - which would have meant no election until 2020.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he will vote for an early election even though the polls suggest his party will be routed - making the vote a formality.
It means Britain will go to the polls in just seven weeks, little more than two years after the last election in May 2015.
Mrs May said: 'Our opponents believe that because the government's majority is extremely small that they can weaken our resolve and persuade us to change course.
Nicola Sturgeon (pictured in Edinburgh today) hit out at the PM's announcement that she will call a shock early general election, describing it as one of the most extraordinary U-turns in recent political history
Mrs May's election call was made in the knowledge a series of polls have shown the Conservatives with historic leads in a series of opinion polls. The most recent YouGov at the weekend showed a 21-point lead
'I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country.'
Let us tomorrow vote for an election... and let the people decide.'
The premier added: 'If we do not hold a general election now, their political game playing will continue as the negotiations with the European Union will reach their most pivotal stage in the run up to the next general election.
'Division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit, and it will cause damaging uncertainty and instability to the country.
'So we need a general election and we need one now. The decision facing the country will be all about leadership.'
She said: 'We need a general election and we need one now, because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin.'
Mrs May addressed the nation via a huge pack of reporters who scrambled to Downing Street after the surprise speech was announced at around 10am
Asked in an interview with ITV News later if there was a 'moment' when she changed her mind, Mrs May said: 'As we were going through the Article 50 process the opposition attempts to jeopardise or frustrate the process in future became clearer.
'Before Easter I spent a few days walking in Wales with my husband and thought about this long and hard.
'I came to the decision that to provide that stability and certainty for the future this was the way to do it, to have an election. I trust the British people.'
Princess Diana's former bodyguard has spoken out to praise Prince Harry as a 'new Diana' after his courageous decision to speak openly about mental illness.
Ken Wharfe said Harry's brave move to talk so freely about his own personal demons has put a 'spotlight' on a subject that few are willing talking about.
'It is a courageous thing to do and he is really continuing his mother's legacy by championing a cause that few others would tackle. I am sure she would be so proud' the former close protection officer said.
'Diana did this with AIDS in the late 1980s and also with her landmine campaign. They were problems people were not comfortable talking about, but by her involvement she brought them out into the open.
'Prince Harry has done this with his talk on mental health issues. He really is just like his mother.'
Ken Wharfe, pictured above in the blue jumper with Princess Diana, Harry and William in 1992, said Harry's brave move to talk so freely about his own personal demons shows how he carrying on her legacy
Thats my boy: Harry is cuddled in his mother Princess Dianas loving arms just short of his third birthday. He spoke this week of his torment at missing his mother after her death in August 1997
Fun with mum: Prince Harry with Diana enjoying the rides at Thorpe Park in 1993
'He has picked a subject and because it is getting so much publicity will do so much good. By being so open and emotional it shows how much Harry is like his mother. He is willing to take on things that others wouldn't. That was what Diana was like.'
In a rare glimpse into the mind of a young royal Prince Harry revealed that by bottling up his emotions of the death of his mother he came close to a mental collapse.
The 32-year-old revealed he had undergone therapy as he tried to come to terms with his emotional loss at the age of 12 when his mother died in a Paris car crash. The Prince said he later had two years of 'total chaos', often felt 'on the verge of punching someone' and had finally sought counseling for his demons.
His intervention earned praise from mental health charities, MPs and campaigners. This August marks the 20th anniversary of Diana's death and both Harry and William will be involved in commemorating the tragedy.
Princess of hearts: Diana, Princess of Wales is seen cuddling a child during a visit to a hostel for abandoned children many of whom are HIV positive or suffer from AIDS on April 24, 1991 in Sao Paolo, Brazil
Like mother, like son: In an evocative image Prince Harry is seen cuddling orphan Mutsu Potsane, six, in the grounds of Mants'ase children's home, 24 April 2006, while on a return visit to Lesotho in Southern Africa
Earl Spencer, Prince William, Prince Harry and Prince Charles look at the coffin of Diana, Princess of Wales, during her funeral in London in September 1997
This image of him walking behind his mothers coffin between his father Prince Charles and his uncle Earl Spencer, with William and their grandfather Prince Philip, was the most poignant moment of Dianas funeral
Millions in Britain will also remember the fateful day Diana died after the Mercedes car she was being driven in slammed into a concrete support in a Paris underpass.
Although Ken Wharfe had resigned as Diana's close protection officer by the time of her death in 1997 he was asked to oversee internal security for her funeral attended by 400 heads of state and watched by a global audience in the billions.
As a close friend and confidant to the Princess the former bodyguard had a unique insight into the close bond between Harry and his mother.
'Harry was absolutely devoted to his mother as was William. They had a very close bond and she was so affectionate to the boys', he said.
Torment: Prince Harry spoke movingly of how he shut down his emotions in the years following his mother's death. He said he went through 'two years of chaos', but even the emergence of pictures of him naked while playing a game of strip billiards in a Las Vegas hotel in 2012 did little to damage his image
Princess Diana with Harry in Majorca in 1987
'She was crucial in their early years and Harry more than William was affected by her death.
'By Harry talking about mental health issues you have to admire his honesty and it will have done a lot of good to a lot of people.
'He has broken new ground as a member of the royal family and that has to be applauded.'
Ken, who wrote a bestselling book 'Closely Guarded Secret' about his time as a Royal Protection Officer, said he believes Harry has followed directly in Diana's footsteps by choosing a subject that others might shy away from.
'Diana was, of course, very open and there has been no better role model for Harry than his mother. Growing up he saw what she did with her charities and how by choosing those that others would not get involved with has left a lasting legacy.
'In the late 1980s Diana championed the cause of AIDS. It brought so much publicity and funds to the charities involved. The same for landmines. They were issues that needed public support and by lending her name to them she got that.
'It is the same with Harry and mental health. Everyone is talking about it. Turn on the radio and they are talking about the Harry interview. He has drawn attention to the issues and that is fantastic. He is certainly continuing the legacy of his mother.'
A pivotal figure in his life was former royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke, who was especially close to Harry. They are pictured here together in 1999
During his years at Diana's side until his resignation in 1993, Wharfe was witness to the disintegration of her marriage to Prince Charles.
He also saw firsthand the devotion of Diana to her sons and her determination to bring them up away from the gilded life with the royal family, accompanying the boys and their mother for days out, including on a memorable visit to Thorpe Park in 1993 where the princes rode the log flume.
'Harry was always the mischievous one. He would go round saying he could do anything he wanted as William was going to be King and have all the responsibility,' he said.
His mother's son: Harry jokes around with three-year-old orphan Lerato during a visit to Phelisanong Children's Home in Maseru, Lesoth
A Dallas man was woken up as his house was being robbed, despite being more than 200 miles away.
Tye Shirley was staying at his parents home in Abilene for the Easter break when he received an alert at 4am on his smart phone, telling him that someone was in his front room.
A 'Nest' home security system fed him crystal clear images of the man who was holding a machete as he made his way through the home looking for valuables.
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A man was caught on camera wielding a machete as he broke into a Dallas home
The intruder rummaged through possessions looking for cash and valuables
Tye Shirley is very angry about the whole incident having pulled him away from his family
'I pull it up and there he is,' said Shirley to KHOU. 'He moved through the house very stealthily, cautiously, but at the same time somewhat bold.'
Shirley broke away from watching the shocking break-in to call the police and tell them he was being robbed and should make their way over.
'I was able to give the crime scene investigators perfect samples of where to dust for fingerprints,' Shirley said.
The thief was caught on camera going from room to room for 25 minutes taking watches, cash and medication.
He was completely unaware that he was being filmed and that his every move was being caught on camera.
Shirley was also able to give the burglar a bit of a shock as his security system allows him to speak directly to anyone who is present in the home.
The robber was totally unaware that his every move was being caught on camera
The man only left the house after Shirley was able to speak to him over the security system to tell him that the police were on their way
He switched on the microphone and warned the suspect that police were on their way.
It was at that point the thief made a run for it.
Despite making off with hundreds of dollars of valuables, Shirley believes that the $200 he spent on his home surveillance system was well worth it.
'I'm just kind of amazed at the technology and what is available to us as civilians and so easily accessible,' he said.
Writing on Facebook, Shirley shared his frustration over the entire episode. 'I just feeling so violated and angry right now. Not only did they rob me of my property, more importantly they've robbed me of quality time with my family,' he said.
Glenn Beck counter-sued his former Blaze star Tomi Lahren on Monday, saying she was suspended for insubordination and not because of her views on abortion.
Lahren's show as taken off the air last month, after the conservative said she was pro-choice in an interview on The View.
The 24-year-old immediately filed a lawsuit against her employers, saying that she was fired because of her beliefs.
But Beck's lawyers counter-sued on Monday, saying that it was months of bad behavior that led them to cancel her show.
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Glenn Beck (right) has issued a counter lawsuit against his former Blaze star Tomi Lahren (left), arguing that she was suspended for insubordination and not her beliefs on abortion
According to documents filed in Dallas civil court, lawyers for The Blaze said Lahren had a history of insubordination.
They say she refused to work with on-staff make-up artists and was 'divisive and created conflicts' with over Blaze 'personalities'.
Lahren's 'word choices on air had to be addressed repeatedly for bordering on profane' and she was 'inappropriate and unprofessional' to the television floor crew, the court documents claimed.
They say Lahren also turned down advertisers for 'unexplained reasons' and that 'many employees' overheard her complaining about the company.
Her interview on The View was 'simply the latest in a series of events that led The Blaze management' not to extend her contract beyond its expiration in September 2017.
Lahren is currently trying to sue the company into letting her out of her contract so that she can seek a job elsewhere.
The Blaze did not technically fire Lahren, but are continuing to pay her until her contract expires at the end of the summer.
Last month, Lahren, right, revealed she was pro-choice in an interview on the The View. The news shocked her conservative fan base
Her attorneys say that being out of work that long will make it all but impossible for Lahren to find another job.
'In six months, nobody will have heard of you,' Lahrens attorney, Brian Lauten, argued at a court hearing. 'When Glenn Becks done with you in six months, nobody will have remembered you. Thats wrong.'
Lahren has won one major victory so far. On Monday, a judge blocked a temporary retraining order and instructed Beck and the Blaze to let her post on her Facebook page.
Another hearing is scheduled for two weeks, when witnesses will be called.
Last week, Lahren gave an interview to ABC News, in which she tried to justice her comments on abortion and begged Beck to 'let me move on' from her contract.
Lahren stood by her views saying: 'I believe you can be anti-abortion and pro-choice I don't believe in abortion.'
She stressed that her belief in limited government was consistent with allowing women the freedom to get abortions in the first trimester.
Lahren became very emotional as she discussed the fact she is still bound under contract, which means she cannot find another job until her contract expires in September.
TheBlaze said they found the lawsuit puzzling as they are still paying Lahren adding that they had complied 'fully with the terms of our agreement with her.'
Lahren appealed to Beck in tears on ABC, to allow her to 'move on.'
'It's my job, it's my life. Without that, I feel lost. When your outlet is taken away from you, when your catharsis is stripped from you, and you don't understand why and you're so disappointed and you're so blindsided by it, it hurts.'
The outspoken 24-year-old joked that she was 'supposed to be tough' as she cried, while insisting she was not a feminist, and said: 'I will not lay down and play dead ever because I'm not the kind of girl that sits in the corner and cries about things.'
Lahren, who joined the Blaze in 2015, became a viral sensation for her incendiary rants.
But she upset her fans after she appeared on the daytime talk show The View on March 17, saying she was pro-choice.
Lahren said: 'I can't sit here and be a hypocrite and say I'm for limited government but I think the government should decide what women do with their bodies.'
'Stay out of my guns and you can stay out of my body, as well,' she said.
Lahren said a producer from The Blaze who accompanied her to The View taping congratulated her immediately after the appearance - but the fallout was swift.
Her conservative fan base immediately lashed out on Twitter, incensed that she had branded many of them hypocrites.
When Lahren defended herself for being an 'independent thinker' on Twitter, Beck stepped in and appeared to question her intellectual honesty.
Lahren claims both Beck and The Blaze knew about her views on abortion, and did not appear to have a problem with it before she appeared on The View, the lawsuit said.
A married Mexican man in Sydney on a working visa will not spend a day behind bars after stalking and then attacking two young women in one night earlier this year.
Ivan Arias, 32, was captured on CCTV footage grabbing a woman from behind in a suburban street in southern Sydney, holding her mouth to mute her screams.
The chilling footage showed the woman in running gear putting up a fight before falling to the ground heavily, prompting Arias to sprint away in the darkness.
Chilling attack: Mexican national Ivan Arias was caught on CCTV stalking and grabbing a woman, 22, from behind as she went on a run in a suburban Sydney street
Just 15 minutes before that attack, Arias (pictured getting into car) indecently assaulted a teenage woman in a similar manner as she walked home from a train station
Just fifteen minutes before that attack, he indecently assaulted a teenage woman in a similar manner as she walked home from a train station.
Police found Arias (pictured), a construction worker on $1,200 a week with a degree in international business, hiding in a drain
Court facts state police found Aria, a construction worker on $1,200 a week with a degree in international business, hiding in a drain, The Daily Telegraph reported.
He pleaded guilty to indecent assault, assault with intent to commit indictable offence and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
In a letter seen in Sutherland Local Court, Arias said he 'just [couldn't] explain what happened to [him] that day.'
'He can't understand what the trigger was but he appreciates the fear that he would have imposed on these women,' his barrister Arjun Chhabra told the court.
Magistrate Jayeann Carney took into account his clean criminal record and gave him a 12 month suspended sentence on Tuesday afternoon.
He was taken to Villawood detention centre and is set to be deported.
A body found behind a South Florida restaurant has been identified as that of an 18-year-old college student from New Jersey.
Lynn University student Shayan Mortazavi, 18, was found dead around 6am on Sunday behind Truluck's seafood restaurant in an upscale retail complex in Boca Raton, Florida.
Mortazavi was a college freshman with an interest in film and journalism, officials at the private university in Boca Raton said in a statement.
Lynn University student Shayan Mortazavi, 18, was found dead around 6am on Sunday in an upscale retail complex in Boca Raton, Florida
Mortazavi was found dead behind this restaurant in the Mizner Park shopping center
The rear of Truluck restaurant is shown. Police said Mortazavi's body was found there with injuries consistent with a fall
Boca Raton police told reporters that Mortazavi's injuries were consistent with a fall, but they've offered no other details.
The body was reportedly found by security and cleaning workers in the Mizner Park shopping complex.
The dead student had previously raised money to fund a 'YouTube prank channel,' and a channel under his name described him as 'YouTube's ONLY Iranian American prankster.'
Authorities say an autopsy will determine the cause of death.
Anyone with information about the death is urged to call Palm Beach County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-458-TIPS.
'They were wrong.'
Strong words from Theresa May this morning outside Number 10 as she announced a snap election on June 8.
She explained: 'Our opponents believe that because the Government's majority is so small, our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course.'
Looking the Remainiacs, Labour, the Liberals and the SNP square in the face, she told them all - they were wrong.
And she is going to prove it.
Prime Minister Theresa May is pictured this morning outside Downing Street as she announced an election on June 8
Mrs May addressed the nation via a huge pack of reporters who scrambled to Downing Street after the surprise speech was announced at around 10am
Prove that the 52% knew what they were voting for and meant it.
Prove the Government has the right plan for negotiating our new relationship with Europe.
Prove that Britain can be great when we control our own money, our own laws and our own borders.
And prove that the Conservative party is the party of hope and optimism. Of ruthless ambition that brings hard workers with it. But leaves those who choose to be victims to their issues.
In this one moment, Theresa May sounded truly Presidential. A strong leader prepared to back the people of Britain and put The United Kingdom first.
There was reluctance on her part. Reluctance to go against her promise she made to the people that there would be no general election until 2020.
But she has had her mind changed. The division in Westminster has convinced her to clear the decks early. To demand unity rather than to request it. To oblige people to work with her - or step aside for those who will.
Justifying the decision she said: 'The country is coming together but Westminster is not.' She said the 'division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit'.
She is making sure that by the time the Brexit deal is on the table all those on Team Theresa have their colours and their names pinned firmly to the mast, tied there - so they are not distracted by the wailing lament of the Sirens (or in this case, Gina Miller).
This is a clear call to action to her party. Theresa will steer the Brexit ship. And the rats better get off early.
Anna Soubry. It will be a pleasure to see you go.
Katie Hopkins (pictured) says the election is Britain's chance to prove the Remainiacs, Labour, the Liberals and the SNP wrong
George Osborne. The peddler of fear. We will not worry for your financial well-being after you leave.
As Theresa says, 'Despite predictions of immediate financial and economic danger, since the referendum we have seen consumer confidence remain high, record numbers of jobs, and economic growth that has exceeded all expectations'.
This is a call to action to UKIP voters too. If your loyalty is to the cause - of leaving the European Union - the only vote that makes sense is to vote with Team Theresa. UKIP died long ago. And if we split this vote, there are only losers.
And the losers are already feeling excited. The whole of Remain country is suddenly engorged. The good folk of Richmond hosting champagne brunches to toast this second referendum they longed for.
She pointed the finger straight at them;
'The Liberal Democrats have said they want to grind the business of government to a standsill.
Tim Farron felt the first twitch in the trouser department he has had in decades on hearing the news. He believes this is his moment. The moment the ginger hamster finally becomes resplendent in his golden coat and shines in the glow of the 48%, elevated to the Remainers Rodent in Chief.
Tim knows this is the election where the Lib Dems could overtake Labour to become the party of the opposition. More than that, he may well believe he can win.
I am looking forward to seeing his excited face all over our state broadcaster on a daily basis. After all, this is the BBC's best hope of over-turning Brexit. And as their political commentator, Nick Robinson acknowledges, they no longer need to pretend they are not partisan.
And this is a call to action to the Scots too.
Theresa reminds them: 'The Scottish National Party say they will vote against the legislation that formally repeals Britain's membership of the European Union.'
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon pictured leaving Bute House in Edinburgh, after warning that the Prime Minister's plans for a general election could be a 'huge political miscalculation'
Announcing her plans, Theresa May hit out at Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party for threatening to vote against a Brexit deal. The Labour leader is pictured in the Commons earlier this year
So if you are sick to the back teeth of the Ginger Dwarf from the North spouting her nonsense in Westminster, acting as first minister for Independence, instead of First Minister for Scotland, now is your chance.
June 8 is your day to shine. To vote for the Scottish Conservatives and send a message to Nicola that we are stronger together and better off without her.
Her only ambition is for herself.
Rid yourselves of the Ginger Dwarf from the North and we can create a truly United Kingdom, trading with each other and the rest of the world, in a known currency we all understand.
(If you can get rid of Mhairi Black whilst you are at it so much the better. She can spend her newly found free time learning some useful life skills. Like how to talk. Or write. Or use shampoo.)
And it is a wake up call to the elderly and incontinent shuffling their way around the House of Lords on care home carpeting too.
The Prime Minister said 'unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way.'
I believe their days are numbered. Physically and metaphorically. The grim reaper or abolition, whichever gets there first.
But most importantly this is a call to action to brave Brexiteers and to those who tell me they wished they had voted Leave on June 23.
June 8th is your day. Your day to vote Leave. Your day to vote for the Tory party - even if it is for the first time - and to bring this country together. To support the party of optimism, certain of our ability to succeed as a proud country on the world stage.
You can be the force for good that unifies this country - and takes us, emboldened on to the world stage.
The 52%. The Brave Brexiteers. And those who come to sail with us. Now you are the people and the party of hope.
Let's leave the haters to hate.
An inmate, who penned a TripAdvisor-style review of his prison cell, is back in jail again after stealing a van so he could 'clear his head' behind bars.
Christian Willoughby, 35, from Grimsby, hit the headlines a year ago when he posted a Trip Advisor-style review from custody on social media for 'light-hearted banter'.
The review joked he would give his cell at Grimsby Police Station '4 stars. It's the all day breakfast that lets it down really. Apart from that the staff are pleasant enough.'
The criminal quipped that the cell was 'ideal for winding down after a hard day'.
Christian Willoughby, 35, from Grimsby, hit the headlines a year ago when he posted a Trip Advisor-style review from custody on social media for 'light-hearted banter'
The review joked he would give his cell at Grimsby Police Station '4 stars. It's the all day breakfast that lets it down really. Apart from that the staff are pleasant enough.'
The post prompted an urgent investigation by police into what they called a serious security breach.
On April 7, Willoughby was back at court to be sentenced for further crimes which his barrister said he committed as he wanted to be jailed so he could 'clear his head'.
Felicity Campbell, mitigating, said that Willoughby had lost his job in London, started drinking and his relationship broke down.
'He needed a period in custody to clear his head and put him back on the straight and narrow,' she said.
'He feels that a period in custody will help sober him up and help focus his mind.'
Willoughby admitted taking a vehicle without consent and having no insurance on March 11.
The post prompted an urgent investigation by police into what they called a serious security breach
Patricia Doherty, prosecuting, told the court that police were told about a van in a ditch at Saltfleet.
Willoughby was found in the driver's seat and was with his father, Arnold Willoughby.
Willoughby - who has 53 previous convictions - was jailed for 15 months and banned from driving for 12-and-a-half months
The defendant was aggressive towards the police and had to be squirted with parva spray.
The van had come from a council depot.
He also admitted breaching a one-year suspended prison sentence imposed on March 24 last year for producing cannabis, assault, theft and driving offences.
He had punched his wife, Anna Willoughby, in the face and kicked her when she fell down.
He took her mobile phone and told police he had thrown it out of a car window.
The court heard police found 47 cannabis plants and growing equipment after going to his home on an unrelated matter on July 12, 2015.
Willoughby - who has 53 previous convictions - was jailed for 15 months and banned from driving for 12-and-a-half months.
A United Nations employee has been arrested over a string of New York bank robberies he allegedly committed while on his lunch break.
Abdullahi Shuaibu, 53, was arrested at the UN offices in Manhattan on Monday when he returned to work after allegedly trying to rob a HSBC bank nearby.
Police said Shuaibu opted to stay close to the UN headquarters when he allegedly robbed three banks in February and March and stole $10,000.
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Abdullahi Shuaibu, 53, was arrested at the UN offices in Manhattan on Monday when he returned to work. Police claim surveillance footage (above) shows him robbing four banks
Shuaibu was caught on his fourth heist after a retired UN worker recognized him from a wanted photo released by police.
Police claim Shuaibu would pass a note to the teller in the alleged robberies saying he had a gun and demanding cash, NBC reports.
Surveillance images released by police show Shuaibu talking on a cell phone and wearing white-tipped gloves while allegedly carrying out the robberies.
Police were waiting to arrest him at the UN's Foreign Press Centers on Monday.
Shuaibu works as a communications officers at the UN. His Facebook page shows photos of him posing with UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft (above)
Shuaibu was arrested (left) after his fourth heist after a retired UN worker recognized him from a wanted photo (right) released by police
Shuaibu, who lives in Queens, works as a communications officers at the UN.
He is also believed to be a journalist with an African news agency.
His Facebook page shows photos of him posing with UN General Assembly President Mogens Lykketoft and on assignment in Sudan.
Shuaibu has been charged with two counts of robbery and two counts of attempted robbery.
An Islamic sheikh living in hiding who wants to modernise his faith has called for a royal commission into radical Muslim groups.
Imam Sheikh Mohammad Tawhidi's call for an official enquiry into Islamist extremism comes only days after Hizb ut-Tahrir released a video promoting domestic violence.
'We urgently need a royal commission into Wahabism, Salafism, Hizb ut Tahrir and all other forms of radical Sunni Islam,' he said on Facebook on Tuesday.
'Their books must be banned, centres closed, and leaders deported. I will proudly support and stand by this.'
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Shia imam Sheikh Mohammad Tawhidi has called for a royal commission into radical Islamism
The Islamic leader from Adelaide posted a Facebook message calling for an inquiry
Sheikh Mohammad Tawhidi says he would support the deportation of radical Islamist leaders
The call from the Adelaide-based Shia imam comes only a day after Daily Mail Australia revealed a radical Sydney Sunni group, the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association, appeared to tell teenage girls they would go to hell for having non-Muslim friends.
'The reality is, my sisters, any friendship that is not built on the fear of Allah is only going to lead to hell fire so you need to be cautious,' Sheikh Mohamad Doar said on Saturday night.
'With your actions, you distance yourself from the corrupted people.'
Despite being recorded on video making those remarks, Sheikh Doar posted a Facebook message claiming his comments were taken out of context in the lecture organised by Muslim charity Sisters United.
'I say the following in response to the lies and fabrications made against my words which is nothing but a tactic used to create fear within the wider Australian community,' he said.
The Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association also runs this Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore at Auburn, in Sydney's west, which reportedly radicalised a boy, 15, who killed an accountant
His Sunni group, also known as ASWJ, runs a radical Islamic bookstore at Auburn, in Sydney's west.
The Bukhari House Islamic Bookstore has been linked to Farhad Jabar, the 15-year-old boy who killed accountant Curtis Cheng outside police headquarters at Parramatta in 2015.
Hizb ut-Tahrir has also refused to apologise for a video showing two women in hijabs, who say it is acceptable for a husband to hit his wife with a small stick.
In that footage, Sydney primary school teacher Reem Allouche demonstrated how to use a 'sivaak' while fellow panelist Atika Latifi described a marital assault as 'a beautiful blessing'.
Despite the outcry from politicians, including Women's Minister Michaelia Cash, Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Hamzah Qureshi issued a Facebook post accusing politicians of making 'politically convenient' comments.
'Great to see politicians and officials lining up to take the moral high ground when it comes to violence,' he said.
Sydney school teacher Reem Allouche demonstrates who a man can hit his husband
Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar told a forum ex-Muslims deserved to be killed
Last month, another Hizb ut-Tahrir spokesman Uthman Badar told a forum at Bankstown, in Sydney's south-west, that people who left Islam deserved to be killed.
'The ruling for apostates as such in Islam is clear, that apostates attract capital punishment and we don't shy away from that,' Badar said in the presence of children.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is legal in Australia despite former prime minister Tony Abbott's call to ban it in October 2014.
But the group is illegal in Germany, The Netherlands and a range of Muslim-majority nations including Bangladesh, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan.
While One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has called for a royal commission into Islam to determine if it is a religion or an ideology, Sheikh Tawhidi wants a more specific focus on Islamist groups that advocate sharia law.
It is a legal system which secular Muslims reject.
Sheikh Tawhidi wants a royal commission to also look at Wahabism and Salafism - fundamentalist, ultra-conservative versions of Islam which have increasingly been exported from oil-rich Saudi Arabia since the late 20th century.
Talitha Cummins will make her eagerly anticipated return to television screens after scoring a job on Network Ten's Studio 10.
The new gig for the new mother comes after she settled her high-profile lawsuit with former employer Seven.
Her dispute with Seven revolves around her claims she was sacked as Weekend Sunrise newsreader while she was on maternity leave, only nine weeks following the birth of her first child.
The recent settlement of the confidential case will be some temporary relief for Seven, who are facing two further civil cases with former employees in the NSW Supreme Court, Herald Sun reported.
Talitha Cummins used to host the Morning Show on Seven before she was controversially fired while on maternity leave
Talitha Cummins pictured here with her eight-month-old son Oliver
One of those cases is the much talked about face-off with Amber Harrison, the ex-mistress of Seven boss Tim Worner.
Cummins said she was 'very excited to be back on TV'.
She joins Sarah Harris, Joe Hildebrand, Jo Casamento and Susie Elelman in a guest appearance on the show.
'The brain's a bit rusty, but I'll be in safe hands of the great Studio 10 Crew,' Cummins said.
'Conversations with my eight-month-old are very one sided, so I do hope they'll pull me into line.'
Talitha Cummins has settled her dispute with Seven after being sacked while on maternity leave for her son, Oliver (pictured)
The 36-year-old mother will be joining the usual panelists on Ten's Studio 10
Studio 10 executive producer Rob McKnight welcomed the friend of host Harris onto the show, suggesting her 'strong opinions on hot topics' made her a perfect fit.
Earlier today, Cummins responded to a tweet from the network welcoming her to the show.
'Looking forward to it,' she replied.
The morning talk show, which succeeded The Circle in the network's breakfast slot, is hoping for success at this weekend's Logie Awards either in the best panel or current affairs categories.
Terrifying footage has emerged of survivors running for their lives after an ISIS suicide bomber blows up a car in Aleppo.
The massive explosion was captured by a drone, and the blast obliterated the surrounding buildings in Syria.
The vehicle can be seen slowly driving around what appears to be a square packed with other cars and people before a terrorist detonates a bomb.
A huge black crater and burning cars are left behind after the Islamic State jihadi blew himself up
When the car explodes, the square is packed with vehicles and people in Aleppo, Syria
As the car blows up, people can be seen desperately scuttling away from the scene in an attempt to flee the fireball.
A massive plume of smoke billows into the air and a black crater is left behind.
The death toll is not known at the moment, but it comes days after a suicide bomber killed more than 120 people in Syria by luring children toward him by handing out crisps before detonating his explosives.
The car drives around the buildings and into the busy area before the explosives are detonated
A massive plume of smoke billows into the air in the city as survivors flee for their lives
The bomb, which killed at least 126 people including 68 children, tore through buses carrying evacuees from besieged government-held towns, the worst in war-torn Syria in more than a year.
The blast hit a convoy carrying residents from the northern towns of Fuaa and Kafraya as they waited at a transit point in rebel-held Rashidin, west of Aleppo.
A vehicle carrying food had arrived at the transit point and started distributing crisps and attracting children before exploding.
Syria's war has left more than 320,000 people dead since erupting in 2011, with more than half the population forced from their homes and hundreds of thousands trapped under siege.
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Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko and his wife have been spotted holidaying in Italy aboard his 240million yacht.
The 45-year-old, his wife Aleksandra and their child were seen on a spring vacation on the Italian Riviera coastline of Portofino having stepped off his luxury 390ft 'Motor Yacht A'.
They were using the vessel despite Mr Melnichenko having only recently upgraded to one of the largest private sailing yachts in the world - the 360million 'Sailing Yacht A'.
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Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko (front, left) and his wife (front rigth) Aleksandra have been spotted holidaying in Italy aboard his 240million yacht
The 45-year-old, his wife Aleksandra and their child were seen on a spring vacation on the Italian Riviera coastline of Portofino having stepped off his luxury 390ft 'Motor Yacht A' (pictured)
Pictures show Mr Melnichenko's distinctive motor yacht anchored off the coast and dwarfing other vessels nearby
Motor Yacht A's huge launch is pictured coming into shore at Portofino in northern Italy. Melnichenko has also upgraded to purchase a new superyacht
Mr Melnichenko, who has an estimated net worth of $13.4 billion (10.8 billion), is said to favour using the letter 'A' so that his vessels are listed first in shipping registers.
Pictures show Mr Melnichenko's distinctive motor yacht anchored off the coast and dwarfing other vessels nearby. Another shot shows Mr Melnichenko and his Serbian model wife on the shore next to the vessel's luxurious launch.
The 5,959-ton yacht was created by French designer Philippe Starck and is believed to have been fitted out with 1.7ins thick bomb-proof windows.
It is also said to have a helipad on the sixth of its eight decks and includes a disco with glass ceiling looking up into the swimming pool on the floor above.
It was thought that billionaire industrialist Andrey Melnichenko, who made his vast fortune with investments in coal, fertilisers and banking, had no need for Motor Yacht A (pictured on the River Thames) after replacing it with the grander Sailing Yacht A
The huge 240million vessel was spotted off the coast of Italy. It is pictured here on a previous voyage to the country's coastline in 2012
The vast Motor yacht A, which has eight decks, is pictured moored up on the River Thames during a visit to London in September 2016
Mr Melnichenko had the vessel custom-built so he and his wife Aleksandra can cross the world's oceans in luxury
Another shot shows Mr Melnichenko's Serbian model wife (left) on the shore next to the vessel's luxurious launch
The family was using the vessel despite Mr Melnichenko having only recently upgraded to one of the largest private sailing yachts in the world - the 360m 'Sailing Yacht A'
Mr Melnichenko (pictured, wearing sunglasses) recently upgraded to include a vast 468ft sailing superyacht complete with three 300ft masts taller than Big Ben's tower. It boasts eight floors, a helipad and an underwater observation room
The couple are understood to have met in the South of France - when Aleksandra - known as Sandra - was 28 and Andrey was 33
The Russian billionaire has recently upgraded to the 360million 'Sailing Yacht A' (pictured) - but was not using the vessel in Italy
The cruise speed of Sailing Yacht A (pictured) is 18mph and its has a top speed of 24mph. The hull is made of steel, with a teak-finish deck
Mr Melnichenko recently upgraded to include a vast 468ft sailing superyacht complete with three 300ft masts taller than Big Ben's tower. It boasts eight floors, a helipad and an underwater observation room.
The cruise speed of the ship is 18mph and its has a top speed of 24mph. The hull is made of steel, with a teak-finish deck.
The yacht has a high-tech digital control system operated using a touch sensitive sheet of black glass in the bridge.
This will allow the crew to raise and lower the sails and even drop the anchor with a brush of their fingers.
The 5,959-ton Motor Yacht A was created by French designer Philippe Starck and is believed to have been fitted out with 1.7ins thick bomb-proof windows
Mr Melnichenko recently upgraded to include a vast 468ft sailing superyacht complete with three 300ft masts taller than Big Ben's tower
Mr Melnichenko (front left) founded the fertiliser producer EuroChem, coal producer Suek, and power generator SGK
Mr Melnichenko was named as the 89th wealthiest person on the planet by Forbes and the ninth richest in Russia
The multi-billionaire already has one luxury home on the seas - the Motor Yacht A - but turned his turned his attention to sailing power earlier this year. He is pictured with his wife on holiday in Italy
Relaxed: Mr Melnichenko, (front left) was on a spring holiday with his Serbian model wife Aleksandra (pictured, right)
Spring vacation: The family was pictured preparing to board a launch believed to belong to Motor Yacht A
At the time it was reported that the yacht would continue to Cartagena in Spain where she was due to undergo further sea trials and joinery before being handed over to her new owner in the Spring.
As the boat made its way to Spain earlier this month, Mr Melnichenko's Project Director, Dirk Kloosterman said: 'This has been the most challenging assignment of my career. I am confident Sailing Yacht A will be the world's greatest yacht in terms of design and technology for the years ahead.
'Her beauty is breathtaking, and Philippe Starck's astonishing design and ultimate vision will be the subject of many conversations wherever she travels around the globe.'
Mr Melnichenko founded the fertilizer producer EuroChem, coal producer Suek, and power generator SGK.
He was named as the 89th wealthiest person on the planet by Forbes and the ninth richest in Russia.
Mr Melnichenko is said to have paid Jennifer Lopez $2 million to perform at his wife's lavish 30th birthday party at their English mansion in Ascot Read
Sofia Vergara's former fiance Nick Loeb has now accused her of violating his First Amendment rights by trying to stop him from bringing the frozen embryos they made together to life.
Loeb's latest move is the most recent development in the long-winded legal saga over the two fertilized eggs which the pair created together while they were engaged in 2013.
The pair broke up in May 2014. Loeb, 41, wants to see the frozen embryos, which he has named Emma and Isabella, grow to term and become his daughters whereas 44-year-old Vergara, who is now married to Joe Manganiello, wants to see them remain frozen.
The estranged pair have been locked in a legal battle over the issue since 2014 when Loeb filed a lawsuit trying to establish his rights as a parent to the embryos.
Sofia Vergara's ex-fiance Nick Loeb has accused her of violating his First Amendment rights by trying to block his legal efforts to bring their frozen embryos to life. The former couple is pictured above in May 2014 shortly before they broke up
On May 11, Loeb will attend court in Los Angeles to accuse Vergara of trying to 'chill' and 'punish' his unrelenting attempts to become a father.
Vergara fought the original 2014 lawsuit, pointing to a fertility clinic agreement the pair signed which said neither one of them could claim them without the other's consent.
He claims it is not valid for anything beyond medical procedure and should not be considered a contract.
Loeb dropped the original lawsuit last year after being told he would have to reveal the identities of two former girlfriends who'd had abortions while with him 20 years ago.
In December, the businessman launched his second legal attempt to see the embryos brought to term - a lawsuit filed in Louisiana by a pro-life group on behalf of the frozen eggs, claiming they had a right to life.
Vergara, 44, (pictured in Beverly Hills on Monday) does not want the embryos brought to term
Vergara batted that motion away in Californian court with her own counter-suit.
The most recent development is a motion filed by Loeb's lawyers in Los Angeles to have that counter-suit dismissed on the grounds Vergara is restricting his right to free speech by filing it in the first place.
He said she is trying to 'chill' his rights and is 'punishing' him by trying to moot his claims to the embryos.
'The sole purpose of Plaintiff's Complaint is to punish Loeb for, and prevent him from engaging in, protected speech by initiating legal proceedings to establish and exercise his legal rights to Female Embryos,' the lawsuit states.
Vergara's lawyers are yet to respond to his most recent accusation.
The pair's very public spat has drawn attention to the issue of reproductive law. The embryos the pair made are technically 'pre-embryos' meaning the eggs have been fertilized and frozen but have not begun to develop.
Vergara, who has said in the past that she wished the issue could have remained private, believes they should not be brought to life under such hostile relations between the two people who created them.
She believes Loeb, a wealthy business scion and part-time actor, is trying to use their spat to keep his public profile alive.
'This latest maneuver is nothing more than another attempt on the part of Loeb to keep himself in the public eye by keeping himself linked to Ms. Vergara,' Fred Silberberg, her lawyer, said of the Louisiana lawsuit in December.
The Modern Family actress has also spoken on the issue, sharing her anger that it ever became public.
Vergara and Loeb (left in 2013) dated for four years between 2010 and 2014. She married fellow actor Joe Manganiello (right) in November 2015
'I don't think it's fair. I've been working very hard for 20 years to get to this point where I am. I promote my movies, I promote all my work but I don't like promoting my private life and I don't want to allow this person to take more advantage of my career and try to promote himself, to get press.
Loeb (above in September last year) says the embryos have a right to life
'This shouldn't be out there for people to give their opinion. There's nothing to talk about, there's papers signed,' she told Good Morning America in 2015.
Loeb claimed to have wanted to keep the issue private in a New York Times op-ed.
'I wanted to keep this private, but recently the story broke to the world.
'When we create embryos for the purpose of life, should we not define them as life, rather than as property?' he wrote in the April 2015 piece.
'I asked her to let me have the embryos, offering to pay for all expenses to carry our girls to term and raise them.
'If she did not wish to share custody, I would take on full parenting responsibilities and agree to have her declared an egg donor. She has refused,' he continued.
Vergara married Magic Mike actor Joe Manganiello in a lavish Palm Beach ceremony in November 2015.
She and Loeb were dating for four years before they broke up in May 2014. She and Manganiello became engaged that December.
She has an adult son, Manolo, from a previous relationship.
This is the shocking moment an 18-month-old girl got run over by a car twice in Hubei Province, central China.
The girl miraculously survived and sustained just minor injuries on her face, according to reports.
Doctors who inspected the toddler were surprised by her miraculous survival.
Yiyi, 18 months old, was mowed down by a car reversing out of an alley in central China's Hubei
She fell on the ground with her face down and soon the rear wheel ran her over
According to Chutian Metro Daily, the incident took place in an alley at the Yima Building Materials Market in Chongyang city on April 1.
CCTV footage, released by CGTN, caught the moment the toddler was mowed down as a black Audi car reversed out of an alley.
The two wheels on the car's right side ran over the girl.
The child, nicknamed Yiyi, faced down when the wheels squeezed her from feet to head.
The driver did not stop after the first impact and continued the manoeuvre. The girl was hit the second time by the right front wheel.
It's been suggested that the car was reversing at a low speed.
Yiyi could not get up after the accident. Seconds later, a woman walked out to the street and quickly picked her up.
It is unclear whether the driver was aware of the hit after the incident.
The driver did not stop after the first impact and continued the manoeuvre
The front wheel hit the toddler again and Yiyi can be seen lying motionless on the road
Yiyi's parents rushed their daughter to the hospital after being informed by the neighbours
Reporters from Chutian Metro Daily interviewed Yiyi's father, Mr Chen, on April 16. According to the interview, the 18-month-old baby was playing on the street alone at the time of the accident.
Chen said the Audi driver was a son of his friend's and he knew that the car had no reversing camera installed.
Chen and his wife rushed to send Yiyi to a nearby hospital for examination after being informed of the accident by their neighbours.
Surprisingly, doctors failed to find any fractures or cuts on Yiyi's body and they had no clue how an 18-month-old had managed to survive after a two hits.
'How can a toddler sustain a weight of a car and not getting any fractures? This is a medical miracle that science cannot explain,' One doctor told Chutian Metro Daily.
Yiyi was diagnosed with no major injuries. She sustained just bruises and scratches on her face
Doctors said the toddler is 'very lucky' and her survival is 'a miracle science cannot explain'
Yiyi was diagnosed with minor bruises and scratches on her face.
Her father told the reporters that scabs had already formed since ointment was applied on the wound area.
Yiyi is expected to visit the hospital by the end of April for follow-up examination.
Reporters showed the clip to neurosurgery specialist and orthopaedic surgeons at Chongyang People's Hospital and Tongji Xianning Hospital to seek for medical explanation.
Feeling shocked, the doctors said 'the toddler is very lucky'.
They also had a theory that young children has more elastic properties in their bones. They insisted that 'it is something that science cannot explain'.
Incredible footage has been released showing the infamous 'scooter waterfall' in Taiwan's capital city.
The motoring phenomenon occurs when rush-hour traffic clogs up the city's roads forcing thousands of scooters, a popular mode of transport in Taipei, cascading down a particular junction leading off Taipei Bridge.
While morning and afternoon rush-hour traffic is already very much part and parcel of life in the city, the sight of scooters jamming the motorway is still fascinating tourists from around the world.
This recent clip of the infamous 'jiche pubu' - Mandarin for 'scooter waterfall' - confirms the long-running traffic problem in the city.
The junction where the scenes are usually filmed is often packed with tourists from Japan who fly over to witness what is for the Taiwanese a very common sight.
Incredible footage has been released showing the infamous 'scooter waterfall' in Taiwan's capital city
In the footage, an endless number of scooter riders squeeze shoulder to shoulder down the slip road on their way to work.
In the city of 2.7 million people, there is roughly one scooter for every 2.5 residents.
In Taiwan as a whole there are around 15 million registered scooters.
The FBI is adding a man to its 'Most Wanted' list who allegedly stabbed his wife to death at the Dunkin' Donuts shop where they worked
Bhadreshkumar Patel, 27, is now one of its 'Ten Most Wanted Fugitives,' with a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest.
Patel is charged with murder in the 2015 slaying of 21-year-old Palak Patel, in a back room of the shop in Hanover, Maryland.
Police said that Patel, hit his wife multiple times with an object and then fled.
Police have said that 27-year-old Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel, hit his wife Palak Bhadreskumar Patel multiple times with an object until she died and then fled
The FBI put up signs with Patel's image and he is now on the top ten most wanted list
The FBI is is offering up to $100,000 for any information that leads to the arrest of Bhadreshkumar Chetanbhai Patel
Patel has been charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, as well as dangerous weapon with intent to injure.
Shortly after the killing, a taxi driver told investigators that she picked up Patel across from the Dunkin Donuts and drove him to a Best Western in Newark, New Jersey, approximately 185 miles away, according to WTOP.
The couple worked at this Hanover Dunkin' Donuts store and is where the attack took place
It's believed Palak Bhadreskumar Patel wanted to return to India, but her husband didn't
He then seen taking a hotel shuttle to Newark Penn Station. At the time of the killing, people were completely shocked.
One of the store's frequent customers, Idrisa Wurie, told the Capital Gazette 'Oh my goodness. I am shocked because they are very nice people.'
Investigators theorize that Palak Patel wanted to return to India but that her husband didn't.
The FBI says relatives and friends in the New Jersey area may be helping him.
They also believe he may have fled to Canada or somehow made his way back to India.
Patel was born in India and was in the United States legally on a visa, but his visa expired at the end of March 2015.
The FBI even put up billboards to help locate Patel, who is described as weighing approximately 165lb and 5ft 9in tall with brown eyes and hair.
Danielle Baggett (pictured), 37, was arrested for allegedly running a drug flop house on April 11
A Florida woman arrested for allegedly running a drug flop house, charged people an entry fee they had to pay for with narcotics, according to police.
Danielle Baggett, 37, was arrested on April 11 and charged with running a nuisance dwelling after Sarasota County Sheriff's deputies responded to seven overdoses, including her own, according to a police statement.
Police started keeping a close eye on Baggett's home at 4502 S. Lockwood Ridge Road last year.
Since August 2016, the sheriff's office responded to the home '33 times for several reasons including drug arrests, wanted persons, and disputes'.
Deputies were dispatched to the home for seven separate heroin or fentanyl overdoses.
Baggett was at the house each time deputies would respond and resuscitate them.
One victim said he was dragged from the house and left in the front yard as he was overdosing, according to the Bradenton Herald.
In the month of March, three of the overdoses occurred over three consecutive days, according to police.
While interviewing residents, several described the home as a 'drug flop house', where Baggett allowed people to stay in exchange for drugs.
An affidavit says Baggett assured deputies she was trying to 'clean up' illegal activities at the house. But the overdoses continued.
Since August 2016, the sheriff's office responded to the home (pictured) '33 times for several reasons including drug overdoses, wanted persons, and disputes'. An affidavit says victims told investigators Baggett created an environment 'for everyone to get high'
The affidavit says victims told investigators Baggett created an environment 'for everyone to get high'.
Baggett was charged with a single count of maintaining a nuisance dwelling, a felony charge that carries a $1,500 bond.
She bonded out of jail the next day.
Baggett has been arrested in the past for marijuana possession, drug paraphernalia possession, dealing in stolen property and contributing to the delinquency of a minor, according to the sheriff's office.
Authorities said an investigation is ongoing and additional charges are pending.
Sir Vince Cable is among a slew of hardline Liberal Democrat Remoaners hoping to make a comeback at the general election.
The former business secretary, who was humiliatingly defeated by the Tories in Twickenham in 2015, has announced he will fight for the seat again this time around.
And he will be joined by a host of other 'retreads' - as Lib Dem leader Tim Farron attempts to use tensions over Brexit to revive his party's fortunes.
They include another former Cabinet minister, Sir Ed Davey, as well as former minister Sir Simon Hughes and ex-Cambridge MP Julian Huppert.
Sir Vince Cable said said he was 'surprised' Mrs May had gone back on her pledge to wait until 2020 before holding an election
Declaring his candidacy today, Sir Vince said: 'Bring it on!'
He said he was 'surprised' Mrs May had gone back on her pledge to wait until 2020.
He warned that Brexit was 'a big issue' for people the London constituency, where around 70 per cent voted Remain.
The former business secretary held the south-west London seat from 1997 to 2016, when he was the most prominent victim of the party's electoral collapse.
With a slim Conservative majority of just 2,017 and strong local opposition to hard Brexit, Twickenham represents one of the party's best hopes of claiming a Tory scalp.
Mr Farron was jubilant this morning after the Prime Minister dropped the bombshell that she wants to hold an election on June 8.
He made clear the Lib Dem ambition was to prevent the Tories having an outright majority, giving his party leverage over the terms of Brexit.
'If you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance,' he said.
'Only the Liberal Democrats can prevent a Conservative majority.'
Former Cabinet minister Sir Ed Davey is also hoping to make a comeback at the election
Sir Simon Hughes is trying to regain his seat in Bermondsey, south London in the forthcoming general election
Sir Vince was among the biggest victims as the Lib Dems were routed at the 2015 general election - losing to Tania Mathias in Twickenham
Mrs May lashed out at political opponents including Mr Farron for trying to block Brexit, and also singled out Nicola Sturgeon's efforts to exploit the situation to rip up the UK.
The Lib Dems have taken a gamble by adopting a hardline stance against Brexit, despite the potential for it to backfire in areas that voted heavily for Leave.
The party has claimed its membership surged by more than 2,000 people in the hours following Mrs May's shock election announcement.
The Lib Dems currently have just nine MPs, down from more than 50 before the rout at the 2015 general election.
This is the gut-wrenching moment a war photographer raced to save a wounded boy after the Syrian bus attack - then broke down in tears after finding another child dead on the ground.
Abd Alkader Habak was working on Saturday when a suicide bomb tore through buses carrying evacuees from besieged government-held towns outside Aleppo.
The activist was briefly knocked out by the blast, but got up and started rescuing injured people - only to find that many of the children were dead.
A devastating photo shows him 'overcome with emotion' and sobbing on his knees next to a dead boy's body, who he had tried to save moments earlier.
This is the gut-wrenching moment war photographer Abd Alkader Habak dashed to save a wounded boy after the suicide bombing of buses holding evacuees of rebel-held towns outside Aleppo on Saturday
A devastating photo shows him 'overcome with emotion' and sobbing on his knees next to a dead boy's body, who he had tried to save moments earlier
Mr Habak described children 'wailing and dying' in front of him after the horrifying attack, which left bodies strewn on the ground (pictured)
The boy was one of 68 children killed in the suicide car bomb that rocked buses evacuating Fuaa and Kafraya, two villages in northern Syria under rebel siege.
It is believed that 126 people died overall in the horrifying blast, the worst in war-torn Syria in more than a year.
'The scene was horrible, especially seeing children wailing and dying in front of you,' Mr Habak told CNN.
'I was overcome with emotion. What I and my colleagues witnessed is indescribable.'
The photographer and his colleagues put down their cameras and raced to save as many people as they could.
The first child he checked on was dead, Mr Habak recalled. He ran towards another - despite warnings that the second child was also dead.
But Mr Habak saw that the youngster was alive and barely breathing.
He scooped the boy - who he guessed was six or seven - into this arms and started running to safety.
68 children were among the 126 people killed in the suicide car bomb that rocked buses evacuating Fuaa and Kafraya, two villages in northern Syria under rebel siege
A desolate Syrian family, who were injured in a suicide car bombing, sit in a tent on the Syrian-Turkish border in Idlib province
Hoards of injured children were treated and taken to rest at tents on the Syrian-Turkish border
Pictured, a crying child receives treatment following the blast
A heartbreaking photo shows Mr Habak, face screwed up with anguish, carrying the boy away from the blazing bus towards an ambulance.
His camera was still on and recording the destruction.
'This child was firmly holding my hand and looking at me,' he recalled.
Mr Habak said he left the wounded boy with the medics and does not know if he survived.
Saturday's blast hit a convoy carrying residents from the northern towns of Fuaa and Kafraya as they waited at a transit point in rebel-held Rashidin, west of Aleppo.
A Syrian child with a dressed head wound holds onto a blown up hospital glove as he is carried by medics
Two wounded young boys wait with their father to receive treatment at a hospital in the government-held part of Aleppo after the blast
The suicide bomber lured children toward him by handing out crisps before detonating his explosives.
A vehicle carrying food had arrived at the transit point and started distributing crisps and attracting children before exploding.
It is unclear how the vehicle gained access to the restricted area without government permission.
A witness told Syrian news outlet ZamanEnglish News: 'A van was distributing crisps. Children started running after it. It then exploded.'
A girl who was wounded in the blast and lost four siblings in the explosion, said that a man in a car had approached the children and told them to eat the crisps.
Doctors operate on a Syrian child who was wounded in the suicide car bombing
It targeted an area where dozens of buses carrying mostly Shi'ite residents of two villages that are being evacuated
She said that many of the children had been deprived of food for years.
The girl told a regional TV station that that once many children had gathered, the man set off the bomb.
At least 109 of the dead were evacuees, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, while the rest were aid workers and rebels guarding the convoy.
The evacuations were taking place under a deal between Syria's regime and rebels that is also seeing residents and rebels transported out of Madaya and Zabadani, towns near Damascus which are surrounded by pro-government forces.
The agreement is the latest in a string of evacuation deals, which the government of President Bashar al-Assad says are the best way to end the violence after more than six years of civil war.
A gunman passes by the buses that were damaged in a blast at the Rashideen area, a rebel-controlled district outside Aleppo city
The convoy of buses were left strewn with dead bodies and injured evacuees
Saturday's blast hit a convoy carrying residents from the northern towns of Fuaa and Kafraya as they waited at a transit point in rebel-held Rashidin, west of Aleppo
Rebels say they amount to forced relocations after years of bombardment and crippling sieges.
Body parts and the belongings of evacuees - including clothes, dishes and even televisions - were still strewn at the scene of the attack on Sunday.
The shattered buses were nearby as was the shell of a pick-up truck - with little left but its engine block - that was apparently used to carry out the bombing.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, though the key Ahrar al-Sham rebel group denied any involvement.
The government blamed 'terrorists' - a catch-all term for its opponents.
Richard Simmons has left the confines of his California estate three years after he retreated from the world.
The reason for his reemergence is severe indigestion, which has landed the workout guru in a local hospital.
'Richard Simmons was hospitalized on Monday at an undisclosed location in California,' his rep Michael Catalano told ABC News.
'After a few days of battling severe indigestion and discomfort while eating, we agreed it was best for him to seek treatment.'
Catalono added: 'Hes already feeling better and is expected to make a full recovery.'
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Rough week: Richard Simmons (above in November 2013) has been hospitalized in California since Monday
Coming out of the dark: He has been holed up in his home (above) for the 36 months since he became a recluse
This news comes just a few weeks after a report that Simmons may finally be ready to come out of hiding.
That report also came from Catalano, hot on the heels of a report stating that the fitness guru had just signed a lucrative deal with Prominent Brand + Talent.
This new deal gives Prominent the rights to represent Richard Simmons for licensing, merchandising and endorsement opportunities around the globe.
And it was set in motion by a 2016 DailyMail.com story about Simmons reclusive behavior that one year later was explored in the popular six-episode podcast 'Missing, Richard Simmons.'
'All I can say, at least for now, is it is possible,' Catalano said in an interview with The New York Times about Simmons leaving his home after holing up inside the residence for the past 38 months.
'But it is yet to be determined, I would say.'
Catalano's statement offered hope to those who followed the podcast detailing the odd game of hide-and-seek that Simmons is playing with the public.
It was the most popular podcast for two straight months leading up to the final episode, but then ended without ever managing to speak to Simmons himself or getting an explanation of what brought about his behavior.
Money however appears to talk much louder than public concern and a podcast host according to Catalano, who is not only Simmons' manager but also the co-founder of the company that has obtained the global rights to sell Simmons' products.
In that role it would seem that he, more than anyone else, would benefit financially from Simmons coming out to help sell his products.
In fact, even suggesting that he could possibly come out might help drum up interest in some vendors.
The company does manage a number of other high-profile fitness brands as well, including Madonna's Hard Candy.
'Richard Simmons is a beloved American icon and a proven retail brand,' Dan Levin, a managing member of Prominent, told License Global.
'Everything he stands for has been the gold standard in health and wellness. He has paved the way for every subsequent fitness personality in this country, yet none of them have matched the impact of Richards indelible imprint on Americas psyche.'
He later stated that the company 'plans to launch a global line of thoughtful motivation and inspiration-based products that will achieve the tenets Richard has always espoused - love yourself no matter what you weigh, make time to do good for others and laugh a little.'
On the mend: Simmons (above in December 2013) is expected to make a full recovery and is already feeling better
Dan Taberski, who was behind the hugely popular podcast, also spoke about his former pal Simmons' new popularity, and how he managed to somehow mastermind a perfect and massively lucrative comeback without doing a single thing .
'Telling his story was a huge part of the podcast,' said Taberski, who has never appeared to show anything other than a genuine concern for Simmons and desire to see him again.
'He changed lives, and hes a genius businessperson. If I had even the smallest part in reminding people of that, fantastic.'
Catalano meanwhile bemoaned what he said were 'a lot of the mistruths' in the podcast, which he believes 'didnt really uncover or reveal anything new that hasnt been reported previously.'
He was however excited that a new younger generation is aware of his client, saying: 'At the end of the day, if it helps deliver his message to people who were unaware of it previously, fantastic. Thats what Richards mission has always been.'
Meanwhile, in the final episode Taberski was able to speak with Catalano, who told him: 'I cant say Richard feels better as a result of the podcast. Perhaps you do.'
Kelsey Wheeler is accused of trying to sex traffic her daughter, three, for $6,000 but told the FBI she was trying to rob the man she met online, when she was arrested in Portland on Friday
A mother was arrested after she allegedly offered up her three-year-old daughter for sex with a man she met online in exchange for $6,000.
Kelsey Wheeler is accused of attempting to traffic her toddler daughter in exchange for thousands of dollars but told FBI agents she was merely trying to rob the prostitution client when she was arrested on Friday, according to court records.
The investigation began when Eugene, Oregon, police tracked down Barret Spangler on suspicion of viewing child pornography on April 13.
The man admitted to viewing the illegal images and added he was in contact with 27-year-old Wheeler and accused her of offering up her three-year-old child to him for $1,000, according to a probable cause affidavit.
In turn, Wheeler told officials that Spangler offered $6,000 for a 'mother-daughter' sexual experience but she was only playing along with the purpose to rob him, according to reports.
The mother of Southeast Portland, Oregon, faces a federal charge of attempted sex trafficking of a child and is held without bail at Multnomah County jail.
Barret Spangler told police Wheeler, 27, offered her daughter, 3, for sex. Officials questioned Wheeler at her home at the 12500 block of Southeast Powell Court (pictured)
Wheeler and Spangler originally met on a website that is known for advertising prostitution services and met up at her home in January, reported Oregon Live and KATU.
Spangler said Wheeler was using the online alias of Kelly Kox and the two often discussed dark sexual fantasies that included children and 'mother-daughter' scenes, according to the affidavit.
It was in one of these conversations that Spangler said Wheeler offered him her young daughter for $1,000 but she insisted that she must be in the room during the encounter, the document continued.
Police said they then found Wheeler at her home in the 12500 block of Southeast Powell Court and questioned her about the allegations.
She admitted to have been in contact with Spangler and said she had been working as a prostitute on and off since she was 15 years old, police said.
Wheeler said it was Spangler that proposed a 'mother-daughter' sexual experience and offered $6,000 for the arrangement but due to her past abuse, she had no intentions of following through on it, according to the affidavit.
The mother of Southeast Portland, Oregon, faces a federal charge of attempted sex trafficking of a child and is held without bail at Multnomah County jail (pictured)
Instead she was planning on robbing him, police said.
Later, FBI investigators found an old Child Protective Services report from Nevada that accused Wheeler of being found in an apartment building with a man and a child, where everyone was wearing 'minimal clothing'.
When shown the mounting evidence stacking up against her, Wheeler told officials, it was all looking 'very bad' for her, according to the affidavit.
Spangler's fate is not known yet. He hasn't been arrested on any child pornography charges as of Monday and is not listed as an inmate at any nearby jails in the county.
A suspect accused of raping and murdering a Google executive while she was out jogging near her mother's Massachusetts home last summer was arraigned this morning on assault charges and ordered held on $10million cash bail.
Angelo Colon-Ortiz, 31, was taken into custody on Saturday in connection to the August 2016 killing of 27-year-old Vanessa Marcotte in Leominster, Massachusetts.
The suspect, a US citizen who had only recently moved from his native Puerto Rico to Worcester, Massachusetts, was led into Leominster District Court on Tuesday morning and used the services of a Spanish-English interpreter to follow the legal proceedings.
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Suspect in court: Angelo Colon-Ortiz (left), 31, appeared in Leominster District Court on Tuesday for his arraignment in the August 7, 2016, deadly attack on Vanessa Marcotte (right)
The suspect, a US citizen who only recently had moved from his native Puerto Rico to Worcester, Massachusetts, was ordered held on $10million cash bail
Colon-Ortiz was arraigned on criminal counts of aggravated assault, aggravated assault and battery and assault with intent to rape.
Prosecutors said they sought the multimilion-dollar bail because they expect to charge him with murder within about a month.
Judge Mark Noonan agreed to set Colon-Ortizs bail at $10million and scheduled his pre-trial conference for May 24.
Attorney Edward Ryan Jr representing the 31-year-old suspect, who was described in court as a married FedEx employee, according to the Boston Globe, entered not guilty pleas to the assault counts on Colon-Ortizs behalf. He did not argue for lower bail, but reserved the right to seek lower bail later.
Vanessa Marcottes father, John Marcotte, and uncle Steven Therrien were present at the arraignment but made no statements to the press.
State police arrested Colon-Ortiz in Worcester after police used DNA found on Marcotte's hands to link him to the killing.
Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr commended Marcotte's bravery at a press conference on Saturday.
'It was through her determined fight and efforts that we obtained the DNA of her killer,' he told the crowd.
Police say that the struggle Vanessa Marcotte (left and right) put up before her death led to the arrest of the suspect in her killing. She was raped and murdered on August 7, 2016
Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr (pictured on Saturday) said the DNA helped build a profile of the killer that was used to identify the suspect, Angelo Colon-Ortiz, 31
Residents from the community applauded as Early confirmed Colon-Ortiz's arrest, which came after police built a DNA profile of Marcotte's killer.
They used that profile - and a report of a dark SUV spotted near the scene of the August 7, 2016 killing - to identify the suspect, Early said.
In a written statement, her parents said: 'After eight long months, we're able to take the first step toward justice for Vanessa.
'She was a beautiful, intelligent, and generous young woman whose passion for giving back to the community will always be remembered.
'As we move forward, her spirit will live on through The Vanessa T Marcotte Foundation that strives to empower women to live boldly and fearlessly.'
According to its website, the foundation's goal is to to help women 'live free from the fear of violence.'
It aims to to that by 'partnering with organizations that deliver educational programs to promote female empowerment, challenge and undermine gender stereotypes, and provide mentorship opportunities [for women].'
Marcotte's body was found near the Massachusetts home of her mom (right), whom she was visiting from New York. Her hands, feet and head were burned
Marcotte, a graduate of Boston University, was found near her mom's Princeton, Massachusetts, home on August 7, 2016. Her hands, feet and head had been burned.
The New Yorker, who was visiting her mother at the time, was found dead after she didn't return to their home from a run.
Colon-Ortiz is being held in at the state police barracks in Millbury on $1 million bail.
Early Jr said that a Massachusetts State Trooper saw a dark SUV in Worcester, similar to the one that had been spotted driving from the scene.
The man driving fitted a description of the suspect, he said, so the trooper went to the man's home and was able to take a DNA sample from the man's cheek.
The test results, which came in on Friday, said that the sample matched DNA found on Marcotte's body.
Colon-Ortiz was then arrested, and is set to make his first appearance in court on Tuesday.
Investigators search the wooded area where Marcotte's body was found last year. The Google executive was murdered while out for a jog
Early Jr said that Colon-Ortiz was working near where Marcotte was killed on the day of her brutal death. He has no criminal history.
In February, Early Jr said they had made a DNA breakthrough in the case, and revealed that they were seeking a Hispanic man of average height.
The suspect was also likely to have had scratches or cuts on his face, neck, hands and arms that day, police said.
They added that they believed him to be the same man seen driving a dark colored SUV in the area around the time that the young jogger was killed.
Police have not revealed how they acquired the DNA, saying only that they got it during the course of their investigation, and that it was on Marcotte's hands.
Marcotte vanished on an afternoon run while on a visit to the home her mom Rosanna. Investigators are seen combing through the scene
State police received over 1,000 tips in connection with the case after the DNA profile was built. They also linked a dark SUV spotted near the scene to the killing
Marcotte vanished on an afternoon run while on a visit to the home of her mom in Worcester from New York.
Her naked body was found at around 8.20pm in woodlands near the home.
It's believed she was killed some time between 1pm, when she left her mom's home, and 4pm.
She had been sexually assaulted, and her hands, feet and part of her head were burned.
Marcotte's shocking murder left her family shattered, they said towards the end of last year.
Her uncle, Steven Therrien, read an emotional statement at a church in the town on December 31, asking for help finding the young woman's killer.
Her body was found not far from this house in Princeton, Massachusetts. She was on a run when she was killed
'It has been more than four months since Vanessa was tragically taken from us,' Therrien said.
'Not a day goes by that we don't reflect on the enormity of our loss. She had already achieved much but we know she had much more to do.
'She was a loving, caring, intelligent young woman who had her whole life ahead of her.'
Marcotte's shocking murder left her family shattered. They have started up a foundation to carry on her memory by helping women 'live free from fear of violence'
Marcotte's parents, Rossana and John Marcotte, stood silent next to Therrien at the news conference, holding back tears.
Her father held a banner that read: 'Justice for Vanessa.'
And at Marcotte's funeral, her best friend, Leah Abrahams, gave a moving eulogy to her slain friend.
'She was so perfect, it was otherworldly,' she said.
'Something about Vanessa always reminded me of the ocean - so breathlessly beautiful, quiet and peaceful.'
She later said: 'You epitomize grace, light, humility, and absolute magic.'
Marcotte was killed just weeks after Queens jogger Karina Vetrano was brutally raped and murdered while she was out for a run. A suspect in her death, Chanel Lewis, admitted murdering her in February.
Darren Flood, pictured left, married Victoria Beckham's younger sister Louise but reports suggest they separated in 2014
A man who married Victoria Beckham's sister has appeared in court accused of a 'boiler room' fraud targeting elderly people.
Darren Flood was accused with six others of trying to get unsuspecting OAPs to invest in 'green energy bundles.'
Flood married Victoria Beckham's younger sister Louise but reports suggest they separated in 2014.
He was a founding partner and non-executive director of a company which allegedly sold investments in rare metals to elderly people.
It allegedly promised them returns for metal compounds like yttrium - which is used in LEDs, lasers, and phosphors.
39-year-old Flood's then-partner Louise was said to have been consoled by her sister after criminal investigations into Commodities Link Ltd began in 2014.
Flood, of Ware Road, Hertford, was accused of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation with several fellow company workers.
They were Mark Whitehead, 58 and of Easter Green, Bury St Edmunds, Genarrio Fiorentino, Ike Obiamiwe, 54 and of Parryn Road, East Acton, London as well as Jonathan Docker, 31 and of Chigwell, Essex.
Also in court were Daniel Jordan, of Ditton Road, Bexleyheath, Kent and aged 33 years, and Vikki King aged 37 years and of Pattiswick Square, Basildon, Essex.
Forty-eight-year-old Tarun Jain appeared with them and gave his address as Dubai.
The men and the woman were further charged with two counts theft but all of them denied the charges at Guildford Magistrates' Court.
District Judge William Ashworth told the group they will have to appear before a judge at Guildford Crown Court on May 16.
Air Asia has slashed its prices on flights to Bali, Phuket and Bangkok following the Easter holiday.
Flights from Darwin to Bali are going for just $99 each way, according to the airline's website.
Under the deal, a round-trip to Bali is estimated to cost a total of about $220 with booking fees.
Air Asia has slashed its prices on flights to Bali, Phuket and Bangkok following the Easter holiday
Flights from Darwin to Bali are going for just $99 each way
Flights from Sydney, Perth, Gold Coast and Melbourne to Bangkok are going for $199 one-way.
One-way flights from Perth to Phuket have also been slashed to $199.
All deals are available until April 23 and do not appear to include baggage.
The travel period for all three deals is April 10 to September 30.
Other deals for those wanting to escape the colder months include, flights from Sydney to Jarkarta for just $269.
A trip from Sydney to Seoul will cost $249 with Air Asia.
A Danish diplomat took matters into her own hands when a burglar broke into her Manhattan apartment over the weekend.
The New York Police Department says Marie Wandel, 58, went to investigate a noise late Saturday and found the intruder in her home in the Morningside Heights section of Harlem.
She snatched her valuables back from the would-be thief before he scampered away empty-handed.
Danish diplomat Marie Wandel chased off a burglar when he broke into her Manhattan home and tried to flee with her valuables (stock photo above)
The police report says the unidentified perpetrator had tried to steal a camera and jewelry, worth about $1,000.
Wandel told the New York Daily News on Monday that everything is all right, but declined to comment further.
The newspaper reported that the failed home invasion took place while Wandel and her husband, fellow Danish diplomat Christian Wandel, 54, were spending an evening with two friends in their first-floor apartment.
Mrs Wandel managed to catch up to the hapless intruder as he was making his towards the front door with the diplomat's possessions in hand.
Chelsea Clinton has stood up for President Donald Trump's children amid calls for them to stop receiving Secret Service protection.
Trump has faced mounting criticism in recent weeks over the high cost of protecting himself and his family, including his wife Melania and his five children.
Clinton has now weighed in on the argument, saying the safety of the president's family should never be politicized.
'It makes me very sad to read this and to know that anyone would ever say this. The President's family's protection should not be politicized,' she tweeted on Monday.
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Chelsea Clinton stood up for Trump's children amid calls for them to stop receiving Secret Service protection as she argued the safety of the president's family shouldn't be politicized
The former first daughter was responding to a tweet by journalist Yashar Ali that argued a national security crisis would erupt if one of Trump's children were hurt
The former first daughter was responding to a tweet by journalist Yashar Ali that said: 'Some say Trump kids shouldn't have Secret Service. Do you not care about nat sec crisis that would arise if 1 of them was kidnapped/hurt?'
Clinton responded to some on Twitter who suggested the Trumps were abusing their Secret Service protection by going on frequent trips and the first lady choosing to remain in New York with her 11-year-old son Barron until the school year finishes.
'The answer isn't to endanger Trump's family-it's to vote him out of office (& vote in people who will hold him accountable),' she wrote to one critic.
Clinton has also previously defended Trump's 11-year-old son after he was subjected to taunts on Twitter about his behavior at the inauguration.
It comes after the Secret Service reportedly asked for an additional $60 million in funding to cover costs associated with protecting the Trump family, including his four adult children Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka and Tiffany.
The funding boost was turned down, according to The Washington Post.
The Secret Service reportedly asked for an additional $60 million in funding to cover costs associated with protecting the Trump family but were turned down
The secret service has seen a 40 per cent increase in the amount of protection they are providing to the first family compared to a non-campaign year, a New York Times report stated.
The president's frequent trips to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida are believed to cost $3 million each time.
The cost of protecting Trump Tower where the First Lady lives could reportedly reach $183 million per year.
Trump's son Eric and Don Jr. have traveled with agent protection on international work trips. Eric's earlier trip to Uruguay to visit a Trump Organization condo property cost taxpayers $100,000 for security and embassy costs associated with the trip.
Three of the president's adult children also traveled to Aspen, Colorado over the spring break, which required the protection of about 100 secret service agents.
Trump defended his wife on Sunday and confirmed that she will indeed be moving to Washington, D.C.
'Melania goes back and forth and once Barron finishes school, it's hard to take a child out of school with a few months left, she and Barron will be moving over to the White House,' Trump told reporters on Sunday.
The man accused of masterminding the Saint Petersburg train bombing that killed 14 people has denied being responsible.
Abror Azimov, 26, who is believed to be from Kyrgyzstan, told a Russian court on Tuesday that he was involved in the attack, 'but not directly'.
Azimov's lawyer had earlier told reporters that his client 'fully confessed' to being behind the blast, which happened two weeks ago.
Abror Azimov, 26, has denied being the mind behind the St Petersburg terror attack, telling a Russian court that he was involved in the plot 'but not directly'
Azimov's own lawyer said on Monday that his client had 'fully confessed', but appearing in court he claimed 'I did not realise what I was doing'
Police say Azimov trained suicide bomber Akbarzhon Jalilov, 22, who killed 14 people on the St Petersburg subway when he detonated between stations
Ask to explain that confession, Azimov told the court: 'I did not realise what I was doing. I was given orders, and I only followed them.'
Azimov also revealed he is a married father-of-one, the BBC reports.
Police say Azimov trained suicide bomber Akbarzhon Jalilov, 22, before he blew himself up on a subway train between two stations on April 3.
Like Azimov, Jalilov was from Kyrgyzstan, though took Russian citizenship around 2013 having moved to the country five years before.
Dramatic video released yesterday show Russian officers grabbing Azimov and wrestling him to the ground in Odintsovo, a city just outside Moscow.
Footage shows the officers finding what appears to be a pistol loaded with four bullets in the back of Azimov's jeans.
He was also found to be carrying a new phone in a plastic carrier bag.
Officers say they tracked Azimov using contacts found on Jalilov's phone.
Azimov was arrested on Monday after police say he activated a phone SIM card and accidentally revealed his location
Dramatic video showed officers chasing down Azimov before bundling him to the floor
Azimov bought two new mobile phones and Sim cards on Monday, but gave away his location when he activated one of the cards, newspaper Kommersant said.
Azimov is the ninth person to have been detained on suspicion of having colluded with the bomber.
According to Russian media, bomber Jalilov had made a telephone call to someone in Moscow before the attack but it's not clear if this was Azimov.
The impoverished, predominantly Muslim countries in Central Asia are seen as fertile ground for Islamic extremists. Thousands of their citizens are believed to have joined the Islamic State group.
At least 14 people were murdered and 50 injured in the blast and horrifying pictures show bodies, blood and wreckage strewn across the carriage of the train blown up between Sennaya Ploshchad and Sadovaya metro stations in Russia's second city.
Video shows officers pulling a loaded pistol from Azimov's belt, and finding a new phone in a carrier bag he was holding
This is the carriage where Jalilov detonated his homemade explosive belt on April 3, sending shrapnel tearing into innocent passengers
One of the last surviving veterans of the sinking of the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor has been reunited with his fallen shipmates after 75 years.
Raymond Haerry was interred on the ship in a ceremony on Saturday that his granddaughter says was solemn and beautiful.
Haerry was 19 years old when bombs started falling on his battleship on December 7, 1941. He never returned to Pearl Harbor while he lived because the memories were too painful.
As he neared the end of his life, he told his family he'd like to be laid to rest there. Haerry died September 27 in Rhode Island at age 94. Only five Arizona survivors remain.
Raymond Haerry (pictured in 2016) was one of the last surviving veterans of the USS Arizona during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was reunited with his fallen shipmates 75 years later when he was interred there on Saturday
Pictured: Divers take the urn containing the remains of Haerry, who died at the age of 94 on September 27, underwater to his final resting place within the sunken hull of the USS Arizona in Honolulu
Haerry was 19 years old when bombs started falling on his battleship (pictured) on December 7, 1941. He never returned to Pearl Harbor while he lived because the memories were too painful
Haerry's granddaughter, Jessica Marino, traveled from New Jersey to Hawaii with her family for Saturday's ceremony. She handed his urn to divers, who placed it within the ship's sunken hull. Hundreds of sailors and Marines are entombed there.
'That was the point at which I kind of lost it,' Marino said. 'It was really sad, but also really sweet to see. It was amazing.'
Only USS Arizona survivors can be interred on the ship. Haerry served for 25 years in the Navy, retiring as a master chief.
He's the 42nd survivor to rejoin his shipmates, according to the National Park Service.
Spokesman Jay Blount said these ceremonies help bring closure to the families, allow sailors to return to their shipmates and raise awareness of the sacrifices made 75 years ago. The National Park Service and the Navy conducted the interment.
Rear Adm. John Fuller talked about Haerry's courage - not the absence of fear, but a deep abiding belief in something greater than oneself.
'I can't help but think about him being reunited into these simple, hallowed spaces. The calm that comes from being again with your crew, and the lessons we can learn from all he taught us,' said Fuller, commander of Navy Region Hawaii and Naval Surface Group Middle Pacific.
Marino said she knows her grandfather better now.
Only five soldiers, who were aboard the bombed USS Arizona, remain today
Haerry is the 42nd survivor to rejoin his shipmates, according to the National Park Service
'I know this part of his life really did shape him,' she said. 'To be a part of getting him back to his ship and with his shipmates, it's an honor for me.'
Health issues prevented Raymond Haerry Jr. from joining his daughter in Hawaii. It was Haerry Jr. who pieced together the narrative of what happened in Pearl Harbor by asking questions of his father over 50 years.
Haerry was trying to get ammunition when a large bomb detonated, igniting fuel and powder magazines, Haerry Jr. said in October. Most of the bow was instantly separated and the ship was lifted out of the water.
Haerry Jr. said his father swam through flaming waters, sweeping his arms in front of him to push the flames away. He shot at Japanese planes from shore. Later, he helped retrieve corpses from the harbor.
The ship lost 1,177 men, nearly four-fifths of its crew. At first, Haerry's family was surprised by his request to be laid to rest there, but soon they understood.
'That brotherhood doesn't go away and as he got closer to the end of life, it resonated with him,' Marino said. 'He didn't want to see the site or relive that disaster, but he wanted to relive that camaraderie.'
Multi-millionaire Ukip donor Arron Banks has declared he will stand in the General Election against party defector Douglas Carswell.
The insurance tycoon vowed to carry through on his threat to try to unseat his one-time Ukip colleague turned rival at the upcoming election on June 8.
While the battle for the Clacton seat in Essex will pit two of Ukip's most famous faces against each other, neither is a member of the party anymore after they both left amid bitter infighting.
Multi-millionaire Ukip donor Arron Banks has pledged to run against Douglas Carswell at the General Election on June 8. It is unclear if the insurance tycoon will stand for Ukip or not
Mr Carswell defected from the Tories to join Ukip in August 2014, but left the party last month claiming it had fulfilled its purpose by helping to secure the historic Brexit vote.
While Mr Banks pledged to set up a new movement which he dubbed Ukip 2.0 after being kicked out of the party when his membership lapsed.
It is unclear who Mr Banks will stand for in the election, or if he will run as an independent.
Ukip donor Arron Banks took to Twitter to confirm he will be standing in the General Election on June 8
He has previously suggested he will set up a new party called The Patriotic Alliance and has also said he will bankroll 200 candidates to 'drain the swamp' at Westminster.
But Mr Banks' spokesman Andy Wigmore has suggested the businessman could put aside his differences with Ukip and stand on the party ticket on June 8.
Douglas Carswell quit Ukip last month and now sits as an independent MP. He has said Ukip has served its purpose by helping to secure Britain's departure from the European Union
He told The Guardian: 'Whether Banks stands as an independent, Patriotic Alliance or Ukip, those things are all up for discussion.
'We were due to launch it on 5 May, but events supersede everything. We will just concentrate on the Clacton swamp. Make Clacton great.'
Mr Carswell's decision to quit Ukip has left the party without a single MP in Parliament despite attracting 3.9 million votes at the last general election.
Australian businesses looking to bring in foreign workers could be hit hard by Malcolm Turnbull's decision to scrap the 457 visa program.
According to The Australian, the next budget will include a foreign worker tax which will be compulsory for businesses looking to sponsor skilled workers from overseas.
Under the short-term two year visa which is set to replace the 457, companies will have to pay the government a lump sum of money for each worker they sponsor.
According to recommendations made in a 2014 report, the payments will be flushed into a national fund dedicated to training Australian workers to fill job shortages.
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The decision to scrap 457 visas could hit businesses in the wallet hard - with the next budget reportedly set to include a compulsory foreign worker tax
Under the short-term, two-year visa set to replace the 457, companies will have to pay the government a lump sum of money for each worker they sponsor (stock image)
The compulsory payments by businesses - scaled according to company size - will be flushed into a national fund dedicated to training Australian workers to fill job shortages (stock image)
The strict new visas will slash the number of available occupations for foreign skilled workers by 200 and force them to have at least two years of work experience.
A medium-term, four-year visa will require a higher standard of English, mandatory labour market testing and a criminal check - with just 183 eligible occupations.
The 2014 Azarias report into the 457 program said the mandatory financial contributions by businesses would be scaled according to each company's size.
'This recommendation is based on the concept of a 'social licence' ... that in return for the privilege of being able to recruit an overseas worker, the sponsor should contribute to a national benefit,' the report said.
'Australia First' plan: Malcolm Turnbull made the stunning 457 announcement on social media then at a Canberra press conference (pictured) on Tuesday
In a video statement posted on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said the visa would be replaced by a new program.
'Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs,' Mr Turnbull said.
The 457 program, introduced by John Howard's government in 1996, allowed overseas workers to stay in Australia for up to four years.
Businesses could sponsor 'skilled' foreign workers to come to Australia for work - as long as they couldn't find a citizen or permanent resident to do the job instead.
But Mr Turnbull said the program has 'lost its credibility'.
He said his new visa scheme will attract the 'best and brightest' to Australia and target regional skills shortages.
'We're putting Australians first,' he said.
Mr Turnbull and Immigration Minister Peter Dutton announced they will scrap 457 visas for foreign workers and replace them with a new scheme with tougher English standards
Mr Turnbull's plan involves a short-term two year visa, with the number of available occupations cut from the current list of 200.
(Current 457 visa holders) will continue under the conditions of that visa - Immigration Minister Peter Dutton
His program also includes a longer-term four year visa where workers will need to meet a higher standard of English.
People will need to undergo a criminal record check and show work experience.
Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said the shock decision won't affect current Australian visa holders.
'There will be a grandfathering arrangement. They will continue under the conditions of that visa.'
Both Bill Shorten (pictured left) and Pauline Hanson (right) were quick out of the blocks. Mr Shorten said Malcolm Turnbull didn't care for workers, while Ms Hanson claimed credit for the shock announcement saying she was well ahead of the game
WHO COMES TO AUSTRALIA ON 457 VISAS? A 457 visa allows foreign workers in 'skilled' occupations to live and work in Australia for up to four years. As of March 2016, more than 177,000 workers and members of their family held 457 visas. A Parliamentary Library report said the most 457 workers come from India, the United Kingdom, China and Ireland. The biggest industries employing 457 visa holders were accommodation, food services, and IT. Source: Parliamentary Library
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Political reaction was swift. 'Make no mistake, the only job Malcolm Turnbull cares about saving is his own,' tweeted Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.
One Nation senator Pauline Hanson claimed credit for the decision.
'The Government will deny their tough talk on immigration & plan to ban 457 visas is because of One Nation but we all know the truth!,' she said on Twitter.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said the visa abolition sounded 'more like a dog whistle than a genuine policy to grow jobs for young Australians.'
The announcement came just weeks before Treasurer Scott Morrison hands down the Federal Budget.
And it comes less than a day after Mr Turnbull's predecessor, Tony Abbott, warned Australians were 'sick of governments that don't deliver'.
Mr Turnbull's announcement came shortly after a barrage of criticism from his predecessor Tony Abbott
Melbourne gangland widow Roberta Williams has allegedly been sent death threats by the infamous thug who bludgeoned her former husband to death.
Maximum security inmate Matthew Johnson was found guilty of murdering Carl Williams in 2011 and sentenced to a minimum of 32 years behind bars.
Now Johnson is reportedly pushing Ms Williams into testifying that her former husband was planning to kill him, which would let him lodge a self defence appeal.
Police are investigating allegations Johnson sent the threatening messages to Ms Williams through other inmates, according to Herald Sun.
Melbourne gangland widow Roberta Williams (pictured leaving the Victorian County Court) has allegedly been sent death threats
Maximum-security inmate Matthew Johnson (left) was found guilty of murdering Carl Williams in 2011
Concerns for Ms Williams' safety are linked to several members of Johnson's Prisoner of War gang being released from prison recently.
Ms Williams is believed to have refused to make a statement to police about the threats for fear of reprisal.
Police have reportedly advised the family to move out of their Essendon home to a safer location.
It is not the first time criminal associates of Johnson have been accused of terrorising the Williams family.
Now Johnson (pictured leaving the Supreme Court) is reportedly pushing Ms Williams into testifying her former husband was planning to kill him
Ms Williams was married to Carl Williams (pictured) at the height of Melbourne's infamous gangland war in the 2000s
In July 2015, Prisoner of War thugs Rodney Phillips and Sam Liszczak attempted an arson attack on Roberta Williams' home.
The pair firebombed the wrong address just days after walking free from jail, before fatally shooting police officer Ben Ashmole in the head.
When police raided Liszczak's house they found posters of Roberta Williams scrawled with the ominous words: 'Last seen working for VicPol'.
Roberta was married to Carl at the height of Melbourne's gangland war of the 2000s.
The Chinese navy has tested its new guided-missile destroyer, Xining, in a first-ever live-fire exercise.
The full-on drill was carried out on the Yellow Sea, which is situated between China and the Korean Peninsula.
Footage of the exercise was broadcast yesterday on the China Central Television Station (CCTV) as Beijing urged North Korea to give up its nuclear ambitions amid growing military tensions.
North Korea threatened to launch weekly missile tests yesterday after US Vice President Mike Pence warned that the 'era of patience' with Kim Jong-un is over.
China has conducted a live-fire exercise on its new guided-missile destroyer Xining
The drill was held on Yellow Sea, which is situated between China and the Korean Peninsula
According to CCTV, a series of exercises were held on the Yellow Sea to test Xining's weapon performance during 'complex weather conditions' and through 'complicated electromagnetic environment'.
Footage of the drill has also been shared by state-run People's Daily on its Twitter account.
Xining is a Type 052D-class guided-missile destroyer. It was commissioned to service the North Sea Fleet of the PLA Navy in January.
During the exercise, the destroyer's main artillery was tasked to shoot down enemy targets which were quickly approaching the vessel on waters and in air. Its torpedo and sonar system were also put to test during the intensive mock battle.
The exercise is said to have lasted for several days.
Xiang Zhihong, a supervising officer from the North Sea Fleet, told CCTV: 'This live-fire exercise not only provided officers and sailors with an opportunity to fire the artillery, but also tested and regulated their firing techniques and help them gather battling experience.'
XINING: CHINA'S NEW DESTROYER Xining (pictured) is named and commissioned in January to service the PLA Navy Xining is China's homegrown guided-missile destroyer, which was named and commissioned on January 22. The vessel is integrated with 'many new types of weaponry', including main artillery on the deck, anti-aircraft and anti-missile close-in weapon system, torpedo and missile. It has high informatisation level, advanced stealth capability and electro-magnetic compatibility. The destroyer is mainly responsible for formation command, regional air defense, anti-submarine warfare and other missions. Source: China's Ministry of National Defense Advertisement
The destroyer was tasked to shoot down enemy targets approaching on waters and in air
A supervising officer said the drill had provided soldiers with an opportunity to fire the artillery
The exercise was carried out by the PLA Navy on the Yellow Sea near the Korean Peninsula
CCTV's footage of Xining's live-fire drilled appeared just days after the station flaunted China's arsenal of missiles during a military programme.
Both reports appeared at a sensitive time as military tensions escalated in North Korea over the nation's nuclear projects.
Tension has risen as U.S. President Donald Trump takes a hard rhetorical line with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has rebuffed admonitions from China and pursued nuclear and missile programmes that Washington sees as a direct threat.
The mock battle was conducted during 'complex weather conditions', reported CCTV News
The footage was released just days after the station flaunted China's arsenal of missiles
On Sunday, North Korea attempted to fire a missile - but it was an embarrassing failure when the weapon blew up four or five seconds after being launched.
The South Korean defence ministry said it had detected a failed launch from Sinpo - where North Korea's biggest submarine base is located.
It was thought to be one of the country's new 'game-changer' intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) which was revealed to the world just hours before on Saturday.
North Korea unveiled the new weapons on Saturday during a display of the country's military might in the country's capital Pyongyang as Kim Jong-un warned of an 'annihilating strike' if the US attacked.
North Korea has threatened to launch weekly missile tests after US Vice President Mike Pence warned that the 'era of patience' with Kim Jong-un is over.
Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol yesterday ramped up the tension between the two nations by saying: 'We'll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis.'
He also said that an 'all out war' was a possibility if the US responded by taking military action against Pyongyang.
Missiles are paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade on Saturday
Defying international pressure, the North on Sunday tried to test-fire another missile in an attempt that failed, but which fuelled fears that it may be preparing for its sixth atomic weapons test. On Saturday, Pyongyang showed off its military strength during a huge parade
Private schools are looking to create Indigenous-only campuses which could benefit from hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funding.
The Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA) is pushing the idea of 'satellite' Aboriginal campuses, which would benefit from federal funding worth tens of thousands a year per student, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.
The organisation has put the idea to the Federal Government, which is planning to undertake a huge overhaul to school funding.
The Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA) is pushing the idea of 'satellite' Aboriginal campuses
Many have raised concerns the proposal to create Indigenous-only campuses could segregate school communities.
But AHISA chief executive Beth Blackwood says the plan is 'not an isolationist approach' and students would have opportunities to integrate in the wider school community through extra-curricular activities.
'At the end of the day, if you're working in partnership with the Indigenous communities and it's something they want for their youth then it can work,' Ms Blackwood told The Sydney Morning Herald.
Ms Blackwood referred to the Gawura Aboriginal School, part of St Andrew's Cathedral School, in Sydney which had accomplished 'exceptional results'.
But Grattan Institute's school education program director Pete Goss argued that in order to avoid segregation schools had an 'obligation to take any Indigenous student who [were] needy'.
It is understood the government will back away from the plan on Tuesday, with Education Minister Simon Birmingham saying they already provided $278 million a year to schools in Indigenous loadings.
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Tens of thousands of new homes are now being built from wood in a factory in the Oxfordshire countryside ready to be erected all over the country.
Bosses of the expanding firm making the wooden houses say they are cheaper and quicker to build than brick homes and thus could solve the British housing crisis.
But despite being built in a factory and put together elsewhere, they insist the houses are better than prefabricated homes.
Housing 'of the moment': Tens of thousands of new homes are now being built from wood in a factory in the Oxfordshire countryside ready to be erected all over the country
'In the standard and quality, in the understanding of how building materials perform, we are nowhere near pre-fabs,' Alex Goodfellow, managing director of Stewart Milne Timber Systems, told The Times.
At the factory near Witney, former Prime Minister David Cameron's old constituency, the Scottish company builds 3,000 wooden homes a year.
Mr Goodfellow says that their own contractors can then build the homes in 'half the time' of a brick house, taking just nine weeks on site, compared to the industry's standard 14-20.
He also claims that the homes are more energy efficient because of the nature of wood compared to concrete, and because the panels can be packed with insulation.
Mr Goodfellow believes that with the growing shortage and rising cost of labour, wooden houses will become even more essential.
Currently, around 50,000 are built a year but he expects that to double to 100,000 as 'surging' demand increases, the company claims.
Bosses of the expanding firm making the wooden houses say they are cheaper and quicker to build than brick homes and thus could solve the British housing crisis
The claim comes after think tank The Resolution Foundation published a report that revealed:
The UK is in the middle of a national housing crisis.
The total numbers of buyers has fallen by a third in the last decade
Affordability of housing was cited as one of the greatest hurdles, as well as availability
The report coincides with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) warning of a construction slowdown with the potential to wipe out more than a third of the GDP growth.
Mr Goodfellow said: 'We may be in the middle of a national housing shortage but there is a clear opportunity to address it now.
'Offsite construction is a proven way of building faster, to extremely high quality and without the same labour costs required by traditional brick and block construction.
'Greater uptake of offsite construction in large-scale housebuilding could make the difference between consigning an entire generation to lifetime renting, and creating enough new housing stock to kick over the obstacles to home ownership.'
Quality: Despite being built in a factory and put together elsewhere, bosses insist the houses are better than prefabricated homes
He added: 'Factory-manufactured timber systems enable tighter control on costs, they're precision-engineered to exacting standards, and they can be ready for moving in many weeks faster than with current building methods.'
Stewart Dalgarno, director of product development at Stewart Milne Group, said: 'The UK's shortage of housing is well-documented, but solving a challenging problem is made even harder by a persistent and chronic lack of skilled labour. Currently there are not enough people to build the UK's shortfall of 264,000 homes.
'Realigning the industry around offsite construction means the UK will be less constrained and less dependent on current trades skills.
'The project is the beginning of an answer to this triple threat to the country's housing ambitions, and having experts from industry and academia working together means we are in a strong position to deliver something meaningful for the good of the whole industry and the UK housing market.'
At the factory near Witney, former Prime Minister David Cameron's old constituency, the Scottish company builds 3,000 wooden homes a year
The project includes a timber systems offsite manufacturing technical training centre at Stewart Milne Timber Systems' facility in Witney, Oxfordshire.
The centre includes a product gallery, conference centre, and learning centre which gives visitors the chance to visualise the construction process end to end, view training videos, interact with the latest technology and take part in simulations. It also includes a 'training rig' to allow hands-on experience of the real-life process of construction.
Dr Robert Hairstans, head of the centre for offsite construction and innovative structures at Napier University, said: 'Offsite systems are more technically advanced due to the inherent quality assurance process of a factory environment and adoption of lean production principles.
'Bringing these advanced systems together on-site requires a new skill level. Stewart Milne Timber Systems' investment in the process of upskilling is admirable, and the new centre of excellence being launched is a showcase of what can be achieved through collaboration.'
Steve Stephens has committed suicide. He was wanted for shooting dead 74-year-old Robert Godwin in a random act of violence on Sunday
The man wanted for shooting dead a 74-year-old man and posting video of the heinous act to Facebook has committed suicide.
A tip came in shortly after 11am Tuesday that a car matching the description of Steve Stephens' white Ford Fusion was at a McDonald's near Erie, Pennsylvania, said Cleveland, Ohio Police Chief Calvin Williams at a press conference.
A worker recognized Stephens as he was waiting in his car to pick up his meal of chicken nuggets and fries.
By the time he pulled up to the pick-up window, employees were on the phone with state police.
One of the fast food workers tried to stall Stephens by saying his fries weren't ready yet and he did not respond well to the delay.
'I can't wait! I need my McNuggets!' he said before driving off.
Cops got to the establishment in time to see Stephens leaving and a short chase ensued.
Eventually cops cornered Stephens on a stretch of Buffalo Road, near an old elementary school, where he came to a stop.
Officers were walking over to arrest Stephens when he shot himself inside his vehicle around 11.10am.
Erie is located about 100 miles east of Cleveland, where Stephens shot dead Robert Godwin on Sunday, in a random act of violence after breaking up with his girlfriend.
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Police were tailing Stephens' white Ford Fusion Tuesday morning when he suddenly shot himself. Above, a view of the scene after the suicide
Cops found Stephens after getting a tip that his car was parked at a McDonald's near Erie, Pennsylvania
Police say they are looking into where Stephens was between the time of the murder and when he shot himself
Pennsylvania State Police cordon off a one-block radius area as they investigate the scene where Stephens shot himself
It's about 100 miles between Cleveland, Ohio and Erie, Pennsylvania - where Stephens shot Godwin and then killed himself
On Monday, Cleveland cops said they had expanded their search to five states including Pennsylvania.
Stephens' cellphone pinged in Erie not long after the murder, but it seems that he didn't travel further after that.
Chief Williams says they'll be looking into where he has been in the time between the shooting and his suicide, and whether he had any ties in the Erie area.
Williams noted that there 'are a lot of remote areas' around Erie where Stephens could have hidden.
Williams said he hoped the search for Stephens would have ended differently.
'This started with one tragedy and ended with another person ending their life We would like to have brought Stephens in peacefully and talked to him about why this happened,' Williams said.
The mother of two of Godwin's children lashed out on Tuesday at Stephens, for 'escaping justice' by committing suicide.
Angela Smith, speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, described Stephens as a 'coward.'
She added: 'If he was going to do that he should have done it right at the beginning.
'He was better killing himself than doing what he did.
'He shouldn't have taken my baby-father and robbed them of him.'
Angela, 34, crying and screaming, added: 'He escaped justice.
'My kids ain't never gonna get closure. He should have given himself up to the police.
Stephens was wanted on aggravated murder charges for killing 74-year-old Robert Godwin and then posting video of the shooting (above) to Facebook
Shortly after the murder, Stephens' cellphone pinged in Erie. It seems he had stayed put in the town - located 100 miles east of Cleveland - since then
'He's escaped justice and left our lives in a mess. I can't take this. I just gotta take care of my kids now that their precious father is gone'
Her 74-year-old lover had nine children with different women and was a grandfather at least a dozen times.
Angela, who is also known by the last name of Small, said she had fallen out with some members of her partner's family.
'They be blaming me for his death. They said that if he hadn't had come to my house on Sunday to see his kids, he would be alive today.
'But that ain't fair. I didn't know this shooter would take my baby-daddy's life like that. We never knew that man.
'My man just in wrong place at wrong time. That is it.'
Angela Smith, pictured center of left and right, told DailyMail.com that Robert Godwin, the senior citizen randomly killed by fugitive Steve Stephens, was the love of her life. She is pictured left with their two sons Terell and Marsean at a memorial in the spot where he Godwin killed
Earlier Tuesday, 911 calls were released from the day of the murder, showing how people across the country called in to report the violent Facebook video.
Dispatchers answered 300 more calls on Easter Sunday than the previous Sunday because of the brutal murder.
Dispatchers say when the first calls started coming in, they weren't from people near the scene of the crime, but from those who watched the disturbing clip online - some as far away as California, according to Fox 8.
Dispatchers struggled to keep up with the calls, some of which were from people who just wanted to check in to see if the suspect had been caught.
'Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am, I got about a 100 911 calls about this,' a dispatcher told one woman who called in.
Meanwhile, former neighbors have spoken out about Stephens' creepy behavior growing up.
Tony Henderson lived across the street from Stephens and his family. When the Stephens family moved to his neighborhood, he says Steve was in his early teens and he was in his late 20s.
When he heard what happened on Sunday, he said he wasn't surprised because Stephens always seemed 'out there'.
'I never quite understood that kid through his entire life, because on some days he would talk to you, and then on others he would be mean and staring at you and very quiet,' Henderson told the Daily Beast.
Henderson says he 'could see something wasn't right' with the boy, a feeling that was confirmed when he was invited over to see the teen's pet bird.
'He had a parakeet and he had that bird crawl from the cage and on to his finger. Then he slapped the bird as hard as he could with his other hand, and the bird was lying on the floor. The bird looked dead to me. I looked at him and he was smiling and laughing as he looked at me and that bird,' Henderson recalled.
That lack of empathy is concerning. Science has shown that many rapists and serial murderers tortured animals as children.
'Hey, animals dont make you weird like that,' he added. 'He was that way before he got that bird. Heard he used to torture other pets he had. He was like that from the time I first met him.'
Alexis Lee, 34 (left), who had known Stephens since he was a teenager told DailyMail.com he had tried to get her to spend time with him in the local casino, where he had lost heavily. Charisse Leonard, 28, (right) said: 'I thought he was confused about his sexuality and could even have been gay.'
The Facebook killer Steve Stephens was brought up in this eastern section of Cleveland and lived at this home with his mom while growing up
Next-door-neighbor Alexis Lee was also creeped out by Stephens. She told DailyMail.com that as a teenager he bought a python and would approach women trying to women their attention.
FACEBOOK'S RESPONSE TO THE DISTURBING MURDER VIDEO: 11:09am: First video from Stephens, in which he threatens to murder, is uploaded to Facebook. No one reports it to Facebook. 11:11am: Video of the shooting is uploaded. 11:22am: Confesssion is recorded via Facebook Live. 11:27am: Live video ends and reports start coming in. 12:59am: Video of the shooting is first reported. 1:22pm: Suspect's account is disabled and all videos are no longer visible to the public. Advertisement
'He didn't really know how to talk to us ladies,' Lee said. 'The snake was meant to draw my attention and he regularly told me he had a crush on me.
'But he wasn't my type at all. There was nothing attractive about him. He did have a nice personality though.
Another local woman Charisse Leonard, 28, said: 'I thought he was confused about his sexuality and could even have been gay.
'I had never known him to have had a girlfriend. But he had a nice nature as did his mother and family. I never saw his dad.'
Stephens, worked as case manager at Beech Brook, a behavioral health agency headquartered in Pepper Pike, near Cleveland.
He joined in 2008 and began as a youth mentor for teens and for the past two years as a vocational specialist for the Assertive Community Treatment team, which provides support to older teens and young adults.
He did not have a criminal record and had only been accused of traffic offenses.
But he blew his salary at the tables in the Jack casino, in a former department store in downtown Cleveland, and at one point petitioned for bankruptcy.
Rambling videos he shared showed his despair, saying he was out of options and wanted to kill as many innocent people as he could.
Stephens posted a video of himself killing Robert Godwin Sr., a former foundry worker who had 10 children, police said. In it, he said, 'I snapped, I just snapped.'
In the video, Stephens told Godwin a woman's name and said, 'She's the reason that this is about to happen to you.' Godwin did not seem to recognize the name.
The woman Stephens spoke of, Joy Lane, said in a text message to CBS that 'we had been in a relationship for several years. I am sorry that all of this has happened.'
She also said Stephens was 'a nice guy' who was good to her and her children.
Stephens reportedly went on the rampage after his girlfriend, Joy Lane, broke up with him earlier in the day. The former couple pictured above
Stephens said that he wouldn't stop killing until Lane or his mother called him
Stephens filed for bankruptcy two years ago despite holding down a job as a counselor helping young people develop job skills and find employment. The behavioral health agency where he worked said an extensive background check before he was hired turned up nothing worrisome.
In one video posted on Facebook, Stephens said that he gambled away everything and that he and his ex-girlfriend had planned to marry but did not, without saying why. He blamed her for what was about to happen.
Some friends said they knew about his gambling. But the videos showed a man they did not recognize.
Alexis Lee, who saw Stephens last week, said his childhood friend always seemed respectful and got along with everybody.
'He never ever told me he had problems or issues. It was always good things,' Lee said. 'He was always just so happy and cool, calm, collected, like, that's why it's so shocking.'
Other neighbors said he was quiet as a kid and intelligent, recalling how he went to college and got a master's degree.
'He was just a no problem person at all, compared to a lot of people,' said Cynthia Coley, a former neighbor.
Tributes are being laid at the scene of Steve Stephens' Facebook murder of Robert Goodwin. The father and grandfather was walking on the sidewalk when the killing was broadcast
Robert Godwin's (pictured) son says his father was a retired foundry worker
It's believed that Godwin was out collecting cans when he was shot dead on Sunday
In one video in which he blamed his girlfriend, Stephens said he woke up last week and 'couldn't take it anymore.'
Investigators said that Godwin was the only victim so far linked to Stephens, despite his claim on Facebook that he killed over a dozen people.
On Monday evening, Facebook announced that it was launching a review for reporting harmful content following the killing. The company said that Stephens posted a video of himself announcing his intent to commit murder, then two minutes later posted another video of himself shooting and killing Godwin. A few minutes after that, he went live and confessed.
The company said it disabled Stephen's account within 23 minutes of receiving the first report about the video of the fatal shooting and two hours after receiving any report.
'In this case we did not receive a report about the first video, and we only received a report about the second video - containing the shooting - more than an hour and 45 minutes after it was posted,' said Justin Osofsky, Facebook's vice president of global operations. 'We received reports about the third video, containing the man's live confession, only after it had ended.'
A South African hunter is believed to have been eaten by crocodiles after human remains were found inside two beasts.
Scott Van Zyl, 44, vanished last week after going on a hunting safari with a Zimbabwean tracker and a pack of dogs.
The father-of-two, whose company runs hunting trips for foreign clients, is thought to have been eaten by crocodiles on the banks of the Limpopo River in Zimbabwe.
South African hunter Scott Van Zyl, 44, is believed to have been eaten by crocodiles after human remains were found inside two beasts
He vanished last week after going on a hunting safari with a Zimbabwean tracker and a pack of dogs
The professional hunter and his tracker had left their truck and walked into the bush in different directions.
Later that day his dogs returned to the camp without Mr Van Zyl. His rifle and belongings were found inside the truck.
A rescue team of helicopters, divers and trackers combed the area while friends gave out missing posters in villages and to fishermen along the river.
Mr Van Zyl's footprints were later spotted leading to the river bank and trackers found his backpack nearby.
Sakkie Louwrens, who was part of the search team, said police suspected two Nile crocodiles may have eaten Mr Van Zyl.
'We found what could possibly be human remains in them,' he told The Telegraph.
The father-of-two, whose company runs hunting trips for foreign clients, is thought to have been eaten by crocodiles on the banks of the Limpopo River (pictured) in Zimbabwe
The professional hunter and his tracker had left their truck and walked into the bush in different directions. Later that day his dogs returned to the camp without Mr Van Zyl (pictured right, with his wife)
Police and animal nature conservation services decided to shoot the reptiles.
The remains are being tested by forensic experts to see whether they belong to Mr Van Zyl.
At least four people have been killed by crocodiles in Zimbabwe in the past month.
In March, villagers cut open a crocodile and found the remains of an eight-year-old boy inside the beast.
The shocking scene was captured by an eyewitness with a smartphone in the village of Mushumbi Pools in northern Zimbabwe's Mashonaland Central Province.
Villagers suspected the crocodile had killed and eaten the young boy, and shot the animal dead.
Sakkie Louwrens, who was part of the search team, said police suspected two Nile crocodiles may have eaten Mr Van Zyl (pictured)
Police shot the crocodiles and are testing the remains found inside them to see if they belong to Mr Van Zyl (pictured with his wife)
Zimbabwe has recently been hit by heavy rain, raising river and dam levels, which can bring crocodiles to areas where they are not normally seen.
A crocodile was recently shot dead in Beatrice, a farming community in the neighbouring province of Mashonaland East, with what were believed to be the remains of a fisherman in its stomach.
In November, last year a 13 year old boy who was fishing to pay for his school fees was killed by a crocodile in southern Zimbabwe.
Owen Chianga and his friend, Liberty Ruzivo, 15, were attacked by two crocodiles while they were fishing in the Save River near the village of Birchenough Bridge.
Nile crocodiles typically feed on fish, antelope and zebra, which they snatch from the shallows and before engaging in a twirling, drowning method known as 'the death roll'.
In a show of strength toward the North Koreans, the U.S. could shoot down the country's next missile test, the Guardian has learned.
The Pentagon is currently looking at ways to strong arm the North Korean regime to stop its nuclear program, short of actually going to war, as Vice President Mike Pence traveled to the region this week.
The idea would be that the U.S. would intercept a missile test after the North Koreans hold another nuclear test, with the message being that the nuclear test was 'unacceptable,' as President Trump has said.
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President Donald Trump salutes servicemembers outside Marine One today. His Pentagon is looking into ways to show strength to the North Koreans
Vice President Mike Pence is seen on his trip to the Demilitarized Zone between South and North Korea on an Asian trip this week
North Korean missiles were paraded down the streets of Pyongyang on Saturday to commemorate the birthday of Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong-un's grandfather
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was photographed this week attending a military parade. Experts worry that is the U.S. knocks down one of his missiles he'll attack Japan or South Korea
However, uncorking such a bottle with North Korea could lead to disastrous consequences, as the nation could attack American allies like South Korea and Japan, military experts pointed out to the Guardian.
'I would see such an action as escalatory, but I couldn't guess how Kim Jong-un would interpret it,' Abraham Denmark, the senior Pentagon policy official Asia under President Obama, told the Guardian of the unpredictable North Korean leader.
'But I would be concerned he would feel the need to react strongly, as he would not want to appear week,' Denmark added of the 33-year-old Kim.
This new plan is separate from the U.S.'s decision to supply South Korea with a missile defense system called THAAD, an acronym for Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.
The U.S. deployed the first stage of the system in March, though it could take months for the whole thing to come online, according to Fox News.
China hasn't been a fan of the South Koreans getting THAAD, though President Trump has been trying to persuade China's President Xi to join the Americans in pressuring North Korea to stand down.
The Guardian's two sources said instead of using THAAD, the plan would consist of either using the Aegis missile defense system about a U.S. Navy destroyer or by convincing Japanese officials to use their own missile-defense system against the North Koreans, especially if the ballistic missile test traverses Japanese waters.
The USS Carl Vinson carrier striker group, which includes destroyers equipped with Aegis missile defense systems, are headed toward the Koreas, after a miscommunication between the White House and the Pentagon, and will be there toward the end of the month.
However, what if the U.S. tried to shoot down a North Korean missile and failed?
Such a blunder could embolden the country's unpredictable leader.
Patrick Cronin, senior director of the Asia-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security told the Guardian that such a screw-up would give Pyongyang a 'psychological advantage.'
Speaking more broadly about Kim Jong-un on Sunday's Meet the Press, Sen. John McCain pointed out, 'This guy in North Korea is not rational. His father and his grandfather were much more rational than he is.'
McCain explained why the U.S. hasn't wanted to take Kim out militarily.
'I think you never want to do that ... because of the proximity of North Korean artillery to Seoul, a city of how many million people,' McCain said. 'But, at the same time, to risk a situation where they have [nuclear] ability and we rely on our ability to intercept,' he said, pointing to what could happen if North Korea made good on its threat of nuclear attack.
'This could be the first test, real test, of the Trump presidency,' McCain said.
Knocking down a North Korean missile, at least one expert argued, could be the best option as Pyongyang thumbs its nose at the United States, and the United Nations, which says North Korea cannot do any missile or nuclear tests.
'North Korea is banned from testing missiles by the UN, so in that sense we should be shooting all of them down,' Robert Kelly, an associate professor at South Koreas Pusan National University, told the Guardian. 'But instead the world has turned a blind eye.'
'I don't think it would be a bad idea to shoot down a test missile, as an attack on North Korea itself would be too provocative,' he added.
The sale of the gravestones of two Australian war heroes has caused an uproar after the headstones fell into the hands of a private dealer.
Ben Hardy and Ralph Jones, who were both recipients of the George Cross, were ruthlessly murdered during the Second World War as Japanese prisoners overthrew the Cowra prisoner of war camp.
New gravestones have been made for the war heroes, so their old stones had been sent to be destroyed, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The two gravestones of Ben Hardy and Ralph Jones, which somehow found there way into an auction up for sale
Yet protocol had not been followed and they found themselves in the possession of war memorabilia collector Ron Horsfall who claims he picked them up Cowra rubbish tip 25 years ago.
Australian War Memorial director Dr Brendan Nelson ordered for the headstones to be reacquired when they went up for sale at a private auction in Goulburn.
'I think it's disappointing the headstones of two highly decorated Australians should be auctioned in the first place. Why someone should wish to profit from them is beyond my understanding,' Dr Nelson said.
'We paid $325 for the two, which is $325 more than anybody should have paid because common decency would suggest a man's headstone, particularly a George Cross recipient's, should not be sold.'
War hero and George Cross recipient Ben Hardy
Fellow George Cross recipient Ralph Jones was stabbed to death by Japanese prisoners of war
Hardy and Jones were killed as Japanese prisoners of war escaped from the Cowra camp, with 359 getting away.
The pair, who were clubbed and stabbed to death respectively, deliberately broke their machine guns so the Japanese could not seize them.
They were both posthumously awarded the George Cross.
Cities Assistant Minister Angus Taylor, who notified Dr Nelson about the sale of the headstones in his electorate, said it was 'appalling' they were available at auction.
Local RSL members were also mortified by the news that the gravestones were to be sold.
'We were aghast that they had fallen into private hands, it's disrespectful,'Crookwell RSL sub-branch member Malcolm Barlow said.
Janie Hall, 45, saved her Plenty of Fish date's life when she performed CPR on him after he collapsed at the table
A Missouri woman saved her Plenty of Fish date's life by performing CPR on the floor of a restaurant after he passed out at the table earlier this month.
It was the first time Janie Hall, 45, a former respiratory therapist, had met her suitor, who has asked to remain anonymous, after chatting on the dating website for several weeks.
The pair met up at The Cheesecake Factory in Kansas City on April 7 and had lunch.
They had finished their meal when Janie's date, who is in his late fifties, began coughing then suddenly fell to the floor.
She sprung in to action, performing CPR with the waitress until an ambulance came to take him to the hospital.
She has since visited him and was 'honored' to have been asked out a second time.
Reflecting on their unforgettable first encounter, Janie told People: 'We had a wonderful meal and great conversation.
'They boxed our food and we continued to talk for 45 more minutes, chatting about family and friends.'
The gentleman suddenly began coughing and lifted his hand to excuse himself but soon fell to the ground.
'I turned my head to the side to give him some privacy and then the next thing I knew there were dishes falling onto my side of the booth.
Janie and waitress Becca Bartholomew (above together at the restaurant) performed CPR until paramedics arrived
The incident occurred at The Cheesecake Factory in Kansas City, Missouri, on April 7
'He had glazed-over eyes and blood was coming from his mouth. I checked and he had no heart rate so I began chest compressions and CPR,' she said.
When the ambulance arrived, she followed it to the hospital then slipped her card to hospital staff so that the man's family could contact her.
The couple struck up a rapport on the dating website Plenty of Fish
The next day, she phoned the hospital and asked to be put through to his room.
She then exchanged text messages with his daughter and went to visit him days later in the hospital.
'He remembered everything about our conversation at the restaurant. I told him, "I never got to thank you for the meal," and he said, "Oh my god, you saved my life!".
'He asked for a second date in the hospital. I was extremely honored. What means the most to me is that he works on his health and wellness right now.'
Janie has not revealed what caused the incident, leaving the choice of whether to share it not with him.
An explosive bus brawl was captured on video after a shouting match erupted and the driver kicked a passenger on crutches.
Brian Betancur said he no longer feels safe on public transportation after he was in an explosive clash with bus driver Leslie St. Lewis in March in Montgomery County, Maryland.
The fight, filmed by another passenger, shows the two men in a heated argument and as Betancur hobbles away on one crutch, St. Lewis is seen kicking him in the back of the leg, sending him lurching forward.
Betancur turns around and hurls his crutch at the driver and the two begin exchanging blows, all while the two are cursing at each other.
Other riders on the Ride On bus quickly move out of the way to escape any misdirected blows and the video abruptly ends as the person filming stops to break up the fight.
A bus brawl was captured on video on a Ride On bus in Maryland between passenger Brian Betancur and driver Leslie St. Lewis, who kicked Betancur, who was on a crutch (pictured)
Betancur (left) is banned from riding on the bus for 90 days while St. Lewis (right) is still employed but is not driving while the incident is under investigation
The altercation began when Betancur became angry when he thought the bus tried tried to roll past a stop he had been waiting at for 45 minutes, causing him to hustle on his crutch across the street, FOX 5 first reported.
Angry, he boarded and asked for St. Lewis' name, which he refused to give.
St. Lewis was not behind the wheel of the bus and was standing nearby the driver's seat because he was training a new bus employee, according to the news outlet.
Betancur eventually sat down but claims that he heard St. Lewis make a comment about his mother, sparking him to get out of his seat and confront the man.
The video begins where the two are seen in each other's faces yelling.
One of the men says: 'Don't disrespect me and think I'm not going to disrespect you back.'
The altercation began when Betancur thought the bus was going to skip his stop and asked for St. Lewis' name. The two then got into an argument (pictured St. Lewis and Betancur fighting)
Betancur is seen left arguing with St. Lewis, who was training another driver at the time. The injured man claims St. Lewis made a comment about his mother
Betancur is heard saying: 'Don't say s**t about my mom. I'll take you down right now.'
Once St. Lewis has him tangled up, Betancur yells out to other riders to call the police as passengers scurry to different seats, away from the fight.
FOX 5 learned that St. Lewis is still employed by the Montgomery County Department of Transportation but is not driving buses while the incident is under investigation.
Betancur is banned from riding the county bus system for 90 days.
He told Fox 5: 'Ride On shouldn't be employing people that are like that, period. I don't even feel safe there.'
He added: 'They're completely wrong.'
A Scottish teacher at the centre of an international manhunt for the murder of his colleague has been found living less than a mile from a police station in Glasgow.
Harris Binotti, 26, from Dumfries in Scotland, was drinking with Gary Ferguson in Rangoon, Burma, in November 2016 on the day of the murder.
Mr Ferguson's body was discovered by his Thai wife in Mr Binotti's apartment. He had suffered stab wounds to his face and chest.
Interpol issued a 'red alert' seeking the arrest of Harris Binotti, right, who is suspected of the murder in Burma of his teaching colleague Gary Ferguson, left, in November 2016
Police said Binotti, pictured had been seen 'drinking and fighting' with Mr Ferguson on the day of the murder and subsequently fled the country without telling anyone
Mr Binotti is now said to be living in a flat back in Scotland with his girlfriend Elsy Dovlder, under the noses of officers at nearby Govan police station.
Police officers are expected to arrest the murder suspect as soon as they are given the all clear by the Crown Office.
Burmese police say he left the country immediately after the murder.
Interpol issued a 'red alert' for Mr Binotti after he vanished and are seeking his extradition to Burma.
Harris Binotti, pictured, has been spotted living in Glasgow under the noses of police
The notice alerted police forces around the world that Mr Binotti was wanted for extradition.
It states that he faces a charge of murder and describes him as 1.68m (5ft 5in) with brown hair and blue eyes.
Both Mr Binotti and Mr Ferguson taught English at the Horizon International School in the city, which is also known as Yangon.
Mr Ferguson had worked there for a year while Mr Binotti had been there for around three months.
A Facebook page for Mr Binotti shows that he had a number of different jobs before taking up a post as an English teacher in Rangoon.
These ranged from being a holiday representative, a ski representative and an assistant duty hotel manager.
A police officer in Rangoon said: 'At the time they were together drinking. They were talking and fighting.'
He added: 'We don't know exactly what happened.
'They were together and they had been drinking and enjoying the night and after that he (Mr Ferguson) was found dead on Sunday morning.
'They were friends but they had been drinking.
'He (Mr Binotti) is now missing and there is an investigation.
'We send our condolences to Mr Ferguson's family.'
Mr Ferguson's wife is thought to be Thai.
A school secretary, who gave her name as Yamin, said: 'We are very shocked about the news. These two teachers were very close friends so everyone is shocked.'
Boris Johnson yesterday likened Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to a monster that needs decapitating.
The Foreign Secretary also suggested Britain could join the US in future strikes on the Syrian leaders chemical weapons stockpiles.
Although no such decision has been taken, he said it would be very difficult for the UK to say no if Washington asked for military support.
Mr Johnson (pictured) updated MPs on global events after the Commons returned following the Easter recess
Mr Johnson was asked in the Commons to explain how Assad could be punished for using chemical weapons without allowing a virulent Islamist regime to replace him.
He said efforts to secure peace in the war-torn country must preserve the states institutions while decapitating the monster.
During a statement to MPs on the situation in Syria and North Korea, he said assistance would depend on a reasonable request by the Trump administration and in pursuit of similar objectives.
It is understood action would have to be related to chemical weapons attacks like the use of sarin gas earlier this month in Khan Sheikhoun. Last night it was unclear whether a US request would force a fresh vote. MPs voted against military action in Syria in 2013 following a similar attack.
Boris Johnson has called on Russia to end its 'blind support' for Syrian president Assad (left), while urging China to use its influence to restrain North Korea (shown right, Kim Jong-Un)
Asked by former foreign minister Alistair Burt if the UK was bound by that decision, Mr Johnson replied: We were not asked for specific support, but it is my belief, though I stress no such decision has yet been taken... that were such a request to be made in future, were it be a reasonable request in pursuit of similar objectives, then I think it would be very difficult for the United Kingdom to say no.
In a US strike earlier this month 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles were targeted at an airbase where a suspected chemical attack was launched from.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has said Parliament would be consulted if the UK was asked to take part in other strikes.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Johnson said Donald Trump had sent an emphatic message that the era when Assads barbarism was met with passivity and inaction has finally come to an end. Americas determined response creates an opportunity to break the deadlock and pave the way for a political settlement of Syrias tragedy, he said.
But that will only happen if Russia is prepared to bring Assad to the negotiating table and begin a transition to a new government that represents the sole chance of peace in Syria.
As relations between the UK and Moscow reach a new low, Mr Johnson called on Vladimir Putin to end his blind support for Assad. He urged: Stop the gas attacks and the barrel bombs, allow the delivery of aid to those who need it, deliver a real ceasefire and begin the political process that will include a transition away from Assad.
He said the US had acted with the full support of the Government over its missile strikes.
Mr Johnson said the UK has 'no intention of dislodging Russian interests in Syria' (pictured: Russian president Vladimir Putin greets supporters in Veliky Novgorod
Referring to both Syria and North Korea, he said: In each case, hereditary dictators presiding over cruel tyrannies have challenged the essential rules that underpin our world peace.
The United States has responded with strength and resolve and in accordance with its traditional role as the guarantor of the rules-based system. And in both cases the US has acted with the full support of the British Government.
Mr Johnson said an analysis of the chemical weapons attack in Khan Sheikhoun had clearly identified chemical signatures that are specific to the sarin manufactured by Syria.
He said: There is only one conclusion that the Assad regime almost certainly gassed its own people in breach of international law and the rules of war. He said the attack showed the emptiness of an agreement reached in 2013 guaranteed by Russia that was supposed to rid Syria of chemical weapons.
Sources last night downplayed Mr Johnsons comments. It is understood there has been no shift in Government policy and it would be unlikely for the US to ask for UK help in strikes. The bombing earlier this month was considered narrowly-focused and limited.
He reiterated that Britain was given notice of a US attack on a Syrian airfield suspected of launching the chemical attack.
'America's determined response creates an opportunity to break the deadlock and pave the way for a political settlement of Syria's tragedy,' he said.
'But that will only happen if Russia is prepared to bring Assad to the negotiating table and begin a transition to a new government that represents the sole chance of peace in Syria.'
Mr Johnson said the UK has 'no intention of dislodging Russian interests in Syria', adding: 'But Russia's position in Syria does not depend on Assad.'
The cabinet minister went on: 'I hope I have the support of everybody in this House when I say I call on the Russians to end their blind support for Assad.
'Stop the gas attacks and the barrel bombs, allow the delivery of aid to those who need it, deliver a real ceasefire and begin the political process that will include a transition away from Assad.'
A town hurriedly arranged a graduation ceremony and wedding for the children of a beloved cancer-stricken doctor after learning he would not live to see either.
Dr Dan Harrahill, 52, a father-of-four from St Paul, Nebraska, was told he would not survive long enough to attend his teenage son's high school graduation or his daughter's summer wedding on March 23.
Within hours of hearing about his bleak prognosis, the town's residents arranged for both events to take place the next day.
The family doctor died eight days later after watching both from his wheelchair in the chapel of the CHI Health St. Francis, the hospital where he was being treated.
Dr. Dan Harrahill with his daughter Emilea and son-in-law Kyle after they tied the knot in the chapel at the hospital where he was being treated for colon cancer. They moved their wedding from June to March 24 hours after learning her father would not live long enough to attend in the summer
Dr. Harrahill was diagnosed with colon cancer in November. On March 23, doctors told him it had spread, was inoperable and that he did not have long left to live.
His teenage son Noah was due to graduate from high school in May and his daughter Emilea's wedding was scheduled for June.
A day after learning her father would not live long enough to attend her wedding, Emilea and her fiance decided they would exchange vows in the hospital chapel.
Their friends scrambled to arrange flowers and outfits and wedding guests from other states raced to Nebraska to attend.
Local newspaper, Omaha World Herald, shared details of the nuptials on Tuesday.
As they arranged for the wedding to take place, teachers from Dr. Harrahill's son Noah's school started organizing an impromptu graduation ceremony.
The graduation took place at 4.30pm and the wedding 30 minutes later. Despite the circumstances, the doctor's widow Shelly said: 'He was smiling from ear-to-ear the whole time we had the wedding and the graduation.
'It was one of the best days of his life, even under the circumstances.'
Dr. Harrahill watched from his wheelchair as his daughter and son-in-law got married
The doctor's teenage son Noah also had his high school graduation on the same day in the chapel. His wife Shelly joined him in the front row, placing one arm around his neck as they watched Noah receive his diploma
Other students from Noah's school took part in the ceremony which was pulled together within a few hours. They all found graduation gowns and caps to wear for the occasion
Photographs from the occasion show him beaming in his wheelchair as his daughter and new son-in-law pose either side.
Mrs Harrahill kept one arm around her husband's neck as they watched Noah's graduation.
Eight days after the joyous events, Dr. Dan, as residents affectionately referred to him, died in hospital.
His widow said the community's support and remarkable outpouring of compassion was easing the family's grief.
'We have such amazing people around us. We didnt have to do anything.
Dr. Dan grew up in St Paul, Nebraska, and returned there to become a family doctor after gaining his medical license
'The unending support and prayers and meals weve received is just completely overwhelming.
The 52-year-old died eight days after the ceremonies
'Thats whats getting us through this.'
A Facebook page titled Dr Dan's Fans has been flooded with warm memories from former patients, friends and family since his death.
Among those to leave messages are the parents of a baby he delivered weeks before his death.
In his obituary, the doctor's family told how he loved his job as a local family doctor.
'Dan was always willing to lend a helping hand. He visited many patients in their homes and was known for his selflessness, humility, generosity, humor and work ethic.
'His love for medicine was surpassed only by his love for his family. He tried hard not to miss any of his childrens school activities, whether it was music, sports, speech or school plays. He also enjoyed traveling with his family.'
His wife told the World Herald that he prided himself on never losing a baby during his 18 years of work.
He was once the golden boy of Hollywood starring in some of the biggest blockbusters of the 1980s and 1990 including the likes of Pretty Woman and An Officer And A Gentleman.
Yet, despite once being one of the most sought after leading men of his generation, Richard Gere has not made a big studio movie in nearly a decade.
The 67-year-old believes it his outspoken criticism of China and his Tibetan activism that has scared off the big studios, who are worried his casting could upset the superpower - which has quickly become the world's second-biggest box-office market.
'There are definitely movies that I can't be in because the Chinese will say, "Not with him,"' he told the Hollywood Reporter. 'I recently had an episode where someone said they could not finance a film with me because it would upset the Chinese.'
Richard Gere (pictured on April 12 at the screening of Norman) says the studios won't hire him because his Tibetan activism will upset China
Gere has been devoted to Buddhism for four decades and is a friend of the Dalai Lama (at the Bender Arena on the campus of American University on June 13, 2016 in Washington, DC)
The American Gigolo star was even banned from the Academy Awards in 1993, after he spoke out about China's occupation of Tibet and its 'horrendous, horrendous human rights situation' when he was invited to present the award for best art direction.
That did not stop him from becoming an outspoken critic of China's regime and Gere has gone onto create two foundations, the Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet and The Gere Foundation in New York.
The Buddhist, who has a long standing friendship with the Dalai Lama, is banned for life from China.
Gere claims he was not bothered by the Academy ban, saying: 'I didn't have to put on a tuxedo again. I was fine with that.'
Gere was once the golden boy of Hollywood starring in some of the biggest blockbusters of the 1980s and 1990 including the likes of Pretty Woman (pictured)
Hit movie An Officer and a Gentleman (pictured) also helped to make Gere a star in the 1980s
But his Arbitrage co-star Susan Sarandon, who was also banned after she spoke out about Haitian refugees at the awards, pointed out the inconsistencies between their ban, and the scores of actors who attacked Donald Trump at the last awards.
'It doesn't matter if you're outspoken about Trump, because Hollywood hates Trump,' she said. 'But it was brave of Richard to say what he said. He was drawing attention to the things that everyone has agreed not to pay attention to. That's the sin.'
A few years after his Academy speech, Gere said he began to realize just how much impact that one night had on his career - as well as how much influence China had over the American studios.
In 1997, the actor was starring in thriller Red Corner as an American wrongfully accused of murder in China.
With filming complete, Gere was doing the press rounds when he got a call. MGM was axing the film.
'China told them, "If you release this film, we're not buying it." And so, they dumped it.'
Gere, who has never been nominated for an Oscar, admits the only time he was affected by the Academy's decision was when he missed a nomination for Chicago - which won him a Golden Globe.
The American Gigolo star was even banned from the Academy Awards in 1993, (pictured at the awards) after he spoke out about China's occupation of Tibet and its 'horrendous, horrendous human rights situation' when he was invited to present the award for best art direction
He said everyone was in a hotel in Paris listening to the nominations on the radio.
'You could hear the "whoas". Like this one got nominated. "Whoa!" The next one. "Yay!" Then silence. There certainly was a moment there of "Oh."'
However, Gere's supposed exile from Hollywood has been surprisingly good for his career.
While his earlier blockbusters made him a wealthy man - divorce proceedings with his ex-wife Carey Lowell revealed an estimated $250 million fortune - the past decade has seen him carve out an interesting career within the indie movies market.
In fact, his leading roles in Sony Pictures Classics' Norman and The Orchard's The Dinner, have earned the star some of the best reviews of his life.
But his beef with China keeps coming back to bite him.
Gere recalled one independently financed movie, which was never planned to be released in China, where he was forced to pull out of because of his activism.
He described how the indie movie's Chinese director called him on a protected line and confessed that if he worked with Gere, the director and his family would never be able to leave China, and he would never work again.
But the actor says his longstanding activism and criticism of China's occupation of Tibet has scared off the big studios (pictured in 1987 with the Dalai Lama)
Richard Gere, left, talks to greeting members of the local Tibetan community as he arrives in Jerusalem's Artist's House gallery for the opening of his photo exhibition with pictures of his trips to Tibet, Thursday, June 3, 2004
Gere says that even if Hollywood were to offer him a role in next summer's blockbuster, he would be unlikely to take it.
'I'm not interested in playing the wizened Jedi in your tentpole,' he said. 'I was successful enough in the last three decades that I can afford to do these [smaller films] now.
'The studios are interested in the possibility of making huge profits. But I'm still making the same films that I was making when I started. Small, interesting, characterdriven and narrativedriven stories. It hasn't impacted my life at all.'
However, Gere may get his first Oscar nomination after all after Sony Pictures Classics revealed it plans to run an awards-season campaign for Gere in Norman.
While the handsome leading man has had some career highs and lows, his love life has been somewhat checkered.
He was famously married to supermodel Cindy Crawford in 1991. They parted in 1995, and from 2002 to 2013 he entered a long relationship with former Bond girl Carey Lowell, the mother of his son, Homer.
Nearly two years ago, Richard met Spanish socialite Alejandra Silva at a charity event and the couple have been going strong ever since.
Nearly two years ago, Richard met Spanish socialite Alejandra Silva at a charity event and the couple have been going strong ever since
PDA: Richard Gere and Alejandra Silva looked more loved up than ever at the The Dinner premiere during the 67th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin in February
Richard, who early in his career starred in such highly regarded classics as American Gigolo, Looking For Mr. Goodbar and An Officer and a Gentleman, also discussed his days as a philosophy student (after enrolling on a gymnastics scholarship) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
This evolved into a deepening interest in Zen Buddhism, which included a 1978 trip to India where he met the 14th Dalai Lama and veered into Tibetan Buddhism. Richard's embrace of Buddhism's cultivation of wisdom, kindness and compassion led Gere to co-found Tibet House, which advocates for human rights in Tibet, and The Gere Foundation, which aids the Tibetan people.
His devotion to Buddhism spans four decades.
And in January, Gere was seen in an engaged conversation with his longtime friend, the Dalai Lama, while in India for the religious event Kalachakra.
The 67-year-old actor was spotted hanging on to every word conveyed by his 81-year-old Holy companion.
The human rights activist and Silva, 33, were among thousands of devotees who came to hear the Dalai Lama's teachings in Bodh Gaya. The small village is believed to be the place the Buddha achieved enlightenment more than 2,500 years ago.
Talking to the Tibet Sun, the Pretty Woman star revealed he has been coming to Bodh Gaya since 1985, saying he has 'a lot of memories' in the small town.
Gere may get his first Oscar nomination after all after Sony Pictures Classics revealed it plans to run an awards-season campaign for Gere in Norman
'Participation in Kalchakra and receiving the Dalai Lama's sermons is a lifetime achievement. Visiting Bodh Gaya is very challenging but Dalai Lama's charm made it pleasant,' Geer shared.
Gere said of the event: 'Obviously his Holiness [the Dalai Lama] is getting stronger and stronger. Usually it's the other way around. So many devotees. We couldn't get more people [into the venue].'
The actor is currently in divorce proceedings with the mother of his child Carey Lowell.
Alejandra - who confirmed her relationship with Richard at the Taormina Film Festival in June 2015, is a Spanish publicist.
Having attended Leweston School in Dorset, Kent, Alejandra is described as a regular among Madrid's glitterati.
The socialite is reported as being the estranged wife of Govind Friedland, the son of American mining magnate Robert Friedland.
Together the pair have a young son, Albert.
It's believed the duo were seeing one another for at least a year before going public with their romance at the film festival last year.
Meanwhile Richard has been promoting his latest flick The Dinner, a mysterious and dramatic thriller that takes a look at how far parents will go to protect their children based on a novel by Herman Koch.
The Dinner is due to hit big screens in May 2017, opening in cinemas across the US first.
A White House meeting on the future of the Paris climate change agreement that was scheduled for today has been postponed.
Sarah Huckabee Sanders, a spokeswoman for President Donald Trump, said the meeting would be rescheduled 'at some point over the next couple of weeks' and denied that it was being put off because of bickering between senior White House officials like Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner.
Sanders said the meeting was called off because of 'a lot of scheduling conflicts,' including the president's out-of-town travel.
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President Trump had said he'd 'cancel' the climate pact when he was running for president, but his White House has yet to take a formal position on the pact that Steve Bannon (center) is against and Jared Kushner (not pictured) is in favor of
President Trump said he'd 'cancel' the climate pact when he was running for office, but his White House has yet to take a formal position on the Obama-era agreement that China and India have also ratified.
The climate agreement sets individual emissions and aims to drive down carbon pollution. Its critics says it lacks a mechanism for firm enforcement.
Trump's EPA administrator Scott Pruit and chief strategist Stephen Bannon oppose the climate accord. Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared, want the US to stay in it, however. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has talked about the pact favorably, as well.
White House officials were supposed to hold a meeting to discuss the United Nations agreement that's been signed by 194 nations on Tuesday.
It was postponed and has not been rescheduled, Sanders confirmed this afternoon as Trump flew to Wisconsin with Bannon and other top aides for a manufacturing event.
Kushner did not go on the Trump trip, and was celebrating Passover still as of Monday.
'Several of the people that wanted to participate in that meeting' are on the president's trip to Wisconsin, Sanders said, 'and a couple of other things.'
Discord among White House officials was not one of them, she said.
'They wanted to have that conversation. They haven't had it. I don't think they can say that there's a lot of discord between where everyone is if that's the purpose of the meeting,' she said.
A Trump spokesman said last month that the administration would reach a decision on the climate pact before Trump makes his first overseas trip.
'We are currently reviewing issues related to the agreement, and expect to have a decision by the time of the G7 Summit, late May-ish, if not sooner,' White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said.
A White House meeting on the future of the Paris climate change agreement that was scheduled for today has been postponed as Bannon traveled with Trump and Kushner (seen above with wife Ivanka) celebrated Passover
Trump's trip will take him to Brussels, to meet with NATO member nations, and Sicily, where he'll attend the G7 Summit.
Pruitt became the first Trump official to publicly say the US should 'exit' the deal last week, saying on Fox & Friends, 'Its a bad deal for America.'
'It was an America second, third, or fourth kind of approach. China and India had no obligations under the agreement until 2030. We front-loaded all of our costs,' Pruitt said.
The Republican president has committed his administration to nationalistic 'America First' policies that are also supported by his chief strategist, Bannon.
But Bannon is on the outs with Trump, who last week referred to his senior aide as 'a guy who works for me.'
Bannon has clashed with Kushner over the direction he's pulling Trump in, particularly when it comes to issues like global warming. Trump affirmed claims last week that he told them they needed to find a way to work it out.
Trump has called climate change a 'hoax' that was constructed by the Chinese, and he promised last year to get rid of 'draconian climate rules.'
He's followed through on commitments to slash EPA regulations on greenhouse gas emissions - and the agency's funding - even as he's held back on his stated intention of ripping up the Paris Agreement.
Sanders said Tuesday that a conversation with the president on the matter had not yet occurred, and she would not confirm that Trump still wants to pull out.
'I think that's a lot of what this meeting will be about,' she said, 'is the conversation and open discussion about that.'
Cuberon co-founder Abhishek Gattani, 38, will have his felony assault charge against his wife reduced to a felony accessory after the fact - with an accompanying misdemeanor of 'offensive touching'
A Silicon Valley CEO has been allowed to plead no contest to abusing his former Apple engineer wife over their 10-year marriage, despite her providing audio evidence of him beating and verbally abusing her.
The plea agreement means Cuberon co-founder Abhishek Gattani, 38, will have his felony assault charge reduced to avoid the risk of him being deported back to his native India, the Daily Beast reports.
His estranged wife Neha Rastogi, 36, read a harrowing victim impact statement during Gattani's scheduled sentencing last week at the Santa Clara Supreme Court urging the judge, who is currently on vacation, to rethink the punishment.
Gattani's reduced charge of felony accessory after the fact - with an accompanying misdemeanor of 'offensive touching' - means he will likely only spend 30 days in prison and could have the felony removed from his record under the terms of the plea deal.
Rastogi, who used to work at Apple helping to develop products like iPhones, started secretly recording the abuse on May 17, 2016.
In one six minute recording, Gattani can be heard verbally berating his wife before he starts hitting her as they discussed software bugs.
'We are talking about a bug, what is a bug... NEHA... Rastogi?' he asks.
His estranged wife Neha Rastogi, 36, read a harrowing victim impact statement during Gattani's scheduled sentencing last week
'No, no, no. When did I say that's a bug? We talked about bugs right? Is it getting very difficult for you to focus? You really do need help. You need me to take another step and come to you. You need help?
'You don't want to get beaten up? Then control yourself.'
At one point in the video, Rastogi can be heard begging for him to stop hitting her.
'Abhishek, please don't hit me more,' she said. 'I am just trying to be more critical over here. I am just trying to question this... Please don't do this, please don't do this. Please don't do this. Please don't do this. Please don't do this.'
In another recording on June 14, 2016 Rastogi can be heard asking him: 'You are telling me that you are at the brink of cutting my throat and killing me?'
'Yeah I would like to see you murdered,' he says. 'And I am not kidding. If you can't believe me I can swear on anyone's life.'
Rastogi then took the recordings and several photos of her injuries to police and Gattani was arrested for his second domestic violence charge. He was previously charged with felony assault in 2013 after a postal worker saw him beating his wife on the street. The charge was reduced at Rastogi's request.
The pair wed in an arranged marriage in 2009 and they have a 3-year-old daughter.
Santa Clara Supreme Court (above) Judge Allison Marston Danner who presided over the case was not present for Gattani's sentencing last Thursday. The judge filling in for her, Rodney Stafford, postponed the sentencing so Danner could hear details of the victim statement
She read her victim impact statement to the court on Thursday after Judge Allison Marston Danner scheduled Gattani's sentencing for a day she was away.
But the judge filling in for her, Rodney Stafford, postponed Gattani's sentencing until May saying he didn't know how the negotiations for the plea deal were made.
He added that Judge Danner may not have known some of the more harrowing details included in Rastogi's 'powerful' victim statement.
Rastogi told the court she had been abused by Gattani for the entire duration of their decade-long marriage. She said she had been silenced during her marriage and the court proceedings were her only chance to speak out.
She made clear her outrage at the reduced charge, including a misdemeanor of 'offensive touching'.
'Please explain to me is it offensive touching when a 8 month pregnant woman is beaten and then forced to stand for the entire night by her husband, is it offensive touching when a mother nursing her 6 day old child is slapped on her face by her husband because he thinks she is not latching properly with the child, is it offensive touching when a women is flung to the floor and repetitively kicked in her belly, is it offensive touching when a woman is slapped 9 times by her husband until she agrees to everything he is saying and then gets hit again for not agreeing with it sooner?', she said.
Rastogi said she called the abuse terrorism.
'That's how I felt - terrorized and controlled, held hostage by the fear of pain, humiliation and assault on my being and my daughter's.'
A leopard strayed into a village in India and attacked a boy and a forest ranger before officials were able to tranquillise it and lock it up in a cage.
The boy, Milan Rana, and forest ranger Bijay Khuntia were attacked in Bolangir district in the state of Orissa.
Another man, Satyajit Kundakel, suffered minor injuries when he jumped off the roof of a house in a bid to save himself from the marauding leopard.
People scatter as the leopard runs towards a crowd of villagers
Satyajit Kundakel suffered minor injuries when he jumped from the roof while being chased by the leopard
After a rescue operation which lasted 12 hours the leopard was captured, caged and taken away.
The animal first appeared in the village in the early hours of Monday morning, when it sneaked inside the house of a villager, Aniruddh Rana.
His neighbours spotted the animal and raised the alarm.
But the big cat badly mauled Milan, the son of his neighbour Barun Rana, before the neighbors came to his rescue.
When local forest ranger Bijay Khuntia was notified about the leopard on the loose he arrived and took stock of the situation.
People watch as forest rangers hunt down the beast to an abandoned house in the village
A forest ranger shows off a wound to his hand caused by the leopard
But the animal attacked Mr Khuntia, inflicting critical injuries on his face and hands.
Eventually forest rangers managed to tranquillise the animal and avert further injuries.
Rashmi Ranjan Nayak, Bolangir district forest officer, said: 'Actually, the main challenge was to control the mob.
'We would have captured the animal if the villagers wouldn't have created disturbance to during the operation. I am glad that we finally managed to cage the beast.'
A top designer loved by Rihanna, Jay Z and Kanye West allegedly sold stuffed endangered animals, including a crocodile and Indonesian pig.
Sasko Bezovski, 48, the co-owner of a fashion label KTZ, is alleged to have traded in the illegal taxidermy specimens from his west London fashion boutique in July.
The fashion labels most famous creation was the swan dress worn by Bjork to the Academy Awards in 2001.
The label was set up by Bezovski and Marjan Pejoski and known as Kokon to Zai and is a favourite with other stars including Katy Perry as well as DJs Diplo and A-Trak.
The fashion labels most famous creation was the swan dress worn by Bjork to the Academy Awards in 2001. It is also a big favourite with celebrities including Rihanna (right)
Sasko Bezovski (pictured left) is the co-owner of a fashion label KTZ and is alleged to have traded in the illegal taxidermy specimens from his west London fashion boutique in July
The endangered animals are said to have been sold in the form of accessories as well as taxidermy at the labels premises in Golborne Road, West London.
Animals included a false gharial crocodile, knifetooth sawfish, a spur thighed tortoise, a green turtle and a rare Indonesian pig, the court heard.
But Bezovski failed to appear at Hammersmith Magistrates Court as he was said to have been on a flight from Los Angeles to London.
His hearing was adjourned until later this month.
Bezovski faces one count of offering for sale or keeping for sale specimen of endangered species.
The label was set up by Bezovski and Marjan Pejoski and known as Kokon to Zai and is a favourite with other stars including Kanye West (seen sporting KTZ gloves)
Among the species was the freshwater crocodile Sunda/False Gharial native to the rainforests of south east Asia and listed as a vulnerable species on the red list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Other species are the endangered Knifetooth Sawfish which lives in the Indo-Pacific from the Red Sea to Australia, the endangered Green Turtle, one of the largest sea turtles, the vulnerable Spur Thighed or Greek Tortoise and the vulnerable pig-like North Sulawesi Bairusa native to Indonesia.
He is charged under regulation 8(1) and (8) of the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations 1997.
If convicted Bezovski, of St Johns Wood, north west London, faces a maximum of five years in jail and an unlimited fine.
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Twin sisters born just before their father shipped out for a 35-month Royal Navy deployment greeted him with a kiss and a cuddle as he returned to dry land.
Summer and Amelia Payne were dressed in matching pink quilted jackets as they waved Union flags and hand-painted 'Welcome home, Daddy' signs to greet Leading Hand Dixon Payne.
He was shipped out nearly three years ago, and covered 150,000 nautical miles before returning to Plymouth, Devon, on Tuesday afternoon.
LH Dixon Payne gets a kiss on each cheek from his twins girls Summer and Amelia, who were born just before he went out to sea for three years
The little girls were all smiles as they prepared to welcome their father home, wearing matching pink jackets for the occasion
The Royal Navy vessel was at the heart of operations to prevent people smuggling in the Mediterranean and saved the lives of more than 9,000 people who were pulled from the ocean as the refugee crisis took hold.
At least 200 British citizens were evacuated from the capital of Libya, Tripoli, after the ship launched in 2014.
Another 117 unseaworthy vessels used by people traffickers were destroyed by the Navy.
Commanding Officer Philip Harper said: 'The crew of HMS Enterprise are justly proud of the work they have done since deploying, and the wide variety of operations will be hard to match in the rest of our careers.'
Adam South, returning to land, with his partner Jenny and their children Harry and George. Seamen were welcomed home by the families who have had to carry on in daily life without them for months at a time
George (two) and Harry (five) holding a homemade 'Welcome Home Banner' for their Dad AB(CIS) Adam South
Thomas and James Wharton waving union jacks to welcome home thier Aunt Stefanie Merlo, who was also greeted by her brother Daniel, Daniel's partner Amie Whorton, and Stefanie's mother Brenda - all the way from Preston
The ship entered Plymouth proudly flying an efficiency pennant - an award given to the ship last year and granted special permission to be flown on the home stretch.
Sailors worked four months on, four months off, and the youngest person waiting at the shore was newborn baby Isaac, the son of the ship's navigating officer Lieutenant Nicholas Radue.
Born only five weeks ago, Isaac was waiting in the arms of his mum, Alex Radue, on the jetty on Tuesday.
Ltd Radue flew home for the birth of his first child but shortly afterwards rejoined the crew, and he said: 'It's wonderful to see little Isaac again.
'Even though the Navy kindly allowed me home to see him when he was born before I had to rejoin the ship for the journey back.
'I have missed half of his short life and he is a different boy already.'
HMS Enterprise entering Plymouth Sound after three years, covering 150,000 nautical miles and saving the lives of 9,000 people
The Royal Navy officers stand on the deck of the ship, looking out at dry land as they prepare to return home from their three year deployment
Chief Petty Officer John Williams joined the ship part way through the deployment. He was ovewhelmed by a warm welcome from his wife Claire, and children Gabby, 15, and son Kane, 19, and Kane's girlfriend, Jess Lowe.
John said: 'It's really good to see my family again and spend more time with them. This is the third time I've served on the ship and she's a great vessel to serve in.
'It's been a long time away from her baseport for Enterprise and it's also good to see her back home. The trophies and accolades we have been awarded are testimony to that.'
Petty Officer Stefanie Merlo, 32, the ship's manpower co-ordinator and 'policeman' was greeted by her brother Daniel and his union flag-waving sons Thomas, ten, and James, four, Daniel's partner Amie Whorton, and Stefanie's mother Brenda - all the way from Preston.
Stefanie said: 'It's lovely to have such a warm welcome, especially from James and Thomas. I joined the ship in the South Atlantic, so it's been a long trip back and pretty rough in the Atlantic. It's been quite an epic achievement by ship and crew.'
A U.S. aircraft carrier the Navy had said was heading toward the Korean Peninsula amid rising tensions has not yet started sailing to the region, a U.S. defense official acknowledged Tuesday.
Other Pentagon officials told CNN that the USS Carl Vinson supercarrier and its strike group won't arrive near Korean until the end of the month.
The Navy on April 8 said it was directing a naval strike group headed by the USS Carl Vinson supercarrier to 'sail north' as a 'prudent measure' to deter North Korea.
Secretary of Defense James Mattis on April 11 said the Vinson was 'on her way up' to the peninsula. President Donald Trump the next day said on the Fox Business Network that 'we are sending an armada. Very powerful.'
Truth about the 'armada': The USS Carl Vinson has only just crossed from the Indian Ocean where it was on exercise; the USS Ronald Reagan is in port in Japan; and the USS Nimitz is off the coast of Oregon
A US defense official now says the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and her strike group remain off the northwest coast of Australia, although the Navy said 10 days ago that it was directing the group 'north' as a deterrent to North Korea
Kim Jong-Un could have the last laugh if America's naval posturing encourages him to take greater risks in provoking U.S. military might in the region
President Donald Trump said a week ago that he was sending 'an armada' in Kim's direction something that turned out to be an empty bluff
But a Defense Department official on Tuesday said the ships remained off the northwest coast of Australia.
A Navy photograph showed the Vinson off Java over the weekend, traveling through the Sunda Strait.
'They are going to start heading north towards the Sea of Japan within next 24 hours,' the official said on condition of anonymity.
The official added that the strike group wouldn't be in the region before next week at the earliest.
It is thousands of nautical miles from the Java Sea to the Sea of Japan.
At the time of the strike group's deployment, many media outlets said the ships were steaming toward North Korea, when in fact they had temporarily headed in the opposite direction.
And White House press secretary Sean Spicer played along either in the dark or as part of a ruse.
This U.S. government photo, released Monday, shows the Vinson transiting the Sunda Strait, away from Korea, on Saturday
Asked about the decision to send the carrier group to North Korea, Spicer said it would be a strategic deterrent.
'A carrier group is several things. The forward deployment is deterrence, presence. It's prudent. But it does a lot of things. It ensures our we have the strategic capabilities, and it gives the president options in the region,' he said.
'But I think when you see a carrier group steaming into an area like that, the forward presence of that is clearly, through almost every instance, a huge deterrence. So I think it serves multiple capabilities.'
News that the U.S. hadn't followed through on its threat to North Korea was greeted in Chinese media with raucous laughter on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post.
'Tricked badly!' the Global Times chirped on its social media account.
'None of the U.S. aircraft carriers that South Korea is desperately waiting for has come!'
The United States ratcheted up its rhetoric ahead of North Korea's military parade and failed missile launch over the weekend, and Vice President Mike Pence on Monday declared that the era of US 'strategic patience' in dealing with Pyongyang was over.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un responded with his own fiery warnings and threatened to conduct weekly missile tests.
The strike group has been conducting drills with the Australian navy in recent days, the official said.
It has scrapped a planned port visit in Australia as a result of sailing north.
A Florida woman was arrested after she bashed in her long-term boyfriend's windshield with a tire iron because he called her fat.
Kari Corwin took her rage out on her boyfriend of three year's company truck after an argument that was sparked when he tried to fat-shame her on Saturday night in Umatilla, Florida.
The 25-year-old had been drinking when she took a tire iron to his windshield and wreaked havoc on the vehicle, totaling more than $2,000 in damage, she admitted to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Kari Corwin, 25, took her rage out on her boyfriend's company truck after an argument that was sparked when he called her fat on Saturday night in Umatilla, Florida
She admitted to the Lake County Sheriff's Office she had been drinking when she caused an estimated $2,350 in damage. According to Corwin's Facebook page, she is engaged to a man named Jason Marshall (pictured together)
The owner of the work truck intends to press charges against the woman, Click Orlando reported.
Corwin didn't stop at the windshield in her reported alcohol-induced rampage.
After hurling the tire iron at the glass, she took a lawn ornament and banged it so hard against the hood, that it left the metal dented.
Then she wrangled up a hose with a sprinkler attached and thew it through a window on the passenger's side.
When police arrived to the scene they found the tire iron in the middle of the road, reported Fox 35.
The boyfriend told police he was also drunk when he called Corwin fat.
The boyfriend told police he was drunk when he called Corwin fat. In addition to smashing the windshield, she dented the hood with a lawn ornament
In total, the damages are estimated to be $2,350 and Corwin was charged with criminal mischief of $1,000 or greater.
According to Corwin's Facebook page, she is engaged to a man named Jason Marshall, who she first met in 2012, began a relationship with in 2014 and got engaged to in August 2016.
Her Facebook page lists her as a pharmacy technician at Leesburg Regional Medical Center.
The US military intercepted two Russian bombers in international airspace off Alaska's coast.
Navy Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said a pair of F-22 Raptor aircraft intercepted the Russian TU-95 Bear bombers on Monday.
Ross described the intercept as 'safe and professional.'
Fox News said Tuesday the Russian planes flew within 100 miles of Alaska's Kodiak Island, and about 280 miles southwest of the Elmendorf Air Force Base.
The US military intercepted two Russian TU-95 bombers in international airspace off Alaska's coast. Picutured it a TU-95 Bear bomber in 2012
Navy Commander Gary Ross, a Pentagon spokesman, said a pair of F-22 Raptor aircraft intercepted the Russian TU-95 Bear bombers on Monday. Pictured are two F-22's in 2011
The Russians were first spotted inside the Air Defense Identification Zone, which extends 200 miles off the coast of Alaska.
The zone is defended by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which monitors air approaches to North America and defends the airspace.
The network claimed the American jets escorted the Russian bombers for 12 minutes, and that an E-3 airborne early warning plane was also used to detect the jets.
The bombers then flew back to eastern Russia.
This map shows where the intercept on Monday took place near Kodiak Island, Alaska
A Russian TU-95 is seen on a mission over Syria on November 17, 2016. The same model of plane was intercepted near Alaska on Monday
The mid-air incident comes just days after secretary of state Rex Tillerson said US and Russian relations had reached a 'low point'.
Tillerson made the remark while seated with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
The two met in Moscow during the secretary's visit, during which Russian bombers also caused a similar incident near Japan.
The Japanese military scrabbled 14 fighters after a trio of bombers was spotted off the coast.
One of the three American planes scrambled after the Russians were detected was a E-3 (pictured in 2006)
The mid-air incident comes just days after secretary of state Rex Tillerson said US and Russian relations had reached a 'low point'. Tillerson is pictured with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on April 12 in Moscow
Monday's incident marked the first time in almost two years since Russian bombers last came so close to the American coast.
The previous confrontation in the skies took place on July 4, 2015, as President Vladimir Putin seemingly wanted to deliver a message to the US.
The bombers were off the coast of Alaska and California.
'Good morning, American pilots. We are here to greet you on your Fourth of July Independence Day,' the bombers told US officials, CNN reported at the time.
President Donald Trump called Turkey's Islamic president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on a controversial referendum victory, the White House confirmed Tuesday.
That was not the only reason he called the NATO ally, though, a White House spokeswoman said as she defended Trump from criticism over the call during his flight to Wisconsin.
'We want to encourage democracy,' Sarah Huckabeee Sanders told reporters asking about Trump's conversation with Erdogan after the Turkish leader won sweeping powers in referendum election that's being contested. 'The purpose of the president's call yesterday was not to discourage that but simply to talk about some of the things like Syria where they can work together.'
President Donald Trump called Turkey's Islamic president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on a controversial referendum victory, the White House confirmed Tuesday
The referendum was on proposals to give the Turkish presidency massively enhanced powers, and bitterly divided the country, with the opposition now planning a legal challenge.
But a defiant Erdogan denounced the West's 'crusader mentality' on Monday after European monitors criticized the referendum.
Erdogan, whose narrow victory laid bare the nation's divisions, told flag-waving supporters that foreign election observers should 'know their place' and Turkey did not 'see, hear or acknowledge' criticism that the vote did not live up to international standards.
It was unclear whether that was before or after his call from Trump.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer had sidestepped questions on the call, saying that there would be no discussion of it before the full official report of international election monitors.
'There is an international commission that is reviewing this and issues a report in 10 to 12 days. We will wait and let them do their jobs,' he said.
Sanders was hit with additional questions on Tuesday afternoon, when she filled in for Spicer on the president's trip to Wisconsin and tangled with reporters topic on the during two flights on Air Force One.
'The purpose of his call, obviously: one, to congratulate; but two -- and I think the bigger point and priority -- was to talk about shared interests as a NATO ally and a partner there,' she said in one of her responses. 'And look, the Middle East is a pretty rough neighborhood, and sometimes you have to get together to help them beat the bullies, like Syria.'
Attack on the 'crusaders': Erdogan, who appeared with his wife Emine, at his presidential palace, accused European election monitors who raised concerns over the referendum of having a 'Western crusader mentality'
Division: Campaigners against Erdogan's referendum were back on the streets of Istanbul, Turkey's largest city, on Monday. He won by a wafer-thin margin, with cities including Istanbul and the capital Ankara voting against him
Sanders said later, on another flight, that Trump did not regret making the call for that reason.
'Why would he ever regret taking steps to protect Americans?' she said.
Opponents accuse Erdogan of leading a drive towards one-man rule in Turkey, a NATO member that borders Iran, Iraq and Syria and whose stability is of vital importance to the United States and European Union.
The main opposition party rejected the result and called for the vote to be annulled.
Thousands of people marched through at least three neighborhoods of Istanbul, some chanting 'Thief, Erdogan', 'no to the presidency' and 'this is just the beginning' after calls on social media for protests in several cities.
Late on Monday, his cabinet extended a state of emergency by three months- the third such extension since a failed coup attempt last July.
Election authorities said preliminary results showed 51.4 percent of voters had backed the biggest overhaul of Turkish politics since the founding of the modern republic.
But the narrowness of his victory could add to volatility in a country that has lately survived an attempted coup, attacks by Islamists, a Kurdish insurgency, civil unrest and war across its Syrian border.
The result laid bare the deep divide between the urban middle classes who see their future as part of a European mainstream and the devout rural poor who favor Erdogan's strong hand.
Erdogan reiterated his readiness to restore the death penalty at several appearances on Monday, which would effectively end Turkey's decades-long quest to join the EU.
He said it was not important if the EU suspended Turkish accession talks.
'The crusader mentality in the West and its servants at home have attacked us,' Erdogan told a crowd as he arrived at Ankara airport, referring to the foreign monitors' assessment.
'We neither see, hear, nor acknowledge the political reports you'll prepare,' he said later at the palace. 'We'll continue on our path. Talk to the hand. This country has carried out the most democratic elections, not seen anywhere in the West.'
The mission of observers from the 47-member Council of Europe, the continent's leading human rights body, said the referendum was an uneven contest. Support for 'Yes' dominated campaign coverage, and the arrests of journalists and closure of media outlets silenced other views, the monitors said.
'In general, the referendum did not live up to Council of Europe standards. The legal framework was inadequate for the holding of a genuinely democratic process,' said Cezar Florin Preda, head of the delegation.
While the monitors had no information of actual fraud, a last-minute decision by electoral authorities to allow unstamped ballots to be counted undermined an important safeguard and contradicted electoral law, they said.
Turkey's foreign ministry dismissed the observers' criticism as lacking objectivity and impartiality.
Ottoman legacy: Erdogan marked his victory with a visit to Yavuz Sultan Selim, who ruled the Ottoman empire from 1512 until 1520. The powers gained through the referendum - if it survives legal challenge - make him the country's most significant figure since Ataturk
Palatial: The disclosure of a call from Trump to Erdogan was made by sources inside the presidential palace in Ankara
The U.S. State Department said it had taken note of the European monitors' concerns and looked forward to a final report, urging the Turkish government to protect the rights and freedoms of all citizens, however they voted.
Trump's spokesman said Tuesday, as she talked to reporters during the president's flight to Wisconsin, that the White House invites an independent elections commission to review the results.
'We certainly want them to do everything that they would normally do in that process and make a determination and put out a full report,' she said.
Erdogan, a populist with a background in once-banned Islamist parties, has ruled since 2003 with no real rival, while his country emerged as one of the fastest-growing industrial powers in both Europe and the Middle East.
He has also been at the center of global affairs, commanding NATO's second-biggest military on the border of Middle East war zones, taking in millions of Syrian refugees and controlling their further flow into Europe.
He vowed Turkey's recent incursion into northern Syria would not be its last such venture in the region, saying it would carry out as many military operations as necessary, wherever necessary, in its fight against terrorism.
The White House leaned on that fact as it justified Trump's call to Erdogan in Tuesday conversations.
'The President's number-one priority is protecting Americans, keeping Americans safe, and sometimes we're going to have to work with other countries and some of our NATO partners in order to do that,' Sanders told reporters on AF1.
Backing: Erdogan has significant support from the poorer and more devoutly Muslim parts of the country, and they rallied at his palace in Ankara after the result
The two largest opposition parties in Turkey have challenged the referendum, saying it was deeply flawed.
The pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party said it presented complaints about unstamped ballots affecting 3 million voters, more than twice the margin of Erdogan's victory.
The main secularist opposition People's Republican Party said it was still unclear how many votes were affected.
'This is why the only decision that will end debate about the legitimacy (of the vote) and ease the people's legal concerns is the annulment of this election,' deputy party chairman Bulent Tezcan said.
The country's president survived a coup attempt last year and responded with a crackdown, jailing 47,000 people and sacking or suspending more than 120,000 from government jobs such as teachers, soldiers, police, judges or other professionals.
Boost: As Erdogan celebrated victory in the face of legal moves to challenge the outcome, the country's currency, the Turkish lira, rallied
The changes could keep him in power until 2029 or beyond, making him easily the most important figure in Turkish history since state founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk built a modern nation from the ashes of the Ottoman empire after World War One.
The result triggered a 2 percent rally in the Turkish lira from its close last week.
Germany, home to several million Turks, said it was up to Erdogan himself to heal the rifts that the vote had exposed.
'The tight referendum result shows how deeply divided Turkish society is, and that means a big responsibility for the Turkish leadership and for President Erdogan personally,' said Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel in a joint statement.
Relations with Europe were strained during the referendum campaign when Germany and the Netherlands barred Turkish ministers from holding rallies. Erdogan provoked a stern German response by comparing those limits to the actions of the Nazis.
Under the changes, most of which will only come into effect after the next elections, due in 2019, the president will appoint the cabinet and an undefined number of vice-presidents, and will be able to select and remove senior civil servants without parliamentary approval.
In the last month, President Trump's approval rating sank a point and the president has lost female support though he's still faring better than the 45.9 percent he received on election night.
A new Harvard-Harris Survey, first given to the Hill newspaper, shows Trump's approval rating sitting at 48 percent.
Last month, respondents to the Harvard-Harris poll gave him a 49 percent approval rating, higher than most other surveys.
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President Donald Trump saw a slight dip in his approval rating in the Harvard-Harris survey between March and April, with female regsitered voters falling away
Male voters surveyed liked Donald Trump's (pictured) leadership style, the survey found, while women preferred that of former President Obama
The current Real Clear Politics average puts Trump at 42.5 percent.
This month, the Harvard-Harris found that 22 percent strongly approve of the job Trump is doing, while 26 percent somewhat disapprove. Another 15 percent somewhat disapprove, while the biggest chunk of registered voters, 37 percent, strongly disapprove of the job Trump has done.
The poll also found that Trump's approval rating is suffering from an ever-widening gender gap.
For example, among registered female registered voters Trump's approval rating slid from 44 percent in February to 41 percent in April, while 59 percent of female registered voters now say they disapprove of the job Trump has done.
On the favorability scale, women again hurt Trump's numbers.
While 44 percent of voters overall have a positive view of the president, 38 percent of women view Trump favorably.
That's in contrast to the 51 percent of men who think he's great.
And it's down from the 40 percent of women who approved of Trump last month.
'Men see President Trump as a strong leader while women prefer the leadership of former President Obama,' Mark Penn, the Harvard-Harris co-director, told the Hill.
While 50 percent of registered voters say the country is headed in the wrong direction, several recent moves Trump made have gotten support.
For instance, two-thirds of those surveyed said they believed Trump's missile strike in Syria was justified on the heels of a deadly gas attack.
Another 55 percent said they were happy that the Senate approved of Neil Gorsuch to serve on the Supreme Court.
Seventy-five percent of registered voters are in favor of Trump's campaign promise to put $1 trillion into infrastructure.
While a majority are in favor of Republicans and Democrats working together to improve the tax code.
However, one of Trump's campaign promises is still not popular with the masses.
The new poll shows that 62 percent of registered voters are against him building a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico, while 38 percent are for the wall.
Fox News and Bill O'Reilly are reportedly in exit negotiations with a final decision on the popular host's future with the network expected by the end of the week.
A well-placed source tells CNN Money that reps for the host and the cable news leader are currently in discussions ahead of a 21st Century Fox board meeting later this week on Thursday.
O'Reilly is expected to be the primary topic of discussion among the board members of the network's parent company at that meeting.
Earlier on Tuesday, three sources told New York reporter Gabriel Sherman that Rupert Murdoch may not have O'Reilly return to the network after he comes back from his vacation in a week.
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More allegations: A new woman is accusing Bill O'Reilly (above) of sexual harassment
Protests: The unnamed African-American woman is represented by Lisa Bloom and claims the Fox News host would grunt at her like a boar and call her 'hot chocolate' (protesters outside Fox News on Tuesday)
Meanwhile a new accuser has come forward to make sexual harassment allegations against O'Reilly.
Attorney Lisa Bloom told The Hollywood Reporter that the woman in question worked for another network back in 2008 but had a desk near O'Reilly's office, and claimed that he would refer to the African-American woman as 'hot chocolate' when he walked by during the day.
O'REILLY CLAIMS HE HAS 'BEEN SUBJECTED TO A BRUTAL CAMPAIGN OF CHARACTER ASSASSINATION' Marc E Kasowitz, attorney for Bill OReilly said in a statement: 'Bill OReilly has been subjected to a brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America. 'This law firm has uncovered evidence that the smear campaign is being orchestrated by far-left organization bent on destroying OReilly for political and financial reasons. 'That evidence will be put forth shortly and is irrefutable.' Advertisement
The woman is not asking for any money, just 'accountability' according to Bloom.
'He would never talk to her, not even hello, except to grunt at her like a wild boar,' alleged Bloom on O'Reilly's treatment of this latest alleged victim.
'He would leer at her. He would always do this when no one else was around and she was scared.'
Marc E Kasowitz, attorney for Bill OReilly said in a statement: 'Bill OReilly has been subjected to a brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America.
'This law firm has uncovered evidence that the smear campaign is being orchestrated by a far-left organization bent on destroying OReilly for political and financial reasons.
'That evidence will be put forth shortly and is irrefutable.'
Fox News declined to comment on all three reports. Bloom did not respond to a request for comment.
Bloom said that this latest woman to make allegations against O'Reilly has called in her complaint to Fox News.
'She was afraid if she told him to knock it off shed get fired,' explained Bloom.
'Now thats she's aware this is all in the news, shes decided to phone in a complaint to the Fox News hotline.'
An earlier statement from O'Reilly's lawyer said: 'It is outrageous that an allegation from an anonymous person about something that purportedly happened a decade ago is being treated as fact, especially when there is an obviously orchestrated campaign by activists and lawyers to destroy Mr. O'Reilly and enrich themselves through publicity driven donations.'
Speaking about O'Reilly's future with the network, sources claim that James and Lachlan Murdoch want him out and and James is working to convince his father.
This is not just in response to the outcry in America either according to the report, but also to help the Murdochs as they try to acquire the pay-TV provider Sky in Europe.
There have been reports that this latest scandal could end up hurting the Murdochs in their bid to purchase Sky.
'Its up to the family,' said a senior Fox News source.
Viewership of the Fox News host's show O'Reilly Factor has dropped 26 per cent just three days after he went on vacation.
Dana Perino, Eric Bolling and Greg Gutfeld have stepped in to host his show while he is on leave.
Nielsen company figures show that so far Bolling did the best with his 3.11million viewership, down 16 per cent from O'Reilly's performance a week earlier.
The 2.32million who watched Gutfeld on Friday was down 39 per cent from the previous Friday.
O'Reilly's viewership spiked in the days following the report on the harassment allegations.
In the week that followed, viewership increased to an average of 3.71 million, up 12 per cent from the week before the report and 28 per cent over the same week in 2016.
That may not be enough to keep O'Reilly however, with Bloom tweeting on Tuesday: 'Dear Murdochs, I'm not giving up until he's gone. My phone's ringing off the hook. I'm representing them all for free. Sincerely, Lisa Bloom.'
She followed that tweet up by writing: 'P.s. I may not have your billions, but I have boundless energy for women's rights. I can do this tomorrow, next month, next year. And I will.'
Time to go: This report comes as Rupert Murdoch is reportedly considering terminating O'Reilly according to three sources (l to r: Lachlan, Rupert and James Murdoch in March 2016)
Bloom is also representing Dr. Wendy Walsh, who has also accused O'Reilly of harassment.
Walsh previously said that in 2013 O'Reilly asked her to dinner one night at the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles and then made the network contributor an offer, telling her that he was friends with Roger Ailes and could make secure the lucrative position for the psychotherapist.
It was after dinner when things began to shift according to Walsh, who said that O'Reilly asked her to come up to his hotel suite.
She politely declined and decided to steer the two towards the bar, where she claims O'Reilly became hostile over drinks and said she could forget his career advice.
Then, as a coup de grace, Walsh claims that O'Reilly said her purse was ugly.
It was revealed earlier this month that five women had been paid by the network after making accusations against the popular host.
Walsh was not one of those women and had never publicly accused O'Reilly until the release of The New York Times report.
The report claimed that close to $13 million had been paid to five women who accused O'Reilly of inappropriate behavior in the workplace: Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, Andrea Mackris, Rebecca Gomez Diamond, Laurie Dhue, and Juliet Huddy.
It was Mackris' lawsuit that made headlines when it was settled back in 2004 by the network for a formerly undisclosed sum which over the weekend was revealed to be $9million.
In her complaint, Mackris claimed she had been sexually harassed by O'Reilly and detailed their phone sex conversations in which he allegedly listed off his female conquests.
O'Reilly also allegedly detailed a sex fantasy he had about Mackris using 'that little loofah thing' in the shower, but towards the end accidentally called it a 'falafel thing'.
First case: The first known person to accuse O'Reilly of sexual harassment at Fox News was Andrea Mackris (above with her lawyer in 2004)
According to the complaint, O'Reilly called Mackris one night to inform her he was watching pornography and then began to engage in a phone sex fantasy about having her come to the Caribbean with him.
'So anyway Id be rubbing your big boobs and getting your nipples really hard, kinda kissing your neck from behind... and then I would take the other hand with the falafel thing and Id put it on your p***y, but youd have to do it really light, just kind of a tease business,' said O'Reilly according to court papers filed by Mackris.
Her complaint went on to say that during his monologue O'Reilly also suggested Mackris perform oral sex on his 'big c***' and that 'it became clear that he was using a vibrator upon himself and had ejaculated.'
When the two reached a settlement a statement was released from both parties that said 'no wrongdoing whatsoever' occurred while Mackris worked with O'Reilly.
She was also not allowed to speak about the suit in public before or after the settlement, while O'Reilly was able to say that Mackris' complaint was 'the single most evil thing I have ever experienced' to his millions of viewers.
Mackris was also written about negatively in a number of articles at the time.
It was seven years until the next woman received a settlement, with Diamond being handed an unknown amount from O'Reilly himself according to multiple sources after confronting him with a recording of comments he had made to and about her while she worked as a host on the Fox Business Network show 'Happy Hour.'
The payout was so secretive that 21st Century Fox was not even aware of the what had transpired between the two parties until last year, when it was revealed during an internal investigation into sexual harassment claims being brought against Ailes.
Laurie Dhue, who worked as a reporter on the television show Geraldo at Large and was the host of Fox Report Weekend for eight years between 2000 and 2008 also received a payout after accusing Ailes and O'Reilly of sexual harassment.
She received $1million over the summer from the network, shortly after she announced her plan to write a tell-all book.
The network quietly paid Dhue (left) more than $1million in 2016 after the anchor claimed she was sexually harassed by both O'Reilly and Ailes while Huddy (right) got $1.6million
Fox News also settled with Huddy for $1.6million back in September after she claimed that O'Reilly had tried to pursue a sexual relationship with her while she appeared on the network as a guest on his show.
Huddy stated that O'Reilly would repeatedly call her at home in Long Island and once tried to kiss her, which caused her to fall over as she pulled away from the host.
Soon after she stopped being asked to appear on O'Reilly's program.
Both Dhue and Huddy's stories had been reported before, but it was not known Dhue had complained about O'Reilly's behavior in addition to Ailes.
The fifth settlement came back in 2002 after O'Reilly reportedly screamed at junior producer Rachel Witlieb Bernstein, who left soon after with a settlement.
That incident did not involve sexual harassment.
O'Reilly fired back soon after the release of the report, releasing a personal statement on his website in which he said that he had to consider his children when settling these claims.
'Just like other prominent and controversial people, I'm vulnerable to lawsuits from individuals who want me to pay them to avoid negative publicity. In my more than 20 years at Fox News Channel, no one has ever filed a complaint about me with the Human Resources Department, even on the anonymous hotline,' O'Reilly began his statement.
'But most importantly, I'm a father who cares deeply for my children and who would do anything to avoid hurting them in any way. And so I have put to rest any controversies to spare my children.'
He added: 'Those of us in the arena are constantly at risk, as are our families and children. My primary efforts will continue to be to put forth an honest TV program and to protect those close to me.'
O'Reilly has a daughter Madeline, 18, and son Spencer, 13, with his ex-wife Maureen.
The couple divorced in 2011, and it was in the years after that divorce that three of the five women who received settlements claimed they were sexually harassed by O'Reilly.
He currently makes $18million annually as the host of his Fox News show, which he launched back in 1996 at the birth of the network.
Rebecca Diamond (right) a host on the Fox Business Network, revealed her recorded conversations with O'Reilly after the network told her they would not be renewing her contract
O'Reilly made comments similar to his official statement last year while appearing on 'Late Night With Seth Meyers' and defending Ailes after women began coming forward claiming he had sexually harassed them over the years.
'In this country, every famous, powerful or wealthy person is a target,' O'Reilly told Meyers.
'Youre a target. Im a target. Any time somebody could come out and sue us, attack us, go to the press or anything like that.'
O'Reilly then began to say 'until America,' but quickly interrupted himself to explain what he has to deal with in his life because of his fame.
'It's a deplorable situation because I have to have bodyguards. I have to hire bodyguards, physical bodyguards.'
He then continued with his previous thought, telling Meyers: 'Until the United States adopts the English system of civil law, whereby, if you file a frivolous lawsuit, and you lose, the judge has a right to make you pay all court costs.'
'Until we adopt that very fair proposition, we are going to have this out of control, tabloid society that is tremendously destructive.'
O'Reilly also went after then co-worker Megyn Kelly on CBS This Morning back in November when she publicly accused Ailes of sexual harassment in her memoir.
'I'm not interested in basically litigating something that is finished that makes my network look bad. Okay?' said O'Reilly.
'I'm not interested in making my network look bad at all. That doesn't interest me one bit. '
Kelly, an actual victim of sexual harassment in the workplace, refused to be silenced or shamed by O'Reilly and fired back the following day, saying: 'I believe that Roger Ailes made the company look bad.'
Ailes made a remarkably swift exit from the company back in July, packing up his office just three weeks after he was accused of sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed by former host Gretchen Carlson.
He still managed to walk away with a reported $40million severance package after leaving his post, and maintains that the allegations being made by Carlson in her lawsuit are false.
Carlson recounted a conversation she had with Ailes in September of 2015 in her court filing, during which he allegedly said to her: 'I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better.'
That conversation allegedly occurred when Carlson went to speak with Ailes about what she believed were discriminatory practices at the network.
The popular host of 'The Real Story with Gretchen Carlson' claimed in her lawsuit that her refusal to have a sexual relationship with her boss was why she was let go on June 23 after 11 years with the network.
She was eventually awarded $20million, and told she could not speak about the lawsuit.
Former Fox News event planner Laurie Luhn received a settlement following her relationship with Ailes, which she claimed required her to perform sexual acts with the man and for two decades and eventually caused her to suffer a mental breakdown.
It was after that breakdown that Luhn decided to tell the network about the years of sexual harassment at the hands of Ailes and how he would allegedly tape her and once forced her to engage in bed with another women while seeking out younger women for him to meet.
The network quickly responded by giving Luhn a $3.15million payout, and making her sign 'extensive nondisclosure provisions.'
It was also revealed just last month that Tamara Holder and 21st Century Fox reportedly worked out a deal in February that awarded the lawyer and author $2.5million following an incident that occurred two years ago.
Other clients: Bloom is also representing Dr. Wendy Walsh (above earlier this month)
Holder, who joined the network in 2010 and has appeared on Hannity and guest hosted The Five, approached Fox News' executive vice president for business and legal affairs Dianne Brandi back in September and alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by Francisco Cortes.
She alleged that Cortes, the vice president of Fox News Latino, tried to force her into performing oral sex on him when the two were alone in his office.
Fox News also fired Cortes, who in 2004 was personally selected by Roger Ailes as the first member of the disgraced CEO's apprentice program.
Kelly wrote about what she saw as problems with the way Ailes handled complaints in her memoir, saying that the 'entire structure was set up to isolate and silence' victims.
Finally, there is Andrea Tantaros, who is still suing the company for $50million.
The former Fox News host claims that Ailes and O'Reilly both subjected her to unwanted sexual advances while she was an employee.
'Fox News masquerades as a defender of traditional family values, but behind the scenes, it operates like a sex-fueled, Playboy Mansion-like cult, steeped in intimidation, indecency and misogyny,' claimed Tantaros in her lawsuit.
Tantaros, 37, went on to claim in the suit that she was taken off the air when she complained about being sexually harassed by Ailes.
She also claimed that Ailes once asked her to perform 'the twirl' for him; said 'come over here so I can give you a hug'; and told her 'I bet you look good in a bikini.'
O'Reilly meanwhile invited Tantaros to his Long island home to stay with him, telling her it would be 'very private' she claimed in her lawsuit, also telling her that he could 'see [her] as a wild girl' and that she had a 'wild side.'
Tantaros said that she and her agent told Shine, Scott, and Brandi about numerous examples of Ailes's alleged harassment.
'Ailes did not act alone,' claims Tantaros in her lawsuit.
'He may have been the primary culprit, but his actions were condoned by his most senior lieutenants, who engaged in a concerted effort to silence Tantaros by threats, humiliation and retaliation.'
In a statement released over the weekend regarding the O'Reilly report, 21st Century Fox said: 'Notwithstanding the fact that no current or former Fox News employee ever took advantage of the 21st Century Fox hotline to raise a concern about Bill OReilly, even anonymously, we have looked into these matters over the last few months and discussed them with Mr. OReilly.
'While he denies the merits of these claims, Mr. OReilly has resolved those he regarded as his personal responsibility. Mr. OReilly is fully committed to supporting our efforts to improve the environment for all our employees at Fox News.'
Fox News referenced the 21st Century Fox statement when asked for comment over the weekend.
A high school student from Texas has been accused of hacking into his school's computer system to change grades.
A sophomore at Memorial High School was arrested on March 31 and could end up going to jail on charges of breaking computer security.
According to Spring Branch Independent School District, a stolen password was used to access the system and adjust the grades with the student even offering to change the grades for his classmates for a fee.
Despite the temptation, only one student ended taking up the offer.
A high school student from Texas has been accused of hacking into school's computer system to change grades (pictured, Memorial High School)
One day after Secretary Treasury Steven Mnuchin sowed doubt on whether tax reform could get done by its original August deadline, President Trump countered that and taunted him saying that it's on time.
'We're also working with Congress on tax reform, and simplification, and we're on time,' Trump told an audience today at the Snap-On Tool headquarters in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Though he noted a caveat: 'If we get that health care approval.'
Trump told the crowd that they needed to get in touch with lawmakers in order to usher a Republican-led health care bill through. Then tax reform, as originally planned, would quickly follow.
President Trump (left) challenged Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's (right) assessment that tax reform would be delayed - though they both cited health care reform as a problem
President Trump told a Wisconsin audience today that tax reform was on time, though health care still needed to be dealt with first
'So press every one of your congressmen, press everybody, because we want to get that approval and it just makes tax reform easier and it makes it better and it's going to make it steeper, it's going to be bigger and that's what we want to do,' the president proclaimed.
No matter what, Trump suggested, a tax reform package was in 'good shape,' he said today.
'We have the concept of the plan,' he noted. 'We're going to be announcing it very soon.'
'But ... we have to get health care taken care of,' he warned. 'And as soon as health care [gets taken] care of, we are going to march very quickly, you're going to watch, we're going to surprise you.'
'Right, Steve Mnuchin? Right?' he said, calling out to his secretary of treasury.
It was Mnuchin who said yesterday that getting a tax reform bill to Trump's desk before August was 'highly aggressive to not realistic at this point.'
'It is fair to say it is probably delayed a bit because of the health care,' Mnuchin said in an interview with the Financial Times.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin sat down with the Financial Times and said he now expected tax reform to be delayed - thanks to the failure of the Republicans' health care bill
Trump signaled he wants to streamline the income tax system, cut federal regulations, reduce corporate income tax and add new taxes to prod companies to keep or move production to the United States.
He's already being rebuffed by Democrats, who say they won't play ball on tax reform as long as Trump holds out from releasing his taxes.
Yesterday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Trump won't be releasing his 2016 returns, as they, too, are under audit.
'It's gonna be much harder to get tax reform done if the president doesn't disclose his taxes, for the very simple reason, that when there's a provision in [the] bill, people are gonna say, "Oh, this is for Trump and his business not for the benefit of the American people,' Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. warned.
Trump and Republicans in Congress are also trying to overhaul the Affordable Care Act, commonly known as Obamacare.
But efforts to pass a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal and replace Obamacare failed last month, dealing a major setback to the administration.
Now the timeline of quickly tackling health care to then move through a tax reform bill by summer recess is messed up.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin had originally pointed to an August deadline for tax reform, though is now walking back from that assessment
'It started as [an] aggressive timeline,' Mnuchin said first of tax reform, before telling the Financial Times he thought it would be delayed.
He noted that a sticking point on reform is whether to implement a 'border adjusted' plan that would tax imports while exempting exports.
Senior administration officials told FT that the measure is unlikely to survive, meaning the Republicans could be short $1 trillion in cash over a 10 year span.
Mnuchin suggested there are other ways that revenue could be raised, though also stated that the 'border adjustment' plan hasn't been taken off the table.
'Economic growth creates lots of revenues,' Trump's treasury secretary pointed out. 'When you calculate whether it is deficit-neutral or not, there are a bunch of different calculations and a bunch of models.'
'I am just pointing out the magnitude of what economic growth does,' he added.
An Iraqi unit with U.S. and Australian advisers has been hit by mustard gas by ISIS forces.
Six soldiers suffered breathing problems and another 19 were forced to seek treatment after ISIS militants launched the gas attack against the US-backed unit in the city of Mosul, northern Iraq.
It is the second chemical attack against the Iraqi troop in two days, after an officer with the anti-terrorism unit said ISIS fired a rocket loaded with chlorine at the al-Abar neighborhood in western Mosul.
An Iraqi unit with U.S. and Australian advisers has been hit by mustard gas by ISIS forces (a member of the Iraqi forces wears a gas mask in the old city of Mosul on April 16)
Six soldiers suffered breathing problems and another 19 were forced to seek treatment after ISIS militants launched the gas attack against the US-backed unit in the city of Mosul, northern Iraq
Gas masks and other equipment is now being distributed to forces in case of future gas attacks.
The allied Iraqi forces are battling ISIS and local officials say more than half of western Mosul has been retaken from the extremists.
ISIS was driven out of the eastern half of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city, in January.
But hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians are still trapped in the ISIS-held parts of the city which could turn into the worst humanitarian 'catastrophe' in the war against the militants, the United Nations warned on Tuesday.
'If there is a siege and hundreds of thousands of people don't have water and dont have food, they will be at enormous risk,' U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Iraq Lise Grande told Reuters in a telephone interview.
Smoke billows from Mosul's Old City on April 17, 2017, during an offensive by Iraqi security forces to recapture the city from ISIS
An Iraqi federal policeman uses a helmet on a stick to try and draw fire from an Islamic State sniper in an attempt to make him reveal his position during the battle to recapture west Mosul on April 13
'We could be facing a humanitarian catastrophe, perhaps the worst in the entire conflict,' she added.
Mosul, the largest city in northern Iraq, was captured by the ultra-hardline Sunni Muslim fighters in mid 2014.
Iraqi government forces have taken back most of it in a U.S.-backed offensive launched in October, including the half that lies east of the Tigris river.
The militants are now surrounded in the northwestern quarter including the historic Old City, using booby traps, sniper and mortar fire against the assailants.
Iraq's army has built a new pontoon bridge over the Tigris river south of Mosul, after flooding blocked all crossing points, to create an escape route for families fleeing fighting between government forces and Islamic State.
The army had dismantled makeshift bridges linking the two parts of Mosul due to heavy rain on Friday, forcing residents fleeing the city to use small boats.
Mosul's permanent bridges were largely destroyed during a six-month military campaign to seize back Mosul from the Sunni Muslim Islamists.
A member of the Iraqi forces wears a gas mask as he stands by rocket-propelled grenade launchers in the old city of Mosul on April 16
Long queues formed at the new bridge on Tuesday with families crossing in public buses, trucks and taxis.
Aid shipments also resumed to the Hammam al-Alil camp, southwest of Mosul, the main arrival point for people fleeing the fighting.
Deliveries from Erbil, located some 80 km (50 miles) east in peaceful Iraqi Kurdistan, where aid agencies are based, had stopped due to the flooding.
'Everything is back to normal,' said a spokeswoman for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.
Some 20,000 people have escaped from Mosul in the past four days, fewer than before due to the lack of transport, the UNHCR said in a report. Almost 330,000 people have fled Mosul since Iraq started an operation to expel Islamic State in October.
They were some of the around 400,000 people still in western Mosul where military forces are trying to dislodge the militants from the Old City.
Fighting continued in the Old City where heavy smoke could be seen from the area of the Grand al-Nuri Mosque, from where Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared a 'caliphate' spanning parts of Iraq and Syria.
Islamic State is talking to Al-Qaeda about a potential alliance to form a combined terror group as Iraqi troops close in on jihadis in Mosul (demonstrators chant pro-ISIS slogans as they wave the group's flags in front of the provincial government headquarters in Mosul)
Aircraft, helicopter and artillery opened fire, while gunfire could also be heard at several positions of Iraq's federal police near the Old City.
'They (Islamic State militants) carry out attacks on our defensive lines, but each time we repel them and they run away, leaving bodies of their dead fighters behind,' Lieutenant Colonel Hussein Lazim Zghayer said of the force's 9th division.
'Minutes ago, they launched an attack and we responded by shelling them with mortar rounds, killing two of them and their bodies were left in front of our defensive lines,' he said earlier today.
But after months of fighting, it appears that the government forces are winning after ISIS turned in desperation to Al-Qaeda to seek a potential alliance.
Messengers representing ISIS' leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and his al-Qaeda counterpart Ayman al Zawahiri have discussed what is understood to be a potential merger deal for a combined terror group as the Iraqi troops close in on jihadis in Mosul.
This month it was reported the two terror groups had already formed a partnership in Libya amid mounting pressure on the jihadi movements and a leaked memo suggested they could be working together as one organisation by 2021.
A married father, who worked in maintenance, was killed on Tuesday morning when a large portion of a tree fell on him near the US Capitol.
Matthew McClanahan worked as a pipe fitter in the maintenance division of the office of the Architect of the Capitol.
The father-of-two was working on an irrigation pipe when the large American elm tree branch collapsed and struck him around 9.15am.
US Capitol Police spokeswoman Eva Malecki said in a statement that a portion of the tree hit McClanahan at the intersection of Independence Avenue and First Street, in Southeast DC.
Matthew McClanahan was killed on Tuesday morning when a large portion of a tree (pictured) fell on him near the US Capitol. The married father-of-two was working on an irrigation pipe when the tree struck him
After police and firefighters freed him, McClanahan was rushed to a hospital in 'very critical' condition, according to District of Columbia Fire and EMS spokesman Vito Maggiolo.
The Architect of the Capitol Stephen T Ayers asked the public to keep McClanahan's family in their prayers, according to the Washington Post.
'Please keep his family, friends and colleagues in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time,' Ayers wrote. He described McClanahan as a 'talented, dedicated' employee.
House Speaker Paul Ryan released a statement confirming that McClanahan was married with two young children, according to the Post.
'Their loss is so sudden and unimaginable,' Ryan said. 'I ask my colleagues and everyone in the Capitol community to keep Matthew's loved ones in your thoughts and prayers.'
Malecki said crews are removing the branch and inspecting the remainder of the tree. Independence Avenue between Washington Avenue and First Street will remain closed for some time, officials said.
Tim Farron (pictured today) has confirmed he believes homosexuality is not a sin after he was heavily criticised for refusing to 'clarify his views'
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has confirmed he believes homosexuality is not a sin after he was heavily criticised for refusing to 'clarify his views'.
The Christian politician was criticised last night by a string of celebrities including comedians Sue Perkins and David Walliams after he repeatedly sidestepped questions about his stance.
The 46-year-old had made clear he supports equal marriage and LGBT rights, but refused to say on Channel 4 news to say whether or not it was a 'sin'.
This afternoon, during a debate in the Commons, Tory MP Nigel Evans, who is gay, asked Mr Farron whether he thought being gay was a sin.
He replied: I do not.'
Mr Farron then continued: I am very proud to have gone through that lobby in the coalition government where the Lib Dems created gay marriage, equal marriage.
The comments came hours after the Lib Dem leader had launched a staunch defence of his views on gay rights insisting: 'Equality runs through me like a stick of rock.'
Speaking in Richmond this morning after facing a barrage of criticism, Mr Farron said: 'I have never judged anybody, I am massively in favour of people being absolutely free to have the right to love who they love, be who they are, marry who they marry.
'As a liberal I believe in human rights, in equality for every single person ... and LGBT rights are absolutely central to those human rights I am massively passionate about.'
Asked if he felt the electorate may be concerned over the apparent disparity between his personal and political views he replied: 'You just need to look at my (voting) record.'
He went on: 'My belief for equality runs through me like a stick of rock and likewise through our party as well. I am a liberal to my fingertips and that especially applies to LGBT rights.'
In 2015, Ms Newman had quizzed Mr Farron on the same issue as part of a live TV interview. He famously failed to answer three times if he regarded homosexuality as a sin.
During last night's interview, Ms Newman against asked the politician about his views.
The Christian politician was criticised last night after he repeatedly sidestepped questions about his stance during a Channel 4 interview (pictured)
David Walliams posted last night that Mr Farron was a 'sinner' for his 'continued intolerance'
Former Great British Bake Off presenter Sue Perkins criticised the politician after his interview
David Baddiel called the Lib Dem leader a 'fundamentalist Christian homophobe' on Twitter
She said: 'A while back I asked you if you thought that homosexuality was a sin and you struggled to answer.
'Now you've had a while to consider that question, what is the answer?'
Mr Farron replied: 'I don't think I struggled to answer it at all, Cathy. I think I'm not in the position to make theological announcements over the next six weeks.
'I'm not going to spend my time talking theology or making pronouncements.'
Ms Newman added: 'I asked you three times if homosexuality was a sin and you said "we're all sinners". Is that still the answer?'
He replied: 'As a Liberal, I'm passionate about equality, about equal marriage and about equal rights for LGBT people, for fighting for LGBT rights, not just in this country but overseas.
This morning, on Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan asked Charlie Condou (pictured): 'Tim Farron thinks you're a sinner?', to which he replied: 'Or does he? He hasn't actually said'
In 2015, Ms Newman had quizzed Mr Farron on the same issue as part of a live TV interview (pictured). He famously failed to answer three times if he regarded homosexuality as a sin
'Just because I'm Christian, it would be a bit boring for everybody to spend the next weeks asking me to make theological announcements that I'm not going to make.'
After the interview, Mr Farron came under fire from celebrities.
Ms Perkins wrote to her 819,000 followers: 'Tim Farron on C4 news failing to clarify his views on the gay community. 'We're all sinners'. It's 2017.'
Britain's Got Talent judge David Walliams wrote: 'Tim Farron you are definitely a sinner for your continued intolerance and prejudice. Please try and join the rest of us in the year 2017.'
David Baddiel called the Lib Dem leader a 'fundamentalist Christian homophobe' on Twitter, before writing the hashtag #notsurehowwegotthere.
This morning, on Good Morning Britain, co-host Piers Morgan asked ex-Coronation Street star Charlie Condou: 'Tim Farron thinks you're a sinner?', to which he replied: 'Or does he? He hasn't actually said.'
Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley wrote in response to Ms Newman's tweet: 'It's time to be honest' (pictured)
One Twitter user, Josh, said that Tim Farron 'dodges' the question because he won't admit he thinks homosexuality is a sin
Another Twitter user, Anna Keats, said that the interview is likely to cost the Lib Dems votes
Mr Condou then continued: 'I think he should absolutely say what he means. His voting record is very strong on LGBT rights, certainly stronger than Theresa May's, so his actions perhaps speak louder, but I think he should perhaps stop sitting on the fence.'
But Baroness Featherstone, a Liberal Democrat peer, posted on Twitter that Mr Farron is 'solid' on LGBT rights.
She wrote: 'Turn your attack on those religions that make their followers choose between their sexuality and their faith. Tim is solid on lgbt rights'
Today, Mr Farron was in Richmond with Sarah Olney as they launched the Liberal Democrats' election campaign following Theresa May's shock announcement of a snap election.
The pair were joined by supporters at the scene of the shock by-election which saw her over-turn a 23,000 majority and oust Zac Goldsmith from his Tory-held seat in December.
The party hailed a membership surge which saw more than 5,000 people join and the party website temporarily crash in the hours following the news of a June 8 vote.
Though it may have taken some time, Theresa May has finally woken up and seen sense. The Prime Minister had repeatedly ruled out even the possibility of calling a General Election, most recently late last month.
This was plain bonkers. It has long been obvious to anyone with a scintilla of political intelligence that a General Election was the only course of action. Indeed, I have called for just such a bold decision in these pages since the start of the year.
Now, Mrs May has the opportunity to secure for herself a personal mandate as Prime Minister. She can negotiate Brexit on her own terms. She can win the substantial parliamentary majority she desperately needs, rather than scrape by on a tiny majority that barely stretches past single figures. And she can change British politics for ever.
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I believe this will be one of the most important elections in British democratic history
I believe this will be one of the most important elections in British democratic history because it gives Mrs May the chance to do what every Tory leader since Winston Churchill has yearned to achieve: put an end to the Labour Party once and for all.
The brutal fact is that Labour cannot survive as a mass political party after the General Election on June 8. Jeremy Corbyns restless rabble now stands at 23 per cent in the opinion polls.
For all his faults, I admire Mr Corbyn, who is a decent man, if a profoundly limited politician.
But I have bad news for him. The chances are that the 23 per cent figure will fall like a stone as the election progresses, because he has shown little ability to fight an effective General Election.
Furthermore, he leads a Labour Party that is more split than at any time since the Thirties.
Indeed, part of the reason why Mrs Mays strategists so badly wanted her to call a General Election was the fear that Mr Corbyn might resign in the wake of calamitous results in next months local elections and be replaced by a more popular and effective leader.
Frankly, we should not rule out one final attempt to ditch Mr Corbyn ahead of June 8, because many Labour MPs are painfully aware that their partys position is considerably more precarious than it was even under Michael Foot in 1983.
Under Foot, the Labour Party was very badly ill. With Corbyn at the helm, it is dying.
Though it may have taken some time, Theresa May has finally woken up and seen sense
Foot, after all, managed more than 27 per cent of the popular vote in June 1983. That is far more than Corbyn is likely to get.
Back in 1983, in the wake of the Falklands War and facing the strongest peacetime Conservative leader of the 20th century, Labour managed to scramble to 209 Parliamentary seats.
With the benefit of hindsight, that feels hugely impressive. I predict that Corbyns Labour which now has 229 seats will crash well below that figure.
In my view, the result of this election is not in doubt. Only the scale of Labours debacle remains to be decided.
Mrs May can put an end to Labour for ever
Nor is it simply Labour MPs in marginal seats who are facing the execution squad. Some of those in hitherto safe seats look doomed, too.
Labours backstabbing and treacherous deputy leader Tom Watson thinks that with his 10,000 majority in West Bromwich East, he has a safe seat. I am beginning to wonder.
Ed Miliband has an 11,780 majority in his Doncaster North seat. Even that looks a touch dodgy.
The former minister Ben Bradshaw, who has a majority of 7,183 in Exeter, looks in real trouble.
So is former leadership contender Liz Kendall in Leicester West. Its the opposite story with the Conservatives, who currently have 330 MPs.
I predict that figure will surge to 400 far more than even Maggie Thatcher managed in her pomp, and the most since the Tory Party scored 470 under Stanley Baldwin in 1931.
The other winner of this General Election will be the Liberal Democrats. Its just two years since they suffered the most grievous defeat in their entire history as their MPs fell from 55 to just nine. It looked as if they were finished.
Now, Mrs May has the opportunity to secure for herself a personal mandate as Prime Minister
For all his faults, I admire Mr Corbyn, who is a decent man, if a profoundly limited politician
Many Labour MPs are painfully aware that their partys position is considerably more precarious than it was even under Michael Foot in 1983
In fact, last years Brexit vote, allied to chaos inside Labour, has meant that the Lib Dems have become the repository of pro-European sentiment across Britain.
They may double or even triple their number of seats, and over time have the potential to emerge as a Centrist party capable of challenging the Tories.
Meanwhile, Ukip are in trouble and may not win a single seat.
This all adds up to a staggering opportunity for Theresa May. After June 8, she is likely to wield more power than any British premier in decades, with the ability to shape this nation for good or for ill.
This is cause for celebration for the Conservatives, but a word of warning is required here. Huge majorities are also very dangerous for the country, as we all discovered to our cost after Tony Blair secured his landslide victory by more than 170 seats over the Conservatives in 1997.
It is a sound maxim that good government requires a strong opposition. There is no chance of a strong opposition after this election.
Remember that the Labour Party, for all its many faults, has played a huge role in holding Britain together over the past 100 years. What will replace it if it does implode at the polls? Something must. One-party rule never lasts long.
Its also important and relevant to recall that the Thirties, which saw that massive Tory majority, was the most divisive decade in 20th-century British history.
It gives Mrs May the chance to do what every Tory leader since Winston Churchill has yearned to achieve
There was certainly stability at Westminster during that decade of Tory rule, but there were also huge divisions between rich and poor, and between different regions of Britain.
This was very dangerous to British political stability, because a minority of people felt cut out of the political system altogether meaning that they resorted to violence or succumbed to despair.
In 1932, a National Hunger March ended with rioting in London, while four years later the infamous Battle of Cable Street saw a pitched battle between the British Union of Fascists and their political opponents.
Thanks to that lesson from history about social dislocation, Theresa May knows she will require great wisdom to keep Britain together.
First and foremost, she needs to show that she can govern for all of Britain, not just the traditional Tory areas of strength in the South and the South West.
Peter Oborne: I believe that integrity will help the PM secure a famous victory in June
I feel certain that the key to this election are the Labour voters in the North of England who were cynically betrayed by Tony Blair, and now, with the failures of Labour and the increasing marginalisation of Ukip, have nowhere to go.
Mrs May needs to show that she can offer these voters a home where they can feel comfortable.
The marginalisation of Jeremy Corbyns party is echoed north of the border in Scotland, which until only 15 years ago was a famous Labour stronghold. Now Scotland has turned into a one-party state run by the SNP.
Indeed, this election is a huge potential boost to its leader, Nicola Sturgeon. She will plan to wipe out the pathetic remains of the Labour Party in Scotland, then claim she has a mandate for a referendum on Scottish Independence in the wake of Brexit.
Here again, Mrs May along with the charismatic young Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson fundamentally needs to show the Scots that they have a brilliant future as part of the Union. In political terms, how can all this be achieved from the Downing Street bunker? Mrs May does not have to look far for the answers.
This Prime Minister spelled out her vision exactly nine months ago in the superb speech she made as she entered No 10 on her first day as Prime Minister.
Then, she spoke meaningfully of making a country that works not for a privileged few, but for every one of us. She specifically recognised that working-class people and ethnic minorities had materially worse life chances than others in Britain.
Since then, Mrs May has shown that she is a different kind of leader to her predecessor David Cameron. This vicars daughter does not come from a wealthy or privileged background. She does not surround herself with old school friends or rich cronies, as Cameron did.
For that reason, she has brought a new integrity into Downing Street.
Above all, she has ended the favouritism and nepotism of the Blair and Cameron period of British politics.
Mrs May has shown that she is a different kind of leader to her predecessor David Cameron
Mrs May has brought a new integrity into Downing Street. Above all, she has ended the favouritism and nepotism of the Blair and Cameron period of British politics
More than any other political leader in Britain today, Mrs May commands the trust of the voters
I believe that integrity will help her secure a famous victory in June. And armed with the authority of that victory, she must aim to strike out confidently with policies of her own.
She has already given a flavour of what some of these will be. I have no doubt that she will deal with the rancid corruption of the House of Lords, which is stuffed full of party donors and political time-servers from the previous governments.
She will continue her reforms to the education system by giving parents what they want, rather than cravenly giving in to the power of the education lobby. She will build on the grammar school revolution she set in motion last year.
Mrs May needs to show she can deal with the housing crisis (a favourite hobby horse of Jeremy Corbyn, even though it is, in part, caused by the unfettered immigration he favours), and undertake a house-building programme that enables hard-working young couples to get a foot on the property ladder.
She must deal with the nonsense of an overseas aid programme that gave 4 million in the past six years to the rogue state of North Korea, and does little or nothing to help those in genuine need. In a terrifyingly volatile world, much of that money can, and should, be moved to the defence budget.
We now come to the future of Britain outside the EU.
It would be ridiculous to expect Mrs May to set out her exact objectives in the negotiations with Europe that lie ahead. However, she must expect to explain in general terms what sort of trading relationship she wants with the EU, and whether Britain is prepared to pay billions to Europe in order to stay within the single market.
More than any other political leader in Britain today, Mrs May commands the trust of the voters. This coming General Election should give her the legitimacy to shape Britains future in the way she wants to.
If she gets it right, she can lead a great reforming Government that could transform Britain profoundly for the better over the coming years.
Before she went off on an Easter walking holiday with her husband Philip in Snowdonia National Park last week, Theresa May said in an interview: Walking in Wales is an opportunity to get out and about . . . to see the scenery, clear your mind and your thinking.
And it was on that break that the doubt and uncertainty she had been harbouring finally lifted like the mountain mist.
For some weeks, the PM had been grappling with her conscience over whether to heed the advice of senior ministers, aides and editors to call a snap General Election which would mean reneging on her many public promises not to do so.
But after five days in her husbands company, her mind was made up. Not for the first time, Mrs May had turned to Philip her most loyal adviser, who she met at Oxford.
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For weeks Theresa May has been grappling over whether to call a snap election but after seeking the counsel of her husband Philip on a walking trip in Wales - her mind was made up
Before she went away, the PM was anxious she would be portrayed as breaking her word for opportunistic political gain by reacting to good opinion polls, said a senior source.
Philip gently urged her to call the election to give her more legitimacy in her negotiations with the EU and the SNP.
The Mays have a tremendous marriage. They are a team.
The contrast in style with her predecessors at Number 10 as she deliberated this momentous decision could not have been more marked.
David Cameron tended to act only after consulting the public school chumocracy he surrounded himself with.
Tony Blair took decisions with his sofa government of advisers, including thuggish spin doctor Alastair Campbell.
But Theresa May preferred to take stock with her husband in the rugged Snowdonia countryside.
What is equally telling about the PMs style of government is that news of her intentions did not leak.
The PM called the election because she said she needed a Brexit mandate that gave her a strong hand in the negotiations with the EU
By the time Mrs May returned to London in the middle of last week she had confided in ten or so of her most dependable officials and Cabinet ministers.
The Prime Ministers confidants included her joint chief-of-staff Nick Timothy, an adviser when she was Home Secretary, who is regarded as Mrs Mays brain and closest consigliere.
She also told Fiona Hill, her other chief-of-staff: a tough, no-nonsense, media-savvy former Sky News journalist who was also at the Home Office.
Mrs May told Chancellor Philip Hammond as well as Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, and David Davis, the Brexit Secretary.
Sir Lynton Crosby, the Australian political strategist who masterminded David Camerons unexpected election victory in 2015, was also informed.
He warned her the Lib Dems, who have only nine MPs, will make gains in the south of the country, but that the Tories could advance at Labours expense in the North due to the collapse in the Ukip vote.
The Prime Minister and her husband Philip (pictured) are said to have a 'tremendous marriage'
Sir Patrick McLoughlin, the Tory chairman, who will work side-by-side with Sir Lynton, was also taken into the PMs confidence. Many have long been pressing the PM to go for a snap election.
Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill dubbed the unofficial deputy prime ministers had led the backroom pressure to go to the country.
Meanwhile, David Davis, who has forged a strong working relationship with the PM, had been pressing hard, arguing a large majority would give power to his and the PMs elbows in negotiations with Brussels.
Once Mrs May had informed her inner circle of her decision, she spent the weekend in her constituency home in Sonning, near Reading. On Saturday night she was with her husband working on her papers and watching television.
It was with disbelief that, on Sunday morning, she read a newspaper column suggesting that she no longer enjoyed being Prime Minister, that her health was bad and that she was considering standing down!
Later that morning the Prime Minister went to her local church, St Andrews, for the Easter Sunday service. The sermon, focusing on the importance of the Resurrection, reinforced the PM and her husband in their conviction that she was doing the right thing. A vicars daughter, Mrs Mays faith is a huge part of her life.
After church it was back home to cook Sunday lunch for her husband before they returned to Downing Street in the evening.
The PM made the election announcement immediately after a long Cabinet meeting with her top team
The die was cast on Monday afternoon when the PM telephoned the Queen at Windsor Castle to tell her of her intention to go for an election on June 8. One official said: The election date is after the Derby and before Royal Ascot so the Queen will be happy.
As Tuesday dawned, one or two of Mrs Mays officials began to suspect something was afoot. She emerged for her first meetings of the day in a new outfit. It was a smart new haircut, too, said a senior source. Something was up.
At a long-arranged Cabinet meeting yesterday, the Prime Minister dropped her bombshell and went round the table asking for views.
There was no dissent and party chairman Sir Patrick McLoughlin made a short presentation.
When the lectern was placed in Downing Street for Mrs Mays short public speech it was minus the usual Government crest a clear indication that she was to announce party political business.
The shock in the media was testament to the very tight ship Mrs May runs and her refusal to give a running commentary on everything shes doing.
How long do you think this would have stayed a secret under David Cameron? said one source.
Absent from Downing Street yesterday was Philip May, who had gone to work in his suit and trademark spectacles at Capital Group, a U.S. financial services company.
For him, it was another normal day in the office. The same can hardly be said for his wife.
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Three Liberal Democrat knights from the Coalition era will make a comeback to try to win back their seats in the snap election.
The trio of Remainers all former Cabinet members put themselves forward as the party attempts to come back from the political dead.
Veterans Sir Vince Cable, Sir Ed Davey and Sir Simon Hughes all lost their seats in 2015 when the party was reduced to just eight MPs.
Within hours of the PMs announcement, membership of the party surged by thousands. Leader Tim Farron declared that the poll was a chance for voters to avert a disastrous Brexit.
He hailed it as a chance to change the direction of the country and vowed to campaign to keep Britain in the single market.
Polls show that Theresa May is set to return after June's election with a majority of more than 100. But the Conservatives are vulnerable to the Lib Dems in several areas of the country
The unashamedly pro-European party hopes to walk back into some of the 49 seats it lost to both Labour and the Tories in the bloodbath of 2015.
However, Lib Dem sources refused to say definitively how many seats they hoped to win.
Nick Clegg, who resigned as leader after the humiliating defeat, will stand again to defend his seat in Sheffield Hallam, insiders said.
Some 50 per cent of those Lib Dems who stood in 2015 and lost have been re-selected to stand again. Sir Vince, 73, will make a political comeback after he lost his seat in Twickenham as the Tories swept to victory.
The former Business Secretary, who held the seat from 1997 to 2015, will stand against Tory MP Tania Mathias.
Sir Simon, who was an MP from 1983 to 2015, will stand in his former constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark.
The former deputy leader will challenge Labour MP Neil Coyle in the south-east London seat. Sir Simon, 65, said the Liberal Democrats had as good a chance of winning again as we ever had.
He claimed that Labour MPs are focused on fighting internal battles within their party. Former Energy Secretary Sir Ed, 51, hopes to reclaim his former seat in Kingston and Surbiton from Conservative James Berry.
Sir Vince Cable lost his seat, which had been considered safe, to Tory candidate Tania Mathias in 2015 general election, losing his place in the cabinet in the process
Sir Ed Davey (left) and Sir Simon Hughes (right) also lost their seats in 2015 when the party was reduced to just eight MPs
Mr Farron said: Bring this election on. The fightback starts here. This election is your chance to change the direction of our country. Striking an optimistic tone, he insisted that only his party could prevent a Tory majority.
Mr Farron said: Labour wont win any seats off the Conservatives. The SNP could only possibly win one seat off the Conservatives.
But there are dozens of Conservative seats where the Lib Dems are the challengers.
Mr Farron told voters: If you want to avoid a disastrous hard Brexit. If you want to keep Britain in the single market.
If you want a Britain that is open, tolerant and united, this is your chance.
Party sources said: We are pretty confident, we expect to do quite well. But the appeal of the Lib Dems in former strongholds like Cornwall, Devon and Somerset which came out in favour of leaving the EU may be a struggle.
Within hours of the yesterdays announcement, membership of the party surged by thousands. Leader Tim Farron (pictured) declared that the poll was a chance for voters to avert a disastrous Brexit
Those thousands of voters who backed Brexit may prove unlikely to support Mr Farrons pro- Brussels message.
With polls putting the Lib Dems on only 10 per cent, any chance of returning to the parliamentary force they were in 2005 and 2010 seems unlikely.
But the party has always concentrated more on local campaigning in winnable seats than the national polls.
The 2015 backlash after five years in coalition with the Tories saw them lose ground to their former partners in south-west England and the London suburbs.
They will be hopeful that Sarah Olneys success in the Richmond Park by-election last year is a sign the party is bouncing back in south-west London. Her victory took the party up to nine MPs.
Mr Farron indicated that the Lib Dem ambition was to prevent the Tories from having an outright majority, giving his party leverage over the terms of Brexit.
A surge in membership yesterday gaining 2,500 new members within hours meant the party has doubled in size since May 2015.
Former President George HW Bush was readmitted to the hospital on Tuesday with a 'mild case' of pneumonia, his spokesperson said.
Bush, 92, received treatment at Methodist Hospital in Houston but is now said to be doing fine, according to KHOU.
'He is already well on the path to recovery and going home,' the spokesperson, Jim McGrath, said.
The former president's office released a statement on Tuesday which read: 'President George HW Bush was admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital on Friday for observation due to a persistent cough that prevented him from getting proper rest.'
'It was subsequently determined he had a mild case of pneumonia, which was treated and has been resolved.'
'President Bush is in very good spirits and is being held for further observation while he regains his strength.'
In March, Bush seemed to have fully recovered from the bout of pneumonia that kept him in the hospital for two weeks earlier this year as he and his wife Barbara picked up an award for their service to the Jewish community.
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Former President George HW Bush was readmitted to the hospital on Tuesday with a 'mild case' of pneumonia, his spokesperson said. Bush (right) and his wife, Barbara, are seen above during their most recent public appearance in Houston last month
'President Bush is in very good spirits and is being held for further observation while he regains his strength,' according to a statement released by his office
Bush, 92, received treatment at Methodist Hospital in Houston but is now said to be doing fine. He is seen above with his wife, former first lady Barbara Bush
On April 9, former President Bill Clinton (left) tweeted a picture of him visiting Bush in Houston
In January, Bush came home from the hospital, where he spent some time in the ICU and needed a breathing tube for a couple of days.
His wife, 91-year-old Barbara, kept him company after being hospitalized for five days and receiving treatment for bronchitis.
The illnesses kept the couple from attending the presidential inauguration on January 20, with their son George W Bush announcing that he and his wife Laura would represent them instead.
Before the inauguration, the elder Bush sent a letter to Donald Trump saying that his doctor had told him that going to the event would put him 'six feet under'.
In January, Bush came home from the hospital, where he spent some time in the ICU and needed a breathing tube for a couple of days. He is seen far left with his son, former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura
The elder Bush and his wife, who were married 72 years ago on January 6, 1945, have had the longest marriage of any presidential couple in American history.
Their family kept giving supportive updates throughout their hospitalization.
A spokesman told the DailyMail.com after Bush was released from the hospital that his son and fellow former president was happy to know his father was back home.
'43 is just thrilled that 41 is home and well,' the younger Bush's spokesman Freddy Ford said, calling George Bushes by their numbers in the order of US presidents.
MPs will today overwhelmingly back a snap General Election on June 8 in a historic House of Commons vote.
Theresa May needs a two-thirds majority in Parliament to trigger the poll but Labour MPs are expected to back the motion.
The vote is expected to take place following Prime Ministers Questions at midday, and will be preceded by a 90-minute debate.
Mrs May could seek to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act in her new manifesto
Theresa May needs a two-thirds majority in Parliament to trigger the poll but Labour MPs are expected to back the motion
Until recently, prime ministers could decide when to call an election as long as one took place at least every five years using so-called prerogative powers dating back hundreds of years. Governments also fell if they lost a vote of no confidence in the House of Commons.
But the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 fixed the date of the 2015 general election, and said subsequent polls would take place every five years. The next election was due on May 7, 2020.
The law was passed by David Cameron and Nick Clegg to try to ensure the coalition governments survival even if there was a political crisis. Critics described it as an act of constitutional vandalism.
It dictates that the Commons must pass by a two-thirds majority a motion stating that there shall be an early parliamentary general election.
It was seen as a possible obstacle to a snap election, but Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has long said he would support a poll. Yesterday he confirmed this, saying his MPs would back Mrs Mays motion.
Despite dire opinion poll ratings, Mr Corbyn said he welcomed the Prime Ministers decision
Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond, now an SNP MP, accused Mrs May of blatant opportunism
ALL THE TIMES SHE SAID 'NO' TO A SNAP ELECTION All the times Theresa May said there shouldnt be a snap election, before her hand was forced by die-hard Remainers in Parliament. June 30, 2016 Before she became PM, Mrs May was opposed to a snap election. Launching her bid for the Tory leadership, she said: There should be no general election until 2020. July 12, 2016 Addressing party staff she pledged her determination to build the support we need to go to the country in four years time, and not just win, but win big. August 30, 2016 Ruling out a second referendum, her spokesman said: There is no need for a general election either. September 4, 2016 She told BBCs Andrew Marr Show she would be continuing the manifesto on which the Government was elected in 2015, so I dont think theres a need for an election. She said there was a need to deal with the issues that the country is facing and have that election in 2020. October 2, 2016 In an interview with The Sunday Times she said it was right that the next general election is in 2020. She added: This isnt about political games, its about what is right for the country. I think an early general election would introduce a note of instability for people. October 4, 2016 In another appearance on Andrew Marr the PM was asked again whether the Brexit debate was the trigger for another general election. Mrs May replied: Its not just about leaving the EU, its about that essential question of the trust that people can have in their politicians. The people have spoken, we will deliver on that. November 4, 2016 Her spokesman said: There shouldnt be a general election before 2020. This remains the PMs view. March 7, 2017 After former Tory leader William Hague called for an election, Downing Street sources said it was not something the PM plans to do or wishes to do. Advertisement
Despite dire opinion poll ratings, Mr Corbyn said he welcomed the Prime Ministers decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first.
We look forward to showing how Labour will stand up for the people of Britain, he added.
The Lib Dems will also support the election, and the SNP said they would not stand in the way of the poll.
Only one Labour MP, Chris Matheson, has said publicly he will vote against the election. His majority in Chester is 93, making it his partys most marginal seat.
A handful of others could also try to block the vote. Asked if he would back the motion, Labour MP Mike Gapes wrote on Twitter: Do turkeys vote for Christmas?
If the Commons does not support the election with sufficient numbers, the Government could theoretically collapse itself by passing a vote of no confidence.
Mr Corbyn would then have two weeks to try to form a government, and if he failed, the election would go ahead. Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond, now an SNP MP, accused Mrs May of blatant opportunism.
After everything she said about governing the country, she has taken one look at the opinion polls and dashed to an election, he said. Mrs May could seek to repeal the Fixed-term Parliaments Act in her new manifesto.
If the vote goes through, Parliament will sit until May 3. Local elections are already being held the next day on May 4, and the General Election campaign is likely to begin on Monday, May 8.
Mrs May has ended the favouritism and nepotism of the Blair and Cameron period of British politics
Mrs May has shown that she is a different kind of leader to her predecessor David Cameron
GRAMMARS? AID? WHAT COULD BE IN MANIFESTO... Lift ban on new grammar schools Theresa Mays flagship education policy will be put before voters for the first time. Labour and Lib Dem peers had threatened to stop the Prime Minister lifting the 19-year ban on new grammar schools, imposed by Tony Blair in 1998, as it was not in the Tory 2015 manifesto. But by getting a mandate for the change at an election, the Lords will be expected to follow convention and allow a new generation of selective schools. Likelihood of being in manifesto 5/5 Cap on energy bills Ministers had been preparing to announce a cap on rip-off energy bills within weeks. Now they will be able to unveil a scheme to protect families as a popular vote winner. After EDF hiked tariffs for the second time in only a few months last week, a spokesman for Energy Secretary Greg Clark said: We will shortly set out proposals to help energy consumers. 4/5 Scrap 0.7 per cent aid target Tory backbenchers have been calling on the PM to scrap David Camerons commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on overseas aid. Ministers had pledged to review the target before the 2020 election and could now offer a fresh promise of an appraisal. But a Government spokesman at the weekend firmly dismissed claims it could be scrapped, saying: We take our international responsibilities seriously and remain fully committed to them. 2/5 Bring net migration below 100,000 The goal of curbing annual net migration to the tens of thousands appeared in both the 2010 and 2015 Tory manifestos, but it has been repeatedly missed. Mrs May has signalled that free movement of EU citizens could continue during a transitional phase after the UK leaves the EU in spring 2019, but it would be problematic for her to admit defeat in the long-term drive to cut numbers. 4/5 Rise in VAT, NI contributions or Income Tax Chancellor Philip Hammond was forced to abandon his Budget proposal to increase National Insurance on the self-employed last month after he was accused of breaking a 2015 pledge. The new manifesto will likely exclude a promise to freeze tax rates so the Chancellor is uninhibited at the next budget in the autumn. 1/5 Hike retirement ages Next month ministers were due to respond to the Cridland review, which suggested the pension age should rise from 67 to 68 between 2037 and 2039. The Mail revealed last week that the Government was considering accelerating the rise even further so people in their 50s would also face their state pension age being pushed back a year. But any decision is now likely to be kicked into the long grass as a pledge to increase the state pension age would be risky. 1/5 British bill of rights Plans to axe the Human Rights Act and introduce a British bill of rights have been repeatedly shelved. Mrs May has made clear her desire to quit the European Court of Human Rights. But after the Brexit vote, ministers have said any change would have to wait until after we leave the EU as the Government could only do one constitutional reform at a time. 2/5 Advertisement
Charges against Remainers who tried to thwart her every move
Theresa May yesterday said she was reluctantly calling an election to guarantee certainty and stability for the years ahead.
Her hand was forced by opposition parties and Remainer peers, who threatened to try to block Brexit or exploit the Governments narrow majority to undermine negotiations with the EU.
Here, Executive Political Editor JACK DOYLE sets out the charge sheet against the wreckers:
LABOUR
Before Mrs May triggered Article 50 last month, Labours Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer raised the prospect that the party could abstain on the final deal.
Then on March 29, in an interview with the BBCs Andrew Neil, Jeremy Corbyn went further. He declared for the first time that Labour MPs would block any agreement between the UK and EU unless it delivered unfettered access to the single market.
As the party leader must have known at the time, this is an impossible outcome and something the EU has already ruled out. He was accused of setting implausible tests in order to find an excuse to block Brexit.
The significant hardening of the Labour position made it much more likely that the House of Commons would vote the deal down and gave Remainer Tory MPs a powerful stick with which to beat the Government.
Labours Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer raised the prospect that the party could abstain on the final deal
LIB DEMS
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has proudly dubbed himself the Remoaner-in-chief.
He has spent the last nine months attempting to secure the support of ardent Remainers by demanding a second referendum on Brexit.
Despite having only nine MPs, the Lib Dems could with the help of their 98 life peers have formed a significant road block to Britain leaving the EU. In particular, they could attempt to unpick or block the legislation needed for Brexit to happen.
Additionally, as Mrs May pointed out yesterday, they are also determined to obstruct in both the Commons and the Lords every single element of the Governments domestic agenda.
Recently the partys chief whip, Tom Brake, threatened to grind the Governments agenda to a standstill unless the Lib Dems get their way over Brexit.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has proudly dubbed himself the Remoaner-in-chief
LORDS
The upper chamber is stuffed full of Remainer peers, many of whom would be delighted to block Brexit or force the Governments hand during the talks.
Leading blockers include Labours Lord Mandelson who sparked outrage last week by telling the EU to forget Great Britain and take care of your own interests and Tories such as Lord Heseltine, who recently claimed Brexit was a betrayal of the troops who won the Second World War. Such peers could be expected to take any and every opportunity to amend the legislation needed for Brexit, such as the Great Repeal Bill.
Ministers feared Remainer peers would try to amend the Immigration Bill to retain free movement for EU migrants after Brexit. They also thought the Governments new customs laws could face attempts to keep Britain in the single market.
Mrs May hit out at unelected members of the House of Lords [who] have vowed to fight us every step of the way.
Leading blockers include Labours Lord Mandelson who sparked outrage last week by telling the EU to forget Great Britain and take care of your own interests
SNP
The Scottish National Partys MPs all voted against the Article 50 legislation needed to trigger Brexit, and could be counted on to do anything in their power to try to block the process.
Party leader Nicola Sturgeon demanded a separate deal for Scotland to keep it inside the single market.
As a mark of their dedication to Brussels, the SNPs Europhile MPs even sang EU anthem Ode to Joy when the Article 50 Bill was going through Parliament.
The party will vote against the Great Repeal Bill which gets rid of the 1972 European Communities Act and translates vast swathes of EU law into domestic legislation. With help from Labour, Tory Remainers, and the Lib Dems, they could have eventually stopped the Commons approving the final Brexit deal.
The SNP is also trying to use Brexit to demand a second Scottish independence referendum.
Party leader Nicola Sturgeon demanded a separate deal for Scotland to keep it inside the single market
Tony Blair last night called on voters to elect anti-Brexit MPs on June 8 no matter which party they are from.
The former Labour leader said he wanted people who would put the national interest before party interest to be elected.
And, hinting that he feared a disastrous result for his party, he warned that the country is facing the dangerous situation of a Tory majority in part delivered because of the state of Labour.
Tony Blair has called on voters to elect anti-Brexit MPs on June 8 no matter which party they are from
His comments come very close to being an endorsement for Liberal Democrat candidates in areas where Labour has put up an MP who supports leaving the EU.
Last night there were even claims that Mr Blair could share a stage with Lib Dem leader Tim Farron to fight Brexit during the election campaign.
The former prime ministers intervention will stoke claims that he and other moderates are seeking to create a centre party if as expected Jeremy Corbyn leads his party to a disastrous defeat.
It came as a Remain-backing former Tory cabinet minister issued a call for voters to back candidates who want the UK to play a full part in the life of the continent in which we live.
Stephen Dorrells comments, issued in his role as chair of the European Movement UK, raise the spectre of Remain-backing Tories turning their backs on the party in protest at Theresa Mays approach to Brexit.
In a letter to the Movements supporters, the former health secretary said: Britain is still a member of the EU.
Rumours are circulating that Blair could share a stage with Lib Dem leader Tim Farron (right) to fight Brexit during the election campaign
We urge voters to support candidates who pledge to ensure that we continue to develop our relationship with these neighbours.
Yesterday Mr Blair said voters need to put candidates under sustained pressure to say whether or not they would vote against a Brexit deal that does not deliver the same benefits as single market membership, or against a damaging decision to leave without a deal.
This should cross party lines, he added.
Mr Blair denied he was calling for tactical voting or some anti-Tory alliance. But he said it was vital to keep open the possibility of MPs being ready to put the national interest before party interest when it comes to the final Brexit deal.
And he warned of huge damage to the country if Mrs May secures a majority, permitting her to pursue a Brexit at any cost deal without restraint.
In an article on his website, Mr Blair wrote: The country did vote for Brexit; but narrowly. And there are many, on both sides of the debate, who will want to know the terms of a deal before making up their minds finally.
Blair warned of huge damage to the country if Prime Minister Theresa May secures a majority in the election, permitting her to pursue a Brexit at any cost deal without restraint
CYBER EXPERTS ON ALERT OVER HACKING FEARS Cyber security specialists will be on high alert during the election campaign amid concerns about foreign interference. Political parties were offered assistance by GCHQs National Cyber Security Centre in March, with the authorities warning that events in the United States ... and elsewhere act as a reminder of the potential for hostile action against the UK political system. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has previously accused Russia of using cyber attacks to threaten democracy. Moscow was alleged to have interfered in last years US presidential election. Cyber security expert Ewan Lawson said there was a risk that political parties would be targeted, with the potential release of sensitive information. The senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute told the Press Association that parties and think-tanks often did not have particularly robust cyber security because of a lack of money to spend in this area. Advertisement
The PM can call an election, get a landslide, and then claim a mandate for Brexit At Any Cost. These unique circumstances demand a unique response.
He added: The political situation the country faces is unprecedented and dangerous.
We risk a Parliament which is lop-sided in its make-up; which has a big Tory majority in part delivered not because of the intrinsic merits of Brexit or the Tories themselves but because of the state of Labour where they will claim a mandate to take us wherever they will, when we desperately need representatives who will at least keep an open mind.
Mr Blair later insisted: To be clear: I am not urging tactical voting or some anti-Tory alliance. I am urging that ... [we] elect as many MPs as possible with an open mind on this issue who are prepared to vote according to the quality of the deal and the interests of the British people.
Last night a senior Lib Dem source said Mr Blair could join Mr Farron on stage during the election campaign to make pro-EU interventions.
We are the only party that opposes a hard Brexit and believes that the British people should have their say in a second EU referendum, they said. If any politicians from Tony Blair to [Labour MP] Chuka Umunna agree with us then we will welcome their support.
Mr Blairs spokesman said the claim was not true.
EU leaders back election
European Council president Donald Tusk compared the snap election to an Alfred Hitchcock plot twist
The Prime Ministers key opponents in Brussels yesterday praised her surprise announcement, saying an election win would give her vital breathing space.
German foreign minister Sigmar Gabriel said it would bring clarity and predictability to talks with the EU. He added: Drawn-out uncertainty does the political and economic relationship between Europe and Britain no good.
European Council president Donald Tusk highlighted how the move sent shockwaves through Brussels by likening it to an Alfred Hitchcock plot twist.
He wrote on Twitter: It was Hitchcock who directed Brexit: first an earthquake and the tension rises.
EU diplomats also backed Mrs Mays announcement, calling it an obvious decision to cash in on her political support. One senior official said it would give her a buffer against salvoes from other EU leaders who insist a deal must leave Britain worse off.
It will mean the concessions she has to make during talks wont leave her open to attack, the official said.
Czech MEP Petr Jezek, from the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, joked that Mrs May had announced the date of Jeremy Corbyns departure. Victory would push back the next general election to 2022, giving her longer to complete a Brexit deal without distractions at the polls.
Brexit secretary David Davis said victory would hand Mrs May significantly more power to broker a good deal with Brussels.
But the European Parliaments Brexit negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, hinted that politicians on the continent may seek to influence the election as he called for voters to use it as a protest against Britain leaving the bloc.
John Woodcock said Jeremy Corbyn is not fit to be Prime Minister
One of Jeremy Corbyns own MPs last night urged him to quit to avoid a Labour meltdown in the election, saying he could not support him entering No 10.
In an extraordinary outburst, John Woodcock, a moderate MP with a wafer-thin majority, said the hard-Left leader was not fit to be prime minister.
He told constituents: There is still time for Jeremy to stand down rather than lead Labour to defeat.
Mr Corbyn refused to say whether he would quit if Labour trailing by more than 20 points in the polls suffers a wipeout. Dozens of Labours 229 MPs are expected to lose their seats with the party forecast to end up with fewer than the 209 Michael Foot achieved in 1983.
Humiliation on such a scale would effectively shut Labour out of power for more than a decade. However, some Blairites see defeat as the only way to get rid of Mr Corbyn and elect a more voter-friendly leader.
Last night former business secretary Lord Mandelson said that Corbynites must own the result and not blame it on those on the Right of the party.
And in a sign of unease on the Labour backbenches, Ilford Souths Mike Gapes said voting for the snap election in the Commons today would be like turkeys voting for Christmas.
Mr Corbyn refused to say whether he would quit if Labour trailing by more than 20 points in the polls suffers a wipeout
Mr Woodcock, MP for Barrow and Furness, has a majority of just 795 over the Tories which could be wiped out thanks to Mr Corbyns opposition to the nuclear industry. In February, neighbouring Copeland fell to the Tories in a by-election.
In a message to constituents yesterday, Mr Woodcock said: I will not countenance ever voting to make Jeremy Corbyn Britains prime minister. I realise that Jeremy has been elected and then re-elected as the leader of my party. But my first duty is to you, my constituents.
Jeremys opposition to the Trident renewal programme is lifelong and is well-known, but more than that, I cannot countenance endorsing him for a role which I think even he although he may say differently in front of the cameras does not think he is fit to carry out.
Last night former business secretary Lord Mandelson said that Corbynites must own the result and not blame it on those on the Right of the party
Now my party, locally and nationally, will need to decide how to treat my desire for reselection in these circumstances.
He added: There is still, of course, time for Jeremy to stand down rather than lead Labour to defeat. But I promised when I first asked you to vote for me that I would put Furness first and that means in these circumstances doing what is right rather than what is easy.
Another staunch critic of Mr Corbyn, Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP Tom Blenkinsop, announced he will not stand for re-election.
Caught on the hop by Mrs Mays announcement, Mr Corbyn would not be drawn on whether he would resign as Labour leader if the party loses seats.
We are campaigning to win this election, thats the only question now, he told Sky News.
He said a fairer economy, the NHS and social justice for all would be at the centre of Labours campaign. He added he was very confident. Mr Corbyn was met with applause as he attended a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party in Westminster last night. A senior aide said it was a very positive meeting.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said there was a great atmosphere while deputy leader Tom Watson described it as very buoyant.
Earlier Chris Bryant, MP for Rhondda, said it was extremely irresponsible of the Prime Minister to hold an election when the situation in Northern Ireland is volatile and the UK is part-way through Brexit negotiations.
Chris Matheson, MP for Chester the most marginal Labour seat in the country said he was thinking about voting against Mrs Mays motion to call an election as there was no shame in calling it out as the Conservatives acting in their own self-interest.
Alan Johnson among Labour MPs resigning
Labour grandee Alan Johnson is to stand down as an MP at the election, spelling more trouble for the party.
The former home secretary was the second Labour MP to depart after Tom Blenkinsop resigned minutes after Theresa Mays announcement, citing significant and irreconcilable differences with the current leadership.
Other Labour MPs who have said they will not contest their seats include Pat Glass in North West Durham, while others are considering following suit.
Labour grandee Alan Johnson is to stand down as an MP at the election, spelling more trouble for the party
Also among high-profile departing MPs is Remainer Tory Ken Clarke, the longest serving MP at Westminster.
Mr Johnson, 66, who has represented Hull West and Hessle for 20 years, said the vote has given me the opportunity to do other things with my life, adding that he also thinks it is best for the party.
Mr Blenkinsop, 36, has represented Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland since 2010. Departing Tory MPs include David Camerons former policy chief Oliver Letwin in West Dorset and Simon Burns in Chelmsford.
None will get a golden goodbye payout as current rules require MPs to contest seats and lose to be entitled to an award of up to 37,500.
90% of Corbyn funding now from unions
So perilous is the partys financial state that in the last set of returns the Lib Dems took marginally more in donations
Labour will be almost entirely reliant on trade unions to fund its election campaign after it emerged private donations have all but dried up.
The latest returns show 90 per cent of Labours money is coming from unions. Unite run by Len McCluskey and the GMB union combined accounted for 36 per cent of the money the party received. Some 21 per cent of all donations came from Unite.
So perilous is the partys financial state that in the last set of returns the Lib Dems took marginally more in donations. Both parties registered totals of just over 1.9million. The Lib Dems have targeted leading Remain campaign donors, and have also been bolstered by a fast-growing membership.
The total figure raised by the Conservatives is 3.6million, meaning Mrs May is likely to have little trouble raising enough money to fight the election.
Ukip faces the biggest struggle to raise enough money for the campaign, after receiving a paltry 44,000 in donations in the last set of returns. Many donors who backed the party because of its support for Brexit could refuse to hand over more cash. Arron Banks, a leading Ukip donor in the past, has said he will no longer bankroll the party.
Top cop: Cressida Dick in Lewisham yesterday
Britain's new top police officer last night said diversity was at the heart of her role as she confirmed she was in a same-sex relationship with a colleague.
Cressida Dick, 56, said she believed passionately that every modern police force must represent the communities it serves.
The Scotland Yard Commissioner said there was some way to go for the countrys biggest force to have the confidence of all our public.
Speaking after becoming the first woman to lead British policing, Miss Dick pledged to drag it into the brave new world of 21st-century technology. She warned that more officers will carry Tasers, that the frontline is likely to shrink further, and controversial stop-and-search tactics may increase.
The fiercely private officer, who commands huge respect across the ranks, also opened up for the first time about her private life. Miss Dick confirmed in an interview with Londons Evening Standard that she is in a relationship with a Scotland Yard inspector called Helen.
Describing herself as incredibly well supported and a very happy person, she said her partner was a response team leader in a busy South London borough.
In a further insight into her personal life, she said she enjoyed exercise and reading biographies and she attends church, although she is not super-religious.
Miss Dick won one of the most prestigious jobs in world policing after being urged to apply by Prime Minister Theresa May. During a 31-year career, she has led some of the most sensitive and high- profile inquiries, including overseeing the fight to bring Stephen Lawrences killers to justice.
Miss Dick said she was committed to diversity, and revealed she is in a relationship with a woman called Helen
She was also ultimately responsible for the disastrous operation that led to the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, but was vindicated by an Old Bailey jury.
HER OLIVE BRANCH TO THE MEDIA The police must rebuild their relationship with the media for the good of society, Cressida Dick said last night. She said she was fundamentally committed to the role of a free Press in Britain, and pledged to reset the relationship after the phone hacking scandal and Leveson Inquiry plunged it into the deep freeze. Miss Dick indicated she did not want to repeat the mistakes of her predecessor Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, who came under fire for shutting out the media. Sir Bernard was accused of fostering a climate of paranoia in which officers were forced to declare any contact with journalists and left in fear of explaining their work. I want to reset the relationship with the media if I can, Miss Dick said. I want to open the Met up so more officers do feel that within professional guidance, they can and should talk to you. Advertisement
After leaving the Met Police in 2014 amid rumours of tension with her predecessor as commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, she spent two years in a senior Foreign Office security role.
During a round of media interviews yesterday, Miss Dick said she suspected she was slightly different from other officers. But she said forces were chock full of people who are very diverse and the stereotype of monochrome and monolithic policing institutions was wrong.
Miss Dick said her commitment to diversity will mark me out as a chief officer.
I believe passionately that we need to represent the public, that we need to have confidence from all our public and theres some way to go for the Met, she said. You will see me doing an enormous amount to try to improve confidence in our communities.
Miss Dick set herself apart from Sir Bernard by abandoning his 65,000 Range Rover and taking a voluntary 40,000 pay cut. His macho total policing motto has been dropped from the forces website.
The new commissioner said battling to reduce surging levels of violence, including gun and knife crime, will be at the centre of her role. She added that in many cases young people not linked to gangs were carrying weapons in the mistaken belief it made them safer.
Miss Dick also warned that the number of frontline officers may shrink because of budget cuts, but the force can still deliver a very effective service.
'I'll pursure Lawrence killers as long as I live'
Cressida Dick says she will fight to bring all the killers of Stephen Lawrence to justice for as long as I am alive.
The new Scotland Yard commissioner said there was a huge public interest in seeing the remaining suspects jailed.
After years of working alongside Stephens parents, Doreen and Neville, Miss Dick said she was looking forward to hearing details of the progress of the inquiry.
I was very pleased that we got the convictions that we did eventually far too late, of course. I will remain committed as long as I am alive, she said.
Miss Dick has spent more than 13 years as the most senior officer responsible for the investigation into the 1993 attack.
Stephen, 18, was stabbed to death by a racist mob as he waited with a friend at a bus stop in Eltham, south-east London. Failures by police and the criminal justice system let the killers escape unpunished and led to the Daily Mail accusing five men of murder 20 years ago.
David Norris, 40, and Gary Dobson, 41, were convicted in 2012 after a forensic breakthrough. But three other gang members Neil Acourt, 41, his brother Jamie, 40, and Luke Knight, 40 have never been successfully put on trial.
Miss Dick added: I havent had a briefing on the case. I will. There will be questions at some stage of whether, if we havent secured a conviction, it is time to pause and wait.
This is a crime of huge public interest and will be until those who we believe to be the other offenders have been convicted.
Neil Acourt was jailed for more than six years in February for his role in a 4million drugs racket. Norris is suing the Government for 10,000 after he was beaten up in prison. He claims the authorities failed in their duty to protect him.
Brenda from Bristol spoke for Britain. Ambushed on her doorstep by a BBC reporter seeking reaction to Theresa May's decision to call a General Election, Brenda shrieked in disbelief: 'You're joking! Not ANOTHER ONE?
'Oh, for God's sake, I can't, honestly, I can't stand this. There's too much politics going on at the moment. Why does she need to do it?'
This exasperated West Country matron summed up my sentiments exactly. And I suspect most of yours, too, whichever way you voted in the Brexit referendum.
When Radio 2 interrupted the Ken Bruce Show with the news from Downing Street, I almost choked on my mid-morning coffee. Those of you listening on car radios could be forgiven for swerving off the road. After the relative respite of the Easter weekend, it was back to politics with a vengeance.
Brenda was approached outside her home in Bristol and could not believe the announcement on Tuesday
Brenda from Bristol (pictured) reacted in disbelief after learning that there was going to be a general election in June by saying: 'You're joking! Not another one'
Don't these people ever take a day off?
Apparently not. Mother Theresa is reported to have decided to go to the country during a walking holiday in Wales, when she was supposed to be breathing fresh air and clearing her head, away from the pressures of office.
But while we were working our way through hot cross buns and chocolate eggs, her always-on political brain was whirring away, calculating her chances of winning a landslide victory.
Couldn't she have made her mind up last week? At least that way the election could have been held to coincide with the local elections on May 4.
Perhaps she was worried that if she fired the starting gun too soon, the Boys in the Bubble would start trucking in lorryloads of asphalt over the holiday weekend.
College Green, opposite Parliament, is already starting to resemble Westminster's answer to Britain's biggest illegal travellers' camp at Dale Farm in Essex.
Yesterday it was teeming with gipsies, tramps and thieves from the political class, queueing up to have their three minutes with Sky's Adam Boulton, resident ringmaster on these occasions, who has been known to sleep in his suit rather than miss a moment's 'Breaking News'.
How long before the broadcasters start setting up mobile homes and burning a few tyres to keep warm? As it is they'll be there for at least the next seven weeks and probably much longer.
It took ten years to evict the stragglers from Dale Farm. The politicians and TV pundits will have to be dragged screaming and kicking from College Green long after we've left the EU.
The election won't be held until June 8, so before then we'll be forced to endure one of the longest official campaigns on record. The country has already been in election mode for the past two-and-a-half years.
The 2015 General Election effectively began in January and was followed by a year-long EU referendum campaign.
We thought the decision to Leave was settled once and for all in June 2016. We thought wrong.
Ever since, the national discourse has been dominated by assorted refuseniks, Remoaners, malcontents, members of the House of Lords and Supreme Court judges doing their damnedest to derail Brexit.
Well, now they've got the second referendum they wanted dressed up as a General Election. But why the hell should we need seven weeks to sort it out?
Some of us are old enough to remember the days when General Election campaigns lasted three weeks, tops.
Brenda questioned why Theresa May had to call for another election and added: 'There's too much politics going on at the moment'
Prime Minister Theresa May (pictured) stunned the nation on Tuesday and revealed the UK will have a general election on June 8
The responsibility/blame for our second vote in two years lies squarely at the door of all those who refused to accept the democratic will of the people.
I can understand entirely why Mrs May has gone back on her earlier determination not to call an election until the end of the fixed term in 2020.
The Tiny Tim Farrons, Anna Soubrys, Nicky Morgans, Cleggs, Mandelsons, et al, have tried to frustrate Brexit at every turn.
The unelected House of Lords is determined to wreck the whole process. Normal parliamentary business has become increasingly impossible.
Now their bluff has been called. It's time to lance the boil before they can sabotage our formal negotiations with the EU.
What was needed was a short, sharp shock not a protracted seven-week campaign, with all the opportunity for mischief and mayhem that presents. Theresa clearly wants her own mandate, encompassing not just Brexit, but a much broader agenda.
Fair play to her. Unlike gutless Gordon Brown, who bottled calling an election which he could have won comfortably, May has cast caution to the wind.
Having spent the EU referendum campaign hiding behind the sofa, she has embraced Brexit with the zeal of the convert and, to her credit, has decided to put her political career on the line in pursuit of that goal.
It would be churlish not to congratulate her on her courage. But it still has the potential to blow up in her face.
OK, some might say Mrs May's not taking much of a gamble, given that she's got a 21-point lead in the polls and Labour appears to be in a death spiral.
The pollsters and the 'experts' predict that she'll romp home with a three-figure majority. But the pollsters and 'experts' have been spectacularly wrong before. If we've learned one thing, it's not to trust opinion polls.
College Green (pictured), opposite Parliament, is already starting to resemble Westminster's answer to Britain's biggest illegal travellers' camp at Dale Farm in Essex
Another thing those of us a little longer in the tooth have learned is that voters don't like unnecessary elections and are capable of punishing those who call them.
The first General Election I covered was in 1974, when Grocer Heath went to the country early on the question of who runs Britain the Government or the unions? He didn't get the answer he was looking for.
Seven weeks is a long time to have the politicians in our faces 24/7. Voter fatigue can easily set in.
This may seem a straight- forward choice between a popular Prime Minister determined to implement the will of the people and an Opposition led by a hapless, IRA-loving, Hezbollah-worshipping North London Trot, wedded to sky-high taxes and suffocating state control.
But the headline figures don't always tell the full story.
This isn't a straight yes/no election, like the referendum. The Tories may be miles ahead, but it will be fought on the old constituency boundaries, which give Labour an inbuilt advantage.
Since the implosion of Ukip, which did Labour so much damage in the North, there's no guarantee that former Faragista voters will automatically switch to the Conservatives. Come election time, old tribal Labour loyalties may kick back in.
The Lib Dems might be a rabble led by a spotty schoolboy, but no less a figure than Tory strategist Lynton Crosby warned recently that they pose a serious threat in Remain areas, such as South-West London and the South West of England.
There's ample time for what Harold Macmillan called 'events, dear boy' to crash the party.
What if Donald Trump's foreign adventures escalate into full-blown engagement in Syria or North Korea?
Britain would be bound to support America, which would bring the Stop The War gang back onto the streets and provide Corbyn with a perfect pulpit. Who knows how that could play out?
It would take only one baby dying on a hospital trolley to push the NHS to the top of the agenda. Tory 'cuts' would be blamed and then what?
Look, I hope that Theresa May romps home, even though I've never been a fan, because I want a tungsten-tipped Brexit. Not that I'm convinced that, when push comes to shove, she'll deliver everything we thought we were getting when we voted Leave. But she's the only show in town right now.
With any luck a few treacherous Tories such as Soubry will lose their seats into the bargain, and Wee Burney's Toytown Tartanistas will get a nasty surprise north of the border, too.
What I'm dreading is seven weeks of wall-to-wall politicking, endless opinion polls, Question Time specials and TV debates.
The truth is May should have triggered Article 50 the day she moved into No 10. Although she's ostensibly being bold now, she's spent far too long dithering.
The 17.4 million who voted Leave last June didn't think they'd have to go through another General Election a year later before their decision could be implemented.
May's biggest obstacle is voter cynicism and disgust at the self-serving antics of the entire political class.
No wonder Brenda from Bristol reacted as she did yesterday. 'You're joking! Not ANOTHER ONE? Oh, for God's sake, I can't, honestly, I can't stand this.'
Me neither, Brenda.
I know . . . I know . . . one should beware of triumphalism but, in all probability, a Labour Party led by the ineffectual, hard Left and lets face it slightly dim Jeremy Corbyn will crash in spectacular fashion come June 8. Which is why I believe that Theresa May will be accorded the role of its saviour.
Corbyns reaction yesterday on hearing there would be an election was hardly bullish. He looked stunned. Perhaps even he fears the worst.
Many Labour MPs certainly do, realising their party is heading for a bloodbath, and in many cases expect to lose their seats.
Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn leaves his office in Parliament after Prime Minister Theresa May called a surprise general election
Prime Minister Theresa May General Election announcement, which took Jeremy Corbyn by surprise too
Tom Blenkinsop, whose Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland marginal constituency seems likely to be seized by the Conservatives, has said that he will not be standing for re-election, citing irreconcilable differences with Jeremy Corbyn.
Others will stay and fight as best they can, while knowing in their hearts that Corbyns hopeless leadership and extreme views will almost certainly lead Labour to its worst defeat since 1983 under Michael Foot or perhaps an even more cataclysmic result.
Indeed, it seems possible that a Labour Party led by Corbyn and the more sinister figure of John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, may do even worse than the polls suggest as the media shine a spotlight on their policies and past allegiances.
So far both men have only been scrutinised during two internal Labour leadership elections which Corbyn easily won. Now they will have to justify themselves to the wider electorate who are unlikely to relish what they see.
Corbyn, of course, has never disavowed his former support for the IRA. Nor has he explained away his endorsement of Hamas and Hezbollah, two terrorist organisations committed to the destruction of the State of Israel. He has described them as his friends something that last year he admitted regretting and has met several of their leading lights.
As FOR McDonnell, here is a man who in 2003 hailed the bravery of the IRA. In 2010 he famously said that he would like to go back to the 1980s and assassinate Margaret Thatcher. Admittedly McDonnell apologised not long ago for this shameful statement, which he pretended was an appalling joke, but there are some things that cant be unsaid.
Its true that these days McDonnell likes to present himself as a suave and avuncular character whom we have no reason to distrust. But beneath the recently applied veneer lurks an extremist who may be revealed in his darker colours over the coming weeks.
Stephen Glover speculates that even Corbyn may know this election may be bad news for his party
Not least damaging are the lunatic economic views of a man caught on video last year describing himself as a Marxist. He hasnt bothered to change his Whos Who entry, in which he asserts that his hobby is fermenting [he means fomenting] the overthrow of capitalism.
I dont imagine that his barmy plan to throw 250 billion at a National Investment Bank or his idea of a universal basic income (i.e. free cash hand-outs) are going to play very well with most level-headed voters.
Nor can we expect anything resembling unity in the upper echelons of Labour. Only two weeks ago, Corbyns criticisms of an American missile strike in response to a chemical weapon attack seemingly perpetrated by the Syrian government were promptly contradicted by his deputy, Tom Watson.
Labour is a divided, fractious and unhappy party dominated by mostly third-rate extremists whose views, I suggest, will be unpalatable to the great majority of British people once put under a microscope.
Almost laughably, these same extremists are in the grip of a delusion, namely that ordinary voters hanker after their madcap policies. Michael Chessum, a big-wheel in Momentum the hard Left group trying to take over the Labour Party tweeted yesterday that there absolutely is a path to victory for Labour.
What tripe! Ive no doubt that such fantasies will be exposed for what they are on June 8. And I fervently hope that decent, moderate Labour people will then use a calamitous defeat to revive their party as an effective Opposition.
Theresa May is said to have decided to call the election after a walking holiday over Easter. Pictured above on one in the Alps last year with Philip
Granted, Jeremy Corbyn is as stubborn as he is intellectually limited. Last August, when asked whether he would quit as leader if the Tories won another term, he replied that nothing is inevitable. Backed by Momentum and John McDonnell, as well as by misguided and sometimes half-witted acolytes such as Diane Abbott, he could try to cling on after a rout. But, deflated as he would undoubtedly be, he might finally grasp what most people have already seen that he is unfit to be leader of the Labour Party.
And after an electoral wipe-out there would surely be a good chance that Labour moderates would finally reclaim their party from the ideologues who have captured it, and made it so palpably unelectable.
Labour is never going to be an effective opposition party as long as it remains extremist and is led by Jeremy Corbyn. By calling an election Theresa May has offered it a path to eventual salvation. That is why everyone who treasures a robust democracy should be pleased.
President Donald Trump's senior staff member Omarosa Manigault arrived back in Washington DC over the weekend after her honeymoon.
The former Apprentice star married Pastor John Allen Newman earlier this month at the Old Post Pavilion in the nearby Trump Hotel before jetting off to Italy for their honeymoon.
It was back to work on Monday however for Manigault, 43, who was photographed the night before as she touched down in DC while flashing her massive diamond engagement and wedding rings.
Home sweet home: Omarosa Manigault was photographed returning from her honeymoon in Italy late Sunday night (above)
Bling: She flashed her large diamond engagement and wedding rings
Fun and games: She was back at work on Monday at the annual Easter Egg Roll
Manigault went for comfort as she arrived home in flowered leggings and a fuzzy pink coat.
She also carried with her a bag of chocolate from Peterbrooke as she chatted away on her phone.
Not seen with her however was her new beau, 61, who was likely off to Florida where he has a ministry in Jacksonville, The Sanctuary @ Mt. Calvary.
The couple had originally been scheduled to wed there in late March but cancelled their nuptials after allegedly receiving death threats.
President trump was not able to attend the wedding as he was in palm Beach that weekend, having ordered a missile strike on a Syrian air base from Mar-a-Lago.
Attendees at the wedding included Katrina Pierson, Lynne Patton and Lynette 'Diamond' Hardaway and Rochelle 'Silk' Richardson.
This is Manigault's second marriage.
A seven-year-old boy from China has survived after intimating a cartoon character and leaping out from a 10th-storey window with an umbrella.
The child who had been left at home alone by his parents was found seriously injured on April 15 after landing on the ground with his 'umbrella parachute', according to Huanqiu, a publication affiliated to People's Daily.
He has escaped death after being rushed to the hospital in critical condition.
The child, seven, was found lying on the ground injured with his red umbrella in China
A set of photos published by CCTV on Weibo shows the boy lying injured on the ground with his red umbrella in Jiangsu Province.
A 23-second video clip, posted to QQ.com, shows his mother who collapsed at the scene upon seeing her son. The case was immediately reported to police.
The boy was sent to the Affiliated Children's Hospital of Suzhou University for emergency treatment, according to Huanqiu.
He was critically injured while he was taken to the hospital. Yet his conditions are not life-threatening now, a doctor said.
The boy, inspired by an animated character, decided to leap from the window holding an umbrella as a parachute on April 15
A woman (in green), reported to be the young boy's mother, collapsed at the scene
The doctor also said that the boy had been left alone at his home in Kunshan city. His parents expected him to watch cartoon by himself.
Inspired by an animated character he likes, the child decided to leap from the window holding an umbrella as a parachute.
The report did not state which cartoon the boy had been watching before the incident.
The boy jumped out from a window on the 10th storey after he had been left at home alone
The boy landed on the cement ground next to a hair salon (pictured left) with his umbrella
His home is located on the 10th storey and all flats in the building are reportedly two-storey high.
Luckily his fall was partially intervened by an utility pole which the boy hit before landing on the cement ground next to a hair salon. This has apparently saved his life.
Similar incident happened last month in China's Urumqi city in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
A five-year-old girl reportedly jumped out of a window on the 11th floor after watching a popular Chinese cartoon named 'Boonie Bears'.
She jumped from the window wearing a backpack and carrying an umbrella. The little girl suffered severe injuries after landing on a cement platform on the fourth floor.
Nearly half of the worlds most valuable natural assets are being threatened by the illegal wildlife trade, a damning report has warned.
Poaching, illegal logging and fishing and the trafficking of rare species are damaging World Heritage Sites, from Tanzanias Serengeti National Park, to the Great Barrier Reef.
The sites, designated for their importance to nature, are being increasing threatened by man, according to conservation charity the World Wildlife Federation (WWF).
Illegal fishing has been reported at 18 of the world's 39 coastal World Heritage sites
Poaching of species such as elephants, rhinos and tigers has been reported in at least 43 World Heritage sites, while illegal logging of valuable plants such as rosewood and ebony has been reported in 26 designated places.
Illegal fishing has been reported at 18 of the worlds 39 marine and coastal World Heritage sites.
Harvesting species protected under international law - from snow leopards to scaly anteaters or pangolins - is also a significant problem and occurs in around half of African, Asian and Latin American sites, the report warned.
Natural World Heritage sites are home to a third of the worlds remaining tigers and 40 per cent of all African elephants.
In some areas, like the Ujung Kulon National Park in Indonesia, they are the last refuge for critically endangered species such as the Javan rhino.
A group of Nilgri Tahr in the Western Ghat mountains of India. Some of the World Heritage sites are the last remaining safe havens for critically endangered species
But researchers found that 45 per cent of sites are being put in jeopardy by illegal trade, which is estimated to be worth 15 billion globally.
The worrying report comes just months after Prince Harry said that saving endangered animals is Gods test for humanity.
Following his fathers well-known love of conservation, the prince called for an international body to regulate anyone who owns or manages wildlife.
Loss of species and habitat through illegal activity such as logging also threatens the services World Heritage sites provide to local people, from tourism jobs to clean water, while deforestation has an impact on the planet as a whole by increasing carbon emissions.
Chris Gee, head of campaigns at WWF-UK, said: Even the wildlife living in places which should benefit from the highest levels of protection are suffering at the hands of criminals.
Wildebeests on the Serengeti. The illegal logging and poaching near World Heritage sites also threatens local people's livelihoods
Not only does this threaten the survival of species, but its also jeopardising the future heritage of these precious places and the people whose livelihoods depend on them.
He called for a united front from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) and the World Heritage Convention to tackle the illegal wildlife trade.
Next year London will host the 4th Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference, the UK Government must bolster efforts to support the end of this devastating trade.
Now is not the time to drop the ball on this issue. These findings show that for the future of many of our most endangered species its a matter of life and death.
Inger Andersen, director general of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), said: Illegal wildlife trafficking robs the world of its natural heritage, threatens local communities and hampers global efforts to reduce poverty.
This report is a sobering reminder of just how far this type of organised crime can reach, extending even into the supposed safety of World Heritage sites.
This is a global challenge that can only be tacked through collective, international action.
Machines that can think for themselves - and perhaps turn on their creators as a result - have long been a fascination of science fiction.
And creating robots that can learn without any input from humans is moving ever closer, thanks to the latest developments in artificial intelligence.
One such project seeks to pit the wits of two AI algorithms against each other, with results that could one day lead to the emergence of such intelligent machines.
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Researchers have pitted AI algorithms against each other to create more realistic 'imaginings' of the real world. The results could one day lead to machines that can learn without human input, a long fascination of science fiction - including films like The Terminator (pictured)
BATTLE OF THE BOTS Google's Generative Adversarial Network works by pitting two algorithms against each other, in an attempt to create convincing representations of the real world. These 'imagined' digital creations - which can take the form of images, videos, sounds and other content - are based on data fed to the system. One AI bot creates new content based upon what it has been taught, while a second critiques these creations - pointing out imperfections and inaccuracies. And the process could one day allow robots to learn new information without any input from people. Advertisement
Researchers at the Google Brain AI lab have developed a system known as a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN).
Conventional AI uses input to 'teach' an algorithm about a particular subject by feeding it massive amounts of information.
This knowledge can then be employed for a specific task - facial recognition being just one example.
GANs seek to generate new content from this learned information, creating digital content like pictures and video based on their understanding of similar real life images and footage.
Google's approach is to set two algorithms against each other, to further refine these 'imaginings'.
One AI bot creates new content based upon what it has been taught about the real world, while a second critiques these creations - pointing out imperfections and inaccuracies.
This allows the system to create more realistic images, sounds and other original creations that are far more realistic than if the first bot was working alone.
And the process could one day allow robots to learn new information without any input from people - a process called 'unsupervised learning' that would represent a giant leap forward in AI technology.
Speaking to Wired, Dr Ian Goodfellow, who works at Google mind, said: 'If an AI can imagine the world in realistic detaillearn how to imagine realistic images and realistic soundsthis encourages the AI to learn about the structure of the world that actually exists.
'You can think of this like an artist and an art critic.
'The generative model wants to fool the art critictrick the art critic into thinking the images it generates are real.'
Artificial intelligence systems rely on neural networks, which try to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn.
As a neural network trains it adapts to solve that particular task, but when a new task is introduced, it loses the knowledge it has previously acquired. This phenomenon is known as 'catastrophic forgetting' and is one of the limitations of neural networks
MACHINE LEARNING Artificial intelligence systems rely on neural networks, which try to simulate the way the brain works in order to learn. These networks can be trained to recognise patterns in information - including speech, text data, or visual images - and are the basis for a large number of the developments in AI over recent years. They use input from the digital world to learn, with practical applications like Google's language translation services, Facebook's facial recognition software and Snapchat's image altering live filters. But the process of inputting this data can be extremely time consuming, and is limited to one type of knowledge. Advertisement
These networks can be trained to recognise patterns in information - including speech, text data, or visual images - and are the basis for a large number of the developments in AI over recent years.
They use input from the digital world to learn, with practical applications like Google's language translation services, Facebook's facial recognition software and Snapchat's image altering live filters.
But the process of inputting this data can be extremely time consuming, and is limited to one type of knowledge.
This is not the first time that Google has set AI bots against each other, to expand the limits of this type of machine learning.
In February, a Google team used a game they designed to examine whether competing algorithms would work together or turn on each other.
These experiments showed that AI may be more or less likely to work together depending on the situation.
The results could add to our understanding and control of complex multi-agent systems such as the economy, traffic systems, or the ecological health of our planet all of which depend on our continued cooperation.
In 1740, a Dutch merchant ship called 'De Rooswijk' sank on the notorious Goodwin Sands in Kent, killing all 350 people on board.
Now, almost 280 years later, a huge research mission is being launched to salvage the enormous merchant ship.
Researchers hope that recovering the wreck will provide valuable insights into life during the Dutch Golden Age.
In 1740, a Dutch merchant ship called 'De Rooswijk' sank on the notorious Goodwin Sands in Kent, killing all 350 people on board. Now, almost 280 years later, a giant research mission is being launched to salvage the enormous merchant ship (artist's impression)
WHAT HAS BEEN FOUND SO FAR? Divers have already been exploring the wreckage site near the town of Deal in Kent to unlock some of its secrets since it was discovered in 1996. In 2004, diver Ken Welling visited the wreck, and retrieved two complete chests and hundreds of silver bars. Several dives since have recovered several hundred Mexican silver cobs of the 1720s and early 1730s, and transitional 'klippes' that date to around 1733. Hundreds more 'pillar dollars' have also been discovered and sold at auction. Advertisement
De Rooswijk belonged to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and was built in 1737.
In 1740 it set sail from the Netherlands on its second voyage to the East, laden with silver ingots and coins to buy up hugely profitable spices in what is now known as Indonesia.
Yet the ship never made it to Asia as it went down just off the British coast in January 1740, with all 350 people on board drowning.
Divers have already been exploring the wreckage site near the town of Deal in Kent to unlock some of its secrets since it was discovered in 1996.
In 2004, diver Ken Welling visited the wreck, and retrieved two complete chests and hundreds of silver bars.
Divers have already been exploring the wreckage site near the town of Deal in Kent to unlock some of its secrets since it was discovered in 1996
Several dives since have recovered hundreds of Mexican silver cobs of the 1720s and early 1730s, and transitional 'klippes' coins that date to around 1733.
Hundreds more 'pillar dollars' have also been discovered and sold at auction.
Today, the Dutch government announced plans to salvage the wreck so it can be fully investigated.
Several dives since have recovered several hundred Mexican silver cobs (pictured) of the 1720s and early 1730s, and transitional 'klippes' that date to around 1733
The Dutch merchant ship sank on the notorious Goodwin Sands in Kent, killing all 350 people on board
Maritime archaeologist Mr Martijn Manders, who will lead the research, said: 'A big part of our history lies on the bottom of the sea.'
As the wreck is being threatened by currents and a future sand extraction project there is some urgency involved.
Ms Jet Bussemaker, Dutch Minister for Education, Culture and Science said: 'The ship offers a unique look to the past.
Objects already salvaged from the wreck, such as this wood, are on shown in a museum in the maritime museum of Vlissingen in the Netherlands
Since 1996, when the wreck was first discovered, there have been several missions to the wreck, in which pieces of wood and silver have been recovered
THE DE ROOSWIJK MERCHANT SHIP De Rooswijk belonged to the Dutch East India Company (VOC) and was built in 1737. In 1740 it set sail from the Netherlands on its second voyage to the East, laden with silver ingots and coins to buy up hugely profitable spices in what is now known as Indonesia. Yet the ship never made it to Asia as it went down just off the British coast in January 1740, with all 350 people on board drowning. Advertisement
'The archaeological information which we can get out of the wreck is of utmost value to interpret this period in our history.'
Mr Manders hopes that by retrieving the full inventory of the ship, a lot more secrets will be uncovered about maritime trade during the Dutch Golden Age.
He said: 'A part lies underneath the sand, where the conditions are very good.
'How did you manage in those days to keep 350 men during the entire journey - which could last for months - alive? It was a real small community. We are really curious about this.'
Maritime archaeologists and students from both the UK and the Netherlands will work on the project from July to October, 24 hours a day, in shifts lasting twelve hours.
Sabre tooth tigers and woolly mammals were killed off by rapid changes to the climate rather than mankind, according to a new study.
Scientists were previously unsure whether the emergence of early humans or environmental factors had led to the sudden dying out of the giant mammals.
But new research has shown that massive increases in moisture levels led to the eradication of habitats which previously allowed large creatures, known as megafauna, to thrive.
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An international team of researchers has studied the bones of animals that roamed the ancient world (pictured). The team found that melting glaciers led to the loss of habitats favoured by the giant herbivores, who lived between 11,000 and 15,000 years ago
MEGAFAUNA EXTINCTION An international team of researchers has analysed 511 bones from wide range of creatures that lived between 11,000 and 15,000 years ago. By using carbon dating, the team found that the bones contained evidence of huge environmental upheavals. They measured nitrogen isotopes preserved in dated ancient animal bones and teeth recovered from permafrost areas and caves across Europe, Siberia, North and South America. They found distinctive biochemical signals that reflected massive increases of moisture on the landscape. Melting permafrost turned widespread grasslands into peats and bogs, annihilating the habitats of the large herbivorous grazers. Advertisement
An international team of researchers, led by the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA (ACAD) at the University of Adelaide, studied the bones of animals that roamed the ancient world.
Using over 500 bones from a wide range of creatures - including a bison, horse, and llamas - the team was able to investigate the role of environmental change in the mysterious megafaunal extinctions that claimed the vast majority of existing large land animals.
By using carbon dating, the team found that the bones contained evidence of huge environmental upheavals.
They found that melting permafrost turned widespread grasslands into peats and bogs, annihilating populations of the large herbivorous grazers between 11,000 and 15,000 years ago.
Among the better known creatures killed off were sabre tooth cats, woolly mammoths and giant sloths.
Professor Alan Cooper, ACAD Director, said: 'We didn't expect to find such clear signals of moisture increases occurring so widely across all of Europe, Siberia and the Americas.
'The timing varied between regions, but matches the collapse of glaciers and permafrost and occurs just before most species go extinct.'
The international team of researchers included the University of Alaska Fairbanks, University of Oslo, the Yukon Government, and palaeontologists across Russia and Canada.
By using carbon dating, the team found that the bones contained evidence of huge environmental upheavals. Pictured is a mammoth tusk
Melting permafrost turned widespread grasslands into peats and bogs, annihilating populations of the large herbivorous grazers between 11,000 and 15,000 years ago
The team found distinctive biochemical signals that reflected massive increases of moisture on the landscape
They measured nitrogen isotopes preserved in dated ancient animal bones and teeth recovered from permafrost areas and caves across Europe, Siberia, North and South America.
They found distinctive biochemical signals that reflected massive increases of moisture on the landscape.
Grassland megafauna were critical to the food chain at the time, acting like giant pumps that shifted nutrients around the landscape.
When the moisture influx pushed forests and tundras to replace the grasslands, the ecosystem collapsed and took many of the megafauna with it.
The shifting landscape during the post glacial period (pictured). Figures A and B shows the flourishing of rangelands, which provided the optimal conditions for megafauna, with the spread of grassland represented in light green
In figures C and D, rangelands are replaced by forests, represented in dark green, and large areas of tundra, represented in brown. This is believed to have led to the mass extinctions of the megafauna
Professor Cooper added: 'The idea of moisture-driven extinctions is really exciting because it can also explain why Africa is so different, with a much lower rate of megafaunal extinctions and many species surviving to this day.
'Africa's position across the equator means that grassland zones have always surrounded the central monsoon region.
'The stable grasslands are what has allowed large herbivores to persist - rather than any special wariness of hunters learned from humans evolving there.'
Mark Zuckerberg has unveiled Facebook's augmented reality system - and confirmed rumours the firm is developing a 'mind control' brain interface.
The social network's founder took to the stage at the firm's annual F8 developer conference at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center to introduce what he called the 'second act' in Facebook's camera strategy - a new platform to allow developers to build AR apps that intensifies its battle with Snapchat.
He also hinted at the firm's more distant future, confirming rumours it is developing a radical mind reading computer interface - and promised more details on the project 'soon'.
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The social network's founder took to the stage at the firm's annual F8 developer conference at San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Center to show off new AR software and confirm rumours of a new neural 'mind control' interface.
'We're building further out beyond augmented reality, and that includes work around direct brain interfaces that one day will let you communicate using only your mind, although that stuff is pretty far out,' he said.
Zuckerberg also addressed the tragedy in Cleveland, saying 'our hearts go out to the family and friends of Robert Godwin Sr, we have a lot of work to do and we'll do everything we can to help prevent these tragedies.'
He first unveiled a new augmented reality platform allowing developers to build AR apps.
FACEBOOK GOES VR WITH SPACES Facebook also revealed its first VR app, called Faces, for the firm's Oculus Rift. It uses a virtual avatar, and allows to users to virtually meet and interact with friends. It will be available from today in beta form. Facebook Spaces launches in beta for Oculus Rift and Touch today, and lets users interact with friends in a virtual environment The system uses AI to choose an avatar for people, before allowing them to customise it. It showed off the system with demos including people showing off holiday destinations and even new apartments. 'Spending time with friends and family creates many of our most meaningful memories, but its impossible to always be physically near the people we care about, said Facebook's Rachel Franklin. The VR software even includes a virtual selfie stick so participants can capture their time together Users can draw or write messages using Facebook's Oculus Touch Controllers 'Thats where the magic of virtual reality comes in. 'Today, were introducing a new VR app where you hang out with friends in a fun, interactive virtual environment as if you were in the same room. ' Facebook Spaces launches in beta for Oculus Rift and Touch today. Advertisement
Zuckerberg said new phone-based applications might include creating a three-dimensional scene from a single two-dimensional photo or splattering the walls of your house with colorful (virtual) art.
'We're gathered here for the second biggest event called F8 this week,' said Mark Zuckerberg, referencing the release of the hit film F8: The Fast and the Furious.
'You may have noticed we rolled out cameras across our apps, that was act one,' he said.
Today, we're going to talk about act two - augmented reality.
'We know where we want this go eventually - glasses or contact lenses that overlay this,' Zuckerberg said.
'We know where we want this go eventually - glasses or contact lenses that overlay this,' Zuckerberg said.
'This will help us mix the physical and digital in new ways, and make reality better'.
'I used to think glasses would be the firm major firm factor. But we are seeing versions with out phone cameras'.
'Giving developers the power to build for augmented reality.
MESSENGER BOOSTS SHARING Facebook also announced a bevy of updates to Messenger, its increasingly independent messaging app. Messenger head David Marcus claims the app has become the de facto "white pages" of messaging, since people can find and chat with friends without knowing their phone number. Now, Messenger wants to do the same for businesses, creating a "yellow pages" of sorts that let companies communicate with their customers. Messenger will also let people chat with outside businesses as a group. That would, for instance, allow groups of friends to share Spotify playlists or to make a restaurant reservation through OpenTable that keeps everyone on the same page. The idea is simplify what might otherwise require a flurry of texts and sharing of links. Advertisement
'We'll start today with basic effect such as face masks.
You'll have thousands of options.'
However, Zuckerberg said the system will be more complex than simple snapchat-style filters.
Last year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Facebook's 10-year road map that calls for powerful technologies to radically alter how people connect with friends and family and the world at large.
Uswers without VR headsets can use Messenger to appear in a video window in the VR chats
Facebook also revealed its first VR app, called Faces, for the firm's Oculus Rift.
Zuckerberg said games were likely to be a key component, and showed off a demo of a game turning a table into an AR game, allowing children to interact with objects on it.
'This isn't going to happen overnight, over time I think this will change how we use our phones, and eventually all of our technology,' he said.
'Even if we were a little slow to add cameras to our apps, I'm confident we will move this along.'
The social network's founder took to the stage at the firm's annual F8 developer conference at San Francisco's Bill Graham Civic Center to show off new AR software.
Zuckerberg showed several demos of possible Facebook AR apps
Zuckerberg also confirmed the firm was developing a 'mind computer interface' that will one day allow users to communicate machine,, and said more details would be made available about the project soon.
In April, the site revealed the existence of a new division, known only as 'Building 8' which is dedicated to creating ground-breaking products at the intersection of hardware, software, and content.
And a new job advert posting suggested that the mysterious division could be working on mind-reading technology.
One advert is for a 'brain-computer interface engineer' to work on a '2-year B8 project focused on developing advanced BCI technologies.'
Details on what the job will involve are limited, but the advert adds that one of the key responsibilities will be applying 'machine learning methods, including encoding and decoding models, to neuroimaging and electrophysiological data.'
The second advert is for a 'neural imaging engineer' who will be responsible for 'a project focused on developing novel non-invasive neuroimaging technologies.'
Both jobs are based at the Menlo Park site in California.
These limited descriptions suggest that Building 8 might be working on monitoring how brain activity changes when looking at pictures or videos.
The appearance and disappearance of 'magic islands' on the surface of titan has long baffled astronomers.
Now they believe they have solved to mystery - and says it's down to bubbles.
The hydrocarbon lakes and seas of Saturn's moon Titan may erupt with dramatic patches of large bubbles big enough to be spotted by radar, researchers found.
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These images from the Radar instrument aboard NASA's Cassini spacecraft show the evolution of a transient feature in the large hydrocarbon sea named Ligeia Mare on Saturn's moon Titan. The images in the column at left show the same region of Ligeia Mare as seen by Cassini's radar during flybys in (from top to bottom) 2007, 2013, 2014 and 2015. The bottom image was acquired by Cassini on Jan. 11, 2015, and adds another snapshot in time as Cassini continues to monitor the ephemeral feature. The feature is apparent in the images from 2013 and 2014, but it is not present in other images of the region.
'Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is the only extraterrestrial body known to support stable liquid on its surface, in the form of seas and lakes that dot the polar regions,' The University of Reim team wrote in Nature Astronomy.
Radar images from Cassini previously showed unexplained bright regions in Ligeia Mare, the second largest body of water on Titan's surface.
The sea is 50% larger than our own Lake Superior and is comprised of liquid methane, ethane and nitrogen.
'Many indications suggest that the liquid should be composed of a mixture of nitrogen, methane and ethane.
'Recent observations by Cassini's Radio Detection and Ranging (RADAR) instrument of Titan's large sea, called Ligeia Mare, have shown unexplained and ephemeral bright features, possibly due to rising bubbles.
'Here we report that our numerical model, when combined with experimental data found in the literature, shows that Ligeia Mare's bed is a favourable place for nitrogen exsolution.
'This process could produce centimetre-sized and RADAR-detectable bubbles.'
The team also say other oceans could habour 'fizzing islands'.
'Our argument can be applied to other seas such as Kraken and Punga,' the team say.
TITAN'S 'MAGIC ISLANDS' The notion of nitrogen bubbles creating fizzy patches on Titan's lakes and seas is relevant to one of the more enchanting unsolved mysteries Cassini has investigated during its time exploring Titan: the so-called 'magic islands.' During several flybys, Cassini's radar has revealed small areas on the seas that appeared and disappeared, and then (in at least one case) reappeared. Analysis by Cassini scientists indicates that the bright features, informally known as the 'magic island,' are a phenomenon that changes over time. Cassini captured this mosaic of images showing the northern lakes and seas of Saturn's moon Titan on Feb. 17, 2017. The hydrocarbon lakes and seas of Saturn's moon Titan may erupt with dramatic patches of bubbles, NASA has since revealed. They conclude that the brightening is due to either waves, solids at or beneath the surface or bubbles, with waves thought to be the most likely explanation. They think tides, sea level and seafloor changes are unlikely to be responsible for the brightening. Researchers proposed several potential explanations for what could be creating these seemingly island-like features, including the idea of fields of bubbles. The new study provides details about the mechanism that could be forming such bubbles, if they are indeed the culprit. Advertisement
Nasa has previously said says the phenomenon is similar to the bubbles when a soda bottle is opened.
Experts say the find could mean probes have to be redesigned to swim through 'fizzy' water.
Researchers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, simulated the frigid surface conditions on Titan, finding that significant amounts of nitrogen can be dissolved in the extremely cold liquid methane that rains from the skies and collects in rivers, lakes and seas.
They demonstrated that slight changes in temperature, air pressure or composition can cause the nitrogen to rapidly separate out of solution, like the fizz that results when opening a bottle of carbonated soda.
'Our experiments showed that when methane-rich liquids mix with ethane-rich ones - for example from a heavy rain, or when runoff from a methane river mixes into an ethane-rich lake - the nitrogen is less able to stay in solution,' said Michael Malaska of JPL, who led the study.
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has found that the composition of Titan's lakes and seas varies from place to place, with some reservoirs being richer in ethane than methane.
The release of nitrogen, known as exsolution, can also occur when methane seas warm slightly during the changing seasons on Titan.
A fizzy liquid could also cause problems, potentially, for a future robotic probe sent to float on or swim through Titan's seas, the researchers say.
Excess heat emanating from a probe might cause bubbles to form around its structures - for example, propellers used for propulsion - making it difficult to steer or keep the probe stable.
'Thanks to this work on nitrogen's solubility, we're now confident that bubbles could indeed form in the seas, and in fact may be more abundant than we'd expected,' said Jason Hofgartner of JPL, who serves as a co-investigator on Cassini's radar team and was a co-author of the study.
In characterizing how nitrogen moves between Titan's liquid reservoirs and its atmosphere, the researchers also coaxed nitrogen out of a simulated ethane-rich solution as the ethane froze to the bottom of their tiny, simulated Titan lake.
Unlike water, which is less dense in its solid form than its liquid form, ethane ice would form on the bottom of Titan's frigid pools.
As the ethane crystalizes into ice, there's no room for the dissolved nitrogen gas, and it comes fizzing out.
While the thought of hydrocarbon lakes bubbling with nitrogen on an alien moon is dramatic, Malaska points out that the movement of nitrogen on Titan doesn't just move in one direction.
TITAN: EARTH'S 'TOXIC TWIN' Aside from Earth, Titan is the only place in the solar system known to have rivers, rainfall and seas - and possibly even waterfalls. Of course, in the case of Titan these are liquid methane rather than water on Earth. Regular Earth-water, H2O, would be frozen solid on Titan where the surface temperature is -180C (-292F). With its thick atmosphere and organic-rich chemistry, Titan resembles a frozen version of Earth several billion years ago, before life began pumping oxygen into our atmosphere. Because Titan is smaller than Earth, its gravity does not hold onto its gaseous envelope as tightly, so the atmosphere extends 370 miles (595km) into space. With Titan's low gravity and dense atmosphere, methane raindrops could grow twice as large as Earth's raindrops. Advertisement
Clearly, it has to get into the methane and ethane before it can get out.
'In effect, it's as though the lakes of Titan breathe nitrogen,' Malaska said.
'As they cool, they can absorb more of the gas, 'inhaling.' And as they warm, the liquid's capacity is reduced, so they 'exhale.''
The new footage has been released by Nasa to mark the nearing end of the Cassini mission, as the spacecraft is due to descend in a self-destruct mission into fiery Saturn in September this year. The images reveal Titan's dunes are gigantic, reaching, on average, 0.6 to 1.2 miles (1 to 2 kilometers) wide, hundreds of miles (kilometers) long and around 300 feet (100 meters) high.
A similar phenomenon occurs on Earth with carbon dioxide absorption by our planet's oceans.
Recent footage released by Nasa shows exactly what it looks like to land on an alien world.
It may seem like stuff of science fiction, but the scenes in the new video happened in real life, 12 years ago.
The stunning video was captured when the space agency's Huygens probe descended onto the mysterious world of Titan, Saturn's biggest moon.
THE CASSINI MISSION Since it left earth in 1997 and arrived at Saturn in 2004, Cassini has been touring the system with an up-close study of the planet, its rings and moons. During its journey, Cassini has made dramatic discoveries, including a global ocean within Enceladus and liquid methane seas on Titan. Before Nasa's Cassini probe captured the most detailed images of Saturn ever seen, it dropped its companion Huygens on the planet's largest moon, Titan. After nearly 20 years in space, the mission is drawing near its end because the spacecraft is running low on fuel. Advertisement
Before Nasa's Cassini probe captured the most detailed images of Saturn ever seen, it dropped its companion Huygens on the planet's largest moon, Titan - also known as Earth's toxic twin.
The video includes an animation showing this moment.
The new footage has been released by Nasa to mark the nearing end of the Cassini mission, as the spacecraft is due to descend in a self-destruct mission into fiery Saturn in September this year.
Huygens, a European Space Agency project, travelled to Titan as the companion to Nasa's Cassini spacecraft.
It then separated from its mothership on Christmas Eve, 2004, for a 20-day coast toward its destiny at Titan.
The new footage shows a series of images captured by a tiny camera on Huygens, pieced together into a video.
The video shows highlands of rugged ice as Huygens headed to the surface, with dried-up riverbeds seen from above.
'Twelve years ago, a small probe touched down on an orangish, alien world in the outer solar system, marking humankind's most distant landing to date, said Jim Green, director of planetary science at Nasa.
'Studying Titan helps us tease out the potential of habitability of this tiny world and better understand the chemistry of the early Earth.'
Images taken during the Huygens probe's descent revealed river channels and flood plains. The probe's cameras unveiled a plateau with a large number of dark channels cut into it, forming drainage networks that bore many similarities to those on Earth. The narrow channels converged into broad rivers, which drained into a broad, dark, lowland region. Earth-like river rocks, composed of water ice, were also observed at the Huygens probe landing site.
The video even reveals the parachute shadow from the Huygens lander, which is shown moving around. The location of the Huygens probe's resting place, a soft, sandy riverbed, was only confirmed after some time by the detection of two dark, longitudinal sand dunes, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of the landing site. The elusive landforms were visible in images from both Cassini radar and the probe. Radar evidence from Cassini suggests that flash flooding has sculpted streambeds on Titan with these rounded cobbles of water ice, which likely originated in water-ice bedrock in higher terrain.
Saturn's largest moon, Titan, is one of the solar system's most interesting places to study when it comes to the search for alien life.
The moon, with its lakes and clouds of liquid hydrocarbons, is the only place in the solar system other than Earth with an active weather cycle where rainfall erodes the landscape.
The stunning video was captured when the space agency's Huygens probe descended onto the mysterious world of Titan, Saturn's biggest moon 12 years ago. Pictured is an artist's impression of the probe
With its thick atmosphere and organic-rich chemistry, Titan resembles a frozen version of Earth several billion years ago, before life began pumping oxygen into our atmosphere.
But until Huygens landed on the moon, our understanding of just how interesting it is was limited.
During a descent lasting 20 days, the Huygens probe sampled Titan's dense, hazy atmosphere as it slowly rotated beneath its parachutes, analysing the complex organic chemistry and measuring winds.
'The Huygens descent and landing represented a major breakthrough in our exploration of Titan as well as the first soft landing on an outer-planet moon,' said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist.
The moon, with its lakes and clouds of liquid hydrocarbons, is the only place in the solar system other than Earth with an active weather cycle where rainfall erodes the landscape.
With its thick atmosphere and organic-rich chemistry, Titan resembles a frozen version of Earth several billion years ago, before life began pumping oxygen into our atmosphere
'Cassini and Huygens have shown us that Titan is an amazing world with a landscape that mimics Earth in many ways,' said Alex Hayes, a Cassini scientist at Cornell University.
'During its descent, the Huygens probe captured views that demonstrated an entirely new dimension to that comparison and highlights that there is so much more we have yet to discover.
'For me, Huygens has emphasised why it is so important that we continue to explore Titan.'
After nearly 20 years in space, the Cassini mission is drawing near its end because the spacecraft is running low on fuel.
Take a deep breath and layer up for this ride.
Fascinating footage reveals the underwater world of whales in Antarctica.
Scientists from the World Wildlife Fund attached cameras to a group of humpbacks in a bid to learn more about their lives in the frigid waters.
Swimming with the greats: Scientists from the World Wildlife Fund attached cameras to a group of humpbacks in a bid to learn more about their lives in the frigid waters
Keep your cool: Viewers are whisked underwater on a shiver-inducing journey, navigating chunks of ice to the chilly depths below
The resulting video takes viewers on a shiver-inducing journey, under chunks of ice to the chilly depths below.
There doesn't seem to be much marine life in the water, although at one point a small fish shoal swims in front of the camera.
After spending some time below the surface, the whale comes up for air and produces spray from its blow hole.
Viewers are treated to spectacular views of the Antarctic landscape as the sun gradually descends in the sky.
Scientists say the cameras have helped gather information on where, when and how whales feed, their social lives, and even how they must blow hard to clear sea ice so they can breathe.
Spraying parade: After spending some time below the surface, the whale comes up for air
Scientists say the cameras have helped gather information on where, when and how whales feed, their social lives, and even how they must blow hard to clear sea ice so they can breathe
Non-invasive: To attach the 'whale cams', researchers placed suction cups onto the backs of humpback and minke whales
This data will help experts to pinpoint where the whale feeding areas are so that they can be protected.
To attach the 'whale cams', researchers placed suction cups onto the backs of humpback and minke whales.
They also applied non-invasive digital tags, which contained tracking sensors.
The small appendages stayed on the whales for between 24 and 48 hours before they detached and were retrieved by scientists to be reused.
WWF-Australia has provided funding for three 'whale cams'.
Blue planet: There doesn't seem to be much marine life in the water, although at one point a small fish shoal swims in front of the camera
Spring break: The whale-cam footage released by the WWF was filmed in March
The research is being conducted in collaboration with scientists at the Australian Antarctic Division in Hobart and under the auspices of the International Whaling Commission's Southern Ocean Research Partnership (IWC-SORP).
Most of the worlds largest whale species are found in the Antarctic.
Baleen whales, such as humpbacks, rely on krill and other small crustaceans as their staple source of food.
The population of Antarctic krill is large, but fishing and climate change are impacting this population.
The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the fastest warming areas on the planet, and sea ice levels are hitting record lows, putting severe pressure on krill.
The whale-cam footage released by the WWF was filmed in March.
Having your arms in a sling is normally a sign that something has gone badly wrong.
But not with this unique new product its a sign that life has become somewhat dreamy.
Its called the Dream Sling and could be the answer to guaranteeing 40 winks while youre travelling.
The maker, Aran Higa, from Hawaii, claims that the Dream Sling enables users to cradle themselves to sleep
The Dream Sling comes in three colours siesta blue, midnight navy and moon gray and should be available to buy this summer
The maker, Aran Higa, from Hawaii, claims that the Dream Sling enables users to cradle themselves to sleep.
This is because it supports the head and offers the user a place to rest their arms.
Higa explained that he got the steer for the product while helping his cousin move his car business.
He said: The story of the Dream Sling began in an auto shop. I was helping my cousin move his business to a new location. We were busy lifting heavy parts and equipment all day.
Exhausted, I sat down to rest. Next to me was a steering wheel cover. I picked it up and placed it on my shoulder, cradling both arms inside the loop. I then rested my head on the improvised pillow. Lo and behold! The first Dream Sling.
Higa is keen to point out that the Dream Sling isnt just a travel aid, but can be used in a variety of situations, such as while cramming for exams, waiting in hospitals or in movie theaters.
The Dream Sling comes in three colours siesta blue, midnight navy and moon gray and should be available to buy this summer.
Higa is seeking funding for the product through the crowdsourcing Kickstarter website.
He is hoping to raise $25,000 to manufacture it.
Twenty years ago Ellen DeGeneres came out to America.
And in honor of the history-making moment, the 59-year-old invited talk show queen Oprah Winfrey to join her for a very special tribute.
The media mogul played a special part in Ellen's coming out when the star first revealed she was a lesbian on Oprah's talk show in 1997.
Big anniversary! Ellen DeGeneres is celebrating 20 years since she first came out this week. In honor of the life changing moment, the comedienne is dedicating her Friday show to her big reveal, inviting Oprah and other special guests
Ellen's coming out was a big moment for both the actress and the world, revealing her orientation at a time when nearly no one in Hollywood was openly LGBT.
So the Louisiana native is celebrating by dedicating her entire Friday episode to the life-changing moment.
Oprah and Ellen teamed up to talk about the star's brave decision and how far Hollywood has come in the past 20 years.
Help from her friends: Oprah played a special role in Ellen's coming out. The star first announced she was gay on Oprah's talk show in 1997, pictured above
Affirmative: The star's coming out made national news back in 1997. The star even graced the cover of Time Magazine and was quoted saying 'Yep, I'm Gay' in bold red text
Back in 1997, Ellen's sexuality made national news.
After outing herself on Oprah, Ellen's character made the same revelation on her eponymous sitcom.
In the historic program, titled The Puppy Episode, fiction mirrored real life with Ellen's on-screen persona coming out to a therapist played by O herself.
The episodes ran to coincide with Ellen on the cover of Time Magazine, where the star was quoted saying 'Yep, I'm Gay' boldly on the cover.
Monumental: Ellen first revealed she was a lesbian on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Above you can see the star during her coming out interview in 1997
Fact and fiction: After revealing she was gay on Oprah's talk show, Ellen later had the host play a character on her sitcom. Above you can see the fellow talk show talents acting opposite each other, where Oprah played the star's therapist
During the special tribute episode, the actress also reunited the rest of the cast of the Ellen sitcom.
At her Burbank, California studio, the blonde laugh-bringer was joined by former castmates Joely Fisher, David Anthony Higgins, and Clea Lewis.
It marked the actors' first reunion since the sitcom wrapped in 1998.
Ellen's special coming out tribute is not-to-be missed TV, airing this Friday on NBC.
Together again: The Louisiana native also reunited the cast of her eponymous sitcom for the special tribute episode. Above you can see former costars David Anthony Higgins, Joley Fisher, Clea Lewis and Ellen (l to r)
She gave birth to her second son Forest in December last year.
And Teresa Palmer, 31, has revealed her plans to try for a girl, complaining that there is too much male energy in her home.
The Berlin Syndrome actress, who is married to filmmaker Mark Webber, joked to Sunrise that 'there are a lot of penises' in her household and she needed another female to even things up.
'There are a lot of penises': Teresa Palmer reveals plan to try for a baby girl after feeling outnumbered with the birth of second son Forest
Teresa told David 'Kochie' Koch and Natalie Barr that she was outnumbered at home thanks to her husband Mark, stepson Issac, 9 and sons Bodhi, 3, and Forest, four months.
'My gosh there is a lot of male energy at my house because I have a stepson,' she said. 'There are a lot of penises, even my dog is a boy!'
The Hacksaw Ridge star revealed she was talking to her husband about having another baby in the hopes of getting a girl.
Odd one out: Teresa told David 'Kochie' Koch and Natalie Barr that she was outnumbered at home thanks to her husband Mark, stepson Issac, 9, and sons Bodhi, 3, and Forest, four months
'We need another woman in my home': The Hacksaw Ridge star revealed she was talking to her husband about having another baby in the hopes of getting a girl
'We need another woman in my home,' Teresa said. ' I'm trying to convince my husband, we will keep on going until one day we get the girl.'
Looking after three kids at their Adelaide Hills home, Teresa and her husband were lucky to have less than an hour of time to spend with each other everyday.
'It is such a balance everyday. I said to my husband, "Hi honey, we literally have 40 minutes to ourselves everyday", we have timed it,' she revealed. 'It is just what it is when you are a parent.'
'We literally have 40 minutes to ourselves': Looking after three kids at their Adelaide Hills home, Teresa and her husband were lucky to have less than an hour of time to spend with each other everyday
Having such young children meant that Teresa was increasingly selective about what projects she took.
'For me, it means not taking projects that don't inspire me or that I'm not excited by,' she said.
'I try to work once or twice a year, and the rest of the time I am a stay at home mum. My children travel with me too which is great, I have the luxury to bring them with me and bring them on set.'
It's a dark family drama that has gained critical acclaim.
And on Monday, Netflix dropped a sinister and haunting 37-second teaser for the third and final season of Bloodline.
It stars an ensemble cast including Sissy Spacek as the matriarch of the troubled Rayburn family, seemingly hard-working pillars of their Florida Keys community.
Coming clean: Sissy Spacek, who plays Sally, the matriarch of the Rayburn family, says, 'I'd like to confess...I don't know how to begin...I think my family's cursed....' in the teaser for the third and final season of Netflix drama Bloodline, released on Monday
Season two revealed that long absent black sheep of the family Danny Rayburn, played by Ben Mendelsohn, had been murdered after his return by his brother John (Kyle Chandler) as paranoia, mistrust and lies piled up.
In the brooding teaser, the shakey voice of Sissy as Danny's mother Sally is heard saying to a priest: 'I'd like to confess...I don't know how to begin...I think my family's cursed....'
A male voice replies, ominously: 'God is apparent within insanely violent and destructive children.
Family fear: Brother Kevin Rayburn, played by Norbert Leo Butz, will have difficult choices
'He had two choices...Destroy them or...die for them,' as s single shot rings out.
The 10-episode third season will hopefully answer some of the questions remaining at the end of the second season, like where John Rayburn was going when he drove away from the Keys with the ghost of his brother sitting next to him.
And whether John's detective partner Marco Diaz, Enrique Murciano, is dead or alive after being bludgeoned with a stauette.
Afraid of the dark: John, played by Kyle Chandler, was last seen at the end of season 2 driving away from the Keys with the ghost of his dead brother Danny (Ben Mendelsohn) next to him
Ben won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2016 for playing Danny.
Co-stars Chloe Sevigny, Kyle Chandler, Linda Cardellini and Norbert Leo Butz will reprise their roles when Netflix bows the 10-episode final season in one binge-worthy chunk on May 26.
Bloodline premiered in the Berlin Film Festival's Special Galas section on February 9, 2015.
British actor David Bradley is set to reprise his role as William Hartnell's first Time Lord in this year's Christmas special of Doctor Who.
As reported by the Mirror, the 75-year-old will help the current Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi, complete his last task in the TARDIS, before he regenerates in the festive episode.
David, who is best known as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter franchise, played William Hartnell and the original Time Lord in An Adventure In Space and Time - the docu-drama to honour the show's 50th anniversary - following Hartnell's death in 1975.
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Comeback kid: British actor David Bradley is set to reprise his 2013 role as William Hartnell's first Time Lord (above) in this year's Christmas special of Doctor Who
The episode will follow the first Time Lord helping the current figure (Capaldi) save Gallifrey by moving it to another dimension, in his last mission as the Doctor.
An insider said of David's return: 'David was convincing as Hartnell, it's exciting he's back
'Four years ago it took all the previous Doctors to save Gallifrey, so maybe some of the others will also pop up in Capaldi's swansong.'
Special farewell: The 75-year-old will help the current Doctor, played by Peter Capaldi (above), complete his last task in the TARDIS, before he regenerates in the festive episode
Iconic: David is best known as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter franchise (above)
With Capaldi set to regenerate into the 13th Time Lord in the special, the source added: 'It's great that the 1st Doctor will be there to help out during those all-important regeneration moments.'
The Harry Potter actor played William Hartnell, who famously appeared as the first ever Doctor, in 2013 for the 50th anniversary docu-drama An Adventure In Space and Time.
The special followed the initial creation of the sci-fi show, and featured David as both Hartnell himself rehearsing and communicating with producers, as well the Doctor in the first ever episode.
Reprise: The actor (L) played William Hartnell (R), who famously appeared as the first ever Doctor, in 2013 for the 50th anniversary docu-drama An Adventure In Space and Time
Main man: The special followed the initial creation of the sci-fi show, and featured David as both Hartnell himself rehearsing, as well the Doctor in the first ever episode
Second reunion: In the docu-drama in 2013, he had appeared alongside the Doctor at that time, Matt Smith (R)
Hartnell himself had played the famous character between 1963-66, but passed away in 1975.
The poignant addition of the first Doctor is only set to make the episode more special as Peter Capaldi's last.
Last week, rumours emerged that Capaldi will regenerate into My Family actor Kris Marshall.
Goodbye: The poignant addition of the first Doctor is only set to make the episode more special as the last for Peter Capaldi
Sources told the Mirror on Friday that Kris has already been selected as the new Time Lord, and will begin filming imminently.
The insider said: 'Kris Marshall has already joined the cast and will regenerate at the end of this series, not in the Christmas special.'
Kris had first sparked rumours he was taking on the sci-fi part after quitting crime comedy Death In Paradise earlier this year, causing him to rise in the betting odds.
However a spokesperson for the BBC told MailOnline: 'No casting decisions have yet been made on Series 11.'
Lucky number 13? Last week, rumours emerged that Capaldi will regenerate into Kris Marshall (above) - who has reportedly already signed up for the role
While it has not been confirmed whether Pearl Mackie will return in the next series, her debut went down a storm with fans on Saturday night.
Viewers flocked to Twitter to praise her role as Bill Potts, who they penned a 'great, relatable character' and even the Doctor's 'best companion ever'.
One fan kicked things off by writing: 'I already like bill 100 times more than rose & amy combined,' as another added: 'I was dreading not liking Bill but she is a great, relatable character - well done @Pearlie_mack'
Another particularly enthusiastic fan joined the fray by commenting: 'BILL POTTS IS MY IDOL AND SPIRIT ANIMAL,' as another simply agreed: 'I approve of the new series and Bill.'
New girl in town: New openly gay assistant Bill Potts seemed to capture the hearts of fans on the first episode of the twelfth series
High praise: Viewers flocked to Twitter to praise her role as Bill Potts, who they penned a 'great, relatable character' and even the Doctor's 'best companion ever'
Pearl has garnered more attention than past assistants ahead of her first appearance, due to the fact her character Bill is the first openly gay sidekick to the timelord - a concept fans also praised on the site.
Many expressed their delight with show runner Steven Moffatt, who will bow out after series 12 along with Capaldi, writing in a gay character.
One tweeted: 'Handling a gay woman respectfully? what is this? is it real? i'm in shock,' while another added: 'There's literally tears streaming down my face over this gay representation right now.'
Mackie alongside Moffat spoke about the show's return in a Youtube interview for Doctor Who: The Fan Show - admitting her casting was important to show diversity to audiences.
Doing it right: Many expressed their delight with show runner Steven Moffatt, who will bow out after series 12 along with Capaldi, writing in a gay character
She said: 'I think it's crucial to have that kind of representation in mainstream TV, on shows that are aimed at children as well as adults.
'I think it's important for younger children to see someone like them or who may be experiencing similar feelings to them on TV, so they can see themselves within it.'
However, Peal added that actors could not be expected to represent minorities in their entirety, stating: 'I'm just here to play one character. My job is to play Bill, as truthfully as I can in all situations.
'And to think that I am representing all ethnic minorities or all gay people in the world is ridiculous. I don't think I should be expected to do that.'
The 'seafood king' and his rude behaviour have been the subject of scathing criticism from furious viewers and shocked contestants.
And Della and Tully have told New Idea they're sick of Josh's attitude and his claims the pair are secretly feuding while on the cooking show.
The Queensland team insisted 'he's simply trying to s*** stir' as they discussed his controversial on-screen performances and hurtful accusations with the publication.
'He's simply trying to s*** stir': MKR stars Della and Tully hit back at villain Josh's s*** comment and deny claims made by the 'seafood king' that they secretly hate each other in an interview with New Idea this week
MKR 'villain': 'Seafood King' Josh and his rude behaviour have been the subject of scathing criticism from furious viewers and shocked contestants... including THAT s*** slur aimed at MKR rival Amy last month
Josh recently started the vicious rumours that he could see 'cracks forming' in the pair's relationship and previously labelled the amateur chefs 'cheaters'.
'It's disappointing. I'm just sick of the Josh show - we've had enough. Australia's had enough. Let's move on,' Della said.
Tully, however did admit that falling pregnant during the series made her more emotional and tired on set, which did cause tensions to rise between her and Della.
'Just sick of the Josh show - we've had enough': Della and Tully told the publication they're sick of Josh's attitude and outbursts on the show
Hitting back: Josh recently started the vicious rumours that he could see 'cracks forming' in the Della and Tully's relationship, with the friends saying they are 'like sisters' and are not feuding
She refused to state those disagreements were anything as major as Josh was claiming.
'Della and I are really good friends, more like sisters - we fight, but we get over it in two seconds, no-one holds on to any grudge... we're also mature enough to know that filming a reality show isn't a normal friendship activity,' Tully said.
The pair claimed there was one large argument behind-the-scenes between the friends, but Josh wasn't even there to witness it.
'We fight, but we get over it in two seconds, no-one holds on to any grudge': Tully has admitted that falling pregnant during the series made her more emotional and tired on set, but while the pair may have had tense moments, they never 'hold on to any grudge'
Fighting back: Josh and his rude behaviour have been the subject of scathing criticism from furious viewers and shocked contestants - one of whom, Della (L), has spoken out about his antics
Della previously told The Daily Telegraph that she warned Josh he was going to 'look bad' in front of the nation, but that he brushed the advice off and 'didn't give a s**t'.
She said: 'Because I'm a mum I was genuinely concerned for him and said to him off camera" you need to stop this, you're going to look so bad in front of 1.5 million people" and he laughed it off. He really didn't give a s**t.'
Josh's most recent controversy came last month when he called Amy a 's***' as she served him a course at her and Tyson's instant restaurant.
The 25-year-old's vocal criticisms of the other contestants' culinary offerings has even pushed his wife Amy to her limits on various episodes.
Mr unpopular: Josh has been easily the most controversial contestant on the current season of My Kitchen Rules
Shocker: Josh's most recent controversy came earlier this week when he called Amy a 's***' as she served him a course at her and Tyson's instant restaurant
And Della, who is cooking alongside best friend Tully on MKR, said the abrasive Josh has overshadowed the bond between the rest of the contestants.
'It's also sad because he gets all the airtime and has taken the shine off such a really fun and dynamic team,' she said.
The 30-year-old Brisbane resident was one of the few contestants to condemn Josh for his now infamous slur at Amy.
Shame: Della, who is cooking alongside best friend Tully on MKR, said the abrasive Josh has overshadowed the bond between the rest of the contestants
Standing tall: The 30-year-old Brisbane resident was one of the few contestants to condemn Josh for his now infamous slur at Amy
Good on ya: Della made her feelings towards Josh's actions clear in no uncertain terms as she spoke to the camera after the exchange
Della made her feelings towards Josh's actions clear in no uncertain terms as she spoke to the camera after the exchange.
She said: 'That's so rude. If he was my husband, he would have copped an elbow to the groin.'
My Kitchen Rules continues at 7.30pm on Channel Seven on Tuesday night.
Cheers! Della and Tully will take their turn in the kitchen on Sunday night's episode of My Kitchen Rules when they welcome the other couples, including Josh, to their instant restaurant
Hunting The KGB Killers
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No one can say that Russian assassins lack a dry sense of humour. When committing murder in London, they make sure to use the most British methods with a touch of lethal irony.
Bulgarian dissident writer Georgi Markov was killed in 1978 by an unknown agent armed with a KGB poison, who injected his victim with deadly ricin by stabbing him in the leg with an umbrella on Waterloo Bridge.
No doubt the murderer was wearing a suit and tie, with a bowler hat and a raincoat folded over his arm in those days, still the uniform of the City commuter.
When Alexander Litvinenko was killed, allegedly on the orders of Putin, the murder weapon was a teapot. The painstaking documentary Hunting the KGB Killers uncovered a secret world that is usually glimpsed only in the novels of John Le Carre
And when Russian defector Alexander Sacha Litvinenko was silenced, allegedly on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, the murder weapon was a teapot.
As a Met copper pointed out on Hunting The KGB Killers (C4), the crime was as English as a game of Cluedo: it was Mr Red, in the hotel tea-room, with the radioactive Darjeeling.
This painstaking documentary uncovered a secret world that is usually glimpsed only in the novels of John Le Carre.
Litvinenko was a British citizen when he died, but he had been a Russian soldier and a spy most of his life, and served as a senior officer in the Kremlins FSB the modern version of the KGB. He turned whistleblower after he was ordered to kill a prominent critic of the Putin regime, billionaire Boris Berezovsky.
Much of the fascination of this programme was the background detail: we know him only from his final photograph, a bald man dying in a hospital bed, but his widow painted a portrait of a reckless idealist.
Celebration of the week Morecambe And Wise Forever (ITV3) was the best TV profile of the duo ever shown. It even tracked down a child star who shared a wartime stage with them. Every comedy fan should seek this out. Advertisement
Marina Litvinenko had an acute ear for the memorable quote. When her husband first confronted Putin, then head of the FSB, he told her this ruthless man had a very soft handshake.
Mainly the story was told by officers of the Mets Counter Terrorism Unit, who tracked Sachas killers back to Russia by following the trail of radioactive Polonium 210 a poison that can only be manufactured in an atomic research facility.
The detectives believe they were also poisoned in Moscow, with an acute tummy bug . . . administered once again in cups of tea.
These national stereotypes begin to look like a serious security weakness. If the Russians ever invade us, theyll do it on a wet Bank Holiday when were all stuck in motorway traffic jams.
What the investigation didnt tell us was if anyone else in London was contaminated by the Polonium 210, a poison so virulent that traces of radioactivity could still be detected on the hotel teapot after it had gone through a dishwasher repeatedly. Were there other, accidental victims? That should not remain part of a spy mystery.
Nature's Weirdest Events
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Shabani the western lowland gorilla belongs to a different literary genre, the romantic novel.
This silverback at Kyoto zoo attracts hundreds of human female admirers every day, who come to swoon at his rippling physique and handsome face.
Chris Packham studied Shabanis mysterious sex appeal in Natures Weirdest Events (BBC2) and concluded its all in the eyes: unlike most gorillas, this hairy lothario has white irises, which give his gaze a smouldering look.
The one-off show, Nature's Weirdest Events, was packed with amazing stories without a duff item. The show is much better as an occasional treat than padded out as a series
That answer was unconvincing: Chris has white irises too, and if Japanese women queue all day to blow kisses at him, he keeps very quiet about it.
This one-off episode was packed with amazing stories without a duff item.
The show is much better as an occasional treat than padded out as a series.
Sofia Vergara is TV's highest paid actress.
And the Modern Family star cashed in on that title as she carried a $3800 Gucci bag in Beverly Hills on Monday.
The 44-year-old looked stunning as she left lunch toting the bag that sported a nod to her successful sitcom with the word 'Modern' embroidered on it.
Boss: Sofia Vergara, 44, carried a $3800 Gucci bag in Beverly Hills on Monday
The star was casually chic as she donned a pair of grey cargo pants and simple black top.
She covered up in a khaki over coat and sported open-toed heels.
The Colombian-American kept her brunette tresses long and loose.
The main attraction was the Dionysus Modern-Embroidered Gucci bag that retails for $3800.
Model: The star looked incredible as she donned a pair of grey cargo pants and simple black top
Top of the charts: Sofia is TV's highest paid actress
Meanwhile on Sunday, Sofia and her husband Joe Manganiello, 40, treated fans to a feast of decadent food as they played host over the Easter holiday at their home.
The couple treated friends and themselves to plates of decadent delights.
From chocolate rabbits, a full buffet, and plates full of sweets, guests were spoiled by the generous hosts.
The hostess with the mostess! Sofia Vergara nd her husband Joe Manganiello treated fans to a feast of decadent food as they played host over the holiday at their home
Eye candy! From chocolate rabbits, a full buffet, and plates full of sweets, guests were spoiled by the generous hosts.
The star was clearly enjoying a cheat day as she shared a photo of a broken chocolate bunny along with the caption, 'We r going to eat him.'
It seemed like the household was in no shortage of laughs and fun that day.
The guests, along with Sofia's 24-year-old son Manolo, were the picture of happiness as they gathered around for a group snap.
They're the wildlife power couple whose seemingly unbounded young love has charmed the nation.
But Bindi Irwin, 18, and her American beau Chandler Powell, 20, may be struggling with the comparison with late father Steve and US-native Terri.
Reports have emerged this week claiming the pair have 'clashed on more than one occasion' amid fears he's 'struggling to cope' with the pressure of filling Steve's shoes.
Clashing? Reports have emerged alleging Bindi Irwin and boyfriend Chandler Powell have clashed on more than one occasion' since he moved to Australia Zoo this year
According to Woman's Day, sources are worried Chandler has succumbed to the stress of leaving his family at home in Florida to live and work at Australia Zoo.
After previously being the subject of engagement rumours, they claim he wants to 'slow down' in the relationship.
'Zoo insiders are worried the pressure of stepping up and filling Steve's shoes may have become too much to bear for Chandler, who is reportedly struggling to cope with what's expected of him,' they said.
They claim the pressure has led him to tell Bindi he'll 'Never be Steve!'
Struggling: Insiders allege he's 'struggling with the pressure of filling Bindi's late father Steve's shoes
Missing home? Reports also alleged the 20-year-old US-native is struggling with being away from his family (pictured)
Slow down: After previously being the subject of engagement rumours, the combination of these factors has led reports to claim he wants to 'slow down' in the relationship
Commenting on the couple's recent Today Show interview, they concluded the couple had 'different ideas' about the idea of marriage.
'Who knows what the future holds?' a positive Bindi said on the show.
Chandler on the other hand, offered a more tentative: 'We're just having fun and taking our time.'
'Taking our time': Woman's Day concluded the couple had 'different ideas' about the idea of marriage after Chandler said the pair were 'having fun' and 'taking their time' during a Today show interview
Comparisons: Back on her 18th birthday, Bindi spoke to the publication, drawing comparisons between her boyfriend and Steve, who passed tragically in 2006
Similar: 'It's no coincidence I've chosen to share my life with a young man who has similar qualities to my dad...'Protective, loving, trusting, loyal - I'm very lucky,' she said
Back on her 18th birthday, Bindi spoke to the publication, drawing comparisons between her boyfriend and Steve, who passed tragically in 2006.
'It's no coincidence I've chosen to share my life with a young man who has similar qualities to my dad,'she said at the time.
'Protective, loving, trusting, loyal - I'm very lucky.'
Cause of the stress: It's comparisons like this that the publications alleges has led to the American wake-boarder being overwhelmed with filling Steve's lofty legacy
Support of the family: Regardless, Bindi's mother Terri and brother Robert have both gone on record to throw the support behind him
It's comparisons like this that the publication alleges has led to the American wake-boarder being overwhelmed with filling Steve's lofty legacy.
They claim it's led the pair to 'clash on several occasions' since he moved to the Zoo this year.
Regardless, Bindi's mother Terri and brother Robert have both gone on record to throw support behind him.
Mixed messages? Likewise, the pair shared a loved-up Instagram snap as recently as Sunday
Likewise, the pair shared a loved-up Instagram snap as recently as Sunday.
Chandler met Bindi while on a family trip to Australia Zoo in 2013.
When initial reports alleged the pair were on the rocks earlier in the year, representatives for Australia Zoo adamantly denied the claims, disputing the credibility of the sources.
Still going strong? Chandler met Bindi while on a family trip to Australia Zoo in 2013
She's the provocative amateur chef who's never been shy of promoting her 'assets' on social media.
Now it seems that My Kitchen Rules finalist Betty Banks has drawn the ire of producers for posting provocative photos on social media and self-promoting.
New Idea alleges that the tattooed beauty is causing waves at Channel Seven due to her insistence of posting racy pics and promoting herself, with the magazine suggesting that producers are 'furious' with the 27-year-old.
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Provocative: New Idea reports that MKR star Betty Banks is causing waves at Channel Seven due to her insistence of posting racy pics and promoting herself
'Seven are furious she's ignoring their warnings, especially because she is continuing her provocative posting,' an unnamed source told the magazine.
The magazine goes on to say that she is also causing problems for the station given that she is promoting third parties on social media.
'The show is sponsored and multi-million dollar advertising deals have been done,' the unnamed source added.
The self-proclaimed 'social media influencer' hashtags her posts with her own name on Instagram and boasts more than 53,000 followers.
Posting under her full name Bettina Banks, the tattooed beauty often uploads racy lingerie and topless selfies as well as flaunting her toned body in numerous bikini shots.
Daily Mail Australia has approached Channel 7 for comment.
Hot water: 'Seven are furious she's ignoring their warnings, especially because she is continuing her provocative posting,' an unnamed source told New Idea
It's not the first time that the dishy 'dishmaker' has found herself in social media hot water.
The brunette stunner, who partners David Vu on the hit reality show, found herself the subject of at least three separate fake social media accounts that were found to contain hardcore porn, in March.
The profiles, which have since been deleted, were in the reality star's name and were established in 2014 and 2015 - well before she shot to fame on the cooking show.
Social star: Posting under her full name Bettina Banks, the tattooed beauty often uploads racy lingerie and topless selfies as well as flaunting her toned body in numerous bikini shots
Further, the provocative star also appears to have been flouting the New South Wales road rules, posting two videos to Instagram, in as many months, from the driver's seat, while on public roads.
Under New South Wales law, Betty could have faced a fine and/or lose demerit points had she been caught by police.
Social hot water: Betty, who partners David Vu on My Kitchen Rules found herself the subject of at least three separate fake social media accounts that were found to contain hardcore porn, in March
Last month, she welcomed her first child with husband Thomas Sadoski.
And weeks later, Amanda Seyfried stepped out in jeans and a T-shirt - without any shoes or socks.
The actress, 31, was seen barefoot outside a residence in Los Angeles on Monday.
Super casual: Amanda Seyfried stepped out in jeans and a T-shirt - without any shoes
The new mom chose a black and white T-shirt with cuffed light wash jeans.
Low key: The actress was near a residence in Los Angeles barefoot on Sunday
Not only did she choose to step out without socks or shoes, Amanda didn't wear any makeup either.
The blonde actress pulled her golden locks back into a casual bun.
Amanda welcomed a baby girl with Thomas in late March.
The Mean Girls star revealed her pregnancy news in November 2016.
She stepped out for the Givenchy fragrance launch with her belly bump on display.
Thomas and Amanda wed in March 2017 after they confirmed their engagement just six months prior.
Beaming: The new mom chose a black and white T-shirt with cuffed light wash jeans
In mid-March, Thomas revealed that he and Amanda eloped during his appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden.
The 40-year-old actor told the host: 'We just took off into the country with an officiant and just the two of us, and we did our thing...We had a great day. It was perfect.'
Thomas added that Amanda's beloved dog Finn - who has his own Instagram account as well - was at the ceremony.
They fell in love in early 2016 while working on their film The Last Word.
Natural beauty: Not only did she choose to step out with socks or shoes, Amanda didn't wear any makeup either
Comfortable ensemble: The blonde actress pulled her golden locks back into to a casual bun
However, they first met while working on the off-Broadway play The Way We Get By in 2015.
For the March premiere of their comedy The Last Word, Amanda and Thomas stepped out together on the red carpet.
The starlet told E! News at the premiere that she was 'ready to go' and 'ready to meet the kid!'
Thomas added: 'I'm terrified but I couldn't be more excited. She gets the singing. I do the diaper changing.'
Earlier this year, Seven Network faced a backlash for casting Josh Lawson as Paul Hogan in a biopic of the Crocodile Dundee star, despite their lack of physical resemblance.
And it appears Channel Nine should prepare for a similar reaction to miniseries House Of Bond, which follows the life of disgraced businessman Alan Bond.
Actor Ben Mingay has been cast in the lead role, but as the network begins to air promos it is already being remarked he does not look like the late entrepreneur.
Actor Ben Mingay (R) has been cast as Alan Bond (L) in upcoming Channel Nine biopic House Of Bond, but it is already being remarked he does not look like the late Australian businessman
Twitter user @ackpack wrote: 'House Of Bond looks ridiculous because they cast someone who doesn't look like Alan Bond in any way.'
And @ryanfish_20 tweeted: 'Channel 9's Alan Bond looks nothing like Alan Bond.'
Instagram account 'gigglingben' joked the casting of Alan and his wife Eileen 'Red' Bond, played by Adrienne Pickering, was 'uncanny'.
'(It) looks ridiculous because they cast someone who doesn't look like Alan Bond in any way': Twitter users criticised the casting after Nine debuted the first promos for the TV mini series
Earlier this year, Seven Network faced a backlash for casting Josh Lawson as Paul Hogan - and it appears Nine should prepare for a similar reaction. Pictured: Alan and Eileen Bond
It comes after biopic Hoges: The Paul Hogan Story made headlines for casting an actor who looked very different from the real-life subject.
One Twitter fan suggested their 'right toe' looked more like the Australian comedian, and another asked why Seven's wardrobe department dressed Josh Lawson like a 'drag queen'.
Meanwhile, Eileen Bond has expressed mixed feelings about the two-part TV series which follows her late ex-husband's 'rags-to-riches-to-rags tale'.
Rise and fall: Alan Bond (pictured in 1986) was known for bankrolling the successful challenge for the 1983 America's Cup, but was later jailed for the biggest fraud in Australian history
In May last year, she praised the 'great cast' of House Of Bond - but more recently criticised the production for its portrayal of her marriage to the late tycoon.
She complained about scenes where Alan threatens to have Eileen killed for $10,000 and where Eileen vows to sue her ex-husband for tens of millions of dollars.
'I just don't know what they are trying to do. It's just appalling,' she told News Corp last month. 'I don't want my grandchildren to see this, but (the trailer) keeps coming on.'
'It's just appalling': Eileen Bond has expressed mixed feelings about the two-part TV series which follows Alan's 'rags-to-riches-to-rags tale'. Pictured: Ben Mingay and Adrienne Pickering
Recently Actor Samuel Johnson's terminally ill sister, Connie, 40, made the heartbreaking decision to end all cancer treatment after battling with the disease for years.
And Connie and Sam, who have now accumulated $2.1 million to raise cancer awareness, have one 'last hurrah' planned with the hopes of raising another million dollars.
On the sibling's Love Your Sister page - which has over 370,000 likes - Sam has revealed, 'I can't pretend on telly while our families are falling. Cancer is the last true riddle of our time and I wanna be part of the push to solve it once at for all.'
One last hurrah: Connie and Sam, who have now raised $2.1 million, have one 'last hurrah' planned with the hopes of raising another million dollars
No more suffering: Love Your Sister's Connie Johnson has made the decision to stop all treatments
Connie is is the co-founder of the charity Love Your Sister with her brother and her current cancer diagnosis is her third.
Together they hope to make another one million dollars for breast cancer awareness and research and on May 10th the Big Heart Project.
The campaign has been collecting five cent coins and on the day will use to them to form a giant love heart.
Schools around the country are already involved, hosting 'Five Cent Friday' as part of the initiative.
Big plans: After seven years of battling breast cancer Connie will put her last energy in to one big final project
She hopes to hit the one million dollar mark: by making a 'one million dollar heart' out of five-cent coins
Family meeting: Connie said she immediately called a family meeting after making her decision to cease treatment
Connie suffered bone cancer at age 11, a tumour in her womb at 22 and was diagnosed with breast cancer seven years ago.
She said after a double mastectomy and gruelling rounds of chemotherapy and radiation, the side effects have become harsher and harder to ignore.
Sibling power: Connie and her brother Samuel developed the Love Your Sister organisation to raise money and awareness around breast cancer
'So that's 10 to 11 years of cancer treatment in a 40-year lifespan and I guess my organs are just saying, "No more. No more",' the mother-of-two told the Canberra Times.
Connie said she immediately called a family meeting after making her decision to cease treatment.
Born a year apart: The inseparable bond between the pair has brought them closer to fight breast cancer together
Impressive: Samuel raised over one and a half million for Connie and cancer research when he uni-cycled around Australia
'Basically, it wasn't my choice. I can't have any more chemo medically. So that's a game changer,' she said.
'I asked what to expect and at some point the tumours will grow back and grow bigger and I'll go into liver failure and I'll sleep a lot. Apparently it's quite peaceful.'
After his second major car accident, Family Feud host Grant Denyer, 39 said he thought his wife Cheryl might ask him to quit motor racing for good.
But on Tuesday, Cheryl penned an emotional piece on her blog The Chezzi Diaries expressing her support for her husband's racing career.
'I've been asked many a time in the past three weeks, will I make him give up racing because of this latest accident, the truth is that no, I will not make him give it up,' Cheryl revealed in her piece aptly titled Keeping On Track.
Full support: On Tuesday, Cheryl Denyer penned an emotional piece on her blog The Chezzi Diaries expressing her support for her husband Grant's racing career
'He has managed TV full-time and racing part-time for 25 years. It's who he is. It's how he works. I support him in his (sic) wholeheartedly,' the mother-of-two added.
The accident in question was Grant's second major racing accident after a crash in 2008 saw him suffer a serious back injury and undergo a long recovery.
When asked previously on The Project whether he was going to hang up the keys, the TV host hinted that it would be a decision that he would not make lightly.
'Racing? Survey says: Bah, bow!' Family Feud's Grant Denyer thought his wife Cheryl would force him to QUIT motor racing after second accident
'Motorsport is something I have been doing since I was 14 years of age. I won the GT Australian Motor Sport game,' he said.
'I have to remember I am a father, first and foremost. And I have got a duty to turn up on television for Family Feud every single night. I will reassess things.'
Grant joked: 'I am not as worried about the doctor coming here to check my temperature as I am my wife is about to walk into this hospital.'
He was pressed on whether he had had a conversation with his wife about the next stage of his racing career.
Grant joked: 'I am not as worried about the doctor coming here to check my temperature as I am my wife is about to walk into this hospital.'
But despite what her husband has said in the past, Cheryl said in her blog although she does not want her children to grow up without a father, the decision is not clear cut.
Champion driver: 'Motorsport is something I have been doing since I was 14 years of age. I won the GT Australian Motor Sport game,' he said
'I do not want my girls to grow up without a father but I dont believe this decision is that clear cut,' she says.
'I want my daughters to follow their passion with every ounce of their soul ... They learn by what they experience and they see and they see this in their Dad. I'm proud of Grant's driving.'
Happy family: Cheryl married Grant in 2010 and they share two children Sailor, five and Scout, one
They learn from their dad: Cheryl said: 'They learn by what they experience and they see and they see this in their Dad'
Reassess things: 'I have to remember I am a father, first and foremost. And I have got a duty to turn up on television for Family Feud every single night'
She added: 'Maybe it's my Bathurst heritage. I grew up following Peter Brock and I certainly do not want my husband to have the same fate, but I believe in his ability to read situations and I believe he is no cowboy with my core.'
Cheryl married Grant in 2010 and they share two children Sailor, five and Scout, one.
She said of the accident, 'he told me Grant had been in a car accident. My heart sank but I just knew somehow he was OK.'
She's the younger sister of Kourtney Kardashian.
And on late Monday night, Khloe Kardashian shared a hilarious video of her oldest sibling in honor of her birthday.
In the brief clip, Kourtney, who turns 38 on Tuesday, is seen in a variety of embarrassing moments - including sitting on a toilet.
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Hilarious: On late Monday night, Khloe Kardashian shared a hilarious video of her oldest sibling Kourtney Kardashian in honor of her 38th birthday
Khloe, 32, captioned the Instagram video: 'Happy birthday to the Milly to my Vanilli @kourtneykardash.'
The toilet clip is from Khloe's August Snapchat while the sisters attended younger sister Kylie Jenner's 19th birthday party at The Nice Guy.
Another piece of the funny birthday video showed the infamous scene of Kourtney as she enjoyed lunch following a dental procedure; part of her mouth was numb and caused her lip to droop on one side.
Playful: Another piece of the funny birthday video showed the infamous scene of Kourtney as she enjoyed lunch following a dental procedure
Khoe continued the funny moments with bits from their Cuba trip last year, as they enjoyed drinks and cigars.
Kourtney, who sported a colorful cropped blouse with a top knot, made a face as she took a sip of her drink.
All the while the song 'Happy Birthday' was playing in the background of the video.
Cheers to holiday: Khoe continued the funny moments with bits from their Cuba trip last year, as they enjoyed drinks and cigars
Making memories: Kourtney, who sported a colorful cropped blouse with a top knot, made a face as she took a sip of her drink
What a good sister: Khloe shared a video of a happy Kourtney as she packed her bags, adding: 'I truly love her'
The sisters were then seen sharing a hug before Khloe picked her up and spun her in a circle.
From the same night of Kylie's birthday, Khloe had fun asking her random questions.
One question included asking her is she's a celebrity, to which Kourtney jokingly said: 'I'm a celebrity, get me out of here!'
Laughs: From the same night of Kylie's birthday, Khloe had fun asking her random questions
We all have our rituals for overcoming jet lag after a long flight - whether it be sleeping, avoiding alcohol or staying active after departure.
But LA-based Australian model Ashley has quite the trendy post-flight recovery ritual.
The 28-year-old was seen at a Melbourne hydration clinic getting a shot of vitamins in her arm over the weekend.
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Shot in the arm: LA-based Australian model Ashley Hart has posted a blissful photo of her receiving an IV drip of vitamins
'Peacing [sic] out on the good juice post flight @iv.me.hydrationclinic you are life savings [sic]. #hydration #vitamins #ivdrip #detoxifying #immunsystemboost,' Ashley wrote alongside the post.
While she is normally seen in skimpy bikinis or figure hugging yoga attire, Ashley was sporting a decidedly rock chic look as she reclined blissfully while flashing a 'peace' sign.
The blonde beauty wore a denim jacket, an Iron Maiden T-shirt and a pair of what looked to be black leather trousers.
Famous face: The jet-setting model, who has graced the covers of Men's Style and Women's Health magazines, is the younger sister of supermodel Jessica Hart
The ensemble was rounded out with a pair of funky white Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers, a bone-coloured scarf and a wide-brimmed khaki hat.
The jet-setting model, who has graced the covers of Men's Style and Women's Health magazines, is the younger sister of supermodel Jessica Hart.
Ashley shocked her fans in January this year when she announced her separation with husband Buck Palmer, after less than two years of marriage.
Dare to bare: Ashley posed topless during a recent trip to Bali
In a statement released to the Herald Sun at the time of the announcement, Ashley and Buck were adamant that the pair would remain friends.
'Our happiness evolved into a deep friendship that we will always have, but we have come to the conclusion that the path forward for both of us if best travelled as separate journeys,' the statement said.
The former Bachelor contestant was arrested last month and is facing criminal charges for allegedly running a drug syndicate.
And Georgia Tripos, 25, has now shared a troubling post with her followers.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the reality star posted a cryptic passage about death with no clarification given in her caption.
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When we leave this world, we give up all our memories: Is everything OK Georgia? Accused drug dealer and former Bachelor star Georgia Tripos shares troubling post about death on Tuesday
Was looking for love: The 25-year-old accused drug runner competed unsuccessfully for Richie Strahan's affection on last year's The Bachelor
The excerpt was from Lang Leav's Lullabies novel, a sequel to his best-selling Love And Misadventure release, which explores the intricacies of love and loss.
The post read: 'When we leave this world, we give up out possessions and our memories.'
It also continued: 'Love is the only thing we take with us. It is all we carry from one life to the next.'
'Love is the only thing we take with us. It is all we carry from one life to the next': The reality star posted a cryptic passage about death with no clarification given in her caption
The passage also appeared to reference a loved one: 'Through every collapse and creation, there is a pulse that echoes of you and I.'
Georgia was last month charged with trafficking amphetamine and cocaine, allegedly running a drug syndicate with her friend Kristiana Karakostas, 9News reported.
The pair, who were arrested at a Melbourne real estate agency they both worked at, are accused of selling the drugs online via Craigslist.
Charged: Georgia was last month charged with trafficking amphetamine and cocaine, allegedly running a drug syndicate with her friend Kristiana Karakostas, 9News reported
Last week, Georgia broke her silence on social media with a series of bizarre photos in which she seemingly labeled herself as a snake.
The accused drug runner was granted bail to live with her mother in North Balwyn, Melbourne.
Last Tuesday, Georgia shared a selfie of herself in a car captioning the photo with an emoji of a snake.
What is she trying to say? Former Bachelor contestant Georgia Tripos shares selfie labelling herself a snake after drug trafficking charges
Different: The reality TV star, who describes herself as an artist in her Instagram bio, also posted a bizarre self-portrait to the social media site on Sunday
The reality TV star, who describes herself as an artist in her Instagram bio, also posted a bizarre self-portrait to the social media site on Sunday.
The painting shows Georgia choking on a crucifix, with the former Bachelor hopeful writing in the caption: 'Sa. Cri. Fice. Your. So. Ul. [sic].'
Another selfie posted last Wednesday shows Georgia pouting while looking to the ground, her midriff exposed and fishnet stockings visible beneath her ripped jeans.
'Wasted on the young': Another selfie posted last Wednesday shows Georgia pouting while looking to the ground, her midriff exposed and fishnet stockings visible beneath her ripped jeans
'Wasted on the young,' she captioned the photo to her 2000 Instagram followers.
Georgia's time in the mansion wasn't without controversy, with the Bachelor reject going on a limo back seat expletive-laden rant after her eviction.
Furious that she had been booted by Richie while intruder contestants had stayed, Georgia labelled them 'f***ing skanks'.
But she would later tell news.com.au that the show's producers had 'threatened' her and she thought the cameras were off.
For further support contact Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800, Lifeline 13 11 14, Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636 or MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.
She is always one to bring the glamour.
But choosing to sport a much more laid-back look on Monday, Tamara Ecclestone flaunted her natural beauty as she ditched the make-up for a shopping trip with her three-year-old daughter Sophia Ecclestone-Rutland in Brentwood, California.
The mum-of-one, 32, decided to indulge in a spot of retail therapy to brush off her recent troubles, as just days before she had publicly hit out at The Peninsula Beverly Hills for the 'horrible experience' she'd had when visiting the hotel for an Easter breakfast.
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Natural beauty: Tamara Ecclestone, 32, ditched the make-up for her latest shopping trip in LA with her three-year-old daughter Sophia on Monday
Tamara cut a low-key figure for her outing in Brentwood and decided to sport an all-black ensemble.
She donned an over-sized black t-shirt and teamed it with a pair of leggings that featured a number of rips down the front.
The British model hid behind a huge pair of mirrored aviator shades and wore a sporty black cap on top of her head, while her brunette locks fell past her shoulders in cascading curls.
Tamara then finished off her getup with a funky pair of fluffy sliders on her feet, while her daughter Sophia looked just adorable as she sat in her pink pushchair.
Cute: Little Sophia seemed mesmerised by a shark puppet she held in one hand while cutting a sweet figure in a patterned dress and a mini pair of trainers with pink laces
Low-key look: Tamara, meanwhile, sported an all-black ensemble and hid behind a sports cap and a pair of huge mirrored aviator shades
The tot appeared to be mesmerised by a shark puppet she held in one hand, as she cut a sweet figure in a patterned dress and a mini pair of trainers that boasted pink laces.
The mother and daughter duo had been joined by Tamara's sister Petra Stunt and her daughter Lavinia.
Their family outing came after the Ecclestones had celebrated Easter together in the States - although their festivities hadn't exactly gone to plan.
Tamara had taken Sophia - whom she shares with husband Jay Rutland - to The Peninsula Beverly Hills for breakfast on Saturday, but was left disappointed by their visit.
She had wanted to re-create memories that she'd had as a child, visiting the hotel with her own parents every Easter, but took to Twitter claiming the moment had been 'ruined' by 'horrible service'.
Disappointed: She had hoped to re-create memories from her own childhood over Easter in Beverly Hills but was later seen sharing her disappointment on Twitter
In a series of tweets, Tamara penned: 'As kids we used to go to the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills every Easter with our parents have many fond memories there.
'Unfortunately it's all been ruined today by a horrible experience horrible service. We took our kids there for breakfast this morning to make our own memories. Wish we had not bothered beyond disappointed to say the least.
'I hate to complain and almost never do but today we left with four hungry unfed kids.'
MailOnline have contacted a representative for The Peninsula Beverly Hills.
Despite the breakfast not going to plan, Tamara didn't let it tar the rest of her Easter celebrations with her family.
Taking to Instagram over the long weekend, she shared a series of photos with her 265k followers and gushed she'd had the 'best day' with her little girl.
'Best day': Her breakfast didn't tar the rest of her festivities, though, and she made sure to share plenty of photos featuring Sophia with her followers on Instagram
Tamara shared a selfie with Sophia, before uploading a snap of herself and her tot cuddling up to an Easter bunny in the sunshine.
The daughter of Bernie Ecclestone is often seen raving about motherhood on social media and recently told fans: 'No idea how I got so lucky.'
However, despite loving being a mum, Tamara has said she isn't quite ready to expand her brood.
Speaking to Hello! magazine in February, she explained: 'You never know what's going to happen in the future but right now I'm so consumed with Sophia and I'm still breastfeeding.
'I personally don't feel ready, my body doesn't feel ready... I think I will know when the time is right.'
She's not exactly known for her shy and retiring behaviour.
And Lisa Appleton, 48, threw caution to the wind as she let it all hang out by going braless under a completely see-through kaftan while on an Easter break in sunny Spain on Monday.
Appearing to be oblivious to her public nudity, the former Big Brother contestant strolled along the quiet streets with her breasts exposed under the sheer top.
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Throwing caution to the wind: Lisa Appleton, 48, let it all hang out by going braless under a completely seethrough kaftan during an Easter break in sunny Spain on Monday
The reality TV star went barefoot as she carried her flip flops in one hand, letting her trotters free after undoubtedly spending hours on them.
Lisa sported smudged black eye make up and false eyelashes that appeared to have been applied a while before several hours of high jinks.
Adding a slick of nude lipgloss to her lips, Lisa had clearly got into the party spirit by donning the kaftan, which was made up of silver metallic netted thread.
Worse for wear: The former Big Brother star appeared to be oblivious to her public nudity, strolling along the quiet streets with her breasts exposed under the sheer top
Lisa appeared to be in high spirits as she laughed and tucked her hair behind her ear.
The mother-of-one giggled as she accidentally dropped her bags, and just about preserved her modesty with a red thong as she bent down to pick them up.
The renowned party animal appeared to be a little worse for wear as she stepped out alone and wore a white cowboy hat.
Whoops! The mother-of-one giggled as she accidentally dropped her bags, and just about preserved her modesty with a red thong as she bent down to pick them up
Lisa's first taste of fame came when she appeared on Big Brother in 2008, and she has been determined to forge a career in the spotlight ever since.
She has quickly become known for her shameless escapades and her barely-existent outfits have made her a firm favourite on the Blackpool party circuit.
The brunette has likened herself to the UK's version of Kim Kardashian, and previously revealed that she would be undergoing a host of beauty treatments to stop her 'looking like a testicle'.
She told OK! Online: 'If you want to let yourself go and look like a testicle then go for it, but I don't want to look a testicle, thanks.
Ageless: The brunette has likened herself to the UK's version of Kim Kardashian in the past
'I want to look young again and it's possible to reverse some of the ageing.'
Part of her bid to stop the ageing process could also be down to the fact that she attracts younger men.
The reality star made the confession on Lizzie Cundy and Stephen Leng's Fubar radio show, revealing: 'I've had a few toy boys, I attract them all in.
'I think they like the older, experienced woman who can put them in their place.'
She added that older men were not for her as 'they wouldn't be able to keep up with me.'
They made waves when they appeared at the 2017 Golden Globes alongside proud dad Sylvester Stallone.
And now 'It girls' Sophia, 20, Sistine, 18, and 14-year-old Scarlet are going global, after appearing in their first international fashion campaign together.
The sisters wowed in the 'Meet The Stallones' photo-shoot for Australian business The Daily Edited, ahead of the accessory-brand's US launch Tuesday.
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Golden girls: Sophia, 20, Sistine, 18, and 14-year-old Scarlet Stallone are continuing to make a mark, after appearing in their first international fashion campaign together
In a series of images released with the campaign, the girls stunned as they donned gorgeous gowns and showed-off items from the personalised leather label.
In one shot, the girls appeared on a couch with navy blue bags, with Sophia looking effortlessly elegant in a shiny velvet number, Sistine cutting a sultry and chic figure in a long floral frock and Scarlet appearing relaxed in a thick-strapped dress.
In another, the girls stood poolside in summery outfits, their long locks falling around their faces as they held monogrammed phone cases and box bags.
Trio: The sisters wowed in the 'Meet The Stallones' photo-shoot for Australian business The Daily Edited, ahead of the accessory-brand's US launch Tuesday
The campaign was designed to give fans a look into the lives of the up-and-coming models, as the girls opened up about everything from their recent red-carpet experience to their go-to accessories from the line.
While youngest sister Scarlet said she preferred the range's notebooks, middle-daughter Sistine revealed she couldn't go past the overnight tote bag thanks to her penchant for travelling.
And while one may have expected a fight to ensue with three sisters in one room, the girls revealed that joining forces was easy and special.
'It's so much fun. We like doing shoots together, but the fact that this is a campaign just totally upped the ante,' Sistine said.
Up-and-comers: The campaign was designed to give fans a look into the lives of the models, as the girls opened up about everything from their recent red-carpet experience to their go-to accessories from the line
Proud dad Sylvester Stallone dropped by the photo-shoot to support the girls too, describing them as 'volcanic, eruptive, disruptive, earth-shattering and seismic'.
When asked why, he replied that their exuberant personalities meant there was rarely silence in the Stallone household.
'It's never quiet with you three, which I love. The carnival is always in town,' he said.
'It's never quiet with you three': Dad Sylvester Stallone dropped by the photo-shoot to support the girls, describing them as 'volcanic, eruptive, disruptive, earth-shattering and seismic'
Taking on a special role this year as the Miss Golden Globes, the three brunette beauties also discussed the awards night and their personal highlights.
Although siblings Sistine and Sophia looked at the overall experience as the most memorable, Scarlet revealed her favourite part was celebrity spotting.
'Standing up on stage and seeing all my favourite stars, was really crazy,' she said.
'I saw Ryan Reynolds, and then Blake Lively, and then I looked next to me and Jimmy Fallon. I was star struck... I couldn't speak!'
Getting along: While one may have expected a fight to ensue with three sisters in one room, the girls revealed that joining forces was 'fun' and 'special'
New talent: Youngest sister Scarlet revealed her favourite pieces from the label, which was established in 2011 by two law friends from Australia, included the clutch bags and leather notebooks
The campaign is not the first international outing for The Daily Edited, which was established in 2011 by two law friends from Perth, Western Australia.
The personalisable accessories line, based in Sydney, Australia, has since branched out to Singapore and America.
Last year, the group worked with American model Hailey Baldwin on a campaign, with co-founder Alyce Tran saying the business is always eager for new talent to join the ranks.
Miss Golden Globes: The three brunette beauties also discussed their role at this year's awards night, with Sistine (pictured here with dad Sylvester), claiming the whole experience was a highlight
'For us, it is about getting someone with that bigger profile and with that international profile,' Alyce told The Sydney Morning Herald last year.
And with the addition of the Stallone girls' campaign, Alyce revealed the label was had found people who embodied the label's core values.
'The sisters have a fresh, fun, and youthful point-of-view, sense of style and personalities,' she said.
Rapper Drake was given an unwanted surprise after a thirsty fan broke into his lavish Los Angeles home.
TMZ claim a member of his entourage was confronted by the 24-year old woman after entering the $7.7 million property, dubbed YOLO Estate by the Canadian rapper, at 10:30pm on April 3.
The fan was understood to be wearing a hooded top owned by Drake, 30, when she was found in one of the homes six bedrooms.
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Unexpected: Rapper Drake was given an unwanted surprise after a thirsty fan broke into his lavish Hollywood home
But instead of using the Hidden Hills propertys numerous accoutrements, amongst them a 25-seat theatre, a games room, spa, wine cellar and enormous outdoor pool complete with 80-foot waterslide, she only took advantage of the fridge.
Its understood the fan, who insisted she had permission to enter the gated home, claimed she only helped herself to the rappers assortment of chilled soft drinks and mineral water.
LAPD officers were called and the woman, who is yet to be identified, was charged with a felony burglary and taken into custody.
Unwanted surprise: TMZ claim a member of his entourage was confronted by the 24-year old woman after entering the $7.7 million property (pictured), dubbed YOLO Estate by the Canadian rapper, at 10:30pm on April 3
It is yet to be established how she gained access to the gated home, or indeed how long she was inside before being discovered.
Drake originally purchased his Los Angeles home for $7.7 million from Saddle Ranch Chop House owner Larry Pollack in 2012.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, the Hotline Bling rapper admitted he had his heart set on the house years before he actually bought it.
Harmless: But instead of using the Hidden Hills propertys numerous accoutrements, amongst them a 25-seat theatre (pictured), the intruder claims she only took advantage of the fridge
'I was like, "What are the worlds craziest residential pools?" and when I searched online, this came up,' he explained. 'This house was the desktop image on my computer years before I bought it.'
But while it sits in an exclusive and highly sought after area, he admitted to having previous issues with fans intent on snatching a piece of its valuable memorabilia.
'Originally, I had a sign outside that said the YOLO estate,' he said. 'But it got stolen three times, and it was getting a bit costly to replace it, so I just changed it to the street number. I love that some kid has that sign in his bedroom.'
According to property records Drake has since putt the Hidden Hills estate back on the market for close to $20 million.
Drake's representatives declined to comment when contacted by MailOnline.
Stunning: Speaking to Rolling Stone , the Hotline Bling rapper admitted he had his heart set on the house years before he actually bought it
She's a busy actress and proud mum.
But Rose Byrne took a break from her busy schedule on Monday to take her son Rocco Cannavale for a spin around a trendy park in New York.
The X Men actress, 37, and her tot, 14 months, enjoyed the pleasant Spring weather as they headed to the playground.
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Yummy mummy! Rose Byrne took a break from her busy schedule on Monday to take her son Rocco Cannavale for a spin around a trendy park in New York
Putting on stylish display in a monochrome floral maxi dress, she teamed it with a casual pair of trainers.
And accessorising with a pair of square rim sunglasses, she smiled happily as she carried her curly-haired tot.
Little Rocco looked adorable in a mini shirt and shorts ensemble, appearing quite delighted with the picturesque surroundings.
Family fun: The X Men actress, 37, and her 1-year-old tot enjoyed the pleasant Spring weather as they headed to the playground
Meanwhile despite being an AACTA award winner, who has starred in various Hollywood blockbusters, Rose recently revealed she feels she hasn't quite 'made it' as an actress and in fact, still has the mindset of a budding actor.
The Bridesmaids star told Foxtel magazine on Monday that despite her many feats, which include working alongside media tycoon Oprah Winfrey and winning various acting awards, she tries not to get too caught up in her own achievements.
'I think it's such a bad trap to fall into,' she said.
Opening up: Rose says she hasn't quite 'made it' as an actress in Hollywood and in fact, still has the mindset of a budding actor
'I think most actors always retain that sense of auditioning and waiting to hear back and the rejection - you sort of remember all the bad stuff more than the good stuff.
She added: 'So I think I've got a healthy dose of that still in my brain.'
The 37-year-old stars in the forthcoming TV film The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which is produced by Oprah.
Success all around: The Balmain-native has been in a relationship with Emmy award-winning actor Bobby Cannavale since 2012 and the couple share a one-year-old son Rocco
In addition to landing notable movie roles in the likes of X-Men and neighbours, Rose has also acheived success in her private life.
The Balmain-native has been in a relationship with Emmy award-winning actor Bobby Cannavale since 2012 and the couple share a one-year-old son Rocco.
Last month, fans of Rose wee left stunned after Oroton announced that brand ambassador Rose would be dumped in favour of 'younger influencers.'
Younger and cheaper? Oroton found itself in hot water last month when a spokesperson for the brand announced that Rose would be dumped in favour of 'younger influencers'
The fashion accessories brand issued a second statement in response to the backlash across a wide variety of media outlets.
In a previous statement received by Daily Mail Australia, Oroton confirmed that it will continue it's contract with Rose as brand ambassador until August this year.
'No new brand ambassadors have been appointed nor are there any under consideration.
Breaking its silence: In a statement received by Daily Mail Australia this Thursday, Oroton confirmed that it will continue it's contract with Rose Byrne as brand ambassador until August this year
'Oroton is proud of its association with Rose Byrne and has nothing but respect for her as a colleague, and an inspiring individual,' the statement continued.
'Recent comments by the business regarding influencers refer exclusively to its social media strategy as this becomes an ongoing focus for the brand.'
Earlier this week, an Oroton spokesperson confirmed to The Daily Telegraph that the company would not be renewing the actress' contract, confirming that the brand would be seeking to align itself with 'younger influencers'.
'Typically, an influencer will not cost as much as a major globally known actor,' she said.
The representative did not clarify which particular influencers would be representing the brand in future, however.
On Tuesday, Sky News reported OrotonGroup - which encompasses Oroton and GAP - revealed their half-year profit had nosedived by 52 per cent.
When questioned further by Daily Mail Australia as to the future of the partnership at the end of Ms Byrne's contract, the company declined to provide additional comment.
Rose has been the face of Oroton since 2014, and was described by the brand as epitomising 'the essence of what Oroton is about: relaxed glamour and effortless style'.
1 Always Dreaming Todd Pletcher BodemeisterAbove Perfection, by In Excess Boy, is it close up at the top. But rather than keep switching the No. 1 horse every few weeks based on the latest big-race winner, I decided to stick with this guy for now, partly because of his potential to be any kind and his combination of tactical speed, acceleration, and stamina. Also, fast track or not, he did run by far the fastest 1 1/8 miles of the year and did it pretty much on his own. And he continues to work super. Showing once again how pushbutton he is and how you can turn him on and off, he went off very slow in his most recent work and then came home his second quarter in :23 2/5 before galloping out strongly, as he always does. Most people are saying what a wide-open Derby this is, but it is very possible its not as wide open as one might think. It could actually be about two or three classy, fast horses, in this case Always Dreaming, Irish War Cry, and Classic Empire, who have the ability to separate themselves from the others. This has been the trend in recent years, and that could be due to the decrease in pure stamina and increase in lightly raced horses who simply are not prepared for such an arduous task, making the Derby more about superior talent and brilliance than anything else. We saw it in the Breeders Cup Juvenile last year. We also saw it in last years Derby when Nyquist and Gun Runner opened a 5-length advantage at the quarter pole. The year before, American Pharoah, Dortmund, and Firing Line opened up by 3 lengths at the quarter pole and 4 lengths at the eighth pole. In 2014, California Chrome opened a 5-length lead at the eighth pole. And in 2012, Bodemeister opened a 5-length lead at the three-sixteenths, with Ill Have Another the only horse within striking distance. The exception was 2013 when it was sloppy and the pace was brutal, setting it up for the deep closers. So, if that trend continues, its easy to envision Always Dreaming, Irish War Cry and Classic Empire opening up on the field turning for home. The only question one might have with Always Dreaming is whether he will bounce off a huge 9-point jump on Thoro-Graph. But he does have a fairly strong 2-year-old figure to fall back on and five weeks between races.
2 Irish War Cry Graham Motion CurlinIrish Sovereign, by Polish Numbers Motion will keep him at Fair Hill, where he has been thriving, and will work him the Saturday before the Derby, so he wont be doing much serious training at Churchill Downs. It used to be that you wanted your horse to work over the Churchill track, but that hasnt been the case in recent years. As mentioned with Always Dreaming, his main strengths are the weapons that have been used by recent Kentucky Derby winners, and we can certainly see him and Always Dreaming, and even Classic Empire, separating themselves from the others, especially considering the inconsistency of so many of this years 3-year-olds. He is the only 3-year-old with three triple-digit Brisnet speed figures, and in one of his other two races he earned a 99. The only blemish on his record of consistently fast races is his inexplicably dismal performance in the Fountain of Youth; a mystery that will remain unsolved and soon likely will become totally meaningless. With Classic Empires big comeback score in the Arkansas Derby, you probably will get slightly better odds on him and Always Dreaming at Churchill Downs. He does have pretty much the same running style as Always Dreaming, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out between John Velazquez and Rajiv Maragh. But the key is going to be how well he relaxes, which is something you dont have to worry about with Always Dreaming. He has always been a bit precocious, and he must get through that early cavalry charge into the first turn without getting too keyed up. Once he gets through those early stages and settles, thats when he becomes extremely dangerous.
3 Gunnevera Antonio Sano Dialed InUnbridled Rage, by Unbridled He turned in a sharp 5-furlong work in 1:00 3/5 by himself at his home base at Gulfstream Park West, coming home his last quarter in :24 1/5. It looks as if he came out of the Florida Derby in excellent shape, and well see how he thrives in Kentucky and how he handles the track, He is scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs April 22. I still believe he is the most reliable of all the closers, who can make his move early or late, and has the pedigree to sustain it, regardless of how far they go. If there is one horse who can adjust and take dead aim on Always Dreaming, Irish War Cry, and Classic Empire it is this honest and consistent colt, who has shown what kind of devastating turn of foot he has on more than one occasion. Some seem to be down on him after the Florida Derby, feeling he is tailing off because he couldnt threaten Always Dreaming, but the feeling here is that he ran as good as could be expected, especially considering he didnt need to win, coming off a monster Thoro-Graph figure that was by far the fastest number run by a 3-year-old this year, and was at a huge disadvantage with absolutely no shot the way the track was playing and how the race set up. On top of that, he was beaten by an extremely talented colt with unlimited potential. Lets see what he looks like from a physical standpoint as the Derby nears. If the pace is solid enough and he has a relatively trouble-free trip, I fully expect those blue silks to be flying down the stretch, possibly even before that. And he is one horse you can count on not getting tired late.
4 Classic Empire Mark Casse Pioneerof the NileSambuca Classica, by Cat Thief It was great to see the champ return to his form of last year, and Im sure most people will elevate him back to the No. 1 spot. I need a bit more time to digest everything before doing that. Im still trying to decide whether he is going to move forward off his victory or regress, coming back in three weeks after a long, but eventful, layoff, having only one disappointing effort in 5 1/2 months prior to the Arkansas Derby and a 2 1/2-month layoff between his last two races. Can he come back in a relatively short period of time after a hard-fought race? And with the first five finishers within 2 1/4 lengths of each other, and two horses flying from the back of the pack and the speed hanging tough, do we really know the true quality of this field? Remember, he was all out to defeat Conquest Mo Money, who was crushed by Hence over his home track in the Sunland Derby. For Beyer pundits, his 94 speed figure is nothing to rave about, but at least it leaves him with room to improve rather than regress off a huge figure and he does have three very fast races on Thoro-Graph at 2. But most important, will Classic Empire maintain his good behavior, especially on Derby Day? These are all questions that one must ponder. There is a good chance he simply is the classiest horse in the Derby; certainly the most accomplished at 2 and 3, and won the Arkansas Derby purely on class. Coming off the layoff, that race might have just been the tip of the iceberg, and if it is and he should move forward off it, hes going to be awfully tough on May 6. All the credit to Mark and Norm Casse for a tremendous training job and coming up with the brainstorm of getting this colt to Winding Oaks Farm for his final few works, where, as I mentioned before, he worked brilliantly and professionally and obviously was inspired by the ghosts of Dr. Fager and all the greats who were born, raised, and trained there when it was Tartan Farm. Hey, it makes a great story, and anything to romanticize the Derby.
5 McCraken Ian Wilkes GhostzapperIvory Empress, by by Seeking the Gold He bounced out of the Blue Grass in rousing fashion with another superb work, drilling a sharp half in :47 4/5, coming home his final eighth in :11 2/5 and going out an additional eighth past the wire in :12 1/5 and then galloping out 6 furlongs in 1:13 2/5. All the pieces seem to be coming back together. The more I watch the Blue Grass Stakes, the more I wish he would have had just a little more punch in the stretch, even with his bad trip. What was most amazing was that he, J Boys Echo, and Tapwrit, the three strongest closers, all were one-paced in the stretch and not making up an inch of ground. That could add up to a dislike for the surface on that day, if youre looking for any excuse. I have found over the years that many horses who run super at Keeneland do not duplicate that form on the Churchill Downs surface and vice versa. I have seen many impressive Ashland winners do nothing in the Kentucky Oaks and have seen many horses who disappointed in the Ashland run huge in the Kentucky Oaks, the latest being last year when Cathryn Sophia finished a disappointing third in the Ashland at 1-2 with no excuse and then won the Kentucky Oaks by almost 3 lengths at a generous 9-2. There is a reason why the last Blue Grass winner to come back and capture the Kentucky Derby was Strike the Gold in 1991. So, while there appears to be mixed emotions regarding the merits of his Blue Grass performance, I am expecting a much improved effort at Churchill Downs, where he is undefeated in three starts, including two stakes victories. I also have faith in Ian Wilkes and the Carl Nafzger influence in getting a horse to peak on Derby Day. We saw Wilkes do the exact same thing with Fort Larned, who was a well-beaten third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup as the 5-2 favorite, and then came back to win the Breeders Cup Classic at 9-1. I would love to have him ranked higher, but the four above him are just too strong to lower.
6 Girvin Joe Sharp Tale of EkatiCatch the Moon, by Malibu Moon He went a little quicker than Sharp would have liked in his first work since the Louisiana Derby, drilling a half in a bullet :47 4/5 in company after an opening eighth in :11 3/5 and the 3 furlongs in :35 2/5. It was the fastest of 29 works at the distance. Actually, I always like to see a horse come back from a tough race with a sharp work, and Rosie Napravnik, who was aboard, was happy with the way he went. The Derby is still three weeks away and Sharp can always adjust by slowing him up a bit next time when hes not as fresh. He still hasnt decided whether his next work will be at Churchill Downs or the Trackside training center where he is stabled. You probably will wind up getting shorter odds on him than youd want having Mike Smith aboard. But that also will move him up, as his style suits a sharp-thinking rider like Smith, who you know will have him positioned in the best spot possible. All the talk about his 91 Beyer figure in the Louisiana Derby could negate Smith and raise his odds and make him awfully enticing. We have no idea what hes been beating at Fair Grounds, especially with the lightly raced maiden winner Patch shipping in and finishing second off two lifetime starts and Guest Suite not firing. But with this guy, it is all about gut feeling and the way he does it. If you look at his Brisnet figures, he and Always Dreaming have the fastest late pace figure (112), but Always Dreaming did it after a 54 middle pace figure, while he did it after an 80 middle pace figure. So based on that, gut feeling, the addition of Mike Smith, and his increasing Brisnet speed figures, I still feel he is a major threat.
7 J Boys Echo Dale Romans MineshaftLetgomyecho, by Menifee This surprise return to the Dozen, and this high up, is based on several factors. He had more trouble in the Blue Grass Stakes than I originally thought and he is the only horse to have earned triple-digit Brisnet middle and late closing figures (101 and 103, respectively) in the same race (in the Gotham), the fastest Brisnet speed figure this year (104 in the Gotham), and has the third fastest late closing figure (110 in the Withers). In the Blue Grass, he bobbled slightly coming out of the gate and was bumped from both sides, then had McCraken cut him off going into the first turn. When asked for his run nearing the half-mile pole, he was moving quickest of all when he ran smack into a traffic jam, was jostled around a bit between horses and had to throttle back just enough to lose his momentum and fall back to last. As for historical perspective, I cant help but think of Thunder Gulch running an uninspiring fourth in the Blue Grass only to score a decisive victory in the Derby at 24-1. I cant help but think of Bluegrass Cat finishing fourth in the Blue Grass, getting trounced by over 21 lengths, then rebounding to finish second to Barbaro in the Derby at 30-1. I cant help but think of Sea Hero finishing fourth in the Blue Grass and then winning the Derby by 2 1/2 lengths at 12-1. I cant help but think of Invisible Ink tiring to finishing fourth, beaten 8 1/2 lengths, in the Blue Grass, rallying from far back to finish second at 55-1 in the second fastest Derby of all time. And I cant help but think of Closing Argument finishing third, beaten 9 lengths in the Blue Grass, just getting caught in the final strides in the Derby at 71-1, with the horse who won that Blue Grass by 6 lengths, Bandini, finishing 19th in the Derby. As you can see, every one of these horses mentioned who made a dramatic turnaround from the Blue Grass to the Derby all finished an uninspiring fourth at Keeneland, except Closing Argument, who finished third, a neck away from fourth. Sound familiar? For that reason, along with his excellent Brisnet speed figures and his trouble in the Blue Grass, I am putting him back in the Dozen as a forgotten longshot and potential overlay just like those mentioned above.
8 Practical Joke Chad Brown Into MischiefHalo Humor, by Distorted Humor He is one of the biggest enigmas in the race. Last week I listed all the Derby winners who were coming off the exact same effort in their final prep he turned in at Keeneland. And if I was more certain about his ability to stay the mile and a quarter, he would be way up near the top, but I honestly dont now how far he wants to go, and that question mark still hangs over his head. He had every opportunity to get past Irap the length of the stretch, and even though he couldnt, I dont hold that against him, being it was only his second start and he did move way forward off the Fountain of Youth. Again, going by gut feeling, he gets major points for winning the historic Champagne and Hopeful Stakes the way he did. And hes a big powerful colt with muscles on top of muscles who can fire at any point in the race, and I want to believe he is now ready to stretch out to 10 furlongs and turn in a peak effort. But I havent been able to fully convince myself, and there are others I know for sure who will get the distance. So still being indecisive, Im going to keep him on the fringe for now and see how he trains at Churchill Downs.
9 Hence Steve Asmussen Street BossFloating Island, by A.P. Indy It looks like his bandwagon is filling up fast, and I can see him moving up the list as we get closer to the Derby. With Iraps victory in the Blue Grass Stakes and Conquest Mo Moneys gutsy second in the Arkansas Derby, the Sunland Derby is looking better and better, and he totally dominated that race with a powerful 5-furlong sustained run, sweeping past horses on the far outside and getting floated wide by Conquest Mo Money turning for home. Not only did he crush his field by nearly 4 lengths in 1:48 flat, with another gap of 4 lengths back to the third horse, his 103 Brisnet speed figure is the fastest last-out number of any of the Derby horses. In addition, he is one of the early arrivals at Churchill Downs and is working brilliantly, breezing a half in :47 4/5 and then working 5 furlongs in 1:00 2/5 in company with Local Hero, coming home his final eighth in :11 4/5 and galloping out 6 furlongs in 1:13 2/5 and 7 panels in 1:27 in a terrific lung opener that should have him fit and tight for the Derby. This was the kind of work you wanted to see from a horse who is going to have 6 weeks between races. And as I have mentioned on numerous occasions, his remarkable maiden victory at Oaklawn was one of the great recoveries from near disaster youll ever see. I still dont know how he managed to win that race. What happened to him in the Southwest Stakes is one of the many mysteries that likely will go unsolved, along with Irish War Crys debacle in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and Gormleys uninspiring effort in the San Felipe Stakes. Now with Classic Empire, this no doubt is the year of the rebound performance. Well have to see if the colt will have a change of riders in the Derby, as Asmussens phone Im sure has been ringing constantly.
10 Gormley John Shirreffs Malibu MoonRace to Urga, by Bernstein Shirreffs gave him a little 3-furlong blowout in :37 4/5 just to keep him on edge. It is extremely rare to have the top-ranked Santa Anita horse at No. 9 after all the success they have had in recent years, but with Mastery out of the picture, this is a confusing bunch, especially with the only success they have had shipping East has been with maidens. In his case, what was important was seeing him rate several lengths off the pace in the Santa Anita Derby and come on in the stretch to run down the speed. The race was extremely slow, time-wise and speed figure-wise, but he has already demonstrated his speed, getting a very fast Thoro-Graph figure in the Sham Stakes. He no doubt will be big odds at Churchill for a Santa Anita Derby winner, and you just have to decide whether to look at his race in a positive light or negative light. And if you consider his pattern of winning race, bad race, winning race, bad race you have to wonder if its time for a bad race or if he can finally put together back-to-back good races. In short, there is a lot to ponder with him, as there are all the Southern California-based horses.
11 Battalion Runner Todd Pletcher Unbridled's SongTamboz, by Tapit Having four lifetime starts and considering his style of running, he probably is better suited for the Preakness, but still has to be considered a legitimate contender for the Kentucky Derby based on his good second to Irish War Cry in the Wood Memorial coming off a two-month layoff. The question is, how much improvement does he have in him and how will he be able to negotiate a trip going a mile and a quarter with so little experience and facing several brilliant horses who have the same running style? He would also need to find a new rider, with John Velazquez riding Always Dreaming. And if Javier Castellano sticks with Gunnevera, Pletcher will have to look outside his two go-to riders. There is no doubt this colt has a great deal of talent and a bright future, which is why he is in the Top 12, and whether or not he would be better off waiting for the Preakness, it is tough for an owner to bypass the Derby. Pletcher is in the same position with Malagacy, who appears to have stamina issues, and Patch, with the latter having only three lifetime starts. So all we can do is wait for the dust to clear at the Pletcher barn and see how many he will put in the starting gate on May 6.
12 Irap Doug ONeill TiznowSilken Cat, by Storm Cat If you watch the finish of Blue Grass Stakes carefully, you will see that Irap, despite being on his wrong lead the length of the stretch, actually is increasing his lead over Practical Joke as theyre approaching the wire. Was it a fluke or is Irap a much better horse than people think, and is just now putting it all together? Ive been talking quite a lot about high altitude training, referring to the shocking Derby upsets by Mine That Bird and Canonero, both having trained in high altitude cities before coming to Louisville. And then you had Conquest Mo Money nearly pulling off the Arkansas Derby upset at 17-1 in a very game effort after training all winter at Sunland Park, with an altitude of 3,800 feet. Well, it is interesting to note that Irap did run twice at Sunland Park this year before winning the Blue Grass Stakes. Granted, 3,800 feet is not like training in the Andes, but even if it helps a little when coming back down to sea level it could make a difference. Whether it would continue to help four weeks later is another matter, but it is still a point of interest, especially if we have no idea how good this horse is right now and no idea if he can duplicate that effort at Churchill Downs. He is a son of Tiznow and apparently has his sires tenacity and toughness, and the Tiznows keep getting better, so we really dont know for sure what to expect from him.
KNOCKING ON THE DOOR
I dropped MALAGACY, even though he ran a terrific race from the 12 post and battled through quick early fractions, just giving way in the final 70 yards. Although it was a courageous effort, I just dont think, with four lifetime starts, two of them sprints, and Pletcher once saying hes likely a one-turn horse, that hes quite ready to go a mile and a quarter. He could, however, be a live Preakness horse with the extra two weeks.
I also dropped ROYAL MO, who was a late addition last week with the last-minute defection of One Liner, because he sits at No. 24 right now on the points leaderboard. With late closers LOOKIN AT LEE and SONNETEER, who were both flying late in the Arkansas Derby, leapfrogging him and no doubt headed to Churchill Downs, he would need THUNDER SNOW and Malagacy to drop out just to get to the No. 21 spot, and then would need another defection.
Lookin At Lee in particular ran a big race to finish third, having to meander through the field in the stretch looking for openings, his rally falling 1 1/2 lengths short. He actually cut his margin of defeat against Classic Empire in half from the Breeders Futurity and chopped 10 1/2 lengths off his margin of defeat to the champ in the Breeders Cup Juvenile, so there is hope for him if he can make the cut. Sonneteer closed strongly on the far outside to finish a half-length behind Lookin At Lee, proving his second-place finish in the Rebel Stakes was no fluke. You can make a case for either one these two to be in the Top 12, but its difficult putting one on and not the other, even though Lookin At Lee is a lot more accomplished. But these both are one-dimensional late closers who come from the back of the pack and will be totally dependent on a very fast pace in the Derby.
As of this writing, a decision whether to put up the $200,000 supplementary fee for CONQUEST MO MONEY, a gutsy second, beaten a half-length, in the Arkansas Derby will be made sometime later today (Tuesday). As Ive been saying, I find it uncanny how these horses racing and training at high altitudes have come down to sea level and run their tails off. Even horses who just raced there recently like Firing Line and Irap (who raced their twice) have run big races in their next start Firing Line a close second to American Pharoah in the Kentucky Derby and Irap in the Blue Grass Stakes. It is also interesting to note that Mine That Bird finished second in the Borderland Derby and fifth in the Sunland Derby before upsetting the Kentucky Derby, while Irap finished second in the Borderland Derby (Now the Mine That Bird Derby) and fourth in the Sunland Derby before upsetting the Blue Grass Stakes.
Speaking of Irap, have you wondered what the name Irap means and where it came from? One of Reddams unnamed babies who was being vanned to Ocean Breeze Ranch had just undergone Interluekin-1 Receptor Antagonist Protein therapy, more commonly known as IRAP, used to treat the effects of joint disease in horses. When he arrived at the farm, the van driver saw the word IRAP on the horses papers and assumed that was his name, so he identified the young horse as Irap. When Paul Reddam was told about the vans drivers mixup the next day, he got a kick out of it and said, Why dont we just name him Irap?
The Louisiana Derby, which many feel was a weak field, received a boost Saturday when sixth-place finisher SENIOR INVESTMENT just got up to win the Lexington Stakes at 11-1. NO DOZING finally woke up after getting away from Tampa Bay Downs, finishing third, beaten a head and a neck, in the Lexington.
One horse no one is talking about or taking very seriously is the Spiral Stakes winner FAST AND ACCURATE, who is riding a three-race winning streak since being given Lasix. But they have all been on synthetic or grass and he did break his maiden for a $30,000 claiming tag and was not nominated to the Triple Crown. But he has been training brilliantly on the dirt at Churchill Downs Trackside training center, turning in a pair sharp works, his latest a 5-furlong drill in :59 3/5, coming home his final eighth in :12 flat after a pair of :11 4/5 eighths. He then galloped out the 6 furlongs in 1:13 4/5.
When asked about STATE OF HONORS tendency to throw his head up early in the race, regardless of whether hes wearing blinkers or not, assistant trainer Norm Casse said he believes he got angry in the Florida Derby when Three Rules came over into him. Casse said they probably will work him alone leading up to the Derby. Even with this bad habit, the son of To Honor and Serve has racked up four second-place finishes and one third-place finish in stakes since breaking his maiden last year at Woodbine. Like he did in the Florida Derby, once he settles in stride, he hangs in tough, and its obvious there is no quit in this horse. He tuned up at Churchill Downs with an easy half-mile breeze in :49 4/5.
Santa Anita Derby runner-up BATTLE OF MIDWAY turned in a solid half-mile work in :48 2/5 at Santa Anita. Louisiana Derby runner-up PATCH, breezed a half in :49 2/5 at Palm Beach Downs. I dont know if people realize just how good this one-eyed colt is, but he has to have a world of ability to do what he did in the Louisiana Derby off only two lifetime starts. But is it asking too much to throw him into the Kentucky Derby stampede with only three starts? If you want to know where MASTER PLAN, a fast-closing third in the UAE Derby, is these days, he breezed a half in :51 2/5 at the WinStar Farm training center. Will he try to make it back-to-back Belmont Stakes victories for co-owner WinStar Farm?
As the field finally begins to firm up and we have a pretty good idea who the 20 starters will be, with a few exceptions, it is interesting to note that there appears to be as many as eight horses who want to be on or near the lead Always Dreaming, Irish War Cry, Battalion Runner, Irap, State of Honor, Royal Mo, possibly Battle of Midway, and Conquest Mo Money if they decide to put up the money.
If youre looking for an interesting four-horse exotics box, how about the four horses who ran inexplicably terrible races with no noticeable excuses this year and bounced back to win their next start Irish War Cry, Classic Empire, Hence, and Gormley. Even Royal Mo came back off a dismal performance and ran a huge race in the Santa Anita Derby. No reason for mentioning a potential wager this early, just a way of pointing out the weird trend this year of horses rebounding big-time off dreadful races.
As a radio host, she's bound to encounter a celeb or two.
But for Emily Jade O'Keeffe, she was clearly starstruck upon meeting Chris Hemsworth at her Gold Coast studio on Tuesday.
Taking to Instagram to reveal she had made the Thor star tea, the presenter stated: 'I'm never washing the cup.'
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'I'm never washing the cup': Radio host Emily Jade O'Keeffe gushed over making Chris Hemsworth tea, in an Instagram post on Tuesday
'I'm the happiest tea lady that ever lived. Chris Hemsworth asked me to make him a cup of tea, exactly like I like it. With Milk and Honey,' Emily began her gushing caption.
'He practically asked the only person in the building who drinks tea and honey to make his tea...it was fated. I then lent him my cup. And he drank it.
'And told me, after I told him that he had made my day, that I had made his day right back...dreams do come true people, they do come true.
'And I'm never washing the cup and I may have sipped the leftover tea, just to make sure I'd made a good team, and to grab any leftover DNA. The tea was amazing and so was he,' she continued to gush.
Appeal: The star's gym-honed frame has earned Chris a legion of female admirers
Hot property: Meanwhile Chris' latest movie Thor:Ragnarok is a hot topic. The homegrown star's film is already smashing records before its been released
Meanwhile Chris' latest movie Thor:Ragnarok is a hot topic.
The homegrown star's film is already smashing records before its been released.
Thor: Ragnarok became the most viewed trailer in Marvel and Disney's history within its first 24 hours of release.
The movie, which is released in Australia in October, was viewed 136 million times.
Chris has played the role of Thor since 2011. He was previously known as Kim Hyde on Australian soap Home And Away.
Popular: Thor: Ragnarok became the most viewed trailer in Marvel and Disney's history within its first 24 hours of release. The movie, which is released in Australia in October, was viewed 136 million times. Pictured with co-star Tom Hiddleston, 36
Their relationship came to a bitter end after it was revealed Lewis Bloor had cheated on his Geordie Shore star ex on several occasions.
And now, after returning from a friendly trip to Dubai with Lewis that ended in a blazing public row, Marnie Simpson, 25, has stated that if she were to tell all about her ex, he would be 'ruined'.
Writing in her column for Star, she said: 'Lets just say if people knew the truth of whats gone on and how Lewis has treated me, it would ruin him. But I couldnt do that to him, even though he deserves it. Karma will do my dirty work for me.'
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Slammed: Marnie Simpson has slammed her ex Lewis Bloor in her new column for Star magazine, saying that if she revealed his secrets he'd be 'ruined'
Her comments come after she and Lewis were caught on camera in the midst of a blazing row in Dubai as Marnie accused her former beau of taking her bank card.
Admitting that she was mistaken in her accusation, she wrote of the incident: 'Wed been drinking all afternoon and had been arguing for a good hour.
'To clear things up, Lewis didnt steal my bank card. I thought hed taken it so I couldnt storm out of the hotel. I was so angry.'
'It was karma ten times over': Marnie Simpson, 25, has shared her regret over her cheating past and insists her love rat ex Lewis' infidelities have been 'karma' for her
In her column, she went on to comment that the 'truth' would 'ruin' Lewis, as she touched upon the Twitter spat they had last week, after their return to the UK.
The toxicity bubbled to the surface when Lewis took to the micro-blogging site to deem himself a 'mug' after seeing pictures that appeared to show brunette beauty Marnie getting close to her ex Aaron Chalmers as she shot season 14 of her show.
Lewis dredged up an old loved-up tweet he'd written about Marnie as she filmed her show, which read: 'Spoke to my lovely gf today really cheered me up. Shes ok.. i can imagine its tough living with exes.. cant wait to get my arms round her.' (sic)
Sharing the old tweet with his 409,000 followers, he wrote: 'How jokes when i tweeted this and she was doing that... what a mug. #PotKettle.' (sic)
'I've learned a valuable lesson': The raven-haired beauty hit out at her ex-beau's unfaithful antics and claimed there is more to their split than what has been made public knowledge
His words soon met the wrath of his fiery ex, who struck back: 'U we're tweeting me when u were s***ging every Tom dick and harry! R u crazy.' (sic)
While Lewis, who admitted to cheating on Marnie during their relationship when he kissed another girl, later deleted the tweet, his ex wasn't finishing ranting.
But rather than directly reveal further details surrounding their ill-fated coupling, she opted for a more cryptic route as she added: 'If people knew the truth. That is all.'
During a recent interview, Marnie lamented over her own cheating past and insisted her romance with Lewis has taught her a 'valuable lesson'.
Make or break: Despite Marnie revealing she and Lewis had 'salvaged a friendship' on their Dubai holiday, she has since claimed the trip made her realise their relationship was 'not worth fighting for'
Marnie and Lewis had split in February after footage emerged of him kissing another girl on Valentine's Day.
He later confessed to cheating on Marnie during a trip they had taken to Barcelona at the beginning of their relationship and she has since revealed that Lewis is the first person to have cheated on her.
Marnie, meanwhile, has been unfaithful in the past to former boyfriends and speaking about her messy split with Lewis, she claimed that it had been 'karma' for her previous wrongdoings.
In an interview with Daily Star, Marnie lamented: 'Lewis was my karma, but it was karma ten times over.
War of words: Their Twitter spat last week was ignited when Lewis tweeted about snapshots apparently showing Marnie getting close to her ex Aaron Chalmers while they were together
'That's fine, but I've learned a valuable lesson... 'I'll never ever do to anyone what Lewis did to me. Ever.'
Marnie went on to explain that she and Lewis are now completely over, after failing to rekindle their relationship during a make or break trip to Dubai.
She claimed that the break had made her realise that there 'was nothing left to fight for' when it came to Lewis.
While away, she had taken to Instagram to tell fans that she and Lewis had 'salvaged their friendship' on the getaway, but their holiday was left on a sour note after footage emerged of Marnie in an explosive row with her former boyfriend - accusing him of 'stealing her bank card'.
Happier times: The pair had embarked on a romance after starring alongside each other on Celebrity Big Brother in August last year - before splitting six months later
Lewis denied the claims and branded them 'absolutely ridiculous'.
Now, Marnie has claimed that there is more to her split with Lewis than meets eye.
Hinting that not everything that happened between them has been made public knowledge, she cryptically said: 'If I was honest about what happened between Lewis it would ruin him... But I am the bigger person.'
Fans of the duo saw Marnie and Lewis get together while starring on Celebrity Big Brother in August last year.
Serious: They had continued their love affair after the show and Marnie had even moved away from her hometown of Newcastle to live with Lewis in London
After just ten days in the Elstree compound, Lewis had claimed he was 'in love' with Marnie.
They were forced to defend their relationship against claims they were putting on a 'showmance' and had continued their love affair on the outside.
Marnie had even moved away from her hometown of Newcastle to live with Lewis in London.
Her latest comments come after Lewis appeared to make a dig at his ex-girlfriend while proving he is now moving on from their failed romance.
Pucker up! The former Celebrity Big Brother star was seen receiving a kiss from both Made In Chelsea's Daisy Robins and Love Island star Tina Stinnes as he attended the same showbiz party as Marnie on Wednesday night
While attending the same showbiz bash as Marnie on Wednesday night, Lewis shared a photo of himself sandwiched between reality beauties Daisy Robins (of Made In Chelsea fame) and Love Island's Tina Stinnes.
The girls were seen draped over Lewis and in one photo even planted a kiss on either of his cheeks.
Lewis suggested that he is keen to embrace single life again and teased alongside his snap of the trio: 'Summer's always funner.'
She recently shared her excitement after Michelle Obama personally congratulated her on her memoir Unfiltered.
And Lily Collins looked in good spirits as she arrived at the ITV studios in London on Tuesday.
The daughter of The daughter of English musician Phil Collins and an American mother, Jill Tavelman, 28, wore a Matrix-style trench coat for the occasion.
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Happy: Lily Collins looked in good spirits as she arrived at the ITV studios in London on Tuesday in an Altuzarra gown
Putting on a leggy display in a sheer flower-encrusted gown by Altuzarra, the ethereal piece featured a slit slashed high on the thigh.
Cinched in at the waist with a wide leather belt, she added a Gothic edge in black platform shoes and a racy PVC mac.
With her brunette shoulder-length hair in tousled waves and wearing a touch of blusher, the actress put on a glamorous appearance.
Leggy: The daughter of The daughter of English musician Phil Collins and an American mother, Jill Tavelman, 28, wore a Matrix-style trench coat for the occasion
Lily has been open about her battles with anorexia and bulimia and has penned a memoir at the tender age of 27.
And last week Lily revealed that she can count former Michelle Obama as one of her many fans.
The actress delightedly told her Instagram followers the former First Lady had penned her an 'epic' letter of encouragement.
Lily sent a copy of her memoir Unfiltered to Michelle, who wrote back to tell Lily she looked forward to sharing the book with her daughters Malia, 18, and Sasha, 15.
Telling fans about Michelle's letter in an Instagram video and the Rules Don't Apply, she could barely contain her delight.
In the clip, she read out Michelle's letter without telling her fans who the letter was from and when the big reveal came, Lily could not help a grin from spreading across her face.
Michelle wrote to Lily to thank her for sending the book and it seems that she did indeed read it.
'I am writing to thank you for the copy of your new book,' the former First Lady began. 'The gift was such a nice gesture and I look forward to sharing it with my daughters.
Passion for books: Michelle spent her tenure as First Lady promoting the need for all girls to have access to education so it is no surprise that she took an interest in Lily's book
'The outpouring of support I have received from women across the country continues to amaze me and I am filled with a great sense of hope for our shared future,' Michelle continued.
'I heard this quote recently and it reminded me of your book so I wanted to share it with you.
'"Here's to strong women, may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them."'
Michelle ended the elegantly written note by thanking Lily for sending her the book.
'Again thank you for your kindness Lily. I wish you all the best.'
Delight: The actress couldn't wait to share the news of her very important fan with her Instagram followers
Lily was astonished that her role model had written to her and quickly took a picture of the letter which she shared with her 6.5 million Instagram followers.
She captioned the image: 'Thank you from the bottom of my heart Michelle Obama for your encouragement and support. You have no idea how much this means to me.'
One thing that particularly delighted Lily was that Michelle's letter was posted with a Wonder Woman stamp.
She added: 'And that Wonder Woman stamp is everything. You truly are such an incredible inspiration. I'll definitely be framing these! #Unfiltered...' (sic)
The star added in a separate post that receiving the letter was the 'best way to start off my week'.
Incredible! Lily refused to tell fans who had written the letter as she read it out and when she revealed that it was in fact from Michelle Obama, she beamed in disbelief
A letter of note: Lily shared a picture of the letter on Instagram and declared that she would frame it in her home
She wrote: 'I can't believe this letter I received from someone I deeply respect and admire. It's absolutely epic. I'm in complete shock but just had to share!'
The star's latest film To The Bone, which sees her plays an anorexia patient, has seen her drawing on her own experiences after suffering from a secret eating disorder when she was a teenager.
Lily published her memoir, Unfiltered: No shame, no regrets, just me on March 7 which made a series of revelations about her life.
Wonder Woman! Lily added that she was absolutely delighted that the letter was posted with a Wonder Woman stamp
Endless thanks: She thanked Michelle Obama 'from the bottom of my heart for your encouragement and support. You have no idea how much this means to me'
The actress made public a letter to her father - British musician Phil Collins, 66 - whom she said she forgave for being absent from her life as a child.
'I forgive you for not always being there when I needed and for not being the dad I expected,' she wrote in the book.
'I forgive the mistakes you made. And although it may seem like it's too late, it's not. There's still so much time to move forward.'
She told People: 'Its definitely like having my diary published.'
It's the controversial experiment that sees couples on the brink of separation, give their relationship one last shot.
But on Tuesday night's episode of Seven Year Switch, Johnny was dealt a devastating blow.
'I don't love him,' partner Tracey revealed in a video counselling session.
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'I don't love him': Seven Year Switch's Johnny was dealt a devastating blow on Tuesday night's episode, as he learned of partner Tracey's true feelings
The show's resident psychologist Peter Charleston quizzed Tracey in the video counselling session, as to whether she and Johnny could make their marriage work.
'I'd hate the kids to get confused and, you know, see Mum and Dad trying again,' she shared on-camera.
'What would be very difficult to say to him?' Peter then asked Tracey.
Candid: Tracey revealed to the show's psychologist Peter Charleston that she was no longer in love with Johnny: 'I do love him, I care for him, but just not in love, I think,' she stated
'That I don't love him (Johnny). I think that would be difficult because I wouldn't like...I do love him, I care for him, but just not in love, I think,' she continued.
Scanning over to Johnny, who is visibly heartbroken, he's asked by 'partner' Stacey Louise, as to how he's feeling.
'Yeah, that's...you know, she's being completely honest and that's fine, really. I'm cool with that.'
Awkward: Scanning over to Johnny, who is visibly heartbroken, he's asked by 'partner' Stacey Louise, as to how he's feeling
Opening up: 'Yeah, that's...you know, she's being completely honest and that's fine, really. I'm cool with that,' Johnny shared to Stacey
Hopeful: Not ready to call time on their marriage, Johnny continued: 'Come down the track, you might find out that she'll actually say that she is in love with me again. Hopefully'
'Really?' Stacey asked Johnny.
Not ready to call time on their marriage, he continued: 'Come down the track, you might find out that she'll actually say that she is in love with me again. Hopefully.'
Meanwhile Johnny was not the only one to receive a devastating blow.
During a video counselling session, Felicity revealed she was doubting her relationship with fiance Michael.
It's exhausting: Meanwhile, Felicity admitted on Tuesday's episode that she finds her relationship with Michael to be draining
'It's draining. It's absolutely draining. Yeah I'm exhausted,' she told to the resident psychologist referring to the challenging times.
'Once I say something like that (that she's not in love), I can't take that back.'
Clearly not prepared to hear Felicity's words, Michael went into a rage.
In shock: Clearly not prepared to hear Felicity's words, Michael went into a rage: 'I feel like this could have been addressed prior to going into the house,' he began
'I feel like this could have been addressed prior to going into the house,' he began.
'To hear it first-hand for the first time via video, sort of, yeah, it pisses you off.
'My relationship's tarnished. So, I don't know if there's any coming back from that, to be honest with you.'
They have been spotted enjoying very public displays of affection.
But Karl Stefanovic, 42, appears adamant to keep his new flame Jasmine Yarbrough, 33, away from the red carpet, having this week announced that she won't join him at the upcoming TV Logie Awards.
A representative from Channel Nine told News Corp on Tuesday: 'Karl is going solo.'
Keeping her out of the spotlight? Karl Stefanovic, 42, appears adamant to keep his new flame Jasmine Yarbrough away from the red carpet, having this week annoucned that she won't join him at the upcoming TV Logie Awards
His new sister-in-law Sylvia Jeffreys will also be attending without her other half, with husband Peter Stefanovic away filming a story for 60 minutes.
She will take the stage during the event to co-host the fashion preview alongside Lisa Wilkinson.
Meanwhile, Karl and Jasmine appear to be taking things to the next level, with new reports the Today host has plans to propose to his girlfriend.
Wedding bells? Karl and Jasmine were spotted kissing passionately in LA, where he allegedly revealed his plans to marry his new love, according to New Idea
The pair have also been pictured kissing passionately in Los Angeles while Karl was taking a break from hosting duties on Today show.
New Idea reports while Karl 'stopped short of proposing until his divorce is final' from his ex-wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn, during his trip he let Jasmine know he intends to marry her in the near future.
'Karl said he spent the entire 14-hour flight from Sydney to LA thinking of Jasmine and how he couldn't wait to one day make her his wife,' a reported insider said.
The pair appear to be taking things to the next level, with new reports the Today host, 42, has plans to propose to his girlfriend, 33
'And as soon as he saw her at the airport, he couldn't wait to tell her just that,' the source continued.
The new images captured of the couple show Jasmine flinging herself into Karl's arms as he picks her up and they immediately embrace.
The photos 'will break Cassandra's heart', an alleged friend of the mother of three claimed.
Hiatus: Karl traveled to Los Angeles on a week-long break from hosting the Today show
'Karl would have known Cass would see these photos, and it's like he didn't even care,' they continued.
Karl traveled to Los Angeles to visit Jasmine on a week-long break from hosting the Today show.
He flew back into Sydney on Sunday with his travel partner Christian Wilkins, son of his Today co-host Richard Wilkins.
'Karl would have known Cass would see these photos, and it's like he didn't even care,' they continued
It was his most recent visit to his girlfriend and the one where the couple reportedly decided to take things between them to the next level.
With his divorce nearing settlement, Woman's Day reports the television host recently asked Jasmine's father Robert for permission for the couple to get married.
'He told him he wants to marry Jasmine and is keen to have kids with her,' the magazine's source apparently revealed.
The lovebirds have reportedly been spending ample time with Jasmine's family, with Karl 'desperate' to prove his commitment to his girlfriend.
She embarked on a modelling career at the age of 14, before deciding to make her name in the realm of acting just a year later.
But Liv Tyler showed that she could quite easily return to her clotheshorse roots on Tuesday, when she was the star guest at the grand opening of British fashion brand Belstaff's flagship store in Tokyo.
The Lord Of The Rings beauty wowed as she arrived at the Ginza Six in a high-collared flowing black dress, over which she wore a biker leather jacket.
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Special Guest: Liv Tyler attended the grand opening of Belstaff's flagship store at Tokyo, Japan's Ginza Six on Tuesday
She teamed her simple yet eye-catching ensemble with a pair of black suede shoes with golden heels as she posed for photographers gathered at the fashionable event.
Her voluminous raven tresses rested about her shoulders in lustrous waves, while pillar box red lipstick and varnish added flourishes of colour to her lips and fingernails, respectively.
Before arriving at the event, the actress shared a short clip on Instagram of herself going for an enclosed rooftop swim at her luxury hotel in the Japanese capital.
Turning heads: The Lord Of The Rings beauty wowed as she arrived in a high-collared flowing black dress, over which she wore a biker leather jacket
Strike a pose: She blew kisses at the crowds as she posed up a storm for photographers
Bursts of colour: Pillar box red lipstick and nail varnish added flourishes of colour to her look
Pearly: The mother-of-three flashed her pearly whites as she smiled for event photographers
New arrival: The star arrived in the Japanese capital on Sunday, after jetting over from London
She was spotted touching down at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Sunday, after jetting in from London - and she excitedly uploaded a pre-departure video of her first class cabin surroundings on the plane.
Popping out from behind her seat, the star struggled to contain her glee as she flashed a huge grin to the camera, beneath a black and white filter.
Liv appears to have headed to Japan alone - leaving her fiance Dave Gardner as well as their two children, Sailor, two, and nine-month-old daughter Lula Rose, behind.
She also has an 11-year-old son called Milo with her British rocker ex-husband Royston Langdon.
Living it up! She was joined by (l-r) Beltaff Japan president BelHajime Takuwa and Belstaff CEO Gavin Haig at the event
Drum: She laughed as they knocked a drum to signify the opening of the flagship outlet
Swim: Prior to arriving at the event, Liv enjoyed a rooftop swimming session at her hotel
Jovial: She appeared to be in jovial spirits as she soaked up the celebratory atmosphere
The screen star recently gushed to Hello! that she was thrilled to have welcomed her first girl after two boys, admitting: 'It is so sweet.
'Every time I've gone into a children's store for the last 11 years I have to turn away from the girls stuff and go straight to the boys, I always think: "oh I want that so bad!"'
Despite only giving birth nine months ago however, the star has already returned to her acting duties - as she is currently filming new period drama Gunpowder.
Starring alongside Kit Harrington, the brunette will play Ann Vaux in the drama following Guy Fawkes' plan to blow up the House of Lords and kill King James I in the early 17th century.
Social butterfly: She has been keeping her fans informed on her travels via Instagram
Partygoers: She posed for a snapshot with producer Theodore Miller and model Mika Ahn
Ab fab: Model Emi Renata displayed her enviably taut abs in her leather ensemble of choice
All luxuries on deck: As Liv jetted off from London to Tokyo over the weekend, she shared a brief clip of her first class cabin surroundings
He had a twisted, on-again, off-again marriage to Pamela Anderson that ended when they filed for divorce in 2007.
But now it looks like Kid Rock, whose real name is Robert Ritchie, is ready to walk down the aisle again.
On Tuesday it was reported the 46-year-old rock star popped the question to longtime love Audrey Berry with a large oval-cut diamond ring.
Soon to be man and wife: Kid Rock has proposed to girlfriend Audrey Berry, TMZ claimed on Tuesday. Here they are seen on a cruise
Sparkly! The beauty is seen showing off the rock earlier this month in Los Angeles
The ring has an oval-cut center stone
The engagement took place 'earlier this year,' according to TMZ.
And earlier this month, the dark-haired exotic-looking beauty flashed the big rock during Rock's Chillin' The Most cruise.
He has been with the beauty since splitting from Anderson.
The rocker has not talked much about Berry.
But in 2015 he told Q magazine his song First Kiss was about his longtime love.
The lyrics include: 'I like the way you hold my hand/And play just like my baby grand. I like how you dont give a damn/And love me just the way I am.'
She's in love with her bling! Here Audrey is seen staring at her piece of ice
Stand by your man: The siren next to Rock, who looks as if he just lost some money gambling
'Life is so much simpler being with one girl,' he also told Q. 'Now Im not chasing chicks around Ive got so much more free time.'
Rock's marriage to Anderson was high profile.
They started seeing each other in 2001 after meeting at the VH1 tribute to Aretha Franklin.
In April 2002, they were reportedly engaged, but called it off.
They later got married in a surprise wedding on July 2006 in Saint-Tropez after it was reported Anderson was pregnant.
Hit maker: Kid is best known for the hits All Summer Long, Picture, Only God Knows Why and Cowboy. Pictured 2013
But four months later it was announced that Anderson had miscarried while in Vancouver.
The actress was shooting the film Blonde And Blonder.
Seventeen days later, the Playboy model filed for divorce in Los Angeles County Superior Court, citing irreconcilable differences.
Before they got serious: Here the couple are seen in 2008 at a hockey game in Detroit
Rock has a son, Robert Jr, born in 1993.
Kid is best known for the hits All Summer Long, Picture, Only God Knows Why and Cowboy. He is a five-time Grammy Award nominee and has sold 25 million albums in the US, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
His last album was First Kiss in 2015.
The way they were: Rock began a relationship with Anderson in 2001 after meeting at the VH1 tribute to Aretha Franklin. Pictured 2007
She made headlines on Monday, after a notorious website claimed to have published nude pictures of her.
But Samara Weaving, 25, says nude images recently uploaded by Celeb Jihad are fake, according to The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday.
The former Home and Away star reportedly told her father Simon that the photos are doctored.
Doctored? Samara Weaving, 25, says nude images recently uploaded by Celeb Jihad are fake, according to The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday
'She has said they are doctored ... We have been texting all morning, but haven't spoke about the situation at length,' Simon told the publication on Tuesday.
'I think the best theory with this sort of this is not to give it oxygen.
He added: 'I have told her to ignore it and to concentrate on her work ... She has been on set since 6am so she has other things to think about.'
Speaking out: The former Home and Away star reportedly told her father Simon that the photos are doctored
'She has said they are doctored ... We have been texting all morning, but haven't spoke about the situation at length,' Samara's father Simon said
The actress, who is currently filming the remake of Picnic at Hanging Rock, became the latest target of a celebrity nude photo website this week.
On Sunday, Simon spoke out about a hacking report but did not confirm the nude photo claims.
'We have dealt with things like this in the past ... her [email account] was hacked, but I am not sure if that has anything to do with this,' he said according to the publication.
Drama: Samara is the latest target of a celebrity nude photo website
'We are used to her being in the spotlight and what that involves.
He added: 'She is a strong girl and she is resilient.'
The beauty is said to be making her way to Melbourne from the US.
Daily Mail Australia previously reached out to Samara's representatives for comment.
More than a dozen images show a woman resembling Samara lying naked in bed and exposing herself, however appears the photos have been doctored.
Samara, whose uncle is legendary actor Hugo Weaving, is the latest celebrity to be targeted by Celeb Jihad.
Social media: On Sunday, the 25-year-old's father Simon spoke out about a hacking report but did not confirm the nude photo claims
Hollywood starlets Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Emma Watson are among several stars who have been targeted in recent weeks.
Harry potter star Emma previously took legal action against Celeb Jihad, with a lawyer confirming images were stolen from the actress.
'Photos from a clothes fitting Emma had with a stylist a couple of years ago have been stolen. They are not nude photographs. Lawyers have been instructed and we are not commenting further,' a statement to BBC read.
Not alone: Hollywood starlets Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Emma Watson are among several stars who have also been targeted in recent weeks
Last year, American father-of-two Ryan Collins, 36, was jailed after admittedly hacking into dozens of Google and Apple accounts over a two year period.
He used phishing schemes to access 50 iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts belonging to the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Kirsten Dunst and Gabrielle Union.
Bonds ambassador Samara first launched her acting career in 2008 on out Of The Blue.
She has since appeared on long-running soap Home and Away.
In 2012, Samara suffered a nip slip while filming bikini scenes for Home and Away and photos later surfaced online.
Anne Hathaway and her one-year-old son Jonathan enjoyed a mommy-and-me moment that won't be forgotten.
The Oscar winner appeared on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon on Monday and recalled an outing to a playground earlier in the day that almost ended in injury.
The mother-of-one was left red-faced after she miscalculated the effect of their combined weight on a slide that sent them thundering down onto the ground.
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Funny: Anne Hathaway recalled a near-disaster on a playground with her son on Monday ahead of appearing on Jimmy Fallon's late-night program
'I took him to a park and he loves swings,' she began.
'And I noticed all these other kids were coming down the slide. It looked like an unusual slide,' she explained. 'Like, maybe it was built before they had child safety measures in place. It was gorgeous and I noticed the kids weren't going that fast so I said, "OK, I'll bring Johnny on."'
The Devil Wears Prada actress said onlookers noticed her famous face and began to observe her in action.
So precious! Anne and her husband Adam Shulman welcomed their 1-year-old son in March last year
'I [pulled my] skirt around me and I put Johnny there and we are going down the slide and now the moms are watching, but what I hadn't thought about was physics.
'So we just go around the corner and instead of slowing down like the other kids we speed up,' she explained. 'It starts to go so fast and all the moms are watching and I'm so self-conscious. As it speeds up my thoughts slow down and I just look ahead and I get very serious and very focused and just think, "I must stick this landing."'
Anne and her husband Adam Shulman became parents for the first time together when they welcomed the youngster in March last year.
'You know when you almost killed your child, but you didn't. In the inside you're like, "Everything's OK. Walk it off, walk it off,"' she continued. 'Then we went back to the swings and stayed there forever.'
Stylish: Hathaway covered up in a voluminous gown for an appearance
For the appearance, the A-list star looked stunning in a voluminous gown.
The ankle-length dress was tied at one shoulder for an asymmetrical neckline.
The actress, 34, who is busy promoting her new movie Colossal, left her long dark hair loose for an overall flowing effect.
The star added chunky-soled open-toed black sandal stiletto heels with tiny embellishments on the top.
She accessorized with several chunky bracelets.
Gorgeous: The actress, 34, who is busy promoting her new movie Colossal, left her long dark hair loose for an overall flowing effect
In high spirits: The ankle-length dress was tied at one shoulder for an asymmetrical neckline and The Devil Wears Prada star added chunky-soled black sandal stiletto heels
Earlier on Monday, Hathaway went on Good Morning America wearing what she described as 'a $15 flea market dress.'
'I'm trying to be more sustainable with my fashion choices, so I'm trying to wear vintage wherever I can,' she explained.
The sleeveless floral-print black dress that fell to just below the knee featured frayed seams along the skirt and shoulder hemlines.
Different look: Earlier on Monday, Hathaway went on Good Morning America wearing what she described as 'a $15 flea market dress'
In her new film, a science fiction comedy in which she stars opposite Jason Sudeikis, she portrays Gloria, a woman with a drinking problem who has a psychic connection to a Godzilla-like monster in Seoul.
Anne said that she told her agent she wanted to do 'something different' from her usual cinematic fare.
'This one has a few plot twists in there, and people that have gone in without any knowledge of what it's about seem to enjoy it the most,' the actress said on GMA.
'I think nowadays when you say different, that means depressing, or that signals some kind of sadness, and I loved that this was a movie that was dark, but silly at the same time, and that's really an odd combination and rare as well. I read it and literally every page I couldnt believe what was coming next.'
He was spotted passionately embracing girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough, 33, in Los Angeles last week.
And it seems Karl Stefanovic, 42, spent his week-long break from hosting duties in Mexico with the model and her parents, according to The Daily Telegraph.
It comes as reports allege the Today Show star is head over heels for the blonde beauty and is looking to one day 'propose'.
Welcome to the family! Karl Stefanovic happily posed with girlfriend Jasmine Yarbrough and her family during his recent trip to Mexico
Karl reportedly flew overseas to reunite with Jasmine during celebrations for her brother Josh's 30th birthday.
The festivities took place in Cabo San Lucas, according to the publication, with the TV presenter spotted in family photos from the night.
In one happy snap, he is seen with his arm around Jasmine's mother Cheryl, who spoke out about her daughter's relationship with the prominent media personality.
Cuddlign up: The Today Show host reportedly flew overseas to reunite with his model girlfriend, with the two cosying up during celebrations for her brother Josh's 30th birthday
She claimed that Jasmine and Karl's romance has taken a toll on the young beauty, who has struggled with the scrutiny.
'There has been a lot of untrue things printed. She's struggled with that,' the Brisbane teacher told publication.
As a result, she said the family are reluctant to talk too openly about the pair, saying: 'It is all very sensitive, you have to understand.'
'I can't say too much at the moment, I have been asked not to talk about things,' the mother added.
Wedding bells? Karl is reportedly looking towards a future with new flame Jasmine according to New Idea, with the two passionately embracing upon his arrival in the US
The couple appeared at ease with one another during the family getaway, with Jasmine linking her arms over Karl's chest in another photo.
Placing his hand across Jasmine's and holding her close, the Logie-winner beamed at the camera.
During the getaway, the couple were said to have stayed at a luxurious five-star retreat, according to The Daily Telegraph.
Struggles: Jasmine's mum Cheryl claimed that her daughter's relationship with Karl has taken a toll on the young beauty, due to the scrutiny
It comes as New Idea reported earlier this week that Karl is looking towards a future with his new flame, after the two embraced passionately upon his arrival in the US.
While the father-of-three 'stopped short of proposing until his divorce is final' from his ex-wife of 21 years, Cassandra Thorburn, he reportedly let Jasmine know he intends to marry her in the near future.
'Karl said he spent the entire 14-hour flight from Sydney to LA thinking of Jasmine and how he couldn't wait to one day make her his wife,' an insider said.
They continued: 'And as soon as he saw her at the airport, he couldn't wait to tell her just that'.
Comfortable with each other: The couple appeared at ease during their getaway, with Jasmine seen linking her arms over Karl's chest
With his divorce nearing settlement, Woman's Day reported the television host recently asked Jasmine's father Robert for permission for the couple to get married.
'He told him he wants to marry Jasmine and is keen to have kids with her,' the magazine's source apparently revealed.
The lovebirds have reportedly been spending ample time with Jasmine's family, with Karl 'desperate' to prove his commitment to his girlfriend.
After his latest catch-up, Karl flew back into Sydney on Sunday alongside travel partner Christian Wilkins, the son of his Today co-host Richard Wilkins.
A Carlisle man Tuesday announced his candidacy for the 11th Congressional District seat held by Republican Lou Barletta.
Though the election for that race will not take place until next year this years primary and November election are mostly for judge and municipal races Robert Alan Howe said hes seen enough of skinny budgets that cut services and benefit the richest Americans.
Howe said he will seek the Democratic nomination for the 2018 race.
Republican policies that reduce money coming into our communities to a trickle help no one, Howe said in his announcement. These policies dry up demand, causing businesses to wither and jobs to disappear. It is time to restore local growth. It is time for Democratic policies.
Howe said he will visit voters in the 11th Congressional District over the next 19 months to listen to their concerns.
The 11th District covers Cumberland County and runs in a narrow strip north to Hazleton.
Howe is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, serving 24 years, 20 of which were overseas assignments in Asia, Europe and the Middle East. He was a communications and operations planner, helping plan and launch special operations actions in the 2003 Iraq War. Howes medals include Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, U.S. Air Force Meritorious Service Medal (four awards), U.S. Air Force Commendation Medal (two awards) and the U.S. Air Force Achievement Medal.
Howe retired in 2005, and purchased a house with his wife, Hiromi Kowaguchi, in Carlisle in 2012. He moved to Carlisle full time in 2014 and has served on several local boards, most recently as the Carlisle Borough representative on the LeTort Regional Authority.
In politics, Howe in 2006 authored a stabilization plan for Iraq to advance the U.S. Senate debate. He also lobbied Senate offices in 2007 and 2008 with the help of professors from American University and Wayne State University, eventually being asked to write elements of his plan into a Senate amendment for consideration by the Democratic caucus.
Howe and his wife also worked with staff in Sen. Bill Nelsons office to reverse decisions by the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service that discriminated against military families.
Howe fly fishes on local streams and is involved in teaching stream ecology to Carlisle students. Howe has a daughter and four grandchildren, as well as a son-in-law on active duty with the U.S. Army.
Catelynn Lowell Baltierra discussed her struggle with postpartum depression a year after her month-long stint at Arizona treatment center Sierra Tucson.
The 25-year-old reality star came down with the baby blues following the birth of her second daughter Novalee 'Nova' Reign in 2015.
'With Nova, I thought it was severe because I struggled with anxiety already and panic attacks and depression [since age 21],' the Michigan native told People on Tuesday.
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'My girl and I': Catelynn Lowell Baltierra (pictured right with co-star Amber Portwood) discussed her struggle with postpartum depression a year after her month-long stint at Arizona treatment center Sierra Tucson
'People used to dog on me bad, but I don't think people understood the fact that my panic attacks are paralytic panic attacks, which is where I can not think, I can not function or move or hear any noises. I just sit in a ball and cry. It's weird, but I cannot function.'
Baltierra admitted her PPD was the only thing holding her back from expanding her family with stepbrother-turned-husband Tyler Baltierra.
'That is definitely the thing that scares me the most. I want to have a big family and have a lot of kids, but it's scary. It's definitely scary,' Catelynn explained.
'Especially because they say if you've had postpartum once, you have a higher chance of getting it with your next.'
'It was severe': The 25-year-old reality star came down with the baby blues following the birth of her second daughter Novalee 'Nova' Reign in 2015
The Michigan native told People: 'People used to dog on me bad, but I don't think people understood the fact that my panic attacks are paralytic panic attacks, which is where I can not think, I can not function or move or hear any noises. I just sit in a ball and cry. Its weird, but I cannot function'
'It's definitely scary': The Conquering Chaos author admitted her PPD was the only thing holding her back from expanding her family with stepbrother-turned-husband Tyler Baltierra
The Conquering Chaos author plans to ask for help from her mother the next time she has a baby.
Meanwhile, 25-year-old Tyler - whose incarcerated father Butch is married to Catelynn's mother - sees a therapist for his own depression and suicidal thoughts.
She didn't experience PPD when they welcomed their first daughter Carly, 7, who was adopted by a couple called 'Brandon and Theresa.'
Baltierra told People on Tuesday: 'They say if you've had postpartum once, you have a higher chance of getting it with your next'
Pictured in 2015: Meanwhile, 25-year-old Tyler - whose incarcerated father Butch is married to Catelynn's mother - sees a therapist for his own depression and suicidal thoughts
High school sweethearts: She didn't experience PPD when they welcomed their first daughter Carly, 7, who was adopted by a couple called 'Brandon and Theresa'
Fans can catch more of the high school sweethearts on the seventh season of Teen Mom OG, which airs Mondays on MTV.
The Baltierras - celebrating two years of marriage on August 22 - are both reportedly studying to become social workers at Baker College.
Over the weekend 15-year-old Sarah Ikumu wowed Simon Cowell on Britain's Got Talent.
And it looks as though Gemma Collins was also hoping to catch his attention, as she belted out a powerful rendition of the song as she watched the teen on TV.
The 36-year-old TOWIE star shared the video online, impressing her fans with her voice.
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Wow! Gemma Collins showed off her hidden talent as she belted out a powerful rendition of BGT contestant Sarah Ikumu's And I'm Telling You as she watched the teen on TV on Sunday
Dressed in a flowing leopard-print blouse and leggings, her plush white-themed house was visible in the background.
Standing by a pretty mirrored cabinet filled with flowers and picture frames, she gave a passionate effort at singing Jennifer Hudson's hit and I'm Telling You.
Spurred on by successful contestant Sarah's singing, she got right into the performance, recalling the lyrics word for word as she waved her hands dramatically.
Inspiration! Spurred on by successful contestant Sarah's singing, she got right into the performance, recalling the lyrics word for word as she waved her hands dramatically
The TOWIE star, who attended the Sylvia Young Theatre Company, spoke out about her passion for singing in her 2013 autobiography Basically.
'I would sing all the time and developed a good voice,' she revealed.
'On a few occasions I would get told off at school for singing in class but I was generally a very good pupil and never got in any serious trouble.'
Gemma added: 'I have always dreamed of being a star.
'I would say to others, don't ever listen to anybody who tells you can't do something.'
Talented: The 36-year-old TOWIE star shared the video online, impressing her fans with her voice
Plush: Dressed in a flowing leopard-print blouse and leggings, her plush white-themed house was visible in the background
Meanwhile Gemma is keen to slim down in an effort to get pregnant.
The blonde reality star, who was recently devastated when she was told she couldn't have her eggs frozen, revealed: 'If you are overweight and you're trying to have a baby, you're at a 40 per cent chance, basically. So less than half way. I need to lose weight.'
'If I had the body to match I'd be the fittest girl in Essex, I know I would. I'd be pregnant in five minutes.'
He has been busy working on his third album with boy-band 5 Seconds Of Summer over the past few months.
And it was time for Australian rocker Luke Hemmings to kick back on Sunday night as he hit a West Hollywood's trendy Delilah restaurant.
Looking slightly worse-for-wear, the vocalist was spotted leaving the establishment alone following a wild night on the town.
Need a rest? 5 Seconds Of Summer rocker Luke Hemmings looked worse-for-wear as he left a Hollywood hot-spot on Sunday night
Exiting separately was his band-mate Ashton Irwin who was flanked by a female companion.
Earlier this week, 5SOS sent fans into a tizzy with the announcement that they are gearing up to release their third studio album.
Taking to Twitter last Wednesday, Ashton Tweeted a photo of himself posing with a guitar, along with the caption: 'Insert album Due Date 00//00//17.'
Double trouble! Exiting separately was his band-mate Ashton Irwin who was flanked by a female companion
Fans immediately speculated this to mean that the album is set for release some time this year.
Days earlier, Ashton Tweeted: 'Thinkin late night about how much I want this 3rd album to be legendary for fans of this band, and how much I wanna show you what we can do.'
Guitarist Michael Clifford has also confirmed that the third album will go ahead, telling Nova Smallzy's Surgery in October 2016: 'We will start working on the album earlier next year.'
'With the third album we want to take a step back': The boys are gearing up to release their third studio album
'With the third album we want to take a step back and think 'okay how can we make this the best possible album we can make,' he said.
5SOS rose to stardom in 2013 after going on tour with One Direction.
While One Direction have seemingly called it quits, the 5SOS boys have been going from strength to strength.
He's been spending a quiet Easter with his family after welcoming a son with his wife Sophie Hunter.
And Benedict Cumberbatch was spotted heading out for a solo stroll in the Cotswolds in Oxfordshire, enjoying some fresh air and a break from his daddy duties.
The British actor was casually clad in a cable knit jumper and loose jeans, topping off the country chic look with suede boots.
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Stepping out: Benedict Cumberbatch was spotted heading out for a solo stroll in the Cotswolds in Oxfordshire, enjoying some fresh air and a break from his daddy duties
Benedict ventured out alone without his wife and their two sons, Christopher, almost two, and baby Hal.
The star, 40, hasn't been seen in public for a few weeks as he makes the most of his time with his newborn.
In true thespian style, Imitation Game actor named his boy after a Shakespearean hero.
New addition: He's been spending a quiet Easter with his family after welcoming a son with his wife Sophie Hunter
Hal was the nickname Henry V had before he became the hero of Agincourt. But in choosing the name, Cumberbatch could also be acknowledging his affection for fellow screen star Tom Hiddleston.
The pair starred together in 2012 in The Hollow Crown, an amalgamation of Shakespeares history plays in which Cumberbatch played Richard III and Hiddleston took the role of Hal.
They have been close pals ever since meeting on the set of Steven Spielbergs film War Horse in 2010.
Country chic: The British actor was casually clad in a cable knit jumper and loose jeans, topping off the country chic look with suede boots
We became friends for life, Hiddleston has said.
Sophie and the Sherlock star, 40, welcomed their son Christopher in June 2015, just a few months after their Valentine's Day wedding.
Benedict has previously said he hoped to add to his brood, joking he might 'go for a (Cumber)batch of boys.'
Georgia Kousoulou and Tommy Mallet are one of TOWIE's power couples - and it's easy to see why he's so enamoured with her judging by her latest fashion triumph.
The Only Way Is Essex lovebirds headed out for lunch at The Brickyard In in Essex for TOWIE filming on Tuesday, where Georgia slipped into a daringly short black mini.
Her slender pins look endless in the number, which she teamed with a short black hoodie which flashed a hint of her toned tummy.
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Only eyes for you! Loved-up Georgia Kousoulou (left) put on leggy display in daring mini skirt as she headed out for lunch with Tommy Mallet for TOWIE filming on Tuesday
The swimwear brand owner carried a stylish handbag as she spent the day with her love, who she now lives with.
She sashayed down the sidewalk in sky-high black boots complete with a trendy transparent heel.
The Essex beauty let her hair down as her tumbling glossy golden locks fell like a waterfall in cascading curls down her back.
All eyes: She sashayed down the sidewalk in sky-high black boots complete with a trendy transparent heel
Killer accessories: The swimwear brand owner teamed with a fitted long-sleeved top and a stylish handbag
Pleased as punch, Tommy, 24, showed he was very much in love as he couldn't stop smiling all afternoon when he headed out to lunch with his squeeze.
He looked very dapper in his ripped skinny jeans and trendy brown leather jacket, finished with a furry collar.
The London native opened up about their relationship in a recent interview, revealing he always knew the blonde bombshell was The One.
Dressed to impress: The 24-year-old looked very dapper in his ripped skinny jeans and trendy brown leather jacket, finished with a furry collar for the lunch date
Tommy told The Mirror: 'The difference between Georgia and me and some other couples [on TOWIE] is that we're soul mates.
'I knew we were the moment we got together.'
While the cosy TOWIE power couple couldn't keep their eyes off each other, they were joined by Amber Turner and Megan McKenna.
Her romantic dramas have kept TOWIE audiences captivated.
And Megan McKenna looks like her turbulent appearances are only set to heighten as she was spotted outside filming on Tuesday while having what appeared to be a heated debate on the phone.
The 24-year-old reality veteran has been locked in a raging row with her ex Pete Wicks with whom she has been hurtled into the central story of the show leaving her seen more sad than joyous while on-screens.
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Fuming: Megan McKenna looks like her turbulent appearances are only set to heighten as she was spotted outside filming on Tuesday while having what appeared to be a heated debate on the phone
Megan and Pete's love story has spun a convoluted tale ever since they first coupled up in March last year - with accusations of adultery flaring up resentment and hurt.
In January, the couple were seen rowing at the NTAs while filming descended into chaos earlier this month when the duo were locked in a furious row in the street shortly after Pete was pictured looking close with co-star Chloe Sims.
On Tuesday, it seemed Megan was locked in yet another fuming talk, although there is no indication that she was talking with or about Pete, as she paced outside filming at Brickyard club in their glam native county.
Despite her dramas, Megan ensured she looked nothing short of sensational as she marred smart and casual with a long-line blazer paired with sexy ripped jeans.
Who's that? The 24-year-old reality veteran has been locked in a raging row with her ex Pete Wicks with whom she has been hurtled into the central story of the show leaving her seen more sad than joyous while on-screens
Furious: Megan and Pete's love story has spun a convoluted tale ever since they first coupled up in March last year - with accusations of adultery flaring up resentment and hurt
In true Essex style, she was keen to inject aspects of designer chic as she sported Valentino Rockstud heels which market for around 600 while also rocking a stunning Prada handbag - adding the perfect touches to the chic look.
Atop the Prada and Valentino additions, the stunning star also proudly pinned a gold Chanel brooch to her lapel which stood as the only accessory alongside her huge mirrored aviators which masked her perfectly made-up face.
She scraped her extension enhanced tresses into a chignon at the nape of her neck, while backcombing at her scalp to add the perfect touch of volume.
On Sunday's episode of the show, Megan locked horns with Chloe after the beauty salon owner branded the EOTB star an 'attention seeker' in the midst of the drama.
Glam: In true Essex style, she was keen to inject aspects of designer chic as she sported Valentino Rockstud heels which market for around 600 while also rocking a stunning Prada handbag - adding the perfect touches to the chic look
Coming to a head at Gemma Collins' Easter party, the blonde, 34, was seen defending her words that Megan had been bringing other people into their dramatic split - brutally stating that 'no one wants to talk' about their breakup anymore.
After the photos emerged last month of Chloe and Pete looking cosy in the street, sparking romance rumours just weeks after his split from Megan.
While the pair staunchly denied the claims, Chloe and Megan soon clashed after Megan supposedly claimed she had a problem with the photos - and the lack of explanation for them from Chloe as a friend of both her and Pete.
The mother-of-one had first voiced her concerns about the situation to Georgia Kousoulou, during an Easter trip to the farm on the episode.
Chic: She scraped her extension enhanced tresses into a chignon at the nape of her neck, while backcombing at her scalp to add the perfect touch of volume
If you have ever wanted to live like a reality star - or at least look like you do - now is your chance.
The home used in Keeping Up With The Kardashian as a stand in for Kris Jenner's property has hit the market.
But the 61-year-old momager is not moving house as she lives in Hidden Hills, California, and the property up for sale is actually located almost an hour drive away in Studio City.
Up for grabs: The home used in Keeping Up With The Kardashian as a stand in for Kris Jenner's property has hit the market
All for show: But the 61-year-old momager (pictured Feburary) is not moving house as she lives in Hidden Hills, California, and the property up for sale is actually located almost an hour drive away in Studio City
The just listed home was long shown as Kris' house on the reality show for security reasons.
The very over-the-top mansion has served as the facade for the momager and former partner Caitlyn Jenner's property.
The Studio City home is on the market for $8.995 million, according to Los Angeles Times' Hot Property.
The home was previously listed in 2014 for $6.25 million but was taken off the market. It was last sold in 2005 for $5.225 million.
Stand in: The very over-the-top mansion has served as the facade for the momager and former partner Caitlyn Jenner's property since season 4
Not chump change: The Studio City home is on the market for $8.995 million
The home is located inside the gated the Fryman Estates and is concealed from the street thanks to a giant hedge.
The fact fans cannot just drive by and spot the home, makes it the perfect dummy house to ensure the security of Kris and also the residents of the Studio City home.
Past the hedge, fans may recognize the outside of the home but inside looks nothing like Kris' grand but restrained house.
Behind closed doors: The home is located inside the gated the Fryman Estates and is concealed from the street thanks to a giant hedge
Over-the-top: The home was previously listed in 2014 for $6.25 million but was taken off the market. It was last sold in 2005 for $5.225 million
That's different: Past the hedge, fans may recognize the outside of the home but inside looks nothing like Kris' grand but restrained house
Instead the Studio City stand-in house takes grandeur to another level and is far from understated.
The Italian-themed property is heavily decorated with every inch of the 7,800-square-foot house covered in ornate and over-the-top details.
For instance, while Kris' foyer is a dramatic black and white affair, the Studio City home welcomes guests with stone columns, chandeliers and a giant cupid statute.
Heavily decorated:The Italian-themed property is heavily decorated with every inch of the 7,800-square-foot house covered in ornate and over-the-top details
Spot the difference: For instance, while Kris' foyer is a dramatic black and white affair, the Studio City home welcomes guests with stone columns, chandeliers and a giant cupid statute
New hieghts: But that is nothing compared to the master bath which includes a curved ceiling complete with mural
Not done there: Another bathroom is part grotto, part castle with stone and gold throughout
But that is nothing compared to the master bath which includes a curved ceiling complete with mural.
In total, the home boosts seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
Its main sitting area is also packed full of Italian-inspired design features including a huge carved fireplace, a coffered ceiling, Venetian plaster walls and custom tapestry drapes.
Room for all: In total, the home boosts seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms
Specific taste: Its main sitting area is also packed full of Italian-inspired design features including a huge carved fireplace, a coffered ceiling, Venetian plaster walls and custom tapestry drapes
The home has been used by the E! network since 2004 after the original home said to be the Jenner household in Calabasas was demolished.
The home has also been used in HBO shows Rome and True Blood, LA Times reports.
Recently the back of Kris' real home and its pool area has been used.
Hollywood star: The home has also been used in HBO shows Rome and True Blood
Changing it up: Recently the back of Kris' real home and its pool area has been used
All of the Kardashian stars use facades of homes that are not their own for their security.
Kim Kardashian previously explained why they no longer used their own homes, saying on Twitter back in 2014: 'My old home in Beverly Hills was really my home & I would get people showing up at all hours ringing my gate & had to call the police on several occasions. People hoping the gate & scaring me.
'It was so unsafe. The Hollywood star tours would stop by too, bc they recognized my home from our show. After that we realized how unsafe it is to show the exterior of our homes. So now we use different homes for the outside for security purposes. When we film inside, that's obviously our real home.'
Janet Jackson's creative director Gil Duldulao came to her defense on social media Saturday after reports she was after a hefty divorce settlement.
'I want to state what I have to say as a friend. Even if there was a possibility that my friend could make 500 mil off of having a child. It's not in her character to want and or accept 500 mil,' her longtime pal on the payroll wrote on Instagram.
'It's character people and she is not the one. She would never accept a pay out or want a pay out. That's the human being I know. So you f***ers that state that - f*** you. That's not my friend and will never be. Point blank period AND if you checked your facts. She has been married for four years not 5 and something months to claim she will get 500mil. So keep trying you a**holes.'
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'It's not in her character': Janet Jackson's creative director Gil Duldulao came to her defense on social media Saturday after reports she was after a hefty divorce settlement
Her longtime pal on the payroll wrote on Instagram: 'It's character people and she is not the one. She would never accept a pay out or want a pay out. That's the human being I know'
'Never will you drag my besties name into the ground': Duldulao - who also tweeted 'Gold digger/not Jj' - was only 17 when he joined the 50-year-old pop diva's The Velvet Rope Tour
Duldulao - who also tweeted 'Gold digger/not Jj' - was only 17 when he joined the 50-year-old pop diva's The Velvet Rope Tour back in 1998.
The Hawaiian choreographer has also reportedly worked for Madonna, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Prince, Tina Turner, Nicki Minaj, and Christina Aguilera.
Gil considers the five-time Grammy winner family and even calls her newborn baby Eissa Al Mana his 'beautiful nephew.'
Janet - who boasts a $150M fortune - announced her separation from her billionare third husband Wissam Al Mana just three months after welcoming their son.
'My baby and me after nap time': The Hawaiian choreographer considers the five-time Grammy winner family and even calls her newborn baby Eissa Al Mana his 'beautiful nephew'
More likely a $200M settlement: Janet - who boasts a $150M fortune - announced her separation from her billionare third husband Wissam Al Mana just three months after welcoming their son
Meanwhile, the 42-year-old Qatari businessman penned a post-split message on his website: 'I love you so much, inshallah we will be together in the Great Forever'
Page Six reported Jackson will more likely receive a $200M settlement since their prenup outlined $100M for five years of marriage and another $100M for having a child.
'She loves to be in control,' a family confidante told the site.
'She ceded that control [in marriage] and she was not happy about it. She wants to get back to being Janet Jackson and not Mrs. Wissam Al Mana or being the obedient Muslim wife.'
Back to work! According to The Sun, the No Sleeep songstress and Duldulao will begin rehearsals this summer for her State Of The World Tour kicking off October in North America
Pictured in 2015: Last year, Janet abruptly canceled 75 concerts during her Unbreakable World Tour in order to focus on marriage and motherhood
Meanwhile, the 42-year-old Qatari businessman penned a post-split message on his website: 'To the most beautiful person in the world, thank you for your divine love, your eternal support and for being my best friend. I love you so much, inshallah we will be together in the Great Forever.'
According to The Sun, the No Sleeep songstress and Duldulao will begin rehearsals this summer for her State Of The World Tour kicking off October in North America.
Last year, Janet abruptly canceled 75 concerts during her Unbreakable World Tour in order to focus on marriage and motherhood.
They were seen enduring an explosive shouting match on the street last week, following their less-than-amicable split.
But Megan McKenna seems keen to make amends with her ex Pete Wicks, as she calls him to discuss their issues on the upcoming episode of TOWIE.
In new scenes set to air on Wednesday night, the brunette beauty, 24, becomes instantly emotional as she calls her ex, in their first formal chat since coming to blows on the streets of Essex.
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Reaching out: Megan McKenna seems keen to make amends with her ex Pete Wicks, as she calls him to discuss their issues on the upcoming episode of TOWIE
Last week, the Ex On The Beach star was pictured in the throes of a fierce argument with her former flame - reaching such fiery heights that producers were later forced to restrain Megan and remove her from the scene.
However things only went from bad to worse for the heartbroken beauty on Sunday night, after she endured another spat with Chloe Sims - who accused her of 'making a scene' of her breakup with Pete.
After a stressful few weeks however, it now seems Megan is ready to diffuse tension with her ex, as she is seen reaching out to Pete on the new episode of TOWIE.
Moving on? With Pete cutting a stony figure on the other end of the line, it remains to be seen whether the feisty pair can put their animosities aside and move forward as friends
Giving him a call to avoid any awkward confrontation in person, things appear to soon become emotional as Megan leans up against her car, with her head despondently in her hands.
With Pete cutting a stony figure on the other end of the line, it remains to be seen whether the feisty pair can put their animosities aside and move forward as friends.
Having first got together when she joined the show in March 2016, Megan and Pete finally called it quits on their romance last month - after admitting to themselves that Pete's sexting scandal, which emerged in September, still plagued their minds.
Reflecting: Megan and Pete (above) called it quits on their romance last month - after admitting to themselves that Pete's sexting scandal still plagued their minds
Megan confessed on the show that she had not been able to forgive her boyfriend for sending explicit texts to his ex Jacqui Ryland during a trip to Marbella, resulting in their turbulent relationship finally coming to a close.
However the split later became much more dramatic when photos emerged of Pete and Chloe Sims looking cosy in a nightclub.
While both parties have staunchly denied any chance of a romance between them, Chloe went on to brand Megan an 'attention seeker' for the way she dealt with both the photos and their breakup.
Fuming: However Megan was later accused of being an 'attention seeker' in the split by Chloe Sims - resulting in a row between the pair, which Megan goes on to discuss with Amber (above)
Catching up: Elsewhere on the episode, Tommy and Georgia (above) have dinner with Tommy's friend Nathan Massey, who fills them in on his breakup with Cara De La Hoyde
Her claims then resulted in a fierce spat between the girls on Sunday night's TOWIE - with Chloe claiming Megan had dealt with their breakup too publicly.
However, Megan goes on to confess on Wednesday's episode that despite clashing with Chloe, their conversation was definitely the best - a thought the blonde agrees with.
Elsewhere on the episode, Tommy and Georgia have dinner with Tommy's friend Nathan Massey - who fills them in on the truth behind his break up with Cara De La Hoyde and admits he's longing for a relationship like theirs.
Fraught: Yaz remains unhappy about Lockie's attitude in their relationship, and her woes are worsened when she hears about comments Pete has said about her
Easing tension: After an emotional chat with Megan and Amber Turner, who try to console her, Yaz speaks to Pete, while Megan tells Lockie how Yaz is feeling
Yaz remains unhappy about Lockie's attitude in their relationship, and her woes are worsened when she hears about comments Pete has said about her.
After an emotional chat with Megan and Amber Turner, who try to console her, Yaz speaks to Pete, while Megan tells Lockie how Yaz is feeling.
Later, when alone together, Yaz sets Lockie some ground rules - but is he prepared to stick to them?
The drama continues in The Only Way Is Essex on Wednesday 19th April at 10pm on ITVBe.
They kept their relationship under wraps for a few months.
But it seems like Billie Lourd and Taylor Lautner are now quite comfortable with publicly displaying their affection for one another.
The 24-year-old actress walked hand-in-hand with her 25-year-old hunky beau on a stroll through trendy Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice Beach, California on Monday.
Relaxed: Billie Lourd was joined by boyfriend Taylor Lautner and her dog Tina as they took a stroll through trendy Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice Beach, California on Monday
The two were not alone for the occasion as they were joined by Billie's prize French bulldog Tina.
The Scream Queens actress showed off her legs in a black mini skirt paired with matching leather boots.
She also sported a vintage black graphic T-shirt from 2004's The Verizon Ladies First Tour with a design featuring images of Beyonce, Missy Elliott, and Alicia Keys.
Loved up: The 24-year-old actress walked hand-in-hand with her 25-year-old hunky beau
On trend: The Scream Queens actress showed off her legs in a black mini skirt paired with matching leather boots along with a vintage graphic print top
Billie wore her long blonde hair down as she let her natural kooks show with minimal make-up on her face.
Taylor was dressed comfortably in a wrinkled pink shirt, black joggers and matching Vans Old Skool high-tops.
The Twilight star accessorized with a black trucker hat and a pair of aviators hanging off his top.
What a gent! The hunky actor seemed to be quite the gentleman as he not only walked alongside Billie's pup while holding onto the leash but also carried her
The hunky actor seemed to be quite the gentleman as he not only walked alongside Billie's pup while holding onto the leash but also carried her as they headed into their car.
The two stars began dating shortly before the deaths of Billie's mother Carrie Fisher and grandmother Debbie Reynolds in December.
Just days ago the starlet paid tribute to her late mom during a Star Wars Celebration in Orlando rocking a custom white Tom Ford dress to pay homage to Fisher's iconic character Princess Leia.
She also took to the podium during the panel to speak about her mother during the event, which was live-streamed, calling her a 'stronger soldier of a woman'.
The force is with her: Last week Billie made her first public appearance following the death of her mother Carrie Fisher last year at the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando
Paying tribute: She wore a Princess Leia-inspired number at the gala
Billie wore a Tom Ford creation that paid homage to Fisher's Princess Leia costume (pictured in 1977)
'My mom used to say she never knew where Princess Leia ended and Carrie Fisher began,' Lourd said onstage.
'She was imperfect in many ways but her imperfections and willingness to speak about them are what made her more than perfect.
'My mom, like Leia, wasnt ever afraid to speak her mind and say things that might have made most people uncomfortable, but not me and not you. That was why she loved you, because you accepted and embraced all of her.'
Billie also posed for a cute snap with her mother's famous co-stars Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford backstage before the event.
Legend: A tribute to the actress was also shown at the event which was live-streamed from Orlando on Thursday
Co-stars: The montage of clips included behind the scenes footage like this of Carrie with Billie on set
Police search for suspected robber
Police have issued an arrest warrant for a man they say robbed Members 1st Credit Union in Carlisle in January.
Terrell L. Waters, 46, of Harrisburg, is wanted on numerous charges including felony possession of firearm by a prohibited person and 24 counts of felony robbery, according to court records.
Waters and two other people robbed the Members 1st Credit Union in the 800 block of West High Street on Jan. 20 before fleeing in a black Lexus sedan, Carlisle Police said.
Two other suspects are being held in Mifflin County Jail.
Anyone with information about the robbery should call Carlisle Police at 243-5252.
Blake Lively has built her reputation on being a red carpet glamorpuss who has starred in both action films (Green Lantern) and classy, quirky fare (Cafe Society).
Now the mother of two is changing course a bit to become a part-time activist.
The 29-year-old Los Angeles native told Variety that she has become involved with cracking down on child pornography after a chance meeting with the Child Rescue Coalition at an event.
Caring: Blake Lively has taken one of the covers for Variety's Power Of Women NY issue where she talked about cracking down on child pornography
Her man: The star is married to Ryan Reynolds who she has two children with: Ines and James. Pictured January
'There are millions of files all over the world being traded every single day of child pornography,' said Lively, who appeared on one of the covers of Variety's Power Of Women NY.
Chelsea Clinton, Audra McDonald, Jessica Chastain, Shari Redstone and Gayle King took the other covers.
The Gossip Girl actress added: 'Its so disturbing. A lot of these people are fathers.'
In good company: Other covers were taken by Jessica Chastain (left) and Audra McDonald (right)
A force: Chelsea Clinton wore a black leather motorcycle jacket and jeans
More big names on the covers: Gayle King, left, wore orange, while Shari Redstone, right, modeled a blue suit
Lively is helping the Child Rescue Coalition promote 'a groundbreaking technology that flags the IP addresses of people who share and download sexually explicit images of minors,' according to Variety.
The Coalition's work has led to the arrest of 9,000 predators, and rescued 2,084 children from active abuse.
'If you proactively find these predators, you can save so many children,' added Lively.
Blake has been a joy to work with, says Coalition CEO Carly Asher Yoost.
Having some fun: The Cafe Society actress looked lovely on vacation in this social media post
'We hit it off, and were both passionate about protecting kids,' she said. 'We stayed in touch, and she really wanted to help. She got us a meeting at a technology summit at Facebook.
'Our mission is to protect the innocent. We try to get [the data] in the hands of law enforcement,' added Carly.
Yoost founded the nonprofit organization in 2013, in Boca Raton, Florida.
Blake's last few films since leaving Gossip Girl have included The Age Of Adaline with Harrison Ford, Cafe Society with Kristen Stewart, The Shallows with Oscar Jaenada and All I See Is You with Wes Chatham.
Tom Cruise travelled in style as he arrived in Paris after shooting more heart-stopping scenes for the highly-anticipated Mission Impossible 6 on Tuesday.
The 54-year-old - who will reprise his lead role as special agent Ethan Hunt - appeared giggly and relieved as he jumped into a car after filming fast-paced sequences for the sixth installment of the franchise.
As he completes most of the films daring stunts himself, no doubt he was pretty pleased with himself as he made his way to his next destination, wearing a comfy fitted jumper and dark blue skinny jeans.
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Action man! Tom Cruise touched down by helicopter in Paris to shoot daring Mission Impossible 6 scenes on Tuesday, before heading off in a waiting car
Get going! One of his crew members was appropriately wearing a 'Mission' jacket as Tom waved to him before heading off
The Top Gun heartthrob was seen climbing into a car, with his eyes hidden behind designer shades.
The actor appears to have slipped back into the role effortlessly after a grueling year of training.
It has been 21 years since the first Mission Impossible film hit cinemas but Tom has maintained his youthful appearance and his happy-go-lucky charm.
Step up: The star (pictured as Ethan Hunt in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol in 2011) will reprise his lead role as the special agent in the sixth installment of the franchise
Look back: It has been 21 years since the first Mission Impossible film hit cinemas but Tom has maintained his youthful appearance and his happy-go-lucky charm
Top man! The star who is famed for performing all his own stunts has slipped back into the role effortlessly after a grueling year of training
He got behind the wheel of an old fashioned BMW as he tore up the streets of the city for an exciting car chase sequence on Saturday.
The three times Golden Globes winner teamed up with Sean Harris for the dramatic scenes which promise to keep fans on the edge of their seats.
Alec Baldwin, Superman star Henry Cavill, Simon Pegg and The Crown's Vanessa Kirby will join Cruise for the latest in the Mission Impossible franchise.
A-Team! The three times Golden Globes winner joined Sean Harris for the dramatic car chase scenes which promise to keep fans on the edge of their seats
Spotted! While eagle-eyed onlookers have caught sneaky glimpses of the flick, the team have been tight-lipped about the details of the plot
While eagle-eyed onlookers have caught sneaky glimpses of the flick, the team have been tight-lipped about the details of the plot.
Skydance Media CEO David Ellison told Collider: 'What Tom is doing in this movie I believe will top anything thats come before.
'It is absolutely unbelievablehes been training for a year.
'It is going to be, I believe, the most impressive and unbelievable thing that Tom Cruise has done in a movie, and he has been working on it since right after Rogue Nation came out [in 2015]. Its gonna be mind-blowing.'
The latest installment of the film is set to hit cinemas for release in 2018.
Revealed: The latest installment of the Mission Impossible is set to hit cinemas for release in 2018
The Emoji Movie is one star closer to filling up their keyboard.
Sofia Vergara announced on Tuesday that she will be playing the role of Flamenco Dancer in the upcoming Sony film.
'And she is always doing the Flamenco. She does it in the morning when she gets up, she does it when shes eating, she probably does it when shes sleeping. It makes things like driving or putting on her makeup very difficult,' she told People.
Dancing queen: Sofia Vergara announced on Tuesday she would play the role of Flamenco Dancer in Sony's The Emoji Movie, posting this photo with her character to Instagram
The Colombian beauty tells the magazine that she's often compared to the commonly-used emoticon.
'I thought it was going to be a perfect role for me because people are always saying that I look like her.'
The character seen in Sofia's post differs slightly from the universally-known version of the emoji where the dancing woman is wearing a red dress.
Lady in red: Vergara, seen here at the 2013 Emmys has joked that she often gets told she resembles the emoji
The animated film takes place in Textopolis where all of the characters can only experience the emotion or action they represent.
One character named Gene, voiced by T.J. Miller, was born without a filter and can experience all emotions.
Gene leads his fellow emojis on an adventure to find the code that will allow him to fit in with his one-note friends.
'I'm Latin, we all dance,': The 44-year-old actress, here in 2015, says her Colombian roots are responsible for her dancing skills
The Emoji Movie isn't Vergara's first job voicing a dancing character.
In 2011's Happy Feet 2, she voiced a penguin named Carmen who loves to dance in the Disney/Pixar film.
'I'm Latin, we all dance,' she told Digital Spy while promoting the film, adding that artists like Pitbull and Lady Gaga get her up out of her seat.
She's got moves: Colombian-born Sofia takes the stage with Pitbull at the 2016 Grammy Awards
She later went on to dance with Pitbull at the 2016 Grammy Awards for his performance of Taxi.
Sofia's husband Joe Manganiello recently voiced a role in The Smurfs: The Lost Village.
The couple just spent the Easter holiday together upon Sofia's return from Rome where she was shooting a new movie called Bent.
She's the stunning Spanish wife of Australian actor Chris Hemsworth, 33.
But on Wednesday Elsa Pataky, 40, revealed on the Today Show that despite being married for over six years her husband still hasn't learned to speak Spanish.
The Fate of The Furious actress told host Richard Wilkins: 'He promised me, he said, "I'll be speaking Spanish in two months there we go, we have been together for six years.'
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Not a word? On Wednesday Elsa Pataky, 40, revealed on the Today Show that despite being married for over six years her husband Chris Hemsworth still hasn't learned to speak Spanish
'Not a word?' questioned Richard, who appeared a little taken aback after he had said he had imagined Chris had 'gone the full length of the pool' to learn Spanish.
'He's improving, every year he knows one or two words more,' Elsa clarified.
The blonde beauty, who speaks five languages herself (English, Spanish, Italian, French and Romanian) said that she speaks Spanish to their kids at home.
'That's important, that's what my mum did to me, talked in Romanian. I start to speak in English, I'm like, "I don't express myself great." I got used to making an effort to speak to them in Spanish,' Elsa said.
Elsa also spoke of her life in Australia and how much she loves it.
'Byron Bay has something special. I don't know what it is. The energy, the people, how beautiful amazing it is. I feel it's a paradise. Chris took me there for like a weekend, I fell in love with that place,' she said.
'Except for the jellyfish!' Elsa joked, making reference to the incident that occurred when Matt Damon and his family visited them in Byron Bay and his daughter was stung by a jellyfish.
Elsa said that the little one dealt with the experience well.
'The girl was amazing. She cried just a little bit. She is so tough. He bit her on the arm and the belly.'
The Fate of The Furious actress told host Richard Wilkins: 'He promised me, he said, "I'll be speaking Spanish in two months there we go, we have been together for six years
Meanwhile, Elsa was unveiled an ambassador for a LOreal Paris hair care range in Australia this week, starring in a stunning new advertising campaign for the well-known brand.
'I love using this range of products everything from the scent to how it makes my hair feel and the beautiful packaging,' Elsa said in a statement.
You beauty! Elsa Pataky unveiled as ambassador for LOreal Paris hair care in stunning new advertising campaign
Her high profile modelling gig comes as the blonde beauty spoke last week of her desire to be known as more than just Chris Hemsworth's wife in Australia.
'We live in Australia and I want to do things here and start working and for people to know me a little bit more than as Chris' wife,' she told Stellar.
The actress has also opened about what marriage to the Hollywood heart throb is like, with Chris previously being named the sexiest man alive by PEOPLE magazine in 2014.
'I was the sexiest in Spain for years!' The actress has also opened about what marriage to the Hollywood heart throb is like
'Hes like, "Im the Sexiest Man Alive," and Im like, "I was the sexiest in Spain for years! You have just one (title)",' Elsa joked.
Elsa and Chris married in 2010 after a whirlwind romance and have three children together India, 4, and twins Tristan and Sasha, 3.
The couple have recently been spending time in Byron Bay with longtime friend Matt Damon and his family.
After 22 years playing Sami Brady on hit daytime soap Days Of Our Lives, actress Alison Sweeney retired from the show in 2014.
But the retirement is apparently short-lived, as she announced on Instagram Monday that she's returning to play her villainous role.
'Im coming back to Days. Im so excited to tell all of you in person,' she said in the video.
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Returning role: Alison Sweeney informed fans on Monday she'd be coming back as her popular Days Of Our Lives character Sami Brady
'Im really, really excited to be back in Salem. I start shooting in a couple of weeks.'
The character of Sami left the fictional town of Salem, Illinois in 2014 for Hollywood after watching her husband get shot by character Clyde Weston.
In Ali's final scene, her character signs over the rights of her enterprises before she says a tearful goodbye.
Villain: Here she is seen as Sami Bradi on the hit soap in 2010
Sami and her two sons head to Los Angeles after executives offer to write the Sami Brady Story based on her struggles.
Two years later, fans will find out if Sami's story became a success or if she's returning to Salem to resume the life she lived before Los Angeles.
'You'll have to tune in to find out more,' Ali teased Days Of Our Lives fans.
Working woman: The 40-year-old actress has starred in a string of TV movies since leaving the soap in 2014, here she's pictured in September 2016
Die-hard fans of the soap suspected that she would return since her character was not killed off in her final appearance.
Since leaving Days in 2014, Alison has appeared in a string of TV movies including Murder She Baked: Just Desserts, The Irresistible Blueberry Farm and Love On The Air.
She also hosted The Biggest Loser and appeared in commercials for Arm & Hammer toothpaste.
Thailand has some of the world's most lethal roads, with accidents spiking over Songkran, the April new year festival
The number of people killed on Thailand's roads during the country's traditional new year week dropped by more than ten percent following a junta campaign to end the annual carnage.
The kingdom has some of the world's most lethal roads, with accidents spiking over Songkran -- the April new year festival -- as millions of city workers return to their country homes.
Both Songkran and the western New Year are both dubbed the "seven deadly days" because of the surge in crashes and road fatalities.
Figures released on Tuesday showed 390 people lost their lives on Thailand's roads during the previous seven days, an eleven percent decrease on the previous year.
Thailand's junta government has launched repeated crackdowns on drink driving since its 2014 power grab, including approving harsher penalties for offenders, seizing vehicles and forcing drivers to visit mortuaries holding the bodies of accident victims.
But until now all the previous campaigns showed no reductions.
People take part in a water fight during Songkran, or Thai New Year, celebrations in the southern province of Narathiwat, on April 13, 2017
Junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha on Tuesday said there was still work to be done to persuade Thais to drive more responsibly.
"No I am not satisfied because people are still dead," he told reporters.
Despite relatively good infrastructure, Thailand has the world's second most dangerous roads in terms of per capita deaths, according to data collected by the World Health Organization in a 2015 report.
Figures show drink-driving remains stubbornly entrenched in Thailand.
Nearly a third of accidents over this year's Songkran -- 28 percent -- were caused by drunk driving. Military authorities said they also seized 5,600 motorbikes and 1,800 cars driven by people who were over the limit.
Experts say speeding and a lack of helmet-wearing among motorcyclists are also major factors behind the high death rate.
The kingdom's traffic cops are also notorious for bribe-taking and letting wealthy, well-connected drivers off the hook for offences.
Neighbouring Myanmar, which also celebrates the traditional new year over the same period, said 285 people were killed on its roads last week.
Taiwan cannot grant political asylum to mainland Chinese but may give "long-term stay" permits
Taiwan said Tuesday it was reviewing a request for political asylum by a Chinese tourist, reportedly an anti-corruption activist who was previously jailed on the mainland.
The man named Zhang Xiangzhong has been identified by local media and a human rights group as the same person who was part of a movement calling for Chinese government officials to disclose their assets.
Zhang arrived in Taiwan on April 12 but separated from his tour group the next day.
He sought help on Monday from the Taiwan Association for Human Rights in applying for political asylum.
Taiwan's immigration department said Tuesday it had located Zhang and was providing him with temporary accommodation while authorities investigate his case.
Any decision to let Zhang stay could further sour relations between Beijing and Taipei, which has worsened since China-sceptic President Tsai Ing-wen won Taiwan's leadership last year.
"We have to clarify details of his case to make further judgement and conclusions," said Chiu Chui-cheng of the Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's top policymaking body on China.
"He would need to provide sufficient proof, including his involvement with democratic movements and that his life may be endangered if deported back to China," Chiu, the council's vice-chairman, told AFP.
Chui said mainland Chinese could not be granted political asylum but the government would evaluate whether he qualifies for a "long-term stay" permit.
He said authorities still need to verify whether Zhang is the same activist associated with the New Citizens Movement who was jailed for three years by a Beijing court in 2014 on a credit card fraud charge.
Zhang said he was motivated to leave the mainland by the wife of detained Taiwanese rights activist Lee Ming-cheh, according to a Radio Free Asia interview.
In a case that has drawn international scrutiny, Lee Ching-yu pledged she would "rescue" her husband, who is under investigation in mainland China for suspected activities "endangering national security."
A woman holds the portrait of a Palestinian prisoner during a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah on April 17, 2017 to show support to hundreds of hunger strikers in Israeli jails
Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan vowed on Tuesday not to negotiate with hundreds of Palestinian detainees on the second day of a hunger strike led by popular leader Marwan Barghouti.
More than 1,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons launched the hunger strike on Monday, issuing a list of demands ranging from better medical services to access to telephones.
Issa Qaraqe, head of prisoner affairs for the Palestinian Authority, said on Monday that around 1,300 prisoners were on hunger strike and the number could rise.
The Palestinian Prisoners' Club had put the number at 1,500.
A spokesman for the Israel Prisons Service said around 1,100 prisoners started the hunger strike and roughly the same number were believed to be continuing on Tuesday.
Erdan vowed that Israeli authorities would not negotiate with the prisoners and said Barghouti had been moved to another prison and placed in solitary confinement.
"They are terrorists and incarcerated murderers who are getting what they deserve and we have no reason to negotiate with them," Erdan told army radio.
He said Barghouti had been placed in solitary confinement because calling for the hunger strike was against prison rules.
Some 6,500 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel for a range of offences and alleged crimes.
Of those, 62 are women and 300 are minors.
Some 500 are held under administrative detention, which allows for imprisonment without charge.
Palestinian prisoners have mounted repeated hunger strikes, but rarely on such a large scale.
Palestinian protesters wave flags bearing the image of jailed uprising leader Marwan Barghouti at a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah on April 17, 2017 in support of a hunger strike he has called among prisoners in Israeli jails
Barghouti's call for the strike has given it added credibility, with the 57-year-old serving five life sentences over his role in the second Palestinian intifada or uprising.
He was convicted of attacks that killed five people.
He is popular among Palestinians, with polls suggesting he could win the Palestinian presidency.
"Decades of experience have proved that Israel's inhumane system of colonial and military occupation aims to break the spirit of prisoners and the nation to which they belong, by inflicting suffering on their bodies, separating them from their families and communities, using humiliating measures to compel subjugation," Barghouti wrote in a New York Times opinion piece.
"In spite of such treatment, we will not surrender to it."
Bangladesh police say online harassment has grown alarmingly with the rise of smart phone use, with teenage girls the main target
Bangladesh on Tuesday began training thousands of teenage girls to fight cyber crime, citing an "alarming" rise in social media-related abuses mostly targeting adolescents.
Police said online harassment had grown alarmingly with the rise in smart phone use in Bangladesh, and teenage girls were the main targets.
More than 10,000 school-age girls will take part in government workshops around the country in April and May to teach them what to look out for and how to respond.
"Every day, we have 10-12 complaints of cyber crimes. Some 90 percent of these victims are pre-teen and teenage girls," Nazmul Islam, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told AFP.
Police said girls were being tricked into posing for intimate photographs and video footage that were later posted on social media or used for trolling.
On some occasions, hidden cameras were used to secretly film young people having sex, with the footage later posted online.
"Sometimes these photos and videos are being used by boyfriends to emotionally blackmail the girls or their families," said Islam.
Bangladesh in 2013 set up a special trial court to deal with social media-related crimes and since then more than 450 cases have been heard.
"(The) majority of the victims are young girls. In many cases, once they were married, they found that their former lovers posted their intimate photos to social media," prosecutor Nazrul Islam Shamim told AFP.
"In one incident, a young woman committed suicide after her lover sent some of her intimate photos to her mobile phone," he said.
Philippines bus accident
At least 25 people were killed and 22 injured when a passenger bus crashed into a deep ravine in the mountainous northern Philippines on Tuesday, authorities said.
The bus plunged about 24 metres (80 feet) in the upland province of Nueva Ecija before noon after its brakes failed while travelling on a windy road, police and local officials said.
"The vehicle is totally wrecked," said senior inspector Robert De Guzman, police chief of the town of Carranglan where the accident occurred. The impact appeared to have ripped the top off the vehicle, he added.
"Almost all of the passengers, both dead and injured, were found outside the bus."
Authorities were still investigating the cause of the accident but Carranglan Mayor Mary Abad told ABS-CBN television there were 60 passengers onboard although the bus had a capacity of only 45.
Abad added the wounded, some of whom sustained critical injuries, were rushed to nearby hospitals.
"The road is really risky. There are many ravines along that road going to Abra," Abad said, referring to the northern province where the bus was headed.
Dr. Arlene Jara, chief of the nearby provincial hospital treating the wounded, said children were among those injured.
Road accidents are common in the Philippines, where old, badly maintained buses ply poorly lit roads. Poor road habits and drivers working long hours also contribute to frequent mishaps.
State Rep. Sheryl Delozier (R-Cumberland) will host her fifth annual breakfast and recognition ceremony to recognize veterans and active military personnel residing in the 88th Legislative District.
The event will take place May 2 at the First Church of God Community Center, 201 E. Green St., Mechanicsburg. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. The program will begin at 8 a.m. Vietnam veterans will receive a special commemorative lapel pin as part of the nations celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.
All service members are welcome to participate, regardless of when they served.
We owe our veterans and active duty military a debt of gratitude for protecting and defending Americas freedom and independence, Delozier said. This is just one small way to thank them for their service.
Brig. Gen. Tony Carrelli, Pennsylvanias adjutant general, will be this years keynote speaker for the event.
Veterans and active duty personnel are invited to bring a guest to the event; however, seating is limited, and registration is required. Those interested in attending can register online at RepDelozier.com or call Deloziers district office at (717) 761-4665.
US Vice President Mike Pence and Japan's Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso have agreed to hold further economic talks later this year that could lead to a bilateral trade deal
The US and Japan on Tuesday launched economic talks that Vice President Mike Pence said could result in a bilateral trade deal, salvaging some of the progress made in negotiations towards the now-abandoned TPP.
"At some point in the future there may be a decision made between our nations to take what we have learned in this dialogue and commence formal negotiations for a free trade agreement," Pence said at a joint news conference with Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso.
Pence's comments came as the two countries kicked off talks aimed at achieving a new economic relationship -- in line with US President Donald Trump's vow to focus on bilateral trade deals rather than multilateral ones that he says have damaged the United States.
Trump's decision to scrap the ambitious 12-nation Trans-Pacific Trade (TPP) deal championed by former president Barack Obama was a blow to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who expended substantial political capital to get the accord passed at home.
In Tokyo, there is still hope that the core of the agreement, thrashed out between the United States and Japan and intended to counterbalance China's regional economic power, can be salvaged in some form.
Pence, however, reaffirmed that there was no hope of reviving the TPP itself, which he called a "thing of the past" for the US.
Aso said the two countries had agreed to hold a second round of economic talks by the end of this year.
"I will continue having constructive talks with Mr Pence so as to deepen the win-win economic relations between Japan and the US," he said.
A US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria since 2014
Air strikes by the US-led coalition fighting the Islamic State group killed 20 civilians in Syria's eastern Deir Ezzor province, a monitor said on Tuesday.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths came in two separate incidents on Monday.
It also reported 10 civilians, among them nine children, were killed in a suspected Russian air strike on Tuesday on a town in the rebel-controlled province of Idlib.
The Observatory, which relies on a network of sources inside Syria for its information, says it determines whose planes carry out raids according to type, location, flight patterns and munitions used.
The Britain-based monitor said a US strike on Monday night on the Deir Ezzor town of Albu Kamal had killed 13 civilians, among them five children.
The strike also killed three members of IS, which controls the town by the Syria-Iraq border, the monitor said.
Earlier Monday, a US-led coalition strike killed seven civilians, including a child, in the village of Husseinyeh, the monitor said.
The US-led coalition has been carrying out air strikes against IS in Syria since 2014 and is providing air support for a Kurdish-Arab alliance advancing on the jihadist bastion of Raqa.
Last month, the coalition said its campaign against IS in Syria and Iraq had unintentionally killed at least 220 civilians, but monitors say the real number is far higher.
Most of the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor, in Syria's east, is held by IS, including parts of the provincial capital, Deir Ezzor city.
The jihadists have besieged the remaining government-held parts of Deir Ezzor city, trapping civilians inside with limited access to supplies.
More than 320,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011.
Members of the OPEC oil cartel agreed in November to reduce output for six months to support crude prices
Economic growth in Saudi Arabia and most other Arab oil exporters will slow this year following production cuts aimed at propping up energy prices, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday.
In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the IMF cut its 2017 growth forecast for the region comprising the Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan to 2.6 percent, down from the 3.1 percent projected in January.
"The subdued pace of expansion reflects lower headline growth in the region's oil exporters, driven by the November 2016 OPEC agreement to cut oil production," the Washington-based IMF said.
It "masks the expected pickup in non-oil growth as the pace of fiscal adjustment to structurally lower oil revenues slows," the IMF added, referring to measures to cut budget deficits.
Members of the OPEC cartel of oil exporters, mostly from the region, agreed last year to reduce output by 1.2 million barrels per day from January 1 for six months, to support crude prices that had shed half of their value since mid-2014.
"Growth in Saudi Arabia, the region's largest economy, is expected to slow to 0.4 percent in 2017 because of lower oil production and ongoing fiscal consolidation, before picking up to 1.3 percent in 2018," the IMF said.
It said that growth is likely to dip in most Gulf Cooperation Council member states, which also include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
One bright spot is gas-rich Qatar which is expected to register 3.4-percent growth this year, compared with 2.7 percent in 2016. Kuwait's economy, in contrast, is forecast to shrink by 0.2 percent.
In Algeria, the IMF sees economic growth of 1.4 percent this year, down from 4.2 percent last year.
Growth is also predicted to slow sharply in Iran, to 3.3 percent in 2017, from 6.5 percent last year when the Islamic republic won a boost from the lifting of economic sanctions.
Iraq's economy is expected to contract by 3.1 percent in 2017 after surging by 10.1 percent last year on the back of expanding oil exports after sharp contractions in the previous two years.
- Egypt reforms 'to deliver' -
The overall figure for the region overshadows a faster pace in many of its oil-importing countries.
Morocco's economic growth is forecast to jump from 1.5 percent last year to 4.4 percent this year, while Tunisia's economy is seen expanding by 2.5 percent compared with just one percent the year before.
On the other hand Egypt, whose currency plummeted in value after authorities floated it in November, will see slower growth of 3.5 percent this year, compared with 4.3 percent last year.
"In Egypt, comprehensive reforms are expected to deliver sizable growth dividends, lifting growth ... to 4.5 percent in 2018," it said.
The IMF, whose forecasts exclude war-torn Syria, noted that "continued strife and conflict in many countries in the region also detract from economic activity."
Meanwhile, a "broad-based recovery is expected to continue at a healthy pace" in Pakistan, the IMF said, forecasting growth of five percent this year, and 5.2 percent in 2018, "supported by ramped-up infrastructure investment."
A suicide blast that tore through buses evacuating families from northern Syria killed dozens, including at least 68 children, and wounded hundreds
Fatima Rashid was recovering in a Syrian hospital after a deadly suicide blast when she glanced at a teenager with a bloody, disfigured face. She did not recognise her daughter.
The wounded teenager was later taken across the border to Turkey for treatment and now Rashid, like many parents caught up in a horrifying attack on Saturday, is searching frantically for her child.
"I lifted the curtain back in the emergency room and I saw a girl. Half her face was gone and she was bleeding," Rashid told AFP, speaking at a shelter for displaced families near the Syria-Turkey border.
"I didn't think about whose daughter she was."
"When I woke up the next day, the doctors came to show me a picture of that girl. I remembered what my daughter Ghadir had been wearing. That was her," she said, with tears in her eyes.
At least 68 children were among 126 people killed when a suicide car bomb tore through buses evacuating Fuaa and Kafraya, two villages in northern Syria under rebel siege.
Children, wounded in a suicide car bombing that targeted their buses as they were being evacuated from two besieged government-held towns in northern Syria
Dozens of wounded, including 37-year-old Fatima and her children, were rushed to hospitals in nearby opposition-controlled territory, while others were taken to government-held Aleppo city.
Fatima has no news of Ghadir, her son Adel, 15, her 13-month-old daughter Rimas, or her husband Mohannad.
Only Zahra, seven, is safely at Fatima's side.
- 'Didn't even have her name' -
The carnage on Saturday came as thousands gathered to be evacuated from Fuaa and Kafraya as part of a complex deal that also saw people leave Madaya and Zabadani, towns near Damascus surrounded by pro-government forces.
"I saw a car distributing potato chips to the children. My daughter asked me to get her a bag, but a little kid came and snatched the bag from me," Fatima said.
A smile briefly crossed her face before it turned dark again, as she remembered the devastating scene that followed.
"I went to get another one and suddenly something exploded. I flew back onto the ground and there were bodies on top of me.... I pulled myself and my daughter out from under the bodies and ran."
Syrians wounded in a suicide car bombing that targeted buses carrying evacuees from besieged government-held towns. At least 68 children were among 126 people killed in the attack
"They took us to a hospital and treated us well... But when they took Ghadir to Turkey, I didn't know anything. They didn't even have her name," Fatima said.
Dozens of survivors from Fuaa and Kafraya were squatting on blankets and rugs in the displacement centre, awaiting news of relatives of whom they lost track after the explosion.
Several children, some as young as three, sat shell-shocked in a row, staying quiet as people asked for their names or where their parents were.
One woman, whose daughter was taken to another village for treatment, anxiously tried to locate her in unfamiliar rebel-controlled territory.
"Where is this village? How am I supposed to know anything about her?" she called out.
- 'Did he die?' -
Nearby, Umm Mohammad, her face scratched and her left hand wrapped in gauze, was hysterical.
She was flanked by her two young boys, whose faces were bandaged, but her third child was nowhere in sight.
"I want information about my son. Is he in Turkey? Did he die?" she screamed, as mothers nearby tried to soothe her.
"He's eight months old, he can't tell people who he is. No one knows his name. How am I supposed to get to him?"
In a section of the tent reserved for men, Shareef al-Hussein, 35, waited with his two sons.
Haydar, 10, was lightly wounded in the forehead. All that was visible of four-year-old Hamza's face from behind his bloodied bandages was his nose.
"My children cry every day because they want to see their mother. We hope to go back one day" to Kafraya, Hussein said.
He and fellow evacuees were besieged for two years by rebel fighters -- some of whom helped rescue people hurt in the suicide attack.
"They got us medication and food, they helped us with the kids," Hussein told AFP, which requested that rebel fighters not be present during the interview.
Osama, a resident of Fuaa who had joined a local pro-government militia in the village, said he was "not afraid" of being in opposition-controlled territory.
"Our brothers here are assuring us that we are not their hostages," he said.
Syria's six-year war has so bitterly divided its population that many anti-regime rebels and residents of government-held territory struggled to believe they were under the same tent.
Abu Obeida, a 33-year-old rebel fighter, said he helped rescue wounded civilians after Saturday's attack, but acknowledged it was "difficult" to say how he would have reacted if a deal between the two sides had not been underway.
"But I had to rescue the children and the old people," he added.
"It's a human issue."
US President Donald Trump (L) and Chinese President Xi Jinping walk together at the Mar-a-Lago estate on April 7, 2017
US President Donald Trump praised China for its help in pressuring North Korea, while defending his softening stance on trade and other issues with the Asian giant, in an interview that aired Tuesday.
In the comments to Fox News, Trump cited the strength of his newfound relationship with President Xi Jinping in explaining why he has dropped his past criticism of China.
"Now, what am I going to do? Start a trade war with China while in the middle of him working on a bigger problem, frankly, with North Korea?" he said. "So, I'm dealing with China with great respect. I have great respect for him. Now, we'll see what he can do."
"What am I going to do? In the middle of him talking with North Korea I'm going to hit them with currency manipulation? This is the fake media that just does a number," he said, speaking Monday on the sidelines of the annual White House Easter egg roll.
"Think of it. He's working so nicely. Many coal ships have been sent back, fuel has been sent back. They're not dealing the same way. Nobody's ever seen it like that. Nobody's ever seen such a positive response on our behalf from China."
The turning point in Trump's relationship with China appears to have come when he met with Xi at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on April 6-7.
During the US presidential campaign, Trump harshly attacked Beijing as a currency manipulator and threatened to slap 45 percent tariffs on Chinese imports.
Since taking office, however, US tensions with North Korea have soared amid a drumbeat of missile tests and fears Pyongyang may be readying a sixth nuclear test.
When asked if he had ruled out some sort of military strike against North Korea, Trump said he did not wish to reveal his plans.
"I don't want to telegraph what I'm doing or what I'm thinking," he said.
"I hope there's going to be peace, but they've been talking with this gentleman (Kim Jong-un) for a long time. You read (Bill) Clintons book and he said 'Oh, we made such a great peace deal' and it was a joke. You look at different things over the years with President Obama. Everybody has been outplayed. Theyve all been outplayed by this gentleman and well see what happens."
US experts believe that only China has sufficient economic and political leverage to restrain Pyongyang's drive to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead.
US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis briefs reporters en route to Riyadh on April 18, 2017, at the start of a Middle East tour
The United States and China are working "closely" together over North Korea, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday, two days after a new missile test by Pyongyang.
Sunday's test "shows why we are working so closely right now with the Chinese, coming out of the Mar-a-Lago meeting" in Florida between the two nations' leaders earlier this month, Mattis told reporters.
The American-Chinese effort seeks to "get this under control and aim for the denuclearised Korean peninsula" desired by China, the US, South Korea and Japan, he said as he flew to the Middle East for a tour.
"We all share that same interest."
North Korea has defied international pressure over its quest to develop a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile capable of reaching the US mainland.
American officials said the missile test-fired on Sunday exploded seconds after launch.
North Korea still has many technical problems to resolve, but the intensity of its current testing worries Pentagon strategists.
Estimates vary about how much time Pyongyang would still need to build intercontinental ballistic missiles, but some at the Pentagon think it could happen within two years.
Others believe several more years might be needed, noting the difficulty of designing and testing the warhead.
This component, which contains the nuclear bomb, must be able to resist the enormous heat and shock accompanying its atmospheric re-entry after being fired into space.
Mattis arrived on Tuesday in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh, his first stop on the Middle East tour that will also see him visit Egypt, Israel, Qatar and Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.
Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff speaks to his supporters on April 18, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia
Republicans were dealt an unwelcome reminder of Donald Trump's unpopularity Wednesday after a young Democrat's inconclusive but rousing first round victory in a race for a congressional seat long held by the president's party.
Jon Ossoff, 30, fell just short of an outright win with 48.1 percent, but came in first by a wide margin in a crowded field of candidates in Georgia's conservative 6th district, where Tuesday's vote was seen as an early test of strength for the president.
That sets the stage for a battle royale June 20 when Ossoff faces off against second place finisher Karen Handel, a Republican who won just 19.8 percent of the vote but will almost certainly benefit from her party coalescing around her.
Ossoff, a documentary filmmaker and former congressional aide, told energized supporters before all the returns were in that he and Democrats "shattered expectations" with their performance.
"There is no doubt that this is already a victory for the ages," Ossoff said.
Trump, his political brand at stake, jumped into the race as voters went to the polls, attacking Ossoff and urging Republicans to vote in a burst of tweets and robocalls.
"Despite major outside money, FAKE media support and eleven Republican candidates, BIG "R" win with runoff in Georgia. Glad to be of help!" he tweeted after the results came in.
Handel said Trump called Wednesday to congratulate her and to let her know "it's all hands on deck for Republicans" going into the runoff.
- Democratic resurgence? -
Supporters of Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff wait for election returns
Democrats still hope Ossoff can capitalize on Trump's lackluster popularity -- his poll numbers lag at around 40 percent, a record low for an incoming president.
As they see it, a win in Georgia could jumpstart efforts to retake control of the House of Representatives in next year's midterm elections.
"I'd rather be Jon Ossoff than Karen Handel right now," Tom Perez, the Democratic National Committee chairman, told CNN. "The progressive energy out there is palpable and the volunteers are out there. The DNC is all in and other partners all in. I feel good."
Georgia's 6th district is in the relatively affluent and conservative suburbs of Atlanta. It has remained a Republican fortress since 1978 when it was won by Newt Gingrich.
The special election is being held to replace congressman Tom Price, who resigned to become Trump's health secretary.
In the run-up to Tuesday's vote Ossoff had marshalled an army of volunteers, and reportedly amassed millions of dollars in out-of-state contributions by Democratic groups.
Liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org in a statement called Ossoff's first-place finish "a huge triumph for the Resistance and for progressives."
"The reason is clear: voters are rejecting Trump and his policies."
- Grassroots energy -
Part of what is fueling Democratic excitement about the race is that while Trump won Georgia by six percentage points, the district that Ossoff seeks to win supported Trump by barely one point over Democrat Hillary Clinton.
It has many well-educated voters who are reliably Republican but frustrated by Trump.
Voters cast their ballots for Georgia's 6th Congressional District in a special election
"This is a Republican district but it is not a strongly Trump district just as there are Democratic districts that are Trump districts," said Tom Cole, a Republican leader in the House of Representatives.
"It does tell you this is the kind of seats that Democrats would and should focus on and where they need to win. Last night they weren't able to do that. We'll see how we did on June 20th," he said on CNN.
The race quickly gained national attention, becoming the 11th most expensive election in House history, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution has reported that Republicans and Democrats have spent a combined $14 million on ad blitzes.
Ossoff is an untested candidate. He praises the grassroots organizers who he said are fueling support for his campaign and those of other Democrats considering mounting challenges in Trump-friendly territory.
To date Democrats have been unable to translate such energy into tangible election victories in the Trump era.
Last week, a Democrat challenging for an open congressional seat in a deep-red district in Kansas fell short of an upset.
The Democrat lost that race by seven percentage points, but the party sought to spin the result as a positive, pointing out that Trump won the district in November by 27 points.
A Saudi-led coalition began air strikes over Yemen in March 2015
Twelve Saudi soldiers, including four officers, were killed on Tuesday when their helicopter went down in Yemen, the Arab coalition fighting Yemeni rebels said in a statement.
The Saudi Black Hawk "fell during operations in the province of Marib" east of Sanaa, the coalition said in a statement carried by SPA state news agency, without clarifying the reason.
"The causes of the incident are being investigated," the statement added.
Coalition spokesman General Ahmed Assiri told AFP it was "too early" to comment on the causes of the crash, which is one of the deadliest incidents involving coalition forces in Yemen.
The rebel-controlled Saba news agency said a helicopter crashed east of the provincial capital Marib without giving further details.
Two years of conflict in Yemen
A Saudi-led coalition began air strikes over Yemen in March 2015 in support of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi's internationally recognised government in its fight against Iran-backed Huthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which play key roles in the coalition, have suffered the alliance's heaviest losses in Yemen, with dozens of soldiers killed.
In September 2015, a rebel missile strike on a coalition base in Marib killed 67 coalition soldiers, most of them Emiratis.
The United Nations says that more than 7,700 people have been killed since March 2015 in Yemen, which also faces a serious risk of famine this year.
Seven ceasefires brokered between government and rebel forces by the United Nations have failed, while UN-backed peace talks have repeatedly broken down.
Like many of Donald Trump's executive orders to date, the newest decree on worker visas will have little practical impact, but sends a signal for the various government departments to come forward with ideas for reform
President Donald Trump moved Tuesday to make good on his emblematic pledge to "Buy American, Hire American" by tightening skilled-worker visa rules, but his room for maneuver remains limited without wider congressional reform.
Speaking in Kenosha, Wisconsin -- one of the states that carried him to his upset victory last November -- Trump vowed: "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure more products are stamped with those wonderful words, 'Made in the USA.'"
Like many of Trump's executive orders to date, his newest decree will have little practical impact, but sends a signal for government agencies to come forward with ideas for reforming the country's H-1B visa system.
Trump is looking to stamp out "abuses" of the time-limited work permits, which are pervasive in the US high-tech sector, as a first step towards reforming the regime.
Intended for scientists, engineers and computer programmers, H-1B visas have become an important gateway for the many Indians drawn to Silicon Valley. The United States issues 85,000 each year.
Trump's decree namely instructs the Labor, Justice and Homeland Security departments to tackle abuses and draw up reforms aimed at bringing the program back to its original intent: awarding visas to the most skilled and highly paid applicants.
The Trump administration argues that the current system has led to a "flood" of relatively low-wage, low-skill workers in the tech sector -- and in doing so has harmed American workers.
"We believe jobs must be offered to American workers first," Trump said.
The US Chamber of Commerce voiced immediate reservations: While it agreed there was room for improvement of the H-1B program, it warned the Trump administration not to do away with it altogether.
"For too long, rather than operating as designed and allowing only the best and brightest to come in and fill key positions, the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program has been administered in a way that harms American workers," a White House official said
"It would be a mistake to close the door on high-skilled workers from around the world who can contribute to American businesses' growth and expansion and make the US more competitive around the world," the business lobby said in a statement.
The White House sees the decree as a way to spur momentum towards a broader congressional reform of the H-1B scheme -- whose outline remains unclear.
"This is a transitional step to get towards a more skill-based and merit-based version," a US official told AFP. "There is a lot we can do administratively, and the rest will be done hopefully legislatively."
In his maiden speech to Congress, on March 1, Trump had proposed introducing an Australian-style merit-based system to reduce the flow of unskilled workers into the United States.
- Seeking momentum -
Trump's new decree also includes a "Buy American" component, calling for stricter implementation of existing laws that are intended to favor US-manufactured goods in public tenders.
Without making specific new announcements, the Republican president once more pointed the finger at the North American Free Trade Agreement between the US, Canada and Mexico, dubbing it "a complete and total disaster."
"It's been very, very bad for our companies and for our workers and we're going to make some very big changes or we are going to get rid of NAFTA for once and for all," he warned.
As Trump's presidency nears the symbolic 100-day mark, the 70-year-old leader is looking to regain momentum on the domestic front after his flagship travel ban was blocked in court, and his vaunted health reform foundered in Congress.
Trump's promise of an ambitious tax reform -- another central campaign pledge that would notably involve slashing corporate taxes -- is also struggling to take shape.
"Our tax reform and tax plan is coming along very well," Trump said in Wisconsin. "It's going to be out very soon."
But Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin acknowledged in the Financial Times earlier Tuesday the reform would likely be delayed, calling the target of getting it through Congress before August "highly aggressive to not realistic at this point."
Carlisle native and Cumberland Valley graduate Capt. David E. Brown of the Arizona Rangers Show Low Company was recently named Ranger of the Year for the state of Arizona.
At the same time, he received the Captain Burt Mossman Award for leadership.
Having retired from the Army, Brown lives in Show Low with his wife of 24 years, Heidi. The couple has two children, daughter Kayla and son Skyler.
Q. Tell me about the Arizona Rangers. What they do as a law enforcement auxiliary?
A. The Modern Day Arizona Rangers support law enforcement across the entire state of Arizona. We are trained in weapon tactics, baton, handcuffing, radio communication, traffic control, active shooter training, etc. Law enforcement can call upon us at anytime with the benefit of knowing that, if they need us, we are already trained and prepared for duties and emergencies. We purchase all of our own uniforms, gear and training equipment. We receive no pay. Our rangers carry firearms in every event we take part in. The governor of Arizona is the Chief Arizona Ranger. There are 18 companies across the state of Arizona and approximately 300 active men and women currently in the Arizona Rangers. I am the captain of Show Low Company, and we cover two counties, Apache County and Navajo County.
Q. The Rangers are celebrating their 60th year. Would you tell us a little about their history, including the Territorial Arizona Rangers?
A. The Territorial Arizona Rangers were active from 1901 to 1909. They were modeled after the Texas Rangers. During that time span, a total of 107 men rode horseback and cleaned up the territory of cattle thieves, horse rustlers and just plain bad men. These brave men did their job so well they basically worked themselves out of a job, being disbanded in 1909. Nine out of 10 times they would capture their man dead or alive. The Territorial Arizona Rangers played a major role in helping Arizona achieve statehood.
In 1957, with the help of four living Territorial Arizona Rangers, the state of Arizona reinstated the Arizona Rangers as an all-volunteer, law enforcement auxiliary. Our main priority is law enforcement assistance. We also give back to the youth of Arizona and our communities. Finally, we keep our history alive through our uniforms and giving history classes where able.
Q. How did you become a Ranger?
A. My wife actually introduced me to a couple of Arizona Rangers at a preparedness fair. Before meeting these two men, I had never even heard of the Arizona Rangers before. I was impressed by their uniforms and the fact that they were willing to put their lives on the line while giving so much back to the community that they reside in. The fact that they did all of this without receiving a paycheck seemed to impress me even more. I can honestly say that from the moment I met them, I knew I was going to become an Arizona Ranger.
Q. How were you selected for these awards?
A. I was selected in March of 2017 to receive the Ranger of the Year Award and the Captain Burt Mossman Award for my leadership role of helping with the Cedar Creek Fire. This emergency lasted well over a week and almost caused the evacuation of the town of Show Low. Our town also had a local police officer killed in the line of duty last November. His name was Darrin Reed. Immediately, my company and I volunteered to assist the surrounding police departments with anything they needed to continue their duties. These two emergencies, along with leading by example, was the main reason that I achieved these two awards.
Q. What drew you first to the Army and then to working with the Rangers?
A. I enlisted in the U.S. Army my senior year of high school. At the time, I wanted the chance to learn a job skill while being able to travel. I served as a motor transport operator and an Army recruiter. My wife and I moved to Arizona after our retirement in 2012. Upon meeting with the Arizona Rangers, I realized that I had so much more that I wanted to personally contribute to society. I mentioned before that we do not get paid money as Modern Day Arizona Rangers. Our payment comes from helping people whose lives we touch daily on and off duty.
Egyptian Bedouins wait for tourists with their camels outside the walls of St Catherine monastery in the Sinai desert
A policeman was killed and three others wounded Tuesday when gunmen opened fire on a checkpoint near St Catherine's monastery in Egypt's Sinai, the interior ministry said, in an attack claimed by Islamic State jihadists.
"A number of gunmen... facing one of the checkpoints on the road to St Catherine's in south Sinai shot at security forces at the checkpoint," the interior ministry said in a statement on its Facebook page.
Security forces returned fire, wounding some of the attackers and "forcing them to flee", it said.
The police were pursuing efforts to find the gunmen, the ministry said.
Khalid Abu Hashem, the health ministry official for South Sinai province, earlier told state television that one person had been killed and four wounded.
The injured were in a stable condition and had been taken to hospital in the nearby Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, he said.
IS claimed responsibility for the attack shortly after.
"The attack that took place near St. Catherine Monastery in south Sinai was carried out by Islamic State fighters," the group's Amaq propaganda agency said on social media accounts, citing a "security source".
St Catherine's monastery, a Christian site which lies some 500 kilometres (300 miles) southeast of Cairo in the south of the Sinai peninsula, attracts thousands of visitors a year.
The attack comes nine days after Palm Sunday services at Coptic Christian churches in the cities of Tanta and Alexandria were bombed by IS, killing 45 people.
IS has threatened to carry out more attacks on the minority, which makes up about 10 percent of Egypt's 92 million people.
Egypt is battling a jihadist insurgency in north Sinai that has killed hundreds of policemen and troops since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.
In October 2015, IS claimed the bombing of a Russian airliner carrying holidaymakers home from the popular south Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, killing all 224 people on board.
Soldiers from the United Nations Stabilisation Mission for the Congo are seen in an abandoned quarry in Munigi in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2013
South Sudanese former rebels on Tuesday released 16 UN staff after holding them hostage for several hours in a camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a UN official said.
About 530 former rebels from South Sudan are living in the Munigi camp, just outside of Goma, where they fled when fighting flared in the South Sudanese capital of Juba in July.
"We are pleased to confirm that all 16 MONUSCO staff, who were earlier being held in a camp for former combatants in Munigi, have been released," said a UN official.
The 16 staff worked for the UN mission, known as MONUSCO, but there were no details about their nationalities.
"The camp is quiet and under full control of MONUSCO. All staff have returned safely to their homes," said the official.
The official added that there were no casualties from the incident and that the mission had opened an investigation.
The combatants, who were disarmed when they entered the camp, have for months demanded to be relocated, but UN officials have been unable to find countries willing to take them in.
Rebel leader Riek Machar remains in South Africa and has been prevented from returning to South Sudan.
After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of thousands dead and 3.5 million people displaced.
Malian army forces patrol east of Timbuktu in 2015
Suspected jihadists killed five Malian soldiers Tuesday in the restive northern Timbuktu region, the government said, while the French army said it had "neutralised" around 10 fleeing attackers.
The attackers made a dawn raid on an army camp in the remote Gourma Rharous area, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) from the ancient city of Timbuktu, a statement from Mali's government said.
The assault "by a terrorist group" led to "the deaths of five soldiers and around 10 wounded," the statement said without identifying the attackers.
The French army said troops serving under Operation Barkhane, its counterterror operation targeting jihadist groups in the Sahel region, had arrived at the scene after Malian soldiers raised the alarm.
They sent a plane and a team of French commandos and about 10 of the fleeing attackers were "neutralised" about 30 kilometres from the camp they raided, it said, without specifying if the attackers had been killed or wounded.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Mali condemned the "terrorist" attack and said it had sent a helicopter to evacuate the injured soldiers.
Mali's north fell under the control of jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda in 2012 who hijacked an ethnic Tuareg-led uprising, though the Islamists were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013.
But swathes of the country remain beyond the control of Malian, French and UN forces, which face regular attacks despite a 2015 peace deal that was supposed to isolate the jihadists once and for all.
A US defense official on April 18 told AFP that the ships, including the USS Carl Vinson, seen in 2014, remained off the northwest coast of Australia, though the Navy said it was directing the group "north" as a deterrant to North Korea April 8
An aircraft carrier the US Navy said was steaming toward the Korean Peninsula amid rising tensions has not yet departed, a US defense official acknowledged Tuesday.
The Navy on April 8 said it was directing a naval strike group headed by the USS Carl Vinson supercarrier to "sail north," as a "prudent measure" to deter North Korea.
Pentagon chief Jim Mattis on April 11 said the Vinson was "on her way up" to the peninsula.
President Donald Trump the next day said: "We are sending an armada. Very powerful."
But a defense official told AFP Tuesday that the ships were still off the northwest coast of Australia. A Navy photograph showed the Vinson off Java over the weekend.
"They are going to start heading north towards the Sea of Japan within the next 24 hours," the official said on condition of anonymity.
The official added that the strike group wouldn't be in the region before next week at the earliest -- it is thousands of nautical miles from the Java Sea to the Sea of Japan.
At the time of the strike group's deployment, many media outlets said the ships were steaming toward North Korea, when in fact they had temporarily headed in the opposite direction.
The United States ratcheted up its rhetoric ahead of North Korea's military parade and failed missile launch over the weekend, and Vice President Mike Pence on Monday declared that the era of US "strategic patience" in dealing with Pyongyang was over.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un responded with his own fiery warnings and threatened to conduct weekly missile tests.
It was not clear if the issue was the result of poor communication by the Navy, but some observers were critical.
Joel Wit, a co-founder of the 38 North program of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University, said the matter was "very perplexing" and fed into North Korea's narrative that America is all bluster and doesn't follow through on threats.
"If you are going to threaten the North Koreans, you better make sure your threat is credible," Wit said.
"If you threaten them and your threat is not credible, it's only going to undermine whatever your policy toward them is."
The strike group has been conducting drills with the Australian navy in recent days, the official said, though it scrapped a planned port visit in Australia as a result of the new orders.
GOOCHLAND, Va. (AP) - Virginia authorities are investigating the death of an Army veteran, paralyzed from the waist down, who was found early Monday in a wheelchair outside his apartment complex.
Paul Chisholm, 38, showed no signs of trauma other than to his feet, which apparently dragged under his wheelchair, leaving a trail of blood from his apartment, Goochland County Sheriff Jim Agnew said. The blood pooled outside other apartment doors, where he may have sought help.
A newspaper carrier found his body.
Chisholm's mother said he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was medically discharged after he was injured in Afghanistan, where he served with the 101st Airborne. After returning from Afghanistan, he was struck by a car, leaving him paralyzed from the upper chest down, Alice Farley said.
She described her son as a sweet, thoughtful person who played piano by ear, loved to fish and appreciated a good haircut.
"It's a really tragic time for the family," Farley told The Associated Press on Monday evening.
Army service records show he received six awards during just over two years of service.
Agnew said the sheriff's office is not looking for any suspects. The medical examiner was working to determine how Chisholm died.
Farley said she had no idea what happened to Chisholm.
"It's all speculation right now," she said. "The family is waiting to hear, ourselves."
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - Independent Vermont U.S. senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is calling for a radical transformation of the Democratic Party.
Sanders and Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez launched a cross-country tour together Monday in Maine, where Sanders won the Democratic presidential caucuses. The 10-day tour will take them from Portland to Nevada.
Sanders says the Democratic Party must stop ignoring half the nation's states and take on corporate greed on behalf of the working class.
Perez urges attendees to resist Republican President Donald Trump by winning seats in Congress, statehouses and school boards.
Sanders earned nearly two-thirds of the ballots cast in Maine's Democratic presidential caucuses to beat Hillary Clinton.
Some attendees say it's time to unite the party. Others say they're skeptical of political parties and big money in politics.
BEIRUT (AP) - An overnight airstrike likely carried out by the U.S.-led coalition struck an eastern Syrian town held by the Islamic State group, killing at least 10 people and wounding dozens, opposition activists said. Another airstrike, this one during the day, hit a rebel-held village in the northwest on Tuesday, killing a woman and nine children.
The activists said the late Monday strike on the town of Boukamal, on the Iraqi border, was similar to airstrikes carried out by the U.S.-led coalition that has been targeting IS in both Syria and Iraq. Airstrikes by the U.S.-led coalition have killed dozens of civilians over the past several weeks as the battle against the extremists intensifies.
The new purported took place as the U.S.-led coalition came under fire from Human Rights Watch over another deadly incident in northern Syria last month, in which dozens of people were killed.
The IS-linked Aamaq news agency said the strike of Boukamal killed six people and wounded 15 - all of them women and children. It did not say whether any IS fighters were also killed.
The U.S. military's regional command, CENTCOM, said in response to a query by The Associated Press that it was aware of the reports and was looking into them.
Activists gave different casualty tolls. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Boukamal strike killed 15 civilians, including women and children, as well as three Iraqi IS fighters.
Opposition activist Omar Abu Laila, who currently lives in Europe but is from the province where the strike took place and maintains contacts there, said 10 people were killed, including an Iraqi family of four. He said IS cordoned off the area and cut all telecommunications after the strike, which heavily damaged at least four buildings.
"The number of casualties is huge," Abu Laila said, adding that mosque loudspeakers were used to urge people to head to hospitals to donate blood.
IS used to control wide parts of Syria and Iraq, where the group declared a caliphate in 2014. Over the past year the extremists have suffered a string of defeats at the hands of an array of Syrian and Iraqi forces.
On Tuesday in northern Syria, an airstrike on the village of Maaret Harmeh killed 10 people and wounded several others, activists said. The Observatory said those killed were all relatives. The Civil Defense, another activist group, said 10 people were also wounded in that attack.
Maaret Harmeh is close to the town of Khan Sheikhoun where a chemical weapons attack killed nearly 90 people on April 4.
The United States has accused the Syrian government of being behind the attack and fired missiles at a Syrian army base. Syria denies the charges.
Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said in a report Tuesday that U.S. forces appear to have failed to take necessary precautions to avoid civilian casualties in a March 16 airstrike that killed dozens of people in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo.
U.S. officials said at the time that the airstrike hit an al-Qaida gathering, killing dozens of militants. Syrian opposition activists said around 40 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the crowded Omar Ibn al-Khattab Mosque in the Jeeneh district. U.S. officials at the time also said they found no basis for reports that civilians were killed.
However, Human Rights Watch's 16-page report said it found no evidence to support the allegation that members of al-Qaida or any other armed group were meeting in the mosque. It said a religious lecture was being held at the time of the attack and that prayers were about to begin.
"The U.S. seems to have gotten several things fundamentally wrong in this attack, and dozens of civilians paid the price," said Ole Solvang, HRW deputy emergencies director. "The U.S. authorities need to figure out what went wrong, start doing their homework before they launch attacks, and make sure it doesn't happen again."
Lama Fakih, the New York-based watchdog's deputy for Mideast and North Africa, told the AP that the report concluded the mosque strike killed at least 38 people. She added that the U.S.-led coalition appears to "have failed to understand" that the building being hit was a mosque.
___
Associated Press writer Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.
SYDNEY (AP) - Australia will scrap a temporary visa for skilled overseas workers, the prime minister said Tuesday, arguing that Australians must be given priority over foreigners for local jobs.
The popular 457 visa, which allows foreigners to live and work in Australia for up to four years, will be replaced with a stricter scheme that requires a criminal background check and includes tougher English language requirements, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. The list of occupations that qualify for the new visa will be sharply reduced.
"We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains: Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs," Turnbull said in a Facebook video announcing the change.
In this Aug. 10, 2016 photo, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull addresses the media from the government offices in Sydney. Turnbull said Tuesday, April 18, 2017, that the country will scrap a temporary visa for skilled foreign workers, arguing that Australians must be given priority for Australian jobs. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
The decision by Australia comes one day before President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order that will make changes to a visa program that brings high-skilled workers to the U.S. The White House said the current visa program undercuts American workers by bringing in cheaper labor.
Australia's 457 visa was created to address shortages of local workers in certain skilled professions. But critics argued that businesses abused it by paying foreigners lower wages than most Australians would accept.
Turnbull said the new visa scheme would ensure that businesses only bring in foreign workers who are crucial to filling shortages of critical skills.
"It is focused relentlessly on the national interest and in ensuring that temporary migration visas are not a passport for foreigners to take up jobs that could and should be filled by Australians," Turnbull told reporters in the nation's capital, Canberra.
The 95,000 people already in Australia on 457 visas will not be affected by the change.
Members of Australia's far-right political parties, particularly the anti-immigration One Nation party, were fierce critics of the 457 visa, arguing that it was allowing foreign workers to steal jobs from Australians.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson took to Twitter on Tuesday to claim credit for Turnbull's decision.
"The government will deny their tough talk on immigration and plan to ban 457 visas is because of One Nation but we all know the truth!" Hanson tweeted.
WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) - The family of a guard killed during a prison riot and five other officers who survived the inmate uprising sued the state of Delaware in federal court on Tuesday, accusing officials of ignoring security and staffing problems.
The lawsuit claims state officials have failed to meet their obligation to provide adequate staffing and safe working environments within Delaware's prisons.
Defendants include former governors Ruth Ann Minner and Jack Markell, Department of Correction Commissioner Perry Phelps, and three former commissioners.
Inmates took four correctional workers hostage at the maximum-security Vaughn Correctional Center in Smyrna in February, setting off a nearly 20-hour standoff during which correctional officer Steven Floyd was killed.
The siege ended when tactical teams used a backhoe to breach the building and rescue a female counselor. Two other guards had been released earlier after being tormented and beaten by inmates. Three other correctional workers locked themselves in a basement for hours before climbing to an attic and onto a roof, where they were rescued.
"The complaint charges that this calamity is all due to the dereliction of duty by these two governors, and their appointees," plaintiffs' attorney Thomas Neuberger said in a prepared statement.
If there had been adequate staffing at Vaughn Correctional Center, the inmates would not have been able to overpower the officers, take control of the building and kill Floyd, the president of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware has said.
Union members say chronic understaffing has left prison guards badly outnumbered and unable to ensure operational security. The union has argued for years for increasing pay and benefits so that more officers can be recruited and retained, ending a heavy reliance on forced overtime to meet minimal operating needs.
According to the lawsuit, overtime costs during Markell's eight years in office increased from around $13 million a year to $23 million a year, even as vacant positions went unfilled.
While Gov. John Carney, who took office in January, is not named as a defendant, the lawsuit alleges that he violated prison policy by intervening in the emergency response to the uprising.
According to the DOC policy manual, the warden is the "ultimate commander" in the event of a major emergency and is in charge until the situation is resolved.
The complaint alleges that Warden David Pierce had given the green light to a prison emergency response team to retake the building and rescue the hostages within an hour of the start of the uprising, but "the governor instead intervened, "overruled the warden and halted the rescue attempt, for presently unknown reasons."
The complaint says the warden, who has since been reassigned, was "enraged" by the governor's intervention.
The lawsuit notes that the plaintiffs have been unable to determine when Floyd's death occurred because of Carney's refusal to release autopsy results to his family.
In response to a query from The Associated Press, a Carney spokesman last month denied that the governor had made any decisions during the emergency response.
"The governor trusted his law enforcement team on the ground to make decisions on how best to respond throughout the incident," Carney spokesman Jon Starkey said in an email.
Australia abolishes 457 Visa Programme largely used by Indians
Published: April 18, 2017
Australia has abolished the 457 Visa Programme used by thousands of temporary foreign workers, a majority of them Indians to address growing unemployment in that country. Instead, Australia wants to adopt Australians first approach to skilled migration.
Since access to the skills is important for the growth and investment of that countrys businesses, it intends to replace the 457 visa programme by another visa programme, with new restrictions. The new temporary visa will be designed in such a way it will help in recruiting the best and brightest to fill critical skill gaps in the interest of that nation. The new visa will ensure that foreign workers are not brought into Australia just because it is easy for the employers to recruit a foreign worker than go to the trouble of hiring an Australian.
There are about 95,757 workers in Australia on primary 457 visa programme. Worryingly, the majority of the visa holders are from India followed by the UK and China. This announcement has come days after Prime Minister Turnbull visited India where a range of issues, including national security, counter-terrorism, education and energy, were discussed. Totally, six agreements were signed during his visit.
457 Visa
The 457 visa allows Australian employers to employ foreign workers for a period up to four years in skilled jobs where there is a shortage of Australian workers. The visa holders are eligible to bring family members, who have unrestricted work and study rights in Australia. The visa was introduced during the tenure of Prime Minister John Howard in 1996.
Month: Current Affairs - April, 2017
Topics: India-Australia International
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WASHINGTON (AP) - Tuesday is Tax Day, that dreaded day when millions of procrastinators rush to fulfill their civic duty by filing state and federal tax returns.
But for most, it's not that bad. Sure, the forms are complicated and yes, there is math. But tax season also generates about $300 billion in refunds, a significant boost to the U.S. economy.
Five things to know about Tax Day:
FILE - In this April 13, 2014, file photo shows the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) headquarters building in Washington. Tuesday, April 18, 2017, is Tax Day, that dreaded day when millions of procrastinators rush to fulfill their civic duty by filing state and federal tax returns. But for most, it's not that bad. Sure, the forms are complicated and yes, there is math. But tax season also generates about $300 billion in refunds, a significant boost to the U.S. economy. (AP Photo/J. David Ake, File)
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MOST GET REFUNDS
The IRS so far has processed 101 million tax returns from individuals and about 80 percent have qualified for refunds. The average refund is $2,851, an increase of $53 over last year.
By the end of filing season, the IRS expects to process 150 million returns. That's after millions file for automatic six-month extensions.
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CHANCES OF GETTING AUDITED ARE SLIM
The number of people audited by the IRS in 2016 dropped for the sixth straight year, to just over 1 million. That's less than 1 percent of filers.
The last time so few people were audited was 2004. Since then, the U.S. has added about 30 million people.
The IRS blames budget cuts as money for the agency shrank from $12.2 billion in 2010 to $11.2 billion last year.
But rich people beware. The higher your income, the more likely you are to be audited. Agents audited 5.8 percent of returns that reported more than $1 million in income.
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RETURNS DOWN, REFUNDS DELAYED
Tax season got off to a slow start because the IRS delayed refunds for more than 40 million low-income families as part of the agency's efforts to fight identity theft.
The delays affected families claiming the earned income tax credit and the additional child tax credit. The tax breaks are geared to benefit the working poor, and many families claim both.
The tax filing season started Jan. 23. But a new law required the IRS to delay tax refunds for people claiming these credits until Feb. 15.
The delay was designed to give the agency more time to screen the returns for fraud. Throughout the tax filing season, the number of tax returns processed by the IRS has been lower than last year.
As of April 7, the IRS had received 104 million tax returns and processed 101 million. Both numbers are down about 3.5 percent from last year.
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PEOPLE ILLEGALLY IN US PAY TAXES
There is a common myth that people in the U.S. illegally don't pay taxes. But data from both the IRS and the Social Security Administration says otherwise.
Yes, some work in the underground economy. But in 2015, the Social Security Administration estimated that immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally paid $100 billion in Social Security payroll taxes over the previous decade. They paid the taxes even though few will ever be able to collect benefits.
How does Social Security know when it receives taxes from immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally? One way is by tracking reported wages in which the Social Security number does not match the name the agency has on file.
Some of these are clerical errors or unreported name changes. But the agency estimates that a majority of the wages come from immigrants who have made-up Social Security numbers or used someone else's.
Also, the IRS has issued more than 20 million Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) to foreigners.
The ITINs are supposed to be used by foreigners who have some form of U.S. income, and therefore owe U.S. taxes. However, the tax agency believes that many of them are used by people who are working in the U.S. illegally.
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TAX DAY ISN'T MUCH OF A DEADLINE IF YOU'RE DUE A REFUND
The IRS doesn't like to talk about it, but penalties for filing late federal tax returns apply only to people who owe money. The penalty is a percentage of what you owe. If you owe nothing, there is no penalty.
But it doesn't make much sense to file late if you are owed a refund. And beware - if you have unpaid taxes, the late fees add up quickly.
The failure-to-file penalty is generally 5 percent of your unpaid tax bill for every month, or part of a month, you are late. It kicks in on April 19. In general, the maximum penalty is 25 percent of your original tax bill.
There also is a penalty for failing to pay your tax bill, separate from the penalty for failing to file at all, but it's much smaller. That's because the IRS wants you to file a return even if you don't have enough money to pay your bill.
The failure-to-pay penalty is 0.5 percent of your unpaid taxes for every month, or part of a month, you don't pay.
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HAYANGE, France (AP) - Two things now grow around the rusting carcasses of the last blast furnaces in this French steel town: weeds, and votes for populist Marine Le Pen.
For months, labor leader Walter Broccoli fought to keep the fires burning, fearing that failure could drive enraged workers into the arms of Le Pen and her virulently nationalistic politics. He never imagined his own son would become part of the stampede.
He says they've not spoken in the three years since he discovered to his horror from their local newspaper that David Broccoli was registered as a candidate in municipal elections for Le Pen's anti-European Union, anti-immigration National Front.
In this Friday April 7, 2017 photo, sunlight streams into a "British Steel" factory during steel production at Hayange, a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
"I said to myself, 'Impossible! What's happened to him?' I called him up. We argued. He told me, 'That's the way it is' and hung up on me," Walter Broccoli says. "I've had nightmares where I saw him dressed in an SS uniform, all in black, with a cap. I took it very hard. It shocked me: My son, in the National Front? Impossible. Unbearable."
Yet the National Front is now an inescapable part of the landscape in France's industrial eastern rustbelt and its once left-leaning towns. Le Pen is projected to win millions of votes Sunday in the first round of France's two-stage presidential election, likely catapulting her to within one step of an electoral earthquake that would shake France and the EU to its core.
Disgruntled working-class voters will cast ballots for the anti-establishment Le Pen not solely out of conviction but also in protest. She is their nuclear option, their way to flip the bird at the French political mainstream they feel has betrayed and abandoned them.
Steel worker Pascal Grimmer doesn't share Le Pen's politics; he doesn't, like her, want a "Frexit" to take France out of the EU or to ditch its shared euro currency. But she will get his vote because he's "angry with politicians, filled with rage," and "she is the candidate who most scares the others," Grimmer says.
He hopes that an electro-shock-high score for Le Pen - not quite enough to install her in the presidential Elysee Palace but an uncomfortably close shave - will jolt more mainstream politicians "to use their brains to ask themselves, 'What do people want?'"
"You reap what you sow. And our politicians have treated the French people like idiots," he says. "Politicians don't fulfill their promises. They lie as easily as they breathe."
Last time, Grimmer voted Francois Hollande, the Socialist whose presidency, now in its final weeks, lasted just one term, sunk by his unpopularity.
Grimmer was impressed when Hollande came stumping during the 2012 campaign for working-class votes at the ArcelorMittal steel plant where he works. Labor leaders were in the thick of their battle to save Hayange's furnaces, the last in eastern France still serving the steel industry.
Incongruous in his suit and tie, Hollande clambered onto the roof of a van with union leaders, took a microphone and promised to push for a law to help save plants facing closure. The crowd, which included Grimmer, cheered. In a seemingly trivial detail, but one which workers subsequently wouldn't let him forget, Hollande even shared a spicy barbecued 'merguez' sausage with them.
"I said to myself, 'Oh, I like this guy.' Naively, I believed him," Grimmer recalls. "I was completely hoodwinked."
Grimmer and others felt betrayed when the furnaces were extinguished in 2013, as part of a deal the Socialist government struck with steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal seven months after Hollande's election. Hollande beat conservative Nicolas Sarkozy, another one-term president under whom ArcelorMittal also closed a plant in nearby Gandrange.
The deal included jobs elsewhere or retirement for furnace workers. ArcelorMittal also promised to invest 180 million euros ($190 million at today's rates) in other sectors of the giant steel works, which still produce high-grade metals for automakers and other clients and sprawl across three towns, including Hayange, in the Fensch valley.
Workers had hoped for more. The mothballing of the furnaces that used to turn the skies incandescent red, dust soot over the valley's towns and draw laborers from across Europe and North Africa hit hard. In a final show of defiance, Grimmer, Broccoli and other members of their Workers' Force union unveiled a plaque of protest in Hayange when the scorching fires which had melted ores into metal went cold.
"SELLOUT," the plaque read. "Here lie the promises of change that F. HOLLANDE made to workers and their families."
Still bitter, Grimmer says: "Politicians are forcing me to vote Le Pen. That's why I'm doing this. Not with a happy heart but because I'm forced to. And increasing numbers of French people are starting to think this way."
And if Le Pen wins?
"So be it. They will have to live with that," he says.
Broccoli says he warned Socialist officials that extinguishing the furnaces would be "electoral suicide." Sure enough, the year after they were put out, Hayange voted in a National Front mayor in 2014 - one of just a handful of towns in France to do so.
"It really hurts me to see workers turning toward fascism, the extreme right," Broccoli says. "They are so angry that they are prepared to vote National Front, to destroy everything. They have nothing left to lose."
Broccoli's son, a computer technician, doesn't work in the steel industry. Still, the father assumes his son felt "abandoned by the government" after losing a job in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, leaving him unable to pay rent. He says the son moved in with his mother, also a National Front supporter. The parents are separated.
"I feel as though he's been stolen from me," Walter Broccoli says. "All these people - like his mother, his stepfather - they weren't like this 15 or 20 years ago. It happened gradually."
David Broccoli didn't respond to calls and a text message from The Associated Press. Herve Hoff, who stood with him as a National Front candidate in 2014, says David Broccoli and his mother "adopted our ideas because they felt that the left had betrayed them. Simple as that."
Hoff, a restaurateur, is now seeking election to parliament. He proudly showed the AP his letter from the National Front investing him as its candidate in the Fensch valley in June legislative elections. Saying Le Pen appeals to "forgotten people," he drew parallels with Donald Trump's election to the White House, won with strong support from disgruntled workers in coal country.
"We'll have the same phenomenon. Deepest France, rural France, will lift up Marine Le Pen and you'll see villages where she'll get crazy scores," he says.
Michel Liebgott, the valley's current lawmaker, a Socialist, handily beat a National Front opponent last time. This time, he's not so confident. If he decides against running again, he says the National Front could win the seat.
Liebgott, who was born in the valley and remembers Hayange as its jewel, a bustling steel town, says the region is dividing between haves and have-nots. Many of the better-off work across the nearby border with Luxembourg, braving gnarled traffic on the highway to Luxembourg City for higher wages in its services economy. An estimated 90,000 such jobs have helped fill voids left by decades of steel plant and mine closures in France.
"The poor are here. The others have gone elsewhere," Liebgott says.
With the benefit of hindsight, the lawmaker says Hollande's campaign stop in the valley in 2012 "was bloody stupid." It gave steel workers false hope that the furnaces, which had long been earmarked for closure, could be saved.
Now firmly ensconced in Hayange, where the eyesore furnaces dominate the skyline, National Front Mayor Fabien Engelmann says he did not propose saving them because that would have been "impossible."
"I didn't lie to my voters. I offered them a coherent program: security, cleanliness, lower taxes, reduced debts, road building, work on schools - things a mayor can do," he says smugly.
The unemployment rate in Hayange is 14 percent, the mayor says - above the already high national average of 10 percent.
Jean-Paul Holtz sees the decaying cathedrals of once-belching pipes and chimneys from his windows. The drum player in Hayange's brass band spent all his working life in steel plants, starting as a 14-year-old apprentice. Now 66 and retired, he wishes the furnaces could be torn down because "it makes me sick to the stomach to see them like that."
Holtz plans to vote for far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who is making a late surge in polls.
"People came to set up industries, money was made, people were provided with jobs. But it's over, finished," Holtz says. "We have to move on. Will we move on? When? I don't know. It drags on and on and on, rusting away."
In this Monday April 3, 2017 photo, an electoral poster showing the face of Marine Le Pen, the leader of France's National Front (FN), is pasted on a wall of an abandoned factory on the outskirts of Hayange, France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
This Tuesday April 4, 2017 photo shows an abandoned steelworks with blast furnaces through a window at Hayange, a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Monday April 3, 2017 photo shows helmets of former workers inside an inactive factory at Hayange, a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Wednesday April 5, 2017 photo, an out of order railroad track leads to an inactive factory in Rombas, a city located in the north east of France, near Hayange. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Monday April 3, 2017 photo, a crane hangs from the roof, inside an inactive factory at Hayange, a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Tuesday April 4, 2017 photo, a general view of one of the main streets of Hayange, a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Tuesday April 4, 2017 photo, a mural depicting miners is displayed along one of the main streets of Hayange, a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
This Tuesday April 4, 2017 photo shows the main control panel of a former steel factory abandoned inside an industrial unit at Hayange, a commune in the Moselle department in Grand East in north-eastern France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
This Monday April 3, 2017 photo shows unloading hoses and couplings covered by dust and cobwebs abandoned inside an inactive factory at Hayange, a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Wednesday April 5, 2017 photo, the main entrance of a former steel factory is covered by vegetation on the outskirts of Rombas, a french city located north east of France, near Hayange. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
This Wednesday April 5, 2017 photo shows an industrial unit that served as a factory, abandoned on the outskirts of Rombas, a city located in the north east of France, near Hayange. Signs read in French: "For your safety, think before acting." In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Monday April 3, 2017 photo, a former repair shop inside an abandoned industrial unit at Hayange, a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Thursday, April 6, 2017 photo, people play tennis at a private club as smoke rises from a chimney at a nearby factory in Hayange. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Thursday April 6, 2017 photo, a former steel factory is photographed through the gate of an abandoned industrial unit on the outskirts of Rombas, a french city located north east of France, near Hayange. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Friday April 7, 2017 photo, monitors show the activity as a worker controls the production inside the "British Steel" factory at Hayange, a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Tuesday April 4, 2017 photo, a poster showing a portrait of an independent candidate for the 2017 French Presidential election Nicolas Dupont Aignan is pasted next to others showing Francois Asselineau, candidate of the UPR party (Union populaire republicaine ie Popular Republican Union) on a wall of a former factory on the outskirts of Hayange. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
This Thursday April 6, 2017 photo shows the main entrance of a former factory closed and abandoned on the outskirts of Rombas, a city located in the north east of France, near Hayange. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
In this Thursday April 6, 2017 photo, an abandoned steel factory is photogrpahed through the broken window of a industrial unit on the outskirts of Rombas, a french city located north east of France, near Hayange. In eastern France's industrial rustbelt, workers are massing behind the virulently nationalistic politics of populist Marine Le Pen. A large chunk of them will come from once left-leaning industrial towns like Hayange, scarred by the closure of its blast furnaces. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
LONDON (AP) - Prince William has brought Lady Gaga onboard in his efforts to persuade people to be more open about their mental health and crush the stigma associated with the issue.
The heir to the throne released a video on Tuesday in which he speaks with the pop superstar in a FaceTime call from his home in London to her home in Los Angeles.
William says it is "time that everyone speaks up and really feels very normal about mental health. It's the same as physical health."
Screen grab image taken from recent undated video issued Tuesday April 18, 2017 by the Heads Together campaign of Lady Gaga speaking to Britain's Prince William via FaceTime. Prince William has brought Lady Gaga on board with in his efforts to persuade people to be more open about their mental health and crush the stigma associated with the issue. The heir to the throne released a video on Tuesday in which he speaks with the pop superstar in a FaceTime call from his home in London to her home in Los Angeles.(Heads Together campaign via AP)
Lady Gaga says that talking more openly about mental health would allow people to feel like "we are not hiding anymore."
William, his wife the Duchess of Cambridge and his brother Prince Harry have made mental health a focus of their charitable work.
Screen grab image taken from recent undated video issued Tuesday April 18, 2017 by the Heads Together campaign of Britain's Prince William speaking to Lady Gaga via FaceTime. Prince William has brought Lady Gaga on board with in his efforts to persuade people to be more open about their mental health and crush the stigma associated with the issue. The heir to the throne released a video on Tuesday in which he speaks with the pop superstar in a FaceTime call from his home in London to her home in Los Angeles.(Heads Together campaign via AP)
Screen grab image taken from recent undated video issued Tuesday April 18, 2017 by the Heads Together campaign of Lady Gaga speaking to the Duke of Cambridge via FaceTime. Prince William has brought Lady Gaga on board with in his efforts to persuade people to be more open about their mental health and crush the stigma associated with the issue. The heir to the throne released a video on Tuesday in which he speaks with the pop superstar in a FaceTime call from his home in London to her home in Los Angeles.(Heads Together campaign via AP)
LONDON (AP) - Delivering the latest jolt in Britain's year of political shocks, Prime Minister Theresa May called Tuesday for a snap June 8 general election, seeking to strengthen her hand in European Union exit talks and tighten her grip on a fractious Conservative Party.
With the Labour opposition weakened, May's gamble will probably pay off with an enhanced Conservative majority in Parliament - but it's unlikely to unite a country deeply split over the decision to quit the EU.
May returned from an Easter break in the Welsh mountains to announce that she would make a televised statement on an undisclosed subject early Tuesday outside 10 Downing St. Speculation swirled and the pound plunged against the dollar amid uncertainty about whether she planned to resign, call an election or even declare war.
Prime Minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday April 18, 2017. May has called for a snap June 8 General Election, seeking to strengthen her hand in ongoing European Union exit talks and tighten her grip on a fractious Conservative Party. (Philip Toscano/PA via AP)
Since taking office after her predecessor David Cameron resigned in the wake of Britain's June 23 vote to leave the EU, May had repeatedly ruled out going to the polls before the next scheduled election in 2020. But on Tuesday, she said she had "reluctantly" changed her mind because political divisions "risk our ability to make a success of Brexit."
"We need a general election and we need one now," May said. "Because we have, at this moment, a one-off chance to get this done, while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin."
For decades British prime ministers could call elections at will, but that changed with the 2011 Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, which established set polling days every five years. Now, the prime minister needs the backing of two-thirds of lawmakers and May said she would put her election call to the House of Commons on Wednesday.
"Let us tomorrow vote for an election. Let us put forward our plans for Brexit and our alternative programs for government and then let the people decide," May said.
Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party, welcomed May's announcement, making it very likely she will get lawmakers' backing for an election.
May's governing Conservatives currently have a slight majority, with 330 seats in the 650-seat House of Commons.
With Labour demoralized and divided under left-wing leader Corbyn and the pro-EU Liberal Democrats holding just nine Commons seats, May is calculating that the election will bring her an expanded crop of Conservative lawmakers.
That would make it easier for her to ignore opposition calls for a softer EU exit - making compromises to retain some benefits of membership - and to face down hard-liners within her own party who want a no-compromise "hard Brexit" that many economists fear could be devastating.
Tim Bale, professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, said that even for a cautious politician like May, the temptation of an early election was irresistible.
"She has a small majority, a big task ahead of her and a huge opinion poll lead," he said. "If you put all those things together they equal a general election."
Bale said a bigger majority would give May a new batch of loyal Conservative lawmakers and leave her less at the mercy of euroskeptics in her party "who otherwise could have made negotiations much more difficult."
May triggered a two-year countdown to Britain's exit from the EU last month, and high-stakes negotiations to settle divorce terms and agree on a new relationship are expected to start within weeks.
European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted that he had a "good phone call" with May about the election, and the council said the bloc's Brexit plans were unchanged by the announcement. Leaders of EU states are due to adopt negotiating guidelines at an April 29 summit, and the bloc will prepare detailed plans for the talks with Britain by late May.
Labour, the second-largest party in Parliament, campaigned for Britain to remain in the EU, but Corbyn said he would respect voters' decision to leave. He said Tuesday that Labour's election platform in June would be for a more equal society and economy, and "a Brexit that works for all."
Polls give May's Conservatives a double-digit lead over Labour, which could have its worst election showing in decades. But the election still carries risk for May, with voters' potentially wary at being asked to go to the polls again, less than a year after the EU referendum.
"I think actually it makes her look a little bit arrogant and a little bit complacent," said Liberal Democrat lawmaker Alistair Carmichael. "She's taking people for granted already and voters never like that."
The strongly pro-EU Liberal Democrats have seen thousands of new members join since the referendum and are likely to make gains. Leader Tim Farron said Tuesday that only his party can prevent a "disastrous hard Brexit."
Rather than helping the country unite, the election could widen divisions within the United Kingdom. The U.K. voted 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the EU, but Scotland backed remaining by a large majority, and Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is seeking to hold a referendum on independence from the U.K.
Sturgeon said Tuesday that May was seeking "to crush the voices of people who disagree with her."
It was "all the more important," she said, "that Scotland is protected from a Tory (Conservative) Party which now sees the chance of grabbing control of government for many years to come and moving the U.K. further to the right - forcing through a hard Brexit and imposing deeper cuts in the process."
The Scottish National Party currently holds 54 of Scotland's 59 seats in the British Parliament, making it the third-largest party there.
Still, currency markets welcomed May's announcement as a harbinger of greater stability. The pound surged 0.7 percent against the dollar to $1.2658, recovering from a 0.4 percent drop an hour earlier as rumors swirled about the surprise statement.
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Associated Press writer Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside her official residence of 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday April 18, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May announced she will seek early election on June 8 (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain's Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn arrives for a meeting in Birmingham central England Tuesday April 18, 2017. In a shock announcement, Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday called for an early general election to be held June 8 to seek a strong mandate as she negotiates Britain's exit from the European Union. (Ben Birchall/PA via AP)
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon leaves Bute House in Edinburgh Tuesday April 18, 2017 . Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May has called for an early general election for June 8 to seek a strong mandate as she negotiates Britain's exit from the European Union. In a shock announcement, Theresa May says that she will ask the House of Commons on Wednesday to back her election call. (John Linton/PA Wire(/PA via AP)
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May walks back into her official residence of 10 Downing Street in London, after speaking to the media on Tuesday April 18, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May announced she will seek early election on June 8 (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
A silhouette of the Houses of Parliament and Elizabeth Tower containing Big Ben, centre, at dusk, in Westminster, London, Tuesday April 18, 2017. Britain's Prime Minister, Theresa May, announced Tuesday a snap general election to be held on June 8. (Yui Mok/PA via AP)
PARIS (AP) - The Latest on the upcoming French presidential election (all times local):
9:05 p.m.
French far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon is on stage along with six holograms that enable him to hold seven simultaneous rallies across France.
A hologram of French Left party leader and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election Jean-Luc Melenchon speaks to supporters who gathered in Grenoble, southeastern France, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Melenchon held a rally in Dijon and his hologram was projected by satellite to six other cities. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
The 65-year-old is holding a rally in Dijon, in eastern France, while his image is projected by satellite to crowds in six other cities, including one on the island of La Reunion.
Melenchon suggested his three main rivals - conservative Francois Fillon, far-right Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron - were potential targets after the arrest of two suspected radicals who were allegedly preparing a terror attack in France. He expressed his solidarity toward them.
"We will never make the gift to criminals to divide in front of them. We are not afraid", he told the crowd.
Melenchon has risen in polls ahead of the first round of France's presidential election on April 23, with some pollsters saying he has a chance of reaching the May 7 presidential runoff.
He leads a far-left alliance that includes the Communist Party.
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7:45 p.m.
Former president Nicolas Sarkozy has expressed his support for conservative candidate Francois Fillon ahead of Sunday's first round of the French presidential election.
Sarkozy said in a video posted on his Facebook and Twitter accounts that Fillon "has the experience, the will, the project that will enable France to ensure a political change after the five disastrous years we have known."
Sarkozy, who lost to Fillon in the conservative primary in November, is calling on voters to unite behind his former rival.
"I worked five years with Francois Fillon, he was my prime minister, I know we can trust him", he said.
Fillon's campaign has been damaged by accusations that he misused taxpayer money to pay his wife and children for government jobs that they allegedly did not perform.
French investigators are probing the case. Fillon denies wrongdoing.
Latest polls suggest he is one of the four candidates who have a chance to be among the two top Sunday and advance to the runoff on May 7.
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6:20 p.m.
French far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has pointed to "a devastating multiplication of attacks and threats of attacks" in France, after the arrest of two suspected radicals planning an attack.
She said in a written statement that this is the result of "Islamic fundamentalism" that "has expanded exponentially" in the last decade in France.
She said that "it's time to put back France in order," using one of her campaign's mantras.
Le Pen, who is campaigning on anti-immigration, anti- European themes, is among the four top contenders for the presidential race.
The top two candidates in Sunday's vote advance to a May 7 runoff.
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3:10 p.m.
Top presidential contenders Emmanuel Macron and Francois Fillon have offered congratulations to French police after the arrest of two suspected radicals who were allegedly preparing a terror attack in France.
Macron, an independent centrist considered one of the front-runners of the vote, said in a written statement: "This event serves as reminders that the terrorist threat is still very high on our territory."
Macron recalled he has pledged to pursue military intervention in Iraq and Syria, boost intelligence services and fight against terrorism on the internet.
Conservative candidate Fillon said "democracy must not get on its knees in front of the threats and intimidations from terrorists. The campaign must continue until the end."
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12:55 p.m.
The French interior minister says police have arrested two suspected radicals who were allegedly preparing an "imminent" terror attack in France as it prepares to vote Sunday in the first round of its presidential election.
The minister, Matthias Fekl, said at a brief news conference that the arrests took place in the southern city of Marseille.
He said those arrested were suspected of preparing an attack in the coming days.
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11:30 a.m.
French centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron says he will simplify the country's famously complex labor laws within weeks of taking office.
In comments at the Rungis wholesale market outside Paris, Macron says that it's not a question of taking rights away from workers, but of lowering the 10-percent unemployment rate that has plagued France for years.
Macron, who has never held elected office, is running without the backing of an established party and claims to be neither of the right nor the left.
The pre-dawn market is a regular campaign stop for French politicians looking to show solidarity with workers, who rise before the sun to feed the Paris region.
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10:55 a.m.
French far right candidate Marine Le Pen is promising a freeze on long-term visas as soon as she takes office, followed by a tax on any company that hires foreign workers.
Ahead of Sunday's first-round election, Le Pen told RTL radio on Tuesday she would issue an order to immediately stop issuing long-term visas for two weeks so the government can verify that they are not taking jobs away from French citizens.
Le Pen, who has campaigned against immigration and Europe's open borders, also wants to impose a 10 percent tax on labor contracts that go to foreigners and seize back control of French borders.
Polls show Le Pen is among four leading French candidates, with no clear front-runner. The top two candidates advance to a May 7 runoff.
A hologram of French Left party leader and candidate for the 2017 French presidential election Jean-Luc Melenchon speaks to supporters who gathered in Grenoble, southeastern France, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Melenchon held a rally in Dijon and his hologram was projected by satellite to six other cities. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)
French conservative presidential candidate Francois Fillon acknowledges the crowd before his campaign meeting in Lille, northern France, Tuesday, April, 18, 2017. The two-round presidential election is set for April 23 and May 7. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler)
Hooded police officers patrol outside a building during searches in Marseille, southern France, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Security concerns shook France's presidential campaign Tuesday as authorities announced arrests in a thwarted attack on the eve of the vote, and candidates urged tougher counterterrorism efforts for a country already under a state of emergency. (AP Photo/Claude Paris)
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, left, visits the Rungis wholesale food market, south of Paris, Tuesday April 18, 2017. Macron, an independent centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, is among the front-runners in France's unpredictable presidential race. The top two vote-getters in the first round Sunday will advance to the May 7 presidential runoff. (Philippe Wojazer; Pool via AP)
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, right, visits the meat pavilion at the Rungis wholesale food market, south of Paris, Tuesday April 18, 2017. Macron, an independent centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, is among the front-runners in France's unpredictable presidential race. The top two vote-getters in the first round Sunday will advance to the May 7 presidential runoff. (Philippe Wojazer; Pool via AP)
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron, second left, talks with butchers as he visits the meat pavilIon at the Rungis wholesale food market, south of Paris, Tuesday April 18, 2017. Macron, an independent centrist with pro-business, pro-European views, is among the front-runners in France's unpredictable presidential race. The top two vote-getters in the first round Sunday will advance to the May 7 presidential runoff. (Philippe Wojazer; Pool via AP)
LONDON (AP) - The Latest on the announcement that Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking to call a general election on June 8 (all times local):
12:15 p.m.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Prime Minister Theresa May's call for an early general election reflects her desire to move Britain to the right of the political spectrum as the country negotiates its exit from the European Union.
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May walks back into her official residence of 10 Downing Street in London, after speaking to the media on Tuesday April 18, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May announced she will seek early election on June 8 (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Urging voters to "stand up for Scotland," Sturgeon said in a tweet that May's Conservative Party see "a chance to move the U.K. to the right, force through a hard Brexit, and impose deeper cuts."
Sturgeon also said in a statement that Scotland must be "protected" from a Conservative Party trying to seize control of government for many years to come.
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12 p.m.
The British pound has risen strongly after Prime Minister Theresa May called for an early general election in June.
The British currency, which had weakened before the announcement, was up by more than a cent against the dollar. By midday trading in London, it was trading 0.7 percent higher at $1.2658.
May is seeking a stronger mandate as she negotiates Britain's exit from the European Union. She is hoping to win a stronger position in the House of Commons, where her Conservative Party has a small majority.
Analysts at ETX Capital say in a note to clients that the election call "adds another layer of complexity to an already uncertain picture for U.K. and European assets."
They say that a government with a stronger mandate could get a better deal for the U.K. However, it could also push through a more aggressive version of Brexit that cuts off business more from the EU's single market.
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11:50 a.m.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, says he is backing Prime Minister Theresa May's decision to call an early general election for June 8 - a decision that will ensure the vote takes place.
In a statement Tuesday soon after May made her surprise announcement, Corbyn said he welcomes the decision to "give the British people the chance to vote."
The decision is important because it suggests May will have little trouble securing enough votes to overturn the Fixed Parliaments Act, which set the date for the next election for 2020. Labour is the main opposition party in parliament.
Corbyn, whose party is trailing May's Conservatives in opinion polls, said: "We look forward to showing how Labour will stand up for the people of Britain."
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11:20 a.m.
Prime Minister Theresa May has accused her opponents of "political game-playing" and undermining the country in the upcoming talks to exit the European Union.
May said Tuesday that the divisions in Parliament explained her change of heart on an early election. Since becoming prime minister last July in the aftermath of Britain's vote to leave the EU, May had consistently said she would not seek an early election.
May said she has concluded that the "only way to guarantee certainty and security for years ahead is to hold this election."
Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, the next general election date was to be in 2020. But an early election can take place if two-thirds of lawmakers in the House of Commons vote for it. The opposition Labour Party, which trails May's Conservative Party in opinion polls, has said it supports such a move.
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11:15 a.m.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said she is planning to call a general election for Thursday, June 8.
In a surprise statement in Downing Street, May said Parliament will be asked to vote for the election on Wednesday.
May's Conservative Party is way ahead of the main opposition Labour Party in opinion polls. A resounding win would bolster her mandate in upcoming talks with the European Union over the country's exit.
She said "division in Westminster will risk our ability to make a success of Brexit."
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10:45 a.m.
The British pound has fallen amid mounting speculation that Prime Minister Theresa May is planning to call an early general election.
In the wake of an announcement that May will make an unexpected statement in Downing Street at 11:15 a.m. (1015GMT), the pound was down 0.3 percent at $1.2525.
May's office says she will speak after the weekly meeting of her Cabinet.
FXTM Vice President of Market Research, Jameel Ahmad says that "truth be told, nobody is really that aware of what is going on but this uncertainty has caused a reaction."
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10:30 a.m.
British Prime Minister Theresa May is due to make an unexpected statement in Downing Street, triggering speculation that she plans to call an early election.
May's office says she will speak at 11:15 a.m. (1015GMT) Tuesday, after the weekly meeting of her Cabinet.
Such statements are generally reserved for major news, such as resignations and election calls.
May, who took office in July after predecessor David Cameron stepped down, could be tempted to go to the polls to secure her own mandate as she negotiates Britain's withdrawal from the European Union.
But she has previously said she will stay in office until the next scheduled national election, in 2020.
Under Britain's Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, the prime minister can call an election if two-thirds of lawmakers vote for it.
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May arrives to speak to the media outside her official residence of 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday April 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside her official residence of 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday April 18, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May announced she will seek early election on June 8 (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May speaks to the media outside her official residence of 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday April 18, 2017. British Prime Minister Theresa May announced she will seek early election on June 8 (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
TOKYO (AP) - The Latest on U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Asia (all times local):
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11:05 a.m. Wednesday
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, center, speaks to U.S. servicemen and Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel on the flight deck of U.S. navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan at the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has once again pledged the Trump administration's commitment to defending its allies in Asia from North Korea and any other threats.
Speaking to U.S. and Japanese troops on board the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier Wednesday, he called North Korea the most urgent and dangerous threat to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region.
He said that under President Donald Trump, the U.S. will stand up to its enemies with its allies.
Pence also said the U.S. would protect freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, the sea lanes vital to global shipping where China has been staking claim to disputed territory.
The American vice president is on a 10-day trip to Asia that has been dominated by the North Korea issue.
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9:30 a.m. Wednesday
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is on board an American aircraft carrier stationed in Japan amid heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula.
A ship bell signaled his arrival Wednesday morning on the USS Ronald Reagan at the U.S. Yokosuka naval base south of Tokyo. The Nimitz-class aircraft carrier is undergoing scheduled maintenance at its home port.
Pence told the ship's captain that he had spoken to President Donald Trump, and Trump "wishes he were here."
The vice president is on a 10-day tour of Asia. He visited South Korea earlier and will head to Indonesia after his stop in Japan. The trip so far has been dominated by U.S. and allies' concerns about North Korea's nuclear and missile development efforts.
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7:15 p.m.
A Japanese official says a difference in approach remains with the U.S. despite an agreement on a framework for new bilateral economic talks.
The official said Tuesday that Japan still hopes to bring the U.S. back into a multilateral framework such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 12-country trade agreement after his inauguration in January.
The official briefed reporters on customary condition of anonymity after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso in Tokyo to launch the U.S.-Japan Economic Dialogue.
Pence said after the meeting that Trump believes it is in America's interest to negotiate economic deals on a bilateral basis. He said that the dialogue could lead to formal talks on a U.S.-Japan trade agreement, but that he would leave that decision to the future.
--AP writer Mari Yamaguchi
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6:50 p.m.
After meeting Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and other top Japanese officials, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is ending his first day in Tokyo with a visit to an ancient Buddhist temple.
Pence, his wife Karen and two daughters walked inside the main hall of colorful Senso-ji temple Tuesday as incense burned.
It's Tokyo's oldest temple, and a highly popular tourist site that attracts crowds from around the world.
Japan is the second stop on a four-country trip that is taking Pence to South Korea, Indonesia and Australia. It is his first trip to Asia as vice president.
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5:40 p.m.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence says the U.S. will not relent until it achieves its objective of ensuring the Korean Peninsula is free of nuclear weapons.
Pence told reporters President Donald Trump was confident that economic and diplomatic pressure from the "family of nations" had a chance of compelling North Korea to cooperate.
After talks with Japan's deputy prime minister, Taro Aso, Pence said the U.S. would work with Japan, China and other nations to get Pyongyang to give up its atomic weapons program.
Asked what North Korea must do, he repeated that "all options are on the table, and there they will remain."
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4:40 p.m.
Japan and the U.S. have outlined a path forward for economic talks between the countries.
The announcement followed an inaugural meeting Tuesday of the U.S.-Japan Economic Dialogue in Tokyo chaired by visiting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso.
It said the dialogue would focus on three areas: trade and investment rules and issues, cooperation in macroeconomic policy and specific industry sectors.
The dialogue was set up by President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the Japanese leader's visit to the U.S. in February.
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3:40 p.m.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso are kicking off a new U.S.-Japan economic dialogue that was launched during Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's meeting with President Donald Trump in the U.S. in February.
As talks began Tuesday, Aso said the U.S.-Japan alliance has underpinned peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and that trade friction with the U.S. has given way to an "age of cooperation."
Pence said Trump sees the talks as a way to improve business ties with Japan and is hoping for quick results. The discussions are to focus on economic and structural policy and trade and investment strategies aimed at strengthening both countries' economies.
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2:15 p.m.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and Japanese leaders have begun talks expected to focus largely on trade with America's anchor ally in the region, though tensions with North Korea loomed large.
Pence reassured Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday that the U.S. considers its alliance with Japan to be a cornerstone of security in the region.
Pence said, "We appreciate the challenging times in which the people of Japan live with increasing provocations from across the Sea of Japan."
He also said, "We are with you 100 percent," adding that the U.S. always seeks peace.
Abe said Japan hoped for peaceful dialogue with Pyongyang, "but at the same time, dialogue for the sake of dialogue is valueless and it is necessary for us to exercise pressure North Korea so that it comes forward and engages in this serious dialogue."
Pence was having lunch with Abe at the prime minister's official residence after arriving in Japan earlier in the day for the second stop of a 10-day Asia tour.
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12:15 p.m.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has arrived in Japan for the second stop of a 10-day Asia tour.
His plane touched down Tuesday at the U.S. military's Atsugi base outside Tokyo.
The focus of his trip is expected to shift in Japan to trade. North Korea's nuclear and missile development dominated the agenda on his first stop in South Korea.
Pence told business leaders before leaving Seoul that the Trump administration is reviewing all trade agreements as part of its "America First" policy.
White House officials say the meetings in Tokyo are meant to forge a framework for future discussions after the U.S. withdrew from a Pacific Rim trade pact.
U.S. servicemen and Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel wait for the arrival of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on the flight deck of U.S. navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, at the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
U.S. servicemen and Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel wait for the arrival of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on the flight deck of U.S. navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, at the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Yokosuka, south of Tokyo, Wednesday, April 19, 2017. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, left, and his wife Karen, second from right, with their daughters Audrey, right, and Charlotte visit the main shrine of Sensoji Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visits the main shrine of Sensoji Buddhist temple in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso listen to a question from a reporter during their joint press conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. After meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Pence held talks with Aso on a new U.S.-Japan "economic dialogue" to be led by the two. The new forum for trade talks was launched by U.S. President Donald Trump and Abe during the Japanese leader's visit to the U.S. in February. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Taro Aso, right,walk in the venue of the joint press conference at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Japanese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Taro Aso, third right, attend during Japan U.S. Economic Dialogue at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence shake hands prior to a luncheon hosted by Abe at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Pence arrived in Japan for talks Tuesday expected to focus largely on trade with America's anchor ally in the region. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence shake hands prior to a luncheon hosted by Abe at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Pence arrived in Japan for talks Tuesday expected to focus largely on trade with America's anchor ally in the region. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, center left, waves with his wife Karen, center right, and daughters Audrey, top left, and Charlotte, top right, on their arrival at U.S. Navy's Atsugi air facility in Ayase, southwest of Tokyo, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence waves before leaving for Japan, at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
BERLIN (AP) - German authorities say there were 169 violent offenses against homes for asylum-seekers last year, almost as many as in 2015, though the figures sank as the year progressed.
The Federal Criminal Police Office said Tuesday that the number of violent offenses compared with 177 the previous years.
In all, authorities counted 994 offenses against asylum shelters in 2016, a little below the previous year's 1,031. The police office said that most of them had a far-right motive.
In this April 6, 2017 file photo, migrants are rescued from a rubber boat by members of Proactiva Open Arms NGO, in the Mediterranean sea, about 56 miles north of Sabratha, Libya. With the Greek smuggling route largely closed off, the path of least resistance drifted to Libya _ a sprawling lawless country with a huge coast and competing rebel and government factions. Migrants have flooded into Libya from across Africa, producing a bonanza for smugglers. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue, File)
Justice Minister Heiko Maas wrote on Twitter that the figures were "deeply shameful."
Germany saw a huge influx of asylum-seekers and other migrants in late 2015 and early 2016. That tailed off about a year ago, and the number of crimes targeting asylum homes declined over the course of the year.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Race Track Chaplaincy has instated a new bilingual chaplain team to serve Spanish-speaking workers.
WAVE-TV reports (http://bit.ly/2oHYtAz) that about 85 percent to 95 percent of those working behind the scenes at Churchill Downs speak Spanish. In addition to leading prayer and preaching in the chapel on the grounds, chaplains will operate a clothing closet and food pantry for workers.
Chaplain Joseph del Rosario says his aim is to help the workers who keep operations running smoothly in any way possible. He also says that representation of women among the workers is growing.
The chaplaincy was founded in 1989 to specifically serve the workers in the barn and training areas.
The Daily Journal is partnering with one of the area's largest local employers, as well as one of the region's biggest training and education centers when Career Fair 2017 takes place from 2 to 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Robert E. Sechrest Sr. Field House on Mineral Area College's Park Hills campus.
The event is once again being sponsored by ODACS Inc. and presented by the Daily Journal/Monster and J98.
Alison Sheets, MAC Career Services director, admitted that when the Daily Journal agreed to partner with the college and use it as its venue the fair has been previously held at Centene Center she was thrilled at the opportunity it will provide the school to assist area employers and job-seekers.
We have an annual college fair, the health fair is held here, and there are so many ways the community uses our public facilities, she said. So our set-up is great, but were also very invested in working with both employers and employees on creating great opportunities for a strong workforce.
According to Jessica Myers, an inside sales representative for the Daily Journal and one of the event organizers, attendees should dress for success and have their resumes in hand.
Dress for the job you want, not the one you have," she said. "Making a great first impression is a goal, not only for job seekers, but the employers as well. Missouri Career Center will be attending and offers a resume building program online for access at home and a team of trained individuals in the Park Hills location for help. Job seekers should be prepared with several copies of their typed resumes."
Daily Journal Publisher Eugene Jackson believes potential job candidates should find the fair helpful and that employers will particularly enjoy the new venue for the event, as well as having access to MACs dining services.
The Daily Journal has been coordinating the Career Fair since 2010," he said. "During those seven years we have partnered with great, local businesses to provide job seekers the opportunity to apply face to face with representatives. We take great pride in helping our community find careers that theyll love and be proud of.
With the event's new location comes a large parking lot for employers to get in early and set their booths up. Mineral Area College is also helping make the set up go smoothly for everyone involved. For instance, the dining hall in the Cards Nest will not only offer a wide selection of food items without employers having to leave the campus, but debit and credit cards are accepted, as well.
MAC Vice President Gil Kennon is looking forward to seeing hundreds of people on campus, including some who might not have made it onto MACs campus before.
Its one thing to see our campus and buildings from Highway 67, and another to actually come onto campus and explore our buildings and grounds, he said. Some job-seekers might even feel intimidated, but theres no reason to be.
"If you ask anyone out in public if theyve been to MAC or if they know someone whos come to MAC, youre probably talking about 90 percent of the population in this region. Were accessible and friendly, so again, this career fair is a good fit with our mission. Were happy to have every visitor that day.
Employers participating in Career Fair 2017 include Piramal Glass, Talent Force, Presbyterian Childrens Home, Southeast Missouri Behavioral Health, Faith Foundation, Farmington Fire Department, US Tool, Mercy Hospital, Isle Casino, Valley Springs Youth Ranch, Forte Products, Pyramid Home Health, Mondi Jackson LLC, Department of Corrections, Department of Agriculture, Startek, Mineral Area CPRC, IUOE Engineering, Advantage Nursing, Presbyterian Manor, Pony Bird Home, Iron County Medical and Lee Mechanical, among others.
For more information, call 573-518-1256 or visit www.dailyjournalonline.com/career-fair.
BERLIN (AP) - The U.N.'s top human rights official said Tuesday he is alarmed by what appears to be a "widespread pattern" of rallies in Burundi in which members of a pro-government youth militia chant a call to "impregnate" or kill opponents.
An online video emerged this month of an incident in a rural province involving the Imbonerakure militia. It showed members singing in the local Kirundi language: "Impregnate those opponents, so that they give birth to Imbonerakure."
Burundi's ruling party criticized the song. The party normally supports the Imbonerakure, despite accusations of rights violations perpetrated by its members.
The U.N. human rights office cited reports of several similar incidents early this month.
"The grotesque rape chants by the young men of the Imbonerakure across several provinces in various parts of Burundi are deeply alarming - particularly because they confirm what we have been hearing from those who have fled Burundi about a campaign of fear and terror by this organized militia," the high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, said in a statement.
Zeid welcomed the governing party's condemnation but said reports senior officials were present at other rallies are "very disturbing" and called for an acknowledgement that the rally caught on camera "was not an isolated incident."
Burundi has been plagued by violence since President Pierre Nkurunziza successfully sought a disputed third term in 2015. Hundreds of people have been killed, and hundreds of thousands have fled the country.
Zeid said his office has received "credible reports of grave human rights violations, including the systematic use of torture by security forces and nightly raids by the Imbonerakure into the homes of people who refuse to join the ruling party."
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump is rallying voters in Georgia's 6th Congressional District to "get out and vote" Republican ahead of Tuesday's special election.
In a tweet early Tuesday, Trump urged voters not to vote for Democrat Jon Ossoff for the House seat vacated by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price.
Trump says, "Democrat Jon Ossoff would be a disaster in Congress. VERY weak on crime and illegal immigration, bad for jobs and wants higher taxes. Say NO."
In a second tweet, he wrote, "Republicans must get out today and VOTE in Georgia 6. Force runoff and easy win! Dem Ossoff will raise your taxes-very bad on crime & 2nd A."
Democrats opposed to Trump have rallied behind Ossoff, who has raised a significant amount of money for a special election.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says North Korea's latest failed missile launch was a reckless act of provocation.
Mattis commented on the weekend missile launch in an interview with reporters traveling with him Tuesday to Saudi Arabia, where he begins a weeklong Mideast tour. His language was stronger than in an initial written statement he issued shortly after the launch, in which he simply said he was aware of the failure.
"The leader of North Korea again recklessly tried to provoke something by launching a missile," he said.
FILE - In this April 11, 2017 file photo, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis pauses during a news conference at the Pentagon. Mattis is looking to the Middle East and North Africa for broader contributions and new ideas to fight Islamic extremism as the Trump administration fleshes out its counterterrorism strategy. His trip to the region this week includes stops with longstanding allies Israel and Saudi Arabia, and new partners like Djibouti. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
Mattis did not identify the type of missile but said it was not of intercontinental range, meaning it could not reach U.S. territory. He did not comment on what might have caused the missile to fail.
Mattis credited China with trying to help get the North Korea situation "under control" with the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Asked about his visit to Saudi Arabia, Mattis said the desert kingdom is a "pillar of our security framework for the region."
The U.S. military is providing support for a Saudi-led coalition fighting anti-government Houthi rebels, but Mattis said the U.S. focus is on arranging a United Nations-brokered negotiating team to resolve Yemen's civil war diplomatically.
"This is something, with the number of innocent people dying inside Yemen, that simply has to be brought to an end," he said.
The U.S. security alliance with Saudi Arabia, dating to 1944 and based largely on the Saudis' oil riches, has made Washington the kingdom's most important arms supplier.
"Notes on a Banana: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression" (Dey Street), by David Leite
Much has been contributed to the cannon of first-person literature on anxiety and mental health disorders.
But David Leite, a James Beard Award-winning food writer and cookbook author, offers a witty account to the trove with his new memoir, "Notes on a Banana: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression."
This cover image released by Dey Street shows "Notes on a Banana: A Memoir of Food, Love and Manic Depression," by David Leite. (Dey Street via AP)
Leite takes the reader on a coming-of-age journey - from his childhood in the blue-collar city of Fall River, Massachusetts, to a working professional in New York City.
First, Leite grew up in a devoutly Catholic and food-crazed Azorean family. "Food. It was one of the ways we bonded," he writes.
In this traditional Portuguese family, living in what he calls the "armpit of Massachusetts," Leite learned to be a big dreamer. In fact, dreaming is what sustained him throughout a childhood that was speckled with transgressions like a neighbor's sexual advances. The whole time, Leite is struggling to understand the range of his emotions that seems to run higher and lower than what he believes to be the normal spectrum.
As a nod to the book's title, his mother often referred to her son affectionately as "banana." She also writes brief messages on bananas for her son. One of these messages is "Jesus loves you!"
Admittedly, his mother "is a blood hound for Jesus," he writes. "She can sniff out sin before it happens the way some people smell burnt toast before a seizure."
Complicating his early teen years, Leite starts becoming aware of the fact that he's gay. This isn't something he shares with his parents until he's an adult and in a relationship with his long-term partner, Alan, many years later.
Leite's dreaming and ambition propelled him to a considerable amount of success as a writer for the likes of Bon Appetite and other glossy magazines. He eventually started his own website, Leite's Culinaria, for which he won the coveted James Beard Award - twice.
Logophiles will appreciate the author's expansive vocabulary and readers will enjoy Leite's ability to bring levity to a host of serious - and sometimes sad - subjects.
The book gives a universal account of complications that many lives encounter, but "Notes on a Banana" brings levity and humor to the hardships the author recounts.
ISLAMABAD (AP) - A Pakistani retired army officer was lured to Nepal with a job prospect before being seized by Indian intelligence, which hopes to use him to secure the release of an Indian agent sentenced to death by Pakistan, security officials said Tuesday.
According to two senior security officials, Indian agents abducted Lt. Col. Mohammad Habib, who went missing on April 6 after arriving in Nepal. They said Habib's abduction was aimed at pressuring Pakistan to release Kulbhushan Jadhav, an Indian naval officer convicted of espionage who was sentenced to death on April 10.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters about the case. Indian officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
One of the officials said records show that Habib "arrived at the Kathmandu airport on April 6. An Indian national took him to a hotel after receiving him" at the airport.
The second official also confirmed the account, saying Indian spy agency Research and Analysis Wing planned Habib's abduction.
The two Pakistani officials said Jadhav has been linked to 1,345 deaths in acts of terrorism in Pakistan. They told The Associated Press that he joined India's Naval intelligence in 2001 and was later posted in Iran, from where he made secret trips to Pakistan using fake ID documents before his 2016 arrest.
The officials claimed that Jadhav had confessed to espionage and terror-linked activities during his interrogation. He has the right to appeal to a military appeals court or petition the army chief for mercy. Also, under the constitution, Pakistan's president could pardon Jadhav.
Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations, and Jadhav's death sentence has further strained ties. India has denounced Jadhav's trial as a farce, insisting he was abducted from Iran and that his subsequent presence in Pakistan was never credibly explained.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - A senior Hamas official says threats by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cannot force the militant group to cede control in the Gaza Strip.
Khalil al-Hayya told reporters on Tuesday that Abbas' threat to take "unprecedented steps" to restore political unity to the Palestinian territory will not succeed.
Al-Hayya says "Gaza can't be threatened or terrified and Hamas doesn't accept threats."
The Islamic militant group seized Gaza from Abbas' Palestinian Authority in 2007, leaving the Palestinians divided between rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Repeated attempts at reconciliation have failed.
Seeking to put pressure on Hamas, Abbas has slashed the salaries of thousands of former civil servants in Gaza and imposed a tax on fuel shipments to Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Al-Hayya called on Abbas to reverse the measures.
LEOMINSTER, Mass. (AP) - A man arrested in connection with the death of a Google employee near her mother's Massachusetts home last summer has been held on $10 million cash bail.
Angelo Colon-Ortiz was charged with assault and attempted rape, and prosecutors said they sought the high bail because they expect to charge him with murder in the Aug. 7 slaying of 27-year-old New York City resident Vanessa Marcotte.
An attorney for 31-year-old Colon-Ortiz entered not guilty pleas to charges of aggravated assault and battery and assault with attempt to rape at his arraignment Tuesday in Leominster (LEH'-mihn-stur) District Court.
FILE - This undated driver license photo released by the Worcester County District Attorney's Office shows Vanessa Marcotte. Angelo Colon-Ortiz will be arraigned Tuesday, April 17, 2017, in Leominster District Court on assault with intent to rape and other charges in the death of Marcotte on Aug. 7, 2016. (Worcester County District Attorney's Office via AP, File)
Marcotte's body was found in the woods after she didn't return from a run in Princeton, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Boston.
Colon-Ortiz's attorney did not argue for lower bail, but reserved the right to seek lower bail.
NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A U.S. Navy officer charged with hazing and maltreatment of sailors is facing a general court martial.
The Virginian-Pilot reported Tuesday (http://bit.ly/2pxAXGK) that the unnamed lieutenant commander is accused of verbal abuse and retaliating against a sailor who asked to stop being called Charlie Brown. Court documents say the officer told the sailor to carry a Charlie Brown cartoon figurine at all times.
The officer also is accused of punching a chair next to a sailor, yelling at someone for more than an hour and lying about his actions.
The lieutenant commander is a reservist assigned to a cargo handling battalion in Lakehurst, New Jersey.
Military hazing has drawn extra scrutiny in recent years after a series of high-profile cases.
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Information from: The Virginian-Pilot, http://pilotonline.com
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A mail handler accused of robbing a bank on his day off from the U.S. Post Office has reportedly told FBI agents why he did it.
The SunSentinel (http://bit.ly/2oIMvqk ) reports that 40-year-old George Murillo told agents he's been in a "desperate financial situation" as the sole provider for two families, that of his ex-wife and his girlfriend.
Court documents show Murillo's ex-wife told him she would be evicted if he didn't pay the rent. But he had just spent his money on a car and a gun for his girlfriend, and decided his only option was to rob a Bank of America.
Authorities say a GPS-tracking device in the money led to his arrest.
A judge ordered him held Monday in jail, where records don't list a defense lawyer.
The anticipation of low enrollment for the upcoming summer and fall semesters at Mineral Area College was brought to the attention of the community college's board of trustees when it met in regular session April 13 in the boardroom on the school's Park Hills campus.
In reporting the latest enrollment figures to the trustees, Dean of Students Jean Merrill-Doss minced no words about either the problem or the efforts that will be made to help boost school attendance.
"Good afternoon board members, summer enrollment is down about 53 students and 220 credit hours from where we were at this same time last year, so we are down about 8 percent for summer," she said. "Fall, we're down about 25 percent from where we were this time last year.
"We do have on the 24th we have our next Cards program. It's in the evening. Typically, that program doesn't fill and it's full now. We've added a few more seats to get it up to 130 students. We're 100 percent sure we will be down, but we're going to do everything we can to turn over every stone and think outside the box for students we're not reaching.
"I'm not sure yet if it's continuing students that aren't applying or students who have taken off a semester and haven't come back. So we're going to be looking at many different lists of students and looking at data and trying to make all the phone calls possible and to help some of those students hurdle those barriers that are keeping them from coming to school."
Merrill-Doss also informed the trustees there will be an increased emphasis on retaining students who are already attending MAC.
"We will do a few more Cards programs through the end of June," she said. "Then, beginning in July until school starts, Student Services advisors and a few other folks including myself will then take all advising appointments one-on-one with the students so we can spend a little bit more time talking to them ... helping them build a schedule that's more suitable to them ... talking about financial aid ... sending them to different resources if they need them.
"Sometimes at Cards if you're a business advisor and you've got 10 students to see, you don't get to spend a lot of time with them. So, we're hoping this will be a trial for us this summer and give us more time to spend with students individually and through that give us a chance to build that retention piece from the time they enroll."
As Missouri's economy has improved, declining enrollment has increasingly become an issue for Mineral Area College, as well as other state community colleges. In an interview several years ago, MAC President Dr. Steve Kurtz explained that the sharp increase in enrollment MAC experienced eight or nine years ago was due to the nation's economic tailspin beginning in 2008.
Typically, when the economy isnt doing well, we do well with enrollment, he said in 2015. We are seeing the opposite now that our economy is picking up. Our enrollment is down slightly this semester and it has to do with people in our area having more employment opportunities. During the Great Recession, those jobs that were typically for students were taken by folks who used to have full-time work.
Now the college is faced with a double whammy as enrollment numbers are increasingly low and Gov. Eric Greitens has recommended deep cuts in the state's new budget for institutions of higher learning in Missouri.
In other action, three members of the board uncontested in the April 4 election were sworn into office for a two-year term by outgoing Board President Scott Sikes. They are Subdistrict 2 Trustee Lisa Umfleet, Subdistrict 4 Trustee Harvey Faircloth and Subdistrict 4 Trustee Dr. Don VanHerck. Following the election, Subdistrict 3 Trustee Jerry Sullivan took over the meeting as board president.
The board approved the George K. Baum & Company and Gilmore & Bell Bond Counsel to prepare and come back to the trustees with a refinancing place for the school's Series 2008 Certificates of Participation to lower interest costs.
Kurtz informed the trustees that MAC commencement will take place at 10:30 a.m. May 13. Commissioner of Higher Education Zora Mulligan will be the speaker. Central Methodist University commencement will be held at 11 a.m. May 20. U.S. Congressman Jason Smith, R-8th District, will be the speaker. Both ceremonies will be held in the Bob Sechrest Sr. Field House on MAC's Park Hills campus.
The next board of trustees meeting is set for 2 p.m. May 11 in the boardroom.
WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge has rejected efforts to reinstall in the U.S. Capitol a painting that some lawmakers and police groups found offensive.
David Pulphus, a student artist from Missouri, and Rep. William Clay, his Democratic congressman, had sued Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayers for removing the painting in January. They sought a preliminary injunction to have the painting restored as the lawsuit proceeds, but the judge denied their motion.
The painting showed what appears to be a pig in a police uniform and divided members of Congress for its depiction of events in Ferguson, Missouri. In August 2014, a white police officer shot and killed an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown.
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates said in his ruling that the government used its editorial discretion in the selection and presentation of the art. As a result, it was engaging in "government speech" and the plaintiffs have no First Amendment right to display the painting at the Capitol. The First Amendment limits government regulation of private speech, but it does not restrict the government when it speaks for itself.
Bates said he was "sympathetic" to Pulphus and Clay given how the artwork was treated, but he concluded that they were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their arguments. He also noted that all of the paintings in this year's arts competition are to be taken down May 1, little less than two weeks away.
The plaintiffs in the case had sought a preliminary injunction to have the painting restored to a tunnel that leads to the Capitol from a House office building. That's where hundreds of winning paintings in an annual Congressional Art Competition are hung.
Ayers had determined, after Republican lawmakers criticized the portrayal of police, that the artwork didn't comply with the House Office Building Commission's prohibitions for the Congressional Arts Competition. The rules of the competition prohibit artworks "depicting subjects of contemporary political controversy" or those of a "sensationalistic or gruesome nature."
Leah J. Tulin, a lawyer representing Pulphus and Clay, said they are likely to appeal the judge's ruling. She said that under the court's ruling, there was a danger that the government speech doctrine "can swallow the First Amendment protections" provided to Americans in a limited public forum.
"I'm confident we will ultimately prevail on the merits," Tulin said.
AUBURN, Ala. (AP) - White nationalist Richard Spencer spoke in a crowded auditorium at Auburn University on Tuesday after a federal judge blocked the school from banning his appearance.
Only a few chairs were empty in the more than 400-seat room as Spencer and other speakers railed against ethnicity and racial diversity, liberals, the media and more. They say they want to promote white pride.
Supporters and opponents engaged in shouting marches beforehand, and photos showed a man with a bloody face after a physical altercation outside.
Kimberly Costen, Auburn freshman, right, yells at supports for Richard Spencer right to speak at Auburn University on Tuesday, April 18, 2017, in Auburn, Ala. The man who rented Foy Hall for Richard Spencer and was denied, filed a law suit and was granted an injunction by a federal judge to allow Spencer to speak. (Albert Cesare/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)
Officers led at least one person away, but details weren't immediately available.
A judge cleared the way for Spencer's speech after hearing arguments in a lawsuit filed by a Georgia man who rented the room where he spoke. The suit claimed the university violated free-speech rights by trying to stop Spencer's appearance.
Auburn officials cited public safety concerns in trying to stop Spencer from appearing in the student union building.
Spencer previously made news by addressing a far-right gathering where audience members gave a Nazi salute.
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) - Iowa State University's military training program has expelled a promising cadet, accusing him of falsely claiming that he was sexually assaulted during an altercation that left him hospitalized.
The cadet testified that during a July 4 bonfire near his family's lake house in Nebraska, a 19-year-old acquaintance rubbed the cadet's genitals and inner legs with a beer bottle against his wishes. He said he pushed the man away, and that the man hit him on the head with a bottle. The cadet went to the hospital in need of several stitches on his face.
ISU Navy ROTC commanding officer Capt. Scott Curtis alleges that the cadet, his lawyer and supporters concocted the sexual assault claim to win sympathy from military officials and paper over that the cadet had been in a fight while drinking underage - he was 20 at the time. Curtis has adopted a panel's recommendations to expel the student from the ROTC program and require him to pay back 2 years of out-of-state tuition and stipends, which is expected to amount to about $100,000.
Supporters of the cadet, who'd long dreamed of becoming a Marine Corps officer, say the conspiracy claim is outrageous and that the sexual assault did occur, noting that a friend of the cadet who was there corroborated his story in testimony. They're calling on the Navy to reinstate him and investigate the program, which is dealing with an unrelated scandal in which seven members were involved in taking and posting explicit photos of themselves on Facebook.
The student's attorney, Sean Timmons, said the case shows how male-on-male sexual assault in the military isn't taken seriously.
"Instead of being concerned about his injury, they mocked him," said Timmons, who specializes in military law. "They only looked at it from the point-of-view that this had to be two drunken guys fighting. Everything we say is fiction and a lie and some kind of conspiracy."
He said his client is being treated more harshly than those involved in the Facebook case, who remain with the program. His appeal has remained pending for months without action from Navy leaders. An inquiry by the university into the program's treatment of the cadet, who is in his junior year, is also open.
Curtis declined to comment Tuesday.
A Nebraska sheriff's investigation of the incident was inconclusive and led to no charges. The other man involved told investigators that he swung the bottle in self-defense after the cadet punched him for no reason.
During training in California days after the incident, the cadet told military officials that his injuries were work-related and was cleared to participate.
The ROTC launched a review after learning from the sheriff's office that he had been assaulted and hospitalized, alleging he hadn't been forthcoming about what happened. The cadet later told the ROTC that he'd been embarrassed to report the improper touching.
The cadet declined to cooperate with police or pursue charges, saying he wanted to put the matter behind him. He admits he consumed alcohol earlier that evening.
The Associated Press isn't naming him under a policy of generally not identifying sexual assault victims. Improper touching qualifies as assault under military rules.
In his removal decision, Curtis wrote that the cadet is smart, disciplined, fit and has significant officer potential. He said underage drinking and fighting alone wouldn't end his career. But Curtis accused the cadet of going along with an unethical legal strategy that attempted to take advantage of the sensitivity surrounding sexual assault, calling that a disservice to actual victims.
Timmons, his lawyer, said that claim had no factual basis and revealed bias against his client, adding that a female making the same report would've been taken seriously.
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Follow Ryan J. Foley at https://twitter.com/rjfoley
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Officials have released bacteria-infected mosquitoes near Key West, testing a new way to kill the insects that carry Zika and other viruses.
The Florida Keys Mosquito Control District released 20,000 male mosquitoes bred by the Kentucky-based company MosquitoMate and infected with naturally occurring Wolbachia bacteria.
The offspring produced when the lab-bred mosquitoes mate with wild female mosquitoes don't survive to adulthood. Male mosquitoes don't bite, and Wolbachia is not harmful to humans.
The infected mosquitoes were flown in cardboard tubes to Key West on Tuesday morning. At the test site, district staff released the mosquitoes by shaking or blowing into the tubes.
Mosquito Control District Executive Director Andrea Leal said is exploring new ways to suppress Aedes aegypti mosquito populations because conventional methods are costly and labor-intensive.
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Information from: The Key West (Fla.) Citizen, http://www.keysnews.com
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - If you didn't know better, you might think this New Hampshire town is best known for gun-toting wedding parties.
A Google search for the town of Londonderry has repeatedly turned up a wedding photo of resident and Republican state Rep. Al Baldasaro with five women, including the bride, posing with rifles while wearing their wedding attire.
Town Manager Kevin Smith said the photo appeared earlier this year, prompting the town to send a letter in February to Google asking for it to be removed. That seemed to do the trick but then the photo resurfaced again this week, prompting the town to reach out to Google again. The latest image was a near-duplicate of the one that was removed earlier this year, and was posted on a different page. This new image was pulled into Google's Knowledge Panel algorithmically.
By Tuesday afternoon, the wedding photo had been replaced by a town map.
Rather than a family wedding photo, Smith would prefer the town get noticed for its apple orchards, accomplished high school band that has marched in four Tournament of Roses parades, or its status as home to Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.
"It's not that we take great exception with the photo. It's that we don't think that it's representative of the town," Smith said. "Well, we think there are so many other images that represent the town more fairly, and we have named then in the letters we have sent to Google."
In its letter to Google, the town's attorney claimed critics of Baldasaro raised the profile of the photo by sharing it numerous times on social media, hoping it would have been deemed embarrassing enough to help defeat Baldasaro last November.
Google confirmed the image had been removed.
Baldasaro, who won re-election and was an early supporter of President Donald Trump, said he agrees the photo should not represent the town. He said his wife, Judy, had written to Google on Monday night to request that it decouple the photo from the town's biographical information.
"My picture has no business being up there," he said Tuesday. "But I've got no control over it. I just found out yesterday it was up there again."
But he insisted there was nothing inherently wrong with the photo - which he says was his wife's idea and was taken as a joke after a fellow legislator showed up at his wedding with his guns.
"I have no regrets whatsoever. I only wish I could take credit for it," he said. "I love the picture. I don't care if anyone doesn't like it. Tough. They'll get over it. The second Amendment is a beautiful thing."
NEW YORK (AP) - Political currents have always flowed through the Tribeca Film Festival, founded in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. But this year, the festival has a slightly pugnacious edge to counter the policies of its midtown neighbor, President Donald Trump. Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro, after all, has repeatedly said he'd like to punch Trump in the face.
Trump's 100th day in office will fall during the New York festival, which opens Wednesday with a Clive Davis documentary, "Soundtrack of Our Lives," and star-studded concert tribute to the legendary music producer. Tribeca , now in its 16th year, is the first big film festival to be programmed and substantially oriented in the political climate since last November's election.
And Tribeca organizers acknowledge it has shaped this year's festival all the way down to its slogan: "See yourself in others." It recently trotted out an accompanying video in which New Yorkers walk the streets with mirrored cubes for heads: an intended message of empathy, it says, for "a very divisive year."
This image released by the Tribeca Film Festival shows director David Crowley on the set of "Gray State," a film that will be shown at the Tribeca Film Festival. (Mason Hendricks/Tribeca Film festival via AP)
"We programmed the festival this year the way the current administration did their budget," Jane Rosenthal, co-founder of the festival, said tongue in cheek. "That said, we're also about entertaining - which this administration has also done for us."
Tribeca, which runs for 12 days, is a particularly eclectic festival that encompasses celebrity talks (Springsteen and Hanks!), television premieres (this year Hulu's anticipated "The Handmaid's Tale" debuts there), an ever-expanding virtual reality component and several movie anniversary celebrations. This year, parts one and two of "The Godfather" will play at Radio City Music Hall, with the casts in attendance.
So while defining a theme in an increasingly multi-screen, multimedia festival only goes so far, there's an undeniable presence of films that dig into the past for clues that lead to today. Many are documentaries that, though they've been in production for years, help articulate the populist unrest that pushed Trump to the White House.
"A Gray State," by "Grizzly Man" producer Erik Nelson, is about an Iraq veteran from Minnesota named David Crowley who was trying to create a dystopian science-fiction film that gave voice to libertarian and right-wing fears. But his death, along with that of his wife and young daughter, led to their own conspiracy theories. It's a tragedy in which an intelligent but increasingly troubled man appears to internalize the fringe politics he consumes himself with.
"It's really a core sample, to me, of what's going on today," says Nelson, whose film is executive produced by Werner Herzog. "David was speaking to that subcutaneous audience out there who are looking for truths that they don't see provided in the quote-unquote 'mainstream media. And on election night, we saw those people kind of come out of the shadows and tip a few elections."
Crowley documented much of his disintegration on video and social media, and Nelson considers his obsessive self-broadcasting part of his sickness. "It's not the right film for the right time," says Nelson. "It's the right film for the wrong time."
"The Reagan Show," by Sierra Pettengill and Pacho Velez, uses archival footage to show how extensively Ronald Reagan redefined the role of the U.S. president through television. It shows the former Hollywood star's savvy manipulation of his media image: hitting his marks and sticking to the script.
After working on it for the last three years, the filmmakers completed it on inauguration day. "Which was surreal," says Pettengill. "The Reagan Show" will undoubtedly be watched as illuminating another TV veteran in the White House.
"This is the roots. This is the formative moment that allowed us to get where we are," says Pettengill. "I don't think there would have been a Trump without a Reagan. The idea of having a media personality who millions and millions of people feel like they have access to, who they feel like has been in their living rooms."
There is, naturally, much dissimilarity between the two. Reagan, who is seen in the film wondering how previous presidents managed without prior acting experience, is a clearly more polished performer. Pettengill suggest that's the difference between the skills of a movie star and a reality TV star. "What being a performer means is very different in those two different realms," she says.
David Byars' "No Man's Land" tells the story behind the Oregon protesters who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge last year. "Get Me Roger Stone," by Daniel DiMauro, is about the Republican self-proclaimed "trickster" and Trump associate currently under FBI scrutiny for his role in Russian interference in the presidential election.
There is a trio of films that dig into police brutality: "Frank Serpico," on the famous whistleblowing New York police officer; "LA92," on the Rodney King assault and its subsequent riots in Los Angeles; and "Copwatch," about a police-documenting organization.
And there are also issues of equal rights (the trans icon investigation "The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson"), a number of environment-focused films and events scheduled around Earth Day, and even an appearance from Michael Moore for an anniversary of his 2002 documentary on guns and mass shootings, "Bowling for Columbine." The festival declares, "In the age of Trump ... there's no better time to revisit" the film.
"What's interesting," says Rosenthal, "is that we have films that are looking back that show: How did we get here?"
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Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
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This story has been updated to correct that the co-director of 'The Reagan Show' is Pacho Velez.
A selection of AP offerings that are especially good reads, shareable, consumer-friendly, or likely to generate talk or buzz. Please see the News Digest and News Coverage Advisory 10:15 for top stories and other highlights. All times EDT.
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FRESNO FATAL SHOOTING - Fresno Police Chief Jerry Dyer says three people have been killed in a shooting in the downtown central California city. SENT: 130 words. UPCOMING: Developing.
UNITED STATES-EBOLA DRILLS - Feds practice Ebola evacuations despite past Trump criticism. SENT: 340 words, photo.
SPACE STATION-GLENN - John Glenn's trailblazing legacy took flight Tuesday as a cargo ship bearing his name rocketed toward the International Space Station. SENT: 400 words, photos. UPCOMING: NASA news conference at 2:30 p.m.
USS ARIZONA SURVIVOR-CEREMONY - USS Arizona survivor rejoins shipmates, interred aboard ship. SENT: 540 words, photos.
BRITAIN-ROYALS-MENTAL HEALTH - Prince William speaks with Lady Gaga on mental health. SENT: 600 words, photos, video.
TV FOX-O'REILLY - Through three days of Bill O'Reilly's vacation, his show's viewership declined by 26 percent in the hands of substitutes. SENT: 200 words, photos.
MONEY FOUND BY ROAD - Ohio man turns in $14,000 found on side of road. SENT: 130 words, photo.
GOOGLE-WEDDING PHOTO - Google search of town turns up gun-toting wedding photo. SENT: 120 words. UPCOMING: Developing.
KFC CHICKEN SANDWICH - KFC changing chicken sandwich prep, aiming to improve taste. SENT: 300 words, photo.
OLYMPIC MEDAL - South Dakotan pole vaulter receives medal from 2008 Olympics. SENT: 250 words, photo.
DETROIT RIVER-RESCUE - Officers, mail boat rescue pregnant woman from Detroit River. SENT: 240 words.
POLICE CHIEF TICKETS HIMSELF - Oklahoma police chief issues himself a speeding ticket. SENT: 100 words, video.
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HOW TO REACH US
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At the Nerve Center, Ron DePasquale can be reached at 800-845-8450 (ext. 1600). For photos, Alyssa Goodman (ext. 1900). For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from http://www.apexchange.com. For access to AP Exchange and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 877-836-9477.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Progress is being made eradicating a microscopic pest that has been threatening Idaho's $900 million potato industry the last decade, federal officials say.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said viable potato cyst nematodes can no longer be detected in three additional fields. The agency on Friday released the first quarter report for 2017 on the Pale Cyst Nematode Eradication Program that said 20 of the 27 infected fields have now reached that step in a lengthy process to return to production.
About 9,300 acres (3,700 hectares) are being regulated because of the pest in southeastern Idaho. Canada, Mexico, and Korea initially banned Idaho potatoes when the pests were discovered in 2006, and Japan banned all U.S. potatoes. Japan still bans Idaho potatoes.
The report said that extensive surveys have not found the pale cyst nematode, or PCN, in Idaho beyond the 27 confirmed fields. "The general opinion by our trading partners is that potatoes produced outside regulated areas do not pose the biological risk for introduction of PCN," the report said.
Nematodes feed on potato roots and can reduce crop production by 80 percent, but experts say they aren't harmful to humans. Idaho produces about 30 percent of the nation's potato crop
Federal officials didn't respond to calls from The Associated Press on Tuesday.
There are two related fronts involving nematodes.
A federal lawsuit filed by farmers seeking to have their fields removed from a federal quarantine continues to work its way through the court after a judge denied the government's request to dismiss the case.
Also, a supplemental environmental impact statement currently in a comment period lists as the preferred alternative for dealing with the nematodes one that doesn't use methyl bromide. The chemical treatment, which was stopped in 2014, has been highly effective at killing nematodes but concerns have been raised that it has sickened livestock.
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The Florida House is formally apologizing for decades of abuse at a Florida reform school and to the families of four young black men accused of raping a white woman 68 years ago in what's now seen as a case of racial injustice.
The House unanimously passed two resolutions Tuesday acknowledging the state's misdeeds involving the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys and the group known as the "Groveland Four."
Men who were sent to the Dozier school in the 1950s and 1960s have worked to get the state to acknowledge beatings and sexual abuse they endured.
The House separately apologized to relatives of the "Groveland Four." One of the four men was killed during a manhunt and the other three were convicted with dubious evidence.
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Two men were sentenced Tuesday to nearly 12 years in federal prison for their involvement in an armored car robbery that was among the biggest heists ever in St. Louis.
U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry sentenced Charles Johnson, 36, and Shayne Kier Jones, 30, both of St. Louis. Both pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy charges.
Jones worked for Dunbar Armored Car Co. and told authorities he was threatened into participating in the robbery.
The crime happened April 4, 2016. Jones stopped at a gas station pretending to be lost, the U.S. attorney's office in St. Louis said. When he got out of the truck, Johnson and another man rushed him and demanded money as part of the ruse. Court documents show Jones obliged, throwing bags of money out the back door of the armored truck to Johnson and the other man.
They put the money in a white car and drove away with more than $2 million, according to court documents. Prosecutors said the money was taken to a home and divided into thirds.
Johnson and Jones were arrested days later. The third suspect has not been arrested. U.S. Attorney's office spokeswoman Terri Dougherty said about $750,000 of the stolen money was recovered.
The heist is believed to be the second-biggest ever in St. Louis. In 2010, $6.4 million was taken in a gunpoint heist from the office of ATM Solutions, a company that serviced and stocked cash dispensers. About half of that money was later recovered. Several people involved in that crime are now in prison.
Before a lively crowd attending the annual Washington County Lincoln Days celebration, Chris Dinkins of Annapolis, announced her bid to replace a term-limited Rep. Paul Fitzwater, R-Potosi, in the Missouri House of Representatives.
Dinkins was serving as a keynote speaker at the gathering of local conservatives, alongside Fitzwater and Sen. Gary Romine, R-Farmington.
Dinkins currently serves as the legislative assistant to Rep. Fitzwater and as deputy treasurer for Fitzwaters campaign committee. Originally from Piedmont, the candidate lives in Iron County along with her husband at their family farm, along with operating a small business in Lesterville. The district consists of Iron, Reynolds, Wayne and part of Washington County.
I have deep roots in this district, Dinkins said, and I have enjoyed having the opportunity to work on behalf of the constituents in this district these last four years.
Prior to her work in the Capitol, Dinkins spent 17 years working in education.
As a small business owner Ive seen first hand how burdensome government regulations have been hurting our small business owners and their families. We have to work on getting government out of the way and getting jobs back to rural Missouri, she said.
Among other issues, Dinkins speech highlighted the need to keep Obamacare, Common Core and other federal programs out of Missouri.
These one-size-fits-all programs are hurting real Missourians every day," she said. "We need to return control back to local schools, communities, and healthcare providers where they know the needs of their students and neighbors best.
According to Dinkins, the outpouring of support she has received since making her announcement has been "humbling."
"I am looking forward to getting out into the communities and talking with the voters about the issues most important to them, she said.
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The Latest on a school bus crash in Idaho (all times local):
8:30 p.m.
Police have identified the driver of the school bus that rolled in rural Idaho Tuesday while carrying students to a track meet.
Emergency personnel help to remove passengers after school bus that Tuesday, April 18, 2017, west of Richfield, Idaho. At least 17 students have been taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries, after a bus carrying 39 students to a track meet rolled over on a rural stretch of road in central Idaho. (Drew Nash/The Times-News via AP)
Idaho State Police say 67-year-old Richard Mecham of Carey, Idaho, was behind the wheel of the 2011 bus when he drove off the right shoulder, overcorrected and rolled the bus.
Police say Mecham sustained no injures while adult chaperones were treated and released at the scene. Police say 12 of the 39 students on the bus were taken to hospitals for treatment.
The investigation is ongoing.
___
5:15 p.m.
A mother of one of the students on the school bus that crashed in rural Idaho says her daughter remembers coaches yelling to get the driver's attention before it flipped over.
Cindy Stocking of Carey said students heard coaches scream "hey, hey, hey!"
Stocking said when she got news of the crash, she hopped in her car to meet her 13-year-old daughter, Hailee Stocking, at the scene.
Stocking said her daughter is fine, but she decided to take her to the hospital emergency room anyways just to get checked out by a doctor.
"There were students with severe lacerations, some with concussions, one broke a bone in her back," Stocking told The Associated Press via text message. "Some with whiplash."
___
3:50 p.m.
An Idaho sheriff says a bus carrying 39 students rolled over in a central Idaho crash on Tuesday and at least 11 have been taken to hospitals.
Lincoln County Sheriff Rene Rodriguez says the bus crashed for unknown reasons on an open stretch of rural road where the speed limit is 65 mph.
He says none of the injuries appear to be life-threatening.
He says the bus was taking students from Carey School to a track meet. Idaho State Police are investigating.
Six of the students were taken to St. Luke's Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls, two of them by air.
Five more students were transported to North Canyon Medical Center in Gooding.
Rodriguez says most of the students were transported back to Carey School.
____
2:04 p.m.
A school official says Idaho students are being transported by air and ambulance to receive medical treatment Tuesday after a school bus rolled in a crash.
According to the Blaine County School District, five students were transported by helicopter and another five students went by ambulance. Twelve more students are still being assessed by emergency personnel and 14 other students have been released.
Idaho State Police reports that the bus was driving junior high students to a track meet on when it crashed in central Idaho, 125 miles southeast of Boise.
There were no immediate reports of fatal injuries.
ISP did not disclose the cause of the crash.
A student athlete has his arm looked at at the scene of a bus crash Tuesday, April 18, 2017, west of Richfield, Idaho. At least 17 students have been taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries, after a bus carrying 39 students to a track meet rolled over on a rural stretch of road in central Idaho. (Drew Nash/The Times-News via AP)
A medical helicopter takes off from the scene of a bus crash Tuesday, April 18, 2017, west of Richfield, Idaho. At least 17 students have been taken to hospitals, some with serious injuries, after a bus carrying 39 students to a track meet rolled over on a rural stretch of road in central Idaho. (Drew Nash/The Times-News via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump has congratulated Turkey's president for sweeping up more power. He has hailed Egypt's strongman leader as a "fantastic guy." When China's president has visited, Trump made no public mention of Beijing's dismal human rights record.
Since taking office, Trump has displayed a willingness to embrace autocrats as potential partners, even if it means ignoring their heavy-handed tactics at home.
Trump is not first U.S. president willing to look the other way in dealings with governments that flout democratic values. For decades, Republican and Democratic administrations have cooperated closely with Saudi Arabia and China. President Barack Obama opened new diplomatic channels with Iran and Cuba, despite concerns about their repressive rulers.
President Donald Trump gives a thumb-up as he walks from Marine to Air Force One at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Trump went to Kenosha, Wis., to visit the headquarters of tool manufacturer Snap-on Inc., and sign an executive order that seeks to make changes to a visa program that brings in high-skilled workers. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
But rarely are U.S. presidents as warm and unabashed about their relationships.
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Australian troops provided help after the Islamic State group attacked Iraqi government troops with some type of gas in western Mosul, Australia's prime minister said on Wednesday.
Joint Operation Command in Iraq spokesman Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool told The Associated Press that six soldiers suffered breathing problems from the attack on Sunday and were treated in a nearby field clinic.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said no Australian military advisers were affected by the gas.
"My advice right at the moment is that no Australian troops were affected by the chemical attack, but Australian forces did provide assistance following the attack," Turnbull told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
"Now that's my current advice which I received literally in the last few minutes," he added.
ABC reported that the Iraqi military unit that was attacked had both Australian and U.S. military advisers.
An investigation was launched to determine what type of gas was used.
Australia has 300 troops and New Zealand 110 troops involved in military training at the Taji Military Complex northwest of Baghdad.
Writer Irvine Welsh urged walkers to Hoof it to Hyderabad as he kicked off the first mile of a 5,000-mile walking challenge.
The Hibs fan opened the registration for the virtual challenge which asks competitors to walk the equivalent of 12,106,000 steps from Scotland to the south Indian city.
Trainspotting author Welsh, a long-term ambassador for Scottish charity Scottish Love in Action, walked the first mile of the 5,000 miles between Scotland and Hyderabad on Monday.
Irvine Welsh, right, leads off the charity challenge
The charity, which helps the poorest children in India, is raising cash through its Girls Lives Matter appeal.
Welsh opened registration for the fundraiser at Edinburgh Castle Esplanade with a small group of participants before setting off down the Royal Mile.
The charity wants help to virtually walk the 5,000 miles/8,000km, from Scotland to Hyderabad during June 2017.
Irvine Welsh, left, and a group of girls in the charity cahllenge
Participants can walk, run or cycle a minimum of 10km, which will contribute towards the equivalent distance between the countries.
SLA provides funding to three grassroots non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which run projects in the south east Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
Numerous children it helps are orphans and have been forced to beg and live on the streets.
Founder and chairwoman Gillie Davidson said: Many of the children we care for have only managed to survive by scavenging in rubbish tips, or living on the streets where they are open to being trafficked into prostitution or forced labour.
All the money we raise from challenges like Hoof it to Hyderabad give these children a chance in life and wed like to thank everyone for this support.
Jeremy Corbyn joked he had made too many mistakes to mention but insisted voters would begin to understand his partys anti-austerity message.
The Labour leader said over time people would understand the credible sense behind the partys message on issues such as tackling inequality in society.
Mr Corbyn was setting out plans for Labour to give a 10 boost to the carers allowance to around one million unsung heroes who care for vulnerable relatives.
Jeremy Corbyn on GMB (PA)
But in an occasionally tetchy interview on ITVs Good Morning Britain he was challenged about Labours dismal poll ratings, just weeks ahead of the May 4 local elections.
He insisted the partys position would improve, saying: I think the issue will get out there more and more, people will begin to understand that we dont have to go through these levels of austerity in Britain, we dont have to have these levels of inequality in Britain.
I think people will begin to see that actually what we are saying makes a lot of credible sense.
I can't help liking @jeremycorbyn. Like Wenger, a decent principled man - but seems oblivious to reality. Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 18, 2017
In an exchange with presenter Piers Morgan, Mr Corbyn said: Why dont you ask me questions about policy, why are you only asking questions about polling and me?
The Arsenal fan dismissed as nonsense an absurd comparison between him and beleaguered Gunners boss Arsene Wenger. Morgan, also an Arsenal fan, said Wenger refused to acknowledge mistakes, like Mr Corbyn.
'Can you name one mistake you've made?'
After refusing to answer numerous times, @jeremycorbyn replied: 'There have been too many..' @GMB Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 18, 2017
The Labour leader said: Im not going to go into any big public self analysis. What I will say is of course I reflect on issues, I reflect on decisions weve made. I want the party to be united around these policies. I think you will find the vast majority of Labour members would support these policies.
Pressed to give one mistake he had made, Mr Corbyn joked: I cant give you a mistake this morning. There are too many.
Carers could get a cash injections (PA)
Under Labours plans, Conservative cuts to inheritance tax would be scrapped to pay for the 17% hike in carers allowance.
Weekly payments would rise from 62.70 a week to 73.10, which would bring the rate into line with jobseekers allowance.
Mr Corbyns policy drive comes as recent polling on who would be the best prime minister saw him slump to 14% among all voters and also follows criticism by Labour MP Neil Coyle, who said a complaint made about him by the Islington North MPs office was absurd.
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has finally fulfilled his long-held ambition to expand his powers after a referendum handed him the reins of Turkeys governance.
But the presidents victory leaves the nation deeply divided and facing increasing tension with former allies abroad, while international monitors and opposition parties have reported numerous voting irregularities.
An unofficial tally carried by the countrys state-run news agency gave Mr Erdogans Yes vote a narrow win, with 51.4% approving a series of constitutional changes converting Turkeys political system from a parliamentary to a presidential one.
Supporters wave flags as Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech
Critics argue the reforms will hand extensive power to a man with an increasingly autocratic bent, leaving few checks and balances in place.
Opposition parties called for Sundays vote to be annulled because of a series of irregularities, particularly an electoral board decision to accept ballots that did not bear official stamps, as required by Turkish law.
Monitors from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, who also listed numerous irregularities, said the move undermined safeguards against fraud.
(Press Presidency Press Service via AP, Pool)
The referendum campaign was heavily weighted in favour of the Yes campaign, with Mr Erdogan drawing on the full powers of the state and government to dominate the airwaves and billboards.
The No campaign complained of intimidation, detentions and beatings.
In Istanbul, hundreds of No supporters demonstrated in the streets on Monday, chanting thief, murderer, Erdogan and banging pots and pans.
No supporters protest in Istanbul (AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)
Mr Erdogan was unfazed by the criticism as he spoke to flag-waving supporters in the capital Ankara.
We have put up a fight against the powerful nations of the world, he said as he arrived at the airport from Istanbul.
The crusader mentality attacked us abroad. We did not succumb. As a nation, we stood strong.
In a speech before a massive crowd at his sprawling presidential palace complex, Mr Erdogan insisted Turkeys referendum was the most democratic election ever seen in any Western country and told the OSCE monitors to know your place.
Mr Erdogan addresses supporters (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
The referendum was held with a state of emergency still in place, imposed after an attempted coup in July.
The Council of Ministers decided on Monday to extend the state of emergency, which grants greater powers of detention and arrest to security forces, for a further three months. It had been due to expire April 19.
There is also the risk of increased international isolation, with Mr Erdogan appealing to patriotic sentiments by casting himself as a champion of a proud Turkish nation that will not be dictated to by foreign powers in general, and the European Union in particular.
Turkey has been an EU candidate for decades, but its accession efforts have been all but moribund for several years.
Supporters of pro-'no' vote chant slogans as they protest in Istanbul
They have made us wait at the gates of the European Union for 54 years, Mr Erdogan told his supporters at the presidential palace.
We can conduct a vote of confidence on this as well. Would we? What did England do they did Brexit, right?
Either they will hold their promises to Turkey or theyll have to bear the consequences.
Theresa May has called a snap general election on June 8, with a plea to British voters to put their trust in her to deliver a good result from Brexit.
Making her shock announcement, the Prime Minister claimed divisions at Westminster risked jeopardising the negotiations to pull the UK out of the European Union.
Having repeatedly ruled out calling a snap election in the past, Mrs May said she had reluctantly taken the decision to go to the country after seeing other parties playing games with the process of preparing for Brexit negotiations.
Her final decision was taken during a walking holiday in Snowdonia with husband Philip, and she told the Queen on Easter Monday before getting the full approval of Cabinet on Tuesday morning.
Speaking to The Sun ahead of a parliamentary vote to approve her election plans on Wednesday, Mrs May said: What I hope comes out of the election is support from the public to say we agree with their plan for Brexit, so that when I go into Europe Ive got that backing of the British people.
She also revealed a concern that the May 2020 election date stipulated by the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act would leave her vulnerable to pressure from Brussels as she neared the end of the two-year withdrawal negotiations in March 2019.
If were negotiating at a point that is quite close to a general election, I think the Europeans might have seen that as a time of weakness when they could push us, she explained. Now we will be much freer.
I welcome the PMs decision to give the British people the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first pic.twitter.com/9P3X6A2Zpw Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) April 18, 2017
This is your chance to change the direction of your country pic.twitter.com/wfj4wC7yn3 Tim Farron (@timfarron) April 18, 2017
The gap before talks begin in earnest in June gave her a window of opportunity to strengthen her hand by improving her slim 17-seat majority and pushing the next election date back to 2022, by which time the UK should have long ago left the EU.
Mrs May indicated that Conservative candidates will be expected to sign up to her manifesto in full, putting pressure on remaining europhiles within her party to toe the line.
She insisted that the election would not focus solely on EU withdrawal but would see Conservatives set out plans for the UK beyond Brexit.
And she set out her line of attack against Labour, saying voters would face a choice between stable and strong leadership, which I hope they have seen, and a coalition of Corbyn supported by the Liberal Democrats and the SNP.
Mrs Mays announcement shocked Westminster, but both Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron quickly indicated that their parties will back it
Under the Fixed-Term Parliaments Act introduced by her predecessor David Cameron, the Prime Minister will require the support of two-thirds of MPs to go to the country, with a vote scheduled in the Commons on Wednesday.
Tory Party puts its own interests before the national interest. Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) April 18, 2017
Mrs May and Number 10 have repeatedly insisted she would not seek a general election before the scheduled 2020 poll.
But she rejected suggestions she was simply seeking to take advantage of an opportunity to extend her lead at a time when polls put Conservatives as many as 21 points ahead of Labour, insisting an election now was in the best long-term interests of this country.
Right decision - it's in the national interest to call a GE, strengthening PM's negotiating hand in Europe. #GE2017 Philip Hammond (@PhilipHammondUK) April 18, 2017
Sun is shining. Perfect moment for an election. Let's go. Stephen Crabb (@SCrabbPembs) April 18, 2017
Brave - and right - decision by PM @Theresa_May. My very best wishes to all Conservative candidates. @Conservatives David Cameron (@David_Cameron) April 18, 2017
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Mrs May acknowledged she needed a stronger position in the Commons to secure her plans for the UKs future outside the EU.
Our opponents believe because the Governments majority is so small that our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change. They are wrong, she said.
They under-estimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country, because what they are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home and it weakens the Governments negotiating position in Europe.
Whatever happened to 'now is not the time'? UK General Election: 8th June. Straight choice in Scotland between @theSNP and Tories. #VoteSNP Angus Robertson (@AngusRobertson) April 18, 2017
Mr Corbyn said Mrs Mays decision had given voters the chance to vote for a government that will put the interests of the majority first.
Labour will be offering the country an effective alternative to a Government that has failed to rebuild the economy, delivered falling living standards and damaging cuts to our schools and NHS, said the Labour leader.
Mr Farron said the election provided an opportunity to block a disastrous hard Brexit.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the election call as a huge political miscalculation by the Prime Minister, accusing Mrs May of once again putting the interests of her party ahead of those of the country.
Good phone call with PM @theresa_may on upcoming UK elections. Charles Michel (@eucopresident) April 18, 2017
It was Hitchcock, who directed Brexit: first an earthquake and the tension rises. Donald Tusk (@donaldtusk) April 18, 2017
Tony Blair issued a call for voters to back candidates who would be ready to vote down Mrs Mays final Brexit deal if it is bad for the country. He warned the UK risked huge damage if a Tory landslide allowed Mrs May to pursue Brexit at all costs without restraint.
The former Labour prime minister insisted he was not calling for tactical voting or an anti-Tory alliance but his comments came close to endorsing a vote for non-Labour candidates who oppose Brexit.
Following her election announcement, Mrs May made separate phone calls to US President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Council president Donald Tusk, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny, said 10 Downing Street.
The White House said President Trump wished the British people the best of luck in their electoral process in his conversation with Mrs May.
An Indian business tycoon wanted in his home country over fraud allegations has been bailed after appearing in court.
Entrepreneur Vijay Mallya, chairman of the UB Group and co-owner of Silverstone-based Sahara Force India F1 team, was released from Westminster Magistrates Court after paying a 650,000 security, court officials said.
He was arrested earlier on Tuesday by the Metropolitan Polices extradition unit on behalf of authorities in India, where he is wanted in connection with money laundering and high value bank demands. The 61-year-old, a former MP in India, entered the UK on a valid passport in March 2016.
Vijay Mallya (Nigel French/PA)
Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in Court started today as expected. Vijay Mallya (@TheVijayMallya) April 18, 2017
Indias Enforcement Directorate has been gathering evidence as part of its investigation into the tycoons debts, totalling 977 million, linked to Mr Mallyas now defunct airline Kingfisher.
Mr Mallya sold off his drinks firm United Spirits to Diageo in 2013 in order to prop up the airline, which went bust shortly after.
Indian investigators said last year Mr Mallya had not been co-operating and had ignored their summons to give evidence three times.
Extradition warrant arrest on behalf of Indian authorities https://t.co/cXET0Q13q5 pic.twitter.com/s90THSa0nD Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) April 18, 2017
Mr Mallya was bailed on condition that he resides at his home address, that he does not leave or attempt to leave England and Wales, that his passport is surrendered to police and he does not apply for any travel documents.
A brief statement on Mr Mallyas Twitter account said: Usual Indian media hype. Extradition hearing in court started today as expected. A case management hearing was scheduled for May 17.
Perhaps it was something in the mountain air of Snowdonia that helped clear Theresa Mays mind to make the boldest decision yet of her short premiership.
The Prime Minister used the day Parliament returned from the Easter recess part of which she spent walking in North Wales to say she had recently and reluctantly concluded that she would call a snap general election.
The decision to call an election marked a screeching U-turn after repeated denials that she would go to the country at a time when the UKs future relationship with the European Union was up for negotiation.
Snowdonia
But in the end it was the headache caused by Brexit, and the risk of trying to take deeply divisive measures through the Commons with a working majority of just 17, that forced her hand.
Our opponents believe that because the Governments majority is so small, our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course. They are wrong, she said defiantly.
But she acknowledged that what they are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home and it weakens the Governments negotiating position in Europe.
Her decision will also have been influenced by the clear opinion poll lead she enjoys over Jeremy Corbyns Labour, with senior Tories urging her in recent weeks to take advantage of the disarray in the opposition ranks to secure a stronger mandate.
Mrs May who was derided as Theresa Maybe by the Economist magazine in January is also anxious to avoid comparisons with Gordon Brown, whose dithering over whether to call an early election after entering Number 10 in 2007 left him damaged.
Like Mr Brown, she took over in Downing Street without winning a general election. She was sensitive to the comparison whenever it was made and it appears she has decided not to make the same mistake he did.
While Brexit may be the reason Mrs May cited for her decision to seek a strengthened Commons majority, she has also faced difficulties with rebellious backbenchers on domestic policies.
Her Chancellor, Philip Hammond, was forced into a humiliating U-turn over his Budget when it emerged that his plans to increase self-employed National Insurance contributions faced resistance in the Tory ranks.
And Mrs Mays flagship education reforms, including a new generation of grammar schools, would also be vulnerable to a rebellion by a handful of Tory critics.
The prospect of election expenses investigations in a series of seats won by the Tories in 2015 may also have influenced Mrs Mays decision to hold a fresh ballot.
The bookmakers have already installed the Tories as firm favourites to win the most seats in the general election.
But as the EU referendum and Donald Trumps victory in the USA showed, any election is a gamble.
The Prime Minister has just placed the biggest bet of her career.
Workers at car giant BMW are to stage the first of a series of strikes in a bitter dispute over pensions.
Members of Unite at Cowley, Hams Hall in the West Midlands and Swindon, will walk out for 24 hours on Wednesday.
Unite said it will be the first strike by workers at the German carmaker, warning that production lines making the Mini and car engines face disruption.
Mini on the production line
Strike action starts on 19 April | BMW workers get set for eight 24 hour strikes over pension robbery https://t.co/Kq77NqGaHK pic.twitter.com/OZDAiITcDT Unite the union: join a union (@unitetheunion) April 6, 2017
A programme of industrial action stretching over five weeks is being held over the closure of the pension scheme.
Car workers will be on picket lines outside the plants, with placards accusing BMW of pension robbery by forcing through changes the union says could see some lose up to 160,000 in their retirement income.
Unite general secretary Len McCluskey said: "It is very much the last resort for a world-class workforce that takes great pride in making the iconic Mini and world-renowned Rolls-Royce motor cars and one which could have been avoided if BMWs bosses had been willing to negotiate meaningfully with Unite.
UK-Based BMW Employees to Strike Over Pension Closure - Chief Investment Officer https://t.co/VWMpcqxZWZ BMW updates (@BMWupdates) April 13, 2017
A BMW spokesman said: We regret the decision by Unite to stage industrial action and are hopeful that the unions representatives will return to the negotiating table.
We have been in meaningful discussions with Unite since September of last year and have put forward a number of options to help staff transition to the proposed new pension scheme arrangements.
Like many businesses, we know that the costs and risks associated with defined benefit pension schemes makes them unsustainable and unaffordable in the long term.
Two school boards are holding meetings tonight
Farmington
The Farmington Board of Education will hold a special meeting today at 4:30 p.m. at the board office to swear in one new member and two incumbents following the certification of the April 4 election.
During the special session, the board will recognize incumbents Angela Hahn and Howard Hoehn, and new member Jerry Freeman to the board.
In addition, the board will reorganize with the election of a new board president, vice president and treasurer.
Following the special session, the board will reconvene at 5 p.m. for its regular monthly meeting.
At the meeting, the board will hear from Andrea Richardson, the college program director for the high school, who will deliver the yearly achievement report for Dual Credit at the high school.
During the presentation, the high school will recommend to the board the continuation of the Dual Credit/Dual Enrollment programs, including CTE expansion, Career NOW expansion and the scholarship programs with Mineral Area College.
Also on the agenda, Don Eaton, the director of business services, will ask the board approve his recommendation for the districts group health and life insurance plan at a cost of $2.65 million, an increase of $225,000.
Mark Krause, the director of operations, will address the board and give an operational/bond issue construction update on projects throughout the district.
Following Krause, Wade Welch, with Hoener Associates inc, will deliver an update on projects in the district.
The board will discuss other matters pertaining to the school district before adjourning to closed sessions.
West County
The West County Board of Education is meeting at 6 p.m. for a regular session in the Board of Education room located at 1124 Main St. in Leadwood.
A recognition ceremony for the achievements of elementary, middle and high school students is first on the agenda, followed by reports on an attendance program and community education. The board will also hear presentations from school administrators and the superintendent.
Items of old business will include updates on fundraisers, the West County Foundation, the school calendar, new middle school updates and drilling bids for the ball field.
In new business, board members will consider lunch prices for the 2017-2018 school year, a facility usage request, bus bids and an extra-curricular matter. In addition, a date for the May board meeting will be set.
Toward the end of the meeting, the board will certify the recent election results, dissolve the old board, swear in the new board members and elect new officers.
The meeting is open to the public.
A man who randomly killed a 74-year-old in Ohio and posted video of the crime on Facebook has fatally shot himself in his car during a police chase in Pennsylvania.
Steve Stephenss death ended a multi-state manhunt less than 48 hours after it began.
Acting on a tip, Pennsylvania state police spotted Stephens, 37, leaving a McDonalds in Erie and went after him, bumping his car to try to get it to stop, authorities said.
Steve Stephens (Cleveland Police via AP)
He shot himself in the head as the car spun out of control, police said.
This started with one tragedy and ended with another person taking their own life, said Cleveland police chief Calvin Williams.
We would have liked to have brought Steve in peacefully and really talked to him about why this happened.
Steve Stephens was spotted this morning by PSP members in Erie County. After a brief pursuit, Stephens shot and killed himself. PA State Police (@PAStatePolice) April 18, 2017
Stephens, a job counsellor who worked with teenagers and young people, was wanted on murder charges over the shooting of Robert Godwin Sr.
The 74-year-old former foundry worker and father of 10 was picking up aluminium cans on Sunday when he was gunned down in Cleveland.
The chilling video was posted on Facebook for three hours before it was taken down, drawing criticism of the social network and renewing questions about how responsibly it polices objectionable material.
At a Silicon Valley conference on Tuesday, Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg briefly addressed the Cleveland case, saying Facebook has a lot of work to do and we will keep doing all we can to prevent tragedies like this.
Police would not speculate on what was behind the killing, but in the video and other footage he posted, Stephens talked about losing everything he had to gambling and having trouble with his girlfriend. He said he just snapped.
One of Mr Godwins daughters, Debbie Godwin, said she wished Stephens had been captured.
Im not happy hes dead at all, not at all. If you did it, you have to face your crime, she said.
An armour police vehicle drives through Fairmount park in Philadelphia
The break in the case came when police received a tip that Stephenss car was in the McDonalds car park in Erie, in the north-western corner of the state, about 100 miles east of Cleveland, authorities said.
The chase lasted two miles before Stephens took his own life, police said.
Facebook said it removed the video of the shooting 23 minutes after learning of it.
The company has since announced it is launching a review for reporting harmful content.
This is something that should not have been shared around the world. Period, Clevelands police chief said.
Robert Godwin Sr (Facebook via AP)
Godwin did not seem to recognise the name.
In the video, Stephens told Mr Godwin the name of his girlfriend and said: Shes the reason that this is about to happen to you.
Mr Godwin did not seem to recognise the name.
Investigators said that Mr Godwin was the only victim so far linked to Stephens, despite his claim on Facebook that he killed more than a dozen people.
The election will be the latest in a string of votes over the last three years, sparking concerns a wearied electorate is suffering from voter fatigue.
Since autumn 2014 the UK public will have headed to the polling stations in two general elections, up to two referendums, plus a host of local elections and others for mayors and police and crime commissioners.
Theresa May
Scottish independence referendum.
UK general election, plus local elections in England.
elections for Scottish parliament, Welsh assembly, Northern Ireland assembly, local authorities in England, police and crime commissioners in England and Wales, and four mayors including London.
EU referendum.
Northern Ireland assembly election.
local elections in England, Wales and Scotland, plus elections for new regional mayors.
UK general election.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
Members of the public polled in Birminghams busy New Street shopping area said they had little enthusiasm for the upcoming election.
Rob Horton, 44, said: I would rather we had the terms of Brexit before voting, I think at the moment theres a danger of giving the PM, whoever it is, a mandate for something that the public hasnt been asked for.
Its better to get a deal, and then put it to the country and see what decision we want.
Darren Martin said: No I dont think it is (the right time), I think the countrys had enough of politics for a little while, just let it settle down.
I dont think theres any appetite at all to go and do it now. I think people are fed up with it.
Their views were echoed online.
2014: Scottish Indy Ref
2015: General Election
2016: EU Referendum
2017: Another general election
When will the cycle of horror end??? dan (@dannycharleston) April 18, 2017
At least a snap election means it'll all be over in 6 weeks. Don't think any of us have the stomach for a longer campaign. You can call me V (@vspearson85) April 18, 2017
However others disagreed that apathy would necessarily play a decisive factor.
Cristiano Ronaldo plundered a hat-trick as Real Madrid saw off 10-man Bayern Munich 4-2 after extra-time at the Bernabeu to secure the holders place in the semi-finals of the Champions League.
Robert Lewandowski, who missed the first leg with a shoulder problem, put Bayern ahead on the night from the penalty spot to level the tie on aggregate following Reals 2-1 win in Munich, where Ronaldo had scored twice.
Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski (scores his side's first goal (Mike Egerton/Empics)
Ronaldos bullet diving header in the 76th minute then looked to have sent Real through, but a bizarre own goal from captain Sergio Ramos moments later levelled things up at 3-3 overall.
The Germans had to head into extra-time with only 10 men following a second caution for midfielder Arturo Vidal, which looked harsh on the Chile international.
Bayern Munich's Arjen Robben complains as referee Viktor Kassai, sends off Arturo Vidal (Mike Egerton/Empics)
Real made their numerical advantage count as Ronaldo grabbed his second of the match in the 105th minute taking him to 100 Champions League goals in the process although he looked to have been offside.
There was also some debate about Ronaldos hat-trick goal four minutes later, with the Portugal forward possibly offside again when he knocked the ball in following a fine run from Marcelo.
Asensio Marco scores his side's fourth (Mike Egerton/Empics)
Substitute Marco Asensio added a fourth on the break in the 112th minute to complete a 6-3 aggregate win for the Spanish league leaders as former Real boss Carlo Ancelotti endured a miserable return to the Bernabeu.
Real, who host title rivals Barcelona in El Clasico on Sunday, were without injured Wales forward Gareth Bale.
The German champions, meanwhile, were missing suspended defender Javi Martinez after his red card in Munich.
Needing to score at least twice to avoid exiting the competition, Bayern produced a strong start as former Real winger Arjen Robben fired into the side netting.
Real, seeking to make it a record seventh straight Champions League semi-final appearance, finally came alive as the half-hour mark approached when Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer pushed behind a low drive from defender Dani Carvajal.
We are just winners, Ronaldo said, quoted on the Real Madrid website. Making six goals against a team like Bayern is not easy and we deserve to move through to the semi-finals. We knew we had to play very well because Bayern can score goals from anywhere on the pitch and proved to be an excellent team, but Real Madrid is Real Madrid.
We fought till the very end and left our hearts on the pitch. Unfortunately some things you just can't control...
Congrats to @realmadriden Mats Hummels (@matshummels) April 18, 2017
"We played very well and deserved to come away with more tonight," says @MrAncelotti after #RMAFCB. pic.twitter.com/H46BvgueNQ FC Bayern Munich (@FCBayernEN) April 18, 2017
Ancelotti, who left Real after two seasons in 2015 having won the Champions League in the previous campaign, felt the Germans had done themselves proud despite the final result: Neuer and the whole team played well, we deserved to come away with more tonight. It is hard to come to Madrid and win over 90 minutes and moreover with 10 men. Now, Madrid continue and I wish Zizou and his side all the best.
MOSCOW, April 17 (Reuters) - The following are some stories in Russia's newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
VEDOMOSTI
www.vedomosti.ru
- Official annual income and property declarations by ministers and parliamentarians bear little resemblance to their actual wealth which remains unreported, the daily says, commenting on the latest publication of such declarations.
- State-controlled companies were responsible for generating 70 percent of Russia's gross domestic product last year, a situation that presents a serious risk to competition in the economy, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service says. Conversely, the pace of privatisations has fallen away since 2010, it said.
KOMMERSANT
www.kommersant.ru
- Political analysts forecast Vladimir Putin will win next year's presidential election since his popularity is very high, the daily reports. But analysts say there is also a risk that voter turnout will be low because of apathy and people's belief that they cannot influence the outcome, the daily says.
IZVESTIA
www.izvestia.ru
- Russia suspects Abkhazia of re-exporting Turkish tomatoes banned in Russia, the daily says. Exports grew by 15 times in 2016 year-on-year.
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA
www.ng.ru
- Russian lawmakers could pass a bill making April 19 the official date when Crimea and the Taman and Kuban regions formally became part of Russia, the daily says, a reference to a decree that Empress Catherine the Great signed in 1783. (Reporting By Tatiana Ustinova; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
HANOI, April 18 (Reuters) - Vietnam land protesters in the capital Hanoi have released about half the 30 officials, including police officers, they took hostage on Saturday when a land dispute escalated, a lawyer involved in negotiations said on late Monday.
The residents of My Duc, on the outskirts of Hanoi, accused the local authority of taking over land for a telecommunications project without paying appropriate compensation.
The local government said the people did not own the land and were breaking the law by protesting. Four of the residents were arrested, including 83-year-old local leader Kinh.
The residents of My Duc took police and other officials hostage to demand the release of those arrested. Residents' lawyer Tran Vu Hai said all local people had now been released and that half those held by residents had been freed.
Land disputes are common in Vietnam and the one in My Duc has lasted for years, but it is rare for residents to take officials hostage in the communist state where there is little tolerance of dissent. (Reporting by My Pham; Editing by Matthew Tostevin and Michael Perry)
By Clyde Russell
LAUNCESTON, Australia, April 18 (Reuters) - In the first two months of the year, China's steel and iron ore prices were surging because output was growing strongly, but now they are falling for exactly the same reason.
Perhaps it's just proof that eventually you can have too much of a good thing, or more likely, another example of how investors try to shape the market narrative to suit what they want to happen.
In this case, increasing steel output at the start of 2017 was viewed as proof of the strength of the Chinese economy and optimism that infrastructure spending and construction were going to keep demand robust.
But that market sentiment started to shift toward the end of March as investors finally started to focus on the strong buildup of both steel and iron ore inventories.
The increasingly bearish view received a huge boost with Monday's news that steel output climbed to a record 72 million tonnes in March, exceeding the prior record of 70.65 million from March 2015.
China, which produces about half of the world's steel, produced 201.1 million tonnes in the first quarter of 2017, up 4.6 percent from the same period last year, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
The strong steel production in the January-March period does help explain why imports of iron ore were also gaining, and does go some way to explain the sharp increase in prices.
The price of spot iron ore in China <.IO62-CNO=MB> rose 20.3 percent from the end of last year to the peak so far this year of $94.86 a tonne on Feb. 21.
Since then the price has been steadily retreating, but the pullback has accelerated sharply in the recent weeks, with the price slumping to $66.25 a tonne on Monday, down from $81.54 as recently as April 5.
The drop in iron ore has been mirrored in steel rebar contracts traded on the Shanghai Futures Exchange, which ended on Monday at 2,932 yuan ($426) a tonne, down 13.2 percent from their closing peak this year of 3,377 yuan on March 15.
SENTIMENT SHIFT?
While there is little doubt that steel and iron ore prices ran too hard, too fast at the start of this year, the question remains as to whether the fundamental supply-demand outlook has changed so dramatically in the last few weeks as to change the entire market dynamic?
The answer is probably no, but what does appear to be happening is that investors are finally returning to a more realistic appraisal of the Chinese economy and its prospects for this year.
Growth was stronger than expected in the first quarter at 6.9 percent, beating the consensus for a 6.8 percent gain, but there are some concerns about the resilience of property and infrastructure construction.
This alone should lead to some caution on the steel sector, and while March's output of 72 million tonnes is likely to be the high water mark for now, there is little reason to believe that steel production is on the verge of a major pullback.
Already there are signs that the elevated inventory levels are starting to ease, with rebar stocks